ROMANCE AND MISS COMFORT
They did, even Ned allowing that, if certain obstacles already
indicated by him could be surmounted, and if Miss Comfort could be
persuaded to adopt a nautical life, the scheme had merit.
“All right,” said Laurie, “Then the next thing is to sound out Miss
Comfort. You can do that better than any of the rest of us, Ned.”
“Me? Where do you get that stuff?” demanded Ned. “It’s your scheme.”
“But I haven’t your――your powers of description and――er――persuasion,
old-timer.”
“Nothing doing,” replied Ned implacably. “I’ll go with you and help
out, but it’s your idea, and you’ve got to spring it.”
“Yes, Laurie,” agreed Polly, “I think you can explain it more clearly
than Ned can, because you’ve thought it all out so wonderfully. But
we’ll all go with you, of course.”
“All right,” assented Laurie. “Let’s go and get it over with. I dare
say she won’t listen to it, though.”
“You can’t tell,” said Polly. “Miss Comfort is awfully――well,
courageous, Laurie, and she thinks you’re so wonderful that――”
“Huh,” muttered Ned. “Wonder where she got that notion.”
“Compared to the poor-farm,” declared Mae, “I think the _Pequot Queen_
is a perfect paradise!”
“Well, you just mention that to Miss Comfort, will you?” requested
Laurie gloomily as they started back.
“Guess there’s another thing we haven’t considered,” said Bob
thoughtfully.
“What are you doing?” asked Laurie disgustedly. “Stealing Ned’s stuff?”
“No, but look here; Miss Comfort will be an awful long way from folks
who buy her cake and stuff, won’t she? Think they’ll hike way down
here?”
A short silence ensued. Then said Polly, “That is so, Laurie, but
maybe――”
“Sure, it’s so,” was the answer, “but will you allow me to remind the
gentleman that this place down here is just about a mile and a half
nearer than the poor-farm?”
“Never thought of that,” laughed Bob.
“Anyway,” said Polly cheerfully, “I don’t believe it will matter much.
If folks want Miss Comfort’s cakes they’ll come for them, or send for
them. As for what we buy, why, I wouldn’t mind coming for it a mite.
It――it’s just a nice walk!”
They found Mrs. Deane and Miss Comfort having tea in the sitting-room
when they reached the little blue house, and their errand must needs
be postponed until more cups and saucers and more sweet crackers had
been distributed. At last, however, with four pair of eyes fixed on
him with embarrassing attentiveness, Laurie set down his cup, drew a
long breath, and broke the moment’s silence with an explosive “_Miss
Comfort!_”
That poor lady was so startled that she nearly upset her tea. Laurie
plunged on hurriedly.
“I suppose you haven’t heard any more from your brother-in-law, have
you?”
“Why――why, no! No, I haven’t, Mr. Laurie.”
“Thought so,” resumed Laurie. “Well, now, here’s――here’s something
that it seemed to me――to all of us that maybe would be something that
you might sort of take into consideration if nothing better turned up,
because, after all, that poor-farm isn’t any place for a lady like you,
and being on the water isn’t anything at all if you’re hitched up tight
to the land and know you can’t sink, which you couldn’t _possibly_,
Miss Comfort, because there wouldn’t be enough water under you.”
Laurie paused for breath and realized with confusion that he had made
an extremely poor start. Miss Comfort looked bewilderedly from him to
Mrs. Deane, to Polly, to Ned, and back to Laurie. “Sakes alive!” she
gasped. “What in the world is he talking about?”
Mae’s giggle came as a welcome diversion.
“Laurie,” said Polly, “you’ll have to start right at the beginning, you
know.” She turned to Miss Comfort. “He has a perfectly wonderful idea,
Miss Comfort, and we’re all just crazy about it. Now, Laurie.”
The interlude had allowed the exponent of the wonderful idea not only
to recover his breath but to rearrange his thoughts, and now he began
over and explained very creditably just what the idea was. Occasionally
one of the others threw in a helpful word, Miss Comfort, who had taken
up her crocheting after setting her tea-cup aside, soon laid it down.
Her face brightened as Laurie’s idea became clearer to her and her eyes
sparkled more than ever. She leaned forward in rapt attention, and did
not interrupt once. Even when Laurie had said all he could think of and
Polly had added an enthusiastic postscript, Miss Comfort said no word
for several silent moments. Then she gave a deep sigh and clasped her
thin hands tightly above her crocheting.
“And I wouldn’t have to go to that place!” she breathed wonderingly.
“Laurie, what did I tell you?” cried Polly joyously.
“I’m sure,” said Mrs. Deane, “it would be very nice, Pansy――” three
startled gasps followed――“but would you feel quite――quite _at ease_ on
a _boat_?”
“I should,” replied Miss Comfort with surprising emphasis. “I’ve always
been fond of the sea, all my life. Maybe it’s because my grandfather
on my mother’s side was a sea-captain. That Spode tea-cup that you
admired so much was a part of a set that he brought back from one of
his voyages. Yes, ever since I was a child I’ve longed for the sea and
for ships. Once I almost took a trip from New York to Fall River on
a steamer, but just at the last moment mother decided to go by train
instead. I was tragically disappointed. And now to think that after all
these years I’m to――to go to sea!”
