Sweetapple Cove

by George Van Schaick

  CHAPTER XI

  _From Miss Helen Jelliffe to Miss Jane Van Zandt_

  _Dearest Aunt Jennie_:

  I was looking at the calendar, this morning, and thought that some onehad made an extraordinary mistake, but I am now convinced that it will befour weeks to-morrow since we first arrived in Sweetapple Cove. Youraccounts of delightful doings in Newport are most interesting, yet I amsure that with you the time cannot possibly fly as it does here.

  At present dear old Daddy is reclining in a steamer chair on the porch ofour little house, and his crutches are resting against the wall. They arewonderful things manufactured by Frenchy, whom Dr. Grant considers as anuniversal genius. When they were first brought to us I was inclined towhimper a little, for I had a dreadful vision of them as a permanentthing. It was a regular attack of what Daddy, in his sarcastic moments,calls silly, female fears.

  "Don't tell me he is always going to need them!" I cried to the doctor.

  This man has a way of setting all doubts at rest. Just one look of hisfrank clear eyes does it. I really am not surprised that these people alljust grovel before him.

  "Not a bit," he answered decisively. "He doesn't really need them now,but it will be a little safer to use them for the present. In a week orso we will make a bonfire of them."

  Daddy has been sitting as judge and jury over his poor leg. Suchmeasurings with steel tape and squintings along the edge of hisshin-bone, and such chapters of queries and answers! But now he isperfectly satisfied that it is what he calls an A 1 job, and looks at hislimb with the prideful interest of a man who has acquired a rare andprecious work of art.

  How can you possibly say that I must be yawning myself half to death andlonging for the fleshpots of Morristown? If I could have my own way Iwould build an unpretentious cottage here, but of course I would insiston a real bath tub. And I would come and spend the most pleasant months,and cultivate my dear friends the populace, and those delightful Barnettsand Frenchy's kidlet, who is a darling and my first real conquest.

  The doctor and I have caught more salmon, and some sea-trout, and I havetaken lessons in knitting from some ancient dames whose fingers trembledeither from old age or the excitement of the distinction conferred uponthem. They don't despise my ignorance but are certainly surprised at it.I am not certain that I have not prompted the arising of certainjealousies, though I do my best to distribute myself fairly. I cannot asyet turn a heel but I have hopes. Some day I will make Daddy wear thethings, when he puts on enormous boots and goes quail shooting, after wego South again. I shall select some day when he has been real mean to me,and be the blisters on his own heels!

  The _Snowbird_ is now riding in the cove, having been manicured andprimped up in the dry-dock at St. John's. Daddy says that it was aneconomy, for the dock laborer of that fortunate city does not yet regardhimself as an independent magnate. Our schooner and its auxiliary engineare, of course, objects of admiration to the natives. They know a boatwhen they see one. Stefansson would have a fit if he saw a rope end thatwasn't crown-spliced, or a flemish coil that was not reminiscent of theworks of old masters. The way he keeps his poor crew polishing thebrasses must make life dreary for them, yet they seem to scrub awaywithout repining. I have told you that Jim Brown, our second, is a nativeof these parts and responsible for our coming. Now he lords it in thevillage dwellings, where he is considered as a far-traveled man who canrelate marvelous tales of great adventures to breathless audiences.

  Daddy, of course, directed that every one should be made welcome onboard. You should have seen these big fishermen coyly removing theirheavy boots before treading our decks--I believe that "snowy deck" is theproper term--lest they should mar the holystoned smoothness. They haveentered with bated breath the dining and sitting room, explored themysteries of the galley and peeped into the staterooms.

  "Jim he've written once ter the sister o' he," Captain Sammy told me oneday. "He were tellin' how them yachts wuz all fixed up an' we wuzthinkin' as how in travelin' he'd got ter be considerable of a liar,savin' yer presence, ma'am. But now I mistrust he didn't hardly knowenough ter tell the whole truth."

  A few bystanders nodded in approval. I need hardly tell you that ourinvasion is still a subject of interest in the place. From my bedroomwindow, where I was trying to knit one afternoon, I heard some men whowere conversing, standing peacefully in the middle of the little road, inspite of a pouring rain, which they mind about as much as so many ducks.The only fat man in Sweetapple Cove was speaking.

  "Over to England they is them Lards an' Jukes, what ain't allowed in themStates, but I mistrusts them Jelliffes is what takes the place o' they inAmeriky."

  "I dunno," doubted another, "th' gentleman he be kinder civerlized fer ajuke. Them goes about wid little crowns on the head o' they, I seen apictur of one, onst. But Lards is all right. Pete McPhay he saw one, deerhuntin', two years ago, an' said he'd talk pleasant to anybody, like Mr.Jelliffe. That's why I thinks he's more like a Lard nor a Juke."

  This conclusion seemed to meet with general approval, and the men wenton.

  Dr. Grant came over to us fairly early this morning, and joined us on thelittle porch.

