The Dusantes Part 10

The decoration of her premises was greatly enjoyed by Mrs. Ales.h.i.+ne.

"It gives 'em somethin' to do," said she, "till the onion-season comes on; it makes 'em happy; an' the leaves an' flowers bein' pretty nigh gone, I like to see the place blossomin' out as if it was a cold-weather garden."

In the evenings, in the large kitchen, the sailor men danced their hornpipes, and around the great fireplace they spun long yarns of haps and mishaps on distant seas. Mrs. Ales.h.i.+ne always, and the rest of us often, sat by the fire and enjoyed these nautical recreations.

"Havin' myself done housekeepin' in the torrid zone," she once said, "a lot of the things they tell come home to me quite nat'ral. An' I'd do anything in the world to make 'em content to live on dry land like common Christians, instid of cavoortin' about on the pitchin' ocean, runnin' into each other, an' springin' leaks with no likelihood of findin' a furnished island at every p'int where their s.h.i.+p happened to go down."

On one subject only did any trouble now come into the mind of Mrs.

Ales.h.i.+ne, and she once had a little talk with me in regard to it.

"I've been afeared from the very beginnin'," she said, "an' after a while I more 'n half believed it, that Elizabeth Grootenheimer was settin' her cap at the c.o.xswain, so I just went to him an' I spoke to him plain. 'This sort o' thing won't do at all,' says I; 'an' although I haven't a doubt you see it for yourself, I thought it my dooty to speak my mind about it. There's plenty of young women in this towns.h.i.+p that would make you sailor men fust-rate wives, an' glad enough I'd be to see you all married an' settled an' gone to farmin' right here amongst us, but Elizabeth Grootenheimer won't do. Settin' aside everythin' else, if there was to be any children, they might be little c.o.xswains, but they'd be Grootenheimers too; stone-dumb Grootenheimers; an' I tell you plain that this county can't stand no more Grootenheimers!' To which he says, says he, 'I want you to understan', ma'am, that if ever me or Jim or Bill makes up our mind to set sail for any sort of a weddin' port, we won't weigh anchor till we've got our clearance papers from you.' By which he meant that he'd ask my advice about courtin'. An' now my mind is easy, an' I can look ahead with comfort to onion-time."

I found it necessary to go to Philadelphia for a day or two to attend to some business matters; and the evening before I started, the c.o.xswain came to me and asked a favor for himself and his mates.

"It mayn't have pa.s.sed out of your mind, sir," said he, "that when me an' Jim an' Bill took that money that you all give us, which wasn't zackly like prize-money, because the rest of the crew, to put it that way, didn't get any, we listened keerful to see if anything was said as to what we was to do with the money; an' nothin' bein' said, we took it, an' we wasn't long makin' up our minds as to what we was goin' to do with it. What we wanted to do was to put up some sort of signal what couldn't get blowed away, or, more like, a kind of reg'lar moniment as would make them that looked at it remember the rough squalls an' the jolly larks we've gone through with together, an' it was when we was talkin' about Mrs. Lecks bein' give' the ginger-jar to put on her mantel-piece an' keep forever, that me an' Jim an' Bill we said, says we, that Mrs. Ales.h.i.+ne should have a ginger-jar too, havin'

as much right to one as her mate, an' that that would be the signal-flag or the moniment that we'd put up. Now, sir, as you're goin' to town, we ask you to take this money, which is the whole lot that was give' us, an' have a ginger-jar built, jus' the size an'

shape an' gen'ral trim of that other one, but of no pottery-stuff, for you kin buy em' jus' like that, an' that ain't what we want. We want her built of good oak, stout an' strong, with live-oak knees inside to keep her stiff an' save her from bein' stove in, in case of a collision. We want her bottom coppered up above the water-line with real silver, an' we want a turtle-back deck with a round hatchway, with a tight-fittin' hatch, jus' like common jars. We want her sides caulked with oak.u.m, an' well sc.r.a.ped an' painted, so that with water inside of her or outside of her she won't leak. An' on the bottom of her, so they kin be seen if she keels over, we wants the names of me, an' Jim, an' Bill, which we've wrote on this piece of paper. An' on her sides, below the water-line, on the silver copperin' we want the names of all the rest of you, an' the lat.i.tood an' longitood of that island, an' anythin' out of the logs that might 'a' been kep' by any of you, as might help to be remembered the things what happened. An'

then, if there's any room left on the copperin' an' any money lef' to pay for 'em, you might have cut on as many anchors, an' hearts, an'

bits of cable, an' such like suitable things as would fill up. An'

that jar we're goin' to give to Mrs. Ales.h.i.+ne to put on her mantel-piece, to stay there as long as she lives, or anybody that belongs to her. An', by George, sir!" he added behind his hand, although there was n.o.body to hear, "if ever them two jars run into each other, it won't be Mrs. Ales.h.i.+ne's that'll go down!"

