He gnashed what teeth he'd got left at her, and told her that he'd break
her and make her howl for mercy afore she was many hours older. And then
he went down house and dared his wife, who was getting a bit skeared over
it, to take the girl a crust.
"'Tis my will against hers," he said, "and I've got the whip hand. Another
day without food will soon bring her to heel; and if it don't, I'll try
what a touch of my leather belt will do for the young devil."
Then he went to work, and the few folk he ferried that Sabbath day all
said that Jimmy was getting no better than a bear with a sore head, for he
hadn't a word to throw at man, or woman, but mumbled in his beard to
himself and scowled at the folk as if they were all his natural enemies.
And meantime the hours passed and Christie, though cruel distressed for
want of food, did as Ted bade her, and packed her little box with her few
treasures, and put on her Sunday clothes, and wondered with all her might
however Edmund Masters would be so good as his word.
But she trusted him and doubted not that things would fall out as he said.
She knew that _The Provider_ sailed for home that night, and guessed her
lover meant taking her along with him. Indeed, once out of 'Passage
House,' she didn't intend to lose sight of him again. She kept calm and
watchful as the sun turned west and the day began to sink.
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