WearilyKeziahsetaboutpreparingbreakfast。Notthatsheexpectedthemealwouldbeeaten，butitgavehersomethingtodoandoccupiedhermind。Thesunhadrisenandthelightstreamedinattheparsonagewindows。Thebreezeblewfreshandcoolfromtheocean。Itwasamagnificentmorning。
Shecalledtohimthatbreakfastwasready，buthedidnotanswer。
Shecouldeatnothingherself，and，whenthetablewascleared，preparedtodotheweek’swashing，forMondayisalwayswashdayinTrumet。Nooncame，dinnertime，butstillhedidnotcomedown。
AtlastKeziahcouldstanditnolonger。Shedeterminedtogotohim。Sheclimbedthesteepstairsandrappedonthedoorofhisroom。
“Yes？“sheheardhimsay。
“It’sme，“wasthereply。“Mr。Ellery，canIcomein？Iknowyouwanttobealone，butIdon’tthinkyou’doughttobe，toomuch。
I’dliketotalkwithyouafewminutes；mayI？“
Amomentpassedbeforehetoldhertoenter。Hewassittinginachairbythewindow，dressedjustashehadbeenwhenshereturnedfromthetavern。Shelookedsharplyathisfaceasitwasturnedtowardher。Hiseyesweredryandinthemwasanexpressionsohopelessanddrearythatthetearsstartedtoherown。
“John，“shesaid，“Icouldn’tbeartothinkofyourfacin’italoneuphere。Ijusthadtocome。“
Hesmiled，andthesmilewasashopelessasthelookinhiseyes。
“Faceit？“herepeated。“Well，Mrs。Coffin，Imustfaceit，I
suppose。I’vebeenfacingiteversince——sinceIknew。AndIfinditnoeasier。“
“John，whatareyougoin’todo？“
Heshookhishead。“Idon’tknow，“hesaid。“Goawaysomewhere，firstofall，Iguess。Gosomewhereand——andtrytoliveitdown。
Ican’t，ofcourse，butImusttry。“
“Goaway？LeaveTrumetandyourchurchandyourcongregation？“
“DidyousupposeIcouldstayhere？“
“Ihopedyouwould。“
“Andseethesamepeopleandthesameplaces？Anddothesamethings？See——seeHER！Didyou“——hemovedimpatiently——“didyouexpectmetoattendthewedding？“
Sheputoutherhand。“Iknowit’llbehard，“shesaid，“stayin’
here，Imean。Butyourdutytoothers——“
“Don’tyouthinkwe’veheardenoughaboutdutytoothers？Howaboutmydutytomyself？“
“Iguessthat’sthelastthingweoughttothinkaboutintheworld，ifwedotrytobefairandsquare。Yourchurchthinksaheapofyou，John。Theybuildonyou。You’vedonemoreinthelittlewhileyou’vebeenherethanMr。Langleydidinhislastfifteenyears。We’vegrownandwe’redoin’good——doin’it，nottalkin’itinprayermeetin’。Theparishcommitteelikesyouandthepoorfolksinthesocietyloveyou。OldMrs。Princewastellin’me，onlyalittlespellago，thatshedidn’tknowhowshe’dhavepulledthroughthisdreadfultimeif’twa’n’tforyou。Andthere’slotsofothers。Areyougoin’toleavethem？Andwhatreasonwillyougiveforleavin’？“
Heshookhishead。“Idon’tknow，“heanswered。“Imaynotgiveany。ButIshallgo。“
“Idon’tbelieveyouwill。Idon’tbelieveyou’rethatkind。I’vewatchedyouprettysharpsinceyouandIhavebeenlivin’togetherandIhavemorefaithinyouthanthatcomesto。Youhaven’tactedtomelikeacowardandIdon’tthinkyou’llrunaway。“
“Mrs。Coffin，itissoeasyforyoutotalk。PerhapsifIwereinyourplaceIshouldbegivinggoodadviceaboutdutyandnotrunningawayandsoon。Butsupposeyouwereinmine。“
“Well，supposeIwas。“
“Suppose——Oh，butthere！it’spastsupposing。“
“Idon’tknow’s’tis。Mylifehasn’tbeenallsunshineandfairwinds，bynomeans。“
“That’strue。Ibegyourpardon。Youhavehadtroublesand，fromwhatIhear，you’vebornethembravely。Butyouhaven’thadtofaceanythinglikethis。“
“Haven’tI？Well，whatisityou’reaskedtoface？Disappointment？
I’vefacedthat。Sorrowandheartbreak？I’vefacedthem。“
“You’veneverbeenaskedtositquietlybyandseetheoneyoulovemorethanalltheworldmarrysomeoneelse。“
“HowdoyouknowIain’t？HowdoyouknowIain’tdoin’justthatnow？“
