Thissurprisingdisclosurewasfunnyenough，butthetoneofgrievedindignationinwhichMr。Peppertoldofhisimprisonmentwasfunnierstill。Theministercoughedviolentlyandlookedtheotherway。
“Shedoneita-purpose，“continuedKyan，inaburstofconfidence。
“Shehadmeputoneofthemnew-fangledspringlocksonthedoorofthisroomt’otherday，’causeshesaidshewasafraidoftrampsandwantedsomeplacetoshutherselfupinifoneofemcome。And——
andafterdinnerto-dayshesentmeinhereforsomethin’andthenslammedthedooronme。Saidshecal’latedI’dstayputtillshegotbackfromThankful’s。SheknewmightywellIcouldn’tgetoutofthewindow，’causeitwon’topennofurther’n’tisnow。I
wa’n’tneversoprovokedinmylife。’Tain’tnowaytotreatyourownbrother，lockin’himuplikeayoungone；now，isit？“
Ellery’sreplywasnotmadeimmediately。Hehadheardnumerousstoriesconcerningthisoddhousehold，someofwhichseemedtooabsurdforbelief。Butthisperformancewasmoreridiculousthananythinghehadheard。
“’Tain’tright，isit，Mr。Ellery？“demandedKyan。
“Why，“answeredthecallerchokingly，“I——I——itisratherunusual，that’safact。MayIaskwhatyou’vedoneto——“
“Done？Iain’tdonenothin’。She’ssodarnedscaredsomeotherwoman’llgetmymoneythat——yousee，amonthorsoagoI——I——well，shethoughtIdonesomethin’，orwasplannin’todosomethin’that——
KeziahCoffinnevertoldyouanythingaboutme，didshe？“
“No，indeed。WhatcouldMrs。Coffintellmeaboutyou？“
“Allright。Nothin’，nothin’。Onlyifshedid，tain’tso。ButI
ain’tgoin’tostanditnomore，Mr。Ellery。Bein’shutupinadarnedold——excusemyswearin’，Ididn’tmeanto，thoughIgotreasonenough，landknows——bein’shutupinaroomfulloftrunksandoddsandendsisgoin’toofur。Ineverwanttosmelloldclothesag’inlong’sIlive。Wouldyoustanditifyouwasme，Mr。
Ellery？“
“Why，ofcourseImustn’tinterfereinyourfamilymatters，Mr。
Pepper。PerhapsI’dbettercallsomeothertime。Goodafternoon。“
“Holdon！holdon！youain’tansweredmeyet。You’reaministerandIgotoyourmeetin’house。Tellmewhatyou’ddoifyouwasme。Wouldyoustandit？“
Ellerylaughedaloud。
“No，“hesaid，“IsupposeIshouldn’t。“
“Ibetyouwouldn’t！Whatwouldyoudo？“
“Idon’tknow。You’reofage，Mr。Pepper，andyoumustdecideforyourself。IthinkIshoulddeclaremyindependence。Really，I
mustgo。I——“
“Don’tbeinsuchahurry。Iwantadvice。Ineedit。And，sofur’sDECLARIN’goes，thatdon’tdomenogood。ShecandeclaremorethingsinaminutethanIcanthinkofinaweek。Tongue！I
neverheard——No，no！Nevermindthedeclarin’。WhatwouldyouDO？S’posin’youwantedtogooutdoorwithouthavin’hertaggedtoyourcoattails，how’dyoustopthetaggin’？“
Theabsurdityoftheaffairwastoomuchforthevisitor。Heroareda“Ha，ha！“thatcausedAbishaitowaveawarninghandbeneaththesash。
“Ss-h-h！sshh！“hehissed。“Folks’llhearye，andI’dbesoashamediftheydidthatIwouldn’tdasttoshowmyhead。Can’tshowmuchofit，anyhow，justnow。Bygum！I’lldosomethin’
desperate。I——IdunnoasIwon’tpizenher。I——“
“Hush！hush！youmustn’ttalkthatway。I’mafraidyoumustbeveryfascinating，Mr。Pepper。Ifyoursisterissoveryfearfulofyourmeetingotherwomen，itmustbebecauseshehasgoodreasontofear。“
“Stopyourfoolishness！Oh！——I——Iaskyourpardon，Mr。Ellery。
Thatain’tnowaytotalktoaminister。ButI’mgoin’togooutwhenIwanttoifIbustaholethroughtheclapboards。IAIN’T
fascinatin’。Youaskanywoman——excepther——ifIbe，andseewhattheysay。What’llIDO？“
“Ha，ha！Idon’tknow，I’msure。YoumightlockHERup，Isuppose，justforachange。“
“Hey！“Therewasasoundfrombehindthepaneasiftheimprisonedonehadslappedhisknee。“Bygum！Ineverthoughtofthat。Wouldyounow，Mr。Ellery？Wouldyou？Sshh！sshh！somebody’scomin’。
Maybeit’sher。Runaroundtothedoor，Mr。Ellery，quick。Anddon’ttellherI’veseenyou，formercysakes！Don’tnow，willye？
Please！Run！“
