"Sure-_ly_!" replied the hospitable storekeeper. "This ain't no time to be starvin' ourselves. Bring it in, Betty. An' afterwards you git two cabins ready upstairs for guests. Cap'n Jonah and Pearly can stay here just as well's not till they git located to suit 'em. "Hi-mighty!" he added, rubbing his hands together, his benignant old face glowing with kindliness. "I guess you'll find, Cap'n Jonah, that you've got plenty friends along the Shell Road, if the Pettys _have_ turned sour. But Orrin an' Sarah allus was near 'bout like vinegar, when all's said an' done." CHAPTER XXVIII ALL ABOUT A BAD SMELL The three Pettys were not happy. Somehow Cap'n Jonah's defiance and Pearl's joyful determination to put herself under the old mariner's protection, quite took the taste out of any pleasure Sarah Petty might have felt in seeing the two "paupers" start out into the storm. Orrin sank gloomily into his chair and openly groaned. The sand was cut out from under him, and no mistake! The melting of Cap'n Jonah's fortune was a catastrophe of overwhelming proportions. Orrin felt that he would never get over it. It was the son who first found voice and energy to put his thoughts into words. "There!" he croaked. "_Now_ you've done it, an' I hope you're satisfied." "What's the matter with you, Tom Petty?" demanded his mother, apprehending the young fellow's complaint before it was uttered. "You've driv' Pearly away. She ain't got no business going off with that old sea-devil!" cried Tom. "Wal, what d'ye want her here for?" queried Sarah. "She ain't wuth her salt no more. 'Twixt Uncle Jonah and that Helmford feller, they've nigh 'bout ruined her for work." "_Work?_" repeated Tom, with scorn. "That's all you ever think of--you slave driver! I didn't want Pearl driv' out." "Why not? What's she to _you_--when she ain't goin' to have no money?" "She's my girl!" cried Tom hotly. "Or she would ha' been if it wasn't for that consarned Helmford. And it's your fault he ever come here and made trouble 'tween us." "Why, you talk foolish!" declared Sarah. "Is that so?" snarled the lout. "Well, I can tell you right now: If Pearly's goin' to be turned out o' house an' home, so'm I. I'll go with her." This ridiculous statement, however, did not make Sarah Petty smile. After all, the woman's very soul was bound up in Tom. He could get his way with her by such threats at any time. And she was broken in spirit now. "You--you can't get her to come back," she stammered. "I can try," declared Tom. "And I'm goin' to. But you've got to promise to be good to her. If I marry Pearl I ain't goin' to let her be your slave no more." "You ain't married her yet," said Sarah pursing her lips tightly.