ght of that
darky had sickened him of marrying forever, and that he would not see
the candidate from Nantucket, nor any other candidate. No persuasion
could budge him. He simply would not stir from that shanty until the
house had been cleared of female visitors.

"Go and see her yourself, if you're so set on it," he declared. "I
shan't!"

"All right," said Captain Eri calmly. "I will. I'll tell her you're
bashful, but jest dyin' to be married, and that she can have you if she
only waits long enough."

With this he turned on his heel and walked out.

"Hold on, Eri!" shouted the frantic Jerry. "Don't you do it! Don't you
tell her that! Land of love, Perez, do you s'pose he will?"

"I don't know," was the answer in a disgusted tone. "You hadn't ought to
have been so pig-headed, Jerry."

Captain Eri, with set teeth and determination written on his face,
walked straight to the dining-room door. Drawing a long breath, he
opened it and stepped inside. A woman, who had been sitting in Captain
Perez' rocker, rose as he entered.

The woman looked at the Captain and the Captain looked at her. She was
of middle age, inclined to stoutness, with a pair of keen eyes behind
brass-rimmed spectacles, and was dressed in a black "alpaca" gown that
was faded a little in places and had been neatly mended in others. She
spoke first.

"You're not Cap'n Burgess?" she said.

"No, ma'am," said the Captain uneasily. "My name is Hedge. I'm a sort of
messmate of his. You're Miss Snow?"

"Mrs. Snow. I'm a widow."

They shook hands. Mrs. Snow calmly expectant; the Captain very nervous
and not knowing how to begin.

"I feel as if I knew you, Cap'n Hedge," said the widow, as the Captain
slid into his own rocker. "The boy on the depot wagon told me a lot
about you and Cap'n Ryder and Cap'n Burgess."

"Did, hey?" The Captain inwardly vowed vengeance on his chum's
grandnephew. "Hope he gave us a clean bill."

"Well, he didn't say nothin' against you, if that's what you mean. If he
had, I don't think it would have made much diff'rence. I've lived
long enough to want to find out things for myself, and not take folks'
say-so."

The lady seeming to expect some sort of answer to this statement,
Captain Eri expressed his opinion that the plan of finding out things
for one's self was a good "idee." Then, after another fidgety silence,
he observed that it was a fine evening. There being no dispute on this
point, he endeavored to think of somet