"I always told ye, ye 'member, that ye was the child of gentlefolks.
So bein', 'tis but right that you should have gentle raisin' by them
as is yer own flesh and blood. You've done your duty, and more than
your duty, by me. Now 'tis time ye did your duty by them as the Lord
has sent to ye. You'll have--my--my respeckful love and duty wherever
you go, my dear, and you growin' up to be a beautiful lady, as has
been a little wild lass. And you'll not forget the old Cap'n, well
I know, as will be very comf'table here--"

But here the child broke out with a wild, loud cry, which made all
the others start to their feet. "Do you want me to go?" she cried.
"Look at me, Daddy Captain! you _shall_ look at me!" She snatched
the cap from his hands and flung it into the fire, then faced him
with blazing eyes and quivering lip. "Do you want me to go? Are you
tired of me?"

Heavier and heavier grew that weight on Captain January's chest:
shorter and harder came his breath. His eyes met the child's for a
moment, then wavered and fell. "Why--honey--" he said, slowly,
"I--I'm an old man now--a very old man. And--and--an old man likes
quiet, ye see: and--I'd be quieter by myself, like; and--and so,
honey--I--I'd like ye to go."

"_You lie_!" cried the child; and her voice rang like a silver trumpet
in the startled ears of the listeners. "You lie to me, and you lie
to God: and you _know_ you lie!"

The next moment she had sprung on to the low window-sill, then turned
for an instant, with her little hands clenched in menace, and her
great eyes flashing fire that fell like a burning touch on every