第12章

Theheadoftheparishcommitteestalkedintothestudyandthedoorclosedbehindhim。Arumbleofvoicesinanimatedconversationsucceeded。

Mrs。Coffinwentoutintothekitchenandresumedherbusinessofmakingadried-applepie。Therewasahotfireinthestoveandsheopenedthebackdoortoletinthefreshair。Sheworkedbriskly，rollingoutthedough，fillingthedeepdish，andpinkingtheedgesoftheuppercrustwithafork。Shewasthinkingassheworked，butnotoftheministerorhisvisitor。

Sheputthepieintheovenandsetthedamper。And，asshekneltbythestove，somethingstruckherlightlyonthebackoftheneck。

Shelookedupandabouther，buttherewasnooneinsight。Thenshepickeduptheobjectwhichhadstruckher。Itwasacranberry，witheredandsoftenedbythewinterfrosts。

Shelookedatthecranberry，thenattheopendoor，andhereyestwinkled。Runningquicklytothethresholdshepeeredout。Thebackyardwas，apparently，empty，saveforafewhensbelongingtonearneighbors，andthesehadstoppedscratchingforalivingandwerehuddlednearthefence。

“Hum！“shemused。“Yourascal！EddieSnow，ifit’syou，I’llbeafteryouinaminute。Justbecauseyou’rebigenoughtoquitschoolanddrivestorewagonisnoreasonwhyIcan’t——Hey？Oh！“

Shewaslookingdownbelowthedoor，whichopenedoutwardandwasswungpartlybackonitshinges。Fromunderthedoorprojectedaboot，aman’sbootandoneofamplesize。

Keziah’scheeks，alreadyredfromtheheatofthestove，reddenedstillmore。Herlipstwitchedandhereyessparkled。

“Hum！“shesaidagain。“TheysayyoucantelltheOldScratchbyhisfootprints，evenifyoucan’tsmellthesulphur。Anyhow，youcantellaHammondbythesizeofhisboots。Comeoutfrombehindthatdoorthisminute。Ain’tyouashamedofyourself？“

Theownerofthebootsteppedforthfrombehindthedoorandseizedherbybothhands。

“Halloo，Keziah！“hecriedjoyfully。“My，butit’sgoodtoseeyou。“

“Halloo，Nat！“saidKeziahheartily。“It’skindofgoodtoseeyou，too。“

Therestofhimwasinkeepingwithhisboots。Hewasbigandbroad-shoulderedandbearded。Hisface，abovethebeard，wastannedtoadeepreddishbrown，andthecornersofhiseyesweremarkedwithdozensoftinywrinkles。Hewasdressedinblueclothandworeawide-brimmed，softfelthat。Heenteredthekitchenandtossedthehatintoacorner。

“Well！“heexclaimed。“Whydon’tyouactsurprisedtoseeafeller？HereI’vebeencruisin’fromtheHorntoBarnegatandbackagain，andyouactasifI’djustdroppedintofetchthecupofmolassesIborrowedyesterday。Whatdoyoumeanbyit？“

“Oh，Iheardyou’dmadeport。“

“Did，hey？That’sTrumet，surepop。Youain’ttheonlyone。I

sneakedoffacrostlotsso’stododgethegangofneighborsthatI

knewwouldbesailin’intoouryard，thewholefleetloadedtothegunwalewithquestions。Wantedtoseeyoufirst，Keziah。“

“Yes。So，insteadofcallin’likeaChristian，youcreptupthebackwayandthrewcranberriesatme。Ain’tyouashamedofyourself？“

“Notamite。“Hetookahandfulofthefrostbittenberriesfromhiscoatpocketandinspectedthemlovingly。“Ain’ttheyfine？“heasked，crunchingtwoorthreebetweenhisteeth。“Ipicked’emupasIcamealong。Itellyou，that’sthehometaste，allright。“

“Don’teatthosefrozenthings。They’llgiveyouyournever-get-

over。“

“What？CapeCodcranberries！Neverintheworld。I’drathereatsanddownherethanthefinestmugmystewardcancook。TellyouwhatI’lldo，though；I’llswearoffonthecranberriesifyou’llgivemeafour-inchsliceofthatpieIsawyouputintheoven。

Dried-apple，I’llbetmysou’wester。Thinkyoumightaskafellertositdown。Ain’tyougladtoseeme？“

Mrs。Coffinpulledforwardoneofthekitchenchairs。Heseatedhimselfonitanditgroanedunderhisweight。

