第25章

“There，dad，“saidthelatter，“don’tyouworryaboutZekeBassett，noranythingelse。YoujustlayindrydockandletParkerhereoverhaulyourrunnin’riggin’andgetyoufitforsea。That’swhatyou’vegottodo。“

“I’mfitandreadyfortheseaI’mgoin’tosail，“wastheanswer。

HiseyeswanderedfromhissontoMrs。Coffin。Foraninstantheseemedpuzzled。Thenhesaid：

“’Evenin’，Keziah。Idon’tknowwhyyou’rehere，but——“

“IheardthatGracewasaloneandthatyouwassick，Eben。SoI

comerightdown，tohelpifIcould。“

“Thankye。You’reagood-heartedwoman，Keziah，eventhoughyouain’tseenthetruelightyet。Andyou’rehousekeeperforthathiredpriest——a——a——“Hepaused，andatroubledlookcameoverhisface。

“Whatisit，dad？“askedNat。

“I——I——Where’sGracie？She’shere，ain’tshe？“

“Yes，uncle，I’mhere。HereIam，“saidthegirl。Hisfingersgropedforherhandandseizedit。

“Yes，yes，you’rehere，“murmuredCaptainEben。“I——I——foraminuteorso，I——Ihadanawfuldreamaboutyou，Gracie。I

dreamed——Nevermind。Doc，answermethisnow，trueandhonest，mantoman：Canyoukeepmehereforjustalittlespelllonger？

Canyou？Try！Tenminutes，say。Canyou？“

“OfcourseIcan。Cap’nHammond，whatareyou——“

“Iknow。That’sallright。ButIain’tayoungonetobepettedandliedto。I’maman。I’vesailedships。I’vebeenonbluewater。I’mgoin’tomakeportprettysoon，andIknowit，butI

wanttogetmydecksclearfust，ifIcan。Gracie，standstill。

Nat，runalongsidewhereIcanseeyouplainer。Keziah，youandthedoctorstaywhereyoube。Iwantyoutowitnessthis。“

“Cap’n，“protestedDr。Parker，“ifIwereyouIwouldn’t——“

“Belay！Silencethere，for’ard！Nat，you’remyboy，ain’tyou？

Yousetsomestorebytheoldman，hey？“

“I——IguessIdo，dad。“

“Yes，Iguessyoudo，too。You’vebeenaprettygoodboy；stubbornandpig-headedsometimes，but，takeyoubyandlarge，prettygood。

AndGracie，you’vebeenamightygoodgirl。Neverdonenothin’I

wouldn’tlike，nothin’meannorunderhandnor——“

“Hush，uncle！Hush！Pleasehush！“

“Well，youain’t；sowhyshouldIhush？Inthis——thisdreamIhad，seems’sifyou——seemsasifamancometomeandsaidthatyouwas——

ItWASadream，wa’n’tit？“

Hetriedtorise。Natandthedoctorstartedforward。Graceshrankback。

“Ofcourseitwas，cap’n，“saidthedoctorbriskly。“Nowyoumustn’tfretyourselfinthisway。Justliestilland——“

“Belay，Itellyou。Yes，Iguess’twasadream。Ithadtobe，but’twassosortofrealthatI——HowlonghaveIbeenthisway？“

“Oh，alittlewhile！Nowjust——“

“Hush！Don’tpullyourhandaway，Gracie。Nat，givemeyours。

That’sit。NowIputthemtwohandstogether。See，doctor？See，Keziah？“

“He’swandering。Wemuststopthis，“mutteredParker。Mrs。

Coffin，whobegantocomprehendwhatwascoming，lookedfearfullyatNatandthegirl。

“No，Iain’twanderin’，neither，“declaredtheoldCome-Outerfretfully。“I’msaneaseverIwasandifyoutrytostopmeI’ll——

Gracie，yourUncleEben’sv’yageis’mostover。He’salmosttohismoorin’sandthey’rewaitin’forhimonthepier。I——Iwon’tbelongnow。Justalittlewhile，Lord！Givemejustalittlewhiletogetmyhouseinorder。Gracie，Idon’twanttogotillI

knowyou’llbelookedoutfor。I’vespoketoNataboutthis，butI

ain’tsaidmuchtoyou。SeemsifIhadn’t，anyhow；Iain’trealsartin；myhead’sallfullofbellsringin’and——andthings。“

“Don’t，uncle，don’t！“pleadedGrace。“Don’tworryaboutme。

Thinkofyourself，please。“

“S-sh-sh！Don’tputmeoff。Justlisten。Iwantyoutomarrymyboy，afterI’mgone。Iwantyoutosayyouwill——sayitnow，so’sIcanhearit。Willyou，Gracie？“

Gracewouldhavewithdrawnherhand，buthewouldnotlether。Heclungtoitandtoth

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