Higgins，andIke。Mrs。DidamaRogerswastherealso，notasamourner，butbecause，inhercapacityasgathererofgossip，shemadeitapointnevertomissafuneral。TheRev。AbsalomGott，Come-OuterexhorteratWellmouth，preachedtheshortsermon，andEzekielBassettaddedafewremarks。Thenahymnwassunganditwasover。Thelittlecompanyfiledoutofthecemetery，andCaptainEbenHammondwasbutamemoryinTrumet。
KeziahlingeredtospeakawordwithGrace。Thegirl，lookingverywhiteandworn，leanedonthearmofCaptainNat，whosebigbodyactedasabufferbetweenherandover-sympatheticCome-Outers。
Mrs。CoffinsilentlyheldoutbothhandsandGracetookthemeagerly。
“Thankyouforcoming，AuntKeziah，“shesaid。“Iwassureyouwould。“
“LeastIcoulddo，deary，“wastheolderwoman’sanswer。“YouruncleandIwasgoodfriendsonce；wehaven’tseeneachothersooftenoflateyears，butthatain’tchangedmyfeelin’s。Nowyoumustgohomeandrest。Don’tletanyofthese“——witharatherscornfulglanceatJosiahBadgerandEzekielandtheReverendAbsalom——“theseJob’scomfortersbotheryou。Nat，youseethattheyletheralone，won’tyou？“
CaptainNatnodded。He，too，lookedverygraveandworn。“I’lltendtothem，“hesaidshortly。“Come，Grace，“headded；“let’sgo。“
Butthegirlhungback。“Justaminute，Nat，“shesaid。“I——I——
wouldyoumindifIspoketoAuntKeziah——alone？Ionlywanttosayaword。“
Natstrodeofftothecemeterygate，whereJosiahBadgerstood，brandishingaredcottonhandkerchiefasanottoo-cleanemblemofmourning。Mr。Badgereagerlysprangforward，butranintoanimpossiblebarrierintheformofthecaptain’soutstretchedarm。
Josiahprotestedandthecaptainreplied。Graceleanedforward。
“Auntie，“shewhispered，“tellme：Didaletter——Didhe——“
“Yes，itcame。Igaveittohim。“
“Did——didhetellyou？Doyouknow？“
“Yes，Iknow，deary。“
“Didhe——ishe——“
“He’swell，deary。He’llbeallright。I’lllookoutforhim。“
“Youwill，won’tyou？Youwon’tlethimdoanything——“
“Notathing。Don’tworry。We’vehadalongtalkandhe’sgoingtostayrighthereandgoonwithhiswork。Andnobodyelse’lleverknow，Gracie。“
“How——OAuntKeziah！howhemustdespiseme。“
“Despiseyou！Fordoin’whatwasyourduty？Nonsense！He’llrespectyouforitandcometounderstand’twasbestforbothofyou，byandby。Don’tworryabouthim，Gracie。ItellyouI’lllookoutforhim。“
“Iguessitwillbebetterifhedoesdespiseme。Andhateme，too。Hecan’tdespiseandhatememorethanIdomyself。ButitISright——whatI’mdoing；andtheotherwaswrongandwicked。
Auntie，you’llcomeandseeme，won’tyou？Ishallbesolonesome。“
“Yes，yes；I’llcome。Perhapsnotrightaway。There’sreasonswhyI’dbetternotcomerightaway。But，byandby，afterit’sallsettledandyouandNat“——shehesitatedforaninstantinspiteofherself——“afteryouandNataremarriedI’llcome。“
“Don’ttalkaboutthatNOW。Pleasedon’t。“
“Allright，Iwon’t。Youbeagood，bravegirlandlookoutforNat；that’syourdutyandI’msureyou’lldoit。AndI’lldomybestforJohn。“
“DoyoucallhimJohn？“
“Yup。Wehadasortof——ofadoptin’ceremonytheothermornin’andI——Well，yousee，I’vegottohavesomebodytocallbytheirfrontnameandhe’saboutallI’vegotleft。“
“OAuntKeziah！ifIcouldbeonehalfaspatientandbraveandsweetasyouare——“
“Sssh！herecomesNat。Bekindtohim。He’ssufferin’，too；maybemore’nyouimagine。Heresheis，Nat。Takeherbackhomeandbegoodtoher。“
Thebroad-shoulderedskipperledhischargeoutofthegateanddownthe“Turn-off。“JosiahBadgerlookedafterthemdisgustedly。
AsKeziahapproached，heturnedtoher。
“Iswantoman！“heexclaimed，inoffendedindignation，“ifIain’tlosin’myrespectforthatNatHammond。He’sthef-f-fuf-
