The little room seemed full of her father's presence. An old coat hung
behind the door. The little old trunk stood against the wall. On the big
box that served for a table, with a mark to keep the place, was a
library book. Happily, sleepy Jeanne did not think of looking at the
card. If she _had_ looked, she would have learned that the book was long
overdue. Thanks to the big clean lake and the wind-swept wharf, there
was no dust to show how long the place had been untenanted.
The music of the water rippling under the old dock, how sweet it was.
The air that blew in at her open window, how good and how soothing. The
bright stars peeping in through the little square seemed such _friendly_
stars. Even the cold stiffness of the brand-new sheet was not
sufficiently disturbing to keep the tired little girl awake.
She found her breakfast on the Captain's stove. Just in time, for the
fire was out and a bright-eyed chipmunk, perched on the edge of the
frying-pan, was nibbling a bit of fried potato. The Captain had
disappeared. Jeanne didn't guess that he had purposely fled.
"There's so much to do," said Jeanne, eying the Captain's grimy
teakettle, after she had finished her breakfast, "that I don't know
where to begin. If I could find my old pink dress--I know what I'll do,
I'll _buy_ something and make me a great big apron. Even my everyday
clothes are too good for a working lady. But first, I guess I'll clean
the room Old Captain slept in. Mollie kept a lot of old stuff that ought
to be thrown away. I hope there aren't any rats. And I _must_ remember
to mail the letter that I wrote to my grandfather just before I got to
Chicago. It's still in my work-box. I think some fresh hay would be nice
for the Captain's bunk. There's a lot of long grass on top of the
bank--perhaps I can cut some of that and dry it. I used to love to do
that. I could make fresh pillows, too. But I _must_ have something to
work in."
A very ragged blue cotton shirt of Old Captain's was finally pressed
into service. Of course it was much too big, but Jeanne tied up the
flopping sleeves with bits of twine; found the Captain's broom, and
marched down the dock.
The morning was gone by the time Old Captain's new room was cleared of
rubbish. Jeanne, clad mostly in the old blue shirt, dumped it into the
lake. Once her work had been interrupted by an old man who wanted to buy
a fish. Jeanne, giggling at a sudden amusing thought, trotted down the
dock to sell it to him from the end of the Captain's car. The business
now was mostly a wholesale one; but neither Jeanne nor the customer knew
that, so the fish were ungrudgingly displayed.
"Be you the fishman's little girl?" he asked, as Jeanne weighed the
trout he had selected.
"I _be_," she returned, gravely. But as soon as the customer was out of
earshot, Jeanne's amusing thought became too much for her.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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