t' look after
themselves."

"Yes, and when I think of that, I'm afraid of them. They'll get
something out of us for all the money they spend. And, Davy, I don't
want them to get it out of me!"

"Get it out of you!" David struck his pipe on the railing and the sparks
fell into the night like a shower of stars. Janet nodded her head.

"Yes, get it out of me! All the same if I'm going to help make my
living, this seems the only way, so I'm going in with the rest. But I
want to choose my own path. Davy, did you ever see my mother? Of course
you did! She was pretty, but I'm a lot better looking. Cap'n Billy's
been telling me about her."

"Tellin' ye about her, all?" David asked faintly.

"Oh! I reckon not all; he was choking while he talked, and I hated to
ask him particulars. How old was I when she died, Cap'n Davy?"

"Ye warn't no age at all, child; as yer little skiff hove int' sight,
hers set sail. Ye didn't any more than hail each other in passin'."

"Oh! tell me more, Davy."

"'T was an awful night ye chose, Janet. Wind off sea, an' howlin' like
mad. Sleet an' rain minglin', an' porridge ice slammin' ont' shore!
Billy had the midnight patrol, an' fore he started out, he 'ranged that
we should keep one eye out toward his cottage,--I happened t' be on that
night,--an' if we saw a light in the lean-to winder, I was t' rouse Mrs.
Jo G. 'Long 'bout two, I saw the light, an' I made tracks for Mrs. Jo
G.'s. The wind almost knocked us down as we set out for Billy's. I
waited in the lean-to, an' Mrs. Jo G. she went int' the bedroom."

"Go on, Cap'n Davy. I wish I had known always about Mrs. Jo G. She
didn't mind the storm? Somehow I never thought of her like that."

"'T was only human, Janet, her an' yer ma was the only females at the
Station. 'Long 'bout four, Billy came a-staggerin' in. He had seen the
light shinin' in the winder. He was coated over with ice, ice hangin' to
his beard an' lashes, but Lord, how his eyes was glitterin'! I couldn't
say a blessed thin'. Gum! there wasn't a thing t' say. I just gripped
him like a looney, an' he gripped me, an' thar we stood a-starin' an'
a-staring'! 'Why don't ye go in?' I asked."

"And why didn't he?" Janet was struggling with an inclination to cry,
"why didn't he?" David, fearing he had ventured upon dangerous ground,
muttered:

"He said he couldn't! Them was his own words. Billy was always queer.
Just then Mrs. Jo G. came int' the living room. She had you--we didn'