第15章

“CaptainHammond，“hesaid，“youhaven’taskedmemyname。“

“No，Iseldomdomore’nonce。TherehavebeentimeswhenI’Djustassooncruisewithouttoobiglettersalongsidemyfigurehead。“

“Well，mynameisEllery。“

“Hey？WHAT？Oh，ho！ho！ho！“

Herockedbackandforthontheseat。Theminister’sfeelingswereabithurt，thoughhetriednottoshowit。

“Youmustn’tmindmylaughin’，“explainedNat，stillchuckling。

“Itain’tatyou。It’sjustbecauseIwaswonderin’whatyou’dlooklikeifIshouldmeetyouandnow——Ho！ho！Yousee，Mr。

Ellery，I’veheardofyou，sameasyousaidyou’dheardofme。“

Ellerysmiled，butnottoobroadly。

“Yes，“headmitted，“Iimaginedyouhad。“

“Yes，seemstomedadmentionedyournameonceortwice。Asmuchasthat，anyhow。Wonderwhathe’dsayifheknewhissonhadbeentakin’youforamornin’ride？“

“Probablythatitwouldhavebeenmuchbettertohaveleftmewhereyoufoundme。“

Thecaptain’sjollyfacegrewserious。

“No，no！“heprotested。“Notsobadasthat。Dadwouldn’tdrownanybody，notevenaRegularminister。He’saprettysquare-builtoldcraft，eventhoughhisspiritualchartmaybelaidoutdifferentfromyours——andmine。“

“Fromyours？Why，Isupposed——“

“Yes，Iknow。Well，WHENIgotomeetin’，Igenerallygotothechapeltopleasefather。Butwhenitcomesrightdowntoaconfessionoffaith，I’mprettybroadinthebeam。MaybeI’dbetoobroadevenforyou，Mr。Ellery。“

Theminister，whohadjumpedtotheground，lookedup。

“CaptainHammond，“hesaid，“I’mverygladindeedthatImetyou。

Notalonebecauseyouhelpedmeoutofabadscrape；Irealizehowbaditmighthavebeenandthat——“

“Shsh！shh！Nothin’atall。Don’tbefoolish。“

“ButI’mglad，too，becauseI’veheardsomanygoodthingsaboutyouthatIwassureyoumustbeworthknowing。Ihopeyouwon’tbelieveIwenttoyourfather’smeetingwithany——“

“No，no！Jumpin’Moses，man！Idon’tfindfaultwithyouforthat。Iunderstand，Iguess。“

“Well，ifyoudon’tmindthefactthatIamwhatIam，I’dliketoshakehandswithyou。“

Natreacheddownabigbrownhand。

“Samehere，“hesaid。“Alwaysgladtoshakewithachapaswellrecommendedasyouare。Yes，indeed，Imeanit。Yousee，you’vegotafriendthat’safriendofmine，andwhensheguaranteesamantobeA。B。，I’llshiphimwithoutanymorequestions。“

“Well，then，good-by。Ihopeweshallmeetagainandoften。AndI

certainlythankyoufor——“

“That’sallright。Maybeyou’llfishMEoutofthedrinksomeday；

younevercantell。Solong！Gitdap，Gen’ralScott！“

Hedroveoffupthebeach，butbeforeheturnedthecornerofthenearestdunehecalledbackoverhisshoulder：

“Say，Mr。Ellery，ifyouthinkofityoumightgivemyregardsto——

to——er——theladythat’skeepin’houseforyou。“

Breakfasthadwaitednearlyanhourwhentheministerreachedhome。

Keziah，also，waswaitingandevidentlymuchrelievedathissafearrival。

“Sakesalive！“sheexclaimed，asshemethimatthebackdoor。

“Whereintheworldhaveyoubeen，Mr。Ellery？Soakin’wetagain，too！“

Elleryrepliedthathehadbeenforawalkouttothebar。Hesatdownonthesteptoremovetheborrowedboots。Asmallrivuletofsaltwaterpouredfromeachashepulledthemoff。

“Forawalk！Aswim，youmean。Howcouldyougetinuptoyourwaistifyoujustwalked？Didyoufalldown？“

“No，notexactly。ButIwaitedtoolongandthetideheadedmeoff。“

“Mercyonus！youmustn’ttakechancesonthattide。Ifyou’dtoldmeyouwasgoin’，I’dhavewarnedyoutohurryback。“

