said;
"I'm not going to dispute it. I'm willing to do my duty by her. But
mind, I'm not a rich man--not a rich man," he added.

Coomber was puzzled for a minute to know what he meant, and was about to
say that he wanted no payment for keeping Tiny; but the other lifted his
hand in a commanding manner, and exclaimed: "Now, hear me first. Let me
have my say, and then, perhaps, we can come to terms about the matter.
You've got a wife, I s'pose, that can look after this child. I haven't;
and if she came to me, I shouldn't know what to do with her. Well now,
that being the case, she'd better stay here--for the present at least;
she's happy enough, I s'pose; and I'll pay you twenty pounds a year as
my share towards her expenses."

Coomber was about to exclaim indignantly against this, and protest that
he would accept no payment; but just then he caught sight of Bob and the
old boat, and the thought of what that money would enable him to do kept
him silent a little longer.

"Well now," resumed the old man, "if that plan suits you, we'll come to
business at once. You've had her about eighteen months now, so there's
about thirty pounds due. You see I'm an honest man, and mean to do the
just thing by her," he added.

"Thirty pounds!" repeated Coomber, to whom such a sum seemed immense
wealth. But the other mistook the exclamation for one of discontent, and
so he said, quickly, "Well now, I'll throw you ten pounds in, as I hear
you were the one that saved her, and pay you the next six months in
advance. That'll make it a round fifty; but I won't go a penny farther.
Now will that satisfy you?"

Satisfy him? Coomber was debating with himself whether he ought to take
a farthing, considering what a rich blessing the little girl had been to
him. It was only the thought of the bitter winter they had just passed
through, and that, if he could get a new boat, he could better provide
for the child, that made him hesitate, lest in refusing it he should do
Tiny a wrong.

At length, after a pause, during which he had silently lifted his heart
in prayer to God, he said: "Well, sir, for the little 'un's sake I'll
take your offer. But, look you, I shall use this money as a loan that is
to be returned; and as I can save it, I shall put it in the bank for
her."

The other shrugged his shoulders. "You can do as you like about that. I
shall come and see the child sometimes, and----"

"Do, sir, do, God bless her! To think she's my Jack's ch