"Sure, sure; yer sartinly right thar, Miss. Flo's given me a heap of
trouble, but not half as much as Eben. That boy's a caution, an' he's
given me an' Martha no end of worry."

"In what way?"

The captain scratched his head in perplexity, and shifted uneasily from
one foot to another.

"I kin hardly explain," he at length replied. "He don't drink, nor
swear, nor do nuthin' bad. But the trouble is, he don't do nuthin',
an' don't want to do nuthin' but sleep an' eat."

"Perhaps you have not brought him up right, Captain."

"Not brought him up right!" Samuel's amazement was intense. "Why,
Miss, we've done nuthin' but bring that boy up. Me an' Martha have
slaved fer the raisin' of Eben. We started when he was a baby to raise
him, right, an' the very next Sunday after he was born didn't they sing
in church--

"'Here I'll raise my Ebenezer'."

"And so you've been singing it ever since, even when scrubbing the
cabin?" The girl smiled at the recollection of the suddenly
discontinued tune.

"Sure, why shouldn't I? It's a great hymn, it sartinly is, an' it's
inspired me many a time. It has kept before me my duty, an' if Eben