“Oh，I’vebeenwarnedoftenenough。Itwasmyownfault，asusual。

I’mnotsurethatIdon’tneedaguardian。“

“Humph！well，Iain’tsureeither。Wasthechannelsverydeep？“

“Deepenough。Thefactis，thatImighthavegotintoserioustroubleifIhadn’tbeenpickedup。“

Hetoldbrieflythestoryofhismorning’sadventure。Thehousekeeperlistenedwithgrowingexcitement。

“HeavenstoBetsy！“sheinterrupted。“Wasthechannelyouplannedtoswimtheoneattheendoftheflatbythelongestweirleader？“

“Yes。“

“Mysoul！there’sbeentwomendrownedinthatveryplaceathalftide。Andtheyweregoodswimmers。AfterthisIshan’tdareletyououtofmysight。“

“So？Wasitasriskyasthat？Why，CaptainHammonddidn’ttellmeso。ImustowehimmoreeventhanIthought。“

“Yes，Iguessyoudo。Hewouldn’ttellyou，though；thatain’thisway。Dearyme！forwhatwe’vereceivedletusbethankful。Andthatremindsmethatbiscuitsoughttobeetwhenthey’refirstmade，notafterthey’vebeendrieduponthebackofthestoveforeverandeveramen。Goonandchangethosewetthingsofyoursandthenwe’lleat。Tryin’toswimthemainchannelontheflood！

Mysoulandbody！“

“CaptainNatsenthisregardstoyou，Mrs。Coffin，“saidtheminister，movingtowardthestairs。

“Did，hey？“wasthehousekeeper’sreply。“Wanttoknow！“

CHAPTERVIII

INWHICHTHEPARSONANDMR。PEPPERDECLARETHEIRINDEPENDENCE

Thatafternoon，whendinnerwasover，theReverendJohndecidedtomakeafewdutycalls。ThefirstofthesehedeterminedshouldbeonthePeppers。LaviniaandherbrotherhadcalledattheParsonageseveraltimes，butasyethehadnotpaidthemavisit。

Itwasnotaceremonytowhichhelookedforwardwithdelight，butitmustbeperformed。MissPepperhadhintedseveraltimes，atsewingcircleandafterprayermeeting，of“partiality“and“onlystoppin’inwheretheyhadfancycurtainsuptothewindows。“So，asitcouldnotbeputofflonger，withoutcausingtrouble，hedeterminedtogothroughwithit。

ThePepperhousewassituatedjustoffthemainroadonthelaneleadingoverthedunestotheoceanandthelight。Itwasasmallbuilding，itswhitepaintdingyandstormbeaten，anditslittlefenced-infrontyarddottedthicklywithclumpsofsilver-leafsaplings。Asign，nailedcrookedlyonapost，informedthoseseekingsuchinformationthatwithinwastobefound“AbishaiG。W。

Pepper，TaxCollector，Assessor，BootsandShoesRepaired。“Andbeneaththiswasfastenedashinglewiththechalkednotice，“SaltHayforsale。“

Thebootandshoeportionofthefirstsignwasarelicofotherdays。Kyanhadbeenacobbleronce，butitisdiscouragingtowaitthreeorfourweekswhilethepairofbootsonehaslefttoberesoledareforgotteninacorner。CaptainZebMayo’spointedcomment，“IwantmyshoeleathertowearwhileI’malive，nottobelaidoutinafterIdieofoldage，“expressedthegeneralfeelingofthevillageandexplainedwhycustomhadleftMr。Pepperandflowntothemoreenterprisingshoemakerat“TheCorners。“Thetaxcollectorshipmighthavefollowedit，buthereLaviniakeptherbrotheruptothemark。Shewentwithhimonhisroundsanditgaveheropportunitytovisit，andafterwardscommentupon，everyfamilyintown。

Theministerwalkedupthedustylane，liftedthePeppergateandswungitbackonitsonehinge，shooedawaythethreeorfourlanguidanddiscouraged-lookingfowlsthatweretakingasunbathontheclam-shellwalk，andknockedatthefrontdoor。Noonecominginanswertotheknock，hetriedagain。Thenhediscoveredarustybellpullandgaveitasharptug。Theknobcameoffinhishandandhehurriedlythrustitbackagainintoitsplace。

