“Cert’nly not, sir,” replied Mr.
Tasker. “Where should I get the money
from?”
The captain eyed him without replying, and a sudden
suspicion occurred to him. The strange disappearance
of the map, followed by the sudden cessation of Mr.
Chalk’s visits, began to link themselves to this
tale of unexpected wealth. He bestowed another
searching glance upon the agitated Mr. Tasker.
“You haven’t sold anything lately, have
you?” he inquired, with startling gruffness.
“I haven’t ’ad nothing to sell,
sir,” replied the other, in astonishment.
“And I dare say Mr. Vickers here saw a new pair
o’ boots on one o’ the young’uns
and dreamt all the rest.”
Mr. Vickers intervened with passion.
“That’ll do,” said the captain,
sharply. “How dare you make that noise
in my house? I think that the tale about the
clothes is all right,” he added, turning to
Joseph. “I saw them go into church looking
very smart. And you know nothing about it?”
Mr. Tasker’s astonishment was too genuine to
be mistaken, and the captain, watching him closely,
transferred his suspicions to a more deserving object.
Mr. Vickers caught his eye and essayed a smile.
“Dry work talking, sir,” he said, gently.
Captain Bowers eyed him steadily. “Have
we got any beer, Joseph?” he inquired.
“Plenty in the cask, sir,” said Mr. Tasker,
reluctantly.
“Well, keep your eye on it,” said the
captain. “Good morning, Mr. Vickers.”
But disappointment and indignation got the better
of Mr. Vickers’s politeness.
“Penny for your thoughts, uncle,” said
Miss Drewitt, as they sat at dinner an hour or two
after the departure of Mr. Vickers.
“H’m?” said the captain,
with a guilty start. “You’ve been
scowling and smiling by turns for the last five minutes,”
said his niece.
“I was thinking about that man that was here
this morning,” said the captain, slowly; “trying
to figure it out. If I thought that that girl
Selina——”
He took a draught of ale and shook his head solemnly.
“You know my ideas about that,” said Prudence.
“Your poor mother was obstinate,” commented
the captain, regarding her tolerantly. “Once
she got an idea into her head it stuck there, and
nothing made her more angry than proving to her that
she was wrong. Trying to prove to her, I should
have said.”
Miss Drewitt smiled amiably. “Well, you’ve
earned half the sum,” she said. “Now,
what were you smiling about?”
“Didn’t know I was smiling,” declared
the captain.
With marvellous tact he turned the conversation to
lighthouses, a subject upon which he discoursed with
considerable fluency until the meal was finished.
Miss Drewitt, who had a long memory and at least her
fair share of curiosity, returned to the charge as
he smoked half a pipe preparatory to accompanying
her for a walk.
