Albert had noticed it. “But,” he asked, “what makes Rachel—Mrs. Ellis—so cheerful this morning? Does she know that Mr. Keeler will be back at work? How does she know? She hasn't seen him, has she?”
“No,” replied the captain. “She ain't seen him. Nobody sees him, far's that goes. He generally clears out somewheres and locks himself up in a room, I judge, till his vacation's over. I suppose that's one way to have fun, but it ain't what I'd call hilarious.”
“Don't, Zelotes,” said Mrs. Snow. “I do wish you wouldn't call it fun.”
“I don't, but Laban seems to. If he don't do it for fun I don't know what he does it for. Maybe it's from a sense of duty. It ain't to oblige me, I know that.”
Albert repeated his question. “But how does she know he will be back to-day?” he asked.
His grandmother shook her head. “That's the mysterious part about it,” she whispered. “It makes a person think there may be somethin' in the sympathetic notion she talks so much about. She don't see him at all and yet we can always tell when he's comin' back to work by her spirits. If he ain't back to-day he will be to-morrow, you'll see. She never misses by more than a day. I think it's real sort of mysterious, but Zelotes laughs at me.”
Captain Lote's lip twitched. “Yes, Mother,” he said, “it's about as mysterious as the clock's strikin' twelve when it's noon. I know it's morally sartin that Labe'll be back aboard to-day or to-morrow because his sprees don't ever last more than five days. I can't swear to how she knows, but that's how I know—and I'm darned sure there's no 'sympathy' about my part.” Then, as if realizing that he had talked more than usual, he called, brusquely: “Come on, Al, come on. Time we were on the job, boy.”
Sure enough, as they passed the window of the office, there, seated on the stool behind the tall desk, Albert saw the diminutive figure of the man who had been his driver on the night of his arrival. He was curious to see how the delinquent would apologize for or explain his absence. But Mr. Keeler did neither, nor did Captain Snow ask a question. Instead the pair greeted each other as if they had parted in that office at the close of business on the previous day.
“Mornin', Cap'n Lote,” said Laban, quietly.
“Mornin', Labe,” replied the captain, just as calmly.