hester was excited and overwrought; she could not meet any of the crowd, and took refuge in one of the deserted wings, until, as she hoped, every one had dispersed. as she was quietly leaving the wings she was met, much to her annoyance, by the manager. he was a coarse, florid-faced person, but he took off his hat to hester, as if she had been the finest lady in the land.
"i thank you most heartily," he said. "you have saved me—you have saved the house. now, what shall i give you? a pound, two pounds? i'll give them to you—yes, gladly; and i'll engage that you come here every night at a fair salary. what's your address, my good girl, and what's your name? you've got a voice to be proud of, and that i will say."
"i told you i would not sing for money," said hester, angrily. "good-night, sir. i'm glad i gave the children and the women a bit of pleasure, but my voice ain't to be bought for no money. you ain't the first as has wanted it, but it ain't for you. good-night, sir. i'm sorry as you think so little of the people what come here. they have hard lives, and they want their bit of pleasure, and you shouldn't take their money, what ain't easy to get, ef you have nothing to show them for it. i sang for the people to-night, not for you. my voice and me, we belong to the poor folk of liverpool. good-night, sir-you have nought to thank me for."
she rushed out of the open door, not heeding the manager's outstretched hand, nor the raised tones with which he sought still to detain her. it was late now, nearly eleven o'clock, and the public-houses would be closed in about a quarter of an hour. a miserable old dame stood shivering by one, and looking wistfully into the warm and brilliantly lighted place. she turned her wan and wretched face round when she heard hester approaching.
"good-night, hetty wright, and may the virgin bless you!" she called out.
"good-night, mrs. flannigan—why, how white and starved you look! here's twopence; go in and get a drop of gin."
hester dropped the coins into the old dame's hand, and hurried quickly through the damp streets.
the wretched woman gazed at them in a kind of petrifaction. twopence from a girl as poor as herself, and she was to buy gin with the money? gin! never before had she been told to go and buy gin. why, the missionaries, and all the good folks round, said it was the curse of the land. and so it was: had it not brought her to what she was? had it not sent her only son to an untimely grave? oh, yes—none knew better than mother flannigan what gin meant—what cursing and what tears, and what misery it had caused; and yet the girl with the white face and the great dark earnest wistful eyes had given her twopence to buy it, and told her to get warm and comforted. oh, yes, gin was bad, but it was very comforting; she would have her two-pennyworth, and she would go home, and forget her hunger, and sleep comfortably all night. it was really good of that decent, pale-faced girl to give her twopence to spend in gin. she knew her: she was the girl with the voice, the girl about whom some of the neighbors, even in the irish quarter, raved.
with the memory of hester's face firmly fixed on her dazed old brain, mother flannigan entered the public-house. then a queer thing happened. by the side of hester's pure, highly-wrought face arose the picture of another—of a very suffering, thirsty little grandchild, who lay waiting for her on a bed of straw at home. instantly the desire for gin departed—the old woman purchased instead two-pennyworth of very blue and watery milk, and hurried away to give her grandson a drink.
when hester reached her lodgings the overwrought mood was still upon her. she lit her fire, however, and put the kettle on to boil. then, throwing aside her hat and thin black cashmere shawl, she sat down beside her little deal table, placed her elbows on it, and stared hard before her. just at that moment she was suffering acutely—a tumult of mingled feelings possessed her; she was unsatisfied, and longing for she knew not what. a weaker woman in such a mood would have relieved her overcharged brain with a flood of tears. instead of crying, hester sang. for a woman with no religion, and no belief in religion, the queerest words arose to her lips. she had sometimes listened outside the churches to the swelling organs and the music of the choirs; once, when an anthem was being very exquisitely rendered, she had stolen fascinated inside the church porch. now the words of this anthem came to her lips, and floated on her splendid voice through the dreary little attic room:
"oh, rest in the lord; wait patiently for him—patiently for him; and he will give thee thy heart's—thy heart's desire."
there came a knock at the door, and hester sprang to her feet.
"come in," she said. and will scarlet stepped into the room.
"why, hetty, how lovely you are making the night with that voice of yourn. i didn't rightly catch the words nor the air—what were they?"
"oh, words i picked up, will. it's a way of mine never to lose either words or air that take my fancy. but what are you doing in my room, will scarlet? i thought you'd be miles away on the waves, in the 'good queen anne,' by now."
