He seemed a trifle dazed, although Tish carefully explained her position to him.
“I see it all,” he said. “It sounds all right, but there must be a catch in it somewhere. I don’t quite grasp it, that’s all.”
After a time, however, he got up and went to the door, still thinking, and called Christopher.
“Come in, you young imposter,” he said, “and tell us how much you’ve had out of the summer.”
“I couldn’t quite make it,” said Christopher sadly. “Five hundred for the boat and two hundred revenue salary. That’s all.”
“Certainly it’s not all, Billy Field!” said Lily May. “I have three hundred from Smith, haven’t I? That makes the thousand.”
But Charlie Sands was holding his head.
“It sounds all right,” he said. “The parish house gets a kitchen, and Field gets Lily May. Personally I think my Aunt Tish ought to get thirty years, but still——” He groaned. “Rum running, assault and battery, piracy, straight larceny and hijacking!” he said. “And everybody’s happy! There’s a profound immorality somewhere,” he added, looking around at us. “But where?”
He got up feebly. “I’m getting too old for much of this,” he said. “Get me a stiff dose of blackberry cordial, somebody. And, Field, slip around to old MacDonald’s and get a bit of something to float on the top.”