“Think now, Marthy. I ain't very young, and I ain't very rich.”
“And you really think you could be happy if you was the wife of an old codger like me?”
“Yes.” The answer was short, but it was convincing.
“Gosh!” he said in a sort of unbelieving whisper. “Marthy, are you willin' to try?”
When Dr. Palmer came he found Luther Davis still in bed, but Captain Eri was up and dressed, and there was such a quiet air of happiness about him that the man of medicine was amazed.
“Good Lord, man!” he exclaimed, “I expected to find you flat on your back, and you look better than I've seen you for years. Taking a salt-water bath in mid-winter must agree with you.”
“It ain't so much that,” replied the Captain serenely. “It's the pay I got for takin' it.”
When the Doctor saw Perez alone, he asked the latter to keep a close watch on Captain Eri's behavior. He said he was afraid that the exertion and exposure might have affected the Captain's brain.
Perez, alarmed by this caution, did watch his friend very closely, but he saw nothing to frighten him until, as they were about to start for home, Captain Eri suddenly struck his thigh a resounding slap
“Jerry!” he groaned distressfully. “I clean forgot. I've gone back on Jerry!”
Elsie and Captain Jerry were kept busy that afternoon. Abner Mayo's news spread quickly, and people gathered at the post-office, the stores, and the billiard room to discuss it. Some of the men, notably “Cy” Warner and “Rufe” Smith, local representatives of the big Boston dailies, hurried off to the life-saving station to get the facts at first hand. Others came down to talk with Captain Jerry and Elsie. Melissa Busteed's shawl was on her shoulders and her “cloud” was tied about her head in less than two minutes after her next-door neighbor shouted the story across the back yards. She had just left the house, and Captain Jerry was delivering a sarcastic speech concerning “talkin' machines,” when Daniel plodded through the gate, drawing the buggy containing Josiah, Mrs. Snow, and Captain Eri.
For a man who had been described as “half-dead,” Captain Eri looked very well, indeed. Jerry ran to help him from the carriage, but he jumped out himself and then assisted the housekeeper to alight with an air of proud proprietorship. He was welcomed to the house like a returned prodigal, and Captain Jerry shook his well hand until the arm belonging to it seemed likely to become as stiff and sore as the other. While this handshaking was going on Captain Eri was embarrassed. He did not look his friend in the face, and most of his conversation was addressed to Elsie.
