Classic Audiobook Collection - Flood Tide by Sara Ware Bassett ~ Full Audiobook [romance]

Starting point is 00:00:00 flood tide by sarah ware basset chapter i the weaver and his fancies willie spence was a trial not that his personality rasped society at large on the contrary his neighbors cherished toward the little old man with his short-sighted blue eyes and his appealing smile an affection peculiarly tender and if they sometimes were wont to observe that although willie possessed some common sense he was blessed with uncommon little of it the observation was facetiously uttered and was offered with no malicious intent in fact had one scoured wilton from end to end it would have been difficult to unearth a single individual who bore enmity toward the owner of the silver-gray cottage on the harbor road it was impossible to talk ten seconds with willie spence and not be one won by his kindliness, his optimism, his sympathy, and his honesty. Willie probably could not have dissembled had he tried. And fortunately, his life was of so simple and transparent a trend that little lay hidden beneath its crystalline exterior.

Starting point is 00:01:15 What he was, he was. When baffled by phenomena, he would scratch his thin locks, and with a smile of endearing candor, frankly admit, I don't know. When, on the other hand, he knew himself to be master of a debated fact, no power under heaven could shake the tenacity with which he clung to his beliefs. There was never any compromise with truth on Willie's part. A thing was so, or it was not.

Starting point is 00:01:46 This reputation for veracity, linked as it was with an ingenuous goodwill toward all mankind, had earned for Willie Spence such universal esteem and tenderness that whenever the stooping figure with its ruddy cheeks, soft white hair, and gentle smile made its appearance on the sandy roads of the hamlet, it was hailed on all sides with the loving and indulgent greetings of the inhabitants of the village. Even Celestina Morton, who kept house for him and who might well have lost patience at his defiance of domestic routine, worshiped the very very much. very soil his foot touched. There was, of course, no denying that Willie's disregard for the meal hour had become what she termed chronicle and severely taxed her forbearance, or that since she was a creature of human limitations, she did at times protest when the chowder stood forgotten in the terrain until it was of Arctic temperature. Nor had she ever acquired the grace of spirit to amiably view freshly baked popovers, shrew.

Starting point is 00:02:53 neglected into nothingness. Try as she would to curb her tongue, under such circumstances, she occasionally would burst out, "'I do wish, Willie Spence, you'd quit your dreamin' and come to dinner!' For answer, Willie would rise hastily and stand arrested, a bit of string in one hand, and the hammer in the other, and peering reproachfully over the top of his steel-bowed spectacles, would reply, "'Lah, teeny, you wouldn't begritch me my dreams, would you? They're about all I've got.

Starting point is 00:03:30 If it weren't for the things I'd dream, I wouldn't have nothing.' The wistfulness in the sensitive face would instantly transform Celestina's irritation into sympathy and cause her to respond. "'Nonsense, Willie, what are you talking about? Ain't you got more friends than anybody in this town?' nobody's poor so long as he has good friends oh tain't being poor i mind laughed willie now quite himself again it's knowing nothin and being nothin that discourages me if i'd only had the chance to learn something when i was a youngster i wouldn't have to be goin it blind now like i do there's time celestina added the man solemnly when i really believe i've got stuff inside me that's worthwhile, if only I knew what to do with it.

Starting point is 00:04:26 "'Sure. "'Ain't you using what's inside you all the time "'to help the folks of this town out of their troubles? "'I'd like to know how they'd get along if it weren't for you. "'Ain't you doctoring and fixing up things "'for the whole of Cape Cod from one end to the other, "'day in and day out? "'I call that a mountain to something in the world if you don't.'

Starting point is 00:04:49 "'Willie paused thoughtfully. I do do quite a batch of tinkering, that's true, admitted he, brightening. And I'm right down glad to do it, too. Don't think I ain't. Still, I can't help know and there's better ways to go at it than blundering along as I have to, and sometimes I can't help wishing I knew what the right way is. There must be folks that know how to do and half the time what I do by makeshift and fussing. sometimes it seems a pity there never was anybody to steer me into finding out the kind of things i've always wanted to know celestina began to rock nervously being of new england fiber and classing as morbid all forms of introspection she always so dreaded to have the conversation drift into a reflective channel that whenever she found willie indulging in reveries she was wont to rout him out of them tartly reproaching her

Starting point is 00:05:51 for having even indirectly been the cause of stirring him up next time i'll set the chowder back on the stove and say nothin she would vow inwardly i'd much better have waited till his dream was over and done with suppose i am put out a bit twon't hurt me if i don't care enough for willie to do something for him once in a while good as he's always been to me i'd ought to be ashamed of myself hence it is easily seen that neither to wilton in general nor to celestina in particular was willie spence a trial no it was to himself that willie was the torment i plague myself most to death tini he would not infrequently confess when the two sat together at dusk in the little room that looked out in the reach of blue sea it's gettin all these ideas that drives me distracted tain't that i go hunting em they come to me hitting me broadside like as if they'd been shot out of a gun there's times ambled on the quiet voice when they'd wake me out of a sound sleep and give me no peace till i've got up intended to em that notion of hitching a string to the slide in the stove door so's you could open the draught without stirring out of your chair that took me in the night there weren't no wait until morning long ago i learned that once the idea has a hold of me there's nothing to do but haul myself out of bed even if it's midnight and colderin a devil and try out that notion the plan was a good one it saved lots of steps put in celestina it had to be done tini willie answered simply that's all there was too

Starting point is 00:07:48 it. Good or bad, I had to carry it to a finish if I didn't sleep another wink that night. The assertion was true. Celestina could vouch for that. After ten years of residence in the Grey Cottage, she had become too completely inured to hearing the muffled sound of saw and hammer during the wee small hours of the night to question the verity of the statement. Therefore, she was quite ready to agree that there was no peace for Willie, or herself either, until the particular burst of genius that assailed him had been transformed from a mirage of the imagination to the more tangible form of tacks and strings. For Strings played a very vital part in Willie Spence's inspirational world.

Starting point is 00:08:39 Indeed, when Celestina had first come to the weathered cottage on the bluff to keep house for the little bachelor and had discovered that cottage to be one gigantic spider's web her initial impression was that strings played far too important a part in the household what a labyrinthine entanglement the dwelling was had a mammoth silkworm woven his airy filaments within its interior the effect could scarcely have been more grotesque strings stretched from the back door across the kitchen and threw the hallway and disappeared up the stairs into Willie's bedroom, where one pull of a cord lifted the iron latch to admit Oliver Goldsmith, the Maltese cat, whenever he rattled for entrance. There was a string that hoisted and lowered the coal-hod from the cellar through a square hole on the kitchen floor, thereby saving one the fatigue of tugging it up the stairs.

Starting point is 00:09:40 A coal-hod is such an infernal to tote! Willie would explain to his listeners. Then there was a string which, in like manner, swung the wood box into place. Other strings opened and closed the kitchen windows, unfastened the front gate, rang a bell in Celestina's room, and whisked Willie's slippers forth from their hiding place beneath the stairs, not to mention myriad red, blue, green, yellow, and purple strings that had their goals in the ice chest, the pomp, the letter-box and the storm door,

Starting point is 00:10:17 and in connection with which objects they silently performed mystic benefactions. Probably, however, the most significant string of all was that of stout twine that reached from Willie's shop to the home of Genoa Eldridge, two fields beyond, just at the junction of the Belport and Harbor Roads. This string not only linked the two cottages, but sustained upon its taut line a small wooden box that could be pulled back and forth at will,

Starting point is 00:10:49 and convey from one abode to the other, not only written communications, but also such diminutive articles as pipes, tobacco, spectacles, balls of string, boxes of tax, and even tools of moderate weight. By means of this primitive special delivery service, Jan Eldridge could be summoned post-haste whenever an end. an especially luminous inspiration flashed upon Willie's intellect, and could assist in helping to make the dream a reality. For it was always through Willie's plastic imagination

Starting point is 00:11:24 that these creative visions flitted. In all his seventy years, Jan had been beset by only one outburst of genius, and that had pertained to whisking an extra blanket over himself when he was cold at night. How much pleasanter to lie placidly between the sheep, sheets and have the blanket miraculously appear without the chill and discomfort of her rising to fetch it, he argued. But, alas, the magic spell had failed to work. Instead, the strings had wrenched the corners from the age-worn covering, thereby arousing Mrs. Elder Desire. Moreover, although Jan had not confessed it at the time, the blanket, while in process of locomotion, had, for some

Starting point is 00:12:10 unfathomable reason dragged in its wake all the other bedclothes, freeing them from their moorings and submerging his head in a smothering weight of disorganized sheets and counterpains, only to leave his poor shivering body a prey to the unfriendly elements. An attack of lumbago that rendered him helpless from January until March followed, and had decided Jan that inventors were born, not made. thereafter he had been content to abandon the realm of research to his comrade and allow Willie to furnish the inspiration for further creative ventures. Nevertheless, his retirement from the spheres of discovery did not prevent him from zealously assisting in the mechanical details that rendered Willie's scheme's material. Jan not only possessed a far more practical type of mind than did his friend, but he was also a also almost,

Starting point is 00:13:07 more skillful workmen, and therefore in the carrying out of any plan, his aid was indispensable. He was, moreover, content to be the lesser power, looking up to Willie's ability with admiration, and asserting with unfeigned sincerity to everyone he met that Willie Spence had not only been born with the engine, but he had the newity to go with it. Why? Jan would often declare with spirit. In my opinion, Willie has every wit as much call to write X, Y, Z, and all them other letters after his name as any of those fellows that graduate from colleges. He's a wonder, Willie Spence is, a walk-in' wonder. Someday he's going to make his mark, too, and cause the folks in this town to set up and take

Starting point is 00:14:00 notice. See if he don't. Willie's neighbors had long since tired of waiting for the glorious moment of his fame to arrive, and although they had too genuine a regard for the little old inventor to state publicly what they really thought of the strings, the nails, the spools, the wires, and the pulleys, in private they did not hesitate to denounce derisively the scientist's contrivances and assert that some fine day the house on the bluff would come to dire disaster. Somebody's going to get hung or strangled on one of them contraptions, Willie's rigged up, Captain Phineas Taylor prophesied impressively to Xenus Henry as the two men sat smoking in the lee of the woodpile.

Starting point is 00:14:47 You watch out and see if they don't. Indeed, there was no denying that Celestina was continually catching hairpins, hooks, and buttons in the strings, or that some such dilemma as had been predicted had actually occurred, for one day, while alone in the house, a pin fastening the back of her print gown had become inextricably entangled in the maze amid which she moved, and fearing Willie's wrath, if she should sunder her fetters, she had been forced to stand captive and helplessly witness a newly made sponge cake burned to a crisp in the oven. She had hoped the ignominious episode would not reach the outside world,

Starting point is 00:15:32 but as Wilton was possessed of a miraculous power for finding out things, the story filtered through the community, affording the village a laugh and the opportunity to affirm with ominous shakings of the head that it was only because the Lord looked out for fools and little children that a worse evil had not long ago befallen the Spence household. Willie accepted the banter in good part. Born with a forgiving, non-combative disposition,

Starting point is 00:16:03 he seldom took offense, and although Genoa Eldridge, who knew him better perhaps than anyone else on earth did acclaimed that this tranquil exterior concealed as did tim lincoln waters unsuspected depths of ferocity wilton had yet to encounter its lion-like fury instead the mild little inventor with his spools and his pulleys his bits of wire and his measureless reaches of string pursued his peaceful though tortuous way and if his abode became transformed into a magnified cobweb only himself and celestina were inconvenienced thereby to celestina inconvenience was second nature since from the moment of her birth it had been her lot in life arriving in the world prematurely she had found nothing prepared for her coming and had been forced to put up with such makeshifts for comfort as could be hurriedly scrambled together from that day until the present instant the same fate had shadowed her path perhaps it was in her stars her parents had been of dilatory habits and by the time a crib with the necessary pillows and bedding had been secured and she had drawn a few peaceful breaths therein a new baby had arrived and she had been ousted from her resting-place and compelled to surrender to it the more recent comer

Starting point is 00:17:34 ever since she had been shunted from pillar to post sleeping on cots on couches in folding beds and in hammocks and keeping her meagre possessions in pasteboard boxes tucked away beneath tables and bureaus poised on the ragged edge of domesticity she continued throughout her girlhood to look forward with hope to an eventual state of permanence when she was eighteen however her mother died and in the task of bringing up six brothers and sisters younger than herself all considerations for her personal ease were forgotten ten years passed and her father was no more then gradually one after another the family she had so patiently reared took wing leaving celestina a lonely spencer of fifty homeless and practically penniless this cruel lack of responsibility on the part of her relatives resulted less from a want of affection than from a supreme misunderstanding of their older sister so completely had celestina learned to efface her personality and her inclination that they reasoned she was utterly without preferences, that she lacked the homing instinct, and was quite as happy in one place as in another. Having thus washed their hands of her, they proceeded to sell the Morton homestead,

Starting point is 00:19:05 and each one pocket his share of the proceeds. Very scanty this inheritance was, so scanty that it compelled Celestina to begin a rotation around the village, where, in return for shelter, she filled in domestic gaps of various kinds. She helped here, she helped there, she took care of babies, nursed the sick, comforted the agent. On she moved, from house to house, no enduring foundation ever remaining beneath her feet. No sooner would she strike her roots down into a congenial soil, then she would be forced to pluck them up again and find new earth to which to cling. She might have married a dozen times during her youth,

Starting point is 00:19:53 had not her conscience deterred her from deserting her father and the children left to her care. In fact, one persistent swain who refused to take no for an answer had begged Celestina to wait and pray over the matter. I never trouble the Lord with things I can settle myself, replied she, firmly, I can't go Marion, and that's all there is to it. Other offers had been declined with the same characteristic firmness, until now the golden season of mating time was passed. And although she was still a pretty little woman,

Starting point is 00:20:32 the stamp of spinsterhood was unalterably fixed upon her. Wilton, in the meantime, had long ago lost sight of the uncomplaining self-sacrifice it had previously lauded, and explained Celestina Morton's unwededed state by declaring that she was too easy-going to make anybody a good wife. This criticism came perhaps more loudly from the female faction of the town than from the male. However that may be, the stigma, merited or unmerited, had become so firmly branded upon Celestina that it could not be effaced. she may to some extent have brought it upon herself for certain it was that she never kicked against the pricks or tried to shape her circumstances more in accordance with her liking undoubtedly had she accepted her lot less meekly she might have commanded a greater measure of attention and sympathy still if she had not been of a more or less plastic nature and surrendered herself patiently to her destiny it is a question whether she would have survived at all

Starting point is 00:21:45 it was this mutability this power to detach herself from her environment and view it with the stoical indifference of a spectator that caused wilton with its harsh new england standards to characterize celestina as easy-going in fact this popularly termed flaw in her make-up was what had acted as an open sesame to every door at which she knocked and had kept a roof above her head she had been just sixty years of age when willie spence's sister had died and left him alone in the wee cottage on the harbour road and all wilton had begun to speculate as to what was to become of him willie was as dependent as an infant the village gossips who knew everything knew that from childhood he had been looked after first by his mother then by his aunt and lastly by his sister and when death had removed in succession all three of these props leaving the little old man at last face to face with life his startled blue eyes had grown large with terror what was to become of him now not only did willy himself helplessly raise the interrogation but so did all wilton of course he could go on board with the elderges but that would mean renting or selling the silver-gray cottage which would mean renting or selling the silver-gray cottage which would mean to-and-aughtage where he had dwelt since birth, and would be a tragic severing of all ties with the past. Moreover, and a fact more potent than all the rest,

Starting point is 00:23:25 it would mean dismantling the house of the web that for years he had spun, the symbols of dreams that had been his chief delight. Should he go to the Eldruges, there could be no more inventing, for Jan's wife was a hard, practical woman, who had scant sympathy with Willie's ideas, nevertheless one redeeming consideration must not be lost sight of she was a famous cook a very famous cook and poor willie although he cared little what he ate was incapable of concocting any food at all but the strings the strings no to go to live with jan and mrs eldridge was not to be thought of it was just at this psychological juncture when willie was choosing twixt flesh and spirit that he saw celestina morton standing like a vision in the sunshine that spangled his doorway

Starting point is 00:24:24 she said she knew how lonely he must be and therefore she had come to make a friendly call and tidy up the house or mend for him anything that needed mending with this simple introduction she had taken off her hat and coat donned an ample blue and white pinafore, and set to work. Fascinated, Willie watched her deft movements. Now and then she smiled at him, but she did not speak, and neither did he. Nor, he noticed, did she disturb his strings or comment on their inconvenience. When Twilight came, and the hour for her departure drew near, Willie stationed himself before the peg from which dangled her shabby wraps, and stubbornly refused to have her hat and cloak removed from the nail.

Starting point is 00:25:15 There, figuratively speaking, they had hung ever since, the inventor reasoning that life without this paragon of capability was a wretched and profitless adventure. In justifying his sudden decision to Genoa Eldridge, Willie had merely explained that he had hired Celestina because she was so comfortable to have around, a recommendation at which Wilton would have jeered, but which, perhaps, in the eyes of the Lord, was quite as praiseworthy as that which her more hidebound but less accommodating sisters could have boasted.

Starting point is 00:25:54 For disorder and confusion never kept Celestina awake nights, or prevented her from partaking of three-hearty meals a day, as it would have Abby Brewster or Deborah Howland. So long as things were clean, there being an inch or two or even a foot out of plum did not worry the new inmate of the Grey House and Iota. And when Willie was balked in an idea that had ketched him and left half a dozen strings and wires swinging in mid-air for weeks together, Celestina would patiently duck her head as she passed beneath them and offer no protest more emphatic than to remark. Them strings hanging down over the sink snare me every time I wash a dish. Ain't you calculating ever to take them down, Willie?

Starting point is 00:26:45 The reply, vouchsafed, would be as mild as the suggestion. I reckon they ain't there for eternity, teeny, the inventor would respond. Like as not, both you and me will live to see him out of the way. That was all the satisfaction Celestina would get from her feeble complaints. it was all she ever got yet in spite of the exasperating response she adored willie who had been to her the soul of kindliness and courtesy ever since she had come to the bluff to live he might forget to come to his meals forget in fact whether he had eaten them or not he might venture forth into the village with one gray sock and one blue one or when partway to the post-office become lost in reverie and return home again without ever reaching his destination such incidents had happened and were likely to happen again nevertheless notwithstanding his absent-mindedness he was never too much absorbed to maintain toward celestina an old-fashioned deference very appealing to one accustomed to being ignored and slighted the impulse it was quite obvious was prompted less by

Starting point is 00:28:07 than by a nightliness of heart and celestina who had never before been the recipient of such courtes found herself inexpressibly touched by the trifling attentions often she speculated as to whether this mental attitude toward all womanhood was one willie himself had evolved or whether it was the result of standards instilled into his sensitive consciousness by the women who had been his companions through life his mother who had been his companions through life his mother his aunt, his sister. Whichever the case, there was no question that the old man's bearing toward her placed her on a pinnacle where gossip was silenced, and transformed her humble ministrations from those of a hireling into acts of graciousness and beauty. Moreover, to live in the same house with such an optimist was no ordinary experience.

Starting point is 00:29:03 Well, Celestina remembered the day when at dinner, the little old man had choked violently turning purple in the face in his fight for breath she had rushed to his side terror-stricken but between his spasms of coughing the inventor had gasped out why make so much fuss over what's going down the wrong way tini think of the things i've swallowed all these years that have gone down right the observation was characteristic of willie's creed of life he never emphasized the exceptions but always the big fine elemental good in everything even the name by which he went had been bestowed on him by the community as a term of endearment there were to be sure other men in the hamlet whose names had passed into diminutives there was for example seth crocker whose wife explained that she called him sethy for short but sethy his name was never pronounced with the same affectionate drawl that willy's was no willie had his peculiar niche in wilton and a very sacred niche it was what marvel therefore that celestina reverenced the very earth which he trod and cheerfully put up with the strings the wires the spools the tacks and the pulleys that she shifted the meals about to suit his convenience and that when she was awakened at midnight by a rhythmic hammering which portended that the inventor had once again got kitched with a new idea she smiled indulgently in the darkness

Starting point is 00:30:50 and instead of cursing the echoes that disturbed her slumber whispered to herself jan elridge's oft-repeated prediction that the day would come when willie spence would astonish the scoffers of wilton and would make his mark End of Chapter 1. Recording by Roger Maline. Chapter 2 of Flood Tide. This Libervox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Roger Maline. Flood Tide by Sarah Ware Bassett. Chapter 2.

Starting point is 00:31:28 Willie has an idea. On a day in June so clear that a seagull loomed mammoth against the sky, a day when a sail against the horizon was run. visible for miles, a day when the whole world seemed swept and garnished as for a festival, Zinus Henry Brewster drew rain before the Spence Cottage, hitched the admiral to the picket fence that bordered the highway, and, ascending the bank which sloped abruptly to the road, presented himself at the kitchen door from which issued the aroma of baking bread.

Starting point is 00:32:04 "'Morning, teenie,' called the visitor, poking his head across the threshold. "'Willie anywhere's about?' Celestina, who is washing the breakfast dishes, glanced up at the lank figure with a start. "'Lah, Zenas Henry, what a turn you gave me,' she exclaimed. "'I never heard a footfall.' "'Yes, Willie's outside somewheres.' He and Jan Eldridge have been tinkering with the pump since early morning.

Starting point is 00:32:35 "'They've had it apart a hundred times, I guess, and like as not, they're round there now pulling it to pieces for the hundred and oneth zenas henry grinned that's a queer to do he remarked what's got all the pumps bewitched i reckon ours ain't working for a cent either and i drove around thinking i'd fetch willie home with me to have a look at it he's got a knack with such things and i calculate he'd know what's the matter with it darned if i do the man began to move away across the grass. Celestina, however, who was in the mood for gossip, had no mind to let him escape so easily. How's your folks? questioned she, dropping her dishcloth into the pan

Starting point is 00:33:24 and following him to the door. Oh, we're all right, returned Zinus Henry with a backward glance. Captain Benjamin's shoulder pesteres him some about laying, but I tell him he can't expect rain and fog not to bring rheumatism. That's so, agreed Celestina. What a spell of weather we've had. Guess it's about over now, though.

Starting point is 00:33:50 I'm sorry Benjamin's shoulder should Hector and so. We're getting old, Zinus Henry. That's the plain truth of it. And must cheerfully take our share of aches and pains, I suppose. Are Captain Phineas and Captain Jonas well? Oh, they're nimble as crabs. "'And Abby?' "'Fine as a clipper in a breeze,' responded the man with enthusiasm.

Starting point is 00:34:18 "'Best wife that ever was. "'The sun rises and sets in that woman, Celestina. "'What she can't do ain't worth doing. "'Turn off work like as if it was no account "'and grows better-looking every day a-doing it.' "'Selistina laughed. "'I reckon you didn't make no mistake, getting married, Zinus Henry, mused she.

Starting point is 00:34:43 Mistake, repeated Zinus Henry. And no mistake taken in the child either, went on Celestina, unheeding the interruption. She saw his face soften and a glow of tenderness overspread it. Delight was sent us out of heaven, he declared with solemnity. T'was as much intended that ship should come ashore here, and the three captains and myself bring that little girl to land as that the sun should rise in the morning. The child was meant for us, for us and for nobody else on earth.

Starting point is 00:35:21 Was she our own daughter, we couldn't be fonder of her than we are? It's ten years now since the wreck of the Michelin. Think of it. How time flies! Ten years! And the girl's most twenty! I can't realize it. Why, it seems only yesterday she was clinging to my neck and I was bringing her home.

Starting point is 00:35:45 She's grown to be a regular beauty, Celestina observed. I suppose she has. Folks seem to think so, replied Zinus Henry. But it wouldn't make an ounce of difference to me how she looked. I'd love her just the same. I reckon she'll never seem to me anyhow like she does to other people. Still, I ain't so blind that I don't know she's pretty. Her hair is wonderful, and she's got them big brown eyes and pink cheeks. I'm proud as toffat of her.

Starting point is 00:36:20 If it weren't for Abby, I figured the three captains and I would have the child clean spoiled. But Abby's always kept a firm hand on us and prevented us from putting nonsensical notions into Delight's head. Much of the way she's turned out is due to Abby's common sense. Well, the girl's a mighty nice one, concluded Zinus Henry. There's none to match her. You're right there, Celestina assented cordially. She's one in a hundred, in a thousand. She has the sweetest way in the world with her, too.

Starting point is 00:36:58 A body couldn't see her and not love her. I guess there's many a young fellow, along the cape think so, too, or I'm much mistaken, added she slyly. She must have a score of bows. Bows! snapped Zinus Henry, wheeling abruptly about. Indeed, she hasn't. Why, she's nothing but a child yet. She's most twenty. You said so yourself just now. Pooh, twenty. What's twenty?

Starting point is 00:37:31 "'Zenus Henry cried derisively. "'Why, I'm three times that already, and more, too, and I ain't old. "'So are you, teeny. Twenty. Nonsense.' "'But delight is twenty, Zinus Henry,' persisted Celestina. "'What of it?' "'Well, you mustn't forget it, that's all,' continued the woman softly. "'Many a girl her age is married and—' "'Married!' burst out the man with indignation.

Starting point is 00:38:05 "'What under heaven are you talking about, Celestina?' "'Delight, Mary? Not she. She's too young. Besides, she's well enough content with Abby and the three captains and me. "'Mary? Delight, Mary? Ridiculous!' "'But you don't mean to say you expect a creature as pretty as she is, not to marry, said Celestina, aghast. Oh, why, yes, ruminated Zinus Henry. Of course she's going to get married sometime, by and by,

Starting point is 00:38:41 maybe in ten years or so, but not now. Ten years or so, my goodness, why she'll be thirty or thirty-five, and an old maid by that time? No, she won't. I was forty-five before I married, and it didn't do me no hurt or spoiled my chances. You might have been living with Abby all them years, though. I know it, he paused thoughtfully. Yes, he reflected aloud.

Starting point is 00:39:17 I've often thought what a pity it was Abby and I didn't have our first youth together. It took me half a lifetime to find out how much I needed her. you wouldn't want delight should do that ventured celestina delight we ain't discussing delight retorted zenis henry promptly on the defensive delight's another matter altogether she's nothin but a baby there's no talk of her marrying for a long spell yet peevishly he kicked the turf with the toe of his boot although he said no more it was quite evident that he was quite evident that he was was much irritated. Well, he presently observed in a calmer tone, I reckon I'll go round and waylay Willie. Celestina, leaning against the doorframe,

Starting point is 00:40:09 watched the gaunt, loose-jointed figure stride out into the sunshine and disappear behind the corner of the house. What a day it was! From beneath the lattice that arched the entrance to the cottage and supported a rambler rose bursting into bloom, she could see the bay, blue as a sapphire, and scintillating with ripples of gold. A weather-stained scow was making its way out of the channel, and above it circled a screaming cloud of turn that had been routed from their nesting place

Starting point is 00:40:42 on the margin of white sand that bordered the path to the open sea. Mingling with their cries and the rhythmic pulsing of the surf, the clear voices of the men aboard the tug reached her ear. it was flood-tide and the water that surged over the bar stained its reach of pearl to jade green and feathered its edges with snowy foam it was no weather to be cooped up indoors doing housework idly celestina loitered drinking in the beauty of the scene the languor of summer breathed in the gentle pine-scented air and rose from the warm earth of the garden voluptuously she stretched her arms and yawned. Then straightening to her customary erectness, she went into the house, being probably the only woman in Wilton, who that morning had abandoned her domestic duties long enough to take into her soul the benediction of the world about her.

Starting point is 00:41:42 It was such detours from the path of duty that had helped to win for Celestina her pseudonym of easy-going. Perhaps this very vagrant quality in her nature was what had aided her in so thoroughly sympathizing with Willie in his sporadic outbursts of industry. For Willie was not a methodical worker any more than was Celestina. There were intervals, it is true, when he toiled steadily, feverishly, all day long and far into the night, forgetting either to eat or sleep, then would follow days together when he simply pottered about, or did even worse, and remained idle in the sunny shelter of the grape arbor. here on a rude bench constructed from a discarded fore-poster he would often sit for hours smoking his corn-cob pipe and softly humming to himself

Starting point is 00:42:36 but when genius went awry and his courage was at a low ebb strings wires and pulleys having failed to work he would neither smoke nor sing but with eyes on the distance would sit immovable as if carved from stone to-day however was not one of his settin days he had been up since dawn had eaten no breakfast and had even been too deeply preoccupied to fill and light the blackened pipe that dangled limply from his lips yet despite all his coaxings and cajolings the iron pump opposite the shed door still refused to do anything but emit from its throat a few dry profitless gurgles that seemed forced upward from the very caverns of the earth both willie and jan elridge looked tired and disheartened and when zenis henry approached stood at bay surrounded by a litter of wrenches hammers and scattered fragments of metal what's the matter with your pump called zenis henry as he strolled toward them willie turned on the intruder a smile half humorous half contemptuous flitting across his face if i could answer that question zenis henry i wouldn't be standin here gaping at the darn thing was his laconic response it's just took a spell that's all there is to it it was right enough last night there's no accountant for machinery zenas henry remarked the observation struck a note of pessimism that rasped willie's patience there's got to be some accountant for this clap-trapion retorted he, a suggestion of Christmas in his tone.

Starting point is 00:44:24 I shan't stir foot from this spot till I find out what said it to acting up this way. Zemus Henry laughed at the declaration of war, echoing in the words. I've given up flying all the flinders over everything that gets out of gear, he drawled. If I was to be going up higher in a kite every time, for instance, that the seaweed catches round the propeller of my motorboat, I'd be in mid-air most of the time. Willie raised his head with the alertness of a hunter on the scent. Seweed? he repeated vaguely.

Starting point is 00:45:01 Zenas Henry nodded. Ain't there no scheme for doing away with a nuisance like that? I ain't discovered any, came dryly from Zinus Henry. We've all had a whack at the thing. Captain Jonas, Captain Phineas, Captain Benjamin, and me. and we're back where we were at the beginning. Nothing we've tried has worked. Hmm, ruminated Willie, stroking his chin.

Starting point is 00:45:30 I've about come to the conclusion we ain't much good as mechanics anyhow, went on Zinus Henry with a short laugh. In fact, Abbe's of the mind that we get things out of order faster and we put them in. Genoa Eldridge rubbed his grimy hands and chuckled, but Willie deigned no reply. "'This propeller now,' he presently began, as if there had been no digression from the topic. "'I suppose the kelp gets tangled round the blades?'

Starting point is 00:46:02 "'That's it,' assented Zinus Henry. "'And that holds up your engine?' "'A-huh,' Zinus Henry agreed, with the same bored inflection. "'And that leaves you rocking like a baby in a crate, till you can get the wheel free. Uh-huh. There was a moment of silence. It can't be much of a stunk tossing round in a choppy sea,

Starting point is 00:46:30 like as if you was a chip on the waves, commented Jan Eldridge with a commiserating grin. Taint! What do you do when you find yourself in a fix like that? He inquired with interest. Do, reiterated Zinus Henry. What a question. question. What would any fool do? There ain't no choice left you but to hang head downwards over the

Starting point is 00:46:55 stern of the boat and claw the eel grass off the wheel with a gaff. Genoa burst into a derisive shout. Oh, my eye, he exclaimed. So that's the way you do it, eh? Don't talk to me of motorboats. A good old-fashioned skiff with a leg of mutton sail in her is good enough for me. How about you, Willow, Willie. No reply was forthcoming. "'I say, Willie,' repeated Jan in a louder tone, "'that these newfangled motorboats, with their noise and their smell, ain't no match for a good clean dory.' Willie came out of his trance just in time to catch the final clause of the sentence.

Starting point is 00:47:40 "'Who ever saw a clean dory in Wilton?' Jan faltered, abashed. "'Well, anyhow,' he paused. persisted. In my opinion, clean or not, a straight, wholesome smell of cod ain't to be mentioned in the same breath with a mix-up of stale fish and gasoline. Zinus Henry bridled. "'You don't buy a motorboat to smell of,' he said tartly. You seem to forget it's to sail in.

Starting point is 00:48:09 "'But if the eel grass holds you hard and fast in one spot most of the time, I don't seize you do much sailing,' taunted Jan. "'Pearst to me you're just adrift and going nowhere is a good part of the time.' "'No, I ain't,' snapped Zinus Henry with rising ire. "'It's only sometimes the thing gets spleeny. "'Most always—' "'Then it warn't you I saw pitching in the channel for a couple of hours yesterday afternoon?' "' commented the tormentor.'

Starting point is 00:48:40 "'No, that is, let me think a minute,' meditated Zinus Henry. "'Yes, I guess I guess. Yes, it was me after all, he admitted, with reluctant honesty. The tide brought in quite a batch of weeds, and they washed up around the boat before I could get out of their way. Quicker in a wink, we were neatly snarled up in them. Captain Jonas and Captain Phineas tried to get clear, but somehow they ain't got much knack for freeing the wheel. So we did linger in the channel a spell. "'Linger,' put in, Willie.

Starting point is 00:49:17 I shouldn't call Bobbing up and down in one spot for two mortal hours lingering. I'd call it nearer being hypnotized. Zenas Henry was now plainly out of temper. He was well aware that Wilton had scant sympathy with his motorboat, the first innovation of the sort that had been perpetrated in the town. Hadn't you better turn your attention from mortarboats to pumps? he asked testily. I reckon I had. Zenas Henry, Willie answered, unruffled by the thrust.

Starting point is 00:49:51 As you say, if you chose to wind yourself up in the eel grass, it's not a my affair. Turning his back on his visitor, he bent once more over the pump and adjusted a leather washer between its rusty joints. Now let's give her a try, Jan, he said as he tightened the screws. If that don't fetch her, I'm beat. by this time jans faith had lessened and although he obediently raised the iron handle and began to ply it up and down it was obvious that he did not anticipate success but contrary to his expectations there was a sudden subterranean groan followed by a rumble of gradually rising pitch then from out the stubbed green spout a stream of water gushed forth and trickled into the tub beneath hurray shouted jan there she blows willie ain't you the dabster though the inventor did not immediately acknowledge the plaudits heaped upon him

Starting point is 00:50:56 but it was evident that he was gratified by his success for as he wiped the beads of perspiration from his forehead he sighed deeply if i hadn't been such a blame fool i'd ha'n't known what the matter was in the first place he remarked well if we knew as much when we're born as we do when we get ready to die what would be the use of living seventy odd years in spite of his irritation zenis henry smiled i don't suppose you're feeling like tackling another pump to-day he ventured with hesitation ours up at the white cottage has gone on a strike too instantly willie was interested what's got yours he asked blessed if i know we've took it all to pieces and ain't found nothin out with it and now to save our souls we can't put it together again zenis henry explained i drove round thinking that maybe you'd go back with me and have a look at it course i will zenis henry will he said without hesitation i'd admire to a pump that won't work is like a fish line without a hook good for nothing. Have you got room in your team for Jan, too? Sure. Then let's start along, said the inventor, stooping to gather up his tools. But he had reckoned without his host, for as he swept them into a jagged piece of sailcloth

Starting point is 00:52:28 and prepared to tie up the bundle, Celestina called to him from the window. Where are you going, Willie? she demanded. "'Up to Zinus Henry's to mend the pump.' "'But you can't go now,' objected she. "'It's ten o'clock, and you ain't had a mouthful of breakfast this morning.' The little man regarded her blankly. "'Ain't I at nothing?' he inquired with surprise. "'No, don't you remember you got up early to go fishing,

Starting point is 00:53:02 and then you found the pump wasn't working, and you've been wrestling with it ever since.' "'So I have.' A sunny smile of recollection overspread the old man's face. "'A ain't you hungry?' "'I don't know,' considered he, without interest. "'Maybe I am.

Starting point is 00:53:23 "'Yes, now you speak of it. "'I will own to feel in a mite holler. "'Can't you hand me a snack to eat as I go along?' "'You'd much better come in and have your breakfast properly.' oh i don't want nothin much the altruist protested just fetch me out a slice of bread or a donut we've got to get at that pump of zenis henry's i'm itching to know what's the matter with it celestina looked disappointed i've been saving your coffee for you since seven o'clock murmured she reproachfully that was very kind of you tini willie responded with an ingratiating glance into her eyes. You just keep it hot a spell longer, and I'll be back.

Starting point is 00:54:12 Likely I won't be long. You've been working five hours on your own pump. Five hours? Sure, you don't say so, mused the tranquil voice. Think of that. And it didn't seem no time. Well, it's a pumping now, Solistina. The mild face beamed with satisfaction.

Starting point is 00:54:35 and celestina had not the heart to cloud its brightness by annoying him further that's capital she declared here's your bread-and-butter willie and here's some apple turnovers for you and jan and zenis henry they'll be nice for you goin along in the wagon then turning to see jan she whispered in a pleading undertone do watch jan that willie don't lay that bread down somewhere's and forget it maybe if he sees the rest of you eatin he'll remember to eat himself if he don't though remind him for he's just as liable to bring it back home again in his hand keep your eye on him jan nodded understandingly and climbing into the dusty wagon the three men rattled off over the sandy road willie dropped his tools into the bottom of the carriage but the slice of bread remained untouched in his fingers now that triumph had brought a respite in his labors he seemed silent and thoughtful it was not until the admiral had turned in at the brewster gate that he roused himself sufficiently to observe with irrelevance speaking about that propeller a year zenas henry it must be no end of a temper rasper zenis henry slapped the reins over the horse's flank and waited breathlessly hoping some further comment would come from the little inventor but as willie remained silent he at length could restrain his impatience no longer and ventured with diffidence s'pose you ain't got any notion what we could do about it have you willie the old man shrugged his shoulders no not the ghost was his terse reply that night however celestina was awakened from her dreams by the ring of a hammer she rose and lighted her candle tiptoed into the hall it was one o'clock and she could see that willie's bedroom door was ajar and the bed untouched

Starting point is 00:56:41 with a little sigh she blew out the flame in her hand and crept back beneath the shelter of her calico comforter she knew the symptoms only too well Willie was once again kitched by an idea. End of Chapter 2. Recording by Roger Maline. Chapter 3 of Flood Tide. This Librevox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Roger Maline. Flood Tide by Sarah Ware Bassett.

Starting point is 00:57:19 Chapter 3. A New Arrival. The new idea, whatever it was, was evidently not one to be hastily perfected. For the next morning, when Celestina went downstairs, she found the jaded inventor seated moodily in a rocking chair before the kitchen stove, his head in his hands. "'Law, Willie, are you up already?' she asked, as if unconscious of his nocturnal activities. The reply was a wan smile. "'And you've got the fire-built, too,' went on Celestina cheerily.

Starting point is 00:57:58 How nice. Hey? repeated he, giving her a vague stare. The fire? Yes, I was saying how good it was of you to start it up. The man gazed at her blankly. I ain't touched the fire, he answered. I might have, though, as well as not, Taney, if I thought of it.

Starting point is 00:58:23 That's all right, Celestina declared, making haste to repair her blunder. i've plenty of time to lay it myself twas only that when i saw you settin up before it i thought maybe it built it cause you were cold i was cold acquiesced willie his eyes misty with thought but i warn't noticing there was no heat in the stove when i drew up here celestina bit her lip how characteristic the confession was well there'll be a fire now very soon said she bustling out and returning with paper and kindlings. The kitchen will be warm as toast in no time. And I'll make you some hot coffee straightway. That'll heat you up. This northerly wind blows the cobwebs out of the sky,

Starting point is 00:59:14 but it does make it chilly. Although Willie's eyes automatically followed her brisk motions and watched while she deftly started the blaze, it was easy to see that he was too deep in his own meditations to sense what he was doing. Perhaps, had his mood not been such an abstract one, he would have realized that he was directly in the main thoroughfare and obstructing the path between the pantry and the oven.

