Darry

“ Darry would never forget that hour.
The impressions he received then would remain with him through life; and in his eyes the calling of a life saver must always be reckoned the noblest vocation to which a young man could pledge himself. ”

“ Captain Harley had always encouraged him in the belief that some happy day he would surely know the truth.
Just now, however, it really looked as though Darry need no longer allow himself to feel any anxiety on that score.
The ocean depths would offer just as easy a resting place to a nameless waif as to a crowned monarch.
When the great waves broke over the drifting vessel the rush of water must have swept him away, only that he had been wise enough to lash himself to the stump of the mizzen-mast. ”

“ Horrified, Darry pressed closer, for he fancied he had seen a feeble movement on the part of the figure drawn from the waves—doubtless alone and unassisted the swimmer could never have crawled out on the beach, but now that he was beyond reach of the waves, would the man who had snatched him ashore do the slightest thing to keep the spark of life from going out entirely? ”

“ There was Pete, tall and very black, and very grave, as Darry was also. There was Jem, full of life and waggishness, and bright for any exercise of his wits; and grave shadows used to come over his changeable face often enough too. There was Margaret, with her sombre beauty; and old Theresa with her worn old face. I think there was a certain indescribable reserve of gravity upon them all, but there was not one whose lips did not part in a white line when looking at me, nor whose eyes and ears did not watch me with an interest as benign as it was intent. ”

“ Paul was quite useless because he knew so little about pulling an oar, while as a sailor, with some years experience on a vessel, Darry was at home on the water in any capacity.
"I certainly admire your grit, Darry," said Paul, shuddering as he looked out at the heaving waves, the white tops of which loomed up in the gloom.
"Oh! I'm used to these things. Dozens of storms I've been through, under all sorts of conditions," answered the boy.
"All the same it's a big risk. I hope nothing will go wrong. That's a mighty small boat to pit against the fury of the sea." ”

“ I went on, "papa must give them a great deal of money; I should think they would have things more comfortable, Darry. Why don't they have little carpets, and tables and chairs, and cups and saucers? Hardly anybody has teacups and saucers. Have you got any, Uncle Darry?" [Pg 63]
"'Spect I'se no good woman to brew de tea for her ole man," said Darry; but I thought he looked at me very oddly.
"Couldn't you make it for yourself, Uncle Darry?"
"Poor folks don't live just like de rich folks," he answered, quietly, after a minute's pause. ”

“ As Darry remembered the hardware man he believed him to be a jolly, red-faced man, and with a kindly eye, quite the opposite from the fishy orb of Mr. Quarles; but then there are some things that had better remain unsaid, and he did not try to voice his opinion.
"Then you will not do Mrs. Peake this little favor, sir?" he asked.
"Business is business with me, young man. Sometimes it is one person's day, and then the tables turn, and it is another's. ”

“ Then I heard a quick step in the shrubbery, as of some one sent to summon us, and reluctantly released from my hold the embodiment at that instant of all I esteemed noblest and loveliest in woman. With characteristic composure, Miss Darry answered the message by gathering some of the [Pg 690] roses beside us, and turning to reënter the house. Afraid of my own lack of self-control, I would gladly have gone home like a blushing girl; but my new pride of protecting Miss Darry under all circumstances of difficulty compelled me to follow her. ”

“ It was not a wise move on his part at all, for such men are as a rule desperate characters, and resent being spied upon, since such action savors too much of the law and justice in their eyes; but Darry was only a venturesome boy, who somehow never knew the meaning of the word fear, and a little saunter along the beach would pass away some of the time until the boat came in again. ”

“ It's only fair you should know where your money is going, sir. As soon as I get my breath you shall hear," went on Darry, fingering the hundred dollar bill as though he could hardly believe his senses.
Never did a bill of like denomination seem to carry more happiness in its touch; he could easily picture the light that would dawn upon the worried features of Mrs. Peake when he handed her that mortgage, canceled, and Abner, too, how he would be likely to throw up his hat in the air and shout like a boy. ”

“ Peake about it, and while she looked displeased at first, Darry was so apparently loth to leave her that the better element in the woman's nature soon pushed to the front.
"Of course you can go, after a little. There's nothing to prevent. It will be a fine thing for you, and may lead to something better. We have put through one winter without a man in the house, and can again. Time was when all my children were little, and even then Abner used to be away most of the time. Don't worry about us, Darry. ”

“ Many's the time he has jeered at me when he passed; and everyone has been afraid to put a hand on him because his father is a bad man. And you did that? Well, the boys of Ashley ought to vote you thanks. And you fought because he wanted you to leave this house? You thought it was a home worth fighting for? Then it shall be yours as long as you want to stay here, Darry. ”

“ I grasped his hand as cordially as it was given, and hurried down stairs, out of the door, and over the hill, with a strong conviction that Miss Darry was a mistaken and foolish woman, and a prompting to disinterestedness not quite compatible with my relations to her. I was in no mood for her society, so I resolved to delay seeing her until evening, and conclude my arrangements at the forge, as I was to go to the city the next week. ”

“ Often Darry loves, when by himself, to look back to the days that are no more, and at such times he thinks with gratitude of the friends whom a kindly Providence raised up for him in his time of need. ”

“ CHAPTER XII THE STOLEN TRAPS
In the morning Darry occupied himself repairing the damage done by the fire.
After he had done all the chores, even to assisting Mrs. Peake wash the breakfast dishes, and there seemed nothing else to be undertaken, he took Joe's shotgun on his shoulder and walked toward the marsh.
The woman, seeing how much he looked like her lost boy with the gun and the clothes, had a good cry when left to herself; but Darry did not know this. ”

