"Yes." Ralph did not say how much more than a friend she was coming to be to him.
Uncle Sid felt the repellent air of Ralph's changed mood more than his rather curt reply, but he held doggedly to his point.
"Smallpox is a mighty mean disease an' you don't always know that you're a catchin' it till it breaks out."
Ralph rose to his feet. Uncle Sid was breaking ground that he had thought about, but which he had not yet brought himself to touch.
"Helen has always been able to take care of herself and I don't think she will allow any one to suggest that she can't do it now."
Uncle Sid was on his feet too, his hand on Ralph's shoulder.
"Helen's a woman, Ralph. I don't know much about women, but I do know that a man like 'Lige Berl and a woman like Helen Lonsdale is a mighty dangerous mixture, an' the woman's bound to get the worst of it. Helen's goin' to need friends who'll stand by her, an' I guess when you think it over, you'll agree with me."
Ralph made no reply, but he did as the Captain had said he would do. He thought it over and the seed did not fall on stony or barren ground.