"
"Yes, yes."
Her hand sought his. "You see me--how I am. I shall not survive my
child, for my mother did not before me. Listen. You are town clerk. You
write the names of the new born on a sheet of ruled paper and that is
their name?"
Rackby nodded.
"So much I knew--Come. How would it be if you gave my child your
name--Rackby? Don't say no to me. Say you will. Just the scratching of a
pen, and what a deal of hardship she'll be saved not to be known as Cad
Sills over again."
Her hand tightened on his wrist. Recollecting how they had watched the
tide horse over Pull-an'-be-Damned thus, he said, eagerly, "Yes, yes, if
so be 'tis a she," thinking nothing of the consequences of his promise.
"Now I can go happy," murmured Cad Sills.
"Where will you go?" said the harbor master, timorously, feeling that
she was whirled out of his grasp a second time.
"How should I know?" lisped Caddie Sills, with a remembering smile. "The
sea is wide and uncertain, little man."
The door opened again. A woman appeared and little Rackby was thrust out
among the able seamen.
Three hours later he came and looked down on Cad Sills again. Rain still
beat on the black windows. Her lips were parted, as if she were only
weary and asleep. But in one glance he saw that she had no need to lie
northeast and southwest to make certain of unbroken sleep.
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