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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/7790-0.txt b/7790-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f5b3a96 --- /dev/null +++ b/7790-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2373 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Captain January, by Laura E. Richards + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere 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 + + +Title: Captain January + +Author: Laura E. Richards + +Release Date: March, 2005 [EBook #7790] +Last Updated: March 16, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPTAIN JANUARY *** + + + + +Produced by Ketaki Chhabra and Wendy Crockett + + + + + + +CAPTAIN JANUARY + +By Laura E. Richards + +_Author of_ + +“Melody,” “Marie,” “Rosin, the Beau,” “The Hildegarde-Margaret +Series,” “Three Minute Stories,” “Five Minute Stories,” etc. + + + + +LIST OF CONTENTS + + I. Star Bright + II. The Story + III. Introducing Imogen and Bob + IV. The Visit + V. Captain January's Star + VI. The Signal + + + + +CHAPTER I. -- STAR BRIGHT + + +The Captain had sold all his lobsters. They had been particularly +fine ones, and had gone off “like hot cakes,” everyone who passed +by the wharf stopping to buy one or two. Now the red dory was empty, +and the Captain had washed her out with his usual scrupulous care, +and was making preparations for his homeward voyage, when he was +hailed by a cheery voice from the street. + +“Hillo, January!” said the voice. “Is that you? How goes it?” and +the owner of the voice, a sturdy man in a blue coat with brass +buttons, came down the wharf and greeted the Captain with a hearty +shake of the hand. + +“How goes it?” he repeated. “I haven't seen ye for a dog's age.” + +“I'm hearty, Cap'n Nazro!” replied Captain January. “Hearty, that's +what I am, an' hopin' you're the same.” + +“That's right!” said the first speaker. “'Tain't often we set eyes +on you, you stick so close to your light. And the little gal, she's +well, I expect? She looks a picture, when I take a squint at her +through the glass sometimes. Never misses running out and shaking +her apron when we go by!” + +“Cap'n Nazro,” said January, speaking with emphasis, “if there is +a pictur in this world, o' health, and pootiness, and goodness, it's +that child. It's that little un, sir. Not to be beat in this country, +nor yet any other 'cordin' as I've voyaged.” + +“Nice little gal!” said Captain Nazro, assenting. “Mighty nice little +gal! Ain't it time she was going to school, January? My wife and I +were speaking about it only the other day. Seems as if she'd oughter +be round with other children now, and learning what they do. Mis Nazro +would be real pleased to have her stop with us a spell, and go to +school with our gals. What do you say?” He spoke very heartily, but +looked doubtfully at the old man, as if hardly expecting a favourable +answer. + +Captain January shook his head emphatically, “You're real kind, Cap'n +Nazro!” he said; “real kind, you and Mis Nazro both are! and she +makin' the little un's frocks and pinafores, as is a great help. But +I can't feel to let her out o' my sight, nohow; and as for school, +she ain't the kind to bear it, nor yet I couldn't for her. She's +learnin'!” he added, proudly. “Learnin' well! I'll bet there ain't +no gal in your school knows more nor that little un does. Won'erful, +the way she walks ahead!” + +“Get the school readers, hey! and teach her yourself do you?” queried +Captain Nazro. + +“No, sir!” replied the old man; “I don't have no school readers. The +child learns out o' the two best books in the world,--the Bible, and +William Shakespeare's book; them's all the books she ever seed--_saw_, +I should say.” + +“William Shak--” began Captain Nazro; and then he broke off in sheer +amazement, and said, simply, “Well, I'm blowed!” + +“The minister giv 'em to me,” said Captain January. “I reckon he +knows. There's a dictionary, too,” he added, rather sadly; “but I +can't make her take to that, nohow, though there's a power o' fine +words in it.” + +Then, as the other man remained silent and openmouthed, he said: “But +I must be goin', Cap'n Nazro, sir! The little un'll be lookin' for +me. Good day, sir, and thank ye kindly, all the same as if it was +to be, which it ain't!” And with a friendly gesture, the old man +stepped into his red dory, and rowed away with long, sturdy strokes. + +Captain Nazro gazed after him meditatively, took out his pipe and +looked at it, then gazed again. “January's cracked,” he said; +“that's what's the matter with him. He's a good man, and a good +lighthouse-keeper, and he's been an able seaman in his day, none +better; but he's cracked!” + +There is an island off a certain part of the coast of Maine,--a little +rocky island, heaped and tumbled together as if Dame Nature had shaken +down a heap of stones at random from her apron, when she had finished +making the larger islands which lie between it and the mainland. At +one end, the shoreward end, there is a tiny cove, and a bit of +silver-sand beach, with a green meadow beyond it, and a single great +pine; but all the rest is rocks, rocks. At the farther end the rocks +are piled high, like a castle wall, making a brave barrier against +the Atlantic waves; and on top of this cairn rises the lighthouse, +rugged and sturdy as the rocks themselves, but painted white, and +with its windows shining like great, smooth diamonds. This is Light +Island; and it was in this direction that Captain January's red dory +was headed when he took his leave of his brother-captain, and rowed +away from the wharf. It was a long pull; in fact, it took pretty +nearly the whole afternoon, so that the evening shadows were +lengthening when at length he laid down his oars, and felt the boat's +nose rub against the sand of the little home-cove. But rowing was +no more effort than breathing to Captain January, and it was no +fatigue, but only a trifle of stiffness from sitting so long, that +troubled him a little in getting out of the boat. As he stepped slowly +out upon the firm-grained silver of the little beach, he looked up +and around with an expectant air, and seeing no one, a look of +disappointment crossed his face. He opened his lips as if to call +some one, but checking himself, “Happen she's gettin' supper!” he +said. “It's later than I thought. I don't pull so spry as I used ter, +'pears ter me. Wal, thar! 'tain't to be expected. I sh'll be forty +years old before I know it!” + +Chuckling to himself, the Captain drew up the little boat and made +her fast; then, taking sundry brown-paper parcels from under the +thwart, he turned and made his way up towards the lighthouse. A +picturesque figure he was, striding along among the heaped and tumbled +rocks. His hair and beard, still thick and curly, were absolutely +white, as white as the foam that broke over the rocks at the cliff's +foot. His face was tanned and weather-beaten to the colour of +mahogany, but the features were strong and sharply cut, while the +piercing blue eyes which gleamed beneath his shaggy eyebrows showed +all the fire of youth, and seemed to have no part in the seventy years +which had bent the tall form, and rounded slightly the broad and +massive shoulders. The Captain wore a rough pea-jacket and long boots, +while his head was adorned with a nondescript covering which might +have begun life either as a hat or a cap, but would now hardly be +owned by either family. + +Reaching the house, the old man mounted the rude steps which led to +the door, and entered the room which was kitchen, dining, and drawing +room at Storm Castle, as the lighthouse was called by its inhabitants. +The room was light and cheerful, with a pleasant little fire crackling +sociably on the hearth. The table was laid with a clean white cloth, +the kettle was singing on the hob, and a little covered saucepan was +simmering with an agreeable and suggestive sound; but no one was to +be seen. Alarmed, he hardly knew why, at the silence and solitude, +Captain January set his parcels down on the table, and going to the +foot of the narrow stone staircase which wound upward beside the +chimney, called, “Star! Star Bright, where are you? Is anything +wrong?” + +“No, Daddy Captain!” answered a clear, childish voice from above; +“I'm coming in a minute. Be patient, Daddy dear!” + +With a sigh of relief, Captain January retired to the fireplace, and +sitting down in a huge high-backed armchair, began leisurely pulling +off his great boots. One was already off and in his hand, when a +slight noise made him look up. He started violently, and then, leaning +back in his chair, gazed in silent amazement at the vision before +him. + +On the stone stairway, and slowly descending, with steps that were +meant to be stately (and which might have been so, had not the stairs +been so steep, and the little legs so short) was the figure of a +child: a little girl about ten years old, with a face of almost +startling beauty. Her hair floated like a cloud of pale gold about +her shoulders; her eyes were blue, not light and keen, like the old +man's, but of that soft, deep, shadowy blue that poets love to call +violet. Wonderful eyes, shaded by long, curved lashes of deepest +black, which fell on the soft, rose-and-ivory tinted cheek, as the +child carefully picked her way down, holding up her long dress from +her little feet. It was the dress which so astonished Captain January. +Instead of the pink calico frock and blue checked pinafore, to which +his eyes were accustomed, the little figure was clad in a robe of +dark green velvet with a long train, which spread out on the staircase +behind her, very much like the train of a peacock. The body, made +for a grown woman, hung back loosely from her shoulders, but she had +tied a scarf of gold tissue under her arms and round her waist, while +from the long hanging sleeves her arms shone round and white as +sculptured ivory. A strange sight, this, for a lighthouse tower on +the coast of Maine! but so fair a one, that the old mariner could +not take his eyes from it. + +“Might be Juliet!” he muttered to himself. “Juliet, when she was a +little un. 'Her beauty hangs upon the cheek o' Night,'--only it ain't, +so to say, exactly night,--'like a rich jewel in a nigger's ear.' +No! that ain't right. 'Nigger' ain't right, 'Ethiop's ear, 'that's +it! Though I should judge they were much the same thing, and they +more frekently wear 'em in their noses, them as I've seen in their +own country.” + +As he thus soliloquised, the little maiden reached the bottom of the +stairs in safety, and dropping the folds of the velvet about her, +made a quaint little courtesy, and said, “Here I am, Daddy Captain! +how do you like me, please?” + +“Star Bright,” replied Captain January, gazing fixedly at her, as +he slowly drew his pipe from his pocket and lighted it. “I like you +amazin'. _A_-mazin' I like you, my dear! but it is what you might +call surprisin', to leave a little maid in a blue pinafore, and to +come back and find a princess in gold and velvet. Yes, Pigeon Pie, +you might call it surprisin', and yet not be stretchin' a p'int.” + +“Am I _really_ like a princess?” said the child, clapping her hands, +and laughing with pleasure. “Have you ever seen a princess, Daddy +Captain, and did she look like me?” + +“I seed--I _saw_--one, once,” replied the Captain, gravely, puffing +at his pipe. “In Africky it was, when I was fust mate to an Indiaman. +And she wa'n't like you, Peach Blossom, no more than Hyperion to a +Satyr, and that kind o' thing. She had on a short petticut, comin' +half-way down to her knees, and a necklace, and a ring through her +nose. And--” + +“Where were her other clothes?” asked the child. + +“Wal--maybe she kem off in a hurry and forgot 'em!” said the Captain, +charitably. “Anyhow, not speakin' her language, I didn't ask her. +And she was as black as the ace of spades, and shinin' all over with +butter.” + +“Oh, _that_ kind of princess!” said Star, loftily. “I didn't mean +that kind, Daddy. I meant the kind who live in fretted palaces, with +music in th' enamelled stones, you know, and wore clothes like these +every day.” + +“Wal, Honey, I never saw one of that kind, till now!” said the +Captain, meekly. “And I'm sorry I hain't--I mean I _ain't_--got no +fretted palace for my princess to live in. This is a poor place for +golden lasses and velvet trains.” + +“It _isn't_!” cried the child, her face flashing into sudden anger, +and stamping her foot. “You sha'n't call it a poor place, Daddy! It's +wicked of you. And I wouldn't live in a palace if there were _fifty_ +of them all set in a row. So there now!” She folded her arms and +looked defiantly at the old man, who returned her gaze placidly, and +continued to puff at his pipe, until he was seized in a penitent +embrace, hugged, and kissed, and scolded, and wept over, all at once. + +The brief tempest over, the child seated herself comfortably on his +knee, and said, “Now, Daddy, I want a story.” + +“Story before supper?” asked the Captain, meekly, looking at the +saucepan, which was fairly lifting its lid in its eagerness to be +attended to. A fresh access of remorseful hugging followed. + +“You poor darling!” said Star; “I forgot all about supper. And it's +stewed kidneys, too! But oh! my dress!” and she glanced down at her +velvet splendour. “I must go and take it off,” she said, sadly. + +“Not you, Honeysuckle,” said the old man, rising and setting the child +down carefully in the chair. “Sit you there, and be a real princess, +and I will be your steward, and get supper this time. I like to see +you in your fine clothes, and 'twould be a shame to take 'em off so +soon.” + +She clapped her hands again, and settling herself cosily in the great +chair, arranged her train with a graceful sweep, and pushed back her +cloudy golden hair. + +“Shall I really act princess?” she asked,--and without waiting for +an answer, she began to give orders in lofty tones, holding her head +high in the air, and pointing hither and thither with her tiny hands. +“Take up the golden chafing-dish, Grumio!” she cried. “The kidneys--I +mean the capons--are quite ready now. And the milk--no! the sack--is +in the silver flagon!” she pointed to an ancient blue jug which stood +on the dresser. + +The obedient Captain hastened to take up the saucepan, and soon the +frugal supper was set out, and princess and steward were doing ample +justice to it. + +“You didn't say 'Anon! anon! Madam' when I ordered you about,” said +the Princess, thoughtfully. “You ought to, you know. Servants always +do in the book.” + +“Wal, I didn't think on't,” the steward admitted. “I wa'n't brought +up to the business, you see, Princess. It always seemed to me a +foolish thing to say, anyhow: no disrespect to W. Shakespeare. The +hull of the word's 'anonymous,' I believe, and the dictionary says +_that_ means 'wanting a name.' So, altogether, Star Bright, I haven't +been able to make much sense out o' that answer.” + +“Oh, never mind!” said the Princess, tossing her head. “I don't like +the dictionary. It's a wretch!” + +“So 'tis, so 'tis,” assented the Captain, with servile alacrity. “Have +some more milk then, Sunshine.” + +“It isn't milk! it's sack,” said the child, promptly, holding out +her small yellow mug with a royal air. “Are the capons good, Grumio?” + +“They are, my lamb, they are,” replied the Captain. “Oncommon good +they are, to be sure, and me not knowin' to this day what capons was. +A little more? Yes, Pigeon Pie, I _will_ take a little more, thank +ye kindly.” + +“I don't _think_, Grumio, that you ought to call me lambs and pigeon +pies just now,” remarked the Princess, judiciously. “Do you think +it's respectful? they don't in Shakespeare, I'm sure.” + +“I won't do it again, Honey--I mean Madam;” said the Captain, bowing +with great humility. “I beg your honourable majesty's pardon, and +I won't never presume to--” + +“Yes, you will!” cried the Princess, flinging herself across the table +at him, and nearly choking him with the sudden violence of her +embrace. “You shall call me pigeon pie, and anything else you like. +You shall call me rye porridge, though I hate it, and it's always +full of lumps. And don't ever look that way again; it _kills_ me!” + +The Captain quietly removed the clinging arms, and kissed them, and +set the half-weeping child back in her place. “There, there, there!” + he said, soothingly. “What a little tempest it is!” + +“Say 'delicate Ariel,'” sobbed Star. “You haven't said it to-day, +and you always say it when you love me.” + +“Cream Cheese from the dairy of Heaven,” replied the Captain; “if +I always said it when I loved you, I should be sayin' it every minute +of time, as well you know. But you are my delicate Ariel, so you are, +and there ain't nothin' in the hull book as suits you better. So!” + and his supper ended, the good man turned his chair again to the fire, +and took the child, once more smiling, upon his knee. + +“And now, Ariel, what have you been doin' all the time I was away? +Tell Daddy all about it.” + +Star pondered a moment, with her head on one side, and a finger hooked +confidentially through the Captain's buttonhole. “Well,” she said, +“I've had a _very_ interesting time, Daddy Captain. First I cleaned +the lamps, of course, and filled and trimmed them. And then I played +Samson a good while; and--” + +“And how might you play Samson?” inquired the Captain. + +“With flies!” replied Star, promptly. “Heaps upon heaps, you know; +'With the jaw-bone of an ass have I slain a thousand men.' The flies +were the Philistines, and I took a clam-shell for the jaw-bone; it +did just as well. And I made a song out of it, to one of the tunes +you whistle: 'With the jaw-bone! with the jaw-bone! with the jaw-bone +of an ass!' It was very exciting.” + +“Must ha' been,” said the Captain dryly. “Well, Honeysuckle, what +did you do then?” + +“Oh, that took some time!” said the child. “And afterward I fished +a little, but I didn't catch anything, 'cept an old flounder, and +he winked at me, so I put him back. And then I thought a long +time--oh! a very long time, sitting like Patience on the doorstep. +And _suddenly_, Daddy Captain, I thought about those boxes of clothes, +and how you said they would be mine when I was big. And I measured +myself against the doorpost, and found that I _was very_ big. I +thought I must be almost as big as you, but I s'pose I'd forgotten +how big you were. So I went up, and opened one box, and I was just +putting the dress on when you came in. You knew where it came from, +of course, Daddy, the moment you saw it.” + +The Captain nodded gravely, and pulled his long moustaches. + +“Do you suppose my poor mamma wore it often?” the child went on, +eagerly. “Do you think she looked like me when she wore it? Do I look +as she did when you saw her?” + +“Wal,” began the Captain, meditatively; but Star ran on without +waiting for an answer. + +“Of course, though, she looked very different, because she was dead. +You are quite very positively sure my poor mamma was dead, Daddy +Captain?” + +“She were,” replied the Captain, with emphasis. “She were that, Pigeon +Pie! You couldn't find nobody deader, not if you'd sarched for a week. +Why, door nails, and Julius Caesar, and things o' that description, +would ha' been _lively_ compared with your poor ma when I see her. +Lively! that's what they'd ha' been.” + +The child nodded with an air of familiar interest, wholly untinged +with sadness. “I think,” she said, laying her head against the old +man's shoulder, and curling one arm about his neck, “I think I should +like to hear about it again, please, Daddy. It's a long, long time +since you told me the whole of it.” + +“Much as a month, I should think it must be,” assented the Captain. +“Why, Snowdrop, you know the story by heart, better'n I do, I believe. +'Pears to me I've told it reg'lar, once a month or so, ever since +you were old enough to understand it.” + +“Never mind!” said the Princess, with an imperious gesture. “That +makes no difference. I _want_ it now!” + +“Wal, wal!” said the Captain, smoothing back the golden hair. “If +you _want_ it, why of course you must have it, Blossom! But first +I must light up, ye know. One star inside the old house, and the other +atop of it: that's what makes Light Island the lightest spot in the +natural world. Sit ye here, Star Bright, and play Princess till Daddy +comes back!” + + + + +CHAPTER II. -- THE STORY + + +The lamps were lighted, and the long, level rays flashed their golden +warning over the murmuring darkness of the summer sea, giving cheer +to many hearts on inbound barque or schooner. Bright indeed was the +star on the top of the old lighthouse; but no less radiant was the +face of little Star, as she turned it eagerly towards Captain January, +and waited for the beginning of the well-known and well-loved story. + +“Wal,” said the Captain, when his pipe was refilled and drawing +bravely. “Let me see now! where shall I begin?” + +“At the beginning!” said Star promptly. + +“Jes' so!” assented the old man. “Ten years ago this--” + +“No! No!!” cried the child. “_That_ isn't the beginning, Daddy! That's +almost half-way to the middle. 'When I was a young lad.' That's the +beginning.” + +“Bound to have it all, are ye, Honeysuckle?” said the obedient +Captain. “Wal! Wal! when I were a young lad, I was a wild un, ye see, +Treasure. My father, he 'prenticed me to a blacksmith, being big and +strong for my years; but I hadn't no heart for the work. All I cared +about was the sea, and boats, and sailors, and sea talk. I ran away +down to the wharf whenever I could get a chance, and left my work. +Why, even when I went to meetin', 'stead o' listenin', to the +minister, I was lookin' out the places about them as go down to the +sea in ships, ye know, and 'that leviathan whom Thou hast made,' and +all that. And there was Hiram, King of Tyre, and his ships! Lord! +how I used to think about them ships, and wonder how they was rigged, +and how many tons they were, and all about it. Yes! I was a wild un, +and no mistake; and after awhile I got so roused up--after my mother +died, it was, and my father married again--that I just run away, and +shipped aboard of a whaler, bound for the north seas. Wal, Honey, +'twould take me a week to tell ye about all my voyages. Long and short +of it, 'twas the life I was meant for, and I done well in it. Had +tumbles and toss-ups, here and there, same as everybody has in any +kind o' life; but I done well, and by the time I was forty year old +I was captain of the _Bonito_, East Indiaman, sailin' from New York +to Calcutta.” + +The Captain paused, and puffed gravely at his pipe for a few minutes. + +“Well, Rosebud,” he continued, presently, “you know what comes next. +The _Bonito_ was cast away, in a cyclone, on a desert island, and +all hands lost, except me and one other.” + +“Dear Daddy! poor Daddy!” cried the child, putting her little hands +up to the weather-beaten face, and drawing it down to hers. “Don't +talk about that dreadful part. Go on to the next!” + +“No, I won't talk about it, Star Bright!” said the old man, very +gravely. “Fust place I can't, and second place it ain't fit for little +maids to hear of. But I lived on that island fifteen year,--five year +with my good mate Job Hotham, and ten year alone, after Job died. +When a ship kem by, after that, and took me off, I'd forgot most +everything, and was partly like the beasts that perish; but it kem +back to me. Slow, like, and by fits, as you may say; but it kem back, +all there was before, and maybe a good bit more!” + +“Poor Daddy!” murmured the child again, pressing her soft cheek +against the white beard. “It's all over now! Don't think of it! I +am here, Daddy, loving you: loving you _all to pieces_, you know!” + +The old man was silent for a few minutes, caressing the little white +hands which lay like twin snowflakes in his broad, brown palm. Then +he resumed, cheerfully: + +“And so, Cream Cheese from the dairy of Heaven, I kem home. Your old +Daddy kem home, and landed on the same wharf he'd sailed from +twenty-five years before. Not direct, you understand, but takin' +steamer from New York, and so on. Wal, there wa'n't nobody that knew +me, or cared for me. Father was dead, and his wife; and their +children, as weren't born when I sailed from home, were growed up +and gone away. No, there wa'n't nobody. Wal, I tried for a spell to +settle down and live like other folks, but 'twa'n't no use. I was'nt +used to the life, and I couldn't stand it. For ten years I haven't +heard the sound of a human voice, and now they was buzz, buzzin' all +the time; it seemed as if there was a swarm of wasps round my ears +the everlastin' day. Buzz! buzz! and then clack! clack! like an +everlasting mill-clapper; and folks starin' at my brown face and white +hair, and askin' me foolish questions. I couldn't stand it, that was +all. I heard that a light-keeper was wanted here, and I asked for +the place, and got it. And that's all of the first part, Peach +Blossom.” + +The child drew a long breath, and her face glowed with eager +anticipation. “And _now_, Daddy Captain,” she said, “_now_ you may +say, 'Ten years ago this fall!'” + +“Ten years ago this fall,” said the Captain meekly acquiescing, “on +the fourteenth day of September, as ever was, I looks out from the +tower, bein' a-fillin' of the lamps, and says I, 'There's a storm +comin'!' So I made all taut above and below, fastened the door, and +took my glass and went out on the rocks, to see how things looked. +Wal, they looked pooty bad. There had been a heavy sea on for a couple +o' days, and the clouds that was comin' up didn't look as if they +was goin' to smooth it down any. There was a kind o' brassy look over +every thin', and when the wind began to rise, it warn't with no +nat'ral sound, but a kind of screech to it, on'arthly like. Wal, thar! +the wind did rise, and it riz to stay. In half an hour it was blowin' +half a gale; in an hour it blew a gale, and as tough a one (barrin' +cyclones) as ever I see. 'T had like to ha' blow me off my pins, half +a dozen times. Then nat'rally the sea kem up; and 'twas all creation +on them rocks, now I tell ye. 'The sea, mountin' to the welkin's +cheek;' ye remember, Pigeon Pie?” + +The child nodded eagerly. “Tempest!” she said, “Act I., Scene 2: +'Enter Prospero and Miranda.' Go on, Daddy!” + +“Wal, my Lily Flower,” continued the old man. “And the storm went +on. It roared, it bellowed, and it screeched: it thumped and it +kerwhalloped. The great seas would come bunt up agin the rocks, as +if they was bound to go right through to Jersey city, which they used +to say was the end of the world. Then they'd go scoopin' back, as +if they was callin' all their friends and neighbours to help; and +then, bang! they'd come at it agin. The spray was flyin' in great +white sheets, and whiles, it seemed as if the hull island was goin' +to be swallowed up then and thar. 'Tain't nothin' but a little heap +o' rocks anyhow, to face the hull Atlantic Ocean gone mad: and on +that heap o' rocks was Januarius Judkins, holdin' on for dear life, +and feelin' like a hoppergrass that had got lost in Niag'ry Falls.” + +“Don't say that name, Daddy!” interrupted the child. “You know I don't +like it. Say 'Captain January'!” + +“I tell ye, Honeysuckle,” said the old man, “I felt more like a +sea-cook than a cap'n _that_ night. A cap'n on a quarter-deck's a +good thing; but a cap'n on a p'int o' rock, out to sea in a northeast +gale, might just as well be a fo'c'sle hand and done with it. Wal, +as I was holdin' on thar, I seed a flash to windward, as wasn't +lightning; and next minute kem a sound as wasn't thunder nor yet wind +nor sea.” + +“The guns! the guns!” cried the child, in great excitement. “The guns +of my poor mamma's ship. And then you heard them again, Daddy?” + +“Then I heard them agin!” the old man assented. “And agin! a flash, +and a boom! and then in a minute agin, a flash and a boom! 'Oh, Lord!' +says I. 'Take her by to the mainland, and put her ashore there!' I +says; 'cause there's a life-saving station thar, ye know, Blossom, +and there might be some chance for them as were in her. But the Lord +had His views, my dear, the Lord had His views! Amen! so be it! In +another minute there kem a break in the clouds, and thar she was, +comin' full head on, straight for Light Island. Oh! my little Star, +that was an awful thing to see. And I couldn't do nothin', you +understand. Not a livin' airthly thing could I do, 'cept hide my face +agin the rock I was clingin' to, and say, 'Dear Lord, take 'em easy! +It's Thy will as they should be took,' I says, 'and there ain't no +one to hender, if so be as they could. But take 'em easy, good Lord, +and take 'em suddin!'” + +“And He did!” cried the child. “The good Lord did take 'em sudden, +didn't He, Daddy Captain?” + +“He did, my child!” said the old man, solemnly. “They was all home, +them that was goin', in ten minutes from the time I saw the ship. +You know the Roarin' Bull, as sticks his horns out o' water just to +windward of us? the cruelest rock on the coast, he is, and the +treacherousest: and the ship struck him full and fair on the starboard +quarter, and in ten minutes she was kindlin' wood, as ye may say. The +Lord rest their souls as went down in her! Amen!” + +“Amen!” said little Star, softly. But she added in an eager tone, +“And now, Daddy, you are coming to me!” + +“Pooty soon, Jewel Bright!” said the old man, stroking the gold hair +tenderly. “I'm a-comin' to you pooty soon. 'Twas along about eight +bells when she struck, and none so dark, for the moon had risen. After +the ship had gone down, I strained my eyes through the driving spray, +to see whether anything was comin' ashore. Presently I seed somethin' +black, driftin' towards the rocks: and lo' ye, 'twas a boat bottom +side up, and all hands gone down. Wal! wal! the Lord knew what was +right: but it's wuss by a deal to _see_ them things than to be in +'em yourself, to my thinkin'. Wal, after a spell I looked agin, and +there was somethin' else a-driftin' looked like a spar, it did: and +somethin' was lashed to it. My heart! 'twas tossed about like a +egg-shell, up and down, and here and thar! 'Twas white, whatever was +lashed to it, and I couldn't take my eyes off'n it. 'It can't be +alive!' I says, 'whatever it is!' I says. 'But I'll get it, if it +takes a leg!' I says. For down in my heart, Jewel, I knew they +wouldn't ha' taken such care of anythin' _but_ what was alive, and +they perishin', but I didn't think it could live in such a sea long +enough to get ashore. Wal, I kep' my eyes on that spar, and I see +that 'twas comin' along by the south side. Then I ran, or crawled, +'cordin' as the wind allowed me, back to the shed, and got a boat-hook +and a coil o' rope; and then I clumb down as far as I dared, on the +south rocks. I scooched down under the lee of a p'int o' rock, and +made the rope fast round my waist, and the other end round the rock, +and then I waited for the spar to come along. 'Twas hard to make out +anythin', for the water was all a white, bilin' churn, and the spray +flyin' fit to blind you; but bimeby I co't sight of her comin' +swashin' along, now up on top of a big roarer, and then scootin' down +into the holler, and then up agin. I crep' out on the rocks, grippin' +'em for all I was wuth, with the boat-hook under my arm. The wind +screeched and clawed at me like a wildcat in a caniption fit, but +I hadn't been through those cyclones for nothin'. I lay down flat +and wriggled myself out to the edge, and thar I waited.” + +“And the waves were breaking over you all the time?” cried the child, +with eager inquiry. + +“Wal, they was that, Honeysuckle!” said the Captain. “Bless ye, I +sh'd ha' been washed off like a log if 't hadn't ben for the rope. +But that held; 'twas a good one, and tied with a bowline, and it held. +Wal, I lay thar, and all to wunst I see her comin' by like a flash, +close to me. '_Now_!' says I, 'ef ther's any stuff in you, J. Judkins, +let's see it!' says I. And I chucks myself over the side o' the rock +and grabs her with the boat-hook, and hauls her in. 'All together,' +I says. '_Now_, my hearties! Yo heave _ho_!' and I hed her up, and +hauled her over the rocks and round under the lee of the p'int, before +I stopped to breathe. How did I do it? Don't ask me, Jewel Bright! +_I_ don't know how I did it. There's times when a man has strength +given to him, seemin'ly, over and above human strength. 'Twas like +as if the Lord ketched holt and helped me: maybe He did, seein' what +'twas I was doing. Maybe He did!” He paused a moment in thought, but +Star was impatient. + +“Well, Daddy!” she cried. “And then you looked and found it was--go +on, Daddy dear!” + +“I looked,” continued the old man, “and I found it was a sail, that +had showed so white against the spar; a sail, wrapped tight round +somethin'. I cut the ropes, and pulled away the canvas and a tarpaulin +that was inside that; and thar I seed--” + +“My poor mamma and me!” cried the child, joyously, clapping her hands. +“Oh, Daddy Captain, it _is_ so delightful when you come to this part! +And my poor mamma was dead? You are quite positively sure that she +was dead, Daddy?” + +“She were, my lamb!” replied the Captain, gravely. “You needn't never +have no doubt about it. She had had a blow on the head, your poor +ma had, from one o' the bull's horns, likely; and I'll warrant she +never knowed anythin' after it, poor lady! She was wrapped in a great +fur cloak, the same as you have on your bed in winter, Blossom: and +lyin' all clost and warm in her cold arms, that held on still, though +the life was gone out of 'em, was”--the old man faltered, and brushed +his rough hand across his eyes--“was a--a little baby. Asleep, it +seemed to be, all curled up like a rose on its mother's breast, and +its pooty eyes tight shut. I loosed the poor arms--they was like a +stattoo's, so round and white and cold; and I took the child up in +my arms; and lo' ye! it opened its eyes and looked straight at me +and laughed.” + +“And it said, Daddy?” cried the delighted child, clapping her hands. +“Tell what it said!” + +“It said 'Tar,'” the old man continued, in a hushed voice. “'Tar,' +it said as plain as I say it to you. 'And “Star” it is!' says I; for +'if ever a star shone on a dark night, it's you, my pooty,' I says. +'Praise the Lord,' I says. 'Amen, so be it.' Then I laid your poor +ma in a corner, under the lee of the big rock, where the spray +wouldn't fly over her, and I covered her with the sail; and then I +took the fur cloak, seein' the baby needed it and she didn't, and +wrapped it round the little un, and clumb back over the rocks, up +to the house. And so, Honeysuckle--” + +“And so,” cried the child, taking his two great hands and putting +them softly together, “so I came to be your little Star!” + +“To be my little Star!” assented the old man, stooping to kiss the +golden head. + +“Your light and your joy!” exclaimed the child, laughing with +pleasure. + +“My light and my joy!” said the old man, solemnly. “A light from +heaven to shine in a dark place, and the Lord's message to a sinful +man.” + +He was silent for a little, looking earnestly into the child's radiant +face. Presently, “You've been happy, Star Bright?” he asked. “You +haven't missed nothin'?” + +Star opened wide eyes of surprise at him. “Of course I've been happy!” + she said. “Why shouldn't I be?” + +“You ain't--I mean you haven't mourned for your poor ma, have ye, +Jewel?” He was still looking curiously at her, and his look puzzled +her. + +“No,” she said after a pause. “Of course not. I never knew my poor +mamma. Why should I mourn for her? She is in heaven, and I am very +glad. You say heaven is much nicer than here, so it must be pleasanter +for my poor mamma; and I don't need her, because I have you, Daddy. +But go on, now, please, Daddy dear. 'Next day'--” + +“Next day,” resumed the obedient Captain, “the sky was bright and +clear, and only the heavy sea, and your poor ma, and you, Peach +Blossom, to tell what had happened, so far as I seed at fust. Bimeby, +when I went out to look, I found other things.” + +“My poor papa!” said Star, with an air of great satisfaction. + +The Captain nodded. “Yer poor pa,” he said, “and two others with him. +How did I know he was your poor pa? Along of his havin' your poor +ma's pictur hung round his neck. And a fine-lookin' man he was, to +be sure!” + +“And his name was 'H. M.'!” cried the child, eagerly. + +“Them was the letters of it!” assented the Captain. “Worked on his +shirt and hank'cher, so fine as ever was. Well, Jewel Bright, when +I seed all this, I says, 'January,' says I, 'here's Christian corpses, +and they must have Christian burial!' I says. So I brought 'em all +up to the house, and laid 'em comfortable; and then I gave you a good +drink of warm milk (you'd been sleepin' like a little angil, and only +waked up to smile and crow and say ''Tar'), and gave you a bright +spoon to play with; and then I rowed over to shore to fetch the +minister and the crowner, and everybody else as was proper. You don't +care about this part, Honeysuckle, and you ain't no need to, but +everything was done decent and Christian, and your parents and the +other two laid peaceful under the big pine-tree. Then the minister, +when 'twas all done, he says to me, 'And now, my friend,' he says, +'I'll relieve you of the child, as would be a care to you, and I can +find some one to take charge of it!' he says. 'Meanin' no disrespect, +Minister,' I says, 'don't think it! The Lord has His views, you'll +allow, most times, and He had 'em when He sent the child here. He +could have sent her ashore by the station jest as easy,' I says, 'if +so be't had seemed best; but He sent her to me,' I says, 'and I'll +keep her.' 'But how can you bring up a child?' he says, 'alone, here +on a rock in the ocean?' he says. 'I've been thinking that over, +Minister,' I says, 'ever since I holt that little un in my arms, +takin' her from her dead mother's breast,' I says; 'and I can't see +that there's more than three things needed to bring up a child,--the +Lord's help, common sense, and a cow. The last two I hev, and the +fust is likely to be round when a man asks for it!' I says. So then +we shakes hands, and he doesn't say nothin' more, 'cept to pray a +blessin' for me and for the child. And the blessin' kem, and the +blessin' stayed, Star Bright; and there's the end of the story, my +maid. + +“And now it's time these two eyes were shut, and only the top star +shinin' in the old tower. Good night, Jewel! Good night, and God bless +you!” + + + + +CHAPTER III. -- INTRODUCING IMOGEN AND BOB + + +“Imogen!” said Star, looking up from her book, “I don't believe you +have been listening!” + +Imogen looked up meekly, but made no attempt to deny the charge. + +“You _must_ listen!” said the child, sternly. “First place, it's +beautiful: and besides, it's very rude not to listen when people +reads. And you ought _not_ to be rude, Imogen!” After which short +lecture, Star turned to her book again,--a great book it was, lying +open on the little pink calico lap,--and went on reading, in her clear +childish voice: + + “'Over hill, over dale, + Thorough bush, thorough brier, + Over park, over pale, + Thorough flood, thorough fire, + I do wander everywhere, + Swifter than the moony sphere; + And I serve the fairy queen, + To dew her orbs upon the green:' + +Do you know what a fairy is, Imogen?” asked Star, looking up again +suddenly. + +But this time it was very evident that Imogen (who was, in truth, +a large white cow, with a bell round her neck) was paying no attention +whatever to the reading; for she had fairly turned her back, and was +leisurely cropping the short grass, swaying her tail in a comfortable +and reflective manner the while. + +Star sprang to her feet, and seizing the delinquent's horns, shook +them with all her might. + +“How dare you turn your back when I am reading?” she cried. “I'm just +ashamed of you! You're a disgrace to me, Imogen. Why, you are as +ignorant as a--as--as a lobster! and you a great cow with four whole +legs. A--a--ah! shame on you!” + +Imogen rubbed her head deprecatingly against the small pink shoulder, +and uttered a soft and apologetic “moo;” but Star was not ready to +be mollified yet. + +“And you know it's my _own_ book, too!” she continued, reproachfully. +“My own Willum Shakespeare, that I love more--well, no! not _more_ +than I love you, Imogen, but just as much, and almost nearly half +as much as I love Daddy Captain. + +“But after all,” she added, with a smile flitting over her frowning +little face, “after all, you poor dear, you _are_ only a cow, and +I don't suppose you know.” And then she hugged Imogen, and blew a +little into one of her ears, to make her wink it, and the two were +very friendly again. + +“Perhaps you would like to know, Imogen,” said Star, confidentially, +seating herself once more on the ground, “_why_ I am so fond of Willum +Shakespeare. So I will tell you. It is really part of _my_ story, +but Daddy Captain didn't get as far as that last night, so I think +I will tell it to you. Well!” she drew a long breath of enjoyment, +and, clasping her hands round her knees, settled herself for a “good +talk.” + +“Well, Imogen: you see, at first I was a little baby, and didn't know +anything at all. But by and by I began to grow big, and then Daddy +Captain said to himself, 'Here's a child,' he says, 'and a child of +gentlefolks, and she mustn't grow up in ignorance, and me doing my +duty by her poor pa and ma,' he says. So he rows over to the town, +and he goes to the minister (the same minister who came over here +before), and he says, 'Good morning, Minister!' and the minister +shakes him by the hand hearty, and says, 'Why, Captain January!' he +says, 'I'm amazing glad to see you. And how is the child?' And Daddy +says, 'The child is a-growing with the flowers,' he says; 'and she's +a-growing like the flowers. Show me a rose that's as sweet and as +well growed as that child,' he says, 'and I'll give you my head, +Minister.' That's the way Daddy talks, you know, Imogen. And then +he told the minister how he didn't want the child (that was me, of +course) to grow up in ignorance, and how he wanted to teach me. And +the minister asked him was he qualified to teach. 'Not yet, I ain't!' +says Daddy Captain, 'but I'm a-going to be. I want a book, or maybe +a couple of books, that'll edicate me in a manner all round!' he says. +'I couldn't do with a lot of 'em,' he says, ''cause I ain't used to +it, and it makes things go round inside my head. But I think I could +tackle two if they was fustrate,' he says. The minister laughed, and +told Daddy he wanted a good deal. Then he asked him if he had the +Good Book. That's the Bible, you know, Imogen. Daddy Captain won't +let me read that to you, because you are a beast that perish. Poor +dear!” she leaned forward and kissed Imogen's pink nose. “And Daddy +said _of course_ he had that, only the letters weren't so clear as +they used to be, somehow, perhaps along of getting wet in his weskit +pocket, being he carried it along always. So the minister gave him +a _new big_ BEAUTIFUL Bible, Imogen! It isn't so new _now_, but it's +just as big and beautiful, and I love it. And then he thought for +a long time, the minister did, walking about the room and looking +at all the books. The whole room was full of books, Daddy says, all +on shelves, 'cept some on the floor and the table and the chairs. +It made his head go round dreadful to see them all, Daddy says (I +mean Daddy's head), and think of anybody reading them. He says he +doesn't see how in creation the minister manages to keep his bearings, +and look out for a change in the wind, and things that _have_ to be +done, and read all those books too. _Well_!” she kissed Imogen's nose +again, from sheer enjoyment, and threw her head back with a laugh +of delight. “I'm coming to it now, Imogen!” she cried. “At last the +minister took down a big book--OH! you precious old thing, how I love +you!” (this apostrophe was addressed to the quarto volume which she +was now hugging rapturously), “and said, 'Well, Captain January, +here's the best book in the world, _next_ to the Good Book!' he says. +'You'll take this,' he says, 'as my gift to you and the child; and +with these two books to guide you, the child's edication won't go +far wrong!' he says; and then he gave Daddy the dictionary, too, +Imogen; but I sha'n't tell you about that, because it's a brute, and +I hate and 'spise it. But--well! _so_, you see, _that_ was the way +I got my Willum Shakespeare, my joy and my pride, my--” + +At this moment a shadow fell upon the grass, and a deep, gruff voice +was heard, saying, “Star, ahoy!” The child started up, and turned +to meet the newcomer with a joyous smile. “Why, Bob!” she cried, +seizing one of his hands in both of hers, and dancing round and round +him. “Where did you come from? Why aren't you on the boat?” + +“Boat's aground!” replied the person addressed as Bob. He spoke in +short, jerky sentences. He was dressed as a seafaring man; had wide, +helpless-looking brown eyes, an apologetic smile, and a bass voice +of appalling depth and power. “Boat's aground,” he repeated, seating +himself on the grass and looking about for a stem of grass long enough +to put in his mouth. “Hard and fast. Waiting for tide to turn; thought +I'd come, pass time o' day.” + +“And how came you to run her aground?” inquired the child, severely. +“A pretty pilot you are! Why, I could steer her myself better than +that.” + +“Fog!” replied the man, in a meek and muffled roar. Then finding a +bit of sorrel, he fell upon it with avidity, and seemed to think he +had said enough. + +“H'm!” said Star, with a disdainful little sniff. “You'd better get +Daddy to steer your boat. _He_ doesn't mind fog. Are there many people +on board?” she added, with an air of interest. + +“Heaps!” replied Bob, succinctly. Then, after a pause of meditative +chewing: “Like to go aboard? take ye--boat--Cap'n willin'.” + +“No, I don't want to go aboard, thank you!” said Star. “I don't like +people. But you might just row me round her once, Bob,” she added. +“I think I should like _that_. But we must wait till Daddy comes, +of course.” + +“Cap'n round?” inquired Bob. + +“He's setting the lobster-pots,” replied the child. “He'll be back +soon. Bob,” she added, irrelevantly, a moment after, “I never noticed +before that you looked like Imogen. Why, you are the very image of +her, Bob! Your eyes and your expression are _exactly_ the same.” Bob +raised his eyes and surveyed Imogen with a critical air. “Fine cow!” + he said at last. “D'no's I mind--'f she doosn't.” + +“_Isn't_ she a fine cow?” cried little Star, patting the meek and +graceful head of her favourite. “I don't believe there's another such +cow in the world. I _know_ there isn't! I think,” she added, “I will +take a little ride on her, while we are waiting for Daddy Captain. +Will you put me up, please, Bob?” + +The obedient Bob lifted her as if she were a ball of thistle-down, +and set her on the broad back of the good cow, who straightway began +to pace sedately along the bit of meadow, following the guidance of +the small hands which clasped her horns. Ah! who will paint me that +picture, as my mind's eye sees it? The blue of sky and sea, the +ripples breaking in silver on silver sand, the jewelled green, where +the late dandelions flecked the grass with gold; and in the midst +the lovely, laughing child, mounted on the white cow, tossing her +cloudy golden hair, and looking back with eyes of delight towards +her companion. + +The beauty of it all filled the eyes and the heart of Captain January, +as he came up among the rocks. He paused, and stood for some time +in silence, watching the little well-beloved figure. “Wal!” he said, +“if that ain't one of the young-eyed cherubims, then I never seed +one, that's all.” + +At this moment Star caught sight of him. “O Daddy,” she cried. “My +Daddy Captain, I'm having such a fine ride! It isn't _quite_ as high +as a heaven-kissing hill, but it's a heaven-kissing cow, for Imogen +is really _very_ high. Dear Daddy, won't you come and try it? there's +plenty of room!” + +“Thanky, Peach Blossom!” said the Captain, advancing, and greeting +the apologetic Bob with a hearty shake of the hand. “Thanky kindly, +but I don't believe I will try it. Ridin' was never, so as to say, +in my line. I'm stiddy enough on my own pins, but defend me from +tryin' to git about on another critter's. And how's all with you, +Bob? and why ain't you aboard the _Huntress_?” + +Bob in the fewest possible words related the mishap which had befallen +the boat, and asked if he might take Missy out to see her. + +“To be sure! to be sure!” said Captain January. “That'll be a nice +trip for ye, Honeysuckle. Put on your bunnit and go with Bob. He'll +take good care of ye, Bob will.” + +And so, by what seemed the merest chance, that lovely afternoon, +little Star went with Bob Peet, in his old black boat, to see the +steamer _Huntress_ aground on a sand-bank off the main shore. + +The sea lay all shining and dimpling in the afternoon light, and not +a cloud was to be seen overhead. Here and there a white gull was +slowly waving his wings through the clear air, and little fish came +popping their heads out of the water, just for the pleasure of popping +them back again. Star dipped her hands in the blue crystal below, +and sang little snatches of song, being light of heart and without +a care in the world. They were no nursery songs that she sang, for +she considered herself to have outgrown the very few Mother Goose +ditties which Captain January had treasured in his mind and heart +ever since his mother sang them to him, all the many years ago. She +was tired of: + + “Jacky Barber's coming to town: + Clear away, gentlemen! clear away, gentlemen! + One foot up and t'other foot down, + Jacky Barber's coming to town.” + +But she loved the scraps of sea-song that the old Captain still hummed +over his work: “Baltimore,” and “Blow a Man Down,” and half a dozen +other salt-water ditties: and it might have been strange to less +accustomed ears than Bob Peet's to hear the sweet child-voice +carolling merrily: + + “Boney was a warrior, + Weigh! heigh! oh! + Boney was a warrior, + John Francois! + Boney whipped the Rooshians, + Weigh! heigh! oh! + Boney whipped the Prooshians, + John Francois! + Boney went to Elba, + Weigh! heigh! oh!” etc. + +Bob's oars kept time with the song, and his portentous voice thundered +out the refrain with an energy which shook the little skiff from stem +to stern. By the time that “Boney” was safely consigned to his grave +in sunny France, they were nearing the flats on which the steamer +_Huntress_ lay, quietly awaiting the turn of the tide. + +Star knew the great white boat well, for twice a day she went +thundering past Light Island, churning the quiet blue water into foam +with her huge paddles, on her way to and from the gay summer city +which all the world came to visit. Nearly every day the child would +run out on the south rocks to wave a greeting to some of her +acquaintances among the crew; for she knew them all, from the +black-bearded captain down to the tiniest cabin-boy; and they, for +their part, were always eager--good souls!--for a smile or a nod from +the “Star of Light Island.” Not a man of them but envied Bob Peet +his privilege of going when he pleased to the lighthouse rock. For +Captain January was not fond of visitors, and gave them no +encouragement to come, Bob Peet being the single exception to the +rule. The Captain liked Bob because he was not “given to clatter,” + and “knew how to belay his jaw.” + +“I do love to see a man belay his jaw!” said Captain January, +unconsciously quoting the words of another and a more famous captain, +the beloved David Dodd. So Bob was free to come and go as he liked, +and to smoke his pipe in sociable silence for hours at a time, within +the walls of Storm Castle. + +“Stop here, Bob!” said Star, with an imperious motion of her hand. +“I don't want to go any nearer.” The obedient Bob lay on his oars, +and both looked up at the great boat, now only a few yards away. The +decks were crowded with passengers, who leaned over the railings, +idly chatting, or watching the water to see if the tide had turned. + +“Sight o' folks,” said Bob Peet, nodding towards the after-deck, which +seemed a solid mass of human beings. + +“Yes,” said the child, speaking half to herself, in a low tone. “It's +just like the Tower of Babel, isn't it? I should think they would +be afraid. 