Captain Eri paused, but it was only after a struggle that Captain Jerry was persuaded to halt.
"I shan't do it, Eri!" he vowed wildly. "I shan't do it! There ain't no use askin' me; I won't marry that black woman! I won't, by thunder!"
"There! there! Jerry!" said Captain Eri soothingly. "Nobody wants you to. There ain't no danger now. She didn't see us."
"Ain't no danger! There you go again, Eri Hedge! She'll ask where I live and come right down in the depot wagon. Oh! Lordy! Lordy!"
The frantic sacrifice was about to bound away again, when Captain Eri caught him by the arm.
"I'll tell you what," he said, "we'll scoot for Eldredge's shanty and hide there till she gits tired and goes away. P'raps she won't come, anyhow."
The deserted fish shanty, property of the heirs of the late Nathaniel Eldredge, was situated in a hollow close to the house. In a few moments the three were inside, with a sawhorse against the door. Then Captain Eri pantingly sat down on an overturned bucket and laughed until the tears came into his eyes.
"That's it, laff!" almost sobbed Captain Jerry. "Set there and tee-hee like a Bedlamite. It's what you might expect. Wait till the rest of the town finds out about this; they'll do the laffin' then, and you won't feel so funny. We'll never hear the last of it in this world. If that darky comes down here, I'll--I'll drown her; I will--"
"I don't blame Jerry," said Perez indignantly. "I don't see much to laff at. Oh, my soul and body there she comes now."
They heard the rattle of a heavy carriage, and, crowding together at the cobwebbed window, saw the black shape of the "depot wagon" rock past.
They waited, breathless, until they saw it go back again up the road.
"Did you lock the dining-room door, Perez?" asked Captain Eri.
"Course I didn't. Why should I?"
It was a rather senseless question. Nobody locks doors in Orham except at bedtime.
"Humph!" grunted Captain Eri. "She'll see the light in the dining room, and go inside and wait, more 'n likely. Well, there's nothin' for us to do but to stay here for a while, and then, if she ain't gone, one of us 'll have to go up and tell her she won't suit and pay her fare home, that's all. I think Jerry ought to be the one," he added mischievously.
"He bein' the bridegroom, as you might say."
"Me!" almost shouted the frantic Captain Jerry. "You go to grass! You fellers got me into this scrape, and now let's see you git me out of it.
I don't stir one step."
They sat there in darkness, the silence unbroken, save for an occasional chuckle from the provoking Eri. Perez, however, was meditating, and observed, after a while:
"Snow! That's a queer name for a darky, ain't it?"
"That colored man up at Barry's place was named White," said Captain Jerry, "and he was black as your hat. Names don't count."
"They say colored folks make good cooks, Jerry," slyly remarked Eri.
"Maybe you'd better think it over."
The unlucky victim of chance did not deign an answer, and the minutes crept slowly by. After a long while they heard someone whistling. Perez went to the window to take an observation.
"It's a man," he said disappointedly. "He's been to our house, too. My land! I hope he didn't go in. It's that feller Hazeltine; that's who 'tis."
"Is it?" exclaimed Eri eagerly. "That's so! so 'tis. Let's give him a hail."
Before he could be stopped he had pulled the saw-horse from the door, had opened the latter a little way, and, with his face at the opening, was whistling shrilly.
The electrician looked up and down the dark road in a puzzled sort of way, but evidently could not make up his mind from what quarter the whistles came.
"Mr. Hazeltine!" hailed the Captain, in what might be called a whispered yell or a shouted whisper. "Mr. Hazeltine! Here, on your lee bow. In the shanty."
The word "shanty" was the only part of the speech that brought light to Ralph's mind, but that was sufficient; he came down the hill, left the road, and plunged through the blackberry vines to the door.
"Who is it?" he asked. "Why, hello, Captain! What on earth--"
Captain Eri signaled him to silence, and then, catching his arm, pulled him into the shanty and shut the door. Captain Jerry hastened to set the saw-horse in place again.
"Mr. Hazeltine," said Captain Eri, "let me make you acquainted with Cap'n Perez and Cap'n Jerry, shipmates of mine. You've heard me speak of 'em."
Ralph, in the darkness, shook two big hands and heard whispered voices express themselves as glad to know him.
"You see," continued Eri in a somewhat embarrassed fashion, "we're sort of layin' to, as yer might say, waitin' to git our bearin's. We ain't out of our heads; I tell you that, 'cause I know that's what it looks like."
The bewildered Hazeltine laughed and said he was glad to hear it.
To tell the truth, he had begun to think that something or other had suddenly driven his nearest neighbors crazy.
"I--I--I don't know how to explain it to you," the Captain stumbled on.
"Fact is, I guess I won't jest yit, if you don't mind. It does sound so pesky ridic'lous, although it ain't, when you understand it. What we want to know is, have you been to our house and is there anybody there?"
"Why, yes, I've been there. I rowed over and dropped in for a minute, as you suggested the other day. The housekeeper--I suppose it was the housekeeper--that opened the door, said you were out, and I--"
He was interrupted by a hopeless groan.
"I knew it!" wailed Captain Jerry. "I knew it! And you said there wa'n't no danger, Eri!"
"Hush up, Jerry, a minute, for the love of goodness! What was she doin', Mr. Hazeltine, this woman you thought was the housekeeper? Did she look as if she was gettin' ready to go out? Did she have her bunnit on?"
"No. She seemed to be very much at home. That's why I thought--"
But again Captain Jerry broke in, "Well, by mighty!" he ejaculated.
"That's nice, now, ain't it! SHE goin' away! You bet she ain't! She's goin' to stay there and wait, if it's forever. She's got too good a thing. Jest as like 's not, M'lissy Busteed, or some other gab machine like her, 'll be the next one to call, and if they see that great black critter! Oh! my soul!"
"Black!" said Ralph amazedly. "Why, the woman at your house isn't black.
She's as white as I am, and not bad-looking for a woman of her age."
"WHAT?" This was the trio in chorus. Then Captain Eri said:
"Mr. Hazeltine, now, honest and true, is that a fact?"
"Of course it's a fact."
The Captain wiped his forehead. "Mr. Hazeltine," he said, "if anybody had told me a fortn't ago that I was one of the three biggest fools in Orham, I'd have prob'ly rared up some. As 'tis now, I cal'late I'd thank him for lettin' me off so easy. You'll have to excuse us to-night, I'm afraid. We're in a ridic'lous scrape that we've got to git out of all alone. I'll tell you 'bout it some day. Jest now wish you'd keep this kind of quiet to oblige me."
Hazeltine saw that this was meant as a gentle hint for his immediate departure, and although he had a fair share of curiosity, felt there was nothing else to do. He promised secrecy, promised faithfully to call again later in the week, and then, the sawhorse having been removed by Captain Perez,--Captain Jerry was apparently suffering from a sort of dazed paralysis,--he went away. As soon as he had gone, Captain Eri began to lay down the law.
"Now then," he said, "there's been some sort of a mistake; that's plain enough. More 'n likely, the darky took the wrong satchel when she got up to come out of the car. That woman at the house is the real Marthy Snow all right, and we've got to go right up there and see her. Come on!"