for’ardestcrittereverIsee。Iwasjustagoin’tohailGracieandaskherwhatshethoughtaboutmyleadin’someofthemeetin’snowherunclehasbeencalledaloft。Iwantedtoaskheraboutitfust，aforeZekeBassettgotaheadofme，butthatNatwouldn’tletme。Toldmeshemustn’tbeb-b-b-botheredaboutlittlethingsnow。
LITTLEthings！Now，whatdoyouthinkofthat，Mrs。Coffin？AndI
spoketoLotTaylor，oneofourowns-s-sas-sassiety，andaskedwhathethoughtofit，andhesaidformetogohomesetd-d-downandletmyh-h-h-hah-hairgrow。Ofall——“
“Itellyouwhatyoudo，Josiah，“brokeinthevoiceofCaptainZebMayo，“yougohomeorsomewhereelseandsetdownandhaveitcut。
That’lltakeprettynighaslong，and’llkeepitfromwearin’outyourcoatcollar。Keziah，I’vebeenwaitin’foryou。GetinmyshayandI’lldriveyoubacktotheparsonage。“
Mrs。CoffinacceptedtheinvitationandaseatinthechaisebesideCaptainZeb。ThecaptainspokeofthedeadCome-Outerandofhisrespectforhiminspiteofthedifferenceincreed。HealsospokeoftheRev。JohnElleryandoftheaffectionhehadcometofeelfortheyoungman。
“Ilikethatyoungfeller，Keziah，“hesaid。“Likehimforalotofreasons，sameastheboylikedthehash。Foronething，hisreligionain’tallstarchandnosugar。He’sgood-heartedandkindand——andhuman。Heseemstogetjustasmuchsatisfactionoutofthepromiseofheavenashedoesoutofthesartaintyoft’otherport。Heain’tallthetimebangin’thebulkheadandsniffin’
brimstone，likeparsonsIhaveseen。Sulphur’sallrightforaspringmedicine，maybe，butwhenJunecomesIliketorememberthatGodmaderoses。Elkanah，hecomestomeawhileagoandhesays，’Zebedee，’hesays，’don’tyouthinkMr。Ellery’ssermonsmightbemoreorthodox？’’Yes，’saysI，’theymightbe，butwhatamercy’tistheyain’t。’He，he，he！IkindofliketopokeElkanahintheshirtfrontonceinawhile，justtohearitcrackle。Say，Keziah，youdon’tthinktheministerandAnnabelare——“
“No，“wastheemphaticinterruption；“Iknowtheyain’t；heain’t，anyway。“
“Good！ThemDanielsescal’latetheyownthemostofthistownalready；iftheyownedtheministerthey’dswellupsotherestofuswouldhavetogoaloftoroverboard；we’dbecrowdedoffthedecks，sure。“
“Nooneownshim。Haven’tyoufoundthatout？“
“Yup，Ical’lateIhaveandIgloryinhisspunk。“
“I’mgladtohearyousayso。OfcourseCap’nElkanahisbossoftheparishcommitteeand——“
“What？No，heain’tnuther。He’sheadofit，buthisvotecountsjustoneandnomore。Whatmakesyousaythat？“
“Oh，nuthin’。OnlyIthoughtmaybe，longasElkanahwasfeelin’
thatMr。Ellerywa’n’torthodoxenough，hemightbegoin’tomakeachange。“
“Hemight？HEmight！Say，KeziahCoffin，therewasMayosinthistownandinthischurchaforethefustDanielseverwashedashore；
andthey’llbeherewhenthelastoneblowsupwithhisownimportance。I’monthatparishcommittee——youunderstand？——andI’vesailedshipsandhandledcrews。Iain’tsooldnorfeeblebutwhatIcanswingabelayin’pin。Boss！I’llhaveyoutoknowthatnolivin’manbossesme。“
“Allright！Ididn’tmeantostiryouup，Zebedee。ButfromthingsCap’nDanielshassaidIgatheredthathewasrunnin’thecommittee。And，asI’mafriendofMr。Ellery，it——“
“Friend！Well，so’mI，ain’tI？IfyoueverhearofDanielstryin’anytricksagainsttheminister，yousendforme，that’sall。I’LLshowhim。Boss！Humph！“
ThewilyKeziahalightedattheparsonagegatewiththefeelingthatshehadsownseedinfertileground。ShewasquiteawareofCaptainZeb’sjealousyofthegreatDaniels。AndthetimemightcomewhenherparsonneededaninfluentialfriendonthecommitteeandintheRegularsociety。
ThenewsoftheengagementbetweenCaptainNatHammondandGraceVanHorne，toldbyDr。Parkertooneortwoofhispatients，spreadthroughTrumetlikemeaslesthroughafamilyofsmallchildren。