"and i wish i were, hetty. but i've a bit of a yarn to spin on that head. may i sit by your fire for a bit and say my say?"
"to be sure, will. and you shall have a cup of tea with me, i'm just making a brew. i expect i were a bit lonely at the thought of your being so far away, cousin; and i'll say frankly i'm real glad to have you sitting again by my fireside."
will smiled. his likeness to hetty was very marked at this moment, more particularly so as on his usually careless and almost boyish face there sat an unusual cloud of perplexity and trouble.
"the fact is, het-i may as well have it all out at once-i'm in a bit of a taking. i had a talk with bet granger last night, and i offered to wed her. i didn't see how she could do better than to give herself to me. i has set my heart on her for years, and i thought it would be a kind of a help to her ef she had my name to hold on by, even if i were away at sea. and so i thought we might be wed as soon as ever a parson could tie us up. i hadn't much to offer her, but i were real in earnest, and she could see it."
"yes, will; and what did she say?"
hester had dropped on one knee, and was gazing intently into her cousin's face.
"oh, she flouted me, hetty—said she had vowed to wed no one, and all that sort of thing. poor bet—she have sperrit of her own, and life have never gone easy with her. she seemed to think she was sorry for me. she makes out that she's all as hard as brass, but she ain't really."
"no, she ain't really," repeated hester. "it's all a kind of cloak. i ha' used it myself, but bet overdoes it. ef ever there's a girl with a great warm heart it's bet granger."
will's eyes were shining at the words of praise.
"god bless you, hetty!" he said.
hester looked at him anxiously.
"poor lad! and she wouldn't have nought to do with you? i'm sorry for you, will, but bet ain't the girl not to know her own mind. ef she refused you, lad, why didn't you join the crew of the 'good queen anne'? it ain't best for a lad like you to be loafing about liverpool. i'm main sorry you ha' lost your berth in the good ship, will."
"you must hear me out, hester. i haven't half told my yarn."
then will related what befell him the night before-how dent walked home with him, and begged to buy his place in the ship; how will was firm in his refusal until dent declared his intention of going in for bet, and making her his wife at any cost.
"he shan't have her," said will, clenching his fist. "a fellow like dent!-why, he's a real bad 'un, hester. why, he swears dreadful, and he drinks deep, and he's cruel. ef you had seen how he treated the cabin boy when we was mates together in the `betsy prig' you wouldn't like the feel of knowing that a girl what you loved more than all the world should even set eyes on him. why, he's a worse man than bet's father, and that's saying enough."
"yes, it's saying enough," said hester. "and so you sold your berth to isaac?"
"yes-i wanted to get rid of him, and i can soon find another. liverpool's a bit a fresher place to-night because he's not in it."
"and what did he give you, will?"
"ten pounds, in bank of england notes. i have them in my pocket. shall i show them to you, hester?"
"no, no; only keep them close. don't talk of them, and don't change them until you can't help yourself. this is a bad part of town for a lad to have a bit of money in. you keep your lips sealed about it, will—that is, if you want to keep the money."
"never fear," said will. "i think i have sold my berth for mighty little."
hester rose from her place by the fire. she began to pour the boiling water into her little cracked teapot, and now she placed it on the hob to draw.
"what floors me, will, is this," she said,—"how did a fellow like dent come by so much money? ef there is a ne'er-do-well it's dent; and i want to know how he come by a lot of money like that."
"i can't tell you," replied will. "i suppose he was well paid after his last voyage. he's a prime seaman, whatever else he ain't. he'd a bit of gold or two in his pocket, and some silver besides the notes—yes, now i come to think of it, he was remarkably flush of coin for a chap like him."
"well, you hold by the notes, will, and don't change them afore you need. i suppose you'll be looking out for another berth now you have lost that in the 'good queen anne'?"
"all in good time, hester. i mean to wed bet granger first,"
"but you can't, will, if the girl has no mind to have you."
"i mean to wed her," replied will, in a dogged, resolute sort of voice. "ef she has a heart—and i know she has a heart—she shall give it to me; and she shall love me, yes, as well—as well as i love her. why, hetty, that fellow dent said that her father was on his side, and would help him to get bet. do you think arter that i'd leave liverpool before i made her my lawful wife?"