I undertook this commission, and in due course of time there came to the village the most astonis.h.i.+ng ginger-jar that was ever built, and which satisfied the three mariners in every particular. When it was presented to Mrs. Ales.h.i.+ne, her admiration of this work of art, her delight in its owners.h.i.+p, and her grat.i.tude to the donors were alike boundless.

"However could I have had the idee," said she privately to me, "that any one of them n.o.ble sailor men could have brought himself down to marry Elizabeth Grootenheimer!"

It was not long after this happy event that another great joy came to Mrs. Ales.h.i.+ne. Her son returned from j.a.pan. He had heard of the loss of the steamer in which his mother and Mrs. Lecks had set sail, and was in great trouble of mind until he received a letter from his mother which brought him speedily home. He had no intention of settling in Meadowville, but it had been a long time since he had seen his mother.

He was a fine young man, handsome and well educated, and we were all delighted with him; and in a very short time he and Lucille Dusante, being the only young bachelor and maiden of the company, became so intimate and super-friendly that it was easy to see that to Mrs.

Ales.h.i.+ne might come the unexpected rapture of eventually being the mother of Lucille.

We staid much later at Meadowville than we had expected. Even after the little hills and vales had been well covered with snow, sleighing and coasting parties, led by the lively new-comer, offered attractions, especially to Lucille, which bound us to the cheery homes of Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Ales.h.i.+ne. But, after a time, the Dusantes considered it prudent to go to Florida for the rest of the winter; Mr.

Enderton had long since read all the books on his closet shelf and departed for New York; and Ruth and I determined that we, too, must move eastward.

But, before our little company separated, Mrs. Ales.h.i.+ne's son and Lucille Dusante had settled it between them that when the spring-time came they would set sail for a wedding port. This match was a highly satisfactory one to all concerned, for Mr. Dusante could scarcely have found a young brother-in-law who would make his sister so happy, and who was, at the same time, so well fitted by disposition and previous occupation to a.s.sist in his increasing business cares.

In the spring the Dusante family came North again and Lucille and her lover were married; and then all of us, except Mr. Enderton, who had obtained a most congenial position as a.s.sistant librarian in a public inst.i.tution seldom visited, gathered at Meadowville to spend a week or two together before Ruth and I repaired to the New England town which was to be our home; and the Dusante family, the young husband included, set out on a tour, partly of business and partly of pleasure, through Canada and the far North-west.

It was arranged that, whenever it should be possible, Lucille and Mrs.

Dusante should spend their summers at Meadowville; and as this would also give her much of the society of her son, the heart of Mrs.

Ales.h.i.+ne could ask no more.

This visit to Meadowville was in the onion-season; and one morning Ruth and I sat upon a fence and watched the three sailor men busily at work. The soil looked so fine and smooth that one might almost have supposed that it had been holy-stoned; and the three nautical farmers, in their tight-waisted, loose-bottomed trousers, their tarpaulin hats, and their wide-collared s.h.i.+rts, were seated on the ground at different points, engrossed in the absorbing task of setting out young onions as onions had never been set out before. All the careful attention to patient minutiae which nautical handiwork had taught them was now displayed in their new vocation. In a portion of the field which had been first planted the onions had sprouted, and we could see evidences of astonis.h.i.+ng designs. Here were anchors in onions; hearts in onions; brigs, barks, and schooners in onions; and more things pertaining to s.h.i.+ps, the heart's affections, and the raging main outlined in onions than Ruth and I could give names to.

"It seems to me," said I, "that there must have been some sort of enchantment in that little island in the Pacific, for in one way or another it has made us all very happy."

"That is true," answered Ruth; "and, do you know, I believe the cause of a great part of that happiness was the board-money in the ginger-jar!"

THE END.