  "Good morning," he said. "You must be glad that the term of yourimprisonment is drawing to a close, Mr. Jelliffe. You will soon be onyour way home. As a matter of fact there is nothing to prevent yourleaving in a few days. We could easily put you in your berth on board,well braced up, and in four or five days the _Snowbird_ would be atanchor off the New York Yacht Club float."

  "I am suffering from the deteriorating influence of prolonged idleness,Doctor," said Daddy. "I have become thoroughly lazy now, and don't careto start until I can hop on board without assistance, and walk the deckas much as I want. This daughter of mine has developed an uncannyattachment to the place; she sometimes tries to look sorry for me, butshe is having the one grand time of her childhood."

  I protested, naturally, but he paid no attention and went on.

  "Now that I can sit on this porch I get any amount of company. I knowevery one in the place and feel that I am acquiring the local accentthrough my prolonged conversations with the natives. I am utterlyincapable of thinking of desirable parcels of real estate, and bondsleave me indifferent. I reckon in codfish now, like the rest of thepopulation. I caught myself wondering, yesterday, how many quintals theFlatiron Building was worth."

  "I am sure you must miss your daily paper," said the doctor.

  "A short time ago that was one of the flies in my ointment; but now I amat peace. Why remind me of it?"

  Daddy delights in chess with the parson and long talks with the doctor. Ican see that he has become really very fond of him. Mr. Barnett is muchmore frequently with him, and they have tremendous battles during whichit looks as if the fate of empires depended on the next move, but whenthe doctor comes Daddy looks ever so pleased and his voice rings out withwelcome.

  I announced that I was going over to old Granny Lasher, who would get meout of trouble with that heel I was puzzling over.

  "Just look at her, Doctor," said Daddy. "Did you ever see such rosycheeks? This has done her a lot of good; of course she has always been astrong girl, but there is something here that has golf and motoringbeaten to a standstill. She is becoming horribly proud of getting thosesalmon. I will have to take down her pride, some day, and show her whatan old fellow like me can do. I am ever so much obliged to you for takingsuch good care of her."

  Now you and I, Aunt Jennie, know that men are silly things at best. Ofcourse I am grateful to Dr. Grant for looking after me so nicely, but whyshould he deserve such a lot of credit for it? Don't all the nice youngmen like to look after girls? They enjoy it ever so much. But somehowthis Dr. Grant enjoys it without undue enthusiasm. I am really ever soglad that he never looks, as so many of the others do, as if he werepining for the moment when he can lay his heart and fishy fees, which henever gets, at my feet. He is just a splendid fellow, Aunt Jennie, wholooks as strong and honest as the day is long. We are all very fon
d ofhim.

  "The only thing that hurts is that I have had none of the fishing," saidDaddy. "I have made up my mind to return another year and let the Tobiquetake care of itself. By the time I am well enough to fish there will notbe another salmon that will rise, this year."

  "No, Mr. Jelliffe," answered the doctor. "The salmon are beginning tocease their interest in flies, but the trout are biting well."

  "I have nothing to say against trout," said Daddy, "but I feel likecrying for a salmon as a baby cries for the moon. There is not much inlife outside of salmon and Wall Street. Even when I have to go toCalifornia I troll a little on Puget Sound, but it doesn't come up tofly-fishing."

  I left them, deeply engaged in this absorbing subject. I think I havediscovered something rather noteworthy in this salmon fishing. It is theeffect that our interest in the matter has on the population. To them afish means a cod; it is the only fish they know. All others areundeserving of the name, and are compelled to appear under the guise oftheir proper appellations. The taking of fish is a serious business, andone that does not pay very handsomely, as far as these people areconcerned. Therefore they cannot understand that one may catch fish foramusement, and so we are enwrapped in a halo of mystery. Dr. Grant hastold me that some of them have darkly wondered whether Daddy wasnot investigating this island with a view to buying it for weird purposesof his own, such as obtaining a corner on codfish and raising the priceof this commodity all over the world. Isn't it funny that even here somenotion of trusts and corners should have penetrated? Of course they wouldbe delighted to have the price of cod raised; it is the dream of theirlives.

  But most of them have accepted us as natural, if freaky, phenomena withwhich they were previously unacquainted, and which have thus far shown noobjectionable features. They have become ever so friendly, yet neverintrusive, and I like them ever so much.

  That poor fellow Dick was shipped back to his miserable little island,two weeks ago, happy in the possession of a useful right arm. It wasquite touching to hear him speak of the doctor. And speaking about Dickreminds me of the man's wife, with those peculiar ideas of hers. Youremember about them, don't you? Would you believe, Auntie dear, that allthe other women about here are just as bad? They seem to be matchmakersof the most virulent sort. They boldly ask me if I am going to marry thedoctor, and when, the poor silly things, and if I deny the impeachmentthey bring forth little smiles of unbelief.

  When I showed my last stocking to Granny Lasher she announced that it wasmuch too small.

  "Didn't yer ever look at the big feet o' he?" she asked.

  "The big feet of who?" I asked, in an elegant form of speech.

  "Th' doctor," she answered.

  "But these are for my father," I objected.