'And the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the +face of all the earth.' And it's so _stupid_!” she added, after a +moment's pause. “Why don't they stay at home? Haven't they any homes +to stay at? Who takes care of their homes while they go sailing about +like loons?” + +“Folks likes to v'yage,” said Bob Peet, with mild toleration. +“Heaps--nothin' t' do--hot spells--v'yages.” He added, with an +approach to a twinkle in his meek and cow-like eyes, “Try it--some +day--git tired of ol' Cap'n--ol' rock--pooty soon--take ye--v'yage--” + +His speech was interrupted by a sudden and violent dash of water in +his face. + +“Take that!” cried Star, panting with fury, and flinging the water +at him with all her small might. “I wish it was sharp stones, instead +of just water. I wish it was needles, and jagged rocks, and quills +upon the fretful porkypine, so I do! How dare you say such things +to me, Bob Peet? How dare you?” She paused, breathless, but with +flashing eyes and burning cheeks; while Bob meekly mopped his face +and head with a red cotton handkerchief, and shook the water from +his ears, eyeing her the while with humble and deprecatory looks. + +“No offence,” he muttered, in apologetic thunder-rumble. “Poor ol' +Bob--eh, Missy? Sorry, beg pardon! Never no more. Didn't mean +it--nohow!” + +The tempest subsided as suddenly as it rose, and Star, with a +forgiving nod, took out her own little handkerchief and daintily wiped +a few drops from her victim's forehead. + +“You're so stupid, Bob,” she said, frankly, “that I suppose I ought +not to get angry with you, any more than I would with Imogen, though +even she provokes me sometimes. So I forgive you, Bob. But if you +ever say such a thing again as my getting tired of Daddy, I'll kill +you. So now you know!” + +“Jes' so!” assented Bob. “Nat'rally! _To_ b' sure!” + +The sudden splashing of the water had caught many eyes on the deck +of the _Huntress_, and people admired the “playfulness” of the pretty +child in the little boat. One pair of eyes, however, was sharper than +the rest. + +“Just look at that child, Isabel!” said a tall, bronzed gentleman +who was leaning over the taff-rail. “She is a perfect little fury! +I never saw a pair of eyes flash so. Very fine eyes they are, too. +A very beautiful child. Isabel! why, my dear, what is the matter? +You are ill--faint! let me--” + +But the lady at his side pushed his arm away, and leaned forward, +her eyes fixed upon Star's face. + +“George,” she said, in a low, trembling voice, “I want to know who +that child is. I _must_ know, George! Find out for me, dear, please!” + +As she spoke, she made a sign towards the boat, so earnest, so +imperative, that it caught Star's wandering gaze. Their eyes met, +and the little child in the pink calico frock, and the stately lady +in the India shawl, gazed at each other as if they saw nothing else +in the world. The gentleman looked from one to the other in amazement. + +“Isabel!” he whispered, “the child looks like you. What can this +mean?” + +But little Star, in the old black boat, cried, “Take me away, Bob! +take me home to my Daddy Captain! _Quick_! do you hear?” + +“Jes' so” said Bob Peet. “Nat'rally!” + + + + +CHAPTER IV. -- THE VISIT + + +A gray day! soft gray sky, like the breast of a dove; sheeny gray +sea, with gleams of steel running across; trailing skirts of mist +shutting off the mainland, leaving Light Island alone with the ocean; +the white tower gleaming spectral among the folding mists; the dark +pine-tree pointing a sombre finger to heaven; the wet, black rocks, +from which the tide had gone down, huddling together in fantastic +groups as if to hide their nakedness. + +On the little beach two men were slowly pacing up and down, up and +down, one silent, the other talking earnestly. Old men, both, with +white, reverend hair: one slender and small, the other a son of Anak, +big and brawny,--Captain January and the minister. + +It was the minister who had been speaking. But now he had done, and +they took a few turns in silence before the Captain spoke in reply. + +“Minister,” he said,--and his voice was strangely altered from the +gruff, hearty tone which had greeted his guest fifteen minutes before. +“Minister, I ain't a man that's used to hearin' much talk, and it +confuses my mind a bit. There's things inside my head that seems to +go round and round, sometimes, and put me out. Now, if it isn't askin' +too much, I'll git you to go over them p'ints again. Slow, like! slow, +Minister, bearin' in mind that I'm a slow man, and not used to it. +This--this lady, she come to your house yisterday, as ever was?” + +“Yesterday,” assented the minister; and his voice had a tender, almost +compassionate tone, as if he were speaking to a child. + +“And a fine day it were!” said Captain January. “Wind steady, sou'west +by sou'. Fog in the mornin', and Bob Peet run the _Huntress_ aground +on the bank. I never liked fog, Minister! 'Give me a gale,' I'd say, +'or anythin' short of a cyclone,' I'd say, 'but don't give me fog!' +and see now, how it's come about! But it lifted, soon as the harm +were done. It lifted, and as fine a day as ever you see.” + +The minister looked at him in some alarm, but the old man's keen blue +eyes were clear and intelligent, and met his gaze openly. + +“You're thinkin' I'm crazy, minister, or maybe drunk,” he said, +quietly; “but I ain't neither one. I'm on'y takin' it by and large. +When a man has been fifteen year on a desert island, ye see, he learns +to take things by and large. But I never see good come of a fog yet. +Amen! so be it! And so Cap'n Nazro brought the lady to your house, +Minister?” + +“Captain Nazro came with her,” said the minister, “and also her +husband, Mr. Morton, and Robert Peet, the pilot. Mrs. Morton had seen +little Star in Peet's boat, and was greatly and painfully struck by +the child's likeness to a beloved sister of hers, who had, it was +supposed, perished at sea, with her husband and infant child, some +ten years ago.” + +“Ten year ago,” repeated Captain January, passing his hand across +his weather-beaten face, which looked older, somehow, than it was +wont to do. “Ten year ago this September. 'He holdeth the waters in +the hollow of His hand.' Go on, Minister. The lady thought my little +Star, as the Lord dropped out of the hollow of His hand into my arms +ten year ago, had a look of her sister.” + +“She was so strongly impressed by it,” the minister continued, +quietly, “that, failing to attract Peet's attention as he rowed away, +she sent for the captain, and begged him to give her all the +information he could about the child. What she heard moved her so +deeply that she became convinced of the child's identity with her +sister's lost infant. As soon as Peet returned after putting Star +ashore, she questioned him even more closely. He, good fellow, refused +to commit himself to anything which he fancied you might not like, +but he told her of my having performed the last rites over the mortal +remains of the child's parents, and Mr. Morton wisely counselled her +to go at once to me, instead of coming here, as she at first wished +to do. After my interview with her, I am bound to say--” + +“Easy now, Minister!” interrupted Captain January. “I'm an old man, +though I never knowed it till this day. Easy with this part!” + +“I am bound to say,” continued the minister, laying his hand kindly +on his companion's arm, “that I think there is little doubt of Star's +being Mrs. Morton's niece.” + +“And what if she be?” exclaimed the old sailor, turning with a sudden +violence which made the gentle minister start back in alarm. “What +if she be? what have the lady done for her niece? Did she take her +out o' the sea, as raged like all the devils let loose, and death +itself a-hangin' round and fairly howlin' for that child? did she +stand on that rock, blind and deef and e'ena'most mazed with the +beatin' and roarin' and onearthly screechin' all round, and take that +child from its dead mother's breast, and vow to the Lord, as helped +in savin' it, to do as should be done by it? Has she prayed, and +worked, and sweat, and laid awake nights, for fear that child's +fingers should ache, this ten years past? Has she--” the old man's +voice, which had been ringing out like a trumpet, broke off suddenly. +The angry fire died out of his blue eyes, and he bowed his head +humbly. “I ask yer pardon, Minister!” he said, quietly, after a pause. +“I humbly ask yer pardon. I had forgotten the Lord, ye see, for all +I was talkin' about Him so glib. I was takin' my view, and forgettin' +that the Lord had His. _He_ takes things by and large, and nat'rally +He takes 'em larger than mortal man kin do. Amen! so be it!” He took +off his battered hat, and stood motionless for a few moments, with +bent head: nor was his the only silent prayer that went up from the +little gray beach to the gray heaven above. + +“Well, Minister,” he said, presently, in a calm and even cheerful +voice, “and so that bein' all clear to your mind, the lady have sent +you to take my--to take her niece--the little lady (and a lady she +were from her cradle) back to her. Is that the way it stands?” + +“Oh, no! no indeed!” cried the kind old minister. “Mrs. Morton would +do nothing so cruel as that, Captain January. She is very +kind-hearted, and fully appreciates all that you have done for the +little girl. But she naturally wants to see the child, and to do +whatever is for her best advantage.” + +“For the child's advantage. That's it!” repeated Captain January. +“That's somethin' to hold on by. Go on, Minister!” + +“So she begged me to come over alone,” continued the minister, “to--to +prepare your mind, and give you time to think the matter well over. +And she and Mr. Morton were to follow in the course of an hour, in +Robert Peet's boat. He is a very singular fellow, that Peet!” added +the good man, shaking his head. “Do you think he is quite in his right +mind? He has taken the most inveterate dislike to Mr. and Mrs. Morton, +and positively refuses to speak to either of them. I could hardly +prevail upon him to bring them over here, and yet he fell into a +strange fury when I spoke of getting some one else to bring them. +He--he is quite safe, I suppose?” + +“Wal, yes!” replied Captain January, with a half smile. “Bob's safe, +if anyone is. Old Bob! so he doosn't like them, eh?” + +At that moment his eye caught something, and he said, in an altered +voice, “Here's Bob's boat coming now, Minister, and the lady and +gentleman in her.” + +“They must have come much more rapidly than I did,” said the minister, +“and yet my boy rows well enough. Compose yourself, January! this +is a heavy blow for you, my good friend. Compose yourself! Things +are strangely ordered in this world. 'We see through a glass darkly'!” + +“Not meanin' to set my betters right, Minister,” said Captain January, +“I never seed as it made any difference whether a man seed or not, +darkly or howsumdever, so long as the Lord made _His_ views clear. +And He's makin' 'em!” he added. “He's makin' 'em, Minister! Amen! +so be it!” And quietly and courteously, ten minutes later, he was +bidding his visitors welcome to Light Island, as if it were a kingdom, +and he the crownless monarch of it. “It's a poor place, Lady!” he +said, with a certain stately humility, as he helped Mrs. Morton out +of the boat. “Good anchorage for a shipwrecked mariner like me, but +no place for ladies or--or them as belongs to ladies.” + +“O Captain January!” cried Mrs. Morton, who was a tall, fair woman, +with eyes like Star's own. “What shall I say to you? I must seem to +you so cruel, so heartless, to come and ask for the child whom you +have loved and cared for so long. For that is what I have come for! +I must speak frankly, now that I see your kind, honest face. I have +come to take my sister's child, for it is my duty to do so.” She laid +both hands on the old man's arm, and looked up in his face with +pleading, tearful eyes. + +But Captain January's face did not move as he answered, quietly, “It +is your duty, Lady. No question o' that, to my mind or any. But,” + he added, with a wistful look, “I'll ask ye to do it easy, Lady. It'll +be sudden like for the--for the young lady. And--she ain't used to +bein' took sudden, my ways bein' in a manner slow. You'll happen find +her a little quick, Lady, in her ways, she bein' used to a person +as was in a manner slow, and havin' to be quick for two, so to say. +But it's the sparkle o' gold, Lady, and a glint o' diamonds.” + +But the lady was weeping, and could not answer; so Captain January +turned to her husband, who met him with a warm grasp of the hand, +and a few hearty and kindly words. + +“And now I'll leave ye with the minister for a minute, Lady and +Gentleman,” the Captain said; “for Bob Peet is a-signallin' me as +if he'd sprung a leak below the water line, and all hands goin' to +the bottom.” + +Bob, who had withdrawn a few paces after beaching his boat, was indeed +making frantic demonstrations to attract the Captain's attention, +dancing and snapping his fingers, and contorting his features in +strange and hideous fashion. + +“Well, Bob,” said the old man, walking up to him, “what's up with +you, and why are ye h'istin' and lowerin' your jib in that onarthly +fashion?” + +Bob Peet seized him by the arm, and led him away up the beach. +“Cap'n,” he said, looking round to make sure that they were out of +hearing of the others, “I can't touch a lady--not seamanly! But 'f +you say the word--knock gen'l'm'n feller--middle o' next week. Say +the word, Cap'n! Good's a meal o' vittles t' me--h'ist him over +cliff!” + + + + +CHAPTER V.-- CAPTAIN JANUARY'S STAR + + +And where was little Star, while all this was going on down on the +beach? Oh, she had been having a delightful afternoon. It was cloudy, +and Daddy was going to be busy, so she had determined to spend an +hour or so in her own room, and enjoy all the delights of “dressing +up.” For the great chest that had been washed ashore from the wreck, +the day after she herself had come to the island, was full of clothes +belonging to her “poor mamma;” and as we have seen, the little woman +was fully inclined to make use of them. + +Beautiful clothes they were; rich silks and velvets, with here and +there cloudy laces and strange webs of Eastern gauze. For she had +been a beautiful woman, this poor mamma, and it had been the delight +of Hugh Maynard, her proud and fond husband, to deck his lovely wife +in all rare and precious stuffs. Some of them were stained with +sea-water, and many of the softer stuffs were crumpled and matted +hopelessly, but that mattered little to Star. Her eyes delighted in +soft, rich colours, and she was never weary of turning them over and +over, trying them on, and “playing s'pose” with them. + +“S'pose,” she would say, “my poor mamma was going to a banquet, like +the Capulet one, or Macbeth's. Oh, no! 'cause that would have been +horrid, with ghosts and daggers and things. S'pose it was the +Capulets! Then she would put on this pink silk. Isn't it pretty, and +soft, and creamy? Just like the wild roses on the south side of the +meadow, that I made a wreath of for Imogen on her birthday. Dear +Imogen! it was _so_ becoming to her. Well, so my poor mamma put it +on--_so_! and then she paced through the hall, and all the lords +turned round and said, 'Mark'st thou yon lady?' 'Cause she was so +beautiful, you know. _This_ is the way she paced!” and then the little +creature would fall to pacing up and down the room, dragging the +voluminous pink folds behind her, her head thrown back, and a look +of delighted pride lighting up her small face. + +It was the funniest little place, this room of Star's, the queerest, +quaintest little elfin bower! It was built out from the south side +of the tower, almost like a swallow's nest, only a swallow's nest +has no window looking out on the blue sea. There was a little white +bed in a corner, and a neat chest of drawers, and a wash-stand, all +made by Captain January's skilful hands, and all shining and spotless. +The bare floor was shining too, and so was the little looking-glass +which hung upon the wall. And beside the looking-glass, and above +it, and in fact all over the walls, were trophies and wonders of all +kinds and descriptions. There was the starfish with ten legs, pinned +up in sprawling scarlet; and there, beside him, the king of all the +sea-urchins, resplendent with green and purple horns. And here were +ropes of shells, and branches of coral, and over the bed a great +shining star, made of the delicate gold-shells. That was Daddy's +present to her on her last birthday. Dear Daddy! There, sitting in +the corner, was Mrs. Neptune, the doll which Captain January had +carved out of a piece of fine wood that had drifted ashore after a +storm. Her eyes were tiny black snail-shells, her hair was of brown +sea-moss, very thick and soft (“though as for combing it,” said Star, +“it is im-_possible_!”), and a smooth pink shell was set in either +cheek, “to make a blush.” Mrs. Neptune was somewhat battered, as Star +was in the habit of knocking her head against the wall when she was +in a passion; but she maintained her gravity of demeanour, and always +sat with her back perfectly straight, and with an air of protest +against everything in general. + +In the window stood the great chest, at once a treasure-chamber and +a seat; and over it hung one of the most precious things of Star's +little world. It was a string of cocoanut-shells. Fifteen of them +there were, and each one was covered with curious and delicate +carving, and each one meant a whole year of a man's life. “For the +nuts was ripe when we kem ashore, my good mate Job Hotham and me, +on that island. So when the nuts was ripe agin, ye see, Jewel Bright, +we knowed 'twas a year since we kem. So I took my jack-knife and +carved this first shell, as a kind o' token, ye know, and not thinkin' +there'd be so many to carve.” So the first shell was all covered with +ships: fair vessels, with sails all set, and smooth seas rippling +beneath them,--the ships that were even then on their way to rescue +the two castaways. And the second was carved with anchors, the sign +of hope, and with coils of rope, and nautical instruments, and things +familiar to seamen's eyes. But the third was carved with stars, and +sickle-curved moons, and broad-rayed suns, “Because, ye see, Peach +Blossom, arthly hope bein' as ye might say foundered, them things, +and what was above 'em, stayed where they was; and it stiddied a man's +mind to think on 'em, and to make a note on 'em as fur as might be.” + And then came one covered with flowers and berries, and another with +fruits, and another with shells, and so on through the whole fifteen. +They hung now in little Star's window, a strange and piteous record; +and every night before the child said her prayers, she kissed the +first and last shell, and then prayed that Daddy Captain might forget +the “dreadful time,” and never, never think about it again. + +So, on this gray day, when other things were going on out-of-doors, +Star was having a “good time” in her room. She had found in the +treasure-chest a short mantle of gold-coloured velvet, which made +“a just exactly skirt” for her, the two ends trailing behind enough +to give her a sense of dignity, but not enough to impede her +movements. “For I am not a princess to-day!” she said; “I am delicate +Ariel, and the long ones get round my feet so I can't run.” Then came +a long web of what she called “sunshine,” and really it might have +been woven of sunbeams, so airy-light was the silken gauze of the +fabric. This my lady had wound round and round her small person with +considerable art, the fringed ends hanging from either shoulder, and +making, to her mind, a fair substitute for wings. “See!” she cried, +running to and fro, and glancing backward as she ran. “They wave! +they really do wave! Look, Mrs. Neptune! aren't they lovely? But you +are envious, and that is why you look so cross. 'Merrily, merrily, +shall I live now, under the blossom that hangs on the bough.'” She +leaped and danced about the room, light and radiant as a creature +of another world: then stopped, to survey with frowning brows her +little blue stockings and stout laced boots. “Ariel _never_ wore such +things as those!” she declared; “if you say she did, Mrs. Neptune, +you show your ignorance, and that is all I have to say to you.” Off +came the shoes and stockings, and the little white feet were certainly +much prettier to look at. “Now,” cried Star, “I will go down-stairs +and wait for Daddy Captain, and perhaps he will think I am a real +fairy. Oh, wouldn't that be fun? I am _sure_ I look like one!” and +down the stairs she flitted like a golden butterfly. Once in the +kitchen, the housewife in her triumphed for a moment over the fairy: +she raked up the fire, put on more wood, and swept the hearth +daintily. “But Ariel did such things for Prospero,” she said. “I'm +Ariel just the same, so I may as well fill the kettle and put some +apples down to roast.” This was soon done, and clapping her hands +with delight the “tricksy spirit” began to dance and frolic anew. + + “'Come unto these yellow sands, + And then take hands!'” + +she sang, holding out her hands to invisible companions. + + “'Courtesied when ye have, and kissed + (The wild waves whist!) + Foot it featly here and there.' + +“Oh! foot it featly, and feat it footly, and dance and sing, and +tootle-ty ting!” cried the child, as she flitted like a golden cloud +about the room. Then, as she whirled round and faced the door, she +stopped short. Her arms fell by her side, and she stood as if +spellbound, looking at the lady who stood in the doorway. + +The lady made no motion at first, but only gazed at her with loving +and tender eyes. She was a beautiful lady, and her eyes were soft +and blue, with a look of tears in them. But there was no answering +softness in the starry eyes of the child: only a wide, wild look of +wonder, of anger, perhaps of fear. Presently the lady, still silent, +raised both hands, and kissed them tenderly to the child; then laid +them on her breast, and then held them out to her with a gesture of +loving appeal. + +“I don't know whether you are a spirit of health or a goblin damned,” + said Star; “but anyhow it isn't polite to come into people's houses +without knocking, _I_ think. I knowed you were a spirit when you +looked at me yesterday, if you _did_ have a red shawl on.” + +“How did you know that I was a spirit?” asked the lady softly. “Oh, +little Star, how did you know?” + +“'Cause you looked like my poor mamma's picture,” replied the child, +“that my poor papa had round his neck. Are you my mamma's spirit?” + +The lady shook her head. “No, darling,” she said, “I am no spirit. +But I have come to see you, little Star, and to tell you something. +Will you not let me come in, Sweetheart?” + +Star blushed, and hung her head for a moment, remembering Captain +January's lessons on politeness and “quarter-deck manners.” She +brought a chair at once, and in a more gracious tone said (mindful +of Willum Shakespeare's lords and ladies), “I pray you sit!” + +The lady sat down, and taking the child's hand, drew her gently +towards her. “Were you playing fairy, dear?” she asked, smoothing +back the golden hair with loving touch. + +Star nodded. “I was delicate Ariel,” she said. “I was footing it +featly, you know, on these yellow sands. Sometimes I am Puck, and +sometimes Titania; but Daddy likes Ariel best, and so do I. Did you +ever play it?” she asked, looking up into the kindly face that bent +over her. + +The lady smiled and shook her head. “No, dear child,” she said, still +with that motherly touch of the hand on the fair head. “I never +thought of such a pretty play as that, but I was very happy as a child +playing with my--with my sister. I had a dear, dear sister, Star. +Would you like to hear about her?” + +“Yes,” said Star, with wondering eyes. “Was she a little girl?” + +“Such a lovely little girl!” said the lady. “Her hair was dark, but +her eyes were like yours, Star, blue and soft. We played together +always as children, and we grew up together, two loving, happy girls. +Then my sister married: and by and by, dear, she had a little baby. +A sweet little girl baby, and she named it Isabel, after me.” + +“I was a little girl baby, too,” said Star, “but I wasn't named +anything; I came so: just Star.” + +“Little Isabel had another name,” said the lady. “Her other name was +Maynard, because that was her father's name. Her father was Hugh +Maynard. Have you ever seen or heard that name, my child?” + +Star shook her head. “No!” she said; “my poor papa's name was H. M. +It was marked on his shirt and han'k'chief, Daddy says. And my poor +mamma's name was Helena, just like Helena in 'Midsummer Night's +Dream.'” The motherly hand trembled, and the lady's voice faltered +as she said, “Star, my dear sister's name was Helena, too. Is not +that strange, my little one?” + +The child looked curiously at her. “Where is your dear sister?” she +asked. “Why do you cry when you say her name? is she naughty?” + +“Listen, Star,” said the lady, wiping the tears from her eyes, and +striving to speak composedly. + +“My sister made a voyage to Europe, with her husband and her little +baby. They spent the summer travelling in beautiful countries; and +in the autumn, in September, Star, ten years ago this very +year,--think of it, my dear!--they sailed for home. They came in a +sailing-vessel, because the sea-voyage was thought good for your--for +my sister. And--and--the vessel was never heard from. There was a +terrible storm and many vessels were lost in it.” + +“Just like my poor mamma's ship,” said the child. “Perhaps it was +the same storm. Do you think--why do you look at me so?” she cried, +breaking off suddenly. + +But the lady put both arms round her and drew her close, close, while +her tears fell fast on the golden hair. “My darling!” she cried, “my +dear, dear little one! It _was_ the same storm; the same storm and +the same ship. Your poor mamma was my own sweet sister Helena, and +you are my niece, my little Isabel, my own, own little namesake. Will +you love me, darling? will you love your Aunt Isabel, and let her +care for you and cherish you as your sweet mother would have done?” + +Star stood very still, neither returning nor repelling the lady's +caresses. She was pale, and her breath came short and quick, but +otherwise she showed no sign of agitation. Presently she put up her +hand and stroked the lady's cheek gently. “Why do you cry?” she asked, +quietly. “My poor mamma is in heaven. Don't you like her to be in +heaven? Daddy says it is much nicer than here, and he knows.” + +Mrs. Morton checked her tears, and smiled tenderly in the little +wondering face, “Dear child!” she said, “I do like to have her in +heaven, and I will not cry any more. But you have not told me whether +you will love me, Star. Will you try, dear? and will you let me call +you my little Isabel?” + +“I will love you,” replied the child, “if Daddy Captain loves you; +I will love you very much. But you must not call me that name, 'cause +I'm not _it_. I am just Star. _Does_ Daddy love you?” she asked; and +then, with a sudden note of anxiety in her voice, she exclaimed, +“Where is Daddy? Where is my Daddy Captain? Did you see him when you +came in?” + +Her question was answered by the sound of voices outside; and the +next moment the minister appeared, followed by Mr. Morton and Captain +January. The old Captain hastened to place a chair for each of the +gentlemen by the fireside, and then took his stand against the wall +on the further side of the room. He held his weather-beaten cap in +his hand, and turned it slowly round and round, considering it +attentively. It might have been observed by one quick to notice +trifles, that he did not look at the child, though no slightest motion +of hers was lost upon him. + +“George,” said Mrs. Morton, joyously, to her husband, “here is our +little niece, dearest Helena's child. She is going to love me, she +says, and she will love you, too. Star, my darling, this is your Uncle +George. Will you not give him a kiss, and be his little girl as well +as mine? We have two little girls at home, and you shall be the +third.” + +Star went obediently to Mr. Morton, who kissed her warmly, and tried +to take her on his knee. “You are taller than our Grace,” he said, +“but I don't believe you are as heavy, my dear. Grace is just your +age, and I am sure you will be great friends.” + +But Star slipped quietly from his arms, and, running to the Captain, +took one of his hands in both of hers and kissed it. “I am Daddy +Captain's little girl!” she said, looking round bravely at the +others. “Why do you talk as if I belonged to you?” Then seeing the +trouble in Mrs. Morton's face, she added, “I _will_ love you, truly +I will, and I will call you Aunt Isabel; but I cannot belong to +different people, 'cause I'm only just one. Just Captain January's +Star.” + +She looked up in the old man's face with shining eyes, but no tender, +confident look returned her glance. The brown hand trembled between +her two little white palms; the keen blue eyes were still bent fixedly +upon the old woollen cap, as if studying its texture; but it was in +a quiet and soothing tone that the Captain murmured: + +“Easy, Jewel Bright! Easy, now! Helm steady, and stand by!” + +There was a moment of troubled silence; and then the old minister, +clearing his throat, spoke in his gentle, tranquil voice. “My dear +child,” he said, “a very strange thing has come to pass; but what +seems strange to us is doubtless clear and simple to the Infinite +Wisdom above us. You have been a faithful and loving child, little +Star, to your beloved guardian and friend here, and no father could +have cared for you more tenderly than he has done. But the tie of +blood is a strong one, my dear, and should not be lightly set aside. +This lady is your own near relation, the sister of your dear dead +mother. Through the merciful providence of God, she has been led to +you, and she feels it her duty to claim you, in the name of your +parents. We have considered the matter carefully, and we all feel +that it is right that you should hereafter make your home with her +and your uncle. This may be painful to you, my dear; but you are a +good and intelligent child, and you will understand that if we give +you pain now, it is to secure your future good and happiness.” + +He paused; and all eyes, save those keen blue ones which were studying +so carefully the texture of the battered woollen cap, turned anxiously +on the child. A deep flush passed over Star's face; then vanished, +leaving it deadly pale, a mask of ivory with eyes of flame. When she +spoke, it was in a low, suppressed voice, wholly unlike her own. + +“You may kill me,” said the child, “and take my body away, if you +like. I will not go while I am alive.” + +She turned her eyes from one to the other, as if watching for the +slightest motion to approach her. + +Mrs. Morton, in great distress, spoke next. “My darling, it grieves +me to the heart to take you from your dear, kind Daddy. But think, +my Star; you are a child now, but you will soon be a woman. You cannot +grow up to womanhood in a place like this. You must be with your own +people, and have companions of your own age. My children will be like +your own sisters and brothers. My dear, if you could only know how +they will love you, how we shall all cherish and care for you!” + +“When I am dead?” asked Star. “It will make no difference to me, your +love, for I shall be dead. I will not go alive.” + +“Oh, Captain January!” cried Mrs. Morton, turning to the old man with +clasped hands. “Speak to her! she will listen to you. Tell her--tell +her what you said to me. Tell her that it is right for her to go; +that you wish her to go!” + +The old man's breathing was heavy and laboured, and for a moment it +seemed as if he strove in vain for utterance: but when he spoke, his +voice was still soothing and cheerful, though his whole great frame +was trembling like a withered leaf. “Star Bright,” he said (and +between almost every word he paused to draw the short, heavy breath), +“I always told ye, ye 'member, that ye was the child of gentlefolks. +So bein', 'tis but right that you should have gentle raisin' by them +as is yer own flesh and blood. You've done your duty, and more than +your duty, by me. Now 'tis time ye did your duty by them as the Lord +has sent to ye. You'll have--my--my respeckful love and duty wherever +you go, my dear, and you growin' up to be a beautiful lady, as has +been a little wild lass. And you'll not forget the old Cap'n, well +I know, as will be very comf'table here--” + +But here the child broke out with a wild, loud cry, which made all +the others start to their feet. “Do you want me to go?” she cried. +“Look at me, Daddy Captain! you _shall_ look at me!” She snatched +the cap from his hands and flung it into the fire, then faced him +with blazing eyes and quivering lip. “Do you want me to go? Are you +tired of me?” + +Heavier and heavier grew that weight on Captain January's chest: +shorter and harder came his breath. His eyes met the child's for a +moment, then wavered and fell. “Why--honey--” he said, slowly, +“I--I'm an old man now--a very old man. And--and--an old man likes +quiet, ye see: and--I'd be quieter by myself, like; and--and so, +honey--I--I'd like ye to go.” + +“_You lie_!” cried the child; and her voice rang like a silver trumpet +in the startled ears of the listeners. “You lie to me, and you lie +to God: and you _know_ you lie!” + +The next moment she had sprung on to the low window-sill, then turned +for an instant, with her little hands clenched in menace, and her +great eyes flashing fire that fell like a burning touch on every +heart. Her fantastic dress gleamed like a fiery cloud against the +gray outside: her hair fell like a glory about her vivid, shining +face. A moment she stood there, a vision, a flying star, trailing +angry light, never to be forgotten by those who saw; then, like a +flash, she vanished. + +Captain January tottered to his old chair and sat down in it. “The +child is right, Lady and Gentleman!” he said. “I lied! I lied to my +God, and to the little child who loved me. May God and the child +forgive me!” And he hid his face in his hands, and silence fell for +a moment. + +Then Mr. Morton, who had walked hastily to the window, and was doing +something with his handkerchief, beckoned to his wife. “Isabel,” he +said, in a low tone, “I will not be a party to this. It's an atrocious +and vindictive outrage. I--I--you are not the woman I took you for, +if you say another word to that old angel. Let him have the child, +and send him one or two of your own into the bar--” but Isabel Morton, +laughing through her tears, laid her hand over her husband's lips +for a moment. Then going to the old man's chair, she knelt down by +it, and took his two hands in hers. + +“Captain January!” she said, tenderly. “Dear, dear Captain January! +the lie is forgiven: I am very, very sure it is forgiven in heaven, +as it will be forgiven in the child's loving heart. And may God never +pardon me, if ever word or look of mine come again between you and +the child whom God gave you!” + +The gray evening was closing in around the lighthouse tower. The +guests were gone, and Captain January sat alone beside the fire in +his old armchair. The window was still open, for the air was soft +and mild. The old man's hands were clasped upon his knee; his heart +was lifted as high as heaven, in silent prayer and praise. + +Suddenly, at the window, there was a gleam of yellow, a flitting +shape, a look, a pause; then a great glad cry, and Star flitted like +a ray of moonlight through the window, and fell on Captain January's +breast. + +“Daddy,” she said, breaking the long, happy silence, “dear Daddy, +I am sorry I burned your horrid old cap!” + + + + +CHAPTER VI. -- THE SIGNAL + + +Quietly passed the days, the weeks, the months, in the lonely tower +on the rock fronting the Atlantic surge. Winter came, and folded it +in a white mantle, and decked it with frost-jewels. Like a pillar +of ice, the tower shone in the keen brilliance of the northern sun; +but within was always summer, the summer of perfect peace and +contentment. To the child Star, winter was always a season of great +delight; for Captain January had little to occupy him out-of-doors, +and could devote much of his time to her. So there were long, +delightful “jack-knife times,” as Star called them, when the Captain +sat fashioning all sorts of wonderful trifles with his magic knife, +the child sitting at his elbow and watching him with happy eyes. There +were “story times,” instituted years before, as soon as Star had +learned to sew on patchwork; for as for sewing _without_ a story to +listen to, “_that_,” said Star, “is against my nature, Daddy. And +you don't want me to do things that are against my nature, do you?” + So whenever the squares of gay calico came out, and the golden head +bent to and fro over them, like a paradise bird hovering over a bed +of gaudy flowers, the story came out, too, between puffs of the pipe, +while the fire crackled a cheery accompaniment, sputtering defiance +to the wind that whistled outside. Some tale of the southern seas, +and the wild tropic islands, of coral reefs and pearl-fisheries, +sharks and devil-fish; or else a whaling story, fresh and breezy as +the north, full of icebergs, and seal-hunts over the cracking floes, +polar bears, and all the wild delights of whale-fishing. + +Then, on fine days (and oh, but the days are fine, in these glorious +northern winters!) there was much joy to be had out-of-doors. For +there was a spot in the little meadow,--once of gold-flecked emerald, +now of spotless pearl,--a spot where the ground “tilted,” to use +Star's expression, suddenly down to a tiny hollow, where a fairy +spring bubbled out of the rock into a fairy lake. In summer, Star +rather despised this lake, which was, truth to tell, only twenty feet +long and ten feet wide. It was very nice for Imogen to drink from +and to stand in on hot days, and it did many lovely things in the +way of reflecting blue skies and fleecy clouds and delicate traceries +of leaf and bough; but as water, it seemed a very trifling thing to +a child who had the whole sweep of the Atlantic to fill her eyes, +and who had the breakers for her playfellows and gossips. + +But in winter, matters were different. All the laughing lips of +ripples, all the white tossing crests of waves, must content +themselves with the ice-bound rocks, till spring should bring them +their child-comrade again; and the little sheet of dark crystal in +the hollow of the meadow had things all its own way, and mirrored +back her bright face every day. The little red sled, launched at the +top of the “tilt,” came skimming down the slope, and shot like an +arrow over the smooth ice, kept always clear of snow by the Captain's +ever-busy hands; or else, when tired of coasting, the child would +plant her small feet wide apart, and slide, and run, and slide again, +till the pond could have cracked with pleasure, if such a thing had +been in accordance with its principles. + +But of all the joyous hours, none was more welcome to the child than +that after the simple supper was cleared away and the room “redded +up.” Then, while fire and lamplight made their merriest cheer, the +table was drawn up to the warmest spot; Star took her place upon +Captain January's knee, and the two heads, the silver one and the +golden, bent in absorbed interest over “Willum Shakespeare” or the +Good Book. + +Generally the Captain read aloud, but sometimes they read the parts +in turn; and again sometimes the child would break off, and recite +whole passages alone, with a fire and pathos which might have been +that of Maid Marjorie, swaying at her childish will the heart of Sir +Walter and his friends. + +So quietly, in the unbroken peace which love brightened into joy, +the winter passed. + +At Christmas, they had, as usual, a visit from the faithful Bob, who +brought all his many pockets full of candy and oranges and all manner +of “truck,” as he called it, for Missy Star. Also he brought a letter +and a box directed only to “Captain January's Star.” The letter, which +the child opened with wondering eagerness, being the first she had +ever received, was from Mrs. Morton. It was full of tender and loving +words, wishes for Christmas cheer and New Year blessing, and with +it was a photograph of the beautiful face, with its soft and tender +eyes, which Star remembered so well. On the back was written, “For +Little Star, from Aunt Isabel.” And the box? Why, that was quite as +wonderful in its way. For it contained a most beautiful pipe for the +Captain, of sweet brier-wood, mounted in silver; and oh! oh! such +a doll! Other children have seen such dolls, but Star never had; a +blue-eyed waxen beauty, with fringed lashes that opened and shut, +rose-leaf cheeks, and fabulous wealth of silky flaxen curls. Also +it had a blue velvet-frock, and its underclothing was a wonder to +behold; and the box was full of other frocks and garments. + +Star took the doll in her arms with delighted awe, and seemed for +a few moments absorbed in her new treasure. Presently, however, a +shadow crossed her bright face. She glanced at Bob and the Captain, +and seeing that they were both engaged in busy talk, she quietly went +up to her own room, carrying the doll with her. Here she did a strange +thing. She crossed the room to the corner where Mrs. Neptune sat, +with her back rigid, protesting against circumstances, and set the +radiant stranger down beside her; then, with her hands clasped behind +her, and brows bent, she considered the pair long and attentively. +Truly they were a strange contrast: the delicate, glowing, velvet-clad +doll, and the battered old wooden image, with eyes of snail-shells +and hair of brown sea-moss. But when Star had finished her scrutiny, +she took the beautiful doll, and buried it deep under velvets and +satins at the very bottom of the great chest. This done, she kissed +Mrs. Neptune solemnly, and proceeded to adorn her with a gorgeous +Eastern scarf, the very gayest her treasure-house could afford. + +Meanwhile, in the room below, the talk went on, grave and earnest. +Troubled it was, too, on one side; for though the Captain sat quietly +in his chair, and spoke in his usual cheerful voice, Bob Peet's rough +tones were harsh and broken, and he rose from his place once or twice +and moved uneasily about the room. + +“Cap'n,” he said, “'tain't so. Don't tell me! Strong man--hearty--live +twenty years yet--like's not thirty! Uncle o' mine--Punksquid--hundred +and three--peart's chicken.” + +Captain January puffed at his pipe in silence for some minutes. “Bob,” + he said, presently, “it ain't always as it's given to a man to know +his time. I've allers thought I should take it particular kind if +it 'corded with the Lord's views to let me know when He was ready +for me. And now that He _has_ let me know, and moreover has set my +mind that easy about the child that it's a pleasure to think of, why, +it ain't likely I shall take it anyway _but_ kind. Thankin' you all +the same, Bob, as have been a good mate to me, and as I sha'n't forget +wherever I am. But see now!” he added, hastily, hearing a sound in +the room above. “You understand, Bob; I h'ist that signal, as it might +be to-morrow, and I keep her flyin' night and day. And so long as +you see her flyin', you says, 'Cap'n's all right so far!' you says. +But you keep a sharp lookout; and if some mornin' you don't see her, +you says, 'Sailin' orders!' you says, and then you calls Cap'n Nazro, +as never failed in a kindness yet, nor ain't likely to, to take the +wheel, and you put for this island. And Cap'n Nazro he takes the +_Huntress_ in, and then goes straightway and sends a telegraft to +the lady and gentleman, sayin' as Cap'n January has sailin' orders, +and they please to come and take the child, as lawfully to them +belongs. And you, Bob,--” the old man's steady voice faltered a +little, as he laid his hand on the other's arm,--“you'll do all you +can, well I know. For she'll take it hard, ye see. She has that depth +o' love in her little heart, and never nobody _to_ love 'cept me since +she were a baby, that she'll take it cruel hard. But the Lord'll have +her in mind! He'll have her in mind! and you'll stand by, Bob, and +bear a hand till the lady and gentleman come.” + +Bob Peet held out his honest brown hand, and the two men shook hands +with a certain solemnity; but before either of them could speak again, +Star came singing down the stairs, and summoned them both to play +at ball with oranges. + +And so it came to pass that a little blue signal was hoisted at the +top of the white tower, and fluttered there bravely in sun and wind. +And every time the _Huntress_ went thundering by (which was twice +a week at this season instead of every day), Bob Peet looked out +anxiously from the wheel-house window, and seeing the little banner, +took cheer, and rubbed his hands and said, “Cap'n's all right so far!” + +And Captain January, whenever there came the clutch and stab at his +heart, and the struggle for breath, which he had felt for the first +time that September day (but ah! how many times since, and with what +increasing persistence!) would creep to the stairway beside which +hung the signal lines, and lay his hand on them, and wait: then, when +the spasm passed, would pass his hand across his face and humbly say, +“Whenever it seems right, Lord! A step nearer! and Thou havin' the +child in mind,” and so go cheerfully about his work again. + +There were not many more steps to take. Spring came, and the little +meadow was green again. Robins and bluebirds fluttered above the great +pine-tree, and swallows built their nests under the eaves of the tower +itself. The child Star sang with the birds, and danced with the +dancing leaves, all unconscious of what was coming; but the old +Captain's steps grew slower and heavier, day by day, and the cheery +voice grew feeble, and lost its hearty ring, though never its +cheeriness. “I'll set here in the porch, Jewel Bright,” he would say, +when the child begged him to come for a scramble on the rocks. “I +think I'll jest set here, where I can see ye an' hear to ye. I'm +gittin' lazy, Star Light; that's the truth. Yer old Daddy's gittin' +lazy, and it's comf'tabler settin' here in the sun, than scramblin' +round the rocks.” + +And Star would fling herself on his neck, and scold and caress him, +and then go off with a half-sense of disappointment to her play. Very, +very careful Captain January had to be, lest the child should suspect +that which he was determined to keep from her to the last. Sometimes +he half thought she must suspect, so tender was she in these days; +so thoughtful, so mindful of his lightest wish. But “'tis only the +woman growin' up in her,” he decided; and looking back, he remembered +that she had not once broken his pipe (as she had been used to do +every three or four weeks, in her sudden rages) since last September. + +At last there came a day when the Captain did not even go out to the +porch. It was a lovely May morning, bright and soft, with wreaths +of silvery fog floating up from the blue water, and much sweet sound +of singing birds and lapping waves in the air. Making some pretence +of work at his carpenter's bench, the old man sent Star out to loose +the cow and lead her to the water; and when she was gone, he tottered +to his old chair and sat down heavily. There was no pain now, only +a strange numbness, a creeping coldness, a ringing in the ears. If +it might “seem right” to let him wait till the _Huntress_ came by! +“It's nearly time,” he said, half aloud. “Nearly time, and 'twould +be easier for the child.” + +At this moment, through the open doorway, came the silver sound of +Star's voice. “But I don't think there can be any harm in my just +telling you a little about it, Imogen. And the floor is the paved +work of a sapphire: sapphire is a stone, just like the water over +there, in the bluest place, and oh! so clear and bright, Daddy says. +He saw one once. And there will be most beautiful music, Imogen. Oh! +you can't think what lovely music Daddy Captain will play on a harp. +I know he will, 'cause he will be a spirit of just men made perfect: +and that will be a _great_ thing, Imogen; for he has never known how +to play on anything before: and--” Ah! the sweet, childish prattle! +but already it was growing faint upon the old man's ears. + +“Star Bright!” he called; and the dancing shape came flying, and stood +on tiptoe in the doorway. Steady, now, January! keep your voice +steady, if there is any will left in you. Keep your head turned a +little away, lest there be any change in your face, yet not turned +enough to make her wonder. “Star Bright,” said Captain January, “it's +about--time--for the _Huntress_--to be along, isn't it?” + +“Yes, Daddy,” said the child; “she's just in sight now. Shall I go +down and wave to Bob as he goes by?” + +“Yes, Honeysuckle,” said the old man. “And--and wait to see if he +comes ashore. I think--likely--Bob'll come ashore to-day. He was goin' +to bring--somethin'--for me. Is there a squall comin' up, Jewel +Bright?” + +“A squall, Daddy?” said the child, wondering. “Why, there isn't a +cloud in the sky.” + +“Jes' so!” said Captain January. “I--only jist asked. Good-bye, Star +Bright.” + +“Dear Daddy! Good-bye!” cried the child, and she sped away over the +rocks. + +So dark! and not a cloud in the sky. If he might have looked once +more, with those fast-darkening eyes, at the little blessed face which +held all the world in it! if he could call her back now, and kiss +her once more, and hold her little hand--No! no! steady, January! +steady now, and stand by! + +Quite dark now. But that does not matter. No need of light for what +is now to be done. Slowly the old man raises himself; feels for the +wall, creeps along beside it. Here is the line. Is there any strength +left in that benumbed arm? Yes! “For the child, dear Lord, and Thou +helpin' me, as ever has been!” + +Down comes the signal, and the old man creeps back to his chair again, +and composes himself decently, with reverent, folded hands, and head +bowed in waiting. “'He holdeth the waters in the hollow of His hand. +Behold, He taketh up the isles as a very little thing.' Amen! so be +it!” + +Wave, little Star! wave your little blue apron from the rocks, and +laugh and clap your hands for pleasure, as the ripples from the +steamer's bow break in snowy foam at your feet. Bend to your oar, +Bob Peet, and send your little black boat flying over the water as +she never flew before! and press on, friendly _Huntress_, to your +port, whence the winged message may speed on its way to the stately +lady with the tender eyes, who waits for tidings in her distant home. + +For Captain January's last voyage is over, and he is already in the +haven where he would be. + + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Captain January, by Laura E. 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Richards + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Captain January, by Laura E. Richards + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere 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 + + +Title: Captain January + +Author: Laura E. Richards + +Release Date: March, 2005 [EBook #7790] +Last Updated: March 16, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPTAIN JANUARY *** + + + + +Produced by Ketaki Chhabra, Wendy Crockett, and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + CAPTAIN JANUARY + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Laura E. Richards + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p> + <i>Author of</i> + </p> + <p> + “Melody,” “Marie,” “Rosin, the Beau,” “The Hildegarde-Margaret Series,” + “Three Minute Stories,” “Five Minute Stories,” etc. + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I. — STAR BRIGHT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. — THE STORY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III. — INTRODUCING IMOGEN AND BOB + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. — THE VISIT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V.