ected something of the matter betwixt him and
Cherry, and as plainly disapproved. He looked upon Cherry as
promised to her cousin Jacob, and doubtless he thought the steady,
plodding, slow-witted son of the house of Dyson a far safer husband
for his feather-brained youngest than handsome Cuthbert Trevlyn,
with his gentler birth, his quick and keen intelligence, and his
versatile, inquiring mind, which was always inclining him to meddle
in matters better left alone, and to judge for himself with an
independence that was perilous in times like these. Not that Martin
Holt was himself averse to independence of judgment, rather the
reverse; but he knew the dangers besetting the path of those who
were resolved to think and judge for themselves, and he would fain
have seen his youngest and dearest child safely made over to the
care of one who would be content to go through life without asking
troublesome questions or intermeddling with matters of danger and
difficulty, and would conform to all laws, civil and religious,
without a qualm, recognizing the King's will as supreme in all
matters, temporal and spiritual, without a doubt or a scruple.
Cherry would be safe with Jacob, that was Martin's feeling, whilst
with Cuthbert he could have no such security. Cuthbert had still
his way to make in the world, and it had not yet appeared that he
would be of any use in business matters. He was clever with his
pen. He was a good scholar, and had been able to make himself
useful to his uncle in a number of small matters where his
quickness and sharp wits had room to work. He was also of no small
use in the matter of the building and fitting up of the new sloop,
in which he took such keen interest. He would go over every bit of
the work, comparing it with what he saw in other vessels, and
learning quickly to distinguish good workmanship from bad. He
became so ready of resource and suggestion when any small
difficulty occurred, that both Martin Holt and Abraham Dyson
learned to think exceedingly well of his abilities, and employed
him largely in matters where quickness of observation and
apprehension was wanted. But for all that, and despite the fact
that he had earned some considerable sum of money (as he reckoned
it) during the winter and spring months, he had shown no great
desire to settle himself down to any steady occupation or trade,
and neither of the elder men saw any opening for him that should
give him regular and permanent occ