Speaker 1: Chapter twenty two of flood Tide. This LibriVox recording is
Speaker 1: in the public domain recording by Roger Moline. Flood Tide
Speaker 1: by Sarah Ware Bassett, Chapter twenty two, Delight makes her
Speaker 1: decision Zenas Henry Brewster sat on the edge of his veranda,
Speaker 1: his long legs crossed before him with a certain angular grace,
Speaker 1: and his corn cob pipe held rigidly between his teeth.
Speaker 1: Beside him, ranged like sparrows on a telegraph wire, were
Speaker 1: Captain Phineas Taylor, Captain Jonas Baker, and Captain Benjamin Todd.
Speaker 1: From the row of pipes, a miniature cloud of smoke ascended.
Speaker 1: But save for the distant pulsing of the sea and
Speaker 1: the murmur of the wind in the linden near the door,
Speaker 1: not a sound was to be heard through the afternoon stillness. Yet,
Speaker 1: in spite of the tranquility of the day and the
Speaker 1: apparent peace of the four figures that gazed so movably
Speaker 1: out upon the reach of blue, an electrical current of
Speaker 1: suspense was evident in the four tense forms. They were
Speaker 1: not looking at the bay, exquisite as it was in
Speaker 1: its cerulean beauty. Instead, the head of each man was
Speaker 1: turned toward the road that skirted the harbor and wound
Speaker 1: its way between the pines at the foot of the
Speaker 1: hill where the White cottage stood. He ought to be
Speaker 1: comin pretty soon, hadn't he. Captain Phineas ventured at last,
Speaker 1: Unable longer to restrain his impatience, he said four o'clock
Speaker 1: in his letter. It must be almost that, don't you
Speaker 1: think mighty nigh unto it? Replied Captain Benjamin As. I
Speaker 1: reckon it, having made the necessary allowances for my watch
Speaker 1: losing three and a quarter minutes an hour, it should
Speaker 1: be about four now it ain't but a quarter of four,
Speaker 1: sniffed Captain Jonas, with an error of superiority. That time
Speaker 1: piece of yours, Benjamin, ain't worth a silver that was
Speaker 1: put into it. What's the use of having a watch
Speaker 1: that keeps you figurin backwards and forwards and doin' sums
Speaker 1: all day? I wouldn't be bothered with it, Captain Benjamin
Speaker 1: bridled with indignation. I don't see, but my watch as
Speaker 1: good as yours, retorted he. The only difference is I'm
Speaker 1: addin from mornin till night, while you're subtracting the discomfited
Speaker 1: Captain Baker frowned. Mine comes out even minutes anyhow, announced
Speaker 1: he if it does shoot a head sum, it don't
Speaker 1: keep me reckonin in fractions like yours does. I'd see
Speaker 1: myself in Davy Jones's locker for I'd go Addin three
Speaker 1: quarter minutes together from sunrise to sunset. Oh Addin fractions
Speaker 1: is mighty good trainin for Benjamin, put in the peace
Speaker 1: loving Captain Phineas with a chuckle. It keeps his arithmetic
Speaker 1: brushed up. I'll bet you he could beat you at
Speaker 1: a sum Jonas, the triumphant Captain Benjamin observed a complacent silence.
Speaker 1: Let Benjamin in his watch alone. Jonas drawled Zenus Henry
Speaker 1: speaking for the first time. Somebody in the house has
Speaker 1: got to be up on mathematics, and it may as
Speaker 1: well be Benjamin as another I'm only sorry his ticker
Speaker 1: holds him. Just to add, if it would only make
Speaker 1: him multiply and divide some and take him into square root,
Speaker 1: it would give him a liberal all around education. Still,
Speaker 1: there's always hopes it may take a new turn. The
Speaker 1: last time it went overboard, there was indications that wouldn't
Speaker 1: be long before twould be leading him into algebra and
Speaker 1: the fourth dimension. Captain Benjamin grinned at the sally. It
Speaker 1: won't be goin overboard no more now, Zenus, Henry responded,
Speaker 1: he serenely, cause since the sea gull's got that eel
Speaker 1: grass proof contrivance hitch to her, there won't be no
Speaker 1: call for me to be lyin head downwards. Astern I'll
Speaker 1: be settin up like a Christian in future, all of
Speaker 1: us will my soul. But Bob Morton and Willie Spence
Speaker 1: did a good job on that boat. It's somethin to
Speaker 1: have a young chap with brains like that marryin into
Speaker 1: the family. I'll bet there's almost nothing on earth he
Speaker 1: couldn't tackle. You're right, Captain Phineas chimed in. If Delight's
Speaker 1: got to get married, and we'd be a lot of
Speaker 1: selfish brutes not to want her to. She certainly has
Speaker 1: picked a promisin' husband. You can lose money fling it
Speaker 1: away or have it stolen from you, but you can't
Speaker 1: lose brains. That's so Phineas, that's so Zenas, Henry said.