— CAPTAIN JANUARY'S STAR </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI. — THE SIGNAL </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. — STAR BRIGHT + </h2> + <p> + The Captain had sold all his lobsters. They had been particularly fine + ones, and had gone off “like hot cakes,” everyone who passed by the wharf + stopping to buy one or two. Now the red dory was empty, and the Captain + had washed her out with his usual scrupulous care, and was making + preparations for his homeward voyage, when he was hailed by a cheery voice + from the street. + </p> + <p> + “Hillo, January!” said the voice. “Is that you? How goes it?” and the + owner of the voice, a sturdy man in a blue coat with brass buttons, came + down the wharf and greeted the Captain with a hearty shake of the hand. + </p> + <p> + “How goes it?” he repeated. “I haven't seen ye for a dog's age.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm hearty, Cap'n Nazro!” replied Captain January. “Hearty, that's what I + am, an' hopin' you're the same.” + </p> + <p> + “That's right!” said the first speaker. “'Tain't often we set eyes on you, + you stick so close to your light. And the little gal, she's well, I + expect? She looks a picture, when I take a squint at her through the glass + sometimes. Never misses running out and shaking her apron when we go by!” + </p> + <p> + “Cap'n Nazro,” said January, speaking with emphasis, “if there is a pictur + in this world, o' health, and pootiness, and goodness, it's that child. + It's that little un, sir. Not to be beat in this country, nor yet any + other 'cordin' as I've voyaged.” + </p> + <p> + “Nice little gal!” said Captain Nazro, assenting. “Mighty nice little gal! + Ain't it time she was going to school, January? My wife and I were + speaking about it only the other day. Seems as if she'd oughter be round + with other children now, and learning what they do. Mis Nazro would be + real pleased to have her stop with us a spell, and go to school with our + gals. What do you say?” He spoke very heartily, but looked doubtfully at + the old man, as if hardly expecting a favourable answer. + </p> + <p> + Captain January shook his head emphatically, “You're real kind, Cap'n + Nazro!” he said; “real kind, you and Mis Nazro both are! and she makin' + the little un's frocks and pinafores, as is a great help. But I can't feel + to let her out o' my sight, nohow; and as for school, she ain't the kind + to bear it, nor yet I couldn't for her. She's learnin'!” he added, + proudly. “Learnin' well! I'll bet there ain't no gal in your school knows + more nor that little un does. Won'erful, the way she walks ahead!” + </p> + <p> + “Get the school readers, hey! and teach her yourself do you?” queried + Captain Nazro. + </p> + <p> + “No, sir!” replied the old man; “I don't have no school readers. The child + learns out o' the two best books in the world,—the Bible, and + William Shakespeare's book; them's all the books she ever seed—<i>saw</i>, + I should say.” + </p> + <p> + “William Shak—” began Captain Nazro; and then he broke off in sheer + amazement, and said, simply, “Well, I'm blowed!” + </p> + <p> + “The minister giv 'em to me,” said Captain January. “I reckon he knows. + There's a dictionary, too,” he added, rather sadly; “but I can't make her + take to that, nohow, though there's a power o' fine words in it.” + </p> + <p> + Then, as the other man remained silent and openmouthed, he said: “But I + must be goin', Cap'n Nazro, sir! The little un'll be lookin' for me. Good + day, sir, and thank ye kindly, all the same as if it was to be, which it + ain't!” And with a friendly gesture, the old man stepped into his red + dory, and rowed away with long, sturdy strokes. + </p> + <p> + Captain Nazro gazed after him meditatively, took out his pipe and looked + at it, then gazed again. “January's cracked,” he said; “that's what's the + matter with him. He's a good man, and a good lighthouse-keeper, and he's + been an able seaman in his day, none better; but he's cracked!” + </p> + <p> + There is an island off a certain part of the coast of Maine,—a + little rocky island, heaped and tumbled together as if Dame Nature had + shaken down a heap of stones at random from her apron, when she had + finished making the larger islands which lie between it and the mainland. + At one end, the shoreward end, there is a tiny cove, and a bit of + silver-sand beach, with a green meadow beyond it, and a single great pine; + but all the rest is rocks, rocks. At the farther end the rocks are piled + high, like a castle wall, making a brave barrier against the Atlantic + waves; and on top of this cairn rises the lighthouse, rugged and sturdy as + the rocks themselves, but painted white, and with its windows shining like + great, smooth diamonds. This is Light Island; and it was in this direction + that Captain January's red dory was headed when he took his leave of his + brother-captain, and rowed away from the wharf. It was a long pull; in + fact, it took pretty nearly the whole afternoon, so that the evening + shadows were lengthening when at length he laid down his oars, and felt + the boat's nose rub against the sand of the little home-cove. But rowing + was no more effort than breathing to Captain January, and it was no + fatigue, but only a trifle of stiffness from sitting so long, that + troubled him a little in getting out of the boat. As he stepped slowly out + upon the firm-grained silver of the little beach, he looked up and around + with an expectant air, and seeing no one, a look of disappointment crossed + his face. He opened his lips as if to call some one, but checking himself, + “Happen she's gettin' supper!” he said. “It's later than I thought. I + don't pull so spry as I used ter, 'pears ter me. Wal, thar! 'tain't to be + expected. I sh'll be forty years old before I know it!” + </p> + <p> + Chuckling to himself, the Captain drew up the little boat and made her + fast; then, taking sundry brown-paper parcels from under the thwart, he + turned and made his way up towards the lighthouse. A picturesque figure he + was, striding along among the heaped and tumbled rocks. His hair and + beard, still thick and curly, were absolutely white, as white as the foam + that broke over the rocks at the cliff's foot. His face was tanned and + weather-beaten to the colour of mahogany, but the features were strong and + sharply cut, while the piercing blue eyes which gleamed beneath his shaggy + eyebrows showed all the fire of youth, and seemed to have no part in the + seventy years which had bent the tall form, and rounded slightly the broad + and massive shoulders. The Captain wore a rough pea-jacket and long boots, + while his head was adorned with a nondescript covering which might have + begun life either as a hat or a cap, but would now hardly be owned by + either family. + </p> + <p> + Reaching the house, the old man mounted the rude steps which led to the + door, and entered the room which was kitchen, dining, and drawing room at + Storm Castle, as the lighthouse was called by its inhabitants. The room + was light and cheerful, with a pleasant little fire crackling sociably on + the hearth. The table was laid with a clean white cloth, the kettle was + singing on the hob, and a little covered saucepan was simmering with an + agreeable and suggestive sound; but no one was to be seen. Alarmed, he + hardly knew why, at the silence and solitude, Captain January set his + parcels down on the table, and going to the foot of the narrow stone + staircase which wound upward beside the chimney, called, “Star! Star + Bright, where are you? Is anything wrong?” + </p> + <p> + “No, Daddy Captain!” answered a clear, childish voice from above; “I'm + coming in a minute. Be patient, Daddy dear!” + </p> + <p> + With a sigh of relief, Captain January retired to the fireplace, and + sitting down in a huge high-backed armchair, began leisurely pulling off + his great boots. One was already off and in his hand, when a slight noise + made him look up. He started violently, and then, leaning back in his + chair, gazed in silent amazement at the vision before him. + </p> + <p> + On the stone stairway, and slowly descending, with steps that were meant + to be stately (and which might have been so, had not the stairs been so + steep, and the little legs so short) was the figure of a child: a little + girl about ten years old, with a face of almost startling beauty. Her hair + floated like a cloud of pale gold about her shoulders; her eyes were blue, + not light and keen, like the old man's, but of that soft, deep, shadowy + blue that poets love to call violet. Wonderful eyes, shaded by long, + curved lashes of deepest black, which fell on the soft, rose-and-ivory + tinted cheek, as the child carefully picked her way down, holding up her + long dress from her little feet. It was the dress which so astonished + Captain January. Instead of the pink calico frock and blue checked + pinafore, to which his eyes were accustomed, the little figure was clad in + a robe of dark green velvet with a long train, which spread out on the + staircase behind her, very much like the train of a peacock. The body, + made for a grown woman, hung back loosely from her shoulders, but she had + tied a scarf of gold tissue under her arms and round her waist, while from + the long hanging sleeves her arms shone round and white as sculptured + ivory. A strange sight, this, for a lighthouse tower on the coast of + Maine! but so fair a one, that the old mariner could not take his eyes + from it. + </p> + <p> + “Might be Juliet!” he muttered to himself. “Juliet, when she was a little + un. 'Her beauty hangs upon the cheek o' Night,'—only it ain't, so to + say, exactly night,—'like a rich jewel in a nigger's ear.' No! that + ain't right. 'Nigger' ain't right, 'Ethiop's ear, 'that's it! Though I + should judge they were much the same thing, and they more frekently wear + 'em in their noses, them as I've seen in their own country.” + </p> + <p> + As he thus soliloquised, the little maiden reached the bottom of the + stairs in safety, and dropping the folds of the velvet about her, made a + quaint little courtesy, and said, “Here I am, Daddy Captain! how do you + like me, please?” + </p> + <p> + “Star Bright,” replied Captain January, gazing fixedly at her, as he + slowly drew his pipe from his pocket and lighted it. “I like you amazin'. + <i>A</i>-mazin' I like you, my dear! but it is what you might call + surprisin', to leave a little maid in a blue pinafore, and to come back + and find a princess in gold and velvet. Yes, Pigeon Pie, you might call it + surprisin', and yet not be stretchin' a p'int.” + </p> + <p> + “Am I <i>really</i> like a princess?” said the child, clapping her hands, + and laughing with pleasure. “Have you ever seen a princess, Daddy Captain, + and did she look like me?” + </p> + <p> + “I seed—I <i>saw</i>—one, once,” replied the Captain, gravely, + puffing at his pipe. “In Africky it was, when I was fust mate to an + Indiaman. And she wa'n't like you, Peach Blossom, no more than Hyperion to + a Satyr, and that kind o' thing. She had on a short petticut, comin' + half-way down to her knees, and a necklace, and a ring through her nose. + And—” + </p> + <p> + “Where were her other clothes?” asked the child. + </p> + <p> + “Wal—maybe she kem off in a hurry and forgot 'em!” said the Captain, + charitably. “Anyhow, not speakin' her language, I didn't ask her. And she + was as black as the ace of spades, and shinin' all over with butter.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, <i>that</i> kind of princess!” said Star, loftily. “I didn't mean + that kind, Daddy. I meant the kind who live in fretted palaces, with music + in th' enamelled stones, you know, and wore clothes like these every day.” + </p> + <p> + “Wal, Honey, I never saw one of that kind, till now!” said the Captain, + meekly. “And I'm sorry I hain't—I mean I <i>ain't</i>—got no + fretted palace for my princess to live in. This is a poor place for golden + lasses and velvet trains.” + </p> + <p> + “It <i>isn't</i>!” cried the child, her face flashing into sudden anger, + and stamping her foot. “You sha'n't call it a poor place, Daddy! It's + wicked of you. And I wouldn't live in a palace if there were <i>fifty</i> + of them all set in a row. So there now!” She folded her arms and looked + defiantly at the old man, who returned her gaze placidly, and continued to + puff at his pipe, until he was seized in a penitent embrace, hugged, and + kissed, and scolded, and wept over, all at once. + </p> + <p> + The brief tempest over, the child seated herself comfortably on his knee, + and said, “Now, Daddy, I want a story.” + </p> + <p> + “Story before supper?” asked the Captain, meekly, looking at the saucepan, + which was fairly lifting its lid in its eagerness to be attended to. A + fresh access of remorseful hugging followed. + </p> + <p> + “You poor darling!” said Star; “I forgot all about supper. And it's stewed + kidneys, too! But oh! my dress!” and she glanced down at her velvet + splendour. “I must go and take it off,” she said, sadly. + </p> + <p> + “Not you, Honeysuckle,” said the old man, rising and setting the child + down carefully in the chair. “Sit you there, and be a real princess, and I + will be your steward, and get supper this time. I like to see you in your + fine clothes, and 'twould be a shame to take 'em off so soon.” + </p> + <p> + She clapped her hands again, and settling herself cosily in the great + chair, arranged her train with a graceful sweep, and pushed back her + cloudy golden hair. + </p> + <p> + “Shall I really act princess?” she asked,—and without waiting for an + answer, she began to give orders in lofty tones, holding her head high in + the air, and pointing hither and thither with her tiny hands. “Take up the + golden chafing-dish, Grumio!” she cried. “The kidneys—I mean the + capons—are quite ready now. And the milk—no! the sack—is + in the silver flagon!” she pointed to an ancient blue jug which stood on + the dresser. + </p> + <p> + The obedient Captain hastened to take up the saucepan, and soon the frugal + supper was set out, and princess and steward were doing ample justice to + it. + </p> + <p> + “You didn't say 'Anon! anon! Madam' when I ordered you about,” said the + Princess, thoughtfully. “You ought to, you know. Servants always do in the + book.” + </p> + <p> + “Wal, I didn't think on't,” the steward admitted. “I wa'n't brought up to + the business, you see, Princess. It always seemed to me a foolish thing to + say, anyhow: no disrespect to W. Shakespeare. The hull of the word's + 'anonymous,' I believe, and the dictionary says <i>that</i> means 'wanting + a name.' So, altogether, Star Bright, I haven't been able to make much + sense out o' that answer.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, never mind!” said the Princess, tossing her head. “I don't like the + dictionary. It's a wretch!” + </p> + <p> + “So 'tis, so 'tis,” assented the Captain, with servile alacrity. “Have + some more milk then, Sunshine.” + </p> + <p> + “It isn't milk! it's sack,” said the child, promptly, holding out her + small yellow mug with a royal air. “Are the capons good, Grumio?” + </p> + <p> + “They are, my lamb, they are,” replied the Captain. “Oncommon good they + are, to be sure, and me not knowin' to this day what capons was. A little + more? Yes, Pigeon Pie, I <i>will</i> take a little more, thank ye kindly.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't <i>think</i>, Grumio, that you ought to call me lambs and pigeon + pies just now,” remarked the Princess, judiciously. “Do you think it's + respectful? they don't in Shakespeare, I'm sure.” + </p> + <p> + “I won't do it again, Honey—I mean Madam;” said the Captain, bowing + with great humility. “I beg your honourable majesty's pardon, and I won't + never presume to—” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, you will!” cried the Princess, flinging herself across the table at + him, and nearly choking him with the sudden violence of her embrace. “You + shall call me pigeon pie, and anything else you like. You shall call me + rye porridge, though I hate it, and it's always full of lumps. And don't + ever look that way again; it <i>kills</i> me!” + </p> + <p> + The Captain quietly removed the clinging arms, and kissed them, and set + the half-weeping child back in her place. “There, there, there!” he said, + soothingly. “What a little tempest it is!” + </p> + <p> + “Say 'delicate Ariel,'” sobbed Star. “You haven't said it to-day, and you + always say it when you love me.” + </p> + <p> + “Cream Cheese from the dairy of Heaven,” replied the Captain; “if I always + said it when I loved you, I should be sayin' it every minute of time, as + well you know. But you are my delicate Ariel, so you are, and there ain't + nothin' in the hull book as suits you better. So!” and his supper ended, + the good man turned his chair again to the fire, and took the child, once + more smiling, upon his knee. + </p> + <p> + “And now, Ariel, what have you been doin' all the time I was away? Tell + Daddy all about it.” + </p> + <p> + Star pondered a moment, with her head on one side, and a finger hooked + confidentially through the Captain's buttonhole. “Well,” she said, “I've + had a <i>very</i> interesting time, Daddy Captain. First I cleaned the + lamps, of course, and filled and trimmed them. And then I played Samson a + good while; and—” + </p> + <p> + “And how might you play Samson?” inquired the Captain. + </p> + <p> + “With flies!” replied Star, promptly. “Heaps upon heaps, you know; 'With + the jaw-bone of an ass have I slain a thousand men.' The flies were the + Philistines, and I took a clam-shell for the jaw-bone; it did just as + well. And I made a song out of it, to one of the tunes you whistle: 'With + the jaw-bone! with the jaw-bone! with the jaw-bone of an ass!' It was very + exciting.” + </p> + <p> + “Must ha' been,” said the Captain dryly. “Well, Honeysuckle, what did you + do then?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, that took some time!” said the child. “And afterward I fished a + little, but I didn't catch anything, 'cept an old flounder, and he winked + at me, so I put him back. And then I thought a long time—oh! a very + long time, sitting like Patience on the doorstep. And <i>suddenly</i>, + Daddy Captain, I thought about those boxes of clothes, and how you said + they would be mine when I was big. And I measured myself against the + doorpost, and found that I <i>was very</i> big. I thought I must be almost + as big as you, but I s'pose I'd forgotten how big you were. So I went up, + and opened one box, and I was just putting the dress on when you came in. + You knew where it came from, of course, Daddy, the moment you saw it.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain nodded gravely, and pulled his long moustaches. + </p> + <p> + “Do you suppose my poor mamma wore it often?” the child went on, eagerly. + “Do you think she looked like me when she wore it? Do I look as she did + when you saw her?” + </p> + <p> + “Wal,” began the Captain, meditatively; but Star ran on without waiting + for an answer. + </p> + <p> + “Of course, though, she looked very different, because she was dead. You + are quite very positively sure my poor mamma was dead, Daddy Captain?” + </p> + <p> + “She were,” replied the Captain, with emphasis. “She were that, Pigeon + Pie! You couldn't find nobody deader, not if you'd sarched for a week. + Why, door nails, and Julius Caesar, and things o' that description, would + ha' been <i>lively</i> compared with your poor ma when I see her. Lively! + that's what they'd ha' been.” + </p> + <p> + The child nodded with an air of familiar interest, wholly untinged with + sadness. “I think,” she said, laying her head against the old man's + shoulder, and curling one arm about his neck, “I think I should like to + hear about it again, please, Daddy. It's a long, long time since you told + me the whole of it.” + </p> + <p> + “Much as a month, I should think it must be,” assented the Captain. “Why, + Snowdrop, you know the story by heart, better'n I do, I believe. 'Pears to + me I've told it reg'lar, once a month or so, ever since you were old + enough to understand it.” + </p> + <p> + “Never mind!” said the Princess, with an imperious gesture. “That makes no + difference. I <i>want</i> it now!” + </p> + <p> + “Wal, wal!” said the Captain, smoothing back the golden hair. “If you <i>want</i> + it, why of course you must have it, Blossom! But first I must light up, ye + know. One star inside the old house, and the other atop of it: that's what + makes Light Island the lightest spot in the natural world. Sit ye here, + Star Bright, and play Princess till Daddy comes back!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. — THE STORY + </h2> + <p> + The lamps were lighted, and the long, level rays flashed their golden + warning over the murmuring darkness of the summer sea, giving cheer to + many hearts on inbound barque or schooner. Bright indeed was the star on + the top of the old lighthouse; but no less radiant was the face of little + Star, as she turned it eagerly towards Captain January, and waited for the + beginning of the well-known and well-loved story. + </p> + <p> + “Wal,” said the Captain, when his pipe was refilled and drawing bravely. + “Let me see now! where shall I begin?” + </p> + <p> + “At the beginning!” said Star promptly. + </p> + <p> + “Jes' so!” assented the old man. “Ten years ago this—” + </p> + <p> + “No! No!!” cried the child. “<i>That</i> isn't the beginning, Daddy! + That's almost half-way to the middle. 'When I was a young lad.' That's the + beginning.” + </p> + <p> + “Bound to have it all, are ye, Honeysuckle?” said the obedient Captain. + “Wal! Wal! when I were a young lad, I was a wild un, ye see, Treasure. My + father, he 'prenticed me to a blacksmith, being big and strong for my + years; but I hadn't no heart for the work. All I cared about was the sea, + and boats, and sailors, and sea talk. I ran away down to the wharf + whenever I could get a chance, and left my work. Why, even when I went to + meetin', 'stead o' listenin', to the minister, I was lookin' out the + places about them as go down to the sea in ships, ye know, and 'that + leviathan whom Thou hast made,' and all that. And there was Hiram, King of + Tyre, and his ships! Lord! how I used to think about them ships, and + wonder how they was rigged, and how many tons they were, and all about it. + Yes! I was a wild un, and no mistake; and after awhile I got so roused up—after + my mother died, it was, and my father married again—that I just run + away, and shipped aboard of a whaler, bound for the north seas. Wal, + Honey, 'twould take me a week to tell ye about all my voyages. Long and + short of it, 'twas the life I was meant for, and I done well in it. Had + tumbles and toss-ups, here and there, same as everybody has in any kind o' + life; but I done well, and by the time I was forty year old I was captain + of the <i>Bonito</i>, East Indiaman, sailin' from New York to Calcutta.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain paused, and puffed gravely at his pipe for a few minutes. + </p> + <p> + “Well, Rosebud,” he continued, presently, “you know what comes next. The + <i>Bonito</i> was cast away, in a cyclone, on a desert island, and all + hands lost, except me and one other.” + </p> + <p> + “Dear Daddy! poor Daddy!” cried the child, putting her little hands up to + the weather-beaten face, and drawing it down to hers. “Don't talk about + that dreadful part. Go on to the next!” + </p> + <p> + “No, I won't talk about it, Star Bright!” said the old man, very gravely. + “Fust place I can't, and second place it ain't fit for little maids to + hear of. But I lived on that island fifteen year,—five year with my + good mate Job Hotham, and ten year alone, after Job died. When a ship kem + by, after that, and took me off, I'd forgot most everything, and was + partly like the beasts that perish; but it kem back to me. Slow, like, and + by fits, as you may say; but it kem back, all there was before, and maybe + a good bit more!” + </p> + <p> + “Poor Daddy!” murmured the child again, pressing her soft cheek against + the white beard. “It's all over now! Don't think of it! I am here, Daddy, + loving you: loving you <i>all to pieces</i>, you know!” + </p> + <p> + The old man was silent for a few minutes, caressing the little white hands + which lay like twin snowflakes in his broad, brown palm. Then he resumed, + cheerfully: + </p> + <p> + “And so, Cream Cheese from the dairy of Heaven, I kem home. Your old Daddy + kem home, and landed on the same wharf he'd sailed from twenty-five years + before. Not direct, you understand, but takin' steamer from New York, and + so on. Wal, there wa'n't nobody that knew me, or cared for me. Father was + dead, and his wife; and their children, as weren't born when I sailed from + home, were growed up and gone away. No, there wa'n't nobody. Wal, I tried + for a spell to settle down and live like other folks, but 'twa'n't no use. + I was'nt used to the life, and I couldn't stand it. For ten years I + haven't heard the sound of a human voice, and now they was buzz, buzzin' + all the time; it seemed as if there was a swarm of wasps round my ears the + everlastin' day. Buzz! buzz! and then clack! clack! like an everlasting + mill-clapper; and folks starin' at my brown face and white hair, and + askin' me foolish questions. I couldn't stand it, that was all. I heard + that a light-keeper was wanted here, and I asked for the place, and got + it. And that's all of the first part, Peach Blossom.” + </p> + <p> + The child drew a long breath, and her face glowed with eager anticipation. + “And <i>now</i>, Daddy Captain,” she said, “<i>now</i> you may say, 'Ten + years ago this fall!'” + </p> + <p> + “Ten years ago this fall,” said the Captain meekly acquiescing, “on the + fourteenth day of September, as ever was, I looks out from the tower, + bein' a-fillin' of the lamps, and says I, 'There's a storm comin'!' So I + made all taut above and below, fastened the door, and took my glass and + went out on the rocks, to see how things looked. Wal, they looked pooty + bad. There had been a heavy sea on for a couple o' days, and the clouds + that was comin' up didn't look as if they was goin' to smooth it down any. + There was a kind o' brassy look over every thin', and when the wind began + to rise, it warn't with no nat'ral sound, but a kind of screech to it, + on'arthly like. Wal, thar! the wind did rise, and it riz to stay. In half + an hour it was blowin' half a gale; in an hour it blew a gale, and as + tough a one (barrin' cyclones) as ever I see. 'T had like to ha' blow me + off my pins, half a dozen times. Then nat'rally the sea kem up; and 'twas + all creation on them rocks, now I tell ye. 'The sea, mountin' to the + welkin's cheek;' ye remember, Pigeon Pie?” + </p> + <p> + The child nodded eagerly. “Tempest!” she said, “Act I., Scene 2: 'Enter + Prospero and Miranda.' Go on, Daddy!” + </p> + <p> + “Wal, my Lily Flower,” continued the old man. “And the storm went on. It + roared, it bellowed, and it screeched: it thumped and it kerwhalloped. The + great seas would come bunt up agin the rocks, as if they was bound to go + right through to Jersey city, which they used to say was the end of the + world. Then they'd go scoopin' back, as if they was callin' all their + friends and neighbours to help; and then, bang! they'd come at it agin. + The spray was flyin' in great white sheets, and whiles, it seemed as if + the hull island was goin' to be swallowed up then and thar. 'Tain't + nothin' but a little heap o' rocks anyhow, to face the hull Atlantic Ocean + gone mad: and on that heap o' rocks was Januarius Judkins, holdin' on for + dear life, and feelin' like a hoppergrass that had got lost in Niag'ry + Falls.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't say that name, Daddy!” interrupted the child. “You know I don't + like it. Say 'Captain January'!” + </p> + <p> + “I tell ye, Honeysuckle,” said the old man, “I felt more like a sea-cook + than a cap'n <i>that</i> night. A cap'n on a quarter-deck's a good thing; + but a cap'n on a p'int o' rock, out to sea in a northeast gale, might just + as well be a fo'c'sle hand and done with it. Wal, as I was holdin' on + thar, I seed a flash to windward, as wasn't lightning; and next minute kem + a sound as wasn't thunder nor yet wind nor sea.” + </p> + <p> + “The guns! the guns!” cried the child, in great excitement. “The guns of + my poor mamma's ship. And then you heard them again, Daddy?” + </p> + <p> + “Then I heard them agin!” the old man assented. “And agin! a flash, and a + boom! and then in a minute agin, a flash and a boom! 'Oh, Lord!' says I. + 'Take her by to the mainland, and put her ashore there!' I says; 'cause + there's a life-saving station thar, ye know, Blossom, and there might be + some chance for them as were in her. But the Lord had His views, my dear, + the Lord had His views! Amen! so be it! In another minute there kem a + break in the clouds, and thar she was, comin' full head on, straight for + Light Island. Oh! my little Star, that was an awful thing to see. And I + couldn't do nothin', you understand. Not a livin' airthly thing could I + do, 'cept hide my face agin the rock I was clingin' to, and say, 'Dear + Lord, take 'em easy! It's Thy will as they should be took,' I says, 'and + there ain't no one to hender, if so be as they could. But take 'em easy, + good Lord, and take 'em suddin!'” + </p> + <p> + “And He did!” cried the child. “The good Lord did take 'em sudden, didn't + He, Daddy Captain?” + </p> + <p> + “He did, my child!” said the old man, solemnly. “They was all home, them + that was goin', in ten minutes from the time I saw the ship. You know the + Roarin' Bull, as sticks his horns out o' water just to windward of us? the + cruelest rock on the coast, he is, and the treacherousest: and the ship + struck him full and fair on the starboard quarter, and in ten minutes she + was kindlin' wood, as ye may say. The Lord rest their souls as went down + in her! Amen!” + </p> + <p> + “Amen!” said little Star, softly. But she added in an eager tone, “And + now, Daddy, you are coming to me!” + </p> + <p> + “Pooty soon, Jewel Bright!” said the old man, stroking the gold hair + tenderly. “I'm a-comin' to you pooty soon. 'Twas along about eight bells + when she struck, and none so dark, for the moon had risen. After the ship + had gone down, I strained my eyes through the driving spray, to see + whether anything was comin' ashore. Presently I seed somethin' black, + driftin' towards the rocks: and lo' ye, 'twas a boat bottom side up, and + all hands gone down. Wal! wal! the Lord knew what was right: but it's wuss + by a deal to <i>see</i> them things than to be in 'em yourself, to my + thinkin'. Wal, after a spell I looked agin, and there was somethin' else + a-driftin' looked like a spar, it did: and somethin' was lashed to it. My + heart! 'twas tossed about like a egg-shell, up and down, and here and + thar! 'Twas white, whatever was lashed to it, and I couldn't take my eyes + off'n it. 'It can't be alive!' I says, 'whatever it is!' I says. 'But I'll + get it, if it takes a leg!' I says. For down in my heart, Jewel, I knew + they wouldn't ha' taken such care of anythin' <i>but</i> what was alive, + and they perishin', but I didn't think it could live in such a sea long + enough to get ashore. Wal, I kep' my eyes on that spar, and I see that + 'twas comin' along by the south side. Then I ran, or crawled, 'cordin' as + the wind allowed me, back to the shed, and got a boat-hook and a coil o' + rope; and then I clumb down as far as I dared, on the south rocks. I + scooched down under the lee of a p'int o' rock, and made the rope fast + round my waist, and the other end round the rock, and then I waited for + the spar to come along. 'Twas hard to make out anythin', for the water was + all a white, bilin' churn, and the spray flyin' fit to blind you; but + bimeby I co't sight of her comin' swashin' along, now up on top of a big + roarer, and then scootin' down into the holler, and then up agin. I crep' + out on the rocks, grippin' 'em for all I was wuth, with the boat-hook + under my arm. The wind screeched and clawed at me like a wildcat in a + caniption fit, but I hadn't been through those cyclones for nothin'. I lay + down flat and wriggled myself out to the edge, and thar I waited.” + </p> + <p> + “And the waves were breaking over you all the time?” cried the child, with + eager inquiry. + </p> + <p> + “Wal, they was that, Honeysuckle!” said the Captain. “Bless ye, I sh'd ha' + been washed off like a log if 't hadn't ben for the rope. But that held; + 'twas a good one, and tied with a bowline, and it held. Wal, I lay thar, + and all to wunst I see her comin' by like a flash, close to me. '<i>Now</i>!' + says I, 'ef ther's any stuff in you, J. Judkins, let's see it!' says I. + And I chucks myself over the side o' the rock and grabs her with the + boat-hook, and hauls her in. 'All together,' I says. '<i>Now</i>, my + hearties! Yo heave <i>ho</i>!' and I hed her up, and hauled her over the + rocks and round under the lee of the p'int, before I stopped to breathe. + How did I do it? Don't ask me, Jewel Bright! <i>I</i> don't know how I did + it. There's times when a man has strength given to him, seemin'ly, over + and above human strength. 'Twas like as if the Lord ketched holt and + helped me: maybe He did, seein' what 'twas I was doing. Maybe He did!” He + paused a moment in thought, but Star was impatient. + </p> + <p> + “Well, Daddy!” she cried. “And then you looked and found it was—go + on, Daddy dear!” + </p> + <p> + “I looked,” continued the old man, “and I found it was a sail, that had + showed so white against the spar; a sail, wrapped tight round somethin'. I + cut the ropes, and pulled away the canvas and a tarpaulin that was inside + that; and thar I seed—” + </p> + <p> + “My poor mamma and me!” cried the child, joyously, clapping her hands. + “Oh, Daddy Captain, it <i>is</i> so delightful when you come to this part! + And my poor mamma was dead? You are quite positively sure that she was + dead, Daddy?” + </p> + <p> + “She were, my lamb!” replied the Captain, gravely. “You needn't never have + no doubt about it. She had had a blow on the head, your poor ma had, from + one o' the bull's horns, likely; and I'll warrant she never knowed + anythin' after it, poor lady! She was wrapped in a great fur cloak, the + same as you have on your bed in winter, Blossom: and lyin' all clost and + warm in her cold arms, that held on still, though the life was gone out of + 'em, was”—the old man faltered, and brushed his rough hand across + his eyes—“was a—a little baby. Asleep, it seemed to be, all + curled up like a rose on its mother's breast, and its pooty eyes tight + shut. I loosed the poor arms—they was like a stattoo's, so round and + white and cold; and I took the child up in my arms; and lo' ye! it opened + its eyes and looked straight at me and laughed.” + </p> + <p> + “And it said, Daddy?” cried the delighted child, clapping her hands. “Tell + what it said!” + </p> + <p> + “It said 'Tar,'” the old man continued, in a hushed voice. “'Tar,' it said + as plain as I say it to you. 'And “Star” it is!' says I; for 'if ever a + star shone on a dark night, it's you, my pooty,' I says. 'Praise the + Lord,' I says. 'Amen, so be it.' Then I laid your poor ma in a corner, + under the lee of the big rock, where the spray wouldn't fly over her, and + I covered her with the sail; and then I took the fur cloak, seein' the + baby needed it and she didn't, and wrapped it round the little un, and + clumb back over the rocks, up to the house. And so, Honeysuckle—” + </p> + <p> + “And so,” cried the child, taking his two great hands and putting them + softly together, “so I came to be your little Star!” + </p> + <p> + “To be my little Star!” assented the old man, stooping to kiss the golden + head. + </p> + <p> + “Your light and your joy!” exclaimed the child, laughing with pleasure. + </p> + <p> + “My light and my joy!” said the old man, solemnly. “A light from heaven to + shine in a dark place, and the Lord's message to a sinful man.” + </p> + <p> + He was silent for a little, looking earnestly into the child's radiant + face. Presently, “You've been happy, Star Bright?” he asked. “You haven't + missed nothin'?” + </p> + <p> + Star opened wide eyes of surprise at him. “Of course I've been happy!” she + said. “Why shouldn't I be?” + </p> + <p> + “You ain't—I mean you haven't mourned for your poor ma, have ye, + Jewel?” He was still looking curiously at her, and his look puzzled her. + </p> + <p> + “No,” she said after a pause. “Of course not. I never knew my poor mamma. + Why should I mourn for her? She is in heaven, and I am very glad. You say + heaven is much nicer than here, so it must be pleasanter for my poor + mamma; and I don't need her, because I have you, Daddy. But go on, now, + please, Daddy dear. 'Next day'—” + </p> + <p> + “Next day,” resumed the obedient Captain, “the sky was bright and clear, + and only the heavy sea, and your poor ma, and you, Peach Blossom, to tell + what had happened, so far as I seed at fust. Bimeby, when I went out to + look, I found other things.” + </p> + <p> + “My poor papa!” said Star, with an air of great satisfaction. + </p> + <p> + The Captain nodded. “Yer poor pa,” he said, “and two others with him. How + did I know he was your poor pa? Along of his havin' your poor ma's pictur + hung round his neck. And a fine-lookin' man he was, to be sure!” + </p> + <p> + “And his name was 'H. M.'!” cried the child, eagerly. + </p> + <p> + “Them was the letters of it!” assented the Captain. “Worked on his shirt + and hank'cher, so fine as ever was. Well, Jewel Bright, when I seed all + this, I says, 'January,' says I, 'here's Christian corpses, and they must + have Christian burial!' I says. So I brought 'em all up to the house, and + laid 'em comfortable; and then I gave you a good drink of warm milk (you'd + been sleepin' like a little angil, and only waked up to smile and crow and + say ''Tar'), and gave you a bright spoon to play with; and then I rowed + over to shore to fetch the minister and the crowner, and everybody else as + was proper. You don't care about this part, Honeysuckle, and you ain't no + need to, but everything was done decent and Christian, and your parents + and the other two laid peaceful under the big pine-tree. Then the + minister, when 'twas all done, he says to me, 'And now, my friend,' he + says, 'I'll relieve you of the child, as would be a care to you, and I can + find some one to take charge of it!' he says. 'Meanin' no disrespect, + Minister,' I says, 'don't think it! The Lord has His views, you'll allow, + most times, and He had 'em when He sent the child here. He could have sent + her ashore by the station jest as easy,' I says, 'if so be't had seemed + best; but He sent her to me,' I says, 'and I'll keep her.' 'But how can + you bring up a child?' he says, 'alone, here on a rock in the ocean?' he + says. 'I've been thinking that over, Minister,' I says, 'ever since I holt + that little un in my arms, takin' her from her dead mother's breast,' I + says; 'and I can't see that there's more than three things needed to bring + up a child,—the Lord's help, common sense, and a cow. The last two I + hev, and the fust is likely to be round when a man asks for it!' I says. + So then we shakes hands, and he doesn't say nothin' more, 'cept to pray a + blessin' for me and for the child. And the blessin' kem, and the blessin' + stayed, Star Bright; and there's the end of the story, my maid. + </p> + <p> + “And now it's time these two eyes were shut, and only the top star shinin' + in the old tower. Good night, Jewel! Good night, and God bless you!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. — INTRODUCING IMOGEN AND BOB + </h2> + <p> + “Imogen!” said Star, looking up from her book, “I don't believe you have + been listening!” + </p> + <p> + Imogen looked up meekly, but made no attempt to deny the charge. + </p> + <p> + “You <i>must</i> listen!” said the child, sternly. “First place, it's + beautiful: and besides, it's very rude not to listen when people reads. + And you ought <i>not</i> to be rude, Imogen!” After which short lecture, + Star turned to her book again,—a great book it was, lying open on + the little pink calico lap,—and went on reading, in her clear + childish voice: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “'Over hill, over dale, + Thorough bush, thorough brier, + Over park, over pale, + Thorough flood, thorough fire, + I do wander everywhere, + Swifter than the moony sphere; + And I serve the fairy queen, + To dew her orbs upon the green:' +</pre> + <p> + Do you know what a fairy is, Imogen?” asked Star, looking up again + suddenly. + </p> + <p> + But this time it was very evident that Imogen (who was, in truth, a large + white cow, with a bell round her neck) was paying no attention whatever to + the reading; for she had fairly turned her back, and was leisurely + cropping the short grass, swaying her tail in a comfortable and reflective + manner the while. + </p> + <p> + Star sprang to her feet, and seizing the delinquent's horns, shook them + with all her might. + </p> + <p> + “How dare you turn your back when I am reading?” she cried. “I'm just + ashamed of you! You're a disgrace to me, Imogen. Why, you are as ignorant + as a—as—as a lobster! and you a great cow with four whole + legs. A—a—ah! shame on you!” + </p> + <p> + Imogen rubbed her head deprecatingly against the small pink shoulder, and + uttered a soft and apologetic “moo;” but Star was not ready to be + mollified yet. + </p> + <p> + “And you know it's my <i>own</i> book, too!” she continued, reproachfully. + “My own Willum Shakespeare, that I love more—well, no! not <i>more</i> + than I love you, Imogen, but just as much, and almost nearly half as much + as I love Daddy Captain. + </p> + <p> + “But after all,” she added, with a smile flitting over her frowning little + face, “after all, you poor dear, you <i>are</i> only a cow, and I don't + suppose you know.” And then she hugged Imogen, and blew a little into one + of her ears, to make her wink it, and the two were very friendly again. + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps you would like to know, Imogen,” said Star, confidentially, + seating herself once more on the ground, “<i>why</i> I am so fond of + Willum Shakespeare. So I will tell you. It is really part of <i>my</i> + story, but Daddy Captain didn't get as far as that last night, so I think + I will tell it to you. Well!” she drew a long breath of enjoyment, and, + clasping her hands round her knees, settled herself for a “good talk.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, Imogen: you see, at first I was a little baby, and didn't know + anything at all. But by and by I began to grow big, and then Daddy Captain + said to himself, 'Here's a child,' he says, 'and a child of gentlefolks, + and she mustn't grow up in ignorance, and me doing my duty by her poor pa + and ma,' he says. So he rows over to the town, and he goes to the minister + (the same minister who came over here before), and he says, 'Good morning, + Minister!' and the minister shakes him by the hand hearty, and says, 'Why, + Captain January!' he says, 'I'm amazing glad to see you. And how is the + child?' And Daddy says, 'The child is a-growing with the flowers,' he + says; 'and she's a-growing like the flowers. Show me a rose that's as + sweet and as well growed as that child,' he says, 'and I'll give you my + head, Minister.' That's the way Daddy talks, you know, Imogen. And then he + told the minister how he didn't want the child (that was me, of course) to + grow up in ignorance, and how he wanted to teach me. And the minister + asked him was he qualified to teach. 'Not yet, I ain't!' says Daddy + Captain, 'but I'm a-going to be. I want a book, or maybe a couple of + books, that'll edicate me in a manner all round!' he says. 'I couldn't do + with a lot of 'em,' he says, ''cause I ain't used to it, and it makes + things go round inside my head. But I think I could tackle two if they was + fustrate,' he says. The minister laughed, and told Daddy he wanted a good + deal. Then he asked him if he had the Good Book. That's the Bible, you + know, Imogen. Daddy Captain won't let me read that to you, because you are + a beast that perish. Poor dear!” she leaned forward and kissed Imogen's + pink nose. “And Daddy said <i>of course</i> he had that, only the letters + weren't so clear as they used to be, somehow, perhaps along of getting wet + in his weskit pocket, being he carried it along always. So the minister + gave him a <i>new big</i> BEAUTIFUL Bible, Imogen! It isn't so new <i>now</i>, + but it's just as big and beautiful, and I love it. And then he thought for + a long time, the minister did, walking about the room and looking at all + the books. The whole room was full of books, Daddy says, all on shelves, + 'cept some on the floor and the table and the chairs. It made his head go + round dreadful to see them all, Daddy says (I mean Daddy's head), and + think of anybody reading them. He says he doesn't see how in creation the + minister manages to keep his bearings, and look out for a change in the + wind, and things that <i>have</i> to be done, and read all those books + too. <i>Well</i>!” she kissed Imogen's nose again, from sheer enjoyment, + and threw her head back with a laugh of delight. “I'm coming to it now, + Imogen!” she cried. “At last the minister took down a big book—OH! + you precious old thing, how I love you!” (this apostrophe was addressed to + the quarto volume which she was now hugging rapturously), “and said, + 'Well, Captain January, here's the best book in the world, <i>next</i> to + the Good Book!' he says. 'You'll take this,' he says, 'as my gift to you + and the child; and with these two books to guide you, the child's + edication won't go far wrong!' he says; and then he gave Daddy the + dictionary, too, Imogen; but I sha'n't tell you about that, because it's a + brute, and I hate and 'spise it. But—well! <i>so</i>, you see, <i>that</i> + was the way I got my Willum Shakespeare, my joy and my pride, my—” + </p> + <p> + At this moment a shadow fell upon the grass, and a deep, gruff voice was + heard, saying, “Star, ahoy!” The child started up, and turned to meet the + newcomer with a joyous smile. “Why, Bob!” she cried, seizing one of his + hands in both of hers, and dancing round and round him. “Where did you + come from? Why aren't you on the boat?” + </p> + <p> + “Boat's aground!” replied the person addressed as Bob. He spoke in short, + jerky sentences. He was dressed as a seafaring man; had wide, + helpless-looking brown eyes, an apologetic smile, and a bass voice of + appalling depth and power. “Boat's aground,” he repeated, seating himself + on the grass and looking about for a stem of grass long enough to put in + his mouth. “Hard and fast. Waiting for tide to turn; thought I'd come, + pass time o' day.” + </p> + <p> + “And how came you to run her aground?” inquired the child, severely. “A + pretty pilot you are! Why, I could steer her myself better than that.” + </p> + <p> + “Fog!” replied the man, in a meek and muffled roar. Then finding a bit of + sorrel, he fell upon it with avidity, and seemed to think he had said + enough. + </p> + <p> + “H'm!” said Star, with a disdainful little sniff. “You'd better get Daddy + to steer your boat. <i>He</i> doesn't mind fog. Are there many people on + board?” she added, with an air of interest. + </p> + <p> + “Heaps!” replied Bob, succinctly. Then, after a pause of meditative + chewing: “Like to go aboard? take ye—boat—Cap'n willin'.” + </p> + <p> + “No, I don't want to go aboard, thank you!” said Star. “I don't like + people. But you might just row me round her once, Bob,” she added. “I + think I should like <i>that</i>. But we must wait till Daddy comes, of + course.” + </p> + <p> + “Cap'n round?” inquired Bob. + </p> + <p> + “He's setting the lobster-pots,” replied the child. “He'll be back soon. + Bob,” she added, irrelevantly, a moment after, “I never noticed before + that you looked like Imogen. Why, you are the very image of her, Bob! Your + eyes and your expression are <i>exactly</i> the same.” Bob raised his eyes + and surveyed Imogen with a critical air. “Fine cow!” he said at last. + “D'no's I mind—'f she doosn't.” + </p> + <p> + “<i>Isn't</i> she a fine cow?” cried little Star, patting the meek and + graceful head of her favourite. “I don't believe there's another such cow + in the world. I <i>know</i> there isn't! I think,” she added, “I will take + a little ride on her, while we are waiting for Daddy Captain. Will you put + me up, please, Bob?” + </p> + <p> + The obedient Bob lifted her as if she were a ball of thistle-down, and set + her on the broad back of the good cow, who straightway began to pace + sedately along the bit of meadow, following the guidance of the small + hands which clasped her horns. Ah! who will paint me that picture, as my + mind's eye sees it? The blue of sky and sea, the ripples breaking in + silver on silver sand, the jewelled green, where the late dandelions + flecked the grass with gold; and in the midst the lovely, laughing child, + mounted on the white cow, tossing her cloudy golden hair, and looking back + with eyes of delight towards her companion. + </p> + <p> + The beauty of it all filled the eyes and the heart of Captain January, as + he came up among the rocks. He paused, and stood for some time in silence, + watching the little well-beloved figure. “Wal!” he said, “if that ain't + one of the young-eyed cherubims, then I never seed one, that's all.” + </p> + <p> + At this moment Star caught sight of him. “O Daddy,” she cried. “My Daddy + Captain, I'm having such a fine ride! It isn't <i>quite</i> as high as a + heaven-kissing hill, but it's a heaven-kissing cow, for Imogen is really + <i>very</i> high. Dear Daddy, won't you come and try it? there's plenty of + room!” + </p> + <p> + “Thanky, Peach Blossom!” said the Captain, advancing, and greeting the + apologetic Bob with a hearty shake of the hand. “Thanky kindly, but I + don't believe I will try it. Ridin' was never, so as to say, in my line. + I'm stiddy enough on my own pins, but defend me from tryin' to git about + on another critter's. And how's all with you, Bob? and why ain't you + aboard the <i>Huntress</i>?” + </p> + <p> + Bob in the fewest possible words related the mishap which had befallen the + boat, and asked if he might take Missy out to see her. + </p> + <p> + “To be sure! to be sure!” said Captain January. “That'll be a nice trip + for ye, Honeysuckle. Put on your bunnit and go with Bob. He'll take good + care of ye, Bob will.” + </p> + <p> + And so, by what seemed the merest chance, that lovely afternoon, little + Star went with Bob Peet, in his old black boat, to see the steamer <i>Huntress</i> + aground on a sand-bank off the main shore. + </p> + <p> + The sea lay all shining and dimpling in the afternoon light, and not a + cloud was to be seen overhead. Here and there a white gull was slowly + waving his wings through the clear air, and little fish came popping their + heads out of the water, just for the pleasure of popping them back again. + Star dipped her hands in the blue crystal below, and sang little snatches + of song, being light of heart and without a care in the world. They were + no nursery songs that she sang, for she considered herself to have + outgrown the very few Mother Goose ditties which Captain January had + treasured in his mind and heart ever since his mother sang them to him, + all the many years ago. She was tired of: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Jacky Barber's coming to town: + Clear away, gentlemen! clear away, gentlemen! + One foot up and t'other foot down, + Jacky Barber's coming to town.” + </pre> + <p> + But she loved the scraps of sea-song that the old Captain still hummed + over his work: “Baltimore,” and “Blow a Man Down,” and half a dozen other + salt-water ditties: and it might have been strange to less accustomed ears + than Bob Peet's to hear the sweet child-voice carolling merrily: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Boney was a warrior, + Weigh! heigh! oh! + Boney was a warrior, + John Francois! + Boney whipped the Rooshians, + Weigh! heigh! oh! + Boney whipped the Prooshians, + John Francois! + Boney went to Elba, + Weigh! heigh! oh!” etc. +</pre> + <p> + Bob's oars kept time with the song, and his portentous voice thundered out + the refrain with an energy which shook the little skiff from stem to + stern. By the time that “Boney” was safely consigned to his grave in sunny + France, they were nearing the flats on which the steamer <i>Huntress</i> + lay, quietly awaiting the turn of the tide. + </p> + <p> + Star knew the great white boat well, for twice a day she went thundering + past Light Island, churning the quiet blue water into foam with her huge + paddles, on her way to and from the gay summer city which all the world + came to visit. Nearly every day the child would run out on the south rocks + to wave a greeting to some of her acquaintances among the crew; for she + knew them all, from the black-bearded captain down to the tiniest + cabin-boy; and they, for their part, were always eager—good souls!