“Hi, thar, Eben,” he called, “hustle up an’ split some wood.  It’s dinner time, an’ thar isn’t a stick cut.  Guess ye must have burned it all up this mornin’, Miss,” he added, turning to his fair companion.  “Anyway, that boy never keeps enough on hand.  I wish to goodness he’d take some interest in things instead of mopin’ around all the time.”

“Perhaps he does take an interest in things he likes,” the girl suggested.

“Then I’d like to find out what they are, Miss.  I know he’s mighty fond of eatin’ an’ sleeping but I guess that’s about as fer as it goes.”

“I made a discovery this morning, Captain,” was the quiet reply.

“Ye did!  In what way?”

“I discovered that your son has a great fondness for drawing.”

“Humph!” the captain grunted, as he gave the wheel a quick, savage turn to the right.  “Say, I nearly ran through that salmon net.  It’s too fer out, blamed if it isn’t.  Yes, I know Eben’s fond of drawin’, an’ that’s the trouble.  He’d fiddle around all day with a paper an’ pencil if I’d let him, an’ not do a hand’s turn.”

“But suppose he should make a success of his drawing, though?”

“In what way?  Wouldn’t it be better fer him to learn boatin’ so he kin take charge of this craft some day?”

“He never will do that, Captain.  His mind is set upon being an engineer, and you should encourage him all you can.”

“An engineer!” The captain stared at the girl in amazement.

“Yes, an engineer.  He has a great liking for that, and the drawings he has made are remarkably good, considering that he has had no one to teach him.”

“Ye don’t tell!  But what has drawin’s to do with engineering I’d like to know.  Ye don’t have to make drawin’s to run an engine, do ye ?”

“To be a civil engineer you do, and that is what your son wants to be.  His mind is set upon bridge building, and you should see the drawings he has made of the bridge across the falls.  I suppose you have never seen them?”

“No.  Eben never showed ’em to me.  Guess he was too scart.”

“That’s just the trouble, Captain.  You have misunderstood the boy, and he has been doing this work on the sly.  He showed them to me, though, and I have promised to give him some lessons.”

“Ye have!”

“Yes, providing you will let me.  And you will, won’t you?  It would be a great pity not to help and encourage him.  If you do, you may be proud of him some day.”

The captain gripped the wheel with firm hands, and looked straight before him.  His face was a study, and the girl watched him somewhat curiously.  She knew how his heart was set upon fitting Eben to take his place, and to relinquish that hope would be a great hardship.

“Guess I’ll have to talk this over with Martha,” he at length announced.  “She an’ Flo are so dead set upon Eben bein’ a captain that I don’t believe they’ll listen to me fer a minute.”