“Oh, I shall be around here for a month, probably. My folks have gone abroad and Hal’s going to put me up for as long as I want. I had a chance of going across with the folks, but Hal talked so much about Greenhaven all winter that I thought I’d rather come here. And I’m glad I did, too. I’m going to have a dandy time. Hal’s people are as nice as pie to me. I suppose you know them, Miss Faith?”
“N—no, I don’t. You see—” She paused and Bee waited politely for her to continue. “What I mean,” she went on at last, “is that the Folsoms are very rich people and we’re—we’re not. So, of course, we don’t know them very well.”
“Oh!” Bee considered that a moment. “Well, I like them very much. Hal’s a dandy, too. I didn’t care much for him at first, though. They put us to room together at school and we had a scrap the first night. Then we didn’t speak for two or three days. Then we had another scrap and Hal licked me and after that we were pretty good chums.”
Faith looked puzzled, but she only said, “Oh!” in a doubtful tone, and Bee went on:
“I suppose you and your brother go to school here?” he inquired. “Hal showed me the high school this morning when we came down to the wharf.”
“I go,” replied Faith, “but Jack had to give it up this year. Poor Jack! He hated to do it.”
“Er—you don’t mean—he wasn’t expelled, was he?”
“Jack? Oh, no indeed. But father died a little over a year ago and so Jack thought he ought to go on with father’s business and make money. Father used to be a fisherman and owned his own schooner. Then, when I was about five, he had an accident. He fell and broke one of his legs when he was ’way up off Newfoundland and it wasn’t set right for two weeks because the schooner was in the ice and there wasn’t any doctor around. And then when they finally got him to a doctor it was too late and his leg was never much good afterwards. So he sold his schooner and bought the Crystal Spring and made her into a water boat. You see there’s always been a spring up on the hill just back of our house and father only had to run a line of pipe to the Cove and then fill up the tank and sail around to the harbor and sell the water. He used to sell lots and lots of water a few years ago, but now the fish companies generally supply the water for their boats themselves. And lately two Portuguese men have started a water boat, too, and as their boat has a gasoline engine poor Jack isn’t doing very well. He said the other day he guessed he’d either have to have an engine put in the Crystal Spring or go out of business.” And Faith, a little breathless and more than a little surprised at her unusual loquacity, came to an embarrassed pause.
“That’s too bad,” said Bee sympathetically. “I wouldn’t think there’d be enough business for two water boats here. If I were he I’d certainly put in an engine and see that it was big enough to beat the other fellows!”