d he should not be
able to get it at all for Ethan. I hope your father will be able to do
something."

"I hope so. If I could find any one who would give me a hundred and
fifty dollars for this boat, I would sell her quick, and hand the money
over to father. It would pay his interest, into thirty dollars, and
perhaps he could raise the rest, though he says he has not had twenty
dollars in his hand at one time for a month. I can't exactly see why it
is that when men are making money hand over fist in some parts of the
country, everything is so dead in Rockhaven. The quarries have all
stopped working, and the fishermen have gone to the war," said Leopold,
as the Rosabel reached her landing place near the hotel, where she was
carefully moored; and the boys went on shore.

"By the way, Stumpy," continued the skipper, as they walked up the steep
path towards the road, "you said I might be able to do something to help
your mother out of her trouble. If I can, I'm sure I should be glad to
do so."

"I don't know that I will say anything about it now. Your case is rather
worse than mine, if anything, and you have enough to think of without
bothering your head with my mother's troubles," replied Stumpy.

"Of course I can't raise any money to help her out; but if I can do
anything else, nothing would please me more."

"If you have any friends, you ought to use them for your father."

"What do you mean by friends? I haven't any friends."

"Yes, you have; but I don't know that you have the cheek to call upon
them. I suppose it will do no harm to tell you what I was thinking
about, Le," added Stumpy, when they reached the road, and halted there.
"Your boat is called the Rosabel. You gave her that name."

"Of course I did. What has that to do with this matter?" demanded
Leopold, puzzled by the roundabout manner in which his friend approached
his subject.

"You named the boat after somebody," continued Stumpy, with something
like a chuckle in his tones.

"I named her after Miss Rosabel Hamilton, whose father has been one of
the best customers of the hotel. Perhaps I had my weather eye open when
I christened the sloop."

"Certainly you had," ejaculated Stumpy.

"But it was only to please the family, and induce them to stay longer at
the hotel."

"Perhaps it was," added Stumpy, placing a wicked emphasis on the first
word.

"O, I know it was!" protested Leopold.

"But I used to think you were rather sweet on Miss Rosab