Jess of the Rebel Trail | Page 9

He
examined them carefully for a few seconds, the girl all the time
watching him most intently.

"You will let me stay, won't you?" she coaxed. "Don't send me away."
"I don't see how I kin, Miss. Yer here, an' that's all thar is about it. Ye
won't go of yer own accord, an' I've never yit laid hands on a woman.
Now, if you was a man I'd show ye a thing or two in a jiffy, but what
kin one do with a woman when she once makes up her mind?"
"Oh, thank you so much," and the girl's face brightened. "You will
never regret your kindness to me. And look, I'm going to pay you well
for letting me stay."
"Pay!" The captain's eyes bulged with astonishment.
"Yes, pay," and the girl smiled. "I'm a passenger, you see, so I'm going
to pay my fare. There, you must not object, for I have made up my
mind, so it's no use for you to say a word. I'm going to give you fifty
dollars now and more later."
The pipe fell from the captain's hand and broke in two upon the floor.
"Blame it all!" he growled, as he stood staring upon the wreck. "I
wonder what's comin' over me, anyway? Guess I'm losin' me senses."
"No you're not; you are just getting them, Captain. It's better to break a
pipe than a girl's heart, isn't it?"
"I s'pose so, Miss. But a pipe means a good smoke, while a woman
means----"
He paused, and looked helplessly around.
"What?" The girl's eyes twinkled.
"Trouble; that's what."
"But isn't she worth it?"
"That all depends upon what an' who she is."

"Certainly. Now you are talking sense. Isn't your daughter worth all the
trouble she has been to you?"
"Sure, sure; yer sartinly right thar, Miss. Flo's given me a heap of
trouble, but not half as much as Eben. That boy's a caution, an' he's
given me an' Martha no end of worry."
"In what way?"
The captain scratched his head in perplexity, and shifted uneasily from
one foot to another.
"I kin hardly explain," he at length replied. "He don't drink, nor swear,
nor do nuthin' bad. But the trouble is, he don't do nuthin', an' don't want
to do nuthin' but sleep an' eat."
"Perhaps you have not brought him up right, Captain."
"Not brought him up right!" Samuel's amazement was intense. "Why,
Miss, we've done nuthin' but bring that boy up. Me an' Martha have
slaved fer the raisin' of Eben. We started when he was a baby to raise
him, right, an' the very next Sunday after he was born didn't they sing
in church--
"'Here I'll raise my Ebenezer'."
"And so you've been singing it ever since, even when scrubbing the
cabin?" The girl smiled at the recollection of the suddenly discontinued
tune.
"Sure, why shouldn't I? It's a great hymn, it sartinly is, an' it's inspired
me many a time. It has kept before me my duty, an' if Eben doesn't
amount to somethin', it won't be my fault, nor Martha's, either, fer that
matter."
"Have you taken the same care with your daughter?" the girl asked.
"No, not as much," was the reluctant confession. "Gals don't need sich
special care. They ginerally grow up all right, an' git along somehow.

But it's different with boys. They're a problem, they sartinly are."
"And so you have given most of your attention to your son, and let your
daughter grow up any way. Is that it, Captain?"
"That's about it, Miss."
"And how is your daughter getting along?"
"Fust rate. We've no trouble with her. She's a good worker, happy an'
cheerful as a bird, an' does what she's told. She's a fine gal, Flo is, an'
thar's no mistake about that. I wish to goodness Eben was like her."
"It seems to me, Captain, that you tried too hard to raise your son, and
spoiled him. Isn't that it?"
"D'ye think so?"
"I am sure of it. You are not the only ones who have spent all their care
upon their sons and let their daughters grow up as they please. I know
too much about it."
"Ye do!" Samuel's eyes opened wide in wonder. "An' you only a young
gal, too."
"But I am old in experience, and know what I say is true. But what is
that?" A startled look leaped into her eyes. "Do you suppose it is
someone after me?"
With a bound the captain sprang up the stairs. He paused for an instant,
however, and glanced back.
"Don't be scared, Miss," he encouraged. "It's only Eben. He's bumped
hard aginst the boat. You keep close under cover, an' I'll do what I kin
with the boy."

CHAPTER IV

UNDER