Starting point is 00:59:41 As it was, he failed to grasp the circumstance, and not wishing to disturb him, Celestina patiently circled before, behind, and around him in her successive pilgrimages to the stove. Such situations were exigency, to which she was quite accustomed, her easy-going disposition quickly adapting itself to emergencies of the sort.

Starting point is 01:00:05 So skillful was she in effacing her presence that Willie had no knowledge he was an obstacle, until suddenly the iron door swung back of its own volition and in passing brushed his knuckles with its hot metal edge. Ouch! cried he, starting up from his chair. What's the matter? called Celestina from the pantry. Nothing. The oven door sprung open, that's all.

Starting point is 01:00:33 It didn't burn you. No, but it made me jump, laughed Willie. Why didn't you tell me, Tini, that I was in your way? You weren't in my way. But I must have been, the man persisted. You should have shoved me aside in the beginning. stretching his arms upward with a comfortable yawn, he rose and sauntered toward the door. "'Now you're not to pull out of here, Willie Spence,' Celestina objected in a peremptory tone,

Starting point is 01:01:08 "'until you've had your breakfast. You had none yesterday, remember, thanks to that pump, "'and you had no dinner either, thanks to Zenas Henry's pump. "'You're going to start this day right. You're to have three square meals if I have to tag you all over Wilton with them. I don't know what it is you've got in your mind this time, but the world's worried along without it up to now, and I guess it can manage a little longer. Willie regarded his mentor, good-humoredly.

Starting point is 01:01:41 I figure it can, Celestina, he returned. In fact, I reckon it'll have to content itself for quite a spell without the notion I've run afoul of now. Celestina offered no interrogation. Instead, she said, Well, don't let it harry you up. That's all I ask. If it's going to be a long, drawn-out piece of tinkering,

Starting point is 01:02:05 why there's all the more reason you should eat your three good meals like other Christians. Next you know you'll be getting run down and I'll be having to brew some dandelion bidders for you. She came to an abrupt stop, halfway between the oven and the kitchen table, a bowl and spoon poised in her hand. "'I ain't sure but it's time to brew you something anyway,' she announced. "'You ain't had a tonic for quite a spell, and maybe twould do you good.' A helpless protest trembled on Willie's lips.

Starting point is 01:02:41 "'I—I don't need any bitter, Sylvesterna,' he at last observed mildly. you don't know whether you do or not celestina replied with as near an approach to sharpness as she was capable of however there's no call to discuss that now the chief thing this minute is for you to sit up to the table and eat your victuals docilely the man obeyed he was hungry it proved very hungry indeed with satisfaction celestina watched every spoonful of food he put to his lips inwardly gloating his one muffin after another disappeared and when at last he could eat no more and took his blackened cob pipe from his pocket she drew a sigh of satisfaction there now if you want to go back to your inventin you can she remarked as she began to clear away the dishes you've took aboard enough rations to do you quite a while notwithstanding the permission willie did not immediately avail himself of it but instead lingered uneasily as if something troubled his conscience say teenie he blurted out at length if you happen around by the front door and miss the screen don't be scared and think it stole i had to use it for something last night the screen door gasped celestina yes but-but willie the door was new this spring there wasn't a brack in it i know it was the calm answer that's why i took it but you could have got netton over at the store to-day i couldn't wait

Starting point is 01:04:30 celestina did not reply at once but when she did she had herself well in hand and every trace of irritation had vanished from her tone well we don't often open that door anyway she reflected aloud so i guess no harm's done it's a full year since anybody's come to the front door and like as not twill be another before a jangling sound cut short the sentence what's that exclaimed she aghast. It's a bell. I never heard a bell like that in this house. It's a bell I rigged up one day when you were gone to the junction, exclaimed Willie, hurriedly. I thought I told you about it. You didn't.

Starting point is 01:05:20 Well, no matter now, he went on soothingly. I meant to. Where is it? demanded Celestina. It's in the heart. hall. It's a new front door bell, that's what it is, proclaimed the inventor. His voice lost in a second deafening peal. "'My soul, it's enough to wake the dead!' gasped Celestina with hands on her ears. "'I should think it could be heard from here to Nantucket. What set you getting a bell that size, Willie? To scare any caller who dared to come this way out of a year's growth. I'll have

Starting point is 01:06:00 to go and see who's there, if he ain't been struck dumb on the door-sill. Whoever can it be, coming to the front door. With perturbed expectancy, she hurried through the passageway, Willie tagging at her heels. The infrequently patronized portal of the Spence Mansion, it proved, was so securely barred and bolted that to unfasten it necessitated no little time and patience. Even after locks and fastenings had been withdrawn and the door was at liberty to move, not knowing what to do with its unaccustomed freedom, it refused to stir, stubbornly resisting every attempt to wrench its hinges asunder. It was not until the man and woman inside had combined their efforts and struggled with it for quite an interval that it contrived

Starting point is 01:06:52 to creak apart far enough to reveal through a four-inch crack the figure of a young man. man who was standing patiently outside. One could not have asked for a franker, merrier face than that which peered at Celestina through the narrow chink of sunshine. To judge at random, the visitor had come into his manhood recently, for the brown eyes were alight with youthful humor and the shoulders unbowed by the burdens of the world. He had a mass of wavy, dark hair, a thoughtful brow, ruddy color, a pleasant mouth and fine teeth, and a tall, erect figure which he bore with easy grace. Is Miss Morton at home? he asked, smiling at Celestina through the shaft of golden light.

Starting point is 01:07:43 Celestina hesitated. So seldom was she addressed by this formal pseudonym that for the instant she was compelled to stop and consider whether the individual designated was on the premises or not. Yes, she at last admitted feebly. I wonder if I might speak with her, the stranger asked. Why don't you tell him you're Miss Morton? Coached Willie in a loud whisper, but the man on the steps had heard.

Starting point is 01:08:14 You're not Miss Morton, are you? he essayed. Miss Celestina Morton? I expect I am, owned Celestina nervously. "'I'm your brother, El Nathan's boy, Bob!' Celestina crumpled weakly against the doorframe. "'Nate's boy!' she repeated. "'Bless my soul! Bless my soul and body!' The man outside laughed a delighted laugh so infectious

Starting point is 01:08:45 that before Celestina or Willie were conscious of it, they had joined in its mellow ripple. After that, everything was easy. "'We can't open the door to let you in,' explained Willie, peering out through the rift. "'Cause this blasted door ain't moved for so long "'that its hinges have grown together. "'But if you'll come round to the back of the house,

Starting point is 01:09:08 "'you'll find a warmer welcome.' "'The guest nodded and disappeared. "'Land alive, Willie,' ejaculated Celestina, "'while they struggled to replace the dislocated bars and bolts. "'To think of Nate's boy appear in here. I can't get over it. Nate's boy. Nate was my favorite brother, you know,

Starting point is 01:09:31 the littlest one that I brought up from babyhood. This lad is so completely the living image of him that when I clapped eyes on him, it took the gimp clear out of me. It was like having Nate himself come back again. With fluttering eagerness, she sped through the hall. Robert Morton was standing in the kitchen when she arrived, his head towering into the tangle of strings that crossed and recrossed the small interior.

Starting point is 01:10:01 Whatever his impression of the extraordinary spectacle, he vents no curiosity, but remained as imperturbable amid the network that ensnared him, as if such astounding phenomena were everyday happenings. Nevertheless, a close observer might have detected in his hazel eyes a dancing gleam that defied control. Apparently, it did not occur either to Willie or to Celestina to explain the mystery, which had long since become to them so familiar a sight. Therefore, amid the barrage of red, green, purple, pink, yellow, and white strings, they greeted their guest, throwing into their welcome all the homely cordiality they could command.

Starting point is 01:10:45 From the first moment of their meeting, it was noticeable that Willie was strongly attracted by Robert Morton's sense. sensitive and intelligent face, and had he not been, for Celestina's sake, he would have made an effort to like the newcomer. Fortunately, however, effort was unnecessary, for Bob won his way quite as uncontestedly with the little inventor as with Celestina. There was no question that his aunt was delighted with him. One could read it in her affectionate touch on his arm, in her soft, nervous laughter, in the tremulous inflection of her many questions. Your father couldn't have done a kinder thing than to have sent you to Wilton, Robert, she declared at last one quite out of breath with her rejoicings.

Starting point is 01:11:34 My, if you're not the mortal image of him as he used to be at your age, I can scarcely believe it isn't Nate. His forehead was high, like yours, and the hair waved back from it. the same way. He had your eyes, too, full of fun and yet earnest and thoughtful. I ain't sure, but you're a mite taller than he was, though. I top dad by six inches, Aunt Teeny, smiled the young man. I guessed likely you did, murmured Solistina, with her eyes still on his face. Now, you must sit right down and tell me all about yourself and your folks. I want to know everything. Where you come from, when you got here, how long you can stay, and all.

Starting point is 01:12:23 The last question is the only really important one, interrupted Willie, approaching the guest and laying a friendly hand on his shoulder. The doings of your family will keep, and where you come from ain't no great matter neither. What counts is how long you can spare to visit in Wilton and your aunt. We ain't much on talk here on the Cape, but I just want you should know that there's an empty room upstairs with a good bed in it that's yours longs as you can make out to use it your aunt is a prime cook too and though there's no danger of your mixing up this place with broadway or palm beach i believe you might manage to keep contented here i'm sure i could bob morton answered and you're certainly kind to give me such a cordial invitation

Starting point is 01:13:14 I wasn't expecting to remain for any length of time, however. I came down from Boston, where I happened to be staying yesterday afternoon and had planned to go back tonight. I've been doing some postgraduate work in naval engineering at Tech and have just finished my course there. So, you see, I'm really on my way home to Indiana. But Dad wrote that, before I returned, he wanted me to take a run down here and see Aunt Tien.

Starting point is 01:13:44 and the old town where he was born, so here I am." Willie scanned the stranger's face meditatively. Then you're clear of work and starting off on your summer vacation. That's about it, confessed Bob. Anything to take you west right away? No, nothing, except that the family have not seen me for some time. I've accepted a business position with a new business position with a New York firm, but I don't start in there until October.

Starting point is 01:14:18 You're your own master for four months, huh? Yes, sir. Well, I ain't going to urge you to put in your time here, but I will say again, in case you've forgotten it, that so long as you're content to remain with us, we'd admire to have you. T'would give your aunt no end of pleasure, I'll be bound, and I'd enjoy it as well as she would.

Starting point is 01:14:41 "'You're certainly not considering going back to Boston today,' chimed in Celestina. "'I was,' laughed Bob. "'You may as well put that notion right out of your head,' said Willie, "'for we shan't let you carry out no such crazy scheme.' "'But to come launching down on you this way,' began the younger man. "'You ain't come launching down,' objected his aunt with spirit. ain't got nothing to do but inventin' and i reckon that can wait glancing playfully at willie she saw a sudden light of eagerness flash into his countenance but bob not understanding the illusion looked from one of them to the other in puzzled silence all right aunt teenie he at last announced if you and mr spence really want me to i should be delighted to stay with you a few days the fact is he

Starting point is 01:15:41 added, with boyish frankness, my suitcase is down behind the rosebushes this minute. Having sent most of my luggage home, and not knowing what I should do, I brought it along with me. You go straight out, young man, and fetch it in, commanded Willie, giving him a jocose slap on the back. Nevertheless, in spite of the mandate, Robert Morton lingered. Do you know, Aunt Tini, I'm almost ashamed to accept your hospitality. he observed with winning sincerity. We've all been so rotten to you, never coming to see you or anything. Dad's terribly cut up that he hasn't made a single trip east since leaving Wilton.

Starting point is 01:16:26 The honest confession instantly quenched the last smoldering embers of Celestina's resentment toward her kin. Don't think no more of it, she returned hurriedly. Your father's been busy, likely, and so of you. and anyhow men ain't much on following up their relations or writing to him so don't say another word about it i'm sure i've hardly given it a thought that the final assertion was false robert morton read in the woman's brave attempt to control the pitiful little quiver of her lips nevertheless he blessed her for her deception you're a dear aunt teenie he exclaimed heartily stooping to kiss her cheek had i dreamed half how nice you were wild horses couldn't have kept me away from wilton celestina blushed with pleasure very pretty she looked standing there in the window her shoulders encircled by the arm of the big fellow who towering above her looked down into her eyes so affectionately willie couldn't but think as he saw her what a mother she would have made for some boy possibly something of the same regret crossed celestina's own mind for a shadow momentarily clouded her brow and to banish it she repeated with resolute gaiety do go straight out and bring in that suit-case bob or some straggler may steal it and put out of your mind any notion of going to boston for the present i'll show you which room you're to have so as you can unpack your things and while you're washing up i'll get you some breakfast you ain't had none have you

Starting point is 01:18:08 no but really aunt teenie i'm not yes you are don't think it's any trouble for it ain't not a mite willie beamed with good will you've landed just in time to set down with us he remarked we ain't had our breakfast either celestina wheeled about with astonishment willie's hospitality must have burst all bounds if it had lured him who never deviated from the truth into uttering a falsehood monstrous as this one glance however at his placid face his unflinching eye convinced her that swept away by the interest of the moment the little old man had lost all memory of whether he had breakfasted or not she did not enlighten him maybe it ain't honest to let him go on thinking he's had nothing to eat she whispered to herself but if all them muffins and oatmeal and coffee don't do nothing toward reminding him he's at once i ain't going to do it this second meal will make up for the breakfast he missed yesterday i ain't deceiving him i'm simply squaring things up end of chapter three recording by roger maline chapter four of of Flood Tide. This Libravox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Roger Maline.

Starting point is 01:19:40 Flood Tide by Sarah Ware Bassett. Chapter 4. The Green Eyed Monster enters. Before the morning had passed, Bob Morton was as much at home in the little cottage that faced the sea as if he had lived there all his days. His property was spread out in the old mahogany bureau upstairs. his hat dangled from a peg in the hall and he had exchanged his city clothes for the less conventional outing shirt and suit of blue serge both of which transformed him into a figure amazingly slender and boyish for two hours he and celestina had rehearsed the family history from beginning to end and now he had left her to get dinner and he and willie had betaken themselves to the workshop where they were deep in confidential conversation you see the inventor was explaining to his guest it's like this it ain't so much that i want to bother with these notions as that i have to they get me by the throat and there's no shaking em off

Starting point is 01:20:49 only yesterday for example i got kitched with an idea about a boat he broke off regarding his listener with sudden suspicion bob waited evidently willie's scrutiny of the frank countenance opposite satisfied him for dropping his voice he continued in an impressive whisper about a motor boat this idea was glancing around as if to assure himself that no one was within hearing he hitched the barrel on which he was seated nearer his visitor there's a sight of plague with motor boats among these shoals he went on eagerly what with the eel grass that grows along the inlets and the kelp that's washed in by the tide after a storm the propeller of a motor boat is snarled up a good bit of the time now my scheme he announced his last trace of reserve vanishing is to box that propeller somehow if so be as it can be done and-the voice trailed off into meditation robert morton too was silent you would have to see that the wheel was kept free he mused aloud after an interval i know it and not check the speed of the boat right you are mate exclaimed willie with delight and not hamper the swing of the rudder you have it you have it willie shouted rubbing his hands together and smiling broadly it's all them things i'm up against i believe the trick might be turned though replied young morton rising from the nail-keg in which he was sitting and striding about the narrow room

Starting point is 01:22:40 it's a pretty problem and one would be rather good fun to work out i'd need to rig up a model to experiment with i suppose reflected willie oh we could fix that easily enough bob cried with rising enthusiasm. We? Sure, I'll help you. The announcement did not altogether reassure the inventor, and Bob laughed at the dubious expression of his face. Of course, I'm only a dry land sailor, he went on to explain good-humoredly,

Starting point is 01:23:18 and I do not begin to have had the experience with boats that you have. I did, however, study about them some at tech, and perhaps study about them, repeated Willie, unable wholly to conceal his skepticism and scorn. Again, the younger man laughed. I realize that is not like getting knowledge firsthand, he continued with modesty, but it seemed the best I could do. As to this plan of yours, two heads are sometimes better than one,

Starting point is 01:23:51 and between us I believe we can evolve an answer to the puzzle. that'll be prime willie ejaculated now quite comfortable in his mind and when we get the answer to the riddle jan elridge will help us you ain't met jan yet have you he's the salt of the earth genoa eldridge is him and me are the greatest chums you ever saw he maybe has his peculiarities like the rest of us who ain't you'll likely find em kind o's sharp tongueed at first, but he don't mean nothing by it, and he's quick, too, goes up like a rocket at a minute's notice. Folks down in town insist in addition that he's jealous as a girl, but I've yet to see signs of it. For all his little crochets, you'll like Jan Eldridge. You can't help it? We're none of us angels when it comes to that. Hush, broke off Willie warningly. I believe that's him now. Didn't you see a head go past the window? I thought I did. Then that's Jan.

Starting point is 01:25:05 Nobody else would be coming across the dingle. Now, not a word of this motorboat business to him, cautioned Willie, dropping his voice. I never tell Jan about my ideas till I get him well worked out, for he's no great shakes at inventing. There was an instant of guilty silence, and then the two conspirators beheld a freckled face crowned by a mass of rampant sandy hair protrude itself through the doorway ay willie called the newcomer unmindful of the presence of a stranger well how do you find yourself to-day ready to tackle another pump with simulated indignation willie bristled pump he repeated don't you dare so much as to mention pumps in my hearing for six months genoa eldridge i've had my fill of pumps for one spell the furkeled face in the door expanded its smile into a grin that displayed the few scattered teeth adorning its own owner's jaws. No, went on the inventor.

Starting point is 01:26:15 I ain't attacking no pumps today. I'm sort of taking a vacation. You see, we've got company. Tini's nephew, Bob Morton, from Indiana, has come to stay with us. This is him on the nail keg. Shuffling further into the room, Jan peered inquisitively at the guest. So, you're teenie's nephew, eh? He commented,

Starting point is 01:26:41 examining the visitor's countenance with curiosity. Well, well, to think of some of Tini's relations, turn it up at last. Not that it ain't high time, I'll say that. Now, which of the Mortons do you belong to, young man? L. Nathan. I might have known first glance, for you're like him as his tin type. Bob laughed. Aunt Tini thinks I am, too.

Starting point is 01:27:11 she'd oughter know was the dry comment she had the plague of bringing him up from the time he could toddle i'm glad some of you have finally got round to come and to see her you've been long enough doin it i ain't so sure though but if i was in her place i'd there there jan interrupted willie nervously why go digging up the past the lad is here now and-but they have been the devil of a while taken notice of teenie genoa persisted not to be coaxed away from his subject why twas only the other day when we was working out here that you yourself said the way her folks had neglected her was outrageous and it was too mr eldridge confessed bob flushing our whole family have treated aunt teenie shamefully there is no excuse for it before the honest admission of blame jan's mounting wrath grudgingly calmed itself well he grumbled in a more conciliatory tone as willie says maybe it's just as well not to go bringin to life what's buried already like as not there may have been some good reason for your folks never coming back to wilton after once they'd left the place indiana's the devil of a distance away almost at the other end of the world ain't it you might as well live in china as indiana i never could see any other end of the world ain't it you might as well live in china as indiana i never could see any what took people out of Wilton. There ain't a better spot on earth to live than right here.

Starting point is 01:28:52 Yet, for all that, every one of the Morton's Septini, who showed her good sense, in my opinion, went flocking out of this town quick as they was growed, like as if they was a lot of swarming bees. I'd doubt myself, too, if they're a whit better off for it. Your father now, what does he make out to do in Indiana? father is in the grain business replied bob with a smile the grain business is he and likely he sets in an office all day long in out of the fresh air continued jan with contempt plum foolish i call it when he could be living in wilton and fishing and clammin and enjoying himself that's the way with so many folks they go kitein off to the city to make money enough

Starting point is 01:29:45 to buy one of them automobiles. You won't catch me with an automobile. No, nor a motorboat, neither. Nor are any other of them darn things that's going to set me living, like as if I was shot out of the cannon's mouth. What's the good of being whizzed through life as if old Nick himself was at your heels? Working faster, eating faster, dying faster? I see nothing to it, nothing at all at the risk of rousing the philosopher's resentment bob burst into a peal of laughter but ain't it so now i ask you ain't it just as i say insisted genoa eldridge argue as you will what's the gain in it to the speaker's apparent disappointment the citizen from indiana did not accept the challenge for argument but instead observed pleasantly i'll wager you will outlive all us city people mr eldridge course i will was the old man's confident retort i'll be a-sailing in my dory when the whole lot of you motor-boat folks are under the sod you see if i ain't and speaking of motor-boats willie i suppose you ain't done nothin towards tackling zenis henry's tribulations with that propeller have you the question was unexpected

Starting point is 01:31:12 and Willie colored uncomfortably. He was not good at dissembling. "'T'would mean quite a bit of thinking "'to get Zinus Henry out of his troubles,' "'returned he evasively. "'Tain't so simple as it looks.' "'Moving abruptly to the workbench, "'he began to overturn at random the tools lying upon it.

Starting point is 01:31:36 "'Something in this unusual proceeding "'arrested Jan's attention, "'causing him to glance with, suspicion from Robert Morton to the inventor, and from the inventor back to Robert Morton again. The elder man was whistling, tenting to-night, an air that had never been a favorite of his, and the younger, with self-conscious zeal, was shredding into bits a long curl of shavings. Jan eyed both of them with distrust. I figure we're going to have a spell of fine weather now, remarked Will.

Starting point is 01:32:12 with jaunty artificiality. The offhand assertion was too casual to be real. Cloud and fog were not dealt with in this cursory fashion in Wilton. It clinched Jan's doubts into certainty. Something was being kept from him, something of which this stranger, who had only been in the town a few hours, was cognizant. For the first time in fifty years,

Starting point is 01:32:40 another had usurped his place as Willie's confidante. It was monstrous. A tremor of jealous rage thrilled through his frame, and he stiffened visibly. I reckon I'll be jogging along home, said he, moving with dignity toward the door. But you've only just come, Jan, protested Willie. I didn't come for nothing but to leave this hammer, Jan answered, placing the implement on the long bench before which his friend was standing. "'Maybe there was something you wanted to see Mr. Spence about,' ventured Bob. "'If there was, I will—'

Starting point is 01:33:22 "'No, there weren't,' snapped Genoa. "'Mr. Spence ain't got nothing confidential to say to me, "'whatever he may have to say to other folks.' "'And with this parting thrust he shot out of the door. "'Bob gave a low whistle. "'What's the matter with the man?' he asked in amazement. Willie flushed apologetically.

Starting point is 01:33:48 "'Nothing, nothing in the world,' he answered. "'Jan gets like that sometimes. Don't you remember I told you he was kind of quick? It's just possible it may have bothered him to see me talking to you. Don't mind him.' "'Do you think he suspected anything?' "'Mercy, no, not he,' responded Willie comfortably. he's liable to fly off the handle like that a score of times a day don't you worry about him he'll be back before the morning's over

Starting point is 01:34:22 nevertheless sanguine as this prediction was the hours wore on and genoa eldred failed to make his appearance in the meantime bob and willie became so deeply engrossed in their new undertaking that they were oblivious to his absence they worked feverishly until noon devoured a hurried meal and returned to the shop again there to resume their labors by supper-time they had made quite an encouraging start on the model they required their combined efforts having accomplished in a single day what it would have taken willie many an hour to perfect the inventor was jubilant little i dreamed when you came to the front door bob what i was netting he exclaimed clapping his hand vigorously on the young man's shoulder you're a regular boat builder you are the moon mighta pogeed and perigede before i'd a got as fur along as we have to-day how you've learned all you have about boats without ever goin near the water beat me now you ain't a-goin to think of quitting wilton and leaving me high and dry with this propeller idea, are you? It would be a downright shabby trick. Bob smiled into the old man's anxious face.

Starting point is 01:35:48 I can't promise to see you to the finish, for I must be back home before many days, or I'll have my whole family down on me. Besides, I have some business in New York to attend to, he said kindly. But I will arrange to stick around until the job is so well underway, you won't need me. I am quite as interested in making the scheme of success as you are.

Starting point is 01:36:13 All is, you mustn't let me wear out my welcome and be a burden to Aunt Tini. La, Tini'll admire to have you stay long as you can, if only because you drag me into the house at mealtime, chuckled Willie. At least I can do that, Bob returned. You can do that in a durn sight more, youngster. the inventor declared with earnestness. I ain't had the pleasure I've had today in all my life put together. To work with somebody as has learned the right way to go ahead, it's wonderful.

Starting point is 01:36:51 When me and Jan tackle a job, we generally begin at the wrong end of it and blunder along, wasting time and string without limit. If we hit it right, it's more luck than anything else. Robert Morton, watching the mobile face, saw a pitiful sadness steal into the blue eyes. A sudden shame surged over him. I ought to be able to do far more with my training than I have done, he answered humbly.

Starting point is 01:37:22 Dad has given me every chance. Think of it, murmured Willie, scrutinizing him with hungering gaze. Think of having every chance to learn. for an interval he smoked in silence well he asserted at length you've sure proved to-day that brains with training are better in brains without now if jan and me he broke off abruptly there i wonder what in tunk it's become of jan he speculated we've been so busy that he went clean out of my mind it's queer he didn't show up again he he ain't stayed away for a whole day in all history maybe he's took sick i believe i'll trudge over there and find out what's got em i mustn't go to neglectin jan inventin or no inventing he rose from his chair wearily i reckon a note would do as well though as going over he presently remarked as an afterthought i could send one in the box and ask him to drop round and set a spell before bedtime. He caught up a piece of brown paper from the workbench, tore a ragged

Starting point is 01:38:42 corner from it, and hastily scrawled a message. Bob watched the process with amusement. There, announced the scribe when the epistle was finished, I reckon that'll fetch him. We'll put it in the box and shoot it across to him. Notwithstanding the dash implied in the term, it took no small length of time for the diminutive receptacle to hitch its way through the fields the two men watched it jiggle along above the bushes of wild roses through verdant clumps of fragrant bayberry and disappear into the woods then they sat down to await jan's appearance the twilight was rarely beautiful in a sky of palest turquoise a crescent moon hung low it arc of silver poised above the tips of the stunted pines whose feathery outlines loomed black in the dusk from out of the dimness the note of a vesper sparrow sounded and mingled its sweetness with the faintly breathing ocean the men in the doorstep smoked silently each absorbed in his own reveries how peaceful it was there in the stillness with the hush of evening descending like a benediction on the darkening earth bob sighed with contentment his year of hard study was over and now that his well-earned rest had come he was surprised to discover how tired he was

Starting point is 01:40:16 already the piece of wilton was stealing over him its dreamy atmosphere almost too beautiful to be real from where he sat he could see the trembling lights of the village jewelling the rim of the bay like a circlet of stars a man might do worse he reflected than remain a few days in this sleepy little town he liked willie and celestina too indeed he would have been without a heart not to have appreciated their simple kindliness why should he hurry home would not his father rejoice should he be content to stay and make his aunt a short visit there was no need to bind himself for any definite length of time he would merely drift and when he found himself becoming bored flee to be sure about the last thing he had intended when setting forth to the cape was to linger there he had come hither with unwilling feet solely to please his parents and having paid his respects to his unknown relative he meant to depart west as speedily as decency would permit reasoning that it would be a mutual relief when the visit was over but a single day in the cosy little house at the water's edge had served to convince him how erroneous had been his premises instead of being tiresome his aunt celestina was proving a delightful acquisition toward whom he already found himself cherishing a warm regard and what a cook she was after months of city food her bread pies and cookies were ambrosial as for willie bob had never before beheld so gentle ingenuous and lovable a personality undoubtedly the little inventor had genius what a pity he had been cheated of the opportunity for cultivating it there was something pathetic in the way he reached out for

Starting point is 01:42:22 for the knowledge life had denied him, it reminded one of a patient child who asks for water to slake his thirst. If, for some inscrutable reason, fortune had granted him, Robert Morton, the chance denied this grouping soul, was it not almost an obligation that, insofar as he was able,

Starting point is 01:42:45 he should place at the other's disposal the fruits of the education that had been his? Presumably this sort of the education, motorboat idea would not amount to much, for if such an invention were plausible and of value, doubtless, a score of nautical authorities would have seized upon it long before now. But to work at the plan would give the gentle dreamer in the silver-gray cottage happiness, and after all, happiness was not to be despised. If together he and Willie could make tangible the notion that existed in the latter's brain,

Starting point is 01:43:21 the deed was certainly worth the doing. Moreover, the process would be an entertaining one, and after its completion, he might go away with a sense of having brightened at least one horizon by his coming. Thus reasoned Robert Morton, as in the peace of that June evening, he casually shuffled the cards of fate,

Starting point is 01:43:45 little suspecting that, already a factor in his destiny stronger than any of his arguments, was soon to make its influence felt, and transform Wilton into a magnet so powerful that against its spell he would be helpless as a child. He was aroused from his meditations by the voice of Willie. "'Didn't you hear a little bell?' demanded the inventor. "'A sort of tinkling noise?' "'I thought I did.'

Starting point is 01:44:18 "'It's the box coming. from Jans," explained he. "'Can you catch a sight of it?' "'I see it now.' Rising, the old man tugged at the string, urging the reluctant messenger through the tangle of roses. "'By his writing a note, I figure he ain't coming over,' he remarked, as the object drew nearer.

Starting point is 01:44:43 "'I wonder what's stuck in his crop. Maybe Miss Eldridge won't let him out. she's something of a tartar arabella is jan has to walk the plank i can tell you by this time the cigar box swaying on the tot twine was within easy reach willie raised its cover and took from its interior a crumpled fragment of paper muff he's mighty savin he commented as he turned the missive over he's writ on the other side of my letter let's see what he has to say can't come busy well did you ever gasped he blankly busy good lord jan's never been known to be busy in all his life he don't even know the feeling if genoa eldridge is busy all i've got to say is the world's going to be swallowed up by another deluge maybe as you suggested mrs eldridge oh if it had been miss eldridge he wouldn't have took the trouble to send no such message as that broke in willie he'd simply a writ arabella it wouldn't have been a need for more no sir something stepped on jan shatter and to-morrow i'll have to go straight over there and find out what it is end of chapter four recording by roger maline

Starting point is 01:46:23 Chapter 5 of Flood Tide This Libravox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Roger Maline. Flood Tide by Sarah Ware Bassett. Chapter 5. An apparition. The next morning, after loitering uneasily about the workshop, a sufficiently long time for Genoa Eldridge to make his appearance,

Starting point is 01:46:50 and finding that his crony did not make his appearance, Willie reluctantly took his worn visor cap down from the peg and drew it over his brows with the remark, "'Looks like Jan ain't headed this way today, either!' He cast a troubled glance through the dusty, multi-paneed window of the shed. "'Much as I'm longing to go ahead with this model, Bob, "'before I go farther, I've simply got to step over to the Eldruges "'and straighten him out. There's no help for it.'

Starting point is 01:47:22 all right go ahead sir reassuringly returned bob i'll work while you're gone things won't be at a complete standstill i know that willie replied with a pleasant smile tain't that that's fretting me it's just that i don't relish the notion of shoving my job onto your shoulders tain't as if you'd come to wilton to spend your time workin selestina hinted last evening she was afraid you bid to get but mighty little rest out of your vacation. "'Twas unlucky,' she thought, "'that you hove into port "'just when I happen to be kitched "'with a bigger idea than common.' "'Nonsense,' Bob protested heartily.

Starting point is 01:48:09 "'Don't you and Aunt Tini give yourselves "'any any uneasiness about me. "'I'm happy. "'I enjoy fussing around the shop with you, Mr. Spence. "'I'd far rather you took me into what you're doing "'than left me out. besides i don't intend to work every minute while i'm here some fine day i mean to steal off by myself and explore wilton i may even take a day's fishing that's right youngster that's right ejaculated willie that's the proper spirit if you'll just feel free to pull out when you please it'll take a load off my mind and i shall turn to tinkering with a clear conscience

Starting point is 01:48:51 i will i promise you then that settled sighed the inventor with relief i must say you're about the best feller ever was to come a visitin bob you ain't a mite of trouble to anybody with eyes still fastened on the bench with its chaos of tools the old man moved unwillingly toward the door but on the threshold he paused i'll be back quick as i can he called likely I'll bring Jan in tow. I'd full as leaf not tell him what we're doing till next week if I had my choice. Still, things being as they are, maybe it's as well not to shut him out any longer. He gets miffed easy, and I wouldn't have his feelings hurt for a pot of lobsters. With a gentle smile, he waved his hand and was gone.

Starting point is 01:49:47 Left alone in the long, low-studded room, Bob rolled up his sleeves, and to a brisk whistle began to plane down some pieces of thin board. The bench at which he worked stood opposite a broad window from which, framed in a wreath of grapevine, he could see the bay and the shelving dunes beyond it. A cat boat, with sails close-hauled, was making her way out of the channel, a wake of snowy foam churning behind her in the blue water. Through the door of the shed swept a breeze, that rustled the shavings on the floor

Starting point is 01:50:21 and blended the fragrance of newly cut wood with the warm perfume of sweet fern from the adjoining meadow. For all its untidiness and confusion, its litter of boards, tools, and battered paint pots, the shop was unquestionably one of the most homie corners of the Spence Cottage. Its rough unsheathed walls,

Starting point is 01:50:43 mellowed to a dull buff tone, were here and there adorned with prints called by Willie from magazine. and newspapers. Litenesses of Lincoln and Roosevelt flanked the windows with an American flag above them, and a series of battleships and army scenes beneath. The inventor's taste, however, had not run entirely to patriotic subjects, for scattered along the walls, where shelves sagged with their burden of oil cans, putty, nails, and fishing tackle, were a variety of nautical reproductions in color, a prize yacht healing in the wind, a reach of rough sea whose giant comers

Starting point is 01:51:23 swirled about a wreck, glimpses of marsh and dune typical of the land of the Cape Dweller. An airtight stove, the solitary defense against cold and storm, stood in the corner, and before its rusty hearth, a rickety chair and an overturned soapbox were suggestively placed. But perhaps what told an observer more about Willie Spence than did anything else was a bunch of rarely beautiful Sabatia blooming in a pickle bottle and a wee black kitten who disported herself unmolested among the tools cluttering the deeply scarred workbench. She was a mischievous kitten, a spoiled kitten,

Starting point is 01:52:07 one who vented her caprice on everything that had motion. Did a curl of shavings drop to the ground? instantly Jezebel was at hand to catch it up in her diminutive pause. Toss it from her, steal up and fall upon it again, and dragging it between her feet, roll over and over with it in a mad orgy of delight. A shadow, a string, a flicker of metal was the signal for a frolic. Let one's mood be austere as a monk's, with a single twist of her absurdly tiny body,

Starting point is 01:52:41 this small creature shattered its gravity to atoms. There was no such thing as dignity in Jezebel's presence. Already three times Bob Morton had lifted the might off the table and three times back she had come, leaping in the path of his gleaming plane, as if its metallic were and glimmering reflections were designed solely for her amusement. In spite of his annoyance, the man had laughed,

Starting point is 01:53:10 and now, stooping, he caught up the tormentor and held her aloft. You minx, he cried, shaking the sprite gently. What do you think I am here for, to play with you? The kitten blinked at him out of her round blue eyes. You'll be getting your fur mittens cut off, the next thing you know, went on Bob severely. Scamp her out of here. He set the little creature on the floor, aimed her toward the doorway, and gave her a stimulating push.

Starting point is 01:53:43 With a coquettish leap headlong into the sunshine, darted Jezebel, only to come suddenly into collision with a stranger who had crossed the grass and was at that instant about to enter the workshop. The newcomer was a girl, tall and slender, with lustrous masses of dark hair

Starting point is 01:54:02 that swept her cheek and wind-tossed ringlets. She had a complexion vivid with health, an undignified little nose and a mouth whose short upper lip lent to her face a half-childish half-pouting expression. But it was in her eyes that one forgot all else, eyes large, brown, and softly deep, with a quality that held the glance compellingly. Her gown of thin pink material dampened by the sea air clung to her figure in folds that accentuated her lithe youthfulness, and as she, she stumbled over the kitten in full flight, she broke into a delicious laugh that showed two rows of

Starting point is 01:54:44 pretty, white teeth, and lured from hiding an alluring dimple. "'You ridiculous little thing!' she exclaimed, snatching up the fleeing culprit before she could make her escape and placing her in the warm curve of her neck. "'Do you know you almost tripped me up? Where are your manners?' Jezebel merely stared. So did Robert Morton. The girl and the kitten were too disconcerting a spectacle. By herself, Jezebel was tantalizing enough,

Starting point is 01:55:19 but in combination with the creature who stood laughing on the threshold, the sight was so bewildering that it not only overwhelmed but intoxicated. It was evident the visitor was unconscious of his presence, for instead of addressing him, she continued to. to toy with the wisp of animation snuggled against her cheek i do believe willie she observed without glancing up that jezebel grows more fascinating every time i see her bob did not answer he was in no mood to discuss jezebel if he thought of her at all it was to contrast her inky fur with the white throat against which she nestled and speculate as to whether she sensed what a thrice blessed kitten she was. It did flash through his mind as he stood there that the two possessed a bewitching, irresistible something in common, a something he was at a loss to characterize. It did not matter,

Starting point is 01:56:20 however, for he could not have defined even the simplest thing at the moment, and this attribute of the kittens and the girls was very complex. Perhaps it was the silence that at last caused the visitor to raise her eyes and look at him inquiringly. Then he saw a tremor of surprise sweep over her, and a wave of crimson surge into her face. "'I beg your pardon,' she gasped. "'I thought Willie was here.' "'Mr. Spence has stepped over to the Eldrges. "'I'm expecting him back every instant,' Bob returned.

Starting point is 01:56:57 The girl's lashes fell. They were long and very beautiful as they lay in a furrow. fringe against her cheek, yet exquisite as they were, he longed to see her eyes again. "'I'm Miss Morton's nephew from Indiana,' the young man managed to stammer, feeling some explanation might bridge the gulf of embarrassment. "'I am visiting here.' "'Oh!' persistently she studied the toe of her shoe. If Bob had thought her appealing before, now, demur against the background of

Starting point is 01:57:33 budding apple trees, with a shaft of sunlight on her hair, and the kitten cuddled against her breast, she put to rout the few intelligent ideas remaining to the young man. Wonderingly, helplessly, he watched while she continued to caress the minute creature in her arms. "'Are you staying here long?' she asked at length, gaining courage to look up. "'I—uh, yes. That is, I hope so.' Bob answered with sudden fervor. You like Wilton, then? Tremendously!

Starting point is 01:58:11 Most strangers think the place has great beauty, observed his guest innocently. There's more beauty here in Wilton than I ever saw before in all my life, burst out, Bob, then stopped suddenly and blushed. His listener dimpled. Really? She remarked, raising her a delicacy. arrogantly arched brows.

