Thankful's Inheritance Part 5

Aunt Thankful rose to her feet. "I heard it, too," she said. "It's probably that driver man come back. I'll go and see."

"No--no, Auntie, you mustn't. I--I shan't let you."

"I shall! I shall, I tell you! If I've got any common-sense at all, I ain't goin' to be scared of--Of course it's that driver man. He's wonderin' where we are and he's lookin' for us. I'll go let him in."

She broke away from Miss Howes' grasp and started for the front hall.

The action was a braver one than her cousin realized. If there was one thing on earth that Thankful Barnes did not wish to do at that moment, it was to go nearer the stairs landing to the rooms above.

But she went, and Emily went with her. Cautiously they peered through the little windows at the sides of the front door. There was no one in sight, and, listening, they heard nothing.

"I--I guess we was mistaken, Emily," whispered Thankful. "Let's go back to the fire."

"But Auntie, I DID hear something. Didn't you?"

"Well, I thought I did, but I guess--Oh, DON'T stay here another minute!

I--I shall be hearin' 'most anything if we do."

They returned to the room they had left. But they had scarcely entered it when they stopped short and, clinging to each other, listened.

It was the latch of the kitchen door they heard click now. And the door was opening. In the kitchen they heard the sounds of cautious footsteps, footsteps which entered the dining-room, which came on toward the sitting-room. And a voice, a man's voice, whispered:

"I told you so! I--I told you so! I said I see a light. And--and that door was undone and--and--By time! Obed Bangs, you can go on if you want to, but I tell you you're riskin' your life. I--I ain't goin' to stay no longer. I'm goin' to fetch the constable--or--or the minister or somebody. I--"

Another voice interrupted.

"Shut up! Belay!" it ordered. "If there's anybody or anything in this house we'll have a look at it, that's all. You can go to the minister afterwards, if you want to. Just now you'll come along with me if I have to haul you by the neck. Let's see what's in here."

There was a flash of light in the crack of the door leading from the dining-room. That door was thrown open and the light became a blaze from a big lantern held aloft.

"Hey! What!" exclaimed the second voice. "Who--women, by the everlastin'!"

Mrs. Barnes and Emily clinging to each other, blinked in the lantern light.

"Women! Two women!" said the voice again.

Thankful answered. The voice was real and it came from a human throat.

Anything human--and visible--she did not fear.

"Yes," she said, crisply, "we're women. What of it? Who are you?"

The man with the lantern entered the room. He was big and broad-shouldered and bearded. His companion was short and stout and smooth-faced; also he appeared very much frightened. Both men wore oilskin coats and sou'westers.

"Who are you?" repeated Aunt Thankful.

The big man answered. His sunburned, good-humored face was wrinkled and puckered with amazement.

"Well," he stammered, "I--we--Humph! well, we're neighbors and--but--but, I don't know as I know you, ma'am, do I?"

"I don't know why you should. I don't know you, fur's that goes. What are you doin' here? Did that depot-wagon man send you?"

"Depot-wagon man? No, ma'am; n.o.body sent us. Kenelm--er--Mr. Parker here, saw a light a spell ago and, bein' as this house is supposed to be empty, he--"

"Wait a minute!" Miss Howes interrupted. "Whose house is this?"

"Why--why, it ain't anybody's house, ma'am. That is, n.o.body lives here."

"But somebody used to live here, it's likely. What was his name?"

"His name? Well, old Laban Eldredge used to live here. The house belongs to Captain Abner Cahoon's heirs, I believe, and--"

Again Thankful interrupted.

"I knew it!" she cried, excitedly. "I wondered if it mightn't be so and when I see that picture of Uncle Abner I was sure. All right, Mr. Whoever-you-are, then I'm here because I own the house. My name's Barnes, Thankful Barnes of South Middleboro, and I'm Abner Cahoon's heir. Emily, this--this rattle-trap you and I broke into is the 'property' we've talked so much about."

CHAPTER III

Emily said--well, the first thing she said was, "Oh, Aunt Thankful!"

Then she added that she couldn't believe it.

"It's so," declared Mrs. Barnes, "whether we believe it or not. When you come to think it over there's nothin' so wonderful about it, after all.

I had a sneakin' suspicion when I was sittin' here by you, after you'd gone to sleep. What I saw afterwards made me almost sure. I--Hum! I guess likely that'll keep till we get to the hotel, if we ever do get there. Perhaps Mr.--Mr.--"

"Bangs is my name, ma'am," said the big man with the lantern. "Obed Bangs."

"Thank you, Mr. Bangs. Or it's 'Cap'n Bangs,' ain't it?"

"They generally call me Cap'n, ma'am, though I ain't been doin' any active seafarin' for some time."

"I thought as much. Down here on Cape Cod, and givin' orders the way I heard you afore you come into this room, 'twas nine chances to one you was a cap'n, or you had been one. Bangs--Bangs--Obed Bangs? Why, that name sounds kind of familiar. Seems as if--Cap'n Bangs, you didn't use to know Eben Barnes of Provincetown, did you?"

"Eben Barnes? Cap'n Eben of the White Foam, lost off Cape Hatteras in a gale?"

"Yes, that's the one. I thought I heard him speak of you. He was my husband."

Captain Obed Bangs uttered an exclamation. Then he stepped forward and seized Mrs. Barnes' hand. The lady's hand was not a very small one but the Captain's was so large that, as Thankful remarked afterward, it might have shaken hers twice at the same time.

"Eben Barnes' wife!" exclaimed Captain Obed. "Why, Eben and I was messmates on I don't know how many v'yages! Well, well, well, ma'am, I'm real glad to see you."

"You ain't so glad as we are to see you--and your friend," observed Thankful, drily. "Is he a captain, too?"

He didn't look like one, certainly. He had removed his sou'wester, uncovering a round head, with reddish-gray hair surrounding a bald spot at the crown. He had a double chin and a smile which was apologetic but ingratiating. He seemed less frightened than when he first entered the room, but still glanced about him with evident apprehension.

"No--no, ma'am," he stammered, in answer to the question. "No, ma'am, I--I--my name's Parker. I--I ain't a cap'n; no, ma'am."