第21章

Hesnatchedhishatfromthetableandstrodetothedoor。

Turning，helookedather。

“Allright，“hesaidchokingly。“Allright。Good-by。“

Hisstepssoundedontheoilclothofthekitchen。Thenthebackdoorslammed。Hewasgone。

Keziahstarted，asiftheslamofthedoorhadbeenanelectricshock。Duringtheinterviewshehadbeenpaleandgravebutoutwardlycalm。Nowshesankwearilydowninthechairfromwhichshehadrisenandherheaddroppedforwarduponherarmsonthetable。ThelettershehadbeenreadingbeforeCaptainNat’sarrivalfellfromherwaisttothefloorandlaythere，itsbadlyspelledandblottedlinesshowingblackandfatefulagainstthewhitepaper。Andshecried，tearsofutterlonelinessanddespair。

Thecloudsthickenedastheafternoonpassed。Thesettingsunwashiddenbehindthem；overthehorizonofoceanandbaythefogbankswererollingintumbled，crumpledmasses。Theshadowsinthelonelysittingroomdeepened。Therecameaknockatthedining-

roomdoor。

Keziahsprangfromherchair，smoothedherhair，hastilywipedhereyes，pickedupthedroppedletterandwenttoadmitthevisitor，whoeverheorshemightbe。Shewasgladoftheshadows，theypreventedherfacefrombeingseentooplainly。

“Goodafternoon，“shesaid，openingthedoor。“Oh！it’syou，isit？“

“Yes，“admittedAbishaiPepper，standingonthestonestep，andshiftinguneasilyfromonefoottotheother。“Yes，Keziah，it’s——

it’sme，thankyou。“

“Don’tmentionit。Well，isLavinywithyou？“

“No——o，sheain’t。She——shedidn’tcome。“

“Hum！Didsheknowyouwascomin’？“

“No——o，Idon’tcal’lateshedid。“

“Isee。Well，whatdoyouwant？“

Mrs。Coffin’swelcomewasnottoocordial。ShehadlaughedmanytimesoverAbishai’sproposalofmarriage，butshehadneverquiteforgivenhimformakingherridiculousonthatoccasion。

Incidentally，shedidnotfeellikelaughing。

“Whatdoyouwant？“sherepeated。

Kyanwasplainlynervous。

“IonlywantedtoseeMr。Ellery，“heannounced。“It’sallright，Keziah。Youneedn’tbeafraid。“

“Afraid！WhatonearthshouldIbeafraidof？“

“Why——why，Ididn’tknowbutyoumightbeafraidIwasgoin’to——totalkaboutwhatwetalkedaboutwhenI——Italkedtoyouthatdayupat——“

“There！that’lldo。Itain’tmethatwouldhavereasontobeafraidifTHATwaswhatyoucomefor。Whatdoyouwant？Don’tstandtheredancin’ajig。“

“IonlywantedtoseeMr。Ellery。“

“He’sout。Goodday。“

“ButIwon’tkeephimbutaminute。“

“He’sout，Itellyou。Doyouwanttoleaveamessage？“

“No——o。No，Iguessnot。“

“Wasitimportant？“

“Oh！Idon’tknow。Kindof，maybe。Iwantedtoaskhisadviceaboutsomethin’。It’sasecret。Onlyhimandmeknowaboutit。

Good-by。“

“ShallItellhimyou’llcallagain？Oraskhimtocomeuptoyourhouse？“

Mr。Pepper，whohadstartedtogo，nowhurriedbacktothesteps。

“No，no，“heprotested，inalarm。“Don’tyoutellhimthat。I

wouldn’thavehimcometherefornomoney。Why，Laviny，she——“

“Oh，Lavinyisn’tinthesecret，then？“Keziahsmiledinspiteofherself。

“Notexactly。Thatis，notmuch。Don’tyoutellherIcomehere，willyou？I’llfindMr。Ellery。Iknowwhereheis。“

“Iwouldn’tgototheDanielses’，ifIwasyou。Elkanahmightnotliketohaveyouchasin’afterhisvisitors。“

“Oh，theministerain’tattheDanielses’，notaslate’sthis，heain’t。Iknowwhereheis。“

“Youdo？“Thehousekeeperlookedathimkeenly。

“Yes，sir，Ido。IknowwherehegoesSundayafternoons——andwhyhegoes，too。Mr。Elleryandme’sgoodfriends。Weunderstandeachother。“

“Lookhere，KyanPepper！Whatareyoutalkin’about？“

“Nothin’，nothin’。Goodday。“

“Stop！Standstill！Comeinthehousehere。Iwantyouto。“

“No，no，Keziah。Really，I’dloveto，butIcan’tstop。“

“Comein，Itellyou。“

Reluctantly，butlackingthestrengtho

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