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Cooper, James A.

"Cap'n Abe, Storekeeper"

"
"Of what?"
"Hi-mighty! It's all over, ain't it?" he said in desperation. "Can't
never bring forward Cap'n Am'zon again, can I? I _got_ to be Cap'n Abe
hereafter, whether I want to be or not. It's a turrible dis'pointment,
Louise--turrible!
"I ain't sorry I went out there in that boat. No. For I got your
father off, an' he'd been carried overboard if he'd been let stay in
them shrouds.
"But land sakes! I _did_ fancy bein' Cap'n Am'zon 'stead o' myself.
And the worst of it is, Niece Louise, I can't have nothin' new to tell
'bout Cap'n Am'zon's adventures. He's drowned, an' he can't never go
rovin' no more."
"But think of what you've done, Cap'n Abe," Louise urged. "You feared
the sea--and you overcame that fear. All your life you shrank from
venturing on the water; yet you went out in that lifeboat and played
the hero. Oh, I think it is fine, Cap'n Abe! It's wonderful!"
"Wonderful?" repeated Cap'n Abe. "P'r'aps 'tis. Mebbe I've been too
timid all my life. P'r'aps I could ha' been a sailor and cruised in
foreign seas if I'd just _had_ to.


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