DidamaRogerslearnedit，sodidLaviniaPepper，andafterthatitmightaswellhavebeenprintedonthewallsforalltoread。Itwastalkedoverandgossipedaboutineveryhouseholdfromthelighthousekeeper’sfamilytothatofGeorgeWashingtonCash，wholivedintheone-roomhovelinthewoodsneartheWellmouthline，andwasapersonofdistinction，inhisway，beingthesolenegrointhecounty。Andwheneveritwasdiscusseditwasconsideredafinethingforbothpartiesconcerned。Almosteveryonesaiditwaspreciselywhattheyexpected。
AnnabelDanielsandherfatherhadnotexpectedit。Theywere，however，greatlypleased。Intheirdiscussion，whichlastedfarintothenight，CaptainElkanahexpressedtheopinionthattheunexpecteddenouementwastheresultofhisinterviewwithEben。
HehadtoldtheoldCome-OuterwhatwouldhappentohiswardifshepersistedinherimpudentandaudaciousplottoentrapaRegularclergyman。She，beingdiscovered，hadyielded，perforce，andhadacceptedNatasthenextbestcatch。
Annabelwasnotsatisfiedwiththisexplanation。Ofcourse，shesaid，shedidnotpretendtobelieveGrace’sstatementthatshehadfoundheruncleunconscious。Nodoubtthepairhadhadaninterviewandallthat。Butshebelievedtheministerhimselfhadcometohissensesandhaddismissedthebrazencreature。ShedidnotblameMr。Ellerysomuch。Hewasayoungman，withakindheart，andnodoubtthe“VanHorneperson“hadworkeduponhissympathiesandhadtakenadvantageofhisinexperienceoffemininewiles。
“Ithink，pa，“shesaid，“thatit’sourduty，yoursandmine，totreathimjustaswealwayshave。Hedoesn’tknowthatweknow，andwewillkeepthesecret。And，asChristians，weshouldforgetandforgive。We’llinvitehimhereaswealwayshave，keephimunderourgoodinfluence，andbeverykindtohim，poorinnocent。
AsforCaptainHammond，I’msorryforhim，knowingthekindofwifeheisgoingtohave，butnodoubtCome-Outersarenotparticular。“
KyanPepperwasanotherwhomthenewsoftheengagementsurprisedgreatly。WhenLaviniatoldhimofit，atthedinnertable，hedroppedtheknifehewasholdingandthegreasysectionoffish-
ballbalanceduponit。
“’Bishy，“saidMissPepper，“whatdoyous’posehashappeneddowntotheHammondtavern？“
“Oh，Iknowthat，“wasthereply。“Iheardthatlongago；Cap’nEben’sdead。“
“’Coursehe’sdead；andIknewyouknewit。Landsakes！don’tbesuchaninny。Why，Itoldyoumyself。“
“Well，Ididn’tknowbutyou’dforgot。Anybody’sli’bletoforgetwhothey’vetoldthingsto。Why，I’veforgotmorethings——“
“Yes，thereain’tnodoubtaboutthat。I’vetoldyouamilliontimes，ifIhaveonce，totuckyournapkinroundyourneckwhenyou’vegotyourSundayclotheson。Andthereyoubethisminutewithoutasignofanapkin。“
“Why，Laviny！IMUSThaveitroundmyneck。IknowI——“
“Don’tbesofoolish！ThinkI’mblind？Can’tIseeyouain’tgotit？Nowwhereisit？“
Kyanbeganafutilehuntforthemissingnapkin，inhislap，onthetable，andfinallyunderit。
“Idon’tunderstand，“hestammered，“wherethatnapkincanbe。I’mjustassureIhaditandnowI’mjustassureIain’tgotit。
Whatdoyous’poseIdonewithit？“
“Goodnessknows！’Twouldn’tsurprisemeifyou’detit，you’rethatabsent-minded。Here！what’sthatstickin’outofyourbreastpocket？“
Herbrotherputhishandtothepocketindicatedandproducedthemissingnapkin，muchcrumpled。
“There！“heexclaimed，inatoneofrelief。“NowIremember。ItmusthavedroppedonthefloorandIthought’twasmyhandkerchiefandpickeditupand——“
“Whatdidyouthinkyou’dbecarryin’awhitehandkerchieffor，onaweekday？“
“Well，IhadonmySundaysuitand——“
“Yes，andforthedearmercysakesWHYhaveyougotiton？“
Kyansawanopportunityforself-justification。
“YouTOLDmetoputiton，“hedeclaredtriumphantly。“YousaidyourselfI’dbetterrigoutinmySundayclothes’causewemightgotoEben’sfuneral。Youknowyoudid。“
“Heartheman！Andthen，afteryou’vedresseduptogotohisfuneral，youpretendtobelieveI’mgoin’totellyouhe’sdead。I
never——“
“Well，whatISit，then？Heain’tcometolife，hashe？“