This prophecy was fulfilled. Before the Captain left Ostable for the
homeward drive a good deal had been done. Judge Baxter, in his capacity
as administrator, had already been looking into the affairs of his late
client and, as he had expected, those affairs were badly tangled. When
the outstanding debts were paid there would be little left, a thousand
or two, perhaps, but certainly no more.

"So there you are, Shadrach," he said. "I'm mighty glad you and Zoeth
have decided to keep the girl, but I'm afraid she'll come to you with
very little property of her own. If she is to have the good education
and all the rest that Marcellus wanted her to have I guess it'll be your
money that pays for it. That's the honest truth, and I think you ought
to know it."

The Captain nodded. "That's all right," he said. "I expected just about
that, account of what you said the day of the funeral. Me and Zoeth are
about, as fur from bein' rich as the ship's cat is from bein' skipper,
but we've put by a little and the store fetches us in a decent livin'.
We'll take the young-one and do our best by her. Land knows what that
best'll be," he added, with a dubious shake of the head. "Speakin' for
myself, I feel that I'm about as competent to bring up a child as a clam
is to fly."

Baxter laughed. "Marcellus seemed confident that you and Hamilton were
perfectly suited to the job," he said.

"Um; yes, I know; Marcellus had confidence in a good many things, the
stock market included. However, what is to be will be and we all have to
take chances, as the feller that was just married said when he tackled
his wife's first mince pie. You get those guardian papers, whatever