Starting point is 01:58:35 You are enthusiastic about the cape, aren't you? Some parts of it? Where else have you been? The question came with disturbing directness. Oh, why, Middleborough, Tremont, Buzzard's Bay, and Harwich, answered the man hurriedly. As he named the list,

Starting point is 01:58:58 he was conscious that it smacked rather too suggestively of a brakeman's, and he saw she thought so too for she turned aside to hide a smile you might sit down won't you he suggested eager that she should not depart flucking the dust from the soap-box with his handkerchief he dragged it forward and placed it near the workbench as she bent her head to accept the crude throne with the queen's graciousness jezebel roused into playful humor thrust forth her claws and encountering Bob as he rose from his stooping posture, fixed them with random firmness in his necktie. Now it chanced that the tie was a fore in hand of raw silk, very choice in color, but of a fatally loose oriental weave, and once entangled in its meshes, the task of extricating its delicate threads from the clutch that gripped them seemed hopeless. It apparently failed to dawn

Starting point is 02:00:01 on either of the young persons brought into such embarrassingly close contact by the dilemma that the kitten could be handed over to Bob, or that the tie might be removed. Instead, they drew together, trying vainly to liberate the struggling Jezebel from her imprisonment. It was not a simple undertaking, and to add to its difficulties, the ungrateful beast, irritated by their endeavors, began to protest violently. she'll tear your tie all to pieces cried the stranger no matter i don't mind if she doesn't scratch you oh i am not afraid of her if you can hold her a second longer i think i can free the last claw as the girl toiled at her precarious mission bob could feel her warm breath fan his cheek and could catch the fragrant perfume of her hair so far as he was concerned Jezebel might retain her hold on his necktie forever.

Starting point is 02:01:05 But, alas, the slim white fingers were too deft, and he heard at last a triumphant, There! At the same instant the offending kitten was placed on the floor. You little monkey! cried the man, smiling down at the furry object at his feet. Isn't she? echoed the visitor sympathetically. There she goes, the imp.

Starting point is 02:01:31 What is left of your tie? Let me look at it. It's all right, thank you. There is just one thread roughed up. I could fix it if I had a pin. From her gown she produced one, but as she did so, a spray of wild roses slipped to the ground.

Starting point is 02:01:52 You've dropped your flowers, said Bob, picking them up. Have I? Thank you. They are withered anyway, I'm afraid. tossing the rosebuds on the bench she began to draw into smoothness the silken loop that defaced the tie there she exclaimed glancing up into his eyes and tilting her head critically to one side that is ever so much better you would hardly notice it now i really must go i have bothered you quite enough you have not bothered me at all contradicted bob emphatically But I know I must have, she protested. I've certainly delayed you. Besides, it doesn't look as if Willie was coming back.

Starting point is 02:02:42 Isn't there something I can do for you? No, thank you. It was nothing important. In fact, it doesn't matter at all. I just came to see if he could fix the clasp of my belt buckle. It is broken, and he is so clever at mending things that I thought perhaps he could mend this. this. Let me see it. Oh, I couldn't think of troubling you. But I should be glad to fix it,

Starting point is 02:03:10 if I could. If not, I could at least hand it over to Willie's superior skill. She laughed. I'm not certain whether Willie's skill is superior, was her arch retort. Why not make a test case and find out? Still, she hesitated. You're afraid to trust your property to me, Bob said, peaked by her indecision. No, I'm not, was the quick response. See, here is the belt. She drew from her pocket a narrow strip of white leather to which a handsome silver buckle was attached and placed it in his hand.

Starting point is 02:03:53 He took it, inspected its fastening, and looked with beating pulse at the girdle's slender span. Do you think it can be mended? she inquired anxiously. Of course it can. Oh, I'm so glad. Give me a few days, and you shall have it back as good as new. That will be splendid, her eyes shone with starry brightness.

Starting point is 02:04:19 You see, she went on, it was given me on my birthday by my... My... By someone I care a great deal for, by my... she stopped embarrassed robert morton was too well-mannered to put into words the interrogation that trembled on his lips but he might as well have done so so transparent was the questioning glance that travelled to her left hand in search of the tell-tale solitaire even though his search was not rewarded he felt certain that the hand concealed in the folds of her dress wore the fatal ring of course mused he with a shrug He might have guessed it. No such beauty as this was wandering unclaimed about the world. Well, her fiancée, whoever he might be, was a lucky devil.

Starting point is 02:05:13 Without doubt, confound his impudence, his arm had traveled the pathway of that band of leather scores of times. One couldn't blame the dog. For want of a better vent for his irritation, Bob took up the belt and again examined it. he had been quite safe in boasting that the bobble should be returned to its owner as good as new for although he did not confess it on its silver clasp he had discovered the manufacturer's name if the buckle could not be repaired another of similar pattern should replace it unquestionably he was a fool to go to this trouble and expense for nothing yet was it quite for nothing was it not worth while to win even a smile for this creature whose approval gave one the sense of being knighted true titles meant but little in these days of democracy but when bestowed by such royalty she broke in his reverie by extending her hand good-bye she said you have been very kind mr my name is morton bob morton why then you must be the son of auntini's brother

Starting point is 02:06:28 aunt teenie as she laughed he saw again the ravishing dimple and her even white teeth oh she isn't my real aunt she explained i just call her that because i am so fond of her i adore both her and willie who has taken my name in vain called a cheery voice as the little inventor rounded the corner of the shed and entered the room delight as i live i might have known it was you well well dear child if i'm not glad to see you he placed his hands on her shoulders and beamed into her blushing face while she bent and spread the loops of his soft tie out beneath his chin how nice of you willie dear to come back before i had gone she said arranging the bow with exaggerated care bless your heart i'd a come back sooner had i known you were here declared he affectionately what brings you little lady she pointed to the trinket dangling from robert morton's grasp i snapped the clasp of my belt buckle willie that lovely silver buckle zenis henry gave me, she confessed with contrition. How do you suppose I could have been so careless? I have been heartbroken ever since.

Starting point is 02:07:57 Nonsense, nonsense, cried the old man, patting her head. Don't go grieving over a little thing like that. It ain't worth it. Break all the buckles ever was made, but not your precious heart, my dear. Like as not, the thing can be mended. Mr. Morton says it,

Starting point is 02:08:17 can if bob says so it's as good as done already replied willie reassuringly he's a great one with tools why if he was to stay in wilton he'd be cutting me all out so you and he have been getting acquainted eh while i was gone that's right i want he should know what nice folks we've got in wilton cause it's his first visit to the cape and if he don't like us maybe he'll never come again I thought Mr. Morton had visited other places on Cape Cod, observed delight, darting a mischievous glance at the abashed young man opposite. No, indeed, blundered Willie. He ain't been nowhere's. Somebody's got to show him all the sights. Maybe if you get time, you'll take a hand and help and educate him. I should be glad to.

Starting point is 02:09:15 Notwithstanding the prim response, and, her unsmiling lips, the young man had a discomfited presentiment that she was laughing at him, and even the farewell she flashed to him over her shoulder had a hectoring quality in it that did not altogether restore his self-esteem. "'Who is she?' he gasped, when he had watched her out of sight. "'That girl? Do you mean to say you don't know?' "'And you were talking to her half the morning?' demanded the old man with amazement. why it never dawned on me to introduce you to her i thought of course you knew already who she was everybody in town knows delight hathaway and loves her too he added softly

Starting point is 02:10:03 she's zenis henry's daughter the one he brought ashore from the michelaine and adopted oh a light began to break in on bob's understanding it's zenis henry's motorboat we're tinkering with now went on willie i see he waited eagerly for further information but evidently his host considered he had furnished all the data necessary for instead of enlarging on the subject he approached the bench and began to inspect the model i suppose with her being here you didn't get ahead much while i was gone he ventured an inflection of disappointment in his tone no I didn't I didn't accomplish nothing neither the little old man went on Jan weren't to home he'd gone fishing his companion did not reply at once I don't quite get my soundin's on Jan he at length ruminated aloud something's wrong with him I feel it in my bones perhaps not There is, I tell you. I know Genoa Eldridge from crown to heel,

Starting point is 02:11:23 and it ain't like him to go off fishing by himself. I shouldn't fret about it if I were you, Bob said, in an attempt to comfort the disquieted inventor. I'm sure he'll turn up all right. Had the conversation been of a three-master in a gale, of buried treasure, or of the ultimate salvation of the damned, the speaker would at that moment have been equally optimistic. The universe had suddenly become too radiant a place to harbor calamity.

Starting point is 02:11:56 Wilton was a paradise like the First Eden, a garden of smiles, of dimples, of blushing cheeks, and of silver buckles. He began to whistle softly to himself. Then, sensing that Willie was still unconvinced by his sanguine prediction, he added, and even if Mr. Eldred shouldn't come back, I guess you and I could manage without him. That's all very well up to a certain point, youngster, was the retort.

Starting point is 02:12:28 But who's going to see me through this job after you've taken wing? He pointed tragically to the beginnings of the model. Maybe I shan't take wing, announced Bob, looking absently at the cluster of withered roses in his hand. "'You—you see,' he went on, endeavoring to speak in offhand fashion, "'I've been thinking things over, and—and I've about come to the conclusion—' "'Yes,' interrupted Willie eagerly, "'that it is perhaps better for me to stay here until we get the invention completed.'

Starting point is 02:13:08 "'You don't mean until the thing's done.' "'If it doesn't take too long, yes.' "'Hurray!' shouted his host. "'That's prime!' he rubbed his hands together. "'Under those conditions, we'll pitch right in "'and scurry the work along fast as ever we can.' Robert Morton looked chagrined. "'I don't know that we need break our necks

Starting point is 02:13:36 "'to rush the thing through at a pace like that,' he said, "'fumbling awkwardly with the flowers. a few weeks more or less wouldn't make any great difference but i thought you said it was absolutely necessary for you to go home that you had important business in new york that-the old man broke off dumbfounded bob shook his head oh no i think my affairs can be arranged was the sanguine response a piece of work like this would give me lots of valuable experience and and I'm not sure, but it is my duty to—' The little old inventor scanned the speaker's flushed cheeks, his averted eye, and the drooping blossoms in his hand. Then his brow cleared, and he smiled broadly.

Starting point is 02:14:28 "'Duty ain't to be shunned,' announced he with solemnity. "'And as for experience, take it by and large, "'I ain't sure but what you'll get a heap of it by lingering on here. More maybe than you realize. End of Chapter 5. Recording by Roger Maline. Chapter 6 of Flood Tide. This Libervox recording is in the public domain.

Starting point is 02:14:57 Recording by Roger Maline. Flood Tide by Sarah Ware Bassett. Chapter 6. Marrying and Giving in Marriage. That afternoon, after making this elaborate but by no means misleading, explanation to Willie, Bob sent off to a Boston jeweler a registered package, and, while impatiently awaiting its return, set to work with redoubled zest at the new invention. What an amazingly different aspect the motorboat enterprise had assumed since yesterday.

Starting point is 02:15:33 Then his one idea had been to humor Willie's whim, and in return for the old man's hospitality, lend such aid to the undertaking as he was able. But now, Xenus Henry's launch had suddenly become a glorified object, sacred to the relatives of the divinity of the workshop, and how and where the flotsam of the tides and snared it was of colossal importance.

Starting point is 02:15:58 Into solving the nautical enigma, Robert Morton now, through every ounce of his energy, and while at work, artfully drew from his companion every detail he could obtain of Delight Hathaway's strange story. he learned how the michelaine had been wrecked on the wilton shoals in the memorable gale of nineteen ten how the child's father had perished with the ship leaving his little daughter friendless in the world how zenis henry and the three aged captains had risked their lives to bring the little one ashore and how the brewsters had taken her into their home and brought her up it was a simple tale and simply told but the heroism of the romance touched it with an epic quality that gripped the listener's imagination and sympathies tenaciously. And now the waif snatched from the grasp of the covetous sea

Starting point is 02:16:52 had blossomed into this exquisite being, this creature beloved, petted, and well-nigh spoiled by a proudly exultant community. For although legally a member of the Brewster family, Willie explained, the girl had come to belong in a sense to the entire village. had she not been cast an orphan upon its shores and were not its treacherous shoals responsible for her misfortune wilton to be sure was not actually answerable for the crimes those hidden sand-bars perpetrated but nevertheless the fisherfolk could not quite shake themselves free of the shadow cast upon them by the tragedies ever occurring at their gateway too many of their people had gone down to the sea and ships never to return for them to become callous to the disasters they were continually forced to witness the wreck of the michelaine had been one of the most pathetic of these horrors and the welfare of the child who in consequence of it had come into the hamlet's midst had become a matter of universal concern tain't to be wondered at the girl is loved continued willie at first people took an interest in her or tried to from a sense of duty

Starting point is 02:18:12 for you couldn't help being sorry for the little thing but twerent long before folks found out twere't no hardship to be fond of delight hathaway she was livein sumshine that's what she was wherever she went be at one end of town or t'other she brought happiness in time it got so that if you was to drop in where there was sickness or trouble and spite a nosegay of flowers you could be pretty sure delight had been there why lyman beers his father old lyman that's so crabbed with rheumatism that it's a cross to live under the same roof of him will calm down gentle as a dove when delight goes to read to him as for miss ferber i reckon she'd never get to the junction to do a mita-shop and nor marketin but for delight staying with the babies while she was gone i couldn't tell you half what that girl does she's here there and everywhere now she's gettin up a party for the school children now making a birthday cake for somebody now trimming a bonnet for teenie or helping her plan out a dress willie stopped to rummage on a distant shelf for a level once he went on sarah liby lewis asked me what delight was going to be i told her that there weren't no going to be about it. Delight was being it right now.

Starting point is 02:19:42 She didn't need to go sounding for a mission in life. I take it you are not in favor of careers for women, Mr. Spence, observed Robert Morton, who had been eagerly drinking in every word, the old man uttered. Yes, I am, contradicted the inventor. There's times when a girl needs a career, but there's other times when to desert one's plainly duty and go hunting a callin' is criminal.

Starting point is 02:20:11 Queer how people will look right over the top of what they don't want to see, ain't it? I suppose it's human nature, though, he mused. A soft breeze stirred the shavings on the floor. Teeny thinks, resumed the quiet voice, that I mix myself up too much with other folks' concerns anyhow. Leastways, she says I let their troubles weigh on me more or not aught. but to save my life i can't seem to help it don't you believe those on the outside of a tangle sometimes see it straighter than them that is snarled up in the mess robert morton nodded that's the way i figure it rambled on the old man maybe that's the reason i can't keep my fingers out of the pie you'd be surprised enough if you was to know the things i've been dragged into in my lifetime family quarreysed

Starting point is 02:21:07 morals, will-makins, business matters that I didn't know no more about than the man in the moon. Why, I've even taken a hand in love affairs? He broke into a peal of hearty laughter. That's the beatery, he declared, slapping his thigh. Imagine me up to my ears in a love affair. But I have been, scores of them, enough, I reckon, put them all together, to marry off the whole of Cape Cod. You must be quite an authority on the heart by this time, Robert Morton ventured.

Starting point is 02:21:44 I ain't, the other declared soberly. You see, none of the snarls was ever the same, so you kind of had to feel your way along every time, like as if you was navigating a new channel. Women may be all alike, take them in the main, but they're all mighty different when you get them to the fine point, and that's what raises the devil with making any general rule for managing them. The philosopher held the piece of wood he had been planing to the light and examined it critically.

Starting point is 02:22:18 Once, he resumed, taking up his work again, when Dave Ferber was courting Katie beers, I drove over to Sawyer's Falls with him to get Katie a birthday present, and among other things we thought we'd buy some candy. We went into a store, I recollect, where there was all kinds spread out in trays. And Dave and me started to pick out what we'd have. As I stood there attempting to decide,

Starting point is 02:22:46 I couldn't help thinking that selecting that candy was a good deal like choosing a wife. You couldn't have all the different kinds, and making up your mind which you preferred was a seven-day's conundrum. The little inventor took off his spectacles, wiped them, and replaced them upon. on his nose. Luckily, as we was fixed, there was a chance in the box for quite a few sorts, so that saved the day. But suppose I got to thinking you could only have one variety out of the

Starting point is 02:23:19 lot. Which would you take? That's the sticker you face when choosing a wife. Suppose, for instance, I was pinned down to nothing but caramel's. The caramel is a good, square, sensible, dependable candy. you can see through the paper exactly what you're gettin there's nothing concealed or lurking in a caramel moreover it lasts a long time and you don't get tired of it it's just like some women not much to look at but wholesome and with good wearin qualities should you choose the caramel you'd feel sure you was doing the wise thing wouldn't you robert morton smiled into the half-closed blue eyes that met his so whimsically but along in the next trade of the caramel willie went on was bonbons every color of the rainbow they were and pretty as could be and they held all sorts of surprises inside em too they was tempting but the miniature you put your mind on it, you knew they'd turn out sweet and sickish, and that after getting them you'd wish you'd hadn't. There's plenty of women like that in the world. Maybe you ain't

Starting point is 02:24:37 seen them, but I have. Yes. Besides these, there was dishes of sparkling jelly things on the counter, that the girl said weren't much use, gone in no time. They were just meant to dress up the box. I called them brainless candies, just silly and expensive, and if you look around, you'll find women can match them. And along with them, you can put the candied violets and sugared rose leaves that only make a man out of pocket and ain't a mite of use to him. Willie scanned his companion's face earnestly. Finally, after running the collection over, it kind of comes down to a choice between caromers, or chocolates even then i still stood firm for the caramel there being no way of making sure what i'd get inside the chocolate i weren't willing to go it blind i told dave a chocolate's a sort of unknowable thing ain't it there's no fathom in it at sight

Starting point is 02:25:43 after you've got it you may be pleased to death with what's inside it and then again you may not so we settled mostly on carameline it for Katie. I said to Dave coming home, it was lucky men weren't held down to one sort of candy like they are to one sort of wife, and he most laughed his head off. Then he asked me what kind of sweet I thought Katie was, and I told him I reckoned she was the caramel variety, and he said he thought so too. We weren't far wrong, neither, for she's turned out about as we figured. Maybe she ain't got the looks or the sparker, or the bonbons or jelly things, but she's worn almighty well

Starting point is 02:26:27 and made Dave a splendid wife. With all your excellent theories about women, I wonder you never picked out a wife for yourself, Mr. Spence, Robert Morton remarked mischievously. "'Me, get married?' questioned Willie, staring at the speaker open-eyed over the top of his spectacles. "'Why not?' "'Why, bless your heart.

Starting point is 02:26:53 I never thought of it, answered the little man, naively. It's taken about all my time to get other folks spliced together. Besides, he added, I've had my inventin. He glanced out of the window at a moving figure, then shot abruptly to the door and called to someone who was passing. Hi, Jack! A man in Coast Guard uniform waved his hand. How are you, Willie? he shouted.

Starting point is 02:27:23 all right was the reply how are you and sarah liby makin out same as ever you ain't said nothin to her yet robert morton saw the burly fellow in the road sheepishly dig his heel into the sand no not yet and never will ejaculated the inventor returning wrathfully to the shop that feller he explained as he resumed his seat has been upwards of twenty years trying to tell sarah liby lewis he's in love with her he knows it and so does she but somehow he just can't put the fact into words i'm clean out of patience with him why one day he actually had the face to come in here and ask me to tell her me what do you think of that Robert Morton chuckled at his companion's rage. Did you? Did I? repeated Willie with scorn.

Starting point is 02:28:29 Can you see me doing it? No, sirree. I just up and told Jack Nickerson, if he weren't man enough to do his own courting, he weren't man enough for any self-respecting woman to marry. And furthermore, I said he needn't step foot over the sill of this shop, till he'd took some action in the matter. That hit him pretty hard, I can tell you,

Starting point is 02:28:53 because he used to admire to come in here and set round whenever he weren't on duty. But he saw I meant it, and he ain't been since. The old man paused. I kind of bit off my own nose when I took that stand, he admitted, an intonation of regret in his tone, because Jack's mighty good company. Still, there was nothing for it but firm handling.

Starting point is 02:29:21 How long ago did you cast him out? Bob asked with a chuckle. Oh, something over a week or ten days ago, was the reply. I thought he might have made some progress by now, but I ain't given up hope of him yet. He's been sort of quiet the last two times I've seen him, and I figure he's mulling things over and maybe screwing up his courage.

Starting point is 02:29:47 the room was still save for the purr of the plain i suppose you'll be marrying miss hathaway off some day observed bob a trifle self-consciously without raising his eyes from his work you bet i won't came emphatically from the old inventor i've got some courage but not enough for that you see the man that marries her has got to have the nerve to face the whole village brave zenis henry the three captains and abby brewster besides winnin the girl herself t'll be some contract no you can be mortal sure i shan't go meddling in no such love affair as that anyhow i won't be needed for any man that delight hathaway would look at twice will be perfectly capable of meetin all comers don't you worry with this dubious comfort willie stamped with spirit out of the shop end of chapter six recording by roger maline chapter seven of flood tide this libravox recording is in the public domain recording by roger maline flood tide by sarah ware basset chapter seven a second spirit appears days came and went days golden and blue until a week had passed and although robert morton haunted the post-office nothing was heard from the jeweler to whom he had sent the silver buckle neither did the eager young man catch even a fleeting glimpse of its owner it was he told himself unlikely that she would come to the spence house again

Starting point is 02:31:42 when her property was repaired she probably would expect some one either to let her know or bring it to her it was to the latter alternative that bob was pinning his hopes the errand would prove a perfectly natural excuse for him to go to the brewster home and once there he would meet the girl's family and perhaps be asked to come again until the trinket came back from boston therefore he must bide his time with patience nevertheless the logic of these arguments did not prevent him from turning sharply toward the door of the workshop whenever there was a footfall on the grass any day any hour any moment the lady of his dreams might appear once more had not willie said that she sometimes trimmed bonnets for teenie and was it not possible yea even likely that his aunt might be needing a bonnet right away women were always needing bonnets argued the young man vaguely at least both his mother and sister were and he had not yet lived long enough in his aunt's household to realize that with tini morton the purchase of a bonnet was not an equally casual enterprise he even had the temerity to ask celestina when he saw her arrayed for the grains one afternoon why she did not have a hat with pink in it and was chagrined to receive the reply that she did not like pink and that anyway her hat was well enough as it was and she couldn't have another for a good couple of years i don't go throwing money away on new hats like you city folks do she said somewhat tartly a hat has to do me three seasons for best and a fourth for common i've too much to do to go chasing after the fashions i leave that to bart coffin's wife who is bart coffin inquired bob amused by her show of spirit

Starting point is 02:33:43 you ain't met bart not yet well you will he's the one who always used to stow all his catch of fish in the bow of the boat cause he said it was easier to row down hill he ain't no heavy weight for brains as you can see and years ago he married a wife feather-headed as himself he did it out of whole cloth too so he's got no one to blame if he don't like his bargain at the time of the wedding he was terrible stuck up about his bride and he gave her a black satin dress that outdid anything the town had ever laid eyes on it was loaded down with ruffles and jet and lace and fitted her like as if she was poured into it folks said it was made in brockton but whether it was or not there's no way of knowing anyhow back she pranced to wilton in that gown and for a year or more whenever there was a church church fair, or a meeting of the Eastern Star, or a funeral, you'd be certain of seeing Minnie coffin there in her black satin. There wasn't a layout in town could touch it, and by and by it got so that it set the mark of every gathering that was held. Those where Minnie's satin didn't appear being rated as of no account. Celestina paused, and her mouth took an

Starting point is 02:35:08 upward curve, as if some pleasant reverie engrossed her. But after a while, she presently went on, there came an upheaval in the styles. Sleeves got smaller, and skirts began to be nipped in. Minnie's dress weren't wore a particle, but it looked as out of date as Joseph's coat would look on Willie. The women sort of nudged one another and said that now, Miss Bartley Coffin, would have to step down a peg and stop being leader of the fashions. Celestina ceased rocking and leaned forward impressively. "'But did she?' declaimed she with oratorical eloquence.

Starting point is 02:35:50 "'Did she? Not a bit of it. Many got pictures and patterns from Boston, scented the skirt, took in the sleeves, made a wide girdle with the breaths she took out of the front, and there she was again, high stepping as ever.' Robert Morton laughed with appreciation. Since then, continued Celestina, for at least fifteen years she's been making that dress over and over. Now she'll get a new breadth of goods, or a couple of breaths, turn the others upside down or cut them over,

Starting point is 02:36:25 and by keeping everlastingly at it, she contrives to look like the pictures in the papers most of the time. It's maddening to the rest of us. Abby Brewster knows many well, and somewhere in a book she's got set down the gyrations of that dress. I wouldn't be bothered recording it, but Abby always was a methodical soul. She could give you the date of every inch of satin in the whole thing. Just now there's 1914 sleeves. The front breadths are 1918, the back ones, 1911.

Starting point is 02:37:02 Most of the waist is January. 1912, with a June 1913 vest. Half the girdle is made out of 1910 satin, and half out of 1919. Of course, there's lights when the black don't all look the same. Still, unless you got close up, you wouldn't notice it. And Minnie Coffin keeps on setting the styles for the town like she always has. The narrator paused for breath. She's making it over again right now.

Starting point is 02:37:34 Now, she announced, rising from her chair and moving toward the pantry. You can always tell when she is, because she pulls down all her front curtains and won't come to the door when folks knock. The Shades was down when Abby and me drove by there last week, and to make sure, Abby got out and tapped to see if anybody came to let us in. But nobody did. We said then, Minnie's resurrecting the black satin. you mark my words, she'll be in church in it Sunday. It generally takes her about ten days to get it done. I was expecting she'd give it another overhauling,

Starting point is 02:38:13 for she ain't done nothing to it for three months, at least, and the styles have changed quite a little in that time. Sometimes I tell Willie I believe we'll live to see her laid out in that dress yet. You can bet Bart would draw a sigh of relief if we did, chimed in the inventor. why the money that woman spent pulling that durn thing to pieces and putting it together again is a caution bart said you'd be dumbfounded if you could know what he's paid out if the coffin lid was once clamped down on the pest he'd raise a hallelujah poor fellow willie gasped the horrified celestina oh i ain't sayin he'd be glad to see minnie going the little old man protested but that black satin has been a bone of contention ever since the day it was bought to begin with it cost about ten times what bart calculated twould he told me that himself and it's been running up in money ever since when he got it he kind of figured twould be an investment something like one of them twenty-year endowments and that for nigh on to a quarter of a century minnie wouldn't need much of anything else but his reckoning was a gog it's been nothin but that black satin all his married life let alone the price of continually reinforcing it the wear and tear on minnie's nerves when she's tinkering with it is somethin awful

Starting point is 02:39:48 bart says that dress ain't never out of her mind she's rasped and peevish all the time planning how she can fit the pieces in to look like the pitchers it's worse than fussing over the cut-up puzzles folks do. Sometimes at night she'll wake him out of a sound sleep to tell him she's just thought how she can eke new sleeves out of the side panels, or make a pleaded front for the waist out of the girdle. I guess Bart don't get much rest during making overspells. I saw him yesterday at the post office,

Starting point is 02:40:25 and he was glum as an oyster, and when I asked him was he sick, all he said was he hoped there'd be no black, satins in heaven. I told you she was fixing it over, cried Celestina triumphantly. So you was at the store, was you, Willie? You didn't say nothing about it. I forgot I went, confessed the little man. Let me see. I believe twas more nails took me down. Did you get any mail? No, yes. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. know. Peers like I did get something. If I did, it's in the pocket of my other coat.

Starting point is 02:41:10 Going into the hall, he returned with a small white package, which he gave to Celestina. "'It ain't for me,' said she, after she had examined the address. "'It's Bob's. "'Bob's, eh?' queried the inventor. "'I didn't notice, not having on my reading glasses. So it's Bob's. is it yes answered celestina eyeing the neat parcel curiously whoever's sending you a bundle all tied up with white paper and pink string bob it looks like it was jewelry quickly willie sprang to the rescue oh bob's been getting some repairing done for the brewsters explained he delight's buckle was broke and knowing the best place to send it he mailed it up to town oh responded celestina glancing from one to the other with a half-satisfied air let's have the thing out and see how it looks bob willie went on blushingly robert morton undid the box

Starting point is 02:42:19 yes there amid wrappings of tissue paper on a bed of blue cotton wool rested the buckle of silver its burnished surface sparkling in the light he took it out and inspected it carefully it is all o k observed he with an attempted indifference see what a fine piece of work they made of it the old man took from the table drawer a long leather case drew out another pair of spectacles which he exchanged for the ones he was already wearing and after scrutinizing the buckle and scowling at it for an interval he carried it to the window what's the matter bob demanded instantly alert isn't the repairing properly done tain't the repairing i'm lookin at willie returned slowly i've no quarrel with that still he continued to twist and turn the disk of silver now holding it at arm's length now bringing it close to his eye with the puzzled intentness robert morton could stand the suspense no longer what's wrong with it he at last burst out willie did not look up but evidently he caught the note of impatience in the younger man's tone for he drawled quizzically don't it strike you as a mite peculiar that a buckle should go to boston with d l h on it and come home marked with c l g what that's what's on it c l g see for yourself It can't be.

Starting point is 02:44:00 Come and have a look. The inventor placed the trinket in Robert Morton's hand. C.L.G., repeated he, as he deciphered the intertwined letters of the monogram. You are right, sure is fate. Jove! They've sent you the wrong girl, remarked Willie. It's clear as a bell on a still night.

Starting point is 02:44:26 There must have been a... two girls and two buckles, and the jewelers mixed them up. You've got the other ladies. That's a nice mess, Bob ejaculated irritably. Why, I'd rather have given a hundred dollars than have this happen. I'll ring that man's neck. Easy, youngster, easy, cautioned Willie. Don't go heaving all your cargo overboard till you find you're really sinking. Tain't likely miss CLG will care a row of pins for Miss DLH's buckle. She'll be sending out an SOS for her own, and we'll be ready to join you in flay in the jeweler. Give the poor varmint time, and he'll shift things around, all right.

Starting point is 02:45:15 But Miss Hathaway! Delights lived the best part of two weeks without that, Buckle, and she don't look none the worst for not having it. I saw her in the post office only yesterday. and did you cried bob eagerly then stopped short flushed and bit his lip yes she was there willie returned serenely without appearing to have noticed his guest's agitation young farwell from cambridge the one that has all the money was talkin to her and she had that harvard professor who boards at the brewsters along too carleton his name is jasper carleton he's a mighty good-looking chap he stole a glance at the face that glowered out of the window had you chose to stroll down to the store with me like i asked you to you might have seen her yourself oh i-i didn't need to see her stammered bob maybe not was the tranquil answer and she didn't need to see you neither judging from the way she was talking and laughing with them other fellers

Starting point is 02:46:27 still a young man is never the worse for chatting with a nice girl now son if i was you i wouldn't get stirred up over this jewelry business we'll get a rise out of miss c l g pretty soon, and when she comes to the surface, "'Who's that at the gate, Willie?' called Celestina from the kitchen. "'What?' "'There's somebody at the gate in a big red automobile. She's coming in. You go and see what she wants, because my apron ain't fresh. Likely she's lost her way, or else is hunting bored.'

Starting point is 02:47:04 Although Willie shuffled obediently into the hall, he was not in time to prevent the sonorous peal of the bell. Yes, he's here, they heard him say. Of course you can speak to him. He's just inside, won't you step in? Then, without further ado, and with utter disregard of Silasina's rumpled apron, the door opened and the little inventor ushered into the string-entangled sitting-room, a dainty city-bred girl in a sports suit of white serge.

Starting point is 02:47:37 She was not only pretty, but she was perfectly groomed and was possessed of a fascinating vivacity and charm. Everything about her was vivid, the gloss of her brown hair, the sparkle of her eyes, her color, her smile, her immaculate clothes, all were dazzling. She carried her splendor with an air of complete sureness, as if she was accustomed to the supremacy at one for her and expected it. yet the audacity of her pose had in it a certain fitness and was piquant rather than offensive the instant she crossed the threshold robert morton leaped to meet her with outstretched hands cynthia galbraith he cried however came you here a ripple of teasing laughter came from the girl you are surprised then i thought you would be surprised i can't believe it if you'd written as you should have done you wouldn't have been at all amazed to see me answered the newcomer severely i meant to write the culprit asserted uneasily maybe you will inform me what you are doing on cape cod went on the lady in an accusing tone how did you know i was here you can't guess no i haven't a glimmer from the pocket of her shell-pink sweater she drew forth a small white box of startlingly familiar appearance

Starting point is 02:49:17 does this belong to you demanded she beneath the mockery of her eyes robert morton could feel the color mount to his temples well well he said with a ghastly attempt at gaiety so you were c l g naturally didn't the initial suggest the possibility no uh yes that is i hadn't thought about it he floundered it's funny how things come about sometimes isn't it i want you to meet my aunt miss morton and my friend mr spence i am visiting here immediately the dainty miss cynthia was all smiles so it is relatives that bring you to the cape said she robert morton nodded she seemed mollified didn't roger write you that we had taken a house at bell-port for the season she asked no replied bob i haven't heard from him for weeks he's a brute yes we came down in may just after i got back from california we are crazy over the place the family will be wild when i tell them you are here my brother she went on turning with a pretty graciousness toward celestina was bob's roommate at harvard in that way we came to know him very well and have always kept up the acquaintance do you come from the west same as my nephew does questioned silasina when there was a pause the little lady raised her eyebrows deprecatingly no indeed the east is quite good enough for us We're from New York.

Starting point is 02:51:10 The boys, however, were always visiting back and forth, she added with haste. So we have quite an affection for Indiana, even if we don't live there. She sought a conciliatory smile in Robert Morton's direction. Couldn't you go back with me in the car, Bob? She asked, turning toward him, and spring a surprise on the household. Dad's down, mother's here, and also grandmother. Lee, and the mighty and illustrious Roger, fresh from his law office on Fifth Avenue, is expected Friday. Do come.

Starting point is 02:51:49 I am afraid I can't today, Bob answered. Why, Bob, there ain't the least reason in the world you shouldn't go, put in, Celestina. The young man fingered the package in his hand, nervously. I really couldn't, Cynthia. he repeated, ignoring the interruption. "'I'd like immensely to come another day, though. But today, Mr. Spence and I have a piece of work on hand.' He paused, discomfited at meeting the astonished gaze of Willie's mild blue eyes.

Starting point is 02:52:26 "'Of course, you know best,' Cynthia replied, drawing in her chin with someuteur. "'I shouldn't think of urging you.' "'I'd be bully glad to come another. day, reiterated Robert Morton, fully conscious he had offended his fair guest, yet determined to stand his ground. Tell the affluent Roger to slide over in his racer sometime, when he has nothing better to do and get me. He will probably only be here for the weekend, retorted Cynthia coldly.

Starting point is 02:53:02 Sunday, then. Why not Sunday? Mr. Spence and I do not work Sundays. All right, if you positively won't come today. But I don't see why you can't come now, and Sunday, too. I couldn't do that, dear lady. Well, Sunday then, if that is the earliest you can make it. She smiled an adieu to Willie and Celestina,

Starting point is 02:53:29 and with her little head proudly set, preceded Bob to her car. But although the great engine throbbed and purred, it was some time before it left the gate and flashed its way down the high road toward bellport after it had gone and bob was once more in the house celestina had a score of questions with which to greet him how remarkable it was the owner of the missing jewelry should be someone he knew the galbraiths must be well to do what was the brother like did he favor his sister these and numberless other inquiries like them furnished celestine with conversation for the rest of the day willie on the contrary was peculiarly silent and although his furtive glance travelled at frequent intervals over his young friend's face he made no comment concerning miss cynthia l galbraith and her silver buckle end of chapter seven recording by roger Chapter 8 of Flood Tide This Libervox recording is in the public domain.

Starting point is 02:54:42 Recording by Roger Maline. Flood Tide by Sarah Ware Bassett. Chapter 8. Shadows. In the meantime, the two men resumed their labors in the shop, touching shoulders before the bench where their tools lay. They planed and chiseled and sawed together as before, but as they worked each was conscious that a barrier of sudden reserve had sprung up between them, obstructing the perfect confidence that had previously existed.

Starting point is 02:55:17 At first the old inventor tried to bridge this gulf with trivial jests, but as these passed unnoticed, he at length lapsed into silence. Now and then, as he stole a look at his companion, he thought he detected in the youthful face a suppressed nervousness and irritation that found welcome vent in the hammer's vigorous blow. Nevertheless, as the younger man vouchsafed no information regarding the morning's adventure, Willie asked no questions. He would have given a great deal to have satisfied himself about Cynthia Galbraith.

Starting point is 02:55:53 It was easily seen that her family were persons of wealth and position, with whom Robert Morton was on terms of the greatest intimacy. It even demanded no very skilled psychologist to put up to, perceived the girl's sentiment toward his guest, for Miss Galbraith was a petulant, self-willed creature who did not trouble to conceal her preferences. Her attitude was transparent as the day. But with what feeling did Robert Morton regard her? That was the burning question the little man longed to have answered. Wearily he sighed. Alas, human nature was a frail, incalculable phenomenon. How was it likely a young man with his fortune to make would regard a girl as rich and attractive as Cynthia Galbraith,

Starting point is 02:56:41 especially if her brother chanced to be his best friend, and all her family reached forth welcoming arms to him? Willie was not a matchmaker. Had he been impugned with the accusation, he would have denied it indignantly. Nevertheless, he had been mixed up in too many romances not to find the relation between the sex as a problem of engrossing interest. furthermore of late he had been doing a little private castle building the foundations of which now abruptly collapsed into ruins at his feet the corner-stone of this dream structure had been laid the day he had first seen robert morton and delight hathaway together what a well-mated pair they were for years it had been his unwispered ambition to see his favorite happily married to a man who was worthy of the price treasure. The Brewster household was aging fast. Captain Jonas, Captain Benjamin, and Captain

Starting point is 02:57:43 Phineas were now old men. Even Xenus Henry's hair had thinned and whitened above his temples, and Abbey, once so tireless, was becoming content to drop her cares on younger shoulders. Yes, Wilton was growing old, thought the inventor sadly, and he and Celestina were unquestion. questionably keeping pace with the rest. In the natural course of events, before many years, delight would be deprived of her protectors and be left alone in the great world to fend for herself. She was well able to do so, for she was resourceful and capable, and would never be forced to marry for a home, as was many a lonely woman. Nor would she ever come to want, the village would seat of that. Notwithstanding this certainty, however, he could not bear to think of a time when there

Starting point is 02:58:38 would be no one to stand between her and the harsher side of life, no man who would count the championship a privilege, an honor, his dearest duty. Wilton had never offered a husband of the type pictured in Willie's mind. The Hamlet could boast of but few young men, and the greater part of those who lingered within its borders had done so because they lacked the ambivalrous. and initiative to queue out for themselves elsewhere broader fields of activity. Those of ability had gravitated to the colleges, the business schools, or gone to test their strength in the city's marks of commerce. Who could blame them for not resting content with baiting lobster pots and dredging for scallops?

Starting point is 02:59:24 Were he a young man with his path untrodden before him, he would have been one of the first to do the same, will he confessed? Did he not constantly covet their youth and opportunity? Nevertheless, praiseworthy as their motive had been, the fact remained that nowhere in the village was there a man, the peer of Delight Hathaway. Rare in her girlish beauty, rarer yet in her promise of womanhood,

Starting point is 02:59:53 what a prize she would be for him who had the fineness of fiber to appreciate the gurdon. Willie was wont to attest that he himself was not a marriage, man, yet notwithstanding the assertion, deep down within the fastness of his soul, he had had his visions, visions pure, exalted, and characteristic of his sensitively attuned nature. They were the exquisite secrets of his life, the unfulfilled dreams that had kept him holy, a part of the divine in him, echoes of hungers and longings that reached unsatisfied into a world other than this. earth had failed to consummate the loves and ambitions of the dreamer his had been a flattened warped starved existence whose perfecting was not of this fear

Starting point is 03:00:44 and as without bitterness he reviewed the glories that had passed him by he prayed that these bounties might not also be denied her who rounding into the full splendor of her womanhood was worthy of the best heaven had to bestow from her childhood he had watched her virtues unfold and none of their potentialities had gone unobserved by the quiet little old man through the beauty of his own soul he had been enabled to translate the beauties of another until gradually delight hathaway had come to symbolize for him universal woman the prototype of all that was purest most selfless most tender most to be revered watched over beloved yet for all his worship the girl remained for him very human a creature with bewitching and appealing ways in the same spirit in which he rejoiced in the tint of a rose-petal or the shell-like flush of a cloud at dawn did he find pleasure in the crimson that colored her cheek in the perfection of her features in the shadowy fathomless depths of her eyes father brother lover artist at her shrine he offered up a composite devotion which sought only her happiness with such an attitude of mind to satisfy was it a marvel that in the matter of selecting a husband for his divinity willie was difficult to please or that he studied with a criticism quite as jealous as zenis henry's own every male who crossed the girl's path yet with all his idealism willie was a keen observer of life and from the first moment of their meeting he had detected in robert morton qualities more nearly akin to his standards than he had discovered in any of the other outsiders who had come into the hamlet there was for example the son of the farwells who owned the grower

Starting point is 03:02:45 great colonial mansion on the Point, Billy Farwell, with his racing car and his dogs, and his general air of elegance and idleness. Delight had known him since she was a child. And there was Jasper Carlton, the scholarly scientist, years the girl's senior, who annually came to board with the Brewsters during the vacation months. Both of these men paid court to the village beauty, Billy, with a half-patronizing, half-audacious assurance born of years of intimacy, and the professor with that old-fashioned reserve and deference characteristic of the older generation. There were days when the two caused Willie such perturbation of spirit that he would willingly have knocked their heads together, or cheerfully have wrung their necks.