Speaker 1: Besides taint as if he was taking her to Indiana,
Speaker 1: New York ain't far Why I'll stake a ketch a mackerel.
Speaker 1: We could fetch up at that Long Island place in
Speaker 1: the sea gull. Of course we could, Zenus Henry, agreed
Speaker 1: Captain Jonas, flashing a glance of affection into his friend's face.
Speaker 1: There's no question about it. Take a good clear day
Speaker 1: and the sea runnin' right. We could make it without
Speaker 1: a mite of trouble. Long Island wouldn't be anything of
Speaker 1: a cruise. No place that we can sail to in
Speaker 1: our own boat is far away. A listener of discrimination
Speaker 1: might have detected in the dialog a note of assumed optimism,
Speaker 1: and suspected that the four old men, seated like images
Speaker 1: on the piazza rail were trying to buoy up one
Speaker 1: another's courage, and in the assumption he would not perhaps
Speaker 1: have been far wrong. What do you suppose this Galbraith
Speaker 1: has up his sleeve, Zenus Henry, that he should be
Speaker 1: comin over here? Captain Benjamin Todd speculated, during a lapse
Speaker 1: in the conversation. He has some scheme in mind. You
Speaker 1: can be sure of that. Why do you always go
Speaker 1: rootin up evil like as if you was diggin for clams?
Speaker 1: Benjamin inquired, Captain Phineas impatiently. All mister Galbraith said was
Speaker 1: he wanted to see Zenus Henry. There surely is no
Speaker 1: harm in that delight beIN his niece. It's only to
Speaker 1: be expected he'd want to get sight of the folks.
Speaker 1: She is livin with most natural thing in the world.
Speaker 1: It seems to me it would be queerer if he
Speaker 1: didn't show no interest in the people who have brought
Speaker 1: her up. That's so, Phineas. Captain Jonas echoed, nothin's likelier
Speaker 1: than that. He's comin to sort of thank Zenus Henry.
Speaker 1: Thank us. Zenus Henry burst out, thank us for bringing
Speaker 1: up our own child. What business is it of his?
Speaker 1: Do we go trapes into Bellport to thank him for
Speaker 1: beIN good to his children? No, no, Zenus Henry, Captain
Speaker 1: Phineas replied soothingly. Of course, he ain't comin here to
Speaker 1: thank us. That would be plumb ridiculous. More probable, he's comin,
Speaker 1: as I said, to make a friendly call, since he's
Speaker 1: a relative. But in spite of this reassurance, the ripple
Speaker 1: of misgiving had not entirely died away. Before the well
Speaker 1: known touring car with the new York Financier and its
Speaker 1: toneau made its appearance at the foot of the hill.
Speaker 1: He's comin, Zenus Henry, there he is, that's him, was
Speaker 1: the excited comment. But Zenus Henry maintained a grim silence.
Speaker 1: He had risen to his full height and now stood
Speaker 1: braced to meet an ordeal which he dreaded far more
Speaker 1: than he would have been willing to admit. His gaunt
Speaker 1: figure was stiff with resolution, his jaw set, his lips compressed.
Speaker 1: It was the same expression his countenance had worn the
Speaker 1: night he had gone forth into the storm to rescue
Speaker 1: the sinking crew of the Micheline from probable death. It
Speaker 1: was the expression his companion dreaded and feared, the fighter
Speaker 1: ready for combat. Yet his antagonist, as he alighted from
Speaker 1: the motor car and crossed the grass in leisurely fashion,
Speaker 1: appeared to be anything but a formidable adversary. He came
Speaker 1: toward Delight, who had hurried out to meet him, with
Speaker 1: easy friendliness, his hands extended and a smile of genuine
Speaker 1: affection on his face. I am glad to see you,
Speaker 1: my dear, he said, and in your own home too.
Speaker 1: I fancy you must have thought me a great while
Speaker 1: in coming. I was detained in New York much longer
Speaker 1: than I expected. Otherwise you would have seen me days ago.
Speaker 1: She smiled up into the kindly gray eyes. And my, my, my,
Speaker 1: what a lot of mischief you and Bob have been
Speaker 1: getting into in my absence, you sly little puss. You
Speaker 1: may well blush the bare idea of your springing a
Speaker 1: surprise like that on your new uncle. Bob has told
Speaker 1: me all about it. He suddenly became grave, and I
Speaker 1: am very glad for you both. You could not have
Speaker 1: chosen a finer husband, little girl. Robert Morton is one
Speaker 1: man in a thousand. We'll talk more of him by
Speaker 1: and by just now, I wish to meet all your family.
