"And I shall. I've lost too much time already, and I should be in the city by now. I have an important business engagement there. Confound it all!"
Without another word he turned and strode out of the house, slamming the front door after him. There was silence in the room for a brief space, broken at last by the captain's chuckle of amusement.
"Ho, ho," he laughed, "that feller got a dose to-night, didn't he?
What d'ye say, Martha? Got a big hand-out fer me now?"
"No, Sam'l," was the quiet reply. "I really can't scold you this time. You did what was right in saving that poor girl from such a brutal father. But why didn't you tell me about it?"
The captain shuffled uneasily, although his eyes twinkled.
"I was really afraid to, Martha," he confessed. "But I was wrong. I'll never do sich a thing agin. The next gal who flops herself aboard the 'Eb an' Flo,' I'll bring straight home fer you to look after."
"For pity's sake, Sam'l, I hope you'll never get into such a scrape again. And you are not out of this one yet, from all appearance. Mr. Randall is a hard man to deal with, and I feel sure that he intends to go to law about this affair."
"He kin go to law, or to, or to——" The captain longed to say just where, but he checked himself in time. "If Randall wants a fight, jist let him come along. If he gits me into court I'll tell him a few things I didn't mention to-night."
"But it may take our place, Sam'l," Mrs. Tobin reminded. "Mr. Randall is a rich man and money will do almost anything these days."
"I don't care a hang, Martha, how much money he's got. I've got right on my side, an' I guess that's never forsaken a man yit, not under the Union Jack, at any rate. To save a gal from a brute of a father is worth a great deal to my way of thinkin'. Hey, Eben, don't ye agree with me? You had a hand in this."