xplain matters to him? No, Miss, I reckon
ye'd better light out while the coast is clear. I'll git the boy to
take ye ashore, an' tell him that ye hit the wrong craft."

But the girl was not to be baffled in her purpose. She rose to her
feet and stood before the captain. Her eyes were wide with a nameless
fear, and her face showed very white where the light of the
bracket-lamp fell upon it.

"Don't, don't send me away," she pleaded. "Let me stay here until you
go from this place. Then you can put me ashore in the woods, or throw
me overboard, I don't care which, but for the love of heaven let me
stay now!"

Captain Samuel's big right hand dove suddenly into his pocket and
clawed forth a clay pipe, a plug of tobacco, and a large jack-knife.
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 a