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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Fair Harbor, by Joseph Crosby Lincoln
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Fair Harbor
+
+
+Author: Joseph Crosby Lincoln
+
+
+
+Release Date: September 23, 2007  [eBook #22745]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAIR HARBOR***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Roger Frank and the Project Gutenberg Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+FAIR HARBOR
+
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+
+By JOSEPH C. LINCOLN
+
+   FAIR HARBOR
+   GALUSHA THE MAGNIFICENT
+   THE PORTYGEE
+   "SHAVINGS"
+   MARY-'GUSTA
+   CAP'N DAN'S DAUGHTER
+   THE RISE OF ROSCOE PAINE
+   THE POSTMASTER
+   THE WOMAN HATERS
+   KEZIAH COFFIN
+   CY WHITTAKER'S PLACE
+   CAP'N ERI
+   EXTRICATING OBADIAH
+   THANKFUL'S INHERITANCE
+   MR. PRATT
+   MR. PRATT'S PATIENTS
+   KENT KNOWLES: "QUAHAUG"
+   CAP'N WARREN'S WARDS
+   THE DEPOT MASTER
+   OUR VILLAGE
+   PARTNERS OF THE TIDE
+   THE OLD HOME HOUSE
+   CAPE COD BALLADS
+
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+
+FAIR HARBOR
+
+A Novel
+
+by
+
+JOSEPH C. LINCOLN
+
+Author of "Galusha the Magnificent," "Shavings," "Mary 'Gusta,"
+"Mr. Pratt," "Cap'n Eri," Etc.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+D. Appleton and Company
+New York :: 1922 :: London
+
+Copyright, 1922, by D. Appleton Company
+Copyright, 1922, by the Curtis Publishing Company
+
+Printed in the United States of America
+
+
+
+
+FAIR HARBOR
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+"Hi hum," observed Mr. Joel Macomber, putting down his knife and fork
+with obvious reluctance and tilting back his chair. "Hi hum-a-day! Man,
+born of woman, is of few days and full of--of somethin', I forget
+what--George, what is it a man born of woman is full of?"
+
+George Kent, putting down his knife and fork, smiled and replied that he
+didn't know. Mr. Macomber seemed shocked.
+
+"_Don't know?_" he repeated. "Tut, tut! Dear me, dear me! A young feller
+that goes to prayer meetin' every Friday night--or at least waits
+outside the meetin'-house door every Friday night--and yet he don't
+remember his Scriptur' well enough to know what man born of woman is
+full of? My soul and body! What's the world comin' to?"
+
+Nobody answered. The six Macomber children, Lemuel, Edgar, Sarah-Mary,
+Bemis, Aldora and Joey, ages ranging from fourteen to two and a half,
+kept on eating in silence--or, if not quite in silence, at least without
+speaking. They had been taught not to talk at table; their mother had
+taught them, their father playing the part of horrible example. Mrs.
+Macomber, too, was silent. She was busy stacking plates and cups and
+saucers preparatory to clearing away. When the clearing away was
+finished she would be busy washing dishes and after that at some other
+household duty. She was always busy and always behind with her work.
+
+Her husband turned to the only other person at the crowded table.
+
+"Cap'n Sears," he demanded, "you know 'most everything. What is it man
+born of woman is full of besides a few days?"
+
+Sears Kendrick thoughtfully folded his napkin. There was a hole in the
+napkin--holes were characteristic of the Macomber linen--but the napkin
+was clean; this was characteristic, too.
+
+"Meanin' yourself, Joel?" he asked, bringing the napkin edges into line.
+
+"Not necessarily. Meanin' any man born of woman, I presume likely."
+
+"Humph! Know many that wasn't born that way?"
+
+Mr. Macomber's not too intellectual face creased into many wrinkles and
+the low ceiling echoed with his laugh. "Not many, I don't cal'late," he
+said, "that's a fact. But you ain't answered my question, Cap'n. What is
+man born of woman full of?"
+
+Captain Kendrick placed the folded napkin carefully beside his plate.
+
+"Breakfast, just now, I presume likely," he said. "At least, I know two
+or three that ought to be, judgin' by the amount of cargo I've seen 'em
+stow aboard in the last half hour." Then, turning to Mrs. Macomber, he
+added, "I'm goin' to help you with the dishes this mornin', Sarah."
+
+The lady of the house had her own ideas on that subject.
+
+"Indeed you won't do anything of the sort," she declared. "The idea! And
+you just out of a crippled bed, as you might say."
+
+This remark seemed to amuse her husband hugely. "Ho, ho!" he shouted.
+"That's a good one! I didn't know the bed was crippled, Sarah. What's
+the matter with it; got a pain in the slats?"
+
+Sarah Macomber seldom indulged in retort. Usually she was too busy to
+waste the time. But she allowed herself the luxury of a half minute on
+this occasion.
+
+"No," she snapped, "but it's had one leg propped up on half a brick for
+over a year. And at least once a week in all that time you've been
+promisin' to bring home a new caster and fix it. If that bed ain't a
+cripple I don't know what is."
+
+Joel looked a trifle taken aback. His laugh this time was not quite as
+uproarious.
+
+"Guess you spoke the truth that time, Sarah, without knowin' it. Who is
+it they say always speaks the truth? Children and fools, ain't it? Well,
+you ain't a child scarcely, Sarah. Hope you ain't the other thing. Eh?
+Ho, ho!"
+
+Mrs. Macomber was halfway to the kitchen door, a pile of plates upon her
+arm. She did not stop nor turn, but she did speak.
+
+"Well," she observed, "I don't know. I was one once in my life, there's
+precious little doubt about that."
+
+She left the room. Young Kent and Captain Kendrick exchanged glances.
+Mr. Macomber swallowed, opened his mouth, closed it and swallowed again.
+Lemuel and Sarah-Mary, the two older children, giggled. The clock on the
+mantel struck seven times. The sound came, to the adults, as a timely
+relief from embarrassment.
+
+Captain Kendrick looked at his watch.
+
+"What's that?" he exclaimed. "Six bells already? So 'tis. I declare I
+didn't think 'twas so late."
+
+Joel rose to his feet, moving--for him--with marked rapidity.
+
+"Seven o'clock!" he cried. "My, my! We've got to get under way, George,
+if we want to make port at the store afore 'Liphalet does. Come on,
+George, hurry up."
+
+Kent lingered for a moment to speak to Sears Kendrick. Then he emerged
+from the house and he and Joel walked rapidly off together. They were
+employed, one as clerk and bookkeeper and the other as driver of the
+delivery wagon, at Eliphalet Bassett's Grocery, Dry Goods, Boots and
+Shoes and Notion Store at the corner of the main road and the depot
+road. Joel's position there was fixed for eternity, at least he
+considered it so, having driven that same delivery wagon at the same
+wage for twenty-two years. "Me and that grocery cart," Mr. Macomber was
+wont to observe, "have been doin' 'Liphalet's errands so long we've come
+to be permanent fixtures. Yes, sir, permanent fixtures." When this was
+repeated to Mr. Bassett the latter affirmed that it was true. "Every
+time the dum fool goes out takin' orders," said Eliphalet, "he stays so
+long that I begin to think he's turned _into_ a permanent fixture. Takes
+an order for a quarter pound of tea and a spool of cotton and then hangs
+'round and talks steady for half an hour. Permanent fixture! Permanent
+gas fixture, that's what _he_ is."
+
+George Kent did not consider himself a permanent fixture at Bassett's.
+He had been employed there for three years, or ever since the death of
+his father, Captain Sylvester Kent, who had died at sea aboard his ship,
+the _Ocean Ranger_, on the voyage home from Java to Philadelphia. George
+remained in Bayport to study law with Judge Knowles, who was interested
+in the young man and, being a lawyer of prominence on the Cape, was an
+influential friend worth having. The law occupied young Kent's attention
+in the evenings; he kept Mr. Bassett's books and sold Mr. Bassett's
+brown sugar, calico and notions during the days, not because he loved
+the work, the place, or its proprietor, but because the twelve dollars
+paid him each Saturday enabled him to live. And, in order to live so
+cheaply that he might save a bit toward the purchase of clothes, law
+books and sundries, he boarded at Joel Macomber's. Sarah Macomber took
+him to board, not because she needed company--six children and a husband
+supplied a sufficiency of that--but because three dollars more a week
+was three dollars more.
+
+Joel and George having tramped off to business and the very last crumb
+of the Macomber breakfast having vanished, the Macomber children
+proceeded to go through their usual morning routine. Lemuel, who did
+chores for grumpy old Captain Elijah Samuels at the latter's big place
+on the depot road, departed to rake hay and be sworn at. Sarah-Mary went
+upstairs to make beds; when the bed-making was over she and Edgar and
+Bemis would go to school. Aldora and Joey, the two youngest, went
+outdoors to play. And Captain Sears Kendrick, late master of the ship
+_Hawkeye_, and before that of the _Fair Wind_ and the _Far Seas_ and
+goodness knows how many others, who ran away to ship as cabin boy when
+he was thirteen, who fought the Malay pirates when he was eighteen, and
+outwitted Semmes by outmaneuvering the _Alabama_ when he was
+twenty-eight, a man once so strong and bronzed and confident, but now so
+weak and shaken--Captain Sears Kendrick rose painfully and with effort
+from his chair, took his cane from the corner and hobbled to the
+kitchen.
+
+"Sarah," he said, "I'm goin' to help you with those dishes this
+mornin'."
+
+"Sears," said Mrs. Macomber, taking the kettle of boiling dish-water
+from the top of the stove, "you'll do nothin' of the kind. You'll go
+outdoors and get a little sunshine this lovely day. It's the first real
+good day you've had since you got up from bed, and outdoors 'll help you
+more than anything else. Now you go!"
+
+"But look here, Sarah, for Heaven's sake----"
+
+"Be still, Sears, and don't be foolish. There ain't dishes enough to
+worry about. I'll have 'em done in half a shake. Go outdoors, I tell
+you. But don't you walk on those legs of yours. You hear me."
+
+Her brother--Sarah Macomber was a Kendrick before she married
+Joel--smiled slightly. "How do you want me to walk, Sarah, on my hands?"
+he inquired. "Never mind my legs. They're better this mornin' than they
+have been since that fat woman and a train of cars fell on 'em.... Ah
+hum!" with a change of tone, "it's a pity they didn't fall on my neck
+and make a clean job of it, isn't it?"
+
+"Sears!" reproachfully. "How can you talk so? And especially now, when
+the doctor says if you take care of yourself, you'll 'most likely be as
+well as ever in--in a little while."
+
+"A little while! In a year or two was what he said. In ten years was
+probably what he meant, and you'll notice he put in the 'most likely'
+even at that. If you were to lash him in the fore-riggin' and keep him
+there till he told the truth, he'd probably end by sayin' that I would
+always be a good for nothin' hulk same as I am now."
+
+"Sears, don't--please don't. I hate to hear you speak so bitter. It
+doesn't sound like you."
+
+"It's the way I feel, Sarah. Haven't I had enough to make me bitter?"
+
+His sister shook her head. "Yes, Sears," she admitted, "I guess likely
+you have, but I don't know as that is a very good excuse. Some of the
+rest of us," with a sigh, "haven't found it real smooth sailin' either;
+but----"
+
+She did not finish the sentence, and there was no need. He understood
+and turned quickly.
+
+"I'm sorry, Sarah," he said. "I ought to be hove overboard and towed
+astern. The Almighty knows you've had more to put up with than ever I
+had and you don't spend your time growlin' about it, either. I declare
+I'm ashamed of myself, but--but--well, you know how it is with me. I've
+never been used to bein' a loafer, spongin' on my relations."
+
+"Don't, Sears. You know you ain't spongin', as you call it. You've paid
+your board ever since you've been here."
+
+"Yes, I have. But how much? Next to half of nothin' a week and you
+wouldn't have let me pay that if I hadn't put my foot down. Or said I
+was goin' to try to put it down," he added with a grim smile. "You're a
+good woman, Sarah, a good woman, with more trials than your share. And
+what makes me feel worst of all, I do believe, is that I should be
+pitched in on you--to be the biggest trial of all. Well, that part's
+about over, anyhow. No matter whether I can walk or not I shan't stay
+and sponge on you. If I can't do anything else I'll hire a fish shanty
+and open clams for a livin'."
+
+He smiled again and she smiled in sympathy, but there were tears in her
+eyes. She was seven years older than her brother, and he had always been
+her pride. When she was a young woman, helping with the housework in the
+old home there in Bayport, before her father's death and the sale of
+that home, she had watched with immense gratification his success in
+school. When he ran away to sea she had defended him when others
+condemned. Later, when tales of his "smartness," as sailor or mate, or
+by and by, a full rated captain, began to drift back, she had gloried in
+them. He came to see her semi-occasionally when his ship was in port,
+and his yarns of foreign lands and strange people were, to her, far more
+wonderful than anything she had ever found in the few books which had
+come in her way. Each present he brought her she had kept and cherished.
+And there was never a trace of jealousy in her certain knowledge that he
+had gone on growing while she had stopped, that he was a strong, capable
+man of the world--the big world--whereas she was, and would always be,
+the wife and household drudge of Joel Macomber.
+
+Now, as she looked at him, pale, haggard and leaning on his cane,
+stooping a little when he had been so erect and sturdy, the pity which
+she had felt for him ever since they brought him into her sitting-room
+on the day of the railway accident became keener than ever and with it
+came an additional flash of insight. She realized more clearly than she
+had before that it was not his bodily injuries which hurt most and were
+the hardest to bear; it was his self-respect and the pride which were
+wounded sorest. That he--_he_--Sears Kendrick, the independent autocrat
+of the quarter deck, should be reduced to this! That it was wringing
+his soul she knew. He had never complained except to her, and even to
+her very, very seldom, but she knew. And she ventured to ask the
+question she had wanted to ask ever since he had sufficiently recovered
+to listen to conversation.
+
+"Sears," she said "I haven't said a word before, and you needn't tell me
+now if you don't want to--it isn't any of my business--but is it true
+that you've lost a whole lot of money? It isn't true, is it?"
+
+He had been standing by the open door, looking out into the yard. Now he
+turned to look at her.
+
+"What isn't true, Sarah?" he asked.
+
+"That you've lost a lot of money in--in that--that business you went
+into. It isn't true, is it, Sears? Oh, I hope it isn't! They say--why,
+some of 'em say you've lost all the money you had put by. An awful sight
+of money, they say. Sears, tell me it isn't true--please."
+
+He regarded her in silence for a moment. Then he shook his head.
+
+"Part of it isn't true, Sarah," he answered, with a slight smile. "I
+haven't lost a big lot of money."
+
+"Oh, I'm _so_ glad. Now I can tell 'em a few things, I guess."
+
+"I wouldn't tell 'em too much, because the other part _is_ true. I have
+lost about all I had put by."
+
+"Oh, Sears!"
+
+"Um--hm. And served me right, of course. You can't make a silk ear out
+of a sow's purse, as old Cap'n Sam Doane used to love to say. You can't,
+no matter how good a purse--or--ear--it is. I was a pretty good sea
+cap'n if I do say it, but that wasn't any reason why I should have
+figured I was a good enough business man to back as slippery an eel as
+Jim Carpenter in the ship chandlery game ashore."
+
+"But--you----" Mrs. Macomber hesitated to utter the disgraceful word,
+"you didn't fail up, did you, Sears?" she faltered. "You know that's
+what they say you did."
+
+"Well, they say wrong. Carpenter failed, I didn't. I paid dollar for
+dollar. That's why I've got next to no dollars now."
+
+"But you--you've got _some_, Sears. You must have," hopefully, "because
+you've been paying me board. So you must have _some_ left."
+
+The triumph in her face was pathetic. He hated to disturb her faith.
+
+"Yes," he said dryly, "I have some left. Maybe seven hundred dollars or
+some such matter. If I had my legs left it would be enough, or more than
+enough. I wouldn't ask odds of anybody if I was the way I was before
+that train went off the track. I'd lost every shot I had in the locker,
+but I'm not very old yet--some years to leeward of forty--there was more
+money to be had where that came from and I meant to have it. And
+then--well, then this happened to me."
+
+"I know. And to think that you was comin' down here on purpose to see me
+when it did happen. Seems almost as if I was to blame, somehow."
+
+"Nonsense! Nobody was to blame but the engineer that wrecked the train
+and the three hundred pound woman that fell on my legs. And the engineer
+was killed, poor fellow, and the woman was--well, she carried her own
+punishment with her, I guess likely. Anyhow, I should call it a
+punishment if I had to carry it. There, there, Sarah! Let's talk about
+somethin' else. You do your dishes and, long as you won't let me help
+you, I'll hop-and-go-fetch-it out to that settee in the front yard and
+look at the scenery. Just think! I've been in Bayport almost four months
+and haven't been as far as that gate yet--except when they lugged me in
+past it, of course. And I don't recall much about that."
+
+"I guess not, you poor boy. And I saw them bringin' you in, all
+stretched out, with your eyes shut, and as white as---- Oh, my soul and
+body! I don't want to think about it, let alone talk about it."
+
+"Neither do I, Sarah, so we won't. Do you realize how little I know of
+what's been goin' on in Bayport since I was here last? And do you
+realize how long it has been since I _was_ here?"
+
+"Why, yes, I do, Sears. It's been almost six years; it will be just six
+on the tenth of next September."
+
+The speech was illuminating. He looked at her curiously.
+
+"You do keep account of my goin's and comin's, don't you, old girl?" he
+said. "Better than I do myself."
+
+"Oh, it means more to me than it does to you. You live such a busy life,
+Sears, all over the world, meetin' everybody in all kinds of places. For
+me, with nothin' to do but be stuck down here in Bayport--well, it's
+different with me--I have to remember. Rememberin' and lookin' ahead is
+about all I have to keep me interested."
+
+He was silent for a moment. Then he said: "It looks as if rememberin'
+was all I will be likely to have. Think of it, Sarah! Four months in
+Bayport and I haven't been to the post-office. That'll stand as a town
+record, I'll bet."
+
+"And--and you'll keep up your courage, Sears? You won't let yourself get
+blue and discouraged, for my sake if nobody else's?"
+
+He nodded. "I couldn't, Sarah," he said earnestly. "With you around I'd
+be ashamed to."
+
+She ran to help him down the step, but he waved her away, and, leaning
+upon the cane and clinging fast to the lattice with the other hand, he
+managed to make the descent safely. Once on the flat level of the walk
+he moved more rapidly and, so it seemed to his sister, more easily than
+he had since his accident. The forty odd feet of walk he navigated in
+fair time and came to anchor, as he would have expressed it, upon the
+battered old bench by the Macomber gate. The gate, like the picket
+fence, of which it was a part, needed paint and the bench needed slats
+in its back. Almost anything which Joel Macomber owned needed something
+and his wife and family needed most of all.
+
+An ancient cherry tree, its foliage now thickly spotted with green fruit,
+for the month was June, cast a shadow upon the occupant of the bench. At
+his feet grew a bed of daffodils and jonquils which Sarah Macomber had
+planted when she came, a hopeful bride, to that house. Each year they
+sprouted and bloomed and now, long after Sarah's hopes had ceased to
+sprout, they continued to flourish. Beside the cherry tree grew a lilac
+bush. Beyond the picket fence was the dusty sidewalk and beyond that the
+dustier, rutted road. And beyond the road and along it upon both sides
+were the houses and barns and the few shops of Bayport village, Bayport
+as it was, and as some of us remember it, in the early '70's.
+
+In some respects it was much like the Bayport of to-day. The houses
+themselves have changed but little. Then, as now, they were trim and
+white and green-shuttered. Then, as now, the roses climbed upon their
+lattices and the silver-leaf poplars and elms and mulberry trees waved
+above them. But the fences which enclosed their trim lawns and yards
+have disappeared, and the hitching posts and carriage blocks by their
+front gates have gone also. Gone, too, are the horses and buggies and
+carryalls which used to stand by these gates or within those barns. They
+are gone, just as the ruts and dust of the roads have vanished. When
+Mrs. Captain Hammond, of the lower road, used to call upon Mrs. Ryder at
+West Bayport, she was wont to be driven to her destination in the
+intensely respectable Hammond buggy drawn by the equally respectable
+Hammond horse and piloted by the even more respectable--not to say
+venerable--Hammond coachman, who was also gardener and "hired man." And
+they made the little journey in the very respectable time of thirty-five
+minutes. Now when Mrs. Captain Hammond's granddaughter, who winters in
+Boston but summers at the old home, wishes to go to West Bayport she
+skims over the hard, oiled macadam in her five thousand dollar runabout
+and she finishes the skimming in eight minutes or less.
+
+And although the dwellings along the Bayport roads are much as they
+were that morning when Captain Sears Kendrick sat upon the bench in the
+Macomber yard and gazed gloomily at the section of road which lay
+between the Macomber gate and the curve beyond the Orthodox
+meeting-house--although the houses were much the same in external
+appearance, those who occupy them at the present day are vastly
+different from those who owned and lived in them then. Here is the
+greatest change which time has brought to old Bayport. Now those
+houses--the majority of them--are open only in summer; then they were
+open all the year. They who come to them now regard them as playthings,
+good-time centers for twelve or fourteen weeks. Then they were the homes
+of men and women who were proud of them, loved them, meant to live in
+them--while on land--as long as life was theirs; to die in them if
+fortunate enough to be found by death while ashore; and at last to be
+buried near them, under the pines of the Bayport cemetery. Now these
+homes are used by business men or lawyers or doctors, whose real homes
+are in Boston, New York, Chicago, or other cities. Then practically
+every house was owned or occupied either by a sea captain, active or
+retired, or by a captain's widow or near relative.
+
+For example, as Captain Kendrick sat in his brother-in-law's yard on
+that June morning of that year in the early '70's, within his sight,
+that is within the half mile from curve to curve of the lower road, were
+no less than nine houses in which dwelt--or had dwelt--men who gained a
+living upon a vessel's quarter deck. Directly across the road was the
+large, cupola-crowned house of Captain Solomon Snow. Captain Sol was at
+present somewhere between Surinam and New York, bound home. His wife was
+with him, so was his youngest child. The older children were at home, in
+the big house; their aunt, Captain Sol's sister, herself a captain's
+widow, was with them.
+
+Next to Captain Solomon's was the Crowell place. Captain Bethuel Crowell
+was in Hong Kong, but, so his wife reported at sewing circle, had
+expected to sail from there "any day about now" bound for Melbourne.
+Next to Captain Bethuel lived Mrs. Patience Foster, called "Mary Pashy"
+by the townspeople to distinguish her from another Mary Foster in East
+Bayport. Her husband had been drowned at sea, or at least so it was
+supposed. His ship left Philadelphia eight years before and had never
+been spoken or heard from since that time. Next to Mary-Pashy's was the
+imposing, if ugly, residence of Captain Elkanah Wingate. Captain Elkanah
+was retired, wealthy, a member of the school-committee, a selectman, an
+aristocrat and an autocrat. And beyond Captain Elkanah lived Captain
+Godfrey Peasley--who was not quite of the aristocracy as he commanded a
+schooner instead of a square-rigger, and beyond him Mrs. Tabitha Crosby,
+whose husband had died of yellow fever while aboard his ship in New
+Orleans; and beyond Mrs. Crosby's was--well, the next building was the
+Orthodox meeting-house, where the Reverend David Dishup preached.
+Nowadays people call it the Congregationalist church. On the same side
+of the road as the Macomber cottage were the homes of Captain Sylvanus
+Baker and Captain Noah Baker and of Captain Orrin Eldridge.
+
+Bayport, in that day, was not only by the sea, it was of the sea. The
+sea winds blew over it, the sea air smelled salty in its highways and
+byways, its male citizens--most of them--walked with a sea roll, and
+upon the tables and whatnots of their closed and shuttered "front
+parlors" or in their cupboards or closets were laquered cabinets, and
+whales' teeth, and alabaster images, and carved chessmen and curious
+shells and scented fans and heaven knows what, brought from heaven knows
+where, but all brought in sailing ships over one or more of the seas of
+the world. The average better class house in Bayport was an odd
+combination of home and museum, the rear two-thirds the home section and
+the remaining third, that nearest the road, the museum. Bayport front
+parlors looked like museums, and generally smelled like them.
+
+To a stranger from, let us say, the middle west, the village then must
+have seemed a queer little community dozing upon its rolling hills and
+by its white beaches, a community where the women had, most of them,
+traveled far and seen many strange things and places, but who seldom
+talked of them, preferring to chat concerning the minister's wife's new
+bonnet; and whose men folk, appearing at long intervals from remote
+parts of the world, spoke of the port side of a cow and compared the
+three-sided clock tower of the new town hall with the peak of Teneriffe
+on a foggy morning.
+
+All this, odd as it may have seemed to visitors from inland, were but
+matters of course to Sears Kendrick. To him there was nothing strange in
+the deep sea atmosphere of his native town. It had been there ever since
+he knew it, he fondly imagined--being as poor a prophet as most of
+us--that it would always be. And, as he sat there in the Macomber yard,
+his thoughts were busy, not with Bayport's past or future, but with his
+own, and neither retrospect nor forecast was cheerful. He could see
+little behind him except the mistakes he had made, and before him--not
+even the opportunity to make more.
+
+Overhead, amid the cherry branches, the bees buzzed and the robins
+chirped. From the kitchen window came the click of dishes as Mrs.
+Macomber washed and wiped them. Around the curve of the road by the
+meeting-house came Dr. Sheldon's old horse, drawing Dr. Sheldon's
+antiquated chaise, with the doctor himself leaning back comfortably upon
+its worn cushions. Captain Kendrick, not being in the mood for a chat
+just then even with as good a friend as his physician, made no move, and
+the old chaise and its occupant passed by and disappeared around the
+next curve. Sarah-Mary and Edgar and Bemis noisily trooped out of the
+house and started for school. Edgar was enthusiastically carolling a
+ditty which was then popular among Bayport juvenility. It was
+reminiscent of a recent presidential campaign.
+
+    "Grant and Greely were fightin' for flies,
+    Grant gave Greely a pair of black eyes--"
+
+The children, like Doctor Sheldon and the chaise, passed out of sight
+around the bend of the road. Edgar's voice, more or less tunefully,
+drifted back:
+
+    "Grant said, 'Do you want any more?'
+    Greely said, 'No, for my eyes are too sore.'"
+
+Sears Kendrick crossed his knees and changed position upon the bench.
+Obviously he could not hope to go to sea again for months at the very
+earliest. Obviously he could not live during those months at his
+sister's. She would be only too delighted to have him do so, but on that
+point his mind was made up. And, quite as obviously, he could not long
+exist, and pay an adequate price for the privilege of existing, with the
+small sum which was left after his disastrous voyage upon the sea of
+business. His immediate problems then were two: First, to find a
+boarding place which was very, very cheap. Second, if possible, to find
+a means of earning a little money. The first of these he might, perhaps,
+solve after a fashion, but the second--and he a cripple! He groaned
+aloud.
+
+Then he gradually became aware of a new set of sounds, sounds
+approaching along the road from the direction in which the children and
+the doctor's equipage had disappeared. The sounds, at first rather
+confused, gradually separated themselves into two varieties, one the
+sharp, irregular rattle of a springless cart, the second a hoarse
+unmusical voice which, like Edgar's, was raised in song. But in this
+case the rattle of the cart caused the song to be broken unexpectedly
+into jerky spasms, so to speak. Nevertheless, the singer kept manfully
+at his task.
+
+    "Now the _Dreadnought's_ a-bowlin' (_Bump! Rattle_)
+        down the wild Irish sea
+    Where the pass (_Bump!_) engers are merry
+        with hearts full of glee,
+    While the sailors like lions (_Gid-dap!
+        What's the matter with ye_) walk the decks to and fro,
+    She's the Liverpool packet (_Bump! Bang! Crack!_)
+        Good Lord, let her go!"
+
+Sears Kendrick sat upright on the settee. Of course he recognized the
+song, every man who had ever sailed salt water knew the old
+_Dreadnought_ chantey, but much more than that, he believed he
+recognized the voice of the singer. Leaning forward, he watched for the
+latter to appear.
+
+Then, around the clump of lilacs which leaned over Captain Sol Snow's
+fence at the corner, came an old white horse drawing an old
+"truck-wagon," the wagon painted, as all Cape Cod truck-wagons then were
+and are yet, a bright blue; and upon the high seat of the wagon sat a
+chunky figure, a figure which rocked back and forth and sang:
+
+    "Now the _Dreadnought's_ a sailin' the (_Bang! Bump!_)
+        Atlantic so wide,
+    While the (_Thump! Bump!_) dark heavy seas roll
+        along her black side,
+    With the sails neatly spread (_Crump! Jingle!_)
+        and the red cross to show,
+    She's the Liverpool packet; Good Lord, let----"
+
+Captain Kendrick interrupted here.
+
+"Ahoy, the _Dreadnought_!" he hailed. "_Dreadnought_ ahoy!"
+
+"Good Lord, let 'er go!" roared the man on the seat of the truck-wagon,
+finishing the stanza of his chantey. Then he added "Whoa!" in a mighty
+bellow. The white horse stopped in his tracks, as if he had one ear
+tipped backward awaiting the invitation. His driver leaned down and
+peered into the shadow of the lilac bush.
+
+"Who--?" he began. "Eh? _What?_ Limpin', creepin', crawlin', jumpin'
+Moses and the prophets! It ain't Cap'n Sears Kendrick, is it? It is, by
+Henry! Well, well, _well_, WELL, _WELL_!"
+
+Each succeeding "well" was louder and more emphatic than its
+predecessor. They were uttered as the speaker rolled, rather than
+climbed, down from the high seat. Alighting upon a pair of enormous feet
+shod in heavy rubber boots, the tops of which were turned down, he
+thumped up the little slope from the road to the sidewalk. Then,
+thrusting over the fence pickets a red and hairy hand, the size of which
+corresponded to that of the feet, he roared another string of delighted
+exclamations.
+
+"Cap'n Sears Kendrick, on deck and all taut again! Well, by the jumpin',
+creepin'! If this ain't--Cap'n Sears, sir, how be you?"
+
+His broad-brimmed, battered straw hat had fallen off in his descent from
+the wagon seat, uncovering a partially bald head and a round, extremely
+red face, two-thirds of which was hidden by a tremendously thick and
+bristly tangle of short gray whiskers. The whiskers were now bisected by
+a broad grin, a grin so broad and so ecstatic that its wrinkles extended
+to the bulbous nose and the apple cheeks above.
+
+"Cap'n Sears, sir," repeated the driver of the truck-wagon, "I'm proud
+to see you on deck again, sir. Darned if I ain't!"
+
+The captain leaned forward and shook the big red hand extended across
+the fence pickets.
+
+"Judah Cahoon, you old salt herrin'," he cried heartily, "I'm just as
+glad to see you! But _what_ in the world are you doin' here in
+Bayport?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+Mr. Cahoon's grin vanished and the expression of his face above the
+whiskers indicated extreme surprise.
+
+"What am I doin' here?" he repeated. "Didn't you know I was here, Cap'n
+Sears?"
+
+"Of course I didn't. The last I heard of you you had shipped as cook
+aboard the _Gallant Rover_ and was bound for Calcutta, or Singapore or
+somewhere in those latitudes. And that was only a year ago. What are you
+doin' on the Cape and pilotin' that kind of a craft?" indicating the
+truck wagon.
+
+The question was ignored. "Didn't they never tell you I was here?"
+demanded Judah. "Didn't that Joel Macomber tell you I been hailin' him
+every time he crossed my bows, askin' about you every day since you run
+on the rocks? Didn't he tell you that?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Never give you my respects nor--nor kind rememberances, nor nawthin'?"
+
+"Not a word. Never so much as mentioned your name."
+
+"The red-headed shark!"
+
+"There! There! Sshh! Never mind him. Come in here and sit down a minute,
+can't you? Or are you in a hurry?"
+
+"Eh? No-o, I ain't in no 'special hurry. Just got a deck load of seaweed
+aboard carting it up home, that's all."
+
+"Home? What home?"
+
+"Why, where I'm livin'. I call it home; anyhow it's all the home I got.
+Eh? Why, Cap'n Sears, ain't they never told you that I'm livin' at the
+Minot place?"
+
+"The Minot place! Why--why, man alive, you don't mean the General Minot
+place, do you?"
+
+"Um-hm. That's what folks down here call it. There ain't no Generals
+there though."
+
+"And _you_ are livin' in the General Minot house? Look here, Judah, are
+you trying to make a fool of me?"
+
+Mr. Cahoon's countenance--that portion of it above the whisker tidemark,
+of course--registered horror at the thought. He had been cook and
+steward aboard Captain Kendrick's ships for many voyages and his feeling
+for his former skipper was close kin to idolatry.
+
+"Eh?" he gasped. "Me try to make a fool out of _you_, Cap'n Sears? _Me?_
+No, no, I got _some_ sense left, I hope."
+
+Kendrick smiled. "Oh, the thing isn't impossible, Judah," he observed
+dryly. "It has been done. I have been made a fool of and more than
+once.... But there, never mind that. I want to know what you are doin'
+at the General Minot place. Come aboard here and tell me about it. You
+can leave your horse, can't you? He doesn't look as if he was liable to
+run away."
+
+"Run away! Him?" Judah snorted disgust. "Limpin' Moses! He won't run away
+for the same reason old Cap'n Eben Gould didn't say his prayers--he's
+forgot how. I was out with that horse on the flats last week and the
+tide pretty nigh caught us. The water in the main channel was so deep
+that it was clean up to the critter's garboard strake, and still, by the
+creepin', I couldn't get him out of a walk. I thought there one spell he
+might _drift_ away, but I knew dum well he'd never run.... Whoa!
+you--you hipponoceros you!" addressing the ancient animal, who was
+placidly gnawing at the Macomber hitching post. "'Vast heavin' on that
+post! _Look_ at the blasted idiot!" with huge disgust. "To home, by the
+creepin', he'll turn up his nose at good hay and then he'll cruise out
+here and start to swaller a wood fence. Whoa! Back! Back, or I'll--I'll
+bore a hole in you and scuttle you."
+
+The old horse condescended to back for perhaps two feet, a proceeding
+which elicited a grunt of grudging approval from Mr. Cahoon. The latter
+then settled himself with a thump upon the settee beside Captain
+Kendrick.
+
+"How's the spars splicin'?" he inquired, with a jerk of his thumb toward
+the captain's legs. "Gettin' so you can navigate with 'em? Stand up
+under sail, will they?"
+
+"Not for much of a cruise," replied Sears, using the same nautical
+phraseology. "I shan't be able to run under anything but a jury rig for
+a good while, I'm afraid. But never mind the spars. I want to know how
+you happen to be down here in Bayport, and especially what on earth you
+are doin' at the Minot place? Somebody died and left you a million?"
+
+Mr. Cahoon's whiskers were split again by his wide grin.
+
+"If I was left a million _I'd_ die," he observed with emphasis. "No, no,
+nothin' like that, Cap'n. I'm there along of ... humph! You know young
+Ogden Minot, don't you?"
+
+"No, I guess I don't. I don't seem to remember him. Ogden Minot, you
+say?"
+
+"Sartin. Why, you must have run afoul of him, Cap'n Sears. He has a--a
+sort of home moorin's at a desk in Barstow Brothers' shippin' office up
+on State Street. Has some kind of berth with the firm, they tell me,
+partner or somethin'. You must have seen him there."
+
+"Well, if I have I.... Hold on a minute! Seems to me I do remember him.
+Tall fellow, dresses like a tailor's picture; speaks as if--"
+
+"As if the last half of every word was comin' on the next boat. That's
+him. Light complected, wears his whiskers wing and wing, like a schooner
+runnin' afore the wind. Same kind of side whiskers old Cap'n Spencer of
+the _Farewell_ used to carry that voyage when I fust run afoul of you.
+You was second mate and I was cook, remember. You recollect the
+skipper's side whiskers, Cap'n Sears? Course you do! Stuck out each side
+of his face pretty nigh big as old-fashioned studdin' sails. Fo'mast
+hands used to call 'em the old man's 'homeward-bounders.' Ho, ho! Why,
+I've seen them whiskers blowin'--"
+
+Kendrick interrupted.
+
+"Never mind Cap'n Spencer's whiskers," he said. "Stick to your course,
+Judah. What about this Ogden Minot?"
+
+"Everythin' bout him. If 'twan't for him I wouldn't be here now. No
+sir-ee, 'stead of settin' here swappin' yarns with you, Cap'n Sears, I'd
+be somewheres off Cape Horn, cookin' lobscouse and doughboy over a
+red-hot galley stove. Yes sir, that's where I'd be. And I'd just as soon
+be here, and a dum sight juster, as the feller said. Ho, ho! Tut, tut,
+tut! You can't never tell, can you? How many times I've stood in my
+galley with a gale of wind blowin', and my feet braced so's I wouldn't
+pitch into the salt-horse kittle every time she rolled, and thinkin'--"
+
+"There, there, Judah! Bring her up, bring her up. You're three points
+off again."
+
+"Eh? So I be, so I be. I'll try and hold her nose in the notch from now
+on. Well, 'twas last October, a year ago, when I'd about made up my mind
+to go cook in the _Gallant Rover_, same as you said. I hadn't signed
+articles, you understand, but I was cal'latin' to, and I was down on
+Long Wharf where the _Rover_ was takin' cargo, and her skipper, Cap'n
+Gustavus Philbrick, 'twas--he was a Cape man, one of the Ostable
+Philbricks--he asked me if I wouldn't cruise up to the Barstow Brothers'
+office and fetch down some papers that was there for him. So I didn't
+have nawthin' to do 'special, and 'twas about time for my eleven
+o'clock--when I'm in Boston I always cal'late to hist aboard one eleven
+o'clock, rum and sweetenen' 'tis generally, at Jerry Crockett's saloon
+on India Street and.... Aye, aye, sir! All right, all right, Cap'n
+Sears. I'll keep her in the notch, don't worry. Well--er--er--what was I
+sayin'? Oh, yes! Well, I had my eleven o'clock and then I cruised up to
+the Barstow place, and the fust mate there, young Crosby Barstow 'twas,
+he was talkin' with this Ogden Minot. And when I hove in sight young
+Barstow, he sings out: 'And here's another Cape Codder, Ogden,' he says.
+'You two ought to know each other. Cahoon,' says he, 'this is Mr. Ogden
+Minot; his folks hailed from Bayport. That's down your way, ain't it?'
+
+"'You bet!' says I. 'My home port's Harniss, and that's right next door.
+Minot? Minot?' I says, tryin' to recollect, you understand. 'Seems to me
+I used to know a Minot down that way. Why, yes, course I did! You any
+relation to old Ichabod Minot, that skippered the _Gypsy Maid_ fishin'
+to the Banks? Ichabod hailed from--from--Denboro, seems to me 'twas.'
+
+"He said no pretty sharp. Barstow, he laughed like fury and wanted to
+know if this Ogden Minot looked like Ichabod. 'Is there a family
+resemblance?' he says. I told him I guessed not. 'Anyhow,' says I, 'I
+couldn't tell very well. I only seen Ichabod when he was drunk.' That
+tickled Barstow most to death. 'You never saw him but that once, then?'
+he wanted to know. 'Oh, yes,' says I, 'I seen him about every time he
+was on shore after a fishin' trip.'
+
+"That seemed to make him laugh more'n ever and even young Ogden laughed
+some. Anyhow, we got to talkin' and I told Barstow how I was cal'latin'
+to go cook on the _Gallant Rover_. 'And I'm sick of it,' I says. 'I'd
+like a nice snug berth ashore.' 'You would?' says Barstow. Then he says,
+'Humph!' and looks at Minot. And Minot, he says, 'Humph!' and looked at
+him. And then they both says, 'Humph!' and looked at me. And afore I set
+sail from that office to carry Cap'n Philbrick's papers back to him I'd
+agreed not to sign on for that v'yage as cook until I'd cruised down
+here to Bayport along of young Ogden Minot to see how I'd like to be
+sort of--of general caretaker and stevedore, as you might call it, at
+the General Minot place. You see, young Ogden was the General's grandson
+and he'd had the property left him. And 'twas part of the sailin'
+orders--in the old General's will, you understand--that it couldn't be
+sold, but must always be took care of and kept up. Ogden could rent it
+out but he couldn't sell it; that was the pickle _he_ was in.
+Understand, don't you, Cap'n Sears?"
+
+Kendrick nodded. "Why--yes, I guess likely I do," he said. "But this
+Minot boy could live in it himself, couldn't he? Why doesn't he do that?
+As I remember it, it was considerable of a house. I should think he
+would come here himself and live."
+
+Judah nodded. "You would think so, wouldn't you?" he agreed. "But _he_
+don't think so, and what's a mighty sight more account, his wife don't
+think so. She's one of them kind of women that--that--well, when she
+gets to heaven--course I ain't layin' no bets on her gettin' there, but
+_if_ she does--the fust thing she'll do after she fetches port is to
+find out which one of them golden streets has got the highest-toned gang
+livin' on it and then start in tryin' to tie up to the wharf there
+herself. _She_ wouldn't live in no Bayport. No sir--ee! She's got winter
+moorin's up in one of them streets back of the Common, and summer times
+she's down to a place called--er--er--Nahum--Nehimiah--No--jumpin'
+prophets! What's the name of that place out on the rocks abaft Lynn?"
+
+"Nahant?" suggested his companion.
+
+"That's it. She and him is to Nahant summers. And what for _I_ don't
+know, when right here in Bayport is a great, big, fine house and land
+around it and--and flower tubs in the front yard and--and marble top
+tables--and--and haircloth chairs and sofys, and--and a Rogers' statoo
+in the parlor and--and.... Why, say, Cap'n Sears, you ought to _see_
+that house and the things in it. They've spent money on that house same
+as if a five dollar bill wan't nawthin'. Wasted it, I call it. The
+second day I was there I wanted to brush off some dust that was on the
+chair seats and I was huntin' round from bow to stern lookin' for one of
+them little brush brooms, you know, same as you brush clothes with.
+Well, sir, I'd about give up lookin' when I happened to look on the wall
+of the settin'-room and there was one hangin' up. And, say, Cap'n Sears,
+I wisht you could have seen it! 'Twas triced up in a--a kind of becket,
+as you might say, made out of velvet--yes, sir, by creepin', velvet! And
+the velvet had posies and grass painted on it. And, I don't know as
+you'll believe it, but it's a fact, the handle of that brush broom was
+gilded! Yes sir, by Henry, _gilded_! 'Well,' thinks I to myself, 'if
+this ain't then I don't know what is!' I did cal'late that I was
+gettin' used to style, and high-toned money-slingin', but when it comes
+to puttin' gold handles onto brush-brooms, that had me on my beam ends,
+that did. And ain't it a sinful waste, Cap'n Sears, I ask you? Now ain't
+it? And what in time is the _good_ of it? A brush-broom is just a broom,
+no matter if----"
+
+Again the captain interrupted. "Yes, yes, of course, Judah," he agreed,
+laughing; "but what do you do up there all by yourself? In that big
+house?"
+
+"Oh, I don't live in the whole house. I could if I wanted to. Ogden, he
+don't care where I live or what I do. All he wants of me, he says, is to
+keep the place lookin' good, and the grass cut and one thing or 'nother.
+He keeps hopin' he's goin' to rent it, you know, but they won't nobody
+hire it. The only thing a place big as that would be good for is to keep
+tavern. And we've got one tavern here in Bayport already."
+
+Kendrick seemed to be thinking. He pulled his beard. Of course he wore a
+beard; in those days he would have been thought queer if he had not.
+Even the Harvard students who came to Bayport occasionally on summer
+tramping trips wore beards or sidewhiskers; the very callowest Freshman
+sported and nourished a moustache.
+
+"So you don't occupy the whole house, Judah?" asked the captain.
+
+"No, no," replied Mr. Cahoon. "I live out in the back part. There's the
+kitchen and woodshed and dinin'-room out there and a couple of bedrooms.
+That's all _I_ want. There's nine more bedrooms in that house, Cap'n,"
+he declared solemnly. "That makes eleven altogether. Now what in tunket
+do you cal'late anybody'd ever do with eleven bedrooms?"
+
+Kendrick shook his head. "Give it up, Judah," he said. "For the matter
+of that, I don't see what you do with two. Do you sleep in one week
+nights and the other on Sundays?"
+
+Judah grinned. "No, no, Cap'n," he said. "I don't know myself why I keep
+that other bedroom fixed up. Cal'late I do it just for fun, kind of
+makin' believe I'm going to have company, I guess. It gets kind of
+lonesome there sometimes, 'specially meal times and evenin's. There I
+set at mess, you know, grand as the skipper of the _Great Republic_,
+cloth on the table, silver knife and fork, silver castor with blue glass
+vinegar and pepper-sass bottles, great, big, elegant mustache cup with
+'Forget Me Not' printed out on it in gold letters--everything so fine it
+couldn't be no finer--but by creepin', sometimes I can't help feelin'
+lonesome! Seems foolish, don't it, but I be."
+
+Captain Kendrick did not speak. He pulled at his beard with more
+deliberation and the look in his eye was that of one watching the
+brightening dawn of an idea.
+
+"I told Ogden so last time he was down," continued Mr. Cahoon. "He asked
+me if I was comf'table and if I wanted anything more and I told him I
+didn't. 'Only thing that ails me,' I says, 'is that I get kind of
+lonesome bein' by myself so much. Sometimes I wisht I had comp'ny.'
+'Well, why don't you _have_ comp'ny?' says he. 'You've got room enough,
+lord knows.' 'Yes,' I says, 'but who'll I have?' He laughed. 'That's
+your lookout,' says he. 'You can't expect me to hire a companion for
+you.'"
+
+"Humph!" Kendrick regarded him thoughtfully. "So you would like company,
+would you, Judah?"
+
+"Sartin sure I would, if 'twas the right kind. I got a cat and that
+helps a little mite. And Cap'n Shubal Hammond's wife told me yesterday
+she'd give me a young pig if I wanted one. That's what I'm cartin' home
+this little mite of seaweed for, to bed down the pig sty. But cats and
+hogs, they're all right enough, but they ain't human."
+
+"Do you keep hens?"
+
+This apparently harmless question seemed to arouse Mr. Cahoon's ire. His
+whiskers bristled and his nose flamed.
+
+"Hens!" he repeated. "Don't talk to me about hens! No, sir, by the
+prophets, I don't keep hens! But them everlastin' Fair Harborers keep
+'em and if they'd keep 'em to home I wouldn't say a word. But they
+don't. Half the time they're over my side of the fence raisin' blue hob
+with my garden. Hens! Don't talk to me about 'em! I hate the sight of
+the critters."
+
+Kendrick smiled. "And after all," he observed, "hens aren't human,
+either."
+
+Judah snorted. "Some are," he declared, "and them's the worst kind."
+
+There was, doubtless, a hidden meaning in this speech, but if so Sears
+Kendrick did not seek to find it. Laying a hand upon the broad shoulder
+of his former sea-cook he lifted himself to his feet.
+
+"Judah," he asked, briskly, "is that seaweed in your cart there dry?"
+
+"Eh? Dry? Yes, yes, dry as a cat's back. Been layin' on the beach above
+tide mark ever since last winter. Why?"
+
+"Do you suppose you could help me hoist myself aboard?"
+
+"Aboard? Aboard that truck-wagon? For the land sakes, what for?"
+
+"Because I want a ride. I've been in drydock here till I'm pretty nearly
+crazy. I want to go on a cruise, even if it isn't but a half mile one.
+Don't you want to cart me down to your anchorage and let me see how you
+and General Minot and the gilt whisk broom get along? I can sprawl on
+that seaweed and be as comfortable as a gull on a clam flat. Come on
+now! Heave ahead! Give us a hand up!"
+
+"But--limpin' prophets, Cap'n Sears, I couldn't cart you up the main
+road of Bayport in a seaweed cart. You, of all men! What do you cal'late
+folks would say if they see me doin' it? Course I'd love to have you
+ride down and see how I'm livin'. If you'd set up on the thawt there,"
+indicating the high seat of the truck-wagon, "I'd be proud to have you.
+But to haul you along on a load of seaweed that's goin' to bed down a
+hog! Cap'n, you _know_ 'twouldn't be fittin'! Course you do."
+
+His horror at the sacrilege was so ludicrous that Kendrick laughed
+aloud. However, he insisted that there was nothing unfitting in the
+idea; it was a good idea and founded upon common-sense.
+
+"How long do you think these sprung sticks of mine would last," he
+said, referring to his legs, "if they were jouncin' up and down on that
+seat aloft there? And I couldn't climb up even if I wanted to. But, you
+and I between us, Judah, can get me in on that seaweed, and that's what
+we're goin' to do. Come, come! Tumble up! All hands on deck now!
+Lively!"
+
+The familiar order, given with a touch of the old familiar crispness and
+authority, had its effect. Mr. Cahoon argued no more. Instead he sprang
+to attention, figuratively speaking.
+
+"Aye, aye, sir!" he said. "Here she goes. Take it easy, Cap'n; don't
+hurry. Ease yourself down that bankin'. If we was to let go and you come
+down with a run there'd be the divil and all to pay, wouldn't there? So
+... so.... Here we be, alongside. Now---- Aloft with ye."
+
+They had reached the road by the tailboard of the wagon. And now Judah
+stooped, picked up his former skipper in his arms and swung him in upon
+the load of dry seaweed as if he were a two year old boy instead of a
+full-grown, and very much grown, man.
+
+"Well," he asked, as he climbed to the seat, "all ready to make sail, be
+we? Any message you want to leave along with Sary? She won't know what
+end you've made, will she?"
+
+"Oh, she'll guess I've gone buggy-ridin' with the doctor. He's been
+threatenin' to take me with him 'most any day now. Sarah'll be all
+right. Get under way, Judah."
+
+"Aye, aye, sir. Git dap! Git dap! Limpin', creepin', crawlin', hoppin',
+jumpin'.... Starboard! _starboard_, you son of a Chinee! Need a tug to
+haul this critter into the channel, I swan you do! Git dap! All
+shipshape aft there, Cap'n Sears? Good enough! let her run."
+
+The old white horse--like the whisk broom and the Rogers group, a part
+of the furniture of the General Minot place--plodded along the dusty
+road and the blue truck-wagon rolled and rattled behind him. Captain
+Kendrick, settling his invalid limbs in the most comfortable fashion,
+lay back upon the seaweed and stared at the sky seen through the
+branches of elms and silver-leaf poplars which arched above. He made no
+attempt to look over the sides of the cart. Raising himself upon an
+elbow to do so entailed a good deal of exertion and this was his first
+trip abroad since his accident. Besides, seeing would probably mean
+being seen and he was not in the mood to answer the questions of
+curious, even if sympathetic, townsfolk. Judah made several attempts at
+conversation, but the replies were not satisfactory, so he gave it up
+after a little and, as was his habit, once more broke forth in song.
+Judah Cahoon, besides being sea cook on many, many voyages, had been
+"chantey man" on almost as many. His repertoire was, therefore,
+extensive and at times astonishing. Now, as he rocked back and forth
+upon the wagon seat, he caroled, not the _Dreadnought_ chantey, but
+another, which told of a Yankee ship sailing down the Congo River,
+evidently in the old days of the slave trade.
+
+    "'Who do you think is the cap'n of her?
+      Blow, boys, blow!
+    Old Holy Joe, the darky lover,
+      Blow, my bully boys, blow!
+
+    'What do you think they've got for dinner?
+      Blow, boys, blow!
+    Hot water soup, but a dum sight thinner,
+      Blow, my bully boys, blow!
+
+    'Oh, blow to-day and blow to-morrer,
+      Blow, boys, blow!
+    And blow for all old salts in sorrer,
+      Blow, my bully----'
+
+"Oh, say, Cap'n Sears!"
+
+"Yes, Judah?"
+
+"They've put up the name sign on the Fair Harbor since you was in
+Bayport afore, ain't they? We're right off abreast of it now. Can't you
+hist yourself up and look over the side? It's some consider'ble of a
+sign, that is. Lobelia she left word to have that sign painted and set
+up last time she was here. She's over acrost in one of them Eyetalian
+ports now, so I understand, her and that feller she married. Eh? Ain't
+that quite a sign, now, Cap'n?"
+
+Kendrick, because his driver seemed to be so eager, sat up and looked
+over the sideboard of the truck-wagon. The vehicle was just passing a
+long stretch of ornate black iron fence in the center of which was a
+still more ornate gate with an iron arch above it. In the curve of the
+arch swung a black sign, its edges gilded, and with this legend printed
+upon it in gilt letters:
+
+                           FAIR HARBOR
+
+                       For Mariners' Women
+
+                 "Without, the stormy winds increase,
+                 Within the harbor all is peace."
+
+Behind the fence was a good-sized tract of lawn heavily shaded with
+trees, a brick walk, and at the rear a large house. The house itself was
+of the stately Colonial type and its simple dignity was in marked
+contrast to the fence.
+
+Captain Kendrick recognized the establishment of course. It, with its
+next door neighbor the General Minot place, was for so many years the
+home of old Captain Sylvanus Seymour. Captain Sylvanus, during his
+lifetime, was active claimant for the throne of King of Bayport. He was
+the town's leading Democratic politician, its wealthiest citizen, with
+possibly one exception--its most lavish entertainer--with the same
+possible exception--and when the Governor came to the Cape on "Cattle
+Show Day" he was sure to be a guest at the Seymour place--unless General
+Ashahel Minot, who was the exception mentioned--had gotten his
+invitation accepted first. For General Minot was Bayport's leading Whig,
+as Captain Sylvanus was its leading Democrat, and the rivalry between
+the two was intense. Nevertheless, they were, in public at least,
+extremely polite and friendly, and when they did agree--as on matters
+concerning the village tax rate and the kind of doctrine permitted to be
+preached in the Orthodox meeting-house--their agreement was absolute and
+overwhelming. In their day the Captain and the General dominated Bayport
+by sea and land.
+
+But that day had passed. They had both been dead for some years. Captain
+Seymour died first and his place and property were inherited by his
+maiden daughter, Miss Lobelia Seymour. Sears Kendrick remembered Lobelia
+as a dressy, romantic spinster, very much in evidence at the church
+socials and at meetings of the Shakespeare Reading Society, and who sang
+a somewhat shrill soprano in the choir.
+
+Now, as he looked over the side of Judah Cahoon's truck-wagon and saw
+the sign hanging beneath the arch above the gate of the Seymour place he
+began dimly to remember other things, bits of news embodied in letters
+which his sister, Sarah Macomber, had written him at various times.
+Lobelia Seymour had--she had done something with the family home,
+something unusual. What was it? Why, yes....
+
+"Judah," he said, "Lobelia Seymour turned that place into a--a sort of
+home, didn't she?"
+
+Judah twisted on the wagon seat to stare at him.
+
+"What are you askin' me that for, Cap'n Sears?" he demanded. "You know
+more about it than I do, I guess likely. Anyhow, you ought to; you was
+brought up in Bayport; I wasn't."
+
+"Yes, but I've been away from it ten times longer than I've been in it.
+I'd forgotten all about Lobelia. Seems to me Sarah wrote me somethin'
+about her, though, and that she had turned her father's place into a
+home for women."
+
+"For mariners' women, that's what she calls it. Didn't you see it on the
+sign? Ho, ho! that's a good one, ain't it, Cap'n Sears? 'Mariners'
+women!' Course what it means is sea cap'ns widders and sisters and such,
+but it does sound kind of Brigham Youngy, don't it? Haw, haw! Well,
+fur's that goes I have known mariners that--Hi! 'Vast heavin' there!
+What in time you tryin' to do, carry away that gate post? Whoa! Jumpin'
+creepin', limpin'---- Whoa! _Look_ at the critter!" in huge disgust and
+referring to the white horse, who had suddenly evinced a desire to turn
+in at a narrow driveway and to gallop while doing so. "Look at him!"
+repeated Judah. "When I go up to the depot he'll stand right in the
+middle of the railroad track and go to sleep. I have to whale the
+timbers out of him to get him awake enough to step ahead so's a train of
+cars won't stave in his broadside. But get him home here where he can
+see the barn, the place where he knows I stow the oats, and he wants to
+run right over top of a stone wall. Can't hardly hold him, I can't.
+Who-a-a!... Well, Cap'n Sears, here we be at the General Minot place.
+Here's where I sling my hammock these days."
+
+Kendrick looked about him, at the grassy back yard, with the ancient
+settee beneath the locust tree, the raspberry and currant bushes along
+the wall, the venerable apple and pear trees on the other side of the
+wall, at the trellis over the back door and the grape vine heavily
+festooning it, at the big weather-beaten barn, carriage house and
+pig-pens beyond. Turning, he looked upward at the high rambling house,
+its dormers and gables, its white clapboards and green window blinds.
+The sunlight streamed over it, but beneath the vine-hung lattice and
+under the locust tree were coolness and shadow. The wing of the big
+house, projecting out to the corner of the drive, shut off the view to
+or from the road. Somehow, the whole yard, with its peace and quiet and
+sunshine and shadow, and above all, its retirement, made a great appeal.
+It seemed so homelike, so shut away, so comforting, like a sheltered
+little backwater where a storm-beaten craft might lie snug.
+
+Mr. Cahoon made anxious inquiry.
+
+"What do you think of it, Cap'n?" he asked.
+
+His visitor did not reply. Instead he said, "Judah, I'd like to see your
+quarters inside, may I?"
+
+"Sartin sure you may. Right this way. Look out for the rocks in the
+channel," indicating the brick floor beneath the lattice. "Two or three
+of them bricks stick up more'n they ought to. Twice since I've been here
+the stem of one of my boots has fetched up on them bricks and I've all
+but pitch-poled. Take your time, Cap'n Sears, take your time. Here, lean
+on my shoulder, I'll pilot you."
+
+The captain smiled. "Much obliged, Judah," he said, "but I shan't need
+your shoulder. There aren't any stairs to climb, are there? Stair
+climbin' is too much for me yet awhile. Perhaps it will always be. I
+don't know."
+
+The tone in which he uttered the last sentence caused his companion to
+turn his head and regard him with concern.
+
+"Sho, sho, sho!" he exclaimed, hastily. "What kind of talk's that,
+Cap'n! I'll live to see you shin up and hang your hat on the main truck
+yet.... There, here's the galley. Like it, do you?"
+
+The "galley" was, of course, the kitchen. It was huge and low and very
+old-fashioned. Also it was, just now, spotlessly clean. From it opened
+the woodshed, and toward the front, the dining room.
+
+"I don't eat in here much," observed Judah, referring to the dining
+room. "Generally mess in the galley. Comes more natural to me. The
+settin' room, and back parlor and front parlor are out for'ard yonder.
+Come on, Cap'n Sears."
+
+The captain shook his head. "Never mind them just now," he said. "I want
+to see the bedrooms, those you use, Judah. That is, unless they're up
+aloft."
+
+"No, no. Right on the lower deck, both of 'em. Course there _is_ plenty
+more up aloft, but, as I told you, I never bother 'em. Here's my berth,"
+opening a door from the sitting room. "And here's what I call my spare
+stateroom. I keep it ready for comp'ny. Not that I ever have any, you
+understand."
+
+Judah's bedroom was small and snug. The "spare stateroom" was a trifle
+larger. In both were the old-fashioned mahogany furniture of our
+great-grandfathers. Mr. Cahoon apologized for it.
+
+"Kind of old-timey stuff down below here," he explained. "Just common
+folks used these rooms, I judge likely. But you'd ought to see them up
+on the quarter deck. There's your high-toned fixin's! Marble tops to the
+bureaus and tables and washstands, and fruit--peaches and pears and all
+sorts--carved out on the headboards of the beds, and wreaths on the
+walls all made out of shells, and--and kind of brass doodads at the tops
+of the window curtains. Style, don't talk!... Sort of a pretty look-off
+through that deadlight, ain't there, Cap'n Sears? Seems so to me."
+
+Kendrick had raised the window shade of the spare stateroom and was
+looking out. The view extended across the rolling hills and little pine
+groves and cranberry bogs, to the lower road with its white houses and
+shade trees. And beyond the lower road were more hills and pines, a
+pretty little lake--Crowell's Pond, it was called--sand dunes and then
+the blue water of the Bay. The captain looked at the view for a few
+moments, then, turning, looked once more at the room and its furniture.
+
+"So you've never had a passenger in your spare stateroom, Judah?" he
+asked.
+
+"Nary one, not yet."
+
+"Expectin' any?"
+
+"Nary one. Don't know nobody to expect."
+
+"But you think it would be all right if you did have some one? Your
+er--owner--young Minot, I mean, wouldn't object?"
+
+"Object! No, no. He told me to. 'I should think you'd die livin' here
+alone,' he says. 'Why don't you take a boarder? I would if I was you.'"
+
+Sears Kendrick stopped looking at the room and its furniture and turned
+his gaze upon his former cook.
+
+"Take a boarder?" he repeated. "Did Ogden Minot tell you to take a
+boarder? And do you think he meant it?"
+
+"Sartin sure he meant it. He don't care what I do--in reason, of
+course."
+
+"Humph!... Well, then, Judah, why don't you take one?"
+
+"Eh? Take one what? A boarder? Who'd I take, for thunder's sakes?"
+
+Captain Kendrick smiled.
+
+"Me," he said.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+For the half hour which followed the captain's utterance of that simple
+little word, "Me," exclamation, protestation and argument heated and
+unwontedly disturbed the atmosphere of the Minot spare stateroom and
+when the discussion adjourned there, of the little back yard. The old
+white horse, left to himself and quite forgotten, placidly meandered on
+until he reached a point where he could reach the tender foliage of a
+young pear tree which leaned over the wall toward him. Then, with a sigh
+of content, he proceeded to devour the tree. No one paid the least
+attention to him. Captain Kendrick, now seated upon the bench beneath
+the locust, was quietly but persistently explaining why he desired to
+become a boarder and lodger at Mr. Cahoon's quarters on the after lower
+deck of the General Minot house, and Judah was vociferously and
+profanely expostulating against such an idea.
+
+"It ain't fittin', I tell you," he declared, over and over again. "It
+ain't fittin', it's the craziest notion ever I heard tell of. What'll
+folks think if they know you're here--you, Cap'n Sears Kendrick, that
+all hands knows is the smartest cap'n that ever sailed out of Boston
+harbor? What'll they say if they know you've hove anchor along of me,
+stayin' here in the--in the fo'castle of this house; eatin' the grub I
+cook--"
+
+"I've eaten your cookin' for a good many months at a stretch, Judah. You
+never heard me find any fault with it, did you?"
+
+"Don't make no odds. That's different, Cap'n Sears, and you know 'tis.
+It's ridiculous, stark, ravin' ridiculous."
+
+"So you don't care for my company?"
+
+"Don't tuk so! Wouldn't I be proud to have ye? Wouldn't I ruther have
+you aboard here than anybody else on earth? Course I would!"
+
+"All right. And you're goin' to have me. So that's all settled."
+
+"Settled! Who said 'twas settled? Course 'tain't settled. You don't
+understand, Cap'n Sears. 'Tain't how I feel about it. 'Tain't even maybe
+how you feel about it. But how'll your sister feel about it? How'll Joel
+feel? How'll the doctor feel? How'll the folks in town feel? How'll--"
+
+"Oh, shh! shh! Avast, Judah! How'll the cat feel? And the pig? What do I
+care? How'll your old horse feel if he eats the other half of that pear
+tree? That's considerably more important."
+
+Judah turned, saw the combination of ancient equine and youthful tree
+and rushed bellowing to the rescue of the latter. When he returned,
+empty of profanity and copiously perspiring, his former skipper was
+ready for him.
+
+"Listen, Judah," he said. "Listen, and keep your main hatch closed for
+five minutes, if you can. I want to come here to board with you for a
+while and I've got the best reasons on earth. Keep still and I'll tell
+you again what they are."
+
+He proceeded to give those reasons. They were that he had little money
+and must therefore live inexpensively. He would not remain at his
+sister's because she had more than enough care and work in her own
+family. George Kent boarded with her and one boarder was sufficient.
+Then--and this was the principal reason for selecting the General Minot
+spare stateroom--he wished to live somewhere away from observation,
+where he could be alone, or nearly alone, where he would not be plagued
+with questions.
+
+"You see, Judah," he said, "I've had a bump in more ways than one. My
+pride was knocked flat as well as my pocket book. The doctor says I've
+got to stay ashore for a good while. He says it will be months before
+I'm ready for sea--if I'm ever ready--"
+
+"Hold on, hold on! Cap'n Sears, you mustn't talk so. Course you'll be
+ready."
+
+"All right, we'll hope I will. But while I'm gettin' ready to be ready I
+want to lie snug. I don't want to see a whole lot of people and have to
+listen to--to sympathy and all that. I've made a fool of myself, and
+that kind of a fool doesn't deserve sympathy. And I don't want it,
+anyhow. Give me a pair of sound spars and my health once more and you
+won't find me beggin' for sympathy--no, nor anything else.... But
+there," he added, straightening and throwing back his shoulders in the
+way Judah had seen him do so often on shipboard and which his mates had
+learned to recognize as a sign that the old man's mind was made up,
+"that's enough of that. Let's stick to the course. I like this place of
+yours, Judah, and I'm comin' here to live. I'm weak yet and you can
+throw me out, of course," he added, "but I tell you plainly you can't
+_talk_ me out, so it's no use to try."
+
+Nevertheless, Mr. Cahoon kept on trying and, when he did give in only
+gave in halfway. If Captain Sears was bound to do such a fool thing he
+didn't know how he was going to stop him, but at least he did insist
+that the captain should take a trial cruise before signing on for the
+whole voyage.
+
+"I tell you what you do, Cap'n Sears," he said. "You make me a little
+visit of--of two, three days, say. Then, if you cal'late you can stand
+the grub--and me--and if the way Bayport folks'll be talkin' ain't
+enough to send you back to Sary's again, why--why, then I suppose you
+can stay right along, if you want to. _'Twould_ be fine to have you
+aboard! Whew!"
+
+He grinned from ear to ear. The captain accepted the compromise.
+
+"All right, Judah," he said. "We'll call the first few days a visit and
+I'll begin by stayin' to dinner now. How'll that do, eh?"
+
+Mr. Cahoon affirmed that it would do finely. The only drawback was that
+there was nothing in the house for dinner.
+
+"I was cal'latin' to go down to the shore," he said, "and dig a bucket
+of clams. Course they'll do well enough for me, but for you--"
+
+"For me they will be just the ticket," declared Kendrick. "Go ahead and
+dig 'em, Judah. And on the way stop and tell Sarah I'm goin' to stay
+here and help eat 'em. After dinner--well, after dinner I shall have to
+go back there again, I suppose, but to-morrow I'm comin' up here to
+stay."
+
+So, still under protest, Judah, having unloaded the seaweed, climbed
+once more to the high seat of the truck-wagon and the old horse dragged
+him out of the yard. After the row of trees bordering the road had
+hidden him from sight Kendrick could hear the rattle of the cart and a
+fragment of the _Dreadnought_ chantey.
+
+    "Now the _Dreadnought's_ becalmed on the banks of Newfoundland,
+    Where the water's all green and the bottom's all sand.
+    Says the fish of the ocean that swim to and fro:
+    'She's the Liverpool packet, good Lord, let her go.'"
+
+Rattle and chantey died away in the distance. Quiet, warm and lazy,
+settled down upon the back yard of the General Minot place. A robin
+piped occasionally and, from somewhere off to the left, hens clucked,
+but these were the only sounds. Kendrick judged that the hens must
+belong to neighbors; Judah had expressed detestation of all poultry.
+There was not sufficient breeze to stir the branches of the locust or
+the leaves of the grapevine. The captain leaned back on the settee and
+yawned. He felt a strong desire to go to sleep.
+
+Now sleeping in the daytime had always been a trick which he despised
+and against which he had railed all his life. He had declared times
+without number that a man who slept in the daytime--unless of course he
+had been on watch all night or something like that--was a loafer, a good
+for nothing, a lubber too lazy to be allowed on earth. The day was a
+period made for decent, respectable people to work in, and for a man who
+did not work, and love to work, Captain Sears Kendrick had no use
+whatever. Many so-called able seamen, and even first and second mates,
+had received painstaking instructions in this section of their skipper's
+code.
+
+But now--now it was different. Why shouldn't he sleep in the daytime?
+There was nothing else for him to do. He had no business to transact, no
+owners to report to, no vessel to load or unload or to fit for sea. He
+had heard the doctor's whisper--not meant for his ears--that his legs
+might never be right again, and the word "might" had, he believed, been
+substituted for one of much less ambiguous meaning. No, all he was fit
+for, he reflected bitterly, was to sit in the sun and sleep, like an old
+dog with the rheumatism. He sighed, settled himself upon the bench and
+closed his eyes.
+
+But he opened them again almost at once. During that very brief interval
+of darkness there had flashed before his mind a picture of a small park
+in New York as he had once seen it upon a summer Sunday afternoon. The
+park walks had been bordered with rows of benches and upon each bench
+slumbered at least one human derelict who, apparently, realized his
+worthlessness and had given up the fight. Captain Kendrick sat upright
+on the settee, beneath the locust tree. Was he, too, giving
+up--surrendering to Fate? No, by the Lord, he was not! And he was not
+going to drop off to sleep on that settee like one of those tramps on a
+park bench.
+
+He rose to his feet, picked up his cane, and started to walk--somewhere.
+Direction made little difference, so long as he kept awake and kept
+going. There was a path leading off between the raspberry and currant
+bushes, and slowly, but stubbornly, he limped along that path. The path
+ended at a gate in a white picket fence. The gate was unlatched and
+there was an orchard on the other side of it. Captain Sears opened the
+gate and limped on under the apple trees. They were old trees and large
+and the shade they cast was cool and pleasant. The soft green slope
+beneath them tempted him strongly. He was beginning to realize that
+those shaky legs of his were tiring in this, the longest walk they had
+attempted since the accident. He had a mind to sit down upon the bank
+beneath the apple trees and rest. Then he remembered the mental picture
+of the tramps on the park benches and stubbornly refused to yield.
+Leaning more heavily upon his cane, he limped on.
+
+The path emerged from beneath the apple trees, ascended a little rise
+and disappeared around the shoulder of a high thick clump of lilacs.
+Kendrick, tiring more and more rapidly, plodded on. His suffering limbs
+were, so to speak, shrieking for mercy but he would not give it to them.
+He set himself a "stint"; he would see what was beyond the clump of
+lilacs, then he would rest, and then he would hobble back to the Minot
+yard. Incidentally he realized that he had been a fool ever to leave it.
+
+His teeth grimly set and each step a labor, he plodded up the little
+rise and turned the corner of the lilac bushes. There he stopped, not
+entirely because his "stint" was done, but because what he saw surprised
+him.
+
+Beyond the lilacs was a small garden, or rather a series of small
+gardens. The divisions between them appeared to be exactly the same size
+and the plots themselves precisely the same size and shape. There
+were--although the captain did not learn this until later--seven of
+these plots, each exactly six by nine feet. But there resemblance
+ceased, for each was planted and arranged with a marked individuality.
+For example, the one nearest the lilac bushes was laid out in a sort of
+checkerboard pattern of squares, one square containing a certain sort of
+old-fashioned flower and its neighbors other varieties. The plot
+adjoining the checkerboard was arranged in diamonds and spirals; the
+planting here was floral also, whereas the next was evidently
+utilitarian, being given up entirely to corn, potatoes, onions, beets
+and other vegetables. And the next seemed to be covered with nothing
+except a triumphant growth of weeds.
+
+At the rear of these odd garden plots was a little octagonal building,
+evidently a summer-house. Over its door, a door fronting steps leading
+down to the gardens, was a sign bearing the name "The Eyrie." And behind
+the summer-house was a stretch of rather shabby lawn, a half dozen
+trees, and the rear of a large house. Captain Sears recognized the house
+as the Seymour residence, now the "Fair Harbor." He had strayed off the
+course and was trespassing upon his neighbors' premises. This fact was
+immediately brought to his attention. From somewhere at the rear of the
+gardens a shrill feminine voice exclaimed:
+
+"Mercy on us! Who's that?"
+
+And another feminine voice chimed in:
+
+"Eh! I declare it's a man, ain't it?"
+
+And the first voice observed sharply:
+
+"Of course it is. You didn't think I thought it was a cow, did you?"
+
+"But what's he doin' here? Is he a tramp?
+
+"I don't know, but I'm going to find out. Hi! Here! You--man--where are
+you going?"
+
+Captain Sears had, by this time, located the voices as coming from the
+"Eyrie," the summer-house with the poetical name. He had so far,
+however, been able to see nothing of the speakers. But now the tangle of
+woodbine and morning-glory which draped the front of the summer-house
+was drawn aside and revealed a rustic window--or unglazed window
+opening--with two heads framed in it like a double portrait. Both of
+these heads were feminine, but one was thin-faced and sharp-featured,
+and gray-haired, while the other was like a full moon--a full moon with
+several chins--and its hair was a startlingly vivid black parted in the
+middle and with a series of very regular ripples on each side.
+
+It was the thin face which was hailing him. The other was merely
+staring, open-eyed and open-mouthed.
+
+"Here, you--man!" repeated the shrill voice--belonging to the thin face.
+"Where are you going?"
+
+The captain smiled. "Why, nowhere in particular, ma'am," he replied. "I
+was just figurin' that I'd gone about as far as I could this voyage."
+
+His smile became a chuckle, but there were no symptoms of amusement
+visible upon the faces framed in the window of the Eyrie. The thin lips
+merely pressed tighter and the plump ones opened wider, that was all.
+
+"Why don't you answer my question?" demanded the thin woman. "What are
+you doing on these premises?"
+
+"Why, nothin' in particular, ma'am. I was just tryin' to take a little
+walk and not makin' a very good job at it."
+
+There was an interruption here. The full moon broke in to ask a question
+of its own.
+
+"Who is he? What's he talkin' about?" it demanded.
+
+"I don't know who he is--yet."
+
+"Well, what's he talkin' about? Make him speak louder."
+
+"I will, if you give me a chance. He says he is taking a walk. What are
+you taking a walk in here for? Don't you know it isn't allowed?"
+
+"Why, no, ma'am, I didn't. In fact I didn't realize I was in here until
+I--well--until I got here."
+
+"What is he sayin'?" demanded the moon-face again, and somewhat testily.
+"I can't hear a word."
+
+Now the captain's tone had been at least ordinarily loud, so it was
+evident that the plump woman's hearing was defective. Her curiosity,
+however, was not in the least impaired.
+
+"What's that man talkin' about now?" she persisted. Her companion became
+impatient.
+
+"Oh, I don't know," she snapped. "Do give me a chance, won't you? I
+think he's been drinking. He says he doesn't know where he is or how he
+got here."
+
+Kendrick thought it high time to protest. Also to raise his voice when
+doing so.
+
+"That wasn't exactly it," he shouted. "I was takin' a little walk,
+that's all. I have to navigate pretty slow for my legs aren't just
+right."
+
+"What did he say wa'n't right?" demanded the plump female.
+
+"His legs."
+
+"Eh! Legs! What's he talkin' about his legs for?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know! Do be still a minute. It's his head that isn't right,
+I guess he means.... Don't you know you're trespassing? What do you
+mean by coming in here?"
+
+"Well, ma'am, I didn't mean anything in particular. I just happened in
+by accident. I'm sorry."
+
+"Humph! You didn't come in here to run off with anything that didn't
+belong to you, I hope."
+
+The captain looked at her for a moment. Then his lip twitched.
+
+"No, ma'am," he said, solemnly, "I didn't come with that idea--but--"
+
+"But? What do you mean by 'but'?"
+
+"But I didn't realize what there was in here to run off with. If I
+had.... There, I guess I'd better go. Good day, ladies. Sorry I troubled
+you."
+
+He lifted his cap, turned, and limped out of sight around the clump of
+lilacs. From behind him came a series of indignant gasps and
+exclamations.
+
+"Why--why--Well, I never in all my born days! The saucy, impudent--"
+
+And the voice of the moon-faced one raised in bewildered entreaty:
+
+"What was it? What did he say? Elviry Snowden, why don't you tell me
+what 'twas he _said_?"
+
+Captain Kendrick hobbled back to the Minot yard. He hobbled through the
+orchard gate, leaving it ajar, and reaching the bench beneath the locust
+tree, collapsed upon it. For some time he was conscious of very little
+except the ache in his legs and the fact that breathing was a difficult
+and jerky operation. Then, as the fatigue and pain ceased to be as
+insistent, the memory of his interview with the pair in the Eyrie
+returned to him and he began to chuckle. After a time he fancied that he
+heard a sympathetic chuckle behind him. It seemed to come from the
+vegetable garden, Judah's garden, which, so Mr. Cahoon told his former
+skipper, he had set out himself and was "sproutin' and comin' up
+better'n ary other garden in the town of Bayport, if I do say it as
+shouldn't."
+
+Kendrick could not imagine who could be chuckling in that garden. Also
+he could not imagine where the chuckler could be hiding, unless it was
+behind the rows of raspberry and currant bushes. Slowly and painfully he
+rose to his feet and peered over the bushes. Then the mystery was
+explained. The "chuckles" were clucks. A flock of at least a dozen
+healthy and energetic hens were enthusiastically busy in the Cahoon
+beds. Their feet were moving like miniature steam shovels and showers of
+earth and infant vegetables were moving likewise. Judah had boasted that
+the fruits of his planting were "comin' up." If he had seen them at that
+moment he would have realized how fast they were coming up.
+
+The sight aroused Captain Kendrick's ire. He was, in a way of speaking,
+guardian of that vegetable patch. Judah had not formally appointed him
+to that position, but he had gone away and, by the fact of so doing, had
+left it in his charge. He felt responsible for its safety.
+
+"Shoo!" shouted the captain and, leaning upon his cane, limped toward
+the garden.
+
+"Shoo!" he roared again. The hens paid about as much attention to the
+roar as a gang of ditch diggers might pay to the buzz of a mosquito.
+Obviously something more drastic than shooing was necessary. The captain
+stooped and picked up a stone. He threw the stone and hit a hen. She
+rose in the air with a frightened squawk, ran around in a circle, and
+then, coming to anchor in a patch of tiny beets, resumed excavating
+operations.
+
+Kendrick picked up another stone, a bigger one, and threw that. He
+missed the mark this time, but the shot was not entirely without
+results; it hit one of Mr. Cahoon's cucumber frames and smashed a pane
+to atoms. The crash of glass had the effect of causing some of the fowl
+to stop digging and appear nervous. But these were in the minority.
+
+The captain was, by this time, annoyed. He was on the verge of losing
+his temper. Beyond the little garden and between the raspberry and
+currant bushes he caught a glimpse of the path and the gate through
+which he had just come on his way back from the grounds of the Fair
+Harbor. That gate he saw, with a twinge of conscience, was wide open.
+Obviously he must have neglected to latch it on passing through, it had
+swung open, and the hens had taken advantage of the sally port to make
+their foray upon Judah's pet vegetables. They were Fair Harbor hens.
+Somehow this fact did not tend to deepen Sears Kendrick's affection for
+them.
+
+"Shoo! Clear out, you pesky nuisances!" he shouted, and waving his cane,
+charged laboriously down upon the fowl. They retreated before him, but
+their retreat was strategic. They moved from beets to cabbages, from
+cabbages to young corn, from corn to onions. And they scratched and
+pecked as they withdrew. Nevertheless, they were withdrawing and in the
+direction of the open gate; in the midst of his panting and pain the
+captain found a slight comfort in the fact that he was driving the
+creatures toward the gate.
+
+At last they were almost there--that is, the main body. Kendrick noted,
+with sudden uneasiness, that there were stragglers. A gaily decorated
+old rooster, a fowl with a dissipated and immoral swagger and a knowing,
+devil-may-care tilt of the head, was sidling off to the left. Two or
+three young pullets were following the lead of this ancient pirate,
+evidently fascinated by his recklessness. The captain turned to head off
+the wanderers. They squawked and ran hither and thither. He succeeded in
+turning them back, but, at the moment of his success, heard triumphant
+cluckings at his rear. The rest of the flock had, while his attention
+was diverted by the rooster and his followers, galloped joyfully back to
+the garden again. Now, as Captain Sears gazed, the rooster and his
+satellites flew to join them. All hands--or, more literally, all
+feet--resumed excavating with the abandon of conscientious workers
+striving to make up lost time.
+
+And now Sears Kendrick did lose his temper. Probably at another time he
+might have laughed, but now he was tired, in pain, and in no mood to see
+the humorous side of the situation. He expressed his opinion of the hens
+and the rooster, using quarter deck idioms and withholding little. If
+the objects of his wrath were disturbed they did not show it. If they
+were shocked they hid their confusion in the newly turned earth of Judah
+Cahoon's squash bed.
+
+Whether they were shocked or not Sears did not stop to consider. He
+intended to shock them to the fullest extent of the word's meaning. At
+his feet was a stick, almost a log, part of the limb of a pear tree. He
+picked up this missile and hurled it at the marauders. It missed them
+but it struck in the squash bed and tore at least six of the delicate
+young squashlings from their moorings. Kendrick plunged after it--the
+hens separating as he advanced and rejoining at his rear--picked up the
+log and, turning, again hurled it.
+
+"There!" roared the captain, "take that, damn you!"
+
+One of the hens did "take it." So did some one else. The missile struck
+just beneath the fowl as she fled, lifted her and a peck or two of soil
+as well, and hurled the whole mass almost into the face of a person who,
+unseen until then, had advanced along the path from the gate and had
+arrived at that spot at that psychological instant. This person uttered
+a little scream, the hen fled with insane yells, the log and its
+accompanying shower fell back to earth, and Sears Kendrick and the young
+woman--for the newcomer was a young woman--stood and looked at each
+other.
+
+She was bareheaded and her hair was dark and abundant, and she was
+wearing a gingham dress and a white apron. So much he noticed at this,
+their first meeting. Afterward he became aware that she was slender and
+that her age might perhaps be twenty-four or twenty-five. At that
+moment, of course, he did not notice anything except that her apron and
+dress--yes, even her hair and face--were plentifully besprinkled with
+earth and that she was holding a hand to her eyes as if they, too, might
+have received a share of the results of the terrestrial disturbance.
+
+"Oh!" he stammered. "I'm awfully sorry! I--I hope I didn't hurt you."
+
+If she heard him she did not answer, but, removing her hand, opened and
+shut her eyes rapidly. The captain's alarm grew as he watched this
+proceeding.
+
+"I--I _do_ hope I didn't hurt you," he repeated. "It--it didn't put your
+eyes out, did it?"
+
+She smiled, although rather uncertainly. "No," she said.
+
+"You're sure?"
+
+"Yes." The smile became broader. "It's not quite as bad as that, I
+guess. I seem to be able to see all right."
+
+He drew a relieved breath. "Well, I'm thankful for so much, then," he
+announced. "But it's all over your dress--and--and in your hair--and....
+Oh, I _am_ sorry!"
+
+She laughed at this outburst. "It is all right," she declared. "Of
+course it was an accident, and I'm not hurt a bit, really."
+
+"I'm glad of that. Yes, it was an accident--your part of it, I mean. I
+didn't see you at all. I meant the part the hen got, though."
+
+Her laugh was over, but there was still a twinkle in her eye. Kendrick
+was, by this time, aware that her eyes were brown.
+
+"Yes," she observed, demurely, "I--gathered that you did."
+
+"Yes, I--" It suddenly occurred to him that his language had been as
+emphatic as his actions. "Good lord!" he exclaimed. "I forgot. I beg
+your pardon for that, too. When I lose my temper I am liable to--to make
+salt water remarks, I'm afraid. And those hens.... Eh? There they are
+again, hard at it! Will you excuse me while I kill three or four of 'em?
+You see, I'm in charge of that garden and.... _Get out!_"
+
+This last was, of course, another roar at the fowl, who, under the
+leadership of the rake-helly rooster, were scratching harder than ever
+in the beds. The captain reached for another missile, but his visitor
+stepped forward.
+
+"Please don't," she begged. "Please don't kill them."
+
+"Eh? Why not? They ought to be killed."
+
+"I know it, but I don't want them killed--yet, at any rate. You see,
+they are my hens."
+
+"Yours?" The captain straightened up and looked at her. "You don't mean
+it?" he exclaimed.
+
+"Yes, I do. They are mine, or my mother's, which is the same thing. I am
+dreadfully sorry they got in here. I'll have them out in just a minute.
+Oh, yes, I will, really."
+
+Kendrick regarded her doubtfully.
+
+"Well," he said, slowly, "I know it isn't polite to contradict a lady
+but if you'll tell me _how_ you are goin' to get 'em out without killin'
+'em, I'll be ever so much obliged. You can't drive 'em, I know that."
+
+"I shan't try. Just wait, I'll be right back."
+
+She hurried away, down the path and through the open gate. Captain Sears
+Kendrick looked after her. Behind and about him the Fair Harbor hens
+clucked and scratched blissfully.
+
+In very little more than the promised minute the young woman returned.
+She carried a round wooden receptacle--what Cape Codders used to call a
+"two quart measure"--and, as she approached, she shook it. Something
+within rattled. The hens, some of them, heard the rattle and ceased
+their digging.
+
+"Come, chick, chick! Come, biddy, biddy, biddy!" called the young woman,
+rattling the measure. More of the fowl gave up their labors, and looked
+and listened. Some even began to follow her. She dipped a hand into the
+measure, withdrew it filled with corn, and scattered a few grains in the
+path.
+
+"Come, biddy, biddy, biddy!" she said again.
+
+And the biddies came. Forgetting the possibilities of Judah Cahoon's
+garden, they rushed headlong upon the golden certainties of those yellow
+kernels. The young woman retreated along the path, scattering corn as
+she went, and after her scrambled and pecked and squawked the fowl. Even
+the sophisticated rooster yielded to temptation and was among the
+leaders in the rush. The corn bearer and the flock passed through the
+open gate, along the path beneath the Fair Harbor apple trees, out of
+sight around the bend. Sears Kendrick was left alone upon the battle
+ground, amid the dead and wounded young vegetables.
+
+But he was not left alone long. A few minutes later his visitor
+returned. She had evidently hurried, for there was a red spot on each of
+her cheeks and she was breathing quickly. She passed through the gate
+into the grounds of the General Minot place and closed that gate behind
+her.
+
+"There!" she said. "Now they are locked up in the hen yard. How in the
+world they ever got out of there I don't see. I suppose some one left
+the gate open. I--What were you going to say?"
+
+The captain had been about to confess that it was he who left the gate
+open, but he changed his mind. Apparently she had been on the point of
+saying something more. The confession could wait.
+
+"What was it?" asked the young woman.
+
+"Oh, nothin', nothin'."
+
+"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter much how they got out, as long as
+they did. But I am _very_ sorry they got into Mr. Cahoon's garden. I
+hope they haven't completely ruined it."
+
+They both turned to survey the battlefield. It was--like all
+battlefields after the strife is ended--a sad spectacle.
+
+"Oh, dear!" exclaimed the visitor. "I am afraid they have. What _will_
+Mr. Cahoon say?"
+
+The captain smiled slightly.
+
+"I hope you don't expect me to answer that," he observed.
+
+"Why?... Oh, I see! Well, I don't know that I should blame him much.
+Have--have they left anything?"
+
+"Oh, yes! Yes, indeed. There are a good many--er--sprouts left. And they
+dug up a lot of weeds besides. Judah ought to be thankful for the weeds,
+anyhow."
+
+"I am afraid he won't be, under the circumstances."
+
+"Maybe not, but there is one thing that, under the same circumstances,
+he _ought_ to be thankful for. That is, that you came when you did. You
+may not know it, but I had been tryin' to get those hens out of that
+garden for--for a year, I guess. It seems longer, but I presume likely
+it wasn't more than a year."
+
+She laughed again. "No," she said, "I guess it wasn't more than that."
+
+"Probably not. If it had been any longer, judgin' by the way they worked,
+they'd have dug out the underpinnin' and had the house down by this time.
+How did you happen to come? Did you hear the--er--broadsides?"
+
+"Why, no, I--But that reminds me. Have you seen a tramp around here?"
+
+"A tramp? What sort of a tramp?"
+
+"I don't know. Elvira--I mean Miss Snowden--said he was a tall, dark man
+and Aurora thought he was rather thick-set and sandy. But they both
+agree that he was a dreadful, rough-looking creature who carried a big
+club and had a queer slouchy walk. And he came in this direction, so
+they thought."
+
+"He did, eh? Humph! Odd I didn't see him. I've been here all the time.
+Where was he when they saw him first?"
+
+"Over on our property. In the Fair Harbor grounds, I mean. He came out
+of the bushes, so Elvira and Aurora say, and spoke to them. Insulted
+them, Elvira says."
+
+"Sho! Well, well! I wonder where he went."
+
+"I can't think. I supposed of course you must have seen him. It was only
+a little while ago, not more than an hour. Have you been here all that
+time?"
+
+"Yes, I've been here for the last two hours. What part of your grounds
+was it? Would you like to have me go over there and look around?"
+
+"No, thank you. You are very kind, but I am sure it won't be necessary.
+He has gone by now, of course."
+
+"I should be glad to try." Then, noticing her glance at his limp, he
+added: "Oh, I can navigate after a fashion, well enough for a short
+cruise like that. But it is funny that, if there was a tramp there such
+a little while ago, I didn't run afoul of him. Why, I was over there
+myself."
+
+"You were?"
+
+"Yes, you see, I----"
+
+He stopped short. He had been about to tell of his short walk and how he
+had inadvertently trespassed within the Fair Harbor boundaries. But
+before he could speak the words a sudden and amazing thought flashed
+upon him.
+
+"Eh?" he cried. "Why--why, I wonder----"
+
+His visitor was leaning forward. Judging by her expression, she, too,
+was experiencing a similar sensation of startled surmise.
+
+"Why----" repeated the captain.
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed the young woman.
+
+"You don't suppose----"
+
+"It couldn't possibly be that----"
+
+"Wait a minute, please. Just a minute." Sears held up his hand. "Where
+did those folks of yours see this tramp? Were they in a--in a kind of
+roundhouse--summer-house, you might call it?"
+
+"Why, yes. They were in the Eyrie."
+
+"That's it, the Eyrie. And is one of the--er--ladies rather tall and
+narrow in the beam, gray-haired, and speaks quick and--school-marmy?"
+
+"Yes. That is Miss Elvira Snowden."
+
+"Of course--Elvira. That's what the other one called her. And she--the
+other one--is short and broad and--and hard of hearin'?"
+
+"Yes. Her name is Aurora Chase. Is it possible that you----"
+
+"Just a second more. Has this short one got a--a queer sort of hair rig?
+Black as tar and with kind of--of wrinkles in it?"
+
+She smiled at this description. "Yes," she said. "Do you mean that _you_
+are----"
+
+"The tramp? I guess likely I am. I was over on your premises just a
+little while ago and met those two ladies."
+
+"But you can't be. They said he--the tramp--was a dreadful, rough man,
+with a club and--and----"
+
+"Here's the club." Captain Kendrick exhibited his cane. "And these lame
+legs of mine would account for that slouchy walk they told you about. I
+guess there isn't much doubt that I am the tramp. But I'm sorry if they
+thought I insulted 'em. I surely didn't mean to."
+
+He described the meeting by the Eyrie and repeated the dialogue as he
+remembered it.
+
+"So you see," he said, in conclusion, "that's all there is to it. I
+suppose that hint of mine about bein' tempted to run off with one of 'em
+is the nearest to an insult of any of it. Perhaps I shouldn't have said
+it, but--but it popped into my head and I couldn't hold it back. I
+didn't really mean it," he added solemnly. "I wouldn't have run off with
+one of 'em for the world."
+
+This, and the accompanying look, was too much. His visitor had been
+listening and trying to appear grave, although her eyes were twinkling.
+But now she burst out laughing.
+
+"Honest I wouldn't," reiterated Captain Sears. "And I'm sorry for that
+insult."
+
+"Absurd! You needn't be. If there was any insult it was the other way
+about. The idea of Elvira's suggesting that you came over there to
+steal. Well, we've settled the tramp, at any rate, and I apologize for
+the way you were treated, Mr.----"
+
+"Kendrick. My name is Kendrick."
+
+"Yes, Mr. Kendrick. And I am very sorry about the garden, too. Please
+tell Mr. Cahoon so, and tell him I think I can promise that the gate
+won't be left open again."
+
+"I'll tell him when he comes back. He'll be here pretty soon, I guess.
+He and I are old shipmates. He shipped cook aboard of me for a good many
+voyages."
+
+She was moving toward the path and the gate, but now she paused and
+turned to look at him. There was a new expression on her face, an
+expression of marked interest.
+
+"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Are you--are you Cap'n Sears Kendrick? The one who
+was--hurt?"
+
+"Wrecked in the train smash up? Yes, I'm the one. Look like a total
+wreck, don't I?"
+
+He laughed as he said it, but there was a taint of bitterness in the
+laugh. She did not laugh. Instead she took a step toward him and
+involuntarily put out her hand.
+
+"Oh, I'm _so_ sorry!" she said.
+
+"Eh? Oh, you needn't be. I'm gettin' along tip-top. Able to walk and
+ride and--er--chase hens. That's doin' pretty well for one day."
+
+"I know. But they were my--our--hens and they must have tired you so.
+Please forgive us. I won't," with a smile, "ask you to forgive them."
+
+"Oh, that's all right, that's all right, Miss--er----"
+
+"Berry. I am Elizabeth Berry. My mother is in charge here at the
+Harbor."
+
+"Harbor? Oh, yes, over yonder. Berry? Berry? The only Berry I remember
+around here was Cap'n Isaac Berry. Cap'n Ike, we young fellows used to
+call him. I went to sea with him once, my first voyage second mate."
+
+"Did you? He was my father. But there, I _must_ go. Good-by, Cap'n
+Kendrick. I hope you will get well very fast now."
+
+"Thanks. Good-bye. Oh, by the way, Miss Berry, what made you think I
+might be Sears Kendrick? There are half a dozen Kendricks around
+Bayport."
+
+"Yes, but--excuse me--there is only one Cap'n Sears Kendrick. You are
+one of Bayport's celebrities, Cap'n."
+
+"Humph! Notorieties, you mean. So all hands have been talkin' about me,
+eh? Humph! Well, I guessed as much."
+
+"Why, of course. You are one of our shining lights--sea lights, I mean.
+You must expect to be talked about."
+
+"I do--in Bayport, and I'll be talked about more in a day or two, I
+guess."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Eh? Oh, nothin', nothin'. I was thinkin' out loud, didn't realize I
+spoke. Good-by."
+
+"Good-by."
+
+The gate closed behind her. Kendrick sat down once more upon the bench
+beneath the locust tree.
+
+When Judah returned with the bucket of clams he found his guest and
+prospective boarder just where he had left him.
+
+"Well, by Henry, Cap'n Sears!" he exclaimed. "Still at the same old
+moorin's, eh? Been anchored right there ever since I sot sail?"
+
+"Not exactly, Judah. Pretty nearly, though."
+
+"Sho! Kind of dull music for you, I'm afraid. Whoa, you lop-sided
+hay-barge! Stand still till I give you orders to move, will ye! That's
+what I warned you, Cap'n Sears; not much goin' on around here. You'll be
+pretty lonesome, I guess likely."
+
+"Oh, I guess I can stand it, Judah. I haven't been lonesome so far."
+
+"Ain't, eh? That's good. Well, I got my clams; now I'll steer this horse
+into port and come back and get to work on that chowder. Oh, say, Cap'n
+Sears; I see Sary and told her you was cal'latin' to stay here for
+dinner."
+
+"Did you? Much obliged. What did she say?"
+
+"Say? She said a whole lot. Wanted to know how in time you got up here.
+'You didn't let him _walk_ all that great long ways, Judah Cahoon?' she
+says. 'I ain't altogether a fool, be I?' says I."
+
+Mr. Cahoon paused to search his pockets for a match.
+
+"What answer did she make to that?" asked the captain. Judah grinned.
+
+"Wa--ll," he drawled, "she said, 'Perhaps not--altogether.' 'Twan't
+much, but it was enough of the kind, as the feller said about the
+tobacco in the coffee pot. Oh, say, that reminds me, Cap'n Sears; there
+was somebody else talkin' about you. I--whoa, you camel, you! Creepin',
+crawlin', jumpin'---- Well, go ahead, then! I'll tell you the rest in
+half a shake, Cap'n. Git dap!"
+
+Horse, cart and driver jogged and jolted into the barn. After a brief
+interval Mr. Cahoon reappeared, carrying the clam bucket. They entered
+the kitchen together. Then the captain said:
+
+"Judah, you said some one beside Sarah was talkin' about me. Who was
+it?"
+
+"Hey? Oh, 'twas Emeline Tidditt, her that's keepin' house for Judge
+Knowles. She says the old judge is gettin' pretty feeble. Don't cal'late
+he'll last out much longer, Emeline don't. Says it's nothin' but just
+grit and hang-on that keeps him alive. He's a spunky old critter, Judge
+Knowles is, 'cordin' to folks's tell. Course I don't know him same as
+some, but I cal'late he's a good deal on the general build and lines of
+a man name of George Dingo that I run afoul of one time to a place
+called Semurny--over acrost. You know Semurny, don't ye, Cap'n? One of
+them Med'terranean port 'tis."
+
+"Smyrna, do you mean?"
+
+"Um-hm. That's it, Semurny. I was there aboard the _William Holcomb_,
+out of Philadelphy. We was loadin' with figs and truck like that. You
+remember the old _Holcomb_, don't you, Cap'n Sears? Sartin sure you do.
+Horncastle and Grant of Philadelphy they owned her. Old Horncastle was a
+queer man as ever I see. Had a cork leg. Got the real one shot off in
+the Mexican war or run over by a horse car, some said one and some said
+t'other. Anyhow he had a cork one spliced on in place of it, and--ho,
+ho! 'twas as funny a sight as ever I see--one time he fell off the wharf
+there in Philadelphy. Yes, sir, fell right into the dock, he did. And
+when they scrabbled down the ladder to haul him in there wasn't nothin'
+in sight but that cork leg, stickin' up out of water. The rest of him
+had gone under, but that cork leg hadn't--no, sire-ee! Haw, haw!
+Well ... er ... er.... What did I start to talk about, Cap'n Sears?"
+
+"I don't know, Judah. It was a good while ago. You began by sayin' that
+you met Judge Knowles's housekeeper."
+
+"Hey? Why, sure and sartin!" Mr. Cahoon slapped his leg. "Sartin sure,
+Cap'n Sears, that was it. And I said she and me got to talkin' about
+you. Well, well, well! I started right there and I fetched up way over
+in Semurny, along of George Dingo. Well, by Henry! Ain't that queer,
+now?"
+
+He rubbed his legs and shook his head, apparently overcome by the
+queerness of it. Kendrick, judging that another Mediterranean cruise was
+imminent, made a remark calculated to keep him at home.
+
+"What did this--what's-her-name--this Tidditt woman say about me?" he
+asked.
+
+"Hey? Oh, she said that Judge Knowles wanted to see you. Said that he
+asked about you 'most every day, wanted to know how you was gittin'
+along, because just as soon as you was well enough to cruise on your own
+hook he wanted you to come in and see him."
+
+"Judge Knowles wanted me to come in and see him? Why, that's funny! I
+don't know the judge well. Haven't seen him for years, and then only two
+or three times. What on earth can Judge Knowles have to say to me?....
+Humph! I can't think."
+
+He tried to think, nevertheless. Judah busied himself with the sloppy
+process of clam opening. A little later he observed:
+
+"So you wan't lonesome all alone here by yourself while I was gone,
+Cap'n? That's good. Glad to hear it."
+
+"Thanks, Judah. I wasn't alone, though."
+
+"You wan't? Sho! Do tell! Have company, did ye? Somebody run in?"
+
+"Yes. And they wouldn't run out again, not for a good while. They came
+on business."
+
+"Business? What kind of business?"
+
+"Well, I suppose you might call it gardening. They were interested in
+raisin' vegetables, I know that."
+
+Judah laid down the clam knife and regarded his former skipper. "Raisin'
+vegetables?" he repeated slowly. "What--? Look here Cap'n Sears, who was
+they? Where'd they come from?"
+
+"I believe they came from next door?"
+
+"Next door? From the Harbor?" He rose to his feet, suspicion dawning
+upon his face above the whiskers.
+
+"Yes, Judah."
+
+"Cap'n Sears, answer me right straight out. Have those dummed
+everlastin' Fair Harbor hens been in my garden again?"
+
+"Yes, Judah."
+
+"Have they--have they?----" Words failed him. He strode up the path to
+the garden. Then, after a moment's comprehensive gaze upon the scene of
+ruin, the words returned.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+Sears Kendrick's prophecy that Bayport would, within the next day or
+two, talk about him even more than it had before was a true one. As soon
+as it became known that he had left the Macomber home and was boarding
+and lodging with Judah Cahoon in the rear portion of the General Minot
+house every tongue in the village--tongues of animals and small children
+excepted--wagged his name. At the sewing-circle, at the Shakespeare
+Reading Society--convening that week at Mrs. Tabitha Crosby's--after
+Friday night prayer-meeting at the Orthodox meeting-house, in Eliphalet
+Bassett's store at mail times, in the sitting-rooms and kitchens and
+around breakfast, dinner and supper tables from West Bayport to East
+Bayport Neck and from Poverty Lane to Woodchuck's Misery--the principal
+topic was Captain Kendrick's surprising move.
+
+"Why?" that was the question.
+
+Various answers were offered, many reasons suggested, but none satisfied
+everybody.
+
+At the Shakespeare Society meeting, just before the reading aloud of
+"Cymbeline" began--"Cymbeline" carefully edited, censored and kalsomined
+by the selective committee, Mrs. Reverend David Dishup and Miss Tryphosa
+Taylor--the feelings of the genteel section of the community were
+expressed by no less a personage than Mrs. Captain Elkanah Wingate. Mrs.
+Wingate, speaking from the Mount Sinai of Bayport's aristocracy, made
+proclamation thus:
+
+"Why, if the man must leave his sister's and go somewhere else to live,
+_why_ in the world does he choose to go _there_? Aren't there good,
+respectable, genteel boarding-houses like--well, like yours, Naomi, for
+instance? _I_ should say so."
+
+Mrs. Naomi Newcomb, whose home sheltered a few "paying guests," smiled
+and shook her head. The shake indicated not a doubt of Mrs. Wingate's
+judgment, but complete loss as to Sears Kendrick's reasons for behaving
+as he had. Other members shook their heads also. Mary-Pashy Foster, who
+had spent a winter in France when her husband was ill with the small-pox
+at Havre, shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"And," continued Mrs. Captain Wingate, "when you consider the place he
+has gone to and the person he has gone with! Good heavens, _I_ say! Good
+heavens!"
+
+More words and exclamations of approval. Several others declared that
+they said so, too.
+
+"Gone to live," went on Mrs. Wingate, "not in the General Minot house
+proper--there might be some explanation for _that_, perhaps--but they
+tell me that this Judah Cahoon only uses the back part of the house and
+that Cap'n Kendrick has got a room just off the kitchen or thereabouts."
+
+"And Judah himself!" broke in Miss Taylor. "He is as rough and common
+as--as--I don't know what. How a man like Cap'n Kendrick can lower
+himself--debase himself to such a person's level I _do_ not see. You
+would as soon expect a needle to go through a camel's eye, as the saying
+is."
+
+There was a slight interval of embarrassment after this outburst. The
+majority of those present realized that the speaker had gotten her
+proverb twisted, but, she being Miss Tryphosa Taylor, no one felt like
+venturing to set her right. Mrs. Captain Godfrey Peasley relieved the
+situation; she had a habit of relieving situations--when she did not
+make them tenser. She had gotten into the Shakespeare Reading Society
+purely by persistence and the possession of adamantine self-confidence.
+From that shot-proof exterior snubs, hints and reproofs glanced like
+blown peas from the hull of a battleship. "Heaven knows," confided Mrs.
+Captain Wingate to Miss Taylor and the Reverend Mrs. Dishup, "why Amelia
+Peasley ever wanted to join the Society. She doesn't know whether
+Shakespeare is a man or a disease." Which may or not have been true,
+the fact remaining that Mrs. Peasley _had_ wanted to join the Society
+and--joined.
+
+Now, while others hesitated, following Miss Tryphosa's little blunder,
+she spoke.
+
+"I think," she declared, with conviction, "that Sears Kendrick ought to
+be ashamed of himself. _I_ think such actions are degradatin'--yes,
+indeed, right down degradatin'."
+
+After that, further comments upon the captain's conduct would have
+seemed like anti-climaxes. Therefore the Society proceeded to read
+"Cymbeline." Mrs. Peasley had something to say about "Cymbeline," also.
+
+Captain Sears himself merely grinned when told of the sensation his
+conduct was causing.
+
+"All right," he said, "let 'em talk. If they aren't talkin' about me
+they will be about somebody else."
+
+Judah, to whom this remark was made, snorted.
+
+"Humph!" he growled. "They _be_ talkin' about somebody else. Don't you
+make no mistake about that, Cap'n Sears."
+
+"That so, Judah? Who's the other lucky man?"
+
+"Me. Jumpin', creepin'---- Why, some of them womenfolks seem to cal'late
+I lammed you over the head with a marlinspike and then towed you up here
+by main strength; seems if they did, by Henry! And some of the men ain't
+a whole lot better. Makes me madder'n a sore nose. I was down to the
+store--down to 'Liphalet's--and there was a crew of ha'f a dozen there
+and they all wanted to know how you was gittin' along.
+
+"'Well, he ain't dead yit,' says I. 'He was lively enough when I left
+him. I ain't come to buy no spade to bury him with.'
+
+"You'd think that would satisfy 'em, wouldn't ye? Well, it didn't! Cap'n
+Noah Baker was there and he wanted to know this, and that little runt of
+a Thad Black he wanted to know that--and kept on wantin'. And that
+brother-in-law of yours, Cap'n Sears, that Joel Macomber, I declare to
+man if he wan't the wust of all. You'd think _he_ ought to keep quiet
+about your doin's, wouldn't ye, now? But he didn't. 'Don't ask me,
+boys,' he says. 'I don't know why Sears quit my house and went to
+Judah's. We manage to bear up without him somehow,' says he, winkin' to
+the gang, 'but if you ask me his _reasons_ for goin' _I_ can't tell ye.
+I presume likely Judah can, though,' he says. 'Well, I can see _one_
+reason plain enough,' says I, lookin' right at him."
+
+Kendrick burst out laughing. "Did he get the idea, Judah?" he inquired.
+
+"Him? Nary a bit. Wanted me to tell him what the reason was. Limpin',
+creepin' prophets! What did a woman like Sary ever marry him for,
+anyway, Cap'n? Not that it's any of my business, you understand."
+
+"I understand. Well, it wasn't any of mine either, Judah."
+
+"No, I presume likely not. But that George Kent, he's a nice young
+feller, ain't he, Cap'n?"
+
+"Seems to be," replied Kendrick.
+
+"Um--hm. Come up to me, after the gang had quit havin' their good time,
+and shook hands nice and chummy and wanted to know how you was. 'Tell
+the cap'n I'm goin' to come in and see him some day,' he says, 'if you
+and he want callers.' 'Good land, yes,' says I, 'course we do. Don't
+stop to call, come right along in.' He's a nice boy that young Kent....
+But--but some of these days I'm goin' to _hit_ that Thad Black--hit him
+with somethin' soft like--like an anvil. If that critter fell overboard
+I wouldn't heave him no life-preserver. No, sir, by Henry, I'd heave him
+the sheet anchor. The longer he hung on to that the better 'twould suit
+_me_."
+
+To his sister only did Sears give his reasons for leaving her home. With
+her he was perfectly frank.
+
+"You know why I'm doin' this, Sarah," he said. "Now don't you--honest?"
+
+Mrs. Macomber hesitated. "Why, Sears," she faltered reluctantly, "I--I
+suppose I can guess why you _think_ you're doin' it. But that doesn't
+make it right for you to do it, really."
+
+"Oh, yes, it does. Be sensible, Sarah. Here are you with six children to
+support and work for, not to mention one boarder and--a husband. The
+house is crowded, aloft and alow. There isn't a bit of room for me."
+
+"Now, Sears, how can you talk so? You've _had_ room here, haven't you?"
+
+"Yes, I've had it, plenty of it. But how much room have the rest of you
+had?"
+
+"Why--why, we've had enough. Nobody's complained that I know of."
+
+"Good reason why. You wouldn't let 'em, Sarah. And of course you never
+would complain yourself. But that is only part of it. The real thing is
+that I will not live on you."
+
+"But you pay board."
+
+"Stuff and nonsense! How much do I pay in comparison with what it costs
+to keep me?"
+
+"You pay me all you can afford, I'm sure; and I rather guess, from what
+you said about your money affairs the other day, that you pay me more
+than you ought to afford. And I don't believe you're goin' to pay that
+Judah Cahoon any high board for livin' in that old rats' nest of his. If
+you are I shall begin to believe you've gone crazy."
+
+Her brother laughed. "I don't mind payin' Judah little or nothin',
+Sarah," he declared. "What I get will be worth it, probably, and besides
+he's a strong, healthy man. Then, too--well, I shouldn't say it to any
+one but you, but there is a little obligation on his side and that keeps
+me from feelin' like too much of a barnacle.... But there, what is the
+use of our threshin' this all over again? As I said in the beginnin',
+Sarah, you know why I'm doin' it perfectly well."
+
+Mrs. Macomber sighed.
+
+"I suppose I do," she admitted. "It's because you are Sears Kendrick and
+as independent and--and proud as--as your own self."
+
+So the move was made and Captain Sears Kendrick's sea chest and its
+owner moved into Judah Cahoon's spare stateroom at the General Minot's
+place. And Bayport talked and talked more and more and then less and
+less until at the end of the captain's first week in his new quarters
+the move had become old news and people ceased to be interested in it, a
+state of affairs which pleased Mr. Cahoon immensely.
+
+"There, by Henry!" he declared, on his return from what he called a
+"cruise down the road along." "I honestly do believe you and me has got
+so we can bat our weather eye without all hands and the ship's cat
+tryin' to see us do it. I met no less than seven folks while I was down
+along just now and only two of 'em hailed to ask how you liked bein'
+aboard here, Cap'n Sears. Yes, sir, by creepin', only two of 'em; the
+rest never said a word. What do you think of that? Some considerable
+change, I call it."
+
+So being forgotten by the majority of Bayporters--which was what he
+desired to be--the captain settled down to live, or exist, and to wait.
+Just what he was waiting for he would have found hard to tell. Of course
+he told his sister when she came to see him, which was at least once
+every other day, that he was waiting for his legs to get whole and
+strong again, and then he should, of course, go to sea. He told Doctor
+Sheldon much the same thing, and the doctor said, "Why, of course, Cap'n
+Kendrick. We'll have you on your own quarter deck again one of these
+days." He said it with heartiness and apparent sincerity, but Sears was
+skeptical. After the doctor's visits he was likely to be blue and
+dejected for a time, and Judah noticed this fact but attributed it to
+quite a different cause.
+
+"It's high time that doctor swab quit comin' here to see you," declared
+Judah. "Runnin' in here and lettin' go anchor and settin' round and
+sayin', 'Well, how goes it to-day?' and 'Nice spell of weather we're
+havin',' and the like of that, and then goin' home and chalkin' up
+another dollar on the bill. No sense to it, I say. No wonder you look
+glum, Cap'n Sears. Makes _me_ glum, and 'tain't _my_ money that's bein'
+talked out of me, nuther. Hear what he said just now? 'I must go,' he
+says. 'And what did you say? Why, you said, 'Don't hurry, Doctor. What
+do you want to go for?' All I could do to keep from bustin' out in a
+laugh. _I_ know what you was sayin' to yourself, you see. 'Stead of
+sayin', 'What do you want to go for?' you was thinkin', 'What in blue
+blazes do you want to _come_ for?' Haw, haw! That was it, wan't it,
+Cap'n?"
+
+"Why, no, Judah. I'm always glad to see the doctor."
+
+"Ye--es, you be!" with sarcasm. "Glad to see his back. Well, no use,
+Cap'n, I've got to think up some notion to keep him from comin' here.
+How would it do to run up a signal 'Small-pox aboard,' or somethin' like
+that? Think that would keep him off?... No, he's a doctor, ain't he? All
+he'd read out of that set of flags would be, 'More dollars. Come on in.'
+Haw, haw! Well, I got to think up some way."
+
+Judah's chatter kept his lodger from being too lonely. Mr. Cahoon talked
+about everybody and everything, and when he was not talking he was
+singing. He sang when he turned out in the morning to get breakfast, he
+sang when he turned in at bedtime. He sang while working in the garden
+repairing the damages done by the Fair Harbor hens. His repertoire was
+extensive, embracing not only every conceivable variety of chantey and
+sea song, but also an assortment of romantic ballads, running from "The
+Blue Juniata," in which:
+
+    "Wild rowed an Indian girl,
+    Bright Al-fa-ra-ta,"
+
+to the ancient ditty of twenty-odd verses describing how
+
+    "There was a rich merchant in London did dwell,
+    He had for his daughter a very fine gel,
+    Her name it was Dinah, just sixteen years old,
+    With a very large fortune in silver and gold.
+
+    "Singing Too-ral-i-ooral-i-ooral-i-ay,
+    Singing Too-ral-i-ooral-i-ooral-i-ay,"
+
+and continuing to sing "Too-ral-i-ooral-i-ooral-i-ay" four times after
+each of the twenty-odd verses to the tragical finish of Dinah and the
+ballad.
+
+As some men take to drink upon almost any or no excuse, so Judah Cahoon
+took to song. And if the effect upon him was not as unsteadying as an
+over indulgence in alcohol, that upon his hearers was at times upsetting
+and disastrous. For example, upon the occasion when Captain Sears again
+encountered his acquaintances of the Fair Harbor summer-house, Mr.
+Cahoon's singing completely wrecked what might possibly have been a
+meeting tending to raise the captain in the estimation of those ladies.
+
+Sears happened to be taking what he liked to call his exercise. Judah
+called it "pacin' decks." He was hobbling back and forth along the path
+leading to the gate opening upon the Fair Harbor grounds. His landlord
+was at work in the garden. The captain had limped as far as the gate and
+was about to turn and limp back again when, behold, along the path
+beyond that gate appeared two feminine figures strolling with what might
+be called careful carelessness, looking up, down and on every side
+except that upon which stood Captain Sears Kendrick. And the captain
+recognized the pair, the one tall, slim, slender--unusually slim and
+remarkably slender--the other short and plump--very decidedly plump--as
+the ladies with whom he had held brief but spirited discourse the
+fortnight before, the ladies who had peered forth at him from the
+vine-draped window of the Eyrie--in short, for Miss Elvira Snowden and
+Mrs. Aurora Chase.
+
+The pair came scrolling along the path. They were almost at the gate
+when Miss Snowden looked up--she would have said she happened to look
+up--and saw the captain standing there. She was embarrassed and
+surprised--any one might have noticed the surprise and embarrassment.
+She started, gasped and uttered a little exclamation. Mrs. Chase, taking
+her affliction into account, could not possibly have heard the
+exclamation, but no doubt there was a telepathic quality in it, for
+she, too, started, looked up and was surprised and embarrassed.
+
+"Why--why, oh, dear!" faltered Miss Snowden.
+
+"Why! My soul and body!" exclaimed Mrs. Chase.
+
+Captain Sears raised his hat. "Good mornin'," he said politely.
+
+The ladies looked at each other. Then Miss Elvira, evidently the born
+leader, inclined her head ever so little and said, "Good morning." Mrs.
+Aurora looked up at her in order to see what she said.
+
+Captain Sears tried again.
+
+"It's a nice day for a walk," he observed.
+
+Miss Elvira nodded and agreed, distantly--yet not too distant.
+
+"I understand," said the captain, "that I gave you ladies a little bit
+of a scare the other day. Understand you thought I was a tramp. I'm real
+sorry. Of course I know I hadn't any business over on your premises,
+but, as a matter of fact, I didn't exactly realize where I was. It was
+the first cruise I'd made in these latitudes, as you might say, and I
+didn't think about keepin' on my own side of the channel buoys. I beg
+your pardon. I'll hope you'll excuse me."
+
+Miss Snowden nodded elegantly and murmured that she understood.
+
+"You are our new neighbor, I believe," she said.
+
+"Why, yes'm, I suppose I am."
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick, isn't it?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I hope, Cap'n Kendrick, that you won't think there was
+any--ah--anything personal in our mistaking you for a tramp the other
+day. Of course there wasn't. Oh, dear, no!"
+
+The captain hesitated. He was wondering just what answer he was supposed
+to make to this speech. Did the lady wish him to infer that it was the
+Fair Harbor custom to consider all male strangers tramps until they were
+proven innocent? Or--but Mrs. Chase saved him the trouble of reply.
+
+"Elviry," she demanded, "what are you and him whisperin' about? Why
+don't you talk so's a body can hear you? He's Cap'n Kendrick, ain't he?
+Have you told him who we be, same as you said you was goin' to?"
+
+Miss Snowden, after looking at the rotund Aurora as if she would like to
+bite her, smiled instead and began a rather tangled explanation to the
+effect that she and Mrs. Chase had felt that perhaps they had been
+a--ah--they might have seemed "kind of hasty--you know, Cap'n Kendrick,
+in what--in speaking as we did that time, and so--and so I told her if
+we ever _did_ meet you--if we ever _should_, you know---- But
+we haven't really met yet, have we? Shall we introduce ourselves? I
+don't see why not; neighbors, you know. Cap'n Kendrick, this is Mrs.
+Aurora Chase, widow of the late Cap'n Ichabod Chase. No doubt, you knew
+Cap'n Chase in the old days, Cap'n Kendrick."
+
+And then Aurora, who had been listening with all her ears, and hearing
+with perhaps a third of them, broke in to say that her husband was not a
+captain. "He was second mate when he died," she explained. "Aboard the
+bark _Charles Francis_ he was, bound for New Bedford from the West
+Indies with a load of guano."
+
+Miss Snowden, favoring the veracious Aurora with another look, hastily
+introduced herself and began to speak of the beauties of the day, of the
+surroundings, and particularly of the select and refined joys of life at
+the Fair Harbor.
+
+"We have our little circle there," she said. "We live our lives, quiet,
+retired, away from the world----"
+
+Mrs. Chase broke in once more to ask what she was talking about. When
+the substance of the Snowden rhapsody was given her, she nodded--as well
+as her several chins would permit her to nod--and announced that she
+agreed.
+
+"We like livin' at the home first-rate," she declared. Elvira flushed.
+
+"It is _not_ a home," she said, sharply. "It is a select retreat, that
+is all. It is not a home in _any_ sense of the word. Every one knows
+that it is not. Aurora, I wish to goodness you---- But of course Cap'n
+Kendrick doesn't want to hear about us all the time. He is interested in
+his own new quarters. Do you like it here, Cap'n Kendrick?
+I--ah--understand you are, so to speak, a guest of Mr. Cahoon's. He
+is--ah--a relation of yours?"
+
+Sears explained the acquaintanceship between Judah and himself. Miss
+Snowden nodded comprehension.
+
+"That explains it," she said. "I thought he could hardly be a relation
+of _yours_, Cap'n Kendrick. He is--he is a little bit queer, isn't he? I
+mean eccentric, you know. Of course I've never met him, and I'm sure
+he's real good-hearted, but----"
+
+She paused, leaving the rest of the sentence to be inferred. Captain
+Sear's answer was prompt and crisp.
+
+"Judah Cahoon is one of the best fellows that ever lived," he said.
+
+"Yes, I know. I am sure he is. I didn't mean that. I meant is he--is
+he----"
+
+And then Judah himself, at work in the garden behind the screen of
+bushes, too busy to hear or even be aware of the conversation at the
+gate, chose this untoward moment to burst into song, to sing at the top
+of his voice, and the top of Judah's voice was an elevation from which
+sound traveled far. He sang:
+
+    "Oh, Sally Brown was a bright mulatter,
+      Way, oh, roll and go!
+    She drinks rum and chews terbacker,
+      Spend my money on Sally Brown.
+        Whee--_yip_!"
+
+Miss Elvira's thin figure stiffened to an exclamation point of
+disapproval. Captain Kendrick turned uneasily in the direction of the
+singer. Mrs. Chase, aware that something was going on and not wishing to
+miss it, cupped her ear with her hand. And Judah began the second
+verse.
+
+    "Oh, Sally Brown, I'll surely miss you,
+      Way, oh, roll and go!
+    How I'd love to hug and kiss you!
+      Spend my money on Sally Brown.
+        Whee--_yip_!"
+
+"Judah!" roared the captain, who was suffering acute apprehension.
+"Judah!"
+
+"Oh, Sally Brown----"
+
+"_Judah!"_
+
+"Eh? What is it, Cap'n Sears?"
+
+"Shut up."
+
+"Eh! Shut up what? What's open?"
+
+"Stop that noise."
+
+"What noise?"
+
+"That noise of yours. That singin'."
+
+"Eh? Oh, all right, sir. Aye, aye, Cap'n, just as you say."
+
+Captain Sears, relieved, turned again to his visitors. But the visitors
+were rapidly retreating along the path, the lines of Miss Elvira's back
+indicating disgust and outraged gentility. Mrs. Chase, however, looked
+back. Obviously she still did not know what it was all about.
+
+Sears, although he chuckled a good deal over the affair, was a trifle
+annoyed, nevertheless. It was a good joke, of course, and he certainly
+cared little for the approval or disapproval of Miss Elvira Snowden. But
+when he considered what the prim spinster's version of the happening was
+likely to be and the reputation her story was sure to confer, inside the
+Fair Harbor fences at least, upon him and his household companion, he
+was tempted to wish that that companion's musical talent had been hidden
+under a napkin, or, better still, a feather bed. He--Kendrick--was to
+live, for a time indefinite, next door to the Fair Harborites, and it is
+always pleasant to be on good terms with one's neighbors. True, those
+neighbors might be, the majority of them, what Mr. Cahoon called
+them--which was whatever term of approbrium he happened to think of at
+the moment, "pack of old hens" being the mildest--but the captain knew
+that one, at least, was not an "old hen." "That Berry girl," which was
+his way of thinking of her, was attractive and kind and a lady. They had
+met but once, it is true, but she had made a most favorable impression
+upon him. He had caught glimpses of her on two occasions, in the Fair
+Harbor grounds, and once she had waved a greeting. She was a nice girl,
+he was sure of it. If she thought at all of the cripple next door he
+would like her to think of him in a kindly way, as a decent sort of
+hulk, so to speak. It was provoking to feel that she would next hear of
+him as a dissipated ruffian, friend and defender of another ruffian who
+howled ribald songs in the presence--or at least in the hearing--of
+ladies.
+
+He questioned Judah concerning the Fair Harbor, its founder and the
+dwellers within its gates. Judah told him what he knew of the story,
+which was very little more than the captain already knew, his knowledge
+gained from his sister's letters. Captain Sylvanus Seymour had had but
+one child, his daughter Lobelia. At his death she, of course, inherited
+all his property. According to Bayport gossip, as reported by Mr.
+Cahoon, the old man had died worth anywhere from one half a million to
+three or five millions. "Richer'n dock mud, I cal'late he was," declared
+Judah. "Made a lot of money out of his Boston shippin' business and a
+lot more out of stocks and city real estate and one thing or 'nother."
+For years after Captain Sylvanus died Lobelia lived alone in the big
+house. Then she had married. Judah could tell little about the man she
+married.
+
+"He was a music teacher that come to town here one winter, that's about
+all I can swear to," said Judah. "Down here for his health, so he said,
+and taught singin' school while he was gittin' healthy. His last name
+was Phillips, which is all right, but he had the craziest fust name ever
+_I_ heard. Egbert 'twas. Hoppin', creepin' Henry! Did you ever _hear_
+such a name? _Egbert!_ Jumpin' prophets! Boys round town, they tell me,
+used to call him 'Eg' behind his back. Some of 'em, them that didn't
+like him, called him 'Soft biled.' Haw, haw! See what they meant, don't
+you, Cap'n Sears? Egbert, you know, that's 'Eg' for short, and then
+'Soft biled' meanin' a soft biled egg.... Hey? Yes, I cal'lated you'd
+see it, you're pretty sharp at a joke, Cap'n, but there _has_ been them
+I've told that to that never.... Hey? Aye, aye, sir, I was just goin' to
+tell the rest of it."
+
+According to Judah's report, which was a second or third hand report of
+course, Egbert Phillips had not been too popular among the males in
+Bayport. But with the females--ah, there it was different.
+
+"He was one of them kind, they tell me," said Judah. "One of them
+smooth, slick, buttery kind of fellers that draws womenfolks same as
+molasses draws flies. Hailed from Philadelphy he did. I used to know a
+good many Philadelphy folks myself once. Why, one time----"
+
+The captain broke in to head off the Philadelphia reminiscence. Brought
+back to Bayport and Egbert and Lobelia, Judah went on to tell what more
+he knew of the Fair Harbor beginnings. Sears gathered that after the
+marriage Egbert who, it seemed, was not in love with the Cape as a place
+of residence, would have liked his wife to sell the old house and move
+away. But there was a clause in the will of Captain Sylvanus which
+prevented this. Under that will the property could not be sold while his
+daughter lived. It was then that Lobelia was seized with her great idea.
+She, a mariner's daughter, had--until the Providential appearance of the
+peerless Egbert--faced a lonely old age. But she had at least a
+comfortable home. There were so many women--sea-captains' widows and
+sisters--who faced their lonely future without a home. Why not turn the
+Seymour property into a home for them--a limited number of them?
+
+"So she done it," said Judah. "And that's how the Fair Harbor got off
+the ways."
+
+"But you called it a home," objected Captain Sears. "The other day that
+Snowden woman, the thin one, gave the other, the stout one--what's her
+name?--Northern lights--Aurora, that's it--she gave Aurora fits for
+speakin' of the place as a home. She declared it wasn't a home."
+
+Mr. Caboon chuckled. "Did, eh?" he observed. "Well, you might call a
+mackerel gull a canary bird, I presume likely, but 'twouldn't make the
+thing sing no better. That Elviry critter likes to make believe she's
+the Queen of Sheby. _She_ wouldn't live in no home--no sir-ee! 'Cordin'
+to her the Fair Harbor ain't a home because they only take six or eight
+passengers, or visitors, or patients, or jailbirds--whatever you might
+to call 'em, and it costs four hundred dollars to pay your way in and a
+hundred a year to keep you there. So 'tain't a home, you see. It's a--a
+genteel henhouse, I'd say. That Elviry Snowden she----"
+
+Then the captain asked the question to which he had been leading since
+the beginning.
+
+"That Berry girl's mother runs the place, doesn't she?" he asked.
+
+Judah snorted. "Yeah," he drawled, "she runs it about the way the
+skipper's poll parrot runs the vessel. The poll parrot talks a barrel a
+minute and the skipper goes right along navigatin'. That's about the way
+'tis over yonder," with a jerk of the head in the general direction of
+the Fair Harbor.
+
+His lodger was a trifle surprised.
+
+"Why, I understood Mrs. Berry--Cap'n Isaac Berry's widow--was manager
+there," he said.
+
+"Um-hm. So she is, the poll parrot manager. But it's that girl of hers,
+that 'Lizabeth Berry, that really handles the ropes. There's a capable
+little craft, if you want to know," declared Judah, with emphasis.
+
+He whittled a pipe full of tobacco from the mutilated remnant of a plug,
+and continued to expatiate on the capabilities of Miss Berry. According
+to him whatever was as it should be within the Fair Harbor boundaries
+was due to the young woman's efforts, not to those of her mother.
+
+"It's kind of queer, ain't it, Cap'n Sears," he observed, "how things
+average up sometimes. Seems if whoever 'tis works out the course up
+aloft sort of fixed 'em that way."
+
+"What's that got to do with the Berrys?"
+
+"Cause it worked that way with them. _You_ knew Cap'n Ike Berry, Cap'n
+Sears. Sharp, shrewd, able and all that, but rough and hard as the
+broadside of a white-oak plank. Well, he married a woman from down in
+the Carolinas somewhere. Her folks was well-off and she was brought up
+in cotton wool, as you might say. They wouldn't have nothin' to do with
+her after she married Cap'n Ike. He fell in love with her and carried
+her off by main strength, as you might say. She'd been treated like a
+plaything afore he got her and he treated her that way till he died. She
+is soft-spoken, and kind of good-lookin', and polite and all that--but
+about as much practical use for bossin' a place like the Fair Harbor as
+a--well as a paper umbrella would be in a no'theaster. But 'Lizabeth
+now, she's different. She's got her mother's good looks and nice manners
+and--and kind of genteelness, you understand, and with 'em she's got her
+dad's sense and capableness. She's all right, that girl. Don't you think
+so, Cap'n Sears?"
+
+The captain nodded.
+
+"I never met her but that once, Judah," he replied. "She was all right
+then, surely."
+
+"I bet you! She's all right most of the time, I guess.... That young
+George Kent, he thinks so, they tell me."
+
+"Oh ... does he?"
+
+"Um-hm! He's cruisin' up to the Fair Harbor 'bout every once or twice a
+week, 'cordin' to tell. If it ain't to see 'Lizabeth I don't know what
+'tis. It might be Queen Elviry he's after, but I have my doubts.... Oh,
+say, Cap'n, speakin' of the Harbor reminds me of Judge Knowles. You
+ain't been in to see him yet, same as he wanted you to."
+
+"That's so, Judah, I haven't. I must pretty soon, I suppose. I can't
+think what the old judge wants to see me for. But why did talkin' of the
+Fair Harbor and the rest of it make you think of Judge Knowles?"
+
+"Hey? Oh, 'cause the judge is kind of commodore of the fleet there,
+looks after the money matters for 'em, I understand. He's Lobelia's
+lawyer, same as he was old Cap'n Sylvanus's afore he died.... I declare
+I can't guess what he wants to see you for, Cap'n Sears. Do you
+s'pose----"
+
+Judah proceeded to suppose several things, each supposition more
+far-fetched and improbable than its predecessor. Sears paid little
+attention to them. He again expressed his intention of calling upon the
+judge before long and changed the subject.
+
+The next day it rained and he did not go and the following day he did
+not feel like going. On the day after that, however, further
+procrastination was rendered impossible. Mrs. Tidditt, the judge's
+housekeeper, visited the General Minot place with another message from
+her employer. Emmeline was gray-haired, brisk and, as Judah expressed
+it, "straight up and down," both in figure and manner of speaking.
+
+"Good mornin', Cap'n Kendrick," she said. "Judge Knowles wants to know
+if 'twill be convenient for you to come over and see him this afternoon?
+Says if 'tis he'll send Mike and the hoss-'n'-buggy around for you at
+two o'clock."
+
+The captain's guilty conscience made him a trifle embarrassed.
+"Why--why, yes, certainly," he stammered. "I---- Well, I'm ashamed of
+myself for not goin' over there sooner. Beg Judge Knowles's pardon for
+me, will you, and tell him I'll be on hand at two sharp. And tell him
+not to bother to send the horse and team. I'll get there all right."
+
+Mrs. Tidditt sniffed. "I'll tell him the first part," she said. "And
+Mike'll have the hoss-'n'-buggy here at ten minutes of. Judah Cahoon,
+why in the land of Canaan don't you scrub up that back piazza floor once
+in a while? It's dirty as a fish shanty."
+
+Judah's back fin rose. "Say, who's keepin' house aboard here, anyway?"
+he demanded. Mrs. Tidditt sniffed again. "Nobody, by the looks," she
+said, and departed in triumph.
+
+At two the Knowles horse and buggy drove into the yard. It was piloted
+by Mike Callahan, an ancient, much bewhiskered Irishman who had been
+employed by the judge almost as long as had Mrs. Tidditt. He and Judah
+assisted Sears into the vehicle and the captain started upon his cruise,
+which was a very short one, the Knowles establishment being but a few
+hundred yards from the Minot place. On the way he inquired concerning
+the judge's health. Mike shook his head.
+
+"Bad," he grunted. "It's close _to_, the ould judge is."
+
+"Oh, I'm sorry."
+
+"Sure ye are. So are we all. He is a fine man, none better--barrin' he's
+a grand ould curmudgeon. Here ye are, Cap'n. Git up till I lift ye
+down."
+
+Judge Knowles's house--Sears Kendrick had never been in it before--was a
+big square mansion built in the '50's. There was the usual front door
+leading to a dark front hall from which, to right and left respectively,
+opened parlor and sitting rooms. Emmeline ushered the visitor into the
+latter apartment. It was high studded, furnished in black walnut and
+haircloth, a pair of tall walnut cases filled with books against one
+wall, on the opposite wall a libellous oil portrait of the judge's wife,
+who died twenty years before, and a pair of steel engravings depicting
+"Sperm Whale Fishing in the Arctic"; No. 1, portraying "The Chase," No.
+2, "the Capture." Beneath these stood a marble-topped table upon which
+were neatly piled four gigantic volumes, bound copies of Harper's
+Weekly, 1861 to '65, the Civil War period.
+
+At the end of the room, where two French windows opened--that is, could
+have opened, they never were--upon the narrow, iron-railed veranda, sat
+Judge Marcus Aurelious Knowles, in an old-fashioned walnut armchair, his
+feet upon a walnut and haircloth footstool--Bayport folk in those days
+called such stools "crickets"--a knitted Afghan thrown over his legs and
+a pillow beneath his head. And in that dark, shadowy room, its curtains
+drawn rather low, so white was the judge's hair and his face that, to
+Sears Kendrick, just in from the light out of doors, it was at first
+hard to distinguish where the pillow left off and the head began.
+
+But the head on the pillow stirred and the judge spoke.
+
+"Ah--good afternoon, Kendrick," he said. "Glad to see you.... Humph.
+Can't see much of you, can I? Here, Emmeline, put those shades up, will
+you?"
+
+The housekeeper moved toward the windows, but she protested as she
+moved.
+
+"Now, Judge," she said, "I don't believe you want them winder curtains
+strung way up, do you? I hauled 'em down purpose so's the sun wouldn't
+get in your eyes."
+
+"Um--yes. Well, you haul 'em up again. And don't you haul 'em down till
+I'm dead. You'll do it then, I know, and I don't want to attend my
+funeral ahead of time."
+
+Mrs. Tidditt gasped.
+
+"Oh, Judge Knowles, how _can_ you talk so!" she wailed.
+
+"I intend to talk as I choose--while I can talk at all.... There, there,
+woman, that's enough. Put the blasted things up.... Umph! That's better.
+Sit down, Cap'n, sit down. I want to look at you."
+
+The captain took one of the walnut and haircloth chairs. The judge
+looked at him and he looked at the judge. He remembered the latter as a
+tall, broad-shouldered figure, with a ruddy face, black hair slightly
+sprinkled with gray, and a nose and eye like an eagle's. The man in the
+armchair was thin and shrunken, the face was deeply lined, and face and
+hands and hair were snow white. The nose was, however, more eagle-like
+than ever, and the eyes beneath the rough white brows had the old flash.
+
+Sears waited an instant for him to speak, but he did not. So the captain
+did.
+
+"I beg your pardon, Judge," he began, "for not comin' over here sooner.
+I got your message----"
+
+Knowles interrupted. "Oh, you got it, did you?" he said. "Humph! I told
+Emmeline to get word to you and she said---- Oh, well, never mind that.
+Can't waste time. I haven't got any too much of it, or strength either.
+Sorry to hear about your accident, Cap'n. Doctor Sheldon says you had a
+close call of it. How are the legs?"
+
+"Oh, I can navigate with 'em after a fashion, but not far. How are you,
+Judge? Gettin' better fast, I hope."
+
+The head on the pillow gave an impatient jerk. "Your hope is lost then.
+Don't waste time talking about me. I'm going to die and I know it--and
+before long.... There, there," as his caller uttered a protest, "don't
+bother to pretend, Kendrick. We aren't children, either of us, although
+you're a good many years younger than I am; but we're both too old to
+make-believe. I'm almost through. Well, it's all right. I've lived past
+my three score and ten and I'm alone in the world and ought not to mind
+leaving it, I suppose. I don't much. It's an interesting place and there
+are two or three matters I should like to straighten up before....
+Humph! I'm the one's who's wasting the time. How are you? I don't mean
+how would you like to be or how do your fool friends and the doctor tell
+you you are--but how _are_ you?"
+
+Captain Sears smiled. It had been a long, long time since any one had
+talked to him like this. Not since he relinquished a mate's rating for
+that of a master. But he did not resent it; he, too, was sick of
+pretending.
+
+"I'm in bad shape, Judge," he said. "My legs are better and I can hobble
+around on 'em, as you saw when I hobbled in here. But as to whether or
+not they will ever be fit for sea again I--well, I doubt it. And I
+rather guess the doctor doubts it, too. I don't say so to many, haven't
+said it to any one but you, but it looks to me as if I were on a lee
+shore. I may get out of the breakers some day--or I may just lay there
+and rot and drop to pieces.... Well, as you say, what's the use of
+wastin' time talkin' about me?"
+
+"I've got a reason for talking about you, Cap'n. So you're not confined
+to your bed. And your head is all right, eh?"
+
+Kendrick hesitated. He could not make out what in the world the man was
+driving at.
+
+"Eh?" repeated the judge.
+
+"Yes, as right as it ever was, I presume likely. Sometimes I think that
+may not be sayin' much."
+
+"When a man thinks that way it is a favorable symptom, according to my
+experience. From what I've heard and know, Cap'n Kendrick, your head
+will do very well. Now there's another question. Have you got all the
+money you need?"
+
+The captain leaned back in his chair. He did not answer immediately.
+From the head upon the pillow came a rasping chuckle.
+
+"Go on," observed Judge Knowles, "ask it."
+
+Kendrick stared at him. "Ask what?" he demanded.
+
+"The question you had in mind. If I hadn't been a man with one foot in
+the grave you would have asked me if I considered the amount of money
+you had any of my damned business. Isn't that right?"
+
+Sears hesitated. Then he grinned. "Just about," he said.
+
+"I thought so. Well, in a way it is my business, because, if you have
+all the money you need, fifteen hundred a year for the next two or three
+years won't tempt you any. And I want to tempt you, Cap'n."
+
+Again the captain was silent for an interval.
+
+"Fifteen hundred a year?" he repeated, slowly.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"For what?"
+
+"For services to be rendered. I've been looking for a man with time on
+his hands, who has been used to managing, who can be firm when it's
+necessary, has had enough experience of the world to judge people and
+things and who won't let a slick tongue get the better of him. And he
+must be honest. I think you fill the bill, Cap'n Kendrick."
+
+The visitor tugged at his beard.
+
+"Look here, Judge Knowles," he said crisply, "what are you talkin'
+about? What's the joke?"
+
+"It isn't a joke."
+
+"Well, then what is it? You'll have to give me my bearin's, I'm lost in
+the fog. Do I understand you to mean that you are offerin' me a berth, a
+job where I can earn--no, I won't put it that way, where I will be paid
+fifteen hundred a year?"
+
+"I am, and," with another sardonic chuckle, "I rather think you'll earn
+all you get. Of course fifteen hundred dollars a year isn't a large
+salary, it isn't a sea captain's wage and share--not such a captain as
+you've been, Kendrick. But, as I see it, you can't go to sea for a year
+or two at least. You are planning to stay right here in Bayport. Well,
+while you are here this thing I am offering you will," there was another
+chuckle, "keep you moderately busy, and you will be earning something.
+It may be that fifteen hundred won't be enough to be worth your while.
+Perhaps I shouldn't venture to offer it if I hadn't heard--hadn't
+heard----"
+
+Sears interrupted.
+
+"What you heard was probably true," he said crisply. "True enough, at
+any rate. Fifteen hundred a year looks like a lot to me now. But what am
+I to do to get it, that's the question. I'm a cripple, don't forget
+that."
+
+"I should remember it if I thought it necessary. You won't handle this
+job with your legs. It is your head I want. Cap'n Kendrick, I want you
+to take charge--take command, if you had rather we used seafaring lingo,
+of that establishment next door to where you are living now. I want you
+to act as--well, we'll call it captain of the Fair Harbor."
+
+Captain Sears's eyes and mouth opened. His chair creaked as he leaned
+forward and then slowly leaned back again.
+
+"You--you--" he gasped, "you want me to--to manage that--that _old
+women's home_?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"_Me?_"
+
+"Yes.... Here! where are you going?"
+
+The visitor had risen.
+
+"Stop!" shouted Judge Knowles. "Where are you going?"
+
+The captain breathed heavily.
+
+"I'm goin' to send for the doctor," he declared. "One of us two needs
+him."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+Judge Knowles's answer to his caller's assertion concerning the need of
+a physician's services was another chuckle.
+
+"Sit down, Cap'n," he ordered.
+
+Kendrick shook his head. "No," he began, "I'm----"
+
+"Sit down."
+
+"Judge, look here: I don't suppose you're serious, but if you are, I
+tell you----"
+
+"No, I'm going to tell _you_. SIT DOWN."
+
+This time the invalid's voice was raised to such a pitch that Mrs.
+Tidditt came hurrying from the kitchen.
+
+"My soul and body, Judge!" she exclaimed. "What is it? What _is_ the
+matter?"
+
+Her employer turned upon her.
+
+"The matter is that that confounded door is open again," he snapped.
+
+"Why--why, of course 'tis. I just opened it when I came in."
+
+"Umph! Yes. Well then, hurry up and shut it when you go out. _Shut_ it!"
+
+Emmeline, going, not only shut but slammed the door. The judge smiled
+grimly.
+
+"Sit down, Kendrick," he commanded once more, panting. "Sit down, I--I'm
+out of breath. Confound that woman! She seems to think I'm four years
+old. Ah--ah--whew!"
+
+His exhaustion was so apparent that Sears was alarmed.
+
+"Don't you think, Judge----" he began, but was interrupted.
+
+"Sshh!" ordered Knowles. "Wait.... Wait.... I'll be all right in a
+minute!"
+
+The captain waited. It took more than a minute, and even then the
+judge's voice was husky and his sentences broken, but his determination
+was unshaken.
+
+"I want you to listen to me, Cap'n Kendrick," he said. "I know it sounds
+crazy, this proposal of mine, but it isn't. How much do you know about
+this Fair Harbor place; its history and so on?"
+
+Captain Sears explained that his sister had written him some facts
+concerning it and that recently Judah Cahoon had told him more details.
+The judge wished to know what Judah had told. When informed he nodded.
+
+"That's about right, so far as it goes," he admitted. "Fairly straight,
+for a Bayport yarn. It doesn't go far enough, though. Here is the
+situation:
+
+"Lobelia, when she first conceived the fool notion," he said, "came to
+me, of course, to arrange it. I was her father's lawyer for years, and
+so naturally I was looking out for her affairs. I said all I could
+against it, but she was determined, and had her way. She, through me,
+set aside the Sylvanus Seymour house and land to be used as a home for
+what she called 'mariners' women' as long as--well, as long as she
+should continue to want it used for that purpose. She would have been
+contented to pay the bills as they came, but, of course, there was no
+business method in that, so we arranged that she was to hand over to me
+fifty thousand dollars in bonds, the income from that sum, plus the
+entrance fees and one hundred dollars yearly paid by each inmate, was to
+run the place. That is the way it has been run. She christened it the
+Fair Harbor. Heaven knows I had nothing to do with that.
+
+"For a year or so she lived there herself and had a beautiful time
+queening it over the inmates. Then that Phillips chap drifted into
+Bayport."
+
+The captain interrupted here. "Oh, then the Fair Harbor was off the ways
+before she married Phillips?" he said. "Judah told me it was
+afterwards."
+
+"He's wrong. No, the thing had been running two years when that
+confounded.... Humph! You never met Egbert Phillips, did you, Cap'n?"
+
+"No."
+
+"You've heard about him?"
+
+"Only what Judah told me the other day."
+
+"Humph! What did he tell?"
+
+"Why, he--he gave me to understand that this Phillips was a pretty
+smooth article."
+
+"Smooth! Why, Kendrick, he is.... But there, you'll meet him some day
+and no feeble words of mine could do him justice. Besides all my words
+are getting too feeble to waste--even on anything as beautiful as Egbert
+the great.... And that condemned doctor will be here pretty soon, so we
+must get on.... Ah.... Well, he came here to teach singing, Phillips
+did, and he had all the women in tune before the first lesson was over.
+They said he was wonderful, and he was--good God, yes! They kept on
+thinking he was wonderful until he married Lobelia Seymour."
+
+"Then they changed their minds, eh?"
+
+"Humph! You don't know women, do you, Cap'n? Never mind, you've got time
+enough left to learn in.... No, they didn't change their minds. They
+thought Egbert was as wonderful as ever, but they agreed that Lobelia
+had roped him in. _She_ had roped _him_ in! Oh, lord!... Well, they were
+married and went to Boston to live. Afterwards they went to Europe. Five
+years ago they came back here for a week's visit. Cahoon tell you about
+that?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Probably he didn't know about it. They did, though, and stayed here
+with me, of course. Lobelia settled that, I imagine--one of the times
+when she settled something herself. And while she was here she and I
+settled something else. She added a codicil to her will making the fifty
+thousand dollars in my possession and the house and Seymour land a gift,
+absolute, to the Fair Harbor. And she appointed me as sole trustee of
+the fund and financial manager of the home, with authority to appoint my
+own successor. And her husband didn't know a thing about it. Didn't
+when they went away; I'm sure I don't know whether he does now or not,
+but he didn't then. No, sir, we settled the Fair Harbor fund and
+Egbert's hash, so far as it was concerned. Ha, ha! And a blessed good
+job, too, Kendrick.... Hand me that glass of water, will you? Thanks."
+
+He drank a swallow or two of water and lay back upon the pillow. Captain
+Sears was a little anxious. He suggested that, perhaps, he had better be
+told the rest another time.
+
+"I think you had better rest now, Judge," he counseled. The judge
+consigned the "rest" idea to a place where, according to tradition,
+there is very little of it.
+
+"I want you to hear this," he snapped. "Don't bother me, but listen....
+Where was I?... Oh, yes.... Well, Lobelia and her husband went away, to
+Europe again. They have been there ever since, living in Italy. Egbert
+finds the climate there agrees with him, I suppose---- Humph!... I have
+had letters from Lobelia. The later ones were shorter and not
+encouraging. She wrote that she wasn't well and the doctors didn't seem
+to help her much. After two or three of these letters I wrote one,
+myself--to the American consul at Florence. He is the son of a good
+friend of mine. I explained the situation and asked him to find out just
+what ailed her and what the prospects were. His reply explained things.
+Poor Lobelia is in my position--except that my age entitles me to be
+there and hers doesn't; she has an incurable disease and she is likely
+to die at any time. No hope for her. And now, it seems she has found it
+out. About a month ago I had another letter from her.... Humph!... Wait
+a minute, Cap'n. Give me that glass again, will you. Sorry to be such a
+condemned nuisance--particularly to other people.... Wait! Hold on! When
+I've finished you can talk. Hear the rest of it first.
+
+"Lobelia's latest--last, I shouldn't wonder--letter was a sad sort of a
+thing. I'm a tough old fellow, but I declare I'm sorry for that poor
+woman. Fool to marry Phillips? Of course she was, but most of us are
+fools, some time or other. And, if I don't miss my guess, she has
+repented of her foolishness many times and all the time. She wrote me
+she knew she was going to die. And she said---- But here is the letter.
+Read it, that page of it."
+
+He fumbled among the papers and books on the table beside him, selected
+a sheet of paper, covered with closely written lines, and extended it in
+a shaking hand to his caller.
+
+"That explains things a little," he said. "It's illuminating. Read it."
+
+Captain Sears read.... "And so I am _very_ anxious, dear Judge Knowles,
+whatever else happens, that the Fair Harbor shall always be as it is, a
+home for sisters and widows and daughters of men who went down to the
+sea in ships, as father did. I know he would have liked it. And
+_please_, after I'm gone, don't let it be sold or given up, or anything
+like that. I am asking this of you, because I know I can trust you. You
+have proved it so many times. And--I never have written you this before
+but it is true--I have so little left except the Fair Harbor and its
+endowment. You will wonder where the money has gone. I do not know. It
+seems to have slipped away little by little and neither my husband nor I
+can account for...."
+
+The page ended there. The captain would have handed it back to Knowles,
+but the latter asked him to put it on the table.
+
+"Put it in the envelope and put the envelope in the drawer, will you,
+Kendrick?" he said. "My housekeeper is a good housekeeper, but what is
+mine is hers--including correspondence.... Well, you see? She can't
+account for the disappearance of the money. I can. When you have a five
+thousand dollar income and spend ten thousand you can account for a
+lot.... Humph! Well, the fact is that I am expecting to hear of
+Lobelia's death at any time. She may be dead to-day--or to-morrow--or
+next week. And as soon as I hear of it I shall say to myself.... Humph!
+Cap'n, you know how the Old Farmer's Almanac, along in November,
+prophesies the weather, don't you? 'About this time look out for snow.'
+Yes, well, on a date about a month after the day I hear of Lobelia
+Phillips's death I should write on the calendar: 'About this time look
+for Egbert.' ... Humph.... Eh? See, don't you, Cap'n Kendrick?"
+
+Kendrick smiled, he couldn't help it. He tugged thoughtfully at his
+beard.
+
+"Yes," he admitted, "I guess likely I see. But I don't see where I come
+in. You can handle Egbert, Judge, or I don't know much about men."
+
+The judge snorted. "Handle him," he repeated. "I think I could handle
+him--and enjoy the job. The trouble is I shan't have the chance. I won't
+be here. I'll be in the graveyard."
+
+He spoke of it as casually as he might of Boston or New York. Again his
+listener could not help but protest.
+
+"Why, Judge," he began, "that's perfectly ridiculous. You----"
+
+The judge interrupted. "Perhaps," he said, drily. "In fact, I agree with
+you. The graveyard is a ridiculous place for anybody to be, but I shall
+be there--and soon. But I am not going to let it interfere with my plans
+concerning the Fair Harbor. Lobelia Seymour I've known since she was a
+little girl, and whether I'm dead or alive, I'm going to have her wishes
+carried out. That's why I'm telling you these things, Sears Kendrick. I
+am counting on you to carry them out."
+
+The captain leaned back in his chair.
+
+"Why pick on me?" he asked, drily.
+
+"Why? Because I've got to pick on somebody and do it while I have the
+strength to pick. You and I have never been close friends, Kendrick, but
+I've watched you and kept track of you for years, in a general sort of
+way. Your sister and I have had a long acquaintanceship. There's another
+woman who made a mistake.... Eh?"
+
+Sears nodded.
+
+"I'm afraid so," he admitted. "Joel is a good enough fellow, in his way,
+but----"
+
+"But--that's it. Well, he's got a good wife and she's your sister. I
+know you can handle this Fair Harbor job if you will and if you take it
+on I shall go to--well, to that graveyard we were talking about, with an
+easier mind. Look here--why----"
+
+"Hold on a minute, Judge. Heave to and let me say a word. If there
+wasn't any other reason why I shouldn't feel like takin' the wheel of an
+old woman's home there would be this one: You need a business man there
+and I'm no business man."
+
+"How do you know you're not?"
+
+"Because I've just proved it. You heard somethin' of how my voyage in
+business ashore turned out. I'll tell you the truth about it."
+
+He did, briefly, giving the facts of his disastrous sojourn in
+ship-chandlery.
+
+"So that's how good a business man _I_ am," he said in conclusion. "And
+I'm a cripple besides. Much obliged, Judge, but you'll have to ship
+another skipper, I'm afraid."
+
+He was rising but Judge Knowles barked a profane order for him to keep
+his seat.
+
+"I know all that," he snapped. "Knew about it just after it happened.
+And I know, too, that you paid your share of the debts dollar for
+dollar. I'll risk you in this job I'm offering you.... Yes, and you're
+the only man I will risk--the only one in sight, that is. Come now,
+don't say no. Think it over. I'll give you a week to think it over in.
+I'd give you a month, but I might not be here at the end of it.... Will
+you take the offer under consideration and then come back and have
+another talk with me? Eh? Will you?"
+
+The captain hesitated. He wanted to say no, of course, should say it
+sooner or later, but he hated to be too abrupt in his refusal. After
+all, the offer, although absurd, was, in a way, a compliment and he
+liked the old judge. So he hesitated, stammered and then asked another
+question.
+
+"You've got a skipper aboard the Fair Harbor already, haven't you?" he
+inquired. "Judah told me that Cap'n Ike Berry's widow was runnin' the
+place."
+
+"Humph! That isn't all he told you, is it?"
+
+Kendrick smiled. "Why"--he hesitated, "I--"
+
+"Come, come, come! Of course he told you that Cordelia Berry was another
+one of those mistakes we've been talking about. She is, but her husband
+was one of my best friends and his daughter is another. No mistake
+there, Cap'n Kendrick, I tell you.... But you've met Elizabeth, I
+understand, eh?"
+
+He chuckled as he said it. Sears was surprised and a trifle confused.
+Evidently she had told of their encounter in Judah's garden.
+
+"Well, yes," he admitted. "We met."
+
+"Ha, ha! So I heard. Handled the poultry pretty well, didn't she? She
+ought to, she's had experience in handling old hens for some time."
+
+"I presume likely. Then I don't see why you don't let her keep on
+handlin' 'em. What do you want me for?"
+
+"Oh, damnation, man, haven't I told you! I want you because I'm going to
+die and somebody--some man--must take my place.... Look here, Kendrick.
+I appoint you general manager of the Fair Harbor, take it or leave it.
+But _if_ you leave it don't do it for a week, and, before you do,
+promise me you'll go over there some day and look around. Meet Cordelia
+and talk to her, meet Elizabeth and talk to her. Meet some of
+the--er--hens and talk to them. But, this is the main thing, look
+around, listen, see for yourself. Then you can come back and, if you
+accept, we'll discuss details. Will you do that much?"
+
+Captain Sears looked troubled. "Why, yes, I suppose so," he said,
+reluctantly, "to oblige you, Judge. But it's wasted time, I shan't
+accept. Of course I thank you for the offer and all that, but I might as
+well, seems to me, say no now as next week."
+
+"No such thing. And you will go there and look around?"
+
+"Why--yes, I guess so. But won't the Berry woman and the rest of 'em
+think I'm nosin' in where I don't belong? I should, if I were they, and
+I'd raise a row about it, too."
+
+"Nonsense. They can't object to your making a neighborly call, can they?
+And if they do, let 'em. A healthy row won't do a bit of harm over
+there. Give 'em the devil, it's what they need.... See here, will you
+go?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Good! And, remember, you are appointed to this job this minute if you
+want it. Or you may take it at any time during the week; don't bother to
+speak to me first. Fifteen hundred a year, live with Cahoon or whoever
+you like, precious little to do except be generally responsible for the
+Fair Harbor--oh, how I hate that syrupy, sentimental name!--financially
+and in a business way.... Easy berth, as you sailors would say, eh? Ha,
+ha!... Well, good day, Cap'n. Can you find your way out? If not call
+that eternally-lost woman of mine and she'll pilot you.... Ah....
+yes.... And just hand me that water glass once more.... Thanks.... I
+shall hope to hear you've accepted next time I see you. We'll talk
+details and sign papers then, eh?... Oh, yes, we will. You won't be fool
+enough to refuse. Easy berth, you know, Kendrick. And don't forget
+Egbert; eh? Ha, ha.... Umph--ah, yes.... Where's that damned
+housekeeper?"
+
+Mike Callahan asked no questions as he drove his passenger back to the
+General Minot place--no direct questions, that is--but it was quite
+evident that his curiosity concerning the reasons for Captain Kendrick's
+visit was intense.
+
+"Well, the ould judge seen you at last, Cap'n," he observed.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I expect 'twas a great satisfaction to him, eh?"
+
+"Maybe so. Looks as if it was smurrin' up for rain over to the west'ard,
+doesn't it?"
+
+Mr. Callahan delivered his passenger at the Minot back door and
+departed, looking grumpy. Then Mr. Cahoon took his turn.
+
+"Well, Cap'n Sears," he said, eagerly, "you seen him."
+
+"Yes, Judah, I saw him."
+
+"Um-hm. Pretty glad to see you, too, wan't he?"
+
+"I hope so."
+
+"Creepin' prophets, don't you _know_ so? Ain't he been sendin' word by
+Emmeline Tidditt that he wanted to see you more'n a million times?"
+
+"Guess not. So far as I know he only wanted to see me once."
+
+"No, no, no. You know what I mean, Cap'n Sears.... Well--er--er--you
+seen him, anyway?"
+
+"Yes, I saw him."
+
+"Um-hm ... so you said."
+
+"Yes, I thought I did."
+
+"Oh, you did--yes, you did.... Um-hm--er--yes."
+
+So Judah, too, was obliged to do without authentic information
+concerning Judge Knowles's reason for wishing to meet Sears Kendrick. He
+hinted as far as he dared, but experience gained through years of sea
+acquaintanceship with his former commander prevented his doing more than
+hint. The captain would tell just exactly what he wished and no more,
+Judah knew. He knew also that attempting to learn more than that was
+likely to be unpleasant as well as unprofitable. It was true that his
+beloved "Cap'n Sears" was no longer his commander but merely his lodger,
+nevertheless discipline was discipline. Mr. Cahoon was dying to know why
+the judge wished to talk to the captain, but he would have died in
+reality rather than continue to work the pumps against the latter's
+orders, expressed or intimated. Judah was no mutineer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+Sears put in a disagreeable day or two after his call upon the judge. He
+was dissatisfied with the ending of their interview. He felt that he had
+been foolishly soft-hearted in promising to call at the Fair Harbor, or,
+to consider for another hour the preposterous offer of management of
+that institution. He must say no in the end. How much better to have
+said it then and there. Fifteen hundred a year looked like a lot of
+money to him. It tempted him, that part of the proposition. But it did
+not tempt him sufficiently to overcome the absurdities of the remaining
+part. How could _he_ manage an old woman's home? And what would people
+say if he tried?
+
+Nevertheless, he had promised to visit the place and look it over and
+the promise must be kept. He dreaded it about as much as he had ever
+dreaded anything, but--he had promised. So on the morning of the third
+day following that of his call upon Judge Knowles he hobbled painfully
+and slowly up the front walk of the Fair Harbor to the formidable front
+door, with its great South Sea shells at each end of the granite
+step--relics of Captain Sylvanus's early voyages--and its silver-plated
+name plate with "SEYMOUR" engraved upon it in Gothic lettering. To one
+looking back from the view-point of to-day such a name plate may seem a
+bit superfluous and unnecessary in a village where every one knew not
+only where every one else lived, but how they lived and all about them.
+The fact remains that in Bayport in the '70's there were many name
+plates.
+
+Sears gave the glass knob beside the front door a pull. From the
+interior of the house came the resultant "_JINGLE_; _jingle_; jingle,
+jing, jing." Then a wait, then the sound of footsteps approaching the
+other side of the door. Then a momentary glimpse of a reconnoitering eye
+behind one of the transparent urns engraved in the ground glass pane.
+Then a rattle of bolt and latch and the door opened.
+
+The woman who opened it was rather good looking, but also she
+looked--well, if the captain had been ordered to describe her general
+appearance instantly, he would have said that she looked "tousled." She
+was fully dressed, of course, but there was about her a general
+appearance of having just gotten out of bed. Her hair, rather
+elaborately coiffured, had several loose strands sticking out here and
+there. She wore a gold pin--an oval brooch with a lock of hair in it--at
+her throat, but one end was unfastened. She wore cotton gloves, with
+holes in them.
+
+"Good mornin'," said the captain.
+
+The woman said "Good morning." There was no "r" in the "morning" so,
+remembering what he had heard concerning Mrs. Isaac Berry's rearing,
+Kendrick decided that this must be she.
+
+"This is Mrs. Berry, isn't it?" he inquired.
+
+"Yes." The lady's tone was not too gracious, in fact there was a trace
+of suspicion in it, as if she was expecting the man on the step to
+produce a patent egg-beater or the specimen volume of a set of
+encyclopedias.
+
+"How do you do, Mrs. Berry," went on the captain. "My name is Kendrick.
+I'm your neighbor next door, and Judge Knowles asked me to be neighborly
+and cruise over and call some day. So I--er--so I've cruised, you see."
+
+Mrs. Berry's expression changed. She seemed surprised, perhaps a little
+annoyed, certainly very much confused.
+
+"Why--why, yes, Mr. Kendrick," she stammered. "I'm so glad you did.... I
+am so glad to see you.... Ah--ah---- Won't you come in?"
+
+Captain Sears entered the dark front hall. It smelt like most front
+halls of that day in that town, a combination smell made up of
+sandal-wood and Brussels carpet and haircloth and camphor and damp
+shut-up-ness.
+
+"Walk right in, do," urged Mrs. Berry, opening the parlor door. The
+captain walked right in. The parlor was high-studded and square-pianoed
+and chromoed and oil-portraited and black-walnutted and marble-topped
+and hairclothed. Also it had the fullest and most satisfying assortment
+of whatnot curios and alum baskets and whale ivory and shell frames and
+wax fruit and pampas grass. There was a majestic black stove and window
+lambrequins. Which is to say that it was a very fine specimen of a very
+best parlor.
+
+"Do sit down, Mr. Kendrick," gushed Mrs. Berry, moving about a good deal
+but not, apparently, accomplishing very much. There had been a feather
+duster on the piano when they entered, but it, somehow or other, had
+disappeared beneath the piano scarf--partially disappeared, that is, for
+one end still protruded. The lady's cotton dusting-gloves no longer
+protected her hands but now peeped coyly from behind a jig-sawed
+photograph frame on the marble mantelpiece. The apron she had worn lay
+on the floor in the shadow of the table cloth. These habiliments of
+menial domesticity slid, one by one, out of sight--or partially so--as
+she bustled and chatted. When, after a moment, she raised a window shade
+and admitted a square of sunshine to the grand apartment, one would
+scarcely have guessed that there was such drudgery as housework,
+certainly no one would have suspected the elegant Mrs. Cordelia Berry of
+being intimately connected with it.
+
+She swept--in those days the breadth of skirts made all feminine
+progress more or less of a sweep--across the room and swished gracefully
+into a chair. When she spoke she raised her eyebrows, at the end of the
+sentence she lowered them and her lashes. She smiled much, and hers was
+still a pretty smile. She made attractive little gestures with her
+hands.
+
+"I am _so_ glad you dropped in, Mr. Kendrick," she declared. "So very
+glad. Of course if we had known when you were coming we might have been
+a little better prepared. But there, you will excuse us, I know.
+Elizabeth and I--Elizabeth is my daughter, Mr. Kendrick.... But it is
+_Captain_ Kendrick, isn't it? Of course, I might have known. You look
+the sea--you know what I mean--I can always tell. My dear husband was a
+captain. You knew that, of course. And in the old days at my girlhood
+home so many, _many_ captains used to come and go. Our old home--my
+girlhood home, I mean--was always open. I met my husband there.... Ah
+me, those days are not these days! What my dear father would have said
+if he could have known.... But we don't know what is in store for us, do
+we?... Oh, dear!... It's such charming weather, isn't it, Captain
+Kendrick?"
+
+The captain admitted the weather's charm. He had not heard a great deal
+of his voluble hostess's chatter. He was there, in a way, on business
+and he was wondering how he might, without giving offence, fulfill his
+promise to Judge Knowles and see more of the interior of the Fair
+Harbor. Of the matron of that institution he had already seen enough to
+classify and appraise her in his mind.
+
+Mrs. Berry rambled on and on. At last, out of the tumult of words,
+Captain Sears caught a fragment which seemed to him pertinent and
+interesting.
+
+"Oh!" he broke in. "So you knew I was--er--hopeful of droppin' in some
+time or other?"
+
+"Why, yes. Elizabeth knew. Judge Knowles told her you said you hoped to.
+Of course we were delighted.... The poor dear judge! We are _so_ fond of
+him, my daughter and I. He is so--so essentially aristocratic. Oh, if
+you knew what that means to me, raised as I was among the people I was.
+There are times when I sit here in this dreadful place in utter
+despair--utter.... Oh--oh, of course, Captain Kendrick, I wouldn't have
+you imagine that Elizabeth and I don't like this house. We _love_ it.
+And dear 'Belia Seymour is my _closest_ friend. But, you know----"
+
+She paused, momentarily, and the captain seized the opportunity----
+
+"So Judge Knowles told you I was liable to call, did he?" he queried.
+He was somewhat surprised. He wondered if the Judge had hinted at a
+reason for his visit.
+
+"Why, yes," replied Mrs. Berry, "he told Elizabeth. She said---- Oh,
+here you are, dearie. Captain Kendrick, our next door neighbor, has run
+in for a little call. Isn't it delightful of him? Captain Kendrick, this
+is my daughter, Elizabeth."
+
+She had entered from the door behind the captain's chair. Now she came
+forward as he rose from it.
+
+"How do you do, Cap'n Kendrick?" she said. "I am very glad to see you
+again. Judge Knowles told me you were planning to call."
+
+She extended her hand and the captain took it. She was smiling, but it
+seemed to him that the smile was an absent-minded one. In fact--of
+course it might be entirely his imagination--he had a feeling that she
+was troubled about something.
+
+However, he had no time to surmise or even reply to her greeting. Mrs.
+Berry had caught a word in that greeting which to her required
+explanation.
+
+"Again?" she repeated. "Why, Elizabeth, have you and Captain Kendrick
+met before?"
+
+"Yes, Mother, that day when our hens got into Mr. Cahoon's garden. You
+remember I told you at the time."
+
+"I don't remember any such thing. I remember Elvira said that she and
+Aurora met him one afternoon, but I don't remember your saying anything
+about it."
+
+"I told you. No doubt you have forgotten it."
+
+"Nonsense! you know I never forget. If there is one thing I can honestly
+pride myself on it is a good memory. You may have thought you told me,
+but---- Why, what's that noise?"
+
+The noise was a curious babble or chatter, almost as if the sound-proof
+door--if there was such a thing--of a parrot cage had been suddenly
+opened. It came from somewhere at the rear of the house and was,
+apparently, produced by a number of feminine voices all speaking very
+fast and simultaneously.
+
+Elizabeth turned, glanced through the open door behind her, and then at
+Mrs. Berry. There was no doubt now concerning the troubled expression
+upon her face. She was troubled.
+
+"Mother--" she began, quickly. "Excuse us, Cap'n Kendrick,
+please--mother, have Elvira and Susan Brackett been talking to you about
+buying that collection of--of what they call garden statuary at Mrs.
+Seth Snowden's auction in Harniss?"
+
+And now Mrs. Berry, too, looked troubled. She turned red, stammered and
+fidgetted.
+
+"Why--why, Elizabeth," she said, "I--I don't see why you want to discuss
+that now. We have a visitor and I'm sure Captain Kendrick isn't
+interested."
+
+Her daughter did not seem to care whether the visitor was interested or
+not.
+
+"Tell me, mother, please," she urged. "_Have_ they been talking with you
+about their plan to buy that--those things?"
+
+Mrs. Berry's confusion increased. "Why--why, yes," she admitted. "Elvira
+did tell me about it, something about it. She said it was beautiful--the
+fountain and the--the deer and--and how pretty they would look on the
+lawn and----"
+
+"Mother, you didn't give them the least encouragement, did you? They
+say--Elvira and Mrs. Brackett say you told them you thought it a
+beautiful idea and that you were in favor of what they call their
+committee going to the sale next Monday and buying those--those
+cast-iron dogs and children with the Fair Harbor money? I am sure you
+didn't say that, did you, mother?... I'm awfully sorry, Cap'n Kendrick,
+to bring this matter into the middle of your call, but really it is very
+important and it can't be postponed, because.... Tell me, Mother, they
+will be here in a moment. You didn't say any such thing, did you?"
+
+Mrs. Berry's fine eyes--they had been called "starlike" twenty years
+before, by romantic young gentlemen--filled with tears. She wrung her
+hands.
+
+"I--I only said--" she stammered, "I---- Oh, I don't think I said
+anything except--except that---- Well, they were so sure they were
+lovely and a great bargain--and you know Captain Snowden's estate in
+Harniss was perfectly _charming_. You know it was, Elizabeth!"
+
+"Mother, you didn't tell them they might buy them?"
+
+"Why--why, no, I--I don't think I did. I--I couldn't have because I
+never do anything like that without consulting you.... Oh, Elizabeth,
+_please_, don't let us have a scene here, with Captain Kendrick present.
+What _will_ he think? Oh, dear, dear!"
+
+Her handkerchief was called into requisition. Sears Kendrick rose from
+his chair. Obviously he must go and, just as obviously, he knew that in
+order to fulfill his promise to the judge in spirit as well as letter he
+ought to stay. This was just the sort of situation to shed light upon
+the inner secrets of the Fair Harbor and its management....
+Nevertheless, he was not going to stay. His position was much too
+spylike to suit him. But before he could move there were other
+developments.
+
+While Miss Berry and her mother had been exchanging hurried questions
+and answers the parrot-cage babble from the distant places somewhere at
+the end of the long entry beyond the door had been continuous. Now it
+suddenly grew louder. Plainly the babblers were approaching along that
+entry and babbling as they came.
+
+A moment more and they were in the room, seven of them. In the lead was
+the dignified Miss Elvira herself, an impressive figure of gentility in
+black silk and a hair breast pin. Close behind her, of course, was the
+rotund Mrs. Aurora Chase, and equally close--yes even a little in
+advance of Aurora, was a solidly built female with gray hair, a square
+chin, and a very distinct mustache. The others were in the rear, but as
+they came in one of these, a little woman in a plain gingham dress, who
+wore steel spectacles upon a sharp little nose, left the group and took
+a stand a little apart, regarding the company with lifted chin and a
+general air of determination and uncompromising defiance. Later on
+Captain Sears was destined to learn that the little woman was Mrs.
+Esther Tidditt, and the lady with the mustache Mrs. Susanna Brackett.
+And that the others were respectively Mrs. Hattie Thomas, Miss Desire
+Peasley, and Mrs. Constance Cahoon. Each of the seven was, of course,
+either a captain's widow or his sister.
+
+Just at the moment the captain, naturally, recognized nobody except Miss
+Snowden and Mrs. Chase. Nor did he notice individual peculiarities
+except that something, excitement or a sudden jostle or something, had
+pushed Aurora's rippling black locks to one side, with the result that
+the part which divided the ripples, instead of descending plumb-line
+fashion from the crown of the head to a point directly in the center of
+the forehead, now had a diagonal twist and ended over the left eye. The
+effect was rather astonishing, as if the upper section of the lady's
+head had slipped its moorings.
+
+He had scarcely time to notice even this, certainly none in which to
+speculate concerning its cause. Miss Snowden, who held a paper in her
+hand, stepped forward and began to speak, gesticulating with the paper
+as she did so. She paid absolutely no attention to the masculine
+visitor. She was trembling with excitement and it is doubtful if she
+even saw him.
+
+"Mrs. Berry," she began, "we are here--we have come here, these ladies
+and I--we have come here--we---- Oh, what _is_ it?"
+
+This last was addressed to Mrs. Chase, who was tugging at her skirt.
+
+"Talk louder," cautioned Aurora, in a stage whisper. "I can't hear you."
+
+With an impatient movement Miss Snowden freed her garment and began
+again.
+
+"Mrs. Berry," she repeated, "we are here, these ladies and I, to--to ask
+a question and to express our opinion on a very important matter. We are
+all agreed----"
+
+Here she was again interrupted, this time by Mrs. Esther Tidditt, the
+little woman in the gingham dress. Mrs. Tidditt's tone was brisk and
+sharp.
+
+"No, we ain't agreed neither," she announced, with a snap of her head
+which threatened shipwreck to the steel spectacles. "_I_ think it's
+everlastin' foolishness. Don't you say _I'm_ agreed to it, Elvira
+Snowden."
+
+Elvira drew her thin form erect and glared. "We are practically agreed,"
+she proclaimed crushingly. "You are the only one who doesn't agree."
+
+"Humph! And I'm the only one that is practical. Of all the silly----"
+
+"Esther Tidditt, was you appointed to do the talking for this committee
+or was I?"
+
+"You was, but that don't stop me from talkin' when I want to. I ain't on
+the committee, thank the good lord. I'm my own committee."
+
+This declaration of independence was received with an outburst of
+indignant exclamations, in the midst of which Mrs. Chase could be heard
+demanding to be told what was the matter and who said what. Elizabeth
+Berry stilled the hubbub.
+
+"Hush, hush!" she pleaded. "Don't, Esther, please. You can say your word
+later. I want mother--and Cap'n Kendrick--to hear this, all of it."
+
+The captain was still standing. He had risen when the "committee"
+entered the room. Its members, most of them, had been so intent upon the
+business which had brought them there that they had ignored his
+presence. Now, of course, they turned to look at him. There was
+curiosity in their look but by no means enthusiastic approval. Miss
+Snowden's nod was decidedly snippy. She looked, sniffed and turned again
+to Mrs. Berry.
+
+"We want your mother to hear it," she declared. "We've come here so she
+shall hear it--all of it. If--if _others_--who may not be 'specially
+interested want to hear they can, I suppose. I don't know why not....
+_We_ haven't anything to hide. _We_ ain't ashamed--are not, I should
+say. Are we?" turning to those behind and beside her.
+
+Mrs. Brackett announced that she certainly should say not, so did
+several others. There was a general murmur of agreement. Every one
+continued to look at the captain. He was embarrassed.
+
+"I think perhaps I had better be goin'," he said, addressing Miss Berry.
+"I ought to be gettin' home, anyway."
+
+But the young lady would not have it.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," she said, earnestly, "I hope you won't go. Judge
+Knowles told me you were going to call. I was very glad when I found you
+had called now--at this time. And I should like to have you stay. You
+can stay, can't you?"
+
+Sears hesitated. "Why--why, yes, I presume likely I can," he admitted.
+
+"And will you--please?"
+
+He looked at her and she at him. Then he nodded.
+
+"I'll stay," he said, and sat down in his chair.
+
+"Thank you," said Elizabeth. "Now, Elvira.... Wait, mother, please."
+
+Miss Snowden sniffed once more. "Now that that important matter is
+settled I _suppose_ I may be allowed to go on," she observed, with
+sarcasm. "Very good, I will do so in spite of the presence of--of those
+not--ahem--intimately concerned. Mrs. Berry, on behalf of this committee
+here, a committee of the whole----"
+
+"No such thing," this from Mrs. Tidditt. "I'm part of the whole but I
+ain't part of that committee. Stick to the truth, Elviry--pays better."
+
+"Hush, Esther," begged Miss Berry. "Let her go on, please. Go on,
+Elvira."
+
+The head of the committee breathed fiercely through her thin nostrils.
+Then she made another attempt.
+
+"I address you, Mrs. Cordelia Berry," declaimed Elvira, "because you are
+supposed--I say _supposed_--to be officially the managing director--or
+directress, to speak correct--of this institution. Not," she added,
+hastily, "that it is an institution in any sense of the word--like a
+home or any such thing. We all know that, I hope and trust. Although,"
+with a venomous glance in the direction of Mrs. Esther, "there appear
+to be _some_ that know precious little. I mention no names."
+
+"You don't need to," retorted the Tidditt lady promptly. "Never mind, I
+know enough not to vote to buy a lot of second-handed images and
+critters just because they belong to one of your relations. I know that
+much, Elviry Snowden."
+
+This was a body blow and Elvira visibly winced. For just an instant
+Captain Sears thought she was contemplating physical assault upon her
+enemy. But she recovered and, white and scornful, proceeded.
+
+"I shan't deign to answer such low--er--insinuations," she declared, her
+voice shaking. "I scorn them and her that makes them. I scorn
+them--both. _BOTH!_"
+
+This last "Both" was fired like a shot from a "Big Bertha." It should
+have annihilated the irreverent little female in the gingham gown. It
+did not, however; she merely laughed. The effect of the blast was still
+further impaired by Mrs. Chase, who although listening with all her
+ears, such as they were, had evidently heard neither well nor wisely.
+
+"That's right, Elviry," proclaimed Aurora, "that's just what I say. Why,
+the lion alone is worth the money."
+
+Mrs. Brackett touched the Snowden arm. "Never mind, Elvira," she said.
+"Don't pay any attention. Go right ahead and read the resolutions."
+
+Elvira drew a long breath, two long breaths. "Thank you, Susanna," she
+said, "I shall. I'm going to. Mrs. Berry," she added, turning to that
+lady, who was quite as much agitated as any one present and was
+clutching her chair arm with one hand and her daughter's arm with the
+other. "Mrs. Berry," repeated Miss Snowden, "this resolution drawn up
+and signed by the committee of the whole here present--signed with but
+one exception, I should say, one _trifling_ exception--" this with a
+glare at Mrs. Tidditt--"is, as I said, addressed to you because you are
+supposed--" a glare at Elizabeth this time--"to be in charge of the Fair
+Harbor and what goes on and is done within its--er--porticos. Ahem! I
+will now read as follows."
+
+And she proceeded to read, using both elocution and gestures. The
+resolutions made a rather formidable document. They were addressed to
+"Mrs. Cordelia Imogene Berry, widow of the late Captain Isaac Stephens
+Berry, in charge of the Fair Harbor for Mariners' Women at Bayport,
+Massachusetts, United States of America. Madam: Whereas----"
+
+There were many "Whereases." Captain Kendrick, listening intently, found
+the path of his understanding clogged by them and tangled by Miss
+Elvira's flowers of rhetoric. He gathered, nevertheless, that the
+"little group of ladies resident at the Fair Harbor, having been reared
+amid surroundings of culture, art and refinement" were, naturally,
+desirous of improving their present surroundings. Also that a "truly
+remarkable opportunity" had come in their way by which the said
+surroundings might be improved and beautified by the expenditure of a
+nominal sum, seventy-five dollars, no more. With this seventy-five
+dollars might be bought "the entire collection of lawn statuary and the
+fountain which adorned the grounds of the estate of the late lamented
+deceased Captain Seth Snowden at Harniss and now the property of his
+widow, namely to wit, Mrs. Hannah Snowden."
+
+"And I'll say this," put in Elvira, before reading further, "although
+hints and insinuations have been cast at me in the hearing of those
+present to-day about my being a relation--relative, that is--of Captain
+Seth, and he was my uncle on my father's side, nevertheless it's just
+because I am a relation--relative--that we are able to buy all those
+elegant things for as cheap a price as seventy-five dollars when they
+cost at least five hundred and.... But there! I will proceed.
+
+"'The said statuary, etcetera, consisting of the following, that is to
+say:
+
+"'No. 1. Item ... 1 Lawn Fountain. Hand painted iron. Representing two
+children beneath umbrella.'"
+
+"And it's the cutest thing," put in the hitherto silent Desire Peasley,
+with enthusiastic suddenness. "There's them two young ones standin'
+natural as life under that umbrella--just same as anybody _would_ stand
+under an umbrella if 'twas rainin' like fury--and the water squirts
+right down over top of 'em and drips off the ribs--off the ribs of the
+umbrella, I mean--and there they stand and--and---- _Well_, when I see
+_that_ I says, 'My glory!' I says, 'what'll they contrive next?' That's
+what I said. All hands heard me.... What's that you're mutterin', Esther
+Tidditt?"
+
+"I wasn't mutterin', 'special. I just said I bet they heard you if they
+was anywheres 'round."
+
+"Is that so? Do tell! Well, I'll have you to understand----"
+
+Elvira and Miss Berry together intervened to calm this new disturbance.
+Then the former went on with the reading of the "resolutions."
+
+"'No. 2. Item ... 1 Hand painted lion. Iron....' Hush, Aurora!... Yes,
+'lion,' that's right.... I did say 'iron.' It's an iron lion, isn't
+it?... Oh, _do_ be quiet! We'll never get through if everybody keeps
+interrupting. 'No. 2 ... Item ... 1 Hand painted lion iron'--iron lion,
+I mean.... Oh, my soul and body! If everybody keeps talking I shan't
+know what I mean.... 'A very wonderful piece of statuary. In perfect
+condition. Paint needs touching up, that's all.
+
+"'No. 3--Item.... 1 Deer. Hand painted iron. Perfectly lovely--'"
+
+"Stuff!" This from the irrepressible Mrs. Tidditt, of course. "One horn
+is broke off and it looks like the Old Harry. No, I'll take that back;
+the Old Harry is supposed to have two horns. But that deer image is a
+sight, just the same. Why, it ain't got any paint left on it."
+
+"Nonsense! It may need a little paint, here and there, but----"
+
+"Humph! A little here and a lot there and a whole lot more in between.
+Elvira Snowden, that image looks as if 'twas struck with leprosy, like
+Lazarus in the Bible; you know it well as I do."
+
+Sears Kendrick enjoyed the reading of these resolutions. If it were not
+for certain elements in the situation he would have considered the
+morning's performance the most amusing entertainment he had witnessed
+afloat or ashore. He managed not to laugh aloud, although he was obliged
+to turn his head away several times and to cough at intervals. Once or
+twice he and Elizabeth Berry exchanged glances and the whimsical look of
+resignation and humorous appreciation in her eyes showed that she, too,
+was keenly aware of the joke.
+
+But at other times she was serious enough and it was her expression at
+these times which prevented the captain's accepting the whole ridiculous
+affair as a hilarious farce. Then she looked deeply troubled and
+careworn and anxious. He began to realize that this affair, funny as it
+was, was but one of a series, a series of annoyances and trials and
+petty squabbles which, taken in the aggregate, were anything but funny
+to her. For it was obvious, the truth of what Judah Cahoon had said and
+Judge Knowles intimated, that this girl, Elizabeth Berry, was bearing
+upon her young shoulders the entire burden of responsibility for the
+conduct and management of affairs in the Fair Harbor for Mariners' Women
+at Bayport. Her mother was supposed to bear this burden, but it was
+perfectly obvious that Cordelia Berry was incapable of bearing any
+responsibilities, including her own personal ones.
+
+Miss Snowden solemnly read the concluding paragraph of the resolutions.
+It summed up those preceding it and announced that those whose names
+were appended, "being guests at the Fair Harbor, the former home of our
+beloved benefactress and friend Mrs. Lobelia Phillips, _née_ Seymour,
+are unanimously agreed that as a simple matter of duty to the
+institution and those within its gates, not to mention the beautifying
+of Bayport, the collection of lawn statuary and fountain now adorning
+the estate of the late deceased Captain Seth Snowden be bought,
+purchased and obtained from that estate at the very low price of
+seventy-five dollars, this money to be paid from the funds in the Fair
+Harbor treasury, and the said statuary and fountain to be erected and
+set up on the lawns and grounds of the Fair Harbor. Signed----"
+
+Miss Elvira read the names of the signers. They included, as she took
+pains to state, the names of every guest in the Fair Harbor with
+one--ahem--exception.
+
+"And I'm it, praise the lord," announced Mrs. Tidditt, promptly. "I
+ain't quite crazy yet, nor I ain't a niece-in-law of Seth Snowden's
+widow neither."
+
+"Esther Tidditt, I've stood your hints and slanders long enough."
+
+"Nobody's payin' _me_ no commissions for gettin' rid of their old junk
+for 'em."
+
+"Esther, be still! You shouldn't say such things. Elvira, stop--stop!"
+Miss Berry stepped forward. Mrs. Tidditt was bristling like a combative
+bantam and Elvira was shaking from head to feet and crooking and
+uncrooking her fingers. "There mustn't be any more of this," declared
+Elizabeth. "Esther, you must apologize. Stop, both of you, please.
+Remember, Cap'n Kendrick is here."
+
+This had the effect of causing every one to look at the captain once
+more. He felt unpleasantly conspicuous, but Elizabeth's next speech
+transferred the general gaze from him to her.
+
+"There isn't any use in saying much more about this matter, it seems to
+me," she said. "It comes down to this: You and the others, Elvira, think
+we should buy the--the statues and the fountain because they would, you
+think, make our lawns and grounds more beautiful."
+
+"We don't think at all--we know," declared Elvira. Mrs. Brackett said,
+"Yes indeed, we do," and there was a general murmur of assent. Also a
+loud sniff from the Tidditt direction.
+
+"And your mother thinks so, too," spoke up Miss Peasley, from the group.
+"She told me herself she thought they were lovely. Didn't you, Cordelia?
+You know you did."
+
+Before Mrs. Berry could answer--her embarrassment and distress seemed
+to be bringing her again to the verge of tears--her daughter went on.
+
+"It doesn't make a bit of difference what mother and I think about
+their--beauty--and all that," she said. "The whole thing comes down to
+the matter of whether or not we can afford to buy them. And we simply
+cannot. We haven't the money to spare. Spending seventy-five dollars for
+anything except the running expenses of the Harbor is now absolutely
+impossible. I told you that, Elvira, when you first suggested it."
+
+Miss Snowden, still trembling, regarded her resentfully. "Yes, _you_
+told me," she retorted. "I know you did. You are always telling us we
+can't do this or that. But why should _you_ tell us? That is what we
+can't understand. _You_ ain't--aren't--manager here, so far as we know.
+We never heard of your appointment. _We_ always understood your mother
+was the manager, duly appointed. Isn't she?"
+
+"Of course she is, but----"
+
+"Yes, and when we have spoken to _her_--two or three of us at different
+times--she has said she thought buying these things was a lovely idea. I
+shouldn't be surprised if she thought so now.... Cordelia, don't you
+think the Fair Harbor ought to buy those statues and that fountain?"
+
+This pointed appeal, of course, placed Mrs. Berry directly in the
+limelight and she wilted beneath its glare. She reddened and then paled.
+Her fingers fidgetted with the pin at her throat. She picked up her
+handkerchief and dropped it. She looked at Elvira and the committee and
+then at her daughter.
+
+"Why--why, I don't know," she faltered. "I think--of course I think
+the--the statuary is very beautiful. I--I said so. I--I am always fond
+of pretty things. You know I am, Elizabeth, you----"
+
+"Wait a minute, Cordelia. Didn't you tell me you thought the Fair Harbor
+ought to buy them? Didn't you tell Suzanna and me just that?"
+
+Mrs. Berry squirmed. She did not answer but, so far as Sears Kendrick
+was concerned, no answer was necessary. He was as certain as if she had
+sworn it that she had told them just that thing. And, looking at
+Elizabeth's face, he could see that she, too, was certain of it.
+
+"Didn't you, Cordelia?" persisted Miss Snowden.
+
+"Why--why, I don't know. Perhaps I did, but--but what difference does it
+make? You heard what Elizabeth said. She says we can't afford it. She
+always attends to such matters, you know she does."
+
+"Yes," with sarcastic emphasis, "we do, but we don't know _why_ she
+should. And in this case we aren't going to stand it. You are supposed
+to be managing this place, Cordelia Berry, and if you are willing to
+turn your duties over to a--a mere child we aren't willing to let you.
+Once more I ask you----"
+
+Elizabeth interrupted. "There, there, Elvira," she said, "what _is_ the
+use? It isn't a question of mother's opinion or what she has said
+before. It is just a matter of money. We can't afford it."
+
+Miss Snowden ignored her. "We shall not," she repeated, "permit our
+future and--and all like that to be ruined by the whims of a mere child.
+_That_ is final."
+
+She pronounced the last sentence with solemn emphasis. The pause which
+followed should have been impressive but Mrs. Tidditt spoiled the
+effect.
+
+"Mere child!" she repeated, significantly. "Well, I presume likely she
+_is_ a mere child compared to some folks. Only she just looks childish
+and they act that way."
+
+There was another outburst of indignant exclamations from the committee.
+The head of that body turned to her followers.
+
+"It is quite evident," she declared, furiously, "that this conference is
+going to end just as the others have. But this time we are not going to
+sit back and be trampled on. There are those higher up to be appealed to
+and we shall appeal to them. Come!"
+
+She stalked majestically to the door and marched out and down the hall,
+the committee following her. Only Mrs. Tidditt remained, and she but for
+a moment.
+
+"They're goin' to the back room to have another meetin'," she whispered.
+"If there's anything up that amounts to anything, 'Lizabeth, I'll come
+back and let you know."
+
+Elizabeth did not answer, but Kendrick offered a suggestion. "You don't
+belong to this committee," he observed. "Perhaps they won't let you into
+the meetin'."
+
+The eyes behind the steel spectacles snapped sparks. "I'd like to see
+'em try to keep me out," declared Mrs. Esther, and hurried after the
+others. Elizabeth turned to her mother.
+
+"Mother," she said, earnestly, "we must be very firm in this matter. We
+simply can't afford to spend any money just now except for necessities.
+If they come to you again you must tell them so. You will, won't you?"
+
+And now Mrs. Berry's agitation reached its climax. She turned upon her
+daughter.
+
+"Oh, I suppose so," she cried hysterically, "I suppose so! I shall have
+to go through another scene and be spoken to as if--as if I were dirt
+under these women's feet instead of being as far above them in--in
+position and education and refinement as the clouds. Why can't I have
+peace--just a little peace and quiet? Why must I _always_ have to
+undergo humiliation after humiliation? I----"
+
+"Mother, mother, please don't----"
+
+But her mother was beyond reason.
+
+"And you--" she went on, "you, my own daughter, why must you always take
+the other side, and put me in such positions, and--and humiliate me
+before--before---- Oh, why can't I die? I _wish_ I were dead! I do! I
+do!"
+
+She burst into a storm of hysterical sobs and hurried toward the door.
+Elizabeth would have gone to her but she pushed her aside and rushed
+into the front hall and up the stairs. They heard her sobs upon the
+upper landing.
+
+Sears Kendrick, feeling more like an interloper than ever, looked in
+embarrassment at the flowered carpet. He did not dare look at the young
+woman beside him. He had never in his life felt more sorry for any one.
+Judge Knowles had said he hoped that he--Kendrick--might obtain a
+general idea of the condition of affairs in the Fair Harbor. The scenes
+he had just witnessed had given him a better idea of that condition than
+anything else could have done. And, somehow or other, it was the last of
+those scenes which had affected him most. Elizabeth Berry had faced the
+sarcasms and sneers of the committee, had never lost her poise or her
+temper, had never attempted to shift the responsibility, had never
+reproached her mother for the hesitating weakness which was at the base
+of all the trouble. And, in return, her mother had accused her of--all
+sorts of things.
+
+And yet when Elizabeth spoke it was in defence of that mother.
+
+"I hope, Cap'n Kendrick," she said, "that you won't misunderstand my
+mother or take what she just said too seriously. She is not very well,
+and very nervous, and, as you see, her position here is a trying one
+sometimes."
+
+The captain could not keep back the speech which was at his tongue's
+end.
+
+"_Your_ position is rather tryin', too, isn't it?" he observed. "It sort
+of would seem that way--to me."
+
+She smiled sadly. "Why, yes--it is," she admitted. "But I am younger
+and--and perhaps I can bear it better."
+
+It occurred to him that the greatest pity of all was the fact that she
+should be obliged to bear it. He did not say so, however, and she went
+on, changing the subject and speaking very earnestly.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," she said, "I am very glad you heard this--this
+disagreement this morning. Judge Knowles told me you were going to call
+at the Harbor here and when he said it he--well, I thought he looked
+more than he said, if you know what I mean. I didn't ask any questions
+and he said nothing more, but I guess perhaps he wanted you to--to
+see--well, to see what he wasn't well enough to see--or something like
+that."
+
+She paused. The captain was embarrassed. He certainly felt guilty and he
+also felt as if he looked so.
+
+"Why--why, Miss Berry," he stammered, "I hope you--you mustn't
+think----"
+
+She waved his protestations aside.
+
+"It doesn't make a bit of difference," she said. "No matter why you came
+I am very glad you did. This ridiculous statuary business is just
+one--well, symptom, so to speak. If it wasn't that, it might be
+something else. It comes, you see, from my position here--which really
+isn't any position at all--and their position, Elvira Snowden's and the
+rest. They pay a certain sum to get here in the first place and a small
+sum each year. There is the trouble. They think they pay for board and
+lodging and are guests. Of course what they pay amounts to almost
+nothing, but they don't realize that, or don't want to, and they expect
+to have their own way. Mother is--well, she is nervous and high strung
+and she hates scenes. They take advantage of her, some of them--no doubt
+they don't consider it that, but it seems to me so--and so I have been
+obliged to take charge, in a way. They don't understand that and resent
+it. I don't know that I blame them much. Perhaps I should resent it if I
+were in their place. Only.... But never mind that now.
+
+"This is only one of a good many differences of opinion we have had,"
+she went on. "In the old days--and not older than a year ago, for that
+matter--if the differences were too acute I used to go to Judge Knowles.
+He always settled everything, finally and sensibly. But now, since he
+has been so sick, I--well, I simply can't go to him. He has been very
+kind to us, to mother and me, and I am very fond of him. He was a great
+friend of my father's and I think he likes me for father's sake. And now
+I will not trouble him in his sickness with my troubles--I will _not_."
+
+She raised her head as she said it and Captain Sears, regarding her, was
+again acutely conscious of the fact that it was a very fine head indeed.
+
+"I understand," he said.
+
+"Yes, I knew you would. And I know I could fight this out by myself. And
+shall, of course. But, nevertheless, I am glad you were here as--well,
+as a witness, if it ever comes to that. You heard what Elvira--Miss
+Snowden--said about appealing to those higher up. I suppose she means
+Mrs. Phillips, the one who founded the Harbor. If they should write to
+her I---- What is it, Esther?"
+
+Mrs. Tidditt had rushed into the room, bristling. She waved her arms
+excitedly.
+
+"'Lizbeth, 'Lizbeth," she whispered, "they're goin' to tell him. They're
+makin' up the yarn now that they're goin' to tell him."
+
+"Tell him? Tell who?"
+
+"Judge Knowles. They've decided to go right straight over to the judge's
+house and--and do what they call appeal to him about them images. Elviry
+she's goin', and Susanna, and Desire Peasley, too, for what I know. What
+do you want me to do? Ain't there any way I can help stop 'em?"
+
+For the first time in that distressing forenoon Captain Kendrick saw
+Miss Berry's nerve shaken. She clasped her hands.
+
+"Oh dear!" she cried. "Oh, dear, that is the very thing they mustn't do!
+I wouldn't have Judge Knowles worried or troubled about this for the
+world. I have kept everything from him. He is _so_ ill! If those women
+go to him and---- Oh, but they mustn't, they mustn't! I can't let them."
+
+Mrs. Tidditt, diminutive but combative, offered a suggestion.
+
+"Do you want me to go out and stop 'em?" she demanded. "I'll go and
+stand in the kitchen doorway, if you want me to. They won't get by if
+I'm there, not in a hurry, anyway."
+
+"Oh no, no, Esther, of course not."
+
+"I tell you what I'll do. I'll go and tell Emmeline not to let 'em in
+the judge's house. She's my cousin and she'll do what I
+ask--sometimes--if I don't ask much."
+
+"No, that wouldn't do any good, any permanent good. But they must not go
+to the judge. They must not. He has been so kind and forbearing and he
+is so very sick. The doctor told me that he.... They shan't go. They can
+say anything they please to me, but they shan't torment him."
+
+She started toward the door through which Mrs. Tidditt had entered. At
+the threshold she paused for an instant and turned.
+
+"Please excuse me, Cap'n Kendrick," she said. "I almost forgot that you
+were here. I think I wouldn't wait if I were you. There will be another
+scene and I'm sure you have had scenes enough. I have, too, but.... Oh,
+well, it will be all right, I'm sure. Please don't wait. Thank you for
+calling."
+
+She turned again but the captain stopped her. As she faced him there in
+the doorway their eyes had met. Hers were moist--for the first time she
+was close to the breaking point--and there was a look in them which
+caused him to forget everything except one, namely, that the crowd in
+the "parrot cage" at the other end of that hall should not trouble her
+further. It was very seldom that Captain Sears Kendrick, master mariner,
+acted solely on impulse. But he did so now.
+
+"Stop," he cried. "Miss Elizabeth, don't go. Stay where you are....
+Here--you--" turning to Mrs. Tidditt. "You go and tell those folks I
+want to see 'em. Tell 'em to come aft here--now."
+
+There was a different note in his voice, a note neither Elizabeth nor
+the Tidditt woman had before heard. Yet if Judah Cahoon had been present
+he would have recognized it. He had heard it many times, aboard many
+tall ships, upon many seas. It was the captain's quarter-deck voice and
+it meant business.
+
+Mrs. Tidditt and Elizabeth had not heard it, and they looked at the
+speaker in surprise. Captain Sears looked at them, but not for long.
+
+"Lively," he commanded. "Do you hear? Go for'ard and tell that crew in
+the galley, or the fo'castle, or wherever they are, to lay aft here.
+I've got somethin' to say to 'em."
+
+It was seldom that Esther Tidditt was at a loss for words. As a usual
+thing her stock was unlimited. Now she merely gasped.
+
+"You--you--" she stammered. "You want me to ask--to ask Elviry and
+Susanna and them to come in here?"
+
+"Ask? Who said anything about askin'? I want you to tell 'em I say for
+them to come here. It's an order, and you can tell 'em so, if you want
+to."
+
+Mrs. Tidditt gasped again. "Well!" she exclaimed. "Well, my good lordy,
+if this ain't---- A-ll right, _I'll_ tell 'em."
+
+She hastened down the corridor. Elizabeth ventured a faint protest.
+
+"But, Cap'n Kendrick--" she began. He stopped her.
+
+"It is all right, Miss Elizabeth," he said. "I'm handlin' this matter
+now. All you've got to do is look on.... Well, are they comin' or must I
+go after 'em?"
+
+Apparently he had forgotten that his lameness made going anywhere a slow
+proceeding. As a matter of fact he had. He had forgotten everything
+except the business of the moment and the joy of being once more in
+supreme command.
+
+The message borne by Mrs. Tidditt had, presumably, been delivered. The
+messenger had left the dining room door open and through it came a
+tremendous rattle of tongues. Obviously the captain's order had created
+a sensation.
+
+Elizabeth listened.
+
+"Well?" repeated Sears, again. "Are they goin' to come?"
+
+Miss Berry smiled faintly. "I think they will come," she answered. "If
+they are as--as curious as I am they will."
+
+They were. At any rate they came. Miss Snowden, Mrs. Brackett and Mrs.
+Chase in the lead, the others following. Mrs. Tidditt brought up the
+rear, marshaling the stragglers, as it were.
+
+Elvira was, of course, the spokeswoman. She was the incarnation of
+dignified and somewhat resentful surprise.
+
+"We have been told," she began, loftily, "we have been _told_, Cap'n
+Kendrick, that you wished to speak to us. We can't imagine why, but we
+have came--come, I should say. _Do_ you wish to speak to us?"
+
+Kendrick nodded. "Yes," he said crisply, "I do. I want to tell you that
+you mustn't go to Judge Knowles about buyin' those iron statues of Cap'n
+Seth's or about anything else. He is sick and mustn't be worried. Miss
+Berry says so, and I agree with her."
+
+He paused From the committee came a gasp, or concert of gasps and
+muttered exclamations, indicating astonishment. Elvira voiced the
+feeling.
+
+"You agree with her!" she exclaimed. "_You_ agree? Why--I never did!"
+
+"Yes. And I agree with her, too, about buyin' those--er--lions and dogs
+and--hogs, or whatever they are. I don't say they aren't worth
+seventy-five dollars or more--or less--I don't know. But I do say that,
+until I have had time to look into things aboard here, I don't want any
+money spent except for stores and other necessities. There isn't a bit
+of personal feelin' in this, you must understand, it is business, that's
+all."
+
+He paused once more, to let this sink in. It sank apparently and when it
+again came to the surface an outburst of incoherent indignation came
+with it. Every committee-woman said something, even Mrs. Chase, although
+her observations were demands to know what was being said by the rest.
+Elizabeth was the only one who remained silent. She was gazing,
+wide-eyed, at the captain, and upon her face was a strange expression,
+an expression of eagerness, dawning understanding, and--yes, of hope.
+
+Miss Snowden was so completely taken aback that she was incapable of
+connected speech. Mrs. Susanna Brackett, however, was of a temperament
+less easily upset. She stepped forward.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," she demanded, "what are you talkin' about? What right
+have you got to say how the Fair Harbor money shall be spent? What are
+you interferin' here for I'd like to know?"
+
+"I'm not interferin'. I'm taking charge, that's all.
+
+"Takin' _charge_?... My land of love!... Charge of what?"
+
+"Of this craft here, this Fair Harbor place. Judge Knowles offered me
+the general management of it three days ago."
+
+Even the Brackett temperament was not proof against such a shock.
+Susanna herself found difficulty in speaking.
+
+"You--you--" she sputtered. "My soul to heavens! Do you mean---- Are you
+crazy?"
+
+"Um--maybe. But, anyhow, crazy or not, I'm in command aboard here from
+now on. Miss Elizabeth here--and her mother, of course--will be captain
+and mate, same as they've always been, but I'll be--well, commodore or
+admiral, whichever you like to call it. It's a queer sort of a job for a
+man like me," he added, with a grim smile, "but it looks as if it was
+what we'd all have to get used to."
+
+For a moment there was silence, absolute silence, in the best parlor of
+the Fair Harbor for Mariners' Women. Then that silence was broken.
+
+"What is he sayin'?" wailed Mrs. Aurora Chase. "Elviry Snowden, why
+don't you tell me what he's a-sayin'?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+The bomb had burst, the debris had fallen, the smoke had to some extent
+cleared, the committee, still incoherent but by no means speechless, had
+retired to the dining room to talk it over. Mrs. Tidditt had accompanied
+them; and Sears Kendrick and Elizabeth Berry were saying good-by at the
+front door.
+
+"Well," observed the captain, dubiously, "I'm glad you don't think I'm
+more than nine tenths idiot. It's some comfort to know you can see one
+tenth of common-sense in the thing. It's more than I can, and that's
+honest. I give you my word, Miss Elizabeth, when I set sail from Judah's
+back entry this mornin' I hadn't any more idea that I should undertake
+the job of handlin' the Fair Harbor than--well, than that Snowden woman
+had of kissin' that little spitfire that was flyin' up in her face every
+minute or two while she was tryin' to read that paper.... Ha-ha! that
+was awfully funny."
+
+Elizabeth smiled. "It was," she agreed. "And it looks so much funnier to
+me now than it did then, thanks to you, Cap'n Kendrick. You have taken a
+great load off my mind."
+
+"Um--yes, and taken it on my own, I shouldn't wonder. I do hope you'll
+make it clear to your mother that all I intend doin' is to keep a sort
+of weather eye on money matters, that's all. She is to have just the
+same ratin' aboard here that she has always had--and so will you, of
+course."
+
+"But I haven't had any real rating, you know. And now I will be more of
+a fifth wheel than ever. You and mother can manage the Harbor. You won't
+need me at all. I can take a vacation, can't I? Won't that be
+wonderful!"
+
+He looked at her in unfeigned alarm.
+
+"Here, here!" he exclaimed. "Lay to! Come up into the wind! Don't talk
+that way, Miss Berry, or I'll jump over the rail before I've really
+climbed aboard this craft. I'm countin' on you to do three thirds of the
+work, just as I guess you've been doin' for a good while. All I shall be
+good for--if anything--is to be a sort of reef in the channel, as you
+might say, something for committees like this one to run their bows on
+if they get too far off the course."
+
+"And that will be the most useful thing any one can do, Cap'n Kendrick.
+Oh, I shall thank Judge Knowles--in my mind--so many, many times a day
+for sending you here, I know I shall. I guessed, when he told me you
+were going to call, that there was something behind that call. And there
+was. What a wise old dear he is, bless him."
+
+"Is he? Well I wish I was surer of the wisdom in trappin' me into takin'
+this command. However, I have taken it, so I'll have to do the best I
+can for a while, anyhow. Afterwards--well, probably I won't last _but_ a
+little while, so we won't worry about more than that. And you'll have to
+stand by the wheel, Miss Elizabeth. If it hadn't been for you--I mean
+for the way that committee lit into you--I don't think I should ever
+have taken charge."
+
+"I know. And I sha'n't forget. You may count on me, Cap'n Kendrick, for
+anything I can do to help."
+
+His face brightened. "Good!" he exclaimed. "That's as good as an
+insurance policy on the ship and cargo. With you to pilot and me to
+handle the crew she ought to keep somewhere in deep water.... Well, I'll
+be gettin' back to port. Judah's dinner will be gettin' cold and he
+won't like that. And to-morrow mornin' I'll come again and we'll have a
+look at the figures."
+
+"Yes. I'll have the books and bills and everything ready.... Oh, be
+careful! Can't I help you down the step?"
+
+He shook his head. "I can navigate after a fashion," he said, grimly. "I
+get along about as graceful as a brick sloop in a head tide, but, by the
+Lord Harry, I'll get along somehow.... No, don't, please. I'd rather
+you didn't help me, if you don't mind."
+
+Slowly, painfully, and with infinite care he lowered himself down the
+step. On level ground once more, leaning heavily on his cane, he turned
+to her and smiled a somewhat shame-faced apology.
+
+"It's silly, I know," he said, panting a little, "but I've always been
+used to doin' about as I pleased and it--somehow it plagues me to think
+I can't go it alone still. Just stubborn foolishness."
+
+She shook her head. "No, it isn't," she said, quickly. "I understand.
+And I do hope you will be better soon. Of course you will."
+
+"Will I?... Well, maybe. Good mornin', Miss Berry. Be sure and tell your
+mother she's to be just as much cap'n as she ever was."
+
+He hobbled along the walk to the gate. As he passed beneath the sign he
+looked back. She was still standing in the doorway and when he limped in
+at the entrance of the General Minot place she was there yet, watching
+him.
+
+He said no word to Judah of his acceptance of the post of commander of
+the Fair Harbor. He felt that Judge Knowles should be the first to know
+of it and that he, himself, should be the one to tell him. So, after
+dinner was over, and Judah had harnessed the old horse to go to the
+Minot wood lot for a load of pine boughs and brush for kindling, he
+asked his ex-cook to take him across to the judge's in the wagon, leave
+him there, and come for him later. Mr. Cahoon, of course, was delighted
+to be of service but, of course also, he was tremendously curious.
+
+"Hum," he observed, "goin' to see the judge again, be you, Cap'n Sears?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Hum.... Ain't heard that he's any sicker, nor nothin' like that, have
+you?"
+
+"No."
+
+"I see.... Yus, yus.... Just goin' to make a--er--sort of--what you
+might call a--er--a call, I presume likely."
+
+"I shouldn't wonder."
+
+"Um-hm.... I see.... Yus, yus, I see.... Um-hm.... Well, I suppose we
+might as well--er--start now as any time, eh?"
+
+"Better, I should say, Judah. Whenever you and the Foam Flake are ready,
+I am."
+
+The Foam Flake was the name with which Judah had rechristened the old
+horse. The animal's name up to the time of the rechristening had been
+Pet, but this, Mr. Cahoon explained, he could _not_ stand.
+
+"'Whatever else he is,' says I to young Minot, 'he ain't no pet--not of
+mine. The only way I ever feel like pettin' that oat barrel,' I says,
+'is with a rope's end.' 'Well, why don't you give him a new name?' says
+he. 'What'll I call him?' says I. 'Anything you can think of,' he says.
+'By Henry,' says I. 'I have called him about everything I can think of,
+already.' Haw, haw! That was a pretty good one, wan't it Cap'n Sears?"
+
+"But where did you get 'Foam Flake' from?" the captain had wanted to
+know.
+
+"Oh, it just come to me, as you might say, same as them things do come
+sometimes. I was tellin' the Methodist minister about it one day and he
+said 'twas a--er--one of them--er--inflammations. Eh? Don't seem as if
+it could have been 'inflammation,' but 'twas somethin' like it."
+
+"Inspiration, maybe."
+
+"That's the ticket, inspiration's what 'twas. Well, I was kind of
+draggin' a seine through my head, so to speak, tryin' to haul aboard a
+likely name for the critter, and fetchin' the net in empty every time,
+when one day that--er--what-d'ye-call-it?--inflammation landed on me.
+I'd piloted 'Pet' and the truck wagon over to Harniss--and worked my
+passage every foot of the way--and over there to Brett's store I met
+Luther Wixon, who was home from a v'yage to the West Indies. Lute and me
+had been to sea together half a dozen times, and we got kind of
+swappin' yarns about the vessels we'd been in.
+
+"'Have you heard about the old _Foam Flake_?' says Lute. 'She was
+wrecked on the Jersey coast off Barnegat,' he says, 'and now they've
+made a barge out of her hull and she's freightin' hay in New York
+harbor,' he says.
+
+"Well, sir, I hauled off and fetched the broadside of my leg a slap you
+could have heard to Jericho. 'By the creepin', jumpin',' says I. 'I've
+got it!' 'Yes,' he says, 'you act as if you had. But what do you take
+for it?' 'I wouldn't take a dollar note for it right now,' I told him.
+And I wouldn't have, nuther. The old _Foam Flake_--maybe you remember
+her, Cap'n Sears--was the dumdest, lop-sidedest, crankiest old white tub
+of a bark that ever carried sail. When I was aboard of her she wouldn't
+steer fit to eat, always wanted to go to port when you tried to put her
+to starboard, walloped and slopped along awkward as a cow, was the
+slowest thing afloat, and all she was ever really fit for was what they
+are usin' her for now, and that was to stow hay in. If that wan't that
+old horse of Minot's all over then I hope I'll never smoke a five-cent
+cigar again. 'You ain't "Pet" no more,' says I to the critter; 'your
+name's "Foam Flake!"' Haw, haw! See now, don't you, Cap'n Sears?"
+
+Foam Flake and the truck-wagon landed the captain at the Knowles gate
+and, a few minutes later, Kendrick was, rather shamefacedly, announcing
+to the judge his acceptance of the superintendency of the Fair Harbor.
+The invalid, as grimly sardonic and indomitable as ever, chuckled
+between spasms of pain and weakness.
+
+"Good! Good!" he exclaimed. "I thought you wouldn't say no if you once
+saw how things were over there. Congratulations on your good sense,
+Kendrick."
+
+Sears shook his head. "Don't be any more sarcastic than you can help,
+Judge," he said.
+
+"No sarcasm about it. If you hadn't stepped in to help that girl I
+should have known you didn't have any sense at all. By the way, I didn't
+praise her too highly when we talked before, did I? She is considerable
+of a girl, Elizabeth Berry, eh, Cap'n?"
+
+The captain nodded.
+
+"She is," he admitted. "And she was so confoundedly plucky, and she
+stood up against that crowd of--of----"
+
+"Mariners' women. Yes. Ho, ho! I should like to have been there."
+
+"I am glad you wasn't. But when I saw how she stood up to them, and then
+when her mother----"
+
+"Yes. Um ... yes, I know. Isaac Berry was my friend and his daughter is
+a fine girl. We'll remember that when we talk about the family,
+Kendrick.... Whew! Well, I feel better. With you and Elizabeth to handle
+matters over there, Lobelia's trust will be in good hands. Now I can go
+to the cemetery in comfort."
+
+He chuckled as if the prospect was humorous. Captain Sears spoke quickly
+and without considering exactly how the words sounded.
+
+"Indeed you can't," he protested. "Judge Knowles, I'm goin' to need you
+about every minute of every day from now on."
+
+"Nonsense! You won't need me but a little while, fortunately. And--for
+that little while, probably--I shall be here and at your disposal. Come
+in whenever you want to talk matters over. If the doctor or that damned
+housekeeper try to stop you, hit 'em over the head. Much obliged to you,
+Cap'n Kendrick. He, he! We'll give friend Egbert a shock when he comes
+to town.... Oh, he'll come. Some of these days he'll come. Be ready for
+him, Kendrick, be ready for him."
+
+That evening the captain told Judah of his new position and Judah's
+reception of the news was not encouraging. Somehow Sears felt that, with
+the voice of Judah Cahoon was, in this case, speaking the opinion of
+Bayport.
+
+Judah had been scrubbing the frying-pan. He dropped it in the sink with
+a tremendous clatter.
+
+"_No!_" he shouted. "You're jokin', ain't you, Cap'n Sears?"
+
+"It's no joke, Judah."
+
+"My creepin' Henry! You can't mean it. You ain't really, honest to
+godfreys, cal'latin' to pilot that--that Fair Harbor craft, be you?"
+
+"I am, Judah. Wish me luck."
+
+"Wish you _luck_! Jumpin', creepin', crawlin', hoppin'---- Why, there
+ain't no luck _in_ it. That ain't no man's job, Cap'n Sears. That's a
+woman's job, and even a woman'd have her hands full. Why, Cap'n,
+they'll--that crew of--of old hens in there they'll pick your eyes out."
+
+"Oh, I guess not, Judah. I've handled crews before."
+
+"Yes--yes, you have--men crews aboard ship. But this ain't no men crew,
+this is a woman crew. You can't lam _this_ crew over the head with no
+handspike. When one of those fo'mast hands gives you back talk you can't
+knock _her_ into the scuppers. All you can do is just stand and take it
+and wait for your chance to say somethin'. And you won't _git_ no
+chance. What chance'll you have along with Elviry Snowden and Desire
+Peasley and them? Talk! Why, jumpin' Henry, Cap'n Sears, any one of them
+Shanghais in there can talk more in a minute than the average man could
+in a hour. Any one of 'em! Take that Susanna Brackett now. Oh, I've
+heard about _her_! She had a half-brother one time. Where is he now? Ah
+ha! Where is he? Nobody knows, that's where he is. Him and her used to
+live together. Folks that lived next door used to hear her tongue
+a-goin' at him all hours day or night. Wan't no 'watch and watch' in
+that house--no sir-ee! She stood _all_ the watches. She----"
+
+"There, there, Judah. I guess I can stand the talk. If it gets too bad
+I'll put cotton in my ears."
+
+"Huh! Cotton! Cotton won't do no good. Have to solder your ears up
+like--like a leaky tea-kittle, if you wanted to keep from hearin'
+Susanna Brackett's clack. Why, that brother of hers--Ebenezer Samuels,
+seems to me his name was. Seems to me they told me that Susanna's name
+was Samuels afore she married Brackett. Maybe twan't Samuels. Seems to
+me, now I think of it, as if 'twas Schwartz. Yet it don't hardly seem
+as if it could be, does it? I guess likely I'm gettin' him mixed with a
+feller name of Samuel Schwartz that I knew on South Street in New York
+one time. Run a pawn shop, he did. I remember _that_ Schwartz 'cause he
+used to _take_ stuff, you know--er--er--same as a Chinaman. One of them
+oakum eaters, that s what he was--an oakum eater. Why one time he----"
+
+Sears never did learn what happened to Mrs. Brackett's brother. Judah's
+reminiscent fancy, once started, wandered far and wide, and in this case
+it forgot entirely to return to the missing Samuels--or Schwartz. But
+Mr. Cahoon expressed himself freely on the subject of his beloved
+ex-captain and present lodger taking charge of the establishment next
+door. Sears' explanations and excuses bore little weight. Time and time
+again that evening Mr. Cahoon would come out of a dismal reverie to
+exclaim: "Skipper of the Fair Harbor for Mariners' Women! You! Cap'n
+Sears Kendrick, skipper of _that_ craft! Don't seem possible, somehow,
+does it?"
+
+"Look here Judah," the captain at last said, in desperation, "if you
+feel so almighty bad about it, perhaps you won't want me here. I can
+move, you know."
+
+Judah turned a horrified face in his direction. "Move!" he repeated
+"_Don't_ talk so, Cap'n Sears. That's the one comfort I see in the whole
+business. Livin' right next door to 'em the way you and me do, you can
+always run into port here if the weather gets too squally over yonder.
+Yes, sir there'll always be a snug harbor under my lee when the Fair
+Harbor's too rugged. Eh? Ha, ha!"
+
+Just before retiring Sears said, "There's just one thing I want you to
+do, Judah. You may feel--as I know you do feel--that my takin' this job
+is a foolish thing. But don't you let any one else know you feel that
+way."
+
+Judah snorted. "Don't you worry, Cap'n Sears," he said. "If any one of
+them sea lawyers down to Bassett's store gets to heavin' sass at me
+about your takin' the hellum at the Harbor I'll shut their hatches for
+'em. I'll tell 'em the old judge and Lobelia was ondecided between you
+and Gen'ral Grant for the job, but finally they picked you. Don't
+mistake me now, Cap'n. Your goin' over there is the best thing for
+the--the henroost that ever was or ever will be. It's you I'm thinkin'
+about. It ain't--well, by the crawlin' prophets, 'tain't the kind of
+berth you've been used to. Now is it, Cap'n Sears?"
+
+Kendrick smiled, a one-sided smile.
+
+"Maybe not, Judah," he admitted. "It is a queer berth, but it's a berth,
+and, unless these legs of mine get well a lot quicker than I think they
+will, I may be mighty thankful to have any berth at all."
+
+He told his sister this when she called to learn if the rumor she had
+heard was true. She shook her head.
+
+"Perhaps it is all right, Sears," she said. "I suppose you know best.
+But, somehow, I--well, I hate to think of your doin' it."
+
+"I know. You're proud, Sarah. Well, I used to be proud too, before the
+ship-chandlery business and the Old Colony railroad dismasted me and
+left me high and dry."
+
+She put a hand on his arm. "Don't, Sears," she pleaded. "You know why I
+hate to have you do it. It don't seem--it don't seem--you know what I
+mean."
+
+"A man's job. I know. Judah said the same thing. I took Judge Knowles'
+offer because it seemed the only way I could earn my salt. If I didn't
+take it you and Joel might have had a poor relation to board and lodge.
+And you've got enough on your hands already, Sarah."
+
+She sighed. "Of course I knew that was why you took it," she said.
+
+Yet, even as he said it, he realized that the statement was not the
+whole truth. The fifteen hundred a year salary had tempted him, but if
+he had not gone to the Fair Harbor on that forenoon and seen Elizabeth
+Berry brave the committee and her mother, it is extremely doubtful if he
+would have yielded. In all probability he would have declined the
+judge's offer and have risked the prospect of the almost hopeless
+future, for a time longer at least.
+
+But, having accepted, he characteristically cast doubts, misgivings and
+might-have-beens over the side, as he had cast wreckage over the rails
+of his ships after storms, and, while Bayport buzzed with gossip and
+criticism and surmise concerning him, took up his new duties and went
+ahead with them. The morning following that of his dramatic scene with
+the committee he limped to the door of the Fair Harbor and, for the
+first time, entered that door as general manager.
+
+He anticipated, and dreaded, a perhaps painful and surely embarrassing
+scene with Mrs. Berry, but was pleasantly disappointed. Elizabeth, true
+to her promise, had evidently broken the news to her mother and, also,
+had reconciled the matron to her partial deposing. Mrs. Berry was, of
+course, a trifle martyrlike, a little aggrieved, but on the whole
+resigned.
+
+"I presume, Captain Kendrick," she said, "that I should have expected
+something of the sort. Dear 'Belia is abroad and Judge Knowles is ill,
+and, from what I hear, his mind is not what it was."
+
+Sears, repressing a smile, agreed that that might be the case.
+
+"But, of course, Mrs. Berry," he explained, "I did not take the position
+with the least idea of interferin' with you. You will be--er--er--well,
+just what you have been here, you know. I've shipped to help you and the
+judge and Miss Elizabeth in any way I can, that's all."
+
+With the situation thus diplomatically explained Mrs. Berry brightened,
+restored her handkerchief to her pocket--in the '70's ladies' gowns had
+pockets--and announced that she was sure that she and the captain would
+get on charmingly together.
+
+"And, after all, Captain Kendrick," she gushed, "a man's advice is so
+often _so_ necessary in business, you know, and all that. Just as a
+woman's advice helps a man at times. Why, Captain Berry--my dear
+husband--used to say that without my advice he would have been
+absolutely at sea, yes, absolutely."
+
+According to Bayport gossip, as related by Judah, Captain Isaac Berry
+had been, literally, during the latter part of his life, absolutely at
+sea as much as he possibly could. "And mighty thankful to be there,
+too," so Mr. Cahoon was wont to add.
+
+Elizabeth heard a portion of Sears interview with her mother, but she
+made no comment upon it, to him at least. When he announced his
+intention of interviewing Miss Snowden, however, she was greatly
+surprised and said so. "You want to speak with Elvira, Cap'n Kendrick?"
+she repeated. "You do, really? Do you--of course I am not interfering,
+please don't think I am--but do you think it a--a wise thing to do, just
+now?"
+
+The captain nodded. "Why, yes, I do," he said. "Oh, it's all right, Miss
+Elizabeth, I'm not goin' to start any rows. You wouldn't think it to
+look at me, probably, but I've got an idea in my head and I'm goin' to
+try it out on this Elvira."
+
+It was some time before he was able to catch Miss Snowden alone, but at
+last he did and, as it happened, in that same summer-house, the Eyrie,
+where he had first seen her. The interview began, on her part, as
+frostily as a February morning in Greenland, but ended like a balmy
+evening in Florida. The day following he laid his plans to meet and
+speak with Mrs. Brackett and the militant Susanna thereafter became as
+peaceful, so far as he was concerned, as a dovecote in spring. Elizabeth
+Berry, noticing these changes, and surmising their cause, regarded him
+with something like awe.
+
+"Really, Cap'n Kendrick," she said, "I'm beginning to be a little afraid
+of you. When you first spoke of interviewing Elvira Snowden alone
+I--well, I was strongly tempted to send for the constable. I didn't know
+what might happen. She was saying--so Esther Tidditt told me--the most
+dreadful things about you and I was frightened for your safety. And Mrs.
+Brackett was just as savage. And now--why, Elvira this very morning told
+me, herself, that she considered your taking the management here a
+blessing. I believe she did call it a blessing in disguise, but that
+doesn't make any real difference. And Susanna--three days ago--was
+calling upon all our--guests here to threaten to leave in a body, as a
+protest against the giving over of the management of their own Harbor to
+a--excuse me--man like you. I don't know she meant by that, but it is
+what she said. And now----"
+
+"Just a minute, Miss Elizabeth. Called me a man, did she? Well, comin'
+from her that's a compliment, in a way. She ought to know she's the
+nearest thing, herself, to a man that I've about ever seen in skirts.
+But that's nothin'. What interests me is that idea of all the crew
+aboard here threatenin' to leave. They could, I suppose, if they wanted
+to same as anybody aboard a ship could jump overboard. But in both cases
+the question would be the same, wouldn't it? Where would they go to
+after they left?"
+
+Miss Berry smiled. "They have no idea of leaving," she said. "But they
+like to think--or pretend to think--that they could if they wanted to
+and that the Fair Harbor would go to rack and ruin if they did. It
+comes, you see, of to paying that hundred dollars a year. That, to their
+mind--and I imagine Mrs. Phillips had it in her mind too, when she
+planned this place--prevents it being a 'home' in the ordinary sense of
+the word. But Susanna's threatening to leave amounts to nothing. What I
+am so much interested in is to know how you changed her attitude and
+Elvira's from war to peace? How did you do it, Cap'n Kendrick?"
+
+The captain's left eyelid drooped. He smiled. "Well," he said, slowly,
+"I tell you. I've sailed in all sorts of weather and I've come to the
+conclusion that when you're in a rough sea the first thing to do, if you
+can, is to smooth it down. If you can't--why, then fight it. The best
+treatment I know for a rough sea is to sling a barrel of oil over the
+bows. It's surprisin' what a little bit of oil will do to make things
+smoother for a vessel. It's always worth tryin', anyway, and that's how
+I felt in this case of Elvira and Susanna. When I started to beat up
+into their neighborhood I had a barrel of oil slung over both my port
+and starboard bows. I give you my word, Miss Elizabeth, I was the
+oiliest craft afloat in these waters, I do believe."
+
+His smile broadened. Elizabeth smiled too, but her smile was a bit
+uncertain.
+
+"I--I _think_ I understand you, Cap'n Kendrick," she said. "But I'm not
+quite sure. How did you---- Would you mind being just a little more
+clear? Won't you explain a little more fully?"
+
+"Surely. Easiest thing in the world. Take Sister Snowden. I cast anchor
+under her lee--and 'twas like tyin' up to an iceberg at first. Ha,
+ha!--and I began by sayin' that I had been waitin' for a chance to speak
+with her alone. There were a few things I wanted to explain, I said. I
+told her that of course I realized she was not like the average, common
+run of females here in the Harbor. I knew that so far as brains and
+refinement and--er--beauty were concerned she was far, far ahead, had
+all the rest of 'em hull down, so to speak."
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick, you didn't!"
+
+"Eh! Well, maybe I left out the 'beauty,' but otherwise than that I told
+her just that thing. The ice began to melt a little and when I went on
+to say that I realized how much the success of the Fair Harbor depended
+on her sense and brains and so on she was obliged to give in that she
+agreed with me. It was what she had thought all the time, you see; so
+when I told her I thought so too, we began to get on a common fishin'
+ground, so to speak. And the more I hinted at how wonderful I thought
+she was the smarter she began to think _I_ was. It ended in a sort of
+understandin' between us. I am to do the best I can as skipper here and
+she is to help along in the fo'castle, as you might say. When I need any
+of her suggestions I'm to go and ask her for 'em. And we aren't either
+of us goin' to tell the rest of the crew--or passengers, or whatever you
+call 'em--a word. When she and I separated there was a puddle of oil all
+around that Eyrie place, but there wasn't a breaker in sight. Ha, ha!
+Oh, dear!"
+
+He laughed aloud. Miss Berry laughed, too, but she still seemed somewhat
+puzzled.
+
+"But, Cap'n Kendrick," she said, "you're not going to ask for her
+suggestions, are you?"
+
+"Only when I need 'em. The agreement was that I was to ask when I needed
+'em. I have a pretty strong feelin' that I shan't need 'em much."
+
+"But it was her idea, the buying of that ridiculous statuary."
+
+"Yes, I know. We talked about that. I told her that I was sure the iron
+menagerie that belonged to her uncle, or whoever it was, would have made
+this place look as lovely as the Public Garden in Boston. I said you and
+your mother thought so, too, but that the trouble was we couldn't afford
+'em at present. If ever another collection hove in sight that we could
+afford, I'd let her know. But, whatever happened, she must always feel
+that I was dependin' on her. She said she was glad to know that and that
+I _could_ depend on her. So it'll be fair weather in her latitude for a
+while."
+
+"And Susanna--Mrs. Brackett? What did you say to her?"
+
+"Oh, exactly what I said to Elvira. I can depend on her, too, she said
+so. And I can have _her_ advice--when I need it. The main thing, Miss
+Elizabeth, was, it seemed to me, to smooth down the rough water until I
+could learn a little of my new job, at least enough to be of some help
+to you. Because it is plain enough that if this Fair Harbor is to keep
+afloat and on an even keel, you will keep it so--just as you have been
+keepin' it for the last couple of years. I called myself the admiral
+here the other day, when I was talkin' to that committee. I realize that
+all I really am, or ever will be, is a sort of mate to you, Miss
+Elizabeth. And a good deal of a lubber even at that, I am afraid."
+
+The lubber mate was, at least, a diligent student. Each morning found
+him hobbling to the door of the Fair Harbor--the side door now, not the
+stately and seldom-used front door--and in the room which Cordelia Berry
+called her "study" he and Elizabeth studied the books and accounts of
+the institution. These were in good condition, surprisingly good
+condition, and he of course realized that that condition was due to the
+capability and care of the young woman herself. Mrs. Berry professed a
+complete knowledge of everything pertaining to the Fair Harbor, but in
+reality her knowledge was very superficial. In certain situations she
+was of real help. When callers came during hours when Elizabeth and
+Sears were busy Cordelia received and entertained them and was in her
+element while doing so. At dinner--on one or two occasions the captain
+dined at the Harbor instead of limping back to Judah's kitchen--she
+presided at the long table and was the very pattern of the perfect
+hostess. A stranger, happening in by chance, might have thought her the
+owner of palaces and plantations, graciously dispensing hospitality to
+those less favored. As an ornament--upon the few occasions when the Fair
+Harbor required social ornamentation--Cordelia Berry left little to be
+desired. But when it came--as it usually did come--to the plain duties
+of housekeeping and managing, she left much. And that much was, so Sears
+Kendrick discovered, left to the willing and able hands of her daughter.
+
+As, under Elizabeth's guidance, Captain Sears plodded through the books
+and accounts, he was increasingly impressed with one thing, which was
+how very close to the wind, to use his own seafaring habit of thought
+and expression, the Fair Harbor for Mariners' Women was obliged to sail.
+The income from the fifty thousand dollar endowment fund was small, the
+seven hundred dollars paid yearly by the guests helped but a little, and
+expenses, even when pared down as closely as they had been, seemed large
+in comparison. Mrs. Berry's salary as matron was certainly not a big one
+and Elizabeth drew no salary at all. He spoke to her about it.
+
+"Don't they pay you any wages for all the work you do here?" he queried.
+
+She shook her head. "Of course not," she replied. "How could they? Where
+would the money come from?"
+
+"But--why, confound it, you run the whole craft. It isn't fair that you
+should do it for nothin'."
+
+"I do it to help mother. Her salary as matron here is practically all
+she has. She needs me. And, of course, the Fair Harbor is our home, just
+as it is Elvira's and Esther Tidditt's, and the rest."
+
+He glanced at her quickly to see if there was any trace of bitterness or
+resentment in her expression. He had detected none in her voice. But she
+was, apparently, not resentful, not as resentful as he, for that matter.
+
+"Yes," he said, and if he had paused to think he would not have said it,
+"it is your home now, but it isn't goin' to be always, is it? You're not
+plannin' to stay here and help your mother for the rest of your life?"
+
+She did not reply at once, when she did the tone was decisive and final.
+
+"I shall stay as long as I am needed," she said. "Here are the bills for
+the last month, Cap'n Kendrick."
+
+That evening the captain employed Judah and the Foam Flake to carry him
+to and from Judge Knowles'. The call was a very brief one. Sears had
+determined to trouble the judge as little as was humanly possible.
+
+"Judge," he said, coming to the point at once, "I've been lookin' over
+the books and runnin' expenses of that Harbor place and for the life of
+me I can't see how it can carry another cent and keep afloat. As it is,
+that Berry girl ought to draw at least a hundred a month, and she
+doesn't get a penny."
+
+Knowles nodded. "I know it," he agreed. "But you say yourself that the
+Fair Harbor can't spare another cent. How could we pay her?"
+
+"I don't know. And what I don't know a whole lot more is how I'm goin'
+to be paid fifteen hundred a year. Where's that comin' from; can you
+tell me?"
+
+From the bed--the invalid was in bed most of the time now--came a
+characteristic chuckle. "He, he, he," laughed the judge. "So you've got
+on far enough to wonder about that, eh?"
+
+"I certainly have. And I want to say right here that----"
+
+"Hold on! Hold on, Kendrick! Don't be a fool. And don't make the
+mistake of thinkin' I'm one, either. I may have let you guess that the
+Fair Harbor was to pay your salary. It isn't because it can't. _I'm_
+paying it and I'm going to pay it--while I'm alive and after I'm dead.
+You're my substitute and so long as you keep that job you'll get your
+pay. It's all arranged for, so don't argue."
+
+"But, Judge, why----"
+
+"Shut up. I want to do it and I can afford to do it. Let a dead man have
+a little fun, can't you. You'll earn your money, I tell you. And when
+that Egbert comes I'll get the worth of mine--dead or alive, I'll get
+it. Now go home and let me alone, I'm tired."
+
+But Sears still hesitated.
+
+"That's all right, Judge," he said. "You've got the right to spend your
+own money, I presume likely, so I won't say a word; although I may have
+my own opinion as to your judgment in spendin' it. But there's one more
+thing I can't quite get over. Here am I, about third mate's helper
+aboard that Harbor craft, bein' paid fifteen hundred a year, and that
+girl--as fine, capable, sensible--er--er--nice girl as ever lived, I do
+believe--workin' her head off and runnin' the whole ship, as you might
+say, and bein' paid nothin' at all. It isn't right. It isn't square. I
+won't stand it. I'll heave up my commission and you pay her the fifteen
+hundred. _She_ earns it."
+
+Silence. Then another slow chuckle from the bed.
+
+"Humph!" grunted Judge Knowles. "'Fine, capable, sensible, nice--'
+Getting pretty enthusiastic, aren't you, Kendrick? He, he, he!"
+
+Taken by surprise, and suddenly aware that he had spoken very
+emphatically, the captain blushed, and felt, himself a fool for so
+doing.
+
+"Why--I--I--" he stammered, then laughed, and declared stoutly, "I don't
+care if I am. That girl deserves all the praise anybody's got aboard.
+She's a wonder, that's what she is. And she isn't bein' treated right."
+
+The answer was of a kind quite unexpected.
+
+"Well," rasped the judge, "who said she was?"
+
+"Eh? What----"
+
+"Who said she was? Not I. Don't you suppose I know what Elizabeth Berry
+is worth to Lobelia Seymour's idiot shop over yonder? And what she
+gets--or doesn't get? And didn't I tell you that her father was my best
+friend? Then.... Oh, well! Kendrick, you go back to your job. And don't
+you fret about that girl. What she doesn't get now she.... Humph! Clear
+out, and don't worry me any more. Good night."
+
+So the captain departed. In a way his mind was more at rest. He was
+nearer to being reconciled to the fifteen hundred a year now that he
+knew it was not to come from the funds of the Fair Harbor. Judge Knowles
+was reputed to be rich. If he chose to pay a salary to gratify a
+whim--why, let him. He, Kendrick, would do his best to earn that salary.
+But, nevertheless, he did not intend to let Elizabeth Berry remain under
+any misapprehension as to where the salary was coming from. He would
+tell her the next time they met. A new thought occurred to him. Why not
+tell her then--that very evening? It was not late, only about nine
+o'clock.
+
+"Judah," he said, "I've got to run in to the Harbor a minute. Drive me
+around to the side door, will you? And then wait there for me, that's a
+good fellow."
+
+So, leaving the Foam Flake and its pilot to doze comfortably in the soft
+silence of the summer evening, Sears--after Judah had, as was his
+custom, lifted him down from the wagon seat and handed him his
+cane--plodded to the side door of the Harbor and knocked. Mrs. Brackett
+answered the knock.
+
+"Why, how d'ye do, Cap'n Kendrick?" she said, graciously. "Come right
+in. We wasn't expectin' you. You don't very often call evenin's. Come
+right in. I guess you know everybody here."
+
+He did, of course, for the group in the back sitting room was made up of
+the regular guests. He shook hands with them all, including Miss
+Snowden, who greeted him with queenly condescension, and little Mrs.
+Tidditt, who jerked his arm up and down as if it was a pump handle, and
+affirmed that she was glad to see him, adding, as an after thought,
+"Even if I did see you afore to-day."
+
+"Now you are just in time, Cap'n Kendrick," said Miss Elvira. "We are
+going to have our usual little 'sing' before we go to bed. Desire--Miss
+Peasley--plays the melodeon for us and we sing a few selections, sacred
+selections usually, it is our evening custom. Do join us, Cap'n
+Kendrick. We should love to have you."
+
+The captain thanked them, but declined. He had run in only for a moment,
+he said, a matter of business, and must not stop.
+
+"Besides, I shouldn't be any help," he added. "I can't sing a note."
+
+Miss Snowden would have uttered some genteel protest, but Mrs. Tidditt
+spoke first.
+
+"Humph! _That_ won't make any difference," she announced. "Neither can
+any of the rest of us--not the right notes."
+
+Possibly Elvira, or Susanna, might have retorted. The former looked as
+if she were about to, but Mrs. Aurora Chase came forward.
+
+"And it wasn't more'n ha'f past six neither," she declared with
+conviction.
+
+Just why or when it was half past six, or what had happened at that
+time, or what fragment of conversation Aurora's impaired hearing had
+caught which led her to think this happening was being discussed, the
+captain was destined never to learn. For at that instant Miss Berry came
+into the room, entering from the hall.
+
+"Who is it?" she asked. "Why, good evening, Cap'n Kendrick."
+
+She was what two thirds of Bayport would have called "dressed up." That
+is to say, she was wearing a simple afternoon gown instead of the
+workaday garb in which he had been accustomed to seeing her. It was
+becoming, even at the first glance he was sure of that.
+
+"Good evening, Cap'n Kendrick," she said, again. "I wasn't expecting
+you this evening. Is anything the matter?"
+
+"Oh no, no! I just ran over for a minute. I--um--yes, that's all."
+
+He scarcely knew how to explain his errand. He had referred to it as a
+matter of business, but it was scarcely that. And he could not explain
+it at all in the presence of the guests, each one so obviously eager to
+have him do so.
+
+"I just ran in," he repeated. She looked a little puzzled, and it seemed
+to him that she hesitated, momentarily. Then--
+
+"Won't you come into the parlor?" she asked. Was it the captain's
+imagination, or did Elvira and Susanna and Desire and the rest--except
+Aurora, of course, who had not heard--cast significant looks at each
+other? It seemed to him that they did, but why? A moment later he
+understood.
+
+"Come right in, Cap'n," she urged. "George is here, but you know him, of
+course."
+
+They had walked the length of the hall and were almost at the door when
+she made this announcement. He paused.
+
+"George?" he repeated.
+
+"Why, yes, George Kent. But that doesn't make a bit of difference. Come
+in."
+
+"But, Miss Elizabeth, I didn't realize you had company. I----"
+
+"No, no. Stop, Cap'n Kendrick. George isn't company. He is--just George.
+Come in."
+
+So he went in and George Kent, tall and boyish and good looking, rose to
+shake hands. He appeared very much at home in that parlor, more so than
+Sears Kendrick did just then. The latter knew young Kent well, of
+course, had met him first at Sarah Macomber's and had, during his slow
+convalescence there, learned to like him. They had not seen much of each
+other since the captain became Judah Cahoon's lodger, although Kent had
+dropped in once for a short call.
+
+But Sears had not expected to find him there, that evening, in the best
+parlor of the Fair Harbor. There was every reason why he should have
+expected it. Judah had told him that George was a regular visitor and
+had more than hinted at the reason. But, in the whirl of interest
+caused by his acceptance of his new position and the added interest of
+his daily labors with Elizabeth, the captain had forgotten about
+everything and every one else, Kent included.
+
+But there he was, young, broad-shouldered, handsome, optimistic,
+buoyant. And there, too, was Elizabeth, also young, and pretty and gayly
+chatty and vivacious. And there, too, was he, Sears Kendrick, no longer
+young, even in the actual count of years, and feeling at least twice
+that count--there he was, a cripple, a derelict.
+
+His call was very brief. The contrast between himself and those two
+young people was too great, and, to him, at least, too painful. He did
+not, of course, mention the errand which had brought him there. He could
+tell Elizabeth the facts concerning the payment of his wages at some
+other time. He gave some more or less plausible reason for his running
+in, and, at the end of fifteen minutes or so, ran out. Kent shook hands
+with him at parting and declared that he was going to call at the Minot
+place at an early date.
+
+"We've all missed you there at the Macombers', Cap'n," he said. "Your
+sister says it doesn't seem like the same place. And I agree with her,
+it doesn't. I'm coming to see you within a day or two, sure. May I?"
+
+Sears said of course he might, and tried to make his tone cordial, but
+the attempt was not too successful. Elizabeth accompanied him to the
+side door. This meant a return trip through the back sitting room,
+where, judging by the groans of the melodeon and the accompanying vocal
+wails, the "sing" had been under way for some minutes. But, when Captain
+Sears and Miss Berry entered the room, there was absolute silence.
+Something had stopped the sing, had stopped it completely and judging by
+the facial expressions of the majority of those present, painfully.
+
+Miss Snowden sat erect in her chair, frigidly, icily, disgustedly erect.
+Beside her Mrs. Brackett sat, scorn and mental nausea plain upon her
+countenance. Every one looked angry and disgusted except Mrs. Chase, who
+was eagerly whispering questions to her next neighbor, and Mrs.
+Tidditt, who was grinning broadly.
+
+Elizabeth looked in astonishment at the group.
+
+"Why what is it?" she asked. "What is the matter?"
+
+Several began speaking, but Miss Elvira raised a silencing hand.
+
+"We were having our sing," she said. "I say 'we _were_'. We are not now,
+because," her eyes turned to and dwelt upon the puzzled face of Captain
+Sears Kendrick, "we were interrupted."
+
+"Interrupted?" Elizabeth repeated the word.
+
+"Interrupted was what I said. And _such_ interruptions! Captain
+Kendrick, I presume you are not responsible for the--ahem--_manners_ of
+your--ahem--friend, or landlord, or cook or whatever he may be, but
+whoever _is_ responsible for them should be.... But there, listen for
+yourself."
+
+Warned by the raised Snowden hand, every one, including the captain and
+Elizabeth, listened. And, from the yard without so loud that the words
+were plainly understandable although the windows were closed and locked,
+came the voice of Judah Cahoon, uplifted in song.
+
+    "'Whisky is the life of man,
+      Whisky, Johnny!
+    Whisky from an old tin can,
+      Whisky for my Johnny!
+
+    "'I drink whisky and my wife drinks gin,
+      Whisky, Johnny!
+    The way we drink 'em is a sin,
+      Whisky for my Johnny!'"
+
+The singer paused, momentarily, and Elvira spoke.
+
+"Of course," she said, "I make no comment upon the lack of common
+politeness shown by interrupting our evening sing by such--ah--_noises_
+as that. But when one considers the morals of the person who chooses
+such low, disgraceful----"
+
+    "'I had a girl, her name was Lize,
+      Whisky, Johnny!
+    She put whisky in her pies,
+      Whisky for my Johnny!'"
+
+Captain Sears hobbled, as fast as his weak legs would permit, to the
+door. He flung it open.
+
+    "'Whisky stole my brains away,
+      Whisky, Johnny!
+    Just one more pull and then belay,
+      Whisky for----'"
+
+"Judah! _Judah!_"
+
+"Eh? Aye, aye, Cap'n Sears. What is it?"
+
+"Shut up!"
+
+"Eh? Oh! Aye, aye, Cap'n."
+
+He swung his former skipper to the seat of the truck-wagon. The captain
+spoke but little during the short trip home. What he did say, however,
+was to the point.
+
+"Judah," he ordered, "the next time you sing anywhere within
+speakin'-trumpet distance of that Fair Harbor place, don't you dare sing
+anything but psalms."
+
+"Eh? But which?"
+
+"Never mind. What in everlastin' blazes do you mean by sittin' up aloft
+here and bellowin' about--rum and women?"
+
+"Hold on, now, Cap'n Sears! Ho-ld on! That wan't no rum and woman song,
+that was the old 'Whisky, Johnny' chantey. Why, I've heard that song
+aboard your own vessels mo-ore times, Cap'n Sears. Why----"
+
+"All right. But don't let me ever hear it sung near the Fair Harbor
+again. If you must sing, when you're over there sing--oh, sing the
+doxology."
+
+Judah did not speak for a minute or two. Then he stirred rebelliously.
+
+"What's that?" asked the captain. "What are you mumblin' about?"
+
+"Eh? I wan't mumblin'. I was just sayin' I didn't have much time to
+learn new-fangled songs, that's all.... Whoa, you--you walrus! Don't you
+know enough to come up into the wind when you git to your moorin's?"
+
+As his boarder took his lamp from the kitchen table, preparatory to
+going to his room, Mr. Cahoon spoke again.
+
+"George Kent was over there, wan't he?" he observed.
+
+"Eh? Oh ... yes."
+
+"Um-hm. I cal-lated he would be. This is his night--one of 'em. Comes
+twice a week, Tuesdays and Fridays, they tell me, and then heaves in a
+Sunday every little spell, for good measure. Gettin' to be kind of
+settled thing between them two, so all hands are cal'latin'.... Hey?
+Turnin' in already, be you, Cap'n? Well, good night."
+
+Sears Kendrick found it hard to fall asleep that night. He tossed and
+tumbled and thought and thought and thought. At intervals he cursed
+himself for a fool and resolved to think no more, along those lines at
+least, but to forget the foolishness and get the rest he needed. And
+each time he was snatched back from the brink of that rest by a vision
+of George Kent, tall, young, good-looking, vigorous, with all the world,
+its opportunities and rewards, before him, and of himself almost on the
+verge of middle age, a legless, worthless, hopeless piece of wreckage.
+He liked Kent, George was a fine young fellow, he had fancied him when
+they first met. Every one liked him and prophesied his success in life
+and in the legal profession. Then why in heaven's name shouldn't he call
+twice a week at the Fair Harbor if he wished to? He should, of course.
+That was logic, but logic has so little to do with these matters, and,
+having arrived at the logical conclusion, Captain Sears Kendrick found
+himself still fiercely resenting that conclusion, envying young Kent his
+youth and his hopes and his future, and as stubbornly rebellious against
+destiny as at the beginning.
+
+Nevertheless--and he swore it more than once before that wretched night
+was over--no one but he should know of that envy and rebellion, least
+of all the cause of it. From then on he would, he vowed, take especial
+pains to be nice to George Kent and to help or befriend him in every
+possible way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+It was Kent himself who put this vow to the test. He called at the Minot
+place the very next evening. It was early, only seven o'clock; Judah,
+having begged permission to serve an early supper because it was "lodge
+night," had departed for Liberty Hall, where the local branch of the Odd
+Fellows met; and Sears Kendrick was sitting on the settee in the back
+yard, beneath the locust tree, smoking. Kent came swinging in at the
+gate and again the captain felt that twinge of envy and rebellion
+against fate as he saw the active figure come striding toward him.
+
+But, and doubly so because of that very twinge, his welcome was brimming
+with cordiality. Kent explained that his call must be a brief one, as he
+must hurry back to his room at the Macombers' to study. It was part of
+his agreement with Eliphalet Bassett that his duties as bookkeeper at
+the latter's store should end at six o'clock each night.
+
+Sears asked how he was getting on with his law study. He replied that he
+seemed to be getting on pretty well, but missed Judge Knowles' help and
+advice very much indeed.
+
+"I read with Lawyer Bradley over at Harniss now," he said. "Go over two
+evenings a week, Mondays and Thursdays. The other evenings--most of
+them--I put in by myself, digging away at _Smith on Torts_ and _Chitty
+on Bills_, and stuff of that kind. I suppose that sounds like pretty
+dull music to you, Cap'n Kendrick."
+
+The captain shook his head. "I don't know about the music part," he
+observed. "It's a tune I never could learn to play--or sing, either, I'm
+sure of that. But you miss the judge's help, do you?"
+
+"Miss it like blazes. He could do more in five minutes to make me see a
+point than Bradley can in an hour. Bradley's a pretty good lawyer, as
+the average run of small lawyers go, but Judge Knowles is away above the
+average. Bradley will hem and haw and 'rather think' this and 'it would
+seem as if' that, but the judge will say a hundred words, and two of 'em
+swear words, and there is the answer, complete, plain and demonstrated.
+I do like Judge Knowles. I only hope he likes me half as well."
+
+They discussed the judge, his illness and the pity of it. This led to a
+brief talk concerning Sears' hurt and his condition. Kent seemed to
+consider the latter much improved.
+
+"Your sister says so, too," he declared. "I heard her telling Macomber
+yesterday at dinner that she thought you looked and acted very much more
+like a well man than when you left our house. And your legs must be
+better, too, Cap'n. I'm sure you get around easier than you did."
+
+The captain shrugged. "I get around," he said, "but that's about all you
+can say. Whether I'll ever.... But there, what's the use of talkin'
+about my split timbers? Tell me some of the Bayport news. Now that it
+seems to be settled I'm goin' to tie up here for a good while I ought to
+know somethin' about my fellow citizens, hadn't I? What is goin' on?"
+
+There was not very much going on, so Kent said. Captain Lorenzo Taylor's
+ship was due in New York almost any week or day now, and then the
+captain would, of course, come home for a short visit. Mrs. Captain
+Elkanah Wingate had a new silk dress, and, as it was the second silk
+gown within a year, there was much talk at sewing circle and at the
+store concerning it and Captain Elkanah's money. One of Captain Orrin
+Eldridge's children was ill with scarlet fever. The young people of the
+Universalist society were going to give some amateur theatricals at the
+Town Hall some time in August, and the minister at the Orthodox
+meeting-house had already preached a sermon upon the sin of theater
+going.
+
+"There," concluded George Kent, with another laugh. "That's about all
+the local excitement, Cap'n. It won't keep you awake to-night, I hope."
+
+Sears smiled. "Guess I'll drop off in spite of it," he observed. "But it
+is kind of interestin', too, some of it. Hope Cap'n Lorenzo makes a good
+voyage home. He's in the _Belle of the Ocean_, isn't he? Um-hm. Well,
+she's a good able vessel and Lorenzo's a great hand to carry sail, so,
+give him good weather, he'll bring her home flyin'. So the Universalists
+have been behavin' scandalous, have they? Dear, dear! But what can you
+expect of folks so wicked they don't believe in hell? Humph! I mustn't
+talk that way. I forgot that you were a Universalist yourself, George."
+
+Kent smiled. "Oh, I'm as wicked as anybody you can think of," he
+declared. "Why, I'm going to take a part in those amateur theatricals,
+myself."
+
+"Are you? My, my! You'll be goin' to dancin'-school next, and then you
+_will_ be bound for that place you don't believe in. When is this show
+of yours comin' off? I'd like to see it, and shall, if Judah and the
+Foam Flake will undertake to get me to the Town Hall and back."
+
+"I think we'll give it the second week in August. We had a great
+argument trying to pick a play. For a long time we were undecided
+between 'Sylvia's Soldier' or 'Down by the Sea' or 'Among the Breakers.'
+At last we decided on 'Down by the Sea.' It's quite new, been out only
+four or five years, and it rather fits our company. Did you ever see it,
+Cap'n?"
+
+"No, I never did. I've been out _on_ the sea so much in my life that
+when I got ashore I generally picked out the shows that hadn't anything
+to do with it--'Hamlet,' or 'Lydia Thompson's British Blondes,' or
+somethin' like that," with a wink. Then he added, more soberly, "The old
+salt water looks mighty good to me now, though. Strange how you don't
+want a thing you can have and long for it when you can't.... But I'm not
+supposed to preach a sermon, at least I haven't heard anybody ask me to.
+What's your part in this--what d'ye call it?--'Out on the Beach,'
+George?"
+
+"'Down by the Sea.' Oh, I'm 'March Gale,' and when I was a baby I was
+cast ashore from a wreck."
+
+"Humph! When you were a baby. Started your seafarin' early, I should
+say. Who else is in it?"
+
+"Oh, Frank Crosby, he is 'Sept Gale,' my brother--only he isn't my
+brother. And John Carleton--the schoolteacher, you know--he is
+'Raymond,' the city man; he's good, too. And Sam Ryder, and Erastus
+Snow. There was one part--'John Gale,' an old fisherman chap, we
+couldn't seem to think of any one who could, or would, play it. But at
+last we did, and who do you think it was? Joel Macomber, your sister's
+husband."
+
+"What? Joel Macomber--on the stage! Oh, come now, George!"
+
+"It's a fact. And he's good, too. Some one told one of us that Macomber
+had done some amateur acting when he was young, and, in desperation, we
+asked him to try this part. And he is good. You would be surprised,
+Cap'n Kendrick."
+
+"Um-hm, I am now. I certainly am. What sort of a part is it Joel's got?
+What does this--er--Gale do; anything but blow?"
+
+"Why--why, he doesn't really do much, that's a fact. He is supposed to
+be a fisherman, as I said, but--well, about all he does in the play is
+to come on and off and talk a good deal, and scold at Frank and me--his
+sons, you know--and fuss at his wife and----"
+
+Captain Sears held up his hand.
+
+"That's enough, George," he interrupted. "That'll do. Don't do much of
+anything, talks a lot, and finds fault with other folks. No wonder Joel
+Macomber can act that part. He ought to be as natural as life in it.
+Aren't there any womenfolks in this play, though? I don't see how much
+could happen without them aboard."
+
+"Oh, yes, of course there are women. Three of them. Mrs. Cora Bassett,
+Eliphalet's brother's wife, she is 'Mrs. Gale,' my mother, only she
+turns out not to be; and Fannie Wingate, she is the rich city girl; and
+Elizabeth. That makes the three."
+
+"Yes, yes, so it does. But which Elizabeth are you talkin' about?"
+
+"Why, Elizabeth Berry. My--our Elizabeth, over here at the Fair Harbor."
+
+The quick change from "my" to "our" was so quick as to be almost
+imperceptible, but the captain noticed it. He looked up and Kent,
+catching his eye, colored slightly. Sears noticed the color, also, but
+his tone, when he spoke, was quite casual.
+
+"Oh," he said. "So Elizabeth's in it, too, is she? Well, well! What part
+does she take?"
+
+"She's 'Kitty Gale,' my sweetheart."
+
+"You don't say. She's good, I'll bet."
+
+"Wonderful!" Kent's enthusiasm was unrestrained. "You wouldn't believe
+any untrained girl could act as she does. She might have been born for
+the part, honestly she might."
+
+"Um-hm.... Well, maybe she was."
+
+"Eh? I beg your pardon."
+
+"Nothin', nothin'. I'll have to see that play, even if the Foam Flake
+founders and Judah has to carry me there pig-back. And how are you
+gettin' on in it yourself? You haven't told me that."
+
+"Oh, I'm doing well enough. Trying hard, at least. But, Cap'n Sears, you
+should see Elizabeth. She is splendid. But she is a wonderful girl,
+anyway. Don't you think she is?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"You couldn't help thinking so. No one could. Why----"
+
+The remainder of the conversation was, for the most part, a chant, sung
+as a solo by George Kent, and having as its subject, the wonders of Miss
+Berry. Captain Sears joined occasionally in the chorus, and smiled
+cordial and complete agreement. His caller was charmed.
+
+"I've had a bully good time, Cap'n," he declared, at parting. "I came
+intending to stay only a few minutes and I've been here an hour and a
+half. You are one of the most interesting talkers I ever heard in my
+life, if you don't mind my saying so."
+
+Sears, whose contributions to the latter half of the conversation had
+been about one word in twenty, laughed. "I'm afraid you haven't heard
+many good talkers," he said.
+
+"Oh, yes, I have. But there are precious few of them in this town. It
+does a fellow good to know a man like you, who has been everywhere and
+met so many people and done so many things worth while. And, you and I
+agree so on almost every point. I don't know whether you noticed it or
+not, but our opinions seemed so exactly alike. It's remarkable, I think.
+I like you, Cap'n Kendrick; you don't mind my saying so, do you?"
+
+"Oh, not a bit, not a bit. Glad of it, of course."
+
+"Yes. I liked you down there at your sister's, but you were so sick I
+didn't have the chance to know you as well as I wanted to. But I had
+seen enough of you to know I should like you a lot when I knew you
+better. And Elizabeth, she was sure I would."
+
+"Oh, she was, eh?"
+
+"Yes. Oh, yes. She likes you very much. We talk about you almost every
+time I call--I mean when we are together, you know. Well, good-by. I'm
+coming for another talk--and soon, too. May I?"
+
+"Hope you do, son. Come aboard any day. The gangplank is always down for
+you."
+
+Which was all right, except that as Sears watched his caller swinging
+buoyantly to the gate, the same unreasonable twinge came back to him,
+bringing with it the keen sense of depression and discouragement, the
+realization of his approaching middle age and his crippled condition. It
+did not last long, he would not permit it to linger, but it was acute
+while it lasted.
+
+He heard a great deal concerning the approaching production of "Down by
+the Sea" as the weeks passed and the time for that production drew
+nearer. As he and Elizabeth worked and took counsel together concerning
+the affairs of the Fair Harbor they spoke of it. She was enjoying the
+rehearsals hugely and the captain gathered that they furnished the
+opportunity for change of thought and relaxation which she had greatly
+needed. They spoke of George Kent, also; Sears saw to that. He brought
+the young man's name into their conversation at frequent intervals and
+took pains to praise him highly and to declare repeatedly his liking for
+him. All part of his own self-imposed penance, of course. And Elizabeth
+seemed to enjoy these conversations and agreed with him that George was
+"a nice boy" and likely to succeed in life.
+
+"I'm so glad you like him, Cap'n Kendrick," she said. "He likes you so
+much and is so sure that you are a wise man."
+
+Sears turned to look at her.
+
+"Sure that I'm what?" he demanded.
+
+"A wise man. He says that, next to Judge Knowles, he had rather have
+your opinion than any one else in Bayport."
+
+The captain shook his head. "Dear, dear!" he sighed. "And just as I had
+come to the conclusion that George was so smart. Me a wise man? _Me!_
+Tut, tut! George, you disappoint me."
+
+But she would not be turned aside in that way.
