"Father could not take you," she said, without embarrassment, "and Jim isn't quite big enough to manage the swans and geese. Do you mind my acting as your bayman?"
"Mind?" he repeated. "No, of course not. Only—it seems rather rough on you. Couldn't you have hired a bayman for me?"
"I will, if you wish," she said, her cheeks reddening. "But, really, if
you'll let me, I am perfectly accustomed to bayman's work."
"Do you want to do it?"
She said, without self-consciousness, "If it is the same to you, Mr. Marche, I had rather that the bayman's wages came to us."
"Certainly—of course," he said hurriedly. Then, smiling: "You look the part. I took you for a young man, at first. Now, tell me how I can help you."
"Jim can do that. Still, if you don't mind handling the decoys——"
"Not at all," he said, going up to the fenced inclosures which ran from a rod or two inland down into the shallow water, making three separate yards for geese, swans, and ducks.
Jim was already in the duck pen,