auled in the
gang-plank when we set down."

He disappeared into the store and almost at once a shrill feminine
voice greeted him as "Cap'n Abe." Vastly abused, Louise arose and
softly followed to the store.

"Give me coupla dozen clothespins and a big darnin' needle, Cap'n Abe.
I got my wash ready to hang out and found them pesky young 'uns of Myra
Stout's had got holt o' my pin bag and fouled the pins all up usin' 'em
for markers in their garden. I want--land sakes! Who--what----
_Where's_ Cap'n Abe?"

"He ain't here just now," Cap'n Amazon replied. "I'm his brother.
You'll have to pick out the needle you want. I can find and count the
clothespins, I guess. Two dozen, you say?"

"Land sakes! Cap'n Abe gone away? Don't seem possible."

"There's a hull lot of seemin' impossible things in this world that
come to pass just the same," the substitute storekeeper made answer,
with some tartness. "Here's the needle drawer. Find what you want,
ma'am."

Louise was frankly spying. She saw that the customer was a lanky young
woman in a sunbonnet. When she dropped the bonnet back upon her narrow
shoulders with an impatient jerk, the better to see the needles, it was
revealed that her thin, light hair was drawn so tightly back from her
face that it actually seemed to make her pop-eyed.

She had a rather pretty pink and white complexion, and aside from the
defect of hairdressing might have been attractive. She possessed a
thin and aquiline nose, however, the nostrils fairly quivering with
eagerness and curiosity.

"Land sakes!" she was saying. "I know Cap'n Abe's been talkin' of
goin' away--the longest spell! But so suddent--'twixt night and
mornin' as ye might say------"

"Exactly," said Cap'n Amazon dryly, and went on counting the pins from
the box into a paper sack.

"What 'bout the girl that's come here? That movie actress?" asked the
young woman with added sharpness in her tone. "What you going to do
with _her_?"

Cap'n Amazon came back to the counter and even his momentary silence
was impressive. He favored the customer with a long stare.

"Course, 'tain't none o' my business. I was just askin'----"

"You made an int'restin' discovery, then, ma'am," he said. "It _ain't_
any of your business. Me and my niece'll get along pretty average
well, I shouldn't wonder. Anything else, ma'am? I see the needle's
two cents and the pins two cents a dozen. Six cents in all."

"Well, I run a book with