“Now, ain’t that a caution to saints! And us a-standing here and not trying to stop him. He’s gone plumb off in his head!” lamented the housekeeper, dropping limply into a chair. “What ever shall I do, Mr. McGowan? I know he’s coming down with that terrible fever again. I know it! I know it!” She wept bitterly. “There ain’t been no one so kind to me, and that cares for me like him! And I ain’t never give him any chance!”
“Do you really care for the Captain?”
She straightened, and dabbed her apron into the corners of her eyes, attempting at the same time to marshal a legion of denials. But the legion refused to be marshaled. She gave up, and admitted that she did care for Captain Josiah, very much.
“Then, he’ll come back, have no fear. A twenty-mule team couldn’t keep him away.”
“What good will it be if he does come back, if he ain’t got his senses?”
“In my opinion he was never more sane than he is to-night. He has not taken leave of his senses; he is not a man so easily dethroned. He has merely taken a leave of absence from town, and all his five senses have gone with him.”
After Miss Pipkin had gone to her room 264 somewhat comforted, Mr. McGowan spied the yellow piece of paper which the Captain had dropped. He stooped down, picked it up, smoothed the crumpled page, and began to read. His eyes widened with each additional line.
“Jim and I are going into partnership over here in Sydney. It isn’t just what I’d like, but there are certain advantages. He is a keen fellow, and I’ll have to watch him pretty close. There is an older man who has taken us into his firm, so Jim can’t have his own way. There is loads of money here, and I mean to get my share of it.
“Jim and I are both fighting for the same girl. She is the daughter of the old man who heads up the firm. May the best man win, providing I’m the best man. I’ll give him some run for his money, anyway. I think I’m on the inside track for the present.
“I guess you’d better not say anything about Jim being over here. He isn’t using his own name, and says he wants it kept a dead secret. Just what his game is, I don’t know. But there are lots just like him who are hiding behind assumed names.
“I’m too harum-scarum a sailor for a quiet home-loving woman like you, so just forget me. Be good to–––”