—for + a smile or a nod from the “Star of Light Island.” Not a man of them but + envied Bob Peet his privilege of going when he pleased to the lighthouse + rock. For Captain January was not fond of visitors, and gave them no + encouragement to come, Bob Peet being the single exception to the rule. + The Captain liked Bob because he was not “given to clatter,” and “knew how + to belay his jaw.” + </p> + <p> + “I do love to see a man belay his jaw!” said Captain January, + unconsciously quoting the words of another and a more famous captain, the + beloved David Dodd. So Bob was free to come and go as he liked, and to + smoke his pipe in sociable silence for hours at a time, within the walls + of Storm Castle. + </p> + <p> + “Stop here, Bob!” said Star, with an imperious motion of her hand. “I + don't want to go any nearer.” The obedient Bob lay on his oars, and both + looked up at the great boat, now only a few yards away. The decks were + crowded with passengers, who leaned over the railings, idly chatting, or + watching the water to see if the tide had turned. + </p> + <p> + “Sight o' folks,” said Bob Peet, nodding towards the after-deck, which + seemed a solid mass of human beings. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said the child, speaking half to herself, in a low tone. “It's just + like the Tower of Babel, isn't it? I should think they would be afraid. + 'And the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the + earth.' And it's so <i>stupid</i>!” she added, after a moment's pause. + “Why don't they stay at home? Haven't they any homes to stay at? Who takes + care of their homes while they go sailing about like loons?” + </p> + <p> + “Folks likes to v'yage,” said Bob Peet, with mild toleration. “Heaps—nothin' + t' do—hot spells—v'yages.” He added, with an approach to a + twinkle in his meek and cow-like eyes, “Try it—some day—git + tired of ol' Cap'n—ol' rock—pooty soon—take ye—v'yage—” + </p> + <p> + His speech was interrupted by a sudden and violent dash of water in his + face. + </p> + <p> + “Take that!” cried Star, panting with fury, and flinging the water at him + with all her small might. “I wish it was sharp stones, instead of just + water. I wish it was needles, and jagged rocks, and quills upon the + fretful porkypine, so I do! How dare you say such things to me, Bob Peet? + How dare you?” She paused, breathless, but with flashing eyes and burning + cheeks; while Bob meekly mopped his face and head with a red cotton + handkerchief, and shook the water from his ears, eyeing her the while with + humble and deprecatory looks. + </p> + <p> + “No offence,” he muttered, in apologetic thunder-rumble. “Poor ol' Bob—eh, + Missy? Sorry, beg pardon! Never no more. Didn't mean it—nohow!” + </p> + <p> + The tempest subsided as suddenly as it rose, and Star, with a forgiving + nod, took out her own little handkerchief and daintily wiped a few drops + from her victim's forehead. + </p> + <p> + “You're so stupid, Bob,” she said, frankly, “that I suppose I ought not to + get angry with you, any more than I would with Imogen, though even she + provokes me sometimes. So I forgive you, Bob. But if you ever say such a + thing again as my getting tired of Daddy, I'll kill you. So now you know!” + </p> + <p> + “Jes' so!” assented Bob. “Nat'rally! <i>To</i> b' sure!” + </p> + <p> + The sudden splashing of the water had caught many eyes on the deck of the + <i>Huntress</i>, and people admired the “playfulness” of the pretty child + in the little boat. One pair of eyes, however, was sharper than the rest. + </p> + <p> + “Just look at that child, Isabel!” said a tall, bronzed gentleman who was + leaning over the taff-rail. “She is a perfect little fury! I never saw a + pair of eyes flash so. Very fine eyes they are, too. A very beautiful + child. Isabel! why, my dear, what is the matter? You are ill—faint! + let me—” + </p> + <p> + But the lady at his side pushed his arm away, and leaned forward, her eyes + fixed upon Star's face. + </p> + <p> + “George,” she said, in a low, trembling voice, “I want to know who that + child is. I <i>must</i> know, George! Find out for me, dear, please!” + </p> + <p> + As she spoke, she made a sign towards the boat, so earnest, so imperative, + that it caught Star's wandering gaze. Their eyes met, and the little child + in the pink calico frock, and the stately lady in the India shawl, gazed + at each other as if they saw nothing else in the world. The gentleman + looked from one to the other in amazement. + </p> + <p> + “Isabel!” he whispered, “the child looks like you. What can this mean?” + </p> + <p> + But little Star, in the old black boat, cried, “Take me away, Bob! take me + home to my Daddy Captain! <i>Quick</i>! do you hear?” + </p> + <p> + “Jes' so” said Bob Peet. “Nat'rally!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. — THE VISIT + </h2> + <p> + A gray day! soft gray sky, like the breast of a dove; sheeny gray sea, + with gleams of steel running across; trailing skirts of mist shutting off + the mainland, leaving Light Island alone with the ocean; the white tower + gleaming spectral among the folding mists; the dark pine-tree pointing a + sombre finger to heaven; the wet, black rocks, from which the tide had + gone down, huddling together in fantastic groups as if to hide their + nakedness. + </p> + <p> + On the little beach two men were slowly pacing up and down, up and down, + one silent, the other talking earnestly. Old men, both, with white, + reverend hair: one slender and small, the other a son of Anak, big and + brawny,—Captain January and the minister. + </p> + <p> + It was the minister who had been speaking. But now he had done, and they + took a few turns in silence before the Captain spoke in reply. + </p> + <p> + “Minister,” he said,—and his voice was strangely altered from the + gruff, hearty tone which had greeted his guest fifteen minutes before. + “Minister, I ain't a man that's used to hearin' much talk, and it confuses + my mind a bit. There's things inside my head that seems to go round and + round, sometimes, and put me out. Now, if it isn't askin' too much, I'll + git you to go over them p'ints again. Slow, like! slow, Minister, bearin' + in mind that I'm a slow man, and not used to it. This—this lady, she + come to your house yisterday, as ever was?” + </p> + <p> + “Yesterday,” assented the minister; and his voice had a tender, almost + compassionate tone, as if he were speaking to a child. + </p> + <p> + “And a fine day it were!” said Captain January. “Wind steady, sou'west by + sou'. Fog in the mornin', and Bob Peet run the <i>Huntress</i> aground on + the bank. I never liked fog, Minister! 'Give me a gale,' I'd say, 'or + anythin' short of a cyclone,' I'd say, 'but don't give me fog!' and see + now, how it's come about! But it lifted, soon as the harm were done. It + lifted, and as fine a day as ever you see.” + </p> + <p> + The minister looked at him in some alarm, but the old man's keen blue eyes + were clear and intelligent, and met his gaze openly. + </p> + <p> + “You're thinkin' I'm crazy, minister, or maybe drunk,” he said, quietly; + “but I ain't neither one. I'm on'y takin' it by and large. When a man has + been fifteen year on a desert island, ye see, he learns to take things by + and large. But I never see good come of a fog yet. Amen! so be it! And so + Cap'n Nazro brought the lady to your house, Minister?” + </p> + <p> + “Captain Nazro came with her,” said the minister, “and also her husband, + Mr. Morton, and Robert Peet, the pilot. Mrs. Morton had seen little Star + in Peet's boat, and was greatly and painfully struck by the child's + likeness to a beloved sister of hers, who had, it was supposed, perished + at sea, with her husband and infant child, some ten years ago.” + </p> + <p> + “Ten year ago,” repeated Captain January, passing his hand across his + weather-beaten face, which looked older, somehow, than it was wont to do. + “Ten year ago this September. 'He holdeth the waters in the hollow of His + hand.' Go on, Minister. The lady thought my little Star, as the Lord + dropped out of the hollow of His hand into my arms ten year ago, had a + look of her sister.” + </p> + <p> + “She was so strongly impressed by it,” the minister continued, quietly, + “that, failing to attract Peet's attention as he rowed away, she sent for + the captain, and begged him to give her all the information he could about + the child. What she heard moved her so deeply that she became convinced of + the child's identity with her sister's lost infant. As soon as Peet + returned after putting Star ashore, she questioned him even more closely. + He, good fellow, refused to commit himself to anything which he fancied + you might not like, but he told her of my having performed the last rites + over the mortal remains of the child's parents, and Mr. Morton wisely + counselled her to go at once to me, instead of coming here, as she at + first wished to do. After my interview with her, I am bound to say—” + </p> + <p> + “Easy now, Minister!” interrupted Captain January. “I'm an old man, though + I never knowed it till this day. Easy with this part!” + </p> + <p> + “I am bound to say,” continued the minister, laying his hand kindly on his + companion's arm, “that I think there is little doubt of Star's being Mrs. + Morton's niece.” + </p> + <p> + “And what if she be?” exclaimed the old sailor, turning with a sudden + violence which made the gentle minister start back in alarm. “What if she + be? what have the lady done for her niece? Did she take her out o' the + sea, as raged like all the devils let loose, and death itself a-hangin' + round and fairly howlin' for that child? did she stand on that rock, blind + and deef and e'ena'most mazed with the beatin' and roarin' and onearthly + screechin' all round, and take that child from its dead mother's breast, + and vow to the Lord, as helped in savin' it, to do as should be done by + it? Has she prayed, and worked, and sweat, and laid awake nights, for fear + that child's fingers should ache, this ten years past? Has she—” the + old man's voice, which had been ringing out like a trumpet, broke off + suddenly. The angry fire died out of his blue eyes, and he bowed his head + humbly. “I ask yer pardon, Minister!” he said, quietly, after a pause. “I + humbly ask yer pardon. I had forgotten the Lord, ye see, for all I was + talkin' about Him so glib. I was takin' my view, and forgettin' that the + Lord had His. <i>He</i> takes things by and large, and nat'rally He takes + 'em larger than mortal man kin do. Amen! so be it!” He took off his + battered hat, and stood motionless for a few moments, with bent head: nor + was his the only silent prayer that went up from the little gray beach to + the gray heaven above. + </p> + <p> + “Well, Minister,” he said, presently, in a calm and even cheerful voice, + “and so that bein' all clear to your mind, the lady have sent you to take + my—to take her niece—the little lady (and a lady she were from + her cradle) back to her. Is that the way it stands?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, no! no indeed!” cried the kind old minister. “Mrs. Morton would do + nothing so cruel as that, Captain January. She is very kind-hearted, and + fully appreciates all that you have done for the little girl. But she + naturally wants to see the child, and to do whatever is for her best + advantage.” + </p> + <p> + “For the child's advantage. That's it!” repeated Captain January. “That's + somethin' to hold on by. Go on, Minister!” + </p> + <p> + “So she begged me to come over alone,” continued the minister, “to—to + prepare your mind, and give you time to think the matter well over. And + she and Mr. Morton were to follow in the course of an hour, in Robert + Peet's boat. He is a very singular fellow, that Peet!” added the good man, + shaking his head. “Do you think he is quite in his right mind? He has + taken the most inveterate dislike to Mr. and Mrs. Morton, and positively + refuses to speak to either of them. I could hardly prevail upon him to + bring them over here, and yet he fell into a strange fury when I spoke of + getting some one else to bring them. He—he is quite safe, I + suppose?” + </p> + <p> + “Wal, yes!” replied Captain January, with a half smile. “Bob's safe, if + anyone is. Old Bob! so he doosn't like them, eh?” + </p> + <p> + At that moment his eye caught something, and he said, in an altered voice, + “Here's Bob's boat coming now, Minister, and the lady and gentleman in + her.” + </p> + <p> + “They must have come much more rapidly than I did,” said the minister, + “and yet my boy rows well enough. Compose yourself, January! this is a + heavy blow for you, my good friend. Compose yourself! Things are strangely + ordered in this world. 'We see through a glass darkly'!” + </p> + <p> + “Not meanin' to set my betters right, Minister,” said Captain January, “I + never seed as it made any difference whether a man seed or not, darkly or + howsumdever, so long as the Lord made <i>His</i> views clear. And He's + makin' 'em!” he added. “He's makin' 'em, Minister! Amen! so be it!” And + quietly and courteously, ten minutes later, he was bidding his visitors + welcome to Light Island, as if it were a kingdom, and he the crownless + monarch of it. “It's a poor place, Lady!” he said, with a certain stately + humility, as he helped Mrs. Morton out of the boat. “Good anchorage for a + shipwrecked mariner like me, but no place for ladies or—or them as + belongs to ladies.” + </p> + <p> + “O Captain January!” cried Mrs. Morton, who was a tall, fair woman, with + eyes like Star's own. “What shall I say to you? I must seem to you so + cruel, so heartless, to come and ask for the child whom you have loved and + cared for so long. For that is what I have come for! I must speak frankly, + now that I see your kind, honest face. I have come to take my sister's + child, for it is my duty to do so.” She laid both hands on the old man's + arm, and looked up in his face with pleading, tearful eyes. + </p> + <p> + But Captain January's face did not move as he answered, quietly, “It is + your duty, Lady. No question o' that, to my mind or any. But,” he added, + with a wistful look, “I'll ask ye to do it easy, Lady. It'll be sudden + like for the—for the young lady. And—she ain't used to bein' + took sudden, my ways bein' in a manner slow. You'll happen find her a + little quick, Lady, in her ways, she bein' used to a person as was in a + manner slow, and havin' to be quick for two, so to say. But it's the + sparkle o' gold, Lady, and a glint o' diamonds.” + </p> + <p> + But the lady was weeping, and could not answer; so Captain January turned + to her husband, who met him with a warm grasp of the hand, and a few + hearty and kindly words. + </p> + <p> + “And now I'll leave ye with the minister for a minute, Lady and + Gentleman,” the Captain said; “for Bob Peet is a-signallin' me as if he'd + sprung a leak below the water line, and all hands goin' to the bottom.” + </p> + <p> + Bob, who had withdrawn a few paces after beaching his boat, was indeed + making frantic demonstrations to attract the Captain's attention, dancing + and snapping his fingers, and contorting his features in strange and + hideous fashion. + </p> + <p> + “Well, Bob,” said the old man, walking up to him, “what's up with you, and + why are ye h'istin' and lowerin' your jib in that onarthly fashion?” + </p> + <p> + Bob Peet seized him by the arm, and led him away up the beach. “Cap'n,” he + said, looking round to make sure that they were out of hearing of the + others, “I can't touch a lady—not seamanly! But 'f you say the word—knock + gen'l'm'n feller—middle o' next week. Say the word, Cap'n! Good's a + meal o' vittles t' me—h'ist him over cliff!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V.— CAPTAIN JANUARY'S STAR + </h2> + <p> + And where was little Star, while all this was going on down on the beach? + Oh, she had been having a delightful afternoon. It was cloudy, and Daddy + was going to be busy, so she had determined to spend an hour or so in her + own room, and enjoy all the delights of “dressing up.” For the great chest + that had been washed ashore from the wreck, the day after she herself had + come to the island, was full of clothes belonging to her “poor mamma;” and + as we have seen, the little woman was fully inclined to make use of them. + </p> + <p> + Beautiful clothes they were; rich silks and velvets, with here and there + cloudy laces and strange webs of Eastern gauze. For she had been a + beautiful woman, this poor mamma, and it had been the delight of Hugh + Maynard, her proud and fond husband, to deck his lovely wife in all rare + and precious stuffs. Some of them were stained with sea-water, and many of + the softer stuffs were crumpled and matted hopelessly, but that mattered + little to Star. Her eyes delighted in soft, rich colours, and she was + never weary of turning them over and over, trying them on, and “playing + s'pose” with them. + </p> + <p> + “S'pose,” she would say, “my poor mamma was going to a banquet, like the + Capulet one, or Macbeth's. Oh, no! 'cause that would have been horrid, + with ghosts and daggers and things. S'pose it was the Capulets! Then she + would put on this pink silk. Isn't it pretty, and soft, and creamy? Just + like the wild roses on the south side of the meadow, that I made a wreath + of for Imogen on her birthday. Dear Imogen! it was <i>so</i> becoming to + her. Well, so my poor mamma put it on—<i>so</i>! and then she paced + through the hall, and all the lords turned round and said, 'Mark'st thou + yon lady?' 'Cause she was so beautiful, you know. <i>This</i> is the way + she paced!” and then the little creature would fall to pacing up and down + the room, dragging the voluminous pink folds behind her, her head thrown + back, and a look of delighted pride lighting up her small face. + </p> + <p> + It was the funniest little place, this room of Star's, the queerest, + quaintest little elfin bower! It was built out from the south side of the + tower, almost like a swallow's nest, only a swallow's nest has no window + looking out on the blue sea. There was a little white bed in a corner, and + a neat chest of drawers, and a wash-stand, all made by Captain January's + skilful hands, and all shining and spotless. The bare floor was shining + too, and so was the little looking-glass which hung upon the wall. And + beside the looking-glass, and above it, and in fact all over the walls, + were trophies and wonders of all kinds and descriptions. There was the + starfish with ten legs, pinned up in sprawling scarlet; and there, beside + him, the king of all the sea-urchins, resplendent with green and purple + horns. And here were ropes of shells, and branches of coral, and over the + bed a great shining star, made of the delicate gold-shells. That was + Daddy's present to her on her last birthday. Dear Daddy! There, sitting in + the corner, was Mrs. Neptune, the doll which Captain January had carved + out of a piece of fine wood that had drifted ashore after a storm. Her + eyes were tiny black snail-shells, her hair was of brown sea-moss, very + thick and soft (“though as for combing it,” said Star, “it is im-<i>possible</i>!”), + and a smooth pink shell was set in either cheek, “to make a blush.” Mrs. + Neptune was somewhat battered, as Star was in the habit of knocking her + head against the wall when she was in a passion; but she maintained her + gravity of demeanour, and always sat with her back perfectly straight, and + with an air of protest against everything in general. + </p> + <p> + In the window stood the great chest, at once a treasure-chamber and a + seat; and over it hung one of the most precious things of Star's little + world. It was a string of cocoanut-shells. Fifteen of them there were, and + each one was covered with curious and delicate carving, and each one meant + a whole year of a man's life. “For the nuts was ripe when we kem ashore, + my good mate Job Hotham and me, on that island. So when the nuts was ripe + agin, ye see, Jewel Bright, we knowed 'twas a year since we kem. So I took + my jack-knife and carved this first shell, as a kind o' token, ye know, + and not thinkin' there'd be so many to carve.” So the first shell was all + covered with ships: fair vessels, with sails all set, and smooth seas + rippling beneath them,—the ships that were even then on their way to + rescue the two castaways. And the second was carved with anchors, the sign + of hope, and with coils of rope, and nautical instruments, and things + familiar to seamen's eyes. But the third was carved with stars, and + sickle-curved moons, and broad-rayed suns, “Because, ye see, Peach + Blossom, arthly hope bein' as ye might say foundered, them things, and + what was above 'em, stayed where they was; and it stiddied a man's mind to + think on 'em, and to make a note on 'em as fur as might be.” And then came + one covered with flowers and berries, and another with fruits, and another + with shells, and so on through the whole fifteen. They hung now in little + Star's window, a strange and piteous record; and every night before the + child said her prayers, she kissed the first and last shell, and then + prayed that Daddy Captain might forget the “dreadful time,” and never, + never think about it again. + </p> + <p> + So, on this gray day, when other things were going on out-of-doors, Star + was having a “good time” in her room. She had found in the treasure-chest + a short mantle of gold-coloured velvet, which made “a just exactly skirt” + for her, the two ends trailing behind enough to give her a sense of + dignity, but not enough to impede her movements. “For I am not a princess + to-day!” she said; “I am delicate Ariel, and the long ones get round my + feet so I can't run.” Then came a long web of what she called “sunshine,” + and really it might have been woven of sunbeams, so airy-light was the + silken gauze of the fabric. This my lady had wound round and round her + small person with considerable art, the fringed ends hanging from either + shoulder, and making, to her mind, a fair substitute for wings. “See!” she + cried, running to and fro, and glancing backward as she ran. “They wave! + they really do wave! Look, Mrs. Neptune! aren't they lovely? But you are + envious, and that is why you look so cross. 'Merrily, merrily, shall I + live now, under the blossom that hangs on the bough.'” She leaped and + danced about the room, light and radiant as a creature of another world: + then stopped, to survey with frowning brows her little blue stockings and + stout laced boots. “Ariel <i>never</i> wore such things as those!” she + declared; “if you say she did, Mrs. Neptune, you show your ignorance, and + that is all I have to say to you.” Off came the shoes and stockings, and + the little white feet were certainly much prettier to look at. “Now,” + cried Star, “I will go down-stairs and wait for Daddy Captain, and perhaps + he will think I am a real fairy. Oh, wouldn't that be fun? I am <i>sure</i> + I look like one!” and down the stairs she flitted like a golden butterfly. + Once in the kitchen, the housewife in her triumphed for a moment over the + fairy: she raked up the fire, put on more wood, and swept the hearth + daintily. “But Ariel did such things for Prospero,” she said. “I'm Ariel + just the same, so I may as well fill the kettle and put some apples down + to roast.” This was soon done, and clapping her hands with delight the + “tricksy spirit” began to dance and frolic anew. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “'Come unto these yellow sands, + And then take hands!'” + </pre> + <p> + she sang, holding out her hands to invisible companions. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “'Courtesied when ye have, and kissed + (The wild waves whist!) + Foot it featly here and there.' +</pre> + <p> + “Oh! foot it featly, and feat it footly, and dance and sing, and tootle-ty + ting!” cried the child, as she flitted like a golden cloud about the room. + Then, as she whirled round and faced the door, she stopped short. Her arms + fell by her side, and she stood as if spellbound, looking at the lady who + stood in the doorway. + </p> + <p> + The lady made no motion at first, but only gazed at her with loving and + tender eyes. She was a beautiful lady, and her eyes were soft and blue, + with a look of tears in them. But there was no answering softness in the + starry eyes of the child: only a wide, wild look of wonder, of anger, + perhaps of fear. Presently the lady, still silent, raised both hands, and + kissed them tenderly to the child; then laid them on her breast, and then + held them out to her with a gesture of loving appeal. + </p> + <p> + “I don't know whether you are a spirit of health or a goblin damned,” said + Star; “but anyhow it isn't polite to come into people's houses without + knocking, <i>I</i> think. I knowed you were a spirit when you looked at me + yesterday, if you <i>did</i> have a red shawl on.” + </p> + <p> + “How did you know that I was a spirit?” asked the lady softly. “Oh, little + Star, how did you know?” + </p> + <p> + “'Cause you looked like my poor mamma's picture,” replied the child, “that + my poor papa had round his neck. Are you my mamma's spirit?” + </p> + <p> + The lady shook her head. “No, darling,” she said, “I am no spirit. But I + have come to see you, little Star, and to tell you something. Will you not + let me come in, Sweetheart?” + </p> + <p> + Star blushed, and hung her head for a moment, remembering Captain + January's lessons on politeness and “quarter-deck manners.” She brought a + chair at once, and in a more gracious tone said (mindful of Willum + Shakespeare's lords and ladies), “I pray you sit!” + </p> + <p> + The lady sat down, and taking the child's hand, drew her gently towards + her. “Were you playing fairy, dear?” she asked, smoothing back the golden + hair with loving touch. + </p> + <p> + Star nodded. “I was delicate Ariel,” she said. “I was footing it featly, + you know, on these yellow sands. Sometimes I am Puck, and sometimes + Titania; but Daddy likes Ariel best, and so do I. Did you ever play it?” + she asked, looking up into the kindly face that bent over her. + </p> + <p> + The lady smiled and shook her head. “No, dear child,” she said, still with + that motherly touch of the hand on the fair head. “I never thought of such + a pretty play as that, but I was very happy as a child playing with my—with + my sister. I had a dear, dear sister, Star. Would you like to hear about + her?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Star, with wondering eyes. “Was she a little girl?” + </p> + <p> + “Such a lovely little girl!” said the lady. “Her hair was dark, but her + eyes were like yours, Star, blue and soft. We played together always as + children, and we grew up together, two loving, happy girls. Then my sister + married: and by and by, dear, she had a little baby. A sweet little girl + baby, and she named it Isabel, after me.” + </p> + <p> + “I was a little girl baby, too,” said Star, “but I wasn't named anything; + I came so: just Star.” + </p> + <p> + “Little Isabel had another name,” said the lady. “Her other name was + Maynard, because that was her father's name. Her father was Hugh Maynard. + Have you ever seen or heard that name, my child?” + </p> + <p> + Star shook her head. “No!” she said; “my poor papa's name was H. M. It was + marked on his shirt and han'k'chief, Daddy says. And my poor mamma's name + was Helena, just like Helena in 'Midsummer Night's Dream.'” The motherly + hand trembled, and the lady's voice faltered as she said, “Star, my dear + sister's name was Helena, too. Is not that strange, my little one?” + </p> + <p> + The child looked curiously at her. “Where is your dear sister?” she asked. + “Why do you cry when you say her name? is she naughty?” + </p> + <p> + “Listen, Star,” said the lady, wiping the tears from her eyes, and + striving to speak composedly. + </p> + <p> + “My sister made a voyage to Europe, with her husband and her little baby. + They spent the summer travelling in beautiful countries; and in the + autumn, in September, Star, ten years ago this very year,—think of + it, my dear!—they sailed for home. They came in a sailing-vessel, + because the sea-voyage was thought good for your—for my sister. And—and—the + vessel was never heard from. There was a terrible storm and many vessels + were lost in it.” + </p> + <p> + “Just like my poor mamma's ship,” said the child. “Perhaps it was the same + storm. Do you think—why do you look at me so?” she cried, breaking + off suddenly. + </p> + <p> + But the lady put both arms round her and drew her close, close, while her + tears fell fast on the golden hair. “My darling!” she cried, “my dear, + dear little one! It <i>was</i> the same storm; the same storm and the same + ship. Your poor mamma was my own sweet sister Helena, and you are my + niece, my little Isabel, my own, own little namesake. Will you love me, + darling? will you love your Aunt Isabel, and let her care for you and + cherish you as your sweet mother would have done?” + </p> + <p> + Star stood very still, neither returning nor repelling the lady's + caresses. She was pale, and her breath came short and quick, but otherwise + she showed no sign of agitation. Presently she put up her hand and stroked + the lady's cheek gently. “Why do you cry?” she asked, quietly. “My poor + mamma is in heaven. Don't you like her to be in heaven? Daddy says it is + much nicer than here, and he knows.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Morton checked her tears, and smiled tenderly in the little wondering + face, “Dear child!” she said, “I do like to have her in heaven, and I will + not cry any more. But you have not told me whether you will love me, Star. + Will you try, dear? and will you let me call you my little Isabel?” + </p> + <p> + “I will love you,” replied the child, “if Daddy Captain loves you; I will + love you very much. But you must not call me that name, 'cause I'm not <i>it</i>. + I am just Star. <i>Does</i> Daddy love you?” she asked; and then, with a + sudden note of anxiety in her voice, she exclaimed, “Where is Daddy? Where + is my Daddy Captain? Did you see him when you came in?” + </p> + <p> + Her question was answered by the sound of voices outside; and the next + moment the minister appeared, followed by Mr. Morton and Captain January. + The old Captain hastened to place a chair for each of the gentlemen by the + fireside, and then took his stand against the wall on the further side of + the room. He held his weather-beaten cap in his hand, and turned it slowly + round and round, considering it attentively. It might have been observed + by one quick to notice trifles, that he did not look at the child, though + no slightest motion of hers was lost upon him. + </p> + <p> + “George,” said Mrs. Morton, joyously, to her husband, “here is our little + niece, dearest Helena's child. She is going to love me, she says, and she + will love you, too. Star, my darling, this is your Uncle George. Will you + not give him a kiss, and be his little girl as well as mine? We have two + little girls at home, and you shall be the third.” + </p> + <p> + Star went obediently to Mr. Morton, who kissed her warmly, and tried to + take her on his knee. “You are taller than our Grace,” he said, “but I + don't believe you are as heavy, my dear. Grace is just your age, and I am + sure you will be great friends.” + </p> + <p> + But Star slipped quietly from his arms, and, running to the Captain, took + one of his hands in both of hers and kissed it. “I am Daddy Captain's + little girl!” she said, looking round bravely at the others. “Why do you + talk as if I belonged to you?” Then seeing the trouble in Mrs. Morton's + face, she added, “I <i>will</i> love you, truly I will, and I will call + you Aunt Isabel; but I cannot belong to different people, 'cause I'm only + just one. Just Captain January's Star.” + </p> + <p> + She looked up in the old man's face with shining eyes, but no tender, + confident look returned her glance. The brown hand trembled between her + two little white palms; the keen blue eyes were still bent fixedly upon + the old woollen cap, as if studying its texture; but it was in a quiet and + soothing tone that the Captain murmured: + </p> + <p> + “Easy, Jewel Bright! Easy, now! Helm steady, and stand by!” + </p> + <p> + There was a moment of troubled silence; and then the old minister, + clearing his throat, spoke in his gentle, tranquil voice. “My dear child,” + he said, “a very strange thing has come to pass; but what seems strange to + us is doubtless clear and simple to the Infinite Wisdom above us. You have + been a faithful and loving child, little Star, to your beloved guardian + and friend here, and no father could have cared for you more tenderly than + he has done. But the tie of blood is a strong one, my dear, and should not + be lightly set aside. This lady is your own near relation, the sister of + your dear dead mother. Through the merciful providence of God, she has + been led to you, and she feels it her duty to claim you, in the name of + your parents. We have considered the matter carefully, and we all feel + that it is right that you should hereafter make your home with her and + your uncle. This may be painful to you, my dear; but you are a good and + intelligent child, and you will understand that if we give you pain now, + it is to secure your future good and happiness.” + </p> + <p> + He paused; and all eyes, save those keen blue ones which were studying so + carefully the texture of the battered woollen cap, turned anxiously on the + child. A deep flush passed over Star's face; then vanished, leaving it + deadly pale, a mask of ivory with eyes of flame. When she spoke, it was in + a low, suppressed voice, wholly unlike her own. + </p> + <p> + “You may kill me,” said the child, “and take my body away, if you like. I + will not go while I am alive.” + </p> + <p> + She turned her eyes from one to the other, as if watching for the + slightest motion to approach her. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Morton, in great distress, spoke next. “My darling, it grieves me to + the heart to take you from your dear, kind Daddy. But think, my Star; you + are a child now, but you will soon be a woman. You cannot grow up to + womanhood in a place like this. You must be with your own people, and have + companions of your own age. My children will be like your own sisters and + brothers. My dear, if you could only know how they will love you, how we + shall all cherish and care for you!” + </p> + <p> + “When I am dead?” asked Star. “It will make no difference to me, your + love, for I shall be dead. I will not go alive.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Captain January!” cried Mrs. Morton, turning to the old man with + clasped hands. “Speak to her! she will listen to you. Tell her—tell + her what you said to me. Tell her that it is right for her to go; that you + wish her to go!” + </p> + <p> + The old man's breathing was heavy and laboured, and for a moment it seemed + as if he strove in vain for utterance: but when he spoke, his voice was + still soothing and cheerful, though his whole great frame was trembling + like a withered leaf. “Star Bright,” he said (and between almost every + word he paused to draw the short, heavy breath), “I always told ye, ye + 'member, that ye was the child of gentlefolks. So bein', 'tis but right + that you should have gentle raisin' by them as is yer own flesh and blood. + You've done your duty, and more than your duty, by me. Now 'tis time ye + did your duty by them as the Lord has sent to ye. You'll have—my—my + respeckful love and duty wherever you go, my dear, and you growin' up to + be a beautiful lady, as has been a little wild lass. And you'll not forget + the old Cap'n, well I know, as will be very comf'table here—” + </p> + <p> + But here the child broke out with a wild, loud cry, which made all the + others start to their feet. “Do you want me to go?” she cried. “Look at + me, Daddy Captain! you <i>shall</i> look at me!” She snatched the cap from + his hands and flung it into the fire, then faced him with blazing eyes and + quivering lip. “Do you want me to go? Are you tired of me?” + </p> + <p> + Heavier and heavier grew that weight on Captain January's chest: shorter + and harder came his breath. His eyes met the child's for a moment, then + wavered and fell. “Why—honey—” he said, slowly, “I—I'm + an old man now—a very old man. And—and—an old man likes + quiet, ye see: and—I'd be quieter by myself, like; and—and so, + honey—I—I'd like ye to go.” + </p> + <p> + “<i>You lie</i>!” cried the child; and her voice rang like a silver + trumpet in the startled ears of the listeners. “You lie to me, and you lie + to God: and you <i>know</i> you lie!” + </p> + <p> + The next moment she had sprung on to the low window-sill, then turned for + an instant, with her little hands clenched in menace, and her great eyes + flashing fire that fell like a burning touch on every heart. Her fantastic + dress gleamed like a fiery cloud against the gray outside: her hair fell + like a glory about her vivid, shining face. A moment she stood there, a + vision, a flying star, trailing angry light, never to be forgotten by + those who saw; then, like a flash, she vanished. + </p> + <p> + Captain January tottered to his old chair and sat down in it. “The child + is right, Lady and Gentleman!” he said. “I lied! I lied to my God, and to + the little child who loved me. May God and the child forgive me!” And he + hid his face in his hands, and silence fell for a moment. + </p> + <p> + Then Mr. Morton, who had walked hastily to the window, and was doing + something with his handkerchief, beckoned to his wife. “Isabel,” he said, + in a low tone, “I will not be a party to this. It's an atrocious and + vindictive outrage. I—I—you are not the woman I took you for, + if you say another word to that old angel. Let him have the child, and + send him one or two of your own into the bar—” but Isabel Morton, + laughing through her tears, laid her hand over her husband's lips for a + moment. Then going to the old man's chair, she knelt down by it, and took + his two hands in hers. + </p> + <p> + “Captain January!” she said, tenderly. “Dear, dear Captain January! the + lie is forgiven: I am very, very sure it is forgiven in heaven, as it will + be forgiven in the child's loving heart. And may God never pardon me, if + ever word or look of mine come again between you and the child whom God + gave you!” + </p> + <p> + The gray evening was closing in around the lighthouse tower. The guests + were gone, and Captain January sat alone beside the fire in his old + armchair. The window was still open, for the air was soft and mild. The + old man's hands were clasped upon his knee; his heart was lifted as high + as heaven, in silent prayer and praise. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly, at the window, there was a gleam of yellow, a flitting shape, a + look, a pause; then a great glad cry, and Star flitted like a ray of + moonlight through the window, and fell on Captain January's breast. + </p> + <p> + “Daddy,” she said, breaking the long, happy silence, “dear Daddy, I am + sorry I burned your horrid old cap!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. — THE SIGNAL + </h2> + <p> + Quietly passed the days, the weeks, the months, in the lonely tower on the + rock fronting the Atlantic surge. Winter came, and folded it in a white + mantle, and decked it with frost-jewels. Like a pillar of ice, the tower + shone in the keen brilliance of the northern sun; but within was always + summer, the summer of perfect peace and contentment. To the child Star, + winter was always a season of great delight; for Captain January had + little to occupy him out-of-doors, and could devote much of his time to + her. So there were long, delightful “jack-knife times,” as Star called + them, when the Captain sat fashioning all sorts of wonderful trifles with + his magic knife, the child sitting at his elbow and watching him with + happy eyes. There were “story times,” instituted years before, as soon as + Star had learned to sew on patchwork; for as for sewing <i>without</i> a + story to listen to, “<i>that</i>,” said Star, “is against my nature, + Daddy. And you don't want me to do things that are against my nature, do + you?” So whenever the squares of gay calico came out, and the golden head + bent to and fro over them, like a paradise bird hovering over a bed of + gaudy flowers, the story came out, too, between puffs of the pipe, while + the fire crackled a cheery accompaniment, sputtering defiance to the wind + that whistled outside. Some tale of the southern seas, and the wild tropic + islands, of coral reefs and pearl-fisheries, sharks and devil-fish; or + else a whaling story, fresh and breezy as the north, full of icebergs, and + seal-hunts over the cracking floes, polar bears, and all the wild delights + of whale-fishing. + </p> + <p> + Then, on fine days (and oh, but the days are fine, in these glorious + northern winters!) there was much joy to be had out-of-doors. For there + was a spot in the little meadow,—once of gold-flecked emerald, now + of spotless pearl,—a spot where the ground “tilted,” to use Star's + expression, suddenly down to a tiny hollow, where a fairy spring bubbled + out of the rock into a fairy lake. In summer, Star rather despised this + lake, which was, truth to tell, only twenty feet long and ten feet wide. + It was very nice for Imogen to drink from and to stand in on hot days, and + it did many lovely things in the way of reflecting blue skies and fleecy + clouds and delicate traceries of leaf and bough; but as water, it seemed a + very trifling thing to a child who had the whole sweep of the Atlantic to + fill her eyes, and who had the breakers for her playfellows and gossips. + </p> + <p> + But in winter, matters were different. All the laughing lips of ripples, + all the white tossing crests of waves, must content themselves with the + ice-bound rocks, till spring should bring them their child-comrade again; + and the little sheet of dark crystal in the hollow of the meadow had + things all its own way, and mirrored back her bright face every day. The + little red sled, launched at the top of the “tilt,” came skimming down the + slope, and shot like an arrow over the smooth ice, kept always clear of + snow by the Captain's ever-busy hands; or else, when tired of coasting, + the child would plant her small feet wide apart, and slide, and run, and + slide again, till the pond could have cracked with pleasure, if such a + thing had been in accordance with its principles. + </p> + <p> + But of all the joyous hours, none was more welcome to the child than that + after the simple supper was cleared away and the room “redded up.” Then, + while fire and lamplight made their merriest cheer, the table was drawn up + to the warmest spot; Star took her place upon Captain January's knee, and + the two heads, the silver one and the golden, bent in absorbed interest + over “Willum Shakespeare” or the Good Book. + </p> + <p> + Generally the Captain read aloud, but sometimes they read the parts in + turn; and again sometimes the child would break off, and recite whole + passages alone, with a fire and pathos which might have been that of Maid + Marjorie, swaying at her childish will the heart of Sir Walter and his + friends. + </p> + <p> + So quietly, in the unbroken peace which love brightened into joy, the + winter passed. + </p> + <p> + At Christmas, they had, as usual, a visit from the faithful Bob, who + brought all his many pockets full of candy and oranges and all manner of + “truck,” as he called it, for Missy Star. Also he brought a letter and a + box directed only to “Captain January's Star.” The letter, which the child + opened with wondering eagerness, being the first she had ever received, + was from Mrs. Morton. It was full of tender and loving words, wishes for + Christmas cheer and New Year blessing, and with it was a photograph of the + beautiful face, with its soft and tender eyes, which Star remembered so + well. On the back was written, “For Little Star, from Aunt Isabel.” And + the box? Why, that was quite as wonderful in its way. For it contained a + most beautiful pipe for the Captain, of sweet brier-wood, mounted in + silver; and oh! oh! such a doll! Other children have seen such dolls, but + Star never had; a blue-eyed waxen beauty, with fringed lashes that opened + and shut, rose-leaf cheeks, and fabulous wealth of silky flaxen curls. + Also it had a blue velvet-frock, and its underclothing was a wonder to + behold; and the box was full of other frocks and garments. + </p> + <p> + Star took the doll in her arms with delighted awe, and seemed for a few + moments absorbed in her new treasure. Presently, however, a shadow crossed + her bright face. She glanced at Bob and the Captain, and seeing that they + were both engaged in busy talk, she quietly went up to her own room, + carrying the doll with her. Here she did a strange thing. She crossed the + room to the corner where Mrs. Neptune sat, with her back rigid, protesting + against circumstances, and set the radiant stranger down beside her; then, + with her hands clasped behind her, and brows bent, she considered the pair + long and attentively. Truly they were a strange contrast: the delicate, + glowing, velvet-clad doll, and the battered old wooden image, with eyes of + snail-shells and hair of brown sea-moss. But when Star had finished her + scrutiny, she took the beautiful doll, and buried it deep under velvets + and satins at the very bottom of the great chest. This done, she kissed + Mrs. Neptune solemnly, and proceeded to adorn her with a gorgeous Eastern + scarf, the very gayest her treasure-house could afford. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, in the room below, the talk went on, grave and earnest. + Troubled it was, too, on one side; for though the Captain sat quietly in + his chair, and spoke in his usual cheerful voice, Bob Peet's rough tones + were harsh and broken, and he rose from his place once or twice and moved + uneasily about the room. + </p> + <p> + “Cap'n,” he said, “'tain't so. Don't tell me! Strong man—hearty—live + twenty years yet—like's not thirty! Uncle o' mine—Punksquid—hundred + and three—peart's chicken.” + </p> + <p> + Captain January puffed at his pipe in silence for some minutes. “Bob,” he + said, presently, “it ain't always as it's given to a man to know his time. + I've allers thought I should take it particular kind if it 'corded with + the Lord's views to let me know when He was ready for me. And now that He + <i>has</i> let me know, and moreover has set my mind that easy about the + child that it's a pleasure to think of, why, it ain't likely I shall take + it anyway <i>but</i> kind. Thankin' you all the same, Bob, as have been a + good mate to me, and as I sha'n't forget wherever I am. But see now!” he + added, hastily, hearing a sound in the room above. “You understand, Bob; I + h'ist that signal, as it might be to-morrow, and I keep her flyin' night + and day. And so long as you see her flyin', you says, 'Cap'n's all right + so far!' you says. But you keep a sharp lookout; and if some mornin' you + don't see her, you says, 'Sailin' orders!' you says, and then you calls + Cap'n Nazro, as never failed in a kindness yet, nor ain't likely to, to + take the wheel, and you put for this island. And Cap'n Nazro he takes the + <i>Huntress</i> in, and then goes straightway and sends a telegraft to the + lady and gentleman, sayin' as Cap'n January has sailin' orders, and they + please to come and take the child, as lawfully to them belongs. And you, + Bob,—” the old man's steady voice faltered a little, as he laid his + hand on the other's arm,—“you'll do all you can, well I know. For + she'll take it hard, ye see. She has that depth o' love in her little + heart, and never nobody <i>to</i> love 'cept me since she were a baby, + that she'll take it cruel hard. But the Lord'll have her in mind! He'll + have her in mind! and you'll stand by, Bob, and bear a hand till the lady + and gentleman come.” + </p> + <p> + Bob Peet held out his honest brown hand, and the two men shook hands with + a certain solemnity; but before either of them could speak again, Star + came singing down the stairs, and summoned them both to play at ball with + oranges. + </p> + <p> + And so it came to pass that a little blue signal was hoisted at the top of + the white tower, and fluttered there bravely in sun and wind. And every + time the <i>Huntress</i> went thundering by (which was twice a week at + this season instead of every day), Bob Peet looked out anxiously from the + wheel-house window, and seeing the little banner, took cheer, and rubbed + his hands and said, “Cap'n's all right so far!” + </p> + <p> + And Captain January, whenever there came the clutch and stab at his heart, + and the struggle for breath, which he had felt for the first time that + September day (but ah! how many times since, and with what increasing + persistence!) would creep to the stairway beside which hung the signal + lines, and lay his hand on them, and wait: then, when the spasm passed, + would pass his hand across his face and humbly say, “Whenever it seems + right, Lord! A step nearer! and Thou havin' the child in mind,” and so go + cheerfully about his work again. + </p> + <p> + There were not many more steps to take. Spring came, and the little meadow + was green again. Robins and bluebirds fluttered above the great pine-tree, + and swallows built their nests under the eaves of the tower itself. The + child Star sang with the birds, and danced with the dancing leaves, all + unconscious of what was coming; but the old Captain's steps grew slower + and heavier, day by day, and the cheery voice grew feeble, and lost its + hearty ring, though never its cheeriness. “I'll set here in the porch, + Jewel Bright,” he would say, when the child begged him to come for a + scramble on the rocks. “I think I'll jest set here, where I can see ye an' + hear to ye. I'm gittin' lazy, Star Light; that's the truth. Yer old + Daddy's gittin' lazy, and it's comf'tabler settin' here in the sun, than + scramblin' round the rocks.” + </p> + <p> + And Star would fling herself on his neck, and scold and caress him, and + then go off with a half-sense of disappointment to her play. Very, very + careful Captain January had to be, lest the child should suspect that + which he was determined to keep from her to the last. Sometimes he half + thought she must suspect, so tender was she in these days; so thoughtful, + so mindful of his lightest wish. But “'tis only the woman growin' up in + her,” he decided; and looking back, he remembered that she had not once + broken his pipe (as she had been used to do every three or four weeks, in + her sudden rages) since last September. + </p> + <p> + At last there came a day when the Captain did not even go out to the + porch. It was a lovely May morning, bright and soft, with wreaths of + silvery fog floating up from the blue water, and much sweet sound of + singing birds and lapping waves in the air. Making some pretence of work + at his carpenter's bench, the old man sent Star out to loose the cow and + lead her to the water; and when she was gone, he tottered to his old chair + and sat down heavily. There was no pain now, only a strange numbness, a + creeping coldness, a ringing in the ears. If it might “seem right” to let + him wait till the <i>Huntress</i> came by! “It's nearly time,” he said, + half aloud. “Nearly time, and 'twould be easier for the child.” + </p> + <p> + At this moment, through the open doorway, came the silver sound of Star's + voice. “But I don't think there can be any harm in my just telling you a + little about it, Imogen. And the floor is the paved work of a sapphire: + sapphire is a stone, just like the water over there, in the bluest place, + and oh! so clear and bright, Daddy says. He saw one once. And there will + be most beautiful music, Imogen. Oh! you can't think what lovely music + Daddy Captain will play on a harp. I know he will, 'cause he will be a + spirit of just men made perfect: and that will be a <i>great</i> thing, + Imogen; for he has never known how to play on anything before: and—” + Ah! the sweet, childish prattle! but already it was growing faint upon the + old man's ears. + </p> + <p> + “Star Bright!” he called; and the dancing shape came flying, and stood on + tiptoe in the doorway. Steady, now, January! keep your voice steady, if + there is any will left in you. Keep your head turned a little away, lest + there be any change in your face, yet not turned enough to make her + wonder. “Star Bright,” said Captain January, “it's about—time—for + the <i>Huntress</i>—to be along, isn't it?