"Well, when Mrs. Schulkill dies on the way to the hospital, and her name appears in the list of those lost, along comes Kitty's relatives, the folks they were comin' to live with. I turned over the luggage and all that sort of stuff we could get off the Alameda before she foundered, but I just made up my mind I'd keep an eye on Kitty. Also, I'd hold on to her papers a bit, 'til these folks really proved they were good friends to the orphan." He shook his head in decision at the memory.
"I've done that," he declared, "and I have the papers. Now, they worry me some. How do I know what'll happen to me? I'm gettin' old, and the seas are pretty rough at times."
He paused, and the girls noticed how gray his face looked, and how haggard and heavily lined.
"This packet of papers was in a tin box," he then explained. "Kitty's mother was comin' home from Holland, and being a widow, she kept all her little belongings with her. I have them in the same little box, and as I have glanced over them I just feel they'll be mighty interestin' when the girl gets sense enough to understand them.
"Now, I've thought of turnin' them over to a lawyer here, but what would that mean? A fee; of course, I have no fee, neither has Kitty. Then, if I trust some one around here, they'll likely go pokin' into them, curious like; and I don't want to do a thing like that to the mother who left her little girl in my arms."
He stroked his beard thoughtfully. The papers were plainly a considerable responsibility to carry. He looked out over the sea again, and shook his head thoughtfully.
"Are they letters or documents?" asked Cleo.
"Little of both," replied the captain. "And this is my plan. You girls must know some organization that would just take this little responsibility off Dave's shoulders."
"Certainly," spoke up Louise. "The Girl Scouts have a very trustworthy headquarters, and if this particular piece of work was not ours we could very readily place it where it belongs."
"Exactly, just exactly. That's what I've been a-thinkin'," said the Captain.