I bent over the chest, gazing eagerly into its depths. There was an old Bible in one end, and a broken compass in the other. But that was all.
Standing at one side, the woman looked into my astonished face and laughed mockingly.
“This was another o’ the Cap’n’s lies,” she said. “He lied to you about ownin’ the house; he lied to you about takin’ me out o’ charity; an’ he lied to you about the fortune in this chest. An easy liar was Cap’n Steele, I must say!”
I shrank back, looking into her exultant eyes with horror in my own.
“How dare you say such things about my father?” I cried, in anger.
“How dare I?” she retorted; “why, because they’re true, as you can see for yourself. Your father’s deceived you, an’ he’s deceived me. I’ve paid out over four hundred dollars for your keep, thinkin’ there was enough in this room to pay me back. An’ now I stand to lose every penny of it, jest because I trusted to a lyin’ sea-captain.”
“You won’t lose a dollar!” I cried, indignantly, while I struggled to keep back the tears of disappointment and shame that rushed to my eyes. “I’ll pay you every cent of the money, if I live.”
She looked at me curiously, with a half smile upon her thin lips.
“How?” she asked.
“I’ll work and earn it.”