"More than the sun to make a fellow's blood boil, Mr. Bassett, sometimes."
"Oh, sugar!" rejoined the lightkeeper. "Ye don't let that feller bother ye none, do you, Ralph?"
"I do not like him much," the young man said stiffly.
"You mean you don't like him to be fooling around Lorny, hey?" said Tobias, his head shrewdly on one side.
"It is none of my business——"
"Course it is! Course it is!" exclaimed the lightkeeper vigorously. "I've just about sized this Degger feller up, I cal'late. His folks ain't any too well off, and I bet he'll never get round-shouldered carrying his money around."
"What has that to do with it, Mr. Bassett?" demanded Ralph, rather startled.
"Why, Lorny can't afford to waste her time with a feller like him," the lightkeeper declared coolly. "She's got to marry somebody with money. I know by the way Miss Ida was talkin' the other day over here, she was worried about Lorny marrying."
"What do you mean, Tobias Bassett?" ejaculated Ralph, dropping down on the bench beside him.
"Why, I cal'late you know more about the Nicholets' affairs than I do."