Show When Captain Jack Ir Came Home JI By ETTA W PIERCES PIERCE-S Copyright by Joseph B Uowlei Next to the church stood the schoolhouse school-house Elizabeth sat near me on one of Its wooden benches Sometimes wo studied from tho same dogeurcd spelling spell-ing book She was all pink nnd while like Mayflowers under the pine needle In spring Her brown hair curled thick about her shoulders and her eyes veu dark like the sea In n storm I watu t ten years old when 1 fell In love with Elizabeth My head Is white now but I love her memory still Besides keeping the village store my father made fish lines and sold them at different places nlong Cape Coil where naturally they were In demand One day n lot of new scoop bonnets were spread out for sale In our store window nnd that same day Capt Jack Hole came home from sea Perhaps you dont see the connection betwixt the bonnets and tho captain But my father saw It when all the marriageable mar-riageable girls In town carne hurrying to our store for the latest fashion In scoops It was of a Friday I remember nnd tho rush for the bonnets continued till tho last one was sold My sister Lucinda Lu-cinda had the first choice She took a black nnd white straw and loaded i with flowers and ribbons till it looked like nothing earthly When ho was last In Manomet said she Jack Rolfo used to see me home regularly from singing school and when ho went away ho promised to bring mo a present from Greenland About noon the door of our store opened ngnln nnd a new customer fluttered flut-tered in It was Elizabeth panting hard and grasping a silver piece in her hand Father was at dinner so ho sent me behind tho counter to serve Elizabeth Eliza-beth and I wero of the same ago1G but her shining head stood an Inch or two limiter than mine Joey she said breathlessly I want to buy one of tho new bonnets Theyre nil gone I answered Mother sold the last before tho clock struck 12 Her face fell Oh Joey aro you sure Havent you one left I made a pretense of rummaging through tho window though I know no bonnet was there Mother cant afford me many new things she explained in a trembling voice but this time she said I should for once be like the other girls Mold M-old hat is very shabbynot fit for Sunday Sun-day wear any longer Oh I suppose you havent overlooked one bonnet In some corner Joey Shoo was awfully disappointed Never mind she tried to say thank you Joey But she choked up suddenly sud-denly and hurried out of the store I looked through the window and as she went down the street I saw that she was crying I waited till I hoard Cindy rattling the dinner things In the kitchen and then I sneaked out to her Say Cindy what price did father put on them Cape Cod bonnets A dollar each said Cindy Ive got two silver dollars and some tame rabbits and an old gunIll give the whole business for that coal scuttle of yours Cindy Tho dish cloth dropped from her hand The boy is clean crazy said she I Oh come now I urged youll never get another otTer like Ittwo dollars dol-lars in money and the rabbits and tho gunCindy Cindy skipped to a cupboard and before be-fore I was aware whipped out her new headgear and plumped It squarely on my shock head tying tho ribbons tight under my chin 1 was a brawny freckled lad and there was cause no doubt for her shrieks of laughter as sho danced around mo Oh Joey you are a showshe cried Would you like to go to church In It Sunday mnrnlncr You meet hnvo mv m petticoat too and my new mantle and my turkey tnll fan Father father raising her voice to a terrible pitch come quick and see our Toey This was too much The kitchen door stood openwith a leap I gained the garden My first thought was to strike a beeline for tho Miller houso and give my prize openly to Elizabeth but Cindy was close on my heels As I dodged through the currant bushes and beanpoles bean-poles and trampled mothers sago bed I found that pesky girl gaining on me I tugged at her Infernal bonnet but the ribbons wero in n knot and I couldnt loose them At the foot of tho garden was an old disused well that father had partly covered cov-ered The curb was gone and the mouth mostly concealed in brushwood In my haste I forgot tho thing nnd blundered straight Into It The water was like ice and I gnve n yell as I went down striking knees and elbows on the mossy stones Cindy tlew for a rope and a polo and fished me out of the well and when she had taken off the scoop and rolled me on the grass she cuffed me handsomely hand-somely Hang your bonnet said I In Its present state Cindy I wouldnt give more than tho gun for it Cindy scurried back to the house to dry the scoop and I was forced to abandon i aban-don all further attempt to console Elizabeth I Eliza-beth Sunday came Tho Manomet meeting house was a sight to behold All the girls wore the Cape Cod bonnets all but Elizabeth She appeared her old hat with oes cast down as though ashamed of her own shabbiness But her face was like n white rose and her brown curls tumbled thick and fine about her neck and shoulders As she i slipped Into the Miller pew which was i i next