Eveline by Anonymous

Author:Anonymous
Language: eng
Format: epub

I had one of my headaches next morning. I have not always the remedy for them at hand. On this occasion I had left it in London. I thought the air along the sea front might do me good. After breakfast I strolled along the Parade to the far corner where Mr. Jones-who, by the by, was not a Welshman but a native of Sussex-had his boat.

"Good morning, Mr. Jones. I see you are an advocate of cleanliness. Your Locket looks splendid, after the scrubbing you are giving her."

A fine, tall, young fellow, fair and freckled, with his short curly hair shading his broad forehead, wielded a mop which belabored the bottom and sides of the upturned skiff. His legs were bare to the knees. He stood like an old Northern Viking, a splendid specimen of the Anglo-Saxon race. The heavy bucket might have contained only waste paper from the manner in which he shifted it about, charged to the brim with sea water. He almost dropped it, however, as he turned and saw me. His mouth opened. He stood stupidly staring at me from behind his old father. I recognized the youth at once.

"Good mornin', miss. I don't know nothin' about no advocates, miss, but my son Bill is just a givin' her a rub round as we was a thinkin', the mornin' being so fine, I might see a young lady down for a row."

He had a twinkle in his eye which conveyed a silent hope that the liberal fee he had received the previous day might be repeated.

"So this is your son, is it, Mr. Jones? He must be of great service to you now you have got him."

"Oh, yes, miss-he's a main stronger nor me. You should see him capsize that there butt all alone by hisself. Why a rhinoceros couldn't do it!"

The old boatman was brimming over with pride-satisfaction at recovering his long-absent son betrayed itself in every feature.

"You must be very glad to see your father again."

"Yes, so I am, miss, and to find him so well and hearty. You see, miss, he's getting on now. It ain't as I'm so awful strong-it's that my old dad is a gettin' a bit shaky in his timbers, miss."

There was something charming in the kindly smile and the rough yet tender manner of the blunt young sailor towards the old man which made me look him over more attentively. He was certainly a superbly built young fellow. His bare arms and legs were furnished with a muscular development, which is rare in these days of effeminacy. A vigorous, healthy life upon the ocean had served to enhance all his natural advantages. He was a man to my mind. My headache increased-I wanted him badly to cure it.

Between them, they turned the boat over again. It was a good substantial skiff. I had been used to boating with Percy as a child. I knew something about rowing. I used to astonish the girls at the pensionnat near Paris when we all went in a formal party down the Seine from Suresnes.

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