“Mrs。Coffin！“
“JohnEllery，youlistentome。YouthinkI’mahomelyoldwoman，probably，setinmywaysasaneight-dayclock。IguessIlooklikeitandactlikeit。ButIain’tsoawfulold——ontheedgeofforty，that’sall。AndwhenIwasyourageIwa’n’tsoawfulhomely，either。Ihadfellersaplentyhangin’roundandIcouldhavemarriedanyoneofadozen。Thisain’tboastin’；landknowsI’mfurfromthat。IwasbroughtupinthistownandevenwhenI
wasagirlatschooltherewasonlyoneboyIcaredtwostrawsabout。HeandIwenttopicnicstogetherandtopartiesandeverywhere。Folksusedtolaughandsaywewaskeepin’comp’ny，eventhen。
“Well，whenIwaseighteen，afterfatherdied，IwentuptoNewBedfordtoworkinastorethere。Wantedtoearnmyownway。AndthisyoungfellerI’mtellin’youaboutwentawaytosea，buteverytimehecomehomefromavoyagehecometoseemeandthingswentonthatwaytillwewaspromisedtoeachother。Theengagementwa’n’tannounced，but’twasso，justthesame。We’dhavebeenmarriedinanotheryear。Andthenwequarreled。
“’Twasafoolquarrel，sameasthatkindgen’rallyare。Asmuchmyfaultashisandasmuchhisasmine，Ical’late。Anyhow，wewasbothproud，orthoughtwewas，andneitherwouldgivein。Andhesaystome，’You’llbesorryafterI’mgone。You’llwishmebackthen。’AndsaysI，BEIN’afool，’Iguessnot。There’sotherfishinthesea。’HesailedandIdidwishhimback，butIwouldn’twritefustandneitherwouldhe。Andthencomeanotherman。“
Shepaused，hesitated，andthencontinued。
“Nevermindabouttheotherman。Hewashandsomethen，inaway，andhehadmoneytospend，andhelikedme。Hewantedmetomarryhim。If——iftheother，theonethatwentaway，hadwrittenIneverwouldhavethoughtofsuchathing，buthedidn’twrite。And，mypridebein’hurt，andall，Ifinallysaidyestothesecondchap。
Myfolksdidalltheycouldtostopit；theytoldmehewasdissipated，theysaidhehadabadname，theytoldmetwa’n’tafitmatch。Andhispeople，havin’money，wasjustassetagainsthistakin’apoorgirl。Bothsidessaidruinwouldcomeofit。ButI
marriedhim。
“Well，forthefirstyear’twa’n’tsobad。Nothappinessexactly，butnotmiseryeither。Thatcomelater。Hispeoplewaswelloffandhe’dneverworkedmuchofany。Hedidforalittlewhileafterwewasmarried，butnotforlong。Thenhebeguntodrinkandcarryonandlosthisplace。Prettysoonhebeguntoneglectmeandatlastwentofftoseaaforethemast。Wewaspooraspoverty，butI
couldhavestoodthat；Ididstandit。Itookinsewin’andkeptupanappearance，somehow。Nevertoldasoul。Hisfolkscomepatronizin’aroundandofferedmemoney，so’sIneedn’tdisgracethem。Isent’emrightaboutinahurry。Onceinawhilehe’dcomehome，gettipsyandabuseme。StillIsaidnothin’。ThankGod，therewasnochildren；that’stheonethingI’vebeenthankfulfor。
“Youcan’tkeepsuchthingsquietalways。Peopleareboundtofindout。Theycometomeandsaid，’Whydon’tyouleavehim？’butI
wouldn’t。Icouldhavedivorcedhimeasyenough，therewasreasonsplenty，butIwouldn’tdothat。Thenwordcamethathewasdead，drownedoffintheEastIndiessomewheres。IcomebackheretokeephouseforSol，mybrother，andIkepthouseforhimtillhediedandtheyofferedmethisplacehereattheparsonage。There！
that’smystory，partofit，more’nIevertoldalivin’soulafore，exceptSol。“
Sheceasedspeaking。Theminister，whohadsatsilentbythewindow，apatheticallylisteningortryingtolisten，turnedhishead。
“Iapologize，Mrs。Coffin，“hesaiddully，“youhavehadtrials，hardones。But——“
“Buttheyain’tashardasyours，youthink？Well，Ihaven’tquitefinishedyet。Afterwordcomeofmyhusband’sdeath，theothermancomeandwantedmetomarryhim。AndIwantedto——oh，howIwantedto！IcaredasmuchforhimasIeverdid；more，Iguess。ButI
