“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？“