Starting point is 03:03:36 Delight unhesitatingly acknowledged that she liked both of them, and harmlessly coquetted first with the one, then with the other, until the old inventor was at his wits end, to fathom which she actually favored, or whether she seriously favored either of them. Yet irreproachable, as were these suitors, to place a man of Bob Morton's attributes in the same category with them seemed absurd. why he was head and shoulders above them mentally, morally, physically, from whichever angle one viewed him. Moreover, blood will tell. And was he not of the fine old Morton stock? Whatever the Carlton forebears might be, young Farwell's ancestry was not an enviable one. Yes, Willie had settled Delight's future to his entire satisfaction, and for nights had been sleeping peacefully, confident that with such a husband as Robert Morton, her happiness and good fortune would be assured. And then, like a thunderbolt out of the heavens, had come this

Starting point is 03:04:45 Cynthia Galbraith, with her fetching clothes, her affluence, and her air of proprietorship. By what right had she acquired her monopoly of Bob Morton, and was its exclusiveness gratifying or irksome to its recipient. Might not this strange young man, concerning whom Willie was forced to own he actually knew nothing, be playing a double game, and the frankness of his face belie his real nature? And was it not possible that his annoyance and irritation

Starting point is 03:05:18 were caused by having been trapped in it? Well, avowed Willie, he would see that Delight encountered this Don Giovanni but seldom, at least until he gave him more, more trustworthy account of himself than he had vouchsafed up to the present moment. Contrary to the common law, the guest must be rated as guilty until he had proved himself innocent. Yet as he darted a glance at the earnest young face bending over the workbench,

Starting point is 03:05:47 Willie's conscience smote him, and he questioned whether he might not be doing his comrade a dire injustice. The thought caused him to flush uncomfortably, and he flushed still redder when Bob suddenly straightened up and met his eye. Both men stood alert, held tensely by the same sound. It was the low music of a girlish voice humming a snatch of song, and it was accompanied by the soft crackling of the needles that carpeted the grove of pine between the Spence and Brewster houses. In another instant, Delight Hathaway strolled slowly out of the wood

Starting point is 03:06:26 and entered the workshop. with her coming a radiance of sunshine seemed to flood the shabby room she nodded a greeting to bob then went straight to willie and placing her hands affectionately on his shoulders looked down into his face they made a pretty picture the bent old man with his russet cheeks and thin white hair and the girl erect as an arrow and beautiful as a young diana the little inventor lifted his mild blue eyes to meet the haunting eyes of hazel well well my dear he said as he covered one of her hands with his own worn brown one so you have come for your buckle have you it is all done honey and good as the day when it was made bob has it in his pocket for you this minute by a strange magic the truth and sunlight of the girl's presence had for the day when it was made bob has it in his pocket for you this minute by a strange magic the truth and sunlight of the girl's presence had for the time being dispelled all baser suspicions, and Willie smiled kindly at the man beside him. Holding out the crisp white package, Robert Morton came forward. Delight looked questioningly from the box with its immaculate paper and the neat pink string

Starting point is 03:07:43 to its giver. He found he couldn't fix it himself, explained Willie, immediately interpreting the interrogation. neither him or I were guns enough for the job. So Bob got somebody he knew of to tinker it up. That was certainly very kind, returned delight with gravity. If you will tell me what it cost, I... Again, the old man stepped into the breach. Oh, I figure it weren't much, said he with easy unconcern.

Starting point is 03:08:19 The fellow who did it was used to mend in jewelry and knew just how to set about it, so it didn't put him out of his way, none. Yes, echoed Bob, with a grateful smile toward Willie. It made him no trouble at all. The two men watched the delicate fingers unfasten the package. See how nice it is, Willie went on. You'd never know there was a thing the matter with it.

Starting point is 03:08:46 It's wonderful, she cried. Her pleasure put to flight the old inventor of, last compunction at his compromise with truth. "'I am so pleased, Mr. Morton,' she went on. "'You are quite sure there was no expense?' "'Nothing to speak of. I'm glad you like it,' murmured the young man. "'Indeed I do!' She stretched the band of white leather round her waist,

Starting point is 03:09:14 and Bob noticed how easily its class met. "'There!' exclaimed she, raising her hand in mocked, imitation of a military salute. Isn't that fine? Willie laughed with involuntary admiration at the gesture, and as for Robert Morton, he could have gone down on his knees before her and kissed her diminutive white shoe.

Starting point is 03:09:38 The girl did not prolong the tableau. All too soon, she relaxed from rigidity into gaiety and came flitting to the workbench. "'What are you doing, Willie, dear?' she asked. you know you never have secrets from me. What is this marvelous thing you are busy with? Before answering, Willie glanced mysteriously about. It's because I know you can keep secrets that I ain't afraid to trust you with them, said he.

Starting point is 03:10:09 Bob and I are working on the quiet at an idea I was kitched with a day or two ago. It's a bigger scheme than most of the ones I've tackled, and it may not turn out to be anything at all. Still, Bob has studied boats and knows a heap about him, and he believes something can be made of it. But till our fish is hooked, we ain't shouting that we've caught one. If the contrivance works, went on the little old man eagerly, it will be a bonanza for Xenus Henry.

Starting point is 03:10:42 It's, he lowered his voice almost to a whisper. It's an idea. to keep motorboats from getting snagged. The words were scarcely out of his mouth before his listeners saw him start and look apprehensively toward the door. They were no longer alone. On the threshold of the workshop stood Genoa Eldridge.

Starting point is 03:11:09 End of Chapter 8. Recording by Roger Maline. Chapter 9 of Flood Tide. This Librovach's recording is in the public domain. recording by roger maline flood tide by sarah ware basset chapter nine a widening of the breach so piped genoa that's what you're doin is it willie spence well you needn't have been so all fired still about it i guessed as much all the time there was an acid flavor in the words yes i knowed it from the beginning well as if i'd been here even if you did shut me out and take this city feller in to help you in place of me maybe he has studied about boats but how do you know what he's up to how do you know anyhow who he is or where he came from he says of course that he's tini's nephew and he may be for all i can tell

Starting point is 03:12:16 but what proof of you he ain't somebody else who's come here to steal your ideas and get money for him there was a moment of stunned silence as the barbs from his tongue pierced the stillness then delight stepped in front of the interloper how dare you genoa eldridge she cried how dare you insult willie's friend and-and mine you've no right to speak so about mr morton before her indignation genoa quailed in all his life he had never before seen delight hathaway angry and something in her flashing eyes and flaming cheeks startled him i-i warn't meanin to say twas actually so mumbled he apologetically like as not the young man's exactly what he claims to be still willie's awful gullible and there's times when a word of warren ain't such a bad thing. I'm sorry if you didn't like it. I didn't like it, not at all, the girl returned,

Starting point is 03:13:25 only slightly mollified by his conciliatory tone. If you are anything of a gentleman, you will apologize to Mr. Morton immediately. Ain't I just said I was sorry? Hed the sheepish Genoa. Indeed, there is no need for anything further, Robert Morton protested. Perhaps, knowing me so little,

Starting point is 03:13:48 it was only natural that he should distrust me. It was neither natural nor courteous, came hotly from delight, and I, for one, am mortified that any visitor to the village should receive such treatment. Then, as if clearing her skirts of the offending Mr. Eldridge, she drew herself to her full height

Starting point is 03:14:10 and swept magnificently out the door. an awkward silence followed her departure robert morton hesitated glancing uneasily from willie to genoa sent it a storm and slipping softly from the shop went in pursuit of the retreating figure for goodness sake genoa whatever set you make in a speech like that willie demanded when the two were alone have you gone plum crazy the very notion of your lighteness's sake you-o'nuchin a speech like that willie demanded when the two were alone have you gone plum crazy the very notion of your lighten into that innocent young feller. What are you thinking of? Maybe he ain't so innocent as he seems, the accuser sneered. The little old man faced him sharply. Come, he persisted. Let's have this thing out. What do you know about him? What do you? retorted Genoa, evading the question. The inventor paused, she grinned. You don't know nothing?

Starting point is 03:15:13 and I don't know nothing, continued Genoa, seizing the advantage he had gained. Each of us is welcome to his opinion, ain't he? It's a free country. You're all for believing the chaps and angel out of heaven. You've swallowed down every word he's uttered, like as if it was gospel truth, and took him into your own house, same as if he was a relation. There's fish that gobble down bait just that way. I ain't that kind. young men don't bury themselves up in a quiet spot like Wilton without they've got something up their sleeve. Staring intently at his friend, he noted with satisfaction that Willie's brow had clouded into a frown. Is it to be expected, I ask you now, is it to be expected that a spirited young sprig of a college feller such as him

Starting point is 03:16:06 relish has spent in his time working away in this shop day in and day out? What's he doing it, Fur? Tell me that. This world ain't a benevolent institution, and the folks in it don't go to throw in their elbow grease away, unless they look to get something out of it. This Morton boy has bones down here like a slave. What's in it for him? Why, it's his vacation, and— Vacation! interrupted Genoa, scornfully. You call it a vacation, do you, for him to be for him to be a vacation? working away here with you? You honestly think he hankers after doing it? He said he did.

Starting point is 03:16:50 And you believed it, I suppose. Seems you credited the rest of his talk, jeered Mr. Eldridge. Look out the winder, Willie Spence, and tell me, if you was twenty instead of most seventy, if you'd be staying indoors a carpet in these summer days when you could be outside. He swept a hand dramatically toward the casement, and in spite of himself, the old man obeyed his injunction and looked. A dome, blue as larkspur, arched the sky, and to its farther bound the sea, reflecting its azure tints, flashed and sparkled as if set with stars of gold. Along the shore, where glittered reaches of hard white sand and a gentle breeze tossed into billows the salt grass, edging the margin of the little creeks, fishermen launching their dories called to one another,

Starting point is 03:17:43 their voices floating upward on the still air with musical clearness. Would you be putting in your vacation a workin'all summer, Willie, if you was the age of that young man, repeated Genoa. He ain't here for all summer, protested the unhappy inventor, catching at a straw. He's only going to stay a little while. he was here for over night at first warn't he inquired the tormentor then it lengthened into a week and the lord only knows how much longer he's planning to hang around the place besides if he's only making a short visit it's less likely than ever he'd want to put in the hole of it tinkering with you he'd be goin about seeing wilton sailing fishing swimming or clammin like other folks do that come here for the summer if he was a normal human being but has he been anywhere's yet no sir i've had my weather-eye out and i can answer for it that the feller ain't once poked his head out of this shop what's made him so keen for stayin and wilton and working

Starting point is 03:18:57 willie did not answer but he took a great bandana with a flaming border of scarlet from his pocket and mopped his forehead nervously that young chap resumed genoa holding up a grimy finger which he shook impressively at the wretched figure opposite is here for one of two reasons you can like em or not but they're true he's either here to steal your ideas from you or he's got his eye on delight hathaway he saw his victim start violently maybe it's the one maybe it's the other i ain't sayin announced genoa with malicious pleasure it may even be both reasons put together he's aiming for some land in place you can be certain of that and i'm warning you as a friend to look out for him that's all i-i don't believe it burst out the little inventor his benumbed faculties beginning slowly to assemble themselves why there ain't a finer better-spoken young man to be found than bob morton genoa caught up the final phase with derision the better spoken he is the more watchin he'll bear remarked he there's many a villain with an oily gift of gab i'll not believe it willie reiterated mr eldridge shrugged his shoulders take it or leave it he said you're welcome to your own way only don't say i didn't warn you flinging this parting shot backward into the room genoa eldridge passed out into the rose-scented sunshine

Starting point is 03:20:46 with a sad look in his eyes willie let him go watching the tall form as it strode waist-high through the brakes and sweet fern that patched the meadow it was his first real quarrel with genoa since boyhood they had been friends the gentleness of the little inventor bridging the many disagreements that had arisen between them now had come this mammoth difference a divergence of standard too vital to be smoothed over by a gloss of cajolery willie was angry through every fibre of his being slowly it steeped into his consciousness that genoa's fundamental philosophy and his own were at odds their attitude of mind as antagonistic as the poles against trust loomed suspicion against generosity narrowness against optimism pessimism genoa believed the worst of the individual while he willie reason as he might inherently believed the best one creed was the fruit of a jealous and envious personality that rejoiced rather than grieved over the limitations of our human clay. The other was a result of that charity that beareth all things, believeth all things,

Starting point is 03:22:09 hopeeth all things, because of a divine faith in the God and man. For a long time Willie stood there thinking, his gaze fixed upon the gently swaying plumage of the pines. The shock of his discovery left him suddenly feeling very sad and very much alone. It was as if he had buried the friend of half a century. Yet even to bring Genoa back, he could not retract the words he had uttered

Starting point is 03:22:39 or exchanged the light he followed for Genoa's sinister beckonings. In spite of a certain reasonableness in the pessimist's logic, in spite of circumstances he was incapable of explaining, in spite even of Cynthia Galbraith, a latent belief in Robert Morton's integrity, crystallized into certainty, and he rose to his feet, freed of the doubts that had previously assailed him. At the instant of this emancipation, the young man himself entered. What had passed during the interval since he had gone out of the workshop, Willie could only surmise, but it had

Starting point is 03:23:20 evidently been of sufficiently inspiring a character to bring into his countenance a radiance almost supernatural in its splendor. Nevertheless, he did not speak, but stood immovable before the little old inventor as if awaiting a judge's decree, the glory fading from his eyes, and a half-veiled anxiety stealing into them. Willie smiled, and, reaching up,

Starting point is 03:23:47 placed his hands on the broad shoulders that towered opposite. "'I'm sorry, Bob,' he affirmed, with a sweetness as winning as a woman's you mustn't mind what jan said he's gettin old and a mite crabbed and he's kind of foolish about me maybe i wouldn't a had him hurt your feelings robert morton caught the expression of pain in the troubled face and cut the apology short it's all right mr spence he cried don't give it another thought so long as you remain my friend i don't care what mr eldridge thinks we'll pass it off as jealousy and let it go at that the old man tried to smile but the corners of his mouth drooped and he sighed instead to have genoa's weaknesses thus nakedly set forth by another was a very different thing from recognizing them himself and instinctively his loyalty rose in protest maybe twas jealousy he replied folks have always stood out that genoa was jealous but somehow i'd rather think twas trying to look after me in my affairs that misled him suppose we call it a sort of slab-sided friendliness we'll call it anything you like assented bob with a happy laugh this time willie laughed also

Starting point is 03:25:20 so she stood by you did she queried he with quick understanding yes twas like her it was like both of you the old man raised a hand in protest against the gratitude the remark implied delight ain't often wrong she's a fair dealer then he added significantly them as ain't fair with her deserve no salvation Hanging would be too good for the man who is not square with a girl like that, came from Robert Morton, with an emphasis unmistakable in its sincerity. End of Chapter 9. Recording by Roger Maline. Chapter 10 of Flood Tide This Livervox recording is in the public domain.

Starting point is 03:26:15 Recording by Roger Maline. Flood Tide by Sarah Ware Bassett. CHAPTER X. A conspiracy. On Sunday morning, when a menacing east wind whipped the billows into foam, and a breath of storm brooded in the air, the Galbraith's great touring car rolled up to Willie's cottage, and from it stepped not only Robert Morton's old college chum, Roger Galbraith, but also his father, a finely built, middle-aged man, whose decisive manner and quick speech characterized the leader and dictator. He was smooth-shaven after the English fashion, and from beneath shaggy iron-gray

Starting point is 03:27:00 brows, a pair of dark eyes, piercing in their intensity, looked out. The face was lined as if the stress of living had drawn its muscles into habitual tensity, and except when a smile relieved the setness of the mouth his countenance was stern to severity. His son, on the other hand, possessed none of his father's force of personality. Although his features were almost a replica of those of the older man, they lacked strength. It was as if the second impression taken from the type had been less clear-cut and positive.

Starting point is 03:27:36 The eyes were clear, rather than penetrating, the mouth and chin handsome, but mobile. Even the well-rounded physique lacked the rugged qualities that proclaimed its developments to have been the result of a Spartan combat with the world, and instead bore the way. the more artificial sturdiness acquired from sports and athletics. Nevertheless, Roger Galbraith, if not the warrior his progenitor had been, presented no unmanly appearance.

Starting point is 03:28:06 Neither self-indulgence nor effeminacy branded him. In fact, there was in his manner a certain magnetism and warmth of sympathy that the elder man could not boast, and it was because of this asset he had never wanted for friends and probably never would want for them. Through the talisman of charm he would exact from others the service which the more autocratic nature commanded. Yet in spite of the opposition of their personalities,

Starting point is 03:28:35 Robert Morton cherished toward both father and son a sincere affection which differed only in the quality of the response the two men called forth. Mr. Galbraith he admired and revered. Roger he loved. had he but known it each of the galbraiths in their turn esteemed robert morton for widely contrasting reasons the new york financier found in him a youth after his own heart a fine student and hard worker who had fought his way to an education because necessity confronted him with the choice of going armed or unarmed into life's fray although comfortably off mr morton senior was a man of limited income whose children had been forced to battle for what they had rested from fortune success had not come easily to any of them and the winning of it had left in its wake a self-reliance and independence surprisingly mature ironically enough this power to fend for himself which mr galbraith so heartily endorsed and respected in bob was the very characteristic of which he had deprived his own boy the vast fortune the capitalist had rolled up eliminating all struggle from rogers career

Starting point is 03:29:54 every barrier had been removed every thwarting force had been brought into abeyance and afterward with an inconsistency typical of human nature the leveller of the road fretted at his son's lack of aggressiveness his eyes ordinarily so hawk-like in their vision blinded to the fact that what his son was he had to a great extent made him and if the product caused secret disappointment he had no one to thank for it but himself instead his reasoning took the bias that the younger man having been given every opportunity should logically have increased the galbraith force of character rather than have diminished it and very impatient was he that such had not proved to be the case robert morton was much more akin to the galbraith's stock the financier argued he had all the dog-like persistency the fighter's love of the game the courage that will not admit defeat although he would not have confessed it mr galbraith would have given half his fortune to have interchanged the personalities of the two young men could roger have been blessed with bob's attributes the dream of his life would have been fulfilled money was a potent slave in the great man's hands it had wrought a magician's marvels but this miracle alas it was powerless to accomplish roger was his son his only son whom he adored with instinctive passion for whom he coveted every good gift and in whose future the hopes of his life were bound up long since he had abandoned expecting the impossible he must take the boy as he was rejoicing that heaven had sent him as good a one

Starting point is 03:31:48 yet notwithstanding this philosophy mr galbraith never saw the two young men together that the envy he stifled did not awaken and the question rise to his lips why could i not have had such a son the interrogation clambered now as he came up the walk to the doorway where robert morton was standing well my boy i'm glad to see you exclaimed he with heartiness you're looking fit as a racer and feeling so mr galbraith smiled bob you are looking well yourself never was better in my life as he stood still sweeping his keen gaze over his surroundings a telegraphic glance of greeting passed between the two classmates how are you old man said roger bully kipper it's great to see you again was the reply that was all but they did not need more to assure each other of their friendship you have a wonderful location here bob observed mr galbraith who had been studying the view i never saw anything finer what a sight for a hotel. Robert Morton could not but smile at the characteristic comment of the man of finance. You would have trouble rooting Mr. Spence out of this spot, I'm afraid, said he. Mr. Spence? He is my host. My aunt, Miss Morton, is his housekeeper.

Starting point is 03:33:26 Robert Morton had learned never to waste words when talking with Mr. Galbraith. i see i should be glad to meet your aunt and mr spence i know they would like to meet you too sir they're just inside won't you come in leading the way bob threw open the door into the little sitting-room in anticipation of the visit celestina had arrayed herself in a fresh print dress and ruffled apron and had compelled willie to replace his jumper with a suit of homespun and flatten his lock into water-soaked rigidity by the exchange both persons had lost a certain picturesqueness which bob could not but deplore nevertheless the fact did not greatly matter for it was not toward them that the capitalist turned his glance instead his swiftly moving eyes traveled with one sweep over the cobweb of strings that enmeshed the interior and without regard for etiquette he blurted out heavens what's all this the remark so genuine in its amazement might under other conditions have provoked resentment but now it merely raised a laugh i don't wonder you ask sir replied willie stepping forward good-humoredly tain't a common sight i'll admit we get used to it here and think nothin about it but i reckon it must strike outsiders as tarnel queer what are you trying to do queried the capitalist still too much interested to heed conventionalities simply and with artless naivete willie explained the significance of the strings while the new yorker listened

Starting point is 03:35:15 and as the old man told his story it was apparent that mr galbraith was not only amused but was vastly interested i say mr spence you should have been an inventor he exclaimed when the tale was finished. He saw a wistful light come into the aged face. I mean, he corrected hastily, you should have a workshop with all the trappings to help you carry out your schemes. Oh, Mr. Spence has a workshop, Robert Morton interrupted. The nicest kind of a one. Would you like to see it? inquired Willie. I should, very much. "'I am afraid it's no place to take you, sir,' objected Celestina, horrified at the suggestion. "'It ain't been swept out since the deluge. Willie won't have it cleaned. He says he'd never be able to find anything again if it was.' Mr. Galbraith laughed. "'Workshops do not need cleaning, do they, Mr. Spence,' said he.

Starting point is 03:36:23 "'I remember the chaos my father's tool-house all. was in. It never was in order, and we all liked it the better because it wasn't. Celestina sighed and turned away. Ain't it just the irony of fate? murmured she to Bob, that after slicking up every room in the house so as to be presentable, Willie would tow them folks from New York out into the woodshed. I might have saved myself the trouble. Robert Morton slipped a comforting arm around her am. Waste.

Starting point is 03:36:58 Never you mind, Aunt Tini, he whispered. The Galbraiths have rooms enough of their own to look at. But they haven't a workshop like Willys. He patted her arm sympathetically, and then, giving her a reassuring little squeeze to console her, followed his guests. It had not crossed his mind until he went in pursuit of them that if they visited the shop,

Starting point is 03:37:23 they must perforce be brought face to face with Willie's invention still in its embryo state and it was evident that in the pride of entertaining such distinguished strangers the little old man had also forgotten it for as bob entered he caught sight of him fumbling awkwardly with a piece of sail-cloth snatched up in a hurried attempt to conceal from view this last child of his genius he had not been quick enough however to elude the capitalist sharp scrutiny and before he could prevent discovery the eager eyes had lighted on the unfinished model on the bench what are you up to here demanded richard galbraith there was no help for it willie never juggled with the truth and even if he had been accustomed to do so it would have taken a quicker-witted charlatan than he to evade such an alert questioner therefore in another moment he had launched forth on a full exposition of the latest notion that had laid hold upon his fancy mr galbraith listened until the gentle drawling voice had ceased by jove he ejaculated you've got an idea here did you know it the inventor smiled bob and i kinder thought we had returned he modestly "'Bob is helping you?' "'Oh, I'm only putting in an oar,' the young man hastened to say.

Starting point is 03:38:58 "'The plan was entirely Mr. Spences. I'm simply working out some of the details.' "'Bob knows a good deal more about boats than perhaps he'll own,' Mr. Galbraith, asserted to Willie. "'I fancy you've found that out already. You're fortunate to have his aid.' "'A almighty fortunate. Willie agreed. Then, glancing narrowly at his visitor, he added, "'Then you think there's some likelihood that a scheme such as this might work? Taint a plumb crazy notion?' "'Not a bit of it. It isn't crazy at all. On the contrary, it should be perfectly workable,

Starting point is 03:39:40 and if it proved so, there would be a mine of money in it.' "'You don't say!' It was plain that the comment contained lessen for the prospective fortune than for the endorsement of the idea. The New Yorker, however, said nothing more about the invention. He browsed about the shop with unfeigned pleasure, poking in among the cans of paint, oil, and varnish, rattling the nails in the dingy cigar boxes, and examining the tools and myriad primitive devices

Starting point is 03:40:14 Willie had contrived to aid him in his work. I was brought up in a shop, like this, he at length exclaimed, and I haven't been inside such a place since. It carries me back to my boyhood. A strangely softened mood possessed him, and when at last he stepped out on the grass, he lingered a moment beneath the arch of grapevine and looked back into the low, sun-flect interior of the shop as if loath to leave it. I am glad to have seen you, Mr. Spence, he said, and Miss Morton, too. Bob couldn't be in a pleasanter spot than this.

Starting point is 03:40:55 I hope sometime you will let me come over again and visit you while we are in Belport. Certain, certain, sir, cried Willie with delight. Tini and me would admire to have you come whenever the craven strikes you. We're almighty fond of Bob, and any friends of his will always be welcome. The little old man went with them to the car,

Starting point is 03:41:20 and loitered to watch them roll away. You'll see me back tonight, called Bob from the front seat. Not tonight, tomorrow, Roger corrected, laughingly. Well, tomorrow then, smiled the young man. The engine pulsed, there was a quick throb of energy, and off they sped. Almost without a sound, the motor shot along the sand of the harbor road and whirled into the pine-shaded thoroughfare that led toward Bellport. "'A fine old fellow, that!' mused Mr. Galbraith aloud.

Starting point is 03:41:59 "'What a pity he could not have had his chance in life!' Bob nodded. "'I suppose he hasn't a cent to carry out any of these schemes of his.' "'No, I'm afraid he hasn't.' The financier lit a cigar and puffed at it in thoughtful silence. that motor-boat idea of his now why if it could be perfected and boomed properly it would make his fortune do you think so i know it again the humming of the engine was the only sound do you know bob i've half a mind to get snelling down here and set him to work at that job what should you say snelling you mean the expert from your shipbuilding planned yes wouldn't it be a good plan robert morton hesitated

Starting point is 03:42:59 there is no question that a man of mr snelling's ability would be a tremendous asset in handling such a proposition he agreed cautiously snelling could drop in as if to see you went on the capitalist you could fix up all that so that there would not be any need of the old fellow suspecting who he was once there he could pitch in and help the scheme along it is going to be quite an undertaking before you get through with it and the more hands there are to carry it out the better in my opinion yes it is going to be much more of a job than i realized at first bob admitted it certainly would be a great help to have mr snelling aid. But could you spare him? And would he want to come and duff in in this sort of an enterprise? If I telegraphed Snelling to come, he would come. And when here, he would do whatever he was told, replied Mr. Galbraith, bringing his lips sharply together. That's very kind of you. Pooh, the idea amuses me. I'll provide any materials you may need, too.

Starting point is 03:44:14 snelling shall have an order to that effect so that he can call on the long island's plan for anything he wants that will be splendid mr galbraith but where do you come in i'll have my fun never you fear returned to the capitalist in the first place i'd like nothing better than to do that little old fellow a good turn there is something pathetic about him sometimes it is hard to believe that life gives everybody a square deal, isn't it? That man, for instance, he has the brain and the creative impulse, but he has been cheated of his opportunity. I should enjoy giving him a boost. Occasionally I fling away a small sum on a whim that catches my fancy. Now it's German marks, now an abandoned farm. This time it shall be Mr. Willie Spence and his motorboat idea. He laughed. I appreciate it tremendously, Bob said.

Starting point is 03:45:20 There, there, we won't speak of it anymore, the elder man protested, cutting him short. I will telegraph Snelling, and you may arrange the rest. The old inventor isn't to suspect a thing, remember? No, sir. That is all, then. With a finality, Robert Morton dared not transgress. The older man lapsed into silence, and Bob had no choice but to suppress his

Starting point is 03:45:48 gratitude and resign himself to listening to the rhythmic beat of the automobile's great engine. End of Chapter 10. Recording by Roger Maline. Chapter 11 of Flood Tide This Libra Vox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Roger Maline. flood tide by sarah ware basset chapter eleven the galbraith household the estate the galbraiths had leased stood boldly upon a rise overlooking the sea in the midst of the fashionable colony adjacent to willton and was one of those blots which the city luxury lover affixes to a community whose keynote is simplicity its expanse of veranda its fluttering green and white awnings its giant tubs of blossoming hydrangeas to say nothing of its italian garden with rose-laden pergolas were as out of place as if st peter's itself had been dropped down into a tiny new england fishing hamlet the house it is true did not lack beauty

Starting point is 03:47:01 for it was well proportioned and gracefully planned and there was no denying that one found perhaps more comfort on its screened and shaded piazzas than was to be enjoyed on willie spence's unprotected doorstep nevertheless there was too much of everything about it too many rambler roses too many rustic baskets and mighty palms too many urns and stone benches and sun-dials and fountains still as the car stopped at the door the great wicker chairs with their scarlet cushions presented a gay picture and so too did mrs galbraith and cynthia who immediately rose from a breezy corner and came forward the older woman was tall and handsome and in her youth must have possessed great beauty even now she carried with a spoiled air almost girlish the costly gowns and jewels that her husband proud of her looks lavished upon her. She had a languid grace very fascinating in its indifference, and spoke with a pretty little accent that echoed of the South. For all her attractiveness, Cynthia could not compare in charm with her mother, whose femininity lured all men toward her as does a magnet steel. Bob leaped from the car almost before it had come to a stop and went to her side,

Starting point is 03:48:28 bending low over her heavily-ringed hand. "'We're so glad to see you, Bobby,' she smiled. "'The very nicest thing that could have happened was to find you here.' "'It is indeed a delightful surprise for me,' Robert Morton answered. "'How are you, Cynthia?' Cynthia, who was standing in the background, frowned. "'You've been long enough getting here,' declared she, petulantly. Where on earth have you been?

Starting point is 03:49:00 We decided you must have got stalled on the road. Oh, no, interrupted her father, coming up the steps. We made the run over and back without a particle of trouble. What delayed us was that we stopped to visit with Bob's aunt and the old gentleman with whom he is staying. Such a quaint character, Maida. You should really see him. I had all I could do to tear myself off.

Starting point is 03:49:26 away from the place." His wife raised her delicately penciled brows. "'We do not often see you so enthusiastic, Richard.' "'They are charming people, I assure you. I don't wonder Bob prefers staying over there to coming here,' chuckled the financier. "'Oh, I say, Mr. Galbraith,' began Bob, but his host interrupted him. "'That is a rather rough accusation, isn't it?' declared he. and it's not quite fair either. To tell the truth, Bob's deep in some important work.

Starting point is 03:50:04 There was a light, scornful laugh from Cynthia. He is, my lady. You needn't be so incredulous, her brother put in. Bob is busy with a boat-building project. Dad's got interested in it, too. Cynthia pursed her lips with a little grimace. Ask him if you don't believe it, persisted. said Roger.

Starting point is 03:50:28 Yes, went on Mr. Galbraith. That old chap over at Wilton has an idea that may make all our fortunes, Bob's included. There was a general laugh. Well, pouted Cynthia, glancing down at the toe of her immaculate buckskin shoe. I call it very tiresome for Bob to have to work all his vacation. I don't have to, Robert Morton objected. I am simply doing it for fun. Can't you understand the sport of—

Starting point is 03:51:01 No, she can't, her brother asserted. Cynthia never sees any fun in working. Roger, Mrs. Galbraith drawled gently. Well, I don't like to work, owned the girl with delicious audacity. I detest it. Why should I pretend to like it when I don't? Cynthia is one of the lilies of the field. she's just made for ornament called roger over his shoulder as he passed into the house there is something in being ornamental isn't their daughter said mr galbraith dropping into a chair and lighting a fresh cigar she was decorative there was no mistake about that the skirt of heavy white satin clung to her slight figure in faultless lines and her sweater of a rose shade was no more lovely in tint than was the faint

Starting point is 03:51:56 flush in her cheeks. Every hair of the elaborate coiffure had been coaxed skillfully into place by a hand that understood the cunning, and wherever nature had been guilty of an oversight, Art had supplied the defect. Yes, Cynthia Galbraith was quite a perfect product, thought Bob, as he surveyed her there beneath the awning. I thought Madame Lee was here, the young man presently remarked as he glanced about. Mrs. Galbraith's face clouded. Mother is not well today, she answered. Careful as we are of her, she has, in some way, taken cold.

Starting point is 03:52:40 She is not really ill, but we thought it wise for her to keep her room. She is heartbroken not to be downstairs, and I promised that after she had had her luncheon and nap, you would go up and see her. "'Surely,' Robert Morton cried emphatically. "'Mother is so devoted to you, Bobby,' went on Mrs. Galbraith. "'Sometimes I think she cares much more for you than she does for her own grandchildren.' "'Nonsense! Of course she doesn't!' "'I'm not so certain,' laughed the elder woman lightly.

Starting point is 03:53:17 "'You know she is tremendously strong in her likes and dislikes. all the lees are we're a headstrong family where our affections are concerned you bob are the apple of her eye she has always been mighty kind to me the young man affirmed soberly i never saw my own grandmothers both of them died before i came into the world so you see if it were not for borrowing rogers and cynthia's i should be quite bereft the party rose and moved through the cool hall into the dining-room a delicious luncheon perfectly served by a velvet-footed maid and the old colored butler followed and there was a great deal of conversation a great deal of reminiscing and a great deal of laughter cynthia complained that the claret cup was too sweet and that the ices were not frozen enough and had much to say of the ice cream at maillard's but you are far from mailords now my dear her mother remarked and you must make the best of things being on cape cod you are almighty lucky to get any ice-cream at all announced roger with brotherly zest roger why will you tease your sister so you hector cynthia every moment you are in the house oh she knows i don't mean it grinned roger i just have to take the starch out of her now and then don't i cynthia ann roger fretted his sister i wish you wouldn't call me cynthia ann i can't imagine why you've taken to doing so lately

Starting point is 03:55:04 chiefly because you do not like it my dear was the retort if i were not so sure of getting a rise out of you every time perhaps i might be tempted to stop you children quarrel like a parrot vapes, Mr. Galbraith said. If I did not know that underneath you were perfectly devoted to each other, I should be worried to death about you. You needn't waste any worry on Cynthia Ann and me, Dad, Roger declared. But as she is, she's the best sister I've got, and I rather like her in spite of her faults. A smile passed between the two.

Starting point is 03:55:46 You've some faults of your own, remember. observed the girl with a grimace. "'Not a one, mademoiselle, not a one, I swear it,' was the instant retort. Coming into the family first, I picked the cream of the Lee and Galbraith qualities and gave you what was left. "'I command you two to stop your bickering,' Mr. Galbraith said at last. "'You're wasting the whole luncheon, squabbling. "'You'd much better be deciding what you're going to do with Bob,

Starting point is 03:56:18 for the rest of the day. I thought I'd take him out in the knock-about, Roger suggested. That is, if he would like to go, the tide will be just right, and there's a fine breeze. You may take him, if you will get him home at tea time, Mrs. Galbraith said. Your grandmother has set her heart on seeing him this afternoon, and you know she retires soon after dinner. You wouldn't have any time to sail at all, Roger,

Starting point is 03:56:48 put in Cynthia, especially if you should get stuck on a bar as you did the other day. We should have two hours. Why don't you take the launch, Roger? His mother inquired. And get snagged in the eel grass, not on your life. Bob and Mr. Spence are going to do away with all that eel grass, you know, called his father, sauntering out of doors. I'll wait until,

Starting point is 03:57:18 they do, then, was the grim retort. I should think Bob would a great deal rather go for a motor ride, Cynthia ventured, her eyes fixed impersonally on the landscape. I suppose you'd like to cart him off in your car. It doesn't make any difference whose car he goes in, does it? Well, rather. If he goes in yours, there's no room for me. If he goes in mine, there's no room for you.

Starting point is 03:57:48 "'That's the difference.' "'Children, do stop tearing Bob to fragments,' "'lisped Mrs. Galbraith with some amusement. "'If you keep on pulling him to pieces, he won't go anywhere. "'Now, Roger, you take Bob sailing "'and have a good visit with him, "'and bring him back so he can have tea with your grandmother at five. "'This evening the rest of us will have our chance to see him.'

Starting point is 03:58:15 "'She did not look at Cynthia, but with a woman's forethought, she remembered that the verandas were roomy and that the moon was full soon after dinner. Cynthia remembered it too and smiled. Yes, go ahead, Roger, she called. Take Bob around the bay. It is a lovely sail, and as he hasn't been here before, he will enjoy it. It was only a little past five when the two young men returned, a glow of health and pleasure on their faces, now bobby do make haste mrs galbraith said coming to meet him mother's tea has already gone up and you know how she detests waiting her maid is there in the hall to show you the way hurry along dear boy robert morton needed no second bidding and at once followed the middle-aged english woman up the staircase and into a small chintz-hung sitting-room that looked out on the sea

Starting point is 03:59:16 at the farther end of it seated before a low tea-table was a stately white-haired lady very erect very handsome and very elegantly dressed in a gown of soft black material at the neck which was turned away she wore a fechew of filmy lace tinted by time to a creamy tone and held in place by an old-fashioned medallion of seed pearls white ruffles at the wrists drooped over her delicately veined hands and showed only the occasional flash of a ring and her perfectly manicured finger-tips summer or winter fair weather or foul madame lee never varied this costume and it seemed to possess some measure of its owner's eternal youth for it was always fresh and its lustrous folds always swept the ground in the same dignified fashion indeed for those who knew madame lee to think of her in any other guise would have been impossible her silvered hair was parted and rippled over her forehead to her ears where it was slightly puffed and caught back with combs of shell and from beneath it two little black eyes peered out with the bird's alertness of gaze although age had claimed her strength it was evident from the woman's vivacious expression that she had lost none of her interest in life and as she now sat before the silver-laden tea-table there was a girlish anticipation in her eager pose ah you scamp cried she when she heard her visitor's footstep in the upper hall i have been waiting for you a full five minutes i don't wait for every one i would have you know come here and give an account of yourself

Starting point is 04:01:11 the young man bent and softly touch her cheek with his lips she put out her hand and let it linger affectionately in his as he dropped into the chair beside her i can't begin to tell you how glad i am to see you bob she went on in a voice soft and exquisitely modulated. We had no idea you were on the cape. But for that jeweler's stupidity, we should have thought you had gone west long ago. Considering what good friends you and Roger are, you were the worst of correspondence, and you never write to me. I know it, owned Robert Morton with disarming honesty. It's beastly of me. No, dear, on the contrary, It is very like a man, contradicted Madam Lee, with a pretty little laugh. However, I am not going to scold you about it now. I have seen too many men in my day.

Starting point is 04:02:14 First, let me pour your tea. Then you shall tell me all that you have been doing. I hear you are visiting a new aunt whom you have just unearthed. Yes. How do you like her? Bob chuckled at the characteristic directness of the question. Very much, indeed. That's nice.

