"Little maid, little maid," said the captain, "what brings you out here in this dreadful place alone? Is there no one to care for you, poor baby?"
"I came out to see--Comethup," said the child, getting over the name with difficulty, "and Mrs. Blissett saw me and said I should stop here in the dark, and banged the door and went in. I 'spects she's forgotten me."
The captain murmured something concerning Mrs. Blissett behind his heavy mustache, and suddenly gathered the child up in his arms and rose to his feet. And when he spoke, although his voice was very gentle, it was very determined.
"He's writing, and talking to himself," replied the child.
"I'll talk to him," said the captain. "Which way do I go--round here?"
The child told him the way, and he marched steadily through the wet leaves and the long grass, with Comethup following him, until he came to a door. Still holding the child in his arms, he began vigorously to kick at the door, flinging his foot at it at regular intervals like musket-shots. A sharp and querulous voice replied suddenly from the other side:
"Stay where ye be, ye brat! I bean't goin' to 'ave ye runnin' in and out just as ye likes. And stop a-kickin' that door."
"Open the door!" cried the captain, in a very loud voice.
There was a shuffling of feet on the other side, and the door was pulled open. A candle had been set down on some bare, uncarpeted stairs near at hand, and was flaring in the wind; a heavy, surprised-looking country-woman stood in the doorway, looking out at the little group.
"Are you Mrs. Blissett?" asked the captain, rapping out the words fiercely.
"Yes, sir, I be," said the woman, hurriedly bending herself at the knees, in a sort of staggering courtesy.
"Then what the devil do you mean by putting this baby out in the rain?" exclaimed the captain. "Stand aside, and let me in. Where's your master!"
The woman was at first too startled to reply; she backed against the wall, and waved one hand feebly toward the stairs. The captain nodded at the candle, and the woman, with her eyes blinking nervously, groped for it, picked it up, and backed away with it.
"Go first," said the captain, "and tell your master that a gentleman wishes to see him.--Comethup, follow me."