SHEILA OF BIG WRECK COVE _A Story of Cape Cod_ By JAMES A. COOPER AUTHOR OF _"Tobias o' the Light," "Cap'n Jonah's Fortune" "Cap'n Abe, Storekeeper," etc._ WITH FRONTISPIECE BY R. EMMETT OWEN A. L. BURT COMPANY Publishers New York Published by arrangement with George Sully & Company Printed in U.S.A. COPYRIGHT, 1921 (AS A SERIAL) COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY GEORGE SULLY & COMPANY [Frontispiece: "Come here and look at this craft, Prudence." Page 11 (_Sheila of Big Wreck Cove._)] CONTENTS CHAPTER I. CAP'N IRA AND PRUE II. THE CAPTAIN OF THE SEAMEW III. THE QUEEN OF SHEBA IV. AT THE LATHAM HOUSE V. LOOKING FOR IDA MAY VI. AN UNSATISFACTORY INTERVIEW VII. AT THE RESTAURANT VIII. SHEILA IX. A GIRL'S STORY X. THE PLOT XI. AT BIG WRECK COVE XII. A NEW HAND AT THE HELM XIII. SOME YOUNG MEN APPEAR XIV. THE HARVEST HOME FESTIVAL XV. AN INVITATION ACCEPTED XVI. MEMORIES--AND TUNIS XVII. AUNT LUCRETIA XVIII. IDA MAY THINKS IT OVER XIX. THE ARRIVAL XX. THE LIE XXI. AT SWORDS' POINTS XXII. A WAY OUT XXIII. A CALL UNANNOUNCED XXIV. EUNEZ PARETA XXV. TO LOVE AND BE LOVED XXVI. ELDER MINNETT HAS HIS SAY XXVII. CAP'N IRA SPEAKS OUT XXVIII. GONE XXIX. ON THE TRAIL XXX. THE STORM XXXI. BITTER WATERS XXXII. A GIRL TO THE RESCUE XXXIII. A HAVEN OF REST CHAPTER I CAP'N IRA AND PRUE Seated on this sunshiny morning in his old armchair of bent hickory, between his knees a cane on the head of which his gnarled hands rested, Captain Ira Ball was the true retired mariner of the old school. His ruddy face was freshly shaven, his scant, silvery hair well smoothed; everything was neat and trig about him, including his glazed, narrow-brimmed hat, his blue pilot-cloth coat, pleated shirt front as white as snow, heavy silver watch chain festooned upon his waist-coat, and blue-yarn socks showing between the bottom of his full, gray trouser legs and his well-blacked low shoes. For Cap'n Ira had commanded passenger-carrying craft in his day, and was a bit of a dandy still. The niceties of maritime full dress were as important to his mind now that he had retired from the sea to spend his remaining days in the Ball homestead on Wreckers' Head as when he had trod the quarter-deck of the old _Susan Gatskill_, or had occupied the chief seat at her saloon table. "I don't know what's to become of us," repeated Cap'n Ira, wagging a thoughtful head, his gaze, as that of old people often is, fixed upon a point too distant for youthful eyes to see. "I can't see into the future, Ira, any clearer than you can," rejoined his wife, glancing at his sagging, blue-coated shoulders with some gentle apprehension.