The Golden Boys Page #5

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- Please, sit. Sit down.

- Thank you.

I'm so glad to see you.

I'm mighty glad to see you.

Please tell me about Grandfather.

How is he? Can I see him?

Well, Miss Preston...

...your grandpa is pretty sick.

He's got a stroke of palsy or something.

He doesn't have much of a sense

of what's going on around him.

He might not even recognize you.

Well, don't you worry now.

Doc says he's considerable better.

- Isn't that right, Mr. Hazeltine?

- Yes, he did.

What on earth am I thinking?

I'd like to make you known

to Mr. Hazeltine here.

- Pleased to meet you, ma'am.

- He's sort of a neighbor of ours.

Actually, over there, across the bay.

And...

Well, Mr. Hazeltine,

if you will excuse us...

I'll escort Elsie upstairs now.

- It's nice to meet you.

- You, too.

A looker, ain't she?

I swear.

If I wouldn't sooner

have these beans than turkey.

Especially better than that burnt one

you had for Christmas.

No, no. It was Thanksgiving.

Well, it hung around till Christmas.

I want to thank you all.

You've been so good to my grandfather.

Well, Mrs. Snow told me all about it.

We done ship together. He's our mate.

You've just been so kind...

...and I really appreciate it.

Hello, Mr. Hazeltine.

Hello, Captain.

I just stopped by your house...

...to inquire on Captain Bartlett.

Mrs. Snow seems to have

things quite in hand.

She seems as though trouble

doesn't trouble her at all.

I judge she's seen enough of it, too.

It's queer how trouble acts in folks.

Sort of like hot weather.

It spoils milk, but it sweetens apples.

She's one of the sweetened kind.

Afternoon, Melissy.

Well, hello, Captain. What a spectacular

afternoon we're having.

Melissy, we're having...

...kind of an outing day after tomorrow.

We'd love for you to join us.

Will Captain Perez be there?

Why, yes, ma'am.

Asking you to come along was his idea.

Well.

Well, I'll be there.

You can count on me.

Come on, baby.

Whoa!

Spied you coming, Zeb.

Jump right down and come right in.

This is where we keep the boat

and the rest of the gear.

The spare oar is on the wall.

The regular ones are in the boat.

Captain, where's the famous "breeches buoy"

I've always read about?

Right up there.

I don't believe you'd

get me into that thing.

I don't know, but I think

I'd rather be drowned...

...than to make a show of myself.

Only used it once

since I've been at the station.

Most of the time, the wrecks

are too far offshore...

...and we have to get the boat out.

Chowder's warming, Father.

Should be ready soon.

If y'all don't mind...

I think I'll break out the picnic baskets.

Why don't you show Melissy here

the lookout tower?

I don't believe she's ever seen it.

Really?

I don't want to go.

I believe I'd love to see it!

Listen, go easy, Perez.

You and Melissy are like

our insurance policy...

...just in case Jerry gets cold feet.

- You know what I mean?

- If Jerry gets cold feet...

...I'm the one stepping into his shoes...

...immediately.

Captain Norris, you must've seen

some plucky things in your day.

What's the bravest thing you've ever seen?

Well, I've seen something done once...

...that may not strike you

as being anything out of the usual run...

...but has always seemed to me

clear grit and nothing else.

So I says to Prissy Rend, says I,

"That Captain Perez Ryder...

"he sure is a case.

Prissy says there's no woman alive

who can tame a man...

...once he hasn't been tamed already.

But I said, "No, Prissy.

If anyone can tame him, I can tame him.

I'm going to housebreak him

just like I did my second husband.

It happened off the coast of Maine

along in the '70s.

I was working as a sort of

second mate on a lumber schooner.

We struck a rock that

wasn't down on any chart.

Punched a hole in the schooner's side.

Did you abandon ship?

Well, that was my thought.

But the skipper...

he wasn't that kind.

He sized things up in a hurry, I tell you.

Half the crew

was praying to the virgin...

...the other half swearing a blue streak.

But the skipper...

he drove them to the pumps...

...and set me over them

with a revolver to keep them working.

- And she said that...

- Now, Melissy, look.

I hate to interrupt you there

in your story, but...

I see where you're driving...

...and...

...I just don't want to give you

no encouragement.

I mean, I like you...

...but...

...not in the marrying way.

I don't mean to offend you.

It's just that I'm...

I'm not ready to settle down yet.

I mean, I'm...

...still a seafaring man.

Out there, there's...

...still maybe voyages to take, and I...

Captain, you make

as much common sense...

...as a duck in a henhouse.

Don't... Please don't cry.

I didn't mean...

When they was done...

...we had to carry

the first mate to the cabin.

But the skipper...

he just sent the cook...

...for a pail of boiling hot coffee...

...drunk the whole of it...

...put dry clothes over his flannels...

...and stayed on deck and worked

that schooner into Portland Harbor.

Who was he, Captain Norris?

It was Captain Zeb.

That's right, ma'am.

Perez told you, I suppose.

No. Nobody told me.

I just guessed it.

I've seen a good many folks

in my time...

...and I calculate that I've got so

that I can tell what kind a man is...

...after I've known him a little while.

Thank you.

He's been sleeping peaceful

the last hour.

Dear Miss Preston...

...if you don't want the sheriff to come...

...and haul your grandpa

into state's prison...

...you better come and see me...

...at the billiard hall right away.

Web Saunders.

Sure I can't help you

with them dishes, Mrs. Snow?

No. Don't you fellas ever

touch another dirty dish.

Ever since I caught you with

a dust rag as a dishcloth...

...of all the silly things.

Don't fleck out with me.

When did you have a dust rag

and a dishcloth?

I don't know what...

It's a pity she won't let us help her.

There.

Well, hello.

You come to learn the trade?

Captain Zeb, I want

to have a talk with you.

A business talk.

I want you to help me get a position.

A position.

Well, I've been thinking

a great deal lately...

...and now that Grandfather

seems to be a little better...

...and he doesn't need as much care...

...I want to do something

to earn my living.

Earn your living?

Why, child alive...

...you don't need to do that.

Your grandfather is not so poor...

...that I can't give you

a little change now and then...

...that he wouldn't pay me back.

No, I don't want to use your money...

...or his.

I want to get the teaching job here

at the grammar school.

Look here, Elsie.

I don't want you to think I'm curious

about your private life...

...but are you sure there's not

some other reason...

...why you want to take this place?

No, Captain Zeb.

It's just as I've told you.

I just don't know

what you must think of me...

...answering an advertisement

for a husband that way.

I just...

I'm ashamed of myself

to think of it, I declare.

And in that kind of paper, too.

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