Speaker 1: You must p each one so that I shall not
Speaker 1: get all these many captains confused. How simply and naturally
Speaker 1: he bridged the awkwardness of the moment Before they realized it,
Speaker 1: Abby and the three veteran seafarers were chatting gaily with
Speaker 1: the visitor, and even Zemus Henry was venturing out of
Speaker 1: his reserve and unbending into geniality, when the words and
Speaker 1: now to business chilled the warmth of his mood and
Speaker 1: sent him back into his shell thrilling with vague forebodings,
Speaker 1: with every eye fixed expectantly upon him, mister Galbraith took
Speaker 1: off his panama and fanned himself. Now that we have
Speaker 1: put together a few of the links that bind our
Speaker 1: two families, he began and laid the foundation for a
Speaker 1: friendship which I hope the future will foster. There are
Speaker 1: a few intimate matters of which I wish to speak. First.
Speaker 1: There is Bob Morton, and if you want any reassuring
Speaker 1: as to his character, I can give it to you.
Speaker 1: Your own wise and shrewd discrimination has led you to
Speaker 1: accept him at his face value, and your estimate of
Speaker 1: him has not been a mistaken one. I do not
Speaker 1: think there is a young man in the world of
Speaker 1: greater sterling worth than the one your daughter has chosen
Speaker 1: for a husband. At the firm emphasis on the word daughter,
Speaker 1: zenus Henry's jaw relaxed. Of course, you feel the same
Speaker 1: anxiety for your child that I feel for mine, and
Speaker 1: realize how much a woman's happiness depends on the man
Speaker 1: into whose hand she puts her life. In giving up Cynthia,
Speaker 1: I know what it means to you to give up delight.
Speaker 1: We parents cannot expect to have all the joy and
Speaker 1: none of the suffering that comes with having children. However,
Speaker 1: he looked at Zenus Henry, and a quiet sympathy passed
Speaker 1: from one man to the other. But we should be selfish, indeed,
Speaker 1: were we to deny to those we love the best
Speaker 1: gift Heaven has to bestow. It is making others happy
Speaker 1: in their way, not in ours, that tests our real
Speaker 1: affection for them. And so I know that underneath all
Speaker 1: your personal regrets, you rejoice in the prospect of Delight's marriage,
Speaker 1: as I rejoice in Cynthia's. We shall not always be
Speaker 1: in this world to safeguard our daughters. How much better
Speaker 1: to see their future in the protection of younger and
Speaker 1: stronger men than ourselves. Yes, yes, murmured Zenus Henry. And
Speaker 1: now I want to speak to Delight. Although I am
Speaker 1: sure she will wish you to hear what I have
Speaker 1: to say to her, it is a matter of business
Speaker 1: about which she alone can decide. When Madame Lee, her grandmother, died,
Speaker 1: she left a large property in real estate and securities,
Speaker 1: which she willed outright to an old friend of whom
Speaker 1: she was devotedly fond. She felt the Galbraiths were amply
Speaker 1: provided for, and therefore, with the exception of certain jewels
Speaker 1: and heirlooms that were to be retained in the family,
Speaker 1: she bequeathed them nothing. We understood the motives that governed
Speaker 1: her in thus disposing of her property, and were in
Speaker 1: full accord with them. The document, however, was drawn up
Speaker 1: before she knew of the existence of this other granddaughter,
Speaker 1: And in view of this fact, the person to whom
Speaker 1: the property is willed feels that it is only just
Speaker 1: that the whole or a part of it should be
Speaker 1: relinquished in Delight's favor. There was an instant's pause. This
Speaker 1: the beneficiary does of his own accord, not alone as
Speaker 1: a matter of duty or as a matter of honor,
Speaker 1: but because his affection was so deep from Madam Lee,
Speaker 1: that it is a pleasure to him to act as
Speaker 1: he thinks she would have desired. Had not her end
Speaker 1: come so suddenly, she would without doubt have made a
Speaker 1: new will and done this herself. You mean that, without
Speaker 1: courts or lawyers asking him to, this man just wants
Speaker 1: to hand over the money, gasped Captain Jonas. Yes, well,
Speaker 1: I don't know who he is, but I'll say this
Speaker 1: much for him. He's an honest cuss ejaculated the fisherman
Speaker 1: in spite of his earnestness. Mister Galbraith smiled delight. However,
Speaker 1: had risen during the interval of silence, and with nervously
Speaker 1: clasped hands, had gone to zenas Henry's side, where she
Speaker 1: now stood, her eyes low large with thought. Her uncle
Speaker 1: turned toward her. Well, my dear, what have you to say,
Speaker 1: he asked. It is very kind of a stranger to
Speaker 1: be so noble, so generous, she declared gently. He mustn't
Speaker 1: think that I do not appreciate it. But I couldn't
Speaker 1: take a cent of the money. She went on with
Speaker 1: quick decision. Even had it been willed to me in
Speaker 1: the first place, it would have made no difference. I
Speaker 1: don't want to be unkind or to hurt anybody's feelings.