Starting point is 04:02:37 Since relatives are not of our choosing, it is pleasant to find they are not boars. Again, the young man smiled. And this old gentleman for whom she keeps house? What of him? It was plain, Madame Lee had all the facts well in mind. As best he could, Bob said, sketched Willie in a few swift strokes.

Starting point is 04:03:02 "'Hugh, an interesting old fellow, I should like to see him,' declared Madame Lee when the narrative was done. "'And so you are working on this motorboat with him?' "'Yes. How long have you been here?' "'Ten days.' "'And when do you go back to your family?' "'I don't quite know,' hesitated the big fellow. there is still a great deal to do on this invention we are working at his companion eyed him shrewdly and the girl where does she live she asked reaching for bob's cup he colored with surprise the girl he repeated disconcerted of course there is a girl went on the woman what makes you think so oh bob

Starting point is 04:03:58 Bob, Bob, isn't there always a girl on every young man's horizon? I suppose so, generally speaking, he confessed with a laugh. Suppose we abandon the abstract term and come down to this girl in particular, his interrogator said. Why are you so sure there is one? he hedged, teasingly. My dear boy, how absurd of you, returned the sharp-eyed old lady with a twilight. of merriment in the first place all the motor-boats in the world couldn't keep a young man like you chained up indefinitely in a sleepy little cape cod village besides cynthia told me cynthia she doesn't know anything about it that is precisely how i knew piped madame lee triumphantly what did she tell you she did not tell me anything was

Starting point is 04:04:58 the reply. She simply came back from Wilton in a wretched humor, and when I inquired of her whether she had her buckle back again, she answered with such spirit that there was no mistaking its cause. Of course, she had the wit to know you were not wearing a belt of that pattern, nor your aunt, nor Mr. Spence, either. The belt and buckle belonged to a girl. A girl! You surprise me, she murmured derisively robert morton waited a moment then without heeding her mischievous comment added gravely a friend of mr spences i see the old lady smoothed the satin folds of her gown thoughtfully before she spoke then continued with extreme gentleness tell me about her i couldn't do that declared robert morton there aren't words enough to give you any idea how lovely she is or how good nevertheless because he had so eager and sympathetic a listener he at length began shyly to unfold the story of delight hathaway's strange life he told it reverently and with a lover's tenderness touching on the girl's tragic advent into the hamlet of wilton on her beauty and on her poverty

Starting point is 04:06:24 what a romance exclaimed madame lee meditatively when the tale was done and they know nothing of the child's previous history next to nothing the girl's mother died when she was born and the little tot lived all her life aboard ship with her father had neither the father nor mother any relatives apparently not the mate of the ship said he had never heard the captain mention any. Poor little waif! And these people who took her in have been kind to her? She is fond of them? She adores them! The old lady stirred her tea absently.

Starting point is 04:07:11 But Bob dear, has the girl any education? She inquired presently. That is the miracle of it, ejaculated he. When she was small, one of the summer residence, a Mrs. Farwell, who had a tutor for her son, suggested the two children have their lessons together. As a consequence, the girl is a fine French scholar, has read broadly both foreign and English literature, is familiar with ancient and modern history and mathematics, and recently a professor from Harvard, who has bordered summers with the family,

Starting point is 04:07:49 has instructed her in the natural sciences. She is much better educated than most of the society girls I've met. Then my granddaughter Cynthia, I dare say, was the quick comment. Oh, uh... You need not try to be polite, Bob. I am not proud of Cynthia's education, asserted Madame Lee. For all her wealth and all her opportunity to make herself accomplished, she has never mastered one thing.

Starting point is 04:08:23 If she could even sew well or keep house, I should rejoice, but she can't. As for languages, music, art, bah. She is as ignorant as if she had been brought up in a home in the slums. A thin society veneer such as the typical fashionable boarding school washes over the outside and a little helter-skelter reading and travel is all Cynthia has acquired. A real education entailed too much effort. So she is what we see her,

Starting point is 04:08:57 a thoughtless, extravagant, pleasure-seeking creature. She is a great disappointment to me, a great disappointment. Robert Morton did not reply. Come now, Bob, why don't you agree with me? I am fond of Cynthia, said the young man, in a low tone. I know you are. Sometimes I have worried lest you were too fond of her.

Starting point is 04:09:26 There was no response. Cynthia is not the wife for you, my dear boy, and never was. I am older than you, and I know life. Moreover, I love you very dearly. Were you of my own blood, I believe I could not care more deeply for you than I do. it would break my heart to see you make a foolish marriage to see you married to a girl like cynthia you never would be happy with her in the world why it takes a small fortune even to keep her contented it is money money money all the time she cares for little else and unless a man kept her supplied with that there would be no peace in the house aren't you a little hard on her not too hard came firmly from madamely you think precisely as i do too only you are too loyal and too chivalrous to own it

Starting point is 04:10:30 there was a pause broken only by the tinkle of the teacups no bob you let cynthia alone she will get over it and if you have found the jewel that you think you have be brave enough to assert your freedom and marry her you are not pledged to cynthia went on the musical voice just because you two chanced to grow up together there is no reason any one should assume that the affair is settled i suppose you are afraid of disappointing the family then there is your friendship for roger that worries you too and of course there is cynthia herself being a gentleman you shrink from tossing her girl's heart back into her lap isn't it so to some extent yes would it help matters do you think for you to marry cynthia if you did not love her but i care a lot for her not as you do for this other girl said the shrewd old lady with eyes fixed intently on his face oh no was the instant reply then as i said before you much better let cynthia alone declared madame lee emphatically at her age disappointments are not fatal and she will probably live to thank you for it in any case it is better to blight one life than three robert stared moodily down at the floor this other girl is attractive you say she is very beautiful you don't say so was the incredulous rejoinder but she really is she is the most beautiful thing i've ever seen

Starting point is 04:12:26 and she has all these other virtues as well she took the tea-cup from his passive hand and set it on the table i want to see her and judge for myself affirmed she. I know something of beauty and of girls, too. Why don't you bring her over here? Here? Why not? But it would look so strange, so pointed, gasped the young man. You see, she doesn't even guess yet that I...

Starting point is 04:13:03 He heard a low, infectious laugh. She knew it, you goose from the first of... moment you looked at her, cried the old lady, or she isn't the girl I think her. What do you imagine we women are? Blind? No, of course not, Robert Morton said, joining in the laugh. What I meant was that I never had said anything that would... You wouldn't need to, dear boy, his hostess put a hand, caressingly on his arm. All you would have to do would be to look as foolish as you do now,

Starting point is 04:13:39 and she would understand just as I did then resuming a more serious manner she continued it is a perfectly simple matter for you to bring one friend to meet another isn't it tell the girl I have heard her story and have become interested in her she will overlook an old lady's whims and be quite willing enough to come I'm sure if you wish it I should like to have her meet you admitted Bob with a bluff you mean you would like me to meet her answered madame lee with a confiding pat on his arm it is sweet of you bob whichever way you put it and after i have met the charmer you shall know exactly what i think of her too then if you marry her against my judgment you will have only yourself to thank for the consequences now leave it all to me i will arrange everything in a day or two I will send the car over to Wilton to fetch you, your aunt, Mr. Spence, and this Miss—what did you say her name was? Hathaway. Hathaway! Hathaway! echoed Madame Lee, in an unsteady voice. Yes, why? Oh, nothing, quavered the old lady, making a tremulous attempt to her. regain her poise.

Starting point is 04:15:11 Only, it is not a common name. I... I knew a Hathaway once, very long ago, in the south. End of Chapter 11. Recording by Roger Maline. Chapter 12 of Flood Tide. This Libervox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Roger Maline.

Starting point is 04:15:39 Flood Tide by Sarah Ware Bassett. chapter twelve robert morton makes a resolve robert morton returned from belport in a mood bordering on ecstasy his path now clear before him he would woo delight hathaway and win her and with a strong mutual love and hope they would set forth in life together he had to be sure no capital but his youth his strength and his education but he did not shrink from heart work, and felt certain that he would be able not only to keep want in abeyance, but place happiness within the reach of the woman he loved. Until Madame Lee, with her keen visioned knowledge of human nature, had ranged in perspective all the tangled circumstances that had so insidiously woven themselves about him, he had been unable to see his way.

Starting point is 04:16:40 The fetters that held him were so delicate and intangible, that with an exaggerated sense of honor he had magnified them into bonds of steel never daring to believe that they might be snapped and leave no scar but now the fact stood lucidly forth there was no actual engagement between himself and cynthia nor had there ever been any talk of one he simply had been thrown constantly into her society and had drifted at first thoughtlessly and afterward indifferently until there had been created not only in the mind of the girl but also in the mind of all her family a tacit expectation that ultimately their permanent union would be consummated from the galbraith's point of view such a marriage would have been a very gratifying one for although robert morton was without money in his sterling character and his potentialities for success they had every faith a span of years of intimacy had tested his worth and had this not been the case his friendship with roger had proved the tough fibre of his manliness of all their son's college acquaintances there was none who had been welcomed into the galbraith home with the cordiality that had greeted robert morton at first they had received him graciously for their boy's sake but later this initial sufferance had been supplanted by an affectionate regard existing purely because of his own merits.

Starting point is 04:18:15 They had loaded him with favors, pressed their hospitality upon him, and but for a certain pride and independence that restrained them, would have smoothed his financial difficulties with the same lavishness they had those of their son. Many a time Mr. Galbraith, unable to endure the sight of Bob's rigid self-denial, had delicately hinted at assistance, only to have the offer as delicately declined. It hurt and piqued the financier

Starting point is 04:18:46 to be so firmly kept at a distance and be obliged to witness privations which a small gift of money might have alleviated. Moreover, he liked his own way and did not enjoy being balked in it by a schoolboy. Yet beneath his irritation, he paid tribute to the self-respecting determination that had prompted the rebuff.

Starting point is 04:19:07 the world in which he moved held few men of such ideals rather he had repeatedly been courted by the grafter the promoter the social climber each beneath a thinly disguised friendship working for his own selfish ends but here at last was the novel phenomena of one who scorned pelth who would not even allow his gratitude to be bought the sight was refreshing it rejuvenated the new yorker's jaded belief in human nature forced to withdraw his bounty he had sat back and watched while the academic career of the two young men wore on and at its close had seen the roads of the classmates divide his own boy entering the law school while robert morton whose mind had always been of scientific trend enrolled at technology there to take up post-grad work in naval architecture. The choice of this subject reflected largely the capitalist's influence, for his own great fortune had been amassed in an extensive shipbuilding enterprise, in which he saw the opportunity of placing advantageously a young man of Robert Morton's exceptional ability.

Starting point is 04:20:27 The promised position was a variety of favor that Bob, proud though he was, saw no reason for declining. the opening to be sure would be his as a consequence of mr galbraith's kindness but the retention of the position would rest on his personal worth and hard work a very satisfactory condition to one who demanded that he remained captain of his soul hence he had deliberately trained for the post and it was understood that the following october he would assume it it was a flattering beginning for a novice the salary guaranteed being generous and the chances for advancement alluring nor did the great man who had founded the business conceal from the ambitious neophyte that later he might be called upon to fill the niche left vacant by roger's flight into professional life such was the nicety with which robert morton had been dovetailed into the galbraith plans his welcome in every direction assured him and now here he stood confronted by the probable overthrow of the whole delicately balanced structure if he did not marry cynthia and selected instead another bride he risked forfeiting the regard of those who had become dear to him imperiling his friendship with roger and sacrificing the brilliant and gratifying future for which he had so patiently labored never again he knew beyond a question would such an opportunity come within his grasp. He would be obliged to start out unheralded and painfully fight his way to

Starting point is 04:22:11 recognition. That recognition would be his he did not doubt, for he never yet had failed in that to which he had set his hand. But, alas, the weary years before he would be able to make a hurrying universe sense that he was alive. He knew what struggle meant when stripped of its illusions, for had he not toiled for his education and the sweat of his brow the triumph of the achievement had been sweet but for the moment the courage to resume the weary uphill plotting deserted him why it would be years before he could marry a girl who was accustomed to even as few luxuries as was delight hathaway and suppose a miracle happened and mr galbraith was large-minded enough still to hold out to him the former offer should he wish to accept it would it not be almost charity no if he refused cynthia's hand and that was what in bald terms it would amount to he must decline the other favor as well and be independent of the galbraiths for good and all otherwise his position would be unendurable it was an odious situation the one in which he found himself only a cad cast a woman's heart back at her feet the uncivilrousness of the act grated upon every fibre of his sensitively attuned high-minded nature

Starting point is 04:23:45 yet as madame lee had reminded him would he not be doing cynthia a greater injustice if he married her without love friendship and brotherly affection were all he could honestly bestow and although these he gave with all sincerity as he now examined his heart in the light of the revelations real love had brought he realized that beyond their confines existed a realm into which cynthia galbraith fair though she was had never set foot no woman had crossed that magic threshold until now when her presence stirred all the blended emotions of his manhood humility tenderness reverence possessed him self-descended from its throne of egoism and yielded its sceptre to another the hot blood of the primitive untamed viking raced in his veins soul mind heart body were all awakened he was adult who confused genuine passion with the milder preferences of callow youth delight hathaway was his mate created for him before the hills in order stood it was as inevitable that they should come together as that the river should sweep out to meet the sea or the lily open to the kiss of the sunlight all that this woman was in purity in graciousness of heart in brilliancy of intellect he loved adored approved all that she was in physical beauty he reverenced and coveted her lot had been strangely cast and the scope of it limited to a very narrow vista oh for success to place at her feet the riches of the earth

Starting point is 04:25:42 with such a goal to lure one on what was toil fah he laughed aloud at the word madame lee with her unerring intuition had probed his heart and read his destiny aright his future lay not with this pampered daughter of a great house whose selfishness he had repeatedly excused and refused to recognize nor would he purchase worldly prosperity at the price of his soul casting aside the easier way he would follow the rough path that mounted upward to the star of his desire before the waning of another moon both of these women who had come into his world should know his intention and have the opportunity to accept or reject that which he had to offer them. He hoped Cynthia would understand and forgive. He was fond of Cynthia. And he hoped, prayed, implored heaven that Delight Hathaway would not turn a deaf ear to his entreaties, for without the prize in which his hopes were set,

Starting point is 04:26:51 life's race would not be worth the running. Well, he would not allow the thought of failure, any place in his mind. Victory should be his. It would be. Must be. See how all the world smiled on the vow he registered. The sky had never stretched more cloudlessly above his head. The air had never been sweeter. The dancing ripples of the bay gladder in their golden scintillations. The whole universe throbbed with youth and its dauntless supremacy. Something told him he would conquer, and with a high heart he alighted at the door of the dear familiar gray cottage. Willie came to meet him.

Starting point is 04:27:37 "'Well, son,' said he, reaching forth his hands, "'if I ain't glad to see you flitting home again. I've missed you like as if the two days was two weeks. I reckon your aunt has too. Anyhow, she took to her bed quick as you was out of sight and ain't been seen. since. Auntini, ill? No, not sick exactly,

Starting point is 04:28:05 explained Willie, as arm in arm they proceeded up the walk. She's just struck of a heap with a lame shoulder such as she has sometimes. She can't move a pig, poor soul. Great, Scott, that's hard luck. Then, since you're short-handed, I shall be more bother than I'm worth around here.

Starting point is 04:28:28 i'd better have stayed where i was you won't want any extra people to look out for and feed now i fancy oh law i ain't doin the cookin grinned the little inventor as if the bare notion of such a thing amused him vastly why i could no more cook a dish that was fit to eat than a mariner could run a pink tea i'd die of starvation if the victuals was left to me let alone the cookin whittah had to have help anyhow cause teenie's too miserable to do much for herself so we've got in one of the neighbors it's a shame oh we'll pull through alive smiled willie cheerfully we've piloted our way through many a worse channel the spell of teenies ain't nothin she's goin to die of thank the lord she takes cold sudden sometimes, and it always makes straight for that shoulder of hers, stiffening up every muscle in it. She'll admire her to see you home again, I know. The sight of you will probably make her better right away. You can run up to her room now if you choose to. I'll be around in the shop when you want me." With a beaming countenance, the old man turned away. Robert Morton opened the screen

Starting point is 04:29:55 door diffidently, speculating as to whom he would confront in the kitchen, then he stopped, arrested on the door sill. At the wooden table near the pantry window stood Delight Hathaway, her sleeves rolled to the elbow, and her slender figure enveloped in a voluminous gingham pinafore that covered her from chin to ankle and was tied in place at the back by a pert bow. She was sifting flower into a mammoth yellow bowl, and as she stirred the mixture, the sweep of her round, wide arm brought a flood of color into her cheeks and wreathed her brow with tiny, damp ringlets. Bob held his breath, hungrily devouring her with his eyes, but a quick breeze brought the door to with a bang, and the girl glanced over her shoulder.

Starting point is 04:30:48 "'All hail!' she cried, the dimple darting out of hiding with her smile. "'You have a new cook, monsieur!' "'My word!' was all the young man could stammer. "'Is it as bad as all that?' she laughed. "'No, but great hat. This is awful, you know.' "'What is awful?' returned she, turning to face him. why having you come here and cook for us two men oh i'm always cooking for somebody was the matter-of-fact retort why not you well it makes me feel like a-it doesn't seem right somehow it's as right as possible i rather like it said she darting him a roguish look than bending over the bowl before her

Starting point is 04:31:47 well you must let me help you anyway can't i-i butter something butter something yes things are always having to be buttered aren't they pans and dishes and cups he paused vaguely her laugh echoed like a chime of miniature bells i am sorry to say the pan is already buttered replied she what other accomplishments have you oh i can do anything i am told came eagerly from bob that's something anyway then fetch me some flour please flour it's in the barrel no that's the sugar bowl the barrel under the shelf the barrel to be sure barrel a-hoi how could i have mistaken its sylph-like form how much flour do you want just a little she passed the sieve to him and went to inspect the oven bob caught up the sifter filled it to the brim and came toward her turning the handle as he approached i say this is great isn't it he observed so intent on the mechanism of the device that he did not notice the track of whiteness which he was leaving behind him it is like winding up a victrola whistling a random strain from faust he turned the handle faster oh bob burst out delight look what you're doing obediently he looked but did not comprehend her slip of the tongue had banished every other idea from his mind say it again please what what say bob say bob

Starting point is 04:33:46 again, as you did just now. I didn't know I did, faltered the girl. I, I forgot. Forgot! He dropped the sifter into the bowl, and his hand closed firmly over the one that now rested on its yellow rim. Oh, see what you've done, cried she. You have spilled all the flour into the cake.

Starting point is 04:34:13 No matter, his eyes. were on hers. But it does matter. Willie's cake will be spoiled. She tried vainly to draw away from the grip that imprisoned her. Please let me go. He bent across the table

Starting point is 04:34:32 until he could almost feel the blood beating in her cheeks. Say it once more, he pleaded. Again her hand fluttered in his strong grasp. Please! please what persisted robert morton please please bob she murmured he was at the other side of the table now but she was no longer there instead she stood at the screen door shaking the flower from her apron don't move she cried severely you've walked all through that flower and are tracking it about every step you take look at the pantry i shall have to sweep it all up i'll do it he answered with instant penitence no you sit right down there in that chair and don't you stir i will go and get the dustpan and brush i'm awfully sorry called by

Starting point is 04:35:34 Bob, plunged into the depths of despair. I didn't realize that when you turned the handle of the darn thing, the stuff went through. What did you think a flower sifter was for? asked she, dimpling. I wasn't thinking of flower sifters, declared he significantly. He saw her blush. Mayn't I please get up? No, not until your shoes are brushed off. she replied, provokingly.

Starting point is 04:36:07 Let me take the brush then. Don't you see I am using it? You could let me take it a second. I have been taught to complete one task before I began another, was the tantalizing reply as she went on with her sweeping. The deuce! You must not swear in my presence, she commanded, attempting to conceal a smile.

Starting point is 04:36:34 then stop dimpling that dimple don't you like dimples inquired she demurily now billy farwell thinks that my dimples hang billy farwell how rude of you billy never consigns you to such a fate she waited then added all he ever says is confound morton i thought he had more spirit was the ungrateful rejoined her. Oh, he has spirit enough, she explained. He would say much more if he were allowed. She saw Robert start forward. Of course, she went on in an even tone. I shouldn't permit him to abuse a friend of Willys. Oh, that's the reason you put the check on him, is it? Aren't you Willie's friend? She questioned evasively. yes but you don't seem to appreciate your luck now i adore willie and believe that anyone who has his friendship is the most fortunate person in the world he saw a grave and tender light creep into her wonderful eyes i'm not arguing about willie said he you know how much i care for him but i can't think of him now it's you i'm thinking of you you you

Starting point is 04:38:04 You? She did not answer, but bent her head lower over her sweeping. I don't believe there is any flower on my shoes anyway, grumbled the culprit presently, stooping to examine his feet with the air of a guilty child. He thought he heard her laugh. How much longer are you going to keep me in this infernal chair? he fumed. Bob! called a voice from upstairs. "'It's your aunt. She must have heard you come in.'

Starting point is 04:38:39 He sprang up, only to come into collision with the dustpan full of flour, which lay near his chair. A second more and the fruits of the sweeping drifted broadcast in a powdery cloud. "'Delight, dearest!' he cried, bending over the kneeling figure. "'You must go upstairs and see your aunt, please,' she begged. she will think it's so strange. All right, sweetheart. I'm coming, Aunt Tini. When Willie entered, a few moments later,

Starting point is 04:39:14 in search of his co-laborer, Delight was alone. He glanced questioningly about the room, at the girl's flushed cheeks, the half-made cake, the snowy floor. Bob, Mr. Morton, spilled some flour, the young woman explained. evading his eye.

Starting point is 04:39:36 The little old man made no response. He studied the burning face, the drooping lashes. He also looked meditatively at some footprints in the floor. They may not have been as startling in their significance as were the famous Marx Crusoe discovered in the sand, but they were quite as illuminating. A trail of small ones led about the room and beside them, as if echoing to their light,

Starting point is 04:40:03 tread was a series of larger ones. The inventor's gaze pursued them curiously to a spot before the stove, where they became very much confused and afterward branched apart, the larger set trailing off toward the stairs, and the smaller moving back into the pantry. The detective stroked his chin for an interval. Ah, observed he thoughtfully, and End of Chapter 12. Recording by Roger Maline. Chapter 13 of Flood Tide. This Libre Vox recording is in the public domain.

Starting point is 04:40:48 Recording by Roger Maline. Flood Tide by Sarah Ware Bassett. Chapter 13. A newcomer enters. The next day, Mr. Howard Snelling made his appearance at the Spence Workshop. Bob was fitting wire netting to some metal. uprights and struggling to focus his mind on what he was doing enough to forget that Delight Hathaway was on the other side of the partition, when from the window above the bench

Starting point is 04:41:18 he saw Cynthia Galbraith come rolling up to the gate in her runabout, accompanied by a strikingly handsome stranger. He hurried out to meet them. Her father and Roger, the girl said, had gone to a yacht race at Hyannis, so she had brought Mr. Snelling over. She introduced the two men, but refused somewhat curtly to come in, explaining that she would be back, or someone else would, to fetch the guest home to Belport for luncheon. Then, without a backward glance, she started the engine and disappeared around the curve of the harbor road.

Starting point is 04:41:57 Perhaps it was just as well, Robert Morton reflected, that she had not accepted his invitation to come in, for to bring her and delight together at this delicate juncture might result in awkwardness. Nevertheless, it certainly was something unprecedented for Cynthia to be so brusk and be in such a hurry. The enigma puzzled him, and he found it recurring to his mind persistently. However, he resolutely shook it off and turned his attention instead to his new acquaintance. He was, he could not but admit, quite a very much. unprepared to find Mr. Howard Snelling, his future chief, possessed of so attractive a personality,

Starting point is 04:42:41 Mr. Galbraith, when alluding to the expert craftsman, had never mentioned his age, and Bob had gleaned the impression that the man before whose ability the entire Galbraith's shipbuilding plant bowed down was middle-aged, possibly even elderly. Therefore, to be confronted by someone in the early forties was a distinct shock. snelling's hair was to be sure sprinkled lightly with gray but this hint of maturity was given the lie by his ruddy unlined countenance and the youthfulness with which he wore his clothes a good tailor had evidently found a model worthy of his skill and had tried to live up to the task set him for everything in the stranger's attitude and appearance proclaimed smartness and the savoyre of the man about town yet howard snelling was something far better than either a fashion plate or a society darling he was energy personified it spoke in every motion of his strong fine hands in the quick turn of his head in the alert attention with which he listened nothing escaped his well-trained eye one's very thought seemed to be at his mercy mingling however with these more astute qualities and counterbalancing them was a winning tact and courtesy which instantly put another at his ease

Starting point is 04:44:09 without these characteristics mr snelling would have been unbearable but with them he was thoroughly charming well morton i am glad to have a chance to meet you in the flesh he said as they still loitered at the gate the galbraiths have sung your praises until i began to think you a sort of myth you certainly have something to live up to if you were to reach the reputation they have painted of your virtues mr galbraith in particular thinks there is no obstacle that you cannot conquer. He swept his eye curiously over the young man before him. You mustn't believe a word of what they've told you, Mr. Snelling, laughed Robert Morton. Our friends are always overindulgent to our faults. When I begin work under you,

Starting point is 04:44:59 a thing I am greatly anticipating, you will find out what a duffer I really am. The elder man smiled. I'm ready to take the chance, said he. Besides, Bob went on, Mr. Galbraith has given you something of a character, too. He has frightened me clean out of my life with his tails of your— Poo! nonsense! broke in Mr. Snelling deprecatingly. I like my job, that's all.

Starting point is 04:45:29 And Mr. Galbraith and I happened to hit it off. Nevertheless, Bob could see that he was pleased by the flattery. it was on his tongue's end to voice his thought and add that the man who could not get on with a person of mr snelling's adroitness and diplomacy would be hard to please but although he did not utter the words he felt them to be true now began the new yorker with a swift change of subject let us get down to business how are we going to work this thing you must coach me i gather i am being employed on quite a delicate mission. My instructions are to come in here as a friend of yours and the Galbraiths, and without raising the suspicion that I have much of any knowledge about boats, I am to help get this invention into workable shape. Any parts we lack, any drawings we wish made, any materials we need, I have authority to procure from our Long Island plant. There is to be no stint as to expense.

Starting point is 04:46:35 the enterprise is to be carried through to the finish properly. Robert Morton gasped. I had no idea Mr. Galbraith meant to go into it to such lengths, he murmured. Oh, Mr. Galbraith never does things by halves when once he is interested, was the reply. Besides, he has a hunter's scent for the commercial. He says there is a live idea here that he has money in it, and that's enough for him. Anyway, whether there is or not, Snelling added hurriedly,

Starting point is 04:47:13 we are to humor the old gentleman's whims and get his idea so he can handle it. It is tremendously generous of Mr. Galbraith. Howard Snelling regarded his companion quizzically for a moment, then remarked with gravity, Oh, there is a kind heart in Mr. Galbraith, in spite of all his business instincts. had you ever met the rest of the family before now questioned bob more with a desire to turn the channel of conversation than because he had any interest in the matter the inquiry idly made produced an unexpected result visibly throwing the expert out of his imperturbable composure he flushed stammered and bit his lip before he successfully conquered his confusion i uh oh yes was his reply i've been a dinner guest at the new york house several times been sent for on a pinch to help out then mr galbraith summons me there occasionally for consultation on business matters

Starting point is 04:48:20 the belport place is attractive isn't it it's corking i suppose you spend a lot of time over there ventured snelling lighting a gold-tipped Egyptian cigarette and offering Bob one. Something in the question, he could not have told what, caused Robert Morton to dart a quick, furtive glance at the speaker. Mr. Snelling was smoking and blowing indifferently into the air, filmy rings of smoke, but through it the disconcerted young man encountered his penetrating gaze. I don't get over there very often, said Bob.

Starting point is 04:49:01 this invention keeps me rather busy. Of course, of course, was the cordial response. And now as to our policy on this deal. I shall follow your lead, understand. Any assertion you see fit to make you can trust me to swear to. You may introduce me to the old chap as your college pal, even your long-lost brother if you choose. I hardly think that'll be not.

Starting point is 04:49:31 necessary, Robert Morton answered, a hint of coldness in his voice. I shall simply introduce you for what you are, Mr. Galbraith's friend. And yours, smiled Mr. Snelling, graciously placing a hand on the young man's shoulder. It was unaccountable, absurd, that Bob should have shrunk at the touch. Nevertheless, he did so. Don't you think, he replied abruptly, that the sooner we go in and get to work the better? How long do you expect to be able to stay here?' Again the color crept into Snelling's cheek, but this time he was quite master of himself.

Starting point is 04:50:14 "'I cannot tell yet. It will depend to some extent on how we get on. I suppose you really can't be spared from the Long Island plant a great while.' "'As to that, Mr. Galbraith is all-powerful,' was his smiling answer. what he wills must be arranged fortunately just now business is running slack at least my part of it is most of our contracts are well on the way to completion and others can carry them out so i can stay down here as long as it's necessary it can go as my vacation if worse comes to worst hence you see concluded he pulling a spray of honeysuckle to pieces we don't need to rush things They entered the gate, past the low, silvered house, now almost buried in blossoming roses, and following the clamshell path that led to the workshop, found Willie, his spectacles pushed back from his forehead, dragging a pile of new boards down from the shelf.

Starting point is 04:51:22 "'We have a visitor, Mr. Spence,' Bob said. "'Mr. Snelling, a friend of Mr. Galbraiths, and—' He paused, the fraction of a second. "'And of mine. He has come over to spend the morning and wants to see what we're doing.' The little old inventor reached out a horny palm. "'I'm glad to see you, sir,' affirmed he, simply.

Starting point is 04:51:48 "'Any friend of Bob's won't want for a welcome here. "'Set right down and make yourself to home, "'or stand up and poke around if it suits you better. "'That's what Mr. Galbraith did. i reckon there warn't a corner of this whole place he didn't fish into twas amusing to see him he said it took him back to the days when he was a boy i couldn't but smile to watch him fussin with the plane and saw and hammer like as if they was old friends he hadn't clapped eyes on for years it does feel good to handle tools when you haven't done so for a long time assented mr snelling likely you yourself sir ain't had a hammer nor nothing in your hands for quite a spell went on willie with a benign smile they don't look as if you ever had had howard snelling glanced down at his slender well-modelled hands with their carefully manicured nails i haven't done much carpentry of late years he confessed it would be quite a novelty were i to be turned loose in a place like this i should be done much carpentry of late years he confessed it would be quite a novelty were i to be turned loose in a place like this i should

Starting point is 04:52:59 like nothing better." "'You don't say so,' responded Willie, with pleased surprise. "'Well, well, ain't that queer now. I'd much sooner or put you down as a gentleman who wouldn't want to get into no dirt or clutter.' "'You don't know me.' "'Evidently not,' the old man rejoined. "'Well, you can have your wish, far as carpenter goes. "'You can put around here much as you like.'

Starting point is 04:53:30 Mr. Snelling moved toward the long workbench. "'This is a neat thing,' remarked he, regarding the unfinished invention, quite as if he had never heard of it before. "'What are you doing here?' A glow of satisfaction spread over the little fellow's kindly face. "'Why, me and Bob,' he explained, "'are tinkering with a notion I got. got into my head a while ago. The idea kitched me in the night, and I come downstairs and commence

Starting point is 04:54:03 tackling it right away. But I didn't see my course ahead, and twart till Bob hove in sight and lent a help in hand that the contraption begun to take shape. But for him, to never have amounted to a darn thing, I reckon. I ain't much on the putting together, anyhow, and this was such a wail of a scheme. It had me floored. But it didn't seem to strike Bob a beam. He went at it like a dogfish for bait, and he's beginning to tow the thing out of the fog now into clear water. It's quite a scheme, observed Snelling with an assumed nonchalance. How did you happen on it? Them ideas just come to me, was the ingenuous reply. Some brains, like some gardens, grow one thing, some another. Mine seems to turn out stuff like this. It's pretty good stuff.

Starting point is 04:55:05 It's a lot of bother to me sometimes, said the old man, simply. Still, I enjoy it. I'd be badly off if it weren't for the thinking I'd do. What a marvel thinking is, ain't it? You can think all sorts of things, can travel in your mind to most every corner of the globe. You can think yourself rich, think yourself poor, think yourself young, think yourself happy. There's nothing you want you can't think you have, and dreaming about it is most as good as getting it. Mr. Snelling nodded. Sometimes I think myself an artist, sometimes a musician, went on the wistful voice, then again i think myself a great man and doin somethin worth while in the world then there's times i've thought myself with a family of children and planned how they should learn more than ever i did he mused then banishing the seriousness of his tone by an embarrassed laugh added i've waked up afterward to think how much less it cost just to imagine him

Starting point is 04:56:18 the heart that would not have been won by the naivete of the speaker would have been stony indeed howard snelling flashed a tribute of honest admiration into the gentle old face dreams are cheap things rambled on the little inventor sometimes i figure the lord gave em to those who didn't have much else so as to make em think they are kings if you can dream there ain't a thing in all the world ain't yours the conversation had furnished snelling with the opportunity to study more minutely the object on the table and he now said with a motion of his hand toward it wouldn't it be rather nice if you had some netting or coarser mesh and which wouldn't corrode oh this screenin ain't what i'd choose returned willie but twas all i had i ripped it off the front door tini didn't fancy my doin it very well tain't often she's ruffled and even this time she didn't say much still i could see it didn't altogether please her tini interpolated mr snelling my aunt miss morton who keeps house for mr spence explained bob with proud directness i wasn't aware you had relatives down here the boat-builder observed turning toward robert morton with interest i imagined you came to the cape because of the galbraiths oh no i didn't know the galbraiths were here until the other day really the single word was weighted with incredulousness twas the funniest thing you ever knew how it happened put in willie robert morton tried to cut him short

Starting point is 04:58:13 a package for the galbraiths was sent to me by mistake that was how i secured their address he said snelling looked puzzled that warranted at all bob persisted willie you ain't telling it half as queer as it was it was useless to attempt to check the little old man now artlessly he babbled the story and howard snelling listening constructed a good part of the romance interwoven with it from the young man's color and irritation so there were two beauties in the case commented he when the tale was finished there were two silver buckles came sharply from bob which amounts to the same thing smiled the new yorker robert morton vouchsafed no reply have your friends the galbraiths met this other lady asked snelling insinuatingly no not yet i see there was something offensive in the observation something offensive in the observation something too that compelled Robert Morton even against his will to add with dignity, I am expecting to take Miss Hathaway over to see them some day soon. He told himself, as he uttered the words, that he owed Howard Snelling no explanation,

Starting point is 04:59:43 and that it was ridiculous of him to make one. Nevertheless, he felt impelled to do so. Mr. Snelling smiled superciliously, That will be very pleasant, won't it? he remarked. One could not have quarreled with the sentiment, but its blandness conveyed an exasperating disbelief. The young man bit his lip angrily. At the same instant there was a sound at the door.

Starting point is 05:00:13 Auntini wants to know! The three men glanced up simultaneously, and Mr. Snelling's jawed dropped with amazement. "'I beg your pardon,' murmured delight. "'I did not know there was anyone here.' "'It's only Mr. Snelling, a friend of Bob's,' Willie hastened to say. "'Mr. Snelling is also a friend of Mr. Galbraiths,' interrupted Robert Morton, and raged that it fell to him to perform the introduction.

Starting point is 05:00:44 "'This is Miss Hathaway, Mr. Snelling.' "'I am charmed to meet you, Miss Hathaway,' Howard Snelling declared. bending low over the girl's outstretched hand. I did not realize you were an inmate of the house. Then, with a sidelong glance at Bob, he added, Wilton certainly abounds in beautiful surprises. As with unveiled wonder, he scanned the exquisite face. Robert Morton, looking on, could have strangled him with a relish.

Starting point is 05:01:20 End of Chapter 13. Recording by Roger Maline. Chapter 14 of Flood Tide This Libervox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Roger Maline Flood Tide by Sarah Ware Bassett Chapter 14 The Spenses enter society.

Starting point is 05:01:46 For a week, Howard Snelling came and went from the small, vine-covered cottage on the bay, making himself so useful and so delightful that the charm of his personality gradually obliterated the first unpleasant impression Bob had gained of him. He worked hard, but worked with such unobtrusiveness that unless one scrutinized him closely, the subtle power that lay behind his hand and brain

Starting point is 05:02:12 might have passed unsuspected. Ever mindful that his role was that of the casual visitor, he listened with appreciation to Willie's harmless gossip, and whenever the little old man advanced a theory as to the enterprise in which they were engaged, he greeted it not only with respect, but with cordiality. Now and then, as the undertaking progressed, he ventured a tactful, almost diffident suggestion,

Starting point is 05:02:39 the value of which the inventor was quick to detect. Also, in the same nonchalant fashion, he produced from time to time the necessary materials, weaving a fairy web of prevarication, when questioned too closely as to their source, Oh, I have a friend in the boat-building business, said he, who lets me have any small things I want. I have done some favors for him in the past, and he is only too glad to square up the balance by sending me whatever I ask him for.

Starting point is 05:03:13 The explanation, given with offhand candor, quite satisfied the artless willy, who imagined all the world as truthful as himself, and inquired no further, excepting with unfame joy, the gifts the gods provided. His face glowed with almost beautific light as he saw his dream slowly take form. Nothing he had ever done equaled this masterpiece. The project was his first thought at waking, the last before closing his eyes at night. Sometimes even when all but the sea slept, he would tiptoe downstairs, candle in hand, just to steal a glance at the child of his fancy. So absorbed was he in its growth and progress

Starting point is 05:04:00 that it never crossed his mind to marvel that the two men of Howard Sterlings and Robert Morton's ability should sacrifice to the invention the golden hours of the rare June days. Their interest was nothing miraculous. Who wouldn't have been interested in such a wonderful undertaking? Indeed, Mr. Snelling's concern for the venture was almost as keen as his own.

Starting point is 05:04:25 From morning until late noon he toiled. Occasionally the Galbraith chauffeur brought him over from Bellport, but more often it was Cynthia who made the trip with him. Mr. Galbraith, it appeared, had been called back to New York on urgent business. Roger had gone with friends on a yachting cruise, and Mrs. Galbraith was devoting her time to her mother who was still indisposed. Hence Cynthia was forced to fill the gaps and serve both as host and hostess. It was a natural situation, and Bob thought nothing about it,

Starting point is 05:05:02 except selfishly to exult that, under the conditions, Cynthia was kept too busy to invade the Spence home or bother him with invitations. And that was not the only boon that came with Snelling's presence, for with three workers in the shop, Robert Morton found, not in frequent chances to steal into the kitchen, where delight was busy with household tasks, and enjoy the rapture of a word or two with her. Never were there such days of enchantment as these. He might, he often said to himself, have remained in Wilton an entire summer,

Starting point is 05:05:39 and his acquaintance with the lady of his heart, never have reached the degree of intimacy that it attained during Celestina's illness. to behold the girl fair as the new-blown rose presiding at the wee breakfast-table was to forget all else how dainty she looked in her trim cotton gown with its demure cuffs and collar of white and how deftly her hands moved along the simple fittings of the table the worn agate coffee-pot seemed transformed to classic outline and the nectar it contained to ambrosia and what a famous little cook she was surely such flaky biscuit could never have been made by other hands bob suddenly became surprisingly interested in kitchens and all that they contained the glint of tin pans the dull ebony of the stove iridescent suds foaming fresh and hot all these took on a strange and homely beauty quite novel in its charm he had never dreamed before what an incomparable eden a kitchen was to slip in and fill the wood-box to creep into the pantry and watch the beloved head as it bent over the baking-table to be permitted to wipe the dishes while she washed them made of the simple duties tasks for gods and goddesses he loved the pretty way her fringed lashes lifted the wave of color that swept her cheek

Starting point is 05:07:15 when she was startled by his step, and there was something ravishingly confidential in her caution. Be careful, Bob, not to drop Aunt Tini's china teacups. It was all foolish and inconsequential. The sighs, the smiles, the silences, but they made a paradise of the grim old universe. Many a time he longed to press his lips to the white arm, to kiss the warm curve of her neck,

Starting point is 05:07:44 where soft curls clustered. But he did none of these things. By a gentle reserve, the girl kept him at his distance, and although there was only Jezebel to see, he did not transgress the bounds, delight sweet womanliness reared between them. Of course, she knew he loved her. She could not but know. Even Jezebel from her round blue eyes proclaimed a complete understanding of the romance, and drawing herself into a fluffy ball in Willie's great chair, feigned sleep that she might not embarrass the lovers. The canary knew, and so did the impertinent crimson rambler that clambered up the window frame and spied in through the pane.

