Andabigbellwasbooming。Thatwashischurchbellandhewouldbelateforthemeeting。
Someonewasspeakingtohim。Heknewthevoice。Hehadknownitalwaysandwouldknowitforever。Itwasthevoicehewantedtohear。“Grace！“hecalled。“Grace！Iwantyou。Don’tgo！Don’tgo！Grace！oh，mydear！don’tgo！“
Thenthevoicehadgone。No，ithadnotgone。Itwasstillthereandhehearditspeakingtohim，begginghimtolisten，pleadingwithhimtogosomewhere，goback，backtosomethingorother。Andtherewasanarmabouthiswaistandsomeonewasleadinghim，helpinghim。Hebrokedownandcriedchildishlyandsomeonecriedwithhim。
Earlythenextmorning，justasdaywasbreaking，abuggy，thehorsewhichdrewitgalloping，rockedandbumpeddownthelighthouselane。Dr。Parker，hisbrowsdrawntogetherandhislipssetwithanxiety，wasdriving。HehadbeenrousedfromsleepinthehotelatHyannisbyaboywithatelegram。“Comequick，“itread。“Mr。Ellerysick。“ThesenderwasNoahEllis，thelightkeeper。Thedoctorhadhiredafasthorse，riddenattopspeedtoBayport，gottenafreshhorsethereandhurriedon。Hestoppedathisownhousebutamoment，merelytorousehiswifeandaskheriftherewasanyfreshnews。Butshehadnotevenheardoftheminister’sseizure。
“Mysoul，Will！“shecried，“youdon’tthinkit’sthesmallpox，doyou？“
“Lordknows！I’mafraidso，“groanedherhusband。“WHATmademeleavehim？Ioughttohaveknownbetter。Ifthatboydies，I’llneverdrawanothereasybreath。“
Herushedout，sprangintothebuggy，anddroveon。Attheropes，earlyasitwas，hefoundasmallgroupwaitingandgazingattheshanty。Thelightkeeperwasthereandtwoorthreeothermen。
Theyweretalkingearnestly。
“Howishe，Noah？“demandedthedoctor，jumpingtotheground。
“Idon’tknow，doc，“repliedEllis。“Iain’theardsencelastnightwhenItelegraphedyou。“
“Haven’theard？Whatdoyoumeanbythat？Haven’tyoubeenwithhim？“
“No-o，“wastherathersheepishreply。“Yousee，I——Iwantedto，butmywife’sawfulscartI’llcatchitand——“
“Thedevil！“Dr。Parkersworeimpatiently。“Whoiswithhimthen？
Youhaven’tlefthimalone，haveyou？“
“No-o，“Noahhesitatedoncemore。“No-o，heain’talone。She’sthere。“
“She？Who？KeziahCoffin？“
“Idon’tcal’lateKeziah’sheardityet。Wewaswaitin’foryou’forewesaidmuchtoanybody。Butshe’sthere——the——theonethatfoundhim。Yousee，hewasoutofhisheadandwanderin’upthelane’mosttothemainroadandshe’dbeencallin’onKeziahandwhenshecomeawayfromtheparsonagesheheardhimhollerin’andgoin’onand——“
“Whodid？“
“Why“——thelightkeeperglancedathiscompanions——“why，doc，’twasGraceVanHorne。Andshefetchedhimbacktotheshantyandthencomeandgotmetotelegraphyou。“
“GraceVanHorne！GraceVan——DoyoumeantosaysheistherewithhimNOW？“
“Yes。Shewouldn’tleavehim。Sheseemed’mostascrazy’shewas。
Mywifeandme，we——“
ButParkerdidnotwaittoheartherest。Heranatfullspeedtothedooroftheshanty。Graceherselfopenedit。
“Howishe？“demandedthedoctor。
“Ithinkheseemsalittleeasier；atanyrate，he’snotdelirious。
He’sinthere。Oh，I’msothankfulyou’vecome。“
“Isthatthedoctor？“calledElleryweaklyfromthenextroom。“Isit？“
“Yes，“repliedParker，throwingoffhiscoatandhat。“Coming，Mr。
Ellery。“
“ForGod’ssake，doctor，sendheraway。Don’tletherstay。Makehergo。MakeherGO！I’vegotthesmallpoxandifshestaysshewilldie。Don’tyouunderstand？sheMUSTgo。“
