to
me."
"Thank
you, Papa." She rose to lean forward and kiss his cheek. "Am I
forgiven enough that I can return to work? I should very much like to."
Her
father smiled. "You are certainly forgiven that much. Frankly, it's been
dreadfully difficult here without you."
Katherine
smiled and returned to her carriage. All the way home, she had to answer
Pegeen's anxious inquiries and then attempt to explain the rationale of a
blockade to her. She felt rather deflated, oddly enough. She had won, and of
course there was the principle of it, and she would be helping those men, but
somehow the whole thing seemed so petty and unimportant. While all of life
thundered with such mighty battles, the horrendous clash of ideals, the simple,
important struggles to survive, she seemed doomed to waste her life on
trivialities. She had an awful picture of herself in later years, an aged spinster
engaging in petty social battles. Surely there must be more for her than that.
She wanted to wrestle, to fight, to build. To challenge the wilderness like a
prisoner woman, taking care of husband, home, and children in primitive
conditions, struggling to keep alive and bring civilization to a wild land. To
have a career, to build a business, to combat the sea and wrest a living from
it. To seek adventure—tea in China, gold in California. Anything—anything but
moldering quietly away in Boston!
"Miss
Kate," Pegeen's voice intruded on her thoughts, "are you all right?
You got so quiet all of a sudden."
"Yes,
yes, I'm fine, Pegeen. My mind was just wandering."
"Yes'm.
You know what I noticed, mum? That bold man wasn't there, the one that winked
that day. Why do you suppose he wasn't there?"
"I
don't know, Pegeen. I hadn't noticed he wasn't there," Katherine lied
coolly.
"I
don't know how you could keep from it, miss," Pegeen said, shaking her
head over Katherine's strange ways. "He's a terribly handsome man, that
one."
"Is
he?" was all Katherine said.
Two
days later, Katherine was dishing meat and potatoes onto plates when she looked
up to see Captain Hampton standing in line three men back. Her stomach gave a
peculiar lurch as her eyes met his gray ones. He looked thinner, paler—as if he
had been ill; but his smile was as self-assured as ever. As she fed the men
before him, her pulse began to mount and her muscles tense, as if she were
preparing to race.
"I
see you have turned to good works, ma'am," he said when he reached her,
extending his tin plate. "Surely you didn't take to your heart anything I
said."
She
raised her eyebrows and said, "I'm sure I don't know; I can't remember
what you said to me." She gave him an extra slice of meat, feeling an unwanted
stab of pity at the sight of his thin wrists. "Have you—been ill?"
He
laughed an odd, hoarse laugh. "No, ma'am, I've been in solitary. Being
punished, you see—I have this remarkable ability to get under other people's
skins." He winked slyly. "But I'm so indispensable here, your foreman
talked them into sending me back." He moved on to where Pegeen was
dispensing coffee and bread, leaving Katherine choking back the words of
sympathy that had sprung to her lips.
When
she returned to the office after lunch, she began to question Teddy. "Once
you said something about a Rebel raider named Hampton. Was he captured?"
The
boy's eyes lit up. "Was he ever! That was some battle, Miss Katherine. He
sailed out of Wilmington—the one in Carolina—right under the noses of the
blockaders, floated out on a foggy night—Lord knows how he got out without
running smack dab into one of our ships. But he didn't. Well, we spotted him
just as he edged past and we started firing, but then he started his engines
and steamed away. Well, it made the skipper of the San Francisco so mad
that he started out after him. But that Hampton, he headed for Cape
Hatteras."
"The
'Graveyard of the Atlantic'?" Katherine said in awe.
Teddy
beamed at her knowledge. "That's right. Well, Hampton knew that
me."
"Thank
you, Papa." She rose to lean forward and kiss his cheek. "Am I
forgiven enough that I can return to work? I should very much like to."
Her
father smiled. "You are certainly forgiven that much. Frankly, it's been
dreadfully difficult here without you."
Katherine
smiled and returned to her carriage. All the way home, she had to answer
Pegeen's anxious inquiries and then attempt to explain the rationale of a
blockade to her. She felt rather deflated, oddly enough. She had won, and of
course there was the principle of it, and she would be helping those men, but
somehow the whole thing seemed so petty and unimportant. While all of life
thundered with such mighty battles, the horrendous clash of ideals, the simple,
important struggles to survive, she seemed doomed to waste her life on
trivialities. She had an awful picture of herself in later years, an aged spinster
engaging in petty social battles. Surely there must be more for her than that.
She wanted to wrestle, to fight, to build. To challenge the wilderness like a
prisoner woman, taking care of husband, home, and children in primitive
conditions, struggling to keep alive and bring civilization to a wild land. To
have a career, to build a business, to combat the sea and wrest a living from
it. To seek adventure—tea in China, gold in California. Anything—anything but
moldering quietly away in Boston!
"Miss
Kate," Pegeen's voice intruded on her thoughts, "are you all right?
You got so quiet all of a sudden."
"Yes,
yes, I'm fine, Pegeen. My mind was just wandering."
"Yes'm.
You know what I noticed, mum? That bold man wasn't there, the one that winked
that day. Why do you suppose he wasn't there?"
"I
don't know, Pegeen. I hadn't noticed he wasn't there," Katherine lied
coolly.
"I
don't know how you could keep from it, miss," Pegeen said, shaking her
head over Katherine's strange ways. "He's a terribly handsome man, that
one."
"Is
he?" was all Katherine said.
Two
days later, Katherine was dishing meat and potatoes onto plates when she looked
up to see Captain Hampton standing in line three men back. Her stomach gave a
peculiar lurch as her eyes met his gray ones. He looked thinner, paler—as if he
had been ill; but his smile was as self-assured as ever. As she fed the men
before him, her pulse began to mount and her muscles tense, as if she were
preparing to race.
"I
see you have turned to good works, ma'am," he said when he reached her,
extending his tin plate. "Surely you didn't take to your heart anything I
said."
She
raised her eyebrows and said, "I'm sure I don't know; I can't remember
what you said to me." She gave him an extra slice of meat, feeling an unwanted
stab of pity at the sight of his thin wrists. "Have you—been ill?"
He
laughed an odd, hoarse laugh. "No, ma'am, I've been in solitary. Being
punished, you see—I have this remarkable ability to get under other people's
skins." He winked slyly. "But I'm so indispensable here, your foreman
talked them into sending me back." He moved on to where Pegeen was
dispensing coffee and bread, leaving Katherine choking back the words of
sympathy that had sprung to her lips.
When
she returned to the office after lunch, she began to question Teddy. "Once
you said something about a Rebel raider named Hampton. Was he captured?"
The
boy's eyes lit up. "Was he ever! That was some battle, Miss Katherine. He
sailed out of Wilmington—the one in Carolina—right under the noses of the
blockaders, floated out on a foggy night—Lord knows how he got out without
running smack dab into one of our ships. But he didn't. Well, we spotted him
just as he edged past and we started firing, but then he started his engines
and steamed away. Well, it made the skipper of the San Francisco so mad
that he started out after him. But that Hampton, he headed for Cape
Hatteras."
"The
'Graveyard of the Atlantic'?" Katherine said in awe.
Teddy
beamed at her knowledge. "That's right. Well, Hampton knew that
Similar Books
