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The Captain's Toll-Gate, a novel by Frank R Stockton |
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Chapter 30. By The Sea |
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_ CHAPTER XXX. By the Sea When Lieutenant Asher and his bride arrived at his brother's toll-gate they were surprised as well as delighted by the cordiality of their greeting. Each of them had expected a little stiffness during the first interview, but there was nothing of the kind, although young Mrs. Asher was bound to admit, when she took time to think upon the subject, that Olive treated her exactly as if she had been a dear old schoolmate, and not at all as her father's wife. This made things very pleasant and easy at that time, she thought, although it might have to be corrected a little after a while. Things were all very pleasant, and there never had been so much talk at the tollhouse since the first stone of its foundation had been laid. The day after the arrival of the newly married couple Mrs. Easterfield called upon them, and invited the whole family to dinner. "I have never realized how much she must have thought of my parents!" said Olive to herself, as she gazed upon her father and Mrs. Easterfield. "They are so very glad to see each other!" She did not know that Lieutenant Asher had been to the present Mrs. Easterfield almost as much of a divinity as Mr. Hemphill had been to her girlish fancy; the difference being that the young cadet was well aware of the adoration of this child, not yet in long dresses, and greatly enjoyed and encouraged it. When, a few years later, the child heard of his marriage, she had outgrown the love with the lengthening of the skirts. But she had a tender recollection of it which she cherished. The dinner the next day was a great success, and after it the lieutenant and Mrs. Easterfield earnestly discussed Olive when they had the opportunity for a _tete-a-tete_. She was so much to each of them, and he was grateful that his daughter had fallen under the influence of this old friend, now a charming woman. "She is so beautiful," said the lady, "that she ought to be married as soon as possible to the most suitable bachelor in the United States." "Not so fast! Not so fast" said the lieutenant. "Edith and I are going to housekeeping very soon, and then we shall want Olive." Mrs. Easterfield smiled, but made no reply. When the lieutenant and his wife, with Olive, came a few days afterward to make their proper dinner call, he found an occasion to speak to their hostess. "Do you know," said he, "that this is a strange girl of mine?" She positively refuses to come and live with us. We had counted upon having her, and had made all our arrangements for it. She is as good and nice as she can be, but we can not move her." "You ought not to try," said Mrs. Easterfield; "it would be a shame for her to go away and leave her uncle. You have one young lady, and you should not ask for both. Olive must marry, and the captain must go and live with her." "Have you arranged all that?" said he. "I remember you were a great schemer when quite a little girl." "I am as great as ever," said she. "And I have selected the gentleman." "Oh, ho!" cried the lieutenant. "And is that all settled? Olive should have told me that." "She could not do it," said Mrs. Easterfield; "for it is not all settled. There are some obstacles in the way; and the greatest of them is that she does not love him." The lieutenant laughed. "Then that is settled. I know Olive." Mrs. Easterfield flushed, and then laughed. "I doubt that knowledge. It is certain you do not know me! The young man loves her with all his heart; there is no objection to him; and I am most earnestly in favor of the match." "Ah" said the lieutenant, with a bow; "if that is the case, I must get a pencil and paper and calculate what I can give her for her trousseau. I hope the wedding will not come off very soon, for I am decidedly short at present, on account of recent matrimonial expenses. Would you mind telling me his name? Is he naval?" "Oh, no," said she; "he is pedagogy." "What!" he cried, his eyes wide open. Then she laughed and told him all about Dick Lancaster. "Of course," concluded Mrs. Easterfield, "I can not ask you not to speak to _anybody_ about what I have told you, but I do hope you will prevent its getting to Olive's ears. I am afraid it would make a breach between us if she knew that I was trying to make a match for her. And, you see, that is exactly what I am doing." "And you are right," said the lieutenant; "and what is more, I am with you! You don't know," he added in a softer tone, "how grateful I am to you for your care of Olive now that my dear wife is gone!" For the moment he totally forgot that his dear wife had merely gone to the edge of the bluff with the captain and Olive to look at the river. That evening, as they sat together, Lieutenant Asher told his brother all that Mrs. Easterfield had confided to him about Dick Lancaster. The captain was delighted. "That is what I have wanted," he said, "almost from the beginning, and I want it more than ever now. I am getting to be an old fellow, and I want to see her settled before I sail." "You know, John," said the lieutenant, "that I find Olive is a little more of a girl of her own mind than she used to be. I don't believe she would rest quietly under the housekeeping of a girl so nearly her own age." The captain gave some vigorous puffs. "I should think not!" he said to himself. "Olive would have that young woman swabbing the decks before they had been out three days! You are right," said he aloud, "but we must all look out that Olive does not hear anything about this." It was not until they were continuing their bridal trip that Lieutenant Asher considered the subject of mentioning Dick Lancaster to his wife. Then, after considering it, he concluded not to do it. In the first place, he knew that he was getting to be a little bit elderly, and he did not care about discussing the perfections of the young man who had been selected as a suitable partner for his wife's school friend. This was all very foolish, of course, but people often are very foolish. Thus it was that Olive Asher never heard of the tripartite alliance between her father, her