This little scene touched us all, and Mrs. Aleshine afterwards informed me that for a moment she hadn't a dry eye in her head.
Mr. Dusante now handed the ginger-jar to Mrs. Lecks, who immediately stepped towards Ruth and Lucille.
"You two young ones," she said, "can jus' take this jar, an' your hands can be the first to lift off that paper of fish-hooks and take out the money, which you will then divide among our good friends, these sailor men."
Ruth and Lucille immediately sat down on the floor of the piazza and the one emptied the board-money into the lap of the other, where it was speedily divided into three equal portions, one of which was placed in the hands of each mariner.
The men stood motionless, each holding his money in his open right hand, and then the red-bearded coxswain spoke.
"It ain't for me, nor for Bill, nor for Jim nuther, to say a word agin what you all think is right and square. We've stood by ye an' obeyed orders since we first shipped on that island, an' we intend to do so straight along, don't we, Jim an' Bill?"
"Aye, aye, sir!" said Jim and Bill, in hearty hoarse response.
"There's some of ye, 'specially Mrs. Aleshine, though meanin' no disrespec' to anybody else, that we'd foller to the cross-trees of the top-gallant mast of the tallest ship that ever floated in the middle of the ragin'est typhoon that ever blowed. Wouldn't we, Jim and Bill?"
"Aye, aye, sir!" sang out Jim and Bill.
"But though we stand ready to obey orders," said the coxswain, "we made up our minds, when we heard what was goin' to be done, that we'd listen keerful fer one thing, an' we have listened keerful an' we haven't heard that one thing, an' that thing was what we should do with this money. An' not havin' heard it, an' so bein' under no orders as to the spendin' of it, we take the money, an' thank you kindly, one an all. Don't we, Jim and Bill?"