Theministerdidnotrun，buthewalkedbrisklyaroundthecorner。
Sureenough，Laviniawasthere，justunlockingthedoor。Sheexpressedherselfasverygladtoseethecaller，usheredhimintothesittingroomanddisappeared，returninginanothermomentwithherbrother，whomsheunblushinglysaidhadbeentakinganap。
Abishaididnotcontradicther；instead，hemerelylookedapprehensivelyattheminister。
Thecallwasashortone。LaviniadidseveneighthsofthetalkingandEllerytherest。Kyanwassilent。Whenthevisitwasover，MissPepperescortedherguesttothedoorandbadehimavolublegood-by。OverhershouldertheministersawKyanmakingfranticsignstohim；heinterpretedthesignalsasarequestforsecrecyconcerningtheinterviewbythewindow。
Severaltimesduringtheremainderofthatweekhesurprisedhishousekeeperbysuddenlylaughingaloudwhentherewas，apparently，nothingtolaughat。Heexplainedtheseoutburstsbysayingthathehadthoughtofsomethingfunny。Keziahsuggestedthatitmustbemightyfunnytomakehimlaughinthemiddleofsermonwriting。
“I’veheardsermonsthatwerefunny，“shesaid，“thoughtheywasn’tintendedtobe；butwhatI’veheardofyoursain’tthatkind。I
wishyou’dletmeinonthejoke。Ihaven’tbeenfeelin’likelaughin’forthelastfortni’t。“
Shehadbeenrathergraveandpreoccupied，forher，oflate。
Bustlingandbusyshealwayswas，neversittingdownto“rest，“asshecalledit，withoutalapfullofsewing。Theminister’sclothesweremendedandhissocksdarnedastheyhadnotbeensincehismother’sday。Andwithhim，atmealtimes，oraftersupperinthesittingroom，shewasalwayscheerfulandgood-humored。Buthehadheardhersighatherwork，andonce，whenshethoughtherselfunobserved，hesawherwipehereyeswithherapron。
“No，no，“sheprotested，whenheaskedifanythinghadgonewrong。
“I’mallright。Gotalittlecoldorsomethin’，Iguess，that’sall。“
Shewouldnotgiveanyotherexplanationandabsolutelyrefusedtoseethedoctor。Ellerydidnotpressthematter。Hebelievedthe“cold“tobebutanexcuseandwonderedwhattherealtroublemightbe。Itseemedtohimtodatefromtheeveningofhischapelexperience。
Hetoldnoone，notevenher，ofKyan’sconfidentialdisclosure，and，aftersomespeculationastowhetherornottheremightbeasequel，putthewholeludicrousaffairoutofhismind。Heworkedhardinhisstudyandathispastoralduties，andwasconsciousofapleasantfeelingthathewasgaininghispeople’sconfidenceandesteem。
AweekfromthefollowingSundayhedinedinstateattheDaniels’stable。CaptainElkanahwasgraciousandcondescending。Annabelwasmorethanthat。Shewasdressedinhernewestgownandwassoverygushingandaffablethattheministerfeltratherembarrassed。
When，afterthemealwasover，CaptainElkanahexcusedhimselfandwentupstairsforhisSabbathnap，theembarrassmentredoubled。
MissAnnabelspokeveryconfidentiallyofherloneliness，without“congenialsociety，“ofhowVERYmuchshedidenjoyMr。Ellery’sintellectualsermons，andespeciallywhatatreatithadbeentohavehimasaguest。
“YoumustdinehereeverySunday，“shesaid。“Itwillbenotroubleatall，andifyousayno，Ishallfeelthatitisbecauseyoudon’twanttoseeme——FATHERandme，ofcourse，Imean。“
Theministerdidn’tacceptthispressinginvitation；ontheotherhand，hecouldnotrefuseitabsolutely。HedidnotlikeMissDanielsovermuch，butshewasthedaughterofhisleadingparishionerandsheandherparentdidseemtolikehim。Sohedodgedtheissueandsaidshewasverykind。
Heleftthebighouseassoonashecouldwithoutgivingoffense，andstartedbacktowardtheparsonage。Buttheafternoonwassofineandtheearlysummerairsodelightfulthathechangedhismindand，jumpingthefenceatthefootofCannonHill，setoffacrossthefieldstowardthebluffsandthebayshore。
