"What
do you mean?" he demanded.
His sister explained.
"Do you mean to tell me that you've been speaking to young Hardy?"
exclaimed the captain.
"I could hardly help doing so, when he came here," returned his sister,
with dignity. "He has been very anxious about you."
Captain Nugent rose and strode up and down the room. Then he stopped and
glanced sharply at his daughter.
"Were you here when he called?" he demanded.
"Yes," was the reply.
"And you--you spoke to him?" roared the captain.
"I had to be civil," said Miss Nugent, calmly; "I'm not a sea-captain."
Her father walked up and down the room again. Mrs. Kingdom, terrified at
the storm she had evoked, gazed helplessly at her niece.
"What did he come here for?" said the captain.
Miss Nugent glanced down at her plate. "I can't imagine," she said,
demurely. "The first time he came to tell us what had become of you."
The captain stopped in his walk and eyed her sternly. "I am very
fortunate in my children," he said, slowly. "One is engaged to marry the
daughter of the shadiest rascal in Sunwich, and the other--"
"And the other?" said his daughter, proudly, as he paused.
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