+
+"There is no reason for disappointment that I can see," she said. "I
+think he is quite right. You _are_ a wise man, Cap'n Kendrick. Of course
+I know you must be or Judge Knowles would not have selected you to take
+charge here. But since you and I have been working together I have found
+it out for myself. In fact I don't see how we ever got along--mother and
+I--before you came. And we didn't get on very well, that is a fact," she
+added, with a rueful smile.
+
+"Rubbish! You got on wonderfully. And as for the worth of my
+opinions--well, you ask Northern Lights what she thinks of 'em. She'll
+tell you, I'll bet."
+
+"Northern Lights" was Captain Sears's pet name for Mrs. Aurora Chase.
+Elizabeth asked why Aurora should hold his opinions lightly. The captain
+chuckled.
+
+"Well," he explained, "she asked me yesterday what I thought of the
+Orthodox minister's sermons about the Universalist folks play-actin'. I
+said I hadn't heard 'em first hand, but that I understood they were hot.
+I thought she sailed off with her nose pretty well aloft, but I couldn't
+see why. To-day Esther Tidditt told me that she had understood me to say
+the sermons were 'rot.' That's what comes of bein' hard of hearin'. Ho,
+ho! But truth will out, won't it?"
+
+The afternoon preceding the evening when "Down by the Sea" was to be
+publicly presented upon the stage of the town hall was overcast and
+cloudy. Judah, with one eye upon the barometer swinging in its gimbals
+in the General Minot front entry, had gloomily prophesied rain. Captain
+Sears, although inwardly agreeing with the prophecy, outwardly
+maintained an obstinate optimism.
+
+"I don't care if the glass is down so low that the mercury sticks out of
+the bottom and hits the deck," he declared. "It isn't goin' to rain
+to-night, Judah. You mark my words."
+
+"I'm a-markin' 'em, Cap'n Sears. I'm a-markin' of 'em. But what's the
+use of words alongside of a fallin' glass like that? And, besides, ain't
+I been watchin' the sky all the afternoon? Look how it's smurrin' up
+over to the west'ard. Look at them mare's tails streakin' out up aloft.
+
+    'Mack'rel skies and mares' tails
+    Make lofty ships to douse their sails.'
+
+You know that's well's I do, Cap'n Sears."
+
+"Yes, yes, so I do, Judah. But do you know this one?
+
+    'Hi, diddle, diddle,
+    The cat and the fiddle,
+    The cow jumped over the moon.'
+
+What have you got to say to that, eh?"
+
+Judah stared at him. His chin quivered.
+
+"Wh--wh--" he stammered. "What have I got to say to that? Why, I ain't
+got nawthin' to say to it. There ain't no sense to it. That's Mother
+Goose talk, that's all that is, What's that got to do with the
+weather?"
+
+"It would have somethin' to do with it if a cow jumped over the moon,
+wouldn't it?"
+
+"Eh? But---- Oh, creepin' prophets, Cap'n Sears, what's the use of you
+and me wastin' our breath over such foolishness? You're just bein'
+funny, that's all." His expression changed, and he smiled broadly. "Why,
+by Henry," he declared, "I ain't heard you talk that way afore since you
+shipped aboard this General Minot craft along of me. That's the way you
+used to poke fun at me aboard the old _Wild Ranger_ when we was makin'
+port after a good v'yage. What's happened to spruce you up so? Doctor
+ain't told you any special good news about them legs of yours, has he,
+Cap'n? Limpin' Moses, I wisht that was it."
+
+Sears shook his head. "No, Judah," he replied. "No such luck as that.
+It's just my natural foolishness, I guess. And I'm goin' to the theater
+to-night, too, all by myself. Think of it. Do you wonder I feel like a
+boy in his first pair of long trousers?"
+
+Mr. Cahoon's whisker-framed face expressed doubt and foreboding. "I
+ain't sure yit that I'm doin' right in lettin' you pilot yourself down
+to that town hall," he declared. "It ain't that I'm scart of the horse
+runnin' away, or nothin' like that, you understand, but----"
+
+His lodger burst into a roar of laughter.
+
+"Runnin' away!" he repeated. "Judah, foam flakes drift away pretty often
+and sometimes they blow away, but I never saw one run away yet. And if
+this Foam Flake of yours ever started to run I should die of surprise
+before anything else could happen to me. Don't worry about me. You'll be
+here to help me aboard the buggy, when I'm ready to leave port, and
+there'll be plenty of folks at the hall to help me out of it when I get
+there. So I'll be all right and to spare."
+
+"Um--well, maybe so. But it seems to me like takin' risks just the same.
+Now, Cap'n Sears, why don't you let me drive you down, same as I always
+do drive you? What makes you so sot on goin' alone?"
+
+The captain did not answer for a moment. Then he said, "Judah, for a
+good many long weeks--yes, and months--I've been havin' somebody drive
+me or steer me or order me. To-night, by the Lord A'mighty, _I'm_ goin'
+to drive and give my own orders."
+
+"But the doctor----"
+
+"The doctor doesn't know. And if you tell him I'll--well, you'll need
+him, that's all. Every dog has its day, Judah, and this is my night."
+
+"But it's goin' to rain and----"
+
+"It isn't.... And, if it does, haven't you and I seen enough water not
+to be afraid of it?"
+
+"Salt water--yes; but----"
+
+"There aren't any buts. That'll do, Judah. Go for'ard." So Mr. Cahoon,
+obeying orders, went for'ard; that is, he went into the kitchen, and
+Sears Kendrick was left upon the seat beneath the locust tree to smoke
+and cast rebellious glances at the deepening gloom of the sky. He had
+not been entirely truthful in his replies to his landlord's questions.
+Although he scarcely dared admit it, even to himself, his damaged legs
+were better than they had been. Doctor Sheldon told him that they were
+and seemed more hopeful after each examination. And he knew that the
+doctor's hope was not mere pretending, something assumed but not felt.
+Yes, he knew it. And, for the first time since the accident which
+wrecked the Old Colony train and his own life, he began to think that,
+perhaps--some day, perhaps--he might again be a man, a whole,
+able-bodied man among men. When he submitted this thought to the cold
+light of reason, it was transparent and faint enough, but it was there,
+and it was one cause of his high spirits.
+
+And there was another, a cause which was even less worthy of
+reason--which was perfectly childish and absurd but not the less real on
+that account. It was connected with his stubborn determination to be his
+own pilot to the hall that evening. He had, when he first determined to
+risk the trip in that way, refused to permit Judah to accompany him
+because he knew, if he did, that the latter would be a sort of safety
+valve, a life preserver--to mix similes--the real driver who would be
+on hand to take charge if necessary. Under such circumstances his own
+responsibility ceased to be a responsibility and his self-reliance
+_nil_. No, sink or swim, survive or perish, he would make the voyage
+alone.
+
+So, although there was plenty of room on the buggy seat, he stubbornly
+refused to permit Judah to sit there. Mr. Cahoon was going to the play,
+of course--the entire constabulary force of Ostable County could not
+have prevented his doing so--but he was to walk, not ride behind the
+Foam Flake. And Captain Sears Kendrick was supposed to be riding alone.
+
+Yet he was not to ride alone, although only one person, and that not
+Judah Cahoon, knew of that fact. The day before, while he and Miss Berry
+were busy, as usual, with the finances and managerial duties of the Fair
+Harbor, she had happened to mention that there were some stage
+properties, bits of costumes, and the like, which must be gotten early
+to the hall on the evening of the performance and he had offered to have
+Judah deliver them for her. Now he told her of his intention of driving
+the Foam Flake unassisted and that he would deliver them himself.
+
+"Or any other light dunnage you might want taken down there," he added.
+"Glad to, no trouble at all."
+
+She looked at him rather oddly he thought.
+
+"You are going all alone?" she asked.
+
+"Um-hm. All alone. I'm goin' to have my own way this time in spite of
+the Old Harry--and the doctor--and Judah."
+
+"And you are sure there will be plenty of room?"
+
+"What? With only me in the buggy? Yes, indeed. Room enough for two sea
+chests and a pork barrel, as old Cap'n Bangs Paine used to say when I
+sailed with him. Room and to spare."
+
+"Room enough for--me?"
+
+"For you? Why, do you mean----"
+
+"I mean that if there _is_ room I should like to ride down with you very
+much. I want to get to the hall early and I have these things to carry.
+Mother and the rest of the Harbor people are going later, of course....
+So, if you are sure that I and my bundles won't be nuisances----"
+
+He was sure, emphatically and enthusiastically sure. But his surprise
+was great and he voiced it involuntarily.
+
+"I supposed, of course," he said, "that your passage was booked long
+ago. I supposed George had attended to that."
+
+Her answer was brief, but there was an air of finality about it which
+headed off further questions.
+
+"I am not going with him," she said.
+
+So this was his second cause for good spirits, the fact that Elizabeth
+Berry was to ride with him to the hall that evening. It was a very
+slight inconsequential reason surely, but somehow he found it
+sufficient. She was going with him merely because he and the Foam Flake
+and the buggy furnished the most convenient method of transportation for
+her and her packages, but she was going--and she was not going with
+George Kent. There was a certain wicked pleasure in the last thought. He
+was ashamed of it, but the pleasure was there in spite of the shame.
+Kent had so much that he had not, but here was one little grain of
+advantage to enter upon the Kendrick side of the ledger; Elizabeth Berry
+was not going to the town hall with Kent, but with him.
+
+He made but one protest and that only because his conscience goaded him
+into making it.
+
+"I don't know as I ought to let you, Miss Elizabeth," he said. "I'm
+takin' a chance, I suppose, that perhaps you shouldn't take. This is my
+first voyage under my own command since I ran on the rocks. I may strike
+another reef, you can't tell."
+
+She looked at him and smiled.
+
+"I am not afraid," she said.
+
+So, in spite of the gathering clouds and the falling barometer, Captain
+Sears was cheerful as he smoked beneath the locust tree. After a time he
+rose and limped down to the gate. Doctor Sheldon's equipage was standing
+by the Knowles hitching post just beyond across the road. The doctor
+himself came out of the house and the captain hailed him.
+
+"How is the judge?" he asked. Doctor Sheldon shook his head.
+
+"No better," he replied. "He is weaker every day and last week he had an
+attack that was so severe I was afraid it was the end. He weathered it,
+though."
+
+"Why, yes. I saw him on Sunday and he was as full of jokes and spunk as
+ever, seemed to me. His voice wasn't quite as strong, that's all. He is
+a great man, Judge Knowles. Bayport will miss him tremendously when he
+goes. So shall I, for that matter, and I haven't known him very long."
+
+"We'll all miss him."
+
+"There isn't a chance, I suppose? In the long run----"
+
+The doctor's look caused him to stop the sentence in the middle.
+
+"There isn't any question of long runs," said Sheldon, gravely. "The
+next one of these seizures will end it. He has been a great fighter and
+he never gives up; that is why he is here. But the fight is practically
+over. The next attack will be the last."
+
+Sears was deeply concerned. "Dear, dear," he said. "I didn't realize it
+was quite so bad. And that attack may come--next month, or even next
+week, I presume likely?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+The captain's good spirits were dashed for the time. His regard and
+admiration for the old judge had grown steadily during their brief
+acquaintance. He pictured the rugged, determined face as he had seen it
+Sunday, and heard again the voice, weak but drily humorous or
+indomitably pugnacious. It did not seem as if a spirit like that could
+be so near surrender. Doctor Sheldon must be over apprehensive.
+
+It was but seven o'clock when he drove the Foam Flake up to the side
+door of the Fair Harbor and his passenger stowed her various bundles
+about his feet in the bottom of the buggy and then climbed in herself.
+The drive to the town hall was made in good time, the Foam Flake
+considered, and--to the captain at any rate--it was a most pleasant
+excursion. There was the unaccustomed sensation of once more being free
+from orders or domination.
+
+There was little conversation during the drive. Sears attempted it, but
+his passenger was not talkative. She seemed to be thinking of something
+else and her answers were brief and absent-minded. Nevertheless Sears
+Kendrick enjoyed their drive and was almost sorry when the Foam Flake
+halted, snorting, or sneezing, violently, by the hall platform. The
+building was as yet but dimly lighted and Asaph Tidditt, the janitor,
+was the only person about. Asaph, hearing the Foam Flake's sneeze, came
+to the door.
+
+"Well, I swan!" he exclaimed. "Is that you, 'Liz'beth? You're good and
+early, ain't you? Evenin', George. Why, 'tain't George. Who is it? Well,
+well, well, Cap'n Sears, this _is_ a surprise!"
+
+He helped the captain from the buggy and, at Sears' request, led the
+Foam Flake around the corner to the hitching rail. When he returned Miss
+Berry had gone upstairs to the dressing-room to leave her packages.
+Asaph was still surprised.
+
+"Mighty glad to see you out again, Cap'n," he declared. "I heard you was
+better, but I didn't hardly cal'late to see you takin' your girl to ride
+so soon. Hey? He, he, he!"
+
+Sears-laughed long enough to seem polite. Asaph laughed longer.
+
+"And 'tain't _your_ girl you're takin' nuther, is it?" he said. "When I
+looked in that buggy just now I don't know when I've been more sot back.
+'Evenin', George,' says I. And 'twan't George Kent at all, 'twas you.
+Ain't been to work and cut George out, have you, Cap'n Sears? He, he,
+he! That's another good one, ain't it!"
+
+The captain smiled--more politeness--and inquired if he and Miss Berry
+were the first ones at the hall.
+
+"Is any one else here?" he asked.
+
+"Yus," said Mr. Tidditt.
+
+"Who?"
+
+"Me. He, he, he! Kind of caught you that time, didn't I, Cap'n? Wasn't
+expectin' that, was you? Except me, you and 'Liz'beth's the fust ones.
+Be plenty more in half an hour, though. 'Bout all hands in Bayport's
+comin' to this time, everybody but the Orthodox and the Methodists and
+the Come-Outers. They cal'late goin' to a play-actin' time is same as
+goin' to Tophet. I tell 'em I'd ruther go to the show, 'cause I'd have a
+little fun out of it, and from what I hear there ain't much fun in
+t'other place. He, he, he! But say, how'd it happen George Kent ever let
+'Liz'beth Berry go anywheres without him? Where _is_ George?"
+
+Sears was rather glad when the arrival of Sam Ryder and Carleton, two
+other members of the cast of "Down by the Sea" attracted the attention
+of the garrulous Asaph and led the latter, in their company, upstairs. A
+moment or so later another figure approached from the blackness to the
+circle of light cast by the big ship's lantern over the hall door.
+
+"Why, hello, George!" hailed Sears.
+
+Young Kent looked up, recognized the speaker and said "Good evening." He
+did not seem surprised as Mr. Tidditt had been to find the captain
+there. The latter remarked upon it.
+
+"Why, George," he observed, "I must say you take my bein' here all alone
+pretty calmly. Ase Tidditt all but capsized when he saw me bring the
+Foam Flake into dock."
+
+Kent nodded. "I knew you were here," he said. "Elizabeth came down with
+you, I suppose."
+
+"Why, yes. Did she tell you she was goin' to risk life and limb aboard
+my vessel?"
+
+"No," briefly.
+
+"Oh. Then how did you know?"
+
+"I stopped at the Harbor. Her mother said she had gone with you....
+Where is she; upstairs?"
+
+"Up in the dressin' room, I guess. She had to come so early because
+there were things to bring and some work for her to do before you and
+the others got here, she said."
+
+"What? Did she say before _I_ got here?"
+
+"Eh? Why, no, didn't mention you in particular. She just said----"
+
+Kent interrupted. "I see," he said, shortly. "All right, never mind."
+
+He was walking toward the other end of the platform. His manner was so
+very peculiar that Sears could not help noticing it. He looked after him
+in perplexity.
+
+"Here ... George!" he called.
+
+Kent turned and came back, rather reluctantly it seemed. The older man
+looked at him keenly.
+
+"George," he asked, "what's the matter with you?"
+
+"Matter? With me?"
+
+"Yes, with you. You're short as Aunt Nabby's pie crust. Have I done
+anything you don't like? If I have I'll apologize before I know what it
+is. It wasn't done on purpose, you can be sure of that."
+
+Kent started, colored, and was much perturbed. "I didn't realize I was
+short, Cap'n Kendrick," he declared. "I beg your pardon. I am mighty
+sorry. No--no, of course you haven't done anything I don't like. I don't
+believe you could."
+
+"You never can tell. But so far I haven't tried. Not sick, are you?"
+
+"No ... I'm just--oh, nothing. I'm in a little trouble, that's all. My
+own fault, maybe, I don't know."
+
+"Probably it is. Most of our troubles are our own fault, in one way or
+another. Well, if there's anything I can do to help out, just give me a
+hail."
+
+"Thanks. But I'm afraid there isn't."
+
+He turned and walked down the platform once more. Mrs. Captain Orrin
+Eldridge, who was to sell tickets, came, and, after greeting the captain
+cordially, went in to open and light the ticket-office at the foot of
+the stairs. Two more members of the cast, Erastus Snow and Mrs. Bassett,
+arrived and went up to prepare. Suddenly Kent, who had been standing at
+the farther end of the platform, came back.
+
+"Captain Kendrick," he said, "would you mind answering a question?"
+
+"Eh? Why, not a bit, George. But perhaps yours may be one of those
+questions I can't answer."
+
+"I think you can. Say--er--Cap'n Kendrick----"
+
+"Yes, George."
+
+"You see, I.... This sounds awfully foolish, but--but I don't know what
+I ought to do."
+
+"Um-hm. Well, a good many of us get that way every once in a while."
+
+"Do you?"
+
+"You bet!"
+
+"Humph! Somehow you seem to me like a man who would know exactly what to
+do at any time."
+
+"Yes? Well, my looks must belie me. Heave ahead, George. The folks are
+beginning to come."
+
+"Well, I---- Oh, hang it, Cap'n, when you've made a mistake--done
+something that you didn't think was wrong--that wasn't wrong,
+really--and--and.... Say, I'm making an awful mess of this. And it's
+such a fool thing, anyhow."
+
+"Um-hm. So many things are. Chuck it overboard, George; that is, if you
+really want to ask me about it."
+
+"I do. That is, I want to ask you this: Suppose you had done something
+that you thought was all right and--and somebody else had thought was
+wrong--would you--would you go and tell that other person that you
+_were_ wrong? Even if you weren't, you know."
+
+Kendrick was silent. The question was ridiculous enough, but he did not
+laugh, nor feel like laughing. Nor did he want to answer.
+
+"Oh, I know that it's a child's question," put in Kent, disgustedly.
+"Never mind answering. I am a child sometimes, feel like one, anyhow.
+And I've got to fight this out with myself, I suppose, so what's the
+use?"
+
+He turned on his heel, but the captain laid a hand on his shoulder.
+
+"George," he said, slowly, "of course, the way you put this thing makes
+it pretty foggy navigatin' for a stranger; but--humph!--well, in cases
+somethin' like yours, when I've cared anything about the--er--friendship
+of the other fellow, I've generally found 'twas good business to go and
+say I was sorry first, and then, if 'twas worth while, argue the point
+of who was right or wrong later. You never can do much fishin' through
+the ice unless somebody chops the hole."
+
+The young man was silent. He seemed to be reflecting and to find his
+reflections not too pleasant. Before they were at an end the first group
+of townspeople came up the steps. Some of them paused to greet Kendrick
+and at their heels was another group. The captain was chatting with them
+when he heard Kent's voice at his ear.
+
+"Excuse me, Cap'n," he whispered. "I'll see you by and by. I'm going to
+chop the ice."
+
+"Eh?... Oh, all right, George. Good luck."
+
+George hurried up the stairs. A minute or two later Captain Sears slowly
+limped after him and sought a secluded corner on one of the settees at
+the rear of the hall. There was still a full half hour before the rising
+of the curtain, and as yet there was but a handful of people present. He
+turned his face away from the handful and hoped that he might not be
+recognized. He did not feel like talking. His good spirits had left him.
+He was blue and despondent and discouraged. And for no reason--that was
+the worst of it--no earthly, sensible, worth while reason at all.
+
+Those two children--that is what they were, children--had quarreled and
+that was why Elizabeth had asked to ride to the hall with him that
+evening. It was not because she cared for his company; of course he knew
+that all the time, or would have known it if he permitted himself to
+reason. She had gone with him because she had quarreled with George. And
+that young idiot's conscience had troubled him and, thanks to his
+own--Kendrick's--advice, he had gone to her now to beg pardon and make
+up. And they would make up. Children, both of them.
+
+And they ought to make up; they should, of course. He wanted them to do
+so. What sort of a yellow dog in the manger would he be if he did not?
+He liked them both, and they were young and well--and he was--what that
+railway accident had made of him.
+
+The audience poured in, the settees filled, the little boys down in
+front kicked the rounds, and pinched each other and giggled. Mr. Asaph
+Tidditt importantly strode down the aisle and turned up the wicks of the
+kerosene foot-lamps. Mrs. Sophronia Eldridge, Captain Orrin's
+sister-in-law, seated herself at the piano and played the accompaniments
+while Mrs. Mary Pashy Foster imparted the information that she could not
+sing the old songs now. When she had finished, most people were inclined
+to believe her. The delegation from the Fair Harbor, led by Mrs. Berry
+and Elvira Snowden, arrived in a body. The Universalist minister and his
+wife came, and looked remarkably calm for a couple leading a flock of
+fellow humans to perdition. Captain Elkanah Wingate and Mrs. Wingate
+came last of all and marched majestically to the seats reserved for them
+by the obsequious Mr. Tidditt. The hall lights were dimmed. The curtain
+rose. And George Kent, very handsome and manly as "March Gale," was seen
+and heard, singing:
+
+    "Oh, my name was Captain Kidd
+    As I sailed, as I sailed."
+
+And these were the opening lines of the play, "Down by the Sea."
+
+That performance was a great success, everybody said so. Mr. Tidditt
+expressed the general opinion when he declared that all hands done about
+as fine as the rest but some of 'em done finer. John Carleton, the
+schoolteacher, shone with particular brilliancy as he delivered himself
+of such natural, everyday speeches as: "I have dispatched a messenger to
+town with the glad tidings," or "We will leave this barren spot and hie
+to the gay scenes of city life." And Frank Crosby, as "September Gale,"
+the noble young fisherman, tossed the English language about as a real
+gale might toss what he would have called "a cockle shell," as he
+declared, "With a true heart and a stout arm, who cares for danger?...
+To be upon the sea when the winds are roaring and the waves are seething
+in anger; ... to have a light bark obedient to your command, braving the
+fury of the tempest...." Bayport was fairly well acquainted with
+fishermen, numbering at least thirty among its inhabitants, but no one
+of the thirty could talk like that.
+
+Sam Ryder's performance of "Captain Dandelion," the city exquisite, was,
+so the next issue of the _Item_ said, "remarkable"; there is little
+doubt that the _Item_ selected the right word. Joel Macomber was good,
+when he remembered his lines; Miss Wingate was very elegant as "a city
+belle"; Mrs. Bassett made a competent fisherman's wife. But everybody
+declared that Elizabeth Berry and George Kent, as "Kitty Gale" and
+"March Gale," were the two brightest stars in that night's firmament.
+
+Captain Kendrick, between the acts, could hear whispered comments all
+about him. "Isn't Elizabeth fine!" "Don't they do well!" "Ain't she a
+good-lookin' girl, now--eh?" "Yes, and, my soul and body, if that George
+Kent ain't a match for her then _I_ don't know!" "Oh, don't they make a
+lovely couple!" And, from a seat two rows in front, the penetrating
+voice of Mrs. Noah Baker made proclamations: "Lovers on the stage and
+off the stage, too, I guess. Ha, ha!" And there was a general buzz of
+agreement and many pleased titters.
+
+Sears tried very hard to enjoy the performance, but his thoughts would
+wander. And, when the final curtain fell and the applause subsided, he
+rose to hobble to the door, glad that the evening was over.
+
+He was one of the last to reach the landing and, at the top of the
+stairs, Judah met him. Mr. Cahoon's manner was a combination of dismay
+and triumph.
+
+"Oh, there you be, Cap'n Sears," he exclaimed. "Well, I told you! You
+can't say I never, that's one comfort."
+
+"Told me what, Judah?"
+
+"That 'twas goin' to rain. I told you the glass was fallin'. It's a
+pourin'-down rainstorm now, that's what 'tis."
+
+Judah, his faith rooted in the prophecy of the falling barometer, had
+come to the hall with oilskins upon his arm. Now he was arrayed in them
+and weather-proof.
+
+"I'll fetch the Foam Flake around to the platform, Cap'n," he said.
+"You'll want to wait for 'Liz'beth, I presume likely, so take your time
+navigatin' them stairs. No, no, I'll walk. I won't get wet. _I_ knew
+what was comin'. Aye, aye, sir. I'll fetch the horse. Cal'late the
+critter has gnawed off and swallowed two fathoms of fence by this time."
+
+The Foam Flake and the buggy were made fast by the platform when Sears
+reached that point. It was raining hard. The greater part of the
+audience had already started on their homeward journey, but a few still
+lingered, some lamenting the absence of umbrellas and rubbers, others
+awaiting the arrival of messengers who had been sent home to procure
+those protections. The captain, of course, was awaiting Elizabeth, and
+she having to change costume and get rid of make-up, he knew his wait
+was likely to be rather lengthy. He did not mind that so much, but he
+did not desire to talk or be talked to, so he walked to the dark end of
+the platform--the same end, by the way, where George Kent had stood when
+pondering his problem before asking advice--and stood there, staring
+into the splashy blackness.
+
+The last group left the lighted portals of the hall and started
+homeward, exclamations and little screams denoting spots where progress
+had been delayed by puddles or mud holes. Mrs. Eldridge, in the ticket
+office, packed up her takings, pennies and "shin-plasters," in a
+pasteboard box and departed for home. Mr. Tidditt accompanying her as
+guard and umbrella holder.
+
+"I'll be back to lock up, Cap'n Sears," called Asaph, reassuringly.
+"Stay right where you be. You won't be in my way at all."
+
+For some minutes longer Sears stood there alone on the platform, facing
+the dismal darkness and his own dismal thoughts. They were dismal, and
+no less so because his common-sense kept prodding him with the certainty
+that there was no more reason for discouragement now than there had been
+two hours before. The obvious offset to this was the equal certainty
+that there had been no more reason for optimism two hours before than at
+present. So he stared into the darkness, listened to the splashing
+waterspouts, and, for the millionth time at least, eternally condemned
+the Old Colony railroad and his luck.
+
+A springy, buoyant step came down the stairs. A voice called from the
+doorway:
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick! Cap'n, are you there?"
+
+Sears turned.
+
+"Right here, George," he said.
+
+Kent hastened toward him. His hand was outstretched and his face was
+beaming.
+
+"It worked," he exclaimed, eagerly. "It worked in great shape. Cap'n,
+you're a brick."
+
+His friend did not, momentarily, catch his meaning.
+
+"Glad you think so, George," he said; "but why are you so sure of it
+just now?"
+
+"Why, because if it hadn't been for you I should have, more than likely,
+not tried to chop the ice at all."
+
+"Chop the---- Oh, yes, yes; I remember. So you and Elizabeth have made
+up, eh?"
+
+"Yes, I.... How on earth did you know she was the one? I didn't tell
+you, did I?"
+
+"No. It's just another proof of my tremendous wisdom. Well, I'm glad,
+George."
+
+"I knew you would be. Mind you, I'm not sure yet I was wrong, but I----
+Good Lord, look at the rain! I had no idea!... Well, at any rate,
+Elizabeth will be all right. She's going with you in the buggy."
+
+There was a slight, a very slight note of regret, almost of envy, in the
+young fellow's tone. The captain noticed it.
+
+"No, she isn't, George," he said, quietly.
+
+"What! She isn't?"
+
+"No, she's goin' with you. You take the horse and buggy and drive her up
+to the Harbor. Then you can send Judah back with it after me, if you
+will."
+
+"But, Cap'n, I wouldn't think of it. Why----"
+
+"No need to think. Do it. Look here, George, you know perfectly well you
+haven't finished that ice-choppin' business. There are lots of things
+you want to tell her yet, I know. Come now, aren't there?"
+
+Kent hesitated. "Why--why, yes, I suppose there are," he admitted. "But
+it seems mean to take advantage of you, you know. To leave you standing
+here and waiting while she and I----"
+
+"That's all right. I'm better fitted for waiting than I am for anything
+else nowadays. Don't argue any more. She'll be here in a minute."
+
+"Well ... well. You're sure you don't mind, really?"
+
+"Not a bit. And she'd rather ride with you, of course."
+
+"Oh, I wouldn't say that. Of course she did tell me she came with you
+because I--because we had that--that little row--and---- But she likes
+you, Cap'n. Honest, she does, a lot. By George, nobody could help liking
+you, you know."
+
+Sears' smile was gray, but his companion did not notice. He was too full
+of his own happiness.
+
+"I'll run up and tell her," he said. "It's mighty good of you, Cap'n
+Kendrick. Sure you don't care? You _are_ a brick."
+
+He hastened up the stairs. Sears was left once more with the black
+wetness to look at. It looked blacker than ever.
+
+Elizabeth, accompanied by George, came down soon afterward. She was
+still protesting.
+
+"Really, I don't think this is right at all, Cap'n Kendrick," she
+declared. "Why should you wait here? If you insist upon George's going
+in the buggy, why don't you come too? I'm sure there will be room
+enough. Won't there, George?"
+
+Kent said, "Yes, of course," but there might have been more enthusiasm
+in his tone. Sears spoke next.
+
+"I can't go now," he lied, calmly. "I want to see Ase Tidditt and he's
+gone to see Cap'n Orrin's wife home. Won't be back for twenty minutes or
+so. No, no, you and George heave right ahead and go, and then send Judah
+and the Foam Flake back for me."
+
+So, after a few more protests on Elizabeth's part, it was settled in
+that way. She and her packages and bags were tucked in the buggy and
+George unhitched the placid Foam Flake. On his way he stopped to
+whisper in the captain's ear.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," he whispered, "I shan't forget this. And, say, if ever
+I get into real trouble I'll know who to come to."
+
+The "plash-plash" of the Foam Flake's hoofs and the squeak and grind of
+buggy wheels died away along the invisible main road. Captain Sears
+stared at the ropes of rain laced diagonally across the lighted window
+of the town hall.
+
+After a time, a surprisingly short time, he heard the hoofs returning.
+It seemed almost incredible that George could have driven to the Harbor,
+then to the Minot place, and started Judah on the return trip so soon.
+
+It was not Judah. It was Mike, Judge Knowles' man, and he was driving
+Doctor Sheldon's horse attached to the doctor's chaise.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," he hailed, as the equipage splashed up to the
+platform, "is that you there?"
+
+"Yes, Mike. What's the matter?"
+
+"I was just after goin' to the Minot place after ye and I met Cahoon and
+he tould me you was down here. Git in, git in; the doctor says you must
+come."
+
+"Come? Come where?"
+
+"Home. To the judge's house. The ould man is dyin' and he wants to see
+you afore he goes. Ye'll have to hurry. The doctor says it's a matter of
+any time now."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+Sears Kendrick never forgot that drive from the town hall. The pouring
+rain, the lurch and roll and bounce of the old chaise, the alternate
+thud and splash of the horse's hoofs, the black darkness--and the errand
+upon which he was going. Mike told him a little concerning the seizure.
+Judge Knowles had been, so Emmeline Tidditt and the doctor thought,
+appreciably easier during the day.
+
+"He was like himself, the ould man was," said Mike. "I went in to see
+him this mornin'--he sent for me, you understand--and he give me the
+divil and all for not washin' the front room windows. 'Dom ye,' says he,
+'I've only got a little while to look out of thim windows; don't you
+suppose I want thim so I _can_ look out of thim?' And the windows clean
+as clean all the time, mind ye. Sure, I didn't care: 'Twas just his way
+of bein' dacint to me. He give me a five dollar bill before I left, God
+rest him. And now----"
+
+Mike was tremendously upset. The captain learned that the attack had
+developed about six, and the judge had grown steadily worse since. The
+upper windows of the Knowles house were bright with lights as they drove
+in at the yard gate. Mrs. Tidditt met them at the door. Her thin, hard
+face was tear-streaked and haggard.
+
+"Oh, I'm so glad you've come, Cap'n Kendrick," she cried. "He's been
+askin' for you."
+
+In the hall at the foot of the stairs Doctor Sheldon was waiting. They
+shook hands and Sears looked a question.
+
+"Not a chance," whispered the doctor. "Barring miracles, he will go
+before morning. He shouldn't see any one, but he insisted on seeing you.
+I'll give you five minutes, no more. Don't excite him."
+
+The judge looked up from the pillow as Sears tiptoed into the room. His
+face was flushed with fever, but otherwise he looked very much as when
+the captain last visited him. It did not seem possible that this could
+really be the end.
+
+"Hello, Kendrick," whispered Judge Knowles. "Sit down. Sorry I can't
+shake hands with you."
+
+The voice was weak, of course, but not much weaker than when he had last
+heard it. No, it did not seem possible. Captain Sears murmured something
+about his sorrow at finding the judge ill again.
+
+"That's all right, that's all right," was the testy rejoinder. "You
+didn't expect to find me any other way, did you? Kendrick, I wasn't so
+far off when I talked about that graveyard trip, eh?... Umph--yes. How
+much time did Sheldon say you might have with me?... Don't fool around
+and waste any of it. How many minutes--come?"
+
+"Five."
+
+"Humph! He might have made it ten, blast him! Well, then listen. When
+I'm gone you're going to be the head of that Fair Harbor place. You're
+going to keep on being the head, I mean. I've fixed it so you'll get
+your salary."
+
+"But, Judge----"
+
+"Hush! Let me do the talking. Good Lord, man," with an attempt at a
+chuckle, "you wouldn't grudge me any of the little talk I have left,
+would you? You are to keep on being the head of the Fair Harbor--you
+_must_ for a year or so. And Elizabeth Berry is to be the manager and
+head, under you--if she wants to be. Understand?"
+
+"Why, yes. But, Judge, how----"
+
+"I've fixed it, I tell you. Wait a little while and you'll know how. But
+that isn't what I want to say to you. Lobelia is dead."
+
+"What?"
+
+"Don't keep asking me what. Listen. Lobelia Seymour--hanged if I'll call
+her Lobelia Phillips!--is dead. She died over a month ago. I got a
+letter this afternoon mailed in Florence by that husband of hers. There
+it is, on that table, by the tumbler.... Yes, that's it. Don't stop to
+read it now. Put it in your pocket. You will have time to read it. Time
+counts with me. Now listen, Kendrick."
+
+He paused and asked for water. The captain put the glass to his lips. He
+swallowed once or twice and then impatiently jerked his head aside.
+
+"There are two things you've got to promise me, Kendrick," he whispered,
+earnestly. "One is that, so long as you can fight, that condemned Egbert
+Phillips shan't have a cent of the Fair Harbor property, endowment fund,
+land or anything else. Will you fight the scamp for me, Kendrick?"
+
+"Of course. The best I know how."
+
+"You know more than most men in this town. I shouldn't have picked you
+for your job if you didn't. That's one thing--spike Egbert's guns.
+Here's the other: Look out for Elizabeth Berry."
+
+The captain was not expecting this. He leaned back so suddenly that his
+chair squeaked. The sick man did not notice, or, if he did, paid no
+attention.
+
+"She's Isaac Berry's daughter," he went on, "and Ike Berry was my best
+friend. More than that, she's a good girl, a fine girl. Her mother is
+more or less of a fool, but that isn't the girl's fault. Keep an eye on
+her, will you, Kendrick?"
+
+"Why--why, I'll do what I can, of course."
+
+"Like her, don't you?"
+
+"Yes. Very much."
+
+"You couldn't help it. She is pretty thick with that young Kent, I
+believe. He's a bright boy."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"All right.... But there's time enough for that; they're both young....
+Watch her, Kendrick. See that she doesn't make too big mistakes.
+She--she's going to have a little money of her own pretty soon--just a
+little. Don't let that--that Phillips or--or anybody else get hold of
+it. I.... Oh, here you are! Confound you, Sheldon, you're a nuisance!"
+
+The doctor opened the door and entered. He nodded significantly to
+Kendrick. The latter understood. So, too, did Judge Knowles.
+
+"Time's up, eh?" he panted. "Well, all right, I suppose. Good luck to
+you, Kendrick. And good night."
+
+He smiled cheerfully. One might have thought he expected to see his
+caller the next morning. The captain simply could not believe this was
+to be the last time.
+
+"Good night, Judge," he said. "I'll drop in to-morrow, early."
+
+The judge did not answer. His last word had to do with other things.
+
+"Don't you forget, Kendrick," he whispered. "I've banked on you."
+
+The feeling of the absolute impossibility of the situation still
+remained with Sears as Mike drove him to his own door and Judah helped
+him down from the chaise. It was not possible that a brain like that, a
+bit of machinery capable of thinking so clearly and expressing itself so
+vigorously, could be so near its final breakdown. A personality like
+Judge Knowles' could not end so abruptly. He would not have it so. The
+doctor must be mistaken. He was over pessimistic.
+
+He sat in the rocking chair until nearly half-past one thinking of the
+judge's news, that Lobelia Phillips was dead, and of the charge to him.
+Fight Egbert--there was an element of humor in that; Knowles certainly
+did hate Phillips. But for him, Kendrick, to assume a sort of
+guardianship over the fortunes of Elizabeth Berry! The fun in that was
+too sardonic to be pleasant. He thought of many things before he
+retired, but the way ahead looked foggy enough. And behind the fog
+was--what? Why, little sunshine for him, in all human probability.
+Before blowing out his lamp he peered out of the window at the Knowles
+house. The lights there were still burning.
+
+The next morning when he came out for breakfast, Judah met him with a
+solemn face.
+
+"Bad news for Bayport this mornin', Cap'n Sears," said Judah. "Judge
+Knowles has gone. Slipped his cable about four o'clock, so Mike told
+me. There's a good man gone, by Henry! Don't seem hardly as if it could
+be, does it?"
+
+That was exactly what Bayport said when it heard the ill tidings. It did
+not seem as if it could be. The judge had been so long a dominant figure
+in town affairs, his strong will had so long helped to mould and lead
+opinion and his shrewd common sense had so often guided the community,
+and individuals, through safe channels and out of troubled waters, that
+it was hard to comprehend the fact that he would lead and guide no more.
+He had many enemies, no man with his determined character could avoid
+that, but they were altogether of a type whose enmity was, to decent
+people, preferable to their friendship. During his life it had seemed as
+if he were a lonely man, but his funeral was the largest held in Bayport
+since the body of Colonel Seth Foster, killed at Gettysburg, was brought
+home from the front for burial.
+
+It was a gloomy, drizzly day when the long line of buggies and carryalls
+and folk on foot followed the hearse to the cemetery amid the pines.
+Captain Sears, looking back at the procession, thought of the judge's
+many prophecies and grim jokes concerning this very journey, and he
+wondered--well, he wondered as most of us wonder on such occasions. Also
+he realized that, although their acquaintanceship had been brief, he was
+going to miss Judge Knowles tremendously.
+
+"I wish I had been lucky enough to know him sooner," he told Judah that
+evening.
+
+Judah pulled his nose reflectively. "It kind of surprised me," he
+observed, "to hear what the minister said about him. 'Twas the Orthodox
+minister, and he's pretty strict, too, but you heard him say that the
+judge was one of the best men in Ostable County. Yet he never went to
+meetin' what you'd call reg'lar and he did cuss consider'ble. He did
+now, didn't he, Cap'n Sears?"
+
+Sears nodded. He was thinking and paying little attention to the Cahoon
+moralizing.
+
+"Um-hm," went on Judah. "He sartin did. He never said 'sugar' when he
+meant 'damn.' But I don't know, I cal'late I'd ruther been sworn at by
+Judge Knowles than had a blessin' said over me by some others in these
+latitudes. The judge's cussin' would have been honest, anyhow. And he
+never put one of them swear words in the wrong place. They was always
+just where they belonged; even when he swore at me I always agreed with
+him."
+
+Feeling, somehow, that the death of the man who had chosen and employed
+him for the position increased his responsibility in that position,
+Captain Sears worked harder than ever to earn his salary as general
+manager of the Fair Harbor. He had already made some improvements in
+systematizing and thereby saving money for the institution. The
+groceries, flour, tea, sugar, and the rest, had heretofore been
+purchased at Bassett's store in the village. He still continued to buy
+certain articles of Eliphalet, principally from motives of policy and to
+retain the latter's good will, but the bulk of supplies he contracted
+for in Boston at the houses from which he had so often bought stores for
+his ships. He could not go to the city and negotiate by word of mouth,
+more was the pity, and so was obliged to make his trades by mail, but he
+got bids from several firms and the results were quite worth while.
+Besides groceries he bought a hogshead of corned beef, barrels of
+crackers, a barrel of salt pork, and, from one of the local fishermen, a
+half dozen kegs of salt mackerel. The saving altogether was a very
+appreciable amount.
+
+The Fair Harbor property included, besides the land upon which the house
+was situated, several acres of wood lot timbered with pine and oak. Mrs.
+Berry--or her daughter--had been accustomed to hire a man to cut and
+haul such wood as was needed, from time to time, for the stoves and
+fireplaces. Also, when repairs had to be done, they hired a carpenter to
+make them. Sears, when he got around to it, devoted some consideration
+to the wood and repair question and, after much haggling, affected a
+sort of three-cornered swap. Benijah Black, the carpenter, was a
+brother-in-law of Burgess Paine, who owned the local coal, wood, lumber
+and grain shop by the railway station. The captain arranged that Black
+should do whatever carpenter work might be needed at the Harbor and take
+his pay in wood at the wood lot, selling the wood--or a part of it--to
+Paine, for whom he was in debt for coal and lumber; and, also, for whom
+he, Black, was building a new storage shed. It was a complicated
+process, but it resulted in the Fair Harbor's getting its own firewood
+cut, hauled and split for next to nothing, its repair costs cut in half,
+its coal bills lessened, while Black and Paine seemed to be perfectly
+satisfied. Altogether it was a good deal of a managerial triumph, as
+even the manager himself was obliged to admit.
+
+Elizabeth was loud in her praises.
+
+"I don't see how you ever did it, Cap'n Kendrick," she declared. "And
+Benijah and Mr. Paine are just as contented as we are. It is a miracle."
+
+Sears grinned. "I don't know quite how I did it, myself," he said.
+"'Twas the most complicated piece of steerin' I ever did, and if we come
+out without shipwreck it _will_ be a miracle! I'm goin' to tackle that
+hay question next. There's hay enough on that lower meadow of ours to
+pay for corn for the hens for quite a spell. I'll see if I can't make a
+dicker there somehow. Then if I can fix up a deal with the hens to trade
+corn for eggs, we'll come out pretty well, won't we?"
+
+This sort of thing interested him and made him a trifle more contented
+with his work. His talents as a diplomat, such as they were, were needed
+continually. The interior of the Fair Harbor was a sort of incubator for
+petty squabbles, jealousies, prejudices and complaints, some funny, many
+ridiculous, and almost all annoying. The most petty he refused to be
+troubled with, bidding the complainants go to Mrs. Berry. His refusals
+were good-natured but determined.
+
+"Well, I tell you, Miss Peasley," he said, when that lady had come to
+him with a long, involved wail concerning the manner in which Mrs.
+Constance Cahoon, who occupied the seat next her at table, insisted on
+keeping the window open all through meals, "so's I sit there with a
+draft blowin' right down my neck the whole time." "I tell you, Miss
+Peasley," said the captain, "if I were you I would shut the window."
+
+"But I do shut it," declared Desire. "And every time I jump up and shut
+it, up she bounces and opens it again."
+
+"Humph! I see.... Well, exercise helps digestion, so they say. You can
+jump as long as she can bounce, can't you?"
+
+Miss Peasley was disgusted. "Well," she snapped, "I don't call that much
+help. I supposed if I went to the _manager_ he'd put his foot down."
+
+"He's goin' to--and then take it up and put it down again. I've got to
+hobble out to see to mowin' the meadow. You tell Mrs. Berry all about
+it."
+
+As a part of his diplomacy he made it a point to spend half an hour each
+morning in consultation with Cordelia Berry. The matron of the Fair
+Harbor was at first rather suspicious and ready to resent any intrusion
+upon her rights and prerogatives. But at each conference the captain
+listened so politely to her rambling reports, seemed to receive her
+suggestions so eagerly and to ask her advice upon so many points, that
+her suspicions were lulled and she came to accept the new
+superintendent's presence as a relief and a benefit.
+
+"He is so very gentlemanly, Elizabeth," she told her daughter. "And so
+willing to learn. At first, as you know, I couldn't see why the poor
+dear judge appointed him, but now I do. He realized that I needed an
+assistant. In many ways he reminds me of your father."
+
+"But, mother," exclaimed her daughter, in surprise, "Cap'n Kendrick
+isn't nearly as old as father was."
+
+"Oh it isn't the age that reminded me. It's the manner. He has the same
+quick, authoritative way of making decisions and saying things. And it
+is so very gratifying to see how he defers to my judgment and
+experience."
+
+Captain Sears did defer, that is he seldom opposed. But, when each
+conference was over, he went his own sweet way, using his own judgment
+and doing what seemed to him best. With Elizabeth, however, he was
+quite different. When she offered advice--which was seldom--he listened
+and almost invariably acted upon it. He was daily growing to have a
+higher opinion of her wisdom and capabilities. Whether or not it was the
+wisdom and capabilities alone which influenced that opinion he did not
+attempt to analyze. He enjoyed being with her and working with her, that
+he knew. That the constant companionship might be, for him, a risky and
+perhaps dangerous experience, he did not as yet realize. When he was
+with her, and busy with Fair Harbor affairs, he could forget the
+slowness with which his crippled legs were mending, and the increasing
+longing--sometimes approaching desperation--for the quarter deck of his
+own ship and the sea wind in his face.
+
+He worked hard for the Harbor and did his best to justify his
+appointment as manager, but, work as he might, he knew perfectly well
+that such labors would scarcely earn his salary. But, on the other hand,
+he knew that the man who appointed him had not expected them to do so.
+He had been put in charge of the Fair Harbor for one reason alone and
+that was to be in command of the ship when the redoubtable Egbert came
+alongside. Judge Knowles had as much as told him that very thing, and
+more than once. Egbert Phillips had been, evidently, the judge's pet
+aversion and, in his later days illness and fretfulness had magnified
+and intensified that aversion. When Sears attempted to find good and
+sufficient reasons for belief that the husband of Lobelia Seymour was
+any such bugbear he was baffled. He asked Judah more questions and he
+questioned citizens of Bayport who had known the former singing teacher
+before and after his marriage. Some, like Judah, declared him "slick" or
+"smooth." Others, and those the majority, seemed to like him. He was
+polite and educated and a "perfect gentleman," this was the sum of
+feminine opinion. Captain Sears was inclined to picture him as what he
+would have called a "sissy," and not much more dangerous than that. The
+judge's hatred, he came to believe, was an obsession, a sick man's
+fancy.
+
+He had, of course, read the Phillips letter, that which Judge Knowles
+bade him take away and read that night of his death. He hurriedly read
+it on that occasion before going to bed; he had reread it several times
+since.
+
+It was a well-written letter, there was no doubt of that, a polite
+letter, almost excessively so, perhaps. In fact, if Sears had been
+obliged to find a fault with it it would have been that it was a little
+too polite, a little too polished and flowery. It was not the sort of
+letter that he, himself, would have written under stress of grief, but
+he realized that it was not the sort of letter he could have written at
+all. Taken as a whole it was hard to pick flaws which might not be the
+result of prejudice, and taken sentence by sentence it stood the test
+almost as well.
+
+"Our life together has been so happy," wrote Phillips, "so ideal, that
+the knowledge of its end leaves me stunned, speechless, wordless."
+
+That was exaggeration, of course. He was not wordless, for the letter
+contained almost a superfluity of words; but people often said things
+they did not mean literally.
+
+"My dear wife and I spoke of you so often, Judge, her affection for you
+was so great--an affection which I share, as you know----"
+
+Judge Knowles had not returned the writers affection, quite the
+contrary. But it was possible that Phillips did not know this and that
+he was fond of the judge. Possible, even if not quite probable.
+
+"She and I never had a difference of opinion, never a thought which was
+not shared. This, in my hour of sorrow--" Phillips had written "my
+stricken hour" first, and then altered it to "hour of sorrow"--"is my
+greatest, almost my only consolation."
+
+Yet, as Judge Knowles had expressly stated, Lobelia herself had told him
+that her husband did not know of the endowment at the Fair Harbor and
+she had at least hinted that her married life was not all happiness.
+
+But, yet again, the judge was ill and weak, he had never liked Phillips,
+had always distrusted and suspected him, and might he not have fancied
+unhappiness when there was none?
+
+The letter said nothing concerning its writer's plans. It told of Mrs.
+Phillips' death, her burial at Florence, and of the widower's grief. The
+only hint, or possible hint, concerning a visit to Bayport was contained
+in one line, "When I see you I can tell you more."
+
+The captain puzzled over the letter a good deal. He showed it to
+Elizabeth. He found that Judge Knowles had not discussed Egbert with her
+at all. To her the ex-singing teacher was little more than a name; she
+remembered him, but nothing in particular concerning him. She thought
+the letter a very beautiful one--very sad, of course, but beautiful.
+Plainly she did not have the feeling which Sears had, but which he was
+inclined to think might be fathered by prejudice that it was a trifle
+too beautiful, that its beauty was that of a painting by a master, each
+stroke carefully touched in at exactly the right place for effect.
+
+There was no demand for money in it, no hint at straitened
+circumstances; so why should there be any striving for effect? He gave
+it up. If the much talked of Egbert was what Judge Knowles had declared
+him to be, then neither the judge nor any one else had exaggerated his
+smoothness.
+
+Emmeline Tidditt, for so many years the Knowles housekeeper, made one
+remark which contained possible food for thought.
+
+"So he buried her over there amongst them foreigners, did he?" observed
+Emmeline. "That seems kind of funny. When she and him was visitin' here
+the last time she told me herself--and he was standin' right alongside
+and heard her--that when she died she wanted to be fetched back here to
+Bayport and buried in the Orthodox cemetery alongside her father and
+mother and all her folks. Said, dead or alive, it wasn't really home for
+her anywheres else. She must have changed her mind since, though, I
+cal'late."
+
+Bayport talked a good deal about Lobelia Phillips and what would become
+of the Fair Harbor now that its founder and patroness was dead. It was
+surmised, of course, that Mrs. Phillips had provided for her pet
+institution in her will, but that will had not yet been offered for
+probate. Neither had the will of Judge Knowles, for that matter. Lawyer
+Bradley, over at Orham, the attorney with whom George Kent was reading
+law, was known to be the judge's executor. And Judge Knowles and Mr.
+Bradley were co-executor's for Lobelia Phillips, having been duly named
+by Lobelia on her last visit to Bayport. So, presumably, both wills were
+in Bradley's possession. But why had they not been probated?
+
+Bradley himself made the explanation.
+
+"The judge had a nephew in California," he said. "He was the nearest
+relative--although that isn't very near. Of course he couldn't get on
+for the funeral, but he is coming pretty soon. I thought I would wait
+until he came before I opened the will. As for Mrs. Phillips' will, I
+expect that her husband must be on his way here now. I haven't heard
+from him, but I take it for granted he is coming. I shall wait a while
+for him, too. There is no pressing hurry in either case."
+
+So Bayport talked about the wills and the expected arrival of the heirs,
+but as time passed and neither nephew nor husband arrived, began to lose
+interest and to talk of other things. Sears Kendrick, remembering his
+last conversation with Judge Knowles, was curious to learn exactly what
+the latter meant by his hints concerning "fixing things" for the Fair
+Harbor and Elizabeth having "money of her own," but he was busy and did
+not allow his curiosity to interfere with his schemes and improvements.
+He and Miss Berry saw each other every day, worked together and planned
+together, and the captain's fits of despondency and discouragement grew
+less and less frequent. He had an odd feeling at times, a feeling as if,
+instead of growing older daily, he was growing younger. He mentioned it
+to Elizabeth on one occasion and she did not laugh, but seemed to
+understand.
+
+"It is true," she said. "I have noticed it. You _are_ getting younger,
+Cap'n Kendrick."
+
+"Am I? That's good. Be better yet if I didn't have such a tremendous
+long way to go."
+
+"Nonsense! You aren't old. When I first met you I thought--it sounds
+dreadful when I say it--I thought you were fifty, at least. Now I don't
+believe you are more than--well, thirty-five."
+
+"Oh, yes, I am. I am--humph!--let's see, I am--er--thirty-eight my next
+birthday. And I suppose that sounds pretty ancient to you."
+
+"No, indeed it doesn't. Why, thirty-eight isn't old at all!"
+
+The interesting discussion of ages was interrupted just then, but Sears
+found pleasure in the thought that she, too, had noticed that he looked
+and acted younger. It was being at work again, he believed, which was
+responsible for the rejuvenation; this and the now unmistakable fact
+that, although the improvement was still provokingly slow, his legs were
+better, really better. He could, as he said, navigate much more easily
+now. Once, at supper time, he walked from his room to the table without
+a cane. It was a laborious journey, and he was glad when it was over,
+but he made it. Judah came in just in time to see the end.
+
+"Jumpin', creepin', hoppin' hookblocks, Cap'n Sears!" cried Judah. "Is
+that you, doin' that?"
+
+"What's left of me, Judah. I feel just this minute as if there wasn't
+much left."
+
+"Well, creepin' prophets! I couldn't believe it. Thinks I, 'There's fog
+in my deadlights and I can't see through 'em right.' Well, by Henry! And
+a little spell ago you was tellin' me you'd never be able to cruise
+again except under jury rig. Humph! You'll be up to the town hall
+dancin' 'Hull's Victory' and 'Smash the Windows' fust thing we know."
+
+After supper the captain, using the cane but whistling a sprightly air,
+strolled out to the front gate, where, leaning over the fence, he looked
+up and down the curving, tree-shaded road, dozing in the late summer
+twilight. And up that road came George Kent, also whistling, to swing
+in at the Fair Harbor gate and stride to the side door.
+
+Before that object lesson of real youth Sears' fictitious imitation
+seemed cheap and shoddy. He leaned heavily upon his cane as he hobbled
+back to the kitchen.
+
+The next day something happened. Sears had been busy all the forenoon
+superintending the carting in and stowing of the Fair Harbor share of
+oak and pine from the wood-lot. Thirteen cords of it, sawed and split in
+lengths to suit the Harbor stoves and fireplaces, were to be piled in
+the sheds adjoining the old Seymour barn at the rear of the premises.
+Judah had been engaged to do the piling. The captain had hesitated about
+employing him for several reasons, one being that he was drawing
+wages--small but regular--as caretaker at the General Minot place;
+another, that there might be some criticism--or opportunity for
+criticism--because of the relationship, landlord and lodger, which
+existed between them. Judah himself scorned the thought.
+
+"Mean to tell me I can't work for you just because you're boardin' along
+of me, Cap'n Sears?" he protested. "I've cooked for you a good many
+years and I worked for you then, didn't I?"
+
+"Ye--es, but you had signed up to work for me then. That's what they
+paid you for."
+
+"Well, it's what _you_ pay me for now, ain't it? And Ogden Minot he pays
+me to be stevedore aboard his house yonder. And the Fair Harbor's
+cal'latin' to pay me for pilin' this wood, ain't it? You ain't payin'
+for that, nor Ogden nuther. Well, then!... Oh, don't let's waste time
+arguin' about it now, Cap'n Sears. Let's do the way Abe Pepper done when
+the feller asked him to take a little somethin'. Abe had promised his
+wife he'd sign the pledge and he was on his way to temp'rance meetin'
+where he was goin' to meet her and sign it. And on the way he ran acrost
+this feller--Cornelius Bassett 'twas--and Cornelius says, 'Come have a
+drink with me, Abe,' he says. Well, time Abe got around to meet his wife
+the temp'rance meetin' hall was all dark and Abe was all--er--lighted
+up, as you might say. 'Why didn't you tell that Bassett man you was in a
+hurry and couldn't stop?' his wife wanted to know. 'Didn't have time to
+tell him nothin',' explains Abe. 'I knew I was late for meetin' as
+'twas.' 'Then why didn't you come right on _to_ meetin'?' she wanted to
+know. 'If I'd done that I'd lost the drink,' says he."
+
+The captain laughed, but looked doubtful.
+
+"I don't quite see where that yarn fits in this case, Judah," he
+observed.
+
+"Don't ye? Well, I don't know's it does. But anyhow, don't let's waste
+time arguin'. Let me pile the wood fust and then we can argue
+afterwards."
+
+So he was piling busily, carrying the wood in huge armfuls from the
+heaps where the carts had left it into the barn, and singing as he
+worked. But, bearing in mind his skipper's orders concerning the kind of
+song he was to sing, his chantey this time dealt neither with the
+eternal feminine nor the flowing bowl. Suggested perhaps by the nature
+of his task, he bellowed of "Fire Down Below."
+
+    "'Fire in the galley,
+      Fire in the house,
+    Fire in the beef-kid
+      Burnin' up the scouce.
+    Fire, _fire_, FIRE down below!
+    Fetch a bucket of water!
+      Fire! down BELOW!'"
+
+Captain Sears, after watching and listening for a few minutes, turned to
+limp up the hill, past the summer-house and the garden plots, to the
+side entrance of the Fair Harbor. The mystery of these garden patches,
+their exact equality of size and shape, had been explained to him by
+Elizabeth. The previous summer the Fair Harbor guests, or a few of them,
+led, as usual, by Miss Snowden and Mrs. Brackett, had suddenly been
+seized with a feverish desire to practice horticulture. They had
+demanded flower beds of their own. So, after much debate and
+disagreement on their part Elizabeth and her mother had had the slope
+beneath the Eyrie laid out in plots exactly alike, one for each guest,
+and the question of ownership had been settled by drawing lots. Each
+plot owner might plant and cultivate her own garden in her own way.
+These ways differed widely, hence the varied color schemes and
+diversifications of design noted by Sears on his first visit. The most
+elaborate--not to say "whirliggy"--design was the product of Miss
+Snowden's labor. The captain would have guessed it. The plot which
+contained no flowers at all, but was thickly planted with beets, onions
+and other vegetables, belonged to Esther Tidditt. He would have guessed
+that, too.
+
+He had stopped for an instant to inspect the plots, when he heard a
+footstep. Looking up, he saw a man descending the slope along the path
+by the Eyrie.
+
+The man was a stranger, that was plain at first glance. The captain did
+not know every one in Bayport, but he had at least a recognizing
+acquaintance with most of the males, and this particular male was not
+one of them. And Sears would have bet heavily that neither was he one of
+the very few whom he did not know. He was not a Bayport citizen, he did
+not look Bayport.
+
+He was very tall and noticeably slim. He wore a silk hat what Bayport
+still called a "beaver" in memory of the day's when such headpieces were
+really covered with beaver fur. There was nothing unusual in this fact;
+most of Bayport's prosperous citizens wore beavers on Sundays or for
+dress up. But there was this of the unusual about this particular hat:
+it had an air about it, a something which would have distinguished it
+amid fifty Bayport tiles. And yet just what that something was Sears
+Kendrick could not have told he could not have defined it, but he knew
+it was there.
+
+There was the same unusual something about the stranger's apparel in
+general, and yet there was nothing loud about it or queer. He carried a
+cane, but so did Captain Elkanah Wingate, for that matter, although only
+on Sundays. Captain Elkanah, however, carried his as if it were a club,
+or a scepter, or a--well, a marlinspike, perhaps. The stranger's cane
+was a part of his arm, and when he twirled it the twirls were graceful
+gestures, not vulgar flourishes.
+
+Sears's reflections concerning the newcomer were by no means as
+analytical as this, of course. His first impressions were those of one
+coming upon a beautiful work of art, a general wonder and admiration,
+not detailed at all. Judah, standing behind him with an armful of wood,
+must have had similar feelings, for he whispered, hoarsely, "Creepin'
+Moses, Cap'n Sears, is that the Prince of Wales, or who?"
+
+The man, standing in the path above the gardens, stopped to look about
+him. And at that moment, from the vine-covered Eyrie emerged Miss Elvira
+Snowden. She had evidently been there for some time, reading--she had a
+book in her hand--and as she came out she and the stranger were brought
+face to face.
+
+Sears and Judah saw them look at each other. The man raised his hat and
+said something which they could not hear. Then Miss Snowden cried "Oh!"
+She seemed intensely surprised and, for her, a good deal flustered.
+There was more low-toned conversation. Then Elvira and the stranger
+turned and walked back up the path toward the house. He escorted her in
+a manner and with a manner which made that walk a sort of royal
+progress.
+
+"Who was that?" asked Sears, as much of himself as of Judah.
+
+But Mr. Cahoon had, by this time, settled the question to his own
+satisfaction.
+
+"It's one of them slick critters peddlin' lightnin' rods," he declared,
+with conviction. "When you sight somebody that looks like a cross
+between a minister and one of them stuffed dummies they have outside of
+the stores in Dock Square to show off clothes on, then you can 'most
+generally bet he's peddlin' lightnin' rods. Either that or paintin'
+signs on fences about 'Mustang Liniment' or 'Vegetine' or somethin'.
+Why, a feller like that hove alongside me over in our yard one
+time--'twas afore you come, Cap'n Sears--and I give you my word, the
+way he was togged up I thought----"
+
+The captain did not wait to hear the Cahoon thought. He walked away. In
+a few minutes he had forgotten the stranger, having other and more
+important matters on his mind. There was a question concerning the Fair
+Harbor cooking range which was perplexing him just at this time. It
+looked as if they might have to buy a new one, and Sears, as
+superintendent of finances, hated to spend the money that month.
+
+He limped up the slope and along the path to the side door. And when he
+entered that door he became aware that something unusual was going on.
+The atmosphere of the Fair Harbor for Mariners' Women was, so to speak,
+electrified, it was vibrant with excitement and mystery.
+
+There was no one in the dining room, and no one in the sitting room. Yet
+in each of these apartments were numerous evidences that people had been
+there very recently and left in a great hurry. A cloth partially laid
+and left hanging. Drawers of the buffet left open. A broom lying
+directly in the middle of the floor where it had been dropped. An upset
+work-basket, disgorging spools, needle packets, and an avalanche of
+stockings awaiting darning. A lamp with the chimney standing beside it
+on the table. These were some of the signs denoting sudden and important
+interruption of a busy forenoon.
+
+Captain Sears, wondering much, turned from the sitting room into the
+hall leading to the parlor. Then he became aware that, ahead of him, was
+the center and core of excitement. From the parlor came a murmur of
+voices, exclamations, giggles--the sounds as of a party, a meeting of
+the sewing-circle, or a reception. He could not imagine what it was all
+about.
+
+He reached the parlor door and stood there for an instant looking in.
+Every inmate of the Harbor was in that room, including Elizabeth and her
+mother and even Caroline Snow, who, because it was Monday, was there to
+help with the washing. And every one--or almost every one--was talking,
+and the majority were crowded about one spot, a spot where stood a man,
+a man whom Sears recognized as the stranger he had seen in the garden.
+
+And then Mrs. Berry, who happened to be facing the door, saw him. She
+broke through the ring of women and hurried over. Her face was aglow,
+her eyes were shining, there were bright spots in her cheeks, and,
+altogether, she looked younger and handsomer than the captain had ever
+seen her, more as he would have imagined she must have looked in the
+days when Cap'n Ike came South a-courting.
+
+"Oh, Captain Kendrick," she cried, "I am so _very_ glad you have come.
+We have just had such a surprise! Such a very unexpected surprise, but a
+very delightful one. Come! You must meet him."
+
+She took his hand and led him toward the stranger. The latter, seeing
+them approach, politely pushed through the group surrounding him and
+stepped forward. Sears noticed for the first time that the sleeve of his
+coat was encircled by a broad band of black. His tie was black also, so
+were his cuff buttons. He was in mourning. An amazing idea flashed to
+the captain's brain.
+
+"Captain Kendrick," gushed Mrs. Berry, "I have the honor to present you
+to Mr. Phillips, husband of our beloved founder."
+
+Mr. Phillips smiled--his teeth were very fine, his smile engaging. He
+extended a hand.
+
+"I am delighted to meet Captain Kendrick," he said.
+
+The captain's stammered answer was conventional, and was not a literal
+expression of his thought. The latter, put into words, would have been:
+
+"Egbert! I might have known it."
+
+But there was no real reason why he should have known it, for this
+Egbert was not at all like the Egbert he had been expecting to see.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+
+Sears Kendrick left the Fair Harbor, perhaps fifteen minutes later, with
+that thought still uppermost in his mind. This was not at all the Egbert
+Phillips he had expected. From Judge Knowles' conversation, from Judah
+Cahoon's stories, from fragmentary descriptions he had picked up here
+and there about Bayport, he had fashioned an Egbert who had come to be
+in his mind a very real individual. This Egbert of his imagining was an
+oily, rather flashily dressed adventurer, a glib talker, handsome in a
+stage hero sort of way, with exaggerated politeness and a toothsome
+smile. There should be about this individual a general atmosphere of
+brilliantine, clothes and jewelry. On the whole he might have been
+expected to look a bit like the manager the captain had seen standing
+beside the ticket wagon at the circus, twirling his mustache with one
+hand and his cane with the other. Not quite as showy, not quite as
+picturesque, but a marked resemblance nevertheless.
+
+And the flesh and blood Egbert Phillips was not that kind at all. One
+was not conscious of his clothes, except that they were all that they
+should be as to fit--and style. He wore no jewelry whatever save his
+black cuff buttons and studs. His black tie was not of Bayport's
+fashion, certainly. It was ample, flowing and picturesque, rather in the
+foreign way. No other male in Bayport could have worn that tie and not
+looked foolish, yet Mr. Phillips did not look foolish, far from it. He
+did not wear a beard, another unusual bit of individuality, but his
+long, drooping mustache was extraordinarily becoming and--yes,
+aristocratic was the word. His smile was pleasant, his handshake was
+cordial, but not overdone, and his voice low and pleasant. Above all he
+had a manner, a manner which caused Sears, who had sailed pretty well
+over the world and had met all sorts of people in all sorts of places,
+to feel awkward and countrified. Yet one could tell that Mr. Phillips
+would not have one feel that way for the world; it was his desire to put
+every one at his or her ease.
+
+He greeted the captain with charming affability. He had heard of him, of
+course. He understood they were neighbors, as one might say. He looked
+forward to the pleasure of their better acquaintance. He had gotten but
+little further than this when Mrs. Berry, Miss Snowden and the rest
+again swooped down upon him and Sears was left forgotten on the outside
+of the circle. He went home soon afterward and sat down in the Minot
+kitchen to think it over.
+
+Egbert had come.... Well? Now what?
+
+He spent the greater part of the afternoon superintending the stowage of
+the wood and did not go back to the Harbor at all. But he was perfectly
+certain that he was not missed. The Fair Harbor for Mariners' Women
+fairly perspired excitement. Caroline Snow, her washing hung upon the
+lines in the back yard, found time to scurry down the hill and tell
+Judah the news. The captain had limped up to his room for a forgotten
+pipe, and when he returned Judah was loaded with it. He fired his first
+broadside before his lodger entered the barn.
+
+"Say, Cap'n Sears," hailed Mr. Cahoon, breathlessly, "do you know who
+that feller was me and you seen along of Elviry this forenoon? The tall
+one with the beaver and--and the gloves and the cane? The one I called
+the Prince of Wales or else a lightnin'-rod peddler? Do you know who he
+is?"
+
+Sears nodded. "Yes," he said, shortly.
+
+Judah stared, open-mouthed.
+
+"You _do_?" he gasped.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"You mean to tell me you know he's that--ah--er-what's-his-name--Eg
+Phillips come back?"
+
+"Yes, Judah."
+
+"My hoppin' Henry! Why didn't you say so?"
+
+"I didn't know it then, Judah. I found it out afterward, when I went up
+to the house."
+
+"Yes--but--but you knew it when you and me was eatin' dinner, didn't
+you? Why didn't you say somethin' about it then?"
+
+"Oh I don't know. It isn't important enough to interfere with our meals,
+is it?"
+
+Judah slowly shook his head. "It's a dum good thing you wan't around
+time of the flood, Cap'n Sears," he declared. "'Twould have been the
+thirty-eighth day afore you'd have cal'lated 'twas sprinklin' hard
+enough to notice. Afore that you'd have called it a thick fog, I presume
+likely. If you don't think this Phillips man's makin' port is important
+enough to talk about you take a cruise down to the store to-night.
+You'll hear more cacklin' than you'd hear in a henhouse in a week--and
+all account of just one Egg, too," he added, with a chuckle.
+
+"Caroline told you he had come, I suppose? Well, what does she think of
+him?"
+
+Judah snorted. "She?" he repeated. "She thinks he's the Angel Gabriel
+dressed up."
+
+He would have liked to discuss the new arrival the remainder of the
+afternoon, but the captain was not in the mood to listen. Neither was he
+more receptive or discussive at supper time. Judah wanted to talk of
+nothing else and to speculate concerning the amount of wealth which Mr.
+Phillips might have inherited, upon the probable date of the reading of
+Lobelia's will, upon whether or not the fortunate legatee might take up
+his residence in Bayport.
+
+"Say Cap'n" he observed, turning an inflamed countenance from the steam
+of dishwashing, "don't you cal'late maybe he may be wantin' to--er--sort
+of change things aboard the Fair Harbor? He'll be Admiral, as you might
+say, now, won't he?"
+
+"Will he?"
+
+"Well--won't he?"
+
+"Don't know, Judah. I haven't thrown up my commission yet, you know."
+
+"No, course you ain't, course you ain't. I don't mean he'd think of
+disrating you, Cap'n Sears. Nobody'd be fool-head enough for that....
+But, honest, I would like to look at him and hear him talk. Caroline
+Snow, she says he's the finest, highest-toned man ever _she_ see."
+
+"Yes? Well, that's sayin' somethin'."
+
+"Yus, but 'tain't sayin' too much. She lives down to Woodchuck Neck and
+the highest thing down there is a barrel of cod-livers. They're good and
+high when the sun gets to 'em."
+
+When the dishes were done he announced that he guessed likely he might
+as well go down to Eliphalet's and listen to the cackling. The captain
+did not object, and so he put on his cap and departed. But he was back
+again in less than a minute.
+
+"He's comin', Cap'n," he cried, excitedly. "Creepin' Moses! He's comin'
+here."
+
+Sears remained calm. "He is, eh?" he observed. "Well, is he creepin'
+now?"
+
+"Hey? Creepin'? What are you talkin' about?"
+
+"Why, Moses. You said he was comin', didn't you?"
+
+"I said that Egbert man was comin'. He was just onlatchin' the gate when
+I see him.... Hey? That's him knockin' now. Shall I--shall I let him in,
+Cap'n Sears?"
+
+"I would if I were you, Judah. If you don't I shall have to."
+
+So Judah did. Mr. Phillips entered the kitchen, removing his silk hat at
+the threshold. Mr. Cahoon followed, too overcome with excitement and
+curiosity to remember to take off his own cap. Sears Kendrick would have
+risen from the armchair in which he was seated, but the visitor extended
+a gloved hand.
+
+"Don't. Don't rise, I beg of you," he said, earnestly. "Pray keep your
+seat, Captain Kendall. I have just learned of your most unfortunate
+accident. Really, I must insist that you remain just as you are. You
+will distress me greatly if you move on my account. Thank you, thank
+you. I suppose I should apologize for running in in this informal way,
+but I feel almost as if I had known you for a long time. Our mutual
+friends, the Berrys, have told me so much concerning you since my
+arrival that I did not stand upon ceremony at all."
+
+"That's right," declared the captain, heartily. "I'm glad you didn't.
+Sit down, Mr. Phillips. Put your hat on the table there."
+
+Judah stepped forward.
+
+"Give it to me; I'll take care of it," he said, taking the shining beaver
+from the visitor's hand. "I'll hang it up yonder in the back entry, then
+'twon't get knocked onto the floor.... No, no, don't set in that chair,
+that's got a spliced leg; it's liable to land you on your beam ends if
+you ain't careful. Try this one."
+
+He kicked the infirm chair out of the way and pushed forward a
+substitute. "There," he added, cheerfully, "that's solid's the rock of
+Giberaltar. Nothin' like bein' sure of your anchorage. Set down, set
+down."
+
+He beamed upon the caller. The latter did not beam exactly. His
+expression was a queer one. Sears came to the rescue.
+
+"Mr. Phillips," he said, "this is Mr. Cahoon."
+
+Judah extended a mighty hand.
+
+"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Phillips," he declared. "I've
+heard tell of you considerable."
+
+Egbert looked at the hand. His expression was still queer.
+
+"Oh--ah--how d'ye do?" he murmured.
+
+"Mr. Cahoon and I are old friends," explained Sears. "I am boardin' here
+with him."
+
+"Yus," put in Judah. "And afore that I shipped cook aboard Cap'n Sears's
+vessels for a good many v'yages. The cap'n and I get along fust rate.
+He's all right, Cap'n Sears is, _I_ tell ye!"
+
+Mr. Phillips murmured something to the effect that he was sure of it. He
+did not seem very sure of Judah. Mr. Cahoon did not notice the
+uncertainty, he pushed his hand nearer to the visitor's.
+
+"I'm real glad to meet you," he said.
+
+Egbert gingerly took the proffered hand, moved it up and down once and
+then dropped it, after which he looked at his glove. Judah looked at it,
+too.
+
+"Kind of chilly outdoor to-night, is it?" he asked. "Didn't seem so to
+me."
+
+Again his lodger came to the rescue.
+
+"Well, Mr. Phillips," he said, "you gave us all a little surprise,
+didn't you? Of course we expected you in a general sort of way, but we
+didn't know when you would make port."
+
+Egbert bowed. "I scarcely knew myself," he said. "My plans were somewhat
+vague and--ah--rather hurriedly made, naturally. Of course my great
+sorrow, my bereavement----"
+
+He paused, sighed and then brushed the subject away with a wave of his
+glove.
+
+"You won't mind, I'm sure," he said, "if I don't dwell upon that just
+now. It is too recent, the shock is too great, I really cannot.... But I
+am so sorry to hear of your disability. A railway wreck, I understand.
+Outrageous carelessness, no doubt. Really, Captain Kendrick, one cannot
+find excuses for the reckless mismanagement of your American
+railways.... Why, what is it? Don't you agree with me?"
+
+The captain had looked up momentarily. Now he was looking down again.
+
+"Don't you agree with me?" repeated Egbert. "Surely you, of all people,
+should not excuse their recklessness."
+
+Sears shook his head. "Oh, I wasn't tryin' to," he replied. "I was only
+wonderin' why you spoke of 'em as 'your' railroads. They aren't mine,
+you know. That is, any more than they are Judah's--or yours--or any
+other American's. No such luck."
+
+Mr. Phillips coughed, smiled, coughed again, and then explained that he
+had used the word 'your' without thinking.
+
+"I have been so long an--ah--shall I say exile, Captain Kendall," he
+observed, "that I have, I presume, fallen somewhat into the European
+habit of thinking and--ah--speaking. Habit is a peculiar thing, is it
+not?"
+
+Mr. Cahoon, intensely interested in the conversation, evidently felt it
+his duty to contribute toward it.
+
+"You're right there, Mr. Phillips," he announced, with emphasis.
+"Don't talk to me about habits! When a man's been to sea as long's I
+have he runs afoul of pretty nigh every kind of habit there is, seems
+so. Why, I knew a feller one time--down to Surinam 'twas--I was cook
+and steward aboard the old _Highflyer_--and this feller--he wan't
+a white man, nor he wan't all nigger nuther, kind of in between, one of
+them--er--er--octoreens, that's what he was--well, this feller he had
+the dumdest habit. Every day of his life, about the middle of the dog
+watch he'd up and----"
+
+"Judah."
+
+"Aye, aye, Cap'n Sears?"
+
+"You'll be late down at the store, won't you?"
+
+"Hey? Oh, I don't care how late I be. I don't know's I'm so dreadful
+partic'lar about goin' down there to-night, anyhow. Don't know but I'd
+just as live stay here."
+
+"I'd go."
+
+"Hey? Oh, I----"
+
+"I'd go, if I were you. You know there's likely to be a good deal goin'
+on."
+
+"Think so, do you?" Judah was evidently on the fence. "Course, I----
+Well, maybe I had better, come to think of it. Good night, Mr. Phillips.
+I'll tell you about that octoreen feller next time I see you. So long,
+Cap'n Sears. I'll report about," with a wink, "the cacklin' later.
+Creepin'! it's most eight now, ain't it?"
+
+He hurried out. Egbert looked rather relieved. He smiled tolerantly.
+
+"Evidently an eccentric, your--er--man," he observed.
+
+"He has his ways, like the majority of us, I guess," declared the
+captain, crisply. "Underneath he is as square and big-hearted as they
+make. And he's a good friend of mine."
+
+"Oh, yes; yes, I'm sure of it. Captain Kendall----"
+
+"Kendrick, not Kendall."
+
+Mr. Phillips begged pardon for the mistake. It was inexcusable, he
+admitted. He had heard the captain's name mentioned so frequently since
+his arrival in Bayport, especially by Mrs. Berry and her daughter, "so
+favorably, even enthusiastically mentioned," that he certainly should
+have remembered it. "I am not quite myself, I fear," he added. "My
+recent bereavement and the added shock of the death of my dear old
+friend the judge have had their effect. My nerves are--well, you
+understand, I am sure."
+
+He made a lengthy call. He talked a great deal, and his conversation was
+always interesting. He spoke much of his dear wife, of life abroad, of
+Genoa and Leghorn, ports which the captain had visited, and of the
+changes in Bayport since his last sojourn in the village. But he said
+almost nothing concerning his plans for the future, and of the Fair
+Harbor very little. In fact, Sears had the feeling that he was waiting
+for him to talk concerning that institution. This the captain would not
+do and, at last, Mr. Phillips himself touched lightly upon the fringes
+of the subject.
+
+"Do you find your duties in connection with the--ah--retreat next door
+arduous, Captain Kendrick?" he inquired.
+
+"Eh?... Oh, no, I don't know as I'd call 'em that, exactly."
+
+"I imagine not, I imagine not. You are--you are, I gather, a sort
+of--oh---- What should I call you, captain; in your official capacity,
+you know?"
+
+He laughed pleasantly. Sears smiled.
+
+"Give it up," he replied. "I told Elizabeth--Miss Berry, I mean--when I
+first took the berth that I scarcely knew what it was."
+
+"Ha, ha! Yes, I can imagine. Miss Berry--charming girl, isn't she,
+captain--intimated to me that your position was somewhat--ah--general.
+You exercise a sort of supervision over the finances and management, in
+a way, do you not?"
+
+"In a way, yes."
+
+"Yes. Of course, my dear sir, you understand that I am not unduly
+curious. I don't mean to be. This--ah--Fair Harbor was, as you know,
+very dear to the heart of Mrs. Phillips and, now that she has been taken
+from me, I feel, of course, a sense of trust, of sacred responsibility.
+We had understood, she and I, that our dear friend--Judge Knowles--was
+in supreme charge--nominally, I mean; of course Mrs. Berry was in actual
+charge--and, therefore, I confess to a natural feeling of--shall I say
+surprise, on learning that the judge had appointed another person, an
+understudy, as it were?"
+
+"Well, you couldn't be any more surprised than I was when the judge
+asked me to take the job. And Elizabeth and her mother know that I
+hesitated considerable before I did take it. Judge Knowles was in his
+last sickness, he couldn't attend to things himself."
+
+Mr. Phillips raised a protesting hand. "Please don't misunderstand me,"
+he said. "Don't, I beg of you, think for a moment that I am objecting to
+the judge's action, or even criticizing it. It was precisely the thing
+he should have done, what Mrs. Phillips and I would have wished him to
+do. And as for his choice of--ah--appointee----"
+
+Captain Sears interrupted. "As to that," he said, "you can criticize as
+much as you please. You can't object any more than I did when me made me
+the offer."
+
+The protesting hand was again raised. "Criticism or objection was the
+very farthest from my mind, I assure you," Egbert declared. "I was about
+to say that Judge Knowles showed his usual--ah--acumen when he selected
+a man as well known and highly esteemed as yourself, sir. The mention of
+the name of Captain Kendall----"
+
+"Kendrick."
+
+"Kendrick, of course. I apologize once more. But, if you will permit me
+to say so, a man as well and favorably known to us all as you are, sir,
+is certainly the ideal occupant of the--ah--place."
+
+"Thanks. You knew of me, then? I don't think you and I have ever met
+before, have we?"
+
+"No; no, I believe I have never before had the pleasure."
+
+"Thanks. I was pretty sure I hadn't. I've been away from Bayport a good
+deal. I wasn't here when you and your wife came back--about five years
+ago, wasn't it? And, of course, I didn't know you when you used to live
+here. Let's see; you used to teach singin'-school, didn't you?"
+
+This question was asked in the most casual fashion. Mr. Phillips did not
+answer at once. He coughed, changed his position, and then smiled
+graciously.
+
+"Yes," he said. "Yes, I--I did something of the sort, for a time. Music
+has always been a--one might call it a--ah--hobby of mine. But,
+regarding your duties as--well, whatever those duties are, Captain
+Kendrick: You say they are not arduous. And your--ah--compensation?
+That, I understand, is not large? Pardon my referring to it, but as Mrs.
+Phillips was the owner and benefactress of the Fair Harbor, and as I
+am--shall I say heir--to her interests, why, perhaps my excuse for
+asking for information is--ah--a reasonable one."
+
+He paused, and with another smile and wave of the hand, awaited his
+host's reply. Sears looked at him.
+
+"I guess you know what my wages are, Mr. Phillips," he observed. "Don't
+you?"
+
+"Why--why--ah--ah----"
+
+"Didn't Cordelia tell you? She knows. So does Elizabeth."
+
+"Why--why, Mrs. Berry did mention a figure, I believe. I seem to
+recall--ah--ah--something."
+
+"If you remember fifteen hundred a year, you will have it right. That is
+the amount I'm paid for bein' in general command over there. As you say,
+it isn't very large, but perhaps it's large enough for what I do."
+
+"Oh--ah, _don't_ misunderstand me, Captain Kendrick, please don't. I
+was not questioning the amount of your salary."
+
+"Wasn't you? My mistake. I thought you was."
+
+"No; indeed no. My only feeling in regard to it was its--ah--trifling
+size. It--pardon me, but it seemed such a small sum for you to accept, a
+man of your attainments."
+
+"My attainments, as you call 'em, haven't got me very far I'm a poor man
+and, just now at any rate, I'm a cripple, a wreck on a lee shore.
+Fifteen hundred a year isn't so small to me."
+
+Mr Phillips apologized. He was sorry he had referred to the subject. But
+the captain, he was sure, understood his motive for asking, and, now
+that so much had been said, might he say just a word more.
+
+"Our dear Cordelia--Mrs. Berry--" he went on, "intimated that
+your--ah--compensation was paid by the judge, himself."
+
+"Yes it was. Judge Knowles paid it with his own money. It doesn't come
+out of the Fair Harbor funds."
+
+"Yes, yes, of course, of course. The judge's interest in my beloved
+wife's--ah--whims--perhaps that is too frivolous a word--was
+extraordinarily fine. But now the judge has passed on."
+
+"Yes. More's the pity."
+
+"I heartily agree with you, it is a great pity. An irreparable loss....
+But he has gone."
+
+"Yes."
+
+Just here the dialogue came to a peculiar halt. Mr. Phillips seemed to
+be waiting for his companion to say something and the captain to be
+waiting for Phillips himself to say it first. As a consequence neither
+said it. When the conversation was resumed it was once more of a general
+nature. It was not until just beyond the end of the call that the Fair
+Harbor was again mentioned. And, as at first, it was the caller who led
+up to it.
+
+"Captain Kendrick," he observed, "you are, like myself, a man of the
+world, a man of wide experience."
+
+This was given forth as a positive statement, not a question, yet he
+seemed to expect a reply. Sears obliged.
+
+"Oh, I don't know," he demurred.
+
+"Pardon me, but I do. I am accustomed to judge persons and characters,
+and I think I may justly pride myself on making few mistakes. From what
+I had heard I expected to find you a man of the world, a man of
+experience and judgment. Judge Knowles' selection of you as
+the--ah--temporary head of the Fair Harbor would have indicated that, of
+course, but, if you will permit me to say so, this interview has
+confirmed it."
+
+Again he paused, as if expecting a reply. And again the captain humored
+him.
+
+"Much obliged," he said.
+
+The Phillips hand waved the thanks away. There was another perceptible
+wait. Then said Egbert, "Captain Kendrick, as one man of the world to
+another, what do you think of the--ah--institution next door?"
+
+Sears looked at him. "What do I think of it?" he repeated.
+
+"Yes, exactly. It was, as you know, the darling of my dear wife's heart.
+When she loaned her--shall we say her ancestral home, and--ah--money to
+the purpose she firmly believed the Fair Harbor for Mariners' Women to
+be an inspiration for good. She believed its founding to be the
+beginning of a great work. Is it doing that work, do you think? In your
+opinion, sir, is it a success?"
+
+Captain Sears slowly stroked his close-cropped beard. What was the man
+driving at?
+
+"Why--I don't know as I know exactly what you mean by success," he
+hesitated. "It's takin' care of its--er--boarders and it's makin' a home
+for 'em. That is what your wife wanted it to do, didn't she?"
+
+"Oh, yes, yes, quite so. But that is not precisely what I mean. Put it
+this way, sir: In your opinion, as a man of affairs----"
+
+"Here, here, just a minute. I'm not a man of affairs. I'm a broken-down
+sea cap'n on shore, that's all."
+
+Again the upraised hand. "_I_ know what you are, Captain Kendrick,"
+said Egbert. "That, if you will permit me to say so, is why I am asking
+your opinion. The success of a--ah--proposition depends, as I see it,
+upon the amount of success achieved in proportion to the amount of
+energy, capital--ah--whatnot invested. Now, considering the sum needed
+to support the Fair Harbor--paid, as doubtless you know, Captain
+Kendrick, from the interest of an amount loaned and set aside by my dear
+wife some years ago--considering that sum, I say, added to the amount
+sunk, or invested, in the house, land, furnishings, et cetera, is it
+your opinion that the institution's success is a sufficient return? Or,
+might not the same sums, put into other--ah--charities, reap larger
+rewards? Rewards in the shape of good to our fellow men and women,
+Captain Kendrick? What do you think?"
+
+Sears crossed his knees.
+
+"I don't know," he said.
+
+"Of course, of course. One does not know. But it is a question to be
+considered, is it not?"
+
+"Why--why, yes, maybe. Do I understand that you are thinkin' of givin'
+up the Fair Harbor? Doin' away with it?"
+
+"Oh, no, no, no!" Mr. Phillips pushed the surmise deeper into the
+background with each negative. "I am not considering anything of that
+sort, Captain Kendrick."
+
+"Well--humph! My mistake again. I thought you just said you were
+considerin' it."
+
+"Only as a question, Captain, only as a question. While my wife lived,
+of course, the Fair Harbor--_her_ Fair Harbor--was a thing fixed,
+immovable. Now that she has been taken from me, it devolves upon me, the
+care of her trusts, her benefactions."
+
+"Yes. So you said, Mr. Phillips."
+
+"I believe I did say so. Yes. And therefore, as I see it, a part of that
+trust is to make sure that every penny of her--ah--charity is doing the
+greatest good to the greatest number."
+
+"And you think the Fair Harbor isn't gettin' its money's worth?"
+
+"Oh, no, no, no. I don't say that. I don't say that at all. I am sure it
+must be. I am merely considering, that is all, merely considering....
+Well, Captain Kendrick, I must go. We shall see each other often, I
+trust. I have-ah--a suite at the Central House and if you will do me the
+honor of calling I shall greatly appreciate it. Pray drop in at any
+time, sir. Don't, I beg of you, stand upon ceremony."
+
+Sears promised that he would not. He was finding it hard to keep from
+smiling. A "suite" at the Central House, Bayport's one hostelry, tickled
+him. He knew the rooms at that hit or miss tavern.
+
+"Good-by, Captain Kendrick," said Mr. Phillips. "Upon one thing I feel
+sure you may congratulate yourself, that is that your troubles and petty
+annoyances as--ah--manager of the Fair Harbor are practically over."
+
+"Oh," observed the captain.
+
+"Yes. I think I shall be able to relieve you of _that_ care very
+shortly. And the sooner the better, I presume you are saying. Yes? Ha,
+ha!"
+
+"Thanks. Goin' to appoint somebody else, eh?"
+
+"Oh, no, no! My _dear_ sir! Why, I--I really--I thought you understood.
+I mean to say simply that, while I am here in person, and as long as I
+am here, I shall endeavor to look after the matters myself and
+consequently relieve you, that is all. Judge Knowles appointed you and
+paid you--a very wise and characteristic thing for him to do; but he,
+poor man, is dead. One could scarcely expect you to go on performing
+your duties gratuitously. That is why I congratulate you upon the
+lifting of the burden from your shoulders."
+
+"Oh, yes. Um-hm. I see. Thank you, Mr. Phillips."
+
+"I should thank you, sir, for all you have already done. I do
+sincerely.... Oh, by the way, Captain Kendrick, perhaps it would be as
+well that nothing be said concerning this little business talk of ours.
+One knows how trifles are distorted, mole hills made mountains, and all
+that, in communities like--well, like dear old Bayport. We love our
+Bayporters, bless them, but they will talk. Ha, ha! So, captain, if you
+will consider our little chat confidential----"
+
+"I will."
+
+"Thank you, sir, thank you. And we shall see each other frequently. I am
+counting upon it. _Au revoir_, Captain Kendrick. Don't rise, I beg of
+you."
+
+He was gone, the door closed behind him. Sears filled his pipe, lighted
+it, and leaned back in his chair to review and appraise his impressions.
+
+The appraisal was not altogether satisfactory. It was easy to say that
+he did not like Egbert Phillips, for it was the truth--he did not like
+him. But to affirm truthfully that that dislike was founded upon
+anything more substantial than prejudice due to Judge Knowles'
+detestation was not so easy. The question which continually intruded was
+this: Suppose he had met Mr. Phillips for the first time, never having
+heard of him before--would he have disliked and distrusted him under
+those circumstances? He could not be quite sure.
+
+For, leaving aside Egbert's airy condescension and his--to the captain's
+New England mind--overdone politeness, there was not so much fault to be
+found with his behavior or words during the interview just ended. He had
+asked questions concerning the Fair Harbor, had hinted at the
+possibility of its discontinuance, had more than hinted at the dropping
+of Kendrick as its manager. Well--always bearing in mind the fact that
+he was ignorant of his wife's action which gave the Seymour house and
+land to the Fair Harbor and gave, not loaned, the money for its
+maintenance--bearing in mind the fact that Egbert Phillips believed
+himself the absolute owner of all, with undisputed authority to do as he
+pleased with it--then.... Well, then Captain Sears was obliged to admit
+that he, himself, might have questioned and hinted very much as his
+visitor had done. And as for the condescension and the "manner"--these
+were, after all, not much more than eccentricities, and developed, very
+likely, during his life abroad.
+
+Lobelia Phillips' will would be opened and read soon, probably at once.
+Whew! Sears whistled as he thought of the staggering disillusionment
+which was coming to the widower. How would he take it? Was Judge Knowles
+right in his belief that the rest of the Seymour inheritance had been
+wasted and lost? If so, the elegant personage who had just bowed himself
+out of the Minot kitchen would be in a bad way indeed. Sears was sorry
+for him.
+
+And yet he did not like the man. No, he did not.... And he did distrust
+him.
+
+Judah came back from his sojourn at the store brimful of talk and
+chuckles. As he had prophesied, all Bayport had heard of the arrival of
+the great man and all Bayport was discussing him. He had the finest
+rooms at the Central House. He had three trunks--count them--three! Not
+to mention bags and a leather hat box. He had given the driver of the
+depot wagon a dollar over and above his regular charge. He remembered
+Eliphalet Bassett the first time he saw him, and called him by name.
+
+There was a lot more of this, but Sears paid little attention to it.
+Judah summed it all up pretty well in his final declaration, given as
+his lodger was leaving the kitchen for the "spare stateroom."
+
+"By Henry!" declared Judah, who seemed rather disgusted, "I never heard
+such a powwowin' over one man in my life. Up to 'Liphalet's 'twan't
+nothin' but 'Egbert Phillips,' 'Egbert Phillips,' till you'd think 'twas
+a passel of poll-parrots all mockin' each other. Simeon Ryder had been
+down to deacon's meetin' in the Orthodox vestry and, nigh's I can find
+out, 'twas just the same down there. 'Cordin' to Sim's tell they talked
+about the Lord's affairs for ten minutes and about this Egg man's for
+forty."
+
+"But why?" queried the captain. "He isn't the only fellow that has been
+away from Bayport and come back again."
+
+Mr. Cahoon shook his head. "I know it," he admitted, "but none of the
+rest ever had quite so much fuss made over 'em. I cal'late, maybe, it's
+on account of the way he's been led up to, as you might say. I went one
+time to a kind of show place in New York, Barnum's Museum 'twas. There
+was a great sign outdoor sayin', 'Come on aboard and see the White
+Whale,' or somethin' similar. Well, I'd seen about every kind of a whale
+_but_ a white one, so I cal'lated maybe I'd might as well spend a
+quarter and see that. There was a great big kind of tank place full of
+water and a whole passel of folks hangin' around the edge of it with
+their mouths open, gawpin' at nothin'--nothin' but the water, that's all
+there was to see. And a man up on a kind of platform he was preachin' a
+sort of sermon, wavin' his arms and hollerin' about how rare and scurce
+white whales was, and how the museum folks had to scour all creation
+afore they got this one, and about how the round heads of Europe----"
+
+"Crowned heads, wasn't it, Judah?"
+
+"Hey? I don't know, maybe so. Cabbage heads it ought to have been,
+'cordin' to my notion. Well, anyhow, 'twas some kind of Europe heads,
+and they had all pretty nigh broke the necks belongin' to 'em gettin' to
+see this whale, and how lucky we was because we could see it for the
+small sum of twenty-five cents, and so on, and so on--until all hands of
+us was just kind of on tiptoe, as you might say. And then, all to once,
+the water in the tank kind of riz up, you know, and somethin'
+white--might have been the broadside of a barn for all we had time to
+see of it--showed for a jiffy, there was a 'Woosh,' and the white thing
+went under again.' And that was all. The man said we was now able to
+tell our children that we'd seen a white whale and that the critter
+would be up to breathe again in about an hour, or week after next, or
+some such time.... Anyhow, what I'm tryin' to get at is that 'twan't the
+whale itself that counted so much as 'twas the way that preachin' man
+led up to him. This Egbert he's been preached about and guessed about
+and looked for'ard to so long that all Bayport's been on tiptoe, like us
+folks around that museum tank.... Well, this Phillips whale has made a
+big 'Woosh' in town so fur. Can he keep it up? That's what I'm
+wonderin'."
+
+The sensation kept up for the next day and the next at least, and there
+were no signs of its abating. Over at the Fair Harbor Captain Sears
+found himself playing a very small second fiddle. Miss Snowden, Mrs.
+Brackett and their following, instead of putting themselves out to smile
+upon the captain and to chat with him, ignored him almost altogether,
+or, if they did speak, spoke only of Mr. Phillips. He was the most
+entertaining man, _so_ genteel, his conversation was remarkable, he had
+traveled everywhere.
+
+Mrs. Berry, of course, was in ecstasies concerning him. He was her ideal
+of a gentleman, she said, _so_ aristocratic. "So like the men I
+associated with in the old days," she said. "Of course," she added, "he
+is an old friend. Dear 'Belia and he were my dearest friends, you know,
+Captain Kendrick."
+
+The captain was curious to learn Elizabeth's opinion of him. He found
+that opinion distinctly favorable.
+
+"He is different," she said. "Different, I mean, from any one I ever
+met. And at first I thought him conceited. But he isn't really, he is
+just--well, different. I think I shall like him."
+
+Sears smiled. "If you don't you will be rather lonesome here in the
+Harbor, I judge," he observed.
+
+She looked at him quickly. "You don't like him, do you, Cap'n Kendrick?"
+she said. "Why?"
+
+"Why--why, I don't say I don't like him, Elizabeth."
+
+"No, you don't say it, but you look it. I didn't think you took sudden
+dislikes, Cap'n. It doesn't seem like you, somehow."
+
+He could not explain, and he felt that he had disappointed her.
+
+On the third day the news came that Mr. Phillips had left town, gone
+suddenly, so Judah said.
+
+"He took the afternoon train and bought a ticket for Boston, so they
+tell me," declared the latter. "He's left his dunnage at the Central
+House, so he's comin' back, I cal'late; but nobody knows where he's
+gone, nor why he went. Went over to Orham this mornin'--hired a
+horse-'n'-team down to the livery stable and went--come back about one
+o'clock, wouldn't speak to nobody, went up to his room, never et no
+dinner, and then set sail for Boston on the up train. Cur'us, ain't it?
+Where do you cal'late likely he's gone, Cap'n Sears?"
+
+"Give it up, Judah. And," speaking quickly in order to head off the
+question he saw the Cahoon lips already forming, "I can't guess why he's
+gone, either."
+
+But, although he did not say so, he could have guessed why Mr. Phillips
+had gone to Orham. Bradley, the Orham lawyer, had written the day before
+to say that the will of Lobelia Phillips would be opened and read at his
+office on Thursday morning. And this was Thursday. Bradley had suggested
+Sears's coming over to be present at the reading of the will. "As you
+are so deeply interested in the Fair Harbor," he wrote, "I should think
+you might--or ought to--be on hand. I don't believe Phillips will
+object."
+
+But the captain had not accepted the invitation. Knowing, as he did, the
+disappointment which was in store for Egbert, he had no wish to see the
+blow fall. So he remained at home, but that afternoon Bradley himself
+drove into the Minot yard.
+
+"I just stopped for a minute, Cap'n, he said. I had some other business
+in town here; that brought me over, but I wanted to tell you that we
+opened that will this morning."
+
+Sears looked a question. "Well?" he queried.
+
+Bradley nodded. "It was just about as we thought, and as the judge
+said," he declared. "The papers were there, of course, telling of the
+gift of the fifty thousand to the Harbor, of the gift of the land and
+house, everything. There was one other legacy, a small one, and then she
+left all the rest, 'stocks, bonds, securities, personal effects and
+cash' to her beloved husband, Egbert Phillips. That's all there was to
+it, Kendrick. Short but sweet, eh?"
+
+Sears nodded. "Sweet enough," he agreed. "And how did the beloved
+husband take it?"
+
+"Well ... well, he was pretty nasty. In fact he was about as nasty as
+anybody could be. He went white as a sheet and then red and then white
+again. I didn't know, for a minute or two, what was going to happen,
+didn't know but what I should have a fight on my hands. However, I
+didn't. I don't think he's the fighting kind, not that kind of a fight.
+He just took it out in being nasty. Said of course he should contest the
+gift, hinted at undue influence, spoke of thieves and swindlers--not
+naming 'em, though--and then, when I suggested that he had better think
+it over before he said too much, pulled up short and walked out of the
+office. Yes, he was pretty nasty. But, honestly, Cap'n Kendrick, when I
+think it over, I don't know that he was any nastier than I, or any other
+fellow, might have been under the circumstances. It was a smash between
+the eyes for him, that's what it was. Met him, have you?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"What do you think of him?"
+
+"I don't know--yet."
+
+"Neither do I. He's a polite chap, isn't he?"
+
+"No doubt about that. Say, Bradley, do you think he's got much left of
+the 'stocks, bonds,' and all the rest that the will talked about?"
+
+"I give it up. Of course we shall talk about that by and by, I suppose,
+but we haven't yet. You know what Judge Knowles declared; he was
+perfectly sure that there wouldn't be anything left--that this fellow
+and Lobelia had thrown away every loose penny of old Seymour's money.
+And, of course, he prophesied that this Egbert man would be back here as
+soon as his wife died to sell the Fair Harbor, ship and cargo, and get
+the money for them. The biggest satisfaction the old judge got out of
+life along toward the last of it was in knowing that he and Lobelia had
+fixed things so that that couldn't be done. He certainly hated Phillips,
+the judge did."
+
+"Um-hm. But he might have been prejudiced."
+
+"Yes. Sometimes I wonder if he wasn't."
+
+"Tell me, Bradley: Did you know this Phillips man when he was skipper of
+the singin' school here in Bayport? Before he married Lobelia?"
+
+"No. Nor I didn't meet him when he and his wife were on here the last
+time. I was up in the State House serving out my two terms as county
+representative."
+
+"I see.... Oh! You spoke of Lobelia's leavin' another legacy. Who was
+that to? If it isn't a secret."
+
+"It is, so far. But it won't be very long. She left five thousand, in
+cash and in Judge Knowles's care, for Cordelia Berry over here at the
+Harbor. She and Lobelia were close friends, you know. Cordelia is to
+have it free and clear, but I am to invest it for her. She doesn't know
+her good luck yet. I am going over now to tell her about it.... Oh, by
+the way, Cap'n: Judge Knowles's nephew, the man from California, is
+expecting to reach Bayport next Sunday. He can't stay out a little
+while, and so I shall have to hurry up that will and the business
+connected with it. Can you come over to my office Monday about ten?"
+
+"Why, I suppose likely I could, but what do you want me for?"
+
+"I don't, except in the general way of always wanting to see you, Cap'n.
+But Judge Knowles wanted you especially."
+
+"He did! Wanted _me_?"
+
+"Yes. Seems so. He left a memorandum of those he wanted on hand when his
+will was read. You are one, and Elizabeth Berry is another. Will you
+come?"
+
+"Why--why, yes, I suppose so. But what in the world----"
+
+"I don't know. But I imagine we'll all know Monday. I'll look for you
+then, Cap'n."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+
+The reading of the Knowles will, so Bradley had said, was to take place
+at the lawyer's office in Orham on Monday. It was Friday when Bradley
+called at the Minot place, and on Saturday morning Sears and Elizabeth
+discussed the matter.
+
+"Mr. Bradley said your name was on the list of those the judge asked to
+be on hand when the will was read," said the captain. "He asked me not
+to speak about the will to outsiders, and of course I haven't, but
+you're not an outsider. You're goin' over, I suppose?"
+
+She hesitated slightly. "Why, yes," she said. "I think I shall."
+
+"Yes. Yes, I thought you would."
+
+"I shall go because the judge seems to have wished me to be there, but
+why I can't imagine. Can you, Cap'n Kendrick?"
+
+Remembering his last conversation with Judge Knowles, Sears thought he
+might at least guess a possible reason, but he did not say so.
+
+"We're both interested in the Fair Harbor," he observed. "And we know
+how concerned the judge was with that."
+
+She nodded. "Yes," she admitted. "Still I don't see why mother was not
+asked if that was it. You are going over, of course?"
+
+"Why--yes, I shall. Bradley seemed to want me to."
+
+That was all, at the time. The next day, however, Elizabeth again
+mentioned the subject. It was in the afternoon, church and dinner were
+over, and Sears was strolling along the path below the Fair Harbor
+garden plots. He could walk with less difficulty and with almost no pain
+now, but he could not walk far. The Eyrie was, for a wonder,
+unoccupied, so he limped up to it and sat down upon the bench inside to
+rest. This was the favorite haunt of the more romantic Fair Harbor
+inmates, Miss Snowden and Mrs. Chase especially, but they were not there
+just then, although a book, _Barriers Burned Away_, by E. P. Roe, lay
+upon the bench, a cardboard marker with the initials "E. S." in
+cross-stitch, between the leaves. When the captain heard a step
+approaching the summer-house, he judged that Elvira was returning to
+reclaim her "Barriers." But it was not Elvira who entered the Eyrie, it
+was Elizabeth Berry.
+
+She was surprised to see him. "Why, Cap'n Sears!" she exclaimed. "I
+didn't expect to find you here. I was afraid--that is, I did rather
+think I might find Elvira, but not you. I didn't know you had the Eyrie
+habit."
+
+He smiled. "I haven't," he said. "That is, it isn't chronic yet. I
+didn't know you had it, either."
+
+"Oh I haven't. But I was rather tired, and I wanted to be alone, and
+so----"
+
+"And so you took a chance. Well, you came at just the right time. I was
+just about gettin' under way."
+
+He rose, but she detained him. "Don't go," she begged. "When I said I
+wanted to be alone I didn't mean it exactly. I meant I wanted to be away
+from--some people. You are not one of them."
+
+He was pleased, and showed it. "You're sure of that?" he asked.
+
+"Of course. You know I am. Do sit down and talk. Talk about anything
+except--well, except Bayport gossip and Fair Harbor squabbles and bills
+and--oh, that sort of thing. Talk about something away from Bayport,
+miles and miles away. I feel just now as if I should like to be--to be
+on board a ship sailing ... sailing."
+
+She smiled wistfully as she said it. The captain was seized with an
+intense conviction that he should like to be with her on that same ship,
+to sail on and on indefinitely. The kind of ship or its destination
+would not matter in the least, the only essentials were that she and he
+were to be on board, and ... Humph! His brain must be softening. Who
+did he think he was: a young man again?--a George Kent? He came out of
+the clouds.
+
+"Yes," he observed, dryly, "I know. I get that same feelin' every once
+in a while. I should rather like to walk a deck again, myself."
+
+She understood instantly. That was one of the fascinations of this girl,
+she always seemed to understand. A flash of pity came into her eyes.
+Impulsively she laid a hand on his coat sleeve.
+
+"I beg your pardon," she said. "I'm so sorry. I realize how hard it must
+be for you, Cap'n Kendrick. A man who has been where you have been and
+seen what you have seen.... Yes, and done what you have done."
+
+He shrugged. "I haven't done much," he said.
+
+"Oh, yes, you have. I have heard so many stories about you and your
+ships and the way you have handled them. There was one story I remember,
+a story about how your sailors mutinied and how you got them to go to
+work again. I heard that years ago, when I was a girl at school. I have
+never forgotten; it sounded so wonderful and romantic and--and far off."
+
+He nodded. "It was far off," he said. "Away over in the South Seas. And
+it was a good while ago, too, for I was in command of my first vessel,
+and that's the time of all times when a man doesn't want mutiny or any
+other setback. And I never had any trouble with my crews, before or
+since, except then. But the water in our butts had gone rancid and we
+put in at this island to refill. It was a pretty place, lazy and
+sunshiny, like most of those South Sea corals, and the fo'mast hands got
+ashore amongst the natives, drinkin' palm wine and traders' gin, and
+they didn't want to put to sea as soon as the mates and I did."
+
+"But you made them?"
+
+"Well, I--er--sort of coaxed 'em into it."
+
+"Tell me about it, please."
+
+"Oh, there isn't anything to----"
+
+"Please."
+
+So Sears began to spin the yarn. And from that she led him into another
+and then another. They drifted through the South Seas to the East
+Indies, and from there to Bombay, and then to Hong Kong, and to
+Mauritious, from the beaches of which came the marvelous sea shells that
+Sarah Macomber had in the box in her parlor closet. They voyaged through
+the Arabian Sea, with the parched desert shores shimmering in the white
+hot sun. They turned north, saw the sperm whales and the great squid and
+the floating bergs.... And at last they drifted back to Bayport and the
+captain looked at his watch.
+
+"Heavens and earth!" he exclaimed. "It's almost four o'clock. I believe
+I've talked steady for pretty nearly an hour. I'm ashamed. Are you
+awake, Elizabeth? I hope, for your sake, you've been takin' a nap."
+
+She did not answer at once. Then she breathed deeply. "I don't know what
+I have been doing--really doing," she said. "I suppose I have been
+sitting right here in this old summer-house. But I _feel_ as if I had
+been around the world. I wanted to sail and sail.... I said so, didn't
+I? Well, I have. Thank you, Cap'n Kendrick."
+
+He rose from the bench.
+
+"A man gets garrulous in his old age," he observed. "But I didn't think
+I was as old as that--just yet. The talkin' disease must be catchin',
+and I've lived with Judah Cahoon quite a while now."
+
+She laughed. "If I had as much to talk about--worth while talking
+about--as you have," she declared, "I should never want to stop. Well, I
+must be getting back to the Fair Harbor--and the squabbles."
+
+"Too bad. Can I help you with 'em?"
+
+"No, I'm afraid not. They're not big enough for you."
+
+They turned to the door. She spoke again.
+
+"You are going to drive to Orham to-morrow afternoon?" she asked.
+
+"Eh? Oh, yes. The Foam Flake and I will make the voyage--if we have
+luck."
+
+"And you are going--alone?"
+
+"Yes. Judah thinks I shouldn't. Probably he thinks the Foam Flake may
+fall dead, or get to walkin' in his sleep and step off the bank or
+somethin'. But I'm goin' to risk it. I guess likely I can keep him in
+the channel."
+
+She waited a moment. Then she smiled and shook her head.
+
+"Cap'n," she said, "you make it awfully hard for me. And this is the
+second time. Really, I feel so--so brazen."
+
+"Brazen?"
+
+"Yes. Why don't you invite me to ride to Orham with you? Why must I
+_always_ have to invite myself?"
+
+He turned to look at her. She colored a little, but she returned his
+look.
+
+"You--you mean it?" he demanded.
+
+"Of course I mean it. I must get there somehow, because I promised Mr.
+Bradley. And unless you don't want me, in which case I shall have to
+hire from the livery stable, I----"
+
+But he interrupted her. "Want you!" he repeated. "_Want_ you!"
+
+His tone was sufficiently emphatic, perhaps more emphatic than he would
+have made it if he had not been taken by surprise. She must have found
+it satisfactory, for she did not ask further assurances.
+
+"Thank you," she said. "And when are you planning to start?"
+
+"Why--why, right after dinner to-morrow. If that's all right for you.
+But I'm sorry you had to invite yourself. I--I thought--well, I thought
+maybe George had--had planned----"
+
+To his further surprise she seemed a trifle annoyed.
+
+"George works at the store," she said. "Besides, I--well, really, Cap'n
+Kendrick, there is no compelling reason why George Kent should take me
+everywhere I want to go."
+
+Now Sears had imagined there was--and rumor and surmise in Bayport had
+long supported his imagining--but he did not tell her that. What he did
+say was inane enough.
+
+"Oh--er--yes, of course," he stammered.
+
+"No, there isn't. He and I are friends, good friends, and have been for
+a long time, but that doesn't---- Well, Cap'n, I shall look for you and
+the Foam Flake--oh, that _is_ a wonderful name--about one to-morrow. And
+I'll promise not to keep you waiting."
+
+"If the Foam Flake doesn't die in the meantime I'll be on hand. He'll be
+asleep probably, but Judah declares he walks in his sleep, so that----
+Oh, heavens and earth!"
+
+This exclamation, although but a mutter, was fervent indeed. The captain
+and Elizabeth had turned to the vine-shaded doorway of the Eyrie, and
+there, in that doorway, was Miss Snowden and, peering around her thin
+shoulder, the moon face of Mrs. Chase. Sears looked annoyed, Miss Berry
+looked more so, and Elvira looked--well, she looked all sorts of things.
+As for Aurora, her expression was, as always, unfathomable. Judah Cahoon
+once compared her countenance to a pink china dish-cover, and it is hard
+to read the emotions behind a dish-cover.
+
+Miss Snowden spoke first.
+
+"Oh!" she observed; and much may be expressed in that monosyllable.
+
+Elizabeth spoke next. "Your book is there on the seat, Elvira," she
+said, carelessly. "At least I suppose it is yours. It has your bookmark
+in it."
+
+Elvira simpered. "Yes," she affirmed, "it is mine. But I'm not in a
+hurry, not a single bit of hurry. I _do_ hope we haven't _disturbed_
+you."
+
+"Not a bit, not a bit," said Sears, crisply. "Miss Elizabeth and I were
+havin' a business talk, but we had finished. The coast is clear for you
+now. Good afternoon."
+
+"You're _sure_, Cap'n Kendrick? Aurora and I wouldn't interrupt a
+_business_ talk for the _world_. And in such a romantic place, too."
+
+As Sears and Elizabeth walked up the path from the summer-house the
+voice of Mrs. Chase was audible--as usual very audible indeed.
+
+"Elviry," begged Aurora, eagerly, "Elviry, what did he say to you? He
+looked awful kind of put out when he said it."
+
+The captain was "put out," so was Elizabeth apparently. The latter said,
+"Oh, dear!" and laughed, but there was less humor than irritation in the
+laugh. Sears's remark was brief but pointed.
+
+"I like four-legged cats first-rate," he declared.
+
+The next day at one o'clock he and his passenger, with the placid Foam
+Flake as motor power, left the Fair Harbor together. And, as they drove
+out of the yard, both were conscious that behind the shades of the
+dining-room windows were at least six eager faces, and whispering
+tongues were commenting, exclaiming and surmising.
+
+The captain, for his part, forgot the faces and tongues very quickly. It
+was a pleasant afternoon, the early fall days on the Cape are so often
+glorious; the rain of a few days before had laid the dust, at least the
+upper layer of it, and the woods were beginning to show the first
+sprinklings of crimson and purple and yellow. The old horse walked or
+jogged or rambled on along the narrow winding ways, the ancient buggy
+rocked and rattled and swung in the deep ruts. They met almost no one
+for the eight miles between Bayport and Orham--there were no roaring,
+shrieking processions of automobiles in those days--and when Abial
+Gould, of North Harniss, encountered them at the narrowest section of
+highway, he steered his placid ox team into the huckleberry bushes and
+waited for them to pass, waving a whip-handle greeting from his perch on
+top of his load of fragrant pitch pine. The little ponds and lakes shone
+deeply blue as they glimpsed them in the hollows or over the tree tops
+and, occasionally, a startled partridge boomed from the thicket, or a
+flock of quail scurried along the roadside.
+
+They talked of all sorts of things, mostly of ships and seas and
+countries far away, subjects to which Elizabeth led the conversation and
+then abandoned it to her companion. They spoke little of the Fair Harbor
+or its picayune problems, and of the errand upon which they were
+going--the judge's will, its reading and its possible surprises--none at
+all.
+
+"Don't," pleaded Elizabeth, when Sears once mentioned the will; "don't,
+please. Judge Knowles was such a good friend of mine that I can't bear
+to think he has gone and that some one else is to speak his thoughts and
+carry out his plans. Tell me another sea story, Cap'n Kendrick. There
+aren't any Elvira Snowdens off Cape Horn, I'm sure."
+
+So Sears spun his yarns and enjoyed the spinning because she seemed to
+so enjoy listening to them. And he did not once mention his crippled
+limbs, or his despondency concerning the future; in fact, he pretty well
+forgot them for the time. And he did not mention George Kent, a person
+whom he had meant to mention and praise highly, for his unreasonable
+conscience had pestered him since the talk in the summer-house and, as
+usual, he had determined to do penance. But he forgot Kent for the time,
+forgot him altogether.
+
+Bradley's law offices occupied a one-story building on Orham's main road
+near the center of the village. There were several rigs standing at the
+row of hitching posts by the steps as they drove up. Sears climbed from
+the buggy--he did it much easier than had been possible a month
+before--and moored the Foam Flake beside them. Then they entered the
+building.
+
+Bradley's office boy told them that his employer and the others were in
+the private room beyond. The captain inquired who the others were.
+
+"Well" said the boy, "there's that Mr. Barnes--he's the one from
+California, you know, Judge Knowles' nephew. And Mike--Mr. Callahan, I
+mean--him that took care of the judge's horse and team and things; and
+that Tidditt woman that kept his house. And there's Mr. Dishup, the
+Orthodox minister from over to Bayport, and another man, I don't know
+his name. Walk right in, Cap'n Kendrick. Mr. Bradley told me to tell you
+and Miss Berry to walk right in when you came."
+
+So they walked right in. Bradley greeted them and introduced them to
+Knowles Barnes, the long-looked-for nephew from California. Barnes was a
+keen-eyed, healthy-looking business man and the captain liked him at
+once. The person whom the office boy did not know turned out to be
+Captain Noah Baker, a retired master mariner, who was Grand Master of
+the Bayport lodge of Masons.
+
+"And now that you and Miss Berry are here, Cap'n Kendrick," said
+Bradley, "we will go ahead. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the will of
+our late good friend, Judge Knowles. He asked you all to be here when it
+was opened and read. Mr. Barnes is obliged to go West again in a week or
+so, so the sooner we get to business the better. Ahem!"
+
+Then followed the reading of the will. One by one the various legacies
+and bequests were read. Some of them Sears Kendrick had expected and
+foreseen. Others came as surprises. He was rather astonished to find
+that the judge had been, according to Cape Cod standards of that day,
+such a rich man. The estate, so the lawyer said, would, according to
+Knowles' own figures, total in the neighborhood of one hundred and fifty
+thousand dollars.
+
+Judge Knowles bequeathed:
+
+    To the Endowment Fund of the Fair Harbor for
+    Mariners' Women                                $50,000
+
+    To the Bayport Congregational Church             5,000
+
+    To the Building Fund of the Bayport Lodge of
+    Masons                                           5,000
+
+    To Emmeline Tidditt (his housekeeper)            5,000
+
+    To Michael Callahan (his hired man)              5,000
+
+    To Elizabeth Berry--in trust until she should be
+    thirty years of age                             20,000
+
+    Other small bequests, about                      7,000
+
+The balance, the residue of the estate, amounting to a sum approximating
+fifty-five thousand, to Henry Knowles Barnes, of San Francisco,
+California.
+
+There were several pages of carefully worded directions and
+instructions. The fifty thousand for the Fair Harbor was already
+invested in good securities and, from the interest of these, Sears
+Kendrick's salary of fifteen hundred a year was to be paid as long as
+he wished to retain his present position as general manager. If the time
+should come when he wished to relinquish that position he was given
+authority to appoint his successor at the same salary. Or should
+Cordelia Berry, at any time, decide to give up her position as matron,
+Kendrick and Bradley, acting together, might, if they saw fit, appoint a
+suitable person to act as manager _and_ matron at a suitable salary. In
+this event, of course, Kendrick would no longer continue to draw his
+fifteen hundred a year.
+
+The reading was not without interruptions. Mr. Callahan's was the most
+dramatic. When announcement was made of his five thousand dollar
+windfall his Celtic fervor got the better of him and he broke loose with
+a tangled mass of tearful ejaculations and prayers, a curious mixture of
+glories to the saints and demands for blessings upon the soul of his
+benefactor. Mrs. Tidditt was as greatly moved as he, but she had her
+emotions under firmer control. The Reverend Mr. Dishup was happy and
+grateful on behalf of his parish, so too was Captain Baker as
+representative of the Masonic Lodge. But each of these had been in a
+measure prepared, they had been led to expect some gift or remembrance.
+It was Elizabeth Berry who had, apparently, expected nothing--nothing
+for herself, that is. When the lawyer announced the generous bequest to
+the Fair Harbor she caught her breath and turned to look at Sears with
+an almost incredulous joy in her eyes. But when he read of the twenty
+thousand which was hers--the income beginning at once and the principal
+when she was thirty--she was so tremendously taken aback that, for an
+instant, the captain thought she was going to faint. "Oh!" she
+exclaimed, and that was all, but the color left her face entirely.
+
+Sears rose, so did the minister, but she waved them back. "Don't," she
+begged. "I--I am all right.... No, please don't speak to me for--for a
+little while."
+
+So they did not speak, but the captain, watching her, saw that the color
+came back very slowly to her cheeks and that her eyes, when she opened
+them, were wet. Her hands, clasped in her lap, were trembling. Sears,
+although rejoicing for her, felt a pang of hot resentment at the manner
+of the announcement. It should not have been so public. She should not
+have had to face such a surprise before those staring spectators. Why
+had not the judge--or Bradley, if he knew--have prepared her in some
+measure?
+
+But when it was over and he hastened to congratulate her, she was more
+composed. She received his congratulations, and those of the others, if
+not quite calmly at least with dignity and simplicity. To Mr. Dishup and
+Bradley and Captain Baker she said little except thanks. To Barnes,
+whose congratulations were sincere and hearty, and, to all appearances
+at least, quite ungrudging, she expressed herself as too astonished to
+be very coherent.
+
+"I--I can scarcely believe it yet," she faltered. "I can't understand--I
+can't think why he did it.... And you are all so very kind. You won't
+mind if I don't say any more now, will you?"
+
+But to Sears when he came, once more, to add another word and to shake
+her hand, she expressed a little of the uncertainty which she felt.
+
+"Oh," she whispered; "oh, Cap'n Kendrick, do you think it is right? Do
+you think he really meant to do it? You are sure he did?"
+
+His tone should have carried conviction. "You bet he meant it!" he
+declared, fervently. "He never meant anything any more truly; I know
+it."
+
+"Do you? Do you really?... Did--did you know? Did he tell you he was
+going to?"
+
+"Not exactly, but he hinted. He----"
+
+"Wait. Wait, please. Don't tell me any more now. By and by, on the way
+home, perhaps. I--I want to know all about it. I want to be sure. And,"
+with a tremulous smile, "I doubt if I could really understand just yet."
+
+The group in the lawyer's office did not break up for another hour.
+There were many matters for discussion, matters upon which Bradley and
+Barnes wished the advice of the others. Mike and Mrs. Tidditt were sent
+home early, and departed, volubly, though tearfully rejoicing. The
+minister and Captain Noah stayed on to answer questions concerning the
+church and the lodge, the former's pressing needs and the new building
+which the latter had hoped for and which was now a certainty. Sears and
+Elizabeth remained longest. Bradley whispered to the captain that he
+wished them to do so.
+
+When they were alone with him, and with Barnes of course, he took from
+his pocket two sealed letters.
+
+"The judge gave me these along with the will," he said. "That was about
+three weeks before he died. I don't know what is in them and he gave me
+to understand that I wasn't supposed to know. They are for you two and
+no one else, so he said. You are to read yours when you are alone, Cap'n
+Kendrick, and Elizabeth is to read hers when she is by herself. And he
+particularly asked me to tell you both not to make your decision too
+quickly. Think it over, he said."
+
+He handed Sears an envelope addressed in Judge Knowles' hand-writing,
+and to Elizabeth another bearing her name.
+
+"There!" he exclaimed, with a sigh of relief. "That is done. Ever since
+the old judge left us I have been feeling as if he were standing at my
+elbow and nudging me not to forget. He had a will of his own, Judge
+Knowles had, and I don't mean the will we have just read, either. But,
+take him by and large, as you sailors say, Cap'n, I honestly believe he
+was the biggest and squarest man this county has seen for years. Some of
+us are going to be surer of that fact every day that passes."
+
+It was after four when Elizabeth and Sears climbed aboard the buggy and
+the captain, tugging heavily on what he termed the port rein, coaxed the
+unwilling Foam Flake into the channel--or the road. Heavy clouds had
+risen in the west since their arrival in Orham, the sky was covered with
+them, and it was already beginning to grow dark. When they turned from
+the main road into the wood road leading across the Cape there were
+lighted lamps in the kitchens of the scattered houses on the outskirts
+of the town.
+
+"Is it going to rain, do you think?" asked Elizabeth, peering at the
+troubled brown masses above the tree tops.
+
+Sears shook his head. "Hardly think so," he replied. "Looks more like
+wind to me. Pretty heavy squall, I shouldn't wonder, and maybe rain
+to-morrow. Come, come; get under way, Old Hundred," addressing the
+meandering Foam Flake. "If you don't travel faster than this in fair
+weather and a smooth sea, what will you do when we have to reef? Well,"
+with a chuckle, "even if it comes on a livin' gale the old horse won't
+blow off the course. Judah feeds him too well. Nothin' short of a
+typhoon could heel _him_ down."
+
+The prophesied gale held off, but the darkness shut in rapidly. In the
+long stretches of thick woods through which they were passing it was
+soon hard to see clearly. Not that that made any difference. Sears knew
+the Orham road pretty well and the placid Foam Flake seemed to know it
+absolutely. His ancient hoofs plodded up and down in the worn "horse
+path" between the grass-grown and sometimes bush-grown ridges which
+separated it from the deep ruts on either side. Sometimes those ruts
+were so deep that the tops of the blueberry bushes and weeds on those
+ridges scratched the bottom of the buggy.
+
+Beside his orders to the horse the captain had said very little since
+their departure. He had been thinking, though, thinking hard. It was
+just beginning to dawn upon him, the question as to what this good
+fortune which had befallen the girl beside him might mean, what effect
+it might have upon her, upon her future--and upon her relations with
+him, Sears Kendrick.
+
+Hitherto those relations had been those of comrades, fellow workers,
+partners, so to speak, in an enterprise the success of which involved
+continuous planning and fighting against obstacles. A difficult but
+fascinating game of itself, but one which also meant a means of
+livelihood for them both. Elizabeth had drawn no salary, it is true, but
+without her help her mother could not have held her position as matron,
+not for a month could she have done so. It was Elizabeth who was the
+real matron, who really earned the wages Cordelia received and upon
+which they both lived. And Elizabeth had told the captain that she
+should remain at the Fair Harbor and work with and for her mother as
+long as the latter needed her.
+
+And now Sears was realizing that the necessity for either of them to
+remain there no longer existed. Cordelia, thanks to Mrs. Phillips'
+bequest, had five thousand dollars of her own. Elizabeth had, for the
+six or seven years before her thirtieth birthday, an income of at least
+twelve hundred yearly. Cordelia's legacy would add several hundred to
+that. If they wished it was quite possible for them to retire from the
+Fair Harbor and live somewhere in a modest fashion upon that income.
+Many couples--couples esteemed by Bayporters as being in comfortable
+circumstances--were living upon incomes quite as small. Sears was
+suddenly brought face to face with this possibility, and was forced to
+admit it even a probability.
+
+And he--he had no income worth mentioning. He could not go to sea again
+for a long time; he did not add "if ever," because even conservative
+Doctor Sheldon now admitted that his complete recovery was but a matter
+of time, but it would be a year--perhaps years. And for that year, or
+those years, he must live--and he had practically nothing to live upon
+except his Fair Harbor salary. And then again, as an additional
+obligation, there was his promise to Judge Knowles to stick it out. But
+to stick it out alone--without her!
+
+For Elizabeth was under no obligation. She might not stay--probably
+would not. She was a young woman of fortune now. She could do what she
+liked, in reason. She might--why, she might even decide to marry. There
+was Kent----
+
+At the thought Sears choked and swallowed hard. A tingling, freezing
+shiver ran down his spine. She would marry George Kent and he would be
+left to--to face--to face---- She would marry--_she_----
+
+The shiver lasted but a moment. He shut his teeth, blinked and came
+back to the buggy seat and reality--and shame. Overwhelming, humiliating
+shame. He glanced fearfully at her, afraid that she might have seen his
+face and read upon it the secret which he himself had learned for the
+first time. No, she did not read it, she was not looking at him, she too
+seemed to be thinking. There was a chance for him yet. He must be a man,
+a decent man, not a fool and a selfish beast. She did not know--and she
+should not. Then, or at any future time.
+
+He spoke now and hurriedly. "Well," he began, "I suppose----"
+
+But she had looked up and now she spoke. Apparently she had not heard
+him, for she said:
+
+"Tell me about it, Cap'n Kendrick, please. I want to hear all about it.
+You said you knew? You say Judge Knowles hinted that he was going to do
+this--for me? Tell me all about it, please. Please."
+
+So he told her, all that he could remember of the judge's words
+concerning his regard for her, of his high opinion of her abilities, of
+his friendship for her father, and of his intention to see that she was
+"provided for."
+
+"I didn't know just what he meant, of course," he said, in conclusion,
+"but I guessed, some of it. I do want you to know, Elizabeth," he added,
+stammering a little in his earnestness, "how glad I am for you, how
+_very_ glad."
+
+"Yes," she said, "I do know."
+
+"Well, I--I haven't said much, but I _am_. I don't think I ever was more
+glad, or could be. You believe that, don't you?"
+
+She looked at him in surprise. "Why, of course I believe it," she said.
+"Why do you ask that?"
+
+"Oh, I--I don't know. I hadn't said much about it."
+
+"But it wasn't necessary. I knew you were glad. I know you by this time,
+Cap'n Kendrick, through and through."
+
+The same guilty shiver ran down his spine and he glanced sharply at her
+to see if there was any hidden meaning behind her words. But there was
+not. She was looking down again, and when she again spoke it was to
+repeat the question she had asked at the lawyer's office.
+
+"I wonder if I ought to take it?" she murmured. "Do you think it is
+right for me to accept--so much?
+
+"Right!" he repeated. "Right? Of course its right. And because it is
+enough to amount to somethin' makes it all the more right. Judge Knowles
+knew what he was doin', trust his long head for that. A little would
+only have made things easier where you were.... Now," he forced himself
+to say it, "now you can be independent."
+
+"Independent?"
+
+"Why, yes. Do what you like--in reason. Steer your own course. Live as
+you want to ... and where ... and _how_ you want to."
+
+They were simple sentences these, but he found them hard to say. She
+turned again to look at him.
+
+"Why do you speak like that?" she asked. "How should I want to live?
+What do you mean?"
+
+"I mean--er--you can think of your own happiness and--plans, and--all
+that. You won't be anchored to the Fair Harbor, unless you want to be.
+You.... Eh? Hi! Standby! Whoa! _Whoa!_"
+
+The last commands were roars at the horse, for, at that moment, the
+squall struck.
+
+It came out of the blackness to the left and ahead like some enormous
+living creature springing over the pine tops and pouncing upon them.
+There was a rumble, a roar and then a shrieking rush. The sand of the
+road leaped up like the smoke from an explosion, showers of leaves and
+twigs pattered sharply upon the buggy top or were thrown smartly into
+their faces. From all about came the squeaks and groans of branches
+rubbing against each other, with an occasional sharp crack as a limb
+gave way under the pressure.
+
+Captain Kendrick and his passenger had been so occupied with their
+thoughts and conversation that both had forgotten the heavy clouds they
+had noticed when they left Bradley's office, rolling up from the west.
+Then, too, the increasing darkness had hidden the sky. So the swoop of
+the squall took them completely by surprise.
+
+And not only them but that genuine antique the Foam Flake. This
+phlegmatic animal had been enjoying himself for the last half hour. No
+one had shouted orders at him, he had not been slapped with the ends of
+the reins, no whip had been cracked in his vicinity. He had been
+permitted to amble and to walk and had availed himself of the
+permission. For the most recent mile he had been, practically, a
+somnambulist. Now out of his dreams, whatever they may have been, came
+this howling terror. He jumped and snorted. Then the wind, tearing a
+prickly dead branch from a scrub oak by the roadside, cast it full into
+his dignified countenance. For the first time in ten years at least, the
+Foam Flake ran away.
+
+He did not run far, of course; he was not in training for distance
+events. But his sprint, although short, was lively and erratic. He
+jumped to one side, the side opposite to that from which the branch had
+come, jerking the buggy out of the ruts and setting it to rocking like a
+dory amid breakers. He jumped again, and this brought his ancient
+broadside into contact with the bushes by the edge of the road. They
+were ragged, and prickly, and in violent commotion. So he jumped the
+other way.
+
+Sears, yelling Whoas and compliments, stood erect upon his newly-mended
+legs and leaned his weight backward upon the reins. If the skipper of a
+Hudson River canal boat had suddenly found his craft deserting the
+waterway and starting to climb Bear Mountain, he might have experienced
+something of Sears' feelings at that moment. Canal boats should not
+climb; it isn't done; and horses of the Foam Flake age, build and
+reputation should not run away.
+
+"Whoa! Whoa! What in thunder--?" roared the captain. "Port! Port, you
+lubber!"
+
+He jerked violently on the left rein. That rein was, like the horse and
+the buggy, of more than middle age. Leather of that age must be
+persuaded, not jerked. The rein broke just beyond Sears' hand, flew over
+the dashboard and dragged in the road. The driver's weight came solidly
+upon the right hand rein. The Foam Flake dashed across the highway
+again, head-first into the woods this time.
+
+Then followed a few long--very long minutes of scratching and rocking
+and pounding. Sears heard himself shouting something about the Broken
+rein he must get that rein.
+
+"It's all right! It's all right, Elizabeth!" he shouted. "I'm goin' to
+lean out over his back, if I can and--O--oh!"
+
+The last was a groan, involuntarily wrung from him by the pain in his
+knees. He had put an unaccustomed strain upon them and they were
+remonstrating. He shut his teeth, swallowed another groan, and leaned
+out over the dash, his hand clutching for the harness of the rocketing,
+bumping Foam Flake.
+
+Then he realized that some one else was leaning over that dashboard, was
+in fact almost out of the buggy and swinging by the harness and the
+shaft.
+
+"Elizabeth!" he shouted, in wild alarm. "Elizabeth, what are you doin'?
+Stop!"
+
+But she was back, panting a little, but safe.
+
+"I have the rein," she panted. "Give me the other, Cap'n Kendrick. I can
+handle him, I know. Give me the rein. Sit down! Oh, please! You will
+hurt yourself again!"
+
+But he was in no mood to sit down. He snatched the end of the broken
+rein from her hand, taking it and the command again simultaneously.
+
+"Get back, back on the seat," he ordered. "Now then," addressing the
+horse, "we'll see who's what! Whoa! Whoa! Steady! Come into that
+channel, you old idiot! Come _on_!"
+
+The Foam Flake was pretty nearly ready to come by this time. And
+Kendrick's not too gentle coaxing helped. The buggy settled into the
+ruts with a series of bumps. The horse's gallop became a trot, then a
+walk; then he stopped and stood still.
+
+The captain subsided on the seat beside his passenger. He relaxed his
+tension upon the reins and the situation.
+
+"Whew!" he exclaimed. "That was sweet while it lasted. All right, are
+you?"
+
+She answered, still rather breathlessly, "Yes, I am all right," she
+declared. "But you? Aren't you hurt?"
+
+"Me? Not a bit."
+
+"You're sure? I was so afraid. Your--your legs, you know."
+
+"My legs are all serene." They weren't, by any means, and were at that
+moment proclaiming the fact, but he did not mean she should know.
+"They're first-rate.... Well, I'm much obliged."
+
+"Obliged for what?"
+
+"For that rein. But you shouldn't have climbed out that way. You might
+have broken your neck. 'Twas an awful risk."
+
+"You were going to take the same risk. And _I_ am not in the doctor's
+care."
+
+"Well, you shouldn't have done it, just the same. And it was a spunky
+thing to do.... But what a numbskull I was not to be on the lookout for
+that squall. Humph!" with a grin, "I believe I told you even a typhoon
+couldn't move this horse. I was wrong, wasn't I?"
+
+The squall had passed on, but a steady gale was behind it. And there was
+a marked hint of dampness in the air. Sears sniffed.
+
+"And I'm afraid, too," he said, "that I was wrong about that rain comin'
+to-morrow. I think it's comin' this evenin' and pretty soon, at that."
+
+It came within fifteen minutes, in showery gusts at first. The captain
+urged the Foam Flake onward as fast as possible, but that quadruped had
+already over-expended his stock of energy and shouts and slaps meant
+nothing to him. For a short time Sears chatted and laughed, but then he
+relapsed into silence. Elizabeth, watching him fearfully, caught, as the
+buggy bounced over a loose stone, a smothered exclamation, first cousin
+to a groan.
+
+"I knew it!" she cried. "You _are_ hurt, Cap'n Kendrick."
+
+"No, no, I'm not," hastily. "It's--it's those confounded spliced spars
+of mine. They're a little weak yet, I presume likely."
+
+"Of course they are. Oh, I'm _so_ sorry. Won't you let me drive?"
+
+"I should say not. I'm not quite ready for the scrap heap yet. And if I
+couldn't steer this Noah's ark I should be.... Hello! here's another
+craft at sea."
+
+Another vehicle was ahead of them in the road, coming toward them. Sears
+pulled out to permit it to pass. But the driver of the other buggy
+hailed as the horses' heads came abreast.
+
+"Elizabeth," he shouted, "is that you?"
+
+Miss Berry's surprise showed in her voice.
+
+"Why, George!" she cried. "Where in the world are you going?"
+
+The horses stopped. Kent leaned forward.
+
+"Going?" he repeated. "Why, I was going after you, of course. Are you
+wet through?"
+
+He seemed somewhat irritated, so the captain thought.
+
+"No, indeed," replied Elizabeth. "I am all right. But why did you come
+after me? Didn't they tell you I was with Cap'n Kendrick?"
+
+"_They_ told me--yes. But why didn't _you_ tell me you were going to
+Orham? I would have driven you over; you know I would."
+
+"You were at work at the store."
+
+"Well, I could have taken the afternoon off.... But there! no use
+talking about it out here in this rain. Come on.... Oh, wait until I
+turn around. Drive ahead a little, will you?"
+
+This was the first time he had spoken to Sears, and even then his tone
+was not too gracious. The captain drove on a few steps, as requested,
+and, a moment later, Kent's equipage, now headed in their direction, was
+alongside once more.
+
+"Whoa!" he shouted, and both horses stopped. "Come on, Elizabeth," urged
+the young man, briskly. "Wait, I'll help you."
+
+He sprang out of his buggy and approached theirs. "Come on," he said,
+again. "Quick! It is going to rain harder."
+
+Elizabeth did not move. "But I'm not going with you, George," she said
+quietly.
+
+He stared at her.
+
+"Not going with me?" he repeated. "Why, of course you are. I've come on
+purpose for you."
+
+"I'm sorry. You shouldn't have done it. You knew I would be all right
+with Cap'n Kendrick."
+
+"I didn't even know you were going with him. You didn't say you were
+going at all. If you had I----"
+
+"You would have taken another afternoon's holiday. And you know what Mr.
+Bassett said about the last one."
+
+"I don't care a--I don't care what he says. I shan't be working very
+long for him, I hope.... But there, Elizabeth! Come on, come on! I can
+get you home for supper while that old horse of Cahoon's is thinking
+about it."
+
+But still she did not move. Sears thought that, perhaps, he should take
+a hand.
+
+"Go right ahead, Elizabeth," he said. "George is right about the
+horses."
+
+"Of course I am. Come, Elizabeth."
+
+"No, I shall stay with Cap'n Kendrick. He has been kind enough to take
+me so far and we are almost home. You can follow, George, and we'll get
+there together."
+
+"Well, I like that!" exclaimed Kent. But he did not speak as if he liked
+it. "After I have taken the trouble----"
+
+"Hush! Don't be silly. The cap'n has taken a great deal of trouble,
+too.... No," as Sears began to protest, "you can't get rid of me, Cap'n
+Kendrick."
+
+"But, Elizabeth----"
+
+"No. Do you suppose I am going to leave you--in pain--and.... Drive on,
+please. George can follow us."
+
+"But I'm all right, good land knows! The Foam Flake won't try to fly
+again. And really, I----"
+
+"Drive on, please."
+
+So he drove on; there seemed to be nothing else to do. It did not help
+his feelings to hear, as George Kent was left standing in the road, a
+disgusted and profane ejaculation from that young gentleman.
+
+The remainder of the journey was quickly made. There was little
+conversation. The rain, the wind, and the sounds of the horses' hoofs
+and the rattle of the buggies--for Kent's was close behind all the
+way--furnished most of the noise.
+
+Judah was waiting when they came into the yard of the Minot place. He
+and Elizabeth helped Sears from the buggy. The captain, in spite of his
+protestations, could scarcely stand. Kent, because Elizabeth asked him
+to, assisted in getting him into the kitchen and the biggest rocking
+chair.
+
+"Now go ... go," urged Sears. "I'm just a little lame, that's all, and
+I'll be all right by to-morrow. Go, Elizabeth please. Your supper is
+waitin' as it is. Now go."
+
+She went, but rather reluctantly. "I shall run over after supper to see
+how you are," she declared. "Thank you very much for taking me to Orham,
+Cap'n."
+
+"Thank you for--for a whole lot of things. And don't you dream of comin'
+over again to-night. There's no sense in it, is there, George?"
+
+If Kent heard he did not answer. His "good night" was brief. Sears did
+not like it, nor the expression on his face. This was a new side of the
+young fellow's character, a side the captain had not seen before. And
+yet--well, he was young, very young. Sears was troubled about the
+affair. Had he been to blame? He had not meant to be. Ah-hum! the world
+was full of misunderstandings and foolishness. And was there, in all
+that world, any being more foolish than himself?
+
+Just here, Judah, having returned from stabling the Foam Flake, rushed
+into the kitchen to demand answers to a thousand questions. For the next
+hour there was no opportunity for moralizing or melancholy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+
+Elizabeth did not visit the Minot place that evening, as she had said
+she meant to do. It may be that Sears was a trifle disappointed, but
+even he would have been obliged to confess that that particular evening
+was not the time for him to receive callers. He ate his supper--a very
+small portion of the meal which Judah had provided for him--and, soon
+afterward, retired to the spare stateroom and bed. Undressing was a
+martyrdom, and he had hard work to keep back the groans which the pain
+in his legs tempted him to utter. There was no doubt that he had twisted
+those shaky limbs of his more than he realized. He had wrenched them
+severely, how severely he scarcely dared think. But they forced him to
+think all that night, and the next morning Judah insisted on going for
+the doctor.
+
+Doctor Sheldon examined the "spliced timbers," fumed and scolded a good
+deal, but at last grudgingly admitted that no irreparable harm had been
+done.
+
+"You're luckier than you deserve, Cap'n," he declared. "It's a wonder
+you aren't ruined altogether. Now you stay right in that bed until I
+tell you to get up. And that won't be to-day, or to-morrow either.
+Perhaps the day after that--well, we'll see. But those legs of yours
+need absolute rest. Judah, you see that they get it, will you? If he
+tries to get up you knock him back again. Those are orders. Understand?"
+
+"Aye, aye, sir," replied Judah, promptly. "I'll have a handspike handy.
+He won't turn out, I'll see to it."
+
+Sears' protestations that he couldn't waste time in bed, that he had too
+many important things to attend to, went for nothing. According to
+Sheldon and Judah his legs were the only things of real importance just
+then and they needed absolute rest. Down inside him the captain realized
+that this was true, and so grumblingly resigned himself to the two days
+of imprisonment. With the most recent issues of the _Cape Cod Item_ and
+one or two books from the shelves in the sitting room closet, books of
+the vintage of the '40's and '50's, but fortunately of a strong sea
+flavor, he endeavored to console himself, while Judah attended to the
+household duties or went down town on errands.
+
+Elizabeth called that first forenoon, but did not see him. The doctor
+had warned Judah to head off visitors. "They may not do any harm, but
+they certainly won't do any good, and I want him to have absolute rest,"
+said Sheldon. So Judah guarded the outer portal, and, when he went out,
+hung up a warning placard. "OUT. NO ADMITENTS. DOORS LOKED. KEY UNDER
+MAT." The information concerning the key was for the doctor's benefit.
+
+But Elizabeth sent her good wishes and sympathy. So did her mother. So,
+too, did Esther Tidditt, and Miss Snowden, and Miss Peasley, and in fact
+all the Fair Harbor inmates. For the first day Mr. Cahoon was kept busy
+transmitting messages to the spare stateroom.
+
+But about this time Bayport began to rock with a new series of
+sensations and, except by the very few, Captain Kendrick was forgotten.
+The news of Judge Knowles' various legacies became known and spread
+through the village like fire in a patch of dead weeds. The Fair Harbor
+sat up nearly all of one night discussing and commenting upon the good
+fortune which had befallen the Berrys. And by no means all of the time
+was used in congratulations.
+
+"Humph!" sniffed Susanna Brackett, her lips squeezed so tightly together
+that her mustache stood on end. "Humph!"
+
+Miss Snowden nodded. "Of course," she said, "I'm not a person to hint,
+or anything of that sort. But--_but_ if somebody'll tell me _why_ the
+judge left all that money to her I should like to hear 'em."
+
+Mrs. Brackett opened her lips sufficiently to observe that so should
+she. "Of course," she added, "the five thousand that Lobelia left
+Cordelia might have been expected, they was real friendly always. But
+why did Judge Knowles leave it all to Elizabeth and not one cent to her
+mother? _That_ I _can't_ understand."
+
+Miss Peasley smiled. "We used to wonder why Elizabeth kept runnin' to
+the judge's all the time," she said. "He was sick and feeble and we
+thought 'twas queer her pesterin' him so. _Now_--well, it pays to hang
+around sick folks, don't it? They're easier to coax, maybe, than the
+well kind.... Course I ain't sayin' there was any coaxin' done."
+
+Little Mrs. Tidditt's feathers had begun to rise. "Oh, no!" she snapped.
+"You ain't _sayin'_ anything, any of you. Judge Knowles was business
+head of this--this old cats' home afore he app'inted Cap'n Kendrick to
+the job, and you know that. Elizabeth _had_ to go to him about all sorts
+of money matters, and you know that, too. As for her tryin' to coax him
+to leave her money, that's just rubbish. He always liked her, thought
+the world of her ever since she was a little girl, and he left her the
+twenty thousand because of that and for no other reason. That's why _I_
+think he left it to her; but, if some of the rest of you would be better
+satisfied, I'll tell her what you say--or _ain't_ sayin', Desire--and
+let her answer it herself."
+
+This not being at all what Miss Peasley and the others wished, no more
+was said about undue influence at the time. But much was said at times
+when the pugnacious Esther was not present, and there was marked
+speculation concerning what Miss Berry would do with her money, what Mr.
+Phillips would do when he returned to Bayport, whether or not Cordelia
+Berry would continue to be matron at the Harbor, and what Sears
+Kendrick's plans for the future might be.
+
+"Of course," said Mrs. Brackett, "the judge fixed it so he would get his
+fifteen hundred so long as he stays manager. But will he stay long?
+There's Mr. Phillips to be considered now, I should think. _He'll_ have
+somethin' to say about the--er--retreat his wife founded, won't he?"
+
+Mrs. Constance Cahoon made a remark.
+
+"George Kent'll come in for a nice windfall some of these days, it looks
+like," she observed, significantly. "What makes you look so funny,
+Elviry?"
+
+Miss Snowden smiled. "Will he?" she inquired.
+
+"Well, won't he? When he marries Elizabeth----"
+
+"Yes. Yes, _when_ he does."
+
+"Well, he's goin' to, ain't he? Why, he's been keepin' comp'ny with her
+for two years. Everybody cal'lates they're engaged."
+
+"Yes. But _they_ don't say they are.... Oh, what is it Aurora?"
+
+Mrs. Chase, who had been listening with her hand at her ears, had caught
+a little of the conversation.
+
+"If you mean her and George Kent is engaged, Constance," she declared,
+"they ain't. I asked Elizabeth if they was, myself, asked her much as a
+month ago, and she said no. Pretty nigh took my head off, too."
+
+Elvira's smile broadened. She nodded, slowly and with mysterious
+significance. "I'm not so sure about that engagement," she observed.
+"Some things I've seen lately have set me to thinking. To thinking a
+good deal.... Um ... yes. It looks to me as if somebody--_somebody_, I
+mention no names--may have had a hint of what was coming and began to
+lay plans according.... No, I shan't say any more--now. And I give in
+that it seems too perfectly ridiculous to believe. But things like that
+sometimes do happen, and ... Well, we'll wait and see."
+
+Happy in the knowledge that she had aroused curiosity as well as envy of
+her superior knowledge, she subsided. Mrs. Tidditt concluded that
+portion of the discussion.
+
+"Well," she remarked, crisply, "I don't see why we need to sit here
+talkin' about engagements or folks' gettin' married. Nobody has shown
+any symptoms of wantin' to marry any of _this_ crowd, so far as I can
+make out."
+
+While the town was at the very height of its agitation concerning the
+Knowles will, there came another earthquake. Egbert Phillips returned.
+He alighted from the train at the Bayport depot on the second morning of
+Sears's imprisonment in the spare stateroom and before night the
+information that he imparted--confidentially, of course--and the hints
+he gave concerning his plans for the future, made the Berry legacies and
+all the other legacies take second place as gossip kindlers.
+
+Judah came rushing into the house later that afternoon, his arms full of
+bundles--purchases at Eliphalet's store--and his mouth full of words. He
+dropped everything, eggs, salt fish, tea and shoe laces, on the kitchen
+table and tore pell-mell into his lodger's bedroom. Captain Kendrick,
+propped up with pillows, was of course stretched out in bed. There was
+what appeared to be a letter in his hand, a letter apparently just
+received, for a recently opened envelope lay on the comforter beside
+him, and upon his face was an expression of bewilderment, surprise and
+marked concern. Judah was too intent upon his news to notice anything
+else and Sears hastily gathered up letter and envelope and thrust them
+beneath the pillow. Then Judah broke loose.
+
+Egbert had come back, had come back to Bayport to live, for good. He had
+come on the morning train. Lots of folks saw him; some of them had
+talked with him. "And what do you cal'late, Cap'n Sears? You'll never
+guess in _this_ world! By the crawlin' prophets, he swears he ain't
+rich, the way all hands figured out he was. No, sir, he ain't! 'Cordin'
+to his tell he ain't got no money at all, scarcely. All them stocks
+and--and bonds and--and securitums and such like have gone on the rocks.
+They was unfort'nate infestments, he says. He says he's in straightened
+out circumstances, whatever they be, but he's come back here to spend
+his declinin' days--that's what Joe Macomber says he called 'em, his
+declinin' days--in Bayport, 'cause he loves the old place, 'count of
+Lobelia, his wife, lovin' it so, and he can maybe scratch along here on
+what income he's got, and--and----"
+
+And so on, for sentence after sentence. Sears heard some of it, but not
+all. The letter he had just read--the letter from Judge Knowles which
+Bradley had handed him before he left Orham--was of itself too startling
+and disturbing to be dismissed from his thoughts; but he heard some,
+enough to make him realize that there might be, in all probability was,
+trouble ahead. Just why Phillips had returned to Bayport, to take up his
+abode there permanently, was hard to understand, but there certainly
+must be some reason beside his "love" for the place and its people.
+Neither place nor people should, so it seemed to the captain, appeal
+strongly to a citizen of the world, of the fashionable world, like Mr.
+Egbert Phillips. It is true that he might perhaps live cheaper there
+than in most communities, but still.... No, Sears was sure that the
+former singing teacher had returned to the Cape in pursuance of a plan.
+What that plan might be he could not guess, unless the widower
+contemplated contesting his wife's gift to the Fair Harbor. That would
+be a losing fight, was certain to be, for Judge Knowles had seen to
+that. But if not that--what?
+
+He gave very little thought to the matter at the time, for Judge
+Knowles' letter and its astounding proposition were monopolizing his
+mental machinery. That letter would have, as he might have expressed it,
+knocked him on his beam ends even if the Foam Flake's unexpected
+outbreak had not knocked him there already. The letter was rather long,
+but it was to the point, nevertheless. Judge Knowles begged him--him,
+Sears Kendrick--to accept the appointment of trustee in charge of
+Elizabeth Berry's twenty thousand dollar inheritance. The latter was
+hers in trust until she was thirty.
+
+"I have seen enough of you to believe in you, Kendrick," so the judge
+had written. "Besides, you know the Berrys, mother and daughter, by this
+time, better than any one else--even Bradley--and you know my opinion of
+Cordelia's headpiece. I don't want her soft-headedness or foolishness to
+get any of Elizabeth's money away from her. Elizabeth is a dutiful
+daughter and an unselfish girl and she may feel--or be led to
+feel--that her mother ought to have this money or a large part of it. I
+don't want this to happen. Of course I expect Elizabeth to share her
+income with her mother, but I don't want the principal disturbed. After
+she is thirty she can, of course, do what she likes with it, but that
+time isn't now by some years. And then there is that Egbert. Look out
+for him. I say again, look out for him. If _he_ ever got a penny of this
+money I should turn over in my grave. Perhaps you think I am an old fool
+and am treating him with more seriousness than he deserves. You won't
+think so when you know him as well as I do, mark my words. And I think
+you are the one man around here that has had worldly experience enough,
+backed by brains and common-sense, to see through him and handle him. I
+don't mean that there aren't other smart men in town, but most of the
+smartest are in active service and at sea a good share of the time. You
+will be right here for a few years at least. And you are honest, and you
+like Elizabeth Berry, and will look out for her interests.... Of course
+I can't compel you to take this trusteeship, but I hope you will, as a
+favor to her and to me. I have written her a letter similar to this, but
+I have left her a free choice in the matter. If she does not want you
+for her trustee then that ends it. Being the kind of girl she is, I
+think she will be mighty glad to have you...."
+
+And this was the proposition which was causing the captain so much
+anxiety and perplexity. It interfered with the sleep which Doctor
+Sheldon seemed to feel necessary to his patient's complete recovery from
+the setback. It prevented his keeping those damaged legs of his
+absolutely quiet. Time and time again Judah, at work in what he always
+referred to as the "galley," heard his lodger tossing about in the spare
+stateroom and occasionally muttering to himself.
+
+For Sears, facing the problem of accepting or declining the trust, was
+quite aware that the dilemma upon which the judge had perched him had
+two very sharp horns. If he declined--always of course supposing that
+Elizabeth Berry asked him to accept--if he declined he would be acting
+contrary to her wishes and Judge Knowles'. If he did decline, then
+Bradley would be the trustee. Knowles, in a part of the letter not
+quoted, had said that he imagined that would have to be the alternative.
+And Bradley--a good man, an honest and capable man--was not a resident
+of Bayport and could not, as he could, keep an eye upon the Berrys nor
+upon those who might try to influence them. And Bradley did not know
+Bayport as he, Kendrick, did.
+
+But on the other hand, suppose Elizabeth begged him to take the
+trusteeship and he did take it? To begin with, he dreaded the added
+responsibility and distrusted his ability to handle investments. His
+record as a business man ashore was brief enough and not of a kind to
+inspire self-confidence. And what would people say concerning it and
+him? He and Elizabeth were in daily contact. Their association in the
+management of the Fair Harbor was close already. If he should be given
+charge of her fortune--for it was a fortune, in Bayport eyes--would not
+his every action be liable to misconstruction? Would not malicious
+gossip begin to whisper all sorts of things? To misconstrue motives and
+...? Perhaps they were already whispering. He had seen Elvira Snowden
+but once since she and Mrs. Chase surprised him and Elizabeth in the
+Eyrie, but on that one occasion Elvira had, so it seemed to him, looked
+queer--and knowing. It was foolish, of course; it was ridiculous, and
+wicked. He and Elizabeth were friendly, had come to be very good friends
+indeed, but----
+
+And here his train of thought stopped dead, while the same guilty shiver
+he had before felt ran up and down his spine.... Good Lord above! _what_
+was he thinking of? What could be the matter with him? Why, even if
+things were as they had been he would be crazy to.... And now she was a
+rich woman, rich compared to him, at least.
+
+No! And over and over again, No! He would decline the trusteeship. And
+he would make it his business to get well and to sea again as soon as
+possible. As soon as she came to him to mention the judge's letter and
+its insane request he would settle that proposal once and for all.
+
+But she did not come. On the third day the doctor refused to permit him
+to leave the bed.
+
+"You stay where you are for another two days," commanded Sheldon. "It
+will do you good, and while I'm boss you shan't take chances. Cahoon and
+I have got you where we want you now and we'll keep you there till we
+pipe you on deck. Eh, Judah?"
+
+Judah grinned. "Aye, aye," was his rejoinder. "Got the handspike ready
+to my fist, Doctor. He'll stay put if I have to lash him to the bunk
+with a chain cable. It's all for your good, Cap'n Sears. That's what my
+ma used to tell me when she dosed me up every spring with brimstone and
+molasses."
+
+So, reluctantly realizing that it was for his good, Sears "stayed put."
+He had a few callers, although Judah saw to it that their calls were
+brief. Elizabeth was not one of these. She came at least once a day to
+inquire about him, but she did not ask to see him. The captain, trying
+not to be disappointed, endeavored to console himself with the idea that
+she was following Judge Knowles' advice, as repeated by Bradley, and
+meant to take plenty of time before making up her mind concerning the
+trusteeship.
+
+One of his visitors was George Kent. On the fourth day, on his way to
+the Macombers for dinner, the young fellow called at the Minot place.
+Judah was out, but Sears heard his visitor's voice and step through the
+open doors of the dining room and kitchen and shouted to him to come in.
+His manner when he entered was, so it seemed to the captain, a trifle
+constrained, but his inquiries concerning the latter's health were
+cordial enough. As for Sears, he, of course, made it a point to be
+especially cordial.
+
+They talked of many things, but not of their recent encounter on the
+Orham road. Sears did not like to be the first to mention it and it
+appeared as if Kent wished to avoid it altogether. But at last, after a
+short interval of silence, a break in the conversation, he did refer to
+it.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," he said, reddening and looking rather nervous and
+uncomfortable, "I--I suppose you thought I was--was pretty disagreeable
+the other evening. I mean when we met in the rain and Elizabeth was with
+you."
+
+"Eh? Disagreeable?"
+
+"Yes. I wasn't very pleasant, I know. I'm sorry. That--that was one of
+the things I came to say. I lost my temper, I guess."
+
+"Well, if you did I don't know as I blame you, George. A night like that
+is enough to lose any one's temper. I lost mine. The Foam Flake ran away
+with it. But he's repentin' in sackcloth and ashes, I guess. Judah says
+the old horse is lamer than I am."
+
+He laughed heartily. Kent's laugh was short. His uneasiness seemed to
+increase.
+
+"Yes," he said, returning to the subject which was evidently uppermost
+in his mind. "Yes, I did--er--lose my temper, perhaps. But--but it seems
+almost as if I had a--er--well, some excuse. You see--well, you see,
+Cap'n Kendrick, I didn't like it very much, the idea of Elizabeth's
+going over to Orham with--with you, you know."
+
+Sears looked at him in surprise. "Why, she went with me because it was
+the simplest way to get there," he explained. "I was goin' anyhow, and
+Bradley had asked her to be there, too. So, it was natural enough that
+we should go together."
+
+"Well--well, I don't see why she didn't tell me she was going."
+
+"Perhaps she didn't think to tell you."
+
+"Nonsense!... I mean.... Well, anyhow, if she had told me I should have
+looked out for her, of course. I could have hired a rig and driven her
+over."
+
+"But she knew you were at work down at the store. She said that, didn't
+she? Seems to me I remember hearin' her say that she didn't want you
+to--to feel that you must take the afternoon off on her account."
+
+The young man stirred impatiently. "That's foolishness," he declared.
+"She seems to think Bassett has a mortgage on my life. He hasn't, not by
+a long shot. I don't mean to keep his books much longer; I've got other
+things to attend to. My law is getting on pretty well."
+
+"Glad to hear it, George."
+
+"Yes. I shall read with Bradley for a while longer, of course, but after
+that--well, I don't know. I was talking with--with a man who has had a
+good deal of experience with lawyers--real city lawyers, not the
+one-horse sort--and he says the thing for an ambitious young fellow to
+do is to get into one of those city offices. Then you have a chance."
+
+"Oh--I see. But isn't it kind of hard to get in, unless you have some
+acquaintance or influence?"
+
+"I don't know as it is. And I guess this man will help me if I want him
+to."
+
+"So? That's good. Did he say he would?"
+
+"No-o, not exactly, but I think he will. And he's got the acquaintances,
+all right enough. He knows almost everybody that's worth while."
+
+"That's the kind to tie to. Who is he? Somebody up in Boston?"
+
+George shifted again. "I'd rather not mention his name just now," he
+said. "Our talks have been rather--er--confidential and I don't know
+that I should have said anything about them. But I've got plans, you
+see. Then there is my aunt's estate. I am the administrator of that."
+
+"Oh? I didn't know. Your aunt, eh?"
+
+"Yes, my Aunt Charlotte, mother's sister. She was single and lived up in
+Meriden, Connecticut. She died about a month ago and left everything to
+my half-sister and me--my married sister in Springfield, you know. I
+have charge of--of the estate, settling it and all that."
+
+Sears smiled inwardly at the self-satisfaction with which the word
+"estate" was uttered. But outwardly he was serious enough.
+
+"Good for you, George!" he exclaimed. "Congratulations. I hope you've
+come in for a big thing."
+
+His visitor colored slightly. "Well--well, of course," he admitted, "the
+estate isn't very large, but----"
+
+"But it's an estate. I'm glad for you, son."
+
+"Yes--er--yes.... But really, Cap'n, I didn't mean to talk about that.
+I--I just wanted to say that--that I was sorry if I--er--wasn't as
+polite as I might have been the other night, and--well, I thought--it
+seemed as if I--I ought to say--to say----"
+
+Whatever it was it seemed to be hard to say. The captain tried to help.
+
+"Yes, of course, George," he prompted. "Heave ahead and say it."
+
+"Well--well, it's just this, Cap'n Kendrick: Elizabeth and you are--are
+together a good deal, in the Fair Harbor affairs, you know,
+and--and--she doesn't think, of course--and you _are_ a lot older than
+she is--but all the same----"
+
+Sears interrupted.
+
+"Here! Hold on, George!" he put in, sharply. "What's all this?"
+
+Kent's embarrassment increased. "Why--why, nothing," he stammered.
+"Nothing, of course. But you see, Cap'n, people are silly--they don't
+stop to count ages and things like that. They see you with her so
+much.... And when they see you taking her to ride--alone----"
+
+"Here! That'll do!" All the cordiality had left the captain's voice.
+"George," he said, after a moment, "I guess you'd better not say any
+more. I don't think I had better hear it. Miss Elizabeth is a friend of
+mine. She is, as you say, years younger than I am. I _am_ with her a
+good deal, have to be because of our Fair Harbor work together. I took
+her to Orham with me just as I'd take her mother, or you, or any other
+friend who had to go and wanted a lift. But--_but_ if you or any one
+else is hintin' that.... There, there! George, don't be foolish. Maybe
+you'd better run along now. The doctor says I mustn't get excited."
+
+His visitor looked remarkably foolish, but the stubbornness had not
+altogether left his face or tone as he said: "Well, that's all right,
+Cap'n. I knew you would understand. _I_ didn't mean anything, but--but,
+you see, in Elizabeth's case I feel a--a sort of responsibility.
+You--you understand."
+
+Even irritated and angry as he was, Sears could not help smiling at the
+last sentence.
+
+"George," he observed, "you've been fairly open and aboveboard in your
+remarks to me. Suppose I ask you a question. Just what _is_ your
+responsibility in the case? I have heard said, and more than once, that
+you and Elizabeth Berry are engaged to be married. Is it so?"
+
+The young man grew redder yet, hesitated, and turned to the door.
+
+"I--I'm not at liberty to say," he declared.
+
+"Wait! Hold on! There is this responsibility business. If you're not
+engaged--well, honestly, George, I don't quite see where your
+responsibility comes in."
+
+Kent hesitated a moment longer. Then he seemed to make up his mind.
+
+"Well, then, we are--er--er--practically," he said.
+
+"Practically?... Oh! Well, I--I certainly do congratulate you."
+
+George had his hand on the latch, but turned back.
+
+"Don't--please don't tell any one of it," he said earnestly. "It--it
+mustn't be known yet.... You see, though, why I--I feel as if you--as if
+we all ought to be very careful of--of appearances--and--and such
+things."
+
+"Yes.... Yes, of course. Well, all right, George. Good-by. Call again."
+
+Judah, who had been over at the Fair Harbor doing some general chores
+around the place, came in a little later. His lodger called to him.
+
+"Judah," he commanded, "come in here. I want to talk to you." When Mr.
+Cahoon obeyed the order, he was told to sit down a moment.
+
+"I want to ask you some questions," said the captain. "What is the
+latest news of Egbert Phillips? Where is he nowadays? And what is he
+doin'?"
+
+Judah was quite ready to give the information, even eager, but he
+hesitated momentarily.
+
+"Sure you want me to talk about him, Cap'n?" he asked. "Last time I said
+anything about him--day afore yesterday 'twas--you told me to shut up.
+Said you had somethin' more important to think about."
+
+"Did I, Judah? Well, 'twas true then, I guess."
+
+"Um-hm. And you ordered me not to mention his name again till you
+h'isted signals, or somethin' like that."
+
+"Yes, seems to me I did. Well, the signals are up. What is he doin'?"
+
+"Doin'? He ain't doin' nothin'--much. He's roomin' up to the Central
+House yet, but from what I hear tell he ain't goin' to stay there. He's
+cal'latin', so the folks down to the store say, to find some nice home
+place where he can board. He don't call it boardin'. Thoph Black says he
+said what he wanted was a snug little den where him and his few
+remainin' household gods could be together. Thoph said he couldn't make
+out what household gods was, and I'm plaguey sure _I_ can't. Sounds
+heathenish to me. And I told Thoph, says I, 'That ain't no way to hunt a
+boardin' house, goin' round hollerin' for a den. If I was takin' in
+boarders and a feller hove alongside and says, "Can I hire one of them
+dens of yours?" he'd get somethin' that he wan't lookin' for.' Huh! Den!
+Sounds like a circus menagerie, don't it? Not but what I've seen
+boardin'-house rooms that was like dens. Why, one time, over in
+Liverpool 'twas, me and a feller named----"
+
+"Yes, yes, all right, Judah. I've heard about it. But what else is he
+doin'? Where does he go? Is he makin' friends? Is he talkin' much about
+his plans? What do folks say about him?"
+
+Judah answered the last question first.
+
+"They like him," he declared. "All hands are so kind of sorry for him,
+you see. Course we all cal'lated he was rich, but he ain't. And them
+bonds and such that him and his wife had all went to nawthin' and he
+come back here after she died, figgerin', I presume likely, same as
+anybody would, that he owned the Fair Harbor property and that the fifty
+thousand was just a sort of--er--loan, as you might say. He told Joe
+Macomber--or George Kent, I forget which 'twas--he's with George
+consider'ble; I guess likely 'twas him--that, of course, he wouldn't
+have disturbed the property or the fifty thousand for the world, not for
+a long spell anyhow, but ownin' it give him a feelin' of security, like
+an anchor to wind'ard, you understand, and----"
+
+"So folks like him, do they?"
+
+"You bet you they do. He don't complain a mite, that's one reason they
+like him. Says at first, of course, he was kind of took all aback with
+his canvas flappin', but now he's thought it over and realizes 'twas his
+dear wife's notion and her wishes is law and gospel to him, so he's
+resigned."
+
+"And he doesn't blame anybody, then?"
+
+Mr. Cahoon hesitated. "Why--er--no, not really, fur's I hear. Anyhow, if
+there was any influence used same as it shouldn't be, he says, he
+forgives them that used it. And, so far as that goes, he don't repute no
+evil motives to nobody, livin' or dead."
+
+"Repute? Oh, impute, you mean."
+
+"I guess so, some kind of 'pute'. He uses them old-fashioned kind of
+words all the time. That's why he's so pop'lar amongst the Shakespeare
+Readin' Society and the rest. _They've_ took him up, I tell ye! Minister
+Dishup and his wife they've had him to dinner, and Cap'n Elkanah and his
+wife have had him to supper and yesterday noon he was up here to the
+Harbor for dinner."
+
+"Oh, was he?"
+
+"Yus. He made 'em a little speech, too. All hands came into the parlor
+after dinner and he kind of--of preached to 'em. Told about his
+travelin' in foreign lands and a lot about Lobelia and how she loved the
+Harbor and everybody in it, and how him and her used to plan for it, and
+the like of that. Desire Peasley told me that 'twas the most movin' talk
+ever _she_ listened to. Said about everybody was cryin' some. 'Twas a
+leaky session, I judged. Oh, they love him over to the Harbor, I tell
+you!"
+
+The captain was silent for a moment. Then he asked, "Did I understand
+you to say he and young Kent were friendly?"
+
+"Yes, indeed. He seems to have took quite a fancy to George. Drops in to
+see him at the store and last night he went home along with him to your
+sister's--to Sary's. Had supper and spent the evenin', I believe."
+
+Judah was dismissed then and the talk ended, but Sears had now something
+else to think about. There was little doubt in his mind who the "man of
+experience" was, the person who had advised Kent concerning the getting
+of a position with a law firm in the city. He wondered what other
+advice might have been given. Was it Mr. Phillips who had suggested
+to Kent the impropriety of Elizabeth's being seen so much in
+his--Kendrick's--company? If so, why had he done it? What was Egbert's
+little plan?
+
+Of course it was possible that there was no plan of any kind. Sears had
+taken a dislike to Phillips when they met and that fact, and Judge
+Knowles' hatred of the man, might, he realized, have set him to hunting
+mares' nests. Well, he would not hunt any more at present. He would
+await developments. But he would not lie in that bed and wait for them.
+He had been there long enough. In spite of Judah's protests and with the
+latter's help, commandeered and insisted upon, he got up, dressed, and
+spent the rest of that afternoon and evening in the rocking chair in the
+kitchen.
+
+And that evening Elizabeth came to see him. He was almost sure why she
+had come, and as soon as she entered, sent Judah down town after smoking
+tobacco. Judah declared there was "up'ards of ha'f a plug aboard the
+ship somewheres" and wanted to stay and hunt for it, but the captain,
+who had the plug in his pocket, insisted on his going. So he went and
+Sears and Elizabeth were alone. He was ready for the interview. If she
+asked him to accept the trusteeship of her twenty thousand dollars he
+meant to refuse, absolutely.
+
+And she did ask him that very thing. After inquiries concerning his
+injured limbs and repeated cautions concerning his never taking such
+risks again, "even with the old Foam Flakes," she came directly to the
+subject. She spoke of Judge Knowles' letter to her, the letter which
+Bradley had handed her at the time when he gave Sears his. She had read
+it over and over again, she said.
+
+"You know what he wrote me, Cap'n Kendrick," she went on. "I can't show
+you the letter, it is too personal, too--too.... Oh, I can't show it to
+any one--now, not even to mother. But you must know what he asked--or
+suggested, because he says he has written you a letter asking you to
+take charge of my money for me, to be my trustee. I suppose you must
+think it queer that I have let all these days go by without coming to
+speak with you about it. I hope----"
+
+He interrupted. "Now, Elizabeth, before we go any further," he said,
+earnestly, "don't you suppose any such thing. The judge wrote me he had
+asked us both not to decide in a hurry, but to take plenty of time to
+think it over. I have thought it over, in fact, I haven't thought of
+much else since I opened that letter, and I have made up my mind----"
+
+"Wait. Please wait a minute. I haven't been taking time to think over
+that at all. I have been thinking about the whole matter; whether I
+should accept the money--so very, very, very much money----"
+
+"What! Not accept it? Of course you'll take it. He wanted you to take
+it. It was what he wanted as much as anybody could want anything. Why,
+don't you dare----"
+
+"Hush! hush! You mustn't be so excited. And you mustn't move from that
+chair. If you do I shall go home this minute. I am going to accept the
+money."
+
+"Good! Of course you are."
+
+"Yes, I am. Because I do believe that he wanted me to have it so much. I
+know people will say--perhaps they are already saying all sorts of
+wicked, mean things. I don't--I won't let myself think what some of them
+may be saying about my influencing the judge, or things like that. But I
+don't care--that is, I care ever so much more for what _he_ said and
+what he wished. And he wanted you to take care of the money for me. You
+will, won't you, Cap'n Kendrick?"
+
+Now it was Sears' turn. He had gone over a scene like this, the scene
+which he had foreseen, many times. He was kind, but he was firm. He told
+her that he should not accept the trusteeship. He could not. It was too
+great a responsibility for a man with as little--and that little
+unfortunate--business experience as he had had.
+
+"It needs a banker or a lawyer for that job, Elizabeth," he declared.
+"What does a sailor know about handlin' money? You go to Bradley;
+Bradley's the man."
+
+But she did not want Bradley. The judge only mentioned Bradley as second
+choice.
+
+"He wanted you, Cap'n Kendrick. He had every confidence in you. You
+should see what he says about your ability and common-sense and--and
+honesty in the letter. Please."
+
+"No, Elizabeth. As far as honesty goes I guess he's right. I am honest,
+at least I hope I should be. But for the rest--he's partial there. He
+seemed to take a fancy to me, and goodness knows I liked him. But you
+mustn't feel you've got to do this thing. He wrote me it was only a
+suggestion. You are absolutely free--he wrote me so--to go to Bradley
+or----"
+
+"No." She rose to her feet. "I shan't go to Bradley or anybody but you.
+I am like him, Cap'n Kendrick; I trust you. I have come to know you and
+to believe in you. I like you. Why, you don't know how glad I was to
+find that he wanted you to do this for me. Glad! I--I felt----"
+
+"Why, Elizabeth!"
+
+He had not meant to speak. The words were forced from him involuntarily.
+Her tone, her eyes, the eager earnestness in her voice.... He did not
+say any more, nor did he look at her. Instead he looked at the patchwork
+comforter which had fallen from his knees to the floor, and fervently
+hoped that he had not already said too much. He stooped and picked up
+the comforter.
+
+"And you will do it for me, won't you?" she pleaded.
+
+"I can't. It wouldn't be right."
+
+"Then I shall not take the money at all. _He_ gave it to me, _he_ asked
+me--the very last thing he asked was that you should do it. He put the
+trust in your hands. And you won't do it--for him--or for me?"
+
+"Well, but--but---- Oh, good Lord! how can I?"
+
+"Why can't you?"
+
+The real reason he could not tell her. According to Kent--whether
+inspired by Phillips or not made little difference--people were already
+whispering and hinting. How much more would they hint and whisper if
+they knew that he had taken charge of her money? The thought had not
+occurred to her, of course; the very idea was too ridiculous for her to
+imagine; but that made but one more reason why he must think for her.
+
+"No," he said, again. "No, I can't."
+
+"But why? You haven't told me why."
+
+He tried to tell her why, but his words were merely repetitions of what
+he had said before. He was not a good business man, he did not know how
+to handle money, even his own money. The judge had been very ill when he
+wrote those letters, if he had been well and himself he never would have
+thought of him as trustee. She listened for a time, her impatience
+growing. Then she rose.
+
+"Very well," she said. "Then I shall not accept the twenty thousand. To
+me one wish of Judge Knowles' is as sacred as the other. He wanted you
+to take that trust just as much as he wanted me to have the money. If
+you won't respect one wish I shall not respect the other."
+
+He could not believe she meant it, but she certainly looked and spoke as
+if she did. He faltered and hesitated, and she pressed her advantage.
+And at last he yielded.
+
+"All right," he said desperately. "All right--or all wrong, whichever it
+turns out to be. I'll take the trustee job--try it for a time anyhow.
+But, I tell you, Elizabeth, I'm afraid we're both makin' a big mistake."
+
+She was not in the least afraid, and said so.
+
+"You have made me very happy, Cap'n Kendrick," she declared. "I can't
+thank you enough."
+
+He shook his head, but before he could reply there came a sharp knock on
+the outer door, the back door of the house.
+
+"Who on earth is that?" exclaimed Sears. Then he shouted, "Come in."
+
+The person who came in was George Kent.
+
+"Why, George!" said Elizabeth. Then she added. "What is it? What is the
+matter?"
+
+The young man looked as if something was the matter. His expression was
+not at all pleasant.
+
+"Evenin', George," said the captain. "Glad to see you. Sit down."
+
+Kent ignored both the invitation and the speaker.
+
+"Look here," he demanded, addressing Miss Berry: "do you know what time
+it is? It is ten o'clock."
+
+His tone was so rude--so boyishly rude--that Sears looked up quickly and
+Elizabeth drew back.
+
+"It's nearly ten o'clock," repeated Kent. "And you are over here."
+
+"George!" exclaimed Sears, sharply.
+
+"You are over here--with him--again."
+
+It was Elizabeth who spoke now. She said but one word.
+
+"Well?" she asked.
+
+There was an icy chill about that "Well?" which a more cautious person
+that George Kent might have noticed and taken as a warning. But the
+young man was far from cautious at that moment.
+
+"_Well?_" he repeated hotly. "I don't think it's well at all. I come see
+you and--I find you over here. And I find that every one else knows you
+are here. And they think it queer, too; I could see that they did.... Of
+course, I don't say----"
+
+"I think you have said enough. I came here to talk with Cap'n Kendrick
+on a business matter. I told mother where I was going when I left the
+house. The others heard me, I suppose; I certainly did not try to
+conceal it. Why should I?"
+
+"Why should you? Why, you should because--because---- Well, if you don't
+know why you shouldn't be here, he does."
+
+"He? Cap'n Kendrick?"
+
+"Yes. I--I told him why, myself. Only this noon I told him. I was here
+and I told him people were beginning to talk about you and he being
+together so much and--and his taking you to ride, and all that sort of
+thing. I told him he ought to be more careful of appearances. I said of
+course you didn't think, but he ought to. I explained that----"
+
+"Stop!" Her face was crimson and she was breathing quickly. "Do you mean
+to say that--that people are talking--are saying things about--about....
+What people?"
+
+"Oh--oh, different ones. Of course they don't say anything much--er--not
+yet. But if we aren't careful they will. You see----"
+
+"Wait. Are they--are they saying that--that---- Oh, it is _too_ wicked
+and foolish to speak! Are they saying that Cap'n Kendrick and I----"
+
+Sears spoke. "Hush, hush, Elizabeth!" he begged. "They aren't sayin'
+anything, of course. George is--is just a little excited over nothin',
+that's all. He has heard Elvira or some other cat over there at the
+Harbor, probably. They're jealous because you have had this money left
+you."
+
+"It is nothing to do with the money," Kent asserted. "Didn't I tell you
+this noon that you--that we had to be careful of appearances? Didn't I
+say----"
+
+Again Elizabeth broke in.
+
+"You have said all I want to hear--in this room, now," she declared.
+"There are a good many things for us both to say--and listen to, but not
+here.... Good night, Cap'n Kendrick. I am sorry I kept you up so late,
+and I hope all this--I hope you won't let this wicked nonsense trouble
+you. It isn't worth worrying about. Good night."
+
+"But, Elizabeth," urged Sears, anxiously, "don't you think----"
+
+"Good night. George, you had better come with me. I have some things to
+say to you."
+
+She went out. Kent hesitated, paused for a moment, and then followed
+her. When Judah returned with the tobacco and a fresh cargo of rumors
+concerning Egbert Phillips he found his lodger not the least interested
+in either smoke or gossip.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+
+So Judah was obliged to postpone the telling of his most important news
+item. But the following morning when, looking heavy-eyed and haggard, as
+if he had slept but little, Captain Kendrick limped into the kitchen for
+breakfast, Mr. Cahoon served that item with the salt mackerel and fried
+potatoes. It was surprising, too--at least Sears found it so. Egbert
+Phillips, so Judah declared, had given up his rooms at the Central House
+and had gone, household goods and all, to board and lodge at Joel
+Macomber's. He was occupying, so Judah said, the very room that Sears
+himself had occupied when he was taken to his sister's home after the
+railway accident.
+
+The captain could scarcely believe it. He had not seen Sarah Macomber
+since the day following the Foam Flake's amazing cut-up on the Orham
+road, when she had come, in much worriment and anxiety, to learn how
+badly he was hurt. Her call had been brief, and, as he had succeeded in
+convincing her that the extra twist to his legs would have no serious
+effect, she had not called since. But Sarah-Mary, the eldest girl, had
+brought a basket containing a cranberry pie, a half-peck, more or less,
+of molasses cookies, and two tumblers of beach-plum jelly, and
+Sarah-Mary had said nothing to her Uncle Sears about the magnificent Mr.
+Phillips coming to live with them.
+
+"I guess not, Judah," said the captain. "Probably you've got it snarled
+some way. He may have gone there to supper with George Kent and the rest
+of the yarn sprouted from that."
+
+But Judah shook his head. "No snarl about it, Cap'n Sears," he declared.
+"Come straight this did, straight as a spare topmast. Joe Macomber told
+me so himself. Proud of it, too, Joe was; all kind of swelled up with
+it, like a pizened shark."
+
+"But why on earth should he pick out Sarah's? Why didn't he go to Naomi
+Newcomb's; she keeps a regular boardin'-house? Sarah can't take any more
+boarders. Her house is overloaded as it is. That was why I didn't stay
+there. No, I don't believe it, Judah. Joel was just comin' up to blow,
+that's all. He's a regular puffin'-pig for blowin'."
+
+But Sarah called that very forenoon and confirmed the news. She had
+agreed to take Mr. Phillips into her home. Not only that, but he was
+already there.
+
+"I know you must think it's sort of funny, Sears," she said, looking
+rather embarrassed and avoiding her brother's eye. "If anybody had told
+me a week ago that I should ever take another boarder I should have felt
+like askin' 'em if they thought I was crazy. I suppose you think I am,
+don't you?"
+
+"Not exactly, Sarah--not yet."
+
+"But you think I most likely will be before I'm through? Well, maybe,
+but I'm goin' to risk it. You see, I--well, we need the money, for one
+thing."
+
+Sears stirred in his chair.
+
+"I could have let you have a little money every once in a while, Sarah,"
+he said. "It's a shame that it would have to be so little. If those legs
+ever do get shipshape and I get to sea again----"
+
+She stopped him. "I haven't got so yet awhile that I have to take
+anybody's money for nothin'," she said sharply. "There, there, Sears! I
+know you'd give me every cent you had if I'd let you. I'll tell you why
+I took Mr. Phillips. He came to supper with George the other night and
+stayed all the evenin'. He's one of the most interestin' men I ever met
+in my life. Not any more interestin' than you are, of course," she
+added, loyally, "but in--in a different way."
+
+"Um ... yes. I shouldn't wonder."
+
+"Yes, he is. And he liked my supper, and said so. Ate some of everything
+and praised it, and was just as--as common and everyday and sociable,
+not a mite proud or--like that."
+
+"Why in the devil should he be?"
+
+"Why--why, I don't know why he shouldn't. Lots of folks who know as much
+as he does and have been everywhere and known the kind of people he
+knows--they would be stuck up--yes, and are. Look at Cap'n Elkhanah
+Wingate and his wife."
+
+"I don't want to look at 'em. How do you know how much this Phillips
+knows?"
+
+"How do I _know_? Why, Sears, you ought to hear him talk. I never heard
+such talk. The children just--just hung on his words, as they say. And
+he was so nice to them. And Joel and George Kent they think he's the
+greatest man they ever saw. Oh, all hands in Bayport like him."
+
+"Humph! When he was here before, teachin' singin' school, he wasn't such
+a Grand Panjandrum. At least, I never heard that he was."
+
+"Sears, you don't like him, do you? I'm real surprised. Yes, and--and
+sorry. Why don't you like him?"
+
+Her brother laughed. "I didn't say I didn't like him, Sarah," he
+replied. "Besides, what difference would one like more or less make? I
+don't know him very well."
+
+"But he likes you. Why, he said he didn't know when he had met a man who
+gave him such an impression of--of strength and character as you did. He
+said that right at our supper table. I tell you I was proud when he said
+it about my brother."
+
+So Sears had not the heart to utter more skepticism. He encouraged Sarah
+to tell more of her arrangements with the great man. He was, it
+appeared, to have not only the bedroom which Sears had occupied, but
+also the room adjoining.
+
+"One will be his bedroom," explained Mrs. Macomber, "and the other his
+sittin' room, sort of. His little suite, he calls 'em. He is movin' the
+rest of his things in to-day."
+
+Seers looked at her. "Two rooms!" he exclaimed. "He's to have _two_
+rooms in your house! For heaven sakes, Sarah, where do the rest of you
+live; in the cellar? Goin' to let the children sleep in the cistern?"
+
+She explained. It was a complicated process, but she had worked it out.
+Lemuel and Edgar had always had a room together, but now Bemis was to
+have a cot there also. "And Joey, of course, is only a baby, his bed is
+in our room, Joel's and mine. And Sarah-Mary and Aldora, they are same
+as they have been."
+
+"Yes, yes, but that doesn't explain the extra room, his sitting room.
+Where does that come from?"
+
+She hesitated a moment. "Well--well, you see," she said, "there wasn't
+any other bedroom except the one George hires, and he is goin' to stay
+for a while longer anyway. At first it didn't seem as if I could let Mr.
+Phillips have the sittin' room he wanted. But at last Joel and I thought
+it out. We don't use the front parlor hardly any, and there is the
+regular sittin' room left for us anyway, so----"
+
+"Sarah Kendrick Macomber, do you mean to tell me you've let this fellow
+have your _front parlor_?"
+
+"Why--why, yes. We don't hardly ever use it, Sears. I don't believe
+we've used that parlor--really opened the blinds and used it, I
+mean--since Father Macomber's funeral, and that was--let me see--over
+six years ago."
+
+Her brother slowly shook his head. "The judge was right," he declared.
+"He certainly was right. Smoothness isn't any name for it."
+
+"Sears, what are you talkin' about? I can't understand you. I thought
+you would be glad to think such a splendid man as he is was goin' to
+live with us. To say nothin' of my makin' all this extra money. Of
+course, if you don't want me to do it, I won't. I wouldn't oppose you,
+Sears, for anything in this world. But I--I must say----"
+
+He laid his hand on hers. "There, Sarah," he broke in. "Don't pay too
+much attention to me. I'm crochetty these days, have a good deal on my
+mind. If you think takin' this Phillips man aboard is a good thing for
+you, I'm glad. How much does he pay you a week?"
+
+She told him. It was more than fair rate for those days.
+
+"Humph!" he observed. "Well, Sarah, good luck to you. I hope you get
+it."
+
+"Get it! Why, of course I'll get it, Sears. Its all arranged. And I want
+you and Mr. Phillips to know each other real well. I'm goin' to tell him
+he must call again to see you."
+
+"Eh?... Oh, all right, Sarah. You can tell him, if you want to."
+
+After she had gone he thought the matter over. Surely Mr. Egbert
+Phillips was a gentleman of ability along certain lines. His sister
+Sarah was a sensible woman, she was far far from being a susceptible
+sentimentalist. Yet she was already under the Phillips spell. Either
+Judge Knowles was right--very, very much right--or he was overwhelmingly
+wrong. If left to Bayport opinion as a jury there was no question
+concerning the verdict. Egbert would be triumphantly acquitted.
+
+Sears, however, did not, at this time, spare much thought to the
+Phillips riddle. He had other, and, it seemed to him, more disturbing
+matters to deal with. The quarrel between Elizabeth Berry and young Kent
+was one of those, for he felt that, in a way, he was the cause of it.
+George had, of course, behaved like a foolish boy and had been about as
+tactless as even a jealous youth could be, but there was always the
+chance that some one else had sowed the seeds of jealousy in his mind.
+He determined to see Kent, explain, have a frank and friendly talk, and,
+if possible, set everything right--everything between the two young
+people, that is. But when, on his first short walk along the road, he
+happened to meet Kent, the latter paid no attention to his hail and
+strode past without speaking. Sears shouted after him, but the shout was
+unheeded.
+
+Elizabeth was almost as contrary. When he attempted to lead the
+conversation to George, she would not follow. When he mentioned the
+young man's name she changed the subject. At last when, his sense of
+guilt becoming too much for him, he began to defend Kent, she
+interrupted the defense.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," she said, "I understand why you take his part. And it
+is like you to do it. But when you begin to blame yourself or me then I
+shan't listen."
+
+"Blame _you_! Why, Elizabeth, I had no idea of blamin' you. The whole
+thing is just a--a misunderstandin' between you and George, and I want
+to straighten it out, that's all. If anybody is to blame I really think
+I am. I should have thought more about--about, what he calls
+appearances; that is, perhaps I should."
+
+She lost patience. "Oh, do stop!" she cried. "You know you are talking
+nonsense."
+
+"Well but, Elizabeth, I feel--wicked. I wouldn't for the world be the
+cause of a break between you two. If that should happen because of me I
+couldn't rest easy."
+
+This conversation took place in the smaller sitting room of the Fair
+Harbor, the room which she and her mother used as a sort of office. She
+had been standing by the window looking out. Now she turned and faced
+him.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," she asked, "just what do you mean by a 'break' between
+George Kent and me? Are you under the impression that he and I
+were--were engaged?"
+
+"Why--why, weren't you?"
+
+"No. Why should you think we were?"
+
+"Well--why, there seemed to be a sort of general idea that--that you
+were. People--Bayport folks seemed to think--seemed to think----"
+
+She stamped her foot. "They don't think, most of them, they only talk,"
+she declared. "_I_ certainly never said we were. And he didn't either,
+did he?"
+
+Kent had said that he and Elizabeth were engaged--practically--whatever
+that might mean. But the captain thought it wisest just then to forget.
+
+"Why--no, I guess not," he answered.
+
+"Of course he didn't ... Cap'n Kendrick. I--oh, you might as well
+understand this clearly. I have known George for a long time. I liked
+him. For a time I thought--well I thought perhaps I liked him enough
+to--to like him a lot more But I was mistaken. He--he kept doing things
+that I didn't like. Oh, they had nothing to do with me. They were things
+that didn't seem--what you would call square and aboveboard. Little
+things that.... It was about one of these that we disagreed just before
+the 'Down by the Sea' theatricals. But he explained that and--and--well,
+he can be so nice and likable, that I forgave him. But lately there have
+been others. He has changed. And now all this foolishness, and....
+There, Cap'n Kendrick, I didn't mean to say so much. But I want you to
+understand, and to tell every one else who talks about George Kent and
+me being engaged, that there never was any such engagement."
+
+It would be rather difficult to catalogue all of Sears Kendrick's
+feelings as he listened to this long speech. They were mixed feelings,
+embarrassment, sorrow, relief--and a most unwarranted and unreasonable
+joy. But he repressed the relief and joy and characteristically returned
+to self-chastisement.
+
+"Yes--oh--I see," he faltered. "I guess likely I didn't understand
+exactly. But just the same I don't know but George was right in some
+things he said. I shouldn't wonder if I had been careless about--about
+appearances. I don't know but--but my seein' you so much--and our goin'
+to Orham together might set some folks talkin'. Of course it doesn't
+seem hardly possible that anybody could be such fools, considerin'
+you--and then considerin' me--but----"
+
+She would not hear any more. "I don't propose to consider _them_," she
+declared with fierce indignation. "I shall see you or any one else just
+as often as I please. Now that you are to take care of my money for me I
+have no doubt I shall see you a great deal oftener than I ever did. And
+if those--those talkative persons don't like it, they may do the next
+best thing.... No, that is enough, Cap'n Kendrick. It is settled."
+
+And it did appear to be. If anything, she saw him oftener than before,
+seemed to take a mischievous delight in being seen with him, in running
+to the Minot place on errands connected with the Harbor business, and
+in every way defying the gossips.
+
+And gossip accepted the challenge. From the time when it became known
+that Sears Kendrick was to be the trustee of Elizabeth Berry's
+twenty-thousand dollar legacy the tide of public opinion, already on the
+turn, set more and more strongly against him. And, as it ebbed for
+Captain Sears, it rose higher and higher for that genteel martyr, Mr.
+Egbert Phillips.
+
+Sears could not help noticing the change. It was gradual, but it was
+marked. He had never had many visitors, but occasionally some of the
+retired sea dogs among the town-folk would drop in to swap yarns, or a
+younger captain, home from a voyage, would call on him at the Minot
+place. The number of those calls became smaller, then they ceased.
+Doctor Sheldon was, of course, as jolly and friendly as ever, and
+Bradley, when he drove over from Orham on a legal errand, made it a
+point to come and see him. But, aside from those, and Sarah Macomber,
+and, of course, Elizabeth Berry, no one came.
+
+When he walked, as he did occasionally now that his legs were
+stronger--they had quite recovered from the strain put upon them by the
+Foam Flake's outbreak--up and down the sidewalk from Judge Knowles'
+corner to the end of the Fair Harbor fence, the people whom he met
+seldom stopped to chat with him. Or, if they did, the chat was always
+brief and, on their part, uneasy. They acted, so it seemed to him,
+guilty, as if they were doing something they should not do, something
+they were not at all anxious to have people see them do. And when he
+drove with Judah down to the store the group there no longer hailed him
+with shouts of welcome. They spoke to him, mentioned the weather
+perhaps, grinned in embarrassed fashion, but they did not ask him to sit
+down and join them. And when his back was turned, when he left the
+store, he had the feeling that there were whispered comments--and
+sneers.
+
+It was all impalpable, there was nothing openly hostile, no one said
+anything to which he could take exception--he only wished they would;
+but he felt the hostility nevertheless.
+
+And among the feminine element it was even more evident. When he went to
+church, as he did semi-occasionally, as he walked down the aisle he felt
+that the rustle of Sunday black silks and bonnet strings which preceded
+and followed him was a whisper of respectable and self-righteous
+disapproval. It was not all imagination, he caught glimpses of sidelong
+looks and headshakes which meant something, and that something not
+applause. Once the Reverend Mr. Dishup took for his text Psalm xxxix,
+the sixth verse, "He heapeth up riches and knoweth not who shall gather
+them." The sermon dealt with, among others, the individual who in his
+lifetime amassed wealth, not knowing that, after his death, other
+individuals scheming and unscrupulous would strive to divert that wealth
+from the rightful heirs for their own benefit. It was a rather dull
+sermon and Sears, his attention wandering, happened to turn his head
+suddenly and look at the rest of the congregation. It seemed to him that
+at least a quarter of the heads in that congregation were turned in his
+direction. Now, meeting his gaze, they swung back, to stare with
+noticeable rigidity at the minister.
+
+Over at the Fair Harbor his comings and goings were no longer events to
+cause pleasurable interest and excitement. The change there was quite as
+evident. Miss Snowden and Mrs. Brackett, leaders of their clique, always
+greeted him politely enough, but they did not, individually or
+collectively, ask his advice or offer theirs. There were smiles,
+significant nods, knowing looks exchanged, especially, he thought or
+imagined, when he and Miss Berry were together. Cordelia Berry was
+almost cold toward him. Yet, so far as he knew, he had done nothing to
+offend her.
+
+He spoke to Elizabeth about her mother's attitude toward him. She said
+it was his imagination.
+
+"It may be," she said, "that you don't consult her quite enough about
+Fair Harbor matters, Cap'n Kendrick. Mother is sensitive, she is matron
+here, you know; perhaps we haven't paid as much deference to her opinion
+as we should. Poor mother, she does try so hard, but she isn't fitted
+for business, and knows it."
+
+That Sunday, after his return from church, the captain asked Judah a
+point blank question.
+
+"Judah," he said, "I want you to tell me the truth. What is the matter
+with me, nowadays? The whole ship's company here in Bayport are givin'
+me the cold shoulder. Don't tell me you haven't noticed it; a blind man
+could notice it. What's wrong with me? What have I done? Or what do they
+say I've done?"
+
+Judah was very much embarrassed. His trouble showed in his face above
+the whiskers. He had been bending over the cookstove singing at the top
+of his lungs the interminable chantey dealing with the fortunes of one
+Reuben Ranzo.
+
+    "'Ranzo was no sailor,
+      Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!
+    Ranzo was a tailor,
+      Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!
+
+    "'Oh, poor Reuben Ranzo!
+      _Ranzo_, boys, Ranzo!
+    Hurrah for Reuben Ranzo!
+      _Ranzo_, boys, _Ranzo_!
+
+    "'Ranzo was no sailor,
+      Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!
+    He shipped on board a whaler,
+      Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!'"
+
+And so on, forever and forever. Judah had reached the point where:
+
+    "They set him holy-stonin',
+      Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!
+    And cared not for his groanin',
+      Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!
+
+    "_'Oh_, poor Reuben Ranzo!
+      _Ranzo_, boys, Ranzo!
+    Hurrah for----'
+
+"Eh? Did you say somethin', Cap'n Sears?"
+
+Sears repeated his question, and then, as no answer seemed to be
+forthcoming, repeated it once more, with an order to "step lively."
+Judah groaned and shook his head.
+
+"I've been sort of afraid you might think somethin' was queer, Cap'n
+Sears," he admitted. "I was hopin' you wouldn't, though, not till it
+begun to blow over. All them kind of things do blow over, give 'em time.
+One voyage I took--to Shanghai, seems to me 'twas, either that or Rooshy
+somewheres--there was a ship's carpenter aboard and word got spread
+around that he had a wooden leg. Now he didn't, you know; matter of fact,
+all he had out of the way with him was a kind of--er--er--sheet-iron
+stove lid, as you might call it, riveted onto the top of his head. He
+was in the Mexican war, seemed so, and one of them cannon balls had caved
+in his upper deck, you understand, and them doctors they----"
+
+"Here, here, Judah! I didn't ask you about any iron-headed carpenters,
+did I?"
+
+"No; no, you never, Cap'n Sears. But what I started to say was that----"
+
+"All right, but you stick to what I want you to say. Tell me what's the
+matter with me in Bayport?"
+
+Judah groaned again. "It 'tain't so much that there's any great that's
+wrong along of you, Cap'n," he said, "as 'tis that there ain't nothin'
+but what's so everlastin' right with another feller. That's the way I
+size it up, and I've been takin' observations for quite a spell. Bayport
+folks are spendin' seven days in the week lovin' this Egbert Phillips.
+Consequentially they ain't got much time left to love you in. Fools?
+Course they be, and I've told some of 'em so till I've got a sore throat
+hollerin'. But, by the creepin'----"
+
+"Judah! Has Phillips been saying things about me?"
+
+"Hey? Him? No, no, no! He don't say nothin' about nobody no time,
+nothin' out of the way, that is. He's always praisin' of you up, so they
+tell me, and excusin' you and forgivin' you."
+
+"Forgivin' me? What do you mean by that?"
+
+"Hold on! don't get mad at _me_, Cap'n Sears. I mean when they say what
+a pity 'tis that he, the man whose wife owned all this Seymour property
+and the fifty thousand dollars and such--when they go to poorin' him and
+heavin' overboard hints about how other folks have the spendin' of that
+money and all--he just smiles, sad but sort of sweet, and says it's all
+right, his dear Lobelia done what seemed to her proper, and if he has to
+suffer a little grain, why, never mind.... That's the way he talks."
+
+"But where do I come in on that?"
+
+"Well--well, you don't really, Cap'n Sears. Course you don't. But
+you--you have got the handlin' of that money, you know. And you are
+gettin' wages for skipperin' the Fair Harbor. I've heard it said--not by
+him, oh, creepin', no!--but by others, that _he_ ought to have that
+skipper's job, if anybody had. Lots of folks seem to cal'late he'd ought
+to _own_ the Harbor. But instead of that he don't own nothin', they say,
+and scratches along in two rooms, down to Joe Macomber's, and,
+underneath all his sufferin', he's just as sweet and uncomplainin' and
+long-endurin' and--and high-toned and sociable and--and----"
+
+"Yes, yes. I see. Do they say anything more? What about my bein'
+Elizabeth Berry's trustee?"
+
+Mr. Cahoon paused before replying. "Well, they do seem to hold that
+against you some, I'm afraid," he admitted reluctantly. "I don't know
+why they do. And they don't say much in front of me no more, 'cause,
+they realize, I cal'late, that I'm about ready to knock a few of 'em
+into the scuppers. But it--it just don't help you none, Cap'n, takin'
+care of that money of Elizabeth's don't. And it does help that Eg
+man.... Why? Don't ask me. I--I'm sick and disgusted. _I_ shan't go to
+no church vestry to hear him lecture on Eyetalian paintin' or--or
+glazin', or whatever 'tis. And have you noticed how they bow down and
+worship him over to the Fair Harbor? Have you noticed Cordelia Berry?
+She's makin' a dum fool of herself, ain't she? Not that that's a very
+hard job."
+
+Judah's explanations did not explain much, but they did help to increase
+Sears' vague suspicions. He had noticed--no one could help noticing--the
+ever-growing popularity of Mr. Phillips. It was quite as evident as the
+decline of his own. What he suspected was that the two were connected
+and that, somehow or other, the smooth gentleman who boarded and lodged
+with the Macombers was responsible, knowingly, calculatingly responsible
+for the change.
+
+Yet it seemed so absurd, that suspicion. He and Phillips met frequently,
+sometimes at church, or oftenest at the Harbor--Egbert's visits there
+were daily now, and he dined or supped with the Berrys and the "inmates"
+at least twice a week. And always the Phillips manner was kind and
+gracious and urbane. Always he inquired solicitously concerning the
+captain's health. There was never a hint of hostility, never a trace of
+resentment or envy. And always, too, Sears emerged from one of those
+encounters with a feeling that he had had a little the worst of it, that
+his seafaring manners and blunt habit of speech made him appear at a
+marked disadvantage in comparison with this easy, suave, gracefully
+elegant personage. And so many of those meetings took place in the
+presence of Elizabeth Berry.
+
+Elizabeth liked Egbert, there was no doubt of that. Once when she and
+the captain were together in the Fair Harbor office Phillips entered.
+Sears and Elizabeth were bending over the ledger and Egbert opened the
+door. Sears and the young lady were not in the least embarrassed--of
+course there was not the slightest reason why they should be--but, oddly
+enough, Phillips seemed to be. He stepped back, coughed, fidgeted with
+the latch, and then began to apologize.
+
+"I--I really beg your pardon," he said. "I am sorry.... I didn't know--I
+didn't realize--I'm _so_ sorry."
+
+Elizabeth looked at him in surprise. "But there is nothing for you to be
+sorry about," she declared. "What is it? I don't understand."
+
+Egbert still retained his hold upon the latch with one hand. His hat,
+gloves and cane were in the other. It is perhaps the best indication of
+his standing in the community, the fact that, having lived in Bayport
+for some weeks and being by his own confession a poor man, he could
+still go gloved and caned on week days as well as Sundays and not be
+subject to ridicule even by the Saturday night gang in Eliphalet
+Bassett's store.
+
+He fidgeted with the latch and turned as if to go.
+
+"I should have knocked, of course," he protested. "It was most careless
+of me. I do hope you understand. I will come--ah--later."
+
+"But I don't understand," repeated the puzzled Elizabeth. "It was
+perfectly all right, your coming in. There is no reason why you should
+knock. The cap'n and I were going over the bills, that's all."
+
+Mr. Phillips looked--well, he looked queer.
+
+"Oh!" he said. "Yes--yes, of course. But one doesn't always care to be
+interrupted in--even in business matters--ah--sometimes."
+
+Elizabeth laughed. "I'm sure I don't mind," she said. "Those business
+matters weren't so frightfully important."
+
+"I'm so glad. You ease my conscience, Elizabeth. Thank you.... But I am
+afraid the captain minds more than you do. He looks as if he didn't like
+interruptions. Now do you, Captain Kendrick?"
+
+Sears was ruffled. The man always did rub him the wrong way, and now,
+for the first time, he heard him address Miss Berry by her Christian
+name. There was no real reason why he should not, almost every one in
+Bayport did, but Sears did not like it nevertheless.
+
+"You don't fancy interruptions, Captain," repeated the smiling Egbert.
+"Now do you? Ha, ha! Confess."
+
+For the moment Sears forgot to be diplomatic.
+
+"That depends, I guess," he answered shortly.
+
+"Depends? You see, I told you, Elizabeth. Depends upon what? We must
+make him tell us the whole truth, mustn't we, Elizabeth? What does it
+depend upon, Captain Kendrick; the--ah--situation--the nature of the
+business--or the companion? Now which? Ha, ha!"
+
+Sears answered without taking time to consider.
+
+"Upon who interrupts, maybe," he snapped. Then he would have given
+something to have recalled the words, for Elizabeth turned and looked at
+him. She flushed.
+
+Egbert's serenity, however, was quite undented.
+
+"Oh, dear me!" he exclaimed, in mock alarm. "After that I shall _have_
+to go. And I shall take great pains to close the door behind me. Ha, ha!
+_Au revoir_, Elizabeth. Good-by, Captain."
+
+He went out, keeping his promise concerning the closing of the door.
+Elizabeth continued to look at her companion.
+
+"Now why in the world," she asked, "did you speak to him like that?"
+
+Sears frowned. "Oh, I don't know," he answered. "He--he riles me
+sometimes."
+
+"Yes.... Yes, I should judge so. I have noticed it before. You don't
+like him for some reason or other. What is the reason?"
+
+He hesitated. Aside from Judge Knowles' distrust and dislike--which he
+could not mention to her--there was no very valid reason, nothing but
+what she would have called prejudice. So he hesitated and reddened.
+
+She went on. "_I_ like him," she declared. "He is a gentleman. He is
+always polite and considerate--as he was just now about breaking in on
+our business talk. What did you dislike about that?"
+
+"Well, I--well--oh, nothin', perhaps."
+
+"I think nothing certainly. He is an old friend of mother's and of the
+people here in the Harbor. They all like him very much. I am sorry that
+you don't and that you spoke to him as you did. I didn't think you took
+unreasonable dislikes. It doesn't seem like you, Cap'n Kendrick."
+
+So once more Sears felt himself to have been put in a bad position and
+to have lost ground while Phillips gained it. And, brooding over the
+affair, he decided that he must be more careful. If he were not so much
+in Elizabeth's company there would be no opportunity for
+insinuations--by Egbert Phillips, or any one else. So he put a strong
+check upon his inclination to see the young woman, and,
+overconscientious as he was so likely to be, began almost to avoid her.
+Except when business of one kind or another made it necessary he did not
+visit the Harbor. It cost him many pangs and made him miserable, but he
+stuck to his resolution. She should not be talked about in connection
+with him if he could help it.
+
+He had had several talks with Bradley and with her about her legacy from
+Judge Knowles. The twenty-thousand was, so he discovered, already well
+invested in good securities and it was Bradley's opinion, as well as his
+own, that it should not be disturbed. The bonds were deposited in the
+vaults of the Harniss bank, and were perfectly safe. On dividend dates
+he and Miss Berry could cut and check up the coupons together. So far
+his duties as trustee were not burdensome. Bradley had invested
+Cordelia's five thousand for her, so the Berry family's finances were
+stable. In Bayport they were now regarded as "well off." Cordelia was
+invited to supper at Captain Elkhanah Wingate's, a sure sign that the
+hall-mark of wealth and aristocracy had been stamped upon her. At that
+supper, to which Elizabeth also was invited but did not attend, Mr.
+Egbert Phillips shone resplendent. Egbert was not wealthy, a fact which
+he took pains to let every one know, but when he talked, as he did most
+of the evening, Mrs. Wingate and her feminine guests sat in an adoring
+trance and, after these guests had gone, the hostess stood by the parlor
+window gazing wistfully after them.
+
+Her husband was unlocking the door of a certain closet upon the shelf of
+which was kept a certain bottle and accompanying glasses. The closet had
+not been opened before that evening, as the Reverend and Mrs. Dishup had
+been among the dinner guests.
+
+"Elkhanah," observed Mrs. Wingate, dreamily, "I do think Mr. Phillips is
+the most elegant man I ever saw in my life. His language--and his
+manners--they are perfect."
+
+Captain Elkhanah nodded. "He's pretty slick," he agreed.
+
+If he expected by thus agreeing to please his wife, he must have been
+disappointed.
+
+"Oh, _don't_ say 'slick'!" she snapped. "I do wish you wouldn't use such
+countrified words."
+
+"Eh?" indignantly. "Countrified! Well, I am country, ain't I? So are
+you, so far as that goes. So was he once--when he was teachin' a
+one-horse singin' school in this very town."
+
+"Well, perhaps. But he has got over it. And it would pay you to take
+lessons from him, and learn not to say 'slick' and 'ain't'."
+
+Her husband grunted. "Pay!" he repeated. "I'll wait till he pays me the
+twenty dollars he borrowed of me two weeks ago. He wasn't too citified
+to do that."
+
+Mrs. Wingate stalked to the stairs. "I'm ashamed of you," she declared.
+"You know what a struggle he is having, and how splendid and
+uncomplaining he is. And you a rich man! Any one would think you never
+saw twenty dollars before."
+
+Captain Elkhanah poured himself a judicious dose from the bottle.
+
+"Maybe I never _will_ see _that_ twenty again," he observed with a
+chuckle.
+
+"Oh, you--you disgust me!"
+
+"Oh, go----"
+
+"_What?_ What are you trying to say to me?"
+
+"Go to bed," said the captain, and took his dose.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+
+If Elizabeth noticed that Sears was not as frequent a visitor at the
+Fair Harbor as he had formerly been she said nothing about it. She
+herself had ceased to run in at the Minot place to ask this question or
+that. Since the occasion when Mr. Phillips interrupted the business talk
+in the office and his apologies had brought about the slight
+disagreement--if it may be called that--between the captain and Miss
+Berry, the latter had, so Sears imagined, been a trifle less cordial to
+him than before. She was not coldly formal or curt and disagreeable--her
+mother was all of these things to the captain now, and quite without
+reason so far as he could see--Elizabeth was not like that, but she was
+less talkative, less cheerful, and certainly less confidentially
+communicative. At times he caught her looking at him as if doubtful or
+troubled. When he asked her what was the matter she said "Nothing," and
+began to speak of the bills they had been considering.
+
+On one occasion she asked him a point blank question, one quite
+irrelevant to the subject at hand.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," she asked, "how do you think Judge Knowles came to
+appoint you to be manager here at the Harbor?"
+
+He was taken by surprise, of course. "Why," he stammered, "I--why, I
+don't know. That is, all I know about it is what he told me. He said he
+felt he ought to have some one, and I was near at home, and--and so he
+thought of me, I suppose."
+
+"Yes, I know. You told me that.... But--but how did he know you wanted
+the position?"
+
+"Wanted it? Good heavens and earth, I didn't want it! I fought as hard
+as I could not to take it. Why, I told you--you remember, that day when
+I first came over here; that time when Elvira and the rest wanted to buy
+the cast-iron menagerie; I told you then----"
+
+"Yes," she interrupted again. "Yes, I know you did. But.... And the
+judge had never heard from you--had never...."
+
+"Heard from me! Do you mean had I sent in an application for the job?"
+
+"Oh, no, no! Not that. But you and he had never been--er--close friends
+in the old days, when you were here before?"
+
+He could not guess what she was driving at. "Look here, Elizabeth," he
+said, "I've told you that I scarcely knew Judge Knowles before he sent
+for me and offered me this place. No man alive was ever more surprised
+than I was then. Why, I gathered that the judge had talked about me to
+you before he sent for me. Not as manager here, of course, but as--well,
+as a man. He told you that I was goin' to call, you said so, and I
+_know_ you and he had talked and laughed together about my fight with
+the hens in Judah's garden."
+
+The trouble, whatever its cause, seemed to vanish. She smiled. "Yes,
+yes," she said. "Of course we had. He did like you, Judge Knowles did,
+and that was all--of course it was."
+
+"All what?"
+
+"Oh, nothing, nothing. How is Judah? I haven't seen him for two days."
+
+She would not mention Judge Knowles again, but for the remainder of
+their session with the accounts she was more like her old self than she
+had been for at least a week, or so it seemed to him.
+
+This was but one of those queer and disconcerting flare-ups of hers. One
+day, a week or so after she had questioned him concerning his
+appointment, he happened to be in the Harbor kitchen, and alone--of
+itself a surprising thing. Elvira Snowden and her group were holding
+some sort of committee meeting in the sitting room. Elvira was
+continually forming committees or circles for this purpose or that,
+purposes which fizzled out at about the third meeting of each group.
+Esther Tidditt was supposed to be in charge of the kitchen on this
+particular morning, but she had gone into the committee meeting in order
+to torment Elvira and Mrs. Brackett, a favorite amusement with her.
+
+So Sears, wandering into the kitchen, happened to notice that the door
+of the store closet had been left open, and he was standing in front of
+it idly looking in. He was brought out of his day dream, which had
+nothing to do with the closet or its contents, by Elizabeth's voice. She
+had entered from the dining room and he had not heard her.
+
+"Well," she asked, "I trust you find everything present or accounted
+for?"
+
+Her tone was so crisply sarcastic that he turned in astonishment.
+
+"Why--what?" he faltered.
+
+"I said I trusted that you found everything in that closet as it should
+be. Have you measured the flour? My mother is matron here, Cap'n
+Kendrick, and she will be glad to have you take any precautions of that
+kind, I am sure. So shall I. But don't you think it might as well be
+done while she or I are here?"
+
+He was bewildered.
+
+"I don't know what you mean, Elizabeth," he said.
+
+"Don't you?"
+
+"No, I don't. I came in just now by the back door, and there was no one
+in the kitchen, so--so I waited for a minute."
+
+"Why did you come by the back door? You didn't use to. Mother and I are
+usually in the office, or, at least, we are always glad to come there
+when you call."
+
+He was still bewildered, but irritated, too.
+
+"Why did I come by the back door?" he repeated. "Why, I've come that way
+a dozen times in the last fortnight. Don't you want me to come that
+way?"
+
+Now she looked a trifle confused, but the flush was still on her cheeks
+and the sparkle in her eye.
+
+"I'm sure I don't care how often you come that way," she said.
+"But--well, mother is matron here, Cap'n Kendrick. She may not
+be--perhaps she isn't--the most businesslike and orderly person in the
+world, but she is my mother. If you have any complaints to make, if you
+want to find out how things are kept, or managed, or----"
+
+"Here!" he broke in. "Wait! What do you mean? Do you suppose I sneaked
+into this kitchen by myself to peek into that closet, and--and spy on
+your mother's managin'?... You don't believe anything of that kind. You
+can't."
+
+She was more embarrassed now. "Why--why, no, I don't, Cap'n Kendrick,"
+she admitted. "Of course I know you wouldn't sneak anywhere. But--but I
+have been given to understand that you and--well, Mr. Bradley--have not
+been--are not quite satisfied with the management--with mother's
+management. And----"
+
+"Wait! Heave to!" Sears was excited now, and, as usual when excited,
+drifted into nautical phraseology. "What do you mean by sayin' I am not
+satisfied? Who told you that?"
+
+"Why--well, you are not, are you? You questioned her about the coal a
+week ago, about how much she used in a week. And then you asked her
+about keeping the fires overnight, if she saw how many were kept, and if
+there was much waste. And two or three times you have been seen standing
+by the bins--figuring."
+
+"Good Lord!" His exclamation this time was one of sheer amazement. "Good
+Lord!" he said again. "Why, I have been tryin', now winter is comin' on,
+to figure out how to save coal cost for this craft--for the Fair Harbor.
+You know I have. I asked your mother about the fires because I know how
+much waste there is likely to be when a fire is kept carelessly. And as
+for Bradley and I not bein' satisfied with your mother that is the
+wildest idea of all. I never talked with Bradley about the management
+here. It isn't his business, for one reason."
+
+She was silent. Her expression had changed. Then she said, impulsively,
+"I'm sorry. Please don't mind what I said, Cap'n Kendrick. I--I am
+rather nervous and--and troubled just now. Of course, you are not
+obliged to come over here as--as often as you used.... But things I have
+heard---- Oh, I shouldn't pay attention to them, I suppose. I--I am very
+sorry."
+
+But he was not quite in the mood to forgive. And one sentence in
+particular occupied his attention.
+
+"Things you have heard," he repeated. "Yes.... I should judge you must
+have heard a good deal. But who did you hear it from?... Look here,
+Elizabeth; how did you know I was here in the kitchen now? Did you just
+happen to come out and find me by accident?"
+
+She reddened. "Why--why----" she stammered.
+
+"Or did some one tell you I was out here--spyin' on the pickles?"
+
+His tone was a most unusual one from him to her. She resented it.
+
+"No one told me you were 'spying'," she replied; coldly. "I have never
+thought of you as--a spy, Cap'n Kendrick. I have always considered you a
+friend, a disinterested friend of mother's and mine."
+
+"Well?... What does that 'disinterested' mean?"
+
+"Why, nothing in particular."
+
+"It must mean somethin' or you wouldn't have said it. Does it mean that
+you are beginnin' to doubt the disinterested part?... I'd like to have
+you tell me, if you don't mind, how you knew I was alone here in the
+kitchen? Who took the pains to tell you that?"
+
+Her answer now was prompt enough.
+
+"No one took particular pains, I should imagine," she said, crisply.
+"Mr. Phillips told me, as it happened. Or rather, he told mother and
+mother told me. He is to speak to the--to Elvira's 'travel-study'
+committee in the sitting room, and, as he often does, he walked around
+by the garden path. When he passed the window he saw you standing by the
+closet, that was all."
+
+Sears did not speak. He turned to the door.
+
+She called to him. "Wait--wait, please," she cried. "Mr. Phillips did
+not say anything, so far as I know, except to mention that you were
+here."
+
+The captain turned back again. "Somebody said somethin'," he declared.
+"Somebody said enough to send you out here and make you speak to me
+like--like that. And somebody has been startin' you to think about how I
+got the appointment as manager. Somebody has been whisperin' that I am
+not satisfied with your mother's way of doin' things and am schemin'
+against her. Somebody has been droppin' a hint here and a hint there
+until even you have begun to believe 'em.... Well, I can't stop your
+belief, I suppose, but maybe some day I shall stop Commodore Egbert, and
+when I do he'll stop hard."
+
+"You have no right to say I believe anything against you. I have always
+refused to believe that. Do you suppose if I hadn't believed in and
+trusted you absolutely I should have.... But there! You know I did--and
+do. It is only when--when----"
+
+"When Egbert hints."
+
+"_Oh!_ ... How you do hate Mr. Phillips, don't you?"
+
+"Hate him?... Why, I--I don't know as you'd call it hate."
+
+"I know. It is plain to see. You have hated him ever since he came. But
+why? He has never--you won't believe this, but it is true--he has never,
+to me at least, said one word except in your praise. He likes and
+admires you. He has told me so."
+
+"Does he tell your mother the same thing?"
+
+She looked at him. "Why do you couple my mother's name with his?" she
+demanded quickly. "Why should he tell her anything that he doesn't tell
+me?"
+
+It was a question which Sears could not answer. For some time he had
+noticed and guessed and feared, but he could not tell her. So he was
+silent, and to remain silent was perhaps the worst thing he could have
+done.
+
+"What do you know against Mr. Phillips?" she asked. "Tell me. Do you
+know _anything_ to his discredit?"
+
+Again he did not answer. She turned away.
+
+"I thought not," she said. "Oh, envy is such a _mean_ trait. Well, I
+suppose I shouldn't expect to have many friends--lasting friends."
+
+"Here! hold on, Elizabeth. Don't say that."
+
+"What else can I say? I am sorry I spoke to you as I did, but--I think
+you have more than paid the debt.... Yes, mother, I am coming."
+
+She went out of the room and Sears limped moodily home, reflecting, as
+most of mankind has reflected at one time or another, upon the
+unaccountableness of the feminine character. So far as he could see he
+had said much less than he would have been justified in saying. She had
+goaded him into saying even that. He pondered and puzzled over it the
+greater part of the night and then reached the conclusion which the male
+usually reaches under such circumstances, namely, that he had better ask
+her pardon.
+
+So when they next met he did that very thing and she accepted the
+apology. And at that meeting, and others immediately following it, no
+word was said by either concerning "spying" or Mr. Egbert Phillips. Yet
+the wall between them was left a little higher than it had been before,
+their friendship was not quite the same, and an experienced person, not
+much of a prophet at that, could have foretold that the time was coming
+when that friendship was to end.
+
+It was little Esther Tidditt who laid the coping of the dividing wall.
+Elvira Snowden built some of the upper tiers, but Esther finished the
+job. Almost unbelievable as it may seem, she did not like Mr. Phillips.
+Of course with her tendency to take the off side in all arguments and to
+be almost invariably "agin the government," the fact that the rest of
+feminine Bayport adored the glittering Egbert might have been of itself
+sufficient to set up her opposition. But he had, or she considered that
+he had, snubbed her on several occasions and she was a dangerous person
+to snub. Judah expressed it characteristically when he declared that
+anybody who "set out" to impose on Esther Tidditt would have as lively
+a time as a bare-footed man trying to dance a hornpipe on a wasp's nest.
+"She'll keep 'em hoppin' high, _I_ tell ye," proclaimed Judah.
+
+Little Mrs. Tidditt would have liked to keep Mr. Phillips hopping high,
+and did administer sly digs to his grandeur whenever she could. In the
+praise services among the "inmates" which were almost sure to follow a
+call of the great man at the Fair Harbor it was disconcerting and
+provoking to the worshipers to have Esther refer to the idol as "that
+Eg." Mrs. Brackett took her to task for it.
+
+"You ought to have more respect for his wife's memory, if nothin' else,"
+snapped Susanna. "If it hadn't been for her and her generosity you
+wouldn't be here, Esther Tidditt."
+
+"Yes, and if it hadn't been for her _he_ wouldn't be here. He'd have
+been teachin' singin' school yet--if he wasn't in jail. _You_ can call
+him Po-or de-ar Mr. Phillips,' if you want to; _I_ call him 'Old Eg.'
+And he is a bad egg, too, 'cordin' to my notion. Prob'ly that's why his
+wife and Judge Knowles hove him out of the nest."
+
+And, as Egbert climbed in popularity while Captain Sears Kendrick
+slipped back, it followed naturally that Mrs. Tidditt became more and
+more the friend and champion of the latter. She went out of her way to
+do him favors and she made it her business to keep him posted on the
+happenings and gossip at the Fair Harbor. He did not encourage her in
+this, in fact he attempted tactfully to discourage her, but Esther was
+not easily discouraged.
+
+It was she who first called his attention to Miss Snowden's fondness for
+the Phillips society.
+
+"Elviry's set her cap for him," declared Mrs. Tidditt. "The way she sets
+and looks mushy at him when he's preachin' about Portygee pictures and
+such is enough to keep a body from relishin' their meals."
+
+But of late, according to Esther, Elvira was no longer the first violin
+in the Phillips orchestra.
+
+"She's second fiddle," announced the little woman. "There's another
+craft cut acrost her bows. If you ask me who 'tis I can tell you, too,
+Cap'n Sears."
+
+And Sears made it a point not to ask. Once it was Elvira herself who
+more than hinted, and in the presence of Elizabeth and the captain. The
+latter pair were at the desk together when Miss Snowden passed through
+the room.
+
+"Where is mother?" asked Elizabeth. "Have you seen her, Elvira?"
+
+Elvira's thin lips were shut tight.
+
+"Don't ask _me_," she snapped, viciously. "She's out trapping, I
+suppose."
+
+"Trapping!" Elizabeth stared at her. "What are you talking about?
+Trapping what?"
+
+"I don't know. _I'm_ not layin' traps to catch anything--or any_body_
+either."
+
+She sailed out of the room. Miss Berry turned to Sears.
+
+"Do you know what she means, Cap'n Kendrick?" she asked.
+
+Sears did know, or would have bet heavily on his guess. But he shook his
+head. Elizabeth was not satisfied.
+
+"Why do you look like that?" she persisted. "_Do_ you know?"
+
+"Eh?... Oh, no, no; of course not.... I--I think I saw your mother goin'
+out of the gate as I came across lots. She--I presume likely she was
+goin' to the store or somewhere."
+
+"She didn't tell me she was going. Was she alone?"
+
+"Why--why, no; I think--seems to me Mr. Phillips was with her."
+
+For the next few minutes the captain devoted his entire attention to the
+letter he was writing. He did not look up, but he was quite conscious
+that her eyes were boring him through and through. During the rest of
+his stay she was curt and cool. When he went she did not bid him
+good-by.
+
+So the fuse was burning merrily and the inevitable explosion came three
+days later. The scene was this time not the Fair Harbor office, but the
+Minot kitchen. Judah was out and the captain was alone, reading the
+_Item_. The fire in the range was a new one and the kitchen was very
+warm, so Sears had opened the outer door in order to cool off a bit. It
+was a beautiful late October forenoon.
+
+The captain was deep in the _Item's_ account of the recent wreck on
+Peaked Hill Bars. A British bark had gone ashore there and the crew had
+been rescued with difficulty. He was himself dragged, metaphorically
+speaking, from the undertow by a voice just behind him.
+
+"Well, you're takin' it easy, ain't you, Cap'n Sears?" observed Mrs.
+Tidditt. "I wish _I_ didn't have nothin' to do but set and read the
+news."
+
+"Oh, good mornin', Esther," said the captain. He was not particularly
+glad to see her. "What's wrong; anything?"
+
+"Nothin' but my batch of gingerbread, and a quart of molasses'll save
+that. Can you spare it? Oh, don't get up. I know where Judah keeps it;
+I've been here afore."
+
+She went to the closet, found the molasses jug, and filled her pitcher.
+Then she came back and sat down. She had not been invited to sit, but
+Esther scorned ceremony.
+
+"No, sir," she observed, as if carrying on an uninterrupted
+conversation, "_I_ can't set and read the newspapers. And I can't go to
+walk neither, even if 'tis such weather as 'tis to-day. Some folks can,
+though, and they've gone."
+
+Sears turned the page of the _Item_. He made no comment. His silence did
+not in the least disturb his caller.
+
+"Yes, they've gone," she repeated. "Right in the middle of the forenoon,
+too.... Oh, well! when the Admiral of all creation comes to get you to
+go cruisin' along with him, you go, I suppose. That is, some folks do.
+I'd like to see the man _I'd_ make such a fool of myself over."
+
+The captain was reading the "Local Jottings" now. Mrs. Tidditt kept
+serenely on.
+
+"I wouldn't let any man make such a soft-headed fool of me," she
+declared. "'Twould take more than a mustache and a slick tongue to get
+_my_ money away from me--if I had any."
+
+Sears was obliged to give up the Jottings. He sighed and put down the
+paper.
+
+"What's the matter, Esther?" he asked. "Who's after your money?"
+
+"Nobody, and good reason why, too. And I ain't out cruisin' 'round the
+fields with an Eg neither."
+
+"With an egg? Who is?"
+
+"Who do you think? Cordelia Berry, of course. Him and her have gone for
+what he calls a little stroll. He said she was workin' her poor brain
+too hard and a little fresh air would do her good. Pity about her poor
+brain, ain't it? Well, if 'twan't a poor one he'd never coax her into
+marryin' _him_, that's sartin."
+
+"Esther, don't talk foolish."
+
+"Nothin' foolish about it. If them two ain't keepin' company then I
+never saw anybody that was. He's callin' on her, and squirin' her
+'round, and waitin' on her mornin', noon and night. And she--my
+patience! she might as well hang out a sign, 'Ready and Willin'.' She
+says he's the one real aristocrat she has seen since she left her
+father's home. Poor Cap'n Ike, he's all forgotten."
+
+Sears stirred uneasily. Barring Tidditt exaggeration, he was inclined to
+believe all this very near the truth. It merely confirmed his own
+suspicions.
+
+His visitor went gayly on. "I'm sorry for Elizabeth," she said. "I don't
+know whether the poor girl realizes how soon she's liable to have that
+Eg for a step-pa. I shouldn't wonder if she suspected a little. I don't
+see how she can help it. But, Elviry Snowden--oh, dear, dear! If _she_
+ain't the sourest mortal these days. I do get consider'ble fun out of
+Elviry. She's the one thing that keeps me reconciled to life."
+
+The captain thought he saw an opportunity to shift Mrs. Berry from the
+limelight and substitute some one else.
+
+"I thought Elvira Snowden was the one you said meant to get Egbert," he
+suggested.
+
+"So I did, and so she was. But she don't count nowadays."
+
+"Why doesn't she?"
+
+"Well, if you ask me I shall give you an answer. Elviry Snowden ain't
+fell heir to five thousand dollars and Cordelia Berry has. That's why."
+
+Sears uneasily shifted again. This conversation was following much too
+closely his own line of reasoning.
+
+"Five thousand isn't any great fortune," he observed, "to a man like
+Phillips."
+
+The little woman nodded. "It's five thousand dollars to a man just
+_like_ Phillips--now," she said, significantly. "And, more'n that,
+Cordelia's matron at the Harbor. The Fair Harbor ain't a Eyetalian
+palace maybe, but it's a nice, comf'table place where the matron's
+husband might live easy and not pay board.... That's _my_ guess. Other
+folks can have theirs and welcome."
+
+"But----"
+
+"There ain't no buts about it, Cap'n Kendrick. You know it's so. Eg
+Phillips is goin' to marry Cordelia Berry. My name ain't Elijah nor
+Jeremiah--no, nor Deuteronomy nuther--but I can prophesy that much."
+
+She rose with a triumphant bounce, turned to the open door behind her,
+and saw Elizabeth Berry standing there. Sears Kendrick saw her at the
+same time.
+
+There are periods in the life of each individual when it seems as if
+Fate was holding a hammer above that individual's head and, at
+intervals, as the head ventures to lift itself, knocking it down again.
+Each successive tap seems a bit harder, and the victim, during the
+interval of its falling, wonders if it is to be the final and finishing
+thump.
+
+Sears did not wonder this time, he knew. His thought, as he saw her
+there, saw the expression upon her face and realized what she must have
+heard, was: "Here it is! This is the end."
+
+Yet he was the first of the two to speak. Elizabeth, white and rigid,
+said nothing, and even Mrs. Tidditt's talking machinery seemed to be
+temporarily thrown out of gear. So the captain made the attempt, a
+feeble one.
+
+"Why, Elizabeth," he faltered, "is that you?... Come in, won't you?"
+
+She did come in, that is, she came as far as the door mat. Then she
+turned, not to him, but to his companion.
+
+"What do you mean by speaking in that way of my mother?" she demanded.
+
+Esther was still a trifle off balance. Her answer was rather incoherent.
+
+"I--I don't know's I--as I said--as I said much of anything--much," she
+stammered.
+
+"I heard you. How dare you tell such--such _lies_?"
+
+"Lies?"
+
+"Yes; mean, miserable lies. What else are they? How dare you run to--to
+_him_ with them?"
+
+Mrs. Tidditt's hand, that grasping the handle of the molasses pitcher,
+began to quiver. Her eyes, behind her steel-rimmed spectacles, winked
+rapidly.
+
+"Elizabeth Berry," she snapped, with ominous emphasis, "don't you talk
+to me like that!"
+
+"I shall talk to you as--as.... Oh, I should be ashamed to talk to you
+at all. My mother--my kind, trustful, unsuspecting mother! And you--you
+and he _dare_----"
+
+Kendrick, in desperation, tried to put in a word.
+
+"Elizabeth," he begged, "don't misunderstand. Esther hasn't been runnin'
+here to tell me things. She came over to borrow some molasses from
+Judah, that's all."
+
+"Oh, stop! I tell you I heard what she said. And you were listening.
+Listening! Without a word of protest. I suppose you encouraged her. Of
+course you did. No doubt this isn't the first time. This may be her
+usual report. Not content with--with prying into closets and--and coal
+bins and--and----"
+
+"Elizabeth!"
+
+"Doing these things for yourself was not enough, I suppose. You must
+encourage her--pay her, perhaps--to listen and whisper scandal and to
+spy----"
+
+"Stop! Stop right there!" The captain was not begging now. Even in the
+midst of her impassioned outburst the young woman paused, halted
+momentarily by the compelling force of that order. But she halted
+unwillingly.
+
+"I shall not stop," she declared. "I shall say----"
+
+"You have said a whole lot too much already. And you don't mean what you
+have said."
+
+"I do! I do! Oh, I can't tell you what I think of you."
+
+"Well," dryly, "you have made a pretty fair try at tellin' it. If it is
+what you really think of me it'll do--it will be quite enough. I shan't
+need any more."
+
+He was looking at her gravely and steadily and before his look her own
+gaze wavered. If they had been alone it is barely possible that ... but
+they were not alone. Mrs. Tidditt was there and, by this time, as Judah
+would have said, "her neck-feathers were on end" and her spurs sharpened
+for battle. She hopped into the pit forthwith.
+
+"_I_ need consider'ble more," she cackled, defiantly. "I've been called
+a spy and a scandal whisperer and the Lord knows what else. Now I'll say
+somethin'."
+
+"Esther, be still."
+
+"I shan't be still till I'm ready, not for you, Sears Kendrick, nor for
+her nor nobody else. I ain't a spy, 'Liz'beth Berry, and I ain't paid by
+no livin' soul. But I see what I see with the eyes the Almighty give me
+to see with, and after I've seen it--not alone once but forty dozen
+times--I'll talk about it if I want to, when I want to, to anybody I
+want to. Now that's that much."
+
+Elizabeth, scornfully silent, was turning to the door, but the little
+woman hopped--that seems the only word which describes it--in her way.
+
+"You ain't goin'," she declared, "till I've finished. 'Twon't take me
+long to say it, but it's goin' to be said. I told Cap'n Sears that Eg
+Phillips was chasin' 'round with your mother. He is. And if she ain't
+glad to have him chase her then I never see anybody that was. I said
+them two was cal'latin' to get married. Well ... well, if they ain't
+then they'd ought to be, that's all I'll say about _that_. And don't you
+ever call me a spy again as long as you live, 'Liz'beth Berry."
+
+She hopped again, to the doorway this time. There she turned for a
+farewell cackle.
+
+"One thing more," she said. "I told the cap'n I believed the reason that
+that Eg man wanted to marry Cordelia was on account of her bein' able to
+give him five thousand dollars and the Fair Harbor to live in. I do
+believe it. And you can tell her so--or him so. But afore I told anybody
+I'd think it over, if I was you, 'Liz'beth Berry. And I'd think _him_
+over a whole lot afore I'd let him and his 'ily tongue make trouble
+between you and your _real_ friends.... There! Good-by."
+
+She went away. Kendrick pulled at his beard.
+
+"Elizabeth," he began, hastily, "I'm awfully sorry that this happened.
+Of course you know that I----"
+
+She interrupted him. "I know," she said, "that if I ever speak to you
+again it will be because I am obliged to, not because I want to."
+
+She followed Mrs. Tidditt. Sears Kendrick sat down once more in the
+rocking chair.
+
+He did a great deal of hard and unpleasant thinking before he rose from
+it. When he did rise it was to go to the drawer in the bureau of the
+spare stateroom where he kept his writing materials, take therefrom pen,
+ink and paper and sit down at the table to write a letter. The letter
+was not long of itself, but composing it was a rather lengthy process.
+It was addressed to Elizabeth Berry and embodied his resignation as
+trustee and guardian of her inheritance from Judge Knowles.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"As I see it [he wrote] I am not the one to have charge of that money. I
+took the job, as you know, because the judge asked me to and because you
+asked me. I took it with a good deal of doubt. Now, considering the way
+you feel towards me, I haven't any doubt that I should give it up. I
+don't want you to make the mistake of thinking that I feel guilty. So
+far as I know I have not done anything which was not square and honest
+and aboveboard, either where you were concerned, or your mother, or what
+I believed to be the best interests of the Fair Harbor. And I am not
+giving up my regular berth as general manager of the Harbor itself.
+Judge Knowles asked me to keep that as long as I thought it was
+necessary for the good of the institution. I honestly believe it is more
+necessary now than it ever was. And I shall stay right on deck until I
+feel the need is over. I shan't bother you with my company any more than
+I can help, but you will have to put up with it about every once in so
+often while we go over business affairs. So much for that. The
+trusteeship is different and I resign it to Mr. Bradley, who was the
+judge's second choice."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He paused here, deliberated for a time, and then added another
+paragraph.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I feel sure Bradley will take it [he wrote]. If he should refuse I will
+not give it up to any one else. At least not unless I am perfectly
+satisfied with the person chosen. This is for your safety and for no
+other reason."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He sent the letter over by Judah. Two days later he received a reply.
+It, too, was brief and to the point.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I accept your resignation [wrote Elizabeth]. It was Judge Knowles' wish
+that you be my trustee, and, as you know, it was mine also. Apparently
+you no longer feel bound by either wish, and of course I shall not beg
+you to change your mind. I have no right to influence you in any way. I
+have seen Mr. Bradley and he has consented to act as trustee for me. He
+will see you in a day or two. As for the other matters I have nothing to
+say. Whenever you wish to consult with me on business affairs I shall be
+ready."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+There was a postscript. It read:
+
+"I feel that I should thank you for what you have already done. I do
+thank you sincerely."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+So that ended it, and ended also what had been a happy period for Sears
+Kendrick. He made no more informal daily visits to the Fair Harbor.
+Twice a week, at stated times, he and Elizabeth met in the office and
+conferred concerning bills, letters and accounts. She was calm and
+impersonal during these interviews, and he tried to be so. There was no
+reference to other matters and no more cheerful and delightful chats, no
+more confidences between them. It did seem to him that she was more
+absent-minded, less alert and attentive to the business details than she
+had been, and at times he thought that she looked troubled and careworn.
+Perhaps, however, this was but his imagining, a sort of reflection of
+his own misery. For he was miserable--miserable, pessimistic and pretty
+thoroughly disgusted with life. His health and strength were gaining
+always, but he found little consolation in this. He could not go to sea
+just yet. He had promised Judge Knowles to stick it out and stick he
+would. But he longed--oh, how he longed!--for the blue water and a deck
+beneath his feet. Perhaps, a thousand miles from land, with a gale
+blowing and a ship to handle, as a real deep-sea skipper he could
+forget--forget a face and a voice and a succession of silly fancies
+which could not, apparently, be wholly forgotten by the middle-aged
+skipper of an old women's home.
+
+One morning, after a troubled night, on his way to a conference with
+Elizabeth at the Fair Harbor office, he met Mr. Egbert Phillips. The
+latter, serene, benign, elegant, was entering at the gateway beneath the
+swinging sign which proclaimed to the other world that within the Harbor
+all was peace. Of late Captain Kendrick had found a certain flavor of
+irony in the wording of that sign.
+
+Kendrick and Phillips reached the gate at the same moment. They
+exchanged good mornings. Egbert's was sweetly and condescendingly
+gracious, the captain's rather short and brusque. Since the encounter in
+the office where, in the presence of Elizabeth, Phillips' polite
+inuendoes had goaded Sears into an indiscreet revelation of his real
+feeling toward the elegant widower--since that day relations between
+the two had been maintained on a basis of armed neutrality. They bowed,
+they smiled, they even spoke, although seldom at length. Kendrick had
+made up his mind not to lose his temper again. His adversary should not
+have that advantage over him.
+
+But this morning to save his life he could not have appeared as
+unruffled as usual. The night had been uncomfortable, his waking
+thoughts disturbing. His position was a hard one, he was feeling
+rebellious against Fate and even against Judge Knowles, who, as Fate's
+agent, had gotten him into that position. And the sight of the tall
+figure, genteelly swinging its cane and beaming patronage upon the world
+in general, was a little too much for him. So his good morning was more
+of a grunt than a greeting.
+
+It may be that Egbert noticed this. Or it may be that with his triumph
+so closely approaching a certainty he could not resist a slight gloat.
+At all events he paused for an instant, a demure gleam in his eye and
+the corner of his lip beneath the drooping mustache lifting in an amused
+smile.
+
+"A beautiful day, Captain," he said.
+
+Kendrick admitted the day's beauty. He would have passed through the
+gateway, but Mr. Phillips' figure and Mr. Phillips' cane blocked the
+way.
+
+"It seems to me that we do not see as much of you here at the Harbor as
+we used, Captain Kendrick," observed Egbert. "Or is that my fancy
+merely?"
+
+The captain's answer was noncommittal. Again he attempted to pass and
+again the Phillips' walking-stick casually prevented.
+
+"I trust that nothing serious has occurred to deprive us of your
+society, Captain?" queried the owner of the stick, solicitously. "No
+accident, no further accident, or anything of that sort?"
+
+"No."
+
+"And you are quite well? Pardon me, but I fancied that you
+looked--ah--shall I say disturbed--or worried, perhaps?"
+
+"No. I'm all right."
+
+"I am so glad to hear it. I gathered--that is, I feared that perhaps the
+cares incidental to your--" again the slight smile--"your labors as
+general supervisor of the Harbor might be undermining your health. I am
+charmed to have you tell me that that is not the case."
+
+"Thanks."
+
+"Of course--" Mr. Phillips drew a geometrical figure with the
+cane in the earth of the flower bed by the path--"of course," he
+said, "speaking as one who has had some sad experience with illness
+and that sort of thing, it has always seemed to me that one should
+not take chances with one's health. If the cares of a particular
+avocation--situation--position--whatever it may be--if the cares
+and--ah--disappointments incidental to it are affecting one's physical
+condition it has always seemed to me wiser to sacrifice the first for
+the second. And make the sacrifice in time. You see what I mean?"
+
+Kendrick, standing by the post of the gateway, looked at him.
+
+"Why, no," he said, slowly, "I don't know that I do. What do you mean?"
+
+The cane was drawn through the first figure in the flower bed and began
+to trace another. Again Mr. Phillips smiled.
+
+"Why, nothing in particular, my dear sir," he replied. "Perhaps nothing
+at all.... I had heard--mere rumor, no doubt--that you contemplated
+giving up your position as superintendent here. I trust it is not true?"
+
+"It isn't."
+
+"I am delighted to hear you say so. We--we of the Harbor--should miss
+you greatly."
+
+"Thanks. Do you mind telling me who told you I was goin' to give up the
+superintendent's position?"
+
+"Why, I don't remember. It came to my ears, it seemed to be a sort of
+general impression. Of course, now that you tell me it is not true I
+shall take pains to deny it. And permit me to express my gratification."
+
+"Just a minute. Did they say--did this general impression say why I was
+givin' up the job?"
+
+"No-o, no, I think not. I believe it was hinted that you were not well
+and--perhaps somewhat tired--a little discouraged--that sort of thing.
+As I say, it was mere rumor."
+
+Sears smiled now--that is, his lips smiled, his eyes were grave enough.
+
+"Well," he observed, deliberately, "if you have a chance, Mr. Phillips,
+you can tell those mere rumorers that I'm not tired at all. My health is
+better than it has been for months. So far from bein' discouraged, you
+can tell 'em that--well, you know what Commodore Paul Jones told the
+British cap'n who asked him to surrender; he told him that he had just
+begun to fight. That's the way it is with me, Mr. Phillips, I've just
+begun to fight."
+
+The cane was lifted from the flower bed. Egbert nodded in polite
+appreciation.
+
+"Really?" he said. "How interesting, Captain!"
+
+Kendrick nodded, also. "Yes, isn't it?" he agreed. "Were you goin' into
+the Harbor, Phillips? So am I. We'll walk along together."
+
+But that night he went to his bed in better spirits. Egbert's little dig
+had been the very thing he needed, and now he knew it. He had been
+discouraged; in spite of his declaration in his letter to Elizabeth
+Berry, he had wished that it were possible to run away from the Fair
+Harbor and everything connected with it. But now--now he had no wish of
+that kind. If Judge Knowles could rise from the grave and bid him quit
+he would not do it.
+
+Quit? Not much! Like Paul Jones, he had just begun to fight.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+
+But there was so little that was tangible to fight, that was the
+trouble. If Mr. Egbert Phillips was the villain of the piece he was such
+a light and airy villain that it was hard to take him seriously enough.
+Even when Kendrick was most thoroughly angry with him and most
+completely convinced that he was responsible for all his own troubles,
+including the loss of Elizabeth Berry's friendship--even then he found
+it hard to sit down and deliberately plan a campaign against him. It
+seemed like campaigning against a butterfly. The captain disliked him
+extremely, but he never felt a desire to knock him down. To kick
+him--yes. Perhaps to thump the beaver hat over his eyes and help him
+down the brick path of the Harbor with the judicious application of a
+boot, grinning broadly during the process--that was Sears Kendrick's
+idea of a fitting treatment for King Egbert the Great.
+
+The captain had done his share of fighting during an adventurous
+lifetime, but his opponents had always been men. Somehow Phillips did
+not seem to him like a man. A creature so very ornamental, with so much
+flourish, so superlatively elegant, so overwhelmingly correct, so
+altogether and all the time the teacher of singing school or dancing
+school--how could one seriously set about fighting such a bundle of
+fluff? A feather-duster seemed a more fitting weapon than a shotgun.
+
+But the fluff was flying high and in the sunshine and was already far
+out of reach of the duster. Soon it would be out of reach of the
+shotgun. Unless the fight was made serious and deadly at once there
+would be none at all. Unless having already lost about all that made
+life worth living, Sears Kendrick wished to be driven from Bayport in
+inglorious rout, he had better campaign in earnest. Passive resistance
+must end.
+
+As a beginning he questioned Judah once more concerning Phillips'
+standing in the community. It was unchanged, so Judah said. He was quite
+as popular, still the brave and uncomplaining martyr, always the idol of
+the women and a large proportion of the men.
+
+"Did you hear about him down to the Orthodox church fair last week?"
+asked Mr. Cahoon. "You didn't! Creepin'! I thought everybody aboard had
+heard about that. Seems they'd sold about everything there was to sell,
+but of course there was a few things left, same as there always is, and
+amongst 'em was a patchwork comforter that old Mrs. Jarvis--Capn'
+Azariah Jarvis's second wife she was--you remember Cap'n Azariah, don't
+ye, Cap'n Sears? He was the one that used to swear so like fury. Didn't
+mean nothin' by it, just a habit 'twas, same as usin' tobacco or rum is
+with some folks. Didn't know when---- Eh? Oh, yes, about that comforter.
+Why, old Mrs. Jarvis she made it for the fair and it wan't sold. 'Twas
+one of them log-cabin quilts, you know. I don't know why they call 'em
+log cabins, they don't look no more like a log cabin than my head does.
+I cal'late they have to call 'em somethin' so's to tell 'em from the
+risin' sun quilts and the mornin'-glory quilts and--and the
+Lord-knows-what quilts. The womenfolks make mo-ore kinds of them quilts
+and comforters, seems so, than----
+
+"Eh? Oh, yes, I'm beatin' up to Egbert, Cap'n Sears; I'll be alongside
+him in a minute, give me steerage way. Well, the log-cabin quilt wan't
+sold and they wanted to sell it, partly because old Mrs. Jarvis would
+feel bad if nobody bought it, and partly because the meetin'-house folks
+would feel worse if any money got away from 'em at a fair. So Mr. Dishup
+he says, 'We'll auction of it off,' he says, 'and our honored and
+beloved friend, Mr. Phillips, will maybe so be kind enough to act as
+auctioneer.' So Eg, he got up and apologized for bein' chose, and went
+on to say what a all-'round no-good auctioneer he'd be but how he
+couldn't say no to the folks of the church where his dear diseased wife
+had worshiped so long, and then he started in to sell that comforter.
+Did he _sell_ it? Why, creepin', crawlin', hoppin' ... Cap'n Sears, he
+could have sold a shipload of them log-cabins if he'd had 'em handy. He
+held the thing up in front of 'em, so they tell me, and he just praised
+it up same as John B. Gough praises up cold water at a temp'rance
+lecture. He told how the old woman had worked over it, and set up nights
+over it, and got her nerves all into a titter and her finger ends all
+rags, as you might say, and how she had done it just to do somethin' for
+the meetin'-house she thought so much of, the church that her loved and
+lost husband used to come to so reg'lar. _That_ was all fiddlesticks,
+'cause Cap'n Az never went to church except for the six weeks after he
+was married, and pretty scattern' 'long the last three of _them_.
+
+"Well, he hadn't talked that way very long afore he had that whole
+vestry as damp as a fishin' schooner's deck in a Banks fog. All
+hands--even the men that had been spendin' money for the fair things,
+tidies and aprons and splint work picture-frames and such, even they was
+cryin'. And then old Mrs. Jarvis--and she was cryin', too--she went and
+whispered to the minister and he whispered to Phillips and Phillips, he
+says: 'Ladies and gentlemen,' he says, 'I have just learned that a part
+of this quilt was made from a suit of clothes worn by Cap'n Jarvis on
+his last v'yage,' he says. '_Just_ think of it,' says he, 'this blue
+strip here is a part of the coat worn by him as he trod the deck of his
+ship homeward bound--bound home to his wife, bound home to die.'
+
+"Well, all hands cried more'n ever at that, and Mrs. Jarvis got up, with
+the tears a-runnin', and says she: 'It wan't his coat,' she says. 'I
+sold the coat and vest to a peddler. 'Twas his----' But Egbert cut in
+afore she could tell what 'twas, and then he got 'em to biddin'.
+Creepin' Henry, Cap'n Sears! that log-cabin quilt sold for nine dollars
+and a half, and the man that bought it was Philander Comstock, the
+tailor over to Denboro. And Philander told me himself that he didn't
+know why he bought it. '_I_ made that suit of clothes for Cap'n Azariah,
+myself,' he says, 'and he died afore I got half my pay for it. But that
+Phillips man,' he says, 'could sell a spyglass to a blind man.'"
+
+The captain asked Judah if he had heard any testimony on the other side;
+were there any people in Bayport who did not like Mr. Phillips. Judah
+thought it over.
+
+"We-ll," he said, reflectively, "I don't know as I've ever heard anybody
+come right out and call him names. Anybody but Esther Tidditt, that is;
+she's down on him like a sheet anchor on a crab. Sometimes Elviry snaps
+out somethin' spiteful, but most of that's jealousy, I cal'late. You
+see, Elviry had her cap all set for this Egbert widower--that is, all
+hands seems to cal'late she had--and then she began to find her nose was
+bein' put out of j'int. You know who they're sayin' put it out, Cap'n
+Sears? There seems to be a general notion around town that----"
+
+Kendrick interrupted; this was a matter he did not care to discuss with
+Judah or any one else. There had been quite enough said on that subject.
+
+"Yes, yes, all right, Judah," he said, hastily. "But the men? Do the men
+like him as well as the women?"
+
+"Why--why, yes, I guess so. Not quite so well, of course. That wouldn't
+be natural, would it, Cap'n Sears?"
+
+"Perhaps not. But have you ever heard any man say anything against him,
+anything definite? Does he pay his bills?"
+
+"Eh? Why, I don't know. I ain't never----"
+
+"All right. Who does he chum around with mostly? Who are his best
+friends?"
+
+Mr. Cahoon gave a list of them, beginning of course with the Wingates
+and the Dishups and the members of the Shakespeare Reading Society and
+ending with George Kent.
+
+"He cruises along with George a whole lot," declared Judah. "Them two
+are together about half the time. George don't work to the store no
+more. You knew that, didn't you?"
+
+If Sears had heard it, he had forgotten. Judah went on to explain.
+
+"He hove up his job at Eliphalet's quite a spell ago," he said "He's
+studyin' law along with Bradley same as ever, but 'he's busy lawin' here
+in Bayport, too. Some of his relations died and left a lot of money, so
+folks tell, and George is what they call administer of the estate. It's
+an awful good thing for him, all hands cal'late. Some say he's rich."
+
+The captain vaguely remembered Kent's disclosure to him concerning his
+appointment as administrator of his aunt's estate. He had not exchanged
+a word with the young man since the evening of the latter's call and
+Elizabeth's interruption. It seemed a long while ago. Much--and so much
+that was unpleasant--had happened since then. Kent and he had met, of
+course, and on the first two or three occasions, Kendrick had spoken.
+The young fellow had not replied. Now, at the mention of his name,
+Kendrick felt an uneasy pang, almost of guilt. He had done nothing
+wrong, of course yet if it had not been for him perhaps the two young
+people might still have been friends or even more than friends. It was
+true that Elizabeth had told him but there, what difference did it make
+what she told him? She had told him other things since, things that he
+could not forget.
+
+"Well, all right, Judah," he said. "It wasn't important. Run along."
+
+Judah did not run along. He remained, looking at his lodger with a
+troubled expression. The latter noticed it.
+
+"What is it, Judah?" he asked. "Anything wrong?"
+
+Mr. Cahoon's fingers moved uneasily through the heavy foliage upon his
+chin. "Why--why, Cap'n Sears," he stammered, "can I ask you somethin'?"
+
+"Certain. Fire away."
+
+"Well--well--it--it ain't true, is it, that you done anything to set
+Elizabeth Berry against that young Kent feller? You never told her
+nothin'--or did nothin'--or--or----"
+
+He seemed to find it hard to finish his sentence. The captain did not
+wait, but asked a question of his own.
+
+"Who said I did, Judah?" he asked.
+
+"Hey?... Oh, I--I don't know. Why--why, some of them sculpin'-mouths
+down to the store they say that you--that you told Elizabeth a lot of
+things--or did somethin' or 'nother to spite George with her. Of course
+_I_ knew 'twan't so, but--but----"
+
+"But they said it was, eh? Well, it isn't true. I haven't done anything
+of that kind, Judah."
+
+The Cahoon fist descended upon the kitchen table with a thump. "I knew
+it!" roared Judah. "I knew dum well 'twas a cargo of lies. Now just
+wait. Let one of them swabs just open his main hatch and start to unload
+another passel of that cargo. If I don't----"
+
+"Shh, shh! Don't do that. I tell you what to do. If you want to help me,
+Judah, you say nothin', but try and find out who told them these things.
+Some one has been pretty busy tellin' things to my discredit for some
+time. Don't let any one know what you're after, but see if you can find
+out who is responsible. Will you?"
+
+"Sartin sure I will. And when I do find out----"
+
+"When you do, let me know. And Judah, one thing more: Find out all that
+you can find out about this Phillips man. See if he owes anybody money.
+See if he pays his debts. See if he--well, find out all you can about
+him; but don't let any one know you're tryin' to find out, that's all.
+Do you understand?"
+
+"Eh?... Why, I guess likely I do.... But--but.... Eh? Cap'n Sears, do
+you mean to say you cal'late that that Eg Phillips is at the back of all
+this talk against you in Bayport? Do you mean that?"
+
+"Humph! So there is talk against me; a lot of it, I suppose?"
+
+Judah forgot to be discreet. "Talk!" he shouted. "There's more
+underhand, sneakin' lies about you goin' around this flat-bottomed,
+leaky, gurry-and-bilgewater tub of a town than there is fiddlers in
+Tophet. I've denied 'em and contradicted 'em till I'm hoarse from
+hollerin'. I've offered to fight anybody who dast to say they was true,
+but, by the hoppin' Henry, nobody ever said any more than that they'd
+heard they was. And I never could find out who started 'em. And do you
+mean to say you believe that long-legged critter with the beaver hat and
+the--the mustache like a drowned cat's tail is responsible?"
+
+Captain Kendrick hesitated for an instant. Then he nodded. "I think he
+is, Judah," he said, solemnly.
+
+"Then, by the creepin', crawlin'----"
+
+"Wait! I don't know that he is. I don't know much about him. But I mean
+to find out all about him, if I can. And I want you to help me."
+
+"I'll help. And when you find out, Cap'n?"
+
+"Well, that depends. If I find out anything that will give me the
+chance, I'll--I'll smash him as flat as that."
+
+_He_ struck the table now, with his open palm. Mr. Cahoon grinned
+delightedly.
+
+"I bet you will, Cap'n Sears!" he vowed. "And if he ain't flat enough
+then I'll come and jump on him. And I ain't no West Injy hummin'-bird
+neither."
+
+Kendrick's next move was to talk with his sister. Her visits at the
+Minot place had not been quite as frequent of late. She came, of course,
+but not as often, or so it seemed to the captain, and when she came she
+carefully avoided all reference to her new boarder. Sears knew the
+reason, or thought he did. He had hurt her feelings by intimating that
+Mr. Phillips might not be as altogether speckless as she thought him. He
+had not enthused over her giving up the best parlor to his Egbertship
+and Sarah was disappointed. But, loyal and loving soul that she was, she
+would not risk even the slightest disagreement with her brother, and so
+when she called, spoke of everything or everybody but the possible cause
+of such disagreement. Yet the cause was there and between brother and
+sister, as between Elizabeth and Sears, lay the slim, lengthy,
+gracefully undulating shadow of Judge Knowles' pet bugbear, who was
+rapidly becoming Sears Kendrick's bugbear as well.
+
+The captain had not visited the Macomber home more than twice since
+Judah carted him away from it in the blue truck-wagon. One fine day,
+however, he and the Foam Flake made the journey again, although with the
+buggy, not the wagon. He chose a time when he knew Kent was almost
+certain to be over at Bradley's office in Orham and when Phillips was
+not likely to be in his rooms. Of course there was a chance that he
+might encounter the latter, but he thought it unlikely. His guess was a
+good one and Egbert was out, had gone for a ride, so Mrs. Macomber said.
+Mrs. Cap'n Elkanah Wingate had furnished the necessary wherewithal for
+riding. "The Wingates let him use their horse and team real often," said
+Sarah. "They're awful fond of him, Mrs. Wingate especial. I don't know
+as Cap'n Elkanah is so much; he is kind of cross-grained sometimes and
+it's hard for him to like anybody very long."
+
+She was hard at work, ironing this time, but she would have put the
+flatiron back on the stove and taken her brother to the sitting room if
+he had permitted. "The idea of a man like you, Sears, havin' to sit on
+an old broken-down chair out here in the wash-shed," she exclaimed. "It
+ain't fittin'."
+
+The captain sniffed. "I guess if it's fittin' for you to be workin' out
+here I shouldn't complain at sittin' here," he observed. "Is that Joel's
+shirt? He's gettin' awfully high-toned--and high collared, seems to me."