uncle, and her good friend at Broadstone. When Captain Asher learned, a few days after his brother had left, that the Broadstone family had gone to the seashore, he sat reflectively and asked himself if he were doing the right thing by Olive. The season was well advanced; it was getting very hot at the toll-gate, and at many other gates in that region; and this navy girl ought to have a breath of fresh air. It is wonderful that he had not thought of it before! At breakfast the next morning Olive stopped pouring coffee when he told her his plans to go to the sea. "With you, Uncle John!" she cried. "That would be better than anything in the world! You sail a boat?" she asked inquiringly. "Sail a boat!" roared the captain. "I have a great mind to kick over this table! My dear, I can sail a boat, keel uppermost, if the water's deep enough! Sail a boat!" he repeated. "I sailed a catboat from Boston to Egg Harbor before your mother was born. By the way, you seem very anxious about boat sailing. Are you afraid of the water?" She laughed gaily. "I deserve that," she said, "and I accept it. But perhaps I have done something that you never did. I have sailed a felucca." "Very good," said the captain; "if there's a felucca where we're going you can sail me in one." They went to a Virginia seaside resort, these two, and left old Jane in charge of the toll-gate. Early in the day after they arrived they went out to engage a boat. When they found one which suited the captain's critical eye, he said to the owner thereof: "I will take her for the morning, but I don't want anybody to sail me. I will do that myself." "I don't know about that," said the man; "when my boat goes out--" He stopped speaking suddenly and looked the captain over and over, up and down. "All right, sir," said he. "And you don't want nobody to manage the sheet?" "No," interpolated Olive, "I'll manage the sheet." So they went out on the bounding sea. And as the wind whistled the hat off her head so that she had to fling it into the bottom of the boat, Olive wished that her uncle kept a toll-gate on the sea. Then she could go out with him and stop the little boats and the great steamers, and make them drop seven cents or thirteen cents into her hands as she stood braced in the stern; and she was just beginning to wonder how she could toss up the change to them if they dropped her a quarter, when the captain began to sing Tom Bowline. He was just as gay-hearted as she was. It was about noon when they returned, for the captain was a very particular man and he had hired the boat only for the morning. Olive had scarcely taken ten steps up the beach before she found herself shaking hands with a young man. "How on earth!" she exclaimed. "It was not on earth at all," he said; "I came by water. I wanted to find out if what I had heard of the horrors of a coastwise voyage were true; and I found that it was absolutely correct." "But here!" she exclaimed. "Why here? You could not have known!" "Of course not," he answered; "if I had known I am sure I would have felt that I ought not to come. But I didn't know, and so you see I am as innocent as a butterfly. More innocent, in fact, for that little wagwings knows where he ought not to go, and he goes there all the same." Captain Asher was still at the boat, making some practical suggestions to her owner; who, being not yet forty, had many things to learn about the sails and rigging of a catboat. "Mr. Locker," said Olive, looking at him very intently, "did you come here to renew any of your previous performances?" "As a serenader?" said he. "Oh, no! But perhaps you mean as a love-maker?" "That is it," said Olive. Mr. Locker took off his hat, and rubbed his head. "No," said he, "I didn't; but I wish I could say I did. But that's impossible. I presume I am right in assuming this impossibility?" "Entirely," said Olive. "And, furthermore, I truly didn't know you were here. I think you may rest satisfied that that flame is out, although--By the way, I believe I could make some verses on that subject containing these lines: "'I do not want the flame, I better like the coal--' meaning, of course, that I hope our friendship may continue." She smiled. "There are no objections to that," she said. "Perhaps not, perhaps not," he said, clutching his chin with his hand; "but some other lines come into my head. Of course, he didn't want the coal to go out. "'He blew too hard, The flame revived.'" "That will do! That will do!" cried Olive. "I don't want any more of that poem." "And the result of it all," said he, "is only a burnt match." "Nothing but a bit of charcoal," added Olive. At this moment up came the captain. Olive had told him all about Mr. Locker, and he was not glad to see him. Olive noticed this, and she spoke quickly. "Here's Mr. Locker, uncle; he has dropped down quite accidentally at this place." "Oh" said the captain incredulously. "You know he used to like me too much. But he knows me better now." "Charming frankness of friendship!" said Locker. "And as I like him very much, I am glad he is here," continued Olive. The young man bowed in gratitude, but Olive's words embarrassed him somewhat, and he did not know exactly what would be suitable for him to say. So he took refuge in a change of subject. "Captain," said he, "can you fish?" A look of scornful amazement showed itself upon the old mariner's face. "I have tried it," said he. "And so have I," cried Locker, "but I never had any luck in fishing and--some other things. I am vilely unlucky. I expect that's because I don't know how to fish." "It is very likely," said Olive, "that your bad luck comes from not knowing where to fish." The young man took off his hat and held it for a little while, although the sun was very hot. During the course of that afternoon and evening Captain Asher grew to like Claude Locker. The young man told such gravely comical stories, especially about his experiences in boats and on the water, that the captain was very glad he had happened to drop down upon that especial watering-place. He wanted Olive to have some society besides his own, and a discarded lover was better than any other young man they might meet. He knew that Olive was a girl who would not go back on her word. _ |
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