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“Ibelieveit。ThatpartofthechannelIproposedswimmingwasexactlywheretwomenhavebeendrowned，sopeoplesay。I’mnotaverystrongswimmer，andtheywere。So，yousee。“
Gracecriedoutinastonishment。
“Oh！“sheexclaimed。Thenpointingtowardthebay，sheasked：“Outthere，bytheendofthatleader，wasit？“
“Yes，thatwasit。“
Shedrewalongbreath。Then，afteramoment：
“AndNatspokeasifitwasallajoke，“shesaid。
“Nodoubthedid。FromwhatIhearofyourbrother，hegenerallyreferstohisownplucky，capableactionsasjokes。Otherpeoplecallthemsomethingelse。“
Shedidnotanswer，butcontinuedtogazeatthehalf-submerged“leader，“withthepineboughtiedatitslandwardendtomarktheedgeofdeepwater，andthetidefoamingthroughitslathgratings。
“Yourbrother——“wentontheminister。
“Heisn’tmybrother，“sheinterruptedabsently。“Iwishhewas。“
Shesighedassheutteredthelastsentence。
“No，ofcourseheisn’tyourrealbrother；Iforgot。Buthemustseemlikeone。“
“Yes，“ratherdoubtfully。
“Youmustbeproudofhim。“
“Iam。“Therewasnothingdoubtfulthistime。
“Well，hesavedmefromdrowning。I’malmostcertainofthat。“
“I’msoglad。“
Sheseemedtomeanit。Helookedather。
“Thankyou，“hesaiddrily。“I’mrathergladmyself。“
“Oh！Ididn’tmeanitexactlythatway。OfcourseI’mgladyouweren’tdrowned，butI’mespeciallygladthat——thatoneofourfamilysavedyou。Nowyouwon’tbelievethatCome-Outersareallbad。“
“Ineverbelievedit。“
Sheshookherhead。
“Oh，yes，youdid，“sheaffirmedstubbornly。“You’veheardnothinggoodofussinceyoucamehere。Don’ttellfibs，Mr。Ellery。“
“ButIassureyou——“
“Nonsense！Does——well，doesCap’nDaniels，orhisdaughter，sayanythinggoodofus？Behonest，dothey？“
“Ihardlythink——thatis，Ishouldn’tcalltheiropinionsunprejudiced。And，MissVanHorne，perhapstheprejudiceisn’tallononeside。WhatdidyourunclesayaboutCap’nNat’smeetingmetheotherday？“
“UncleEbendoesn’tknow。Natdidn’ttellanyonebutme。Hedoesn’tboast。Andunclewouldbegladhehelpedyou。AsItoldyoubefore，Mr。Ellery，I’mnotashamedofmyuncle。HehasbeensogoodtomethatInevercanrepayhim，never！Whenmyownfatherwasdrownedhetookmein，alittleorphanthatwouldprobablyhavebeensenttoahome，andnofathercouldbekinderormoreindulgentthanhehasbeen。AnythingIaskedforIgot，andatlastIlearnednottoaskfortoomuch。Noself-denialonhispartwastoogreat，ifhecouldpleaseme。Whenheneededmoneymosthesaidnothingtome，butinsistedthatIshouldbeeducated。
Ididn’tknowuntilafterwardsoftheself-sacrificemyfouryearsattheMiddleboroAcademymeanttohim。“
Theministerhadlistenedeagerlytothisdefenseofthemanwhomhehadbeenledtoconsiderhisarchenemy。Itwasgivenwithspiritandthegirl’sheadwasupliftedandhereyesflashedasshespoke。Ellery’snextremarkwasutteredwithoutpremeditation。
Really，hewasthinkingaloud。
“Soyouwentawaytoschool？“hemused。“Thatiswhy——“
“ThatiswhyIdon’tsay’neverdonenothin’’and’beyou’and’hain’tneither。’Yes，thankyou，that’swhy。Idon’twonderyouweresurprised。“
Theyoungmanblushed。
“Youmisunderstandme，“heprotested。“Ididn’tmean——“
“Oh！yes，youdid。Notpreciselythat，perhaps，butprettynearit。IsupposeyouexpectedmetospeaklikeJosiahBadgerorKyanPepper。Itrynotto。AndItrynottosay’immejitly，’too，“sheadded，withamischievoustwinkle。
Elleryrecognizedthe“immejitly“quotationandlaughed。
“Ineverheardbutonepersonsaythat，“heobserved。“Andheisn’taCome-Outer。“