+
+Mrs. Macomber was slightly confused. "Why, no," she said, "this isn't
+Joe's shirt. It's Mr. Phillips's. Ain't it lovely linen? I don't know as
+I ever saw any finer."
+
+Her brother leaned back in the broken chair. "Do you do his washin' for
+him, Sarah?" he demanded.
+
+"Why--why, yes, Sears. You see, he's real particular about how it's
+done, and of course you can't blame him, he has such lovely things. He
+tried two of the regular washwomen, Elsie Doyle and Peleg Carpenter's
+wife, and they did 'em up just dreadful. So, just to help him out one
+time, I tried 'em myself. And they came out real nice, if I do say it,
+and he was so pleased. So ever since then I have been doin' 'em for
+him. It's hardly any trouble--any extra trouble. I have to do our own
+washin', you know."
+
+Sears did know, also he knew the size of that washing.
+
+"Does he pay you for it?" he asked, sharply. "Pay you enough, I mean?"
+
+"Why--why, yes. Of course he doesn't pay a whole lot. Not as much maybe
+as if he was a stranger, somebody who didn't pay me regular board, you
+know."
+
+"Humph! Do you get your money?"
+
+"Why, yes. Of course I do."
+
+"He doesn't owe you anything, then, for board or lodgin' or anything?"
+
+Mrs. Macomber hesitated. "Nothin' much," she replied, after a moment.
+"Of course he gets a little behind sometimes, everybody does that, you
+know. But then his dividend payments or somethin' come to him and he
+pays right up in a lump. It's kind of nice havin' it come that way,
+seems more, you know."
+
+"Yes. So long as it keeps on comin'. His dividends, you say? I thought
+the story was that he hadn't any stocks left to get dividends from. I
+thought he told all hands that he was poverty-stricken, that when he was
+cut out of the Harbor property and the fifty thousand he hadn't a
+copper."
+
+"Oh no not as bad as that. He had some stocks and bonds, of course. Why,
+if he hadn't where would he get _any_ money from? How could he live?"
+
+"I don't know. He seems to be livin', though, and pretty well. Has he
+got the parlor yet?"
+
+"Yes, and it's fixed up so pretty. He's got his pictures and things
+around. Wouldn't you like to see it? He's out, you know."
+
+They went into the parlor and the bedroom adjoining, that which the
+captain had occupied during his stay. Both rooms were as neat as
+wax--Sears expected that, knowing his sister's housekeeping--but he had
+scarcely expected to find the rooms so changed. The furniture was the
+same, but the wall decorations were not.
+
+"What's become of the alum basket and the wax wreath and the Rock of
+Ages chromo?" he asked.
+
+"Oh, he took 'em down. That is, he didn't do it himself, of course, but
+he had Joel do it. They're up attic. Mr. Phillips said they was so like
+the things that his wife used to have in the dear old home that he
+couldn't bear to see 'em. They reminded him so of her. He asked if we
+would mind if they was removed and we said no, of course."
+
+"Humph! And the Macomber family coffin plates, those you had set out on
+black velvet with all Joel's dead relations names on 'em, in the plush
+and gilt frame? Are those up attic, too?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I should have thought 'twould have broken Joel's heart to part with
+_them_!"
+
+"Sears, you're makin' fun. I don't blame you much. I always did hate
+those coffin plates, but Joel seemed to like 'em. They were in his
+folks' front parlor, he says."
+
+"Yes. That 'Death of Washin'ton' picture and the rounder-case thing with
+the locks of hair in it were there, too, you told me once. That must
+have been a lively room. Those--er--horse pictures are Egbert's, I
+suppose?"
+
+"Yes. He is real fond of horses."
+
+The "horse pictures" were colored plates of racers.
+
+"That's a portrait of his wife over there," explained Sarah. "She had it
+painted in Italy on purpose for him."
+
+"Is that so? Well, I'm glad it was for him. I shouldn't think it was
+hardly fittin' for anybody outside the family. Of course Italy's a warm
+climate, but----"
+
+"_Sears!_" Mrs. Macomber blushed. "Of course I didn't mean _that_
+picture," she protested. "And you know I didn't. I wouldn't have that
+one up at all if I had _my_ way. But he says it's an old master and very
+famous and all like that. Maybe so, but I'm thankful the children ain't
+allowed in here. That's Lobelia over there."
+
+In the bedroom were other pictures, photographs for the most part. Many
+of them were autographed.
+
+"They're girl friends of his wife's," said Sarah. "She met 'em over
+abroad. Real pretty, some of them, ain't they?"
+
+They were, and the inscriptions were delightfully informal and friendly.
+Lobelia Phillips' name was not inscribed, but her husband's was
+occasionally. Upon the table, by a half-emptied cigar box, lay a Boston
+paper of the day before. It was folded with the page of stock market
+quotations uppermost. Sears picked it up. One item was underscored with
+a pencil. It was the record of the day's sales of "C. M.," a stock with
+which the captain was quite unfamiliar. His unfamiliarity was not
+surprising; he had little acquaintance with the stock market.
+
+Back in the wash-shed, brother and sister chatted while the ironing
+continued. Sears led the conversation around until it touched upon
+George Kent. George was still boarding with them, so Sarah said. Yes, he
+had given up his place as bookkeeper at Bassett's store.
+
+"He's administrator of his aunt's estate," she went on. "You knew that,
+Sears? It's a pretty responsible position for such a young man, I guess.
+I'm afraid it's a good deal of worry for him. He's seemed to me kind of
+troubled lately. I thought at first it might be on account of Elizabeth
+Berry--everybody knows they've had some quarrel or somethin'--but I'm
+beginnin' to be afraid it may be somethin' else. He and Mr. Phillips are
+together about all the time. They're great friends, and I'm so glad,
+because if George _should_ be in any trouble--about business or
+anything--a man of Mr. Phillips' experience would be a wonderful friend
+to have."
+
+"What makes you think it may be a business trouble?" asked the captain,
+casually.
+
+Mrs. Macomber hesitated. "Why," she said, "I heard somethin' yesterday
+that made me think so. It wasn't meant for me to hear, but I just
+happened to. I don't know as I'd ought to say anything about it--I
+shouldn't to anybody but you, Sears--yet it has worried me a good deal.
+Mr. Phillips and George were standin' together in the hall as I went by.
+They didn't see me, and I heard George say, 'Somethin' _must_ be done
+about it,' he says. 'It can't go on for another week.' And Mr. Phillips
+said, kind and comfortin'--nice as he always is, but still it did seem
+to me a little mite impatient--'I tell you it is all right,' he said.
+'Wait a while and it will be all right.' Then George said somethin' that
+I didn't catch, and Mr. Phillips said, 'But I can't, I tell you. I'm in
+exactly the same boat.' And George said, 'You've _got_ to! you've got
+to! If you don't it'll be the end of me.' That was what he said--'It
+will be the end of me.' And oh, Sears, he did sound _so_ distressed. It
+has troubled me ever since. What do you suppose it could be that would
+be the end of him?"
+
+Her brother shook his head. "Give it up," he said. "Humph!... And Egbert
+said he was in the same boat, did he? That's interestin'. It must be a
+pretty swell liner; he wouldn't be aboard anything else."
+
+But Mrs. Macomber declined to joke. "You wouldn't laugh," she declared,
+"if you had heard George talk. He's just a boy, Sears, a real
+kind-hearted, well-meanin' boy, and I hate to think of him as in any
+more trouble."
+
+"Any more? What do you mean by more?"
+
+"Why--why--oh, well, everybody knows he and Elizabeth ain't keepin'
+company any longer. And--and----"
+
+"And everybody thinks I am to blame. Well, I'm not, Sarah. Not
+intentionally, anyhow. And, if George would let me, I should be glad to
+be a friend of his. Not as grand and top-lofty a friend as Admiral
+Egbert, of course, but as good as my rank and ratin' in life will let me
+be."
+
+"Sears," reproachfully, "I hate to hear you speak in that sarcastic way.
+And I can't see why you mistrust Mr. Phillips so."
+
+"Can't you? Well, I don't know as I can, myself; but if I live long
+enough I may find a reason.... As for Kent--well, I tell you, Sarah: You
+keep an eye on the boy. If he still seems worried, or more worried, and
+you think it advisable, you might give him a message from me. You remind
+him that one time he told me if he ever got into real trouble he should
+come to me for help. You can say--if you think it advisable--that I am
+just as willin' to give that help now as ever I was."
+
+"Oh, Sears, do you mean it? Why, I thought--I was afraid that you and
+he----"
+
+"That's all right. I am the young fellow's friend--if he wants me to be.
+And, although I'm a thousand sea miles from guaranteein' to be able to
+help him, I'm willin' to try my hardest.... But there! the chances are
+he won't listen if you do tell him, so use your own judgment in the
+matter. But, Sarah, will you do me a favor?"
+
+"Sears! How can you! As if I wouldn't do anything for you!"
+
+"I know you would. And this isn't so very much, either. I'm kind of
+interested in this Phillips man's dividends and things. I'd like to know
+how he makes his money. I noticed that that newspaper in his room was
+folded with the stock price page on top. Is he interested in stock and
+such things?"
+
+"Why, yes, he is. I've heard him and George talkin' about what they call
+the 'market.' That means stocks, doesn't it?"
+
+"Um-hm, usually. Well, Sarah, if he happens to mention any particular
+stock he owns, or anything like that, try and remember and let me know,
+will you?"
+
+"Yes, of course, if you want me to. But why, Sears? There's nothing
+wrong in a man like Mr. Phillips bein' interested in such things, is
+there? I should think it would be--well, sort of natural for a person
+who has been rich as he used to be to keep up his interest."
+
+"I presume likely it is."
+
+"Then why do you want to know about it?"
+
+The captain picked up his hat. "Oh, for no particular reason, maybe,
+Sarah," he replied. "Perhaps _I_ shall be rich sometime--if I live to be
+a hundred and eighty and save a dollar a day as I go along--and then I
+shall want to know how to invest my money. Let me know if you hear
+anything worth while, won't you, Sarah?"
+
+"Yes, Sears. And if I get a chance I am goin' to tell George what you
+said about bein' his friend and willin' to help him. Good-by, Sears. I'm
+_so_ glad you came down. Come again soon, won't you? You're the only
+brother I've got, you know."
+
+Kendrick drove the Foam Flake back to the Minot place, reflecting during
+the journey upon what he had seen and heard while visiting his sister.
+It amounted to very little in the way of tangible evidence against
+Egbert Phillips. Sporting prints and dashing photographs were
+interesting perhaps, and in a way they illuminated the past; but they
+did not illumine the present, they shed no light upon their owner's
+means of living, nor the extent of those means. Egbert occupied the best
+rooms at the Macomber's, but, apparently, he paid for his board and
+lodging--yes, and his washing. He might be interested in stocks, but
+there was nothing criminal in that, of itself. The Kendrick campaign
+was, so far, an utter failure.
+
+Another week dragged by with no developments worth while. Judah, much
+inflated with the importance of his commission as a member of the
+Kendrick secret service, made voluminous and wordy reports, but they
+amounted to nothing. Mr. Phillips had borrowed five dollars of Caleb
+Snow. Had he paid the debt? Oh, yes, he had paid it. He smoked
+"consider'ble many" cigars, "real good cigars, too; cost over ten cents
+a piece by the box," so he told Thoph Black. But, so far as Black or
+Judah knew, he had paid for them. He owed a fair-sized bill at the
+livery-stable, but the stable owner "wan't worried none." There was
+little of interest here. No criminal record, rather the contrary.
+
+Esther Tidditt dropped in from time to time, loaded, as Judah said, "to
+the guards" with Fair Harbor gossip. Captain Sears did not encourage her
+visits. Aside from learning what he could concerning the doings of
+Egbert Phillips, he was little interested in petty squabbles and
+whispers among the "mariners' women." Except by Esther he was almost
+entirely ignored by the inmates. Elizabeth he saw daily for a short
+time, but for her sake he made those times as brief as he could. Her
+mother he saw occasionally; she spoke to him only when necessary.
+Elvira, Mrs. Brackett, Desire Peasly and the rest gave him the snippiest
+of bows when they met and whispered and giggled behind his back.
+
+It had seemed to him that Elizabeth looked more careworn of late. He did
+not mention it to her, of course, but it troubled him. He speculated
+concerning the cause and was inclined, entirely without good reason, to
+suspect Egbert, just as he was inclined to suspect him of being the
+cause of most unpleasantness. Something that Mrs. Tidditt said during
+one of her evening "dropping-ins" supplied a possible base for suspicion
+in this particular case.
+
+"Elizabeth and her mother has had some sort of a rumpus," declared
+Esther. "They ain't hardly on speakin' terms with one another these
+days. That is," she added, "Cordelia ain't. I guess likely Elizabeth
+would be as nice as she always is if her ma would give her the chance.
+Cordelia goes around all divided up between tears and joy, as you might
+say. When she's nigh her daughter she looks as if she was just about
+ready to cry--lee scuppers all awash, as my husband used to say when I
+was in the same condition; which wan't often, for cryin' ain't much in
+my line. Yes, when Elizabeth's lookin' at her she's right on the ragged
+edge of tears. But you let that dratted Eg heave in sight with all sail
+sot and signals flyin' and she's all smiles in a minute. Oh, what a fool
+a fool woman can be when she sets out to be!... Hey? What did you say,
+Cap'n Kendrick?"
+
+"I didn't say anything, Esther."
+
+"Oh, didn't you? I thought you did. There's one ray of comfort over
+acrost, anyhow. Elizabeth ain't in love with old Eggie, even if her
+mother is. She and he have had a run-in or I miss my guess."
+
+The captain was interested now. "What makes you think that?" he asked.
+
+"Oh, from things I've seen. He's all soft soap and sweet ile to her same
+as he always was--little more so, if anything--but she is cold as the
+bottom of a well to him. No, they've had a row and of course the
+reason's plain enough. That night over here when she called me a spy and
+a lot more names I told her a few things for her own good. I told her
+she had better think over what I said about that Eg's schemin' to get
+her mother and the five thousand dollars. I told her to think that over
+and think Eg over, too. She was terribly high and mighty then, but I bet
+you she's done some thinkin' since. Yes, and come to the conclusion
+that, spy or no spy, I was tellin' the plain truth.... Hey, Cap'n
+Kendrick?"
+
+"Eh?... Oh, yes, yes; I shouldn't wonder, Esther."
+
+"I shouldn't wonder, neither. But it won't have no effect on Cordelia.
+She'd put her best Sunday bonnet on the ground and let that Eg dance the
+grand fandango on it if he asked her to. Poor, soft-headed critter."
+
+"Yes, yes.... Humph! Any other news? How is Elvira?"
+
+"Oh, she's full of spite and jealousy as a yeast jug is full of pop. She
+pretends that the idea of anything serious between Cordelia and Phillips
+is just silliness. Might as well talk about King Solomon in all his
+glory marryin' the woman that done his washin'--that's what she pretends
+to believe. It's all Cordelia and not Eg at all, that's what she says.
+But she knows better, just the same. She's got somethin' else to think
+about now. That aunt of hers over to Ostable, the one that owns them
+iron images she wanted the Harbor to buy--she's sick, the aunt is.
+Elviry's pretty worried about her; she's the old woman's only relation."
+
+Kendrick had heard nothing further from his sister in the matter of
+young Kent and his trouble, whatever the latter might be. Sears had
+pondered a good deal concerning it and tried to guess in what possible
+way the boy could be "in the same boat" with Egbert. There was little
+use in guessing, however, and he had given up trying. And another week
+passed, another fruitless, dreary, hopeless week.
+
+Judah's lodge night came around again and Mr. Cahoon, after asking his
+skipper's permission, departed for the meeting, leaving Sears Kendrick
+alone. It was a beastly November evening, cold and with a heavy rain
+beating against the windows of the Minot kitchen, and a wind which
+shrieked and howled about the corners and gables of the old house,
+rattled every loose shingle, and set the dry bones of the wisteria vine
+scratching and thumping against the walls. The water was thrown in
+bucketfuls against the ancient panes and poured from the sashes as if
+the latter were miniature dams in flood time.
+
+Sears sat by the kitchen stove, smoking and trying to read. He could
+make a success of the smoking, but the attempt at reading was a failure.
+It was so much easier to think, so much easier to let his thoughts dwell
+upon his own dismal, wretched, discouraging story than to follow the
+fortunes of Thaddeus of Warsaw through the long succession of printed
+pages. And he had read Thaddeus's story before. He knew exactly how it
+would end. But how would his own story end? He might speculate much, but
+nowhere in all his speculations was there a sign of a happy ending.
+
+His pipe went out, he tossed the book upon the table among the supper
+dishes--Judah had been in too great a hurry to clear away--and leaned
+back in his chair. Then he rose and walked--he could walk pretty well
+now, the limp was but slight--to the window and, lifting the shade,
+peered out.
+
+He could see nothing, or almost nothing. The illumined windows made
+yellow pools of light upon the wet bricks below them, and across the
+darkness above were shining ribbons of rain. Against the black sky
+shapes of deeper blackness were moving rapidly, the bare thrashing
+branches of the locust tree. It was a beastly night, so he thought as he
+looked out at it; a beastly night in a wretched world.
+
+Then above the noises of screeching wind and splashing water he heard
+other sounds, sounds growing louder, approaching footsteps. Some one was
+coming up the walk from the road.
+
+He thought of course that it was Judah returning. He could not imagine
+why he should return, but it was more impossible to imagine any one
+else being out and coming to the Minot place on such a night. A figure,
+bent to the storm, passed across the light from the window. Captain
+Kendrick dropped the shade and strode through the little entry to the
+back door. He threw it open.
+
+"Come in, Judah," he ordered. "Come in quick, before we both drown."
+
+But the man who came in was not Judah Cahoon. He was George Kent.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+
+The young man plunged across the threshold, the skirts of his dripping
+overcoat flapping about his knees and the water pouring from the brim of
+his hat. He carried the ruin of what had been an umbrella in his hand.
+It had been blown inside out, and was now but a crumpled tangle of wet
+fabric and bent and bristling wire. He stumbled over the sill, halted,
+and turning, addressed the man who had opened the door.
+
+"Cap'n," he stammered, breathlessly, "I--I--I've come to see you. I--I
+know you must think--I don't know what you can think--but--but----"
+
+Kendrick interrupted. He was surprised, but he did not permit his
+astonishment to loosen his grip on realities.
+
+"Go in the other room," he ordered. "In the kitchen there by the fire.
+I'll be with you soon as I shut this door. Go on. Don't wait!"
+
+Kent did not seem to hear him.
+
+"Cap'n," he began, again, "I----"
+
+"Do as I tell you. Go in there by the stove."
+
+He seized his visitor by the shoulder and pushed him out of the entry.
+Then he closed and fastened the outer door. This was a matter of main
+strength, for the gale was fighting mad. When the latch clicked and the
+hook dropped into the staple he, too, entered the kitchen. Kent had
+obeyed orders to the extent of going over to the stove, but he had not
+removed his hat or coat and seemed to be quite oblivious of them or the
+fire or anything except the words he was trying to utter.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," he began again, "I----"
+
+"Sshh! Hush! Take off your things. Man alive, you're sheddin' water
+like a whistlin' buoy. Give me that coat. And that umbrella, what there
+is left of it. That's the ticket. Now sit down in that rocker and put
+your feet up on the hearth.... Whew! Are you wet through?"
+
+"No. No, I guess not. I----"
+
+"Haven't got a chill, have you? Can't I get you somethin' hot to drink?
+Judah generally has a bottle of some sort of life-saver hid around in
+the locker somewhere. A hot toddy now?... Eh? Well, all right, all
+right. No, don't talk yet. Get warm first."
+
+Kent refused the hot toddy and would have persisted in talking at once
+if his host had permitted. The latter refused to listen, and so the
+young man sat silent in the rocking chair, his soaked trouser legs and
+boots steaming in the heat from the open door of the oven, while the
+captain bustled about, hanging the wet overcoat on a nail in the corner,
+tossing the wrecked umbrella behind the stove and pretending not to look
+at his caller.
+
+He did look, however, and what he saw was interesting certainly and
+might have been alarming had he been a person easily frightened or
+unduly apprehensive. Kent's wet cheeks had dried and they were flushed
+now from the warmth, but they were haggard, his eyes were underscored
+with dark semicircles, and his hands as he held them over the red-hot
+stove lids were trembling. He looked almost as if he were sick, but a
+sick man would scarcely be out of doors in such a storm. He had,
+apparently, forgotten his desire to talk, and was now silent, his gaze
+fixed upon the wall behind the stove.
+
+Kendrick quietly placed a chair beside him and sat down.
+
+"Well, George?" he asked.
+
+Kent started. "Oh!" he exclaimed. And then, "Oh, yes! Cap'n Kendrick,
+I--I know you must think my coming here is queer, after--after----"
+
+He hesitated. The captain helped him on.
+
+"Not a bit, George," he said. "Not a bit. I'm mighty glad to see you. I
+told you to come any time, you remember. Well, you've come, haven't you?
+Now what is it?"
+
+Kent's gaze left the wall and turned toward his companion. "Cap'n
+Kendrick," he began, then stopped. "Cap'n Kendrick," he repeated,
+"I--Mrs. Macomber said--she told me you said that--that----"
+
+"All right, George, all right. I told her to remind you that one time
+you promised to come to me if you was in any--er--well, trouble, or if
+you had anything on your mind. I judge that's what you've come for,
+isn't it?"
+
+Kent started violently. His feet slipped from the hearth and struck the
+floor with a thump.
+
+"How did you know I was in trouble?" he demanded. "Who told you? Did
+they tell you what----"
+
+"No, no, no. Nobody told me anything especial. Sarah did say you hadn't
+looked well lately and she was afraid you was worried about somethin'.
+That's all. I've been worried myself durin' my lifetime and I've
+generally found it helped a little to tell my worries to somebody else.
+At any rate it didn't do any harm. What's wrong, George? Nothin'
+serious, I hope."
+
+Kent breathed heavily. "Serious!" he repeated. "I--I...." Then in a
+sudden outburst: "Oh, my God, Cap'n Kendrick, I think they'll put me in
+jail."
+
+Sears looked at him. Then, leaning forward, he laid a hand on the boy's
+knee.
+
+"Nonsense, George," he exclaimed, heartily. "Stuff and nonsense! They
+don't put fellows like you in jail. You're scared, that's all. Tell me
+about it."
+
+"But they will, they will. You don't know Ed Stedman. He doesn't like
+me. He always has had it in for me. He's prejudiced Clara against me and
+she hates me, too. They're pressing me for the money now. The last
+letter I had from them Stedman said he wouldn't wait another fortnight.
+And a week is gone already. He'll----"
+
+"Hold on. Who's Stedman?"
+
+"Oh, I thought you knew. He's my half-sister's husband up in
+Springfield. When my aunt died.... But I told you I was administrator of
+her estate. I remember I told you. That day when----"
+
+"Yes, yes, I remember; that is, I remember a little. Tell me the whole
+of it. What's happened?"
+
+"Yes--yes, I want to. I'm going to. Oh, if you _can_ help me I'll--I'll
+never forget it. I'll do anything for you, Cap'n Kendrick. I know I
+shouldn't have done it. I had no right to take the risk. But Mr.
+Phillips said--he said----"
+
+"Eh?" Sears' interruption this time was quite unpremeditated.
+"Phillips?" he repeated, sharply. "Egbert, you mean? Oh, yes....
+Humph.... Is he mixed up in this?"
+
+"Why--why, yes. If it hadn't been for him it wouldn't have happened. I
+don't mean that he is to blame, exactly. I guess nobody is to blame but
+myself. But when I think---- Oh, Cap'n Kendrick, do you suppose you can
+help me out of it? If you can, I----"
+
+Here followed another outburst of agonized entreaty. The boy's nerves
+were close to breaking, he was almost hysterical. Slowly and with the
+exercise of much patience and tact the captain drew from him the details
+of his trouble. It was, as he told it, a long and complicated story,
+but, boiled down, it amounted to something like this:
+
+Kent and Phillips had been very friendly for some time, their intimacy
+beginning even before the latter came to board at Sarah Macomber's.
+Egbert's polished manners, his stories of life abroad, his easy
+condescending geniality, had from the first made a great impression upon
+George. The latter, already esteeming himself above the average of
+mentality and enterprise in what he considered the "slow-poke" town of
+Bayport, found in the brilliant arrival from foreign parts the
+personification of his ideals, a satisfying specimen of that much read
+of _genus_, "the complete man of the world." He fell on his knees before
+that specimen and worshiped. Such idolatry could not but have some
+effect, even upon as _blasé_ an idol as Mr. Phillips, so the latter at
+first tolerated and then even encouraged the acquaintanceship. He began
+to take this young follower more and more into his confidence, to speak
+with him concerning matters more intimate and personal.
+
+George soon gathered that Egbert had been much in moneyed circles. He
+spoke casually of the "market" and referred to friends who had made and
+remade fortunes in stocks, as well as of others whose horses had brought
+them riches, or who had brought off what he called _coups_ at foreign
+gaming tables. The young man, who had been brought up in a strict
+Puritanical household, was at first rather shocked at the thought of
+gambling or racing, but Mr. Phillips treated his prejudices in a
+condescendingly joking way, and Kent gradually grew ashamed of his
+"insularity" and _bourgeois_ ideas. Egbert habitually read the stock
+quotations in the Boston _Advertiser_ and the mails brought him brokers'
+circulars and letters. Kent was led to infer that he still took a small
+"flyer" occasionally. "Nothing of consequence, my boy, nothing to get
+excited about; haven't the wherewithal since our dear friend Knowles and
+his--ah--satellites took to drawing wills and that sort of thing. But if
+my friends in the Street send me a bit of judicious advice--as they do
+occasionally, for old times' sake--why, I try to cast a few crumbs upon
+the waters, trusting that they may be returned, in the shape of a small
+loaf, after not too many days. Ha, ha! Yes. And sometimes they do
+return--yes, sometimes they do. Otherwise how could I rejoice in the
+good, but sometimes tiresome, Mrs. Macomber's luxurious hospitality?"
+
+It seemed an easy way to turn one's crumbs into loaves. Kent, now the
+possessor of the little legacy left him by his aunt, wished that the
+eight hundred dollars, the amount of that legacy, might be raised to
+eight thousand. He was executor of the small estate, which was to be
+equally divided between his half-sister and himself. There had been a
+little land involved, that had been sold and the money, most of it, paid
+him. So he had in his possession about sixteen hundred dollars, half his
+and half Mrs. Stedman's. If he could do no better than double his own
+eight hundred it would not be so bad. He wished that _he_ had friends
+in the Street.
+
+He hinted as much to Phillips. The latter was, as always, generously
+kind. "If I get the word of another good thing, my boy, I shall
+be glad to let you in. Mind, I shan't advise. I shall take no
+responsibility--one mustn't do that. I shall only pass on the good word
+and tell you what I intend doing myself." George, very grateful, felt
+that this was indeed true friendship.
+
+The chance at the good thing came along in due season. The New York
+brokerage firm wrote Phillips concerning it. It appeared that there was
+a certain railway stock named Central Midland Common. According to the
+gossip on the street, Central Midland--called C. M. for short--was just
+about due for a big rise. Certain eminent financiers and manipulators
+were quietly buying and the road was to be developed and exploited. Only
+a few, a select few, knew of this and so, obviously, now was the time to
+get aboard. Kent asked questions. Was Egbert going to get aboard? Egbert
+smilingly intimated that he was thinking of it. Would it be possible for
+him, Kent, to get aboard at the same time? Well, it might be; Egbert
+would think about that, too.
+
+He did think about it and, as a result of his thinking, he and Kent
+bought C. M. Common together. Of course to buy any amount worth while
+would be impossible because of the small amount of ready cash possessed
+by either. "But," said Phillips, "I seldom buy outright. The latest
+quotation of C. M. is at 40, or thereabouts. I intend buying about two
+hundred shares. That would be eight thousand dollars if I paid cash, but
+of course I can't do that. I shall buy on a ten per cent margin, putting
+up eight hundred. If it goes up twenty points I make two thousand
+dollars. If it goes up fifty points, as they say it will, why----" And
+so on.
+
+It ended--or began--by Phillips and Kent buying, as partners, four
+hundred shares of C. M. on a ten per cent margin. George turned over to
+Egbert the eight hundred dollars in cash, and Egbert sent to the brokers
+six hundred of those dollars and a bond, which he had in his
+possession, for one thousand dollars. Yes, Kent, had seen the broker's
+receipt. Yes, the bond was a good one; at least the brokers were
+perfectly satisfied. Where did Egbert get the bond? Kent did not know.
+It was one he owned, that is all he knew about it.
+
+For a week or so after the purchase was made C. M. Common did continue
+to rise in price. At one time they had a joint profit of nearly two
+thousand dollars. Of course that seemed trifling compared with the
+thousands they expected, and so they waited. Then the market slumped. In
+two days their profit had gone and C. M. Common was selling several
+points below the figure at which they purchased. By the end of the
+fourth day, unless they wished to be wiped out altogether, additional
+margin--another ten per cent--must be deposited immediately.
+
+And to George Kent this seemed an impossibility because he had not
+another eight hundred, or anything like it, of his own.
+
+Why, oh, why, had he been such a fool? In his chagrin, disappointment
+and discouragement he asked himself that question a great many times.
+But when he asked it of his partner in the deal that partner laughed at
+him. According to Phillips he had not been a fool at all. The slump was
+only temporary; the stock was just as good as it had ever been; all this
+was but a part of the manipulation, the insiders were driving down the
+price in order to buy at lower figures. And letters from the brokers
+seemed to bear this out. Nevertheless the fact remained that more margin
+must be deposited and where was Kent's share of that margin coming from?
+
+The rest of the story was exactly like fifty thousand similar stories.
+In order to save the eight hundred dollars of his own George put up as
+margin with the New York brokers the eight hundred dollars belonging to
+Mrs. Stedman, his half sister. Again he paid the eight hundred to
+Phillips, who sent to New York another one thousand dollar bond and six
+hundred in cash. And C. M. Common continued to go down, went down until
+once more the partners were in imminent danger of being wiped out. Then
+it rose a point or so, and there the price remained. All at once every
+one seemed to lose interest in the stock; instead of thousands of shares
+bought and sold daily, the sales dropped to a few odd lots. And instead
+of the profits which were to have been theirs by this time, the firm of
+Phillips and Kent owned together a precarious interest in four hundred
+shares of Central Midland Common which if sold at present prices would
+return them only a minimum of their investment, practically nothing when
+brokerage commissions should be deducted.
+
+And then Edward Stedman, Kent's brother-in-law, demanded an immediate
+settlement of the estate. The land had been sold, the estate had been
+settled--he knew it--now he and his wife wanted their share.
+
+So that was the situation which was driving the young fellow to
+desperation. _What_ could he do? He could not satisfy Stedman because he
+had not eight hundred dollars and he could not confess it, at least not
+without answering questions which he did not dare answer. As matters
+stood he was a thief; he had taken money which did not belong to him. He
+and Stedman had not been friendly for a long time. According to George
+his brother-in-law would put him in jail without the slightest
+compunction. And, even if he managed--which he was certain he could
+not--to avoid imprisonment, there was the disgrace and its effect upon
+his future. Why, if the affair became known, at the very least his
+career as a lawyer would be ruined. Who would trust him after this? He
+would have to go away; but where could he go? He had counted on his
+little legacy to help him get a start, to--to help him to all sorts of
+things. Now---- Oh, what _should_ he do? Suicide seemed to be the sole
+solution. He had a good mind to kill himself. He should--yes, he was
+almost sure that he should do that very thing.
+
+It was pitiful and distressing enough, and Kendrick, although he did not
+take the threat of self-destruction very seriously--somehow he could
+scarcely fancy George Kent in the role of a suicide--was sincerely
+sorry for the boy. He did his best to comfort.
+
+"There, there, George," he said, "we won't talk about killin' ourselves
+yet awhile. Time enough to hop overboard when the last gun's fired, and
+we haven't begun to take aim yet. Brace up, George. You'll get through
+the breakers somehow."
+
+"But, Cap'n Kendrick, I can't--I can't. I've got only a week or so left,
+and I haven't got the money."
+
+"Sshh! Sshh! Because you haven't got it now doesn't mean you won't have
+it before the week's out--not necessarily it doesn't.... Humph! Let's
+take an observation now, and get our bearin's, if we can. You've talked
+this over with Egbert--with Phillips, of course. After all, he was the
+fellow that got you into it. What does he say?"
+
+It appeared that Mr. Phillips said little which was of immediate solace.
+He professed confidence unbounded. C. M. was a good stock, it was going
+higher, all they had to do was wait until it did.
+
+"Yes," put in Sears, "that's good advice, maybe, but it's too much like
+tellin' a man who can't swim to keep up till the tide goes out and he'll
+be in shallow water. The trouble is neither that man nor you could keep
+afloat so long. Is that all he said? He understands your position,
+doesn't he, George?"
+
+Yes, Mr. Phillips understood, but he could do nothing to help. He had no
+money to lend--had practically nothing except the two one thousand
+dollar bonds, and those were deposited as collateral with the brokers.
+
+"Um--ye-es," drawled Kendrick. "Those bonds are interestin' of
+themselves. We'll come to those pretty soon. But hasn't he got _any_
+ready money? Seems as if he must have a little. Why, you paid him
+sixteen hundred in cash and, accordin' to your story, he sent only
+twelve hundred along with the bonds. He must have four hundred left, at
+least. That is, unless he's been heavin' overboard more 'crumbs' that
+you don't know about."
+
+Kent knew nothing of his partner's resources beyond what the latter had
+told him. And, at any rate, what good would four hundred be to him?
+Unless he could raise eight hundred within the week----
+
+"Yes, yes, yes, I know. But four hundred is half of eight hundred and
+seems to me if I was in his shoes and had been responsible for gettin'
+you into a clove hitch like this I'd do what I could to get you out. And
+he couldn't--or wouldn't--do anything; eh?"
+
+"He can't, Cap'n Kendrick. He can't. Don't you see, he hasn't got it.
+He's poor, himself. Of course he came here to Bayport, after his wife's
+death, thinking that he owned the Fair Harbor property and--and a lot
+more. Why, he thought he was rich. _He_ didn't know that old Knowles had
+used his influence with Mrs. Phillips when she was half sick and tricked
+her into----"
+
+"Here, here!" The captain's tone was rather sharp this time. "Never mind
+that. Old Knowles, as you call him, was a friend of mine.... I thought
+he was your friend, too, George, for the matter of that."
+
+George was embarrassed. "Well, he was," he admitted. "I haven't got
+anything against him; in fact he was very good to me. But that is what
+Mr. Phillips says, you know, and everybody--or about everybody--seems to
+believe it. At least they are awfully sorry for Phillips."
+
+"So I judged. But about you, now. Do _you_ believe in--er--Saint Egbert
+as much as you did?"
+
+"Why--why, I don't know. I---- Of course it seems almost as if he ought
+to do something to help me, but if he can't he can't, I suppose."
+
+"I suppose not. Look here, he won't tell anybody about your scrape, will
+he?"
+
+The junior partner in the firm of Phillips and Kent was indignant.
+
+"Of course not," he declared. "He told me he should not breathe a word.
+And he is really very much disturbed about it all. He told me himself
+that he felt almost guilty. Mr. Phillips is a gentleman."
+
+"Is that so? Must be nice to be that way. But tell me a little more
+about those bonds, George. There were two of 'em, you say, a thousand
+dollars each."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And you don't know what sort of bonds they were?"
+
+His visitor's pride was touched. "Why, of course I know," he declared.
+"What sort of a business man would I be if I didn't know that, for
+heaven's sake?"
+
+Sears did not answer the question. For a moment it seemed that he was
+going to, but if so, he changed his mind. However, there was an odd look
+in his eye when he spoke.
+
+"Beg your pardon, George," he said. "I must have misunderstood you. What
+bonds were they?"
+
+"They were City of Boston bonds. Seems to me they were--er--er--well, I
+forget just what--er--issue, you know, but that's what they were, City
+of Boston bonds."
+
+"I see ... I see.... Humph! Seems kind of odd, doesn't it?"
+
+"What?"
+
+"Oh, nothin'. Only Phillips, accordin' to his tell, is pretty close to
+poverty. Yet he hung on to those two bonds all this time."
+
+"Well, he had to hang on to something, didn't he? And he probably has a
+_little_ more; if he hasn't what has he been living on?"
+
+"Yes, that's so--that's so. Still.... However, we won't worry about
+that. Now, George, sit still a minute and let me think."
+
+"But, Cap'n Kendrick, do you think there is a chance? I'm almost crazy.
+I--I----"
+
+"Sshh! shh! I guess likely we'll get you off the rocks somehow. Let me
+think a minute or two."
+
+So Kent possessed his soul in such patience as it could muster, while
+the wind howled about the old house, the wistaria vine rattled and
+scraped, the shutters groaned and whined, and the rain dashed and poured
+and dripped outside. At length the captain sat up straight in his chair.
+
+"George," he said, briskly, "as I see it, first of all we want to find
+out just how this affair of yours stands. You write to those New York
+brokers and get from them a statement of your account--yours and
+Egbert's. Just what you've bought, how much margin has been put up, how
+much is left, about those bonds--kind, ratin', numbers and all that. Ask
+'em to send you that by return mail. Will you?"
+
+"Why--why, yes, I suppose so. But I have seen all that. Mr.
+Phillips----"
+
+"We aren't helpin' out Phillips now. He isn't askin' help, at least I
+gather he's satisfied to wait. You get this statement on your own hook,
+and don't tell him you're gettin' it. Will you?"
+
+"I'll write for it to-night."
+
+"Good! That'll get things started, anyhow. Now is there anything else
+you want to tell me?"
+
+"No--no, I guess not. But, Cap'n Kendrick, do you honestly think there
+is a chance for me?"
+
+For an instant his companion lost patience. "Don't ask that again," he
+ordered. "There is a chance--yes. How much of a chance we can't tell
+yet. You go home and stop worryin'. You've turned the wheel over to me,
+haven't you? Yes; well, then let me do the steerin' for a spell."
+
+Kent rose from his chair. He drew a long breath. He looked at the
+captain, who had risen also, and it was evident that there was still
+something on his mind. He fidgeted, hesitated, and then hurried forth a
+labored apology.
+
+"I--I am awfully ashamed of myself, Cap'n Kendrick," he began.
+
+"That's all right, George. We all make mistakes--business mistakes
+especially. If I hadn't made one, and a bad one, I might not be stranded
+here in Judah's galley to-night."
+
+"I didn't mean business. I meant I was ashamed of treating you as I
+have. Ever since that time when--when Elizabeth was here and I came over
+and--and said all those fool things to you, I--I've been ashamed. I
+_was_ a fool. I am a fool most of the time, I guess."
+
+"Oh, I guess not, George. We're all taken with the foolish disease once
+in a while."
+
+"But I was such a fool. The idea of my being jealous of you--a man
+pretty nearly old enough to be my father. No, not so old as that, of
+course, but--older. I don't know what ailed me, but whatever it was,
+I've paid for it.... She--she has hardly spoken to me since."
+
+"I'm sorry, George."
+
+"Yes.... Has she--has she said anything about me to you, Cap'n?"
+
+"Why--er--no, George, not much. She and I are not--well, not very
+confidential, outside of business matters, that is."
+
+"No, I suppose not. Mr. Phillips told me she had--well, that she and you
+were not--not as----"
+
+"Yes, all right, all right, George; I understand. Outside of Fair Harbor
+managin' we don't talk of many things."
+
+"No, that's what he said. He seemed to think you two had had some sort
+of quarrel--or disagreement, you know. But I never took much stock in
+that. After all, why should you and she be interested in the same sort
+of things? She isn't much older than I am, about my age really, and of
+course you----"
+
+"Yes, yes," hastily. "All right.... Well, I guess your coat is middlin'
+dry, George. Here it is."
+
+"Thanks. But that wasn't all I meant to say. You see, Cap'n Kendrick, I
+did treat you so badly and yet all the time I've had such confidence in
+you. Ever since you gave me that advice the night of the theatricals
+I've--well, somehow I've felt as if a fellow could depend on you, you
+know--always, in spite of everything. Eh, why, by George, _she_ said
+that very thing about you once, said it to me. She said you were so
+dependable. Say, that's queer, that she and I should both think the very
+same thing about you."
+
+"Um-m. Yes, isn't it?"
+
+"Yes. It shows, after all, how closely alike our minds, hers and mine,
+work. We"--he hesitated, reddened, and then continued, with a fresh
+outburst of confidence: "You see, Cap'n," he said, "I have felt all the
+time that this--this trouble between Elizabeth and me, wasn't going to
+last. I was to blame--at least, I guess I probably was, and I meant to
+go to her and tell her so. But I waited until--until I had pulled off
+this stock deal. I meant to go to her with two or three thousand dollars
+that I had made myself, you see, and--and ask her pardon and--well, then
+I hoped she would--would.... You understand, don't you, Cap'n Kendrick?"
+
+"Why--er--yes, I guess likely, George, in a way."
+
+"Yes. I wanted to show her that I _was_ good for something, and
+then--and then, maybe it would be all right again. You see?"
+
+"Surely, George. Yes, yes.... Ready for your coat?"
+
+Kent ignored the coat. He did not seem to realize that his companion was
+holding it. "Yes," he stammered, eagerly. "I think if I went to her in
+that way it would be all right again. I was hasty and--and silly maybe,
+but perhaps I had some excuse. And, Cap'n Kendrick, I'm sure she
+does--er--like me, you know. I'm sure of it.... But now--" as reality
+came once more crashing through his dream, "I--I---- Oh, think of me
+now! I may be put in prison. And then.... Oh, but Cap'n Kendrick, that's
+why I came to you. I knew you'd stand by me, I knew you would. I treated
+you damnably, but--but you know, it was on account of her, really. I
+knew you'd understand that. You won't hold a grudge against me? You
+really will help me? If you don't----"
+
+Kendrick seized his arm. "Shut up, George," he commanded brusquely.
+"Shut up. I'll get you out of this, I promise it."
+
+"You will? You promise?"
+
+"Yes. That is, I'll see that you don't go to jail. If we can't get the
+eight hundred of your sister's from these brokers I'll get it
+somehow--even if I have to borrow it."
+
+"Oh, Great Scott, that's great! That's wonderful. I can hardly believe
+it. I'll make it up to you somehow, you know. You're the best man I ever
+knew. And--and--if she and I--that is, when she and I are--are as we
+used to be--well, then I shall tell her and she'll be as grateful as I
+am, I know she will."
+
+"All right, George, all right. Run along. The rain's easin' up a little,
+so now's your time. Don't forget to write to those brokers.... Good
+night."
+
+"Good night, Cap'n. I shall tell your sister how good you've been to me.
+She told me to come to you. Of course she doesn't know why I came,
+but----"
+
+"No, and she mustn't know. Don't you tell her or anybody else. Don't you
+do it."
+
+"I--why, I won't if you say so, of course. Good night."
+
+Kendrick closed the door. Then he came back to his seat before the
+stove. When Judah returned home he found that his lodger had gone to the
+spare stateroom, but he could hear his footsteps moving back and forth.
+
+"Ahoy, there, Cap'n Sears!" hailed Judah. "What you doin', up and pacin'
+decks this time of night? It's pretty nigh eight bells, didn't you know
+it?"
+
+The pacing ceased. "Why, no, is it?" replied the captain's voice. "Guess
+I'd better be turnin' in, hadn't I? How's the weather outside?"
+
+"Fairin' off fast. Rain stopped and it's clear as a bell over to the
+west'ard. Clear day and a fair wind to-morrer, I cal'late."
+
+Kendrick made no further comment and Judah prepared for bed, singing as
+he did so. He sang, not a chantey this time, but portions of a revival
+hymn which he had recently heard and which, because of its nautical
+nature, had stuck in his memory. The chorus commanded some one or other
+to
+
+    "Pull for the shore, sailor,
+      Pull for the shore.
+    Leave that poor old stranded wreck
+      And pull for the shore."
+
+Mr. Cahoon sang the chorus over and over. Then he ventured to tackle one
+of the verses.
+
+    "Light in the darkness, sailor,
+      Day is at hand."
+
+"Judah!" This from the spare stateroom.
+
+"Aye, aye, Cap'n Sears."
+
+"Better save the rest of that till the day gets here, hadn't you?"
+
+"Eh? Oh, all right, Cap'n. Just goin' to douse the glim this minute.
+Good night."
+
+Three days after this interview in the Minot kitchen George Kent again
+came to call. He came after dark, of course, and his visit was brief. He
+had received from the New York brokers a detailed statement of his and
+Phillips' joint account. The statement bore out what he had already told
+Sears. Four hundred shares of Central Midland Common had been purchased
+at 40. Against this the partners deposited sixteen hundred dollars.
+Later they had deposited another sixteen hundred. The New York firm were
+as confident as ever that the stock was perfectly good and the
+speculation a good one. They advised waiting and, if possible, buying
+more at the present low figure.
+
+All this was of little help. The only information of any possible value
+was that concerning the bonds which Egbert had contributed as his share
+of the margin. Those, according to the brokers, were two City of Boston
+4-1/2s, of one thousand dollars each, numbered A610,312 and A610,313.
+
+Kent would have stayed and talked for hours if Kendrick had permitted.
+He was as nervous as ever, even more so, because the days were passing
+and the time drawing near when his brother-in-law would demand
+settlement. The captain comforted him as well as he could, bade him
+write his sister or her husband that he would remit early in the
+following week, and sent him home again more hopeful, but still very
+anxious.
+
+"I don't see how I'm going to get the money, Cap'n Kendrick," he kept
+repeating. "I don't see how all this helps us a bit. I don't see----"
+
+Kendrick interrupted at last.
+
+"You don't have to see," he declared. "You've left it to me, now let me
+see if _I_ can see. I told you that, somehow or other, I'd tow you into
+deep water. Well, give me a chance to get up steam. You write that
+letter to your brother-in-law and hold him off till the middle of next
+week. That's all you've got to do. I'll do the rest."
+
+So Kent had to be satisfied with that. He departed, professing over and
+over again his deathless gratitude. "If you do this, Cap'n Kendrick," he
+proclaimed, "I never, never will forget it. And when I think how I
+treated you I can't see why you do it. I never heard of such----"
+
+"Sshh! shhh!" The captain waved him to silence. "I don't know why I am
+doin' it exactly, George," he said.
+
+"I do. You're doing it for my sake, of course, and----"
+
+"Sshh! I don't know as I am--not altogether. Maybe I'm doin' it to try
+and justify my own judgment of human nature--mine and Judge Knowles'. If
+that judgment isn't right then I'm no more use than a child in arms, and
+I need a guardian as much as--as----"
+
+"As I do, you mean, I suppose. Well, I do need one, I guess. But I don't
+understand what you mean by your judgment of human nature. Who have you
+been judging?"
+
+"Never mind. Now go home. Judah's out again and that's a mercy. I don't
+want him or any one else to know you come here to see me."
+
+George went, satisfied for the time, but Sears Kendrick, left face to
+face with his own thoughts, knew that he had told the young man but a
+part of the truth. It was not for Kent's sake alone that he had made the
+rash promise to get back eight hundred of the sixteen hundred, or
+another eight hundred to take its place. Neither was it entirely because
+he hoped to confirm his judgment in the case of Egbert Phillips. The
+real reason lay deeper than that. Kent had declared that he still loved
+Elizabeth Berry and that he had reason to think she returned that love.
+Perhaps she did; in spite of some things she had said after their
+quarrel, it was possible--yes, probable that she did. If, by saving her
+lover from disgrace, he might insure her future and her happiness,
+then--then--Sears would have made rasher promises still and have
+undertaken to carry them out.
+
+The brokers' letter helped but little, if any. He entered the names and
+numbers of the bonds in his memorandum book. Those bonds still perplexed
+him. He could not explain them, satisfactorily. It might be that Egbert
+had more left from his wife's estate than Judge Knowles expected him to
+have or that Bradley was inclined to think he had. Lobelia's will
+bequeathed to her beloved husband "all stocks, bonds, securities, etc.,"
+remaining. But Knowles had more than intimated that none remained. The
+pictures of the horses and the ladies in Egbert's room at Sarah
+Macomber's confirmed the captain's belief that the Phillips past had
+been a hectic one. It seemed queer that, out of the ruin, there should
+have been preserved at least two thousand dollars in good American--yes,
+City of Boston--bonds.
+
+In the back of the Kendrick head was a theory--or the ghost of a
+theory--concerning those bonds. He did not like to believe it, he would
+not believe it yet, but it was a possibility. Elizabeth had been
+bequeathed twenty thousand dollars. She and Egbert had been close
+friends for a time. She had liked him, had trusted him. Of late, so
+Esther Tidditt said, that friendship had been somewhat strained. Was it
+possible that.... Humph! Well, Bradley might know. He was Elizabeth's
+guardian, he would know if her investments had been disturbed.
+
+Then, too, if worst came to the worst and he had to raise the eight
+hundred, which he had promised Kent, by borrowing it, he could, he
+thought, arrange to get from Bradley an advance of that amount, or a
+part of it, against his salary as manager of the Fair Harbor.
+
+So he determined, as the next move, to go to Orham and visit the lawyer.
+On Saturday morning, therefore, he and the Foam Flake once more
+journeyed along the wood road to Orham.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+
+The trip was cold and long and tedious. The oaks and birches were bare
+of leaves and the lakes and little ponds looked chill and forbidding.
+Judah's prophecy of a clear day was only partially fulfilled, for there
+were great patches of clouds driving before the wind and when those
+obscured the sun all creation looked dismal enough, especially to
+Kendrick, who was in the mood where any additional gloom was distinctly
+superfluous. But the Foam Flake jogged on and at last drew up beside the
+Bradley office.
+
+Another horse and buggy were standing there and the captain was somewhat
+surprised to recognize the outfit as one belonging to the Bayport livery
+man. A gangling youth in the latter's employ was on the buggy seat and
+he recognized the Foam Flake first and his driver next.
+
+"Why, good mornin', Cap'n," hailed the youth. "You over here, too?"
+
+Sears, performing the purely perfunctory task of hitching the Foam Flake
+to a post, smiled grimly.
+
+"No, Josiah," he replied. "I'm not here. I'm over in South Harniss all
+this week. Where are you?"
+
+"Eh?... Where be I?... Say, what----"
+
+"Yes, yes, Josiah, all right. Just keep a weather eye on this post, will
+you, like a good fellow?"
+
+"On the post? On the horse, you mean?"
+
+"No, I mean on the post. If you don't this--er--camel of mine will eat
+it. Thanks. Do as much for you some time, Josiah."
+
+He went into the building, leaving the bewildered Josiah in what might
+be described as a state of mind.
+
+"Is the commodore busy?" he asked of the boy at the desk.
+
+"Yes, he is," replied the boy. "But he won't be very long, I don't
+think."
+
+"Humph! That's what you don't think, eh? Well, now just between us, what
+do you think?... Never mind, son, never mind, I'm satisfied if you are.
+I'll wait. By the way, somebody from my home port is in there with him,
+I judge."
+
+"Um--hm. Miss Berry, she's there."
+
+"Miss Berry! Elizabeth Berry?... Is she there now?"
+
+The boy nodded. "Um-hm," he declared, "she's there, but I guess they're
+'most done. I heard her chair scrape a minute or two ago, so I think
+she's comin' right out."
+
+Kendrick rose from his own chair. "I'll wait outside," he said, and went
+out to the platform again. Josiah, evidently lonely and seeking
+conversation, hailed him at once.
+
+"Say, that old horse of yours _is_ a cribbler, ain't he," he observed.
+"He's took one chaw out of that post already."
+
+Sears paid no attention. He walked around to the rear of the little
+building and, leaning against its shingled side, waited, gazing absently
+across the fields to the spires and roofs of Orham village.
+
+He was sorry that Elizabeth was there just at this time. True they met
+almost daily at the Fair Harbor office, but those meetings were
+obligatory, this was not. And meeting her at all, relations between them
+being what they were, was very hard for him. Since George Kent's
+disclosure of his feelings and hopes those meetings were harder still.
+Each one made his task, that of helping the boy toward the realization
+of those hopes, so much more difficult. He was ashamed of himself, but
+so it was. No, in his present frame of mind he did not want to meet her.
+He would wait there, out of sight, until she had gone.
+
+But he was not allowed to do so. He heard the office door open, heard
+her step--he would have recognized it, he believed, anyway--upon the
+platform. He heard her speak to Josiah. And then that pest of an office
+boy began shouting his name.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," yelled the boy. "Cap'n Kendrick, where are you?"
+
+He did not answer, but the other imbecile, Josiah, answered for him.
+
+"There he is, out alongside the buildin'," volunteered Josiah. "Cap'n
+Kendrick, they want ye."
+
+Then both began shrieking "Cap'n Kendrick" at the top of their voices.
+
+To pretend not to hear would have been too ridiculous. There was but
+thing to do and he did it.
+
+"Aye, aye," he answered, impatiently. "I'm comin'!"
+
+When he reached the platform Elizabeth was still there. She was
+surprised to see him, evidently, but there was another expression on her
+face, an expression which he did not understand. He bowed gravely.
+
+"Good mornin'," he said. She returned his greeting, but still she
+continued to look at him with that odd expression.
+
+"Mr. Bradley's all ready for you," announced the office boy, who was
+holding the door open. Sears' foot was at the 'threshold when Elizabeth
+spoke his name. He turned to her in surprise.
+
+"Yes?" he replied.
+
+For an instant she was silent. Then, as if obeying an uncontrollable
+impulse, she came toward him.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," she said. "May I speak with you? In private? I won't
+keep you but a moment."
+
+"Why--why, yes, of course," he stammered. He turned to the office boy.
+"Go and tell Mr. Bradley I'll be right there," he commanded. The boy
+went.
+
+Elizabeth spoke to her charioteer, who was leaning forward on the buggy
+seat, his small eyes fixed upon the pair and his large mouth open.
+
+"Drive over to that corner, Josiah," she said. "To that store
+there--yes, that's it. And wait there for me. I'll come at once."
+
+Josiah reluctantly drove away. Elizabeth turned again to Kendrick.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," she began. "I shan't keep you long. I realize that
+you must be surprised at my asking to speak with you--after everything.
+And, of course, I realize still more than you can't possibly wish to
+speak with me."
+
+He attempted to say something, to protest, but she did not give him the
+chance.
+
+"No, don't, don't," she said, hurriedly. "Don't pretend. I know how you
+feel, of course. But I have been wanting to tell you this for a long
+time. I hadn't the courage, or I was too much ashamed, or something. And
+this is a strange place to say it--and time. But when I saw you just now
+I--I felt as if I must say it. I couldn't wait another minute. Cap'n
+Kendrick, I want to beg your pardon."
+
+To add to his amazement and embarrassed distress he saw that she was
+very close to tears.
+
+"Why--why--" he stammered.
+
+"Don't say anything. There isn't anything for _you_ to say. I don't ask
+you to forgive me--you couldn't, of course. But I--I just had to tell
+you that I am so ashamed of myself, of my misjudging you, and the things
+I said to you. I know that you were right and I was all wrong."
+
+"Why--why, here, hold on!" he broke in. "I don't understand."
+
+"Of course you don't. And I can't explain. Probably I never can and you
+mustn't ask me to. But--but--I had to say this. I had to beg your pardon
+and tell you how ashamed I am.... That's all.... Thank you."
+
+She turned and almost ran from the platform, down the steps and across
+the street to the waiting buggy. Sears Kendrick stared after her, stared
+until that buggy disappeared around the bend in the road. Then he
+breathed heavily, straightened his cap, slowly shook his head, and
+entered the lawyer's office. He was still in a sort of trance when he
+sat down in the chair in the inner room and heard Bradley bid him good
+morning. He returned the good morning, but he heard, or understood, very
+little of what the lawyer said immediately afterward. When he did begin
+vaguely to comprehend he found the latter was speaking of Elizabeth
+Berry.
+
+"I wish I knew what her trouble is," Bradley was saying. "She won't tell
+me, won't even admit that there is any trouble, but that doesn't need
+telling. The last half dozen times I have seen her she has seemed and
+looked worried and absent-minded. And this morning she drove way over
+here to ask me some almost childish questions about her investments, the
+money the judge left her. Wanted to know if it was safe, or something
+like that. She didn't admit that was it, exactly, but that was as near
+as I could get to what she was driving at. Do you know what's troubling
+her, Kendrick?"
+
+Sears shook his head. "No-o," he replied. "I've heard--but no, I don't
+know. She wanted to be sure her money was safe, you say?"
+
+"Why, not safely invested, I don't think that was it. She seemed to want
+to know what I'd done with the bonds themselves and the other securities
+of hers. I told her they were in the deposit vaults over at the Bayport
+bank; that is, some of them were there and some of them were in the bank
+at Harniss. Then she asked if any one could get them, anybody except she
+or I. Of course I told her no, and not even I without an order from her.
+She seemed a little relieved, I thought, but when _I_ asked questions
+she shut up like a quahaug. But that seemed a silly errand to come away
+over here on. Don't you think so, Cap'n? ... Eh? What's the matter? What
+are you looking at me like that for?"
+
+The captain _was_ looking at him, was looking with an expression of
+intense and eager interest. He did not answer Bradley's question, but
+asked one, himself.
+
+"Did she ask anything more about--well, about her bonds?" he demanded.
+"Think now; I'll tell you why by and by."
+
+The lawyer considered. "No-o," he said. "Nothing of importance, surely.
+She asked--she seemed to want to know particularly if it was possible
+for any one except the owner or a duly accredited representative to get
+at securities in the vaults of those banks. That seemed to be the
+information she was after.... Now what have you got up your sleeve?"
+
+"Nothin'--nothin'. I guess. Or somethin', maybe; I don't know. Bradley,
+would you mind tellin' me this much: Of course I'm not Elizabeth's
+trustee any more, but would it be out of the way if you told me whether
+or not you reinvested any of her twenty thousand in City of Boston
+bonds? City of Boston 4-1/2s; say?"
+
+Bradley did not answer for a moment. Then from a pigeon hole in his desk
+he took a packet of papers and selected one.
+
+"Yes," he said, gravely. "I put ten thousand of her money in those very
+bonds. My brokers up in Boston recommended them strongly as being a safe
+and good investment.... And now perhaps you'll tell us why you asked
+about that?"
+
+Sears' brows drew together. Here was his vague theory on the way, at
+least, to confirmation.
+
+"You tell me somethin' more first," he said. "'Tisn't likely you've got
+the numbers of those bonds on that piece of paper, is it?"
+
+"Likely enough. I've got the numbers and the price I paid for 'em. Why?"
+
+Kendrick took his memorandum book from his pocket. "Were two of those
+numbers A610,312 and A610,313?" he asked.
+
+Bradley consulted his slip of paper. "No," he replied. "Nothing like
+it."
+
+"Eh? You're sure?"
+
+"Of course I'm sure. Say, what sort of a trustee do you think I am?"
+
+Sears did not answer. If the lawyer was sure, then his "theory," instead
+of being confirmed, was smashed flat.
+
+"Humph!" he grunted, after a moment. "Do you mind my lookin' at that
+paper of yours?"
+
+Bradley pushed the slip across the desk. The captain looked at it
+carefully. "Humph!" he said again. "You're right. And those are five
+hundred dollar bonds, all of 'em. Well, that settles that. And now it's
+all fog again.... Humph! In a way I'm glad--but---- Pshaw!"
+
+"Yes. And _now_ maybe you'll tell me what you're after? Don't you think
+it's pretty nearly time?"
+
+"Why, perhaps, but I'm afraid that's what I can't tell--you or anybody
+else.... Bradley, just one more thing. Do you happen to know whether
+there was any of those Boston bonds in Lobelia Phillips' estate? That
+is, did any of 'em come to her husband from her?"
+
+The lawyer's answer was emphatic enough.
+
+"Yes, I do know," he said. "There wasn't any. Those bonds are a brand
+new issue. They have been put out since her death."
+
+Here was another gun spiked. Kendrick whistled. Bradley regarded him
+keenly.
+
+"Cap'n," he demanded, "are you on the trail of that Eg Phillips? Do you
+really think you've got anything on him? Because if you have and you
+don't let me into the game I'll never forgive you. Of all the slick,
+smooth, stuck-up nothings that---- Say, have you?"
+
+Kendrick shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Squire," he observed. "And, at
+any rate, I couldn't tell you, if I had. ... Eh? And _now_ what?"
+
+For the lawyer had suddenly struck the desk a blow with his hand. He was
+fumbling in another pigeon-hole and extracting therefrom another packet
+of papers.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," he said, "I know where there are--or were,
+anyhow--more of those Boston 4-1/2s."
+
+"Eh? You do?"
+
+"Yes. And they were thousand dollar bonds, too.... Yes, and.... Give me
+those numbers again."
+
+Sears gave them. Bradley grinned, triumphantly.
+
+"Here you are," he exclaimed. "Five one thousand dollar City of Boston
+4-1/2s, bought at so and so much, on such and such a date, numbered
+A610,309 to A610,313 inclusive. Cap'n Sears, those bonds are--or were,
+the last I knew--in the vault of the Bayport National Bank."
+
+Kendrick rose to his feet. "You don't tell me!" he cried. "Who put 'em
+there?"
+
+"I put 'em there. And I bought 'em. But they don't belong to me. There
+was somebody else had money left to them, and I, on request, invested it
+for the owner. Now you can guess, can't you?"
+
+Cap'n Sears sat down heavily. "Cordelia?" he exclaimed. "Cordelia Berry,
+of course!... Bradley, what an everlastin' fool I was not to guess it
+in the first place! _There's_ the answer I've been hunting for."
+
+But, as he pondered over it during the long drive home he realized that,
+after all, it was not by any means a completely satisfying answer. True
+it confirmed his previous belief that the bonds which Phillips had
+deposited with the New York brokers were not a part of the residue of
+his wife's estate. He had obtained them from Cordelia Berry. But the
+question as to how and why he had obtained them still remained. Did he
+get them by fraud? Did she lend them to him? If she lent them was it a
+loan without restrictions? Did she know what he meant to do with them;
+that is, was Cordelia a silent partner in Egbert's stock speculations?
+Or, and this was by no means impossible considering her infatuation, had
+she given them to him outright?
+
+Unless there was an element of fraud or false pretense in the
+transference of those bonds, the mere knowledge of whence they came was
+not likely to help in regaining George Kent's sixteen hundred dollars.
+For the matter of that, even if they had been obtained by fraud, if they
+were not Phillips' property, but Cordelia's, still the return of Kent's
+money might be just as impossible provided Phillips had nothing of his
+own to levy upon. He--Kendrick--might compel the brokers to return Mrs.
+Berry's City of Boston 4-1/2s to their rightful owner, but how would
+that help Kent?
+
+Well, never mind that now. If the worst came to the worst he could still
+borrow the eight hundred which would save George from public disgrace.
+And the fact remained that his campaign against the redoubtable Egbert
+had made, for the first time, a forward movement, however slight.
+
+His thoughts turned to Elizabeth. The causes of her worry and trouble
+were plain enough now. Esther Tidditt had declared that she and Phillips
+were by no means as friendly as they had been. Of course not. She, too,
+had been forced to realize what almost every one else had seen before,
+the influence which the fellow had obtained over her mother. Her visit
+to Bradley and her questions concerning the safety of securities in the
+bank's vaults were almost proof positive that she knew Egbert had those
+bonds and perhaps feared he might get the others. He should not get them
+if Sears Kendrick could help it. She had asked his pardon, she had
+confessed that he was right and that she had been wrong. She believed in
+him again. Well, in return he would fight his battle--and hers--and
+George's--harder than ever. The fight had been worth while of itself,
+now it was more than ever a fight for her happiness. And Egbert--by the
+living jingo, Egbert was in for a licking.
+
+So, to the mild astonishment of the placid Foam Flake, who had been
+meandering on in a sort of walking doze, Captain Kendrick tugged briskly
+at the reins and broke out in song, the hymn which Judah Cahoon had sung
+a few nights before:
+
+    "Light in the darkness, sailor,
+      Day is at hand."
+
+Judah himself was singing when his lodger entered the kitchen, but his
+was no joyful ditty. It was a dirge, which he was intoning as he bent
+over the cookstove. A slow and solemn and mournful wail dealing with
+death and burial of one "Old Storm Along," whoever he may have been.
+
+    "'Old Storm Along is dead and gone
+      To my way, oh, Storm Along.
+    Old Storm Along is dead and gone
+      Ay--ay--ay, Mister Storm A-long.
+
+    "'When Stormy died I dug his grave
+      To my way, oh, Storm Along,
+    I dug his grave with a silver spade.
+      Ay--ay--ay, Mister Storm A-long.
+
+    "'I hove him up with an iron crane,
+      To my way, oh, Storm Along,
+    And lowered him down with----'"
+
+Kendrick broke in upon the flow of misery.
+
+"Sshh! All hands to the pumps!" he shouted. "Heavens, what a wail!
+Sounds like the groans of the dyin'. Didn't your breakfast set well,
+Judah?"
+
+Judah turned, looked at him, and grinned sheepishly. "'Tis kind of a
+lonesome song, ain't it?" he admitted. "Still we used to sing it
+consider'ble aboard ship. Don't you know we did, Cap'n?"
+
+The captain grunted. "Maybe so," he observed, "but it's one of the
+things that would keep the average man from going to sea. What's the
+news since I've been gone--anything?"
+
+Judah nodded. "Um-hm," he said. "I cal'late 'twas the news that set me
+goin' about old Storm Along. Esther Tidditt's been over here half the
+forenoon, seemed so, tellin' about Elviry Snowden's aunt over to
+Ostable. She's dead, the old woman is, and she died slow and agonizin',
+'cordin' to Esther. Elviry was all struck of a heap about it. And now
+she's gone."
+
+"Gone! Elvira? Dead, you mean?"
+
+"Hey? No, no! The aunt's dead, but Elviry ain't. She's gone over to
+Ostable to stay till after the funeral. She's about the only relation to
+the remains there is left, so Esther tells me. There was a reg'lar young
+typhoon over to the Harbor when the news struck. 'Twas too late for the
+up train so they had to hire a horse and team and then somebody had to
+be got to pilot it, 'cause Elviry wouldn't no more undertake to drive a
+horse than I would to eat one. And the trouble was that the livery
+stable boy--that Josiah Ellis--was off drivin' somebody else
+somewheres."
+
+"Yes, I saw him."
+
+"Hey? You did? Where? Who was he drivin'?"
+
+"Never mind that. Heave ahead with your yarn."
+
+"Well, the next thing they done was to come cruisin' over here to see if
+_I_ wouldn't take the job. Hoppin', creepin', jumpin' Henry! I shut down
+on _that_ notion almost afore they got their hatches open to tell me
+about it. Suppose likely I'd set in a buggy alongside of Elviry Snowden
+and listen to her clack from here to Ostable? Not by a two-gallon
+jugful! Creepin'! She'd have another corpse on her hands time we got
+there. So I said I was sick."
+
+"Sick! Ha, ha! You're a healthy lookin' sick man, Judah."
+
+"Um-hm. Mine must be one of them kind of diseases that don't show on the
+outside. But I was sick then, all right--at the very notion. And, Cap'n
+Sears, who do you cal'late finally did invite himself to drive that
+Snowden woman to Ostable? You'll never guess in _this_ world."
+
+"Well, I don't intend to wait until the next world to find out; so
+you'll have to tell me, Judah. Who was it?"
+
+"Old Henfruit."
+
+"_Who?_"
+
+"Old Henfruit, that's what I call him. That Eg thing"
+
+"What? Phillips?"
+
+"Yus. That's the feller."
+
+"But why should he do it?"
+
+"Oh, just to show off how polite and obligin' he is, I presume likely.
+Elviry she was snifflin' around and swabbin' her deadlights with her
+handkercher and heavin' overboard lamentations about her poor dear Aunt
+So-and-so layin' all alone over there and she couldn't get to her--as if
+'twould make any difference to a dead person whether she got to 'em or
+not, and anyhow I'd _want_ to be dead afore Elviry Snowden got to
+me--and---- Oh, yes, well, pretty soon here comes Eg, beaver hat and
+mustache and all, purrin' and wantin' to know what was the matter. And,
+of course all hands of 'em started to tell him, 'specially that Aurora
+Chase, who is so everlastin' deaf she hadn't heard the yarn more'n half
+straight and wan't sure yet whether 'twas a funeral or a fire. And
+so----"
+
+"There, there, Judah! Get back on the course. So Egbert drove Elvira
+over to Ostable, did he?"
+
+"Sartin sure. When Elviry saw him she kind of flew at him same as a
+chicken flies to the old hen. And he kind of spread out his wings, as
+you might say, and comforted her and, next thing you know, he'd offered
+to be pilot and she and him had started on the trip. So that's the
+news.... Esther said 'twas good as a town hall to see Cordelia Berry
+when them two went away together. You see, Cordelia is so dreadful gone
+on that Eg man that she can't bear to see another female within hailin'
+distance of him. Been just the same if 'twas old Northern Lights Chase
+he'd gone with. Haw, haw!"
+
+The Fair Harbor was still buzzing with the news of Miss Snowden's
+bereavement when Kendrick visited there next day. The funeral was to
+take place the day after that and Mrs. Brackett was going and so was
+Aurora. As Miss Peasley and some of the others would have liked to go,
+but could not afford the railway fare, there was some jealousy manifest
+and a few ill-natured remarks made in the captain's hearing. Elvira, it
+seemed, had sent for her trunk, as she was to remain in Ostable for a
+week or two at least.
+
+The captain and Elizabeth had their customary conference in the office
+concerning the Harbor's bills and finances. Kendrick's greeting was a
+trifle embarrassed--recollection of the interview at Orham was fresh in
+his mind. Elizabeth colored slightly when they met, but she did not
+mention that interview and, although pleasant and kind, kept the
+conversation strictly confined to business matters.
+
+That afternoon Sears encountered Egbert for the first time in a week or
+so. The captain was on his way to the barn at the rear of the Harbor
+grounds. He was about to turn the bend in the path, the bend which he
+had rounded on the day of his first excursion in those grounds, and
+which had afforded him the vision of Miss Snowden and Mrs. Chase framed
+in the ivy-draped window of The Eyrie. As he passed the clump of lilacs,
+now bare and scrawny, he came suddenly upon Phillips. The latter was
+standing there, deep in conversation with Mrs. Berry. Theirs should, it
+would seem, have been a pleasant conversation, but neither looked happy;
+in fact, Cordelia looked as if she had been crying.
+
+Sears raised his cap and Egbert lifted the tall hat with the flourish
+all his own. Cordelia did not bow nor even nod. Kendrick, as he walked
+on toward the barn, was inclined to believe he could guess the cause of
+Mrs. Berry's distress and her companion's annoyance; he believed that
+City of Boston 4-1/2s might be the subject of their talk. If so, then
+perhaps those bonds had come into the gentleman's possession in a manner
+not strictly within the law. Or, at all events, the lady might not know
+what had become of them and be requesting their return. He certainly
+hoped that such was the case. It was the one thing he yearned to find
+out before making the next strategic advance in his and Egbert's private
+war.
+
+But a note from Bradley which he received next day helped him not at
+all. It was a distinct disappointment. Bradley had, at his request, made
+some inquiries at the Bayport bank. The lawyer was a director in that
+institution and he could obtain information without arousing undue
+curiosity or answering troublesome questions. The two one thousand
+dollar bonds had been removed from the vaults by Cordelia Berry herself.
+She had come alone, and on two occasions, taking one bond at each visit.
+She did not state why she wanted them and the bank authorities had not
+considered it their business to ask.
+
+So that avenue of hope was closed. Egbert had not taken the bonds, and
+how they came into his possession was still as great a puzzle as ever.
+And the time--the time was growing so short. On Wednesday Kent had
+promised to send his brother-in-law eight hundred dollars. It was
+Saturday when Bradley's letter came. Each evening George stopped at the
+Minot place to ask what progress had been made. The young man's
+nervousness was contagious; the captain's own nerves became affected.
+
+"George," he ordered, at last, "don't ask me another question. I
+promised you once, and now I promise you again, that by Wednesday night
+you shall have enough cash in hand to satisfy your sister and her
+husband. Don't you come nigh me until then."
+
+On Monday, the situation remaining unchanged, Sears determined upon a
+desperate move. He would see Egbert alone and have a talk with him. He
+had, after careful consideration, decided what his share in that talk
+was to be. It must be two-thirds "bluff." He knew very little, but he
+intended to pretend to much greater knowledge. He might trap his
+adversary into a damaging admission. He might gain something and he
+could lose almost nothing. The attack was risky, a sort of forlorn
+hope--but he would take the risk.
+
+That afternoon he drove down to the Macomber house. There he was
+confronted with another disappointment. Egbert was not there. Sarah said
+he had been away almost all day and would not be back until late in the
+evening.
+
+"He's been away consider'ble the last two or three days," she said. "No,
+I'm sure I don't know where he's gone. He told Joel somethin' about
+bein' out of town on business. Joel sort of gathered 'twas in Trumet
+where the business was, but he never told either of us really. He wasn't
+here for dinner yesterday or supper either, and not for supper the day
+before that."
+
+"Humph! Will he be here to-morrow, think?"
+
+"I don't know, but I should think likely he would, in the forenoon,
+anyhow. He's almost always here in the forenoon; he doesn't get up very
+early, hardly ever."
+
+"Oh, he doesn't. How about his breakfast?"
+
+Mrs. Macomber looked a bit guilty.
+
+"Well," she admitted, "I usually keep his breakfast hot for him,
+and--and he has it in his room."
+
+"You take it in to him, I suppose?"
+
+"We-ll, he's always been used to breakfastin' that way, he says. It's
+the way they do over abroad, accordin' to his tell."
+
+"Oh, Sarah, Sarah!" mused her brother. "To think _you_ could slip so
+easy on that sort of soft-soap. Tut, tut! I'm surprised.... Well,
+good-by. Oh, by the way, how about his majesty's board bill? Paid up to
+date, is it?"
+
+His sister looked even more embarrassed, and, for her, a trifle
+irritated.
+
+"He owes me for three weeks, if you must know," she said, "but he'll pay
+it, same as he always does."
+
+"Look out, look out! Can't be too sure.... There, there, Sarah, don't be
+cross. I won't torment you."
+
+He laughed and Mrs. Macomber, after a moment, laughed too.
+
+"You are a tease, Sears," she declared, "and always was. Shall I tell
+Mr. Phillips you came to see him?"
+
+"Eh? No, indeed you shan't. Don't you mention my name to him. He loves
+me so much that he might cry all night at the thought of not bein' at
+home when I called. Don't tell him a word. I'll try again."
+
+The next forenoon he did try again. Judah had some trucking to do in the
+western part of the village and the captain rode with him on the seat of
+the truck wagon as far as the store. From there he intended to walk to
+his sister's, for walking, even as long a distance as a mile, was no
+longer an impossibility. As he alighted by the store platform Captain
+Elkanah Wingate came out of the Bassett emporium.
+
+"Mornin', Kendrick," he hailed.
+
+Sears did not share Bayport's awe of the prosperous Elkanah. He returned
+the greeting as casually as if the latter had been an everyday citizen.
+
+"Been spendin' your money on Eliphalet's bargains?" he inquired.
+
+The great man did not resent the flippancy. He seemed to be in a
+particularly pleasant humor.
+
+"Got a little extra to spend to-day," he declared, with a chuckle.
+"Picked up twenty dollars this mornin' that I never expected to see
+again."
+
+"So? You're lucky."
+
+"That's what I thought. Say, Kendrick, have you had any--hum--business
+dealings with that man Phillips? No," with another chuckle, "I suppose
+you haven't. He doesn't love you over and above, I understand. My wife
+and the rest of the women folks seem to think he's first mate to Saint
+Peter, but, between ourselves, he's always been a little too much of a
+walkin' oil barrel to suit me. He borrowed twenty of me a good while ago
+and I'd about decided to write it down as a dead loss. But an hour or so
+ago he ran afoul of me and, without my saying a word, paid up like a
+man, every cent. Had a roll of bills as thick as a skys'l yard, he did.
+Must have had a lucky voyage, I guess. Eh? Ha, ha!"
+
+He moved off, still chuckling. Kendrick walked down the lower road
+pondering on what he had heard. Egbert, the professed pauper, in
+possession of money and voluntarily paying his debts. What might that
+mean?
+
+Sarah met him at the door. She seemed distressed.
+
+"There!" she cried, as he approached. "If this isn't too bad! And I was
+afraid of it, too. You've walked way down here, Sears, on those poor
+legs of yours, and Mr. Phillips has gone again. And I don't think he'll
+be back before night, if he is then. He said not to worry if he wasn't,
+because he might have to go to Trumet. Isn't it a shame?"
+
+It was a shame and a rather desperate shame. This was Tuesday. If the
+interview with Egbert was to take place at all, it should be that day,
+or the next. He looked at his sister's face and something in her
+expression caused him to ask a question.
+
+"What is it, Sarah?" he demanded. "What's the rest of it?"
+
+She hesitated. "Sears," she said, after looking over her shoulder to
+make sure none of the children was within hearing, "there's somethin'
+else. I--I don't know, but--but I'm almost _sure_ Mr. Phillips won't be
+back to-night. I think he's gone to stay."
+
+"Stay? What do you mean? Did he take his dunnage--his things--with him?"
+
+"No. His trunk is in his room. And he didn't have a satchel or a valise
+in his hand. But, Sears, I can't understand it--they're gone--his
+valises are gone."
+
+"Gone! Gone where?"
+
+"I don't know. That's the funny part of it. He's always kept two valises
+in his room, a big one and a little one. I went into his room just now
+to make the beds and clean up and I didn't see those valises anywhere. I
+thought that was funny and then I noticed that the things on his bureau,
+his brushes and comb and things, weren't there. Then I looked in his
+bureau drawers and everything was gone, the drawers were empty....
+Sears, what _do_ you suppose it means?"
+
+Her brother did not answer at once. He tugged at his beard and frowned.
+Then he asked:
+
+"Didn't he say a word more than you've told me? Or do anything?"
+
+"No. He had his breakfast out here with us this mornin'. Then he went
+back to his room and, about nine or so, he came out to me and paid his
+board bill---- Oh, I told you he'd pay it, Sears; he always does
+pay--and then----"
+
+"Here! Heave to! Hold on, Sarah! He paid his bill, all of it?"
+
+"Yes. Right up to now. That was kind of funny, bein' the middle of the
+week instead of the end, but he said we might as well start with a clean
+ledger, or somethin' nice and pleasant like that. Then he took a bundle
+of money from his pocketbook--a great, _big_ bundle it was, and--Why,
+why, Sears, what is it? Where are you goin'?"
+
+The captain had pushed by her and was on his way to the front of the
+house.
+
+"Goin'?" he repeated. "I'm goin' to have a look at those rooms of his.
+You'd better come with me, Sarah."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+
+The keeper of the livery stable was surprised. "Why, yes," he said, "Mr.
+Phillips was here a spell ago. He said he was cal'latin' to go to Trumet
+to-day on a business cruise, and he hired Josiah and the bay horse and
+buggy to get him over there. They left about ten o'clock, I should say
+'twas. I had a mind to ask him why he didn't take the train, but then I
+thought 'twould be poor business for a fellow that let teams, so I kept
+still. Hey? Ho, ho!"
+
+The captain, somewhat out of breath after his hurried walk from the
+Macomber home to the stable, pondered a moment "Did he have a valise or
+satchel or anything with him?" he asked.
+
+"No. Nothin' but his cane. Couldn't navigate a yard without his cane
+that feller couldn't, seemed so. Looked kind of spruced up, too. Dressed
+in his best bib and tucker, he was, beaver hat and all. Cal'late he must
+be goin' to see his best girl, eh. Ho, ho! Guess not though; from what I
+hear his best girl's down to the Fair Harbor."
+
+Kendrick pondered a moment longer.
+
+"Did he pay for the team?" he inquired.
+
+"Hey? Yus, paid in advance, spot cash. But what you askin' all this for,
+Cap'n? Wanted to see him afore he went, did you?"
+
+Sears nodded. "Just a business matter," he explained, and walked away.
+He did not walk far, only to the corner. There on the low stone wall
+bordering on the east the property of Captain Orrin Eldridge, he seated
+himself to rest and cogitate.
+
+His cogitations were most unsatisfactory. They got him nowhere. He and
+his sister had pretty thoroughly inspected Egbert's quarters at the
+Macomber house. The Phillips trunk was still there, and the "horse
+pictures" and the photographs of Lobelia's charming lady friends! but
+there was precious little else. Toilet articles, collars, ties and more
+intimate articles of wearing apparel were missing and, except for a
+light coat and a summer suit of clothes, the closets were empty. And, as
+Sarah had said, the two valises had vanished. Egbert had told his
+landlady he was going to Trumet; he had told the livery man the same
+thing. But by far the easiest way to reach Trumet was by train. Why had
+he chosen to be driven there over a long and very bad road? And _what_
+had become of the valises?
+
+And then occurred the second of a series of incidents which had a marked
+and helpful bearing up Captain Kendrick's actions that day. He said
+afterwards that, for the first time since his railway accident, he
+really began to believe the tide of luck was turning in his direction.
+The first of those incidents had been his meeting and talk with Captain
+Elkanah. That had sent him hurrying to the Macombers' earlier than he
+intended. The second incident was that now, as he sat there on the
+Eldridge wall, down the road came the Minot truck wagon with the Foam
+Flake in the shafts and Judah Cahoon swinging and jolting on the seat.
+
+Judah spied him and hailed.
+
+"Ahoy, there, Cap'n Sears!" he shouted, pulling the old horse to a
+standstill. "Thought you was down to Sary's long ago. What you doin' on
+that wall--gone to roost so early in the day?"
+
+The captain smiled. "Not exactly, Judah," he replied. "But what are you
+doin' 'way back here? I thought you were haulin' Seth Bangs's wood for
+him."
+
+"Huh!" in disgust; "I thought I was, too, but there was some kind of
+mix-up in the time. Cal'late 'twas that Hannah Bangs that muddled
+it--she could muddle a cake of ice, that woman. Kind of born with a
+knack for makin' mistakes, she is; and she's the biggest mistake
+herself, 'cordin' to my notion. Seems 'twas to-morrow, not to-day, Seth
+expected me to come."
+
+"Humph! So you had your cruise up there for nothin'?"
+
+"Yus. Creepin', jumpin'! Think of it, Cap'n. I navigated this
+old--er--er--spavin-rack 'way up to where them folks live, three mile on
+the Denboro road 'tis, and then had to come about and beat for home
+again. I ... Oh, say I sighted a chum of ours up along that way. Who do
+you cal'late 'twas, Cap'n Sears? Old Eg, that's who. Togged out from
+truck to keelson as usual, beaver and all, and----"
+
+"Here! Hold up! What's that, Judah? You saw Phillips up on the Denboro
+road, you say? What was he doin' there? When did you see him?"
+
+"'Bout an hour ago, or such matter. He was aboard one of the livery
+stable teams and that Josiah Ellis was pilotin' him. I sung out to
+Josiah, but he never answered. Says I----"
+
+"Sshh! Where were they bound; do you know?"
+
+"Denboro, I presume likely. That's the only place there is to be bound
+to, on that road; 'less you're goin' perchin' up to Seabury's Pond, and
+folks don't do much perchin' in December. Not with beaver hats on,
+anyhow. Haw, haw! Eg and Josiah was all jammed up together on the buggy
+seat, with two big valises crammed in alongside of 'em, and ... Hi!
+What's the matter, Cap'n Sears? What's your hurry?"
+
+The captain did not answer. He _was_ hurrying--hurrying back to the
+livery stable. Half an hour later he, too, was on the seat of a hired
+buggy, driving the best horse the stable afforded up the lonely road
+leading to Denboro.
+
+He met no one on that road--which winds and twists over the hills and
+through the wooded hollows from one side of the Cape to the other--until
+he was within a mile of Denboro village. Then he saw another horse and
+buggy approaching his. He recognized the occupant of that buggy long
+before he himself was recognized.
+
+"Hi!" he shouted, as the two vehicles came near each other. "Hi! Josiah!
+Josiah Ellis!"
+
+Josiah, serenely dozing, his feet propped against the dash and his cap
+over his eyes, came slowly to life.
+
+"Hey?" he murmured, drowsily. "Yes; here I be.... Eh! What's the matter?
+Why, hello, Cap'n Kendrick, that you?"
+
+"Whoa!" ordered the captain, addressing his own horse, who came to a
+standstill beside that driven by the other. "Stop, Josiah! Come up into
+the wind a minute, I want to speak to you. What have you done with
+Phillips?"
+
+Josiah was surprised. "Why, how did you know I had Mr. Phillips aboard?"
+he asked. "Oh, I presume likely they told you at the stable. But how did
+you know he was goin' to Denboro? _I_ never knew it till after we
+started. When we left port I supposed 'twas Trumet we was bound for, but
+we hadn't much more'n got under way when Mr. Phillips says he's changed
+his mind and wants to come over here. Didn't make no difference to _me_,
+of course. I get my wages, Saturday nights, just the same whether----"
+
+"Where is Phillips now?"
+
+"I was tellin' you. So we came about and headed for Denboro. Next thing
+we had to haul up abreast of that old tumbledown shed at the end of
+Tabby Crosby's lot there by the meetin'-house while Mr. Phillips hopped
+out and got a couple of great big satchels he'd left there. Big as
+trunks they was, pretty nigh, and time he got them stowed in here there
+wan't no room for knees nor feet nor nawthin' else seurcely. But,
+finally----"
+
+"Hold on! Why did he have his dunnage in Tabitha Crosby's shed?"
+
+"That's what _I_ couldn't make out. He said he left 'em there so's not
+to have to go out of our way to get 'em at Joe Macomber's. But it's
+about as nigh to Joe's as 'tis to Tabby's, seems to me. Seemed funny
+enough, that did, but 'twan't no funnier than comin' way over to the
+Denboro depot to take the same train he might have took just as well at
+Bayport. _I_ couldn't make it out. Can you, Cap'n Kendrick?"
+
+"Did you leave him at the Denboro depot?"
+
+"Yus. 'Bout an hour ago, or such matter. And the up train ain't due till
+four, and it's only half-past twelve now. I stopped at the Denboro House
+to get some diner. A feller has to eat once in a while, even if he ain't
+rich. And talk about chargin' high prices! All I had was some chowder
+and a piece of pie and tea, and I swan if they didn't stick me
+thirty-five cents! Yes, sir, thirty-five cents! And the pie was
+dried-apple at that. Don't talk to me no more about that Denboro House!
+If I ever----"
+
+Kendrick heard no more. He was on his way to the railway station at
+Denboro. The mystery of the valises was, in one way, explained; in
+another it was more mysterious than ever. Evidently Phillips must have
+taken them from his rooms either early that morning or during the
+night--probably the latter--and hidden them in the Crosby shed. But why?
+
+Denboro was a sleepy little village and at that hour on that raw
+December day the railway station was as sleepy as the rest of it. The
+station agent, who was also the telegraph operator, was locking his door
+preparatory to going home for dinner. He and the captain were old
+acquaintances. In days gone by he had sailed as second mate aboard a
+bark which Kendrick commanded. Now, retired from the sea, he was depot
+master and pound-keeper and constable in his native town. And, like most
+of Sears' shipmates, he was glad to see his former skipper.
+
+They shook hands, exchanged observations concerning the weather, and
+then the depot master asked what he could do for his friend.
+
+"I'm lookin' for a man named Phillips," explained Kendrick. "Josiah
+Ellis--fellow that drives for the livery stable over home--told me he
+left him here at your depot, Jim. About an hour ago, Josiah said it was.
+He doesn't seem to be here now; do you know where he's gone?"
+
+Jim rubbed his chin. "Tall feller, thin, long mustache, beaver hat,
+talks important and patronizin' like a combination of Admiral Farragut
+and the Angel Gabriel?" he inquired.
+
+"That's the man."
+
+"He was here. Left them two valises yonder in my care. He's comin' back
+in time to take the three-fifteen."
+
+"Three-fifteen? I thought the up train left here at half-past four or
+somethin' like that."
+
+"The reg'lar train does. But there's a kind of combination, three or
+four freight and one passenger car, that comes up from Hyannis and goes
+on ahead of the other. It don't go only to Middleboro. He said he was
+cal'latin' to take that. I had a notion he was goin' to change at
+Middleboro and go somewheres else from there."
+
+"I see. Yes, yes. And you don't know where he is now?"
+
+"Well, he asked where was the best place to eat and I told him some went
+to the hotel and some to Amanda Warren's boardin'-house. 'Most of 'em
+only go to the hotel once, though,' says I. I guess likely you'll find
+him at Amanda's."
+
+So to Mrs. Warren's boarding-house the captain drove. The lady herself
+opened the door for him. Yes, the gentleman described had been there.
+Yes, he had eaten dinner and gone.
+
+"Do you know where he has gone?" asked Kendrick.
+
+Mrs. Warren nodded. "He asked me where Mr. Backus, the Methodist
+minister, lived," she said. "He was real particular to find out how to
+get there, so I guess that's where he was bound."
+
+The Methodist minister! Why on earth Egbert Phillips should go to the
+home of a minister was another mystery beyond Sears Kendrick's power of
+surmise. However, he too inquired the way to the Backus domicile and
+once more took up the chase.
+
+The Methodist parsonage was a neat little white house, green-shuttered,
+and with a white picket fence inclosing its little front yard. It being
+the home of a clergyman, Sears ventured to knock at the front door;
+otherwise he would, of course, have gone around to the side entrance.
+
+A white-haired little woman answered the knock. No, Mr. Backus was out,
+but he was expected back very soon. He had an appointment at two, so she
+was sure he would be in by that time. Would the captain come in and
+wait? There was another gentleman now in the parlor waiting. Yes, a tall
+gentleman with a mustache.
+
+At last! Another minute, and Captain Kendrick, entering the Backus
+parlor, came face to face with the elusive object of his search, Mr.
+Egbert Phillips.
+
+Egbert was sitting in a rocking chair by the marble-topped center table.
+A plush-covered photograph album was on that table and he was languidly
+turning its pages and inspecting, with a smile of tolerant amusement,
+the likenesses of the Backus friends and relatives. As the door opened
+he turned, his smile changing to one of greeting.
+
+"Ah, Mr. Backus----" he began. And then he stopped. It was the captain
+who smiled now. His smile was as genial as a summer morn.
+
+"Good afternoon, Mr. Phillips," he said. "How are you, sir?"
+
+He stepped forward with extended hand. Still Egbert stood and stared.
+The photograph album, imperfectly balanced on the edge of the table,
+slipped to the floor.
+
+The clergyman's wife seemed a trifle puzzled and perturbed by the
+Phillips expression and attitude.
+
+"This gentleman said----" she began. "He said you and he----"
+
+Kendrick helped her to finish: "I told the lady," he put in cheerfully,
+"that I had come 'way over from Bayport to see you about a little
+matter. I said we knew each other pretty well and I was sure you'd be
+glad to see me, even if I was kind of unexpected.... Excuse me, but
+you've dropped your picture book."
+
+He stooped, picked up the album and replaced it on the table. This
+action occupied but a moment of time, nevertheless in that moment a
+portion at least of Egbert's poise returned. His smile might have been
+a bit uncertain, but it was a smile. And when Sears again extended his
+hand his own came to meet it.
+
+"Of course, of course," he said. "Yes--ah--yes, indeed. How do you do,
+Kendrick?"
+
+The captain beamed. "Oh, I'm feelin' tip-top," he declared. "The sight
+of you is enough to make me well, even if I was sick--which I'm not. Now
+if you and I might have a little talk?"
+
+Mrs. Backus was anxious to oblige.
+
+"You make yourselves right at home in here," she said. "If my husband
+comes I'll tell him to wait until you're through. Take all the time you
+want."
+
+She was at the threshold, but Phillips detained her.
+
+"Pardon me," he said, hastily, "but we mustn't abuse your hospitality to
+that extent. This--ah--gentleman and I can talk just as well out of
+doors. Really, I----"
+
+"Oh, no! You must stay right here. Please do. It isn't the least
+trouble."
+
+She went and the door closed behind her. Egbert glanced at the clock on
+the mantel and frowned. Captain Kendrick continued to smile.
+
+"And here we are at last," he observed. "Quiet and sociable as you
+please. Sit down, Mr. Phillips, sit down."
+
+But Egbert did not sit. He glanced at the clock once more and then at
+his watch.
+
+"Sit down," repeated the captain. "I've been cruisin' so much this
+forenoon that I'm glad of the chance to sit. From what I've been able to
+learn you've been movin' pretty lively, too. A little rest won't do
+either of us any harm. Sit down, Mr. Phillips. Take the rocker."
+
+Phillips walked to the front window, looked out, hesitated, and then,
+returning, did take the rocker. He looked at his fellow-townsman.
+
+"Well?" he asked.
+
+Kendrick nodded. "Yes," he agreed, "it is well, real well, now that I've
+caught up with you. I'll say this for you, you're as good a craft for
+leavin' a crooked wake as any I ever chased. For a while there you had
+me hull down. But I'm here now--and so are you."
+
+Egbert's slim hand slowly stroked his mustache.
+
+"There appears to be some truth in that remark," he declared. "We do
+seem to be here--yes.... But----"
+
+"But you are wonderin' why _I_ am here? Well, to be honest, I came to
+find you. I judged that you were thinkin' of leavin' us--for a spell,
+anyhow--and before you went I wanted to talk with you, that's all."
+
+A pause, and more mustache stroking. The two men regarded each other;
+the captain blandly beaming, Phillips evidently pondering.
+
+"I don't know," he said, at last, "what you may mean by my thinking of
+leaving you. However, that is not material, and I am always delighted to
+see you, of course. But as I am rather busy this afternoon perhaps
+you'll be good enough to come to the point.... If there is a point."
+
+"Yes, there is. Oh, yes, there's a point. Two or three points."
+
+"Indeed! How interesting. And what are they? Please be as--ah--brief as
+you can."
+
+Sears crossed his legs. All this had been but preliminary maneuvering.
+Here now was the real beginning of the fight; and he realized only too
+keenly that his side in that fight was tremendously short of ammunition.
+But he did not mean that his adversary should guess that fact, and with
+the smiling serenity of absolute confidence he fired the opening gun.
+
+"Egbert," he began--"you don't mind my callin' you Egbert? Knowin' you
+as well as I do, it seems foolish to stand on ceremony, don't you think?
+You don't mind?"
+
+"Not at all. Charmed, I'm sure.... Well?"
+
+"Well--yes. We've got a good many mutual friends--you and I, Egbert. One
+of 'em is named George Kent. He's a great friend of both of us. Nice
+boy, too."
+
+At the mention of the name the Phillips hand, caressing the Phillips
+mustache, paused momentarily. But it resumed operations almost at once.
+Other than this there was no sign of perturbation on its owner's part.
+He slowly shook his head.
+
+"My _dear_ Captain Kendrick----" he drawled.
+
+"Oh, call me Sears. _Don't_ be formal."
+
+"My dear man, if it is possible for you to come to the point? Without
+too great a strain on your--ah--intellect?"
+
+"I'm comin', Egbert. Right abreast there now. George--our mutual
+friend--is in trouble. He has used some money that he can't spare, used
+it in a stock deal. I won't go into the particulars because you know 'em
+just as well as I do. You got him into the trouble in the first place, I
+understand. Now, to a man up a tree, as the boys say, it would seem as
+if you ought to be the one to get him out. Particularly as you are his
+very best friend. Don't you think so?"
+
+Egbert sighed before answering, a sigh of utter weariness.
+
+"And may I ask if _this_ is the--ah--point?" he inquired.
+
+"Why, yes--I guess so. In a way."
+
+"And you are acting as our young friend's representative? He has seen
+fit to take you into his confidence concerning a matter which was
+supposed to be a business secret between--ah--gentlemen?"
+
+"I could see he was in trouble and I offered to do what I could to help.
+Then he told me the whole thing."
+
+"Indeed? A changeable youth. When I last heard him mention your name it
+was not--pardon me--in a--shall we say strictly affectionate tone?"
+
+"That so? Too bad. But we are all liable to be mistaken in our
+judgments. Men--and women, too."
+
+Again there was a slight pause; Egbert was regarding the speaker
+intently. The latter's countenance was about as expressive as that of a
+wooden idol, a good-natured one. Mr. Phillips glanced once more at the
+clock, languidly closed his eyes, opened them, sighed for the third
+time, and then spoke.
+
+"So I am to understand that our--ah--juvenile acquaintance has turned
+his business affairs over to you," he said. "I congratulate him, I'm
+sure. The marked success which you have attained in the--ah--management
+of--ah--other business affairs has inspired him with perfect trust,
+doubtless."
+
+"That must be it. The average man has to trust somebody and I gathered
+that _some_ trusts of his were beginnin' to slip their moorin's.
+However, here's the situation. You got him to buy some stock on margin.
+The stock, instead of goin' up, as you prophesied, went down. You
+suggested his puttin' up more margin. He'd used all his own money, so he
+used some belonging to some one else. Now he's in trouble, bad trouble.
+What are you goin' to do about it?"
+
+"I? My dear man, what should I do about it? What can I do? I have
+explained my situation to him. I am, owing to circumstances and
+the--ah--machinations of certain individuals--both circumstances and
+individuals of your acquaintance, I believe--in a most unfortunate
+position financially. I have no money, or very little. Our--your young
+protege wished to risk some of his money in a certain speculation. I did
+the same. The speculation was considered good at the time. I still
+consider it good, although profit may be deferred. He took the risk with
+his eyes open. He is of age. He is not a child, although--pardon
+me--this new action of his might lead one to think him such. I am sorry
+for him, but I do not consider myself at all responsible."
+
+"I see. But he has used money which wasn't his to speculate with."
+
+"I am sorry, deeply sorry. But--is that my fault?
+
+"Well, that might be a question, mightn't it? You knew he was usin' that
+money?"
+
+"Pardon me--pardon me, Kendrick; but is that--ah--strictly true?"
+
+"Well, he says it is. However, the question is just this: Will you help
+him out by buyin' up his share in this C. M. deal? Pay him back his
+sixteen hundred and take the whole thing over yourself?"
+
+Mr. Phillips for the first time permitted himself the luxury of a real
+smile.
+
+"My _dear_ man," he observed, "you're not seriously offering such a
+proposition as that, are you? You must be joking."
+
+"It's no joke to poor George. And he's only a boy, after all. You
+wouldn't want him to go to jail."
+
+The smile disappeared. "I should be pained," protested Egbert, and
+proved it by looking pained. "It would grieve me deeply. But I can't
+think such a contingency possible. No, no; not possible. And in time--my
+brokers assure me a very short time--the stock will advance."
+
+"And you won't take over his share and get all that profit yourself?"
+
+"I can't. It is impossible. I am so sorry. In former days--" with a
+gesture of resignation--"it would have been quite possible. Then I
+should have been delighted. But now.... However, you must, as a man of
+the world, see that all this is quite absurd. And it is painful to me,
+as a friend--still a friend of young Kent's. Pardon me again, but I am
+busy this afternoon and----"
+
+He rose. Sears did not rise. He remained seated.
+
+"Jail's a mean place," he remarked, with apparent irrelevance. "I'd hate
+to go there myself. So would you, I'll bet."
+
+Another pause on Phillips' part. Then another wearied smile.
+
+"Do you--ah--foresee any likelihood of either of us arriving at that
+destination?" he inquired.
+
+"Well, _I'm_ hopin' to stay out, for a spell anyway. Mr.
+Phillips--Egbert--yes, yes, Egbert, of course; we're gettin' better
+acquainted all the time, so we just mustn't stand on ceremony. Egbert,
+how about those City of Boston 4-1/2s you put up as security over there
+in New York? What are you goin' to do about _them_?"
+
+Egbert had strolled to the window and was looking out. He continued to
+look out. The captain, his gaze fixed upon the beautifully draped, even
+though the least bit shiny, shoulders of the Phillips' coat, watched
+eagerly for some shiver, some sign of agitation, however slight. But
+there was none. The sole indication that the shot just fired had had
+any effect was the length of time Egbert took before turning. When he
+did turn he was still blandly smiling. He walked back to the rocker and
+settled himself upon its patchwork cushion.
+
+"Yes?" he queried. "You were saying----"
+
+"I was speakin' of those two one thousand dollar City of Boston bonds
+you sent your brokers, you know. Would you mind tellin' me how you got
+those bonds?"
+
+Mr Phillips lifted one slim leg over the other. He lifted two slim hands
+and placed their finger tips together.
+
+"Kendrick," he asked, "you will pardon me for speaking plainly? Thank
+you so much. I have already listened to you for some time--more time
+than I should have spared. For some reason you have--ah--seen fit
+to--shall we say pursue me here. Having found me, you make a
+most--pardon me again--unreasonable and childish demand on the part of
+young Kent. I cannot grant it. Now is there any use wasting more time by
+asking--pardon me once more--impertinent questions concerning my
+affairs? You can scarcely--well, even you, my dear Kendrick, can hardly
+expect me to answer them. Don't you think this--ah--extremely pleasant
+interview had better end pleasantly--by ending now?"
+
+He would have risen once more, but Sears motioned him to remain in the
+rocker. The captain leaned forward.
+
+"Egbert," he said briskly, "I'm busy, too; but I have spent a good many
+hours and some dollars to get at you and I shan't leave you until I get
+at least a part of what I came after. Those Boston bonds----"
+
+"Are my property, sir."
+
+"Well, I don't know. The last anybody heard they were the property of
+Mrs. Cordelia Berry. Now you say they're yours. That's one of the
+matters to be settled before you and I part company, Egbert."
+
+Mr. Phillips' aristocratic form stiffened. Slowly he rose to his feet.
+
+"You are insulting," he proclaimed. "That will do. There is the door."
+
+"Yes, I see it. It's a nice door; the grainin' on it seems to be pretty
+well done. How did you get hold of those bonds, Egbert?"
+
+"If you don't go, I shall."
+
+"All right. Then I'll go with you. You shan't take the three-fifteen or
+any other train till we've settled this and some other questions. Oh,
+it's a fact. No hard feelin', you know; just business, that's all."
+
+Egbert moved toward the door. His caller rose to follow him. The captain
+often wondered afterward whether or not Phillips would really have left
+the room if there had been no interruption. The question remained a
+question because at that moment there was a knock on the other side of
+the door. It had a marked effect upon Egbert. He started, frowned and
+shot another glance at the clock.
+
+"Excuse me," said Mrs. Backus, opening the door a crack, "but my husband
+has come."
+
+Phillips seemed relieved, yet troubled, too.
+
+"Yes--ah--yes," he said. "Will you kindly ask him to wait? Thank you."
+
+The lady closed the door again. Egbert took a turn across the room and
+back. Kendrick smiled cheerfully.
+
+"About those bonds?" he observed.
+
+Phillips faced him.
+
+"The bonds," he declared, "are mine. How I got them is not your business
+in the least."
+
+"Just a minute, just a minute. Cordelia Berry----"
+
+"Did Mrs. Berry tell you that I had them?"
+
+"No need to bother with that part of it now. I know."
+
+"But she did not give you authority to come to me about them? Don't
+pretend she did; I know better."
+
+"I'm not goin' to pretend--that. She didn't."
+
+"Humph!" with a sneer; "perhaps your authority comes from some one else.
+Her daughter, maybe? You and she are--or shall we say _were_--quite
+touchingly confidential at one time, I believe."
+
+The tone and the remark were mistakes; it would have been much better
+for the Phillips cause if the speaker had continued to be loftily
+condescending. Sears kept a grip on his temper, but his own tone changed
+as he replied.
+
+"Egbert," he said sharply, "look here. The facts, as far as a man
+without a spyglass can sight 'em through the fog, are just these: You
+got George Kent into a stock trade. He put up money--real money. You put
+up two thousand dollars in bonds and, because that was more than your
+share, he paid you four hundred dollars in cash. The last anybody knew
+the two bonds you put up were the property of Cordelia Berry. I want to
+know how you got hold of 'em."
+
+"Am I to understand that you are accusing me of _stealing_ those bonds?"
+
+"I'm not accusin' you of anything in particular. George has put this
+affair of his in my hands; I've got what amounts to his signed power of
+attorney in my pocket. If those bonds are yours, and you can prove it,
+then I shan't say any more about 'em. If they still belong to
+Cordelia--well, that's another question, one I mean to have the answer
+to before you and I part company."
+
+"Kendrick, I---- Do you realize that I can have you arrested for this?"
+
+"I don't know. But it does seem to me that if those bonds aren't your
+property then you had no right to pledge 'em in that stock deal. And
+that your takin' Kent's four hundred dollars in part payment for 'em
+comes pretty nigh to what a lawyer would call gettin' money under false
+pretenses. So the arrests might be even-Stephen, so far as that goes."
+
+This was the sheerest "bluff," but it was delivered with all the
+assurance in the world. It had not precisely the effect Sears had hoped
+for. Egbert did not seem so much frightened as annoyed by it. He
+frowned, walked across the room and back, looked at the clock, then out
+of the window, and finally turned to his opponent.
+
+"Recognizing, of course," he sneered, "the fact that all this is
+absolutely none of your business, Kendrick; may I ask why you didn't
+come to me in Bayport instead of here?"
+
+The captain's smile returned. "I did try to come, Egbert," he answered.
+"But you had gone and so had the things in your room. You told Sarah and
+the stable folks you were goin' to Trumet. When I found you hadn't gone
+there, but were bound for here--after hidin' your valises over night in
+Tabby Crosby's shed--I decided you might be goin' even farther than
+Denboro, and that if I wanted to see you pretty soon--or ever,
+maybe--I'd better hoist sail and travel fast. When the depot folks told
+me you were askin' about the three-fifteen I felt confirmed in my
+judgments, as the fellow said. Now if you'll tell me about those bonds?"
+
+Another turn by Phillips across the parlor and back. Then he asked, with
+sarcasm, "If I were to tell you that those bonds were given me by Mrs.
+Berry, you wouldn't believe it, I presume?"
+
+"We-ll, I'd like to hear a little testimony from Cordelia first."
+
+"May I ask why you did not go to her instead of to me?"
+
+"I didn't have a chance. You got away too soon."
+
+"Possibly you may have thought that she, too, would consider it none of
+your business. And, since you won't take my word, how do you expect me
+to prove--here in Denboro that those bonds are mine?"
+
+"I don't know. But if it can't be proved in Denboro, then I'm afraid,
+Egbert, that you'll have to go back to Bayport with me and prove it
+there.... Oh, I know you'd hate to go, but----"
+
+"Go! I flatly refuse to go, of course."
+
+"I was afraid you would. Well, then I'd have to call in the constable to
+help get you under way. Jim Baker, the depot master, is constable here
+in Denboro. He and I were shipmates. He'd arrest the prophet Elijah if I
+asked him to, and not ask why, either."
+
+"Kendrick----"
+
+"Egbert, a spell ago you and I had a little chat together and I told you
+I had just begun to fight.... Well, I haven't really begun yet, but I'm
+gettin' up steam.... Think it over."
+
+Phillips stopped and, standing by the window, stared fixedly at the
+captain. The latter met the stare with a look of the blandest serenity.
+Behind the look, however, were feelings vastly different. If ever a
+forlorn hope skated upon thin ice, his and George Kent's was doing so at
+that moment. If Egbert _should_ agree to return to Bayport, and if his
+statement concerning the ownership of the Boston bonds _was_ true,
+then--well, then it would not be Mr. Phillips who might receive the
+attentions of the constable.
+
+Egbert stopped staring and once more looked at the clock. Quarter past
+two! He turned again quickly.
+
+"Kendrick," he snapped, "what _is_ your proposition?"
+
+"My proposition? I want you to pay me the sixteen hundred dollars Kent
+put into that C. M. stock deal. If you do that I'll give you his signed
+paper turnin' over to you all interest in the deal. You can make all the
+profit on it yourself--when it comes. Then in matter of Cordelia's
+bonds----"
+
+Phillips lifted a hand.
+
+"The bonds are not to be considered," he said, decisively. "If they are
+mine, as I say they are, you have no claim on them. If they are Mrs.
+Berry's, as you absurdly pretend to think they are, again you have no
+claim. If she says I have stolen them--which she won't--she may
+prosecute; but, again, my dear sir, she--ah--won't."
+
+The slight smile accompanying the last sentence troubled the captain. It
+was not the smile of a frightened man. Before he could reply Egbert
+continued.
+
+"But the bond matter may be settled later," he went on. "So far as I am
+concerned it is settled now. For our--ah--foolish young friend, Kent,
+however, I feel a certain sense of--shall we say pity?--and am inclined
+to make certain confessions. Silly sentimentalism on my part,
+doubtless--but pity, nevertheless. If you will give me the paper signed
+by him, which you claim to have, relinquishing all share in the stock at
+the New York brokers, I will--well, yes, I will pay you the sixteen
+hundred dollars."
+
+It was Sears Kendrick who was staggered now. It was his turn to stare.
+
+"You will pay me sixteen hundred dollars--_now_?" he gasped.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"But--but.... Humph! Well, thanks, Egbert--but your check, you know----"
+
+"I have no time to waste in drawing checks. I will pay you in cash."
+
+And, as Sears's already wide-open eyes opened wider and wider, he calmly
+took from his coat a pocketbook hugely obese and extracted from that
+pocketbook a mammoth roll of bank notes.
+
+Ten minutes later the captain was again moving along the road between
+Denboro and Bayport, bound home this time. He was driving mechanically;
+the horse was acting as his own pilot, for the man who held the reins
+was too much engrossed in thought to pay attention to such
+inconsequential matters as ruts or even roads. Sears was doing his best
+to find the answer to a riddle and, so far, the answer was as deeply
+shrouded in mist as ever a ship of his had been on any sea.
+
+He was satisfied in one way, more than satisfied. His demand for the
+full sixteen hundred had been made with no real hope. Had Phillips
+consented to return eight hundred dollars of the amount, the offer would
+in the end have been accepted with outward reluctance but inward joy.
+Had he refused to return a penny Kendrick would not have been surprised.
+But Egbert, after making up his mind, had paid the entire sum without a
+whimper, had paid it almost casually and with the air of one obliging a
+well-meaning, if somewhat annoying, inferior. Inspecting and pocketing
+Kent's power of attorney and the captain's receipt he had dismissed his
+visitor at the parsonage door as King Solomon in all his glory might
+have graciously dismissed a beggar whose petition had been granted. And
+the look in his eye and the half smile beneath the long mustache were
+not those of one beaten at a game--no, they were not.
+
+The recollection of that look and that smile bothered Sears Kendrick. He
+could not guess what was behind them. One thing seemed to be certain,
+his threats of prosecution and his bluffs concerning the Boston bonds
+had not alarmed Phillips greatly. He had not given in because he was
+afraid of imprisonment. No; no, the only symptoms of nervousness he had
+shown were his repeated glances at the clock, at his watch, and when he
+looked out of the parsonage window. More and more the captain was forced
+to the conclusion that Egbert had paid him to get rid of him, that he
+did not wish to be detained or to have Kendrick remain there, and his
+reasons must have been so important that he was willing to part with
+sixteen hundred dollars to get his visitor out of the way.
+
+But what possible reason could be as important as that? Why had he run
+away from Bayport? Why was he taking the three-fifteen train--at
+Denboro? Why was he spending the time before the departure of that train
+in the parlor of the Methodist parsonage? And he had made an appointment
+with the minister himself. Was he expecting some one else at that
+parsonage?
+
+Eh? The captain straightened on the buggy seat. He spoke aloud one word,
+a name.
+
+"Cordelia!" he cried.
+
+For another five minutes Captain Sears Kendrick, his frown growing
+deeper and deeper as the conviction was forced upon him, sat motionless
+in the buggy. Then he spoke sharply to his horse, turned the latter
+about, and drove rapidly back to Denboro. He could do nothing worth
+while, he could prevent nothing, but he could answer that riddle. He
+believed he had answered it already.
+
+It was half-past three when he again knocked at the parsonage door. The
+Reverend Backus himself answered the knock.
+
+"Why, no," he said, "Mr. Phillips has gone. Yes, I think--I am sure he
+took the train. You are his friend, aren't you? I am sorry you missed
+the--er--happy event. Mrs. Phillips--the new Mrs. Phillips--is a
+charmingly refined lady, isn't she? And Mr. Phillips himself is _such_ a
+gentleman. I don't know when I have had the pleasure of--er--officiating
+at a pleasanter ceremony. I shall always remember it."
+
+Mrs. Backus looked over her husband's shoulder.
+
+"The bride came just after you left," she explained. "She was just a
+little late, she said; but it was all right, there was plenty of time.
+And she did look _so_ happy!"
+
+Captain Kendrick did not look happy. He had answered the riddle
+correctly. An elopement, of course. It was plain enough now. Oh, if he
+might have been there when that poor, silly, misguided woman arrived! He
+might not have been able to stop the marriage, but at least he
+could--and would--have told the bride a few pointed truths concerning
+the groom.
+
+Mrs. Backus, all smiles, asked her husband a question. "What did you say
+her name was, dear?" she asked.
+
+The minister hesitated. "Why--why--" he stammered, "it was---- Dear me,
+how forgetful I am!"
+
+Sears supplied the information.
+
+"Berry," he said, gloomily. "Cordelia Berry."
+
+Mr. Backus seemed surprised. "Why, no," he declared. "That doesn't sound
+like the name.... It wasn't. No, it wasn't. It was--I have it--Snowden.
+Miss Elvira Snowden--of Ostable, I believe."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+
+Not until Captain Kendrick entered the Minot kitchen late that afternoon
+did he get the full and complete answer to his puzzle. Judah supplied
+the missing details, supplied them with a rush, had evidently been
+bursting with them for hours.
+
+"My hoppin', creepin', jumpin' prophets, Cap'n Sears," he roared, before
+his lodger could speak a word, "if I ain't got the dumdest news to tell
+you now, then nobody ever had none!... You ain't heard it, Cap'n, have
+you? _Don't_ tell me you've heard it already! Have you?"
+
+Sears shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, Judah," he replied. "Have
+I?"
+
+"Hoppin' Henry! I _hope_ you ain't, 'cause I wanted to tell you myself.
+It's about Elviry Snowden. Have you heard anything about her?"
+
+"Why--well, what have _you_ heard?"
+
+"Heard! They heard it fust over to the Harbor about a couple of hours
+ago. Bradley, the Orham lawyer feller, he'd heard it and he come over to
+see Elizabeth about somethin' or 'nother and he told it to all hands.
+You know that aunt of Elviry's over to Ostable, the one that died last
+week? Well all hands had cal'lated she was kind of on her beam
+ends--poor, I mean. When her husband died, don't you recollect some
+property they owned over to Harniss was goin' to be sold to auction? All
+them iron images Elviry wanted to buy was part of 'em; don't you
+remember?"
+
+"Yes, I remember.
+
+"Sartin sure you do. Well, so fur as that goes them images wan't sold
+because the widow changed her mind about 'em and had 'em all carted
+over to another little place she owned in Ostable, and set up in the
+yard there. She's been livin' on this place in Ostable and everybody
+figgered she didn't have much money else she'd stayed in the big house
+in Harniss. But, by Henry, since she's died it's come out that she was
+rich. Yes, sir, rich! She'd saved every cent, you see; never spent
+nothin'. A reg'lar mouser, she was--miser, I mean. And who do you
+suppose she's left it all to? Elviry, by the creepin'! Yes, sir, every
+last cent to Elviry Snowden."
+
+"_No!!_"
+
+"Yes. Elviry's rich. 'Cordin' to Bradley's tell there's a lot of land
+and a house and barn, and all them iron images, and--wait; let me tell
+you--stocks, and things like that, and over ten thousand dollars cash in
+the bank, by Henry! In _cash_, where Elviry can get right aholt of it if
+she wants to. Much as thirty thousand, altogether, land and all. And....
+What in tunket are you laughin' at?"
+
+For Captain Kendrick had thrown himself into the rocking chair and was
+shaking the pans on the stove with peal after peal of laughter.
+
+It was so simple, so complete, and so wonderfully, gorgeously Egbertian.
+A little matter of arithmetic, that was all. Merely the substitution of
+twenty or thirty thousand dollars and a landed estate for five--no,
+three--thousand dollars and a somewhat cramped future at the Fair
+Harbor. The ladies in the case were incidental. When the choice was
+offered him the businesslike Phillips hesitated not a moment. He was on
+with the new love even before he was off with the old. And, in order to
+avoid the unpleasantness which was sure to ensue when the old found it
+out, he had arranged to be married at Denboro and to be far afield upon
+his wedding tour before the news reached Bayport.
+
+Everything was clear now. Elvira's windfall explained it all. It was her
+money which had paid Captain Elkanah, and Sarah Macomber, and the livery
+man, and no doubt many another of Egbert's little bills. It was her
+money that was paying the honeymoon expenses. And, of course, it was
+her sixteen hundred dollars which had just been handed to Sears Kendrick
+in the parlor of the parsonage.
+
+No wonder that, under the circumstances, Egbert had chosen to pay. It
+must have been a nerve-racking session for him, that interview with the
+captain. Each minute might bring his bride-to-be to the parsonage door,
+and if she learned before marriage of Cordelia's bonds and the
+Kent-Phillips stock speculation, not to mention the threatened arrest
+and consequent scandal, why--well, Elvira was fatuously smitten, but the
+chances were that the wedding would have been postponed, if nothing
+worse. No wonder Egbert preferred parting with a portion of his
+lady-love's fortune to the risk of parting with the lady herself--and
+the remainder of it.
+
+Sears did not tell Judah of the elopement. He did not feel like it,
+then. His had been a tiring day and the strain upon his own nerves not
+slight. He wanted to rest, he wanted to think, and he did not want to
+talk. Judah spared him the trouble; he did talking enough for two.
+
+After supper George Kent came hurrying into the yard. Sears had expected
+him and, when he came, led him into the "spare stateroom" and closed the
+door. Then, without any preliminaries, he took the sixteen hundred
+dollars from his wallet and gave them to him.
+
+"There's your money, George," he said.
+
+Kent could not believe it. He had come here, in the last stages of
+despair. This was practically his final day of grace. The afternoon mail
+had brought him another letter from his brother-in-law, making immediate
+demand and threatening drastic action within the week. He had come,
+haggard, nervous and trembling, ready to proclaim again his intention of
+self-destruction.
+
+He sat there, staring at the money in his hand, saying nothing. His face
+was as white as the clean towels on the captain's washstand. Kendrick,
+leaning forward, laid a hand on his knee.
+
+"Brace up, George," he ordered, sharply. "Don't let go of the wheel."
+
+Kent slowly lifted his gaze from the roll of bills to his friend's face.
+
+"You--you _got_ it!" he faltered.
+
+"_I_ got it--all of it. There's the whole sixteen hundred there. Count
+it."
+
+"But--but, oh, my God! I--I----"
+
+"Sshh! Steady as she is, George. Count your money. Put it on the table
+here by the lamp."
+
+He took the bills from Kent's shaking fingers, arranged them on the
+table and, at last, coaxed or drove the young man into beginning to
+count them. Of course it was Kendrick himself who really counted; his
+companion did little but pick up the bank notes and drop them again.
+Suddenly, in the midst of the performance, he stopped, put his hands to
+his face and burst into hysterical sobs.
+
+Sears let him cry for a time, merely stepping across to make sure that
+the bedroom door was tightly closed, and then standing above him with
+his hands on the bowed shoulders. After a little the sobs ceased. A
+moment later and George raised his head.
+
+"Oh!" he exclaimed. "What a--a kid I am!"
+
+Sears, who had been thinking pretty nearly that very thing, patted the
+shoulder beneath his hand.
+
+"All right, George," he said. "Bein' a kid is no crime. In fact, it has
+some advantages."
+
+"But--but, you see--I--I have been through purgatory this week, I----"
+
+"I know. But you're all through and out now."
+
+"Yes, I--I am. By George, I am, aren't I!... And you did it for me.
+_You_ did!"
+
+"Never mind that. I enjoyed doin' it. Yes," with a slight smile, "I had
+a pretty good time, take it by and large."
+
+"And you got the--the whole of it! The whole!"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"But I can't understand.... Did--Cap'n Kendrick, did you borrow it for
+me?"
+
+"No. I talked things over with your--er--side-partner and he decided to
+give it back."
+
+"To give it back! Mr. Phillips did, you mean? But he wouldn't give it to
+me. I begged him to. I should have been satisfied with half of it--my
+sister's half. Indeed I should! But he said he couldn't give it to me,
+he didn't have it to give. And--and you got him to give me the whole!
+Cap'n Kendrick, I--I can't understand."
+
+"You don't have to. There's your sixteen hundred. Now take it, and
+before you turn in this night you get ready to send your brother-in-law
+his half, and the papers that go with it, on the first mail. That's all
+I ask of you, George."
+
+"I'll have it in the post office as soon as it opens to-morrow morning.
+You bet I will!"
+
+"That's what I want to be able to bet. You send a money-order, that's
+safest. And--well, yes, George, you might show me the receipt."
+
+"I'll show it to you. You can keep it for me, if you want to."
+
+"Seein' it will do. And one thing more: you promise me now, on your word
+of honor, not to take any more of those stock market fliers for--well,
+for ten years, anyhow."
+
+Kent promised; he would have promised anything. His color had come back,
+his spirits were now as high as they had been low, and he was striding
+up and down the room like a mad thing.
+
+"But how did you get it for me?" he kept demanding. The captain bade him
+stop.
+
+"Never mind how I got it," he declared. "I got it, and you've got it,
+and you'll have to be satisfied with that. Don't ask me again, George."
+
+"I won't, but--but I can't understand Mr. Phillips giving it back. He
+didn't have to, you know. Say, I think it was mighty generous of him,
+after all. Don't you?"
+
+Sears's lip twitched. "It looks as if somebody was generous," he
+observed. "Now run along, George, and fix up that letter to your
+brother-in-law."
+
+"I'm going to. I'm going now. But, Cap'n Kendrick, I don't know what to
+say to you. I--why, great Scott, I can't begin to tell you how I feel
+about what you've done! I'd cut off my head for you; honest I would."
+
+"Cuttin' off your own head would be consider'ble of a job. Better keep
+your head on, George.... And use it once in a while."
+
+"You know what this means to me, Cap'n Kendrick. To my future and--and
+maybe some one else's future, too. Why, _now_ I can go--I can say----
+Oh, great Scott!"
+
+Kendrick opened the bedroom door. "Come now, George," he said. "Good
+night--and good luck."
+
+Kent would have said more, much more, even though Judah Cahoon was
+sitting, with ears and mouth open, in the kitchen. But the captain would
+not let him linger or speak. He helped him on with his coat and hat,
+and, with a slap on the back, literally pushed him out into the yard.
+Then he turned on his heel and striding again through the kitchen
+reëntered the spare stateroom and closed the door behind him. Judah
+shouted something about its being "not much more'n two bells"--meaning
+nine o'clock--but he received no answer.
+
+Judah did not retire until nearly eleven that night, but when, at last,
+he did go to his own room, there was a light still shining under the
+door of the spare stateroom and he could hear the captain's footsteps
+moving back and forth, back and forth, within. For two hours he had so
+heard them. Obviously the "old man" was pacing the deck, a pretty sure
+sign of rough weather present or expected. Mr. Cahoon was troubled, also
+disappointed. He would have liked to talk interminably concerning the
+sensational news of Miss Snowden's inheritance; he had not begun to
+exhaust the possibilities of that subject. Then, too, he was very
+anxious to learn where Captain Sears had been all day, and why. He tried
+in various ways to secure attention. But when, after singing eight
+verses of the most doleful ditty in his repertoire, he was not ordered
+to "shut up," was in fact ignored altogether, he quit disgusted. But, as
+he closed the door of his own bedchamber, he could still hear the
+regular footfalls in the spare stateroom.
+
+Had he listened for another hour or more he would have heard them. Sears
+Kendrick was tramping back and forth, his hands jammed in his pockets,
+and upon his spirit the blackest and deepest and densest of clouds. It
+was the reaction, of course. He was tired physically, but more tired
+mentally. All day long he had been under a sharp strain, now he was
+experiencing the let-down. But there was more than that. His campaign
+against Egbert Phillips had kept him interested. Now the fight was over
+and, although superficially he was the victor, in reality it was a
+question which side had won. He had saved George Kent's money and his
+good name. And Cordelia Berry's future was safe, too, although her two
+thousand dollars might be, and probably were, lost. But, after all, his
+was a poor sort of victory. Egbert was, doubtless, congratulating
+himself and chuckling over the outcome of the battle; with thirty
+thousand dollars and ease and comfort for the rest of his life, he could
+afford to chuckle. Kent's happiness was sure. He could go to Elizabeth
+now with clean hands and youth and hope. Perhaps he had gone to her
+already. That very evening he and she might be together once more.
+
+And for the man who had made this possible, what remained? Where were
+those silly hopes with which, at one time, he had deluded himself? He
+had dared to dream romance. Where was that romance now? Face to face
+with reality, what was to be _his_ future? More days and weeks and years
+of puttering with the penny-paring finances of a home for old women?
+
+He dressed next morning with a mind made up. He had dallied and
+deliberated and wished long enough. Now he _knew_. His stay in Bayport
+was practically ended. Give him a little time and luck enough to find a
+competent manager for the Fair Harbor, one with whom he believed Judge
+Knowles would have been satisfied, and he was through for good. He must
+play fair with the judge and then--then for the shipping offices of
+Boston or New York and a berth at sea. His health was almost normal;
+his battered limbs were nearly as sound as ever. He could handle a ship
+and he could handle men. His fights and sacrifices for others were
+finished, over and done with. Now he would fight for himself.
+
+His breakfast appetite was poor. Judah, aghast at the sight of his
+untouched plate, demanded to know if he was sick. The answer to the
+question was illuminating.
+
+"No," snapped the captain, "I'm not sick.... Yes, I am, too. I'm sick to
+death of this town and this place and this landlubber's job. Judah, are
+you goin' to spend the rest of your days playin' hired boy for Ogden
+Minot? Or are you comin' to sea again with me? Because to sea is where
+I'm goin'--and mighty quick."
+
+Judah's mouth opened. "Hoppin' Henry!" he gasped. "Why, Cap'n Sears----"
+
+"You don't _like_ this job, do you? Hadn't you rather have your own
+galley on board a decent ship? Are you a sea-man--or a washwoman? Don't
+you want to ship with me again?"
+
+"_Want_ to! Cap'n Sears, you know I'd rather go to sea along with you
+than--than be King of Rooshy. But you ain't fit to go to sea yet."
+
+"Shut up! Don't you dare say that again. And stand by to pack your sea
+chest when I give the order.... No, I don't want to argue. I won't
+argue. Clear out!"
+
+Mr. Cahoon, bewildered but obedient, cleared out. Not long afterward he
+drove away on the seat of the truck wagon to haul the Bangs wood, the
+task postponed from the previous day. Kendrick, left alone, lit a pipe
+and resumed his pacing up and down. Later on he took pen, ink and paper
+and seated himself at the table to write some letters to shipping
+merchants whose vessels he had commanded in the old days, the happy days
+before he gave up seafaring to become a poor imitation of a business man
+on shore.
+
+He composed these letters with care. Two were completed and the third
+was under way, when some one knocked at the other door. He laid down his
+pen impatiently. He did not want to be interrupted. If the visitor was
+Kent he did not feel like listening to more thanks. If it was Esther
+Tidditt she could unload her cargo of gossip at some other port.
+
+But the caller was neither George nor Esther. It was Elizabeth who
+entered the kitchen in answer to his command to "Come in." He rose to
+greet her. She looked pale--yes, and tired, but she smiled faintly as
+she bade him good morning.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," she said, "are you very busy? I suppose you are,
+but--but if you are not too busy I should like to talk with you for a
+few minutes. May I?"
+
+He nodded. "Of course," he said. "My business can wait a little longer;
+it has waited a good while, this particular business has. Sit down."
+
+She took the rocker. He sat at the other side of the table, waiting for
+her to speak. It came to him, the thought that, the last time she had
+visited that kitchen, she had left it vowing never to speak to him
+again. Well, at least that was over; she no longer believed him a spy,
+and all the rest of it. There was, or should be, some comfort for him in
+knowing that.
+
+Suddenly, just as she had done on the platform of the lawyer's office at
+Orham, she put out her hand.
+
+"Don't!" she pleaded.
+
+He started, confusedly. "Don't?" he stammered. "What?"
+
+"Don't think of--of what you were thinking. If you knew--oh, Cap'n
+Kendrick, if you could only realize how wicked I feel. Even when I said
+those dreadful things to you I didn't mean them. And now---- Oh,
+_please_ forget them, if you can."
+
+He drew a long breath. "I never saw any one like you," he declared. "How
+did you know what I was thinkin'? ... Of course I wasn't thinkin' it,
+but----"
+
+She interrupted. "Of course you were, you mean," she said, with a faint
+smile. "It isn't hard to know what you think. You don't hide your
+thoughts very well, Cap'n Kendrick. They aren't the kind one needs to
+hide."
+
+He stared at her in guilty amazement. "Good land!" he ejaculated,
+involuntarily. "Don't talk that way. What do you mean by that?"
+
+"I mean that your thoughts are always straightforward and--well, honest,
+like yourself.... But we mustn't waste time. I don't know when we shall
+have another opportunity to be together like this, and there are some
+things I must say to you. Cap'n Kendrick, you know--you have heard the
+news?"
+
+"News?... Oh, you mean about Elvira's inheritin' all that money?"
+
+"That, of course. But that wasn't the news I meant. I mean about her
+eloping with--with that man."
+
+Troubled even as Sears was at the sight of her evident distress, he
+could not but feel a thrill of satisfaction at the tone in which she
+referred to "that man." He nodded.
+
+"I've heard it," he said. "I guess likely I was about the first
+Bayporter that did hear it. When did you hear?"
+
+"A little while ago. He wrote--he wrote my mother a letter. It was at
+the post office this morning."
+
+"He did? He _didn't_! The low-lived scamp!"
+
+"Hush! Don't talk about him. Yes, he wrote her. _Such_ a letter! She
+showed it to me. So full of hypocrisy, and lies and--oh, can't you
+imagine what it was?"
+
+Kendrick's right fist tapped the table gently. "I guess likely I can,"
+he said, grimly. "Well, some of these days I may run afoul of Egbert
+again. When I do----" The fist closed a little tighter.
+
+"You won't touch him. Promise me you won't. If you should, I---- Oh,
+dear! I think I should be afraid to touch your hands afterwards."
+
+Sears smiled. "It might be safer to use my boot," he admitted. "Your
+mother--how is she?"
+
+"Can't you imagine? I think--I hope it is her pride that is hurt more
+than anything. For some little time--well, ever since I found out that
+she was lending him money--I have done my best to make her see what he
+really is. But before that--oh, there is no use pretending, for you
+know--she was insane about him. And now, with the shock and the
+disillusionment and the shame, she is---- Oh, it is dreadful!"
+
+"Do the--er--rest of 'em over there know it yet?"
+
+"No, but they will very soon. And when they do! You know what some of
+them are, what they will say. We can't stay there, mother and I. We must
+go away--and we will."
+
+She was crying, and if ever a man yearned for the rôle of comforter,
+Sears Kendrick was that man. He tried to say something, but he was
+afraid to trust his own tongue; it might run away with him. And before
+his attempt was at all coherent, she went on.
+
+"Don't mind me," she said, hastily wiping her eyes. "I am nervous, and I
+have been through a bad hour, and--and I am acting foolishly, of course.
+I know that this is, in a way, the very best thing that could happen.
+This ends it, so far as mother is concerned. Oh, it might have been _so_
+much worse! It looked as if it were going to be. Now she _knows_ what he
+is. I have known it, or been almost sure of it, for a long time. And you
+must have known it always, from the beginning. That is a part of what I
+came here for this morning. Please tell me how you knew and--and all
+about everything."
+
+So he told her, beginning with what Judge Knowles had said concerning
+Lobelia's husband, and continuing on to the end. She listened intently.
+
+"Yes," she said. "I see. I wish you could have told me at first. I think
+if I had known exactly how Judge Knowles felt I might not have been so
+foolish. But I should have known--I should have seen for myself. Of
+course I should. To think that I ever believed in such a creature, and
+trusted him, and permitted him to influence me against--against a friend
+like you. Oh, I must have been crazy!"
+
+Kendrick shook his head. "No craziness about that," he declared. "I've
+seen some smooth articles in my time, seen 'em afloat and ashore, from
+one end of this world to the other, but of all the slick ones he was
+the slickest. It's a good thing the judge warned me before Egbert
+crossed my bows. If he hadn't--well, I don't know; _I_ might have been
+lendin' him my last dollar, and proud of the chance--you can't tell....
+I'm sorry, though," he added, "that he got those bonds of your mother's.
+Borrowed 'em of her, you say?"
+
+"Yes. He was going to make better investments for her, I believe he
+said. But that doesn't make any difference. She has no receipts or
+anything to show. And of course if she should try to get them again
+there would be dreadful gossip, all sorts of things said. No, the bonds
+are gone and ... But how did you know about the bonds, Cap'n Kendrick?"
+
+Sears had momentarily forgotten. He had, during his story of his war
+with Phillips, carefully avoided mentioning Kent's trouble. He had told
+of chasing Egbert to Denboro, but the particular reason for the pursuit
+he had not told. He was taken aback and embarrassed.
+
+"Why--why----" he stammered.
+
+But she answered her own question. "Of course!" she cried. "I know how
+you knew. George said that--that that man had used some bonds as a part
+of their stock speculation. I didn't think then of mother's bonds. That
+is what he did with them. I see."
+
+The captain looked at her. Kent had told her of the C. M. deal. That
+meant that he had seen her, that already he had gone to her, to confess,
+to beg her pardon, to ... He sighed. Well, he should be glad, of course.
+He must pretend to be very glad.
+
+"So--so you've seen George?" he stammered.
+
+She colored slightly. "Yes," she answered. "He came to see me last
+evening.... Cap'n Kendrick you should hear him speak of you. You saved
+him from disgrace--and worse, he says. It was a wonderful thing to do.
+But I think you must be in the habit of doing wonderful things for other
+people."
+
+He shrugged his shoulders. "Nothin' very wonderful about it," he said.
+"George is a good boy. He hadn't bumped into any Egberts before, that's
+all. He'll be on the lookout for 'em now. I'm glad for him--and for
+you."
+
+If she understood what he meant she did not show any embarrassment.
+
+"I don't know that you need be so glad for me," she said. "Yet in a way
+I am glad. The problem is settled now, mother's and mine. She and I will
+go away."
+
+"Go away? From the Fair Harbor?"
+
+"Yes, and from Bayport. She has a little money left. Thanks to Judge
+Knowles, I have some of my own. She and I can live on the interest for a
+time, or until I can find a way to earn more."
+
+"But--but--George?"
+
+"I think George is going away, too. He spoke of Boston. But there is
+another thing I meant to say to you. I hate to leave you with the entire
+care of the Fair Harbor on your hands. I shall try and help you to find
+another matron before we go."
+
+Sears rose from his chair. "That's all right," he said, "that part of
+it. We'll try and find another outside manager at the same time. You
+see, you and your mother aren't the only ones who are quittin' Bayport.
+I'm goin', too."
+
+She turned to look at him. "_You_ are going?" she repeated, slowly.
+"Where?"
+
+"I don't know exactly. To sea, I hope. I'm well again, or next door to
+it. I mean to command another ship, if such a thing's possible."
+
+"But you are leaving the Fair Harbor. Why?"
+
+He turned on her almost fiercely. "Why?" he cried. "Don't you know why?
+Because I'm a man--or I was one--and I want to be a man again. On shore,
+I'm--well, I'm a good deal of a failure, I guess; but on salt water I
+count for somethin'. I'm goin' to sea where I belong."
+
+He strode to the window and stood there, looking out. He heard her rise,
+heard her step beside him. Then he felt her hand upon his.
+
+"I'm glad for you," she said, simply. "Very, very glad. I wish I were a
+man and could go, too."
+
+He did not look at her, he did not dare.
+
+"It's a rough life," he said, "but I like it."
+
+"I know.... So you will soon be really seeing again those things you
+told me about, the foreign cities and the people and those islands--and
+all the wonderful, wonderful places. And you won't have to fret about
+the grocery bills, or the mean little Fair Harbor gossip, or anything of
+the kind. You can just sail away and forget it all."
+
+"I shan't forget it all. There's a lot I never want to forget."
+
+There was an interval of silence here, an interval that, to the captain,
+seemed to last for ages. It must be broken, it must be or....
+
+"I shall think of you and George often enough," he announced, briskly.
+"Yes, indeed. And--and if it isn't too soon--that is, if you don't mind
+my bein' the first one--I'd like to congratulate you and wish you a
+smooth passage and a long one."
+
+She did not answer and he mustered courage to turn and look at her. She
+was looking at him and her expression was odd.
+
+"A smooth passage?" she repeated. "Why, Cap'n Kendrick, I'm not going to
+sea. What do you mean?"
+
+"I mean--well, I meant--er--oh, I was speakin' in parables, like a
+minister, you know. I was wishin' you and George a happy voyage through
+life, that's all."
+
+"George! Why, I am going away with my mother. George isn't.... Why,
+Cap'n Kendrick, you don't think--you can't think that George and I
+are--are----"
+
+"Eh? Aren't you? I thought----"
+
+She shook her head. "I told you once," she said. "I mean it. I like
+George well enough--sometimes I like him better than at others. But--oh,
+why can't you believe me?"
+
+He was staring at her with a gaze so intent, an expression so strange
+that she could not meet it. She turned away.
+
+"Please don't say any more about it," she begged.
+
+"But--but George is--he has counted on it. He told me----"
+
+"Don't. I don't know what he told you. I hope nothing foolish. He and I
+understand each other. Last night, when he came, I told him ... There, I
+must go, Cap'n Kendrick. I have left mother alone too long already."
+
+"Wait!" he shouted it. "You mean ... You aren't goin' to marry George
+Kent--_ever_?"
+
+"Why, no, of course not!"
+
+"Elizabeth--oh, my soul, I--I'm crazy, I guess--but--Elizabeth, could
+you---- No, you couldn't, I know.... But _am_ I crazy? Could you--do
+you--Elizabeth, if you ... _Stop_!"
+
+She was on her way to the door.
+
+He sprang after her, caught her hand.
+
+"Elizabeth," he cried, the words tumbling over each other, "I'm
+thirty-eight years old. I'm a sailor, that's all. I'm not much of a man,
+as men go maybe, sort of a failure so far. But--with you to work for and
+live for, I--I guess I could be--I feel as if I could be almost
+anything. Could you give me that chance? Could you?"
+
+She did not answer; did not even look at him. He dropped her hand.
+
+"Of course not," he sighed. "Just craziness was what it was. Forgive me,
+my girl. And--forget it, if you can."
+
+She did not speak. Slowly, and still without looking at him, she walked
+out of the kitchen. The outer door closed behind her. He put his hand to
+his eyes, breathed deeply, and returning to the chair by the table, sat
+heavily down.
+
+"A failure," he groaned aloud. "Lord Almighty, _what_ a failure!"
+
+He had not heard the door open, but he did hear her step, and felt her
+arms about his neck and her kiss upon his cheek.
+
+"Don't, don't, don't!" she sobbed. "Oh, my dear, don't say that. Don't
+ever say it again. Oh, you mustn't."
+
+And he did not. For the next half hour he said many other things, and
+so did she, and when at last she did go away, he stood in the doorway,
+looking after her, knowing himself to be not a failure, but the one real
+overwhelming success in all this gloriously successful world.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+
+It was April and one of those beautiful early spring days with which New
+England is sometimes favored. The first buds were showing on the trees,
+the first patches of new green were sprinkling the sheltered slopes of
+the little hills, and under the dead leaves by the edges of the woods
+boys had been rummaging for the first mayflowers.
+
+It was supper time at the Fair Harbor and the "guests"--quoting Mrs.
+Susannah Brackett--or the "inmates"--quoting Mr. Judah Cahoon--were
+seated about the table. There were some notable vacancies in the roster.
+At the head, where Mrs. Cordelia Berry had so graciously and for so long
+presided, there was now an empty chair. That chair would soon be filled,
+however; the new matron of the Harbor was at that moment in the office
+discussing business matters with Mr. Bradley, the new "outside manager."
+She had told the others not to wait for her; she would come to supper as
+soon as she could. So Mrs. Brackett, who had moved up to the seat once
+glorified by the dignity of Miss Elvira Snowden, was serving the cold
+corned beef; while opposite her, in the chair where Elizabeth Berry used
+to sit, Mrs. Aurora Chase was ladling forth the preserved pears. And, in
+the absence of the matron, it was of course natural that conversation
+should turn to subjects which could not be discussed as freely or
+pointedly in her presence.
+
+Miss Desire Peasley began the discussion. She looked at the ancient
+clock on the mantel. The time was a quarter to six.
+
+"H'm," sniffed Miss Peasley, with a one-sided smile. "I suppose likely
+the great event's took place long afore this. They're married and off on
+their honeymoon by now.... If you can call a cruise on board a ship
+bound to an outlandish place like Singapore a honeymoon. I took one
+voyage to Bombay with my brother, and 'twan't the honeymoon trip I'd
+pick out. _Such_ a place! And such folks! The clothes those poor
+heathens wore--or didn't wear! Shameful! Don't talk!"
+
+The order not to talk was plainly not considered binding, for every one
+immediately began to talk.
+
+"I should like to have seen the weddin'," proclaimed Mrs. Hattis Thomas,
+with a giggle. "Must have looked more like an adoptin' ceremony than a
+marryin'. I've always been thankful for one thing, I married a man
+somewheres nigh my own age, anyhow."
+
+"Wonder how Cordelia likes bein' left alone?" observed Mrs. Constance
+Cahoon. "She's been used to havin' a daughter to wait on her hand and
+foot. Now she'll have to wait on herself for a spell. But I presume
+likely she won't mind that. Livin' up to Boston, with the interest of
+twenty-five thousand dollars to live on, will suit her down to the
+ground. She'll be airy enough now. Won't speak to common folks, I
+suppose. Well, she won't have to put herself out to speak to _me_. _I_
+shan't go a-visitin' her, even if she begs me to."
+
+There was no immediate symptom of Mrs. Berry's begging for visitors, at
+least none present had so far received an invitation. But all nodded,
+indicating that they, too, would scorn the plea when it came.
+
+"That poor man!" sighed Mrs. Brackett, pityingly. "How those two, mother
+and daughter, did pull the wool over his eyes. I suppose he thinks we
+all believe he wouldn't take a cent of Elizabeth's money. Humph! Good
+reason why Jack wouldn't eat his supper--he didn't have a chance. Ha,
+ha! I cal'late he'd taken it if he could have got it. But his wife knew
+a trick worth two of that. She'll keep him afloat and hard at work
+earnin' more for her to spend. Well, I hope his poor lame legs won't
+give out on him. If he has to give up goin' to sea _again_, I pity him,
+that's all I've got to say."
+
+Mrs. Chase, her jet black locks a trifle askew as usual, was listening,
+the hand holding the preserve spoon cupped behind her ear and the spoon
+itself sticking out like a Fiji Islander's head ornament. As usual she
+had heard next to nothing.
+
+"That's what _I_ say!" she declared. "Why, Mr. Bradley, or whoever was
+responsible, let Sears Kendrick put a woman with six children in as
+matron of this place, I can't understand. Of course it's plain enough
+why Cap'n Sears wanted her to have the job. Joel Macomber's wages ain't
+more than twelve dollars a week and the salary here'll give 'em all the
+luxuries and doodads they want. Fust thing you know that Sary-Mary of
+hers'll be goin' to the Middleboro Academy to school. I wouldn't put it
+past her.... Hey? What did you say, Susanna?"
+
+Mrs. Brackett had not said anything. She and some of the others were
+glancing uneasily in the direction of the hall door. All agreed that the
+appointment of Sarah Macomber as matron of the Fair Harbor was an
+outrage, but no one cared to have Mrs. Macomber know of that agreement.
+It was an experiment, that appointment, and Sarah herself was by no
+means confident of its success, although she had at last agreed to give
+it three months' trial. Half of that time was over and so far all was
+well. Bradley expressed huge satisfaction. Mrs. Macomber came to the
+Harbor early each morning and went home again after supper. Sarah-Mary
+and a hired girl, wages three dollars a week, were doing the Macomber
+housework.
+
+"Hey?" shouted Aurora once more. "What did you say, Susanna?"
+
+Mrs. Brackett, after another uneasy glance at the hall door, nodded and
+smiled. Mrs. Cahoon spoke quickly, in order to change the subject.
+
+"What do you suppose I heard to-day?" she answered. "I met Josiah Ellis
+down to 'Liphalet's store and he told me he see Mr. Phillips yesterday.
+Josiah drove one of the livery hoss-'n'-teams over to Denboro--had a
+Boston notion drummer to cart over there, he did--and who should come
+drivin' along but Mr. Phillips. Josiah said he was dressed just as
+elegant as ever was, and the hoss-'n'-team he was drivin' was styled-up
+to match. Josiah hailed him and Mr. Phillips stopped and talked for a
+few minutes. Nice as always, not a bit of airs. No, Elviry wan't with
+him. Mr. Phillips said she was to home gettin' him ready to go away for
+a little vacation. Seems he's cal'latin' to go to New York for a
+fortni't. Mr. Phillips told Josiah that Elviry was kind of tired out,
+they'd done so much entertainin' this winter, and he was goin' away so's
+she could have a little rest. Ain't that just like him?
+Self-sacrificin'--my sakes! Elviry's a lucky woman, that's all I've got
+to say. I don't say so much about _his_ luck; but when she got him she
+done well."
+
+There was a general buzz of agreement about the table. Then from the
+kitchen, where she had gone to get a fresh supply of cream-of-tartar
+biscuit, came little Mrs. Tidditt. She put the plate of biscuits on the
+table and sat down.
+
+"What's that, Constance?" she demanded.
+
+Mrs. Cahoon repeated the news of the Phillips family. Aurora put in a
+word.
+
+"There's one thing I've always been sorry for," she said. "Of course I
+wouldn't take anything away from Elviry, she and I have always been good
+friends. But she's got enough as 'tis, and I _do_ wish--I do wish that
+Sears Kendrick had stayed away from this place until we'd had a chance
+to buy them lovely lawn statues. We'll never have another chance like
+that again."
+
+Esther Tidditt smiled. "Yes, you will, Aurora," she snapped. "Yes, you
+will. Give him time and about two or three more New York trips, and
+those images will be up at auction again. Thirty thousand don't last
+some folks long, and Elviry and her Eg will be needin' money to pay
+grocery bills. You can't eat an iron lion. Just wait, Aurora. We may
+have that menagerie in the yard here yet. Possess your soul in
+patience."
+
+There was another buzz about the table, this time of scornful
+disapproval. Mrs. Chase leaned forward.
+
+"What's she sayin', Susanna?" she demanded, querulously. "Susanna
+Brackett, why don't you or the rest tell me what she's sayin'?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At that moment the ship _Gold Finder_, of Boston, Winthrop and
+Hunniwell, owners, Sears Kendrick, master, was sailing out over the
+waters of Massachusetts Bay. Astern, a diamond point against the
+darkening sky, Minot's Light shone. The vessel was heeling slightly in
+the crisp evening wind, her full, rounded sails rustling overhead, her
+cordage creaking, foam at her forefoot and her wake stretching backward
+toward the land she was leaving. Her skipper stood aft by the binnacle,
+feeling, with a joy quite indescribable, the lift of the deck beneath
+him and the rush of the breeze across his face.
+
+From the open door of the galley lamplight streamed. Within Judah Cahoon
+sang as he worked over the stove. Judah had had a glorious afternoon.
+His chanteys had cast off the hawsers, had walked away with the ropes,
+had hoisted the sails, had bade the tug good-by. Now his voice was a
+thought frayed, but he sang on.
+
+Elizabeth--now Elizabeth Berry no more forever--came up the companion
+ladder. She joined her husband by the after rail. The sea air was chill
+and she was wearing one of the captain's pea jackets, the collar turned
+up; a feathery strand of her brown hair blew out to leeward. She stood
+beside him. The man at the wheel was looking down into the binnacle and
+Sears took her hand.
+
+"Well?" he said, after a moment.
+
+She looked up at him. "Well?" she said.
+
+Neither spoke immediately. Then Kendrick breathed a sigh, a sigh
+expressive of many things.
+
+She understood. As always she knew what he was thinking.
+
+"Yes," she said, "it is glorious. Glorious for me; but for you,
+Sears----"
+
+"Yes. It's pretty fine. I really never expected to make sail out of
+Boston harbor again. And if anybody had told me that I was to--" with
+another look at the helmsman, and lowering his voice--"to leave port
+this way--with you----"
+
+He laughed aloud.
+
+She laughed, too. "And just think," she said; "no more little worries or
+pettinesses, no more whispers, or faultfinding, or----"
+
+"Or Fair Harbors. You're right, my girl. We're off, clean away from it
+all, bound out."
+
+From the galley Judah's voice came, beginning the second verse of his
+song,
+
+    "'Aloft! Aloft!' our jolly bos'n cries.
+      Blow high! blow low! and so sailed we.
+    'Look ahead, look astern, look a-weather and a-lee,
+      Look along down the coast of the High Bar-ba-ree.'
+
+    "'There's none upon the starn, there's none upon the lee.'
+      Blow high! blow low! and so sailed we.
+    'There's a lofty ship to wind'ard a-sailin' fast and free,
+      Sailin' down along the coast of the High Bar-ba-ree.'"
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+
+NOVELS FOR CHEERFUL ENTERTAINMENT
+
+GALUSHA THE MAGNIFICENT
+
+By Joseph C. Lincoln
+
+Author of "Shavings," "The Portygee," etc.
+
+The whole family will laugh over this deliriously humorous novel, that
+pictures the sunny side of small-town life, and contains love-making, a
+dash of mystery, an epidemic of spook-chasing--and laughable, lovable
+Galusha.
+
+THESE YOUNG REBELS
+
+By Frances R. Sterrett
+
+Author of "Nancy Goes to Town," "Up the Road with Sally," etc.
+
+A sprightly novel that hits off to perfection the present antagonism
+between the rebellious younger generation and their disapproving elders.
+
+PLAY THE GAME
+
+By Ruth Comfort Mitchell
+
+A happy story about American young people. The appealing qualities of a
+brave young girl stand out in the strife between two young fellows, the
+one by fair the other by foul means, to win her.
+
+IN BLESSED CYRUS
+
+By Laura E. Richards
+
+Author of "A Daughter of Jehu," etc.
+
+The quaint, quiet village of Cyrus, with its whimsical villagers, is
+abruptly turned topsy-turvy by the arrival in its midst of an actress,
+distractingly feminine, Lila Laughter; and, at the same time, an
+epidemic of small-pox.
+
+HELEN OF THE OLD HOUSE
+
+By Harold Bell Wright
+
+Wright's greatest novel, that presents the life of industry to-day, the
+laughter, the tears, the strivings of those who live about the smoky
+chimneys of an American industrial town.
+
+New York
+D. APPLETON & COMPANY
+London
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+AMONG THE NEWEST NOVELS
+
+THE HOUSE OF MOHUN
+
+By GEORGE GIBBS, Author of "Youth Triumphant," etc.
+
+A distinguished novel depicting present day society and its most
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+THE COVERED WAGON
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+By EMERSON HOUGH, Author of "The Magnificent Adventure," "The Story of
+the Cowboy," etc.
+
+A novel of the first water, clear and clean, is this thrilling story of
+the pioneers, the men and women who laid the foundation of the great
+west.
+
+HOMESTEAD RANCH
+
+By ELIZABETH G. YOUNG
+
+The _New York Times_ says that "Homestead Ranch" is one of the season's
+"two best real wild and woolly western yarns." The _Boston Herald_ says,
+"So delightful that we recommend it as one of the best western stories
+of the year."
+
+SACRIFICE
+
+By STEPHEN FRENCH WHITMAN, Author of "Predestined," etc.
+
+How a woman, spoiled child of New York society, faced the dangers of the
+African jungle trail. "One feels ever the white heat of emotional
+conflict."--_Philadelphia Public Ledger._
+
+DOUBLE-CROSSED
+
+By W. DOUGLAS NEWTON, Author of "Low Ceilings," etc.
+
+"An excellently written and handled tale of adventure and thrills in the
+dark spruce valleys of Canada."--_New York Times._
+
+JANE JOURNEYS ON
+
+By RUTH COMFORT MITCHELL, Author of "Play the Game," etc.
+
+The cheerful story of a delightful heroine's adventures from Vermont to
+Mexico.
+
+D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
+New York London
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAIR HARBOR***
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+<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Fair Harbor, by Joseph Crosby Lincoln</h1>
+<pre>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: Fair Harbor</p>
+<p>Author: Joseph Crosby Lincoln</p>
+<p>Release Date: September 23, 2007  [eBook #22745]</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAIR HARBOR***</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3 class="pg">E-text prepared by Roger Frank<br />
+    and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br />
+    (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="pg" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h1>FAIR HARBOR</h1>
+
+<hr class='dashed' />
+
+<table summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style='border-bottom:1px solid; margin-bottom:.7em;'>By JOSEPH C. LINCOLN</p>
+<p style='text-align:left; font-size:0.8em;'>FAIR HARBOR<br />
+GALUSHA THE MAGNIFICENT<br />
+THE PORTYGEE<br />
+"SHAVINGS"<br />
+MARY-'GUSTA<br />
+CAP'N DAN'S DAUGHTER<br />
+THE RISE OF ROSCOE PAINE<br />
+THE POSTMASTER<br />
+THE WOMAN HATERS<br />
+KEZIAH COFFIN<br />
+CY WHITTAKER'S PLACE<br />
+CAP'N ERI<br />
+EXTRICATING OBADIAH<br />
+THANKFUL'S INHERITANCE<br />
+MR. PRATT<br />
+MR. PRATT'S PATIENTS<br />
+KENT KNOWLES: "QUAHAUG"<br />
+CAP'N WARREN'S WARDS<br />
+THE DEPOT MASTER<br />
+OUR VILLAGE<br />
+PARTNERS OF THE TIDE<br />
+THE OLD HOME HOUSE<br />
+CAPE COD BALLADS</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<hr class='dashed' />
+
+<table style="margin: auto; border: silver 1px solid; width:25em" summary="">
+<tr><td>
+    <p style=" font-size:2.0em; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:.5em;">FAIR HARBOR</p>
+    <p style=" font-size:1.1em; font-style:italic; margin-bottom:.5em;">A NOVEL</p>
+    <p style=" font-size:0.9em; margin-bottom:.5em;">BY</p>
+    <p style=" font-size:1.2em; margin-bottom:.5em;">JOSEPH C. LINCOLN</p>
+    <p style=" font-size:0.8em;">AUTHOR OF "GALUSHA THE MAGNIFICENT,"</p>
+    <p style=" font-size:0.8em;">"SHAVINGS," "MARY 'GUSTA," "MR. PRATT,"</p>
+    <p style=" font-size:0.8em; margin-bottom:5em;">"CAP'N ERI," ETC.</p>
+</td></tr>
+<tr><td>
+    <div class='figcenter'>
+    <img src='images/illus-emb.png' alt='emblem' />
+    </div>
+</td></tr>
+<tr><td>
+    <p style=" font-size:1.0em; margin-top:3em;">D. APPLETON AND COMPANY</p>
+    <p style=" font-size:0.9em; margin-bottom:2em;">NEW YORK&nbsp;::&nbsp;1922&nbsp;::&nbsp;LONDON</p>
+</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr class='dashed' />
+
+<table style="margin: auto; width:25em; font-size:smaller;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p><span class="smcap">COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY</span> D. APPLETON AND COMPANY</p>
+<p>Copyright, 1922, by the Curtis Publishing Company</p>
+<p><span class="smcap">PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA</span></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<hr class="full" />
+
+<h1>FAIR HARBOR</h1>
+
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_1" id="pg_1">1</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_I_102" id="CHAPTER_I_102"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER I</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>"Hi hum," observed Mr. Joel Macomber, putting down his knife and fork
+with obvious reluctance and tilting back his chair. "Hi hum-a-day! Man,
+born of woman, is of few days and full of&mdash;of somethin', I forget
+what&mdash;George, what is it a man born of woman is full of?"</p>
+
+<p>George Kent, putting down his knife and fork, smiled and replied that he
+didn't know. Mr. Macomber seemed shocked.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Don't know?</i>" he repeated. "Tut, tut! Dear me, dear me! A young feller
+that goes to prayer meetin' every Friday night&mdash;or at least waits
+outside the meetin'-house door every Friday night&mdash;and yet he don't
+remember his Scriptur' well enough to know what man born of woman is
+full of? My soul and body! What's the world comin' to?"</p>
+
+<p>Nobody answered. The six Macomber children, Lemuel, Edgar, Sarah-Mary,
+Bemis, Aldora and Joey, ages ranging from fourteen to two and a half,
+kept on eating in silence&mdash;or, if not quite in silence, at least without
+speaking. They had been taught not to talk at table; their mother had
+taught them, their father playing the part of horrible example. Mrs.
+Macomber, too, was silent. She was busy stacking plates and cups and
+saucers preparatory to clearing away. When the clearing away was
+finished she would be busy washing dishes
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_2" id="pg_2">2</a></span> and after that at some other
+household duty. She was always busy and always behind with her work.</p>
+
+<p>Her husband turned to the only other person at the crowded table.</p>
+
+<p>"Cap'n Sears," he demanded, "you know 'most everything. What is it man
+born of woman is full of besides a few days?"</p>
+
+<p>Sears Kendrick thoughtfully folded his napkin. There was a hole in the
+napkin&mdash;holes were characteristic of the Macomber linen&mdash;but the napkin
+was clean; this was characteristic, too.</p>
+
+<p>"Meanin' yourself, Joel?" he asked, bringing the napkin edges into line.</p>
+
+<p>"Not necessarily. Meanin' any man born of woman, I presume likely."</p>
+
+<p>"Humph! Know many that wasn't born that way?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Macomber's not too intellectual face creased into many wrinkles and
+the low ceiling echoed with his laugh. "Not many, I don't cal'late," he
+said, "that's a fact. But you ain't answered my question, Cap'n. What is
+man born of woman full of?"</p>
+
+<p>Captain Kendrick placed the folded napkin carefully beside his plate.</p>
+
+<p>"Breakfast, just now, I presume likely," he said. "At least, I know two
+or three that ought to be, judgin' by the amount of cargo I've seen 'em
+stow aboard in the last half hour." Then, turning to Mrs. Macomber, he
+added, "I'm goin' to help you with the dishes this mornin', Sarah."</p>
+
+<p>The lady of the house had her own ideas on that subject.</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed you won't do anything of the sort," she declared. "The idea! And
+you just out of a crippled bed, as you might say."</p>
+
+<p>This remark seemed to amuse her husband hugely. "Ho, ho!" he shouted.
+"That's a good one! I didn't know the bed was crippled, Sarah. What's
+the matter with it; got a pain in the slats?"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_3" id="pg_3">3</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Sarah Macomber seldom indulged in retort. Usually she was too busy to
+waste the time. But she allowed herself the luxury of a half minute on
+this occasion.</p>
+
+<p>"No," she snapped, "but it's had one leg propped up on half a brick for
+over a year. And at least once a week in all that time you've been
+promisin' to bring home a new caster and fix it. If that bed ain't a
+cripple I don't know what is."</p>
+
+<p>Joel looked a trifle taken aback. His laugh this time was not quite as
+uproarious.</p>
+
+<p>"Guess you spoke the truth that time, Sarah, without knowin' it. Who is
+it they say always speaks the truth? Children and fools, ain't it? Well,
+you ain't a child scarcely, Sarah. Hope you ain't the other thing. Eh?
+Ho, ho!"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Macomber was halfway to the kitchen door, a pile of plates upon her
+arm. She did not stop nor turn, but she did speak.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," she observed, "I don't know. I was one once in my life, there's
+precious little doubt about that."</p>
+
+<p>She left the room. Young Kent and Captain Kendrick exchanged glances.
+Mr. Macomber swallowed, opened his mouth, closed it and swallowed again.
+Lemuel and Sarah-Mary, the two older children, giggled. The clock on the
+mantel struck seven times. The sound came, to the adults, as a timely
+relief from embarrassment.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Kendrick looked at his watch.</p>
+
+<p>"What's that?" he exclaimed. "Six bells already? So 'tis. I declare I
+didn't think 'twas so late."</p>
+
+<p>Joel rose to his feet, moving&mdash;for him&mdash;with marked rapidity.</p>
+
+<p>"Seven o'clock!" he cried. "My, my! We've got to get under way, George,
+if we want to make port at the store afore 'Liphalet does. Come on,
+George, hurry up."</p>
+
+<p>Kent lingered for a moment to speak to Sears Kendrick. Then he emerged
+from the house and he and Joel walked rapidly off together. They were
+employed, one as clerk and bookkeeper and the other as driver of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_4" id="pg_4">4</a></span> the
+delivery wagon, at Eliphalet Bassett's Grocery, Dry Goods, Boots and
+Shoes and Notion Store at the corner of the main road and the depot
+road. Joel's position there was fixed for eternity, at least he
+considered it so, having driven that same delivery wagon at the same
+wage for twenty-two years. "Me and that grocery cart," Mr. Macomber was
+wont to observe, "have been doin' 'Liphalet's errands so long we've come
+to be permanent fixtures. Yes, sir, permanent fixtures." When this was
+repeated to Mr. Bassett the latter affirmed that it was true. "Every
+time the dum fool goes out takin' orders," said Eliphalet, "he stays so
+long that I begin to think he's turned <i>into</i> a permanent fixture. Takes
+an order for a quarter pound of tea and a spool of cotton and then hangs
+'round and talks steady for half an hour. Permanent fixture! Permanent
+gas fixture, that's what <i>he</i> is."</p>
+
+<p>George Kent did not consider himself a permanent fixture at Bassett's.
+He had been employed there for three years, or ever since the death of
+his father, Captain Sylvester Kent, who had died at sea aboard his ship,
+the <i>Ocean Ranger</i>, on the voyage home from Java to Philadelphia. George
+remained in Bayport to study law with Judge Knowles, who was interested
+in the young man and, being a lawyer of prominence on the Cape, was an
+influential friend worth having. The law occupied young Kent's attention
+in the evenings; he kept Mr. Bassett's books and sold Mr. Bassett's
+brown sugar, calico and notions during the days, not because he loved
+the work, the place, or its proprietor, but because the twelve dollars
+paid him each Saturday enabled him to live. And, in order to live so
+cheaply that he might save a bit toward the purchase of clothes, law
+books and sundries, he boarded at Joel Macomber's. Sarah Macomber took
+him to board, not because she needed company&mdash;six children and a husband
+supplied a sufficiency of that&mdash;but because three dollars more a week
+was three dollars more.</p>
+
+<p>Joel and George having tramped off to business and the very last crumb
+of the Macomber breakfast having
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_5" id="pg_5">5</a></span> vanished, the Macomber children
+proceeded to go through their usual morning routine. Lemuel, who did
+chores for grumpy old Captain Elijah Samuels at the latter's big place
+on the depot road, departed to rake hay and be sworn at. Sarah-Mary went
+upstairs to make beds; when the bed-making was over she and Edgar and
+Bemis would go to school. Aldora and Joey, the two youngest, went
+outdoors to play. And Captain Sears Kendrick, late master of the ship
+<i>Hawkeye</i>, and before that of the <i>Fair Wind</i> and the <i>Far Seas</i> and
+goodness knows how many others, who ran away to ship as cabin boy when
+he was thirteen, who fought the Malay pirates when he was eighteen, and
+outwitted Semmes by outmaneuvering the <i>Alabama</i> when he was
+twenty-eight, a man once so strong and bronzed and confident, but now so
+weak and shaken&mdash;Captain Sears Kendrick rose painfully and with effort
+from his chair, took his cane from the corner and hobbled to the
+kitchen.</p>
+
+<p>"Sarah," he said, "I'm goin' to help you with those dishes this
+mornin'."</p>
+
+<p>"Sears," said Mrs. Macomber, taking the kettle of boiling dish-water
+from the top of the stove, "you'll do nothin' of the kind. You'll go
+outdoors and get a little sunshine this lovely day. It's the first real
+good day you've had since you got up from bed, and outdoors 'll help you
+more than anything else. Now you go!"</p>
+
+<p>"But look here, Sarah, for Heaven's sake&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Be still, Sears, and don't be foolish. There ain't dishes enough to
+worry about. I'll have 'em done in half a shake. Go outdoors, I tell
+you. But don't you walk on those legs of yours. You hear me."</p>
+
+<p>Her brother&mdash;Sarah Macomber was a Kendrick before she married
+Joel&mdash;smiled slightly. "How do you want me to walk, Sarah, on my hands?"
+he inquired. "Never mind my legs. They're better this mornin' than they
+have been since that fat woman and a train of cars fell on 'em.... Ah
+hum!" with a change of tone, "it's a pity
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_6" id="pg_6">6</a></span> they didn't fall on my neck
+and make a clean job of it, isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sears!" reproachfully. "How can you talk so? And especially now, when
+the doctor says if you take care of yourself, you'll 'most likely be as
+well as ever in&mdash;in a little while."</p>
+
+<p>"A little while! In a year or two was what he said. In ten years was
+probably what he meant, and you'll notice he put in the 'most likely'
+even at that. If you were to lash him in the fore-riggin' and keep him
+there till he told the truth, he'd probably end by sayin' that I would
+always be a good for nothin' hulk same as I am now."</p>
+
+<p>"Sears, don't&mdash;please don't. I hate to hear you speak so bitter. It
+doesn't sound like you."</p>
+
+<p>"It's the way I feel, Sarah. Haven't I had enough to make me bitter?"</p>
+
+<p>His sister shook her head. "Yes, Sears," she admitted, "I guess likely
+you have, but I don't know as that is a very good excuse. Some of the
+rest of us," with a sigh, "haven't found it real smooth sailin' either;
+but&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>She did not finish the sentence, and there was no need. He understood
+and turned quickly.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sorry, Sarah," he said. "I ought to be hove overboard and towed
+astern. The Almighty knows you've had more to put up with than ever I
+had and you don't spend your time growlin' about it, either. I declare
+I'm ashamed of myself, but&mdash;but&mdash;well, you know how it is with me. I've
+never been used to bein' a loafer, spongin' on my relations."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't, Sears. You know you ain't spongin', as you call it. You've paid
+your board ever since you've been here."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I have. But how much? Next to half of nothin' a week and you
+wouldn't have let me pay that if I hadn't put my foot down. Or said I
+was goin' to try to put it down," he added with a grim smile. "You're a
+good woman, Sarah, a good woman, with more trials than your
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_7" id="pg_7">7</a></span> share. And
+what makes me feel worst of all, I do believe, is that I should be
+pitched in on you&mdash;to be the biggest trial of all. Well, that part's
+about over, anyhow. No matter whether I can walk or not I shan't stay
+and sponge on you. If I can't do anything else I'll hire a fish shanty
+and open clams for a livin'."</p>
+
+<p>He smiled again and she smiled in sympathy, but there were tears in her
+eyes. She was seven years older than her brother, and he had always been
+her pride. When she was a young woman, helping with the housework in the
+old home there in Bayport, before her father's death and the sale of
+that home, she had watched with immense gratification his success in
+school. When he ran away to sea she had defended him when others
+condemned. Later, when tales of his "smartness," as sailor or mate, or
+by and by, a full rated captain, began to drift back, she had gloried in
+them. He came to see her semi-occasionally when his ship was in port,
+and his yarns of foreign lands and strange people were, to her, far more
+wonderful than anything she had ever found in the few books which had
+come in her way. Each present he brought her she had kept and cherished.
+And there was never a trace of jealousy in her certain knowledge that he
+had gone on growing while she had stopped, that he was a strong, capable
+man of the world&mdash;the big world&mdash;whereas she was, and would always be,
+the wife and household drudge of Joel Macomber.</p>
+
+<p>Now, as she looked at him, pale, haggard and leaning on his cane,
+stooping a little when he had been so erect and sturdy, the pity which
+she had felt for him ever since they brought him into her sitting-room
+on the day of the railway accident became keener than ever and with it
+came an additional flash of insight. She realized more clearly than she
+had before that it was not his bodily injuries which hurt most and were
+the hardest to bear; it was his self-respect and the pride which were
+wounded sorest. That he&mdash;<i>he</i>&mdash;Sears Kendrick, the independent autocrat
+of the quarter deck, should be reduced to this!
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_8" id="pg_8">8</a></span> That it was wringing
+his soul she knew. He had never complained except to her, and even to
+her very, very seldom, but she knew. And she ventured to ask the
+question she had wanted to ask ever since he had sufficiently recovered
+to listen to conversation.</p>
+
+<p>"Sears," she said "I haven't said a word before, and you needn't tell me
+now if you don't want to&mdash;it isn't any of my business&mdash;but is it true
+that you've lost a whole lot of money? It isn't true, is it?"</p>
+
+<p>He had been standing by the open door, looking out into the yard. Now he
+turned to look at her.</p>
+
+<p>"What isn't true, Sarah?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"That you've lost a lot of money in&mdash;in that&mdash;that business you went
+into. It isn't true, is it, Sears? Oh, I hope it isn't! They say&mdash;why,
+some of 'em say you've lost all the money you had put by. An awful sight
+of money, they say. Sears, tell me it isn't true&mdash;please."</p>
+
+<p>He regarded her in silence for a moment. Then he shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"Part of it isn't true, Sarah," he answered, with a slight smile. "I
+haven't lost a big lot of money."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I'm <i>so</i> glad. Now I can tell 'em a few things, I guess."</p>
+
+<p>"I wouldn't tell 'em too much, because the other part <i>is</i> true. I have
+lost about all I had put by."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Sears!"</p>
+
+<p>"Um&mdash;hm. And served me right, of course. You can't make a silk ear out
+of a sow's purse, as old Cap'n Sam Doane used to love to say. You can't,
+no matter how good a purse&mdash;or&mdash;ear&mdash;it is. I was a pretty good sea
+cap'n if I do say it, but that wasn't any reason why I should have
+figured I was a good enough business man to back as slippery an eel as
+Jim Carpenter in the ship chandlery game ashore."</p>
+
+<p>"But&mdash;you&mdash;&mdash;" Mrs. Macomber hesitated to utter the disgraceful word,
+"you didn't fail up, did you, Sears?" she faltered. "You know that's
+what they say you did."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, they say wrong. Carpenter failed, I didn't. I
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_9" id="pg_9">9</a></span> paid dollar for
+dollar. That's why I've got next to no dollars now."</p>
+
+<p>"But you&mdash;you've got <i>some</i>, Sears. You must have," hopefully, "because
+you've been paying me board. So you must have <i>some</i> left."</p>
+
+<p>The triumph in her face was pathetic. He hated to disturb her faith.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," he said dryly, "I have some left. Maybe seven hundred dollars or
+some such matter. If I had my legs left it would be enough, or more than
+enough. I wouldn't ask odds of anybody if I was the way I was before
+that train went off the track. I'd lost every shot I had in the locker,
+but I'm not very old yet&mdash;some years to leeward of forty&mdash;there was more
+money to be had where that came from and I meant to have it. And
+then&mdash;well, then this happened to me."</p>
+
+<p>"I know. And to think that you was comin' down here on purpose to see me
+when it did happen. Seems almost as if I was to blame, somehow."</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense! Nobody was to blame but the engineer that wrecked the train
+and the three hundred pound woman that fell on my legs. And the engineer
+was killed, poor fellow, and the woman was&mdash;well, she carried her own
+punishment with her, I guess likely. Anyhow, I should call it a
+punishment if I had to carry it. There, there, Sarah! Let's talk about
+somethin' else. You do your dishes and, long as you won't let me help
+you, I'll hop-and-go-fetch-it out to that settee in the front yard and
+look at the scenery. Just think! I've been in Bayport almost four months
+and haven't been as far as that gate yet&mdash;except when they lugged me in
+past it, of course. And I don't recall much about that."</p>
+
+<p>"I guess not, you poor boy. And I saw them bringin' you in, all
+stretched out, with your eyes shut, and as white as&mdash;&mdash; Oh, my soul and
+body! I don't want to think about it, let alone talk about it."</p>
+
+<p>"Neither do I, Sarah, so we won't. Do you realize how little I know of
+what's been goin' on in Bayport
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_10" id="pg_10">10</a></span> since I was here last? And do you
+realize how long it has been since I <i>was</i> here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, yes, I do, Sears. It's been almost six years; it will be just six
+on the tenth of next September."</p>
+
+<p>The speech was illuminating. He looked at her curiously.</p>
+
+<p>"You do keep account of my goin's and comin's, don't you, old girl?" he
+said. "Better than I do myself."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, it means more to me than it does to you. You live such a busy life,
+Sears, all over the world, meetin' everybody in all kinds of places. For
+me, with nothin' to do but be stuck down here in Bayport&mdash;well, it's
+different with me&mdash;I have to remember. Rememberin' and lookin' ahead is
+about all I have to keep me interested."</p>
+
+<p>He was silent for a moment. Then he said: "It looks as if rememberin'
+was all I will be likely to have. Think of it, Sarah! Four months in
+Bayport and I haven't been to the post-office. That'll stand as a town
+record, I'll bet."</p>
+
+<p>"And&mdash;and you'll keep up your courage, Sears? You won't let yourself get
+blue and discouraged, for my sake if nobody else's?"</p>
+
+<p>He nodded. "I couldn't, Sarah," he said earnestly. "With you around I'd
+be ashamed to."</p>
+
+<p>She ran to help him down the step, but he waved her away, and, leaning
+upon the cane and clinging fast to the lattice with the other hand, he
+managed to make the descent safely. Once on the flat level of the walk
+he moved more rapidly and, so it seemed to his sister, more easily than
+he had since his accident. The forty odd feet of walk he navigated in
+fair time and came to anchor, as he would have expressed it, upon the
+battered old bench by the Macomber gate. The gate, like the picket
+fence, of which it was a part, needed paint and the bench needed slats
+in its back. Almost anything which Joel Macomber owned needed something
+and his wife and family needed most of all.</p>
+
+<p>An ancient cherry tree, its foliage now thickly spotted
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_11" id="pg_11">11</a></span> with green fruit,
+for the month was June, cast a shadow upon the occupant of the bench. At
+his feet grew a bed of daffodils and jonquils which Sarah Macomber had
+planted when she came, a hopeful bride, to that house. Each year they
+sprouted and bloomed and now, long after Sarah's hopes had ceased to
+sprout, they continued to flourish. Beside the cherry tree grew a lilac
+bush. Beyond the picket fence was the dusty sidewalk and beyond that the
+dustier, rutted road. And beyond the road and along it upon both sides
+were the houses and barns and the few shops of Bayport village, Bayport
+as it was, and as some of us remember it, in the early '70's.</p>
+
+<p>In some respects it was much like the Bayport of to-day. The houses
+themselves have changed but little. Then, as now, they were trim and
+white and green-shuttered. Then, as now, the roses climbed upon their
+lattices and the silver-leaf poplars and elms and mulberry trees waved
+above them. But the fences which enclosed their trim lawns and yards
+have disappeared, and the hitching posts and carriage blocks by their
+front gates have gone also. Gone, too, are the horses and buggies and
+carryalls which used to stand by these gates or within those barns. They
+are gone, just as the ruts and dust of the roads have vanished. When
+Mrs. Captain Hammond, of the lower road, used to call upon Mrs. Ryder at
+West Bayport, she was wont to be driven to her destination in the
+intensely respectable Hammond buggy drawn by the equally respectable
+Hammond horse and piloted by the even more respectable&mdash;not to say
+venerable&mdash;Hammond coachman, who was also gardener and "hired man." And
+they made the little journey in the very respectable time of thirty-five
+minutes. Now when Mrs. Captain Hammond's granddaughter, who winters in
+Boston but summers at the old home, wishes to go to West Bayport she
+skims over the hard, oiled macadam in her five thousand dollar runabout
+and she finishes the skimming in eight minutes or less.</p>
+
+<p>And although the dwellings along the Bayport roads
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_12" id="pg_12">12</a></span> are much as they
+were that morning when Captain Sears Kendrick sat upon the bench in the
+Macomber yard and gazed gloomily at the section of road which lay
+between the Macomber gate and the curve beyond the Orthodox
+meeting-house&mdash;although the houses were much the same in external
+appearance, those who occupy them at the present day are vastly
+different from those who owned and lived in them then. Here is the
+greatest change which time has brought to old Bayport. Now those
+houses&mdash;the majority of them&mdash;are open only in summer; then they were
+open all the year. They who come to them now regard them as playthings,
+good-time centers for twelve or fourteen weeks. Then they were the homes
+of men and women who were proud of them, loved them, meant to live in
+them&mdash;while on land&mdash;as long as life was theirs; to die in them if
+fortunate enough to be found by death while ashore; and at last to be
+buried near them, under the pines of the Bayport cemetery. Now these
+homes are used by business men or lawyers or doctors, whose real homes
+are in Boston, New York, Chicago, or other cities. Then practically
+every house was owned or occupied either by a sea captain, active or
+retired, or by a captain's widow or near relative.</p>
+
+<p>For example, as Captain Kendrick sat in his brother-in-law's yard on
+that June morning of that year in the early '70's, within his sight,
+that is within the half mile from curve to curve of the lower road, were
+no less than nine houses in which dwelt&mdash;or had dwelt&mdash;men who gained a
+living upon a vessel's quarter deck. Directly across the road was the
+large, cupola-crowned house of Captain Solomon Snow. Captain Sol was at
+present somewhere between Surinam and New York, bound home. His wife was
+with him, so was his youngest child. The older children were at home, in
+the big house; their aunt, Captain Sol's sister, herself a captain's
+widow, was with them.</p>
+
+<p>Next to Captain Solomon's was the Crowell place. Captain Bethuel Crowell
+was in Hong Kong, but, so his
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_13" id="pg_13">13</a></span> wife reported at sewing circle, had
+expected to sail from there "any day about now" bound for Melbourne.
+Next to Captain Bethuel lived Mrs. Patience Foster, called "Mary Pashy"
+by the townspeople to distinguish her from another Mary Foster in East
+Bayport. Her husband had been drowned at sea, or at least so it was
+supposed. His ship left Philadelphia eight years before and had never
+been spoken or heard from since that time. Next to Mary-Pashy's was the
+imposing, if ugly, residence of Captain Elkanah Wingate. Captain Elkanah
+was retired, wealthy, a member of the school-committee, a selectman, an
+aristocrat and an autocrat. And beyond Captain Elkanah lived Captain
+Godfrey Peasley&mdash;who was not quite of the aristocracy as he commanded a
+schooner instead of a square-rigger, and beyond him Mrs. Tabitha Crosby,
+whose husband had died of yellow fever while aboard his ship in New
+Orleans; and beyond Mrs. Crosby's was&mdash;well, the next building was the
+Orthodox meeting-house, where the Reverend David Dishup preached.
+Nowadays people call it the Congregationalist church. On the same side
+of the road as the Macomber cottage were the homes of Captain Sylvanus
+Baker and Captain Noah Baker and of Captain Orrin Eldridge.</p>
+
+<p>Bayport, in that day, was not only by the sea, it was of the sea. The
+sea winds blew over it, the sea air smelled salty in its highways and
+byways, its male citizens&mdash;most of them&mdash;walked with a sea roll, and
+upon the tables and whatnots of their closed and shuttered "front
+parlors" or in their cupboards or closets were laquered cabinets, and
+whales' teeth, and alabaster images, and carved chessmen and curious
+shells and scented fans and heaven knows what, brought from heaven knows
+where, but all brought in sailing ships over one or more of the seas of
+the world. The average better class house in Bayport was an odd
+combination of home and museum, the rear two-thirds the home section and
+the remaining third, that nearest the road, the museum. Bayport front
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_14" id="pg_14">14</a></span>
+parlors looked like museums, and generally smelled like them.</p>
+
+<p>To a stranger from, let us say, the middle west, the village then must
+have seemed a queer little community dozing upon its rolling hills and
+by its white beaches, a community where the women had, most of them,
+traveled far and seen many strange things and places, but who seldom
+talked of them, preferring to chat concerning the minister's wife's new
+bonnet; and whose men folk, appearing at long intervals from remote
+parts of the world, spoke of the port side of a cow and compared the
+three-sided clock tower of the new town hall with the peak of Teneriffe
+on a foggy morning.</p>
+
+<p>All this, odd as it may have seemed to visitors from inland, were but
+matters of course to Sears Kendrick. To him there was nothing strange in
+the deep sea atmosphere of his native town. It had been there ever since
+he knew it, he fondly imagined&mdash;being as poor a prophet as most of
+us&mdash;that it would always be. And, as he sat there in the Macomber yard,
+his thoughts were busy, not with Bayport's past or future, but with his
+own, and neither retrospect nor forecast was cheerful. He could see
+little behind him except the mistakes he had made, and before him&mdash;not
+even the opportunity to make more.</p>
+
+<p>Overhead, amid the cherry branches, the bees buzzed and the robins
+chirped. From the kitchen window came the click of dishes as Mrs.
+Macomber washed and wiped them. Around the curve of the road by the
+meeting-house came Dr. Sheldon's old horse, drawing Dr. Sheldon's
+antiquated chaise, with the doctor himself leaning back comfortably upon
+its worn cushions. Captain Kendrick, not being in the mood for a chat
+just then even with as good a friend as his physician, made no move, and
+the old chaise and its occupant passed by and disappeared around the
+next curve. Sarah-Mary and Edgar and Bemis noisily trooped out of the
+house and started for school. Edgar was enthusiastically carolling
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_15" id="pg_15">15</a></span> a
+ditty which was then popular among Bayport juvenility. It was
+reminiscent of a recent presidential campaign.</p>
+
+<p style="margin-left: 2em;">"Grant and Greely were fightin' for flies,<br />
+Grant gave Greely a pair of black eyes&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The children, like Doctor Sheldon and the chaise, passed out of sight
+around the bend of the road. Edgar's voice, more or less tunefully,
+drifted back:</p>
+
+<p style="margin-left: 2em;">"Grant said, 'Do you want any more?'<br />
+Greely said, 'No, for my eyes are too sore.'"</p>
+
+<p>Sears Kendrick crossed his knees and changed position upon the bench.
+Obviously he could not hope to go to sea again for months at the very
+earliest. Obviously he could not live during those months at his
+sister's. She would be only too delighted to have him do so, but on that
+point his mind was made up. And, quite as obviously, he could not long
+exist, and pay an adequate price for the privilege of existing, with the
+small sum which was left after his disastrous voyage upon the sea of
+business. His immediate problems then were two: First, to find a
+boarding place which was very, very cheap. Second, if possible, to find
+a means of earning a little money. The first of these he might, perhaps,
+solve after a fashion, but the second&mdash;and he a cripple! He groaned
+aloud.</p>
+
+<p>Then he gradually became aware of a new set of sounds, sounds
+approaching along the road from the direction in which the children and
+the doctor's equipage had disappeared. The sounds, at first rather
+confused, gradually separated themselves into two varieties, one the
+sharp, irregular rattle of a springless cart, the second a hoarse
+unmusical voice which, like Edgar's, was raised in song. But in this
+case the rattle of the cart caused the song to be broken unexpectedly
+into jerky spasms, so to speak. Nevertheless, the singer kept manfully
+at his task.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_16" id="pg_16">16</a></span></p>
+
+<p class='blockquot'>"Now the <i>Dreadnought's</i> a-bowlin' (<i>Bump! Rattle</i>) down the wild Irish sea<br />
+Where the pass (<i>Bump!</i>) engers are merry with hearts full of glee,<br />
+While the sailors like lions (<i>Gid-dap! What's the matter with ye</i>) walk the decks to and fro,<br />
+She's the Liverpool packet (<i>Bump! Bang! Crack!</i>) Good Lord, let her go!"</p>
+
+<p>Sears Kendrick sat upright on the settee. Of course he recognized the
+song, every man who had ever sailed salt water knew the old
+<i>Dreadnought</i> chantey, but much more than that, he believed he
+recognized the voice of the singer. Leaning forward, he watched for the
+latter to appear.</p>
+
+<p>Then, around the clump of lilacs which leaned over Captain Sol Snow's
+fence at the corner, came an old white horse drawing an old
+"truck-wagon," the wagon painted, as all Cape Cod truck-wagons then were
+and are yet, a bright blue; and upon the high seat of the wagon sat a
+chunky figure, a figure which rocked back and forth and sang:</p>
+
+<p class='blockquot'>"Now the <i>Dreadnought's</i> a sailin' the (<i>Bang! Bump!</i>) Atlantic so wide,<br />
+While the (<i>Thump! Bump!</i>) dark heavy seas roll along her black side,<br />
+With the sails neatly spread (<i>Crump! Jingle!</i>) and the red cross to show,<br />
+She's the Liverpool packet; Good Lord, let&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Captain Kendrick interrupted here.</p>
+
+<p>"Ahoy, the <i>Dreadnought</i>!" he hailed. "<i>Dreadnought</i> ahoy!"</p>
+
+<p>"Good Lord, let 'er go!" roared the man on the seat of the truck-wagon,
+finishing the stanza of his chantey. Then he added "Whoa!" in a mighty
+bellow. The white horse stopped in his tracks, as if he had one ear
+tipped backward
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_17" id="pg_17">17</a></span> awaiting the invitation. His driver leaned down and
+peered into the shadow of the lilac bush.</p>
+
+<p>"Who&mdash;?" he began. "Eh? <i>What?</i> Limpin', creepin', crawlin', jumpin'
+Moses and the prophets! It ain't Cap'n Sears Kendrick, is it? It is, by
+Henry! Well, well, <i>well</i>, WELL, <i>WELL</i>!"</p>
+
+<p>Each succeeding "well" was louder and more emphatic than its
+predecessor. They were uttered as the speaker rolled, rather than
+climbed, down from the high seat. Alighting upon a pair of enormous feet
+shod in heavy rubber boots, the tops of which were turned down, he
+thumped up the little slope from the road to the sidewalk. Then,
+thrusting over the fence pickets a red and hairy hand, the size of which
+corresponded to that of the feet, he roared another string of delighted
+exclamations.</p>
+
+<p>"Cap'n Sears Kendrick, on deck and all taut again! Well, by the jumpin',
+creepin'! If this ain't&mdash;Cap'n Sears, sir, how be you?"</p>
+
+<p>His broad-brimmed, battered straw hat had fallen off in his descent from
+the wagon seat, uncovering a partially bald head and a round, extremely
+red face, two-thirds of which was hidden by a tremendously thick and
+bristly tangle of short gray whiskers. The whiskers were now bisected by
+a broad grin, a grin so broad and so ecstatic that its wrinkles extended
+to the bulbous nose and the apple cheeks above.</p>
+
+<p>"Cap'n Sears, sir," repeated the driver of the truck-wagon, "I'm proud
+to see you on deck again, sir. Darned if I ain't!"</p>
+
+<p>The captain leaned forward and shook the big red hand extended across
+the fence pickets.</p>
+
+<p>"Judah Cahoon, you old salt herrin'," he cried heartily, "I'm just as
+glad to see you! But <i>what</i> in the world are you doin' here in
+Bayport?"</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_18" id="pg_18">18</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_II_693" id="CHAPTER_II_693"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER II</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Mr. Cahoon's grin vanished and the expression of his face above the
+whiskers indicated extreme surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"What am I doin' here?" he repeated. "Didn't you know I was here, Cap'n
+Sears?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I didn't. The last I heard of you you had shipped as cook
+aboard the <i>Gallant Rover</i> and was bound for Calcutta, or Singapore or
+somewhere in those latitudes. And that was only a year ago. What are you
+doin' on the Cape and pilotin' that kind of a craft?" indicating the
+truck wagon.</p>
+
+<p>The question was ignored. "Didn't they never tell you I was here?"
+demanded Judah. "Didn't that Joel Macomber tell you I been hailin' him
+every time he crossed my bows, askin' about you every day since you run
+on the rocks? Didn't he tell you that?"</p>
+
+<p>"No."</p>
+
+<p>"Never give you my respects nor&mdash;nor kind rememberances, nor nawthin'?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not a word. Never so much as mentioned your name."</p>
+
+<p>"The red-headed shark!"</p>
+
+<p>"There! There! Sshh! Never mind him. Come in here and sit down a minute,
+can't you? Or are you in a hurry?"</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? No-o, I ain't in no 'special hurry. Just got a deck load of seaweed
+aboard carting it up home, that's all."</p>
+
+<p>"Home? What home?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, where I'm livin'. I call it home; anyhow it's all the home I got.
+Eh? Why, Cap'n Sears, ain't they never told you that I'm livin' at the
+Minot place?"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_19" id="pg_19">19</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"The Minot place! Why&mdash;why, man alive, you don't mean the General Minot
+place, do you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Um-hm. That's what folks down here call it. There ain't no Generals
+there though."</p>
+
+<p>"And <i>you</i> are livin' in the General Minot house? Look here, Judah, are
+you trying to make a fool of me?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cahoon's countenance&mdash;that portion of it above the whisker tidemark,
+of course&mdash;registered horror at the thought. He had been cook and
+steward aboard Captain Kendrick's ships for many voyages and his feeling
+for his former skipper was close kin to idolatry.</p>
+
+<p>"Eh?" he gasped. "Me try to make a fool out of <i>you</i>, Cap'n Sears? <i>Me?</i>
+No, no, I got <i>some</i> sense left, I hope."</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick smiled. "Oh, the thing isn't impossible, Judah," he observed
+dryly. "It has been done. I have been made a fool of and more than
+once.... But there, never mind that. I want to know what you are doin'
+at the General Minot place. Come aboard here and tell me about it. You
+can leave your horse, can't you? He doesn't look as if he was liable to
+run away."</p>
+
+<p>"Run away! Him?" Judah snorted disgust. "Limpin' Moses! He won't run away
+for the same reason old Cap'n Eben Gould didn't say his prayers&mdash;he's
+forgot how. I was out with that horse on the flats last week and the
+tide pretty nigh caught us. The water in the main channel was so deep
+that it was clean up to the critter's garboard strake, and still, by the
+creepin', I couldn't get him out of a walk. I thought there one spell he
+might <i>drift</i> away, but I knew dum well he'd never run.... Whoa!
+you&mdash;you hipponoceros you!" addressing the ancient animal, who was
+placidly gnawing at the Macomber hitching post. "'Vast heavin' on that
+post! <i>Look</i> at the blasted idiot!" with huge disgust. "To home, by the
+creepin', he'll turn up his nose at good hay and then he'll cruise out
+here and start to swaller a wood fence. Whoa! Back! Back, or I'll&mdash;I'll
+bore a hole in you and scuttle you."</p>
+
+<p>The old horse condescended to back for perhaps two feet, a proceeding
+which elicited a grunt of grudging approval
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_20" id="pg_20">20</a></span> from Mr. Cahoon. The latter
+then settled himself with a thump upon the settee beside Captain
+Kendrick.</p>
+
+<p>"How's the spars splicin'?" he inquired, with a jerk of his thumb toward
+the captain's legs. "Gettin' so you can navigate with 'em? Stand up
+under sail, will they?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not for much of a cruise," replied Sears, using the same nautical
+phraseology. "I shan't be able to run under anything but a jury rig for
+a good while, I'm afraid. But never mind the spars. I want to know how
+you happen to be down here in Bayport, and especially what on earth you
+are doin' at the Minot place? Somebody died and left you a million?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cahoon's whiskers were split again by his wide grin.</p>
+
+<p>"If I was left a million <i>I'd</i> die," he observed with emphasis. "No, no,
+nothin' like that, Cap'n. I'm there along of ... humph! You know young
+Ogden Minot, don't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I guess I don't. I don't seem to remember him. Ogden Minot, you
+say?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sartin. Why, you must have run afoul of him, Cap'n Sears. He has a&mdash;a
+sort of home moorin's at a desk in Barstow Brothers' shippin' office up
+on State Street. Has some kind of berth with the firm, they tell me,
+partner or somethin'. You must have seen him there."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, if I have I.... Hold on a minute! Seems to me I do remember him.
+Tall fellow, dresses like a tailor's picture; speaks as if&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"As if the last half of every word was comin' on the next boat. That's
+him. Light complected, wears his whiskers wing and wing, like a schooner
+runnin' afore the wind. Same kind of side whiskers old Cap'n Spencer of
+the <i>Farewell</i> used to carry that voyage when I fust run afoul of you.
+You was second mate and I was cook, remember. You recollect the
+skipper's side whiskers, Cap'n Sears? Course you do! Stuck out each side
+of his face pretty nigh big as old-fashioned studdin' sails. Fo'mast
+hands used to call 'em the old man's 'homeward-bounders.' Ho, ho! Why,
+I've seen them whiskers blowin'&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick interrupted.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_21" id="pg_21">21</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Never mind Cap'n Spencer's whiskers," he said. "Stick to your course,
+Judah. What about this Ogden Minot?"</p>
+
+<p>"Everythin' bout him. If 'twan't for him I wouldn't be here now. No
+sir-ee, 'stead of settin' here swappin' yarns with you, Cap'n Sears, I'd
+be somewheres off Cape Horn, cookin' lobscouse and doughboy over a
+red-hot galley stove. Yes sir, that's where I'd be. And I'd just as soon
+be here, and a dum sight juster, as the feller said. Ho, ho! Tut, tut,
+tut! You can't never tell, can you? How many times I've stood in my
+galley with a gale of wind blowin', and my feet braced so's I wouldn't
+pitch into the salt-horse kittle every time she rolled, and thinkin'&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"There, there, Judah! Bring her up, bring her up. You're three points
+off again."</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? So I be, so I be. I'll try and hold her nose in the notch from now
+on. Well, 'twas last October, a year ago, when I'd about made up my mind
+to go cook in the <i>Gallant Rover</i>, same as you said. I hadn't signed
+articles, you understand, but I was cal'latin' to, and I was down on
+Long Wharf where the <i>Rover</i> was takin' cargo, and her skipper, Cap'n
+Gustavus Philbrick, 'twas&mdash;he was a Cape man, one of the Ostable
+Philbricks&mdash;he asked me if I wouldn't cruise up to the Barstow Brothers'
+office and fetch down some papers that was there for him. So I didn't
+have nawthin' to do 'special, and 'twas about time for my eleven
+o'clock&mdash;when I'm in Boston I always cal'late to hist aboard one eleven
+o'clock, rum and sweetenen' 'tis generally, at Jerry Crockett's saloon
+on India Street and.... Aye, aye, sir! All right, all right, Cap'n
+Sears. I'll keep her in the notch, don't worry. Well&mdash;er&mdash;er&mdash;what was I
+sayin'? Oh, yes! Well, I had my eleven o'clock and then I cruised up to
+the Barstow place, and the fust mate there, young Crosby Barstow 'twas,
+he was talkin' with this Ogden Minot. And when I hove in sight young
+Barstow, he sings out: 'And here's another Cape Codder, Ogden,' he says.
+'You two ought to know each other. Cahoon,' says he, 'this is Mr. Ogden
+Minot; his folks hailed from Bayport. That's down your way, ain't it?'
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_22" id="pg_22">22</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"'You bet!' says I. 'My home port's Harniss, and that's right next door.
+Minot? Minot?' I says, tryin' to recollect, you understand. 'Seems to me
+I used to know a Minot down that way. Why, yes, course I did! You any
+relation to old Ichabod Minot, that skippered the <i>Gypsy Maid</i> fishin'
+to the Banks? Ichabod hailed from&mdash;from&mdash;Denboro, seems to me 'twas.'</p>
+
+<p>"He said no pretty sharp. Barstow, he laughed like fury and wanted to
+know if this Ogden Minot looked like Ichabod. 'Is there a family
+resemblance?' he says. I told him I guessed not. 'Anyhow,' says I, 'I
+couldn't tell very well. I only seen Ichabod when he was drunk.' That
+tickled Barstow most to death. 'You never saw him but that once, then?'
+he wanted to know. 'Oh, yes,' says I, 'I seen him about every time he
+was on shore after a fishin' trip.'</p>
+
+<p>"That seemed to make him laugh more'n ever and even young Ogden laughed
+some. Anyhow, we got to talkin' and I told Barstow how I was cal'latin'
+to go cook on the <i>Gallant Rover</i>. 'And I'm sick of it,' I says. 'I'd
+like a nice snug berth ashore.' 'You would?' says Barstow. Then he says,
+'Humph!' and looks at Minot. And Minot, he says, 'Humph!' and looked at
+him. And then they both says, 'Humph!' and looked at me. And afore I set
+sail from that office to carry Cap'n Philbrick's papers back to him I'd
+agreed not to sign on for that v'yage as cook until I'd cruised down
+here to Bayport along of young Ogden Minot to see how I'd like to be
+sort of&mdash;of general caretaker and stevedore, as you might call it, at
+the General Minot place. You see, young Ogden was the General's grandson
+and he'd had the property left him. And 'twas part of the sailin'
+orders&mdash;in the old General's will, you understand&mdash;that it couldn't be
+sold, but must always be took care of and kept up. Ogden could rent it
+out but he couldn't sell it; that was the pickle <i>he</i> was in.
+Understand, don't you, Cap'n Sears?"</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick nodded. "Why&mdash;yes, I guess likely I do," he said. "But this
+Minot boy could live in it himself, couldn't he? Why doesn't he do that?
+As I remember it, it was
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_23" id="pg_23">23</a></span> considerable of a house. I should think he
+would come here himself and live."</p>
+
+<p>Judah nodded. "You would think so, wouldn't you?" he agreed. "But <i>he</i>
+don't think so, and what's a mighty sight more account, his wife don't
+think so. She's one of them kind of women that&mdash;that&mdash;well, when she
+gets to heaven&mdash;course I ain't layin' no bets on her gettin' there, but
+<i>if</i> she does&mdash;the fust thing she'll do after she fetches port is to
+find out which one of them golden streets has got the highest-toned gang
+livin' on it and then start in tryin' to tie up to the wharf there
+herself. <i>She</i> wouldn't live in no Bayport. No sir&mdash;ee! She's got winter
+moorin's up in one of them streets back of the Common, and summer times
+she's down to a place called&mdash;er&mdash;er&mdash;Nahum&mdash;Nehimiah&mdash;No&mdash;jumpin'
+prophets! What's the name of that place out on the rocks abaft Lynn?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nahant?" suggested his companion.</p>
+
+<p>"That's it. She and him is to Nahant summers. And what for <i>I</i> don't
+know, when right here in Bayport is a great, big, fine house and land
+around it and&mdash;and flower tubs in the front yard and&mdash;and marble top
+tables&mdash;and&mdash;and haircloth chairs and sofys, and&mdash;and a Rogers' statoo
+in the parlor and&mdash;and.... Why, say, Cap'n Sears, you ought to <i>see</i>
+that house and the things in it. They've spent money on that house same
+as if a five dollar bill wan't nawthin'. Wasted it, I call it. The
+second day I was there I wanted to brush off some dust that was on the
+chair seats and I was huntin' round from bow to stern lookin' for one of
+them little brush brooms, you know, same as you brush clothes with.
+Well, sir, I'd about give up lookin' when I happened to look on the wall
+of the settin'-room and there was one hangin' up. And, say, Cap'n Sears,
+I wisht you could have seen it! 'Twas triced up in a&mdash;a kind of becket,
+as you might say, made out of velvet&mdash;yes, sir, by creepin', velvet! And
+the velvet had posies and grass painted on it. And, I don't know as
+you'll believe it, but it's a fact, the handle of that brush broom was
+gilded! Yes sir, by Henry, <i>gilded</i>! 'Well,' thinks I to myself, 'if
+this ain't then I don't
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_24" id="pg_24">24</a></span> know what is!' I did cal'late that I was
+gettin' used to style, and high-toned money-slingin', but when it comes
+to puttin' gold handles onto brush-brooms, that had me on my beam ends,
+that did. And ain't it a sinful waste, Cap'n Sears, I ask you? Now ain't
+it? And what in time is the <i>good</i> of it? A brush-broom is just a broom,
+no matter if&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Again the captain interrupted. "Yes, yes, of course, Judah," he agreed,
+laughing; "but what do you do up there all by yourself? In that big
+house?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I don't live in the whole house. I could if I wanted to. Ogden, he
+don't care where I live or what I do. All he wants of me, he says, is to
+keep the place lookin' good, and the grass cut and one thing or 'nother.
+He keeps hopin' he's goin' to rent it, you know, but they won't nobody
+hire it. The only thing a place big as that would be good for is to keep
+tavern. And we've got one tavern here in Bayport already."</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick seemed to be thinking. He pulled his beard. Of course he wore a
+beard; in those days he would have been thought queer if he had not.
+Even the Harvard students who came to Bayport occasionally on summer
+tramping trips wore beards or sidewhiskers; the very callowest Freshman
+sported and nourished a moustache.</p>
+
+<p>"So you don't occupy the whole house, Judah?" asked the captain.</p>
+
+<p>"No, no," replied Mr. Cahoon. "I live out in the back part. There's the
+kitchen and woodshed and dinin'-room out there and a couple of bedrooms.
+That's all <i>I</i> want. There's nine more bedrooms in that house, Cap'n,"
+he declared solemnly. "That makes eleven altogether. Now what in tunket
+do you cal'late anybody'd ever do with eleven bedrooms?"</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick shook his head. "Give it up, Judah," he said. "For the matter
+of that, I don't see what you do with two. Do you sleep in one week
+nights and the other on Sundays?"</p>
+
+<p>Judah grinned. "No, no, Cap'n," he said. "I don't know myself why I keep
+that other bedroom fixed up. Cal'late I do it just for fun, kind of
+makin' believe I'm going to have
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_25" id="pg_25">25</a></span> company, I guess. It gets kind of
+lonesome there sometimes, 'specially meal times and evenin's. There I
+set at mess, you know, grand as the skipper of the <i>Great Republic</i>,
+cloth on the table, silver knife and fork, silver castor with blue glass
+vinegar and pepper-sass bottles, great, big, elegant mustache cup with
+'Forget Me Not' printed out on it in gold letters&mdash;everything so fine it
+couldn't be no finer&mdash;but by creepin', sometimes I can't help feelin'
+lonesome! Seems foolish, don't it, but I be."</p>
+
+<p>Captain Kendrick did not speak. He pulled at his beard with more
+deliberation and the look in his eye was that of one watching the
+brightening dawn of an idea.</p>
+
+<p>"I told Ogden so last time he was down," continued Mr. Cahoon. "He asked
+me if I was comf'table and if I wanted anything more and I told him I
+didn't. 'Only thing that ails me,' I says, 'is that I get kind of
+lonesome bein' by myself so much. Sometimes I wisht I had comp'ny.'
+'Well, why don't you <i>have</i> comp'ny?' says he. 'You've got room enough,
+lord knows.' 'Yes,' I says, 'but who'll I have?' He laughed. 'That's
+your lookout,' says he. 'You can't expect me to hire a companion for
+you.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Humph!" Kendrick regarded him thoughtfully. "So you would like company,
+would you, Judah?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sartin sure I would, if 'twas the right kind. I got a cat and that
+helps a little mite. And Cap'n Shubal Hammond's wife told me yesterday
+she'd give me a young pig if I wanted one. That's what I'm cartin' home
+this little mite of seaweed for, to bed down the pig sty. But cats and
+hogs, they're all right enough, but they ain't human."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you keep hens?"</p>
+
+<p>This apparently harmless question seemed to arouse Mr. Cahoon's ire. His
+whiskers bristled and his nose flamed.</p>
+
+<p>"Hens!" he repeated. "Don't talk to me about hens! No, sir, by the
+prophets, I don't keep hens! But them everlastin' Fair Harborers keep
+'em and if they'd keep 'em to home I wouldn't say a word. But they
+don't. Half the time they're over my side of the fence raisin' blue hob
+with my garden.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_26" id="pg_26">26</a></span> Hens! Don't talk to me about 'em! I hate the sight of
+the critters."</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick smiled. "And after all," he observed, "hens aren't human,
+either."</p>
+
+<p>Judah snorted. "Some are," he declared, "and them's the worst kind."</p>
+
+<p>There was, doubtless, a hidden meaning in this speech, but if so Sears
+Kendrick did not seek to find it. Laying a hand upon the broad shoulder
+of his former sea-cook he lifted himself to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>"Judah," he asked, briskly, "is that seaweed in your cart there dry?"</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? Dry? Yes, yes, dry as a cat's back. Been layin' on the beach above
+tide mark ever since last winter. Why?"</p>
+
+<p>"Do you suppose you could help me hoist myself aboard?"</p>
+
+<p>"Aboard? Aboard that truck-wagon? For the land sakes, what for?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because I want a ride. I've been in drydock here till I'm pretty nearly
+crazy. I want to go on a cruise, even if it isn't but a half mile one.
+Don't you want to cart me down to your anchorage and let me see how you
+and General Minot and the gilt whisk broom get along? I can sprawl on
+that seaweed and be as comfortable as a gull on a clam flat. Come on
+now! Heave ahead! Give us a hand up!"</p>
+
+<p>"But&mdash;limpin' prophets, Cap'n Sears, I couldn't cart you up the main
+road of Bayport in a seaweed cart. You, of all men! What do you cal'late
+folks would say if they see me doin' it? Course I'd love to have you
+ride down and see how I'm livin'. If you'd set up on the thawt there,"
+indicating the high seat of the truck-wagon, "I'd be proud to have you.
+But to haul you along on a load of seaweed that's goin' to bed down a
+hog! Cap'n, you <i>know</i> 'twouldn't be fittin'! Course you do."</p>
+
+<p>His horror at the sacrilege was so ludicrous that Kendrick laughed
+aloud. However, he insisted that there was nothing unfitting in the
+idea; it was a good idea and founded upon common-sense.</p>
+
+<p>"How long do you think these sprung sticks of mine would
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_27" id="pg_27">27</a></span> last," he
+said, referring to his legs, "if they were jouncin' up and down on that
+seat aloft there? And I couldn't climb up even if I wanted to. But, you
+and I between us, Judah, can get me in on that seaweed, and that's what
+we're goin' to do. Come, come! Tumble up! All hands on deck now!
+Lively!"</p>
+
+<p>The familiar order, given with a touch of the old familiar crispness and
+authority, had its effect. Mr. Cahoon argued no more. Instead he sprang
+to attention, figuratively speaking.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, aye, sir!" he said. "Here she goes. Take it easy, Cap'n; don't
+hurry. Ease yourself down that bankin'. If we was to let go and you come
+down with a run there'd be the divil and all to pay, wouldn't there? So
+... so.... Here we be, alongside. Now&mdash;&mdash; Aloft with ye."</p>
+
+<p>They had reached the road by the tailboard of the wagon. And now Judah
+stooped, picked up his former skipper in his arms and swung him in upon
+the load of dry seaweed as if he were a two year old boy instead of a
+full-grown, and very much grown, man.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he asked, as he climbed to the seat, "all ready to make sail, be
+we? Any message you want to leave along with Sary? She won't know what
+end you've made, will she?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, she'll guess I've gone buggy-ridin' with the doctor. He's been
+threatenin' to take me with him 'most any day now. Sarah'll be all
+right. Get under way, Judah."</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, aye, sir. Git dap! Git dap! Limpin', creepin', crawlin', hoppin',
+jumpin'.... Starboard! <i>starboard</i>, you son of a Chinee! Need a tug to
+haul this critter into the channel, I swan you do! Git dap! All
+shipshape aft there, Cap'n Sears? Good enough! let her run."</p>
+
+<p>The old white horse&mdash;like the whisk broom and the Rogers group, a part
+of the furniture of the General Minot place&mdash;plodded along the dusty
+road and the blue truck-wagon rolled and rattled behind him. Captain
+Kendrick, settling his invalid limbs in the most comfortable fashion,
+lay back upon the seaweed and stared at the sky seen through
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_28" id="pg_28">28</a></span> the
+branches of elms and silver-leaf poplars which arched above. He made no
+attempt to look over the sides of the cart. Raising himself upon an
+elbow to do so entailed a good deal of exertion and this was his first
+trip abroad since his accident. Besides, seeing would probably mean
+being seen and he was not in the mood to answer the questions of
+curious, even if sympathetic, townsfolk. Judah made several attempts at
+conversation, but the replies were not satisfactory, so he gave it up
+after a little and, as was his habit, once more broke forth in song.
+Judah Cahoon, besides being sea cook on many, many voyages, had been
+"chantey man" on almost as many. His repertoire was, therefore,
+extensive and at times astonishing. Now, as he rocked back and forth
+upon the wagon seat, he caroled, not the <i>Dreadnought</i> chantey, but
+another, which told of a Yankee ship sailing down the Congo River,
+evidently in the old days of the slave trade.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"'Who do you think is the cap'n of her?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Blow, boys, blow!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Old Holy Joe, the darky lover,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Blow, my bully boys, blow!</span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'What do you think they've got for dinner?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Blow, boys, blow!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hot water soup, but a dum sight thinner,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Blow, my bully boys, blow!</span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Oh, blow to-day and blow to-morrer,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Blow, boys, blow!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And blow for all old salts in sorrer,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Blow, my bully&mdash;&mdash;'</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, say, Cap'n Sears!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Judah?"</p>
+
+<p>"They've put up the name sign on the Fair Harbor since you was in
+Bayport afore, ain't they? We're right off abreast of it now. Can't you
+hist yourself up and look over
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_29" id="pg_29">29</a></span> the side? It's some consider'ble of a
+sign, that is. Lobelia she left word to have that sign painted and set
+up last time she was here. She's over acrost in one of them Eyetalian
+ports now, so I understand, her and that feller she married. Eh? Ain't
+that quite a sign, now, Cap'n?"</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick, because his driver seemed to be so eager, sat up and looked
+over the sideboard of the truck-wagon. The vehicle was just passing a
+long stretch of ornate black iron fence in the center of which was a
+still more ornate gate with an iron arch above it. In the curve of the
+arch swung a black sign, its edges gilded, and with this legend printed
+upon it in gilt letters:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 13.5em;">FAIR HARBOR</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11.5em;">For Mariners' Women</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 8.5em;">"Without, the stormy winds increase,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 8.5em;">Within the harbor all is peace."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Behind the fence was a good-sized tract of lawn heavily shaded with
+trees, a brick walk, and at the rear a large house. The house itself was
+of the stately Colonial type and its simple dignity was in marked
+contrast to the fence.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Kendrick recognized the establishment of course. It, with its
+next door neighbor the General Minot place, was for so many years the
+home of old Captain Sylvanus Seymour. Captain Sylvanus, during his
+lifetime, was active claimant for the throne of King of Bayport. He was
+the town's leading Democratic politician, its wealthiest citizen, with
+possibly one exception&mdash;its most lavish entertainer&mdash;with the same
+possible exception&mdash;and when the Governor came to the Cape on "Cattle
+Show Day" he was sure to be a guest at the Seymour place&mdash;unless General
+Ashahel Minot, who was the exception mentioned&mdash;had gotten his
+invitation accepted first. For General Minot was Bayport's leading Whig,
+as Captain Sylvanus was its leading Democrat, and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_30" id="pg_30">30</a></span> the rivalry between
+the two was intense. Nevertheless, they were, in public at least,
+extremely polite and friendly, and when they did agree&mdash;as on matters
+concerning the village tax rate and the kind of doctrine permitted to be
+preached in the Orthodox meeting-house&mdash;their agreement was absolute and
+overwhelming. In their day the Captain and the General dominated Bayport
+by sea and land.</p>
+
+<p>But that day had passed. They had both been dead for some years. Captain
+Seymour died first and his place and property were inherited by his
+maiden daughter, Miss Lobelia Seymour. Sears Kendrick remembered Lobelia
+as a dressy, romantic spinster, very much in evidence at the church
+socials and at meetings of the Shakespeare Reading Society, and who sang
+a somewhat shrill soprano in the choir.</p>
+
+<p>Now, as he looked over the side of Judah Cahoon's truck-wagon and saw
+the sign hanging beneath the arch above the gate of the Seymour place he
+began dimly to remember other things, bits of news embodied in letters
+which his sister, Sarah Macomber, had written him at various times.
+Lobelia Seymour had&mdash;she had done something with the family home,
+something unusual. What was it? Why, yes....</p>
+
+<p>"Judah," he said, "Lobelia Seymour turned that place into a&mdash;a sort of
+home, didn't she?"</p>
+
+<p>Judah twisted on the wagon seat to stare at him.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you askin' me that for, Cap'n Sears?" he demanded. "You know
+more about it than I do, I guess likely. Anyhow, you ought to; you was
+brought up in Bayport; I wasn't."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but I've been away from it ten times longer than I've been in it.
+I'd forgotten all about Lobelia. Seems to me Sarah wrote me somethin'
+about her, though, and that she had turned her father's place into a
+home for women."</p>
+
+<p>"For mariners' women, that's what she calls it. Didn't you see it on the
+sign? Ho, ho! that's a good one, ain't it, Cap'n Sears? 'Mariners'
+women!' Course what it means is sea cap'ns widders and sisters and such,
+but it does sound kind of Brigham Youngy, don't it? Haw, haw! Well,
+fur's
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_31" id="pg_31">31</a></span> that goes I have known mariners that&mdash;Hi! 'Vast heavin' there!
+What in time you tryin' to do, carry away that gate post? Whoa! Jumpin'
+creepin', limpin'&mdash;&mdash; Whoa! <i>Look</i> at the critter!" in huge disgust and
+referring to the white horse, who had suddenly evinced a desire to turn
+in at a narrow driveway and to gallop while doing so. "Look at him!"
+repeated Judah. "When I go up to the depot he'll stand right in the
+middle of the railroad track and go to sleep. I have to whale the
+timbers out of him to get him awake enough to step ahead so's a train of
+cars won't stave in his broadside. But get him home here where he can
+see the barn, the place where he knows I stow the oats, and he wants to
+run right over top of a stone wall. Can't hardly hold him, I can't.
+Who-a-a!... Well, Cap'n Sears, here we be at the General Minot place.
+Here's where I sling my hammock these days."</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick looked about him, at the grassy back yard, with the ancient
+settee beneath the locust tree, the raspberry and currant bushes along
+the wall, the venerable apple and pear trees on the other side of the
+wall, at the trellis over the back door and the grape vine heavily
+festooning it, at the big weather-beaten barn, carriage house and
+pig-pens beyond. Turning, he looked upward at the high rambling house,
+its dormers and gables, its white clapboards and green window blinds.
+The sunlight streamed over it, but beneath the vine-hung lattice and
+under the locust tree were coolness and shadow. The wing of the big
+house, projecting out to the corner of the drive, shut off the view to
+or from the road. Somehow, the whole yard, with its peace and quiet and
+sunshine and shadow, and above all, its retirement, made a great appeal.
+It seemed so homelike, so shut away, so comforting, like a sheltered
+little backwater where a storm-beaten craft might lie snug.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cahoon made anxious inquiry.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you think of it, Cap'n?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>His visitor did not reply. Instead he said, "Judah, I'd like to see your
+quarters inside, may I?"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_32" id="pg_32">32</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Sartin sure you may. Right this way. Look out for the rocks in the
+channel," indicating the brick floor beneath the lattice. "Two or three
+of them bricks stick up more'n they ought to. Twice since I've been here
+the stem of one of my boots has fetched up on them bricks and I've all
+but pitch-poled. Take your time, Cap'n Sears, take your time. Here, lean
+on my shoulder, I'll pilot you."</p>
+
+<p>The captain smiled. "Much obliged, Judah," he said, "but I shan't need
+your shoulder. There aren't any stairs to climb, are there? Stair
+climbin' is too much for me yet awhile. Perhaps it will always be. I
+don't know."</p>
+
+<p>The tone in which he uttered the last sentence caused his companion to
+turn his head and regard him with concern.</p>
+
+<p>"Sho, sho, sho!" he exclaimed, hastily. "What kind of talk's that,
+Cap'n! I'll live to see you shin up and hang your hat on the main truck
+yet.... There, here's the galley. Like it, do you?"</p>
+
+<p>The "galley" was, of course, the kitchen. It was huge and low and very
+old-fashioned. Also it was, just now, spotlessly clean. From it opened
+the woodshed, and toward the front, the dining room.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't eat in here much," observed Judah, referring to the dining
+room. "Generally mess in the galley. Comes more natural to me. The
+settin' room, and back parlor and front parlor are out for'ard yonder.
+Come on, Cap'n Sears."</p>
+
+<p>The captain shook his head. "Never mind them just now," he said. "I want
+to see the bedrooms, those you use, Judah. That is, unless they're up
+aloft."</p>
+
+<p>"No, no. Right on the lower deck, both of 'em. Course there <i>is</i> plenty
+more up aloft, but, as I told you, I never bother 'em. Here's my berth,"
+opening a door from the sitting room. "And here's what I call my spare
+stateroom. I keep it ready for comp'ny. Not that I ever have any, you
+understand."</p>
+
+<p>Judah's bedroom was small and snug. The "spare stateroom" was a trifle
+larger. In both were the old-fashioned
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_33" id="pg_33">33</a></span> mahogany furniture of our
+great-grandfathers. Mr. Cahoon apologized for it.</p>
+
+<p>"Kind of old-timey stuff down below here," he explained. "Just common
+folks used these rooms, I judge likely. But you'd ought to see them up
+on the quarter deck. There's your high-toned fixin's! Marble tops to the
+bureaus and tables and washstands, and fruit&mdash;peaches and pears and all
+sorts&mdash;carved out on the headboards of the beds, and wreaths on the
+walls all made out of shells, and&mdash;and kind of brass doodads at the tops
+of the window curtains. Style, don't talk!... Sort of a pretty look-off
+through that deadlight, ain't there, Cap'n Sears? Seems so to me."</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick had raised the window shade of the spare stateroom and was
+looking out. The view extended across the rolling hills and little pine
+groves and cranberry bogs, to the lower road with its white houses and
+shade trees. And beyond the lower road were more hills and pines, a
+pretty little lake&mdash;Crowell's Pond, it was called&mdash;sand dunes and then
+the blue water of the Bay. The captain looked at the view for a few
+moments, then, turning, looked once more at the room and its furniture.</p>
+
+<p>"So you've never had a passenger in your spare stateroom, Judah?" he
+asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Nary one, not yet."</p>
+
+<p>"Expectin' any?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nary one. Don't know nobody to expect."</p>
+
+<p>"But you think it would be all right if you did have some one? Your
+er&mdash;owner&mdash;young Minot, I mean, wouldn't object?"</p>
+
+<p>"Object! No, no. He told me to. 'I should think you'd die livin' here
+alone,' he says. 'Why don't you take a boarder? I would if I was you.'"</p>
+
+<p>Sears Kendrick stopped looking at the room and its furniture and turned
+his gaze upon his former cook.</p>
+
+<p>"Take a boarder?" he repeated. "Did Ogden Minot tell you to take a
+boarder? And do you think he meant it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sartin sure he meant it. He don't care what I do&mdash;in reason, of
+course."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_34" id="pg_34">34</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Humph!... Well, then, Judah, why don't you take one?"</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? Take one what? A boarder? Who'd I take, for thunder's sakes?"</p>
+
+<p>Captain Kendrick smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"Me," he said.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_35" id="pg_35">35</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_III_1319" id="CHAPTER_III_1319"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER III</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>For the half hour which followed the captain's utterance of that simple
+little word, "Me," exclamation, protestation and argument heated and
+unwontedly disturbed the atmosphere of the Minot spare stateroom and
+when the discussion adjourned there, of the little back yard. The old
+white horse, left to himself and quite forgotten, placidly meandered on
+until he reached a point where he could reach the tender foliage of a
+young pear tree which leaned over the wall toward him. Then, with a sigh
+of content, he proceeded to devour the tree. No one paid the least
+attention to him. Captain Kendrick, now seated upon the bench beneath
+the locust, was quietly but persistently explaining why he desired to
+become a boarder and lodger at Mr. Cahoon's quarters on the after lower
+deck of the General Minot house, and Judah was vociferously and
+profanely expostulating against such an idea.</p>
+
+<p>"It ain't fittin', I tell you," he declared, over and over again. "It
+ain't fittin', it's the craziest notion ever I heard tell of. What'll
+folks think if they know you're here&mdash;you, Cap'n Sears Kendrick, that
+all hands knows is the smartest cap'n that ever sailed out of Boston
+harbor? What'll they say if they know you've hove anchor along of me,
+stayin' here in the&mdash;in the fo'castle of this house; eatin' the grub I
+cook&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I've eaten your cookin' for a good many months at a stretch, Judah. You
+never heard me find any fault with it, did you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't make no odds. That's different, Cap'n Sears, and you know 'tis.
+It's ridiculous, stark, ravin' ridiculous."</p>
+
+<p>"So you don't care for my company?"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't tuk so! Wouldn't I be proud to have ye?
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_36" id="pg_36">36</a></span> Wouldn't I ruther have
+you aboard here than anybody else on earth? Course I would!"</p>
+
+<p>"All right. And you're goin' to have me. So that's all settled."</p>
+
+<p>"Settled! Who said 'twas settled? Course 'tain't settled. You don't
+understand, Cap'n Sears. 'Tain't how I feel about it. 'Tain't even maybe
+how you feel about it. But how'll your sister feel about it? How'll Joel
+feel? How'll the doctor feel? How'll the folks in town feel? How'll&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, shh! shh! Avast, Judah! How'll the cat feel? And the pig? What do I
+care? How'll your old horse feel if he eats the other half of that pear
+tree? That's considerably more important."</p>
+
+<p>Judah turned, saw the combination of ancient equine and youthful tree
+and rushed bellowing to the rescue of the latter. When he returned,
+empty of profanity and copiously perspiring, his former skipper was
+ready for him.</p>
+
+<p>"Listen, Judah," he said. "Listen, and keep your main hatch closed for
+five minutes, if you can. I want to come here to board with you for a
+while and I've got the best reasons on earth. Keep still and I'll tell
+you again what they are."</p>
+
+<p>He proceeded to give those reasons. They were that he had little money
+and must therefore live inexpensively. He would not remain at his
+sister's because she had more than enough care and work in her own
+family. George Kent boarded with her and one boarder was sufficient.
+Then&mdash;and this was the principal reason for selecting the General Minot
+spare stateroom&mdash;he wished to live somewhere away from observation,
+where he could be alone, or nearly alone, where he would not be plagued
+with questions.</p>
+
+<p>"You see, Judah," he said, "I've had a bump in more ways than one. My
+pride was knocked flat as well as my pocket book. The doctor says I've
+got to stay ashore for a good while. He says it will be months before
+I'm ready for sea&mdash;if I'm ever ready&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Hold on, hold on! Cap'n Sears, you mustn't talk so. Course you'll be
+ready."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_37" id="pg_37">37</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"All right, we'll hope I will. But while I'm gettin' ready to be ready I
+want to lie snug. I don't want to see a whole lot of people and have to
+listen to&mdash;to sympathy and all that. I've made a fool of myself, and
+that kind of a fool doesn't deserve sympathy. And I don't want it,
+anyhow. Give me a pair of sound spars and my health once more and you
+won't find me beggin' for sympathy&mdash;no, nor anything else.... But
+there," he added, straightening and throwing back his shoulders in the
+way Judah had seen him do so often on shipboard and which his mates had
+learned to recognize as a sign that the old man's mind was made up,
+"that's enough of that. Let's stick to the course. I like this place of
+yours, Judah, and I'm comin' here to live. I'm weak yet and you can
+throw me out, of course," he added, "but I tell you plainly you can't
+<i>talk</i> me out, so it's no use to try."</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, Mr. Cahoon kept on trying and, when he did give in only
+gave in halfway. If Captain Sears was bound to do such a fool thing he
+didn't know how he was going to stop him, but at least he did insist
+that the captain should take a trial cruise before signing on for the
+whole voyage.</p>
+
+<p>"I tell you what you do, Cap'n Sears," he said. "You make me a little
+visit of&mdash;of two, three days, say. Then, if you cal'late you can stand
+the grub&mdash;and me&mdash;and if the way Bayport folks'll be talkin' ain't
+enough to send you back to Sary's again, why&mdash;why, then I suppose you
+can stay right along, if you want to. <i>'Twould</i> be fine to have you
+aboard! Whew!"</p>
+
+<p>He grinned from ear to ear. The captain accepted the compromise.</p>
+
+<p>"All right, Judah," he said. "We'll call the first few days a visit and
+I'll begin by stayin' to dinner now. How'll that do, eh?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cahoon affirmed that it would do finely. The only drawback was that
+there was nothing in the house for dinner.</p>
+
+<p>"I was cal'latin' to go down to the shore," he said, "and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_38" id="pg_38">38</a></span> dig a bucket
+of clams. Course they'll do well enough for me, but for you&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"For me they will be just the ticket," declared Kendrick. "Go ahead and
+dig 'em, Judah. And on the way stop and tell Sarah I'm goin' to stay
+here and help eat 'em. After dinner&mdash;well, after dinner I shall have to
+go back there again, I suppose, but to-morrow I'm comin' up here to
+stay."</p>
+
+<p>So, still under protest, Judah, having unloaded the seaweed, climbed
+once more to the high seat of the truck-wagon and the old horse dragged
+him out of the yard. After the row of trees bordering the road had
+hidden him from sight Kendrick could hear the rattle of the cart and a
+fragment of the <i>Dreadnought</i> chantey.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Now the <i>Dreadnought's</i> becalmed on the banks of Newfoundland,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Where the water's all green and the bottom's all sand.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Says the fish of the ocean that swim to and fro:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'She's the Liverpool packet, good Lord, let her go.'"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Rattle and chantey died away in the distance. Quiet, warm and lazy,
+settled down upon the back yard of the General Minot place. A robin
+piped occasionally and, from somewhere off to the left, hens clucked,
+but these were the only sounds. Kendrick judged that the hens must
+belong to neighbors; Judah had expressed detestation of all poultry.
+There was not sufficient breeze to stir the branches of the locust or
+the leaves of the grapevine. The captain leaned back on the settee and
+yawned. He felt a strong desire to go to sleep.</p>
+
+<p>Now sleeping in the daytime had always been a trick which he despised
+and against which he had railed all his life. He had declared times
+without number that a man who slept in the daytime&mdash;unless of course he
+had been on watch all night or something like that&mdash;was a loafer, a good
+for nothing, a lubber too lazy to be allowed on earth. The day was a
+period made for decent, respectable people to work in, and for a man who
+did not work, and love to work, Captain
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_39" id="pg_39">39</a></span> Sears Kendrick had no use
+whatever. Many so-called able seamen, and even first and second mates,
+had received painstaking instructions in this section of their skipper's
+code.</p>
+
+<p>But now&mdash;now it was different. Why shouldn't he sleep in the daytime?
+There was nothing else for him to do. He had no business to transact, no
+owners to report to, no vessel to load or unload or to fit for sea. He
+had heard the doctor's whisper&mdash;not meant for his ears&mdash;that his legs
+might never be right again, and the word "might" had, he believed, been
+substituted for one of much less ambiguous meaning. No, all he was fit
+for, he reflected bitterly, was to sit in the sun and sleep, like an old
+dog with the rheumatism. He sighed, settled himself upon the bench and
+closed his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>But he opened them again almost at once. During that very brief interval
+of darkness there had flashed before his mind a picture of a small park
+in New York as he had once seen it upon a summer Sunday afternoon. The
+park walks had been bordered with rows of benches and upon each bench
+slumbered at least one human derelict who, apparently, realized his
+worthlessness and had given up the fight. Captain Kendrick sat upright
+on the settee, beneath the locust tree. Was he, too, giving
+up&mdash;surrendering to Fate? No, by the Lord, he was not! And he was not
+going to drop off to sleep on that settee like one of those tramps on a
+park bench.</p>
+
+<p>He rose to his feet, picked up his cane, and started to walk&mdash;somewhere.
+Direction made little difference, so long as he kept awake and kept
+going. There was a path leading off between the raspberry and currant
+bushes, and slowly, but stubbornly, he limped along that path. The path
+ended at a gate in a white picket fence. The gate was unlatched and
+there was an orchard on the other side of it. Captain Sears opened the
+gate and limped on under the apple trees. They were old trees and large
+and the shade they cast was cool and pleasant. The soft green slope
+beneath them tempted him strongly. He was beginning to realize that
+those shaky legs of his were tiring in this, the longest walk they had
+attempted since the accident. He had a mind to
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_40" id="pg_40">40</a></span> sit down upon the bank
+beneath the apple trees and rest. Then he remembered the mental picture
+of the tramps on the park benches and stubbornly refused to yield.
+Leaning more heavily upon his cane, he limped on.</p>
+
+<p>The path emerged from beneath the apple trees, ascended a little rise
+and disappeared around the shoulder of a high thick clump of lilacs.
+Kendrick, tiring more and more rapidly, plodded on. His suffering limbs
+were, so to speak, shrieking for mercy but he would not give it to them.
+He set himself a "stint"; he would see what was beyond the clump of
+lilacs, then he would rest, and then he would hobble back to the Minot
+yard. Incidentally he realized that he had been a fool ever to leave it.</p>
+
+<p>His teeth grimly set and each step a labor, he plodded up the little
+rise and turned the corner of the lilac bushes. There he stopped, not
+entirely because his "stint" was done, but because what he saw surprised
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Beyond the lilacs was a small garden, or rather a series of small
+gardens. The divisions between them appeared to be exactly the same size
+and the plots themselves precisely the same size and shape. There
+were&mdash;although the captain did not learn this until later&mdash;seven of
+these plots, each exactly six by nine feet. But there resemblance
+ceased, for each was planted and arranged with a marked individuality.
+For example, the one nearest the lilac bushes was laid out in a sort of
+checkerboard pattern of squares, one square containing a certain sort of
+old-fashioned flower and its neighbors other varieties. The plot
+adjoining the checkerboard was arranged in diamonds and spirals; the
+planting here was floral also, whereas the next was evidently
+utilitarian, being given up entirely to corn, potatoes, onions, beets
+and other vegetables. And the next seemed to be covered with nothing
+except a triumphant growth of weeds.</p>
+
+<p>At the rear of these odd garden plots was a little octagonal building,
+evidently a summer-house. Over its door, a door fronting steps leading
+down to the gardens, was a sign bearing the name "The Eyrie." And behind
+the summer-house was a stretch of rather shabby lawn, a half dozen
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_41" id="pg_41">41</a></span>
+trees, and the rear of a large house. Captain Sears recognized the house
+as the Seymour residence, now the "Fair Harbor." He had strayed off the
+course and was trespassing upon his neighbors' premises. This fact was
+immediately brought to his attention. From somewhere at the rear of the
+gardens a shrill feminine voice exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"Mercy on us! Who's that?"</p>
+
+<p>And another feminine voice chimed in:</p>
+
+<p>"Eh! I declare it's a man, ain't it?"</p>
+
+<p>And the first voice observed sharply:</p>
+
+<p>"Of course it is. You didn't think I thought it was a cow, did you?"</p>
+
+<p>"But what's he doin' here? Is he a tramp?</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know, but I'm going to find out. Hi! Here! You&mdash;man&mdash;where are
+you going?"</p>
+
+<p>Captain Sears had, by this time, located the voices as coming from the
+"Eyrie," the summer-house with the poetical name. He had so far,
+however, been able to see nothing of the speakers. But now the tangle of
+woodbine and morning-glory which draped the front of the summer-house
+was drawn aside and revealed a rustic window&mdash;or unglazed window
+opening&mdash;with two heads framed in it like a double portrait. Both of
+these heads were feminine, but one was thin-faced and sharp-featured,
+and gray-haired, while the other was like a full moon&mdash;a full moon with
+several chins&mdash;and its hair was a startlingly vivid black parted in the
+middle and with a series of very regular ripples on each side.</p>
+
+<p>It was the thin face which was hailing him. The other was merely
+staring, open-eyed and open-mouthed.</p>
+
+<p>"Here, you&mdash;man!" repeated the shrill voice&mdash;belonging to the thin face.
+"Where are you going?"</p>
+
+<p>The captain smiled. "Why, nowhere in particular, ma'am," he replied. "I
+was just figurin' that I'd gone about as far as I could this voyage."</p>
+
+<p>His smile became a chuckle, but there were no symptoms of amusement
+visible upon the faces framed in the window
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_42" id="pg_42">42</a></span> of the Eyrie. The thin lips
+merely pressed tighter and the plump ones opened wider, that was all.</p>
+
+<p>"Why don't you answer my question?" demanded the thin woman. "What are
+you doing on these premises?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, nothin' in particular, ma'am. I was just tryin' to take a little
+walk and not makin' a very good job at it."</p>
+
+<p>There was an interruption here. The full moon broke in to ask a question
+of its own.</p>
+
+<p>"Who is he? What's he talkin' about?" it demanded.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know who he is&mdash;yet."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what's he talkin' about? Make him speak louder."</p>
+
+<p>"I will, if you give me a chance. He says he is taking a walk. What are
+you taking a walk in here for? Don't you know it isn't allowed?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, no, ma'am, I didn't. In fact I didn't realize I was in here until
+I&mdash;well&mdash;until I got here."</p>
+
+<p>"What is he sayin'?" demanded the moon-face again, and somewhat testily.
+"I can't hear a word."</p>
+
+<p>Now the captain's tone had been at least ordinarily loud, so it was
+evident that the plump woman's hearing was defective. Her curiosity,
+however, was not in the least impaired.</p>
+
+<p>"What's that man talkin' about now?" she persisted. Her companion became
+impatient.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I don't know," she snapped. "Do give me a chance, won't you? I
+think he's been drinking. He says he doesn't know where he is or how he
+got here."</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick thought it high time to protest. Also to raise his voice when
+doing so.</p>
+
+<p>"That wasn't exactly it," he shouted. "I was takin' a little walk,
+that's all. I have to navigate pretty slow for my legs aren't just
+right."</p>
+
+<p>"What did he say wa'n't right?" demanded the plump female.</p>
+
+<p>"His legs."</p>
+
+<p>"Eh! Legs! What's he talkin' about his legs for?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I don't know! Do be still a minute. It's his head that isn't right,
+I guess he means.... Don't you know
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_43" id="pg_43">43</a></span> you're trespassing? What do you
+mean by coming in here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, ma'am, I didn't mean anything in particular. I just happened in
+by accident. I'm sorry."</p>
+
+<p>"Humph! You didn't come in here to run off with anything that didn't
+belong to you, I hope."</p>
+
+<p>The captain looked at her for a moment. Then his lip twitched.</p>
+
+<p>"No, ma'am," he said, solemnly, "I didn't come with that idea&mdash;but&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"But? What do you mean by 'but'?"</p>
+
+<p>"But I didn't realize what there was in here to run off with. If I
+had.... There, I guess I'd better go. Good day, ladies. Sorry I troubled
+you."</p>
+
+<p>He lifted his cap, turned, and limped out of sight around the clump of
+lilacs. From behind him came a series of indignant gasps and
+exclamations.</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why&mdash;Well, I never in all my born days! The saucy, impudent&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>And the voice of the moon-faced one raised in bewildered entreaty:</p>
+
+<p>"What was it? What did he say? Elviry Snowden, why don't you tell me
+what 'twas he <i>said</i>?"</p>
+
+<p>Captain Kendrick hobbled back to the Minot yard. He hobbled through the
+orchard gate, leaving it ajar, and reaching the bench beneath the locust
+tree, collapsed upon it. For some time he was conscious of very little
+except the ache in his legs and the fact that breathing was a difficult
+and jerky operation. Then, as the fatigue and pain ceased to be as
+insistent, the memory of his interview with the pair in the Eyrie
+returned to him and he began to chuckle. After a time he fancied that he
+heard a sympathetic chuckle behind him. It seemed to come from the
+vegetable garden, Judah's garden, which, so Mr. Cahoon told his former
+skipper, he had set out himself and was "sproutin' and comin' up
+better'n ary other garden in the town of Bayport, if I do say it as
+shouldn't."</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick could not imagine who could be chuckling in
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_44" id="pg_44">44</a></span> that garden. Also
+he could not imagine where the chuckler could be hiding, unless it was
+behind the rows of raspberry and currant bushes. Slowly and painfully he
+rose to his feet and peered over the bushes. Then the mystery was
+explained. The "chuckles" were clucks. A flock of at least a dozen
+healthy and energetic hens were enthusiastically busy in the Cahoon
+beds. Their feet were moving like miniature steam shovels and showers of
+earth and infant vegetables were moving likewise. Judah had boasted that
+the fruits of his planting were "comin' up." If he had seen them at that
+moment he would have realized how fast they were coming up.</p>
+
+<p>The sight aroused Captain Kendrick's ire. He was, in a way of speaking,
+guardian of that vegetable patch. Judah had not formally appointed him
+to that position, but he had gone away and, by the fact of so doing, had
+left it in his charge. He felt responsible for its safety.</p>
+
+<p>"Shoo!" shouted the captain and, leaning upon his cane, limped toward
+the garden.</p>
+
+<p>"Shoo!" he roared again. The hens paid about as much attention to the
+roar as a gang of ditch diggers might pay to the buzz of a mosquito.
+Obviously something more drastic than shooing was necessary. The captain
+stooped and picked up a stone. He threw the stone and hit a hen. She
+rose in the air with a frightened squawk, ran around in a circle, and
+then, coming to anchor in a patch of tiny beets, resumed excavating
+operations.</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick picked up another stone, a bigger one, and threw that. He
+missed the mark this time, but the shot was not entirely without
+results; it hit one of Mr. Cahoon's cucumber frames and smashed a pane
+to atoms. The crash of glass had the effect of causing some of the fowl
+to stop digging and appear nervous. But these were in the minority.</p>
+
+<p>The captain was, by this time, annoyed. He was on the verge of losing
+his temper. Beyond the little garden and between the raspberry and
+currant bushes he caught a glimpse of the path and the gate through
+which he had
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_45" id="pg_45">45</a></span> just come on his way back from the grounds of the Fair
+Harbor. That gate he saw, with a twinge of conscience, was wide open.
+Obviously he must have neglected to latch it on passing through, it had
+swung open, and the hens had taken advantage of the sally port to make
+their foray upon Judah's pet vegetables. They were Fair Harbor hens.
+Somehow this fact did not tend to deepen Sears Kendrick's affection for
+them.</p>
+
+<p>"Shoo! Clear out, you pesky nuisances!" he shouted, and waving his cane,
+charged laboriously down upon the fowl. They retreated before him, but
+their retreat was strategic. They moved from beets to cabbages, from
+cabbages to young corn, from corn to onions. And they scratched and
+pecked as they withdrew. Nevertheless, they were withdrawing and in the
+direction of the open gate; in the midst of his panting and pain the
+captain found a slight comfort in the fact that he was driving the
+creatures toward the gate.</p>
+
+<p>At last they were almost there&mdash;that is, the main body. Kendrick noted,
+with sudden uneasiness, that there were stragglers. A gaily decorated
+old rooster, a fowl with a dissipated and immoral swagger and a knowing,
+devil-may-care tilt of the head, was sidling off to the left. Two or
+three young pullets were following the lead of this ancient pirate,
+evidently fascinated by his recklessness. The captain turned to head off
+the wanderers. They squawked and ran hither and thither. He succeeded in
+turning them back, but, at the moment of his success, heard triumphant
+cluckings at his rear. The rest of the flock had, while his attention
+was diverted by the rooster and his followers, galloped joyfully back to
+the garden again. Now, as Captain Sears gazed, the rooster and his
+satellites flew to join them. All hands&mdash;or, more literally, all
+feet&mdash;resumed excavating with the abandon of conscientious workers
+striving to make up lost time.</p>
+
+<p>And now Sears Kendrick did lose his temper. Probably at another time he
+might have laughed, but now he was tired, in pain, and in no mood to see
+the humorous side of the situation. He expressed his opinion of the hens
+and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_46" id="pg_46">46</a></span> the rooster, using quarter deck idioms and withholding little. If
+the objects of his wrath were disturbed they did not show it. If they
+were shocked they hid their confusion in the newly turned earth of Judah
+Cahoon's squash bed.</p>
+
+<p>Whether they were shocked or not Sears did not stop to consider. He
+intended to shock them to the fullest extent of the word's meaning. At
+his feet was a stick, almost a log, part of the limb of a pear tree. He
+picked up this missile and hurled it at the marauders. It missed them
+but it struck in the squash bed and tore at least six of the delicate
+young squashlings from their moorings. Kendrick plunged after it&mdash;the
+hens separating as he advanced and rejoining at his rear&mdash;picked up the
+log and, turning, again hurled it.</p>
+
+<p>"There!" roared the captain, "take that, damn you!"</p>
+
+<p>One of the hens did "take it." So did some one else. The missile struck
+just beneath the fowl as she fled, lifted her and a peck or two of soil
+as well, and hurled the whole mass almost into the face of a person who,
+unseen until then, had advanced along the path from the gate and had
+arrived at that spot at that psychological instant. This person uttered
+a little scream, the hen fled with insane yells, the log and its
+accompanying shower fell back to earth, and Sears Kendrick and the young
+woman&mdash;for the newcomer was a young woman&mdash;stood and looked at each
+other.</p>
+
+<p>She was bareheaded and her hair was dark and abundant, and she was
+wearing a gingham dress and a white apron. So much he noticed at this,
+their first meeting. Afterward he became aware that she was slender and
+that her age might perhaps be twenty-four or twenty-five. At that
+moment, of course, he did not notice anything except that her apron and
+dress&mdash;yes, even her hair and face&mdash;were plentifully besprinkled with
+earth and that she was holding a hand to her eyes as if they, too, might
+have received a share of the results of the terrestrial disturbance.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh!" he stammered. "I'm awfully sorry! I&mdash;I hope I didn't hurt you."</p>
+
+<p>If she heard him she did not answer, but, removing her
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_47" id="pg_47">47</a></span> hand, opened and
+shut her eyes rapidly. The captain's alarm grew as he watched this
+proceeding.</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I <i>do</i> hope I didn't hurt you," he repeated. "It&mdash;it didn't put your
+eyes out, did it?"</p>
+
+<p>She smiled, although rather uncertainly. "No," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"You're sure?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes." The smile became broader. "It's not quite as bad as that, I
+guess. I seem to be able to see all right."</p>
+
+<p>He drew a relieved breath. "Well, I'm thankful for so much, then," he
+announced. "But it's all over your dress&mdash;and&mdash;and in your hair&mdash;and....
+Oh, I <i>am</i> sorry!"</p>
+
+<p>She laughed at this outburst. "It is all right," she declared. "Of
+course it was an accident, and I'm not hurt a bit, really."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm glad of that. Yes, it was an accident&mdash;your part of it, I mean. I
+didn't see you at all. I meant the part the hen got, though."</p>
+
+<p>Her laugh was over, but there was still a twinkle in her eye. Kendrick
+was, by this time, aware that her eyes were brown.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," she observed, demurely, "I&mdash;gathered that you did."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I&mdash;" It suddenly occurred to him that his language had been as
+emphatic as his actions. "Good lord!" he exclaimed. "I forgot. I beg
+your pardon for that, too. When I lose my temper I am liable to&mdash;to make
+salt water remarks, I'm afraid. And those hens.... Eh? There they are
+again, hard at it! Will you excuse me while I kill three or four of 'em?
+You see, I'm in charge of that garden and.... <i>Get out!</i>"</p>
+
+<p>This last was, of course, another roar at the fowl, who, under the
+leadership of the rake-helly rooster, were scratching harder than ever
+in the beds. The captain reached for another missile, but his visitor
+stepped forward.</p>
+
+<p>"Please don't," she begged. "Please don't kill them."</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? Why not? They ought to be killed."</p>
+
+<p>"I know it, but I don't want them killed&mdash;yet, at any rate. You see,
+they are my hens."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_48" id="pg_48">48</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Yours?" The captain straightened up and looked at her. "You don't mean
+it?" he exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I do. They are mine, or my mother's, which is the same thing. I am
+dreadfully sorry they got in here. I'll have them out in just a minute.
+Oh, yes, I will, really."</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick regarded her doubtfully.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said, slowly, "I know it isn't polite to contradict a lady
+but if you'll tell me <i>how</i> you are goin' to get 'em out without killin'
+'em, I'll be ever so much obliged. You can't drive 'em, I know that."</p>
+
+<p>"I shan't try. Just wait, I'll be right back."</p>
+
+<p>She hurried away, down the path and through the open gate. Captain Sears
+Kendrick looked after her. Behind and about him the Fair Harbor hens
+clucked and scratched blissfully.</p>
+
+<p>In very little more than the promised minute the young woman returned.
+She carried a round wooden receptacle&mdash;what Cape Codders used to call a
+"two quart measure"&mdash;and, as she approached, she shook it. Something
+within rattled. The hens, some of them, heard the rattle and ceased
+their digging.</p>
+
+<p>"Come, chick, chick! Come, biddy, biddy, biddy!" called the young woman,
+rattling the measure. More of the fowl gave up their labors, and looked
+and listened. Some even began to follow her. She dipped a hand into the
+measure, withdrew it filled with corn, and scattered a few grains in the
+path.</p>
+
+<p>"Come, biddy, biddy, biddy!" she said again.</p>
+
+<p>And the biddies came. Forgetting the possibilities of Judah Cahoon's
+garden, they rushed headlong upon the golden certainties of those yellow
+kernels. The young woman retreated along the path, scattering corn as
+she went, and after her scrambled and pecked and squawked the fowl. Even
+the sophisticated rooster yielded to temptation and was among the
+leaders in the rush. The corn bearer and the flock passed through the
+open gate, along the path beneath the Fair Harbor apple trees, out of
+sight around the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_49" id="pg_49">49</a></span> bend. Sears Kendrick was left alone upon the battle
+ground, amid the dead and wounded young vegetables.</p>
+
+<p>But he was not left alone long. A few minutes later his visitor
+returned. She had evidently hurried, for there was a red spot on each of
+her cheeks and she was breathing quickly. She passed through the gate
+into the grounds of the General Minot place and closed that gate behind
+her.</p>
+
+<p>"There!" she said. "Now they are locked up in the hen yard. How in the
+world they ever got out of there I don't see. I suppose some one left
+the gate open. I&mdash;What were you going to say?"</p>
+
+<p>The captain had been about to confess that it was he who left the gate
+open, but he changed his mind. Apparently she had been on the point of
+saying something more. The confession could wait.</p>
+
+<p>"What was it?" asked the young woman.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, nothin', nothin'."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter much how they got out, as long as
+they did. But I am <i>very</i> sorry they got into Mr. Cahoon's garden. I
+hope they haven't completely ruined it."</p>
+
+<p>They both turned to survey the battlefield. It was&mdash;like all
+battlefields after the strife is ended&mdash;a sad spectacle.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, dear!" exclaimed the visitor. "I am afraid they have. What <i>will</i>
+Mr. Cahoon say?"</p>
+
+<p>The captain smiled slightly.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you don't expect me to answer that," he observed.</p>
+
+<p>"Why?... Oh, I see! Well, I don't know that I should blame him much.
+Have&mdash;have they left anything?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes! Yes, indeed. There are a good many&mdash;er&mdash;sprouts left. And they
+dug up a lot of weeds besides. Judah ought to be thankful for the weeds,
+anyhow."</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid he won't be, under the circumstances."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe not, but there is one thing that, under the same circumstances,
+he <i>ought</i> to be thankful for. That is, that you came when you did. You
+may not know it, but I had been tryin' to get those hens out of that
+garden for&mdash;for a
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_50" id="pg_50">50</a></span> year, I guess. It seems longer, but I presume likely
+it wasn't more than a year."</p>
+
+<p>She laughed again. "No," she said, "I guess it wasn't more than that."</p>
+
+<p>"Probably not. If it had been any longer, judgin' by the way they worked,
+they'd have dug out the underpinnin' and had the house down by this time.
+How did you happen to come? Did you hear the&mdash;er&mdash;broadsides?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, no, I&mdash;But that reminds me. Have you seen a tramp around here?"</p>
+
+<p>"A tramp? What sort of a tramp?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know. Elvira&mdash;I mean Miss Snowden&mdash;said he was a tall, dark man
+and Aurora thought he was rather thick-set and sandy. But they both
+agree that he was a dreadful, rough-looking creature who carried a big
+club and had a queer slouchy walk. And he came in this direction, so
+they thought."</p>
+
+<p>"He did, eh? Humph! Odd I didn't see him. I've been here all the time.
+Where was he when they saw him first?"</p>
+
+<p>"Over on our property. In the Fair Harbor grounds, I mean. He came out
+of the bushes, so Elvira and Aurora say, and spoke to them. Insulted
+them, Elvira says."</p>
+
+<p>"Sho! Well, well! I wonder where he went."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't think. I supposed of course you must have seen him. It was only
+a little while ago, not more than an hour. Have you been here all that
+time?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I've been here for the last two hours. What part of your grounds
+was it? Would you like to have me go over there and look around?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, thank you. You are very kind, but I am sure it won't be necessary.
+He has gone by now, of course."</p>
+
+<p>"I should be glad to try." Then, noticing her glance at his limp, he
+added: "Oh, I can navigate after a fashion, well enough for a short
+cruise like that. But it is funny that, if there was a tramp there such
+a little while ago, I didn't run afoul of him. Why, I was over there
+myself."</p>
+
+<p>"You were?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, you see, I&mdash;&mdash;"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_51" id="pg_51">51</a></span></p>
+
+<p>He stopped short. He had been about to tell of his short walk and how he
+had inadvertently trespassed within the Fair Harbor boundaries. But
+before he could speak the words a sudden and amazing thought flashed
+upon him.</p>
+
+<p>"Eh?" he cried. "Why&mdash;why, I wonder&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>His visitor was leaning forward. Judging by her expression, she, too,
+was experiencing a similar sensation of startled surmise.</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;&mdash;" repeated the captain.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh!" exclaimed the young woman.</p>
+
+<p>"You don't suppose&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"It couldn't possibly be that&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Wait a minute, please. Just a minute." Sears held up his hand. "Where
+did those folks of yours see this tramp? Were they in a&mdash;in a kind of
+roundhouse&mdash;summer-house, you might call it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, yes. They were in the Eyrie."</p>
+
+<p>"That's it, the Eyrie. And is one of the&mdash;er&mdash;ladies rather tall and
+narrow in the beam, gray-haired, and speaks quick and&mdash;school-marmy?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. That is Miss Elvira Snowden."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course&mdash;Elvira. That's what the other one called her. And she&mdash;the
+other one&mdash;is short and broad and&mdash;and hard of hearin'?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. Her name is Aurora Chase. Is it possible that you&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Just a second more. Has this short one got a&mdash;a queer sort of hair rig?
+Black as tar and with kind of&mdash;of wrinkles in it?"</p>
+
+<p>She smiled at this description. "Yes," she said. "Do you mean that <i>you</i>
+are&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"The tramp? I guess likely I am. I was over on your premises just a
+little while ago and met those two ladies."</p>
+
+<p>"But you can't be. They said he&mdash;the tramp&mdash;was a dreadful, rough man,
+with a club and&mdash;and&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Here's the club." Captain Kendrick exhibited his cane. "And these lame
+legs of mine would account for that slouchy walk they told you about. I
+guess there isn't much
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_52" id="pg_52">52</a></span> doubt that I am the tramp. But I'm sorry if they
+thought I insulted 'em. I surely didn't mean to."</p>
+
+<p>He described the meeting by the Eyrie and repeated the dialogue as he
+remembered it.</p>
+
+<p>"So you see," he said, in conclusion, "that's all there is to it. I
+suppose that hint of mine about bein' tempted to run off with one of 'em
+is the nearest to an insult of any of it. Perhaps I shouldn't have said
+it, but&mdash;but it popped into my head and I couldn't hold it back. I
+didn't really mean it," he added solemnly. "I wouldn't have run off with
+one of 'em for the world."</p>
+
+<p>This, and the accompanying look, was too much. His visitor had been
+listening and trying to appear grave, although her eyes were twinkling.
+But now she burst out laughing.</p>
+
+<p>"Honest I wouldn't," reiterated Captain Sears. "And I'm sorry for that
+insult."</p>
+
+<p>"Absurd! You needn't be. If there was any insult it was the other way
+about. The idea of Elvira's suggesting that you came over there to
+steal. Well, we've settled the tramp, at any rate, and I apologize for
+the way you were treated, Mr.&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Kendrick. My name is Kendrick."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Mr. Kendrick. And I am very sorry about the garden, too. Please
+tell Mr. Cahoon so, and tell him I think I can promise that the gate
+won't be left open again."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll tell him when he comes back. He'll be here pretty soon, I guess.
+He and I are old shipmates. He shipped cook aboard of me for a good many
+voyages."</p>
+
+<p>She was moving toward the path and the gate, but now she paused and
+turned to look at him. There was a new expression on her face, an
+expression of marked interest.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Are you&mdash;are you Cap'n Sears Kendrick? The one who
+was&mdash;hurt?"</p>
+
+<p>"Wrecked in the train smash up? Yes, I'm the one. Look like a total
+wreck, don't I?"</p>
+
+<p>He laughed as he said it, but there was a taint of bitterness
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_53" id="pg_53">53</a></span> in the
+laugh. She did not laugh. Instead she took a step toward him and
+involuntarily put out her hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I'm <i>so</i> sorry!" she said.</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? Oh, you needn't be. I'm gettin' along tip-top. Able to walk and
+ride and&mdash;er&mdash;chase hens. That's doin' pretty well for one day."</p>
+
+<p>"I know. But they were my&mdash;our&mdash;hens and they must have tired you so.
+Please forgive us. I won't," with a smile, "ask you to forgive them."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, that's all right, that's all right, Miss&mdash;er&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Berry. I am Elizabeth Berry. My mother is in charge here at the
+Harbor."</p>
+
+<p>"Harbor? Oh, yes, over yonder. Berry? Berry? The only Berry I remember
+around here was Cap'n Isaac Berry. Cap'n Ike, we young fellows used to
+call him. I went to sea with him once, my first voyage second mate."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you? He was my father. But there, I <i>must</i> go. Good-by, Cap'n
+Kendrick. I hope you will get well very fast now."</p>
+
+<p>"Thanks. Good-bye. Oh, by the way, Miss Berry, what made you think I
+might be Sears Kendrick? There are half a dozen Kendricks around
+Bayport."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but&mdash;excuse me&mdash;there is only one Cap'n Sears Kendrick. You are
+one of Bayport's celebrities, Cap'n."</p>
+
+<p>"Humph! Notorieties, you mean. So all hands have been talkin' about me,
+eh? Humph! Well, I guessed as much."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, of course. You are one of our shining lights&mdash;sea lights, I mean.
+You must expect to be talked about."</p>
+
+<p>"I do&mdash;in Bayport, and I'll be talked about more in a day or two, I
+guess."</p>
+
+<p>"Why?"</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? Oh, nothin', nothin'. I was thinkin' out loud, didn't realize I
+spoke. Good-by."</p>
+
+<p>"Good-by."</p>
+
+<p>The gate closed behind her. Kendrick sat down once more upon the bench
+beneath the locust tree.</p>
+
+<p>When Judah returned with the bucket of clams he found
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_54" id="pg_54">54</a></span> his guest and
+prospective boarder just where he had left him.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, by Henry, Cap'n Sears!" he exclaimed. "Still at the same old
+moorin's, eh? Been anchored right there ever since I sot sail?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not exactly, Judah. Pretty nearly, though."</p>
+
+<p>"Sho! Kind of dull music for you, I'm afraid. Whoa, you lop-sided
+hay-barge! Stand still till I give you orders to move, will ye! That's
+what I warned you, Cap'n Sears; not much goin' on around here. You'll be
+pretty lonesome, I guess likely."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I guess I can stand it, Judah. I haven't been lonesome so far."</p>
+
+<p>"Ain't, eh? That's good. Well, I got my clams; now I'll steer this horse
+into port and come back and get to work on that chowder. Oh, say, Cap'n
+Sears; I see Sary and told her you was cal'latin' to stay here for
+dinner."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you? Much obliged. What did she say?"</p>
+
+<p>"Say? She said a whole lot. Wanted to know how in time you got up here.
