he said to the lawyer, "and you
can't blame her much. She cal'lates New York's nothin' but a sham from
stern to stern, manned by liars and swindlers and hypocrites and
officered by thieves. 'Tain't no use to tell her 'tain't, though she
might pretend to believe it, if _I_ told her, for just now the poor girl
thinks I'm Solomon and Saint Peter rolled into one. The way she agrees
to whatever I say and the way she looks at me and sort of holds on to
me, as if I was her only anchor in a gale, I declare it makes me feel
meaner than poorhouse tea--and that's made of blackberry leaves steeped
in memories of better things, so I've heard say. _Am_ I a low down
scamp, playin' a dirty mean trick on a couple of orphans? What do you
think, Sylvester?"

"You know what I think, Captain Warren," replied the lawyer. "You're
handling the whole matter better than any other man could handle it. No
one else would have thought of it, to begin with; and the results so far
prove that you're right."

"Yup. Maybe. I wish you was around to say that to me when I wake up
nights and get to thinkin'. However, as I said, Caroline believes New
York is like a sailors' dance hall, a place for decent folks to steer
clear of. And when the feller you've been engaged to is shown up as a
sneak and your own dad as a crook--well, you can't blame a green hand
for holdin' prejudice against the town that raised 'em. She'll get over
it; but just now I cal'late some little flat, or, better still, a
little home out where the back yards ain't made of concrete, would be
a first-class port for us to make for. Don't know of such a place at a
reasonable rent, do you?"

"I might find one. And you may be right; your niece might like it
better, though it will be somewhat of a change. But how about your
nephew? He has no objection to the metropolis, I should judge. What will
he say?"

"Nothin', I guess--unless he says it to himself. Steve's goin' back to
New Haven with things on his mind. He and I had a mornin' service, and
I was the parson. He listened, because when you ain't got a cent except
what the society allows you, it ain't good orthodoxy to dodge the
charity sermon. Steve'll behave, and what he don't like he'll lump. If
he starts to open his mouth his ear'll ache, I cal'late. I talked turkey
to that young man. Ye-es," with a slight smile, "I'm sort of afraid I
lost patience with Stevie."

When Caroline first saw the little house, with its shingled sides, the
d