Thesunwaslowinthewestasheenteredthegroveofpinesonthebluff。Theredlightbetweentheboughsmadebrilliantcarpetpatternsonthethickpineneedlesandthesmellwasbalsamyandsweet。Betweenthetreetrunkshecaughtglimpsesoftheflats，nowpartiallycovered，andtheyremindedhimofhisnarrowescapeandofNatHammond，hisrescuer。Hehadmetthecaptaintwicesincethen，onceatthestoreandagainonthemainroad，andhadchattedwithhim。Helikedhimimmenselyandwishedhemightcounthimasanintimatefriend。ButintimacybetweenaRegularclergymanandthesonoftheleaderoftheCome-Outerswasoutofthequestion。Partisansonbothsideswouldshriekattheidea。
ThinkingoftheHammondfamilyremindedhimofanothermemberofit。Notthatheneededtobereminded；hehadthoughtofheroftenenoughsincesheranawayfromhimintherainthatnight。Andthepictureinthedoorwaywasnotonethathecouldforget——orwantedto。IfshewerenotaCome-Outer，hecouldmeetheroccasionallyandtheymightbecomefriends。Shewasadisconcertingyoungperson，wholackedproperrespectforoneofhisprofessionandlaughedwhensheshouldn’t——butshewasinteresting，headmittedthat。
Andthenhesawher。Shewasstandingjustattheouteredgeofthegrove，leaningagainstatreeandlookingtowardthesunset。
Sheworeasimplewhitedressandherhathunguponhershouldersbyitsribbons。Therosylightedgedthewhitegownwithpinkandthefringesofherdarkhairwerecrinklylinesoffire。Herfacewasgrave，almostsad。
JohnEllerystoodstill，withonefootupliftedforastep。Thegirllookedoutoverthewaterandhelookedather。Thenacrow，oneofseveralwhirlingabovethepines，spiedtheintruderandscreamedawarning。Theministerwasstartledandsteppedback。A
deadlimbbeneathhisfootcrackedsharply。Graceturnedandsawhim。
“Oh！“shecried。“Whoisit？“
Elleryemergedfromtheshadow。
“Don’tbefrightened，MissVanHorne，“hesaid。“Itis——er——I。“
Thisstatementwasneitherbrilliantnororiginal；evenasanidentificationitlackedconsiderable。
“I？“repeatedthegirl。“Who？Oh！Why——“
Theministercameforward。
“Goodafternoon，MissVanHorne，“hestammered。“I’mafraidI
frightenedyou。“
Shewaslookingathimwithaqueerexpression，almostasifshescarcelybelievedhimreal。
“Ihope——“hebeganagain。Sheinterruptedhim。
“No，“shesaidconfusedly，“youdidn’tfrightenme。IwasalittlestartledwhenIsawyoutherebehindme。Itseemedsoodd，becauseIwasjustthinking——No，Iwasn’tfrightened。Whatistheretobefrightenedof——inTrumet？“
Hehadextendedhishand，butpartiallywithdrewit，notsurehowevensuchaperfunctoryactoffriendlinessmightbereceived。Shesavedhimembarrassmentbyfranklyofferingherown。
“Notmuch，that’safact，“hesaid，inanswertoherquestion。Hewouldhavelikedtoaskwhatshehadbeenthinkingthatmadehissuddenappearanceseemsoodd。
“Youcametoseethesunset，Isuppose？“shesaidhurriedly，asiftoheadoffaquestion。“SodidI。Itisabeautifuleveningforawalk，isn’tit？“
Shehadsaidpreciselythesamethingonthatotherevening，whentheystoodinthemiddleof“Hammond’sTurn-off“inthedrivingrain。Herememberedit，andso，evidently，didshe，forshecoloredslightlyandsmiled。
“Imeanitthistime，“shesaid。“I’mgladyoudidn’tgetcoldfromyourwettingtheotherday。“
“Oh！Iwasn’tverywet。Youwouldn’tletmelendyoutheumbrella，soIhadthattoprotectmeonthewayhome。“
“Notthen；ImeanttheothermorningwhenNat——Cap’nHammond——metyououtontheflats。Hesaidyouwerewadingthemainchannelanditwasoveryourboots。“
“Overmyboots！Isthatallhesaid？Overmyheadwouldbetheplaintruth。TocrossitIshouldhavehadtoswimand，ifwhatI’veheardsinceistrue，IdoubtifIcouldswimthatchannel。
CaptainHammondhelpedmeoutofabadscrape。“
“Oh，no！Iguessnot。Hesaidyouwerecruisingwithoutapilotandhetowedyouintoport；that’sthewayheexpressedit。“
“Itwasworsethanthat，agooddealworse。Itmighthavebeenmylastcruise。I’mprettycertainthatIowethecaptainmylife。“
Shelookedathimuncomprehendingly。
“Yourlife？“sherepeated。