+'You didn't let him <i>walk</i> all that great long ways, Judah Cahoon?' she
+says. 'I ain't altogether a fool, be I?' says I."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cahoon paused to search his pockets for a match.</p>
+
+<p>"What answer did she make to that?" asked the captain. Judah grinned.</p>
+
+<p>"Wa&mdash;ll," he drawled, "she said, 'Perhaps not&mdash;altogether.' 'Twan't
+much, but it was enough of the kind, as the feller said about the
+tobacco in the coffee pot. Oh, say, that reminds me, Cap'n Sears; there
+was somebody else talkin' about you. I&mdash;whoa, you camel, you! Creepin',
+crawlin', jumpin'&mdash;&mdash; Well, go ahead, then! I'll tell you the rest in
+half a shake, Cap'n. Git dap!"</p>
+
+<p>Horse, cart and driver jogged and jolted into the barn. After a brief
+interval Mr. Cahoon reappeared, carrying the clam bucket. They entered
+the kitchen together. Then the captain said:</p>
+
+<p>"Judah, you said some one beside Sarah was talkin' about me. Who was
+it?"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_55" id="pg_55">55</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Hey? Oh, 'twas Emeline Tidditt, her that's keepin' house for Judge
+Knowles. She says the old judge is gettin' pretty feeble. Don't cal'late
+he'll last out much longer, Emeline don't. Says it's nothin' but just
+grit and hang-on that keeps him alive. He's a spunky old critter, Judge
+Knowles is, 'cordin' to folks's tell. Course I don't know him same as
+some, but I cal'late he's a good deal on the general build and lines of
+a man name of George Dingo that I run afoul of one time to a place
+called Semurny&mdash;over acrost. You know Semurny, don't ye, Cap'n? One of
+them Med'terranean port 'tis."</p>
+
+<p>"Smyrna, do you mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"Um-hm. That's it, Semurny. I was there aboard the <i>William Holcomb</i>,
+out of Philadelphy. We was loadin' with figs and truck like that. You
+remember the old <i>Holcomb</i>, don't you, Cap'n Sears? Sartin sure you do.
+Horncastle and Grant of Philadelphy they owned her. Old Horncastle was a
+queer man as ever I see. Had a cork leg. Got the real one shot off in
+the Mexican war or run over by a horse car, some said one and some said
+t'other. Anyhow he had a cork one spliced on in place of it, and&mdash;ho,
+ho! 'twas as funny a sight as ever I see&mdash;one time he fell off the wharf
+there in Philadelphy. Yes, sir, fell right into the dock, he did. And
+when they scrabbled down the ladder to haul him in there wasn't nothin'
+in sight but that cork leg, stickin' up out of water. The rest of him
+had gone under, but that cork leg hadn't&mdash;no, sire-ee! Haw, haw!
+Well ... er ... er.... What did I start to talk about, Cap'n Sears?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know, Judah. It was a good while ago. You began by sayin' that
+you met Judge Knowles's housekeeper."</p>
+
+<p>"Hey? Why, sure and sartin!" Mr. Cahoon slapped his leg. "Sartin sure,
+Cap'n Sears, that was it. And I said she and me got to talkin' about
+you. Well, well, well! I started right there and I fetched up way over
+in Semurny, along of George Dingo. Well, by Henry! Ain't that queer,
+now?"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_56" id="pg_56">56</a></span></p>
+
+<p>He rubbed his legs and shook his head, apparently overcome by the
+queerness of it. Kendrick, judging that another Mediterranean cruise was
+imminent, made a remark calculated to keep him at home.</p>
+
+<p>"What did this&mdash;what's-her-name&mdash;this Tidditt woman say about me?" he
+asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Hey? Oh, she said that Judge Knowles wanted to see you. Said that he
+asked about you 'most every day, wanted to know how you was gittin'
+along, because just as soon as you was well enough to cruise on your own
+hook he wanted you to come in and see him."</p>
+
+<p>"Judge Knowles wanted me to come in and see him? Why, that's funny! I
+don't know the judge well. Haven't seen him for years, and then only two
+or three times. What on earth can Judge Knowles have to say to me?....
+Humph! I can't think."</p>
+
+<p>He tried to think, nevertheless. Judah busied himself with the sloppy
+process of clam opening. A little later he observed:</p>
+
+<p>"So you wan't lonesome all alone here by yourself while I was gone,
+Cap'n? That's good. Glad to hear it."</p>
+
+<p>"Thanks, Judah. I wasn't alone, though."</p>
+
+<p>"You wan't? Sho! Do tell! Have company, did ye? Somebody run in?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. And they wouldn't run out again, not for a good while. They came
+on business."</p>
+
+<p>"Business? What kind of business?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I suppose you might call it gardening. They were interested in
+raisin' vegetables, I know that."</p>
+
+<p>Judah laid down the clam knife and regarded his former skipper. "Raisin'
+vegetables?" he repeated slowly. "What&mdash;? Look here Cap'n Sears, who was
+they? Where'd they come from?"</p>
+
+<p>"I believe they came from next door?"</p>
+
+<p>"Next door? From the Harbor?" He rose to his feet, suspicion dawning
+upon his face above the whiskers.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Judah."</p>
+
+<p>"Cap'n Sears, answer me right straight out. Have those
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_57" id="pg_57">57</a></span> dummed
+everlastin' Fair Harbor hens been in my garden again?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Judah."</p>
+
+<p>"Have they&mdash;have they?&mdash;&mdash;" Words failed him. He strode up the path to
+the garden. Then, after a moment's comprehensive gaze upon the scene of
+ruin, the words returned.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_58" id="pg_58">58</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_IV_2248" id="CHAPTER_IV_2248"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER IV</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Sears Kendrick's prophecy that Bayport would, within the next day or
+two, talk about him even more than it had before was a true one. As soon
+as it became known that he had left the Macomber home and was boarding
+and lodging with Judah Cahoon in the rear portion of the General Minot
+house every tongue in the village&mdash;tongues of animals and small children
+excepted&mdash;wagged his name. At the sewing-circle, at the Shakespeare
+Reading Society&mdash;convening that week at Mrs. Tabitha Crosby's&mdash;after
+Friday night prayer-meeting at the Orthodox meeting-house, in Eliphalet
+Bassett's store at mail times, in the sitting-rooms and kitchens and
+around breakfast, dinner and supper tables from West Bayport to East
+Bayport Neck and from Poverty Lane to Woodchuck's Misery&mdash;the principal
+topic was Captain Kendrick's surprising move.</p>
+
+<p>"Why?" that was the question.</p>
+
+<p>Various answers were offered, many reasons suggested, but none satisfied
+everybody.</p>
+
+<p>At the Shakespeare Society meeting, just before the reading aloud of
+"Cymbeline" began&mdash;"Cymbeline" carefully edited, censored and kalsomined
+by the selective committee, Mrs. Reverend David Dishup and Miss Tryphosa
+Taylor&mdash;the feelings of the genteel section of the community were
+expressed by no less a personage than Mrs. Captain Elkanah Wingate. Mrs.
+Wingate, speaking from the Mount Sinai of Bayport's aristocracy, made
+proclamation thus:</p>
+
+<p>"Why, if the man must leave his sister's and go somewhere else to live,
+<i>why</i> in the world does he choose to go <i>there</i>? Aren't there good,
+respectable, genteel boarding-houses like&mdash;well, like yours, Naomi, for
+instance? <i>I</i> should say so."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_59" id="pg_59">59</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Naomi Newcomb, whose home sheltered a few "paying guests," smiled
+and shook her head. The shake indicated not a doubt of Mrs. Wingate's
+judgment, but complete loss as to Sears Kendrick's reasons for behaving
+as he had. Other members shook their heads also. Mary-Pashy Foster, who
+had spent a winter in France when her husband was ill with the small-pox
+at Havre, shrugged her shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>"And," continued Mrs. Captain Wingate, "when you consider the place he
+has gone to and the person he has gone with! Good heavens, <i>I</i> say! Good
+heavens!"</p>
+
+<p>More words and exclamations of approval. Several others declared that
+they said so, too.</p>
+
+<p>"Gone to live," went on Mrs. Wingate, "not in the General Minot house
+proper&mdash;there might be some explanation for <i>that</i>, perhaps&mdash;but they
+tell me that this Judah Cahoon only uses the back part of the house and
+that Cap'n Kendrick has got a room just off the kitchen or thereabouts."</p>
+
+<p>"And Judah himself!" broke in Miss Taylor. "He is as rough and common
+as&mdash;as&mdash;I don't know what. How a man like Cap'n Kendrick can lower
+himself&mdash;debase himself to such a person's level I <i>do</i> not see. You
+would as soon expect a needle to go through a camel's eye, as the saying
+is."</p>
+
+<p>There was a slight interval of embarrassment after this outburst. The
+majority of those present realized that the speaker had gotten her
+proverb twisted, but, she being Miss Tryphosa Taylor, no one felt like
+venturing to set her right. Mrs. Captain Godfrey Peasley relieved the
+situation; she had a habit of relieving situations&mdash;when she did not
+make them tenser. She had gotten into the Shakespeare Reading Society
+purely by persistence and the possession of adamantine self-confidence.
+From that shot-proof exterior snubs, hints and reproofs glanced like
+blown peas from the hull of a battleship. "Heaven knows," confided Mrs.
+Captain Wingate to Miss Taylor and the Reverend Mrs. Dishup, "why Amelia
+Peasley ever wanted to join the Society. She doesn't know whether
+Shakespeare is a man
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_60" id="pg_60">60</a></span> or a disease." Which may or not have been true,
+the fact remaining that Mrs. Peasley <i>had</i> wanted to join the Society
+and&mdash;joined.</p>
+
+<p>Now, while others hesitated, following Miss Tryphosa's little blunder,
+she spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"I think," she declared, with conviction, "that Sears Kendrick ought to
+be ashamed of himself. <i>I</i> think such actions are degradatin'&mdash;yes,
+indeed, right down degradatin'."</p>
+
+<p>After that, further comments upon the captain's conduct would have
+seemed like anti-climaxes. Therefore the Society proceeded to read
+"Cymbeline." Mrs. Peasley had something to say about "Cymbeline," also.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Sears himself merely grinned when told of the sensation his
+conduct was causing.</p>
+
+<p>"All right," he said, "let 'em talk. If they aren't talkin' about me
+they will be about somebody else."</p>
+
+<p>Judah, to whom this remark was made, snorted.</p>
+
+<p>"Humph!" he growled. "They <i>be</i> talkin' about somebody else. Don't you
+make no mistake about that, Cap'n Sears."</p>
+
+<p>"That so, Judah? Who's the other lucky man?"</p>
+
+<p>"Me. Jumpin', creepin'&mdash;&mdash; Why, some of them womenfolks seem to cal'late
+I lammed you over the head with a marlinspike and then towed you up here
+by main strength; seems if they did, by Henry! And some of the men ain't
+a whole lot better. Makes me madder'n a sore nose. I was down to the
+store&mdash;down to 'Liphalet's&mdash;and there was a crew of ha'f a dozen there
+and they all wanted to know how you was gittin' along.</p>
+
+<p>"'Well, he ain't dead yit,' says I. 'He was lively enough when I left
+him. I ain't come to buy no spade to bury him with.'</p>
+
+<p>"You'd think that would satisfy 'em, wouldn't ye? Well, it didn't! Cap'n
+Noah Baker was there and he wanted to know this, and that little runt of
+a Thad Black he wanted to know that&mdash;and kept on wantin'. And that
+brother-in-law of yours, Cap'n Sears, that Joel Macomber, I declare to
+man if he wan't the wust of all. You'd think <i>he</i> ought to keep quiet
+about your doin's, wouldn't ye, now? But he
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_61" id="pg_61">61</a></span> didn't. 'Don't ask me,
+boys,' he says. 'I don't know why Sears quit my house and went to
+Judah's. We manage to bear up without him somehow,' says he, winkin' to
+the gang, 'but if you ask me his <i>reasons</i> for goin' <i>I</i> can't tell ye.
+I presume likely Judah can, though,' he says. 'Well, I can see <i>one</i>
+reason plain enough,' says I, lookin' right at him."</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick burst out laughing. "Did he get the idea, Judah?" he inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"Him? Nary a bit. Wanted me to tell him what the reason was. Limpin',
+creepin' prophets! What did a woman like Sary ever marry him for,
+anyway, Cap'n? Not that it's any of my business, you understand."</p>
+
+<p>"I understand. Well, it wasn't any of mine either, Judah."</p>
+
+<p>"No, I presume likely not. But that George Kent, he's a nice young
+feller, ain't he, Cap'n?"</p>
+
+<p>"Seems to be," replied Kendrick.</p>
+
+<p>"Um&mdash;hm. Come up to me, after the gang had quit havin' their good time,
+and shook hands nice and chummy and wanted to know how you was. 'Tell
+the cap'n I'm goin' to come in and see him some day,' he says, 'if you
+and he want callers.' 'Good land, yes,' says I, 'course we do. Don't
+stop to call, come right along in.' He's a nice boy that young Kent....
+But&mdash;but some of these days I'm goin' to <i>hit</i> that Thad Black&mdash;hit him
+with somethin' soft like&mdash;like an anvil. If that critter fell overboard
+I wouldn't heave him no life-preserver. No, sir, by Henry, I'd heave him
+the sheet anchor. The longer he hung on to that the better 'twould suit
+<i>me</i>."</p>
+
+<p>To his sister only did Sears give his reasons for leaving her home. With
+her he was perfectly frank.</p>
+
+<p>"You know why I'm doin' this, Sarah," he said. "Now don't you&mdash;honest?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Macomber hesitated. "Why, Sears," she faltered reluctantly, "I&mdash;I
+suppose I can guess why you <i>think</i> you're doin' it. But that doesn't
+make it right for you to do it, really."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_62" id="pg_62">62</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, it does. Be sensible, Sarah. Here are you with six children to
+support and work for, not to mention one boarder and&mdash;a husband. The
+house is crowded, aloft and alow. There isn't a bit of room for me."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Sears, how can you talk so? You've <i>had</i> room here, haven't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I've had it, plenty of it. But how much room have the rest of you
+had?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, we've had enough. Nobody's complained that I know of."</p>
+
+<p>"Good reason why. You wouldn't let 'em, Sarah. And of course you never
+would complain yourself. But that is only part of it. The real thing is
+that I will not live on you."</p>
+
+<p>"But you pay board."</p>
+
+<p>"Stuff and nonsense! How much do I pay in comparison with what it costs
+to keep me?"</p>
+
+<p>"You pay me all you can afford, I'm sure; and I rather guess, from what
+you said about your money affairs the other day, that you pay me more
+than you ought to afford. And I don't believe you're goin' to pay that
+Judah Cahoon any high board for livin' in that old rats' nest of his. If
+you are I shall begin to believe you've gone crazy."</p>
+
+<p>Her brother laughed. "I don't mind payin' Judah little or nothin',
+Sarah," he declared. "What I get will be worth it, probably, and besides
+he's a strong, healthy man. Then, too&mdash;well, I shouldn't say it to any
+one but you, but there is a little obligation on his side and that keeps
+me from feelin' like too much of a barnacle.... But there, what is the
+use of our threshin' this all over again? As I said in the beginnin',
+Sarah, you know why I'm doin' it perfectly well."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Macomber sighed.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose I do," she admitted. "It's because you are Sears Kendrick and
+as independent and&mdash;and proud as&mdash;as your own self."</p>
+
+<p>So the move was made and Captain Sears Kendrick's sea chest and its
+owner moved into Judah Cahoon's spare stateroom
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_63" id="pg_63">63</a></span> at the General Minot's
+place. And Bayport talked and talked more and more and then less and
+less until at the end of the captain's first week in his new quarters
+the move had become old news and people ceased to be interested in it, a
+state of affairs which pleased Mr. Cahoon immensely.</p>
+
+<p>"There, by Henry!" he declared, on his return from what he called a
+"cruise down the road along." "I honestly do believe you and me has got
+so we can bat our weather eye without all hands and the ship's cat
+tryin' to see us do it. I met no less than seven folks while I was down
+along just now and only two of 'em hailed to ask how you liked bein'
+aboard here, Cap'n Sears. Yes, sir, by creepin', only two of 'em; the
+rest never said a word. What do you think of that? Some considerable
+change, I call it."</p>
+
+<p>So being forgotten by the majority of Bayporters&mdash;which was what he
+desired to be&mdash;the captain settled down to live, or exist, and to wait.
+Just what he was waiting for he would have found hard to tell. Of course
+he told his sister when she came to see him, which was at least once
+every other day, that he was waiting for his legs to get whole and
+strong again, and then he should, of course, go to sea. He told Doctor
+Sheldon much the same thing, and the doctor said, "Why, of course, Cap'n
+Kendrick. We'll have you on your own quarter deck again one of these
+days." He said it with heartiness and apparent sincerity, but Sears was
+skeptical. After the doctor's visits he was likely to be blue and
+dejected for a time, and Judah noticed this fact but attributed it to
+quite a different cause.</p>
+
+<p>"It's high time that doctor swab quit comin' here to see you," declared
+Judah. "Runnin' in here and lettin' go anchor and settin' round and
+sayin', 'Well, how goes it to-day?' and 'Nice spell of weather we're
+havin',' and the like of that, and then goin' home and chalkin' up
+another dollar on the bill. No sense to it, I say. No wonder you look
+glum, Cap'n Sears. Makes <i>me</i> glum, and 'tain't <i>my</i> money that's bein'
+talked out of me, nuther. Hear what he said just now? 'I must go,' he
+says. 'And what did you say? Why, you said, 'Don't hurry, Doctor. What
+do you want
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_64" id="pg_64">64</a></span> to go for?' All I could do to keep from bustin' out in a
+laugh. <i>I</i> know what you was sayin' to yourself, you see. 'Stead of
+sayin', 'What do you want to go for?' you was thinkin', 'What in blue
+blazes do you want to <i>come</i> for?' Haw, haw! That was it, wan't it,
+Cap'n?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, no, Judah. I'm always glad to see the doctor."</p>
+
+<p>"Ye&mdash;es, you be!" with sarcasm. "Glad to see his back. Well, no use,
+Cap'n, I've got to think up some notion to keep him from comin' here.
+How would it do to run up a signal 'Small-pox aboard,' or somethin' like
+that? Think that would keep him off?... No, he's a doctor, ain't he? All
+he'd read out of that set of flags would be, 'More dollars. Come on in.'
+Haw, haw! Well, I got to think up some way."</p>
+
+<p>Judah's chatter kept his lodger from being too lonely. Mr. Cahoon talked
+about everybody and everything, and when he was not talking he was
+singing. He sang when he turned out in the morning to get breakfast, he
+sang when he turned in at bedtime. He sang while working in the garden
+repairing the damages done by the Fair Harbor hens. His repertoire was
+extensive, embracing not only every conceivable variety of chantey and
+sea song, but also an assortment of romantic ballads, running from "The
+Blue Juniata," in which:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Wild rowed an Indian girl,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Bright Al-fa-ra-ta,"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>to the ancient ditty of twenty-odd verses describing how</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"There was a rich merchant in London did dwell,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He had for his daughter a very fine gel,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Her name it was Dinah, just sixteen years old,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With a very large fortune in silver and gold.</span><br /><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Singing Too-ral-i-ooral-i-ooral-i-ay,</span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_65" id="pg_65">65</a></span>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Singing Too-ral-i-ooral-i-ooral-i-ay,"</span></p>
+
+<p>and continuing to sing "Too-ral-i-ooral-i-ooral-i-ay" four times after
+each of the twenty-odd verses to the tragical finish of Dinah and the
+ballad.</p>
+
+<p>As some men take to drink upon almost any or no excuse, so Judah Cahoon
+took to song. And if the effect upon him was not as unsteadying as an
+over indulgence in alcohol, that upon his hearers was at times upsetting
+and disastrous. For example, upon the occasion when Captain Sears again
+encountered his acquaintances of the Fair Harbor summer-house, Mr.
+Cahoon's singing completely wrecked what might possibly have been a
+meeting tending to raise the captain in the estimation of those ladies.</p>
+
+<p>Sears happened to be taking what he liked to call his exercise. Judah
+called it "pacin' decks." He was hobbling back and forth along the path
+leading to the gate opening upon the Fair Harbor grounds. His landlord
+was at work in the garden. The captain had limped as far as the gate and
+was about to turn and limp back again when, behold, along the path
+beyond that gate appeared two feminine figures strolling with what might
+be called careful carelessness, looking up, down and on every side
+except that upon which stood Captain Sears Kendrick. And the captain
+recognized the pair, the one tall, slim, slender&mdash;unusually slim and
+remarkably slender&mdash;the other short and plump&mdash;very decidedly plump&mdash;as
+the ladies with whom he had held brief but spirited discourse the
+fortnight before, the ladies who had peered forth at him from the
+vine-draped window of the Eyrie&mdash;in short, for Miss Elvira Snowden and
+Mrs. Aurora Chase.</p>
+
+<p>The pair came scrolling along the path. They were almost at the gate
+when Miss Snowden looked up&mdash;she would have said she happened to look
+up&mdash;and saw the captain standing there. She was embarrassed and
+surprised&mdash;any one might have noticed the surprise and embarrassment.
+She started, gasped and uttered a little exclamation. Mrs. Chase, taking
+her affliction into account, could not possibly have heard the
+exclamation, but no doubt there was a telepathic quality in
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_66" id="pg_66">66</a></span> it, for
+she, too, started, looked up and was surprised and embarrassed.</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, oh, dear!" faltered Miss Snowden.</p>
+
+<p>"Why! My soul and body!" exclaimed Mrs. Chase.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Sears raised his hat. "Good mornin'," he said politely.</p>
+
+<p>The ladies looked at each other. Then Miss Elvira, evidently the born
+leader, inclined her head ever so little and said, "Good morning." Mrs.
+Aurora looked up at her in order to see what she said.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Sears tried again.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a nice day for a walk," he observed.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Elvira nodded and agreed, distantly&mdash;yet not too distant.</p>
+
+<p>"I understand," said the captain, "that I gave you ladies a little bit
+of a scare the other day. Understand you thought I was a tramp. I'm real
+sorry. Of course I know I hadn't any business over on your premises,
+but, as a matter of fact, I didn't exactly realize where I was. It was
+the first cruise I'd made in these latitudes, as you might say, and I
+didn't think about keepin' on my own side of the channel buoys. I beg
+your pardon. I'll hope you'll excuse me."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Snowden nodded elegantly and murmured that she understood.</p>
+
+<p>"You are our new neighbor, I believe," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, yes'm, I suppose I am."</p>
+
+<p>"Cap'n Kendrick, isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope, Cap'n Kendrick, that you won't think there was
+any&mdash;ah&mdash;anything personal in our mistaking you for a tramp the other
+day. Of course there wasn't. Oh, dear, no!"</p>
+
+<p>The captain hesitated. He was wondering just what answer he was supposed
+to make to this speech. Did the lady wish him to infer that it was the
+Fair Harbor custom to consider all male strangers tramps until they were
+proven innocent? Or&mdash;but Mrs. Chase saved him the trouble of reply.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_67" id="pg_67">67</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Elviry," she demanded, "what are you and him whisperin' about? Why
+don't you talk so's a body can hear you? He's Cap'n Kendrick, ain't he?
+Have you told him who we be, same as you said you was goin' to?"</p>
+
+<p>Miss Snowden, after looking at the rotund Aurora as if she would like to
+bite her, smiled instead and began a rather tangled explanation to the
+effect that she and Mrs. Chase had felt that perhaps they had been
+a&mdash;ah&mdash;they might have seemed "kind of hasty&mdash;you know, Cap'n Kendrick,
+in what&mdash;in speaking as we did that time, and so&mdash;and so I told her if
+we ever <i>did</i> meet you&mdash;if we ever <i>should</i>, you know&mdash;&mdash; But
+we haven't really met yet, have we? Shall we introduce ourselves? I
+don't see why not; neighbors, you know. Cap'n Kendrick, this is Mrs.
+Aurora Chase, widow of the late Cap'n Ichabod Chase. No doubt, you knew
+Cap'n Chase in the old days, Cap'n Kendrick."</p>
+
+<p>And then Aurora, who had been listening with all her ears, and hearing
+with perhaps a third of them, broke in to say that her husband was not a
+captain. "He was second mate when he died," she explained. "Aboard the
+bark <i>Charles Francis</i> he was, bound for New Bedford from the West
+Indies with a load of guano."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Snowden, favoring the veracious Aurora with another look, hastily
+introduced herself and began to speak of the beauties of the day, of the
+surroundings, and particularly of the select and refined joys of life at
+the Fair Harbor.</p>
+
+<p>"We have our little circle there," she said. "We live our lives, quiet,
+retired, away from the world&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Chase broke in once more to ask what she was talking about. When
+the substance of the Snowden rhapsody was given her, she nodded&mdash;as well
+as her several chins would permit her to nod&mdash;and announced that she
+agreed.</p>
+
+<p>"We like livin' at the home first-rate," she declared. Elvira flushed.</p>
+
+<p>"It is <i>not</i> a home," she said, sharply. "It is a select retreat, that
+is all. It is not a home in <i>any</i> sense of the word. Every one knows
+that it is not. Aurora, I wish to goodness
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_68" id="pg_68">68</a></span> you&mdash;&mdash; But of course Cap'n
+Kendrick doesn't want to hear about us all the time. He is interested in
+his own new quarters. Do you like it here, Cap'n Kendrick?
+I&mdash;ah&mdash;understand you are, so to speak, a guest of Mr. Cahoon's. He
+is&mdash;ah&mdash;a relation of yours?"</p>
+
+<p>Sears explained the acquaintanceship between Judah and himself. Miss
+Snowden nodded comprehension.</p>
+
+<p>"That explains it," she said. "I thought he could hardly be a relation
+of <i>yours</i>, Cap'n Kendrick. He is&mdash;he is a little bit queer, isn't he? I
+mean eccentric, you know. Of course I've never met him, and I'm sure
+he's real good-hearted, but&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>She paused, leaving the rest of the sentence to be inferred. Captain
+Sear's answer was prompt and crisp.</p>
+
+<p>"Judah Cahoon is one of the best fellows that ever lived," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I know. I am sure he is. I didn't mean that. I meant is he&mdash;is
+he&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>And then Judah himself, at work in the garden behind the screen of
+bushes, too busy to hear or even be aware of the conversation at the
+gate, chose this untoward moment to burst into song, to sing at the top
+of his voice, and the top of Judah's voice was an elevation from which
+sound traveled far. He sang:</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Oh, Sally Brown was a bright mulatter,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Way, oh, roll and go!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">She drinks rum and chews terbacker,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Spend my money on Sally Brown.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Whee&mdash;<i>yip</i>!"</span></p>
+
+<p>Miss Elvira's thin figure stiffened to an exclamation point of
+disapproval. Captain Kendrick turned uneasily in the direction of the
+singer. Mrs. Chase, aware that something was going on and not wishing to
+miss it, cupped her ear with her hand. And Judah began the second
+verse.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_69" id="pg_69">69</a></span></p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Oh, Sally Brown, I'll surely miss you,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Way, oh, roll and go!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">How I'd love to hug and kiss you!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Spend my money on Sally Brown.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Whee&mdash;<i>yip</i>!"</span></p>
+
+<p>"Judah!" roared the captain, who was suffering acute apprehension.
+"Judah!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Sally Brown&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Judah!"</i></p>
+
+<p>"Eh? What is it, Cap'n Sears?"</p>
+
+<p>"Shut up."</p>
+
+<p>"Eh! Shut up what? What's open?"</p>
+
+<p>"Stop that noise."</p>
+
+<p>"What noise?"</p>
+
+<p>"That noise of yours. That singin'."</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? Oh, all right, sir. Aye, aye, Cap'n, just as you say."</p>
+
+<p>Captain Sears, relieved, turned again to his visitors. But the visitors
+were rapidly retreating along the path, the lines of Miss Elvira's back
+indicating disgust and outraged gentility. Mrs. Chase, however, looked
+back. Obviously she still did not know what it was all about.</p>
+
+<p>Sears, although he chuckled a good deal over the affair, was a trifle
+annoyed, nevertheless. It was a good joke, of course, and he certainly
+cared little for the approval or disapproval of Miss Elvira Snowden. But
+when he considered what the prim spinster's version of the happening was
+likely to be and the reputation her story was sure to confer, inside the
+Fair Harbor fences at least, upon him and his household companion, he
+was tempted to wish that that companion's musical talent had been hidden
+under a napkin, or, better still, a feather bed. He&mdash;Kendrick&mdash;was to
+live, for a time indefinite, next door to the Fair Harborites, and it is
+always pleasant to be on good terms with one's neighbors. True, those
+neighbors might be, the majority of them, what Mr. Cahoon called
+them&mdash;which was whatever term of approbrium he happened to think of at
+the moment, "pack of old
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_70" id="pg_70">70</a></span> hens" being the mildest&mdash;but the captain knew
+that one, at least, was not an "old hen." "That Berry girl," which was
+his way of thinking of her, was attractive and kind and a lady. They had
+met but once, it is true, but she had made a most favorable impression
+upon him. He had caught glimpses of her on two occasions, in the Fair
+Harbor grounds, and once she had waved a greeting. She was a nice girl,
+he was sure of it. If she thought at all of the cripple next door he
+would like her to think of him in a kindly way, as a decent sort of
+hulk, so to speak. It was provoking to feel that she would next hear of
+him as a dissipated ruffian, friend and defender of another ruffian who
+howled ribald songs in the presence&mdash;or at least in the hearing&mdash;of
+ladies.</p>
+
+<p>He questioned Judah concerning the Fair Harbor, its founder and the
+dwellers within its gates. Judah told him what he knew of the story,
+which was very little more than the captain already knew, his knowledge
+gained from his sister's letters. Captain Sylvanus Seymour had had but
+one child, his daughter Lobelia. At his death she, of course, inherited
+all his property. According to Bayport gossip, as reported by Mr.
+Cahoon, the old man had died worth anywhere from one half a million to
+three or five millions. "Richer'n dock mud, I cal'late he was," declared
+Judah. "Made a lot of money out of his Boston shippin' business and a
+lot more out of stocks and city real estate and one thing or 'nother."
+For years after Captain Sylvanus died Lobelia lived alone in the big
+house. Then she had married. Judah could tell little about the man she
+married.</p>
+
+<p>"He was a music teacher that come to town here one winter, that's about
+all I can swear to," said Judah. "Down here for his health, so he said,
+and taught singin' school while he was gittin' healthy. His last name
+was Phillips, which is all right, but he had the craziest fust name ever
+<i>I</i> heard. Egbert 'twas. Hoppin', creepin' Henry! Did you ever <i>hear</i>
+such a name? <i>Egbert!</i> Jumpin' prophets! Boys round town, they tell me,
+used to call him 'Eg' behind his back. Some of 'em, them that didn't
+like him, called him
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_71" id="pg_71">71</a></span> 'Soft biled.' Haw, haw! See what they meant, don't
+you, Cap'n Sears? Egbert, you know, that's 'Eg' for short, and then
+'Soft biled' meanin' a soft biled egg.... Hey? Yes, I cal'lated you'd
+see it, you're pretty sharp at a joke, Cap'n, but there <i>has</i> been them
+I've told that to that never.... Hey? Aye, aye, sir, I was just goin' to
+tell the rest of it."</p>
+
+<p>According to Judah's report, which was a second or third hand report of
+course, Egbert Phillips had not been too popular among the males in
+Bayport. But with the females&mdash;ah, there it was different.</p>
+
+<p>"He was one of them kind, they tell me," said Judah. "One of them
+smooth, slick, buttery kind of fellers that draws womenfolks same as
+molasses draws flies. Hailed from Philadelphy he did. I used to know a
+good many Philadelphy folks myself once. Why, one time&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The captain broke in to head off the Philadelphia reminiscence. Brought
+back to Bayport and Egbert and Lobelia, Judah went on to tell what more
+he knew of the Fair Harbor beginnings. Sears gathered that after the
+marriage Egbert who, it seemed, was not in love with the Cape as a place
+of residence, would have liked his wife to sell the old house and move
+away. But there was a clause in the will of Captain Sylvanus which
+prevented this. Under that will the property could not be sold while his
+daughter lived. It was then that Lobelia was seized with her great idea.
+She, a mariner's daughter, had&mdash;until the Providential appearance of the
+peerless Egbert&mdash;faced a lonely old age. But she had at least a
+comfortable home. There were so many women&mdash;sea-captains' widows and
+sisters&mdash;who faced their lonely future without a home. Why not turn the
+Seymour property into a home for them&mdash;a limited number of them?</p>
+
+<p>"So she done it," said Judah. "And that's how the Fair Harbor got off
+the ways."</p>
+
+<p>"But you called it a home," objected Captain Sears. "The other day that
+Snowden woman, the thin one, gave the other, the stout one&mdash;what's her
+name?&mdash;Northern
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_72" id="pg_72">72</a></span> lights&mdash;Aurora, that's it&mdash;she gave Aurora fits for
+speakin' of the place as a home. She declared it wasn't a home."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Caboon chuckled. "Did, eh?" he observed. "Well, you might call a
+mackerel gull a canary bird, I presume likely, but 'twouldn't make the
+thing sing no better. That Elviry critter likes to make believe she's
+the Queen of Sheby. <i>She</i> wouldn't live in no home&mdash;no sir-ee! 'Cordin'
+to her the Fair Harbor ain't a home because they only take six or eight
+passengers, or visitors, or patients, or jailbirds&mdash;whatever you might
+to call 'em, and it costs four hundred dollars to pay your way in and a
+hundred a year to keep you there. So 'tain't a home, you see. It's a&mdash;a
+genteel henhouse, I'd say. That Elviry Snowden she&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Then the captain asked the question to which he had been leading since
+the beginning.</p>
+
+<p>"That Berry girl's mother runs the place, doesn't she?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Judah snorted. "Yeah," he drawled, "she runs it about the way the
+skipper's poll parrot runs the vessel. The poll parrot talks a barrel a
+minute and the skipper goes right along navigatin'. That's about the way
+'tis over yonder," with a jerk of the head in the general direction of
+the Fair Harbor.</p>
+
+<p>His lodger was a trifle surprised.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, I understood Mrs. Berry&mdash;Cap'n Isaac Berry's widow&mdash;was manager
+there," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Um-hm. So she is, the poll parrot manager. But it's that girl of hers,
+that 'Lizabeth Berry, that really handles the ropes. There's a capable
+little craft, if you want to know," declared Judah, with emphasis.</p>
+
+<p>He whittled a pipe full of tobacco from the mutilated remnant of a plug,
+and continued to expatiate on the capabilities of Miss Berry. According
+to him whatever was as it should be within the Fair Harbor boundaries
+was due to the young woman's efforts, not to those of her mother.</p>
+
+<p>"It's kind of queer, ain't it, Cap'n Sears," he observed, "how things
+average up sometimes. Seems if whoever 'tis
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_73" id="pg_73">73</a></span> works out the course up
+aloft sort of fixed 'em that way."</p>
+
+<p>"What's that got to do with the Berrys?"</p>
+
+<p>"Cause it worked that way with them. <i>You</i> knew Cap'n Ike Berry, Cap'n
+Sears. Sharp, shrewd, able and all that, but rough and hard as the
+broadside of a white-oak plank. Well, he married a woman from down in
+the Carolinas somewhere. Her folks was well-off and she was brought up
+in cotton wool, as you might say. They wouldn't have nothin' to do with
+her after she married Cap'n Ike. He fell in love with her and carried
+her off by main strength, as you might say. She'd been treated like a
+plaything afore he got her and he treated her that way till he died. She
+is soft-spoken, and kind of good-lookin', and polite and all that&mdash;but
+about as much practical use for bossin' a place like the Fair Harbor as
+a&mdash;well as a paper umbrella would be in a no'theaster. But 'Lizabeth
+now, she's different. She's got her mother's good looks and nice manners
+and&mdash;and kind of genteelness, you understand, and with 'em she's got her
+dad's sense and capableness. She's all right, that girl. Don't you think
+so, Cap'n Sears?"</p>
+
+<p>The captain nodded.</p>
+
+<p>"I never met her but that once, Judah," he replied. "She was all right
+then, surely."</p>
+
+<p>"I bet you! She's all right most of the time, I guess.... That young
+George Kent, he thinks so, they tell me."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh ... does he?"</p>
+
+<p>"Um-hm! He's cruisin' up to the Fair Harbor 'bout every once or twice a
+week, 'cordin' to tell. If it ain't to see 'Lizabeth I don't know what
+'tis. It might be Queen Elviry he's after, but I have my doubts.... Oh,
+say, Cap'n, speakin' of the Harbor reminds me of Judge Knowles. You
+ain't been in to see him yet, same as he wanted you to."</p>
+
+<p>"That's so, Judah, I haven't. I must pretty soon, I suppose. I can't
+think what the old judge wants to see me for. But why did talkin' of the
+Fair Harbor and the rest of it make you think of Judge Knowles?"</p>
+
+<p>"Hey? Oh, 'cause the judge is kind of commodore of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_74" id="pg_74">74</a></span> the fleet there,
+looks after the money matters for 'em, I understand. He's Lobelia's
+lawyer, same as he was old Cap'n Sylvanus's afore he died.... I declare
+I can't guess what he wants to see you for, Cap'n Sears. Do you
+s'pose&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Judah proceeded to suppose several things, each supposition more
+far-fetched and improbable than its predecessor. Sears paid little
+attention to them. He again expressed his intention of calling upon the
+judge before long and changed the subject.</p>
+
+<p>The next day it rained and he did not go and the following day he did
+not feel like going. On the day after that, however, further
+procrastination was rendered impossible. Mrs. Tidditt, the judge's
+housekeeper, visited the General Minot place with another message from
+her employer. Emmeline was gray-haired, brisk and, as Judah expressed
+it, "straight up and down," both in figure and manner of speaking.</p>
+
+<p>"Good mornin', Cap'n Kendrick," she said. "Judge Knowles wants to know
+if 'twill be convenient for you to come over and see him this afternoon?
+Says if 'tis he'll send Mike and the hoss-'n'-buggy around for you at
+two o'clock."</p>
+
+<p>The captain's guilty conscience made him a trifle embarrassed.
+"Why&mdash;why, yes, certainly," he stammered. "I&mdash;&mdash; Well, I'm ashamed of
+myself for not goin' over there sooner. Beg Judge Knowles's pardon for
+me, will you, and tell him I'll be on hand at two sharp. And tell him
+not to bother to send the horse and team. I'll get there all right."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Tidditt sniffed. "I'll tell him the first part," she said. "And
+Mike'll have the hoss-'n'-buggy here at ten minutes of. Judah Cahoon,
+why in the land of Canaan don't you scrub up that back piazza floor once
+in a while? It's dirty as a fish shanty."</p>
+
+<p>Judah's back fin rose. "Say, who's keepin' house aboard here, anyway?"
+he demanded. Mrs. Tidditt sniffed again. "Nobody, by the looks," she
+said, and departed in triumph.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_75" id="pg_75">75</a></span></p>
+
+<p>At two the Knowles horse and buggy drove into the yard. It was piloted
+by Mike Callahan, an ancient, much bewhiskered Irishman who had been
+employed by the judge almost as long as had Mrs. Tidditt. He and Judah
+assisted Sears into the vehicle and the captain started upon his cruise,
+which was a very short one, the Knowles establishment being but a few
+hundred yards from the Minot place. On the way he inquired concerning
+the judge's health. Mike shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"Bad," he grunted. "It's close <i>to</i>, the ould judge is."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I'm sorry."</p>
+
+<p>"Sure ye are. So are we all. He is a fine man, none better&mdash;barrin' he's
+a grand ould curmudgeon. Here ye are, Cap'n. Git up till I lift ye
+down."</p>
+
+<p>Judge Knowles's house&mdash;Sears Kendrick had never been in it before&mdash;was a
+big square mansion built in the '50's. There was the usual front door
+leading to a dark front hall from which, to right and left respectively,
+opened parlor and sitting rooms. Emmeline ushered the visitor into the
+latter apartment. It was high studded, furnished in black walnut and
+haircloth, a pair of tall walnut cases filled with books against one
+wall, on the opposite wall a libellous oil portrait of the judge's wife,
+who died twenty years before, and a pair of steel engravings depicting
+"Sperm Whale Fishing in the Arctic"; No. 1, portraying "The Chase," No.
+2, "the Capture." Beneath these stood a marble-topped table upon which
+were neatly piled four gigantic volumes, bound copies of Harper's
+Weekly, 1861 to '65, the Civil War period.</p>
+
+<p>At the end of the room, where two French windows opened&mdash;that is, could
+have opened, they never were&mdash;upon the narrow, iron-railed veranda, sat
+Judge Marcus Aurelious Knowles, in an old-fashioned walnut armchair, his
+feet upon a walnut and haircloth footstool&mdash;Bayport folk in those days
+called such stools "crickets"&mdash;a knitted Afghan thrown over his legs and
+a pillow beneath his head. And in that dark, shadowy room, its curtains
+drawn rather low, so white was the judge's hair and his face that, to
+Sears Kendrick,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_76" id="pg_76">76</a></span> just in from the light out of doors, it was at first
+hard to distinguish where the pillow left off and the head began.</p>
+
+<p>But the head on the pillow stirred and the judge spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah&mdash;good afternoon, Kendrick," he said. "Glad to see you.... Humph.
+Can't see much of you, can I? Here, Emmeline, put those shades up, will
+you?"</p>
+
+<p>The housekeeper moved toward the windows, but she protested as she
+moved.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Judge," she said, "I don't believe you want them winder curtains
+strung way up, do you? I hauled 'em down purpose so's the sun wouldn't
+get in your eyes."</p>
+
+<p>"Um&mdash;yes. Well, you haul 'em up again. And don't you haul 'em down till
+I'm dead. You'll do it then, I know, and I don't want to attend my
+funeral ahead of time."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Tidditt gasped.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Judge Knowles, how <i>can</i> you talk so!" she wailed.</p>
+
+<p>"I intend to talk as I choose&mdash;while I can talk at all.... There, there,
+woman, that's enough. Put the blasted things up.... Umph! That's better.
+Sit down, Cap'n, sit down. I want to look at you."</p>
+
+<p>The captain took one of the walnut and haircloth chairs. The judge
+looked at him and he looked at the judge. He remembered the latter as a
+tall, broad-shouldered figure, with a ruddy face, black hair slightly
+sprinkled with gray, and a nose and eye like an eagle's. The man in the
+armchair was thin and shrunken, the face was deeply lined, and face and
+hands and hair were snow white. The nose was, however, more eagle-like
+than ever, and the eyes beneath the rough white brows had the old flash.</p>
+
+<p>Sears waited an instant for him to speak, but he did not. So the captain
+did.</p>
+
+<p>"I beg your pardon, Judge," he began, "for not comin' over here sooner.
+I got your message&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Knowles interrupted. "Oh, you got it, did you?" he said. "Humph! I told
+Emmeline to get word to you and she said&mdash;&mdash; Oh, well, never mind that.
+Can't waste time. I haven't got any too much of it, or strength either.
+Sorry
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_77" id="pg_77">77</a></span> to hear about your accident, Cap'n. Doctor Sheldon says you had a
+close call of it. How are the legs?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I can navigate with 'em after a fashion, but not far. How are you,
+Judge? Gettin' better fast, I hope."</p>
+
+<p>The head on the pillow gave an impatient jerk. "Your hope is lost then.
+Don't waste time talking about me. I'm going to die and I know it&mdash;and
+before long.... There, there," as his caller uttered a protest, "don't
+bother to pretend, Kendrick. We aren't children, either of us, although
+you're a good many years younger than I am; but we're both too old to
+make-believe. I'm almost through. Well, it's all right. I've lived past
+my three score and ten and I'm alone in the world and ought not to mind
+leaving it, I suppose. I don't much. It's an interesting place and there
+are two or three matters I should like to straighten up before....
+Humph! I'm the one's who's wasting the time. How are you? I don't mean
+how would you like to be or how do your fool friends and the doctor tell
+you you are&mdash;but how <i>are</i> you?"</p>
+
+<p>Captain Sears smiled. It had been a long, long time since any one had
+talked to him like this. Not since he relinquished a mate's rating for
+that of a master. But he did not resent it; he, too, was sick of
+pretending.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm in bad shape, Judge," he said. "My legs are better and I can hobble
+around on 'em, as you saw when I hobbled in here. But as to whether or
+not they will ever be fit for sea again I&mdash;well, I doubt it. And I
+rather guess the doctor doubts it, too. I don't say so to many, haven't
+said it to any one but you, but it looks to me as if I were on a lee
+shore. I may get out of the breakers some day&mdash;or I may just lay there
+and rot and drop to pieces.... Well, as you say, what's the use of
+wastin' time talkin' about me?"</p>
+
+<p>"I've got a reason for talking about you, Cap'n. So you're not confined
+to your bed. And your head is all right, eh?"</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick hesitated. He could not make out what in the world the man was
+driving at.</p>
+
+<p>"Eh?" repeated the judge.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_78" id="pg_78">78</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Yes, as right as it ever was, I presume likely. Sometimes I think that
+may not be sayin' much."</p>
+
+<p>"When a man thinks that way it is a favorable symptom, according to my
+experience. From what I've heard and know, Cap'n Kendrick, your head
+will do very well. Now there's another question. Have you got all the
+money you need?"</p>
+
+<p>The captain leaned back in his chair. He did not answer immediately.
+From the head upon the pillow came a rasping chuckle.</p>
+
+<p>"Go on," observed Judge Knowles, "ask it."</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick stared at him. "Ask what?" he demanded.</p>
+
+<p>"The question you had in mind. If I hadn't been a man with one foot in
+the grave you would have asked me if I considered the amount of money
+you had any of my damned business. Isn't that right?"</p>
+
+<p>Sears hesitated. Then he grinned. "Just about," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought so. Well, in a way it is my business, because, if you have
+all the money you need, fifteen hundred a year for the next two or three
+years won't tempt you any. And I want to tempt you, Cap'n."</p>
+
+<p>Again the captain was silent for an interval.</p>
+
+<p>"Fifteen hundred a year?" he repeated, slowly.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"For what?"</p>
+
+<p>"For services to be rendered. I've been looking for a man with time on
+his hands, who has been used to managing, who can be firm when it's
+necessary, has had enough experience of the world to judge people and
+things and who won't let a slick tongue get the better of him. And he
+must be honest. I think you fill the bill, Cap'n Kendrick."</p>
+
+<p>The visitor tugged at his beard.</p>
+
+<p>"Look here, Judge Knowles," he said crisply, "what are you talkin'
+about? What's the joke?"</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't a joke."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then what is it? You'll have to give me my bearin's, I'm lost in
+the fog. Do I understand you to mean that you are offerin' me a berth, a
+job where I can earn&mdash;no,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_79" id="pg_79">79</a></span> I won't put it that way, where I will be paid
+fifteen hundred a year?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am, and," with another sardonic chuckle, "I rather think you'll earn
+all you get. Of course fifteen hundred dollars a year isn't a large
+salary, it isn't a sea captain's wage and share&mdash;not such a captain as
+you've been, Kendrick. But, as I see it, you can't go to sea for a year
+or two at least. You are planning to stay right here in Bayport. Well,
+while you are here this thing I am offering you will," there was another
+chuckle, "keep you moderately busy, and you will be earning something.
+It may be that fifteen hundred won't be enough to be worth your while.
+Perhaps I shouldn't venture to offer it if I hadn't heard&mdash;hadn't
+heard&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Sears interrupted.</p>
+
+<p>"What you heard was probably true," he said crisply. "True enough, at
+any rate. Fifteen hundred a year looks like a lot to me now. But what am
+I to do to get it, that's the question. I'm a cripple, don't forget
+that."</p>
+
+<p>"I should remember it if I thought it necessary. You won't handle this
+job with your legs. It is your head I want. Cap'n Kendrick, I want you
+to take charge&mdash;take command, if you had rather we used seafaring lingo,
+of that establishment next door to where you are living now. I want you
+to act as&mdash;well, we'll call it captain of the Fair Harbor."</p>
+
+<p>Captain Sears's eyes and mouth opened. His chair creaked as he leaned
+forward and then slowly leaned back again.</p>
+
+<p>"You&mdash;you&mdash;" he gasped, "you want me to&mdash;to manage that&mdash;that <i>old
+women's home</i>?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Me?</i>"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes.... Here! where are you going?"</p>
+
+<p>The visitor had risen.</p>
+
+<p>"Stop!" shouted Judge Knowles. "Where are you going?"</p>
+
+<p>The captain breathed heavily.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm goin' to send for the doctor," he declared. "One of us two needs
+him."</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_80" id="pg_80">80</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_V_3127" id="CHAPTER_V_3127"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER V</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Judge Knowles's answer to his caller's assertion concerning the need of
+a physician's services was another chuckle.</p>
+
+<p>"Sit down, Cap'n," he ordered.</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick shook his head. "No," he began, "I'm&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Sit down."</p>
+
+<p>"Judge, look here: I don't suppose you're serious, but if you are, I
+tell you&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I'm going to tell <i>you</i>. SIT DOWN."</p>
+
+<p>This time the invalid's voice was raised to such a pitch that Mrs.
+Tidditt came hurrying from the kitchen.</p>
+
+<p>"My soul and body, Judge!" she exclaimed. "What is it? What <i>is</i> the
+matter?"</p>
+
+<p>Her employer turned upon her.</p>
+
+<p>"The matter is that that confounded door is open again," he snapped.</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, of course 'tis. I just opened it when I came in."</p>
+
+<p>"Umph! Yes. Well then, hurry up and shut it when you go out. <i>Shut</i> it!"</p>
+
+<p>Emmeline, going, not only shut but slammed the door. The judge smiled
+grimly.</p>
+
+<p>"Sit down, Kendrick," he commanded once more, panting. "Sit down, I&mdash;I'm
+out of breath. Confound that woman! She seems to think I'm four years
+old. Ah&mdash;ah&mdash;whew!"</p>
+
+<p>His exhaustion was so apparent that Sears was alarmed.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you think, Judge&mdash;&mdash;" he began, but was interrupted.</p>
+
+<p>"Sshh!" ordered Knowles. "Wait.... Wait.... I'll be all right in a
+minute!"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_81" id="pg_81">81</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The captain waited. It took more than a minute, and even then the
+judge's voice was husky and his sentences broken, but his determination
+was unshaken.</p>
+
+<p>"I want you to listen to me, Cap'n Kendrick," he said. "I know it sounds
+crazy, this proposal of mine, but it isn't. How much do you know about
+this Fair Harbor place; its history and so on?"</p>
+
+<p>Captain Sears explained that his sister had written him some facts
+concerning it and that recently Judah Cahoon had told him more details.
+The judge wished to know what Judah had told. When informed he nodded.</p>
+
+<p>"That's about right, so far as it goes," he admitted. "Fairly straight,
+for a Bayport yarn. It doesn't go far enough, though. Here is the
+situation:</p>
+
+<p>"Lobelia, when she first conceived the fool notion," he said, "came to
+me, of course, to arrange it. I was her father's lawyer for years, and
+so naturally I was looking out for her affairs. I said all I could
+against it, but she was determined, and had her way. She, through me,
+set aside the Sylvanus Seymour house and land to be used as a home for
+what she called 'mariners' women' as long as&mdash;well, as long as she
+should continue to want it used for that purpose. She would have been
+contented to pay the bills as they came, but, of course, there was no
+business method in that, so we arranged that she was to hand over to me
+fifty thousand dollars in bonds, the income from that sum, plus the
+entrance fees and one hundred dollars yearly paid by each inmate, was to
+run the place. That is the way it has been run. She christened it the
+Fair Harbor. Heaven knows I had nothing to do with that.</p>
+
+<p>"For a year or so she lived there herself and had a beautiful time
+queening it over the inmates. Then that Phillips chap drifted into
+Bayport."</p>
+
+<p>The captain interrupted here. "Oh, then the Fair Harbor was off the ways
+before she married Phillips?" he said. "Judah told me it was
+afterwards."</p>
+
+<p>"He's wrong. No, the thing had been running two years
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_82" id="pg_82">82</a></span> when that
+confounded.... Humph! You never met Egbert Phillips, did you, Cap'n?"</p>
+
+<p>"No."</p>
+
+<p>"You've heard about him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Only what Judah told me the other day."</p>
+
+<p>"Humph! What did he tell?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, he&mdash;he gave me to understand that this Phillips was a pretty
+smooth article."</p>
+
+<p>"Smooth! Why, Kendrick, he is.... But there, you'll meet him some day
+and no feeble words of mine could do him justice. Besides all my words
+are getting too feeble to waste&mdash;even on anything as beautiful as Egbert
+the great.... And that condemned doctor will be here pretty soon, so we
+must get on.... Ah.... Well, he came here to teach singing, Phillips
+did, and he had all the women in tune before the first lesson was over.
+They said he was wonderful, and he was&mdash;good God, yes! They kept on
+thinking he was wonderful until he married Lobelia Seymour."</p>
+
+<p>"Then they changed their minds, eh?"</p>
+
+<p>"Humph! You don't know women, do you, Cap'n? Never mind, you've got time
+enough left to learn in.... No, they didn't change their minds. They
+thought Egbert was as wonderful as ever, but they agreed that Lobelia
+had roped him in. <i>She</i> had roped <i>him</i> in! Oh, lord!... Well, they were
+married and went to Boston to live. Afterwards they went to Europe. Five
+years ago they came back here for a week's visit. Cahoon tell you about
+that?"</p>
+
+<p>"No."</p>
+
+<p>"Probably he didn't know about it. They did, though, and stayed here
+with me, of course. Lobelia settled that, I imagine&mdash;one of the times
+when she settled something herself. And while she was here she and I
+settled something else. She added a codicil to her will making the fifty
+thousand dollars in my possession and the house and Seymour land a gift,
+absolute, to the Fair Harbor. And she appointed me as sole trustee of
+the fund and financial manager of the home, with authority to appoint my
+own successor. And
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_83" id="pg_83">83</a></span> her husband didn't know a thing about it. Didn't
+when they went away; I'm sure I don't know whether he does now or not,
+but he didn't then. No, sir, we settled the Fair Harbor fund and
+Egbert's hash, so far as it was concerned. Ha, ha! And a blessed good
+job, too, Kendrick.... Hand me that glass of water, will you? Thanks."</p>
+
+<p>He drank a swallow or two of water and lay back upon the pillow. Captain
+Sears was a little anxious. He suggested that, perhaps, he had better be
+told the rest another time.</p>
+
+<p>"I think you had better rest now, Judge," he counseled. The judge
+consigned the "rest" idea to a place where, according to tradition,
+there is very little of it.</p>
+
+<p>"I want you to hear this," he snapped. "Don't bother me, but listen....
+Where was I?... Oh, yes.... Well, Lobelia and her husband went away, to
+Europe again. They have been there ever since, living in Italy. Egbert
+finds the climate there agrees with him, I suppose&mdash;&mdash; Humph!... I have
+had letters from Lobelia. The later ones were shorter and not
+encouraging. She wrote that she wasn't well and the doctors didn't seem
+to help her much. After two or three of these letters I wrote one,
+myself&mdash;to the American consul at Florence. He is the son of a good
+friend of mine. I explained the situation and asked him to find out just
+what ailed her and what the prospects were. His reply explained things.
+Poor Lobelia is in my position&mdash;except that my age entitles me to be
+there and hers doesn't; she has an incurable disease and she is likely
+to die at any time. No hope for her. And now, it seems she has found it
+out. About a month ago I had another letter from her.... Humph!... Wait
+a minute, Cap'n. Give me that glass again, will you. Sorry to be such a
+condemned nuisance&mdash;particularly to other people.... Wait! Hold on! When
+I've finished you can talk. Hear the rest of it first.</p>
+
+<p>"Lobelia's latest&mdash;last, I shouldn't wonder&mdash;letter was a sad sort of a
+thing. I'm a tough old fellow, but I declare I'm sorry for that poor
+woman. Fool to marry Phillips?
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_84" id="pg_84">84</a></span> Of course she was, but most of us are
+fools, some time or other. And, if I don't miss my guess, she has
+repented of her foolishness many times and all the time. She wrote me
+she knew she was going to die. And she said&mdash;&mdash; But here is the letter.
+Read it, that page of it."</p>
+
+<p>He fumbled among the papers and books on the table beside him, selected
+a sheet of paper, covered with closely written lines, and extended it in
+a shaking hand to his caller.</p>
+
+<p>"That explains things a little," he said. "It's illuminating. Read it."</p>
+
+<p>Captain Sears read.... "And so I am <i>very</i> anxious, dear Judge Knowles,
+whatever else happens, that the Fair Harbor shall always be as it is, a
+home for sisters and widows and daughters of men who went down to the
+sea in ships, as father did. I know he would have liked it. And
+<i>please</i>, after I'm gone, don't let it be sold or given up, or anything
+like that. I am asking this of you, because I know I can trust you. You
+have proved it so many times. And&mdash;I never have written you this before
+but it is true&mdash;I have so little left except the Fair Harbor and its
+endowment. You will wonder where the money has gone. I do not know. It
+seems to have slipped away little by little and neither my husband nor I
+can account for...."</p>
+
+<p>The page ended there. The captain would have handed it back to Knowles,
+but the latter asked him to put it on the table.</p>
+
+<p>"Put it in the envelope and put the envelope in the drawer, will you,
+Kendrick?" he said. "My housekeeper is a good housekeeper, but what is
+mine is hers&mdash;including correspondence.... Well, you see? She can't
+account for the disappearance of the money. I can. When you have a five
+thousand dollar income and spend ten thousand you can account for a
+lot.... Humph! Well, the fact is that I am expecting to hear of
+Lobelia's death at any time. She may be dead to-day&mdash;or to-morrow&mdash;or
+next week. And as soon as I hear of it I shall say to myself.... Humph!
+Cap'n, you know how the Old Farmer's Almanac, along in November,
+prophesies the weather, don't you? 'About this
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_85" id="pg_85">85</a></span> time look out for snow.'
+Yes, well, on a date about a month after the day I hear of Lobelia
+Phillips's death I should write on the calendar: 'About this time look
+for Egbert.' ... Humph.... Eh? See, don't you, Cap'n Kendrick?"</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick smiled, he couldn't help it. He tugged thoughtfully at his
+beard.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," he admitted, "I guess likely I see. But I don't see where I come
+in. You can handle Egbert, Judge, or I don't know much about men."</p>
+
+<p>The judge snorted. "Handle him," he repeated. "I think I could handle
+him&mdash;and enjoy the job. The trouble is I shan't have the chance. I won't
+be here. I'll be in the graveyard."</p>
+
+<p>He spoke of it as casually as he might of Boston or New York. Again his
+listener could not help but protest.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Judge," he began, "that's perfectly ridiculous. You&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The judge interrupted. "Perhaps," he said, drily. "In fact, I agree with
+you. The graveyard is a ridiculous place for anybody to be, but I shall
+be there&mdash;and soon. But I am not going to let it interfere with my plans
+concerning the Fair Harbor. Lobelia Seymour I've known since she was a
+little girl, and whether I'm dead or alive, I'm going to have her wishes
+carried out. That's why I'm telling you these things, Sears Kendrick. I
+am counting on you to carry them out."</p>
+
+<p>The captain leaned back in his chair.</p>
+
+<p>"Why pick on me?" he asked, drily.</p>
+
+<p>"Why? Because I've got to pick on somebody and do it while I have the
+strength to pick. You and I have never been close friends, Kendrick, but
+I've watched you and kept track of you for years, in a general sort of
+way. Your sister and I have had a long acquaintanceship. There's another
+woman who made a mistake.... Eh?"</p>
+
+<p>Sears nodded.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm afraid so," he admitted. "Joel is a good enough fellow, in his way,
+but&mdash;&mdash;"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_86" id="pg_86">86</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"But&mdash;that's it. Well, he's got a good wife and she's your sister. I
+know you can handle this Fair Harbor job if you will and if you take it
+on I shall go to&mdash;well, to that graveyard we were talking about, with an
+easier mind. Look here&mdash;why&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Hold on a minute, Judge. Heave to and let me say a word. If there
+wasn't any other reason why I shouldn't feel like takin' the wheel of an
+old woman's home there would be this one: You need a business man there
+and I'm no business man."</p>
+
+<p>"How do you know you're not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because I've just proved it. You heard somethin' of how my voyage in
+business ashore turned out. I'll tell you the truth about it."</p>
+
+<p>He did, briefly, giving the facts of his disastrous sojourn in
+ship-chandlery.</p>
+
+<p>"So that's how good a business man <i>I</i> am," he said in conclusion. "And
+I'm a cripple besides. Much obliged, Judge, but you'll have to ship
+another skipper, I'm afraid."</p>
+
+<p>He was rising but Judge Knowles barked a profane order for him to keep
+his seat.</p>
+
+<p>"I know all that," he snapped. "Knew about it just after it happened.
+And I know, too, that you paid your share of the debts dollar for
+dollar. I'll risk you in this job I'm offering you.... Yes, and you're
+the only man I will risk&mdash;the only one in sight, that is. Come now,
+don't say no. Think it over. I'll give you a week to think it over in.
+I'd give you a month, but I might not be here at the end of it.... Will
+you take the offer under consideration and then come back and have
+another talk with me? Eh? Will you?"</p>
+
+<p>The captain hesitated. He wanted to say no, of course, should say it
+sooner or later, but he hated to be too abrupt in his refusal. After
+all, the offer, although absurd, was, in a way, a compliment and he
+liked the old judge. So he hesitated, stammered and then asked another
+question.</p>
+
+<p>"You've got a skipper aboard the Fair Harbor already,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_87" id="pg_87">87</a></span> haven't you?" he
+inquired. "Judah told me that Cap'n Ike Berry's widow was runnin' the
+place."</p>
+
+<p>"Humph! That isn't all he told you, is it?"</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick smiled. "Why"&mdash;he hesitated, "I&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Come, come, come! Of course he told you that Cordelia Berry was another
+one of those mistakes we've been talking about. She is, but her husband
+was one of my best friends and his daughter is another. No mistake
+there, Cap'n Kendrick, I tell you.... But you've met Elizabeth, I
+understand, eh?"</p>
+
+<p>He chuckled as he said it. Sears was surprised and a trifle confused.
+Evidently she had told of their encounter in Judah's garden.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, yes," he admitted. "We met."</p>
+
+<p>"Ha, ha! So I heard. Handled the poultry pretty well, didn't she? She
+ought to, she's had experience in handling old hens for some time."</p>
+
+<p>"I presume likely. Then I don't see why you don't let her keep on
+handlin' 'em. What do you want me for?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, damnation, man, haven't I told you! I want you because I'm going to
+die and somebody&mdash;some man&mdash;must take my place.... Look here, Kendrick.
+I appoint you general manager of the Fair Harbor, take it or leave it.
+But <i>if</i> you leave it don't do it for a week, and, before you do,
+promise me you'll go over there some day and look around. Meet Cordelia
+and talk to her, meet Elizabeth and talk to her. Meet some of
+the&mdash;er&mdash;hens and talk to them. But, this is the main thing, look
+around, listen, see for yourself. Then you can come back and, if you
+accept, we'll discuss details. Will you do that much?"</p>
+
+<p>Captain Sears looked troubled. "Why, yes, I suppose so," he said,
+reluctantly, "to oblige you, Judge. But it's wasted time, I shan't
+accept. Of course I thank you for the offer and all that, but I might as
+well, seems to me, say no now as next week."</p>
+
+<p>"No such thing. And you will go there and look around?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;yes, I guess so. But won't the Berry woman and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_88" id="pg_88">88</a></span> the rest of 'em
+think I'm nosin' in where I don't belong? I should, if I were they, and
+I'd raise a row about it, too."</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense. They can't object to your making a neighborly call, can they?
+And if they do, let 'em. A healthy row won't do a bit of harm over
+there. Give 'em the devil, it's what they need.... See here, will you
+go?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"Good! And, remember, you are appointed to this job this minute if you
+want it. Or you may take it at any time during the week; don't bother to
+speak to me first. Fifteen hundred a year, live with Cahoon or whoever
+you like, precious little to do except be generally responsible for the
+Fair Harbor&mdash;oh, how I hate that syrupy, sentimental name!&mdash;financially
+and in a business way.... Easy berth, as you sailors would say, eh? Ha,
+ha!... Well, good day, Cap'n. Can you find your way out? If not call
+that eternally-lost woman of mine and she'll pilot you.... Ah....
+yes.... And just hand me that water glass once more.... Thanks.... I
+shall hope to hear you've accepted next time I see you. We'll talk
+details and sign papers then, eh?... Oh, yes, we will. You won't be fool
+enough to refuse. Easy berth, you know, Kendrick. And don't forget
+Egbert; eh? Ha, ha.... Umph&mdash;ah, yes.... Where's that damned
+housekeeper?"</p>
+
+<p>Mike Callahan asked no questions as he drove his passenger back to the
+General Minot place&mdash;no direct questions, that is&mdash;but it was quite
+evident that his curiosity concerning the reasons for Captain Kendrick's
+visit was intense.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, the ould judge seen you at last, Cap'n," he observed.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"I expect 'twas a great satisfaction to him, eh?"</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe so. Looks as if it was smurrin' up for rain over to the west'ard,
+doesn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Callahan delivered his passenger at the Minot back door and
+departed, looking grumpy. Then Mr. Cahoon took his turn.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Cap'n Sears," he said, eagerly, "you seen him."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_89" id="pg_89">89</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Judah, I saw him."</p>
+
+<p>"Um-hm. Pretty glad to see you, too, wan't he?"</p>
+
+<p>"I hope so."</p>
+
+<p>"Creepin' prophets, don't you <i>know</i> so? Ain't he been sendin' word by
+Emmeline Tidditt that he wanted to see you more'n a million times?"</p>
+
+<p>"Guess not. So far as I know he only wanted to see me once."</p>
+
+<p>"No, no, no. You know what I mean, Cap'n Sears.... Well&mdash;er&mdash;er&mdash;you
+seen him, anyway?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I saw him."</p>
+
+<p>"Um-hm ... so you said."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I thought I did."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, you did&mdash;yes, you did.... Um-hm&mdash;er&mdash;yes."</p>
+
+<p>So Judah, too, was obliged to do without authentic information
+concerning Judge Knowles's reason for wishing to meet Sears Kendrick. He
+hinted as far as he dared, but experience gained through years of sea
+acquaintanceship with his former commander prevented his doing more than
+hint. The captain would tell just exactly what he wished and no more,
+Judah knew. He knew also that attempting to learn more than that was
+likely to be unpleasant as well as unprofitable. It was true that his
+beloved "Cap'n Sears" was no longer his commander but merely his lodger,
+nevertheless discipline was discipline. Mr. Cahoon was dying to know why
+the judge wished to talk to the captain, but he would have died in
+reality rather than continue to work the pumps against the latter's
+orders, expressed or intimated. Judah was no mutineer.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_90" id="pg_90">90</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_VI_3534" id="CHAPTER_VI_3534"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER VI</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Sears put in a disagreeable day or two after his call upon the judge. He
+was dissatisfied with the ending of their interview. He felt that he had
+been foolishly soft-hearted in promising to call at the Fair Harbor, or,
+to consider for another hour the preposterous offer of management of
+that institution. He must say no in the end. How much better to have
+said it then and there. Fifteen hundred a year looked like a lot of
+money to him. It tempted him, that part of the proposition. But it did
+not tempt him sufficiently to overcome the absurdities of the remaining
+part. How could <i>he</i> manage an old woman's home? And what would people
+say if he tried?</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, he had promised to visit the place and look it over and
+the promise must be kept. He dreaded it about as much as he had ever
+dreaded anything, but&mdash;he had promised. So on the morning of the third
+day following that of his call upon Judge Knowles he hobbled painfully
+and slowly up the front walk of the Fair Harbor to the formidable front
+door, with its great South Sea shells at each end of the granite
+step&mdash;relics of Captain Sylvanus's early voyages&mdash;and its silver-plated
+name plate with "SEYMOUR" engraved upon it in Gothic lettering. To one
+looking back from the view-point of to-day such a name plate may seem a
+bit superfluous and unnecessary in a village where every one knew not
+only where every one else lived, but how they lived and all about them.
+The fact remains that in Bayport in the '70's there were many name
+plates.</p>
+
+<p>Sears gave the glass knob beside the front door a pull. From the
+interior of the house came the resultant "<i>JINGLE</i>; <i>jingle</i>; jingle,
+jing, jing." Then a wait, then the sound of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_91" id="pg_91">91</a></span> footsteps approaching the
+other side of the door. Then a momentary glimpse of a reconnoitering eye
+behind one of the transparent urns engraved in the ground glass pane.
+Then a rattle of bolt and latch and the door opened.</p>
+
+<p>The woman who opened it was rather good looking, but also she
+looked&mdash;well, if the captain had been ordered to describe her general
+appearance instantly, he would have said that she looked "tousled." She
+was fully dressed, of course, but there was about her a general
+appearance of having just gotten out of bed. Her hair, rather
+elaborately coiffured, had several loose strands sticking out here and
+there. She wore a gold pin&mdash;an oval brooch with a lock of hair in it&mdash;at
+her throat, but one end was unfastened. She wore cotton gloves, with
+holes in them.</p>
+
+<p>"Good mornin'," said the captain.</p>
+
+<p>The woman said "Good morning." There was no "r" in the "morning" so,
+remembering what he had heard concerning Mrs. Isaac Berry's rearing,
+Kendrick decided that this must be she.</p>
+
+<p>"This is Mrs. Berry, isn't it?" he inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes." The lady's tone was not too gracious, in fact there was a trace
+of suspicion in it, as if she was expecting the man on the step to
+produce a patent egg-beater or the specimen volume of a set of
+encyclopedias.</p>
+
+<p>"How do you do, Mrs. Berry," went on the captain. "My name is Kendrick.
+I'm your neighbor next door, and Judge Knowles asked me to be neighborly
+and cruise over and call some day. So I&mdash;er&mdash;so I've cruised, you see."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Berry's expression changed. She seemed surprised, perhaps a little
+annoyed, certainly very much confused.</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, yes, Mr. Kendrick," she stammered. "I'm so glad you did.... I
+am so glad to see you.... Ah&mdash;ah&mdash;&mdash; Won't you come in?"</p>
+
+<p>Captain Sears entered the dark front hall. It smelt like most front
+halls of that day in that town, a combination smell made up of
+sandal-wood and Brussels carpet and haircloth and camphor and damp
+shut-up-ness.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_92" id="pg_92">92</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Walk right in, do," urged Mrs. Berry, opening the parlor door. The
+captain walked right in. The parlor was high-studded and square-pianoed
+and chromoed and oil-portraited and black-walnutted and marble-topped
+and hairclothed. Also it had the fullest and most satisfying assortment
+of whatnot curios and alum baskets and whale ivory and shell frames and
+wax fruit and pampas grass. There was a majestic black stove and window
+lambrequins. Which is to say that it was a very fine specimen of a very
+best parlor.</p>
+
+<p>"Do sit down, Mr. Kendrick," gushed Mrs. Berry, moving about a good deal
+but not, apparently, accomplishing very much. There had been a feather
+duster on the piano when they entered, but it, somehow or other, had
+disappeared beneath the piano scarf&mdash;partially disappeared, that is, for
+one end still protruded. The lady's cotton dusting-gloves no longer
+protected her hands but now peeped coyly from behind a jig-sawed
+photograph frame on the marble mantelpiece. The apron she had worn lay
+on the floor in the shadow of the table cloth. These habiliments of
+menial domesticity slid, one by one, out of sight&mdash;or partially so&mdash;as
+she bustled and chatted. When, after a moment, she raised a window shade
+and admitted a square of sunshine to the grand apartment, one would
+scarcely have guessed that there was such drudgery as housework,
+certainly no one would have suspected the elegant Mrs. Cordelia Berry of
+being intimately connected with it.</p>
+
+<p>She swept&mdash;in those days the breadth of skirts made all feminine
+progress more or less of a sweep&mdash;across the room and swished gracefully
+into a chair. When she spoke she raised her eyebrows, at the end of the
+sentence she lowered them and her lashes. She smiled much, and hers was
+still a pretty smile. She made attractive little gestures with her
+hands.</p>
+
+<p>"I am <i>so</i> glad you dropped in, Mr. Kendrick," she declared. "So very
+glad. Of course if we had known when you were coming we might have been
+a little better prepared. But there, you will excuse us, I know.
+Elizabeth and I&mdash;Elizabeth is my daughter, Mr. Kendrick.... But it is
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_93" id="pg_93">93</a></span>
+<i>Captain</i> Kendrick, isn't it? Of course, I might have known. You look
+the sea&mdash;you know what I mean&mdash;I can always tell. My dear husband was a
+captain. You knew that, of course. And in the old days at my girlhood
+home so many, <i>many</i> captains used to come and go. Our old home&mdash;my
+girlhood home, I mean&mdash;was always open. I met my husband there.... Ah
+me, those days are not these days! What my dear father would have said
+if he could have known.... But we don't know what is in store for us, do
+we?... Oh, dear!... It's such charming weather, isn't it, Captain
+Kendrick?"</p>
+
+<p>The captain admitted the weather's charm. He had not heard a great deal
+of his voluble hostess's chatter. He was there, in a way, on business
+and he was wondering how he might, without giving offence, fulfill his
+promise to Judge Knowles and see more of the interior of the Fair
+Harbor. Of the matron of that institution he had already seen enough to
+classify and appraise her in his mind.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Berry rambled on and on. At last, out of the tumult of words,
+Captain Sears caught a fragment which seemed to him pertinent and
+interesting.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh!" he broke in. "So you knew I was&mdash;er&mdash;hopeful of droppin' in some
+time or other?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, yes. Elizabeth knew. Judge Knowles told her you said you hoped to.
+Of course we were delighted.... The poor dear judge! We are <i>so</i> fond of
+him, my daughter and I. He is so&mdash;so essentially aristocratic. Oh, if
+you knew what that means to me, raised as I was among the people I was.
+There are times when I sit here in this dreadful place in utter
+despair&mdash;utter.... Oh&mdash;oh, of course, Captain Kendrick, I wouldn't have
+you imagine that Elizabeth and I don't like this house. We <i>love</i> it.
+And dear 'Belia Seymour is my <i>closest</i> friend. But, you know&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>She paused, momentarily, and the captain seized the opportunity&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"So Judge Knowles told you I was liable to call, did he?"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_94" id="pg_94">94</a></span> he queried.
+He was somewhat surprised. He wondered if the Judge had hinted at a
+reason for his visit.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, yes," replied Mrs. Berry, "he told Elizabeth. She said&mdash;&mdash; Oh,
+here you are, dearie. Captain Kendrick, our next door neighbor, has run
+in for a little call. Isn't it delightful of him? Captain Kendrick, this
+is my daughter, Elizabeth."</p>
+
+<p>She had entered from the door behind the captain's chair. Now she came
+forward as he rose from it.</p>
+
+<p>"How do you do, Cap'n Kendrick?" she said. "I am very glad to see you
+again. Judge Knowles told me you were planning to call."</p>
+
+<p>She extended her hand and the captain took it. She was smiling, but it
+seemed to him that the smile was an absent-minded one. In fact&mdash;of
+course it might be entirely his imagination&mdash;he had a feeling that she
+was troubled about something.</p>
+
+<p>However, he had no time to surmise or even reply to her greeting. Mrs.
+Berry had caught a word in that greeting which to her required
+explanation.</p>
+
+<p>"Again?" she repeated. "Why, Elizabeth, have you and Captain Kendrick
+met before?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Mother, that day when our hens got into Mr. Cahoon's garden. You
+remember I told you at the time."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't remember any such thing. I remember Elvira said that she and
+Aurora met him one afternoon, but I don't remember your saying anything
+about it."</p>
+
+<p>"I told you. No doubt you have forgotten it."</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense! you know I never forget. If there is one thing I can honestly
+pride myself on it is a good memory. You may have thought you told me,
+but&mdash;&mdash; Why, what's that noise?"</p>
+
+<p>The noise was a curious babble or chatter, almost as if the sound-proof
+door&mdash;if there was such a thing&mdash;of a parrot cage had been suddenly
+opened. It came from somewhere at the rear of the house and was,
+apparently, produced by a number of feminine voices all speaking very
+fast and simultaneously.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_95" id="pg_95">95</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Elizabeth turned, glanced through the open door behind her, and then at
+Mrs. Berry. There was no doubt now concerning the troubled expression
+upon her face. She was troubled.</p>
+
+<p>"Mother&mdash;" she began, quickly. "Excuse us, Cap'n Kendrick,
+please&mdash;mother, have Elvira and Susan Brackett been talking to you about
+buying that collection of&mdash;of what they call garden statuary at Mrs.
+Seth Snowden's auction in Harniss?"</p>
+
+<p>And now Mrs. Berry, too, looked troubled. She turned red, stammered and
+fidgetted.</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, Elizabeth," she said, "I&mdash;I don't see why you want to discuss
+that now. We have a visitor and I'm sure Captain Kendrick isn't
+interested."</p>
+
+<p>Her daughter did not seem to care whether the visitor was interested or
+not.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me, mother, please," she urged. "<i>Have</i> they been talking with you
+about their plan to buy that&mdash;those things?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Berry's confusion increased. "Why&mdash;why, yes," she admitted. "Elvira
+did tell me about it, something about it. She said it was beautiful&mdash;the
+fountain and the&mdash;the deer and&mdash;and how pretty they would look on the
+lawn and&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Mother, you didn't give them the least encouragement, did you? They
+say&mdash;Elvira and Mrs. Brackett say you told them you thought it a
+beautiful idea and that you were in favor of what they call their
+committee going to the sale next Monday and buying those&mdash;those
+cast-iron dogs and children with the Fair Harbor money? I am sure you
+didn't say that, did you, mother?... I'm awfully sorry, Cap'n Kendrick,
+to bring this matter into the middle of your call, but really it is very
+important and it can't be postponed, because.... Tell me, Mother, they
+will be here in a moment. You didn't say any such thing, did you?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Berry's fine eyes&mdash;they had been called "starlike" twenty years
+before, by romantic young gentlemen&mdash;filled with tears. She wrung her
+hands.</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I only said&mdash;" she stammered, "I&mdash;&mdash; Oh, I don't think I said
+anything except&mdash;except that&mdash;&mdash; Well, they
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_96" id="pg_96">96</a></span> were so sure they were
+lovely and a great bargain&mdash;and you know Captain Snowden's estate in
+Harniss was perfectly <i>charming</i>. You know it was, Elizabeth!"</p>
+
+<p>"Mother, you didn't tell them they might buy them?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, no, I&mdash;I don't think I did. I&mdash;I couldn't have because I
+never do anything like that without consulting you.... Oh, Elizabeth,
+<i>please</i>, don't let us have a scene here, with Captain Kendrick present.
+What <i>will</i> he think? Oh, dear, dear!"</p>
+
+<p>Her handkerchief was called into requisition. Sears Kendrick rose from
+his chair. Obviously he must go and, just as obviously, he knew that in
+order to fulfill his promise to the judge in spirit as well as letter he
+ought to stay. This was just the sort of situation to shed light upon
+the inner secrets of the Fair Harbor and its management....
+Nevertheless, he was not going to stay. His position was much too
+spylike to suit him. But before he could move there were other
+developments.</p>
+
+<p>While Miss Berry and her mother had been exchanging hurried questions
+and answers the parrot-cage babble from the distant places somewhere at
+the end of the long entry beyond the door had been continuous. Now it
+suddenly grew louder. Plainly the babblers were approaching along that
+entry and babbling as they came.</p>
+
+<p>A moment more and they were in the room, seven of them. In the lead was
+the dignified Miss Elvira herself, an impressive figure of gentility in
+black silk and a hair breast pin. Close behind her, of course, was the
+rotund Mrs. Aurora Chase, and equally close&mdash;yes even a little in
+advance of Aurora, was a solidly built female with gray hair, a square
+chin, and a very distinct mustache. The others were in the rear, but as
+they came in one of these, a little woman in a plain gingham dress, who
+wore steel spectacles upon a sharp little nose, left the group and took
+a stand a little apart, regarding the company with lifted chin and a
+general air of determination and uncompromising defiance. Later on
+Captain Sears was destined to learn that the little woman was Mrs.
+Esther Tidditt, and the lady with the mustache Mrs.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_97" id="pg_97">97</a></span> Susanna Brackett.
+And that the others were respectively Mrs. Hattie Thomas, Miss Desire
+Peasley, and Mrs. Constance Cahoon. Each of the seven was, of course,
+either a captain's widow or his sister.</p>
+
+<p>Just at the moment the captain, naturally, recognized nobody except Miss
+Snowden and Mrs. Chase. Nor did he notice individual peculiarities
+except that something, excitement or a sudden jostle or something, had
+pushed Aurora's rippling black locks to one side, with the result that
+the part which divided the ripples, instead of descending plumb-line
+fashion from the crown of the head to a point directly in the center of
+the forehead, now had a diagonal twist and ended over the left eye. The
+effect was rather astonishing, as if the upper section of the lady's
+head had slipped its moorings.</p>
+
+<p>He had scarcely time to notice even this, certainly none in which to
+speculate concerning its cause. Miss Snowden, who held a paper in her
+hand, stepped forward and began to speak, gesticulating with the paper
+as she did so. She paid absolutely no attention to the masculine
+visitor. She was trembling with excitement and it is doubtful if she
+even saw him.</p>
+
+<p>"Mrs. Berry," she began, "we are here&mdash;we have come here, these ladies
+and I&mdash;we have come here&mdash;we&mdash;&mdash; Oh, what <i>is</i> it?"</p>
+
+<p>This last was addressed to Mrs. Chase, who was tugging at her skirt.</p>
+
+<p>"Talk louder," cautioned Aurora, in a stage whisper. "I can't hear you."</p>
+
+<p>With an impatient movement Miss Snowden freed her garment and began
+again.</p>
+
+<p>"Mrs. Berry," she repeated, "we are here, these ladies and I, to&mdash;to ask
+a question and to express our opinion on a very important matter. We are
+all agreed&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Here she was again interrupted, this time by Mrs. Esther Tidditt, the
+little woman in the gingham dress. Mrs. Tidditt's tone was brisk and
+sharp.</p>
+
+<p>"No, we ain't agreed neither," she announced, with a
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_98" id="pg_98">98</a></span> snap of her head
+which threatened shipwreck to the steel spectacles. "<i>I</i> think it's
+everlastin' foolishness. Don't you say <i>I'm</i> agreed to it, Elvira
+Snowden."</p>
+
+<p>Elvira drew her thin form erect and glared. "We are practically agreed,"
+she proclaimed crushingly. "You are the only one who doesn't agree."</p>
+
+<p>"Humph! And I'm the only one that is practical. Of all the silly&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Esther Tidditt, was you appointed to do the talking for this committee
+or was I?"</p>
+
+<p>"You was, but that don't stop me from talkin' when I want to. I ain't on
+the committee, thank the good lord. I'm my own committee."</p>
+
+<p>This declaration of independence was received with an outburst of
+indignant exclamations, in the midst of which Mrs. Chase could be heard
+demanding to be told what was the matter and who said what. Elizabeth
+Berry stilled the hubbub.</p>
+
+<p>"Hush, hush!" she pleaded. "Don't, Esther, please. You can say your word
+later. I want mother&mdash;and Cap'n Kendrick&mdash;to hear this, all of it."</p>
+
+<p>The captain was still standing. He had risen when the "committee"
+entered the room. Its members, most of them, had been so intent upon the
+business which had brought them there that they had ignored his
+presence. Now, of course, they turned to look at him. There was
+curiosity in their look but by no means enthusiastic approval. Miss
+Snowden's nod was decidedly snippy. She looked, sniffed and turned again
+to Mrs. Berry.</p>
+
+<p>"We want your mother to hear it," she declared. "We've come here so she
+shall hear it&mdash;all of it. If&mdash;if <i>others</i>&mdash;who may not be 'specially
+interested want to hear they can, I suppose. I don't know why not....
+<i>We</i> haven't anything to hide. <i>We</i> ain't ashamed&mdash;are not, I should
+say. Are we?" turning to those behind and beside her.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Brackett announced that she certainly should say not, so did
+several others. There was a general murmur of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_99" id="pg_99">99</a></span> agreement. Every one
+continued to look at the captain. He was embarrassed.</p>
+
+<p>"I think perhaps I had better be goin'," he said, addressing Miss Berry.
+"I ought to be gettin' home, anyway."</p>
+
+<p>But the young lady would not have it.</p>
+
+<p>"Cap'n Kendrick," she said, earnestly, "I hope you won't go. Judge
+Knowles told me you were going to call. I was very glad when I found you
+had called now&mdash;at this time. And I should like to have you stay. You
+can stay, can't you?"</p>
+
+<p>Sears hesitated. "Why&mdash;why, yes, I presume likely I can," he admitted.</p>
+
+<p>"And will you&mdash;please?"</p>
+
+<p>He looked at her and she at him. Then he nodded.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll stay," he said, and sat down in his chair.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," said Elizabeth. "Now, Elvira.... Wait, mother, please."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Snowden sniffed once more. "Now that that important matter is
+settled I <i>suppose</i> I may be allowed to go on," she observed, with
+sarcasm. "Very good, I will do so in spite of the presence of&mdash;of those
+not&mdash;ahem&mdash;intimately concerned. Mrs. Berry, on behalf of this committee
+here, a committee of the whole&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"No such thing," this from Mrs. Tidditt. "I'm part of the whole but I
+ain't part of that committee. Stick to the truth, Elviry&mdash;pays better."</p>
+
+<p>"Hush, Esther," begged Miss Berry. "Let her go on, please. Go on,
+Elvira."</p>
+
+<p>The head of the committee breathed fiercely through her thin nostrils.
+Then she made another attempt.</p>
+
+<p>"I address you, Mrs. Cordelia Berry," declaimed Elvira, "because you are
+supposed&mdash;I say <i>supposed</i>&mdash;to be officially the managing director&mdash;or
+directress, to speak correct&mdash;of this institution. Not," she added,
+hastily, "that it is an institution in any sense of the word&mdash;like a
+home or any such thing. We all know that, I hope and trust. Although,"
+with a venomous glance in the direction of Mrs.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_100" id="pg_100">100</a></span> Esther, "there appear
+to be <i>some</i> that know precious little. I mention no names."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't need to," retorted the Tidditt lady promptly. "Never mind, I
+know enough not to vote to buy a lot of second-handed images and
+critters just because they belong to one of your relations. I know that
+much, Elviry Snowden."</p>
+
+<p>This was a body blow and Elvira visibly winced. For just an instant
+Captain Sears thought she was contemplating physical assault upon her
+enemy. But she recovered and, white and scornful, proceeded.</p>
+
+<p>"I shan't deign to answer such low&mdash;er&mdash;insinuations," she declared, her
+voice shaking. "I scorn them and her that makes them. I scorn
+them&mdash;both. <i>BOTH!</i>"</p>
+
+<p>This last "Both" was fired like a shot from a "Big Bertha." It should
+have annihilated the irreverent little female in the gingham gown. It
+did not, however; she merely laughed. The effect of the blast was still
+further impaired by Mrs. Chase, who although listening with all her
+ears, such as they were, had evidently heard neither well nor wisely.</p>
+
+<p>"That's right, Elviry," proclaimed Aurora, "that's just what I say. Why,
+the lion alone is worth the money."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Brackett touched the Snowden arm. "Never mind, Elvira," she said.
+"Don't pay any attention. Go right ahead and read the resolutions."</p>
+
+<p>Elvira drew a long breath, two long breaths. "Thank you, Susanna," she
+said, "I shall. I'm going to. Mrs. Berry," she added, turning to that
+lady, who was quite as much agitated as any one present and was
+clutching her chair arm with one hand and her daughter's arm with the
+other. "Mrs. Berry," repeated Miss Snowden, "this resolution drawn up
+and signed by the committee of the whole here present&mdash;signed with but
+one exception, I should say, one <i>trifling</i> exception&mdash;" this with a
+glare at Mrs. Tidditt&mdash;"is, as I said, addressed to you because you are
+supposed&mdash;" a glare at Elizabeth this time&mdash;"to be in charge of the Fair
+Harbor
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_101" id="pg_101">101</a></span> and what goes on and is done within its&mdash;er&mdash;porticos. Ahem! I
+will now read as follows."</p>
+
+<p>And she proceeded to read, using both elocution and gestures. The
+resolutions made a rather formidable document. They were addressed to
+"Mrs. Cordelia Imogene Berry, widow of the late Captain Isaac Stephens
+Berry, in charge of the Fair Harbor for Mariners' Women at Bayport,
+Massachusetts, United States of America. Madam: Whereas&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>There were many "Whereases." Captain Kendrick, listening intently, found
+the path of his understanding clogged by them and tangled by Miss
+Elvira's flowers of rhetoric. He gathered, nevertheless, that the
+"little group of ladies resident at the Fair Harbor, having been reared
+amid surroundings of culture, art and refinement" were, naturally,
+desirous of improving their present surroundings. Also that a "truly
+remarkable opportunity" had come in their way by which the said
+surroundings might be improved and beautified by the expenditure of a
+nominal sum, seventy-five dollars, no more. With this seventy-five
+dollars might be bought "the entire collection of lawn statuary and the
+fountain which adorned the grounds of the estate of the late lamented
+deceased Captain Seth Snowden at Harniss and now the property of his
+widow, namely to wit, Mrs. Hannah Snowden."</p>
+
+<p>"And I'll say this," put in Elvira, before reading further, "although
+hints and insinuations have been cast at me in the hearing of those
+present to-day about my being a relation&mdash;relative, that is&mdash;of Captain
+Seth, and he was my uncle on my father's side, nevertheless it's just
+because I am a relation&mdash;relative&mdash;that we are able to buy all those
+elegant things for as cheap a price as seventy-five dollars when they
+cost at least five hundred and.... But there! I will proceed.</p>
+
+<p>"'The said statuary, etcetera, consisting of the following, that is to
+say:</p>
+
+<p>"'No. 1. Item ... 1 Lawn Fountain. Hand painted iron. Representing two
+children beneath umbrella.'"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_102" id="pg_102">102</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"And it's the cutest thing," put in the hitherto silent Desire Peasley,
+with enthusiastic suddenness. "There's them two young ones standin'
+natural as life under that umbrella&mdash;just same as anybody <i>would</i> stand
+under an umbrella if 'twas rainin' like fury&mdash;and the water squirts
+right down over top of 'em and drips off the ribs&mdash;off the ribs of the
+umbrella, I mean&mdash;and there they stand and&mdash;and&mdash;&mdash; <i>Well</i>, when I see
+<i>that</i> I says, 'My glory!' I says, 'what'll they contrive next?' That's
+what I said. All hands heard me.... What's that you're mutterin', Esther
+Tidditt?"</p>
+
+<p>"I wasn't mutterin', 'special. I just said I bet they heard you if they
+was anywheres 'round."</p>
+
+<p>"Is that so? Do tell! Well, I'll have you to understand&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Elvira and Miss Berry together intervened to calm this new disturbance.
+Then the former went on with the reading of the "resolutions."</p>
+
+<p>"'No. 2. Item ... 1 Hand painted lion. Iron....' Hush, Aurora!... Yes,
+'lion,' that's right.... I did say 'iron.' It's an iron lion, isn't
+it?... Oh, <i>do</i> be quiet! We'll never get through if everybody keeps
+interrupting. 'No. 2 ... Item ... 1 Hand painted lion iron'&mdash;iron lion,
+I mean.... Oh, my soul and body! If everybody keeps talking I shan't
+know what I mean.... 'A very wonderful piece of statuary. In perfect
+condition. Paint needs touching up, that's all.</p>
+
+<p>"'No. 3&mdash;Item.... 1 Deer. Hand painted iron. Perfectly lovely&mdash;'"</p>
+
+<p>"Stuff!" This from the irrepressible Mrs. Tidditt, of course. "One horn
+is broke off and it looks like the Old Harry. No, I'll take that back;
+the Old Harry is supposed to have two horns. But that deer image is a
+sight, just the same. Why, it ain't got any paint left on it."</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense! It may need a little paint, here and there, but&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Humph! A little here and a lot there and a whole lot more in between.
+Elvira Snowden, that image looks as if
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_103" id="pg_103">103</a></span> 'twas struck with leprosy, like
+Lazarus in the Bible; you know it well as I do."</p>
+
+<p>Sears Kendrick enjoyed the reading of these resolutions. If it were not
+for certain elements in the situation he would have considered the
+morning's performance the most amusing entertainment he had witnessed
+afloat or ashore. He managed not to laugh aloud, although he was obliged
+to turn his head away several times and to cough at intervals. Once or
+twice he and Elizabeth Berry exchanged glances and the whimsical look of
+resignation and humorous appreciation in her eyes showed that she, too,
+was keenly aware of the joke.</p>
+
+<p>But at other times she was serious enough and it was her expression at
+these times which prevented the captain's accepting the whole ridiculous
+affair as a hilarious farce. Then she looked deeply troubled and
+careworn and anxious. He began to realize that this affair, funny as it
+was, was but one of a series, a series of annoyances and trials and
+petty squabbles which, taken in the aggregate, were anything but funny
+to her. For it was obvious, the truth of what Judah Cahoon had said and
+Judge Knowles intimated, that this girl, Elizabeth Berry, was bearing
+upon her young shoulders the entire burden of responsibility for the
+conduct and management of affairs in the Fair Harbor for Mariners' Women
+at Bayport. Her mother was supposed to bear this burden, but it was
+perfectly obvious that Cordelia Berry was incapable of bearing any
+responsibilities, including her own personal ones.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Snowden solemnly read the concluding paragraph of the resolutions.
+It summed up those preceding it and announced that those whose names
+were appended, "being guests at the Fair Harbor, the former home of our
+beloved benefactress and friend Mrs. Lobelia Phillips, <i>n&eacute;e</i> Seymour,
+are unanimously agreed that as a simple matter of duty to the
+institution and those within its gates, not to mention the beautifying
+of Bayport, the collection of lawn statuary and fountain now adorning
+the estate of the late deceased Captain Seth Snowden be bought,
+purchased and obtained from
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_104" id="pg_104">104</a></span> that estate at the very low price of
+seventy-five dollars, this money to be paid from the funds in the Fair
+Harbor treasury, and the said statuary and fountain to be erected and
+set up on the lawns and grounds of the Fair Harbor. Signed&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Miss Elvira read the names of the signers. They included, as she took
+pains to state, the names of every guest in the Fair Harbor with
+one&mdash;ahem&mdash;exception.</p>
+
+<p>"And I'm it, praise the lord," announced Mrs. Tidditt, promptly. "I
+ain't quite crazy yet, nor I ain't a niece-in-law of Seth Snowden's
+widow neither."</p>
+
+<p>"Esther Tidditt, I've stood your hints and slanders long enough."</p>
+
+<p>"Nobody's payin' <i>me</i> no commissions for gettin' rid of their old junk
+for 'em."</p>
+
+<p>"Esther, be still! You shouldn't say such things. Elvira, stop&mdash;stop!"
+Miss Berry stepped forward. Mrs. Tidditt was bristling like a combative
+bantam and Elvira was shaking from head to feet and crooking and
+uncrooking her fingers. "There mustn't be any more of this," declared
+Elizabeth. "Esther, you must apologize. Stop, both of you, please.
+Remember, Cap'n Kendrick is here."</p>
+
+<p>This had the effect of causing every one to look at the captain once
+more. He felt unpleasantly conspicuous, but Elizabeth's next speech
+transferred the general gaze from him to her.</p>
+
+<p>"There isn't any use in saying much more about this matter, it seems to
+me," she said. "It comes down to this: You and the others, Elvira, think
+we should buy the&mdash;the statues and the fountain because they would, you
+think, make our lawns and grounds more beautiful."</p>
+
+<p>"We don't think at all&mdash;we know," declared Elvira. Mrs. Brackett said,
+"Yes indeed, we do," and there was a general murmur of assent. Also a
+loud sniff from the Tidditt direction.</p>
+
+<p>"And your mother thinks so, too," spoke up Miss Peasley, from the group.
+"She told me herself she thought they were lovely. Didn't you, Cordelia?
+You know you did."</p>
+
+<p>Before Mrs. Berry could answer&mdash;her embarrassment and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_105" id="pg_105">105</a></span> distress seemed
+to be bringing her again to the verge of tears&mdash;her daughter went on.</p>
+
+<p>"It doesn't make a bit of difference what mother and I think about
+their&mdash;beauty&mdash;and all that," she said. "The whole thing comes down to
+the matter of whether or not we can afford to buy them. And we simply
+cannot. We haven't the money to spare. Spending seventy-five dollars for
+anything except the running expenses of the Harbor is now absolutely
+impossible. I told you that, Elvira, when you first suggested it."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Snowden, still trembling, regarded her resentfully. "Yes, <i>you</i>
+told me," she retorted. "I know you did. You are always telling us we
+can't do this or that. But why should <i>you</i> tell us? That is what we
+can't understand. <i>You</i> ain't&mdash;aren't&mdash;manager here, so far as we know.
+We never heard of your appointment. <i>We</i> always understood your mother
+was the manager, duly appointed. Isn't she?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course she is, but&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and when we have spoken to <i>her</i>&mdash;two or three of us at different
+times&mdash;she has said she thought buying these things was a lovely idea. I
+shouldn't be surprised if she thought so now.... Cordelia, don't you
+think the Fair Harbor ought to buy those statues and that fountain?"</p>
+
+<p>This pointed appeal, of course, placed Mrs. Berry directly in the
+limelight and she wilted beneath its glare. She reddened and then paled.
+Her fingers fidgetted with the pin at her throat. She picked up her
+handkerchief and dropped it. She looked at Elvira and the committee and
+then at her daughter.</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, I don't know," she faltered. "I think&mdash;of course I think
+the&mdash;the statuary is very beautiful. I&mdash;I said so. I&mdash;I am always fond
+of pretty things. You know I am, Elizabeth, you&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Wait a minute, Cordelia. Didn't you tell me you thought the Fair Harbor
+ought to buy them? Didn't you tell Suzanna and me just that?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Berry squirmed. She did not answer but, so far as Sears Kendrick
+was concerned, no answer was necessary.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_106" id="pg_106">106</a></span> He was as certain as if she had
+sworn it that she had told them just that thing. And, looking at
+Elizabeth's face, he could see that she, too, was certain of it.</p>
+
+<p>"Didn't you, Cordelia?" persisted Miss Snowden.</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, I don't know. Perhaps I did, but&mdash;but what difference does it
+make? You heard what Elizabeth said. She says we can't afford it. She
+always attends to such matters, you know she does."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," with sarcastic emphasis, "we do, but we don't know <i>why</i> she
+should. And in this case we aren't going to stand it. You are supposed
+to be managing this place, Cordelia Berry, and if you are willing to
+turn your duties over to a&mdash;a mere child we aren't willing to let you.
+Once more I ask you&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Elizabeth interrupted. "There, there, Elvira," she said, "what <i>is</i> the
+use? It isn't a question of mother's opinion or what she has said
+before. It is just a matter of money. We can't afford it."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Snowden ignored her. "We shall not," she repeated, "permit our
+future and&mdash;and all like that to be ruined by the whims of a mere child.
+<i>That</i> is final."</p>
+
+<p>She pronounced the last sentence with solemn emphasis. The pause which
+followed should have been impressive but Mrs. Tidditt spoiled the
+effect.</p>
+
+<p>"Mere child!" she repeated, significantly. "Well, I presume likely she
+<i>is</i> a mere child compared to some folks. Only she just looks childish
+and they act that way."</p>
+
+<p>There was another outburst of indignant exclamations from the committee.
+The head of that body turned to her followers.</p>
+
+<p>"It is quite evident," she declared, furiously, "that this conference is
+going to end just as the others have. But this time we are not going to
+sit back and be trampled on. There are those higher up to be appealed to
+and we shall appeal to them. Come!"</p>
+
+<p>She stalked majestically to the door and marched out and down the hall,
+the committee following her. Only Mrs. Tidditt remained, and she but for
+a moment.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_107" id="pg_107">107</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"They're goin' to the back room to have another meetin'," she whispered.
+"If there's anything up that amounts to anything, 'Lizabeth, I'll come
+back and let you know."</p>
+
+<p>Elizabeth did not answer, but Kendrick offered a suggestion. "You don't
+belong to this committee," he observed. "Perhaps they won't let you into
+the meetin'."</p>
+
+<p>The eyes behind the steel spectacles snapped sparks. "I'd like to see
+'em try to keep me out," declared Mrs. Esther, and hurried after the
+others. Elizabeth turned to her mother.</p>
+
+<p>"Mother," she said, earnestly, "we must be very firm in this matter. We
+simply can't afford to spend any money just now except for necessities.
+If they come to you again you must tell them so. You will, won't you?"</p>
+
+<p>And now Mrs. Berry's agitation reached its climax. She turned upon her
+daughter.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I suppose so," she cried hysterically, "I suppose so! I shall have
+to go through another scene and be spoken to as if&mdash;as if I were dirt
+under these women's feet instead of being as far above them in&mdash;in
+position and education and refinement as the clouds. Why can't I have
+peace&mdash;just a little peace and quiet? Why must I <i>always</i> have to
+undergo humiliation after humiliation? I&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Mother, mother, please don't&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>But her mother was beyond reason.</p>
+
+<p>"And you&mdash;" she went on, "you, my own daughter, why must you always take
+the other side, and put me in such positions, and&mdash;and humiliate me
+before&mdash;before&mdash;&mdash; Oh, why can't I die? I <i>wish</i> I were dead! I do! I
+do!"</p>
+
+<p>She burst into a storm of hysterical sobs and hurried toward the door.
+Elizabeth would have gone to her but she pushed her aside and rushed
+into the front hall and up the stairs. They heard her sobs upon the
+upper landing.</p>
+
+<p>Sears Kendrick, feeling more like an interloper than ever, looked in
+embarrassment at the flowered carpet. He did not dare look at the young
+woman beside him. He had never in his life felt more sorry for any one.
+Judge Knowles had said he hoped that he&mdash;Kendrick&mdash;might obtain a
+general
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_108" id="pg_108">108</a></span> idea of the condition of affairs in the Fair Harbor. The scenes
+he had just witnessed had given him a better idea of that condition than
+anything else could have done. And, somehow or other, it was the last of
+those scenes which had affected him most. Elizabeth Berry had faced the
+sarcasms and sneers of the committee, had never lost her poise or her
+temper, had never attempted to shift the responsibility, had never
+reproached her mother for the hesitating weakness which was at the base
+of all the trouble. And, in return, her mother had accused her of&mdash;all
+sorts of things.</p>
+
+<p>And yet when Elizabeth spoke it was in defence of that mother.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope, Cap'n Kendrick," she said, "that you won't misunderstand my
+mother or take what she just said too seriously. She is not very well,
+and very nervous, and, as you see, her position here is a trying one
+sometimes."</p>
+
+<p>The captain could not keep back the speech which was at his tongue's
+end.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Your</i> position is rather tryin', too, isn't it?" he observed. "It sort
+of would seem that way&mdash;to me."</p>
+
+<p>She smiled sadly. "Why, yes&mdash;it is," she admitted. "But I am younger
+and&mdash;and perhaps I can bear it better."</p>
+
+<p>It occurred to him that the greatest pity of all was the fact that she
+should be obliged to bear it. He did not say so, however, and she went
+on, changing the subject and speaking very earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>"Cap'n Kendrick," she said, "I am very glad you heard this&mdash;this
+disagreement this morning. Judge Knowles told me you were going to call
+at the Harbor here and when he said it he&mdash;well, I thought he looked
+more than he said, if you know what I mean. I didn't ask any questions
+and he said nothing more, but I guess perhaps he wanted you to&mdash;to
+see&mdash;well, to see what he wasn't well enough to see&mdash;or something like
+that."</p>
+
+<p>She paused. The captain was embarrassed. He certainly felt guilty and he
+also felt as if he looked so.</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, Miss Berry," he stammered, "I hope you&mdash;you mustn't
+think&mdash;&mdash;"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_109" id="pg_109">109</a></span></p>
+
+<p>She waved his protestations aside.</p>
+
+<p>"It doesn't make a bit of difference," she said. "No matter why you came
+I am very glad you did. This ridiculous statuary business is just
+one&mdash;well, symptom, so to speak. If it wasn't that, it might be
+something else. It comes, you see, from my position here&mdash;which really
+isn't any position at all&mdash;and their position, Elvira Snowden's and the
+rest. They pay a certain sum to get here in the first place and a small
+sum each year. There is the trouble. They think they pay for board and
+lodging and are guests. Of course what they pay amounts to almost
+nothing, but they don't realize that, or don't want to, and they expect
+to have their own way. Mother is&mdash;well, she is nervous and high strung
+and she hates scenes. They take advantage of her, some of them&mdash;no doubt
+they don't consider it that, but it seems to me so&mdash;and so I have been
+obliged to take charge, in a way. They don't understand that and resent
+it. I don't know that I blame them much. Perhaps I should resent it if I
+were in their place. Only.... But never mind that now.</p>
+
+<p>"This is only one of a good many differences of opinion we have had,"
+she went on. "In the old days&mdash;and not older than a year ago, for that
+matter&mdash;if the differences were too acute I used to go to Judge Knowles.
+He always settled everything, finally and sensibly. But now, since he
+has been so sick, I&mdash;well, I simply can't go to him. He has been very
+kind to us, to mother and me, and I am very fond of him. He was a great
+friend of my father's and I think he likes me for father's sake. And now
+I will not trouble him in his sickness with my troubles&mdash;I will <i>not</i>."</p>
+
+<p>She raised her head as she said it and Captain Sears, regarding her, was
+again acutely conscious of the fact that it was a very fine head indeed.</p>
+
+<p>"I understand," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I knew you would. And I know I could fight this out by myself. And
+shall, of course. But, nevertheless, I am glad you were here as&mdash;well,
+as a witness, if it ever comes to that. You heard what Elvira&mdash;Miss
+Snowden&mdash;said about appealing to those higher up. I suppose she
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_110" id="pg_110">110</a></span> means
+Mrs. Phillips, the one who founded the Harbor. If they should write to
+her I&mdash;&mdash; What is it, Esther?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Tidditt had rushed into the room, bristling. She waved her arms
+excitedly.</p>
+
+<p>"'Lizbeth, 'Lizbeth," she whispered, "they're goin' to tell him. They're
+makin' up the yarn now that they're goin' to tell him."</p>
+
+<p>"Tell him? Tell who?"</p>
+
+<p>"Judge Knowles. They've decided to go right straight over to the judge's
+house and&mdash;and do what they call appeal to him about them images. Elviry
+she's goin', and Susanna, and Desire Peasley, too, for what I know. What
+do you want me to do? Ain't there any way I can help stop 'em?"</p>
+
+<p>For the first time in that distressing forenoon Captain Kendrick saw
+Miss Berry's nerve shaken. She clasped her hands.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh dear!" she cried. "Oh, dear, that is the very thing they mustn't do!
+I wouldn't have Judge Knowles worried or troubled about this for the
+world. I have kept everything from him. He is <i>so</i> ill! If those women
+go to him and&mdash;&mdash; Oh, but they mustn't, they mustn't! I can't let them."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Tidditt, diminutive but combative, offered a suggestion.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you want me to go out and stop 'em?" she demanded. "I'll go and
+stand in the kitchen doorway, if you want me to. They won't get by if
+I'm there, not in a hurry, anyway."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh no, no, Esther, of course not."</p>
+
+<p>"I tell you what I'll do. I'll go and tell Emmeline not to let 'em in
+the judge's house. She's my cousin and she'll do what I
+ask&mdash;sometimes&mdash;if I don't ask much."</p>
+
+<p>"No, that wouldn't do any good, any permanent good. But they must not go
+to the judge. They must not. He has been so kind and forbearing and he
+is so very sick. The doctor told me that he.... They shan't go. They can
+say anything they please to me, but they shan't torment him."</p>
+
+<p>She started toward the door through which Mrs. Tidditt
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_111" id="pg_111">111</a></span> had entered. At
+the threshold she paused for an instant and turned.</p>
+
+<p>"Please excuse me, Cap'n Kendrick," she said. "I almost forgot that you
+were here. I think I wouldn't wait if I were you. There will be another
+scene and I'm sure you have had scenes enough. I have, too, but.... Oh,
+well, it will be all right, I'm sure. Please don't wait. Thank you for
+calling."</p>
+
+<p>She turned again but the captain stopped her. As she faced him there in
+the doorway their eyes had met. Hers were moist&mdash;for the first time she
+was close to the breaking point&mdash;and there was a look in them which
+caused him to forget everything except one, namely, that the crowd in
+the "parrot cage" at the other end of that hall should not trouble her
+further. It was very seldom that Captain Sears Kendrick, master mariner,
+acted solely on impulse. But he did so now.</p>
+
+<p>"Stop," he cried. "Miss Elizabeth, don't go. Stay where you are....
+Here&mdash;you&mdash;" turning to Mrs. Tidditt. "You go and tell those folks I
+want to see 'em. Tell 'em to come aft here&mdash;now."</p>
+
+<p>There was a different note in his voice, a note neither Elizabeth nor
+the Tidditt woman had before heard. Yet if Judah Cahoon had been present
+he would have recognized it. He had heard it many times, aboard many
+tall ships, upon many seas. It was the captain's quarter-deck voice and
+it meant business.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Tidditt and Elizabeth had not heard it, and they looked at the
+speaker in surprise. Captain Sears looked at them, but not for long.</p>
+
+<p>"Lively," he commanded. "Do you hear? Go for'ard and tell that crew in
+the galley, or the fo'castle, or wherever they are, to lay aft here.
+I've got somethin' to say to 'em."</p>
+
+<p>It was seldom that Esther Tidditt was at a loss for words. As a usual
+thing her stock was unlimited. Now she merely gasped.</p>
+
+<p>"You&mdash;you&mdash;" she stammered. "You want me to ask&mdash;to ask Elviry and
+Susanna and them to come in here?"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_112" id="pg_112">112</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Ask? Who said anything about askin'? I want you to tell 'em I say for
+them to come here. It's an order, and you can tell 'em so, if you want
+to."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Tidditt gasped again. "Well!" she exclaimed. "Well, my good lordy,
+if this ain't&mdash;&mdash; A-ll right, <i>I'll</i> tell 'em."</p>
+
+<p>She hastened down the corridor. Elizabeth ventured a faint protest.</p>
+
+<p>"But, Cap'n Kendrick&mdash;" she began. He stopped her.</p>
+
+<p>"It is all right, Miss Elizabeth," he said. "I'm handlin' this matter
+now. All you've got to do is look on.... Well, are they comin' or must I
+go after 'em?"</p>
+
+<p>Apparently he had forgotten that his lameness made going anywhere a slow
+proceeding. As a matter of fact he had. He had forgotten everything
+except the business of the moment and the joy of being once more in
+supreme command.</p>
+
+<p>The message borne by Mrs. Tidditt had, presumably, been delivered. The
+messenger had left the dining room door open and through it came a
+tremendous rattle of tongues. Obviously the captain's order had created
+a sensation.</p>
+
+<p>Elizabeth listened.</p>
+
+<p>"Well?" repeated Sears, again. "Are they goin' to come?"</p>
+
+<p>Miss Berry smiled faintly. "I think they will come," she answered. "If
+they are as&mdash;as curious as I am they will."</p>
+
+<p>They were. At any rate they came. Miss Snowden, Mrs. Brackett and Mrs.
+Chase in the lead, the others following. Mrs. Tidditt brought up the
+rear, marshaling the stragglers, as it were.</p>
+
+<p>Elvira was, of course, the spokeswoman. She was the incarnation of
+dignified and somewhat resentful surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"We have been told," she began, loftily, "we have been <i>told</i>, Cap'n
+Kendrick, that you wished to speak to us. We can't imagine why, but we
+have came&mdash;come, I should say. <i>Do</i> you wish to speak to us?"</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick nodded. "Yes," he said crisply, "I do. I want to tell you that
+you mustn't go to Judge Knowles about buyin' those iron statues of Cap'n
+Seth's or about anything else. He is sick and mustn't be worried. Miss
+Berry says so, and I agree with her."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_113" id="pg_113">113</a></span></p>
+
+<p>He paused From the committee came a gasp, or concert of gasps and
+muttered exclamations, indicating astonishment. Elvira voiced the
+feeling.</p>
+
+<p>"You agree with her!" she exclaimed. "<i>You</i> agree? Why&mdash;I never did!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. And I agree with her, too, about buyin' those&mdash;er&mdash;lions and dogs
+and&mdash;hogs, or whatever they are. I don't say they aren't worth
+seventy-five dollars or more&mdash;or less&mdash;I don't know. But I do say that,
+until I have had time to look into things aboard here, I don't want any
+money spent except for stores and other necessities. There isn't a bit
+of personal feelin' in this, you must understand, it is business, that's
+all."</p>
+
+<p>He paused once more, to let this sink in. It sank apparently and when it
+again came to the surface an outburst of incoherent indignation came
+with it. Every committee-woman said something, even Mrs. Chase, although
+her observations were demands to know what was being said by the rest.
+Elizabeth was the only one who remained silent. She was gazing,
+wide-eyed, at the captain, and upon her face was a strange expression,
+an expression of eagerness, dawning understanding, and&mdash;yes, of hope.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Snowden was so completely taken aback that she was incapable of
+connected speech. Mrs. Susanna Brackett, however, was of a temperament
+less easily upset. She stepped forward.</p>
+
+<p>"Cap'n Kendrick," she demanded, "what are you talkin' about? What right
+have you got to say how the Fair Harbor money shall be spent? What are
+you interferin' here for I'd like to know?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not interferin'. I'm taking charge, that's all.</p>
+
+<p>"Takin' <i>charge</i>?... My land of love!... Charge of what?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of this craft here, this Fair Harbor place. Judge Knowles offered me
+the general management of it three days ago."</p>
+
+<p>Even the Brackett temperament was not proof against such a shock.
+Susanna herself found difficulty in speaking.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_114" id="pg_114">114</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"You&mdash;you&mdash;" she sputtered. "My soul to heavens! Do you mean&mdash;&mdash; Are you
+crazy?"</p>
+
+<p>"Um&mdash;maybe. But, anyhow, crazy or not, I'm in command aboard here from
+now on. Miss Elizabeth here&mdash;and her mother, of course&mdash;will be captain
+and mate, same as they've always been, but I'll be&mdash;well, commodore or
+admiral, whichever you like to call it. It's a queer sort of a job for a
+man like me," he added, with a grim smile, "but it looks as if it was
+what we'd all have to get used to."</p>
+
+<p>For a moment there was silence, absolute silence, in the best parlor of
+the Fair Harbor for Mariners' Women. Then that silence was broken.</p>
+
+<p>"What is he sayin'?" wailed Mrs. Aurora Chase. "Elviry Snowden, why
+don't you tell me what he's a-sayin'?"</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_115" id="pg_115">115</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_VII_4508" id="CHAPTER_VII_4508"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER VII</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The bomb had burst, the debris had fallen, the smoke had to some extent
+cleared, the committee, still incoherent but by no means speechless, had
+retired to the dining room to talk it over. Mrs. Tidditt had accompanied
+them; and Sears Kendrick and Elizabeth Berry were saying good-by at the
+front door.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," observed the captain, dubiously, "I'm glad you don't think I'm
+more than nine tenths idiot. It's some comfort to know you can see one
+tenth of common-sense in the thing. It's more than I can, and that's
+honest. I give you my word, Miss Elizabeth, when I set sail from Judah's
+back entry this mornin' I hadn't any more idea that I should undertake
+the job of handlin' the Fair Harbor than&mdash;well, than that Snowden woman
+had of kissin' that little spitfire that was flyin' up in her face every
+minute or two while she was tryin' to read that paper.... Ha-ha! that
+was awfully funny."</p>
+
+<p>Elizabeth smiled. "It was," she agreed. "And it looks so much funnier to
+me now than it did then, thanks to you, Cap'n Kendrick. You have taken a
+great load off my mind."</p>
+
+<p>"Um&mdash;yes, and taken it on my own, I shouldn't wonder. I do hope you'll
+make it clear to your mother that all I intend doin' is to keep a sort
+of weather eye on money matters, that's all. She is to have just the
+same ratin' aboard here that she has always had&mdash;and so will you, of
+course."</p>
+
+<p>"But I haven't had any real rating, you know. And now I will be more of
+a fifth wheel than ever. You and mother can manage the Harbor. You won't
+need me at all. I can take a vacation, can't I? Won't that be
+wonderful!"</p>
+
+<p>He looked at her in unfeigned alarm.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_116" id="pg_116">116</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Here, here!" he exclaimed. "Lay to! Come up into the wind! Don't talk
+that way, Miss Berry, or I'll jump over the rail before I've really
+climbed aboard this craft. I'm countin' on you to do three thirds of the
+work, just as I guess you've been doin' for a good while. All I shall be
+good for&mdash;if anything&mdash;is to be a sort of reef in the channel, as you
+might say, something for committees like this one to run their bows on
+if they get too far off the course."</p>
+
+<p>"And that will be the most useful thing any one can do, Cap'n Kendrick.
+Oh, I shall thank Judge Knowles&mdash;in my mind&mdash;so many, many times a day
+for sending you here, I know I shall. I guessed, when he told me you
+were going to call, that there was something behind that call. And there
+was. What a wise old dear he is, bless him."</p>
+
+<p>"Is he? Well I wish I was surer of the wisdom in trappin' me into takin'
+this command. However, I have taken it, so I'll have to do the best I
+can for a while, anyhow. Afterwards&mdash;well, probably I won't last <i>but</i> a
+little while, so we won't worry about more than that. And you'll have to
+stand by the wheel, Miss Elizabeth. If it hadn't been for you&mdash;I mean
+for the way that committee lit into you&mdash;I don't think I should ever
+have taken charge."</p>
+
+<p>"I know. And I sha'n't forget. You may count on me, Cap'n Kendrick, for
+anything I can do to help."</p>
+
+<p>His face brightened. "Good!" he exclaimed. "That's as good as an
+insurance policy on the ship and cargo. With you to pilot and me to
+handle the crew she ought to keep somewhere in deep water.... Well, I'll
+be gettin' back to port. Judah's dinner will be gettin' cold and he
+won't like that. And to-morrow mornin' I'll come again and we'll have a
+look at the figures."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. I'll have the books and bills and everything ready.... Oh, be
+careful! Can't I help you down the step?"</p>
+
+<p>He shook his head. "I can navigate after a fashion," he said, grimly. "I
+get along about as graceful as a brick sloop in a head tide, but, by the
+Lord Harry, I'll get along
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_117" id="pg_117">117</a></span> somehow.... No, don't, please. I'd rather
+you didn't help me, if you don't mind."</p>
+
+<p>Slowly, painfully, and with infinite care he lowered himself down the
+step. On level ground once more, leaning heavily on his cane, he turned
+to her and smiled a somewhat shame-faced apology.</p>
+
+<p>"It's silly, I know," he said, panting a little, "but I've always been
+used to doin' about as I pleased and it&mdash;somehow it plagues me to think
+I can't go it alone still. Just stubborn foolishness."</p>
+
+<p>She shook her head. "No, it isn't," she said, quickly. "I understand.
+And I do hope you will be better soon. Of course you will."</p>
+
+<p>"Will I?... Well, maybe. Good mornin', Miss Berry. Be sure and tell your
+mother she's to be just as much cap'n as she ever was."</p>
+
+<p>He hobbled along the walk to the gate. As he passed beneath the sign he
+looked back. She was still standing in the doorway and when he limped in
+at the entrance of the General Minot place she was there yet, watching
+him.</p>
+
+<p>He said no word to Judah of his acceptance of the post of commander of
+the Fair Harbor. He felt that Judge Knowles should be the first to know
+of it and that he, himself, should be the one to tell him. So, after
+dinner was over, and Judah had harnessed the old horse to go to the
+Minot wood lot for a load of pine boughs and brush for kindling, he
+asked his ex-cook to take him across to the judge's in the wagon, leave
+him there, and come for him later. Mr. Cahoon, of course, was delighted
+to be of service but, of course also, he was tremendously curious.</p>
+
+<p>"Hum," he observed, "goin' to see the judge again, be you, Cap'n Sears?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"Hum.... Ain't heard that he's any sicker, nor nothin' like that, have
+you?"</p>
+
+<p>"No."</p>
+
+<p>"I see.... Yus, yus.... Just goin' to make a&mdash;er&mdash;sort
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_118" id="pg_118">118</a></span> of&mdash;what you
+might call a&mdash;er&mdash;a call, I presume likely."</p>
+
+<p>"I shouldn't wonder."</p>
+
+<p>"Um-hm.... I see.... Yus, yus, I see.... Um-hm.... Well, I suppose we
+might as well&mdash;er&mdash;start now as any time, eh?"</p>
+
+<p>"Better, I should say, Judah. Whenever you and the Foam Flake are ready,
+I am."</p>
+
+<p>The Foam Flake was the name with which Judah had rechristened the old
+horse. The animal's name up to the time of the rechristening had been
+Pet, but this, Mr. Cahoon explained, he could <i>not</i> stand.</p>
+
+<p>"'Whatever else he is,' says I to young Minot, 'he ain't no pet&mdash;not of
+mine. The only way I ever feel like pettin' that oat barrel,' I says,
+'is with a rope's end.' 'Well, why don't you give him a new name?' says
+he. 'What'll I call him?' says I. 'Anything you can think of,' he says.
+'By Henry,' says I. 'I have called him about everything I can think of,
+already.' Haw, haw! That was a pretty good one, wan't it Cap'n Sears?"</p>
+
+<p>"But where did you get 'Foam Flake' from?" the captain had wanted to
+know.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, it just come to me, as you might say, same as them things do come
+sometimes. I was tellin' the Methodist minister about it one day and he
+said 'twas a&mdash;er&mdash;one of them&mdash;er&mdash;inflammations. Eh? Don't seem as if
+it could have been 'inflammation,' but 'twas somethin' like it."</p>
+
+<p>"Inspiration, maybe."</p>
+
+<p>"That's the ticket, inspiration's what 'twas. Well, I was kind of
+draggin' a seine through my head, so to speak, tryin' to haul aboard a
+likely name for the critter, and fetchin' the net in empty every time,
+when one day that&mdash;er&mdash;what-d'ye-call-it?&mdash;inflammation landed on me.
+I'd piloted 'Pet' and the truck wagon over to Harniss&mdash;and worked my
+passage every foot of the way&mdash;and over there to Brett's store I met
+Luther Wixon, who was home from a v'yage to the West Indies. Lute and me
+had been to sea together half
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_119" id="pg_119">119</a></span> a dozen times, and we got kind of
+swappin' yarns about the vessels we'd been in.</p>
+
+<p>"'Have you heard about the old <i>Foam Flake</i>?' says Lute. 'She was
+wrecked on the Jersey coast off Barnegat,' he says, 'and now they've
+made a barge out of her hull and she's freightin' hay in New York
+harbor,' he says.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, sir, I hauled off and fetched the broadside of my leg a slap you
+could have heard to Jericho. 'By the creepin', jumpin',' says I. 'I've
+got it!' 'Yes,' he says, 'you act as if you had. But what do you take
+for it?' 'I wouldn't take a dollar note for it right now,' I told him.
+And I wouldn't have, nuther. The old <i>Foam Flake</i>&mdash;maybe you remember
+her, Cap'n Sears&mdash;was the dumdest, lop-sidedest, crankiest old white tub
+of a bark that ever carried sail. When I was aboard of her she wouldn't
+steer fit to eat, always wanted to go to port when you tried to put her
+to starboard, walloped and slopped along awkward as a cow, was the
+slowest thing afloat, and all she was ever really fit for was what they
+are usin' her for now, and that was to stow hay in. If that wan't that
+old horse of Minot's all over then I hope I'll never smoke a five-cent
+cigar again. 'You ain't "Pet" no more,' says I to the critter; 'your
+name's "Foam Flake!"' Haw, haw! See now, don't you, Cap'n Sears?"</p>
+
+<p>Foam Flake and the truck-wagon landed the captain at the Knowles gate
+and, a few minutes later, Kendrick was, rather shamefacedly, announcing
+to the judge his acceptance of the superintendency of the Fair Harbor.
+The invalid, as grimly sardonic and indomitable as ever, chuckled
+between spasms of pain and weakness.</p>
+
+<p>"Good! Good!" he exclaimed. "I thought you wouldn't say no if you once
+saw how things were over there. Congratulations on your good sense,
+Kendrick."</p>
+
+<p>Sears shook his head. "Don't be any more sarcastic than you can help,
+Judge," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"No sarcasm about it. If you hadn't stepped in to help that girl I
+should have known you didn't have any sense at all. By the way, I didn't
+praise her too highly when we
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_120" id="pg_120">120</a></span> talked before, did I? She is considerable
+of a girl, Elizabeth Berry, eh, Cap'n?"</p>
+
+<p>The captain nodded.</p>
+
+<p>"She is," he admitted. "And she was so confoundedly plucky, and she
+stood up against that crowd of&mdash;of&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Mariners' women. Yes. Ho, ho! I should like to have been there."</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad you wasn't. But when I saw how she stood up to them, and then
+when her mother&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. Um ... yes, I know. Isaac Berry was my friend and his daughter is
+a fine girl. We'll remember that when we talk about the family,
+Kendrick.... Whew! Well, I feel better. With you and Elizabeth to handle
+matters over there, Lobelia's trust will be in good hands. Now I can go
+to the cemetery in comfort."</p>
+
+<p>He chuckled as if the prospect was humorous. Captain Sears spoke quickly
+and without considering exactly how the words sounded.</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed you can't," he protested. "Judge Knowles, I'm goin' to need you
+about every minute of every day from now on."</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense! You won't need me but a little while, fortunately. And&mdash;for
+that little while, probably&mdash;I shall be here and at your disposal. Come
+in whenever you want to talk matters over. If the doctor or that damned
+housekeeper try to stop you, hit 'em over the head. Much obliged to you,
+Cap'n Kendrick. He, he! We'll give friend Egbert a shock when he comes
+to town.... Oh, he'll come. Some of these days he'll come. Be ready for
+him, Kendrick, be ready for him."</p>
+
+<p>That evening the captain told Judah of his new position and Judah's
+reception of the news was not encouraging. Somehow Sears felt that, with
+the voice of Judah Cahoon was, in this case, speaking the opinion of
+Bayport.</p>
+
+<p>Judah had been scrubbing the frying-pan. He dropped it in the sink with
+a tremendous clatter.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>No!</i>" he shouted. "You're jokin', ain't you, Cap'n Sears?"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_121" id="pg_121">121</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"It's no joke, Judah."</p>
+
+<p>"My creepin' Henry! You can't mean it. You ain't really, honest to
+godfreys, cal'latin' to pilot that&mdash;that Fair Harbor craft, be you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am, Judah. Wish me luck."</p>
+
+<p>"Wish you <i>luck</i>! Jumpin', creepin', crawlin', hoppin'&mdash;&mdash; Why, there
+ain't no luck <i>in</i> it. That ain't no man's job, Cap'n Sears. That's a
+woman's job, and even a woman'd have her hands full. Why, Cap'n,
+they'll&mdash;that crew of&mdash;of old hens in there they'll pick your eyes out."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I guess not, Judah. I've handled crews before."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;yes, you have&mdash;men crews aboard ship. But this ain't no men crew,
+this is a woman crew. You can't lam <i>this</i> crew over the head with no
+handspike. When one of those fo'mast hands gives you back talk you can't
+knock <i>her</i> into the scuppers. All you can do is just stand and take it
+and wait for your chance to say somethin'. And you won't <i>git</i> no
+chance. What chance'll you have along with Elviry Snowden and Desire
+Peasley and them? Talk! Why, jumpin' Henry, Cap'n Sears, any one of them
+Shanghais in there can talk more in a minute than the average man could
+in a hour. Any one of 'em! Take that Susanna Brackett now. Oh, I've
+heard about <i>her</i>! She had a half-brother one time. Where is he now? Ah
+ha! Where is he? Nobody knows, that's where he is. Him and her used to
+live together. Folks that lived next door used to hear her tongue
+a-goin' at him all hours day or night. Wan't no 'watch and watch' in
+that house&mdash;no sir-ee! She stood <i>all</i> the watches. She&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"There, there, Judah. I guess I can stand the talk. If it gets too bad
+I'll put cotton in my ears."</p>
+
+<p>"Huh! Cotton! Cotton won't do no good. Have to solder your ears up
+like&mdash;like a leaky tea-kittle, if you wanted to keep from hearin'
+Susanna Brackett's clack. Why, that brother of hers&mdash;Ebenezer Samuels,
+seems to me his name was. Seems to me they told me that Susanna's name
+was Samuels afore she married Brackett. Maybe twan't Samuels. Seems to
+me, now I think of it, as if 'twas
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_122" id="pg_122">122</a></span> Schwartz. Yet it don't hardly seem
+as if it could be, does it? I guess likely I'm gettin' him mixed with a
+feller name of Samuel Schwartz that I knew on South Street in New York
+one time. Run a pawn shop, he did. I remember <i>that</i> Schwartz 'cause he
+used to <i>take</i> stuff, you know&mdash;er&mdash;er&mdash;same as a Chinaman. One of them
+oakum eaters, that s what he was&mdash;an oakum eater. Why one time he&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Sears never did learn what happened to Mrs. Brackett's brother. Judah's
+reminiscent fancy, once started, wandered far and wide, and in this case
+it forgot entirely to return to the missing Samuels&mdash;or Schwartz. But
+Mr. Cahoon expressed himself freely on the subject of his beloved
+ex-captain and present lodger taking charge of the establishment next
+door. Sears' explanations and excuses bore little weight. Time and time
+again that evening Mr. Cahoon would come out of a dismal reverie to
+exclaim: "Skipper of the Fair Harbor for Mariners' Women! You! Cap'n
+Sears Kendrick, skipper of <i>that</i> craft! Don't seem possible, somehow,
+does it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Look here Judah," the captain at last said, in desperation, "if you
+feel so almighty bad about it, perhaps you won't want me here. I can
+move, you know."</p>
+
+<p>Judah turned a horrified face in his direction. "Move!" he repeated
+"<i>Don't</i> talk so, Cap'n Sears. That's the one comfort I see in the whole
+business. Livin' right next door to 'em the way you and me do, you can
+always run into port here if the weather gets too squally over yonder.
+Yes, sir there'll always be a snug harbor under my lee when the Fair
+Harbor's too rugged. Eh? Ha, ha!"</p>
+
+<p>Just before retiring Sears said, "There's just one thing I want you to
+do, Judah. You may feel&mdash;as I know you do feel&mdash;that my takin' this job
+is a foolish thing. But don't you let any one else know you feel that
+way."</p>
+
+<p>Judah snorted. "Don't you worry, Cap'n Sears," he said. "If any one of
+them sea lawyers down to Bassett's store gets to heavin' sass at me
+about your takin' the hellum at the Harbor I'll shut their hatches for
+'em. I'll tell 'em the old judge and Lobelia was ondecided between you
+and Gen'ral
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_123" id="pg_123">123</a></span> Grant for the job, but finally they picked you. Don't
+mistake me now, Cap'n. Your goin' over there is the best thing for
+the&mdash;the henroost that ever was or ever will be. It's you I'm thinkin'
+about. It ain't&mdash;well, by the crawlin' prophets, 'tain't the kind of
+berth you've been used to. Now is it, Cap'n Sears?"</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick smiled, a one-sided smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe not, Judah," he admitted. "It is a queer berth, but it's a berth,
+and, unless these legs of mine get well a lot quicker than I think they
+will, I may be mighty thankful to have any berth at all."</p>
+
+<p>He told his sister this when she called to learn if the rumor she had
+heard was true. She shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps it is all right, Sears," she said. "I suppose you know best.
+But, somehow, I&mdash;well, I hate to think of your doin' it."</p>
+
+<p>"I know. You're proud, Sarah. Well, I used to be proud too, before the
+ship-chandlery business and the Old Colony railroad dismasted me and
+left me high and dry."</p>
+
+<p>She put a hand on his arm. "Don't, Sears," she pleaded. "You know why I
+hate to have you do it. It don't seem&mdash;it don't seem&mdash;you know what I
+mean."</p>
+
+<p>"A man's job. I know. Judah said the same thing. I took Judge Knowles'
+offer because it seemed the only way I could earn my salt. If I didn't
+take it you and Joel might have had a poor relation to board and lodge.
+And you've got enough on your hands already, Sarah."</p>
+
+<p>She sighed. "Of course I knew that was why you took it," she said.</p>
+
+<p>Yet, even as he said it, he realized that the statement was not the
+whole truth. The fifteen hundred a year salary had tempted him, but if
+he had not gone to the Fair Harbor on that forenoon and seen Elizabeth
+Berry brave the committee and her mother, it is extremely doubtful if he
+would have yielded. In all probability he would have declined the
+judge's offer and have risked the prospect of the almost hopeless
+future, for a time longer at least.</p>
+
+<p>But, having accepted, he characteristically cast doubts,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_124" id="pg_124">124</a></span> misgivings and
+might-have-beens over the side, as he had cast wreckage over the rails
+of his ships after storms, and, while Bayport buzzed with gossip and
+criticism and surmise concerning him, took up his new duties and went
+ahead with them. The morning following that of his dramatic scene with
+the committee he limped to the door of the Fair Harbor and, for the
+first time, entered that door as general manager.</p>
+
+<p>He anticipated, and dreaded, a perhaps painful and surely embarrassing
+scene with Mrs. Berry, but was pleasantly disappointed. Elizabeth, true
+to her promise, had evidently broken the news to her mother and, also,
+had reconciled the matron to her partial deposing. Mrs. Berry was, of
+course, a trifle martyrlike, a little aggrieved, but on the whole
+resigned.</p>
+
+<p>"I presume, Captain Kendrick," she said, "that I should have expected
+something of the sort. Dear 'Belia is abroad and Judge Knowles is ill,
+and, from what I hear, his mind is not what it was."</p>
+
+<p>Sears, repressing a smile, agreed that that might be the case.</p>
+
+<p>"But, of course, Mrs. Berry," he explained, "I did not take the position
+with the least idea of interferin' with you. You will be&mdash;er&mdash;er&mdash;well,
+just what you have been here, you know. I've shipped to help you and the
+judge and Miss Elizabeth in any way I can, that's all."</p>
+
+<p>With the situation thus diplomatically explained Mrs. Berry brightened,
+restored her handkerchief to her pocket&mdash;in the '70's ladies' gowns had
+pockets&mdash;and announced that she was sure that she and the captain would
+get on charmingly together.</p>
+
+<p>"And, after all, Captain Kendrick," she gushed, "a man's advice is so
+often <i>so</i> necessary in business, you know, and all that. Just as a
+woman's advice helps a man at times. Why, Captain Berry&mdash;my dear
+husband&mdash;used to say that without my advice he would have been
+absolutely at sea, yes, absolutely."</p>
+
+<p>According to Bayport gossip, as related by Judah, Captain Isaac Berry
+had been, literally, during the latter part
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_125" id="pg_125">125</a></span> of his life, absolutely at
+sea as much as he possibly could. "And mighty thankful to be there,
+too," so Mr. Cahoon was wont to add.</p>
+
+<p>Elizabeth heard a portion of Sears interview with her mother, but she
+made no comment upon it, to him at least. When he announced his
+intention of interviewing Miss Snowden, however, she was greatly
+surprised and said so. "You want to speak with Elvira, Cap'n Kendrick?"
+she repeated. "You do, really? Do you&mdash;of course I am not interfering,
+please don't think I am&mdash;but do you think it a&mdash;a wise thing to do, just
+now?"</p>
+
+<p>The captain nodded. "Why, yes, I do," he said. "Oh, it's all right, Miss
+Elizabeth, I'm not goin' to start any rows. You wouldn't think it to
+look at me, probably, but I've got an idea in my head and I'm goin' to
+try it out on this Elvira."</p>
+
+<p>It was some time before he was able to catch Miss Snowden alone, but at
+last he did and, as it happened, in that same summer-house, the Eyrie,
+where he had first seen her. The interview began, on her part, as
+frostily as a February morning in Greenland, but ended like a balmy
+evening in Florida. The day following he laid his plans to meet and
+speak with Mrs. Brackett and the militant Susanna thereafter became as
+peaceful, so far as he was concerned, as a dovecote in spring. Elizabeth
+Berry, noticing these changes, and surmising their cause, regarded him
+with something like awe.</p>
+
+<p>"Really, Cap'n Kendrick," she said, "I'm beginning to be a little afraid
+of you. When you first spoke of interviewing Elvira Snowden alone
+I&mdash;well, I was strongly tempted to send for the constable. I didn't know
+what might happen. She was saying&mdash;so Esther Tidditt told me&mdash;the most
+dreadful things about you and I was frightened for your safety. And Mrs.
+Brackett was just as savage. And now&mdash;why, Elvira this very morning told
+me, herself, that she considered your taking the management here a
+blessing. I believe she did call it a blessing in disguise, but that
+doesn't make any real difference. And Susanna&mdash;three days ago&mdash;was
+calling upon all our&mdash;guests here to threaten to leave in a body, as
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_126" id="pg_126">126</a></span> a
+protest against the giving over of the management of their own Harbor to
+a&mdash;excuse me&mdash;man like you. I don't know she meant by that, but it is
+what she said. And now&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Just a minute, Miss Elizabeth. Called me a man, did she? Well, comin'
+from her that's a compliment, in a way. She ought to know she's the
+nearest thing, herself, to a man that I've about ever seen in skirts.
+But that's nothin'. What interests me is that idea of all the crew
+aboard here threatenin' to leave. They could, I suppose, if they wanted
+to same as anybody aboard a ship could jump overboard. But in both cases
+the question would be the same, wouldn't it? Where would they go to
+after they left?"</p>
+
+<p>Miss Berry smiled. "They have no idea of leaving," she said. "But they
+like to think&mdash;or pretend to think&mdash;that they could if they wanted to
+and that the Fair Harbor would go to rack and ruin if they did. It
+comes, you see, of to paying that hundred dollars a year. That, to their
+mind&mdash;and I imagine Mrs. Phillips had it in her mind too, when she
+planned this place&mdash;prevents it being a 'home' in the ordinary sense of
+the word. But Susanna's threatening to leave amounts to nothing. What I
+am so much interested in is to know how you changed her attitude and
+Elvira's from war to peace? How did you do it, Cap'n Kendrick?"</p>
+
+<p>The captain's left eyelid drooped. He smiled. "Well," he said, slowly,
+"I tell you. I've sailed in all sorts of weather and I've come to the
+conclusion that when you're in a rough sea the first thing to do, if you
+can, is to smooth it down. If you can't&mdash;why, then fight it. The best
+treatment I know for a rough sea is to sling a barrel of oil over the
+bows. It's surprisin' what a little bit of oil will do to make things
+smoother for a vessel. It's always worth tryin', anyway, and that's how
+I felt in this case of Elvira and Susanna. When I started to beat up
+into their neighborhood I had a barrel of oil slung over both my port
+and starboard bows. I give you my word, Miss Elizabeth, I was the
+oiliest craft afloat in these waters, I do believe."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_127" id="pg_127">127</a></span></p>
+
+<p>His smile broadened. Elizabeth smiled too, but her smile was a bit
+uncertain.</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I <i>think</i> I understand you, Cap'n Kendrick," she said. "But I'm not
+quite sure. How did you&mdash;&mdash; Would you mind being just a little more
+clear? Won't you explain a little more fully?"</p>
+
+<p>"Surely. Easiest thing in the world. Take Sister Snowden. I cast anchor
+under her lee&mdash;and 'twas like tyin' up to an iceberg at first. Ha,
+ha!&mdash;and I began by sayin' that I had been waitin' for a chance to speak
+with her alone. There were a few things I wanted to explain, I said. I
+told her that of course I realized she was not like the average, common
+run of females here in the Harbor. I knew that so far as brains and
+refinement and&mdash;er&mdash;beauty were concerned she was far, far ahead, had
+all the rest of 'em hull down, so to speak."</p>
+
+<p>"Cap'n Kendrick, you didn't!"</p>
+
+<p>"Eh! Well, maybe I left out the 'beauty,' but otherwise than that I told
+her just that thing. The ice began to melt a little and when I went on
+to say that I realized how much the success of the Fair Harbor depended
+on her sense and brains and so on she was obliged to give in that she
+agreed with me. It was what she had thought all the time, you see; so
+when I told her I thought so too, we began to get on a common fishin'
+ground, so to speak. And the more I hinted at how wonderful I thought
+she was the smarter she began to think <i>I</i> was. It ended in a sort of
+understandin' between us. I am to do the best I can as skipper here and
+she is to help along in the fo'castle, as you might say. When I need any
+of her suggestions I'm to go and ask her for 'em. And we aren't either
+of us goin' to tell the rest of the crew&mdash;or passengers, or whatever you
+call 'em&mdash;a word. When she and I separated there was a puddle of oil all
+around that Eyrie place, but there wasn't a breaker in sight. Ha, ha!
+Oh, dear!"</p>
+
+<p>He laughed aloud. Miss Berry laughed, too, but she still seemed somewhat
+puzzled.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_128" id="pg_128">128</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"But, Cap'n Kendrick," she said, "you're not going to ask for her
+suggestions, are you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Only when I need 'em. The agreement was that I was to ask when I needed
+'em. I have a pretty strong feelin' that I shan't need 'em much."</p>
+
+<p>"But it was her idea, the buying of that ridiculous statuary."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I know. We talked about that. I told her that I was sure the iron
+menagerie that belonged to her uncle, or whoever it was, would have made
+this place look as lovely as the Public Garden in Boston. I said you and
+your mother thought so, too, but that the trouble was we couldn't afford
+'em at present. If ever another collection hove in sight that we could
+afford, I'd let her know. But, whatever happened, she must always feel
+that I was dependin' on her. She said she was glad to know that and that
+I <i>could</i> depend on her. So it'll be fair weather in her latitude for a
+while."</p>
+
+<p>"And Susanna&mdash;Mrs. Brackett? What did you say to her?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, exactly what I said to Elvira. I can depend on her, too, she said
+so. And I can have <i>her</i> advice&mdash;when I need it. The main thing, Miss
+Elizabeth, was, it seemed to me, to smooth down the rough water until I
+could learn a little of my new job, at least enough to be of some help
+to you. Because it is plain enough that if this Fair Harbor is to keep
+afloat and on an even keel, you will keep it so&mdash;just as you have been
+keepin' it for the last couple of years. I called myself the admiral
+here the other day, when I was talkin' to that committee. I realize that
+all I really am, or ever will be, is a sort of mate to you, Miss
+Elizabeth. And a good deal of a lubber even at that, I am afraid."</p>
+
+<p>The lubber mate was, at least, a diligent student. Each morning found
+him hobbling to the door of the Fair Harbor&mdash;the side door now, not the
+stately and seldom-used front door&mdash;and in the room which Cordelia Berry
+called her "study" he and Elizabeth studied the books and accounts of
+the institution. These were in good condition, surprisingly good
+condition, and he of course realized that that
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_129" id="pg_129">129</a></span> condition was due to the
+capability and care of the young woman herself. Mrs. Berry professed a
+complete knowledge of everything pertaining to the Fair Harbor, but in
+reality her knowledge was very superficial. In certain situations she
+was of real help. When callers came during hours when Elizabeth and
+Sears were busy Cordelia received and entertained them and was in her
+element while doing so. At dinner&mdash;on one or two occasions the captain
+dined at the Harbor instead of limping back to Judah's kitchen&mdash;she
+presided at the long table and was the very pattern of the perfect
+hostess. A stranger, happening in by chance, might have thought her the
+owner of palaces and plantations, graciously dispensing hospitality to
+those less favored. As an ornament&mdash;upon the few occasions when the Fair
+Harbor required social ornamentation&mdash;Cordelia Berry left little to be
+desired. But when it came&mdash;as it usually did come&mdash;to the plain duties
+of housekeeping and managing, she left much. And that much was, so Sears
+Kendrick discovered, left to the willing and able hands of her daughter.</p>
+
+<p>As, under Elizabeth's guidance, Captain Sears plodded through the books
+and accounts, he was increasingly impressed with one thing, which was
+how very close to the wind, to use his own seafaring habit of thought
+and expression, the Fair Harbor for Mariners' Women was obliged to sail.
+The income from the fifty thousand dollar endowment fund was small, the
+seven hundred dollars paid yearly by the guests helped but a little, and
+expenses, even when pared down as closely as they had been, seemed large
+in comparison. Mrs. Berry's salary as matron was certainly not a big one
+and Elizabeth drew no salary at all. He spoke to her about it.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't they pay you any wages for all the work you do here?" he queried.</p>
+
+<p>She shook her head. "Of course not," she replied. "How could they? Where
+would the money come from?"</p>
+
+<p>"But&mdash;why, confound it, you run the whole craft. It isn't fair that you
+should do it for nothin'."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_130" id="pg_130">130</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I do it to help mother. Her salary as matron here is practically all
+she has. She needs me. And, of course, the Fair Harbor is our home, just
+as it is Elvira's and Esther Tidditt's, and the rest."</p>
+
+<p>He glanced at her quickly to see if there was any trace of bitterness or
+resentment in her expression. He had detected none in her voice. But she
+was, apparently, not resentful, not as resentful as he, for that matter.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," he said, and if he had paused to think he would not have said it,
+"it is your home now, but it isn't goin' to be always, is it? You're not
+plannin' to stay here and help your mother for the rest of your life?"</p>
+
+<p>She did not reply at once, when she did the tone was decisive and final.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall stay as long as I am needed," she said. "Here are the bills for
+the last month, Cap'n Kendrick."</p>
+
+<p>That evening the captain employed Judah and the Foam Flake to carry him
+to and from Judge Knowles'. The call was a very brief one. Sears had
+determined to trouble the judge as little as was humanly possible.</p>
+
+<p>"Judge," he said, coming to the point at once, "I've been lookin' over
+the books and runnin' expenses of that Harbor place and for the life of
+me I can't see how it can carry another cent and keep afloat. As it is,
+that Berry girl ought to draw at least a hundred a month, and she
+doesn't get a penny."</p>
+
+<p>Knowles nodded. "I know it," he agreed. "But you say yourself that the
+Fair Harbor can't spare another cent. How could we pay her?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know. And what I don't know a whole lot more is how I'm goin'
+to be paid fifteen hundred a year. Where's that comin' from; can you
+tell me?"</p>
+
+<p>From the bed&mdash;the invalid was in bed most of the time now&mdash;came a
+characteristic chuckle. "He, he, he," laughed the judge. "So you've got
+on far enough to wonder about that, eh?"</p>
+
+<p>"I certainly have. And I want to say right here that&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Hold on! Hold on, Kendrick! Don't be a fool.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_131" id="pg_131">131</a></span> And don't make the
+mistake of thinkin' I'm one, either. I may have let you guess that the
+Fair Harbor was to pay your salary. It isn't because it can't. <i>I'm</i>
+paying it and I'm going to pay it&mdash;while I'm alive and after I'm dead.
+You're my substitute and so long as you keep that job you'll get your
+pay. It's all arranged for, so don't argue."</p>
+
+<p>"But, Judge, why&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Shut up. I want to do it and I can afford to do it. Let a dead man have
+a little fun, can't you. You'll earn your money, I tell you. And when
+that Egbert comes I'll get the worth of mine&mdash;dead or alive, I'll get
+it. Now go home and let me alone, I'm tired."</p>
+
+<p>But Sears still hesitated.</p>
+
+<p>"That's all right, Judge," he said. "You've got the right to spend your
+own money, I presume likely, so I won't say a word; although I may have
+my own opinion as to your judgment in spendin' it. But there's one more
+thing I can't quite get over. Here am I, about third mate's helper
+aboard that Harbor craft, bein' paid fifteen hundred a year, and that
+girl&mdash;as fine, capable, sensible&mdash;er&mdash;er&mdash;nice girl as ever lived, I do
+believe&mdash;workin' her head off and runnin' the whole ship, as you might
+say, and bein' paid nothin' at all. It isn't right. It isn't square. I
+won't stand it. I'll heave up my commission and you pay her the fifteen
+hundred. <i>She</i> earns it."</p>
+
+<p>Silence. Then another slow chuckle from the bed.</p>
+
+<p>"Humph!" grunted Judge Knowles. "'Fine, capable, sensible, nice&mdash;'
+Getting pretty enthusiastic, aren't you, Kendrick? He, he, he!"</p>
+
+<p>Taken by surprise, and suddenly aware that he had spoken very
+emphatically, the captain blushed, and felt, himself a fool for so
+doing.</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;I&mdash;I&mdash;" he stammered, then laughed, and declared stoutly, "I don't
+care if I am. That girl deserves all the praise anybody's got aboard.
+She's a wonder, that's what she is. And she isn't bein' treated right."</p>
+
+<p>The answer was of a kind quite unexpected.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," rasped the judge, "who said she was?"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_132" id="pg_132">132</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Eh? What&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Who said she was? Not I. Don't you suppose I know what Elizabeth Berry
+is worth to Lobelia Seymour's idiot shop over yonder? And what she
+gets&mdash;or doesn't get? And didn't I tell you that her father was my best
+friend? Then.... Oh, well! Kendrick, you go back to your job. And don't
+you fret about that girl. What she doesn't get now she.... Humph! Clear
+out, and don't worry me any more. Good night."</p>
+
+<p>So the captain departed. In a way his mind was more at rest. He was
+nearer to being reconciled to the fifteen hundred a year now that he
+knew it was not to come from the funds of the Fair Harbor. Judge Knowles
+was reputed to be rich. If he chose to pay a salary to gratify a
+whim&mdash;why, let him. He, Kendrick, would do his best to earn that salary.
+But, nevertheless, he did not intend to let Elizabeth Berry remain under
+any misapprehension as to where the salary was coming from. He would
+tell her the next time they met. A new thought occurred to him. Why not
+tell her then&mdash;that very evening? It was not late, only about nine
+o'clock.</p>
+
+<p>"Judah," he said, "I've got to run in to the Harbor a minute. Drive me
+around to the side door, will you? And then wait there for me, that's a
+good fellow."</p>
+
+<p>So, leaving the Foam Flake and its pilot to doze comfortably in the soft
+silence of the summer evening, Sears&mdash;after Judah had, as was his
+custom, lifted him down from the wagon seat and handed him his
+cane&mdash;plodded to the side door of the Harbor and knocked. Mrs. Brackett
+answered the knock.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, how d'ye do, Cap'n Kendrick?" she said, graciously. "Come right
+in. We wasn't expectin' you. You don't very often call evenin's. Come
+right in. I guess you know everybody here."</p>
+
+<p>He did, of course, for the group in the back sitting room was made up of
+the regular guests. He shook hands with them all, including Miss
+Snowden, who greeted him with queenly condescension, and little Mrs.
+Tidditt, who jerked
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_133" id="pg_133">133</a></span> his arm up and down as if it was a pump handle, and
+affirmed that she was glad to see him, adding, as an after thought,
+"Even if I did see you afore to-day."</p>
+
+<p>"Now you are just in time, Cap'n Kendrick," said Miss Elvira. "We are
+going to have our usual little 'sing' before we go to bed. Desire&mdash;Miss
+Peasley&mdash;plays the melodeon for us and we sing a few selections, sacred
+selections usually, it is our evening custom. Do join us, Cap'n
+Kendrick. We should love to have you."</p>
+
+<p>The captain thanked them, but declined. He had run in only for a moment,
+he said, a matter of business, and must not stop.</p>
+
+<p>"Besides, I shouldn't be any help," he added. "I can't sing a note."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Snowden would have uttered some genteel protest, but Mrs. Tidditt
+spoke first.</p>
+
+<p>"Humph! <i>That</i> won't make any difference," she announced. "Neither can
+any of the rest of us&mdash;not the right notes."</p>
+
+<p>Possibly Elvira, or Susanna, might have retorted. The former looked as
+if she were about to, but Mrs. Aurora Chase came forward.</p>
+
+<p>"And it wasn't more'n ha'f past six neither," she declared with
+conviction.</p>
+
+<p>Just why or when it was half past six, or what had happened at that
+time, or what fragment of conversation Aurora's impaired hearing had
+caught which led her to think this happening was being discussed, the
+captain was destined never to learn. For at that instant Miss Berry came
+into the room, entering from the hall.</p>
+
+<p>"Who is it?" she asked. "Why, good evening, Cap'n Kendrick."</p>
+
+<p>She was what two thirds of Bayport would have called "dressed up." That
+is to say, she was wearing a simple afternoon gown instead of the
+workaday garb in which he had been accustomed to seeing her. It was
+becoming, even at the first glance he was sure of that.</p>
+
+<p>"Good evening, Cap'n Kendrick," she said, again. "I
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_134" id="pg_134">134</a></span> wasn't expecting
+you this evening. Is anything the matter?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh no, no! I just ran over for a minute. I&mdash;um&mdash;yes, that's all."</p>
+
+<p>He scarcely knew how to explain his errand. He had referred to it as a
+matter of business, but it was scarcely that. And he could not explain
+it at all in the presence of the guests, each one so obviously eager to
+have him do so.</p>
+
+<p>"I just ran in," he repeated. She looked a little puzzled, and it seemed
+to him that she hesitated, momentarily. Then&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Won't you come into the parlor?" she asked. Was it the captain's
+imagination, or did Elvira and Susanna and Desire and the rest&mdash;except
+Aurora, of course, who had not heard&mdash;cast significant looks at each
+other? It seemed to him that they did, but why? A moment later he
+understood.</p>
+
+<p>"Come right in, Cap'n," she urged. "George is here, but you know him, of
+course."</p>
+
+<p>They had walked the length of the hall and were almost at the door when
+she made this announcement. He paused.</p>
+
+<p>"George?" he repeated.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, yes, George Kent. But that doesn't make a bit of difference. Come
+in."</p>
+
+<p>"But, Miss Elizabeth, I didn't realize you had company. I&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"No, no. Stop, Cap'n Kendrick. George isn't company. He is&mdash;just George.
+Come in."</p>
+
+<p>So he went in and George Kent, tall and boyish and good looking, rose to
+shake hands. He appeared very much at home in that parlor, more so than
+Sears Kendrick did just then. The latter knew young Kent well, of
+course, had met him first at Sarah Macomber's and had, during his slow
+convalescence there, learned to like him. They had not seen much of each
+other since the captain became Judah Cahoon's lodger, although Kent had
+dropped in once for a short call.</p>
+
+<p>But Sears had not expected to find him there, that evening, in the best
+parlor of the Fair Harbor. There was every reason why he should have
+expected it. Judah had told him that George was a regular visitor and
+had more than
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_135" id="pg_135">135</a></span> hinted at the reason. But, in the whirl of interest
+caused by his acceptance of his new position and the added interest of
+his daily labors with Elizabeth, the captain had forgotten about
+everything and every one else, Kent included.</p>
+
+<p>But there he was, young, broad-shouldered, handsome, optimistic,
+buoyant. And there, too, was Elizabeth, also young, and pretty and gayly
+chatty and vivacious. And there, too, was he, Sears Kendrick, no longer
+young, even in the actual count of years, and feeling at least twice
+that count&mdash;there he was, a cripple, a derelict.</p>
+
+<p>His call was very brief. The contrast between himself and those two
+young people was too great, and, to him, at least, too painful. He did
+not, of course, mention the errand which had brought him there. He could
+tell Elizabeth the facts concerning the payment of his wages at some
+other time. He gave some more or less plausible reason for his running
+in, and, at the end of fifteen minutes or so, ran out. Kent shook hands
+with him at parting and declared that he was going to call at the Minot
+place at an early date.</p>
+
+<p>"We've all missed you there at the Macombers', Cap'n," he said. "Your
+sister says it doesn't seem like the same place. And I agree with her,
+it doesn't. I'm coming to see you within a day or two, sure. May I?"</p>
+
+<p>Sears said of course he might, and tried to make his tone cordial, but
+the attempt was not too successful. Elizabeth accompanied him to the
+side door. This meant a return trip through the back sitting room,
+where, judging by the groans of the melodeon and the accompanying vocal
+wails, the "sing" had been under way for some minutes. But, when Captain
+Sears and Miss Berry entered the room, there was absolute silence.
+Something had stopped the sing, had stopped it completely and judging by
+the facial expressions of the majority of those present, painfully.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Snowden sat erect in her chair, frigidly, icily, disgustedly erect.
+Beside her Mrs. Brackett sat, scorn and mental nausea plain upon her
+countenance. Every one looked angry and disgusted except Mrs. Chase, who
+was
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_136" id="pg_136">136</a></span> eagerly whispering questions to her next neighbor, and Mrs.
+Tidditt, who was grinning broadly.</p>
+
+<p>Elizabeth looked in astonishment at the group.</p>
+
+<p>"Why what is it?" she asked. "What is the matter?"</p>
+
+<p>Several began speaking, but Miss Elvira raised a silencing hand.</p>
+
+<p>"We were having our sing," she said. "I say 'we <i>were</i>'. We are not now,
+because," her eyes turned to and dwelt upon the puzzled face of Captain
+Sears Kendrick, "we were interrupted."</p>
+
+<p>"Interrupted?" Elizabeth repeated the word.</p>
+
+<p>"Interrupted was what I said. And <i>such</i> interruptions! Captain
+Kendrick, I presume you are not responsible for the&mdash;ahem&mdash;<i>manners</i> of
+your&mdash;ahem&mdash;friend, or landlord, or cook or whatever he may be, but
+whoever <i>is</i> responsible for them should be.... But there, listen for
+yourself."</p>
+
+<p>Warned by the raised Snowden hand, every one, including the captain and
+Elizabeth, listened. And, from the yard without so loud that the words
+were plainly understandable although the windows were closed and locked,
+came the voice of Judah Cahoon, uplifted in song.</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"'Whisky is the life of man,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Whisky, Johnny!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Whisky from an old tin can,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Whisky for my Johnny!</span></p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"'I drink whisky and my wife drinks gin,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Whisky, Johnny!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The way we drink 'em is a sin,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Whisky for my Johnny!'"</span></p>
+
+<p>The singer paused, momentarily, and Elvira spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course," she said, "I make no comment upon the lack of common
+politeness shown by interrupting our evening sing by such&mdash;ah&mdash;<i>noises</i>
+as that. But when one considers the morals of the person who chooses
+such low, disgraceful&mdash;&mdash;"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_137" id="pg_137">137</a></span></p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"'I had a girl, her name was Lize,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Whisky, Johnny!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">She put whisky in her pies,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Whisky for my Johnny!'"</span></p>
+
+<p>Captain Sears hobbled, as fast as his weak legs would permit, to the
+door. He flung it open.</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"'Whisky stole my brains away,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Whisky, Johnny!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Just one more pull and then belay,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Whisky for&mdash;&mdash;'"</span></p>
+
+<p>"Judah! <i>Judah!</i>"</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? Aye, aye, Cap'n Sears. What is it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Shut up!"</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? Oh! Aye, aye, Cap'n."</p>
+
+<p>He swung his former skipper to the seat of the truck-wagon. The captain
+spoke but little during the short trip home. What he did say, however,
+was to the point.</p>
+
+<p>"Judah," he ordered, "the next time you sing anywhere within
+speakin'-trumpet distance of that Fair Harbor place, don't you dare sing
+anything but psalms."</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? But which?"</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind. What in everlastin' blazes do you mean by sittin' up aloft
+here and bellowin' about&mdash;rum and women?"</p>
+
+<p>"Hold on, now, Cap'n Sears! Ho-ld on! That wan't no rum and woman song,
+that was the old 'Whisky, Johnny' chantey. Why, I've heard that song
+aboard your own vessels mo-ore times, Cap'n Sears. Why&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"All right. But don't let me ever hear it sung near the Fair Harbor
+again. If you must sing, when you're over there sing&mdash;oh, sing the
+doxology."</p>
+
+<p>Judah did not speak for a minute or two. Then he stirred rebelliously.</p>
+
+<p>"What's that?" asked the captain. "What are you mumblin' about?"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_138" id="pg_138">138</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Eh? I wan't mumblin'. I was just sayin' I didn't have much time to
+learn new-fangled songs, that's all.... Whoa, you&mdash;you walrus! Don't you
+know enough to come up into the wind when you git to your moorin's?"</p>
+
+<p>As his boarder took his lamp from the kitchen table, preparatory to
+going to his room, Mr. Cahoon spoke again.</p>
+
+<p>"George Kent was over there, wan't he?" he observed.</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? Oh ... yes."</p>
+
+<p>"Um-hm. I cal-lated he would be. This is his night&mdash;one of 'em. Comes
+twice a week, Tuesdays and Fridays, they tell me, and then heaves in a
+Sunday every little spell, for good measure. Gettin' to be kind of
+settled thing between them two, so all hands are cal'latin'.... Hey?
+Turnin' in already, be you, Cap'n? Well, good night."</p>
+
+<p>Sears Kendrick found it hard to fall asleep that night. He tossed and
+tumbled and thought and thought and thought. At intervals he cursed
+himself for a fool and resolved to think no more, along those lines at
+least, but to forget the foolishness and get the rest he needed. And
+each time he was snatched back from the brink of that rest by a vision
+of George Kent, tall, young, good-looking, vigorous, with all the world,
+its opportunities and rewards, before him, and of himself almost on the
+verge of middle age, a legless, worthless, hopeless piece of wreckage.
+He liked Kent, George was a fine young fellow, he had fancied him when
+they first met. Every one liked him and prophesied his success in life
+and in the legal profession. Then why in heaven's name shouldn't he call
+twice a week at the Fair Harbor if he wished to? He should, of course.
+That was logic, but logic has so little to do with these matters, and,
+having arrived at the logical conclusion, Captain Sears Kendrick found
+himself still fiercely resenting that conclusion, envying young Kent his
+youth and his hopes and his future, and as stubbornly rebellious against
+destiny as at the beginning.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless&mdash;and he swore it more than once before that wretched night
+was over&mdash;no one but he should know of that
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_139" id="pg_139">139</a></span> envy and rebellion, least
+of all the cause of it. From then on he would, he vowed, take especial
+pains to be nice to George Kent and to help or befriend him in every
+possible way.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_140" id="pg_140">140</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_VIII_5455" id="CHAPTER_VIII_5455"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER VIII</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It was Kent himself who put this vow to the test. He called at the Minot
+place the very next evening. It was early, only seven o'clock; Judah,
+having begged permission to serve an early supper because it was "lodge
+night," had departed for Liberty Hall, where the local branch of the Odd
+Fellows met; and Sears Kendrick was sitting on the settee in the back
+yard, beneath the locust tree, smoking. Kent came swinging in at the
+gate and again the captain felt that twinge of envy and rebellion
+against fate as he saw the active figure come striding toward him.</p>
+
+<p>But, and doubly so because of that very twinge, his welcome was brimming
+with cordiality. Kent explained that his call must be a brief one, as he
+must hurry back to his room at the Macombers' to study. It was part of
+his agreement with Eliphalet Bassett that his duties as bookkeeper at
+the latter's store should end at six o'clock each night.</p>
+
+<p>Sears asked how he was getting on with his law study. He replied that he
+seemed to be getting on pretty well, but missed Judge Knowles' help and
+advice very much indeed.</p>
+
+<p>"I read with Lawyer Bradley over at Harniss now," he said. "Go over two
+evenings a week, Mondays and Thursdays. The other evenings&mdash;most of
+them&mdash;I put in by myself, digging away at <i>Smith on Torts</i> and <i>Chitty
+on Bills</i>, and stuff of that kind. I suppose that sounds like pretty
+dull music to you, Cap'n Kendrick."</p>
+
+<p>The captain shook his head. "I don't know about the music part," he
+observed. "It's a tune I never could learn to play&mdash;or sing, either, I'm
+sure of that. But you miss the judge's help, do you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Miss it like blazes. He could do more in five minutes
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_141" id="pg_141">141</a></span> to make me see a
+point than Bradley can in an hour. Bradley's a pretty good lawyer, as
+the average run of small lawyers go, but Judge Knowles is away above the
+average. Bradley will hem and haw and 'rather think' this and 'it would
+seem as if' that, but the judge will say a hundred words, and two of 'em
+swear words, and there is the answer, complete, plain and demonstrated.
+I do like Judge Knowles. I only hope he likes me half as well."</p>
+
+<p>They discussed the judge, his illness and the pity of it. This led to a
+brief talk concerning Sears' hurt and his condition. Kent seemed to
+consider the latter much improved.</p>
+
+<p>"Your sister says so, too," he declared. "I heard her telling Macomber
+yesterday at dinner that she thought you looked and acted very much more
+like a well man than when you left our house. And your legs must be
+better, too, Cap'n. I'm sure you get around easier than you did."</p>
+
+<p>The captain shrugged. "I get around," he said, "but that's about all you
+can say. Whether I'll ever.... But there, what's the use of talkin'
+about my split timbers? Tell me some of the Bayport news. Now that it
+seems to be settled I'm goin' to tie up here for a good while I ought to
+know somethin' about my fellow citizens, hadn't I? What is goin' on?"</p>
+
+<p>There was not very much going on, so Kent said. Captain Lorenzo Taylor's
+ship was due in New York almost any week or day now, and then the
+captain would, of course, come home for a short visit. Mrs. Captain
+Elkanah Wingate had a new silk dress, and, as it was the second silk
+gown within a year, there was much talk at sewing circle and at the
+store concerning it and Captain Elkanah's money. One of Captain Orrin
+Eldridge's children was ill with scarlet fever. The young people of the
+Universalist society were going to give some amateur theatricals at the
+Town Hall some time in August, and the minister at the Orthodox
+meeting-house had already preached a sermon upon the sin of theater
+going.</p>
+
+<p>"There," concluded George Kent, with another laugh.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_142" id="pg_142">142</a></span> "That's about all
+the local excitement, Cap'n. It won't keep you awake to-night, I hope."</p>
+
+<p>Sears smiled. "Guess I'll drop off in spite of it," he observed. "But it
+is kind of interestin', too, some of it. Hope Cap'n Lorenzo makes a good
+voyage home. He's in the <i>Belle of the Ocean</i>, isn't he? Um-hm. Well,
+she's a good able vessel and Lorenzo's a great hand to carry sail, so,
+give him good weather, he'll bring her home flyin'. So the Universalists
+have been behavin' scandalous, have they? Dear, dear! But what can you
+expect of folks so wicked they don't believe in hell? Humph! I mustn't
+talk that way. I forgot that you were a Universalist yourself, George."</p>
+
+<p>Kent smiled. "Oh, I'm as wicked as anybody you can think of," he
+declared. "Why, I'm going to take a part in those amateur theatricals,
+myself."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you? My, my! You'll be goin' to dancin'-school next, and then you
+<i>will</i> be bound for that place you don't believe in. When is this show
+of yours comin' off? I'd like to see it, and shall, if Judah and the
+Foam Flake will undertake to get me to the Town Hall and back."</p>
+
+<p>"I think we'll give it the second week in August. We had a great
+argument trying to pick a play. For a long time we were undecided
+between 'Sylvia's Soldier' or 'Down by the Sea' or 'Among the Breakers.'
+At last we decided on 'Down by the Sea.' It's quite new, been out only
+four or five years, and it rather fits our company. Did you ever see it,
+Cap'n?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I never did. I've been out <i>on</i> the sea so much in my life that
+when I got ashore I generally picked out the shows that hadn't anything
+to do with it&mdash;'Hamlet,' or 'Lydia Thompson's British Blondes,' or
+somethin' like that," with a wink. Then he added, more soberly, "The old
+salt water looks mighty good to me now, though. Strange how you don't
+want a thing you can have and long for it when you can't.... But I'm not
+supposed to preach a sermon, at least I haven't heard anybody ask me to.
+What's your part in this&mdash;what d'ye call it?&mdash;'Out on the Beach,'
+George?"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_143" id="pg_143">143</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"'Down by the Sea.' Oh, I'm 'March Gale,' and when I was a baby I was
+cast ashore from a wreck."</p>
+
+<p>"Humph! When you were a baby. Started your seafarin' early, I should
+say. Who else is in it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Frank Crosby, he is 'Sept Gale,' my brother&mdash;only he isn't my
+brother. And John Carleton&mdash;the schoolteacher, you know&mdash;he is
+'Raymond,' the city man; he's good, too. And Sam Ryder, and Erastus
+Snow. There was one part&mdash;'John Gale,' an old fisherman chap, we
+couldn't seem to think of any one who could, or would, play it. But at
+last we did, and who do you think it was? Joel Macomber, your sister's
+husband."</p>
+
+<p>"What? Joel Macomber&mdash;on the stage! Oh, come now, George!"</p>
+
+<p>"It's a fact. And he's good, too. Some one told one of us that Macomber
+had done some amateur acting when he was young, and, in desperation, we
+asked him to try this part. And he is good. You would be surprised,
+Cap'n Kendrick."</p>
+
+<p>"Um-hm, I am now. I certainly am. What sort of a part is it Joel's got?
+What does this&mdash;er&mdash;Gale do; anything but blow?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, he doesn't really do much, that's a fact. He is supposed to
+be a fisherman, as I said, but&mdash;well, about all he does in the play is
+to come on and off and talk a good deal, and scold at Frank and me&mdash;his
+sons, you know&mdash;and fuss at his wife and&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Captain Sears held up his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"That's enough, George," he interrupted. "That'll do. Don't do much of
+anything, talks a lot, and finds fault with other folks. No wonder Joel
+Macomber can act that part. He ought to be as natural as life in it.
+Aren't there any womenfolks in this play, though? I don't see how much
+could happen without them aboard."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, of course there are women. Three of them. Mrs. Cora Bassett,
+Eliphalet's brother's wife, she is 'Mrs. Gale,' my mother, only she
+turns out not to be; and Fannie
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_144" id="pg_144">144</a></span> Wingate, she is the rich city girl; and
+Elizabeth. That makes the three."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes, so it does. But which Elizabeth are you talkin' about?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Elizabeth Berry. My&mdash;our Elizabeth, over here at the Fair Harbor."</p>
+
+<p>The quick change from "my" to "our" was so quick as to be almost
+imperceptible, but the captain noticed it. He looked up and Kent,
+catching his eye, colored slightly. Sears noticed the color, also, but
+his tone, when he spoke, was quite casual.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," he said. "So Elizabeth's in it, too, is she? Well, well! What part
+does she take?"</p>
+
+<p>"She's 'Kitty Gale,' my sweetheart."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't say. She's good, I'll bet."</p>
+
+<p>"Wonderful!" Kent's enthusiasm was unrestrained. "You wouldn't believe
+any untrained girl could act as she does. She might have been born for
+the part, honestly she might."</p>
+
+<p>"Um-hm.... Well, maybe she was."</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? I beg your pardon."</p>
+
+<p>"Nothin', nothin'. I'll have to see that play, even if the Foam Flake
+founders and Judah has to carry me there pig-back. And how are you
+gettin' on in it yourself? You haven't told me that."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I'm doing well enough. Trying hard, at least. But, Cap'n Sears, you
+should see Elizabeth. She is splendid. But she is a wonderful girl,
+anyway. Don't you think she is?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"You couldn't help thinking so. No one could. Why&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The remainder of the conversation was, for the most part, a chant, sung
+as a solo by George Kent, and having as its subject, the wonders of Miss
+Berry. Captain Sears joined occasionally in the chorus, and smiled
+cordial and complete agreement. His caller was charmed.</p>
+
+<p>"I've had a bully good time, Cap'n," he declared, at parting. "I came
+intending to stay only a few minutes and I've
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_145" id="pg_145">145</a></span> been here an hour and a
+half. You are one of the most interesting talkers I ever heard in my
+life, if you don't mind my saying so."</p>
+
+<p>Sears, whose contributions to the latter half of the conversation had
+been about one word in twenty, laughed. "I'm afraid you haven't heard
+many good talkers," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, I have. But there are precious few of them in this town. It
+does a fellow good to know a man like you, who has been everywhere and
+met so many people and done so many things worth while. And, you and I
+agree so on almost every point. I don't know whether you noticed it or
+not, but our opinions seemed so exactly alike. It's remarkable, I think.
+I like you, Cap'n Kendrick; you don't mind my saying so, do you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, not a bit, not a bit. Glad of it, of course."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. I liked you down there at your sister's, but you were so sick I
+didn't have the chance to know you as well as I wanted to. But I had
+seen enough of you to know I should like you a lot when I knew you
+better. And Elizabeth, she was sure I would."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, she was, eh?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. Oh, yes. She likes you very much. We talk about you almost every
+time I call&mdash;I mean when we are together, you know. Well, good-by. I'm
+coming for another talk&mdash;and soon, too. May I?"</p>
+
+<p>"Hope you do, son. Come aboard any day. The gangplank is always down for
+you."</p>
+
+<p>Which was all right, except that as Sears watched his caller swinging
+buoyantly to the gate, the same unreasonable twinge came back to him,
+bringing with it the keen sense of depression and discouragement, the
+realization of his approaching middle age and his crippled condition. It
+did not last long, he would not permit it to linger, but it was acute
+while it lasted.</p>
+
+<p>He heard a great deal concerning the approaching production of "Down by
+the Sea" as the weeks passed and the time for that production drew
+nearer. As he and Elizabeth worked and took counsel together concerning
+the affairs of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_146" id="pg_146">146</a></span> the Fair Harbor they spoke of it. She was enjoying the
+rehearsals hugely and the captain gathered that they furnished the
+opportunity for change of thought and relaxation which she had greatly
+needed. They spoke of George Kent, also; Sears saw to that. He brought
+the young man's name into their conversation at frequent intervals and
+took pains to praise him highly and to declare repeatedly his liking for
+him. All part of his own self-imposed penance, of course. And Elizabeth
+seemed to enjoy these conversations and agreed with him that George was
+"a nice boy" and likely to succeed in life.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm so glad you like him, Cap'n Kendrick," she said. "He likes you so
+much and is so sure that you are a wise man."</p>
+
+<p>Sears turned to look at her.</p>
+
+<p>"Sure that I'm what?" he demanded.</p>
+
+<p>"A wise man. He says that, next to Judge Knowles, he had rather have
+your opinion than any one else in Bayport."</p>
+
+<p>The captain shook his head. "Dear, dear!" he sighed. "And just as I had
+come to the conclusion that George was so smart. Me a wise man? <i>Me!</i>
+Tut, tut! George, you disappoint me."</p>
+
+<p>But she would not be turned aside in that way.</p>
+
+<p>"There is no reason for disappointment that I can see," she said. "I
+think he is quite right. You <i>are</i> a wise man, Cap'n Kendrick. Of course
+I know you must be or Judge Knowles would not have selected you to take
+charge here. But since you and I have been working together I have found
+it out for myself. In fact I don't see how we ever got along&mdash;mother and
+I&mdash;before you came. And we didn't get on very well, that is a fact," she
+added, with a rueful smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Rubbish! You got on wonderfully. And as for the worth of my
+opinions&mdash;well, you ask Northern Lights what she thinks of 'em. She'll
+tell you, I'll bet."</p>
+
+<p>"Northern Lights" was Captain Sears's pet name for Mrs. Aurora Chase.
+Elizabeth asked why Aurora should hold his opinions lightly. The captain
+chuckled.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_147" id="pg_147">147</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Well," he explained, "she asked me yesterday what I thought of the
+Orthodox minister's sermons about the Universalist folks play-actin'. I
+said I hadn't heard 'em first hand, but that I understood they were hot.
+I thought she sailed off with her nose pretty well aloft, but I couldn't
+see why. To-day Esther Tidditt told me that she had understood me to say
+the sermons were 'rot.' That's what comes of bein' hard of hearin'. Ho,
+ho! But truth will out, won't it?"</p>
+
+<p>The afternoon preceding the evening when "Down by the Sea" was to be
+publicly presented upon the stage of the town hall was overcast and
+cloudy. Judah, with one eye upon the barometer swinging in its gimbals
+in the General Minot front entry, had gloomily prophesied rain. Captain
+Sears, although inwardly agreeing with the prophecy, outwardly
+maintained an obstinate optimism.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't care if the glass is down so low that the mercury sticks out of
+the bottom and hits the deck," he declared. "It isn't goin' to rain
+to-night, Judah. You mark my words."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm a-markin' 'em, Cap'n Sears. I'm a-markin' of 'em. But what's the
+use of words alongside of a fallin' glass like that? And, besides, ain't
+I been watchin' the sky all the afternoon? Look how it's smurrin' up
+over to the west'ard. Look at them mare's tails streakin' out up aloft.</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Mack'rel skies and mares' tails</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Make lofty ships to douse their sails.'</span></p>
+
+<p>You know that's well's I do, Cap'n Sears."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes, so I do, Judah. But do you know this one?</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Hi, diddle, diddle,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The cat and the fiddle,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The cow jumped over the moon.'</span></p>
+
+<p>What have you got to say to that, eh?"</p>
+
+<p>Judah stared at him. His chin quivered.</p>
+
+<p>"Wh&mdash;wh&mdash;" he stammered. "What have I got to say to that? Why, I ain't
+got nawthin' to say to it. There ain't no sense to it. That's Mother
+Goose talk, that's all that is, What's that got to do with the
+weather?"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_148" id="pg_148">148</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"It would have somethin' to do with it if a cow jumped over the moon,
+wouldn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? But&mdash;&mdash; Oh, creepin' prophets, Cap'n Sears, what's the use of you
+and me wastin' our breath over such foolishness? You're just bein'
+funny, that's all." His expression changed, and he smiled broadly. "Why,
+by Henry," he declared, "I ain't heard you talk that way afore since you
+shipped aboard this General Minot craft along of me. That's the way you
+used to poke fun at me aboard the old <i>Wild Ranger</i> when we was makin'
+port after a good v'yage. What's happened to spruce you up so? Doctor
+ain't told you any special good news about them legs of yours, has he,
+Cap'n? Limpin' Moses, I wisht that was it."</p>
+
+<p>Sears shook his head. "No, Judah," he replied. "No such luck as that.
+It's just my natural foolishness, I guess. And I'm goin' to the theater
+to-night, too, all by myself. Think of it. Do you wonder I feel like a
+boy in his first pair of long trousers?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cahoon's whisker-framed face expressed doubt and foreboding. "I
+ain't sure yit that I'm doin' right in lettin' you pilot yourself down
+to that town hall," he declared. "It ain't that I'm scart of the horse
+runnin' away, or nothin' like that, you understand, but&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>His lodger burst into a roar of laughter.</p>
+
+<p>"Runnin' away!" he repeated. "Judah, foam flakes drift away pretty often
+and sometimes they blow away, but I never saw one run away yet. And if
+this Foam Flake of yours ever started to run I should die of surprise
+before anything else could happen to me. Don't worry about me. You'll be
+here to help me aboard the buggy, when I'm ready to leave port, and
+there'll be plenty of folks at the hall to help me out of it when I get
+there. So I'll be all right and to spare."</p>
+
+<p>"Um&mdash;well, maybe so. But it seems to me like takin' risks just the same.
+Now, Cap'n Sears, why don't you let me drive you down, same as I always
+do drive you? What makes you so sot on goin' alone?"</p>
+
+<p>The captain did not answer for a moment. Then he said,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_149" id="pg_149">149</a></span> "Judah, for a
+good many long weeks&mdash;yes, and months&mdash;I've been havin' somebody drive
+me or steer me or order me. To-night, by the Lord A'mighty, <i>I'm</i> goin'
+to drive and give my own orders."</p>
+
+<p>"But the doctor&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"The doctor doesn't know. And if you tell him I'll&mdash;well, you'll need
+him, that's all. Every dog has its day, Judah, and this is my night."</p>
+
+<p>"But it's goin' to rain and&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't.... And, if it does, haven't you and I seen enough water not
+to be afraid of it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Salt water&mdash;yes; but&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"There aren't any buts. That'll do, Judah. Go for'ard." So Mr. Cahoon,
+obeying orders, went for'ard; that is, he went into the kitchen, and
+Sears Kendrick was left upon the seat beneath the locust tree to smoke
+and cast rebellious glances at the deepening gloom of the sky. He had
+not been entirely truthful in his replies to his landlord's questions.
+Although he scarcely dared admit it, even to himself, his damaged legs
+were better than they had been. Doctor Sheldon told him that they were
+and seemed more hopeful after each examination. And he knew that the
+doctor's hope was not mere pretending, something assumed but not felt.
+Yes, he knew it. And, for the first time since the accident which
+wrecked the Old Colony train and his own life, he began to think that,
+perhaps&mdash;some day, perhaps&mdash;he might again be a man, a whole,
+able-bodied man among men. When he submitted this thought to the cold
+light of reason, it was transparent and faint enough, but it was there,
+and it was one cause of his high spirits.</p>
+
+<p>And there was another, a cause which was even less worthy of
+reason&mdash;which was perfectly childish and absurd but not the less real on
+that account. It was connected with his stubborn determination to be his
+own pilot to the hall that evening. He had, when he first determined to
+risk the trip in that way, refused to permit Judah to accompany him
+because he knew, if he did, that the latter would be a sort of safety
+valve, a life preserver&mdash;to mix similes&mdash;the real
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_150" id="pg_150">150</a></span> driver who would be
+on hand to take charge if necessary. Under such circumstances his own
+responsibility ceased to be a responsibility and his self-reliance
+<i>nil</i>. No, sink or swim, survive or perish, he would make the voyage
+alone.</p>
+
+<p>So, although there was plenty of room on the buggy seat, he stubbornly
+refused to permit Judah to sit there. Mr. Cahoon was going to the play,
+of course&mdash;the entire constabulary force of Ostable County could not
+have prevented his doing so&mdash;but he was to walk, not ride behind the
+Foam Flake. And Captain Sears Kendrick was supposed to be riding alone.</p>
+
+<p>Yet he was not to ride alone, although only one person, and that not
+Judah Cahoon, knew of that fact. The day before, while he and Miss Berry
+were busy, as usual, with the finances and managerial duties of the Fair
+Harbor, she had happened to mention that there were some stage
+properties, bits of costumes, and the like, which must be gotten early
+to the hall on the evening of the performance and he had offered to have
+Judah deliver them for her. Now he told her of his intention of driving
+the Foam Flake unassisted and that he would deliver them himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Or any other light dunnage you might want taken down there," he added.
+"Glad to, no trouble at all."</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him rather oddly he thought.</p>
+
+<p>"You are going all alone?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Um-hm. All alone. I'm goin' to have my own way this time in spite of
+the Old Harry&mdash;and the doctor&mdash;and Judah."</p>
+
+<p>"And you are sure there will be plenty of room?"</p>
+
+<p>"What? With only me in the buggy? Yes, indeed. Room enough for two sea
+chests and a pork barrel, as old Cap'n Bangs Paine used to say when I
+sailed with him. Room and to spare."</p>
+
+<p>"Room enough for&mdash;me?"</p>
+
+<p>"For you? Why, do you mean&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I mean that if there <i>is</i> room I should like to ride down with you very
+much. I want to get to the hall early and I have these things to carry.
+Mother and the rest of the Harbor
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_151" id="pg_151">151</a></span> people are going later, of course....
+So, if you are sure that I and my bundles won't be nuisances&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>He was sure, emphatically and enthusiastically sure. But his surprise
+was great and he voiced it involuntarily.</p>
+
+<p>"I supposed, of course," he said, "that your passage was booked long
+ago. I supposed George had attended to that."</p>
+
+<p>Her answer was brief, but there was an air of finality about it which
+headed off further questions.</p>
+
+<p>"I am not going with him," she said.</p>
+
+<p>So this was his second cause for good spirits, the fact that Elizabeth
+Berry was to ride with him to the hall that evening. It was a very
+slight inconsequential reason surely, but somehow he found it
+sufficient. She was going with him merely because he and the Foam Flake
+and the buggy furnished the most convenient method of transportation for
+her and her packages, but she was going&mdash;and she was not going with
+George Kent. There was a certain wicked pleasure in the last thought. He
+was ashamed of it, but the pleasure was there in spite of the shame.
+Kent had so much that he had not, but here was one little grain of
+advantage to enter upon the Kendrick side of the ledger; Elizabeth Berry
+was not going to the town hall with Kent, but with him.</p>
+
+<p>He made but one protest and that only because his conscience goaded him
+into making it.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know as I ought to let you, Miss Elizabeth," he said. "I'm
+takin' a chance, I suppose, that perhaps you shouldn't take. This is my
+first voyage under my own command since I ran on the rocks. I may strike
+another reef, you can't tell."</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him and smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"I am not afraid," she said.</p>
+
+<p>So, in spite of the gathering clouds and the falling barometer, Captain
+Sears was cheerful as he smoked beneath the locust tree. After a time he
+rose and limped down to the gate. Doctor Sheldon's equipage was standing
+by the Knowles hitching post just beyond across the road. The doctor
+himself came out of the house and the captain hailed him.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_152" id="pg_152">152</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"How is the judge?" he asked. Doctor Sheldon shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"No better," he replied. "He is weaker every day and last week he had an
+attack that was so severe I was afraid it was the end. He weathered it,
+though."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, yes. I saw him on Sunday and he was as full of jokes and spunk as
+ever, seemed to me. His voice wasn't quite as strong, that's all. He is
+a great man, Judge Knowles. Bayport will miss him tremendously when he
+goes. So shall I, for that matter, and I haven't known him very long."</p>
+
+<p>"We'll all miss him."</p>
+
+<p>"There isn't a chance, I suppose? In the long run&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The doctor's look caused him to stop the sentence in the middle.</p>
+
+<p>"There isn't any question of long runs," said Sheldon, gravely. "The
+next one of these seizures will end it. He has been a great fighter and
+he never gives up; that is why he is here. But the fight is practically
+over. The next attack will be the last."</p>
+
+<p>Sears was deeply concerned. "Dear, dear," he said. "I didn't realize it
+was quite so bad. And that attack may come&mdash;next month, or even next
+week, I presume likely?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>The captain's good spirits were dashed for the time. His regard and
+admiration for the old judge had grown steadily during their brief
+acquaintance. He pictured the rugged, determined face as he had seen it
+Sunday, and heard again the voice, weak but drily humorous or
+indomitably pugnacious. It did not seem as if a spirit like that could
+be so near surrender. Doctor Sheldon must be over apprehensive.</p>
+
+<p>It was but seven o'clock when he drove the Foam Flake up to the side
+door of the Fair Harbor and his passenger stowed her various bundles
+about his feet in the bottom of the buggy and then climbed in herself.
+The drive to the town hall was made in good time, the Foam Flake
+considered, and&mdash;to the captain at any rate&mdash;it was a most pleasant
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_153" id="pg_153">153</a></span>
+excursion. There was the unaccustomed sensation of once more being free
+from orders or domination.</p>
+
+<p>There was little conversation during the drive. Sears attempted it, but
+his passenger was not talkative. She seemed to be thinking of something
+else and her answers were brief and absent-minded. Nevertheless Sears
+Kendrick enjoyed their drive and was almost sorry when the Foam Flake
+halted, snorting, or sneezing, violently, by the hall platform. The
+building was as yet but dimly lighted and Asaph Tidditt, the janitor,
+was the only person about. Asaph, hearing the Foam Flake's sneeze, came
+to the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I swan!" he exclaimed. "Is that you, 'Liz'beth? You're good and
+early, ain't you? Evenin', George. Why, 'tain't George. Who is it? Well,
+well, well, Cap'n Sears, this <i>is</i> a surprise!"</p>
+
+<p>He helped the captain from the buggy and, at Sears' request, led the
+Foam Flake around the corner to the hitching rail. When he returned Miss
+Berry had gone upstairs to the dressing-room to leave her packages.
+Asaph was still surprised.</p>
+
+<p>"Mighty glad to see you out again, Cap'n," he declared. "I heard you was
+better, but I didn't hardly cal'late to see you takin' your girl to ride
+so soon. Hey? He, he, he!"</p>
+
+<p>Sears-laughed long enough to seem polite. Asaph laughed longer.</p>
+
+<p>"And 'tain't <i>your</i> girl you're takin' nuther, is it?" he said. "When I
+looked in that buggy just now I don't know when I've been more sot back.
+'Evenin', George,' says I. And 'twan't George Kent at all, 'twas you.
+Ain't been to work and cut George out, have you, Cap'n Sears? He, he,
+he! That's another good one, ain't it!"</p>
+
+<p>The captain smiled&mdash;more politeness&mdash;and inquired if he and Miss Berry
+were the first ones at the hall.</p>
+
+<p>"Is any one else here?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Yus," said Mr. Tidditt.</p>
+
+<p>"Who?"</p>
+
+<p>"Me. He, he, he! Kind of caught you that time, didn't I, Cap'n? Wasn't
+expectin' that, was you? Except me, you
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_154" id="pg_154">154</a></span> and 'Liz'beth's the fust ones.
+Be plenty more in half an hour, though. 'Bout all hands in Bayport's
+comin' to this time, everybody but the Orthodox and the Methodists and
+the Come-Outers. They cal'late goin' to a play-actin' time is same as
+goin' to Tophet. I tell 'em I'd ruther go to the show, 'cause I'd have a
+little fun out of it, and from what I hear there ain't much fun in
+t'other place. He, he, he! But say, how'd it happen George Kent ever let
+'Liz'beth Berry go anywheres without him? Where <i>is</i> George?"</p>
+
+<p>Sears was rather glad when the arrival of Sam Ryder and Carleton, two
+other members of the cast of "Down by the Sea" attracted the attention
+of the garrulous Asaph and led the latter, in their company, upstairs. A
+moment or so later another figure approached from the blackness to the
+circle of light cast by the big ship's lantern over the hall door.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, hello, George!" hailed Sears.</p>
+
+<p>Young Kent looked up, recognized the speaker and said "Good evening." He
+did not seem surprised as Mr. Tidditt had been to find the captain
+there. The latter remarked upon it.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, George," he observed, "I must say you take my bein' here all alone
+pretty calmly. Ase Tidditt all but capsized when he saw me bring the
+Foam Flake into dock."</p>
+
+<p>Kent nodded. "I knew you were here," he said. "Elizabeth came down with
+you, I suppose."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, yes. Did she tell you she was goin' to risk life and limb aboard
+my vessel?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," briefly.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh. Then how did you know?"</p>
+
+<p>"I stopped at the Harbor. Her mother said she had gone with you....
+Where is she; upstairs?"</p>
+
+<p>"Up in the dressin' room, I guess. She had to come so early because
+there were things to bring and some work for her to do before you and
+the others got here, she said."</p>
+
+<p>"What? Did she say before <i>I</i> got here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? Why, no, didn't mention you in particular. She just said&mdash;&mdash;"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_155" id="pg_155">155</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Kent interrupted. "I see," he said, shortly. "All right, never mind."</p>
+
+<p>He was walking toward the other end of the platform. His manner was so
+very peculiar that Sears could not help noticing it. He looked after him
+in perplexity.</p>
+
+<p>"Here ... George!" he called.</p>
+
+<p>Kent turned and came back, rather reluctantly it seemed. The older man
+looked at him keenly.</p>
+
+<p>"George," he asked, "what's the matter with you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Matter? With me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, with you. You're short as Aunt Nabby's pie crust. Have I done
+anything you don't like? If I have I'll apologize before I know what it
+is. It wasn't done on purpose, you can be sure of that."</p>
+
+<p>Kent started, colored, and was much perturbed. "I didn't realize I was
+short, Cap'n Kendrick," he declared. "I beg your pardon. I am mighty
+sorry. No&mdash;no, of course you haven't done anything I don't like. I don't
+believe you could."</p>
+
+<p>"You never can tell. But so far I haven't tried. Not sick, are you?"</p>
+
+<p>"No ... I'm just&mdash;oh, nothing. I'm in a little trouble, that's all. My
+own fault, maybe, I don't know."</p>
+
+<p>"Probably it is. Most of our troubles are our own fault, in one way or
+another. Well, if there's anything I can do to help out, just give me a
+hail."</p>
+
+<p>"Thanks. But I'm afraid there isn't."</p>
+
+<p>He turned and walked down the platform once more. Mrs. Captain Orrin
+Eldridge, who was to sell tickets, came, and, after greeting the captain
+cordially, went in to open and light the ticket-office at the foot of
+the stairs. Two more members of the cast, Erastus Snow and Mrs. Bassett,
+arrived and went up to prepare. Suddenly Kent, who had been standing at
+the farther end of the platform, came back.</p>
+
+<p>"Captain Kendrick," he said, "would you mind answering a question?"</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? Why, not a bit, George. But perhaps yours may be one of those
+questions I can't answer."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_156" id="pg_156">156</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I think you can. Say&mdash;er&mdash;Cap'n Kendrick&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, George."</p>
+
+<p>"You see, I.... This sounds awfully foolish, but&mdash;but I don't know what
+I ought to do."</p>
+
+<p>"Um-hm. Well, a good many of us get that way every once in a while."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you?"</p>
+
+<p>"You bet!"</p>
+
+<p>"Humph! Somehow you seem to me like a man who would know exactly what to
+do at any time."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes? Well, my looks must belie me. Heave ahead, George. The folks are
+beginning to come."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I&mdash;&mdash; Oh, hang it, Cap'n, when you've made a mistake&mdash;done
+something that you didn't think was wrong&mdash;that wasn't wrong,
+really&mdash;and&mdash;and.... Say, I'm making an awful mess of this. And it's
+such a fool thing, anyhow."</p>
+
+<p>"Um-hm. So many things are. Chuck it overboard, George; that is, if you
+really want to ask me about it."</p>
+
+<p>"I do. That is, I want to ask you this: Suppose you had done something
+that you thought was all right and&mdash;and somebody else had thought was
+wrong&mdash;would you&mdash;would you go and tell that other person that you
+<i>were</i> wrong? Even if you weren't, you know."</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick was silent. The question was ridiculous enough, but he did not
+laugh, nor feel like laughing. Nor did he want to answer.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I know that it's a child's question," put in Kent, disgustedly.
+"Never mind answering. I am a child sometimes, feel like one, anyhow.
+And I've got to fight this out with myself, I suppose, so what's the
+use?"</p>
+
+<p>He turned on his heel, but the captain laid a hand on his shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"George," he said, slowly, "of course, the way you put this thing makes
+it pretty foggy navigatin' for a stranger; but&mdash;humph!&mdash;well, in cases
+somethin' like yours, when I've cared anything about the&mdash;er&mdash;friendship
+of the other fellow, I've generally found 'twas good business to go and
+say I was sorry first, and then, if 'twas worth while, argue the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_157" id="pg_157">157</a></span> point
+of who was right or wrong later. You never can do much fishin' through
+the ice unless somebody chops the hole."</p>
+
+<p>The young man was silent. He seemed to be reflecting and to find his
+reflections not too pleasant. Before they were at an end the first group
+of townspeople came up the steps. Some of them paused to greet Kendrick
+and at their heels was another group. The captain was chatting with them
+when he heard Kent's voice at his ear.</p>
+
+<p>"Excuse me, Cap'n," he whispered. "I'll see you by and by. I'm going to
+chop the ice."</p>
+
+<p>"Eh?... Oh, all right, George. Good luck."</p>
+
+<p>George hurried up the stairs. A minute or two later Captain Sears slowly
+limped after him and sought a secluded corner on one of the settees at
+the rear of the hall. There was still a full half hour before the rising
+of the curtain, and as yet there was but a handful of people present. He
+turned his face away from the handful and hoped that he might not be
+recognized. He did not feel like talking. His good spirits had left him.
+He was blue and despondent and discouraged. And for no reason&mdash;that was
+the worst of it&mdash;no earthly, sensible, worth while reason at all.</p>
+
+<p>Those two children&mdash;that is what they were, children&mdash;had quarreled and
+that was why Elizabeth had asked to ride to the hall with him that
+evening. It was not because she cared for his company; of course he knew
+that all the time, or would have known it if he permitted himself to
+reason. She had gone with him because she had quarreled with George. And
+that young idiot's conscience had troubled him and, thanks to his
+own&mdash;Kendrick's&mdash;advice, he had gone to her now to beg pardon and make
+up. And they would make up. Children, both of them.</p>
+
+<p>And they ought to make up; they should, of course. He wanted them to do
+so. What sort of a yellow dog in the manger would he be if he did not?
+He liked them both, and they were young and well&mdash;and he was&mdash;what that
+railway accident had made of him.</p>
+
+<p>The audience poured in, the settees filled, the little boys down in
+front kicked the rounds, and pinched each other
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_158" id="pg_158">158</a></span> and giggled. Mr. Asaph
+Tidditt importantly strode down the aisle and turned up the wicks of the
+kerosene foot-lamps. Mrs. Sophronia Eldridge, Captain Orrin's
+sister-in-law, seated herself at the piano and played the accompaniments
+while Mrs. Mary Pashy Foster imparted the information that she could not
+sing the old songs now. When she had finished, most people were inclined
+to believe her. The delegation from the Fair Harbor, led by Mrs. Berry
+and Elvira Snowden, arrived in a body. The Universalist minister and his
+wife came, and looked remarkably calm for a couple leading a flock of
+fellow humans to perdition. Captain Elkanah Wingate and Mrs. Wingate
+came last of all and marched majestically to the seats reserved for them
+by the obsequious Mr. Tidditt. The hall lights were dimmed. The curtain
+rose. And George Kent, very handsome and manly as "March Gale," was seen
+and heard, singing:</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Oh, my name was Captain Kidd</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As I sailed, as I sailed."</span></p>
+
+<p>And these were the opening lines of the play, "Down by the Sea."</p>
+
+<p>That performance was a great success, everybody said so. Mr. Tidditt
+expressed the general opinion when he declared that all hands done about
+as fine as the rest but some of 'em done finer. John Carleton, the
+schoolteacher, shone with particular brilliancy as he delivered himself
+of such natural, everyday speeches as: "I have dispatched a messenger to
+town with the glad tidings," or "We will leave this barren spot and hie
+to the gay scenes of city life." And Frank Crosby, as "September Gale,"
+the noble young fisherman, tossed the English language about as a real
+gale might toss what he would have called "a cockle shell," as he
+declared, "With a true heart and a stout arm, who cares for danger?...
+To be upon the sea when the winds are roaring and the waves are seething
+in anger; ... to have a light bark obedient to your command, braving the
+fury of the tempest...." Bayport was fairly well acquainted with
+fishermen,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_159" id="pg_159">159</a></span> numbering at least thirty among its inhabitants, but no one
+of the thirty could talk like that.</p>
+
+<p>Sam Ryder's performance of "Captain Dandelion," the city exquisite, was,
+so the next issue of the <i>Item</i> said, "remarkable"; there is little
+doubt that the <i>Item</i> selected the right word. Joel Macomber was good,
+when he remembered his lines; Miss Wingate was very elegant as "a city
+belle"; Mrs. Bassett made a competent fisherman's wife. But everybody
+declared that Elizabeth Berry and George Kent, as "Kitty Gale" and
+"March Gale," were the two brightest stars in that night's firmament.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Kendrick, between the acts, could hear whispered comments all
+about him. "Isn't Elizabeth fine!" "Don't they do well!" "Ain't she a
+good-lookin' girl, now&mdash;eh?" "Yes, and, my soul and body, if that George
+Kent ain't a match for her then <i>I</i> don't know!" "Oh, don't they make a
+lovely couple!" And, from a seat two rows in front, the penetrating
+voice of Mrs. Noah Baker made proclamations: "Lovers on the stage and
+off the stage, too, I guess. Ha, ha!" And there was a general buzz of
+agreement and many pleased titters.</p>
+
+<p>Sears tried very hard to enjoy the performance, but his thoughts would
+wander. And, when the final curtain fell and the applause subsided, he
+rose to hobble to the door, glad that the evening was over.</p>
+
+<p>He was one of the last to reach the landing and, at the top of the
+stairs, Judah met him. Mr. Cahoon's manner was a combination of dismay
+and triumph.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, there you be, Cap'n Sears," he exclaimed. "Well, I told you! You
+can't say I never, that's one comfort."</p>
+
+<p>"Told me what, Judah?"</p>
+
+<p>"That 'twas goin' to rain. I told you the glass was fallin'. It's a
+pourin'-down rainstorm now, that's what 'tis."</p>
+
+<p>Judah, his faith rooted in the prophecy of the falling barometer, had
+come to the hall with oilskins upon his arm. Now he was arrayed in them
+and weather-proof.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll fetch the Foam Flake around to the platform, Cap'n," he said.
+"You'll want to wait for 'Liz'beth, I presume
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_160" id="pg_160">160</a></span> likely, so take your time
+navigatin' them stairs. No, no, I'll walk. I won't get wet. <i>I</i> knew
+what was comin'. Aye, aye, sir. I'll fetch the horse. Cal'late the
+critter has gnawed off and swallowed two fathoms of fence by this time."</p>
+
+<p>The Foam Flake and the buggy were made fast by the platform when Sears
+reached that point. It was raining hard. The greater part of the
+audience had already started on their homeward journey, but a few still
+lingered, some lamenting the absence of umbrellas and rubbers, others
+awaiting the arrival of messengers who had been sent home to procure
+those protections. The captain, of course, was awaiting Elizabeth, and
+she having to change costume and get rid of make-up, he knew his wait
+was likely to be rather lengthy. He did not mind that so much, but he
+did not desire to talk or be talked to, so he walked to the dark end of
+the platform&mdash;the same end, by the way, where George Kent had stood when
+pondering his problem before asking advice&mdash;and stood there, staring
+into the splashy blackness.</p>
+
+<p>The last group left the lighted portals of the hall and started
+homeward, exclamations and little screams denoting spots where progress
+had been delayed by puddles or mud holes. Mrs. Eldridge, in the ticket
+office, packed up her takings, pennies and "shin-plasters," in a
+pasteboard box and departed for home. Mr. Tidditt accompanying her as
+guard and umbrella holder.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll be back to lock up, Cap'n Sears," called Asaph, reassuringly.
+"Stay right where you be. You won't be in my way at all."</p>
+
+<p>For some minutes longer Sears stood there alone on the platform, facing
+the dismal darkness and his own dismal thoughts. They were dismal, and
+no less so because his common-sense kept prodding him with the certainty
+that there was no more reason for discouragement now than there had been
+two hours before. The obvious offset to this was the equal certainty
+that there had been no more reason for optimism two hours before than at
+present. So he stared into the darkness, listened to the splashing
+waterspouts,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_161" id="pg_161">161</a></span> and, for the millionth time at least, eternally condemned
+the Old Colony railroad and his luck.</p>
+
+<p>A springy, buoyant step came down the stairs. A voice called from the
+doorway:</p>
+
+<p>"Cap'n Kendrick! Cap'n, are you there?"</p>
+
+<p>Sears turned.</p>
+
+<p>"Right here, George," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Kent hastened toward him. His hand was outstretched and his face was
+beaming.</p>
+
+<p>"It worked," he exclaimed, eagerly. "It worked in great shape. Cap'n,
+you're a brick."</p>
+
+<p>His friend did not, momentarily, catch his meaning.</p>
+
+<p>"Glad you think so, George," he said; "but why are you so sure of it
+just now?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, because if it hadn't been for you I should have, more than likely,
+not tried to chop the ice at all."</p>
+
+<p>"Chop the&mdash;&mdash; Oh, yes, yes; I remember. So you and Elizabeth have made
+up, eh?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I.... How on earth did you know she was the one? I didn't tell
+you, did I?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. It's just another proof of my tremendous wisdom. Well, I'm glad,
+George."</p>
+
+<p>"I knew you would be. Mind you, I'm not sure yet I was wrong, but I&mdash;&mdash;
+Good Lord, look at the rain! I had no idea!... Well, at any rate,
+Elizabeth will be all right. She's going with you in the buggy."</p>
+
+<p>There was a slight, a very slight note of regret, almost of envy, in the
+young fellow's tone. The captain noticed it.</p>
+
+<p>"No, she isn't, George," he said, quietly.</p>
+
+<p>"What! She isn't?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, she's goin' with you. You take the horse and buggy and drive her up
+to the Harbor. Then you can send Judah back with it after me, if you
+will."</p>
+
+<p>"But, Cap'n, I wouldn't think of it. Why&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"No need to think. Do it. Look here, George, you know perfectly well you
+haven't finished that ice-choppin' business. There are lots of things
+you want to tell her yet, I know. Come now, aren't there?"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_162" id="pg_162">162</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Kent hesitated. "Why&mdash;why, yes, I suppose there are," he admitted. "But
+it seems mean to take advantage of you, you know. To leave you standing
+here and waiting while she and I&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"That's all right. I'm better fitted for waiting than I am for anything
+else nowadays. Don't argue any more. She'll be here in a minute."</p>
+
+<p>"Well ... well. You're sure you don't mind, really?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not a bit. And she'd rather ride with you, of course."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I wouldn't say that. Of course she did tell me she came with you
+because I&mdash;because we had that&mdash;that little row&mdash;and&mdash;&mdash; But she likes
+you, Cap'n. Honest, she does, a lot. By George, nobody could help liking
+you, you know."</p>
+
+<p>Sears' smile was gray, but his companion did not notice. He was too full
+of his own happiness.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll run up and tell her," he said. "It's mighty good of you, Cap'n
+Kendrick. Sure you don't care? You <i>are</i> a brick."</p>
+
+<p>He hastened up the stairs. Sears was left once more with the black
+wetness to look at. It looked blacker than ever.</p>
+
+<p>Elizabeth, accompanied by George, came down soon afterward. She was
+still protesting.</p>
+
+<p>"Really, I don't think this is right at all, Cap'n Kendrick," she
+declared. "Why should you wait here? If you insist upon George's going
+in the buggy, why don't you come too? I'm sure there will be room
+enough. Won't there, George?"</p>
+
+<p>Kent said, "Yes, of course," but there might have been more enthusiasm
+in his tone. Sears spoke next.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't go now," he lied, calmly. "I want to see Ase Tidditt and he's
+gone to see Cap'n Orrin's wife home. Won't be back for twenty minutes or
+so. No, no, you and George heave right ahead and go, and then send Judah
+and the Foam Flake back for me."</p>
+
+<p>So, after a few more protests on Elizabeth's part, it was settled in
+that way. She and her packages and bags were tucked in the buggy and
+George unhitched the placid Foam
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_163" id="pg_163">163</a></span> Flake. On his way he stopped to
+whisper in the captain's ear.</p>
+
+<p>"Cap'n Kendrick," he whispered, "I shan't forget this. And, say, if ever
+I get into real trouble I'll know who to come to."</p>
+
+<p>The "plash-plash" of the Foam Flake's hoofs and the squeak and grind of
+buggy wheels died away along the invisible main road. Captain Sears
+stared at the ropes of rain laced diagonally across the lighted window
+of the town hall.</p>
+
+<p>After a time, a surprisingly short time, he heard the hoofs returning.
+It seemed almost incredible that George could have driven to the Harbor,
+then to the Minot place, and started Judah on the return trip so soon.</p>
+
+<p>It was not Judah. It was Mike, Judge Knowles' man, and he was driving
+Doctor Sheldon's horse attached to the doctor's chaise.</p>
+
+<p>"Cap'n Kendrick," he hailed, as the equipage splashed up to the
+platform, "is that you there?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Mike. What's the matter?"</p>
+
+<p>"I was just after goin' to the Minot place after ye and I met Cahoon and
+he tould me you was down here. Git in, git in; the doctor says you must
+come."</p>
+
+<p>"Come? Come where?"</p>
+
+<p>"Home. To the judge's house. The ould man is dyin' and he wants to see
+you afore he goes. Ye'll have to hurry. The doctor says it's a matter of
+any time now."</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_164" id="pg_164">164</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_IX_6443" id="CHAPTER_IX_6443"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER IX</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Sears Kendrick never forgot that drive from the town hall. The pouring
+rain, the lurch and roll and bounce of the old chaise, the alternate
+thud and splash of the horse's hoofs, the black darkness&mdash;and the errand
+upon which he was going. Mike told him a little concerning the seizure.
+Judge Knowles had been, so Emmeline Tidditt and the doctor thought,
+appreciably easier during the day.</p>
+
+<p>"He was like himself, the ould man was," said Mike. "I went in to see
+him this mornin'&mdash;he sent for me, you understand&mdash;and he give me the
+divil and all for not washin' the front room windows. 'Dom ye,' says he,
+'I've only got a little while to look out of thim windows; don't you
+suppose I want thim so I <i>can</i> look out of thim?' And the windows clean
+as clean all the time, mind ye. Sure, I didn't care: 'Twas just his way
+of bein' dacint to me. He give me a five dollar bill before I left, God
+rest him. And now&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Mike was tremendously upset. The captain learned that the attack had
+developed about six, and the judge had grown steadily worse since. The
+upper windows of the Knowles house were bright with lights as they drove
+in at the yard gate. Mrs. Tidditt met them at the door. Her thin, hard
+face was tear-streaked and haggard.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I'm so glad you've come, Cap'n Kendrick," she cried. "He's been
+askin' for you."</p>
+
+<p>In the hall at the foot of the stairs Doctor Sheldon was waiting. They
+shook hands and Sears looked a question.</p>
+
+<p>"Not a chance," whispered the doctor. "Barring miracles, he will go
+before morning. He shouldn't see any one, but he insisted on seeing you.
+I'll give you five minutes, no more. Don't excite him."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_165" id="pg_165">165</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The judge looked up from the pillow as Sears tiptoed into the room. His
+face was flushed with fever, but otherwise he looked very much as when
+the captain last visited him. It did not seem possible that this could
+really be the end.</p>
+
+<p>"Hello, Kendrick," whispered Judge Knowles. "Sit down. Sorry I can't
+shake hands with you."</p>
+
+<p>The voice was weak, of course, but not much weaker than when he had last
+heard it. No, it did not seem possible. Captain Sears murmured something
+about his sorrow at finding the judge ill again.</p>
+
+<p>"That's all right, that's all right," was the testy rejoinder. "You
+didn't expect to find me any other way, did you? Kendrick, I wasn't so
+far off when I talked about that graveyard trip, eh?... Umph&mdash;yes. How
+much time did Sheldon say you might have with me?... Don't fool around
+and waste any of it. How many minutes&mdash;come?"</p>
+
+<p>"Five."</p>
+
+<p>"Humph! He might have made it ten, blast him! Well, then listen. When
+I'm gone you're going to be the head of that Fair Harbor place. You're
+going to keep on being the head, I mean. I've fixed it so you'll get
+your salary."</p>
+
+<p>"But, Judge&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Hush! Let me do the talking. Good Lord, man," with an attempt at a
+chuckle, "you wouldn't grudge me any of the little talk I have left,
+would you? You are to keep on being the head of the Fair Harbor&mdash;you
+<i>must</i> for a year or so. And Elizabeth Berry is to be the manager and
+head, under you&mdash;if she wants to be. Understand?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, yes. But, Judge, how&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I've fixed it, I tell you. Wait a little while and you'll know how. But
+that isn't what I want to say to you. Lobelia is dead."</p>
+
+<p>"What?"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't keep asking me what. Listen. Lobelia Seymour&mdash;hanged if I'll call
+her Lobelia Phillips!&mdash;is dead. She died over a month ago. I got a
+letter this afternoon mailed in Florence by that husband of hers. There
+it is, on that
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_166" id="pg_166">166</a></span> table, by the tumbler.... Yes, that's it. Don't stop to
+read it now. Put it in your pocket. You will have time to read it. Time
+counts with me. Now listen, Kendrick."</p>
+
+<p>He paused and asked for water. The captain put the glass to his lips. He
+swallowed once or twice and then impatiently jerked his head aside.</p>
+
+<p>"There are two things you've got to promise me, Kendrick," he whispered,
+earnestly. "One is that, so long as you can fight, that condemned Egbert
+Phillips shan't have a cent of the Fair Harbor property, endowment fund,
+land or anything else. Will you fight the scamp for me, Kendrick?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course. The best I know how."</p>
+
+<p>"You know more than most men in this town. I shouldn't have picked you
+for your job if you didn't. That's one thing&mdash;spike Egbert's guns.
+Here's the other: Look out for Elizabeth Berry."</p>
+
+<p>The captain was not expecting this. He leaned back so suddenly that his
+chair squeaked. The sick man did not notice, or, if he did, paid no
+attention.</p>
+
+<p>"She's Isaac Berry's daughter," he went on, "and Ike Berry was my best
+friend. More than that, she's a good girl, a fine girl. Her mother is
+more or less of a fool, but that isn't the girl's fault. Keep an eye on
+her, will you, Kendrick?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, I'll do what I can, of course."</p>
+
+<p>"Like her, don't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. Very much."</p>
+
+<p>"You couldn't help it. She is pretty thick with that young Kent, I
+believe. He's a bright boy."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"All right.... But there's time enough for that; they're both young....
+Watch her, Kendrick. See that she doesn't make too big mistakes.
+She&mdash;she's going to have a little money of her own pretty soon&mdash;just a
+little. Don't let that&mdash;that Phillips or&mdash;or anybody else get hold of
+it. I.... Oh, here you are! Confound you, Sheldon, you're a nuisance!"</p>
+
+<p>The doctor opened the door and entered. He nodded
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_167" id="pg_167">167</a></span> significantly to
+Kendrick. The latter understood. So, too, did Judge Knowles.</p>
+
+<p>"Time's up, eh?" he panted. "Well, all right, I suppose. Good luck to
+you, Kendrick. And good night."</p>
+
+<p>He smiled cheerfully. One might have thought he expected to see his
+caller the next morning. The captain simply could not believe this was
+to be the last time.</p>
+
+<p>"Good night, Judge," he said. "I'll drop in to-morrow, early."</p>
+
+<p>The judge did not answer. His last word had to do with other things.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you forget, Kendrick," he whispered. "I've banked on you."</p>
+
+<p>The feeling of the absolute impossibility of the situation still
+remained with Sears as Mike drove him to his own door and Judah helped
+him down from the chaise. It was not possible that a brain like that, a
+bit of machinery capable of thinking so clearly and expressing itself so
+vigorously, could be so near its final breakdown. A personality like
+Judge Knowles' could not end so abruptly. He would not have it so. The
+doctor must be mistaken. He was over pessimistic.</p>
+
+<p>He sat in the rocking chair until nearly half-past one thinking of the
+judge's news, that Lobelia Phillips was dead, and of the charge to him.
+Fight Egbert&mdash;there was an element of humor in that; Knowles certainly
+did hate Phillips. But for him, Kendrick, to assume a sort of
+guardianship over the fortunes of Elizabeth Berry! The fun in that was
+too sardonic to be pleasant. He thought of many things before he
+retired, but the way ahead looked foggy enough. And behind the fog
+was&mdash;what? Why, little sunshine for him, in all human probability.
+Before blowing out his lamp he peered out of the window at the Knowles
+house. The lights there were still burning.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning when he came out for breakfast, Judah met him with a
+solemn face.</p>
+
+<p>"Bad news for Bayport this mornin', Cap'n Sears," said Judah. "Judge
+Knowles has gone. Slipped his cable about
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_168" id="pg_168">168</a></span> four o'clock, so Mike told
+me. There's a good man gone, by Henry! Don't seem hardly as if it could
+be, does it?"</p>
+
+<p>That was exactly what Bayport said when it heard the ill tidings. It did
+not seem as if it could be. The judge had been so long a dominant figure
+in town affairs, his strong will had so long helped to mould and lead
+opinion and his shrewd common sense had so often guided the community,
+and individuals, through safe channels and out of troubled waters, that
+it was hard to comprehend the fact that he would lead and guide no more.
+He had many enemies, no man with his determined character could avoid
+that, but they were altogether of a type whose enmity was, to decent
+people, preferable to their friendship. During his life it had seemed as
+if he were a lonely man, but his funeral was the largest held in Bayport
+since the body of Colonel Seth Foster, killed at Gettysburg, was brought
+home from the front for burial.</p>
+
+<p>It was a gloomy, drizzly day when the long line of buggies and carryalls
+and folk on foot followed the hearse to the cemetery amid the pines.
+Captain Sears, looking back at the procession, thought of the judge's
+many prophecies and grim jokes concerning this very journey, and he
+wondered&mdash;well, he wondered as most of us wonder on such occasions. Also
+he realized that, although their acquaintanceship had been brief, he was
+going to miss Judge Knowles tremendously.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I had been lucky enough to know him sooner," he told Judah that
+evening.</p>
+
+<p>Judah pulled his nose reflectively. "It kind of surprised me," he
+observed, "to hear what the minister said about him. 'Twas the Orthodox
+minister, and he's pretty strict, too, but you heard him say that the
+judge was one of the best men in Ostable County. Yet he never went to
+meetin' what you'd call reg'lar and he did cuss consider'ble. He did
+now, didn't he, Cap'n Sears?"</p>
+
+<p>Sears nodded. He was thinking and paying little attention to the Cahoon
+moralizing.</p>
+
+<p>"Um-hm," went on Judah. "He sartin did. He never
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_169" id="pg_169">169</a></span> said 'sugar' when he
+meant 'damn.' But I don't know, I cal'late I'd ruther been sworn at by
+Judge Knowles than had a blessin' said over me by some others in these
+latitudes. The judge's cussin' would have been honest, anyhow. And he
+never put one of them swear words in the wrong place. They was always
+just where they belonged; even when he swore at me I always agreed with
+him."</p>
+
+<p>Feeling, somehow, that the death of the man who had chosen and employed
+him for the position increased his responsibility in that position,
+Captain Sears worked harder than ever to earn his salary as general
+manager of the Fair Harbor. He had already made some improvements in
+systematizing and thereby saving money for the institution. The
+groceries, flour, tea, sugar, and the rest, had heretofore been
+purchased at Bassett's store in the village. He still continued to buy
+certain articles of Eliphalet, principally from motives of policy and to
+retain the latter's good will, but the bulk of supplies he contracted
+for in Boston at the houses from which he had so often bought stores for
+his ships. He could not go to the city and negotiate by word of mouth,
+more was the pity, and so was obliged to make his trades by mail, but he
+got bids from several firms and the results were quite worth while.
+Besides groceries he bought a hogshead of corned beef, barrels of
+crackers, a barrel of salt pork, and, from one of the local fishermen, a
+half dozen kegs of salt mackerel. The saving altogether was a very
+appreciable amount.</p>
+
+<p>The Fair Harbor property included, besides the land upon which the house
+was situated, several acres of wood lot timbered with pine and oak. Mrs.
+Berry&mdash;or her daughter&mdash;had been accustomed to hire a man to cut and
+haul such wood as was needed, from time to time, for the stoves and
+fireplaces. Also, when repairs had to be done, they hired a carpenter to
+make them. Sears, when he got around to it, devoted some consideration
+to the wood and repair question and, after much haggling, affected a
+sort of three-cornered swap. Benijah Black, the carpenter, was a
+brother-in-law of Burgess Paine, who owned the local coal, wood, lumber
+and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_170" id="pg_170">170</a></span> grain shop by the railway station. The captain arranged that Black
+should do whatever carpenter work might be needed at the Harbor and take
+his pay in wood at the wood lot, selling the wood&mdash;or a part of it&mdash;to
+Paine, for whom he was in debt for coal and lumber; and, also, for whom
+he, Black, was building a new storage shed. It was a complicated
+process, but it resulted in the Fair Harbor's getting its own firewood
+cut, hauled and split for next to nothing, its repair costs cut in half,
+its coal bills lessened, while Black and Paine seemed to be perfectly
+satisfied. Altogether it was a good deal of a managerial triumph, as
+even the manager himself was obliged to admit.</p>
+
+<p>Elizabeth was loud in her praises.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see how you ever did it, Cap'n Kendrick," she declared. "And
+Benijah and Mr. Paine are just as contented as we are. It is a miracle."</p>
+
+<p>Sears grinned. "I don't know quite how I did it, myself," he said.
+"'Twas the most complicated piece of steerin' I ever did, and if we come
+out without shipwreck it <i>will</i> be a miracle! I'm goin' to tackle that
+hay question next. There's hay enough on that lower meadow of ours to
+pay for corn for the hens for quite a spell. I'll see if I can't make a
+dicker there somehow. Then if I can fix up a deal with the hens to trade
+corn for eggs, we'll come out pretty well, won't we?"</p>
+
+<p>This sort of thing interested him and made him a trifle more contented
+with his work. His talents as a diplomat, such as they were, were needed
+continually. The interior of the Fair Harbor was a sort of incubator for
+petty squabbles, jealousies, prejudices and complaints, some funny, many
+ridiculous, and almost all annoying. The most petty he refused to be
+troubled with, bidding the complainants go to Mrs. Berry. His refusals
+were good-natured but determined.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I tell you, Miss Peasley," he said, when that lady had come to
+him with a long, involved wail concerning the manner in which Mrs.
+Constance Cahoon, who occupied the seat next her at table, insisted on
+keeping the window open
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_171" id="pg_171">171</a></span> all through meals, "so's I sit there with a
+draft blowin' right down my neck the whole time." "I tell you, Miss
+Peasley," said the captain, "if I were you I would shut the window."</p>
+
+<p>"But I do shut it," declared Desire. "And every time I jump up and shut
+it, up she bounces and opens it again."</p>
+
+<p>"Humph! I see.... Well, exercise helps digestion, so they say. You can
+jump as long as she can bounce, can't you?"</p>
+
+<p>Miss Peasley was disgusted. "Well," she snapped, "I don't call that much
+help. I supposed if I went to the <i>manager</i> he'd put his foot down."</p>
+
+<p>"He's goin' to&mdash;and then take it up and put it down again. I've got to
+hobble out to see to mowin' the meadow. You tell Mrs. Berry all about
+it."</p>
+
+<p>As a part of his diplomacy he made it a point to spend half an hour each
+morning in consultation with Cordelia Berry. The matron of the Fair
+Harbor was at first rather suspicious and ready to resent any intrusion
+upon her rights and prerogatives. But at each conference the captain
+listened so politely to her rambling reports, seemed to receive her
+suggestions so eagerly and to ask her advice upon so many points, that
+her suspicions were lulled and she came to accept the new
+superintendent's presence as a relief and a benefit.</p>
+
+<p>"He is so very gentlemanly, Elizabeth," she told her daughter. "And so
+willing to learn. At first, as you know, I couldn't see why the poor
+dear judge appointed him, but now I do. He realized that I needed an
+assistant. In many ways he reminds me of your father."</p>
+
+<p>"But, mother," exclaimed her daughter, in surprise, "Cap'n Kendrick
+isn't nearly as old as father was."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh it isn't the age that reminded me. It's the manner. He has the same
+quick, authoritative way of making decisions and saying things. And it
+is so very gratifying to see how he defers to my judgment and
+experience."</p>
+
+<p>Captain Sears did defer, that is he seldom opposed. But, when each
+conference was over, he went his own sweet way, using his own judgment
+and doing what seemed to
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_172" id="pg_172">172</a></span> him best. With Elizabeth, however, he was
+quite different. When she offered advice&mdash;which was seldom&mdash;he listened
+and almost invariably acted upon it. He was daily growing to have a
+higher opinion of her wisdom and capabilities. Whether or not it was the
+wisdom and capabilities alone which influenced that opinion he did not
+attempt to analyze. He enjoyed being with her and working with her, that
+he knew. That the constant companionship might be, for him, a risky and
+perhaps dangerous experience, he did not as yet realize. When he was
+with her, and busy with Fair Harbor affairs, he could forget the
+slowness with which his crippled legs were mending, and the increasing
+longing&mdash;sometimes approaching desperation&mdash;for the quarter deck of his
+own ship and the sea wind in his face.</p>
+
+<p>He worked hard for the Harbor and did his best to justify his
+appointment as manager, but, work as he might, he knew perfectly well
+that such labors would scarcely earn his salary. But, on the other hand,
+he knew that the man who appointed him had not expected them to do so.
+He had been put in charge of the Fair Harbor for one reason alone and
+that was to be in command of the ship when the redoubtable Egbert came
+alongside. Judge Knowles had as much as told him that very thing, and
+more than once. Egbert Phillips had been, evidently, the judge's pet
+aversion and, in his later days illness and fretfulness had magnified
+and intensified that aversion. When Sears attempted to find good and
+sufficient reasons for belief that the husband of Lobelia Seymour was
+any such bugbear he was baffled. He asked Judah more questions and he
+questioned citizens of Bayport who had known the former singing teacher
+before and after his marriage. Some, like Judah, declared him "slick" or
+"smooth." Others, and those the majority, seemed to like him. He was
+polite and educated and a "perfect gentleman," this was the sum of
+feminine opinion. Captain Sears was inclined to picture him as what he
+would have called a "sissy," and not much more dangerous than that. The
+judge's hatred, he came to believe, was an obsession, a sick man's
+fancy.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_173" id="pg_173">173</a></span></p>
+
+<p>He had, of course, read the Phillips letter, that which Judge Knowles
+bade him take away and read that night of his death. He hurriedly read
+it on that occasion before going to bed; he had reread it several times
+since.</p>
+
+<p>It was a well-written letter, there was no doubt of that, a polite
+letter, almost excessively so, perhaps. In fact, if Sears had been
+obliged to find a fault with it it would have been that it was a little
+too polite, a little too polished and flowery. It was not the sort of
+letter that he, himself, would have written under stress of grief, but
+he realized that it was not the sort of letter he could have written at
+all. Taken as a whole it was hard to pick flaws which might not be the
+result of prejudice, and taken sentence by sentence it stood the test
+almost as well.</p>
+
+<p>"Our life together has been so happy," wrote Phillips, "so ideal, that
+the knowledge of its end leaves me stunned, speechless, wordless."</p>
+
+<p>That was exaggeration, of course. He was not wordless, for the letter
+contained almost a superfluity of words; but people often said things
+they did not mean literally.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear wife and I spoke of you so often, Judge, her affection for you
+was so great&mdash;an affection which I share, as you know&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Judge Knowles had not returned the writers affection, quite the
+contrary. But it was possible that Phillips did not know this and that
+he was fond of the judge. Possible, even if not quite probable.</p>
+
+<p>"She and I never had a difference of opinion, never a thought which was
+not shared. This, in my hour of sorrow&mdash;" Phillips had written "my
+stricken hour" first, and then altered it to "hour of sorrow"&mdash;"is my
+greatest, almost my only consolation."</p>
+
+<p>Yet, as Judge Knowles had expressly stated, Lobelia herself had told him
+that her husband did not know of the endowment at the Fair Harbor and
+she had at least hinted that her married life was not all happiness.</p>
+
+<p>But, yet again, the judge was ill and weak, he had never liked Phillips,
+had always distrusted and suspected him, and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_174" id="pg_174">174</a></span> might he not have fancied
+unhappiness when there was none?</p>
+
+<p>The letter said nothing concerning its writer's plans. It told of Mrs.
+Phillips' death, her burial at Florence, and of the widower's grief. The
+only hint, or possible hint, concerning a visit to Bayport was contained
+in one line, "When I see you I can tell you more."</p>
+
+<p>The captain puzzled over the letter a good deal. He showed it to
+Elizabeth. He found that Judge Knowles had not discussed Egbert with her
+at all. To her the ex-singing teacher was little more than a name; she
+remembered him, but nothing in particular concerning him. She thought
+the letter a very beautiful one&mdash;very sad, of course, but beautiful.
+Plainly she did not have the feeling which Sears had, but which he was
+inclined to think might be fathered by prejudice that it was a trifle
+too beautiful, that its beauty was that of a painting by a master, each
+stroke carefully touched in at exactly the right place for effect.</p>
+
+<p>There was no demand for money in it, no hint at straitened
+circumstances; so why should there be any striving for effect? He gave
+it up. If the much talked of Egbert was what Judge Knowles had declared
+him to be, then neither the judge nor any one else had exaggerated his
+smoothness.</p>
+
+<p>Emmeline Tidditt, for so many years the Knowles housekeeper, made one
+remark which contained possible food for thought.</p>
+
+<p>"So he buried her over there amongst them foreigners, did he?" observed
+Emmeline. "That seems kind of funny. When she and him was visitin' here
+the last time she told me herself&mdash;and he was standin' right alongside
+and heard her&mdash;that when she died she wanted to be fetched back here to
+Bayport and buried in the Orthodox cemetery alongside her father and
+mother and all her folks. Said, dead or alive, it wasn't really home for
+her anywheres else. She must have changed her mind since, though, I
+cal'late."</p>
+
+<p>Bayport talked a good deal about Lobelia Phillips and what would become
+of the Fair Harbor now that its founder and patroness was dead. It was
+surmised, of course, that
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_175" id="pg_175">175</a></span> Mrs. Phillips had provided for her pet
+institution in her will, but that will had not yet been offered for
+probate. Neither had the will of Judge Knowles, for that matter. Lawyer
+Bradley, over at Orham, the attorney with whom George Kent was reading
+law, was known to be the judge's executor. And Judge Knowles and Mr.
+Bradley were co-executor's for Lobelia Phillips, having been duly named
+by Lobelia on her last visit to Bayport. So, presumably, both wills were
+in Bradley's possession. But why had they not been probated?</p>
+
+<p>Bradley himself made the explanation.</p>
+
+<p>"The judge had a nephew in California," he said. "He was the nearest
+relative&mdash;although that isn't very near. Of course he couldn't get on
+for the funeral, but he is coming pretty soon. I thought I would wait
+until he came before I opened the will. As for Mrs. Phillips' will, I
+expect that her husband must be on his way here now. I haven't heard
+from him, but I take it for granted he is coming. I shall wait a while
+for him, too. There is no pressing hurry in either case."</p>
+
+<p>So Bayport talked about the wills and the expected arrival of the heirs,
+but as time passed and neither nephew nor husband arrived, began to lose
+interest and to talk of other things. Sears Kendrick, remembering his
+last conversation with Judge Knowles, was curious to learn exactly what
+the latter meant by his hints concerning "fixing things" for the Fair
+Harbor and Elizabeth having "money of her own," but he was busy and did
+not allow his curiosity to interfere with his schemes and improvements.
+He and Miss Berry saw each other every day, worked together and planned
+together, and the captain's fits of despondency and discouragement grew
+less and less frequent. He had an odd feeling at times, a feeling as if,
+instead of growing older daily, he was growing younger. He mentioned it
+to Elizabeth on one occasion and she did not laugh, but seemed to
+understand.</p>
+
+<p>"It is true," she said. "I have noticed it. You <i>are</i> getting younger,
+Cap'n Kendrick."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_176" id="pg_176">176</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Am I? That's good. Be better yet if I didn't have such a tremendous
+long way to go."</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense! You aren't old. When I first met you I thought&mdash;it sounds
+dreadful when I say it&mdash;I thought you were fifty, at least. Now I don't
+believe you are more than&mdash;well, thirty-five."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, I am. I am&mdash;humph!&mdash;let's see, I am&mdash;er&mdash;thirty-eight my next
+birthday. And I suppose that sounds pretty ancient to you."</p>
+
+<p>"No, indeed it doesn't. Why, thirty-eight isn't old at all!"</p>
+
+<p>The interesting discussion of ages was interrupted just then, but Sears
+found pleasure in the thought that she, too, had noticed that he looked
+and acted younger. It was being at work again, he believed, which was
+responsible for the rejuvenation; this and the now unmistakable fact
+that, although the improvement was still provokingly slow, his legs were
+better, really better. He could, as he said, navigate much more easily
+now. Once, at supper time, he walked from his room to the table without
+a cane. It was a laborious journey, and he was glad when it was over,
+but he made it. Judah came in just in time to see the end.</p>
+
+<p>"Jumpin', creepin', hoppin' hookblocks, Cap'n Sears!" cried Judah. "Is
+that you, doin' that?"</p>
+
+<p>"What's left of me, Judah. I feel just this minute as if there wasn't
+much left."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, creepin' prophets! I couldn't believe it. Thinks I, 'There's fog
+in my deadlights and I can't see through 'em right.' Well, by Henry! And
+a little spell ago you was tellin' me you'd never be able to cruise
+again except under jury rig. Humph! You'll be up to the town hall
+dancin' 'Hull's Victory' and 'Smash the Windows' fust thing we know."</p>
+
+<p>After supper the captain, using the cane but whistling a sprightly air,
+strolled out to the front gate, where, leaning over the fence, he looked
+up and down the curving, tree-shaded road, dozing in the late summer
+twilight. And up
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_177" id="pg_177">177</a></span> that road came George Kent, also whistling, to swing
+in at the Fair Harbor gate and stride to the side door.</p>
+
+<p>Before that object lesson of real youth Sears' fictitious imitation
+seemed cheap and shoddy. He leaned heavily upon his cane as he hobbled
+back to the kitchen.</p>
+
+<p>The next day something happened. Sears had been busy all the forenoon
+superintending the carting in and stowing of the Fair Harbor share of
+oak and pine from the wood-lot. Thirteen cords of it, sawed and split in
+lengths to suit the Harbor stoves and fireplaces, were to be piled in
+the sheds adjoining the old Seymour barn at the rear of the premises.
+Judah had been engaged to do the piling. The captain had hesitated about
+employing him for several reasons, one being that he was drawing
+wages&mdash;small but regular&mdash;as caretaker at the General Minot place;
+another, that there might be some criticism&mdash;or opportunity for
+criticism&mdash;because of the relationship, landlord and lodger, which
+existed between them. Judah himself scorned the thought.</p>
+
+<p>"Mean to tell me I can't work for you just because you're boardin' along
+of me, Cap'n Sears?" he protested. "I've cooked for you a good many
+years and I worked for you then, didn't I?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ye&mdash;es, but you had signed up to work for me then. That's what they
+paid you for."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it's what <i>you</i> pay me for now, ain't it? And Ogden Minot he pays
+me to be stevedore aboard his house yonder. And the Fair Harbor's
+cal'latin' to pay me for pilin' this wood, ain't it? You ain't payin'
+for that, nor Ogden nuther. Well, then!... Oh, don't let's waste time
+arguin' about it now, Cap'n Sears. Let's do the way Abe Pepper done when
+the feller asked him to take a little somethin'. Abe had promised his
+wife he'd sign the pledge and he was on his way to temp'rance meetin'
+where he was goin' to meet her and sign it. And on the way he ran acrost
+this feller&mdash;Cornelius Bassett 'twas&mdash;and Cornelius says, 'Come have a
+drink with me, Abe,' he says. Well, time Abe got around to meet his wife
+the temp'rance meetin'
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_178" id="pg_178">178</a></span> hall was all dark and Abe was all&mdash;er&mdash;lighted
+up, as you might say. 'Why didn't you tell that Bassett man you was in a
+hurry and couldn't stop?' his wife wanted to know. 'Didn't have time to
+tell him nothin',' explains Abe. 'I knew I was late for meetin' as
+'twas.' 'Then why didn't you come right on <i>to</i> meetin'?' she wanted to
+know. 'If I'd done that I'd lost the drink,' says he."</p>
+
+<p>The captain laughed, but looked doubtful.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't quite see where that yarn fits in this case, Judah," he
+observed.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't ye? Well, I don't know's it does. But anyhow, don't let's waste
+time arguin'. Let me pile the wood fust and then we can argue
+afterwards."</p>
+
+<p>So he was piling busily, carrying the wood in huge armfuls from the
+heaps where the carts had left it into the barn, and singing as he
+worked. But, bearing in mind his skipper's orders concerning the kind of
+song he was to sing, his chantey this time dealt neither with the
+eternal feminine nor the flowing bowl. Suggested perhaps by the nature
+of his task, he bellowed of "Fire Down Below."</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"'Fire in the galley,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Fire in the house,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Fire in the beef-kid</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Burnin' up the scouce.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Fire, <i>fire</i>, FIRE down below!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Fetch a bucket of water!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Fire! down BELOW!'"</span></p>
+
+<p>Captain Sears, after watching and listening for a few minutes, turned to
+limp up the hill, past the summer-house and the garden plots, to the
+side entrance of the Fair Harbor. The mystery of these garden patches,
+their exact equality of size and shape, had been explained to him by
+Elizabeth. The previous summer the Fair Harbor guests, or a few of them,
+led, as usual, by Miss Snowden and Mrs. Brackett, had suddenly been
+seized with a feverish desire to practice horticulture. They had
+demanded flower beds of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_179" id="pg_179">179</a></span> their own. So, after much debate and
+disagreement on their part Elizabeth and her mother had had the slope
+beneath the Eyrie laid out in plots exactly alike, one for each guest,
+and the question of ownership had been settled by drawing lots. Each
+plot owner might plant and cultivate her own garden in her own way.
+These ways differed widely, hence the varied color schemes and
+diversifications of design noted by Sears on his first visit. The most
+elaborate&mdash;not to say "whirliggy"&mdash;design was the product of Miss
+Snowden's labor. The captain would have guessed it. The plot which
+contained no flowers at all, but was thickly planted with beets, onions
+and other vegetables, belonged to Esther Tidditt. He would have guessed
+that, too.</p>
+
+<p>He had stopped for an instant to inspect the plots, when he heard a
+footstep. Looking up, he saw a man descending the slope along the path
+by the Eyrie.</p>
+
+<p>The man was a stranger, that was plain at first glance. The captain did
+not know every one in Bayport, but he had at least a recognizing
+acquaintance with most of the males, and this particular male was not
+one of them. And Sears would have bet heavily that neither was he one of
+the very few whom he did not know. He was not a Bayport citizen, he did
+not look Bayport.</p>
+
+<p>He was very tall and noticeably slim. He wore a silk hat what Bayport
+still called a "beaver" in memory of the day's when such headpieces were
+really covered with beaver fur. There was nothing unusual in this fact;
+most of Bayport's prosperous citizens wore beavers on Sundays or for
+dress up. But there was this of the unusual about this particular hat:
+it had an air about it, a something which would have distinguished it
+amid fifty Bayport tiles. And yet just what that something was Sears
+Kendrick could not have told he could not have defined it, but he knew
+it was there.</p>
+
+<p>There was the same unusual something about the stranger's apparel in
+general, and yet there was nothing loud about it or queer. He carried a
+cane, but so did Captain Elkanah Wingate, for that matter, although only
+on Sundays. Captain Elkanah, however, carried his as if it were a club,
+or a
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_180" id="pg_180">180</a></span> scepter, or a&mdash;well, a marlinspike, perhaps. The stranger's cane
+was a part of his arm, and when he twirled it the twirls were graceful
+gestures, not vulgar flourishes.</p>
+
+<p>Sears's reflections concerning the newcomer were by no means as
+analytical as this, of course. His first impressions were those of one
+coming upon a beautiful work of art, a general wonder and admiration,
+not detailed at all. Judah, standing behind him with an armful of wood,
+must have had similar feelings, for he whispered, hoarsely, "Creepin'
+Moses, Cap'n Sears, is that the Prince of Wales, or who?"</p>
+
+<p>The man, standing in the path above the gardens, stopped to look about
+him. And at that moment, from the vine-covered Eyrie emerged Miss Elvira
+Snowden. She had evidently been there for some time, reading&mdash;she had a
+book in her hand&mdash;and as she came out she and the stranger were brought
+face to face.</p>
+
+<p>Sears and Judah saw them look at each other. The man raised his hat and
+said something which they could not hear. Then Miss Snowden cried "Oh!"
+She seemed intensely surprised and, for her, a good deal flustered.
+There was more low-toned conversation. Then Elvira and the stranger
+turned and walked back up the path toward the house. He escorted her in
+a manner and with a manner which made that walk a sort of royal
+progress.</p>
+
+<p>"Who was that?" asked Sears, as much of himself as of Judah.</p>
+
+<p>But Mr. Cahoon had, by this time, settled the question to his own
+satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>"It's one of them slick critters peddlin' lightnin' rods," he declared,
+with conviction. "When you sight somebody that looks like a cross
+between a minister and one of them stuffed dummies they have outside of
+the stores in Dock Square to show off clothes on, then you can 'most
+generally bet he's peddlin' lightnin' rods. Either that or paintin'
+signs on fences about 'Mustang Liniment' or 'Vegetine' or somethin'.
+Why, a feller like that hove alongside me over in our yard one
+time&mdash;'twas afore you come, Cap'n Sears&mdash;and I
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_181" id="pg_181">181</a></span> give you my word, the
+way he was togged up I thought&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The captain did not wait to hear the Cahoon thought. He walked away. In
+a few minutes he had forgotten the stranger, having other and more
+important matters on his mind. There was a question concerning the Fair
+Harbor cooking range which was perplexing him just at this time. It
+looked as if they might have to buy a new one, and Sears, as
+superintendent of finances, hated to spend the money that month.</p>
+
+<p>He limped up the slope and along the path to the side door. And when he
+entered that door he became aware that something unusual was going on.
+The atmosphere of the Fair Harbor for Mariners' Women was, so to speak,
+electrified, it was vibrant with excitement and mystery.</p>
+
+<p>There was no one in the dining room, and no one in the sitting room. Yet
+in each of these apartments were numerous evidences that people had been
+there very recently and left in a great hurry. A cloth partially laid
+and left hanging. Drawers of the buffet left open. A broom lying
+directly in the middle of the floor where it had been dropped. An upset
+work-basket, disgorging spools, needle packets, and an avalanche of
+stockings awaiting darning. A lamp with the chimney standing beside it
+on the table. These were some of the signs denoting sudden and important
+interruption of a busy forenoon.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Sears, wondering much, turned from the sitting room into the
+hall leading to the parlor. Then he became aware that, ahead of him, was
+the center and core of excitement. From the parlor came a murmur of
+voices, exclamations, giggles&mdash;the sounds as of a party, a meeting of
+the sewing-circle, or a reception. He could not imagine what it was all
+about.</p>
+
+<p>He reached the parlor door and stood there for an instant looking in.
+Every inmate of the Harbor was in that room, including Elizabeth and her
+mother and even Caroline Snow, who, because it was Monday, was there to
+help with the washing. And every one&mdash;or almost every one&mdash;was
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_182" id="pg_182">182</a></span> talking,
+and the majority were crowded about one spot, a spot where stood a man,
+a man whom Sears recognized as the stranger he had seen in the garden.</p>
+
+<p>And then Mrs. Berry, who happened to be facing the door, saw him. She
+broke through the ring of women and hurried over. Her face was aglow,
+her eyes were shining, there were bright spots in her cheeks, and,
+altogether, she looked younger and handsomer than the captain had ever
+seen her, more as he would have imagined she must have looked in the
+days when Cap'n Ike came South a-courting.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Captain Kendrick," she cried, "I am so <i>very</i> glad you have come.
+We have just had such a surprise! Such a very unexpected surprise, but a
+very delightful one. Come! You must meet him."</p>
+
+<p>She took his hand and led him toward the stranger. The latter, seeing
+them approach, politely pushed through the group surrounding him and
+stepped forward. Sears noticed for the first time that the sleeve of his
+coat was encircled by a broad band of black. His tie was black also, so
+were his cuff buttons. He was in mourning. An amazing idea flashed to
+the captain's brain.</p>
+
+<p>"Captain Kendrick," gushed Mrs. Berry, "I have the honor to present you
+to Mr. Phillips, husband of our beloved founder."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Phillips smiled&mdash;his teeth were very fine, his smile engaging. He
+extended a hand.</p>
+
+<p>"I am delighted to meet Captain Kendrick," he said.</p>
+
+<p>The captain's stammered answer was conventional, and was not a literal
+expression of his thought. The latter, put into words, would have been:</p>
+
+<p>"Egbert! I might have known it."</p>
+
+<p>But there was no real reason why he should have known it, for this
+Egbert was not at all like the Egbert he had been expecting to see.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_183" id="pg_183">183</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_X_7166" id="CHAPTER_X_7166"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER X</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Sears Kendrick left the Fair Harbor, perhaps fifteen minutes later, with
+that thought still uppermost in his mind. This was not at all the Egbert
+Phillips he had expected. From Judge Knowles' conversation, from Judah
+Cahoon's stories, from fragmentary descriptions he had picked up here
+and there about Bayport, he had fashioned an Egbert who had come to be
+in his mind a very real individual. This Egbert of his imagining was an
+oily, rather flashily dressed adventurer, a glib talker, handsome in a
+stage hero sort of way, with exaggerated politeness and a toothsome
+smile. There should be about this individual a general atmosphere of
+brilliantine, clothes and jewelry. On the whole he might have been
+expected to look a bit like the manager the captain had seen standing
+beside the ticket wagon at the circus, twirling his mustache with one
+hand and his cane with the other. Not quite as showy, not quite as
+picturesque, but a marked resemblance nevertheless.</p>
+
+<p>And the flesh and blood Egbert Phillips was not that kind at all. One
+was not conscious of his clothes, except that they were all that they
+should be as to fit&mdash;and style. He wore no jewelry whatever save his
+black cuff buttons and studs. His black tie was not of Bayport's
+fashion, certainly. It was ample, flowing and picturesque, rather in the
+foreign way. No other male in Bayport could have worn that tie and not
+looked foolish, yet Mr. Phillips did not look foolish, far from it. He
+did not wear a beard, another unusual bit of individuality, but his
+long, drooping mustache was extraordinarily becoming and&mdash;yes,
+aristocratic was the word. His smile was pleasant, his handshake
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_184" id="pg_184">184</a></span> was
+cordial, but not overdone, and his voice low and pleasant. Above all he
+had a manner, a manner which caused Sears, who had sailed pretty well
+over the world and had met all sorts of people in all sorts of places,
+to feel awkward and countrified. Yet one could tell that Mr. Phillips
+would not have one feel that way for the world; it was his desire to put
+every one at his or her ease.</p>
+
+<p>He greeted the captain with charming affability. He had heard of him, of
+course. He understood they were neighbors, as one might say. He looked
+forward to the pleasure of their better acquaintance. He had gotten but
+little further than this when Mrs. Berry, Miss Snowden and the rest
+again swooped down upon him and Sears was left forgotten on the outside
+of the circle. He went home soon afterward and sat down in the Minot
+kitchen to think it over.</p>
+
+<p>Egbert had come.... Well? Now what?</p>
+
+<p>He spent the greater part of the afternoon superintending the stowage of
+the wood and did not go back to the Harbor at all. But he was perfectly
+certain that he was not missed. The Fair Harbor for Mariners' Women
+fairly perspired excitement. Caroline Snow, her washing hung upon the
+lines in the back yard, found time to scurry down the hill and tell
+Judah the news. The captain had limped up to his room for a forgotten
+pipe, and when he returned Judah was loaded with it. He fired his first
+broadside before his lodger entered the barn.</p>
+
+<p>"Say, Cap'n Sears," hailed Mr. Cahoon, breathlessly, "do you know who
+that feller was me and you seen along of Elviry this forenoon? The tall
+one with the beaver and&mdash;and the gloves and the cane? The one I called
+the Prince of Wales or else a lightnin'-rod peddler? Do you know who he
+is?"</p>
+
+<p>Sears nodded. "Yes," he said, shortly.</p>
+
+<p>Judah stared, open-mouthed.</p>
+
+<p>"You <i>do</i>?" he gasped.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_185" id="pg_185">185</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"You mean to tell me you know he's that&mdash;ah&mdash;er-what's-his-name&mdash;Eg
+Phillips come back?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Judah."</p>
+
+<p>"My hoppin' Henry! Why didn't you say so?"</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't know it then, Judah. I found it out afterward, when I went up
+to the house."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;but&mdash;but you knew it when you and me was eatin' dinner, didn't
+you? Why didn't you say somethin' about it then?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh I don't know. It isn't important enough to interfere with our meals,
+is it?"</p>
+
+<p>Judah slowly shook his head. "It's a dum good thing you wan't around
+time of the flood, Cap'n Sears," he declared. "'Twould have been the
+thirty-eighth day afore you'd have cal'lated 'twas sprinklin' hard
+enough to notice. Afore that you'd have called it a thick fog, I presume
+likely. If you don't think this Phillips man's makin' port is important
+enough to talk about you take a cruise down to the store to-night.
+You'll hear more cacklin' than you'd hear in a henhouse in a week&mdash;and
+all account of just one Egg, too," he added, with a chuckle.</p>
+
+<p>"Caroline told you he had come, I suppose? Well, what does she think of
+him?"</p>
+
+<p>Judah snorted. "She?" he repeated. "She thinks he's the Angel Gabriel
+dressed up."</p>
+
+<p>He would have liked to discuss the new arrival the remainder of the
+afternoon, but the captain was not in the mood to listen. Neither was he
+more receptive or discussive at supper time. Judah wanted to talk of
+nothing else and to speculate concerning the amount of wealth which Mr.
+Phillips might have inherited, upon the probable date of the reading of
+Lobelia's will, upon whether or not the fortunate legatee might take up
+his residence in Bayport.</p>
+
+<p>"Say Cap'n" he observed, turning an inflamed countenance from the steam
+of dishwashing, "don't you cal'late maybe he may be wantin' to&mdash;er&mdash;sort
+of change things aboard the Fair Harbor? He'll be Admiral, as you might
+say, now, won't he?"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_186" id="pg_186">186</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Will he?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well&mdash;won't he?"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't know, Judah. I haven't thrown up my commission yet, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"No, course you ain't, course you ain't. I don't mean he'd think of
+disrating you, Cap'n Sears. Nobody'd be fool-head enough for that....
+But, honest, I would like to look at him and hear him talk. Caroline
+Snow, she says he's the finest, highest-toned man ever <i>she</i> see."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes? Well, that's sayin' somethin'."</p>
+
+<p>"Yus, but 'tain't sayin' too much. She lives down to Woodchuck Neck and
+the highest thing down there is a barrel of cod-livers. They're good and
+high when the sun gets to 'em."</p>
+
+<p>When the dishes were done he announced that he guessed likely he might
+as well go down to Eliphalet's and listen to the cackling. The captain
+did not object, and so he put on his cap and departed. But he was back
+again in less than a minute.</p>
+
+<p>"He's comin', Cap'n," he cried, excitedly. "Creepin' Moses! He's comin'
+here."</p>
+
+<p>Sears remained calm. "He is, eh?" he observed. "Well, is he creepin'
+now?"</p>
+
+<p>"Hey? Creepin'? What are you talkin' about?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Moses. You said he was comin', didn't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I said that Egbert man was comin'. He was just onlatchin' the gate when
+I see him.... Hey? That's him knockin' now. Shall I&mdash;shall I let him in,
+Cap'n Sears?"</p>
+
+<p>"I would if I were you, Judah. If you don't I shall have to."</p>
+
+<p>So Judah did. Mr. Phillips entered the kitchen, removing his silk hat at
+the threshold. Mr. Cahoon followed, too overcome with excitement and
+curiosity to remember to take off his own cap. Sears Kendrick would have
+risen from the armchair in which he was seated, but the visitor extended
+a gloved hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't. Don't rise, I beg of you," he said, earnestly. "Pray keep your
+seat, Captain Kendall. I have just learned
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_187" id="pg_187">187</a></span> of your most unfortunate
+accident. Really, I must insist that you remain just as you are. You
+will distress me greatly if you move on my account. Thank you, thank
+you. I suppose I should apologize for running in in this informal way,
+but I feel almost as if I had known you for a long time. Our mutual
+friends, the Berrys, have told me so much concerning you since my
+arrival that I did not stand upon ceremony at all."</p>
+
+<p>"That's right," declared the captain, heartily. "I'm glad you didn't.
+Sit down, Mr. Phillips. Put your hat on the table there."</p>
+
+<p>Judah stepped forward.</p>
+
+<p>"Give it to me; I'll take care of it," he said, taking the shining beaver
+from the visitor's hand. "I'll hang it up yonder in the back entry, then
+'twon't get knocked onto the floor.... No, no, don't set in that chair,
+that's got a spliced leg; it's liable to land you on your beam ends if
+you ain't careful. Try this one."</p>
+
+<p>He kicked the infirm chair out of the way and pushed forward a
+substitute. "There," he added, cheerfully, "that's solid's the rock of
+Giberaltar. Nothin' like bein' sure of your anchorage. Set down, set
+down."</p>
+
+<p>He beamed upon the caller. The latter did not beam exactly. His
+expression was a queer one. Sears came to the rescue.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Phillips," he said, "this is Mr. Cahoon."</p>
+
+<p>Judah extended a mighty hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Phillips," he declared. "I've
+heard tell of you considerable."</p>
+
+<p>Egbert looked at the hand. His expression was still queer.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh&mdash;ah&mdash;how d'ye do?" he murmured.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Cahoon and I are old friends," explained Sears. "I am boardin' here
+with him."</p>
+
+<p>"Yus," put in Judah. "And afore that I shipped cook aboard Cap'n Sears's
+vessels for a good many v'yages. The cap'n and I get along fust rate.
+He's all right, Cap'n Sears is, <i>I</i> tell ye!"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_188" id="pg_188">188</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Mr. Phillips murmured something to the effect that he was sure of it. He
+did not seem very sure of Judah. Mr. Cahoon did not notice the
+uncertainty, he pushed his hand nearer to the visitor's.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm real glad to meet you," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Egbert gingerly took the proffered hand, moved it up and down once and
+then dropped it, after which he looked at his glove. Judah looked at it,
+too.</p>
+
+<p>"Kind of chilly outdoor to-night, is it?" he asked. "Didn't seem so to
+me."</p>
+
+<p>Again his lodger came to the rescue.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Mr. Phillips," he said, "you gave us all a little surprise,
+didn't you? Of course we expected you in a general sort of way, but we
+didn't know when you would make port."</p>
+
+<p>Egbert bowed. "I scarcely knew myself," he said. "My plans were somewhat
+vague and&mdash;ah&mdash;rather hurriedly made, naturally. Of course my great
+sorrow, my bereavement&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>He paused, sighed and then brushed the subject away with a wave of his
+glove.</p>
+
+<p>"You won't mind, I'm sure," he said, "if I don't dwell upon that just
+now. It is too recent, the shock is too great, I really cannot.... But I
+am so sorry to hear of your disability. A railway wreck, I understand.
+Outrageous carelessness, no doubt. Really, Captain Kendrick, one cannot
+find excuses for the reckless mismanagement of your American
+railways.... Why, what is it? Don't you agree with me?"</p>
+
+<p>The captain had looked up momentarily. Now he was looking down again.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you agree with me?" repeated Egbert. "Surely you, of all people,
+should not excuse their recklessness."</p>
+
+<p>Sears shook his head. "Oh, I wasn't tryin' to," he replied. "I was only
+wonderin' why you spoke of 'em as 'your' railroads. They aren't mine,
+you know. That is, any more than they are Judah's&mdash;or yours&mdash;or any
+other American's. No such luck."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_189" id="pg_189">189</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Mr. Phillips coughed, smiled, coughed again, and then explained that he
+had used the word 'your' without thinking.</p>
+
+<p>"I have been so long an&mdash;ah&mdash;shall I say exile, Captain Kendall," he
+observed, "that I have, I presume, fallen somewhat into the European
+habit of thinking and&mdash;ah&mdash;speaking. Habit is a peculiar thing, is it
+not?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cahoon, intensely interested in the conversation, evidently felt it
+his duty to contribute toward it.</p>
+
+<p>"You're right there, Mr. Phillips," he announced, with emphasis.
+"Don't talk to me about habits! When a man's been to sea as long's I
+have he runs afoul of pretty nigh every kind of habit there is, seems
+so. Why, I knew a feller one time&mdash;down to Surinam 'twas&mdash;I was cook
+and steward aboard the old <i>Highflyer</i>&mdash;and this feller&mdash;he wan't
+a white man, nor he wan't all nigger nuther, kind of in between, one of
+them&mdash;er&mdash;er&mdash;octoreens, that's what he was&mdash;well, this feller he had
+the dumdest habit. Every day of his life, about the middle of the dog
+watch he'd up and&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Judah."</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, aye, Cap'n Sears?"</p>
+
+<p>"You'll be late down at the store, won't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Hey? Oh, I don't care how late I be. I don't know's I'm so dreadful
+partic'lar about goin' down there to-night, anyhow. Don't know but I'd
+just as live stay here."</p>
+
+<p>"I'd go."</p>
+
+<p>"Hey? Oh, I&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I'd go, if I were you. You know there's likely to be a good deal goin'
+on."</p>
+
+<p>"Think so, do you?" Judah was evidently on the fence. "Course, I&mdash;&mdash;
+Well, maybe I had better, come to think of it. Good night, Mr. Phillips.
+I'll tell you about that octoreen feller next time I see you. So long,
+Cap'n Sears. I'll report about," with a wink, "the cacklin' later.
