ays his name's Hazeltine, or somethin' like that, and
that he's goin' to get here to-morrer or next day."

"Well," said Captain Eri, "it's a mercy M'lissy found it out. If that
man should git here and she not know it aforehand 'twould kill her sure
as fate, and think what a blow that would be to you, Perez."

He took his old-fashioned watch from his pocket and glanced at the dial.

"I mustn't be settin' round here much longer," he added. "John Baxter's
goin' to have that little patch of cranberry swamp of his picked
to-morrer, and he's expectin' some barrels down on to-night's train.
John asked me to git Zoeth Cahoon to cart 'em down for him, but I ain't
got nothin' special to do to-night, so I thought I'd hitch up and go
and git 'em myself. You and Jerry can match cents to see who does the
dishes. I did 'em last night, so it's my watch below."

"Well, _I_ shan't do 'em," declared Captain Perez. "Blessed if I'd do
the durn things to-night if the President of the United States asked me
to."

"Humph!" sputtered Captain Jerry. "I s'pose you fellers think I'll do
'em all the time. If you do you're mistook, that's all. 'Twan't last
night you done 'em, Eri; 'twas the night afore. I done 'em last night,
and I'm ready to take my chances agin if we match, but I'm jiggered if
I let you shove the whole thing off onto me. I didn't ship for cook no
more 'n the rest of you."

Neither of the others saw fit to answer this declaration of independence
and there was a pause in the conversation. Then Captain Jerry said
moodily:

"It ain't no use. It don't work."

"What don't work?" asked Captain Eri.

"Why, this plan of ours. I thought when we fellers give up goin' to
sea reg'lar and settled down here to keep house ourselves and live
economical and all that, that 'twas goin' to be fine. I thought I
wouldn't mind doin' my share of the work a bit, thought 'twould be kind
of fun to swab decks and all that. Well, 'twas for a spell, but 'tain't
now. I'm so sick of it that I don't know what to do. And I'm sick of
livin' in a pigpen, too. Look at them dead-lights! They're so dirty that
when I turn out in the mornin' and go to look through 'em, I can't tell
whether it's foul weather or fair."

Captain Eri looked at the windows toward which his friend pointed and
signed assent.

"There's no use talkin'," he observed, "we've got to have a steward
aboard this craft."

"Yes," said Captain Perez emphatically, "a steward or a woman."

"