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“Yes，Eben’sgone。Hewastookdownsuddenanddiedaboutteno’clocklastnight。Iwasthereand——“
“CaptainEbendead！Why，hewasaswellas——as——Shesaid——Oh，Imustgo！Imustgoatonce！“
Hewasonhiswaytothedoor，butshehelditshut。
“No，“shesaidgravely，“youmustn’tgo。Youmustn’tgo，Mr。
Ellery。That’stheonethingyoumustn’tdo。“
“Youdon’tunderstand。ByandbyIcantellyouwhyImustbethere，butnow——“
“Idounderstand。Iunderstanditall。Lordhelpus！ifI’donlyunderstoodsooner，howmuchofthismighthavebeenspared。WhyDIDN’Tyoutellme？“
“Mrs。Coffin——“
“John——youwon’tmindmycallin’youJohn。I’moldenough，prettynigh，tobeyourmother，andI’vecometofeelalmostasifIwas。
John，you’vegottostayherewithme。Youcan’tgotothathouse。
Youcan’tgotoher。“
“Mrs。Coffin，whatareyousaying？Doyouknow——Haveyou——“
“Yes，Iknowallaboutit。Iknowaboutthemeetin’sinthepinesandall。Oh，whydidn’tyoutrustmeandtellme？Ifyouhad，allwouldhavebeenSOmuchbetter！“
Helookedatherinutteramazement。Thebloodrushedtohisface。
“YouknowTHAT？“hewhispered。
“Yes，Iknow。“
“Didshetell——“
“No，nobodytold。Thatis，onlyalittle。IgotahintandI
suspicionedsomethin’afore。TherestIsawwithmyowneyes。“
Hewasnowwhite，buthisjawshotforwardandhisteethclosed。
“Ifyoudoknow，“hesaid，“youmustrealizethatmyplaceiswithher。Now，whensheisintrouble——“
“Wouldyouwanttomakethattroublegreater？Morethanshecouldbear？“
“IthinkImighthelphertobearit。Mrs。Coffin，youhavebeenmytruestfriend，butone，inTrumet。YouHAVEbeenlikeamothertome。ButIhavethoughtthisouttotheendandIshallgothroughwithit。Itismyaffair——andhers。Ifmyownmotherwerealiveandspokeasyoudo，Ishouldstillgothroughwithit。Itisright，itismylife。I’mnotashamedofanythingI’vedone。
I’mproud。I’mproudofher。AndhumbleonlywhenIthinkhowunworthyIamtobeherhusband。Isupposeyouarefearfulofwhatmycongregationwillsay。Well，I’vethoughtofthat，too，andthoughtitthrough。Whatevertheysayandwhatevertheydowillmakenodifference。DoyousupposeIwillletTHEMkeepmefromher？Pleaseopenthatdoor。“
Hewasverytragicandhandsome——andyoung，ashestoodthere。Thetearsoverflowedthehousekeeper’seyesasshelookedathim。Ifherownlovestoryhadnotbeenbrokenoffatitsbeginning，ifshehadnotthrownherlifeaway，shemighthavehadasonlikethat。
Shewouldhavegivenallthattheyearshadinstoreforher，givenitgladly，tohavebeenabletoopenthedoorandbidhimgo。Butshewasfirm。
“Itain’tthecongregation，John，“shesaid。“NorTrumet，noryourministry。Thatmeansmore’nyouthinkitdoes，now；butitain’tthat。Youmustn’tgotoherbecause——well，becauseshedon’twantyouto。“
“Doesn’twantme？Iknowbetter。“Helaughedinsupremescorn。
“Shedoesn’twantyou，John。Shewouldn’tseeyouifyouwent。
Shewouldsendyouawayagain，sure，sartinsure。Shewould。Andifyoudidn’tgowhenshesentyou，youwouldn’tbethemanIhopeyouare。John，youmustn’tseeGraceagain。Sheain’tyours。Shebelongstosomeoneelse。“
“Someoneelse！“Herepeatedthewordsinawhisper。“SomeoneELSE？Why，Mrs。Coffin，youmustbecrazy！Ifyouexpectmeto——“
“Hush！hush！Iain’tcrazy，thoughthere’stimeswhenIwonderI
ain’t。John，youandGracehaveknowneachotherforafewmonths，that’sall。You’vebeenattractedtoherbecauseshewasprettyandeducatedand——andsweet；andshe’slikedyoubecauseyouwereabouttheonlyyoungpersonwhocouldunderstandherand——andallthat。Andsoyou’vebeenmeetin’andhavecometobelieve——youhave，anyway——that’twassomethin’morethanlikin’。Butyouneitherofyouhavestoppedtothinkthatamarriagebetweenyoutwowasasimposs
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