+Creepin'! it's most eight now, ain't it?"</p>
+
+<p>He hurried out. Egbert looked rather relieved. He smiled tolerantly.</p>
+
+<p>"Evidently an eccentric, your&mdash;er&mdash;man," he observed.</p>
+
+<p>"He has his ways, like the majority of us, I guess," declared
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_190" id="pg_190">190</a></span> the
+captain, crisply. "Underneath he is as square and big-hearted as they
+make. And he's a good friend of mine."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes; yes, I'm sure of it. Captain Kendall&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Kendrick, not Kendall."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Phillips begged pardon for the mistake. It was inexcusable, he
+admitted. He had heard the captain's name mentioned so frequently since
+his arrival in Bayport, especially by Mrs. Berry and her daughter, "so
+favorably, even enthusiastically mentioned," that he certainly should
+have remembered it. "I am not quite myself, I fear," he added. "My
+recent bereavement and the added shock of the death of my dear old
+friend the judge have had their effect. My nerves are&mdash;well, you
+understand, I am sure."</p>
+
+<p>He made a lengthy call. He talked a great deal, and his conversation was
+always interesting. He spoke much of his dear wife, of life abroad, of
+Genoa and Leghorn, ports which the captain had visited, and of the
+changes in Bayport since his last sojourn in the village. But he said
+almost nothing concerning his plans for the future, and of the Fair
+Harbor very little. In fact, Sears had the feeling that he was waiting
+for him to talk concerning that institution. This the captain would not
+do and, at last, Mr. Phillips himself touched lightly upon the fringes
+of the subject.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you find your duties in connection with the&mdash;ah&mdash;retreat next door
+arduous, Captain Kendrick?" he inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"Eh?... Oh, no, I don't know as I'd call 'em that, exactly."</p>
+
+<p>"I imagine not, I imagine not. You are&mdash;you are, I gather, a sort
+of&mdash;oh&mdash;&mdash; What should I call you, captain; in your official capacity,
+you know?"</p>
+
+<p>He laughed pleasantly. Sears smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"Give it up," he replied. "I told Elizabeth&mdash;Miss Berry, I mean&mdash;when I
+first took the berth that I scarcely knew what it was."</p>
+
+<p>"Ha, ha! Yes, I can imagine. Miss Berry&mdash;charming girl, isn't she,
+captain&mdash;intimated to me that your position was somewhat&mdash;ah&mdash;general.
+You exercise a sort of supervision
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_191" id="pg_191">191</a></span> over the finances and management, in
+a way, do you not?"</p>
+
+<p>"In a way, yes."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. Of course, my dear sir, you understand that I am not unduly
+curious. I don't mean to be. This&mdash;ah&mdash;Fair Harbor was, as you know,
+very dear to the heart of Mrs. Phillips and, now that she has been taken
+from me, I feel, of course, a sense of trust, of sacred responsibility.
+We had understood, she and I, that our dear friend&mdash;Judge Knowles&mdash;was
+in supreme charge&mdash;nominally, I mean; of course Mrs. Berry was in actual
+charge&mdash;and, therefore, I confess to a natural feeling of&mdash;shall I say
+surprise, on learning that the judge had appointed another person, an
+understudy, as it were?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you couldn't be any more surprised than I was when the judge
+asked me to take the job. And Elizabeth and her mother know that I
+hesitated considerable before I did take it. Judge Knowles was in his
+last sickness, he couldn't attend to things himself."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Phillips raised a protesting hand. "Please don't misunderstand me,"
+he said. "Don't, I beg of you, think for a moment that I am objecting to
+the judge's action, or even criticizing it. It was precisely the thing
+he should have done, what Mrs. Phillips and I would have wished him to
+do. And as for his choice of&mdash;ah&mdash;appointee&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Captain Sears interrupted. "As to that," he said, "you can criticize as
+much as you please. You can't object any more than I did when me made me
+the offer."</p>
+
+<p>The protesting hand was again raised. "Criticism or objection was the
+very farthest from my mind, I assure you," Egbert declared. "I was about
+to say that Judge Knowles showed his usual&mdash;ah&mdash;acumen when he selected
+a man as well known and highly esteemed as yourself, sir. The mention of
+the name of Captain Kendall&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Kendrick."</p>
+
+<p>"Kendrick, of course. I apologize once more. But, if you will permit me
+to say so, a man as well and favorably
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_192" id="pg_192">192</a></span> known to us all as you are, sir,
+is certainly the ideal occupant of the&mdash;ah&mdash;place."</p>
+
+<p>"Thanks. You knew of me, then? I don't think you and I have ever met
+before, have we?"</p>
+
+<p>"No; no, I believe I have never before had the pleasure."</p>
+
+<p>"Thanks. I was pretty sure I hadn't. I've been away from Bayport a good
+deal. I wasn't here when you and your wife came back&mdash;about five years
+ago, wasn't it? And, of course, I didn't know you when you used to live
+here. Let's see; you used to teach singin'-school, didn't you?"</p>
+
+<p>This question was asked in the most casual fashion. Mr. Phillips did not
+answer at once. He coughed, changed his position, and then smiled
+graciously.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," he said. "Yes, I&mdash;I did something of the sort, for a time. Music
+has always been a&mdash;one might call it a&mdash;ah&mdash;hobby of mine. But,
+regarding your duties as&mdash;well, whatever those duties are, Captain
+Kendrick: You say they are not arduous. And your&mdash;ah&mdash;compensation?
+That, I understand, is not large? Pardon my referring to it, but as Mrs.
+Phillips was the owner and benefactress of the Fair Harbor, and as I
+am&mdash;shall I say heir&mdash;to her interests, why, perhaps my excuse for
+asking for information is&mdash;ah&mdash;a reasonable one."</p>
+
+<p>He paused, and with another smile and wave of the hand, awaited his
+host's reply. Sears looked at him.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess you know what my wages are, Mr. Phillips," he observed. "Don't
+you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why&mdash;ah&mdash;ah&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Didn't Cordelia tell you? She knows. So does Elizabeth."</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, Mrs. Berry did mention a figure, I believe. I seem to
+recall&mdash;ah&mdash;ah&mdash;something."</p>
+
+<p>"If you remember fifteen hundred a year, you will have it right. That is
+the amount I'm paid for bein' in general command over there. As you say,
+it isn't very large, but perhaps it's large enough for what I do."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh&mdash;ah, <i>don't</i> misunderstand me, Captain Kendrick,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_193" id="pg_193">193</a></span> please don't. I
+was not questioning the amount of your salary."</p>
+
+<p>"Wasn't you? My mistake. I thought you was."</p>
+
+<p>"No; indeed no. My only feeling in regard to it was its&mdash;ah&mdash;trifling
+size. It&mdash;pardon me, but it seemed such a small sum for you to accept, a
+man of your attainments."</p>
+
+<p>"My attainments, as you call 'em, haven't got me very far I'm a poor man
+and, just now at any rate, I'm a cripple, a wreck on a lee shore.
+Fifteen hundred a year isn't so small to me."</p>
+
+<p>Mr Phillips apologized. He was sorry he had referred to the subject. But
+the captain, he was sure, understood his motive for asking, and, now
+that so much had been said, might he say just a word more.</p>
+
+<p>"Our dear Cordelia&mdash;Mrs. Berry&mdash;" he went on, "intimated that
+your&mdash;ah&mdash;compensation was paid by the judge, himself."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes it was. Judge Knowles paid it with his own money. It doesn't come
+out of the Fair Harbor funds."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes, of course, of course. The judge's interest in my beloved
+wife's&mdash;ah&mdash;whims&mdash;perhaps that is too frivolous a word&mdash;was
+extraordinarily fine. But now the judge has passed on."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. More's the pity."</p>
+
+<p>"I heartily agree with you, it is a great pity. An irreparable loss....
+But he has gone."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>Just here the dialogue came to a peculiar halt. Mr. Phillips seemed to
+be waiting for his companion to say something and the captain to be
+waiting for Phillips himself to say it first. As a consequence neither
+said it. When the conversation was resumed it was once more of a general
+nature. It was not until just beyond the end of the call that the Fair
+Harbor was again mentioned. And, as at first, it was the caller who led
+up to it.</p>
+
+<p>"Captain Kendrick," he observed, "you are, like myself, a man of the
+world, a man of wide experience."</p>
+
+<p>This was given forth as a positive statement, not a question,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_194" id="pg_194">194</a></span> yet he
+seemed to expect a reply. Sears obliged.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I don't know," he demurred.</p>
+
+<p>"Pardon me, but I do. I am accustomed to judge persons and characters,
+and I think I may justly pride myself on making few mistakes. From what
+I had heard I expected to find you a man of the world, a man of
+experience and judgment. Judge Knowles' selection of you as
+the&mdash;ah&mdash;temporary head of the Fair Harbor would have indicated that, of
+course, but, if you will permit me to say so, this interview has
+confirmed it."</p>
+
+<p>Again he paused, as if expecting a reply. And again the captain humored
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"Much obliged," he said.</p>
+
+<p>The Phillips hand waved the thanks away. There was another perceptible
+wait. Then said Egbert, "Captain Kendrick, as one man of the world to
+another, what do you think of the&mdash;ah&mdash;institution next door?"</p>
+
+<p>Sears looked at him. "What do I think of it?" he repeated.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, exactly. It was, as you know, the darling of my dear wife's heart.
+When she loaned her&mdash;shall we say her ancestral home, and&mdash;ah&mdash;money to
+the purpose she firmly believed the Fair Harbor for Mariners' Women to
+be an inspiration for good. She believed its founding to be the
+beginning of a great work. Is it doing that work, do you think? In your
+opinion, sir, is it a success?"</p>
+
+<p>Captain Sears slowly stroked his close-cropped beard. What was the man
+driving at?</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;I don't know as I know exactly what you mean by success," he
+hesitated. "It's takin' care of its&mdash;er&mdash;boarders and it's makin' a home
+for 'em. That is what your wife wanted it to do, didn't she?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, yes, quite so. But that is not precisely what I mean. Put it
+this way, sir: In your opinion, as a man of affairs&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Here, here, just a minute. I'm not a man of affairs. I'm a broken-down
+sea cap'n on shore, that's all."</p>
+
+<p>Again the upraised hand. "<i>I</i> know what you are, Captain
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_195" id="pg_195">195</a></span> Kendrick,"
+said Egbert. "That, if you will permit me to say so, is why I am asking
+your opinion. The success of a&mdash;ah&mdash;proposition depends, as I see it,
+upon the amount of success achieved in proportion to the amount of
+energy, capital&mdash;ah&mdash;whatnot invested. Now, considering the sum needed
+to support the Fair Harbor&mdash;paid, as doubtless you know, Captain
+Kendrick, from the interest of an amount loaned and set aside by my dear
+wife some years ago&mdash;considering that sum, I say, added to the amount
+sunk, or invested, in the house, land, furnishings, et cetera, is it
+your opinion that the institution's success is a sufficient return? Or,
+might not the same sums, put into other&mdash;ah&mdash;charities, reap larger
+rewards? Rewards in the shape of good to our fellow men and women,
+Captain Kendrick? What do you think?"</p>
+
+<p>Sears crossed his knees.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course, of course. One does not know. But it is a question to be
+considered, is it not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, yes, maybe. Do I understand that you are thinkin' of givin'
+up the Fair Harbor? Doin' away with it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no, no, no!" Mr. Phillips pushed the surmise deeper into the
+background with each negative. "I am not considering anything of that
+sort, Captain Kendrick."</p>
+
+<p>"Well&mdash;humph! My mistake again. I thought you just said you were
+considerin' it."</p>
+
+<p>"Only as a question, Captain, only as a question. While my wife lived,
+of course, the Fair Harbor&mdash;<i>her</i> Fair Harbor&mdash;was a thing fixed,
+immovable. Now that she has been taken from me, it devolves upon me, the
+care of her trusts, her benefactions."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. So you said, Mr. Phillips."</p>
+
+<p>"I believe I did say so. Yes. And therefore, as I see it, a part of that
+trust is to make sure that every penny of her&mdash;ah&mdash;charity is doing the
+greatest good to the greatest number."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_196" id="pg_196">196</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"And you think the Fair Harbor isn't gettin' its money's worth?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no, no, no. I don't say that. I don't say that at all. I am sure it
+must be. I am merely considering, that is all, merely considering....
+Well, Captain Kendrick, I must go. We shall see each other often, I
+trust. I have-ah&mdash;a suite at the Central House and if you will do me the
+honor of calling I shall greatly appreciate it. Pray drop in at any
+time, sir. Don't, I beg of you, stand upon ceremony."</p>
+
+<p>Sears promised that he would not. He was finding it hard to keep from
+smiling. A "suite" at the Central House, Bayport's one hostelry, tickled
+him. He knew the rooms at that hit or miss tavern.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-by, Captain Kendrick," said Mr. Phillips. "Upon one thing I feel
+sure you may congratulate yourself, that is that your troubles and petty
+annoyances as&mdash;ah&mdash;manager of the Fair Harbor are practically over."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," observed the captain.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. I think I shall be able to relieve you of <i>that</i> care very
+shortly. And the sooner the better, I presume you are saying. Yes? Ha,
+ha!"</p>
+
+<p>"Thanks. Goin' to appoint somebody else, eh?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no, no! My <i>dear</i> sir! Why, I&mdash;I really&mdash;I thought you understood.
+I mean to say simply that, while I am here in person, and as long as I
+am here, I shall endeavor to look after the matters myself and
+consequently relieve you, that is all. Judge Knowles appointed you and
+paid you&mdash;a very wise and characteristic thing for him to do; but he,
+poor man, is dead. One could scarcely expect you to go on performing
+your duties gratuitously. That is why I congratulate you upon the
+lifting of the burden from your shoulders."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes. Um-hm. I see. Thank you, Mr. Phillips."</p>
+
+<p>"I should thank you, sir, for all you have already done. I do
+sincerely.... Oh, by the way, Captain Kendrick, perhaps it would be as
+well that nothing be said concerning this little business talk of ours.
+One knows how trifles
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_197" id="pg_197">197</a></span> are distorted, mole hills made mountains, and all
+that, in communities like&mdash;well, like dear old Bayport. We love our
+Bayporters, bless them, but they will talk. Ha, ha! So, captain, if you
+will consider our little chat confidential&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I will."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, sir, thank you. And we shall see each other frequently. I am
+counting upon it. <i>Au revoir</i>, Captain Kendrick. Don't rise, I beg of
+you."</p>
+
+<p>He was gone, the door closed behind him. Sears filled his pipe, lighted
+it, and leaned back in his chair to review and appraise his impressions.</p>
+
+<p>The appraisal was not altogether satisfactory. It was easy to say that
+he did not like Egbert Phillips, for it was the truth&mdash;he did not like
+him. But to affirm truthfully that that dislike was founded upon
+anything more substantial than prejudice due to Judge Knowles'
+detestation was not so easy. The question which continually intruded was
+this: Suppose he had met Mr. Phillips for the first time, never having
+heard of him before&mdash;would he have disliked and distrusted him under
+those circumstances? He could not be quite sure.</p>
+
+<p>For, leaving aside Egbert's airy condescension and his&mdash;to the captain's
+New England mind&mdash;overdone politeness, there was not so much fault to be
+found with his behavior or words during the interview just ended. He had
+asked questions concerning the Fair Harbor, had hinted at the
+possibility of its discontinuance, had more than hinted at the dropping
+of Kendrick as its manager. Well&mdash;always bearing in mind the fact that
+he was ignorant of his wife's action which gave the Seymour house and
+land to the Fair Harbor and gave, not loaned, the money for its
+maintenance&mdash;bearing in mind the fact that Egbert Phillips believed
+himself the absolute owner of all, with undisputed authority to do as he
+pleased with it&mdash;then.... Well, then Captain Sears was obliged to admit
+that he, himself, might have questioned and hinted very much as his
+visitor had done. And as for the condescension and the "manner"&mdash;these
+were,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_198" id="pg_198">198</a></span> after all, not much more than eccentricities, and developed, very
+likely, during his life abroad.</p>
+
+<p>Lobelia Phillips' will would be opened and read soon, probably at once.
+Whew! Sears whistled as he thought of the staggering disillusionment
+which was coming to the widower. How would he take it? Was Judge Knowles
+right in his belief that the rest of the Seymour inheritance had been
+wasted and lost? If so, the elegant personage who had just bowed himself
+out of the Minot kitchen would be in a bad way indeed. Sears was sorry
+for him.</p>
+
+<p>And yet he did not like the man. No, he did not.... And he did distrust
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Judah came back from his sojourn at the store brimful of talk and
+chuckles. As he had prophesied, all Bayport had heard of the arrival of
+the great man and all Bayport was discussing him. He had the finest
+rooms at the Central House. He had three trunks&mdash;count them&mdash;three! Not
+to mention bags and a leather hat box. He had given the driver of the
+depot wagon a dollar over and above his regular charge. He remembered
+Eliphalet Bassett the first time he saw him, and called him by name.</p>
+
+<p>There was a lot more of this, but Sears paid little attention to it.
+Judah summed it all up pretty well in his final declaration, given as
+his lodger was leaving the kitchen for the "spare stateroom."</p>
+
+<p>"By Henry!" declared Judah, who seemed rather disgusted, "I never heard
+such a powwowin' over one man in my life. Up to 'Liphalet's 'twan't
+nothin' but 'Egbert Phillips,' 'Egbert Phillips,' till you'd think 'twas
+a passel of poll-parrots all mockin' each other. Simeon Ryder had been
+down to deacon's meetin' in the Orthodox vestry and, nigh's I can find
+out, 'twas just the same down there. 'Cordin' to Sim's tell they talked
+about the Lord's affairs for ten minutes and about this Egg man's for
+forty."</p>
+
+<p>"But why?" queried the captain. "He isn't the only fellow that has been
+away from Bayport and come back again."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cahoon shook his head. "I know it," he admitted, "but none of the
+rest ever had quite so much fuss made
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_199" id="pg_199">199</a></span> over 'em. I cal'late, maybe, it's
+on account of the way he's been led up to, as you might say. I went one
+time to a kind of show place in New York, Barnum's Museum 'twas. There
+was a great sign outdoor sayin', 'Come on aboard and see the White
+Whale,' or somethin' similar. Well, I'd seen about every kind of a whale
+<i>but</i> a white one, so I cal'lated maybe I'd might as well spend a
+quarter and see that. There was a great big kind of tank place full of
+water and a whole passel of folks hangin' around the edge of it with
+their mouths open, gawpin' at nothin'&mdash;nothin' but the water, that's all
+there was to see. And a man up on a kind of platform he was preachin' a
+sort of sermon, wavin' his arms and hollerin' about how rare and scurce
+white whales was, and how the museum folks had to scour all creation
+afore they got this one, and about how the round heads of Europe&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Crowned heads, wasn't it, Judah?"</p>
+
+<p>"Hey? I don't know, maybe so. Cabbage heads it ought to have been,
+'cordin' to my notion. Well, anyhow, 'twas some kind of Europe heads,
+and they had all pretty nigh broke the necks belongin' to 'em gettin' to
+see this whale, and how lucky we was because we could see it for the
+small sum of twenty-five cents, and so on, and so on&mdash;until all hands of
+us was just kind of on tiptoe, as you might say. And then, all to once,
+the water in the tank kind of riz up, you know, and somethin'
+white&mdash;might have been the broadside of a barn for all we had time to
+see of it&mdash;showed for a jiffy, there was a 'Woosh,' and the white thing
+went under again.' And that was all. The man said we was now able to
+tell our children that we'd seen a white whale and that the critter
+would be up to breathe again in about an hour, or week after next, or
+some such time.... Anyhow, what I'm tryin' to get at is that 'twan't the
+whale itself that counted so much as 'twas the way that preachin' man
+led up to him. This Egbert he's been preached about and guessed about
+and looked for'ard to so long that all Bayport's been on tiptoe, like us
+folks around that museum tank....
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_200" id="pg_200">200</a></span> Well, this Phillips whale has made a
+big 'Woosh' in town so fur. Can he keep it up? That's what I'm
+wonderin'."</p>
+
+<p>The sensation kept up for the next day and the next at least, and there
+were no signs of its abating. Over at the Fair Harbor Captain Sears
+found himself playing a very small second fiddle. Miss Snowden, Mrs.
+Brackett and their following, instead of putting themselves out to smile
+upon the captain and to chat with him, ignored him almost altogether,
+or, if they did speak, spoke only of Mr. Phillips. He was the most
+entertaining man, <i>so</i> genteel, his conversation was remarkable, he had
+traveled everywhere.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Berry, of course, was in ecstasies concerning him. He was her ideal
+of a gentleman, she said, <i>so</i> aristocratic. "So like the men I
+associated with in the old days," she said. "Of course," she added, "he
+is an old friend. Dear 'Belia and he were my dearest friends, you know,
+Captain Kendrick."</p>
+
+<p>The captain was curious to learn Elizabeth's opinion of him. He found
+that opinion distinctly favorable.</p>
+
+<p>"He is different," she said. "Different, I mean, from any one I ever
+met. And at first I thought him conceited. But he isn't really, he is
+just&mdash;well, different. I think I shall like him."</p>
+
+<p>Sears smiled. "If you don't you will be rather lonesome here in the
+Harbor, I judge," he observed.</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him quickly. "You don't like him, do you, Cap'n Kendrick?"
+she said. "Why?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, I don't say I don't like him, Elizabeth."</p>
+
+<p>"No, you don't say it, but you look it. I didn't think you took sudden
+dislikes, Cap'n. It doesn't seem like you, somehow."</p>
+
+<p>He could not explain, and he felt that he had disappointed her.</p>
+
+<p>On the third day the news came that Mr. Phillips had left town, gone
+suddenly, so Judah said.</p>
+
+<p>"He took the afternoon train and bought a ticket for Boston, so they
+tell me," declared the latter. "He's left his dunnage at the Central
+House, so he's comin' back, I cal'late;
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_201" id="pg_201">201</a></span> but nobody knows where he's
+gone, nor why he went. Went over to Orham this mornin'&mdash;hired a
+horse-'n'-team down to the livery stable and went&mdash;come back about one
+o'clock, wouldn't speak to nobody, went up to his room, never et no
+dinner, and then set sail for Boston on the up train. Cur'us, ain't it?
+Where do you cal'late likely he's gone, Cap'n Sears?"</p>
+
+<p>"Give it up, Judah. And," speaking quickly in order to head off the
+question he saw the Cahoon lips already forming, "I can't guess why he's
+gone, either."</p>
+
+<p>But, although he did not say so, he could have guessed why Mr. Phillips
+had gone to Orham. Bradley, the Orham lawyer, had written the day before
+to say that the will of Lobelia Phillips would be opened and read at his
+office on Thursday morning. And this was Thursday. Bradley had suggested
+Sears's coming over to be present at the reading of the will. "As you
+are so deeply interested in the Fair Harbor," he wrote, "I should think
+you might&mdash;or ought to&mdash;be on hand. I don't believe Phillips will
+object."</p>
+
+<p>But the captain had not accepted the invitation. Knowing, as he did, the
+disappointment which was in store for Egbert, he had no wish to see the
+blow fall. So he remained at home, but that afternoon Bradley himself
+drove into the Minot yard.</p>
+
+<p>"I just stopped for a minute, Cap'n, he said. I had some other business
+in town here; that brought me over, but I wanted to tell you that we
+opened that will this morning."</p>
+
+<p>Sears looked a question. "Well?" he queried.</p>
+
+<p>Bradley nodded. "It was just about as we thought, and as the judge
+said," he declared. "The papers were there, of course, telling of the
+gift of the fifty thousand to the Harbor, of the gift of the land and
+house, everything. There was one other legacy, a small one, and then she
+left all the rest, 'stocks, bonds, securities, personal effects and
+cash' to her beloved husband, Egbert Phillips. That's all there was to
+it, Kendrick. Short but sweet, eh?"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_202" id="pg_202">202</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Sears nodded. "Sweet enough," he agreed. "And how did the beloved
+husband take it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well ... well, he was pretty nasty. In fact he was about as nasty as
+anybody could be. He went white as a sheet and then red and then white
+again. I didn't know, for a minute or two, what was going to happen,
+didn't know but what I should have a fight on my hands. However, I
+didn't. I don't think he's the fighting kind, not that kind of a fight.
+He just took it out in being nasty. Said of course he should contest the
+gift, hinted at undue influence, spoke of thieves and swindlers&mdash;not
+naming 'em, though&mdash;and then, when I suggested that he had better think
+it over before he said too much, pulled up short and walked out of the
+office. Yes, he was pretty nasty. But, honestly, Cap'n Kendrick, when I
+think it over, I don't know that he was any nastier than I, or any other
+fellow, might have been under the circumstances. It was a smash between
+the eyes for him, that's what it was. Met him, have you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you think of him?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know&mdash;yet."</p>
+
+<p>"Neither do I. He's a polite chap, isn't he?"</p>
+
+<p>"No doubt about that. Say, Bradley, do you think he's got much left of
+the 'stocks, bonds,' and all the rest that the will talked about?"</p>
+
+<p>"I give it up. Of course we shall talk about that by and by, I suppose,
+but we haven't yet. You know what Judge Knowles declared; he was
+perfectly sure that there wouldn't be anything left&mdash;that this fellow
+and Lobelia had thrown away every loose penny of old Seymour's money.
+And, of course, he prophesied that this Egbert man would be back here as
+soon as his wife died to sell the Fair Harbor, ship and cargo, and get
+the money for them. The biggest satisfaction the old judge got out of
+life along toward the last of it was in knowing that he and Lobelia had
+fixed things so that that couldn't be done. He certainly hated Phillips,
+the judge did."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_203" id="pg_203">203</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Um-hm. But he might have been prejudiced."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. Sometimes I wonder if he wasn't."</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me, Bradley: Did you know this Phillips man when he was skipper of
+the singin' school here in Bayport? Before he married Lobelia?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. Nor I didn't meet him when he and his wife were on here the last
+time. I was up in the State House serving out my two terms as county
+representative."</p>
+
+<p>"I see.... Oh! You spoke of Lobelia's leavin' another legacy. Who was
+that to? If it isn't a secret."</p>
+
+<p>"It is, so far. But it won't be very long. She left five thousand, in
+cash and in Judge Knowles's care, for Cordelia Berry over here at the
+Harbor. She and Lobelia were close friends, you know. Cordelia is to
+have it free and clear, but I am to invest it for her. She doesn't know
+her good luck yet. I am going over now to tell her about it.... Oh, by
+the way, Cap'n: Judge Knowles's nephew, the man from California, is
+expecting to reach Bayport next Sunday. He can't stay out a little
+while, and so I shall have to hurry up that will and the business
+connected with it. Can you come over to my office Monday about ten?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, I suppose likely I could, but what do you want me for?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't, except in the general way of always wanting to see you, Cap'n.
+But Judge Knowles wanted you especially."</p>
+
+<p>"He did! Wanted <i>me</i>?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. Seems so. He left a memorandum of those he wanted on hand when his
+will was read. You are one, and Elizabeth Berry is another. Will you
+come?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, yes, I suppose so. But what in the world&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know. But I imagine we'll all know Monday. I'll look for you
+then, Cap'n."</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_204" id="pg_204">204</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_XI_8030" id="CHAPTER_XI_8030"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER XI</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The reading of the Knowles will, so Bradley had said, was to take place
+at the lawyer's office in Orham on Monday. It was Friday when Bradley
+called at the Minot place, and on Saturday morning Sears and Elizabeth
+discussed the matter.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Bradley said your name was on the list of those the judge asked to
+be on hand when the will was read," said the captain. "He asked me not
+to speak about the will to outsiders, and of course I haven't, but
+you're not an outsider. You're goin' over, I suppose?"</p>
+
+<p>She hesitated slightly. "Why, yes," she said. "I think I shall."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. Yes, I thought you would."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall go because the judge seems to have wished me to be there, but
+why I can't imagine. Can you, Cap'n Kendrick?"</p>
+
+<p>Remembering his last conversation with Judge Knowles, Sears thought he
+might at least guess a possible reason, but he did not say so.</p>
+
+<p>"We're both interested in the Fair Harbor," he observed. "And we know
+how concerned the judge was with that."</p>
+
+<p>She nodded. "Yes," she admitted. "Still I don't see why mother was not
+asked if that was it. You are going over, of course?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;yes, I shall. Bradley seemed to want me to."</p>
+
+<p>That was all, at the time. The next day, however, Elizabeth again
+mentioned the subject. It was in the afternoon, church and dinner were
+over, and Sears was strolling along the path below the Fair Harbor
+garden plots. He could walk with less difficulty and with almost no pain
+now, but he could not walk far. The Eyrie was, for a wonder,
+unoccupied,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_205" id="pg_205">205</a></span> so he limped up to it and sat down upon the bench inside to
+rest. This was the favorite haunt of the more romantic Fair Harbor
+inmates, Miss Snowden and Mrs. Chase especially, but they were not there
+just then, although a book, <i>Barriers Burned Away</i>, by E. P. Roe, lay
+upon the bench, a cardboard marker with the initials "E. S." in
+cross-stitch, between the leaves. When the captain heard a step
+approaching the summer-house, he judged that Elvira was returning to
+reclaim her "Barriers." But it was not Elvira who entered the Eyrie, it
+was Elizabeth Berry.</p>
+
+<p>She was surprised to see him. "Why, Cap'n Sears!" she exclaimed. "I
+didn't expect to find you here. I was afraid&mdash;that is, I did rather
+think I might find Elvira, but not you. I didn't know you had the Eyrie
+habit."</p>
+
+<p>He smiled. "I haven't," he said. "That is, it isn't chronic yet. I
+didn't know you had it, either."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh I haven't. But I was rather tired, and I wanted to be alone, and
+so&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"And so you took a chance. Well, you came at just the right time. I was
+just about gettin' under way."</p>
+
+<p>He rose, but she detained him. "Don't go," she begged. "When I said I
+wanted to be alone I didn't mean it exactly. I meant I wanted to be away
+from&mdash;some people. You are not one of them."</p>
+
+<p>He was pleased, and showed it. "You're sure of that?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course. You know I am. Do sit down and talk. Talk about anything
+except&mdash;well, except Bayport gossip and Fair Harbor squabbles and bills
+and&mdash;oh, that sort of thing. Talk about something away from Bayport,
+miles and miles away. I feel just now as if I should like to be&mdash;to be
+on board a ship sailing ... sailing."</p>
+
+<p>She smiled wistfully as she said it. The captain was seized with an
+intense conviction that he should like to be with her on that same ship,
+to sail on and on indefinitely. The kind of ship or its destination
+would not matter in the least, the only essentials were that she and he
+were to be on board, and ... Humph! His brain must be softening.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_206" id="pg_206">206</a></span> Who
+did he think he was: a young man again?&mdash;a George Kent? He came out of
+the clouds.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," he observed, dryly, "I know. I get that same feelin' every once
+in a while. I should rather like to walk a deck again, myself."</p>
+
+<p>She understood instantly. That was one of the fascinations of this girl,
+she always seemed to understand. A flash of pity came into her eyes.
+Impulsively she laid a hand on his coat sleeve.</p>
+
+<p>"I beg your pardon," she said. "I'm so sorry. I realize how hard it must
+be for you, Cap'n Kendrick. A man who has been where you have been and
+seen what you have seen.... Yes, and done what you have done."</p>
+
+<p>He shrugged. "I haven't done much," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, you have. I have heard so many stories about you and your
+ships and the way you have handled them. There was one story I remember,
+a story about how your sailors mutinied and how you got them to go to
+work again. I heard that years ago, when I was a girl at school. I have
+never forgotten; it sounded so wonderful and romantic and&mdash;and far off."</p>
+
+<p>He nodded. "It was far off," he said. "Away over in the South Seas. And
+it was a good while ago, too, for I was in command of my first vessel,
+and that's the time of all times when a man doesn't want mutiny or any
+other setback. And I never had any trouble with my crews, before or
+since, except then. But the water in our butts had gone rancid and we
+put in at this island to refill. It was a pretty place, lazy and
+sunshiny, like most of those South Sea corals, and the fo'mast hands got
+ashore amongst the natives, drinkin' palm wine and traders' gin, and
+they didn't want to put to sea as soon as the mates and I did."</p>
+
+<p>"But you made them?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I&mdash;er&mdash;sort of coaxed 'em into it."</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me about it, please."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, there isn't anything to&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Please."</p>
+
+<p>So Sears began to spin the yarn. And from that she led
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_207" id="pg_207">207</a></span> him into another
+and then another. They drifted through the South Seas to the East
+Indies, and from there to Bombay, and then to Hong Kong, and to
+Mauritious, from the beaches of which came the marvelous sea shells that
+Sarah Macomber had in the box in her parlor closet. They voyaged through
+the Arabian Sea, with the parched desert shores shimmering in the white
+hot sun. They turned north, saw the sperm whales and the great squid and
+the floating bergs.... And at last they drifted back to Bayport and the
+captain looked at his watch.</p>
+
+<p>"Heavens and earth!" he exclaimed. "It's almost four o'clock. I believe
+I've talked steady for pretty nearly an hour. I'm ashamed. Are you
+awake, Elizabeth? I hope, for your sake, you've been takin' a nap."</p>
+
+<p>She did not answer at once. Then she breathed deeply. "I don't know what
+I have been doing&mdash;really doing," she said. "I suppose I have been
+sitting right here in this old summer-house. But I <i>feel</i> as if I had
+been around the world. I wanted to sail and sail.... I said so, didn't
+I? Well, I have. Thank you, Cap'n Kendrick."</p>
+
+<p>He rose from the bench.</p>
+
+<p>"A man gets garrulous in his old age," he observed. "But I didn't think
+I was as old as that&mdash;just yet. The talkin' disease must be catchin',
+and I've lived with Judah Cahoon quite a while now."</p>
+
+<p>She laughed. "If I had as much to talk about&mdash;worth while talking
+about&mdash;as you have," she declared, "I should never want to stop. Well, I
+must be getting back to the Fair Harbor&mdash;and the squabbles."</p>
+
+<p>"Too bad. Can I help you with 'em?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I'm afraid not. They're not big enough for you."</p>
+
+<p>They turned to the door. She spoke again.</p>
+
+<p>"You are going to drive to Orham to-morrow afternoon?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? Oh, yes. The Foam Flake and I will make the voyage&mdash;if we have
+luck."</p>
+
+<p>"And you are going&mdash;alone?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. Judah thinks I shouldn't. Probably he thinks the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_208" id="pg_208">208</a></span> Foam Flake may
+fall dead, or get to walkin' in his sleep and step off the bank or
+somethin'. But I'm goin' to risk it. I guess likely I can keep him in
+the channel."</p>
+
+<p>She waited a moment. Then she smiled and shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>"Cap'n," she said, "you make it awfully hard for me. And this is the
+second time. Really, I feel so&mdash;so brazen."</p>
+
+<p>"Brazen?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. Why don't you invite me to ride to Orham with you? Why must I
+<i>always</i> have to invite myself?"</p>
+
+<p>He turned to look at her. She colored a little, but she returned his
+look.</p>
+
+<p>"You&mdash;you mean it?" he demanded.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I mean it. I must get there somehow, because I promised Mr.
+Bradley. And unless you don't want me, in which case I shall have to
+hire from the livery stable, I&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>But he interrupted her. "Want you!" he repeated. "<i>Want</i> you!"</p>
+
+<p>His tone was sufficiently emphatic, perhaps more emphatic than he would
+have made it if he had not been taken by surprise. She must have found
+it satisfactory, for she did not ask further assurances.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," she said. "And when are you planning to start?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, right after dinner to-morrow. If that's all right for you.
+But I'm sorry you had to invite yourself. I&mdash;I thought&mdash;well, I thought
+maybe George had&mdash;had planned&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>To his further surprise she seemed a trifle annoyed.</p>
+
+<p>"George works at the store," she said. "Besides, I&mdash;well, really, Cap'n
+Kendrick, there is no compelling reason why George Kent should take me
+everywhere I want to go."</p>
+
+<p>Now Sears had imagined there was&mdash;and rumor and surmise in Bayport had
+long supported his imagining&mdash;but he did not tell her that. What he did
+say was inane enough.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh&mdash;er&mdash;yes, of course," he stammered.</p>
+
+<p>"No, there isn't. He and I are friends, good friends, and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_209" id="pg_209">209</a></span> have been for
+a long time, but that doesn't&mdash;&mdash; Well, Cap'n, I shall look for you and
+the Foam Flake&mdash;oh, that <i>is</i> a wonderful name&mdash;about one to-morrow. And
+I'll promise not to keep you waiting."</p>
+
+<p>"If the Foam Flake doesn't die in the meantime I'll be on hand. He'll be
+asleep probably, but Judah declares he walks in his sleep, so that&mdash;&mdash;
+Oh, heavens and earth!"</p>
+
+<p>This exclamation, although but a mutter, was fervent indeed. The captain
+and Elizabeth had turned to the vine-shaded doorway of the Eyrie, and
+there, in that doorway, was Miss Snowden and, peering around her thin
+shoulder, the moon face of Mrs. Chase. Sears looked annoyed, Miss Berry
+looked more so, and Elvira looked&mdash;well, she looked all sorts of things.
+As for Aurora, her expression was, as always, unfathomable. Judah Cahoon
+once compared her countenance to a pink china dish-cover, and it is hard
+to read the emotions behind a dish-cover.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Snowden spoke first.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh!" she observed; and much may be expressed in that monosyllable.</p>
+
+<p>Elizabeth spoke next. "Your book is there on the seat, Elvira," she
+said, carelessly. "At least I suppose it is yours. It has your bookmark
+in it."</p>
+
+<p>Elvira simpered. "Yes," she affirmed, "it is mine. But I'm not in a
+hurry, not a single bit of hurry. I <i>do</i> hope we haven't <i>disturbed</i>
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"Not a bit, not a bit," said Sears, crisply. "Miss Elizabeth and I were
+havin' a business talk, but we had finished. The coast is clear for you
+now. Good afternoon."</p>
+
+<p>"You're <i>sure</i>, Cap'n Kendrick? Aurora and I wouldn't interrupt a
+<i>business</i> talk for the <i>world</i>. And in such a romantic place, too."</p>
+
+<p>As Sears and Elizabeth walked up the path from the summer-house the
+voice of Mrs. Chase was audible&mdash;as usual very audible indeed.</p>
+
+<p>"Elviry," begged Aurora, eagerly, "Elviry, what did he say to you? He
+looked awful kind of put out when he said it."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_210" id="pg_210">210</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The captain was "put out," so was Elizabeth apparently. The latter said,
+"Oh, dear!" and laughed, but there was less humor than irritation in the
+laugh. Sears's remark was brief but pointed.</p>
+
+<p>"I like four-legged cats first-rate," he declared.</p>
+
+<p>The next day at one o'clock he and his passenger, with the placid Foam
+Flake as motor power, left the Fair Harbor together. And, as they drove
+out of the yard, both were conscious that behind the shades of the
+dining-room windows were at least six eager faces, and whispering
+tongues were commenting, exclaiming and surmising.</p>
+
+<p>The captain, for his part, forgot the faces and tongues very quickly. It
+was a pleasant afternoon, the early fall days on the Cape are so often
+glorious; the rain of a few days before had laid the dust, at least the
+upper layer of it, and the woods were beginning to show the first
+sprinklings of crimson and purple and yellow. The old horse walked or
+jogged or rambled on along the narrow winding ways, the ancient buggy
+rocked and rattled and swung in the deep ruts. They met almost no one
+for the eight miles between Bayport and Orham&mdash;there were no roaring,
+shrieking processions of automobiles in those days&mdash;and when Abial
+Gould, of North Harniss, encountered them at the narrowest section of
+highway, he steered his placid ox team into the huckleberry bushes and
+waited for them to pass, waving a whip-handle greeting from his perch on
+top of his load of fragrant pitch pine. The little ponds and lakes shone
+deeply blue as they glimpsed them in the hollows or over the tree tops
+and, occasionally, a startled partridge boomed from the thicket, or a
+flock of quail scurried along the roadside.</p>
+
+<p>They talked of all sorts of things, mostly of ships and seas and
+countries far away, subjects to which Elizabeth led the conversation and
+then abandoned it to her companion. They spoke little of the Fair Harbor
+or its picayune problems, and of the errand upon which they were
+going&mdash;the judge's will, its reading and its possible surprises&mdash;none at
+all.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't," pleaded Elizabeth, when Sears once mentioned
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_211" id="pg_211">211</a></span> the will; "don't,
+please. Judge Knowles was such a good friend of mine that I can't bear
+to think he has gone and that some one else is to speak his thoughts and
+carry out his plans. Tell me another sea story, Cap'n Kendrick. There
+aren't any Elvira Snowdens off Cape Horn, I'm sure."</p>
+
+<p>So Sears spun his yarns and enjoyed the spinning because she seemed to
+so enjoy listening to them. And he did not once mention his crippled
+limbs, or his despondency concerning the future; in fact, he pretty well
+forgot them for the time. And he did not mention George Kent, a person
+whom he had meant to mention and praise highly, for his unreasonable
+conscience had pestered him since the talk in the summer-house and, as
+usual, he had determined to do penance. But he forgot Kent for the time,
+forgot him altogether.</p>
+
+<p>Bradley's law offices occupied a one-story building on Orham's main road
+near the center of the village. There were several rigs standing at the
+row of hitching posts by the steps as they drove up. Sears climbed from
+the buggy&mdash;he did it much easier than had been possible a month
+before&mdash;and moored the Foam Flake beside them. Then they entered the
+building.</p>
+
+<p>Bradley's office boy told them that his employer and the others were in
+the private room beyond. The captain inquired who the others were.</p>
+
+<p>"Well" said the boy, "there's that Mr. Barnes&mdash;he's the one from
+California, you know, Judge Knowles' nephew. And Mike&mdash;Mr. Callahan, I
+mean&mdash;him that took care of the judge's horse and team and things; and
+that Tidditt woman that kept his house. And there's Mr. Dishup, the
+Orthodox minister from over to Bayport, and another man, I don't know
+his name. Walk right in, Cap'n Kendrick. Mr. Bradley told me to tell you
+and Miss Berry to walk right in when you came."</p>
+
+<p>So they walked right in. Bradley greeted them and introduced them to
+Knowles Barnes, the long-looked-for nephew from California. Barnes was a
+keen-eyed, healthy-looking business man and the captain liked him at
+once.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_212" id="pg_212">212</a></span> The person whom the office boy did not know turned out to be
+Captain Noah Baker, a retired master mariner, who was Grand Master of
+the Bayport lodge of Masons.</p>
+
+<p>"And now that you and Miss Berry are here, Cap'n Kendrick," said
+Bradley, "we will go ahead. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the will of
+our late good friend, Judge Knowles. He asked you all to be here when it
+was opened and read. Mr. Barnes is obliged to go West again in a week or
+so, so the sooner we get to business the better. Ahem!"</p>
+
+<p>Then followed the reading of the will. One by one the various legacies
+and bequests were read. Some of them Sears Kendrick had expected and
+foreseen. Others came as surprises. He was rather astonished to find
+that the judge had been, according to Cape Cod standards of that day,
+such a rich man. The estate, so the lawyer said, would, according to
+Knowles' own figures, total in the neighborhood of one hundred and fifty
+thousand dollars.</p>
+
+<p>Judge Knowles bequeathed:</p>
+
+<table summary='bequeath' style='width:80%'>
+<tr><td>To the Endowment Fund of the Fair Harbor for Mariners' Women</td><td align='right'>$50,000</td></tr>
+<tr><td>To the Bayport Congregational Church</td><td align='right'>5,000</td></tr>
+<tr><td>To the Building Fund of the Bayport Lodge of Masons</td><td align='right'>5,000</td></tr>
+<tr><td>To Emmeline Tidditt (his housekeeper)</td><td align='right'>5,000</td></tr>
+<tr><td>To Michael Callahan (his hired man)</td><td align='right'>5,000</td></tr>
+<tr><td>To Elizabeth Berry&mdash;in trust until she should be thirty years of age</td><td align='right'>20,000</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Other small bequests, about</td><td align='right'>7,000</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>The balance, the residue of the estate, amounting to a sum approximating
+fifty-five thousand, to Henry Knowles Barnes, of San Francisco,
+California.</p>
+
+<p>There were several pages of carefully worded directions and
+instructions. The fifty thousand for the Fair Harbor was already
+invested in good securities and, from the interest of these, Sears
+Kendrick's salary of fifteen hundred
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_213" id="pg_213">213</a></span> a year was to be paid as long as
+he wished to retain his present position as general manager. If the time
+should come when he wished to relinquish that position he was given
+authority to appoint his successor at the same salary. Or should
+Cordelia Berry, at any time, decide to give up her position as matron,
+Kendrick and Bradley, acting together, might, if they saw fit, appoint a
+suitable person to act as manager <i>and</i> matron at a suitable salary. In
+this event, of course, Kendrick would no longer continue to draw his
+fifteen hundred a year.</p>
+
+<p>The reading was not without interruptions. Mr. Callahan's was the most
+dramatic. When announcement was made of his five thousand dollar
+windfall his Celtic fervor got the better of him and he broke loose with
+a tangled mass of tearful ejaculations and prayers, a curious mixture of
+glories to the saints and demands for blessings upon the soul of his
+benefactor. Mrs. Tidditt was as greatly moved as he, but she had her
+emotions under firmer control. The Reverend Mr. Dishup was happy and
+grateful on behalf of his parish, so too was Captain Baker as
+representative of the Masonic Lodge. But each of these had been in a
+measure prepared, they had been led to expect some gift or remembrance.
+It was Elizabeth Berry who had, apparently, expected nothing&mdash;nothing
+for herself, that is. When the lawyer announced the generous bequest to
+the Fair Harbor she caught her breath and turned to look at Sears with
+an almost incredulous joy in her eyes. But when he read of the twenty
+thousand which was hers&mdash;the income beginning at once and the principal
+when she was thirty&mdash;she was so tremendously taken aback that, for an
+instant, the captain thought she was going to faint. "Oh!" she
+exclaimed, and that was all, but the color left her face entirely.</p>
+
+<p>Sears rose, so did the minister, but she waved them back. "Don't," she
+begged. "I&mdash;I am all right.... No, please don't speak to me for&mdash;for a
+little while."</p>
+
+<p>So they did not speak, but the captain, watching her, saw that the color
+came back very slowly to her cheeks and that her eyes, when she opened
+them, were wet. Her hands,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_214" id="pg_214">214</a></span> clasped in her lap, were trembling. Sears,
+although rejoicing for her, felt a pang of hot resentment at the manner
+of the announcement. It should not have been so public. She should not
+have had to face such a surprise before those staring spectators. Why
+had not the judge&mdash;or Bradley, if he knew&mdash;have prepared her in some
+measure?</p>
+
+<p>But when it was over and he hastened to congratulate her, she was more
+composed. She received his congratulations, and those of the others, if
+not quite calmly at least with dignity and simplicity. To Mr. Dishup and
+Bradley and Captain Baker she said little except thanks. To Barnes,
+whose congratulations were sincere and hearty, and, to all appearances
+at least, quite ungrudging, she expressed herself as too astonished to
+be very coherent.</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I can scarcely believe it yet," she faltered. "I can't understand&mdash;I
+can't think why he did it.... And you are all so very kind. You won't
+mind if I don't say any more now, will you?"</p>
+
+<p>But to Sears when he came, once more, to add another word and to shake
+her hand, she expressed a little of the uncertainty which she felt.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," she whispered; "oh, Cap'n Kendrick, do you think it is right? Do
+you think he really meant to do it? You are sure he did?"</p>
+
+<p>His tone should have carried conviction. "You bet he meant it!" he
+declared, fervently. "He never meant anything any more truly; I know
+it."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you? Do you really?... Did&mdash;did you know? Did he tell you he was
+going to?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not exactly, but he hinted. He&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Wait. Wait, please. Don't tell me any more now. By and by, on the way
+home, perhaps. I&mdash;I want to know all about it. I want to be sure. And,"
+with a tremulous smile, "I doubt if I could really understand just yet."</p>
+
+<p>The group in the lawyer's office did not break up for another hour.
+There were many matters for discussion, matters upon which Bradley and
+Barnes wished the advice of the others. Mike and Mrs. Tidditt were sent
+home early,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_215" id="pg_215">215</a></span> and departed, volubly, though tearfully rejoicing. The
+minister and Captain Noah stayed on to answer questions concerning the
+church and the lodge, the former's pressing needs and the new building
+which the latter had hoped for and which was now a certainty. Sears and
+Elizabeth remained longest. Bradley whispered to the captain that he
+wished them to do so.</p>
+
+<p>When they were alone with him, and with Barnes of course, he took from
+his pocket two sealed letters.</p>
+
+<p>"The judge gave me these along with the will," he said. "That was about
+three weeks before he died. I don't know what is in them and he gave me
+to understand that I wasn't supposed to know. They are for you two and
+no one else, so he said. You are to read yours when you are alone, Cap'n
+Kendrick, and Elizabeth is to read hers when she is by herself. And he
+particularly asked me to tell you both not to make your decision too
+quickly. Think it over, he said."</p>
+
+<p>He handed Sears an envelope addressed in Judge Knowles' hand-writing,
+and to Elizabeth another bearing her name.</p>
+
+<p>"There!" he exclaimed, with a sigh of relief. "That is done. Ever since
+the old judge left us I have been feeling as if he were standing at my
+elbow and nudging me not to forget. He had a will of his own, Judge
+Knowles had, and I don't mean the will we have just read, either. But,
+take him by and large, as you sailors say, Cap'n, I honestly believe he
+was the biggest and squarest man this county has seen for years. Some of
+us are going to be surer of that fact every day that passes."</p>
+
+<p>It was after four when Elizabeth and Sears climbed aboard the buggy and
+the captain, tugging heavily on what he termed the port rein, coaxed the
+unwilling Foam Flake into the channel&mdash;or the road. Heavy clouds had
+risen in the west since their arrival in Orham, the sky was covered with
+them, and it was already beginning to grow dark. When they turned from
+the main road into the wood road leading across the Cape there were
+lighted lamps in the kitchens of the scattered houses on the outskirts
+of the town.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_216" id="pg_216">216</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Is it going to rain, do you think?" asked Elizabeth, peering at the
+troubled brown masses above the tree tops.</p>
+
+<p>Sears shook his head. "Hardly think so," he replied. "Looks more like
+wind to me. Pretty heavy squall, I shouldn't wonder, and maybe rain
+to-morrow. Come, come; get under way, Old Hundred," addressing the
+meandering Foam Flake. "If you don't travel faster than this in fair
+weather and a smooth sea, what will you do when we have to reef? Well,"
+with a chuckle, "even if it comes on a livin' gale the old horse won't
+blow off the course. Judah feeds him too well. Nothin' short of a
+typhoon could heel <i>him</i> down."</p>
+
+<p>The prophesied gale held off, but the darkness shut in rapidly. In the
+long stretches of thick woods through which they were passing it was
+soon hard to see clearly. Not that that made any difference. Sears knew
+the Orham road pretty well and the placid Foam Flake seemed to know it
+absolutely. His ancient hoofs plodded up and down in the worn "horse
+path" between the grass-grown and sometimes bush-grown ridges which
+separated it from the deep ruts on either side. Sometimes those ruts
+were so deep that the tops of the blueberry bushes and weeds on those
+ridges scratched the bottom of the buggy.</p>
+
+<p>Beside his orders to the horse the captain had said very little since
+their departure. He had been thinking, though, thinking hard. It was
+just beginning to dawn upon him, the question as to what this good
+fortune which had befallen the girl beside him might mean, what effect
+it might have upon her, upon her future&mdash;and upon her relations with
+him, Sears Kendrick.</p>
+
+<p>Hitherto those relations had been those of comrades, fellow workers,
+partners, so to speak, in an enterprise the success of which involved
+continuous planning and fighting against obstacles. A difficult but
+fascinating game of itself, but one which also meant a means of
+livelihood for them both. Elizabeth had drawn no salary, it is true, but
+without her help her mother could not have held her position as matron,
+not for a month could she have done so. It was
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_217" id="pg_217">217</a></span> Elizabeth who was the
+real matron, who really earned the wages Cordelia received and upon
+which they both lived. And Elizabeth had told the captain that she
+should remain at the Fair Harbor and work with and for her mother as
+long as the latter needed her.</p>
+
+<p>And now Sears was realizing that the necessity for either of them to
+remain there no longer existed. Cordelia, thanks to Mrs. Phillips'
+bequest, had five thousand dollars of her own. Elizabeth had, for the
+six or seven years before her thirtieth birthday, an income of at least
+twelve hundred yearly. Cordelia's legacy would add several hundred to
+that. If they wished it was quite possible for them to retire from the
+Fair Harbor and live somewhere in a modest fashion upon that income.
+Many couples&mdash;couples esteemed by Bayporters as being in comfortable
+circumstances&mdash;were living upon incomes quite as small. Sears was
+suddenly brought face to face with this possibility, and was forced to
+admit it even a probability.</p>
+
+<p>And he&mdash;he had no income worth mentioning. He could not go to sea again
+for a long time; he did not add "if ever," because even conservative
+Doctor Sheldon now admitted that his complete recovery was but a matter
+of time, but it would be a year&mdash;perhaps years. And for that year, or
+those years, he must live&mdash;and he had practically nothing to live upon
+except his Fair Harbor salary. And then again, as an additional
+obligation, there was his promise to Judge Knowles to stick it out. But
+to stick it out alone&mdash;without her!</p>
+
+<p>For Elizabeth was under no obligation. She might not stay&mdash;probably
+would not. She was a young woman of fortune now. She could do what she
+liked, in reason. She might&mdash;why, she might even decide to marry. There
+was Kent&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>At the thought Sears choked and swallowed hard. A tingling, freezing
+shiver ran down his spine. She would marry George Kent and he would be
+left to&mdash;to face&mdash;to face&mdash;&mdash; She would marry&mdash;<i>she</i>&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>The shiver lasted but a moment. He shut his teeth,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_218" id="pg_218">218</a></span> blinked and came
+back to the buggy seat and reality&mdash;and shame. Overwhelming, humiliating
+shame. He glanced fearfully at her, afraid that she might have seen his
+face and read upon it the secret which he himself had learned for the
+first time. No, she did not read it, she was not looking at him, she too
+seemed to be thinking. There was a chance for him yet. He must be a man,
+a decent man, not a fool and a selfish beast. She did not know&mdash;and she
+should not. Then, or at any future time.</p>
+
+<p>He spoke now and hurriedly. "Well," he began, "I suppose&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>But she had looked up and now she spoke. Apparently she had not heard
+him, for she said:</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me about it, Cap'n Kendrick, please. I want to hear all about it.
+You said you knew? You say Judge Knowles hinted that he was going to do
+this&mdash;for me? Tell me all about it, please. Please."</p>
+
+<p>So he told her, all that he could remember of the judge's words
+concerning his regard for her, of his high opinion of her abilities, of
+his friendship for her father, and of his intention to see that she was
+"provided for."</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't know just what he meant, of course," he said, in conclusion,
+"but I guessed, some of it. I do want you to know, Elizabeth," he added,
+stammering a little in his earnestness, "how glad I am for you, how
+<i>very</i> glad."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," she said, "I do know."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I&mdash;I haven't said much, but I <i>am</i>. I don't think I ever was more
+glad, or could be. You believe that, don't you?"</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him in surprise. "Why, of course I believe it," she said.
+"Why do you ask that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I&mdash;I don't know. I hadn't said much about it."</p>
+
+<p>"But it wasn't necessary. I knew you were glad. I know you by this time,
+Cap'n Kendrick, through and through."</p>
+
+<p>The same guilty shiver ran down his spine and he glanced sharply at her
+to see if there was any hidden meaning behind her words. But there was
+not. She was looking
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_219" id="pg_219">219</a></span> down again, and when she again spoke it was to
+repeat the question she had asked at the lawyer's office.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder if I ought to take it?" she murmured. "Do you think it is
+right for me to accept&mdash;so much?</p>
+
+<p>"Right!" he repeated. "Right? Of course its right. And because it is
+enough to amount to somethin' makes it all the more right. Judge Knowles
+knew what he was doin', trust his long head for that. A little would
+only have made things easier where you were.... Now," he forced himself
+to say it, "now you can be independent."</p>
+
+<p>"Independent?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, yes. Do what you like&mdash;in reason. Steer your own course. Live as
+you want to ... and where ... and <i>how</i> you want to."</p>
+
+<p>They were simple sentences these, but he found them hard to say. She
+turned again to look at him.</p>
+
+<p>"Why do you speak like that?" she asked. "How should I want to live?
+What do you mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"I mean&mdash;er&mdash;you can think of your own happiness and&mdash;plans, and&mdash;all
+that. You won't be anchored to the Fair Harbor, unless you want to be.
+You.... Eh? Hi! Standby! Whoa! <i>Whoa!</i>"</p>
+
+<p>The last commands were roars at the horse, for, at that moment, the
+squall struck.</p>
+
+<p>It came out of the blackness to the left and ahead like some enormous
+living creature springing over the pine tops and pouncing upon them.
+There was a rumble, a roar and then a shrieking rush. The sand of the
+road leaped up like the smoke from an explosion, showers of leaves and
+twigs pattered sharply upon the buggy top or were thrown smartly into
+their faces. From all about came the squeaks and groans of branches
+rubbing against each other, with an occasional sharp crack as a limb
+gave way under the pressure.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Kendrick and his passenger had been so occupied with their
+thoughts and conversation that both had forgotten the heavy clouds they
+had noticed when they left Bradley's office, rolling up from the west.
+Then, too, the increasing
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_220" id="pg_220">220</a></span> darkness had hidden the sky. So the swoop of
+the squall took them completely by surprise.</p>
+
+<p>And not only them but that genuine antique the Foam Flake. This
+phlegmatic animal had been enjoying himself for the last half hour. No
+one had shouted orders at him, he had not been slapped with the ends of
+the reins, no whip had been cracked in his vicinity. He had been
+permitted to amble and to walk and had availed himself of the
+permission. For the most recent mile he had been, practically, a
+somnambulist. Now out of his dreams, whatever they may have been, came
+this howling terror. He jumped and snorted. Then the wind, tearing a
+prickly dead branch from a scrub oak by the roadside, cast it full into
+his dignified countenance. For the first time in ten years at least, the
+Foam Flake ran away.</p>
+
+<p>He did not run far, of course; he was not in training for distance
+events. But his sprint, although short, was lively and erratic. He
+jumped to one side, the side opposite to that from which the branch had
+come, jerking the buggy out of the ruts and setting it to rocking like a
+dory amid breakers. He jumped again, and this brought his ancient
+broadside into contact with the bushes by the edge of the road. They
+were ragged, and prickly, and in violent commotion. So he jumped the
+other way.</p>
+
+<p>Sears, yelling Whoas and compliments, stood erect upon his newly-mended
+legs and leaned his weight backward upon the reins. If the skipper of a
+Hudson River canal boat had suddenly found his craft deserting the
+waterway and starting to climb Bear Mountain, he might have experienced
+something of Sears' feelings at that moment. Canal boats should not
+climb; it isn't done; and horses of the Foam Flake age, build and
+reputation should not run away.</p>
+
+<p>"Whoa! Whoa! What in thunder&mdash;?" roared the captain. "Port! Port, you
+lubber!"</p>
+
+<p>He jerked violently on the left rein. That rein was, like the horse and
+the buggy, of more than middle age. Leather of that age must be
+persuaded, not jerked. The rein broke just beyond Sears' hand, flew over
+the dashboard and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_221" id="pg_221">221</a></span> dragged in the road. The driver's weight came solidly
+upon the right hand rein. The Foam Flake dashed across the highway
+again, head-first into the woods this time.</p>
+
+<p>Then followed a few long&mdash;very long minutes of scratching and rocking
+and pounding. Sears heard himself shouting something about the Broken
+rein he must get that rein.</p>
+
+<p>"It's all right! It's all right, Elizabeth!" he shouted. "I'm goin' to
+lean out over his back, if I can and&mdash;O&mdash;oh!"</p>
+
+<p>The last was a groan, involuntarily wrung from him by the pain in his
+knees. He had put an unaccustomed strain upon them and they were
+remonstrating. He shut his teeth, swallowed another groan, and leaned
+out over the dash, his hand clutching for the harness of the rocketing,
+bumping Foam Flake.</p>
+
+<p>Then he realized that some one else was leaning over that dashboard, was
+in fact almost out of the buggy and swinging by the harness and the
+shaft.</p>
+
+<p>"Elizabeth!" he shouted, in wild alarm. "Elizabeth, what are you doin'?
+Stop!"</p>
+
+<p>But she was back, panting a little, but safe.</p>
+
+<p>"I have the rein," she panted. "Give me the other, Cap'n Kendrick. I can
+handle him, I know. Give me the rein. Sit down! Oh, please! You will
+hurt yourself again!"</p>
+
+<p>But he was in no mood to sit down. He snatched the end of the broken
+rein from her hand, taking it and the command again simultaneously.</p>
+
+<p>"Get back, back on the seat," he ordered. "Now then," addressing the
+horse, "we'll see who's what! Whoa! Whoa! Steady! Come into that
+channel, you old idiot! Come <i>on</i>!"</p>
+
+<p>The Foam Flake was pretty nearly ready to come by this time. And
+Kendrick's not too gentle coaxing helped. The buggy settled into the
+ruts with a series of bumps. The horse's gallop became a trot, then a
+walk; then he stopped and stood still.</p>
+
+<p>The captain subsided on the seat beside his passenger. He relaxed his
+tension upon the reins and the situation.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_222" id="pg_222">222</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Whew!" he exclaimed. "That was sweet while it lasted. All right, are
+you?"</p>
+
+<p>She answered, still rather breathlessly, "Yes, I am all right," she
+declared. "But you? Aren't you hurt?"</p>
+
+<p>"Me? Not a bit."</p>
+
+<p>"You're sure? I was so afraid. Your&mdash;your legs, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"My legs are all serene." They weren't, by any means, and were at that
+moment proclaiming the fact, but he did not mean she should know.
+"They're first-rate.... Well, I'm much obliged."</p>
+
+<p>"Obliged for what?"</p>
+
+<p>"For that rein. But you shouldn't have climbed out that way. You might
+have broken your neck. 'Twas an awful risk."</p>
+
+<p>"You were going to take the same risk. And <i>I</i> am not in the doctor's
+care."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you shouldn't have done it, just the same. And it was a spunky
+thing to do.... But what a numbskull I was not to be on the lookout for
+that squall. Humph!" with a grin, "I believe I told you even a typhoon
+couldn't move this horse. I was wrong, wasn't I?"</p>
+
+<p>The squall had passed on, but a steady gale was behind it. And there was
+a marked hint of dampness in the air. Sears sniffed.</p>
+
+<p>"And I'm afraid, too," he said, "that I was wrong about that rain comin'
+to-morrow. I think it's comin' this evenin' and pretty soon, at that."</p>
+
+<p>It came within fifteen minutes, in showery gusts at first. The captain
+urged the Foam Flake onward as fast as possible, but that quadruped had
+already over-expended his stock of energy and shouts and slaps meant
+nothing to him. For a short time Sears chatted and laughed, but then he
+relapsed into silence. Elizabeth, watching him fearfully, caught, as the
+buggy bounced over a loose stone, a smothered exclamation, first cousin
+to a groan.</p>
+
+<p>"I knew it!" she cried. "You <i>are</i> hurt, Cap'n Kendrick."</p>
+
+<p>"No, no, I'm not," hastily. "It's&mdash;it's those confounded
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_223" id="pg_223">223</a></span> spliced spars
+of mine. They're a little weak yet, I presume likely."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course they are. Oh, I'm <i>so</i> sorry. Won't you let me drive?"</p>
+
+<p>"I should say not. I'm not quite ready for the scrap heap yet. And if I
+couldn't steer this Noah's ark I should be.... Hello! here's another
+craft at sea."</p>
+
+<p>Another vehicle was ahead of them in the road, coming toward them. Sears
+pulled out to permit it to pass. But the driver of the other buggy
+hailed as the horses' heads came abreast.</p>
+
+<p>"Elizabeth," he shouted, "is that you?"</p>
+
+<p>Miss Berry's surprise showed in her voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, George!" she cried. "Where in the world are you going?"</p>
+
+<p>The horses stopped. Kent leaned forward.</p>
+
+<p>"Going?" he repeated. "Why, I was going after you, of course. Are you
+wet through?"</p>
+
+<p>He seemed somewhat irritated, so the captain thought.</p>
+
+<p>"No, indeed," replied Elizabeth. "I am all right. But why did you come
+after me? Didn't they tell you I was with Cap'n Kendrick?"</p>
+
+<p>"<i>They</i> told me&mdash;yes. But why didn't <i>you</i> tell me you were going to
+Orham? I would have driven you over; you know I would."</p>
+
+<p>"You were at work at the store."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I could have taken the afternoon off.... But there! no use
+talking about it out here in this rain. Come on.... Oh, wait until I
+turn around. Drive ahead a little, will you?"</p>
+
+<p>This was the first time he had spoken to Sears, and even then his tone
+was not too gracious. The captain drove on a few steps, as requested,
+and, a moment later, Kent's equipage, now headed in their direction, was
+alongside once more.</p>
+
+<p>"Whoa!" he shouted, and both horses stopped. "Come on, Elizabeth," urged
+the young man, briskly. "Wait, I'll help you."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_224" id="pg_224">224</a></span></p>
+
+<p>He sprang out of his buggy and approached theirs. "Come on," he said,
+again. "Quick! It is going to rain harder."</p>
+
+<p>Elizabeth did not move. "But I'm not going with you, George," she said
+quietly.</p>
+
+<p>He stared at her.</p>
+
+<p>"Not going with me?" he repeated. "Why, of course you are. I've come on
+purpose for you."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sorry. You shouldn't have done it. You knew I would be all right
+with Cap'n Kendrick."</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't even know you were going with him. You didn't say you were
+going at all. If you had I&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"You would have taken another afternoon's holiday. And you know what Mr.
+Bassett said about the last one."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't care a&mdash;I don't care what he says. I shan't be working very
+long for him, I hope.... But there, Elizabeth! Come on, come on! I can
+get you home for supper while that old horse of Cahoon's is thinking
+about it."</p>
+
+<p>But still she did not move. Sears thought that, perhaps, he should take
+a hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Go right ahead, Elizabeth," he said. "George is right about the
+horses."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I am. Come, Elizabeth."</p>
+
+<p>"No, I shall stay with Cap'n Kendrick. He has been kind enough to take
+me so far and we are almost home. You can follow, George, and we'll get
+there together."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I like that!" exclaimed Kent. But he did not speak as if he liked
+it. "After I have taken the trouble&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Hush! Don't be silly. The cap'n has taken a great deal of trouble,
+too.... No," as Sears began to protest, "you can't get rid of me, Cap'n
+Kendrick."</p>
+
+<p>"But, Elizabeth&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"No. Do you suppose I am going to leave you&mdash;in pain&mdash;and.... Drive on,
+please. George can follow us."</p>
+
+<p>"But I'm all right, good land knows! The Foam Flake won't try to fly
+again. And really, I&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Drive on, please."</p>
+
+<p>So he drove on; there seemed to be nothing else to do.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_225" id="pg_225">225</a></span> It did not help
+his feelings to hear, as George Kent was left standing in the road, a
+disgusted and profane ejaculation from that young gentleman.</p>
+
+<p>The remainder of the journey was quickly made. There was little
+conversation. The rain, the wind, and the sounds of the horses' hoofs
+and the rattle of the buggies&mdash;for Kent's was close behind all the
+way&mdash;furnished most of the noise.</p>
+
+<p>Judah was waiting when they came into the yard of the Minot place. He
+and Elizabeth helped Sears from the buggy. The captain, in spite of his
+protestations, could scarcely stand. Kent, because Elizabeth asked him
+to, assisted in getting him into the kitchen and the biggest rocking
+chair.</p>
+
+<p>"Now go ... go," urged Sears. "I'm just a little lame, that's all, and
+I'll be all right by to-morrow. Go, Elizabeth please. Your supper is
+waitin' as it is. Now go."</p>
+
+<p>She went, but rather reluctantly. "I shall run over after supper to see
+how you are," she declared. "Thank you very much for taking me to Orham,
+Cap'n."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you for&mdash;for a whole lot of things. And don't you dream of comin'
+over again to-night. There's no sense in it, is there, George?"</p>
+
+<p>If Kent heard he did not answer. His "good night" was brief. Sears did
+not like it, nor the expression on his face. This was a new side of the
+young fellow's character, a side the captain had not seen before. And
+yet&mdash;well, he was young, very young. Sears was troubled about the
+affair. Had he been to blame? He had not meant to be. Ah-hum! the world
+was full of misunderstandings and foolishness. And was there, in all
+that world, any being more foolish than himself?</p>
+
+<p>Just here, Judah, having returned from stabling the Foam Flake, rushed
+into the kitchen to demand answers to a thousand questions. For the next
+hour there was no opportunity for moralizing or melancholy.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_226" id="pg_226">226</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_XII_8940" id="CHAPTER_XII_8940"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER XII</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Elizabeth did not visit the Minot place that evening, as she had said
+she meant to do. It may be that Sears was a trifle disappointed, but
+even he would have been obliged to confess that that particular evening
+was not the time for him to receive callers. He ate his supper&mdash;a very
+small portion of the meal which Judah had provided for him&mdash;and, soon
+afterward, retired to the spare stateroom and bed. Undressing was a
+martyrdom, and he had hard work to keep back the groans which the pain
+in his legs tempted him to utter. There was no doubt that he had twisted
+those shaky limbs of his more than he realized. He had wrenched them
+severely, how severely he scarcely dared think. But they forced him to
+think all that night, and the next morning Judah insisted on going for
+the doctor.</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Sheldon examined the "spliced timbers," fumed and scolded a good
+deal, but at last grudgingly admitted that no irreparable harm had been
+done.</p>
+
+<p>"You're luckier than you deserve, Cap'n," he declared. "It's a wonder
+you aren't ruined altogether. Now you stay right in that bed until I
+tell you to get up. And that won't be to-day, or to-morrow either.
+Perhaps the day after that&mdash;well, we'll see. But those legs of yours
+need absolute rest. Judah, you see that they get it, will you? If he
+tries to get up you knock him back again. Those are orders. Understand?"</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, aye, sir," replied Judah, promptly. "I'll have a handspike handy.
+He won't turn out, I'll see to it."</p>
+
+<p>Sears' protestations that he couldn't waste time in bed, that he had too
+many important things to attend to, went
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_227" id="pg_227">227</a></span> for nothing. According to
+Sheldon and Judah his legs were the only things of real importance just
+then and they needed absolute rest. Down inside him the captain realized
+that this was true, and so grumblingly resigned himself to the two days
+of imprisonment. With the most recent issues of the <i>Cape Cod Item</i> and
+one or two books from the shelves in the sitting room closet, books of
+the vintage of the '40's and '50's, but fortunately of a strong sea
+flavor, he endeavored to console himself, while Judah attended to the
+household duties or went down town on errands.</p>
+
+<p>Elizabeth called that first forenoon, but did not see him. The doctor
+had warned Judah to head off visitors. "They may not do any harm, but
+they certainly won't do any good, and I want him to have absolute rest,"
+said Sheldon. So Judah guarded the outer portal, and, when he went out,
+hung up a warning placard. "OUT. NO ADMITENTS. DOORS LOKED. KEY UNDER
+MAT." The information concerning the key was for the doctor's benefit.</p>
+
+<p>But Elizabeth sent her good wishes and sympathy. So did her mother. So,
+too, did Esther Tidditt, and Miss Snowden, and Miss Peasley, and in fact
+all the Fair Harbor inmates. For the first day Mr. Cahoon was kept busy
+transmitting messages to the spare stateroom.</p>
+
+<p>But about this time Bayport began to rock with a new series of
+sensations and, except by the very few, Captain Kendrick was forgotten.
+The news of Judge Knowles' various legacies became known and spread
+through the village like fire in a patch of dead weeds. The Fair Harbor
+sat up nearly all of one night discussing and commenting upon the good
+fortune which had befallen the Berrys. And by no means all of the time
+was used in congratulations.</p>
+
+<p>"Humph!" sniffed Susanna Brackett, her lips squeezed so tightly together
+that her mustache stood on end. "Humph!"</p>
+
+<p>Miss Snowden nodded. "Of course," she said, "I'm not a person to hint,
+or anything of that sort. But&mdash;<i>but</i> if somebody'll tell me <i>why</i> the
+judge left all that money to her I should like to hear 'em."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_228" id="pg_228">228</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Brackett opened her lips sufficiently to observe that so should
+she. "Of course," she added, "the five thousand that Lobelia left
+Cordelia might have been expected, they was real friendly always. But
+why did Judge Knowles leave it all to Elizabeth and not one cent to her
+mother? <i>That</i> I <i>can't</i> understand."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Peasley smiled. "We used to wonder why Elizabeth kept runnin' to
+the judge's all the time," she said. "He was sick and feeble and we
+thought 'twas queer her pesterin' him so. <i>Now</i>&mdash;well, it pays to hang
+around sick folks, don't it? They're easier to coax, maybe, than the
+well kind.... Course I ain't sayin' there was any coaxin' done."</p>
+
+<p>Little Mrs. Tidditt's feathers had begun to rise. "Oh, no!" she snapped.
+"You ain't <i>sayin'</i> anything, any of you. Judge Knowles was business
+head of this&mdash;this old cats' home afore he app'inted Cap'n Kendrick to
+the job, and you know that. Elizabeth <i>had</i> to go to him about all sorts
+of money matters, and you know that, too. As for her tryin' to coax him
+to leave her money, that's just rubbish. He always liked her, thought
+the world of her ever since she was a little girl, and he left her the
+twenty thousand because of that and for no other reason. That's why <i>I</i>
+think he left it to her; but, if some of the rest of you would be better
+satisfied, I'll tell her what you say&mdash;or <i>ain't</i> sayin', Desire&mdash;and
+let her answer it herself."</p>
+
+<p>This not being at all what Miss Peasley and the others wished, no more
+was said about undue influence at the time. But much was said at times
+when the pugnacious Esther was not present, and there was marked
+speculation concerning what Miss Berry would do with her money, what Mr.
+Phillips would do when he returned to Bayport, whether or not Cordelia
+Berry would continue to be matron at the Harbor, and what Sears
+Kendrick's plans for the future might be.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course," said Mrs. Brackett, "the judge fixed it so he would get his
+fifteen hundred so long as he stays manager. But will he stay long?
+There's Mr. Phillips to be
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_229" id="pg_229">229</a></span> considered now, I should think. <i>He'll</i> have
+somethin' to say about the&mdash;er&mdash;retreat his wife founded, won't he?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Constance Cahoon made a remark.</p>
+
+<p>"George Kent'll come in for a nice windfall some of these days, it looks
+like," she observed, significantly. "What makes you look so funny,
+Elviry?"</p>
+
+<p>Miss Snowden smiled. "Will he?" she inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, won't he? When he marries Elizabeth&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. Yes, <i>when</i> he does."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, he's goin' to, ain't he? Why, he's been keepin' comp'ny with her
+for two years. Everybody cal'lates they're engaged."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. But <i>they</i> don't say they are.... Oh, what is it Aurora?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Chase, who had been listening with her hand at her ears, had caught
+a little of the conversation.</p>
+
+<p>"If you mean her and George Kent is engaged, Constance," she declared,
+"they ain't. I asked Elizabeth if they was, myself, asked her much as a
+month ago, and she said no. Pretty nigh took my head off, too."</p>
+
+<p>Elvira's smile broadened. She nodded, slowly and with mysterious
+significance. "I'm not so sure about that engagement," she observed.
+"Some things I've seen lately have set me to thinking. To thinking a
+good deal.... Um ... yes. It looks to me as if somebody&mdash;<i>somebody</i>, I
+mention no names&mdash;may have had a hint of what was coming and began to
+lay plans according.... No, I shan't say any more&mdash;now. And I give in
+that it seems too perfectly ridiculous to believe. But things like that
+sometimes do happen, and ... Well, we'll wait and see."</p>
+
+<p>Happy in the knowledge that she had aroused curiosity as well as envy of
+her superior knowledge, she subsided. Mrs. Tidditt concluded that
+portion of the discussion.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," she remarked, crisply, "I don't see why we need to sit here
+talkin' about engagements or folks' gettin' married. Nobody has shown
+any symptoms of wantin' to marry any of <i>this</i> crowd, so far as I can
+make out."</p>
+
+<p>While the town was at the very height of its agitation
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_230" id="pg_230">230</a></span> concerning the
+Knowles will, there came another earthquake. Egbert Phillips returned.
+He alighted from the train at the Bayport depot on the second morning of
+Sears's imprisonment in the spare stateroom and before night the
+information that he imparted&mdash;confidentially, of course&mdash;and the hints
+he gave concerning his plans for the future, made the Berry legacies and
+all the other legacies take second place as gossip kindlers.</p>
+
+<p>Judah came rushing into the house later that afternoon, his arms full of
+bundles&mdash;purchases at Eliphalet's store&mdash;and his mouth full of words. He
+dropped everything, eggs, salt fish, tea and shoe laces, on the kitchen
+table and tore pell-mell into his lodger's bedroom. Captain Kendrick,
+propped up with pillows, was of course stretched out in bed. There was
+what appeared to be a letter in his hand, a letter apparently just
+received, for a recently opened envelope lay on the comforter beside
+him, and upon his face was an expression of bewilderment, surprise and
+marked concern. Judah was too intent upon his news to notice anything
+else and Sears hastily gathered up letter and envelope and thrust them
+beneath the pillow. Then Judah broke loose.</p>
+
+<p>Egbert had come back, had come back to Bayport to live, for good. He had
+come on the morning train. Lots of folks saw him; some of them had
+talked with him. "And what do you cal'late, Cap'n Sears? You'll never
+guess in <i>this</i> world! By the crawlin' prophets, he swears he ain't
+rich, the way all hands figured out he was. No, sir, he ain't! 'Cordin'
+to his tell he ain't got no money at all, scarcely. All them stocks
+and&mdash;and bonds and&mdash;and securitums and such like have gone on the rocks.
+They was unfort'nate infestments, he says. He says he's in straightened
+out circumstances, whatever they be, but he's come back here to spend
+his declinin' days&mdash;that's what Joe Macomber says he called 'em, his
+declinin' days&mdash;in Bayport, 'cause he loves the old place, 'count of
+Lobelia, his wife, lovin' it so, and he can maybe scratch along here on
+what income he's got, and&mdash;and&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>And so on, for sentence after sentence. Sears heard
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_231" id="pg_231">231</a></span> some of it, but not
+all. The letter he had just read&mdash;the letter from Judge Knowles which
+Bradley had handed him before he left Orham&mdash;was of itself too startling
+and disturbing to be dismissed from his thoughts; but he heard some,
+enough to make him realize that there might be, in all probability was,
+trouble ahead. Just why Phillips had returned to Bayport, to take up his
+abode there permanently, was hard to understand, but there certainly
+must be some reason beside his "love" for the place and its people.
+Neither place nor people should, so it seemed to the captain, appeal
+strongly to a citizen of the world, of the fashionable world, like Mr.
+Egbert Phillips. It is true that he might perhaps live cheaper there
+than in most communities, but still.... No, Sears was sure that the
+former singing teacher had returned to the Cape in pursuance of a plan.
+What that plan might be he could not guess, unless the widower
+contemplated contesting his wife's gift to the Fair Harbor. That would
+be a losing fight, was certain to be, for Judge Knowles had seen to
+that. But if not that&mdash;what?</p>
+
+<p>He gave very little thought to the matter at the time, for Judge
+Knowles' letter and its astounding proposition were monopolizing his
+mental machinery. That letter would have, as he might have expressed it,
+knocked him on his beam ends even if the Foam Flake's unexpected
+outbreak had not knocked him there already. The letter was rather long,
+but it was to the point, nevertheless. Judge Knowles begged him&mdash;him,
+Sears Kendrick&mdash;to accept the appointment of trustee in charge of
+Elizabeth Berry's twenty thousand dollar inheritance. The latter was
+hers in trust until she was thirty.</p>
+
+<p>"I have seen enough of you to believe in you, Kendrick," so the judge
+had written. "Besides, you know the Berrys, mother and daughter, by this
+time, better than any one else&mdash;even Bradley&mdash;and you know my opinion of
+Cordelia's headpiece. I don't want her soft-headedness or foolishness to
+get any of Elizabeth's money away from her. Elizabeth is a dutiful
+daughter and an unselfish girl and she may feel&mdash;or
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_232" id="pg_232">232</a></span> be led to
+feel&mdash;that her mother ought to have this money or a large part of it. I
+don't want this to happen. Of course I expect Elizabeth to share her
+income with her mother, but I don't want the principal disturbed. After
+she is thirty she can, of course, do what she likes with it, but that
+time isn't now by some years. And then there is that Egbert. Look out
+for him. I say again, look out for him. If <i>he</i> ever got a penny of this
+money I should turn over in my grave. Perhaps you think I am an old fool
+and am treating him with more seriousness than he deserves. You won't
+think so when you know him as well as I do, mark my words. And I think
+you are the one man around here that has had worldly experience enough,
+backed by brains and common-sense, to see through him and handle him. I
+don't mean that there aren't other smart men in town, but most of the
+smartest are in active service and at sea a good share of the time. You
+will be right here for a few years at least. And you are honest, and you
+like Elizabeth Berry, and will look out for her interests.... Of course
+I can't compel you to take this trusteeship, but I hope you will, as a
+favor to her and to me. I have written her a letter similar to this, but
+I have left her a free choice in the matter. If she does not want you
+for her trustee then that ends it. Being the kind of girl she is, I
+think she will be mighty glad to have you...."</p>
+
+<p>And this was the proposition which was causing the captain so much
+anxiety and perplexity. It interfered with the sleep which Doctor
+Sheldon seemed to feel necessary to his patient's complete recovery from
+the setback. It prevented his keeping those damaged legs of his
+absolutely quiet. Time and time again Judah, at work in what he always
+referred to as the "galley," heard his lodger tossing about in the spare
+stateroom and occasionally muttering to himself.</p>
+
+<p>For Sears, facing the problem of accepting or declining the trust, was
+quite aware that the dilemma upon which the judge had perched him had
+two very sharp horns. If he declined&mdash;always of course supposing that
+Elizabeth Berry asked him to accept&mdash;if he declined he would be acting
+contrary
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_233" id="pg_233">233</a></span> to her wishes and Judge Knowles'. If he did decline, then
+Bradley would be the trustee. Knowles, in a part of the letter not
+quoted, had said that he imagined that would have to be the alternative.
+And Bradley&mdash;a good man, an honest and capable man&mdash;was not a resident
+of Bayport and could not, as he could, keep an eye upon the Berrys nor
+upon those who might try to influence them. And Bradley did not know
+Bayport as he, Kendrick, did.</p>
+
+<p>But on the other hand, suppose Elizabeth begged him to take the
+trusteeship and he did take it? To begin with, he dreaded the added
+responsibility and distrusted his ability to handle investments. His
+record as a business man ashore was brief enough and not of a kind to
+inspire self-confidence. And what would people say concerning it and
+him? He and Elizabeth were in daily contact. Their association in the
+management of the Fair Harbor was close already. If he should be given
+charge of her fortune&mdash;for it was a fortune, in Bayport eyes&mdash;would not
+his every action be liable to misconstruction? Would not malicious
+gossip begin to whisper all sorts of things? To misconstrue motives and
+...? Perhaps they were already whispering. He had seen Elvira Snowden
+but once since she and Mrs. Chase surprised him and Elizabeth in the
+Eyrie, but on that one occasion Elvira had, so it seemed to him, looked
+queer&mdash;and knowing. It was foolish, of course; it was ridiculous, and
+wicked. He and Elizabeth were friendly, had come to be very good friends
+indeed, but&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>And here his train of thought stopped dead, while the same guilty shiver
+he had before felt ran up and down his spine.... Good Lord above! <i>what</i>
+was he thinking of? What could be the matter with him? Why, even if
+things were as they had been he would be crazy to.... And now she was a
+rich woman, rich compared to him, at least.</p>
+
+<p>No! And over and over again, No! He would decline the trusteeship. And
+he would make it his business to get well and to sea again as soon as
+possible. As soon as she came to him to mention the judge's letter and
+its insane request he would settle that proposal once and for all.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_234" id="pg_234">234</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But she did not come. On the third day the doctor refused to permit him
+to leave the bed.</p>
+
+<p>"You stay where you are for another two days," commanded Sheldon. "It
+will do you good, and while I'm boss you shan't take chances. Cahoon and
+I have got you where we want you now and we'll keep you there till we
+pipe you on deck. Eh, Judah?"</p>
+
+<p>Judah grinned. "Aye, aye," was his rejoinder. "Got the handspike ready
+to my fist, Doctor. He'll stay put if I have to lash him to the bunk
+with a chain cable. It's all for your good, Cap'n Sears. That's what my
+ma used to tell me when she dosed me up every spring with brimstone and
+molasses."</p>
+
+<p>So, reluctantly realizing that it was for his good, Sears "stayed put."
+He had a few callers, although Judah saw to it that their calls were
+brief. Elizabeth was not one of these. She came at least once a day to
+inquire about him, but she did not ask to see him. The captain, trying
+not to be disappointed, endeavored to console himself with the idea that
+she was following Judge Knowles' advice, as repeated by Bradley, and
+meant to take plenty of time before making up her mind concerning the
+trusteeship.</p>
+
+<p>One of his visitors was George Kent. On the fourth day, on his way to
+the Macombers for dinner, the young fellow called at the Minot place.
+Judah was out, but Sears heard his visitor's voice and step through the
+open doors of the dining room and kitchen and shouted to him to come in.
+His manner when he entered was, so it seemed to the captain, a trifle
+constrained, but his inquiries concerning the latter's health were
+cordial enough. As for Sears, he, of course, made it a point to be
+especially cordial.</p>
+
+<p>They talked of many things, but not of their recent encounter on the
+Orham road. Sears did not like to be the first to mention it and it
+appeared as if Kent wished to avoid it altogether. But at last, after a
+short interval of silence, a break in the conversation, he did refer to
+it.</p>
+
+<p>"Cap'n Kendrick," he said, reddening and looking rather nervous and
+uncomfortable, "I&mdash;I suppose you thought I
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_235" id="pg_235">235</a></span> was&mdash;was pretty disagreeable
+the other evening. I mean when we met in the rain and Elizabeth was with
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? Disagreeable?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. I wasn't very pleasant, I know. I'm sorry. That&mdash;that was one of
+the things I came to say. I lost my temper, I guess."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, if you did I don't know as I blame you, George. A night like that
+is enough to lose any one's temper. I lost mine. The Foam Flake ran away
+with it. But he's repentin' in sackcloth and ashes, I guess. Judah says
+the old horse is lamer than I am."</p>
+
+<p>He laughed heartily. Kent's laugh was short. His uneasiness seemed to
+increase.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," he said, returning to the subject which was evidently uppermost
+in his mind. "Yes, I did&mdash;er&mdash;lose my temper, perhaps. But&mdash;but it seems
+almost as if I had a&mdash;er&mdash;well, some excuse. You see&mdash;well, you see,
+Cap'n Kendrick, I didn't like it very much, the idea of Elizabeth's
+going over to Orham with&mdash;with you, you know."</p>
+
+<p>Sears looked at him in surprise. "Why, she went with me because it was
+the simplest way to get there," he explained. "I was goin' anyhow, and
+Bradley had asked her to be there, too. So, it was natural enough that
+we should go together."</p>
+
+<p>"Well&mdash;well, I don't see why she didn't tell me she was going."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps she didn't think to tell you."</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense!... I mean.... Well, anyhow, if she had told me I should have
+looked out for her, of course. I could have hired a rig and driven her
+over."</p>
+
+<p>"But she knew you were at work down at the store. She said that, didn't
+she? Seems to me I remember hearin' her say that she didn't want you
+to&mdash;to feel that you must take the afternoon off on her account."</p>
+
+<p>The young man stirred impatiently. "That's foolishness," he declared.
+"She seems to think Bassett has a mortgage on my life. He hasn't, not by
+a long shot. I don't mean to
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_236" id="pg_236">236</a></span> keep his books much longer; I've got other
+things to attend to. My law is getting on pretty well."</p>
+
+<p>"Glad to hear it, George."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. I shall read with Bradley for a while longer, of course, but after
+that&mdash;well, I don't know. I was talking with&mdash;with a man who has had a
+good deal of experience with lawyers&mdash;real city lawyers, not the
+one-horse sort&mdash;and he says the thing for an ambitious young fellow to
+do is to get into one of those city offices. Then you have a chance."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh&mdash;I see. But isn't it kind of hard to get in, unless you have some
+acquaintance or influence?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know as it is. And I guess this man will help me if I want him
+to."</p>
+
+<p>"So? That's good. Did he say he would?"</p>
+
+<p>"No-o, not exactly, but I think he will. And he's got the acquaintances,
+all right enough. He knows almost everybody that's worth while."</p>
+
+<p>"That's the kind to tie to. Who is he? Somebody up in Boston?"</p>
+
+<p>George shifted again. "I'd rather not mention his name just now," he
+said. "Our talks have been rather&mdash;er&mdash;confidential and I don't know
+that I should have said anything about them. But I've got plans, you
+see. Then there is my aunt's estate. I am the administrator of that."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh? I didn't know. Your aunt, eh?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, my Aunt Charlotte, mother's sister. She was single and lived up in
+Meriden, Connecticut. She died about a month ago and left everything to
+my half-sister and me&mdash;my married sister in Springfield, you know. I
+have charge of&mdash;of the estate, settling it and all that."</p>
+
+<p>Sears smiled inwardly at the self-satisfaction with which the word
+"estate" was uttered. But outwardly he was serious enough.</p>
+
+<p>"Good for you, George!" he exclaimed. "Congratulations. I hope you've
+come in for a big thing."</p>
+
+<p>His visitor colored slightly. "Well&mdash;well, of course," he admitted, "the
+estate isn't very large, but&mdash;&mdash;"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_237" id="pg_237">237</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"But it's an estate. I'm glad for you, son."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;er&mdash;yes.... But really, Cap'n, I didn't mean to talk about that.
+I&mdash;I just wanted to say that&mdash;that I was sorry if I&mdash;er&mdash;wasn't as
+polite as I might have been the other night, and&mdash;well, I thought&mdash;it
+seemed as if I&mdash;I ought to say&mdash;to say&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Whatever it was it seemed to be hard to say. The captain tried to help.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, of course, George," he prompted. "Heave ahead and say it."</p>
+
+<p>"Well&mdash;well, it's just this, Cap'n Kendrick: Elizabeth and you are&mdash;are
+together a good deal, in the Fair Harbor affairs, you know,
+and&mdash;and&mdash;she doesn't think, of course&mdash;and you <i>are</i> a lot older than
+she is&mdash;but all the same&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Sears interrupted.</p>
+
+<p>"Here! Hold on, George!" he put in, sharply. "What's all this?"</p>
+
+<p>Kent's embarrassment increased. "Why&mdash;why, nothing," he stammered.
+"Nothing, of course. But you see, Cap'n, people are silly&mdash;they don't
+stop to count ages and things like that. They see you with her so
+much.... And when they see you taking her to ride&mdash;alone&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Here! That'll do!" All the cordiality had left the captain's voice.
+"George," he said, after a moment, "I guess you'd better not say any
+more. I don't think I had better hear it. Miss Elizabeth is a friend of
+mine. She is, as you say, years younger than I am. I <i>am</i> with her a
+good deal, have to be because of our Fair Harbor work together. I took
+her to Orham with me just as I'd take her mother, or you, or any other
+friend who had to go and wanted a lift. But&mdash;<i>but</i> if you or any one
+else is hintin' that.... There, there! George, don't be foolish. Maybe
+you'd better run along now. The doctor says I mustn't get excited."</p>
+
+<p>His visitor looked remarkably foolish, but the stubbornness had not
+altogether left his face or tone as he said: "Well, that's all right,
+Cap'n. I knew you would understand. <i>I</i> didn't mean anything, but&mdash;but,
+you see, in Elizabeth's
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_238" id="pg_238">238</a></span> case I feel a&mdash;a sort of responsibility.
+You&mdash;you understand."</p>
+
+<p>Even irritated and angry as he was, Sears could not help smiling at the
+last sentence.</p>
+
+<p>"George," he observed, "you've been fairly open and aboveboard in your
+remarks to me. Suppose I ask you a question. Just what <i>is</i> your
+responsibility in the case? I have heard said, and more than once, that
+you and Elizabeth Berry are engaged to be married. Is it so?"</p>
+
+<p>The young man grew redder yet, hesitated, and turned to the door.</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I'm not at liberty to say," he declared.</p>
+
+<p>"Wait! Hold on! There is this responsibility business. If you're not
+engaged&mdash;well, honestly, George, I don't quite see where your
+responsibility comes in."</p>
+
+<p>Kent hesitated a moment longer. Then he seemed to make up his mind.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, we are&mdash;er&mdash;er&mdash;practically," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Practically?... Oh! Well, I&mdash;I certainly do congratulate you."</p>
+
+<p>George had his hand on the latch, but turned back.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't&mdash;please don't tell any one of it," he said earnestly. "It&mdash;it
+mustn't be known yet.... You see, though, why I&mdash;I feel as if you&mdash;as if
+we all ought to be very careful of&mdash;of appearances&mdash;and&mdash;and such
+things."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes.... Yes, of course. Well, all right, George. Good-by. Call again."</p>
+
+<p>Judah, who had been over at the Fair Harbor doing some general chores
+around the place, came in a little later. His lodger called to him.</p>
+
+<p>"Judah," he commanded, "come in here. I want to talk to you." When Mr.
+Cahoon obeyed the order, he was told to sit down a moment.</p>
+
+<p>"I want to ask you some questions," said the captain. "What is the
+latest news of Egbert Phillips? Where is he nowadays? And what is he
+doin'?"</p>
+
+<p>Judah was quite ready to give the information, even eager, but he
+hesitated momentarily.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_239" id="pg_239">239</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Sure you want me to talk about him, Cap'n?" he asked. "Last time I said
+anything about him&mdash;day afore yesterday 'twas&mdash;you told me to shut up.
+Said you had somethin' more important to think about."</p>
+
+<p>"Did I, Judah? Well, 'twas true then, I guess."</p>
+
+<p>"Um-hm. And you ordered me not to mention his name again till you
+h'isted signals, or somethin' like that."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, seems to me I did. Well, the signals are up. What is he doin'?"</p>
+
+<p>"Doin'? He ain't doin' nothin'&mdash;much. He's roomin' up to the Central
+House yet, but from what I hear tell he ain't goin' to stay there. He's
+cal'latin', so the folks down to the store say, to find some nice home
+place where he can board. He don't call it boardin'. Thoph Black says he
+said what he wanted was a snug little den where him and his few
+remainin' household gods could be together. Thoph said he couldn't make
+out what household gods was, and I'm plaguey sure <i>I</i> can't. Sounds
+heathenish to me. And I told Thoph, says I, 'That ain't no way to hunt a
+boardin' house, goin' round hollerin' for a den. If I was takin' in
+boarders and a feller hove alongside and says, "Can I hire one of them
+dens of yours?" he'd get somethin' that he wan't lookin' for.' Huh! Den!
+Sounds like a circus menagerie, don't it? Not but what I've seen
+boardin'-house rooms that was like dens. Why, one time, over in
+Liverpool 'twas, me and a feller named&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes, all right, Judah. I've heard about it. But what else is he
+doin'? Where does he go? Is he makin' friends? Is he talkin' much about
+his plans? What do folks say about him?"</p>
+
+<p>Judah answered the last question first.</p>
+
+<p>"They like him," he declared. "All hands are so kind of sorry for him,
+you see. Course we all cal'lated he was rich, but he ain't. And them
+bonds and such that him and his wife had all went to nawthin' and he
+come back here after she died, figgerin', I presume likely, same as
+anybody would, that he owned the Fair Harbor property and that the fifty
+thousand was just a sort of&mdash;er&mdash;loan, as you might say. He
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_240" id="pg_240">240</a></span> told Joe
+Macomber&mdash;or George Kent, I forget which 'twas&mdash;he's with George
+consider'ble; I guess likely 'twas him&mdash;that, of course, he wouldn't
+have disturbed the property or the fifty thousand for the world, not for
+a long spell anyhow, but ownin' it give him a feelin' of security, like
+an anchor to wind'ard, you understand, and&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"So folks like him, do they?"</p>
+
+<p>"You bet you they do. He don't complain a mite, that's one reason they
+like him. Says at first, of course, he was kind of took all aback with
+his canvas flappin', but now he's thought it over and realizes 'twas his
+dear wife's notion and her wishes is law and gospel to him, so he's
+resigned."</p>
+
+<p>"And he doesn't blame anybody, then?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cahoon hesitated. "Why&mdash;er&mdash;no, not really, fur's I hear. Anyhow, if
+there was any influence used same as it shouldn't be, he says, he
+forgives them that used it. And, so far as that goes, he don't repute no
+evil motives to nobody, livin' or dead."</p>
+
+<p>"Repute? Oh, impute, you mean."</p>
+
+<p>"I guess so, some kind of 'pute'. He uses them old-fashioned kind of
+words all the time. That's why he's so pop'lar amongst the Shakespeare
+Readin' Society and the rest. <i>They've</i> took him up, I tell ye! Minister
+Dishup and his wife they've had him to dinner, and Cap'n Elkanah and his
+wife have had him to supper and yesterday noon he was up here to the
+Harbor for dinner."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, was he?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yus. He made 'em a little speech, too. All hands came into the parlor
+after dinner and he kind of&mdash;of preached to 'em. Told about his
+travelin' in foreign lands and a lot about Lobelia and how she loved the
+Harbor and everybody in it, and how him and her used to plan for it, and
+the like of that. Desire Peasley told me that 'twas the most movin' talk
+ever <i>she</i> listened to. Said about everybody was cryin' some. 'Twas a
+leaky session, I judged. Oh, they love him over to the Harbor, I tell
+you!"</p>
+
+<p>The captain was silent for a moment. Then he asked,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_241" id="pg_241">241</a></span> "Did I understand
+you to say he and young Kent were friendly?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, indeed. He seems to have took quite a fancy to George. Drops in to
+see him at the store and last night he went home along with him to your
+sister's&mdash;to Sary's. Had supper and spent the evenin', I believe."</p>
+
+<p>Judah was dismissed then and the talk ended, but Sears had now something
+else to think about. There was little doubt in his mind who the "man of
+experience" was, the person who had advised Kent concerning the getting
+of a position with a law firm in the city. He wondered what other advice
+might have been given. Was it Mr. Phillips who had suggested to Kent the
+impropriety of Elizabeth's being seen so much in
+his&mdash;Kendrick's&mdash;company? If so, why had he done it? What was Egbert's
+little plan?</p>
+
+<p>Of course it was possible that there was no plan of any kind. Sears had
+taken a dislike to Phillips when they met and that fact, and Judge
+Knowles' hatred of the man, might, he realized, have set him to hunting
+mares' nests. Well, he would not hunt any more at present. He would
+await developments. But he would not lie in that bed and wait for them.
+He had been there long enough. In spite of Judah's protests and with the
+latter's help, commandeered and insisted upon, he got up, dressed, and
+spent the rest of that afternoon and evening in the rocking chair in the
+kitchen.</p>
+
+<p>And that evening Elizabeth came to see him. He was almost sure why she
+had come, and as soon as she entered, sent Judah down town after smoking
+tobacco. Judah declared there was "up'ards of ha'f a plug aboard the
+ship somewheres" and wanted to stay and hunt for it, but the captain,
+who had the plug in his pocket, insisted on his going. So he went and
+Sears and Elizabeth were alone. He was ready for the interview. If she
+asked him to accept the trusteeship of her twenty thousand dollars he
+meant to refuse, absolutely.</p>
+
+<p>And she did ask him that very thing. After inquiries concerning his
+injured limbs and repeated cautions concerning his never taking such
+risks again, "even with the old
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_242" id="pg_242">242</a></span> Foam Flakes," she came directly to the
+subject. She spoke of Judge Knowles' letter to her, the letter which
+Bradley had handed her at the time when he gave Sears his. She had read
+it over and over again, she said.</p>
+
+<p>"You know what he wrote me, Cap'n Kendrick," she went on. "I can't show
+you the letter, it is too personal, too&mdash;too.... Oh, I can't show it to
+any one&mdash;now, not even to mother. But you must know what he asked&mdash;or
+suggested, because he says he has written you a letter asking you to
+take charge of my money for me, to be my trustee. I suppose you must
+think it queer that I have let all these days go by without coming to
+speak with you about it. I hope&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>He interrupted. "Now, Elizabeth, before we go any further," he said,
+earnestly, "don't you suppose any such thing. The judge wrote me he had
+asked us both not to decide in a hurry, but to take plenty of time to
+think it over. I have thought it over, in fact, I haven't thought of
+much else since I opened that letter, and I have made up my mind&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Wait. Please wait a minute. I haven't been taking time to think over
+that at all. I have been thinking about the whole matter; whether I
+should accept the money&mdash;so very, very, very much money&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"What! Not accept it? Of course you'll take it. He wanted you to take
+it. It was what he wanted as much as anybody could want anything. Why,
+don't you dare&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Hush! hush! You mustn't be so excited. And you mustn't move from that
+chair. If you do I shall go home this minute. I am going to accept the
+money."</p>
+
+<p>"Good! Of course you are."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I am. Because I do believe that he wanted me to have it so much. I
+know people will say&mdash;perhaps they are already saying all sorts of
+wicked, mean things. I don't&mdash;I won't let myself think what some of them
+may be saying about my influencing the judge, or things like that. But I
+don't care&mdash;that is, I care ever so much more for what <i>he</i> said and
+what he wished. And he wanted you to take care
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_243" id="pg_243">243</a></span> of the money for me. You
+will, won't you, Cap'n Kendrick?"</p>
+
+<p>Now it was Sears' turn. He had gone over a scene like this, the scene
+which he had foreseen, many times. He was kind, but he was firm. He told
+her that he should not accept the trusteeship. He could not. It was too
+great a responsibility for a man with as little&mdash;and that little
+unfortunate&mdash;business experience as he had had.</p>
+
+<p>"It needs a banker or a lawyer for that job, Elizabeth," he declared.
+"What does a sailor know about handlin' money? You go to Bradley;
+Bradley's the man."</p>
+
+<p>But she did not want Bradley. The judge only mentioned Bradley as second
+choice.</p>
+
+<p>"He wanted you, Cap'n Kendrick. He had every confidence in you. You
+should see what he says about your ability and common-sense and&mdash;and
+honesty in the letter. Please."</p>
+
+<p>"No, Elizabeth. As far as honesty goes I guess he's right. I am honest,
+at least I hope I should be. But for the rest&mdash;he's partial there. He
+seemed to take a fancy to me, and goodness knows I liked him. But you
+mustn't feel you've got to do this thing. He wrote me it was only a
+suggestion. You are absolutely free&mdash;he wrote me so&mdash;to go to Bradley
+or&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"No." She rose to her feet. "I shan't go to Bradley or anybody but you.
+I am like him, Cap'n Kendrick; I trust you. I have come to know you and
+to believe in you. I like you. Why, you don't know how glad I was to
+find that he wanted you to do this for me. Glad! I&mdash;I felt&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Elizabeth!"</p>
+
+<p>He had not meant to speak. The words were forced from him involuntarily.
+Her tone, her eyes, the eager earnestness in her voice.... He did not
+say any more, nor did he look at her. Instead he looked at the patchwork
+comforter which had fallen from his knees to the floor, and fervently
+hoped that he had not already said too much. He stooped and picked up
+the comforter.</p>
+
+<p>"And you will do it for me, won't you?" she pleaded.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_244" id="pg_244">244</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I can't. It wouldn't be right."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I shall not take the money at all. <i>He</i> gave it to me, <i>he</i> asked
+me&mdash;the very last thing he asked was that you should do it. He put the
+trust in your hands. And you won't do it&mdash;for him&mdash;or for me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, but&mdash;but&mdash;&mdash; Oh, good Lord! how can I?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why can't you?"</p>
+
+<p>The real reason he could not tell her. According to Kent&mdash;whether
+inspired by Phillips or not made little difference&mdash;people were already
+whispering and hinting. How much more would they hint and whisper if
+they knew that he had taken charge of her money? The thought had not
+occurred to her, of course; the very idea was too ridiculous for her to
+imagine; but that made but one more reason why he must think for her.</p>
+
+<p>"No," he said, again. "No, I can't."</p>
+
+<p>"But why? You haven't told me why."</p>
+
+<p>He tried to tell her why, but his words were merely repetitions of what
+he had said before. He was not a good business man, he did not know how
+to handle money, even his own money. The judge had been very ill when he
+wrote those letters, if he had been well and himself he never would have
+thought of him as trustee. She listened for a time, her impatience
+growing. Then she rose.</p>
+
+<p>"Very well," she said. "Then I shall not accept the twenty thousand. To
+me one wish of Judge Knowles' is as sacred as the other. He wanted you
+to take that trust just as much as he wanted me to have the money. If
+you won't respect one wish I shall not respect the other."</p>
+
+<p>He could not believe she meant it, but she certainly looked and spoke as
+if she did. He faltered and hesitated, and she pressed her advantage.
+And at last he yielded.</p>
+
+<p>"All right," he said desperately. "All right&mdash;or all wrong, whichever it
+turns out to be. I'll take the trustee job&mdash;try it for a time anyhow.
+But, I tell you, Elizabeth, I'm afraid we're both makin' a big mistake."</p>
+
+<p>She was not in the least afraid, and said so.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_245" id="pg_245">245</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"You have made me very happy, Cap'n Kendrick," she declared. "I can't
+thank you enough."</p>
+
+<p>He shook his head, but before he could reply there came a sharp knock on
+the outer door, the back door of the house.</p>
+
+<p>"Who on earth is that?" exclaimed Sears. Then he shouted, "Come in."</p>
+
+<p>The person who came in was George Kent.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, George!" said Elizabeth. Then she added. "What is it? What is the
+matter?"</p>
+
+<p>The young man looked as if something was the matter. His expression was
+not at all pleasant.</p>
+
+<p>"Evenin', George," said the captain. "Glad to see you. Sit down."</p>
+
+<p>Kent ignored both the invitation and the speaker.</p>
+
+<p>"Look here," he demanded, addressing Miss Berry: "do you know what time
+it is? It is ten o'clock."</p>
+
+<p>His tone was so rude&mdash;so boyishly rude&mdash;that Sears looked up quickly and
+Elizabeth drew back.</p>
+
+<p>"It's nearly ten o'clock," repeated Kent. "And you are over here."</p>
+
+<p>"George!" exclaimed Sears, sharply.</p>
+
+<p>"You are over here&mdash;with him&mdash;again."</p>
+
+<p>It was Elizabeth who spoke now. She said but one word.</p>
+
+<p>"Well?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>There was an icy chill about that "Well?" which a more cautious person
+that George Kent might have noticed and taken as a warning. But the
+young man was far from cautious at that moment.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Well?</i>" he repeated hotly. "I don't think it's well at all. I come see
+you and&mdash;I find you over here. And I find that every one else knows you
+are here. And they think it queer, too; I could see that they did.... Of
+course, I don't say&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I think you have said enough. I came here to talk with Cap'n Kendrick
+on a business matter. I told mother where I was going when I left the
+house. The others heard me, I suppose; I certainly did not try to
+conceal it. Why should I?"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_246" id="pg_246">246</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Why should you? Why, you should because&mdash;because&mdash;&mdash; Well, if you don't
+know why you shouldn't be here, he does."</p>
+
+<p>"He? Cap'n Kendrick?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. I&mdash;I told him why, myself. Only this noon I told him. I was here
+and I told him people were beginning to talk about you and he being
+together so much and&mdash;and his taking you to ride, and all that sort of
+thing. I told him he ought to be more careful of appearances. I said of
+course you didn't think, but he ought to. I explained that&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Stop!" Her face was crimson and she was breathing quickly. "Do you mean
+to say that&mdash;that people are talking&mdash;are saying things about&mdash;about....
+What people?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh&mdash;oh, different ones. Of course they don't say anything much&mdash;er&mdash;not
+yet. But if we aren't careful they will. You see&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Wait. Are they&mdash;are they saying that&mdash;that&mdash;&mdash; Oh, it is <i>too</i> wicked
+and foolish to speak! Are they saying that Cap'n Kendrick and I&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Sears spoke. "Hush, hush, Elizabeth!" he begged. "They aren't sayin'
+anything, of course. George is&mdash;is just a little excited over nothin',
+that's all. He has heard Elvira or some other cat over there at the
+Harbor, probably. They're jealous because you have had this money left
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"It is nothing to do with the money," Kent asserted. "Didn't I tell you
+this noon that you&mdash;that we had to be careful of appearances? Didn't I
+say&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Again Elizabeth broke in.</p>
+
+<p>"You have said all I want to hear&mdash;in this room, now," she declared.
+"There are a good many things for us both to say&mdash;and listen to, but not
+here.... Good night, Cap'n Kendrick. I am sorry I kept you up so late,
+and I hope all this&mdash;I hope you won't let this wicked nonsense trouble
+you. It isn't worth worrying about. Good night."</p>
+
+<p>"But, Elizabeth," urged Sears, anxiously, "don't you think&mdash;&mdash;"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_247" id="pg_247">247</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Good night. George, you had better come with me. I have some things to
+say to you."</p>
+
+<p>She went out. Kent hesitated, paused for a moment, and then followed
+her. When Judah returned with the tobacco and a fresh cargo of rumors
+concerning Egbert Phillips he found his lodger not the least interested
+in either smoke or gossip.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_248" id="pg_248">248</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_XIII_9781" id="CHAPTER_XIII_9781"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER XIII</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>So Judah was obliged to postpone the telling of his most important news
+item. But the following morning when, looking heavy-eyed and haggard, as
+if he had slept but little, Captain Kendrick limped into the kitchen for
+breakfast, Mr. Cahoon served that item with the salt mackerel and fried
+potatoes. It was surprising, too&mdash;at least Sears found it so. Egbert
+Phillips, so Judah declared, had given up his rooms at the Central House
+and had gone, household goods and all, to board and lodge at Joel
+Macomber's. He was occupying, so Judah said, the very room that Sears
+himself had occupied when he was taken to his sister's home after the
+railway accident.</p>
+
+<p>The captain could scarcely believe it. He had not seen Sarah Macomber
+since the day following the Foam Flake's amazing cut-up on the Orham
+road, when she had come, in much worriment and anxiety, to learn how
+badly he was hurt. Her call had been brief, and, as he had succeeded in
+convincing her that the extra twist to his legs would have no serious
+effect, she had not called since. But Sarah-Mary, the eldest girl, had
+brought a basket containing a cranberry pie, a half-peck, more or less,
+of molasses cookies, and two tumblers of beach-plum jelly, and
+Sarah-Mary had said nothing to her Uncle Sears about the magnificent Mr.
+Phillips coming to live with them.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess not, Judah," said the captain. "Probably you've got it snarled
+some way. He may have gone there to supper with George Kent and the rest
+of the yarn sprouted from that."</p>
+
+<p>But Judah shook his head. "No snarl about it, Cap'n Sears," he declared.
+"Come straight this did, straight as
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_249" id="pg_249">249</a></span> a spare topmast. Joe Macomber told
+me so himself. Proud of it, too, Joe was; all kind of swelled up with
+it, like a pizened shark."</p>
+
+<p>"But why on earth should he pick out Sarah's? Why didn't he go to Naomi
+Newcomb's; she keeps a regular boardin'-house? Sarah can't take any more
+boarders. Her house is overloaded as it is. That was why I didn't stay
+there. No, I don't believe it, Judah. Joel was just comin' up to blow,
+that's all. He's a regular puffin'-pig for blowin'."</p>
+
+<p>But Sarah called that very forenoon and confirmed the news. She had
+agreed to take Mr. Phillips into her home. Not only that, but he was
+already there.</p>
+
+<p>"I know you must think it's sort of funny, Sears," she said, looking
+rather embarrassed and avoiding her brother's eye. "If anybody had told
+me a week ago that I should ever take another boarder I should have felt
+like askin' 'em if they thought I was crazy. I suppose you think I am,
+don't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not exactly, Sarah&mdash;not yet."</p>
+
+<p>"But you think I most likely will be before I'm through? Well, maybe,
+but I'm goin' to risk it. You see, I&mdash;well, we need the money, for one
+thing."</p>
+
+<p>Sears stirred in his chair.</p>
+
+<p>"I could have let you have a little money every once in a while, Sarah,"
+he said. "It's a shame that it would have to be so little. If those legs
+ever do get shipshape and I get to sea again&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>She stopped him. "I haven't got so yet awhile that I have to take
+anybody's money for nothin'," she said sharply. "There, there, Sears! I
+know you'd give me every cent you had if I'd let you. I'll tell you why
+I took Mr. Phillips. He came to supper with George the other night and
+stayed all the evenin'. He's one of the most interestin' men I ever met
+in my life. Not any more interestin' than you are, of course," she
+added, loyally, "but in&mdash;in a different way."</p>
+
+<p>"Um ... yes. I shouldn't wonder."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, he is. And he liked my supper, and said so. Ate some of everything
+and praised it, and was just as&mdash;as
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_250" id="pg_250">250</a></span> common and everyday and sociable,
+not a mite proud or&mdash;like that."</p>
+
+<p>"Why in the devil should he be?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, I don't know why he shouldn't. Lots of folks who know as much
+as he does and have been everywhere and known the kind of people he
+knows&mdash;they would be stuck up&mdash;yes, and are. Look at Cap'n Elkhanah
+Wingate and his wife."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want to look at 'em. How do you know how much this Phillips
+knows?"</p>
+
+<p>"How do I <i>know</i>? Why, Sears, you ought to hear him talk. I never heard
+such talk. The children just&mdash;just hung on his words, as they say. And
+he was so nice to them. And Joel and George Kent they think he's the
+greatest man they ever saw. Oh, all hands in Bayport like him."</p>
+
+<p>"Humph! When he was here before, teachin' singin' school, he wasn't such
+a Grand Panjandrum. At least, I never heard that he was."</p>
+
+<p>"Sears, you don't like him, do you? I'm real surprised. Yes, and&mdash;and
+sorry. Why don't you like him?"</p>
+
+<p>Her brother laughed. "I didn't say I didn't like him, Sarah," he
+replied. "Besides, what difference would one like more or less make? I
+don't know him very well."</p>
+
+<p>"But he likes you. Why, he said he didn't know when he had met a man who
+gave him such an impression of&mdash;of strength and character as you did. He
+said that right at our supper table. I tell you I was proud when he said
+it about my brother."</p>
+
+<p>So Sears had not the heart to utter more skepticism. He encouraged Sarah
+to tell more of her arrangements with the great man. He was, it
+appeared, to have not only the bedroom which Sears had occupied, but
+also the room adjoining.</p>
+
+<p>"One will be his bedroom," explained Mrs. Macomber, "and the other his
+sittin' room, sort of. His little suite, he calls 'em. He is movin' the
+rest of his things in to-day."</p>
+
+<p>Seers looked at her. "Two rooms!" he exclaimed. "He's to have <i>two</i>
+rooms in your house! For heaven sakes, Sarah,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_251" id="pg_251">251</a></span> where do the rest of you
+live; in the cellar? Goin' to let the children sleep in the cistern?"</p>
+
+<p>She explained. It was a complicated process, but she had worked it out.
+Lemuel and Edgar had always had a room together, but now Bemis was to
+have a cot there also. "And Joey, of course, is only a baby, his bed is
+in our room, Joel's and mine. And Sarah-Mary and Aldora, they are same
+as they have been."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes, but that doesn't explain the extra room, his sitting room.
+Where does that come from?"</p>
+
+<p>She hesitated a moment. "Well&mdash;well, you see," she said, "there wasn't
+any other bedroom except the one George hires, and he is goin' to stay
+for a while longer anyway. At first it didn't seem as if I could let Mr.
+Phillips have the sittin' room he wanted. But at last Joel and I thought
+it out. We don't use the front parlor hardly any, and there is the
+regular sittin' room left for us anyway, so&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Sarah Kendrick Macomber, do you mean to tell me you've let this fellow
+have your <i>front parlor</i>?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, yes. We don't hardly ever use it, Sears. I don't believe
+we've used that parlor&mdash;really opened the blinds and used it, I
+mean&mdash;since Father Macomber's funeral, and that was&mdash;let me see&mdash;over
+six years ago."</p>
+
+<p>Her brother slowly shook his head. "The judge was right," he declared.
+"He certainly was right. Smoothness isn't any name for it."</p>
+
+<p>"Sears, what are you talkin' about? I can't understand you. I thought
+you would be glad to think such a splendid man as he is was goin' to
+live with us. To say nothin' of my makin' all this extra money. Of
+course, if you don't want me to do it, I won't. I wouldn't oppose you,
+Sears, for anything in this world. But I&mdash;I must say&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>He laid his hand on hers. "There, Sarah," he broke in. "Don't pay too
+much attention to me. I'm crochetty these days, have a good deal on my
+mind. If you think takin' this Phillips man aboard is a good thing for
+you, I'm glad. How much does he pay you a week?"</p>
+
+<p>She told him. It was more than fair rate for those days.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_252" id="pg_252">252</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Humph!" he observed. "Well, Sarah, good luck to you. I hope you get
+it."</p>
+
+<p>"Get it! Why, of course I'll get it, Sears. Its all arranged. And I want
+you and Mr. Phillips to know each other real well. I'm goin' to tell him
+he must call again to see you."</p>
+
+<p>"Eh?... Oh, all right, Sarah. You can tell him, if you want to."</p>
+
+<p>After she had gone he thought the matter over. Surely Mr. Egbert
+Phillips was a gentleman of ability along certain lines. His sister
+Sarah was a sensible woman, she was far far from being a susceptible
+sentimentalist. Yet she was already under the Phillips spell. Either
+Judge Knowles was right&mdash;very, very much right&mdash;or he was overwhelmingly
+wrong. If left to Bayport opinion as a jury there was no question
+concerning the verdict. Egbert would be triumphantly acquitted.</p>
+
+<p>Sears, however, did not, at this time, spare much thought to the
+Phillips riddle. He had other, and, it seemed to him, more disturbing
+matters to deal with. The quarrel between Elizabeth Berry and young Kent
+was one of those, for he felt that, in a way, he was the cause of it.
+George had, of course, behaved like a foolish boy and had been about as
+tactless as even a jealous youth could be, but there was always the
+chance that some one else had sowed the seeds of jealousy in his mind.
+He determined to see Kent, explain, have a frank and friendly talk, and,
+if possible, set everything right&mdash;everything between the two young
+people, that is. But when, on his first short walk along the road, he
+happened to meet Kent, the latter paid no attention to his hail and
+strode past without speaking. Sears shouted after him, but the shout was
+unheeded.</p>
+
+<p>Elizabeth was almost as contrary. When he attempted to lead the
+conversation to George, she would not follow. When he mentioned the
+young man's name she changed the subject. At last when, his sense of
+guilt becoming too much for him, he began to defend Kent, she
+interrupted the defense.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_253" id="pg_253">253</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Cap'n Kendrick," she said, "I understand why you take his part. And it
+is like you to do it. But when you begin to blame yourself or me then I
+shan't listen."</p>
+
+<p>"Blame <i>you</i>! Why, Elizabeth, I had no idea of blamin' you. The whole
+thing is just a&mdash;a misunderstandin' between you and George, and I want
+to straighten it out, that's all. If anybody is to blame I really think
+I am. I should have thought more about&mdash;about, what he calls
+appearances; that is, perhaps I should."</p>
+
+<p>She lost patience. "Oh, do stop!" she cried. "You know you are talking
+nonsense."</p>
+
+<p>"Well but, Elizabeth, I feel&mdash;wicked. I wouldn't for the world be the
+cause of a break between you two. If that should happen because of me I
+couldn't rest easy."</p>
+
+<p>This conversation took place in the smaller sitting room of the Fair
+Harbor, the room which she and her mother used as a sort of office. She
+had been standing by the window looking out. Now she turned and faced
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"Cap'n Kendrick," she asked, "just what do you mean by a 'break' between
+George Kent and me? Are you under the impression that he and I
+were&mdash;were engaged?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, weren't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. Why should you think we were?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well&mdash;why, there seemed to be a sort of general idea that&mdash;that you
+were. People&mdash;Bayport folks seemed to think&mdash;seemed to think&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>She stamped her foot. "They don't think, most of them, they only talk,"
+she declared. "<i>I</i> certainly never said we were. And he didn't either,
+did he?"</p>
+
+<p>Kent had said that he and Elizabeth were engaged&mdash;practically&mdash;whatever
+that might mean. But the captain thought it wisest just then to forget.</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;no, I guess not," he answered.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course he didn't ... Cap'n Kendrick. I&mdash;oh, you might as well
+understand this clearly. I have known George for a long time. I liked
+him. For a time I thought&mdash;well I thought perhaps I liked him enough
+to&mdash;to like him a lot more But I was mistaken. He&mdash;he kept doing things
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_254" id="pg_254">254</a></span>
+that I didn't like. Oh, they had nothing to do with me. They were things
+that didn't seem&mdash;what you would call square and aboveboard. Little
+things that.... It was about one of these that we disagreed just before
+the 'Down by the Sea' theatricals. But he explained that and&mdash;and&mdash;well,
+he can be so nice and likable, that I forgave him. But lately there have
+been others. He has changed. And now all this foolishness, and....
+There, Cap'n Kendrick, I didn't mean to say so much. But I want you to
+understand, and to tell every one else who talks about George Kent and
+me being engaged, that there never was any such engagement."</p>
+
+<p>It would be rather difficult to catalogue all of Sears Kendrick's
+feelings as he listened to this long speech. They were mixed feelings,
+embarrassment, sorrow, relief&mdash;and a most unwarranted and unreasonable
+joy. But he repressed the relief and joy and characteristically returned
+to self-chastisement.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;oh&mdash;I see," he faltered. "I guess likely I didn't understand
+exactly. But just the same I don't know but George was right in some
+things he said. I shouldn't wonder if I had been careless about&mdash;about
+appearances. I don't know but&mdash;but my seein' you so much&mdash;and our goin'
+to Orham together might set some folks talkin'. Of course it doesn't
+seem hardly possible that anybody could be such fools, considerin'
+you&mdash;and then considerin' me&mdash;but&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>She would not hear any more. "I don't propose to consider <i>them</i>," she
+declared with fierce indignation. "I shall see you or any one else just
+as often as I please. Now that you are to take care of my money for me I
+have no doubt I shall see you a great deal oftener than I ever did. And
+if those&mdash;those talkative persons don't like it, they may do the next
+best thing.... No, that is enough, Cap'n Kendrick. It is settled."</p>
+
+<p>And it did appear to be. If anything, she saw him oftener than before,
+seemed to take a mischievous delight in being seen with him, in running
+to the Minot place on errands
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_255" id="pg_255">255</a></span> connected with the Harbor business, and
+in every way defying the gossips.</p>
+
+<p>And gossip accepted the challenge. From the time when it became known
+that Sears Kendrick was to be the trustee of Elizabeth Berry's
+twenty-thousand dollar legacy the tide of public opinion, already on the
+turn, set more and more strongly against him. And, as it ebbed for
+Captain Sears, it rose higher and higher for that genteel martyr, Mr.
+Egbert Phillips.</p>
+
+<p>Sears could not help noticing the change. It was gradual, but it was
+marked. He had never had many visitors, but occasionally some of the
+retired sea dogs among the town-folk would drop in to swap yarns, or a
+younger captain, home from a voyage, would call on him at the Minot
+place. The number of those calls became smaller, then they ceased.
+Doctor Sheldon was, of course, as jolly and friendly as ever, and
+Bradley, when he drove over from Orham on a legal errand, made it a
+point to come and see him. But, aside from those, and Sarah Macomber,
+and, of course, Elizabeth Berry, no one came.</p>
+
+<p>When he walked, as he did occasionally now that his legs were
+stronger&mdash;they had quite recovered from the strain put upon them by the
+Foam Flake's outbreak&mdash;up and down the sidewalk from Judge Knowles'
+corner to the end of the Fair Harbor fence, the people whom he met
+seldom stopped to chat with him. Or, if they did, the chat was always
+brief and, on their part, uneasy. They acted, so it seemed to him,
+guilty, as if they were doing something they should not do, something
+they were not at all anxious to have people see them do. And when he
+drove with Judah down to the store the group there no longer hailed him
+with shouts of welcome. They spoke to him, mentioned the weather
+perhaps, grinned in embarrassed fashion, but they did not ask him to sit
+down and join them. And when his back was turned, when he left the
+store, he had the feeling that there were whispered comments&mdash;and
+sneers.</p>
+
+<p>It was all impalpable, there was nothing openly hostile, no one said
+anything to which he could take exception&mdash;he
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_256" id="pg_256">256</a></span> only wished they would;
+but he felt the hostility nevertheless.</p>
+
+<p>And among the feminine element it was even more evident. When he went to
+church, as he did semi-occasionally, as he walked down the aisle he felt
+that the rustle of Sunday black silks and bonnet strings which preceded
+and followed him was a whisper of respectable and self-righteous
+disapproval. It was not all imagination, he caught glimpses of sidelong
+looks and headshakes which meant something, and that something not
+applause. Once the Reverend Mr. Dishup took for his text Psalm xxxix,
+the sixth verse, "He heapeth up riches and knoweth not who shall gather
+them." The sermon dealt with, among others, the individual who in his
+lifetime amassed wealth, not knowing that, after his death, other
+individuals scheming and unscrupulous would strive to divert that wealth
+from the rightful heirs for their own benefit. It was a rather dull
+sermon and Sears, his attention wandering, happened to turn his head
+suddenly and look at the rest of the congregation. It seemed to him that
+at least a quarter of the heads in that congregation were turned in his
+direction. Now, meeting his gaze, they swung back, to stare with
+noticeable rigidity at the minister.</p>
+
+<p>Over at the Fair Harbor his comings and goings were no longer events to
+cause pleasurable interest and excitement. The change there was quite as
+evident. Miss Snowden and Mrs. Brackett, leaders of their clique, always
+greeted him politely enough, but they did not, individually or
+collectively, ask his advice or offer theirs. There were smiles,
+significant nods, knowing looks exchanged, especially, he thought or
+imagined, when he and Miss Berry were together. Cordelia Berry was
+almost cold toward him. Yet, so far as he knew, he had done nothing to
+offend her.</p>
+
+<p>He spoke to Elizabeth about her mother's attitude toward him. She said
+it was his imagination.</p>
+
+<p>"It may be," she said, "that you don't consult her quite enough about
+Fair Harbor matters, Cap'n Kendrick. Mother is sensitive, she is matron
+here, you know; perhaps we haven't paid as much deference to her opinion
+as we should.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_257" id="pg_257">257</a></span> Poor mother, she does try so hard, but she isn't fitted
+for business, and knows it."</p>
+
+<p>That Sunday, after his return from church, the captain asked Judah a
+point blank question.</p>
+
+<p>"Judah," he said, "I want you to tell me the truth. What is the matter
+with me, nowadays? The whole ship's company here in Bayport are givin'
+me the cold shoulder. Don't tell me you haven't noticed it; a blind man
+could notice it. What's wrong with me? What have I done? Or what do they
+say I've done?"</p>
+
+<p>Judah was very much embarrassed. His trouble showed in his face above
+the whiskers. He had been bending over the cookstove singing at the top
+of his lungs the interminable chantey dealing with the fortunes of one
+Reuben Ranzo.</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"'Ranzo was no sailor,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ranzo was a tailor,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!</span></p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"'Oh, poor Reuben Ranzo!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>Ranzo</i>, boys, Ranzo!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hurrah for Reuben Ranzo!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>Ranzo</i>, boys, <i>Ranzo</i>!</span></p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"'Ranzo was no sailor,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He shipped on board a whaler,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!'"</span></p>
+
+<p>And so on, forever and forever. Judah had reached the point where:</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"They set him holy-stonin',</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And cared not for his groanin',</span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_258" id="pg_258">258</a></span>
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!</span></p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"<i>'Oh</i>, poor Reuben Ranzo!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>Ranzo</i>, boys, Ranzo!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hurrah for&mdash;&mdash;'</span></p>
+
+<p>"Eh? Did you say somethin', Cap'n Sears?"</p>
+
+<p>Sears repeated his question, and then, as no answer seemed to be
+forthcoming, repeated it once more, with an order to "step lively."
+Judah groaned and shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"I've been sort of afraid you might think somethin' was queer, Cap'n
+Sears," he admitted. "I was hopin' you wouldn't, though, not till it
+begun to blow over. All them kind of things do blow over, give 'em time.
+One voyage I took&mdash;to Shanghai, seems to me 'twas, either that or Rooshy
+somewheres&mdash;there was a ship's carpenter aboard and word got spread
+around that he had a wooden leg. Now he didn't, you know; matter of fact,
+all he had out of the way with him was a kind of&mdash;er&mdash;er&mdash;sheet-iron
+stove lid, as you might call it, riveted onto the top of his head. He
+was in the Mexican war, seemed so, and one of them cannon balls had caved
+in his upper deck, you understand, and them doctors they&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Here, here, Judah! I didn't ask you about any iron-headed carpenters,
+did I?"</p>
+
+<p>"No; no, you never, Cap'n Sears. But what I started to say was that&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"All right, but you stick to what I want you to say. Tell me what's the
+matter with me in Bayport?"</p>
+
+<p>Judah groaned again. "It 'tain't so much that there's any great that's
+wrong along of you, Cap'n," he said, "as 'tis that there ain't nothin'
+but what's so everlastin' right with another feller. That's the way I
+size it up, and I've been takin' observations for quite a spell. Bayport
+folks are spendin' seven days in the week lovin' this Egbert Phillips.
+Consequentially they ain't got much time left to love you in. Fools?
+Course they be, and I've told some of 'em so till I've got a sore throat
+hollerin'. But, by the creepin'&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Judah! Has Phillips been saying things about me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Hey? Him? No, no, no! He don't say nothin' about
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_259" id="pg_259">259</a></span> nobody no time,
+nothin' out of the way, that is. He's always praisin' of you up, so they
+tell me, and excusin' you and forgivin' you."</p>
+
+<p>"Forgivin' me? What do you mean by that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Hold on! don't get mad at <i>me</i>, Cap'n Sears. I mean when they say what
+a pity 'tis that he, the man whose wife owned all this Seymour property
+and the fifty thousand dollars and such&mdash;when they go to poorin' him and
+heavin' overboard hints about how other folks have the spendin' of that
+money and all&mdash;he just smiles, sad but sort of sweet, and says it's all
+right, his dear Lobelia done what seemed to her proper, and if he has to
+suffer a little grain, why, never mind.... That's the way he talks."</p>
+
+<p>"But where do I come in on that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well&mdash;well, you don't really, Cap'n Sears. Course you don't. But
+you&mdash;you have got the handlin' of that money, you know. And you are
+gettin' wages for skipperin' the Fair Harbor. I've heard it said&mdash;not by
+him, oh, creepin', no!&mdash;but by others, that <i>he</i> ought to have that
+skipper's job, if anybody had. Lots of folks seem to cal'late he'd ought
+to <i>own</i> the Harbor. But instead of that he don't own nothin', they say,
+and scratches along in two rooms, down to Joe Macomber's, and,
+underneath all his sufferin', he's just as sweet and uncomplainin' and
+long-endurin' and&mdash;and high-toned and sociable and&mdash;and&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes. I see. Do they say anything more? What about my bein'
+Elizabeth Berry's trustee?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cahoon paused before replying. "Well, they do seem to hold that
+against you some, I'm afraid," he admitted reluctantly. "I don't know
+why they do. And they don't say much in front of me no more, 'cause,
+they realize, I cal'late, that I'm about ready to knock a few of 'em
+into the scuppers. But it&mdash;it just don't help you none, Cap'n, takin'
+care of that money of Elizabeth's don't. And it does help that Eg
+man.... Why? Don't ask me. I&mdash;I'm sick and disgusted. <i>I</i> shan't go to
+no church vestry to hear him lecture on Eyetalian paintin' or&mdash;or
+glazin', or whatever 'tis. And have you noticed how they bow down and
+worship him
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_260" id="pg_260">260</a></span> over to the Fair Harbor? Have you noticed Cordelia Berry?
+She's makin' a dum fool of herself, ain't she? Not that that's a very
+hard job."</p>
+
+<p>Judah's explanations did not explain much, but they did help to increase
+Sears' vague suspicions. He had noticed&mdash;no one could help noticing&mdash;the
+ever-growing popularity of Mr. Phillips. It was quite as evident as the
+decline of his own. What he suspected was that the two were connected
+and that, somehow or other, the smooth gentleman who boarded and lodged
+with the Macombers was responsible, knowingly, calculatingly responsible
+for the change.</p>
+
+<p>Yet it seemed so absurd, that suspicion. He and Phillips met frequently,
+sometimes at church, or oftenest at the Harbor&mdash;Egbert's visits there
+were daily now, and he dined or supped with the Berrys and the "inmates"
+at least twice a week. And always the Phillips manner was kind and
+gracious and urbane. Always he inquired solicitously concerning the
+captain's health. There was never a hint of hostility, never a trace of
+resentment or envy. And always, too, Sears emerged from one of those
+encounters with a feeling that he had had a little the worst of it, that
+his seafaring manners and blunt habit of speech made him appear at a
+marked disadvantage in comparison with this easy, suave, gracefully
+elegant personage. And so many of those meetings took place in the
+presence of Elizabeth Berry.</p>
+
+<p>Elizabeth liked Egbert, there was no doubt of that. Once when she and
+the captain were together in the Fair Harbor office Phillips entered.
+Sears and Elizabeth were bending over the ledger and Egbert opened the
+door. Sears and the young lady were not in the least embarrassed&mdash;of
+course there was not the slightest reason why they should be&mdash;but, oddly
+enough, Phillips seemed to be. He stepped back, coughed, fidgeted with
+the latch, and then began to apologize.</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I really beg your pardon," he said. "I am sorry.... I didn't know&mdash;I
+didn't realize&mdash;I'm <i>so</i> sorry."</p>
+
+<p>Elizabeth looked at him in surprise. "But there is nothing for you to be
+sorry about," she declared. "What is it? I don't understand."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_261" id="pg_261">261</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Egbert still retained his hold upon the latch with one hand. His hat,
+gloves and cane were in the other. It is perhaps the best indication of
+his standing in the community, the fact that, having lived in Bayport
+for some weeks and being by his own confession a poor man, he could
+still go gloved and caned on week days as well as Sundays and not be
+subject to ridicule even by the Saturday night gang in Eliphalet
+Bassett's store.</p>
+
+<p>He fidgeted with the latch and turned as if to go.</p>
+
+<p>"I should have knocked, of course," he protested. "It was most careless
+of me. I do hope you understand. I will come&mdash;ah&mdash;later."</p>
+
+<p>"But I don't understand," repeated the puzzled Elizabeth. "It was
+perfectly all right, your coming in. There is no reason why you should
+knock. The cap'n and I were going over the bills, that's all."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Phillips looked&mdash;well, he looked queer.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh!" he said. "Yes&mdash;yes, of course. But one doesn't always care to be
+interrupted in&mdash;even in business matters&mdash;ah&mdash;sometimes."</p>
+
+<p>Elizabeth laughed. "I'm sure I don't mind," she said. "Those business
+matters weren't so frightfully important."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm so glad. You ease my conscience, Elizabeth. Thank you.... But I am
+afraid the captain minds more than you do. He looks as if he didn't like
+interruptions. Now do you, Captain Kendrick?"</p>
+
+<p>Sears was ruffled. The man always did rub him the wrong way, and now,
+for the first time, he heard him address Miss Berry by her Christian
+name. There was no real reason why he should not, almost every one in
+Bayport did, but Sears did not like it nevertheless.</p>
+
+<p>"You don't fancy interruptions, Captain," repeated the smiling Egbert.
+"Now do you? Ha, ha! Confess."</p>
+
+<p>For the moment Sears forgot to be diplomatic.</p>
+
+<p>"That depends, I guess," he answered shortly.</p>
+
+<p>"Depends? You see, I told you, Elizabeth. Depends upon what? We must
+make him tell us the whole truth, mustn't we, Elizabeth? What does it
+depend upon, Captain
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_262" id="pg_262">262</a></span> Kendrick; the&mdash;ah&mdash;situation&mdash;the nature of the
+business&mdash;or the companion? Now which? Ha, ha!"</p>
+
+<p>Sears answered without taking time to consider.</p>
+
+<p>"Upon who interrupts, maybe," he snapped. Then he would have given
+something to have recalled the words, for Elizabeth turned and looked at
+him. She flushed.</p>
+
+<p>Egbert's serenity, however, was quite undented.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, dear me!" he exclaimed, in mock alarm. "After that I shall <i>have</i>
+to go. And I shall take great pains to close the door behind me. Ha, ha!
+<i>Au revoir</i>, Elizabeth. Good-by, Captain."</p>
+
+<p>He went out, keeping his promise concerning the closing of the door.
+Elizabeth continued to look at her companion.</p>
+
+<p>"Now why in the world," she asked, "did you speak to him like that?"</p>
+
+<p>Sears frowned. "Oh, I don't know," he answered. "He&mdash;he riles me
+sometimes."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes.... Yes, I should judge so. I have noticed it before. You don't
+like him for some reason or other. What is the reason?"</p>
+
+<p>He hesitated. Aside from Judge Knowles' distrust and dislike&mdash;which he
+could not mention to her&mdash;there was no very valid reason, nothing but
+what she would have called prejudice. So he hesitated and reddened.</p>
+
+<p>She went on. "<i>I</i> like him," she declared. "He is a gentleman. He is
+always polite and considerate&mdash;as he was just now about breaking in on
+our business talk. What did you dislike about that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I&mdash;well&mdash;oh, nothin', perhaps."</p>
+
+<p>"I think nothing certainly. He is an old friend of mother's and of the
+people here in the Harbor. They all like him very much. I am sorry that
+you don't and that you spoke to him as you did. I didn't think you took
+unreasonable dislikes. It doesn't seem like you, Cap'n Kendrick."</p>
+
+<p>So once more Sears felt himself to have been put in a bad position and
+to have lost ground while Phillips gained it. And, brooding over the
+affair, he decided that he must be more careful. If he were not so much
+in Elizabeth's company
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_263" id="pg_263">263</a></span> there would be no opportunity for
+insinuations&mdash;by Egbert Phillips, or any one else. So he put a strong
+check upon his inclination to see the young woman, and,
+overconscientious as he was so likely to be, began almost to avoid her.
+Except when business of one kind or another made it necessary he did not
+visit the Harbor. It cost him many pangs and made him miserable, but he
+stuck to his resolution. She should not be talked about in connection
+with him if he could help it.</p>
+
+<p>He had had several talks with Bradley and with her about her legacy from
+Judge Knowles. The twenty-thousand was, so he discovered, already well
+invested in good securities and it was Bradley's opinion, as well as his
+own, that it should not be disturbed. The bonds were deposited in the
+vaults of the Harniss bank, and were perfectly safe. On dividend dates
+he and Miss Berry could cut and check up the coupons together. So far
+his duties as trustee were not burdensome. Bradley had invested
+Cordelia's five thousand for her, so the Berry family's finances were
+stable. In Bayport they were now regarded as "well off." Cordelia was
+invited to supper at Captain Elkhanah Wingate's, a sure sign that the
+hall-mark of wealth and aristocracy had been stamped upon her. At that
+supper, to which Elizabeth also was invited but did not attend, Mr.
+Egbert Phillips shone resplendent. Egbert was not wealthy, a fact which
+he took pains to let every one know, but when he talked, as he did most
+of the evening, Mrs. Wingate and her feminine guests sat in an adoring
+trance and, after these guests had gone, the hostess stood by the parlor
+window gazing wistfully after them.</p>
+
+<p>Her husband was unlocking the door of a certain closet upon the shelf of
+which was kept a certain bottle and accompanying glasses. The closet had
+not been opened before that evening, as the Reverend and Mrs. Dishup had
+been among the dinner guests.</p>
+
+<p>"Elkhanah," observed Mrs. Wingate, dreamily, "I do think Mr. Phillips is
+the most elegant man I ever saw in my life. His language&mdash;and his
+manners&mdash;they are perfect."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_264" id="pg_264">264</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Captain Elkhanah nodded. "He's pretty slick," he agreed.</p>
+
+<p>If he expected by thus agreeing to please his wife, he must have been
+disappointed.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, <i>don't</i> say 'slick'!" she snapped. "I do wish you wouldn't use such
+countrified words."</p>
+
+<p>"Eh?" indignantly. "Countrified! Well, I am country, ain't I? So are
+you, so far as that goes. So was he once&mdash;when he was teachin' a
+one-horse singin' school in this very town."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, perhaps. But he has got over it. And it would pay you to take
+lessons from him, and learn not to say 'slick' and 'ain't'."</p>
+
+<p>Her husband grunted. "Pay!" he repeated. "I'll wait till he pays me the
+twenty dollars he borrowed of me two weeks ago. He wasn't too citified
+to do that."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wingate stalked to the stairs. "I'm ashamed of you," she declared.
+"You know what a struggle he is having, and how splendid and
+uncomplaining he is. And you a rich man! Any one would think you never
+saw twenty dollars before."</p>
+
+<p>Captain Elkhanah poured himself a judicious dose from the bottle.</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe I never <i>will</i> see <i>that</i> twenty again," he observed with a
+chuckle.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, you&mdash;you disgust me!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, go&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"<i>What?</i> What are you trying to say to me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Go to bed," said the captain, and took his dose.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_265" id="pg_265">265</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_XIV_10452" id="CHAPTER_XIV_10452"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER XIV</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>If Elizabeth noticed that Sears was not as frequent a visitor at the
+Fair Harbor as he had formerly been she said nothing about it. She
+herself had ceased to run in at the Minot place to ask this question or
+that. Since the occasion when Mr. Phillips interrupted the business talk
+in the office and his apologies had brought about the slight
+disagreement&mdash;if it may be called that&mdash;between the captain and Miss
+Berry, the latter had, so Sears imagined, been a trifle less cordial to
+him than before. She was not coldly formal or curt and disagreeable&mdash;her
+mother was all of these things to the captain now, and quite without
+reason so far as he could see&mdash;Elizabeth was not like that, but she was
+less talkative, less cheerful, and certainly less confidentially
+communicative. At times he caught her looking at him as if doubtful or
+troubled. When he asked her what was the matter she said "Nothing," and
+began to speak of the bills they had been considering.</p>
+
+<p>On one occasion she asked him a point blank question, one quite
+irrelevant to the subject at hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Cap'n Kendrick," she asked, "how do you think Judge Knowles came to
+appoint you to be manager here at the Harbor?"</p>
+
+<p>He was taken by surprise, of course. "Why," he stammered, "I&mdash;why, I
+don't know. That is, all I know about it is what he told me. He said he
+felt he ought to have some one, and I was near at home, and&mdash;and so he
+thought of me, I suppose."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I know. You told me that.... But&mdash;but how did he know you wanted
+the position?"</p>
+
+<p>"Wanted it? Good heavens and earth, I didn't want it!
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_266" id="pg_266">266</a></span> I fought as hard
+as I could not to take it. Why, I told you&mdash;you remember, that day when
+I first came over here; that time when Elvira and the rest wanted to buy
+the cast-iron menagerie; I told you then&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," she interrupted again. "Yes, I know you did. But.... And the
+judge had never heard from you&mdash;had never...."</p>
+
+<p>"Heard from me! Do you mean had I sent in an application for the job?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no, no! Not that. But you and he had never been&mdash;er&mdash;close friends
+in the old days, when you were here before?"</p>
+
+<p>He could not guess what she was driving at. "Look here, Elizabeth," he
+said, "I've told you that I scarcely knew Judge Knowles before he sent
+for me and offered me this place. No man alive was ever more surprised
+than I was then. Why, I gathered that the judge had talked about me to
+you before he sent for me. Not as manager here, of course, but as&mdash;well,
+as a man. He told you that I was goin' to call, you said so, and I
+<i>know</i> you and he had talked and laughed together about my fight with
+the hens in Judah's garden."</p>
+
+<p>The trouble, whatever its cause, seemed to vanish. She smiled. "Yes,
+yes," she said. "Of course we had. He did like you, Judge Knowles did,
+and that was all&mdash;of course it was."</p>
+
+<p>"All what?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, nothing, nothing. How is Judah? I haven't seen him for two days."</p>
+
+<p>She would not mention Judge Knowles again, but for the remainder of
+their session with the accounts she was more like her old self than she
+had been for at least a week, or so it seemed to him.</p>
+
+<p>This was but one of those queer and disconcerting flare-ups of hers. One
+day, a week or so after she had questioned him concerning his
+appointment, he happened to be in the Harbor kitchen, and alone&mdash;of
+itself a surprising thing. Elvira Snowden and her group were holding
+some
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_267" id="pg_267">267</a></span> sort of committee meeting in the sitting room. Elvira was
+continually forming committees or circles for this purpose or that,
+purposes which fizzled out at about the third meeting of each group.
+Esther Tidditt was supposed to be in charge of the kitchen on this
+particular morning, but she had gone into the committee meeting in order
+to torment Elvira and Mrs. Brackett, a favorite amusement with her.</p>
+
+<p>So Sears, wandering into the kitchen, happened to notice that the door
+of the store closet had been left open, and he was standing in front of
+it idly looking in. He was brought out of his day dream, which had
+nothing to do with the closet or its contents, by Elizabeth's voice. She
+had entered from the dining room and he had not heard her.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," she asked, "I trust you find everything present or accounted
+for?"</p>
+
+<p>Her tone was so crisply sarcastic that he turned in astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;what?" he faltered.</p>
+
+<p>"I said I trusted that you found everything in that closet as it should
+be. Have you measured the flour? My mother is matron here, Cap'n
+Kendrick, and she will be glad to have you take any precautions of that
+kind, I am sure. So shall I. But don't you think it might as well be
+done while she or I are here?"</p>
+
+<p>He was bewildered.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know what you mean, Elizabeth," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I don't. I came in just now by the back door, and there was no one
+in the kitchen, so&mdash;so I waited for a minute."</p>
+
+<p>"Why did you come by the back door? You didn't use to. Mother and I are
+usually in the office, or, at least, we are always glad to come there
+when you call."</p>
+
+<p>He was still bewildered, but irritated, too.</p>
+
+<p>"Why did I come by the back door?" he repeated. "Why, I've come that way
+a dozen times in the last fortnight. Don't you want me to come that
+way?"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_268" id="pg_268">268</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Now she looked a trifle confused, but the flush was still on her cheeks
+and the sparkle in her eye.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sure I don't care how often you come that way," she said.
+"But&mdash;well, mother is matron here, Cap'n Kendrick. She may not
+be&mdash;perhaps she isn't&mdash;the most businesslike and orderly person in the
+world, but she is my mother. If you have any complaints to make, if you
+want to find out how things are kept, or managed, or&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Here!" he broke in. "Wait! What do you mean? Do you suppose I sneaked
+into this kitchen by myself to peek into that closet, and&mdash;and spy on
+your mother's managin'?... You don't believe anything of that kind. You
+can't."</p>
+
+<p>She was more embarrassed now. "Why&mdash;why, no, I don't, Cap'n Kendrick,"
+she admitted. "Of course I know you wouldn't sneak anywhere. But&mdash;but I
+have been given to understand that you and&mdash;well, Mr. Bradley&mdash;have not
+been&mdash;are not quite satisfied with the management&mdash;with mother's
+management. And&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Wait! Heave to!" Sears was excited now, and, as usual when excited,
+drifted into nautical phraseology. "What do you mean by sayin' I am not
+satisfied? Who told you that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;well, you are not, are you? You questioned her about the coal a
+week ago, about how much she used in a week. And then you asked her
+about keeping the fires overnight, if she saw how many were kept, and if
+there was much waste. And two or three times you have been seen standing
+by the bins&mdash;figuring."</p>
+
+<p>"Good Lord!" His exclamation this time was one of sheer amazement. "Good
+Lord!" he said again. "Why, I have been tryin', now winter is comin' on,
+to figure out how to save coal cost for this craft&mdash;for the Fair Harbor.
+You know I have. I asked your mother about the fires because I know how
+much waste there is likely to be when a fire is kept carelessly. And as
+for Bradley and I not bein' satisfied with your mother that is the
+wildest idea of all. I never talked with Bradley about the management
+here. It isn't his business, for one reason."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_269" id="pg_269">269</a></span></p>
+
+<p>She was silent. Her expression had changed. Then she said, impulsively,
+"I'm sorry. Please don't mind what I said, Cap'n Kendrick. I&mdash;I am
+rather nervous and&mdash;and troubled just now. Of course, you are not
+obliged to come over here as&mdash;as often as you used.... But things I have
+heard&mdash;&mdash; Oh, I shouldn't pay attention to them, I suppose. I&mdash;I am very
+sorry."</p>
+
+<p>But he was not quite in the mood to forgive. And one sentence in
+particular occupied his attention.</p>
+
+<p>"Things you have heard," he repeated. "Yes.... I should judge you must
+have heard a good deal. But who did you hear it from?... Look here,
+Elizabeth; how did you know I was here in the kitchen now? Did you just
+happen to come out and find me by accident?"</p>
+
+<p>She reddened. "Why&mdash;why&mdash;&mdash;" she stammered.</p>
+
+<p>"Or did some one tell you I was out here&mdash;spyin' on the pickles?"</p>
+
+<p>His tone was a most unusual one from him to her. She resented it.</p>
+
+<p>"No one told me you were 'spying'," she replied; coldly. "I have never
+thought of you as&mdash;a spy, Cap'n Kendrick. I have always considered you a
+friend, a disinterested friend of mother's and mine."</p>
+
+<p>"Well?... What does that 'disinterested' mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, nothing in particular."</p>
+
+<p>"It must mean somethin' or you wouldn't have said it. Does it mean that
+you are beginnin' to doubt the disinterested part?... I'd like to have
+you tell me, if you don't mind, how you knew I was alone here in the
+kitchen? Who took the pains to tell you that?"</p>
+
+<p>Her answer now was prompt enough.</p>
+
+<p>"No one took particular pains, I should imagine," she said, crisply.
+"Mr. Phillips told me, as it happened. Or rather, he told mother and
+mother told me. He is to speak to the&mdash;to Elvira's 'travel-study'
+committee in the sitting room, and, as he often does, he walked around
+by the garden path. When he passed the window he saw you standing by the
+closet, that was all."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_270" id="pg_270">270</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Sears did not speak. He turned to the door.</p>
+
+<p>She called to him. "Wait&mdash;wait, please," she cried. "Mr. Phillips did
+not say anything, so far as I know, except to mention that you were
+here."</p>
+
+<p>The captain turned back again. "Somebody said somethin'," he declared.
+"Somebody said enough to send you out here and make you speak to me
+like&mdash;like that. And somebody has been startin' you to think about how I
+got the appointment as manager. Somebody has been whisperin' that I am
+not satisfied with your mother's way of doin' things and am schemin'
+against her. Somebody has been droppin' a hint here and a hint there
+until even you have begun to believe 'em.... Well, I can't stop your
+belief, I suppose, but maybe some day I shall stop Commodore Egbert, and
+when I do he'll stop hard."</p>
+
+<p>"You have no right to say I believe anything against you. I have always
+refused to believe that. Do you suppose if I hadn't believed in and
+trusted you absolutely I should have.... But there! You know I did&mdash;and
+do. It is only when&mdash;when&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"When Egbert hints."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Oh!</i> ... How you do hate Mr. Phillips, don't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Hate him?... Why, I&mdash;I don't know as you'd call it hate."</p>
+
+<p>"I know. It is plain to see. You have hated him ever since he came. But
+why? He has never&mdash;you won't believe this, but it is true&mdash;he has never,
+to me at least, said one word except in your praise. He likes and
+admires you. He has told me so."</p>
+
+<p>"Does he tell your mother the same thing?"</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him. "Why do you couple my mother's name with his?" she
+demanded quickly. "Why should he tell her anything that he doesn't tell
+me?"</p>
+
+<p>It was a question which Sears could not answer. For some time he had
+noticed and guessed and feared, but he could not tell her. So he was
+silent, and to remain silent was perhaps the worst thing he could have
+done.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_271" id="pg_271">271</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"What do you know against Mr. Phillips?" she asked. "Tell me. Do you
+know <i>anything</i> to his discredit?"</p>
+
+<p>Again he did not answer. She turned away.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought not," she said. "Oh, envy is such a <i>mean</i> trait. Well, I
+suppose I shouldn't expect to have many friends&mdash;lasting friends."</p>
+
+<p>"Here! hold on, Elizabeth. Don't say that."</p>
+
+<p>"What else can I say? I am sorry I spoke to you as I did, but&mdash;I think
+you have more than paid the debt.... Yes, mother, I am coming."</p>
+
+<p>She went out of the room and Sears limped moodily home, reflecting, as
+most of mankind has reflected at one time or another, upon the
+unaccountableness of the feminine character. So far as he could see he
+had said much less than he would have been justified in saying. She had
+goaded him into saying even that. He pondered and puzzled over it the
+greater part of the night and then reached the conclusion which the male
+usually reaches under such circumstances, namely, that he had better ask
+her pardon.</p>
+
+<p>So when they next met he did that very thing and she accepted the
+apology. And at that meeting, and others immediately following it, no
+word was said by either concerning "spying" or Mr. Egbert Phillips. Yet
+the wall between them was left a little higher than it had been before,
+their friendship was not quite the same, and an experienced person, not
+much of a prophet at that, could have foretold that the time was coming
+when that friendship was to end.</p>
+
+<p>It was little Esther Tidditt who laid the coping of the dividing wall.
+Elvira Snowden built some of the upper tiers, but Esther finished the
+job. Almost unbelievable as it may seem, she did not like Mr. Phillips.
+Of course with her tendency to take the off side in all arguments and to
+be almost invariably "agin the government," the fact that the rest of
+feminine Bayport adored the glittering Egbert might have been of itself
+sufficient to set up her opposition. But he had, or she considered that
+he had, snubbed her on several occasions and she was a dangerous person
+to snub. Judah expressed it characteristically when he declared that
+anybody
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_272" id="pg_272">272</a></span> who "set out" to impose on Esther Tidditt would have as lively
+a time as a bare-footed man trying to dance a hornpipe on a wasp's nest.
+"She'll keep 'em hoppin' high, <i>I</i> tell ye," proclaimed Judah.</p>
+
+<p>Little Mrs. Tidditt would have liked to keep Mr. Phillips hopping high,
+and did administer sly digs to his grandeur whenever she could. In the
+praise services among the "inmates" which were almost sure to follow a
+call of the great man at the Fair Harbor it was disconcerting and
+provoking to the worshipers to have Esther refer to the idol as "that
+Eg." Mrs. Brackett took her to task for it.</p>
+
+<p>"You ought to have more respect for his wife's memory, if nothin' else,"
+snapped Susanna. "If it hadn't been for her and her generosity you
+wouldn't be here, Esther Tidditt."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and if it hadn't been for her <i>he</i> wouldn't be here. He'd have
+been teachin' singin' school yet&mdash;if he wasn't in jail. <i>You</i> can call
+him Po-or de-ar Mr. Phillips,' if you want to; <i>I</i> call him 'Old Eg.'
+And he is a bad egg, too, 'cordin' to my notion. Prob'ly that's why his
+wife and Judge Knowles hove him out of the nest."</p>
+
+<p>And, as Egbert climbed in popularity while Captain Sears Kendrick
+slipped back, it followed naturally that Mrs. Tidditt became more and
+more the friend and champion of the latter. She went out of her way to
+do him favors and she made it her business to keep him posted on the
+happenings and gossip at the Fair Harbor. He did not encourage her in
+this, in fact he attempted tactfully to discourage her, but Esther was
+not easily discouraged.</p>
+
+<p>It was she who first called his attention to Miss Snowden's fondness for
+the Phillips society.</p>
+
+<p>"Elviry's set her cap for him," declared Mrs. Tidditt. "The way she sets
+and looks mushy at him when he's preachin' about Portygee pictures and
+such is enough to keep a body from relishin' their meals."</p>
+
+<p>But of late, according to Esther, Elvira was no longer the first violin
+in the Phillips orchestra.</p>
+
+<p>"She's second fiddle," announced the little woman.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_273" id="pg_273">273</a></span> "There's another
+craft cut acrost her bows. If you ask me who 'tis I can tell you, too,
+Cap'n Sears."</p>
+
+<p>And Sears made it a point not to ask. Once it was Elvira herself who
+more than hinted, and in the presence of Elizabeth and the captain. The
+latter pair were at the desk together when Miss Snowden passed through
+the room.</p>
+
+<p>"Where is mother?" asked Elizabeth. "Have you seen her, Elvira?"</p>
+
+<p>Elvira's thin lips were shut tight.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't ask <i>me</i>," she snapped, viciously. "She's out trapping, I
+suppose."</p>
+
+<p>"Trapping!" Elizabeth stared at her. "What are you talking about?
+Trapping what?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know. <i>I'm</i> not layin' traps to catch anything&mdash;or any<i>body</i>
+either."</p>
+
+<p>She sailed out of the room. Miss Berry turned to Sears.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know what she means, Cap'n Kendrick?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>Sears did know, or would have bet heavily on his guess. But he shook his
+head. Elizabeth was not satisfied.</p>
+
+<p>"Why do you look like that?" she persisted. "<i>Do</i> you know?"</p>
+
+<p>"Eh?... Oh, no, no; of course not.... I&mdash;I think I saw your mother goin'
+out of the gate as I came across lots. She&mdash;I presume likely she was
+goin' to the store or somewhere."</p>
+
+<p>"She didn't tell me she was going. Was she alone?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, no; I think&mdash;seems to me Mr. Phillips was with her."</p>
+
+<p>For the next few minutes the captain devoted his entire attention to the
+letter he was writing. He did not look up, but he was quite conscious
+that her eyes were boring him through and through. During the rest of
+his stay she was curt and cool. When he went she did not bid him
+good-by.</p>
+
+<p>So the fuse was burning merrily and the inevitable explosion came three
+days later. The scene was this time not the Fair Harbor office, but the
+Minot kitchen. Judah was out and the captain was alone, reading the
+<i>Item</i>. The fire
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_274" id="pg_274">274</a></span> in the range was a new one and the kitchen was very
+warm, so Sears had opened the outer door in order to cool off a bit. It
+was a beautiful late October forenoon.</p>
+
+<p>The captain was deep in the <i>Item's</i> account of the recent wreck on
+Peaked Hill Bars. A British bark had gone ashore there and the crew had
+been rescued with difficulty. He was himself dragged, metaphorically
+speaking, from the undertow by a voice just behind him.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you're takin' it easy, ain't you, Cap'n Sears?" observed Mrs.
+Tidditt. "I wish <i>I</i> didn't have nothin' to do but set and read the
+news."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, good mornin', Esther," said the captain. He was not particularly
+glad to see her. "What's wrong; anything?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothin' but my batch of gingerbread, and a quart of molasses'll save
+that. Can you spare it? Oh, don't get up. I know where Judah keeps it;
+I've been here afore."</p>
+
+<p>She went to the closet, found the molasses jug, and filled her pitcher.
+Then she came back and sat down. She had not been invited to sit, but
+Esther scorned ceremony.</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir," she observed, as if carrying on an uninterrupted
+conversation, "<i>I</i> can't set and read the newspapers. And I can't go to
+walk neither, even if 'tis such weather as 'tis to-day. Some folks can,
+though, and they've gone."</p>
+
+<p>Sears turned the page of the <i>Item</i>. He made no comment. His silence did
+not in the least disturb his caller.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, they've gone," she repeated. "Right in the middle of the forenoon,
+too.... Oh, well! when the Admiral of all creation comes to get you to
+go cruisin' along with him, you go, I suppose. That is, some folks do.
+I'd like to see the man <i>I'd</i> make such a fool of myself over."</p>
+
+<p>The captain was reading the "Local Jottings" now. Mrs. Tidditt kept
+serenely on.</p>
+
+<p>"I wouldn't let any man make such a soft-headed fool of me," she
+declared. "'Twould take more than a mustache and a slick tongue to get
+<i>my</i> money away from me&mdash;if I had any."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_275" id="pg_275">275</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Sears was obliged to give up the Jottings. He sighed and put down the
+paper.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter, Esther?" he asked. "Who's after your money?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nobody, and good reason why, too. And I ain't out cruisin' 'round the
+fields with an Eg neither."</p>
+
+<p>"With an egg? Who is?"</p>
+
+<p>"Who do you think? Cordelia Berry, of course. Him and her have gone for
+what he calls a little stroll. He said she was workin' her poor brain
+too hard and a little fresh air would do her good. Pity about her poor
+brain, ain't it? Well, if 'twan't a poor one he'd never coax her into
+marryin' <i>him</i>, that's sartin."</p>
+
+<p>"Esther, don't talk foolish."</p>
+
+<p>"Nothin' foolish about it. If them two ain't keepin' company then I
+never saw anybody that was. He's callin' on her, and squirin' her
+'round, and waitin' on her mornin', noon and night. And she&mdash;my
+patience! she might as well hang out a sign, 'Ready and Willin'.' She
+says he's the one real aristocrat she has seen since she left her
+father's home. Poor Cap'n Ike, he's all forgotten."</p>
+
+<p>Sears stirred uneasily. Barring Tidditt exaggeration, he was inclined to
+believe all this very near the truth. It merely confirmed his own
+suspicions.</p>
+
+<p>His visitor went gayly on. "I'm sorry for Elizabeth," she said. "I don't
+know whether the poor girl realizes how soon she's liable to have that
+Eg for a step-pa. I shouldn't wonder if she suspected a little. I don't
+see how she can help it. But, Elviry Snowden&mdash;oh, dear, dear! If <i>she</i>
+ain't the sourest mortal these days. I do get consider'ble fun out of
+Elviry. She's the one thing that keeps me reconciled to life."</p>
+
+<p>The captain thought he saw an opportunity to shift Mrs. Berry from the
+limelight and substitute some one else.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought Elvira Snowden was the one you said meant to get Egbert," he
+suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"So I did, and so she was. But she don't count nowadays."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_276" id="pg_276">276</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Why doesn't she?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, if you ask me I shall give you an answer. Elviry Snowden ain't
+fell heir to five thousand dollars and Cordelia Berry has. That's why."</p>
+
+<p>Sears uneasily shifted again. This conversation was following much too
+closely his own line of reasoning.</p>
+
+<p>"Five thousand isn't any great fortune," he observed, "to a man like
+Phillips."</p>
+
+<p>The little woman nodded. "It's five thousand dollars to a man just
+<i>like</i> Phillips&mdash;now," she said, significantly. "And, more'n that,
+Cordelia's matron at the Harbor. The Fair Harbor ain't a Eyetalian
+palace maybe, but it's a nice, comf'table place where the matron's
+husband might live easy and not pay board.... That's <i>my</i> guess. Other
+folks can have theirs and welcome."</p>
+
+<p>"But&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"There ain't no buts about it, Cap'n Kendrick. You know it's so. Eg
+Phillips is goin' to marry Cordelia Berry. My name ain't Elijah nor
+Jeremiah&mdash;no, nor Deuteronomy nuther&mdash;but I can prophesy that much."</p>
+
+<p>She rose with a triumphant bounce, turned to the open door behind her,
+and saw Elizabeth Berry standing there. Sears Kendrick saw her at the
+same time.</p>
+
+<p>There are periods in the life of each individual when it seems as if
+Fate was holding a hammer above that individual's head and, at
+intervals, as the head ventures to lift itself, knocking it down again.
+Each successive tap seems a bit harder, and the victim, during the
+interval of its falling, wonders if it is to be the final and finishing
+thump.</p>
+
+<p>Sears did not wonder this time, he knew. His thought, as he saw her
+there, saw the expression upon her face and realized what she must have
+heard, was: "Here it is! This is the end."</p>
+
+<p>Yet he was the first of the two to speak. Elizabeth, white and rigid,
+said nothing, and even Mrs. Tidditt's talking machinery seemed to be
+temporarily thrown out of gear. So the captain made the attempt, a
+feeble one.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_277" id="pg_277">277</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Why, Elizabeth," he faltered, "is that you?... Come in, won't you?"</p>
+
+<p>She did come in, that is, she came as far as the door mat. Then she
+turned, not to him, but to his companion.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean by speaking in that way of my mother?" she demanded.</p>
+
+<p>Esther was still a trifle off balance. Her answer was rather incoherent.</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I don't know's I&mdash;as I said&mdash;as I said much of anything&mdash;much," she
+stammered.</p>
+
+<p>"I heard you. How dare you tell such&mdash;such <i>lies</i>?"</p>
+
+<p>"Lies?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; mean, miserable lies. What else are they? How dare you run to&mdash;to
+<i>him</i> with them?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Tidditt's hand, that grasping the handle of the molasses pitcher,
+began to quiver. Her eyes, behind her steel-rimmed spectacles, winked
+rapidly.</p>
+
+<p>"Elizabeth Berry," she snapped, with ominous emphasis, "don't you talk
+to me like that!"</p>
+
+<p>"I shall talk to you as&mdash;as.... Oh, I should be ashamed to talk to you
+at all. My mother&mdash;my kind, trustful, unsuspecting mother! And you&mdash;you
+and he <i>dare</i>&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick, in desperation, tried to put in a word.</p>
+
+<p>"Elizabeth," he begged, "don't misunderstand. Esther hasn't been runnin'
+here to tell me things. She came over to borrow some molasses from
+Judah, that's all."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, stop! I tell you I heard what she said. And you were listening.
+Listening! Without a word of protest. I suppose you encouraged her. Of
+course you did. No doubt this isn't the first time. This may be her
+usual report. Not content with&mdash;with prying into closets and&mdash;and coal
+bins and&mdash;and&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Elizabeth!"</p>
+
+<p>"Doing these things for yourself was not enough, I suppose. You must
+encourage her&mdash;pay her, perhaps&mdash;to listen and whisper scandal and to
+spy&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Stop! Stop right there!" The captain was not begging now. Even in the
+midst of her impassioned outburst the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_278" id="pg_278">278</a></span> young woman paused, halted
+momentarily by the compelling force of that order. But she halted
+unwillingly.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall not stop," she declared. "I shall say&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"You have said a whole lot too much already. And you don't mean what you
+have said."</p>
+
+<p>"I do! I do! Oh, I can't tell you what I think of you."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," dryly, "you have made a pretty fair try at tellin' it. If it is
+what you really think of me it'll do&mdash;it will be quite enough. I shan't
+need any more."</p>
+
+<p>He was looking at her gravely and steadily and before his look her own
+gaze wavered. If they had been alone it is barely possible that ... but
+they were not alone. Mrs. Tidditt was there and, by this time, as Judah
+would have said, "her neck-feathers were on end" and her spurs sharpened
+for battle. She hopped into the pit forthwith.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>I</i> need consider'ble more," she cackled, defiantly. "I've been called
+a spy and a scandal whisperer and the Lord knows what else. Now I'll say
+somethin'."</p>
+
+<p>"Esther, be still."</p>
+
+<p>"I shan't be still till I'm ready, not for you, Sears Kendrick, nor for
+her nor nobody else. I ain't a spy, 'Liz'beth Berry, and I ain't paid by
+no livin' soul. But I see what I see with the eyes the Almighty give me
+to see with, and after I've seen it&mdash;not alone once but forty dozen
+times&mdash;I'll talk about it if I want to, when I want to, to anybody I
+want to. Now that's that much."</p>
+
+<p>Elizabeth, scornfully silent, was turning to the door, but the little
+woman hopped&mdash;that seems the only word which describes it&mdash;in her way.</p>
+
+<p>"You ain't goin'," she declared, "till I've finished. 'Twon't take me
+long to say it, but it's goin' to be said. I told Cap'n Sears that Eg
+Phillips was chasin' 'round with your mother. He is. And if she ain't
+glad to have him chase her then I never see anybody that was. I said
+them two was cal'latin' to get married. Well ... well, if they ain't
+then they'd ought to be, that's all I'll say about <i>that</i>. And don't you
+ever call me a spy again as long as you live, 'Liz'beth Berry."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_279" id="pg_279">279</a></span></p>
+
+<p>She hopped again, to the doorway this time. There she turned for a
+farewell cackle.</p>
+
+<p>"One thing more," she said. "I told the cap'n I believed the reason that
+that Eg man wanted to marry Cordelia was on account of her bein' able to
+give him five thousand dollars and the Fair Harbor to live in. I do
+believe it. And you can tell her so&mdash;or him so. But afore I told anybody
+I'd think it over, if I was you, 'Liz'beth Berry. And I'd think <i>him</i>
+over a whole lot afore I'd let him and his 'ily tongue make trouble
+between you and your <i>real</i> friends.... There! Good-by."</p>
+
+<p>She went away. Kendrick pulled at his beard.</p>
+
+<p>"Elizabeth," he began, hastily, "I'm awfully sorry that this happened.
+Of course you know that I&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>She interrupted him. "I know," she said, "that if I ever speak to you
+again it will be because I am obliged to, not because I want to."</p>
+
+<p>She followed Mrs. Tidditt. Sears Kendrick sat down once more in the
+rocking chair.</p>
+
+<p>He did a great deal of hard and unpleasant thinking before he rose from
+it. When he did rise it was to go to the drawer in the bureau of the
+spare stateroom where he kept his writing materials, take therefrom pen,
+ink and paper and sit down at the table to write a letter. The letter
+was not long of itself, but composing it was a rather lengthy process.
+It was addressed to Elizabeth Berry and embodied his resignation as
+trustee and guardian of her inheritance from Judge Knowles.</p>
+
+<hr class='minor' />
+
+<p>"As I see it [he wrote] I am not the one to have charge of that money. I
+took the job, as you know, because the judge asked me to and because you
+asked me. I took it with a good deal of doubt. Now, considering the way
+you feel towards me, I haven't any doubt that I should give it up. I
+don't want you to make the mistake of thinking that I feel guilty. So
+far as I know I have not done anything which was not square and honest
+and aboveboard, either where you were concerned, or your mother, or what
+I believed
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_280" id="pg_280">280</a></span> to be the best interests of the Fair Harbor. And I am not
+giving up my regular berth as general manager of the Harbor itself.
+Judge Knowles asked me to keep that as long as I thought it was
+necessary for the good of the institution. I honestly believe it is more
+necessary now than it ever was. And I shall stay right on deck until I
+feel the need is over. I shan't bother you with my company any more than
+I can help, but you will have to put up with it about every once in so
+often while we go over business affairs. So much for that. The
+trusteeship is different and I resign it to Mr. Bradley, who was the
+judge's second choice."</p>
+
+<hr class='minor' />
+
+<p>He paused here, deliberated for a time, and then added another
+paragraph.</p>
+
+<hr class='minor' />
+
+<p>"I feel sure Bradley will take it [he wrote]. If he should refuse I will
+not give it up to any one else. At least not unless I am perfectly
+satisfied with the person chosen. This is for your safety and for no
+other reason."</p>
+
+<hr class='minor' />
+
+<p>He sent the letter over by Judah. Two days later he received a reply.
+It, too, was brief and to the point.</p>
+
+<hr class='minor' />
+
+<p>"I accept your resignation [wrote Elizabeth]. It was Judge Knowles' wish
+that you be my trustee, and, as you know, it was mine also. Apparently
+you no longer feel bound by either wish, and of course I shall not beg
+you to change your mind. I have no right to influence you in any way. I
+have seen Mr. Bradley and he has consented to act as trustee for me. He
+will see you in a day or two. As for the other matters I have nothing to
+say. Whenever you wish to consult with me on business affairs I shall be
+ready."</p>
+
+<hr class='minor' />
+
+<p>There was a postscript. It read:</p>
+
+<p>"I feel that I should thank you for what you have already done. I do
+thank you sincerely."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_281" id="pg_281">281</a></span></p>
+
+<p>So that ended it, and ended also what had been a happy period for Sears
+Kendrick. He made no more informal daily visits to the Fair Harbor.
+Twice a week, at stated times, he and Elizabeth met in the office and
+conferred concerning bills, letters and accounts. She was calm and
+impersonal during these interviews, and he tried to be so. There was no
+reference to other matters and no more cheerful and delightful chats, no
+more confidences between them. It did seem to him that she was more
+absent-minded, less alert and attentive to the business details than she
+had been, and at times he thought that she looked troubled and careworn.
+Perhaps, however, this was but his imagining, a sort of reflection of
+his own misery. For he was miserable&mdash;miserable, pessimistic and pretty
+thoroughly disgusted with life. His health and strength were gaining
+always, but he found little consolation in this. He could not go to sea
+just yet. He had promised Judge Knowles to stick it out and stick he
+would. But he longed&mdash;oh, how he longed!&mdash;for the blue water and a deck
+beneath his feet. Perhaps, a thousand miles from land, with a gale
+blowing and a ship to handle, as a real deep-sea skipper he could
+forget&mdash;forget a face and a voice and a succession of silly fancies
+which could not, apparently, be wholly forgotten by the middle-aged
+skipper of an old women's home.</p>
+
+<p>One morning, after a troubled night, on his way to a conference with
+Elizabeth at the Fair Harbor office, he met Mr. Egbert Phillips. The
+latter, serene, benign, elegant, was entering at the gateway beneath the
+swinging sign which proclaimed to the other world that within the Harbor
+all was peace. Of late Captain Kendrick had found a certain flavor of
+irony in the wording of that sign.</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick and Phillips reached the gate at the same moment. They
+exchanged good mornings. Egbert's was sweetly and condescendingly
+gracious, the captain's rather short and brusque. Since the encounter in
+the office where, in the presence of Elizabeth, Phillips' polite
+inuendoes had goaded Sears into an indiscreet revelation of his real
+feeling toward the elegant widower&mdash;since that day relations between
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_282" id="pg_282">282</a></span>
+the two had been maintained on a basis of armed neutrality. They bowed,
+they smiled, they even spoke, although seldom at length. Kendrick had
+made up his mind not to lose his temper again. His adversary should not
+have that advantage over him.</p>
+
+<p>But this morning to save his life he could not have appeared as
+unruffled as usual. The night had been uncomfortable, his waking
+thoughts disturbing. His position was a hard one, he was feeling
+rebellious against Fate and even against Judge Knowles, who, as Fate's
+agent, had gotten him into that position. And the sight of the tall
+figure, genteelly swinging its cane and beaming patronage upon the world
+in general, was a little too much for him. So his good morning was more
+of a grunt than a greeting.</p>
+
+<p>It may be that Egbert noticed this. Or it may be that with his triumph
+so closely approaching a certainty he could not resist a slight gloat.
+At all events he paused for an instant, a demure gleam in his eye and
+the corner of his lip beneath the drooping mustache lifting in an amused
+smile.</p>
+
+<p>"A beautiful day, Captain," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick admitted the day's beauty. He would have passed through the
+gateway, but Mr. Phillips' figure and Mr. Phillips' cane blocked the
+way.</p>
+
+<p>"It seems to me that we do not see as much of you here at the Harbor as
+we used, Captain Kendrick," observed Egbert. "Or is that my fancy
+merely?"</p>
+
+<p>The captain's answer was noncommittal. Again he attempted to pass and
+again the Phillips' walking-stick casually prevented.</p>
+
+<p>"I trust that nothing serious has occurred to deprive us of your
+society, Captain?" queried the owner of the stick, solicitously. "No
+accident, no further accident, or anything of that sort?"</p>
+
+<p>"No."</p>
+
+<p>"And you are quite well? Pardon me, but I fancied that you
+looked&mdash;ah&mdash;shall I say disturbed&mdash;or worried, perhaps?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. I'm all right."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_283" id="pg_283">283</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I am so glad to hear it. I gathered&mdash;that is, I feared that perhaps the
+cares incidental to your&mdash;" again the slight smile&mdash;"your labors as
+general supervisor of the Harbor might be undermining your health. I am
+charmed to have you tell me that that is not the case."</p>
+
+<p>"Thanks."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course&mdash;" Mr. Phillips drew a geometrical figure with the
+cane in the earth of the flower bed by the path&mdash;"of course," he
+said, "speaking as one who has had some sad experience with illness
+and that sort of thing, it has always seemed to me that one should
+not take chances with one's health. If the cares of a particular
+avocation&mdash;situation&mdash;position&mdash;whatever it may be&mdash;if the cares
+and&mdash;ah&mdash;disappointments incidental to it are affecting one's physical
+condition it has always seemed to me wiser to sacrifice the first for
+the second. And make the sacrifice in time. You see what I mean?"</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick, standing by the post of the gateway, looked at him.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, no," he said, slowly, "I don't know that I do. What do you mean?"</p>
+
+<p>The cane was drawn through the first figure in the flower bed and began
+to trace another. Again Mr. Phillips smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, nothing in particular, my dear sir," he replied. "Perhaps nothing
+at all.... I had heard&mdash;mere rumor, no doubt&mdash;that you contemplated
+giving up your position as superintendent here. I trust it is not true?"</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't."</p>
+
+<p>"I am delighted to hear you say so. We&mdash;we of the Harbor&mdash;should miss
+you greatly."</p>
+
+<p>"Thanks. Do you mind telling me who told you I was goin' to give up the
+superintendent's position?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, I don't remember. It came to my ears, it seemed to be a sort of
+general impression. Of course, now that you tell me it is not true I
+shall take pains to deny it. And permit me to express my gratification."</p>
+
+<p>"Just a minute. Did they say&mdash;did this general impression say why I was
+givin' up the job?"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_284" id="pg_284">284</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"No-o, no, I think not. I believe it was hinted that you were not well
+and&mdash;perhaps somewhat tired&mdash;a little discouraged&mdash;that sort of thing.
+As I say, it was mere rumor."</p>
+
+<p>Sears smiled now&mdash;that is, his lips smiled, his eyes were grave enough.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he observed, deliberately, "if you have a chance, Mr. Phillips,
+you can tell those mere rumorers that I'm not tired at all. My health is
+better than it has been for months. So far from bein' discouraged, you
+can tell 'em that&mdash;well, you know what Commodore Paul Jones told the
+British cap'n who asked him to surrender; he told him that he had just
+begun to fight. That's the way it is with me, Mr. Phillips, I've just
+begun to fight."</p>
+
+<p>The cane was lifted from the flower bed. Egbert nodded in polite
+appreciation.</p>
+
+<p>"Really?" he said. "How interesting, Captain!"</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick nodded, also. "Yes, isn't it?" he agreed. "Were you goin' into
+the Harbor, Phillips? So am I. We'll walk along together."</p>
+
+<p>But that night he went to his bed in better spirits. Egbert's little dig
+had been the very thing he needed, and now he knew it. He had been
+discouraged; in spite of his declaration in his letter to Elizabeth
+Berry, he had wished that it were possible to run away from the Fair
+Harbor and everything connected with it. But now&mdash;now he had no wish of
+that kind. If Judge Knowles could rise from the grave and bid him quit
+he would not do it.</p>
+
+<p>Quit? Not much! Like Paul Jones, he had just begun to fight.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_285" id="pg_285">285</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_XV_11289" id="CHAPTER_XV_11289"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER XV</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>But there was so little that was tangible to fight, that was the
+trouble. If Mr. Egbert Phillips was the villain of the piece he was such
+a light and airy villain that it was hard to take him seriously enough.
+Even when Kendrick was most thoroughly angry with him and most
+completely convinced that he was responsible for all his own troubles,
+including the loss of Elizabeth Berry's friendship&mdash;even then he found
+it hard to sit down and deliberately plan a campaign against him. It
+seemed like campaigning against a butterfly. The captain disliked him
+extremely, but he never felt a desire to knock him down. To kick
+him&mdash;yes. Perhaps to thump the beaver hat over his eyes and help him
+down the brick path of the Harbor with the judicious application of a
+boot, grinning broadly during the process&mdash;that was Sears Kendrick's
+idea of a fitting treatment for King Egbert the Great.</p>
+
+<p>The captain had done his share of fighting during an adventurous
+lifetime, but his opponents had always been men. Somehow Phillips did
+not seem to him like a man. A creature so very ornamental, with so much
+flourish, so superlatively elegant, so overwhelmingly correct, so
+altogether and all the time the teacher of singing school or dancing
+school&mdash;how could one seriously set about fighting such a bundle of
+fluff? A feather-duster seemed a more fitting weapon than a shotgun.</p>
+
+<p>But the fluff was flying high and in the sunshine and was already far
+out of reach of the duster. Soon it would be out of reach of the
+shotgun. Unless the fight was made serious and deadly at once there
+would be none at all. Unless having already lost about all that made
+life worth living,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_286" id="pg_286">286</a></span> Sears Kendrick wished to be driven from Bayport in
+inglorious rout, he had better campaign in earnest. Passive resistance
+must end.</p>
+
+<p>As a beginning he questioned Judah once more concerning Phillips'
+standing in the community. It was unchanged, so Judah said. He was quite
+as popular, still the brave and uncomplaining martyr, always the idol of
+the women and a large proportion of the men.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you hear about him down to the Orthodox church fair last week?"
+asked Mr. Cahoon. "You didn't! Creepin'! I thought everybody aboard had
+heard about that. Seems they'd sold about everything there was to sell,
+but of course there was a few things left, same as there always is, and
+amongst 'em was a patchwork comforter that old Mrs. Jarvis&mdash;Capn'
+Azariah Jarvis's second wife she was&mdash;you remember Cap'n Azariah, don't
+ye, Cap'n Sears? He was the one that used to swear so like fury. Didn't
+mean nothin' by it, just a habit 'twas, same as usin' tobacco or rum is
+with some folks. Didn't know when&mdash;&mdash; Eh? Oh, yes, about that comforter.
+Why, old Mrs. Jarvis she made it for the fair and it wan't sold. 'Twas
+one of them log-cabin quilts, you know. I don't know why they call 'em
+log cabins, they don't look no more like a log cabin than my head does.
+I cal'late they have to call 'em somethin' so's to tell 'em from the
+risin' sun quilts and the mornin'-glory quilts and&mdash;and the
+Lord-knows-what quilts. The womenfolks make mo-ore kinds of them quilts
+and comforters, seems so, than&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? Oh, yes, I'm beatin' up to Egbert, Cap'n Sears; I'll be alongside
+him in a minute, give me steerage way. Well, the log-cabin quilt wan't
+sold and they wanted to sell it, partly because old Mrs. Jarvis would
+feel bad if nobody bought it, and partly because the meetin'-house folks
+would feel worse if any money got away from 'em at a fair. So Mr. Dishup
+he says, 'We'll auction of it off,' he says, 'and our honored and
+beloved friend, Mr. Phillips, will maybe so be kind enough to act as
+auctioneer.' So Eg, he got up and apologized for bein' chose, and went
+on to say what
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_287" id="pg_287">287</a></span> a all-'round no-good auctioneer he'd be but how he
+couldn't say no to the folks of the church where his dear diseased wife
+had worshiped so long, and then he started in to sell that comforter.
+Did he <i>sell</i> it? Why, creepin', crawlin', hoppin' ... Cap'n Sears, he
+could have sold a shipload of them log-cabins if he'd had 'em handy. He
+held the thing up in front of 'em, so they tell me, and he just praised
+it up same as John B. Gough praises up cold water at a temp'rance
+lecture. He told how the old woman had worked over it, and set up nights
+over it, and got her nerves all into a titter and her finger ends all
+rags, as you might say, and how she had done it just to do somethin' for
+the meetin'-house she thought so much of, the church that her loved and
+lost husband used to come to so reg'lar. <i>That</i> was all fiddlesticks,
+'cause Cap'n Az never went to church except for the six weeks after he
+was married, and pretty scattern' 'long the last three of <i>them</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, he hadn't talked that way very long afore he had that whole
+vestry as damp as a fishin' schooner's deck in a Banks fog. All
+hands&mdash;even the men that had been spendin' money for the fair things,
+tidies and aprons and splint work picture-frames and such, even they was
+cryin'. And then old Mrs. Jarvis&mdash;and she was cryin', too&mdash;she went and
+whispered to the minister and he whispered to Phillips and Phillips, he
+says: 'Ladies and gentlemen,' he says, 'I have just learned that a part
+of this quilt was made from a suit of clothes worn by Cap'n Jarvis on
+his last v'yage,' he says. '<i>Just</i> think of it,' says he, 'this blue
+strip here is a part of the coat worn by him as he trod the deck of his
+ship homeward bound&mdash;bound home to his wife, bound home to die.'</p>
+
+<p>"Well, all hands cried more'n ever at that, and Mrs. Jarvis got up, with
+the tears a-runnin', and says she: 'It wan't his coat,' she says. 'I
+sold the coat and vest to a peddler. 'Twas his&mdash;&mdash;' But Egbert cut in
+afore she could tell what 'twas, and then he got 'em to biddin'.
+Creepin' Henry, Cap'n Sears! that log-cabin quilt sold for nine dollars
+and a half, and the man that bought it was Philander Comstock,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_288" id="pg_288">288</a></span> the
+tailor over to Denboro. And Philander told me himself that he didn't
+know why he bought it. '<i>I</i> made that suit of clothes for Cap'n Azariah,
+myself,' he says, 'and he died afore I got half my pay for it. But that
+Phillips man,' he says, 'could sell a spyglass to a blind man.'"</p>
+
+<p>The captain asked Judah if he had heard any testimony on the other side;
+were there any people in Bayport who did not like Mr. Phillips. Judah
+thought it over.</p>
+
+<p>"We-ll," he said, reflectively, "I don't know as I've ever heard anybody
+come right out and call him names. Anybody but Esther Tidditt, that is;
+she's down on him like a sheet anchor on a crab. Sometimes Elviry snaps
+out somethin' spiteful, but most of that's jealousy, I cal'late. You
+see, Elviry had her cap all set for this Egbert widower&mdash;that is, all
+hands seems to cal'late she had&mdash;and then she began to find her nose was
+bein' put out of j'int. You know who they're sayin' put it out, Cap'n
+Sears? There seems to be a general notion around town that&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick interrupted; this was a matter he did not care to discuss with
+Judah or any one else. There had been quite enough said on that subject.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes, all right, Judah," he said, hastily. "But the men? Do the men
+like him as well as the women?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, yes, I guess so. Not quite so well, of course. That wouldn't
+be natural, would it, Cap'n Sears?"</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps not. But have you ever heard any man say anything against him,
+anything definite? Does he pay his bills?"</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? Why, I don't know. I ain't never&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"All right. Who does he chum around with mostly? Who are his best
+friends?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cahoon gave a list of them, beginning of course with the Wingates
+and the Dishups and the members of the Shakespeare Reading Society and
+ending with George Kent.</p>
+
+<p>"He cruises along with George a whole lot," declared Judah. "Them two
+are together about half the time. George don't work to the store no
+more. You knew that, didn't you?"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_289" id="pg_289">289</a></span></p>
+
+<p>If Sears had heard it, he had forgotten. Judah went on to explain.</p>
+
+<p>"He hove up his job at Eliphalet's quite a spell ago," he said "He's
+studyin' law along with Bradley same as ever, but 'he's busy lawin' here
+in Bayport, too. Some of his relations died and left a lot of money, so
+folks tell, and George is what they call administer of the estate. It's
+an awful good thing for him, all hands cal'late. Some say he's rich."</p>
+
+<p>The captain vaguely remembered Kent's disclosure to him concerning his
+appointment as administrator of his aunt's estate. He had not exchanged
+a word with the young man since the evening of the latter's call and
+Elizabeth's interruption. It seemed a long while ago. Much&mdash;and so much
+that was unpleasant&mdash;had happened since then. Kent and he had met, of
+course, and on the first two or three occasions, Kendrick had spoken.
+The young fellow had not replied. Now, at the mention of his name,
+Kendrick felt an uneasy pang, almost of guilt. He had done nothing
+wrong, of course yet if it had not been for him perhaps the two young
+people might still have been friends or even more than friends. It was
+true that Elizabeth had told him but there, what difference did it make
+what she told him? She had told him other things since, things that he
+could not forget.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, all right, Judah," he said. "It wasn't important. Run along."</p>
+
+<p>Judah did not run along. He remained, looking at his lodger with a
+troubled expression. The latter noticed it.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it, Judah?" he asked. "Anything wrong?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cahoon's fingers moved uneasily through the heavy foliage upon his
+chin. "Why&mdash;why, Cap'n Sears," he stammered, "can I ask you somethin'?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certain. Fire away."</p>
+
+<p>"Well&mdash;well&mdash;it&mdash;it ain't true, is it, that you done anything to set
+Elizabeth Berry against that young Kent feller? You never told her
+nothin'&mdash;or did nothin'&mdash;or&mdash;or&mdash;&mdash;"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_290" id="pg_290">290</a></span></p>
+
+<p>He seemed to find it hard to finish his sentence. The captain did not
+wait, but asked a question of his own.</p>
+
+<p>"Who said I did, Judah?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Hey?... Oh, I&mdash;I don't know. Why&mdash;why, some of them sculpin'-mouths
+down to the store they say that you&mdash;that you told Elizabeth a lot of
+things&mdash;or did somethin' or 'nother to spite George with her. Of course
+<i>I</i> knew 'twan't so, but&mdash;but&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"But they said it was, eh? Well, it isn't true. I haven't done anything
+of that kind, Judah."</p>
+
+<p>The Cahoon fist descended upon the kitchen table with a thump. "I knew
+it!" roared Judah. "I knew dum well 'twas a cargo of lies. Now just
+wait. Let one of them swabs just open his main hatch and start to unload
+another passel of that cargo. If I don't&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Shh, shh! Don't do that. I tell you what to do. If you want to help me,
+Judah, you say nothin', but try and find out who told them these things.
+Some one has been pretty busy tellin' things to my discredit for some
+time. Don't let any one know what you're after, but see if you can find
+out who is responsible. Will you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sartin sure I will. And when I do find out&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"When you do, let me know. And Judah, one thing more: Find out all that
+you can find out about this Phillips man. See if he owes anybody money.
+See if he pays his debts. See if he&mdash;well, find out all you can about
+him; but don't let any one know you're tryin' to find out, that's all.
+Do you understand?"</p>
+
+<p>"Eh?... Why, I guess likely I do.... But&mdash;but.... Eh? Cap'n Sears, do
+you mean to say you cal'late that that Eg Phillips is at the back of all
+this talk against you in Bayport? Do you mean that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Humph! So there is talk against me; a lot of it, I suppose?"</p>
+
+<p>Judah forgot to be discreet. "Talk!" he shouted. "There's more
+underhand, sneakin' lies about you goin' around this flat-bottomed,
+leaky, gurry-and-bilgewater tub of a town than there is fiddlers in
+Tophet. I've denied 'em
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_291" id="pg_291">291</a></span> and contradicted 'em till I'm hoarse from
+hollerin'. I've offered to fight anybody who dast to say they was true,
+but, by the hoppin' Henry, nobody ever said any more than that they'd
+heard they was. And I never could find out who started 'em. And do you
+mean to say you believe that long-legged critter with the beaver hat and
+the&mdash;the mustache like a drowned cat's tail is responsible?"</p>
+
+<p>Captain Kendrick hesitated for an instant. Then he nodded. "I think he
+is, Judah," he said, solemnly.</p>
+
+<p>"Then, by the creepin', crawlin'&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Wait! I don't know that he is. I don't know much about him. But I mean
+to find out all about him, if I can. And I want you to help me."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll help. And when you find out, Cap'n?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that depends. If I find out anything that will give me the
+chance, I'll&mdash;I'll smash him as flat as that."</p>
+
+<p><i>He</i> struck the table now, with his open palm. Mr. Cahoon grinned
+delightedly.</p>
+
+<p>"I bet you will, Cap'n Sears!" he vowed. "And if he ain't flat enough
+then I'll come and jump on him. And I ain't no West Injy hummin'-bird
+neither."</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick's next move was to talk with his sister. Her visits at the
+Minot place had not been quite as frequent of late. She came, of course,
+but not as often, or so it seemed to the captain, and when she came she
+carefully avoided all reference to her new boarder. Sears knew the
+reason, or thought he did. He had hurt her feelings by intimating that
+Mr. Phillips might not be as altogether speckless as she thought him. He
+had not enthused over her giving up the best parlor to his Egbertship
+and Sarah was disappointed. But, loyal and loving soul that she was, she
+would not risk even the slightest disagreement with her brother, and so
+when she called, spoke of everything or everybody but the possible cause
+of such disagreement. Yet the cause was there and between brother and
+sister, as between Elizabeth and Sears, lay the slim, lengthy,
+gracefully undulating shadow of Judge Knowles' pet bugbear, who was
+rapidly becoming Sears Kendrick's bugbear as well.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_292" id="pg_292">292</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The captain had not visited the Macomber home more than twice since
+Judah carted him away from it in the blue truck-wagon. One fine day,
+however, he and the Foam Flake made the journey again, although with the
+buggy, not the wagon. He chose a time when he knew Kent was almost
+certain to be over at Bradley's office in Orham and when Phillips was
+not likely to be in his rooms. Of course there was a chance that he
+might encounter the latter, but he thought it unlikely. His guess was a
+good one and Egbert was out, had gone for a ride, so Mrs. Macomber said.
+Mrs. Cap'n Elkanah Wingate had furnished the necessary wherewithal for
+riding. "The Wingates let him use their horse and team real often," said
+Sarah. "They're awful fond of him, Mrs. Wingate especial. I don't know
+as Cap'n Elkanah is so much; he is kind of cross-grained sometimes and
+it's hard for him to like anybody very long."</p>
+
+<p>She was hard at work, ironing this time, but she would have put the
+flatiron back on the stove and taken her brother to the sitting room if
+he had permitted. "The idea of a man like you, Sears, havin' to sit on
+an old broken-down chair out here in the wash-shed," she exclaimed. "It
+ain't fittin'."</p>
+
+<p>The captain sniffed. "I guess if it's fittin' for you to be workin' out
+here I shouldn't complain at sittin' here," he observed. "Is that Joel's
+shirt? He's gettin' awfully high-toned&mdash;and high collared, seems to me."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Macomber was slightly confused. "Why, no," she said, "this isn't
+Joe's shirt. It's Mr. Phillips's. Ain't it lovely linen? I don't know as
+I ever saw any finer."</p>
+
+<p>Her brother leaned back in the broken chair. "Do you do his washin' for
+him, Sarah?" he demanded.</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, yes, Sears. You see, he's real particular about how it's
+done, and of course you can't blame him, he has such lovely things. He
+tried two of the regular washwomen, Elsie Doyle and Peleg Carpenter's
+wife, and they did 'em up just dreadful. So, just to help him out one
+time, I tried 'em myself. And they came out real nice, if I do say it,
+and he was so pleased. So ever since then I
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_293" id="pg_293">293</a></span> have been doin' 'em for
+him. It's hardly any trouble&mdash;any extra trouble. I have to do our own
+washin', you know."</p>
+
+<p>Sears did know, also he knew the size of that washing.</p>
+
+<p>"Does he pay you for it?" he asked, sharply. "Pay you enough, I mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, yes. Of course he doesn't pay a whole lot. Not as much maybe
+as if he was a stranger, somebody who didn't pay me regular board, you
+know."</p>
+
+<p>"Humph! Do you get your money?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, yes. Of course I do."</p>
+
+<p>"He doesn't owe you anything, then, for board or lodgin' or anything?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Macomber hesitated. "Nothin' much," she replied, after a moment.
+"Of course he gets a little behind sometimes, everybody does that, you
+know. But then his dividend payments or somethin' come to him and he
+pays right up in a lump. It's kind of nice havin' it come that way,
+seems more, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. So long as it keeps on comin'. His dividends, you say? I thought
+the story was that he hadn't any stocks left to get dividends from. I
+thought he told all hands that he was poverty-stricken, that when he was
+cut out of the Harbor property and the fifty thousand he hadn't a
+copper."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh no not as bad as that. He had some stocks and bonds, of course. Why,
+if he hadn't where would he get <i>any</i> money from? How could he live?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know. He seems to be livin', though, and pretty well. Has he
+got the parlor yet?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and it's fixed up so pretty. He's got his pictures and things
+around. Wouldn't you like to see it? He's out, you know."</p>
+
+<p>They went into the parlor and the bedroom adjoining, that which the
+captain had occupied during his stay. Both rooms were as neat as
+wax&mdash;Sears expected that, knowing his sister's housekeeping&mdash;but he had
+scarcely expected to find the rooms so changed. The furniture was the
+same, but the wall decorations were not.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_294" id="pg_294">294</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"What's become of the alum basket and the wax wreath and the Rock of
+Ages chromo?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, he took 'em down. That is, he didn't do it himself, of course, but
+he had Joel do it. They're up attic. Mr. Phillips said they was so like
+the things that his wife used to have in the dear old home that he
+couldn't bear to see 'em. They reminded him so of her. He asked if we
+would mind if they was removed and we said no, of course."</p>
+
+<p>"Humph! And the Macomber family coffin plates, those you had set out on
+black velvet with all Joel's dead relations names on 'em, in the plush
+and gilt frame? Are those up attic, too?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"I should have thought 'twould have broken Joel's heart to part with
+<i>them</i>!"</p>
+
+<p>"Sears, you're makin' fun. I don't blame you much. I always did hate
+those coffin plates, but Joel seemed to like 'em. They were in his
+folks' front parlor, he says."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. That 'Death of Washin'ton' picture and the rounder-case thing with
+the locks of hair in it were there, too, you told me once. That must
+have been a lively room. Those&mdash;er&mdash;horse pictures are Egbert's, I
+suppose?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. He is real fond of horses."</p>
+
+<p>The "horse pictures" were colored plates of racers.</p>
+
+<p>"That's a portrait of his wife over there," explained Sarah. "She had it
+painted in Italy on purpose for him."</p>
+
+<p>"Is that so? Well, I'm glad it was for him. I shouldn't think it was
+hardly fittin' for anybody outside the family. Of course Italy's a warm
+climate, but&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Sears!</i>" Mrs. Macomber blushed. "Of course I didn't mean <i>that</i>
+picture," she protested. "And you know I didn't. I wouldn't have that
+one up at all if I had <i>my</i> way. But he says it's an old master and very
+famous and all like that. Maybe so, but I'm thankful the children ain't
+allowed in here. That's Lobelia over there."</p>
+
+<p>In the bedroom were other pictures, photographs for the most part. Many
+of them were autographed.</p>
+
+<p>"They're girl friends of his wife's," said Sarah. "She
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_295" id="pg_295">295</a></span> met 'em over
+abroad. Real pretty, some of them, ain't they?"</p>
+
+<p>They were, and the inscriptions were delightfully informal and friendly.
+Lobelia Phillips' name was not inscribed, but her husband's was
+occasionally. Upon the table, by a half-emptied cigar box, lay a Boston
+paper of the day before. It was folded with the page of stock market
+quotations uppermost. Sears picked it up. One item was underscored with
+a pencil. It was the record of the day's sales of "C. M.," a stock with
+which the captain was quite unfamiliar. His unfamiliarity was not
+surprising; he had little acquaintance with the stock market.</p>
+
+<p>Back in the wash-shed, brother and sister chatted while the ironing
+continued. Sears led the conversation around until it touched upon
+George Kent. George was still boarding with them, so Sarah said. Yes, he
+had given up his place as bookkeeper at Bassett's store.</p>
+
+<p>"He's administrator of his aunt's estate," she went on. "You knew that,
+Sears? It's a pretty responsible position for such a young man, I guess.
+I'm afraid it's a good deal of worry for him. He's seemed to me kind of
+troubled lately. I thought at first it might be on account of Elizabeth
+Berry&mdash;everybody knows they've had some quarrel or somethin'&mdash;but I'm
+beginnin' to be afraid it may be somethin' else. He and Mr. Phillips are
+together about all the time. They're great friends, and I'm so glad,
+because if George <i>should</i> be in any trouble&mdash;about business or
+anything&mdash;a man of Mr. Phillips' experience would be a wonderful friend
+to have."</p>
+
+<p>"What makes you think it may be a business trouble?" asked the captain,
+casually.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Macomber hesitated. "Why," she said, "I heard somethin' yesterday
+that made me think so. It wasn't meant for me to hear, but I just
+happened to. I don't know as I'd ought to say anything about it&mdash;I
+shouldn't to anybody but you, Sears&mdash;yet it has worried me a good deal.
+Mr. Phillips and George were standin' together in the hall as I went by.
+They didn't see me, and I heard George say,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_296" id="pg_296">296</a></span> 'Somethin' <i>must</i> be done
+about it,' he says. 'It can't go on for another week.' And Mr. Phillips
+said, kind and comfortin'&mdash;nice as he always is, but still it did seem
+to me a little mite impatient&mdash;'I tell you it is all right,' he said.
+'Wait a while and it will be all right.' Then George said somethin' that
+I didn't catch, and Mr. Phillips said, 'But I can't, I tell you. I'm in
+exactly the same boat.' And George said, 'You've <i>got</i> to! you've got
+to! If you don't it'll be the end of me.' That was what he said&mdash;'It
+will be the end of me.' And oh, Sears, he did sound <i>so</i> distressed. It
+has troubled me ever since. What do you suppose it could be that would
+be the end of him?"</p>
+
+<p>Her brother shook his head. "Give it up," he said. "Humph!... And Egbert
+said he was in the same boat, did he? That's interestin'. It must be a
+pretty swell liner; he wouldn't be aboard anything else."</p>
+
+<p>But Mrs. Macomber declined to joke. "You wouldn't laugh," she declared,
+"if you had heard George talk. He's just a boy, Sears, a real
+kind-hearted, well-meanin' boy, and I hate to think of him as in any
+more trouble."</p>
+
+<p>"Any more? What do you mean by more?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why&mdash;oh, well, everybody knows he and Elizabeth ain't keepin'
+company any longer. And&mdash;and&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"And everybody thinks I am to blame. Well, I'm not, Sarah. Not
+intentionally, anyhow. And, if George would let me, I should be glad to
+be a friend of his. Not as grand and top-lofty a friend as Admiral
+Egbert, of course, but as good as my rank and ratin' in life will let me
+be."</p>
+
+<p>"Sears," reproachfully, "I hate to hear you speak in that sarcastic way.
+And I can't see why you mistrust Mr. Phillips so."</p>
+
+<p>"Can't you? Well, I don't know as I can, myself; but if I live long
+enough I may find a reason.... As for Kent&mdash;well, I tell you, Sarah: You
+keep an eye on the boy. If he still seems worried, or more worried, and
+you think it advisable, you might give him a message from me. You remind
+him that one time he told me if he ever got into real trouble he should
+come to me for help. You can say&mdash;if
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_297" id="pg_297">297</a></span> you think it advisable&mdash;that I am
+just as willin' to give that help now as ever I was."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Sears, do you mean it? Why, I thought&mdash;I was afraid that you and
+he&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"That's all right. I am the young fellow's friend&mdash;if he wants me to be.
+And, although I'm a thousand sea miles from guaranteein' to be able to
+help him, I'm willin' to try my hardest.... But there! the chances are
+he won't listen if you do tell him, so use your own judgment in the
+matter. But, Sarah, will you do me a favor?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sears! How can you! As if I wouldn't do anything for you!"</p>
+
+<p>"I know you would. And this isn't so very much, either. I'm kind of
+interested in this Phillips man's dividends and things. I'd like to know
+how he makes his money. I noticed that that newspaper in his room was
+folded with the stock price page on top. Is he interested in stock and
+such things?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, yes, he is. I've heard him and George talkin' about what they call
+the 'market.' That means stocks, doesn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Um-hm, usually. Well, Sarah, if he happens to mention any particular
+stock he owns, or anything like that, try and remember and let me know,
+will you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, of course, if you want me to. But why, Sears? There's nothing
+wrong in a man like Mr. Phillips bein' interested in such things, is
+there? I should think it would be&mdash;well, sort of natural for a person
+who has been rich as he used to be to keep up his interest."</p>
+
+<p>"I presume likely it is."</p>
+
+<p>"Then why do you want to know about it?"</p>
+
+<p>The captain picked up his hat. "Oh, for no particular reason, maybe,
+Sarah," he replied. "Perhaps <i>I</i> shall be rich sometime&mdash;if I live to be
+a hundred and eighty and save a dollar a day as I go along&mdash;and then I
+shall want to know how to invest my money. Let me know if you hear
+anything worth while, won't you, Sarah?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Sears. And if I get a chance I am goin' to tell
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_298" id="pg_298">298</a></span> George what you
+said about bein' his friend and willin' to help him. Good-by, Sears. I'm
+<i>so</i> glad you came down. Come again soon, won't you? You're the only
+brother I've got, you know."</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick drove the Foam Flake back to the Minot place, reflecting during
+the journey upon what he had seen and heard while visiting his sister.
+It amounted to very little in the way of tangible evidence against
+Egbert Phillips. Sporting prints and dashing photographs were
+interesting perhaps, and in a way they illuminated the past; but they
+did not illumine the present, they shed no light upon their owner's
+means of living, nor the extent of those means. Egbert occupied the best
+rooms at the Macomber's, but, apparently, he paid for his board and
+lodging&mdash;yes, and his washing. He might be interested in stocks, but
+there was nothing criminal in that, of itself. The Kendrick campaign
+was, so far, an utter failure.</p>
+
+<p>Another week dragged by with no developments worth while. Judah, much
+inflated with the importance of his commission as a member of the
+Kendrick secret service, made voluminous and wordy reports, but they
+amounted to nothing. Mr. Phillips had borrowed five dollars of Caleb
+Snow. Had he paid the debt? Oh, yes, he had paid it. He smoked
+"consider'ble many" cigars, "real good cigars, too; cost over ten cents
+a piece by the box," so he told Thoph Black. But, so far as Black or
+Judah knew, he had paid for them. He owed a fair-sized bill at the
+livery-stable, but the stable owner "wan't worried none." There was
+little of interest here. No criminal record, rather the contrary.</p>
+
+<p>Esther Tidditt dropped in from time to time, loaded, as Judah said, "to
+the guards" with Fair Harbor gossip. Captain Sears did not encourage her
+visits. Aside from learning what he could concerning the doings of
+Egbert Phillips, he was little interested in petty squabbles and
+whispers among the "mariners' women." Except by Esther he was almost
+entirely ignored by the inmates. Elizabeth he saw daily for a short
+time, but for her sake he made those times as brief
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_299" id="pg_299">299</a></span> as he could. Her
+mother he saw occasionally; she spoke to him only when necessary.
+Elvira, Mrs. Brackett, Desire Peasly and the rest gave him the snippiest
+of bows when they met and whispered and giggled behind his back.</p>
+
+<p>It had seemed to him that Elizabeth looked more careworn of late. He did
+not mention it to her, of course, but it troubled him. He speculated
+concerning the cause and was inclined, entirely without good reason, to
+suspect Egbert, just as he was inclined to suspect him of being the
+cause of most unpleasantness. Something that Mrs. Tidditt said during
+one of her evening "dropping-ins" supplied a possible base for suspicion
+in this particular case.</p>
+
+<p>"Elizabeth and her mother has had some sort of a rumpus," declared
+Esther. "They ain't hardly on speakin' terms with one another these
+days. That is," she added, "Cordelia ain't. I guess likely Elizabeth
+would be as nice as she always is if her ma would give her the chance.
+Cordelia goes around all divided up between tears and joy, as you might
+say. When she's nigh her daughter she looks as if she was just about
+ready to cry&mdash;lee scuppers all awash, as my husband used to say when I
+was in the same condition; which wan't often, for cryin' ain't much in
+my line. Yes, when Elizabeth's lookin' at her she's right on the ragged
+edge of tears. But you let that dratted Eg heave in sight with all sail
+sot and signals flyin' and she's all smiles in a minute. Oh, what a fool
+a fool woman can be when she sets out to be!... Hey? What did you say,
+Cap'n Kendrick?"</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't say anything, Esther."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, didn't you? I thought you did. There's one ray of comfort over
+acrost, anyhow. Elizabeth ain't in love with old Eggie, even if her
+mother is. She and he have had a run-in or I miss my guess."</p>
+
+<p>The captain was interested now. "What makes you think that?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, from things I've seen. He's all soft soap and sweet ile to her same
+as he always was&mdash;little more so, if anything&mdash;but she is cold as the
+bottom of a well to him. No, they've
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_300" id="pg_300">300</a></span> had a row and of course the
+reason's plain enough. That night over here when she called me a spy and
+a lot more names I told her a few things for her own good. I told her
+she had better think over what I said about that Eg's schemin' to get
+her mother and the five thousand dollars. I told her to think that over
+and think Eg over, too. She was terribly high and mighty then, but I bet
+you she's done some thinkin' since. Yes, and come to the conclusion
+that, spy or no spy, I was tellin' the plain truth.... Hey, Cap'n
+Kendrick?"</p>
+
+<p>"Eh?... Oh, yes, yes; I shouldn't wonder, Esther."</p>
+
+<p>"I shouldn't wonder, neither. But it won't have no effect on Cordelia.
+She'd put her best Sunday bonnet on the ground and let that Eg dance the
+grand fandango on it if he asked her to. Poor, soft-headed critter."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes.... Humph! Any other news? How is Elvira?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, she's full of spite and jealousy as a yeast jug is full of pop. She
+pretends that the idea of anything serious between Cordelia and Phillips
+is just silliness. Might as well talk about King Solomon in all his
+glory marryin' the woman that done his washin'&mdash;that's what she pretends
+to believe. It's all Cordelia and not Eg at all, that's what she says.
+But she knows better, just the same. She's got somethin' else to think
+about now. That aunt of hers over to Ostable, the one that owns them
+iron images she wanted the Harbor to buy&mdash;she's sick, the aunt is.
+Elviry's pretty worried about her; she's the old woman's only relation."</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick had heard nothing further from his sister in the matter of
+young Kent and his trouble, whatever the latter might be. Sears had
+pondered a good deal concerning it and tried to guess in what possible
+way the boy could be "in the same boat" with Egbert. There was little
+use in guessing, however, and he had given up trying. And another week
+passed, another fruitless, dreary, hopeless week.</p>
+
+<p>Judah's lodge night came around again and Mr. Cahoon, after asking his
+skipper's permission, departed for the meeting,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_301" id="pg_301">301</a></span> leaving Sears Kendrick
+alone. It was a beastly November evening, cold and with a heavy rain
+beating against the windows of the Minot kitchen, and a wind which
+shrieked and howled about the corners and gables of the old house,
+rattled every loose shingle, and set the dry bones of the wisteria vine
+scratching and thumping against the walls. The water was thrown in
+bucketfuls against the ancient panes and poured from the sashes as if
+the latter were miniature dams in flood time.</p>
+
+<p>Sears sat by the kitchen stove, smoking and trying to read. He could
+make a success of the smoking, but the attempt at reading was a failure.
+It was so much easier to think, so much easier to let his thoughts dwell
+upon his own dismal, wretched, discouraging story than to follow the
+fortunes of Thaddeus of Warsaw through the long succession of printed
+pages. And he had read Thaddeus's story before. He knew exactly how it
+would end. But how would his own story end? He might speculate much, but
+nowhere in all his speculations was there a sign of a happy ending.</p>
+
+<p>His pipe went out, he tossed the book upon the table among the supper
+dishes&mdash;Judah had been in too great a hurry to clear away&mdash;and leaned
+back in his chair. Then he rose and walked&mdash;he could walk pretty well
+now, the limp was but slight&mdash;to the window and, lifting the shade,
+peered out.</p>
+
+<p>He could see nothing, or almost nothing. The illumined windows made
+yellow pools of light upon the wet bricks below them, and across the
+darkness above were shining ribbons of rain. Against the black sky
+shapes of deeper blackness were moving rapidly, the bare thrashing
+branches of the locust tree. It was a beastly night, so he thought as he
+looked out at it; a beastly night in a wretched world.</p>
+
+<p>Then above the noises of screeching wind and splashing water he heard
+other sounds, sounds growing louder, approaching footsteps. Some one was
+coming up the walk from the road.</p>
+
+<p>He thought of course that it was Judah returning. He could not imagine
+why he should return, but it was more
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_302" id="pg_302">302</a></span> impossible to imagine any one
+else being out and coming to the Minot place on such a night. A figure,
+bent to the storm, passed across the light from the window. Captain
+Kendrick dropped the shade and strode through the little entry to the
+back door. He threw it open.</p>
+
+<p>"Come in, Judah," he ordered. "Come in quick, before we both drown."</p>
+
+<p>But the man who came in was not Judah Cahoon. He was George Kent.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_303" id="pg_303">303</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_XVI_11955" id="CHAPTER_XVI_11955"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER XVI</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The young man plunged across the threshold, the skirts of his dripping
+overcoat flapping about his knees and the water pouring from the brim of
+his hat. He carried the ruin of what had been an umbrella in his hand.
+It had been blown inside out, and was now but a crumpled tangle of wet
+fabric and bent and bristling wire. He stumbled over the sill, halted,
+and turning, addressed the man who had opened the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Cap'n," he stammered, breathlessly, "I&mdash;I&mdash;I've come to see you. I&mdash;I
+know you must think&mdash;I don't know what you can think&mdash;but&mdash;but&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick interrupted. He was surprised, but he did not permit his
+astonishment to loosen his grip on realities.</p>
+
+<p>"Go in the other room," he ordered. "In the kitchen there by the fire.
+I'll be with you soon as I shut this door. Go on. Don't wait!"</p>
+
+<p>Kent did not seem to hear him.</p>
+
+<p>"Cap'n," he began, again, "I&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Do as I tell you. Go in there by the stove."</p>
+
+<p>He seized his visitor by the shoulder and pushed him out of the entry.
+Then he closed and fastened the outer door. This was a matter of main
+strength, for the gale was fighting mad. When the latch clicked and the
+hook dropped into the staple he, too, entered the kitchen. Kent had
+obeyed orders to the extent of going over to the stove, but he had not
+removed his hat or coat and seemed to be quite oblivious of them or the
+fire or anything except the words he was trying to utter.</p>
+
+<p>"Cap'n Kendrick," he began again, "I&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Sshh! Hush! Take off your things. Man alive, you're
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_304" id="pg_304">304</a></span> sheddin' water
+like a whistlin' buoy. Give me that coat. And that umbrella, what there
+is left of it. That's the ticket. Now sit down in that rocker and put
+your feet up on the hearth.... Whew! Are you wet through?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. No, I guess not. I&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Haven't got a chill, have you? Can't I get you somethin' hot to drink?
+Judah generally has a bottle of some sort of life-saver hid around in
+the locker somewhere. A hot toddy now?... Eh? Well, all right, all
+right. No, don't talk yet. Get warm first."</p>
+
+<p>Kent refused the hot toddy and would have persisted in talking at once
+if his host had permitted. The latter refused to listen, and so the
+young man sat silent in the rocking chair, his soaked trouser legs and
+boots steaming in the heat from the open door of the oven, while the
+captain bustled about, hanging the wet overcoat on a nail in the corner,
+tossing the wrecked umbrella behind the stove and pretending not to look
+at his caller.</p>
+
+<p>He did look, however, and what he saw was interesting certainly and
+might have been alarming had he been a person easily frightened or
+unduly apprehensive. Kent's wet cheeks had dried and they were flushed
+now from the warmth, but they were haggard, his eyes were underscored
+with dark semicircles, and his hands as he held them over the red-hot
+stove lids were trembling. He looked almost as if he were sick, but a
+sick man would scarcely be out of doors in such a storm. He had,
+apparently, forgotten his desire to talk, and was now silent, his gaze
+fixed upon the wall behind the stove.</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick quietly placed a chair beside him and sat down.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, George?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Kent started. "Oh!" he exclaimed. And then, "Oh, yes! Cap'n Kendrick,
+I&mdash;I know you must think my coming here is queer, after&mdash;after&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>He hesitated. The captain helped him on.</p>
+
+<p>"Not a bit, George," he said. "Not a bit. I'm mighty glad to see you. I
+told you to come any time, you remember. Well, you've come, haven't you?
+Now what is it?"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_305" id="pg_305">305</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Kent's gaze left the wall and turned toward his companion. "Cap'n
+Kendrick," he began, then stopped. "Cap'n Kendrick," he repeated,
+"I&mdash;Mrs. Macomber said&mdash;she told me you said that&mdash;that&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"All right, George, all right. I told her to remind you that one time
+you promised to come to me if you was in any&mdash;er&mdash;well, trouble, or if
+you had anything on your mind. I judge that's what you've come for,
+isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>Kent started violently. His feet slipped from the hearth and struck the
+floor with a thump.</p>
+
+<p>"How did you know I was in trouble?" he demanded. "Who told you? Did
+they tell you what&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"No, no, no. Nobody told me anything especial. Sarah did say you hadn't
+looked well lately and she was afraid you was worried about somethin'.
+That's all. I've been worried myself durin' my lifetime and I've
+generally found it helped a little to tell my worries to somebody else.
+At any rate it didn't do any harm. What's wrong, George? Nothin'
+serious, I hope."</p>
+
+<p>Kent breathed heavily. "Serious!" he repeated. "I&mdash;I...." Then in a
+sudden outburst: "Oh, my God, Cap'n Kendrick, I think they'll put me in
+jail."</p>
+
+<p>Sears looked at him. Then, leaning forward, he laid a hand on the boy's
+knee.</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense, George," he exclaimed, heartily. "Stuff and nonsense! They
+don't put fellows like you in jail. You're scared, that's all. Tell me
+about it."</p>
+
+<p>"But they will, they will. You don't know Ed Stedman. He doesn't like
+me. He always has had it in for me. He's prejudiced Clara against me and
+she hates me, too. They're pressing me for the money now. The last
+letter I had from them Stedman said he wouldn't wait another fortnight.
+And a week is gone already. He'll&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Hold on. Who's Stedman?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I thought you knew. He's my half-sister's husband up in
+Springfield. When my aunt died.... But I told you I was administrator of
+her estate. I remember I told you. That day when&mdash;&mdash;"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_306" id="pg_306">306</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes, I remember; that is, I remember a little. Tell me the whole
+of it. What's happened?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;yes, I want to. I'm going to. Oh, if you <i>can</i> help me I'll&mdash;I'll
+never forget it. I'll do anything for you, Cap'n Kendrick. I know I
+shouldn't have done it. I had no right to take the risk. But Mr.
+Phillips said&mdash;he said&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Eh?" Sears' interruption this time was quite unpremeditated.
+"Phillips?" he repeated, sharply. "Egbert, you mean? Oh, yes....
+Humph.... Is he mixed up in this?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, yes. If it hadn't been for him it wouldn't have happened. I
+don't mean that he is to blame, exactly. I guess nobody is to blame but
+myself. But when I think&mdash;&mdash; Oh, Cap'n Kendrick, do you suppose you can
+help me out of it? If you can, I&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Here followed another outburst of agonized entreaty. The boy's nerves
+were close to breaking, he was almost hysterical. Slowly and with the
+exercise of much patience and tact the captain drew from him the details
+of his trouble. It was, as he told it, a long and complicated story,
+but, boiled down, it amounted to something like this:</p>
+
+<p>Kent and Phillips had been very friendly for some time, their intimacy
+beginning even before the latter came to board at Sarah Macomber's.
+Egbert's polished manners, his stories of life abroad, his easy
+condescending geniality, had from the first made a great impression upon
+George. The latter, already esteeming himself above the average of
+mentality and enterprise in what he considered the "slow-poke" town of
+Bayport, found in the brilliant arrival from foreign parts the
+personification of his ideals, a satisfying specimen of that much read
+of <i>genus</i>, "the complete man of the world." He fell on his knees before
+that specimen and worshiped. Such idolatry could not but have some
+effect, even upon as <i>blas&eacute;</i> an idol as Mr. Phillips, so the latter at
+first tolerated and then even encouraged the acquaintanceship. He began
+to take this young follower more and more into his confidence,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_307" id="pg_307">307</a></span> to speak
+with him concerning matters more intimate and personal.</p>
+
+<p>George soon gathered that Egbert had been much in moneyed circles. He
+spoke casually of the "market" and referred to friends who had made and
+remade fortunes in stocks, as well as of others whose horses had brought
+them riches, or who had brought off what he called <i>coups</i> at foreign
+gaming tables. The young man, who had been brought up in a strict
+Puritanical household, was at first rather shocked at the thought of
+gambling or racing, but Mr. Phillips treated his prejudices in a
+condescendingly joking way, and Kent gradually grew ashamed of his
+"insularity" and <i>bourgeois</i> ideas. Egbert habitually read the stock
+quotations in the Boston <i>Advertiser</i> and the mails brought him brokers'
+circulars and letters. Kent was led to infer that he still took a small
+"flyer" occasionally. "Nothing of consequence, my boy, nothing to get
+excited about; haven't the wherewithal since our dear friend Knowles and
+his&mdash;ah&mdash;satellites took to drawing wills and that sort of thing. But if
+my friends in the Street send me a bit of judicious advice&mdash;as they do
+occasionally, for old times' sake&mdash;why, I try to cast a few crumbs upon
+the waters, trusting that they may be returned, in the shape of a small
+loaf, after not too many days. Ha, ha! Yes. And sometimes they do
+return&mdash;yes, sometimes they do. Otherwise how could I rejoice in the
+good, but sometimes tiresome, Mrs. Macomber's luxurious hospitality?"</p>
+
+<p>It seemed an easy way to turn one's crumbs into loaves. Kent, now the
+possessor of the little legacy left him by his aunt, wished that the
+eight hundred dollars, the amount of that legacy, might be raised to
+eight thousand. He was executor of the small estate, which was to be
+equally divided between his half-sister and himself. There had been a
+little land involved, that had been sold and the money, most of it, paid
+him. So he had in his possession about sixteen hundred dollars, half his
+and half Mrs. Stedman's. If he could do no better than double his own
+eight hundred it
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_308" id="pg_308">308</a></span> would not be so bad. He wished that <i>he</i> had friends
+in the Street.</p>
+
+<p>He hinted as much to Phillips. The latter was, as always, generously
+kind. "If I get the word of another good thing, my boy, I shall
+be glad to let you in. Mind, I shan't advise. I shall take no
+responsibility&mdash;one mustn't do that. I shall only pass on the good word
+and tell you what I intend doing myself." George, very grateful, felt
+that this was indeed true friendship.</p>
+
+<p>The chance at the good thing came along in due season. The New York
+brokerage firm wrote Phillips concerning it. It appeared that there was
+a certain railway stock named Central Midland Common. According to the
+gossip on the street, Central Midland&mdash;called C. M. for short&mdash;was just
+about due for a big rise. Certain eminent financiers and manipulators
+were quietly buying and the road was to be developed and exploited. Only
+a few, a select few, knew of this and so, obviously, now was the time to
+get aboard. Kent asked questions. Was Egbert going to get aboard? Egbert
+smilingly intimated that he was thinking of it. Would it be possible for
+him, Kent, to get aboard at the same time? Well, it might be; Egbert
+would think about that, too.</p>
+
+<p>He did think about it and, as a result of his thinking, he and Kent
+bought C. M. Common together. Of course to buy any amount worth while
+would be impossible because of the small amount of ready cash possessed
+by either. "But," said Phillips, "I seldom buy outright. The latest
+quotation of C. M. is at 40, or thereabouts. I intend buying about two
+hundred shares. That would be eight thousand dollars if I paid cash, but
+of course I can't do that. I shall buy on a ten per cent margin, putting
+up eight hundred. If it goes up twenty points I make two thousand
+dollars. If it goes up fifty points, as they say it will, why&mdash;&mdash;" And
+so on.</p>
+
+<p>It ended&mdash;or began&mdash;by Phillips and Kent buying, as partners, four
+hundred shares of C. M. on a ten per cent margin. George turned over to
+Egbert the eight hundred dollars in cash, and Egbert sent to the brokers
+six hundred of those
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_309" id="pg_309">309</a></span> dollars and a bond, which he had in his
+possession, for one thousand dollars. Yes, Kent, had seen the broker's
+receipt. Yes, the bond was a good one; at least the brokers were
+perfectly satisfied. Where did Egbert get the bond? Kent did not know.
+It was one he owned, that is all he knew about it.</p>
+
+<p>For a week or so after the purchase was made C. M. Common did continue
+to rise in price. At one time they had a joint profit of nearly two
+thousand dollars. Of course that seemed trifling compared with the
+thousands they expected, and so they waited. Then the market slumped. In
+two days their profit had gone and C. M. Common was selling several
+points below the figure at which they purchased. By the end of the
+fourth day, unless they wished to be wiped out altogether, additional
+margin&mdash;another ten per cent&mdash;must be deposited immediately.</p>
+
+<p>And to George Kent this seemed an impossibility because he had not
+another eight hundred, or anything like it, of his own.</p>
+
+<p>Why, oh, why, had he been such a fool? In his chagrin, disappointment
+and discouragement he asked himself that question a great many times.
+But when he asked it of his partner in the deal that partner laughed at
+him. According to Phillips he had not been a fool at all. The slump was
+only temporary; the stock was just as good as it had ever been; all this
+was but a part of the manipulation, the insiders were driving down the
+price in order to buy at lower figures. And letters from the brokers
+seemed to bear this out. Nevertheless the fact remained that more margin
+must be deposited and where was Kent's share of that margin coming from?</p>
+
+<p>The rest of the story was exactly like fifty thousand similar stories.
+In order to save the eight hundred dollars of his own George put up as
+margin with the New York brokers the eight hundred dollars belonging to
+Mrs. Stedman, his half sister. Again he paid the eight hundred to
+Phillips, who sent to New York another one thousand dollar bond and six
+hundred in cash. And C. M. Common
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_310" id="pg_310">310</a></span> continued to go down, went down until
+once more the partners were in imminent danger of being wiped out. Then
+it rose a point or so, and there the price remained. All at once every
+one seemed to lose interest in the stock; instead of thousands of shares
+bought and sold daily, the sales dropped to a few odd lots. And instead
+of the profits which were to have been theirs by this time, the firm of
+Phillips and Kent owned together a precarious interest in four hundred
+shares of Central Midland Common which if sold at present prices would
+return them only a minimum of their investment, practically nothing when
+brokerage commissions should be deducted.</p>
+
+<p>And then Edward Stedman, Kent's brother-in-law, demanded an immediate
+settlement of the estate. The land had been sold, the estate had been
+settled&mdash;he knew it&mdash;now he and his wife wanted their share.</p>
+
+<p>So that was the situation which was driving the young fellow to
+desperation. <i>What</i> could he do? He could not satisfy Stedman because he
+had not eight hundred dollars and he could not confess it, at least not
+without answering questions which he did not dare answer. As matters
+stood he was a thief; he had taken money which did not belong to him. He
+and Stedman had not been friendly for a long time. According to George
+his brother-in-law would put him in jail without the slightest
+compunction. And, even if he managed&mdash;which he was certain he could
+not&mdash;to avoid imprisonment, there was the disgrace and its effect upon
+his future. Why, if the affair became known, at the very least his
+career as a lawyer would be ruined. Who would trust him after this? He
+would have to go away; but where could he go? He had counted on his
+little legacy to help him get a start, to&mdash;to help him to all sorts of
+things. Now&mdash;&mdash; Oh, what <i>should</i> he do? Suicide seemed to be the sole
+solution. He had a good mind to kill himself. He should&mdash;yes, he was
+almost sure that he should do that very thing.</p>
+
+<p>It was pitiful and distressing enough, and Kendrick, although he did not
+take the threat of self-destruction very seriously&mdash;somehow he could
+scarcely fancy George Kent in
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_311" id="pg_311">311</a></span> the role of a suicide&mdash;was sincerely
+sorry for the boy. He did his best to comfort.</p>
+
+<p>"There, there, George," he said, "we won't talk about killin' ourselves
+yet awhile. Time enough to hop overboard when the last gun's fired, and
+we haven't begun to take aim yet. Brace up, George. You'll get through
+the breakers somehow."</p>
+
+<p>"But, Cap'n Kendrick, I can't&mdash;I can't. I've got only a week or so left,
+and I haven't got the money."</p>
+
+<p>"Sshh! Sshh! Because you haven't got it now doesn't mean you won't have
+it before the week's out&mdash;not necessarily it doesn't.... Humph! Let's
+take an observation now, and get our bearin's, if we can. You've talked
+this over with Egbert&mdash;with Phillips, of course. After all, he was the
+fellow that got you into it. What does he say?"</p>
+
+<p>It appeared that Mr. Phillips said little which was of immediate solace.
+He professed confidence unbounded. C. M. was a good stock, it was going
+higher, all they had to do was wait until it did.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," put in Sears, "that's good advice, maybe, but it's too much like
+tellin' a man who can't swim to keep up till the tide goes out and he'll
+be in shallow water. The trouble is neither that man nor you could keep
+afloat so long. Is that all he said? He understands your position,
+doesn't he, George?"</p>
+
+<p>Yes, Mr. Phillips understood, but he could do nothing to help. He had no
+money to lend&mdash;had practically nothing except the two one thousand
+dollar bonds, and those were deposited as collateral with the brokers.</p>
+
+<p>"Um&mdash;ye-es," drawled Kendrick. "Those bonds are interestin' of
+themselves. We'll come to those pretty soon. But hasn't he got <i>any</i>
+ready money? Seems as if he must have a little. Why, you paid him
+sixteen hundred in cash and, accordin' to your story, he sent only
+twelve hundred along with the bonds. He must have four hundred left, at
+least. That is, unless he's been heavin' overboard more 'crumbs' that
+you don't know about."</p>
+
+<p>Kent knew nothing of his partner's resources beyond what
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_312" id="pg_312">312</a></span> the latter had
+told him. And, at any rate, what good would four hundred be to him?
+Unless he could raise eight hundred within the week&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes, yes, I know. But four hundred is half of eight hundred and
+seems to me if I was in his shoes and had been responsible for gettin'
+you into a clove hitch like this I'd do what I could to get you out. And
+he couldn't&mdash;or wouldn't&mdash;do anything; eh?"</p>
+
+<p>"He can't, Cap'n Kendrick. He can't. Don't you see, he hasn't got it.
+He's poor, himself. Of course he came here to Bayport, after his wife's
+death, thinking that he owned the Fair Harbor property and&mdash;and a lot
+more. Why, he thought he was rich. <i>He</i> didn't know that old Knowles had
+used his influence with Mrs. Phillips when she was half sick and tricked
+her into&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Here, here!" The captain's tone was rather sharp this time. "Never mind
+that. Old Knowles, as you call him, was a friend of mine.... I thought
+he was your friend, too, George, for the matter of that."</p>
+
+<p>George was embarrassed. "Well, he was," he admitted. "I haven't got
+anything against him; in fact he was very good to me. But that is what
+Mr. Phillips says, you know, and everybody&mdash;or about everybody&mdash;seems to
+believe it. At least they are awfully sorry for Phillips."</p>
+
+<p>"So I judged. But about you, now. Do <i>you</i> believe in&mdash;er&mdash;Saint Egbert
+as much as you did?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, I don't know. I&mdash;&mdash; Of course it seems almost as if he ought
+to do something to help me, but if he can't he can't, I suppose."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose not. Look here, he won't tell anybody about your scrape, will
+he?"</p>
+
+<p>The junior partner in the firm of Phillips and Kent was indignant.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course not," he declared. "He told me he should not breathe a word.
+And he is really very much disturbed about it all. He told me himself
+that he felt almost guilty. Mr. Phillips is a gentleman."</p>
+
+<p>"Is that so? Must be nice to be that way. But tell me a
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_313" id="pg_313">313</a></span> little more
+about those bonds, George. There were two of 'em, you say, a thousand
+dollars each."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"And you don't know what sort of bonds they were?"</p>
+
+<p>His visitor's pride was touched. "Why, of course I know," he declared.
+"What sort of a business man would I be if I didn't know that, for
+heaven's sake?"</p>
+
+<p>Sears did not answer the question. For a moment it seemed that he was
+going to, but if so, he changed his mind. However, there was an odd look
+in his eye when he spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"Beg your pardon, George," he said. "I must have misunderstood you. What
+bonds were they?"</p>
+
+<p>"They were City of Boston bonds. Seems to me they were&mdash;er&mdash;er&mdash;well, I
+forget just what&mdash;er&mdash;issue, you know, but that's what they were, City
+of Boston bonds."</p>
+
+<p>"I see ... I see.... Humph! Seems kind of odd, doesn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"What?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, nothin'. Only Phillips, accordin' to his tell, is pretty close to
+poverty. Yet he hung on to those two bonds all this time."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, he had to hang on to something, didn't he? And he probably has a
+<i>little</i> more; if he hasn't what has he been living on?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, that's so&mdash;that's so. Still.... However, we won't worry about
+that. Now, George, sit still a minute and let me think."</p>
+
+<p>"But, Cap'n Kendrick, do you think there is a chance? I'm almost crazy.
+I&mdash;I&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Sshh! shh! I guess likely we'll get you off the rocks somehow. Let me
+think a minute or two."</p>
+
+<p>So Kent possessed his soul in such patience as it could muster, while
+the wind howled about the old house, the wistaria vine rattled and
+scraped, the shutters groaned and whined, and the rain dashed and poured
+and dripped outside. At length the captain sat up straight in his chair.</p>
+
+<p>"George," he said, briskly, "as I see it, first of all we want to find
+out just how this affair of yours stands. You write
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_314" id="pg_314">314</a></span> to those New York
+brokers and get from them a statement of your account&mdash;yours and
+Egbert's. Just what you've bought, how much margin has been put up, how
+much is left, about those bonds&mdash;kind, ratin', numbers and all that. Ask
+'em to send you that by return mail. Will you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, yes, I suppose so. But I have seen all that. Mr.
+Phillips&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"We aren't helpin' out Phillips now. He isn't askin' help, at least I
+gather he's satisfied to wait. You get this statement on your own hook,
+and don't tell him you're gettin' it. Will you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll write for it to-night."</p>
+
+<p>"Good! That'll get things started, anyhow. Now is there anything else
+you want to tell me?"</p>
+
+<p>"No&mdash;no, I guess not. But, Cap'n Kendrick, do you honestly think there
+is a chance for me?"</p>
+
+<p>For an instant his companion lost patience. "Don't ask that again," he
+ordered. "There is a chance&mdash;yes. How much of a chance we can't tell
+yet. You go home and stop worryin'. You've turned the wheel over to me,
+haven't you? Yes; well, then let me do the steerin' for a spell."</p>
+
+<p>Kent rose from his chair. He drew a long breath. He looked at the
+captain, who had risen also, and it was evident that there was still
+something on his mind. He fidgeted, hesitated, and then hurried forth a
+labored apology.</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I am awfully ashamed of myself, Cap'n Kendrick," he began.</p>
+
+<p>"That's all right, George. We all make mistakes&mdash;business mistakes
+especially. If I hadn't made one, and a bad one, I might not be stranded
+here in Judah's galley to-night."</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't mean business. I meant I was ashamed of treating you as I
+have. Ever since that time when&mdash;when Elizabeth was here and I came over
+and&mdash;and said all those fool things to you, I&mdash;I've been ashamed. I
+<i>was</i> a fool. I am a fool most of the time, I guess."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I guess not, George. We're all taken with the foolish disease once
+in a while."</p>
+
+<p>"But I was such a fool. The idea of my being jealous of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_315" id="pg_315">315</a></span> you&mdash;a man
+pretty nearly old enough to be my father. No, not so old as that, of
+course, but&mdash;older. I don't know what ailed me, but whatever it was,
+I've paid for it.... She&mdash;she has hardly spoken to me since."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sorry, George."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes.... Has she&mdash;has she said anything about me to you, Cap'n?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;er&mdash;no, George, not much. She and I are not&mdash;well, not very
+confidential, outside of business matters, that is."</p>
+
+<p>"No, I suppose not. Mr. Phillips told me she had&mdash;well, that she and you
+were not&mdash;not as&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, all right, all right, George; I understand. Outside of Fair Harbor
+managin' we don't talk of many things."</p>
+
+<p>"No, that's what he said. He seemed to think you two had had some sort
+of quarrel&mdash;or disagreement, you know. But I never took much stock in
+that. After all, why should you and she be interested in the same sort
+of things? She isn't much older than I am, about my age really, and of
+course you&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes," hastily. "All right.... Well, I guess your coat is middlin'
+dry, George. Here it is."</p>
+
+<p>"Thanks. But that wasn't all I meant to say. You see, Cap'n Kendrick, I
+did treat you so badly and yet all the time I've had such confidence in
+you. Ever since you gave me that advice the night of the theatricals
+I've&mdash;well, somehow I've felt as if a fellow could depend on you, you
+know&mdash;always, in spite of everything. Eh, why, by George, <i>she</i> said
+that very thing about you once, said it to me. She said you were so
+dependable. Say, that's queer, that she and I should both think the very
+same thing about you."</p>
+
+<p>"Um-m. Yes, isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. It shows, after all, how closely alike our minds, hers and mine,
+work. We"&mdash;he hesitated, reddened, and then continued, with a fresh
+outburst of confidence: "You see, Cap'n," he said, "I have felt all the
+time that this&mdash;this trouble between Elizabeth and me, wasn't going to
+last. I was to blame&mdash;at least, I guess I probably was, and I meant
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_316" id="pg_316">316</a></span> to
+go to her and tell her so. But I waited until&mdash;until I had pulled off
+this stock deal. I meant to go to her with two or three thousand dollars
+that I had made myself, you see, and&mdash;and ask her pardon and&mdash;well, then
+I hoped she would&mdash;would.... You understand, don't you, Cap'n Kendrick?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;er&mdash;yes, I guess likely, George, in a way."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. I wanted to show her that I <i>was</i> good for something, and
+then&mdash;and then, maybe it would be all right again. You see?"</p>
+
+<p>"Surely, George. Yes, yes.... Ready for your coat?"</p>
+
+<p>Kent ignored the coat. He did not seem to realize that his companion was
+holding it. "Yes," he stammered, eagerly. "I think if I went to her in
+that way it would be all right again. I was hasty and&mdash;and silly maybe,
+but perhaps I had some excuse. And, Cap'n Kendrick, I'm sure she
+does&mdash;er&mdash;like me, you know. I'm sure of it.... But now&mdash;" as reality
+came once more crashing through his dream, "I&mdash;I&mdash;&mdash; Oh, think of me
+now! I may be put in prison. And then.... Oh, but Cap'n Kendrick, that's
+why I came to you. I knew you'd stand by me, I knew you would. I treated
+you damnably, but&mdash;but you know, it was on account of her, really. I
+knew you'd understand that. You won't hold a grudge against me? You
+really will help me? If you don't&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick seized his arm. "Shut up, George," he commanded brusquely.
+"Shut up. I'll get you out of this, I promise it."</p>
+
+<p>"You will? You promise?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. That is, I'll see that you don't go to jail. If we can't get the
+eight hundred of your sister's from these brokers I'll get it
+somehow&mdash;even if I have to borrow it."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Great Scott, that's great! That's wonderful. I can hardly believe
+it. I'll make it up to you somehow, you know. You're the best man I ever
+knew. And&mdash;and&mdash;if she and I&mdash;that is, when she and I are&mdash;are as we
+used to be&mdash;well, then I shall tell her and she'll be as grateful as I
+am, I know she will."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_317" id="pg_317">317</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"All right, George, all right. Run along. The rain's easin' up a little,
+so now's your time. Don't forget to write to those brokers.... Good
+night."</p>
+
+<p>"Good night, Cap'n. I shall tell your sister how good you've been to me.
+She told me to come to you. Of course she doesn't know why I came,
+but&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"No, and she mustn't know. Don't you tell her or anybody else. Don't you
+do it."</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;why, I won't if you say so, of course. Good night."</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick closed the door. Then he came back to his seat before the
+stove. When Judah returned home he found that his lodger had gone to the
+spare stateroom, but he could hear his footsteps moving back and forth.</p>
+
+<p>"Ahoy, there, Cap'n Sears!" hailed Judah. "What you doin', up and pacin'
+decks this time of night? It's pretty nigh eight bells, didn't you know
+it?"</p>
+
+<p>The pacing ceased. "Why, no, is it?" replied the captain's voice. "Guess
+I'd better be turnin' in, hadn't I? How's the weather outside?"</p>
+
+<p>"Fairin' off fast. Rain stopped and it's clear as a bell over to the
+west'ard. Clear day and a fair wind to-morrer, I cal'late."</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick made no further comment and Judah prepared for bed, singing as
+he did so. He sang, not a chantey this time, but portions of a revival
+hymn which he had recently heard and which, because of its nautical
+nature, had stuck in his memory. The chorus commanded some one or other
+to</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Pull for the shore, sailor,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Pull for the shore.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Leave that poor old stranded wreck</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And pull for the shore."</span></p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cahoon sang the chorus over and over. Then he ventured to tackle one
+of the verses.</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Light in the darkness, sailor,</span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_318" id="pg_318">318</a></span>
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Day is at hand."</span></p>
+
+<p>"Judah!" This from the spare stateroom.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, aye, Cap'n Sears."</p>
+
+<p>"Better save the rest of that till the day gets here, hadn't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? Oh, all right, Cap'n. Just goin' to douse the glim this minute.
+Good night."</p>
+
+<p>Three days after this interview in the Minot kitchen George Kent again
+came to call. He came after dark, of course, and his visit was brief. He
+had received from the New York brokers a detailed statement of his and
+Phillips' joint account. The statement bore out what he had already told
+Sears. Four hundred shares of Central Midland Common had been purchased
+at 40. Against this the partners deposited sixteen hundred dollars.
+Later they had deposited another sixteen hundred. The New York firm were
+as confident as ever that the stock was perfectly good and the
+speculation a good one. They advised waiting and, if possible, buying
+more at the present low figure.</p>
+
+<p>All this was of little help. The only information of any possible value
+was that concerning the bonds which Egbert had contributed as his share
+of the margin. Those, according to the brokers, were two City of Boston
+4-1/2s, of one thousand dollars each, numbered A610,312 and A610,313.</p>
+
+<p>Kent would have stayed and talked for hours if Kendrick had permitted.
+He was as nervous as ever, even more so, because the days were passing
+and the time drawing near when his brother-in-law would demand
+settlement. The captain comforted him as well as he could, bade him
+write his sister or her husband that he would remit early in the
+following week, and sent him home again more hopeful, but still very
+anxious.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see how I'm going to get the money, Cap'n Kendrick," he kept
+repeating. "I don't see how all this helps us a bit. I don't see&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick interrupted at last.</p>
+
+<p>"You don't have to see," he declared. "You've left it to me, now let me
+see if <i>I</i> can see. I told you that, somehow or other, I'd tow you into
+deep water. Well, give me a
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_319" id="pg_319">319</a></span> chance to get up steam. You write that
+letter to your brother-in-law and hold him off till the middle of next
+week. That's all you've got to do. I'll do the rest."</p>
+
+<p>So Kent had to be satisfied with that. He departed, professing over and
+over again his deathless gratitude. "If you do this, Cap'n Kendrick," he
+proclaimed, "I never, never will forget it. And when I think how I
+treated you I can't see why you do it. I never heard of such&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Sshh! shhh!" The captain waved him to silence. "I don't know why I am
+doin' it exactly, George," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"I do. You're doing it for my sake, of course, and&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Sshh! I don't know as I am&mdash;not altogether. Maybe I'm doin' it to try
+and justify my own judgment of human nature&mdash;mine and Judge Knowles'. If
+that judgment isn't right then I'm no more use than a child in arms, and
+I need a guardian as much as&mdash;as&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"As I do, you mean, I suppose. Well, I do need one, I guess. But I don't
+understand what you mean by your judgment of human nature. Who have you
+been judging?"</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind. Now go home. Judah's out again and that's a mercy. I don't
+want him or any one else to know you come here to see me."</p>
+
+<p>George went, satisfied for the time, but Sears Kendrick, left face to
+face with his own thoughts, knew that he had told the young man but a
+part of the truth. It was not for Kent's sake alone that he had made the
+rash promise to get back eight hundred of the sixteen hundred, or
+another eight hundred to take its place. Neither was it entirely because
+he hoped to confirm his judgment in the case of Egbert Phillips. The
+real reason lay deeper than that. Kent had declared that he still loved
+Elizabeth Berry and that he had reason to think she returned that love.
+Perhaps she did; in spite of some things she had said after their
+quarrel, it was possible&mdash;yes, probable that she did. If, by saving her
+lover from disgrace, he might insure her future and her happiness,
+then&mdash;then&mdash;Sears would have made rasher promises still and have
+undertaken to carry them out.</p>
+
+<p>The brokers' letter helped but little, if any. He entered
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_320" id="pg_320">320</a></span> the names and
+numbers of the bonds in his memorandum book. Those bonds still perplexed
+him. He could not explain them, satisfactorily. It might be that Egbert
+had more left from his wife's estate than Judge Knowles expected him to
+have or that Bradley was inclined to think he had. Lobelia's will
+bequeathed to her beloved husband "all stocks, bonds, securities, etc.,"
+remaining. But Knowles had more than intimated that none remained. The
+pictures of the horses and the ladies in Egbert's room at Sarah
+Macomber's confirmed the captain's belief that the Phillips past had
+been a hectic one. It seemed queer that, out of the ruin, there should
+have been preserved at least two thousand dollars in good American&mdash;yes,
+City of Boston&mdash;bonds.</p>
+
+<p>In the back of the Kendrick head was a theory&mdash;or the ghost of a
+theory&mdash;concerning those bonds. He did not like to believe it, he would
+not believe it yet, but it was a possibility. Elizabeth had been
+bequeathed twenty thousand dollars. She and Egbert had been close
+friends for a time. She had liked him, had trusted him. Of late, so
+Esther Tidditt said, that friendship had been somewhat strained. Was it
+possible that.... Humph! Well, Bradley might know. He was Elizabeth's
+guardian, he would know if her investments had been disturbed.</p>
+
+<p>Then, too, if worst came to the worst and he had to raise the eight
+hundred, which he had promised Kent, by borrowing it, he could, he
+thought, arrange to get from Bradley an advance of that amount, or a
+part of it, against his salary as manager of the Fair Harbor.</p>
+
+<p>So he determined, as the next move, to go to Orham and visit the lawyer.
+On Saturday morning, therefore, he and the Foam Flake once more
+journeyed along the wood road to Orham.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_321" id="pg_321">321</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_XVII_12664" id="CHAPTER_XVII_12664"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER XVII</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The trip was cold and long and tedious. The oaks and birches were bare
+of leaves and the lakes and little ponds looked chill and forbidding.
+Judah's prophecy of a clear day was only partially fulfilled, for there
+were great patches of clouds driving before the wind and when those
+obscured the sun all creation looked dismal enough, especially to
+Kendrick, who was in the mood where any additional gloom was distinctly
+superfluous. But the Foam Flake jogged on and at last drew up beside the
+Bradley office.</p>
+
+<p>Another horse and buggy were standing there and the captain was somewhat
+surprised to recognize the outfit as one belonging to the Bayport livery
+man. A gangling youth in the latter's employ was on the buggy seat and
+he recognized the Foam Flake first and his driver next.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, good mornin', Cap'n," hailed the youth. "You over here, too?"</p>
+
+<p>Sears, performing the purely perfunctory task of hitching the Foam Flake
+to a post, smiled grimly.</p>
+
+<p>"No, Josiah," he replied. "I'm not here. I'm over in South Harniss all
+this week. Where are you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Eh?... Where be I?... Say, what&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes, Josiah, all right. Just keep a weather eye on this post, will
+you, like a good fellow?"</p>
+
+<p>"On the post? On the horse, you mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I mean on the post. If you don't this&mdash;er&mdash;camel of mine will eat
+it. Thanks. Do as much for you some time, Josiah."</p>
+
+<p>He went into the building, leaving the bewildered Josiah in what might
+be described as a state of mind.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_322" id="pg_322">322</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Is the commodore busy?" he asked of the boy at the desk.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, he is," replied the boy. "But he won't be very long, I don't
+think."</p>
+
+<p>"Humph! That's what you don't think, eh? Well, now just between us, what
+do you think?... Never mind, son, never mind, I'm satisfied if you are.
+I'll wait. By the way, somebody from my home port is in there with him,
+I judge."</p>
+
+<p>"Um&mdash;hm. Miss Berry, she's there."</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Berry! Elizabeth Berry?... Is she there now?"</p>
+
+<p>The boy nodded. "Um-hm," he declared, "she's there, but I guess they're
+'most done. I heard her chair scrape a minute or two ago, so I think
+she's comin' right out."</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick rose from his own chair. "I'll wait outside," he said, and went
+out to the platform again. Josiah, evidently lonely and seeking
+conversation, hailed him at once.</p>
+
+<p>"Say, that old horse of yours <i>is</i> a cribbler, ain't he," he observed.
+"He's took one chaw out of that post already."</p>
+
+<p>Sears paid no attention. He walked around to the rear of the little
+building and, leaning against its shingled side, waited, gazing absently
+across the fields to the spires and roofs of Orham village.</p>
+
+<p>He was sorry that Elizabeth was there just at this time. True they met
+almost daily at the Fair Harbor office, but those meetings were
+obligatory, this was not. And meeting her at all, relations between them
+being what they were, was very hard for him. Since George Kent's
+disclosure of his feelings and hopes those meetings were harder still.
+Each one made his task, that of helping the boy toward the realization
+of those hopes, so much more difficult. He was ashamed of himself, but
+so it was. No, in his present frame of mind he did not want to meet her.
+He would wait there, out of sight, until she had gone.</p>
+
+<p>But he was not allowed to do so. He heard the office door open, heard
+her step&mdash;he would have recognized it, he believed, anyway&mdash;upon the
+platform. He heard her speak to Josiah. And then that pest of an office
+boy began shouting his name.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_323" id="pg_323">323</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Cap'n Kendrick," yelled the boy. "Cap'n Kendrick, where are you?"</p>
+
+<p>He did not answer, but the other imbecile, Josiah, answered for him.</p>
+
+<p>"There he is, out alongside the buildin'," volunteered Josiah. "Cap'n
+Kendrick, they want ye."</p>
+
+<p>Then both began shrieking "Cap'n Kendrick" at the top of their voices.</p>
+
+<p>To pretend not to hear would have been too ridiculous. There was but
+thing to do and he did it.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, aye," he answered, impatiently. "I'm comin'!"</p>
+
+<p>When he reached the platform Elizabeth was still there. She was
+surprised to see him, evidently, but there was another expression on her
+face, an expression which he did not understand. He bowed gravely.</p>
+
+<p>"Good mornin'," he said. She returned his greeting, but still she
+continued to look at him with that odd expression.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Bradley's all ready for you," announced the office boy, who was
+holding the door open. Sears' foot was at the 'threshold when Elizabeth
+spoke his name. He turned to her in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes?" he replied.</p>
+
+<p>For an instant she was silent. Then, as if obeying an uncontrollable
+impulse, she came toward him.</p>
+
+<p>"Cap'n Kendrick," she said. "May I speak with you? In private? I won't
+keep you but a moment."</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, yes, of course," he stammered. He turned to the office boy.
+"Go and tell Mr. Bradley I'll be right there," he commanded. The boy
+went.</p>
+
+<p>Elizabeth spoke to her charioteer, who was leaning forward on the buggy
+seat, his small eyes fixed upon the pair and his large mouth open.</p>
+
+<p>"Drive over to that corner, Josiah," she said. "To that store
+there&mdash;yes, that's it. And wait there for me. I'll come at once."</p>
+
+<p>Josiah reluctantly drove away. Elizabeth turned again to Kendrick.</p>
+
+<p>"Cap'n Kendrick," she began. "I shan't keep you long. I
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_324" id="pg_324">324</a></span> realize that
+you must be surprised at my asking to speak with you&mdash;after everything.
+And, of course, I realize still more than you can't possibly wish to
+speak with me."</p>
+
+<p>He attempted to say something, to protest, but she did not give him the
+chance.</p>
+
+<p>"No, don't, don't," she said, hurriedly. "Don't pretend. I know how you
+feel, of course. But I have been wanting to tell you this for a long
+time. I hadn't the courage, or I was too much ashamed, or something. And
+this is a strange place to say it&mdash;and time. But when I saw you just now
+I&mdash;I felt as if I must say it. I couldn't wait another minute. Cap'n
+Kendrick, I want to beg your pardon."</p>
+
+<p>To add to his amazement and embarrassed distress he saw that she was
+very close to tears.</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why&mdash;" he stammered.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't say anything. There isn't anything for <i>you</i> to say. I don't ask
+you to forgive me&mdash;you couldn't, of course. But I&mdash;I just had to tell
+you that I am so ashamed of myself, of my misjudging you, and the things
+I said to you. I know that you were right and I was all wrong."</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why, here, hold on!" he broke in. "I don't understand."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course you don't. And I can't explain. Probably I never can and you
+mustn't ask me to. But&mdash;but&mdash;I had to say this. I had to beg your pardon
+and tell you how ashamed I am.... That's all.... Thank you."</p>
+
+<p>She turned and almost ran from the platform, down the steps and across
+the street to the waiting buggy. Sears Kendrick stared after her, stared
+until that buggy disappeared around the bend in the road. Then he
+breathed heavily, straightened his cap, slowly shook his head, and
+entered the lawyer's office. He was still in a sort of trance when he
+sat down in the chair in the inner room and heard Bradley bid him good
+morning. He returned the good morning, but he heard, or understood, very
+little of what the lawyer said immediately afterward. When he did begin
+vaguely to comprehend he found the latter was speaking of Elizabeth
+Berry.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_325" id="pg_325">325</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I wish I knew what her trouble is," Bradley was saying. "She won't tell
+me, won't even admit that there is any trouble, but that doesn't need
+telling. The last half dozen times I have seen her she has seemed and
+looked worried and absent-minded. And this morning she drove way over
+here to ask me some almost childish questions about her investments, the
+money the judge left her. Wanted to know if it was safe, or something
+like that. She didn't admit that was it, exactly, but that was as near
+as I could get to what she was driving at. Do you know what's troubling
+her, Kendrick?"</p>
+
+<p>Sears shook his head. "No-o," he replied. "I've heard&mdash;but no, I don't
+know. She wanted to be sure her money was safe, you say?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, not safely invested, I don't think that was it. She seemed to want
+to know what I'd done with the bonds themselves and the other securities
+of hers. I told her they were in the deposit vaults over at the Bayport
+bank; that is, some of them were there and some of them were in the bank
+at Harniss. Then she asked if any one could get them, anybody except she
+or I. Of course I told her no, and not even I without an order from her.
+She seemed a little relieved, I thought, but when <i>I</i> asked questions
+she shut up like a quahaug. But that seemed a silly errand to come away
+over here on. Don't you think so, Cap'n? ... Eh? What's the matter? What
+are you looking at me like that for?"</p>
+
+<p>The captain <i>was</i> looking at him, was looking with an expression of
+intense and eager interest. He did not answer Bradley's question, but
+asked one, himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Did she ask anything more about&mdash;well, about her bonds?" he demanded.
+"Think now; I'll tell you why by and by."</p>
+
+<p>The lawyer considered. "No-o," he said. "Nothing of importance, surely.
