She knew only too well that
Morton would have the support of nearly all their friends in Killamet,
who could see no reason why he should not follow his father's calling,
and begin, like him, at the bottom of the ladder, as "the boy."
Though they knew the hardness of the life, they reasoned that it "helped
toughen a youngster, and make a man of him." To them, Sara's ideas were
foolish and high-flown, their notion of a "gentleman" being too often
associated with city "lubbers" who came down to spy out the land--and
sea--in their ridiculous knickerbockers and helmets, and who did not
know a jib from a spanker, or had any idea when a sailor spoke of the
"hull" of his vessel, that he referred to anything but the sum of its
component parts! Gentlemen, as a class, were not held in high esteem at
Killamet. Even Captain Norris laughed at fine manners, and would
doubtless say,--
"Oh, give the boy a chance to try his sea-legs, if he wants to--a little
toughening won't hurt him."
No one but Miss Prue would thoroughly sympathize with, and stand by her,
and what were she and Miss Prue against so many?
They ate their supper in a glowering silence, unusual in that cottage,
even Molly for once being oppressed by the gloomy faces about her; then,
still in silence, she washed the few dishes, while Sara undressed the
baby; Morton, meanwhile, taking up a school-book, in which he sat
apparently absorbed, until his twin, happening to pass behind him,
stopped, and, with a flip of her dish-towel, cried out,--
"Why-y, Mort Olmstead, you're studying your g'oggerfy upside down!"
He gave her a scowl, but his face flushed sensitively, as he quickly
reversed the book, and Sara, turning a little from the fire, where she
was cuddling the baby, met his eyes with so loving and tender a look
that he could scarcely bear it.
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