"Don't tell me," stormed the lady; "I saw it all through the skylight."
"We had to shift the helm to get out of the way of a schooner," said
Codd.
"Where's the schooner?" demanded Mrs. Bunker; "where is it?"
The captain looked at the mate. "Where's the schooner?" said he.
"I b'leeve," said the mate, losing his head entirely at this question,
"I b'leeve we must have run her down. I don't see her nowhere about."
Mrs. Bunker stamped her foot, and, with a terrible glance at the men,
descended to the cabin. From this coign of vantage she obstinately
refused to budge, and sat in angry seclusion until the vessel reached
Ipswich late in the evening. Then she appeared on deck, dressed for
walking, and, utterly ignoring the woebegone Codd, stepped ashore, and,
obtaining a cab for her boxes, drove silently away.
An hour afterwards the mate went to his home, leaving the captain
sitting on the lonely deck striving to realise the bitter fact that, so
far as the end he had in view was concerned, he had seen the last of
Mrs. Bunker and the small but happy home in which he had hoped to
install her.
A HARBOUR OF REFUGE
A waterman's boat was lying in the river just below Greenwich, the
waterman resting on his oars, while his fare, a small, perturbed-looking
man in seaman's attire, gazed expectantly up the river.
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