+She asked&mdash;she seemed to want to know particularly if it was possible
+for any one except the owner or a duly accredited representative to get
+at securities in the vaults of those banks. That seemed to be the
+information
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_326" id="pg_326">326</a></span> she was after.... Now what have you got up your sleeve?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothin'&mdash;nothin'. I guess. Or somethin', maybe; I don't know. Bradley,
+would you mind tellin' me this much: Of course I'm not Elizabeth's
+trustee any more, but would it be out of the way if you told me whether
+or not you reinvested any of her twenty thousand in City of Boston
+bonds? City of Boston 4-1/2s; say?"</p>
+
+<p>Bradley did not answer for a moment. Then from a pigeon hole in his desk
+he took a packet of papers and selected one.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," he said, gravely. "I put ten thousand of her money in those very
+bonds. My brokers up in Boston recommended them strongly as being a safe
+and good investment.... And now perhaps you'll tell us why you asked
+about that?"</p>
+
+<p>Sears' brows drew together. Here was his vague theory on the way, at
+least, to confirmation.</p>
+
+<p>"You tell me somethin' more first," he said. "'Tisn't likely you've got
+the numbers of those bonds on that piece of paper, is it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Likely enough. I've got the numbers and the price I paid for 'em. Why?"</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick took his memorandum book from his pocket. "Were two of those
+numbers A610,312 and A610,313?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Bradley consulted his slip of paper. "No," he replied. "Nothing like
+it."</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? You're sure?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I'm sure. Say, what sort of a trustee do you think I am?"</p>
+
+<p>Sears did not answer. If the lawyer was sure, then his "theory," instead
+of being confirmed, was smashed flat.</p>
+
+<p>"Humph!" he grunted, after a moment. "Do you mind my lookin' at that
+paper of yours?"</p>
+
+<p>Bradley pushed the slip across the desk. The captain looked at it
+carefully. "Humph!" he said again. "You're right. And those are five
+hundred dollar bonds, all of 'em.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_327" id="pg_327">327</a></span> Well, that settles that. And now it's
+all fog again.... Humph! In a way I'm glad&mdash;but&mdash;&mdash; Pshaw!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. And <i>now</i> maybe you'll tell me what you're after? Don't you think
+it's pretty nearly time?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, perhaps, but I'm afraid that's what I can't tell&mdash;you or anybody
+else.... Bradley, just one more thing. Do you happen to know whether
+there was any of those Boston bonds in Lobelia Phillips' estate? That
+is, did any of 'em come to her husband from her?"</p>
+
+<p>The lawyer's answer was emphatic enough.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I do know," he said. "There wasn't any. Those bonds are a brand
+new issue. They have been put out since her death."</p>
+
+<p>Here was another gun spiked. Kendrick whistled. Bradley regarded him
+keenly.</p>
+
+<p>"Cap'n," he demanded, "are you on the trail of that Eg Phillips? Do you
+really think you've got anything on him? Because if you have and you
+don't let me into the game I'll never forgive you. Of all the slick,
+smooth, stuck-up nothings that&mdash;&mdash; Say, have you?"</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Squire," he observed. "And, at
+any rate, I couldn't tell you, if I had. ... Eh? And <i>now</i> what?"</p>
+
+<p>For the lawyer had suddenly struck the desk a blow with his hand. He was
+fumbling in another pigeon-hole and extracting therefrom another packet
+of papers.</p>
+
+<p>"Cap'n Kendrick," he said, "I know where there are&mdash;or were,
+anyhow&mdash;more of those Boston 4-1/2s."</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? You do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. And they were thousand dollar bonds, too.... Yes, and.... Give me
+those numbers again."</p>
+
+<p>Sears gave them. Bradley grinned, triumphantly.</p>
+
+<p>"Here you are," he exclaimed. "Five one thousand dollar City of Boston
+4-1/2s, bought at so and so much, on such and such a date, numbered
+A610,309 to A610,313 inclusive. Cap'n Sears, those bonds are&mdash;or were,
+the last I knew&mdash;in the vault of the Bayport National Bank."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_328" id="pg_328">328</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Kendrick rose to his feet. "You don't tell me!" he cried. "Who put 'em
+there?"</p>
+
+<p>"I put 'em there. And I bought 'em. But they don't belong to me. There
+was somebody else had money left to them, and I, on request, invested it
+for the owner. Now you can guess, can't you?"</p>
+
+<p>Cap'n Sears sat down heavily. "Cordelia?" he exclaimed. "Cordelia Berry,
+of course!... Bradley, what an everlastin' fool I was not to guess it
+in the first place! <i>There's</i> the answer I've been hunting for."</p>
+
+<p>But, as he pondered over it during the long drive home he realized that,
+after all, it was not by any means a completely satisfying answer. True
+it confirmed his previous belief that the bonds which Phillips had
+deposited with the New York brokers were not a part of the residue of
+his wife's estate. He had obtained them from Cordelia Berry. But the
+question as to how and why he had obtained them still remained. Did he
+get them by fraud? Did she lend them to him? If she lent them was it a
+loan without restrictions? Did she know what he meant to do with them;
+that is, was Cordelia a silent partner in Egbert's stock speculations?
+Or, and this was by no means impossible considering her infatuation, had
+she given them to him outright?</p>
+
+<p>Unless there was an element of fraud or false pretense in the
+transference of those bonds, the mere knowledge of whence they came was
+not likely to help in regaining George Kent's sixteen hundred dollars.
+For the matter of that, even if they had been obtained by fraud, if they
+were not Phillips' property, but Cordelia's, still the return of Kent's
+money might be just as impossible provided Phillips had nothing of his
+own to levy upon. He&mdash;Kendrick&mdash;might compel the brokers to return Mrs.
+Berry's City of Boston 4-1/2s to their rightful owner, but how would
+that help Kent?</p>
+
+<p>Well, never mind that now. If the worst came to the worst he could still
+borrow the eight hundred which would save George from public disgrace.
+And the fact remained
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_329" id="pg_329">329</a></span> that his campaign against the redoubtable Egbert
+had made, for the first time, a forward movement, however slight.</p>
+
+<p>His thoughts turned to Elizabeth. The causes of her worry and trouble
+were plain enough now. Esther Tidditt had declared that she and Phillips
+were by no means as friendly as they had been. Of course not. She, too,
+had been forced to realize what almost every one else had seen before,
+the influence which the fellow had obtained over her mother. Her visit
+to Bradley and her questions concerning the safety of securities in the
+bank's vaults were almost proof positive that she knew Egbert had those
+bonds and perhaps feared he might get the others. He should not get them
+if Sears Kendrick could help it. She had asked his pardon, she had
+confessed that he was right and that she had been wrong. She believed in
+him again. Well, in return he would fight his battle&mdash;and hers&mdash;and
+George's&mdash;harder than ever. The fight had been worth while of itself,
+now it was more than ever a fight for her happiness. And Egbert&mdash;by the
+living jingo, Egbert was in for a licking.</p>
+
+<p>So, to the mild astonishment of the placid Foam Flake, who had been
+meandering on in a sort of walking doze, Captain Kendrick tugged briskly
+at the reins and broke out in song, the hymn which Judah Cahoon had sung
+a few nights before:</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Light in the darkness, sailor,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Day is at hand."</span></p>
+
+<p>Judah himself was singing when his lodger entered the kitchen, but his
+was no joyful ditty. It was a dirge, which he was intoning as he bent
+over the cookstove. A slow and solemn and mournful wail dealing with
+death and burial of one "Old Storm Along," whoever he may have been.</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"'Old Storm Along is dead and gone</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To my way, oh, Storm Along.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Old Storm Along is dead and gone</span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_330" id="pg_330">330</a></span>
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Ay&mdash;ay&mdash;ay, Mister Storm A-long.</span></p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"'When Stormy died I dug his grave</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To my way, oh, Storm Along,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I dug his grave with a silver spade.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Ay&mdash;ay&mdash;ay, Mister Storm A-long.</span></p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"'I hove him up with an iron crane,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To my way, oh, Storm Along,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And lowered him down with&mdash;&mdash;'"</span></p>
+
+<p>Kendrick broke in upon the flow of misery.</p>
+
+<p>"Sshh! All hands to the pumps!" he shouted. "Heavens, what a wail!
+Sounds like the groans of the dyin'. Didn't your breakfast set well,
+Judah?"</p>
+
+<p>Judah turned, looked at him, and grinned sheepishly. "'Tis kind of a
+lonesome song, ain't it?" he admitted. "Still we used to sing it
+consider'ble aboard ship. Don't you know we did, Cap'n?"</p>
+
+<p>The captain grunted. "Maybe so," he observed, "but it's one of the
+things that would keep the average man from going to sea. What's the
+news since I've been gone&mdash;anything?"</p>
+
+<p>Judah nodded. "Um-hm," he said. "I cal'late 'twas the news that set me
+goin' about old Storm Along. Esther Tidditt's been over here half the
+forenoon, seemed so, tellin' about Elviry Snowden's aunt over to
+Ostable. She's dead, the old woman is, and she died slow and agonizin',
+'cordin' to Esther. Elviry was all struck of a heap about it. And now
+she's gone."</p>
+
+<p>"Gone! Elvira? Dead, you mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"Hey? No, no! The aunt's dead, but Elviry ain't. She's gone over to
+Ostable to stay till after the funeral. She's about the only relation to
+the remains there is left, so Esther tells me. There was a reg'lar young
+typhoon over to the Harbor when the news struck. 'Twas too late for the
+up train so they had to hire a horse and team and then somebody had to
+be got to pilot it, 'cause Elviry wouldn't no more undertake to drive a
+horse than I would to eat one.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_331" id="pg_331">331</a></span> And the trouble was that the livery
+stable boy&mdash;that Josiah Ellis&mdash;was off drivin' somebody else
+somewheres."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I saw him."</p>
+
+<p>"Hey? You did? Where? Who was he drivin'?"</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind that. Heave ahead with your yarn."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, the next thing they done was to come cruisin' over here to see if
+<i>I</i> wouldn't take the job. Hoppin', creepin', jumpin' Henry! I shut down
+on <i>that</i> notion almost afore they got their hatches open to tell me
+about it. Suppose likely I'd set in a buggy alongside of Elviry Snowden
+and listen to her clack from here to Ostable? Not by a two-gallon
+jugful! Creepin'! She'd have another corpse on her hands time we got
+there. So I said I was sick."</p>
+
+<p>"Sick! Ha, ha! You're a healthy lookin' sick man, Judah."</p>
+
+<p>"Um-hm. Mine must be one of them kind of diseases that don't show on the
+outside. But I was sick then, all right&mdash;at the very notion. And, Cap'n
+Sears, who do you cal'late finally did invite himself to drive that
+Snowden woman to Ostable? You'll never guess in <i>this</i> world."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I don't intend to wait until the next world to find out; so
+you'll have to tell me, Judah. Who was it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Old Henfruit."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Who?</i>"</p>
+
+<p>"Old Henfruit, that's what I call him. That Eg thing"</p>
+
+<p>"What? Phillips?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yus. That's the feller."</p>
+
+<p>"But why should he do it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, just to show off how polite and obligin' he is, I presume likely.
+Elviry she was snifflin' around and swabbin' her deadlights with her
+handkercher and heavin' overboard lamentations about her poor dear Aunt
+So-and-so layin' all alone over there and she couldn't get to her&mdash;as if
+'twould make any difference to a dead person whether she got to 'em or
+not, and anyhow I'd <i>want</i> to be dead afore Elviry Snowden got to
+me&mdash;and&mdash;&mdash; Oh, yes, well, pretty soon here comes Eg, beaver hat and
+mustache and all, purrin' and wantin' to know what was the matter. And,
+of course
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_332" id="pg_332">332</a></span> all hands of 'em started to tell him, 'specially that Aurora
+Chase, who is so everlastin' deaf she hadn't heard the yarn more'n half
+straight and wan't sure yet whether 'twas a funeral or a fire. And
+so&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"There, there, Judah! Get back on the course. So Egbert drove Elvira
+over to Ostable, did he?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sartin sure. When Elviry saw him she kind of flew at him same as a
+chicken flies to the old hen. And he kind of spread out his wings, as
+you might say, and comforted her and, next thing you know, he'd offered
+to be pilot and she and him had started on the trip. So that's the
+news.... Esther said 'twas good as a town hall to see Cordelia Berry
+when them two went away together. You see, Cordelia is so dreadful gone
+on that Eg man that she can't bear to see another female within hailin'
+distance of him. Been just the same if 'twas old Northern Lights Chase
+he'd gone with. Haw, haw!"</p>
+
+<p>The Fair Harbor was still buzzing with the news of Miss Snowden's
+bereavement when Kendrick visited there next day. The funeral was to
+take place the day after that and Mrs. Brackett was going and so was
+Aurora. As Miss Peasley and some of the others would have liked to go,
+but could not afford the railway fare, there was some jealousy manifest
+and a few ill-natured remarks made in the captain's hearing. Elvira, it
+seemed, had sent for her trunk, as she was to remain in Ostable for a
+week or two at least.</p>
+
+<p>The captain and Elizabeth had their customary conference in the office
+concerning the Harbor's bills and finances. Kendrick's greeting was a
+trifle embarrassed&mdash;recollection of the interview at Orham was fresh in
+his mind. Elizabeth colored slightly when they met, but she did not
+mention that interview and, although pleasant and kind, kept the
+conversation strictly confined to business matters.</p>
+
+<p>That afternoon Sears encountered Egbert for the first time in a week or
+so. The captain was on his way to the barn at the rear of the Harbor
+grounds. He was about to turn the bend in the path, the bend which he
+had rounded on the day of his first excursion in those grounds, and
+which
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_333" id="pg_333">333</a></span> had afforded him the vision of Miss Snowden and Mrs. Chase framed
+in the ivy-draped window of The Eyrie. As he passed the clump of lilacs,
+now bare and scrawny, he came suddenly upon Phillips. The latter was
+standing there, deep in conversation with Mrs. Berry. Theirs should, it
+would seem, have been a pleasant conversation, but neither looked happy;
+in fact, Cordelia looked as if she had been crying.</p>
+
+<p>Sears raised his cap and Egbert lifted the tall hat with the flourish
+all his own. Cordelia did not bow nor even nod. Kendrick, as he walked
+on toward the barn, was inclined to believe he could guess the cause of
+Mrs. Berry's distress and her companion's annoyance; he believed that
+City of Boston 4-1/2s might be the subject of their talk. If so, then
+perhaps those bonds had come into the gentleman's possession in a manner
+not strictly within the law. Or, at all events, the lady might not know
+what had become of them and be requesting their return. He certainly
+hoped that such was the case. It was the one thing he yearned to find
+out before making the next strategic advance in his and Egbert's private
+war.</p>
+
+<p>But a note from Bradley which he received next day helped him not at
+all. It was a distinct disappointment. Bradley had, at his request, made
+some inquiries at the Bayport bank. The lawyer was a director in that
+institution and he could obtain information without arousing undue
+curiosity or answering troublesome questions. The two one thousand
+dollar bonds had been removed from the vaults by Cordelia Berry herself.
+She had come alone, and on two occasions, taking one bond at each visit.
+She did not state why she wanted them and the bank authorities had not
+considered it their business to ask.</p>
+
+<p>So that avenue of hope was closed. Egbert had not taken the bonds, and
+how they came into his possession was still as great a puzzle as ever.
+And the time&mdash;the time was growing so short. On Wednesday Kent had
+promised to send his brother-in-law eight hundred dollars. It was
+Saturday when Bradley's letter came. Each evening George
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_334" id="pg_334">334</a></span> stopped at the
+Minot place to ask what progress had been made. The young man's
+nervousness was contagious; the captain's own nerves became affected.</p>
+
+<p>"George," he ordered, at last, "don't ask me another question. I
+promised you once, and now I promise you again, that by Wednesday night
+you shall have enough cash in hand to satisfy your sister and her
+husband. Don't you come nigh me until then."</p>
+
+<p>On Monday, the situation remaining unchanged, Sears determined upon a
+desperate move. He would see Egbert alone and have a talk with him. He
+had, after careful consideration, decided what his share in that talk
+was to be. It must be two-thirds "bluff." He knew very little, but he
+intended to pretend to much greater knowledge. He might trap his
+adversary into a damaging admission. He might gain something and he
+could lose almost nothing. The attack was risky, a sort of forlorn
+hope&mdash;but he would take the risk.</p>
+
+<p>That afternoon he drove down to the Macomber house. There he was
+confronted with another disappointment. Egbert was not there. Sarah said
+he had been away almost all day and would not be back until late in the
+evening.</p>
+
+<p>"He's been away consider'ble the last two or three days," she said. "No,
+I'm sure I don't know where he's gone. He told Joel somethin' about
+bein' out of town on business. Joel sort of gathered 'twas in Trumet
+where the business was, but he never told either of us really. He wasn't
+here for dinner yesterday or supper either, and not for supper the day
+before that."</p>
+
+<p>"Humph! Will he be here to-morrow, think?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know, but I should think likely he would, in the forenoon,
+anyhow. He's almost always here in the forenoon; he doesn't get up very
+early, hardly ever."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, he doesn't. How about his breakfast?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Macomber looked a bit guilty.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," she admitted, "I usually keep his breakfast hot for him,
+and&mdash;and he has it in his room."</p>
+
+<p>"You take it in to him, I suppose?"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_335" id="pg_335">335</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"We-ll, he's always been used to breakfastin' that way, he says. It's
+the way they do over abroad, accordin' to his tell."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Sarah, Sarah!" mused her brother. "To think <i>you</i> could slip so
+easy on that sort of soft-soap. Tut, tut! I'm surprised.... Well,
+good-by. Oh, by the way, how about his majesty's board bill? Paid up to
+date, is it?"</p>
+
+<p>His sister looked even more embarrassed, and, for her, a trifle
+irritated.</p>
+
+<p>"He owes me for three weeks, if you must know," she said, "but he'll pay
+it, same as he always does."</p>
+
+<p>"Look out, look out! Can't be too sure.... There, there, Sarah, don't be
+cross. I won't torment you."</p>
+
+<p>He laughed and Mrs. Macomber, after a moment, laughed too.</p>
+
+<p>"You are a tease, Sears," she declared, "and always was. Shall I tell
+Mr. Phillips you came to see him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? No, indeed you shan't. Don't you mention my name to him. He loves
+me so much that he might cry all night at the thought of not bein' at
+home when I called. Don't tell him a word. I'll try again."</p>
+
+<p>The next forenoon he did try again. Judah had some trucking to do in the
+western part of the village and the captain rode with him on the seat of
+the truck wagon as far as the store. From there he intended to walk to
+his sister's, for walking, even as long a distance as a mile, was no
+longer an impossibility. As he alighted by the store platform Captain
+Elkanah Wingate came out of the Bassett emporium.</p>
+
+<p>"Mornin', Kendrick," he hailed.</p>
+
+<p>Sears did not share Bayport's awe of the prosperous Elkanah. He returned
+the greeting as casually as if the latter had been an everyday citizen.</p>
+
+<p>"Been spendin' your money on Eliphalet's bargains?" he inquired.</p>
+
+<p>The great man did not resent the flippancy. He seemed to be in a
+particularly pleasant humor.</p>
+
+<p>"Got a little extra to spend to-day," he declared, with a
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_336" id="pg_336">336</a></span> chuckle.
+"Picked up twenty dollars this mornin' that I never expected to see
+again."</p>
+
+<p>"So? You're lucky."</p>
+
+<p>"That's what I thought. Say, Kendrick, have you had any&mdash;hum&mdash;business
+dealings with that man Phillips? No," with another chuckle, "I suppose
+you haven't. He doesn't love you over and above, I understand. My wife
+and the rest of the women folks seem to think he's first mate to Saint
+Peter, but, between ourselves, he's always been a little too much of a
+walkin' oil barrel to suit me. He borrowed twenty of me a good while ago
+and I'd about decided to write it down as a dead loss. But an hour or so
+ago he ran afoul of me and, without my saying a word, paid up like a
+man, every cent. Had a roll of bills as thick as a skys'l yard, he did.
+Must have had a lucky voyage, I guess. Eh? Ha, ha!"</p>
+
+<p>He moved off, still chuckling. Kendrick walked down the lower road
+pondering on what he had heard. Egbert, the professed pauper, in
+possession of money and voluntarily paying his debts. What might that
+mean?</p>
+
+<p>Sarah met him at the door. She seemed distressed.</p>
+
+<p>"There!" she cried, as he approached. "If this isn't too bad! And I was
+afraid of it, too. You've walked way down here, Sears, on those poor
+legs of yours, and Mr. Phillips has gone again. And I don't think he'll
+be back before night, if he is then. He said not to worry if he wasn't,
+because he might have to go to Trumet. Isn't it a shame?"</p>
+
+<p>It was a shame and a rather desperate shame. This was Tuesday. If the
+interview with Egbert was to take place at all, it should be that day,
+or the next. He looked at his sister's face and something in her
+expression caused him to ask a question.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it, Sarah?" he demanded. "What's the rest of it?"</p>
+
+<p>She hesitated. "Sears," she said, after looking over her shoulder to
+make sure none of the children was within hearing, "there's somethin'
+else. I&mdash;I don't know, but&mdash;but I'm
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_337" id="pg_337">337</a></span> almost <i>sure</i> Mr. Phillips won't be
+back to-night. I think he's gone to stay."</p>
+
+<p>"Stay? What do you mean? Did he take his dunnage&mdash;his things&mdash;with him?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. His trunk is in his room. And he didn't have a satchel or a valise
+in his hand. But, Sears, I can't understand it&mdash;they're gone&mdash;his
+valises are gone."</p>
+
+<p>"Gone! Gone where?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know. That's the funny part of it. He's always kept two valises
+in his room, a big one and a little one. I went into his room just now
+to make the beds and clean up and I didn't see those valises anywhere. I
+thought that was funny and then I noticed that the things on his bureau,
+his brushes and comb and things, weren't there. Then I looked in his
+bureau drawers and everything was gone, the drawers were empty....
+Sears, what <i>do</i> you suppose it means?"</p>
+
+<p>Her brother did not answer at once. He tugged at his beard and frowned.
+Then he asked:</p>
+
+<p>"Didn't he say a word more than you've told me? Or do anything?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. He had his breakfast out here with us this mornin'. Then he went
+back to his room and, about nine or so, he came out to me and paid his
+board bill&mdash;&mdash; Oh, I told you he'd pay it, Sears; he always does
+pay&mdash;and then&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Here! Heave to! Hold on, Sarah! He paid his bill, all of it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. Right up to now. That was kind of funny, bein' the middle of the
+week instead of the end, but he said we might as well start with a clean
+ledger, or somethin' nice and pleasant like that. Then he took a bundle
+of money from his pocketbook&mdash;a great, <i>big</i> bundle it was, and&mdash;Why,
+why, Sears, what is it? Where are you goin'?"</p>
+
+<p>The captain had pushed by her and was on his way to the front of the
+house.</p>
+
+<p>"Goin'?" he repeated. "I'm goin' to have a look at those rooms of his.
+You'd better come with me, Sarah."</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_338" id="pg_338">338</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_XVIII_13361" id="CHAPTER_XVIII_13361"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER XVIII</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The keeper of the livery stable was surprised. "Why, yes," he said, "Mr.
+Phillips was here a spell ago. He said he was cal'latin' to go to Trumet
+to-day on a business cruise, and he hired Josiah and the bay horse and
+buggy to get him over there. They left about ten o'clock, I should say
+'twas. I had a mind to ask him why he didn't take the train, but then I
+thought 'twould be poor business for a fellow that let teams, so I kept
+still. Hey? Ho, ho!"</p>
+
+<p>The captain, somewhat out of breath after his hurried walk from the
+Macomber home to the stable, pondered a moment "Did he have a valise or
+satchel or anything with him?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"No. Nothin' but his cane. Couldn't navigate a yard without his cane
+that feller couldn't, seemed so. Looked kind of spruced up, too. Dressed
+in his best bib and tucker, he was, beaver hat and all. Cal'late he must
+be goin' to see his best girl, eh. Ho, ho! Guess not though; from what I
+hear his best girl's down to the Fair Harbor."</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick pondered a moment longer.</p>
+
+<p>"Did he pay for the team?" he inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"Hey? Yus, paid in advance, spot cash. But what you askin' all this for,
+Cap'n? Wanted to see him afore he went, did you?"</p>
+
+<p>Sears nodded. "Just a business matter," he explained, and walked away.
+He did not walk far, only to the corner. There on the low stone wall
+bordering on the east the property of Captain Orrin Eldridge, he seated
+himself to rest and cogitate.</p>
+
+<p>His cogitations were most unsatisfactory. They got him nowhere. He and
+his sister had pretty thoroughly inspected
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_339" id="pg_339">339</a></span> Egbert's quarters at the
+Macomber house. The Phillips trunk was still there, and the "horse
+pictures" and the photographs of Lobelia's charming lady friends! but
+there was precious little else. Toilet articles, collars, ties and more
+intimate articles of wearing apparel were missing and, except for a
+light coat and a summer suit of clothes, the closets were empty. And, as
+Sarah had said, the two valises had vanished. Egbert had told his
+landlady he was going to Trumet; he had told the livery man the same
+thing. But by far the easiest way to reach Trumet was by train. Why had
+he chosen to be driven there over a long and very bad road? And <i>what</i>
+had become of the valises?</p>
+
+<p>And then occurred the second of a series of incidents which had a marked
+and helpful bearing up Captain Kendrick's actions that day. He said
+afterwards that, for the first time since his railway accident, he
+really began to believe the tide of luck was turning in his direction.
+The first of those incidents had been his meeting and talk with Captain
+Elkanah. That had sent him hurrying to the Macombers' earlier than he
+intended. The second incident was that now, as he sat there on the
+Eldridge wall, down the road came the Minot truck wagon with the Foam
+Flake in the shafts and Judah Cahoon swinging and jolting on the seat.</p>
+
+<p>Judah spied him and hailed.</p>
+
+<p>"Ahoy, there, Cap'n Sears!" he shouted, pulling the old horse to a
+standstill. "Thought you was down to Sary's long ago. What you doin' on
+that wall&mdash;gone to roost so early in the day?"</p>
+
+<p>The captain smiled. "Not exactly, Judah," he replied. "But what are you
+doin' 'way back here? I thought you were haulin' Seth Bangs's wood for
+him."</p>
+
+<p>"Huh!" in disgust; "I thought I was, too, but there was some kind of
+mix-up in the time. Cal'late 'twas that Hannah Bangs that muddled
+it&mdash;she could muddle a cake of ice, that woman. Kind of born with a
+knack for makin' mistakes, she is; and she's the biggest mistake
+herself, 'cordin'
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_340" id="pg_340">340</a></span> to my notion. Seems 'twas to-morrow, not to-day, Seth
+expected me to come."</p>
+
+<p>"Humph! So you had your cruise up there for nothin'?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yus. Creepin', jumpin'! Think of it, Cap'n. I navigated this
+old&mdash;er&mdash;er&mdash;spavin-rack 'way up to where them folks live, three mile on
+the Denboro road 'tis, and then had to come about and beat for home
+again. I ... Oh, say I sighted a chum of ours up along that way. Who do
+you cal'late 'twas, Cap'n Sears? Old Eg, that's who. Togged out from
+truck to keelson as usual, beaver and all, and&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Here! Hold up! What's that, Judah? You saw Phillips up on the Denboro
+road, you say? What was he doin' there? When did you see him?"</p>
+
+<p>"'Bout an hour ago, or such matter. He was aboard one of the livery
+stable teams and that Josiah Ellis was pilotin' him. I sung out to
+Josiah, but he never answered. Says I&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Sshh! Where were they bound; do you know?"</p>
+
+<p>"Denboro, I presume likely. That's the only place there is to be bound
+to, on that road; 'less you're goin' perchin' up to Seabury's Pond, and
+folks don't do much perchin' in December. Not with beaver hats on,
+anyhow. Haw, haw! Eg and Josiah was all jammed up together on the buggy
+seat, with two big valises crammed in alongside of 'em, and ... Hi!
+What's the matter, Cap'n Sears? What's your hurry?"</p>
+
+<p>The captain did not answer. He <i>was</i> hurrying&mdash;hurrying back to the
+livery stable. Half an hour later he, too, was on the seat of a hired
+buggy, driving the best horse the stable afforded up the lonely road
+leading to Denboro.</p>
+
+<p>He met no one on that road&mdash;which winds and twists over the hills and
+through the wooded hollows from one side of the Cape to the other&mdash;until
+he was within a mile of Denboro village. Then he saw another horse and
+buggy approaching his. He recognized the occupant of that buggy long
+before he himself was recognized.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_341" id="pg_341">341</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Hi!" he shouted, as the two vehicles came near each other. "Hi! Josiah!
+Josiah Ellis!"</p>
+
+<p>Josiah, serenely dozing, his feet propped against the dash and his cap
+over his eyes, came slowly to life.</p>
+
+<p>"Hey?" he murmured, drowsily. "Yes; here I be.... Eh! What's the matter?
+Why, hello, Cap'n Kendrick, that you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Whoa!" ordered the captain, addressing his own horse, who came to a
+standstill beside that driven by the other. "Stop, Josiah! Come up into
+the wind a minute, I want to speak to you. What have you done with
+Phillips?"</p>
+
+<p>Josiah was surprised. "Why, how did you know I had Mr. Phillips aboard?"
+he asked. "Oh, I presume likely they told you at the stable. But how did
+you know he was goin' to Denboro? <i>I</i> never knew it till after we
+started. When we left port I supposed 'twas Trumet we was bound for, but
+we hadn't much more'n got under way when Mr. Phillips says he's changed
+his mind and wants to come over here. Didn't make no difference to <i>me</i>,
+of course. I get my wages, Saturday nights, just the same whether&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Where is Phillips now?"</p>
+
+<p>"I was tellin' you. So we came about and headed for Denboro. Next thing
+we had to haul up abreast of that old tumbledown shed at the end of
+Tabby Crosby's lot there by the meetin'-house while Mr. Phillips hopped
+out and got a couple of great big satchels he'd left there. Big as
+trunks they was, pretty nigh, and time he got them stowed in here there
+wan't no room for knees nor feet nor nawthin' else seurcely. But,
+finally&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Hold on! Why did he have his dunnage in Tabitha Crosby's shed?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's what <i>I</i> couldn't make out. He said he left 'em there so's not
+to have to go out of our way to get 'em at Joe Macomber's. But it's
+about as nigh to Joe's as 'tis to Tabby's, seems to me. Seemed funny
+enough, that did, but 'twan't no funnier than comin' way over to the
+Denboro depot to take the same train he might have took just as
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_342" id="pg_342">342</a></span> well at
+Bayport. <i>I</i> couldn't make it out. Can you, Cap'n Kendrick?"</p>
+
+<p>"Did you leave him at the Denboro depot?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yus. 'Bout an hour ago, or such matter. And the up train ain't due till
+four, and it's only half-past twelve now. I stopped at the Denboro House
+to get some diner. A feller has to eat once in a while, even if he ain't
+rich. And talk about chargin' high prices! All I had was some chowder
+and a piece of pie and tea, and I swan if they didn't stick me
+thirty-five cents! Yes, sir, thirty-five cents! And the pie was
+dried-apple at that. Don't talk to me no more about that Denboro House!
+If I ever&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick heard no more. He was on his way to the railway station at
+Denboro. The mystery of the valises was, in one way, explained; in
+another it was more mysterious than ever. Evidently Phillips must have
+taken them from his rooms either early that morning or during the
+night&mdash;probably the latter&mdash;and hidden them in the Crosby shed. But why?</p>
+
+<p>Denboro was a sleepy little village and at that hour on that raw
+December day the railway station was as sleepy as the rest of it. The
+station agent, who was also the telegraph operator, was locking his door
+preparatory to going home for dinner. He and the captain were old
+acquaintances. In days gone by he had sailed as second mate aboard a
+bark which Kendrick commanded. Now, retired from the sea, he was depot
+master and pound-keeper and constable in his native town. And, like most
+of Sears' shipmates, he was glad to see his former skipper.</p>
+
+<p>They shook hands, exchanged observations concerning the weather, and
+then the depot master asked what he could do for his friend.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm lookin' for a man named Phillips," explained Kendrick. "Josiah
+Ellis&mdash;fellow that drives for the livery stable over home&mdash;told me he
+left him here at your depot, Jim. About an hour ago, Josiah said it was.
+He doesn't seem to be here now; do you know where he's gone?"</p>
+
+<p>Jim rubbed his chin. "Tall feller, thin, long mustache,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_343" id="pg_343">343</a></span> beaver hat,
+talks important and patronizin' like a combination of Admiral Farragut
+and the Angel Gabriel?" he inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"That's the man."</p>
+
+<p>"He was here. Left them two valises yonder in my care. He's comin' back
+in time to take the three-fifteen."</p>
+
+<p>"Three-fifteen? I thought the up train left here at half-past four or
+somethin' like that."</p>
+
+<p>"The reg'lar train does. But there's a kind of combination, three or
+four freight and one passenger car, that comes up from Hyannis and goes
+on ahead of the other. It don't go only to Middleboro. He said he was
+cal'latin' to take that. I had a notion he was goin' to change at
+Middleboro and go somewheres else from there."</p>
+
+<p>"I see. Yes, yes. And you don't know where he is now?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, he asked where was the best place to eat and I told him some went
+to the hotel and some to Amanda Warren's boardin'-house. 'Most of 'em
+only go to the hotel once, though,' says I. I guess likely you'll find
+him at Amanda's."</p>
+
+<p>So to Mrs. Warren's boarding-house the captain drove. The lady herself
+opened the door for him. Yes, the gentleman described had been there.
+Yes, he had eaten dinner and gone.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know where he has gone?" asked Kendrick.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Warren nodded. "He asked me where Mr. Backus, the Methodist
+minister, lived," she said. "He was real particular to find out how to
+get there, so I guess that's where he was bound."</p>
+
+<p>The Methodist minister! Why on earth Egbert Phillips should go to the
+home of a minister was another mystery beyond Sears Kendrick's power of
+surmise. However, he too inquired the way to the Backus domicile and
+once more took up the chase.</p>
+
+<p>The Methodist parsonage was a neat little white house, green-shuttered,
+and with a white picket fence inclosing its little front yard. It being
+the home of a clergyman, Sears
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_344" id="pg_344">344</a></span> ventured to knock at the front door;
+otherwise he would, of course, have gone around to the side entrance.</p>
+
+<p>A white-haired little woman answered the knock. No, Mr. Backus was out,
+but he was expected back very soon. He had an appointment at two, so she
+was sure he would be in by that time. Would the captain come in and
+wait? There was another gentleman now in the parlor waiting. Yes, a tall
+gentleman with a mustache.</p>
+
+<p>At last! Another minute, and Captain Kendrick, entering the Backus
+parlor, came face to face with the elusive object of his search, Mr.
+Egbert Phillips.</p>
+
+<p>Egbert was sitting in a rocking chair by the marble-topped center table.
+A plush-covered photograph album was on that table and he was languidly
+turning its pages and inspecting, with a smile of tolerant amusement,
+the likenesses of the Backus friends and relatives. As the door opened
+he turned, his smile changing to one of greeting.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, Mr. Backus&mdash;&mdash;" he began. And then he stopped. It was the captain
+who smiled now. His smile was as genial as a summer morn.</p>
+
+<p>"Good afternoon, Mr. Phillips," he said. "How are you, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>He stepped forward with extended hand. Still Egbert stood and stared.
+The photograph album, imperfectly balanced on the edge of the table,
+slipped to the floor.</p>
+
+<p>The clergyman's wife seemed a trifle puzzled and perturbed by the
+Phillips expression and attitude.</p>
+
+<p>"This gentleman said&mdash;&mdash;" she began. "He said you and he&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick helped her to finish: "I told the lady," he put in cheerfully,
+"that I had come 'way over from Bayport to see you about a little
+matter. I said we knew each other pretty well and I was sure you'd be
+glad to see me, even if I was kind of unexpected.... Excuse me, but
+you've dropped your picture book."</p>
+
+<p>He stooped, picked up the album and replaced it on the table. This
+action occupied but a moment of time, nevertheless in that moment a
+portion at least of Egbert's poise
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_345" id="pg_345">345</a></span> returned. His smile might have been
+a bit uncertain, but it was a smile. And when Sears again extended his
+hand his own came to meet it.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course, of course," he said. "Yes&mdash;ah&mdash;yes, indeed. How do you do,
+Kendrick?"</p>
+
+<p>The captain beamed. "Oh, I'm feelin' tip-top," he declared. "The sight
+of you is enough to make me well, even if I was sick&mdash;which I'm not. Now
+if you and I might have a little talk?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Backus was anxious to oblige.</p>
+
+<p>"You make yourselves right at home in here," she said. "If my husband
+comes I'll tell him to wait until you're through. Take all the time you
+want."</p>
+
+<p>She was at the threshold, but Phillips detained her.</p>
+
+<p>"Pardon me," he said, hastily, "but we mustn't abuse your hospitality to
+that extent. This&mdash;ah&mdash;gentleman and I can talk just as well out of
+doors. Really, I&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no! You must stay right here. Please do. It isn't the least
+trouble."</p>
+
+<p>She went and the door closed behind her. Egbert glanced at the clock on
+the mantel and frowned. Captain Kendrick continued to smile.</p>
+
+<p>"And here we are at last," he observed. "Quiet and sociable as you
+please. Sit down, Mr. Phillips, sit down."</p>
+
+<p>But Egbert did not sit. He glanced at the clock once more and then at
+his watch.</p>
+
+<p>"Sit down," repeated the captain. "I've been cruisin' so much this
+forenoon that I'm glad of the chance to sit. From what I've been able to
+learn you've been movin' pretty lively, too. A little rest won't do
+either of us any harm. Sit down, Mr. Phillips. Take the rocker."</p>
+
+<p>Phillips walked to the front window, looked out, hesitated, and then,
+returning, did take the rocker. He looked at his fellow-townsman.</p>
+
+<p>"Well?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick nodded. "Yes," he agreed, "it is well, real well, now that I've
+caught up with you. I'll say this for you, you're as good a craft for
+leavin' a crooked wake as any I
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_346" id="pg_346">346</a></span> ever chased. For a while there you had
+me hull down. But I'm here now&mdash;and so are you."</p>
+
+<p>Egbert's slim hand slowly stroked his mustache.</p>
+
+<p>"There appears to be some truth in that remark," he declared. "We do
+seem to be here&mdash;yes.... But&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"But you are wonderin' why <i>I</i> am here? Well, to be honest, I came to
+find you. I judged that you were thinkin' of leavin' us&mdash;for a spell,
+anyhow&mdash;and before you went I wanted to talk with you, that's all."</p>
+
+<p>A pause, and more mustache stroking. The two men regarded each other;
+the captain blandly beaming, Phillips evidently pondering.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know," he said, at last, "what you may mean by my thinking of
+leaving you. However, that is not material, and I am always delighted to
+see you, of course. But as I am rather busy this afternoon perhaps
+you'll be good enough to come to the point.... If there is a point."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, there is. Oh, yes, there's a point. Two or three points."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed! How interesting. And what are they? Please be as&mdash;ah&mdash;brief as
+you can."</p>
+
+<p>Sears crossed his legs. All this had been but preliminary maneuvering.
+Here now was the real beginning of the fight; and he realized only too
+keenly that his side in that fight was tremendously short of ammunition.
+But he did not mean that his adversary should guess that fact, and with
+the smiling serenity of absolute confidence he fired the opening gun.</p>
+
+<p>"Egbert," he began&mdash;"you don't mind my callin' you Egbert? Knowin' you
+as well as I do, it seems foolish to stand on ceremony, don't you think?
+You don't mind?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not at all. Charmed, I'm sure.... Well?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well&mdash;yes. We've got a good many mutual friends&mdash;you and I, Egbert. One
+of 'em is named George Kent. He's a great friend of both of us. Nice
+boy, too."</p>
+
+<p>At the mention of the name the Phillips hand, caressing the Phillips
+mustache, paused momentarily. But it resumed operations almost at once.
+Other than this there was no
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_347" id="pg_347">347</a></span> sign of perturbation on its owner's part.
+He slowly shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"My <i>dear</i> Captain Kendrick&mdash;&mdash;" he drawled.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, call me Sears. <i>Don't</i> be formal."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear man, if it is possible for you to come to the point? Without
+too great a strain on your&mdash;ah&mdash;intellect?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm comin', Egbert. Right abreast there now. George&mdash;our mutual
+friend&mdash;is in trouble. He has used some money that he can't spare, used
+it in a stock deal. I won't go into the particulars because you know 'em
+just as well as I do. You got him into the trouble in the first place, I
+understand. Now, to a man up a tree, as the boys say, it would seem as
+if you ought to be the one to get him out. Particularly as you are his
+very best friend. Don't you think so?"</p>
+
+<p>Egbert sighed before answering, a sigh of utter weariness.</p>
+
+<p>"And may I ask if <i>this</i> is the&mdash;ah&mdash;point?" he inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, yes&mdash;I guess so. In a way."</p>
+
+<p>"And you are acting as our young friend's representative? He has seen
+fit to take you into his confidence concerning a matter which was
+supposed to be a business secret between&mdash;ah&mdash;gentlemen?"</p>
+
+<p>"I could see he was in trouble and I offered to do what I could to help.
+Then he told me the whole thing."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed? A changeable youth. When I last heard him mention your name it
+was not&mdash;pardon me&mdash;in a&mdash;shall we say strictly affectionate tone?"</p>
+
+<p>"That so? Too bad. But we are all liable to be mistaken in our
+judgments. Men&mdash;and women, too."</p>
+
+<p>Again there was a slight pause; Egbert was regarding the speaker
+intently. The latter's countenance was about as expressive as that of a
+wooden idol, a good-natured one. Mr. Phillips glanced once more at the
+clock, languidly closed his eyes, opened them, sighed for the third
+time, and then spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"So I am to understand that our&mdash;ah&mdash;juvenile acquaintance has turned
+his business affairs over to you," he said. "I congratulate him, I'm
+sure. The marked success which
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_348" id="pg_348">348</a></span> you have attained in the&mdash;ah&mdash;management
+of&mdash;ah&mdash;other business affairs has inspired him with perfect trust,
+doubtless."</p>
+
+<p>"That must be it. The average man has to trust somebody and I gathered
+that <i>some</i> trusts of his were beginnin' to slip their moorin's.
+However, here's the situation. You got him to buy some stock on margin.
+The stock, instead of goin' up, as you prophesied, went down. You
+suggested his puttin' up more margin. He'd used all his own money, so he
+used some belonging to some one else. Now he's in trouble, bad trouble.
+What are you goin' to do about it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I? My dear man, what should I do about it? What can I do? I have
+explained my situation to him. I am, owing to circumstances and
+the&mdash;ah&mdash;machinations of certain individuals&mdash;both circumstances and
+individuals of your acquaintance, I believe&mdash;in a most unfortunate
+position financially. I have no money, or very little. Our&mdash;your young
+protege wished to risk some of his money in a certain speculation. I did
+the same. The speculation was considered good at the time. I still
+consider it good, although profit may be deferred. He took the risk with
+his eyes open. He is of age. He is not a child, although&mdash;pardon
+me&mdash;this new action of his might lead one to think him such. I am sorry
+for him, but I do not consider myself at all responsible."</p>
+
+<p>"I see. But he has used money which wasn't his to speculate with."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry, deeply sorry. But&mdash;is that my fault?</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that might be a question, mightn't it? You knew he was usin' that
+money?"</p>
+
+<p>"Pardon me&mdash;pardon me, Kendrick; but is that&mdash;ah&mdash;strictly true?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, he says it is. However, the question is just this: Will you help
+him out by buyin' up his share in this C. M. deal? Pay him back his
+sixteen hundred and take the whole thing over yourself?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Phillips for the first time permitted himself the luxury of a real
+smile.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_349" id="pg_349">349</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"My <i>dear</i> man," he observed, "you're not seriously offering such a
+proposition as that, are you? You must be joking."</p>
+
+<p>"It's no joke to poor George. And he's only a boy, after all. You
+wouldn't want him to go to jail."</p>
+
+<p>The smile disappeared. "I should be pained," protested Egbert, and
+proved it by looking pained. "It would grieve me deeply. But I can't
+think such a contingency possible. No, no; not possible. And in time&mdash;my
+brokers assure me a very short time&mdash;the stock will advance."</p>
+
+<p>"And you won't take over his share and get all that profit yourself?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can't. It is impossible. I am so sorry. In former days&mdash;" with a
+gesture of resignation&mdash;"it would have been quite possible. Then I
+should have been delighted. But now.... However, you must, as a man of
+the world, see that all this is quite absurd. And it is painful to me,
+as a friend&mdash;still a friend of young Kent's. Pardon me again, but I am
+busy this afternoon and&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>He rose. Sears did not rise. He remained seated.</p>
+
+<p>"Jail's a mean place," he remarked, with apparent irrelevance. "I'd hate
+to go there myself. So would you, I'll bet."</p>
+
+<p>Another pause on Phillips' part. Then another wearied smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you&mdash;ah&mdash;foresee any likelihood of either of us arriving at that
+destination?" he inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, <i>I'm</i> hopin' to stay out, for a spell anyway. Mr.
+Phillips&mdash;Egbert&mdash;yes, yes, Egbert, of course; we're gettin' better
+acquainted all the time, so we just mustn't stand on ceremony. Egbert,
+how about those City of Boston 4-1/2s you put up as security over there
+in New York? What are you goin' to do about <i>them</i>?"</p>
+
+<p>Egbert had strolled to the window and was looking out. He continued to
+look out. The captain, his gaze fixed upon the beautifully draped, even
+though the least bit shiny, shoulders of the Phillips' coat, watched
+eagerly for some shiver, some sign of agitation, however slight. But
+there
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_350" id="pg_350">350</a></span> was none. The sole indication that the shot just fired had had
+any effect was the length of time Egbert took before turning. When he
+did turn he was still blandly smiling. He walked back to the rocker and
+settled himself upon its patchwork cushion.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes?" he queried. "You were saying&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I was speakin' of those two one thousand dollar City of Boston bonds
+you sent your brokers, you know. Would you mind tellin' me how you got
+those bonds?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr Phillips lifted one slim leg over the other. He lifted two slim hands
+and placed their finger tips together.</p>
+
+<p>"Kendrick," he asked, "you will pardon me for speaking plainly? Thank
+you so much. I have already listened to you for some time&mdash;more time
+than I should have spared. For some reason you have&mdash;ah&mdash;seen fit
+to&mdash;shall we say pursue me here. Having found me, you make a
+most&mdash;pardon me again&mdash;unreasonable and childish demand on the part of
+young Kent. I cannot grant it. Now is there any use wasting more time by
+asking&mdash;pardon me once more&mdash;impertinent questions concerning my
+affairs? You can scarcely&mdash;well, even you, my dear Kendrick, can hardly
+expect me to answer them. Don't you think this&mdash;ah&mdash;extremely pleasant
+interview had better end pleasantly&mdash;by ending now?"</p>
+
+<p>He would have risen once more, but Sears motioned him to remain in the
+rocker. The captain leaned forward.</p>
+
+<p>"Egbert," he said briskly, "I'm busy, too; but I have spent a good many
+hours and some dollars to get at you and I shan't leave you until I get
+at least a part of what I came after. Those Boston bonds&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Are my property, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I don't know. The last anybody heard they were the property of
+Mrs. Cordelia Berry. Now you say they're yours. That's one of the
+matters to be settled before you and I part company, Egbert."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Phillips' aristocratic form stiffened. Slowly he rose to his feet.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_351" id="pg_351">351</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"You are insulting," he proclaimed. "That will do. There is the door."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I see it. It's a nice door; the grainin' on it seems to be pretty
+well done. How did you get hold of those bonds, Egbert?"</p>
+
+<p>"If you don't go, I shall."</p>
+
+<p>"All right. Then I'll go with you. You shan't take the three-fifteen or
+any other train till we've settled this and some other questions. Oh,
+it's a fact. No hard feelin', you know; just business, that's all."</p>
+
+<p>Egbert moved toward the door. His caller rose to follow him. The captain
+often wondered afterward whether or not Phillips would really have left
+the room if there had been no interruption. The question remained a
+question because at that moment there was a knock on the other side of
+the door. It had a marked effect upon Egbert. He started, frowned and
+shot another glance at the clock.</p>
+
+<p>"Excuse me," said Mrs. Backus, opening the door a crack, "but my husband
+has come."</p>
+
+<p>Phillips seemed relieved, yet troubled, too.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;ah&mdash;yes," he said. "Will you kindly ask him to wait? Thank you."</p>
+
+<p>The lady closed the door again. Egbert took a turn across the room and
+back. Kendrick smiled cheerfully.</p>
+
+<p>"About those bonds?" he observed.</p>
+
+<p>Phillips faced him.</p>
+
+<p>"The bonds," he declared, "are mine. How I got them is not your business
+in the least."</p>
+
+<p>"Just a minute, just a minute. Cordelia Berry&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Did Mrs. Berry tell you that I had them?"</p>
+
+<p>"No need to bother with that part of it now. I know."</p>
+
+<p>"But she did not give you authority to come to me about them? Don't
+pretend she did; I know better."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not goin' to pretend&mdash;that. She didn't."</p>
+
+<p>"Humph!" with a sneer; "perhaps your authority comes from some one else.
+Her daughter, maybe? You and she are&mdash;or shall we say <i>were</i>&mdash;quite
+touchingly confidential at one time, I believe."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_352" id="pg_352">352</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The tone and the remark were mistakes; it would have been much better
+for the Phillips cause if the speaker had continued to be loftily
+condescending. Sears kept a grip on his temper, but his own tone changed
+as he replied.</p>
+
+<p>"Egbert," he said sharply, "look here. The facts, as far as a man
+without a spyglass can sight 'em through the fog, are just these: You
+got George Kent into a stock trade. He put up money&mdash;real money. You put
+up two thousand dollars in bonds and, because that was more than your
+share, he paid you four hundred dollars in cash. The last anybody knew
+the two bonds you put up were the property of Cordelia Berry. I want to
+know how you got hold of 'em."</p>
+
+<p>"Am I to understand that you are accusing me of <i>stealing</i> those bonds?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not accusin' you of anything in particular. George has put this
+affair of his in my hands; I've got what amounts to his signed power of
+attorney in my pocket. If those bonds are yours, and you can prove it,
+then I shan't say any more about 'em. If they still belong to
+Cordelia&mdash;well, that's another question, one I mean to have the answer
+to before you and I part company."</p>
+
+<p>"Kendrick, I&mdash;&mdash; Do you realize that I can have you arrested for this?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know. But it does seem to me that if those bonds aren't your
+property then you had no right to pledge 'em in that stock deal. And
+that your takin' Kent's four hundred dollars in part payment for 'em
+comes pretty nigh to what a lawyer would call gettin' money under false
+pretenses. So the arrests might be even-Stephen, so far as that goes."</p>
+
+<p>This was the sheerest "bluff," but it was delivered with all the
+assurance in the world. It had not precisely the effect Sears had hoped
+for. Egbert did not seem so much frightened as annoyed by it. He
+frowned, walked across the room and back, looked at the clock, then out
+of the window, and finally turned to his opponent.</p>
+
+<p>"Recognizing, of course," he sneered, "the fact that all
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_353" id="pg_353">353</a></span> this is
+absolutely none of your business, Kendrick; may I ask why you didn't
+come to me in Bayport instead of here?"</p>
+
+<p>The captain's smile returned. "I did try to come, Egbert," he answered.
+"But you had gone and so had the things in your room. You told Sarah and
+the stable folks you were goin' to Trumet. When I found you hadn't gone
+there, but were bound for here&mdash;after hidin' your valises over night in
+Tabby Crosby's shed&mdash;I decided you might be goin' even farther than
+Denboro, and that if I wanted to see you pretty soon&mdash;or ever,
+maybe&mdash;I'd better hoist sail and travel fast. When the depot folks told
+me you were askin' about the three-fifteen I felt confirmed in my
+judgments, as the fellow said. Now if you'll tell me about those bonds?"</p>
+
+<p>Another turn by Phillips across the parlor and back. Then he asked, with
+sarcasm, "If I were to tell you that those bonds were given me by Mrs.
+Berry, you wouldn't believe it, I presume?"</p>
+
+<p>"We-ll, I'd like to hear a little testimony from Cordelia first."</p>
+
+<p>"May I ask why you did not go to her instead of to me?"</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't have a chance. You got away too soon."</p>
+
+<p>"Possibly you may have thought that she, too, would consider it none of
+your business. And, since you won't take my word, how do you expect me
+to prove&mdash;here in Denboro that those bonds are mine?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know. But if it can't be proved in Denboro, then I'm afraid,
+Egbert, that you'll have to go back to Bayport with me and prove it
+there.... Oh, I know you'd hate to go, but&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Go! I flatly refuse to go, of course."</p>
+
+<p>"I was afraid you would. Well, then I'd have to call in the constable to
+help get you under way. Jim Baker, the depot master, is constable here
+in Denboro. He and I were shipmates. He'd arrest the prophet Elijah if I
+asked him to, and not ask why, either."</p>
+
+<p>"Kendrick&mdash;&mdash;"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_354" id="pg_354">354</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Egbert, a spell ago you and I had a little chat together and I told you
+I had just begun to fight.... Well, I haven't really begun yet, but I'm
+gettin' up steam.... Think it over."</p>
+
+<p>Phillips stopped and, standing by the window, stared fixedly at the
+captain. The latter met the stare with a look of the blandest serenity.
+Behind the look, however, were feelings vastly different. If ever a
+forlorn hope skated upon thin ice, his and George Kent's was doing so at
+that moment. If Egbert <i>should</i> agree to return to Bayport, and if his
+statement concerning the ownership of the Boston bonds <i>was</i> true,
+then&mdash;well, then it would not be Mr. Phillips who might receive the
+attentions of the constable.</p>
+
+<p>Egbert stopped staring and once more looked at the clock. Quarter past
+two! He turned again quickly.</p>
+
+<p>"Kendrick," he snapped, "what <i>is</i> your proposition?"</p>
+
+<p>"My proposition? I want you to pay me the sixteen hundred dollars Kent
+put into that C. M. stock deal. If you do that I'll give you his signed
+paper turnin' over to you all interest in the deal. You can make all the
+profit on it yourself&mdash;when it comes. Then in matter of Cordelia's
+bonds&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Phillips lifted a hand.</p>
+
+<p>"The bonds are not to be considered," he said, decisively. "If they are
+mine, as I say they are, you have no claim on them. If they are Mrs.
+Berry's, as you absurdly pretend to think they are, again you have no
+claim. If she says I have stolen them&mdash;which she won't&mdash;she may
+prosecute; but, again, my dear sir, she&mdash;ah&mdash;won't."</p>
+
+<p>The slight smile accompanying the last sentence troubled the captain. It
+was not the smile of a frightened man. Before he could reply Egbert
+continued.</p>
+
+<p>"But the bond matter may be settled later," he went on. "So far as I am
+concerned it is settled now. For our&mdash;ah&mdash;foolish young friend, Kent,
+however, I feel a certain sense of&mdash;shall we say pity?&mdash;and am inclined
+to make certain confessions. Silly sentimentalism on my part,
+doubtless&mdash;but pity, nevertheless. If you will give me the paper signed
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_355" id="pg_355">355</a></span>
+by him, which you claim to have, relinquishing all share in the stock at
+the New York brokers, I will&mdash;well, yes, I will pay you the sixteen
+hundred dollars."</p>
+
+<p>It was Sears Kendrick who was staggered now. It was his turn to stare.</p>
+
+<p>"You will pay me sixteen hundred dollars&mdash;<i>now</i>?" he gasped.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"But&mdash;but.... Humph! Well, thanks, Egbert&mdash;but your check, you know&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I have no time to waste in drawing checks. I will pay you in cash."</p>
+
+<p>And, as Sears's already wide-open eyes opened wider and wider, he calmly
+took from his coat a pocketbook hugely obese and extracted from that
+pocketbook a mammoth roll of bank notes.</p>
+
+<p>Ten minutes later the captain was again moving along the road between
+Denboro and Bayport, bound home this time. He was driving mechanically;
+the horse was acting as his own pilot, for the man who held the reins
+was too much engrossed in thought to pay attention to such
+inconsequential matters as ruts or even roads. Sears was doing his best
+to find the answer to a riddle and, so far, the answer was as deeply
+shrouded in mist as ever a ship of his had been on any sea.</p>
+
+<p>He was satisfied in one way, more than satisfied. His demand for the
+full sixteen hundred had been made with no real hope. Had Phillips
+consented to return eight hundred dollars of the amount, the offer would
+in the end have been accepted with outward reluctance but inward joy.
+Had he refused to return a penny Kendrick would not have been surprised.
+But Egbert, after making up his mind, had paid the entire sum without a
+whimper, had paid it almost casually and with the air of one obliging a
+well-meaning, if somewhat annoying, inferior. Inspecting and pocketing
+Kent's power of attorney and the captain's receipt he had dismissed his
+visitor at the parsonage door as King Solomon in all his glory might
+have graciously dismissed a beggar whose petition
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_356" id="pg_356">356</a></span> had been granted. And
+the look in his eye and the half smile beneath the long mustache were
+not those of one beaten at a game&mdash;no, they were not.</p>
+
+<p>The recollection of that look and that smile bothered Sears Kendrick. He
+could not guess what was behind them. One thing seemed to be certain,
+his threats of prosecution and his bluffs concerning the Boston bonds
+had not alarmed Phillips greatly. He had not given in because he was
+afraid of imprisonment. No; no, the only symptoms of nervousness he had
+shown were his repeated glances at the clock, at his watch, and when he
+looked out of the parsonage window. More and more the captain was forced
+to the conclusion that Egbert had paid him to get rid of him, that he
+did not wish to be detained or to have Kendrick remain there, and his
+reasons must have been so important that he was willing to part with
+sixteen hundred dollars to get his visitor out of the way.</p>
+
+<p>But what possible reason could be as important as that? Why had he run
+away from Bayport? Why was he taking the three-fifteen train&mdash;at
+Denboro? Why was he spending the time before the departure of that train
+in the parlor of the Methodist parsonage? And he had made an appointment
+with the minister himself. Was he expecting some one else at that
+parsonage?</p>
+
+<p>Eh? The captain straightened on the buggy seat. He spoke aloud one word,
+a name.</p>
+
+<p>"Cordelia!" he cried.</p>
+
+<p>For another five minutes Captain Sears Kendrick, his frown growing
+deeper and deeper as the conviction was forced upon him, sat motionless
+in the buggy. Then he spoke sharply to his horse, turned the latter
+about, and drove rapidly back to Denboro. He could do nothing worth
+while, he could prevent nothing, but he could answer that riddle. He
+believed he had answered it already.</p>
+
+<p>It was half-past three when he again knocked at the parsonage door. The
+Reverend Backus himself answered the knock.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, no," he said, "Mr. Phillips has gone. Yes, I think&mdash;I am
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_357" id="pg_357">357</a></span> sure he
+took the train. You are his friend, aren't you? I am sorry you missed
+the&mdash;er&mdash;happy event. Mrs. Phillips&mdash;the new Mrs. Phillips&mdash;is a
+charmingly refined lady, isn't she? And Mr. Phillips himself is <i>such</i> a
+gentleman. I don't know when I have had the pleasure of&mdash;er&mdash;officiating
+at a pleasanter ceremony. I shall always remember it."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Backus looked over her husband's shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"The bride came just after you left," she explained. "She was just a
+little late, she said; but it was all right, there was plenty of time.
+And she did look <i>so</i> happy!"</p>
+
+<p>Captain Kendrick did not look happy. He had answered the riddle
+correctly. An elopement, of course. It was plain enough now. Oh, if he
+might have been there when that poor, silly, misguided woman arrived! He
+might not have been able to stop the marriage, but at least he
+could&mdash;and would&mdash;have told the bride a few pointed truths concerning
+the groom.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Backus, all smiles, asked her husband a question. "What did you say
+her name was, dear?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>The minister hesitated. "Why&mdash;why&mdash;" he stammered, "it was&mdash;&mdash; Dear me,
+how forgetful I am!"</p>
+
+<p>Sears supplied the information.</p>
+
+<p>"Berry," he said, gloomily. "Cordelia Berry."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Backus seemed surprised. "Why, no," he declared. "That doesn't sound
+like the name.... It wasn't. No, it wasn't. It was&mdash;I have it&mdash;Snowden.
+Miss Elvira Snowden&mdash;of Ostable, I believe."</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_358" id="pg_358">358</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_XIX_14166" id="CHAPTER_XIX_14166"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER XIX</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Not until Captain Kendrick entered the Minot kitchen late that afternoon
+did he get the full and complete answer to his puzzle. Judah supplied
+the missing details, supplied them with a rush, had evidently been
+bursting with them for hours.</p>
+
+<p>"My hoppin', creepin', jumpin' prophets, Cap'n Sears," he roared, before
+his lodger could speak a word, "if I ain't got the dumdest news to tell
+you now, then nobody ever had none!... You ain't heard it, Cap'n, have
+you? <i>Don't</i> tell me you've heard it already! Have you?"</p>
+
+<p>Sears shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, Judah," he replied. "Have
+I?"</p>
+
+<p>"Hoppin' Henry! I <i>hope</i> you ain't, 'cause I wanted to tell you myself.
+It's about Elviry Snowden. Have you heard anything about her?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;well, what have <i>you</i> heard?"</p>
+
+<p>"Heard! They heard it fust over to the Harbor about a couple of hours
+ago. Bradley, the Orham lawyer feller, he'd heard it and he come over to
+see Elizabeth about somethin' or 'nother and he told it to all hands.
+You know that aunt of Elviry's over to Ostable, the one that died last
+week? Well all hands had cal'lated she was kind of on her beam
+ends&mdash;poor, I mean. When her husband died, don't you recollect some
+property they owned over to Harniss was goin' to be sold to auction? All
+them iron images Elviry wanted to buy was part of 'em; don't you
+remember?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I remember.</p>
+
+<p>"Sartin sure you do. Well, so fur as that goes them images wan't sold
+because the widow changed her mind
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_359" id="pg_359">359</a></span> about 'em and had 'em all carted
+over to another little place she owned in Ostable, and set up in the
+yard there. She's been livin' on this place in Ostable and everybody
+figgered she didn't have much money else she'd stayed in the big house
+in Harniss. But, by Henry, since she's died it's come out that she was
+rich. Yes, sir, rich! She'd saved every cent, you see; never spent
+nothin'. A reg'lar mouser, she was&mdash;miser, I mean. And who do you
+suppose she's left it all to? Elviry, by the creepin'! Yes, sir, every
+last cent to Elviry Snowden."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>No!!</i>"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. Elviry's rich. 'Cordin' to Bradley's tell there's a lot of land
+and a house and barn, and all them iron images, and&mdash;wait; let me tell
+you&mdash;stocks, and things like that, and over ten thousand dollars cash in
+the bank, by Henry! In <i>cash</i>, where Elviry can get right aholt of it if
+she wants to. Much as thirty thousand, altogether, land and all. And....
+What in tunket are you laughin' at?"</p>
+
+<p>For Captain Kendrick had thrown himself into the rocking chair and was
+shaking the pans on the stove with peal after peal of laughter.</p>
+
+<p>It was so simple, so complete, and so wonderfully, gorgeously Egbertian.
+A little matter of arithmetic, that was all. Merely the substitution of
+twenty or thirty thousand dollars and a landed estate for five&mdash;no,
+three&mdash;thousand dollars and a somewhat cramped future at the Fair
+Harbor. The ladies in the case were incidental. When the choice was
+offered him the businesslike Phillips hesitated not a moment. He was on
+with the new love even before he was off with the old. And, in order to
+avoid the unpleasantness which was sure to ensue when the old found it
+out, he had arranged to be married at Denboro and to be far afield upon
+his wedding tour before the news reached Bayport.</p>
+
+<p>Everything was clear now. Elvira's windfall explained it all. It was her
+money which had paid Captain Elkanah, and Sarah Macomber, and the livery
+man, and no doubt many another of Egbert's little bills. It was her
+money that was paying the honeymoon expenses. And, of course, it
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_360" id="pg_360">360</a></span> was
+her sixteen hundred dollars which had just been handed to Sears Kendrick
+in the parlor of the parsonage.</p>
+
+<p>No wonder that, under the circumstances, Egbert had chosen to pay. It
+must have been a nerve-racking session for him, that interview with the
+captain. Each minute might bring his bride-to-be to the parsonage door,
+and if she learned before marriage of Cordelia's bonds and the
+Kent-Phillips stock speculation, not to mention the threatened arrest
+and consequent scandal, why&mdash;well, Elvira was fatuously smitten, but the
+chances were that the wedding would have been postponed, if nothing
+worse. No wonder Egbert preferred parting with a portion of his
+lady-love's fortune to the risk of parting with the lady herself&mdash;and
+the remainder of it.</p>
+
+<p>Sears did not tell Judah of the elopement. He did not feel like it,
+then. His had been a tiring day and the strain upon his own nerves not
+slight. He wanted to rest, he wanted to think, and he did not want to
+talk. Judah spared him the trouble; he did talking enough for two.</p>
+
+<p>After supper George Kent came hurrying into the yard. Sears had expected
+him and, when he came, led him into the "spare stateroom" and closed the
+door. Then, without any preliminaries, he took the sixteen hundred
+dollars from his wallet and gave them to him.</p>
+
+<p>"There's your money, George," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Kent could not believe it. He had come here, in the last stages of
+despair. This was practically his final day of grace. The afternoon mail
+had brought him another letter from his brother-in-law, making immediate
+demand and threatening drastic action within the week. He had come,
+haggard, nervous and trembling, ready to proclaim again his intention of
+self-destruction.</p>
+
+<p>He sat there, staring at the money in his hand, saying nothing. His face
+was as white as the clean towels on the captain's washstand. Kendrick,
+leaning forward, laid a hand on his knee.</p>
+
+<p>"Brace up, George," he ordered, sharply. "Don't let go of the wheel."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_361" id="pg_361">361</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Kent slowly lifted his gaze from the roll of bills to his friend's face.</p>
+
+<p>"You&mdash;you <i>got</i> it!" he faltered.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>I</i> got it&mdash;all of it. There's the whole sixteen hundred there. Count
+it."</p>
+
+<p>"But&mdash;but, oh, my God! I&mdash;I&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Sshh! Steady as she is, George. Count your money. Put it on the table
+here by the lamp."</p>
+
+<p>He took the bills from Kent's shaking fingers, arranged them on the
+table and, at last, coaxed or drove the young man into beginning to
+count them. Of course it was Kendrick himself who really counted; his
+companion did little but pick up the bank notes and drop them again.
+Suddenly, in the midst of the performance, he stopped, put his hands to
+his face and burst into hysterical sobs.</p>
+
+<p>Sears let him cry for a time, merely stepping across to make sure that
+the bedroom door was tightly closed, and then standing above him with
+his hands on the bowed shoulders. After a little the sobs ceased. A
+moment later and George raised his head.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh!" he exclaimed. "What a&mdash;a kid I am!"</p>
+
+<p>Sears, who had been thinking pretty nearly that very thing, patted the
+shoulder beneath his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"All right, George," he said. "Bein' a kid is no crime. In fact, it has
+some advantages."</p>
+
+<p>"But&mdash;but, you see&mdash;I&mdash;I have been through purgatory this week, I&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I know. But you're all through and out now."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I&mdash;I am. By George, I am, aren't I!... And you did it for me.
+<i>You</i> did!"</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind that. I enjoyed doin' it. Yes," with a slight smile, "I had
+a pretty good time, take it by and large."</p>
+
+<p>"And you got the&mdash;the whole of it! The whole!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"But I can't understand.... Did&mdash;Cap'n Kendrick, did you borrow it for
+me?"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_362" id="pg_362">362</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"No. I talked things over with your&mdash;er&mdash;side-partner and he decided to
+give it back."</p>
+
+<p>"To give it back! Mr. Phillips did, you mean? But he wouldn't give it to
+me. I begged him to. I should have been satisfied with half of it&mdash;my
+sister's half. Indeed I should! But he said he couldn't give it to me,
+he didn't have it to give. And&mdash;and you got him to give me the whole!
+Cap'n Kendrick, I&mdash;I can't understand."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't have to. There's your sixteen hundred. Now take it, and
+before you turn in this night you get ready to send your brother-in-law
+his half, and the papers that go with it, on the first mail. That's all
+I ask of you, George."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll have it in the post office as soon as it opens to-morrow morning.
+You bet I will!"</p>
+
+<p>"That's what I want to be able to bet. You send a money-order, that's
+safest. And&mdash;well, yes, George, you might show me the receipt."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll show it to you. You can keep it for me, if you want to."</p>
+
+<p>"Seein' it will do. And one thing more: you promise me now, on your word
+of honor, not to take any more of those stock market fliers for&mdash;well,
+for ten years, anyhow."</p>
+
+<p>Kent promised; he would have promised anything. His color had come back,
+his spirits were now as high as they had been low, and he was striding
+up and down the room like a mad thing.</p>
+
+<p>"But how did you get it for me?" he kept demanding. The captain bade him
+stop.</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind how I got it," he declared. "I got it, and you've got it,
+and you'll have to be satisfied with that. Don't ask me again, George."</p>
+
+<p>"I won't, but&mdash;but I can't understand Mr. Phillips giving it back. He
+didn't have to, you know. Say, I think it was mighty generous of him,
+after all. Don't you?"</p>
+
+<p>Sears's lip twitched. "It looks as if somebody was generous," he
+observed. "Now run along, George, and fix up that letter to your
+brother-in-law."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to. I'm going now. But, Cap'n Kendrick, I
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_363" id="pg_363">363</a></span> don't know what to
+say to you. I&mdash;why, great Scott, I can't begin to tell you how I feel
+about what you've done! I'd cut off my head for you; honest I would."</p>
+
+<p>"Cuttin' off your own head would be consider'ble of a job. Better keep
+your head on, George.... And use it once in a while."</p>
+
+<p>"You know what this means to me, Cap'n Kendrick. To my future and&mdash;and
+maybe some one else's future, too. Why, <i>now</i> I can go&mdash;I can say&mdash;&mdash;
+Oh, great Scott!"</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick opened the bedroom door. "Come now, George," he said. "Good
+night&mdash;and good luck."</p>
+
+<p>Kent would have said more, much more, even though Judah Cahoon was
+sitting, with ears and mouth open, in the kitchen. But the captain would
+not let him linger or speak. He helped him on with his coat and hat,
+and, with a slap on the back, literally pushed him out into the yard.
+Then he turned on his heel and striding again through the kitchen
+re&euml;ntered the spare stateroom and closed the door behind him. Judah
+shouted something about its being "not much more'n two bells"&mdash;meaning
+nine o'clock&mdash;but he received no answer.</p>
+
+<p>Judah did not retire until nearly eleven that night, but when, at last,
+he did go to his own room, there was a light still shining under the
+door of the spare stateroom and he could hear the captain's footsteps
+moving back and forth, back and forth, within. For two hours he had so
+heard them. Obviously the "old man" was pacing the deck, a pretty sure
+sign of rough weather present or expected. Mr. Cahoon was troubled, also
+disappointed. He would have liked to talk interminably concerning the
+sensational news of Miss Snowden's inheritance; he had not begun to
+exhaust the possibilities of that subject. Then, too, he was very
+anxious to learn where Captain Sears had been all day, and why. He tried
+in various ways to secure attention. But when, after singing eight
+verses of the most doleful ditty in his repertoire, he was not ordered
+to "shut up," was in fact ignored altogether, he quit disgusted. But, as
+he
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_364" id="pg_364">364</a></span> closed the door of his own bedchamber, he could still hear the
+regular footfalls in the spare stateroom.</p>
+
+<p>Had he listened for another hour or more he would have heard them. Sears
+Kendrick was tramping back and forth, his hands jammed in his pockets,
+and upon his spirit the blackest and deepest and densest of clouds. It
+was the reaction, of course. He was tired physically, but more tired
+mentally. All day long he had been under a sharp strain, now he was
+experiencing the let-down. But there was more than that. His campaign
+against Egbert Phillips had kept him interested. Now the fight was over
+and, although superficially he was the victor, in reality it was a
+question which side had won. He had saved George Kent's money and his
+good name. And Cordelia Berry's future was safe, too, although her two
+thousand dollars might be, and probably were, lost. But, after all, his
+was a poor sort of victory. Egbert was, doubtless, congratulating
+himself and chuckling over the outcome of the battle; with thirty
+thousand dollars and ease and comfort for the rest of his life, he could
+afford to chuckle. Kent's happiness was sure. He could go to Elizabeth
+now with clean hands and youth and hope. Perhaps he had gone to her
+already. That very evening he and she might be together once more.</p>
+
+<p>And for the man who had made this possible, what remained? Where were
+those silly hopes with which, at one time, he had deluded himself? He
+had dared to dream romance. Where was that romance now? Face to face
+with reality, what was to be <i>his</i> future? More days and weeks and years
+of puttering with the penny-paring finances of a home for old women?</p>
+
+<p>He dressed next morning with a mind made up. He had dallied and
+deliberated and wished long enough. Now he <i>knew</i>. His stay in Bayport
+was practically ended. Give him a little time and luck enough to find a
+competent manager for the Fair Harbor, one with whom he believed Judge
+Knowles would have been satisfied, and he was through for good. He must
+play fair with the judge and then&mdash;then for the shipping offices of
+Boston or New York
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_365" id="pg_365">365</a></span> and a berth at sea. His health was almost normal;
+his battered limbs were nearly as sound as ever. He could handle a ship
+and he could handle men. His fights and sacrifices for others were
+finished, over and done with. Now he would fight for himself.</p>
+
+<p>His breakfast appetite was poor. Judah, aghast at the sight of his
+untouched plate, demanded to know if he was sick. The answer to the
+question was illuminating.</p>
+
+<p>"No," snapped the captain, "I'm not sick.... Yes, I am, too. I'm sick to
+death of this town and this place and this landlubber's job. Judah, are
+you goin' to spend the rest of your days playin' hired boy for Ogden
+Minot? Or are you comin' to sea again with me? Because to sea is where
+I'm goin'&mdash;and mighty quick."</p>
+
+<p>Judah's mouth opened. "Hoppin' Henry!" he gasped. "Why, Cap'n Sears&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"You don't <i>like</i> this job, do you? Hadn't you rather have your own
+galley on board a decent ship? Are you a sea-man&mdash;or a washwoman? Don't
+you want to ship with me again?"</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Want</i> to! Cap'n Sears, you know I'd rather go to sea along with you
+than&mdash;than be King of Rooshy. But you ain't fit to go to sea yet."</p>
+
+<p>"Shut up! Don't you dare say that again. And stand by to pack your sea
+chest when I give the order.... No, I don't want to argue. I won't
+argue. Clear out!"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cahoon, bewildered but obedient, cleared out. Not long afterward he
+drove away on the seat of the truck wagon to haul the Bangs wood, the
+task postponed from the previous day. Kendrick, left alone, lit a pipe
+and resumed his pacing up and down. Later on he took pen, ink and paper
+and seated himself at the table to write some letters to shipping
+merchants whose vessels he had commanded in the old days, the happy days
+before he gave up seafaring to become a poor imitation of a business man
+on shore.</p>
+
+<p>He composed these letters with care. Two were completed and the third
+was under way, when some one knocked at the other door. He laid down his
+pen impatiently. He
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_366" id="pg_366">366</a></span> did not want to be interrupted. If the visitor was
+Kent he did not feel like listening to more thanks. If it was Esther
+Tidditt she could unload her cargo of gossip at some other port.</p>
+
+<p>But the caller was neither George nor Esther. It was Elizabeth who
+entered the kitchen in answer to his command to "Come in." He rose to
+greet her. She looked pale&mdash;yes, and tired, but she smiled faintly as
+she bade him good morning.</p>
+
+<p>"Cap'n Kendrick," she said, "are you very busy? I suppose you are,
+but&mdash;but if you are not too busy I should like to talk with you for a
+few minutes. May I?"</p>
+
+<p>He nodded. "Of course," he said. "My business can wait a little longer;
+it has waited a good while, this particular business has. Sit down."</p>
+
+<p>She took the rocker. He sat at the other side of the table, waiting for
+her to speak. It came to him, the thought that, the last time she had
+visited that kitchen, she had left it vowing never to speak to him
+again. Well, at least that was over; she no longer believed him a spy,
+and all the rest of it. There was, or should be, some comfort for him in
+knowing that.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly, just as she had done on the platform of the lawyer's office at
+Orham, she put out her hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't!" she pleaded.</p>
+
+<p>He started, confusedly. "Don't?" he stammered. "What?"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't think of&mdash;of what you were thinking. If you knew&mdash;oh, Cap'n
+Kendrick, if you could only realize how wicked I feel. Even when I said
+those dreadful things to you I didn't mean them. And now&mdash;&mdash; Oh,
+<i>please</i> forget them, if you can."</p>
+
+<p>He drew a long breath. "I never saw any one like you," he declared. "How
+did you know what I was thinkin'? ... Of course I wasn't thinkin' it,
+but&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>She interrupted. "Of course you were, you mean," she said, with a faint
+smile. "It isn't hard to know what you
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_367" id="pg_367">367</a></span> think. You don't hide your
+thoughts very well, Cap'n Kendrick. They aren't the kind one needs to
+hide."</p>
+
+<p>He stared at her in guilty amazement. "Good land!" he ejaculated,
+involuntarily. "Don't talk that way. What do you mean by that?"</p>
+
+<p>"I mean that your thoughts are always straightforward and&mdash;well, honest,
+like yourself.... But we mustn't waste time. I don't know when we shall
+have another opportunity to be together like this, and there are some
+things I must say to you. Cap'n Kendrick, you know&mdash;you have heard the
+news?"</p>
+
+<p>"News?... Oh, you mean about Elvira's inheritin' all that money?"</p>
+
+<p>"That, of course. But that wasn't the news I meant. I mean about her
+eloping with&mdash;with that man."</p>
+
+<p>Troubled even as Sears was at the sight of her evident distress, he
+could not but feel a thrill of satisfaction at the tone in which she
+referred to "that man." He nodded.</p>
+
+<p>"I've heard it," he said. "I guess likely I was about the first
+Bayporter that did hear it. When did you hear?"</p>
+
+<p>"A little while ago. He wrote&mdash;he wrote my mother a letter. It was at
+the post office this morning."</p>
+
+<p>"He did? He <i>didn't</i>! The low-lived scamp!"</p>
+
+<p>"Hush! Don't talk about him. Yes, he wrote her. <i>Such</i> a letter! She
+showed it to me. So full of hypocrisy, and lies and&mdash;oh, can't you
+imagine what it was?"</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick's right fist tapped the table gently. "I guess likely I can,"
+he said, grimly. "Well, some of these days I may run afoul of Egbert
+again. When I do&mdash;&mdash;" The fist closed a little tighter.</p>
+
+<p>"You won't touch him. Promise me you won't. If you should, I&mdash;&mdash; Oh,
+dear! I think I should be afraid to touch your hands afterwards."</p>
+
+<p>Sears smiled. "It might be safer to use my boot," he admitted. "Your
+mother&mdash;how is she?"</p>
+
+<p>"Can't you imagine? I think&mdash;I hope it is her pride that is hurt more
+than anything. For some little time&mdash;well, ever since I found out that
+she was lending him money&mdash;I have
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_368" id="pg_368">368</a></span> done my best to make her see what he
+really is. But before that&mdash;oh, there is no use pretending, for you
+know&mdash;she was insane about him. And now, with the shock and the
+disillusionment and the shame, she is&mdash;&mdash; Oh, it is dreadful!"</p>
+
+<p>"Do the&mdash;er&mdash;rest of 'em over there know it yet?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, but they will very soon. And when they do! You know what some of
+them are, what they will say. We can't stay there, mother and I. We must
+go away&mdash;and we will."</p>
+
+<p>She was crying, and if ever a man yearned for the r&ocirc;le of comforter,
+Sears Kendrick was that man. He tried to say something, but he was
+afraid to trust his own tongue; it might run away with him. And before
+his attempt was at all coherent, she went on.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't mind me," she said, hastily wiping her eyes. "I am nervous, and I
+have been through a bad hour, and&mdash;and I am acting foolishly, of course.
+I know that this is, in a way, the very best thing that could happen.
+This ends it, so far as mother is concerned. Oh, it might have been <i>so</i>
+much worse! It looked as if it were going to be. Now she <i>knows</i> what he
+is. I have known it, or been almost sure of it, for a long time. And you
+must have known it always, from the beginning. That is a part of what I
+came here for this morning. Please tell me how you knew and&mdash;and all
+about everything."</p>
+
+<p>So he told her, beginning with what Judge Knowles had said concerning
+Lobelia's husband, and continuing on to the end. She listened intently.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," she said. "I see. I wish you could have told me at first. I think
+if I had known exactly how Judge Knowles felt I might not have been so
+foolish. But I should have known&mdash;I should have seen for myself. Of
+course I should. To think that I ever believed in such a creature, and
+trusted him, and permitted him to influence me against&mdash;against a friend
+like you. Oh, I must have been crazy!"</p>
+
+<p>Kendrick shook his head. "No craziness about that," he declared. "I've
+seen some smooth articles in my time, seen 'em afloat and ashore, from
+one end of this world to the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_369" id="pg_369">369</a></span> other, but of all the slick ones he was
+the slickest. It's a good thing the judge warned me before Egbert
+crossed my bows. If he hadn't&mdash;well, I don't know; <i>I</i> might have been
+lendin' him my last dollar, and proud of the chance&mdash;you can't tell....
+I'm sorry, though," he added, "that he got those bonds of your mother's.
+Borrowed 'em of her, you say?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. He was going to make better investments for her, I believe he
+said. But that doesn't make any difference. She has no receipts or
+anything to show. And of course if she should try to get them again
+there would be dreadful gossip, all sorts of things said. No, the bonds
+are gone and ... But how did you know about the bonds, Cap'n Kendrick?"</p>
+
+<p>Sears had momentarily forgotten. He had, during his story of his war
+with Phillips, carefully avoided mentioning Kent's trouble. He had told
+of chasing Egbert to Denboro, but the particular reason for the pursuit
+he had not told. He was taken aback and embarrassed.</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;why&mdash;&mdash;" he stammered.</p>
+
+<p>But she answered her own question. "Of course!" she cried. "I know how
+you knew. George said that&mdash;that that man had used some bonds as a part
+of their stock speculation. I didn't think then of mother's bonds. That
+is what he did with them. I see."</p>
+
+<p>The captain looked at her. Kent had told her of the C. M. deal. That
+meant that he had seen her, that already he had gone to her, to confess,
+to beg her pardon, to ... He sighed. Well, he should be glad, of course.
+He must pretend to be very glad.</p>
+
+<p>"So&mdash;so you've seen George?" he stammered.</p>
+
+<p>She colored slightly. "Yes," she answered. "He came to see me last
+evening.... Cap'n Kendrick you should hear him speak of you. You saved
+him from disgrace&mdash;and worse, he says. It was a wonderful thing to do.
+But I think you must be in the habit of doing wonderful things for other
+people."</p>
+
+<p>He shrugged his shoulders. "Nothin' very wonderful
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_370" id="pg_370">370</a></span> about it," he said.
+"George is a good boy. He hadn't bumped into any Egberts before, that's
+all. He'll be on the lookout for 'em now. I'm glad for him&mdash;and for
+you."</p>
+
+<p>If she understood what he meant she did not show any embarrassment.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know that you need be so glad for me," she said. "Yet in a way
+I am glad. The problem is settled now, mother's and mine. She and I will
+go away."</p>
+
+<p>"Go away? From the Fair Harbor?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and from Bayport. She has a little money left. Thanks to Judge
+Knowles, I have some of my own. She and I can live on the interest for a
+time, or until I can find a way to earn more."</p>
+
+<p>"But&mdash;but&mdash;George?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think George is going away, too. He spoke of Boston. But there is
+another thing I meant to say to you. I hate to leave you with the entire
+care of the Fair Harbor on your hands. I shall try and help you to find
+another matron before we go."</p>
+
+<p>Sears rose from his chair. "That's all right," he said, "that part of
+it. We'll try and find another outside manager at the same time. You
+see, you and your mother aren't the only ones who are quittin' Bayport.
+I'm goin', too."</p>
+
+<p>She turned to look at him. "<i>You</i> are going?" she repeated, slowly.
+"Where?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know exactly. To sea, I hope. I'm well again, or next door to
+it. I mean to command another ship, if such a thing's possible."</p>
+
+<p>"But you are leaving the Fair Harbor. Why?"</p>
+
+<p>He turned on her almost fiercely. "Why?" he cried. "Don't you know why?
+Because I'm a man&mdash;or I was one&mdash;and I want to be a man again. On shore,
+I'm&mdash;well, I'm a good deal of a failure, I guess; but on salt water I
+count for somethin'. I'm goin' to sea where I belong."</p>
+
+<p>He strode to the window and stood there, looking out. He heard her rise,
+heard her step beside him. Then he felt her hand upon his.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_371" id="pg_371">371</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I'm glad for you," she said, simply. "Very, very glad. I wish I were a
+man and could go, too."</p>
+
+<p>He did not look at her, he did not dare.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a rough life," he said, "but I like it."</p>
+
+<p>"I know.... So you will soon be really seeing again those things you
+told me about, the foreign cities and the people and those islands&mdash;and
+all the wonderful, wonderful places. And you won't have to fret about
+the grocery bills, or the mean little Fair Harbor gossip, or anything of
+the kind. You can just sail away and forget it all."</p>
+
+<p>"I shan't forget it all. There's a lot I never want to forget."</p>
+
+<p>There was an interval of silence here, an interval that, to the captain,
+seemed to last for ages. It must be broken, it must be or....</p>
+
+<p>"I shall think of you and George often enough," he announced, briskly.
+"Yes, indeed. And&mdash;and if it isn't too soon&mdash;that is, if you don't mind
+my bein' the first one&mdash;I'd like to congratulate you and wish you a
+smooth passage and a long one."</p>
+
+<p>She did not answer and he mustered courage to turn and look at her. She
+was looking at him and her expression was odd.</p>
+
+<p>"A smooth passage?" she repeated. "Why, Cap'n Kendrick, I'm not going to
+sea. What do you mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"I mean&mdash;well, I meant&mdash;er&mdash;oh, I was speakin' in parables, like a
+minister, you know. I was wishin' you and George a happy voyage through
+life, that's all."</p>
+
+<p>"George! Why, I am going away with my mother. George isn't.... Why,
+Cap'n Kendrick, you don't think&mdash;you can't think that George and I
+are&mdash;are&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? Aren't you? I thought&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>She shook her head. "I told you once," she said. "I mean it. I like
+George well enough&mdash;sometimes I like him better than at others. But&mdash;oh,
+why can't you believe me?"</p>
+
+<p>He was staring at her with a gaze so intent, an expression so strange
+that she could not meet it. She turned away.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_372" id="pg_372">372</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Please don't say any more about it," she begged.</p>
+
+<p>"But&mdash;but George is&mdash;he has counted on it. He told me&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't. I don't know what he told you. I hope nothing foolish. He and I
+understand each other. Last night, when he came, I told him ... There, I
+must go, Cap'n Kendrick. I have left mother alone too long already."</p>
+
+<p>"Wait!" he shouted it. "You mean ... You aren't goin' to marry George
+Kent&mdash;<i>ever</i>?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, no, of course not!"</p>
+
+<p>"Elizabeth&mdash;oh, my soul, I&mdash;I'm crazy, I guess&mdash;but&mdash;Elizabeth, could
+you&mdash;&mdash; No, you couldn't, I know.... But <i>am</i> I crazy? Could you&mdash;do
+you&mdash;Elizabeth, if you ... <i>Stop</i>!"</p>
+
+<p>She was on her way to the door.</p>
+
+<p>He sprang after her, caught her hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Elizabeth," he cried, the words tumbling over each other, "I'm
+thirty-eight years old. I'm a sailor, that's all. I'm not much of a man,
+as men go maybe, sort of a failure so far. But&mdash;with you to work for and
+live for, I&mdash;I guess I could be&mdash;I feel as if I could be almost
+anything. Could you give me that chance? Could you?"</p>
+
+<p>She did not answer; did not even look at him. He dropped her hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course not," he sighed. "Just craziness was what it was. Forgive me,
+my girl. And&mdash;forget it, if you can."</p>
+
+<p>She did not speak. Slowly, and still without looking at him, she walked
+out of the kitchen. The outer door closed behind her. He put his hand to
+his eyes, breathed deeply, and returning to the chair by the table, sat
+heavily down.</p>
+
+<p>"A failure," he groaned aloud. "Lord Almighty, <i>what</i> a failure!"</p>
+
+<p>He had not heard the door open, but he did hear her step, and felt her
+arms about his neck and her kiss upon his cheek.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't, don't, don't!" she sobbed. "Oh, my dear, don't say that. Don't
+ever say it again. Oh, you mustn't."</p>
+
+<p>And he did not. For the next half hour he said many
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_373" id="pg_373">373</a></span> other things, and
+so did she, and when at last she did go away, he stood in the doorway,
+looking after her, knowing himself to be not a failure, but the one real
+overwhelming success in all this gloriously successful world.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_374" id="pg_374">374</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_XX_14787" id="CHAPTER_XX_14787"></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER XX</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It was April and one of those beautiful early spring days with which New
+England is sometimes favored. The first buds were showing on the trees,
+the first patches of new green were sprinkling the sheltered slopes of
+the little hills, and under the dead leaves by the edges of the woods
+boys had been rummaging for the first mayflowers.</p>
+
+<p>It was supper time at the Fair Harbor and the "guests"&mdash;quoting Mrs.
+Susannah Brackett&mdash;or the "inmates"&mdash;quoting Mr. Judah Cahoon&mdash;were
+seated about the table. There were some notable vacancies in the roster.
+At the head, where Mrs. Cordelia Berry had so graciously and for so long
+presided, there was now an empty chair. That chair would soon be filled,
+however; the new matron of the Harbor was at that moment in the office
+discussing business matters with Mr. Bradley, the new "outside manager."
+She had told the others not to wait for her; she would come to supper as
+soon as she could. So Mrs. Brackett, who had moved up to the seat once
+glorified by the dignity of Miss Elvira Snowden, was serving the cold
+corned beef; while opposite her, in the chair where Elizabeth Berry used
+to sit, Mrs. Aurora Chase was ladling forth the preserved pears. And, in
+the absence of the matron, it was of course natural that conversation
+should turn to subjects which could not be discussed as freely or
+pointedly in her presence.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Desire Peasley began the discussion. She looked at the ancient
+clock on the mantel. The time was a quarter to six.</p>
+
+<p>"H'm," sniffed Miss Peasley, with a one-sided smile. "I suppose likely
+the great event's took place long afore this. They're married and off on
+their honeymoon by now....
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_375" id="pg_375">375</a></span> If you can call a cruise on board a ship
+bound to an outlandish place like Singapore a honeymoon. I took one
+voyage to Bombay with my brother, and 'twan't the honeymoon trip I'd
+pick out. <i>Such</i> a place! And such folks! The clothes those poor
+heathens wore&mdash;or didn't wear! Shameful! Don't talk!"</p>
+
+<p>The order not to talk was plainly not considered binding, for every one
+immediately began to talk.</p>
+
+<p>"I should like to have seen the weddin'," proclaimed Mrs. Hattis Thomas,
+with a giggle. "Must have looked more like an adoptin' ceremony than a
+marryin'. I've always been thankful for one thing, I married a man
+somewheres nigh my own age, anyhow."</p>
+
+<p>"Wonder how Cordelia likes bein' left alone?" observed Mrs. Constance
+Cahoon. "She's been used to havin' a daughter to wait on her hand and
+foot. Now she'll have to wait on herself for a spell. But I presume
+likely she won't mind that. Livin' up to Boston, with the interest of
+twenty-five thousand dollars to live on, will suit her down to the
+ground. She'll be airy enough now. Won't speak to common folks, I
+suppose. Well, she won't have to put herself out to speak to <i>me</i>. <i>I</i>
+shan't go a-visitin' her, even if she begs me to."</p>
+
+<p>There was no immediate symptom of Mrs. Berry's begging for visitors, at
+least none present had so far received an invitation. But all nodded,
+indicating that they, too, would scorn the plea when it came.</p>
+
+<p>"That poor man!" sighed Mrs. Brackett, pityingly. "How those two, mother
+and daughter, did pull the wool over his eyes. I suppose he thinks we
+all believe he wouldn't take a cent of Elizabeth's money. Humph! Good
+reason why Jack wouldn't eat his supper&mdash;he didn't have a chance. Ha,
+ha! I cal'late he'd taken it if he could have got it. But his wife knew
+a trick worth two of that. She'll keep him afloat and hard at work
+earnin' more for her to spend. Well, I hope his poor lame legs won't
+give out on him. If he has to give up goin' to sea <i>again</i>, I pity him,
+that's all I've got to say."
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_376" id="pg_376">376</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Chase, her jet black locks a trifle askew as usual, was listening,
+the hand holding the preserve spoon cupped behind her ear and the spoon
+itself sticking out like a Fiji Islander's head ornament. As usual she
+had heard next to nothing.</p>
+
+<p>"That's what <i>I</i> say!" she declared. "Why, Mr. Bradley, or whoever was
+responsible, let Sears Kendrick put a woman with six children in as
+matron of this place, I can't understand. Of course it's plain enough
+why Cap'n Sears wanted her to have the job. Joel Macomber's wages ain't
+more than twelve dollars a week and the salary here'll give 'em all the
+luxuries and doodads they want. Fust thing you know that Sary-Mary of
+hers'll be goin' to the Middleboro Academy to school. I wouldn't put it
+past her.... Hey? What did you say, Susanna?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Brackett had not said anything. She and some of the others were
+glancing uneasily in the direction of the hall door. All agreed that the
+appointment of Sarah Macomber as matron of the Fair Harbor was an
+outrage, but no one cared to have Mrs. Macomber know of that agreement.
+It was an experiment, that appointment, and Sarah herself was by no
+means confident of its success, although she had at last agreed to give
+it three months' trial. Half of that time was over and so far all was
+well. Bradley expressed huge satisfaction. Mrs. Macomber came to the
+Harbor early each morning and went home again after supper. Sarah-Mary
+and a hired girl, wages three dollars a week, were doing the Macomber
+housework.</p>
+
+<p>"Hey?" shouted Aurora once more. "What did you say, Susanna?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Brackett, after another uneasy glance at the hall door, nodded and
+smiled. Mrs. Cahoon spoke quickly, in order to change the subject.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you suppose I heard to-day?" she answered. "I met Josiah Ellis
+down to 'Liphalet's store and he told me he see Mr. Phillips yesterday.
+Josiah drove one of the livery hoss-'n'-teams over to Denboro&mdash;had a
+Boston notion drummer to cart over there, he did&mdash;and who should come
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_377" id="pg_377">377</a></span>
+drivin' along but Mr. Phillips. Josiah said he was dressed just as
+elegant as ever was, and the hoss-'n'-team he was drivin' was styled-up
+to match. Josiah hailed him and Mr. Phillips stopped and talked for a
+few minutes. Nice as always, not a bit of airs. No, Elviry wan't with
+him. Mr. Phillips said she was to home gettin' him ready to go away for
+a little vacation. Seems he's cal'latin' to go to New York for a
+fortni't. Mr. Phillips told Josiah that Elviry was kind of tired out,
+they'd done so much entertainin' this winter, and he was goin' away so's
+she could have a little rest. Ain't that just like him?
+Self-sacrificin'&mdash;my sakes! Elviry's a lucky woman, that's all I've got
+to say. I don't say so much about <i>his</i> luck; but when she got him she
+done well."</p>
+
+<p>There was a general buzz of agreement about the table. Then from the
+kitchen, where she had gone to get a fresh supply of cream-of-tartar
+biscuit, came little Mrs. Tidditt. She put the plate of biscuits on the
+table and sat down.</p>
+
+<p>"What's that, Constance?" she demanded.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Cahoon repeated the news of the Phillips family. Aurora put in a
+word.</p>
+
+<p>"There's one thing I've always been sorry for," she said. "Of course I
+wouldn't take anything away from Elviry, she and I have always been good
+friends. But she's got enough as 'tis, and I <i>do</i> wish&mdash;I do wish that
+Sears Kendrick had stayed away from this place until we'd had a chance
+to buy them lovely lawn statues. We'll never have another chance like
+that again."</p>
+
+<p>Esther Tidditt smiled. "Yes, you will, Aurora," she snapped. "Yes, you
+will. Give him time and about two or three more New York trips, and
+those images will be up at auction again. Thirty thousand don't last
+some folks long, and Elviry and her Eg will be needin' money to pay
+grocery bills. You can't eat an iron lion. Just wait, Aurora. We may
+have that menagerie in the yard here yet. Possess your soul in
+patience."</p>
+
+<p>There was another buzz about the table, this time of scornful
+disapproval. Mrs. Chase leaned forward.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_378" id="pg_378">378</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"What's she sayin', Susanna?" she demanded, querulously. "Susanna
+Brackett, why don't you or the rest tell me what she's sayin'?"</p>
+
+<hr class='minor' />
+
+<p>At that moment the ship <i>Gold Finder</i>, of Boston, Winthrop and
+Hunniwell, owners, Sears Kendrick, master, was sailing out over the
+waters of Massachusetts Bay. Astern, a diamond point against the
+darkening sky, Minot's Light shone. The vessel was heeling slightly in
+the crisp evening wind, her full, rounded sails rustling overhead, her
+cordage creaking, foam at her forefoot and her wake stretching backward
+toward the land she was leaving. Her skipper stood aft by the binnacle,
+feeling, with a joy quite indescribable, the lift of the deck beneath
+him and the rush of the breeze across his face.</p>
+
+<p>From the open door of the galley lamplight streamed. Within Judah Cahoon
+sang as he worked over the stove. Judah had had a glorious afternoon.
+His chanteys had cast off the hawsers, had walked away with the ropes,
+had hoisted the sails, had bade the tug good-by. Now his voice was a
+thought frayed, but he sang on.</p>
+
+<p>Elizabeth&mdash;now Elizabeth Berry no more forever&mdash;came up the companion
+ladder. She joined her husband by the after rail. The sea air was chill
+and she was wearing one of the captain's pea jackets, the collar turned
+up; a feathery strand of her brown hair blew out to leeward. She stood
+beside him. The man at the wheel was looking down into the binnacle and
+Sears took her hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Well?" he said, after a moment.</p>
+
+<p>She looked up at him. "Well?" she said.</p>
+
+<p>Neither spoke immediately. Then Kendrick breathed a sigh, a sigh
+expressive of many things.</p>
+
+<p>She understood. As always she knew what he was thinking.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," she said, "it is glorious. Glorious for me; but for you,
+Sears&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. It's pretty fine. I really never expected to make sail out of
+Boston harbor again. And if anybody had told
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_379" id="pg_379">379</a></span> me that I was to&mdash;" with
+another look at the helmsman, and lowering his voice&mdash;"to leave port
+this way&mdash;with you&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>He laughed aloud.</p>
+
+<p>She laughed, too. "And just think," she said; "no more little worries or
+pettinesses, no more whispers, or faultfinding, or&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Or Fair Harbors. You're right, my girl. We're off, clean away from it
+all, bound out."</p>
+
+<p>From the galley Judah's voice came, beginning the second verse of his
+song,</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"'Aloft! Aloft!' our jolly bos'n cries.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Blow high! blow low! and so sailed we.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Look ahead, look astern, look a-weather and a-lee,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Look along down the coast of the High Bar-ba-ree.'</span></p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"'There's none upon the starn, there's none upon the lee.'</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Blow high! blow low! and so sailed we.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'There's a lofty ship to wind'ard a-sailin' fast and free,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sailin' down along the coast of the High Bar-ba-ree.'"</span></p>
+
+<p style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:3em; text-align:center;'>THE END</p>
+
+<hr class='full' />
+
+<p style='text-align:center; font-size:x-large;'>Novels for Cheerful Entertainment</p>
+
+<p style='text-align:center; font-size:large; font-weight:bold;'>GALUSHA THE MAGNIFICENT</p>
+
+<p style='text-align:center; font-style:italic;'>By Joseph C. Lincoln<br />
+Author of "Shavings," "The Portygee," etc.</p>
+
+<p>The whole family will laugh over this deliriously humorous novel, that
+pictures the sunny side of small-town life, and contains love-making, a
+dash of mystery, an epidemic of spook-chasing&mdash;and laughable, lovable
+Galusha.</p>
+
+<p style='text-align:center; font-size:large; font-weight:bold;'>THESE YOUNG REBELS</p>
+
+<p style='text-align:center; font-style:italic;'>By Frances R. Sterrett<br />
+Author of "Nancy Goes to Town," "Up the Road with Sally," etc.</p>
+
+<p>A sprightly novel that hits off to perfection the present antagonism
+between the rebellious younger generation and their disapproving elders.</p>
+
+<p style='text-align:center; font-size:large; font-weight:bold;'>PLAY THE GAME</p>
+
+<p style='text-align:center; font-style:italic;'>By Ruth Comfort Mitchell</p>
+
+<p>A happy story about American young people. The appealing qualities of a
+brave young girl stand out in the strife between two young fellows, the
+one by fair the other by foul means, to win her.</p>
+
+<p style='text-align:center; font-size:large; font-weight:bold;'>IN BLESSED CYRUS</p>
+
+<p style='text-align:center; font-style:italic;'>By Laura E. Richards<br />
+Author of "A Daughter of Jehu," etc.</p>
+
+<p>The quaint, quiet village of Cyrus, with its whimsical villagers, is
+abruptly turned topsy-turvy by the arrival in its midst of an actress,
+distractingly feminine, Lila Laughter; and, at the same time, an
+epidemic of small-pox.</p>
+
+<p style='text-align:center; font-size:large; font-weight:bold;'>HELEN OF THE OLD HOUSE</p>
+
+<p style='text-align:center; font-style:italic;'>By Harold Bell Wright</p>
+
+<p>Wright's greatest novel, that presents the life of industry to-day, the
+laughter, the tears, the strivings of those who live about the smoky
+chimneys of an American industrial town.</p>
+
+<p class='center'>NEW YORK&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;D. APPLETON &amp; COMPANY&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;LONDON</p>
+
+<hr class='major' />
+
+<p style='text-align:center; font-size:x-large;'>AMONG THE NEWEST NOVELS</p>
+
+<p style='text-align:left; font-size:large; font-weight:bold;'>THE HOUSE OF MOHUN</p>
+
+<p>By GEORGE GIBBS, Author of "Youth Triumphant," etc.</p>
+
+<p>A distinguished novel depicting present day society and its most
+striking feature, the "flapper." A story of splendid dramatic qualities.</p>
+
+<p style='text-align:left; font-size:large; font-weight:bold;'>THE COVERED WAGON</p>
+
+<p>By EMERSON HOUGH, Author of "The Magnificent Adventure," "The Story of
+the Cowboy," etc.</p>
+
+<p>A novel of the first water, clear and clean, is this thrilling story of
+the pioneers, the men and women who laid the foundation of the great
+west.</p>
+
+<p style='text-align:left; font-size:large; font-weight:bold;'>HOMESTEAD RANCH</p>
+
+<p>By ELIZABETH G. YOUNG</p>
+
+<p>The <i>New York Times</i> says that "Homestead Ranch" is one of the season's
+"two best real wild and woolly western yarns." The <i>Boston Herald</i> says,
+"So delightful that we recommend it as one of the best western stories
+of the year."</p>
+
+<p style='text-align:left; font-size:large; font-weight:bold;'>SACRIFICE</p>
+
+<p>By STEPHEN FRENCH WHITMAN, Author of "Predestined," etc.</p>
+
+<p>How a woman, spoiled child of New York society, faced the dangers of the
+African jungle trail. "One feels ever the white heat of emotional
+conflict."&mdash;<i>Philadelphia Public Ledger.</i></p>
+
+<p style='text-align:left; font-size:large; font-weight:bold;'>DOUBLE-CROSSED</p>
+
+<p>By W. DOUGLAS NEWTON, Author of "Low Ceilings," etc.</p>
+
+<p>"An excellently written and handled tale of adventure and thrills in the
+dark spruce valleys of Canada."&mdash;<i>New York Times.</i></p>
+
+<p style='text-align:left; font-size:large; font-weight:bold;'>JANE JOURNEYS ON</p>
+
+<p>By RUTH COMFORT MITCHELL, Author of "Play the Game," etc.</p>
+
+<p>The cheerful story of a delightful heroine's adventures from Vermont to
+Mexico.</p>
+
+<p class='center'>D. APPLETON AND COMPANY<br />
+New York&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;London</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="pg" />
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAIR HARBOR***</p>
+<p>******* This file should be named 22745-h.txt or 22745-h.zip *******</p>
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+*** END: FULL LICENSE ***
+</pre>
+</body>
+</html>
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@@ -0,0 +1,15405 @@
+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Fair Harbor, by Joseph Crosby Lincoln
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Fair Harbor
+
+
+Author: Joseph Crosby Lincoln
+
+
+
+Release Date: September 23, 2007  [eBook #22745]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAIR HARBOR***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Roger Frank and the Project Gutenberg Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+FAIR HARBOR
+
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+
+By JOSEPH C. LINCOLN
+
+   FAIR HARBOR
+   GALUSHA THE MAGNIFICENT
+   THE PORTYGEE
+   "SHAVINGS"
+   MARY-'GUSTA
+   CAP'N DAN'S DAUGHTER
+   THE RISE OF ROSCOE PAINE
+   THE POSTMASTER
+   THE WOMAN HATERS
+   KEZIAH COFFIN
+   CY WHITTAKER'S PLACE
+   CAP'N ERI
+   EXTRICATING OBADIAH
+   THANKFUL'S INHERITANCE
+   MR. PRATT
+   MR. PRATT'S PATIENTS
+   KENT KNOWLES: "QUAHAUG"
+   CAP'N WARREN'S WARDS
+   THE DEPOT MASTER
+   OUR VILLAGE
+   PARTNERS OF THE TIDE
+   THE OLD HOME HOUSE
+   CAPE COD BALLADS
+
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+
+FAIR HARBOR
+
+A Novel
+
+by
+
+JOSEPH C. LINCOLN
+
+Author of "Galusha the Magnificent," "Shavings," "Mary 'Gusta,"
+"Mr. Pratt," "Cap'n Eri," Etc.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+D. Appleton and Company
+New York :: 1922 :: London
+
+Copyright, 1922, by D. Appleton Company
+Copyright, 1922, by the Curtis Publishing Company
+
+Printed in the United States of America
+
+
+
+
+FAIR HARBOR
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+"Hi hum," observed Mr. Joel Macomber, putting down his knife and fork
+with obvious reluctance and tilting back his chair. "Hi hum-a-day! Man,
+born of woman, is of few days and full of--of somethin', I forget
+what--George, what is it a man born of woman is full of?"
+
+George Kent, putting down his knife and fork, smiled and replied that he
+didn't know. Mr. Macomber seemed shocked.
+
+"_Don't know?_" he repeated. "Tut, tut! Dear me, dear me! A young feller
+that goes to prayer meetin' every Friday night--or at least waits
+outside the meetin'-house door every Friday night--and yet he don't
+remember his Scriptur' well enough to know what man born of woman is
+full of? My soul and body! What's the world comin' to?"
+
+Nobody answered. The six Macomber children, Lemuel, Edgar, Sarah-Mary,
+Bemis, Aldora and Joey, ages ranging from fourteen to two and a half,
+kept on eating in silence--or, if not quite in silence, at least without
+speaking. They had been taught not to talk at table; their mother had
+taught them, their father playing the part of horrible example. Mrs.
+Macomber, too, was silent. She was busy stacking plates and cups and
+saucers preparatory to clearing away. When the clearing away was
+finished she would be busy washing dishes and after that at some other
+household duty. She was always busy and always behind with her work.
+
+Her husband turned to the only other person at the crowded table.
+
+"Cap'n Sears," he demanded, "you know 'most everything. What is it man
+born of woman is full of besides a few days?"
+
+Sears Kendrick thoughtfully folded his napkin. There was a hole in the
+napkin--holes were characteristic of the Macomber linen--but the napkin
+was clean; this was characteristic, too.
+
+"Meanin' yourself, Joel?" he asked, bringing the napkin edges into line.
+
+"Not necessarily. Meanin' any man born of woman, I presume likely."
+
+"Humph! Know many that wasn't born that way?"
+
+Mr. Macomber's not too intellectual face creased into many wrinkles and
+the low ceiling echoed with his laugh. "Not many, I don't cal'late," he
+said, "that's a fact. But you ain't answered my question, Cap'n. What is
+man born of woman full of?"
+
+Captain Kendrick placed the folded napkin carefully beside his plate.
+
+"Breakfast, just now, I presume likely," he said. "At least, I know two
+or three that ought to be, judgin' by the amount of cargo I've seen 'em
+stow aboard in the last half hour." Then, turning to Mrs. Macomber, he
+added, "I'm goin' to help you with the dishes this mornin', Sarah."
+
+The lady of the house had her own ideas on that subject.
+
+"Indeed you won't do anything of the sort," she declared. "The idea! And
+you just out of a crippled bed, as you might say."
+
+This remark seemed to amuse her husband hugely. "Ho, ho!" he shouted.
+"That's a good one! I didn't know the bed was crippled, Sarah. What's
+the matter with it; got a pain in the slats?"
+
+Sarah Macomber seldom indulged in retort. Usually she was too busy to
+waste the time. But she allowed herself the luxury of a half minute on
+this occasion.
+
+"No," she snapped, "but it's had one leg propped up on half a brick for
+over a year. And at least once a week in all that time you've been
+promisin' to bring home a new caster and fix it. If that bed ain't a
+cripple I don't know what is."
+
+Joel looked a trifle taken aback. His laugh this time was not quite as
+uproarious.
+
+"Guess you spoke the truth that time, Sarah, without knowin' it. Who is
+it they say always speaks the truth? Children and fools, ain't it? Well,
+you ain't a child scarcely, Sarah. Hope you ain't the other thing. Eh?
+Ho, ho!"
+
+Mrs. Macomber was halfway to the kitchen door, a pile of plates upon her
+arm. She did not stop nor turn, but she did speak.
+
+"Well," she observed, "I don't know. I was one once in my life, there's
+precious little doubt about that."
+
+She left the room. Young Kent and Captain Kendrick exchanged glances.
+Mr. Macomber swallowed, opened his mouth, closed it and swallowed again.
+Lemuel and Sarah-Mary, the two older children, giggled. The clock on the
+mantel struck seven times. The sound came, to the adults, as a timely
+relief from embarrassment.
+
+Captain Kendrick looked at his watch.
+
+"What's that?" he exclaimed. "Six bells already? So 'tis. I declare I
+didn't think 'twas so late."
+
+Joel rose to his feet, moving--for him--with marked rapidity.
+
+"Seven o'clock!" he cried. "My, my! We've got to get under way, George,
+if we want to make port at the store afore 'Liphalet does. Come on,
+George, hurry up."
+
+Kent lingered for a moment to speak to Sears Kendrick. Then he emerged
+from the house and he and Joel walked rapidly off together. They were
+employed, one as clerk and bookkeeper and the other as driver of the
+delivery wagon, at Eliphalet Bassett's Grocery, Dry Goods, Boots and
+Shoes and Notion Store at the corner of the main road and the depot
+road. Joel's position there was fixed for eternity, at least he
+considered it so, having driven that same delivery wagon at the same
+wage for twenty-two years. "Me and that grocery cart," Mr. Macomber was
+wont to observe, "have been doin' 'Liphalet's errands so long we've come
+to be permanent fixtures. Yes, sir, permanent fixtures." When this was
+repeated to Mr. Bassett the latter affirmed that it was true. "Every
+time the dum fool goes out takin' orders," said Eliphalet, "he stays so
+long that I begin to think he's turned _into_ a permanent fixture. Takes
+an order for a quarter pound of tea and a spool of cotton and then hangs
+'round and talks steady for half an hour. Permanent fixture! Permanent
+gas fixture, that's what _he_ is."
+
+George Kent did not consider himself a permanent fixture at Bassett's.
+He had been employed there for three years, or ever since the death of
+his father, Captain Sylvester Kent, who had died at sea aboard his ship,
+the _Ocean Ranger_, on the voyage home from Java to Philadelphia. George
+remained in Bayport to study law with Judge Knowles, who was interested
+in the young man and, being a lawyer of prominence on the Cape, was an
+influential friend worth having. The law occupied young Kent's attention
+in the evenings; he kept Mr. Bassett's books and sold Mr. Bassett's
+brown sugar, calico and notions during the days, not because he loved
+the work, the place, or its proprietor, but because the twelve dollars
+paid him each Saturday enabled him to live. And, in order to live so
+cheaply that he might save a bit toward the purchase of clothes, law
+books and sundries, he boarded at Joel Macomber's. Sarah Macomber took
+him to board, not because she needed company--six children and a husband
+supplied a sufficiency of that--but because three dollars more a week
+was three dollars more.
+
+Joel and George having tramped off to business and the very last crumb
+of the Macomber breakfast having vanished, the Macomber children
+proceeded to go through their usual morning routine. Lemuel, who did
+chores for grumpy old Captain Elijah Samuels at the latter's big place
+on the depot road, departed to rake hay and be sworn at. Sarah-Mary went
+upstairs to make beds; when the bed-making was over she and Edgar and
+Bemis would go to school. Aldora and Joey, the two youngest, went
+outdoors to play. And Captain Sears Kendrick, late master of the ship
+_Hawkeye_, and before that of the _Fair Wind_ and the _Far Seas_ and
+goodness knows how many others, who ran away to ship as cabin boy when
+he was thirteen, who fought the Malay pirates when he was eighteen, and
+outwitted Semmes by outmaneuvering the _Alabama_ when he was
+twenty-eight, a man once so strong and bronzed and confident, but now so
+weak and shaken--Captain Sears Kendrick rose painfully and with effort
+from his chair, took his cane from the corner and hobbled to the
+kitchen.
+
+"Sarah," he said, "I'm goin' to help you with those dishes this
+mornin'."
+
+"Sears," said Mrs. Macomber, taking the kettle of boiling dish-water
+from the top of the stove, "you'll do nothin' of the kind. You'll go
+outdoors and get a little sunshine this lovely day. It's the first real
+good day you've had since you got up from bed, and outdoors 'll help you
+more than anything else. Now you go!"
+
+"But look here, Sarah, for Heaven's sake----"
+
+"Be still, Sears, and don't be foolish. There ain't dishes enough to
+worry about. I'll have 'em done in half a shake. Go outdoors, I tell
+you. But don't you walk on those legs of yours. You hear me."
+
+Her brother--Sarah Macomber was a Kendrick before she married
+Joel--smiled slightly. "How do you want me to walk, Sarah, on my hands?"
+he inquired. "Never mind my legs. They're better this mornin' than they
+have been since that fat woman and a train of cars fell on 'em.... Ah
+hum!" with a change of tone, "it's a pity they didn't fall on my neck
+and make a clean job of it, isn't it?"
+
+"Sears!" reproachfully. "How can you talk so? And especially now, when
+the doctor says if you take care of yourself, you'll 'most likely be as
+well as ever in--in a little while."
+
+"A little while! In a year or two was what he said. In ten years was
+probably what he meant, and you'll notice he put in the 'most likely'
+even at that. If you were to lash him in the fore-riggin' and keep him
+there till he told the truth, he'd probably end by sayin' that I would
+always be a good for nothin' hulk same as I am now."
+
+"Sears, don't--please don't. I hate to hear you speak so bitter. It
+doesn't sound like you."
+
+"It's the way I feel, Sarah. Haven't I had enough to make me bitter?"
+
+His sister shook her head. "Yes, Sears," she admitted, "I guess likely
+you have, but I don't know as that is a very good excuse. Some of the
+rest of us," with a sigh, "haven't found it real smooth sailin' either;
+but----"
+
+She did not finish the sentence, and there was no need. He understood
+and turned quickly.
+
+"I'm sorry, Sarah," he said. "I ought to be hove overboard and towed
+astern. The Almighty knows you've had more to put up with than ever I
+had and you don't spend your time growlin' about it, either. I declare
+I'm ashamed of myself, but--but--well, you know how it is with me. I've
+never been used to bein' a loafer, spongin' on my relations."
+
+"Don't, Sears. You know you ain't spongin', as you call it. You've paid
+your board ever since you've been here."
+
+"Yes, I have. But how much? Next to half of nothin' a week and you
+wouldn't have let me pay that if I hadn't put my foot down. Or said I
+was goin' to try to put it down," he added with a grim smile. "You're a
+good woman, Sarah, a good woman, with more trials than your share. And
+what makes me feel worst of all, I do believe, is that I should be
+pitched in on you--to be the biggest trial of all. Well, that part's
+about over, anyhow. No matter whether I can walk or not I shan't stay
+and sponge on you. If I can't do anything else I'll hire a fish shanty
+and open clams for a livin'."
+
+He smiled again and she smiled in sympathy, but there were tears in her
+eyes. She was seven years older than her brother, and he had always been
+her pride. When she was a young woman, helping with the housework in the
+old home there in Bayport, before her father's death and the sale of
+that home, she had watched with immense gratification his success in
+school. When he ran away to sea she had defended him when others
+condemned. Later, when tales of his "smartness," as sailor or mate, or
+by and by, a full rated captain, began to drift back, she had gloried in
+them. He came to see her semi-occasionally when his ship was in port,
+and his yarns of foreign lands and strange people were, to her, far more
+wonderful than anything she had ever found in the few books which had
+come in her way. Each present he brought her she had kept and cherished.
+And there was never a trace of jealousy in her certain knowledge that he
+had gone on growing while she had stopped, that he was a strong, capable
+man of the world--the big world--whereas she was, and would always be,
+the wife and household drudge of Joel Macomber.
+
+Now, as she looked at him, pale, haggard and leaning on his cane,
+stooping a little when he had been so erect and sturdy, the pity which
+she had felt for him ever since they brought him into her sitting-room
+on the day of the railway accident became keener than ever and with it
+came an additional flash of insight. She realized more clearly than she
+had before that it was not his bodily injuries which hurt most and were
+the hardest to bear; it was his self-respect and the pride which were
+wounded sorest. That he--_he_--Sears Kendrick, the independent autocrat
+of the quarter deck, should be reduced to this! That it was wringing
+his soul she knew. He had never complained except to her, and even to
+her very, very seldom, but she knew. And she ventured to ask the
+question she had wanted to ask ever since he had sufficiently recovered
+to listen to conversation.
+
+"Sears," she said "I haven't said a word before, and you needn't tell me
+now if you don't want to--it isn't any of my business--but is it true
+that you've lost a whole lot of money? It isn't true, is it?"
+
+He had been standing by the open door, looking out into the yard. Now he
+turned to look at her.
+
+"What isn't true, Sarah?" he asked.
+
+"That you've lost a lot of money in--in that--that business you went
+into. It isn't true, is it, Sears? Oh, I hope it isn't! They say--why,
+some of 'em say you've lost all the money you had put by. An awful sight
+of money, they say. Sears, tell me it isn't true--please."
+
+He regarded her in silence for a moment. Then he shook his head.
+
+"Part of it isn't true, Sarah," he answered, with a slight smile. "I
+haven't lost a big lot of money."
+
+"Oh, I'm _so_ glad. Now I can tell 'em a few things, I guess."
+
+"I wouldn't tell 'em too much, because the other part _is_ true. I have
+lost about all I had put by."
+
+"Oh, Sears!"
+
+"Um--hm. And served me right, of course. You can't make a silk ear out
+of a sow's purse, as old Cap'n Sam Doane used to love to say. You can't,
+no matter how good a purse--or--ear--it is. I was a pretty good sea
+cap'n if I do say it, but that wasn't any reason why I should have
+figured I was a good enough business man to back as slippery an eel as
+Jim Carpenter in the ship chandlery game ashore."
+
+"But--you----" Mrs. Macomber hesitated to utter the disgraceful word,
+"you didn't fail up, did you, Sears?" she faltered. "You know that's
+what they say you did."
+
+"Well, they say wrong. Carpenter failed, I didn't. I paid dollar for
+dollar. That's why I've got next to no dollars now."
+
+"But you--you've got _some_, Sears. You must have," hopefully, "because
+you've been paying me board. So you must have _some_ left."
+
+The triumph in her face was pathetic. He hated to disturb her faith.
+
+"Yes," he said dryly, "I have some left. Maybe seven hundred dollars or
+some such matter. If I had my legs left it would be enough, or more than
+enough. I wouldn't ask odds of anybody if I was the way I was before
+that train went off the track. I'd lost every shot I had in the locker,
+but I'm not very old yet--some years to leeward of forty--there was more
+money to be had where that came from and I meant to have it. And
+then--well, then this happened to me."
+
+"I know. And to think that you was comin' down here on purpose to see me
+when it did happen. Seems almost as if I was to blame, somehow."
+
+"Nonsense! Nobody was to blame but the engineer that wrecked the train
+and the three hundred pound woman that fell on my legs. And the engineer
+was killed, poor fellow, and the woman was--well, she carried her own
+punishment with her, I guess likely. Anyhow, I should call it a
+punishment if I had to carry it. There, there, Sarah! Let's talk about
+somethin' else. You do your dishes and, long as you won't let me help
+you, I'll hop-and-go-fetch-it out to that settee in the front yard and
+look at the scenery. Just think! I've been in Bayport almost four months
+and haven't been as far as that gate yet--except when they lugged me in
+past it, of course. And I don't recall much about that."
+
+"I guess not, you poor boy. And I saw them bringin' you in, all
+stretched out, with your eyes shut, and as white as---- Oh, my soul and
+body! I don't want to think about it, let alone talk about it."
+
+"Neither do I, Sarah, so we won't. Do you realize how little I know of
+what's been goin' on in Bayport since I was here last? And do you
+realize how long it has been since I _was_ here?"
+
+"Why, yes, I do, Sears. It's been almost six years; it will be just six
+on the tenth of next September."
+
+The speech was illuminating. He looked at her curiously.
+
+"You do keep account of my goin's and comin's, don't you, old girl?" he
+said. "Better than I do myself."
+
+"Oh, it means more to me than it does to you. You live such a busy life,
+Sears, all over the world, meetin' everybody in all kinds of places. For
+me, with nothin' to do but be stuck down here in Bayport--well, it's
+different with me--I have to remember. Rememberin' and lookin' ahead is
+about all I have to keep me interested."
+
+He was silent for a moment. Then he said: "It looks as if rememberin'
+was all I will be likely to have. Think of it, Sarah! Four months in
+Bayport and I haven't been to the post-office. That'll stand as a town
+record, I'll bet."
+
+"And--and you'll keep up your courage, Sears? You won't let yourself get
+blue and discouraged, for my sake if nobody else's?"
+
+He nodded. "I couldn't, Sarah," he said earnestly. "With you around I'd
+be ashamed to."
+
+She ran to help him down the step, but he waved her away, and, leaning
+upon the cane and clinging fast to the lattice with the other hand, he
+managed to make the descent safely. Once on the flat level of the walk
+he moved more rapidly and, so it seemed to his sister, more easily than
+he had since his accident. The forty odd feet of walk he navigated in
+fair time and came to anchor, as he would have expressed it, upon the
+battered old bench by the Macomber gate. The gate, like the picket
+fence, of which it was a part, needed paint and the bench needed slats
+in its back. Almost anything which Joel Macomber owned needed something
+and his wife and family needed most of all.
+
+An ancient cherry tree, its foliage now thickly spotted with green fruit,
+for the month was June, cast a shadow upon the occupant of the bench. At
+his feet grew a bed of daffodils and jonquils which Sarah Macomber had
+planted when she came, a hopeful bride, to that house. Each year they
+sprouted and bloomed and now, long after Sarah's hopes had ceased to
+sprout, they continued to flourish. Beside the cherry tree grew a lilac
+bush. Beyond the picket fence was the dusty sidewalk and beyond that the
+dustier, rutted road. And beyond the road and along it upon both sides
+were the houses and barns and the few shops of Bayport village, Bayport
+as it was, and as some of us remember it, in the early '70's.
+
+In some respects it was much like the Bayport of to-day. The houses
+themselves have changed but little. Then, as now, they were trim and
+white and green-shuttered. Then, as now, the roses climbed upon their
+lattices and the silver-leaf poplars and elms and mulberry trees waved
+above them. But the fences which enclosed their trim lawns and yards
+have disappeared, and the hitching posts and carriage blocks by their
+front gates have gone also. Gone, too, are the horses and buggies and
+carryalls which used to stand by these gates or within those barns. They
+are gone, just as the ruts and dust of the roads have vanished. When
+Mrs. Captain Hammond, of the lower road, used to call upon Mrs. Ryder at
+West Bayport, she was wont to be driven to her destination in the
+intensely respectable Hammond buggy drawn by the equally respectable
+Hammond horse and piloted by the even more respectable--not to say
+venerable--Hammond coachman, who was also gardener and "hired man." And
+they made the little journey in the very respectable time of thirty-five
+minutes. Now when Mrs. Captain Hammond's granddaughter, who winters in
+Boston but summers at the old home, wishes to go to West Bayport she
+skims over the hard, oiled macadam in her five thousand dollar runabout
+and she finishes the skimming in eight minutes or less.
+
+And although the dwellings along the Bayport roads are much as they
+were that morning when Captain Sears Kendrick sat upon the bench in the
+Macomber yard and gazed gloomily at the section of road which lay
+between the Macomber gate and the curve beyond the Orthodox
+meeting-house--although the houses were much the same in external
+appearance, those who occupy them at the present day are vastly
+different from those who owned and lived in them then. Here is the
+greatest change which time has brought to old Bayport. Now those
+houses--the majority of them--are open only in summer; then they were
+open all the year. They who come to them now regard them as playthings,
+good-time centers for twelve or fourteen weeks. Then they were the homes
+of men and women who were proud of them, loved them, meant to live in
+them--while on land--as long as life was theirs; to die in them if
+fortunate enough to be found by death while ashore; and at last to be
+buried near them, under the pines of the Bayport cemetery. Now these
+homes are used by business men or lawyers or doctors, whose real homes
+are in Boston, New York, Chicago, or other cities. Then practically
+every house was owned or occupied either by a sea captain, active or
+retired, or by a captain's widow or near relative.
+
+For example, as Captain Kendrick sat in his brother-in-law's yard on
+that June morning of that year in the early '70's, within his sight,
+that is within the half mile from curve to curve of the lower road, were
+no less than nine houses in which dwelt--or had dwelt--men who gained a
+living upon a vessel's quarter deck. Directly across the road was the
+large, cupola-crowned house of Captain Solomon Snow. Captain Sol was at
+present somewhere between Surinam and New York, bound home. His wife was
+with him, so was his youngest child. The older children were at home, in
+the big house; their aunt, Captain Sol's sister, herself a captain's
+widow, was with them.
+
+Next to Captain Solomon's was the Crowell place. Captain Bethuel Crowell
+was in Hong Kong, but, so his wife reported at sewing circle, had
+expected to sail from there "any day about now" bound for Melbourne.
+Next to Captain Bethuel lived Mrs. Patience Foster, called "Mary Pashy"
+by the townspeople to distinguish her from another Mary Foster in East
+Bayport. Her husband had been drowned at sea, or at least so it was
+supposed. His ship left Philadelphia eight years before and had never
+been spoken or heard from since that time. Next to Mary-Pashy's was the
+imposing, if ugly, residence of Captain Elkanah Wingate. Captain Elkanah
+was retired, wealthy, a member of the school-committee, a selectman, an
+aristocrat and an autocrat. And beyond Captain Elkanah lived Captain
+Godfrey Peasley--who was not quite of the aristocracy as he commanded a
+schooner instead of a square-rigger, and beyond him Mrs. Tabitha Crosby,
+whose husband had died of yellow fever while aboard his ship in New
+Orleans; and beyond Mrs. Crosby's was--well, the next building was the
+Orthodox meeting-house, where the Reverend David Dishup preached.
+Nowadays people call it the Congregationalist church. On the same side
+of the road as the Macomber cottage were the homes of Captain Sylvanus
+Baker and Captain Noah Baker and of Captain Orrin Eldridge.
+
+Bayport, in that day, was not only by the sea, it was of the sea. The
+sea winds blew over it, the sea air smelled salty in its highways and
+byways, its male citizens--most of them--walked with a sea roll, and
+upon the tables and whatnots of their closed and shuttered "front
+parlors" or in their cupboards or closets were laquered cabinets, and
+whales' teeth, and alabaster images, and carved chessmen and curious
+shells and scented fans and heaven knows what, brought from heaven knows
+where, but all brought in sailing ships over one or more of the seas of
+the world. The average better class house in Bayport was an odd
+combination of home and museum, the rear two-thirds the home section and
+the remaining third, that nearest the road, the museum. Bayport front
+parlors looked like museums, and generally smelled like them.
+
+To a stranger from, let us say, the middle west, the village then must
+have seemed a queer little community dozing upon its rolling hills and
+by its white beaches, a community where the women had, most of them,
+traveled far and seen many strange things and places, but who seldom
+talked of them, preferring to chat concerning the minister's wife's new
+bonnet; and whose men folk, appearing at long intervals from remote
+parts of the world, spoke of the port side of a cow and compared the
+three-sided clock tower of the new town hall with the peak of Teneriffe
+on a foggy morning.
+
+All this, odd as it may have seemed to visitors from inland, were but
+matters of course to Sears Kendrick. To him there was nothing strange in
+the deep sea atmosphere of his native town. It had been there ever since
+he knew it, he fondly imagined--being as poor a prophet as most of
+us--that it would always be. And, as he sat there in the Macomber yard,
+his thoughts were busy, not with Bayport's past or future, but with his
+own, and neither retrospect nor forecast was cheerful. He could see
+little behind him except the mistakes he had made, and before him--not
+even the opportunity to make more.
+
+Overhead, amid the cherry branches, the bees buzzed and the robins
+chirped. From the kitchen window came the click of dishes as Mrs.
+Macomber washed and wiped them. Around the curve of the road by the
+meeting-house came Dr. Sheldon's old horse, drawing Dr. Sheldon's
+antiquated chaise, with the doctor himself leaning back comfortably upon
+its worn cushions. Captain Kendrick, not being in the mood for a chat
+just then even with as good a friend as his physician, made no move, and
+the old chaise and its occupant passed by and disappeared around the
+next curve. Sarah-Mary and Edgar and Bemis noisily trooped out of the
+house and started for school. Edgar was enthusiastically carolling a
+ditty which was then popular among Bayport juvenility. It was
+reminiscent of a recent presidential campaign.
+
+    "Grant and Greely were fightin' for flies,
+    Grant gave Greely a pair of black eyes--"
+
+The children, like Doctor Sheldon and the chaise, passed out of sight
+around the bend of the road. Edgar's voice, more or less tunefully,
+drifted back:
+
+    "Grant said, 'Do you want any more?'
+    Greely said, 'No, for my eyes are too sore.'"
+
+Sears Kendrick crossed his knees and changed position upon the bench.
+Obviously he could not hope to go to sea again for months at the very
+earliest. Obviously he could not live during those months at his
+sister's. She would be only too delighted to have him do so, but on that
+point his mind was made up. And, quite as obviously, he could not long
+exist, and pay an adequate price for the privilege of existing, with the
+small sum which was left after his disastrous voyage upon the sea of
+business. His immediate problems then were two: First, to find a
+boarding place which was very, very cheap. Second, if possible, to find
+a means of earning a little money. The first of these he might, perhaps,
+solve after a fashion, but the second--and he a cripple! He groaned
+aloud.
+
+Then he gradually became aware of a new set of sounds, sounds
+approaching along the road from the direction in which the children and
+the doctor's equipage had disappeared. The sounds, at first rather
+confused, gradually separated themselves into two varieties, one the
+sharp, irregular rattle of a springless cart, the second a hoarse
+unmusical voice which, like Edgar's, was raised in song. But in this
+case the rattle of the cart caused the song to be broken unexpectedly
+into jerky spasms, so to speak. Nevertheless, the singer kept manfully
+at his task.
+
+    "Now the _Dreadnought's_ a-bowlin' (_Bump! Rattle_)
+        down the wild Irish sea
+    Where the pass (_Bump!_) engers are merry
+        with hearts full of glee,
+    While the sailors like lions (_Gid-dap!
+        What's the matter with ye_) walk the decks to and fro,
+    She's the Liverpool packet (_Bump! Bang! Crack!_)
+        Good Lord, let her go!"
+
+Sears Kendrick sat upright on the settee. Of course he recognized the
+song, every man who had ever sailed salt water knew the old
+_Dreadnought_ chantey, but much more than that, he believed he
+recognized the voice of the singer. Leaning forward, he watched for the
+latter to appear.
+
+Then, around the clump of lilacs which leaned over Captain Sol Snow's
+fence at the corner, came an old white horse drawing an old
+"truck-wagon," the wagon painted, as all Cape Cod truck-wagons then were
+and are yet, a bright blue; and upon the high seat of the wagon sat a
+chunky figure, a figure which rocked back and forth and sang:
+
+    "Now the _Dreadnought's_ a sailin' the (_Bang! Bump!_)
+        Atlantic so wide,
+    While the (_Thump! Bump!_) dark heavy seas roll
+        along her black side,
+    With the sails neatly spread (_Crump! Jingle!_)
+        and the red cross to show,
+    She's the Liverpool packet; Good Lord, let----"
+
+Captain Kendrick interrupted here.
+
+"Ahoy, the _Dreadnought_!" he hailed. "_Dreadnought_ ahoy!"
+
+"Good Lord, let 'er go!" roared the man on the seat of the truck-wagon,
+finishing the stanza of his chantey. Then he added "Whoa!" in a mighty
+bellow. The white horse stopped in his tracks, as if he had one ear
+tipped backward awaiting the invitation. His driver leaned down and
+peered into the shadow of the lilac bush.
+
+"Who--?" he began. "Eh? _What?_ Limpin', creepin', crawlin', jumpin'
+Moses and the prophets! It ain't Cap'n Sears Kendrick, is it? It is, by
+Henry! Well, well, _well_, WELL, _WELL_!"
+
+Each succeeding "well" was louder and more emphatic than its
+predecessor. They were uttered as the speaker rolled, rather than
+climbed, down from the high seat. Alighting upon a pair of enormous feet
+shod in heavy rubber boots, the tops of which were turned down, he
+thumped up the little slope from the road to the sidewalk. Then,
+thrusting over the fence pickets a red and hairy hand, the size of which
+corresponded to that of the feet, he roared another string of delighted
+exclamations.
+
+"Cap'n Sears Kendrick, on deck and all taut again! Well, by the jumpin',
+creepin'! If this ain't--Cap'n Sears, sir, how be you?"
+
+His broad-brimmed, battered straw hat had fallen off in his descent from
+the wagon seat, uncovering a partially bald head and a round, extremely
+red face, two-thirds of which was hidden by a tremendously thick and
+bristly tangle of short gray whiskers. The whiskers were now bisected by
+a broad grin, a grin so broad and so ecstatic that its wrinkles extended
+to the bulbous nose and the apple cheeks above.
+
+"Cap'n Sears, sir," repeated the driver of the truck-wagon, "I'm proud
+to see you on deck again, sir. Darned if I ain't!"
+
+The captain leaned forward and shook the big red hand extended across
+the fence pickets.
+
+"Judah Cahoon, you old salt herrin'," he cried heartily, "I'm just as
+glad to see you! But _what_ in the world are you doin' here in
+Bayport?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+Mr. Cahoon's grin vanished and the expression of his face above the
+whiskers indicated extreme surprise.
+
+"What am I doin' here?" he repeated. "Didn't you know I was here, Cap'n
+Sears?"
+
+"Of course I didn't. The last I heard of you you had shipped as cook
+aboard the _Gallant Rover_ and was bound for Calcutta, or Singapore or
+somewhere in those latitudes. And that was only a year ago. What are you
+doin' on the Cape and pilotin' that kind of a craft?" indicating the
+truck wagon.
+
+The question was ignored. "Didn't they never tell you I was here?"
+demanded Judah. "Didn't that Joel Macomber tell you I been hailin' him
+every time he crossed my bows, askin' about you every day since you run
+on the rocks? Didn't he tell you that?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Never give you my respects nor--nor kind rememberances, nor nawthin'?"
+
+"Not a word. Never so much as mentioned your name."
+
+"The red-headed shark!"
+
+"There! There! Sshh! Never mind him. Come in here and sit down a minute,
+can't you? Or are you in a hurry?"
+
+"Eh? No-o, I ain't in no 'special hurry. Just got a deck load of seaweed
+aboard carting it up home, that's all."
+
+"Home? What home?"
+
+"Why, where I'm livin'. I call it home; anyhow it's all the home I got.
+Eh? Why, Cap'n Sears, ain't they never told you that I'm livin' at the
+Minot place?"
+
+"The Minot place! Why--why, man alive, you don't mean the General Minot
+place, do you?"
+
+"Um-hm. That's what folks down here call it. There ain't no Generals
+there though."
+
+"And _you_ are livin' in the General Minot house? Look here, Judah, are
+you trying to make a fool of me?"
+
+Mr. Cahoon's countenance--that portion of it above the whisker tidemark,
+of course--registered horror at the thought. He had been cook and
+steward aboard Captain Kendrick's ships for many voyages and his feeling
+for his former skipper was close kin to idolatry.
+
+"Eh?" he gasped. "Me try to make a fool out of _you_, Cap'n Sears? _Me?_
+No, no, I got _some_ sense left, I hope."
+
+Kendrick smiled. "Oh, the thing isn't impossible, Judah," he observed
+dryly. "It has been done. I have been made a fool of and more than
+once.... But there, never mind that. I want to know what you are doin'
+at the General Minot place. Come aboard here and tell me about it. You
+can leave your horse, can't you? He doesn't look as if he was liable to
+run away."
+
+"Run away! Him?" Judah snorted disgust. "Limpin' Moses! He won't run away
+for the same reason old Cap'n Eben Gould didn't say his prayers--he's
+forgot how. I was out with that horse on the flats last week and the
+tide pretty nigh caught us. The water in the main channel was so deep
+that it was clean up to the critter's garboard strake, and still, by the
+creepin', I couldn't get him out of a walk. I thought there one spell he
+might _drift_ away, but I knew dum well he'd never run.... Whoa!
+you--you hipponoceros you!" addressing the ancient animal, who was
+placidly gnawing at the Macomber hitching post. "'Vast heavin' on that
+post! _Look_ at the blasted idiot!" with huge disgust. "To home, by the
+creepin', he'll turn up his nose at good hay and then he'll cruise out
+here and start to swaller a wood fence. Whoa! Back! Back, or I'll--I'll
+bore a hole in you and scuttle you."
+
+The old horse condescended to back for perhaps two feet, a proceeding
+which elicited a grunt of grudging approval from Mr. Cahoon. The latter
+then settled himself with a thump upon the settee beside Captain
+Kendrick.
+
+"How's the spars splicin'?" he inquired, with a jerk of his thumb toward
+the captain's legs. "Gettin' so you can navigate with 'em? Stand up
+under sail, will they?"
+
+"Not for much of a cruise," replied Sears, using the same nautical
+phraseology. "I shan't be able to run under anything but a jury rig for
+a good while, I'm afraid. But never mind the spars. I want to know how
+you happen to be down here in Bayport, and especially what on earth you
+are doin' at the Minot place? Somebody died and left you a million?"
+
+Mr. Cahoon's whiskers were split again by his wide grin.
+
+"If I was left a million _I'd_ die," he observed with emphasis. "No, no,
+nothin' like that, Cap'n. I'm there along of ... humph! You know young
+Ogden Minot, don't you?"
+
+"No, I guess I don't. I don't seem to remember him. Ogden Minot, you
+say?"
+
+"Sartin. Why, you must have run afoul of him, Cap'n Sears. He has a--a
+sort of home moorin's at a desk in Barstow Brothers' shippin' office up
+on State Street. Has some kind of berth with the firm, they tell me,
+partner or somethin'. You must have seen him there."
+
+"Well, if I have I.... Hold on a minute! Seems to me I do remember him.
+Tall fellow, dresses like a tailor's picture; speaks as if--"
+
+"As if the last half of every word was comin' on the next boat. That's
+him. Light complected, wears his whiskers wing and wing, like a schooner
+runnin' afore the wind. Same kind of side whiskers old Cap'n Spencer of
+the _Farewell_ used to carry that voyage when I fust run afoul of you.
+You was second mate and I was cook, remember. You recollect the
+skipper's side whiskers, Cap'n Sears? Course you do! Stuck out each side
+of his face pretty nigh big as old-fashioned studdin' sails. Fo'mast
+hands used to call 'em the old man's 'homeward-bounders.' Ho, ho! Why,
+I've seen them whiskers blowin'--"
+
+Kendrick interrupted.
+
+"Never mind Cap'n Spencer's whiskers," he said. "Stick to your course,
+Judah. What about this Ogden Minot?"
+
+"Everythin' bout him. If 'twan't for him I wouldn't be here now. No
+sir-ee, 'stead of settin' here swappin' yarns with you, Cap'n Sears, I'd
+be somewheres off Cape Horn, cookin' lobscouse and doughboy over a
+red-hot galley stove. Yes sir, that's where I'd be. And I'd just as soon
+be here, and a dum sight juster, as the feller said. Ho, ho! Tut, tut,
+tut! You can't never tell, can you? How many times I've stood in my
+galley with a gale of wind blowin', and my feet braced so's I wouldn't
+pitch into the salt-horse kittle every time she rolled, and thinkin'--"
+
+"There, there, Judah! Bring her up, bring her up. You're three points
+off again."
+
+"Eh? So I be, so I be. I'll try and hold her nose in the notch from now
+on. Well, 'twas last October, a year ago, when I'd about made up my mind
+to go cook in the _Gallant Rover_, same as you said. I hadn't signed
+articles, you understand, but I was cal'latin' to, and I was down on
+Long Wharf where the _Rover_ was takin' cargo, and her skipper, Cap'n
+Gustavus Philbrick, 'twas--he was a Cape man, one of the Ostable
+Philbricks--he asked me if I wouldn't cruise up to the Barstow Brothers'
+office and fetch down some papers that was there for him. So I didn't
+have nawthin' to do 'special, and 'twas about time for my eleven
+o'clock--when I'm in Boston I always cal'late to hist aboard one eleven
+o'clock, rum and sweetenen' 'tis generally, at Jerry Crockett's saloon
+on India Street and.... Aye, aye, sir! All right, all right, Cap'n
+Sears. I'll keep her in the notch, don't worry. Well--er--er--what was I
+sayin'? Oh, yes! Well, I had my eleven o'clock and then I cruised up to
+the Barstow place, and the fust mate there, young Crosby Barstow 'twas,
+he was talkin' with this Ogden Minot. And when I hove in sight young
+Barstow, he sings out: 'And here's another Cape Codder, Ogden,' he says.
+'You two ought to know each other. Cahoon,' says he, 'this is Mr. Ogden
+Minot; his folks hailed from Bayport. That's down your way, ain't it?'
+
+"'You bet!' says I. 'My home port's Harniss, and that's right next door.
+Minot? Minot?' I says, tryin' to recollect, you understand. 'Seems to me
+I used to know a Minot down that way. Why, yes, course I did! You any
+relation to old Ichabod Minot, that skippered the _Gypsy Maid_ fishin'
+to the Banks? Ichabod hailed from--from--Denboro, seems to me 'twas.'
+
+"He said no pretty sharp. Barstow, he laughed like fury and wanted to
+know if this Ogden Minot looked like Ichabod. 'Is there a family
+resemblance?' he says. I told him I guessed not. 'Anyhow,' says I, 'I
+couldn't tell very well. I only seen Ichabod when he was drunk.' That
+tickled Barstow most to death. 'You never saw him but that once, then?'
+he wanted to know. 'Oh, yes,' says I, 'I seen him about every time he
+was on shore after a fishin' trip.'
+
+"That seemed to make him laugh more'n ever and even young Ogden laughed
+some. Anyhow, we got to talkin' and I told Barstow how I was cal'latin'
+to go cook on the _Gallant Rover_. 'And I'm sick of it,' I says. 'I'd
+like a nice snug berth ashore.' 'You would?' says Barstow. Then he says,
+'Humph!' and looks at Minot. And Minot, he says, 'Humph!' and looked at
+him. And then they both says, 'Humph!' and looked at me. And afore I set
+sail from that office to carry Cap'n Philbrick's papers back to him I'd
+agreed not to sign on for that v'yage as cook until I'd cruised down
+here to Bayport along of young Ogden Minot to see how I'd like to be
+sort of--of general caretaker and stevedore, as you might call it, at
+the General Minot place. You see, young Ogden was the General's grandson
+and he'd had the property left him. And 'twas part of the sailin'
+orders--in the old General's will, you understand--that it couldn't be
+sold, but must always be took care of and kept up. Ogden could rent it
+out but he couldn't sell it; that was the pickle _he_ was in.
+Understand, don't you, Cap'n Sears?"
+
+Kendrick nodded. "Why--yes, I guess likely I do," he said. "But this
+Minot boy could live in it himself, couldn't he? Why doesn't he do that?
+As I remember it, it was considerable of a house. I should think he
+would come here himself and live."
+
+Judah nodded. "You would think so, wouldn't you?" he agreed. "But _he_
+don't think so, and what's a mighty sight more account, his wife don't
+think so. She's one of them kind of women that--that--well, when she
+gets to heaven--course I ain't layin' no bets on her gettin' there, but
+_if_ she does--the fust thing she'll do after she fetches port is to
+find out which one of them golden streets has got the highest-toned gang
+livin' on it and then start in tryin' to tie up to the wharf there
+herself. _She_ wouldn't live in no Bayport. No sir--ee! She's got winter
+moorin's up in one of them streets back of the Common, and summer times
+she's down to a place called--er--er--Nahum--Nehimiah--No--jumpin'
+prophets! What's the name of that place out on the rocks abaft Lynn?"
+
+"Nahant?" suggested his companion.
+
+"That's it. She and him is to Nahant summers. And what for _I_ don't
+know, when right here in Bayport is a great, big, fine house and land
+around it and--and flower tubs in the front yard and--and marble top
+tables--and--and haircloth chairs and sofys, and--and a Rogers' statoo
+in the parlor and--and.... Why, say, Cap'n Sears, you ought to _see_
+that house and the things in it. They've spent money on that house same
+as if a five dollar bill wan't nawthin'. Wasted it, I call it. The
+second day I was there I wanted to brush off some dust that was on the
+chair seats and I was huntin' round from bow to stern lookin' for one of
+them little brush brooms, you know, same as you brush clothes with.
+Well, sir, I'd about give up lookin' when I happened to look on the wall
+of the settin'-room and there was one hangin' up. And, say, Cap'n Sears,
+I wisht you could have seen it! 'Twas triced up in a--a kind of becket,
+as you might say, made out of velvet--yes, sir, by creepin', velvet! And
+the velvet had posies and grass painted on it. And, I don't know as
+you'll believe it, but it's a fact, the handle of that brush broom was
+gilded! Yes sir, by Henry, _gilded_! 'Well,' thinks I to myself, 'if
+this ain't then I don't know what is!' I did cal'late that I was
+gettin' used to style, and high-toned money-slingin', but when it comes
+to puttin' gold handles onto brush-brooms, that had me on my beam ends,
+that did. And ain't it a sinful waste, Cap'n Sears, I ask you? Now ain't
+it? And what in time is the _good_ of it? A brush-broom is just a broom,
+no matter if----"
+
+Again the captain interrupted. "Yes, yes, of course, Judah," he agreed,
+laughing; "but what do you do up there all by yourself? In that big
+house?"
+
+"Oh, I don't live in the whole house. I could if I wanted to. Ogden, he
+don't care where I live or what I do. All he wants of me, he says, is to
+keep the place lookin' good, and the grass cut and one thing or 'nother.
+He keeps hopin' he's goin' to rent it, you know, but they won't nobody
+hire it. The only thing a place big as that would be good for is to keep
+tavern. And we've got one tavern here in Bayport already."
+
+Kendrick seemed to be thinking. He pulled his beard. Of course he wore a
+beard; in those days he would have been thought queer if he had not.
+Even the Harvard students who came to Bayport occasionally on summer
+tramping trips wore beards or sidewhiskers; the very callowest Freshman
+sported and nourished a moustache.
+
+"So you don't occupy the whole house, Judah?" asked the captain.
+
+"No, no," replied Mr. Cahoon. "I live out in the back part. There's the
+kitchen and woodshed and dinin'-room out there and a couple of bedrooms.
+That's all _I_ want. There's nine more bedrooms in that house, Cap'n,"
+he declared solemnly. "That makes eleven altogether. Now what in tunket
+do you cal'late anybody'd ever do with eleven bedrooms?"
+
+Kendrick shook his head. "Give it up, Judah," he said. "For the matter
+of that, I don't see what you do with two. Do you sleep in one week
+nights and the other on Sundays?"
+
+Judah grinned. "No, no, Cap'n," he said. "I don't know myself why I keep
+that other bedroom fixed up. Cal'late I do it just for fun, kind of
+makin' believe I'm going to have company, I guess. It gets kind of
+lonesome there sometimes, 'specially meal times and evenin's. There I
+set at mess, you know, grand as the skipper of the _Great Republic_,
+cloth on the table, silver knife and fork, silver castor with blue glass
+vinegar and pepper-sass bottles, great, big, elegant mustache cup with
+'Forget Me Not' printed out on it in gold letters--everything so fine it
+couldn't be no finer--but by creepin', sometimes I can't help feelin'
+lonesome! Seems foolish, don't it, but I be."
+
+Captain Kendrick did not speak. He pulled at his beard with more
+deliberation and the look in his eye was that of one watching the
+brightening dawn of an idea.
+
+"I told Ogden so last time he was down," continued Mr. Cahoon. "He asked
+me if I was comf'table and if I wanted anything more and I told him I
+didn't. 'Only thing that ails me,' I says, 'is that I get kind of
+lonesome bein' by myself so much. Sometimes I wisht I had comp'ny.'
+'Well, why don't you _have_ comp'ny?' says he. 'You've got room enough,
+lord knows.' 'Yes,' I says, 'but who'll I have?' He laughed. 'That's
+your lookout,' says he. 'You can't expect me to hire a companion for
+you.'"
+
+"Humph!" Kendrick regarded him thoughtfully. "So you would like company,
+would you, Judah?"
+
+"Sartin sure I would, if 'twas the right kind. I got a cat and that
+helps a little mite. And Cap'n Shubal Hammond's wife told me yesterday
+she'd give me a young pig if I wanted one. That's what I'm cartin' home
+this little mite of seaweed for, to bed down the pig sty. But cats and
+hogs, they're all right enough, but they ain't human."
+
+"Do you keep hens?"
+
+This apparently harmless question seemed to arouse Mr. Cahoon's ire. His
+whiskers bristled and his nose flamed.
+
+"Hens!" he repeated. "Don't talk to me about hens! No, sir, by the
+prophets, I don't keep hens! But them everlastin' Fair Harborers keep
+'em and if they'd keep 'em to home I wouldn't say a word. But they
+don't. Half the time they're over my side of the fence raisin' blue hob
+with my garden. Hens! Don't talk to me about 'em! I hate the sight of
+the critters."
+
+Kendrick smiled. "And after all," he observed, "hens aren't human,
+either."
+
+Judah snorted. "Some are," he declared, "and them's the worst kind."
+
+There was, doubtless, a hidden meaning in this speech, but if so Sears
+Kendrick did not seek to find it. Laying a hand upon the broad shoulder
+of his former sea-cook he lifted himself to his feet.
+
+"Judah," he asked, briskly, "is that seaweed in your cart there dry?"
+
+"Eh? Dry? Yes, yes, dry as a cat's back. Been layin' on the beach above
+tide mark ever since last winter. Why?"
+
+"Do you suppose you could help me hoist myself aboard?"
+
+"Aboard? Aboard that truck-wagon? For the land sakes, what for?"
+
+"Because I want a ride. I've been in drydock here till I'm pretty nearly
+crazy. I want to go on a cruise, even if it isn't but a half mile one.
+Don't you want to cart me down to your anchorage and let me see how you
+and General Minot and the gilt whisk broom get along? I can sprawl on
+that seaweed and be as comfortable as a gull on a clam flat. Come on
+now! Heave ahead! Give us a hand up!"
+
+"But--limpin' prophets, Cap'n Sears, I couldn't cart you up the main
+road of Bayport in a seaweed cart. You, of all men! What do you cal'late
+folks would say if they see me doin' it? Course I'd love to have you
+ride down and see how I'm livin'. If you'd set up on the thawt there,"
+indicating the high seat of the truck-wagon, "I'd be proud to have you.
+But to haul you along on a load of seaweed that's goin' to bed down a
+hog! Cap'n, you _know_ 'twouldn't be fittin'! Course you do."
+
+His horror at the sacrilege was so ludicrous that Kendrick laughed
+aloud. However, he insisted that there was nothing unfitting in the
+idea; it was a good idea and founded upon common-sense.
+
+"How long do you think these sprung sticks of mine would last," he
+said, referring to his legs, "if they were jouncin' up and down on that
+seat aloft there? And I couldn't climb up even if I wanted to. But, you
+and I between us, Judah, can get me in on that seaweed, and that's what
+we're goin' to do. Come, come! Tumble up! All hands on deck now!
+Lively!"
+
+The familiar order, given with a touch of the old familiar crispness and
+authority, had its effect. Mr. Cahoon argued no more. Instead he sprang
+to attention, figuratively speaking.
+
+"Aye, aye, sir!" he said. "Here she goes. Take it easy, Cap'n; don't
+hurry. Ease yourself down that bankin'. If we was to let go and you come
+down with a run there'd be the divil and all to pay, wouldn't there? So
+... so.... Here we be, alongside. Now---- Aloft with ye."
+
+They had reached the road by the tailboard of the wagon. And now Judah
+stooped, picked up his former skipper in his arms and swung him in upon
+the load of dry seaweed as if he were a two year old boy instead of a
+full-grown, and very much grown, man.
+
+"Well," he asked, as he climbed to the seat, "all ready to make sail, be
+we? Any message you want to leave along with Sary? She won't know what
+end you've made, will she?"
+
+"Oh, she'll guess I've gone buggy-ridin' with the doctor. He's been
+threatenin' to take me with him 'most any day now. Sarah'll be all
+right. Get under way, Judah."
+
+"Aye, aye, sir. Git dap! Git dap! Limpin', creepin', crawlin', hoppin',
+jumpin'.... Starboard! _starboard_, you son of a Chinee! Need a tug to
+haul this critter into the channel, I swan you do! Git dap! All
+shipshape aft there, Cap'n Sears? Good enough! let her run."
+
+The old white horse--like the whisk broom and the Rogers group, a part
+of the furniture of the General Minot place--plodded along the dusty
+road and the blue truck-wagon rolled and rattled behind him. Captain
+Kendrick, settling his invalid limbs in the most comfortable fashion,
+lay back upon the seaweed and stared at the sky seen through the
+branches of elms and silver-leaf poplars which arched above. He made no
+attempt to look over the sides of the cart. Raising himself upon an
+elbow to do so entailed a good deal of exertion and this was his first
+trip abroad since his accident. Besides, seeing would probably mean
+being seen and he was not in the mood to answer the questions of
+curious, even if sympathetic, townsfolk. Judah made several attempts at
+conversation, but the replies were not satisfactory, so he gave it up
+after a little and, as was his habit, once more broke forth in song.
+Judah Cahoon, besides being sea cook on many, many voyages, had been
+"chantey man" on almost as many. His repertoire was, therefore,
+extensive and at times astonishing. Now, as he rocked back and forth
+upon the wagon seat, he caroled, not the _Dreadnought_ chantey, but
+another, which told of a Yankee ship sailing down the Congo River,
+evidently in the old days of the slave trade.
+
+    "'Who do you think is the cap'n of her?
+      Blow, boys, blow!
+    Old Holy Joe, the darky lover,
+      Blow, my bully boys, blow!
+
+    'What do you think they've got for dinner?
+      Blow, boys, blow!
+    Hot water soup, but a dum sight thinner,
+      Blow, my bully boys, blow!
+
+    'Oh, blow to-day and blow to-morrer,
+      Blow, boys, blow!
+    And blow for all old salts in sorrer,
+      Blow, my bully----'
+
+"Oh, say, Cap'n Sears!"
+
+"Yes, Judah?"
+
+"They've put up the name sign on the Fair Harbor since you was in
+Bayport afore, ain't they? We're right off abreast of it now. Can't you
+hist yourself up and look over the side? It's some consider'ble of a
+sign, that is. Lobelia she left word to have that sign painted and set
+up last time she was here. She's over acrost in one of them Eyetalian
+ports now, so I understand, her and that feller she married. Eh? Ain't
+that quite a sign, now, Cap'n?"
+
+Kendrick, because his driver seemed to be so eager, sat up and looked
+over the sideboard of the truck-wagon. The vehicle was just passing a
+long stretch of ornate black iron fence in the center of which was a
+still more ornate gate with an iron arch above it. In the curve of the
+arch swung a black sign, its edges gilded, and with this legend printed
+upon it in gilt letters:
+
+                           FAIR HARBOR
+
+                       For Mariners' Women
+
+                 "Without, the stormy winds increase,
+                 Within the harbor all is peace."
+
+Behind the fence was a good-sized tract of lawn heavily shaded with
+trees, a brick walk, and at the rear a large house. The house itself was
+of the stately Colonial type and its simple dignity was in marked
+contrast to the fence.
+
+Captain Kendrick recognized the establishment of course. It, with its
+next door neighbor the General Minot place, was for so many years the
+home of old Captain Sylvanus Seymour. Captain Sylvanus, during his
+lifetime, was active claimant for the throne of King of Bayport. He was
+the town's leading Democratic politician, its wealthiest citizen, with
+possibly one exception--its most lavish entertainer--with the same
+possible exception--and when the Governor came to the Cape on "Cattle
+Show Day" he was sure to be a guest at the Seymour place--unless General
+Ashahel Minot, who was the exception mentioned--had gotten his
+invitation accepted first. For General Minot was Bayport's leading Whig,
+as Captain Sylvanus was its leading Democrat, and the rivalry between
+the two was intense. Nevertheless, they were, in public at least,
+extremely polite and friendly, and when they did agree--as on matters
+concerning the village tax rate and the kind of doctrine permitted to be
+preached in the Orthodox meeting-house--their agreement was absolute and
+overwhelming. In their day the Captain and the General dominated Bayport
+by sea and land.
+
+But that day had passed. They had both been dead for some years. Captain
+Seymour died first and his place and property were inherited by his
+maiden daughter, Miss Lobelia Seymour. Sears Kendrick remembered Lobelia
+as a dressy, romantic spinster, very much in evidence at the church
+socials and at meetings of the Shakespeare Reading Society, and who sang
+a somewhat shrill soprano in the choir.
+
+Now, as he looked over the side of Judah Cahoon's truck-wagon and saw
+the sign hanging beneath the arch above the gate of the Seymour place he
+began dimly to remember other things, bits of news embodied in letters
+which his sister, Sarah Macomber, had written him at various times.
+Lobelia Seymour had--she had done something with the family home,
+something unusual. What was it? Why, yes....
+
+"Judah," he said, "Lobelia Seymour turned that place into a--a sort of
+home, didn't she?"
+
+Judah twisted on the wagon seat to stare at him.
+
+"What are you askin' me that for, Cap'n Sears?" he demanded. "You know
+more about it than I do, I guess likely. Anyhow, you ought to; you was
+brought up in Bayport; I wasn't."
+
+"Yes, but I've been away from it ten times longer than I've been in it.
+I'd forgotten all about Lobelia. Seems to me Sarah wrote me somethin'
+about her, though, and that she had turned her father's place into a
+home for women."
+
+"For mariners' women, that's what she calls it. Didn't you see it on the
+sign? Ho, ho! that's a good one, ain't it, Cap'n Sears? 'Mariners'
+women!' Course what it means is sea cap'ns widders and sisters and such,
+but it does sound kind of Brigham Youngy, don't it? Haw, haw! Well,
+fur's that goes I have known mariners that--Hi! 'Vast heavin' there!
+What in time you tryin' to do, carry away that gate post? Whoa! Jumpin'
+creepin', limpin'---- Whoa! _Look_ at the critter!" in huge disgust and
+referring to the white horse, who had suddenly evinced a desire to turn
+in at a narrow driveway and to gallop while doing so. "Look at him!"
+repeated Judah. "When I go up to the depot he'll stand right in the
+middle of the railroad track and go to sleep. I have to whale the
+timbers out of him to get him awake enough to step ahead so's a train of
+cars won't stave in his broadside. But get him home here where he can
+see the barn, the place where he knows I stow the oats, and he wants to
+run right over top of a stone wall. Can't hardly hold him, I can't.
+Who-a-a!... Well, Cap'n Sears, here we be at the General Minot place.
+Here's where I sling my hammock these days."
+
+Kendrick looked about him, at the grassy back yard, with the ancient
+settee beneath the locust tree, the raspberry and currant bushes along
+the wall, the venerable apple and pear trees on the other side of the
+wall, at the trellis over the back door and the grape vine heavily
+festooning it, at the big weather-beaten barn, carriage house and
+pig-pens beyond. Turning, he looked upward at the high rambling house,
+its dormers and gables, its white clapboards and green window blinds.
+The sunlight streamed over it, but beneath the vine-hung lattice and
+under the locust tree were coolness and shadow. The wing of the big
+house, projecting out to the corner of the drive, shut off the view to
+or from the road. Somehow, the whole yard, with its peace and quiet and
+sunshine and shadow, and above all, its retirement, made a great appeal.
+It seemed so homelike, so shut away, so comforting, like a sheltered
+little backwater where a storm-beaten craft might lie snug.
+
+Mr. Cahoon made anxious inquiry.
+
+"What do you think of it, Cap'n?" he asked.
+
+His visitor did not reply. Instead he said, "Judah, I'd like to see your
+quarters inside, may I?"
+
+"Sartin sure you may. Right this way. Look out for the rocks in the
+channel," indicating the brick floor beneath the lattice. "Two or three
+of them bricks stick up more'n they ought to. Twice since I've been here
+the stem of one of my boots has fetched up on them bricks and I've all
+but pitch-poled. Take your time, Cap'n Sears, take your time. Here, lean
+on my shoulder, I'll pilot you."
+
+The captain smiled. "Much obliged, Judah," he said, "but I shan't need
+your shoulder. There aren't any stairs to climb, are there? Stair
+climbin' is too much for me yet awhile. Perhaps it will always be. I
+don't know."
+
+The tone in which he uttered the last sentence caused his companion to
+turn his head and regard him with concern.
+
+"Sho, sho, sho!" he exclaimed, hastily. "What kind of talk's that,
+Cap'n! I'll live to see you shin up and hang your hat on the main truck
+yet.... There, here's the galley. Like it, do you?"
+
+The "galley" was, of course, the kitchen. It was huge and low and very
+old-fashioned. Also it was, just now, spotlessly clean. From it opened
+the woodshed, and toward the front, the dining room.
+
+"I don't eat in here much," observed Judah, referring to the dining
+room. "Generally mess in the galley. Comes more natural to me. The
+settin' room, and back parlor and front parlor are out for'ard yonder.
+Come on, Cap'n Sears."
+
+The captain shook his head. "Never mind them just now," he said. "I want
+to see the bedrooms, those you use, Judah. That is, unless they're up
+aloft."
+
+"No, no. Right on the lower deck, both of 'em. Course there _is_ plenty
+more up aloft, but, as I told you, I never bother 'em. Here's my berth,"
+opening a door from the sitting room. "And here's what I call my spare
+stateroom. I keep it ready for comp'ny. Not that I ever have any, you
+understand."
+
+Judah's bedroom was small and snug. The "spare stateroom" was a trifle
+larger. In both were the old-fashioned mahogany furniture of our
+great-grandfathers. Mr. Cahoon apologized for it.
+
+"Kind of old-timey stuff down below here," he explained. "Just common
+folks used these rooms, I judge likely. But you'd ought to see them up
+on the quarter deck. There's your high-toned fixin's! Marble tops to the
+bureaus and tables and washstands, and fruit--peaches and pears and all
+sorts--carved out on the headboards of the beds, and wreaths on the
+walls all made out of shells, and--and kind of brass doodads at the tops
+of the window curtains. Style, don't talk!... Sort of a pretty look-off
+through that deadlight, ain't there, Cap'n Sears? Seems so to me."
+
+Kendrick had raised the window shade of the spare stateroom and was
+looking out. The view extended across the rolling hills and little pine
+groves and cranberry bogs, to the lower road with its white houses and
+shade trees. And beyond the lower road were more hills and pines, a
+pretty little lake--Crowell's Pond, it was called--sand dunes and then
+the blue water of the Bay. The captain looked at the view for a few
+moments, then, turning, looked once more at the room and its furniture.
+
+"So you've never had a passenger in your spare stateroom, Judah?" he
+asked.
+
+"Nary one, not yet."
+
+"Expectin' any?"
+
+"Nary one. Don't know nobody to expect."
+
+"But you think it would be all right if you did have some one? Your
+er--owner--young Minot, I mean, wouldn't object?"
+
+"Object! No, no. He told me to. 'I should think you'd die livin' here
+alone,' he says. 'Why don't you take a boarder? I would if I was you.'"
+
+Sears Kendrick stopped looking at the room and its furniture and turned
+his gaze upon his former cook.
+
+"Take a boarder?" he repeated. "Did Ogden Minot tell you to take a
+boarder? And do you think he meant it?"
+
+"Sartin sure he meant it. He don't care what I do--in reason, of
+course."
+
+"Humph!... Well, then, Judah, why don't you take one?"
+
+"Eh? Take one what? A boarder? Who'd I take, for thunder's sakes?"
+
+Captain Kendrick smiled.
+
+"Me," he said.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+For the half hour which followed the captain's utterance of that simple
+little word, "Me," exclamation, protestation and argument heated and
+unwontedly disturbed the atmosphere of the Minot spare stateroom and
+when the discussion adjourned there, of the little back yard. The old
+white horse, left to himself and quite forgotten, placidly meandered on
+until he reached a point where he could reach the tender foliage of a
+young pear tree which leaned over the wall toward him. Then, with a sigh
+of content, he proceeded to devour the tree. No one paid the least
+attention to him. Captain Kendrick, now seated upon the bench beneath
+the locust, was quietly but persistently explaining why he desired to
+become a boarder and lodger at Mr. Cahoon's quarters on the after lower
+deck of the General Minot house, and Judah was vociferously and
+profanely expostulating against such an idea.
+
+"It ain't fittin', I tell you," he declared, over and over again. "It
+ain't fittin', it's the craziest notion ever I heard tell of. What'll
+folks think if they know you're here--you, Cap'n Sears Kendrick, that
+all hands knows is the smartest cap'n that ever sailed out of Boston
+harbor? What'll they say if they know you've hove anchor along of me,
+stayin' here in the--in the fo'castle of this house; eatin' the grub I
+cook--"
+
+"I've eaten your cookin' for a good many months at a stretch, Judah. You
+never heard me find any fault with it, did you?"
+
+"Don't make no odds. That's different, Cap'n Sears, and you know 'tis.
+It's ridiculous, stark, ravin' ridiculous."
+
+"So you don't care for my company?"
+
+"Don't tuk so! Wouldn't I be proud to have ye? Wouldn't I ruther have
+you aboard here than anybody else on earth? Course I would!"
+
+"All right. And you're goin' to have me. So that's all settled."
+
+"Settled! Who said 'twas settled? Course 'tain't settled. You don't
+understand, Cap'n Sears. 'Tain't how I feel about it. 'Tain't even maybe
+how you feel about it. But how'll your sister feel about it? How'll Joel
+feel? How'll the doctor feel? How'll the folks in town feel? How'll--"
+
+"Oh, shh! shh! Avast, Judah! How'll the cat feel? And the pig? What do I
+care? How'll your old horse feel if he eats the other half of that pear
+tree? That's considerably more important."
+
+Judah turned, saw the combination of ancient equine and youthful tree
+and rushed bellowing to the rescue of the latter. When he returned,
+empty of profanity and copiously perspiring, his former skipper was
+ready for him.
+
+"Listen, Judah," he said. "Listen, and keep your main hatch closed for
+five minutes, if you can. I want to come here to board with you for a
+while and I've got the best reasons on earth. Keep still and I'll tell
+you again what they are."
+
+He proceeded to give those reasons. They were that he had little money
+and must therefore live inexpensively. He would not remain at his
+sister's because she had more than enough care and work in her own
+family. George Kent boarded with her and one boarder was sufficient.
+Then--and this was the principal reason for selecting the General Minot
+spare stateroom--he wished to live somewhere away from observation,
+where he could be alone, or nearly alone, where he would not be plagued
+with questions.
+
+"You see, Judah," he said, "I've had a bump in more ways than one. My
+pride was knocked flat as well as my pocket book. The doctor says I've
+got to stay ashore for a good while. He says it will be months before
+I'm ready for sea--if I'm ever ready--"
+
+"Hold on, hold on! Cap'n Sears, you mustn't talk so. Course you'll be
+ready."
+
+"All right, we'll hope I will. But while I'm gettin' ready to be ready I
+want to lie snug. I don't want to see a whole lot of people and have to
+listen to--to sympathy and all that. I've made a fool of myself, and
+that kind of a fool doesn't deserve sympathy. And I don't want it,
+anyhow. Give me a pair of sound spars and my health once more and you
+won't find me beggin' for sympathy--no, nor anything else.... But
+there," he added, straightening and throwing back his shoulders in the
+way Judah had seen him do so often on shipboard and which his mates had
+learned to recognize as a sign that the old man's mind was made up,
+"that's enough of that. Let's stick to the course. I like this place of
+yours, Judah, and I'm comin' here to live. I'm weak yet and you can
+throw me out, of course," he added, "but I tell you plainly you can't
+_talk_ me out, so it's no use to try."
+
+Nevertheless, Mr. Cahoon kept on trying and, when he did give in only
+gave in halfway. If Captain Sears was bound to do such a fool thing he
+didn't know how he was going to stop him, but at least he did insist
+that the captain should take a trial cruise before signing on for the
+whole voyage.
+
+"I tell you what you do, Cap'n Sears," he said. "You make me a little
+visit of--of two, three days, say. Then, if you cal'late you can stand
+the grub--and me--and if the way Bayport folks'll be talkin' ain't
+enough to send you back to Sary's again, why--why, then I suppose you
+can stay right along, if you want to. _'Twould_ be fine to have you
+aboard! Whew!"
+
+He grinned from ear to ear. The captain accepted the compromise.
+
+"All right, Judah," he said. "We'll call the first few days a visit and
+I'll begin by stayin' to dinner now. How'll that do, eh?"
+
+Mr. Cahoon affirmed that it would do finely. The only drawback was that
+there was nothing in the house for dinner.
+
+"I was cal'latin' to go down to the shore," he said, "and dig a bucket
+of clams. Course they'll do well enough for me, but for you--"
+
+"For me they will be just the ticket," declared Kendrick. "Go ahead and
+dig 'em, Judah. And on the way stop and tell Sarah I'm goin' to stay
+here and help eat 'em. After dinner--well, after dinner I shall have to
+go back there again, I suppose, but to-morrow I'm comin' up here to
+stay."
+
+So, still under protest, Judah, having unloaded the seaweed, climbed
+once more to the high seat of the truck-wagon and the old horse dragged
+him out of the yard. After the row of trees bordering the road had
+hidden him from sight Kendrick could hear the rattle of the cart and a
+fragment of the _Dreadnought_ chantey.
+
+    "Now the _Dreadnought's_ becalmed on the banks of Newfoundland,
+    Where the water's all green and the bottom's all sand.
+    Says the fish of the ocean that swim to and fro:
+    'She's the Liverpool packet, good Lord, let her go.'"
+
+Rattle and chantey died away in the distance. Quiet, warm and lazy,
+settled down upon the back yard of the General Minot place. A robin
+piped occasionally and, from somewhere off to the left, hens clucked,
+but these were the only sounds. Kendrick judged that the hens must
+belong to neighbors; Judah had expressed detestation of all poultry.
+There was not sufficient breeze to stir the branches of the locust or
+the leaves of the grapevine. The captain leaned back on the settee and
+yawned. He felt a strong desire to go to sleep.
+
+Now sleeping in the daytime had always been a trick which he despised
+and against which he had railed all his life. He had declared times
+without number that a man who slept in the daytime--unless of course he
+had been on watch all night or something like that--was a loafer, a good
+for nothing, a lubber too lazy to be allowed on earth. The day was a
+period made for decent, respectable people to work in, and for a man who
+did not work, and love to work, Captain Sears Kendrick had no use
+whatever. Many so-called able seamen, and even first and second mates,
+had received painstaking instructions in this section of their skipper's
+code.
+
+But now--now it was different. Why shouldn't he sleep in the daytime?
+There was nothing else for him to do. He had no business to transact, no
+owners to report to, no vessel to load or unload or to fit for sea. He
+had heard the doctor's whisper--not meant for his ears--that his legs
+might never be right again, and the word "might" had, he believed, been
+substituted for one of much less ambiguous meaning. No, all he was fit
+for, he reflected bitterly, was to sit in the sun and sleep, like an old
+dog with the rheumatism. He sighed, settled himself upon the bench and
+closed his eyes.
+
+But he opened them again almost at once. During that very brief interval
+of darkness there had flashed before his mind a picture of a small park
+in New York as he had once seen it upon a summer Sunday afternoon. The
+park walks had been bordered with rows of benches and upon each bench
+slumbered at least one human derelict who, apparently, realized his
+worthlessness and had given up the fight. Captain Kendrick sat upright
+on the settee, beneath the locust tree. Was he, too, giving
+up--surrendering to Fate? No, by the Lord, he was not! And he was not
+going to drop off to sleep on that settee like one of those tramps on a
+park bench.
+
+He rose to his feet, picked up his cane, and started to walk--somewhere.
+Direction made little difference, so long as he kept awake and kept
+going. There was a path leading off between the raspberry and currant
+bushes, and slowly, but stubbornly, he limped along that path. The path
+ended at a gate in a white picket fence. The gate was unlatched and
+there was an orchard on the other side of it. Captain Sears opened the
+gate and limped on under the apple trees. They were old trees and large
+and the shade they cast was cool and pleasant. The soft green slope
+beneath them tempted him strongly. He was beginning to realize that
+those shaky legs of his were tiring in this, the longest walk they had
+attempted since the accident. He had a mind to sit down upon the bank
+beneath the apple trees and rest. Then he remembered the mental picture
+of the tramps on the park benches and stubbornly refused to yield.
+Leaning more heavily upon his cane, he limped on.
+
+The path emerged from beneath the apple trees, ascended a little rise
+and disappeared around the shoulder of a high thick clump of lilacs.
+Kendrick, tiring more and more rapidly, plodded on. His suffering limbs
+were, so to speak, shrieking for mercy but he would not give it to them.
+He set himself a "stint"; he would see what was beyond the clump of
+lilacs, then he would rest, and then he would hobble back to the Minot
+yard. Incidentally he realized that he had been a fool ever to leave it.
+
+His teeth grimly set and each step a labor, he plodded up the little
+rise and turned the corner of the lilac bushes. There he stopped, not
+entirely because his "stint" was done, but because what he saw surprised
+him.
+
+Beyond the lilacs was a small garden, or rather a series of small
+gardens. The divisions between them appeared to be exactly the same size
+and the plots themselves precisely the same size and shape. There
+were--although the captain did not learn this until later--seven of
+these plots, each exactly six by nine feet. But there resemblance
+ceased, for each was planted and arranged with a marked individuality.
+For example, the one nearest the lilac bushes was laid out in a sort of
+checkerboard pattern of squares, one square containing a certain sort of
+old-fashioned flower and its neighbors other varieties. The plot
+adjoining the checkerboard was arranged in diamonds and spirals; the
+planting here was floral also, whereas the next was evidently
+utilitarian, being given up entirely to corn, potatoes, onions, beets
+and other vegetables. And the next seemed to be covered with nothing
+except a triumphant growth of weeds.
+
+At the rear of these odd garden plots was a little octagonal building,
+evidently a summer-house. Over its door, a door fronting steps leading
+down to the gardens, was a sign bearing the name "The Eyrie." And behind
+the summer-house was a stretch of rather shabby lawn, a half dozen
+trees, and the rear of a large house. Captain Sears recognized the house
+as the Seymour residence, now the "Fair Harbor." He had strayed off the
+course and was trespassing upon his neighbors' premises. This fact was
+immediately brought to his attention. From somewhere at the rear of the
+gardens a shrill feminine voice exclaimed:
+
+"Mercy on us! Who's that?"
+
+And another feminine voice chimed in:
+
+"Eh! I declare it's a man, ain't it?"
+
+And the first voice observed sharply:
+
+"Of course it is. You didn't think I thought it was a cow, did you?"
+
+"But what's he doin' here? Is he a tramp?
+
+"I don't know, but I'm going to find out. Hi! Here! You--man--where are
+you going?"
+
+Captain Sears had, by this time, located the voices as coming from the
+"Eyrie," the summer-house with the poetical name. He had so far,
+however, been able to see nothing of the speakers. But now the tangle of
+woodbine and morning-glory which draped the front of the summer-house
+was drawn aside and revealed a rustic window--or unglazed window
+opening--with two heads framed in it like a double portrait. Both of
+these heads were feminine, but one was thin-faced and sharp-featured,
+and gray-haired, while the other was like a full moon--a full moon with
+several chins--and its hair was a startlingly vivid black parted in the
+middle and with a series of very regular ripples on each side.
+
+It was the thin face which was hailing him. The other was merely
+staring, open-eyed and open-mouthed.
+
+"Here, you--man!" repeated the shrill voice--belonging to the thin face.
+"Where are you going?"
+
+The captain smiled. "Why, nowhere in particular, ma'am," he replied. "I
+was just figurin' that I'd gone about as far as I could this voyage."
+
+His smile became a chuckle, but there were no symptoms of amusement
+visible upon the faces framed in the window of the Eyrie. The thin lips
+merely pressed tighter and the plump ones opened wider, that was all.
+
+"Why don't you answer my question?" demanded the thin woman. "What are
+you doing on these premises?"
+
+"Why, nothin' in particular, ma'am. I was just tryin' to take a little
+walk and not makin' a very good job at it."
+
+There was an interruption here. The full moon broke in to ask a question
+of its own.
+
+"Who is he? What's he talkin' about?" it demanded.
+
+"I don't know who he is--yet."
+
+"Well, what's he talkin' about? Make him speak louder."
+
+"I will, if you give me a chance. He says he is taking a walk. What are
+you taking a walk in here for? Don't you know it isn't allowed?"
+
+"Why, no, ma'am, I didn't. In fact I didn't realize I was in here until
+I--well--until I got here."
+
+"What is he sayin'?" demanded the moon-face again, and somewhat testily.
+"I can't hear a word."
+
+Now the captain's tone had been at least ordinarily loud, so it was
+evident that the plump woman's hearing was defective. Her curiosity,
+however, was not in the least impaired.
+
+"What's that man talkin' about now?" she persisted. Her companion became
+impatient.
+
+"Oh, I don't know," she snapped. "Do give me a chance, won't you? I
+think he's been drinking. He says he doesn't know where he is or how he
+got here."
+
+Kendrick thought it high time to protest. Also to raise his voice when
+doing so.
+
+"That wasn't exactly it," he shouted. "I was takin' a little walk,
+that's all. I have to navigate pretty slow for my legs aren't just
+right."
+
+"What did he say wa'n't right?" demanded the plump female.
+
+"His legs."
+
+"Eh! Legs! What's he talkin' about his legs for?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know! Do be still a minute. It's his head that isn't right,
+I guess he means.... Don't you know you're trespassing? What do you
+mean by coming in here?"
+
+"Well, ma'am, I didn't mean anything in particular. I just happened in
+by accident. I'm sorry."
+
+"Humph! You didn't come in here to run off with anything that didn't
+belong to you, I hope."
+
+The captain looked at her for a moment. Then his lip twitched.
+
+"No, ma'am," he said, solemnly, "I didn't come with that idea--but--"
+
+"But? What do you mean by 'but'?"
+
+"But I didn't realize what there was in here to run off with. If I
+had.... There, I guess I'd better go. Good day, ladies. Sorry I troubled
+you."
+
+He lifted his cap, turned, and limped out of sight around the clump of
+lilacs. From behind him came a series of indignant gasps and
+exclamations.
+
+"Why--why--Well, I never in all my born days! The saucy, impudent--"
+
+And the voice of the moon-faced one raised in bewildered entreaty:
+
+"What was it? What did he say? Elviry Snowden, why don't you tell me
+what 'twas he _said_?"
+
+Captain Kendrick hobbled back to the Minot yard. He hobbled through the
+orchard gate, leaving it ajar, and reaching the bench beneath the locust
+tree, collapsed upon it. For some time he was conscious of very little
+except the ache in his legs and the fact that breathing was a difficult
+and jerky operation. Then, as the fatigue and pain ceased to be as
+insistent, the memory of his interview with the pair in the Eyrie
+returned to him and he began to chuckle. After a time he fancied that he
+heard a sympathetic chuckle behind him. It seemed to come from the
+vegetable garden, Judah's garden, which, so Mr. Cahoon told his former
+skipper, he had set out himself and was "sproutin' and comin' up
+better'n ary other garden in the town of Bayport, if I do say it as
+shouldn't."
+
+Kendrick could not imagine who could be chuckling in that garden. Also
+he could not imagine where the chuckler could be hiding, unless it was
+behind the rows of raspberry and currant bushes. Slowly and painfully he
+rose to his feet and peered over the bushes. Then the mystery was
+explained. The "chuckles" were clucks. A flock of at least a dozen
+healthy and energetic hens were enthusiastically busy in the Cahoon
+beds. Their feet were moving like miniature steam shovels and showers of
+earth and infant vegetables were moving likewise. Judah had boasted that
+the fruits of his planting were "comin' up." If he had seen them at that
+moment he would have realized how fast they were coming up.
+
+The sight aroused Captain Kendrick's ire. He was, in a way of speaking,
+guardian of that vegetable patch. Judah had not formally appointed him
+to that position, but he had gone away and, by the fact of so doing, had
+left it in his charge. He felt responsible for its safety.
+
+"Shoo!" shouted the captain and, leaning upon his cane, limped toward
+the garden.
+
+"Shoo!" he roared again. The hens paid about as much attention to the
+roar as a gang of ditch diggers might pay to the buzz of a mosquito.
+Obviously something more drastic than shooing was necessary. The captain
+stooped and picked up a stone. He threw the stone and hit a hen. She
+rose in the air with a frightened squawk, ran around in a circle, and
+then, coming to anchor in a patch of tiny beets, resumed excavating
+operations.
+
+Kendrick picked up another stone, a bigger one, and threw that. He
+missed the mark this time, but the shot was not entirely without
+results; it hit one of Mr. Cahoon's cucumber frames and smashed a pane
+to atoms. The crash of glass had the effect of causing some of the fowl
+to stop digging and appear nervous. But these were in the minority.
+
+The captain was, by this time, annoyed. He was on the verge of losing
+his temper. Beyond the little garden and between the raspberry and
+currant bushes he caught a glimpse of the path and the gate through
+which he had just come on his way back from the grounds of the Fair
+Harbor. That gate he saw, with a twinge of conscience, was wide open.
+Obviously he must have neglected to latch it on passing through, it had
+swung open, and the hens had taken advantage of the sally port to make
+their foray upon Judah's pet vegetables. They were Fair Harbor hens.
+Somehow this fact did not tend to deepen Sears Kendrick's affection for
+them.
+
+"Shoo! Clear out, you pesky nuisances!" he shouted, and waving his cane,
+charged laboriously down upon the fowl. They retreated before him, but
+their retreat was strategic. They moved from beets to cabbages, from
+cabbages to young corn, from corn to onions. And they scratched and
+pecked as they withdrew. Nevertheless, they were withdrawing and in the
+direction of the open gate; in the midst of his panting and pain the
+captain found a slight comfort in the fact that he was driving the
+creatures toward the gate.
+
+At last they were almost there--that is, the main body. Kendrick noted,
+with sudden uneasiness, that there were stragglers. A gaily decorated
+old rooster, a fowl with a dissipated and immoral swagger and a knowing,
+devil-may-care tilt of the head, was sidling off to the left. Two or
+three young pullets were following the lead of this ancient pirate,
+evidently fascinated by his recklessness. The captain turned to head off
+the wanderers. They squawked and ran hither and thither. He succeeded in
+turning them back, but, at the moment of his success, heard triumphant
+cluckings at his rear. The rest of the flock had, while his attention
+was diverted by the rooster and his followers, galloped joyfully back to
+the garden again. Now, as Captain Sears gazed, the rooster and his
+satellites flew to join them. All hands--or, more literally, all
+feet--resumed excavating with the abandon of conscientious workers
+striving to make up lost time.
+
+And now Sears Kendrick did lose his temper. Probably at another time he
+might have laughed, but now he was tired, in pain, and in no mood to see
+the humorous side of the situation. He expressed his opinion of the hens
+and the rooster, using quarter deck idioms and withholding little. If
+the objects of his wrath were disturbed they did not show it. If they
+were shocked they hid their confusion in the newly turned earth of Judah
+Cahoon's squash bed.
+
+Whether they were shocked or not Sears did not stop to consider. He
+intended to shock them to the fullest extent of the word's meaning. At
+his feet was a stick, almost a log, part of the limb of a pear tree. He
+picked up this missile and hurled it at the marauders. It missed them
+but it struck in the squash bed and tore at least six of the delicate
+young squashlings from their moorings. Kendrick plunged after it--the
+hens separating as he advanced and rejoining at his rear--picked up the
+log and, turning, again hurled it.
+
+"There!" roared the captain, "take that, damn you!"
+
+One of the hens did "take it." So did some one else. The missile struck
+just beneath the fowl as she fled, lifted her and a peck or two of soil
+as well, and hurled the whole mass almost into the face of a person who,
+unseen until then, had advanced along the path from the gate and had
+arrived at that spot at that psychological instant. This person uttered
+a little scream, the hen fled with insane yells, the log and its
+accompanying shower fell back to earth, and Sears Kendrick and the young
+woman--for the newcomer was a young woman--stood and looked at each
+other.
+
+She was bareheaded and her hair was dark and abundant, and she was
+wearing a gingham dress and a white apron. So much he noticed at this,
+their first meeting. Afterward he became aware that she was slender and
+that her age might perhaps be twenty-four or twenty-five. At that
+moment, of course, he did not notice anything except that her apron and
+dress--yes, even her hair and face--were plentifully besprinkled with
+earth and that she was holding a hand to her eyes as if they, too, might
+have received a share of the results of the terrestrial disturbance.
+
+"Oh!" he stammered. "I'm awfully sorry! I--I hope I didn't hurt you."
+
+If she heard him she did not answer, but, removing her hand, opened and
+shut her eyes rapidly. The captain's alarm grew as he watched this
+proceeding.
+
+"I--I _do_ hope I didn't hurt you," he repeated. "It--it didn't put your
+eyes out, did it?"
+
+She smiled, although rather uncertainly. "No," she said.
+
+"You're sure?"
+
+"Yes." The smile became broader. "It's not quite as bad as that, I
+guess. I seem to be able to see all right."
+
+He drew a relieved breath. "Well, I'm thankful for so much, then," he
+announced. "But it's all over your dress--and--and in your hair--and....
+Oh, I _am_ sorry!"
+
+She laughed at this outburst. "It is all right," she declared. "Of
+course it was an accident, and I'm not hurt a bit, really."
+
+"I'm glad of that. Yes, it was an accident--your part of it, I mean. I
+didn't see you at all. I meant the part the hen got, though."
+
+Her laugh was over, but there was still a twinkle in her eye. Kendrick
+was, by this time, aware that her eyes were brown.
+
+"Yes," she observed, demurely, "I--gathered that you did."
+
+"Yes, I--" It suddenly occurred to him that his language had been as
+emphatic as his actions. "Good lord!" he exclaimed. "I forgot. I beg
+your pardon for that, too. When I lose my temper I am liable to--to make
+salt water remarks, I'm afraid. And those hens.... Eh? There they are
+again, hard at it! Will you excuse me while I kill three or four of 'em?
+You see, I'm in charge of that garden and.... _Get out!_"
+
+This last was, of course, another roar at the fowl, who, under the
+leadership of the rake-helly rooster, were scratching harder than ever
+in the beds. The captain reached for another missile, but his visitor
+stepped forward.
+
+"Please don't," she begged. "Please don't kill them."
+
+"Eh? Why not? They ought to be killed."
+
+"I know it, but I don't want them killed--yet, at any rate. You see,
+they are my hens."
+
+"Yours?" The captain straightened up and looked at her. "You don't mean
+it?" he exclaimed.
+
+"Yes, I do. They are mine, or my mother's, which is the same thing. I am
+dreadfully sorry they got in here. I'll have them out in just a minute.
+Oh, yes, I will, really."
+
+Kendrick regarded her doubtfully.
+
+"Well," he said, slowly, "I know it isn't polite to contradict a lady
+but if you'll tell me _how_ you are goin' to get 'em out without killin'
+'em, I'll be ever so much obliged. You can't drive 'em, I know that."
+
+"I shan't try. Just wait, I'll be right back."
+
+She hurried away, down the path and through the open gate. Captain Sears
+Kendrick looked after her. Behind and about him the Fair Harbor hens
+clucked and scratched blissfully.
+
+In very little more than the promised minute the young woman returned.
+She carried a round wooden receptacle--what Cape Codders used to call a
+"two quart measure"--and, as she approached, she shook it. Something
+within rattled. The hens, some of them, heard the rattle and ceased
+their digging.
+
+"Come, chick, chick! Come, biddy, biddy, biddy!" called the young woman,
+rattling the measure. More of the fowl gave up their labors, and looked
+and listened. Some even began to follow her. She dipped a hand into the
+measure, withdrew it filled with corn, and scattered a few grains in the
+path.
+
+"Come, biddy, biddy, biddy!" she said again.
+
+And the biddies came. Forgetting the possibilities of Judah Cahoon's
+garden, they rushed headlong upon the golden certainties of those yellow
+kernels. The young woman retreated along the path, scattering corn as
+she went, and after her scrambled and pecked and squawked the fowl. Even
+the sophisticated rooster yielded to temptation and was among the
+leaders in the rush. The corn bearer and the flock passed through the
+open gate, along the path beneath the Fair Harbor apple trees, out of
+sight around the bend. Sears Kendrick was left alone upon the battle
+ground, amid the dead and wounded young vegetables.
+
+But he was not left alone long. A few minutes later his visitor
+returned. She had evidently hurried, for there was a red spot on each of
+her cheeks and she was breathing quickly. She passed through the gate
+into the grounds of the General Minot place and closed that gate behind
+her.
+
+"There!" she said. "Now they are locked up in the hen yard. How in the
+world they ever got out of there I don't see. I suppose some one left
+the gate open. I--What were you going to say?"
+
+The captain had been about to confess that it was he who left the gate
+open, but he changed his mind. Apparently she had been on the point of
+saying something more. The confession could wait.
+
+"What was it?" asked the young woman.
+
+"Oh, nothin', nothin'."
+
+"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter much how they got out, as long as
+they did. But I am _very_ sorry they got into Mr. Cahoon's garden. I
+hope they haven't completely ruined it."
+
+They both turned to survey the battlefield. It was--like all
+battlefields after the strife is ended--a sad spectacle.
+
+"Oh, dear!" exclaimed the visitor. "I am afraid they have. What _will_
+Mr. Cahoon say?"
+
+The captain smiled slightly.
+
+"I hope you don't expect me to answer that," he observed.
+
+"Why?... Oh, I see! Well, I don't know that I should blame him much.
+Have--have they left anything?"
+
+"Oh, yes! Yes, indeed. There are a good many--er--sprouts left. And they
+dug up a lot of weeds besides. Judah ought to be thankful for the weeds,
+anyhow."
+
+"I am afraid he won't be, under the circumstances."
+
+"Maybe not, but there is one thing that, under the same circumstances,
+he _ought_ to be thankful for. That is, that you came when you did. You
+may not know it, but I had been tryin' to get those hens out of that
+garden for--for a year, I guess. It seems longer, but I presume likely
+it wasn't more than a year."
+
+She laughed again. "No," she said, "I guess it wasn't more than that."
+
+"Probably not. If it had been any longer, judgin' by the way they worked,
+they'd have dug out the underpinnin' and had the house down by this time.
+How did you happen to come? Did you hear the--er--broadsides?"
+
+"Why, no, I--But that reminds me. Have you seen a tramp around here?"
+
+"A tramp? What sort of a tramp?"
+
+"I don't know. Elvira--I mean Miss Snowden--said he was a tall, dark man
+and Aurora thought he was rather thick-set and sandy. But they both
+agree that he was a dreadful, rough-looking creature who carried a big
+club and had a queer slouchy walk. And he came in this direction, so
+they thought."
+
+"He did, eh? Humph! Odd I didn't see him. I've been here all the time.
+Where was he when they saw him first?"
+
+"Over on our property. In the Fair Harbor grounds, I mean. He came out
+of the bushes, so Elvira and Aurora say, and spoke to them. Insulted
+them, Elvira says."
+
+"Sho! Well, well! I wonder where he went."
+
+"I can't think. I supposed of course you must have seen him. It was only
+a little while ago, not more than an hour. Have you been here all that
+time?"
+
+"Yes, I've been here for the last two hours. What part of your grounds
+was it? Would you like to have me go over there and look around?"
+
+"No, thank you. You are very kind, but I am sure it won't be necessary.
+He has gone by now, of course."
+
+"I should be glad to try." Then, noticing her glance at his limp, he
+added: "Oh, I can navigate after a fashion, well enough for a short
+cruise like that. But it is funny that, if there was a tramp there such
+a little while ago, I didn't run afoul of him. Why, I was over there
+myself."
+
+"You were?"
+
+"Yes, you see, I----"
+
+He stopped short. He had been about to tell of his short walk and how he
+had inadvertently trespassed within the Fair Harbor boundaries. But
+before he could speak the words a sudden and amazing thought flashed
+upon him.
+
+"Eh?" he cried. "Why--why, I wonder----"
+
+His visitor was leaning forward. Judging by her expression, she, too,
+was experiencing a similar sensation of startled surmise.
+
+"Why----" repeated the captain.
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed the young woman.
+
+"You don't suppose----"
+
+"It couldn't possibly be that----"
+
+"Wait a minute, please. Just a minute." Sears held up his hand. "Where
+did those folks of yours see this tramp? Were they in a--in a kind of
+roundhouse--summer-house, you might call it?"
+
+"Why, yes. They were in the Eyrie."
+
+"That's it, the Eyrie. And is one of the--er--ladies rather tall and
+narrow in the beam, gray-haired, and speaks quick and--school-marmy?"
+
+"Yes. That is Miss Elvira Snowden."
+
+"Of course--Elvira. That's what the other one called her. And she--the
+other one--is short and broad and--and hard of hearin'?"
+
+"Yes. Her name is Aurora Chase. Is it possible that you----"
+
+"Just a second more. Has this short one got a--a queer sort of hair rig?
+Black as tar and with kind of--of wrinkles in it?"
+
+She smiled at this description. "Yes," she said. "Do you mean that _you_
+are----"
+
+"The tramp? I guess likely I am. I was over on your premises just a
+little while ago and met those two ladies."
+
+"But you can't be. They said he--the tramp--was a dreadful, rough man,
+with a club and--and----"
+
+"Here's the club." Captain Kendrick exhibited his cane. "And these lame
+legs of mine would account for that slouchy walk they told you about. I
+guess there isn't much doubt that I am the tramp. But I'm sorry if they
+thought I insulted 'em. I surely didn't mean to."
+
+He described the meeting by the Eyrie and repeated the dialogue as he
+remembered it.
+
+"So you see," he said, in conclusion, "that's all there is to it. I
+suppose that hint of mine about bein' tempted to run off with one of 'em
+is the nearest to an insult of any of it. Perhaps I shouldn't have said
+it, but--but it popped into my head and I couldn't hold it back. I
+didn't really mean it," he added solemnly. "I wouldn't have run off with
+one of 'em for the world."
+
+This, and the accompanying look, was too much. His visitor had been
+listening and trying to appear grave, although her eyes were twinkling.
+But now she burst out laughing.
+
+"Honest I wouldn't," reiterated Captain Sears. "And I'm sorry for that
+insult."
+
+"Absurd! You needn't be. If there was any insult it was the other way
+about. The idea of Elvira's suggesting that you came over there to
+steal. Well, we've settled the tramp, at any rate, and I apologize for
+the way you were treated, Mr.----"
+
+"Kendrick. My name is Kendrick."
+
+"Yes, Mr. Kendrick. And I am very sorry about the garden, too. Please
+tell Mr. Cahoon so, and tell him I think I can promise that the gate
+won't be left open again."
+
+"I'll tell him when he comes back. He'll be here pretty soon, I guess.
+He and I are old shipmates. He shipped cook aboard of me for a good many
+voyages."
+
+She was moving toward the path and the gate, but now she paused and
+turned to look at him. There was a new expression on her face, an
+expression of marked interest.
+
+"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Are you--are you Cap'n Sears Kendrick? The one who
+was--hurt?"
+
+"Wrecked in the train smash up? Yes, I'm the one. Look like a total
+wreck, don't I?"
+
+He laughed as he said it, but there was a taint of bitterness in the
+laugh. She did not laugh. Instead she took a step toward him and
+involuntarily put out her hand.
+
+"Oh, I'm _so_ sorry!" she said.
+
+"Eh? Oh, you needn't be. I'm gettin' along tip-top. Able to walk and
+ride and--er--chase hens. That's doin' pretty well for one day."
+
+"I know. But they were my--our--hens and they must have tired you so.
+Please forgive us. I won't," with a smile, "ask you to forgive them."
+
+"Oh, that's all right, that's all right, Miss--er----"
+
+"Berry. I am Elizabeth Berry. My mother is in charge here at the
+Harbor."
+
+"Harbor? Oh, yes, over yonder. Berry? Berry? The only Berry I remember
+around here was Cap'n Isaac Berry. Cap'n Ike, we young fellows used to
+call him. I went to sea with him once, my first voyage second mate."
+
+"Did you? He was my father. But there, I _must_ go. Good-by, Cap'n
+Kendrick. I hope you will get well very fast now."
+
+"Thanks. Good-bye. Oh, by the way, Miss Berry, what made you think I
+might be Sears Kendrick? There are half a dozen Kendricks around
+Bayport."
+
+"Yes, but--excuse me--there is only one Cap'n Sears Kendrick. You are
+one of Bayport's celebrities, Cap'n."
+
+"Humph! Notorieties, you mean. So all hands have been talkin' about me,
+eh? Humph! Well, I guessed as much."
+
+"Why, of course. You are one of our shining lights--sea lights, I mean.
+You must expect to be talked about."
+
+"I do--in Bayport, and I'll be talked about more in a day or two, I
+guess."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Eh? Oh, nothin', nothin'. I was thinkin' out loud, didn't realize I
+spoke. Good-by."
+
+"Good-by."
+
+The gate closed behind her. Kendrick sat down once more upon the bench
+beneath the locust tree.
+
+When Judah returned with the bucket of clams he found his guest and
+prospective boarder just where he had left him.
+
+"Well, by Henry, Cap'n Sears!" he exclaimed. "Still at the same old
+moorin's, eh? Been anchored right there ever since I sot sail?"
+
+"Not exactly, Judah. Pretty nearly, though."
+
+"Sho! Kind of dull music for you, I'm afraid. Whoa, you lop-sided
+hay-barge! Stand still till I give you orders to move, will ye! That's
+what I warned you, Cap'n Sears; not much goin' on around here. You'll be
+pretty lonesome, I guess likely."
+
+"Oh, I guess I can stand it, Judah. I haven't been lonesome so far."
+
+"Ain't, eh? That's good. Well, I got my clams; now I'll steer this horse
+into port and come back and get to work on that chowder. Oh, say, Cap'n
+Sears; I see Sary and told her you was cal'latin' to stay here for
+dinner."
+
+"Did you? Much obliged. What did she say?"
+
+"Say? She said a whole lot. Wanted to know how in time you got up here.
+'You didn't let him _walk_ all that great long ways, Judah Cahoon?' she
+says. 'I ain't altogether a fool, be I?' says I."
+
+Mr. Cahoon paused to search his pockets for a match.
+
+"What answer did she make to that?" asked the captain. Judah grinned.
+
+"Wa--ll," he drawled, "she said, 'Perhaps not--altogether.' 'Twan't
+much, but it was enough of the kind, as the feller said about the
+tobacco in the coffee pot. Oh, say, that reminds me, Cap'n Sears; there
+was somebody else talkin' about you. I--whoa, you camel, you! Creepin',
+crawlin', jumpin'---- Well, go ahead, then! I'll tell you the rest in
+half a shake, Cap'n. Git dap!"
+
+Horse, cart and driver jogged and jolted into the barn. After a brief
+interval Mr. Cahoon reappeared, carrying the clam bucket. They entered
+the kitchen together. Then the captain said:
+
+"Judah, you said some one beside Sarah was talkin' about me. Who was
+it?"
+
+"Hey? Oh, 'twas Emeline Tidditt, her that's keepin' house for Judge
+Knowles. She says the old judge is gettin' pretty feeble. Don't cal'late
+he'll last out much longer, Emeline don't. Says it's nothin' but just
+grit and hang-on that keeps him alive. He's a spunky old critter, Judge
+Knowles is, 'cordin' to folks's tell. Course I don't know him same as
+some, but I cal'late he's a good deal on the general build and lines of
+a man name of George Dingo that I run afoul of one time to a place
+called Semurny--over acrost. You know Semurny, don't ye, Cap'n? One of
+them Med'terranean port 'tis."
+
+"Smyrna, do you mean?"
+
+"Um-hm. That's it, Semurny. I was there aboard the _William Holcomb_,
+out of Philadelphy. We was loadin' with figs and truck like that. You
+remember the old _Holcomb_, don't you, Cap'n Sears? Sartin sure you do.
+Horncastle and Grant of Philadelphy they owned her. Old Horncastle was a
+queer man as ever I see. Had a cork leg. Got the real one shot off in
+the Mexican war or run over by a horse car, some said one and some said
+t'other. Anyhow he had a cork one spliced on in place of it, and--ho,
+ho! 'twas as funny a sight as ever I see--one time he fell off the wharf
+there in Philadelphy. Yes, sir, fell right into the dock, he did. And
+when they scrabbled down the ladder to haul him in there wasn't nothin'
+in sight but that cork leg, stickin' up out of water. The rest of him
+had gone under, but that cork leg hadn't--no, sire-ee! Haw, haw!
+Well ... er ... er.... What did I start to talk about, Cap'n Sears?"
+
+"I don't know, Judah. It was a good while ago. You began by sayin' that
+you met Judge Knowles's housekeeper."
+
+"Hey? Why, sure and sartin!" Mr. Cahoon slapped his leg. "Sartin sure,
+Cap'n Sears, that was it. And I said she and me got to talkin' about
+you. Well, well, well! I started right there and I fetched up way over
+in Semurny, along of George Dingo. Well, by Henry! Ain't that queer,
+now?"
+
+He rubbed his legs and shook his head, apparently overcome by the
+queerness of it. Kendrick, judging that another Mediterranean cruise was
+imminent, made a remark calculated to keep him at home.
+
+"What did this--what's-her-name--this Tidditt woman say about me?" he
+asked.
+
+"Hey? Oh, she said that Judge Knowles wanted to see you. Said that he
+asked about you 'most every day, wanted to know how you was gittin'
+along, because just as soon as you was well enough to cruise on your own
+hook he wanted you to come in and see him."
+
+"Judge Knowles wanted me to come in and see him? Why, that's funny! I
+don't know the judge well. Haven't seen him for years, and then only two
+or three times. What on earth can Judge Knowles have to say to me?....
+Humph! I can't think."
+
+He tried to think, nevertheless. Judah busied himself with the sloppy
+process of clam opening. A little later he observed:
+
+"So you wan't lonesome all alone here by yourself while I was gone,
+Cap'n? That's good. Glad to hear it."
+
+"Thanks, Judah. I wasn't alone, though."
+
+"You wan't? Sho! Do tell! Have company, did ye? Somebody run in?"
+
+"Yes. And they wouldn't run out again, not for a good while. They came
+on business."
+
+"Business? What kind of business?"
+
+"Well, I suppose you might call it gardening. They were interested in
+raisin' vegetables, I know that."
+
+Judah laid down the clam knife and regarded his former skipper. "Raisin'
+vegetables?" he repeated slowly. "What--? Look here Cap'n Sears, who was
+they? Where'd they come from?"
+
+"I believe they came from next door?"
+
+"Next door? From the Harbor?" He rose to his feet, suspicion dawning
+upon his face above the whiskers.
+
+"Yes, Judah."
+
+"Cap'n Sears, answer me right straight out. Have those dummed
+everlastin' Fair Harbor hens been in my garden again?"
+
+"Yes, Judah."
+
+"Have they--have they?----" Words failed him. He strode up the path to
+the garden. Then, after a moment's comprehensive gaze upon the scene of
+ruin, the words returned.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+Sears Kendrick's prophecy that Bayport would, within the next day or
+two, talk about him even more than it had before was a true one. As soon
+as it became known that he had left the Macomber home and was boarding
+and lodging with Judah Cahoon in the rear portion of the General Minot
+house every tongue in the village--tongues of animals and small children
+excepted--wagged his name. At the sewing-circle, at the Shakespeare
+Reading Society--convening that week at Mrs. Tabitha Crosby's--after
+Friday night prayer-meeting at the Orthodox meeting-house, in Eliphalet
+Bassett's store at mail times, in the sitting-rooms and kitchens and
+around breakfast, dinner and supper tables from West Bayport to East
+Bayport Neck and from Poverty Lane to Woodchuck's Misery--the principal
+topic was Captain Kendrick's surprising move.
+
+"Why?" that was the question.
+
+Various answers were offered, many reasons suggested, but none satisfied
+everybody.
+
+At the Shakespeare Society meeting, just before the reading aloud of
+"Cymbeline" began--"Cymbeline" carefully edited, censored and kalsomined
+by the selective committee, Mrs. Reverend David Dishup and Miss Tryphosa
+Taylor--the feelings of the genteel section of the community were
+expressed by no less a personage than Mrs. Captain Elkanah Wingate. Mrs.
+Wingate, speaking from the Mount Sinai of Bayport's aristocracy, made
+proclamation thus:
+
+"Why, if the man must leave his sister's and go somewhere else to live,
+_why_ in the world does he choose to go _there_? Aren't there good,
+respectable, genteel boarding-houses like--well, like yours, Naomi, for
+instance? _I_ should say so."
+
+Mrs. Naomi Newcomb, whose home sheltered a few "paying guests," smiled
+and shook her head. The shake indicated not a doubt of Mrs. Wingate's
+judgment, but complete loss as to Sears Kendrick's reasons for behaving
+as he had. Other members shook their heads also. Mary-Pashy Foster, who
+had spent a winter in France when her husband was ill with the small-pox
+at Havre, shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"And," continued Mrs. Captain Wingate, "when you consider the place he
+has gone to and the person he has gone with! Good heavens, _I_ say! Good
+heavens!"
+
+More words and exclamations of approval. Several others declared that
+they said so, too.
+
+"Gone to live," went on Mrs. Wingate, "not in the General Minot house
+proper--there might be some explanation for _that_, perhaps--but they
+tell me that this Judah Cahoon only uses the back part of the house and
+that Cap'n Kendrick has got a room just off the kitchen or thereabouts."
+
+"And Judah himself!" broke in Miss Taylor. "He is as rough and common
+as--as--I don't know what. How a man like Cap'n Kendrick can lower
+himself--debase himself to such a person's level I _do_ not see. You
+would as soon expect a needle to go through a camel's eye, as the saying
+is."
+
+There was a slight interval of embarrassment after this outburst. The
+majority of those present realized that the speaker had gotten her
+proverb twisted, but, she being Miss Tryphosa Taylor, no one felt like
+venturing to set her right. Mrs. Captain Godfrey Peasley relieved the
+situation; she had a habit of relieving situations--when she did not
+make them tenser. She had gotten into the Shakespeare Reading Society
+purely by persistence and the possession of adamantine self-confidence.
+From that shot-proof exterior snubs, hints and reproofs glanced like
+blown peas from the hull of a battleship. "Heaven knows," confided Mrs.
+Captain Wingate to Miss Taylor and the Reverend Mrs. Dishup, "why Amelia
+Peasley ever wanted to join the Society. She doesn't know whether
+Shakespeare is a man or a disease." Which may or not have been true,
+the fact remaining that Mrs. Peasley _had_ wanted to join the Society
+and--joined.
+
+Now, while others hesitated, following Miss Tryphosa's little blunder,
+she spoke.
+
+"I think," she declared, with conviction, "that Sears Kendrick ought to
+be ashamed of himself. _I_ think such actions are degradatin'--yes,
+indeed, right down degradatin'."
+
+After that, further comments upon the captain's conduct would have
+seemed like anti-climaxes. Therefore the Society proceeded to read
+"Cymbeline." Mrs. Peasley had something to say about "Cymbeline," also.
+
+Captain Sears himself merely grinned when told of the sensation his
+conduct was causing.
+
+"All right," he said, "let 'em talk. If they aren't talkin' about me
+they will be about somebody else."
+
+Judah, to whom this remark was made, snorted.
+
+"Humph!" he growled. "They _be_ talkin' about somebody else. Don't you
+make no mistake about that, Cap'n Sears."
+
+"That so, Judah? Who's the other lucky man?"
+
+"Me. Jumpin', creepin'---- Why, some of them womenfolks seem to cal'late
+I lammed you over the head with a marlinspike and then towed you up here
+by main strength; seems if they did, by Henry! And some of the men ain't
+a whole lot better. Makes me madder'n a sore nose. I was down to the
+store--down to 'Liphalet's--and there was a crew of ha'f a dozen there
+and they all wanted to know how you was gittin' along.
+
+"'Well, he ain't dead yit,' says I. 'He was lively enough when I left
+him. I ain't come to buy no spade to bury him with.'
+
+"You'd think that would satisfy 'em, wouldn't ye? Well, it didn't! Cap'n
+Noah Baker was there and he wanted to know this, and that little runt of
+a Thad Black he wanted to know that--and kept on wantin'. And that
+brother-in-law of yours, Cap'n Sears, that Joel Macomber, I declare to
+man if he wan't the wust of all. You'd think _he_ ought to keep quiet
+about your doin's, wouldn't ye, now? But he didn't. 'Don't ask me,
+boys,' he says. 'I don't know why Sears quit my house and went to
+Judah's. We manage to bear up without him somehow,' says he, winkin' to
+the gang, 'but if you ask me his _reasons_ for goin' _I_ can't tell ye.
+I presume likely Judah can, though,' he says. 'Well, I can see _one_
+reason plain enough,' says I, lookin' right at him."
+
+Kendrick burst out laughing. "Did he get the idea, Judah?" he inquired.
+
+"Him? Nary a bit. Wanted me to tell him what the reason was. Limpin',
+creepin' prophets! What did a woman like Sary ever marry him for,
+anyway, Cap'n? Not that it's any of my business, you understand."
+
+"I understand. Well, it wasn't any of mine either, Judah."
+
+"No, I presume likely not. But that George Kent, he's a nice young
+feller, ain't he, Cap'n?"
+
+"Seems to be," replied Kendrick.
+
+"Um--hm. Come up to me, after the gang had quit havin' their good time,
+and shook hands nice and chummy and wanted to know how you was. 'Tell
+the cap'n I'm goin' to come in and see him some day,' he says, 'if you
+and he want callers.' 'Good land, yes,' says I, 'course we do. Don't
+stop to call, come right along in.' He's a nice boy that young Kent....
+But--but some of these days I'm goin' to _hit_ that Thad Black--hit him
+with somethin' soft like--like an anvil. If that critter fell overboard
+I wouldn't heave him no life-preserver. No, sir, by Henry, I'd heave him
+the sheet anchor. The longer he hung on to that the better 'twould suit
+_me_."
+
+To his sister only did Sears give his reasons for leaving her home. With
+her he was perfectly frank.
+
+"You know why I'm doin' this, Sarah," he said. "Now don't you--honest?"
+
+Mrs. Macomber hesitated. "Why, Sears," she faltered reluctantly, "I--I
+suppose I can guess why you _think_ you're doin' it. But that doesn't
+make it right for you to do it, really."
+
+"Oh, yes, it does. Be sensible, Sarah. Here are you with six children to
+support and work for, not to mention one boarder and--a husband. The
+house is crowded, aloft and alow. There isn't a bit of room for me."
+
+"Now, Sears, how can you talk so? You've _had_ room here, haven't you?"
+
+"Yes, I've had it, plenty of it. But how much room have the rest of you
+had?"
+
+"Why--why, we've had enough. Nobody's complained that I know of."
+
+"Good reason why. You wouldn't let 'em, Sarah. And of course you never
+would complain yourself. But that is only part of it. The real thing is
+that I will not live on you."
+
+"But you pay board."
+
+"Stuff and nonsense! How much do I pay in comparison with what it costs
+to keep me?"
+
+"You pay me all you can afford, I'm sure; and I rather guess, from what
+you said about your money affairs the other day, that you pay me more
+than you ought to afford. And I don't believe you're goin' to pay that
+Judah Cahoon any high board for livin' in that old rats' nest of his. If
+you are I shall begin to believe you've gone crazy."
+
+Her brother laughed. "I don't mind payin' Judah little or nothin',
+Sarah," he declared. "What I get will be worth it, probably, and besides
+he's a strong, healthy man. Then, too--well, I shouldn't say it to any
+one but you, but there is a little obligation on his side and that keeps
+me from feelin' like too much of a barnacle.... But there, what is the
+use of our threshin' this all over again? As I said in the beginnin',
+Sarah, you know why I'm doin' it perfectly well."
+
+Mrs. Macomber sighed.
+
+"I suppose I do," she admitted. "It's because you are Sears Kendrick and
+as independent and--and proud as--as your own self."
+
+So the move was made and Captain Sears Kendrick's sea chest and its
+owner moved into Judah Cahoon's spare stateroom at the General Minot's
+place. And Bayport talked and talked more and more and then less and
+less until at the end of the captain's first week in his new quarters
+the move had become old news and people ceased to be interested in it, a
+state of affairs which pleased Mr. Cahoon immensely.
+
+"There, by Henry!" he declared, on his return from what he called a
+"cruise down the road along." "I honestly do believe you and me has got
+so we can bat our weather eye without all hands and the ship's cat
+tryin' to see us do it. I met no less than seven folks while I was down
+along just now and only two of 'em hailed to ask how you liked bein'
+aboard here, Cap'n Sears. Yes, sir, by creepin', only two of 'em; the
+rest never said a word. What do you think of that? Some considerable
+change, I call it."
+
+So being forgotten by the majority of Bayporters--which was what he
+desired to be--the captain settled down to live, or exist, and to wait.
+Just what he was waiting for he would have found hard to tell. Of course
+he told his sister when she came to see him, which was at least once
+every other day, that he was waiting for his legs to get whole and
+strong again, and then he should, of course, go to sea. He told Doctor
+Sheldon much the same thing, and the doctor said, "Why, of course, Cap'n
+Kendrick. We'll have you on your own quarter deck again one of these
+days." He said it with heartiness and apparent sincerity, but Sears was
+skeptical. After the doctor's visits he was likely to be blue and
+dejected for a time, and Judah noticed this fact but attributed it to
+quite a different cause.
+
+"It's high time that doctor swab quit comin' here to see you," declared
+Judah. "Runnin' in here and lettin' go anchor and settin' round and
+sayin', 'Well, how goes it to-day?' and 'Nice spell of weather we're
+havin',' and the like of that, and then goin' home and chalkin' up
+another dollar on the bill. No sense to it, I say. No wonder you look
+glum, Cap'n Sears. Makes _me_ glum, and 'tain't _my_ money that's bein'
+talked out of me, nuther. Hear what he said just now? 'I must go,' he
+says. 'And what did you say? Why, you said, 'Don't hurry, Doctor. What
+do you want to go for?' All I could do to keep from bustin' out in a
+laugh. _I_ know what you was sayin' to yourself, you see. 'Stead of
+sayin', 'What do you want to go for?' you was thinkin', 'What in blue
+blazes do you want to _come_ for?' Haw, haw! That was it, wan't it,
+Cap'n?"
+
+"Why, no, Judah. I'm always glad to see the doctor."
+
+"Ye--es, you be!" with sarcasm. "Glad to see his back. Well, no use,
+Cap'n, I've got to think up some notion to keep him from comin' here.
+How would it do to run up a signal 'Small-pox aboard,' or somethin' like
+that? Think that would keep him off?... No, he's a doctor, ain't he? All
+he'd read out of that set of flags would be, 'More dollars. Come on in.'
+Haw, haw! Well, I got to think up some way."
+
+Judah's chatter kept his lodger from being too lonely. Mr. Cahoon talked
+about everybody and everything, and when he was not talking he was
+singing. He sang when he turned out in the morning to get breakfast, he
+sang when he turned in at bedtime. He sang while working in the garden
+repairing the damages done by the Fair Harbor hens. His repertoire was
+extensive, embracing not only every conceivable variety of chantey and
+sea song, but also an assortment of romantic ballads, running from "The
+Blue Juniata," in which:
+
+    "Wild rowed an Indian girl,
+    Bright Al-fa-ra-ta,"
+
+to the ancient ditty of twenty-odd verses describing how
+
+    "There was a rich merchant in London did dwell,
+    He had for his daughter a very fine gel,
+    Her name it was Dinah, just sixteen years old,
+    With a very large fortune in silver and gold.
+
+    "Singing Too-ral-i-ooral-i-ooral-i-ay,
+    Singing Too-ral-i-ooral-i-ooral-i-ay,"
+
+and continuing to sing "Too-ral-i-ooral-i-ooral-i-ay" four times after
+each of the twenty-odd verses to the tragical finish of Dinah and the
+ballad.
+
+As some men take to drink upon almost any or no excuse, so Judah Cahoon
+took to song. And if the effect upon him was not as unsteadying as an
+over indulgence in alcohol, that upon his hearers was at times upsetting
+and disastrous. For example, upon the occasion when Captain Sears again
+encountered his acquaintances of the Fair Harbor summer-house, Mr.
+Cahoon's singing completely wrecked what might possibly have been a
+meeting tending to raise the captain in the estimation of those ladies.
+
+Sears happened to be taking what he liked to call his exercise. Judah
+called it "pacin' decks." He was hobbling back and forth along the path
+leading to the gate opening upon the Fair Harbor grounds. His landlord
+was at work in the garden. The captain had limped as far as the gate and
+was about to turn and limp back again when, behold, along the path
+beyond that gate appeared two feminine figures strolling with what might
+be called careful carelessness, looking up, down and on every side
+except that upon which stood Captain Sears Kendrick. And the captain
+recognized the pair, the one tall, slim, slender--unusually slim and
+remarkably slender--the other short and plump--very decidedly plump--as
+the ladies with whom he had held brief but spirited discourse the
+fortnight before, the ladies who had peered forth at him from the
+vine-draped window of the Eyrie--in short, for Miss Elvira Snowden and
+Mrs. Aurora Chase.
+
+The pair came scrolling along the path. They were almost at the gate
+when Miss Snowden looked up--she would have said she happened to look
+up--and saw the captain standing there. She was embarrassed and
+surprised--any one might have noticed the surprise and embarrassment.
+She started, gasped and uttered a little exclamation. Mrs. Chase, taking
+her affliction into account, could not possibly have heard the
+exclamation, but no doubt there was a telepathic quality in it, for
+she, too, started, looked up and was surprised and embarrassed.
+
+"Why--why, oh, dear!" faltered Miss Snowden.
+
+"Why! My soul and body!" exclaimed Mrs. Chase.
+
+Captain Sears raised his hat. "Good mornin'," he said politely.
+
+The ladies looked at each other. Then Miss Elvira, evidently the born
+leader, inclined her head ever so little and said, "Good morning." Mrs.
+Aurora looked up at her in order to see what she said.
+
+Captain Sears tried again.
+
+"It's a nice day for a walk," he observed.
+
+Miss Elvira nodded and agreed, distantly--yet not too distant.
+
+"I understand," said the captain, "that I gave you ladies a little bit
+of a scare the other day. Understand you thought I was a tramp. I'm real
+sorry. Of course I know I hadn't any business over on your premises,
+but, as a matter of fact, I didn't exactly realize where I was. It was
+the first cruise I'd made in these latitudes, as you might say, and I
+didn't think about keepin' on my own side of the channel buoys. I beg
+your pardon. I'll hope you'll excuse me."
+
+Miss Snowden nodded elegantly and murmured that she understood.
+
+"You are our new neighbor, I believe," she said.
+
+"Why, yes'm, I suppose I am."
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick, isn't it?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I hope, Cap'n Kendrick, that you won't think there was
+any--ah--anything personal in our mistaking you for a tramp the other
+day. Of course there wasn't. Oh, dear, no!"
+
+The captain hesitated. He was wondering just what answer he was supposed
+to make to this speech. Did the lady wish him to infer that it was the
+Fair Harbor custom to consider all male strangers tramps until they were
+proven innocent? Or--but Mrs. Chase saved him the trouble of reply.
+
+"Elviry," she demanded, "what are you and him whisperin' about? Why
+don't you talk so's a body can hear you? He's Cap'n Kendrick, ain't he?
+Have you told him who we be, same as you said you was goin' to?"
+
+Miss Snowden, after looking at the rotund Aurora as if she would like to
+bite her, smiled instead and began a rather tangled explanation to the
+effect that she and Mrs. Chase had felt that perhaps they had been
+a--ah--they might have seemed "kind of hasty--you know, Cap'n Kendrick,
+in what--in speaking as we did that time, and so--and so I told her if
+we ever _did_ meet you--if we ever _should_, you know---- But
+we haven't really met yet, have we? Shall we introduce ourselves? I
+don't see why not; neighbors, you know. Cap'n Kendrick, this is Mrs.
+Aurora Chase, widow of the late Cap'n Ichabod Chase. No doubt, you knew
+Cap'n Chase in the old days, Cap'n Kendrick."
+
+And then Aurora, who had been listening with all her ears, and hearing
+with perhaps a third of them, broke in to say that her husband was not a
+captain. "He was second mate when he died," she explained. "Aboard the
+bark _Charles Francis_ he was, bound for New Bedford from the West
+Indies with a load of guano."
+
+Miss Snowden, favoring the veracious Aurora with another look, hastily
+introduced herself and began to speak of the beauties of the day, of the
+surroundings, and particularly of the select and refined joys of life at
+the Fair Harbor.
+
+"We have our little circle there," she said. "We live our lives, quiet,
+retired, away from the world----"
+
+Mrs. Chase broke in once more to ask what she was talking about. When
+the substance of the Snowden rhapsody was given her, she nodded--as well
+as her several chins would permit her to nod--and announced that she
+agreed.
+
+"We like livin' at the home first-rate," she declared. Elvira flushed.
+
+"It is _not_ a home," she said, sharply. "It is a select retreat, that
+is all. It is not a home in _any_ sense of the word. Every one knows
+that it is not. Aurora, I wish to goodness you---- But of course Cap'n
+Kendrick doesn't want to hear about us all the time. He is interested in
+his own new quarters. Do you like it here, Cap'n Kendrick?
+I--ah--understand you are, so to speak, a guest of Mr. Cahoon's. He
+is--ah--a relation of yours?"
+
+Sears explained the acquaintanceship between Judah and himself. Miss
+Snowden nodded comprehension.
+
+"That explains it," she said. "I thought he could hardly be a relation
+of _yours_, Cap'n Kendrick. He is--he is a little bit queer, isn't he? I
+mean eccentric, you know. Of course I've never met him, and I'm sure
+he's real good-hearted, but----"
+
+She paused, leaving the rest of the sentence to be inferred. Captain
+Sear's answer was prompt and crisp.
+
+"Judah Cahoon is one of the best fellows that ever lived," he said.
+
+"Yes, I know. I am sure he is. I didn't mean that. I meant is he--is
+he----"
+
+And then Judah himself, at work in the garden behind the screen of
+bushes, too busy to hear or even be aware of the conversation at the
+gate, chose this untoward moment to burst into song, to sing at the top
+of his voice, and the top of Judah's voice was an elevation from which
+sound traveled far. He sang:
+
+    "Oh, Sally Brown was a bright mulatter,
+      Way, oh, roll and go!
+    She drinks rum and chews terbacker,
+      Spend my money on Sally Brown.
+        Whee--_yip_!"
+
+Miss Elvira's thin figure stiffened to an exclamation point of
+disapproval. Captain Kendrick turned uneasily in the direction of the
+singer. Mrs. Chase, aware that something was going on and not wishing to
+miss it, cupped her ear with her hand. And Judah began the second
+verse.
+
+    "Oh, Sally Brown, I'll surely miss you,
+      Way, oh, roll and go!
+    How I'd love to hug and kiss you!
+      Spend my money on Sally Brown.
+        Whee--_yip_!"
+
+"Judah!" roared the captain, who was suffering acute apprehension.
+"Judah!"
+
+"Oh, Sally Brown----"
+
+"_Judah!"_
+
+"Eh? What is it, Cap'n Sears?"
+
+"Shut up."
+
+"Eh! Shut up what? What's open?"
+
+"Stop that noise."
+
+"What noise?"
+
+"That noise of yours. That singin'."
+
+"Eh? Oh, all right, sir. Aye, aye, Cap'n, just as you say."
+
+Captain Sears, relieved, turned again to his visitors. But the visitors
+were rapidly retreating along the path, the lines of Miss Elvira's back
+indicating disgust and outraged gentility. Mrs. Chase, however, looked
+back. Obviously she still did not know what it was all about.
+
+Sears, although he chuckled a good deal over the affair, was a trifle
+annoyed, nevertheless. It was a good joke, of course, and he certainly
+cared little for the approval or disapproval of Miss Elvira Snowden. But
+when he considered what the prim spinster's version of the happening was
+likely to be and the reputation her story was sure to confer, inside the
+Fair Harbor fences at least, upon him and his household companion, he
+was tempted to wish that that companion's musical talent had been hidden
+under a napkin, or, better still, a feather bed. He--Kendrick--was to
+live, for a time indefinite, next door to the Fair Harborites, and it is
+always pleasant to be on good terms with one's neighbors. True, those
+neighbors might be, the majority of them, what Mr. Cahoon called
+them--which was whatever term of approbrium he happened to think of at
+the moment, "pack of old hens" being the mildest--but the captain knew
+that one, at least, was not an "old hen." "That Berry girl," which was
+his way of thinking of her, was attractive and kind and a lady. They had
+met but once, it is true, but she had made a most favorable impression
+upon him. He had caught glimpses of her on two occasions, in the Fair
+Harbor grounds, and once she had waved a greeting. She was a nice girl,
+he was sure of it. If she thought at all of the cripple next door he
+would like her to think of him in a kindly way, as a decent sort of
+hulk, so to speak. It was provoking to feel that she would next hear of
+him as a dissipated ruffian, friend and defender of another ruffian who
+howled ribald songs in the presence--or at least in the hearing--of
+ladies.
+
+He questioned Judah concerning the Fair Harbor, its founder and the
+dwellers within its gates. Judah told him what he knew of the story,
+which was very little more than the captain already knew, his knowledge
+gained from his sister's letters. Captain Sylvanus Seymour had had but
+one child, his daughter Lobelia. At his death she, of course, inherited
+all his property. According to Bayport gossip, as reported by Mr.
+Cahoon, the old man had died worth anywhere from one half a million to
+three or five millions. "Richer'n dock mud, I cal'late he was," declared
+Judah. "Made a lot of money out of his Boston shippin' business and a
+lot more out of stocks and city real estate and one thing or 'nother."
+For years after Captain Sylvanus died Lobelia lived alone in the big
+house. Then she had married. Judah could tell little about the man she
+married.
+
+"He was a music teacher that come to town here one winter, that's about
+all I can swear to," said Judah. "Down here for his health, so he said,
+and taught singin' school while he was gittin' healthy. His last name
+was Phillips, which is all right, but he had the craziest fust name ever
+_I_ heard. Egbert 'twas. Hoppin', creepin' Henry! Did you ever _hear_
+such a name? _Egbert!_ Jumpin' prophets! Boys round town, they tell me,
+used to call him 'Eg' behind his back. Some of 'em, them that didn't
+like him, called him 'Soft biled.' Haw, haw! See what they meant, don't
+you, Cap'n Sears? Egbert, you know, that's 'Eg' for short, and then
+'Soft biled' meanin' a soft biled egg.... Hey? Yes, I cal'lated you'd
+see it, you're pretty sharp at a joke, Cap'n, but there _has_ been them
+I've told that to that never.... Hey? Aye, aye, sir, I was just goin' to
+tell the rest of it."
+
+According to Judah's report, which was a second or third hand report of
+course, Egbert Phillips had not been too popular among the males in
+Bayport. But with the females--ah, there it was different.
+
+"He was one of them kind, they tell me," said Judah. "One of them
+smooth, slick, buttery kind of fellers that draws womenfolks same as
+molasses draws flies. Hailed from Philadelphy he did. I used to know a
+good many Philadelphy folks myself once. Why, one time----"
+
+The captain broke in to head off the Philadelphia reminiscence. Brought
+back to Bayport and Egbert and Lobelia, Judah went on to tell what more
+he knew of the Fair Harbor beginnings. Sears gathered that after the
+marriage Egbert who, it seemed, was not in love with the Cape as a place
+of residence, would have liked his wife to sell the old house and move
+away. But there was a clause in the will of Captain Sylvanus which
+prevented this. Under that will the property could not be sold while his
+daughter lived. It was then that Lobelia was seized with her great idea.
+She, a mariner's daughter, had--until the Providential appearance of the
+peerless Egbert--faced a lonely old age. But she had at least a
+comfortable home. There were so many women--sea-captains' widows and
+sisters--who faced their lonely future without a home. Why not turn the
+Seymour property into a home for them--a limited number of them?
+
+"So she done it," said Judah. "And that's how the Fair Harbor got off
+the ways."
+
+"But you called it a home," objected Captain Sears. "The other day that
+Snowden woman, the thin one, gave the other, the stout one--what's her
+name?--Northern lights--Aurora, that's it--she gave Aurora fits for
+speakin' of the place as a home. She declared it wasn't a home."
+
+Mr. Caboon chuckled. "Did, eh?" he observed. "Well, you might call a
+mackerel gull a canary bird, I presume likely, but 'twouldn't make the
+thing sing no better. That Elviry critter likes to make believe she's
+the Queen of Sheby. _She_ wouldn't live in no home--no sir-ee! 'Cordin'
+to her the Fair Harbor ain't a home because they only take six or eight
+passengers, or visitors, or patients, or jailbirds--whatever you might
+to call 'em, and it costs four hundred dollars to pay your way in and a
+hundred a year to keep you there. So 'tain't a home, you see. It's a--a
+genteel henhouse, I'd say. That Elviry Snowden she----"
+
+Then the captain asked the question to which he had been leading since
+the beginning.
+
+"That Berry girl's mother runs the place, doesn't she?" he asked.
+
+Judah snorted. "Yeah," he drawled, "she runs it about the way the
+skipper's poll parrot runs the vessel. The poll parrot talks a barrel a
+minute and the skipper goes right along navigatin'. That's about the way
+'tis over yonder," with a jerk of the head in the general direction of
+the Fair Harbor.
+
+His lodger was a trifle surprised.
+
+"Why, I understood Mrs. Berry--Cap'n Isaac Berry's widow--was manager
+there," he said.
+
+"Um-hm. So she is, the poll parrot manager. But it's that girl of hers,
+that 'Lizabeth Berry, that really handles the ropes. There's a capable
+little craft, if you want to know," declared Judah, with emphasis.
+
+He whittled a pipe full of tobacco from the mutilated remnant of a plug,
+and continued to expatiate on the capabilities of Miss Berry. According
+to him whatever was as it should be within the Fair Harbor boundaries
+was due to the young woman's efforts, not to those of her mother.
+
+"It's kind of queer, ain't it, Cap'n Sears," he observed, "how things
+average up sometimes. Seems if whoever 'tis works out the course up
+aloft sort of fixed 'em that way."
+
+"What's that got to do with the Berrys?"
+
+"Cause it worked that way with them. _You_ knew Cap'n Ike Berry, Cap'n
+Sears. Sharp, shrewd, able and all that, but rough and hard as the
+broadside of a white-oak plank. Well, he married a woman from down in
+the Carolinas somewhere. Her folks was well-off and she was brought up
+in cotton wool, as you might say. They wouldn't have nothin' to do with
+her after she married Cap'n Ike. He fell in love with her and carried
+her off by main strength, as you might say. She'd been treated like a
+plaything afore he got her and he treated her that way till he died. She
+is soft-spoken, and kind of good-lookin', and polite and all that--but
+about as much practical use for bossin' a place like the Fair Harbor as
+a--well as a paper umbrella would be in a no'theaster. But 'Lizabeth
+now, she's different. She's got her mother's good looks and nice manners
+and--and kind of genteelness, you understand, and with 'em she's got her
+dad's sense and capableness. She's all right, that girl. Don't you think
+so, Cap'n Sears?"
+
+The captain nodded.
+
+"I never met her but that once, Judah," he replied. "She was all right
+then, surely."
+
+"I bet you! She's all right most of the time, I guess.... That young
+George Kent, he thinks so, they tell me."
+
+"Oh ... does he?"
+
+"Um-hm! He's cruisin' up to the Fair Harbor 'bout every once or twice a
+week, 'cordin' to tell. If it ain't to see 'Lizabeth I don't know what
+'tis. It might be Queen Elviry he's after, but I have my doubts.... Oh,
+say, Cap'n, speakin' of the Harbor reminds me of Judge Knowles. You
+ain't been in to see him yet, same as he wanted you to."
+
+"That's so, Judah, I haven't. I must pretty soon, I suppose. I can't
+think what the old judge wants to see me for. But why did talkin' of the
+Fair Harbor and the rest of it make you think of Judge Knowles?"
+
+"Hey? Oh, 'cause the judge is kind of commodore of the fleet there,
+looks after the money matters for 'em, I understand. He's Lobelia's
+lawyer, same as he was old Cap'n Sylvanus's afore he died.... I declare
+I can't guess what he wants to see you for, Cap'n Sears. Do you
+s'pose----"
+
+Judah proceeded to suppose several things, each supposition more
+far-fetched and improbable than its predecessor. Sears paid little
+attention to them. He again expressed his intention of calling upon the
+judge before long and changed the subject.
+
+The next day it rained and he did not go and the following day he did
+not feel like going. On the day after that, however, further
+procrastination was rendered impossible. Mrs. Tidditt, the judge's
+housekeeper, visited the General Minot place with another message from
+her employer. Emmeline was gray-haired, brisk and, as Judah expressed
+it, "straight up and down," both in figure and manner of speaking.
+
+"Good mornin', Cap'n Kendrick," she said. "Judge Knowles wants to know
+if 'twill be convenient for you to come over and see him this afternoon?
+Says if 'tis he'll send Mike and the hoss-'n'-buggy around for you at
+two o'clock."
+
+The captain's guilty conscience made him a trifle embarrassed.
+"Why--why, yes, certainly," he stammered. "I---- Well, I'm ashamed of
+myself for not goin' over there sooner. Beg Judge Knowles's pardon for
+me, will you, and tell him I'll be on hand at two sharp. And tell him
+not to bother to send the horse and team. I'll get there all right."
+
+Mrs. Tidditt sniffed. "I'll tell him the first part," she said. "And
+Mike'll have the hoss-'n'-buggy here at ten minutes of. Judah Cahoon,
+why in the land of Canaan don't you scrub up that back piazza floor once
+in a while? It's dirty as a fish shanty."
+
+Judah's back fin rose. "Say, who's keepin' house aboard here, anyway?"
+he demanded. Mrs. Tidditt sniffed again. "Nobody, by the looks," she
+said, and departed in triumph.
+
+At two the Knowles horse and buggy drove into the yard. It was piloted
+by Mike Callahan, an ancient, much bewhiskered Irishman who had been
+employed by the judge almost as long as had Mrs. Tidditt. He and Judah
+assisted Sears into the vehicle and the captain started upon his cruise,
+which was a very short one, the Knowles establishment being but a few
+hundred yards from the Minot place. On the way he inquired concerning
+the judge's health. Mike shook his head.
+
+"Bad," he grunted. "It's close _to_, the ould judge is."
+
+"Oh, I'm sorry."
+
+"Sure ye are. So are we all. He is a fine man, none better--barrin' he's
+a grand ould curmudgeon. Here ye are, Cap'n. Git up till I lift ye
+down."
+
+Judge Knowles's house--Sears Kendrick had never been in it before--was a
+big square mansion built in the '50's. There was the usual front door
+leading to a dark front hall from which, to right and left respectively,
+opened parlor and sitting rooms. Emmeline ushered the visitor into the
+latter apartment. It was high studded, furnished in black walnut and
+haircloth, a pair of tall walnut cases filled with books against one
+wall, on the opposite wall a libellous oil portrait of the judge's wife,
+who died twenty years before, and a pair of steel engravings depicting
+"Sperm Whale Fishing in the Arctic"; No. 1, portraying "The Chase," No.
+2, "the Capture." Beneath these stood a marble-topped table upon which
+were neatly piled four gigantic volumes, bound copies of Harper's
+Weekly, 1861 to '65, the Civil War period.
+
+At the end of the room, where two French windows opened--that is, could
+have opened, they never were--upon the narrow, iron-railed veranda, sat
+Judge Marcus Aurelious Knowles, in an old-fashioned walnut armchair, his
+feet upon a walnut and haircloth footstool--Bayport folk in those days
+called such stools "crickets"--a knitted Afghan thrown over his legs and
+a pillow beneath his head. And in that dark, shadowy room, its curtains
+drawn rather low, so white was the judge's hair and his face that, to
+Sears Kendrick, just in from the light out of doors, it was at first
+hard to distinguish where the pillow left off and the head began.
+
+But the head on the pillow stirred and the judge spoke.
+
+"Ah--good afternoon, Kendrick," he said. "Glad to see you.... Humph.
+Can't see much of you, can I? Here, Emmeline, put those shades up, will
+you?"
+
+The housekeeper moved toward the windows, but she protested as she
+moved.
+
+"Now, Judge," she said, "I don't believe you want them winder curtains
+strung way up, do you? I hauled 'em down purpose so's the sun wouldn't
+get in your eyes."
+
+"Um--yes. Well, you haul 'em up again. And don't you haul 'em down till
+I'm dead. You'll do it then, I know, and I don't want to attend my
+funeral ahead of time."
+
+Mrs. Tidditt gasped.
+
+"Oh, Judge Knowles, how _can_ you talk so!" she wailed.
+
+"I intend to talk as I choose--while I can talk at all.... There, there,
+woman, that's enough. Put the blasted things up.... Umph! That's better.
+Sit down, Cap'n, sit down. I want to look at you."
+
+The captain took one of the walnut and haircloth chairs. The judge
+looked at him and he looked at the judge. He remembered the latter as a
+tall, broad-shouldered figure, with a ruddy face, black hair slightly
+sprinkled with gray, and a nose and eye like an eagle's. The man in the
+armchair was thin and shrunken, the face was deeply lined, and face and
+hands and hair were snow white. The nose was, however, more eagle-like
+than ever, and the eyes beneath the rough white brows had the old flash.
+
+Sears waited an instant for him to speak, but he did not. So the captain
+did.
+
+"I beg your pardon, Judge," he began, "for not comin' over here sooner.
+I got your message----"
+
+Knowles interrupted. "Oh, you got it, did you?" he said. "Humph! I told
+Emmeline to get word to you and she said---- Oh, well, never mind that.
+Can't waste time. I haven't got any too much of it, or strength either.
+Sorry to hear about your accident, Cap'n. Doctor Sheldon says you had a
+close call of it. How are the legs?"
+
+"Oh, I can navigate with 'em after a fashion, but not far. How are you,
+Judge? Gettin' better fast, I hope."
+
+The head on the pillow gave an impatient jerk. "Your hope is lost then.
+Don't waste time talking about me. I'm going to die and I know it--and
+before long.... There, there," as his caller uttered a protest, "don't
+bother to pretend, Kendrick. We aren't children, either of us, although
+you're a good many years younger than I am; but we're both too old to
+make-believe. I'm almost through. Well, it's all right. I've lived past
+my three score and ten and I'm alone in the world and ought not to mind
+leaving it, I suppose. I don't much. It's an interesting place and there
+are two or three matters I should like to straighten up before....
+Humph! I'm the one's who's wasting the time. How are you? I don't mean
+how would you like to be or how do your fool friends and the doctor tell
+you you are--but how _are_ you?"
+
+Captain Sears smiled. It had been a long, long time since any one had
+talked to him like this. Not since he relinquished a mate's rating for
+that of a master. But he did not resent it; he, too, was sick of
+pretending.
+
+"I'm in bad shape, Judge," he said. "My legs are better and I can hobble
+around on 'em, as you saw when I hobbled in here. But as to whether or
+not they will ever be fit for sea again I--well, I doubt it. And I
+rather guess the doctor doubts it, too. I don't say so to many, haven't
+said it to any one but you, but it looks to me as if I were on a lee
+shore. I may get out of the breakers some day--or I may just lay there
+and rot and drop to pieces.... Well, as you say, what's the use of
+wastin' time talkin' about me?"
+
+"I've got a reason for talking about you, Cap'n. So you're not confined
+to your bed. And your head is all right, eh?"
+
+Kendrick hesitated. He could not make out what in the world the man was
+driving at.
+
+"Eh?" repeated the judge.
+
+"Yes, as right as it ever was, I presume likely. Sometimes I think that
+may not be sayin' much."
+
+"When a man thinks that way it is a favorable symptom, according to my
+experience. From what I've heard and know, Cap'n Kendrick, your head
+will do very well. Now there's another question. Have you got all the
+money you need?"
+
+The captain leaned back in his chair. He did not answer immediately.
+From the head upon the pillow came a rasping chuckle.
+
+"Go on," observed Judge Knowles, "ask it."
+
+Kendrick stared at him. "Ask what?" he demanded.
+
+"The question you had in mind. If I hadn't been a man with one foot in
+the grave you would have asked me if I considered the amount of money
+you had any of my damned business. Isn't that right?"
+
+Sears hesitated. Then he grinned. "Just about," he said.
+
+"I thought so. Well, in a way it is my business, because, if you have
+all the money you need, fifteen hundred a year for the next two or three
+years won't tempt you any. And I want to tempt you, Cap'n."
+
+Again the captain was silent for an interval.
+
+"Fifteen hundred a year?" he repeated, slowly.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"For what?"
+
+"For services to be rendered. I've been looking for a man with time on
+his hands, who has been used to managing, who can be firm when it's
+necessary, has had enough experience of the world to judge people and
+things and who won't let a slick tongue get the better of him. And he
+must be honest. I think you fill the bill, Cap'n Kendrick."
+
+The visitor tugged at his beard.
+
+"Look here, Judge Knowles," he said crisply, "what are you talkin'
+about? What's the joke?"
+
+"It isn't a joke."
+
+"Well, then what is it? You'll have to give me my bearin's, I'm lost in
+the fog. Do I understand you to mean that you are offerin' me a berth, a
+job where I can earn--no, I won't put it that way, where I will be paid
+fifteen hundred a year?"
+
+"I am, and," with another sardonic chuckle, "I rather think you'll earn
+all you get. Of course fifteen hundred dollars a year isn't a large
+salary, it isn't a sea captain's wage and share--not such a captain as
+you've been, Kendrick. But, as I see it, you can't go to sea for a year
+or two at least. You are planning to stay right here in Bayport. Well,
+while you are here this thing I am offering you will," there was another
+chuckle, "keep you moderately busy, and you will be earning something.
+It may be that fifteen hundred won't be enough to be worth your while.
+Perhaps I shouldn't venture to offer it if I hadn't heard--hadn't
+heard----"
+
+Sears interrupted.
+
+"What you heard was probably true," he said crisply. "True enough, at
+any rate. Fifteen hundred a year looks like a lot to me now. But what am
+I to do to get it, that's the question. I'm a cripple, don't forget
+that."
+
+"I should remember it if I thought it necessary. You won't handle this
+job with your legs. It is your head I want. Cap'n Kendrick, I want you
+to take charge--take command, if you had rather we used seafaring lingo,
+of that establishment next door to where you are living now. I want you
+to act as--well, we'll call it captain of the Fair Harbor."
+
+Captain Sears's eyes and mouth opened. His chair creaked as he leaned
+forward and then slowly leaned back again.
+
+"You--you--" he gasped, "you want me to--to manage that--that _old
+women's home_?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"_Me?_"
+
+"Yes.... Here! where are you going?"
+
+The visitor had risen.
+
+"Stop!" shouted Judge Knowles. "Where are you going?"
+
+The captain breathed heavily.
+
+"I'm goin' to send for the doctor," he declared. "One of us two needs
+him."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+Judge Knowles's answer to his caller's assertion concerning the need of
+a physician's services was another chuckle.
+
+"Sit down, Cap'n," he ordered.
+
+Kendrick shook his head. "No," he began, "I'm----"
+
+"Sit down."
+
+"Judge, look here: I don't suppose you're serious, but if you are, I
+tell you----"
+
+"No, I'm going to tell _you_. SIT DOWN."
+
+This time the invalid's voice was raised to such a pitch that Mrs.
+Tidditt came hurrying from the kitchen.
+
+"My soul and body, Judge!" she exclaimed. "What is it? What _is_ the
+matter?"
+
+Her employer turned upon her.
+
+"The matter is that that confounded door is open again," he snapped.
+
+"Why--why, of course 'tis. I just opened it when I came in."
+
+"Umph! Yes. Well then, hurry up and shut it when you go out. _Shut_ it!"
+
+Emmeline, going, not only shut but slammed the door. The judge smiled
+grimly.
+
+"Sit down, Kendrick," he commanded once more, panting. "Sit down, I--I'm
+out of breath. Confound that woman! She seems to think I'm four years
+old. Ah--ah--whew!"
+
+His exhaustion was so apparent that Sears was alarmed.
+
+"Don't you think, Judge----" he began, but was interrupted.
+
+"Sshh!" ordered Knowles. "Wait.... Wait.... I'll be all right in a
+minute!"
+
+The captain waited. It took more than a minute, and even then the
+judge's voice was husky and his sentences broken, but his determination
+was unshaken.
+
+"I want you to listen to me, Cap'n Kendrick," he said. "I know it sounds
+crazy, this proposal of mine, but it isn't. How much do you know about
+this Fair Harbor place; its history and so on?"
+
+Captain Sears explained that his sister had written him some facts
+concerning it and that recently Judah Cahoon had told him more details.
+The judge wished to know what Judah had told. When informed he nodded.
+
+"That's about right, so far as it goes," he admitted. "Fairly straight,
+for a Bayport yarn. It doesn't go far enough, though. Here is the
+situation:
+
+"Lobelia, when she first conceived the fool notion," he said, "came to
+me, of course, to arrange it. I was her father's lawyer for years, and
+so naturally I was looking out for her affairs. I said all I could
+against it, but she was determined, and had her way. She, through me,
+set aside the Sylvanus Seymour house and land to be used as a home for
+what she called 'mariners' women' as long as--well, as long as she
+should continue to want it used for that purpose. She would have been
+contented to pay the bills as they came, but, of course, there was no
+business method in that, so we arranged that she was to hand over to me
+fifty thousand dollars in bonds, the income from that sum, plus the
+entrance fees and one hundred dollars yearly paid by each inmate, was to
+run the place. That is the way it has been run. She christened it the
+Fair Harbor. Heaven knows I had nothing to do with that.
+
+"For a year or so she lived there herself and had a beautiful time
+queening it over the inmates. Then that Phillips chap drifted into
+Bayport."
+
+The captain interrupted here. "Oh, then the Fair Harbor was off the ways
+before she married Phillips?" he said. "Judah told me it was
+afterwards."
+
+"He's wrong. No, the thing had been running two years when that
+confounded.... Humph! You never met Egbert Phillips, did you, Cap'n?"
+
+"No."
+
+"You've heard about him?"
+
+"Only what Judah told me the other day."
+
+"Humph! What did he tell?"
+
+"Why, he--he gave me to understand that this Phillips was a pretty
+smooth article."
+
+"Smooth! Why, Kendrick, he is.... But there, you'll meet him some day
+and no feeble words of mine could do him justice. Besides all my words
+are getting too feeble to waste--even on anything as beautiful as Egbert
+the great.... And that condemned doctor will be here pretty soon, so we
+must get on.... Ah.... Well, he came here to teach singing, Phillips
+did, and he had all the women in tune before the first lesson was over.
+They said he was wonderful, and he was--good God, yes! They kept on
+thinking he was wonderful until he married Lobelia Seymour."
+
+"Then they changed their minds, eh?"
+
+"Humph! You don't know women, do you, Cap'n? Never mind, you've got time
+enough left to learn in.... No, they didn't change their minds. They
+thought Egbert was as wonderful as ever, but they agreed that Lobelia
+had roped him in. _She_ had roped _him_ in! Oh, lord!... Well, they were
+married and went to Boston to live. Afterwards they went to Europe. Five
+years ago they came back here for a week's visit. Cahoon tell you about
+that?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Probably he didn't know about it. They did, though, and stayed here
+with me, of course. Lobelia settled that, I imagine--one of the times
+when she settled something herself. And while she was here she and I
+settled something else. She added a codicil to her will making the fifty
+thousand dollars in my possession and the house and Seymour land a gift,
+absolute, to the Fair Harbor. And she appointed me as sole trustee of
+the fund and financial manager of the home, with authority to appoint my
+own successor. And her husband didn't know a thing about it. Didn't
+when they went away; I'm sure I don't know whether he does now or not,
+but he didn't then. No, sir, we settled the Fair Harbor fund and
+Egbert's hash, so far as it was concerned. Ha, ha! And a blessed good
+job, too, Kendrick.... Hand me that glass of water, will you? Thanks."
+
+He drank a swallow or two of water and lay back upon the pillow. Captain
+Sears was a little anxious. He suggested that, perhaps, he had better be
+told the rest another time.
+
+"I think you had better rest now, Judge," he counseled. The judge
+consigned the "rest" idea to a place where, according to tradition,
+there is very little of it.
+
+"I want you to hear this," he snapped. "Don't bother me, but listen....
+Where was I?... Oh, yes.... Well, Lobelia and her husband went away, to
+Europe again. They have been there ever since, living in Italy. Egbert
+finds the climate there agrees with him, I suppose---- Humph!... I have
+had letters from Lobelia. The later ones were shorter and not
+encouraging. She wrote that she wasn't well and the doctors didn't seem
+to help her much. After two or three of these letters I wrote one,
+myself--to the American consul at Florence. He is the son of a good
+friend of mine. I explained the situation and asked him to find out just
+what ailed her and what the prospects were. His reply explained things.
+Poor Lobelia is in my position--except that my age entitles me to be
+there and hers doesn't; she has an incurable disease and she is likely
+to die at any time. No hope for her. And now, it seems she has found it
+out. About a month ago I had another letter from her.... Humph!... Wait
+a minute, Cap'n. Give me that glass again, will you. Sorry to be such a
+condemned nuisance--particularly to other people.... Wait! Hold on! When
+I've finished you can talk. Hear the rest of it first.
+
+"Lobelia's latest--last, I shouldn't wonder--letter was a sad sort of a
+thing. I'm a tough old fellow, but I declare I'm sorry for that poor
+woman. Fool to marry Phillips? Of course she was, but most of us are
+fools, some time or other. And, if I don't miss my guess, she has
+repented of her foolishness many times and all the time. She wrote me
+she knew she was going to die. And she said---- But here is the letter.
+Read it, that page of it."
+
+He fumbled among the papers and books on the table beside him, selected
+a sheet of paper, covered with closely written lines, and extended it in
+a shaking hand to his caller.
+
+"That explains things a little," he said. "It's illuminating. Read it."
+
+Captain Sears read.... "And so I am _very_ anxious, dear Judge Knowles,
+whatever else happens, that the Fair Harbor shall always be as it is, a
+home for sisters and widows and daughters of men who went down to the
+sea in ships, as father did. I know he would have liked it. And
+_please_, after I'm gone, don't let it be sold or given up, or anything
+like that. I am asking this of you, because I know I can trust you. You
+have proved it so many times. And--I never have written you this before
+but it is true--I have so little left except the Fair Harbor and its
+endowment. You will wonder where the money has gone. I do not know. It
+seems to have slipped away little by little and neither my husband nor I
+can account for...."
+
+The page ended there. The captain would have handed it back to Knowles,
+but the latter asked him to put it on the table.
+
+"Put it in the envelope and put the envelope in the drawer, will you,
+Kendrick?" he said. "My housekeeper is a good housekeeper, but what is
+mine is hers--including correspondence.... Well, you see? She can't
+account for the disappearance of the money. I can. When you have a five
+thousand dollar income and spend ten thousand you can account for a
+lot.... Humph! Well, the fact is that I am expecting to hear of
+Lobelia's death at any time. She may be dead to-day--or to-morrow--or
+next week. And as soon as I hear of it I shall say to myself.... Humph!
+Cap'n, you know how the Old Farmer's Almanac, along in November,
+prophesies the weather, don't you? 'About this time look out for snow.'
+Yes, well, on a date about a month after the day I hear of Lobelia
+Phillips's death I should write on the calendar: 'About this time look
+for Egbert.' ... Humph.... Eh? See, don't you, Cap'n Kendrick?"
+
+Kendrick smiled, he couldn't help it. He tugged thoughtfully at his
+beard.
+
+"Yes," he admitted, "I guess likely I see. But I don't see where I come
+in. You can handle Egbert, Judge, or I don't know much about men."
+
+The judge snorted. "Handle him," he repeated. "I think I could handle
+him--and enjoy the job. The trouble is I shan't have the chance. I won't
+be here. I'll be in the graveyard."
+
+He spoke of it as casually as he might of Boston or New York. Again his
+listener could not help but protest.
+
+"Why, Judge," he began, "that's perfectly ridiculous. You----"
+
+The judge interrupted. "Perhaps," he said, drily. "In fact, I agree with
+you. The graveyard is a ridiculous place for anybody to be, but I shall
+be there--and soon. But I am not going to let it interfere with my plans
+concerning the Fair Harbor. Lobelia Seymour I've known since she was a
+little girl, and whether I'm dead or alive, I'm going to have her wishes
+carried out. That's why I'm telling you these things, Sears Kendrick. I
+am counting on you to carry them out."
+
+The captain leaned back in his chair.
+
+"Why pick on me?" he asked, drily.
+
+"Why? Because I've got to pick on somebody and do it while I have the
+strength to pick. You and I have never been close friends, Kendrick, but
+I've watched you and kept track of you for years, in a general sort of
+way. Your sister and I have had a long acquaintanceship. There's another
+woman who made a mistake.... Eh?"
+
+Sears nodded.
+
+"I'm afraid so," he admitted. "Joel is a good enough fellow, in his way,
+but----"
+
+"But--that's it. Well, he's got a good wife and she's your sister. I
+know you can handle this Fair Harbor job if you will and if you take it
+on I shall go to--well, to that graveyard we were talking about, with an
+easier mind. Look here--why----"
+
+"Hold on a minute, Judge. Heave to and let me say a word. If there
+wasn't any other reason why I shouldn't feel like takin' the wheel of an
+old woman's home there would be this one: You need a business man there
+and I'm no business man."
+
+"How do you know you're not?"
+
+"Because I've just proved it. You heard somethin' of how my voyage in
+business ashore turned out. I'll tell you the truth about it."
+
+He did, briefly, giving the facts of his disastrous sojourn in
+ship-chandlery.
+
+"So that's how good a business man _I_ am," he said in conclusion. "And
+I'm a cripple besides. Much obliged, Judge, but you'll have to ship
+another skipper, I'm afraid."
+
+He was rising but Judge Knowles barked a profane order for him to keep
+his seat.
+
+"I know all that," he snapped. "Knew about it just after it happened.
+And I know, too, that you paid your share of the debts dollar for
+dollar. I'll risk you in this job I'm offering you.... Yes, and you're
+the only man I will risk--the only one in sight, that is. Come now,
+don't say no. Think it over. I'll give you a week to think it over in.
+I'd give you a month, but I might not be here at the end of it.... Will
+you take the offer under consideration and then come back and have
+another talk with me? Eh? Will you?"
+
+The captain hesitated. He wanted to say no, of course, should say it
+sooner or later, but he hated to be too abrupt in his refusal. After
+all, the offer, although absurd, was, in a way, a compliment and he
+liked the old judge. So he hesitated, stammered and then asked another
+question.
+
+"You've got a skipper aboard the Fair Harbor already, haven't you?" he
+inquired. "Judah told me that Cap'n Ike Berry's widow was runnin' the
+place."
+
+"Humph! That isn't all he told you, is it?"
+
+Kendrick smiled. "Why"--he hesitated, "I--"
+
+"Come, come, come! Of course he told you that Cordelia Berry was another
+one of those mistakes we've been talking about. She is, but her husband
+was one of my best friends and his daughter is another. No mistake
+there, Cap'n Kendrick, I tell you.... But you've met Elizabeth, I
+understand, eh?"