“No，heisn’t。Well，thislessoninEnglishcan’tbeveryinterestingtoyou，Mr。Ellery，andImustgo。ButI’mverygladNathelpedyoutheotherdayandthatyourealizethesortofmanheis。AndI’mgladIhavehadtheopportunitytotellyoumoreaboutUncleEben。IowehimsomuchthatIoughttobeglad——yes，gladandproudandhappy，too，togratifyhisleastwish。Imust！
IknowImust，nomatterhowI——WhatamItalkingabout？Yes，Mr。Ellery，I’mgladifIhavehelpedyoutounderstandmyunclebetterandwhyIloveandrespecthim。IfyouknewhimasIdo，youwouldrespecthim，too。Good-by。“
Shewasgoing，buttheministerhadsomethingtosay。Hesteppedforwardandwalkedbesideher。
“Justaminute，please，“heurged。“MissVanHorne，Idounderstand。Idorespectyouruncle。Wehaveamutualfriend，youandI，andthroughherIhavecometounderstandmanythings。“
Graceturnedandlookedathim。
“Amutualfriend？“sherepeated。“Oh！Iknow。Mrs。Coffin？“
“Yes；Mrs。Coffin。She’sagoodwomanandawiseone。“
“She’sadear！Doyoulikeher，too？“
“Indeed，Ido。“
“Hasshetoldyouaboutme——aboutuncle，Imean？“
“Yes。Why，shetoldme——“
HebegantoenumeratesomeofthethingsKeziahhadtoldconcerningtheHammondfamily。Theywereallgoodthings，andhecouldn’thelpseeingthattherecitalpleasedher。Sohewentontotellhowhishousekeeperhadhelpedhim，ofheradvice，ofhermanyactsofkindness，ofwhatheowedtoher。Thegirllistenedeagerly，askingquestions，noddingconfirmation，and，inherdelightathearingKeziahpraised，quiteforgettingherpreviouseagernesstoendtheinterview。And，ashetalked，helookedather，attheredlightonherhair，theshineofhereyes，likephosphorusinthecurlofawaveatnight，atherlonglashes，and——
“Yes，“saidMissVanHorne，“youweresaying——“
Theministerawokewithaguiltystart。Herealizedthathissentencehadbrokenoffinthemiddle。
“Why！why——er——yes，“hestammered。“Iwassayingthat——thatI
don’tknowwhatIshouldhavedonewithoutMrs。Coffin。She’satreasure。Frankly，sheistheonlyrealfriendIhavefoundinTrumet。“
“Iknow。Ifeelthesamewayabouther。Shemeanssomuchtome。
Ilovehermorethananyoneelseintheworld，exceptuncle，ofcourse——andNat。Imissherverymuchsince——since——“
“SinceIcame，youmean。I’msorry。Iwish——IhatetothinkI
amthecausewhichseparatesyoutwo。Itisn’tmyfault，asyouknow。“
“Oh！Iknowthat。“
“Yes，andIobjecttohavingotherschoosemyfriendsforme，peoplewho，becauseofafanaticalprejudice，standinthewayof——
Ifitwasn’tforthat，youmightcallandseeMrs。Coffin，justasyouusedtodo。“
Graceshookherhead。Theyhadmovedontothebendofthebluff，beyondthefringeofpines，andwerenowstandingattheveryedgeofthehighbank。
“Ifitwasn’tforthat，youwouldcome，“assertedtheminister。
“Yes，Isupposeso。Ishouldliketocome。ImissmytalkswithAuntKeziahmorethanyoucanimagine——nowespecially。But，somehow，whatwewanttodomostseemstobewhatwemustn’t，andwhatwedon’tlikeisourduty。“
Shesaidthiswithoutlookingathim，andtheexpressiononherfacewasthesamesad，graveonehehadnoticedwhenhefirstsawherstandingalonebythepine。
“Whydon’tyoucome？“hepersisted。
“Ican’t，ofcourse。YouknowIcan’t。“
“Whynot？IfmycompanyisobjectionableIcangoawaywhenyoucome。IfyoudislikemeI——“
“YouknowIdon’tdislikeyoupersonally。“
“I’mawfullygladofthat。“
“Butit’simpossible。UnclerespectsandisfondofAuntKeziah，buthewouldn’thearofmyvisitingtheparsonage。“
“Butdon’tyouthinkyourunclemightbepersuaded？I’msurehemisunderstandsme，justasIshouldhimifitweren’tforMrs。
