The vigil had been long and tedious,
with only the ticking of the mammoth timepiece and the far-off rumble
of the surf to break the stillness.
Presently Celestina came from the kitchen into the shop.
"I'm bringin' you a dish of hot doughnuts," she said, a kindly sympathy
in her face. "Oughtn't them men to be comin' pretty soon now?"
For the hundredth time Willie raised the glasses and scanned the
shimmering golden waters.
"We should sight 'em before long," he nodded.
"You don't see nothin' of 'em?"
"Not yet."
There was an anxious frown on his forehead.
"Why don't you eat somethin'?" suggested she. "It might take your mind
off worryin'."
"I ain't worryin', Tiny," was the confident reply. "The boat's all
right."
"S'pose it should be snagged or somethin' outside the bay?" she
ventured. "I wish to goodness they'd come back. Look, here's Delight
an' Abbie comin' through the grove. Likely they've been gettin'
uneasy, too."
Sure enough, moving among the low pines that shaded the slope between
the Spence and Brewster houses they saw the two women.
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