He held the great cardboard up before my eyes, and watched me, wistfully, while I wrinkled up my brows, and stared at it stupidly. It must have conveyed to my mind very little impression of what it was really intended to be, for I remember that it only served to remind me, irresistibly, of Miss Raycroft as the old woman with the broomstick, and I said, hastily, in a tone of reproof:
“O Dave, I wouldn’t waste my time in that way! They have architects who know more than you, a thousand times, and you will only annoy Cyrus if you say the models he uses are not right!”
“Annoy Cyrus!” echoed Dave, disdainfully. “What do you suppose Cyrus knows about the models of the ships? He leaves that, as you say, to the architects. He thinks as you do, that they know everything.”
A cold chill of discouragement settled upon me. Instead of trying to master the details of the business, as I had of late allowed myself to hope that he would, he was thinking only of drawing again! It was vain to hope that one of the “aliens” would have a practical mind! Butter and cheese must save the day for the house of Partridge, if it were to be saved at all! But I did say, grimly, as I turned away:
“I think it would be better to stick to the hammer than to fritter your time away with that sort of thing.”
“The hammer is likely to stick to me, it’s a way they have when you once get hold of them,” said Dave, lightly. “But shall I have no amusements because wielding the hammer is my work? Because we make famous sage cheese shall there be no tidies with roses and ribbons sprawling over all the furniture?”
The rest of the family didn’t appreciate my fancy-work, the boys especially, and Dave thought this a very keen thrust.
“To beautify the home is a very different thing from squandering one’s time in perfectly useless drawing,” I said loftily. “If you even painted pictures like Estelle. I think she may paint one that will do to hang over the spare room mantel and look prettier there than my bouquet of crystallized grasses.”
I felt that it was truly noble of me to say this, for I had been much hurt by the lack of appreciation shown my crystallized grasses, dyed every color of the rainbow, and then dipped in alum.
Dave groaned and threw a sofa pillow at me; but I walked out with dignity—and my heavy heart. I felt that it was useless to question Dave further about the state of things at the shipyard. He understood too little about the business, and had too little interest in it for his opinion to be of any value.