human
But after a while no more letters came. My grandmother used to ask the postman every day if he didn't have a letter for her from my father, but there wasn't any. Then there was a piece in the paper about a ship that was wrecked. It was my father's ship.
gpt
What's wrecked?
human
It means the ship is all smashed to pieces; doesn't it?
gpt
That's it; yes. My father's ship was in a storm and was smashed on the rocks. Everybody on it, and my father too, was drowned in the ocean, the paper said. That's why I like the country better than the ocean.
human
I used to like the ocean, said Flossie slowly.
gpt
We go down to Ocean Cliff sometimes, where Uncle William and Aunt Emily and Cousin Dorothy live. But I don't like the ocean so much now, if it made your father drown.
human
Oh, well, there have to be shipwrecks I s'pose, remarked Tommy.
gpt
But, of course, it was awful hard to lose my father.
human
After grandmother read that in the paper about my father's ship sinking she cried, and I cried too. Then she wrote some letters to the company that owned the ship. She thought maybe the papers were wrong, about the ship sinking, but when the answers came back they said the same thing. The men who owned the ship which my father was captain of, said the vessel was lost and no one was saved. No more letters came from my father, and no more money. Then grandmother and I had to move away from the house where we were living, and had to go to a little house down by the dumps. It isn't nice there.
gpt
Does your grandma have any money now?
human
A little. She sews and I run errands for the groceryman after school, and earn a little. But it isn't much. I was glad when the fresh air folks took me to the farm. I had lots to eat, and my grandmother had more too, for she didn't have to feed me. She is going to the fresh air farm some day, maybe.
gpt
That will be nice, said Flossie.
human
We're going to Uncle Dan's farm again next year, maybe, and perhaps your grandma can come there.
gpt
I don't believe so, returned Tommie.
human
But anyhow I had fun, and I weigh two pounds more than 'fore I went away, and I can run errands faster now for Mr. Fitch.
gpt
Why, he's our grocery man! cried Freddie.
human
Do you work for him, Tommy?
gpt
Sometimes, and sometimes I work for Mr. Schmidt, a butcher. But I don't earn much. When I get through school I'll work all the while, and earn lots of money. Then I'm going to hire a ship and go to look for my father.
human
I thought you said he was drowned in the ocean!
gpt
Well, maybe he is. But sometimes shipwrecked people get picked up by other vessels and carried a long way off. And sometimes they get on an island and have to stay a long time before they are taken off. Maybe that happened to my father.
human
Oh, maybe it did! cried Freddie.
gpt
That would be great! Just like Robinson Crusoe, Flossie! Don't you remember?
human
Yes, mother read us that story. I hope your father is on Robinson Crusoe's island,
gpt
I'll tell you what we'll do, said Freddie to the new boy.
human
When I get home, I'll take all the money in my bank, and help you buy a ship. Then we'll both go off together, looking for the desert island where your father is; will you?
gpt
Yes, said Tommy,
human
I will, and thank you.
gpt
I'm coming, too,
human
No. Girls can't be on a ship!
gpt
Yes they can too! Can't they, Tommy?
human
Well, my mother was once on the ship with my father, I've heard my grandma say.
gpt
There, see! cried Flossie.
human
Of course I'm coming! I'll do the cooking for you boys.
gpt
Oh, well, if you want to cook of course that's different,
human
I'm going to ask my father how much I got saved up, he went on to Tommy.
gpt
And how much it costs to buy a ship. He'll know for he sells lumber. You wait here and I'll ask him.