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Daddy,” said the child; “she's just in sight now. Shall I go down + and wave to Bob as he goes by?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Honeysuckle,” said the old man. “And—and wait to see if he + comes ashore. I think—likely—Bob'll come ashore to-day. He was + goin' to bring—somethin'—for me. Is there a squall comin' up, + Jewel Bright?” + </p> + <p> + “A squall, Daddy?” said the child, wondering. “Why, there isn't a cloud in + the sky.” + </p> + <p> + “Jes' so!” said Captain January. “I—only jist asked. Good-bye, Star + Bright.” + </p> + <p> + “Dear Daddy! Good-bye!” cried the child, and she sped away over the rocks. + </p> + <p> + So dark! and not a cloud in the sky. If he might have looked once more, + with those fast-darkening eyes, at the little blessed face which held all + the world in it! if he could call her back now, and kiss her once more, + and hold her little hand—No! no! steady, January! steady now, and + stand by! + </p> + <p> + Quite dark now. But that does not matter. No need of light for what is now + to be done. Slowly the old man raises himself; feels for the wall, creeps + along beside it. Here is the line. Is there any strength left in that + benumbed arm? Yes! “For the child, dear Lord, and Thou helpin' me, as ever + has been!” + </p> + <p> + Down comes the signal, and the old man creeps back to his chair again, and + composes himself decently, with reverent, folded hands, and head bowed in + waiting. “'He holdeth the waters in the hollow of His hand. Behold, He + taketh up the isles as a very little thing.' Amen! so be it!” + </p> + <p> + Wave, little Star! wave your little blue apron from the rocks, and laugh + and clap your hands for pleasure, as the ripples from the steamer's bow + break in snowy foam at your feet. Bend to your oar, Bob Peet, and send + your little black boat flying over the water as she never flew before! and + press on, friendly <i>Huntress</i>, to your port, whence the winged + message may speed on its way to the stately lady with the tender eyes, who + waits for tidings in her distant home. + </p> + <p> + For Captain January's last voyage is over, and he is already in the haven + where he would be. + </p> + <p> + THE END. + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Captain January, by Laura E. 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Richards + +Release Date: March, 2005 [EBook #7790] +Last Updated: August 25, 2012 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPTAIN JANUARY *** + + + + +Produced by Ketaki Chhabra and Wendy Crockett + + + + + + +CAPTAIN JANUARY + +By Laura E. Richards + +_Author of_ + +"Melody," "Marie," "Rosin, the Beau," "The Hildegarde-Margaret +Series," "Three Minute Stories," "Five Minute Stories," etc. + + + + +LIST OF CONTENTS + + I. Star Bright + II. The Story + III. Introducing Imogen and Bob + IV. The Visit + V. Captain January's Star + VI. The Signal + + + + +CHAPTER I. -- STAR BRIGHT + + +The Captain had sold all his lobsters. They had been particularly +fine ones, and had gone off "like hot cakes," everyone who passed +by the wharf stopping to buy one or two. Now the red dory was empty, +and the Captain had washed her out with his usual scrupulous care, +and was making preparations for his homeward voyage, when he was +hailed by a cheery voice from the street. + +"Hillo, January!" said the voice. "Is that you? How goes it?" and +the owner of the voice, a sturdy man in a blue coat with brass +buttons, came down the wharf and greeted the Captain with a hearty +shake of the hand. + +"How goes it?" he repeated. "I haven't seen ye for a dog's age." + +"I'm hearty, Cap'n Nazro!" replied Captain January. "Hearty, that's +what I am, an' hopin' you're the same." + +"That's right!" said the first speaker. "'Tain't often we set eyes +on you, you stick so close to your light. And the little gal, she's +well, I expect? She looks a picture, when I take a squint at her +through the glass sometimes. Never misses running out and shaking +her apron when we go by!" + +"Cap'n Nazro," said January, speaking with emphasis, "if there is +a pictur in this world, o' health, and pootiness, and goodness, it's +that child. It's that little un, sir. Not to be beat in this country, +nor yet any other 'cordin' as I've voyaged." + +"Nice little gal!" said Captain Nazro, assenting. "Mighty nice little +gal! Ain't it time she was going to school, January? My wife and I +were speaking about it only the other day. Seems as if she'd oughter +be round with other children now, and learning what they do. Mis Nazro +would be real pleased to have her stop with us a spell, and go to +school with our gals. What do you say?" He spoke very heartily, but +looked doubtfully at the old man, as if hardly expecting a favourable +answer. + +Captain January shook his head emphatically, "You're real kind, Cap'n +Nazro!" he said; "real kind, you and Mis Nazro both are! and she +makin' the little un's frocks and pinafores, as is a great help. But +I can't feel to let her out o' my sight, nohow; and as for school, +she ain't the kind to bear it, nor yet I couldn't for her. She's +learnin'!" he added, proudly. "Learnin' well! I'll bet there ain't +no gal in your school knows more nor that little un does. Won'erful, +the way she walks ahead!" + +"Get the school readers, hey! and teach her yourself do you?" queried +Captain Nazro. + +"No, sir!" replied the old man; "I don't have no school readers. The +child learns out o' the two best books in the world,--the Bible, and +William Shakespeare's book; them's all the books she ever seed--_saw_, +I should say." + +"William Shak--" began Captain Nazro; and then he broke off in sheer +amazement, and said, simply, "Well, I'm blowed!" + +"The minister giv 'em to me," said Captain January. "I reckon he +knows. There's a dictionary, too," he added, rather sadly; "but I +can't make her take to that, nohow, though there's a power o' fine +words in it." + +Then, as the other man remained silent and openmouthed, he said: "But +I must be goin', Cap'n Nazro, sir! The little un'll be lookin' for +me. Good day, sir, and thank ye kindly, all the same as if it was +to be, which it ain't!" And with a friendly gesture, the old man +stepped into his red dory, and rowed away with long, sturdy strokes. + +Captain Nazro gazed after him meditatively, took out his pipe and +looked at it, then gazed again. "January's cracked," he said; +"that's what's the matter with him. He's a good man, and a good +lighthouse-keeper, and he's been an able seaman in his day, none +better; but he's cracked!" + +There is an island off a certain part of the coast of Maine,--a little +rocky island, heaped and tumbled together as if Dame Nature had shaken +down a heap of stones at random from her apron, when she had finished +making the larger islands which lie between it and the mainland. At +one end, the shoreward end, there is a tiny cove, and a bit of +silver-sand beach, with a green meadow beyond it, and a single great +pine; but all the rest is rocks, rocks. At the farther end the rocks +are piled high, like a castle wall, making a brave barrier against +the Atlantic waves; and on top of this cairn rises the lighthouse, +rugged and sturdy as the rocks themselves, but painted white, and +with its windows shining like great, smooth diamonds. This is Light +Island; and it was in this direction that Captain January's red dory +was headed when he took his leave of his brother-captain, and rowed +away from the wharf. It was a long pull; in fact, it took pretty +nearly the whole afternoon, so that the evening shadows were +lengthening when at length he laid down his oars, and felt the boat's +nose rub against the sand of the little home-cove. But rowing was +no more effort than breathing to Captain January, and it was no +fatigue, but only a trifle of stiffness from sitting so long, that +troubled him a little in getting out of the boat. As he stepped slowly +out upon the firm-grained silver of the little beach, he looked up +and around with an expectant air, and seeing no one, a look of +disappointment crossed his face. He opened his lips as if to call +some one, but checking himself, "Happen she's gettin' supper!" he +said. "It's later than I thought. I don't pull so spry as I used ter, +'pears ter me. Wal, thar! 'tain't to be expected. I sh'll be forty +years old before I know it!" + +Chuckling to himself, the Captain drew up the little boat and made +her fast; then, taking sundry brown-paper parcels from under the +thwart, he turned and made his way up towards the lighthouse. A +picturesque figure he was, striding along among the heaped and tumbled +rocks. His hair and beard, still thick and curly, were absolutely +white, as white as the foam that broke over the rocks at the cliff's +foot. His face was tanned and weather-beaten to the colour of +mahogany, but the features were strong and sharply cut, while the +piercing blue eyes which gleamed beneath his shaggy eyebrows showed +all the fire of youth, and seemed to have no part in the seventy years +which had bent the tall form, and rounded slightly the broad and +massive shoulders. The Captain wore a rough pea-jacket and long boots, +while his head was adorned with a nondescript covering which might +have begun life either as a hat or a cap, but would now hardly be +owned by either family. + +Reaching the house, the old man mounted the rude steps which led to +the door, and entered the room which was kitchen, dining, and drawing +room at Storm Castle, as the lighthouse was called by its inhabitants. +The room was light and cheerful, with a pleasant little fire crackling +sociably on the hearth. The table was laid with a clean white cloth, +the kettle was singing on the hob, and a little covered saucepan was +simmering with an agreeable and suggestive sound; but no one was to +be seen. Alarmed, he hardly knew why, at the silence and solitude, +Captain January set his parcels down on the table, and going to the +foot of the narrow stone staircase which wound upward beside the +chimney, called, "Star! Star Bright, where are you? Is anything +wrong?" + +"No, Daddy Captain!" answered a clear, childish voice from above; +"I'm coming in a minute. Be patient, Daddy dear!" + +With a sigh of relief, Captain January retired to the fireplace, and +sitting down in a huge high-backed armchair, began leisurely pulling +off his great boots. One was already off and in his hand, when a +slight noise made him look up. He started violently, and then, leaning +back in his chair, gazed in silent amazement at the vision before +him. + +On the stone stairway, and slowly descending, with steps that were +meant to be stately (and which might have been so, had not the stairs +been so steep, and the little legs so short) was the figure of a +child: a little girl about ten years old, with a face of almost +startling beauty. Her hair floated like a cloud of pale gold about +her shoulders; her eyes were blue, not light and keen, like the old +man's, but of that soft, deep, shadowy blue that poets love to call +violet. Wonderful eyes, shaded by long, curved lashes of deepest +black, which fell on the soft, rose-and-ivory tinted cheek, as the +child carefully picked her way down, holding up her long dress from +her little feet. It was the dress which so astonished Captain January. +Instead of the pink calico frock and blue checked pinafore, to which +his eyes were accustomed, the little figure was clad in a robe of +dark green velvet with a long train, which spread out on the staircase +behind her, very much like the train of a peacock. The body, made +for a grown woman, hung back loosely from her shoulders, but she had +tied a scarf of gold tissue under her arms and round her waist, while +from the long hanging sleeves her arms shone round and white as +sculptured ivory. A strange sight, this, for a lighthouse tower on +the coast of Maine! but so fair a one, that the old mariner could +not take his eyes from it. + +"Might be Juliet!" he muttered to himself. "Juliet, when she was a +little un. 'Her beauty hangs upon the cheek o' Night,'--only it ain't, +so to say, exactly night,--'like a rich jewel in a nigger's ear.' +No! that ain't right. 'Nigger' ain't right, 'Ethiop's ear, 'that's +it! Though I should judge they were much the same thing, and they +more frekently wear 'em in their noses, them as I've seen in their +own country." + +As he thus soliloquised, the little maiden reached the bottom of the +stairs in safety, and dropping the folds of the velvet about her, +made a quaint little courtesy, and said, "Here I am, Daddy Captain! +how do you like me, please?" + +"Star Bright," replied Captain January, gazing fixedly at her, as +he slowly drew his pipe from his pocket and lighted it. "I like you +amazin'. _A_-mazin' I like you, my dear! but it is what you might +call surprisin', to leave a little maid in a blue pinafore, and to +come back and find a princess in gold and velvet. Yes, Pigeon Pie, +you might call it surprisin', and yet not be stretchin' a p'int." + +"Am I _really_ like a princess?" said the child, clapping her hands, +and laughing with pleasure. "Have you ever seen a princess, Daddy +Captain, and did she look like me?" + +"I seed--I _saw_--one, once," replied the Captain, gravely, puffing +at his pipe. "In Africky it was, when I was fust mate to an Indiaman. +And she wa'n't like you, Peach Blossom, no more than Hyperion to a +Satyr, and that kind o' thing. She had on a short petticut, comin' +half-way down to her knees, and a necklace, and a ring through her +nose. And--" + +"Where were her other clothes?" asked the child. + +"Wal--maybe she kem off in a hurry and forgot 'em!" said the Captain, +charitably. "Anyhow, not speakin' her language, I didn't ask her. +And she was as black as the ace of spades, and shinin' all over with +butter." + +"Oh, _that_ kind of princess!" said Star, loftily. "I didn't mean +that kind, Daddy. I meant the kind who live in fretted palaces, with +music in th' enamelled stones, you know, and wore clothes like these +every day." + +"Wal, Honey, I never saw one of that kind, till now!" said the +Captain, meekly. "And I'm sorry I hain't--I mean I _ain't_--got no +fretted palace for my princess to live in. This is a poor place for +golden lasses and velvet trains." + +"It _isn't_!" cried the child, her face flashing into sudden anger, +and stamping her foot. "You sha'n't call it a poor place, Daddy! It's +wicked of you. And I wouldn't live in a palace if there were _fifty_ +of them all set in a row. So there now!" She folded her arms and +looked defiantly at the old man, who returned her gaze placidly, and +continued to puff at his pipe, until he was seized in a penitent +embrace, hugged, and kissed, and scolded, and wept over, all at once. + +The brief tempest over, the child seated herself comfortably on his +knee, and said, "Now, Daddy, I want a story." + +"Story before supper?" asked the Captain, meekly, looking at the +saucepan, which was fairly lifting its lid in its eagerness to be +attended to. A fresh access of remorseful hugging followed. + +"You poor darling!" said Star; "I forgot all about supper. And it's +stewed kidneys, too! But oh! my dress!" and she glanced down at her +velvet splendour. "I must go and take it off," she said, sadly. + +"Not you, Honeysuckle," said the old man, rising and setting the child +down carefully in the chair. "Sit you there, and be a real princess, +and I will be your steward, and get supper this time. I like to see +you in your fine clothes, and 'twould be a shame to take 'em off so +soon." + +She clapped her hands again, and settling herself cosily in the great +chair, arranged her train with a graceful sweep, and pushed back her +cloudy golden hair. + +"Shall I really act princess?" she asked,--and without waiting for +an answer, she began to give orders in lofty tones, holding her head +high in the air, and pointing hither and thither with her tiny hands. +"Take up the golden chafing-dish, Grumio!" she cried. "The kidneys--I +mean the capons--are quite ready now. And the milk--no! the sack--is +in the silver flagon!" she pointed to an ancient blue jug which stood +on the dresser. + +The obedient Captain hastened to take up the saucepan, and soon the +frugal supper was set out, and princess and steward were doing ample +justice to it. + +"You didn't say 'Anon! anon! Madam' when I ordered you about," said +the Princess, thoughtfully. "You ought to, you know. Servants always +do in the book." + +"Wal, I didn't think on't," the steward admitted. "I wa'n't brought +up to the business, you see, Princess. It always seemed to me a +foolish thing to say, anyhow: no disrespect to W. Shakespeare. The +hull of the word's 'anonymous,' I believe, and the dictionary says +_that_ means 'wanting a name.' So, altogether, Star Bright, I haven't +been able to make much sense out o' that answer." + +"Oh, never mind!" said the Princess, tossing her head. "I don't like +the dictionary. It's a wretch!" + +"So 'tis, so 'tis," assented the Captain, with servile alacrity. "Have +some more milk then, Sunshine." + +"It isn't milk! it's sack," said the child, promptly, holding out +her small yellow mug with a royal air. "Are the capons good, Grumio?" + +"They are, my lamb, they are," replied the Captain. "Oncommon good +they are, to be sure, and me not knowin' to this day what capons was. +A little more? Yes, Pigeon Pie, I _will_ take a little more, thank +ye kindly." + +"I don't _think_, Grumio, that you ought to call me lambs and pigeon +pies just now," remarked the Princess, judiciously. "Do you think +it's respectful? they don't in Shakespeare, I'm sure." + +"I won't do it again, Honey--I mean Madam;" said the Captain, bowing +with great humility. "I beg your honourable majesty's pardon, and +I won't never presume to--" + +"Yes, you will!" cried the Princess, flinging herself across the table +at him, and nearly choking him with the sudden violence of her +embrace. "You shall call me pigeon pie, and anything else you like. +You shall call me rye porridge, though I hate it, and it's always +full of lumps. And don't ever look that way again; it _kills_ me!" + +The Captain quietly removed the clinging arms, and kissed them, and +set the half-weeping child back in her place. "There, there, there!" +he said, soothingly. "What a little tempest it is!" + +"Say 'delicate Ariel,'" sobbed Star. "You haven't said it to-day, +and you always say it when you love me." + +"Cream Cheese from the dairy of Heaven," replied the Captain; "if +I always said it when I loved you, I should be sayin' it every minute +of time, as well you know. But you are my delicate Ariel, so you are, +and there ain't nothin' in the hull book as suits you better. So!" +and his supper ended, the good man turned his chair again to the fire, +and took the child, once more smiling, upon his knee. + +"And now, Ariel, what have you been doin' all the time I was away? +Tell Daddy all about it." + +Star pondered a moment, with her head on one side, and a finger hooked +confidentially through the Captain's buttonhole. "Well," she said, +"I've had a _very_ interesting time, Daddy Captain. First I cleaned +the lamps, of course, and filled and trimmed them. And then I played +Samson a good while; and--" + +"And how might you play Samson?" inquired the Captain. + +"With flies!" replied Star, promptly. "Heaps upon heaps, you know; +'With the jaw-bone of an ass have I slain a thousand men.' The flies +were the Philistines, and I took a clam-shell for the jaw-bone; it +did just as well. And I made a song out of it, to one of the tunes +you whistle: 'With the jaw-bone! with the jaw-bone! with the jaw-bone +of an ass!' It was very exciting." + +"Must ha' been," said the Captain dryly. "Well, Honeysuckle, what +did you do then?" + +"Oh, that took some time!" said the child. "And afterward I fished +a little, but I didn't catch anything, 'cept an old flounder, and +he winked at me, so I put him back. And then I thought a long +time--oh! a very long time, sitting like Patience on the doorstep. +And _suddenly_, Daddy Captain, I thought about those boxes of clothes, +and how you said they would be mine when I was big. And I measured +myself against the doorpost, and found that I _was very_ big. I +thought I must be almost as big as you, but I s'pose I'd forgotten +how big you were. So I went up, and opened one box, and I was just +putting the dress on when you came in. You knew where it came from, +of course, Daddy, the moment you saw it." + +The Captain nodded gravely, and pulled his long moustaches. + +"Do you suppose my poor mamma wore it often?" the child went on, +eagerly. "Do you think she looked like me when she wore it? Do I look +as she did when you saw her?" + +"Wal," began the Captain, meditatively; but Star ran on without +waiting for an answer. + +"Of course, though, she looked very different, because she was dead. +You are quite very positively sure my poor mamma was dead, Daddy +Captain?" + +"She were," replied the Captain, with emphasis. "She were that, Pigeon +Pie! You couldn't find nobody deader, not if you'd sarched for a week. +Why, door nails, and Julius Caesar, and things o' that description, +would ha' been _lively_ compared with your poor ma when I see her. +Lively! that's what they'd ha' been." + +The child nodded with an air of familiar interest, wholly untinged +with sadness. "I think," she said, laying her head against the old +man's shoulder, and curling one arm about his neck, "I think I should +like to hear about it again, please, Daddy. It's a long, long time +since you told me the whole of it." + +"Much as a month, I should think it must be," assented the Captain. +"Why, Snowdrop, you know the story by heart, better'n I do, I believe. +'Pears to me I've told it reg'lar, once a month or so, ever since +you were old enough to understand it." + +"Never mind!" said the Princess, with an imperious gesture. "That +makes no difference. I _want_ it now!" + +"Wal, wal!" said the Captain, smoothing back the golden hair. "If +you _want_ it, why of course you must have it, Blossom! But first +I must light up, ye know. One star inside the old house, and the other +atop of it: that's what makes Light Island the lightest spot in the +natural world. Sit ye here, Star Bright, and play Princess till Daddy +comes back!" + + + + +CHAPTER II. -- THE STORY + + +The lamps were lighted, and the long, level rays flashed their golden +warning over the murmuring darkness of the summer sea, giving cheer +to many hearts on inbound barque or schooner. Bright indeed was the +star on the top of the old lighthouse; but no less radiant was the +face of little Star, as she turned it eagerly towards Captain January, +and waited for the beginning of the well-known and well-loved story. + +"Wal," said the Captain, when his pipe was refilled and drawing +bravely. "Let me see now! where shall I begin?" + +"At the beginning!" said Star promptly. + +"Jes' so!" assented the old man. "Ten years ago this--" + +"No! No!!" cried the child. "_That_ isn't the beginning, Daddy! That's +almost half-way to the middle. 'When I was a young lad.' That's the +beginning." + +"Bound to have it all, are ye, Honeysuckle?" said the obedient +Captain. "Wal! Wal! when I were a young lad, I was a wild un, ye see, +Treasure. My father, he 'prenticed me to a blacksmith, being big and +strong for my years; but I hadn't no heart for the work. All I cared +about was the sea, and boats, and sailors, and sea talk. I ran away +down to the wharf whenever I could get a chance, and left my work. +Why, even when I went to meetin', 'stead o' listenin', to the +minister, I was lookin' out the places about them as go down to the +sea in ships, ye know, and 'that leviathan whom Thou hast made,' and +all that. And there was Hiram, King of Tyre, and his ships! Lord! +how I used to think about them ships, and wonder how they was rigged, +and how many tons they were, and all about it. Yes! I was a wild un, +and no mistake; and after awhile I got so roused up--after my mother +died, it was, and my father married again--that I just run away, and +shipped aboard of a whaler, bound for the north seas. Wal, Honey, +'twould take me a week to tell ye about all my voyages. Long and short +of it, 'twas the life I was meant for, and I done well in it. Had +tumbles and toss-ups, here and there, same as everybody has in any +kind o' life; but I done well, and by the time I was forty year old +I was captain of the _Bonito_, East Indiaman, sailin' from New York +to Calcutta." + +The Captain paused, and puffed gravely at his pipe for a few minutes. + +"Well, Rosebud," he continued, presently, "you know what comes next. +The _Bonito_ was cast away, in a cyclone, on a desert island, and +all hands lost, except me and one other." + +"Dear Daddy! poor Daddy!" cried the child, putting her little hands +up to the weather-beaten face, and drawing it down to hers. "Don't +talk about that dreadful part. Go on to the next!" + +"No, I won't talk about it, Star Bright!" said the old man, very +gravely. "Fust place I can't, and second place it ain't fit for little +maids to hear of. But I lived on that island fifteen year,--five year +with my good mate Job Hotham, and ten year alone, after Job died. +When a ship kem by, after that, and took me off, I'd forgot most +everything, and was partly like the beasts that perish; but it kem +back to me. Slow, like, and by fits, as you may say; but it kem back, +all there was before, and maybe a good bit more!" + +"Poor Daddy!" murmured the child again, pressing her soft cheek +against the white beard. "It's all over now! Don't think of it! I +am here, Daddy, loving you: loving you _all to pieces_, you know!" + +The old man was silent for a few minutes, caressing the little white +hands which lay like twin snowflakes in his broad, brown palm. Then +he resumed, cheerfully: + +"And so, Cream Cheese from the dairy of Heaven, I kem home. Your old +Daddy kem home, and landed on the same wharf he'd sailed from +twenty-five years before. Not direct, you understand, but takin' +steamer from New York, and so on. Wal, there wa'n't nobody that knew +me, or cared for me. Father was dead, and his wife; and their +children, as weren't born when I sailed from home, were growed up +and gone away. No, there wa'n't nobody. Wal, I tried for a spell to +settle down and live like other folks, but 'twa'n't no use. I was'nt +used to the life, and I couldn't stand it. For ten years I haven't +heard the sound of a human voice, and now they was buzz, buzzin' all +the time; it seemed as if there was a swarm of wasps round my ears +the everlastin' day. Buzz! buzz! and then clack! clack! like an +everlasting mill-clapper; and folks starin' at my brown face and white +hair, and askin' me foolish questions. I couldn't stand it, that was +all. I heard that a light-keeper was wanted here, and I asked for +the place, and got it. And that's all of the first part, Peach +Blossom." + +The child drew a long breath, and her face glowed with eager +anticipation. "And _now_, Daddy Captain," she said, "_now_ you may +say, 'Ten years ago this fall!'" + +"Ten years ago this fall," said the Captain meekly acquiescing, "on +the fourteenth day of September, as ever was, I looks out from the +tower, bein' a-fillin' of the lamps, and says I, 'There's a storm +comin'!' So I made all taut above and below, fastened the door, and +took my glass and went out on the rocks, to see how things looked. +Wal, they looked pooty bad. There had been a heavy sea on for a couple +o' days, and the clouds that was comin' up didn't look as if they +was goin' to smooth it down any. There was a kind o' brassy look over +every thin', and when the wind began to rise, it warn't with no +nat'ral sound, but a kind of screech to it, on'arthly like. Wal, thar! +the wind did rise, and it riz to stay. In half an hour it was blowin' +half a gale; in an hour it blew a gale, and as tough a one (barrin' +cyclones) as ever I see. 'T had like to ha' blow me off my pins, half +a dozen times. Then nat'rally the sea kem up; and 'twas all creation +on them rocks, now I tell ye. 'The sea, mountin' to the welkin's +cheek;' ye remember, Pigeon Pie?" + +The child nodded eagerly. "Tempest!" she said, "Act I., Scene 2: +'Enter Prospero and Miranda.' Go on, Daddy!" + +"Wal, my Lily Flower," continued the old man. "And the storm went +on. It roared, it bellowed, and it screeched: it thumped and it +kerwhalloped. The great seas would come bunt up agin the rocks, as +if they was bound to go right through to Jersey city, which they used +to say was the end of the world. Then they'd go scoopin' back, as +if they was callin' all their friends and neighbours to help; and +then, bang! they'd come at it agin. The spray was flyin' in great +white sheets, and whiles, it seemed as if the hull island was goin' +to be swallowed up then and thar. 'Tain't nothin' but a little heap +o' rocks anyhow, to face the hull Atlantic Ocean gone mad: and on +that heap o' rocks was Januarius Judkins, holdin' on for dear life, +and feelin' like a hoppergrass that had got lost in Niag'ry Falls." + +"Don't say that name, Daddy!" interrupted the child. "You know I don't +like it. Say 'Captain January'!" + +"I tell ye, Honeysuckle," said the old man, "I felt more like a +sea-cook than a cap'n _that_ night. A cap'n on a quarter-deck's a +good thing; but a cap'n on a p'int o' rock, out to sea in a northeast +gale, might just as well be a fo'c'sle hand and done with it. Wal, +as I was holdin' on thar, I seed a flash to windward, as wasn't +lightning; and next minute kem a sound as wasn't thunder nor yet wind +nor sea." + +"The guns! the guns!" cried the child, in great excitement. "The guns +of my poor mamma's ship. And then you heard them again, Daddy?" + +"Then I heard them agin!" the old man assented. "And agin! a flash, +and a boom! and then in a minute agin, a flash and a boom! 'Oh, Lord!' +says I. 'Take her by to the mainland, and put her ashore there!' I +says; 'cause there's a life-saving station thar, ye know, Blossom, +and there might be some chance for them as were in her. But the Lord +had His views, my dear, the Lord had His views! Amen! so be it! In +another minute there kem a break in the clouds, and thar she was, +comin' full head on, straight for Light Island. Oh! my little Star, +that was an awful thing to see. And I couldn't do nothin', you +understand. Not a livin' airthly thing could I do, 'cept hide my face +agin the rock I was clingin' to, and say, 'Dear Lord, take 'em easy! +It's Thy will as they should be took,' I says, 'and there ain't no +one to hender, if so be as they could. But take 'em easy, good Lord, +and take 'em suddin!'" + +"And He did!" cried the child. "The good Lord did take 'em sudden, +didn't He, Daddy Captain?" + +"He did, my child!" said the old man, solemnly. "They was all home, +them that was goin', in ten minutes from the time I saw the ship. +You know the Roarin' Bull, as sticks his horns out o' water just to +windward of us? the cruelest rock on the coast, he is, and the +treacherousest: and the ship struck him full and fair on the starboard +quarter, and in ten minutes she was kindlin' wood, as ye may say. The +Lord rest their souls as went down in her! Amen!" + +"Amen!" said little Star, softly. But she added in an eager tone, +"And now, Daddy, you are coming to me!" + +"Pooty soon, Jewel Bright!" said the old man, stroking the gold hair +tenderly. "I'm a-comin' to you pooty soon. 'Twas along about eight +bells when she struck, and none so dark, for the moon had risen. After +the ship had gone down, I strained my eyes through the driving spray, +to see whether anything was comin' ashore. Presently I seed somethin' +black, driftin' towards the rocks: and lo' ye, 'twas a boat bottom +side up, and all hands gone down. Wal! wal! the Lord knew what was +right: but it's wuss by a deal to _see_ them things than to be in +'em yourself, to my thinkin'. Wal, after a spell I looked agin, and +there was somethin' else a-driftin' looked like a spar, it did: and +somethin' was lashed to it. My heart! 'twas tossed about like a +egg-shell, up and down, and here and thar! 'Twas white, whatever was +lashed to it, and I couldn't take my eyes off'n it. 'It can't be +alive!' I says, 'whatever it is!' I says. 'But I'll get it, if it +takes a leg!' I says. For down in my heart, Jewel, I knew they +wouldn't ha' taken such care of anythin' _but_ what was alive, and +they perishin', but I didn't think it could live in such a sea long +enough to get ashore. Wal, I kep' my eyes on that spar, and I see +that 'twas comin' along by the south side. Then I ran, or crawled, +'cordin' as the wind allowed me, back to the shed, and got a boat-hook +and a coil o' rope; and then I clumb down as far as I dared, on the +south rocks. I scooched down under the lee of a p'int o' rock, and +made the rope fast round my waist, and the other end round the rock, +and then I waited for the spar to come along. 'Twas hard to make out +anythin', for the water was all a white, bilin' churn, and the spray +flyin' fit to blind you; but bimeby I co't sight of her comin' +swashin' along, now up on top of a big roarer, and then scootin' down +into the holler, and then up agin. I crep' out on the rocks, grippin' +'em for all I was wuth, with the boat-hook under my arm. The wind +screeched and clawed at me like a wildcat in a caniption fit, but +I hadn't been through those cyclones for nothin'. I lay down flat +and wriggled myself out to the edge, and thar I waited." + +"And the waves were breaking over you all the time?" cried the child, +with eager inquiry. + +"Wal, they was that, Honeysuckle!" said the Captain. "Bless ye, I +sh'd ha' been washed off like a log if 't hadn't ben for the rope. +But that held; 'twas a good one, and tied with a bowline, and it held. +Wal, I lay thar, and all to wunst I see her comin' by like a flash, +close to me. '_Now_!' says I, 'ef ther's any stuff in you, J. Judkins, +let's see it!' says I. And I chucks myself over the side o' the rock +and grabs her with the boat-hook, and hauls her in. 'All together,' +I says. '_Now_, my hearties! Yo heave _ho_!' and I hed her up, and +hauled her over the rocks and round under the lee of the p'int, before +I stopped to breathe. How did I do it? Don't ask me, Jewel Bright! +_I_ don't know how I did it. There's times when a man has strength +given to him, seemin'ly, over and above human strength. 'Twas like +as if the Lord ketched holt and helped me: maybe He did, seein' what +'twas I was doing. Maybe He did!" He paused a moment in thought, but +Star was impatient. + +"Well, Daddy!" she cried. "And then you looked and found it was--go +on, Daddy dear!" + +"I looked," continued the old man, "and I found it was a sail, that +had showed so white against the spar; a sail, wrapped tight round +somethin'. I cut the ropes, and pulled away the canvas and a tarpaulin +that was inside that; and thar I seed--" + +"My poor mamma and me!" cried the child, joyously, clapping her hands. +"Oh, Daddy Captain, it _is_ so delightful when you come to this part! +And my poor mamma was dead? You are quite positively sure that she +was dead, Daddy?" + +"She were, my lamb!" replied the Captain, gravely. "You needn't never +have no doubt about it. She had had a blow on the head, your poor +ma had, from one o' the bull's horns, likely; and I'll warrant she +never knowed anythin' after it, poor lady! She was wrapped in a great +fur cloak, the same as you have on your bed in winter, Blossom: and +lyin' all clost and warm in her cold arms, that held on still, though +the life was gone out of 'em, was"--the old man faltered, and brushed +his rough hand across his eyes--"was a--a little baby. Asleep, it +seemed to be, all curled up like a rose on its mother's breast, and +its pooty eyes tight shut. I loosed the poor arms--they was like a +stattoo's, so round and white and cold; and I took the child up in +my arms; and lo' ye! it opened its eyes and looked straight at me +and laughed." + +"And it said, Daddy?" cried the delighted child, clapping her hands. +"Tell what it said!" + +"It said 'Tar,'" the old man continued, in a hushed voice. "'Tar,' +it said as plain as I say it to you. 'And "Star" it is!' says I; for +'if ever a star shone on a dark night, it's you, my pooty,' I says. +'Praise the Lord,' I says. 'Amen, so be it.' Then I laid your poor +ma in a corner, under the lee of the big rock, where the spray +wouldn't fly over her, and I covered her with the sail; and then I +took the fur cloak, seein' the baby needed it and she didn't, and +wrapped it round the little un, and clumb back over the rocks, up +to the house. And so, Honeysuckle--" + +"And so," cried the child, taking his two great hands and putting +them softly together, "so I came to be your little Star!" + +"To be my little Star!" assented the old man, stooping to kiss the +golden head. + +"Your light and your joy!" exclaimed the child, laughing with +pleasure. + +"My light and my joy!" said the old man, solemnly. "A light from +heaven to shine in a dark place, and the Lord's message to a sinful +man." + +He was silent for a little, looking earnestly into the child's radiant +face. Presently, "You've been happy, Star Bright?" he asked. "You +haven't missed nothin'?" + +Star opened wide eyes of surprise at him. "Of course I've been happy!" +she said. "Why shouldn't I be?" + +"You ain't--I mean you haven't mourned for your poor ma, have ye, +Jewel?" He was still looking curiously at her, and his look puzzled +her. + +"No," she said after a pause. "Of course not. I never knew my poor +mamma. Why should I mourn for her? She is in heaven, and I am very +glad. You say heaven is much nicer than here, so it must be pleasanter +for my poor mamma; and I don't need her, because I have you, Daddy. +But go on, now, please, Daddy dear. 'Next day'--" + +"Next day," resumed the obedient Captain, "the sky was bright and +clear, and only the heavy sea, and your poor ma, and you, Peach +Blossom, to tell what had happened, so far as I seed at fust. Bimeby, +when I went out to look, I found other things." + +"My poor papa!" said Star, with an air of great satisfaction. + +The Captain nodded. "Yer poor pa," he said, "and two others with him. +How did I know he was your poor pa? Along of his havin' your poor +ma's pictur hung round his neck. And a fine-lookin' man he was, to +be sure!" + +"And his name was 'H. M.'!" cried the child, eagerly. + +"Them was the letters of it!" assented the Captain. "Worked on his +shirt and hank'cher, so fine as ever was. Well, Jewel Bright, when +I seed all this, I says, 'January,' says I, 'here's Christian corpses, +and they must have Christian burial!' I says. So I brought 'em all +up to the house, and laid 'em comfortable; and then I gave you a good +drink of warm milk (you'd been sleepin' like a little angil, and only +waked up to smile and crow and say ''Tar'), and gave you a bright +spoon to play with; and then I rowed over to shore to fetch the +minister and the crowner, and everybody else as was proper. You don't +care about this part, Honeysuckle, and you ain't no need to, but +everything was done decent and Christian, and your parents and the +other two laid peaceful under the big pine-tree. Then the minister, +when 'twas all done, he says to me, 'And now, my friend,' he says, +'I'll relieve you of the child, as would be a care to you, and I can +find some one to take charge of it!' he says. 'Meanin' no disrespect, +Minister,' I says, 'don't think it! The Lord has His views, you'll +allow, most times, and He had 'em when He sent the child here. He +could have sent her ashore by the station jest as easy,' I says, 'if +so be't had seemed best; but He sent her to me,' I says, 'and I'll +keep her.' 'But how can you bring up a child?' he says, 'alone, here +on a rock in the ocean?' he says. 'I've been thinking that over, +Minister,' I says, 'ever since I holt that little un in my arms, +takin' her from her dead mother's breast,' I says; 'and I can't see +that there's more than three things needed to bring up a child,--the +Lord's help, common sense, and a cow. The last two I hev, and the +fust is likely to be round when a man asks for it!' I says. So then +we shakes hands, and he doesn't say nothin' more, 'cept to pray a +blessin' for me and for the child. And the blessin' kem, and the +blessin' stayed, Star Bright; and there's the end of the story, my +maid. + +"And now it's time these two eyes were shut, and only the top star +shinin' in the old tower. Good night, Jewel! Good night, and God bless +you!" + + + + +CHAPTER III. -- INTRODUCING IMOGEN AND BOB + + +"Imogen!" said Star, looking up from her book, "I don't believe you +have been listening!" + +Imogen looked up meekly, but made no attempt to deny the charge. + +"You _must_ listen!" said the child, sternly. "First place, it's +beautiful: and besides, it's very rude not to listen when people +reads. And you ought _not_ to be rude, Imogen!" After which short +lecture, Star turned to her book again,--a great book it was, lying +open on the little pink calico lap,--and went on reading, in her clear +childish voice: + + "'Over hill, over dale, + Thorough bush, thorough brier, + Over park, over pale, + Thorough flood, thorough fire, + I do wander everywhere, + Swifter than the moony sphere; + And I serve the fairy queen, + To dew her orbs upon the green:' + +Do you know what a fairy is, Imogen?" asked Star, looking up again +suddenly. + +But this time it was very evident that Imogen (who was, in truth, +a large white cow, with a bell round her neck) was paying no attention +whatever to the reading; for she had fairly turned her back, and was +leisurely cropping the short grass, swaying her tail in a comfortable +and reflective manner the while. + +Star sprang to her feet, and seizing the delinquent's horns, shook +them with all her might. + +"How dare you turn your back when I am reading?" she cried. "I'm just +ashamed of you! You're a disgrace to me, Imogen. Why, you are as +ignorant as a--as--as a lobster! and you a great cow with four whole +legs. A--a--ah! shame on you!" + +Imogen rubbed her head deprecatingly against the small pink shoulder, +and uttered a soft and apologetic "moo;" but Star was not ready to +be mollified yet. + +"And you know it's my _own_ book, too!" she continued, reproachfully. +"My own Willum Shakespeare, that I love more--well, no! not _more_ +than I love you, Imogen, but just as much, and almost nearly half +as much as I love Daddy Captain. + +"But after all," she added, with a smile flitting over her frowning +little face, "after all, you poor dear, you _are_ only a cow, and +I don't suppose you know." And then she hugged Imogen, and blew a +little into one of her ears, to make her wink it, and the two were +very friendly again. + +"Perhaps you would like to know, Imogen," said Star, confidentially, +seating herself once more on the ground, "_why_ I am so fond of Willum +Shakespeare. So I will tell you. It is really part of _my_ story, +but Daddy Captain didn't get as far as that last night, so I think +I will tell it to you. Well!" she drew a long breath of enjoyment, +and, clasping her hands round her knees, settled herself for a "good +talk." + +"Well, Imogen: you see, at first I was a little baby, and didn't know +anything at all. But by and by I began to grow big, and then Daddy +Captain said to himself, 'Here's a child,' he says, 'and a child of +gentlefolks, and she mustn't grow up in ignorance, and me doing my +duty by her poor pa and ma,' he says. So he rows over to the town, +and he goes to the minister (the same minister who came over here +before), and he says, 'Good morning, Minister!' and the minister +shakes him by the hand hearty, and says, 'Why, Captain January!' he +says, 'I'm amazing glad to see you. And how is the child?' And Daddy +says, 'The child is a-growing with the flowers,' he says; 'and she's +a-growing like the flowers. Show me a rose that's as sweet and as +well growed as that child,' he says, 'and I'll give you my head, +Minister.' That's the way Daddy talks, you know, Imogen. And then +he told the minister how he didn't want the child (that was me, of +course) to grow up in ignorance, and how he wanted to teach me. And +the minister asked him was he qualified to teach. 'Not yet, I ain't!' +says Daddy Captain, 'but I'm a-going to be. I want a book, or maybe +a couple of books, that'll edicate me in a manner all round!' he says. +'I couldn't do with a lot of 'em,' he says, ''cause I ain't used to +it, and it makes things go round inside my head. But I think I could +tackle two if they was fustrate,' he says. The minister laughed, and +told Daddy he wanted a good deal. Then he asked him if he had the +Good Book. That's the Bible, you know, Imogen. Daddy Captain won't +let me read that to you, because you are a beast that perish. Poor +dear!" she leaned forward and kissed Imogen's pink nose. "And Daddy +said _of course_ he had that, only the letters weren't so clear as +they used to be, somehow, perhaps along of getting wet in his weskit +pocket, being he carried it along always. So the minister gave him +a _new big_ BEAUTIFUL Bible, Imogen! It isn't so new _now_, but it's +just as big and beautiful, and I love it. And then he thought for +a long time, the minister did, walking about the room and looking +at all the books. The whole room was full of books, Daddy says, all +on shelves, 'cept some on the floor and the table and the chairs. +It made his head go round dreadful to see them all, Daddy says (I +mean Daddy's head), and think of anybody reading them. He says he +doesn't see how in creation the minister manages to keep his bearings, +and look out for a change in the wind, and things that _have_ to be +done, and read all those books too. _Well_!" she kissed Imogen's nose +again, from sheer enjoyment, and threw her head back with a laugh +of delight. "I'm coming to it now, Imogen!" she cried. "At last the +minister took down a big book--OH! you precious old thing, how I love +you!" (this apostrophe was addressed to the quarto volume which she +was now hugging rapturously), "and said, 'Well, Captain January, +here's the best book in the world, _next_ to the Good Book!' he says. +'You'll take this,' he says, 'as my gift to you and the child; and +with these two books to guide you, the child's edication won't go +far wrong!' he says; and then he gave Daddy the dictionary, too, +Imogen; but I sha'n't tell you about that, because it's a brute, and +I hate and 'spise it. But--well! _so_, you see, _that_ was the way +I got my Willum Shakespeare, my joy and my pride, my--" + +At this moment a shadow fell upon the grass, and a deep, gruff voice +was heard, saying, "Star, ahoy!" The child started up, and turned +to meet the newcomer with a joyous smile. "Why, Bob!" she cried, +seizing one of his hands in both of hers, and dancing round and round +him. "Where did you come from? Why aren't you on the boat?" + +"Boat's aground!" replied the person addressed as Bob. He spoke in +short, jerky sentences. He was dressed as a seafaring man; had wide, +helpless-looking brown eyes, an apologetic smile, and a bass voice +of appalling depth and power. "Boat's aground," he repeated, seating +himself on the grass and looking about for a stem of grass long enough +to put in his mouth. "Hard and fast. Waiting for tide to turn; thought +I'd come, pass time o' day." + +"And how came you to run her aground?" inquired the child, severely. +"A pretty pilot you are! Why, I could steer her myself better than +that." + +"Fog!" replied the man, in a meek and muffled roar. Then finding a +bit of sorrel, he fell upon it with avidity, and seemed to think he +had said enough. + +"H'm!" said Star, with a disdainful little sniff. "You'd better get +Daddy to steer your boat. _He_ doesn't mind fog. Are there many people +on board?" she added, with an air of interest. + +"Heaps!" replied Bob, succinctly. Then, after a pause of meditative +chewing: "Like to go aboard? take ye--boat--Cap'n willin'." + +"No, I don't want to go aboard, thank you!" said Star. "I don't like +people. But you might just row me round her once, Bob," she added. +"I think I should like _that_. But we must wait till Daddy comes, +of course." + +"Cap'n round?" inquired Bob. + +"He's setting the lobster-pots," replied the child. "He'll be back +soon. Bob," she added, irrelevantly, a moment after, "I never noticed +before that you looked like Imogen. Why, you are the very image of +her, Bob! Your eyes and your expression are _exactly_ the same." Bob +raised his eyes and surveyed Imogen with a critical air. "Fine cow!" +he said at last. "D'no's I mind--'f she doosn't." + +"_Isn't_ she a fine cow?" cried little Star, patting the meek and +graceful head of her favourite. "I don't believe there's another such +cow in the world. I _know_ there isn't! I think," she added, "I will +take a little ride on her, while we are waiting for Daddy Captain. +Will you put me up, please, Bob?" + +The obedient Bob lifted her as if she were a ball of thistle-down, +and set her on the broad back of the good cow, who straightway began +to pace sedately along the bit of meadow, following the guidance of +the small hands which clasped her horns. Ah! who will paint me that +picture, as my mind's eye sees it? The blue of sky and sea, the +ripples breaking in silver on silver sand, the jewelled green, where +the late dandelions flecked the grass with gold; and in the midst +the lovely, laughing child, mounted on the white cow, tossing her +cloudy golden hair, and looking back with eyes of delight towards +her companion. + +The beauty of it all filled the eyes and the heart of Captain January, +as he came up among the rocks. He paused, and stood for some time +in silence, watching the little well-beloved figure. "Wal!" he said, +"if that ain't one of the young-eyed cherubims, then I never seed +one, that's all." + +At this moment Star caught sight of him. "O Daddy," she cried. "My +Daddy Captain, I'm having such a fine ride! It isn't _quite_ as high +as a heaven-kissing hill, but it's a heaven-kissing cow, for Imogen +is really _very_ high. Dear Daddy, won't you come and try it? there's +plenty of room!" + +"Thanky, Peach Blossom!" said the Captain, advancing, and greeting +the apologetic Bob with a hearty shake of the hand. "Thanky kindly, +but I don't believe I will try it. Ridin' was never, so as to say, +in my line. I'm stiddy enough on my own pins, but defend me from +tryin' to git about on another critter's. And how's all with you, +Bob? and why ain't you aboard the _Huntress_?" + +Bob in the fewest possible words related the mishap which had befallen +the boat, and asked if he might take Missy out to see her. + +"To be sure! to be sure!" said Captain January. "That'll be a nice +trip for ye, Honeysuckle. Put on your bunnit and go with Bob. He'll +take good care of ye, Bob will." + +And so, by what seemed the merest chance, that lovely afternoon, +little Star went with Bob Peet, in his old black boat, to see the +steamer _Huntress_ aground on a sand-bank off the main shore. + +The sea lay all shining and dimpling in the afternoon light, and not +a cloud was to be seen overhead. Here and there a white gull was +slowly waving his wings through the clear air, and little fish came +popping their heads out of the water, just for the pleasure of popping +them back again. Star dipped her hands in the blue crystal below, +and sang little snatches of song, being light of heart and without +a care in the world. They were no nursery songs that she sang, for +she considered herself to have outgrown the very few Mother Goose +ditties which Captain January had treasured in his mind and heart +ever since his mother sang them to him, all the many years ago. She +was tired of: + + "Jacky Barber's coming to town: + Clear away, gentlemen! clear away, gentlemen! + One foot up and t'other foot down, + Jacky Barber's coming to town." + +But she loved the scraps of sea-song that the old Captain still hummed +over his work: "Baltimore," and "Blow a Man Down," and half a dozen +other salt-water ditties: and it might have been strange to less +accustomed ears than Bob Peet's to hear the sweet child-voice +carolling merrily: + + "Boney was a warrior, + Weigh! heigh! oh! + Boney was a warrior, + John Francois! + Boney whipped the Rooshians, + Weigh! heigh! oh! + Boney whipped the Prooshians, + John Francois! + Boney went to Elba, + Weigh! heigh! oh!" etc. + +Bob's oars kept time with the song, and his portentous voice thundered +out the refrain with an energy which shook the little skiff from stem +to stern. By the time that "Boney" was safely consigned to his grave +in sunny France, they were nearing the flats on which the steamer +_Huntress_ lay, quietly awaiting the turn of the tide. + +Star knew the great white boat well, for twice a day she went +thundering past Light Island, churning the quiet blue water into foam +with her huge paddles, on her way to and from the gay summer city +which all the world came to visit. Nearly every day the child would +run out on the south rocks to wave a greeting to some of her +acquaintances among the crew; for she knew them all, from the +black-bearded captain down to the tiniest cabin-boy; and they, for +their part, were always eager--good souls!