“What am I?” with a little smile.
“And you really think you could be happy if you was the wife of an old codger like me?”
“Yes.” The answer was short, but it was convincing.
Captain Eri rose to his feet.
“Gosh!” he said in a sort of unbelieving whisper. “Marthy, are you willin' to try?”
And again Mrs. Snow said “Yes.”
When Dr. Palmer came he found Luther Davis still in bed, but Captain Eri was up and dressed, and there was such a quiet air of happiness about him that the man of medicine was amazed.
“Good Lord, man!” he exclaimed, “I expected to find you flat on your back, and you look better than I've seen you for years. Taking a salt-water bath in mid-winter must agree with you.”
“It ain't so much that,” replied the Captain serenely. “It's the pay I got for takin' it.”
When the Doctor saw Perez alone, he asked the latter to keep a close watch on Captain Eri's behavior. He said he was afraid that the exertion and exposure might have affected the Captain's brain.