Helmford assisted him, although Sarah tried to get Tom to offer his arm first. The lout, however, was backward and Helmford went down the lane with the old mariner. "Something of a squall last night," muttered Cap'n Jonah in Helmford's ear. "Did you hear it?" "Why, no. I didn't know it stormed last night. But I know it was very cold," replied the young man. "Whatever! I should say it was cold," the captain agreed. "But I meant the squall in the house." "Oh!" Helmford's expression changed. "Sarah and them pickin' on Pearly the way they've been doin' has got to be stopped." "Oh!" "I had to put my foot down," went on Cap'n Jonah, boldly. "She sha'n't be brow-beaten no more. What I've got shall be that gal's when I'm dead an' gone, and then she sha'n't be beholden to no Petty." "Oh!" "Whatever!" exclaimed Cap'n Jonah, exasperated. "Ain't you got nothin' but 'O's' left inside you?" "Er--not much, I guess, Cap'n Jonah. You take my breath away. Do you mean you are going to make Miss Pearl your heir?" "That's what I mean to do," the old man said firmly, "if them Pettys don't treat her better. Of course, the gal ain't nothin' by blood to me. Though the Hands, and the Holdens, and the Cards, and most of the other old families hereabout are a good deal mixed up. "Just the same," continued Cap'n Jonah, almost convincing himself of the reality of his plans as he went along, "I might do better willin' my property to Pearly than leaving it to Sarah Petty and her lout of a son. What do you think, Mr. Helmford?" "I--I do not feel myself qualified to advise, Cap'n Hand. It is a delicate matter," said Helmford slowly, and left him at the highway. "Ye-as. It's purty delicate, I do allow," muttered Cap'n Jonah. "Whatever!" He turned shoreward himself. The surf boomed with a threatening sound along The Beaches. Had he given thought to the matter he would have expressed it as his opinion that this was a weather-breeder. Clear as the sky was, there was a threatening haze along the horizon. He believed the barometer must be falling. The gulls stormed overhead and the white-maned sea-horses charged upon and over the Gull Rocks reef. Cap'n Jonah found the gold-headed cane a great help on this sunny afternoon. His joints were limbering slowly, but the attack of the morning had warned him of what was likely to come on him at almost any time. Articular rheumatism comes and goes, striking unexpectedly the victim. Cap'n Jonah felt that he must do what he could for Pearl--and for himself--immediately. He might be laid up, a cripple, for a long time. As he approached Cap'n Abe's store he saw a long, low-hung russet-painted roadster standing before the door. The engine was throbbing gently and the car seemed like a spirited horse, eager to be off along the road. Cap'n Jonah had seen the motor car before speeding up and down the Shell Road.