第37章

Onthewhole，Keziah，I’mgladyoucame。Thisyounglady，“withamovementoftheheadtowardGrace，“hasdoneherpart。Shereallysavedhislife，ifI’mnotmistaken。Now，Ithinkshecangoawayandleavehimtoyouandme。I’llprettynearlyguaranteetohavehimupandoutofthis——thispestholeinafortnight。“

Herewasjoyfultidings，thebetterforbeingsounexpected。

Keziahleanedagainsttheboardsanddrewalongbreath。Gracesaidnothing，but，afteramoment，shewentintothehouse。

“That’sagoodthing，too，“commentedParker，watchingherasshewent。“Iwantedtotalkwithyou，KeziahCoffin，andrightaway。

Now，then，there’ssomethingup，somethingthatIdon’tknowabout，andIratherguessyoudo。Youngwomen——evenwhenthey’reherkindandthat’sasgoodakindasthereis——don’trisksmallpoxforanyyoungmantheypickupcasually。Theydon’tcarry——Iguessitwasprettynearlycarrying——himhomeandputhimtobedandcareforhimandcryoverhimandcallhim’dear。’Andhedoesn’tbegthemtorunawayandlethimdieratherthantostaythereandriskdying，too。No，nottoanygreatextent。Now，Keziah，youandI

arefairlygoodfriendsandweoughttoknoweachotherbythistime。Iseealight——alittleone。Now，then，ifyouturnupthelamp，sothatIcanseethewholeblaze，maybeIcanhelpthosetwoinyonder。“

Keziahconsidered。“Allright，doctor，“shesaid，whenshereachedadecision，“allright；I’lltellyouthewholething，andyoucanseeoneofthereasonswhymyhairisgettin’grayer。Thisthinghasreachedthepointnowwherethere’snokeepin’itquiet。

Folk’llknow——Is’posetheyknowalready——thatshe’sbeenherewithhim。They’llsuspectalotmoreandthetruthisbetterthansuspicion——thatis，itcan’tbeworsethanthesuspicionsthatcomenaturaltoagoodmanymindsinthistown。IamgladIcantellyou，forIguessthetime’scometostepoutinbroaddaylightandh’istourcolors。Now，youlisten。Here’tis，frombeginnin’toend。“

Shewentontotellallsheknewofherparson’slovestory。

Dr。Parkerlistened。

“Hum！“hesaidthoughtfully，“Isee。Whatmadeherchangehermindsosuddenly？Yousay，oryougatherfromwhatMr。Ellerytoldyou，thatshehadallbutagreedtomarryhim。Shecaresforhim，that’ssure。Then，allatonce，shethrowshimoverandacceptsNat。Ofcourseheruncle’ssuddenseizurewasashockandhewantedNattohaveher，butsheisn’tthekindofgirltobeeasilyswayed。Whydidshedoit？“

“Well，doctor，that’skindofapuzzletome。AllIcanthinkisthatshecometorealizewhatitmightmeantohim，theminister，ifhemarriedaCome-Outer。Ithinkshedoneitforhissake，tosavehim，thoughwhatmadeherrealizeitallatonceIdon’tknow。

There’sthepartweain’theard。“

“Iguessyou’reright。SomethinghappenedbetweenthetimesheleftElleryandwhenyouandIreachedthetavern。Butnevermindthat，thatdoesn’tcountnow。Let’slookatthingsastheyarethisminute。She’shereandfolksknowit。Astheydoknowitthey’llbegintotalk，andthemoretheytalkthefartherfromthetruththey’llget——mostof’em。Nat，poorchap，isdead，soherpromisetohimiscanceled。Ellerywillgetwellifheisn’ttroubled，andherbeingwithhimwillhelpmorethananythingelse。

Icanunderstandnowwhyhebrokedown。“

“Yes，heain’tbeenhimselfsinceithappened。“

“Ofcourse，andthelastfewweeksofworryandnightworkhavehelpedtowreckhisnerves。Well，asIseeit，there’sonlyonethingtodo。Ifsheleaveshimhe’llgotopiecesagain，soshemustn’tleave。Andshecan’tstaywithoutanexplanation。Isaylet’sgivetheexplanation；let’scomerightoutwiththeannouncementthatthey’reengaged。“

“Whew！that’llstirthingsup。“

“Youbet！Butletitstir。Ilikethatparsonofyours；he’satrump。AndIalwayslikedher，although，generallyspeaking，I

don’tloveCome-Outers。AndIlikehermorethanevernow，whensheriskedwhatshethoughtwassmallpoxtocareforhim。AsI

said，shesavedhislife，andsheoughttohavehim。SheSHALL

havehim。“

“Butshe’saCome-Outerand——there’sthechurch。“

“Well，Iknowit。Butheneverw

后续内容为VIP可读请开通VIP，或购买此章节