Starting point is 05:08:30 It was no secret. The whole dazzling world shared in the exquisite mystery. Were the tale to have been put into words, half its delicate beauty would have been shattered. It was now a thing of clouds, of perfume, of sunshine. The waves whispered together of it, the birds trilled the story. A glance, a half-uttered sentence. The meeting of hands carried with them great throbbing reaches of emotion

Starting point is 05:09:00 that went to make up the reality of the ephemeral drama. And then there was the tormenting, bewitching, wretched, alluring uncertainty of it all. all. One could never be sure, and in the spell of this disquietude lay half the magic. Robert Morton speculated as to whether Willie, along with Jezebel and the Canary, had fathomed the idol. He wondered, too, how much Snelling suspected. The New Yorker had an irritating habit of waylaying delight and making pretty speeches to her, as if for the wanton pleasure of watching the blush rise in her cheek. when it came to women there was no denying howard snelling was as great an authority as at building ships he understood the sex and knew what pleased them and with the subtle art of a courtier he breathed into their ears a flattery too delicate to be resented

Starting point is 05:10:01 besides such an expert bob floundering in his first real love affair felt but a blunderer perhaps mr snelling realized this and rather enjoyed the amateur's chagrin however that may have been he certainly let no opportunity slip for the display of his proficiency the discomfited lover fumed with jealous rage yet on analyzing the causes of his wrath he discovered he actually had but scant ground for complaint he was not engaged to delight and until he was he had no claim upon her and not the smallest right in the world to grumble if another man chose to pay her a compliment. And what were compliments anyway? Only empty words. Yet, reason as he would, he wished Snelling twenty fathoms deep in the sea before ever he had come to Wilton, there to haunt Willie's shop and make of himself a menace to all tranquillity. So the days passed in a delirious alternation of ecstasy and despair, until one morning, when Mr. Snelling came bringing from Madame Lee,

Starting point is 05:11:15 the long-delayed note which she had promised Bob she would send. She was now quite strong again, she wrote, and she wished him to arrange for his aunt, Mr. Spence, and Miss Hathaway, to come and have tea with the Belport family on the following afternoon, when both Roger and Mr. Galbraith would be at home. With beating heart, Robert Morton took the letter into the house and showed it to delight. "'How nice of them!' she exclaimed.

Starting point is 05:11:47 "'Oh, I do wish we could go. "'Willie would love it. "'He liked Mr. Galbraith and his son so much. "'And Aunt Tini would be in the seventh heaven "'if only she were able to accept. "'She so seldom has an invitation out, poor dear. "'And you?' "'Oh, I couldn't go anyway.

Starting point is 05:12:11 "'Why not?' well in the first place i have nothing to wear to a place like that delight and besides she hurried on they are only asking me because i happen to be here in the house indeed they're not but i know they are persisted the girl everybody does want to see me just because you because i what demanded bob with an ominous stride in her direction "'Because you and Mr. Snelling like me,' concluded she, tranquilly. "'Confound Snelling!' "'Indeed, no. He is a charming gentleman, and I won't have him confounded.' "'Hang him, then!' "'Nor hanged either,' she protested.

Starting point is 05:13:06 "'Of course, if you prefer Mr. Snelling,' began Robert Morton stiffly, She broke into a teasing laugh. I may not prefer him, but nevertheless I will owe he is the most wonderful specimen of masculinity that my eyes have ever beheld. Remember, Wilton is a small place, pitifully limited in its outlook, and that I have not traveled the wide world

Starting point is 05:13:32 to view the wonders it contains. Hence, Mr. Snelling is to me like the Eiffel Tower, the Matterhorn, the tomb of Napoliton, the tomb of Napoliton, or Fifth Avenue at Easter, something illustrious and novel. He is nothing so fine as any of those, snapped Bob. Oh, I don't know, was the provoking answer. Robert Morton bit his lip and moved toward the door,

Starting point is 05:14:02 but he had not got further than the sill before she whispered, Bob! Resolutely he held his peace. Please be nice, Bob. she cooed ah he was back again but she had retreated behind the tall rocker i suppose she observed hurtling the words over jesabel's sleeping form that your aunt will be heartbroken to miss this party why don't you run upstairs and let her read the note then we can send our regrets when mr snelling goes back to belport this noon obediently the young man sped to do her bidding and soon delight heard his voice calling from the upper hall she won't send her regrets she says she's going i tell her they will ask her another time but she insists she feels lots better and was thinking of getting up anyway she wants to start putting fresh cuffs on her black cashmere this minute and do i don't know what you'd better come up instead

Starting point is 05:15:11 stop her. But Celestina was not to be stopped. Go she would. My shoulders most well, anyhow, she affirmed, and I had planned to go down to supper. Do you think for one minute I'd miss a junket like this? Why, I'd go if it killed me. The Galbraiths are nice folks and have been good to Bob and Willie. Besides, she added with ingratiating candor, i want to see where they live and they're goin to send the automobile for us that great red one imagine it i ain't been in an automobile more than six times in my whole life do you think i'd send my regrets i'd go if i had to be carried on a stretcher delight and robert morton laughed at her enthusiasm now you trot straight downstairs bob went on celestina energetic and right Miss Lee will admire to come, all of us. But Auntini, put in delight,

Starting point is 05:16:20 I'm not going. Somebody must stay here and look after the house. What for, Celestina demanded? The house won't run away, and if thieves was to ransack it from attic to cellar, they'd find nothing worth carrying away. Ridiculous. She says she hasn't anything to wear. where, interrupted Bob.

Starting point is 05:16:44 Delight Hathaway, for shame, said the elder woman, raising a reproving finger. You always look pretty as a picture in anything. Some folks need fine clothes to set them off, but you don't. Don't be silly. Why, half the pleasure of Willie and me would be wiped out if you didn't go, and likely Bob would be disappointed too. You bet I would. well the girl yielded there that's right my dear celestina reached out and patted the slender hand now bob you go along and write your letter commanded she

Starting point is 05:17:27 and delight you bring me up some hot water and fetch my clean print dress from the hall closet i kind of think come to mullet over that there's fresh cuffs on my cashmere already but you might look and see and hadn't we better furbish up my bonnet this afternoon it ain't been touched this season end of chapter fourteen recording by roger maline chapter fifteen of flood tide this libervox recording is in the public domain recording by roger maline flood tide by sarah ware basset chapter fifteen a revelation the morning of the pilgrimage to belport was a hectic one in the gray cottage on the bluff before breakfast celestina began preparations appearing in the kitchen without trace of invalidism and helping delight hurry the housework of the day that the precious hours might be spent in retrimming the hat of black straw which already had done duty four seasons ain't it too vexatious complained the irritated convalescent that i don't wear up nothing. This hat now, it's as good as the day it was bought, despite my having had it so long. I can't in conscience throw it away and get another, much as I'd like to. The trimming was on the front the first summer, don't you remember? Then we tried it on behind a year, and there was

Starting point is 05:19:05 two seasons I wore it trimmed on the side. What are we going to do with it now, delight? I've blacked it up and can see no way for it this time, but to turn it round hindsight before. What do you think?" The amateur milliner shook her head. "'I've a plan,' she smiled mysteriously. "'Don't you worry, Aunt Tini.' "'Oh, I shan't worry, child, if you take it in hand. I know that when you get through with it, it's going to look as if it had come straight out of Miss Gate's store over at the junction. It does beat all what a knack you have for such things. You could make your fortune being a milliner.

Starting point is 05:19:49 I suppose you wouldn't want to face it with red, would you? Willie likes red, and there's a scrap of silk in the trunk under the eaves that could be stretched into a phacin' with some piecein'n. I'm afraid you wouldn't like red, Aunt Tini, the girl replied gently. Maybe I wouldn't, was the prompt. answer. Well, do it as you think best. You never put me into anything yet that weren't becoming, and I reckon I can risk leaving it to you. Wouldn't you rather I helped you clear up the kitchen before I began hat trimming? Mercy, no. Don't waste precious time sweeping up and washing dishes.

Starting point is 05:20:31 I can do that. Like as not, it'll take some of the stiffness out of me. Besides, the work and the millinery ain't the worst ahead of us. There's Willie to get ready. To coax him out of that shop and into his Sunday suit is going to take some maneuvering. I know, because I have to do it once in a while when there's a funeral or something. It's like pulling teeth. There's times when I wish all his jumpers was burned to ashes. And as for his hair, he rumbles it up on end till there's no making it stay down smooth

Starting point is 05:21:06 and spread round like other folks. "'Oh, we mustn't try to dress Willie up too much,' protested delight. "'I like him best just as he is.' "'Maybe you do,' the elder woman grumbled. "'But the Galbraiths ain't going to feel that way. "'Why, what do you suppose they'd think if Willie was to come prancing over there "'for a dish of tea looking as he does at home? "'They'd be scandalized.

Starting point is 05:21:34 "'Besides, ain't you and me going to be dressed up? ain't I got my new hat? Not yet, was the mischievous retort. But I'm going to have... No, sir, if I begin indulging Willie by letting him go all wild to this party in his old clothes, the next time there's a funeral, there'll be no rain in him in. He'll hold it up forever more that he went to the Galbraiths in his jumper.

Starting point is 05:22:01 I know him better than you do. I suppose so. and i'm firmer with him too went on celestina you'd have him clean spoiled i ain't sure but you've spoiled em already past all help during these last ten days did you hear him at breakfast asking me to open his egg he knows perfectly well i never take off the shell all i ever do for him is to put in the butter pepper and salt and i only do that cause he's squislin so to get out in that shop that he ain't a notion whether there's fixings on his egg or not. Let him get one of these ideas on his mind, and it's a wonder he don't eat the egg, shells and all. Poor dear, the girl's face softened.

Starting point is 05:22:53 You pet him too much, said Celestina, accusingly. Don't you pet Willie a little yourself, Aunt Teeny? Tees delight. You know you do. Everybody does. we can't help it people just love him and like to see him happy i know it the woman admitted why there's folks in wilton i could name em right now who would run their legs off for willie look at bob and this mr snellan sweating in that shop like beavers over somethin that ain't ever goin to do em an ounce of good maybe ain't ever going to do anybody no good there's something in him that sort of compels people to stand on their heads for him like that i often try to figure out just what it is she mused then in a brisker tone she asked how's the hat comin beautifully that's good hurry it right along for um planed to have dinner at twelve and get it out of the way but the car isn't coming for us until three o'clock twill take us that time to wash up the dishes and rig willie up not three hours you don't know him we'll have our hands full to head him away from that thing he's makin all i pray is no new scheme catches him

Starting point is 05:24:19 him while he's dressing, for it'll be all day with the party if it does. Fortunately, no such misadventure befell. Willie was corralled, his protest smothered, and he was led placidly away by Bob, to emerge after an interval resigned as a lamb for the slaughter. Even the homespun suit could not wholly banish his native charm, for after it was once on he forgot its existence, and wore it with an ease almost to oblivious. to suit Celestina. Not so she.

Starting point is 05:24:53 On the contrary, she issued from her chamber conscious of every article of finery adorning her plump person. She settled, unsettled, resettled her hat a dozen times, and tried no less than a score of locations for her large cameo pin.

Starting point is 05:25:10 Her freshly washed, lightle gloves had unfortunately shrunk in the drying and refused to go on at the fingertips, and from each digit projected a sharply defined glove end, which kept her busy pushing and pulling most of the afternoon. So occupied was delight with tying Willie's cravat and rearranging the spray of flowers on Celestina's bonnet that she had not a moment to consider her own toilet,

Starting point is 05:25:37 which was hastily made after everything else was done. Yet, as Robert Morton looked at her, he thought that nothing could have graced her more completely than did her simple gown of muslin. There was in the frock a demureness, almost Quaker-like, which, as a foil for her beauty, breathed the very essence of coquetry. What lover could have failed to feel proud of such a treasure?

Starting point is 05:26:04 Nevertheless, Bob had his qualms about the prospective visit. He was not concerned for Willie or Celestina. They were what they were, and anyone of discrimination would recognize their work. nor did he entertain fears for delight or the galbraiths all of them could be relied upon to meet the situation with ease and dignity but cynthia what would be her attitude of late when she had come over in the car with mr snelling she had maintained a distant politeness which would have been amusing had it not been ominous he wondered how she would conduct herself to-day not alone toward him him but toward the girl whom she could not but regard as her rival how much did she guess he speculated of the romance that was taking place in the rose-covered cottage on the bluff and if she had guessed nothing might not snelling leaping at conclusions have gone back to belport there to spread idle gossip of the love story what would howard snelling know of the delicate situation twixt himself and mr galbraith's daughter

Starting point is 05:27:16 and even though no rumours of the affair reached cynthia at all robert morton was old enough to sense the hazard of introducing one woman to another well the risk must be taken there was no escape from it now even as these disquieting imaginings chased themselves through his mind the car stopped before the door and roger galbraith who had come to meet the guests entered at the gate no courtesy that would add to their comfort had been omitted there were rugs and extra wraps and a drive along the shore road had been planned as an added pleasure willie his back actually turned on his beloved workshop was in the seventh heaven what you sittin on the peaked edge of the seat for celestina he asked when once they were in the automobile the thing ain't goin to blow up or break down Let your whole heft sink into the cushions and enjoy yourself. It ain't often you get the chance to go a-ridein.' His joy in the novel experience was as unalloyed and as transparent as a child's. "'My soul!' he ejaculated as the vehicle turned at last into the Broad Avenue leading to the Galbraith Estate.

Starting point is 05:28:37 "'Ain't this a big place? Biggs a hotel and some despair!' even after the introductions had been performed and he had sunk into a wicker chair beside his host with a great pillow behind him to keep him from being swallowed up and lost entirely he abated not a wit of his gladness admiring the flowers the smoothly cut lawns and the ocean view until he radiated good humor on all sides but it was when the tea-wagon was rolled out and placed before madame lee that his interest was not to be curved ain't that cute now he commented his eyes following the unaccustomed sight with alertness the fellow that got a hold of that idea found a good one trundles along like a little baby carriage don't it nothing would satisfy him until he had examined every part of the invention and celestina trembled lest then and there his brain be stimulated to action and he made a bolt for home to complete without delay some sudden scheme the novelty had engendered. However, no such calamity occurred. He drank his tea with satisfaction

Starting point is 05:29:52 and was presently borne off by Mr. Galbraith to inspect a recently purchased barometer. After he had gone, the company broke up into little groups. Mrs. Galbraith and Celestina betook themselves to a shaded corner, there to exchange felicitations on Miss Morton's nephew. roger cynthia and bob perched on the broad piazza rail and discussed the recent boat race and madame lee was left alone with delight robert morton looked in vain for mr snelling but he was nowhere to be seen and presently he learned that that gentleman had taken one of the cars and gone for an afternoon spin to sawyer's falls whether his absence was a contributory cause or not certain it was for the time being at least cynthia lapsed into her customary friendly manner and quite outdid herself in graciousness

Starting point is 05:30:51 bob relaxed his tension the afternoon was moving on with more serenity than he had dared hope and inwardly he began to congratulate himself on the success of it to judge from appearance every one was in the serenest frame of mind willie was beaming into his host's face and both men were laughing immoderately celestina from the snatches of conversation that reached him was relating for mrs galbraith's benefit the symptoms of her her late illness. And Madame Lee was chatting with delight as with an old-time friend. Bob longed to join them, but prudence forbade his leaving Cynthia's side. Moreover, he suspected that tete-a-tete was of the old lady's arranging, and he dared not break in on it. If Madame Lee desired his presence, she was quite capable of commanding it by one of those characteristically imperious waves of her hand. But she did not summon him. Instead, she sat with her keen little eyes fixed on the girl opposite, as if fascinated

Starting point is 05:31:58 by her beauty. Once Bob heard her ask Delight of the Brewsters and caught fragments that indicated they were talking of the child's early life in the village. It was Celestina who at length broke in in the conversation. I guess we must be thinking of going, Delight, don't you? We have a long ride back, you know. delight echoed madame lee repeating the word with surprise a queer name ain't it celestina put in so old-fashioned and uncommon when the child first come here folks couldn't believe but was a pet name her dad had given her but the little thing insisted was what she was christened father said i was named for my mother and my grandmother delight lee There was a gasp from the stately old lady in the chair. With convulsive grasp she caught and held the girl's wrist.

Starting point is 05:33:00 Your father was Ralph Hathaway? Yes, was the wondering reply. How did you know? No answer came. Mother! cried Mrs. Galbraith, coming swiftly to her side and bending over the form crumpled against the pillows. Her face, too.

Starting point is 05:33:21 was pale, and even Mr. Galbraith looked startled. "'Don't take on so, mother,' her daughter whispered. "'Controll yourself if you can. There may be some mistake. It is unlikely that—' "'There is no mistake,' came in a hollow voice from the woman huddled in the chair, who regarded delight with frightened eyes. "'She is my daughter's child, sent by the mercy of heaven that I might make amends before I went down into the grave. Tent silence followed the assertion.

Starting point is 05:33:57 Did your father never tell you anything, my dear, of his marriage? Went on, Madame Lee, in a tone that, although firmer, still trembled. No? Then I can tell you. I, who drove your mother from my house when she refused to wed a man she did not love. Delights great eyes, why. widened with wonder. Yes, went on the elder woman with impetuous haste.

Starting point is 05:34:27 Look at me. I have grown older and wiser since those days. But I was proud when I was young and self-willed and determined to have my way. I had three daughters, Maida, whom you see here, delight and muriel. We lived in Virginia, and my children's beauty was the talk of the county.

Starting point is 05:34:51 myida married richard galbraith a descendant of one of our oldest families and i rejoiced in the alliance for delight my second daughter i chose as husband the son of one of my oldest friends a rich young landholder who although older than she i knew would bring her name and fortune but the girl high-spirited like myself but lacking my ambition would have none of him all unbeknown to any of us she had fallen in love with ralph hathaway a handsome penniless adventurer from the west there was nothing against the man save that he was young headstrong and had his way to make but he balked me in my plans and i hated him for it in vain did i try to break off the match it was useless the pair loved one another devotedly and refused to be separated. Madam Lee ceased speaking for an instant, then went on resolutely. When I say my daughter had all the Lee determination, you will guess the rest. She fled from home, and although I spared no money to trace her, I never saw or heard of her again. The next year, as if in judgment upon me, Muriel, my youngest child, died, and I had but one daughter remaining.

Starting point is 05:36:20 it was then that saddened and chastened by sorrow i regretted my narrowness and injustice and prayed to god for the chance to wipe out my cruelty but my prayers went unanswered and all these years forgiveness has been denied me now i am old but god is merciful he has not let me die with this weight upon my soul she bowed her head on delight's shoulder and wept your mother she whispered when she was able to enunciate the words my mother died in california when i was born then my father took to the sea and carried me with him we sailed until i was ten years old when his ship i know interrupted madame lee gently she gave a long sigh we-we must speak more of this later murmured she i am tired now as she dropped back against the cushions celestina rose softly and motioned the others to follow her but when delight attempted to slip away the hand resting on hers tightened you are not leaving me pleaded the old lady faintly i will come back again answered the girl in a soothing tone when to-morrow if you wish it madame le call me grandmother my child said the woman a smile rare in its peace and beauty breaking over her drawn countenance end of chapter fifteen recording by roger

Starting point is 05:38:08 Chapter 16 of Flood Tide This Librevox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Roger Maline Flood Tide by Sarah Ware Bassett Chapter 16 Another blow descends The ride home from Bellport was a subdued one bringing to an afternoon that had been rich in sunshine, a climax of shadow.

Starting point is 05:38:38 The Galbraiths were far too stunned by the startling revelations of the day to wish to prolong a meeting that had lapsed into awkwardness, and until they had had opportunity to readjust themselves, they were eager to be alone. Nor did their delicacy of perception failed to detect a similar craving in the minds of their guests. Therefore, they did not press their visitors to remain and tactfully arranged that one of the servants, instead of Roger, should drive the Spences back over the harbor road. As the motor purred its way along, there was little conversation. Even had not the chauffeur's presence acted as a restraint, none of the party would have had the heart to make perfunctory conversation.

Starting point is 05:39:23 The tragedy of the moment had touched them too deeply. What a strange, wonderful unraveling of life's tangled skeins had come with the few fleeting hours. Each turned the drama over in his mind, trying to make a reality of it, and spin into the warp and woof of the tapestry time had already woven this thread of new color but so startling was it in hue that it refused to blend standing out against the duller tones of the past with appalling distinctness and never was it more irreconcilable than when the familiar confines of the little fishing hamlet by the sea were reached and those who struggled to harmonize it saw it in contrast with this background of simplicity each silently reconstructed delights life now linking it with its ancestry and its romantic beginnings she had then sprung from aristocratic stock riches had been her right and culture her heritage she had been the single flower of a passionate love and the hot-headed young father to whom she had been bequeathed when bereft of the woman he had adored had taken her with him when he had sought the sea's balm to assuage his sorrow she was all that remained of that tender throbbing memory of his youth where he went she followed all unconscious of peril and with youth's god-given faith

Starting point is 05:40:51 and when the great moment came and the supreme sacrifice was demanded the man voluntarily severed the bonds that bound them leaving her to life while he himself went forth into the beyond what must not that heroic soul have suffered when he cast his child into the ocean's arms and upon the mercies of an unknown future what blind trust led him what unselfishness and courage lay in the choice he made a smaller mind would have followed the easier path and kept them united to the end happy in the thought that in their death they were not divided and that no years stretched ahead when she would be without his protection might he not be performing a kinder act to let her go down into the sea than to entrust her to the charity of strangers he must have wrestled with all these problems and temptations as he stood lashed to the mast out there in the fateful storm. Ah, his confidence in a fatherhood more omniscient than his own had not been misplaced. Loving hands had borne his darling safely through the waves to a home where, in an atmosphere of devotion, the beauty that had been in her from the beginning had perfected in its maturity. Even the homely surroundings of the environment into which she drifted could not stifle her

Starting point is 05:42:16 native fineness of soul. bred up a fisherman's daughter she had lived and moved among plain kindly people whom she had learned to cherish and revere as if they were of her blood and to whom she had endeared herself to a corresponding degree and now what was her future to be was she suddenly to be snatched back into her rightful sphere the ties that linked her with the present snapped asunder and a new world with the myriad opportunities she had until now been denied, placed within her reach? That was the query that agitated the minds of the silent thinkers who sped along the harbor road. Sunset was gilding the water, kissing the sands into rosy warmth and casting glints of vermilion over the low buildings at the mouth of the bay, where windows flashed forth a flaming reflection of fire. The piece of approaching twilight brooded over the village. Little boats like homing-dubs.

Starting point is 05:43:17 came flying across the vast expanse of waves, their sails a splendor of copper in the fading light. With the hush of night the breeze died into stillness until scarce a leaf of the weather-beaten poplars stirred. From the tangle of roses, sweet fern and bavery that overgrew the fields, the note of a thrush rose clear on the quiet air. A whirling bevy of gull circled the bar, left naked and opalescent by the receding tide.

Starting point is 05:43:50 Peace was everywhere, divine peace, save in the breasts of those who gazed only to find a mockery in the surrounding tranquility. Robert Morton's face was stern in meditation. How was this mighty transformation in delight's fortunes to affect the hopes he fostered? To wed the daughter of a humble fisherman was a different matter from offering a penniless future to the the granddaughter of the stately Madame Lee.

Starting point is 05:44:19 Even when the possibility of marriage with Cynthia had loomed in his path, his pride had rebelled at the financial inequality of the match. He did not wish to be patronized, to come empty-handed to a princess whose hands were full. The thought had been a galling one, and now, once again, he was in a similar position. Of course, Madame Lee and the Galbraiths would desire to make good, the past. He knew them well enough for that. Delight would be elevated to the same plane with Cynthia, and he would be faced with the old irritating inferiority of fortune. Moreover, in her recently acquired station, the lady of his dreams might scorn such a humble suitor. Who could tell?

Starting point is 05:45:08 Wealth worked great changes in individuals sometimes, and at best human nature was a frail, assailable, and incalculable factor. Furthermore, the girl had never pledged him her love. There had been no spoken word between them. The vision that had made a utopia of his world had been, he reflected, of his own creating. He glanced at delight, but she did not meet his eye. Her gaze was vacantly following the rapidly shifting landscape.

Starting point is 05:45:41 Although the glory from the sky shone on her face, The radiance that glowed there came only from without, and was the result of no inward exultation. Even the gray cottage had assumed a false splendor in the rosy twilight, and was lighted with a beauty not its own. When the car stopped, Willie clambered stiffly out, and he and Bob helped the women to alight. Then the motor rolled away, and they were alone.

Starting point is 05:46:12 Well, burst out, Celestina, her friend. pent-up feeling taking vent. Did you ever know of such a to-do? I've been stifling to talk all the way home. Why, you're going to be rich, delight. You'll be aunts and uncles and cousins with them galbraiths. Picture it. Likely they'll take you to New York with them, and to goodness knows where.

Starting point is 05:46:36 The girl did not answer, but moved to Willie's side and slipped her hand into his, as if certain of his understanding and sympathy. You don't seem much set up by your good luck, went on the breathless celestinum. Delights kind of bowled over by surprise, Teney, Willie explained gently. It's took all our breaths away, I guess. Tenderly he pressed the trembling fingers that clung to his. You ain't got to worry about it, dearie, whispered he in a caressing tone. No power can make you do anything.

Starting point is 05:47:15 you don't choose to, and what's more, nobody'll want to force you into what won't be for your happiness. "'I shall never leave Zinus Henry,' Delight said with determination. "'And nobody'll urge you to, dear heart. Don't fret, child, don't fret. Tomorrow we'll straighten this snarl all out, until then you've got nothing to fear. "'Them as love you shall stay by. I give you my word on it.' hadn't i better go home to-night and tell them the old inventor considered a moment i don't believe i would he answered at last they ain't expecting you and if you was to go lookin so white and frightened as you do now twould anger zenis henry and upset em all wait and see what happens to-morrow twill be time enough then you're tired sweetheart stay here and rest

Starting point is 05:48:16 tonight. What do you say, Bob? I think it would be much wiser. "'Course it would,' nodded Willie. "'You stay right here, like as if nothing had happened, and think calmly about it a little wild, child. You ain't got to decide a thing at present. Furthermore, there may not be anything for you to decide. We've no way of figuring what your relations mean to do. Just try to them a bit they're bob's friends and i guess we can count on him to act as is fair and right they are bob's friends aren't they repeated the girl her face brightening as if the fact hitherto forgotten gave her confidence and splendidly loyal friends too the young man put in eagerly then i will trust them she said it ain't as if they were strangers how robert morton longed to go to her to tell her in her sweet dependence how eager he was for the day when no friend of his should be a stranger to her

Starting point is 05:49:27 when their lives would be so closely intertwined that every interest every hope every thought of his should be hers also perhaps the unuttered wish that trembled on his lips was reflected in his eyes for after looking up at him she suddenly dropped her lashes and turning away followed teenie into the house i've cautioned celestina not to go talking to her any more just now announced the little old man when she had gone your aunt's an awful good woman no better lives but there's times like to-day when things don't strike her as they do me in delight she's so fond of the girl that her first thought would be for the money and all that but that would be the last consideration in the world in delight's mind she's awful loyal and affectionate things go deep with her and she sets a heap of store by the folks she cares for why zenis henry is like her own father since she was a wee tot she ain't known no other while this old lady her grandmother what is she why she don't mean nothin not a thing they walked on toward the shop door each occupied with his own reveries then suddenly willie roused himself why if here ain't genoa he exclaimed what you doin jan was you after something i reckon you found the place pretty well deserted and were wondering what had become of us all i warn't doin no wanderin willie spence the man replied i knowed where you'd gone cause i saw you riding away like a sheet being led to the sacrifice like a what repeated the inventor with a grin

Starting point is 05:51:26 an innocent lamb or a rat in a trap genoa said with solemn emphasis what are you driving at anyhow questioned willie you didn't suspect nothing suspect anything no of course not why you hadn't a suspicion the whole thing was a decoy what whole thing the trip and all willie studied his friend's face in puzzled silence whatever are you trying to say demanded he at last genoa swept his hand dramatically round the shop you've been betrayed willie he announced with tragic intensity betrayed by them as you thought was your friends and who you've trusted. I warned you, but you wouldn't listen, and now the thing I told you what happened has happened. Triumphant pleasure gleaned in the sinister smile. They tricked you into leaving, went on the malicious voice,

Starting point is 05:52:36 and then they came here and stole what was yours, your invention. I caught him doing it. I hid outside and overheard him tell how, they'd been waiting days for the chance when everybody should be gone. "'Twas that Snelling, and another like him, a draftsman. "'They laughed and said that now the old man was out of the way, "'they could do as they pleased. "'Then they took all the measurements of your invention,

Starting point is 05:53:03 "'made some sketches, and took its picture.' Willie listened, open-mouthed. "'You must be crazy, Genoa,' he slowly observed. I ain't crazy, Genoa replied, with stinging sharpness. The whole thing was just as I say. It was part of a plot that Snellan and Galbraith have been planning all along. And either they've used this young fellow here, he motioned toward Robert Morton, as a tool or else he's in it with him.

Starting point is 05:53:38 Bob started forward, but Willie's hand was on his arm. Gently, son. he murmured then addressing genoa he asked and what earthly use could mr galbraith have for cause he sees money in it was the prompt response a thrill of uneasiness passed through robert morton's frame had not those very words been spoken both by the capitalist and howard snelling they had uttered them as a laughing prediction but might they not have rated them as true with sudden chagrin he looked from willie to genoa and from genoa back to willie again i've been inquiring up this galbraith went on genoa it appears he's a big new york shipbuilder that's what he is and snellan is one of his head men if the mischief-maker derived pleasure from dealing out the fruit of his investigations he certainly reaped it now for he was rewarded by seeing an electrical shock stiffen willie's figure it ain't true cried the little inventor it ain't true is it bob robert morton's eyes fell before his piercing scrutiny yes was his reluctant answer you knew it all along yes and snellan he is in mr galbraith's employ yes and-and you let him come here began the old man bewildered

Starting point is 05:55:21 you let him come here to steal willy's idea interrupted genoa wheeling on bob you helped him to come after his taking you into his home all. I didn't know what they meant to do, Robert Morton stammered. I just thought they were going to lend us a hand at working up the thing. A likely story, sniffed Genoa with scorn. No, sirree. You came here as a tool. You were paid for it. I'll bet a hat. You lie. Prove it, was the taunting response. I can't prove it, confessed the young man wretchedly. But Willie knows that what you accuse me of isn't so. With face alight with hope, he turned toward the old man at his elbow. But no denial came from the expected source.

Starting point is 05:56:20 Willie had sunk down on a pile of boards and buried his face in his hands. And I thought they were my friends, they heard him moan. robert morton hesitated then bent over the bowed figure and as he did so genoa casting one last look of gloating delight at the ruin he had wrought slipped softly from the room as he went out he heard a broken murmur from the inventor i'll-i'll not believe it asserted he feebly but despite the brave words the seed of suspicion had taken root and Robert Morton knew that Willie's confidence in him had been shaken. Still, the little old man clung with dogged persistence to his sanguine declaration, I'll not believe it. End of Chapter 16.

Starting point is 05:57:19 Recording by Roger Maline Chapter 17 of Flood Tide This Librevox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Roger Maline Flood Tide by Sarah Ware Bass Chapter 17 A grim hand intervenes The next morning saw a grave change in the household on the bluff.

Starting point is 05:57:49 Delight, with violet circled eyes and cheeks whose rose tints had faded to pallor, listened with dread for the sound of the Galbraith's motor. What the day would bring forth, she feared to speculate. Willie and Bob also showed traces of a sleepless night. Although they had guarded from the others the happenings of the previous evening, between them loomed a barrier of mutual amazement and reproach. Beneath his attempted optimism, Willie was wounded and indignant that he should have been deceived by those in whose kindness he had believed so wholeheartedly.

Starting point is 05:58:29 He fought the facts with loyalty, obstinately trusting that some satisfactory explanation would be forthcoming, but he did not understand, and the dumb question that spoke in his eyes hurt Robert Morton more than any formulated reproach could have done. It was human, the young man owned, that the inventor should resent having been tricked. He himself, throughout the weary watches of the night, had twisted and turned Genoa's damning testimony, struggling to explain it away by some simple and harmless interpretation. yet he was compelled to admit that the facts pointed in but one direction.

Starting point is 05:59:11 And if he was baffled in his search for a way out, how much more so must will he be? Why, he would be almost superhuman if he did not surrender his faith before such convincing evidence? To the grief he experienced at forfeiting the little old man's trust, Robert Morton was also compelled to add the bitterness of discovering that those whose friendship was dearest to him, had betrayed it, and used him as a stool pigeon, and a contemptible plot that he would have scorned to further had he been cognizant of it. He wondered, as he turned restlessly in his pillow, whether it was Mr. Galbraith, with whom the duplicity originated, or whether the conspiracy of yesterday was one of Snellings

Starting point is 05:59:57 hatching. Was it not possible the employee desired the invention for his own profit? that, to be sure, would be calamity enough, but it would at least clear Mr. Galbraith of theft and reinstate him in the young man's confidence. If only that could be the answer to the riddle, how thankful he would be. Well, until he could be brought face to face with the capitalist,

Starting point is 06:00:24 it was futile to attempt to unravel the enigma. How he longed in his bewilderment for the sympathy and counsel of a fresh perspective but on tini's discretion he could place no reliance and even had he been able to do so everything within him shrank from the disloyalty of voicing evil against his friends until he had proof delight was also an impossible confidant because of her recently discovered relationship to the galbraith family to breathe a word which might at this delicate juncture prejudice her against her new relatives would be contemptible No, there was nothing to be done but be patient and maintain in the meantime as close as semblance to a normal attitude as was possible. Fortunately, the silence that settled down upon the silvered cottage

Starting point is 06:01:17 caused no surprise to any of its occupants. Having been warned not to chatter, Celestina observed a welcome quietness perfectly understood. Nor was it strange that, in view of the shock delight had received, she should be more thoughtful than usual nobody commented either on willie's abandonment of his inventing or gave heed that he and robert morton spoke little together how could the galbraiths bob's best friends be discussed in his presence there was abundant explanation therefore why a strained atmosphere should prevail and pass unnoticed without either celestina or delight suspecting that its cause was other than the disclosures made by Madame Lee on the previous afternoon. Nevertheless, eager as was each of the household to have speculation satisfied,

Starting point is 06:02:13 and the future with whatever it might contain unfold, there was a simultaneous start of apprehension when the Galbraith's familiar red car stopped at the gate of the cottage. From it alighted neither Mr. Snelling nor any member of the family, but instead the chauffeur gravely delivered to Robert Morton a hastily scrawled note written in Mr. Galbraith's spreading hand. Marvelling a little that it was he to whom the communication should be addressed, the young man broke the seal of the letter.

Starting point is 06:02:48 Madam Lee, he read, weary with excitement, had retired almost immediately after their departure, the maid attending her having left her sleeping like a tired child, but when they had gone to arouse her in the morning it had been only to find that she had passed quietly away in her sleep without struggle or suffering snelling had gone over to new york to make the necessary funeral arrangements and the family were to follow the next day there was nothing bob could do but if he in delight wished to accompany them mrs galbraith would be glad to have them madame lee had been devoted to bob and it was delight's unchallenged right to share in the final obsequies to her grandmother awed and in a low voice robert morton read the communication aloud i shall go of course he said with a catch in his voice madame lee was very dear to me had she been of my own people i could not have cared for her more deeply and i what shall i do questioned delight the appeal was to bob and the sense of dependence vibrating in it thrilled him with tender gladness

Starting point is 06:04:08 i suppose he answered gently it would make your grandmother happy to know you were there wouldn't it be a token of forgiveness what do you think willie the girl asked i agree with bob that you should go my dear the old man replied somehow it seems as if your grandmother would rest the sweeter for feeling you were near by and anyhow it's a mark of respect to the dead you're bound to show that no matter how you feel i'm pretty sure that if you and your grandmother had had the chance to get better acquainted you would have loved one another dearly it was only that it all came too late for you to feel toward her the same as bob does perhaps delight returned with half-dazed seriousness so it was decided the two young persons would go with the galbraiths to new york and the next day they joined the belport family and followed the body to the fine stately old southern woman to its finely resting-place there were no outside friends among the small group of mourners and the two days of constant and intimate companionship drew them together with a closeness very vital in its results delight was received into the circle with a tact and affection that not only put her at her ease but won her heart and robert morton as madame lee's favorite was as much a part of the family as if he had been borne into it for the time being the common grief banished from his mind every other thought and once again he and his old-time friends met without a shadow of distrust between them

Starting point is 06:05:58 even cynthia was in her most appealing mood casting all caprice and artificiality aside and centering most of her attention on her newly acquired cousin the silent benediction of peace the present of the dead brought brooded over them all and it was with no perfunctory tenderness that delight bent and gently kissed her grandmother's cold forehead. Then came the journey back to Bellport, and, as Mr. Galbraith, Roger, and Howard Snelling were all detained in New York, it was Bob who brought the party home. In the meantime, no opportunity had presented itself for broaching to the financier the subject of Willie's invention. The interval during the funeral rights was too inopportune, and Robert Morton had lacked both the inclination and the courage to break in upon such an occasion with an affair so sordid and unpleasant.