+
+He chuckled as he said it. Sears was surprised and a trifle confused.
+Evidently she had told of their encounter in Judah's garden.
+
+"Well, yes," he admitted. "We met."
+
+"Ha, ha! So I heard. Handled the poultry pretty well, didn't she? She
+ought to, she's had experience in handling old hens for some time."
+
+"I presume likely. Then I don't see why you don't let her keep on
+handlin' 'em. What do you want me for?"
+
+"Oh, damnation, man, haven't I told you! I want you because I'm going to
+die and somebody--some man--must take my place.... Look here, Kendrick.
+I appoint you general manager of the Fair Harbor, take it or leave it.
+But _if_ you leave it don't do it for a week, and, before you do,
+promise me you'll go over there some day and look around. Meet Cordelia
+and talk to her, meet Elizabeth and talk to her. Meet some of
+the--er--hens and talk to them. But, this is the main thing, look
+around, listen, see for yourself. Then you can come back and, if you
+accept, we'll discuss details. Will you do that much?"
+
+Captain Sears looked troubled. "Why, yes, I suppose so," he said,
+reluctantly, "to oblige you, Judge. But it's wasted time, I shan't
+accept. Of course I thank you for the offer and all that, but I might as
+well, seems to me, say no now as next week."
+
+"No such thing. And you will go there and look around?"
+
+"Why--yes, I guess so. But won't the Berry woman and the rest of 'em
+think I'm nosin' in where I don't belong? I should, if I were they, and
+I'd raise a row about it, too."
+
+"Nonsense. They can't object to your making a neighborly call, can they?
+And if they do, let 'em. A healthy row won't do a bit of harm over
+there. Give 'em the devil, it's what they need.... See here, will you
+go?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Good! And, remember, you are appointed to this job this minute if you
+want it. Or you may take it at any time during the week; don't bother to
+speak to me first. Fifteen hundred a year, live with Cahoon or whoever
+you like, precious little to do except be generally responsible for the
+Fair Harbor--oh, how I hate that syrupy, sentimental name!--financially
+and in a business way.... Easy berth, as you sailors would say, eh? Ha,
+ha!... Well, good day, Cap'n. Can you find your way out? If not call
+that eternally-lost woman of mine and she'll pilot you.... Ah....
+yes.... And just hand me that water glass once more.... Thanks.... I
+shall hope to hear you've accepted next time I see you. We'll talk
+details and sign papers then, eh?... Oh, yes, we will. You won't be fool
+enough to refuse. Easy berth, you know, Kendrick. And don't forget
+Egbert; eh? Ha, ha.... Umph--ah, yes.... Where's that damned
+housekeeper?"
+
+Mike Callahan asked no questions as he drove his passenger back to the
+General Minot place--no direct questions, that is--but it was quite
+evident that his curiosity concerning the reasons for Captain Kendrick's
+visit was intense.
+
+"Well, the ould judge seen you at last, Cap'n," he observed.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I expect 'twas a great satisfaction to him, eh?"
+
+"Maybe so. Looks as if it was smurrin' up for rain over to the west'ard,
+doesn't it?"
+
+Mr. Callahan delivered his passenger at the Minot back door and
+departed, looking grumpy. Then Mr. Cahoon took his turn.
+
+"Well, Cap'n Sears," he said, eagerly, "you seen him."
+
+"Yes, Judah, I saw him."
+
+"Um-hm. Pretty glad to see you, too, wan't he?"
+
+"I hope so."
+
+"Creepin' prophets, don't you _know_ so? Ain't he been sendin' word by
+Emmeline Tidditt that he wanted to see you more'n a million times?"
+
+"Guess not. So far as I know he only wanted to see me once."
+
+"No, no, no. You know what I mean, Cap'n Sears.... Well--er--er--you
+seen him, anyway?"
+
+"Yes, I saw him."
+
+"Um-hm ... so you said."
+
+"Yes, I thought I did."
+
+"Oh, you did--yes, you did.... Um-hm--er--yes."
+
+So Judah, too, was obliged to do without authentic information
+concerning Judge Knowles's reason for wishing to meet Sears Kendrick. He
+hinted as far as he dared, but experience gained through years of sea
+acquaintanceship with his former commander prevented his doing more than
+hint. The captain would tell just exactly what he wished and no more,
+Judah knew. He knew also that attempting to learn more than that was
+likely to be unpleasant as well as unprofitable. It was true that his
+beloved "Cap'n Sears" was no longer his commander but merely his lodger,
+nevertheless discipline was discipline. Mr. Cahoon was dying to know why
+the judge wished to talk to the captain, but he would have died in
+reality rather than continue to work the pumps against the latter's
+orders, expressed or intimated. Judah was no mutineer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+Sears put in a disagreeable day or two after his call upon the judge. He
+was dissatisfied with the ending of their interview. He felt that he had
+been foolishly soft-hearted in promising to call at the Fair Harbor, or,
+to consider for another hour the preposterous offer of management of
+that institution. He must say no in the end. How much better to have
+said it then and there. Fifteen hundred a year looked like a lot of
+money to him. It tempted him, that part of the proposition. But it did
+not tempt him sufficiently to overcome the absurdities of the remaining
+part. How could _he_ manage an old woman's home? And what would people
+say if he tried?
+
+Nevertheless, he had promised to visit the place and look it over and
+the promise must be kept. He dreaded it about as much as he had ever
+dreaded anything, but--he had promised. So on the morning of the third
+day following that of his call upon Judge Knowles he hobbled painfully
+and slowly up the front walk of the Fair Harbor to the formidable front
+door, with its great South Sea shells at each end of the granite
+step--relics of Captain Sylvanus's early voyages--and its silver-plated
+name plate with "SEYMOUR" engraved upon it in Gothic lettering. To one
+looking back from the view-point of to-day such a name plate may seem a
+bit superfluous and unnecessary in a village where every one knew not
+only where every one else lived, but how they lived and all about them.
+The fact remains that in Bayport in the '70's there were many name
+plates.
+
+Sears gave the glass knob beside the front door a pull. From the
+interior of the house came the resultant "_JINGLE_; _jingle_; jingle,
+jing, jing." Then a wait, then the sound of footsteps approaching the
+other side of the door. Then a momentary glimpse of a reconnoitering eye
+behind one of the transparent urns engraved in the ground glass pane.
+Then a rattle of bolt and latch and the door opened.
+
+The woman who opened it was rather good looking, but also she
+looked--well, if the captain had been ordered to describe her general
+appearance instantly, he would have said that she looked "tousled." She
+was fully dressed, of course, but there was about her a general
+appearance of having just gotten out of bed. Her hair, rather
+elaborately coiffured, had several loose strands sticking out here and
+there. She wore a gold pin--an oval brooch with a lock of hair in it--at
+her throat, but one end was unfastened. She wore cotton gloves, with
+holes in them.
+
+"Good mornin'," said the captain.
+
+The woman said "Good morning." There was no "r" in the "morning" so,
+remembering what he had heard concerning Mrs. Isaac Berry's rearing,
+Kendrick decided that this must be she.
+
+"This is Mrs. Berry, isn't it?" he inquired.
+
+"Yes." The lady's tone was not too gracious, in fact there was a trace
+of suspicion in it, as if she was expecting the man on the step to
+produce a patent egg-beater or the specimen volume of a set of
+encyclopedias.
+
+"How do you do, Mrs. Berry," went on the captain. "My name is Kendrick.
+I'm your neighbor next door, and Judge Knowles asked me to be neighborly
+and cruise over and call some day. So I--er--so I've cruised, you see."
+
+Mrs. Berry's expression changed. She seemed surprised, perhaps a little
+annoyed, certainly very much confused.
+
+"Why--why, yes, Mr. Kendrick," she stammered. "I'm so glad you did.... I
+am so glad to see you.... Ah--ah---- Won't you come in?"
+
+Captain Sears entered the dark front hall. It smelt like most front
+halls of that day in that town, a combination smell made up of
+sandal-wood and Brussels carpet and haircloth and camphor and damp
+shut-up-ness.
+
+"Walk right in, do," urged Mrs. Berry, opening the parlor door. The
+captain walked right in. The parlor was high-studded and square-pianoed
+and chromoed and oil-portraited and black-walnutted and marble-topped
+and hairclothed. Also it had the fullest and most satisfying assortment
+of whatnot curios and alum baskets and whale ivory and shell frames and
+wax fruit and pampas grass. There was a majestic black stove and window
+lambrequins. Which is to say that it was a very fine specimen of a very
+best parlor.
+
+"Do sit down, Mr. Kendrick," gushed Mrs. Berry, moving about a good deal
+but not, apparently, accomplishing very much. There had been a feather
+duster on the piano when they entered, but it, somehow or other, had
+disappeared beneath the piano scarf--partially disappeared, that is, for
+one end still protruded. The lady's cotton dusting-gloves no longer
+protected her hands but now peeped coyly from behind a jig-sawed
+photograph frame on the marble mantelpiece. The apron she had worn lay
+on the floor in the shadow of the table cloth. These habiliments of
+menial domesticity slid, one by one, out of sight--or partially so--as
+she bustled and chatted. When, after a moment, she raised a window shade
+and admitted a square of sunshine to the grand apartment, one would
+scarcely have guessed that there was such drudgery as housework,
+certainly no one would have suspected the elegant Mrs. Cordelia Berry of
+being intimately connected with it.
+
+She swept--in those days the breadth of skirts made all feminine
+progress more or less of a sweep--across the room and swished gracefully
+into a chair. When she spoke she raised her eyebrows, at the end of the
+sentence she lowered them and her lashes. She smiled much, and hers was
+still a pretty smile. She made attractive little gestures with her
+hands.
+
+"I am _so_ glad you dropped in, Mr. Kendrick," she declared. "So very
+glad. Of course if we had known when you were coming we might have been
+a little better prepared. But there, you will excuse us, I know.
+Elizabeth and I--Elizabeth is my daughter, Mr. Kendrick.... But it is
+_Captain_ Kendrick, isn't it? Of course, I might have known. You look
+the sea--you know what I mean--I can always tell. My dear husband was a
+captain. You knew that, of course. And in the old days at my girlhood
+home so many, _many_ captains used to come and go. Our old home--my
+girlhood home, I mean--was always open. I met my husband there.... Ah
+me, those days are not these days! What my dear father would have said
+if he could have known.... But we don't know what is in store for us, do
+we?... Oh, dear!... It's such charming weather, isn't it, Captain
+Kendrick?"
+
+The captain admitted the weather's charm. He had not heard a great deal
+of his voluble hostess's chatter. He was there, in a way, on business
+and he was wondering how he might, without giving offence, fulfill his
+promise to Judge Knowles and see more of the interior of the Fair
+Harbor. Of the matron of that institution he had already seen enough to
+classify and appraise her in his mind.
+
+Mrs. Berry rambled on and on. At last, out of the tumult of words,
+Captain Sears caught a fragment which seemed to him pertinent and
+interesting.
+
+"Oh!" he broke in. "So you knew I was--er--hopeful of droppin' in some
+time or other?"
+
+"Why, yes. Elizabeth knew. Judge Knowles told her you said you hoped to.
+Of course we were delighted.... The poor dear judge! We are _so_ fond of
+him, my daughter and I. He is so--so essentially aristocratic. Oh, if
+you knew what that means to me, raised as I was among the people I was.
+There are times when I sit here in this dreadful place in utter
+despair--utter.... Oh--oh, of course, Captain Kendrick, I wouldn't have
+you imagine that Elizabeth and I don't like this house. We _love_ it.
+And dear 'Belia Seymour is my _closest_ friend. But, you know----"
+
+She paused, momentarily, and the captain seized the opportunity----
+
+"So Judge Knowles told you I was liable to call, did he?" he queried.
+He was somewhat surprised. He wondered if the Judge had hinted at a
+reason for his visit.
+
+"Why, yes," replied Mrs. Berry, "he told Elizabeth. She said---- Oh,
+here you are, dearie. Captain Kendrick, our next door neighbor, has run
+in for a little call. Isn't it delightful of him? Captain Kendrick, this
+is my daughter, Elizabeth."
+
+She had entered from the door behind the captain's chair. Now she came
+forward as he rose from it.
+
+"How do you do, Cap'n Kendrick?" she said. "I am very glad to see you
+again. Judge Knowles told me you were planning to call."
+
+She extended her hand and the captain took it. She was smiling, but it
+seemed to him that the smile was an absent-minded one. In fact--of
+course it might be entirely his imagination--he had a feeling that she
+was troubled about something.
+
+However, he had no time to surmise or even reply to her greeting. Mrs.
+Berry had caught a word in that greeting which to her required
+explanation.
+
+"Again?" she repeated. "Why, Elizabeth, have you and Captain Kendrick
+met before?"
+
+"Yes, Mother, that day when our hens got into Mr. Cahoon's garden. You
+remember I told you at the time."
+
+"I don't remember any such thing. I remember Elvira said that she and
+Aurora met him one afternoon, but I don't remember your saying anything
+about it."
+
+"I told you. No doubt you have forgotten it."
+
+"Nonsense! you know I never forget. If there is one thing I can honestly
+pride myself on it is a good memory. You may have thought you told me,
+but---- Why, what's that noise?"
+
+The noise was a curious babble or chatter, almost as if the sound-proof
+door--if there was such a thing--of a parrot cage had been suddenly
+opened. It came from somewhere at the rear of the house and was,
+apparently, produced by a number of feminine voices all speaking very
+fast and simultaneously.
+
+Elizabeth turned, glanced through the open door behind her, and then at
+Mrs. Berry. There was no doubt now concerning the troubled expression
+upon her face. She was troubled.
+
+"Mother--" she began, quickly. "Excuse us, Cap'n Kendrick,
+please--mother, have Elvira and Susan Brackett been talking to you about
+buying that collection of--of what they call garden statuary at Mrs.
+Seth Snowden's auction in Harniss?"
+
+And now Mrs. Berry, too, looked troubled. She turned red, stammered and
+fidgetted.
+
+"Why--why, Elizabeth," she said, "I--I don't see why you want to discuss
+that now. We have a visitor and I'm sure Captain Kendrick isn't
+interested."
+
+Her daughter did not seem to care whether the visitor was interested or
+not.
+
+"Tell me, mother, please," she urged. "_Have_ they been talking with you
+about their plan to buy that--those things?"
+
+Mrs. Berry's confusion increased. "Why--why, yes," she admitted. "Elvira
+did tell me about it, something about it. She said it was beautiful--the
+fountain and the--the deer and--and how pretty they would look on the
+lawn and----"
+
+"Mother, you didn't give them the least encouragement, did you? They
+say--Elvira and Mrs. Brackett say you told them you thought it a
+beautiful idea and that you were in favor of what they call their
+committee going to the sale next Monday and buying those--those
+cast-iron dogs and children with the Fair Harbor money? I am sure you
+didn't say that, did you, mother?... I'm awfully sorry, Cap'n Kendrick,
+to bring this matter into the middle of your call, but really it is very
+important and it can't be postponed, because.... Tell me, Mother, they
+will be here in a moment. You didn't say any such thing, did you?"
+
+Mrs. Berry's fine eyes--they had been called "starlike" twenty years
+before, by romantic young gentlemen--filled with tears. She wrung her
+hands.
+
+"I--I only said--" she stammered, "I---- Oh, I don't think I said
+anything except--except that---- Well, they were so sure they were
+lovely and a great bargain--and you know Captain Snowden's estate in
+Harniss was perfectly _charming_. You know it was, Elizabeth!"
+
+"Mother, you didn't tell them they might buy them?"
+
+"Why--why, no, I--I don't think I did. I--I couldn't have because I
+never do anything like that without consulting you.... Oh, Elizabeth,
+_please_, don't let us have a scene here, with Captain Kendrick present.
+What _will_ he think? Oh, dear, dear!"
+
+Her handkerchief was called into requisition. Sears Kendrick rose from
+his chair. Obviously he must go and, just as obviously, he knew that in
+order to fulfill his promise to the judge in spirit as well as letter he
+ought to stay. This was just the sort of situation to shed light upon
+the inner secrets of the Fair Harbor and its management....
+Nevertheless, he was not going to stay. His position was much too
+spylike to suit him. But before he could move there were other
+developments.
+
+While Miss Berry and her mother had been exchanging hurried questions
+and answers the parrot-cage babble from the distant places somewhere at
+the end of the long entry beyond the door had been continuous. Now it
+suddenly grew louder. Plainly the babblers were approaching along that
+entry and babbling as they came.
+
+A moment more and they were in the room, seven of them. In the lead was
+the dignified Miss Elvira herself, an impressive figure of gentility in
+black silk and a hair breast pin. Close behind her, of course, was the
+rotund Mrs. Aurora Chase, and equally close--yes even a little in
+advance of Aurora, was a solidly built female with gray hair, a square
+chin, and a very distinct mustache. The others were in the rear, but as
+they came in one of these, a little woman in a plain gingham dress, who
+wore steel spectacles upon a sharp little nose, left the group and took
+a stand a little apart, regarding the company with lifted chin and a
+general air of determination and uncompromising defiance. Later on
+Captain Sears was destined to learn that the little woman was Mrs.
+Esther Tidditt, and the lady with the mustache Mrs. Susanna Brackett.
+And that the others were respectively Mrs. Hattie Thomas, Miss Desire
+Peasley, and Mrs. Constance Cahoon. Each of the seven was, of course,
+either a captain's widow or his sister.
+
+Just at the moment the captain, naturally, recognized nobody except Miss
+Snowden and Mrs. Chase. Nor did he notice individual peculiarities
+except that something, excitement or a sudden jostle or something, had
+pushed Aurora's rippling black locks to one side, with the result that
+the part which divided the ripples, instead of descending plumb-line
+fashion from the crown of the head to a point directly in the center of
+the forehead, now had a diagonal twist and ended over the left eye. The
+effect was rather astonishing, as if the upper section of the lady's
+head had slipped its moorings.
+
+He had scarcely time to notice even this, certainly none in which to
+speculate concerning its cause. Miss Snowden, who held a paper in her
+hand, stepped forward and began to speak, gesticulating with the paper
+as she did so. She paid absolutely no attention to the masculine
+visitor. She was trembling with excitement and it is doubtful if she
+even saw him.
+
+"Mrs. Berry," she began, "we are here--we have come here, these ladies
+and I--we have come here--we---- Oh, what _is_ it?"
+
+This last was addressed to Mrs. Chase, who was tugging at her skirt.
+
+"Talk louder," cautioned Aurora, in a stage whisper. "I can't hear you."
+
+With an impatient movement Miss Snowden freed her garment and began
+again.
+
+"Mrs. Berry," she repeated, "we are here, these ladies and I, to--to ask
+a question and to express our opinion on a very important matter. We are
+all agreed----"
+
+Here she was again interrupted, this time by Mrs. Esther Tidditt, the
+little woman in the gingham dress. Mrs. Tidditt's tone was brisk and
+sharp.
+
+"No, we ain't agreed neither," she announced, with a snap of her head
+which threatened shipwreck to the steel spectacles. "_I_ think it's
+everlastin' foolishness. Don't you say _I'm_ agreed to it, Elvira
+Snowden."
+
+Elvira drew her thin form erect and glared. "We are practically agreed,"
+she proclaimed crushingly. "You are the only one who doesn't agree."
+
+"Humph! And I'm the only one that is practical. Of all the silly----"
+
+"Esther Tidditt, was you appointed to do the talking for this committee
+or was I?"
+
+"You was, but that don't stop me from talkin' when I want to. I ain't on
+the committee, thank the good lord. I'm my own committee."
+
+This declaration of independence was received with an outburst of
+indignant exclamations, in the midst of which Mrs. Chase could be heard
+demanding to be told what was the matter and who said what. Elizabeth
+Berry stilled the hubbub.
+
+"Hush, hush!" she pleaded. "Don't, Esther, please. You can say your word
+later. I want mother--and Cap'n Kendrick--to hear this, all of it."
+
+The captain was still standing. He had risen when the "committee"
+entered the room. Its members, most of them, had been so intent upon the
+business which had brought them there that they had ignored his
+presence. Now, of course, they turned to look at him. There was
+curiosity in their look but by no means enthusiastic approval. Miss
+Snowden's nod was decidedly snippy. She looked, sniffed and turned again
+to Mrs. Berry.
+
+"We want your mother to hear it," she declared. "We've come here so she
+shall hear it--all of it. If--if _others_--who may not be 'specially
+interested want to hear they can, I suppose. I don't know why not....
+_We_ haven't anything to hide. _We_ ain't ashamed--are not, I should
+say. Are we?" turning to those behind and beside her.
+
+Mrs. Brackett announced that she certainly should say not, so did
+several others. There was a general murmur of agreement. Every one
+continued to look at the captain. He was embarrassed.
+
+"I think perhaps I had better be goin'," he said, addressing Miss Berry.
+"I ought to be gettin' home, anyway."
+
+But the young lady would not have it.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," she said, earnestly, "I hope you won't go. Judge
+Knowles told me you were going to call. I was very glad when I found you
+had called now--at this time. And I should like to have you stay. You
+can stay, can't you?"
+
+Sears hesitated. "Why--why, yes, I presume likely I can," he admitted.
+
+"And will you--please?"
+
+He looked at her and she at him. Then he nodded.
+
+"I'll stay," he said, and sat down in his chair.
+
+"Thank you," said Elizabeth. "Now, Elvira.... Wait, mother, please."
+
+Miss Snowden sniffed once more. "Now that that important matter is
+settled I _suppose_ I may be allowed to go on," she observed, with
+sarcasm. "Very good, I will do so in spite of the presence of--of those
+not--ahem--intimately concerned. Mrs. Berry, on behalf of this committee
+here, a committee of the whole----"
+
+"No such thing," this from Mrs. Tidditt. "I'm part of the whole but I
+ain't part of that committee. Stick to the truth, Elviry--pays better."
+
+"Hush, Esther," begged Miss Berry. "Let her go on, please. Go on,
+Elvira."
+
+The head of the committee breathed fiercely through her thin nostrils.
+Then she made another attempt.
+
+"I address you, Mrs. Cordelia Berry," declaimed Elvira, "because you are
+supposed--I say _supposed_--to be officially the managing director--or
+directress, to speak correct--of this institution. Not," she added,
+hastily, "that it is an institution in any sense of the word--like a
+home or any such thing. We all know that, I hope and trust. Although,"
+with a venomous glance in the direction of Mrs. Esther, "there appear
+to be _some_ that know precious little. I mention no names."
+
+"You don't need to," retorted the Tidditt lady promptly. "Never mind, I
+know enough not to vote to buy a lot of second-handed images and
+critters just because they belong to one of your relations. I know that
+much, Elviry Snowden."
+
+This was a body blow and Elvira visibly winced. For just an instant
+Captain Sears thought she was contemplating physical assault upon her
+enemy. But she recovered and, white and scornful, proceeded.
+
+"I shan't deign to answer such low--er--insinuations," she declared, her
+voice shaking. "I scorn them and her that makes them. I scorn
+them--both. _BOTH!_"
+
+This last "Both" was fired like a shot from a "Big Bertha." It should
+have annihilated the irreverent little female in the gingham gown. It
+did not, however; she merely laughed. The effect of the blast was still
+further impaired by Mrs. Chase, who although listening with all her
+ears, such as they were, had evidently heard neither well nor wisely.
+
+"That's right, Elviry," proclaimed Aurora, "that's just what I say. Why,
+the lion alone is worth the money."
+
+Mrs. Brackett touched the Snowden arm. "Never mind, Elvira," she said.
+"Don't pay any attention. Go right ahead and read the resolutions."
+
+Elvira drew a long breath, two long breaths. "Thank you, Susanna," she
+said, "I shall. I'm going to. Mrs. Berry," she added, turning to that
+lady, who was quite as much agitated as any one present and was
+clutching her chair arm with one hand and her daughter's arm with the
+other. "Mrs. Berry," repeated Miss Snowden, "this resolution drawn up
+and signed by the committee of the whole here present--signed with but
+one exception, I should say, one _trifling_ exception--" this with a
+glare at Mrs. Tidditt--"is, as I said, addressed to you because you are
+supposed--" a glare at Elizabeth this time--"to be in charge of the Fair
+Harbor and what goes on and is done within its--er--porticos. Ahem! I
+will now read as follows."
+
+And she proceeded to read, using both elocution and gestures. The
+resolutions made a rather formidable document. They were addressed to
+"Mrs. Cordelia Imogene Berry, widow of the late Captain Isaac Stephens
+Berry, in charge of the Fair Harbor for Mariners' Women at Bayport,
+Massachusetts, United States of America. Madam: Whereas----"
+
+There were many "Whereases." Captain Kendrick, listening intently, found
+the path of his understanding clogged by them and tangled by Miss
+Elvira's flowers of rhetoric. He gathered, nevertheless, that the
+"little group of ladies resident at the Fair Harbor, having been reared
+amid surroundings of culture, art and refinement" were, naturally,
+desirous of improving their present surroundings. Also that a "truly
+remarkable opportunity" had come in their way by which the said
+surroundings might be improved and beautified by the expenditure of a
+nominal sum, seventy-five dollars, no more. With this seventy-five
+dollars might be bought "the entire collection of lawn statuary and the
+fountain which adorned the grounds of the estate of the late lamented
+deceased Captain Seth Snowden at Harniss and now the property of his
+widow, namely to wit, Mrs. Hannah Snowden."
+
+"And I'll say this," put in Elvira, before reading further, "although
+hints and insinuations have been cast at me in the hearing of those
+present to-day about my being a relation--relative, that is--of Captain
+Seth, and he was my uncle on my father's side, nevertheless it's just
+because I am a relation--relative--that we are able to buy all those
+elegant things for as cheap a price as seventy-five dollars when they
+cost at least five hundred and.... But there! I will proceed.
+
+"'The said statuary, etcetera, consisting of the following, that is to
+say:
+
+"'No. 1. Item ... 1 Lawn Fountain. Hand painted iron. Representing two
+children beneath umbrella.'"
+
+"And it's the cutest thing," put in the hitherto silent Desire Peasley,
+with enthusiastic suddenness. "There's them two young ones standin'
+natural as life under that umbrella--just same as anybody _would_ stand
+under an umbrella if 'twas rainin' like fury--and the water squirts
+right down over top of 'em and drips off the ribs--off the ribs of the
+umbrella, I mean--and there they stand and--and---- _Well_, when I see
+_that_ I says, 'My glory!' I says, 'what'll they contrive next?' That's
+what I said. All hands heard me.... What's that you're mutterin', Esther
+Tidditt?"
+
+"I wasn't mutterin', 'special. I just said I bet they heard you if they
+was anywheres 'round."
+
+"Is that so? Do tell! Well, I'll have you to understand----"
+
+Elvira and Miss Berry together intervened to calm this new disturbance.
+Then the former went on with the reading of the "resolutions."
+
+"'No. 2. Item ... 1 Hand painted lion. Iron....' Hush, Aurora!... Yes,
+'lion,' that's right.... I did say 'iron.' It's an iron lion, isn't
+it?... Oh, _do_ be quiet! We'll never get through if everybody keeps
+interrupting. 'No. 2 ... Item ... 1 Hand painted lion iron'--iron lion,
+I mean.... Oh, my soul and body! If everybody keeps talking I shan't
+know what I mean.... 'A very wonderful piece of statuary. In perfect
+condition. Paint needs touching up, that's all.
+
+"'No. 3--Item.... 1 Deer. Hand painted iron. Perfectly lovely--'"
+
+"Stuff!" This from the irrepressible Mrs. Tidditt, of course. "One horn
+is broke off and it looks like the Old Harry. No, I'll take that back;
+the Old Harry is supposed to have two horns. But that deer image is a
+sight, just the same. Why, it ain't got any paint left on it."
+
+"Nonsense! It may need a little paint, here and there, but----"
+
+"Humph! A little here and a lot there and a whole lot more in between.
+Elvira Snowden, that image looks as if 'twas struck with leprosy, like
+Lazarus in the Bible; you know it well as I do."
+
+Sears Kendrick enjoyed the reading of these resolutions. If it were not
+for certain elements in the situation he would have considered the
+morning's performance the most amusing entertainment he had witnessed
+afloat or ashore. He managed not to laugh aloud, although he was obliged
+to turn his head away several times and to cough at intervals. Once or
+twice he and Elizabeth Berry exchanged glances and the whimsical look of
+resignation and humorous appreciation in her eyes showed that she, too,
+was keenly aware of the joke.
+
+But at other times she was serious enough and it was her expression at
+these times which prevented the captain's accepting the whole ridiculous
+affair as a hilarious farce. Then she looked deeply troubled and
+careworn and anxious. He began to realize that this affair, funny as it
+was, was but one of a series, a series of annoyances and trials and
+petty squabbles which, taken in the aggregate, were anything but funny
+to her. For it was obvious, the truth of what Judah Cahoon had said and
+Judge Knowles intimated, that this girl, Elizabeth Berry, was bearing
+upon her young shoulders the entire burden of responsibility for the
+conduct and management of affairs in the Fair Harbor for Mariners' Women
+at Bayport. Her mother was supposed to bear this burden, but it was
+perfectly obvious that Cordelia Berry was incapable of bearing any
+responsibilities, including her own personal ones.
+
+Miss Snowden solemnly read the concluding paragraph of the resolutions.
+It summed up those preceding it and announced that those whose names
+were appended, "being guests at the Fair Harbor, the former home of our
+beloved benefactress and friend Mrs. Lobelia Phillips, _nee_ Seymour,
+are unanimously agreed that as a simple matter of duty to the
+institution and those within its gates, not to mention the beautifying
+of Bayport, the collection of lawn statuary and fountain now adorning
+the estate of the late deceased Captain Seth Snowden be bought,
+purchased and obtained from that estate at the very low price of
+seventy-five dollars, this money to be paid from the funds in the Fair
+Harbor treasury, and the said statuary and fountain to be erected and
+set up on the lawns and grounds of the Fair Harbor. Signed----"
+
+Miss Elvira read the names of the signers. They included, as she took
+pains to state, the names of every guest in the Fair Harbor with
+one--ahem--exception.
+
+"And I'm it, praise the lord," announced Mrs. Tidditt, promptly. "I
+ain't quite crazy yet, nor I ain't a niece-in-law of Seth Snowden's
+widow neither."
+
+"Esther Tidditt, I've stood your hints and slanders long enough."
+
+"Nobody's payin' _me_ no commissions for gettin' rid of their old junk
+for 'em."
+
+"Esther, be still! You shouldn't say such things. Elvira, stop--stop!"
+Miss Berry stepped forward. Mrs. Tidditt was bristling like a combative
+bantam and Elvira was shaking from head to feet and crooking and
+uncrooking her fingers. "There mustn't be any more of this," declared
+Elizabeth. "Esther, you must apologize. Stop, both of you, please.
+Remember, Cap'n Kendrick is here."
+
+This had the effect of causing every one to look at the captain once
+more. He felt unpleasantly conspicuous, but Elizabeth's next speech
+transferred the general gaze from him to her.
+
+"There isn't any use in saying much more about this matter, it seems to
+me," she said. "It comes down to this: You and the others, Elvira, think
+we should buy the--the statues and the fountain because they would, you
+think, make our lawns and grounds more beautiful."
+
+"We don't think at all--we know," declared Elvira. Mrs. Brackett said,
+"Yes indeed, we do," and there was a general murmur of assent. Also a
+loud sniff from the Tidditt direction.
+
+"And your mother thinks so, too," spoke up Miss Peasley, from the group.
+"She told me herself she thought they were lovely. Didn't you, Cordelia?
+You know you did."
+
+Before Mrs. Berry could answer--her embarrassment and distress seemed
+to be bringing her again to the verge of tears--her daughter went on.
+
+"It doesn't make a bit of difference what mother and I think about
+their--beauty--and all that," she said. "The whole thing comes down to
+the matter of whether or not we can afford to buy them. And we simply
+cannot. We haven't the money to spare. Spending seventy-five dollars for
+anything except the running expenses of the Harbor is now absolutely
+impossible. I told you that, Elvira, when you first suggested it."
+
+Miss Snowden, still trembling, regarded her resentfully. "Yes, _you_
+told me," she retorted. "I know you did. You are always telling us we
+can't do this or that. But why should _you_ tell us? That is what we
+can't understand. _You_ ain't--aren't--manager here, so far as we know.
+We never heard of your appointment. _We_ always understood your mother
+was the manager, duly appointed. Isn't she?"
+
+"Of course she is, but----"
+
+"Yes, and when we have spoken to _her_--two or three of us at different
+times--she has said she thought buying these things was a lovely idea. I
+shouldn't be surprised if she thought so now.... Cordelia, don't you
+think the Fair Harbor ought to buy those statues and that fountain?"
+
+This pointed appeal, of course, placed Mrs. Berry directly in the
+limelight and she wilted beneath its glare. She reddened and then paled.
+Her fingers fidgetted with the pin at her throat. She picked up her
+handkerchief and dropped it. She looked at Elvira and the committee and
+then at her daughter.
+
+"Why--why, I don't know," she faltered. "I think--of course I think
+the--the statuary is very beautiful. I--I said so. I--I am always fond
+of pretty things. You know I am, Elizabeth, you----"
+
+"Wait a minute, Cordelia. Didn't you tell me you thought the Fair Harbor
+ought to buy them? Didn't you tell Suzanna and me just that?"
+
+Mrs. Berry squirmed. She did not answer but, so far as Sears Kendrick
+was concerned, no answer was necessary. He was as certain as if she had
+sworn it that she had told them just that thing. And, looking at
+Elizabeth's face, he could see that she, too, was certain of it.
+
+"Didn't you, Cordelia?" persisted Miss Snowden.
+
+"Why--why, I don't know. Perhaps I did, but--but what difference does it
+make? You heard what Elizabeth said. She says we can't afford it. She
+always attends to such matters, you know she does."
+
+"Yes," with sarcastic emphasis, "we do, but we don't know _why_ she
+should. And in this case we aren't going to stand it. You are supposed
+to be managing this place, Cordelia Berry, and if you are willing to
+turn your duties over to a--a mere child we aren't willing to let you.
+Once more I ask you----"
+
+Elizabeth interrupted. "There, there, Elvira," she said, "what _is_ the
+use? It isn't a question of mother's opinion or what she has said
+before. It is just a matter of money. We can't afford it."
+
+Miss Snowden ignored her. "We shall not," she repeated, "permit our
+future and--and all like that to be ruined by the whims of a mere child.
+_That_ is final."
+
+She pronounced the last sentence with solemn emphasis. The pause which
+followed should have been impressive but Mrs. Tidditt spoiled the
+effect.
+
+"Mere child!" she repeated, significantly. "Well, I presume likely she
+_is_ a mere child compared to some folks. Only she just looks childish
+and they act that way."
+
+There was another outburst of indignant exclamations from the committee.
+The head of that body turned to her followers.
+
+"It is quite evident," she declared, furiously, "that this conference is
+going to end just as the others have. But this time we are not going to
+sit back and be trampled on. There are those higher up to be appealed to
+and we shall appeal to them. Come!"
+
+She stalked majestically to the door and marched out and down the hall,
+the committee following her. Only Mrs. Tidditt remained, and she but for
+a moment.
+
+"They're goin' to the back room to have another meetin'," she whispered.
+"If there's anything up that amounts to anything, 'Lizabeth, I'll come
+back and let you know."
+
+Elizabeth did not answer, but Kendrick offered a suggestion. "You don't
+belong to this committee," he observed. "Perhaps they won't let you into
+the meetin'."
+
+The eyes behind the steel spectacles snapped sparks. "I'd like to see
+'em try to keep me out," declared Mrs. Esther, and hurried after the
+others. Elizabeth turned to her mother.
+
+"Mother," she said, earnestly, "we must be very firm in this matter. We
+simply can't afford to spend any money just now except for necessities.
+If they come to you again you must tell them so. You will, won't you?"
+
+And now Mrs. Berry's agitation reached its climax. She turned upon her
+daughter.
+
+"Oh, I suppose so," she cried hysterically, "I suppose so! I shall have
+to go through another scene and be spoken to as if--as if I were dirt
+under these women's feet instead of being as far above them in--in
+position and education and refinement as the clouds. Why can't I have
+peace--just a little peace and quiet? Why must I _always_ have to
+undergo humiliation after humiliation? I----"
+
+"Mother, mother, please don't----"
+
+But her mother was beyond reason.
+
+"And you--" she went on, "you, my own daughter, why must you always take
+the other side, and put me in such positions, and--and humiliate me
+before--before---- Oh, why can't I die? I _wish_ I were dead! I do! I
+do!"
+
+She burst into a storm of hysterical sobs and hurried toward the door.
+Elizabeth would have gone to her but she pushed her aside and rushed
+into the front hall and up the stairs. They heard her sobs upon the
+upper landing.
+
+Sears Kendrick, feeling more like an interloper than ever, looked in
+embarrassment at the flowered carpet. He did not dare look at the young
+woman beside him. He had never in his life felt more sorry for any one.
+Judge Knowles had said he hoped that he--Kendrick--might obtain a
+general idea of the condition of affairs in the Fair Harbor. The scenes
+he had just witnessed had given him a better idea of that condition than
+anything else could have done. And, somehow or other, it was the last of
+those scenes which had affected him most. Elizabeth Berry had faced the
+sarcasms and sneers of the committee, had never lost her poise or her
+temper, had never attempted to shift the responsibility, had never
+reproached her mother for the hesitating weakness which was at the base
+of all the trouble. And, in return, her mother had accused her of--all
+sorts of things.
+
+And yet when Elizabeth spoke it was in defence of that mother.
+
+"I hope, Cap'n Kendrick," she said, "that you won't misunderstand my
+mother or take what she just said too seriously. She is not very well,
+and very nervous, and, as you see, her position here is a trying one
+sometimes."
+
+The captain could not keep back the speech which was at his tongue's
+end.
+
+"_Your_ position is rather tryin', too, isn't it?" he observed. "It sort
+of would seem that way--to me."
+
+She smiled sadly. "Why, yes--it is," she admitted. "But I am younger
+and--and perhaps I can bear it better."
+
+It occurred to him that the greatest pity of all was the fact that she
+should be obliged to bear it. He did not say so, however, and she went
+on, changing the subject and speaking very earnestly.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," she said, "I am very glad you heard this--this
+disagreement this morning. Judge Knowles told me you were going to call
+at the Harbor here and when he said it he--well, I thought he looked
+more than he said, if you know what I mean. I didn't ask any questions
+and he said nothing more, but I guess perhaps he wanted you to--to
+see--well, to see what he wasn't well enough to see--or something like
+that."
+
+She paused. The captain was embarrassed. He certainly felt guilty and he
+also felt as if he looked so.
+
+"Why--why, Miss Berry," he stammered, "I hope you--you mustn't
+think----"
+
+She waved his protestations aside.
+
+"It doesn't make a bit of difference," she said. "No matter why you came
+I am very glad you did. This ridiculous statuary business is just
+one--well, symptom, so to speak. If it wasn't that, it might be
+something else. It comes, you see, from my position here--which really
+isn't any position at all--and their position, Elvira Snowden's and the
+rest. They pay a certain sum to get here in the first place and a small
+sum each year. There is the trouble. They think they pay for board and
+lodging and are guests. Of course what they pay amounts to almost
+nothing, but they don't realize that, or don't want to, and they expect
+to have their own way. Mother is--well, she is nervous and high strung
+and she hates scenes. They take advantage of her, some of them--no doubt
+they don't consider it that, but it seems to me so--and so I have been
+obliged to take charge, in a way. They don't understand that and resent
+it. I don't know that I blame them much. Perhaps I should resent it if I
+were in their place. Only.... But never mind that now.
+
+"This is only one of a good many differences of opinion we have had,"
+she went on. "In the old days--and not older than a year ago, for that
+matter--if the differences were too acute I used to go to Judge Knowles.
+He always settled everything, finally and sensibly. But now, since he
+has been so sick, I--well, I simply can't go to him. He has been very
+kind to us, to mother and me, and I am very fond of him. He was a great
+friend of my father's and I think he likes me for father's sake. And now
+I will not trouble him in his sickness with my troubles--I will _not_."
+
+She raised her head as she said it and Captain Sears, regarding her, was
+again acutely conscious of the fact that it was a very fine head indeed.
+
+"I understand," he said.
+
+"Yes, I knew you would. And I know I could fight this out by myself. And
+shall, of course. But, nevertheless, I am glad you were here as--well,
+as a witness, if it ever comes to that. You heard what Elvira--Miss
+Snowden--said about appealing to those higher up. I suppose she means
+Mrs. Phillips, the one who founded the Harbor. If they should write to
+her I---- What is it, Esther?"
+
+Mrs. Tidditt had rushed into the room, bristling. She waved her arms
+excitedly.
+
+"'Lizbeth, 'Lizbeth," she whispered, "they're goin' to tell him. They're
+makin' up the yarn now that they're goin' to tell him."
+
+"Tell him? Tell who?"
+
+"Judge Knowles. They've decided to go right straight over to the judge's
+house and--and do what they call appeal to him about them images. Elviry
+she's goin', and Susanna, and Desire Peasley, too, for what I know. What
+do you want me to do? Ain't there any way I can help stop 'em?"
+
+For the first time in that distressing forenoon Captain Kendrick saw
+Miss Berry's nerve shaken. She clasped her hands.
+
+"Oh dear!" she cried. "Oh, dear, that is the very thing they mustn't do!
+I wouldn't have Judge Knowles worried or troubled about this for the
+world. I have kept everything from him. He is _so_ ill! If those women
+go to him and---- Oh, but they mustn't, they mustn't! I can't let them."
+
+Mrs. Tidditt, diminutive but combative, offered a suggestion.
+
+"Do you want me to go out and stop 'em?" she demanded. "I'll go and
+stand in the kitchen doorway, if you want me to. They won't get by if
+I'm there, not in a hurry, anyway."
+
+"Oh no, no, Esther, of course not."
+
+"I tell you what I'll do. I'll go and tell Emmeline not to let 'em in
+the judge's house. She's my cousin and she'll do what I
+ask--sometimes--if I don't ask much."
+
+"No, that wouldn't do any good, any permanent good. But they must not go
+to the judge. They must not. He has been so kind and forbearing and he
+is so very sick. The doctor told me that he.... They shan't go. They can
+say anything they please to me, but they shan't torment him."
+
+She started toward the door through which Mrs. Tidditt had entered. At
+the threshold she paused for an instant and turned.
+
+"Please excuse me, Cap'n Kendrick," she said. "I almost forgot that you
+were here. I think I wouldn't wait if I were you. There will be another
+scene and I'm sure you have had scenes enough. I have, too, but.... Oh,
+well, it will be all right, I'm sure. Please don't wait. Thank you for
+calling."
+
+She turned again but the captain stopped her. As she faced him there in
+the doorway their eyes had met. Hers were moist--for the first time she
+was close to the breaking point--and there was a look in them which
+caused him to forget everything except one, namely, that the crowd in
+the "parrot cage" at the other end of that hall should not trouble her
+further. It was very seldom that Captain Sears Kendrick, master mariner,
+acted solely on impulse. But he did so now.
+
+"Stop," he cried. "Miss Elizabeth, don't go. Stay where you are....
+Here--you--" turning to Mrs. Tidditt. "You go and tell those folks I
+want to see 'em. Tell 'em to come aft here--now."
+
+There was a different note in his voice, a note neither Elizabeth nor
+the Tidditt woman had before heard. Yet if Judah Cahoon had been present
+he would have recognized it. He had heard it many times, aboard many
+tall ships, upon many seas. It was the captain's quarter-deck voice and
+it meant business.
+
+Mrs. Tidditt and Elizabeth had not heard it, and they looked at the
+speaker in surprise. Captain Sears looked at them, but not for long.
+
+"Lively," he commanded. "Do you hear? Go for'ard and tell that crew in
+the galley, or the fo'castle, or wherever they are, to lay aft here.
+I've got somethin' to say to 'em."
+
+It was seldom that Esther Tidditt was at a loss for words. As a usual
+thing her stock was unlimited. Now she merely gasped.
+
+"You--you--" she stammered. "You want me to ask--to ask Elviry and
+Susanna and them to come in here?"
+
+"Ask? Who said anything about askin'? I want you to tell 'em I say for
+them to come here. It's an order, and you can tell 'em so, if you want
+to."
+
+Mrs. Tidditt gasped again. "Well!" she exclaimed. "Well, my good lordy,
+if this ain't---- A-ll right, _I'll_ tell 'em."
+
+She hastened down the corridor. Elizabeth ventured a faint protest.
+
+"But, Cap'n Kendrick--" she began. He stopped her.
+
+"It is all right, Miss Elizabeth," he said. "I'm handlin' this matter
+now. All you've got to do is look on.... Well, are they comin' or must I
+go after 'em?"
+
+Apparently he had forgotten that his lameness made going anywhere a slow
+proceeding. As a matter of fact he had. He had forgotten everything
+except the business of the moment and the joy of being once more in
+supreme command.
+
+The message borne by Mrs. Tidditt had, presumably, been delivered. The
+messenger had left the dining room door open and through it came a
+tremendous rattle of tongues. Obviously the captain's order had created
+a sensation.
+
+Elizabeth listened.
+
+"Well?" repeated Sears, again. "Are they goin' to come?"
+
+Miss Berry smiled faintly. "I think they will come," she answered. "If
+they are as--as curious as I am they will."
+
+They were. At any rate they came. Miss Snowden, Mrs. Brackett and Mrs.
+Chase in the lead, the others following. Mrs. Tidditt brought up the
+rear, marshaling the stragglers, as it were.
+
+Elvira was, of course, the spokeswoman. She was the incarnation of
+dignified and somewhat resentful surprise.
+
+"We have been told," she began, loftily, "we have been _told_, Cap'n
+Kendrick, that you wished to speak to us. We can't imagine why, but we
+have came--come, I should say. _Do_ you wish to speak to us?"
+
+Kendrick nodded. "Yes," he said crisply, "I do. I want to tell you that
+you mustn't go to Judge Knowles about buyin' those iron statues of Cap'n
+Seth's or about anything else. He is sick and mustn't be worried. Miss
+Berry says so, and I agree with her."
+
+He paused From the committee came a gasp, or concert of gasps and
+muttered exclamations, indicating astonishment. Elvira voiced the
+feeling.
+
+"You agree with her!" she exclaimed. "_You_ agree? Why--I never did!"
+
+"Yes. And I agree with her, too, about buyin' those--er--lions and dogs
+and--hogs, or whatever they are. I don't say they aren't worth
+seventy-five dollars or more--or less--I don't know. But I do say that,
+until I have had time to look into things aboard here, I don't want any
+money spent except for stores and other necessities. There isn't a bit
+of personal feelin' in this, you must understand, it is business, that's
+all."
+
+He paused once more, to let this sink in. It sank apparently and when it
+again came to the surface an outburst of incoherent indignation came
+with it. Every committee-woman said something, even Mrs. Chase, although
+her observations were demands to know what was being said by the rest.
+Elizabeth was the only one who remained silent. She was gazing,
+wide-eyed, at the captain, and upon her face was a strange expression,
+an expression of eagerness, dawning understanding, and--yes, of hope.
+
+Miss Snowden was so completely taken aback that she was incapable of
+connected speech. Mrs. Susanna Brackett, however, was of a temperament
+less easily upset. She stepped forward.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," she demanded, "what are you talkin' about? What right
+have you got to say how the Fair Harbor money shall be spent? What are
+you interferin' here for I'd like to know?"
+
+"I'm not interferin'. I'm taking charge, that's all.
+
+"Takin' _charge_?... My land of love!... Charge of what?"
+
+"Of this craft here, this Fair Harbor place. Judge Knowles offered me
+the general management of it three days ago."
+
+Even the Brackett temperament was not proof against such a shock.
+Susanna herself found difficulty in speaking.
+
+"You--you--" she sputtered. "My soul to heavens! Do you mean---- Are you
+crazy?"
+
+"Um--maybe. But, anyhow, crazy or not, I'm in command aboard here from
+now on. Miss Elizabeth here--and her mother, of course--will be captain
+and mate, same as they've always been, but I'll be--well, commodore or
+admiral, whichever you like to call it. It's a queer sort of a job for a
+man like me," he added, with a grim smile, "but it looks as if it was
+what we'd all have to get used to."
+
+For a moment there was silence, absolute silence, in the best parlor of
+the Fair Harbor for Mariners' Women. Then that silence was broken.
+
+"What is he sayin'?" wailed Mrs. Aurora Chase. "Elviry Snowden, why
+don't you tell me what he's a-sayin'?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+The bomb had burst, the debris had fallen, the smoke had to some extent
+cleared, the committee, still incoherent but by no means speechless, had
+retired to the dining room to talk it over. Mrs. Tidditt had accompanied
+them; and Sears Kendrick and Elizabeth Berry were saying good-by at the
+front door.
+
+"Well," observed the captain, dubiously, "I'm glad you don't think I'm
+more than nine tenths idiot. It's some comfort to know you can see one
+tenth of common-sense in the thing. It's more than I can, and that's
+honest. I give you my word, Miss Elizabeth, when I set sail from Judah's
+back entry this mornin' I hadn't any more idea that I should undertake
+the job of handlin' the Fair Harbor than--well, than that Snowden woman
+had of kissin' that little spitfire that was flyin' up in her face every
+minute or two while she was tryin' to read that paper.... Ha-ha! that
+was awfully funny."
+
+Elizabeth smiled. "It was," she agreed. "And it looks so much funnier to
+me now than it did then, thanks to you, Cap'n Kendrick. You have taken a
+great load off my mind."
+
+"Um--yes, and taken it on my own, I shouldn't wonder. I do hope you'll
+make it clear to your mother that all I intend doin' is to keep a sort
+of weather eye on money matters, that's all. She is to have just the
+same ratin' aboard here that she has always had--and so will you, of
+course."
+
+"But I haven't had any real rating, you know. And now I will be more of
+a fifth wheel than ever. You and mother can manage the Harbor. You won't
+need me at all. I can take a vacation, can't I? Won't that be
+wonderful!"
+
+He looked at her in unfeigned alarm.
+
+"Here, here!" he exclaimed. "Lay to! Come up into the wind! Don't talk
+that way, Miss Berry, or I'll jump over the rail before I've really
+climbed aboard this craft. I'm countin' on you to do three thirds of the
+work, just as I guess you've been doin' for a good while. All I shall be
+good for--if anything--is to be a sort of reef in the channel, as you
+might say, something for committees like this one to run their bows on
+if they get too far off the course."
+
+"And that will be the most useful thing any one can do, Cap'n Kendrick.
+Oh, I shall thank Judge Knowles--in my mind--so many, many times a day
+for sending you here, I know I shall. I guessed, when he told me you
+were going to call, that there was something behind that call. And there
+was. What a wise old dear he is, bless him."
+
+"Is he? Well I wish I was surer of the wisdom in trappin' me into takin'
+this command. However, I have taken it, so I'll have to do the best I
+can for a while, anyhow. Afterwards--well, probably I won't last _but_ a
+little while, so we won't worry about more than that. And you'll have to
+stand by the wheel, Miss Elizabeth. If it hadn't been for you--I mean
+for the way that committee lit into you--I don't think I should ever
+have taken charge."
+
+"I know. And I sha'n't forget. You may count on me, Cap'n Kendrick, for
+anything I can do to help."
+
+His face brightened. "Good!" he exclaimed. "That's as good as an
+insurance policy on the ship and cargo. With you to pilot and me to
+handle the crew she ought to keep somewhere in deep water.... Well, I'll
+be gettin' back to port. Judah's dinner will be gettin' cold and he
+won't like that. And to-morrow mornin' I'll come again and we'll have a
+look at the figures."
+
+"Yes. I'll have the books and bills and everything ready.... Oh, be
+careful! Can't I help you down the step?"
+
+He shook his head. "I can navigate after a fashion," he said, grimly. "I
+get along about as graceful as a brick sloop in a head tide, but, by the
+Lord Harry, I'll get along somehow.... No, don't, please. I'd rather
+you didn't help me, if you don't mind."
+
+Slowly, painfully, and with infinite care he lowered himself down the
+step. On level ground once more, leaning heavily on his cane, he turned
+to her and smiled a somewhat shame-faced apology.
+
+"It's silly, I know," he said, panting a little, "but I've always been
+used to doin' about as I pleased and it--somehow it plagues me to think
+I can't go it alone still. Just stubborn foolishness."
+
+She shook her head. "No, it isn't," she said, quickly. "I understand.
+And I do hope you will be better soon. Of course you will."
+
+"Will I?... Well, maybe. Good mornin', Miss Berry. Be sure and tell your
+mother she's to be just as much cap'n as she ever was."
+
+He hobbled along the walk to the gate. As he passed beneath the sign he
+looked back. She was still standing in the doorway and when he limped in
+at the entrance of the General Minot place she was there yet, watching
+him.
+
+He said no word to Judah of his acceptance of the post of commander of
+the Fair Harbor. He felt that Judge Knowles should be the first to know
+of it and that he, himself, should be the one to tell him. So, after
+dinner was over, and Judah had harnessed the old horse to go to the
+Minot wood lot for a load of pine boughs and brush for kindling, he
+asked his ex-cook to take him across to the judge's in the wagon, leave
+him there, and come for him later. Mr. Cahoon, of course, was delighted
+to be of service but, of course also, he was tremendously curious.
+
+"Hum," he observed, "goin' to see the judge again, be you, Cap'n Sears?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Hum.... Ain't heard that he's any sicker, nor nothin' like that, have
+you?"
+
+"No."
+
+"I see.... Yus, yus.... Just goin' to make a--er--sort of--what you
+might call a--er--a call, I presume likely."
+
+"I shouldn't wonder."
+
+"Um-hm.... I see.... Yus, yus, I see.... Um-hm.... Well, I suppose we
+might as well--er--start now as any time, eh?"
+
+"Better, I should say, Judah. Whenever you and the Foam Flake are ready,
+I am."
+
+The Foam Flake was the name with which Judah had rechristened the old
+horse. The animal's name up to the time of the rechristening had been
+Pet, but this, Mr. Cahoon explained, he could _not_ stand.
+
+"'Whatever else he is,' says I to young Minot, 'he ain't no pet--not of
+mine. The only way I ever feel like pettin' that oat barrel,' I says,
+'is with a rope's end.' 'Well, why don't you give him a new name?' says
+he. 'What'll I call him?' says I. 'Anything you can think of,' he says.
+'By Henry,' says I. 'I have called him about everything I can think of,
+already.' Haw, haw! That was a pretty good one, wan't it Cap'n Sears?"
+
+"But where did you get 'Foam Flake' from?" the captain had wanted to
+know.
+
+"Oh, it just come to me, as you might say, same as them things do come
+sometimes. I was tellin' the Methodist minister about it one day and he
+said 'twas a--er--one of them--er--inflammations. Eh? Don't seem as if
+it could have been 'inflammation,' but 'twas somethin' like it."
+
+"Inspiration, maybe."
+
+"That's the ticket, inspiration's what 'twas. Well, I was kind of
+draggin' a seine through my head, so to speak, tryin' to haul aboard a
+likely name for the critter, and fetchin' the net in empty every time,
+when one day that--er--what-d'ye-call-it?--inflammation landed on me.
+I'd piloted 'Pet' and the truck wagon over to Harniss--and worked my
+passage every foot of the way--and over there to Brett's store I met
+Luther Wixon, who was home from a v'yage to the West Indies. Lute and me
+had been to sea together half a dozen times, and we got kind of
+swappin' yarns about the vessels we'd been in.
+
+"'Have you heard about the old _Foam Flake_?' says Lute. 'She was
+wrecked on the Jersey coast off Barnegat,' he says, 'and now they've
+made a barge out of her hull and she's freightin' hay in New York
+harbor,' he says.
+
+"Well, sir, I hauled off and fetched the broadside of my leg a slap you
+could have heard to Jericho. 'By the creepin', jumpin',' says I. 'I've
+got it!' 'Yes,' he says, 'you act as if you had. But what do you take
+for it?' 'I wouldn't take a dollar note for it right now,' I told him.
+And I wouldn't have, nuther. The old _Foam Flake_--maybe you remember
+her, Cap'n Sears--was the dumdest, lop-sidedest, crankiest old white tub
+of a bark that ever carried sail. When I was aboard of her she wouldn't
+steer fit to eat, always wanted to go to port when you tried to put her
+to starboard, walloped and slopped along awkward as a cow, was the
+slowest thing afloat, and all she was ever really fit for was what they
+are usin' her for now, and that was to stow hay in. If that wan't that
+old horse of Minot's all over then I hope I'll never smoke a five-cent
+cigar again. 'You ain't "Pet" no more,' says I to the critter; 'your
+name's "Foam Flake!"' Haw, haw! See now, don't you, Cap'n Sears?"
+
+Foam Flake and the truck-wagon landed the captain at the Knowles gate
+and, a few minutes later, Kendrick was, rather shamefacedly, announcing
+to the judge his acceptance of the superintendency of the Fair Harbor.
+The invalid, as grimly sardonic and indomitable as ever, chuckled
+between spasms of pain and weakness.
+
+"Good! Good!" he exclaimed. "I thought you wouldn't say no if you once
+saw how things were over there. Congratulations on your good sense,
+Kendrick."
+
+Sears shook his head. "Don't be any more sarcastic than you can help,
+Judge," he said.
+
+"No sarcasm about it. If you hadn't stepped in to help that girl I
+should have known you didn't have any sense at all. By the way, I didn't
+praise her too highly when we talked before, did I? She is considerable
+of a girl, Elizabeth Berry, eh, Cap'n?"
+
+The captain nodded.
+
+"She is," he admitted. "And she was so confoundedly plucky, and she
+stood up against that crowd of--of----"
+
+"Mariners' women. Yes. Ho, ho! I should like to have been there."
+
+"I am glad you wasn't. But when I saw how she stood up to them, and then
+when her mother----"
+
+"Yes. Um ... yes, I know. Isaac Berry was my friend and his daughter is
+a fine girl. We'll remember that when we talk about the family,
+Kendrick.... Whew! Well, I feel better. With you and Elizabeth to handle
+matters over there, Lobelia's trust will be in good hands. Now I can go
+to the cemetery in comfort."
+
+He chuckled as if the prospect was humorous. Captain Sears spoke quickly
+and without considering exactly how the words sounded.
+
+"Indeed you can't," he protested. "Judge Knowles, I'm goin' to need you
+about every minute of every day from now on."
+
+"Nonsense! You won't need me but a little while, fortunately. And--for
+that little while, probably--I shall be here and at your disposal. Come
+in whenever you want to talk matters over. If the doctor or that damned
+housekeeper try to stop you, hit 'em over the head. Much obliged to you,
+Cap'n Kendrick. He, he! We'll give friend Egbert a shock when he comes
+to town.... Oh, he'll come. Some of these days he'll come. Be ready for
+him, Kendrick, be ready for him."
+
+That evening the captain told Judah of his new position and Judah's
+reception of the news was not encouraging. Somehow Sears felt that, with
+the voice of Judah Cahoon was, in this case, speaking the opinion of
+Bayport.
+
+Judah had been scrubbing the frying-pan. He dropped it in the sink with
+a tremendous clatter.
+
+"_No!_" he shouted. "You're jokin', ain't you, Cap'n Sears?"
+
+"It's no joke, Judah."
+
+"My creepin' Henry! You can't mean it. You ain't really, honest to
+godfreys, cal'latin' to pilot that--that Fair Harbor craft, be you?"
+
+"I am, Judah. Wish me luck."
+
+"Wish you _luck_! Jumpin', creepin', crawlin', hoppin'---- Why, there
+ain't no luck _in_ it. That ain't no man's job, Cap'n Sears. That's a
+woman's job, and even a woman'd have her hands full. Why, Cap'n,
+they'll--that crew of--of old hens in there they'll pick your eyes out."
+
+"Oh, I guess not, Judah. I've handled crews before."
+
+"Yes--yes, you have--men crews aboard ship. But this ain't no men crew,
+this is a woman crew. You can't lam _this_ crew over the head with no
+handspike. When one of those fo'mast hands gives you back talk you can't
+knock _her_ into the scuppers. All you can do is just stand and take it
+and wait for your chance to say somethin'. And you won't _git_ no
+chance. What chance'll you have along with Elviry Snowden and Desire
+Peasley and them? Talk! Why, jumpin' Henry, Cap'n Sears, any one of them
+Shanghais in there can talk more in a minute than the average man could
+in a hour. Any one of 'em! Take that Susanna Brackett now. Oh, I've
+heard about _her_! She had a half-brother one time. Where is he now? Ah
+ha! Where is he? Nobody knows, that's where he is. Him and her used to
+live together. Folks that lived next door used to hear her tongue
+a-goin' at him all hours day or night. Wan't no 'watch and watch' in
+that house--no sir-ee! She stood _all_ the watches. She----"
+
+"There, there, Judah. I guess I can stand the talk. If it gets too bad
+I'll put cotton in my ears."
+
+"Huh! Cotton! Cotton won't do no good. Have to solder your ears up
+like--like a leaky tea-kittle, if you wanted to keep from hearin'
+Susanna Brackett's clack. Why, that brother of hers--Ebenezer Samuels,
+seems to me his name was. Seems to me they told me that Susanna's name
+was Samuels afore she married Brackett. Maybe twan't Samuels. Seems to
+me, now I think of it, as if 'twas Schwartz. Yet it don't hardly seem
+as if it could be, does it? I guess likely I'm gettin' him mixed with a
+feller name of Samuel Schwartz that I knew on South Street in New York
+one time. Run a pawn shop, he did. I remember _that_ Schwartz 'cause he
+used to _take_ stuff, you know--er--er--same as a Chinaman. One of them
+oakum eaters, that s what he was--an oakum eater. Why one time he----"
+
+Sears never did learn what happened to Mrs. Brackett's brother. Judah's
+reminiscent fancy, once started, wandered far and wide, and in this case
+it forgot entirely to return to the missing Samuels--or Schwartz. But
+Mr. Cahoon expressed himself freely on the subject of his beloved
+ex-captain and present lodger taking charge of the establishment next
+door. Sears' explanations and excuses bore little weight. Time and time
+again that evening Mr. Cahoon would come out of a dismal reverie to
+exclaim: "Skipper of the Fair Harbor for Mariners' Women! You! Cap'n
+Sears Kendrick, skipper of _that_ craft! Don't seem possible, somehow,
+does it?"
+
+"Look here Judah," the captain at last said, in desperation, "if you
+feel so almighty bad about it, perhaps you won't want me here. I can
+move, you know."
+
+Judah turned a horrified face in his direction. "Move!" he repeated
+"_Don't_ talk so, Cap'n Sears. That's the one comfort I see in the whole
+business. Livin' right next door to 'em the way you and me do, you can
+always run into port here if the weather gets too squally over yonder.
+Yes, sir there'll always be a snug harbor under my lee when the Fair
+Harbor's too rugged. Eh? Ha, ha!"
+
+Just before retiring Sears said, "There's just one thing I want you to
+do, Judah. You may feel--as I know you do feel--that my takin' this job
+is a foolish thing. But don't you let any one else know you feel that
+way."
+
+Judah snorted. "Don't you worry, Cap'n Sears," he said. "If any one of
+them sea lawyers down to Bassett's store gets to heavin' sass at me
+about your takin' the hellum at the Harbor I'll shut their hatches for
+'em. I'll tell 'em the old judge and Lobelia was ondecided between you
+and Gen'ral Grant for the job, but finally they picked you. Don't
+mistake me now, Cap'n. Your goin' over there is the best thing for
+the--the henroost that ever was or ever will be. It's you I'm thinkin'
+about. It ain't--well, by the crawlin' prophets, 'tain't the kind of
+berth you've been used to. Now is it, Cap'n Sears?"
+
+Kendrick smiled, a one-sided smile.
+
+"Maybe not, Judah," he admitted. "It is a queer berth, but it's a berth,
+and, unless these legs of mine get well a lot quicker than I think they
+will, I may be mighty thankful to have any berth at all."
+
+He told his sister this when she called to learn if the rumor she had
+heard was true. She shook her head.
+
+"Perhaps it is all right, Sears," she said. "I suppose you know best.
+But, somehow, I--well, I hate to think of your doin' it."
+
+"I know. You're proud, Sarah. Well, I used to be proud too, before the
+ship-chandlery business and the Old Colony railroad dismasted me and
+left me high and dry."
+
+She put a hand on his arm. "Don't, Sears," she pleaded. "You know why I
+hate to have you do it. It don't seem--it don't seem--you know what I
+mean."
+
+"A man's job. I know. Judah said the same thing. I took Judge Knowles'
+offer because it seemed the only way I could earn my salt. If I didn't
+take it you and Joel might have had a poor relation to board and lodge.
+And you've got enough on your hands already, Sarah."
+
+She sighed. "Of course I knew that was why you took it," she said.
+
+Yet, even as he said it, he realized that the statement was not the
+whole truth. The fifteen hundred a year salary had tempted him, but if
+he had not gone to the Fair Harbor on that forenoon and seen Elizabeth
+Berry brave the committee and her mother, it is extremely doubtful if he
+would have yielded. In all probability he would have declined the
+judge's offer and have risked the prospect of the almost hopeless
+future, for a time longer at least.
+
+But, having accepted, he characteristically cast doubts, misgivings and
+might-have-beens over the side, as he had cast wreckage over the rails
+of his ships after storms, and, while Bayport buzzed with gossip and
+criticism and surmise concerning him, took up his new duties and went
+ahead with them. The morning following that of his dramatic scene with
+the committee he limped to the door of the Fair Harbor and, for the
+first time, entered that door as general manager.
+
+He anticipated, and dreaded, a perhaps painful and surely embarrassing
+scene with Mrs. Berry, but was pleasantly disappointed. Elizabeth, true
+to her promise, had evidently broken the news to her mother and, also,
+had reconciled the matron to her partial deposing. Mrs. Berry was, of
+course, a trifle martyrlike, a little aggrieved, but on the whole
+resigned.
+
+"I presume, Captain Kendrick," she said, "that I should have expected
+something of the sort. Dear 'Belia is abroad and Judge Knowles is ill,
+and, from what I hear, his mind is not what it was."
+
+Sears, repressing a smile, agreed that that might be the case.
+
+"But, of course, Mrs. Berry," he explained, "I did not take the position
+with the least idea of interferin' with you. You will be--er--er--well,
+just what you have been here, you know. I've shipped to help you and the
+judge and Miss Elizabeth in any way I can, that's all."
+
+With the situation thus diplomatically explained Mrs. Berry brightened,
+restored her handkerchief to her pocket--in the '70's ladies' gowns had
+pockets--and announced that she was sure that she and the captain would
+get on charmingly together.
+
+"And, after all, Captain Kendrick," she gushed, "a man's advice is so
+often _so_ necessary in business, you know, and all that. Just as a
+woman's advice helps a man at times. Why, Captain Berry--my dear
+husband--used to say that without my advice he would have been
+absolutely at sea, yes, absolutely."
+
+According to Bayport gossip, as related by Judah, Captain Isaac Berry
+had been, literally, during the latter part of his life, absolutely at
+sea as much as he possibly could. "And mighty thankful to be there,
+too," so Mr. Cahoon was wont to add.
+
+Elizabeth heard a portion of Sears interview with her mother, but she
+made no comment upon it, to him at least. When he announced his
+intention of interviewing Miss Snowden, however, she was greatly
+surprised and said so. "You want to speak with Elvira, Cap'n Kendrick?"
+she repeated. "You do, really? Do you--of course I am not interfering,
+please don't think I am--but do you think it a--a wise thing to do, just
+now?"
+
+The captain nodded. "Why, yes, I do," he said. "Oh, it's all right, Miss
+Elizabeth, I'm not goin' to start any rows. You wouldn't think it to
+look at me, probably, but I've got an idea in my head and I'm goin' to
+try it out on this Elvira."
+
+It was some time before he was able to catch Miss Snowden alone, but at
+last he did and, as it happened, in that same summer-house, the Eyrie,
+where he had first seen her. The interview began, on her part, as
+frostily as a February morning in Greenland, but ended like a balmy
+evening in Florida. The day following he laid his plans to meet and
+speak with Mrs. Brackett and the militant Susanna thereafter became as
+peaceful, so far as he was concerned, as a dovecote in spring. Elizabeth
+Berry, noticing these changes, and surmising their cause, regarded him
+with something like awe.
+
+"Really, Cap'n Kendrick," she said, "I'm beginning to be a little afraid
+of you. When you first spoke of interviewing Elvira Snowden alone
+I--well, I was strongly tempted to send for the constable. I didn't know
+what might happen. She was saying--so Esther Tidditt told me--the most
+dreadful things about you and I was frightened for your safety. And Mrs.
+Brackett was just as savage. And now--why, Elvira this very morning told
+me, herself, that she considered your taking the management here a
+blessing. I believe she did call it a blessing in disguise, but that
+doesn't make any real difference. And Susanna--three days ago--was
+calling upon all our--guests here to threaten to leave in a body, as a
+protest against the giving over of the management of their own Harbor to
+a--excuse me--man like you. I don't know she meant by that, but it is
+what she said. And now----"
+
+"Just a minute, Miss Elizabeth. Called me a man, did she? Well, comin'
+from her that's a compliment, in a way. She ought to know she's the
+nearest thing, herself, to a man that I've about ever seen in skirts.
+But that's nothin'. What interests me is that idea of all the crew
+aboard here threatenin' to leave. They could, I suppose, if they wanted
+to same as anybody aboard a ship could jump overboard. But in both cases
+the question would be the same, wouldn't it? Where would they go to
+after they left?"
+
+Miss Berry smiled. "They have no idea of leaving," she said. "But they
+like to think--or pretend to think--that they could if they wanted to
+and that the Fair Harbor would go to rack and ruin if they did. It
+comes, you see, of to paying that hundred dollars a year. That, to their
+mind--and I imagine Mrs. Phillips had it in her mind too, when she
+planned this place--prevents it being a 'home' in the ordinary sense of
+the word. But Susanna's threatening to leave amounts to nothing. What I
+am so much interested in is to know how you changed her attitude and
+Elvira's from war to peace? How did you do it, Cap'n Kendrick?"
+
+The captain's left eyelid drooped. He smiled. "Well," he said, slowly,
+"I tell you. I've sailed in all sorts of weather and I've come to the
+conclusion that when you're in a rough sea the first thing to do, if you
+can, is to smooth it down. If you can't--why, then fight it. The best
+treatment I know for a rough sea is to sling a barrel of oil over the
+bows. It's surprisin' what a little bit of oil will do to make things
+smoother for a vessel. It's always worth tryin', anyway, and that's how
+I felt in this case of Elvira and Susanna. When I started to beat up
+into their neighborhood I had a barrel of oil slung over both my port
+and starboard bows. I give you my word, Miss Elizabeth, I was the
+oiliest craft afloat in these waters, I do believe."
+
+His smile broadened. Elizabeth smiled too, but her smile was a bit
+uncertain.
+
+"I--I _think_ I understand you, Cap'n Kendrick," she said. "But I'm not
+quite sure. How did you---- Would you mind being just a little more
+clear? Won't you explain a little more fully?"
+
+"Surely. Easiest thing in the world. Take Sister Snowden. I cast anchor
+under her lee--and 'twas like tyin' up to an iceberg at first. Ha,
+ha!--and I began by sayin' that I had been waitin' for a chance to speak
+with her alone. There were a few things I wanted to explain, I said. I
+told her that of course I realized she was not like the average, common
+run of females here in the Harbor. I knew that so far as brains and
+refinement and--er--beauty were concerned she was far, far ahead, had
+all the rest of 'em hull down, so to speak."
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick, you didn't!"
+
+"Eh! Well, maybe I left out the 'beauty,' but otherwise than that I told
+her just that thing. The ice began to melt a little and when I went on
+to say that I realized how much the success of the Fair Harbor depended
+on her sense and brains and so on she was obliged to give in that she
+agreed with me. It was what she had thought all the time, you see; so
+when I told her I thought so too, we began to get on a common fishin'
+ground, so to speak. And the more I hinted at how wonderful I thought
+she was the smarter she began to think _I_ was. It ended in a sort of
+understandin' between us. I am to do the best I can as skipper here and
+she is to help along in the fo'castle, as you might say. When I need any
+of her suggestions I'm to go and ask her for 'em. And we aren't either
+of us goin' to tell the rest of the crew--or passengers, or whatever you
+call 'em--a word. When she and I separated there was a puddle of oil all
+around that Eyrie place, but there wasn't a breaker in sight. Ha, ha!
+Oh, dear!"
+
+He laughed aloud. Miss Berry laughed, too, but she still seemed somewhat
+puzzled.
+
+"But, Cap'n Kendrick," she said, "you're not going to ask for her
+suggestions, are you?"
+
+"Only when I need 'em. The agreement was that I was to ask when I needed
+'em. I have a pretty strong feelin' that I shan't need 'em much."
+
+"But it was her idea, the buying of that ridiculous statuary."
+
+"Yes, I know. We talked about that. I told her that I was sure the iron
+menagerie that belonged to her uncle, or whoever it was, would have made
+this place look as lovely as the Public Garden in Boston. I said you and
+your mother thought so, too, but that the trouble was we couldn't afford
+'em at present. If ever another collection hove in sight that we could
+afford, I'd let her know. But, whatever happened, she must always feel
+that I was dependin' on her. She said she was glad to know that and that
+I _could_ depend on her. So it'll be fair weather in her latitude for a
+while."
+
+"And Susanna--Mrs. Brackett? What did you say to her?"
+
+"Oh, exactly what I said to Elvira. I can depend on her, too, she said
+so. And I can have _her_ advice--when I need it. The main thing, Miss
+Elizabeth, was, it seemed to me, to smooth down the rough water until I
+could learn a little of my new job, at least enough to be of some help
+to you. Because it is plain enough that if this Fair Harbor is to keep
+afloat and on an even keel, you will keep it so--just as you have been
+keepin' it for the last couple of years. I called myself the admiral
+here the other day, when I was talkin' to that committee. I realize that
+all I really am, or ever will be, is a sort of mate to you, Miss
+Elizabeth. And a good deal of a lubber even at that, I am afraid."
+
+The lubber mate was, at least, a diligent student. Each morning found
+him hobbling to the door of the Fair Harbor--the side door now, not the
+stately and seldom-used front door--and in the room which Cordelia Berry
+called her "study" he and Elizabeth studied the books and accounts of
+the institution. These were in good condition, surprisingly good
+condition, and he of course realized that that condition was due to the
+capability and care of the young woman herself. Mrs. Berry professed a
+complete knowledge of everything pertaining to the Fair Harbor, but in
+reality her knowledge was very superficial. In certain situations she
+was of real help. When callers came during hours when Elizabeth and
+Sears were busy Cordelia received and entertained them and was in her
+element while doing so. At dinner--on one or two occasions the captain
+dined at the Harbor instead of limping back to Judah's kitchen--she
+presided at the long table and was the very pattern of the perfect
+hostess. A stranger, happening in by chance, might have thought her the
+owner of palaces and plantations, graciously dispensing hospitality to
+those less favored. As an ornament--upon the few occasions when the Fair
+Harbor required social ornamentation--Cordelia Berry left little to be
+desired. But when it came--as it usually did come--to the plain duties
+of housekeeping and managing, she left much. And that much was, so Sears
+Kendrick discovered, left to the willing and able hands of her daughter.
+
+As, under Elizabeth's guidance, Captain Sears plodded through the books
+and accounts, he was increasingly impressed with one thing, which was
+how very close to the wind, to use his own seafaring habit of thought
+and expression, the Fair Harbor for Mariners' Women was obliged to sail.
+The income from the fifty thousand dollar endowment fund was small, the
+seven hundred dollars paid yearly by the guests helped but a little, and
+expenses, even when pared down as closely as they had been, seemed large
+in comparison. Mrs. Berry's salary as matron was certainly not a big one
+and Elizabeth drew no salary at all. He spoke to her about it.
+
+"Don't they pay you any wages for all the work you do here?" he queried.
+
+She shook her head. "Of course not," she replied. "How could they? Where
+would the money come from?"
+
+"But--why, confound it, you run the whole craft. It isn't fair that you
+should do it for nothin'."
+
+"I do it to help mother. Her salary as matron here is practically all
+she has. She needs me. And, of course, the Fair Harbor is our home, just
+as it is Elvira's and Esther Tidditt's, and the rest."
+
+He glanced at her quickly to see if there was any trace of bitterness or
+resentment in her expression. He had detected none in her voice. But she
+was, apparently, not resentful, not as resentful as he, for that matter.
+
+"Yes," he said, and if he had paused to think he would not have said it,
+"it is your home now, but it isn't goin' to be always, is it? You're not
+plannin' to stay here and help your mother for the rest of your life?"
+
+She did not reply at once, when she did the tone was decisive and final.
+
+"I shall stay as long as I am needed," she said. "Here are the bills for
+the last month, Cap'n Kendrick."
+
+That evening the captain employed Judah and the Foam Flake to carry him
+to and from Judge Knowles'. The call was a very brief one. Sears had
+determined to trouble the judge as little as was humanly possible.
+
+"Judge," he said, coming to the point at once, "I've been lookin' over
+the books and runnin' expenses of that Harbor place and for the life of
+me I can't see how it can carry another cent and keep afloat. As it is,
+that Berry girl ought to draw at least a hundred a month, and she
+doesn't get a penny."
+
+Knowles nodded. "I know it," he agreed. "But you say yourself that the
+Fair Harbor can't spare another cent. How could we pay her?"
+
+"I don't know. And what I don't know a whole lot more is how I'm goin'
+to be paid fifteen hundred a year. Where's that comin' from; can you
+tell me?"
+
+From the bed--the invalid was in bed most of the time now--came a
+characteristic chuckle. "He, he, he," laughed the judge. "So you've got
+on far enough to wonder about that, eh?"
+
+"I certainly have. And I want to say right here that----"
+
+"Hold on! Hold on, Kendrick! Don't be a fool. And don't make the
+mistake of thinkin' I'm one, either. I may have let you guess that the
+Fair Harbor was to pay your salary. It isn't because it can't. _I'm_
+paying it and I'm going to pay it--while I'm alive and after I'm dead.
+You're my substitute and so long as you keep that job you'll get your
+pay. It's all arranged for, so don't argue."
+
+"But, Judge, why----"
+
+"Shut up. I want to do it and I can afford to do it. Let a dead man have
+a little fun, can't you. You'll earn your money, I tell you. And when
+that Egbert comes I'll get the worth of mine--dead or alive, I'll get
+it. Now go home and let me alone, I'm tired."
+
+But Sears still hesitated.
+
+"That's all right, Judge," he said. "You've got the right to spend your
+own money, I presume likely, so I won't say a word; although I may have
+my own opinion as to your judgment in spendin' it. But there's one more
+thing I can't quite get over. Here am I, about third mate's helper
+aboard that Harbor craft, bein' paid fifteen hundred a year, and that
+girl--as fine, capable, sensible--er--er--nice girl as ever lived, I do
+believe--workin' her head off and runnin' the whole ship, as you might
+say, and bein' paid nothin' at all. It isn't right. It isn't square. I
+won't stand it. I'll heave up my commission and you pay her the fifteen
+hundred. _She_ earns it."
+
+Silence. Then another slow chuckle from the bed.
+
+"Humph!" grunted Judge Knowles. "'Fine, capable, sensible, nice--'
+Getting pretty enthusiastic, aren't you, Kendrick? He, he, he!"
+
+Taken by surprise, and suddenly aware that he had spoken very
+emphatically, the captain blushed, and felt, himself a fool for so
+doing.
+
+"Why--I--I--" he stammered, then laughed, and declared stoutly, "I don't
+care if I am. That girl deserves all the praise anybody's got aboard.
+She's a wonder, that's what she is. And she isn't bein' treated right."
+
+The answer was of a kind quite unexpected.
+
+"Well," rasped the judge, "who said she was?"
+
+"Eh? What----"
+
+"Who said she was? Not I. Don't you suppose I know what Elizabeth Berry
+is worth to Lobelia Seymour's idiot shop over yonder? And what she
+gets--or doesn't get? And didn't I tell you that her father was my best
+friend? Then.... Oh, well! Kendrick, you go back to your job. And don't
+you fret about that girl. What she doesn't get now she.... Humph! Clear
+out, and don't worry me any more. Good night."
+
+So the captain departed. In a way his mind was more at rest. He was
+nearer to being reconciled to the fifteen hundred a year now that he
+knew it was not to come from the funds of the Fair Harbor. Judge Knowles
+was reputed to be rich. If he chose to pay a salary to gratify a
+whim--why, let him. He, Kendrick, would do his best to earn that salary.
+But, nevertheless, he did not intend to let Elizabeth Berry remain under
+any misapprehension as to where the salary was coming from. He would
+tell her the next time they met. A new thought occurred to him. Why not
+tell her then--that very evening? It was not late, only about nine
+o'clock.
+
+"Judah," he said, "I've got to run in to the Harbor a minute. Drive me
+around to the side door, will you? And then wait there for me, that's a
+good fellow."
+
+So, leaving the Foam Flake and its pilot to doze comfortably in the soft
+silence of the summer evening, Sears--after Judah had, as was his
+custom, lifted him down from the wagon seat and handed him his
+cane--plodded to the side door of the Harbor and knocked. Mrs. Brackett
+answered the knock.
+
+"Why, how d'ye do, Cap'n Kendrick?" she said, graciously. "Come right
+in. We wasn't expectin' you. You don't very often call evenin's. Come
+right in. I guess you know everybody here."
+
+He did, of course, for the group in the back sitting room was made up of
+the regular guests. He shook hands with them all, including Miss
+Snowden, who greeted him with queenly condescension, and little Mrs.
+Tidditt, who jerked his arm up and down as if it was a pump handle, and
+affirmed that she was glad to see him, adding, as an after thought,
+"Even if I did see you afore to-day."
+
+"Now you are just in time, Cap'n Kendrick," said Miss Elvira. "We are
+going to have our usual little 'sing' before we go to bed. Desire--Miss
+Peasley--plays the melodeon for us and we sing a few selections, sacred
+selections usually, it is our evening custom. Do join us, Cap'n
+Kendrick. We should love to have you."
+
+The captain thanked them, but declined. He had run in only for a moment,
+he said, a matter of business, and must not stop.
+
+"Besides, I shouldn't be any help," he added. "I can't sing a note."
+
+Miss Snowden would have uttered some genteel protest, but Mrs. Tidditt
+spoke first.
+
+"Humph! _That_ won't make any difference," she announced. "Neither can
+any of the rest of us--not the right notes."
+
+Possibly Elvira, or Susanna, might have retorted. The former looked as
+if she were about to, but Mrs. Aurora Chase came forward.
+
+"And it wasn't more'n ha'f past six neither," she declared with
+conviction.
+
+Just why or when it was half past six, or what had happened at that
+time, or what fragment of conversation Aurora's impaired hearing had
+caught which led her to think this happening was being discussed, the
+captain was destined never to learn. For at that instant Miss Berry came
+into the room, entering from the hall.
+
+"Who is it?" she asked. "Why, good evening, Cap'n Kendrick."
+
+She was what two thirds of Bayport would have called "dressed up." That
+is to say, she was wearing a simple afternoon gown instead of the
+workaday garb in which he had been accustomed to seeing her. It was
+becoming, even at the first glance he was sure of that.
+
+"Good evening, Cap'n Kendrick," she said, again. "I wasn't expecting
+you this evening. Is anything the matter?"
+
+"Oh no, no! I just ran over for a minute. I--um--yes, that's all."
+
+He scarcely knew how to explain his errand. He had referred to it as a
+matter of business, but it was scarcely that. And he could not explain
+it at all in the presence of the guests, each one so obviously eager to
+have him do so.
+
+"I just ran in," he repeated. She looked a little puzzled, and it seemed
+to him that she hesitated, momentarily. Then--
+
+"Won't you come into the parlor?" she asked. Was it the captain's
+imagination, or did Elvira and Susanna and Desire and the rest--except
+Aurora, of course, who had not heard--cast significant looks at each
+other? It seemed to him that they did, but why? A moment later he
+understood.
+
+"Come right in, Cap'n," she urged. "George is here, but you know him, of
+course."
+
+They had walked the length of the hall and were almost at the door when
+she made this announcement. He paused.
+
+"George?" he repeated.
+
+"Why, yes, George Kent. But that doesn't make a bit of difference. Come
+in."
+
+"But, Miss Elizabeth, I didn't realize you had company. I----"
+
+"No, no. Stop, Cap'n Kendrick. George isn't company. He is--just George.
+Come in."
+
+So he went in and George Kent, tall and boyish and good looking, rose to
+shake hands. He appeared very much at home in that parlor, more so than
+Sears Kendrick did just then. The latter knew young Kent well, of
+course, had met him first at Sarah Macomber's and had, during his slow
+convalescence there, learned to like him. They had not seen much of each
+other since the captain became Judah Cahoon's lodger, although Kent had
+dropped in once for a short call.
+
+But Sears had not expected to find him there, that evening, in the best
+parlor of the Fair Harbor. There was every reason why he should have
+expected it. Judah had told him that George was a regular visitor and
+had more than hinted at the reason. But, in the whirl of interest
+caused by his acceptance of his new position and the added interest of
+his daily labors with Elizabeth, the captain had forgotten about
+everything and every one else, Kent included.
+
+But there he was, young, broad-shouldered, handsome, optimistic,
+buoyant. And there, too, was Elizabeth, also young, and pretty and gayly
+chatty and vivacious. And there, too, was he, Sears Kendrick, no longer
+young, even in the actual count of years, and feeling at least twice
+that count--there he was, a cripple, a derelict.
+
+His call was very brief. The contrast between himself and those two
+young people was too great, and, to him, at least, too painful. He did
+not, of course, mention the errand which had brought him there. He could
+tell Elizabeth the facts concerning the payment of his wages at some
+other time. He gave some more or less plausible reason for his running
+in, and, at the end of fifteen minutes or so, ran out. Kent shook hands
+with him at parting and declared that he was going to call at the Minot
+place at an early date.
+
+"We've all missed you there at the Macombers', Cap'n," he said. "Your
+sister says it doesn't seem like the same place. And I agree with her,
+it doesn't. I'm coming to see you within a day or two, sure. May I?"
+
+Sears said of course he might, and tried to make his tone cordial, but
+the attempt was not too successful. Elizabeth accompanied him to the
+side door. This meant a return trip through the back sitting room,
+where, judging by the groans of the melodeon and the accompanying vocal
+wails, the "sing" had been under way for some minutes. But, when Captain
+Sears and Miss Berry entered the room, there was absolute silence.
+Something had stopped the sing, had stopped it completely and judging by
+the facial expressions of the majority of those present, painfully.
+
+Miss Snowden sat erect in her chair, frigidly, icily, disgustedly erect.
+Beside her Mrs. Brackett sat, scorn and mental nausea plain upon her
+countenance. Every one looked angry and disgusted except Mrs. Chase, who
+was eagerly whispering questions to her next neighbor, and Mrs.
+Tidditt, who was grinning broadly.
+
+Elizabeth looked in astonishment at the group.
+
+"Why what is it?" she asked. "What is the matter?"
+
+Several began speaking, but Miss Elvira raised a silencing hand.
+
+"We were having our sing," she said. "I say 'we _were_'. We are not now,
+because," her eyes turned to and dwelt upon the puzzled face of Captain
+Sears Kendrick, "we were interrupted."
+
+"Interrupted?" Elizabeth repeated the word.
+
+"Interrupted was what I said. And _such_ interruptions! Captain
+Kendrick, I presume you are not responsible for the--ahem--_manners_ of
+your--ahem--friend, or landlord, or cook or whatever he may be, but
+whoever _is_ responsible for them should be.... But there, listen for
+yourself."
+
+Warned by the raised Snowden hand, every one, including the captain and
+Elizabeth, listened. And, from the yard without so loud that the words
+were plainly understandable although the windows were closed and locked,
+came the voice of Judah Cahoon, uplifted in song.
+
+    "'Whisky is the life of man,
+      Whisky, Johnny!
+    Whisky from an old tin can,
+      Whisky for my Johnny!
+
+    "'I drink whisky and my wife drinks gin,
+      Whisky, Johnny!
+    The way we drink 'em is a sin,
+      Whisky for my Johnny!'"
+
+The singer paused, momentarily, and Elvira spoke.
+
+"Of course," she said, "I make no comment upon the lack of common
+politeness shown by interrupting our evening sing by such--ah--_noises_
+as that. But when one considers the morals of the person who chooses
+such low, disgraceful----"
+
+    "'I had a girl, her name was Lize,
+      Whisky, Johnny!
+    She put whisky in her pies,
+      Whisky for my Johnny!'"
+
+Captain Sears hobbled, as fast as his weak legs would permit, to the
+door. He flung it open.
+
+    "'Whisky stole my brains away,
+      Whisky, Johnny!
+    Just one more pull and then belay,
+      Whisky for----'"
+
+"Judah! _Judah!_"
+
+"Eh? Aye, aye, Cap'n Sears. What is it?"
+
+"Shut up!"
+
+"Eh? Oh! Aye, aye, Cap'n."
+
+He swung his former skipper to the seat of the truck-wagon. The captain
+spoke but little during the short trip home. What he did say, however,
+was to the point.
+
+"Judah," he ordered, "the next time you sing anywhere within
+speakin'-trumpet distance of that Fair Harbor place, don't you dare sing
+anything but psalms."
+
+"Eh? But which?"
+
+"Never mind. What in everlastin' blazes do you mean by sittin' up aloft
+here and bellowin' about--rum and women?"
+
+"Hold on, now, Cap'n Sears! Ho-ld on! That wan't no rum and woman song,
+that was the old 'Whisky, Johnny' chantey. Why, I've heard that song
+aboard your own vessels mo-ore times, Cap'n Sears. Why----"
+
+"All right. But don't let me ever hear it sung near the Fair Harbor
+again. If you must sing, when you're over there sing--oh, sing the
+doxology."
+
+Judah did not speak for a minute or two. Then he stirred rebelliously.
+
+"What's that?" asked the captain. "What are you mumblin' about?"
+
+"Eh? I wan't mumblin'. I was just sayin' I didn't have much time to
+learn new-fangled songs, that's all.... Whoa, you--you walrus! Don't you
+know enough to come up into the wind when you git to your moorin's?"
+
+As his boarder took his lamp from the kitchen table, preparatory to
+going to his room, Mr. Cahoon spoke again.
+
+"George Kent was over there, wan't he?" he observed.
+
+"Eh? Oh ... yes."
+
+"Um-hm. I cal-lated he would be. This is his night--one of 'em. Comes
+twice a week, Tuesdays and Fridays, they tell me, and then heaves in a
+Sunday every little spell, for good measure. Gettin' to be kind of
+settled thing between them two, so all hands are cal'latin'.... Hey?
+Turnin' in already, be you, Cap'n? Well, good night."
+
+Sears Kendrick found it hard to fall asleep that night. He tossed and
+tumbled and thought and thought and thought. At intervals he cursed
+himself for a fool and resolved to think no more, along those lines at
+least, but to forget the foolishness and get the rest he needed. And
+each time he was snatched back from the brink of that rest by a vision
+of George Kent, tall, young, good-looking, vigorous, with all the world,
+its opportunities and rewards, before him, and of himself almost on the
+verge of middle age, a legless, worthless, hopeless piece of wreckage.
+He liked Kent, George was a fine young fellow, he had fancied him when
+they first met. Every one liked him and prophesied his success in life
+and in the legal profession. Then why in heaven's name shouldn't he call
+twice a week at the Fair Harbor if he wished to? He should, of course.
+That was logic, but logic has so little to do with these matters, and,
+having arrived at the logical conclusion, Captain Sears Kendrick found
+himself still fiercely resenting that conclusion, envying young Kent his
+youth and his hopes and his future, and as stubbornly rebellious against
+destiny as at the beginning.
+
+Nevertheless--and he swore it more than once before that wretched night
+was over--no one but he should know of that envy and rebellion, least
+of all the cause of it. From then on he would, he vowed, take especial
+pains to be nice to George Kent and to help or befriend him in every
+possible way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+It was Kent himself who put this vow to the test. He called at the Minot
+place the very next evening. It was early, only seven o'clock; Judah,
+having begged permission to serve an early supper because it was "lodge
+night," had departed for Liberty Hall, where the local branch of the Odd
+Fellows met; and Sears Kendrick was sitting on the settee in the back
+yard, beneath the locust tree, smoking. Kent came swinging in at the
+gate and again the captain felt that twinge of envy and rebellion
+against fate as he saw the active figure come striding toward him.
+
+But, and doubly so because of that very twinge, his welcome was brimming
+with cordiality. Kent explained that his call must be a brief one, as he
+must hurry back to his room at the Macombers' to study. It was part of
+his agreement with Eliphalet Bassett that his duties as bookkeeper at
+the latter's store should end at six o'clock each night.
+
+Sears asked how he was getting on with his law study. He replied that he
+seemed to be getting on pretty well, but missed Judge Knowles' help and
+advice very much indeed.
+
+"I read with Lawyer Bradley over at Harniss now," he said. "Go over two
+evenings a week, Mondays and Thursdays. The other evenings--most of
+them--I put in by myself, digging away at _Smith on Torts_ and _Chitty
+on Bills_, and stuff of that kind. I suppose that sounds like pretty
+dull music to you, Cap'n Kendrick."
+
+The captain shook his head. "I don't know about the music part," he
+observed. "It's a tune I never could learn to play--or sing, either, I'm
+sure of that. But you miss the judge's help, do you?"
+
+"Miss it like blazes. He could do more in five minutes to make me see a
+point than Bradley can in an hour. Bradley's a pretty good lawyer, as
+the average run of small lawyers go, but Judge Knowles is away above the
+average. Bradley will hem and haw and 'rather think' this and 'it would
+seem as if' that, but the judge will say a hundred words, and two of 'em
+swear words, and there is the answer, complete, plain and demonstrated.
+I do like Judge Knowles. I only hope he likes me half as well."
+
+They discussed the judge, his illness and the pity of it. This led to a
+brief talk concerning Sears' hurt and his condition. Kent seemed to
+consider the latter much improved.
+
+"Your sister says so, too," he declared. "I heard her telling Macomber
+yesterday at dinner that she thought you looked and acted very much more
+like a well man than when you left our house. And your legs must be
+better, too, Cap'n. I'm sure you get around easier than you did."
+
+The captain shrugged. "I get around," he said, "but that's about all you
+can say. Whether I'll ever.... But there, what's the use of talkin'
+about my split timbers? Tell me some of the Bayport news. Now that it
+seems to be settled I'm goin' to tie up here for a good while I ought to
+know somethin' about my fellow citizens, hadn't I? What is goin' on?"
+
+There was not very much going on, so Kent said. Captain Lorenzo Taylor's
+ship was due in New York almost any week or day now, and then the
+captain would, of course, come home for a short visit. Mrs. Captain
+Elkanah Wingate had a new silk dress, and, as it was the second silk
+gown within a year, there was much talk at sewing circle and at the
+store concerning it and Captain Elkanah's money. One of Captain Orrin
+Eldridge's children was ill with scarlet fever. The young people of the
+Universalist society were going to give some amateur theatricals at the
+Town Hall some time in August, and the minister at the Orthodox
+meeting-house had already preached a sermon upon the sin of theater
+going.
+
+"There," concluded George Kent, with another laugh. "That's about all
+the local excitement, Cap'n. It won't keep you awake to-night, I hope."
+
+Sears smiled. "Guess I'll drop off in spite of it," he observed. "But it
+is kind of interestin', too, some of it. Hope Cap'n Lorenzo makes a good
+voyage home. He's in the _Belle of the Ocean_, isn't he? Um-hm. Well,
+she's a good able vessel and Lorenzo's a great hand to carry sail, so,
+give him good weather, he'll bring her home flyin'. So the Universalists
+have been behavin' scandalous, have they? Dear, dear! But what can you
+expect of folks so wicked they don't believe in hell? Humph! I mustn't
+talk that way. I forgot that you were a Universalist yourself, George."
+
+Kent smiled. "Oh, I'm as wicked as anybody you can think of," he
+declared. "Why, I'm going to take a part in those amateur theatricals,
+myself."
+
+"Are you? My, my! You'll be goin' to dancin'-school next, and then you
+_will_ be bound for that place you don't believe in. When is this show
+of yours comin' off? I'd like to see it, and shall, if Judah and the
+Foam Flake will undertake to get me to the Town Hall and back."
+
+"I think we'll give it the second week in August. We had a great
+argument trying to pick a play. For a long time we were undecided
+between 'Sylvia's Soldier' or 'Down by the Sea' or 'Among the Breakers.'
+At last we decided on 'Down by the Sea.' It's quite new, been out only
+four or five years, and it rather fits our company. Did you ever see it,
+Cap'n?"
+
+"No, I never did. I've been out _on_ the sea so much in my life that
+when I got ashore I generally picked out the shows that hadn't anything
+to do with it--'Hamlet,' or 'Lydia Thompson's British Blondes,' or
+somethin' like that," with a wink. Then he added, more soberly, "The old
+salt water looks mighty good to me now, though. Strange how you don't
+want a thing you can have and long for it when you can't.... But I'm not
+supposed to preach a sermon, at least I haven't heard anybody ask me to.
+What's your part in this--what d'ye call it?--'Out on the Beach,'
+George?"
+
+"'Down by the Sea.' Oh, I'm 'March Gale,' and when I was a baby I was
+cast ashore from a wreck."
+
+"Humph! When you were a baby. Started your seafarin' early, I should
+say. Who else is in it?"
+
+"Oh, Frank Crosby, he is 'Sept Gale,' my brother--only he isn't my
+brother. And John Carleton--the schoolteacher, you know--he is
+'Raymond,' the city man; he's good, too. And Sam Ryder, and Erastus
+Snow. There was one part--'John Gale,' an old fisherman chap, we
+couldn't seem to think of any one who could, or would, play it. But at
+last we did, and who do you think it was? Joel Macomber, your sister's
+husband."
+
+"What? Joel Macomber--on the stage! Oh, come now, George!"
+
+"It's a fact. And he's good, too. Some one told one of us that Macomber
+had done some amateur acting when he was young, and, in desperation, we
+asked him to try this part. And he is good. You would be surprised,
+Cap'n Kendrick."
+
+"Um-hm, I am now. I certainly am. What sort of a part is it Joel's got?
+What does this--er--Gale do; anything but blow?"
+
+"Why--why, he doesn't really do much, that's a fact. He is supposed to
+be a fisherman, as I said, but--well, about all he does in the play is
+to come on and off and talk a good deal, and scold at Frank and me--his
+sons, you know--and fuss at his wife and----"
+
+Captain Sears held up his hand.
+
+"That's enough, George," he interrupted. "That'll do. Don't do much of
+anything, talks a lot, and finds fault with other folks. No wonder Joel
+Macomber can act that part. He ought to be as natural as life in it.
+Aren't there any womenfolks in this play, though? I don't see how much
+could happen without them aboard."
+
+"Oh, yes, of course there are women. Three of them. Mrs. Cora Bassett,
+Eliphalet's brother's wife, she is 'Mrs. Gale,' my mother, only she
+turns out not to be; and Fannie Wingate, she is the rich city girl; and
+Elizabeth. That makes the three."
+
+"Yes, yes, so it does. But which Elizabeth are you talkin' about?"
+
+"Why, Elizabeth Berry. My--our Elizabeth, over here at the Fair Harbor."
+
+The quick change from "my" to "our" was so quick as to be almost
+imperceptible, but the captain noticed it. He looked up and Kent,
+catching his eye, colored slightly. Sears noticed the color, also, but
+his tone, when he spoke, was quite casual.
+
+"Oh," he said. "So Elizabeth's in it, too, is she? Well, well! What part
+does she take?"
+
+"She's 'Kitty Gale,' my sweetheart."
+
+"You don't say. She's good, I'll bet."
+
+"Wonderful!" Kent's enthusiasm was unrestrained. "You wouldn't believe
+any untrained girl could act as she does. She might have been born for
+the part, honestly she might."
+
+"Um-hm.... Well, maybe she was."
+
+"Eh? I beg your pardon."
+
+"Nothin', nothin'. I'll have to see that play, even if the Foam Flake
+founders and Judah has to carry me there pig-back. And how are you
+gettin' on in it yourself? You haven't told me that."
+
+"Oh, I'm doing well enough. Trying hard, at least. But, Cap'n Sears, you
+should see Elizabeth. She is splendid. But she is a wonderful girl,
+anyway. Don't you think she is?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"You couldn't help thinking so. No one could. Why----"
+
+The remainder of the conversation was, for the most part, a chant, sung
+as a solo by George Kent, and having as its subject, the wonders of Miss
+Berry. Captain Sears joined occasionally in the chorus, and smiled
+cordial and complete agreement. His caller was charmed.
+
+"I've had a bully good time, Cap'n," he declared, at parting. "I came
+intending to stay only a few minutes and I've been here an hour and a
+half. You are one of the most interesting talkers I ever heard in my
+life, if you don't mind my saying so."
+
+Sears, whose contributions to the latter half of the conversation had
+been about one word in twenty, laughed. "I'm afraid you haven't heard
+many good talkers," he said.
+
+"Oh, yes, I have. But there are precious few of them in this town. It
+does a fellow good to know a man like you, who has been everywhere and
+met so many people and done so many things worth while. And, you and I
+agree so on almost every point. I don't know whether you noticed it or
+not, but our opinions seemed so exactly alike. It's remarkable, I think.
+I like you, Cap'n Kendrick; you don't mind my saying so, do you?"
+
+"Oh, not a bit, not a bit. Glad of it, of course."
+
+"Yes. I liked you down there at your sister's, but you were so sick I
+didn't have the chance to know you as well as I wanted to. But I had
+seen enough of you to know I should like you a lot when I knew you
+better. And Elizabeth, she was sure I would."
+
+"Oh, she was, eh?"
+
+"Yes. Oh, yes. She likes you very much. We talk about you almost every
+time I call--I mean when we are together, you know. Well, good-by. I'm
+coming for another talk--and soon, too. May I?"
+
+"Hope you do, son. Come aboard any day. The gangplank is always down for
+you."
+
+Which was all right, except that as Sears watched his caller swinging
+buoyantly to the gate, the same unreasonable twinge came back to him,
+bringing with it the keen sense of depression and discouragement, the
+realization of his approaching middle age and his crippled condition. It
+did not last long, he would not permit it to linger, but it was acute
+while it lasted.
+
+He heard a great deal concerning the approaching production of "Down by
+the Sea" as the weeks passed and the time for that production drew
+nearer. As he and Elizabeth worked and took counsel together concerning
+the affairs of the Fair Harbor they spoke of it. She was enjoying the
+rehearsals hugely and the captain gathered that they furnished the
+opportunity for change of thought and relaxation which she had greatly
+needed. They spoke of George Kent, also; Sears saw to that. He brought
+the young man's name into their conversation at frequent intervals and
+took pains to praise him highly and to declare repeatedly his liking for
+him. All part of his own self-imposed penance, of course. And Elizabeth
+seemed to enjoy these conversations and agreed with him that George was
+"a nice boy" and likely to succeed in life.
+
+"I'm so glad you like him, Cap'n Kendrick," she said. "He likes you so
+much and is so sure that you are a wise man."
+
+Sears turned to look at her.
+
+"Sure that I'm what?" he demanded.
+
+"A wise man. He says that, next to Judge Knowles, he had rather have
+your opinion than any one else in Bayport."
+
+The captain shook his head. "Dear, dear!" he sighed. "And just as I had
+come to the conclusion that George was so smart. Me a wise man? _Me!_
+Tut, tut! George, you disappoint me."
+
+But she would not be turned aside in that way.
+
+"There is no reason for disappointment that I can see," she said. "I
+think he is quite right. You _are_ a wise man, Cap'n Kendrick. Of course
+I know you must be or Judge Knowles would not have selected you to take
+charge here. But since you and I have been working together I have found
+it out for myself. In fact I don't see how we ever got along--mother and
+I--before you came. And we didn't get on very well, that is a fact," she
+added, with a rueful smile.
+
+"Rubbish! You got on wonderfully. And as for the worth of my
+opinions--well, you ask Northern Lights what she thinks of 'em. She'll
+tell you, I'll bet."
+
+"Northern Lights" was Captain Sears's pet name for Mrs. Aurora Chase.
+Elizabeth asked why Aurora should hold his opinions lightly. The captain
+chuckled.
+
+"Well," he explained, "she asked me yesterday what I thought of the
+Orthodox minister's sermons about the Universalist folks play-actin'. I
+said I hadn't heard 'em first hand, but that I understood they were hot.
+I thought she sailed off with her nose pretty well aloft, but I couldn't
+see why. To-day Esther Tidditt told me that she had understood me to say
+the sermons were 'rot.' That's what comes of bein' hard of hearin'. Ho,
+ho! But truth will out, won't it?"
+
+The afternoon preceding the evening when "Down by the Sea" was to be
+publicly presented upon the stage of the town hall was overcast and
+cloudy. Judah, with one eye upon the barometer swinging in its gimbals
+in the General Minot front entry, had gloomily prophesied rain. Captain
+Sears, although inwardly agreeing with the prophecy, outwardly
+maintained an obstinate optimism.
+
+"I don't care if the glass is down so low that the mercury sticks out of
+the bottom and hits the deck," he declared. "It isn't goin' to rain
+to-night, Judah. You mark my words."
+
+"I'm a-markin' 'em, Cap'n Sears. I'm a-markin' of 'em. But what's the
+use of words alongside of a fallin' glass like that? And, besides, ain't
+I been watchin' the sky all the afternoon? Look how it's smurrin' up
+over to the west'ard. Look at them mare's tails streakin' out up aloft.
+
+    'Mack'rel skies and mares' tails
+    Make lofty ships to douse their sails.'
+
+You know that's well's I do, Cap'n Sears."
+
+"Yes, yes, so I do, Judah. But do you know this one?
+
+    'Hi, diddle, diddle,
+    The cat and the fiddle,
+    The cow jumped over the moon.'
+
+What have you got to say to that, eh?"
+
+Judah stared at him. His chin quivered.
+
+"Wh--wh--" he stammered. "What have I got to say to that? Why, I ain't
+got nawthin' to say to it. There ain't no sense to it. That's Mother
+Goose talk, that's all that is, What's that got to do with the
+weather?"
+
+"It would have somethin' to do with it if a cow jumped over the moon,
+wouldn't it?"
+
+"Eh? But---- Oh, creepin' prophets, Cap'n Sears, what's the use of you
+and me wastin' our breath over such foolishness? You're just bein'
+funny, that's all." His expression changed, and he smiled broadly. "Why,
+by Henry," he declared, "I ain't heard you talk that way afore since you
+shipped aboard this General Minot craft along of me. That's the way you
+used to poke fun at me aboard the old _Wild Ranger_ when we was makin'
+port after a good v'yage. What's happened to spruce you up so? Doctor
+ain't told you any special good news about them legs of yours, has he,
+Cap'n? Limpin' Moses, I wisht that was it."
+
+Sears shook his head. "No, Judah," he replied. "No such luck as that.
+It's just my natural foolishness, I guess. And I'm goin' to the theater
+to-night, too, all by myself. Think of it. Do you wonder I feel like a
+boy in his first pair of long trousers?"
+
+Mr. Cahoon's whisker-framed face expressed doubt and foreboding. "I
+ain't sure yit that I'm doin' right in lettin' you pilot yourself down
+to that town hall," he declared. "It ain't that I'm scart of the horse
+runnin' away, or nothin' like that, you understand, but----"
+
+His lodger burst into a roar of laughter.
+
+"Runnin' away!" he repeated. "Judah, foam flakes drift away pretty often
+and sometimes they blow away, but I never saw one run away yet. And if
+this Foam Flake of yours ever started to run I should die of surprise
+before anything else could happen to me. Don't worry about me. You'll be
+here to help me aboard the buggy, when I'm ready to leave port, and
+there'll be plenty of folks at the hall to help me out of it when I get
+there. So I'll be all right and to spare."
+
+"Um--well, maybe so. But it seems to me like takin' risks just the same.
+Now, Cap'n Sears, why don't you let me drive you down, same as I always
+do drive you? What makes you so sot on goin' alone?"
+
+The captain did not answer for a moment. Then he said, "Judah, for a
+good many long weeks--yes, and months--I've been havin' somebody drive
+me or steer me or order me. To-night, by the Lord A'mighty, _I'm_ goin'
+to drive and give my own orders."
+
+"But the doctor----"
+
+"The doctor doesn't know. And if you tell him I'll--well, you'll need
+him, that's all. Every dog has its day, Judah, and this is my night."
+
+"But it's goin' to rain and----"
+
+"It isn't.... And, if it does, haven't you and I seen enough water not
+to be afraid of it?"
+
+"Salt water--yes; but----"
+
+"There aren't any buts. That'll do, Judah. Go for'ard." So Mr. Cahoon,
+obeying orders, went for'ard; that is, he went into the kitchen, and
+Sears Kendrick was left upon the seat beneath the locust tree to smoke
+and cast rebellious glances at the deepening gloom of the sky. He had
+not been entirely truthful in his replies to his landlord's questions.
+Although he scarcely dared admit it, even to himself, his damaged legs
+were better than they had been. Doctor Sheldon told him that they were
+and seemed more hopeful after each examination. And he knew that the
+doctor's hope was not mere pretending, something assumed but not felt.
+Yes, he knew it. And, for the first time since the accident which
+wrecked the Old Colony train and his own life, he began to think that,
+perhaps--some day, perhaps--he might again be a man, a whole,
+able-bodied man among men. When he submitted this thought to the cold
+light of reason, it was transparent and faint enough, but it was there,
+and it was one cause of his high spirits.
+
+And there was another, a cause which was even less worthy of
+reason--which was perfectly childish and absurd but not the less real on
+that account. It was connected with his stubborn determination to be his
+own pilot to the hall that evening. He had, when he first determined to
+risk the trip in that way, refused to permit Judah to accompany him
+because he knew, if he did, that the latter would be a sort of safety
+valve, a life preserver--to mix similes--the real driver who would be
+on hand to take charge if necessary. Under such circumstances his own
+responsibility ceased to be a responsibility and his self-reliance
+_nil_. No, sink or swim, survive or perish, he would make the voyage
+alone.
+
+So, although there was plenty of room on the buggy seat, he stubbornly
+refused to permit Judah to sit there. Mr. Cahoon was going to the play,
+of course--the entire constabulary force of Ostable County could not
+have prevented his doing so--but he was to walk, not ride behind the
+Foam Flake. And Captain Sears Kendrick was supposed to be riding alone.
+
+Yet he was not to ride alone, although only one person, and that not
+Judah Cahoon, knew of that fact. The day before, while he and Miss Berry
+were busy, as usual, with the finances and managerial duties of the Fair
+Harbor, she had happened to mention that there were some stage
+properties, bits of costumes, and the like, which must be gotten early
+to the hall on the evening of the performance and he had offered to have
+Judah deliver them for her. Now he told her of his intention of driving
+the Foam Flake unassisted and that he would deliver them himself.
+
+"Or any other light dunnage you might want taken down there," he added.
+"Glad to, no trouble at all."
+
+She looked at him rather oddly he thought.
+
+"You are going all alone?" she asked.
+
+"Um-hm. All alone. I'm goin' to have my own way this time in spite of
+the Old Harry--and the doctor--and Judah."
+
+"And you are sure there will be plenty of room?"
+
+"What? With only me in the buggy? Yes, indeed. Room enough for two sea
+chests and a pork barrel, as old Cap'n Bangs Paine used to say when I
+sailed with him. Room and to spare."
+
+"Room enough for--me?"
+
+"For you? Why, do you mean----"
+
+"I mean that if there _is_ room I should like to ride down with you very
+much. I want to get to the hall early and I have these things to carry.
+Mother and the rest of the Harbor people are going later, of course....
+So, if you are sure that I and my bundles won't be nuisances----"
+
+He was sure, emphatically and enthusiastically sure. But his surprise
+was great and he voiced it involuntarily.
+
+"I supposed, of course," he said, "that your passage was booked long
+ago. I supposed George had attended to that."
+
+Her answer was brief, but there was an air of finality about it which
+headed off further questions.
+
+"I am not going with him," she said.
+
+So this was his second cause for good spirits, the fact that Elizabeth
+Berry was to ride with him to the hall that evening. It was a very
+slight inconsequential reason surely, but somehow he found it
+sufficient. She was going with him merely because he and the Foam Flake
+and the buggy furnished the most convenient method of transportation for
+her and her packages, but she was going--and she was not going with
+George Kent. There was a certain wicked pleasure in the last thought. He
+was ashamed of it, but the pleasure was there in spite of the shame.
+Kent had so much that he had not, but here was one little grain of
+advantage to enter upon the Kendrick side of the ledger; Elizabeth Berry
+was not going to the town hall with Kent, but with him.
+
+He made but one protest and that only because his conscience goaded him
+into making it.
+
+"I don't know as I ought to let you, Miss Elizabeth," he said. "I'm
+takin' a chance, I suppose, that perhaps you shouldn't take. This is my
+first voyage under my own command since I ran on the rocks. I may strike
+another reef, you can't tell."
+
+She looked at him and smiled.
+
+"I am not afraid," she said.
+
+So, in spite of the gathering clouds and the falling barometer, Captain
+Sears was cheerful as he smoked beneath the locust tree. After a time he
+rose and limped down to the gate. Doctor Sheldon's equipage was standing
+by the Knowles hitching post just beyond across the road. The doctor
+himself came out of the house and the captain hailed him.
+
+"How is the judge?" he asked. Doctor Sheldon shook his head.
+
+"No better," he replied. "He is weaker every day and last week he had an
+attack that was so severe I was afraid it was the end. He weathered it,
+though."
+
+"Why, yes. I saw him on Sunday and he was as full of jokes and spunk as
+ever, seemed to me. His voice wasn't quite as strong, that's all. He is
+a great man, Judge Knowles. Bayport will miss him tremendously when he
+goes. So shall I, for that matter, and I haven't known him very long."
+
+"We'll all miss him."
+
+"There isn't a chance, I suppose? In the long run----"
+
+The doctor's look caused him to stop the sentence in the middle.
+
+"There isn't any question of long runs," said Sheldon, gravely. "The
+next one of these seizures will end it. He has been a great fighter and
+he never gives up; that is why he is here. But the fight is practically
+over. The next attack will be the last."
+
+Sears was deeply concerned. "Dear, dear," he said. "I didn't realize it
+was quite so bad. And that attack may come--next month, or even next
+week, I presume likely?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+The captain's good spirits were dashed for the time. His regard and
+admiration for the old judge had grown steadily during their brief
+acquaintance. He pictured the rugged, determined face as he had seen it
+Sunday, and heard again the voice, weak but drily humorous or
+indomitably pugnacious. It did not seem as if a spirit like that could
+be so near surrender. Doctor Sheldon must be over apprehensive.
+
+It was but seven o'clock when he drove the Foam Flake up to the side
+door of the Fair Harbor and his passenger stowed her various bundles
+about his feet in the bottom of the buggy and then climbed in herself.
+The drive to the town hall was made in good time, the Foam Flake
+considered, and--to the captain at any rate--it was a most pleasant
+excursion. There was the unaccustomed sensation of once more being free
+from orders or domination.
+
+There was little conversation during the drive. Sears attempted it, but
+his passenger was not talkative. She seemed to be thinking of something
+else and her answers were brief and absent-minded. Nevertheless Sears
+Kendrick enjoyed their drive and was almost sorry when the Foam Flake
+halted, snorting, or sneezing, violently, by the hall platform. The
+building was as yet but dimly lighted and Asaph Tidditt, the janitor,
+was the only person about. Asaph, hearing the Foam Flake's sneeze, came
+to the door.
+
+"Well, I swan!" he exclaimed. "Is that you, 'Liz'beth? You're good and
+early, ain't you? Evenin', George. Why, 'tain't George. Who is it? Well,
+well, well, Cap'n Sears, this _is_ a surprise!"
+
+He helped the captain from the buggy and, at Sears' request, led the
+Foam Flake around the corner to the hitching rail. When he returned Miss
+Berry had gone upstairs to the dressing-room to leave her packages.
+Asaph was still surprised.
+
+"Mighty glad to see you out again, Cap'n," he declared. "I heard you was
+better, but I didn't hardly cal'late to see you takin' your girl to ride
+so soon. Hey? He, he, he!"
+
+Sears-laughed long enough to seem polite. Asaph laughed longer.
+
+"And 'tain't _your_ girl you're takin' nuther, is it?" he said. "When I
+looked in that buggy just now I don't know when I've been more sot back.
+'Evenin', George,' says I. And 'twan't George Kent at all, 'twas you.
+Ain't been to work and cut George out, have you, Cap'n Sears? He, he,
+he! That's another good one, ain't it!"
+
+The captain smiled--more politeness--and inquired if he and Miss Berry
+were the first ones at the hall.
+
+"Is any one else here?" he asked.
+
+"Yus," said Mr. Tidditt.
+
+"Who?"
+
+"Me. He, he, he! Kind of caught you that time, didn't I, Cap'n? Wasn't
+expectin' that, was you? Except me, you and 'Liz'beth's the fust ones.
+Be plenty more in half an hour, though. 'Bout all hands in Bayport's
+comin' to this time, everybody but the Orthodox and the Methodists and
+the Come-Outers. They cal'late goin' to a play-actin' time is same as
+goin' to Tophet. I tell 'em I'd ruther go to the show, 'cause I'd have a
+little fun out of it, and from what I hear there ain't much fun in
+t'other place. He, he, he! But say, how'd it happen George Kent ever let
+'Liz'beth Berry go anywheres without him? Where _is_ George?"
+
+Sears was rather glad when the arrival of Sam Ryder and Carleton, two
+other members of the cast of "Down by the Sea" attracted the attention
+of the garrulous Asaph and led the latter, in their company, upstairs. A
+moment or so later another figure approached from the blackness to the
+circle of light cast by the big ship's lantern over the hall door.
+
+"Why, hello, George!" hailed Sears.
+
+Young Kent looked up, recognized the speaker and said "Good evening." He
+did not seem surprised as Mr. Tidditt had been to find the captain
+there. The latter remarked upon it.
+
+"Why, George," he observed, "I must say you take my bein' here all alone
+pretty calmly. Ase Tidditt all but capsized when he saw me bring the
+Foam Flake into dock."
+
+Kent nodded. "I knew you were here," he said. "Elizabeth came down with
+you, I suppose."
+
+"Why, yes. Did she tell you she was goin' to risk life and limb aboard
+my vessel?"
+
+"No," briefly.
+
+"Oh. Then how did you know?"
+
+"I stopped at the Harbor. Her mother said she had gone with you....
+Where is she; upstairs?"
+
+"Up in the dressin' room, I guess. She had to come so early because
+there were things to bring and some work for her to do before you and
+the others got here, she said."
+
+"What? Did she say before _I_ got here?"
+
+"Eh? Why, no, didn't mention you in particular. She just said----"
+
+Kent interrupted. "I see," he said, shortly. "All right, never mind."
+
+He was walking toward the other end of the platform. His manner was so
+very peculiar that Sears could not help noticing it. He looked after him
+in perplexity.
+
+"Here ... George!" he called.
+
+Kent turned and came back, rather reluctantly it seemed. The older man
+looked at him keenly.
+
+"George," he asked, "what's the matter with you?"
+
+"Matter? With me?"
+
+"Yes, with you. You're short as Aunt Nabby's pie crust. Have I done
+anything you don't like? If I have I'll apologize before I know what it
+is. It wasn't done on purpose, you can be sure of that."
+
+Kent started, colored, and was much perturbed. "I didn't realize I was
+short, Cap'n Kendrick," he declared. "I beg your pardon. I am mighty
+sorry. No--no, of course you haven't done anything I don't like. I don't
+believe you could."
+
+"You never can tell. But so far I haven't tried. Not sick, are you?"
+
+"No ... I'm just--oh, nothing. I'm in a little trouble, that's all. My
+own fault, maybe, I don't know."
+
+"Probably it is. Most of our troubles are our own fault, in one way or
+another. Well, if there's anything I can do to help out, just give me a
+hail."
+
+"Thanks. But I'm afraid there isn't."
+
+He turned and walked down the platform once more. Mrs. Captain Orrin
+Eldridge, who was to sell tickets, came, and, after greeting the captain
+cordially, went in to open and light the ticket-office at the foot of
+the stairs. Two more members of the cast, Erastus Snow and Mrs. Bassett,
+arrived and went up to prepare. Suddenly Kent, who had been standing at
+the farther end of the platform, came back.
+
+"Captain Kendrick," he said, "would you mind answering a question?"
+
+"Eh? Why, not a bit, George. But perhaps yours may be one of those
+questions I can't answer."
+
+"I think you can. Say--er--Cap'n Kendrick----"
+
+"Yes, George."
+
+"You see, I.... This sounds awfully foolish, but--but I don't know what
+I ought to do."
+
+"Um-hm. Well, a good many of us get that way every once in a while."
+
+"Do you?"
+
+"You bet!"
+
+"Humph! Somehow you seem to me like a man who would know exactly what to
+do at any time."
+
+"Yes? Well, my looks must belie me. Heave ahead, George. The folks are
+beginning to come."
+
+"Well, I---- Oh, hang it, Cap'n, when you've made a mistake--done
+something that you didn't think was wrong--that wasn't wrong,
+really--and--and.... Say, I'm making an awful mess of this. And it's
+such a fool thing, anyhow."
+
+"Um-hm. So many things are. Chuck it overboard, George; that is, if you
+really want to ask me about it."
+
+"I do. That is, I want to ask you this: Suppose you had done something
+that you thought was all right and--and somebody else had thought was
+wrong--would you--would you go and tell that other person that you
+_were_ wrong? Even if you weren't, you know."
+
+Kendrick was silent. The question was ridiculous enough, but he did not
+laugh, nor feel like laughing. Nor did he want to answer.
+
+"Oh, I know that it's a child's question," put in Kent, disgustedly.
+"Never mind answering. I am a child sometimes, feel like one, anyhow.
+And I've got to fight this out with myself, I suppose, so what's the
+use?"
+
+He turned on his heel, but the captain laid a hand on his shoulder.
+
+"George," he said, slowly, "of course, the way you put this thing makes
+it pretty foggy navigatin' for a stranger; but--humph!--well, in cases
+somethin' like yours, when I've cared anything about the--er--friendship
+of the other fellow, I've generally found 'twas good business to go and
+say I was sorry first, and then, if 'twas worth while, argue the point
+of who was right or wrong later. You never can do much fishin' through
+the ice unless somebody chops the hole."
+
+The young man was silent. He seemed to be reflecting and to find his
+reflections not too pleasant. Before they were at an end the first group
+of townspeople came up the steps. Some of them paused to greet Kendrick
+and at their heels was another group. The captain was chatting with them
+when he heard Kent's voice at his ear.
+
+"Excuse me, Cap'n," he whispered. "I'll see you by and by. I'm going to
+chop the ice."
+
+"Eh?... Oh, all right, George. Good luck."
+
+George hurried up the stairs. A minute or two later Captain Sears slowly
+limped after him and sought a secluded corner on one of the settees at
+the rear of the hall. There was still a full half hour before the rising
+of the curtain, and as yet there was but a handful of people present. He
+turned his face away from the handful and hoped that he might not be
+recognized. He did not feel like talking. His good spirits had left him.
+He was blue and despondent and discouraged. And for no reason--that was
+the worst of it--no earthly, sensible, worth while reason at all.
+
+Those two children--that is what they were, children--had quarreled and
+that was why Elizabeth had asked to ride to the hall with him that
+evening. It was not because she cared for his company; of course he knew
+that all the time, or would have known it if he permitted himself to
+reason. She had gone with him because she had quarreled with George. And
+that young idiot's conscience had troubled him and, thanks to his
+own--Kendrick's--advice, he had gone to her now to beg pardon and make
+up. And they would make up. Children, both of them.
+
+And they ought to make up; they should, of course. He wanted them to do
+so. What sort of a yellow dog in the manger would he be if he did not?
+He liked them both, and they were young and well--and he was--what that
+railway accident had made of him.
+
+The audience poured in, the settees filled, the little boys down in
+front kicked the rounds, and pinched each other and giggled. Mr. Asaph
+Tidditt importantly strode down the aisle and turned up the wicks of the
+kerosene foot-lamps. Mrs. Sophronia Eldridge, Captain Orrin's
+sister-in-law, seated herself at the piano and played the accompaniments
+while Mrs. Mary Pashy Foster imparted the information that she could not
+sing the old songs now. When she had finished, most people were inclined
+to believe her. The delegation from the Fair Harbor, led by Mrs. Berry
+and Elvira Snowden, arrived in a body. The Universalist minister and his
+wife came, and looked remarkably calm for a couple leading a flock of
+fellow humans to perdition. Captain Elkanah Wingate and Mrs. Wingate
+came last of all and marched majestically to the seats reserved for them
+by the obsequious Mr. Tidditt. The hall lights were dimmed. The curtain
+rose. And George Kent, very handsome and manly as "March Gale," was seen
+and heard, singing:
+
+    "Oh, my name was Captain Kidd
+    As I sailed, as I sailed."
+
+And these were the opening lines of the play, "Down by the Sea."
+
+That performance was a great success, everybody said so. Mr. Tidditt
+expressed the general opinion when he declared that all hands done about
+as fine as the rest but some of 'em done finer. John Carleton, the
+schoolteacher, shone with particular brilliancy as he delivered himself
+of such natural, everyday speeches as: "I have dispatched a messenger to
+town with the glad tidings," or "We will leave this barren spot and hie
+to the gay scenes of city life." And Frank Crosby, as "September Gale,"
+the noble young fisherman, tossed the English language about as a real
+gale might toss what he would have called "a cockle shell," as he
+declared, "With a true heart and a stout arm, who cares for danger?...
+To be upon the sea when the winds are roaring and the waves are seething
+in anger; ... to have a light bark obedient to your command, braving the
+fury of the tempest...." Bayport was fairly well acquainted with
+fishermen, numbering at least thirty among its inhabitants, but no one
+of the thirty could talk like that.
+
+Sam Ryder's performance of "Captain Dandelion," the city exquisite, was,
+so the next issue of the _Item_ said, "remarkable"; there is little
+doubt that the _Item_ selected the right word. Joel Macomber was good,
+when he remembered his lines; Miss Wingate was very elegant as "a city
+belle"; Mrs. Bassett made a competent fisherman's wife. But everybody
+declared that Elizabeth Berry and George Kent, as "Kitty Gale" and
+"March Gale," were the two brightest stars in that night's firmament.
+
+Captain Kendrick, between the acts, could hear whispered comments all
+about him. "Isn't Elizabeth fine!" "Don't they do well!" "Ain't she a
+good-lookin' girl, now--eh?" "Yes, and, my soul and body, if that George
+Kent ain't a match for her then _I_ don't know!" "Oh, don't they make a
+lovely couple!" And, from a seat two rows in front, the penetrating
+voice of Mrs. Noah Baker made proclamations: "Lovers on the stage and
+off the stage, too, I guess. Ha, ha!" And there was a general buzz of
+agreement and many pleased titters.
+
+Sears tried very hard to enjoy the performance, but his thoughts would
+wander. And, when the final curtain fell and the applause subsided, he
+rose to hobble to the door, glad that the evening was over.
+
+He was one of the last to reach the landing and, at the top of the
+stairs, Judah met him. Mr. Cahoon's manner was a combination of dismay
+and triumph.
+
+"Oh, there you be, Cap'n Sears," he exclaimed. "Well, I told you! You
+can't say I never, that's one comfort."
+
+"Told me what, Judah?"
+
+"That 'twas goin' to rain. I told you the glass was fallin'. It's a
+pourin'-down rainstorm now, that's what 'tis."
+
+Judah, his faith rooted in the prophecy of the falling barometer, had
+come to the hall with oilskins upon his arm. Now he was arrayed in them
+and weather-proof.
+
+"I'll fetch the Foam Flake around to the platform, Cap'n," he said.
+"You'll want to wait for 'Liz'beth, I presume likely, so take your time
+navigatin' them stairs. No, no, I'll walk. I won't get wet. _I_ knew
+what was comin'. Aye, aye, sir. I'll fetch the horse. Cal'late the
+critter has gnawed off and swallowed two fathoms of fence by this time."
+
+The Foam Flake and the buggy were made fast by the platform when Sears
+reached that point. It was raining hard. The greater part of the
+audience had already started on their homeward journey, but a few still
+lingered, some lamenting the absence of umbrellas and rubbers, others
+awaiting the arrival of messengers who had been sent home to procure
+those protections. The captain, of course, was awaiting Elizabeth, and
+she having to change costume and get rid of make-up, he knew his wait
+was likely to be rather lengthy. He did not mind that so much, but he
+did not desire to talk or be talked to, so he walked to the dark end of
+the platform--the same end, by the way, where George Kent had stood when
+pondering his problem before asking advice--and stood there, staring
+into the splashy blackness.
+
+The last group left the lighted portals of the hall and started
+homeward, exclamations and little screams denoting spots where progress
+had been delayed by puddles or mud holes. Mrs. Eldridge, in the ticket
+office, packed up her takings, pennies and "shin-plasters," in a
+pasteboard box and departed for home. Mr. Tidditt accompanying her as
+guard and umbrella holder.
+
+"I'll be back to lock up, Cap'n Sears," called Asaph, reassuringly.
+"Stay right where you be. You won't be in my way at all."
+
+For some minutes longer Sears stood there alone on the platform, facing
+the dismal darkness and his own dismal thoughts. They were dismal, and
+no less so because his common-sense kept prodding him with the certainty
+that there was no more reason for discouragement now than there had been
+two hours before. The obvious offset to this was the equal certainty
+that there had been no more reason for optimism two hours before than at
+present. So he stared into the darkness, listened to the splashing
+waterspouts, and, for the millionth time at least, eternally condemned
+the Old Colony railroad and his luck.
+
+A springy, buoyant step came down the stairs. A voice called from the
+doorway:
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick! Cap'n, are you there?"
+
+Sears turned.
+
+"Right here, George," he said.
+
+Kent hastened toward him. His hand was outstretched and his face was
+beaming.
+
+"It worked," he exclaimed, eagerly. "It worked in great shape. Cap'n,
+you're a brick."
+
+His friend did not, momentarily, catch his meaning.
+
+"Glad you think so, George," he said; "but why are you so sure of it
+just now?"
+
+"Why, because if it hadn't been for you I should have, more than likely,
+not tried to chop the ice at all."
+
+"Chop the---- Oh, yes, yes; I remember. So you and Elizabeth have made
+up, eh?"
+
+"Yes, I.... How on earth did you know she was the one? I didn't tell
+you, did I?"
+
+"No. It's just another proof of my tremendous wisdom. Well, I'm glad,
+George."
+
+"I knew you would be. Mind you, I'm not sure yet I was wrong, but I----
+Good Lord, look at the rain! I had no idea!... Well, at any rate,
+Elizabeth will be all right. She's going with you in the buggy."
+
+There was a slight, a very slight note of regret, almost of envy, in the
+young fellow's tone. The captain noticed it.
+
+"No, she isn't, George," he said, quietly.
+
+"What! She isn't?"
+
+"No, she's goin' with you. You take the horse and buggy and drive her up
+to the Harbor. Then you can send Judah back with it after me, if you
+will."
+
+"But, Cap'n, I wouldn't think of it. Why----"
+
+"No need to think. Do it. Look here, George, you know perfectly well you
+haven't finished that ice-choppin' business. There are lots of things
+you want to tell her yet, I know. Come now, aren't there?"
+
+Kent hesitated. "Why--why, yes, I suppose there are," he admitted. "But
+it seems mean to take advantage of you, you know. To leave you standing
+here and waiting while she and I----"
+
+"That's all right. I'm better fitted for waiting than I am for anything
+else nowadays. Don't argue any more. She'll be here in a minute."
+
+"Well ... well. You're sure you don't mind, really?"
+
+"Not a bit. And she'd rather ride with you, of course."
+
+"Oh, I wouldn't say that. Of course she did tell me she came with you
+because I--because we had that--that little row--and---- But she likes
+you, Cap'n. Honest, she does, a lot. By George, nobody could help liking
+you, you know."
+
+Sears' smile was gray, but his companion did not notice. He was too full
+of his own happiness.
+
+"I'll run up and tell her," he said. "It's mighty good of you, Cap'n
+Kendrick. Sure you don't care? You _are_ a brick."
+
+He hastened up the stairs. Sears was left once more with the black
+wetness to look at. It looked blacker than ever.
+
+Elizabeth, accompanied by George, came down soon afterward. She was
+still protesting.
+
+"Really, I don't think this is right at all, Cap'n Kendrick," she
+declared. "Why should you wait here? If you insist upon George's going
+in the buggy, why don't you come too? I'm sure there will be room
+enough. Won't there, George?"
+
+Kent said, "Yes, of course," but there might have been more enthusiasm
+in his tone. Sears spoke next.
+
+"I can't go now," he lied, calmly. "I want to see Ase Tidditt and he's
+gone to see Cap'n Orrin's wife home. Won't be back for twenty minutes or
+so. No, no, you and George heave right ahead and go, and then send Judah
+and the Foam Flake back for me."
+
+So, after a few more protests on Elizabeth's part, it was settled in
+that way. She and her packages and bags were tucked in the buggy and
+George unhitched the placid Foam Flake. On his way he stopped to
+whisper in the captain's ear.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," he whispered, "I shan't forget this. And, say, if ever
+I get into real trouble I'll know who to come to."
+
+The "plash-plash" of the Foam Flake's hoofs and the squeak and grind of
+buggy wheels died away along the invisible main road. Captain Sears
+stared at the ropes of rain laced diagonally across the lighted window
+of the town hall.
+
+After a time, a surprisingly short time, he heard the hoofs returning.
+It seemed almost incredible that George could have driven to the Harbor,
+then to the Minot place, and started Judah on the return trip so soon.
+
+It was not Judah. It was Mike, Judge Knowles' man, and he was driving
+Doctor Sheldon's horse attached to the doctor's chaise.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," he hailed, as the equipage splashed up to the
+platform, "is that you there?"
+
+"Yes, Mike. What's the matter?"
+
+"I was just after goin' to the Minot place after ye and I met Cahoon and
+he tould me you was down here. Git in, git in; the doctor says you must
+come."
+
+"Come? Come where?"
+
+"Home. To the judge's house. The ould man is dyin' and he wants to see
+you afore he goes. Ye'll have to hurry. The doctor says it's a matter of
+any time now."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+Sears Kendrick never forgot that drive from the town hall. The pouring
+rain, the lurch and roll and bounce of the old chaise, the alternate
+thud and splash of the horse's hoofs, the black darkness--and the errand
+upon which he was going. Mike told him a little concerning the seizure.
+Judge Knowles had been, so Emmeline Tidditt and the doctor thought,
+appreciably easier during the day.
+
+"He was like himself, the ould man was," said Mike. "I went in to see
+him this mornin'--he sent for me, you understand--and he give me the
+divil and all for not washin' the front room windows. 'Dom ye,' says he,
+'I've only got a little while to look out of thim windows; don't you
+suppose I want thim so I _can_ look out of thim?' And the windows clean
+as clean all the time, mind ye. Sure, I didn't care: 'Twas just his way
+of bein' dacint to me. He give me a five dollar bill before I left, God
+rest him. And now----"
+
+Mike was tremendously upset. The captain learned that the attack had
+developed about six, and the judge had grown steadily worse since. The
+upper windows of the Knowles house were bright with lights as they drove
+in at the yard gate. Mrs. Tidditt met them at the door. Her thin, hard
+face was tear-streaked and haggard.
+
+"Oh, I'm so glad you've come, Cap'n Kendrick," she cried. "He's been
+askin' for you."
+
+In the hall at the foot of the stairs Doctor Sheldon was waiting. They
+shook hands and Sears looked a question.
+
+"Not a chance," whispered the doctor. "Barring miracles, he will go
+before morning. He shouldn't see any one, but he insisted on seeing you.
+I'll give you five minutes, no more. Don't excite him."
+
+The judge looked up from the pillow as Sears tiptoed into the room. His
+face was flushed with fever, but otherwise he looked very much as when
+the captain last visited him. It did not seem possible that this could
+really be the end.
+
+"Hello, Kendrick," whispered Judge Knowles. "Sit down. Sorry I can't
+shake hands with you."
+
+The voice was weak, of course, but not much weaker than when he had last
+heard it. No, it did not seem possible. Captain Sears murmured something
+about his sorrow at finding the judge ill again.
+
+"That's all right, that's all right," was the testy rejoinder. "You
+didn't expect to find me any other way, did you? Kendrick, I wasn't so
+far off when I talked about that graveyard trip, eh?... Umph--yes. How
+much time did Sheldon say you might have with me?... Don't fool around
+and waste any of it. How many minutes--come?"
+
+"Five."
+
+"Humph! He might have made it ten, blast him! Well, then listen. When
+I'm gone you're going to be the head of that Fair Harbor place. You're
+going to keep on being the head, I mean. I've fixed it so you'll get
+your salary."
+
+"But, Judge----"
+
+"Hush! Let me do the talking. Good Lord, man," with an attempt at a
+chuckle, "you wouldn't grudge me any of the little talk I have left,
+would you? You are to keep on being the head of the Fair Harbor--you
+_must_ for a year or so. And Elizabeth Berry is to be the manager and
+head, under you--if she wants to be. Understand?"
+
+"Why, yes. But, Judge, how----"
+
+"I've fixed it, I tell you. Wait a little while and you'll know how. But
+that isn't what I want to say to you. Lobelia is dead."
+
+"What?"
+
+"Don't keep asking me what. Listen. Lobelia Seymour--hanged if I'll call
+her Lobelia Phillips!--is dead. She died over a month ago. I got a
+letter this afternoon mailed in Florence by that husband of hers. There
+it is, on that table, by the tumbler.... Yes, that's it. Don't stop to
+read it now. Put it in your pocket. You will have time to read it. Time
+counts with me. Now listen, Kendrick."
+
+He paused and asked for water. The captain put the glass to his lips. He
+swallowed once or twice and then impatiently jerked his head aside.
+
+"There are two things you've got to promise me, Kendrick," he whispered,
+earnestly. "One is that, so long as you can fight, that condemned Egbert
+Phillips shan't have a cent of the Fair Harbor property, endowment fund,
+land or anything else. Will you fight the scamp for me, Kendrick?"
+
+"Of course. The best I know how."
+
+"You know more than most men in this town. I shouldn't have picked you
+for your job if you didn't. That's one thing--spike Egbert's guns.
+Here's the other: Look out for Elizabeth Berry."
+
+The captain was not expecting this. He leaned back so suddenly that his
+chair squeaked. The sick man did not notice, or, if he did, paid no
+attention.
+
+"She's Isaac Berry's daughter," he went on, "and Ike Berry was my best
+friend. More than that, she's a good girl, a fine girl. Her mother is
+more or less of a fool, but that isn't the girl's fault. Keep an eye on
+her, will you, Kendrick?"
+
+"Why--why, I'll do what I can, of course."
+
+"Like her, don't you?"
+
+"Yes. Very much."
+
+"You couldn't help it. She is pretty thick with that young Kent, I
+believe. He's a bright boy."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"All right.... But there's time enough for that; they're both young....
+Watch her, Kendrick. See that she doesn't make too big mistakes.
+She--she's going to have a little money of her own pretty soon--just a
+little. Don't let that--that Phillips or--or anybody else get hold of
+it. I.... Oh, here you are! Confound you, Sheldon, you're a nuisance!"
+
+The doctor opened the door and entered. He nodded significantly to
+Kendrick. The latter understood. So, too, did Judge Knowles.
+
+"Time's up, eh?" he panted. "Well, all right, I suppose. Good luck to
+you, Kendrick. And good night."
+
+He smiled cheerfully. One might have thought he expected to see his
+caller the next morning. The captain simply could not believe this was
+to be the last time.
+
+"Good night, Judge," he said. "I'll drop in to-morrow, early."
+
+The judge did not answer. His last word had to do with other things.
+
+"Don't you forget, Kendrick," he whispered. "I've banked on you."
+
+The feeling of the absolute impossibility of the situation still
+remained with Sears as Mike drove him to his own door and Judah helped
+him down from the chaise. It was not possible that a brain like that, a
+bit of machinery capable of thinking so clearly and expressing itself so
+vigorously, could be so near its final breakdown. A personality like
+Judge Knowles' could not end so abruptly. He would not have it so. The
+doctor must be mistaken. He was over pessimistic.
+
+He sat in the rocking chair until nearly half-past one thinking of the
+judge's news, that Lobelia Phillips was dead, and of the charge to him.
+Fight Egbert--there was an element of humor in that; Knowles certainly
+did hate Phillips. But for him, Kendrick, to assume a sort of
+guardianship over the fortunes of Elizabeth Berry! The fun in that was
+too sardonic to be pleasant. He thought of many things before he
+retired, but the way ahead looked foggy enough. And behind the fog
+was--what? Why, little sunshine for him, in all human probability.
+Before blowing out his lamp he peered out of the window at the Knowles
+house. The lights there were still burning.
+
+The next morning when he came out for breakfast, Judah met him with a
+solemn face.
+
+"Bad news for Bayport this mornin', Cap'n Sears," said Judah. "Judge
+Knowles has gone. Slipped his cable about four o'clock, so Mike told
+me. There's a good man gone, by Henry! Don't seem hardly as if it could
+be, does it?"
+
+That was exactly what Bayport said when it heard the ill tidings. It did
+not seem as if it could be. The judge had been so long a dominant figure
+in town affairs, his strong will had so long helped to mould and lead
+opinion and his shrewd common sense had so often guided the community,
+and individuals, through safe channels and out of troubled waters, that
+it was hard to comprehend the fact that he would lead and guide no more.
+He had many enemies, no man with his determined character could avoid
+that, but they were altogether of a type whose enmity was, to decent
+people, preferable to their friendship. During his life it had seemed as
+if he were a lonely man, but his funeral was the largest held in Bayport
+since the body of Colonel Seth Foster, killed at Gettysburg, was brought
+home from the front for burial.
+
+It was a gloomy, drizzly day when the long line of buggies and carryalls
+and folk on foot followed the hearse to the cemetery amid the pines.
+Captain Sears, looking back at the procession, thought of the judge's
+many prophecies and grim jokes concerning this very journey, and he
+wondered--well, he wondered as most of us wonder on such occasions. Also
+he realized that, although their acquaintanceship had been brief, he was
+going to miss Judge Knowles tremendously.
+
+"I wish I had been lucky enough to know him sooner," he told Judah that
+evening.
+
+Judah pulled his nose reflectively. "It kind of surprised me," he
+observed, "to hear what the minister said about him. 'Twas the Orthodox
+minister, and he's pretty strict, too, but you heard him say that the
+judge was one of the best men in Ostable County. Yet he never went to
+meetin' what you'd call reg'lar and he did cuss consider'ble. He did
+now, didn't he, Cap'n Sears?"
+
+Sears nodded. He was thinking and paying little attention to the Cahoon
+moralizing.
+
+"Um-hm," went on Judah. "He sartin did. He never said 'sugar' when he
+meant 'damn.' But I don't know, I cal'late I'd ruther been sworn at by
+Judge Knowles than had a blessin' said over me by some others in these
+latitudes. The judge's cussin' would have been honest, anyhow. And he
+never put one of them swear words in the wrong place. They was always
+just where they belonged; even when he swore at me I always agreed with
+him."
+
+Feeling, somehow, that the death of the man who had chosen and employed
+him for the position increased his responsibility in that position,
+Captain Sears worked harder than ever to earn his salary as general
+manager of the Fair Harbor. He had already made some improvements in
+systematizing and thereby saving money for the institution. The
+groceries, flour, tea, sugar, and the rest, had heretofore been
+purchased at Bassett's store in the village. He still continued to buy
+certain articles of Eliphalet, principally from motives of policy and to
+retain the latter's good will, but the bulk of supplies he contracted
+for in Boston at the houses from which he had so often bought stores for
+his ships. He could not go to the city and negotiate by word of mouth,
+more was the pity, and so was obliged to make his trades by mail, but he
+got bids from several firms and the results were quite worth while.
+Besides groceries he bought a hogshead of corned beef, barrels of
+crackers, a barrel of salt pork, and, from one of the local fishermen, a
+half dozen kegs of salt mackerel. The saving altogether was a very
+appreciable amount.
+
+The Fair Harbor property included, besides the land upon which the house
+was situated, several acres of wood lot timbered with pine and oak. Mrs.
+Berry--or her daughter--had been accustomed to hire a man to cut and
+haul such wood as was needed, from time to time, for the stoves and
+fireplaces. Also, when repairs had to be done, they hired a carpenter to
+make them. Sears, when he got around to it, devoted some consideration
+to the wood and repair question and, after much haggling, affected a
+sort of three-cornered swap. Benijah Black, the carpenter, was a
+brother-in-law of Burgess Paine, who owned the local coal, wood, lumber
+and grain shop by the railway station. The captain arranged that Black
+should do whatever carpenter work might be needed at the Harbor and take
+his pay in wood at the wood lot, selling the wood--or a part of it--to
+Paine, for whom he was in debt for coal and lumber; and, also, for whom
+he, Black, was building a new storage shed. It was a complicated
+process, but it resulted in the Fair Harbor's getting its own firewood
+cut, hauled and split for next to nothing, its repair costs cut in half,
+its coal bills lessened, while Black and Paine seemed to be perfectly
+satisfied. Altogether it was a good deal of a managerial triumph, as
+even the manager himself was obliged to admit.
+
+Elizabeth was loud in her praises.
+
+"I don't see how you ever did it, Cap'n Kendrick," she declared. "And
+Benijah and Mr. Paine are just as contented as we are. It is a miracle."
+
+Sears grinned. "I don't know quite how I did it, myself," he said.
+"'Twas the most complicated piece of steerin' I ever did, and if we come
+out without shipwreck it _will_ be a miracle! I'm goin' to tackle that
+hay question next. There's hay enough on that lower meadow of ours to
+pay for corn for the hens for quite a spell. I'll see if I can't make a
+dicker there somehow. Then if I can fix up a deal with the hens to trade
+corn for eggs, we'll come out pretty well, won't we?"
+
+This sort of thing interested him and made him a trifle more contented
+with his work. His talents as a diplomat, such as they were, were needed
+continually. The interior of the Fair Harbor was a sort of incubator for
+petty squabbles, jealousies, prejudices and complaints, some funny, many
+ridiculous, and almost all annoying. The most petty he refused to be
+troubled with, bidding the complainants go to Mrs. Berry. His refusals
+were good-natured but determined.
+
+"Well, I tell you, Miss Peasley," he said, when that lady had come to
+him with a long, involved wail concerning the manner in which Mrs.
+Constance Cahoon, who occupied the seat next her at table, insisted on
+keeping the window open all through meals, "so's I sit there with a
+draft blowin' right down my neck the whole time." "I tell you, Miss
+Peasley," said the captain, "if I were you I would shut the window."
+
+"But I do shut it," declared Desire. "And every time I jump up and shut
+it, up she bounces and opens it again."
+
+"Humph! I see.... Well, exercise helps digestion, so they say. You can
+jump as long as she can bounce, can't you?"
+
+Miss Peasley was disgusted. "Well," she snapped, "I don't call that much
+help. I supposed if I went to the _manager_ he'd put his foot down."
+
+"He's goin' to--and then take it up and put it down again. I've got to
+hobble out to see to mowin' the meadow. You tell Mrs. Berry all about
+it."
+
+As a part of his diplomacy he made it a point to spend half an hour each
+morning in consultation with Cordelia Berry. The matron of the Fair
+Harbor was at first rather suspicious and ready to resent any intrusion
+upon her rights and prerogatives. But at each conference the captain
+listened so politely to her rambling reports, seemed to receive her
+suggestions so eagerly and to ask her advice upon so many points, that
+her suspicions were lulled and she came to accept the new
+superintendent's presence as a relief and a benefit.
+
+"He is so very gentlemanly, Elizabeth," she told her daughter. "And so
+willing to learn. At first, as you know, I couldn't see why the poor
+dear judge appointed him, but now I do. He realized that I needed an
+assistant. In many ways he reminds me of your father."
+
+"But, mother," exclaimed her daughter, in surprise, "Cap'n Kendrick
+isn't nearly as old as father was."
+
+"Oh it isn't the age that reminded me. It's the manner. He has the same
+quick, authoritative way of making decisions and saying things. And it
+is so very gratifying to see how he defers to my judgment and
+experience."
+
+Captain Sears did defer, that is he seldom opposed. But, when each
+conference was over, he went his own sweet way, using his own judgment
+and doing what seemed to him best. With Elizabeth, however, he was
+quite different. When she offered advice--which was seldom--he listened
+and almost invariably acted upon it. He was daily growing to have a
+higher opinion of her wisdom and capabilities. Whether or not it was the
+wisdom and capabilities alone which influenced that opinion he did not
+attempt to analyze. He enjoyed being with her and working with her, that
+he knew. That the constant companionship might be, for him, a risky and
+perhaps dangerous experience, he did not as yet realize. When he was
+with her, and busy with Fair Harbor affairs, he could forget the
+slowness with which his crippled legs were mending, and the increasing
+longing--sometimes approaching desperation--for the quarter deck of his
+own ship and the sea wind in his face.
+
+He worked hard for the Harbor and did his best to justify his
+appointment as manager, but, work as he might, he knew perfectly well
+that such labors would scarcely earn his salary. But, on the other hand,
+he knew that the man who appointed him had not expected them to do so.
+He had been put in charge of the Fair Harbor for one reason alone and
+that was to be in command of the ship when the redoubtable Egbert came
+alongside. Judge Knowles had as much as told him that very thing, and
+more than once. Egbert Phillips had been, evidently, the judge's pet
+aversion and, in his later days illness and fretfulness had magnified
+and intensified that aversion. When Sears attempted to find good and
+sufficient reasons for belief that the husband of Lobelia Seymour was
+any such bugbear he was baffled. He asked Judah more questions and he
+questioned citizens of Bayport who had known the former singing teacher
+before and after his marriage. Some, like Judah, declared him "slick" or
+"smooth." Others, and those the majority, seemed to like him. He was
+polite and educated and a "perfect gentleman," this was the sum of
+feminine opinion. Captain Sears was inclined to picture him as what he
+would have called a "sissy," and not much more dangerous than that. The
+judge's hatred, he came to believe, was an obsession, a sick man's
+fancy.
+
+He had, of course, read the Phillips letter, that which Judge Knowles
+bade him take away and read that night of his death. He hurriedly read
+it on that occasion before going to bed; he had reread it several times
+since.
+
+It was a well-written letter, there was no doubt of that, a polite
+letter, almost excessively so, perhaps. In fact, if Sears had been
+obliged to find a fault with it it would have been that it was a little
+too polite, a little too polished and flowery. It was not the sort of
+letter that he, himself, would have written under stress of grief, but
+he realized that it was not the sort of letter he could have written at
+all. Taken as a whole it was hard to pick flaws which might not be the
+result of prejudice, and taken sentence by sentence it stood the test
+almost as well.
+
+"Our life together has been so happy," wrote Phillips, "so ideal, that
+the knowledge of its end leaves me stunned, speechless, wordless."
+
+That was exaggeration, of course. He was not wordless, for the letter
+contained almost a superfluity of words; but people often said things
+they did not mean literally.
+
+"My dear wife and I spoke of you so often, Judge, her affection for you
+was so great--an affection which I share, as you know----"
+
+Judge Knowles had not returned the writers affection, quite the
+contrary. But it was possible that Phillips did not know this and that
+he was fond of the judge. Possible, even if not quite probable.
+
+"She and I never had a difference of opinion, never a thought which was
+not shared. This, in my hour of sorrow--" Phillips had written "my
+stricken hour" first, and then altered it to "hour of sorrow"--"is my
+greatest, almost my only consolation."
+
+Yet, as Judge Knowles had expressly stated, Lobelia herself had told him
+that her husband did not know of the endowment at the Fair Harbor and
+she had at least hinted that her married life was not all happiness.
+
+But, yet again, the judge was ill and weak, he had never liked Phillips,
+had always distrusted and suspected him, and might he not have fancied
+unhappiness when there was none?
+
+The letter said nothing concerning its writer's plans. It told of Mrs.
+Phillips' death, her burial at Florence, and of the widower's grief. The
+only hint, or possible hint, concerning a visit to Bayport was contained
+in one line, "When I see you I can tell you more."
+
+The captain puzzled over the letter a good deal. He showed it to
+Elizabeth. He found that Judge Knowles had not discussed Egbert with her
+at all. To her the ex-singing teacher was little more than a name; she
+remembered him, but nothing in particular concerning him. She thought
+the letter a very beautiful one--very sad, of course, but beautiful.
+Plainly she did not have the feeling which Sears had, but which he was
+inclined to think might be fathered by prejudice that it was a trifle
+too beautiful, that its beauty was that of a painting by a master, each
+stroke carefully touched in at exactly the right place for effect.
+
+There was no demand for money in it, no hint at straitened
+circumstances; so why should there be any striving for effect? He gave
+it up. If the much talked of Egbert was what Judge Knowles had declared
+him to be, then neither the judge nor any one else had exaggerated his
+smoothness.
+
+Emmeline Tidditt, for so many years the Knowles housekeeper, made one
+remark which contained possible food for thought.
+
+"So he buried her over there amongst them foreigners, did he?" observed
+Emmeline. "That seems kind of funny. When she and him was visitin' here
+the last time she told me herself--and he was standin' right alongside
+and heard her--that when she died she wanted to be fetched back here to
+Bayport and buried in the Orthodox cemetery alongside her father and
+mother and all her folks. Said, dead or alive, it wasn't really home for
+her anywheres else. She must have changed her mind since, though, I
+cal'late."
+
+Bayport talked a good deal about Lobelia Phillips and what would become
+of the Fair Harbor now that its founder and patroness was dead. It was
+surmised, of course, that Mrs. Phillips had provided for her pet
+institution in her will, but that will had not yet been offered for
+probate. Neither had the will of Judge Knowles, for that matter. Lawyer
+Bradley, over at Orham, the attorney with whom George Kent was reading
+law, was known to be the judge's executor. And Judge Knowles and Mr.
+Bradley were co-executor's for Lobelia Phillips, having been duly named
+by Lobelia on her last visit to Bayport. So, presumably, both wills were
+in Bradley's possession. But why had they not been probated?
+
+Bradley himself made the explanation.
+
+"The judge had a nephew in California," he said. "He was the nearest
+relative--although that isn't very near. Of course he couldn't get on
+for the funeral, but he is coming pretty soon. I thought I would wait
+until he came before I opened the will. As for Mrs. Phillips' will, I
+expect that her husband must be on his way here now. I haven't heard
+from him, but I take it for granted he is coming. I shall wait a while
+for him, too. There is no pressing hurry in either case."
+
+So Bayport talked about the wills and the expected arrival of the heirs,
+but as time passed and neither nephew nor husband arrived, began to lose
+interest and to talk of other things. Sears Kendrick, remembering his
+last conversation with Judge Knowles, was curious to learn exactly what
+the latter meant by his hints concerning "fixing things" for the Fair
+Harbor and Elizabeth having "money of her own," but he was busy and did
+not allow his curiosity to interfere with his schemes and improvements.
+He and Miss Berry saw each other every day, worked together and planned
+together, and the captain's fits of despondency and discouragement grew
+less and less frequent. He had an odd feeling at times, a feeling as if,
+instead of growing older daily, he was growing younger. He mentioned it
+to Elizabeth on one occasion and she did not laugh, but seemed to
+understand.
+
+"It is true," she said. "I have noticed it. You _are_ getting younger,
+Cap'n Kendrick."
+
+"Am I? That's good. Be better yet if I didn't have such a tremendous
+long way to go."
+
+"Nonsense! You aren't old. When I first met you I thought--it sounds
+dreadful when I say it--I thought you were fifty, at least. Now I don't
+believe you are more than--well, thirty-five."
+
+"Oh, yes, I am. I am--humph!--let's see, I am--er--thirty-eight my next
+birthday. And I suppose that sounds pretty ancient to you."
+
+"No, indeed it doesn't. Why, thirty-eight isn't old at all!"
+
+The interesting discussion of ages was interrupted just then, but Sears
+found pleasure in the thought that she, too, had noticed that he looked
+and acted younger. It was being at work again, he believed, which was
+responsible for the rejuvenation; this and the now unmistakable fact
+that, although the improvement was still provokingly slow, his legs were
+better, really better. He could, as he said, navigate much more easily
+now. Once, at supper time, he walked from his room to the table without
+a cane. It was a laborious journey, and he was glad when it was over,
+but he made it. Judah came in just in time to see the end.
+
+"Jumpin', creepin', hoppin' hookblocks, Cap'n Sears!" cried Judah. "Is
+that you, doin' that?"
+
+"What's left of me, Judah. I feel just this minute as if there wasn't
+much left."
+
+"Well, creepin' prophets! I couldn't believe it. Thinks I, 'There's fog
+in my deadlights and I can't see through 'em right.' Well, by Henry! And
+a little spell ago you was tellin' me you'd never be able to cruise
+again except under jury rig. Humph! You'll be up to the town hall
+dancin' 'Hull's Victory' and 'Smash the Windows' fust thing we know."
+
+After supper the captain, using the cane but whistling a sprightly air,
+strolled out to the front gate, where, leaning over the fence, he looked
+up and down the curving, tree-shaded road, dozing in the late summer
+twilight. And up that road came George Kent, also whistling, to swing
+in at the Fair Harbor gate and stride to the side door.
+
+Before that object lesson of real youth Sears' fictitious imitation
+seemed cheap and shoddy. He leaned heavily upon his cane as he hobbled
+back to the kitchen.
+
+The next day something happened. Sears had been busy all the forenoon
+superintending the carting in and stowing of the Fair Harbor share of
+oak and pine from the wood-lot. Thirteen cords of it, sawed and split in
+lengths to suit the Harbor stoves and fireplaces, were to be piled in
+the sheds adjoining the old Seymour barn at the rear of the premises.
+Judah had been engaged to do the piling. The captain had hesitated about
+employing him for several reasons, one being that he was drawing
+wages--small but regular--as caretaker at the General Minot place;
+another, that there might be some criticism--or opportunity for
+criticism--because of the relationship, landlord and lodger, which
+existed between them. Judah himself scorned the thought.
+
+"Mean to tell me I can't work for you just because you're boardin' along
+of me, Cap'n Sears?" he protested. "I've cooked for you a good many
+years and I worked for you then, didn't I?"
+
+"Ye--es, but you had signed up to work for me then. That's what they
+paid you for."
+
+"Well, it's what _you_ pay me for now, ain't it? And Ogden Minot he pays
+me to be stevedore aboard his house yonder. And the Fair Harbor's
+cal'latin' to pay me for pilin' this wood, ain't it? You ain't payin'
+for that, nor Ogden nuther. Well, then!... Oh, don't let's waste time
+arguin' about it now, Cap'n Sears. Let's do the way Abe Pepper done when
+the feller asked him to take a little somethin'. Abe had promised his
+wife he'd sign the pledge and he was on his way to temp'rance meetin'
+where he was goin' to meet her and sign it. And on the way he ran acrost
+this feller--Cornelius Bassett 'twas--and Cornelius says, 'Come have a
+drink with me, Abe,' he says. Well, time Abe got around to meet his wife
+the temp'rance meetin' hall was all dark and Abe was all--er--lighted
+up, as you might say. 'Why didn't you tell that Bassett man you was in a
+hurry and couldn't stop?' his wife wanted to know. 'Didn't have time to
+tell him nothin',' explains Abe. 'I knew I was late for meetin' as
+'twas.' 'Then why didn't you come right on _to_ meetin'?' she wanted to
+know. 'If I'd done that I'd lost the drink,' says he."
+
+The captain laughed, but looked doubtful.
+
+"I don't quite see where that yarn fits in this case, Judah," he
+observed.
+
+"Don't ye? Well, I don't know's it does. But anyhow, don't let's waste
+time arguin'. Let me pile the wood fust and then we can argue
+afterwards."
+
+So he was piling busily, carrying the wood in huge armfuls from the
+heaps where the carts had left it into the barn, and singing as he
+worked. But, bearing in mind his skipper's orders concerning the kind of
+song he was to sing, his chantey this time dealt neither with the
+eternal feminine nor the flowing bowl. Suggested perhaps by the nature
+of his task, he bellowed of "Fire Down Below."
+
+    "'Fire in the galley,
+      Fire in the house,
+    Fire in the beef-kid
+      Burnin' up the scouce.
+    Fire, _fire_, FIRE down below!
+    Fetch a bucket of water!
+      Fire! down BELOW!'"
+
+Captain Sears, after watching and listening for a few minutes, turned to
+limp up the hill, past the summer-house and the garden plots, to the
+side entrance of the Fair Harbor. The mystery of these garden patches,
+their exact equality of size and shape, had been explained to him by
+Elizabeth. The previous summer the Fair Harbor guests, or a few of them,
+led, as usual, by Miss Snowden and Mrs. Brackett, had suddenly been
+seized with a feverish desire to practice horticulture. They had
+demanded flower beds of their own. So, after much debate and
+disagreement on their part Elizabeth and her mother had had the slope
+beneath the Eyrie laid out in plots exactly alike, one for each guest,
+and the question of ownership had been settled by drawing lots. Each
+plot owner might plant and cultivate her own garden in her own way.
+These ways differed widely, hence the varied color schemes and
+diversifications of design noted by Sears on his first visit. The most
+elaborate--not to say "whirliggy"--design was the product of Miss
+Snowden's labor. The captain would have guessed it. The plot which
+contained no flowers at all, but was thickly planted with beets, onions
+and other vegetables, belonged to Esther Tidditt. He would have guessed
+that, too.
+
+He had stopped for an instant to inspect the plots, when he heard a
+footstep. Looking up, he saw a man descending the slope along the path
+by the Eyrie.
+
+The man was a stranger, that was plain at first glance. The captain did
+not know every one in Bayport, but he had at least a recognizing
+acquaintance with most of the males, and this particular male was not
+one of them. And Sears would have bet heavily that neither was he one of
+the very few whom he did not know. He was not a Bayport citizen, he did
+not look Bayport.
+
+He was very tall and noticeably slim. He wore a silk hat what Bayport
+still called a "beaver" in memory of the day's when such headpieces were
+really covered with beaver fur. There was nothing unusual in this fact;
+most of Bayport's prosperous citizens wore beavers on Sundays or for
+dress up. But there was this of the unusual about this particular hat:
+it had an air about it, a something which would have distinguished it
+amid fifty Bayport tiles. And yet just what that something was Sears
+Kendrick could not have told he could not have defined it, but he knew
+it was there.
+
+There was the same unusual something about the stranger's apparel in
+general, and yet there was nothing loud about it or queer. He carried a
+cane, but so did Captain Elkanah Wingate, for that matter, although only
+on Sundays. Captain Elkanah, however, carried his as if it were a club,
+or a scepter, or a--well, a marlinspike, perhaps. The stranger's cane
+was a part of his arm, and when he twirled it the twirls were graceful
+gestures, not vulgar flourishes.
+
+Sears's reflections concerning the newcomer were by no means as
+analytical as this, of course. His first impressions were those of one
+coming upon a beautiful work of art, a general wonder and admiration,
+not detailed at all. Judah, standing behind him with an armful of wood,
+must have had similar feelings, for he whispered, hoarsely, "Creepin'
+Moses, Cap'n Sears, is that the Prince of Wales, or who?"
+
+The man, standing in the path above the gardens, stopped to look about
+him. And at that moment, from the vine-covered Eyrie emerged Miss Elvira
+Snowden. She had evidently been there for some time, reading--she had a
+book in her hand--and as she came out she and the stranger were brought
+face to face.
+
+Sears and Judah saw them look at each other. The man raised his hat and
+said something which they could not hear. Then Miss Snowden cried "Oh!"
+She seemed intensely surprised and, for her, a good deal flustered.
+There was more low-toned conversation. Then Elvira and the stranger
+turned and walked back up the path toward the house. He escorted her in
+a manner and with a manner which made that walk a sort of royal
+progress.
+
+"Who was that?" asked Sears, as much of himself as of Judah.
+
+But Mr. Cahoon had, by this time, settled the question to his own
+satisfaction.
+
+"It's one of them slick critters peddlin' lightnin' rods," he declared,
+with conviction. "When you sight somebody that looks like a cross
+between a minister and one of them stuffed dummies they have outside of
+the stores in Dock Square to show off clothes on, then you can 'most
+generally bet he's peddlin' lightnin' rods. Either that or paintin'
+signs on fences about 'Mustang Liniment' or 'Vegetine' or somethin'.
+Why, a feller like that hove alongside me over in our yard one
+time--'twas afore you come, Cap'n Sears--and I give you my word, the
+way he was togged up I thought----"
+
+The captain did not wait to hear the Cahoon thought. He walked away. In
+a few minutes he had forgotten the stranger, having other and more
+important matters on his mind. There was a question concerning the Fair
+Harbor cooking range which was perplexing him just at this time. It
+looked as if they might have to buy a new one, and Sears, as
+superintendent of finances, hated to spend the money that month.
+
+He limped up the slope and along the path to the side door. And when he
+entered that door he became aware that something unusual was going on.
+The atmosphere of the Fair Harbor for Mariners' Women was, so to speak,
+electrified, it was vibrant with excitement and mystery.
+
+There was no one in the dining room, and no one in the sitting room. Yet
+in each of these apartments were numerous evidences that people had been
+there very recently and left in a great hurry. A cloth partially laid
+and left hanging. Drawers of the buffet left open. A broom lying
+directly in the middle of the floor where it had been dropped. An upset
+work-basket, disgorging spools, needle packets, and an avalanche of
+stockings awaiting darning. A lamp with the chimney standing beside it
+on the table. These were some of the signs denoting sudden and important
+interruption of a busy forenoon.
+
+Captain Sears, wondering much, turned from the sitting room into the
+hall leading to the parlor. Then he became aware that, ahead of him, was
+the center and core of excitement. From the parlor came a murmur of
+voices, exclamations, giggles--the sounds as of a party, a meeting of
+the sewing-circle, or a reception. He could not imagine what it was all
+about.
+
+He reached the parlor door and stood there for an instant looking in.
+Every inmate of the Harbor was in that room, including Elizabeth and her
+mother and even Caroline Snow, who, because it was Monday, was there to
+help with the washing. And every one--or almost every one--was talking,
+and the majority were crowded about one spot, a spot where stood a man,
+a man whom Sears recognized as the stranger he had seen in the garden.
+
+And then Mrs. Berry, who happened to be facing the door, saw him. She
+broke through the ring of women and hurried over. Her face was aglow,
+her eyes were shining, there were bright spots in her cheeks, and,
+altogether, she looked younger and handsomer than the captain had ever
+seen her, more as he would have imagined she must have looked in the
+days when Cap'n Ike came South a-courting.
+
+"Oh, Captain Kendrick," she cried, "I am so _very_ glad you have come.
+We have just had such a surprise! Such a very unexpected surprise, but a
+very delightful one. Come! You must meet him."
+
+She took his hand and led him toward the stranger. The latter, seeing
+them approach, politely pushed through the group surrounding him and
+stepped forward. Sears noticed for the first time that the sleeve of his
+coat was encircled by a broad band of black. His tie was black also, so
+were his cuff buttons. He was in mourning. An amazing idea flashed to
+the captain's brain.
+
+"Captain Kendrick," gushed Mrs. Berry, "I have the honor to present you
+to Mr. Phillips, husband of our beloved founder."
+
+Mr. Phillips smiled--his teeth were very fine, his smile engaging. He
+extended a hand.
+
+"I am delighted to meet Captain Kendrick," he said.
+
+The captain's stammered answer was conventional, and was not a literal
+expression of his thought. The latter, put into words, would have been:
+
+"Egbert! I might have known it."
+
+But there was no real reason why he should have known it, for this
+Egbert was not at all like the Egbert he had been expecting to see.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+
+Sears Kendrick left the Fair Harbor, perhaps fifteen minutes later, with
+that thought still uppermost in his mind. This was not at all the Egbert
+Phillips he had expected. From Judge Knowles' conversation, from Judah
+Cahoon's stories, from fragmentary descriptions he had picked up here
+and there about Bayport, he had fashioned an Egbert who had come to be
+in his mind a very real individual. This Egbert of his imagining was an
+oily, rather flashily dressed adventurer, a glib talker, handsome in a
+stage hero sort of way, with exaggerated politeness and a toothsome
+smile. There should be about this individual a general atmosphere of
+brilliantine, clothes and jewelry. On the whole he might have been
+expected to look a bit like the manager the captain had seen standing
+beside the ticket wagon at the circus, twirling his mustache with one
+hand and his cane with the other. Not quite as showy, not quite as
+picturesque, but a marked resemblance nevertheless.
+
+And the flesh and blood Egbert Phillips was not that kind at all. One
+was not conscious of his clothes, except that they were all that they
+should be as to fit--and style. He wore no jewelry whatever save his
+black cuff buttons and studs. His black tie was not of Bayport's
+fashion, certainly. It was ample, flowing and picturesque, rather in the
+foreign way. No other male in Bayport could have worn that tie and not
+looked foolish, yet Mr. Phillips did not look foolish, far from it. He
+did not wear a beard, another unusual bit of individuality, but his
+long, drooping mustache was extraordinarily becoming and--yes,
+aristocratic was the word. His smile was pleasant, his handshake was
+cordial, but not overdone, and his voice low and pleasant. Above all he
+had a manner, a manner which caused Sears, who had sailed pretty well
+over the world and had met all sorts of people in all sorts of places,
+to feel awkward and countrified. Yet one could tell that Mr. Phillips
+would not have one feel that way for the world; it was his desire to put
+every one at his or her ease.
+
+He greeted the captain with charming affability. He had heard of him, of
+course. He understood they were neighbors, as one might say. He looked
+forward to the pleasure of their better acquaintance. He had gotten but
+little further than this when Mrs. Berry, Miss Snowden and the rest
+again swooped down upon him and Sears was left forgotten on the outside
+of the circle. He went home soon afterward and sat down in the Minot
+kitchen to think it over.
+
+Egbert had come.... Well? Now what?
+
+He spent the greater part of the afternoon superintending the stowage of
+the wood and did not go back to the Harbor at all. But he was perfectly
+certain that he was not missed. The Fair Harbor for Mariners' Women
+fairly perspired excitement. Caroline Snow, her washing hung upon the
+lines in the back yard, found time to scurry down the hill and tell
+Judah the news. The captain had limped up to his room for a forgotten
+pipe, and when he returned Judah was loaded with it. He fired his first
+broadside before his lodger entered the barn.
+
+"Say, Cap'n Sears," hailed Mr. Cahoon, breathlessly, "do you know who
+that feller was me and you seen along of Elviry this forenoon? The tall
+one with the beaver and--and the gloves and the cane? The one I called
+the Prince of Wales or else a lightnin'-rod peddler? Do you know who he
+is?"
+
+Sears nodded. "Yes," he said, shortly.
+
+Judah stared, open-mouthed.
+
+"You _do_?" he gasped.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"You mean to tell me you know he's that--ah--er-what's-his-name--Eg
+Phillips come back?"
+
+"Yes, Judah."
+
+"My hoppin' Henry! Why didn't you say so?"
+
+"I didn't know it then, Judah. I found it out afterward, when I went up
+to the house."
+
+"Yes--but--but you knew it when you and me was eatin' dinner, didn't
+you? Why didn't you say somethin' about it then?"
+
+"Oh I don't know. It isn't important enough to interfere with our meals,
+is it?"
+
+Judah slowly shook his head. "It's a dum good thing you wan't around
+time of the flood, Cap'n Sears," he declared. "'Twould have been the
+thirty-eighth day afore you'd have cal'lated 'twas sprinklin' hard
+enough to notice. Afore that you'd have called it a thick fog, I presume
+likely. If you don't think this Phillips man's makin' port is important
+enough to talk about you take a cruise down to the store to-night.
+You'll hear more cacklin' than you'd hear in a henhouse in a week--and
+all account of just one Egg, too," he added, with a chuckle.
+
+"Caroline told you he had come, I suppose? Well, what does she think of
+him?"
+
+Judah snorted. "She?" he repeated. "She thinks he's the Angel Gabriel
+dressed up."
+
+He would have liked to discuss the new arrival the remainder of the
+afternoon, but the captain was not in the mood to listen. Neither was he
+more receptive or discussive at supper time. Judah wanted to talk of
+nothing else and to speculate concerning the amount of wealth which Mr.
+Phillips might have inherited, upon the probable date of the reading of
+Lobelia's will, upon whether or not the fortunate legatee might take up
+his residence in Bayport.
+
+"Say Cap'n" he observed, turning an inflamed countenance from the steam
+of dishwashing, "don't you cal'late maybe he may be wantin' to--er--sort
+of change things aboard the Fair Harbor? He'll be Admiral, as you might
+say, now, won't he?"
+
+"Will he?"
+
+"Well--won't he?"
+
+"Don't know, Judah. I haven't thrown up my commission yet, you know."
+
+"No, course you ain't, course you ain't. I don't mean he'd think of
+disrating you, Cap'n Sears. Nobody'd be fool-head enough for that....
+But, honest, I would like to look at him and hear him talk. Caroline
+Snow, she says he's the finest, highest-toned man ever _she_ see."
+
+"Yes? Well, that's sayin' somethin'."
+
+"Yus, but 'tain't sayin' too much. She lives down to Woodchuck Neck and
+the highest thing down there is a barrel of cod-livers. They're good and
+high when the sun gets to 'em."
+
+When the dishes were done he announced that he guessed likely he might
+as well go down to Eliphalet's and listen to the cackling. The captain
+did not object, and so he put on his cap and departed. But he was back
+again in less than a minute.
+
+"He's comin', Cap'n," he cried, excitedly. "Creepin' Moses! He's comin'
+here."
+
+Sears remained calm. "He is, eh?" he observed. "Well, is he creepin'
+now?"
+
+"Hey? Creepin'? What are you talkin' about?"
+
+"Why, Moses. You said he was comin', didn't you?"
+
+"I said that Egbert man was comin'. He was just onlatchin' the gate when
+I see him.... Hey? That's him knockin' now. Shall I--shall I let him in,
+Cap'n Sears?"
+
+"I would if I were you, Judah. If you don't I shall have to."
+
+So Judah did. Mr. Phillips entered the kitchen, removing his silk hat at
+the threshold. Mr. Cahoon followed, too overcome with excitement and
+curiosity to remember to take off his own cap. Sears Kendrick would have
+risen from the armchair in which he was seated, but the visitor extended
+a gloved hand.
+
+"Don't. Don't rise, I beg of you," he said, earnestly. "Pray keep your
+seat, Captain Kendall. I have just learned of your most unfortunate
+accident. Really, I must insist that you remain just as you are. You
+will distress me greatly if you move on my account. Thank you, thank
+you. I suppose I should apologize for running in in this informal way,
+but I feel almost as if I had known you for a long time. Our mutual
+friends, the Berrys, have told me so much concerning you since my
+arrival that I did not stand upon ceremony at all."
+
+"That's right," declared the captain, heartily. "I'm glad you didn't.
+Sit down, Mr. Phillips. Put your hat on the table there."
+
+Judah stepped forward.
+
+"Give it to me; I'll take care of it," he said, taking the shining beaver
+from the visitor's hand. "I'll hang it up yonder in the back entry, then
+'twon't get knocked onto the floor.... No, no, don't set in that chair,
+that's got a spliced leg; it's liable to land you on your beam ends if
+you ain't careful. Try this one."
+
+He kicked the infirm chair out of the way and pushed forward a
+substitute. "There," he added, cheerfully, "that's solid's the rock of
+Giberaltar. Nothin' like bein' sure of your anchorage. Set down, set
+down."
+
+He beamed upon the caller. The latter did not beam exactly. His
+expression was a queer one. Sears came to the rescue.
+
+"Mr. Phillips," he said, "this is Mr. Cahoon."
+
+Judah extended a mighty hand.
+
+"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Phillips," he declared. "I've
+heard tell of you considerable."
+
+Egbert looked at the hand. His expression was still queer.
+
+"Oh--ah--how d'ye do?" he murmured.
+
+"Mr. Cahoon and I are old friends," explained Sears. "I am boardin' here
+with him."
+
+"Yus," put in Judah. "And afore that I shipped cook aboard Cap'n Sears's
+vessels for a good many v'yages. The cap'n and I get along fust rate.
+He's all right, Cap'n Sears is, _I_ tell ye!"
+
+Mr. Phillips murmured something to the effect that he was sure of it. He
+did not seem very sure of Judah. Mr. Cahoon did not notice the
+uncertainty, he pushed his hand nearer to the visitor's.
+
+"I'm real glad to meet you," he said.
+
+Egbert gingerly took the proffered hand, moved it up and down once and
+then dropped it, after which he looked at his glove. Judah looked at it,
+too.
+
+"Kind of chilly outdoor to-night, is it?" he asked. "Didn't seem so to
+me."
+
+Again his lodger came to the rescue.
+
+"Well, Mr. Phillips," he said, "you gave us all a little surprise,
+didn't you? Of course we expected you in a general sort of way, but we
+didn't know when you would make port."
+
+Egbert bowed. "I scarcely knew myself," he said. "My plans were somewhat
+vague and--ah--rather hurriedly made, naturally. Of course my great
+sorrow, my bereavement----"
+
+He paused, sighed and then brushed the subject away with a wave of his
+glove.
+
+"You won't mind, I'm sure," he said, "if I don't dwell upon that just
+now. It is too recent, the shock is too great, I really cannot.... But I
+am so sorry to hear of your disability. A railway wreck, I understand.
+Outrageous carelessness, no doubt. Really, Captain Kendrick, one cannot
+find excuses for the reckless mismanagement of your American
+railways.... Why, what is it? Don't you agree with me?"
+
+The captain had looked up momentarily. Now he was looking down again.
+
+"Don't you agree with me?" repeated Egbert. "Surely you, of all people,
+should not excuse their recklessness."
+
+Sears shook his head. "Oh, I wasn't tryin' to," he replied. "I was only
+wonderin' why you spoke of 'em as 'your' railroads. They aren't mine,
+you know. That is, any more than they are Judah's--or yours--or any
+other American's. No such luck."
+
+Mr. Phillips coughed, smiled, coughed again, and then explained that he
+had used the word 'your' without thinking.
+
+"I have been so long an--ah--shall I say exile, Captain Kendall," he
+observed, "that I have, I presume, fallen somewhat into the European
+habit of thinking and--ah--speaking. Habit is a peculiar thing, is it
+not?"
+
+Mr. Cahoon, intensely interested in the conversation, evidently felt it
+his duty to contribute toward it.
+
+"You're right there, Mr. Phillips," he announced, with emphasis.
+"Don't talk to me about habits! When a man's been to sea as long's I
+have he runs afoul of pretty nigh every kind of habit there is, seems
+so. Why, I knew a feller one time--down to Surinam 'twas--I was cook
+and steward aboard the old _Highflyer_--and this feller--he wan't
+a white man, nor he wan't all nigger nuther, kind of in between, one of
+them--er--er--octoreens, that's what he was--well, this feller he had
+the dumdest habit. Every day of his life, about the middle of the dog
+watch he'd up and----"
+
+"Judah."
+
+"Aye, aye, Cap'n Sears?"
+
+"You'll be late down at the store, won't you?"
+
+"Hey? Oh, I don't care how late I be. I don't know's I'm so dreadful
+partic'lar about goin' down there to-night, anyhow. Don't know but I'd
+just as live stay here."
+
+"I'd go."
+
+"Hey? Oh, I----"
+
+"I'd go, if I were you. You know there's likely to be a good deal goin'
+on."
+
+"Think so, do you?" Judah was evidently on the fence. "Course, I----
+Well, maybe I had better, come to think of it. Good night, Mr. Phillips.
+I'll tell you about that octoreen feller next time I see you. So long,
+Cap'n Sears. I'll report about," with a wink, "the cacklin' later.
+Creepin'! it's most eight now, ain't it?"
+
+He hurried out. Egbert looked rather relieved. He smiled tolerantly.
+
+"Evidently an eccentric, your--er--man," he observed.
+
+"He has his ways, like the majority of us, I guess," declared the
+captain, crisply. "Underneath he is as square and big-hearted as they
+make. And he's a good friend of mine."
+
+"Oh, yes; yes, I'm sure of it. Captain Kendall----"
+
+"Kendrick, not Kendall."
+
+Mr. Phillips begged pardon for the mistake. It was inexcusable, he
+admitted. He had heard the captain's name mentioned so frequently since
+his arrival in Bayport, especially by Mrs. Berry and her daughter, "so
+favorably, even enthusiastically mentioned," that he certainly should
+have remembered it. "I am not quite myself, I fear," he added. "My
+recent bereavement and the added shock of the death of my dear old
+friend the judge have had their effect. My nerves are--well, you
+understand, I am sure."
+
+He made a lengthy call. He talked a great deal, and his conversation was
+always interesting. He spoke much of his dear wife, of life abroad, of
+Genoa and Leghorn, ports which the captain had visited, and of the
+changes in Bayport since his last sojourn in the village. But he said
+almost nothing concerning his plans for the future, and of the Fair
+Harbor very little. In fact, Sears had the feeling that he was waiting
+for him to talk concerning that institution. This the captain would not
+do and, at last, Mr. Phillips himself touched lightly upon the fringes
+of the subject.
+
+"Do you find your duties in connection with the--ah--retreat next door
+arduous, Captain Kendrick?" he inquired.
+
+"Eh?... Oh, no, I don't know as I'd call 'em that, exactly."
+
+"I imagine not, I imagine not. You are--you are, I gather, a sort
+of--oh---- What should I call you, captain; in your official capacity,
+you know?"
+
+He laughed pleasantly. Sears smiled.
+
+"Give it up," he replied. "I told Elizabeth--Miss Berry, I mean--when I
+first took the berth that I scarcely knew what it was."
+
+"Ha, ha! Yes, I can imagine. Miss Berry--charming girl, isn't she,
+captain--intimated to me that your position was somewhat--ah--general.
+You exercise a sort of supervision over the finances and management, in
+a way, do you not?"
+
+"In a way, yes."
+
+"Yes. Of course, my dear sir, you understand that I am not unduly
+curious. I don't mean to be. This--ah--Fair Harbor was, as you know,
+very dear to the heart of Mrs. Phillips and, now that she has been taken
+from me, I feel, of course, a sense of trust, of sacred responsibility.
+We had understood, she and I, that our dear friend--Judge Knowles--was
+in supreme charge--nominally, I mean; of course Mrs. Berry was in actual
+charge--and, therefore, I confess to a natural feeling of--shall I say
+surprise, on learning that the judge had appointed another person, an
+understudy, as it were?"
+
+"Well, you couldn't be any more surprised than I was when the judge
+asked me to take the job. And Elizabeth and her mother know that I
+hesitated considerable before I did take it. Judge Knowles was in his
+last sickness, he couldn't attend to things himself."
+
+Mr. Phillips raised a protesting hand. "Please don't misunderstand me,"
+he said. "Don't, I beg of you, think for a moment that I am objecting to
+the judge's action, or even criticizing it. It was precisely the thing
+he should have done, what Mrs. Phillips and I would have wished him to
+do. And as for his choice of--ah--appointee----"
+
+Captain Sears interrupted. "As to that," he said, "you can criticize as
+much as you please. You can't object any more than I did when me made me
+the offer."
+
+The protesting hand was again raised. "Criticism or objection was the
+very farthest from my mind, I assure you," Egbert declared. "I was about
+to say that Judge Knowles showed his usual--ah--acumen when he selected
+a man as well known and highly esteemed as yourself, sir. The mention of
+the name of Captain Kendall----"
+
+"Kendrick."
+
+"Kendrick, of course. I apologize once more. But, if you will permit me
+to say so, a man as well and favorably known to us all as you are, sir,
+is certainly the ideal occupant of the--ah--place."
+
+"Thanks. You knew of me, then? I don't think you and I have ever met
+before, have we?"
+
+"No; no, I believe I have never before had the pleasure."
+
+"Thanks. I was pretty sure I hadn't. I've been away from Bayport a good
+deal. I wasn't here when you and your wife came back--about five years
+ago, wasn't it? And, of course, I didn't know you when you used to live
+here. Let's see; you used to teach singin'-school, didn't you?"
+
+This question was asked in the most casual fashion. Mr. Phillips did not
+answer at once. He coughed, changed his position, and then smiled
+graciously.
+
+"Yes," he said. "Yes, I--I did something of the sort, for a time. Music
+has always been a--one might call it a--ah--hobby of mine. But,
+regarding your duties as--well, whatever those duties are, Captain
+Kendrick: You say they are not arduous. And your--ah--compensation?
+That, I understand, is not large? Pardon my referring to it, but as Mrs.
+Phillips was the owner and benefactress of the Fair Harbor, and as I
+am--shall I say heir--to her interests, why, perhaps my excuse for
+asking for information is--ah--a reasonable one."
+
+He paused, and with another smile and wave of the hand, awaited his
+host's reply. Sears looked at him.
+
+"I guess you know what my wages are, Mr. Phillips," he observed. "Don't
+you?"
+
+"Why--why--ah--ah----"
+
+"Didn't Cordelia tell you? She knows. So does Elizabeth."
+
+"Why--why, Mrs. Berry did mention a figure, I believe. I seem to
+recall--ah--ah--something."
+
+"If you remember fifteen hundred a year, you will have it right. That is
+the amount I'm paid for bein' in general command over there. As you say,
+it isn't very large, but perhaps it's large enough for what I do."
+
+"Oh--ah, _don't_ misunderstand me, Captain Kendrick, please don't. I
+was not questioning the amount of your salary."
+
+"Wasn't you? My mistake. I thought you was."
+
+"No; indeed no. My only feeling in regard to it was its--ah--trifling
+size. It--pardon me, but it seemed such a small sum for you to accept, a
+man of your attainments."
+
+"My attainments, as you call 'em, haven't got me very far I'm a poor man
+and, just now at any rate, I'm a cripple, a wreck on a lee shore.
+Fifteen hundred a year isn't so small to me."
+
+Mr Phillips apologized. He was sorry he had referred to the subject. But
+the captain, he was sure, understood his motive for asking, and, now
+that so much had been said, might he say just a word more.
+
+"Our dear Cordelia--Mrs. Berry--" he went on, "intimated that
+your--ah--compensation was paid by the judge, himself."
+
+"Yes it was. Judge Knowles paid it with his own money. It doesn't come
+out of the Fair Harbor funds."
+
+"Yes, yes, of course, of course. The judge's interest in my beloved
+wife's--ah--whims--perhaps that is too frivolous a word--was
+extraordinarily fine. But now the judge has passed on."
+
+"Yes. More's the pity."
+
+"I heartily agree with you, it is a great pity. An irreparable loss....
+But he has gone."
+
+"Yes."
+
+Just here the dialogue came to a peculiar halt. Mr. Phillips seemed to
+be waiting for his companion to say something and the captain to be
+waiting for Phillips himself to say it first. As a consequence neither
+said it. When the conversation was resumed it was once more of a general
+nature. It was not until just beyond the end of the call that the Fair
+Harbor was again mentioned. And, as at first, it was the caller who led
+up to it.
+
+"Captain Kendrick," he observed, "you are, like myself, a man of the
+world, a man of wide experience."
+
+This was given forth as a positive statement, not a question, yet he
+seemed to expect a reply. Sears obliged.
+
+"Oh, I don't know," he demurred.
+
+"Pardon me, but I do. I am accustomed to judge persons and characters,
+and I think I may justly pride myself on making few mistakes. From what
+I had heard I expected to find you a man of the world, a man of
+experience and judgment. Judge Knowles' selection of you as
+the--ah--temporary head of the Fair Harbor would have indicated that, of
+course, but, if you will permit me to say so, this interview has
+confirmed it."
+
+Again he paused, as if expecting a reply. And again the captain humored
+him.
+
+"Much obliged," he said.
+
+The Phillips hand waved the thanks away. There was another perceptible
+wait. Then said Egbert, "Captain Kendrick, as one man of the world to
+another, what do you think of the--ah--institution next door?"
+
+Sears looked at him. "What do I think of it?" he repeated.
+
+"Yes, exactly. It was, as you know, the darling of my dear wife's heart.
+When she loaned her--shall we say her ancestral home, and--ah--money to
+the purpose she firmly believed the Fair Harbor for Mariners' Women to
+be an inspiration for good. She believed its founding to be the
+beginning of a great work. Is it doing that work, do you think? In your
+opinion, sir, is it a success?"
+
+Captain Sears slowly stroked his close-cropped beard. What was the man
+driving at?
+
+"Why--I don't know as I know exactly what you mean by success," he
+hesitated. "It's takin' care of its--er--boarders and it's makin' a home
+for 'em. That is what your wife wanted it to do, didn't she?"
+
+"Oh, yes, yes, quite so. But that is not precisely what I mean. Put it
+this way, sir: In your opinion, as a man of affairs----"
+
+"Here, here, just a minute. I'm not a man of affairs. I'm a broken-down
+sea cap'n on shore, that's all."
+
+Again the upraised hand. "_I_ know what you are, Captain Kendrick,"
+said Egbert. "That, if you will permit me to say so, is why I am asking
+your opinion. The success of a--ah--proposition depends, as I see it,
+upon the amount of success achieved in proportion to the amount of
+energy, capital--ah--whatnot invested. Now, considering the sum needed
+to support the Fair Harbor--paid, as doubtless you know, Captain
+Kendrick, from the interest of an amount loaned and set aside by my dear
+wife some years ago--considering that sum, I say, added to the amount
+sunk, or invested, in the house, land, furnishings, et cetera, is it
+your opinion that the institution's success is a sufficient return? Or,
+might not the same sums, put into other--ah--charities, reap larger
+rewards? Rewards in the shape of good to our fellow men and women,
+Captain Kendrick? What do you think?"
+
+Sears crossed his knees.
+
+"I don't know," he said.
+
+"Of course, of course. One does not know. But it is a question to be
+considered, is it not?"
+
+"Why--why, yes, maybe. Do I understand that you are thinkin' of givin'
+up the Fair Harbor? Doin' away with it?"
+
+"Oh, no, no, no!" Mr. Phillips pushed the surmise deeper into the
+background with each negative. "I am not considering anything of that
+sort, Captain Kendrick."
+
+"Well--humph! My mistake again. I thought you just said you were
+considerin' it."
+
+"Only as a question, Captain, only as a question. While my wife lived,
+of course, the Fair Harbor--_her_ Fair Harbor--was a thing fixed,
+immovable. Now that she has been taken from me, it devolves upon me, the
+care of her trusts, her benefactions."
+
+"Yes. So you said, Mr. Phillips."
+
+"I believe I did say so. Yes. And therefore, as I see it, a part of that
+trust is to make sure that every penny of her--ah--charity is doing the
+greatest good to the greatest number."
+
+"And you think the Fair Harbor isn't gettin' its money's worth?"
+
+"Oh, no, no, no. I don't say that. I don't say that at all. I am sure it
+must be. I am merely considering, that is all, merely considering....
+Well, Captain Kendrick, I must go. We shall see each other often, I
+trust. I have-ah--a suite at the Central House and if you will do me the
+honor of calling I shall greatly appreciate it. Pray drop in at any
+time, sir. Don't, I beg of you, stand upon ceremony."
+
+Sears promised that he would not. He was finding it hard to keep from
+smiling. A "suite" at the Central House, Bayport's one hostelry, tickled
+him. He knew the rooms at that hit or miss tavern.
+
+"Good-by, Captain Kendrick," said Mr. Phillips. "Upon one thing I feel
+sure you may congratulate yourself, that is that your troubles and petty
+annoyances as--ah--manager of the Fair Harbor are practically over."
+
+"Oh," observed the captain.
+
+"Yes. I think I shall be able to relieve you of _that_ care very
+shortly. And the sooner the better, I presume you are saying. Yes? Ha,
+ha!"
+
+"Thanks. Goin' to appoint somebody else, eh?"
+
+"Oh, no, no! My _dear_ sir! Why, I--I really--I thought you understood.
+I mean to say simply that, while I am here in person, and as long as I
+am here, I shall endeavor to look after the matters myself and
+consequently relieve you, that is all. Judge Knowles appointed you and
+paid you--a very wise and characteristic thing for him to do; but he,
+poor man, is dead. One could scarcely expect you to go on performing
+your duties gratuitously. That is why I congratulate you upon the
+lifting of the burden from your shoulders."
+
+"Oh, yes. Um-hm. I see. Thank you, Mr. Phillips."
+
+"I should thank you, sir, for all you have already done. I do
+sincerely.... Oh, by the way, Captain Kendrick, perhaps it would be as
+well that nothing be said concerning this little business talk of ours.
+One knows how trifles are distorted, mole hills made mountains, and all
+that, in communities like--well, like dear old Bayport. We love our
+Bayporters, bless them, but they will talk. Ha, ha! So, captain, if you
+will consider our little chat confidential----"
+
+"I will."
+
+"Thank you, sir, thank you. And we shall see each other frequently. I am
+counting upon it. _Au revoir_, Captain Kendrick. Don't rise, I beg of
+you."
+
+He was gone, the door closed behind him. Sears filled his pipe, lighted
+it, and leaned back in his chair to review and appraise his impressions.
+
+The appraisal was not altogether satisfactory. It was easy to say that
+he did not like Egbert Phillips, for it was the truth--he did not like
+him. But to affirm truthfully that that dislike was founded upon
+anything more substantial than prejudice due to Judge Knowles'
+detestation was not so easy. The question which continually intruded was
+this: Suppose he had met Mr. Phillips for the first time, never having
+heard of him before--would he have disliked and distrusted him under
+those circumstances? He could not be quite sure.
+
+For, leaving aside Egbert's airy condescension and his--to the captain's
+New England mind--overdone politeness, there was not so much fault to be
+found with his behavior or words during the interview just ended. He had
+asked questions concerning the Fair Harbor, had hinted at the
+possibility of its discontinuance, had more than hinted at the dropping
+of Kendrick as its manager. Well--always bearing in mind the fact that
+he was ignorant of his wife's action which gave the Seymour house and
+land to the Fair Harbor and gave, not loaned, the money for its
+maintenance--bearing in mind the fact that Egbert Phillips believed
+himself the absolute owner of all, with undisputed authority to do as he
+pleased with it--then.... Well, then Captain Sears was obliged to admit
+that he, himself, might have questioned and hinted very much as his
+visitor had done. And as for the condescension and the "manner"--these
+were, after all, not much more than eccentricities, and developed, very
+likely, during his life abroad.
+
+Lobelia Phillips' will would be opened and read soon, probably at once.
+Whew! Sears whistled as he thought of the staggering disillusionment
+which was coming to the widower. How would he take it? Was Judge Knowles
+right in his belief that the rest of the Seymour inheritance had been
+wasted and lost? If so, the elegant personage who had just bowed himself
+out of the Minot kitchen would be in a bad way indeed. Sears was sorry
+for him.
+
+And yet he did not like the man. No, he did not.... And he did distrust
+him.
+
+Judah came back from his sojourn at the store brimful of talk and
+chuckles. As he had prophesied, all Bayport had heard of the arrival of
+the great man and all Bayport was discussing him. He had the finest
+rooms at the Central House. He had three trunks--count them--three! Not
+to mention bags and a leather hat box. He had given the driver of the
+depot wagon a dollar over and above his regular charge. He remembered
+Eliphalet Bassett the first time he saw him, and called him by name.
+
+There was a lot more of this, but Sears paid little attention to it.
+Judah summed it all up pretty well in his final declaration, given as
+his lodger was leaving the kitchen for the "spare stateroom."
+
+"By Henry!" declared Judah, who seemed rather disgusted, "I never heard
+such a powwowin' over one man in my life. Up to 'Liphalet's 'twan't
+nothin' but 'Egbert Phillips,' 'Egbert Phillips,' till you'd think 'twas
+a passel of poll-parrots all mockin' each other. Simeon Ryder had been
+down to deacon's meetin' in the Orthodox vestry and, nigh's I can find
+out, 'twas just the same down there. 'Cordin' to Sim's tell they talked
+about the Lord's affairs for ten minutes and about this Egg man's for
+forty."
+
+"But why?" queried the captain. "He isn't the only fellow that has been
+away from Bayport and come back again."
+
+Mr. Cahoon shook his head. "I know it," he admitted, "but none of the
+rest ever had quite so much fuss made over 'em. I cal'late, maybe, it's
+on account of the way he's been led up to, as you might say. I went one
+time to a kind of show place in New York, Barnum's Museum 'twas. There
+was a great sign outdoor sayin', 'Come on aboard and see the White
+Whale,' or somethin' similar. Well, I'd seen about every kind of a whale
+_but_ a white one, so I cal'lated maybe I'd might as well spend a
+quarter and see that. There was a great big kind of tank place full of
+water and a whole passel of folks hangin' around the edge of it with
+their mouths open, gawpin' at nothin'--nothin' but the water, that's all
+there was to see. And a man up on a kind of platform he was preachin' a
+sort of sermon, wavin' his arms and hollerin' about how rare and scurce
+white whales was, and how the museum folks had to scour all creation
+afore they got this one, and about how the round heads of Europe----"
+
+"Crowned heads, wasn't it, Judah?"
+
+"Hey? I don't know, maybe so. Cabbage heads it ought to have been,
+'cordin' to my notion. Well, anyhow, 'twas some kind of Europe heads,
+and they had all pretty nigh broke the necks belongin' to 'em gettin' to
+see this whale, and how lucky we was because we could see it for the
+small sum of twenty-five cents, and so on, and so on--until all hands of
+us was just kind of on tiptoe, as you might say. And then, all to once,
+the water in the tank kind of riz up, you know, and somethin'
+white--might have been the broadside of a barn for all we had time to
+see of it--showed for a jiffy, there was a 'Woosh,' and the white thing
+went under again.' And that was all. The man said we was now able to
+tell our children that we'd seen a white whale and that the critter
+would be up to breathe again in about an hour, or week after next, or
+some such time.... Anyhow, what I'm tryin' to get at is that 'twan't the
+whale itself that counted so much as 'twas the way that preachin' man
+led up to him. This Egbert he's been preached about and guessed about
+and looked for'ard to so long that all Bayport's been on tiptoe, like us
+folks around that museum tank.... Well, this Phillips whale has made a
+big 'Woosh' in town so fur. Can he keep it up? That's what I'm
+wonderin'."
+
+The sensation kept up for the next day and the next at least, and there
+were no signs of its abating. Over at the Fair Harbor Captain Sears
+found himself playing a very small second fiddle. Miss Snowden, Mrs.
+Brackett and their following, instead of putting themselves out to smile
+upon the captain and to chat with him, ignored him almost altogether,
+or, if they did speak, spoke only of Mr. Phillips. He was the most
+entertaining man, _so_ genteel, his conversation was remarkable, he had
+traveled everywhere.
+
+Mrs. Berry, of course, was in ecstasies concerning him. He was her ideal
+of a gentleman, she said, _so_ aristocratic. "So like the men I
+associated with in the old days," she said. "Of course," she added, "he
+is an old friend. Dear 'Belia and he were my dearest friends, you know,
+Captain Kendrick."
+
+The captain was curious to learn Elizabeth's opinion of him. He found
+that opinion distinctly favorable.
+
+"He is different," she said. "Different, I mean, from any one I ever
+met. And at first I thought him conceited. But he isn't really, he is
+just--well, different. I think I shall like him."
+
+Sears smiled. "If you don't you will be rather lonesome here in the
+Harbor, I judge," he observed.
+
+She looked at him quickly. "You don't like him, do you, Cap'n Kendrick?"
+she said. "Why?"
+
+"Why--why, I don't say I don't like him, Elizabeth."
+
+"No, you don't say it, but you look it. I didn't think you took sudden
+dislikes, Cap'n. It doesn't seem like you, somehow."
+
+He could not explain, and he felt that he had disappointed her.
+
+On the third day the news came that Mr. Phillips had left town, gone
+suddenly, so Judah said.
+
+"He took the afternoon train and bought a ticket for Boston, so they
+tell me," declared the latter. "He's left his dunnage at the Central
+House, so he's comin' back, I cal'late; but nobody knows where he's
+gone, nor why he went. Went over to Orham this mornin'--hired a
+horse-'n'-team down to the livery stable and went--come back about one
+o'clock, wouldn't speak to nobody, went up to his room, never et no
+dinner, and then set sail for Boston on the up train. Cur'us, ain't it?
+Where do you cal'late likely he's gone, Cap'n Sears?"
+
+"Give it up, Judah. And," speaking quickly in order to head off the
+question he saw the Cahoon lips already forming, "I can't guess why he's
+gone, either."
+
+But, although he did not say so, he could have guessed why Mr. Phillips
+had gone to Orham. Bradley, the Orham lawyer, had written the day before
+to say that the will of Lobelia Phillips would be opened and read at his
+office on Thursday morning. And this was Thursday. Bradley had suggested
+Sears's coming over to be present at the reading of the will. "As you
+are so deeply interested in the Fair Harbor," he wrote, "I should think
+you might--or ought to--be on hand. I don't believe Phillips will
+object."
+
+But the captain had not accepted the invitation. Knowing, as he did, the
+disappointment which was in store for Egbert, he had no wish to see the
+blow fall. So he remained at home, but that afternoon Bradley himself
+drove into the Minot yard.
+
+"I just stopped for a minute, Cap'n, he said. I had some other business
+in town here; that brought me over, but I wanted to tell you that we
+opened that will this morning."
+
+Sears looked a question. "Well?" he queried.
+
+Bradley nodded. "It was just about as we thought, and as the judge
+said," he declared. "The papers were there, of course, telling of the
+gift of the fifty thousand to the Harbor, of the gift of the land and
+house, everything. There was one other legacy, a small one, and then she
+left all the rest, 'stocks, bonds, securities, personal effects and
+cash' to her beloved husband, Egbert Phillips. That's all there was to
+it, Kendrick. Short but sweet, eh?"
+
+Sears nodded. "Sweet enough," he agreed. "And how did the beloved
+husband take it?"
+
+"Well ... well, he was pretty nasty. In fact he was about as nasty as
+anybody could be. He went white as a sheet and then red and then white
+again. I didn't know, for a minute or two, what was going to happen,
+didn't know but what I should have a fight on my hands. However, I
+didn't. I don't think he's the fighting kind, not that kind of a fight.
+He just took it out in being nasty. Said of course he should contest the
+gift, hinted at undue influence, spoke of thieves and swindlers--not
+naming 'em, though--and then, when I suggested that he had better think
+it over before he said too much, pulled up short and walked out of the
+office. Yes, he was pretty nasty. But, honestly, Cap'n Kendrick, when I
+think it over, I don't know that he was any nastier than I, or any other
+fellow, might have been under the circumstances. It was a smash between
+the eyes for him, that's what it was. Met him, have you?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"What do you think of him?"
+
+"I don't know--yet."
+
+"Neither do I. He's a polite chap, isn't he?"
+
+"No doubt about that. Say, Bradley, do you think he's got much left of
+the 'stocks, bonds,' and all the rest that the will talked about?"
+
+"I give it up. Of course we shall talk about that by and by, I suppose,
+but we haven't yet. You know what Judge Knowles declared; he was
+perfectly sure that there wouldn't be anything left--that this fellow
+and Lobelia had thrown away every loose penny of old Seymour's money.
+And, of course, he prophesied that this Egbert man would be back here as
+soon as his wife died to sell the Fair Harbor, ship and cargo, and get
+the money for them. The biggest satisfaction the old judge got out of
+life along toward the last of it was in knowing that he and Lobelia had
+fixed things so that that couldn't be done. He certainly hated Phillips,
+the judge did."
+
+"Um-hm. But he might have been prejudiced."
+
+"Yes. Sometimes I wonder if he wasn't."
+
+"Tell me, Bradley: Did you know this Phillips man when he was skipper of
+the singin' school here in Bayport? Before he married Lobelia?"
+
+"No. Nor I didn't meet him when he and his wife were on here the last
+time. I was up in the State House serving out my two terms as county
+representative."
+
+"I see.... Oh! You spoke of Lobelia's leavin' another legacy. Who was
+that to? If it isn't a secret."
+
+"It is, so far. But it won't be very long. She left five thousand, in
+cash and in Judge Knowles's care, for Cordelia Berry over here at the
+Harbor. She and Lobelia were close friends, you know. Cordelia is to
+have it free and clear, but I am to invest it for her. She doesn't know
+her good luck yet. I am going over now to tell her about it.... Oh, by
+the way, Cap'n: Judge Knowles's nephew, the man from California, is
+expecting to reach Bayport next Sunday. He can't stay out a little
+while, and so I shall have to hurry up that will and the business
+connected with it. Can you come over to my office Monday about ten?"
+
+"Why, I suppose likely I could, but what do you want me for?"
+
+"I don't, except in the general way of always wanting to see you, Cap'n.
+But Judge Knowles wanted you especially."
+
+"He did! Wanted _me_?"
+
+"Yes. Seems so. He left a memorandum of those he wanted on hand when his
+will was read. You are one, and Elizabeth Berry is another. Will you
+come?"
+
+"Why--why, yes, I suppose so. But what in the world----"
+
+"I don't know. But I imagine we'll all know Monday. I'll look for you
+then, Cap'n."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+
+The reading of the Knowles will, so Bradley had said, was to take place
+at the lawyer's office in Orham on Monday. It was Friday when Bradley
+called at the Minot place, and on Saturday morning Sears and Elizabeth
+discussed the matter.
+
+"Mr. Bradley said your name was on the list of those the judge asked to
+be on hand when the will was read," said the captain. "He asked me not
+to speak about the will to outsiders, and of course I haven't, but
+you're not an outsider. You're goin' over, I suppose?"
+
+She hesitated slightly. "Why, yes," she said. "I think I shall."
+
+"Yes. Yes, I thought you would."
+
+"I shall go because the judge seems to have wished me to be there, but
+why I can't imagine. Can you, Cap'n Kendrick?"
+
+Remembering his last conversation with Judge Knowles, Sears thought he
+might at least guess a possible reason, but he did not say so.
+
+"We're both interested in the Fair Harbor," he observed. "And we know
+how concerned the judge was with that."
+
+She nodded. "Yes," she admitted. "Still I don't see why mother was not
+asked if that was it. You are going over, of course?"
+
+"Why--yes, I shall. Bradley seemed to want me to."
+
+That was all, at the time. The next day, however, Elizabeth again
+mentioned the subject. It was in the afternoon, church and dinner were
+over, and Sears was strolling along the path below the Fair Harbor
+garden plots. He could walk with less difficulty and with almost no pain
+now, but he could not walk far. The Eyrie was, for a wonder,
+unoccupied, so he limped up to it and sat down upon the bench inside to
+rest. This was the favorite haunt of the more romantic Fair Harbor
+inmates, Miss Snowden and Mrs. Chase especially, but they were not there
+just then, although a book, _Barriers Burned Away_, by E. P. Roe, lay
+upon the bench, a cardboard marker with the initials "E. S." in
+cross-stitch, between the leaves. When the captain heard a step
+approaching the summer-house, he judged that Elvira was returning to
+reclaim her "Barriers." But it was not Elvira who entered the Eyrie, it
+was Elizabeth Berry.
+
+She was surprised to see him. "Why, Cap'n Sears!" she exclaimed. "I
+didn't expect to find you here. I was afraid--that is, I did rather
+think I might find Elvira, but not you. I didn't know you had the Eyrie
+habit."
+
+He smiled. "I haven't," he said. "That is, it isn't chronic yet. I
+didn't know you had it, either."
+
+"Oh I haven't. But I was rather tired, and I wanted to be alone, and
+so----"
+
+"And so you took a chance. Well, you came at just the right time. I was
+just about gettin' under way."
+
+He rose, but she detained him. "Don't go," she begged. "When I said I
+wanted to be alone I didn't mean it exactly. I meant I wanted to be away
+from--some people. You are not one of them."
+
+He was pleased, and showed it. "You're sure of that?" he asked.
+
+"Of course. You know I am. Do sit down and talk. Talk about anything
+except--well, except Bayport gossip and Fair Harbor squabbles and bills
+and--oh, that sort of thing. Talk about something away from Bayport,
+miles and miles away. I feel just now as if I should like to be--to be
+on board a ship sailing ... sailing."
+
+She smiled wistfully as she said it. The captain was seized with an
+intense conviction that he should like to be with her on that same ship,
+to sail on and on indefinitely. The kind of ship or its destination
+would not matter in the least, the only essentials were that she and he
+were to be on board, and ... Humph! His brain must be softening. Who
+did he think he was: a young man again?--a George Kent? He came out of
+the clouds.
+
+"Yes," he observed, dryly, "I know. I get that same feelin' every once
+in a while. I should rather like to walk a deck again, myself."
+
+She understood instantly. That was one of the fascinations of this girl,
+she always seemed to understand. A flash of pity came into her eyes.
+Impulsively she laid a hand on his coat sleeve.
+
+"I beg your pardon," she said. "I'm so sorry. I realize how hard it must
+be for you, Cap'n Kendrick. A man who has been where you have been and
+seen what you have seen.... Yes, and done what you have done."
+
+He shrugged. "I haven't done much," he said.
+
+"Oh, yes, you have. I have heard so many stories about you and your
+ships and the way you have handled them. There was one story I remember,
+a story about how your sailors mutinied and how you got them to go to
+work again. I heard that years ago, when I was a girl at school. I have
+never forgotten; it sounded so wonderful and romantic and--and far off."
+
+He nodded. "It was far off," he said. "Away over in the South Seas. And
+it was a good while ago, too, for I was in command of my first vessel,
+and that's the time of all times when a man doesn't want mutiny or any
+other setback. And I never had any trouble with my crews, before or
+since, except then. But the water in our butts had gone rancid and we
+put in at this island to refill. It was a pretty place, lazy and
+sunshiny, like most of those South Sea corals, and the fo'mast hands got
+ashore amongst the natives, drinkin' palm wine and traders' gin, and
+they didn't want to put to sea as soon as the mates and I did."
+
+"But you made them?"
+
+"Well, I--er--sort of coaxed 'em into it."
+
+"Tell me about it, please."
+
+"Oh, there isn't anything to----"
+
+"Please."
+
+So Sears began to spin the yarn. And from that she led him into another
+and then another. They drifted through the South Seas to the East
+Indies, and from there to Bombay, and then to Hong Kong, and to
+Mauritious, from the beaches of which came the marvelous sea shells that
+Sarah Macomber had in the box in her parlor closet. They voyaged through
+the Arabian Sea, with the parched desert shores shimmering in the white
+hot sun. They turned north, saw the sperm whales and the great squid and
+the floating bergs.... And at last they drifted back to Bayport and the
+captain looked at his watch.
+
+"Heavens and earth!" he exclaimed. "It's almost four o'clock. I believe
+I've talked steady for pretty nearly an hour. I'm ashamed. Are you
+awake, Elizabeth? I hope, for your sake, you've been takin' a nap."
+
+She did not answer at once. Then she breathed deeply. "I don't know what
+I have been doing--really doing," she said. "I suppose I have been
+sitting right here in this old summer-house. But I _feel_ as if I had
+been around the world. I wanted to sail and sail.... I said so, didn't
+I? Well, I have. Thank you, Cap'n Kendrick."
+
+He rose from the bench.
+
+"A man gets garrulous in his old age," he observed. "But I didn't think
+I was as old as that--just yet. The talkin' disease must be catchin',
+and I've lived with Judah Cahoon quite a while now."
+
+She laughed. "If I had as much to talk about--worth while talking
+about--as you have," she declared, "I should never want to stop. Well, I
+must be getting back to the Fair Harbor--and the squabbles."
+
+"Too bad. Can I help you with 'em?"
+
+"No, I'm afraid not. They're not big enough for you."
+
+They turned to the door. She spoke again.
+
+"You are going to drive to Orham to-morrow afternoon?" she asked.
+
+"Eh? Oh, yes. The Foam Flake and I will make the voyage--if we have
+luck."
+
+"And you are going--alone?"
+
+"Yes. Judah thinks I shouldn't. Probably he thinks the Foam Flake may
+fall dead, or get to walkin' in his sleep and step off the bank or
+somethin'. But I'm goin' to risk it. I guess likely I can keep him in
+the channel."
+
+She waited a moment. Then she smiled and shook her head.
+
+"Cap'n," she said, "you make it awfully hard for me. And this is the
+second time. Really, I feel so--so brazen."
+
+"Brazen?"
+
+"Yes. Why don't you invite me to ride to Orham with you? Why must I
+_always_ have to invite myself?"
+
+He turned to look at her. She colored a little, but she returned his
+look.
+
+"You--you mean it?" he demanded.
+
+"Of course I mean it. I must get there somehow, because I promised Mr.
+Bradley. And unless you don't want me, in which case I shall have to
+hire from the livery stable, I----"
+
+But he interrupted her. "Want you!" he repeated. "_Want_ you!"
+
+His tone was sufficiently emphatic, perhaps more emphatic than he would
+have made it if he had not been taken by surprise. She must have found
+it satisfactory, for she did not ask further assurances.
+
+"Thank you," she said. "And when are you planning to start?"
+
+"Why--why, right after dinner to-morrow. If that's all right for you.
+But I'm sorry you had to invite yourself. I--I thought--well, I thought
+maybe George had--had planned----"
+
+To his further surprise she seemed a trifle annoyed.
+
+"George works at the store," she said. "Besides, I--well, really, Cap'n
+Kendrick, there is no compelling reason why George Kent should take me
+everywhere I want to go."
+
+Now Sears had imagined there was--and rumor and surmise in Bayport had
+long supported his imagining--but he did not tell her that. What he did
+say was inane enough.
+
+"Oh--er--yes, of course," he stammered.
+
+"No, there isn't. He and I are friends, good friends, and have been for
+a long time, but that doesn't---- Well, Cap'n, I shall look for you and
+the Foam Flake--oh, that _is_ a wonderful name--about one to-morrow. And
+I'll promise not to keep you waiting."
+
+"If the Foam Flake doesn't die in the meantime I'll be on hand. He'll be
+asleep probably, but Judah declares he walks in his sleep, so that----
+Oh, heavens and earth!"
+
+This exclamation, although but a mutter, was fervent indeed. The captain
+and Elizabeth had turned to the vine-shaded doorway of the Eyrie, and
+there, in that doorway, was Miss Snowden and, peering around her thin
+shoulder, the moon face of Mrs. Chase. Sears looked annoyed, Miss Berry
+looked more so, and Elvira looked--well, she looked all sorts of things.
+As for Aurora, her expression was, as always, unfathomable. Judah Cahoon
+once compared her countenance to a pink china dish-cover, and it is hard
+to read the emotions behind a dish-cover.
+
+Miss Snowden spoke first.
+
+"Oh!" she observed; and much may be expressed in that monosyllable.
+
+Elizabeth spoke next. "Your book is there on the seat, Elvira," she
+said, carelessly. "At least I suppose it is yours. It has your bookmark
+in it."
+
+Elvira simpered. "Yes," she affirmed, "it is mine. But I'm not in a
+hurry, not a single bit of hurry. I _do_ hope we haven't _disturbed_
+you."
+
+"Not a bit, not a bit," said Sears, crisply. "Miss Elizabeth and I were
+havin' a business talk, but we had finished. The coast is clear for you
+now. Good afternoon."
+
+"You're _sure_, Cap'n Kendrick? Aurora and I wouldn't interrupt a
+_business_ talk for the _world_. And in such a romantic place, too."
+
+As Sears and Elizabeth walked up the path from the summer-house the
+voice of Mrs. Chase was audible--as usual very audible indeed.
+
+"Elviry," begged Aurora, eagerly, "Elviry, what did he say to you? He
+looked awful kind of put out when he said it."
+
+The captain was "put out," so was Elizabeth apparently. The latter said,
+"Oh, dear!" and laughed, but there was less humor than irritation in the
+laugh. Sears's remark was brief but pointed.
+
+"I like four-legged cats first-rate," he declared.
+
+The next day at one o'clock he and his passenger, with the placid Foam
+Flake as motor power, left the Fair Harbor together. And, as they drove
+out of the yard, both were conscious that behind the shades of the
+dining-room windows were at least six eager faces, and whispering
+tongues were commenting, exclaiming and surmising.
+
+The captain, for his part, forgot the faces and tongues very quickly. It
+was a pleasant afternoon, the early fall days on the Cape are so often
+glorious; the rain of a few days before had laid the dust, at least the
+upper layer of it, and the woods were beginning to show the first
+sprinklings of crimson and purple and yellow. The old horse walked or
+jogged or rambled on along the narrow winding ways, the ancient buggy
+rocked and rattled and swung in the deep ruts. They met almost no one
+for the eight miles between Bayport and Orham--there were no roaring,
+shrieking processions of automobiles in those days--and when Abial
+Gould, of North Harniss, encountered them at the narrowest section of
+highway, he steered his placid ox team into the huckleberry bushes and
+waited for them to pass, waving a whip-handle greeting from his perch on
+top of his load of fragrant pitch pine. The little ponds and lakes shone
+deeply blue as they glimpsed them in the hollows or over the tree tops
+and, occasionally, a startled partridge boomed from the thicket, or a
+flock of quail scurried along the roadside.
+
+They talked of all sorts of things, mostly of ships and seas and
+countries far away, subjects to which Elizabeth led the conversation and
+then abandoned it to her companion. They spoke little of the Fair Harbor
+or its picayune problems, and of the errand upon which they were
+going--the judge's will, its reading and its possible surprises--none at
+all.
+
+"Don't," pleaded Elizabeth, when Sears once mentioned the will; "don't,
+please. Judge Knowles was such a good friend of mine that I can't bear
+to think he has gone and that some one else is to speak his thoughts and
+carry out his plans. Tell me another sea story, Cap'n Kendrick. There
+aren't any Elvira Snowdens off Cape Horn, I'm sure."
+
+So Sears spun his yarns and enjoyed the spinning because she seemed to
+so enjoy listening to them. And he did not once mention his crippled
+limbs, or his despondency concerning the future; in fact, he pretty well
+forgot them for the time. And he did not mention George Kent, a person
+whom he had meant to mention and praise highly, for his unreasonable
+conscience had pestered him since the talk in the summer-house and, as
+usual, he had determined to do penance. But he forgot Kent for the time,
+forgot him altogether.
+
+Bradley's law offices occupied a one-story building on Orham's main road
+near the center of the village. There were several rigs standing at the
+row of hitching posts by the steps as they drove up. Sears climbed from
+the buggy--he did it much easier than had been possible a month
+before--and moored the Foam Flake beside them. Then they entered the
+building.
+
+Bradley's office boy told them that his employer and the others were in
+the private room beyond. The captain inquired who the others were.
+
+"Well" said the boy, "there's that Mr. Barnes--he's the one from
+California, you know, Judge Knowles' nephew. And Mike--Mr. Callahan, I
+mean--him that took care of the judge's horse and team and things; and
+that Tidditt woman that kept his house. And there's Mr. Dishup, the
+Orthodox minister from over to Bayport, and another man, I don't know
+his name. Walk right in, Cap'n Kendrick. Mr. Bradley told me to tell you
+and Miss Berry to walk right in when you came."
+
+So they walked right in. Bradley greeted them and introduced them to
+Knowles Barnes, the long-looked-for nephew from California. Barnes was a
+keen-eyed, healthy-looking business man and the captain liked him at
+once. The person whom the office boy did not know turned out to be
+Captain Noah Baker, a retired master mariner, who was Grand Master of
+the Bayport lodge of Masons.
+
+"And now that you and Miss Berry are here, Cap'n Kendrick," said
+Bradley, "we will go ahead. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the will of
+our late good friend, Judge Knowles. He asked you all to be here when it
+was opened and read. Mr. Barnes is obliged to go West again in a week or
+so, so the sooner we get to business the better. Ahem!"
+
+Then followed the reading of the will. One by one the various legacies
+and bequests were read. Some of them Sears Kendrick had expected and
+foreseen. Others came as surprises. He was rather astonished to find
+that the judge had been, according to Cape Cod standards of that day,
+such a rich man. The estate, so the lawyer said, would, according to
+Knowles' own figures, total in the neighborhood of one hundred and fifty
+thousand dollars.
+
+Judge Knowles bequeathed:
+
+    To the Endowment Fund of the Fair Harbor for
+    Mariners' Women                                $50,000
+
+    To the Bayport Congregational Church             5,000
+
+    To the Building Fund of the Bayport Lodge of
+    Masons                                           5,000
+
+    To Emmeline Tidditt (his housekeeper)            5,000
+
+    To Michael Callahan (his hired man)              5,000
+
+    To Elizabeth Berry--in trust until she should be
+    thirty years of age                             20,000
+
+    Other small bequests, about                      7,000
+
+The balance, the residue of the estate, amounting to a sum approximating
+fifty-five thousand, to Henry Knowles Barnes, of San Francisco,
+California.
+
+There were several pages of carefully worded directions and
+instructions. The fifty thousand for the Fair Harbor was already
+invested in good securities and, from the interest of these, Sears
+Kendrick's salary of fifteen hundred a year was to be paid as long as
+he wished to retain his present position as general manager. If the time
+should come when he wished to relinquish that position he was given
+authority to appoint his successor at the same salary. Or should
+Cordelia Berry, at any time, decide to give up her position as matron,
+Kendrick and Bradley, acting together, might, if they saw fit, appoint a
+suitable person to act as manager _and_ matron at a suitable salary. In
+this event, of course, Kendrick would no longer continue to draw his
+fifteen hundred a year.
+
+The reading was not without interruptions. Mr. Callahan's was the most
+dramatic. When announcement was made of his five thousand dollar
+windfall his Celtic fervor got the better of him and he broke loose with
+a tangled mass of tearful ejaculations and prayers, a curious mixture of
+glories to the saints and demands for blessings upon the soul of his
+benefactor. Mrs. Tidditt was as greatly moved as he, but she had her
+emotions under firmer control. The Reverend Mr. Dishup was happy and
+grateful on behalf of his parish, so too was Captain Baker as
+representative of the Masonic Lodge. But each of these had been in a
+measure prepared, they had been led to expect some gift or remembrance.
+It was Elizabeth Berry who had, apparently, expected nothing--nothing
+for herself, that is. When the lawyer announced the generous bequest to
+the Fair Harbor she caught her breath and turned to look at Sears with
+an almost incredulous joy in her eyes. But when he read of the twenty
+thousand which was hers--the income beginning at once and the principal
+when she was thirty--she was so tremendously taken aback that, for an
+instant, the captain thought she was going to faint. "Oh!" she
+exclaimed, and that was all, but the color left her face entirely.
+
+Sears rose, so did the minister, but she waved them back. "Don't," she
+begged. "I--I am all right.... No, please don't speak to me for--for a
+little while."
+
+So they did not speak, but the captain, watching her, saw that the color
+came back very slowly to her cheeks and that her eyes, when she opened
+them, were wet. Her hands, clasped in her lap, were trembling. Sears,
+although rejoicing for her, felt a pang of hot resentment at the manner
+of the announcement. It should not have been so public. She should not
+have had to face such a surprise before those staring spectators. Why
+had not the judge--or Bradley, if he knew--have prepared her in some
+measure?
+
+But when it was over and he hastened to congratulate her, she was more
+composed. She received his congratulations, and those of the others, if
+not quite calmly at least with dignity and simplicity. To Mr. Dishup and
+Bradley and Captain Baker she said little except thanks. To Barnes,
+whose congratulations were sincere and hearty, and, to all appearances
+at least, quite ungrudging, she expressed herself as too astonished to
+be very coherent.
+
+"I--I can scarcely believe it yet," she faltered. "I can't understand--I
+can't think why he did it.... And you are all so very kind. You won't
+mind if I don't say any more now, will you?"
+
+But to Sears when he came, once more, to add another word and to shake
+her hand, she expressed a little of the uncertainty which she felt.
+
+"Oh," she whispered; "oh, Cap'n Kendrick, do you think it is right? Do
+you think he really meant to do it? You are sure he did?"
+
+His tone should have carried conviction. "You bet he meant it!" he
+declared, fervently. "He never meant anything any more truly; I know
+it."
+
+"Do you? Do you really?... Did--did you know? Did he tell you he was
+going to?"
+
+"Not exactly, but he hinted. He----"
+
+"Wait. Wait, please. Don't tell me any more now. By and by, on the way
+home, perhaps. I--I want to know all about it. I want to be sure. And,"
+with a tremulous smile, "I doubt if I could really understand just yet."
+
+The group in the lawyer's office did not break up for another hour.
+There were many matters for discussion, matters upon which Bradley and
+Barnes wished the advice of the others. Mike and Mrs. Tidditt were sent
+home early, and departed, volubly, though tearfully rejoicing. The
+minister and Captain Noah stayed on to answer questions concerning the
+church and the lodge, the former's pressing needs and the new building
+which the latter had hoped for and which was now a certainty. Sears and
+Elizabeth remained longest. Bradley whispered to the captain that he
+wished them to do so.
+
+When they were alone with him, and with Barnes of course, he took from
+his pocket two sealed letters.
+
+"The judge gave me these along with the will," he said. "That was about
+three weeks before he died. I don't know what is in them and he gave me
+to understand that I wasn't supposed to know. They are for you two and
+no one else, so he said. You are to read yours when you are alone, Cap'n
+Kendrick, and Elizabeth is to read hers when she is by herself. And he
+particularly asked me to tell you both not to make your decision too
+quickly. Think it over, he said."
+
+He handed Sears an envelope addressed in Judge Knowles' hand-writing,
+and to Elizabeth another bearing her name.
+
+"There!" he exclaimed, with a sigh of relief. "That is done. Ever since
+the old judge left us I have been feeling as if he were standing at my
+elbow and nudging me not to forget. He had a will of his own, Judge
+Knowles had, and I don't mean the will we have just read, either. But,
+take him by and large, as you sailors say, Cap'n, I honestly believe he
+was the biggest and squarest man this county has seen for years. Some of
+us are going to be surer of that fact every day that passes."
+
+It was after four when Elizabeth and Sears climbed aboard the buggy and
+the captain, tugging heavily on what he termed the port rein, coaxed the
+unwilling Foam Flake into the channel--or the road. Heavy clouds had
+risen in the west since their arrival in Orham, the sky was covered with
+them, and it was already beginning to grow dark. When they turned from
+the main road into the wood road leading across the Cape there were
+lighted lamps in the kitchens of the scattered houses on the outskirts
+of the town.
+
+"Is it going to rain, do you think?" asked Elizabeth, peering at the
+troubled brown masses above the tree tops.
+
+Sears shook his head. "Hardly think so," he replied. "Looks more like
+wind to me. Pretty heavy squall, I shouldn't wonder, and maybe rain
+to-morrow. Come, come; get under way, Old Hundred," addressing the
+meandering Foam Flake. "If you don't travel faster than this in fair
+weather and a smooth sea, what will you do when we have to reef? Well,"
+with a chuckle, "even if it comes on a livin' gale the old horse won't
+blow off the course. Judah feeds him too well. Nothin' short of a
+typhoon could heel _him_ down."
+
+The prophesied gale held off, but the darkness shut in rapidly. In the
+long stretches of thick woods through which they were passing it was
+soon hard to see clearly. Not that that made any difference. Sears knew
+the Orham road pretty well and the placid Foam Flake seemed to know it
+absolutely. His ancient hoofs plodded up and down in the worn "horse
+path" between the grass-grown and sometimes bush-grown ridges which
+separated it from the deep ruts on either side. Sometimes those ruts
+were so deep that the tops of the blueberry bushes and weeds on those
+ridges scratched the bottom of the buggy.
+
+Beside his orders to the horse the captain had said very little since
+their departure. He had been thinking, though, thinking hard. It was
+just beginning to dawn upon him, the question as to what this good
+fortune which had befallen the girl beside him might mean, what effect
+it might have upon her, upon her future--and upon her relations with
+him, Sears Kendrick.
+
+Hitherto those relations had been those of comrades, fellow workers,
+partners, so to speak, in an enterprise the success of which involved
+continuous planning and fighting against obstacles. A difficult but
+fascinating game of itself, but one which also meant a means of
+livelihood for them both. Elizabeth had drawn no salary, it is true, but
+without her help her mother could not have held her position as matron,
+not for a month could she have done so. It was Elizabeth who was the
+real matron, who really earned the wages Cordelia received and upon
+which they both lived. And Elizabeth had told the captain that she
+should remain at the Fair Harbor and work with and for her mother as
+long as the latter needed her.
+
+And now Sears was realizing that the necessity for either of them to
+remain there no longer existed. Cordelia, thanks to Mrs. Phillips'
+bequest, had five thousand dollars of her own. Elizabeth had, for the
+six or seven years before her thirtieth birthday, an income of at least
+twelve hundred yearly. Cordelia's legacy would add several hundred to
+that. If they wished it was quite possible for them to retire from the
+Fair Harbor and live somewhere in a modest fashion upon that income.
+Many couples--couples esteemed by Bayporters as being in comfortable
+circumstances--were living upon incomes quite as small. Sears was
+suddenly brought face to face with this possibility, and was forced to
+admit it even a probability.
+
+And he--he had no income worth mentioning. He could not go to sea again
+for a long time; he did not add "if ever," because even conservative
+Doctor Sheldon now admitted that his complete recovery was but a matter
+of time, but it would be a year--perhaps years. And for that year, or
+those years, he must live--and he had practically nothing to live upon
+except his Fair Harbor salary. And then again, as an additional
+obligation, there was his promise to Judge Knowles to stick it out. But
+to stick it out alone--without her!
+
+For Elizabeth was under no obligation. She might not stay--probably
+would not. She was a young woman of fortune now. She could do what she
+liked, in reason. She might--why, she might even decide to marry. There
+was Kent----
+
+At the thought Sears choked and swallowed hard. A tingling, freezing
+shiver ran down his spine. She would marry George Kent and he would be
+left to--to face--to face---- She would marry--_she_----
+
+The shiver lasted but a moment. He shut his teeth, blinked and came
+back to the buggy seat and reality--and shame. Overwhelming, humiliating
+shame. He glanced fearfully at her, afraid that she might have seen his
+face and read upon it the secret which he himself had learned for the
+first time. No, she did not read it, she was not looking at him, she too
+seemed to be thinking. There was a chance for him yet. He must be a man,
+a decent man, not a fool and a selfish beast. She did not know--and she
+should not. Then, or at any future time.
+
+He spoke now and hurriedly. "Well," he began, "I suppose----"
+
+But she had looked up and now she spoke. Apparently she had not heard
+him, for she said:
+
+"Tell me about it, Cap'n Kendrick, please. I want to hear all about it.
+You said you knew? You say Judge Knowles hinted that he was going to do
+this--for me? Tell me all about it, please. Please."
+
+So he told her, all that he could remember of the judge's words
+concerning his regard for her, of his high opinion of her abilities, of
+his friendship for her father, and of his intention to see that she was
+"provided for."
+
+"I didn't know just what he meant, of course," he said, in conclusion,
+"but I guessed, some of it. I do want you to know, Elizabeth," he added,
+stammering a little in his earnestness, "how glad I am for you, how
+_very_ glad."
+
+"Yes," she said, "I do know."
+
+"Well, I--I haven't said much, but I _am_. I don't think I ever was more
+glad, or could be. You believe that, don't you?"
+
+She looked at him in surprise. "Why, of course I believe it," she said.
+"Why do you ask that?"
+
+"Oh, I--I don't know. I hadn't said much about it."
+
+"But it wasn't necessary. I knew you were glad. I know you by this time,
+Cap'n Kendrick, through and through."
+
+The same guilty shiver ran down his spine and he glanced sharply at her
+to see if there was any hidden meaning behind her words. But there was
+not. She was looking down again, and when she again spoke it was to
+repeat the question she had asked at the lawyer's office.
+
+"I wonder if I ought to take it?" she murmured. "Do you think it is
+right for me to accept--so much?
+
+"Right!" he repeated. "Right? Of course its right. And because it is
+enough to amount to somethin' makes it all the more right. Judge Knowles
+knew what he was doin', trust his long head for that. A little would
+only have made things easier where you were.... Now," he forced himself
+to say it, "now you can be independent."
+
+"Independent?"
+
+"Why, yes. Do what you like--in reason. Steer your own course. Live as
+you want to ... and where ... and _how_ you want to."
+
+They were simple sentences these, but he found them hard to say. She
+turned again to look at him.
+
+"Why do you speak like that?" she asked. "How should I want to live?
+What do you mean?"
+
+"I mean--er--you can think of your own happiness and--plans, and--all
+that. You won't be anchored to the Fair Harbor, unless you want to be.
+You.... Eh? Hi! Standby! Whoa! _Whoa!_"
+
+The last commands were roars at the horse, for, at that moment, the
+squall struck.
+
+It came out of the blackness to the left and ahead like some enormous
+living creature springing over the pine tops and pouncing upon them.
+There was a rumble, a roar and then a shrieking rush. The sand of the
+road leaped up like the smoke from an explosion, showers of leaves and
+twigs pattered sharply upon the buggy top or were thrown smartly into
+their faces. From all about came the squeaks and groans of branches
+rubbing against each other, with an occasional sharp crack as a limb
+gave way under the pressure.
+
+Captain Kendrick and his passenger had been so occupied with their
+thoughts and conversation that both had forgotten the heavy clouds they
+had noticed when they left Bradley's office, rolling up from the west.
+Then, too, the increasing darkness had hidden the sky. So the swoop of
+the squall took them completely by surprise.
+
+And not only them but that genuine antique the Foam Flake. This
+phlegmatic animal had been enjoying himself for the last half hour. No
+one had shouted orders at him, he had not been slapped with the ends of
+the reins, no whip had been cracked in his vicinity. He had been
+permitted to amble and to walk and had availed himself of the
+permission. For the most recent mile he had been, practically, a
+somnambulist. Now out of his dreams, whatever they may have been, came
+this howling terror. He jumped and snorted. Then the wind, tearing a
+prickly dead branch from a scrub oak by the roadside, cast it full into
+his dignified countenance. For the first time in ten years at least, the
+Foam Flake ran away.
+
+He did not run far, of course; he was not in training for distance
+events. But his sprint, although short, was lively and erratic. He
+jumped to one side, the side opposite to that from which the branch had
+come, jerking the buggy out of the ruts and setting it to rocking like a
+dory amid breakers. He jumped again, and this brought his ancient
+broadside into contact with the bushes by the edge of the road. They
+were ragged, and prickly, and in violent commotion. So he jumped the
+other way.
+
+Sears, yelling Whoas and compliments, stood erect upon his newly-mended
+legs and leaned his weight backward upon the reins. If the skipper of a
+Hudson River canal boat had suddenly found his craft deserting the
+waterway and starting to climb Bear Mountain, he might have experienced
+something of Sears' feelings at that moment. Canal boats should not
+climb; it isn't done; and horses of the Foam Flake age, build and
+reputation should not run away.
+
+"Whoa! Whoa! What in thunder--?" roared the captain. "Port! Port, you
+lubber!"
+
+He jerked violently on the left rein. That rein was, like the horse and
+the buggy, of more than middle age. Leather of that age must be
+persuaded, not jerked. The rein broke just beyond Sears' hand, flew over
+the dashboard and dragged in the road. The driver's weight came solidly
+upon the right hand rein. The Foam Flake dashed across the highway
+again, head-first into the woods this time.
+
+Then followed a few long--very long minutes of scratching and rocking
+and pounding. Sears heard himself shouting something about the Broken
+rein he must get that rein.
+
+"It's all right! It's all right, Elizabeth!" he shouted. "I'm goin' to
+lean out over his back, if I can and--O--oh!"
+
+The last was a groan, involuntarily wrung from him by the pain in his
+knees. He had put an unaccustomed strain upon them and they were
+remonstrating. He shut his teeth, swallowed another groan, and leaned
+out over the dash, his hand clutching for the harness of the rocketing,
+bumping Foam Flake.
+
+Then he realized that some one else was leaning over that dashboard, was
+in fact almost out of the buggy and swinging by the harness and the
+shaft.
+
+"Elizabeth!" he shouted, in wild alarm. "Elizabeth, what are you doin'?
+Stop!"
+
+But she was back, panting a little, but safe.
+
+"I have the rein," she panted. "Give me the other, Cap'n Kendrick. I can
+handle him, I know. Give me the rein. Sit down! Oh, please! You will
+hurt yourself again!"
+
+But he was in no mood to sit down. He snatched the end of the broken
+rein from her hand, taking it and the command again simultaneously.
+
+"Get back, back on the seat," he ordered. "Now then," addressing the
+horse, "we'll see who's what! Whoa! Whoa! Steady! Come into that
+channel, you old idiot! Come _on_!"
+
+The Foam Flake was pretty nearly ready to come by this time. And
+Kendrick's not too gentle coaxing helped. The buggy settled into the
+ruts with a series of bumps. The horse's gallop became a trot, then a
+walk; then he stopped and stood still.
+
+The captain subsided on the seat beside his passenger. He relaxed his
+tension upon the reins and the situation.
+
+"Whew!" he exclaimed. "That was sweet while it lasted. All right, are
+you?"
+
+She answered, still rather breathlessly, "Yes, I am all right," she
+declared. "But you? Aren't you hurt?"
+
+"Me? Not a bit."
+
+"You're sure? I was so afraid. Your--your legs, you know."
+
+"My legs are all serene." They weren't, by any means, and were at that
+moment proclaiming the fact, but he did not mean she should know.
+"They're first-rate.... Well, I'm much obliged."
+
+"Obliged for what?"
+
+"For that rein. But you shouldn't have climbed out that way. You might
+have broken your neck. 'Twas an awful risk."
+
+"You were going to take the same risk. And _I_ am not in the doctor's
+care."
+
+"Well, you shouldn't have done it, just the same. And it was a spunky
+thing to do.... But what a numbskull I was not to be on the lookout for
+that squall. Humph!" with a grin, "I believe I told you even a typhoon
+couldn't move this horse. I was wrong, wasn't I?"
+
+The squall had passed on, but a steady gale was behind it. And there was
+a marked hint of dampness in the air. Sears sniffed.
+
+"And I'm afraid, too," he said, "that I was wrong about that rain comin'
+to-morrow. I think it's comin' this evenin' and pretty soon, at that."
+
+It came within fifteen minutes, in showery gusts at first. The captain
+urged the Foam Flake onward as fast as possible, but that quadruped had
+already over-expended his stock of energy and shouts and slaps meant
+nothing to him. For a short time Sears chatted and laughed, but then he
+relapsed into silence. Elizabeth, watching him fearfully, caught, as the
+buggy bounced over a loose stone, a smothered exclamation, first cousin
+to a groan.
+
+"I knew it!" she cried. "You _are_ hurt, Cap'n Kendrick."
+
+"No, no, I'm not," hastily. "It's--it's those confounded spliced spars
+of mine. They're a little weak yet, I presume likely."
+
+"Of course they are. Oh, I'm _so_ sorry. Won't you let me drive?"
+
+"I should say not. I'm not quite ready for the scrap heap yet. And if I
+couldn't steer this Noah's ark I should be.... Hello! here's another
+craft at sea."
+
+Another vehicle was ahead of them in the road, coming toward them. Sears
+pulled out to permit it to pass. But the driver of the other buggy
+hailed as the horses' heads came abreast.
+
+"Elizabeth," he shouted, "is that you?"
+
+Miss Berry's surprise showed in her voice.
+
+"Why, George!" she cried. "Where in the world are you going?"
+
+The horses stopped. Kent leaned forward.
+
+"Going?" he repeated. "Why, I was going after you, of course. Are you
+wet through?"
+
+He seemed somewhat irritated, so the captain thought.
+
+"No, indeed," replied Elizabeth. "I am all right. But why did you come
+after me? Didn't they tell you I was with Cap'n Kendrick?"
+
+"_They_ told me--yes. But why didn't _you_ tell me you were going to
+Orham? I would have driven you over; you know I would."
+
+"You were at work at the store."
+
+"Well, I could have taken the afternoon off.... But there! no use
+talking about it out here in this rain. Come on.... Oh, wait until I
+turn around. Drive ahead a little, will you?"
+
+This was the first time he had spoken to Sears, and even then his tone
+was not too gracious. The captain drove on a few steps, as requested,
+and, a moment later, Kent's equipage, now headed in their direction, was
+alongside once more.
+
+"Whoa!" he shouted, and both horses stopped. "Come on, Elizabeth," urged
+the young man, briskly. "Wait, I'll help you."
+
+He sprang out of his buggy and approached theirs. "Come on," he said,
+again. "Quick! It is going to rain harder."
+
+Elizabeth did not move. "But I'm not going with you, George," she said
+quietly.
+
+He stared at her.
+
+"Not going with me?" he repeated. "Why, of course you are. I've come on
+purpose for you."
+
+"I'm sorry. You shouldn't have done it. You knew I would be all right
+with Cap'n Kendrick."
+
+"I didn't even know you were going with him. You didn't say you were
+going at all. If you had I----"
+
+"You would have taken another afternoon's holiday. And you know what Mr.
+Bassett said about the last one."
+
+"I don't care a--I don't care what he says. I shan't be working very
+long for him, I hope.... But there, Elizabeth! Come on, come on! I can
+get you home for supper while that old horse of Cahoon's is thinking
+about it."
+
+But still she did not move. Sears thought that, perhaps, he should take
+a hand.
+
+"Go right ahead, Elizabeth," he said. "George is right about the
+horses."
+
+"Of course I am. Come, Elizabeth."
+
+"No, I shall stay with Cap'n Kendrick. He has been kind enough to take
+me so far and we are almost home. You can follow, George, and we'll get
+there together."
+
+"Well, I like that!" exclaimed Kent. But he did not speak as if he liked
+it. "After I have taken the trouble----"
+
+"Hush! Don't be silly. The cap'n has taken a great deal of trouble,
+too.... No," as Sears began to protest, "you can't get rid of me, Cap'n
+Kendrick."
+
+"But, Elizabeth----"
+
+"No. Do you suppose I am going to leave you--in pain--and.... Drive on,
+please. George can follow us."
+
+"But I'm all right, good land knows! The Foam Flake won't try to fly
+again. And really, I----"
+
+"Drive on, please."
+
+So he drove on; there seemed to be nothing else to do. It did not help
+his feelings to hear, as George Kent was left standing in the road, a
+disgusted and profane ejaculation from that young gentleman.
+
+The remainder of the journey was quickly made. There was little
+conversation. The rain, the wind, and the sounds of the horses' hoofs
+and the rattle of the buggies--for Kent's was close behind all the
+way--furnished most of the noise.
+
+Judah was waiting when they came into the yard of the Minot place. He
+and Elizabeth helped Sears from the buggy. The captain, in spite of his
+protestations, could scarcely stand. Kent, because Elizabeth asked him
+to, assisted in getting him into the kitchen and the biggest rocking
+chair.
+
+"Now go ... go," urged Sears. "I'm just a little lame, that's all, and
+I'll be all right by to-morrow. Go, Elizabeth please. Your supper is
+waitin' as it is. Now go."
+
+She went, but rather reluctantly. "I shall run over after supper to see
+how you are," she declared. "Thank you very much for taking me to Orham,
+Cap'n."
+
+"Thank you for--for a whole lot of things. And don't you dream of comin'
+over again to-night. There's no sense in it, is there, George?"
+
+If Kent heard he did not answer. His "good night" was brief. Sears did
+not like it, nor the expression on his face. This was a new side of the
+young fellow's character, a side the captain had not seen before. And
+yet--well, he was young, very young. Sears was troubled about the
+affair. Had he been to blame? He had not meant to be. Ah-hum! the world
+was full of misunderstandings and foolishness. And was there, in all
+that world, any being more foolish than himself?
+
+Just here, Judah, having returned from stabling the Foam Flake, rushed
+into the kitchen to demand answers to a thousand questions. For the next
+hour there was no opportunity for moralizing or melancholy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+
+Elizabeth did not visit the Minot place that evening, as she had said
+she meant to do. It may be that Sears was a trifle disappointed, but
+even he would have been obliged to confess that that particular evening
+was not the time for him to receive callers. He ate his supper--a very
+small portion of the meal which Judah had provided for him--and, soon
+afterward, retired to the spare stateroom and bed. Undressing was a
+martyrdom, and he had hard work to keep back the groans which the pain
+in his legs tempted him to utter. There was no doubt that he had twisted
+those shaky limbs of his more than he realized. He had wrenched them
+severely, how severely he scarcely dared think. But they forced him to
+think all that night, and the next morning Judah insisted on going for
+the doctor.
+
+Doctor Sheldon examined the "spliced timbers," fumed and scolded a good
+deal, but at last grudgingly admitted that no irreparable harm had been
+done.
+
+"You're luckier than you deserve, Cap'n," he declared. "It's a wonder
+you aren't ruined altogether. Now you stay right in that bed until I
+tell you to get up. And that won't be to-day, or to-morrow either.
+Perhaps the day after that--well, we'll see. But those legs of yours
+need absolute rest. Judah, you see that they get it, will you? If he
+tries to get up you knock him back again. Those are orders. Understand?"
+
+"Aye, aye, sir," replied Judah, promptly. "I'll have a handspike handy.
+He won't turn out, I'll see to it."
+
+Sears' protestations that he couldn't waste time in bed, that he had too
+many important things to attend to, went for nothing. According to
+Sheldon and Judah his legs were the only things of real importance just
+then and they needed absolute rest. Down inside him the captain realized
+that this was true, and so grumblingly resigned himself to the two days
+of imprisonment. With the most recent issues of the _Cape Cod Item_ and
+one or two books from the shelves in the sitting room closet, books of
+the vintage of the '40's and '50's, but fortunately of a strong sea
+flavor, he endeavored to console himself, while Judah attended to the
+household duties or went down town on errands.
+
+Elizabeth called that first forenoon, but did not see him. The doctor
+had warned Judah to head off visitors. "They may not do any harm, but
+they certainly won't do any good, and I want him to have absolute rest,"
+said Sheldon. So Judah guarded the outer portal, and, when he went out,
+hung up a warning placard. "OUT. NO ADMITENTS. DOORS LOKED. KEY UNDER
+MAT." The information concerning the key was for the doctor's benefit.
+
+But Elizabeth sent her good wishes and sympathy. So did her mother. So,
+too, did Esther Tidditt, and Miss Snowden, and Miss Peasley, and in fact
+all the Fair Harbor inmates. For the first day Mr. Cahoon was kept busy
+transmitting messages to the spare stateroom.
+
+But about this time Bayport began to rock with a new series of
+sensations and, except by the very few, Captain Kendrick was forgotten.
+The news of Judge Knowles' various legacies became known and spread
+through the village like fire in a patch of dead weeds. The Fair Harbor
+sat up nearly all of one night discussing and commenting upon the good
+fortune which had befallen the Berrys. And by no means all of the time
+was used in congratulations.
+
+"Humph!" sniffed Susanna Brackett, her lips squeezed so tightly together
+that her mustache stood on end. "Humph!"
+
+Miss Snowden nodded. "Of course," she said, "I'm not a person to hint,
+or anything of that sort. But--_but_ if somebody'll tell me _why_ the
+judge left all that money to her I should like to hear 'em."
+
+Mrs. Brackett opened her lips sufficiently to observe that so should
+she. "Of course," she added, "the five thousand that Lobelia left
+Cordelia might have been expected, they was real friendly always. But
+why did Judge Knowles leave it all to Elizabeth and not one cent to her
+mother? _That_ I _can't_ understand."
+
+Miss Peasley smiled. "We used to wonder why Elizabeth kept runnin' to
+the judge's all the time," she said. "He was sick and feeble and we
+thought 'twas queer her pesterin' him so. _Now_--well, it pays to hang
+around sick folks, don't it? They're easier to coax, maybe, than the
+well kind.... Course I ain't sayin' there was any coaxin' done."
+
+Little Mrs. Tidditt's feathers had begun to rise. "Oh, no!" she snapped.
+"You ain't _sayin'_ anything, any of you. Judge Knowles was business
+head of this--this old cats' home afore he app'inted Cap'n Kendrick to
+the job, and you know that. Elizabeth _had_ to go to him about all sorts
+of money matters, and you know that, too. As for her tryin' to coax him
+to leave her money, that's just rubbish. He always liked her, thought
+the world of her ever since she was a little girl, and he left her the
+twenty thousand because of that and for no other reason. That's why _I_
+think he left it to her; but, if some of the rest of you would be better
+satisfied, I'll tell her what you say--or _ain't_ sayin', Desire--and
+let her answer it herself."
+
+This not being at all what Miss Peasley and the others wished, no more
+was said about undue influence at the time. But much was said at times
+when the pugnacious Esther was not present, and there was marked
+speculation concerning what Miss Berry would do with her money, what Mr.
+Phillips would do when he returned to Bayport, whether or not Cordelia
+Berry would continue to be matron at the Harbor, and what Sears
+Kendrick's plans for the future might be.
+
+"Of course," said Mrs. Brackett, "the judge fixed it so he would get his
+fifteen hundred so long as he stays manager. But will he stay long?
+There's Mr. Phillips to be considered now, I should think. _He'll_ have
+somethin' to say about the--er--retreat his wife founded, won't he?"
+
+Mrs. Constance Cahoon made a remark.
+
+"George Kent'll come in for a nice windfall some of these days, it looks
+like," she observed, significantly. "What makes you look so funny,
+Elviry?"
+
+Miss Snowden smiled. "Will he?" she inquired.
+
+"Well, won't he? When he marries Elizabeth----"
+
+"Yes. Yes, _when_ he does."
+
+"Well, he's goin' to, ain't he? Why, he's been keepin' comp'ny with her
+for two years. Everybody cal'lates they're engaged."
+
+"Yes. But _they_ don't say they are.... Oh, what is it Aurora?"
+
+Mrs. Chase, who had been listening with her hand at her ears, had caught
+a little of the conversation.
+
+"If you mean her and George Kent is engaged, Constance," she declared,
+"they ain't. I asked Elizabeth if they was, myself, asked her much as a
+month ago, and she said no. Pretty nigh took my head off, too."
+
+Elvira's smile broadened. She nodded, slowly and with mysterious
+significance. "I'm not so sure about that engagement," she observed.
+"Some things I've seen lately have set me to thinking. To thinking a
+good deal.... Um ... yes. It looks to me as if somebody--_somebody_, I
+mention no names--may have had a hint of what was coming and began to
+lay plans according.... No, I shan't say any more--now. And I give in
+that it seems too perfectly ridiculous to believe. But things like that
+sometimes do happen, and ... Well, we'll wait and see."
+
+Happy in the knowledge that she had aroused curiosity as well as envy of
+her superior knowledge, she subsided. Mrs. Tidditt concluded that
+portion of the discussion.
+
+"Well," she remarked, crisply, "I don't see why we need to sit here
+talkin' about engagements or folks' gettin' married. Nobody has shown
+any symptoms of wantin' to marry any of _this_ crowd, so far as I can
+make out."
+
+While the town was at the very height of its agitation concerning the
+Knowles will, there came another earthquake. Egbert Phillips returned.
+He alighted from the train at the Bayport depot on the second morning of
+Sears's imprisonment in the spare stateroom and before night the
+information that he imparted--confidentially, of course--and the hints
+he gave concerning his plans for the future, made the Berry legacies and
+all the other legacies take second place as gossip kindlers.
+
+Judah came rushing into the house later that afternoon, his arms full of
+bundles--purchases at Eliphalet's store--and his mouth full of words. He
+dropped everything, eggs, salt fish, tea and shoe laces, on the kitchen
+table and tore pell-mell into his lodger's bedroom. Captain Kendrick,
+propped up with pillows, was of course stretched out in bed. There was
+what appeared to be a letter in his hand, a letter apparently just
+received, for a recently opened envelope lay on the comforter beside
+him, and upon his face was an expression of bewilderment, surprise and
+marked concern. Judah was too intent upon his news to notice anything
+else and Sears hastily gathered up letter and envelope and thrust them
+beneath the pillow. Then Judah broke loose.
+
+Egbert had come back, had come back to Bayport to live, for good. He had
+come on the morning train. Lots of folks saw him; some of them had
+talked with him. "And what do you cal'late, Cap'n Sears? You'll never
+guess in _this_ world! By the crawlin' prophets, he swears he ain't
+rich, the way all hands figured out he was. No, sir, he ain't! 'Cordin'
+to his tell he ain't got no money at all, scarcely. All them stocks
+and--and bonds and--and securitums and such like have gone on the rocks.
+They was unfort'nate infestments, he says. He says he's in straightened
+out circumstances, whatever they be, but he's come back here to spend
+his declinin' days--that's what Joe Macomber says he called 'em, his
+declinin' days--in Bayport, 'cause he loves the old place, 'count of
+Lobelia, his wife, lovin' it so, and he can maybe scratch along here on
+what income he's got, and--and----"
+
+And so on, for sentence after sentence. Sears heard some of it, but not
+all. The letter he had just read--the letter from Judge Knowles which
+Bradley had handed him before he left Orham--was of itself too startling
+and disturbing to be dismissed from his thoughts; but he heard some,
+enough to make him realize that there might be, in all probability was,
+trouble ahead. Just why Phillips had returned to Bayport, to take up his
+abode there permanently, was hard to understand, but there certainly
+must be some reason beside his "love" for the place and its people.
+Neither place nor people should, so it seemed to the captain, appeal
+strongly to a citizen of the world, of the fashionable world, like Mr.
+Egbert Phillips. It is true that he might perhaps live cheaper there
+than in most communities, but still.... No, Sears was sure that the
+former singing teacher had returned to the Cape in pursuance of a plan.
+What that plan might be he could not guess, unless the widower
+contemplated contesting his wife's gift to the Fair Harbor. That would
+be a losing fight, was certain to be, for Judge Knowles had seen to
+that. But if not that--what?
+
+He gave very little thought to the matter at the time, for Judge
+Knowles' letter and its astounding proposition were monopolizing his
+mental machinery. That letter would have, as he might have expressed it,
+knocked him on his beam ends even if the Foam Flake's unexpected
+outbreak had not knocked him there already. The letter was rather long,
+but it was to the point, nevertheless. Judge Knowles begged him--him,
+Sears Kendrick--to accept the appointment of trustee in charge of
+Elizabeth Berry's twenty thousand dollar inheritance. The latter was
+hers in trust until she was thirty.
+
+"I have seen enough of you to believe in you, Kendrick," so the judge
+had written. "Besides, you know the Berrys, mother and daughter, by this
+time, better than any one else--even Bradley--and you know my opinion of
+Cordelia's headpiece. I don't want her soft-headedness or foolishness to
+get any of Elizabeth's money away from her. Elizabeth is a dutiful
+daughter and an unselfish girl and she may feel--or be led to
+feel--that her mother ought to have this money or a large part of it. I
+don't want this to happen. Of course I expect Elizabeth to share her
+income with her mother, but I don't want the principal disturbed. After
+she is thirty she can, of course, do what she likes with it, but that
+time isn't now by some years. And then there is that Egbert. Look out
+for him. I say again, look out for him. If _he_ ever got a penny of this
+money I should turn over in my grave. Perhaps you think I am an old fool
+and am treating him with more seriousness than he deserves. You won't
+think so when you know him as well as I do, mark my words. And I think
+you are the one man around here that has had worldly experience enough,
+backed by brains and common-sense, to see through him and handle him. I
+don't mean that there aren't other smart men in town, but most of the
+smartest are in active service and at sea a good share of the time. You
+will be right here for a few years at least. And you are honest, and you
+like Elizabeth Berry, and will look out for her interests.... Of course
+I can't compel you to take this trusteeship, but I hope you will, as a
+favor to her and to me. I have written her a letter similar to this, but
+I have left her a free choice in the matter. If she does not want you
+for her trustee then that ends it. Being the kind of girl she is, I
+think she will be mighty glad to have you...."
+
+And this was the proposition which was causing the captain so much
+anxiety and perplexity. It interfered with the sleep which Doctor
+Sheldon seemed to feel necessary to his patient's complete recovery from
+the setback. It prevented his keeping those damaged legs of his
+absolutely quiet. Time and time again Judah, at work in what he always
+referred to as the "galley," heard his lodger tossing about in the spare
+stateroom and occasionally muttering to himself.
