“Bos'n,” said Captain Cy quickly, “you stay here in the kitchen.”
Emmie looked at him in surprised bewilderment, but she suppressed her curiosity concerning the identity of the person who had knocked, and obeyed. The captain pulled the kitchen door almost shut and listened at the crack.
The first spoken words by the visitor appeared to relieve Captain Cy's anxiety; but they seemed to astonish him greatly.
“Why!” he exclaimed in a whisper. “Ain't that—It sounds like—”
“It's teacher,” whispered Bos'n, who also had been listening. “She's come to find out why I wasn't at school. You tell her, Uncle Cy.”
Georgianna returned to announce:
“It's Miss Dawes. She says she wants to see you, Cap'n. She's in the settin' room.”
The captain drew a long breath. Then, repeating his command to Emmie to stay where she was, he left the room, closing the door behind him. The latter procedure roused Bos'n's indignation.
“What made him do that?” she demanded. “I haven't been bad. He NEVER shut me up before!”
The schoolmistress was standing by the center table in the sitting room when Captain Cy entered.