“ He saw Jim Dilks bend eagerly down.
Closer still Darry pressed, unconscious in his eagerness to see that he was placing his own life in danger.
The man who would not hesitate to rob the dead might go even further in order to conceal his crime. ”

“ By turns I watched the sunlight streaming along the turf and lighting the foliage of the trees on the other side of the dell; looking in a kind of dream, as if I were not Daisy nor this Magnolia in any reality. I suddenly started and awoke to realities as Darry began to sing,—
"My Father's house is built on high,
Far, far above the starry sky;
And though like Lazarus sick and poor,
My heavenly mansion is secure.
I'm going home,—
I'm going home,—
I'm going home
To die no more!
To die no more—
To die no more—
I'm going home
To die no more!" ”

“ Having been giving some spare waterproof garments in the shape of oilskins, and a sou'wester, Darry felt himself prepared to face any conditions that might arise during his long walk with his friend.
Taking lantern and coster lights for signalling, Abner set out, another patrol going in the opposite direction.
Those who had been out for hours had returned to the station in an almost exhausted condition, and at the time Abner and Darry left they were warming up with a cup of coffee, strong spirits being absolutely forbidden while on duty. ”

“ Glad to see you, Darry. Hope there ain't been any more doings up at your place? I'm laying for the slippery rascals, and hope to have them dead to rights soon; but you know men in my profession have to go slow. ”

“ Darius Quarles was a very small-minded man evidently; even a boy like Darry could understand that.
"No, she does not know I have come here," replied our hero.
"Then where did you get the money? Boys as a rule don't sport such sums as fourteen dollars in a bunch. I haven't heard of any bank being robbed, or a sportsman being held up; but you understand, it looks suspicious, boy."
Darry flushed with mortification at the insult; but because of Mrs. Peake he managed to bite his lips and refrain from telling the curmudgeon just what he thought of him. ”

“ Darry had already learned through the grocer that previous to her marriage to Abner the good woman had been for some years a teacher in the schools, which fact accounted for her superior language and knowledge of things that were far above the intelligence of most of her neighbors.
The constable looked keenly at our hero.
"I b'lieve this is the boy wot was saved from the wreck o' that brigantine. So he's gwine to be your boy now, Mrs. Peake? Well, I understand he's got the makin' o' a man in him, so Mr. Keeler sez to me last night, and I hope you'll never have no reason to be sorry. ”

“ Darry and Maria were in my counsels, of course; but the rest of the poor people knew only by guess who their friend was. Old Sarah found her new shoes in her hut one evening, and in her noisy delight declared that "some big angel had come t'rough de quarters." The cups and saucers it was necessary to own, lest more talk should have been made about them than at all suited me; Darry let it be understood that nothing must be said and nobody must know of the matter ”

“ As the rope had been fastened to the boat there was no longer necessity for the crew to strain at the oars, consequently they were at liberty to assist in caring for those sent down by the steamer's crew, working under the direction of a cool, level-headed captain.
Darry had cast off his oilskins, as being in the way.
A wetting was of small moment anyway to one so warm-blooded as he, and the cumbersome garments impeded his movements, since they were meant for a big man. ”

“ Paul had known of her great trouble, and it was the remarkable resemblance of Darry to a picture he had seen of his uncle Rudolph as a boy that first startled him.
Then came the story about the waif, and this gave him strong hopes that by the wonderful favor of Providence he had been enabled to come across the long-lost boy, his own cousin.
Their happiness was subdued, for there had been lives lost in the storm, a number of passengers and crew having been swept from the deck of the steamer by the giant waves before the coming of the life savers. ”

“ God sent you to us, I believe, just when things were at the worst. How different it looks now. I am the happiest woman in Ashley this night," she declared, and it seemed as though she could hardly take her beaming eyes off his face during that whole evening as they sat and built air castles for the future.
It can be set down as certain that Darry found it hard to get to sleep after so much excitement. Long he lay there and went over all the recent experiences, to wonder again and again why Providence was so good to him, the waif who had until the last few years known only cuffs and trouble. ”

“ Darry saw that the other was swallowing his resentment in order to pick up information, and he remembered what dark stories he had heard in connection with the men who formed the companions of Jim's father—that they were termed wreckers, and some said they had reached a point of desperation where they did not hesitate to lure a vessel upon the reefs in order to profit from the goods that would float ashore after she went to pieces. ”

“ Then you will grow up to be a true man. And continue to search for some evidence of your people. That mark on your arm may be of great value to you some day. Hark! I fancied I caught the sound of the breakers just then! It is possible that the time has come for us to part. Good bye, my boy, and God bless you whatever betide!"
Another fierce pressure of the hand, and Captain Harley was gone.
Standing there, filled with horror and dismay, Darry caught a last glimpse of his guardian staggering across the wet deck, and then the gloom forever hid him from view. ”

“ After all, Paul and Darry did have a chance to spend some part of the winter cruising together on the sound, although our hero later on decided that he must start in to make himself worthy of the position which was from this time to be his lot, and enrolled at an academy where his fond mother could be near him, and have a home in which he might find some of the happiness that fate had cheated him out of for so long.
No one who knows the youth doubts that he has a promising future before him, and many prophesy that he will eventually make a more famous lawyer than his father was before him. ”

“ Arter thet she kinder took to me, an' Darius he got the mitten."
"Now I understand why he feels that way toward you," said Darry, wisely.
"They was some things I never did understand 'bout that thing. Nancy, she was allers the best gal swimmer in the village, but she did act like she was drownin' that day. Some sed as how they thort she tumbled over apurpose jest to hev some fun, an' see which o' her beaux'd drap in arter her the quickest," and the surfman smiled at the thought.
"And you won out. I guess Mr. Quarles has never forgiven you for that. ”