+
+For Sears, facing the problem of accepting or declining the trust, was
+quite aware that the dilemma upon which the judge had perched him had
+two very sharp horns. If he declined--always of course supposing that
+Elizabeth Berry asked him to accept--if he declined he would be acting
+contrary to her wishes and Judge Knowles'. If he did decline, then
+Bradley would be the trustee. Knowles, in a part of the letter not
+quoted, had said that he imagined that would have to be the alternative.
+And Bradley--a good man, an honest and capable man--was not a resident
+of Bayport and could not, as he could, keep an eye upon the Berrys nor
+upon those who might try to influence them. And Bradley did not know
+Bayport as he, Kendrick, did.
+
+But on the other hand, suppose Elizabeth begged him to take the
+trusteeship and he did take it? To begin with, he dreaded the added
+responsibility and distrusted his ability to handle investments. His
+record as a business man ashore was brief enough and not of a kind to
+inspire self-confidence. And what would people say concerning it and
+him? He and Elizabeth were in daily contact. Their association in the
+management of the Fair Harbor was close already. If he should be given
+charge of her fortune--for it was a fortune, in Bayport eyes--would not
+his every action be liable to misconstruction? Would not malicious
+gossip begin to whisper all sorts of things? To misconstrue motives and
+...? Perhaps they were already whispering. He had seen Elvira Snowden
+but once since she and Mrs. Chase surprised him and Elizabeth in the
+Eyrie, but on that one occasion Elvira had, so it seemed to him, looked
+queer--and knowing. It was foolish, of course; it was ridiculous, and
+wicked. He and Elizabeth were friendly, had come to be very good friends
+indeed, but----
+
+And here his train of thought stopped dead, while the same guilty shiver
+he had before felt ran up and down his spine.... Good Lord above! _what_
+was he thinking of? What could be the matter with him? Why, even if
+things were as they had been he would be crazy to.... And now she was a
+rich woman, rich compared to him, at least.
+
+No! And over and over again, No! He would decline the trusteeship. And
+he would make it his business to get well and to sea again as soon as
+possible. As soon as she came to him to mention the judge's letter and
+its insane request he would settle that proposal once and for all.
+
+But she did not come. On the third day the doctor refused to permit him
+to leave the bed.
+
+"You stay where you are for another two days," commanded Sheldon. "It
+will do you good, and while I'm boss you shan't take chances. Cahoon and
+I have got you where we want you now and we'll keep you there till we
+pipe you on deck. Eh, Judah?"
+
+Judah grinned. "Aye, aye," was his rejoinder. "Got the handspike ready
+to my fist, Doctor. He'll stay put if I have to lash him to the bunk
+with a chain cable. It's all for your good, Cap'n Sears. That's what my
+ma used to tell me when she dosed me up every spring with brimstone and
+molasses."
+
+So, reluctantly realizing that it was for his good, Sears "stayed put."
+He had a few callers, although Judah saw to it that their calls were
+brief. Elizabeth was not one of these. She came at least once a day to
+inquire about him, but she did not ask to see him. The captain, trying
+not to be disappointed, endeavored to console himself with the idea that
+she was following Judge Knowles' advice, as repeated by Bradley, and
+meant to take plenty of time before making up her mind concerning the
+trusteeship.
+
+One of his visitors was George Kent. On the fourth day, on his way to
+the Macombers for dinner, the young fellow called at the Minot place.
+Judah was out, but Sears heard his visitor's voice and step through the
+open doors of the dining room and kitchen and shouted to him to come in.
+His manner when he entered was, so it seemed to the captain, a trifle
+constrained, but his inquiries concerning the latter's health were
+cordial enough. As for Sears, he, of course, made it a point to be
+especially cordial.
+
+They talked of many things, but not of their recent encounter on the
+Orham road. Sears did not like to be the first to mention it and it
+appeared as if Kent wished to avoid it altogether. But at last, after a
+short interval of silence, a break in the conversation, he did refer to
+it.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," he said, reddening and looking rather nervous and
+uncomfortable, "I--I suppose you thought I was--was pretty disagreeable
+the other evening. I mean when we met in the rain and Elizabeth was with
+you."
+
+"Eh? Disagreeable?"
+
+"Yes. I wasn't very pleasant, I know. I'm sorry. That--that was one of
+the things I came to say. I lost my temper, I guess."
+
+"Well, if you did I don't know as I blame you, George. A night like that
+is enough to lose any one's temper. I lost mine. The Foam Flake ran away
+with it. But he's repentin' in sackcloth and ashes, I guess. Judah says
+the old horse is lamer than I am."
+
+He laughed heartily. Kent's laugh was short. His uneasiness seemed to
+increase.
+
+"Yes," he said, returning to the subject which was evidently uppermost
+in his mind. "Yes, I did--er--lose my temper, perhaps. But--but it seems
+almost as if I had a--er--well, some excuse. You see--well, you see,
+Cap'n Kendrick, I didn't like it very much, the idea of Elizabeth's
+going over to Orham with--with you, you know."
+
+Sears looked at him in surprise. "Why, she went with me because it was
+the simplest way to get there," he explained. "I was goin' anyhow, and
+Bradley had asked her to be there, too. So, it was natural enough that
+we should go together."
+
+"Well--well, I don't see why she didn't tell me she was going."
+
+"Perhaps she didn't think to tell you."
+
+"Nonsense!... I mean.... Well, anyhow, if she had told me I should have
+looked out for her, of course. I could have hired a rig and driven her
+over."
+
+"But she knew you were at work down at the store. She said that, didn't
+she? Seems to me I remember hearin' her say that she didn't want you
+to--to feel that you must take the afternoon off on her account."
+
+The young man stirred impatiently. "That's foolishness," he declared.
+"She seems to think Bassett has a mortgage on my life. He hasn't, not by
+a long shot. I don't mean to keep his books much longer; I've got other
+things to attend to. My law is getting on pretty well."
+
+"Glad to hear it, George."
+
+"Yes. I shall read with Bradley for a while longer, of course, but after
+that--well, I don't know. I was talking with--with a man who has had a
+good deal of experience with lawyers--real city lawyers, not the
+one-horse sort--and he says the thing for an ambitious young fellow to
+do is to get into one of those city offices. Then you have a chance."
+
+"Oh--I see. But isn't it kind of hard to get in, unless you have some
+acquaintance or influence?"
+
+"I don't know as it is. And I guess this man will help me if I want him
+to."
+
+"So? That's good. Did he say he would?"
+
+"No-o, not exactly, but I think he will. And he's got the acquaintances,
+all right enough. He knows almost everybody that's worth while."
+
+"That's the kind to tie to. Who is he? Somebody up in Boston?"
+
+George shifted again. "I'd rather not mention his name just now," he
+said. "Our talks have been rather--er--confidential and I don't know
+that I should have said anything about them. But I've got plans, you
+see. Then there is my aunt's estate. I am the administrator of that."
+
+"Oh? I didn't know. Your aunt, eh?"
+
+"Yes, my Aunt Charlotte, mother's sister. She was single and lived up in
+Meriden, Connecticut. She died about a month ago and left everything to
+my half-sister and me--my married sister in Springfield, you know. I
+have charge of--of the estate, settling it and all that."
+
+Sears smiled inwardly at the self-satisfaction with which the word
+"estate" was uttered. But outwardly he was serious enough.
+
+"Good for you, George!" he exclaimed. "Congratulations. I hope you've
+come in for a big thing."
+
+His visitor colored slightly. "Well--well, of course," he admitted, "the
+estate isn't very large, but----"
+
+"But it's an estate. I'm glad for you, son."
+
+"Yes--er--yes.... But really, Cap'n, I didn't mean to talk about that.
+I--I just wanted to say that--that I was sorry if I--er--wasn't as
+polite as I might have been the other night, and--well, I thought--it
+seemed as if I--I ought to say--to say----"
+
+Whatever it was it seemed to be hard to say. The captain tried to help.
+
+"Yes, of course, George," he prompted. "Heave ahead and say it."
+
+"Well--well, it's just this, Cap'n Kendrick: Elizabeth and you are--are
+together a good deal, in the Fair Harbor affairs, you know,
+and--and--she doesn't think, of course--and you _are_ a lot older than
+she is--but all the same----"
+
+Sears interrupted.
+
+"Here! Hold on, George!" he put in, sharply. "What's all this?"
+
+Kent's embarrassment increased. "Why--why, nothing," he stammered.
+"Nothing, of course. But you see, Cap'n, people are silly--they don't
+stop to count ages and things like that. They see you with her so
+much.... And when they see you taking her to ride--alone----"
+
+"Here! That'll do!" All the cordiality had left the captain's voice.
+"George," he said, after a moment, "I guess you'd better not say any
+more. I don't think I had better hear it. Miss Elizabeth is a friend of
+mine. She is, as you say, years younger than I am. I _am_ with her a
+good deal, have to be because of our Fair Harbor work together. I took
+her to Orham with me just as I'd take her mother, or you, or any other
+friend who had to go and wanted a lift. But--_but_ if you or any one
+else is hintin' that.... There, there! George, don't be foolish. Maybe
+you'd better run along now. The doctor says I mustn't get excited."
+
+His visitor looked remarkably foolish, but the stubbornness had not
+altogether left his face or tone as he said: "Well, that's all right,
+Cap'n. I knew you would understand. _I_ didn't mean anything, but--but,
+you see, in Elizabeth's case I feel a--a sort of responsibility.
+You--you understand."
+
+Even irritated and angry as he was, Sears could not help smiling at the
+last sentence.
+
+"George," he observed, "you've been fairly open and aboveboard in your
+remarks to me. Suppose I ask you a question. Just what _is_ your
+responsibility in the case? I have heard said, and more than once, that
+you and Elizabeth Berry are engaged to be married. Is it so?"
+
+The young man grew redder yet, hesitated, and turned to the door.
+
+"I--I'm not at liberty to say," he declared.
+
+"Wait! Hold on! There is this responsibility business. If you're not
+engaged--well, honestly, George, I don't quite see where your
+responsibility comes in."
+
+Kent hesitated a moment longer. Then he seemed to make up his mind.
+
+"Well, then, we are--er--er--practically," he said.
+
+"Practically?... Oh! Well, I--I certainly do congratulate you."
+
+George had his hand on the latch, but turned back.
+
+"Don't--please don't tell any one of it," he said earnestly. "It--it
+mustn't be known yet.... You see, though, why I--I feel as if you--as if
+we all ought to be very careful of--of appearances--and--and such
+things."
+
+"Yes.... Yes, of course. Well, all right, George. Good-by. Call again."
+
+Judah, who had been over at the Fair Harbor doing some general chores
+around the place, came in a little later. His lodger called to him.
+
+"Judah," he commanded, "come in here. I want to talk to you." When Mr.
+Cahoon obeyed the order, he was told to sit down a moment.
+
+"I want to ask you some questions," said the captain. "What is the
+latest news of Egbert Phillips? Where is he nowadays? And what is he
+doin'?"
+
+Judah was quite ready to give the information, even eager, but he
+hesitated momentarily.
+
+"Sure you want me to talk about him, Cap'n?" he asked. "Last time I said
+anything about him--day afore yesterday 'twas--you told me to shut up.
+Said you had somethin' more important to think about."
+
+"Did I, Judah? Well, 'twas true then, I guess."
+
+"Um-hm. And you ordered me not to mention his name again till you
+h'isted signals, or somethin' like that."
+
+"Yes, seems to me I did. Well, the signals are up. What is he doin'?"
+
+"Doin'? He ain't doin' nothin'--much. He's roomin' up to the Central
+House yet, but from what I hear tell he ain't goin' to stay there. He's
+cal'latin', so the folks down to the store say, to find some nice home
+place where he can board. He don't call it boardin'. Thoph Black says he
+said what he wanted was a snug little den where him and his few
+remainin' household gods could be together. Thoph said he couldn't make
+out what household gods was, and I'm plaguey sure _I_ can't. Sounds
+heathenish to me. And I told Thoph, says I, 'That ain't no way to hunt a
+boardin' house, goin' round hollerin' for a den. If I was takin' in
+boarders and a feller hove alongside and says, "Can I hire one of them
+dens of yours?" he'd get somethin' that he wan't lookin' for.' Huh! Den!
+Sounds like a circus menagerie, don't it? Not but what I've seen
+boardin'-house rooms that was like dens. Why, one time, over in
+Liverpool 'twas, me and a feller named----"
+
+"Yes, yes, all right, Judah. I've heard about it. But what else is he
+doin'? Where does he go? Is he makin' friends? Is he talkin' much about
+his plans? What do folks say about him?"
+
+Judah answered the last question first.
+
+"They like him," he declared. "All hands are so kind of sorry for him,
+you see. Course we all cal'lated he was rich, but he ain't. And them
+bonds and such that him and his wife had all went to nawthin' and he
+come back here after she died, figgerin', I presume likely, same as
+anybody would, that he owned the Fair Harbor property and that the fifty
+thousand was just a sort of--er--loan, as you might say. He told Joe
+Macomber--or George Kent, I forget which 'twas--he's with George
+consider'ble; I guess likely 'twas him--that, of course, he wouldn't
+have disturbed the property or the fifty thousand for the world, not for
+a long spell anyhow, but ownin' it give him a feelin' of security, like
+an anchor to wind'ard, you understand, and----"
+
+"So folks like him, do they?"
+
+"You bet you they do. He don't complain a mite, that's one reason they
+like him. Says at first, of course, he was kind of took all aback with
+his canvas flappin', but now he's thought it over and realizes 'twas his
+dear wife's notion and her wishes is law and gospel to him, so he's
+resigned."
+
+"And he doesn't blame anybody, then?"
+
+Mr. Cahoon hesitated. "Why--er--no, not really, fur's I hear. Anyhow, if
+there was any influence used same as it shouldn't be, he says, he
+forgives them that used it. And, so far as that goes, he don't repute no
+evil motives to nobody, livin' or dead."
+
+"Repute? Oh, impute, you mean."
+
+"I guess so, some kind of 'pute'. He uses them old-fashioned kind of
+words all the time. That's why he's so pop'lar amongst the Shakespeare
+Readin' Society and the rest. _They've_ took him up, I tell ye! Minister
+Dishup and his wife they've had him to dinner, and Cap'n Elkanah and his
+wife have had him to supper and yesterday noon he was up here to the
+Harbor for dinner."
+
+"Oh, was he?"
+
+"Yus. He made 'em a little speech, too. All hands came into the parlor
+after dinner and he kind of--of preached to 'em. Told about his
+travelin' in foreign lands and a lot about Lobelia and how she loved the
+Harbor and everybody in it, and how him and her used to plan for it, and
+the like of that. Desire Peasley told me that 'twas the most movin' talk
+ever _she_ listened to. Said about everybody was cryin' some. 'Twas a
+leaky session, I judged. Oh, they love him over to the Harbor, I tell
+you!"
+
+The captain was silent for a moment. Then he asked, "Did I understand
+you to say he and young Kent were friendly?"
+
+"Yes, indeed. He seems to have took quite a fancy to George. Drops in to
+see him at the store and last night he went home along with him to your
+sister's--to Sary's. Had supper and spent the evenin', I believe."
+
+Judah was dismissed then and the talk ended, but Sears had now something
+else to think about. There was little doubt in his mind who the "man of
+experience" was, the person who had advised Kent concerning the getting
+of a position with a law firm in the city. He wondered what other
+advice might have been given. Was it Mr. Phillips who had suggested
+to Kent the impropriety of Elizabeth's being seen so much in
+his--Kendrick's--company? If so, why had he done it? What was Egbert's
+little plan?
+
+Of course it was possible that there was no plan of any kind. Sears had
+taken a dislike to Phillips when they met and that fact, and Judge
+Knowles' hatred of the man, might, he realized, have set him to hunting
+mares' nests. Well, he would not hunt any more at present. He would
+await developments. But he would not lie in that bed and wait for them.
+He had been there long enough. In spite of Judah's protests and with the
+latter's help, commandeered and insisted upon, he got up, dressed, and
+spent the rest of that afternoon and evening in the rocking chair in the
+kitchen.
+
+And that evening Elizabeth came to see him. He was almost sure why she
+had come, and as soon as she entered, sent Judah down town after smoking
+tobacco. Judah declared there was "up'ards of ha'f a plug aboard the
+ship somewheres" and wanted to stay and hunt for it, but the captain,
+who had the plug in his pocket, insisted on his going. So he went and
+Sears and Elizabeth were alone. He was ready for the interview. If she
+asked him to accept the trusteeship of her twenty thousand dollars he
+meant to refuse, absolutely.
+
+And she did ask him that very thing. After inquiries concerning his
+injured limbs and repeated cautions concerning his never taking such
+risks again, "even with the old Foam Flakes," she came directly to the
+subject. She spoke of Judge Knowles' letter to her, the letter which
+Bradley had handed her at the time when he gave Sears his. She had read
+it over and over again, she said.
+
+"You know what he wrote me, Cap'n Kendrick," she went on. "I can't show
+you the letter, it is too personal, too--too.... Oh, I can't show it to
+any one--now, not even to mother. But you must know what he asked--or
+suggested, because he says he has written you a letter asking you to
+take charge of my money for me, to be my trustee. I suppose you must
+think it queer that I have let all these days go by without coming to
+speak with you about it. I hope----"
+
+He interrupted. "Now, Elizabeth, before we go any further," he said,
+earnestly, "don't you suppose any such thing. The judge wrote me he had
+asked us both not to decide in a hurry, but to take plenty of time to
+think it over. I have thought it over, in fact, I haven't thought of
+much else since I opened that letter, and I have made up my mind----"
+
+"Wait. Please wait a minute. I haven't been taking time to think over
+that at all. I have been thinking about the whole matter; whether I
+should accept the money--so very, very, very much money----"
+
+"What! Not accept it? Of course you'll take it. He wanted you to take
+it. It was what he wanted as much as anybody could want anything. Why,
+don't you dare----"
+
+"Hush! hush! You mustn't be so excited. And you mustn't move from that
+chair. If you do I shall go home this minute. I am going to accept the
+money."
+
+"Good! Of course you are."
+
+"Yes, I am. Because I do believe that he wanted me to have it so much. I
+know people will say--perhaps they are already saying all sorts of
+wicked, mean things. I don't--I won't let myself think what some of them
+may be saying about my influencing the judge, or things like that. But I
+don't care--that is, I care ever so much more for what _he_ said and
+what he wished. And he wanted you to take care of the money for me. You
+will, won't you, Cap'n Kendrick?"
+
+Now it was Sears' turn. He had gone over a scene like this, the scene
+which he had foreseen, many times. He was kind, but he was firm. He told
+her that he should not accept the trusteeship. He could not. It was too
+great a responsibility for a man with as little--and that little
+unfortunate--business experience as he had had.
+
+"It needs a banker or a lawyer for that job, Elizabeth," he declared.
+"What does a sailor know about handlin' money? You go to Bradley;
+Bradley's the man."
+
+But she did not want Bradley. The judge only mentioned Bradley as second
+choice.
+
+"He wanted you, Cap'n Kendrick. He had every confidence in you. You
+should see what he says about your ability and common-sense and--and
+honesty in the letter. Please."
+
+"No, Elizabeth. As far as honesty goes I guess he's right. I am honest,
+at least I hope I should be. But for the rest--he's partial there. He
+seemed to take a fancy to me, and goodness knows I liked him. But you
+mustn't feel you've got to do this thing. He wrote me it was only a
+suggestion. You are absolutely free--he wrote me so--to go to Bradley
+or----"
+
+"No." She rose to her feet. "I shan't go to Bradley or anybody but you.
+I am like him, Cap'n Kendrick; I trust you. I have come to know you and
+to believe in you. I like you. Why, you don't know how glad I was to
+find that he wanted you to do this for me. Glad! I--I felt----"
+
+"Why, Elizabeth!"
+
+He had not meant to speak. The words were forced from him involuntarily.
+Her tone, her eyes, the eager earnestness in her voice.... He did not
+say any more, nor did he look at her. Instead he looked at the patchwork
+comforter which had fallen from his knees to the floor, and fervently
+hoped that he had not already said too much. He stooped and picked up
+the comforter.
+
+"And you will do it for me, won't you?" she pleaded.
+
+"I can't. It wouldn't be right."
+
+"Then I shall not take the money at all. _He_ gave it to me, _he_ asked
+me--the very last thing he asked was that you should do it. He put the
+trust in your hands. And you won't do it--for him--or for me?"
+
+"Well, but--but---- Oh, good Lord! how can I?"
+
+"Why can't you?"
+
+The real reason he could not tell her. According to Kent--whether
+inspired by Phillips or not made little difference--people were already
+whispering and hinting. How much more would they hint and whisper if
+they knew that he had taken charge of her money? The thought had not
+occurred to her, of course; the very idea was too ridiculous for her to
+imagine; but that made but one more reason why he must think for her.
+
+"No," he said, again. "No, I can't."
+
+"But why? You haven't told me why."
+
+He tried to tell her why, but his words were merely repetitions of what
+he had said before. He was not a good business man, he did not know how
+to handle money, even his own money. The judge had been very ill when he
+wrote those letters, if he had been well and himself he never would have
+thought of him as trustee. She listened for a time, her impatience
+growing. Then she rose.
+
+"Very well," she said. "Then I shall not accept the twenty thousand. To
+me one wish of Judge Knowles' is as sacred as the other. He wanted you
+to take that trust just as much as he wanted me to have the money. If
+you won't respect one wish I shall not respect the other."
+
+He could not believe she meant it, but she certainly looked and spoke as
+if she did. He faltered and hesitated, and she pressed her advantage.
+And at last he yielded.
+
+"All right," he said desperately. "All right--or all wrong, whichever it
+turns out to be. I'll take the trustee job--try it for a time anyhow.
+But, I tell you, Elizabeth, I'm afraid we're both makin' a big mistake."
+
+She was not in the least afraid, and said so.
+
+"You have made me very happy, Cap'n Kendrick," she declared. "I can't
+thank you enough."
+
+He shook his head, but before he could reply there came a sharp knock on
+the outer door, the back door of the house.
+
+"Who on earth is that?" exclaimed Sears. Then he shouted, "Come in."
+
+The person who came in was George Kent.
+
+"Why, George!" said Elizabeth. Then she added. "What is it? What is the
+matter?"
+
+The young man looked as if something was the matter. His expression was
+not at all pleasant.
+
+"Evenin', George," said the captain. "Glad to see you. Sit down."
+
+Kent ignored both the invitation and the speaker.
+
+"Look here," he demanded, addressing Miss Berry: "do you know what time
+it is? It is ten o'clock."
+
+His tone was so rude--so boyishly rude--that Sears looked up quickly and
+Elizabeth drew back.
+
+"It's nearly ten o'clock," repeated Kent. "And you are over here."
+
+"George!" exclaimed Sears, sharply.
+
+"You are over here--with him--again."
+
+It was Elizabeth who spoke now. She said but one word.
+
+"Well?" she asked.
+
+There was an icy chill about that "Well?" which a more cautious person
+that George Kent might have noticed and taken as a warning. But the
+young man was far from cautious at that moment.
+
+"_Well?_" he repeated hotly. "I don't think it's well at all. I come see
+you and--I find you over here. And I find that every one else knows you
+are here. And they think it queer, too; I could see that they did.... Of
+course, I don't say----"
+
+"I think you have said enough. I came here to talk with Cap'n Kendrick
+on a business matter. I told mother where I was going when I left the
+house. The others heard me, I suppose; I certainly did not try to
+conceal it. Why should I?"
+
+"Why should you? Why, you should because--because---- Well, if you don't
+know why you shouldn't be here, he does."
+
+"He? Cap'n Kendrick?"
+
+"Yes. I--I told him why, myself. Only this noon I told him. I was here
+and I told him people were beginning to talk about you and he being
+together so much and--and his taking you to ride, and all that sort of
+thing. I told him he ought to be more careful of appearances. I said of
+course you didn't think, but he ought to. I explained that----"
+
+"Stop!" Her face was crimson and she was breathing quickly. "Do you mean
+to say that--that people are talking--are saying things about--about....
+What people?"
+
+"Oh--oh, different ones. Of course they don't say anything much--er--not
+yet. But if we aren't careful they will. You see----"
+
+"Wait. Are they--are they saying that--that---- Oh, it is _too_ wicked
+and foolish to speak! Are they saying that Cap'n Kendrick and I----"
+
+Sears spoke. "Hush, hush, Elizabeth!" he begged. "They aren't sayin'
+anything, of course. George is--is just a little excited over nothin',
+that's all. He has heard Elvira or some other cat over there at the
+Harbor, probably. They're jealous because you have had this money left
+you."
+
+"It is nothing to do with the money," Kent asserted. "Didn't I tell you
+this noon that you--that we had to be careful of appearances? Didn't I
+say----"
+
+Again Elizabeth broke in.
+
+"You have said all I want to hear--in this room, now," she declared.
+"There are a good many things for us both to say--and listen to, but not
+here.... Good night, Cap'n Kendrick. I am sorry I kept you up so late,
+and I hope all this--I hope you won't let this wicked nonsense trouble
+you. It isn't worth worrying about. Good night."
+
+"But, Elizabeth," urged Sears, anxiously, "don't you think----"
+
+"Good night. George, you had better come with me. I have some things to
+say to you."
+
+She went out. Kent hesitated, paused for a moment, and then followed
+her. When Judah returned with the tobacco and a fresh cargo of rumors
+concerning Egbert Phillips he found his lodger not the least interested
+in either smoke or gossip.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+
+So Judah was obliged to postpone the telling of his most important news
+item. But the following morning when, looking heavy-eyed and haggard, as
+if he had slept but little, Captain Kendrick limped into the kitchen for
+breakfast, Mr. Cahoon served that item with the salt mackerel and fried
+potatoes. It was surprising, too--at least Sears found it so. Egbert
+Phillips, so Judah declared, had given up his rooms at the Central House
+and had gone, household goods and all, to board and lodge at Joel
+Macomber's. He was occupying, so Judah said, the very room that Sears
+himself had occupied when he was taken to his sister's home after the
+railway accident.
+
+The captain could scarcely believe it. He had not seen Sarah Macomber
+since the day following the Foam Flake's amazing cut-up on the Orham
+road, when she had come, in much worriment and anxiety, to learn how
+badly he was hurt. Her call had been brief, and, as he had succeeded in
+convincing her that the extra twist to his legs would have no serious
+effect, she had not called since. But Sarah-Mary, the eldest girl, had
+brought a basket containing a cranberry pie, a half-peck, more or less,
+of molasses cookies, and two tumblers of beach-plum jelly, and
+Sarah-Mary had said nothing to her Uncle Sears about the magnificent Mr.
+Phillips coming to live with them.
+
+"I guess not, Judah," said the captain. "Probably you've got it snarled
+some way. He may have gone there to supper with George Kent and the rest
+of the yarn sprouted from that."
+
+But Judah shook his head. "No snarl about it, Cap'n Sears," he declared.
+"Come straight this did, straight as a spare topmast. Joe Macomber told
+me so himself. Proud of it, too, Joe was; all kind of swelled up with
+it, like a pizened shark."
+
+"But why on earth should he pick out Sarah's? Why didn't he go to Naomi
+Newcomb's; she keeps a regular boardin'-house? Sarah can't take any more
+boarders. Her house is overloaded as it is. That was why I didn't stay
+there. No, I don't believe it, Judah. Joel was just comin' up to blow,
+that's all. He's a regular puffin'-pig for blowin'."
+
+But Sarah called that very forenoon and confirmed the news. She had
+agreed to take Mr. Phillips into her home. Not only that, but he was
+already there.
+
+"I know you must think it's sort of funny, Sears," she said, looking
+rather embarrassed and avoiding her brother's eye. "If anybody had told
+me a week ago that I should ever take another boarder I should have felt
+like askin' 'em if they thought I was crazy. I suppose you think I am,
+don't you?"
+
+"Not exactly, Sarah--not yet."
+
+"But you think I most likely will be before I'm through? Well, maybe,
+but I'm goin' to risk it. You see, I--well, we need the money, for one
+thing."
+
+Sears stirred in his chair.
+
+"I could have let you have a little money every once in a while, Sarah,"
+he said. "It's a shame that it would have to be so little. If those legs
+ever do get shipshape and I get to sea again----"
+
+She stopped him. "I haven't got so yet awhile that I have to take
+anybody's money for nothin'," she said sharply. "There, there, Sears! I
+know you'd give me every cent you had if I'd let you. I'll tell you why
+I took Mr. Phillips. He came to supper with George the other night and
+stayed all the evenin'. He's one of the most interestin' men I ever met
+in my life. Not any more interestin' than you are, of course," she
+added, loyally, "but in--in a different way."
+
+"Um ... yes. I shouldn't wonder."
+
+"Yes, he is. And he liked my supper, and said so. Ate some of everything
+and praised it, and was just as--as common and everyday and sociable,
+not a mite proud or--like that."
+
+"Why in the devil should he be?"
+
+"Why--why, I don't know why he shouldn't. Lots of folks who know as much
+as he does and have been everywhere and known the kind of people he
+knows--they would be stuck up--yes, and are. Look at Cap'n Elkhanah
+Wingate and his wife."
+
+"I don't want to look at 'em. How do you know how much this Phillips
+knows?"
+
+"How do I _know_? Why, Sears, you ought to hear him talk. I never heard
+such talk. The children just--just hung on his words, as they say. And
+he was so nice to them. And Joel and George Kent they think he's the
+greatest man they ever saw. Oh, all hands in Bayport like him."
+
+"Humph! When he was here before, teachin' singin' school, he wasn't such
+a Grand Panjandrum. At least, I never heard that he was."
+
+"Sears, you don't like him, do you? I'm real surprised. Yes, and--and
+sorry. Why don't you like him?"
+
+Her brother laughed. "I didn't say I didn't like him, Sarah," he
+replied. "Besides, what difference would one like more or less make? I
+don't know him very well."
+
+"But he likes you. Why, he said he didn't know when he had met a man who
+gave him such an impression of--of strength and character as you did. He
+said that right at our supper table. I tell you I was proud when he said
+it about my brother."
+
+So Sears had not the heart to utter more skepticism. He encouraged Sarah
+to tell more of her arrangements with the great man. He was, it
+appeared, to have not only the bedroom which Sears had occupied, but
+also the room adjoining.
+
+"One will be his bedroom," explained Mrs. Macomber, "and the other his
+sittin' room, sort of. His little suite, he calls 'em. He is movin' the
+rest of his things in to-day."
+
+Seers looked at her. "Two rooms!" he exclaimed. "He's to have _two_
+rooms in your house! For heaven sakes, Sarah, where do the rest of you
+live; in the cellar? Goin' to let the children sleep in the cistern?"
+
+She explained. It was a complicated process, but she had worked it out.
+Lemuel and Edgar had always had a room together, but now Bemis was to
+have a cot there also. "And Joey, of course, is only a baby, his bed is
+in our room, Joel's and mine. And Sarah-Mary and Aldora, they are same
+as they have been."
+
+"Yes, yes, but that doesn't explain the extra room, his sitting room.
+Where does that come from?"
+
+She hesitated a moment. "Well--well, you see," she said, "there wasn't
+any other bedroom except the one George hires, and he is goin' to stay
+for a while longer anyway. At first it didn't seem as if I could let Mr.
+Phillips have the sittin' room he wanted. But at last Joel and I thought
+it out. We don't use the front parlor hardly any, and there is the
+regular sittin' room left for us anyway, so----"
+
+"Sarah Kendrick Macomber, do you mean to tell me you've let this fellow
+have your _front parlor_?"
+
+"Why--why, yes. We don't hardly ever use it, Sears. I don't believe
+we've used that parlor--really opened the blinds and used it, I
+mean--since Father Macomber's funeral, and that was--let me see--over
+six years ago."
+
+Her brother slowly shook his head. "The judge was right," he declared.
+"He certainly was right. Smoothness isn't any name for it."
+
+"Sears, what are you talkin' about? I can't understand you. I thought
+you would be glad to think such a splendid man as he is was goin' to
+live with us. To say nothin' of my makin' all this extra money. Of
+course, if you don't want me to do it, I won't. I wouldn't oppose you,
+Sears, for anything in this world. But I--I must say----"
+
+He laid his hand on hers. "There, Sarah," he broke in. "Don't pay too
+much attention to me. I'm crochetty these days, have a good deal on my
+mind. If you think takin' this Phillips man aboard is a good thing for
+you, I'm glad. How much does he pay you a week?"
+
+She told him. It was more than fair rate for those days.
+
+"Humph!" he observed. "Well, Sarah, good luck to you. I hope you get
+it."
+
+"Get it! Why, of course I'll get it, Sears. Its all arranged. And I want
+you and Mr. Phillips to know each other real well. I'm goin' to tell him
+he must call again to see you."
+
+"Eh?... Oh, all right, Sarah. You can tell him, if you want to."
+
+After she had gone he thought the matter over. Surely Mr. Egbert
+Phillips was a gentleman of ability along certain lines. His sister
+Sarah was a sensible woman, she was far far from being a susceptible
+sentimentalist. Yet she was already under the Phillips spell. Either
+Judge Knowles was right--very, very much right--or he was overwhelmingly
+wrong. If left to Bayport opinion as a jury there was no question
+concerning the verdict. Egbert would be triumphantly acquitted.
+
+Sears, however, did not, at this time, spare much thought to the
+Phillips riddle. He had other, and, it seemed to him, more disturbing
+matters to deal with. The quarrel between Elizabeth Berry and young Kent
+was one of those, for he felt that, in a way, he was the cause of it.
+George had, of course, behaved like a foolish boy and had been about as
+tactless as even a jealous youth could be, but there was always the
+chance that some one else had sowed the seeds of jealousy in his mind.
+He determined to see Kent, explain, have a frank and friendly talk, and,
+if possible, set everything right--everything between the two young
+people, that is. But when, on his first short walk along the road, he
+happened to meet Kent, the latter paid no attention to his hail and
+strode past without speaking. Sears shouted after him, but the shout was
+unheeded.
+
+Elizabeth was almost as contrary. When he attempted to lead the
+conversation to George, she would not follow. When he mentioned the
+young man's name she changed the subject. At last when, his sense of
+guilt becoming too much for him, he began to defend Kent, she
+interrupted the defense.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," she said, "I understand why you take his part. And it
+is like you to do it. But when you begin to blame yourself or me then I
+shan't listen."
+
+"Blame _you_! Why, Elizabeth, I had no idea of blamin' you. The whole
+thing is just a--a misunderstandin' between you and George, and I want
+to straighten it out, that's all. If anybody is to blame I really think
+I am. I should have thought more about--about, what he calls
+appearances; that is, perhaps I should."
+
+She lost patience. "Oh, do stop!" she cried. "You know you are talking
+nonsense."
+
+"Well but, Elizabeth, I feel--wicked. I wouldn't for the world be the
+cause of a break between you two. If that should happen because of me I
+couldn't rest easy."
+
+This conversation took place in the smaller sitting room of the Fair
+Harbor, the room which she and her mother used as a sort of office. She
+had been standing by the window looking out. Now she turned and faced
+him.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," she asked, "just what do you mean by a 'break' between
+George Kent and me? Are you under the impression that he and I
+were--were engaged?"
+
+"Why--why, weren't you?"
+
+"No. Why should you think we were?"
+
+"Well--why, there seemed to be a sort of general idea that--that you
+were. People--Bayport folks seemed to think--seemed to think----"
+
+She stamped her foot. "They don't think, most of them, they only talk,"
+she declared. "_I_ certainly never said we were. And he didn't either,
+did he?"
+
+Kent had said that he and Elizabeth were engaged--practically--whatever
+that might mean. But the captain thought it wisest just then to forget.
+
+"Why--no, I guess not," he answered.
+
+"Of course he didn't ... Cap'n Kendrick. I--oh, you might as well
+understand this clearly. I have known George for a long time. I liked
+him. For a time I thought--well I thought perhaps I liked him enough
+to--to like him a lot more But I was mistaken. He--he kept doing things
+that I didn't like. Oh, they had nothing to do with me. They were things
+that didn't seem--what you would call square and aboveboard. Little
+things that.... It was about one of these that we disagreed just before
+the 'Down by the Sea' theatricals. But he explained that and--and--well,
+he can be so nice and likable, that I forgave him. But lately there have
+been others. He has changed. And now all this foolishness, and....
+There, Cap'n Kendrick, I didn't mean to say so much. But I want you to
+understand, and to tell every one else who talks about George Kent and
+me being engaged, that there never was any such engagement."
+
+It would be rather difficult to catalogue all of Sears Kendrick's
+feelings as he listened to this long speech. They were mixed feelings,
+embarrassment, sorrow, relief--and a most unwarranted and unreasonable
+joy. But he repressed the relief and joy and characteristically returned
+to self-chastisement.
+
+"Yes--oh--I see," he faltered. "I guess likely I didn't understand
+exactly. But just the same I don't know but George was right in some
+things he said. I shouldn't wonder if I had been careless about--about
+appearances. I don't know but--but my seein' you so much--and our goin'
+to Orham together might set some folks talkin'. Of course it doesn't
+seem hardly possible that anybody could be such fools, considerin'
+you--and then considerin' me--but----"
+
+She would not hear any more. "I don't propose to consider _them_," she
+declared with fierce indignation. "I shall see you or any one else just
+as often as I please. Now that you are to take care of my money for me I
+have no doubt I shall see you a great deal oftener than I ever did. And
+if those--those talkative persons don't like it, they may do the next
+best thing.... No, that is enough, Cap'n Kendrick. It is settled."
+
+And it did appear to be. If anything, she saw him oftener than before,
+seemed to take a mischievous delight in being seen with him, in running
+to the Minot place on errands connected with the Harbor business, and
+in every way defying the gossips.
+
+And gossip accepted the challenge. From the time when it became known
+that Sears Kendrick was to be the trustee of Elizabeth Berry's
+twenty-thousand dollar legacy the tide of public opinion, already on the
+turn, set more and more strongly against him. And, as it ebbed for
+Captain Sears, it rose higher and higher for that genteel martyr, Mr.
+Egbert Phillips.
+
+Sears could not help noticing the change. It was gradual, but it was
+marked. He had never had many visitors, but occasionally some of the
+retired sea dogs among the town-folk would drop in to swap yarns, or a
+younger captain, home from a voyage, would call on him at the Minot
+place. The number of those calls became smaller, then they ceased.
+Doctor Sheldon was, of course, as jolly and friendly as ever, and
+Bradley, when he drove over from Orham on a legal errand, made it a
+point to come and see him. But, aside from those, and Sarah Macomber,
+and, of course, Elizabeth Berry, no one came.
+
+When he walked, as he did occasionally now that his legs were
+stronger--they had quite recovered from the strain put upon them by the
+Foam Flake's outbreak--up and down the sidewalk from Judge Knowles'
+corner to the end of the Fair Harbor fence, the people whom he met
+seldom stopped to chat with him. Or, if they did, the chat was always
+brief and, on their part, uneasy. They acted, so it seemed to him,
+guilty, as if they were doing something they should not do, something
+they were not at all anxious to have people see them do. And when he
+drove with Judah down to the store the group there no longer hailed him
+with shouts of welcome. They spoke to him, mentioned the weather
+perhaps, grinned in embarrassed fashion, but they did not ask him to sit
+down and join them. And when his back was turned, when he left the
+store, he had the feeling that there were whispered comments--and
+sneers.
+
+It was all impalpable, there was nothing openly hostile, no one said
+anything to which he could take exception--he only wished they would;
+but he felt the hostility nevertheless.
+
+And among the feminine element it was even more evident. When he went to
+church, as he did semi-occasionally, as he walked down the aisle he felt
+that the rustle of Sunday black silks and bonnet strings which preceded
+and followed him was a whisper of respectable and self-righteous
+disapproval. It was not all imagination, he caught glimpses of sidelong
+looks and headshakes which meant something, and that something not
+applause. Once the Reverend Mr. Dishup took for his text Psalm xxxix,
+the sixth verse, "He heapeth up riches and knoweth not who shall gather
+them." The sermon dealt with, among others, the individual who in his
+lifetime amassed wealth, not knowing that, after his death, other
+individuals scheming and unscrupulous would strive to divert that wealth
+from the rightful heirs for their own benefit. It was a rather dull
+sermon and Sears, his attention wandering, happened to turn his head
+suddenly and look at the rest of the congregation. It seemed to him that
+at least a quarter of the heads in that congregation were turned in his
+direction. Now, meeting his gaze, they swung back, to stare with
+noticeable rigidity at the minister.
+
+Over at the Fair Harbor his comings and goings were no longer events to
+cause pleasurable interest and excitement. The change there was quite as
+evident. Miss Snowden and Mrs. Brackett, leaders of their clique, always
+greeted him politely enough, but they did not, individually or
+collectively, ask his advice or offer theirs. There were smiles,
+significant nods, knowing looks exchanged, especially, he thought or
+imagined, when he and Miss Berry were together. Cordelia Berry was
+almost cold toward him. Yet, so far as he knew, he had done nothing to
+offend her.
+
+He spoke to Elizabeth about her mother's attitude toward him. She said
+it was his imagination.
+
+"It may be," she said, "that you don't consult her quite enough about
+Fair Harbor matters, Cap'n Kendrick. Mother is sensitive, she is matron
+here, you know; perhaps we haven't paid as much deference to her opinion
+as we should. Poor mother, she does try so hard, but she isn't fitted
+for business, and knows it."
+
+That Sunday, after his return from church, the captain asked Judah a
+point blank question.
+
+"Judah," he said, "I want you to tell me the truth. What is the matter
+with me, nowadays? The whole ship's company here in Bayport are givin'
+me the cold shoulder. Don't tell me you haven't noticed it; a blind man
+could notice it. What's wrong with me? What have I done? Or what do they
+say I've done?"
+
+Judah was very much embarrassed. His trouble showed in his face above
+the whiskers. He had been bending over the cookstove singing at the top
+of his lungs the interminable chantey dealing with the fortunes of one
+Reuben Ranzo.
+
+    "'Ranzo was no sailor,
+      Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!
+    Ranzo was a tailor,
+      Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!
+
+    "'Oh, poor Reuben Ranzo!
+      _Ranzo_, boys, Ranzo!
+    Hurrah for Reuben Ranzo!
+      _Ranzo_, boys, _Ranzo_!
+
+    "'Ranzo was no sailor,
+      Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!
+    He shipped on board a whaler,
+      Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!'"
+
+And so on, forever and forever. Judah had reached the point where:
+
+    "They set him holy-stonin',
+      Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!
+    And cared not for his groanin',
+      Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!
+
+    "_'Oh_, poor Reuben Ranzo!
+      _Ranzo_, boys, Ranzo!
+    Hurrah for----'
+
+"Eh? Did you say somethin', Cap'n Sears?"
+
+Sears repeated his question, and then, as no answer seemed to be
+forthcoming, repeated it once more, with an order to "step lively."
+Judah groaned and shook his head.
+
+"I've been sort of afraid you might think somethin' was queer, Cap'n
+Sears," he admitted. "I was hopin' you wouldn't, though, not till it
+begun to blow over. All them kind of things do blow over, give 'em time.
+One voyage I took--to Shanghai, seems to me 'twas, either that or Rooshy
+somewheres--there was a ship's carpenter aboard and word got spread
+around that he had a wooden leg. Now he didn't, you know; matter of fact,
+all he had out of the way with him was a kind of--er--er--sheet-iron
+stove lid, as you might call it, riveted onto the top of his head. He
+was in the Mexican war, seemed so, and one of them cannon balls had caved
+in his upper deck, you understand, and them doctors they----"
+
+"Here, here, Judah! I didn't ask you about any iron-headed carpenters,
+did I?"
+
+"No; no, you never, Cap'n Sears. But what I started to say was that----"
+
+"All right, but you stick to what I want you to say. Tell me what's the
+matter with me in Bayport?"
+
+Judah groaned again. "It 'tain't so much that there's any great that's
+wrong along of you, Cap'n," he said, "as 'tis that there ain't nothin'
+but what's so everlastin' right with another feller. That's the way I
+size it up, and I've been takin' observations for quite a spell. Bayport
+folks are spendin' seven days in the week lovin' this Egbert Phillips.
+Consequentially they ain't got much time left to love you in. Fools?
+Course they be, and I've told some of 'em so till I've got a sore throat
+hollerin'. But, by the creepin'----"
+
+"Judah! Has Phillips been saying things about me?"
+
+"Hey? Him? No, no, no! He don't say nothin' about nobody no time,
+nothin' out of the way, that is. He's always praisin' of you up, so they
+tell me, and excusin' you and forgivin' you."
+
+"Forgivin' me? What do you mean by that?"
+
+"Hold on! don't get mad at _me_, Cap'n Sears. I mean when they say what
+a pity 'tis that he, the man whose wife owned all this Seymour property
+and the fifty thousand dollars and such--when they go to poorin' him and
+heavin' overboard hints about how other folks have the spendin' of that
+money and all--he just smiles, sad but sort of sweet, and says it's all
+right, his dear Lobelia done what seemed to her proper, and if he has to
+suffer a little grain, why, never mind.... That's the way he talks."
+
+"But where do I come in on that?"
+
+"Well--well, you don't really, Cap'n Sears. Course you don't. But
+you--you have got the handlin' of that money, you know. And you are
+gettin' wages for skipperin' the Fair Harbor. I've heard it said--not by
+him, oh, creepin', no!--but by others, that _he_ ought to have that
+skipper's job, if anybody had. Lots of folks seem to cal'late he'd ought
+to _own_ the Harbor. But instead of that he don't own nothin', they say,
+and scratches along in two rooms, down to Joe Macomber's, and,
+underneath all his sufferin', he's just as sweet and uncomplainin' and
+long-endurin' and--and high-toned and sociable and--and----"
+
+"Yes, yes. I see. Do they say anything more? What about my bein'
+Elizabeth Berry's trustee?"
+
+Mr. Cahoon paused before replying. "Well, they do seem to hold that
+against you some, I'm afraid," he admitted reluctantly. "I don't know
+why they do. And they don't say much in front of me no more, 'cause,
+they realize, I cal'late, that I'm about ready to knock a few of 'em
+into the scuppers. But it--it just don't help you none, Cap'n, takin'
+care of that money of Elizabeth's don't. And it does help that Eg
+man.... Why? Don't ask me. I--I'm sick and disgusted. _I_ shan't go to
+no church vestry to hear him lecture on Eyetalian paintin' or--or
+glazin', or whatever 'tis. And have you noticed how they bow down and
+worship him over to the Fair Harbor? Have you noticed Cordelia Berry?
+She's makin' a dum fool of herself, ain't she? Not that that's a very
+hard job."
+
+Judah's explanations did not explain much, but they did help to increase
+Sears' vague suspicions. He had noticed--no one could help noticing--the
+ever-growing popularity of Mr. Phillips. It was quite as evident as the
+decline of his own. What he suspected was that the two were connected
+and that, somehow or other, the smooth gentleman who boarded and lodged
+with the Macombers was responsible, knowingly, calculatingly responsible
+for the change.
+
+Yet it seemed so absurd, that suspicion. He and Phillips met frequently,
+sometimes at church, or oftenest at the Harbor--Egbert's visits there
+were daily now, and he dined or supped with the Berrys and the "inmates"
+at least twice a week. And always the Phillips manner was kind and
+gracious and urbane. Always he inquired solicitously concerning the
+captain's health. There was never a hint of hostility, never a trace of
+resentment or envy. And always, too, Sears emerged from one of those
+encounters with a feeling that he had had a little the worst of it, that
+his seafaring manners and blunt habit of speech made him appear at a
+marked disadvantage in comparison with this easy, suave, gracefully
+elegant personage. And so many of those meetings took place in the
+presence of Elizabeth Berry.
+
+Elizabeth liked Egbert, there was no doubt of that. Once when she and
+the captain were together in the Fair Harbor office Phillips entered.
+Sears and Elizabeth were bending over the ledger and Egbert opened the
+door. Sears and the young lady were not in the least embarrassed--of
+course there was not the slightest reason why they should be--but, oddly
+enough, Phillips seemed to be. He stepped back, coughed, fidgeted with
+the latch, and then began to apologize.
+
+"I--I really beg your pardon," he said. "I am sorry.... I didn't know--I
+didn't realize--I'm _so_ sorry."
+
+Elizabeth looked at him in surprise. "But there is nothing for you to be
+sorry about," she declared. "What is it? I don't understand."
+
+Egbert still retained his hold upon the latch with one hand. His hat,
+gloves and cane were in the other. It is perhaps the best indication of
+his standing in the community, the fact that, having lived in Bayport
+for some weeks and being by his own confession a poor man, he could
+still go gloved and caned on week days as well as Sundays and not be
+subject to ridicule even by the Saturday night gang in Eliphalet
+Bassett's store.
+
+He fidgeted with the latch and turned as if to go.
+
+"I should have knocked, of course," he protested. "It was most careless
+of me. I do hope you understand. I will come--ah--later."
+
+"But I don't understand," repeated the puzzled Elizabeth. "It was
+perfectly all right, your coming in. There is no reason why you should
+knock. The cap'n and I were going over the bills, that's all."
+
+Mr. Phillips looked--well, he looked queer.
+
+"Oh!" he said. "Yes--yes, of course. But one doesn't always care to be
+interrupted in--even in business matters--ah--sometimes."
+
+Elizabeth laughed. "I'm sure I don't mind," she said. "Those business
+matters weren't so frightfully important."
+
+"I'm so glad. You ease my conscience, Elizabeth. Thank you.... But I am
+afraid the captain minds more than you do. He looks as if he didn't like
+interruptions. Now do you, Captain Kendrick?"
+
+Sears was ruffled. The man always did rub him the wrong way, and now,
+for the first time, he heard him address Miss Berry by her Christian
+name. There was no real reason why he should not, almost every one in
+Bayport did, but Sears did not like it nevertheless.
+
+"You don't fancy interruptions, Captain," repeated the smiling Egbert.
+"Now do you? Ha, ha! Confess."
+
+For the moment Sears forgot to be diplomatic.
+
+"That depends, I guess," he answered shortly.
+
+"Depends? You see, I told you, Elizabeth. Depends upon what? We must
+make him tell us the whole truth, mustn't we, Elizabeth? What does it
+depend upon, Captain Kendrick; the--ah--situation--the nature of the
+business--or the companion? Now which? Ha, ha!"
+
+Sears answered without taking time to consider.
+
+"Upon who interrupts, maybe," he snapped. Then he would have given
+something to have recalled the words, for Elizabeth turned and looked at
+him. She flushed.
+
+Egbert's serenity, however, was quite undented.
+
+"Oh, dear me!" he exclaimed, in mock alarm. "After that I shall _have_
+to go. And I shall take great pains to close the door behind me. Ha, ha!
+_Au revoir_, Elizabeth. Good-by, Captain."
+
+He went out, keeping his promise concerning the closing of the door.
+Elizabeth continued to look at her companion.
+
+"Now why in the world," she asked, "did you speak to him like that?"
+
+Sears frowned. "Oh, I don't know," he answered. "He--he riles me
+sometimes."
+
+"Yes.... Yes, I should judge so. I have noticed it before. You don't
+like him for some reason or other. What is the reason?"
+
+He hesitated. Aside from Judge Knowles' distrust and dislike--which he
+could not mention to her--there was no very valid reason, nothing but
+what she would have called prejudice. So he hesitated and reddened.
+
+She went on. "_I_ like him," she declared. "He is a gentleman. He is
+always polite and considerate--as he was just now about breaking in on
+our business talk. What did you dislike about that?"
+
+"Well, I--well--oh, nothin', perhaps."
+
+"I think nothing certainly. He is an old friend of mother's and of the
+people here in the Harbor. They all like him very much. I am sorry that
+you don't and that you spoke to him as you did. I didn't think you took
+unreasonable dislikes. It doesn't seem like you, Cap'n Kendrick."
+
+So once more Sears felt himself to have been put in a bad position and
+to have lost ground while Phillips gained it. And, brooding over the
+affair, he decided that he must be more careful. If he were not so much
+in Elizabeth's company there would be no opportunity for
+insinuations--by Egbert Phillips, or any one else. So he put a strong
+check upon his inclination to see the young woman, and,
+overconscientious as he was so likely to be, began almost to avoid her.
+Except when business of one kind or another made it necessary he did not
+visit the Harbor. It cost him many pangs and made him miserable, but he
+stuck to his resolution. She should not be talked about in connection
+with him if he could help it.
+
+He had had several talks with Bradley and with her about her legacy from
+Judge Knowles. The twenty-thousand was, so he discovered, already well
+invested in good securities and it was Bradley's opinion, as well as his
+own, that it should not be disturbed. The bonds were deposited in the
+vaults of the Harniss bank, and were perfectly safe. On dividend dates
+he and Miss Berry could cut and check up the coupons together. So far
+his duties as trustee were not burdensome. Bradley had invested
+Cordelia's five thousand for her, so the Berry family's finances were
+stable. In Bayport they were now regarded as "well off." Cordelia was
+invited to supper at Captain Elkhanah Wingate's, a sure sign that the
+hall-mark of wealth and aristocracy had been stamped upon her. At that
+supper, to which Elizabeth also was invited but did not attend, Mr.
+Egbert Phillips shone resplendent. Egbert was not wealthy, a fact which
+he took pains to let every one know, but when he talked, as he did most
+of the evening, Mrs. Wingate and her feminine guests sat in an adoring
+trance and, after these guests had gone, the hostess stood by the parlor
+window gazing wistfully after them.
+
+Her husband was unlocking the door of a certain closet upon the shelf of
+which was kept a certain bottle and accompanying glasses. The closet had
+not been opened before that evening, as the Reverend and Mrs. Dishup had
+been among the dinner guests.
+
+"Elkhanah," observed Mrs. Wingate, dreamily, "I do think Mr. Phillips is
+the most elegant man I ever saw in my life. His language--and his
+manners--they are perfect."
+
+Captain Elkhanah nodded. "He's pretty slick," he agreed.
+
+If he expected by thus agreeing to please his wife, he must have been
+disappointed.
+
+"Oh, _don't_ say 'slick'!" she snapped. "I do wish you wouldn't use such
+countrified words."
+
+"Eh?" indignantly. "Countrified! Well, I am country, ain't I? So are
+you, so far as that goes. So was he once--when he was teachin' a
+one-horse singin' school in this very town."
+
+"Well, perhaps. But he has got over it. And it would pay you to take
+lessons from him, and learn not to say 'slick' and 'ain't'."
+
+Her husband grunted. "Pay!" he repeated. "I'll wait till he pays me the
+twenty dollars he borrowed of me two weeks ago. He wasn't too citified
+to do that."
+
+Mrs. Wingate stalked to the stairs. "I'm ashamed of you," she declared.
+"You know what a struggle he is having, and how splendid and
+uncomplaining he is. And you a rich man! Any one would think you never
+saw twenty dollars before."
+
+Captain Elkhanah poured himself a judicious dose from the bottle.
+
+"Maybe I never _will_ see _that_ twenty again," he observed with a
+chuckle.
+
+"Oh, you--you disgust me!"
+
+"Oh, go----"
+
+"_What?_ What are you trying to say to me?"
+
+"Go to bed," said the captain, and took his dose.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+
+If Elizabeth noticed that Sears was not as frequent a visitor at the
+Fair Harbor as he had formerly been she said nothing about it. She
+herself had ceased to run in at the Minot place to ask this question or
+that. Since the occasion when Mr. Phillips interrupted the business talk
+in the office and his apologies had brought about the slight
+disagreement--if it may be called that--between the captain and Miss
+Berry, the latter had, so Sears imagined, been a trifle less cordial to
+him than before. She was not coldly formal or curt and disagreeable--her
+mother was all of these things to the captain now, and quite without
+reason so far as he could see--Elizabeth was not like that, but she was
+less talkative, less cheerful, and certainly less confidentially
+communicative. At times he caught her looking at him as if doubtful or
+troubled. When he asked her what was the matter she said "Nothing," and
+began to speak of the bills they had been considering.
+
+On one occasion she asked him a point blank question, one quite
+irrelevant to the subject at hand.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," she asked, "how do you think Judge Knowles came to
+appoint you to be manager here at the Harbor?"
+
+He was taken by surprise, of course. "Why," he stammered, "I--why, I
+don't know. That is, all I know about it is what he told me. He said he
+felt he ought to have some one, and I was near at home, and--and so he
+thought of me, I suppose."
+
+"Yes, I know. You told me that.... But--but how did he know you wanted
+the position?"
+
+"Wanted it? Good heavens and earth, I didn't want it! I fought as hard
+as I could not to take it. Why, I told you--you remember, that day when
+I first came over here; that time when Elvira and the rest wanted to buy
+the cast-iron menagerie; I told you then----"
+
+"Yes," she interrupted again. "Yes, I know you did. But.... And the
+judge had never heard from you--had never...."
+
+"Heard from me! Do you mean had I sent in an application for the job?"
+
+"Oh, no, no! Not that. But you and he had never been--er--close friends
+in the old days, when you were here before?"
+
+He could not guess what she was driving at. "Look here, Elizabeth," he
+said, "I've told you that I scarcely knew Judge Knowles before he sent
+for me and offered me this place. No man alive was ever more surprised
+than I was then. Why, I gathered that the judge had talked about me to
+you before he sent for me. Not as manager here, of course, but as--well,
+as a man. He told you that I was goin' to call, you said so, and I
+_know_ you and he had talked and laughed together about my fight with
+the hens in Judah's garden."
+
+The trouble, whatever its cause, seemed to vanish. She smiled. "Yes,
+yes," she said. "Of course we had. He did like you, Judge Knowles did,
+and that was all--of course it was."
+
+"All what?"
+
+"Oh, nothing, nothing. How is Judah? I haven't seen him for two days."
+
+She would not mention Judge Knowles again, but for the remainder of
+their session with the accounts she was more like her old self than she
+had been for at least a week, or so it seemed to him.
+
+This was but one of those queer and disconcerting flare-ups of hers. One
+day, a week or so after she had questioned him concerning his
+appointment, he happened to be in the Harbor kitchen, and alone--of
+itself a surprising thing. Elvira Snowden and her group were holding
+some sort of committee meeting in the sitting room. Elvira was
+continually forming committees or circles for this purpose or that,
+purposes which fizzled out at about the third meeting of each group.
+Esther Tidditt was supposed to be in charge of the kitchen on this
+particular morning, but she had gone into the committee meeting in order
+to torment Elvira and Mrs. Brackett, a favorite amusement with her.
+
+So Sears, wandering into the kitchen, happened to notice that the door
+of the store closet had been left open, and he was standing in front of
+it idly looking in. He was brought out of his day dream, which had
+nothing to do with the closet or its contents, by Elizabeth's voice. She
+had entered from the dining room and he had not heard her.
+
+"Well," she asked, "I trust you find everything present or accounted
+for?"
+
+Her tone was so crisply sarcastic that he turned in astonishment.
+
+"Why--what?" he faltered.
+
+"I said I trusted that you found everything in that closet as it should
+be. Have you measured the flour? My mother is matron here, Cap'n
+Kendrick, and she will be glad to have you take any precautions of that
+kind, I am sure. So shall I. But don't you think it might as well be
+done while she or I are here?"
+
+He was bewildered.
+
+"I don't know what you mean, Elizabeth," he said.
+
+"Don't you?"
+
+"No, I don't. I came in just now by the back door, and there was no one
+in the kitchen, so--so I waited for a minute."
+
+"Why did you come by the back door? You didn't use to. Mother and I are
+usually in the office, or, at least, we are always glad to come there
+when you call."
+
+He was still bewildered, but irritated, too.
+
+"Why did I come by the back door?" he repeated. "Why, I've come that way
+a dozen times in the last fortnight. Don't you want me to come that
+way?"
+
+Now she looked a trifle confused, but the flush was still on her cheeks
+and the sparkle in her eye.
+
+"I'm sure I don't care how often you come that way," she said.
+"But--well, mother is matron here, Cap'n Kendrick. She may not
+be--perhaps she isn't--the most businesslike and orderly person in the
+world, but she is my mother. If you have any complaints to make, if you
+want to find out how things are kept, or managed, or----"
+
+"Here!" he broke in. "Wait! What do you mean? Do you suppose I sneaked
+into this kitchen by myself to peek into that closet, and--and spy on
+your mother's managin'?... You don't believe anything of that kind. You
+can't."
+
+She was more embarrassed now. "Why--why, no, I don't, Cap'n Kendrick,"
+she admitted. "Of course I know you wouldn't sneak anywhere. But--but I
+have been given to understand that you and--well, Mr. Bradley--have not
+been--are not quite satisfied with the management--with mother's
+management. And----"
+
+"Wait! Heave to!" Sears was excited now, and, as usual when excited,
+drifted into nautical phraseology. "What do you mean by sayin' I am not
+satisfied? Who told you that?"
+
+"Why--well, you are not, are you? You questioned her about the coal a
+week ago, about how much she used in a week. And then you asked her
+about keeping the fires overnight, if she saw how many were kept, and if
+there was much waste. And two or three times you have been seen standing
+by the bins--figuring."
+
+"Good Lord!" His exclamation this time was one of sheer amazement. "Good
+Lord!" he said again. "Why, I have been tryin', now winter is comin' on,
+to figure out how to save coal cost for this craft--for the Fair Harbor.
+You know I have. I asked your mother about the fires because I know how
+much waste there is likely to be when a fire is kept carelessly. And as
+for Bradley and I not bein' satisfied with your mother that is the
+wildest idea of all. I never talked with Bradley about the management
+here. It isn't his business, for one reason."
+
+She was silent. Her expression had changed. Then she said, impulsively,
+"I'm sorry. Please don't mind what I said, Cap'n Kendrick. I--I am
+rather nervous and--and troubled just now. Of course, you are not
+obliged to come over here as--as often as you used.... But things I have
+heard---- Oh, I shouldn't pay attention to them, I suppose. I--I am very
+sorry."
+
+But he was not quite in the mood to forgive. And one sentence in
+particular occupied his attention.
+
+"Things you have heard," he repeated. "Yes.... I should judge you must
+have heard a good deal. But who did you hear it from?... Look here,
+Elizabeth; how did you know I was here in the kitchen now? Did you just
+happen to come out and find me by accident?"
+
+She reddened. "Why--why----" she stammered.
+
+"Or did some one tell you I was out here--spyin' on the pickles?"
+
+His tone was a most unusual one from him to her. She resented it.
+
+"No one told me you were 'spying'," she replied; coldly. "I have never
+thought of you as--a spy, Cap'n Kendrick. I have always considered you a
+friend, a disinterested friend of mother's and mine."
+
+"Well?... What does that 'disinterested' mean?"
+
+"Why, nothing in particular."
+
+"It must mean somethin' or you wouldn't have said it. Does it mean that
+you are beginnin' to doubt the disinterested part?... I'd like to have
+you tell me, if you don't mind, how you knew I was alone here in the
+kitchen? Who took the pains to tell you that?"
+
+Her answer now was prompt enough.
+
+"No one took particular pains, I should imagine," she said, crisply.
+"Mr. Phillips told me, as it happened. Or rather, he told mother and
+mother told me. He is to speak to the--to Elvira's 'travel-study'
+committee in the sitting room, and, as he often does, he walked around
+by the garden path. When he passed the window he saw you standing by the
+closet, that was all."
+
+Sears did not speak. He turned to the door.
+
+She called to him. "Wait--wait, please," she cried. "Mr. Phillips did
+not say anything, so far as I know, except to mention that you were
+here."
+
+The captain turned back again. "Somebody said somethin'," he declared.
+"Somebody said enough to send you out here and make you speak to me
+like--like that. And somebody has been startin' you to think about how I
+got the appointment as manager. Somebody has been whisperin' that I am
+not satisfied with your mother's way of doin' things and am schemin'
+against her. Somebody has been droppin' a hint here and a hint there
+until even you have begun to believe 'em.... Well, I can't stop your
+belief, I suppose, but maybe some day I shall stop Commodore Egbert, and
+when I do he'll stop hard."
+
+"You have no right to say I believe anything against you. I have always
+refused to believe that. Do you suppose if I hadn't believed in and
+trusted you absolutely I should have.... But there! You know I did--and
+do. It is only when--when----"
+
+"When Egbert hints."
+
+"_Oh!_ ... How you do hate Mr. Phillips, don't you?"
+
+"Hate him?... Why, I--I don't know as you'd call it hate."
+
+"I know. It is plain to see. You have hated him ever since he came. But
+why? He has never--you won't believe this, but it is true--he has never,
+to me at least, said one word except in your praise. He likes and
+admires you. He has told me so."
+
+"Does he tell your mother the same thing?"
+
+She looked at him. "Why do you couple my mother's name with his?" she
+demanded quickly. "Why should he tell her anything that he doesn't tell
+me?"
+
+It was a question which Sears could not answer. For some time he had
+noticed and guessed and feared, but he could not tell her. So he was
+silent, and to remain silent was perhaps the worst thing he could have
+done.
+
+"What do you know against Mr. Phillips?" she asked. "Tell me. Do you
+know _anything_ to his discredit?"
+
+Again he did not answer. She turned away.
+
+"I thought not," she said. "Oh, envy is such a _mean_ trait. Well, I
+suppose I shouldn't expect to have many friends--lasting friends."
+
+"Here! hold on, Elizabeth. Don't say that."
+
+"What else can I say? I am sorry I spoke to you as I did, but--I think
+you have more than paid the debt.... Yes, mother, I am coming."
+
+She went out of the room and Sears limped moodily home, reflecting, as
+most of mankind has reflected at one time or another, upon the
+unaccountableness of the feminine character. So far as he could see he
+had said much less than he would have been justified in saying. She had
+goaded him into saying even that. He pondered and puzzled over it the
+greater part of the night and then reached the conclusion which the male
+usually reaches under such circumstances, namely, that he had better ask
+her pardon.
+
+So when they next met he did that very thing and she accepted the
+apology. And at that meeting, and others immediately following it, no
+word was said by either concerning "spying" or Mr. Egbert Phillips. Yet
+the wall between them was left a little higher than it had been before,
+their friendship was not quite the same, and an experienced person, not
+much of a prophet at that, could have foretold that the time was coming
+when that friendship was to end.
+
+It was little Esther Tidditt who laid the coping of the dividing wall.
+Elvira Snowden built some of the upper tiers, but Esther finished the
+job. Almost unbelievable as it may seem, she did not like Mr. Phillips.
+Of course with her tendency to take the off side in all arguments and to
+be almost invariably "agin the government," the fact that the rest of
+feminine Bayport adored the glittering Egbert might have been of itself
+sufficient to set up her opposition. But he had, or she considered that
+he had, snubbed her on several occasions and she was a dangerous person
+to snub. Judah expressed it characteristically when he declared that
+anybody who "set out" to impose on Esther Tidditt would have as lively
+a time as a bare-footed man trying to dance a hornpipe on a wasp's nest.
+"She'll keep 'em hoppin' high, _I_ tell ye," proclaimed Judah.
+
+Little Mrs. Tidditt would have liked to keep Mr. Phillips hopping high,
+and did administer sly digs to his grandeur whenever she could. In the
+praise services among the "inmates" which were almost sure to follow a
+call of the great man at the Fair Harbor it was disconcerting and
+provoking to the worshipers to have Esther refer to the idol as "that
+Eg." Mrs. Brackett took her to task for it.
+
+"You ought to have more respect for his wife's memory, if nothin' else,"
+snapped Susanna. "If it hadn't been for her and her generosity you
+wouldn't be here, Esther Tidditt."
+
+"Yes, and if it hadn't been for her _he_ wouldn't be here. He'd have
+been teachin' singin' school yet--if he wasn't in jail. _You_ can call
+him Po-or de-ar Mr. Phillips,' if you want to; _I_ call him 'Old Eg.'
+And he is a bad egg, too, 'cordin' to my notion. Prob'ly that's why his
+wife and Judge Knowles hove him out of the nest."
+
+And, as Egbert climbed in popularity while Captain Sears Kendrick
+slipped back, it followed naturally that Mrs. Tidditt became more and
+more the friend and champion of the latter. She went out of her way to
+do him favors and she made it her business to keep him posted on the
+happenings and gossip at the Fair Harbor. He did not encourage her in
+this, in fact he attempted tactfully to discourage her, but Esther was
+not easily discouraged.
+
+It was she who first called his attention to Miss Snowden's fondness for
+the Phillips society.
+
+"Elviry's set her cap for him," declared Mrs. Tidditt. "The way she sets
+and looks mushy at him when he's preachin' about Portygee pictures and
+such is enough to keep a body from relishin' their meals."
+
+But of late, according to Esther, Elvira was no longer the first violin
+in the Phillips orchestra.
+
+"She's second fiddle," announced the little woman. "There's another
+craft cut acrost her bows. If you ask me who 'tis I can tell you, too,
+Cap'n Sears."
+
+And Sears made it a point not to ask. Once it was Elvira herself who
+more than hinted, and in the presence of Elizabeth and the captain. The
+latter pair were at the desk together when Miss Snowden passed through
+the room.
+
+"Where is mother?" asked Elizabeth. "Have you seen her, Elvira?"
+
+Elvira's thin lips were shut tight.
+
+"Don't ask _me_," she snapped, viciously. "She's out trapping, I
+suppose."
+
+"Trapping!" Elizabeth stared at her. "What are you talking about?
+Trapping what?"
+
+"I don't know. _I'm_ not layin' traps to catch anything--or any_body_
+either."
+
+She sailed out of the room. Miss Berry turned to Sears.
+
+"Do you know what she means, Cap'n Kendrick?" she asked.
+
+Sears did know, or would have bet heavily on his guess. But he shook his
+head. Elizabeth was not satisfied.
+
+"Why do you look like that?" she persisted. "_Do_ you know?"
+
+"Eh?... Oh, no, no; of course not.... I--I think I saw your mother goin'
+out of the gate as I came across lots. She--I presume likely she was
+goin' to the store or somewhere."
+
+"She didn't tell me she was going. Was she alone?"
+
+"Why--why, no; I think--seems to me Mr. Phillips was with her."
+
+For the next few minutes the captain devoted his entire attention to the
+letter he was writing. He did not look up, but he was quite conscious
+that her eyes were boring him through and through. During the rest of
+his stay she was curt and cool. When he went she did not bid him
+good-by.
+
+So the fuse was burning merrily and the inevitable explosion came three
+days later. The scene was this time not the Fair Harbor office, but the
+Minot kitchen. Judah was out and the captain was alone, reading the
+_Item_. The fire in the range was a new one and the kitchen was very
+warm, so Sears had opened the outer door in order to cool off a bit. It
+was a beautiful late October forenoon.
+
+The captain was deep in the _Item's_ account of the recent wreck on
+Peaked Hill Bars. A British bark had gone ashore there and the crew had
+been rescued with difficulty. He was himself dragged, metaphorically
+speaking, from the undertow by a voice just behind him.
+
+"Well, you're takin' it easy, ain't you, Cap'n Sears?" observed Mrs.
+Tidditt. "I wish _I_ didn't have nothin' to do but set and read the
+news."
+
+"Oh, good mornin', Esther," said the captain. He was not particularly
+glad to see her. "What's wrong; anything?"
+
+"Nothin' but my batch of gingerbread, and a quart of molasses'll save
+that. Can you spare it? Oh, don't get up. I know where Judah keeps it;
+I've been here afore."
+
+She went to the closet, found the molasses jug, and filled her pitcher.
+Then she came back and sat down. She had not been invited to sit, but
+Esther scorned ceremony.
+
+"No, sir," she observed, as if carrying on an uninterrupted
+conversation, "_I_ can't set and read the newspapers. And I can't go to
+walk neither, even if 'tis such weather as 'tis to-day. Some folks can,
+though, and they've gone."
+
+Sears turned the page of the _Item_. He made no comment. His silence did
+not in the least disturb his caller.
+
+"Yes, they've gone," she repeated. "Right in the middle of the forenoon,
+too.... Oh, well! when the Admiral of all creation comes to get you to
+go cruisin' along with him, you go, I suppose. That is, some folks do.
+I'd like to see the man _I'd_ make such a fool of myself over."
+
+The captain was reading the "Local Jottings" now. Mrs. Tidditt kept
+serenely on.
+
+"I wouldn't let any man make such a soft-headed fool of me," she
+declared. "'Twould take more than a mustache and a slick tongue to get
+_my_ money away from me--if I had any."
+
+Sears was obliged to give up the Jottings. He sighed and put down the
+paper.
+
+"What's the matter, Esther?" he asked. "Who's after your money?"
+
+"Nobody, and good reason why, too. And I ain't out cruisin' 'round the
+fields with an Eg neither."
+
+"With an egg? Who is?"
+
+"Who do you think? Cordelia Berry, of course. Him and her have gone for
+what he calls a little stroll. He said she was workin' her poor brain
+too hard and a little fresh air would do her good. Pity about her poor
+brain, ain't it? Well, if 'twan't a poor one he'd never coax her into
+marryin' _him_, that's sartin."
+
+"Esther, don't talk foolish."
+
+"Nothin' foolish about it. If them two ain't keepin' company then I
+never saw anybody that was. He's callin' on her, and squirin' her
+'round, and waitin' on her mornin', noon and night. And she--my
+patience! she might as well hang out a sign, 'Ready and Willin'.' She
+says he's the one real aristocrat she has seen since she left her
+father's home. Poor Cap'n Ike, he's all forgotten."
+
+Sears stirred uneasily. Barring Tidditt exaggeration, he was inclined to
+believe all this very near the truth. It merely confirmed his own
+suspicions.
+
+His visitor went gayly on. "I'm sorry for Elizabeth," she said. "I don't
+know whether the poor girl realizes how soon she's liable to have that
+Eg for a step-pa. I shouldn't wonder if she suspected a little. I don't
+see how she can help it. But, Elviry Snowden--oh, dear, dear! If _she_
+ain't the sourest mortal these days. I do get consider'ble fun out of
+Elviry. She's the one thing that keeps me reconciled to life."
+
+The captain thought he saw an opportunity to shift Mrs. Berry from the
+limelight and substitute some one else.
+
+"I thought Elvira Snowden was the one you said meant to get Egbert," he
+suggested.
+
+"So I did, and so she was. But she don't count nowadays."
+
+"Why doesn't she?"
+
+"Well, if you ask me I shall give you an answer. Elviry Snowden ain't
+fell heir to five thousand dollars and Cordelia Berry has. That's why."
+
+Sears uneasily shifted again. This conversation was following much too
+closely his own line of reasoning.
+
+"Five thousand isn't any great fortune," he observed, "to a man like
+Phillips."
+
+The little woman nodded. "It's five thousand dollars to a man just
+_like_ Phillips--now," she said, significantly. "And, more'n that,
+Cordelia's matron at the Harbor. The Fair Harbor ain't a Eyetalian
+palace maybe, but it's a nice, comf'table place where the matron's
+husband might live easy and not pay board.... That's _my_ guess. Other
+folks can have theirs and welcome."
+
+"But----"
+
+"There ain't no buts about it, Cap'n Kendrick. You know it's so. Eg
+Phillips is goin' to marry Cordelia Berry. My name ain't Elijah nor
+Jeremiah--no, nor Deuteronomy nuther--but I can prophesy that much."
+
+She rose with a triumphant bounce, turned to the open door behind her,
+and saw Elizabeth Berry standing there. Sears Kendrick saw her at the
+same time.
+
+There are periods in the life of each individual when it seems as if
+Fate was holding a hammer above that individual's head and, at
+intervals, as the head ventures to lift itself, knocking it down again.
+Each successive tap seems a bit harder, and the victim, during the
+interval of its falling, wonders if it is to be the final and finishing
+thump.
+
+Sears did not wonder this time, he knew. His thought, as he saw her
+there, saw the expression upon her face and realized what she must have
+heard, was: "Here it is! This is the end."
+
+Yet he was the first of the two to speak. Elizabeth, white and rigid,
+said nothing, and even Mrs. Tidditt's talking machinery seemed to be
+temporarily thrown out of gear. So the captain made the attempt, a
+feeble one.
+
+"Why, Elizabeth," he faltered, "is that you?... Come in, won't you?"
+
+She did come in, that is, she came as far as the door mat. Then she
+turned, not to him, but to his companion.
+
+"What do you mean by speaking in that way of my mother?" she demanded.
+
+Esther was still a trifle off balance. Her answer was rather incoherent.
+
+"I--I don't know's I--as I said--as I said much of anything--much," she
+stammered.
+
+"I heard you. How dare you tell such--such _lies_?"
+
+"Lies?"
+
+"Yes; mean, miserable lies. What else are they? How dare you run to--to
+_him_ with them?"
+
+Mrs. Tidditt's hand, that grasping the handle of the molasses pitcher,
+began to quiver. Her eyes, behind her steel-rimmed spectacles, winked
+rapidly.
+
+"Elizabeth Berry," she snapped, with ominous emphasis, "don't you talk
+to me like that!"
+
+"I shall talk to you as--as.... Oh, I should be ashamed to talk to you
+at all. My mother--my kind, trustful, unsuspecting mother! And you--you
+and he _dare_----"
+
+Kendrick, in desperation, tried to put in a word.
+
+"Elizabeth," he begged, "don't misunderstand. Esther hasn't been runnin'
+here to tell me things. She came over to borrow some molasses from
+Judah, that's all."
+
+"Oh, stop! I tell you I heard what she said. And you were listening.
+Listening! Without a word of protest. I suppose you encouraged her. Of
+course you did. No doubt this isn't the first time. This may be her
+usual report. Not content with--with prying into closets and--and coal
+bins and--and----"
+
+"Elizabeth!"
+
+"Doing these things for yourself was not enough, I suppose. You must
+encourage her--pay her, perhaps--to listen and whisper scandal and to
+spy----"
+
+"Stop! Stop right there!" The captain was not begging now. Even in the
+midst of her impassioned outburst the young woman paused, halted
+momentarily by the compelling force of that order. But she halted
+unwillingly.
+
+"I shall not stop," she declared. "I shall say----"
+
+"You have said a whole lot too much already. And you don't mean what you
+have said."
+
+"I do! I do! Oh, I can't tell you what I think of you."
+
+"Well," dryly, "you have made a pretty fair try at tellin' it. If it is
+what you really think of me it'll do--it will be quite enough. I shan't
+need any more."
+
+He was looking at her gravely and steadily and before his look her own
+gaze wavered. If they had been alone it is barely possible that ... but
+they were not alone. Mrs. Tidditt was there and, by this time, as Judah
+would have said, "her neck-feathers were on end" and her spurs sharpened
+for battle. She hopped into the pit forthwith.
+
+"_I_ need consider'ble more," she cackled, defiantly. "I've been called
+a spy and a scandal whisperer and the Lord knows what else. Now I'll say
+somethin'."
+
+"Esther, be still."
+
+"I shan't be still till I'm ready, not for you, Sears Kendrick, nor for
+her nor nobody else. I ain't a spy, 'Liz'beth Berry, and I ain't paid by
+no livin' soul. But I see what I see with the eyes the Almighty give me
+to see with, and after I've seen it--not alone once but forty dozen
+times--I'll talk about it if I want to, when I want to, to anybody I
+want to. Now that's that much."
+
+Elizabeth, scornfully silent, was turning to the door, but the little
+woman hopped--that seems the only word which describes it--in her way.
+
+"You ain't goin'," she declared, "till I've finished. 'Twon't take me
+long to say it, but it's goin' to be said. I told Cap'n Sears that Eg
+Phillips was chasin' 'round with your mother. He is. And if she ain't
+glad to have him chase her then I never see anybody that was. I said
+them two was cal'latin' to get married. Well ... well, if they ain't
+then they'd ought to be, that's all I'll say about _that_. And don't you
+ever call me a spy again as long as you live, 'Liz'beth Berry."
+
+She hopped again, to the doorway this time. There she turned for a
+farewell cackle.
+
+"One thing more," she said. "I told the cap'n I believed the reason that
+that Eg man wanted to marry Cordelia was on account of her bein' able to
+give him five thousand dollars and the Fair Harbor to live in. I do
+believe it. And you can tell her so--or him so. But afore I told anybody
+I'd think it over, if I was you, 'Liz'beth Berry. And I'd think _him_
+over a whole lot afore I'd let him and his 'ily tongue make trouble
+between you and your _real_ friends.... There! Good-by."
+
+She went away. Kendrick pulled at his beard.
+
+"Elizabeth," he began, hastily, "I'm awfully sorry that this happened.
+Of course you know that I----"
+
+She interrupted him. "I know," she said, "that if I ever speak to you
+again it will be because I am obliged to, not because I want to."
+
+She followed Mrs. Tidditt. Sears Kendrick sat down once more in the
+rocking chair.
+
+He did a great deal of hard and unpleasant thinking before he rose from
+it. When he did rise it was to go to the drawer in the bureau of the
+spare stateroom where he kept his writing materials, take therefrom pen,
+ink and paper and sit down at the table to write a letter. The letter
+was not long of itself, but composing it was a rather lengthy process.
+It was addressed to Elizabeth Berry and embodied his resignation as
+trustee and guardian of her inheritance from Judge Knowles.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"As I see it [he wrote] I am not the one to have charge of that money. I
+took the job, as you know, because the judge asked me to and because you
+asked me. I took it with a good deal of doubt. Now, considering the way
+you feel towards me, I haven't any doubt that I should give it up. I
+don't want you to make the mistake of thinking that I feel guilty. So
+far as I know I have not done anything which was not square and honest
+and aboveboard, either where you were concerned, or your mother, or what
+I believed to be the best interests of the Fair Harbor. And I am not
+giving up my regular berth as general manager of the Harbor itself.
+Judge Knowles asked me to keep that as long as I thought it was
+necessary for the good of the institution. I honestly believe it is more
+necessary now than it ever was. And I shall stay right on deck until I
+feel the need is over. I shan't bother you with my company any more than
+I can help, but you will have to put up with it about every once in so
+often while we go over business affairs. So much for that. The
+trusteeship is different and I resign it to Mr. Bradley, who was the
+judge's second choice."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He paused here, deliberated for a time, and then added another
+paragraph.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I feel sure Bradley will take it [he wrote]. If he should refuse I will
+not give it up to any one else. At least not unless I am perfectly
+satisfied with the person chosen. This is for your safety and for no
+other reason."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He sent the letter over by Judah. Two days later he received a reply.
+It, too, was brief and to the point.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I accept your resignation [wrote Elizabeth]. It was Judge Knowles' wish
+that you be my trustee, and, as you know, it was mine also. Apparently
+you no longer feel bound by either wish, and of course I shall not beg
+you to change your mind. I have no right to influence you in any way. I
+have seen Mr. Bradley and he has consented to act as trustee for me. He
+will see you in a day or two. As for the other matters I have nothing to
+say. Whenever you wish to consult with me on business affairs I shall be
+ready."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+There was a postscript. It read:
+
+"I feel that I should thank you for what you have already done. I do
+thank you sincerely."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+So that ended it, and ended also what had been a happy period for Sears
+Kendrick. He made no more informal daily visits to the Fair Harbor.
+Twice a week, at stated times, he and Elizabeth met in the office and
+conferred concerning bills, letters and accounts. She was calm and
+impersonal during these interviews, and he tried to be so. There was no
+reference to other matters and no more cheerful and delightful chats, no
+more confidences between them. It did seem to him that she was more
+absent-minded, less alert and attentive to the business details than she
+had been, and at times he thought that she looked troubled and careworn.
+Perhaps, however, this was but his imagining, a sort of reflection of
+his own misery. For he was miserable--miserable, pessimistic and pretty
+thoroughly disgusted with life. His health and strength were gaining
+always, but he found little consolation in this. He could not go to sea
+just yet. He had promised Judge Knowles to stick it out and stick he
+would. But he longed--oh, how he longed!--for the blue water and a deck
+beneath his feet. Perhaps, a thousand miles from land, with a gale
+blowing and a ship to handle, as a real deep-sea skipper he could
+forget--forget a face and a voice and a succession of silly fancies
+which could not, apparently, be wholly forgotten by the middle-aged
+skipper of an old women's home.
+
+One morning, after a troubled night, on his way to a conference with
+Elizabeth at the Fair Harbor office, he met Mr. Egbert Phillips. The
+latter, serene, benign, elegant, was entering at the gateway beneath the
+swinging sign which proclaimed to the other world that within the Harbor
+all was peace. Of late Captain Kendrick had found a certain flavor of
+irony in the wording of that sign.
+
+Kendrick and Phillips reached the gate at the same moment. They
+exchanged good mornings. Egbert's was sweetly and condescendingly
+gracious, the captain's rather short and brusque. Since the encounter in
+the office where, in the presence of Elizabeth, Phillips' polite
+inuendoes had goaded Sears into an indiscreet revelation of his real
+feeling toward the elegant widower--since that day relations between
+the two had been maintained on a basis of armed neutrality. They bowed,
+they smiled, they even spoke, although seldom at length. Kendrick had
+made up his mind not to lose his temper again. His adversary should not
+have that advantage over him.
+
+But this morning to save his life he could not have appeared as
+unruffled as usual. The night had been uncomfortable, his waking
+thoughts disturbing. His position was a hard one, he was feeling
+rebellious against Fate and even against Judge Knowles, who, as Fate's
+agent, had gotten him into that position. And the sight of the tall
+figure, genteelly swinging its cane and beaming patronage upon the world
+in general, was a little too much for him. So his good morning was more
+of a grunt than a greeting.
+
+It may be that Egbert noticed this. Or it may be that with his triumph
+so closely approaching a certainty he could not resist a slight gloat.
+At all events he paused for an instant, a demure gleam in his eye and
+the corner of his lip beneath the drooping mustache lifting in an amused
+smile.
+
+"A beautiful day, Captain," he said.
+
+Kendrick admitted the day's beauty. He would have passed through the
+gateway, but Mr. Phillips' figure and Mr. Phillips' cane blocked the
+way.
+
+"It seems to me that we do not see as much of you here at the Harbor as
+we used, Captain Kendrick," observed Egbert. "Or is that my fancy
+merely?"
+
+The captain's answer was noncommittal. Again he attempted to pass and
+again the Phillips' walking-stick casually prevented.
+
+"I trust that nothing serious has occurred to deprive us of your
+society, Captain?" queried the owner of the stick, solicitously. "No
+accident, no further accident, or anything of that sort?"
+
+"No."
+
+"And you are quite well? Pardon me, but I fancied that you
+looked--ah--shall I say disturbed--or worried, perhaps?"
+
+"No. I'm all right."
+
+"I am so glad to hear it. I gathered--that is, I feared that perhaps the
+cares incidental to your--" again the slight smile--"your labors as
+general supervisor of the Harbor might be undermining your health. I am
+charmed to have you tell me that that is not the case."
+
+"Thanks."
+
+"Of course--" Mr. Phillips drew a geometrical figure with the
+cane in the earth of the flower bed by the path--"of course," he
+said, "speaking as one who has had some sad experience with illness
+and that sort of thing, it has always seemed to me that one should
+not take chances with one's health. If the cares of a particular
+avocation--situation--position--whatever it may be--if the cares
+and--ah--disappointments incidental to it are affecting one's physical
+condition it has always seemed to me wiser to sacrifice the first for
+the second. And make the sacrifice in time. You see what I mean?"
+
+Kendrick, standing by the post of the gateway, looked at him.
+
+"Why, no," he said, slowly, "I don't know that I do. What do you mean?"
+
+The cane was drawn through the first figure in the flower bed and began
+to trace another. Again Mr. Phillips smiled.
+
+"Why, nothing in particular, my dear sir," he replied. "Perhaps nothing
+at all.... I had heard--mere rumor, no doubt--that you contemplated
+giving up your position as superintendent here. I trust it is not true?"
+
+"It isn't."
+
+"I am delighted to hear you say so. We--we of the Harbor--should miss
+you greatly."
+
+"Thanks. Do you mind telling me who told you I was goin' to give up the
+superintendent's position?"
+
+"Why, I don't remember. It came to my ears, it seemed to be a sort of
+general impression. Of course, now that you tell me it is not true I
+shall take pains to deny it. And permit me to express my gratification."
+
+"Just a minute. Did they say--did this general impression say why I was
+givin' up the job?"
+
+"No-o, no, I think not. I believe it was hinted that you were not well
+and--perhaps somewhat tired--a little discouraged--that sort of thing.
+As I say, it was mere rumor."
+
+Sears smiled now--that is, his lips smiled, his eyes were grave enough.
+
+"Well," he observed, deliberately, "if you have a chance, Mr. Phillips,
+you can tell those mere rumorers that I'm not tired at all. My health is
+better than it has been for months. So far from bein' discouraged, you
+can tell 'em that--well, you know what Commodore Paul Jones told the
+British cap'n who asked him to surrender; he told him that he had just
+begun to fight. That's the way it is with me, Mr. Phillips, I've just
+begun to fight."
+
+The cane was lifted from the flower bed. Egbert nodded in polite
+appreciation.
+
+"Really?" he said. "How interesting, Captain!"
+
+Kendrick nodded, also. "Yes, isn't it?" he agreed. "Were you goin' into
+the Harbor, Phillips? So am I. We'll walk along together."
+
+But that night he went to his bed in better spirits. Egbert's little dig
+had been the very thing he needed, and now he knew it. He had been
+discouraged; in spite of his declaration in his letter to Elizabeth
+Berry, he had wished that it were possible to run away from the Fair
+Harbor and everything connected with it. But now--now he had no wish of
+that kind. If Judge Knowles could rise from the grave and bid him quit
+he would not do it.
+
+Quit? Not much! Like Paul Jones, he had just begun to fight.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+
+But there was so little that was tangible to fight, that was the
+trouble. If Mr. Egbert Phillips was the villain of the piece he was such
+a light and airy villain that it was hard to take him seriously enough.
+Even when Kendrick was most thoroughly angry with him and most
+completely convinced that he was responsible for all his own troubles,
+including the loss of Elizabeth Berry's friendship--even then he found
+it hard to sit down and deliberately plan a campaign against him. It
+seemed like campaigning against a butterfly. The captain disliked him
+extremely, but he never felt a desire to knock him down. To kick
+him--yes. Perhaps to thump the beaver hat over his eyes and help him
+down the brick path of the Harbor with the judicious application of a
+boot, grinning broadly during the process--that was Sears Kendrick's
+idea of a fitting treatment for King Egbert the Great.
+
+The captain had done his share of fighting during an adventurous
+lifetime, but his opponents had always been men. Somehow Phillips did
+not seem to him like a man. A creature so very ornamental, with so much
+flourish, so superlatively elegant, so overwhelmingly correct, so
+altogether and all the time the teacher of singing school or dancing
+school--how could one seriously set about fighting such a bundle of
+fluff? A feather-duster seemed a more fitting weapon than a shotgun.
+
+But the fluff was flying high and in the sunshine and was already far
+out of reach of the duster. Soon it would be out of reach of the
+shotgun. Unless the fight was made serious and deadly at once there
+would be none at all. Unless having already lost about all that made
+life worth living, Sears Kendrick wished to be driven from Bayport in
+inglorious rout, he had better campaign in earnest. Passive resistance
+must end.
+
+As a beginning he questioned Judah once more concerning Phillips'
+standing in the community. It was unchanged, so Judah said. He was quite
+as popular, still the brave and uncomplaining martyr, always the idol of
+the women and a large proportion of the men.
+
+"Did you hear about him down to the Orthodox church fair last week?"
+asked Mr. Cahoon. "You didn't! Creepin'! I thought everybody aboard had
+heard about that. Seems they'd sold about everything there was to sell,
+but of course there was a few things left, same as there always is, and
+amongst 'em was a patchwork comforter that old Mrs. Jarvis--Capn'
+Azariah Jarvis's second wife she was--you remember Cap'n Azariah, don't
+ye, Cap'n Sears? He was the one that used to swear so like fury. Didn't
+mean nothin' by it, just a habit 'twas, same as usin' tobacco or rum is
+with some folks. Didn't know when---- Eh? Oh, yes, about that comforter.
+Why, old Mrs. Jarvis she made it for the fair and it wan't sold. 'Twas
+one of them log-cabin quilts, you know. I don't know why they call 'em
+log cabins, they don't look no more like a log cabin than my head does.
+I cal'late they have to call 'em somethin' so's to tell 'em from the
+risin' sun quilts and the mornin'-glory quilts and--and the
+Lord-knows-what quilts. The womenfolks make mo-ore kinds of them quilts
+and comforters, seems so, than----
+
+"Eh? Oh, yes, I'm beatin' up to Egbert, Cap'n Sears; I'll be alongside
+him in a minute, give me steerage way. Well, the log-cabin quilt wan't
+sold and they wanted to sell it, partly because old Mrs. Jarvis would
+feel bad if nobody bought it, and partly because the meetin'-house folks
+would feel worse if any money got away from 'em at a fair. So Mr. Dishup
+he says, 'We'll auction of it off,' he says, 'and our honored and
+beloved friend, Mr. Phillips, will maybe so be kind enough to act as
+auctioneer.' So Eg, he got up and apologized for bein' chose, and went
+on to say what a all-'round no-good auctioneer he'd be but how he
+couldn't say no to the folks of the church where his dear diseased wife
+had worshiped so long, and then he started in to sell that comforter.
+Did he _sell_ it? Why, creepin', crawlin', hoppin' ... Cap'n Sears, he
+could have sold a shipload of them log-cabins if he'd had 'em handy. He
+held the thing up in front of 'em, so they tell me, and he just praised
+it up same as John B. Gough praises up cold water at a temp'rance
+lecture. He told how the old woman had worked over it, and set up nights
+over it, and got her nerves all into a titter and her finger ends all
+rags, as you might say, and how she had done it just to do somethin' for
+the meetin'-house she thought so much of, the church that her loved and
+lost husband used to come to so reg'lar. _That_ was all fiddlesticks,
+'cause Cap'n Az never went to church except for the six weeks after he
+was married, and pretty scattern' 'long the last three of _them_.
+
+"Well, he hadn't talked that way very long afore he had that whole
+vestry as damp as a fishin' schooner's deck in a Banks fog. All
+hands--even the men that had been spendin' money for the fair things,
+tidies and aprons and splint work picture-frames and such, even they was
+cryin'. And then old Mrs. Jarvis--and she was cryin', too--she went and
+whispered to the minister and he whispered to Phillips and Phillips, he
+says: 'Ladies and gentlemen,' he says, 'I have just learned that a part
+of this quilt was made from a suit of clothes worn by Cap'n Jarvis on
+his last v'yage,' he says. '_Just_ think of it,' says he, 'this blue
+strip here is a part of the coat worn by him as he trod the deck of his
+ship homeward bound--bound home to his wife, bound home to die.'
+
+"Well, all hands cried more'n ever at that, and Mrs. Jarvis got up, with
+the tears a-runnin', and says she: 'It wan't his coat,' she says. 'I
+sold the coat and vest to a peddler. 'Twas his----' But Egbert cut in
+afore she could tell what 'twas, and then he got 'em to biddin'.
+Creepin' Henry, Cap'n Sears! that log-cabin quilt sold for nine dollars
+and a half, and the man that bought it was Philander Comstock, the
+tailor over to Denboro. And Philander told me himself that he didn't
+know why he bought it. '_I_ made that suit of clothes for Cap'n Azariah,
+myself,' he says, 'and he died afore I got half my pay for it. But that
+Phillips man,' he says, 'could sell a spyglass to a blind man.'"
+
+The captain asked Judah if he had heard any testimony on the other side;
+were there any people in Bayport who did not like Mr. Phillips. Judah
+thought it over.
+
+"We-ll," he said, reflectively, "I don't know as I've ever heard anybody
+come right out and call him names. Anybody but Esther Tidditt, that is;
+she's down on him like a sheet anchor on a crab. Sometimes Elviry snaps
+out somethin' spiteful, but most of that's jealousy, I cal'late. You
+see, Elviry had her cap all set for this Egbert widower--that is, all
+hands seems to cal'late she had--and then she began to find her nose was
+bein' put out of j'int. You know who they're sayin' put it out, Cap'n
+Sears? There seems to be a general notion around town that----"
+
+Kendrick interrupted; this was a matter he did not care to discuss with
+Judah or any one else. There had been quite enough said on that subject.
+
+"Yes, yes, all right, Judah," he said, hastily. "But the men? Do the men
+like him as well as the women?"
+
+"Why--why, yes, I guess so. Not quite so well, of course. That wouldn't
+be natural, would it, Cap'n Sears?"
+
+"Perhaps not. But have you ever heard any man say anything against him,
+anything definite? Does he pay his bills?"
+
+"Eh? Why, I don't know. I ain't never----"
+
+"All right. Who does he chum around with mostly? Who are his best
+friends?"
+
+Mr. Cahoon gave a list of them, beginning of course with the Wingates
+and the Dishups and the members of the Shakespeare Reading Society and
+ending with George Kent.
+
+"He cruises along with George a whole lot," declared Judah. "Them two
+are together about half the time. George don't work to the store no
+more. You knew that, didn't you?"
+
+If Sears had heard it, he had forgotten. Judah went on to explain.
+
+"He hove up his job at Eliphalet's quite a spell ago," he said "He's
+studyin' law along with Bradley same as ever, but 'he's busy lawin' here
+in Bayport, too. Some of his relations died and left a lot of money, so
+folks tell, and George is what they call administer of the estate. It's
+an awful good thing for him, all hands cal'late. Some say he's rich."
+
+The captain vaguely remembered Kent's disclosure to him concerning his
+appointment as administrator of his aunt's estate. He had not exchanged
+a word with the young man since the evening of the latter's call and
+Elizabeth's interruption. It seemed a long while ago. Much--and so much
+that was unpleasant--had happened since then. Kent and he had met, of
+course, and on the first two or three occasions, Kendrick had spoken.
+The young fellow had not replied. Now, at the mention of his name,
+Kendrick felt an uneasy pang, almost of guilt. He had done nothing
+wrong, of course yet if it had not been for him perhaps the two young
+people might still have been friends or even more than friends. It was
+true that Elizabeth had told him but there, what difference did it make
+what she told him? She had told him other things since, things that he
+could not forget.
+
+"Well, all right, Judah," he said. "It wasn't important. Run along."
+
+Judah did not run along. He remained, looking at his lodger with a
+troubled expression. The latter noticed it.
+
+"What is it, Judah?" he asked. "Anything wrong?"
+
+Mr. Cahoon's fingers moved uneasily through the heavy foliage upon his
+chin. "Why--why, Cap'n Sears," he stammered, "can I ask you somethin'?"
+
+"Certain. Fire away."
+
+"Well--well--it--it ain't true, is it, that you done anything to set
+Elizabeth Berry against that young Kent feller? You never told her
+nothin'--or did nothin'--or--or----"
+
+He seemed to find it hard to finish his sentence. The captain did not
+wait, but asked a question of his own.
+
+"Who said I did, Judah?" he asked.
+
+"Hey?... Oh, I--I don't know. Why--why, some of them sculpin'-mouths
+down to the store they say that you--that you told Elizabeth a lot of
+things--or did somethin' or 'nother to spite George with her. Of course
+_I_ knew 'twan't so, but--but----"
+
+"But they said it was, eh? Well, it isn't true. I haven't done anything
+of that kind, Judah."
+
+The Cahoon fist descended upon the kitchen table with a thump. "I knew
+it!" roared Judah. "I knew dum well 'twas a cargo of lies. Now just
+wait. Let one of them swabs just open his main hatch and start to unload
+another passel of that cargo. If I don't----"
+
+"Shh, shh! Don't do that. I tell you what to do. If you want to help me,
+Judah, you say nothin', but try and find out who told them these things.
+Some one has been pretty busy tellin' things to my discredit for some
+time. Don't let any one know what you're after, but see if you can find
+out who is responsible. Will you?"
+
+"Sartin sure I will. And when I do find out----"
+
+"When you do, let me know. And Judah, one thing more: Find out all that
+you can find out about this Phillips man. See if he owes anybody money.
+See if he pays his debts. See if he--well, find out all you can about
+him; but don't let any one know you're tryin' to find out, that's all.
+Do you understand?"
+
+"Eh?... Why, I guess likely I do.... But--but.... Eh? Cap'n Sears, do
+you mean to say you cal'late that that Eg Phillips is at the back of all
+this talk against you in Bayport? Do you mean that?"
+
+"Humph! So there is talk against me; a lot of it, I suppose?"
+
+Judah forgot to be discreet. "Talk!" he shouted. "There's more
+underhand, sneakin' lies about you goin' around this flat-bottomed,
+leaky, gurry-and-bilgewater tub of a town than there is fiddlers in
+Tophet. I've denied 'em and contradicted 'em till I'm hoarse from
+hollerin'. I've offered to fight anybody who dast to say they was true,
+but, by the hoppin' Henry, nobody ever said any more than that they'd
+heard they was. And I never could find out who started 'em. And do you
+mean to say you believe that long-legged critter with the beaver hat and
+the--the mustache like a drowned cat's tail is responsible?"
+
+Captain Kendrick hesitated for an instant. Then he nodded. "I think he
+is, Judah," he said, solemnly.
+
+"Then, by the creepin', crawlin'----"
+
+"Wait! I don't know that he is. I don't know much about him. But I mean
+to find out all about him, if I can. And I want you to help me."
+
+"I'll help. And when you find out, Cap'n?"
+
+"Well, that depends. If I find out anything that will give me the
+chance, I'll--I'll smash him as flat as that."
+
+_He_ struck the table now, with his open palm. Mr. Cahoon grinned
+delightedly.
+
+"I bet you will, Cap'n Sears!" he vowed. "And if he ain't flat enough
+then I'll come and jump on him. And I ain't no West Injy hummin'-bird
+neither."
+
+Kendrick's next move was to talk with his sister. Her visits at the
+Minot place had not been quite as frequent of late. She came, of course,
+but not as often, or so it seemed to the captain, and when she came she
+carefully avoided all reference to her new boarder. Sears knew the
+reason, or thought he did. He had hurt her feelings by intimating that
+Mr. Phillips might not be as altogether speckless as she thought him. He
+had not enthused over her giving up the best parlor to his Egbertship
+and Sarah was disappointed. But, loyal and loving soul that she was, she
+would not risk even the slightest disagreement with her brother, and so
+when she called, spoke of everything or everybody but the possible cause
+of such disagreement. Yet the cause was there and between brother and
+sister, as between Elizabeth and Sears, lay the slim, lengthy,
+gracefully undulating shadow of Judge Knowles' pet bugbear, who was
+rapidly becoming Sears Kendrick's bugbear as well.
+
+The captain had not visited the Macomber home more than twice since
+Judah carted him away from it in the blue truck-wagon. One fine day,
+however, he and the Foam Flake made the journey again, although with the
+buggy, not the wagon. He chose a time when he knew Kent was almost
+certain to be over at Bradley's office in Orham and when Phillips was
+not likely to be in his rooms. Of course there was a chance that he
+might encounter the latter, but he thought it unlikely. His guess was a
+good one and Egbert was out, had gone for a ride, so Mrs. Macomber said.
+Mrs. Cap'n Elkanah Wingate had furnished the necessary wherewithal for
+riding. "The Wingates let him use their horse and team real often," said
+Sarah. "They're awful fond of him, Mrs. Wingate especial. I don't know
+as Cap'n Elkanah is so much; he is kind of cross-grained sometimes and
+it's hard for him to like anybody very long."
+
+She was hard at work, ironing this time, but she would have put the
+flatiron back on the stove and taken her brother to the sitting room if
+he had permitted. "The idea of a man like you, Sears, havin' to sit on
+an old broken-down chair out here in the wash-shed," she exclaimed. "It
+ain't fittin'."
+
+The captain sniffed. "I guess if it's fittin' for you to be workin' out
+here I shouldn't complain at sittin' here," he observed. "Is that Joel's
+shirt? He's gettin' awfully high-toned--and high collared, seems to me."
+
+Mrs. Macomber was slightly confused. "Why, no," she said, "this isn't
+Joe's shirt. It's Mr. Phillips's. Ain't it lovely linen? I don't know as
+I ever saw any finer."
+
+Her brother leaned back in the broken chair. "Do you do his washin' for
+him, Sarah?" he demanded.
+
+"Why--why, yes, Sears. You see, he's real particular about how it's
+done, and of course you can't blame him, he has such lovely things. He
+tried two of the regular washwomen, Elsie Doyle and Peleg Carpenter's
+wife, and they did 'em up just dreadful. So, just to help him out one
+time, I tried 'em myself. And they came out real nice, if I do say it,
+and he was so pleased. So ever since then I have been doin' 'em for
+him. It's hardly any trouble--any extra trouble. I have to do our own
+washin', you know."
+
+Sears did know, also he knew the size of that washing.
+
+"Does he pay you for it?" he asked, sharply. "Pay you enough, I mean?"
+
+"Why--why, yes. Of course he doesn't pay a whole lot. Not as much maybe
+as if he was a stranger, somebody who didn't pay me regular board, you
+know."
+
+"Humph! Do you get your money?"
+
+"Why, yes. Of course I do."
+
+"He doesn't owe you anything, then, for board or lodgin' or anything?"
+
+Mrs. Macomber hesitated. "Nothin' much," she replied, after a moment.
+"Of course he gets a little behind sometimes, everybody does that, you
+know. But then his dividend payments or somethin' come to him and he
+pays right up in a lump. It's kind of nice havin' it come that way,
+seems more, you know."
+
+"Yes. So long as it keeps on comin'. His dividends, you say? I thought
+the story was that he hadn't any stocks left to get dividends from. I
+thought he told all hands that he was poverty-stricken, that when he was
+cut out of the Harbor property and the fifty thousand he hadn't a
+copper."
+
+"Oh no not as bad as that. He had some stocks and bonds, of course. Why,
+if he hadn't where would he get _any_ money from? How could he live?"
+
+"I don't know. He seems to be livin', though, and pretty well. Has he
+got the parlor yet?"
+
+"Yes, and it's fixed up so pretty. He's got his pictures and things
+around. Wouldn't you like to see it? He's out, you know."
+
+They went into the parlor and the bedroom adjoining, that which the
+captain had occupied during his stay. Both rooms were as neat as
+wax--Sears expected that, knowing his sister's housekeeping--but he had
+scarcely expected to find the rooms so changed. The furniture was the
+same, but the wall decorations were not.
+
+"What's become of the alum basket and the wax wreath and the Rock of
+Ages chromo?" he asked.
+
+"Oh, he took 'em down. That is, he didn't do it himself, of course, but
+he had Joel do it. They're up attic. Mr. Phillips said they was so like
+the things that his wife used to have in the dear old home that he
+couldn't bear to see 'em. They reminded him so of her. He asked if we
+would mind if they was removed and we said no, of course."
+
+"Humph! And the Macomber family coffin plates, those you had set out on
+black velvet with all Joel's dead relations names on 'em, in the plush
+and gilt frame? Are those up attic, too?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I should have thought 'twould have broken Joel's heart to part with
+_them_!"
+
+"Sears, you're makin' fun. I don't blame you much. I always did hate
+those coffin plates, but Joel seemed to like 'em. They were in his
+folks' front parlor, he says."
+
+"Yes. That 'Death of Washin'ton' picture and the rounder-case thing with
+the locks of hair in it were there, too, you told me once. That must
+have been a lively room. Those--er--horse pictures are Egbert's, I
+suppose?"
+
+"Yes. He is real fond of horses."
+
+The "horse pictures" were colored plates of racers.
+
+"That's a portrait of his wife over there," explained Sarah. "She had it
+painted in Italy on purpose for him."
+
+"Is that so? Well, I'm glad it was for him. I shouldn't think it was
+hardly fittin' for anybody outside the family. Of course Italy's a warm
+climate, but----"
+
+"_Sears!_" Mrs. Macomber blushed. "Of course I didn't mean _that_
+picture," she protested. "And you know I didn't. I wouldn't have that
+one up at all if I had _my_ way. But he says it's an old master and very
+famous and all like that. Maybe so, but I'm thankful the children ain't
+allowed in here. That's Lobelia over there."
+
+In the bedroom were other pictures, photographs for the most part. Many
+of them were autographed.
+
+"They're girl friends of his wife's," said Sarah. "She met 'em over
+abroad. Real pretty, some of them, ain't they?"
+
+They were, and the inscriptions were delightfully informal and friendly.
+Lobelia Phillips' name was not inscribed, but her husband's was
+occasionally. Upon the table, by a half-emptied cigar box, lay a Boston
+paper of the day before. It was folded with the page of stock market
+quotations uppermost. Sears picked it up. One item was underscored with
+a pencil. It was the record of the day's sales of "C. M.," a stock with
+which the captain was quite unfamiliar. His unfamiliarity was not
+surprising; he had little acquaintance with the stock market.
+
+Back in the wash-shed, brother and sister chatted while the ironing
+continued. Sears led the conversation around until it touched upon
+George Kent. George was still boarding with them, so Sarah said. Yes, he
+had given up his place as bookkeeper at Bassett's store.
+
+"He's administrator of his aunt's estate," she went on. "You knew that,
+Sears? It's a pretty responsible position for such a young man, I guess.
+I'm afraid it's a good deal of worry for him. He's seemed to me kind of
+troubled lately. I thought at first it might be on account of Elizabeth
+Berry--everybody knows they've had some quarrel or somethin'--but I'm
+beginnin' to be afraid it may be somethin' else. He and Mr. Phillips are
+together about all the time. They're great friends, and I'm so glad,
+because if George _should_ be in any trouble--about business or
+anything--a man of Mr. Phillips' experience would be a wonderful friend
+to have."
+
+"What makes you think it may be a business trouble?" asked the captain,
+casually.
+
+Mrs. Macomber hesitated. "Why," she said, "I heard somethin' yesterday
+that made me think so. It wasn't meant for me to hear, but I just
+happened to. I don't know as I'd ought to say anything about it--I
+shouldn't to anybody but you, Sears--yet it has worried me a good deal.
+Mr. Phillips and George were standin' together in the hall as I went by.
+They didn't see me, and I heard George say, 'Somethin' _must_ be done
+about it,' he says. 'It can't go on for another week.' And Mr. Phillips
+said, kind and comfortin'--nice as he always is, but still it did seem
+to me a little mite impatient--'I tell you it is all right,' he said.
+'Wait a while and it will be all right.' Then George said somethin' that
+I didn't catch, and Mr. Phillips said, 'But I can't, I tell you. I'm in
+exactly the same boat.' And George said, 'You've _got_ to! you've got
+to! If you don't it'll be the end of me.' That was what he said--'It
+will be the end of me.' And oh, Sears, he did sound _so_ distressed. It
+has troubled me ever since. What do you suppose it could be that would
+be the end of him?"
+
+Her brother shook his head. "Give it up," he said. "Humph!... And Egbert
+said he was in the same boat, did he? That's interestin'. It must be a
+pretty swell liner; he wouldn't be aboard anything else."
+
+But Mrs. Macomber declined to joke. "You wouldn't laugh," she declared,
+"if you had heard George talk. He's just a boy, Sears, a real
+kind-hearted, well-meanin' boy, and I hate to think of him as in any
+more trouble."
+
+"Any more? What do you mean by more?"
+
+"Why--why--oh, well, everybody knows he and Elizabeth ain't keepin'
+company any longer. And--and----"
+
+"And everybody thinks I am to blame. Well, I'm not, Sarah. Not
+intentionally, anyhow. And, if George would let me, I should be glad to
+be a friend of his. Not as grand and top-lofty a friend as Admiral
+Egbert, of course, but as good as my rank and ratin' in life will let me
+be."
+
+"Sears," reproachfully, "I hate to hear you speak in that sarcastic way.
+And I can't see why you mistrust Mr. Phillips so."
+
+"Can't you? Well, I don't know as I can, myself; but if I live long
+enough I may find a reason.... As for Kent--well, I tell you, Sarah: You
+keep an eye on the boy. If he still seems worried, or more worried, and
+you think it advisable, you might give him a message from me. You remind
+him that one time he told me if he ever got into real trouble he should
+come to me for help. You can say--if you think it advisable--that I am
+just as willin' to give that help now as ever I was."
+
+"Oh, Sears, do you mean it? Why, I thought--I was afraid that you and
+he----"
+
+"That's all right. I am the young fellow's friend--if he wants me to be.
+And, although I'm a thousand sea miles from guaranteein' to be able to
+help him, I'm willin' to try my hardest.... But there! the chances are
+he won't listen if you do tell him, so use your own judgment in the
+matter. But, Sarah, will you do me a favor?"
+
+"Sears! How can you! As if I wouldn't do anything for you!"
+
+"I know you would. And this isn't so very much, either. I'm kind of
+interested in this Phillips man's dividends and things. I'd like to know
+how he makes his money. I noticed that that newspaper in his room was
+folded with the stock price page on top. Is he interested in stock and
+such things?"
+
+"Why, yes, he is. I've heard him and George talkin' about what they call
+the 'market.' That means stocks, doesn't it?"
+
+"Um-hm, usually. Well, Sarah, if he happens to mention any particular
+stock he owns, or anything like that, try and remember and let me know,
+will you?"
+
+"Yes, of course, if you want me to. But why, Sears? There's nothing
+wrong in a man like Mr. Phillips bein' interested in such things, is
+there? I should think it would be--well, sort of natural for a person
+who has been rich as he used to be to keep up his interest."
+
+"I presume likely it is."
+
+"Then why do you want to know about it?"
+
+The captain picked up his hat. "Oh, for no particular reason, maybe,
+Sarah," he replied. "Perhaps _I_ shall be rich sometime--if I live to be
+a hundred and eighty and save a dollar a day as I go along--and then I
+shall want to know how to invest my money. Let me know if you hear
+anything worth while, won't you, Sarah?"
+
+"Yes, Sears. And if I get a chance I am goin' to tell George what you
+said about bein' his friend and willin' to help him. Good-by, Sears. I'm
+_so_ glad you came down. Come again soon, won't you? You're the only
+brother I've got, you know."
+
+Kendrick drove the Foam Flake back to the Minot place, reflecting during
+the journey upon what he had seen and heard while visiting his sister.
+It amounted to very little in the way of tangible evidence against
+Egbert Phillips. Sporting prints and dashing photographs were
+interesting perhaps, and in a way they illuminated the past; but they
+did not illumine the present, they shed no light upon their owner's
+means of living, nor the extent of those means. Egbert occupied the best
+rooms at the Macomber's, but, apparently, he paid for his board and
+lodging--yes, and his washing. He might be interested in stocks, but
+there was nothing criminal in that, of itself. The Kendrick campaign
+was, so far, an utter failure.
+
+Another week dragged by with no developments worth while. Judah, much
+inflated with the importance of his commission as a member of the
+Kendrick secret service, made voluminous and wordy reports, but they
+amounted to nothing. Mr. Phillips had borrowed five dollars of Caleb
+Snow. Had he paid the debt? Oh, yes, he had paid it. He smoked
+"consider'ble many" cigars, "real good cigars, too; cost over ten cents
+a piece by the box," so he told Thoph Black. But, so far as Black or
+Judah knew, he had paid for them. He owed a fair-sized bill at the
+livery-stable, but the stable owner "wan't worried none." There was
+little of interest here. No criminal record, rather the contrary.
+
+Esther Tidditt dropped in from time to time, loaded, as Judah said, "to
+the guards" with Fair Harbor gossip. Captain Sears did not encourage her
+visits. Aside from learning what he could concerning the doings of
+Egbert Phillips, he was little interested in petty squabbles and
+whispers among the "mariners' women." Except by Esther he was almost
+entirely ignored by the inmates. Elizabeth he saw daily for a short
+time, but for her sake he made those times as brief as he could. Her
+mother he saw occasionally; she spoke to him only when necessary.
+Elvira, Mrs. Brackett, Desire Peasly and the rest gave him the snippiest
+of bows when they met and whispered and giggled behind his back.
+
+It had seemed to him that Elizabeth looked more careworn of late. He did
+not mention it to her, of course, but it troubled him. He speculated
+concerning the cause and was inclined, entirely without good reason, to
+suspect Egbert, just as he was inclined to suspect him of being the
+cause of most unpleasantness. Something that Mrs. Tidditt said during
+one of her evening "dropping-ins" supplied a possible base for suspicion
+in this particular case.
+
+"Elizabeth and her mother has had some sort of a rumpus," declared
+Esther. "They ain't hardly on speakin' terms with one another these
+days. That is," she added, "Cordelia ain't. I guess likely Elizabeth
+would be as nice as she always is if her ma would give her the chance.
+Cordelia goes around all divided up between tears and joy, as you might
+say. When she's nigh her daughter she looks as if she was just about
+ready to cry--lee scuppers all awash, as my husband used to say when I
+was in the same condition; which wan't often, for cryin' ain't much in
+my line. Yes, when Elizabeth's lookin' at her she's right on the ragged
+edge of tears. But you let that dratted Eg heave in sight with all sail
+sot and signals flyin' and she's all smiles in a minute. Oh, what a fool
+a fool woman can be when she sets out to be!... Hey? What did you say,
+Cap'n Kendrick?"
+
+"I didn't say anything, Esther."
+
+"Oh, didn't you? I thought you did. There's one ray of comfort over
+acrost, anyhow. Elizabeth ain't in love with old Eggie, even if her
+mother is. She and he have had a run-in or I miss my guess."
+
+The captain was interested now. "What makes you think that?" he asked.
+
+"Oh, from things I've seen. He's all soft soap and sweet ile to her same
+as he always was--little more so, if anything--but she is cold as the
+bottom of a well to him. No, they've had a row and of course the
+reason's plain enough. That night over here when she called me a spy and
+a lot more names I told her a few things for her own good. I told her
+she had better think over what I said about that Eg's schemin' to get
+her mother and the five thousand dollars. I told her to think that over
+and think Eg over, too. She was terribly high and mighty then, but I bet
+you she's done some thinkin' since. Yes, and come to the conclusion
+that, spy or no spy, I was tellin' the plain truth.... Hey, Cap'n
+Kendrick?"
+
+"Eh?... Oh, yes, yes; I shouldn't wonder, Esther."
+
+"I shouldn't wonder, neither. But it won't have no effect on Cordelia.
+She'd put her best Sunday bonnet on the ground and let that Eg dance the
+grand fandango on it if he asked her to. Poor, soft-headed critter."
+
+"Yes, yes.... Humph! Any other news? How is Elvira?"
+
+"Oh, she's full of spite and jealousy as a yeast jug is full of pop. She
+pretends that the idea of anything serious between Cordelia and Phillips
+is just silliness. Might as well talk about King Solomon in all his
+glory marryin' the woman that done his washin'--that's what she pretends
+to believe. It's all Cordelia and not Eg at all, that's what she says.
+But she knows better, just the same. She's got somethin' else to think
+about now. That aunt of hers over to Ostable, the one that owns them
+iron images she wanted the Harbor to buy--she's sick, the aunt is.
+Elviry's pretty worried about her; she's the old woman's only relation."
+
+Kendrick had heard nothing further from his sister in the matter of
+young Kent and his trouble, whatever the latter might be. Sears had
+pondered a good deal concerning it and tried to guess in what possible
+way the boy could be "in the same boat" with Egbert. There was little
+use in guessing, however, and he had given up trying. And another week
+passed, another fruitless, dreary, hopeless week.
+
+Judah's lodge night came around again and Mr. Cahoon, after asking his
+skipper's permission, departed for the meeting, leaving Sears Kendrick
+alone. It was a beastly November evening, cold and with a heavy rain
+beating against the windows of the Minot kitchen, and a wind which
+shrieked and howled about the corners and gables of the old house,
+rattled every loose shingle, and set the dry bones of the wisteria vine
+scratching and thumping against the walls. The water was thrown in
+bucketfuls against the ancient panes and poured from the sashes as if
+the latter were miniature dams in flood time.
+
+Sears sat by the kitchen stove, smoking and trying to read. He could
+make a success of the smoking, but the attempt at reading was a failure.
+It was so much easier to think, so much easier to let his thoughts dwell
+upon his own dismal, wretched, discouraging story than to follow the
+fortunes of Thaddeus of Warsaw through the long succession of printed
+pages. And he had read Thaddeus's story before. He knew exactly how it
+would end. But how would his own story end? He might speculate much, but
+nowhere in all his speculations was there a sign of a happy ending.
+
+His pipe went out, he tossed the book upon the table among the supper
+dishes--Judah had been in too great a hurry to clear away--and leaned
+back in his chair. Then he rose and walked--he could walk pretty well
+now, the limp was but slight--to the window and, lifting the shade,
+peered out.
+
+He could see nothing, or almost nothing. The illumined windows made
+yellow pools of light upon the wet bricks below them, and across the
+darkness above were shining ribbons of rain. Against the black sky
+shapes of deeper blackness were moving rapidly, the bare thrashing
+branches of the locust tree. It was a beastly night, so he thought as he
+looked out at it; a beastly night in a wretched world.
+
+Then above the noises of screeching wind and splashing water he heard
+other sounds, sounds growing louder, approaching footsteps. Some one was
+coming up the walk from the road.
+
+He thought of course that it was Judah returning. He could not imagine
+why he should return, but it was more impossible to imagine any one
+else being out and coming to the Minot place on such a night. A figure,
+bent to the storm, passed across the light from the window. Captain
+Kendrick dropped the shade and strode through the little entry to the
+back door. He threw it open.
+
+"Come in, Judah," he ordered. "Come in quick, before we both drown."
+
+But the man who came in was not Judah Cahoon. He was George Kent.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+
+The young man plunged across the threshold, the skirts of his dripping
+overcoat flapping about his knees and the water pouring from the brim of
+his hat. He carried the ruin of what had been an umbrella in his hand.
+It had been blown inside out, and was now but a crumpled tangle of wet
+fabric and bent and bristling wire. He stumbled over the sill, halted,
+and turning, addressed the man who had opened the door.
+
+"Cap'n," he stammered, breathlessly, "I--I--I've come to see you. I--I
+know you must think--I don't know what you can think--but--but----"
+
+Kendrick interrupted. He was surprised, but he did not permit his
+astonishment to loosen his grip on realities.
+
+"Go in the other room," he ordered. "In the kitchen there by the fire.
+I'll be with you soon as I shut this door. Go on. Don't wait!"
+
+Kent did not seem to hear him.
+
+"Cap'n," he began, again, "I----"
+
+"Do as I tell you. Go in there by the stove."
+
+He seized his visitor by the shoulder and pushed him out of the entry.
+Then he closed and fastened the outer door. This was a matter of main
+strength, for the gale was fighting mad. When the latch clicked and the
+hook dropped into the staple he, too, entered the kitchen. Kent had
+obeyed orders to the extent of going over to the stove, but he had not
+removed his hat or coat and seemed to be quite oblivious of them or the
+fire or anything except the words he was trying to utter.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," he began again, "I----"
+
+"Sshh! Hush! Take off your things. Man alive, you're sheddin' water
+like a whistlin' buoy. Give me that coat. And that umbrella, what there
+is left of it. That's the ticket. Now sit down in that rocker and put
+your feet up on the hearth.... Whew! Are you wet through?"
+
+"No. No, I guess not. I----"
+
+"Haven't got a chill, have you? Can't I get you somethin' hot to drink?
+Judah generally has a bottle of some sort of life-saver hid around in
+the locker somewhere. A hot toddy now?... Eh? Well, all right, all
+right. No, don't talk yet. Get warm first."
+
+Kent refused the hot toddy and would have persisted in talking at once
+if his host had permitted. The latter refused to listen, and so the
+young man sat silent in the rocking chair, his soaked trouser legs and
+boots steaming in the heat from the open door of the oven, while the
+captain bustled about, hanging the wet overcoat on a nail in the corner,
+tossing the wrecked umbrella behind the stove and pretending not to look
+at his caller.
+
+He did look, however, and what he saw was interesting certainly and
+might have been alarming had he been a person easily frightened or
+unduly apprehensive. Kent's wet cheeks had dried and they were flushed
+now from the warmth, but they were haggard, his eyes were underscored
+with dark semicircles, and his hands as he held them over the red-hot
+stove lids were trembling. He looked almost as if he were sick, but a
+sick man would scarcely be out of doors in such a storm. He had,
+apparently, forgotten his desire to talk, and was now silent, his gaze
+fixed upon the wall behind the stove.
+
+Kendrick quietly placed a chair beside him and sat down.
+
+"Well, George?" he asked.
+
+Kent started. "Oh!" he exclaimed. And then, "Oh, yes! Cap'n Kendrick,
+I--I know you must think my coming here is queer, after--after----"
+
+He hesitated. The captain helped him on.
+
+"Not a bit, George," he said. "Not a bit. I'm mighty glad to see you. I
+told you to come any time, you remember. Well, you've come, haven't you?
+Now what is it?"
+
+Kent's gaze left the wall and turned toward his companion. "Cap'n
+Kendrick," he began, then stopped. "Cap'n Kendrick," he repeated,
+"I--Mrs. Macomber said--she told me you said that--that----"
+
+"All right, George, all right. I told her to remind you that one time
+you promised to come to me if you was in any--er--well, trouble, or if
+you had anything on your mind. I judge that's what you've come for,
+isn't it?"
+
+Kent started violently. His feet slipped from the hearth and struck the
+floor with a thump.
+
+"How did you know I was in trouble?" he demanded. "Who told you? Did
+they tell you what----"
+
+"No, no, no. Nobody told me anything especial. Sarah did say you hadn't
+looked well lately and she was afraid you was worried about somethin'.
+That's all. I've been worried myself durin' my lifetime and I've
+generally found it helped a little to tell my worries to somebody else.
+At any rate it didn't do any harm. What's wrong, George? Nothin'
+serious, I hope."
+
+Kent breathed heavily. "Serious!" he repeated. "I--I...." Then in a
+sudden outburst: "Oh, my God, Cap'n Kendrick, I think they'll put me in
+jail."
+
+Sears looked at him. Then, leaning forward, he laid a hand on the boy's
+knee.
+
+"Nonsense, George," he exclaimed, heartily. "Stuff and nonsense! They
+don't put fellows like you in jail. You're scared, that's all. Tell me
+about it."
+
+"But they will, they will. You don't know Ed Stedman. He doesn't like
+me. He always has had it in for me. He's prejudiced Clara against me and
+she hates me, too. They're pressing me for the money now. The last
+letter I had from them Stedman said he wouldn't wait another fortnight.
+And a week is gone already. He'll----"
+
+"Hold on. Who's Stedman?"
+
+"Oh, I thought you knew. He's my half-sister's husband up in
+Springfield. When my aunt died.... But I told you I was administrator of
+her estate. I remember I told you. That day when----"
+
+"Yes, yes, I remember; that is, I remember a little. Tell me the whole
+of it. What's happened?"
+
+"Yes--yes, I want to. I'm going to. Oh, if you _can_ help me I'll--I'll
+never forget it. I'll do anything for you, Cap'n Kendrick. I know I
+shouldn't have done it. I had no right to take the risk. But Mr.
+Phillips said--he said----"
+
+"Eh?" Sears' interruption this time was quite unpremeditated.
+"Phillips?" he repeated, sharply. "Egbert, you mean? Oh, yes....
+Humph.... Is he mixed up in this?"
+
+"Why--why, yes. If it hadn't been for him it wouldn't have happened. I
+don't mean that he is to blame, exactly. I guess nobody is to blame but
+myself. But when I think---- Oh, Cap'n Kendrick, do you suppose you can
+help me out of it? If you can, I----"
+
+Here followed another outburst of agonized entreaty. The boy's nerves
+were close to breaking, he was almost hysterical. Slowly and with the
+exercise of much patience and tact the captain drew from him the details
+of his trouble. It was, as he told it, a long and complicated story,
+but, boiled down, it amounted to something like this:
+
+Kent and Phillips had been very friendly for some time, their intimacy
+beginning even before the latter came to board at Sarah Macomber's.
+Egbert's polished manners, his stories of life abroad, his easy
+condescending geniality, had from the first made a great impression upon
+George. The latter, already esteeming himself above the average of
+mentality and enterprise in what he considered the "slow-poke" town of
+Bayport, found in the brilliant arrival from foreign parts the
+personification of his ideals, a satisfying specimen of that much read
+of _genus_, "the complete man of the world." He fell on his knees before
+that specimen and worshiped. Such idolatry could not but have some
+effect, even upon as _blase_ an idol as Mr. Phillips, so the latter at
+first tolerated and then even encouraged the acquaintanceship. He began
+to take this young follower more and more into his confidence, to speak
+with him concerning matters more intimate and personal.
+
+George soon gathered that Egbert had been much in moneyed circles. He
+spoke casually of the "market" and referred to friends who had made and
+remade fortunes in stocks, as well as of others whose horses had brought
+them riches, or who had brought off what he called _coups_ at foreign
+gaming tables. The young man, who had been brought up in a strict
+Puritanical household, was at first rather shocked at the thought of
+gambling or racing, but Mr. Phillips treated his prejudices in a
+condescendingly joking way, and Kent gradually grew ashamed of his
+"insularity" and _bourgeois_ ideas. Egbert habitually read the stock
+quotations in the Boston _Advertiser_ and the mails brought him brokers'
+circulars and letters. Kent was led to infer that he still took a small
+"flyer" occasionally. "Nothing of consequence, my boy, nothing to get
+excited about; haven't the wherewithal since our dear friend Knowles and
+his--ah--satellites took to drawing wills and that sort of thing. But if
+my friends in the Street send me a bit of judicious advice--as they do
+occasionally, for old times' sake--why, I try to cast a few crumbs upon
+the waters, trusting that they may be returned, in the shape of a small
+loaf, after not too many days. Ha, ha! Yes. And sometimes they do
+return--yes, sometimes they do. Otherwise how could I rejoice in the
+good, but sometimes tiresome, Mrs. Macomber's luxurious hospitality?"
+
+It seemed an easy way to turn one's crumbs into loaves. Kent, now the
+possessor of the little legacy left him by his aunt, wished that the
+eight hundred dollars, the amount of that legacy, might be raised to
+eight thousand. He was executor of the small estate, which was to be
+equally divided between his half-sister and himself. There had been a
+little land involved, that had been sold and the money, most of it, paid
+him. So he had in his possession about sixteen hundred dollars, half his
+and half Mrs. Stedman's. If he could do no better than double his own
+eight hundred it would not be so bad. He wished that _he_ had friends
+in the Street.
+
+He hinted as much to Phillips. The latter was, as always, generously
+kind. "If I get the word of another good thing, my boy, I shall
+be glad to let you in. Mind, I shan't advise. I shall take no
+responsibility--one mustn't do that. I shall only pass on the good word
+and tell you what I intend doing myself." George, very grateful, felt
+that this was indeed true friendship.
+
+The chance at the good thing came along in due season. The New York
+brokerage firm wrote Phillips concerning it. It appeared that there was
+a certain railway stock named Central Midland Common. According to the
+gossip on the street, Central Midland--called C. M. for short--was just
+about due for a big rise. Certain eminent financiers and manipulators
+were quietly buying and the road was to be developed and exploited. Only
+a few, a select few, knew of this and so, obviously, now was the time to
+get aboard. Kent asked questions. Was Egbert going to get aboard? Egbert
+smilingly intimated that he was thinking of it. Would it be possible for
+him, Kent, to get aboard at the same time? Well, it might be; Egbert
+would think about that, too.
+
+He did think about it and, as a result of his thinking, he and Kent
+bought C. M. Common together. Of course to buy any amount worth while
+would be impossible because of the small amount of ready cash possessed
+by either. "But," said Phillips, "I seldom buy outright. The latest
+quotation of C. M. is at 40, or thereabouts. I intend buying about two
+hundred shares. That would be eight thousand dollars if I paid cash, but
+of course I can't do that. I shall buy on a ten per cent margin, putting
+up eight hundred. If it goes up twenty points I make two thousand
+dollars. If it goes up fifty points, as they say it will, why----" And
+so on.
+
+It ended--or began--by Phillips and Kent buying, as partners, four
+hundred shares of C. M. on a ten per cent margin. George turned over to
+Egbert the eight hundred dollars in cash, and Egbert sent to the brokers
+six hundred of those dollars and a bond, which he had in his
+possession, for one thousand dollars. Yes, Kent, had seen the broker's
+receipt. Yes, the bond was a good one; at least the brokers were
+perfectly satisfied. Where did Egbert get the bond? Kent did not know.
+It was one he owned, that is all he knew about it.
+
+For a week or so after the purchase was made C. M. Common did continue
+to rise in price. At one time they had a joint profit of nearly two
+thousand dollars. Of course that seemed trifling compared with the
+thousands they expected, and so they waited. Then the market slumped. In
+two days their profit had gone and C. M. Common was selling several
+points below the figure at which they purchased. By the end of the
+fourth day, unless they wished to be wiped out altogether, additional
+margin--another ten per cent--must be deposited immediately.
+
+And to George Kent this seemed an impossibility because he had not
+another eight hundred, or anything like it, of his own.
+
+Why, oh, why, had he been such a fool? In his chagrin, disappointment
+and discouragement he asked himself that question a great many times.
+But when he asked it of his partner in the deal that partner laughed at
+him. According to Phillips he had not been a fool at all. The slump was
+only temporary; the stock was just as good as it had ever been; all this
+was but a part of the manipulation, the insiders were driving down the
+price in order to buy at lower figures. And letters from the brokers
+seemed to bear this out. Nevertheless the fact remained that more margin
+must be deposited and where was Kent's share of that margin coming from?
+
+The rest of the story was exactly like fifty thousand similar stories.
+In order to save the eight hundred dollars of his own George put up as
+margin with the New York brokers the eight hundred dollars belonging to
+Mrs. Stedman, his half sister. Again he paid the eight hundred to
+Phillips, who sent to New York another one thousand dollar bond and six
+hundred in cash. And C. M. Common continued to go down, went down until
+once more the partners were in imminent danger of being wiped out. Then
+it rose a point or so, and there the price remained. All at once every
+one seemed to lose interest in the stock; instead of thousands of shares
+bought and sold daily, the sales dropped to a few odd lots. And instead
+of the profits which were to have been theirs by this time, the firm of
+Phillips and Kent owned together a precarious interest in four hundred
+shares of Central Midland Common which if sold at present prices would
+return them only a minimum of their investment, practically nothing when
+brokerage commissions should be deducted.
+
+And then Edward Stedman, Kent's brother-in-law, demanded an immediate
+settlement of the estate. The land had been sold, the estate had been
+settled--he knew it--now he and his wife wanted their share.
+
+So that was the situation which was driving the young fellow to
+desperation. _What_ could he do? He could not satisfy Stedman because he
+had not eight hundred dollars and he could not confess it, at least not
+without answering questions which he did not dare answer. As matters
+stood he was a thief; he had taken money which did not belong to him. He
+and Stedman had not been friendly for a long time. According to George
+his brother-in-law would put him in jail without the slightest
+compunction. And, even if he managed--which he was certain he could
+not--to avoid imprisonment, there was the disgrace and its effect upon
+his future. Why, if the affair became known, at the very least his
+career as a lawyer would be ruined. Who would trust him after this? He
+would have to go away; but where could he go? He had counted on his
+little legacy to help him get a start, to--to help him to all sorts of
+things. Now---- Oh, what _should_ he do? Suicide seemed to be the sole
+solution. He had a good mind to kill himself. He should--yes, he was
+almost sure that he should do that very thing.
+
+It was pitiful and distressing enough, and Kendrick, although he did not
+take the threat of self-destruction very seriously--somehow he could
+scarcely fancy George Kent in the role of a suicide--was sincerely
+sorry for the boy. He did his best to comfort.
+
+"There, there, George," he said, "we won't talk about killin' ourselves
+yet awhile. Time enough to hop overboard when the last gun's fired, and
+we haven't begun to take aim yet. Brace up, George. You'll get through
+the breakers somehow."
+
+"But, Cap'n Kendrick, I can't--I can't. I've got only a week or so left,
+and I haven't got the money."
+
+"Sshh! Sshh! Because you haven't got it now doesn't mean you won't have
+it before the week's out--not necessarily it doesn't.... Humph! Let's
+take an observation now, and get our bearin's, if we can. You've talked
+this over with Egbert--with Phillips, of course. After all, he was the
+fellow that got you into it. What does he say?"
+
+It appeared that Mr. Phillips said little which was of immediate solace.
+He professed confidence unbounded. C. M. was a good stock, it was going
+higher, all they had to do was wait until it did.
+
+"Yes," put in Sears, "that's good advice, maybe, but it's too much like
+tellin' a man who can't swim to keep up till the tide goes out and he'll
+be in shallow water. The trouble is neither that man nor you could keep
+afloat so long. Is that all he said? He understands your position,
+doesn't he, George?"
+
+Yes, Mr. Phillips understood, but he could do nothing to help. He had no
+money to lend--had practically nothing except the two one thousand
+dollar bonds, and those were deposited as collateral with the brokers.
+
+"Um--ye-es," drawled Kendrick. "Those bonds are interestin' of
+themselves. We'll come to those pretty soon. But hasn't he got _any_
+ready money? Seems as if he must have a little. Why, you paid him
+sixteen hundred in cash and, accordin' to your story, he sent only
+twelve hundred along with the bonds. He must have four hundred left, at
+least. That is, unless he's been heavin' overboard more 'crumbs' that
+you don't know about."
+
+Kent knew nothing of his partner's resources beyond what the latter had
+told him. And, at any rate, what good would four hundred be to him?
+Unless he could raise eight hundred within the week----
+
+"Yes, yes, yes, I know. But four hundred is half of eight hundred and
+seems to me if I was in his shoes and had been responsible for gettin'
+you into a clove hitch like this I'd do what I could to get you out. And
+he couldn't--or wouldn't--do anything; eh?"
+
+"He can't, Cap'n Kendrick. He can't. Don't you see, he hasn't got it.
+He's poor, himself. Of course he came here to Bayport, after his wife's
+death, thinking that he owned the Fair Harbor property and--and a lot
+more. Why, he thought he was rich. _He_ didn't know that old Knowles had
+used his influence with Mrs. Phillips when she was half sick and tricked
+her into----"
+
+"Here, here!" The captain's tone was rather sharp this time. "Never mind
+that. Old Knowles, as you call him, was a friend of mine.... I thought
+he was your friend, too, George, for the matter of that."
+
+George was embarrassed. "Well, he was," he admitted. "I haven't got
+anything against him; in fact he was very good to me. But that is what
+Mr. Phillips says, you know, and everybody--or about everybody--seems to
+believe it. At least they are awfully sorry for Phillips."
+
+"So I judged. But about you, now. Do _you_ believe in--er--Saint Egbert
+as much as you did?"
+
+"Why--why, I don't know. I---- Of course it seems almost as if he ought
+to do something to help me, but if he can't he can't, I suppose."
+
+"I suppose not. Look here, he won't tell anybody about your scrape, will
+he?"
+
+The junior partner in the firm of Phillips and Kent was indignant.
+
+"Of course not," he declared. "He told me he should not breathe a word.
+And he is really very much disturbed about it all. He told me himself
+that he felt almost guilty. Mr. Phillips is a gentleman."
+
+"Is that so? Must be nice to be that way. But tell me a little more
+about those bonds, George. There were two of 'em, you say, a thousand
+dollars each."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And you don't know what sort of bonds they were?"
+
+His visitor's pride was touched. "Why, of course I know," he declared.
+"What sort of a business man would I be if I didn't know that, for
+heaven's sake?"
+
+Sears did not answer the question. For a moment it seemed that he was
+going to, but if so, he changed his mind. However, there was an odd look
+in his eye when he spoke.
+
+"Beg your pardon, George," he said. "I must have misunderstood you. What
+bonds were they?"
+
+"They were City of Boston bonds. Seems to me they were--er--er--well, I
+forget just what--er--issue, you know, but that's what they were, City
+of Boston bonds."
+
+"I see ... I see.... Humph! Seems kind of odd, doesn't it?"
+
+"What?"
+
+"Oh, nothin'. Only Phillips, accordin' to his tell, is pretty close to
+poverty. Yet he hung on to those two bonds all this time."
+
+"Well, he had to hang on to something, didn't he? And he probably has a
+_little_ more; if he hasn't what has he been living on?"
+
+"Yes, that's so--that's so. Still.... However, we won't worry about
+that. Now, George, sit still a minute and let me think."
+
+"But, Cap'n Kendrick, do you think there is a chance? I'm almost crazy.
+I--I----"
+
+"Sshh! shh! I guess likely we'll get you off the rocks somehow. Let me
+think a minute or two."
+
+So Kent possessed his soul in such patience as it could muster, while
+the wind howled about the old house, the wistaria vine rattled and
+scraped, the shutters groaned and whined, and the rain dashed and poured
+and dripped outside. At length the captain sat up straight in his chair.
+
+"George," he said, briskly, "as I see it, first of all we want to find
+out just how this affair of yours stands. You write to those New York
+brokers and get from them a statement of your account--yours and
+Egbert's. Just what you've bought, how much margin has been put up, how
+much is left, about those bonds--kind, ratin', numbers and all that. Ask
+'em to send you that by return mail. Will you?"
+
+"Why--why, yes, I suppose so. But I have seen all that. Mr.
+Phillips----"
+
+"We aren't helpin' out Phillips now. He isn't askin' help, at least I
+gather he's satisfied to wait. You get this statement on your own hook,
+and don't tell him you're gettin' it. Will you?"
+
+"I'll write for it to-night."
+
+"Good! That'll get things started, anyhow. Now is there anything else
+you want to tell me?"
+
+"No--no, I guess not. But, Cap'n Kendrick, do you honestly think there
+is a chance for me?"
+
+For an instant his companion lost patience. "Don't ask that again," he
+ordered. "There is a chance--yes. How much of a chance we can't tell
+yet. You go home and stop worryin'. You've turned the wheel over to me,
+haven't you? Yes; well, then let me do the steerin' for a spell."
+
+Kent rose from his chair. He drew a long breath. He looked at the
+captain, who had risen also, and it was evident that there was still
+something on his mind. He fidgeted, hesitated, and then hurried forth a
+labored apology.
+
+"I--I am awfully ashamed of myself, Cap'n Kendrick," he began.
+
+"That's all right, George. We all make mistakes--business mistakes
+especially. If I hadn't made one, and a bad one, I might not be stranded
+here in Judah's galley to-night."
+
+"I didn't mean business. I meant I was ashamed of treating you as I
+have. Ever since that time when--when Elizabeth was here and I came over
+and--and said all those fool things to you, I--I've been ashamed. I
+_was_ a fool. I am a fool most of the time, I guess."
+
+"Oh, I guess not, George. We're all taken with the foolish disease once
+in a while."
+
+"But I was such a fool. The idea of my being jealous of you--a man
+pretty nearly old enough to be my father. No, not so old as that, of
+course, but--older. I don't know what ailed me, but whatever it was,
+I've paid for it.... She--she has hardly spoken to me since."
+
+"I'm sorry, George."
+
+"Yes.... Has she--has she said anything about me to you, Cap'n?"
+
+"Why--er--no, George, not much. She and I are not--well, not very
+confidential, outside of business matters, that is."
+
+"No, I suppose not. Mr. Phillips told me she had--well, that she and you
+were not--not as----"
+
+"Yes, all right, all right, George; I understand. Outside of Fair Harbor
+managin' we don't talk of many things."
+
+"No, that's what he said. He seemed to think you two had had some sort
+of quarrel--or disagreement, you know. But I never took much stock in
+that. After all, why should you and she be interested in the same sort
+of things? She isn't much older than I am, about my age really, and of
+course you----"
+
+"Yes, yes," hastily. "All right.... Well, I guess your coat is middlin'
+dry, George. Here it is."
+
+"Thanks. But that wasn't all I meant to say. You see, Cap'n Kendrick, I
+did treat you so badly and yet all the time I've had such confidence in
+you. Ever since you gave me that advice the night of the theatricals
+I've--well, somehow I've felt as if a fellow could depend on you, you
+know--always, in spite of everything. Eh, why, by George, _she_ said
+that very thing about you once, said it to me. She said you were so
+dependable. Say, that's queer, that she and I should both think the very
+same thing about you."
+
+"Um-m. Yes, isn't it?"
+
+"Yes. It shows, after all, how closely alike our minds, hers and mine,
+work. We"--he hesitated, reddened, and then continued, with a fresh
+outburst of confidence: "You see, Cap'n," he said, "I have felt all the
+time that this--this trouble between Elizabeth and me, wasn't going to
+last. I was to blame--at least, I guess I probably was, and I meant to
+go to her and tell her so. But I waited until--until I had pulled off
+this stock deal. I meant to go to her with two or three thousand dollars
+that I had made myself, you see, and--and ask her pardon and--well, then
+I hoped she would--would.... You understand, don't you, Cap'n Kendrick?"
+
+"Why--er--yes, I guess likely, George, in a way."
+
+"Yes. I wanted to show her that I _was_ good for something, and
+then--and then, maybe it would be all right again. You see?"
+
+"Surely, George. Yes, yes.... Ready for your coat?"
+
+Kent ignored the coat. He did not seem to realize that his companion was
+holding it. "Yes," he stammered, eagerly. "I think if I went to her in
+that way it would be all right again. I was hasty and--and silly maybe,
+but perhaps I had some excuse. And, Cap'n Kendrick, I'm sure she
+does--er--like me, you know. I'm sure of it.... But now--" as reality
+came once more crashing through his dream, "I--I---- Oh, think of me
+now! I may be put in prison. And then.... Oh, but Cap'n Kendrick, that's
+why I came to you. I knew you'd stand by me, I knew you would. I treated
+you damnably, but--but you know, it was on account of her, really. I
+knew you'd understand that. You won't hold a grudge against me? You
+really will help me? If you don't----"
+
+Kendrick seized his arm. "Shut up, George," he commanded brusquely.
+"Shut up. I'll get you out of this, I promise it."
+
+"You will? You promise?"
+
+"Yes. That is, I'll see that you don't go to jail. If we can't get the
+eight hundred of your sister's from these brokers I'll get it
+somehow--even if I have to borrow it."
+
+"Oh, Great Scott, that's great! That's wonderful. I can hardly believe
+it. I'll make it up to you somehow, you know. You're the best man I ever
+knew. And--and--if she and I--that is, when she and I are--are as we
+used to be--well, then I shall tell her and she'll be as grateful as I
+am, I know she will."
+
+"All right, George, all right. Run along. The rain's easin' up a little,
+so now's your time. Don't forget to write to those brokers.... Good
+night."
+
+"Good night, Cap'n. I shall tell your sister how good you've been to me.
+She told me to come to you. Of course she doesn't know why I came,
+but----"
+
+"No, and she mustn't know. Don't you tell her or anybody else. Don't you
+do it."
+
+"I--why, I won't if you say so, of course. Good night."
+
+Kendrick closed the door. Then he came back to his seat before the
+stove. When Judah returned home he found that his lodger had gone to the
+spare stateroom, but he could hear his footsteps moving back and forth.
+
+"Ahoy, there, Cap'n Sears!" hailed Judah. "What you doin', up and pacin'
+decks this time of night? It's pretty nigh eight bells, didn't you know
+it?"
+
+The pacing ceased. "Why, no, is it?" replied the captain's voice. "Guess
+I'd better be turnin' in, hadn't I? How's the weather outside?"
+
+"Fairin' off fast. Rain stopped and it's clear as a bell over to the
+west'ard. Clear day and a fair wind to-morrer, I cal'late."
+
+Kendrick made no further comment and Judah prepared for bed, singing as
+he did so. He sang, not a chantey this time, but portions of a revival
+hymn which he had recently heard and which, because of its nautical
+nature, had stuck in his memory. The chorus commanded some one or other
+to
+
+    "Pull for the shore, sailor,
+      Pull for the shore.
+    Leave that poor old stranded wreck
+      And pull for the shore."
+
+Mr. Cahoon sang the chorus over and over. Then he ventured to tackle one
+of the verses.
+
+    "Light in the darkness, sailor,
+      Day is at hand."
+
+"Judah!" This from the spare stateroom.
+
+"Aye, aye, Cap'n Sears."
+
+"Better save the rest of that till the day gets here, hadn't you?"
+
+"Eh? Oh, all right, Cap'n. Just goin' to douse the glim this minute.
+Good night."
+
+Three days after this interview in the Minot kitchen George Kent again
+came to call. He came after dark, of course, and his visit was brief. He
+had received from the New York brokers a detailed statement of his and
+Phillips' joint account. The statement bore out what he had already told
+Sears. Four hundred shares of Central Midland Common had been purchased
+at 40. Against this the partners deposited sixteen hundred dollars.
+Later they had deposited another sixteen hundred. The New York firm were
+as confident as ever that the stock was perfectly good and the
+speculation a good one. They advised waiting and, if possible, buying
+more at the present low figure.
+
+All this was of little help. The only information of any possible value
+was that concerning the bonds which Egbert had contributed as his share
+of the margin. Those, according to the brokers, were two City of Boston
+4-1/2s, of one thousand dollars each, numbered A610,312 and A610,313.
+
+Kent would have stayed and talked for hours if Kendrick had permitted.
+He was as nervous as ever, even more so, because the days were passing
+and the time drawing near when his brother-in-law would demand
+settlement. The captain comforted him as well as he could, bade him
+write his sister or her husband that he would remit early in the
+following week, and sent him home again more hopeful, but still very
+anxious.
+
+"I don't see how I'm going to get the money, Cap'n Kendrick," he kept
+repeating. "I don't see how all this helps us a bit. I don't see----"
+
+Kendrick interrupted at last.
+
+"You don't have to see," he declared. "You've left it to me, now let me
+see if _I_ can see. I told you that, somehow or other, I'd tow you into
+deep water. Well, give me a chance to get up steam. You write that
+letter to your brother-in-law and hold him off till the middle of next
+week. That's all you've got to do. I'll do the rest."
+
+So Kent had to be satisfied with that. He departed, professing over and
+over again his deathless gratitude. "If you do this, Cap'n Kendrick," he
+proclaimed, "I never, never will forget it. And when I think how I
+treated you I can't see why you do it. I never heard of such----"
+
+"Sshh! shhh!" The captain waved him to silence. "I don't know why I am
+doin' it exactly, George," he said.
+
+"I do. You're doing it for my sake, of course, and----"
+
+"Sshh! I don't know as I am--not altogether. Maybe I'm doin' it to try
+and justify my own judgment of human nature--mine and Judge Knowles'. If
+that judgment isn't right then I'm no more use than a child in arms, and
+I need a guardian as much as--as----"
+
+"As I do, you mean, I suppose. Well, I do need one, I guess. But I don't
+understand what you mean by your judgment of human nature. Who have you
+been judging?"
+
+"Never mind. Now go home. Judah's out again and that's a mercy. I don't
+want him or any one else to know you come here to see me."
+
+George went, satisfied for the time, but Sears Kendrick, left face to
+face with his own thoughts, knew that he had told the young man but a
+part of the truth. It was not for Kent's sake alone that he had made the
+rash promise to get back eight hundred of the sixteen hundred, or
+another eight hundred to take its place. Neither was it entirely because
+he hoped to confirm his judgment in the case of Egbert Phillips. The
+real reason lay deeper than that. Kent had declared that he still loved
+Elizabeth Berry and that he had reason to think she returned that love.
+Perhaps she did; in spite of some things she had said after their
+quarrel, it was possible--yes, probable that she did. If, by saving her
+lover from disgrace, he might insure her future and her happiness,
+then--then--Sears would have made rasher promises still and have
+undertaken to carry them out.
+
+The brokers' letter helped but little, if any. He entered the names and
+numbers of the bonds in his memorandum book. Those bonds still perplexed
+him. He could not explain them, satisfactorily. It might be that Egbert
+had more left from his wife's estate than Judge Knowles expected him to
+have or that Bradley was inclined to think he had. Lobelia's will
+bequeathed to her beloved husband "all stocks, bonds, securities, etc.,"
+remaining. But Knowles had more than intimated that none remained. The
+pictures of the horses and the ladies in Egbert's room at Sarah
+Macomber's confirmed the captain's belief that the Phillips past had
+been a hectic one. It seemed queer that, out of the ruin, there should
+have been preserved at least two thousand dollars in good American--yes,
+City of Boston--bonds.
+
+In the back of the Kendrick head was a theory--or the ghost of a
+theory--concerning those bonds. He did not like to believe it, he would
+not believe it yet, but it was a possibility. Elizabeth had been
+bequeathed twenty thousand dollars. She and Egbert had been close
+friends for a time. She had liked him, had trusted him. Of late, so
+Esther Tidditt said, that friendship had been somewhat strained. Was it
+possible that.... Humph! Well, Bradley might know. He was Elizabeth's
+guardian, he would know if her investments had been disturbed.
+
+Then, too, if worst came to the worst and he had to raise the eight
+hundred, which he had promised Kent, by borrowing it, he could, he
+thought, arrange to get from Bradley an advance of that amount, or a
+part of it, against his salary as manager of the Fair Harbor.
+
+So he determined, as the next move, to go to Orham and visit the lawyer.
+On Saturday morning, therefore, he and the Foam Flake once more
+journeyed along the wood road to Orham.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+
+The trip was cold and long and tedious. The oaks and birches were bare
+of leaves and the lakes and little ponds looked chill and forbidding.
+Judah's prophecy of a clear day was only partially fulfilled, for there
+were great patches of clouds driving before the wind and when those
+obscured the sun all creation looked dismal enough, especially to
+Kendrick, who was in the mood where any additional gloom was distinctly
+superfluous. But the Foam Flake jogged on and at last drew up beside the
+Bradley office.
+
+Another horse and buggy were standing there and the captain was somewhat
+surprised to recognize the outfit as one belonging to the Bayport livery
+man. A gangling youth in the latter's employ was on the buggy seat and
+he recognized the Foam Flake first and his driver next.
+
+"Why, good mornin', Cap'n," hailed the youth. "You over here, too?"
+
+Sears, performing the purely perfunctory task of hitching the Foam Flake
+to a post, smiled grimly.
+
+"No, Josiah," he replied. "I'm not here. I'm over in South Harniss all
+this week. Where are you?"
+
+"Eh?... Where be I?... Say, what----"
+
+"Yes, yes, Josiah, all right. Just keep a weather eye on this post, will
+you, like a good fellow?"
+
+"On the post? On the horse, you mean?"
+
+"No, I mean on the post. If you don't this--er--camel of mine will eat
+it. Thanks. Do as much for you some time, Josiah."
+
+He went into the building, leaving the bewildered Josiah in what might
+be described as a state of mind.
+
+"Is the commodore busy?" he asked of the boy at the desk.
+
+"Yes, he is," replied the boy. "But he won't be very long, I don't
+think."
+
+"Humph! That's what you don't think, eh? Well, now just between us, what
+do you think?... Never mind, son, never mind, I'm satisfied if you are.
+I'll wait. By the way, somebody from my home port is in there with him,
+I judge."
+
+"Um--hm. Miss Berry, she's there."
+
+"Miss Berry! Elizabeth Berry?... Is she there now?"
+
+The boy nodded. "Um-hm," he declared, "she's there, but I guess they're
+'most done. I heard her chair scrape a minute or two ago, so I think
+she's comin' right out."
+
+Kendrick rose from his own chair. "I'll wait outside," he said, and went
+out to the platform again. Josiah, evidently lonely and seeking
+conversation, hailed him at once.
+
+"Say, that old horse of yours _is_ a cribbler, ain't he," he observed.
+"He's took one chaw out of that post already."
+
+Sears paid no attention. He walked around to the rear of the little
+building and, leaning against its shingled side, waited, gazing absently
+across the fields to the spires and roofs of Orham village.
+
+He was sorry that Elizabeth was there just at this time. True they met
+almost daily at the Fair Harbor office, but those meetings were
+obligatory, this was not. And meeting her at all, relations between them
+being what they were, was very hard for him. Since George Kent's
+disclosure of his feelings and hopes those meetings were harder still.
+Each one made his task, that of helping the boy toward the realization
+of those hopes, so much more difficult. He was ashamed of himself, but
+so it was. No, in his present frame of mind he did not want to meet her.
+He would wait there, out of sight, until she had gone.
+
+But he was not allowed to do so. He heard the office door open, heard
+her step--he would have recognized it, he believed, anyway--upon the
+platform. He heard her speak to Josiah. And then that pest of an office
+boy began shouting his name.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," yelled the boy. "Cap'n Kendrick, where are you?"
+
+He did not answer, but the other imbecile, Josiah, answered for him.
+
+"There he is, out alongside the buildin'," volunteered Josiah. "Cap'n
+Kendrick, they want ye."
+
+Then both began shrieking "Cap'n Kendrick" at the top of their voices.
+
+To pretend not to hear would have been too ridiculous. There was but
+thing to do and he did it.
+
+"Aye, aye," he answered, impatiently. "I'm comin'!"
+
+When he reached the platform Elizabeth was still there. She was
+surprised to see him, evidently, but there was another expression on her
+face, an expression which he did not understand. He bowed gravely.
+
+"Good mornin'," he said. She returned his greeting, but still she
+continued to look at him with that odd expression.
+
+"Mr. Bradley's all ready for you," announced the office boy, who was
+holding the door open. Sears' foot was at the 'threshold when Elizabeth
+spoke his name. He turned to her in surprise.
+
+"Yes?" he replied.
+
+For an instant she was silent. Then, as if obeying an uncontrollable
+impulse, she came toward him.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," she said. "May I speak with you? In private? I won't
+keep you but a moment."
+
+"Why--why, yes, of course," he stammered. He turned to the office boy.
+"Go and tell Mr. Bradley I'll be right there," he commanded. The boy
+went.
+
+Elizabeth spoke to her charioteer, who was leaning forward on the buggy
+seat, his small eyes fixed upon the pair and his large mouth open.
+
+"Drive over to that corner, Josiah," she said. "To that store
+there--yes, that's it. And wait there for me. I'll come at once."
+
+Josiah reluctantly drove away. Elizabeth turned again to Kendrick.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," she began. "I shan't keep you long. I realize that
+you must be surprised at my asking to speak with you--after everything.
+And, of course, I realize still more than you can't possibly wish to
+speak with me."
+
+He attempted to say something, to protest, but she did not give him the
+chance.
+
+"No, don't, don't," she said, hurriedly. "Don't pretend. I know how you
+feel, of course. But I have been wanting to tell you this for a long
+time. I hadn't the courage, or I was too much ashamed, or something. And
+this is a strange place to say it--and time. But when I saw you just now
+I--I felt as if I must say it. I couldn't wait another minute. Cap'n
+Kendrick, I want to beg your pardon."
+
+To add to his amazement and embarrassed distress he saw that she was
+very close to tears.
+
+"Why--why--" he stammered.
+
+"Don't say anything. There isn't anything for _you_ to say. I don't ask
+you to forgive me--you couldn't, of course. But I--I just had to tell
+you that I am so ashamed of myself, of my misjudging you, and the things
+I said to you. I know that you were right and I was all wrong."
+
+"Why--why, here, hold on!" he broke in. "I don't understand."
+
+"Of course you don't. And I can't explain. Probably I never can and you
+mustn't ask me to. But--but--I had to say this. I had to beg your pardon
+and tell you how ashamed I am.... That's all.... Thank you."
+
+She turned and almost ran from the platform, down the steps and across
+the street to the waiting buggy. Sears Kendrick stared after her, stared
+until that buggy disappeared around the bend in the road. Then he
+breathed heavily, straightened his cap, slowly shook his head, and
+entered the lawyer's office. He was still in a sort of trance when he
+sat down in the chair in the inner room and heard Bradley bid him good
+morning. He returned the good morning, but he heard, or understood, very
+little of what the lawyer said immediately afterward. When he did begin
+vaguely to comprehend he found the latter was speaking of Elizabeth
+Berry.
+
+"I wish I knew what her trouble is," Bradley was saying. "She won't tell
+me, won't even admit that there is any trouble, but that doesn't need
+telling. The last half dozen times I have seen her she has seemed and
+looked worried and absent-minded. And this morning she drove way over
+here to ask me some almost childish questions about her investments, the
+money the judge left her. Wanted to know if it was safe, or something
+like that. She didn't admit that was it, exactly, but that was as near
+as I could get to what she was driving at. Do you know what's troubling
+her, Kendrick?"
+
+Sears shook his head. "No-o," he replied. "I've heard--but no, I don't
+know. She wanted to be sure her money was safe, you say?"
+
+"Why, not safely invested, I don't think that was it. She seemed to want
+to know what I'd done with the bonds themselves and the other securities
+of hers. I told her they were in the deposit vaults over at the Bayport
+bank; that is, some of them were there and some of them were in the bank
+at Harniss. Then she asked if any one could get them, anybody except she
+or I. Of course I told her no, and not even I without an order from her.
+She seemed a little relieved, I thought, but when _I_ asked questions
+she shut up like a quahaug. But that seemed a silly errand to come away
+over here on. Don't you think so, Cap'n? ... Eh? What's the matter? What
+are you looking at me like that for?"
+
+The captain _was_ looking at him, was looking with an expression of
+intense and eager interest. He did not answer Bradley's question, but
+asked one, himself.
+
+"Did she ask anything more about--well, about her bonds?" he demanded.
+"Think now; I'll tell you why by and by."
+
+The lawyer considered. "No-o," he said. "Nothing of importance, surely.
+She asked--she seemed to want to know particularly if it was possible
+for any one except the owner or a duly accredited representative to get
+at securities in the vaults of those banks. That seemed to be the
+information she was after.... Now what have you got up your sleeve?"
+
+"Nothin'--nothin'. I guess. Or somethin', maybe; I don't know. Bradley,
+would you mind tellin' me this much: Of course I'm not Elizabeth's
+trustee any more, but would it be out of the way if you told me whether
+or not you reinvested any of her twenty thousand in City of Boston
+bonds? City of Boston 4-1/2s; say?"
+
+Bradley did not answer for a moment. Then from a pigeon hole in his desk
+he took a packet of papers and selected one.
+
+"Yes," he said, gravely. "I put ten thousand of her money in those very
+bonds. My brokers up in Boston recommended them strongly as being a safe
+and good investment.... And now perhaps you'll tell us why you asked
+about that?"
+
+Sears' brows drew together. Here was his vague theory on the way, at
+least, to confirmation.
+
+"You tell me somethin' more first," he said. "'Tisn't likely you've got
+the numbers of those bonds on that piece of paper, is it?"
+
+"Likely enough. I've got the numbers and the price I paid for 'em. Why?"
+
+Kendrick took his memorandum book from his pocket. "Were two of those
+numbers A610,312 and A610,313?" he asked.
+
+Bradley consulted his slip of paper. "No," he replied. "Nothing like
+it."
+
+"Eh? You're sure?"
+
+"Of course I'm sure. Say, what sort of a trustee do you think I am?"
+
+Sears did not answer. If the lawyer was sure, then his "theory," instead
+of being confirmed, was smashed flat.
+
+"Humph!" he grunted, after a moment. "Do you mind my lookin' at that
+paper of yours?"
+
+Bradley pushed the slip across the desk. The captain looked at it
+carefully. "Humph!" he said again. "You're right. And those are five
+hundred dollar bonds, all of 'em. Well, that settles that. And now it's
+all fog again.... Humph! In a way I'm glad--but---- Pshaw!"
+
+"Yes. And _now_ maybe you'll tell me what you're after? Don't you think
+it's pretty nearly time?"
+
+"Why, perhaps, but I'm afraid that's what I can't tell--you or anybody
+else.... Bradley, just one more thing. Do you happen to know whether
+there was any of those Boston bonds in Lobelia Phillips' estate? That
+is, did any of 'em come to her husband from her?"
+
+The lawyer's answer was emphatic enough.
+
+"Yes, I do know," he said. "There wasn't any. Those bonds are a brand
+new issue. They have been put out since her death."
+
+Here was another gun spiked. Kendrick whistled. Bradley regarded him
+keenly.
+
+"Cap'n," he demanded, "are you on the trail of that Eg Phillips? Do you
+really think you've got anything on him? Because if you have and you
+don't let me into the game I'll never forgive you. Of all the slick,
+smooth, stuck-up nothings that---- Say, have you?"
+
+Kendrick shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Squire," he observed. "And, at
+any rate, I couldn't tell you, if I had. ... Eh? And _now_ what?"
+
+For the lawyer had suddenly struck the desk a blow with his hand. He was
+fumbling in another pigeon-hole and extracting therefrom another packet
+of papers.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," he said, "I know where there are--or were,
+anyhow--more of those Boston 4-1/2s."
+
+"Eh? You do?"
+
+"Yes. And they were thousand dollar bonds, too.... Yes, and.... Give me
+those numbers again."
+
+Sears gave them. Bradley grinned, triumphantly.
+
+"Here you are," he exclaimed. "Five one thousand dollar City of Boston
+4-1/2s, bought at so and so much, on such and such a date, numbered
+A610,309 to A610,313 inclusive. Cap'n Sears, those bonds are--or were,
+the last I knew--in the vault of the Bayport National Bank."
+
+Kendrick rose to his feet. "You don't tell me!" he cried. "Who put 'em
+there?"
+
+"I put 'em there. And I bought 'em. But they don't belong to me. There
+was somebody else had money left to them, and I, on request, invested it
+for the owner. Now you can guess, can't you?"
+
+Cap'n Sears sat down heavily. "Cordelia?" he exclaimed. "Cordelia Berry,
+of course!... Bradley, what an everlastin' fool I was not to guess it
+in the first place! _There's_ the answer I've been hunting for."
+
+But, as he pondered over it during the long drive home he realized that,
+after all, it was not by any means a completely satisfying answer. True
+it confirmed his previous belief that the bonds which Phillips had
+deposited with the New York brokers were not a part of the residue of
+his wife's estate. He had obtained them from Cordelia Berry. But the
+question as to how and why he had obtained them still remained. Did he
+get them by fraud? Did she lend them to him? If she lent them was it a
+loan without restrictions? Did she know what he meant to do with them;
+that is, was Cordelia a silent partner in Egbert's stock speculations?
+Or, and this was by no means impossible considering her infatuation, had
+she given them to him outright?
+
+Unless there was an element of fraud or false pretense in the
+transference of those bonds, the mere knowledge of whence they came was
+not likely to help in regaining George Kent's sixteen hundred dollars.
+For the matter of that, even if they had been obtained by fraud, if they
+were not Phillips' property, but Cordelia's, still the return of Kent's
+money might be just as impossible provided Phillips had nothing of his
+own to levy upon. He--Kendrick--might compel the brokers to return Mrs.
+Berry's City of Boston 4-1/2s to their rightful owner, but how would
+that help Kent?
+
+Well, never mind that now. If the worst came to the worst he could still
+borrow the eight hundred which would save George from public disgrace.
+And the fact remained that his campaign against the redoubtable Egbert
+had made, for the first time, a forward movement, however slight.
+
+His thoughts turned to Elizabeth. The causes of her worry and trouble
+were plain enough now. Esther Tidditt had declared that she and Phillips
+were by no means as friendly as they had been. Of course not. She, too,
+had been forced to realize what almost every one else had seen before,
+the influence which the fellow had obtained over her mother. Her visit
+to Bradley and her questions concerning the safety of securities in the
+bank's vaults were almost proof positive that she knew Egbert had those
+bonds and perhaps feared he might get the others. He should not get them
+if Sears Kendrick could help it. She had asked his pardon, she had
+confessed that he was right and that she had been wrong. She believed in
+him again. Well, in return he would fight his battle--and hers--and
+George's--harder than ever. The fight had been worth while of itself,
+now it was more than ever a fight for her happiness. And Egbert--by the
+living jingo, Egbert was in for a licking.
+
+So, to the mild astonishment of the placid Foam Flake, who had been
+meandering on in a sort of walking doze, Captain Kendrick tugged briskly
+at the reins and broke out in song, the hymn which Judah Cahoon had sung
+a few nights before:
+
+    "Light in the darkness, sailor,
+      Day is at hand."
+
+Judah himself was singing when his lodger entered the kitchen, but his
+was no joyful ditty. It was a dirge, which he was intoning as he bent
+over the cookstove. A slow and solemn and mournful wail dealing with
+death and burial of one "Old Storm Along," whoever he may have been.
+
+    "'Old Storm Along is dead and gone
+      To my way, oh, Storm Along.
+    Old Storm Along is dead and gone
+      Ay--ay--ay, Mister Storm A-long.
+
+    "'When Stormy died I dug his grave
+      To my way, oh, Storm Along,
+    I dug his grave with a silver spade.
+      Ay--ay--ay, Mister Storm A-long.
+
+    "'I hove him up with an iron crane,
+      To my way, oh, Storm Along,
+    And lowered him down with----'"
+
+Kendrick broke in upon the flow of misery.
+
+"Sshh! All hands to the pumps!" he shouted. "Heavens, what a wail!
+Sounds like the groans of the dyin'. Didn't your breakfast set well,
+Judah?"
+
+Judah turned, looked at him, and grinned sheepishly. "'Tis kind of a
+lonesome song, ain't it?" he admitted. "Still we used to sing it
+consider'ble aboard ship. Don't you know we did, Cap'n?"
+
+The captain grunted. "Maybe so," he observed, "but it's one of the
+things that would keep the average man from going to sea. What's the
+news since I've been gone--anything?"
+
+Judah nodded. "Um-hm," he said. "I cal'late 'twas the news that set me
+goin' about old Storm Along. Esther Tidditt's been over here half the
+forenoon, seemed so, tellin' about Elviry Snowden's aunt over to
+Ostable. She's dead, the old woman is, and she died slow and agonizin',
+'cordin' to Esther. Elviry was all struck of a heap about it. And now
+she's gone."
+
+"Gone! Elvira? Dead, you mean?"
+
+"Hey? No, no! The aunt's dead, but Elviry ain't. She's gone over to
+Ostable to stay till after the funeral. She's about the only relation to
+the remains there is left, so Esther tells me. There was a reg'lar young
+typhoon over to the Harbor when the news struck. 'Twas too late for the
+up train so they had to hire a horse and team and then somebody had to
+be got to pilot it, 'cause Elviry wouldn't no more undertake to drive a
+horse than I would to eat one. And the trouble was that the livery
+stable boy--that Josiah Ellis--was off drivin' somebody else
+somewheres."
+
+"Yes, I saw him."
+
+"Hey? You did? Where? Who was he drivin'?"
+
+"Never mind that. Heave ahead with your yarn."
+
+"Well, the next thing they done was to come cruisin' over here to see if
+_I_ wouldn't take the job. Hoppin', creepin', jumpin' Henry! I shut down
+on _that_ notion almost afore they got their hatches open to tell me
+about it. Suppose likely I'd set in a buggy alongside of Elviry Snowden
+and listen to her clack from here to Ostable? Not by a two-gallon
+jugful! Creepin'! She'd have another corpse on her hands time we got
+there. So I said I was sick."
+
+"Sick! Ha, ha! You're a healthy lookin' sick man, Judah."
+
+"Um-hm. Mine must be one of them kind of diseases that don't show on the
+outside. But I was sick then, all right--at the very notion. And, Cap'n
+Sears, who do you cal'late finally did invite himself to drive that
+Snowden woman to Ostable? You'll never guess in _this_ world."
+
+"Well, I don't intend to wait until the next world to find out; so
+you'll have to tell me, Judah. Who was it?"
+
+"Old Henfruit."
+
+"_Who?_"
+
+"Old Henfruit, that's what I call him. That Eg thing"
+
+"What? Phillips?"
+
+"Yus. That's the feller."
+
+"But why should he do it?"
+
+"Oh, just to show off how polite and obligin' he is, I presume likely.
+Elviry she was snifflin' around and swabbin' her deadlights with her
+handkercher and heavin' overboard lamentations about her poor dear Aunt
+So-and-so layin' all alone over there and she couldn't get to her--as if
+'twould make any difference to a dead person whether she got to 'em or
+not, and anyhow I'd _want_ to be dead afore Elviry Snowden got to
+me--and---- Oh, yes, well, pretty soon here comes Eg, beaver hat and
+mustache and all, purrin' and wantin' to know what was the matter. And,
+of course all hands of 'em started to tell him, 'specially that Aurora
+Chase, who is so everlastin' deaf she hadn't heard the yarn more'n half
+straight and wan't sure yet whether 'twas a funeral or a fire. And
+so----"
+
+"There, there, Judah! Get back on the course. So Egbert drove Elvira
+over to Ostable, did he?"
+
+"Sartin sure. When Elviry saw him she kind of flew at him same as a
+chicken flies to the old hen. And he kind of spread out his wings, as
+you might say, and comforted her and, next thing you know, he'd offered
+to be pilot and she and him had started on the trip. So that's the
+news.... Esther said 'twas good as a town hall to see Cordelia Berry
+when them two went away together. You see, Cordelia is so dreadful gone
+on that Eg man that she can't bear to see another female within hailin'
+distance of him. Been just the same if 'twas old Northern Lights Chase
+he'd gone with. Haw, haw!"
+
+The Fair Harbor was still buzzing with the news of Miss Snowden's
+bereavement when Kendrick visited there next day. The funeral was to
+take place the day after that and Mrs. Brackett was going and so was
+Aurora. As Miss Peasley and some of the others would have liked to go,
+but could not afford the railway fare, there was some jealousy manifest
+and a few ill-natured remarks made in the captain's hearing. Elvira, it
+seemed, had sent for her trunk, as she was to remain in Ostable for a
+week or two at least.
+
+The captain and Elizabeth had their customary conference in the office
+concerning the Harbor's bills and finances. Kendrick's greeting was a
+trifle embarrassed--recollection of the interview at Orham was fresh in
+his mind. Elizabeth colored slightly when they met, but she did not
+mention that interview and, although pleasant and kind, kept the
+conversation strictly confined to business matters.
+
+That afternoon Sears encountered Egbert for the first time in a week or
+so. The captain was on his way to the barn at the rear of the Harbor
+grounds. He was about to turn the bend in the path, the bend which he
+had rounded on the day of his first excursion in those grounds, and
+which had afforded him the vision of Miss Snowden and Mrs. Chase framed
+in the ivy-draped window of The Eyrie. As he passed the clump of lilacs,
+now bare and scrawny, he came suddenly upon Phillips. The latter was
+standing there, deep in conversation with Mrs. Berry. Theirs should, it
+would seem, have been a pleasant conversation, but neither looked happy;
+in fact, Cordelia looked as if she had been crying.
+
+Sears raised his cap and Egbert lifted the tall hat with the flourish
+all his own. Cordelia did not bow nor even nod. Kendrick, as he walked
+on toward the barn, was inclined to believe he could guess the cause of
+Mrs. Berry's distress and her companion's annoyance; he believed that
+City of Boston 4-1/2s might be the subject of their talk. If so, then
+perhaps those bonds had come into the gentleman's possession in a manner
+not strictly within the law. Or, at all events, the lady might not know
+what had become of them and be requesting their return. He certainly
+hoped that such was the case. It was the one thing he yearned to find
+out before making the next strategic advance in his and Egbert's private
+war.
+
+But a note from Bradley which he received next day helped him not at
+all. It was a distinct disappointment. Bradley had, at his request, made
+some inquiries at the Bayport bank. The lawyer was a director in that
+institution and he could obtain information without arousing undue
+curiosity or answering troublesome questions. The two one thousand
+dollar bonds had been removed from the vaults by Cordelia Berry herself.
+She had come alone, and on two occasions, taking one bond at each visit.
+She did not state why she wanted them and the bank authorities had not
+considered it their business to ask.
+
+So that avenue of hope was closed. Egbert had not taken the bonds, and
+how they came into his possession was still as great a puzzle as ever.
+And the time--the time was growing so short. On Wednesday Kent had
+promised to send his brother-in-law eight hundred dollars. It was
+Saturday when Bradley's letter came. Each evening George stopped at the
+Minot place to ask what progress had been made. The young man's
+nervousness was contagious; the captain's own nerves became affected.
+
+"George," he ordered, at last, "don't ask me another question. I
+promised you once, and now I promise you again, that by Wednesday night
+you shall have enough cash in hand to satisfy your sister and her
+husband. Don't you come nigh me until then."
+
+On Monday, the situation remaining unchanged, Sears determined upon a
+desperate move. He would see Egbert alone and have a talk with him. He
+had, after careful consideration, decided what his share in that talk
+was to be. It must be two-thirds "bluff." He knew very little, but he
+intended to pretend to much greater knowledge. He might trap his
+adversary into a damaging admission. He might gain something and he
+could lose almost nothing. The attack was risky, a sort of forlorn
+hope--but he would take the risk.
+
+That afternoon he drove down to the Macomber house. There he was
+confronted with another disappointment. Egbert was not there. Sarah said
+he had been away almost all day and would not be back until late in the
+evening.
+
+"He's been away consider'ble the last two or three days," she said. "No,
+I'm sure I don't know where he's gone. He told Joel somethin' about
+bein' out of town on business. Joel sort of gathered 'twas in Trumet
+where the business was, but he never told either of us really. He wasn't
+here for dinner yesterday or supper either, and not for supper the day
+before that."
+
+"Humph! Will he be here to-morrow, think?"
+
+"I don't know, but I should think likely he would, in the forenoon,
+anyhow. He's almost always here in the forenoon; he doesn't get up very
+early, hardly ever."
+
+"Oh, he doesn't. How about his breakfast?"
+
+Mrs. Macomber looked a bit guilty.
+
+"Well," she admitted, "I usually keep his breakfast hot for him,
+and--and he has it in his room."
+
+"You take it in to him, I suppose?"
+
+"We-ll, he's always been used to breakfastin' that way, he says. It's
+the way they do over abroad, accordin' to his tell."
+
+"Oh, Sarah, Sarah!" mused her brother. "To think _you_ could slip so
+easy on that sort of soft-soap. Tut, tut! I'm surprised.... Well,
+good-by. Oh, by the way, how about his majesty's board bill? Paid up to
+date, is it?"
+
+His sister looked even more embarrassed, and, for her, a trifle
+irritated.
+
+"He owes me for three weeks, if you must know," she said, "but he'll pay
+it, same as he always does."
+
+"Look out, look out! Can't be too sure.... There, there, Sarah, don't be
+cross. I won't torment you."
+
+He laughed and Mrs. Macomber, after a moment, laughed too.
+
+"You are a tease, Sears," she declared, "and always was. Shall I tell
+Mr. Phillips you came to see him?"
+
+"Eh? No, indeed you shan't. Don't you mention my name to him. He loves
+me so much that he might cry all night at the thought of not bein' at
+home when I called. Don't tell him a word. I'll try again."
+
+The next forenoon he did try again. Judah had some trucking to do in the
+western part of the village and the captain rode with him on the seat of
+the truck wagon as far as the store. From there he intended to walk to
+his sister's, for walking, even as long a distance as a mile, was no
+longer an impossibility. As he alighted by the store platform Captain
+Elkanah Wingate came out of the Bassett emporium.
+
+"Mornin', Kendrick," he hailed.
+
+Sears did not share Bayport's awe of the prosperous Elkanah. He returned
+the greeting as casually as if the latter had been an everyday citizen.
+
+"Been spendin' your money on Eliphalet's bargains?" he inquired.
+
+The great man did not resent the flippancy. He seemed to be in a
+particularly pleasant humor.
+
+"Got a little extra to spend to-day," he declared, with a chuckle.
+"Picked up twenty dollars this mornin' that I never expected to see
+again."
+
+"So? You're lucky."
+
+"That's what I thought. Say, Kendrick, have you had any--hum--business
+dealings with that man Phillips? No," with another chuckle, "I suppose
+you haven't. He doesn't love you over and above, I understand. My wife
+and the rest of the women folks seem to think he's first mate to Saint
+Peter, but, between ourselves, he's always been a little too much of a
+walkin' oil barrel to suit me. He borrowed twenty of me a good while ago
+and I'd about decided to write it down as a dead loss. But an hour or so
+ago he ran afoul of me and, without my saying a word, paid up like a
+man, every cent. Had a roll of bills as thick as a skys'l yard, he did.
+Must have had a lucky voyage, I guess. Eh? Ha, ha!"
+
+He moved off, still chuckling. Kendrick walked down the lower road
+pondering on what he had heard. Egbert, the professed pauper, in
+possession of money and voluntarily paying his debts. What might that
+mean?
+
+Sarah met him at the door. She seemed distressed.
+
+"There!" she cried, as he approached. "If this isn't too bad! And I was
+afraid of it, too. You've walked way down here, Sears, on those poor
+legs of yours, and Mr. Phillips has gone again. And I don't think he'll
+be back before night, if he is then. He said not to worry if he wasn't,
+because he might have to go to Trumet. Isn't it a shame?"
+
+It was a shame and a rather desperate shame. This was Tuesday. If the
+interview with Egbert was to take place at all, it should be that day,
+or the next. He looked at his sister's face and something in her
+expression caused him to ask a question.
+
+"What is it, Sarah?" he demanded. "What's the rest of it?"
+
+She hesitated. "Sears," she said, after looking over her shoulder to
+make sure none of the children was within hearing, "there's somethin'
+else. I--I don't know, but--but I'm almost _sure_ Mr. Phillips won't be
+back to-night. I think he's gone to stay."
+
+"Stay? What do you mean? Did he take his dunnage--his things--with him?"
+
+"No. His trunk is in his room. And he didn't have a satchel or a valise
+in his hand. But, Sears, I can't understand it--they're gone--his
+valises are gone."
+
+"Gone! Gone where?"
+
+"I don't know. That's the funny part of it. He's always kept two valises
+in his room, a big one and a little one. I went into his room just now
+to make the beds and clean up and I didn't see those valises anywhere. I
+thought that was funny and then I noticed that the things on his bureau,
+his brushes and comb and things, weren't there. Then I looked in his
+bureau drawers and everything was gone, the drawers were empty....
+Sears, what _do_ you suppose it means?"
+
+Her brother did not answer at once. He tugged at his beard and frowned.
+Then he asked:
+
+"Didn't he say a word more than you've told me? Or do anything?"
+
+"No. He had his breakfast out here with us this mornin'. Then he went
+back to his room and, about nine or so, he came out to me and paid his
+board bill---- Oh, I told you he'd pay it, Sears; he always does
+pay--and then----"
+
+"Here! Heave to! Hold on, Sarah! He paid his bill, all of it?"
+
+"Yes. Right up to now. That was kind of funny, bein' the middle of the
+week instead of the end, but he said we might as well start with a clean
+ledger, or somethin' nice and pleasant like that. Then he took a bundle
+of money from his pocketbook--a great, _big_ bundle it was, and--Why,
+why, Sears, what is it? Where are you goin'?"
+
+The captain had pushed by her and was on his way to the front of the
+house.
+
+"Goin'?" he repeated. "I'm goin' to have a look at those rooms of his.
+You'd better come with me, Sarah."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+
+The keeper of the livery stable was surprised. "Why, yes," he said, "Mr.
+Phillips was here a spell ago. He said he was cal'latin' to go to Trumet
+to-day on a business cruise, and he hired Josiah and the bay horse and
+buggy to get him over there. They left about ten o'clock, I should say
+'twas. I had a mind to ask him why he didn't take the train, but then I
+thought 'twould be poor business for a fellow that let teams, so I kept
+still. Hey? Ho, ho!"
+
+The captain, somewhat out of breath after his hurried walk from the
+Macomber home to the stable, pondered a moment "Did he have a valise or
+satchel or anything with him?" he asked.
+
+"No. Nothin' but his cane. Couldn't navigate a yard without his cane
+that feller couldn't, seemed so. Looked kind of spruced up, too. Dressed
+in his best bib and tucker, he was, beaver hat and all. Cal'late he must
+be goin' to see his best girl, eh. Ho, ho! Guess not though; from what I
+hear his best girl's down to the Fair Harbor."
+
+Kendrick pondered a moment longer.
+
+"Did he pay for the team?" he inquired.
+
+"Hey? Yus, paid in advance, spot cash. But what you askin' all this for,
+Cap'n? Wanted to see him afore he went, did you?"
+
+Sears nodded. "Just a business matter," he explained, and walked away.
+He did not walk far, only to the corner. There on the low stone wall
+bordering on the east the property of Captain Orrin Eldridge, he seated
+himself to rest and cogitate.
+
+His cogitations were most unsatisfactory. They got him nowhere. He and
+his sister had pretty thoroughly inspected Egbert's quarters at the
+Macomber house. The Phillips trunk was still there, and the "horse
+pictures" and the photographs of Lobelia's charming lady friends! but
+there was precious little else. Toilet articles, collars, ties and more
+intimate articles of wearing apparel were missing and, except for a
+light coat and a summer suit of clothes, the closets were empty. And, as
+Sarah had said, the two valises had vanished. Egbert had told his
+landlady he was going to Trumet; he had told the livery man the same
+thing. But by far the easiest way to reach Trumet was by train. Why had
+he chosen to be driven there over a long and very bad road? And _what_
+had become of the valises?
+
+And then occurred the second of a series of incidents which had a marked
+and helpful bearing up Captain Kendrick's actions that day. He said
+afterwards that, for the first time since his railway accident, he
+really began to believe the tide of luck was turning in his direction.
+The first of those incidents had been his meeting and talk with Captain
+Elkanah. That had sent him hurrying to the Macombers' earlier than he
+intended. The second incident was that now, as he sat there on the
+Eldridge wall, down the road came the Minot truck wagon with the Foam
+Flake in the shafts and Judah Cahoon swinging and jolting on the seat.
+
+Judah spied him and hailed.
+
+"Ahoy, there, Cap'n Sears!" he shouted, pulling the old horse to a
+standstill. "Thought you was down to Sary's long ago. What you doin' on
+that wall--gone to roost so early in the day?"
+
+The captain smiled. "Not exactly, Judah," he replied. "But what are you
+doin' 'way back here? I thought you were haulin' Seth Bangs's wood for
+him."
+
+"Huh!" in disgust; "I thought I was, too, but there was some kind of
+mix-up in the time. Cal'late 'twas that Hannah Bangs that muddled
+it--she could muddle a cake of ice, that woman. Kind of born with a
+knack for makin' mistakes, she is; and she's the biggest mistake
+herself, 'cordin' to my notion. Seems 'twas to-morrow, not to-day, Seth
+expected me to come."
+
+"Humph! So you had your cruise up there for nothin'?"
+
+"Yus. Creepin', jumpin'! Think of it, Cap'n. I navigated this
+old--er--er--spavin-rack 'way up to where them folks live, three mile on
+the Denboro road 'tis, and then had to come about and beat for home
+again. I ... Oh, say I sighted a chum of ours up along that way. Who do
+you cal'late 'twas, Cap'n Sears? Old Eg, that's who. Togged out from
+truck to keelson as usual, beaver and all, and----"
+
+"Here! Hold up! What's that, Judah? You saw Phillips up on the Denboro
+road, you say? What was he doin' there? When did you see him?"
+
+"'Bout an hour ago, or such matter. He was aboard one of the livery
+stable teams and that Josiah Ellis was pilotin' him. I sung out to
+Josiah, but he never answered. Says I----"
+
+"Sshh! Where were they bound; do you know?"
+
+"Denboro, I presume likely. That's the only place there is to be bound
+to, on that road; 'less you're goin' perchin' up to Seabury's Pond, and
+folks don't do much perchin' in December. Not with beaver hats on,
+anyhow. Haw, haw! Eg and Josiah was all jammed up together on the buggy
+seat, with two big valises crammed in alongside of 'em, and ... Hi!
+What's the matter, Cap'n Sears? What's your hurry?"
+
+The captain did not answer. He _was_ hurrying--hurrying back to the
+livery stable. Half an hour later he, too, was on the seat of a hired
+buggy, driving the best horse the stable afforded up the lonely road
+leading to Denboro.
+
+He met no one on that road--which winds and twists over the hills and
+through the wooded hollows from one side of the Cape to the other--until
+he was within a mile of Denboro village. Then he saw another horse and
+buggy approaching his. He recognized the occupant of that buggy long
+before he himself was recognized.
+
+"Hi!" he shouted, as the two vehicles came near each other. "Hi! Josiah!
+Josiah Ellis!"
+
+Josiah, serenely dozing, his feet propped against the dash and his cap
+over his eyes, came slowly to life.
+
+"Hey?" he murmured, drowsily. "Yes; here I be.... Eh! What's the matter?
+Why, hello, Cap'n Kendrick, that you?"
+
+"Whoa!" ordered the captain, addressing his own horse, who came to a
+standstill beside that driven by the other. "Stop, Josiah! Come up into
+the wind a minute, I want to speak to you. What have you done with
+Phillips?"
+
+Josiah was surprised. "Why, how did you know I had Mr. Phillips aboard?"
+he asked. "Oh, I presume likely they told you at the stable. But how did
+you know he was goin' to Denboro? _I_ never knew it till after we
+started. When we left port I supposed 'twas Trumet we was bound for, but
+we hadn't much more'n got under way when Mr. Phillips says he's changed
+his mind and wants to come over here. Didn't make no difference to _me_,
+of course. I get my wages, Saturday nights, just the same whether----"
+
+"Where is Phillips now?"
+
+"I was tellin' you. So we came about and headed for Denboro. Next thing
+we had to haul up abreast of that old tumbledown shed at the end of
+Tabby Crosby's lot there by the meetin'-house while Mr. Phillips hopped
+out and got a couple of great big satchels he'd left there. Big as
+trunks they was, pretty nigh, and time he got them stowed in here there
+wan't no room for knees nor feet nor nawthin' else seurcely. But,
+finally----"
+
+"Hold on! Why did he have his dunnage in Tabitha Crosby's shed?"
+
+"That's what _I_ couldn't make out. He said he left 'em there so's not
+to have to go out of our way to get 'em at Joe Macomber's. But it's
+about as nigh to Joe's as 'tis to Tabby's, seems to me. Seemed funny
+enough, that did, but 'twan't no funnier than comin' way over to the
+Denboro depot to take the same train he might have took just as well at
+Bayport. _I_ couldn't make it out. Can you, Cap'n Kendrick?"
+
+"Did you leave him at the Denboro depot?"
+
+"Yus. 'Bout an hour ago, or such matter. And the up train ain't due till
+four, and it's only half-past twelve now. I stopped at the Denboro House
+to get some diner. A feller has to eat once in a while, even if he ain't
+rich. And talk about chargin' high prices! All I had was some chowder
+and a piece of pie and tea, and I swan if they didn't stick me
+thirty-five cents! Yes, sir, thirty-five cents! And the pie was
+dried-apple at that. Don't talk to me no more about that Denboro House!
+If I ever----"
+
+Kendrick heard no more. He was on his way to the railway station at
+Denboro. The mystery of the valises was, in one way, explained; in
+another it was more mysterious than ever. Evidently Phillips must have
+taken them from his rooms either early that morning or during the
+night--probably the latter--and hidden them in the Crosby shed. But why?
+
+Denboro was a sleepy little village and at that hour on that raw
+December day the railway station was as sleepy as the rest of it. The
+station agent, who was also the telegraph operator, was locking his door
+preparatory to going home for dinner. He and the captain were old
+acquaintances. In days gone by he had sailed as second mate aboard a
+bark which Kendrick commanded. Now, retired from the sea, he was depot
+master and pound-keeper and constable in his native town. And, like most
+of Sears' shipmates, he was glad to see his former skipper.
+
+They shook hands, exchanged observations concerning the weather, and
+then the depot master asked what he could do for his friend.
+
+"I'm lookin' for a man named Phillips," explained Kendrick. "Josiah
+Ellis--fellow that drives for the livery stable over home--told me he
+left him here at your depot, Jim. About an hour ago, Josiah said it was.
+He doesn't seem to be here now; do you know where he's gone?"
+
+Jim rubbed his chin. "Tall feller, thin, long mustache, beaver hat,
+talks important and patronizin' like a combination of Admiral Farragut
+and the Angel Gabriel?" he inquired.
+
+"That's the man."
+
+"He was here. Left them two valises yonder in my care. He's comin' back
+in time to take the three-fifteen."
+
+"Three-fifteen? I thought the up train left here at half-past four or
+somethin' like that."
+
+"The reg'lar train does. But there's a kind of combination, three or
+four freight and one passenger car, that comes up from Hyannis and goes
+on ahead of the other. It don't go only to Middleboro. He said he was
+cal'latin' to take that. I had a notion he was goin' to change at
+Middleboro and go somewheres else from there."
+
+"I see. Yes, yes. And you don't know where he is now?"
+
+"Well, he asked where was the best place to eat and I told him some went
+to the hotel and some to Amanda Warren's boardin'-house. 'Most of 'em
+only go to the hotel once, though,' says I. I guess likely you'll find
+him at Amanda's."
+
+So to Mrs. Warren's boarding-house the captain drove. The lady herself
+opened the door for him. Yes, the gentleman described had been there.
+Yes, he had eaten dinner and gone.
+
+"Do you know where he has gone?" asked Kendrick.
+
+Mrs. Warren nodded. "He asked me where Mr. Backus, the Methodist
+minister, lived," she said. "He was real particular to find out how to
+get there, so I guess that's where he was bound."
+
+The Methodist minister! Why on earth Egbert Phillips should go to the
+home of a minister was another mystery beyond Sears Kendrick's power of
+surmise. However, he too inquired the way to the Backus domicile and
+once more took up the chase.
+
+The Methodist parsonage was a neat little white house, green-shuttered,
+and with a white picket fence inclosing its little front yard. It being
+the home of a clergyman, Sears ventured to knock at the front door;
+otherwise he would, of course, have gone around to the side entrance.
+
+A white-haired little woman answered the knock. No, Mr. Backus was out,
+but he was expected back very soon. He had an appointment at two, so she
+was sure he would be in by that time. Would the captain come in and
+wait? There was another gentleman now in the parlor waiting. Yes, a tall
+gentleman with a mustache.
+
+At last! Another minute, and Captain Kendrick, entering the Backus
+parlor, came face to face with the elusive object of his search, Mr.
+Egbert Phillips.
+
+Egbert was sitting in a rocking chair by the marble-topped center table.
+A plush-covered photograph album was on that table and he was languidly
+turning its pages and inspecting, with a smile of tolerant amusement,
+the likenesses of the Backus friends and relatives. As the door opened
+he turned, his smile changing to one of greeting.
+
+"Ah, Mr. Backus----" he began. And then he stopped. It was the captain
+who smiled now. His smile was as genial as a summer morn.
+
+"Good afternoon, Mr. Phillips," he said. "How are you, sir?"
+
+He stepped forward with extended hand. Still Egbert stood and stared.
+The photograph album, imperfectly balanced on the edge of the table,
+slipped to the floor.
+
+The clergyman's wife seemed a trifle puzzled and perturbed by the
+Phillips expression and attitude.
+
+"This gentleman said----" she began. "He said you and he----"
+
+Kendrick helped her to finish: "I told the lady," he put in cheerfully,
+"that I had come 'way over from Bayport to see you about a little
+matter. I said we knew each other pretty well and I was sure you'd be
+glad to see me, even if I was kind of unexpected.... Excuse me, but
+you've dropped your picture book."
+
+He stooped, picked up the album and replaced it on the table. This
+action occupied but a moment of time, nevertheless in that moment a
+portion at least of Egbert's poise returned. His smile might have been
+a bit uncertain, but it was a smile. And when Sears again extended his
+hand his own came to meet it.
+
+"Of course, of course," he said. "Yes--ah--yes, indeed. How do you do,
+Kendrick?"
+
+The captain beamed. "Oh, I'm feelin' tip-top," he declared. "The sight
+of you is enough to make me well, even if I was sick--which I'm not. Now
+if you and I might have a little talk?"
+
+Mrs. Backus was anxious to oblige.
+
+"You make yourselves right at home in here," she said. "If my husband
+comes I'll tell him to wait until you're through. Take all the time you
+want."
+
+She was at the threshold, but Phillips detained her.
+
+"Pardon me," he said, hastily, "but we mustn't abuse your hospitality to
+that extent. This--ah--gentleman and I can talk just as well out of
+doors. Really, I----"
+
+"Oh, no! You must stay right here. Please do. It isn't the least
+trouble."
+
+She went and the door closed behind her. Egbert glanced at the clock on
+the mantel and frowned. Captain Kendrick continued to smile.
+
+"And here we are at last," he observed. "Quiet and sociable as you
+please. Sit down, Mr. Phillips, sit down."
+
+But Egbert did not sit. He glanced at the clock once more and then at
+his watch.
+
+"Sit down," repeated the captain. "I've been cruisin' so much this
+forenoon that I'm glad of the chance to sit. From what I've been able to
+learn you've been movin' pretty lively, too. A little rest won't do
+either of us any harm. Sit down, Mr. Phillips. Take the rocker."
+
+Phillips walked to the front window, looked out, hesitated, and then,
+returning, did take the rocker. He looked at his fellow-townsman.
+
+"Well?" he asked.
+
+Kendrick nodded. "Yes," he agreed, "it is well, real well, now that I've
+caught up with you. I'll say this for you, you're as good a craft for
+leavin' a crooked wake as any I ever chased. For a while there you had
+me hull down. But I'm here now--and so are you."
+
+Egbert's slim hand slowly stroked his mustache.
+
+"There appears to be some truth in that remark," he declared. "We do
+seem to be here--yes.... But----"
+
+"But you are wonderin' why _I_ am here? Well, to be honest, I came to
+find you. I judged that you were thinkin' of leavin' us--for a spell,
+anyhow--and before you went I wanted to talk with you, that's all."
+
+A pause, and more mustache stroking. The two men regarded each other;
+the captain blandly beaming, Phillips evidently pondering.
+
+"I don't know," he said, at last, "what you may mean by my thinking of
+leaving you. However, that is not material, and I am always delighted to
+see you, of course. But as I am rather busy this afternoon perhaps
+you'll be good enough to come to the point.... If there is a point."
+
+"Yes, there is. Oh, yes, there's a point. Two or three points."
+
+"Indeed! How interesting. And what are they? Please be as--ah--brief as
+you can."
+
+Sears crossed his legs. All this had been but preliminary maneuvering.
+Here now was the real beginning of the fight; and he realized only too
+keenly that his side in that fight was tremendously short of ammunition.
+But he did not mean that his adversary should guess that fact, and with
+the smiling serenity of absolute confidence he fired the opening gun.
+
+"Egbert," he began--"you don't mind my callin' you Egbert? Knowin' you
+as well as I do, it seems foolish to stand on ceremony, don't you think?
+You don't mind?"
+
+"Not at all. Charmed, I'm sure.... Well?"
+
+"Well--yes. We've got a good many mutual friends--you and I, Egbert. One
+of 'em is named George Kent. He's a great friend of both of us. Nice
+boy, too."
+
+At the mention of the name the Phillips hand, caressing the Phillips
+mustache, paused momentarily. But it resumed operations almost at once.
+Other than this there was no sign of perturbation on its owner's part.
+He slowly shook his head.
+
+"My _dear_ Captain Kendrick----" he drawled.
+
+"Oh, call me Sears. _Don't_ be formal."
+
+"My dear man, if it is possible for you to come to the point? Without
+too great a strain on your--ah--intellect?"
+
+"I'm comin', Egbert. Right abreast there now. George--our mutual
+friend--is in trouble. He has used some money that he can't spare, used
+it in a stock deal. I won't go into the particulars because you know 'em
+just as well as I do. You got him into the trouble in the first place, I
+understand. Now, to a man up a tree, as the boys say, it would seem as
+if you ought to be the one to get him out. Particularly as you are his
+very best friend. Don't you think so?"
+
+Egbert sighed before answering, a sigh of utter weariness.
+
+"And may I ask if _this_ is the--ah--point?" he inquired.
+
+"Why, yes--I guess so. In a way."
+
+"And you are acting as our young friend's representative? He has seen
+fit to take you into his confidence concerning a matter which was
+supposed to be a business secret between--ah--gentlemen?"
+
+"I could see he was in trouble and I offered to do what I could to help.
+Then he told me the whole thing."
+
+"Indeed? A changeable youth. When I last heard him mention your name it
+was not--pardon me--in a--shall we say strictly affectionate tone?"
+
+"That so? Too bad. But we are all liable to be mistaken in our
+judgments. Men--and women, too."
+
+Again there was a slight pause; Egbert was regarding the speaker
+intently. The latter's countenance was about as expressive as that of a
+wooden idol, a good-natured one. Mr. Phillips glanced once more at the
+clock, languidly closed his eyes, opened them, sighed for the third
+time, and then spoke.
+
+"So I am to understand that our--ah--juvenile acquaintance has turned
+his business affairs over to you," he said. "I congratulate him, I'm
+sure. The marked success which you have attained in the--ah--management
+of--ah--other business affairs has inspired him with perfect trust,
+doubtless."
+
+"That must be it. The average man has to trust somebody and I gathered
+that _some_ trusts of his were beginnin' to slip their moorin's.
+However, here's the situation. You got him to buy some stock on margin.
+The stock, instead of goin' up, as you prophesied, went down. You
+suggested his puttin' up more margin. He'd used all his own money, so he
+used some belonging to some one else. Now he's in trouble, bad trouble.
+What are you goin' to do about it?"
+
+"I? My dear man, what should I do about it? What can I do? I have
+explained my situation to him. I am, owing to circumstances and
+the--ah--machinations of certain individuals--both circumstances and
+individuals of your acquaintance, I believe--in a most unfortunate
+position financially. I have no money, or very little. Our--your young
+protege wished to risk some of his money in a certain speculation. I did
+the same. The speculation was considered good at the time. I still
+consider it good, although profit may be deferred. He took the risk with
+his eyes open. He is of age. He is not a child, although--pardon
+me--this new action of his might lead one to think him such. I am sorry
+for him, but I do not consider myself at all responsible."
+
+"I see. But he has used money which wasn't his to speculate with."
+
+"I am sorry, deeply sorry. But--is that my fault?
+
+"Well, that might be a question, mightn't it? You knew he was usin' that
+money?"
+
+"Pardon me--pardon me, Kendrick; but is that--ah--strictly true?"
+
+"Well, he says it is. However, the question is just this: Will you help
+him out by buyin' up his share in this C. M. deal? Pay him back his
+sixteen hundred and take the whole thing over yourself?"
+
+Mr. Phillips for the first time permitted himself the luxury of a real
+smile.
+
+"My _dear_ man," he observed, "you're not seriously offering such a
+proposition as that, are you? You must be joking."
+
+"It's no joke to poor George. And he's only a boy, after all. You
+wouldn't want him to go to jail."
+
+The smile disappeared. "I should be pained," protested Egbert, and
+proved it by looking pained. "It would grieve me deeply. But I can't
+think such a contingency possible. No, no; not possible. And in time--my
+brokers assure me a very short time--the stock will advance."
+
+"And you won't take over his share and get all that profit yourself?"
+
+"I can't. It is impossible. I am so sorry. In former days--" with a
+gesture of resignation--"it would have been quite possible. Then I
+should have been delighted. But now.... However, you must, as a man of
+the world, see that all this is quite absurd. And it is painful to me,
+as a friend--still a friend of young Kent's. Pardon me again, but I am
+busy this afternoon and----"
+
+He rose. Sears did not rise. He remained seated.
+
+"Jail's a mean place," he remarked, with apparent irrelevance. "I'd hate
+to go there myself. So would you, I'll bet."
+
+Another pause on Phillips' part. Then another wearied smile.
+
+"Do you--ah--foresee any likelihood of either of us arriving at that
+destination?" he inquired.
+
+"Well, _I'm_ hopin' to stay out, for a spell anyway. Mr.
+Phillips--Egbert--yes, yes, Egbert, of course; we're gettin' better
+acquainted all the time, so we just mustn't stand on ceremony. Egbert,
+how about those City of Boston 4-1/2s you put up as security over there
+in New York? What are you goin' to do about _them_?"
+
+Egbert had strolled to the window and was looking out. He continued to
+look out. The captain, his gaze fixed upon the beautifully draped, even
+though the least bit shiny, shoulders of the Phillips' coat, watched
+eagerly for some shiver, some sign of agitation, however slight. But
+there was none. The sole indication that the shot just fired had had
+any effect was the length of time Egbert took before turning. When he
+did turn he was still blandly smiling. He walked back to the rocker and
+settled himself upon its patchwork cushion.
+
+"Yes?" he queried. "You were saying----"
+
+"I was speakin' of those two one thousand dollar City of Boston bonds
+you sent your brokers, you know. Would you mind tellin' me how you got
+those bonds?"
+
+Mr Phillips lifted one slim leg over the other. He lifted two slim hands
+and placed their finger tips together.
+
+"Kendrick," he asked, "you will pardon me for speaking plainly? Thank
+you so much. I have already listened to you for some time--more time
+than I should have spared. For some reason you have--ah--seen fit
+to--shall we say pursue me here. Having found me, you make a
+most--pardon me again--unreasonable and childish demand on the part of
+young Kent. I cannot grant it. Now is there any use wasting more time by
+asking--pardon me once more--impertinent questions concerning my
+affairs? You can scarcely--well, even you, my dear Kendrick, can hardly
+expect me to answer them. Don't you think this--ah--extremely pleasant
+interview had better end pleasantly--by ending now?"
+
+He would have risen once more, but Sears motioned him to remain in the
+rocker. The captain leaned forward.
+
+"Egbert," he said briskly, "I'm busy, too; but I have spent a good many
+hours and some dollars to get at you and I shan't leave you until I get
+at least a part of what I came after. Those Boston bonds----"
+
+"Are my property, sir."
+
+"Well, I don't know. The last anybody heard they were the property of
+Mrs. Cordelia Berry. Now you say they're yours. That's one of the
+matters to be settled before you and I part company, Egbert."
+
+Mr. Phillips' aristocratic form stiffened. Slowly he rose to his feet.
+
+"You are insulting," he proclaimed. "That will do. There is the door."
+
+"Yes, I see it. It's a nice door; the grainin' on it seems to be pretty
+well done. How did you get hold of those bonds, Egbert?"
+
+"If you don't go, I shall."
+
+"All right. Then I'll go with you. You shan't take the three-fifteen or
+any other train till we've settled this and some other questions. Oh,
+it's a fact. No hard feelin', you know; just business, that's all."
+
+Egbert moved toward the door. His caller rose to follow him. The captain
+often wondered afterward whether or not Phillips would really have left
+the room if there had been no interruption. The question remained a
+question because at that moment there was a knock on the other side of
+the door. It had a marked effect upon Egbert. He started, frowned and
+shot another glance at the clock.
+
+"Excuse me," said Mrs. Backus, opening the door a crack, "but my husband
+has come."
+
+Phillips seemed relieved, yet troubled, too.
+
+"Yes--ah--yes," he said. "Will you kindly ask him to wait? Thank you."
+
+The lady closed the door again. Egbert took a turn across the room and
+back. Kendrick smiled cheerfully.
+
+"About those bonds?" he observed.
+
+Phillips faced him.
+
+"The bonds," he declared, "are mine. How I got them is not your business
+in the least."
+
+"Just a minute, just a minute. Cordelia Berry----"
+
+"Did Mrs. Berry tell you that I had them?"
+
+"No need to bother with that part of it now. I know."
+
+"But she did not give you authority to come to me about them? Don't
+pretend she did; I know better."
+
+"I'm not goin' to pretend--that. She didn't."
+
+"Humph!" with a sneer; "perhaps your authority comes from some one else.
+Her daughter, maybe? You and she are--or shall we say _were_--quite
+touchingly confidential at one time, I believe."
+
+The tone and the remark were mistakes; it would have been much better
+for the Phillips cause if the speaker had continued to be loftily
+condescending. Sears kept a grip on his temper, but his own tone changed
+as he replied.
+
+"Egbert," he said sharply, "look here. The facts, as far as a man
+without a spyglass can sight 'em through the fog, are just these: You
+got George Kent into a stock trade. He put up money--real money. You put
+up two thousand dollars in bonds and, because that was more than your
+share, he paid you four hundred dollars in cash. The last anybody knew
+the two bonds you put up were the property of Cordelia Berry. I want to
+know how you got hold of 'em."
+
+"Am I to understand that you are accusing me of _stealing_ those bonds?"
+
+"I'm not accusin' you of anything in particular. George has put this
+affair of his in my hands; I've got what amounts to his signed power of
+attorney in my pocket. If those bonds are yours, and you can prove it,
+then I shan't say any more about 'em. If they still belong to
+Cordelia--well, that's another question, one I mean to have the answer
+to before you and I part company."
+
+"Kendrick, I---- Do you realize that I can have you arrested for this?"
+
+"I don't know. But it does seem to me that if those bonds aren't your
+property then you had no right to pledge 'em in that stock deal. And
+that your takin' Kent's four hundred dollars in part payment for 'em
+comes pretty nigh to what a lawyer would call gettin' money under false
+pretenses. So the arrests might be even-Stephen, so far as that goes."
+
+This was the sheerest "bluff," but it was delivered with all the
+assurance in the world. It had not precisely the effect Sears had hoped
+for. Egbert did not seem so much frightened as annoyed by it. He
+frowned, walked across the room and back, looked at the clock, then out
+of the window, and finally turned to his opponent.
+
+"Recognizing, of course," he sneered, "the fact that all this is
+absolutely none of your business, Kendrick; may I ask why you didn't
+come to me in Bayport instead of here?"
+
+The captain's smile returned. "I did try to come, Egbert," he answered.
+"But you had gone and so had the things in your room. You told Sarah and
+the stable folks you were goin' to Trumet. When I found you hadn't gone
+there, but were bound for here--after hidin' your valises over night in
+Tabby Crosby's shed--I decided you might be goin' even farther than
+Denboro, and that if I wanted to see you pretty soon--or ever,
+maybe--I'd better hoist sail and travel fast. When the depot folks told
+me you were askin' about the three-fifteen I felt confirmed in my
+judgments, as the fellow said. Now if you'll tell me about those bonds?"
+
+Another turn by Phillips across the parlor and back. Then he asked, with
+sarcasm, "If I were to tell you that those bonds were given me by Mrs.
+Berry, you wouldn't believe it, I presume?"
+
+"We-ll, I'd like to hear a little testimony from Cordelia first."
+
+"May I ask why you did not go to her instead of to me?"
+
+"I didn't have a chance. You got away too soon."
+
+"Possibly you may have thought that she, too, would consider it none of
+your business. And, since you won't take my word, how do you expect me
+to prove--here in Denboro that those bonds are mine?"
+
+"I don't know. But if it can't be proved in Denboro, then I'm afraid,
+Egbert, that you'll have to go back to Bayport with me and prove it
+there.... Oh, I know you'd hate to go, but----"
+
+"Go! I flatly refuse to go, of course."
+
+"I was afraid you would. Well, then I'd have to call in the constable to
+help get you under way. Jim Baker, the depot master, is constable here
+in Denboro. He and I were shipmates. He'd arrest the prophet Elijah if I
+asked him to, and not ask why, either."
+
+"Kendrick----"
+
+"Egbert, a spell ago you and I had a little chat together and I told you
+I had just begun to fight.... Well, I haven't really begun yet, but I'm
+gettin' up steam.... Think it over."
+
+Phillips stopped and, standing by the window, stared fixedly at the
+captain. The latter met the stare with a look of the blandest serenity.
+Behind the look, however, were feelings vastly different. If ever a
+forlorn hope skated upon thin ice, his and George Kent's was doing so at
+that moment. If Egbert _should_ agree to return to Bayport, and if his
+statement concerning the ownership of the Boston bonds _was_ true,
+then--well, then it would not be Mr. Phillips who might receive the
+attentions of the constable.
+
+Egbert stopped staring and once more looked at the clock. Quarter past
+two! He turned again quickly.
+
+"Kendrick," he snapped, "what _is_ your proposition?"
+
+"My proposition? I want you to pay me the sixteen hundred dollars Kent
+put into that C. M. stock deal. If you do that I'll give you his signed
+paper turnin' over to you all interest in the deal. You can make all the
+profit on it yourself--when it comes. Then in matter of Cordelia's
+bonds----"
+
+Phillips lifted a hand.
+
+"The bonds are not to be considered," he said, decisively. "If they are
+mine, as I say they are, you have no claim on them. If they are Mrs.
+Berry's, as you absurdly pretend to think they are, again you have no
+claim. If she says I have stolen them--which she won't--she may
+prosecute; but, again, my dear sir, she--ah--won't."
+
+The slight smile accompanying the last sentence troubled the captain. It
+was not the smile of a frightened man. Before he could reply Egbert
+continued.
+
+"But the bond matter may be settled later," he went on. "So far as I am
+concerned it is settled now. For our--ah--foolish young friend, Kent,
+however, I feel a certain sense of--shall we say pity?--and am inclined
+to make certain confessions. Silly sentimentalism on my part,
+doubtless--but pity, nevertheless. If you will give me the paper signed
+by him, which you claim to have, relinquishing all share in the stock at
+the New York brokers, I will--well, yes, I will pay you the sixteen
+hundred dollars."
+
+It was Sears Kendrick who was staggered now. It was his turn to stare.
+
+"You will pay me sixteen hundred dollars--_now_?" he gasped.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"But--but.... Humph! Well, thanks, Egbert--but your check, you know----"
+
+"I have no time to waste in drawing checks. I will pay you in cash."
+
+And, as Sears's already wide-open eyes opened wider and wider, he calmly
+took from his coat a pocketbook hugely obese and extracted from that
+pocketbook a mammoth roll of bank notes.
+
+Ten minutes later the captain was again moving along the road between
+Denboro and Bayport, bound home this time. He was driving mechanically;
+the horse was acting as his own pilot, for the man who held the reins
+was too much engrossed in thought to pay attention to such
+inconsequential matters as ruts or even roads. Sears was doing his best
+to find the answer to a riddle and, so far, the answer was as deeply
+shrouded in mist as ever a ship of his had been on any sea.
+
+He was satisfied in one way, more than satisfied. His demand for the
+full sixteen hundred had been made with no real hope. Had Phillips
+consented to return eight hundred dollars of the amount, the offer would
+in the end have been accepted with outward reluctance but inward joy.
+Had he refused to return a penny Kendrick would not have been surprised.
+But Egbert, after making up his mind, had paid the entire sum without a
+whimper, had paid it almost casually and with the air of one obliging a
+well-meaning, if somewhat annoying, inferior. Inspecting and pocketing
+Kent's power of attorney and the captain's receipt he had dismissed his
+visitor at the parsonage door as King Solomon in all his glory might
+have graciously dismissed a beggar whose petition had been granted. And
+the look in his eye and the half smile beneath the long mustache were
+not those of one beaten at a game--no, they were not.
+
+The recollection of that look and that smile bothered Sears Kendrick. He
+could not guess what was behind them. One thing seemed to be certain,
+his threats of prosecution and his bluffs concerning the Boston bonds
+had not alarmed Phillips greatly. He had not given in because he was
+afraid of imprisonment. No; no, the only symptoms of nervousness he had
+shown were his repeated glances at the clock, at his watch, and when he
+looked out of the parsonage window. More and more the captain was forced
+to the conclusion that Egbert had paid him to get rid of him, that he
+did not wish to be detained or to have Kendrick remain there, and his
+reasons must have been so important that he was willing to part with
+sixteen hundred dollars to get his visitor out of the way.
+
+But what possible reason could be as important as that? Why had he run
+away from Bayport? Why was he taking the three-fifteen train--at
+Denboro? Why was he spending the time before the departure of that train
+in the parlor of the Methodist parsonage? And he had made an appointment
+with the minister himself. Was he expecting some one else at that
+parsonage?
+
+Eh? The captain straightened on the buggy seat. He spoke aloud one word,
+a name.
+
+"Cordelia!" he cried.
+
+For another five minutes Captain Sears Kendrick, his frown growing
+deeper and deeper as the conviction was forced upon him, sat motionless
+in the buggy. Then he spoke sharply to his horse, turned the latter
+about, and drove rapidly back to Denboro. He could do nothing worth
+while, he could prevent nothing, but he could answer that riddle. He
+believed he had answered it already.
+
+It was half-past three when he again knocked at the parsonage door. The
+Reverend Backus himself answered the knock.
+
+"Why, no," he said, "Mr. Phillips has gone. Yes, I think--I am sure he
+took the train. You are his friend, aren't you? I am sorry you missed
+the--er--happy event. Mrs. Phillips--the new Mrs. Phillips--is a
+charmingly refined lady, isn't she? And Mr. Phillips himself is _such_ a
+gentleman. I don't know when I have had the pleasure of--er--officiating
+at a pleasanter ceremony. I shall always remember it."
+
+Mrs. Backus looked over her husband's shoulder.
+
+"The bride came just after you left," she explained. "She was just a
+little late, she said; but it was all right, there was plenty of time.
+And she did look _so_ happy!"
+
+Captain Kendrick did not look happy. He had answered the riddle
+correctly. An elopement, of course. It was plain enough now. Oh, if he
+might have been there when that poor, silly, misguided woman arrived! He
+might not have been able to stop the marriage, but at least he
+could--and would--have told the bride a few pointed truths concerning
+the groom.
+
+Mrs. Backus, all smiles, asked her husband a question. "What did you say
+her name was, dear?" she asked.
+
+The minister hesitated. "Why--why--" he stammered, "it was---- Dear me,
+how forgetful I am!"
+
+Sears supplied the information.
+
+"Berry," he said, gloomily. "Cordelia Berry."
+
+Mr. Backus seemed surprised. "Why, no," he declared. "That doesn't sound
+like the name.... It wasn't. No, it wasn't. It was--I have it--Snowden.
+Miss Elvira Snowden--of Ostable, I believe."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+
+Not until Captain Kendrick entered the Minot kitchen late that afternoon
+did he get the full and complete answer to his puzzle. Judah supplied
+the missing details, supplied them with a rush, had evidently been
+bursting with them for hours.
+
+"My hoppin', creepin', jumpin' prophets, Cap'n Sears," he roared, before
+his lodger could speak a word, "if I ain't got the dumdest news to tell
+you now, then nobody ever had none!... You ain't heard it, Cap'n, have
+you? _Don't_ tell me you've heard it already! Have you?"
+
+Sears shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, Judah," he replied. "Have
+I?"
+
+"Hoppin' Henry! I _hope_ you ain't, 'cause I wanted to tell you myself.
+It's about Elviry Snowden. Have you heard anything about her?"
+
+"Why--well, what have _you_ heard?"
+
+"Heard! They heard it fust over to the Harbor about a couple of hours
+ago. Bradley, the Orham lawyer feller, he'd heard it and he come over to
+see Elizabeth about somethin' or 'nother and he told it to all hands.
+You know that aunt of Elviry's over to Ostable, the one that died last
+week? Well all hands had cal'lated she was kind of on her beam
+ends--poor, I mean. When her husband died, don't you recollect some
+property they owned over to Harniss was goin' to be sold to auction? All
+them iron images Elviry wanted to buy was part of 'em; don't you
+remember?"
+
+"Yes, I remember.
+
+"Sartin sure you do. Well, so fur as that goes them images wan't sold
+because the widow changed her mind about 'em and had 'em all carted
+over to another little place she owned in Ostable, and set up in the
+yard there. She's been livin' on this place in Ostable and everybody
+figgered she didn't have much money else she'd stayed in the big house
+in Harniss. But, by Henry, since she's died it's come out that she was
+rich. Yes, sir, rich! She'd saved every cent, you see; never spent
+nothin'. A reg'lar mouser, she was--miser, I mean. And who do you
+suppose she's left it all to? Elviry, by the creepin'! Yes, sir, every
+last cent to Elviry Snowden."
+
+"_No!!_"
+
+"Yes. Elviry's rich. 'Cordin' to Bradley's tell there's a lot of land
+and a house and barn, and all them iron images, and--wait; let me tell
+you--stocks, and things like that, and over ten thousand dollars cash in
+the bank, by Henry! In _cash_, where Elviry can get right aholt of it if
+she wants to. Much as thirty thousand, altogether, land and all. And....
+What in tunket are you laughin' at?"
+
+For Captain Kendrick had thrown himself into the rocking chair and was
+shaking the pans on the stove with peal after peal of laughter.
+
+It was so simple, so complete, and so wonderfully, gorgeously Egbertian.
+A little matter of arithmetic, that was all. Merely the substitution of
+twenty or thirty thousand dollars and a landed estate for five--no,
+three--thousand dollars and a somewhat cramped future at the Fair
+Harbor. The ladies in the case were incidental. When the choice was
+offered him the businesslike Phillips hesitated not a moment. He was on
+with the new love even before he was off with the old. And, in order to
+avoid the unpleasantness which was sure to ensue when the old found it
+out, he had arranged to be married at Denboro and to be far afield upon
+his wedding tour before the news reached Bayport.
+
+Everything was clear now. Elvira's windfall explained it all. It was her
+money which had paid Captain Elkanah, and Sarah Macomber, and the livery
+man, and no doubt many another of Egbert's little bills. It was her
+money that was paying the honeymoon expenses. And, of course, it was
+her sixteen hundred dollars which had just been handed to Sears Kendrick
+in the parlor of the parsonage.
+
+No wonder that, under the circumstances, Egbert had chosen to pay. It
+must have been a nerve-racking session for him, that interview with the
+captain. Each minute might bring his bride-to-be to the parsonage door,
+and if she learned before marriage of Cordelia's bonds and the
+Kent-Phillips stock speculation, not to mention the threatened arrest
+and consequent scandal, why--well, Elvira was fatuously smitten, but the
+chances were that the wedding would have been postponed, if nothing
+worse. No wonder Egbert preferred parting with a portion of his
+lady-love's fortune to the risk of parting with the lady herself--and
+the remainder of it.
+
+Sears did not tell Judah of the elopement. He did not feel like it,
+then. His had been a tiring day and the strain upon his own nerves not
+slight. He wanted to rest, he wanted to think, and he did not want to
+talk. Judah spared him the trouble; he did talking enough for two.
+
+After supper George Kent came hurrying into the yard. Sears had expected
+him and, when he came, led him into the "spare stateroom" and closed the
+door. Then, without any preliminaries, he took the sixteen hundred
+dollars from his wallet and gave them to him.
+
+"There's your money, George," he said.
+
+Kent could not believe it. He had come here, in the last stages of
+despair. This was practically his final day of grace. The afternoon mail
+had brought him another letter from his brother-in-law, making immediate
+demand and threatening drastic action within the week. He had come,
+haggard, nervous and trembling, ready to proclaim again his intention of
+self-destruction.
+
+He sat there, staring at the money in his hand, saying nothing. His face
+was as white as the clean towels on the captain's washstand. Kendrick,
+leaning forward, laid a hand on his knee.
+
+"Brace up, George," he ordered, sharply. "Don't let go of the wheel."
+
+Kent slowly lifted his gaze from the roll of bills to his friend's face.
+
+"You--you _got_ it!" he faltered.
+
+"_I_ got it--all of it. There's the whole sixteen hundred there. Count
+it."
+
+"But--but, oh, my God! I--I----"
+
+"Sshh! Steady as she is, George. Count your money. Put it on the table
+here by the lamp."
+
+He took the bills from Kent's shaking fingers, arranged them on the
+table and, at last, coaxed or drove the young man into beginning to
+count them. Of course it was Kendrick himself who really counted; his
+companion did little but pick up the bank notes and drop them again.
+Suddenly, in the midst of the performance, he stopped, put his hands to
+his face and burst into hysterical sobs.
+
+Sears let him cry for a time, merely stepping across to make sure that
+the bedroom door was tightly closed, and then standing above him with
+his hands on the bowed shoulders. After a little the sobs ceased. A
+moment later and George raised his head.
+
+"Oh!" he exclaimed. "What a--a kid I am!"
+
+Sears, who had been thinking pretty nearly that very thing, patted the
+shoulder beneath his hand.
+
+"All right, George," he said. "Bein' a kid is no crime. In fact, it has
+some advantages."
+
+"But--but, you see--I--I have been through purgatory this week, I----"
+
+"I know. But you're all through and out now."
+
+"Yes, I--I am. By George, I am, aren't I!... And you did it for me.
+_You_ did!"
+
+"Never mind that. I enjoyed doin' it. Yes," with a slight smile, "I had
+a pretty good time, take it by and large."
+
+"And you got the--the whole of it! The whole!"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"But I can't understand.... Did--Cap'n Kendrick, did you borrow it for
+me?"
+
+"No. I talked things over with your--er--side-partner and he decided to
+give it back."
+
+"To give it back! Mr. Phillips did, you mean? But he wouldn't give it to
+me. I begged him to. I should have been satisfied with half of it--my
+sister's half. Indeed I should! But he said he couldn't give it to me,
+he didn't have it to give. And--and you got him to give me the whole!
+Cap'n Kendrick, I--I can't understand."
+
+"You don't have to. There's your sixteen hundred. Now take it, and
+before you turn in this night you get ready to send your brother-in-law
+his half, and the papers that go with it, on the first mail. That's all
+I ask of you, George."
+
+"I'll have it in the post office as soon as it opens to-morrow morning.
+You bet I will!"
+
+"That's what I want to be able to bet. You send a money-order, that's
+safest. And--well, yes, George, you might show me the receipt."
+
+"I'll show it to you. You can keep it for me, if you want to."
+
+"Seein' it will do. And one thing more: you promise me now, on your word
+of honor, not to take any more of those stock market fliers for--well,
+for ten years, anyhow."
+
+Kent promised; he would have promised anything. His color had come back,
+his spirits were now as high as they had been low, and he was striding
+up and down the room like a mad thing.
+
+"But how did you get it for me?" he kept demanding. The captain bade him
+stop.
+
+"Never mind how I got it," he declared. "I got it, and you've got it,
+and you'll have to be satisfied with that. Don't ask me again, George."
+
+"I won't, but--but I can't understand Mr. Phillips giving it back. He
+didn't have to, you know. Say, I think it was mighty generous of him,
+after all. Don't you?"
+
+Sears's lip twitched. "It looks as if somebody was generous," he
+observed. "Now run along, George, and fix up that letter to your
+brother-in-law."
+
+"I'm going to. I'm going now. But, Cap'n Kendrick, I don't know what to
+say to you. I--why, great Scott, I can't begin to tell you how I feel
+about what you've done! I'd cut off my head for you; honest I would."
+
+"Cuttin' off your own head would be consider'ble of a job. Better keep
+your head on, George.... And use it once in a while."
+
+"You know what this means to me, Cap'n Kendrick. To my future and--and
+maybe some one else's future, too. Why, _now_ I can go--I can say----
+Oh, great Scott!"
+
+Kendrick opened the bedroom door. "Come now, George," he said. "Good
+night--and good luck."
+
+Kent would have said more, much more, even though Judah Cahoon was
+sitting, with ears and mouth open, in the kitchen. But the captain would
+not let him linger or speak. He helped him on with his coat and hat,
+and, with a slap on the back, literally pushed him out into the yard.
+Then he turned on his heel and striding again through the kitchen
+reentered the spare stateroom and closed the door behind him. Judah
+shouted something about its being "not much more'n two bells"--meaning
+nine o'clock--but he received no answer.
+
+Judah did not retire until nearly eleven that night, but when, at last,
+he did go to his own room, there was a light still shining under the
+door of the spare stateroom and he could hear the captain's footsteps
+moving back and forth, back and forth, within. For two hours he had so
+heard them. Obviously the "old man" was pacing the deck, a pretty sure
+sign of rough weather present or expected. Mr. Cahoon was troubled, also
+disappointed. He would have liked to talk interminably concerning the
+sensational news of Miss Snowden's inheritance; he had not begun to
+exhaust the possibilities of that subject. Then, too, he was very
+anxious to learn where Captain Sears had been all day, and why. He tried
+in various ways to secure attention. But when, after singing eight
+verses of the most doleful ditty in his repertoire, he was not ordered
+to "shut up," was in fact ignored altogether, he quit disgusted. But, as
+he closed the door of his own bedchamber, he could still hear the
+regular footfalls in the spare stateroom.
+
+Had he listened for another hour or more he would have heard them. Sears
+Kendrick was tramping back and forth, his hands jammed in his pockets,
+and upon his spirit the blackest and deepest and densest of clouds. It
+was the reaction, of course. He was tired physically, but more tired
+mentally. All day long he had been under a sharp strain, now he was
+experiencing the let-down. But there was more than that. His campaign
+against Egbert Phillips had kept him interested. Now the fight was over
+and, although superficially he was the victor, in reality it was a
+question which side had won. He had saved George Kent's money and his
+good name. And Cordelia Berry's future was safe, too, although her two
+thousand dollars might be, and probably were, lost. But, after all, his
+was a poor sort of victory. Egbert was, doubtless, congratulating
+himself and chuckling over the outcome of the battle; with thirty
+thousand dollars and ease and comfort for the rest of his life, he could
+afford to chuckle. Kent's happiness was sure. He could go to Elizabeth
+now with clean hands and youth and hope. Perhaps he had gone to her
+already. That very evening he and she might be together once more.
+
+And for the man who had made this possible, what remained? Where were
+those silly hopes with which, at one time, he had deluded himself? He
+had dared to dream romance. Where was that romance now? Face to face
+with reality, what was to be _his_ future? More days and weeks and years
+of puttering with the penny-paring finances of a home for old women?
+
+He dressed next morning with a mind made up. He had dallied and
+deliberated and wished long enough. Now he _knew_. His stay in Bayport
+was practically ended. Give him a little time and luck enough to find a
+competent manager for the Fair Harbor, one with whom he believed Judge
+Knowles would have been satisfied, and he was through for good. He must
+play fair with the judge and then--then for the shipping offices of
+Boston or New York and a berth at sea. His health was almost normal;
+his battered limbs were nearly as sound as ever. He could handle a ship
+and he could handle men. His fights and sacrifices for others were
+finished, over and done with. Now he would fight for himself.
+
+His breakfast appetite was poor. Judah, aghast at the sight of his
+untouched plate, demanded to know if he was sick. The answer to the
+question was illuminating.
+
+"No," snapped the captain, "I'm not sick.... Yes, I am, too. I'm sick to
+death of this town and this place and this landlubber's job. Judah, are
+you goin' to spend the rest of your days playin' hired boy for Ogden
+Minot? Or are you comin' to sea again with me? Because to sea is where
+I'm goin'--and mighty quick."
+
+Judah's mouth opened. "Hoppin' Henry!" he gasped. "Why, Cap'n Sears----"
+
+"You don't _like_ this job, do you? Hadn't you rather have your own
+galley on board a decent ship? Are you a sea-man--or a washwoman? Don't
+you want to ship with me again?"
+
+"_Want_ to! Cap'n Sears, you know I'd rather go to sea along with you
+than--than be King of Rooshy. But you ain't fit to go to sea yet."
+
+"Shut up! Don't you dare say that again. And stand by to pack your sea
+chest when I give the order.... No, I don't want to argue. I won't
+argue. Clear out!"
+
+Mr. Cahoon, bewildered but obedient, cleared out. Not long afterward he
+drove away on the seat of the truck wagon to haul the Bangs wood, the
+task postponed from the previous day. Kendrick, left alone, lit a pipe
+and resumed his pacing up and down. Later on he took pen, ink and paper
+and seated himself at the table to write some letters to shipping
+merchants whose vessels he had commanded in the old days, the happy days
+before he gave up seafaring to become a poor imitation of a business man
+on shore.
+
+He composed these letters with care. Two were completed and the third
+was under way, when some one knocked at the other door. He laid down his
+pen impatiently. He did not want to be interrupted. If the visitor was
+Kent he did not feel like listening to more thanks. If it was Esther
+Tidditt she could unload her cargo of gossip at some other port.
+
+But the caller was neither George nor Esther. It was Elizabeth who
+entered the kitchen in answer to his command to "Come in." He rose to
+greet her. She looked pale--yes, and tired, but she smiled faintly as
+she bade him good morning.
+
+"Cap'n Kendrick," she said, "are you very busy? I suppose you are,
+but--but if you are not too busy I should like to talk with you for a
+few minutes. May I?"
+
+He nodded. "Of course," he said. "My business can wait a little longer;
+it has waited a good while, this particular business has. Sit down."
+
+She took the rocker. He sat at the other side of the table, waiting for
+her to speak. It came to him, the thought that, the last time she had
+visited that kitchen, she had left it vowing never to speak to him
+again. Well, at least that was over; she no longer believed him a spy,
+and all the rest of it. There was, or should be, some comfort for him in
+knowing that.
+
+Suddenly, just as she had done on the platform of the lawyer's office at
+Orham, she put out her hand.
+
+"Don't!" she pleaded.
+
+He started, confusedly. "Don't?" he stammered. "What?"
+
+"Don't think of--of what you were thinking. If you knew--oh, Cap'n
+Kendrick, if you could only realize how wicked I feel. Even when I said
+those dreadful things to you I didn't mean them. And now---- Oh,
+_please_ forget them, if you can."
+
+He drew a long breath. "I never saw any one like you," he declared. "How
+did you know what I was thinkin'? ... Of course I wasn't thinkin' it,
+but----"
+
+She interrupted. "Of course you were, you mean," she said, with a faint
+smile. "It isn't hard to know what you think. You don't hide your
+thoughts very well, Cap'n Kendrick. They aren't the kind one needs to
+hide."
+
+He stared at her in guilty amazement. "Good land!" he ejaculated,
+involuntarily. "Don't talk that way. What do you mean by that?"
+
+"I mean that your thoughts are always straightforward and--well, honest,
+like yourself.... But we mustn't waste time. I don't know when we shall
+have another opportunity to be together like this, and there are some
+things I must say to you. Cap'n Kendrick, you know--you have heard the
+news?"
+
+"News?... Oh, you mean about Elvira's inheritin' all that money?"
+
+"That, of course. But that wasn't the news I meant. I mean about her
+eloping with--with that man."
+
+Troubled even as Sears was at the sight of her evident distress, he
+could not but feel a thrill of satisfaction at the tone in which she
+referred to "that man." He nodded.
+
+"I've heard it," he said. "I guess likely I was about the first
+Bayporter that did hear it. When did you hear?"
+
+"A little while ago. He wrote--he wrote my mother a letter. It was at
+the post office this morning."
+
+"He did? He _didn't_! The low-lived scamp!"
+
+"Hush! Don't talk about him. Yes, he wrote her. _Such_ a letter! She
+showed it to me. So full of hypocrisy, and lies and--oh, can't you
+imagine what it was?"
+
+Kendrick's right fist tapped the table gently. "I guess likely I can,"
+he said, grimly. "Well, some of these days I may run afoul of Egbert
+again. When I do----" The fist closed a little tighter.
+
+"You won't touch him. Promise me you won't. If you should, I---- Oh,
+dear! I think I should be afraid to touch your hands afterwards."
+
+Sears smiled. "It might be safer to use my boot," he admitted. "Your
+mother--how is she?"
+
+"Can't you imagine? I think--I hope it is her pride that is hurt more
+than anything. For some little time--well, ever since I found out that
+she was lending him money--I have done my best to make her see what he
+really is. But before that--oh, there is no use pretending, for you
+know--she was insane about him. And now, with the shock and the
+disillusionment and the shame, she is---- Oh, it is dreadful!"
+
+"Do the--er--rest of 'em over there know it yet?"
+
+"No, but they will very soon. And when they do! You know what some of
+them are, what they will say. We can't stay there, mother and I. We must
+go away--and we will."
+
+She was crying, and if ever a man yearned for the role of comforter,
+Sears Kendrick was that man. He tried to say something, but he was
+afraid to trust his own tongue; it might run away with him. And before
+his attempt was at all coherent, she went on.
+
+"Don't mind me," she said, hastily wiping her eyes. "I am nervous, and I
+have been through a bad hour, and--and I am acting foolishly, of course.
+I know that this is, in a way, the very best thing that could happen.
+This ends it, so far as mother is concerned. Oh, it might have been _so_
+much worse! It looked as if it were going to be. Now she _knows_ what he
+is. I have known it, or been almost sure of it, for a long time. And you
+must have known it always, from the beginning. That is a part of what I
+came here for this morning. Please tell me how you knew and--and all
+about everything."
+
+So he told her, beginning with what Judge Knowles had said concerning
+Lobelia's husband, and continuing on to the end. She listened intently.
+
+"Yes," she said. "I see. I wish you could have told me at first. I think
+if I had known exactly how Judge Knowles felt I might not have been so
+foolish. But I should have known--I should have seen for myself. Of
+course I should. To think that I ever believed in such a creature, and
+trusted him, and permitted him to influence me against--against a friend
+like you. Oh, I must have been crazy!"
+
+Kendrick shook his head. "No craziness about that," he declared. "I've
+seen some smooth articles in my time, seen 'em afloat and ashore, from
+one end of this world to the other, but of all the slick ones he was
+the slickest. It's a good thing the judge warned me before Egbert
+crossed my bows. If he hadn't--well, I don't know; _I_ might have been
+lendin' him my last dollar, and proud of the chance--you can't tell....
+I'm sorry, though," he added, "that he got those bonds of your mother's.
+Borrowed 'em of her, you say?"
+
+"Yes. He was going to make better investments for her, I believe he
+said. But that doesn't make any difference. She has no receipts or
+anything to show. And of course if she should try to get them again
+there would be dreadful gossip, all sorts of things said. No, the bonds
+are gone and ... But how did you know about the bonds, Cap'n Kendrick?"
+
+Sears had momentarily forgotten. He had, during his story of his war
+with Phillips, carefully avoided mentioning Kent's trouble. He had told
+of chasing Egbert to Denboro, but the particular reason for the pursuit
+he had not told. He was taken aback and embarrassed.
+
+"Why--why----" he stammered.
+
+But she answered her own question. "Of course!" she cried. "I know how
+you knew. George said that--that that man had used some bonds as a part
+of their stock speculation. I didn't think then of mother's bonds. That
+is what he did with them. I see."
+
+The captain looked at her. Kent had told her of the C. M. deal. That
+meant that he had seen her, that already he had gone to her, to confess,
+to beg her pardon, to ... He sighed. Well, he should be glad, of course.
+He must pretend to be very glad.
+
+"So--so you've seen George?" he stammered.
+
+She colored slightly. "Yes," she answered. "He came to see me last
+evening.... Cap'n Kendrick you should hear him speak of you. You saved
+him from disgrace--and worse, he says. It was a wonderful thing to do.
+But I think you must be in the habit of doing wonderful things for other
+people."
+
+He shrugged his shoulders. "Nothin' very wonderful about it," he said.
+"George is a good boy. He hadn't bumped into any Egberts before, that's
+all. He'll be on the lookout for 'em now. I'm glad for him--and for
+you."
+
+If she understood what he meant she did not show any embarrassment.
+
+"I don't know that you need be so glad for me," she said. "Yet in a way
+I am glad. The problem is settled now, mother's and mine. She and I will
+go away."
+
+"Go away? From the Fair Harbor?"
+
+"Yes, and from Bayport. She has a little money left. Thanks to Judge
+Knowles, I have some of my own. She and I can live on the interest for a
+time, or until I can find a way to earn more."
+
+"But--but--George?"
+
+"I think George is going away, too. He spoke of Boston. But there is
+another thing I meant to say to you. I hate to leave you with the entire
+care of the Fair Harbor on your hands. I shall try and help you to find
+another matron before we go."
+
+Sears rose from his chair. "That's all right," he said, "that part of
+it. We'll try and find another outside manager at the same time. You
+see, you and your mother aren't the only ones who are quittin' Bayport.
+I'm goin', too."
+
+She turned to look at him. "_You_ are going?" she repeated, slowly.
+"Where?"
+
+"I don't know exactly. To sea, I hope. I'm well again, or next door to
+it. I mean to command another ship, if such a thing's possible."
+
+"But you are leaving the Fair Harbor. Why?"
+
+He turned on her almost fiercely. "Why?" he cried. "Don't you know why?
+Because I'm a man--or I was one--and I want to be a man again. On shore,
+I'm--well, I'm a good deal of a failure, I guess; but on salt water I
+count for somethin'. I'm goin' to sea where I belong."
+
+He strode to the window and stood there, looking out. He heard her rise,
+heard her step beside him. Then he felt her hand upon his.
+
+"I'm glad for you," she said, simply. "Very, very glad. I wish I were a
+man and could go, too."
+
+He did not look at her, he did not dare.
+
+"It's a rough life," he said, "but I like it."
+
+"I know.... So you will soon be really seeing again those things you
+told me about, the foreign cities and the people and those islands--and
+all the wonderful, wonderful places. And you won't have to fret about
+the grocery bills, or the mean little Fair Harbor gossip, or anything of
+the kind. You can just sail away and forget it all."
+
+"I shan't forget it all. There's a lot I never want to forget."
+
+There was an interval of silence here, an interval that, to the captain,
+seemed to last for ages. It must be broken, it must be or....
+
+"I shall think of you and George often enough," he announced, briskly.
+"Yes, indeed. And--and if it isn't too soon--that is, if you don't mind
+my bein' the first one--I'd like to congratulate you and wish you a
+smooth passage and a long one."
+
+She did not answer and he mustered courage to turn and look at her. She
+was looking at him and her expression was odd.
+
+"A smooth passage?" she repeated. "Why, Cap'n Kendrick, I'm not going to
+sea. What do you mean?"
+
+"I mean--well, I meant--er--oh, I was speakin' in parables, like a
+minister, you know. I was wishin' you and George a happy voyage through
+life, that's all."
+
+"George! Why, I am going away with my mother. George isn't.... Why,
+Cap'n Kendrick, you don't think--you can't think that George and I
+are--are----"
+
+"Eh? Aren't you? I thought----"
+
+She shook her head. "I told you once," she said. "I mean it. I like
+George well enough--sometimes I like him better than at others. But--oh,
+why can't you believe me?"
+
+He was staring at her with a gaze so intent, an expression so strange
+that she could not meet it. She turned away.
+
+"Please don't say any more about it," she begged.
+
+"But--but George is--he has counted on it. He told me----"
+
+"Don't. I don't know what he told you. I hope nothing foolish. He and I
+understand each other. Last night, when he came, I told him ... There, I
+must go, Cap'n Kendrick. I have left mother alone too long already."
+
+"Wait!" he shouted it. "You mean ... You aren't goin' to marry George
+Kent--_ever_?"
+
+"Why, no, of course not!"
+
+"Elizabeth--oh, my soul, I--I'm crazy, I guess--but--Elizabeth, could
+you---- No, you couldn't, I know.... But _am_ I crazy? Could you--do
+you--Elizabeth, if you ... _Stop_!"
+
+She was on her way to the door.
+
+He sprang after her, caught her hand.
+
+"Elizabeth," he cried, the words tumbling over each other, "I'm
+thirty-eight years old. I'm a sailor, that's all. I'm not much of a man,
+as men go maybe, sort of a failure so far. But--with you to work for and
+live for, I--I guess I could be--I feel as if I could be almost
+anything. Could you give me that chance? Could you?"
+
+She did not answer; did not even look at him. He dropped her hand.
+
+"Of course not," he sighed. "Just craziness was what it was. Forgive me,
+my girl. And--forget it, if you can."
+
+She did not speak. Slowly, and still without looking at him, she walked
+out of the kitchen. The outer door closed behind her. He put his hand to
+his eyes, breathed deeply, and returning to the chair by the table, sat
+heavily down.
+
+"A failure," he groaned aloud. "Lord Almighty, _what_ a failure!"
+
+He had not heard the door open, but he did hear her step, and felt her
+arms about his neck and her kiss upon his cheek.
+
+"Don't, don't, don't!" she sobbed. "Oh, my dear, don't say that. Don't
+ever say it again. Oh, you mustn't."
+
+And he did not. For the next half hour he said many other things, and
+so did she, and when at last she did go away, he stood in the doorway,
+looking after her, knowing himself to be not a failure, but the one real
+overwhelming success in all this gloriously successful world.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+
+It was April and one of those beautiful early spring days with which New
+England is sometimes favored. The first buds were showing on the trees,
+the first patches of new green were sprinkling the sheltered slopes of
+the little hills, and under the dead leaves by the edges of the woods
+boys had been rummaging for the first mayflowers.
+
+It was supper time at the Fair Harbor and the "guests"--quoting Mrs.
+Susannah Brackett--or the "inmates"--quoting Mr. Judah Cahoon--were
+seated about the table. There were some notable vacancies in the roster.
+At the head, where Mrs. Cordelia Berry had so graciously and for so long
+presided, there was now an empty chair. That chair would soon be filled,
+however; the new matron of the Harbor was at that moment in the office
+discussing business matters with Mr. Bradley, the new "outside manager."
+She had told the others not to wait for her; she would come to supper as
+soon as she could. So Mrs. Brackett, who had moved up to the seat once
+glorified by the dignity of Miss Elvira Snowden, was serving the cold
+corned beef; while opposite her, in the chair where Elizabeth Berry used
+to sit, Mrs. Aurora Chase was ladling forth the preserved pears. And, in
+the absence of the matron, it was of course natural that conversation
+should turn to subjects which could not be discussed as freely or
+pointedly in her presence.
+
+Miss Desire Peasley began the discussion. She looked at the ancient
+clock on the mantel. The time was a quarter to six.
+
+"H'm," sniffed Miss Peasley, with a one-sided smile. "I suppose likely
+the great event's took place long afore this. They're married and off on
+their honeymoon by now.... If you can call a cruise on board a ship
+bound to an outlandish place like Singapore a honeymoon. I took one
+voyage to Bombay with my brother, and 'twan't the honeymoon trip I'd
+pick out. _Such_ a place! And such folks! The clothes those poor
+heathens wore--or didn't wear! Shameful! Don't talk!"
+
+The order not to talk was plainly not considered binding, for every one
+immediately began to talk.
+
+"I should like to have seen the weddin'," proclaimed Mrs. Hattis Thomas,
+with a giggle. "Must have looked more like an adoptin' ceremony than a
+marryin'. I've always been thankful for one thing, I married a man
+somewheres nigh my own age, anyhow."
+
+"Wonder how Cordelia likes bein' left alone?" observed Mrs. Constance
+Cahoon. "She's been used to havin' a daughter to wait on her hand and
+foot. Now she'll have to wait on herself for a spell. But I presume
+likely she won't mind that. Livin' up to Boston, with the interest of
+twenty-five thousand dollars to live on, will suit her down to the
+ground. She'll be airy enough now. Won't speak to common folks, I
+suppose. Well, she won't have to put herself out to speak to _me_. _I_
+shan't go a-visitin' her, even if she begs me to."
+
+There was no immediate symptom of Mrs. Berry's begging for visitors, at
+least none present had so far received an invitation. But all nodded,
+indicating that they, too, would scorn the plea when it came.
+
+"That poor man!" sighed Mrs. Brackett, pityingly. "How those two, mother
+and daughter, did pull the wool over his eyes. I suppose he thinks we
+all believe he wouldn't take a cent of Elizabeth's money. Humph! Good
+reason why Jack wouldn't eat his supper--he didn't have a chance. Ha,
+ha! I cal'late he'd taken it if he could have got it. But his wife knew
+a trick worth two of that. She'll keep him afloat and hard at work
+earnin' more for her to spend. Well, I hope his poor lame legs won't
+give out on him. If he has to give up goin' to sea _again_, I pity him,
+that's all I've got to say."
+
+Mrs. Chase, her jet black locks a trifle askew as usual, was listening,
+the hand holding the preserve spoon cupped behind her ear and the spoon
+itself sticking out like a Fiji Islander's head ornament. As usual she
+had heard next to nothing.
+
+"That's what _I_ say!" she declared. "Why, Mr. Bradley, or whoever was
+responsible, let Sears Kendrick put a woman with six children in as
+matron of this place, I can't understand. Of course it's plain enough
+why Cap'n Sears wanted her to have the job. Joel Macomber's wages ain't
+more than twelve dollars a week and the salary here'll give 'em all the
+luxuries and doodads they want. Fust thing you know that Sary-Mary of
+hers'll be goin' to the Middleboro Academy to school. I wouldn't put it
+past her.... Hey? What did you say, Susanna?"
+
+Mrs. Brackett had not said anything. She and some of the others were
+glancing uneasily in the direction of the hall door. All agreed that the
+appointment of Sarah Macomber as matron of the Fair Harbor was an
+outrage, but no one cared to have Mrs. Macomber know of that agreement.
+It was an experiment, that appointment, and Sarah herself was by no
+means confident of its success, although she had at last agreed to give
+it three months' trial. Half of that time was over and so far all was
+well. Bradley expressed huge satisfaction. Mrs. Macomber came to the
+Harbor early each morning and went home again after supper. Sarah-Mary
+and a hired girl, wages three dollars a week, were doing the Macomber
+housework.
+
+"Hey?" shouted Aurora once more. "What did you say, Susanna?"
+
+Mrs. Brackett, after another uneasy glance at the hall door, nodded and
+smiled. Mrs. Cahoon spoke quickly, in order to change the subject.
+
+"What do you suppose I heard to-day?" she answered. "I met Josiah Ellis
+down to 'Liphalet's store and he told me he see Mr. Phillips yesterday.
+Josiah drove one of the livery hoss-'n'-teams over to Denboro--had a
+Boston notion drummer to cart over there, he did--and who should come
+drivin' along but Mr. Phillips. Josiah said he was dressed just as
+elegant as ever was, and the hoss-'n'-team he was drivin' was styled-up
+to match. Josiah hailed him and Mr. Phillips stopped and talked for a
+few minutes. Nice as always, not a bit of airs. No, Elviry wan't with
+him. Mr. Phillips said she was to home gettin' him ready to go away for
+a little vacation. Seems he's cal'latin' to go to New York for a
+fortni't. Mr. Phillips told Josiah that Elviry was kind of tired out,
+they'd done so much entertainin' this winter, and he was goin' away so's
+she could have a little rest. Ain't that just like him?
+Self-sacrificin'--my sakes! Elviry's a lucky woman, that's all I've got
+to say. I don't say so much about _his_ luck; but when she got him she
+done well."
+
+There was a general buzz of agreement about the table. Then from the
+kitchen, where she had gone to get a fresh supply of cream-of-tartar
+biscuit, came little Mrs. Tidditt. She put the plate of biscuits on the
+table and sat down.
+
+"What's that, Constance?" she demanded.
+
+Mrs. Cahoon repeated the news of the Phillips family. Aurora put in a
+word.
+
+"There's one thing I've always been sorry for," she said. "Of course I
+wouldn't take anything away from Elviry, she and I have always been good
+friends. But she's got enough as 'tis, and I _do_ wish--I do wish that
+Sears Kendrick had stayed away from this place until we'd had a chance
+to buy them lovely lawn statues. We'll never have another chance like
+that again."
+
+Esther Tidditt smiled. "Yes, you will, Aurora," she snapped. "Yes, you
+will. Give him time and about two or three more New York trips, and
+those images will be up at auction again. Thirty thousand don't last
+some folks long, and Elviry and her Eg will be needin' money to pay
+grocery bills. You can't eat an iron lion. Just wait, Aurora. We may
+have that menagerie in the yard here yet. Possess your soul in
+patience."
+
+There was another buzz about the table, this time of scornful
+disapproval. Mrs. Chase leaned forward.
+
+"What's she sayin', Susanna?" she demanded, querulously. "Susanna
+Brackett, why don't you or the rest tell me what she's sayin'?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At that moment the ship _Gold Finder_, of Boston, Winthrop and
+Hunniwell, owners, Sears Kendrick, master, was sailing out over the
+waters of Massachusetts Bay. Astern, a diamond point against the
+darkening sky, Minot's Light shone. The vessel was heeling slightly in
+the crisp evening wind, her full, rounded sails rustling overhead, her
+cordage creaking, foam at her forefoot and her wake stretching backward
+toward the land she was leaving. Her skipper stood aft by the binnacle,
+feeling, with a joy quite indescribable, the lift of the deck beneath
+him and the rush of the breeze across his face.
+
+From the open door of the galley lamplight streamed. Within Judah Cahoon
+sang as he worked over the stove. Judah had had a glorious afternoon.
+His chanteys had cast off the hawsers, had walked away with the ropes,
+had hoisted the sails, had bade the tug good-by. Now his voice was a
+thought frayed, but he sang on.
+
+Elizabeth--now Elizabeth Berry no more forever--came up the companion
+ladder. She joined her husband by the after rail. The sea air was chill
+and she was wearing one of the captain's pea jackets, the collar turned
+up; a feathery strand of her brown hair blew out to leeward. She stood
+beside him. The man at the wheel was looking down into the binnacle and
+Sears took her hand.
+
+"Well?" he said, after a moment.
+
+She looked up at him. "Well?" she said.
+
+Neither spoke immediately. Then Kendrick breathed a sigh, a sigh
+expressive of many things.
+
+She understood. As always she knew what he was thinking.
+
+"Yes," she said, "it is glorious. Glorious for me; but for you,
+Sears----"
+
+"Yes. It's pretty fine. I really never expected to make sail out of
+Boston harbor again. And if anybody had told me that I was to--" with
+another look at the helmsman, and lowering his voice--"to leave port
+this way--with you----"
+
+He laughed aloud.
+
+She laughed, too. "And just think," she said; "no more little worries or
+pettinesses, no more whispers, or faultfinding, or----"
+
+"Or Fair Harbors. You're right, my girl. We're off, clean away from it
+all, bound out."
+
+From the galley Judah's voice came, beginning the second verse of his
+song,
+
+    "'Aloft! Aloft!' our jolly bos'n cries.
+      Blow high! blow low! and so sailed we.
+    'Look ahead, look astern, look a-weather and a-lee,
+      Look along down the coast of the High Bar-ba-ree.'
+
+    "'There's none upon the starn, there's none upon the lee.'
+      Blow high! blow low! and so sailed we.
+    'There's a lofty ship to wind'ard a-sailin' fast and free,
+      Sailin' down along the coast of the High Bar-ba-ree.'"
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+
+NOVELS FOR CHEERFUL ENTERTAINMENT
+
+GALUSHA THE MAGNIFICENT
+
+By Joseph C. Lincoln
+
+Author of "Shavings," "The Portygee," etc.
+
+The whole family will laugh over this deliriously humorous novel, that
+pictures the sunny side of small-town life, and contains love-making, a
+dash of mystery, an epidemic of spook-chasing--and laughable, lovable
+Galusha.
+
+THESE YOUNG REBELS
+
+By Frances R. Sterrett
+
+Author of "Nancy Goes to Town," "Up the Road with Sally," etc.
+
+A sprightly novel that hits off to perfection the present antagonism
+between the rebellious younger generation and their disapproving elders.
+
+PLAY THE GAME
+
+By Ruth Comfort Mitchell
+
+A happy story about American young people. The appealing qualities of a
+brave young girl stand out in the strife between two young fellows, the
+one by fair the other by foul means, to win her.
+
+IN BLESSED CYRUS
+
+By Laura E. Richards
+
+Author of "A Daughter of Jehu," etc.
+
+The quaint, quiet village of Cyrus, with its whimsical villagers, is
+abruptly turned topsy-turvy by the arrival in its midst of an actress,
+distractingly feminine, Lila Laughter; and, at the same time, an
+epidemic of small-pox.
+
+HELEN OF THE OLD HOUSE
+
+By Harold Bell Wright
+
+Wright's greatest novel, that presents the life of industry to-day, the
+laughter, the tears, the strivings of those who live about the smoky
+chimneys of an American industrial town.
+
+New York
+D. APPLETON & COMPANY
+London
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+AMONG THE NEWEST NOVELS
+
+THE HOUSE OF MOHUN
+
+By GEORGE GIBBS, Author of "Youth Triumphant," etc.
+
+A distinguished novel depicting present day society and its most
+striking feature, the "flapper." A story of splendid dramatic qualities.
+
+THE COVERED WAGON
+
+By EMERSON HOUGH, Author of "The Magnificent Adventure," "The Story of
+the Cowboy," etc.
+
+A novel of the first water, clear and clean, is this thrilling story of
+the pioneers, the men and women who laid the foundation of the great
+west.
+
+HOMESTEAD RANCH
+
+By ELIZABETH G. YOUNG
+
+The _New York Times_ says that "Homestead Ranch" is one of the season's
+"two best real wild and woolly western yarns." The _Boston Herald_ says,
+"So delightful that we recommend it as one of the best western stories
+of the year."
+
+SACRIFICE
+
+By STEPHEN FRENCH WHITMAN, Author of "Predestined," etc.
+
+How a woman, spoiled child of New York society, faced the dangers of the
+African jungle trail. "One feels ever the white heat of emotional
+conflict."--_Philadelphia Public Ledger._
+
+DOUBLE-CROSSED
+
+By W. DOUGLAS NEWTON, Author of "Low Ceilings," etc.
+
+"An excellently written and handled tale of adventure and thrills in the
+dark spruce valleys of Canada."--_New York Times._
+
+JANE JOURNEYS ON
+
+By RUTH COMFORT MITCHELL, Author of "Play the Game," etc.
+
+The cheerful story of a delightful heroine's adventures from Vermont to
+Mexico.
+
+D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
+New York London
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