She had never known Tunis to be more companionable
than on this occasion. He seemed to have gained the courage to
talk on more intimate topics than at any time since their
acquaintanceship had begun.
"I guess you know," he observed, "that most all the money Uncle Peke
left me--after what the lawyers got--I put into that schooner.
There's a mortgage on her, too. You see, although the old place will
come to me by and by, Aunt Lucretia has rights in it while she
lives. It's sort of entailed, you know. I could not raise a dollar
on Latham's Folly, if I wanted to. So I am pretty well tied up, you
see.
"But the schooner is doing well. That is, I mean, business is good,
Ida May. Other things being equal, I will make more money with her
the way I am doing now than I could in any other business. My line
is the sea; I know that. I am fitted for it.
"And if I had invested Uncle Peke's legacy and kept on fishing, or
tried for a berth in a deep bottom somewhere, I would not get ahead
any faster or make so much money. Besides, long voyages would take
me away from home, and, after all, Aunt Lucretia is my only kin and
she would miss me sore."
"I am sure she would," said the girl with sympathy.
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