d--'

"'Really, I don't see why you bring Mr. Loveland's name into the
conversation. He is a perfect gentleman, generous and kind; and as for
the way in which he runs that lovely car of his--'

"The Cap'n interrupted her. He ripped out somethin' emphatic.

"'Generous!' he snarls. ''Bout as generous as a hog in the feed trough,
he is. And as for runnin' that pesky auto, if I'd demean myself to own
one of them things, I'll bet my other suit I could run it better'n he
does. If I couldn't, I'd tie myself to the anchor and jump overboard.'

"The way she answered showed pretty plain that she didn't believe him.
'Really?' she says. 'Do you think so? Good night, Jonadab.'

"I could hear her walkin' off acrost the piazza. He went after her.
'Hettie,' he says, 'you answer me one thing. Are you engaged to Tobe
Loveland?'

"She laughed again, sort of teasin' and slow. 'Really,' says she, 'you
are--Why, no, I'm not.'

"That was all, but it set me to thinkin' hard. She wa'n't engaged to
Loveland; she said so, herself. And yet, if she wanted Jonadab, she was
actin' mighty funny. I ain't had no experience, but it seemed to me that
then was the time to bag him and she'd put him off on purpose. She was
ages too ancient to be a flirt for the fun of it. What was her game?"

CHAPTER X

CAPTAIN JONADAB GOES

Mr. Wingate stopped and roared a greeting to Captain Hiram Baker, who
was passing the open door of the waiting room.

"Hello, there, Hime!" he shouted. "Come up in here! What, are you too
proud to speak to common folks?"

Captain Hiram entered. "Hello!" he said. "You look like a busy gang, for
sure. What you doin'--seatin' chairs?"

"Just now we're automobilin'," observed Captain Sol. "Set down, Hiram."

"Automobilin'?" repeated the new arrival, evidently puzzled.

"Sartin. Barzilla's takin' us out. Go on, Barzilla."

Mr. Wingate smiled broadly. "Well," he began, "we HAVE just about
reached the part where I went autoin'. The widow and me and Jonadab."

"Jonadab!" shouted Stitt. "I thought you said--"

"I know what I said. But we went auto ridin' just the same.

"'Twas Henry G. Bradbury that took us out, him and his bran-new big
tourin' car. You see, he landed to board with us the next day after
Henrietta come--this Henry G. did--and he was so quiet and easy spoken
and run his car so slow that even a pizen auto hater like Jonadab
couldn't take much offense at him. He wa'n't very well, he said, subject
to som