wouldn’t——Iwouldn’t，thoughitwrungmyheartouttosayno。I
givehimup——why？’causeIthoughtIhadadutylaidonme。“
Ellerysighed。“Icanseebutoneduty，“hesaid。“ThatisthedutygivenusbyGod，tomarrytheonewelove。“
Keziah’sagitation，whichhadgrownasshetoldherstory，suddenlyflashedintoflame。
“Isthatasfurasyoucansee？“sheaskedfiercely。“It’saneasyduty，then——orlookseasynow。I’vegotaharderone；it’stostandbythepromiseIgaveandthemanImarried。“
Helookedatherasifhethoughtshehadlostherwits。
“Themanyoumarried？“hereplied。“Why，themanyoumarriedisdead。“
“No，heain’t。Youremembertheletteryousawmereadin’thatnightwhenyoucomebackfromCome-Outers’meetin’？Well，thatletterwasfromhim。He’salive。“
Forthefirsttimeduringtheinterviewtheministerrosetohisfeet，shockedoutofhisdespairandapathybythisastoundingrevelation。
“Alive？“herepeated。“YourhusbandALIVE？Why，Mrs。Coffin，thisis——“
Shewavedhimtosilence。“Don’tstopmenow，“shesaid。“I’vetoldsomuch；letmetelltherest。Yes，he’salive。Aliveandknockin’roundtheworldsomewheres。Everylittlewhilehewritesmeformoneyand，ifIhaveany，Isendittohim。Why？Why’causeI’macoward，afterall，Iguess，andI’mscaredhe’lldowhathesayshewillandcomeback。PerhapsyouthinkI’mafooltoputupwithit；that’swhatmostfolkswouldsayiftheyknewit。They’dtellmeIoughttodivorcehim。Well，Ican’t，I
CAN’T。Iwalkedintothemessblindfold；Imarriedhiminspiteofwarnin’sandeverything。Itookhimforbetterorforworse，andnowthathe’sturnedoutworse，Imusttakemymedicine。Ican’tlivewithhim——thatIcan’tdo——butwhileHElivesI’llstayhiswifeandgivehimwhatmoneyIcanspare。That’sthedutyItoldyouwaslaidonme，andit’sahardone，butIdon’trunawayfromit。“
JohnEllerywassilent。Whatcouldhesay？Keziahwenton。
“Idon’trunawayfromit，“sheexclaimed，“andyoumustn’trunawayfromyours。Yourchurchdependsonyou，theytrustyou。Areyougoin’toshow’emtheirtrustwasmisplaced？Thegirlyouwantedistomarryanotherman，that’strue，andit’smightyhard。
Butshe’llmarryagoodman，and，byandby，she’llbehappy。“
“Happy！“hesaidscornfully。
“Yes，happy。Iknowshe’llbehappybecauseIknowshe’sdoin’
what’llbebestforherandbecauseIknowhimthat’stobeherhusband。I’veknownhimallmylife；he’sthatotheronethat——
that——andIgivehimuptoher；yes，Igivehimuptoher，andtrytodoitcheerful，becauseIknowit’sbestforhim。HardforYOU？
GreatLordA’mighty！doyouthinkitain’thardforME？I——I——“
Shestoppedshort；thencoveringherfacewithherapron，sheranfromtheroom。JohnElleryheardherdescendingthestairs，sobbingasshewent。
Allthatafternoonheremainedinhischairbythewindow。Itwassixo’clock，suppertime，whenheenteredthekitchen。Keziah，lookingupfromtheironingboard，sawhim。Hewaswhiteandwornandgrim，butheheldouthishandtoher。
“Mrs。Coffin，“hesaid，“I’mnotgoingaway。You’veshownmewhatdevotiontodutyreallymeans。Ishallstayhereandgoonwithmywork。“
Herfacelitup。“Willyou？“shesaid。“Ithoughtyouwould。I
wassureyouwasthatkind。“
CHAPTERXIV
INWHICHTHESEAMISTSAILS
TheyburiedCaptainEbeninthelittleCome-Outercemeteryattherearofthechapel。Ableak，wind-sweptspotwasthatcemetery，bareoftreesandwithonlyafewgravesandfewerheadstones，fortheCome-Outerswereacomparativelynewsectandtheirgraveyardwasnewinconsequence。ThegravewasdugintheyellowsandbesidethatofMrs。Hammond，Nat’smother，andarounditgatheredthefiftyorsixtyfriendswhohadcometopaytheirlasttributetotheoldsailorandtavernkeeper。
TheCome-Outerswerethere，allofthem，andsomemembersoftheRegularsociety，CaptainZebMayo，Dr。Parker，KeziahCoffin，Mrs。