“Whew！“hewhistled。“Nevermadetostandroughweather，wasit？

Well，AIN’Tyouglad？“

Keziahlookedathimgravely。

“YouknowI’mglad，Nat，“shesaid。

“So？Ihopedyouwouldbe，butIdidwanttohearyousayit。Nowyoucometoanchoryourselfandlet’shaveatalk。I’vebeencountin’oniteversincewesettops’lsoffSurinam。“

Thehousekeepertooktheotherchair。

“Howareyou——“shebegan。Hestoppedher。

“S-shh！“heinterrupted。“Don’tsayanythingforaminute。Letmelookatyou。Justascleanandwholesomeandgood-lookin’asever。

Theydon’tmakegirlslikethatanywhereelsebutdownonthisoldsandbar。Notadayolder，bythejumpin’——“

Sheheldupherhand。

“Hush，Nat，“sheprotested；“don’ttalkfoolish。Girl？Notadayolder？Why，iffeelin’scountforanything，I’masoldasMethusaleh。Haven’tIhadenoughtomakemeold？“

Hewasgraveimmediately。

“Ibegyourpardon，Keziah，“hesaid。“I’madoughhead，that’safact。Ihadn’tforgotaboutSol，butIwassogladtobehomeagainandtoseedadandGraceandtheoldtownandyouthateverythingelseflewoutofmymind。PoorSol！Ilikedhim。“

“Helikedyou，too。Nowonder，considerin’whatyoudidto——“

“Belay！Nevermindthat。Poorchap！Well，he’sridofhissufferin’satlast。Tellmeaboutit，ifyoucanwithoutbringin’

allthetroublebacktooplain。“

Soshetoldhimofherbrother’ssicknessanddeath，ofhavingtogiveuptheoldhome，and，finally，ofheracceptanceofthehousekeeper’sposition。Helistened，atfirstwithsympathyandthenwithsuppressedindignation。

“Bythejumpin’Moses！“heexclaimed。“AndElkanahwasgoin’toturnyououtofhouseandhome。Themean，pompousold——“

“Hush！hush！he’sintherewithMr。Ellery。“

“Who？Elkanah？“

“Yes；they’reinthestudy。“

“Bythejumpin’——Letmetalktohimforafewminutes。I’LLtellhimwhat’sgoodforhishealth。Youjustlisten。“

Herosefromthechair，butshemadehimsitdownagain。

“No，no，“sheprotested。“Hewasn’ttoblame。HehadtohavehisrentandIdidn’tfeelthatIcouldaffordtokeepupawholehouse，justformyself。And，besides，Ioughttobethankfultohim，Isuppose。Hegotmethisplace。“

“Hedid？“

“Yes，hedid。IratherguessZebMayoorsomebodymayhavesuggestedittohimfirst，but——“

“Humph！Iratherguessso，too。“

“Well，youcan’talwaystell。Sometimeswhenyoureallygetinsideofapersonyoufindagenerousstreakthat——“

“NotinaDaniels。AnybodythatgotinsideofElkanahwouldfindnothin’butElkanahthere，and’twouldbecrowdedatthat。Sohe’stalkin’tothenewparson，hey？Bossin’him，too，I’llbet。“

“Iain’tsosure。Mr。Ellery’syoung，buthe’sgotamindofhisown。“

CaptainHammondchuckledandslappedhisknee。

“Ho，ho！“helaughed。“I’vebeenhearin’somethin’aboutthatmind。Wenttothechapellastnight，Iunderstand，andheanddadhadaset-to。Oh，Iheardaboutit！WishImighthavebeenthere。“

“Howdoesyourfatheractaboutit？“

“’Boutthewayared-hotstoveactswhenyouspillwateronit；

everytimehethinksoftheministerhesizzles。Ho，ho！IdowishIcouldhavebeenthere。“

“WhatdoesGracesay？“

“Oh，shedoesn’tsaymuch。Iwouldn’twonderifshefeltthewayI

do，thoughwebothkeepquiet。I’lltellyou，betweenourselvesandtheship’spump，thatIsortofgloryintheyoungchap’sspunk。“

“Good！SodoI。Ilikehim。“

“Seehere，Keziah！I’mgettin’frightened。Youain’tsettin’yourcaptobeaparson’swife，areyou？Because——“