--for a smile or a nod from +the "Star of Light Island." Not a man of them but envied Bob Peet +his privilege of going when he pleased to the lighthouse rock. For +Captain January was not fond of visitors, and gave them no +encouragement to come, Bob Peet being the single exception to the +rule. The Captain liked Bob because he was not "given to clatter," +and "knew how to belay his jaw." + +"I do love to see a man belay his jaw!" said Captain January, +unconsciously quoting the words of another and a more famous captain, +the beloved David Dodd. So Bob was free to come and go as he liked, +and to smoke his pipe in sociable silence for hours at a time, within +the walls of Storm Castle. + +"Stop here, Bob!" said Star, with an imperious motion of her hand. +"I don't want to go any nearer." The obedient Bob lay on his oars, +and both looked up at the great boat, now only a few yards away. The +decks were crowded with passengers, who leaned over the railings, +idly chatting, or watching the water to see if the tide had turned. + +"Sight o' folks," said Bob Peet, nodding towards the after-deck, which +seemed a solid mass of human beings. + +"Yes," said the child, speaking half to herself, in a low tone. "It's +just like the Tower of Babel, isn't it? I should think they would +be afraid. 'And the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the +face of all the earth.' And it's so _stupid_!" she added, after a +moment's pause. "Why don't they stay at home? Haven't they any homes +to stay at? Who takes care of their homes while they go sailing about +like loons?" + +"Folks likes to v'yage," said Bob Peet, with mild toleration. +"Heaps--nothin' t' do--hot spells--v'yages." He added, with an +approach to a twinkle in his meek and cow-like eyes, "Try it--some +day--git tired of ol' Cap'n--ol' rock--pooty soon--take ye--v'yage--" + +His speech was interrupted by a sudden and violent dash of water in +his face. + +"Take that!" cried Star, panting with fury, and flinging the water +at him with all her small might. "I wish it was sharp stones, instead +of just water. I wish it was needles, and jagged rocks, and quills +upon the fretful porkypine, so I do! How dare you say such things +to me, Bob Peet? How dare you?" She paused, breathless, but with +flashing eyes and burning cheeks; while Bob meekly mopped his face +and head with a red cotton handkerchief, and shook the water from +his ears, eyeing her the while with humble and deprecatory looks. + +"No offence," he muttered, in apologetic thunder-rumble. "Poor ol' +Bob--eh, Missy? Sorry, beg pardon! Never no more. Didn't mean +it--nohow!" + +The tempest subsided as suddenly as it rose, and Star, with a +forgiving nod, took out her own little handkerchief and daintily wiped +a few drops from her victim's forehead. + +"You're so stupid, Bob," she said, frankly, "that I suppose I ought +not to get angry with you, any more than I would with Imogen, though +even she provokes me sometimes. So I forgive you, Bob. But if you +ever say such a thing again as my getting tired of Daddy, I'll kill +you. So now you know!" + +"Jes' so!" assented Bob. "Nat'rally! _To_ b' sure!" + +The sudden splashing of the water had caught many eyes on the deck +of the _Huntress_, and people admired the "playfulness" of the pretty +child in the little boat. One pair of eyes, however, was sharper than +the rest. + +"Just look at that child, Isabel!" said a tall, bronzed gentleman +who was leaning over the taff-rail. "She is a perfect little fury! +I never saw a pair of eyes flash so. Very fine eyes they are, too. +A very beautiful child. Isabel! why, my dear, what is the matter? +You are ill--faint! let me--" + +But the lady at his side pushed his arm away, and leaned forward, +her eyes fixed upon Star's face. + +"George," she said, in a low, trembling voice, "I want to know who +that child is. I _must_ know, George! Find out for me, dear, please!" + +As she spoke, she made a sign towards the boat, so earnest, so +imperative, that it caught Star's wandering gaze. Their eyes met, +and the little child in the pink calico frock, and the stately lady +in the India shawl, gazed at each other as if they saw nothing else +in the world. The gentleman looked from one to the other in amazement. + +"Isabel!" he whispered, "the child looks like you. What can this +mean?" + +But little Star, in the old black boat, cried, "Take me away, Bob! +take me home to my Daddy Captain! _Quick_! do you hear?" + +"Jes' so" said Bob Peet. "Nat'rally!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV. -- THE VISIT + + +A gray day! soft gray sky, like the breast of a dove; sheeny gray +sea, with gleams of steel running across; trailing skirts of mist +shutting off the mainland, leaving Light Island alone with the ocean; +the white tower gleaming spectral among the folding mists; the dark +pine-tree pointing a sombre finger to heaven; the wet, black rocks, +from which the tide had gone down, huddling together in fantastic +groups as if to hide their nakedness. + +On the little beach two men were slowly pacing up and down, up and +down, one silent, the other talking earnestly. Old men, both, with +white, reverend hair: one slender and small, the other a son of Anak, +big and brawny,--Captain January and the minister. + +It was the minister who had been speaking. But now he had done, and +they took a few turns in silence before the Captain spoke in reply. + +"Minister," he said,--and his voice was strangely altered from the +gruff, hearty tone which had greeted his guest fifteen minutes before. +"Minister, I ain't a man that's used to hearin' much talk, and it +confuses my mind a bit. There's things inside my head that seems to +go round and round, sometimes, and put me out. Now, if it isn't askin' +too much, I'll git you to go over them p'ints again. Slow, like! slow, +Minister, bearin' in mind that I'm a slow man, and not used to it. +This--this lady, she come to your house yisterday, as ever was?" + +"Yesterday," assented the minister; and his voice had a tender, almost +compassionate tone, as if he were speaking to a child. + +"And a fine day it were!" said Captain January. "Wind steady, sou'west +by sou'. Fog in the mornin', and Bob Peet run the _Huntress_ aground +on the bank. I never liked fog, Minister! 'Give me a gale,' I'd say, +'or anythin' short of a cyclone,' I'd say, 'but don't give me fog!' +and see now, how it's come about! But it lifted, soon as the harm +were done. It lifted, and as fine a day as ever you see." + +The minister looked at him in some alarm, but the old man's keen blue +eyes were clear and intelligent, and met his gaze openly. + +"You're thinkin' I'm crazy, minister, or maybe drunk," he said, +quietly; "but I ain't neither one. I'm on'y takin' it by and large. +When a man has been fifteen year on a desert island, ye see, he learns +to take things by and large. But I never see good come of a fog yet. +Amen! so be it! And so Cap'n Nazro brought the lady to your house, +Minister?" + +"Captain Nazro came with her," said the minister, "and also her +husband, Mr. Morton, and Robert Peet, the pilot. Mrs. Morton had seen +little Star in Peet's boat, and was greatly and painfully struck by +the child's likeness to a beloved sister of hers, who had, it was +supposed, perished at sea, with her husband and infant child, some +ten years ago." + +"Ten year ago," repeated Captain January, passing his hand across +his weather-beaten face, which looked older, somehow, than it was +wont to do. "Ten year ago this September. 'He holdeth the waters in +the hollow of His hand.' Go on, Minister. The lady thought my little +Star, as the Lord dropped out of the hollow of His hand into my arms +ten year ago, had a look of her sister." + +"She was so strongly impressed by it," the minister continued, +quietly, "that, failing to attract Peet's attention as he rowed away, +she sent for the captain, and begged him to give her all the +information he could about the child. What she heard moved her so +deeply that she became convinced of the child's identity with her +sister's lost infant. As soon as Peet returned after putting Star +ashore, she questioned him even more closely. He, good fellow, refused +to commit himself to anything which he fancied you might not like, +but he told her of my having performed the last rites over the mortal +remains of the child's parents, and Mr. Morton wisely counselled her +to go at once to me, instead of coming here, as she at first wished +to do. After my interview with her, I am bound to say--" + +"Easy now, Minister!" interrupted Captain January. "I'm an old man, +though I never knowed it till this day. Easy with this part!" + +"I am bound to say," continued the minister, laying his hand kindly +on his companion's arm, "that I think there is little doubt of Star's +being Mrs. Morton's niece." + +"And what if she be?" exclaimed the old sailor, turning with a sudden +violence which made the gentle minister start back in alarm. "What +if she be? what have the lady done for her niece? Did she take her +out o' the sea, as raged like all the devils let loose, and death +itself a-hangin' round and fairly howlin' for that child? did she +stand on that rock, blind and deef and e'ena'most mazed with the +beatin' and roarin' and onearthly screechin' all round, and take that +child from its dead mother's breast, and vow to the Lord, as helped +in savin' it, to do as should be done by it? Has she prayed, and +worked, and sweat, and laid awake nights, for fear that child's +fingers should ache, this ten years past? Has she--" the old man's +voice, which had been ringing out like a trumpet, broke off suddenly. +The angry fire died out of his blue eyes, and he bowed his head +humbly. "I ask yer pardon, Minister!" he said, quietly, after a pause. +"I humbly ask yer pardon. I had forgotten the Lord, ye see, for all +I was talkin' about Him so glib. I was takin' my view, and forgettin' +that the Lord had His. _He_ takes things by and large, and nat'rally +He takes 'em larger than mortal man kin do. Amen! so be it!" He took +off his battered hat, and stood motionless for a few moments, with +bent head: nor was his the only silent prayer that went up from the +little gray beach to the gray heaven above. + +"Well, Minister," he said, presently, in a calm and even cheerful +voice, "and so that bein' all clear to your mind, the lady have sent +you to take my--to take her niece--the little lady (and a lady she +were from her cradle) back to her. Is that the way it stands?" + +"Oh, no! no indeed!" cried the kind old minister. "Mrs. Morton would +do nothing so cruel as that, Captain January. She is very +kind-hearted, and fully appreciates all that you have done for the +little girl. But she naturally wants to see the child, and to do +whatever is for her best advantage." + +"For the child's advantage. That's it!" repeated Captain January. +"That's somethin' to hold on by. Go on, Minister!" + +"So she begged me to come over alone," continued the minister, "to--to +prepare your mind, and give you time to think the matter well over. +And she and Mr. Morton were to follow in the course of an hour, in +Robert Peet's boat. He is a very singular fellow, that Peet!" added +the good man, shaking his head. "Do you think he is quite in his right +mind? He has taken the most inveterate dislike to Mr. and Mrs. Morton, +and positively refuses to speak to either of them. I could hardly +prevail upon him to bring them over here, and yet he fell into a +strange fury when I spoke of getting some one else to bring them. +He--he is quite safe, I suppose?" + +"Wal, yes!" replied Captain January, with a half smile. "Bob's safe, +if anyone is. Old Bob! so he doosn't like them, eh?" + +At that moment his eye caught something, and he said, in an altered +voice, "Here's Bob's boat coming now, Minister, and the lady and +gentleman in her." + +"They must have come much more rapidly than I did," said the minister, +"and yet my boy rows well enough. Compose yourself, January! this +is a heavy blow for you, my good friend. Compose yourself! Things +are strangely ordered in this world. 'We see through a glass darkly'!" + +"Not meanin' to set my betters right, Minister," said Captain January, +"I never seed as it made any difference whether a man seed or not, +darkly or howsumdever, so long as the Lord made _His_ views clear. +And He's makin' 'em!" he added. "He's makin' 'em, Minister! Amen! +so be it!" And quietly and courteously, ten minutes later, he was +bidding his visitors welcome to Light Island, as if it were a kingdom, +and he the crownless monarch of it. "It's a poor place, Lady!" he +said, with a certain stately humility, as he helped Mrs. Morton out +of the boat. "Good anchorage for a shipwrecked mariner like me, but +no place for ladies or--or them as belongs to ladies." + +"O Captain January!" cried Mrs. Morton, who was a tall, fair woman, +with eyes like Star's own. "What shall I say to you? I must seem to +you so cruel, so heartless, to come and ask for the child whom you +have loved and cared for so long. For that is what I have come for! +I must speak frankly, now that I see your kind, honest face. I have +come to take my sister's child, for it is my duty to do so." She laid +both hands on the old man's arm, and looked up in his face with +pleading, tearful eyes. + +But Captain January's face did not move as he answered, quietly, "It +is your duty, Lady. No question o' that, to my mind or any. But," +he added, with a wistful look, "I'll ask ye to do it easy, Lady. It'll +be sudden like for the--for the young lady. And--she ain't used to +bein' took sudden, my ways bein' in a manner slow. You'll happen find +her a little quick, Lady, in her ways, she bein' used to a person +as was in a manner slow, and havin' to be quick for two, so to say. +But it's the sparkle o' gold, Lady, and a glint o' diamonds." + +But the lady was weeping, and could not answer; so Captain January +turned to her husband, who met him with a warm grasp of the hand, +and a few hearty and kindly words. + +"And now I'll leave ye with the minister for a minute, Lady and +Gentleman," the Captain said; "for Bob Peet is a-signallin' me as +if he'd sprung a leak below the water line, and all hands goin' to +the bottom." + +Bob, who had withdrawn a few paces after beaching his boat, was indeed +making frantic demonstrations to attract the Captain's attention, +dancing and snapping his fingers, and contorting his features in +strange and hideous fashion. + +"Well, Bob," said the old man, walking up to him, "what's up with +you, and why are ye h'istin' and lowerin' your jib in that onarthly +fashion?" + +Bob Peet seized him by the arm, and led him away up the beach. +"Cap'n," he said, looking round to make sure that they were out of +hearing of the others, "I can't touch a lady--not seamanly! But 'f +you say the word--knock gen'l'm'n feller--middle o' next week. Say +the word, Cap'n! Good's a meal o' vittles t' me--h'ist him over +cliff!" + + + + +CHAPTER V.-- CAPTAIN JANUARY'S STAR + + +And where was little Star, while all this was going on down on the +beach? Oh, she had been having a delightful afternoon. It was cloudy, +and Daddy was going to be busy, so she had determined to spend an +hour or so in her own room, and enjoy all the delights of "dressing +up." For the great chest that had been washed ashore from the wreck, +the day after she herself had come to the island, was full of clothes +belonging to her "poor mamma;" and as we have seen, the little woman +was fully inclined to make use of them. + +Beautiful clothes they were; rich silks and velvets, with here and +there cloudy laces and strange webs of Eastern gauze. For she had +been a beautiful woman, this poor mamma, and it had been the delight +of Hugh Maynard, her proud and fond husband, to deck his lovely wife +in all rare and precious stuffs. Some of them were stained with +sea-water, and many of the softer stuffs were crumpled and matted +hopelessly, but that mattered little to Star. Her eyes delighted in +soft, rich colours, and she was never weary of turning them over and +over, trying them on, and "playing s'pose" with them. + +"S'pose," she would say, "my poor mamma was going to a banquet, like +the Capulet one, or Macbeth's. Oh, no! 'cause that would have been +horrid, with ghosts and daggers and things. S'pose it was the +Capulets! Then she would put on this pink silk. Isn't it pretty, and +soft, and creamy? Just like the wild roses on the south side of the +meadow, that I made a wreath of for Imogen on her birthday. Dear +Imogen! it was _so_ becoming to her. Well, so my poor mamma put it +on--_so_! and then she paced through the hall, and all the lords +turned round and said, 'Mark'st thou yon lady?' 'Cause she was so +beautiful, you know. _This_ is the way she paced!" and then the little +creature would fall to pacing up and down the room, dragging the +voluminous pink folds behind her, her head thrown back, and a look +of delighted pride lighting up her small face. + +It was the funniest little place, this room of Star's, the queerest, +quaintest little elfin bower! It was built out from the south side +of the tower, almost like a swallow's nest, only a swallow's nest +has no window looking out on the blue sea. There was a little white +bed in a corner, and a neat chest of drawers, and a wash-stand, all +made by Captain January's skilful hands, and all shining and spotless. +The bare floor was shining too, and so was the little looking-glass +which hung upon the wall. And beside the looking-glass, and above +it, and in fact all over the walls, were trophies and wonders of all +kinds and descriptions. There was the starfish with ten legs, pinned +up in sprawling scarlet; and there, beside him, the king of all the +sea-urchins, resplendent with green and purple horns. And here were +ropes of shells, and branches of coral, and over the bed a great +shining star, made of the delicate gold-shells. That was Daddy's +present to her on her last birthday. Dear Daddy! There, sitting in +the corner, was Mrs. Neptune, the doll which Captain January had +carved out of a piece of fine wood that had drifted ashore after a +storm. Her eyes were tiny black snail-shells, her hair was of brown +sea-moss, very thick and soft ("though as for combing it," said Star, +"it is im-_possible_!"), and a smooth pink shell was set in either +cheek, "to make a blush." Mrs. Neptune was somewhat battered, as Star +was in the habit of knocking her head against the wall when she was +in a passion; but she maintained her gravity of demeanour, and always +sat with her back perfectly straight, and with an air of protest +against everything in general. + +In the window stood the great chest, at once a treasure-chamber and +a seat; and over it hung one of the most precious things of Star's +little world. It was a string of cocoanut-shells. Fifteen of them +there were, and each one was covered with curious and delicate +carving, and each one meant a whole year of a man's life. "For the +nuts was ripe when we kem ashore, my good mate Job Hotham and me, +on that island. So when the nuts was ripe agin, ye see, Jewel Bright, +we knowed 'twas a year since we kem. So I took my jack-knife and +carved this first shell, as a kind o' token, ye know, and not thinkin' +there'd be so many to carve." So the first shell was all covered with +ships: fair vessels, with sails all set, and smooth seas rippling +beneath them,--the ships that were even then on their way to rescue +the two castaways. And the second was carved with anchors, the sign +of hope, and with coils of rope, and nautical instruments, and things +familiar to seamen's eyes. But the third was carved with stars, and +sickle-curved moons, and broad-rayed suns, "Because, ye see, Peach +Blossom, arthly hope bein' as ye might say foundered, them things, +and what was above 'em, stayed where they was; and it stiddied a man's +mind to think on 'em, and to make a note on 'em as fur as might be." +And then came one covered with flowers and berries, and another with +fruits, and another with shells, and so on through the whole fifteen. +They hung now in little Star's window, a strange and piteous record; +and every night before the child said her prayers, she kissed the +first and last shell, and then prayed that Daddy Captain might forget +the "dreadful time," and never, never think about it again. + +So, on this gray day, when other things were going on out-of-doors, +Star was having a "good time" in her room. She had found in the +treasure-chest a short mantle of gold-coloured velvet, which made +"a just exactly skirt" for her, the two ends trailing behind enough +to give her a sense of dignity, but not enough to impede her +movements. "For I am not a princess to-day!" she said; "I am delicate +Ariel, and the long ones get round my feet so I can't run." Then came +a long web of what she called "sunshine," and really it might have +been woven of sunbeams, so airy-light was the silken gauze of the +fabric. This my lady had wound round and round her small person with +considerable art, the fringed ends hanging from either shoulder, and +making, to her mind, a fair substitute for wings. "See!" she cried, +running to and fro, and glancing backward as she ran. "They wave! +they really do wave! Look, Mrs. Neptune! aren't they lovely? But you +are envious, and that is why you look so cross. 'Merrily, merrily, +shall I live now, under the blossom that hangs on the bough.'" She +leaped and danced about the room, light and radiant as a creature +of another world: then stopped, to survey with frowning brows her +little blue stockings and stout laced boots. "Ariel _never_ wore such +things as those!" she declared; "if you say she did, Mrs. Neptune, +you show your ignorance, and that is all I have to say to you." Off +came the shoes and stockings, and the little white feet were certainly +much prettier to look at. "Now," cried Star, "I will go down-stairs +and wait for Daddy Captain, and perhaps he will think I am a real +fairy. Oh, wouldn't that be fun? I am _sure_ I look like one!" and +down the stairs she flitted like a golden butterfly. Once in the +kitchen, the housewife in her triumphed for a moment over the fairy: +she raked up the fire, put on more wood, and swept the hearth +daintily. "But Ariel did such things for Prospero," she said. "I'm +Ariel just the same, so I may as well fill the kettle and put some +apples down to roast." This was soon done, and clapping her hands +with delight the "tricksy spirit" began to dance and frolic anew. + + "'Come unto these yellow sands, + And then take hands!'" + +she sang, holding out her hands to invisible companions. + + "'Courtesied when ye have, and kissed + (The wild waves whist!) + Foot it featly here and there.' + +"Oh! foot it featly, and feat it footly, and dance and sing, and +tootle-ty ting!" cried the child, as she flitted like a golden cloud +about the room. Then, as she whirled round and faced the door, she +stopped short. Her arms fell by her side, and she stood as if +spellbound, looking at the lady who stood in the doorway. + +The lady made no motion at first, but only gazed at her with loving +and tender eyes. She was a beautiful lady, and her eyes were soft +and blue, with a look of tears in them. But there was no answering +softness in the starry eyes of the child: only a wide, wild look of +wonder, of anger, perhaps of fear. Presently the lady, still silent, +raised both hands, and kissed them tenderly to the child; then laid +them on her breast, and then held them out to her with a gesture of +loving appeal. + +"I don't know whether you are a spirit of health or a goblin damned," +said Star; "but anyhow it isn't polite to come into people's houses +without knocking, _I_ think. I knowed you were a spirit when you +looked at me yesterday, if you _did_ have a red shawl on." + +"How did you know that I was a spirit?" asked the lady softly. "Oh, +little Star, how did you know?" + +"'Cause you looked like my poor mamma's picture," replied the child, +"that my poor papa had round his neck. Are you my mamma's spirit?" + +The lady shook her head. "No, darling," she said, "I am no spirit. +But I have come to see you, little Star, and to tell you something. +Will you not let me come in, Sweetheart?" + +Star blushed, and hung her head for a moment, remembering Captain +January's lessons on politeness and "quarter-deck manners." She +brought a chair at once, and in a more gracious tone said (mindful +of Willum Shakespeare's lords and ladies), "I pray you sit!" + +The lady sat down, and taking the child's hand, drew her gently +towards her. "Were you playing fairy, dear?" she asked, smoothing +back the golden hair with loving touch. + +Star nodded. "I was delicate Ariel," she said. "I was footing it +featly, you know, on these yellow sands. Sometimes I am Puck, and +sometimes Titania; but Daddy likes Ariel best, and so do I. Did you +ever play it?" she asked, looking up into the kindly face that bent +over her. + +The lady smiled and shook her head. "No, dear child," she said, still +with that motherly touch of the hand on the fair head. "I never +thought of such a pretty play as that, but I was very happy as a child +playing with my--with my sister. I had a dear, dear sister, Star. +Would you like to hear about her?" + +"Yes," said Star, with wondering eyes. "Was she a little girl?" + +"Such a lovely little girl!" said the lady. "Her hair was dark, but +her eyes were like yours, Star, blue and soft. We played together +always as children, and we grew up together, two loving, happy girls. +Then my sister married: and by and by, dear, she had a little baby. +A sweet little girl baby, and she named it Isabel, after me." + +"I was a little girl baby, too," said Star, "but I wasn't named +anything; I came so: just Star." + +"Little Isabel had another name," said the lady. "Her other name was +Maynard, because that was her father's name. Her father was Hugh +Maynard. Have you ever seen or heard that name, my child?" + +Star shook her head. "No!" she said; "my poor papa's name was H. M. +It was marked on his shirt and han'k'chief, Daddy says. And my poor +mamma's name was Helena, just like Helena in 'Midsummer Night's +Dream.'" The motherly hand trembled, and the lady's voice faltered +as she said, "Star, my dear sister's name was Helena, too. Is not +that strange, my little one?" + +The child looked curiously at her. "Where is your dear sister?" she +asked. "Why do you cry when you say her name? is she naughty?" + +"Listen, Star," said the lady, wiping the tears from her eyes, and +striving to speak composedly. + +"My sister made a voyage to Europe, with her husband and her little +baby. They spent the summer travelling in beautiful countries; and +in the autumn, in September, Star, ten years ago this very +year,--think of it, my dear!--they sailed for home. They came in a +sailing-vessel, because the sea-voyage was thought good for your--for +my sister. And--and--the vessel was never heard from. There was a +terrible storm and many vessels were lost in it." + +"Just like my poor mamma's ship," said the child. "Perhaps it was +the same storm. Do you think--why do you look at me so?" she cried, +breaking off suddenly. + +But the lady put both arms round her and drew her close, close, while +her tears fell fast on the golden hair. "My darling!" she cried, "my +dear, dear little one! It _was_ the same storm; the same storm and +the same ship. Your poor mamma was my own sweet sister Helena, and +you are my niece, my little Isabel, my own, own little namesake. Will +you love me, darling? will you love your Aunt Isabel, and let her +care for you and cherish you as your sweet mother would have done?" + +Star stood very still, neither returning nor repelling the lady's +caresses. She was pale, and her breath came short and quick, but +otherwise she showed no sign of agitation. Presently she put up her +hand and stroked the lady's cheek gently. "Why do you cry?" she asked, +quietly. "My poor mamma is in heaven. Don't you like her to be in +heaven? Daddy says it is much nicer than here, and he knows." + +Mrs. Morton checked her tears, and smiled tenderly in the little +wondering face, "Dear child!" she said, "I do like to have her in +heaven, and I will not cry any more. But you have not told me whether +you will love me, Star. Will you try, dear? and will you let me call +you my little Isabel?" + +"I will love you," replied the child, "if Daddy Captain loves you; +I will love you very much. But you must not call me that name, 'cause +I'm not _it_. I am just Star. _Does_ Daddy love you?" she asked; and +then, with a sudden note of anxiety in her voice, she exclaimed, +"Where is Daddy? Where is my Daddy Captain? Did you see him when you +came in?" + +Her question was answered by the sound of voices outside; and the +next moment the minister appeared, followed by Mr. Morton and Captain +January. The old Captain hastened to place a chair for each of the +gentlemen by the fireside, and then took his stand against the wall +on the further side of the room. He held his weather-beaten cap in +his hand, and turned it slowly round and round, considering it +attentively. It might have been observed by one quick to notice +trifles, that he did not look at the child, though no slightest motion +of hers was lost upon him. + +"George," said Mrs. Morton, joyously, to her husband, "here is our +little niece, dearest Helena's child. She is going to love me, she +says, and she will love you, too. Star, my darling, this is your Uncle +George. Will you not give him a kiss, and be his little girl as well +as mine? We have two little girls at home, and you shall be the +third." + +Star went obediently to Mr. Morton, who kissed her warmly, and tried +to take her on his knee. "You are taller than our Grace," he said, +"but I don't believe you are as heavy, my dear. Grace is just your +age, and I am sure you will be great friends." + +But Star slipped quietly from his arms, and, running to the Captain, +took one of his hands in both of hers and kissed it. "I am Daddy +Captain's little girl!" she said, looking round bravely at the +others. "Why do you talk as if I belonged to you?" Then seeing the +trouble in Mrs. Morton's face, she added, "I _will_ love you, truly +I will, and I will call you Aunt Isabel; but I cannot belong to +different people, 'cause I'm only just one. Just Captain January's +Star." + +She looked up in the old man's face with shining eyes, but no tender, +confident look returned her glance. The brown hand trembled between +her two little white palms; the keen blue eyes were still bent fixedly +upon the old woollen cap, as if studying its texture; but it was in +a quiet and soothing tone that the Captain murmured: + +"Easy, Jewel Bright! Easy, now! Helm steady, and stand by!" + +There was a moment of troubled silence; and then the old minister, +clearing his throat, spoke in his gentle, tranquil voice. "My dear +child," he said, "a very strange thing has come to pass; but what +seems strange to us is doubtless clear and simple to the Infinite +Wisdom above us. You have been a faithful and loving child, little +Star, to your beloved guardian and friend here, and no father could +have cared for you more tenderly than he has done. But the tie of +blood is a strong one, my dear, and should not be lightly set aside. +This lady is your own near relation, the sister of your dear dead +mother. Through the merciful providence of God, she has been led to +you, and she feels it her duty to claim you, in the name of your +parents. We have considered the matter carefully, and we all feel +that it is right that you should hereafter make your home with her +and your uncle. This may be painful to you, my dear; but you are a +good and intelligent child, and you will understand that if we give +you pain now, it is to secure your future good and happiness." + +He paused; and all eyes, save those keen blue ones which were studying +so carefully the texture of the battered woollen cap, turned anxiously +on the child. A deep flush passed over Star's face; then vanished, +leaving it deadly pale, a mask of ivory with eyes of flame. When she +spoke, it was in a low, suppressed voice, wholly unlike her own. + +"You may kill me," said the child, "and take my body away, if you +like. I will not go while I am alive." + +She turned her eyes from one to the other, as if watching for the +slightest motion to approach her. + +Mrs. Morton, in great distress, spoke next. "My darling, it grieves +me to the heart to take you from your dear, kind Daddy. But think, +my Star; you are a child now, but you will soon be a woman. You cannot +grow up to womanhood in a place like this. You must be with your own +people, and have companions of your own age. My children will be like +your own sisters and brothers. My dear, if you could only know how +they will love you, how we shall all cherish and care for you!" + +"When I am dead?" asked Star. "It will make no difference to me, your +love, for I shall be dead. I will not go alive." + +"Oh, Captain January!" cried Mrs. Morton, turning to the old man with +clasped hands. "Speak to her! she will listen to you. Tell her--tell +her what you said to me. Tell her that it is right for her to go; +that you wish her to go!" + +The old man's breathing was heavy and laboured, and for a moment it +seemed as if he strove in vain for utterance: but when he spoke, his +voice was still soothing and cheerful, though his whole great frame +was trembling like a withered leaf. "Star Bright," he said (and +between almost every word he paused to draw the short, heavy breath), +"I always told ye, ye 'member, that ye was the child of gentlefolks. +So bein', 'tis but right that you should have gentle raisin' by them +as is yer own flesh and blood. You've done your duty, and more than +your duty, by me. Now 'tis time ye did your duty by them as the Lord +has sent to ye. You'll have--my--my respeckful love and duty wherever +you go, my dear, and you growin' up to be a beautiful lady, as has +been a little wild lass. And you'll not forget the old Cap'n, well +I know, as will be very comf'table here--" + +But here the child broke out with a wild, loud cry, which made all +the others start to their feet. "Do you want me to go?" she cried. +"Look at me, Daddy Captain! you _shall_ look at me!" She snatched +the cap from his hands and flung it into the fire, then faced him +with blazing eyes and quivering lip. "Do you want me to go? Are you +tired of me?" + +Heavier and heavier grew that weight on Captain January's chest: +shorter and harder came his breath. His eyes met the child's for a +moment, then wavered and fell. "Why--honey--" he said, slowly, +"I--I'm an old man now--a very old man. And--and--an old man likes +quiet, ye see: and--I'd be quieter by myself, like; and--and so, +honey--I--I'd like ye to go." + +"_You lie_!" cried the child; and her voice rang like a silver trumpet +in the startled ears of the listeners. "You lie to me, and you lie +to God: and you _know_ you lie!" + +The next moment she had sprung on to the low window-sill, then turned +for an instant, with her little hands clenched in menace, and her +great eyes flashing fire that fell like a burning touch on every +heart. Her fantastic dress gleamed like a fiery cloud against the +gray outside: her hair fell like a glory about her vivid, shining +face. A moment she stood there, a vision, a flying star, trailing +angry light, never to be forgotten by those who saw; then, like a +flash, she vanished. + +Captain January tottered to his old chair and sat down in it. "The +child is right, Lady and Gentleman!" he said. "I lied! I lied to my +God, and to the little child who loved me. May God and the child +forgive me!" And he hid his face in his hands, and silence fell for +a moment. + +Then Mr. Morton, who had walked hastily to the window, and was doing +something with his handkerchief, beckoned to his wife. "Isabel," he +said, in a low tone, "I will not be a party to this. It's an atrocious +and vindictive outrage. I--I--you are not the woman I took you for, +if you say another word to that old angel. Let him have the child, +and send him one or two of your own into the bar--" but Isabel Morton, +laughing through her tears, laid her hand over her husband's lips +for a moment. Then going to the old man's chair, she knelt down by +it, and took his two hands in hers. + +"Captain January!" she said, tenderly. "Dear, dear Captain January! +the lie is forgiven: I am very, very sure it is forgiven in heaven, +as it will be forgiven in the child's loving heart. And may God never +pardon me, if ever word or look of mine come again between you and +the child whom God gave you!" + +The gray evening was closing in around the lighthouse tower. The +guests were gone, and Captain January sat alone beside the fire in +his old armchair. The window was still open, for the air was soft +and mild. The old man's hands were clasped upon his knee; his heart +was lifted as high as heaven, in silent prayer and praise. + +Suddenly, at the window, there was a gleam of yellow, a flitting +shape, a look, a pause; then a great glad cry, and Star flitted like +a ray of moonlight through the window, and fell on Captain January's +breast. + +"Daddy," she said, breaking the long, happy silence, "dear Daddy, +I am sorry I burned your horrid old cap!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI. -- THE SIGNAL + + +Quietly passed the days, the weeks, the months, in the lonely tower +on the rock fronting the Atlantic surge. Winter came, and folded it +in a white mantle, and decked it with frost-jewels. Like a pillar +of ice, the tower shone in the keen brilliance of the northern sun; +but within was always summer, the summer of perfect peace and +contentment. To the child Star, winter was always a season of great +delight; for Captain January had little to occupy him out-of-doors, +and could devote much of his time to her. So there were long, +delightful "jack-knife times," as Star called them, when the Captain +sat fashioning all sorts of wonderful trifles with his magic knife, +the child sitting at his elbow and watching him with happy eyes. There +were "story times," instituted years before, as soon as Star had +learned to sew on patchwork; for as for sewing _without_ a story to +listen to, "_that_," said Star, "is against my nature, Daddy. And +you don't want me to do things that are against my nature, do you?" +So whenever the squares of gay calico came out, and the golden head +bent to and fro over them, like a paradise bird hovering over a bed +of gaudy flowers, the story came out, too, between puffs of the pipe, +while the fire crackled a cheery accompaniment, sputtering defiance +to the wind that whistled outside. Some tale of the southern seas, +and the wild tropic islands, of coral reefs and pearl-fisheries, +sharks and devil-fish; or else a whaling story, fresh and breezy as +the north, full of icebergs, and seal-hunts over the cracking floes, +polar bears, and all the wild delights of whale-fishing. + +Then, on fine days (and oh, but the days are fine, in these glorious +northern winters!) there was much joy to be had out-of-doors. For +there was a spot in the little meadow,--once of gold-flecked emerald, +now of spotless pearl,--a spot where the ground "tilted," to use +Star's expression, suddenly down to a tiny hollow, where a fairy +spring bubbled out of the rock into a fairy lake. In summer, Star +rather despised this lake, which was, truth to tell, only twenty feet +long and ten feet wide. It was very nice for Imogen to drink from +and to stand in on hot days, and it did many lovely things in the +way of reflecting blue skies and fleecy clouds and delicate traceries +of leaf and bough; but as water, it seemed a very trifling thing to +a child who had the whole sweep of the Atlantic to fill her eyes, +and who had the breakers for her playfellows and gossips. + +But in winter, matters were different. All the laughing lips of +ripples, all the white tossing crests of waves, must content +themselves with the ice-bound rocks, till spring should bring them +their child-comrade again; and the little sheet of dark crystal in +the hollow of the meadow had things all its own way, and mirrored +back her bright face every day. The little red sled, launched at the +top of the "tilt," came skimming down the slope, and shot like an +arrow over the smooth ice, kept always clear of snow by the Captain's +ever-busy hands; or else, when tired of coasting, the child would +plant her small feet wide apart, and slide, and run, and slide again, +till the pond could have cracked with pleasure, if such a thing had +been in accordance with its principles. + +But of all the joyous hours, none was more welcome to the child than +that after the simple supper was cleared away and the room "redded +up." Then, while fire and lamplight made their merriest cheer, the +table was drawn up to the warmest spot; Star took her place upon +Captain January's knee, and the two heads, the silver one and the +golden, bent in absorbed interest over "Willum Shakespeare" or the +Good Book. + +Generally the Captain read aloud, but sometimes they read the parts +in turn; and again sometimes the child would break off, and recite +whole passages alone, with a fire and pathos which might have been +that of Maid Marjorie, swaying at her childish will the heart of Sir +Walter and his friends. + +So quietly, in the unbroken peace which love brightened into joy, +the winter passed. + +At Christmas, they had, as usual, a visit from the faithful Bob, who +brought all his many pockets full of candy and oranges and all manner +of "truck," as he called it, for Missy Star. Also he brought a letter +and a box directed only to "Captain January's Star." The letter, which +the child opened with wondering eagerness, being the first she had +ever received, was from Mrs. Morton. It was full of tender and loving +words, wishes for Christmas cheer and New Year blessing, and with +it was a photograph of the beautiful face, with its soft and tender +eyes, which Star remembered so well. On the back was written, "For +Little Star, from Aunt Isabel." And the box? Why, that was quite as +wonderful in its way. For it contained a most beautiful pipe for the +Captain, of sweet brier-wood, mounted in silver; and oh! oh! such +a doll! Other children have seen such dolls, but Star never had; a +blue-eyed waxen beauty, with fringed lashes that opened and shut, +rose-leaf cheeks, and fabulous wealth of silky flaxen curls. Also +it had a blue velvet-frock, and its underclothing was a wonder to +behold; and the box was full of other frocks and garments. + +Star took the doll in her arms with delighted awe, and seemed for +a few moments absorbed in her new treasure. Presently, however, a +shadow crossed her bright face. She glanced at Bob and the Captain, +and seeing that they were both engaged in busy talk, she quietly went +up to her own room, carrying the doll with her. Here she did a strange +thing. She crossed the room to the corner where Mrs. Neptune sat, +with her back rigid, protesting against circumstances, and set the +radiant stranger down beside her; then, with her hands clasped behind +her, and brows bent, she considered the pair long and attentively. +Truly they were a strange contrast: the delicate, glowing, velvet-clad +doll, and the battered old wooden image, with eyes of snail-shells +and hair of brown sea-moss. But when Star had finished her scrutiny, +she took the beautiful doll, and buried it deep under velvets and +satins at the very bottom of the great chest. This done, she kissed +Mrs. Neptune solemnly, and proceeded to adorn her with a gorgeous +Eastern scarf, the very gayest her treasure-house could afford. + +Meanwhile, in the room below, the talk went on, grave and earnest. +Troubled it was, too, on one side; for though the Captain sat quietly +in his chair, and spoke in his usual cheerful voice, Bob Peet's rough +tones were harsh and broken, and he rose from his place once or twice +and moved uneasily about the room. + +"Cap'n," he said, "'tain't so. Don't tell me! Strong man--hearty--live +twenty years yet--like's not thirty! Uncle o' mine--Punksquid--hundred +and three--peart's chicken." + +Captain January puffed at his pipe in silence for some minutes. "Bob," +he said, presently, "it ain't always as it's given to a man to know +his time. I've allers thought I should take it particular kind if +it 'corded with the Lord's views to let me know when He was ready +for me. And now that He _has_ let me know, and moreover has set my +mind that easy about the child that it's a pleasure to think of, why, +it ain't likely I shall take it anyway _but_ kind. Thankin' you all +the same, Bob, as have been a good mate to me, and as I sha'n't forget +wherever I am. But see now!" he added, hastily, hearing a sound in +the room above. "You understand, Bob; I h'ist that signal, as it might +be to-morrow, and I keep her flyin' night and day. And so long as +you see her flyin', you says, 'Cap'n's all right so far!' you says. +But you keep a sharp lookout; and if some mornin' you don't see her, +you says, 'Sailin' orders!' you says, and then you calls Cap'n Nazro, +as never failed in a kindness yet, nor ain't likely to, to take the +wheel, and you put for this island. And Cap'n Nazro he takes the +_Huntress_ in, and then goes straightway and sends a telegraft to +the lady and gentleman, sayin' as Cap'n January has sailin' orders, +and they please to come and take the child, as lawfully to them +belongs. And you, Bob,--" the old man's steady voice faltered a +little, as he laid his hand on the other's arm,--"you'll do all you +can, well I know. For she'll take it hard, ye see. She has that depth +o' love in her little heart, and never nobody _to_ love 'cept me since +she were a baby, that she'll take it cruel hard. But the Lord'll have +her in mind! He'll have her in mind! and you'll stand by, Bob, and +bear a hand till the lady and gentleman come." + +Bob Peet held out his honest brown hand, and the two men shook hands +with a certain solemnity; but before either of them could speak again, +Star came singing down the stairs, and summoned them both to play +at ball with oranges. + +And so it came to pass that a little blue signal was hoisted at the +top of the white tower, and fluttered there bravely in sun and wind. +And every time the _Huntress_ went thundering by (which was twice +a week at this season instead of every day), Bob Peet looked out +anxiously from the wheel-house window, and seeing the little banner, +took cheer, and rubbed his hands and said, "Cap'n's all right so far!" + +And Captain January, whenever there came the clutch and stab at his +heart, and the struggle for breath, which he had felt for the first +time that September day (but ah! how many times since, and with what +increasing persistence!) would creep to the stairway beside which +hung the signal lines, and lay his hand on them, and wait: then, when +the spasm passed, would pass his hand across his face and humbly say, +"Whenever it seems right, Lord! A step nearer! and Thou havin' the +child in mind," and so go cheerfully about his work again. + +There were not many more steps to take. Spring came, and the little +meadow was green again. Robins and bluebirds fluttered above the great +pine-tree, and swallows built their nests under the eaves of the tower +itself. The child Star sang with the birds, and danced with the +dancing leaves, all unconscious of what was coming; but the old +Captain's steps grew slower and heavier, day by day, and the cheery +voice grew feeble, and lost its hearty ring, though never its +cheeriness. "I'll set here in the porch, Jewel Bright," he would say, +when the child begged him to come for a scramble on the rocks. "I +think I'll jest set here, where I can see ye an' hear to ye. I'm +gittin' lazy, Star Light; that's the truth. Yer old Daddy's gittin' +lazy, and it's comf'tabler settin' here in the sun, than scramblin' +round the rocks." + +And Star would fling herself on his neck, and scold and caress him, +and then go off with a half-sense of disappointment to her play. Very, +very careful Captain January had to be, lest the child should suspect +that which he was determined to keep from her to the last. Sometimes +he half thought she must suspect, so tender was she in these days; +so thoughtful, so mindful of his lightest wish. But "'tis only the +woman growin' up in her," he decided; and looking back, he remembered +that she had not once broken his pipe (as she had been used to do +every three or four weeks, in her sudden rages) since last September. + +At last there came a day when the Captain did not even go out to the +porch. It was a lovely May morning, bright and soft, with wreaths +of silvery fog floating up from the blue water, and much sweet sound +of singing birds and lapping waves in the air. Making some pretence +of work at his carpenter's bench, the old man sent Star out to loose +the cow and lead her to the water; and when she was gone, he tottered +to his old chair and sat down heavily. There was no pain now, only +a strange numbness, a creeping coldness, a ringing in the ears. If +it might "seem right" to let him wait till the _Huntress_ came by! +"It's nearly time," he said, half aloud. "Nearly time, and 'twould +be easier for the child." + +At this moment, through the open doorway, came the silver sound of +Star's voice. "But I don't think there can be any harm in my just +telling you a little about it, Imogen. And the floor is the paved +work of a sapphire: sapphire is a stone, just like the water over +there, in the bluest place, and oh! so clear and bright, Daddy says. +He saw one once. And there will be most beautiful music, Imogen. Oh! +you can't think what lovely music Daddy Captain will play on a harp. +I know he will, 'cause he will be a spirit of just men made perfect: +and that will be a _great_ thing, Imogen; for he has never known how +to play on anything before: and--" Ah! the sweet, childish prattle! +but already it was growing faint upon the old man's ears. + +"Star Bright!" he called; and the dancing shape came flying, and stood +on tiptoe in the doorway. Steady, now, January! keep your voice +steady, if there is any will left in you. Keep your head turned a +little away, lest there be any change in your face, yet not turned +enough to make her wonder. "Star Bright," said Captain January, "it's +about--time--for the _Huntress_--to be along, isn't it?" + +"Yes, Daddy," said the child; "she's just in sight now. Shall I go +down and wave to Bob as he goes by?" + +"Yes, Honeysuckle," said the old man. "And--and wait to see if he +comes ashore. I think--likely--Bob'll come ashore to-day. He was goin' +to bring--somethin'--for me. Is there a squall comin' up, Jewel +Bright?" + +"A squall, Daddy?" said the child, wondering. "Why, there isn't a +cloud in the sky." + +"Jes' so!" said Captain January. "I--only jist asked. Good-bye, Star +Bright." + +"Dear Daddy! Good-bye!" cried the child, and she sped away over the +rocks. + +So dark! and not a cloud in the sky. If he might have looked once +more, with those fast-darkening eyes, at the little blessed face which +held all the world in it! if he could call her back now, and kiss +her once more, and hold her little hand--No! no! steady, January! +steady now, and stand by! + +Quite dark now. But that does not matter. No need of light for what +is now to be done. Slowly the old man raises himself; feels for the +wall, creeps along beside it. Here is the line. Is there any strength +left in that benumbed arm? Yes! "For the child, dear Lord, and Thou +helpin' me, as ever has been!" + +Down comes the signal, and the old man creeps back to his chair again, +and composes himself decently, with reverent, folded hands, and head +bowed in waiting. "'He holdeth the waters in the hollow of His hand. +Behold, He taketh up the isles as a very little thing.' Amen! so be +it!" + +Wave, little Star! wave your little blue apron from the rocks, and +laugh and clap your hands for pleasure, as the ripples from the +steamer's bow break in snowy foam at your feet. Bend to your oar, +Bob Peet, and send your little black boat flying over the water as +she never flew before! and press on, friendly _Huntress_, to your +port, whence the winged message may speed on its way to the stately +lady with the tender eyes, who waits for tidings in her distant home. + +For Captain January's last voyage is over, and he is already in the +haven where he would be. + + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Captain January, by Laura E. 