Evidently，thatbellwassolelyforornament。

Hecametotheconclusionthatnoonewasathomeandfeltaguiltysenseofreliefinconsequence。Buthisconsciencewouldnotlethimdepartwithoutanothertry，soheclenchedhisfistandgavethecrackeddoorpanelaseriesoftremendousthumps。Athinblackcat，whichhadevidentlybeenasleepbeneaththestep，burstfromitsconcealmentandfledinfranticterror。Thenfromsomewhereintherearofthehousecamethesoundofahumanvoice。

“Hi！“itcalledfaintly。“Whoeveryoube，don’tbustthatdoordown。Comeroundhere。“

Ellerywalkedaroundthecornerofthebuilding。Thevoicecameagain。

“Say！“itwailed，“whydon’tyouanswer？Beyoucomin’？Ifyou’reapeddler，youneedn’t。“

“I’mnotapeddler，“wastheminister’samusedreply。

“Oh，ain’tye？Allright。Comealong，then。“

Ellery“camealong“asfarastheanglewheretheelljoinedthemainbodyofthehouse。Sofarashecouldseeeverydoorandwindowwasclosedandtherewerenosignsoflife。However，hesteppedtothedoor，agreen-paintedaffairofboards，andventuredanotherknock。

“Don’tstartthatpoundin’again！“protestedthevoice。“Comeroundtot’othersidewhereIbe。“

SoaroundwenttheReverendJohn，smilingbroadly。Butevenon“t’otherside“therewasnoonetobeseen。Andnodoor，forthatmatter。

“Why！“exclaimedthevoice，“if’tain’tMr。Ellery！Howd’yedo？

Gladtoseeyou，Mr。Ellery。Fineday，ain’tit？HereIbeatthiswindow。“

Sureenough；oneofthewindowsonthissideofthehousewasraisedaboutsixinchesatthebottom，theshadewasup，andpeeringbeneaththesashtheministerdiscernedtheexpressivefeaturesofAbishaiPepper——orasmuchofthosefeaturesasthesizeoftheopeningpermittedtobeseen。

“Oh！“exclaimedthevisitor，“isthatyou，Mr。Pepper？Well，I’mgladtoseeyou，atlast。Youareratherhardtosee，evennow。“

Kyanwasplainlyembarrassed。Hestammeredasheanswered。

“Yes，“heagreed，“I——Ishouldn’twonderifIbe。Howbeyou？

Prettysmart？“

“Yes，thankyou。I’mwell。“

“Er——er——cometocall，didyou？“

“Why，yes，thatwasmyintention。“

“Hum！Er——er——Laviny，she’sgoneovertoThankfulPayne’s。SheheardthatThankful’scousinuptoMiddleborohaddied——passedaway，Imean——andshethoughtshe’drunoverandfindoutifThankfulwaswilledanything。Shesaidshe’dbebackprettysoon。“

“Verywell。Then，asshewon’tbegonelong，perhapsI’llcomeinandwait。“

Hewasmovingawaytowardthecornerwhenashoutfrombeneaththewindowsashbroughthimtoahalt。

“Hi！“calledAbishai。“Hi，Mr。Ellery！don’tgotothatdoor。

’Tain’tnouse；it’slocked。“

“Locked？Well，youcanunlockit，can’tyou？“

“No，notverywell。Thatis，I——Mr。Ellery，comebackhere，won’tye？Idon’twantanybodytohear。“

Thehouseofthenearestneighborbeingseveralhundredyardsaway，thelikelihoodofbeingoverheardwasimprobable；buttheministercameback，nevertheless。

“Yousee，Mr。Ellery，“stammeredKyan，“I——I’dliketohaveyoucomeinfustrate，but——er——Lavinyshe’sgotthekey。“

Ellerywassurprised。

“Shehas！“heexclaimed。

“Um——hm，she’sgotit。Shetookitwithher。“

“Butthereareotherdoors。Shedidn’ttakethemall，didshe？“

“No——o，but——Well，thefactis，Mr。Ellery，I——I——I’mlockedin。“

“Lockedin？“

“Yes，lockedinthisroom。She——she——Oh，consarnitall，Mr。

Ellery，she’slockedmeinthisrooma-purpose，so’sIwon’tgetoutandgosomewhereswithoutherknowin’it。“

“What？“

“Um——h’m；that’swhatshe’sdone。Didyoueverhearofanythinglikethatinyourborndays？“