Starting point is 06:06:58 He had hoped that during the return to the Cape, some chance for a talk with the capitalist would be afforded him, but now there was no help for it but to go back to Willie Spences, with the weight still heavy on his heart. mr galbraith he learned would have to remain in the city two weeks or more and an important business deal would keep mr snelling at the long island plant indefinitely hence for the present there was not a possibility of clearing up the mystery it was however significant that snelling evidently considered his part of the work done and if genoa's accusations were founded on fact as they appeared to be it was a significant that snelling evidently considered his part of the work done and if genoa's accusations were founded on fact as they appeared to be it was not surprising that he seized upon the confusion of the present as a fortunate cover for his exit from Wilton. The more Robert Morton pondered on the train of events, the less willing he became

Starting point is 06:07:55 to connect Mr. Galbraith with the purloining of Willie's idea. The financier had intended to do precisely what he had specified, lend a friendly hand to the old man's scheme. It was Snelling, who had seen in the circumstance something too present. promising to let pass, and who, without his employer's knowledge, had made bold to secure the device for his personal profit. In the meanwhile, ignorant that Robert Morton was cognizant of his cupidity, he was as debonair as if he had nothing on his conscience. He made himself useful in every possible direction, and on parting from Bob at the train

Starting point is 06:08:38 declared he should look forward with the greatest anticipation to their future business association together how the young man longed to confront the knave with his crime it seemed almost imperative that before the mischief proceeded farther steps should be taken to stop it but what proofs had he to present no a middle course was the only thing possible bob decided he must return to willie's roof with the atmosphere uncleared and finish the little that still remained to be done on the invention as if no shadow clouded his sky he could not leave willie in the lurch furthermore it was out of the question for him to depart from wilton until he had come to an understanding with delight hathaway the intimacy of the past week with its lights and shadows had only served to render stronger the bonds that bound him to her in every issue the network of strange events had developed her character and displayed facets of such unsuspected force and splendor that where beauty had at first fascinated it was now the soul behind it that called to him truly madame lee had in this grandchild a worthy descendant and it brought an added joy to his heart to thus link together the two beings he loved most deeply therefore he made the journey back to wilton bravely resolved to bear genoa's taunts and willie's silent reproaches until the moment came when he could acquaint mr galbraith with snelling's perfidy to see the injustice righted

Starting point is 06:10:22 it was not an enviable position the one in which he stood he felt it to be only human that in the face of this acid test the old inventor's affection and allegiance toward him should waver and that genoa would detect and rejoice in its unsteadiness but as bob relied upon ultimately solving the conundrum he felt he could endure a short interval of unmerited distrust it was in delftiness it was in delight and teenie who were unconscious of any false note in his relation to the household that he placed his hopes for aid hence it was with no small degree of consternation that on reaching wilton he learned that the girl had resolved now to return to her own home i have been here over two weeks already she said to bob and i really am needed by my own family they miss me dreadfully when i am gone zenis henry goes down like a plummet abby says and then i have so much to tell them besides now that auntiney is well again there is no use in my remaining there is a great deal of use in it for me asserted the young man moodily nonsense you and willie have your work and in a day or two you will be so buried in it you won't know whether i am here or not delight a warning echo in the word and a quick forward movement caused her to add hurriedly and-and anyway you can come up to our house and see me there you will like the three captains and abbey you simply can't help it they are dears

Starting point is 06:12:10 and you will worship zenis henry at least you will if he is i mean sometimes he doesn't well you know how older men feel when younger ones appear he is very devoted to me and he is always afraid but i am sure he will understand and that you and he will get on beautifully together she concluded with scarlet cheeks the clumsy explanation had a dubious ring and bob frowned you see your being aunt teenie's nephew will help some he likes her very much and of course any friend of willie's and-and of mine with every word the formidable zenis henry increased in formidableness she saw the scowl deepened you will come and see me won't you she pleaded timidly i should be sorry if robert morton caught the slender hand and held it firmly i'll come were there a thousand zenis henry's that's nice she answered with a nervous laugh there won't be a thousand though there never can be but one as good and as dear as he is only remember you mustn't come right away i shall have a great deal to tell them at home and it won't be easy for zenis henry to face the fact that the galbraiths have any claims on me it has always been his pride that i had no relatives and belonged entirely to him and i do you know she went on quickly nothing on earth shall take me from zenis henry i worried a good deal lest madame leigh lest my grandmother should insist that i spend part of my time with her

Starting point is 06:14:03 but that is all settled now i can keep up my friendship with the galbraith family by calls and short visits and everything will go on as before i don't want anything changed the young man saw her draw in her chin proudly of course i have forgiven my grandmother she went on but i never can forget that she made my mother's life unhappy and that she was unkind to my father so i never wish to accept any favors from any of them but the galbraiths are not to blame for the past ventured bob his loyalty instantly in arms no but they are lees your grandmother was sorry bitterly sorry urged the young man in a persuasive tone it was probably her regret that caused her death the girl nodded sadly i know she said i realize she lived to regret what she had done i am not blaming her but for all that she can never mean to me what she might have meant rather i shall always think of her as a handsome stately old lady who was your friend and loved you she turned to leave him but he refused to let her go delight he cried drawing her closer will your grandmother be dearer to you because she loved me tell me sweetheart do i mean anything in your life you are the only thing that matters in mine Radiance flash into her wonderful eyes, and in another instant her head was against his breast.

Starting point is 06:15:52 It is only because of you, Bob, she whispered, clinging to him, that I can forgive the Lees at all. End of Chapter 17. Recording by Roger Maline. Chapter 18 of Flood Tide. This Lubrovoc's recording is in the public domain. Recording by Roger Maline. Flood Tide. by Sarah Ware Bassett Chapter 18

Starting point is 06:16:23 The Progress of Another Romance The ecstasy that came to Robert Morton with his newfound happiness swept before it the clouds that had overcast his sky until his horizon was almost as radiant as it had been on the day of his arrival at Wilton. Genoa Eldridge came no more to the Spence Cottage. Snelling had vanished.

Starting point is 06:16:49 The Galbraiths were occupied with, with their own affairs, and the barrier between Bob and Willie began slowly to wear away. The little old man was of far too believing and charitable a nature, to hold out long against his own optimism. Moreover, he detested strife, and was much more willing to endure a wrong than to harbor ill feeling. Hence, he was only too ready to reconstruct Genoa's venomous story into terms of his native blind faith. He did not, to be sure, understand, and for days and nights he puzzled

Starting point is 06:17:27 ceaselessly over the problem, events presented. But as no light was forthcoming, his zest in the enigma cooled, until the mystery took on the unfathomable quality of various other mysteries he had wrestled with, and finally shelved as unanswerable. There was the invention to finish, and so eager was he to see it completed that to this interest every other thought was subordinated therefore although misgivings assailed him they gradually receded into his subconsciousness leaving behind them much of the good will he had formerly cherished toward robert morton the olive branch willie tacitly extended bob seized with avidity had not the world suddenly become too perfect to be marred by discord Why, in the exuberance of his joy, he would have forgiven anybody anything. He did own to bruised feelings, but time is a great healer of both mental and of physical pain, and the hurts he had received soon dimmed into scars that carried with them no acute sensation.

Starting point is 06:18:37 His mind was too much occupied with Delight Hathaway, and the wonder of their love, for him to think to any great extent of himself. The romance still remained a secret between them, for so vehement had been the turmoil into which Zinus Henry had been thrown by the tidings of the girl's past history that it seemed unwise to follow blow with blow and acquaint him just at present with the news of the lover's engagement. Moreover, there was Cynthia Galbraith to consider. Robert Morton was too chivalrous to be brutal to any woman, much less an old friend like Cynthia, hence he and delight moved in a dream the full beauty of which they alone sensed their secret was all the more delicious for being a secret and with all life before them they agreed they could afford to wait

Starting point is 06:19:29 nevertheless concealment was at variance with the character of either and although they derived a certain exhilaration from their clandestine happiness they longed for the time when their path should lie entirely in the open when zenis henry's consent should be obtained and their betrothal acknowledged before all the world until such a moment came an irksome deception coloured their love and left them in constant danger of discovery indeed had the observer been keen enough to interpret psychic phenomena there was betrayal in the soft light of delight's eyes and in the grave tenderness of her face and as for bob he felt his great good fortune must be emblazoned on every feature of his countenance in point of fact no such condition prevailed the girl returned to her home and took her place there bringing with her her customary buoyancy of spirit and if her light-heartedness was more exaggerated than was her want those who loved her attributed it to her joy at being once more beneath her own roof-tree zenis henry and the three captains fluttered about her as if her absence had been one of years rather than of days and even abbey less demonstrative than the others showed by a quiet satisfaction her deep contentment at having the girl back again of course robert morton let no great length of time elapse before he climbed the hill and invaded the brewster home as celestina's nephew and willie's guest he had credentials enough to assure him of a welcome and for an interval these sufficed to give him an enviable entree but after a few calls his winning personality secured for him a place of his own he inspected captain phineas taylor's broken compass and set it right

Starting point is 06:21:31 he discussed rheumatism and its woes with captain benjamin todd he lent an attentive ear to the nautical adventures of captain jonas baker abbey who was a systematic housekeeper approved of his habit of wiping his feet before he entered the door and the careful fashion he had of replacing any chair he moved most men she averred were so thoughtless and untidy but it was with zenis henry that the young man won his greatest triumph the two immediately coming into harmony on the common ground of motor boating most of the male visitors who dropped in at the white cottage came only to see delight but here was one who came to call on the entire family how charming it was they liked him one and all how could they help it and soon so eagerly did they anticipate his coming and he laps in his visits caused keen disappointment i kinder thought that morton feller might be round this evening captain phineas would yawn in a dispirited tone when twilight had deepened and the familiar figure failed to make its appearance above the crest of the hill ain't it tuesday he most always comes tuesdays tuesdays thursdays and saturdays you can pretty mortal sure bank on him, Captain Benjamin would reply. If he's coming tonight, he better be heaving into sight, for it's damp, and I'll have to be

Starting point is 06:23:06 turning in soon. Maybe he was delayed by something, suggested Captain Jonas. We'll not give him up for a spell longer. He told me he'd fetch me some tobacco, and he always does as he promises. Zenas Henry smoked in silence. i sort o wish he would appear he presently put in between puffs at his pipe there was something i wanted to ask him about that darn motor boat you don't mean to say that boat's out of order again do you zinus henry questioned abby no oh no tain't out of order exactly but the pesky propeller is kicking up worse and ordinary it's awful taxing on the patience i'd give a man everything I possess if he'd think up some plan to rid me of that eel grass.

Starting point is 06:24:01 Why don't you set Willie on the job? asked Captain Benjamin. Ain't I told Willie over and over again about it? Zenas Henry replied, turning with exasperation on the speaker. Ain't I hinted to him plain as day, thrown the bait to him times without number? And ain't he just swum around the hook and gone off without so much as nibbling it? the thing don't interest him it's easy enough to see that he don't like motor boats and ain't got no sympathy with em and he don't give a hang if they do come to grief in fact i think he rather relishes herein their snagged i gave up expecting any help from him long ago with a frown he resumed his smoking where's delight captain phineas asked scenting his friend's mood and veering to a less irritating topic.

Starting point is 06:24:59 "'That so. Where is the child?' rejoined Captain Jonas. "'She was round here fussing with them roses a minute ago. "'That ain't her over toward the Pine Grove, is it?' queried Captain Benjamin. "'I thought I saw something pink a-moving among the trees.' "'Yes, that's her and Bob Morton with her. Sure you're alive,' Captain Phineas ejaculated with pleasure. You'll get your tobacco now, Jonas, and Zinus Henry can ask him about the boat.

Starting point is 06:25:34 Can you see? Has he got a bundle? Pipeed the short-sighted Captain Jonas anxiously. Yep. Then he ain't forgot the tobacco, was the contented comment. He don't generally forget. He's a mighty likely youngster, that boy. And friendly, too, ain't he? Put in Captain Benjamin.

Starting point is 06:25:56 There's nothing he wouldn't do for you. He's the nicest chap ever I see, Captain Phineas echoed. Don't you think so, Zinus Henry? The answer was some time in coming, and when it did, it was deliberate and was weighted with telling impressiveness. There's few young fry can boast Bob Morton's common sense, he said. His headpiece is on front side, too, and the brains inside it are ticking strong and steady.

Starting point is 06:26:29 Abby failed to join in the laugh that followed this announcement. Either she did not catch the remark, or she was too deeply engrossed with her own thoughts to heed it. Her eyes were fixed wistfully on the two figures that were approaching, the girl, exquisite with youth and happiness, and the man who leaned protectingly over her. Yet whatever the reveries that clouded her pensive face, she kept them to herself.

Starting point is 06:26:56 and if a shadow of dread mingled with her scrutiny no one noticed it perhaps it was only willie spence who actually guessed the great secret willie who having been starved for romance of his own was all the quicker to hear the heart-throbs of others it chanced that just now he was deeply involved in several amorous affairs and because of them was experiencing no small degree of worry the tangle between bob delight and cynthia galbraith kept him in a state of constant speculation and disquietude then bart coffin and many were perilously near a rupture because of another rejuvenation of the time-honored black satin and although weeks had passed jack nickerson had not yet mustered up enough nerve to offer his heart and hand to sarah liby lewis next you know both you and sarah liby will be be under the sod. Willie had tauntingly called after the lagging swain as he passed the house one afternoon on his way from the village. What on earth you're waiting for is more than I can see? The discomfited Coast Guard hung his head sheepishly. It's all right for you to talk, Willie Spence, he replied over his shoulder. You ain't got the

Starting point is 06:28:17 speaking to do. It's I that's got to ask her. Then, as he said, he said, he said, he. Then, as he sped out of sight, he added as an afterthought. By the way, Bart and Minnie Coffin have come to a split at last over that there dress. After getting it fixed, and promising him twas for the last time, she's ripped it all up again, because she's seen some picture in a book she liked better. Bart's that mad he took his sea-chest in the wheelbarrow and set out for his mother's. I met him going just now. Bless my soul!

Starting point is 06:28:53 gasped Willie in consternation. How far had he got? He was about quarter away to the junction, was the response. He sung out, he was headed where he'd be sure of getting three meals a day, and where somebody had pay some attention to him. Hmm, Willie reflected, scratching his thin locks. Sort of looks as if it was time I took a hand, don't it? I figure if anybody's going to interfere, now's the,

Starting point is 06:29:23 the minute barts got his sail set and is clear in port for good and all this time no mistake twas sure to come sooner or later their roads parted and willie turned toward the town while jack nickerson with rolling gate pursued his way to the beach where at the tip of a slender bar of sand jetting out into the ocean the low roofs of the life-saving station lay outlined against a somber sky great banks of leaden clouds sagging over the horizon had dulled the water to blackness and a stiff gale was whistling in shore already the billows were mounting angrily into caps of snarling foam and dashing themselves on the sands with threatening echo it promised to be a nasty night and jack remembered as he looked that he was on patrol duty yet although the muscles of his jaw tightened into grimness it was not the prospective tramp along the lonely beach in the darkness and wind that caused the stern intensity of his countenance storms and their perils were all in the day's work and he faced their possible catastrophes without a tremor it would have been hard to find anywhere along the massachusetts coast a braver man than jack nickerson not only was he ready to lead a crew of rescuers to succor the perishing fearlessly directing the surf-boats in its plunge through a seething tide but many a time he had dashed bodily into the breakers despite the hazard of a powerful undertow and dragged some drowning creature to a place of safety the fame of his many deeds of heroism had spread from one end of the cape to the other and as he was native-born the community never tired of relating his feats to any sojourner who strayed into the locality yet courageous as was jack nickerson there was one thing he was afraid of and that was a woman

Starting point is 06:31:25 not that he trembled in the presence of all women no indeed he had brought far too many of them to land for that women as a class did not appal him in the least he had seen them in the agony of terror in the throes of despair and undismayed had offered them sympathy and cheer it was one woman only who disconcerted him the woman who for years had routed him out of his habitual poise and left him as discompeted as a guilty schoolboy caught in raiding the jam-pot yes he who inspired his associates with both respect and admiration was forced to acknowledge to himself that when face to face with sarah liby lewis he was nothing better than a faltering ten-year-old whose collar is too tight for him and whose hands and feet are sizes too large the paradox was too humiliating to be endured nevertheless he had endured the ignominy of it for five and twenty years and there seemed to be every prospect that he would continue to endure it periodically it is true he would rise in his wrath resolving that another son should not go down on his vacillation and timidity nay more he would even stride forth to sarah liby's home vowing as he went that before he slept he would speak the decisive words that had for so long trembled on his tongue confronted by the lady of his choice however his courage like that of the immortal bob acres would ooze away and after basking for a wretched interval in the glory of her smile he would retrace his steps with the declaration still unuttered

Starting point is 06:33:15 as far back as jack could remember this woman had tyrannized over him and humbled his self-esteem in childhood she had levelled with a blow the sand castles he built on the beach for her delight and ever since she had contrived to raise to the ground his less tangible castles dream castles where he saw her the mistress of his lonely fireside yet despite her exasperating capriciousness jack had never wavered in his allegiance not a wit long ago he had made up his mind that sarah liby was the one woman in the world for him and he had never seen cause to alter that verdict nor did he entertain any doubt that sarah liby's sentiments coincided with his own even though even though he had never seen cause to alter that verdict nor did he entertain any doubt that sarah liby's sentiments coincided with his own even though even though she did not cloak her preference beneath so many intricate and misleading devices of femininity it was not fear of the thundering no that hindered jack from proclaiming his affection it was merely the physical impossibility of putting his heart into intelligible and coherent phraseology when sarah liby's bewitching gaze was upon him he could meet all comers in a political argument could hold his own against the banter of the village gossips he could even defy willy and his counsel but to address sarah liby on a matter so tender and of such vital import was an ordeal so overwhelming that it caused his tongue to cleave to the roof of his mouth, and his pulse almost to cease to beat. Unlucky Jack!

Starting point is 06:34:56 Many were the evenings he tramped the dunes, rehearsing in the darkness the momentous declaration that was to work a miracle in his solitary life. Like an actor committing his lines, he would repeat the words, hurling them upon the blackness of the night, where, to the accompaniment of the booming surf, they echoed with a majesty and day. dignity astonishingly impressive but in the light of day and sarah liby's presence his sonorous philippic would dwindle away into a jargon of garbled phrases too disjointed and meaningless to carry weight with any woman let alone the peerless sarah liby lewis thus for more than a quarter of a century jack nickerson had silently worshipped at the shrine of his divinity and in the meantime the roses in sarah liby's cheeks had grown fainter and tendrils of silver had found their way into the soft curls that shadowed her brow still jack could not speak the words that were on his lips of course the little woman could not do it for him although she did venture by many a subtle device to aid him in his dilemma. She baked for him pies, cookies, and donuts, of a delicious russet tint,

Starting point is 06:36:14 and sent them to the station, that their aroma might gently prod into action her lover's faintness of heart. These visible tokens of her devotion would disappear, however, leaving behind them only a tranquil sense of enjoyment, and as this lessened the fervor of her admirer's determination would evaporate. then Sarah Libby would resort to less ephemeral offerings, scarves, wristers, mittens, patiently knitted from blue wool, and representing such an endless number of stitches that Jack never viewed them without elation. And as if these proofs of her regard were not sufficient,

Starting point is 06:36:55 every evening just at sundown she would light a lantern and flash a good night to him across the waters that estranged them. it was a pretty custom that had had its beginning when the boy and girl had lived as neighbors on the deserted highway that followed the horseshoe curve of the belport shore they had evolved a code whereby with much labor it must be admitted they were able to spell out messages that flickered their way through the night with the beauty of a firefly's revel but when jack had taken up work with the coast guard this old-time substitute for speech had been a abandoned, giving place to the briefer method of three nightly flashes. Neither toil nor illness, rain, snow, or tempest had in all the years prevented Sarah Libby from being at her post at twilight, there to watch for the gleam of Jack's lantern,

Starting point is 06:37:50 whose rays she answered with the light from her own. Even when fogs obscured the bar so that the distant headland was cut off from view, Sarah Libby would go through the little ceremony, and after it was over, returned to her knitting with a quiet gladness, although the presence of the other factor in the drama was a mere matter of conjecture. Thus the romance had drifted on, and Jack Nickerson now faced his 50th year, and was no nearer of bringing the love story to a culmination than he had been when, as a boy in his teens, he had gazed into Sarah Libby's blue eyes and registered the varescent. vows he had never yet dared utter. Nevertheless, lonely and disappointed as was Sarah Libby,

Starting point is 06:38:38 Jack was a thousand times more miserable. Tonight, especially, as he tramped the coast in the teeth of the gale, he thought of Willie Spence's ridicule, and one of his periodic moods of self-abasement came upon him. What a wretched cur he was! How lacking in nerve! Any woman, he muttered, himself was better off without such a feeble-willed spineless husband the fierce winds and whirling sands that stung his cheeks and buffeted him seemed a merited castigation a castigation that amounted to a penance he welcomed their punishment as he stumbled on through the pitch black of the night he asked himself what he was going to do was he always to go on loving sarah liby and letting her love him and never in manly fashion bring the affair to a climax if he did not mean to make her his wife had he the right to stand in the way and prevent her from marrying someone else the baldness of the question brought him up with a turn and as he paused breathlessly awaiting his own verdict his eye was caught by the lantern dangling from his hand he regarded it with slow wonder as if he had never seen it before why had he never thought until now of this method of communication not only was it simple and direct but it also obviated the difficulty that had always been the stumbling-block in his path the necessity of confronting sarah liby in the flesh

Starting point is 06:40:16 he grasped the inspiration with zeal fate was with him his watch was up and he was free to make his way back to the station if he so willed and put his remarkable scheme into execution. Away he sped through the howling tempest. As he flew up the steps of the lookout tower, he could detect the twinkling lights from his lady's home gemmed against the background of velvet darkness. Perhaps her fluttering little heart was uneasy about her lover, and she was peering out into the gale.

Starting point is 06:40:52 However that may be, he had no difficulty in summoning her to the window when he raised his lantern. Then, with the talisman held high, he paused. What should he say? Of course, he could send no lengthy message. Even a few words meant a laborious amount of spelling. Perhaps, will you marry me? was as simple and direct a way as he could put it.

Starting point is 06:41:20 Firmly, he gripped the lantern. Then, instead of the customary three flashes, he began the involved liftings dipping and circlings which in luminous waves were to spell out his destiny will you marry ah there was no need for him to go on sarah liby had waited too long for those magic words to doubt their purport nor did she hesitate for an answer in an instant she caught up the unique avowal and across the turbulent waters signalled to her beloved the three mystic letters that should make her his forever. With the faint blinking flashes, the weight of years fell away from Jack Nickerson. No longer was he a trembling tongue-tied captive, scorning himself for his want of will. He was a free man, the affianced husband of the most wonderful creature in the world. In his exultation he raised his lantern aloft

Starting point is 06:42:25 and swung it round and round with the abandon of a boy who tosses his cap in the air then he bounded down the iron staircase like a child led out of school dashing round their spiral windings with reckless velocity the deed was done sarah liby was his it might have been half an hour later as he sat smoking in blissful meditation in the living-room of the station that the door was wrenched open and willie Spence burst into the room. Every hair on the old inventor's head was upright with anxiety, and he puffed breathlessly. "'What's ashore? I saw your signal and knew straight off something terrible was up, for you've never called for help from the town before. I've raised all the folks I could get a hold of, and Bob Morton's gone to get more. They'll be here on the double quick. The boast was no idle one. Even as he spoke there was a tramping, a rush of feet, and a babble of confused, frightened voices, and into the room flocked the dwellers of the

Starting point is 06:43:37 hamlet, men, women, and children, all with wind-tossed hair and strained, terrified faces. What is it? What's the matter? Where's the wreck? As they stood there, tragic in the the dim light, there was a stir near the door, and Sarah Libby Lewis pushed her way through the crowd. She had stopped only to toss a black shawl over her head, and in contrast to its sable folds, her cheeks and lips were ashen. "'They told me there was a wreck,' she cried, rushing to Jack's side and seizing his arm wildly. "'Oh, you won't go! You won't go and leave me now, Jack. Not so soon.' not after to-night already sobs were choking the words and her hands were clinging to his with a supreme defiance of a man prepared to defend his dearest possession against the universe jack nickerson circled her in his embrace and faced the throng no longer was he the shrinking timorous supplicant victorious love had set her crown upon his brows bestowing dignity upon his brows bestowing dignity upon

Starting point is 06:44:52 his years and glory upon his manhood. His explanation came fearlessly to his lips. There ain't no wreck, he said quietly. All the same, I'm glad you saw my lantern and came, because I've got something to tell you all. Me and Sarah Libby are going to get married. For a moment there was an incredulous hush. Then Willie Spence came to the rescue. well i will say jack he drawled you had a pretty good nerve to get us out on a night like this to tell us that you might at least have waited till morning still i reckon if i'd been nigh on to a quarter of a century gettin my spunk together to ask a woman to marry me and had finally done it i d'a wanted somebody to know it the words were not unkindly spoken and jack joined in the brinked General laugh. Nothing mattered to him now. Oblivious to the spectators, he was bending down over the woman he loved and murmuring, "'I love you, Sarah Libby. I've always loved you.'

Starting point is 06:46:07 The little old inventor watched the radiant pair a moment, then motioned to the villagers to slip away. But Bartley Coffin could not be restrained from lagging behind and whispering confidentially in Jack's ear, If you want to be truly happy, mate, and live clear of a life of pestering, don't you never buy Sarah Libby a satin dress? Minnie and I have made it up, thanks to Willie Spence,

Starting point is 06:46:35 but it was a tussle. I'd come to the jumping-off place. The statement was, but too true. Willie had indeed intervened and averted a tragedy, but the feat had demanded ruthless measures, and he had trudged home from the coffins with the bone of contention clutched rigidly beneath his arm. That night, Celestina heard muffled sounds in the workshop. Oh, my land, she murmured.

Starting point is 06:47:05 If Willie ain't hitched again, I did hope nothing new would come to him till he got rested up from this other idea. But Willie's inspiration was not of the inventive type. instead the little old man was standing before the stove kindling of fire and into its crackling blaze he was bundling the last remnants of mini-coffin's far-famed black satin the light played on his face which was set in grim earnestness it seems a wicked shame he observed in a whisper as he viewed the funeral pyre but it's the only way long as that dress remained on earth it'd be no peace for bart nor his wife either it had to go the flames danced higher flashing in and out of the trimmings of jet and charring the beads to dullness in the morning only a heap of gray ashes marked the flight of mini coffins social ambitions requiescot impake murmured willie as with lips firm and puritan stoicism he passed by the stove there he added gently poor minnie poor foolish minnie end of chapter eighteen recording by roger maline chapter nineteen of flood tide this libervox recording is in the public domain

Starting point is 06:48:41 recording by Roger Maline Flood Tide by Sarah Ware Bassett Chapter 19 Willie as Pilot The invention was finished The last rivet was in place, the last screw secure, and before the fulfillment of his dream, the little old man stood with glowing face.

Starting point is 06:49:06 It was a gentle, happy face with misty blue eyes that carried at the moment a serene contentment. i couldn't have done it but for you bob he was saying the idea was all well enough but twouldn't have been of no use without other brains to carry it out so you must remember a big slice of the credit is yours robert morton shook his head oh the thing is yours willie every bit yours protested he i only did some of the mechanical part and that any fool could do the mechanical part as you call it is full as important as the notion willie persisted i shall tell zenis henry it's our invention when i turn it over to him the pronoun thrilled bob with pleasure it meant the sweeping aside of the last film of distrust and the restoration of the old man's former confidence and friendship for days willie had slowly been reaching the conviction that if fraud had been practised Tini's nephew had been only an innocent party to it, the tool of more designing hands.

Starting point is 06:50:20 How was the lad to know he was being so artfully made use of? And anyway, perhaps there may have been no conspiracy at all. Might not Genoa have been mistaken about Snelling raiding the workshop? Why, a score of reasons might have brought him there. He might have left behind him something he needed, or there might have been something he wanted to do. It was absurd to accuse him of a secret and deliberately planned visit. Willie was a simple, single-minded soul,

Starting point is 06:50:53 and now that Genoa and his malicious influence had been removed, he dropped comfortably back into a tranquility from which, when viewed in perspective, his former suspicions seemed both unjust and ridiculous. Suppose Mr. Galbraith did happen to be a boat-builder, Was he not Bob's friend and delights uncle, a gentleman of honor who had money enough without stooping to secure more by treachery? And did it not follow that since Mr. Snelling was in his employ, he must be a person of reputable character? A fig for Genoa, Spence's accusations.

Starting point is 06:51:34 Willie blew a contemptuous whiff of smoke into the air. How had he ever dropped to being so base as to credit the thing? them for an instant. He was ashamed for having done so. Therefore wholeheartedly he gave his hand to Robert Morton, and if the act were a mute petition for forgiveness, it was nonetheless sincere in its intent and was met with an equal spirit of goodwill. I suppose now that everything is complete, there is no reason why we can't present the thing to Zinus Henry right away, is there? questioned Bob, who, with hands thrusts to, deep in his trousers pockets, contemplated with satisfaction the product of their joint toil.

Starting point is 06:52:17 "'Not the least in the world,' Willie answered. "'If we was to keep it here a week, there ain't nothing more we could do to it, and since you've tried it out over at Galbraiths, we know it works.' "'Oh, it works all right,' laughed Bob. The eye of the little inventor softened, and into them crept a glint of pensiveness. "'Yes,' he repeated. "'We can deliver it up to Zinus Henry most any time now.' He paused.

Starting point is 06:52:49 "'Queer, ain't it? How kind of attached you get to anything you've fussed over so long. It gets to be almost a part of you. You'll think it funny, I guess. But do you know I'll be sort of sorry to see this thing going?' It was the regret of the parent compelled to part from his child, and with an effort at comfort, Robert Morton said cheerfully, Oh, you'll be having a new scheme before long.

Starting point is 06:53:18 Maybe I will, Willie answered, brightening. I never can tell when the sun rises in the morning, what idea will catch me before night? Still, I somehow feel there'll be no idea like this one. You know, they say every artist creates one masterpiece. He smiled shyly. This, I reckon, is my masterpiece. It's a bully one, anyhow, ejaculated Bob.

Starting point is 06:53:48 Aren't you curious to hear what Zinus Henry will say when he sees it? I am sort of itching to, admitted Willie in less meditative tone. Only last night I was thinking after I got to bed, how would be the best way of giving it to him. I've sort of set my heart on springing it on him as a surprise. What's your notion? I think that would be a fine plan, replied Bob, eager to humor the gentle dreamer. If we could get him and the captains out of the way, it would be good sports simply to fasten the attachment to the boat and wait and see what happened.

Starting point is 06:54:29 Wouldn't that be the beatery? chimed in Willie excitedly. His face glowed, and he rubbed his hands with honest pleasure. Wouldn't it, though? We could manage it, too, for Delight could arrange to get Zinus Henry and the three captains out of the way. She's an almighty good one at keeping a secret, as I reckon you've found out already. He stole a sly glance at the young man at his elbow who flushed uncomfortably. Yes, he rambled on. Delight can shut her mouth on occasions like as if it was a scallop shell.

Starting point is 06:55:08 The only trouble is she had ought to close her eyes. too, for they talk almost as well as her tongue does. Likely you've noticed that, he added innocently. I, uh... Far as that goes, your own eyes do something in the speaking line, affirmed Willie, bending to fleck a bit of dust from the appliance before them. What? Robert Morton exclaimed with alarm. The old inventor nodded gravely.

Starting point is 06:55:38 "'Yes,' continued he. "'Now I come to think of it. "'You've got among the most speaking eyes I ever see. "'They kind of ball things right out.' "'What have they?' "'Stammered Bob, crumpling weakly down upon the rickety chair before the stove. "'Balled? Oh, a lot of things,' was the provokingly ambiguous retort. "'His companion eyed him narrowly.

Starting point is 06:56:08 i'm i'm in a horrible mess willie he suddenly blurted out quite irrelevantly i know it robert morton gasped then lapsed into stunned silence without going into any details or discussing any ladies we know my advice would be to make a clean breast of the whole thing the little old man announced avoiding robert morton's eyes and blowing a ring of a ring of a-of-one smoke from his pipe impersonally toward the low ceiling. Have it out with Zinus Henry and set yourself right with the Belport folks. You don't want to do nothing under cover. No, I don't, rejoined the younger man quickly. The reason I didn't do so in the first place was because Zinus Henry was so upset when he heard about Madame Lee that we, I thought,

Starting point is 06:57:06 He's calmed down now, ain't he? yes he seems to have accepted the facts especially as the galbraiths have not been near him and have let the whole matter drop of course that is only a temporary condition however mr galbraith has been in new york attending to important matters ever since madame lee's death what will be done when he returns i do not know but he will do something you may be sure of that that ain't no special business of yours or mine is it willie remarked all that concerns you is to let both those men know where you stand zenus henry first cause he's been like a father to delight and mr galbraith afterwards cause he hesitated for the fraction of a second cause the galbraiths are the girls nearest of kin and legally i suppose have a right yes interrupted robert morton hastily when you get things all squared up we'll talk more about it continued willie but till you do the affair ain't open and above board and i don't want nothin to do with it the top of the ocean is good enough for me i never was much on swimming under water he broke off abruptly to refill his pipe now about this motor boat he went on crisply veering to a less delicate subject suppose you fix it up with delight to keep zenis henry and the three captains away from the beach for a couple of days so's to give us time to get her invention securely rigged to the sea-gull she could find something for him to do up at the house for that long couldn't she

Starting point is 06:58:54 i guess so if she can't abby can chuckled willie with a grin abby brewster's the most famous woman in the world for settin folks to work she's made zenis henry clean over since his marriage why i remember the time when you could no more have got him to do a day's work than you could have lined up the fish of the sea in a sunday school but with trainin zinus henry now does his ploughin plant and harvesting and something approach an alarm clock fashion of course he backslides if he ain't constantly held to it but no one has passed it's a miracle what abby's made of him she ain't never wholly reformed his temper though there's plenty of cayenne in that still i reckon if you was to amputate zenis henry's temper you'd find you had took away the most interesting part of him his listener smiled now you go ahead and arrange things with delight bob continued willie an interview with her won't be no great hardship for you willet i thought not and any fillin in i can do i'll do any fillin in he repeated significantly you can count on me to plug any gaps that come anywhere's remember that it's it's bully of you willie cried bob seizing his hand not a mite protested the little man with a deprecating gesture now that i've got bart coffin and minnie living like turtle doves and jack nickerson as good as married to sarah liby lewis two of my ships seem to have dropped anchor safe and sound i reckon i shan't need to do no more pilot in there

Starting point is 07:00:48 the little old inventor stopped a moment then added sometimes i figure what i was put in the world for was to do pilot duty you know there's folks that never own a ship on their own but just spend their days towing other people's ships into port they ain't so bad off neither he went on in a merrier tone cause there's a heap o joy in helping some other vessel to make a landin more moved by the words than he would have confessed robert morton watched the bent figure move through the door and out into the sunshine and afterward banishing the seriousness of his mood he climbed the hill to the white cottage there to evolve with delight a plot that should hold the men of the brewster household captive long enough for willie and himself to attach to zenis henry's motor boat the new invention end of chapter nineteen recording by roger malign chapter twenty of flood tide this libervox recording is in the public domain recording by roger maline flood tide by sarah ware bassett chapter twenty one more of willy's ships reaches port three feverish days passed days of constant hard work and myriad trivial annoyances a train of misadventures had attended the transference of willie's idea to zenis henry's boat parts had failed to fit and much wearisome toil had been demanded before the device was actually in place at last however all was ready and abbey brewster a party to the conspiracy had on a sunny morning urged her reluctant spouse and the three captains to make a trip out to the bar for clams

Starting point is 07:02:50 they were none too keen about the proposed expedition for the weather was warm and their course lay through shallow waters which after the recent storm were turbid with seaweed nevertheless ignoring their unwillingness abbey declared she must have the clams and was not her word law therefore without enthusiasm the four fishermen had set forth with their buckets and their clam forks and it was now a full three hours since the motor-boat that carried them had disappeared around the point of sand jutting into the sparkling waters of the bay bob and willie secreted in the workshop had breathlessly watched the sea-gull thread her way through the channel and make the curving shelter of the dunes and ever since the old inventor had sat alert on an overturned nail keg his binoculars in one hand and his great silver watch in the other counting the moments until the little craft should return from its momentous cruise the vigil had been long and tedious with only the ticking of the mammoth timepiece and the far-off rumble of the surf to break the stillness presently celestina came from the kitchen into the shop i'm bringing you a dish of hot doughnuts she said a kindly sympathy in her face oughtn't them men to be comin pretty soon now for the hundredth time willie raised the glasses and scanned the shimmering golden waters we should sight em before long he nodded you don't see nothin of em not yet there was an anxious frown on his forehead why don't you eat something suggested she it might take your mind off worrying i ain't worrying tini was the confident reply the boat's all right

Starting point is 07:04:51 suppose it should be snagged or something outside the bay she ventured i wish to goodness they'd come back look here's delight and abbey coming through the grove likely they've been getting uneasy too sure enough moving among the low pines that shaded the slope between the spence and brewster houses they saw the two women abbey was stouter now than when she had come as a bride to zenis henry's white cottage but there was a serenity in her mean that softened her expression into charming womanliness as she neared the shed she glanced at willie with an uneasiness she could not wholly conceal don't it seem to you willie that it's gettin most time for em to be gettin home you ain't nervous abby smiled the little old man no not really of course i know they're all right still they ain't never stayed clammin so long before i wouldn't worry auntie delight put in taking her hand reassuringly a thousand things may have delayed them i am sure they're comin broke in willie with sudden excitement the boat's comin ain't that her making the point bob she's clipping along like a race-horse too lord watch her go that's the sea-gull cried abby i don't need no glass to make her out. That's her. How foolish I was to go fussing. Still, I always have a kind of dread. I know, I know, interrupted the inventor gently. But there weren't no call for worry this time.

Starting point is 07:06:42 I felt mortal certain they'd be heaving into sight pretty soon. I guess likely, now we know they're on the way, we'd better slip home again, Abby smiled. I'd feel, still silly enough to have them find us here. Nonsense, Abby, said Celestina. They needn't know you was worried. Ain't it possible you might have come down here on an errand? Wait till they pass and walk back with them. What difference does it make if your dinner is late?

Starting point is 07:07:14 Abby hesitated. Her dinner never was late. Yet, for that matter, she never was out visiting her neighbors in the middle of the day either. perhaps as she had followed one demoralizing impulse and transgressed all her domestic traditions the breaking of another did not matter i suppose i might wait she answered i'd love dearly to hear what they'll have to say oh do wait auntie delight begged it won't be long now before they get here better stay abbey put in willie bob and i won't be long now before they get here better stay abby put in willie bob and i won't be inventing every day well was the half-unwilling answer don't you wonder how it worked cried delight addressing bob her cheek scarlet with excitement see here they come did you ever hear such a chatter zenis henry is swinging that clam bucket as if there wasn't a thing in it he will spill them all out if he isn't careful on strode the four men with a bound they cleared the bank before the spence cottage and crowded in at the narrow gate

Starting point is 07:08:29 where is he where's willie demanded zenis henry then catching sight of the old inventor half concealed behind his workbench he shouted here willie you rascal out with you don't go hiding there behind that table man alive why didn't you tell us what he was up to did it work zenis henry queried the little fellow eagerly did it work mimicked zenis henry with a guffaw say phineas did it the fisherman gave an exuberant roar of laughter did it work repeated zenis henry so out of breath he could scarcely articulate the words good Lord, don't it just? Why, we clipped along through that seaweed as if it weren't there. You didn't get snagged, then? Snagged? Not much. Ain't we been riding in and out every little eel-grass cove along the shore just for the sheer devil-tree of seeing if we could get snagged? Pipeed, Captain Benjamin. There'll be no more rocking in the channel for us. My eye, think of that.

Starting point is 07:09:46 However did you manage it, Willie, Zinus Henry questioned. What makes you so sure it was me? Oh, Lord, who else would it be? Well, it weren't all me, protested the little inventor modestly. Most of it was Bob. I got the idea, and he did the rest,

Starting point is 07:10:09 him and Mr. Galbraith's friend, Mr. Snellan. Well, I'm clean beat, that's all I can say. observed Zinus Henry, mopping his brow. "'I tell you what, it's made a new thing of that motorboat. There's no thankin' you. All is, Willie, if you want anything of mine, it's yours for the Askin. Just speak up, and you can have it.' A radiant smile spread over the face of the spinner of cobwebs.

