Hocken and Hunken | Page 9

what put such nasty-minded thoughts into your head."
"No more can I, unless you suggested 'em," Dinah retorted.
"You were willing enough to come, when--when--"
"When you proposed it," Dinah relentlessly concluded the sentence.
"Of course. Why not?"
"And you were excited enough--you can't deny it"--her mistress
insisted, "when you brought the news this morning, that his ship had
arrived. But now, and only because you happen to be put out--"
"Who said I was put out?"
"As if I couldn't tell by your tone! Now, just because you happen to be
put out, I'm indelicate all of a sudden."
"I never said so," Dinah protested sullenly.
"Said so?" Mrs Bosenna, rising, faced her with withering scorn. "I hope
you've a better sense of your position than to say such a thing. Oh, you
content yourself with hinting! . . . But who owns this house and garden,
I should like to know?"
Dinah, though remorseful, showed fight yet. "Then why couldn' ye take
the bull by the horns an' march in by the front door?"
"Why? Because you agreed with me that to plant a two or three roses
for him would be a nice attention! . . . You can't start planting roses in
the dusk, at the end of an afternoon call; and, as it is, we've only just
finished before twilight."

Dinah was minded to retort that, as it was, the planting had taken a long
time. But she contented herself with glancing again at the house and
saying evasively that the new tenant appeared to take more interest in
fixtures than in flowers.
"I own," sighed Mrs Bosenna, "I thought he'd have been eager to take
stock of the garden before it grew dark. Such a beautiful garden, as it is,
in a small way!"
"When a man has passed his whole life at sea--"
"True," her mistress agreed. "Yet how it must enlarge the mind! So
different from farming!"
"It must be ekally dependent on the weather," Dinah opined. "At least.
More so, takin' one thing with another. Oh, decidedly. It stands to
reason."
"I'm romantic perhaps," confessed Mrs Bosenna; "but I can never think
of any ship's captain as being quite an ordinary man. The dangers he
must go through--and the foreign countries he visits--and up night after
night in all weathers, staring into the darkness in an oilskin suit!"
"'Tisn' the sort o' man I should ever choose for a husband, if I wanted
one," maintained Dinah.
"Who was talking of husbands, you silly woman?"
"I don't see how else the men-folk consarn us, mistress."
"You're coarse, Dinah."
"I'm practical, anyway. If they choose to toss up an' down 'pon the sea
they're welcome, for me. But, for my part, when I lay me down at night,
I like to be sure o' gettin' up in the same position next mornin'; and I'd
to feel the same about a husband, supposin' I cared for the man."
"I often think," mused Mrs Bosenna, "that we're not half grateful
enough to sailors, considering the risks they run and the things they

bring us home: tea and coffee, raisins, currants, with all kinds of spices
and cordial drinks."
"Oranges an' lemons, say the bells o' St Clemen's. Oranges--"
"I wasn't thinking of this Captain Hocken in particular," interrupted the
widow hastily. "Take a Christmas pudding, for instance. Flour and suet,
and there's an end if you depend on the farmer; just an ordinary
dumpling. Whereas the sailor brings the figs, the currants, the candied
peel, the chopped almonds, the brandy--all the ingredients that make it
Christmassy."
"And then the farmer takes an' eats it. Aw, believe me, mistress,
Stay-at-home fares best in this world!"
"I don't know, Dinah," sighed Mrs Bosenna. "Haven't you ever in your
life wished for a pair o' wings?"
"To wear in my hat? Why, o' course I have."
"No, no; I mean, for the wings of a dove, to fly away and be--well, not
at rest exactly--"
"No, I haven't, mistress. But 'tis the way with you discontented rich
folks. Like Hocken's ducks, all of 'ee--never happy unless you be where
you baint. . . . I wonder if that Hocken was any relation--S-sh! now!
Talk of the devil!"
Captain Cai and Fancy had spent a good hour-and-a-half in overhauling
the two cottages. Their accommodation was narrow enough, but
Captain Cai, after half a lifetime on shipboard, found them little short
of palatial. The child could scarcely drag him away from the tiny
bath-rooms with their hot and cold water taps.
"Lord," said he, gazing down into the newly painted bath in No.1. "To
think of 'Bias in the likes o' this!"
"You may, if you care to," said Fancy.

"'Tis a knack of mine," he apologised. "We'll suppose him safely out of