A GIRL TO THE FRONT
The days were getting very long at Spanish Town, although there were no
more hours of sunlight than was usual at the season; and even the
optimism of Dame Charter was scarcely able to brighten her own soul,
much less that of Kate Bonnet, who had almost forgotten what it was to
be optimistic. Poor Mr. Delaplaine, whose life had begun to cheer up
wonderfully since the arrival of his niece and her triumphant entry into
the society of the town, became more gloomy than he had been since the
months which followed the death of his wife. Over and over did he wish
that his brother-in-law Bonnet had long since been shut up in some place
where his eccentricities could do no harm to his fellow-creatures,
especially to his most lovely daughter.
Mistress Kate Bonnet was not a girl to sit quietly under the tremendous
strain which bore upon her after the departure of the Badger. How could
she be contented or even quiet at any moment, when at that moment that
heartless Captain Vince might have his sword raised above the head of
her unfortunate father?
"Uncle," she said, "I cannot bear it any longer, I must do something."
"But, my dear," he asked, looking down upon her with infinite affection,
"what can you do? We are here upon an immovable island, and your father
and Captain Vince are sailing upon the sea, nobody knows where."
"I thought about it all last night," said Kate, "and this is what I will
do. I will go to the Governor; I will tell him all about my father. I do
not think it will be wrong even to tell him why I think his mind has
become unsettled, for if that woman in Bridgetown has behaved wickedly,
her wickedness should be known. Then I will ask him to give me written
authority to take my father wherever I may find him, and to bring him
here, where it shall be decided what shall be done with him; and I am
sure the decision will be that he must be treated as a man whose mind is
not right, and who should be put somewhere where he can have nothing to
do with ships."
This was all quite childish to Mr. Delaplaine, but for Kate's dear sake
he treated her scheme seriously.
"But tell me, my dear," said he, "how are you going to find your father,
and in what way can you bring him back here with you?"
"The first thing to do," said Kate, "is to hire a ship; I know that my
little property will yield me money enough for that. As for bringing him
back, that's for me to do. With my arms around his neck he cannot be a
pirate captain. And think of it, uncle! If my arms are not soon around
his neck, it may be the hangman's rope which will be there. That is, if
he is not killed by that revengeful Captain Vince."
Mr. Delaplaine was troubled far more than he had yet been. His sorrowing
niece believed that there was something which might be done for her
father, but he, her practical uncle, did not believe that anything could
be done. And, even if this were possible, he did not wish to do it. If,
by some unheard-of miracle, his niece should be enabled to carry out her
scheme, she could not go alone, and thoughts of sailing upon the sea,
and the dangers from pirates, storms, and wrecks, were very terrible to
the quiet merchant. He could not encourage this night-born scheme of his
niece.
"But there is one thing I can do," cried Kate, "and I must do it this
very day. I must go to the Governor's house, and I pray you, uncle, that
you will go with me. I must tell him about my father. I must make him do
something which shall keep that Captain Vince from sailing after him
and killing him. How I wish I had thought of all this before. But it did
not come to me."
It was not half an hour after that when Kate and her uncle entered the
grounds of the Governor's mansion.