Cy Whittaker's Place

tug in sight." Mary Thomas was dead, and her daughter, her DAUGHTER! of whose very existence he had been ignorant, had suddenly appeared from nowhere and been dropped at his door, l

for the box?" repeated the child, s

rass cheek that ever I run across, this beats the whole cargo! And Betsy Howes never hinted! 'Probably you would be glad to take-' Be GLAD! W

sir," she replied. "It was my teet

you? With all that round yo

mebody kept dropping icicles down it. Those bushes and vines were

, tut! Somethin' ought to be done, and I'm blessed if I know what. And not a woman round the plac

looked f

r big eyes opening.

ught to get warm and dry right off, I s'pose, and your duds are all up to the depot.

bbed me. And, if I was VERY we

edroom right in there. You could turn in just as well as not. Bunk ain't made yet,

Course I can! I

babyish. All right, you set st

y, to "shake up" the bed. It was not a lengthy process and, when it was completed, he r

observed the young lady. "This is my best dress and

unbuttoned the wet waist, glancing rather shee

cover his confusion. It was obviously not very n

s,

you buy it-up

mma made it,

the child's voice. The cap

riedly. "Well, there you are. No

hall I go in

t sing out when you're tucked up. I-I'll wa

, his hands in his pockets, walked up and down the length of

," called a voice from the o

" he exclaimed. "What in

boy" and, from the tumbled mass of apparel

I guess you'll have to make this do for now. It'll fit yo

he door and the nightshirt disappeared. C

tchwork points and diamonds of the "Rising Sun" quilt covering her to the chin and he

h over you

ir, tha

out and dry 'em in the kitchen. Do

ok his head whimsically as he completed it. Then he took a flat iron, one of Mrs. Beasley's purchases, from the shelf in the

e and got chilled," he explained. "I ain't used one for some time, bu

r so warm. Isn't

ep down street and see about havin' your box sent for. I'll be back in a shake. I

e, shake his head, and go on once more. Josiah Dimick met him, and his answers to Josiah's questions were so vague and irrelevant that Captain

ave an order for the delivery of the box. Then he

, "what's goo

ley, in true Yankee f

By way of proof he coughed until th

Oil' and 'Sassafras Elixir' and two kinds of sass'p'rilla

es, I g

better'n 'Arabian Balsam.' But what in time are you doin' out

ebody got out afore I did. This 'Arabian Balsam'-seems to me I remember my ma

d flannel if you've got it; that acts quick

e you're about it; always handy to have in the house. And

clerk admitte

a can of the

ir to reach the shelf where th

icken just now. Fact is, we ain't got nothin' but termatter and

take the beef. Needn't min

f the store, returned, Alpheus told him that he "cal'lated" Capta

alsam,' and I sold him a can of that beef soup you bought thre

ht of the childish head upon the pillow gave him a start as he peeped in at it. It looked so natural, almos

it was a package he had been expecting. The captain took the box to the bedroom, and, finding the child still asleep, d

ve when Emily appeared. She was dressed in dry clothes

in Cy. "You're on deck a

your own work? Can't I help? I can set

the girl persisting, he showed her where the dishes were kept. From

you've got?" she inqui

n' and ironin' the way I'd ought to. I'l

lla and decorate her throat with a section of red flannel soaked in the 'Arabian Balsam.' The perfume of

in' for folks with icicles," remarked the captain, waving the

you. But don't yo

ey

ng that you're thankful for

that, I'm afraid. Bein' thankful for the grub I've had l

ma used to say. Sha

ss so, if y

epeated a short grace. Capta

"I'm awful hungry. I had breakfast at five o'clock t

ng and she wiping. And even at this early stage of their acquaintance her disposition to take charge of things was apparent. She found fault with the dish towels; they were almost as bad as the tablecloth, she sa

ne over? I guess you didn't see that place in the corner. Perhaps you'v

itted that a second washin

was one of the part

hat mamma hunted dust with a magnifying glass. She didn't, though; she only

hy

re; don't you think so? I'll help yo

U w

once I swept, but I did it so hard that auntie wouldn't let me any

ly inspecting the mats, the furniture, and the pictures on t

ind it. 'Dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return.' Every

hook he

"I was only looking a

What about? or i

hat this room was differen

likely 'tis. Don't like

things in it that I never saw before, but I gu

. "After you get used to

ie Oliver's new bonnet that she made herself

cul

the most peculiar child she ever saw. P'raps that's why I came to you. P'raps G

aving no answer re

hich had been his grandfather's. At his feet, on the walnut cricket with a haircloth top, sat a little girl turning over the leaves of a tattered magazine, a Godey's Lady's Book. A pile of these magaz

cking. Captain Cy looked up, sa

d to see you. Come right in.

be surprised if it was. Bailey, his eyes fixed

looked sick. Said you bought sass'p'rilla and all kind of truck. He was afraid you had fever and was out of your head, cruisi

ke my own bed, thank you. So Alpheus thought I looked thin, hey? Well, if I had to live on that soup he sold me, I'd be thinner'n I am now. You tel

ill staring at Emily,

ation of yours

I don't know but she is. Fellers, this is

colored picture of a group of ladies in crinoline and chigno

u do, sir?

'm pretty smart, thank

guess the sass'pari

with conviction. "'Twas the 'Arabian Balsam.' Ma a

ley. Captain Cy glanced at th

hastily, cutting off the remainder of the Bangs query. "It'

oks and replaced them in the closet. Then she went

visitors. Then, coming close to the c

ding, "I like it here ever so muc

f the red lapped over at the nape of his neck. However, he bent and

-er-good night. Pleasant dreams

't have to unbutton my waist now," she said.

ithout looking at his friends,

he whispered. "We ca

she was and where she came from. Captain Cy told as muc

deal like an English feller by the name of Gatenby that I used to know in South America. He woke up in the middle of the night and found a boa constrictor curled on the foot of his bed. Next day, when a crowd of us happened in, there was Gatenby, white as a

stay," put in Bailey. "You ai

s indignatio

m. No, sir! I'll keep the young one a day or so-or maybe a week-and then I'll

t looked t

te little girl, ain

vanished and a sm

e is, now that's a fact! I do