u heard from Emmie, I asked you?" he repeated.

He would not listen to anything further concerning Thomas, either then
or later. He was sick of the whole business, he declared, and now that
everything was all right, didn't wish to talk about it again. He asked
nothing about the appropriation, and the lawyer, acting under strict
orders, did not mention it.

Only once did Captain Cy inquire concerning a person in his home town
who was not a member of his household.

"How is--er--how's the teacher?" he inquired one morning.

"How's who?"

"Why--Phoebe Dawes, the school-teacher. Smart, is she?"

"Yes, indeed! Why, she has been the most--"

The doctor came in just then and the interview terminated. It was not
resumed, because that afternoon Mr. Peabody started for Boston on a
business trip, to be gone some time.

And at last came the great day, the day when Captain Cy was to be taken
home. He was up and about, had been out for several short walks, and was
very nearly his own self again. He was in good spirits, too, at times,
but had fits of seeming depression which, under the circumstances, were
unexplainable. The doctor thought they were due to his recent illness
and forbade questioning.

The original plan had been for the captain to go to Bayport in the
train, but the morning set for his departure was such a beautiful
one that Mr. Peabody, who had the day before returned from the city,
suggested driving over. So the open carriage, drawn by the Peabody
"span," was brought around to the front steps, and the captain, bundled
up until, as he said, he felt like a wharf rat inside a cotton bale,
emerged from the house which had sheltered him for a weary month and
climbed to the back seat. The attorney got in beside him.

"All ashore that's goin' ashore," observed Captain Cy. Then to the
driver, who stood by the horses' heads, he added: "Stand by to get ship
under way, commodore. I'm homeward bound, and there's a little messmate
of mine waitin' on the dock already, I wouldn't wonder. So don't hang
around these waters no longer'n you can help."

But Mr. Peabody smiled and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Just a minute, captain," he said. "We've got another passenger. She
came to the house last evening, but Dr. Cole thought this would be an
exciting day for you, and you must sleep in preparation for it. So we
kept her in the background. It was something of a job but--Hurrah! here
she is!"

Mrs. Peabody, the lawyer's w