Starting point is 07:10:39 "'You ain't got nothing, I covet, Zinus Henry,' he answered slowly. "'But you've got something Bob Morton wanted. powerful bad he saw a mystified expression steal into zenis henry's face happiness didn't come to you early in life zenis henry went on willie his voice taking on a note of gentle persuasion and often i've heard you lament you was cheated out of spending your youth with abbey of course marian late is better than not marion at all though some of the rest of us he motioned towards the the three captains and Celestina haven't got passed by altogether. But Delight and Bob have found love early while the bloom is still on it. You wouldn't wish to keep them from their birthright, would you, Zinus Henry? In the hush that followed the plea, Abby crept up to her husband and slipped her hand into his. The child loves him, dear, she said, looking up into the man's stern

Starting point is 07:11:45 face. I read it in her eyes long ago. You want her to be happy, don't you? Her voice trembled. Only the mother instinct, supreme in its selflessness, gave her the strength to continue. We must not think of ourselves. Real love is heaven-sent. It is ours neither to give nor to deny. How still the room was! Suddenly it had been transformed. into a battle-ground on which a soul waged mortal combat there was no question in the minds of those who viewed the struggle that the issue presented had come as a shock and that to meet it taxed every ounce of forbearance and control that the man possessed he looked as one stricken his face a turmoil of jealousy grief despair and disappointment but gradually a gentler light shone in his eyes a light radiant and triumphant love was conqueror and raising his head he murmured where is the child she sped to his side so you love him do you little girl he asked smiling faintly down at her as he encircled her with his great arm yes zenis henry she whispered for a moment he held her close as if he could never let her go

Starting point is 07:13:14 well teenie he said i don't know as we have anything to say against it he's your nephew and she's my daughter yes my daughter he added fiercely in spite of the lees and the galbraiths with a swift gesture he turned toward robert morton young man i am paying you a heavy fee for that motor boat i'm handing over to you the most precious thing i have in the world see you value it as you should or by god your life won't be worth a straw to willie the three captains or me they saw him wheel abruptly and stride alone into the shadow of the low pines silently the others drifted from the room and delight was left alone with her lover as bob caught the girl in his arms a great wave of passion surged through his body causing its every fiber to her to vibrate in tune with the mad beating of his heart. He kissed her hair, her cheeks, the white curve of her exquisite throat. He buried his face in her hair, and let his hands wander over at silky ripples. "'I love you,' he panted. "'I love you with all my heart. Tell me you love me, delight.' "'You know I do,' was the shy answer. Again he kissed her son.

Starting point is 07:14:44 lips. I mustn't stay, Bob, she said at last, trying to draw herself from his embrace. Zinus Henry is alone somewhere, almost broken-hearted. I must find and comfort him. But the arms that held her did not loosen their hold. Please let me go, Bob, dear, she coaxed. We mustn't be selfish. Her request struck the right note, and instantly she was free.

Starting point is 07:15:14 Robert Morton followed her to the door, and stood watching as she hurried along the copper-matted path of the woods, sun-flected and modelled with shadow. What a sweet miracle it was, he mused. She was his now, before all the world, thanks to Willie's skillful pilotage. Where was the little old man, that dreamer of dreams, who with Midas-like touch left upon everything with which he came in contact? the golden impress of his heart he must seek him out and thank him for his aid perhaps the thought carried with it a potent charm of magic for no sooner had robert morton framed it than the inventor himself appeared on the threshold well another of my ships has made port cried he triumphantly his delicate face was illumined with a joy so transcendent that one might easily avoid believed that it was to him, Love's touchstone had been given. I never can thank you, Willie, burst out the young man.

Starting point is 07:16:24 Be good to delight, my boy, and make her happy. That's all the thanks I want, was the grave response. A pause fell between them. Perhaps Willie was thinking of the days that must inevitably come when the girl he had loved since childhood would be far away. How dull the grey house would be When she no longer flitted in and out its doors Try as he would to banish the selfish reflection It returned persistently Then suddenly something quite outside himself put the reverie to rout

Starting point is 07:17:00 It was the querulous voice of Genoa Eldridge I was right about them galbraiths he cried exultantly Standing in the doorway and hurling the words in into the room where the two men lingered. "'Twas exactly as I said. Lyman Beers's boy went up on the Boston train one afternoon, in front of Snellan and that other fellow who was here, and he heard every word they uttered.

Starting point is 07:17:28 He said they talked the whole way about getting a patent out on your invention. Now, Willie Spence, was I right or warrant I? Maybe you'll believe me next time I warn you against folks. End of Chapter 20. Recording by Roger Maline. Chapter 21 of Flood Tide. This Librevox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Roger Maline.

Starting point is 07:18:02 Flood Tide by Sarah Ware Bassett. Chapter 21. Surprises! The next morning, Robert Morton, awoke with the fixed determination that another son should not go down until he had acquainted Mr. Galbraith with Genoa's accusations. The misgivings, the suspicions, the fears he entertained must be cleared up at any cost, or further residence beneath Willie's roof would be impossible.

Starting point is 07:18:33 If necessary, he would go to New York to see the financier, but he must know where the blame for Snelling's treachery lay, whether with the capitalist or with his employee. accordingly he arose early and having breakfasted went down to the store where the nearest telephone was and called up the bellport residence he was fortunate in getting parker the old butler on the wire mr galbraith mr bob came the voice of the servant yes sir he arrived home last night i think he is going over to wilton to see you i heard him saying something about it Wait a minute. I hear him on the stairs now. There was a pause. Then, after a delay, another voice that Bob instantly recognized to be that of the master of the house called. Bob? Well, hello, boy! I guess you thought we had all left you and your affairs high and dry, didn't you?

Starting point is 07:19:35 I've been in New York, you know. I'm just back. I want to see you as soon as I can about several important matters. Suppose I run over in the car this morning. Will you be there? Good. I'll see you later then. Robert Morton hung up the receiver and walked meditatively along the sandy road to the gray cottage. The die was cast. Whatever happened, it could not be worse than had been the days of suspense and anxiety that he had endured. The morning was close and humid, a land breeze wafting across the fields, perfumes of sun-scorched pine and blossoming roses. Scarce a ripple marred the glittering surface of the bay that stretched like a sheet of burnished brass as far as one could see.

Starting point is 07:20:27 Now and then a faint zephyr, rising from the wooded slopes, swept down the hill, swirling into billows of vivid emerald, the coarse salt grass that swayed on the marshes. So still it was that every whisper of the surf lapping the edge of the edge of the sea, lapping the edge of the bar could be heard over and over the waters stole up on the shore fretted into foam and receded each wave creeping rhythmically back into the deep to a song of shifting sand and pebbles how silvery the tiny houses of the hamlet looked against the azure of the sky the few scattered trees that had braved the onslaughts of repeated gales listed landward but the pines sheltered in the hollow of the dunes stood erect and darkly mysterious their plumes bending idly in the soft wind it was all a part of the idol the day-dream robert morton thought too flawless a thing to last willie so childlike and simple his kindly aunt delight with her rare beauty and even the romance of his love seemed a part of its unreality was it not to be expected that

Starting point is 07:21:43 sooner or later man with his blundering touch would destroy the loveliness, making prose of the poem? The Galbraiths, Snelling, the greed for money, Genoa's jealousy and evil suspicions. Ah, it did not take long for such influences to mar the peace of a heaven and smear the grime of earth upon its fairness. Only glimpses of perfection were granted the dwellers of this planet. quick transient flashes that mirrored a future free from finite limitations. He who expected to remain in the heights in this world was doomed to disappointment. Slowly he skirted the curving beach and reached the weathered cottage where the sun beat hotly down, kissing into flower every bud of the clinging roses that festooned its gray doorway.

Starting point is 07:22:38 Willie welcomed him, but a glory had passed from the old man's first. face since the conversation of the night before. How could it be otherwise? Sleepless hours had left behind them weary, careworn lines, and in the troubled depths of the blue eyes, the old interrogation had once more awakened. Bob knew not how to meet at silent combat between hope and disappointment,

Starting point is 07:23:04 and he hailed as a glad relief the beating echo of the Galbraith's motor car as it swept the horseshoe outline of the harbor and came to a stop before the gate. Mr. Galbraith, who was alone, beckoned to him, and as the younger man climbed to the seat beside him, said, I thought perhaps you might like to go for a spin along the shore. It is warm today, and we shall get more breeze. Besides, we can talk more freely in the automobile than here at the Belport house. Roger has just arrived, and also Howard Snelly,

Starting point is 07:23:39 In spite of himself, Robert Morton betrayed his surprise. Mr. Snelling back again, he exclaimed. Yes, he is down, was the laconic answer. For all his boasted eagerness to talk, however, Richard Galbraith did not immediately avail himself to the privilege of conversation. On the contrary, as Bob shot a questioning glance toward him, he thought he detected for the first time in his life a strange uneasiness in the capitalists habitually self-contained manner he seemed to be framing an introduction for what he wished to say i have several matters to talk over with you bob he began at last in a resolute tone some of them are pleasant and some of them may not i fear prove to be so

Starting point is 07:24:35 but we must take them as they come and pleasant or unpleasant i want you to believe that i have no choice but to place them before you i have always felt for you a warm friendship my boy and that friendship has in no way lessened therefore if any word i speak causes you unhappiness i want you to remember that i only say it because i must we are not always permitted to readjust life according to our inclinations duty maps out many of our paths and we must close our lips and travel them he stopped as if considering how to proceed while in new york he presently resumed i probated madame lee's will she was possessed of a large estate and knew very definitely what she wanted done with it the will was made made several years ago, and no document that I have ever seen was more specifically and conscientiously drawn up. Although she left jewels and heirlooms to my family, she left none of her other property to the Galbraiths, explaining that her daughter had all she needed and that both Cynthia and Roger had more already than was good for them. He smiled humorously. I guessed pretty accurately

Starting point is 07:25:59 what she intended to do, as some time ago we talked the matter over, and I heartily approved of her proposed bequest. He cleared his throat, and in wondering silence, Robert Morton waited. The property was left in bulk to an old friend who, Madame Lee had known for years, someone entirely outside the family. Bob did not speak. I would gladly see the Lee money administered as its owner desired to have it mr galbraith went on her ideas were wise kind and just and the fulfilment of her wishes would have brought to me to us all the greatest happiness but since that will was made a new condition has arisen delight hathaway the child of her favorite daughter has appeared had the old lady lived i feel certain that in view of this fact she would have altered the document that this girl might inherit at least a portion of the fortune in which her mother never had any share.

Starting point is 07:27:08 You knew Madame Lee very intimately, Bob, probably better than any of the rest of us. What do you think? The reply came without hesitation. I am certain Madame Lee would have seen to it that her granddaughter was provided for. So it seems to me, rejoined Mr. Galbraith, with evident relief. I am glad that our code of ethics agrees thus far. Now, the question is, Bob, how strong are you for the right? If honorable action meant sacrifice, would you be ready to meet it?

Starting point is 07:27:46 I hope so, was the modest response. I know so, Mr. Galbraith declared earnestly. And it is because I am so sure of it that I came to you today. Bob, it was to you that Madam Lee left her fortune. It was to be used for the furthering of your dearest wish, because, to quote her own words, because I love the boy as if he were of my own blood. As he listened, Robert Morton's eyes grew cloudy, and emotion choked his utterance until he could not speak.

Starting point is 07:28:22 Apparently, Mr. Galbraith either expected no reply or tactfully interpret. his silence, for without waiting he continued, You can understand now, Bob, feeling toward you, as we all do, that this recent family development has not been easy for us to confront. Delight Hathaway is a beautiful girl who possesses, no doubt, admirable qualities. We expect to become warmly attached to her in time, but for all her kinship she is a stranger to us, while you are of our own, a brother, friend. For the first time, the kind voice faltered.

Starting point is 07:29:05 I have even cherished a hope, it went on, in a lower tone, that perhaps in the future, a closer bond might bind you to us. Nothing in the world would have given me greater satisfaction. Bob suddenly felt the blood leaped to his face in a crimson flood. He gasped out an incoherent word or two, hoping to check Mr. Galbraith's speech, but no intelligible phrases came to his tongue. Life is a strangely perverse game, isn't it? mused the capitalist. We build our castles, build them not alone for ourselves, but for others, and those we love shatter the structure we have so painstakingly reared, and on its ruined sight make for themselves

Starting point is 07:29:54 castles of their own. His eyes were fixed on the narrowing ribbon of sand over which the car sped. "'I—I have another surprise for you, Bob,' he said in a lower tone, without lifting his gaze from the reach of highway ahead. "'Sinthia is to be married.' "'Sinthia!' a chaos of emotions mingled in the word. Her engagement has been an overwhelming shock to her mom. mother and me the elder man continued steadily still without shifting his eyes from the road over which he guided the car i don't know why the possibility never occurred to us but it never did she is to marry howard snelling a quick wave of revulsion swept over robert morton this then was the reason snelling had filched from willie his invention that he might have greater riches to lay at the the feet of his fiance, and perhaps reached more nearly a financial equality with her family.

Starting point is 07:31:03 He saw it all now. And probably it was Snelling's jealousy of himself that had led him to retaliate by heaping his unwelcome attentions on delight. At last it was clear as day. Cynthia's growing coldness and her continual trips to and from Belport in the boatbuilder's company. robert morton could have laughed aloud at his own stupidity the engagement explained too mr snelling's confusion and embarrassment at every mention of the galbraith family why a child might have fathombed the romance again mr galbraith was speaking and now bob for the last surprise of all at first i thought i would delay telling you until the paper were all in shape and ready for signature but on second thought it seemed a pity to shut you out of the fun we have all the data prepared to take out a patent on mr spence's motor boat bob felt a sudden sinking of his heart a stifling of his breath the afternoon you all came over to bellport explained the financier i got snelling and a draughtsman from our company to go to the afternoon you all came over to bellport explained the financier i got snelling and a draughtsman from our company to go to the shop, and in the old gentleman's absence secure measurements and the necessary information.

Starting point is 07:32:32 These we took to New York and put into proper hands, and when the affidavits are sworn to, and everything is in legal form, I see no reason why the government should not grant the patent. If it does, there should be a little fortune in the appliance. Robert Morton did not move. He felt as if he had been turned to stop. He felt as if he had been turned to own. I thought you would be interested, observed Mr. Galbraith, a suggestion of disappointment in his voice. I did not consult you at first because I felt so sure that the idea would please you. I'm sorry if it doesn't. It seemed to me that if we could help Mr. Spence to patent his device, he might do quite a little with it. I thought he might not know how to go at the matter himself. So we are, we are, we are

Starting point is 07:33:25 are preparing all the papers for him to file an application in his own name. Afterward, I propose either to purchase from him the rights to use it, or to buy the thing outright at a reasonable figure. In either case, the deal will net him quite an income, and place him beyond the possibility of financial worry so long as he lives. Oh, the relief that surged over Robert Morton! Joy rioted with shame. Happy with self-reproach how feeble his faith had been he hoped mr galbraith did not read in his eyes the suspicions he had cherished apparently he did not for in the same kindly manner he asked do you think it would be better to keep the secret from the little old chap a bit longer or tell him now oh tell him now tell him now cried bob tell him right away when we get back his companion laughed at his eagerness and for the first time their eyes met and now sir began robert morton a ring of buoyancy and light-heartedness in his voice such as had not sounded

Starting point is 07:34:42 in it for weeks. I have a surprise for you. I, too, am going to be married. The car swerved suddenly, as if a tremor had passed through the hands on the wheel. I am engaged to your niece, Mr. Galbraith. To my—my niece? repeated the great man, blankly. I don't think I quite—to delight Hathaway. Bob saw a dull, brick-red flush color the neck of the capitalist and steal up into his face. For a moment he seemed at a loss for words. Then, presently, as if he had succeeded in readjusting his ideas, he ejaculated,

Starting point is 07:35:29 "'My word, Bob! Well, you young people have mixed yourselves up nicely. However, if you all are happy, that is the main thing. you are the ones to be suited. We shall still have you in the family anyway, he laughed. And about the property, he went on thoughtfully. This simplifies matters greatly, for it won't make much difference now.

Starting point is 07:35:57 Which of you has it? You or the girl. But Bob stopped him with a quick protest. I don't want delight to know Madam Lee's money has previously been willed to me, he said. if she suspected that she would never take it you are not to tell her promise me you will see to that of course i will arrange the affair any way you wish mr galbraith agreed with a dubious frown but if you are to marry her i really can't see what difference it would make it will make a great deal of difference declared the younger man in the one case the fortune will be hers to use as she pleases. She will have the independent right to hand it over to the Brewsters, if she so

Starting point is 07:36:48 desires. Our entire relation will be placed on another basis, for if I marry her under those conditions, I marry an heiress, not the ward of a poor fisherman. I hadn't thought of that. On the other hand, if she refuses the money, it will be mine to lay at her feet. Can't you see what a vast contrast there will be in my position?" Mr. Galbraith nodded thoughtfully, as if considering the matter from a new angle. "'That's the only reason the fortune would mean anything to me, that I might have something to offer her,' continued Robert Morton. "'Of course, as you said, she would have the benefit of the money in either case,

Starting point is 07:37:35 but it makes a difference whether it comes to her by the mere right of inheritance, or whether she takes it from her husband. There is a distinction, admitted the elder man. Now that you call my attention to it, I can see that readily. It is a delicate one, but its consequences are far-reaching. Well, you shall have your way. A proportion of the legacy shall be offered to delight, and the secret regarding it shall be yours to keep or divulge as you see fit.

Starting point is 07:38:09 you are a noble fellow bob i only wish he checked the impulsive phrase that rose to his lips but not before the listener had caught its import mr snelling is a fine man mr galbraith broke in bob instantly dreading the words that might follow oh i know it there is no question about that the capitalist assented with haste success is written all over his future and i know he will be a son-in-law to be proud of he and cynthia are royally happy too and no doubt know better than i what they want after all none of us can live other people's lives each must work out his own you've said it mr galbraith the financier smiled and his eyes twinkled beneath the shaggy brows that arched them you will have to be getting used to calling me by another name young man he said remember i am to be your uncle end of chapter twenty one recording by roger maline chapter twenty two of flood tide this libervox recording is in the public domain recording by roger maline flood tide by sarah ware basset chapter twenty two delight makes her decision. Zenas Henry Brewster sat on the edge of his veranda,

Starting point is 07:39:47 his long legs crossed before him with a certain angular grace, and his corncob pipe held rigidly between his teeth. Beside him ranged like sparrows on a telegraph wire were Captain Phineas Taylor, Captain Jonas Baker, and Captain Benjamin Todd. From the row of pipes, a miniature cloud of smoke ascended, but save for the distant pulsing of the sea and the murmur of the wind in the linden near the door,

Starting point is 07:40:17 not a sound was to be heard through the afternoon stillness. Yet, in spite of the tranquility of the day and the apparent piece of the four figures that gazed so movably out upon the reach of blue, an electrical current of suspense was evident in the four tense forms. They were not looking at the bay, exquisite as it was in its cerulean beauty, instead the head of each man was turned toward the road that skirted the harbor and wound its way between the pines at the foot of the hill where the white cottage stood he ought to be coming pretty soon hadn't he captain phineas ventured at last unable longer to restrain his impatience he said four o'clock in his letter it must be almost that don't you think mighty nigh unto it replied captain benjamin as i reckon it haven't made the necessary allowances for my watch losing three and a quarter minutes an hour it should be about four now it ain't but a quarter of four sniffed captain jonas with an error of superiority

Starting point is 07:41:28 that timepiece of yours benjamin ain't worth a silver that was put into it what's the use of having a watch that keeps you figuring backwards and forwards and doing sums all day i wouldn't be bothered with it. Captain Benjamin bridled with indignation. I don't see but my watch as good as yours, retorted he. The only difference is I'm adding from morning till night while you're subtracting. The discomfited Captain Baker frowned. Mine comes out even minutes, anyhow, announced he. If it does shoot ahead some, it don't keep me reckoning infractions like yours does. I'd say, see myself in Davy Jones's locker for I'd go add in three-quarter minutes together from sunrise to sunset. Oh, adding fractions is mighty good training for Benjamin, put in the peace-loving Captain

Starting point is 07:42:25 Phineas with a chuckle. It keeps his arithmetic brushed up. I'll bet you he could beat you at a sum, Jonas. The triumphant Captain Benjamin observed a complacent silence. Let Benjamin and his watch alone, Jonas, drawled Xenus Henry, speaking for the first time. Somebody in the house has got to be up on mathematics, and it may as well be Benjamin as another. I'm only sorry his ticker holds him just to add. If it would only make him multiply and divide some, and take him into square root, it would give him a liberal all-around education. Still, there's always hopes it may take a new turn. the last time it went overboard there was indications that it wouldn't be long before it would be leading him into algebra and the fourth dimension captain benjamin grinned at the sally

Starting point is 07:43:23 it won't be goin overboard no more now zenis henry responded he serenely cause since the sea-gulls got that eel-grass-proof contrivance hitched to her there won't be no call for me to be lying head downwards astern i'll be settin up like a Christian and future. All of us will. My soul, but Bob Morton and Willie Spence did a good job on that boat. It's something to have a young chap with brains like that, marrying into the family. I'll bet there's almost nothing on earth he couldn't tackle. You're right, Captain Phineas chimed in. If Delights got to get married, and we'd be a lot of selfish brutes not to want her to, she certainly has picked a promising husband. You can lose money, fling it away, or have it stolen from you, but you can't lose brains.

Starting point is 07:44:21 That's so, Phineas, that's so, Zinus Henry said. Besides, taint as if he was taking her to Indiana. New York ain't far. Why, I'll stake a catch a mackerel we could fetch up at that Long Island place in the Seagull. "'Of course we could, Zinus Henry,' agreed Captain Jonas, flashing a glance of affection into his friend's face. "'There's no question about it.

Starting point is 07:44:49 "'Take a good clear day and the sea runnin right. "'We could make it without a mite of trouble. "'Long Island wouldn't be anything of a cruise. "'No place that we can sail to in our own boat is far away.' "'A listener of discrimination might have detected in the dialogue, a note of assumed optimism, and suspected that the four old men seated like images on the piazza rail were trying to buoy up one another's courage, and in the assumption he would not, perhaps, have been far wrong. What do you suppose this Galbraith has up his sleeve, Zinus Henry, that he should be coming over here?

Starting point is 07:45:31 Captain Benjamin Todd speculated during a lapse in the conversation. He has some scheme in mind. you can be sure of that. Why do you always go rooting up evil, like as if he was digging for clams, Benjamin? inquired Captain Phineas impatiently. All Mr. Galbraith said was he wanted to see Zinus Henry. There surely is no harm in that.

Starting point is 07:45:58 Delight being his niece, it's only to be expected he'd want to get sight of the folks he is living with. Most natural thing in the world, it seems to me. It would be queerer if he didn't. show no interest in the people who have brought her up." "'That's so, Phineas,' Captain Jonas echoed. "'Nothing's likelier than that he's coming to sort of thank Zinus Henry.' "'Thank us,' Zinus Henry burst out.

Starting point is 07:46:27 "'Thank us for bringing up our own child? "'What business is it of his? "'Do we go traips into Belport to thank him for being good to his children?' no no zinus henry captain phineas replied soothingly of course he ain't comin here to thank us that would be plum ridiculous more probable he's comin as i said to make a friendly call since he's a relative but in spite of this reassurance the ripple of misgiving had not entirely died away before the well-known touring car with the new york financier in its tonneau made its appearance at the foot of the hill. He's coming, Zinus Henry. There he is.

Starting point is 07:47:16 That's him, was the excited comment. But Zinus Henry maintained a grim silence. He had risen to his full height and now stood braced to meet an ordeal which he dreaded far more than he would have been willing to admit. His gaunt figure was stiff with resolution, his jaw set.

Starting point is 07:47:38 his lips compressed it was the same expression his countenance had worn the night he had gone forth into the storm to rescue the sinking crew of the michelaine from probable death it was the expression his companions dreaded and feared the fighter ready for combat yet his antagonist as he alighted from the motor-car and crossed the grass in leisurely fashion appeared to be anything but a formidable adversary. He came toward delight, who had hurried out to meet him, with easy friendliness. His hands extended, and a smile of genuine affection on his face. "'I am glad to see you, my dear,' he said, and in your own home, too. I fancy you must have thought me a great while in coming. I was detained in New York much longer than I expected, otherwise you would have seen me days ago. she smiled up into the kindly gray eyes and my my my what a lot of mischief you and bob have been getting into in my absence you sly little puss you may well blush

Starting point is 07:48:54 the bare idea of your springing a surprise like that on your new uncle bob has told me all about it he suddenly became grave and i am very glad for you both you could not have chosen a finer husband little girl robert morton is one man in a thousand we'll talk more of him by-and-by just now i wish to meet all your family you must present each one so that I shall not get all these many captains confused. How simply and naturally he bridged the awkwardness of the moment? Before they realized it, Abby and the three veteran seafarers were chatting gaily with a visitor, and even Zinus Henry was venturing out of his reserve and unbending into geniality when the words, And now to business, chilled the warmth of his mood and sent him back into his shell.

Starting point is 07:49:54 thrilling with vague forebodings with every eye fixed expectantly upon him mr galbraith took off his panama and fanned himself now that we have put together a few of the links that bind our two families he began and laid the foundation for a friendship which i hope the future will foster there are a few intimate matters of which i wish to speak first there is bob morton and if you want any reassuring as to his character i can give it to you your own wise and shrewd discrimination has led you to accept him at his face value and your estimate of him has not been a mistaken one i do not think there is a young man in the world of greater sterling worth than the one your daughter has chosen for a husband at the firm emphasis on the word daughter zenis henry's jaw relaxed of course you feel the same anxiety for your child that i feel for mine and realize how much a woman's happiness depends on the man into whose hand she puts her life in giving up cynthia i know what it means to you to give up delight we parents cannot expect to have all the joy and none of the suffering that comes with having children however he looked at zenis henry and a quiet sympathy passed from one man to the other but we should be selfish indeed were we to deny to those we love the best gift heaven has to bestow

Starting point is 07:51:38 it is making others happy in their way not in ours that tests our real affection for them and so i know that underneath all your personal regrets you rejoice in the prospect of delight's marriage as i rejoice in cynthia we shall not always be in this world to safeguard our daughters how much better to see their future in the protection of younger and stronger men than ourselves yes yes murmured zenis henry and now i want to speak to delight although i am sure she will wish you to hear what i have to say to her it is a matter of business about which she alone can decide when madame lee her grandmother died she left a large property in real estate and securities which she willed outright to an old friend of whom she was devotedly fond she felt the galbraiths were amply provided for and therefore with the exception of certain jewels and heirlooms that were to be retained in the family she bequeathed them nothing we understood the motives that governed her in thus disposing of her property and were in full accord with them the document however was drawn up before she knew of the existence of this other granddaughter and in view of this fact the person to whom the property is willed feels that it is only just that the whole or a part of it should be relinquished in delight's favor there was an instant's pause this the beneficiary does of his own accord not alone as a matter of duty or as a matter of honor but because his affection was so deep for madame lee that it is a pleasure to him to act as he thinks she would have desired

Starting point is 07:53:38 had not her end come so suddenly she would without doubt have made a new will and done this herself you mean that without courts or lawyers asking him to This man just wants to hand over the money, gasped Captain Jonas. Yes. Well, I don't know who he is, but I'll say this much for him. He's an honest cuss, ejaculated the fisherman. In spite of his earnestness, Mr. Galbraith smiled. Delight, however, had risen during the interval of silence, and with nervously clasped hands had gone to Zinus Henry's

Starting point is 07:54:21 side where she now stood her eyes large with thought her uncle turned toward her well my dear what have you to say he asked it is is very kind of a stranger to be so noble so generous she declared gently he mustn't think that i do not appreciate it but i couldn't take a cent of the money she went on with quick decision even had it been willed to me in the first place it would have made no difference i don't want to be unkind or to hurt anybody's feelings but can't you see that madame lee was really nothing in my life she came in and went out of it like a phantom and she did not begin to mean to me what she did to this old friend of hers just because at the close of her days it was discovered that i was of her kin it established no bond of affection between us nothing but a legal claim if she had lived and we had grown dear to one another and she had given the fortune to me out of her heart then i should have accepted it gladly but to have it bestowed on me merely by right of succession i couldn't think of touching a penny of it she caught her breath and her chin rose a trifle higher and besides she continued i would rather just be indebted to zenis henry and my own family my grandmother was unjust to my parents unkind although she lived to be sorry for it and would doubtless have done differently when she was older she was harsh and cruel to them i have forgiven but i never can forget it i don't want the lee money

Starting point is 07:56:18 zenis henry and the three captains give me all i need and i have no fears but that in the future bob can look out for me there was something in the proudly poised figure so slender and erect so firm and self-respecting in its calm decision that roused every hearer's admiration and drew from the new york financier an involuntary homage nevertheless with a fear that impulse might have prompted the girl's verdict he felt impelled to explain but you are tossing away a large sum thousands child you and your people would be rich we don't want to be rich cried delight with quivering nostril do we zenis henry she slipped an arm about his neck as he collapsed into his seat on the piazza rail we are happy just as we are you don't want me to take the lee money do you she asked putting her cheek against his no honey no you shan't be beholden to anyone but me he answered i hoped you'd decide as you have twould take half the pleasure out of my life if it warn't us that was to do for you just the same mr galbraith we thank you kindly for bringing the eye offer and your friend for makin it and though we refuse it tain't done in no unfriendly spirit i understand that nodded the financier nevertheless he gazed with no small amount of awe and respect at these poor fisher-folk who could so lightly fling aside a fortune maybe resumed zenis henry you'll tell this friend of madame lees that we've took note of his squirce

Starting point is 07:58:15 awareness. Oh, yes, do tell him that it was splendid of him. Splendid, interrupted delight. He's a gentleman, whoever he is, Captain Phineas added. Tell him so, from all of us. You might like to tell him so yourselves, returned Mr. Galbraith slowly. Hey, Zenas Henry questioned. Oh, we might write him, you mean? That's so. Likely, it would be more decent. We'd be sure of his know and how we felt if it was put down in black and white. What's his name?

Starting point is 07:58:57 Robert Morton. Robert Morton. Robert. Not our... Not Bob! Yes. He saw delight flush, and her eyes suddenly filled with tears. years.

Starting point is 07:59:17 Bob! she whispered half aloud. Bob! Zenas Henry drew her closer. What does the girl want with money? he demanded. When she's got a man like that, he's better than all the money on earth. But she'll get the money just the same, Zinus Henry, piped Captain Jonas. She'll get it. Have you thought of that? That? It'll be Bob's money, not mine, returned delight with shy dignity.

Starting point is 07:59:53 End of Chapter 22. Recording by Roger Maline. Chapter 23 of Flood Tide This Libervox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Roger Maline. Flood Tide by Sarah Ware Bassett. Chapter 23. Fame comes to the dream. of dreams. Richard Galbraith returned thoughtfully over the Harbor Road, not sorry at the turn affairs had taken. The honorable and magnanimous thing had been done

Starting point is 08:00:31 with the Lee fortune, and it had been firmly and proudly refused. Now it could go unreservedly to Robert Morton, for whom the financier had a particular regard, and in whose wisdom to make a sensible use of it, he felt every confidence. the money would not only place the young man in a position to marry without delay but indirectly its benefits would reach the two individuals that madame lee would most earnestly have desired to help nor did the capitalists regard for delight which had steadily been growing decrease when viewed from this new angle the lees were a proud race and the girl came justly by the attribute he was not sure now that he reflected on the matter but that he himself would have scorned the legacy in the same high-handed fashion nevertheless he had not expected this termination of the interview had not expected it at all his recently acquired relatives were proving themselves interesting persons who would have dreamed that a penniless fisherman's daughter would have tossed the lee duckets back into his face he laughed to himself when he thought of the paradox he had always admired spirit in a woman the car rolled on flashing past swamps of swaying iris bedded deep in the salt marsh grass

Starting point is 08:02:00 past tangles of fragrant honeysuckle and garlands of clinging clematis and presently shot out into the sunny stretch of road that like a white ribbon bound the blue waters of the bay when it reached the bluff where the sand mounted into green-capped dunes patched in their hollows with shadows of violet it slowed down and came to a stop before willie spence's weathered cottage the old inventor and bob were seated idly on the workshop steps no longer did the vibrant hammer and purring plane blend their metallic notes with the music of the turf their work was done and until he was kitched with a new idea Willie had nothing to do but smoke beneath the shade of the grapevine and rambler rose and watched the vast reach of water to the line where it melted into the blue of the sky. Since his interview with Mr. Galbraith, Robert Morton had had all he could do to keep from Willie the assurance that Genoa's accusations were false and that instead of misfortune,

Starting point is 08:03:05 good luck was winging its way toward the low gray house on the bay. Bob was a generous fellow, and it added tenfold to his present happiness to know that joy was also coming to one toward whom he cherished an abiding affection. The secret, however, was Mr. Galbraiths, and until the New Yorker saw fit to impart it, he must maintain silence. Therefore, with smiles reething his face, and the wonderful story locked tightly in his possession, he tried to be patient until he tried to be patient, until he was a while. the final revelation should be made and now with the approach of the capitalist he knew that at last the great moment had arrived the dream of years was to come true and the darling of willie's brain his greatest and most ambitious idea was to be made a potent factor in the broad universe so perfectly did he understand the quaint half-shinking inventor that he knew well no money no fame no prism could mean to him what this recognition would. Persons were to use the thing he had thought out, to use it neither because of friendship nor interest, but because it was a practical,

Starting point is 08:04:21 indispensable article which no mind had previously given to the world. In the days and weeks Bob had spent in the Spence cottage, it was impossible not to read all this, and more in the sensitive, hungering nature of the man who had worked beside him. Love and parenthood, in its smaller and more specific sense, had passed Willie Spence by, but in their place there had sprung into life a broader altruism and a larger creative impulse. The children his mind-begot were as much of his blood and marrow as if they had actually been born of his own flesh, and to have one of them go victoriously forth into that moving current that reached so far beyond his own humble door would be like sending a child into battle.

Starting point is 08:05:12 It transformed the father to one of the elect. Surely, thought Robert Morton, great and unexpected issues had centered about his visit to Wilton. When confronted by the present unfoldings, who would have the temerity to boast that one's destinies were matters of chance? Well, called Mr. Galbraith as he came, up the walk. You two people look comfortable. Is there room in that doorstep for one more?" "'Certainly, sir, certainly,' Willie replied. "'But wouldn't you rather we heaved a box or something out of the shop for you to set on? You'll find these steps a good way down, I'm afraid.' "'Not a bit of it,' the New Yorker answered, dropping into the welcome shade of the trellis.

Starting point is 08:06:03 "'You have deserted the shop, I see. Does that mean your work is done? Done and delivered, smiled Willie. We've discharged our cargo and ain't took nothing else aboard yet. We're just kind of riding at anchor. How did your friend, Mr. Brewster, like your handiwork? In spite of his native modesty, Willie's bronzed face lighted with pride.

Starting point is 08:06:31 Say, you ought of seen him, exclaimed he, forgetting everything else in his pleasure. He was struck clean a beam. He never suspected nothing about it, and the surprise took him broadside. And it works, continued the little man with enthusiasm. Yes, sirree, it works. That cockle-shell of a seagull goes ripping along through the eel grass,

Starting point is 08:06:57 her propeller clear and free, as if she had twenty fathoms of water under her. It's as pretty a sight as you'd care to look on." Mr. Galbraith watched the shining eyes of the inventor. "'Mr. Spence,' he said, "'that idea of yours is going to be a very useful and valuable one. Have you thought of that?' Willie flushed.

Starting point is 08:07:23 "'Well,' replied he with hesitation, "'y yesterday when I was shuckin' clams, it did come to me that maybe there'd be other folks besides Zin'en' as Henry would like it. A great many, folks, rejoined the capitalist. I am in a position to know, because shipbuilding chances to be my business. So I was told, his listener remarked quietly. An expression of quick surprise passed over the other's countenance.

Starting point is 08:07:55 Yes, he went on. Both Mr. Snelling and I are interested in boats in our way. it's a fine job willie observed evasively yes it is not only is shipbuilding a fascinating occupation but it is a patriotic one as well for i believe the resurrection of our merchant marine to be one of the most important duties of our nation everything that works toward that end is a service to the country in my estimation you're right sir was the rejoinder i'm terrible fond of ships myself. They're human as people and is different. You can turn them out from the same model, but no two of them will ever be alike. I've got a little yawl down on the shore I wouldn't take a thousand dollars for. She's known as if she was alive. I can tell to an inch how much sails she'll stand and how much water she'll draw. She answers to the tiller quick as a child

Starting point is 08:09:00 to your voice, too, quicker in most children. I've had her for years, and smooth weather or foul, she ain't never gone back on me. Folks disappoint you sometimes, but a boat never does. As if sensing that he was venturing on dangerous ground, he stopped abruptly. So, you build boats, do you? He commented to change the subject.

Starting point is 08:09:26 Richard Galbraith nodded. That's my calling. he assented and since it is i am in a position to handle things that have to do with boats of all kinds that is why your motor-boat idea has interested me so deeply i saw its possibilities from the moment i first laid eyes on it and i wish to congratulate you on having given the public such a useful invention it ain't got far toward the public objected willie with a deprecating shrug of his shoulders but it's going to mr galbraith declared with promptness bob mr snelling and i have taken matters into our own hands and have ventured to have an application for a patent prepared description claims and all and after you have sworn to the affidavit and affixed your signature we will send it off to washington where i haven't a doubt it will be granted i thought this would save you the bother of attending to it yourself poor willie was too amazed to speak now galbraithen company will want the monopoly of that patent mr spence hurried on the financier we're going to make you a proposition either for the purchase of it outright or for its use on a royalty basis with a supreme disregard for business willie wheeled on him before he could go further and said simply

Starting point is 08:10:59 law mr galbraith you can use the thing and welcome turn out as many of em as you like it won't make no odds to me but the patent think of having a real patent on something i've thought out just you picture it he repeated the words in a soft musing voice that hushed his hearers into stillness i never thought to live to see the day anything of mine would be patented that means that nobody else anywhere in the world ever was kitched by that same idea before don't it it's sort of sort of wonderful and gratifying but if it hadn't been for the rest of you that's helped me the clap traption would never have been in any kind of shape t'would have been just a hit or miss contrivance like the rest of the ideas i've got indoors you see i never had the schooling to manage my notions even when once i'd got em i know that well enough so if i should get a patent on this thing twould be mostly due to you that's helped me and i thank you most humble his voice trembled with feeling after all you've done the three of you you wouldn't expect me to take money from you for using the scheme would you take it and welcome and may it bring luck to your business but there's one thing i would like he added timidly if we should get them patent papers from the government and they ain't no particular use to you i'd like to keep em by me to read over now and again it would sort of make it all seem more real some way and less as if i dreamed it i've imagined this happenin so many times and woke up to find it was only imaginins the blue eyes softened into mistiness

Starting point is 08:12:56 to think of getting a patent to think of it celestina will be glad i'm afraid by and large i've bothered her quite considerable with my strings and spools and tact and such. She'll like to know some of them went for something after all. The Brewsters and delight will be pleased, too. And there's Genoa. Oh, Genoa must be told right away, Bob. Quick as ever we can fetch it. It will clear the air twixt him and me and make us both happier. I ain't never been able to convince him that, if you put your trust in folks, they seldom betray it. who knows but when he finds out what's happened he'll catch that idea if he should it would be worth all the inventions and patents in the world put together look for the best i say and you get it every time continued the little old man with a smile of exquisite serenity the universe is full of kindly souls with hearts a-beaten inside em same's yours meet em with your hands out and their hands will come the other half-way it is a pity you can't take out a patent on that notion mr spence and so it broadcast returned the new yorker soberly willie's gaze travelled with wistful and reverent faith across the other's face to the sky above him

Starting point is 08:14:28 somehow he murmured i like to believe that idea was patented centuries ago by one who put it right to work by believing the best of all us poor sinners folks ain't used the notion yet much as they might but they're gettin round to and the day'll come when not to believe in the other fellow's soul will be like well like heaven a motor-boat without our attachment concluded he whimsically End of Chapter 23. End of Flood Tide by Sarah Ware Bassett.

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