"And we d-don't want to," said Chrissie. "It's all we can do, and we're
going to do it. You'd better g-go out and stop something else. You can't
stop us."
The captain took the advice and went, and in the billiard-room of the
"George" heard some news which set him thinking, and which brought him
back somewhat earlier than he had at first intended. A small group at
his gate broke up into its elements at his approach, and the captain,
following his sister and daughter into the room, sat down and eyed them
severely.
"So you're going to run off to London to get married, are you, miss?" he
said ferociously. "Well, we'll see. You don't go out of my sight until
we sail, and if I catch that pettifogging lawyer round at my gate again,
I'll break every bone in his body, mind that."
For the next three days the captain kept his daughter under observation,
and never allowed her to stir abroad except in his company. The evening
of the third day, to his own great surprise, he spent at a Dorcas. The
company was not congenial, several of the ladies putting their work
away, and glaring frigidly at the intruder; and though they could see
clearly that he was suffering greatly, made no attempt to put him at his
ease. He was very thoughtful all the way home, and the next day took a
partner into the concern, in the shape of his boatswain.
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