fathers Cindy In a lot of now finery tittered contemptuously behind a hmn book Service began A tall young fellow entered the church and walked down the aisle glancing around for a vacant seat seatNow every place was filled but the Miller pew and seeing this the latecomer late-comer coolly stepped Inside It and seated seat-ed 1 himself by Elizabeth The girls began to stare and whisper and turn their beflowered and beribboned berib-boned heads Cindy nudged mother and dropped our Bibles with a disgrace fill noise But Capt Rolfe seemed unaware un-aware of the sensation he was creating lie listened soberly to the minister In the high pulpit found all the hymn ° for Elizabeth and jelned his deep bRo to her clear treble when the congregation congrega-tion sang As soon as the benediction was pronounced I leaned over to speak to the Millers but Ilolfo was ahead of meho already had Elizabeth by the hand Do you remember the morning I went away I heard him ask Yes answered Elizabeth and she colored beautifully I stood at the gate and waved you soodby as you J walked down the street You did said he and you wished 1 little thing with a mo good luckyou your curly head hardly above the pickets of the fence And good luck followed 1 me throughout the voyage Elizabeth I think I owe It nil to you Cindy was bursting with wrath anti < envy Did you ever see the beat of that said she as we pursued our homeward home-ward way together And Elizabeth Miller was the only girl In church who didnt wear a new bonnet And who didnt need one I answered an-swered gloomily The rest of you cant hold a tallow dip to Elizabeth That night Cindy returned from prayer meeting and told us that Rolf had been sitting again In the Millei It I pew and that he had gone horn through the moonlight with Elizabeth My heart burned like a hot coal Foi hours I tossed sleeplessly thinking 01 that whaleman The next morning hI t walked Into our store and laid a white t bearskin on the counter before Cindy I promised you a present fro n Greenland you remember said he and here it Is I bore my torment for awhile then I took the old gun that I had offered Cindy as part payment for her bonnet and started for tho beach where thE seafaring folk wero usually to be found As I went plunging through the wood I stumbled against a man wile was cutting letters on the trunk of a tree and singing softly to himself as he worked Hello Joey he called gay as a lark Looking for squirrels At once I felt like a fool I tried to slip the old gun into the bushes Of course 1 answered glibly leave you seen any hereabouts No said the captain He finished tho last letter with a flourish shut his jackknife and put it I in his pocket I sidled up to the tree and lo he had hacked Elizabeths initials In the green bark Come down to the beach Joey said Capt Jack and havo a sail with me Theres no wind stirring but Ill whis tie for a capful And whistle he did as we strode down the path tho sweetest clearest notes I ever heard And presently something ruffled the water the little waves began to leap a cool murmur came up as it seemed from tho heart of the sea the captain niado the boat ready and we Jumped In As he trimmed the sail ho fell to telling me about his voyages in the South Pacific and the awful white North of doubling the black precipices preci-pices of Cape Horn with floating Ice bergs threatening the ship on every side I forgot Llzbeth and the old gun and when I trudged home my head was full of whaling stations and blubber and big fish and sharp clln korbullt boats and I acknowledged In my heart that Jack Rolfe was the finest fin-est fellow In the world But presently the spell which he had thrown upon me passed away and my Jealousy revived Though I no longer wished to harm tho captain I saw that I must steal a march upon him At nightfall I went to Elizabeths house and found her leaning on the gate Sho wore n 1 muslin gown that looked like a white cloud and some blush roses wero dying In her bosom Was It here you stood I asked sulkily when you wished Capt Rolfe good luck as he started on his voy ageYes Yes Joey she answered In a dreamy voice just here Elizabeth I said I want you to promise to marry mo when I grow up1 She opened wide her beautiful eyes That Is a long time ahead Joey Only live years I urged You and I are of the same age You ough to be willing to wait for mo fie years for I love you tremendously Elba beth a Somebody came up to us on thr other side of tho gate and leaning over put nn Ion arm around my cornnar Here Is another person that lover Elizabeth tremendously Bald Capt Rolfe with laughter in his voice and as he is already grown up she neef not wait to marry him Joey Ah nn lad you are too lateElizabeth I promised to me But cheer up yo shall dance at her wedding There Is no more to tell He wasn the man to let grass grow under b shoes He married Elizabeth nnd CII i rled her off to the other side of t world And the morning they left th village I wished Cindy had lfished nvci fished me out of the old well RV Rvon to this far day my heart thrills to the name of Elizabeth t |