“We don’t sell much boot blacking here.  Most of the people grease their boots with fish oil,” Katherine said, laughing in spite of herself, only now her amusement was because she knew Jervis Ferrars to be in her father’s room, where he could hear every word which was spoken in the store.

“Best thing, too.  There is nothing like grease for making leather wear well.  Well, I must be going, though I’m that tired.  However I’ll manage the walk is more than I can say;” and Oily Dave heaved a sigh which this time was not lacking in sincerity.

“Would you like to have one of our boats?  Miles will help you to run it down,” Katherine said.  It was such a usual thing to lend a customer a boat that one or two were always handy, and the customer always understood that the loan was to be returned at his earliest convenience.

“Thank you, I should be glad!  The current will carry me down while I smoke my pipe.  Then I shall be rested enough to cook supper when I get there,” he answered.  Then, bidding her good night, he went out of the store, meeting Miles in the doorway, who went back to help him to run the boat down into the water.

“Miles, I hope you didn’t tell that old fraud that Mr. Ferrars was staying here?” said Katherine, when the boy came in and locked the door for the night.

“Of course I didn’t.  I never said a word good, bad, nor indifferent to the old fellow.  I haven’t got over this morning,” Miles said, in a tone which sounded sullen, but which was only a cloak for feelings deeply stirred.

“Very well then, for this one night at least he will have the satisfaction of believing that he was successful in drowning Mr. Ferrars,” Katherine replied.

“Don’t worry yourself, Mrs. Jenkin will tell him,” said Miles.  “Or some of the men will chaff him, because he has been outwitted by a girl.”

“It wasn’t a girl this time; it was Mrs. Jenkin,” objected Katherine, letting a box go down with a bang, for she did not want the listener in the other room to hear what Miles was saying.

“Mrs. Jenkin might have called out that there was someone in Oily Dave’s house that wanted saving, but I guess the poor man would have had time to drown twice over if it hadn’t been for you getting on the ice and going to fetch him out,” Miles said, sticking to his own opinion with the obstinacy he was rather fond of displaying.

Katherine took refuge in silence, going out of the store as soon as she could, and hurrying away to bed, because of the needs of the next day.  Neither she nor Mrs. Burton slept very well, however.  To both of them it was a grief beyond the power of words to describe to leave their father to the care of a stranger, and they were both thankful when morning came and the day’s routine had to begin again.

There was no change in the stricken man’s condition, but Katherine, who stayed with him while the others had breakfast, thought that he looked more comfortable than on the previous evening.  When Miles came in to take her place, she went back to the kitchen, to hear Mrs. Burton and Jervis Ferrars talking of the Selincourts.