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Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Captain January + +Author: Laura E. Richards + +Release Date: March, 2005 [EBook #7790] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on May 17, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPTAIN JANUARY *** + + + + +Produced by Ketaki Chhabra and Wendy Crockett. + + + + +CAPTAIN JANUARY + +By + +LAURA E. RICHARDS + +_Author of_ + +"Melody," "Marie," "Rosin, the Beau," "The Hildegarde-Margaret +Series," "Three Minute Stories," "Five Minute Stories," etc. + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I. Star Bright + II. The Story + III. Introducing Imogen and Bob + IV. The Visit + V. Captain January's Star + VI. The Signal + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +STAR BRIGHT + + +The Captain had sold all his lobsters. They had been particularly +fine ones, and had gone off "like hot cakes," everyone who passed +by the wharf stopping to buy one or two. Now the red dory was empty, +and the Captain had washed her out with his usual scrupulous care, +and was making preparations for his homeward voyage, when he was +hailed by a cheery voice from the street. + +"Hillo, January!" said the voice. "Is that you? How goes it?" and +the owner of the voice, a sturdy man in a blue coat with brass +buttons, came down the wharf and greeted the Captain with a hearty +shake of the hand. + +"How goes it?" he repeated. "I haven't seen ye for a dog's age." + +"I'm hearty, Cap'n Nazro!" replied Captain January. "Hearty, that's +what I am, an' hopin' you're the same." + +"That's right!" said the first speaker. "'Tain't often we set eyes +on you, you stick so close to your light. And the little gal, she's +well, I expect? She looks a picture, when I take a squint at her +through the glass sometimes. Never misses running out and shaking +her apron when we go by!" + +"Cap'n Nazro," said January, speaking with emphasis, "if there is +a pictur in this world, o' health, and pootiness, and goodness, it's +that child. It's that little un, sir. Not to be beat in this country, +nor yet any other 'cordin' as I've voyaged." + +"Nice little gal!" said Captain Nazro, assenting. "Mighty nice little +gal! Ain't it time she was going to school, January? My wife and I +were speaking about it only the other day. Seems as if she'd oughter +be round with other children now, and learning what they do. Mis Nazro +would be real pleased to have her stop with us a spell, and go to +school with our gals. What do you say?" He spoke very heartily, but +looked doubtfully at the old man, as if hardly expecting a favourable +answer. + +Captain January shook his head emphatically, "You're real kind, Cap'n +Nazro!" he said; "real kind, you and Mis Nazro both are! and she +makin' the little un's frocks and pinafores, as is a great help. But +I can't feel to let her out o' my sight, nohow; and as for school, +she ain't the kind to bear it, nor yet I couldn't for her. She's +learnin'!" he added, proudly. "Learnin' well! I'll bet there ain't +no gal in your school knows more nor that little un does. Won'erful, +the way she walks ahead!" + +"Get the school readers, hey! and teach her yourself do you?" queried +Captain Nazro. + +"No, sir!" replied the old man; "I don't have no school readers. The +child learns out o' the two best books in the world,--the Bible, and +William Shakespeare's book; them's all the books she ever seed--_saw_, +I should say." + +"William Shak--" began Captain Nazro; and then he broke off in sheer +amazement, and said, simply, "Well, I'm blowed!" + +"The minister giv 'em to me," said Captain January. "I reckon he +knows. There's a dictionary, too," he added, rather sadly; "but I +can't make her take to that, nohow, though there's a power o' fine +words in it." + +Then, as the other man remained silent and openmouthed, he said: "But +I must be goin', Cap'n Nazro, sir! The little un'll be lookin' for +me. Good day, sir, and thank ye kindly, all the same as if it was +to be, which it ain't!" And with a friendly gesture, the old man +stepped into his red dory, and rowed away with long, sturdy strokes. + +Captain Nazro gazed after him meditatively, took out his pipe and +looked at it, then gazed again. "January's cracked," he said; +"that's what's the matter with him. He's a good man, and a good +lighthouse-keeper, and he's been an able seaman in his day, none +better; but he's cracked!" + +There is an island off a certain part of the coast of Maine,--a little +rocky island, heaped and tumbled together as if Dame Nature had shaken +down a heap of stones at random from her apron, when she had finished +making the larger islands which lie between it and the mainland. At +one end, the shoreward end, there is a tiny cove, and a bit of +silver-sand beach, with a green meadow beyond it, and a single great +pine; but all the rest is rocks, rocks. At the farther end the rocks +are piled high, like a castle wall, making a brave barrier against +the Atlantic waves; and on top of this cairn rises the lighthouse, +rugged and sturdy as the rocks themselves, but painted white, and +with its windows shining like great, smooth diamonds. This is Light +Island; and it was in this direction that Captain January's red dory +was headed when he took his leave of his brother-captain, and rowed +away from the wharf. It was a long pull; in fact, it took pretty +nearly the whole afternoon, so that the evening shadows were +lengthening when at length he laid down his oars, and felt the boat's +nose rub against the sand of the little home-cove. But rowing was +no more effort than breathing to Captain January, and it was no +fatigue, but only a trifle of stiffness from sitting so long, that +troubled him a little in getting out of the boat. As he stepped slowly +out upon the firm-grained silver of the little beach, he looked up +and around with an expectant air, and seeing no one, a look of +disappointment crossed his face. He opened his lips as if to call +some one, but checking himself, "Happen she's gettin' supper!" he +said. "It's later than I thought. I don't pull so spry as I used ter, +'pears ter me. Wal, thar! 'tain't to be expected. I sh'll be forty +years old before I know it!" + +Chuckling to himself, the Captain drew up the little boat and made +her fast; then, taking sundry brown-paper parcels from under the +thwart, he turned and made his way up towards the lighthouse. A +picturesque figure he was, striding along among the heaped and tumbled +rocks. His hair and beard, still thick and curly, were absolutely +white, as white as the foam that broke over the rocks at the cliff's +foot. His face was tanned and weather-beaten to the colour of +mahogany, but the features were strong and sharply cut, while the +piercing blue eyes which gleamed beneath his shaggy eyebrows showed +all the fire of youth, and seemed to have no part in the seventy years +which had bent the tall form, and rounded slightly the broad and +massive shoulders. The Captain wore a rough pea-jacket and long boots, +while his head was adorned with a nondescript covering which might +have begun life either as a hat or a cap, but would now hardly be +owned by either family. + +Reaching the house, the old man mounted the rude steps which led to +the door, and entered the room which was kitchen, dining, and drawing +room at Storm Castle, as the lighthouse was called by its inhabitants. +The room was light and cheerful, with a pleasant little fire crackling +sociably on the hearth. The table was laid with a clean white cloth, +the kettle was singing on the hob, and a little covered saucepan was +simmering with an agreeable and suggestive sound; but no one was to +be seen. Alarmed, he hardly knew why, at the silence and solitude, +Captain January set his parcels down on the table, and going to the +foot of the narrow stone staircase which wound upward beside the +chimney, called, "Star! Star Bright, where are you? Is anything +wrong?" + +"No, Daddy Captain!" answered a clear, childish voice from above; +"I'm coming in a minute. Be patient, Daddy dear!" + +With a sigh of relief, Captain January retired to the fireplace, and +sitting down in a huge high-backed armchair, began leisurely pulling +off his great boots. One was already off and in his hand, when a +slight noise made him look up. He started violently, and then, leaning +back in his chair, gazed in silent amazement at the vision before +him. + +On the stone stairway, and slowly descending, with steps that were +meant to be stately (and which might have been so, had not the stairs +been so steep, and the little legs so short) was the figure of a +child: a little girl about ten years old, with a face of almost +startling beauty. Her hair floated like a cloud of pale gold about +her shoulders; her eyes were blue, not light and keen, like the old +man's, but of that soft, deep, shadowy blue that poets love to call +violet. Wonderful eyes, shaded by long, curved lashes of deepest +black, which fell on the soft, rose-and-ivory tinted cheek, as the +child carefully picked her way down, holding up her long dress from +her little feet. It was the dress which so astonished Captain January. +Instead of the pink calico frock and blue checked pinafore, to which +his eyes were accustomed, the little figure was clad in a robe of +dark green velvet with a long train, which spread out on the staircase +behind her, very much like the train of a peacock. The body, made +for a grown woman, hung back loosely from her shoulders, but she had +tied a scarf of gold tissue under her arms and round her waist, while +from the long hanging sleeves her arms shone round and white as +sculptured ivory. A strange sight, this, for a lighthouse tower on +the coast of Maine! but so fair a one, that the old mariner could +not take his eyes from it. + +"Might be Juliet!" he muttered to himself. "Juliet, when she was a +little un. 'Her beauty hangs upon the cheek o' Night,'--only it ain't, +so to say, exactly night,--'like a rich jewel in a nigger's ear.' +No! that ain't right. 'Nigger' ain't right, 'Ethiop's ear, 'that's +it! Though I should judge they were much the same thing, and they +more frekently wear 'em in their noses, them as I've seen in their +own country." + +As he thus soliloquised, the little maiden reached the bottom of the +stairs in safety, and dropping the folds of the velvet about her, +made a quaint little courtesy, and said, "Here I am, Daddy Captain! +how do you like me, please?" + +"Star Bright," replied Captain January, gazing fixedly at her, as +he slowly drew his pipe from his pocket and lighted it. "I like you +amazin'. _A_-mazin' I like you, my dear! but it is what you might +call surprisin', to leave a little maid in a blue pinafore, and to +come back and find a princess in gold and velvet. Yes, Pigeon Pie, +you might call it surprisin', and yet not be stretchin' a p'int." + +"Am I _really_ like a princess?" said the child, clapping her hands, +and laughing with pleasure. "Have you ever seen a princess, Daddy +Captain, and did she look like me?" + +"I seed--I _saw_--one, once," replied the Captain, gravely, puffing +at his pipe. "In Africky it was, when I was fust mate to an Indiaman. +And she wa'n't like you, Peach Blossom, no more than Hyperion to a +Satyr, and that kind o' thing. She had on a short petticut, comin' +half-way down to her knees, and a necklace, and a ring through her +nose. And--" + +"Where were her other clothes?" asked the child. + +"Wal--maybe she kem off in a hurry and forgot 'em!" said the Captain, +charitably. "Anyhow, not speakin' her language, I didn't ask her. +And she was as black as the ace of spades, and shinin' all over with +butter." + +"Oh, _that_ kind of princess!" said Star, loftily. "I didn't mean +that kind, Daddy. I meant the kind who live in fretted palaces, with +music in th' enamelled stones, you know, and wore clothes like these +every day." + +"Wal, Honey, I never saw one of that kind, till now!" said the +Captain, meekly. "And I'm sorry I hain't--I mean I _ain't_--got no +fretted palace for my princess to live in. This is a poor place for +golden lasses and velvet trains." + +"It _isn't_!" cried the child, her face flashing into sudden anger, +and stamping her foot. "You sha'n't call it a poor place, Daddy! It's +wicked of you. And I wouldn't live in a palace if there were _fifty_ +of them all set in a row. So there now!" She folded her arms and +looked defiantly at the old man, who returned her gaze placidly, and +continued to puff at his pipe, until he was seized in a penitent +embrace, hugged, and kissed, and scolded, and wept over, all at once. + +The brief tempest over, the child seated herself comfortably on his +knee, and said, "Now, Daddy, I want a story." + +"Story before supper?" asked the Captain, meekly, looking at the +saucepan, which was fairly lifting its lid in its eagerness to be +attended to. A fresh access of remorseful hugging followed. + +"You poor darling!" said Star; "I forgot all about supper. And it's +stewed kidneys, too! But oh! my dress!" and she glanced down at her +velvet splendour. "I must go and take it off," she said, sadly. + +"Not you, Honeysuckle," said the old man, rising and setting the child +down carefully in the chair. "Sit you there, and be a real princess, +and I will be your steward, and get supper this time. I like to see +you in your fine clothes, and 'twould be a shame to take 'em off so +soon." + +She clapped her hands again, and settling herself cosily in the great +chair, arranged her train with a graceful sweep, and pushed back her +cloudy golden hair. + +"Shall I really act princess?" she asked,--and without waiting for +an answer, she began to give orders in lofty tones, holding her head +high in the air, and pointing hither and thither with her tiny hands. +"Take up the golden chafing-dish, Grumio!" she cried. "The kidneys--I +mean the capons--are quite ready now. And the milk--no! the sack--is +in the silver flagon!" she pointed to an ancient blue jug which stood +on the dresser. + +The obedient Captain hastened to take up the saucepan, and soon the +frugal supper was set out, and princess and steward were doing ample +justice to it. + +"You didn't say 'Anon! anon! Madam' when I ordered you about," said +the Princess, thoughtfully. "You ought to, you know. Servants always +do in the book." + +"Wal, I didn't think on't," the steward admitted. "I wa'n't brought +up to the business, you see, Princess. It always seemed to me a +foolish thing to say, anyhow: no disrespect to W. Shakespeare. The +hull of the word's 'anonymous,' I believe, and the dictionary says +_that_ means 'wanting a name.' So, altogether, Star Bright, I haven't +been able to make much sense out o' that answer." + +"Oh, never mind!" said the Princess, tossing her head. "I don't like +the dictionary. It's a wretch!" + +"So 'tis, so 'tis," assented the Captain, with servile alacrity. "Have +some more milk then, Sunshine." + +"It isn't milk! it's sack," said the child, promptly, holding out +her small yellow mug with a royal air. "Are the capons good, Grumio?" + +"They are, my lamb, they are," replied the Captain. "Oncommon good +they are, to be sure, and me not knowin' to this day what capons was. +A little more? Yes, Pigeon Pie, I _will_ take a little more, thank +ye kindly." + +"I don't _think_, Grumio, that you ought to call me lambs and pigeon +pies just now," remarked the Princess, judiciously. "Do you think +it's respectful? they don't in Shakespeare, I'm sure." + +"I won't do it again, Honey--I mean Madam;" said the Captain, bowing +with great humility. "I beg your honourable majesty's pardon, and +I won't never presume to--" + +"Yes, you will!" cried the Princess, flinging herself across the table +at him, and nearly choking him with the sudden violence of her +embrace. "You shall call me pigeon pie, and anything else you like. +You shall call me rye porridge, though I hate it, and it's always +full of lumps. And don't ever look that way again; it _kills_ me!" + +The Captain quietly removed the clinging arms, and kissed them, and +set the half-weeping child back in her place. "There, there, there!" +he said, soothingly. "What a little tempest it is!" + +"Say 'delicate Ariel,'" sobbed Star. "You haven't said it to-day, +and you always say it when you love me." + +"Cream Cheese from the dairy of Heaven," replied the Captain; "if +I always said it when I loved you, I should be sayin' it every minute +of time, as well you know. But you are my delicate Ariel, so you are, +and there ain't nothin' in the hull book as suits you better. So!" +and his supper ended, the good man turned his chair again to the fire, +and took the child, once more smiling, upon his knee. + +"And now, Ariel, what have you been doin' all the time I was away? +Tell Daddy all about it." + +Star pondered a moment, with her head on one side, and a finger hooked +confidentially through the Captain's buttonhole. "Well," she said, +"I've had a _very_ interesting time, Daddy Captain. First I cleaned +the lamps, of course, and filled and trimmed them. And then I played +Samson a good while; and--" + +"And how might you play Samson?" inquired the Captain. + +"With flies!" replied Star, promptly. "Heaps upon heaps, you know; +'With the jaw-bone of an ass have I slain a thousand men.' The flies +were the Philistines, and I took a clam-shell for the jaw-bone; it +did just as well. And I made a song out of it, to one of the tunes +you whistle: 'With the jaw-bone! with the jaw-bone! with the jaw-bone +of an ass!' It was very exciting." + +"Must ha' been," said the Captain dryly. "Well, Honeysuckle, what +did you do then?" + +"Oh, that took some time!" said the child. "And afterward I fished +a little, but I didn't catch anything, 'cept an old flounder, and +he winked at me, so I put him back. And then I thought a long +time--oh! a very long time, sitting like Patience on the doorstep. +And _suddenly_, Daddy Captain, I thought about those boxes of clothes, +and how you said they would be mine when I was big. And I measured +myself against the doorpost, and found that I _was very_ big. I +thought I must be almost as big as you, but I s'pose I'd forgotten +how big you were. So I went up, and opened one box, and I was just +putting the dress on when you came in. You knew where it came from, +of course, Daddy, the moment you saw it." + +The Captain nodded gravely, and pulled his long moustaches. + +"Do you suppose my poor mamma wore it often?" the child went on, +eagerly. "Do you think she looked like me when she wore it? Do I look +as she did when you saw her?" + +"Wal," began the Captain, meditatively; but Star ran on without +waiting for an answer. + +"Of course, though, she looked very different, because she was dead. +You are quite very positively sure my poor mamma was dead, Daddy +Captain?" + +"She were," replied the Captain, with emphasis. "She were that, Pigeon +Pie! You couldn't find nobody deader, not if you'd sarched for a week. +Why, door nails, and Julius Caesar, and things o' that description, +would ha' been _lively_ compared with your poor ma when I see her. +Lively! that's what they'd ha' been." + +The child nodded with an air of familiar interest, wholly untinged +with sadness. "I think," she said, laying her head against the old +man's shoulder, and curling one arm about his neck, "I think I should +like to hear about it again, please, Daddy. It's a long, long time +since you told me the whole of it." + +"Much as a month, I should think it must be," assented the Captain. +"Why, Snowdrop, you know the story by heart, better'n I do, I believe. +'Pears to me I've told it reg'lar, once a month or so, ever since +you were old enough to understand it." + +"Never mind!" said the Princess, with an imperious gesture. "That +makes no difference. I _want_ it now!" + +"Wal, wal!" said the Captain, smoothing back the golden hair. "If +you _want_ it, why of course you must have it, Blossom! But first +I must light up, ye know. One star inside the old house, and the other +atop of it: that's what makes Light Island the lightest spot in the +natural world. Sit ye here, Star Bright, and play Princess till Daddy +comes back!" + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE STORY + + +The lamps were lighted, and the long, level rays flashed their golden +warning over the murmuring darkness of the summer sea, giving cheer +to many hearts on inbound barque or schooner. Bright indeed was the +star on the top of the old lighthouse; but no less radiant was the +face of little Star, as she turned it eagerly towards Captain January, +and waited for the beginning of the well-known and well-loved story. + +"Wal," said the Captain, when his pipe was refilled and drawing +bravely. "Let me see now! where shall I begin?" + +"At the beginning!" said Star promptly. + +"Jes' so!" assented the old man. "Ten years ago this--" + +"No! No!!" cried the child. "_That_ isn't the beginning, Daddy! That's +almost half-way to the middle. 'When I was a young lad.' That's the +beginning." + +"Bound to have it all, are ye, Honeysuckle?" said the obedient +Captain. "Wal! Wal! when I were a young lad, I was a wild un, ye see, +Treasure. My father, he 'prenticed me to a blacksmith, being big and +strong for my years; but I hadn't no heart for the work. All I cared +about was the sea, and boats, and sailors, and sea talk. I ran away +down to the wharf whenever I could get a chance, and left my work. +Why, even when I went to meetin', 'stead o' listenin', to the +minister, I was lookin' out the places about them as go down to the +sea in ships, ye know, and 'that leviathan whom Thou hast made,' and +all that. And there was Hiram, King of Tyre, and his ships! Lord! +how I used to think about them ships, and wonder how they was rigged, +and how many tons they were, and all about it. Yes! I was a wild un, +and no mistake; and after awhile I got so roused up--after my mother +died, it was, and my father married again--that I just run away, and +shipped aboard of a whaler, bound for the north seas. Wal, Honey, +'twould take me a week to tell ye about all my voyages. Long and short +of it, 'twas the life I was meant for, and I done well in it. Had +tumbles and toss-ups, here and there, same as everybody has in any +kind o' life; but I done well, and by the time I was forty year old +I was captain of the _Bonito_, East Indiaman, sailin' from New York +to Calcutta." + +The Captain paused, and puffed gravely at his pipe for a few minutes. + +"Well, Rosebud," he continued, presently, "you know what comes next. +The _Bonito_ was cast away, in a cyclone, on a desert island, and +all hands lost, except me and one other." + +"Dear Daddy! poor Daddy!" cried the child, putting her little hands +up to the weather-beaten face, and drawing it down to hers. "Don't +talk about that dreadful part. Go on to the next!" + +"No, I won't talk about it, Star Bright!" said the old man, very +gravely. "Fust place I can't, and second place it ain't fit for little +maids to hear of. But I lived on that island fifteen year,--five year +with my good mate Job Hotham, and ten year alone, after Job died. +When a ship kem by, after that, and took me off, I'd forgot most +everything, and was partly like the beasts that perish; but it kem +back to me. Slow, like, and by fits, as you may say; but it kem back, +all there was before, and maybe a good bit more!" + +"Poor Daddy!" murmured the child again, pressing her soft cheek +against the white beard. "It's all over now! Don't think of it! I +am here, Daddy, loving you: loving you _all to pieces_, you know!" + +The old man was silent for a few minutes, caressing the little white +hands which lay like twin snowflakes in his broad, brown palm. Then +he resumed, cheerfully: + +"And so, Cream Cheese from the dairy of Heaven, I kem home. Your old +Daddy kem home, and landed on the same wharf he'd sailed from +twenty-five years before. Not direct, you understand, but takin' +steamer from New York, and so on. Wal, there wa'n't nobody that knew +me, or cared for me. Father was dead, and his wife; and their +children, as weren't born when I sailed from home, were growed up +and gone away. No, there wa'n't nobody. Wal, I tried for a spell to +settle down and live like other folks, but 'twa'n't no use. I was'nt +used to the life, and I couldn't stand it. For ten years I haven't +heard the sound of a human voice, and now they was buzz, buzzin' all +the time; it seemed as if there was a swarm of wasps round my ears +the everlastin' day. Buzz! buzz! and then clack! clack! like an +everlasting mill-clapper; and folks starin' at my brown face and white +hair, and askin' me foolish questions. I couldn't stand it, that was +all. I heard that a light-keeper was wanted here, and I asked for +the place, and got it. And that's all of the first part, Peach +Blossom." + +The child drew a long breath, and her face glowed with eager +anticipation. "And _now_, Daddy Captain," she said, "_now_ you may +say, 'Ten years ago this fall!'" + +"Ten years ago this fall," said the Captain meekly acquiescing, "on +the fourteenth day of September, as ever was, I looks out from the +tower, bein' a-fillin' of the lamps, and says I, 'There's a storm +comin'!' So I made all taut above and below, fastened the door, and +took my glass and went out on the rocks, to see how things looked. +Wal, they looked pooty bad. There had been a heavy sea on for a couple +o' days, and the clouds that was comin' up didn't look as if they +was goin' to smooth it down any. There was a kind o' brassy look over +every thin', and when the wind began to rise, it warn't with no +nat'ral sound, but a kind of screech to it, on'arthly like. Wal, thar! +the wind did rise, and it riz to stay. In half an hour it was blowin' +half a gale; in an hour it blew a gale, and as tough a one (barrin' +cyclones) as ever I see. 'T had like to ha' blow me off my pins, half +a dozen times. Then nat'rally the sea kem up; and 'twas all creation +on them rocks, now I tell ye. 'The sea, mountin' to the welkin's +cheek;' ye remember, Pigeon Pie?" + +The child nodded eagerly. "Tempest!" she said, "Act I., Scene 2: +'Enter Prospero and Miranda.' Go on, Daddy!" + +"Wal, my Lily Flower," continued the old man. "And the storm went +on. It roared, it bellowed, and it screeched: it thumped and it +kerwhalloped. The great seas would come bunt up agin the rocks, as +if they was bound to go right through to Jersey city, which they used +to say was the end of the world. Then they'd go scoopin' back, as +if they was callin' all their friends and neighbours to help; and +then, bang! they'd come at it agin. The spray was flyin' in great +white sheets, and whiles, it seemed as if the hull island was goin' +to be swallowed up then and thar. 'Tain't nothin' but a little heap +o' rocks anyhow, to face the hull Atlantic Ocean gone mad: and on +that heap o' rocks was Januarius Judkins, holdin' on for dear life, +and feelin' like a hoppergrass that had got lost in Niag'ry Falls." + +"Don't say that name, Daddy!" interrupted the child. "You know I don't +like it. Say 'Captain January'!" + +"I tell ye, Honeysuckle," said the old man, "I felt more like a +sea-cook than a cap'n _that_ night. A cap'n on a quarter-deck's a +good thing; but a cap'n on a p'int o' rock, out to sea in a northeast +gale, might just as well be a fo'c'sle hand and done with it. Wal, +as I was holdin' on thar, I seed a flash to windward, as wasn't +lightning; and next minute kem a sound as wasn't thunder nor yet wind +nor sea." + +"The guns! the guns!" cried the child, in great excitement. "The guns +of my poor mamma's ship. And then you heard them again, Daddy?" + +"Then I heard them agin!" the old man assented. "And agin! a flash, +and a boom! and then in a minute agin, a flash and a boom! 'Oh, Lord!' +says I. 'Take her by to the mainland, and put her ashore there!' I +says; 'cause there's a life-saving station thar, ye know, Blossom, +and there might be some chance for them as were in her. But the Lord +had His views, my dear, the Lord had His views! Amen! so be it! In +another minute there kem a break in the clouds, and thar she was, +comin' full head on, straight for Light Island. Oh! my little Star, +that was an awful thing to see. And I couldn't do nothin', you +understand. Not a livin' airthly thing could I do, 'cept hide my face +agin the rock I was clingin' to, and say, 'Dear Lord, take 'em easy! +It's Thy will as they should be took,' I says, 'and there ain't no +one to hender, if so be as they could. But take 'em easy, good Lord, +and take 'em suddin!'" + +"And He did!" cried the child. "The good Lord did take 'em sudden, +didn't He, Daddy Captain?" + +"He did, my child!" said the old man, solemnly. "They was all home, +them that was goin', in ten minutes from the time I saw the ship. +You know the Roarin' Bull, as sticks his horns out o' water just to +windward of us? the cruelest rock on the coast, he is, and the +treacherousest: and the ship struck him full and fair on the starboard +quarter, and in ten minutes she was kindlin' wood, as ye may say. The +Lord rest their souls as went down in her! Amen!" + +"Amen!" said little Star, softly. But she added in an eager tone, +"And now, Daddy, you are coming to me!" + +"Pooty soon, Jewel Bright!" said the old man, stroking the gold hair +tenderly. "I'm a-comin' to you pooty soon. 'Twas along about eight +bells when she struck, and none so dark, for the moon had risen. After +the ship had gone down, I strained my eyes through the driving spray, +to see whether anything was comin' ashore. Presently I seed somethin' +black, driftin' towards the rocks: and lo' ye, 'twas a boat bottom +side up, and all hands gone down. Wal! wal! the Lord knew what was +right: but it's wuss by a deal to _see_ them things than to be in +'em yourself, to my thinkin'. Wal, after a spell I looked agin, and +there was somethin' else a-driftin' looked like a spar, it did: and +somethin' was lashed to it. My heart! 'twas tossed about like a +egg-shell, up and down, and here and thar! 'Twas white, whatever was +lashed to it, and I couldn't take my eyes off'n it. 'It can't be +alive!' I says, 'whatever it is!' I says. 'But I'll get it, if it +takes a leg!' I says. For down in my heart, Jewel, I knew they +wouldn't ha' taken such care of anythin' _but_ what was alive, and +they perishin', but I didn't think it could live in such a sea long +enough to get ashore. Wal, I kep' my eyes on that spar, and I see +that 'twas comin' along by the south side. Then I ran, or crawled, +'cordin' as the wind allowed me, back to the shed, and got a boat-hook +and a coil o' rope; and then I clumb down as far as I dared, on the +south rocks. I scooched down under the lee of a p'int o' rock, and +made the rope fast round my waist, and the other end round the rock, +and then I waited for the spar to come along. 'Twas hard to make out +anythin', for the water was all a white, bilin' churn, and the spray +flyin' fit to blind you; but bimeby I co't sight of her comin' +swashin' along, now up on top of a big roarer, and then scootin' down +into the holler, and then up agin. I crep' out on the rocks, grippin' +'em for all I was wuth, with the boat-hook under my arm. The wind +screeched and clawed at me like a wildcat in a caniption fit, but +I hadn't been through those cyclones for nothin'. I lay down flat +and wriggled myself out to the edge, and thar I waited." + +"And the waves were breaking over you all the time?" cried the child, +with eager inquiry. + +"Wal, they was that, Honeysuckle!" said the Captain. "Bless ye, I +sh'd ha' been washed off like a log if 't hadn't ben for the rope. +But that held; 'twas a good one, and tied with a bowline, and it held. +Wal, I lay thar, and all to wunst I see her comin' by like a flash, +close to me. '_Now_!' says I, 'ef ther's any stuff in you, J. Judkins, +let's see it!' says I. And I chucks myself over the side o' the rock +and grabs her with the boat-hook, and hauls her in. 'All together,' +I says. '_Now_, my hearties! Yo heave _ho_!' and I hed her up, and +hauled her over the rocks and round under the lee of the p'int, before +I stopped to breathe. How did I do it? Don't ask me, Jewel Bright! +_I_ don't know how I did it. There's times when a man has strength +given to him, seemin'ly, over and above human strength. 'Twas like +as if the Lord ketched holt and helped me: maybe He did, seein' what +'twas I was doing. Maybe He did!" He paused a moment in thought, but +Star was impatient. + +"Well, Daddy!" she cried. "And then you looked and found it was--go +on, Daddy dear!" + +"I looked," continued the old man, "and I found it was a sail, that +had showed so white against the spar; a sail, wrapped tight round +somethin'. I cut the ropes, and pulled away the canvas and a tarpaulin +that was inside that; and thar I seed--" + +"My poor mamma and me!" cried the child, joyously, clapping her hands. +"Oh, Daddy Captain, it _is_ so delightful when you come to this part! +And my poor mamma was dead? You are quite positively sure that she +was dead, Daddy?" + +"She were, my lamb!" replied the Captain, gravely. "You needn't never +have no doubt about it. She had had a blow on the head, your poor +ma had, from one o' the bull's horns, likely; and I'll warrant she +never knowed anythin' after it, poor lady! She was wrapped in a great +fur cloak, the same as you have on your bed in winter, Blossom: and +lyin' all clost and warm in her cold arms, that held on still, though +the life was gone out of 'em, was"--the old man faltered, and brushed +his rough hand across his eyes--"was a--a little baby. Asleep, it +seemed to be, all curled up like a rose on its mother's breast, and +its pooty eyes tight shut. I loosed the poor arms--they was like a +stattoo's, so round and white and cold; and I took the child up in +my arms; and lo' ye! it opened its eyes and looked straight at me +and laughed." + +"And it said, Daddy?" cried the delighted child, clapping her hands. +"Tell what it said!" + +"It said ''Tar,'" the old man continued, in a hushed voice. "'Tar,' +it said as plain as I say it to you. 'And "Star" it is!' says I; for +'if ever a star shone on a dark night, it's you, my pooty,' I says. +'Praise the Lord,' I says. 'Amen, so be it.' Then I laid your poor +ma in a corner, under the lee of the big rock, where the spray +wouldn't fly over her, and I covered her with the sail; and then I +took the fur cloak, seein' the baby needed it and she didn't, and +wrapped it round the little un, and clumb back over the rocks, up +to the house. And so, Honeysuckle--" + +"And so," cried the child, taking his two great hands and putting +them softly together, "so I came to be your little Star!" + +"To be my little Star!" assented the old man, stooping to kiss the +golden head. + +"Your light and your joy!" exclaimed the child, laughing with +pleasure. + +"My light and my joy!" said the old man, solemnly. "A light from +heaven to shine in a dark place, and the Lord's message to a sinful +man." + +He was silent for a little, looking earnestly into the child's radiant +face. Presently, "You've been happy, Star Bright?" he asked. "You +haven't missed nothin'?" + +Star opened wide eyes of surprise at him. "Of course I've been happy!" +she said. "Why shouldn't I be?" + +"You ain't--I mean you haven't mourned for your poor ma, have ye, +Jewel?" He was still looking curiously at her, and his look puzzled +her. + +"No," she said after a pause. "Of course not. I never knew my poor +mamma. Why should I mourn for her? She is in heaven, and I am very +glad. You say heaven is much nicer than here, so it must be pleasanter +for my poor mamma; and I don't need her, because I have you, Daddy. +But go on, now, please, Daddy dear. 'Next day'--" + +"Next day," resumed the obedient Captain, "the sky was bright and +clear, and only the heavy sea, and your poor ma, and you, Peach +Blossom, to tell what had happened, so far as I seed at fust. Bimeby, +when I went out to look, I found other things." + +"My poor papa!" said Star, with an air of great satisfaction. + +The Captain nodded. "Yer poor pa," he said, "and two others with him. +How did I know he was your poor pa? Along of his havin' your poor +ma's pictur hung round his neck. And a fine-lookin' man he was, to +be sure!" + +"And his name was 'H. M.'!" cried the child, eagerly. + +"Them was the letters of it!" assented the Captain. "Worked on his +shirt and hank'cher, so fine as ever was. Well, Jewel Bright, when +I seed all this, I says, 'January,' says I, 'here's Christian corpses, +and they must have Christian burial!' I says. So I brought 'em all +up to the house, and laid 'em comfortable; and then I gave you a good +drink of warm milk (you'd been sleepin' like a little angil, and only +waked up to smile and crow and say ''Tar'), and gave you a bright +spoon to play with; and then I rowed over to shore to fetch the +minister and the crowner, and everybody else as was proper. You don't +care about this part, Honeysuckle, and you ain't no need to, but +everything was done decent and Christian, and your parents and the +other two laid peaceful under the big pine-tree. Then the minister, +when 'twas all done, he says to me, 'And now, my friend,' he says, +'I'll relieve you of the child, as would be a care to you, and I can +find some one to take charge of it!' he says. 'Meanin' no disrespect, +Minister,' I says, 'don't think it! The Lord has His views, you'll +allow, most times, and He had 'em when He sent the child here. He +could have sent her ashore by the station jest as easy,' I says, 'if +so be't had seemed best; but He sent her to me,' I says, 'and I'll +keep her.' 'But how can you bring up a child?' he says, 'alone, here +on a rock in the ocean?' he says. 'I've been thinking that over, +Minister,' I says, 'ever since I holt that little un in my arms, +takin' her from her dead mother's breast,' I says; 'and I can't see +that there's more than three things needed to bring up a child,--the +Lord's help, common sense, and a cow. The last two I hev, and the +fust is likely to be round when a man asks for it!' I says. So then +we shakes hands, and he doesn't say nothin' more, 'cept to pray a +blessin' for me and for the child. And the blessin' kem, and the +blessin' stayed, Star Bright; and there's the end of the story, my +maid. + +"And now it's time these two eyes were shut, and only the top star +shinin' in the old tower. Good night, Jewel! Good night, and God bless +you!" + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +INTRODUCING IMOGEN AND BOB + + +"Imogen!" said Star, looking up from her book, "I don't believe you +have been listening!" + +Imogen looked up meekly, but made no attempt to deny the charge. + +"You _must_ listen!" said the child, sternly. "First place, it's +beautiful: and besides, it's very rude not to listen when people +reads. And you ought _not_ to be rude, Imogen!" After which short +lecture, Star turned to her book again,--a great book it was, lying +open on the little pink calico lap,--and went on reading, in her clear +childish voice: + + "'Over hill, over dale, + Thorough bush, thorough brier, + Over park, over pale, + Thorough flood, thorough fire, + I do wander everywhere, + Swifter than the moony sphere; + And I serve the fairy queen, + To dew her orbs upon the green:' + +Do you know what a fairy is, Imogen?" asked Star, looking up again +suddenly. + +But this time it was very evident that Imogen (who was, in truth, +a large white cow, with a bell round her neck) was paying no attention +whatever to the reading; for she had fairly turned her back, and was +leisurely cropping the short grass, swaying her tail in a comfortable +and reflective manner the while. + +Star sprang to her feet, and seizing the delinquent's horns, shook +them with all her might. + +"How dare you turn your back when I am reading?" she cried. "I'm just +ashamed of you! You're a disgrace to me, Imogen. Why, you are as +ignorant as a--as--as a lobster! and you a great cow with four whole +legs. A--a--ah! shame on you!" + +Imogen rubbed her head deprecatingly against the small pink shoulder, +and uttered a soft and apologetic "moo;" but Star was not ready to +be mollified yet. + +"And you know it's my _own_ book, too!" she continued, reproachfully. +"My own Willum Shakespeare, that I love more--well, no! not _more_ +than I love you, Imogen, but just as much, and almost nearly half +as much as I love Daddy Captain. + +"But after all," she added, with a smile flitting over her frowning +little face, "after all, you poor dear, you _are_ only a cow, and +I don't suppose you know." And then she hugged Imogen, and blew a +little into one of her ears, to make her wink it, and the two were +very friendly again. + +"Perhaps you would like to know, Imogen," said Star, confidentially, +seating herself once more on the ground, "_why_ I am so fond of Willum +Shakespeare. So I will tell you. It is really part of _my_ story, +but Daddy Captain didn't get as far as that last night, so I think +I will tell it to you. Well!" she drew a long breath of enjoyment, +and, clasping her hands round her knees, settled herself for a "good +talk." + +"Well, Imogen: you see, at first I was a little baby, and didn't know +anything at all. But by and by I began to grow big, and then Daddy +Captain said to himself, 'Here's a child,' he says, 'and a child of +gentlefolks, and she mustn't grow up in ignorance, and me doing my +duty by her poor pa and ma,' he says. So he rows over to the town, +and he goes to the minister (the same minister who came over here +before), and he says, 'Good morning, Minister!' and the minister +shakes him by the hand hearty, and says, 'Why, Captain January!' he +says, 'I'm amazing glad to see you. And how is the child?' And Daddy +says, 'The child is a-growing with the flowers,' he says; 'and she's +a-growing like the flowers. Show me a rose that's as sweet and as +well growed as that child,' he says, 'and I'll give you my head, +Minister.' That's the way Daddy talks, you know, Imogen. And then +he told the minister how he didn't want the child (that was me, of +course) to grow up in ignorance, and how he wanted to teach me. And +the minister asked him was he qualified to teach. 'Not yet, I ain't!' +says Daddy Captain, 'but I'm a-going to be. I want a book, or maybe +a couple of books, that'll edicate me in a manner all round!' he says. +'I couldn't do with a lot of 'em,' he says, ''cause I ain't used to +it, and it makes things go round inside my head. But I think I could +tackle two if they was fustrate,' he says. The minister laughed, and +told Daddy he wanted a good deal. Then he asked him if he had the +Good Book. That's the Bible, you know, Imogen. Daddy Captain won't +let me read that to you, because you are a beast that perish. Poor +dear!" she leaned forward and kissed Imogen's pink nose. "And Daddy +said _of course_ he had that, only the letters weren't so clear as +they used to be, somehow, perhaps along of getting wet in his weskit +pocket, being he carried it along always. So the minister gave him +a _new big_ BEAUTIFUL Bible, Imogen! It isn't so new _now_, but it's +just as big and beautiful, and I love it. And then he thought for +a long time, the minister did, walking about the room and looking +at all the books. The whole room was full of books, Daddy says, all +on shelves, 'cept some on the floor and the table and the chairs. +It made his head go round dreadful to see them all, Daddy says (I +mean Daddy's head), and think of anybody reading them. He says he +doesn't see how in creation the minister manages to keep his bearings, +and look out for a change in the wind, and things that _have_ to be +done, and read all those books too. _Well_!" she kissed Imogen's nose +again, from sheer enjoyment, and threw her head back with a laugh +of delight. "I'm coming to it now, Imogen!" she cried. "At last the +minister took down a big book--OH! you precious old thing, how I love +you!" (this apostrophe was addressed to the quarto volume which she +was now hugging rapturously), "and said, 'Well, Captain January, +here's the best book in the world, _next_ to the Good Book!' he says. +'You'll take this,' he says, 'as my gift to you and the child; and +with these two books to guide you, the child's edication won't go +far wrong!' he says; and then he gave Daddy the dictionary, too, +Imogen; but I sha'n't tell you about that, because it's a brute, and +I hate and 'spise it. But--well! _so_, you see, _that_ was the way +I got my Willum Shakespeare, my joy and my pride, my--" + +At this moment a shadow fell upon the grass, and a deep, gruff voice +was heard, saying, "Star, ahoy!" The child started up, and turned +to meet the newcomer with a joyous smile. "Why, Bob!" she cried, +seizing one of his hands in both of hers, and dancing round and round +him. "Where did you come from? Why aren't you on the boat?" + +"Boat's aground!" replied the person addressed as Bob. He spoke in +short, jerky sentences. He was dressed as a seafaring man; had wide, +helpless-looking brown eyes, an apologetic smile, and a bass voice +of appalling depth and power. "Boat's aground," he repeated, seating +himself on the grass and looking about for a stem of grass long enough +to put in his mouth. "Hard and fast. Waiting for tide to turn; thought +I'd come, pass time o' day." + +"And how came you to run her aground?" inquired the child, severely. +"A pretty pilot you are! Why, I could steer her myself better than +that." + +"Fog!" replied the man, in a meek and muffled roar. Then finding a +bit of sorrel, he fell upon it with avidity, and seemed to think he +had said enough. + +"H'm!" said Star, with a disdainful little sniff. "You'd better get +Daddy to steer your boat. _He_ doesn't mind fog. Are there many people +on board?" she added, with an air of interest. + +"Heaps!" replied Bob, succinctly. Then, after a pause of meditative +chewing: "Like to go aboard? take ye--boat--Cap'n willin'." + +"No, I don't want to go aboard, thank you!" said Star. "I don't like +people. But you might just row me round her once, Bob," she added. +"I think I should like _that_. But we must wait till Daddy comes, +of course." + +"Cap'n round?" inquired Bob. + +"He's setting the lobster-pots," replied the child. "He'll be back +soon. Bob," she added, irrelevantly, a moment after, "I never noticed +before that you looked like Imogen. Why, you are the very image of +her, Bob! Your eyes and your expression are _exactly_ the same." Bob +raised his eyes and surveyed Imogen with a critical air. "Fine cow!" +he said at last. "D'no's I mind--'f she doosn't." + +"_Isn't_ she a fine cow?" cried little Star, patting the meek and +graceful head of her favourite. "I don't believe there's another such +cow in the world. I _know_ there isn't! I think," she added, "I will +take a little ride on her, while we are waiting for Daddy Captain. +Will you put me up, please, Bob?" + +The obedient Bob lifted her as if she were a ball of thistle-down, +and set her on the broad back of the good cow, who straightway began +to pace sedately along the bit of meadow, following the guidance of +the small hands which clasped her horns. Ah! who will paint me that +picture, as my mind's eye sees it? The blue of sky and sea, the +ripples breaking in silver on silver sand, the jewelled green, where +the late dandelions flecked the grass with gold; and in the midst +the lovely, laughing child, mounted on the white cow, tossing her +cloudy golden hair, and looking back with eyes of delight towards +her companion. + +The beauty of it all filled the eyes and the heart of Captain January, +as he came up among the rocks. He paused, and stood for some time +in silence, watching the little well-beloved figure. "Wal!" he said, +"if that ain't one of the young-eyed cherubims, then I never seed +one, that's all." + +At this moment Star caught sight of him. "O Daddy," she cried. "My +Daddy Captain, I'm having such a fine ride! It isn't _quite_ as high +as a heaven-kissing hill, but it's a heaven-kissing cow, for Imogen +is really _very_ high. Dear Daddy, won't you come and try it? there's +plenty of room!" + +"Thanky, Peach Blossom!" said the Captain, advancing, and greeting +the apologetic Bob with a hearty shake of the hand. "Thanky kindly, +but I don't believe I will try it. Ridin' was never, so as to say, +in my line. I'm stiddy enough on my own pins, but defend me from +tryin' to git about on another critter's. And how's all with you, +Bob? and why ain't you aboard the _Huntress_?" + +Bob in the fewest possible words related the mishap which had befallen +the boat, and asked if he might take Missy out to see her. + +"To be sure! to be sure!" said Captain January. "That'll be a nice +trip for ye, Honeysuckle. Put on your bunnit and go with Bob. He'll +take good care of ye, Bob will." + +And so, by what seemed the merest chance, that lovely afternoon, +little Star went with Bob Peet, in his old black boat, to see the +steamer _Huntress_ aground on a sand-bank off the main shore. + +The sea lay all shining and dimpling in the afternoon light, and not +a cloud was to be seen overhead. Here and there a white gull was +slowly waving his wings through the clear air, and little fish came +popping their heads out of the water, just for the pleasure of popping +them back again. Star dipped her hands in the blue crystal below, +and sang little snatches of song, being light of heart and without +a care in the world. They were no nursery songs that she sang, for +she considered herself to have outgrown the very few Mother Goose +ditties which Captain January had treasured in his mind and heart +ever since his mother sang them to him, all the many years ago. She +was tired of: + + "Jacky Barber's coming to town: + Clear away, gentlemen! clear away, gentlemen! + One foot up and t'other foot down, + Jacky Barber's coming to town." + +But she loved the scraps of sea-song that the old Captain still hummed +over his work: "Baltimore," and "Blow a Man Down," and half a dozen +other salt-water ditties: and it might have been strange to less +accustomed ears than Bob Peet's to hear the sweet child-voice +carolling merrily: + + "Boney was a warrior, + Weigh! heigh! oh! + Boney was a warrior, + John Francois! + Boney whipped the Rooshians, + Weigh! heigh! oh! + Boney whipped the Prooshians, + John Francois! + Boney went to Elba, + Weigh! heigh! oh!" etc. + +Bob's oars kept time with the song, and his portentous voice thundered +out the refrain with an energy which shook the little skiff from stem +to stern. By the time that "Boney" was safely consigned to his grave +in sunny France, they were nearing the flats on which the steamer +_Huntress_ lay, quietly awaiting the turn of the tide. + +Star knew the great white boat well, for twice a day she went +thundering past Light Island, churning the quiet blue water into foam +with her huge paddles, on her way to and from the gay summer city +which all the world came to visit. Nearly every day the child would +run out on the south rocks to wave a greeting to some of her +acquaintances among the crew; for she knew them all, from the +black-bearded captain down to the tiniest cabin-boy; and they, for +their part, were always eager--good souls!