Lady of the Barge | Page 5

not? How dare you say such a thing?" demanded Miss Harris,
stepping on to the deck.
"Well, you brought her aboard, Ted, you know you did," pleaded the
unhappy skipper.
The mate did not deny it, but his face was so full of grief and surprise
that the other's heart sank within him.
"All right," said the mate at last; "have it your own way."
"Hold your tongue, Ted," shouted Mrs. Gibbs; "you're trying to shield
him."
"I tell you Ted brought her aboard, and they had a lover's quarrel," said
her unhappy spouse. "It's nothing to do with me at all."
"And that's why you told me Ted had got the toothache, and tried to get
me off to the chemist's, I s'pose," retorted his wife, with virulence. "Do
you think I'm a fool? How dare you ask a young woman on this barge?
How dare you?"
"I didn't ask her," said her husband.
"I s'pose she came without being asked," sneered his wife, turning her
regards to the passenger; "she looks the sort that might. You brazen-
faced girl!"
"Here, go easy, Loo," interrupted the mate, flushing as he saw the girl's
pale face.
"Mind your own business," said his sister, violently.
"It is my business," said the repentant mate. "I brought her aboard, and
then we quarrelled."
"I've no doubt," said his sister, bitterly; "it's very pretty, but it won't

do."
"I swear it's the truth," said the mate.
"Why did John keep it so quiet and hide her for, then?" demanded his
sister.
"I came down for the trip," said Miss Harris; "that is all about it. There
is nothing to make a fuss about. How much is it, Captain Gibbs?"
She produced a little purse from her pocket, but before the embarrassed
skipper could reply, his infuriated wife struck it out of her hand. The
mate sprang instinctively forward, but too late, and the purse fell with a
splash into the water. The girl gave a faint cry and clasped her hands.
"How am I to get back?" she gasped.
"I'll see to that, Lucy," said the mate. "I'm very sorry--I've been a
brute."
"You?" said the indignant girl. "I would sooner drown myself than be
beholden to you."
"I'm very sorry," repeated the mate, humbly.
"There's enough of this play-acting," interposed Mrs. Gibbs. "Get off
this barge."
"You stay where you are," said the mate, authoritatively.
"Send that girl off this barge," screamed Mrs. Gibbs to her husband.
Captain Gibbs smiled in a silly fashion and scratched his head. "Where
is she to go?" he asked feebly.
"Wh'at does it matter to you where she goes?" cried his wife, fiercely.
"Send her off."
The girl eyed her haughtily, and repulsing the mate as he strove to

detain her, stepped to the side. Then she paused as he suddenly threw
off his coat, and sitting down on the hatch, hastily removed his boots.
The skipper, divining his intentions, seized him by the arm.
"Don't be a fool, Ted," he gasped; "you'll get under the barge."
The mate shook him off, and went in with a splash which half drowned
his adviser. Miss Harris, clasping her hands, ran to the side and gazed
fearfully at the spot where he had disappeared, while his sister in a
terrible voice seized the opportunity to point out to her husband the
probably fatal results of his ill-doing. There was an anxious interval,
and then the mate's head appeared above the water, and after a
breathing- space disappeared again. The skipper, watching uneasily,
stood by with a lifebelt.
"Come out, Ted," screamed his sister as he came up for breath again.
The mate disappeared once more, but coming up for the third time,
hung on to the side of the barge to recover a bit. A clothed man in the
water savours of disaster and looks alarming. Miss Harris began to cry.
"You'll be drowned," she whimpered.
"Come out," said Mrs. Gibbs, in a raspy voice. She knelt on the deck
and twined her fingers in his hair. The mate addressed her in terms
rendered brotherly by pain.
"Never mind about the purse," sobbed Miss Harris; "it doesn't matter."
"Will you make it up if I come out, then," demanded the diver.
"No; I'll never speak to you again as long as I live," said the girl,
passionately.
The mate disappeared again. This time he was out of sight longer than
usual, and when he came up merely tossed his arms weakly and went
down again. There was a scream from the women, and a mighty splash
as the skipper went overboard with a life-belt. The mate's head, black

and shining, showed for a moment; the skipper grabbed him by the hair
and towed him to the barge's side, and in the midst