“Don’tbesilly。Imightadopthim，butthat’sall，Iguess。“

Herfriendleanedforward。

“Keziah，“hesaidearnestly，“there’snosenseinyourslavin’

yourselftodeathhere。Icanthinkofagooddealpleasanterberththanthat。Pleasanterforme，anyhow，andI’ddomybesttomakeitpleasantforyou。You’veonlygottosaythewordand——

No？Well，thenallIcandoishopethroughanothervoyage。“

“Pleasedon’t，Nat。Youknow。“

“No，Idon’tknow。“

“Well，perhapsyoudon’t。ButIknow。Ilikeyou，Nat。Icountonyouasthestraightest，truestfriendI’vegot；andIwanttokeeponcountin’onyoujustthatway。Mayn’tI？“

“’Courseyoucan，Keziah。But——“

“Thendon’tsayanotherword，please。“

Hesighedandlookedoutattheopendoor。Thekitchenclocktickedloudinthesilence。

“Allright，“hesaidatlast。“Allright，butI’mgoin’tokeeponhopin’。“

“Youmustn’t，Nat。“

“Keziah，whenyousetyourfootdownyou’reprettystubborn；butI’vegotsomethin’ofafootmyself。Yourememberyousaidsoafewminutesago。Hi，hum！Well，speakin’ofdadremindsmethatI’mkindofworriedabouthim。“

“Youare？Why？Isn’thewell？“

“Prettywell，butheain’tstrong，andhegetstooexcitedoverthingslikelastnight’sfoolishness。Gracetellsmethatthedoctorsayshemustbecarefulorhe’lldropoffsuddensomeofthesedays。Hehadashockfiveorsixyearsago，alittleone，andI’vebeenanxiousabouthimeversince。I’vegottogotoNewYorkoffandonforthenextmonth；afterthatIhopetobehomeforaspellandIcankeepaneyeonhim。Keziah，ifyou’lllistenI’llwhispersomethin’toyou——religion’sagoodthingandso’samustardplaster，butbothof’emcanbeputontoostrong。DadisjustalittlemitecrazyonCome-Outers，I’mafraid。“

“Oh，no，Iguessnot！Youmustn’tworry。HowdidGracelooktoyou？“

“Liketheharborlightonastormynight。She’sabrick，thatgirl，andgetsprettiereveryminute。Wondertomesomeoftheyoungchapsdownheredon’tcarryheroffbymainstrength。She’llmakesomebodyagoodwife。“

“Um-hm。Have——haveyoueverthoughtofherthatwayyourself？“

“Keziah！“

“Well，don’tgetmad。IthinkalotofGrace，andIdon’tknowanyoneI’dratherseeyoumarry。“

“Ido。Keziah，that’senoughofthat。Areyouanddadinpartnershiptogetmesplicedandoutoftheway？Hewasatmethismornin’alongthesameline。Don’tsayanythinglikethatagain，eveninfun。YOUknowwhy。“

“Allright，allright。Nowtellmeaboutyourself。Haveyouhadagoodvoyage？Howdoyoulikeyourowners？HowdidZachFosterevergetthepacketinthroughyesterday’sfog？“

“Voyagewasallright。Someruggedweatheronthetripout，buthomewardboundweslidalonglikeaslushbucketonagreasedplank。Ownersareallright。GoodpeopleaseverIsailedfor。

AsforZachandthepacket——Ho，ho！“

Helaughed，rockingbackandforthonthechair，whichcreakedinsympathy。

“What’sthejoke？“demandedthehousekeeper。“Don’tdothat！Thatchairwasn’tmadeforelephantstouse。“

“Hey？’Tisprettyweakintheknees，ain’tit？Dadwouldsay’twasapiecewiththecreedofthosethatownedit。I——What’sthat？Somebody’scomin’。I’mgoin’toclearout。Idon’twanttobeputthroughmycatechismyetawhile。“

“No，youmustn’tgo。IwantyoutomeetMr。Ellery。YousitoutonthewashbenchbythebackdoortillIgetridofwhoever’tisthat’scomin’。Scoot！“

Nat“scooted，“stoppingtosnatchuphishatasheran。KeziahwentintothediningroomandadmittedCaptainZebedeeMayo，whowaspantingfromtheexertionofhiswalk。

“Whew！“puffedCaptainZeb，moppinghisforehead。“Howbeyou，Keziah？What？Youain’tallalone！Thoughtyou’dhaveacabinfullofgabmachinesbythistime。Havetheybeenandgone？“

“No，theyhaven’tbeen。I——Myland，mypie！“

Sherushedintothekitchenandsnatchedthepastryfromtheoven。

Hernewcallerfollowedher。