--for a smile or a nod from +the "Star of Light Island." Not a man of them but envied Bob Peet +his privilege of going when he pleased to the lighthouse rock. For +Captain January was not fond of visitors, and gave them no +encouragement to come, Bob Peet being the single exception to the +rule. The Captain liked Bob because he was not "given to clatter," +and "knew how to belay his jaw." + +"I do love to see a man belay his jaw!" said Captain January, +unconsciously quoting the words of another and a more famous captain, +the beloved David Dodd. So Bob was free to come and go as he liked, +and to smoke his pipe in sociable silence for hours at a time, within +the walls of Storm Castle. + +"Stop here, Bob!" said Star, with an imperious motion of her hand. +"I don't want to go any nearer." The obedient Bob lay on his oars, +and both looked up at the great boat, now only a few yards away. The +decks were crowded with passengers, who leaned over the railings, +idly chatting, or watching the water to see if the tide had turned. + +"Sight o' folks," said Bob Peet, nodding towards the after-deck, which +seemed a solid mass of human beings. + +"Yes," said the child, speaking half to herself, in a low tone. "It's +just like the Tower of Babel, isn't it? I should think they would +be afraid. 'And the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the +face of all the earth.' And it's so _stupid_!" she added, after a +moment's pause. "Why don't they stay at home? Haven't they any homes +to stay at? Who takes care of their homes while they go sailing about +like loons?" + +"Folks likes to v'yage," said Bob Peet, with mild toleration. +"Heaps--nothin' t' do--hot spells--v'yages." He added, with an +approach to a twinkle in his meek and cow-like eyes, "Try it--some +day--git tired of ol' Cap'n--ol' rock--pooty soon--take ye--v'yage--" + +His speech was interrupted by a sudden and violent dash of water in +his face. + +"Take that!" cried Star, panting with fury, and flinging the water +at him with all her small might. "I wish it was sharp stones, instead +of just water. I wish it was needles, and jagged rocks, and quills +upon the fretful porkypine, so I do! How dare you say such things +to me, Bob Peet? How dare you?" She paused, breathless, but with +flashing eyes and burning cheeks; while Bob meekly mopped his face +and head with a red cotton handkerchief, and shook the water from +his ears, eyeing her the while with humble and deprecatory looks. + +"No offence," he muttered, in apologetic thunder-rumble. "Poor ol' +Bob--eh, Missy? Sorry, beg pardon! Never no more. Didn't mean +it--nohow!" + +The tempest subsided as suddenly as it rose, and Star, with a +forgiving nod, took out her own little handkerchief and daintily wiped +a few drops from her victim's forehead. + +"You're so stupid, Bob," she said, frankly, "that I suppose I ought +not to get angry with you, any more than I would with Imogen, though +even she provokes me sometimes. So I forgive you, Bob. But if you +ever say such a thing again as my getting tired of Daddy, I'll kill +you. So now you know!" + +"Jes' so!" assented Bob. "Nat'rally! _To_ b' sure!" + +The sudden splashing of the water had caught many eyes on the deck +of the _Huntress_, and people admired the "playfulness" of the pretty +child in the little boat. One pair of eyes, however, was sharper than +the rest. + +"Just look at that child, Isabel!" said a tall, bronzed gentleman +who was leaning over the taff-rail. "She is a perfect little fury! +I never saw a pair of eyes flash so. Very fine eyes they are, too. +A very beautiful child. Isabel! why, my dear, what is the matter? +You are ill--faint! let me--" + +But the lady at his side pushed his arm away, and leaned forward, +her eyes fixed upon Star's face. + +"George," she said, in a low, trembling voice, "I want to know who +that child is. I _must_ know, George! Find out for me, dear, please!" + +As she spoke, she made a sign towards the boat, so earnest, so +imperative, that it caught Star's wandering gaze. Their eyes met, +and the little child in the pink calico frock, and the stately lady +in the India shawl, gazed at each other as if they saw nothing else +in the world. The gentleman looked from one to the other in amazement. + +"Isabel!" he whispered, "the child looks like you. What can this +mean?" + +But little Star, in the old black boat, cried, "Take me away, Bob! +take me home to my Daddy Captain! _Quick_! do you hear?" + +"Jes' so" said Bob Peet. "Nat'rally!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE VISIT + + +A gray day! soft gray sky, like the breast of a dove; sheeny gray +sea, with gleams of steel running across; trailing skirts of mist +shutting off the mainland, leaving Light Island alone with the ocean; +the white tower gleaming spectral among the folding mists; the dark +pine-tree pointing a sombre finger to heaven; the wet, black rocks, +from which the tide had gone down, huddling together in fantastic +groups as if to hide their nakedness. + +On the little beach two men were slowly pacing up and down, up and +down, one silent, the other talking earnestly. Old men, both, with +white, reverend hair: one slender and small, the other a son of Anak, +big and brawny,--Captain January and the minister. + +It was the minister who had been speaking. But now he had done, and +they took a few turns in silence before the Captain spoke in reply. + +"Minister," he said,--and his voice was strangely altered from the +gruff, hearty tone which had greeted his guest fifteen minutes before. +"Minister, I ain't a man that's used to hearin' much talk, and it +confuses my mind a bit. There's things inside my head that seems to +go round and round, sometimes, and put me out. Now, if it isn't askin' +too much, I'll git you to go over them p'ints again. Slow, like! slow, +Minister, bearin' in mind that I'm a slow man, and not used to it. +This--this lady, she come to your house yisterday, as ever was?" + +"Yesterday," assented the minister; and his voice had a tender, almost +compassionate tone, as if he were speaking to a child. + +"And a fine day it were!" said Captain January. "Wind steady, sou'west +by sou'. Fog in the mornin', and Bob Peet run the _Huntress_ aground +on the bank. I never liked fog, Minister! 'Give me a gale,' I'd say, +'or anythin' short of a cyclone,' I'd say, 'but don't give me fog!' +and see now, how it's come about! But it lifted, soon as the harm +were done. It lifted, and as fine a day as ever you see." + +The minister looked at him in some alarm, but the old man's keen blue +eyes were clear and intelligent, and met his gaze openly. + +"You're thinkin' I'm crazy, minister, or maybe drunk," he said, +quietly; "but I ain't neither one. I'm on'y takin' it by and large. +When a man has been fifteen year on a desert island, ye see, he learns +to take things by and large. But I never see good come of a fog yet. +Amen! so be it! And so Cap'n Nazro brought the lady to your house, +Minister?" + +"Captain Nazro came with her," said the minister, "and also her +husband, Mr. Morton, and Robert Peet, the pilot. Mrs. Morton had seen +little Star in Peet's boat, and was greatly and painfully struck by +the child's likeness to a beloved sister of hers, who had, it was +supposed, perished at sea, with her husband and infant child, some +ten years ago." + +"Ten year ago," repeated Captain January, passing his hand across +his weather-beaten face, which looked older, somehow, than it was +wont to do. "Ten year ago this September. 'He holdeth the waters in +the hollow of His hand.' Go on, Minister. The lady thought my little +Star, as the Lord dropped out of the hollow of His hand into my arms +ten year ago, had a look of her sister." + +"She was so strongly impressed by it," the minister continued, +quietly, "that, failing to attract Peet's attention as he rowed away, +she sent for the captain, and begged him to give her all the +information he could about the child. What she heard moved her so +deeply that she became convinced of the child's identity with her +sister's lost infant. As soon as Peet returned after putting Star +ashore, she questioned him even more closely. He, good fellow, refused +to commit himself to anything which he fancied you might not like, +but he told her of my having performed the last rites over the mortal +remains of the child's parents, and Mr. Morton wisely counselled her +to go at once to me, instead of coming here, as she at first wished +to do. After my interview with her, I am bound to say--" + +"Easy now, Minister!" interrupted Captain January. "I'm an old man, +though I never knowed it till this day. Easy with this part!" + +"I am bound to say," continued the minister, laying his hand kindly +on his companion's arm, "that I think there is little doubt of Star's +being Mrs. Morton's niece." + +"And what if she be?" exclaimed the old sailor, turning with a sudden +violence which made the gentle minister start back in alarm. "What +if she be? what have the lady done for her niece? Did she take her +out o' the sea, as raged like all the devils let loose, and death +itself a-hangin' round and fairly howlin' for that child? did she +stand on that rock, blind and deef and e'ena'most mazed with the +beatin' and roarin' and onearthly screechin' all round, and take that +child from its dead mother's breast, and vow to the Lord, as helped +in savin' it, to do as should be done by it? Has she prayed, and +worked, and sweat, and laid awake nights, for fear that child's +fingers should ache, this ten years past? Has she--" the old man's +voice, which had been ringing out like a trumpet, broke off suddenly. +The angry fire died out of his blue eyes, and he bowed his head +humbly. "I ask yer pardon, Minister!" he said, quietly, after a pause. +"I humbly ask yer pardon. I had forgotten the Lord, ye see, for all +I was talkin' about Him so glib. I was takin' my view, and forgettin' +that the Lord had His. _He_ takes things by and large, and nat'rally +He takes 'em larger than mortal man kin do. Amen! so be it!" He took +off his battered hat, and stood motionless for a few moments, with +bent head: nor was his the only silent prayer that went up from the +little gray beach to the gray heaven above. + +"Well, Minister," he said, presently, in a calm and even cheerful +voice, "and so that bein' all clear to your mind, the lady have sent +you to take my--to take her niece--the little lady (and a lady she +were from her cradle) back to her. Is that the way it stands?" + +"Oh, no! no indeed!" cried the kind old minister. "Mrs. Morton would +do nothing so cruel as that, Captain January. She is very +kind-hearted, and fully appreciates all that you have done for the +little girl. But she naturally wants to see the child, and to do +whatever is for her best advantage." + +"For the child's advantage. That's it!" repeated Captain January. +"That's somethin' to hold on by. Go on, Minister!" + +"So she begged me to come over alone," continued the minister, "to--to +prepare your mind, and give you time to think the matter well over. +And she and Mr. Morton were to follow in the course of an hour, in +Robert Peet's boat. He is a very singular fellow, that Peet!" added +the good man, shaking his head. "Do you think he is quite in his right +mind? He has taken the most inveterate dislike to Mr. and Mrs. Morton, +and positively refuses to speak to either of them. I could hardly +prevail upon him to bring them over here, and yet he fell into a +strange fury when I spoke of getting some one else to bring them. +He--he is quite safe, I suppose?" + +"Wal, yes!" replied Captain January, with a half smile. "Bob's safe, +if anyone is. Old Bob! so he doosn't like them, eh?" + +At that moment his eye caught something, and he said, in an altered +voice, "Here's Bob's boat coming now, Minister, and the lady and +gentleman in her." + +"They must have come much more rapidly than I did," said the minister, +"and yet my boy rows well enough. Compose yourself, January! this +is a heavy blow for you, my good friend. Compose yourself! Things +are strangely ordered in this world. 'We see through a glass darkly'!" + +"Not meanin' to set my betters right, Minister," said Captain January, +"I never seed as it made any difference whether a man seed or not, +darkly or howsumdever, so long as the Lord made _His_ views clear. +And He's makin' 'em!" he added. "He's makin' 'em, Minister! Amen! +so be it!" And quietly and courteously, ten minutes later, he was +bidding his visitors welcome to Light Island, as if it were a kingdom, +and he the crownless monarch of it. "It's a poor place, Lady!" he +said, with a certain stately humility, as he helped Mrs. Morton out +of the boat. "Good anchorage for a shipwrecked mariner like me, but +no place for ladies or--or them as belongs to ladies." + +"O Captain January!" cried Mrs. Morton, who was a tall, fair woman, +with eyes like Star's own. "What shall I say to you? I must seem to +you so cruel, so heartless, to come and ask for the child whom you +have loved and cared for so long. For that is what I have come for! +I must speak frankly, now that I see your kind, honest face. I have +come to take my sister's child, for it is my duty to do so." She laid +both hands on the old man's arm, and looked up in his face with +pleading, tearful eyes. + +But Captain January's face did not move as he answered, quietly, "It +is your duty, Lady. No question o' that, to my mind or any. But," +he added, with a wistful look, "I'll ask ye to do it easy, Lady. It'll +be sudden like for the--for the young lady. And--she ain't used to +bein' took sudden, my ways bein' in a manner slow. You'll happen find +her a little quick, Lady, in her ways, she bein' used to a person +as was in a manner slow, and havin' to be quick for two, so to say. +But it's the sparkle o' gold, Lady, and a glint o' diamonds." + +But the lady was weeping, and could not answer; so Captain January +turned to her husband, who met him with a warm grasp of the hand, +and a few hearty and kindly words. + +"And now I'll leave ye with the minister for a minute, Lady and +Gentleman," the Captain said; "for Bob Peet is a-signallin' me as +if he'd sprung a leak below the water line, and all hands goin' to +the bottom." + +Bob, who had withdrawn a few paces after beaching his boat, was indeed +making frantic demonstrations to attract the Captain's attention, +dancing and snapping his fingers, and contorting his features in +strange and hideous fashion. + +"Well, Bob," said the old man, walking up to him, "what's up with +you, and why are ye h'istin' and lowerin' your jib in that onarthly +fashion?" + +Bob Peet seized him by the arm, and led him away up the beach. +"Cap'n," he said, looking round to make sure that they were out of +hearing of the others, "I can't touch a lady--not seamanly! But 'f +you say the word--knock gen'l'm'n feller--middle o' next week. Say +the word, Cap'n! Good's a meal o' vittles t' me--h'ist him over +cliff!" + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +CAPTAIN JANUARY'S STAR + + +And where was little Star, while all this was going on down on the +beach? Oh, she had been having a delightful afternoon. It was cloudy, +and Daddy was going to be busy, so she had determined to spend an +hour or so in her own room, and enjoy all the delights of "dressing +up." For the great chest that had been washed ashore from the wreck, +the day after she herself had come to the island, was full of clothes +belonging to her "poor mamma;" and as we have seen, the little woman +was fully inclined to make use of them. + +Beautiful clothes they were; rich silks and velvets, with here and +there cloudy laces and strange webs of Eastern gauze. For she had +been a beautiful woman, this poor mamma, and it had been the delight +of Hugh Maynard, her proud and fond husband, to deck his lovely wife +in all rare and precious stuffs. Some of them were stained with +sea-water, and many of the softer stuffs were crumpled and matted +hopelessly, but that mattered little to Star. Her eyes delighted in +soft, rich colours, and she was never weary of turning them over and +over, trying them on, and "playing s'pose" with them. + +"S'pose," she would say, "my poor mamma was going to a banquet, like +the Capulet one, or Macbeth's. Oh, no! 'cause that would have been +horrid, with ghosts and daggers and things. S'pose it was the +Capulets! Then she would put on this pink silk. Isn't it pretty, and +soft, and creamy? Just like the wild roses on the south side of the +meadow, that I made a wreath of for Imogen on her birthday. Dear +Imogen! it was _so_ becoming to her. Well, so my poor mamma put it +on--_so_! and then she paced through the hall, and all the lords +turned round and said, 'Mark'st thou yon lady?' 'Cause she was so +beautiful, you know. _This_ is the way she paced!" and then the little +creature would fall to pacing up and down the room, dragging the +voluminous pink folds behind her, her head thrown back, and a look +of delighted pride lighting up her small face. + +It was the funniest little place, this room of Star's, the queerest, +quaintest little elfin bower! It was built out from the south side +of the tower, almost like a swallow's nest, only a swallow's nest +has no window looking out on the blue sea. There was a little white +bed in a corner, and a neat chest of drawers, and a wash-stand, all +made by Captain January's skilful hands, and all shining and spotless. +The bare floor was shining too, and so was the little looking-glass +which hung upon the wall. And beside the looking-glass, and above +it, and in fact all over the walls, were trophies and wonders of all +kinds and descriptions. There was the starfish with ten legs, pinned +up in sprawling scarlet; and there, beside him, the king of all the +sea-urchins, resplendent with green and purple horns. And here were +ropes of shells, and branches of coral, and over the bed a great +shining star, made of the delicate gold-shells. That was Daddy's +present to her on her last birthday. Dear Daddy! There, sitting in +the corner, was Mrs. Neptune, the doll which Captain January had +carved out of a piece of fine wood that had drifted ashore after a +storm. Her eyes were tiny black snail-shells, her hair was of brown +sea-moss, very thick and soft ("though as for combing it," said Star, +"it is im-_possible_!"), and a smooth pink shell was set in either +cheek, "to make a blush." Mrs. Neptune was somewhat battered, as Star +was in the habit of knocking her head against the wall when she was +in a passion; but she maintained her gravity of demeanour, and always +sat with her back perfectly straight, and with an air of protest +against everything in general. + +In the window stood the great chest, at once a treasure-chamber and +a seat; and over it hung one of the most precious things of Star's +little world. It was a string of cocoanut-shells. Fifteen of them +there were, and each one was covered with curious and delicate +carving, and each one meant a whole year of a man's life. "For the +nuts was ripe when we kem ashore, my good mate Job Hotham and me, +on that island. So when the nuts was ripe agin, ye see, Jewel Bright, +we knowed 'twas a year since we kem. So I took my jack-knife and +carved this first shell, as a kind o' token, ye know, and not thinkin' +there'd be so many to carve." So the first shell was all covered with +ships: fair vessels, with sails all set, and smooth seas rippling +beneath them,--the ships that were even then on their way to rescue +the two castaways. And the second was carved with anchors, the sign +of hope, and with coils of rope, and nautical instruments, and things +familiar to seamen's eyes. But the third was carved with stars, and +sickle-curved moons, and broad-rayed suns, "Because, ye see, Peach +Blossom, arthly hope bein' as ye might say foundered, them things, +and what was above 'em, stayed where they was; and it stiddied a man's +mind to think on 'em, and to make a note on 'em as fur as might be." +And then came one covered with flowers and berries, and another with +fruits, and another with shells, and so on through the whole fifteen. +They hung now in little Star's window, a strange and piteous record; +and every night before the child said her prayers, she kissed the +first and last shell, and then prayed that Daddy Captain might forget +the "dreadful time," and never, never think about it again. + +So, on this gray day, when other things were going on out-of-doors, +Star was having a "good time" in her room. She had found in the +treasure-chest a short mantle of gold-coloured velvet, which made +"a just exactly skirt" for her, the two ends trailing behind enough +to give her a sense of dignity, but not enough to impede her +movements. "For I am not a princess to-day!" she said; "I am delicate +Ariel, and the long ones get round my feet so I can't run." Then came +a long web of what she called "sunshine," and really it might have +been woven of sunbeams, so airy-light was the silken gauze of the +fabric. This my lady had wound round and round her small person with +considerable art, the fringed ends hanging from either shoulder, and +making, to her mind, a fair substitute for wings. "See!" she cried, +running to and fro, and glancing backward as she ran. "They wave! +they really do wave! Look, Mrs. Neptune! aren't they lovely? But you +are envious, and that is why you look so cross. 'Merrily, merrily, +shall I live now, under the blossom that hangs on the bough.'" She +leaped and danced about the room, light and radiant as a creature +of another world: then stopped, to survey with frowning brows her +little blue stockings and stout laced boots. "Ariel _never_ wore such +things as those!" she declared; "if you say she did, Mrs. Neptune, +you show your ignorance, and that is all I have to say to you." Off +came the shoes and stockings, and the little white feet were certainly +much prettier to look at. "Now," cried Star, "I will go down-stairs +and wait for Daddy Captain, and perhaps he will think I am a real +fairy. Oh, wouldn't that be fun? I am _sure_ I look like one!" and +down the stairs she flitted like a golden butterfly. Once in the +kitchen, the housewife in her triumphed for a moment over the fairy: +she raked up the fire, put on more wood, and swept the hearth +daintily. "But Ariel did such things for Prospero," she said. "I'm +Ariel just the same, so I may as well fill the kettle and put some +apples down to roast." This was soon done, and clapping her hands +with delight the "tricksy spirit" began to dance and frolic anew. + + "'Come unto these yellow sands, + And then take hands!'" + +she sang, holding out her hands to invisible companions. + + "'Courtesied when ye have, and kissed + (The wild waves whist!) + Foot it featly here and there.' + +"Oh! foot it featly, and feat it footly, and dance and sing, and +tootle-ty ting!" cried the child, as she flitted like a golden cloud +about the room. Then, as she whirled round and faced the door, she +stopped short. Her arms fell by her side, and she stood as if +spellbound, looking at the lady who stood in the doorway. + +The lady made no motion at first, but only gazed at her with loving +and tender eyes. She was a beautiful lady, and her eyes were soft +and blue, with a look of tears in them. But there was no answering +softness in the starry eyes of the child: only a wide, wild look of +wonder, of anger, perhaps of fear. Presently the lady, still silent, +raised both hands, and kissed them tenderly to the child; then laid +them on her breast, and then held them out to her with a gesture of +loving appeal. + +"I don't know whether you are a spirit of health or a goblin damned," +said Star; "but anyhow it isn't polite to come into people's houses +without knocking, _I_ think. I knowed you were a spirit when you +looked at me yesterday, if you _did_ have a red shawl on." + +"How did you know that I was a spirit?" asked the lady softly. "Oh, +little Star, how did you know?" + +"'Cause you looked like my poor mamma's picture," replied the child, +"that my poor papa had round his neck. Are you my mamma's spirit?" + +The lady shook her head. "No, darling," she said, "I am no spirit. +But I have come to see you, little Star, and to tell you something. +Will you not let me come in, Sweetheart?" + +Star blushed, and hung her head for a moment, remembering Captain +January's lessons on politeness and "quarter-deck manners." She +brought a chair at once, and in a more gracious tone said (mindful +of Willum Shakespeare's lords and ladies), "I pray you sit!" + +The lady sat down, and taking the child's hand, drew her gently +towards her. "Were you playing fairy, dear?" she asked, smoothing +back the golden hair with loving touch. + +Star nodded. "I was delicate Ariel," she said. "I was footing it +featly, you know, on these yellow sands. Sometimes I am Puck, and +sometimes Titania; but Daddy likes Ariel best, and so do I. Did you +ever play it?" she asked, looking up into the kindly face that bent +over her. + +The lady smiled and shook her head. "No, dear child," she said, still +with that motherly touch of the hand on the fair head. "I never +thought of such a pretty play as that, but I was very happy as a child +playing with my--with my sister. I had a dear, dear sister, Star. +Would you like to hear about her?" + +"Yes," said Star, with wondering eyes. "Was she a little girl?" + +"Such a lovely little girl!" said the lady. "Her hair was dark, but +her eyes were like yours, Star, blue and soft. We played together +always as children, and we grew up together, two loving, happy girls. +Then my sister married: and by and by, dear, she had a little baby. +A sweet little girl baby, and she named it Isabel, after me." + +"I was a little girl baby, too," said Star, "but I wasn't named +anything; I came so: just Star." + +"Little Isabel had another name," said the lady. "Her other name was +Maynard, because that was her father's name. Her father was Hugh +Maynard. Have you ever seen or heard that name, my child?" + +Star shook her head. "No!" she said; "my poor papa's name was H. M. +It was marked on his shirt and han'k'chief, Daddy says. And my poor +mamma's name was Helena, just like Helena in 'Midsummer Night's +Dream.'" The motherly hand trembled, and the lady's voice faltered +as she said, "Star, my dear sister's name was Helena, too. Is not +that strange, my little one?" + +The child looked curiously at her. "Where is your dear sister?" she +asked. "Why do you cry when you say her name? is she naughty?" + +"Listen, Star," said the lady, wiping the tears from her eyes, and +striving to speak composedly. + +"My sister made a voyage to Europe, with her husband and her little +baby. They spent the summer travelling in beautiful countries; and +in the autumn, in September, Star, ten years ago this very +year,--think of it, my dear!--they sailed for home. They came in a +sailing-vessel, because the sea-voyage was thought good for your--for +my sister. And--and--the vessel was never heard from. There was a +terrible storm and many vessels were lost in it." + +"Just like my poor mamma's ship," said the child. "Perhaps it was +the same storm. Do you think--why do you look at me so?" she cried, +breaking off suddenly. + +But the lady put both arms round her and drew her close, close, while +her tears fell fast on the golden hair. "My darling!" she cried, "my +dear, dear little one! It _was_ the same storm; the same storm and +the same ship. Your poor mamma was my own sweet sister Helena, and +you are my niece, my little Isabel, my own, own little namesake. Will +you love me, darling? will you love your Aunt Isabel, and let her +care for you and cherish you as your sweet mother would have done?" + +Star stood very still, neither returning nor repelling the lady's +caresses. She was pale, and her breath came short and quick, but +otherwise she showed no sign of agitation. Presently she put up her +hand and stroked the lady's cheek gently. "Why do you cry?" she asked, +quietly. "My poor mamma is in heaven. Don't you like her to be in +heaven? Daddy says it is much nicer than here, and he knows." + +Mrs. Morton checked her tears, and smiled tenderly in the little +wondering face, "Dear child!" she said, "I do like to have her in +heaven, and I will not cry any more. But you have not told me whether +you will love me, Star. Will you try, dear? and will you let me call +you my little Isabel?" + +"I will love you," replied the child, "if Daddy Captain loves you; +I will love you very much. But you must not call me that name, 'cause +I'm not _it_. I am just Star. _Does_ Daddy love you?" she asked; and +then, with a sudden note of anxiety in her voice, she exclaimed, +"Where is Daddy? Where is my Daddy Captain? Did you see him when you +came in?" + +Her question was answered by the sound of voices outside; and the +next moment the minister appeared, followed by Mr. Morton and Captain +January. The old Captain hastened to place a chair for each of the +gentlemen by the fireside, and then took his stand against the wall +on the further side of the room. He held his weather-beaten cap in +his hand, and turned it slowly round and round, considering it +attentively. It might have been observed by one quick to notice +trifles, that he did not look at the child, though no slightest motion +of hers was lost upon him. + +"George," said Mrs. Morton, joyously, to her husband, "here is our +little niece, dearest Helena's child. She is going to love me, she +says, and she will love you, too. Star, my darling, this is your Uncle +George. Will you not give him a kiss, and be his little girl as well +as mine? We have two little girls at home, and you shall be the +third." + +Star went obediently to Mr. Morton, who kissed her warmly, and tried +to take her on his knee. "You are taller than our Grace," he said, +"but I don't believe you are as heavy, my dear. Grace is just your +age, and I am sure you will be great friends." + +But Star slipped quietly from his arms, and, running to the Captain, +took one of his hands in both of hers and kissed it. "I am Daddy +Captain's little girl!" she said, looking round bravely at the +others. "Why do you talk as if I belonged to you?" Then seeing the +trouble in Mrs. Morton's face, she added, "I _will_ love you, truly +I will, and I will call you Aunt Isabel; but I cannot belong to +different people, 'cause I'm only just one. Just Captain January's +Star." + +She looked up in the old man's face with shining eyes, but no tender, +confident look returned her glance. The brown hand trembled between +her two little white palms; the keen blue eyes were still bent fixedly +upon the old woollen cap, as if studying its texture; but it was in +a quiet and soothing tone that the Captain murmured: + +"Easy, Jewel Bright! Easy, now! Helm steady, and stand by!" + +There was a moment of troubled silence; and then the old minister, +clearing his throat, spoke in his gentle, tranquil voice. "My dear +child," he said, "a very strange thing has come to pass; but what +seems strange to us is doubtless clear and simple to the Infinite +Wisdom above us. You have been a faithful and loving child, little +Star, to your beloved guardian and friend here, and no father could +have cared for you more tenderly than he has done. But the tie of +blood is a strong one, my dear, and should not be lightly set aside. +This lady is your own near relation, the sister of your dear dead +mother. Through the merciful providence of God, she has been led to +you, and she feels it her duty to claim you, in the name of your +parents. We have considered the matter carefully, and we all feel +that it is right that you should hereafter make your home with her +and your uncle. This may be painful to you, my dear; but you are a +good and intelligent child, and you will understand that if we give +you pain now, it is to secure your future good and happiness." + +He paused; and all eyes, save those keen blue ones which were studying +so carefully the texture of the battered woollen cap, turned anxiously +on the child. A deep flush passed over Star's face; then vanished, +leaving it deadly pale, a mask of ivory with eyes of flame. When she +spoke, it was in a low, suppressed voice, wholly unlike her own. + +"You may kill me," said the child, "and take my body away, if you +like. I will not go while I am alive." + +She turned her eyes from one to the other, as if watching for the +slightest motion to approach her. + +Mrs. Morton, in great distress, spoke next. "My darling, it grieves +me to the heart to take you from your dear, kind Daddy. But think, +my Star; you are a child now, but you will soon be a woman. You cannot +grow up to womanhood in a place like this. You must be with your own +people, and have companions of your own age. My children will be like +your own sisters and brothers. My dear, if you could only know how +they will love you, how we shall all cherish and care for you!" + +"When I am dead?" asked Star. "It will make no difference to me, your +love, for I shall be dead. I will not go alive." + +"Oh, Captain January!" cried Mrs. Morton, turning to the old man with +clasped hands. "Speak to her! she will listen to you. Tell her--tell +her what you said to me. Tell her that it is right for her to go; +that you wish her to go!" + +The old man's breathing was heavy and laboured, and for a moment it +seemed as if he strove in vain for utterance: but when he spoke, his +voice was still soothing and cheerful, though his whole great frame +was trembling like a withered leaf. "Star Bright," he said (and +between almost every word he paused to draw the short, heavy breath), +"I always told ye, ye 'member, that ye was the child of gentlefolks. +So bein', 'tis but right that you should have gentle raisin' by them +as is yer own flesh and blood. You've done your duty, and more than +your duty, by me. Now 'tis time ye did your duty by them as the Lord +has sent to ye. You'll have--my--my respeckful love and duty wherever +you go, my dear, and you growin' up to be a beautiful lady, as has +been a little wild lass. And you'll not forget the old Cap'n, well +I know, as will be very comf'table here--" + +But here the child broke out with a wild, loud cry, which made all +the others start to their feet. "Do you want me to go?" she cried. +"Look at me, Daddy Captain! you _shall_ look at me!" She snatched +the cap from his hands and flung it into the fire, then faced him +with blazing eyes and quivering lip. "Do you want me to go? Are you +tired of me?" + +Heavier and heavier grew that weight on Captain January's chest: +shorter and harder came his breath. His eyes met the child's for a +moment, then wavered and fell. "Why--honey--" he said, slowly, +"I--I'm an old man now--a very old man. And--and--an old man likes +quiet, ye see: and--I'd be quieter by myself, like; and--and so, +honey--I--I'd like ye to go." + +"_You lie_!" cried the child; and her voice rang like a silver trumpet +in the startled ears of the listeners. "You lie to me, and you lie +to God: and you _know_ you lie!" + +The next moment she had sprung on to the low window-sill, then turned +for an instant, with her little hands clenched in menace, and her +great eyes flashing fire that fell like a burning touch on every +heart. Her fantastic dress gleamed like a fiery cloud against the +gray outside: her hair fell like a glory about her vivid, shining +face. A moment she stood there, a vision, a flying star, trailing +angry light, never to be forgotten by those who saw; then, like a +flash, she vanished. + +Captain January tottered to his old chair and sat down in it. "The +child is right, Lady and Gentleman!" he said. "I lied! I lied to my +God, and to the little child who loved me. May God and the child +forgive me!" And he hid his face in his hands, and silence fell for +a moment. + +Then Mr. Morton, who had walked hastily to the window, and was doing +something with his handkerchief, beckoned to his wife. "Isabel," he +said, in a low tone, "I will not be a party to this. It's an atrocious +and vindictive outrage. I--I--you are not the woman I took you for, +if you say another word to that old angel. Let him have the child, +and send him one or two of your own into the bar--" but Isabel Morton, +laughing through her tears, laid her hand over her husband's lips +for a moment. Then going to the old man's chair, she knelt down by +it, and took his two hands in hers. + +"Captain January!" she said, tenderly. "Dear, dear Captain January! +the lie is forgiven: I am very, very sure it is forgiven in heaven, +as it will be forgiven in the child's loving heart. And may God never +pardon me, if ever word or look of mine come again between you and +the child whom God gave you!" + +The gray evening was closing in around the lighthouse tower. The +guests were gone, and Captain January sat alone beside the fire in +his old armchair. The window was still open, for the air was soft +and mild. The old man's hands were clasped upon his knee; his heart +was lifted as high as heaven, in silent prayer and praise. + +Suddenly, at the window, there was a gleam of yellow, a flitting +shape, a look, a pause; then a great glad cry, and Star flitted like +a ray of moonlight through the window, and fell on Captain January's +breast. + +"Daddy," she said, breaking the long, happy silence, "dear Daddy, +I am sorry I burned your horrid old cap!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE SIGNAL + + +Quietly passed the days, the weeks, the months, in the lonely tower +on the rock fronting the Atlantic surge. Winter came, and folded it +in a white mantle, and decked it with frost-jewels. Like a pillar +of ice, the tower shone in the keen brilliance of the northern sun; +but within was always summer, the summer of perfect peace and +contentment. To the child Star, winter was always a season of great +delight; for Captain January had little to occupy him out-of-doors, +and could devote much of his time to her. So there were long, +delightful "jack-knife times," as Star called them, when the Captain +sat fashioning all sorts of wonderful trifles with his magic knife, +the child sitting at his elbow and watching him with happy eyes. There +were "story times," instituted years before, as soon as Star had +learned to sew on patchwork; for as for sewing _without_ a story to +listen to, "_that_," said Star, "is against my nature, Daddy. And +you don't want me to do things that are against my nature, do you?" +So whenever the squares of gay calico came out, and the golden head +bent to and fro over them, like a paradise bird hovering over a bed +of gaudy flowers, the story came out, too, between puffs of the pipe, +while the fire crackled a cheery accompaniment, sputtering defiance +to the wind that whistled outside. Some tale of the southern seas, +and the wild tropic islands, of coral reefs and pearl-fisheries, +sharks and devil-fish; or else a whaling story, fresh and breezy as +the north, full of icebergs, and seal-hunts over the cracking floes, +polar bears, and all the wild delights of whale-fishing. + +Then, on fine days (and oh, but the days are fine, in these glorious +northern winters!) there was much joy to be had out-of-doors. For +there was a spot in the little meadow,--once of gold-flecked emerald, +now of spotless pearl,--a spot where the ground "tilted," to use +Star's expression, suddenly down to a tiny hollow, where a fairy +spring bubbled out of the rock into a fairy lake. In summer, Star +rather despised this lake, which was, truth to tell, only twenty feet +long and ten feet wide. It was very nice for Imogen to drink from +and to stand in on hot days, and it did many lovely things in the +way of reflecting blue skies and fleecy clouds and delicate traceries +of leaf and bough; but as water, it seemed a very trifling thing to +a child who had the whole sweep of the Atlantic to fill her eyes, +and who had the breakers for her playfellows and gossips. + +But in winter, matters were different. All the laughing lips of +ripples, all the white tossing crests of waves, must content +themselves with the ice-bound rocks, till spring should bring them +their child-comrade again; and the little sheet of dark crystal in +the hollow of the meadow had things all its own way, and mirrored +back her bright face every day. The little red sled, launched at the +top of the "tilt," came skimming down the slope, and shot like an +arrow over the smooth ice, kept always clear of snow by the Captain's +ever-busy hands; or else, when tired of coasting, the child would +plant her small feet wide apart, and slide, and run, and slide again, +till the pond could have cracked with pleasure, if such a thing had +been in accordance with its principles. + +But of all the joyous hours, none was more welcome to the child than +that after the simple supper was cleared away and the room "redded +up." Then, while fire and lamplight made their merriest cheer, the +table was drawn up to the warmest spot; Star took her place upon +Captain January's knee, and the two heads, the silver one and the +golden, bent in absorbed interest over "Willum Shakespeare" or the +Good Book. + +Generally the Captain read aloud, but sometimes they read the parts +in turn; and again sometimes the child would break off, and recite +whole passages alone, with a fire and pathos which might have been +that of Maid Marjorie, swaying at her childish will the heart of Sir +Walter and his friends. + +So quietly, in the unbroken peace which love brightened into joy, +the winter passed. + +At Christmas, they had, as usual, a visit from the faithful Bob, who +brought all his many pockets full of candy and oranges and all manner +of "truck," as he called it, for Missy Star. Also he brought a letter +and a box directed only to "Captain January's Star." The letter, which +the child opened with wondering eagerness, being the first she had +ever received, was from Mrs. Morton. It was full of tender and loving +words, wishes for Christmas cheer and New Year blessing, and with +it was a photograph of the beautiful face, with its soft and tender +eyes, which Star remembered so well. On the back was written, "For +Little Star, from Aunt Isabel." And the box? Why, that was quite as +wonderful in its way. For it contained a most beautiful pipe for the +Captain, of sweet brier-wood, mounted in silver; and oh! oh! such +a doll! Other children have seen such dolls, but Star never had; a +blue-eyed waxen beauty, with fringed lashes that opened and shut, +rose-leaf cheeks, and fabulous wealth of silky flaxen curls. Also +it had a blue velvet-frock, and its underclothing was a wonder to +behold; and the box was full of other frocks and garments. + +Star took the doll in her arms with delighted awe, and seemed for +a few moments absorbed in her new treasure. Presently, however, a +shadow crossed her bright face. She glanced at Bob and the Captain, +and seeing that they were both engaged in busy talk, she quietly went +up to her own room, carrying the doll with her. Here she did a strange +thing. She crossed the room to the corner where Mrs. Neptune sat, +with her back rigid, protesting against circumstances, and set the +radiant stranger down beside her; then, with her hands clasped behind +her, and brows bent, she considered the pair long and attentively. +Truly they were a strange contrast: the delicate, glowing, velvet-clad +doll, and the battered old wooden image, with eyes of snail-shells +and hair of brown sea-moss. But when Star had finished her scrutiny, +she took the beautiful doll, and buried it deep under velvets and +satins at the very bottom of the great chest. This done, she kissed +Mrs. Neptune solemnly, and proceeded to adorn her with a gorgeous +Eastern scarf, the very gayest her treasure-house could afford. + +Meanwhile, in the room below, the talk went on, grave and earnest. +Troubled it was, too, on one side; for though the Captain sat quietly +in his chair, and spoke in his usual cheerful voice, Bob Peet's rough +tones were harsh and broken, and he rose from his place once or twice +and moved uneasily about the room. + +"Cap'n," he said, "'tain't so. Don't tell me! Strong man--hearty--live +twenty years yet--like's not thirty! Uncle o' mine--Punksquid--hundred +and three--peart's chicken." + +Captain January puffed at his pipe in silence for some minutes. "Bob," +he said, presently, "it ain't always as it's given to a man to know +his time. I've allers thought I should take it particular kind if +it 'corded with the Lord's views to let me know when He was ready +for me. And now that He _has_ let me know, and moreover has set my +mind that easy about the child that it's a pleasure to think of, why, +it ain't likely I shall take it anyway _but_ kind. Thankin' you all +the same, Bob, as have been a good mate to me, and as I sha'n't forget +wherever I am. But see now!" he added, hastily, hearing a sound in +the room above. "You understand, Bob; I h'ist that signal, as it might +be to-morrow, and I keep her flyin' night and day. And so long as +you see her flyin', you says, 'Cap'n's all right so far!' you says. +But you keep a sharp lookout; and if some mornin' you don't see her, +you says, 'Sailin' orders!' you says, and then you calls Cap'n Nazro, +as never failed in a kindness yet, nor ain't likely to, to take the +wheel, and you put for this island. And Cap'n Nazro he takes the +_Huntress_ in, and then goes straightway and sends a telegraft to +the lady and gentleman, sayin' as Cap'n January has sailin' orders, +and they please to come and take the child, as lawfully to them +belongs. And you, Bob,--" the old man's steady voice faltered a +little, as he laid his hand on the other's arm,--"you'll do all you +can, well I know. For she'll take it hard, ye see. She has that depth +o' love in her little heart, and never nobody _to_ love 'cept me since +she were a baby, that she'll take it cruel hard. But the Lord'll have +her in mind! He'll have her in mind! and you'll stand by, Bob, and +bear a hand till the lady and gentleman come." + +Bob Peet held out his honest brown hand, and the two men shook hands +with a certain solemnity; but before either of them could speak again, +Star came singing down the stairs, and summoned them both to play +at ball with oranges. + +And so it came to pass that a little blue signal was hoisted at the +top of the white tower, and fluttered there bravely in sun and wind. +And every time the _Huntress_ went thundering by (which was twice +a week at this season instead of every day), Bob Peet looked out +anxiously from the wheel-house window, and seeing the little banner, +took cheer, and rubbed his hands and said, "Cap'n's all right so far!" + +And Captain January, whenever there came the clutch and stab at his +heart, and the struggle for breath, which he had felt for the first +time that September day (but ah! how many times since, and with what +increasing persistence!) would creep to the stairway beside which +hung the signal lines, and lay his hand on them, and wait: then, when +the spasm passed, would pass his hand across his face and humbly say, +"Whenever it seems right, Lord! A step nearer! and Thou havin' the +child in mind," and so go cheerfully about his work again. + +There were not many more steps to take. Spring came, and the little +meadow was green again. Robins and bluebirds fluttered above the great +pine-tree, and swallows built their nests under the eaves of the tower +itself. The child Star sang with the birds, and danced with the +dancing leaves, all unconscious of what was coming; but the old +Captain's steps grew slower and heavier, day by day, and the cheery +voice grew feeble, and lost its hearty ring, though never its +cheeriness. "I'll set here in the porch, Jewel Bright," he would say, +when the child begged him to come for a scramble on the rocks. "I +think I'll jest set here, where I can see ye an' hear to ye. I'm +gittin' lazy, Star Light; that's the truth. Yer old Daddy's gittin' +lazy, and it's comf'tabler settin' here in the sun, than scramblin' +round the rocks." + +And Star would fling herself on his neck, and scold and caress him, +and then go off with a half-sense of disappointment to her play. Very, +very careful Captain January had to be, lest the child should suspect +that which he was determined to keep from her to the last. Sometimes +he half thought she must suspect, so tender was she in these days; +so thoughtful, so mindful of his lightest wish. But "'tis only the +woman growin' up in her," he decided; and looking back, he remembered +that she had not once broken his pipe (as she had been used to do +every three or four weeks, in her sudden rages) since last September. + +At last there came a day when the Captain did not even go out to the +porch. It was a lovely May morning, bright and soft, with wreaths +of silvery fog floating up from the blue water, and much sweet sound +of singing birds and lapping waves in the air. Making some pretence +of work at his carpenter's bench, the old man sent Star out to loose +the cow and lead her to the water; and when she was gone, he tottered +to his old chair and sat down heavily. There was no pain now, only +a strange numbness, a creeping coldness, a ringing in the ears. If +it might "seem right" to let him wait till the _Huntress_ came by! +"It's nearly time," he said, half aloud. "Nearly time, and 'twould +be easier for the child." + +At this moment, through the open doorway, came the silver sound of +Star's voice. "But I don't think there can be any harm in my just +telling you a little about it, Imogen. And the floor is the paved +work of a sapphire: sapphire is a stone, just like the water over +there, in the bluest place, and oh! so clear and bright, Daddy says. +He saw one once. And there will be most beautiful music, Imogen. Oh! +you can't think what lovely music Daddy Captain will play on a harp. +I know he will, 'cause he will be a spirit of just men made perfect: +and that will be a _great_ thing, Imogen; for he has never known how +to play on anything before: and--" Ah! the sweet, childish prattle! +but already it was growing faint upon the old man's ears. + +"Star Bright!" he called; and the dancing shape came flying, and stood +on tiptoe in the doorway. Steady, now, January! keep your voice +steady, if there is any will left in you. Keep your head turned a +little away, lest there be any change in your face, yet not turned +enough to make her wonder. "Star Bright," said Captain January, "it's +about--time--for the _Huntress_--to be along, isn't it?" + +"Yes, Daddy," said the child; "she's just in sight now. Shall I go +down and wave to Bob as he goes by?" + +"Yes, Honeysuckle," said the old man. "And--and wait to see if he +comes ashore. I think--likely--Bob'll come ashore to-day. He was goin' +to bring--somethin'--for me. Is there a squall comin' up, Jewel +Bright?" + +"A squall, Daddy?" said the child, wondering. "Why, there isn't a +cloud in the sky." + +"Jes' so!" said Captain January. "I--only jist asked. Good-bye, Star +Bright." + +"Dear Daddy! Good-bye!" cried the child, and she sped away over the +rocks. + +So dark! and not a cloud in the sky. If he might have looked once +more, with those fast-darkening eyes, at the little blessed face which +held all the world in it! if he could call her back now, and kiss +her once more, and hold her little hand--No! no! steady, January! +steady now, and stand by! + +Quite dark now. But that does not matter. No need of light for what +is now to be done. Slowly the old man raises himself; feels for the +wall, creeps along beside it. Here is the line. Is there any strength +left in that benumbed arm? Yes! "For the child, dear Lord, and Thou +helpin' me, as ever has been!" + +Down comes the signal, and the old man creeps back to his chair again, +and composes himself decently, with reverent, folded hands, and head +bowed in waiting. "'He holdeth the waters in the hollow of His hand. +Behold, He taketh up the isles as a very little thing.' Amen! so be +it!" + +Wave, little Star! wave your little blue apron from the rocks, and +laugh and clap your hands for pleasure, as the ripples from the +steamer's bow break in snowy foam at your feet. Bend to your oar, +Bob Peet, and send your little black boat flying over the water as +she never flew before! and press on, friendly _Huntress_, to your +port, whence the winged message may speed on its way to the stately +lady with the tender eyes, who waits for tidings in her distant home. + +For Captain January's last voyage is over, and he is already in the +haven where he would be. + + + THE END. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Captain January, by Laura E. Richards + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPTAIN JANUARY *** + +This file should be named cpjan10.txt or cpjan10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, cpjan11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, cpjan10a.txt + +Produced by Ketaki Chhabra and Wendy Crockett. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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