"No, no—I don't doubt that," answered the sailor. "But I be going to give work a rest."
"And find a wife, if he can," continued Melinda. "Us must help him, Joe."
"I always swore as I'd marry a maiden from the Vale," said Robert Withycombe.
"The puzzle will be to find one, I tell him," laughed Melinda "I know a likely girl all the same, and so does Mr. Stockman, Bob."
Joe guessed to whom she referred, and it showed him that Melinda knew nothing of the threatened tragedy.
"I reckon you mean Orphan Dinah," he said. "Well and why not? A very sensible young woman. The man that gets her will be lucky."
"They'd be a proper pair and I hope Bob will think well of her. But he must be warned that she's already changed her mind in one quarter."
"That's not against her," replied Joe. "That shows strength of character and she had every right to do so. I only hope I know another woman who'll be wise enough to change her mind."
Before this veiled attack, Melinda was silent and Robert spoke.
"My girl, when she comes along, won't have no time to change her mind. She've got to marry me and be quick about it. Then us must find a little house to Southampton, or else Plymouth."