ith.
But all the other maidth hath un, Tumm, an' I wanth one, too. I 'low
they ithn't no woman happy without one, Tumm. An' I ithn't never had
no chanth afore. No chanth, Tumm, though God knowth they ithn't
nothin' I wouldn't do,' says she, 't' get what I wanth! I'll wed the
fool,' says she. 'It ithn't a man I wanth tho much; no, it ithn't a
man. Ith--'

"'What you wantin', Liz?' says I.

"'It ithn't a man, Tumm,' says she.

"'No?' says I. 'What is it, Liz?'

"'Ith a baby,' says she.

"God! I felt bad when she told me that...."

* * * * *

Tumm stopped, sighed, picked at a knot in the table. There was
silence in the cabin. The _Quick as Wink_ was still nodding to the
swell--lying safe at anchor in a cove of Twist Tickle. We heard the
gusts scamper over the deck and shake the rigging; we caught, in
the intervals, the deep-throated roar of breakers, far off--all the
noises of the gale. And Tumm picked at the knot with his clasp-knife;
and we sat watching, silent, all. And I felt bad, too, because of
the maid at Whooping Harbor--a rolling waste of rock, with the
moonlight lying on it, stretching from the whispering mystery of the
sea to the greater desolation beyond; and an uncomely maid, alone and
wistful, wishing, without hope, for that which the hearts of women
must ever desire....

* * * * *

"Ay," Tumm drawled, "it made me feel bad t' think o' what she'd been
wantin' all them years; an' then I wished I'd been kinder t' Liz....
An', 'Tumm,' thinks I, 'you went an' come ashore t' stop this here
thing; but you better let the skipper have his little joke, for 'twill
on'y s'prise him, an' it won't do nobody else no hurt. Here's this
fool,' thinks I, 'wantin' a wife; an' he won't never have another
chance. An' here's this maid,' thinks I, 'wantin' a baby; an' _she_
won't never have another chance. 'Tis plain t' see,' thinks I, 'that
God A'mighty, who made un, crossed their courses; an' I 'low, ecod!'
thinks I, 'that 'twasn't a bad idea He had. If He's got to get out of
it somehow,' thinks I, 'why, _I_ don't know no better way. Tumm,'
thinks I, 'you sheer off. Let Nature,' thinks I, 'have course an' be
glorified.' So I looks Liz in the eye--an' says nothin'.

"'Tumm,' says she, 'doth you think he--'

"'Don't you be scared o' nothin',' says I. 'He's a lad o' good
feelin's,' says I, 'an' he'll treat you the best he knows how. Is