Speaker 1: But can't you see that Madame Lee was really nothing
Speaker 1: in my life. She came in and went out of
Speaker 1: it like a phantom. And she did not begin to
Speaker 1: mean to me what she did to this old friend
Speaker 1: of hers. Just because at the close of her days
Speaker 1: it was discovered that I was of her kin, it
Speaker 1: established no bond of affection between nothing but a legal claim.
Speaker 1: If she had lived, and we had grown dear to
Speaker 1: one another, and she had given the fortune to me
Speaker 1: out of her heart, then I should have accepted it gladly.
Speaker 1: But to have it bestowed on me merely by right
Speaker 1: of succession, I couldn't think of touching a penny of it.
Speaker 1: She caught her breath, and her chin rose a trifle higher.
Speaker 1: And besides, she continued, I would rather just be indebted
Speaker 1: to Zenus Henry and my own family. My grandmother was
Speaker 1: unjust to my parents, unkind, although she lived to be
Speaker 1: sorry for it, and would doubtless have done differently when
Speaker 1: she was older. She was harsh and cruel to them.
Speaker 1: I have forgiven, but I never can forget it. I
Speaker 1: don't want the Lee money. Zenus Henry and the three
Speaker 1: captains give me all I need, and I have no
Speaker 1: fears but that in the future Bob can look out
Speaker 1: for me. There was something in the proudly poised figure,
Speaker 1: so slender and erect, so firm and self respecting, in
Speaker 1: its calm decision, that roused every hearer's admiration, and drew
Speaker 1: from the New York Financier an involuntary homage. Nevertheless, with
Speaker 1: the fear that impulse might have prompted the girl's verdict,
Speaker 1: He felt impelled to explain, but you are tossing away
Speaker 1: a large sum thousands, child, You and deure people would
Speaker 1: be rich. We don't want to be rich, cried delight,
Speaker 1: with quivering nostril. Do we zenas Henry. She slipped an
Speaker 1: arm about his neck as he collapsed into his seat
Speaker 1: on the piazza rail We are happy just as we are.
Speaker 1: You don't want me to take the lee money, do you,
Speaker 1: she asked, putting her cheek against his. No, honey, no,
Speaker 1: you shan't be beholden to any one but me, he answered.
Speaker 1: I hope you'd decide as you have twould take half
Speaker 1: the pleasure out of my life. If it warn't us
Speaker 1: that was to do for you. Just the same, mister Galbraith,
Speaker 1: We thank you kindly for bringin the offer, and your
Speaker 1: friend for makin it. And though we refuse it tain't
Speaker 1: done in no unfriendly spirit. I understand that, nodded the financier. Nevertheless,
Speaker 1: he gazed with no small amount of awe and respect
Speaker 1: at these poor fisherfolk who could so lightly fling aside
Speaker 1: a fortune. Maybe, resumed zenus Henry, you'll tell this friend
Speaker 1: of Madame Lee's that we've took note of his squareness. Oh, yes,
Speaker 1: do tell him that it was splendid of him, splendid
Speaker 1: interrupted delight. He's a gentleman, whoever he is. Captain Phineas added,
Speaker 1: tell him so from all of us. You might like
Speaker 1: to tell him so yourselves, returned mister Galbraith slowly, eh Zenus,
Speaker 1: Henry questioned, Oh, we might write em. You mean that's
Speaker 1: so likely. It would be more decent. We'd be surer
Speaker 1: of his knowin how we felt if it was put
Speaker 1: down in black and white? What's his name? Robert Morton?
Speaker 1: Robert Morton, Robert mor not our not Bob. Yes, he
Speaker 1: saw a delight flush and her eyes suddenly filled with tears. Bob,
Speaker 1: she whispered, half aloud, Bob Zenus hen He drew her closer.
Speaker 1: What does the girl want with money, he demanded, When
Speaker 1: she's got a man like that, he's better than all
Speaker 1: the money on earth. But she'll get the money just
Speaker 1: the same, Zenas Henry piped, Captain Jonas, she'll get it.
Speaker 1: Have you thought of that? It'll be Bob's money, not mine, returned,
Speaker 1: delight with shy dignity, end of Chapter twenty two. Recording
Speaker 1: by Roger Moline