  "Sure, I ought ter have knowed that," she replied. "Ye'll be practicin'on he first, and when yer does real good work ye'll be knittin' 'em ferth' doctor."

  "Mrs. Sammy knits stockings for him," I said, severely.

  "Well, when he's yer man ye'll not be lettin' other wimmin folks do hisknittin' fer he," persisted the ancient dame.

  I simply refuse to argue any more with them. They have that idea in theirhard old heads and it cannot be dislodged. If you and I had beenNewfoundlanders, Auntie dear, we would have married early and beenexpected to knit stockings, in the intervals of work on the flakes, forthe rest of our natural lives. The maidens of this island entertainvisions of coming years devoted to the rearing of perfect herds ofchildren, to assorted household work, to drying fish and knittingstockings for their lords and masters, until the end.

  I even have a suspicion of Mrs. Barnett, sweet good soul though she be. Iwalked up to her house yesterday, having met Dr. Grant on the way. Heleft me at her door, and when I came in she looked at me, wistfully, andI intercepted the tiniest little sigh from her.

  "What is the trouble?" I asked her.

  "Oh! Nothing in the world, my dear," she answered, in that sweetly tonedvoice of hers. "Do you know, when you were coming up the path I thoughthat you and the doctor made the handsomest couple I have ever seen."

  I laughed right out, perhaps because I sought to conceal the fact that Iwas just the tiniest bit provoked. She had said this with a littlehesitancy, as if she had been just timidly venturing on deep waters. Shelooked at me, and I think she sighed again, and immediately asked for myvery expert advice about cutting into a piece of very cheap goods thathas come from St. John's, and with which she expects to make a dress forherself. I felt like crying, and laid bare my profound ignorance, andthen we had a good laugh together, for she was at once as bright again asshe always is. Then I played with the kiddies, who are cherubs, and wehad tea, and when I left she looked at me again, with those beautifulwistful eyes. I am afraid. Aunt Jennie, that she is in league with therest of the feminine population. I think I am beginning to be glad thatwe are going away soon.

  When I returned to our house I found Dr. Grant still there. He has notbeen very busy lately, but he was showing symptoms of an early departure,returning certain flies he had been discussing to a very large fly-book.

  Of course, Aunt Jennie, he is not at all responsible for this foolishtalk, and I had no reason to be unpleasant to him.

  "I am sorry you are going," I said. "I hear that for the time being thecrop of patients is diminishing."

  "It rather looks that way," he answered, "and I must say I am glad of it.It is only a lull, I suppose, and I'm going to take advantage of it.Sammy reminded me to-day that September has come and that the stags arebeginning to shed their velvet. I think that your father and you wouldlike some venison. I shall enjoy it too, I can assure you."

  "Oh! How I wish I could go," I exclaimed, foolishly enough.

  "But there could be nothing easier," he explained, quietly. "I have avery nice little tent which I brought with me when I came here, and youcould take Susie Sweetapple with you. The two men and I can build alittle lean-to anywhere. It is really worth trying. I have explored a bitof that country, and I am sure you would enjoy a look at it."

  "It sounds very attractive, Daddy," I said.

  "If there is one thing I am longing for," said the dear old man, "it is adecent bit of meat. The cook on the yacht and the steward may possibly beable to fill Susie's place for a day or two. You go right along,daughter."

  And now, Aunt Jennie, I am recklessly going away to furnish more gossipfor the ladies of the place, bless their poor old hearts. I have beeninterviewing Susie, whose voluble conversation is often amusing, and findthat she also entertains some queer ideas. Of course I undeceived her atonce. Daddy doesn't think there is the slightest impropriety in the trip,deeming Susie a sufficient chaperon. The ladies here of course neverindulge in such masculine pursuits as hunting, but none of them willconsider my doing it as any more wonderful than my going fishing. It willbe but one more of the peculiar doings of them "Merikins."

  By the way, Harry Lawrence has written. You know, Auntie dear, that he isone of the few very nice fellows to whom I have had to hint, as gently aspossible, that I am awfully happy with old Dad. He was the only one ofthem to put out his hand, like the good, strong, red-headed, footballwonder that he is. I can hear him now:

  "Shake, little girl," he said, smilingly. "You are not ready yet, areyou? I am not going to believe that this is your last word, and we'lljust pretend I didn't speak, and go on being good old pals as before. Mychance may come yet."

  I remember that I felt quite gulpy and shaky when he said that, and thatI wished at the time that I had been able to think of him otherwise thanas a good old friend, just to see him grin happily again, as he so oftendoes. He tells me he has only just returned from abroad, having remainedlonger than he expected to. He says that motoring in Norway is veryinteresting. He also says he has half a mind to run up here and see whatsort of a digging we are living in. You know that Daddy thinks a lot ofhim, and that Harry dotes on Dad. The boy thinks there is no one likehim, which shows what a sensible fellow Harry is.

  Well, I am going to bed earl
y, to prepare for a very long trampto-morrow. I will tell you all about it next time I write,

  Your lovingHELEN.