Coffin——andwhatyou’vesaid。Don’tyouthinkifIcalledonhimandheknewmebetteritmighthelpmatters？I’lldoitgladly。I
will！“
“No，no。Hewouldn’tlisten。Andthinkofyourowncongregation。“
“Confoundmycongregation！“
“Why，Mr。Ellery！“
Shelookedathiminamazement；thenherlipsbegantocurl。
“Why，Mr。Ellery！“sherepeated。
Theministerturnedveryredanddrewhishandacrosshisforehead。
“I——Idon’tmeanthatexactly，“hestammered。“ButI’mnotachild。Ihavetherighttoexerciseaman’sdiscretion。Myparishcommitteemustunderstandthat。Theyshall！IfIchoosetoseeyou——Lookout！“
Shewasclosetotheoverhangingedgeofthebluffandthesoduponwhichshestoodwasbendingbeneathherfeet。Hesprangforward，caughtheraboutthewaist，andpulledherback。Thesodbrokeandrattleddownthesandyslope。Shewouldhavehadaslighttumble，nothingworse，hadshegonewithit。Therewasnodanger；andyettheministerwasverywhiteashereleasedher。
She，too，waspaleforamoment，andthencrimson。
“Thankyou，“shegasped。“I——Imustgo。Itislate。Ididn’trealizehowlateitwas。I——Imustgo。“
Hedidnotanswer，thoughhetriedto。
“Imustgo，“shesaidhurriedly，speakingatrandom。“Goodafternoon。Good-by。Ihopeyouwillenjoyyourwalk。“
“Ihaveenjoyedit。“Hisanswerwasunstudiedbutemphatic。Sherecognizedtheemphasis。
“WillyoucometoseeMrs。Coffin？“heasked。
“No，no。YouknowIcan’t。Good-by。Thesunsetisbeautiful，isn’tit？“
“Beautiful，indeed。“
“Yes。I——IthinkthesunsetsfromthispointarethefinestIhaveeverseen。IcomehereeverySundayafternoontoseethem。“
Thisremarkwasgivenmerelytocoverembarrassment，butithadanunexpectedeffect。
“YouDO？“criedtheminister。Thenextmomenthewasalone。GraceVanHornehadvanishedinthegloomofthepinethickets。
ItwasastrangeJohnEllerywhowalkedslowlybackalongthepath，onethatKeziahherselfwouldnothaverecognized，tosaynothingofCaptainElkanahandtheparishcommittee。Thedignifiedparson，withthedignifiedwalkandcalm，untroubledbrow，wasgone，andherewasanabsent-mindedyoungfellowwhostumbledblindlyalong，trippingoverrootsanddeadlimbs，andcaringnothing，apparently，forthedamagetohisSundaybootsandtrouserswhichmightresultfromthestumbles。Hesawnothingreal，andheardnothing，noteventheexcitedpersonwho，hiddenbehindthebayberrybush，hailedhimashepassed。Itwasnotuntilthispersonrushedforthandseizedhimbythearmthathecamebacktotheunimportantaffairsofthismaterialearth。
“Why！Why，Mr。Pepper！“hegasped。“Areyouhere？Whatdoyouwant？“
“AmIhere？“pantedKyan。“Ain’tIbeenhereforthelasttwentyminuteswaitin’togetachanceatyou？Ain’tIbeenchasin’youfromDantoBeershebyallthisdummed——excuseme——afternoon？Oh，mygodfreysmighty！“
“Why，what’sthematter？“
“Matter？Matterenough！It’sallyourfault。Yougotmeintothemess，nowyougitmeoutofit。“
Usually，whenAbishaiaddressedhisclergyman，itwasinatoneofhumblerespectfardifferentfromhispresentfranticassault。TheReverendJohnwasastounded。
“WhatISthetrouble，Mr。Pepper？“hedemanded。“Behaveyourself，man。WhatISit？“
“You——youmademedoit，“gurgledKyan。“Yes，sir，’twasyouputmeuptoit。Whenyouwasatourhouset’otherday，afterLavinylockedmeup，youtoldmethewaytogetsquarewastolockherup，too。AndIdoneit！Yes，sir，Idoneitwhenshegotbackfrommeetin’thisnoon。Irunoffandleftherlockedin。And——and“——
hewailed，wringinghishands——“I——Iain’tdasttogohomesence。
WHAT’llIdo？“
CHAPTERIX