“But, you know,” said Ned, breaking the little silence that followed,
“it wouldn’t be exactly going to sea, Miss Comfort, for, of course, the
boat would be tied to the――the land, and――”
“It would be for me,” replied Miss Comfort softly. “I’d be living on a
boat with the water all around me. And I could watch the steamers and
the ships come and go. And there’d be the smell of the salt water all
the time, too. Oh, my dears, I’d love it! It――it sounds far, far too
good to be true, Mr. Laurie. Are you sure that――that everything can be
arranged?”
Miss Comfort felt for a square of linen with a narrow black border and
gently dabbed her eyes. Laurie felt it his duty to acknowledge that
he wasn’t sure at all, but he did nothing of the sort. He scowled
surreptitiously at Ned and answered firmly: “Absolutely, Miss Comfort.
There isn’t a doubt!”
And then, to Laurie’s surprise, Ned said just as convincedly, “It’s as
good as fixed right now, ma’am.”
Miss Comfort sighed happily and beamed about the circle. “Well, I just
can’t believe it,” she said, laughing tremulously at her own emotion.
“Why, I can’t think of anything that would make me happier than to live
on a real boat right on the water! Just think of going to sleep with
the lapping of the waves all about, and of waking up in the morning and
seeing the blue, blue ocean――no, I should say river――stretching away
and away! Oh, my dears, there’s romance about the sea that I’ve always
longed to know. Maybe, at my time of life, I shouldn’t be talking about
romance, but――”
“Fiddlesticks!” exclaimed Mrs. Deane vehemently. “Fiddlesticks, my
dear! At your time of life, indeed!” It seemed to the others that the
Widow might have borrowed Miss Comfort’s handkerchief and put it to
good use. Laurie cleared his throat.
“That’s right,” he said gruffly. “I guess folks can enjoy things like
that just as much at eight――sev――sixty as they can any time!” Aware of
Polly’s horrified look, he subsided. Miss Comfort, though, was far too
absorbed in the joyous prospect to heed.
“I must go and see it,” she went on animatedly. “Is it very far, Mr.
Laurie? I suppose,” she concluded, with a sigh, “it’s too late to go
to-day.”
“Yes’m,” assented Laurie. “I guess you’d better wait until to-morrow.
It’s quite a walk for――er――for any one.”
“We’ll all go down to-morrow morning,” announced Polly, “every one of
us. Yes, you will, too, mama. I’ll get Miss Billings to tend the store
for an hour. If we start at eight I can get back in time for school.”
“Eight!” exclaimed Laurie.
“Of course. We’re all through breakfast at half-past seven, and――”
“But, Polly, maybe that would be too early for the boys, dear,”
interposed her mother. “Perhaps they don’t have breakfast――”
“It’s all right, Mrs. Deane,” said Ned. “We’ll meet you over at the
school corner at eight. Laurie was just thinking that perhaps we ought
to start earlier, weren’t you, old son?”
“Er――oh, yes! Sure! Still, eight will do, I guess.”
“Then that’s arranged,” said Polly. “Now let’s talk about the boat some
more.”
The next morning they all set out according to schedule to show Miss
Comfort the _Pequot Queen_. Laurie had doubts as to the wisdom of this,
for he thought it would have been better if they could have fixed
up the boat a little before exhibiting it. But, as Polly said, Miss
Comfort would never have waited. Laurie need not have entertained any
uneasiness. Even the river threw Miss Comfort into a tremor of delight,
and after that she walked so fast that Mrs. Deane had hard work to
keep up with her. When, while still at a distance, Laurie pointed out
the _Pequot Queen_ with a few stammered words of apology, Miss Comfort
stopped still, clasped her hands, this morning adorned with black silk
mitts, and gazed long and silently. The boys viewed her doubtfully and
anxiously, but doubt and anxiety speedily fled, for the little lady’s
face expressed something very close to rapture. The boys looked away.
Ned whistled a few tuneless notes softly. Then they went on, Miss
Comfort walking faster than ever and saying no word.
“Well,” said Laurie later, “you’ve got to hand it to her for
imagination. Why, when I said to her, ‘Here’s where the stove goes,’
or ‘You could put your bureau here, Miss Comfort,’ blessed if I don’t
think she actually saw them there! Once, after she’d decided to put the
kitchen table over on the further side of the cabin, she was over there
a few minutes later and sort of feeling around just like she was trying
to find the rolling-pin or something!”
“And wasn’t she pleased?” asked Bob. “Gosh, you’d have thought we’d
presented her with a million-dollar castle! The old girl is certainly
happy!”
“Cut out the ‘old girl’ stuff,” growled Ned. “She’s a lady.”
“Sure, I didn’t mean anything, Ned. And as for being old, gee, I’ve
seen a heap of younger folks that couldn’t have shown half her pep!”
A visit to the town hall obtained for them the information that the
tract of land between road and river behind the old bulkhead was town
property, and their informant assured them that no one would object to
the contemplated gangway.
Laurie got back to No. 16 alone to discover Kewpie, sweatered and
unkempt of hair, lolling in the Morris chair and fondling glove
and ball. “Say, where the dickens have you been?” Kewpie demanded
aggrievedly. “I’ve been waiting hours!”
“Hello!” said Laurie blankly. “Where――where did you drop from?”
“Came on the ten twenty, of course. Wanted to get some work in before
dinner. Thought you’d be all ready for me, too!”
Laurie returned the other’s reproachful gaze with one even more
reproachful, “Oh, gosh,” he sighed. “I was hoping you’d forget to come
back!”