University of Virginia Library

6. VI

Well, we kept right on sitting. Two hours went by, an' still we sat. Another hour passed, an' it began to rain, an' still we sat. Wiggins an' the captain had had time to row to Uniondale an' get a boat built, it seemed to us, an' still we sat. We got soaking wet and shivering cold. Some of the women begun to cry, an' all the men begun to swear. We wondered if Wiggins an' the captain had been drowned, or if they'd only been wrecked again an' were yet alive. We wondered for a while, an' by an' by we got so cold an' wet we didn't care.

"It was pretty near dark when at last a fishin'-boat came along an' we hailed it. The fishermen put off a rowboat an' took us aboard, an' we started for Uniondale. There wasn't any cabin on that fishing-boat, an' we were gettin' colder an' wetter all the time. We'd gone about a mile when we see a couple of men in a boat in near shore.

"`It's Wiggins an' the captain,' Edgeley says, an' the fishermen steered in toward them.

"It was Wiggins an' the captain, all right. They was havin' high words. We could hear the captain speakin' his mind in a way no hired man should speak to the guy that pays him. We run alongside of them an' stopped.

I never see such anguish as there was on Wiggins's face. He seen us, but he hardly took notice. The captain was different.

"`Don't none of you people blame me,' he says in a loud voice. `This man Wiggins is crazy. I been tryin' to get him to go on for hours, an' he wouldn't budge. The idea of him lettin' you people set back there in the rain, an' likely get your death of cold! It ain't my fault. He's crazy, I tell you!'

"`But it's right down there between those two little rocks,' Wiggins says. `It's

easy to get at. I could get it, if I wasn't so short-winded. I can't stay under long enough to feel around for it. Won't you please try, captain? It's right there between those two little rocks, and the water's hardly up to your neck now the tide's gone out so.'

"`No, I won't try!' the captain yells at him. `You're crazy!'

"`What's the matter?' Bert Edgeley says.

"`I was sitting here counting my change while the captain rowed, and I dropped a five-dollar gold piece overboard,' Wiggins wails, wringin' his hands. `It's right down there between those two little rocks. I know right where it is. I could get it easy, if I could hold my breath long enough to hunt around for it. Couldn't you just try for it once? I'll show you right where it is!'

"Lily Martin stepped to the rail of the boat an' looked down at Wiggins. Her teeth had been chatterin' with the cold for two or three hours, but she seemed to be warm enough all of a sudden.

"`Have you been hunting for that five-dollar gold piece all afternoon?' she asks in a tone of voice that would have made Jesse James throw up his hands on suspicion.

"Wiggins looks at her, an' I'll swear he hardly saw her. His mind was where it belonged — on money.

"`It's right down there between those two little rocks,' he says, like a kid recitin' a piece. `It's only about five feet under water, now that the tide's gone out so far.'

"Lily turned her back on him an' held out her hand to Bert Edgeley.

"`I beg your pardon, Bert,' she says. `I didn't understand!'

"One of the boys give the fisherman the high sign, an' he started the engine. Wiggins scarcely paid any attention to our leavin'. He was too busy pleadin' with the captain to dive down an' make a try for the five-dollar gold piece that was just between the two little rocks. The last we seen of the two of 'em, the captain was rowin' after us an' swearin' a blue streak. Wiggins was standin' up, wringin' his hands an' beggin' for the captain to wait an' let him make just one more try for it. The habit had him!

"Wiggins moved from the hotel here to cheaper quarters, as soon as he got back to town, an' I didn't see him for near six months. Then one afternoon I was leanin' over the counter, readin' the account of Lily Martin's marriage to Bert Edgeley, when Henry come shufflin' in. He looked seedier an' sadder than ever.

"`I see they're married,' he says to me. `I'm glad I escaped! I must have been mad, for a time,' he says. `It was a terrible expense! You wouldn't believe how much I spent!'

"You can't get away from it, I tell you. It ain't done. Economy's a nice pastime, but it's a terrible habit!"