ty
well aware that them things takes time an' costs money. In lieu o' them
as the lawyers say I'm servin' ye with this"--he extended the
check--"an' we'll fix the hull thing up in the mornin', an' sail no'th
in the evenin' on my New York friend's yacht, for our after-nuptals.
But, consarn ye! thar's jest one other condition: Sure as shootin',
ye'll have to pay our way back!"

Sarah took the check to the light. She gasped as she read the four
figures. There was awe in her voice as she pronounced the words aloud:

"Five-thousand dollars!"

Then, after a moment, she questioned seriously:

"Ichabod, are ye goin' to build the addition on the hotel besides?"

The old fisherman nodded emphatically.

"That," he stoutly declared, "was a gentleman's promise!"

Sarah capitulated.

"Ichabod Jones, I ought to call you a triflin' rascal for starting in to
scare me like you've done. Anyhow, I jest can't make it earlier than
eleven-thirty. Will that do?"

The fisherman's reply was to take Sarah in his arms. Roy and Van Dusen
in the hotel lobby hailed the smack that followed as a signal of the
wooer's success.

CHAPTER XXV

DOING HIS BIT

Ichabod saw Ethel come out on the porch and take a seat at the far end.
He somewhat hastily released Sarah from his arms, with the explanation
that he ought to leave her free to make her preparations for the
wedding. The spinster, blushing with happiness and excitement, hurried
to busy herself with making ready for her new state of full womanhood.
Just as Roy reached Ethel's side, Ichabod joined the two with the glad
tidings of his sweetheart's acceptance of the "pre-nuptals." The
fisherman's apprehensions concerning too much publicity for the wedding
ceremony led him rather shyly to suggest that it should take place on
board _The Hialdo_, away from the prying eyes of the townsfolk. He
explained that he didn't know which would be worse--the small boys, or
the older devils, or the cacklin' hens.

Immediately after the bank opened next morning, the cashier readjusted
his enormous bone-rimmed spectacles in order to study a check presented
for deposit by Miss Sarah Porter. Then he espied the phrase concerning
"pre-nuptals" in the upper left-hand corner, and that was sufficient,
for he was a man of shrewdness. He passed the news along to every person
that appeared before his wicket. In less than half an hour, the whole
town was agog over the astounding intelligence that the old maid