and they've gone."

Sears turned the page of the _Item_. He made no comment. His silence did
not in the least disturb his caller.

"Yes, they've gone," she repeated. "Right in the middle of the forenoon,
too.... Oh, well! when the Admiral of all creation comes to get you to
go cruisin' along with him, you go, I suppose. That is, some folks do.
I'd like to see the man _I'd_ make such a fool of myself over."

The captain was reading the "Local Jottings" now. Mrs. Tidditt kept
serenely on.

"I wouldn't let any man make such a soft-headed fool of me," she
declared. "'Twould take more than a mustache and a slick tongue to get
_my_ money away from me--if I had any."

Sears was obliged to give up the Jottings. He sighed and put down the
paper.

"What's the matter, Esther?" he asked. "Who's after your money?"

"Nobody, and good reason why, too. And I ain't out cruisin' 'round the
fields with an Eg neither."

"With an egg? Who is?"

"Who do you think? Cordelia Berry, of course. Him and her have gone for
what he calls a little stroll. He said she was workin' her poor brain
too hard and a little fresh air would do her good. Pity about her poor
brain, ain't it? Well, if 'twan't a poor one he'd never coax her into
marryin' _him_, that's sartin."

"Esther, don't talk foolish."

"Nothin' foolish about it. If them two ain't keepin' company then I
never saw anybody that was. He's callin' on her, and squirin' her
'round, and waitin' on her mornin', noon and night. And she--my
patience! she might as well hang out a sign, 'Ready and Willin'.' She
says he's the one real aristocrat she has seen since she left her
father's home. Poor Cap'n Ike, he's all forgotten."

Sears stirred uneasily. Barring Tidditt exaggeration, he was inclined to
believe all this very near the truth. It merely confirmed his own
suspicions.

His visitor went gayly on. "I'm sorry for Elizabeth," she said. "I don't
know whether the poor girl realizes how soon she's liable to have that
Eg for a step-pa. I shouldn't wonder if she suspected a little. I don't
see how she can help it. But, Elviry Snowden--oh, dear, dear! If _she_
ain't the sourest mortal these days. I do get consider'ble fun out of
Elviry. She's the one thing that keeps me reconciled to life."

The captain thought he saw an opportunity to shift Mrs. Berry from the
limelight and substitute some one else.

"I thought Elvira Snowden was the one you said meant to get Egbert," he
suggested.