“Hush，John，“saidGracesoothingly。“Hush，dear。“
Dr。Parkerstoppedshortandlookedather。Shereturnedthelook，butwithouttheslightestsemblanceofself-consciousnessorembarrassment。Shedidnotrealizethatshehadsaidanythingunusual，whichmustsoundinexplicablystrangetohim。Herthoughtswerecenteredinthatadjoiningroomandshewonderedwhyhedelayed。
“Well？“sheaskedimpatiently。“Whatisit？Whydoyouwait？“
Thedoctordidnotanswer。However，hewaitednolonger，buthurriedintohisnewpatient。
CHAPTERXVIII
INWHICHKEZIAHDECIDESTOFIGHT
Thenewswasflyingfromhousetohousealongthemainroad。
Breakfastswereinterruptedassomeneighborrushedintotellthestorywhichanotherneighborhadbroughttohimorher。Mr。Ellerywasverysickanditwasfearedhehadthesmallpox，thatwaswhatMrs。Parker，thedoctor’swife，toldthosewholivednearher。BythetimetheCornersheardofitthetalehadgrownuntiltheministerwassaidtobedying。AndwhenitreachedGaiusWinslow’shomeattheupperendofthetownhewasreporteddead。Thiswasdenied，uponinvestigation，butsoonanotherrumorgrewandspread；
GraceVanHornewaswithhim，hadtakenhimbacktotheshanty，andinsisteduponstayingthereuntilthedoctorcame。Facingthatdreadfuldiseaseand——Itwaswonderful——andqueer。
AttheDanielses’housetheservantgirlrushedintothediningroomtoservethetoastandthestoryatoneswoop。CaptainElkanah’sdignitydesertedhimforaninstantandhiseggspoonjingledtothefloor。Annabel’sfaceturnedadullred。Hereyesflashedsparks。
“Pa！“shecried，“I——I——ifyoudon’tdosomethingnowI’llnever——“
Herfathershookhisheadwarningly。“Debby，“hesaidtothemaid，“youneedn’twait。“
Debbydepartedreluctantly。Afterthekitchendoorhadclosed，CaptainElkanahsaid：“Mydear，wemustn’tbetoohastyinthismatter。Remember，Mr。Elleryisverysick。Asfor——fortheVanHornegirl，wehaven’theardthewholetruthyet。Shemaynotbethereatall，oritmaybejustanaccident——“
“Accident！Pa，youmakemeboil。Accident！Accidentslikethatdon’thappen。Ifyouletherstaythere，orif——Oh，tothinkofit！Andwewerecallinghimaheroand——andeverything！Hero！hestayedtherejustsoshemight——“
“Hush！hush，child！“
“Ishan’thush。Pa，areyougoingtolethimdisgracehimselfwithHER？“
“No，no。Probablythereain’tanyideaofhismarryingher。Ifthereis——“
“Ifthereisyouputhimoutofthechurchandoutofthistown。
AndasforHER——O-oh！Andwe’vebeenhavinghimhereatdinnerand——andIhave——Oh，Ishalldie！IwishIWASdead！“
Thenfollowedhystericsandagony，greedilylistenedtobyDebby，whoseearwasatthecrackofthedoor。CaptainElkanahsoothedandpleadedandtriedtopacify。Itendedbyhispromisingtoinvestigateand，ifnecessary，takesteps’immejitly。’
LaviniaPeppersprungthemineonherbrother。Kyanwashorrified。
HehadgrowntobeoneofEllery’smostdevotedworshipers。
“Smallpox！“hegroaned。“Theministergotthesmallpox。Oh！
that’sturrible。“
“Ain’tit？“observedhissister，alsohorrified，butratherrelishingthehorror。“Andifithadn’tbeenforGracieVanHorne——“
“WHAT？“
“What’sthematterwithyou？Isay，ifGracieVanHornehadn’thappenedtomeethim，wanderin’around，crazyasacoot，andtotedhimback——“
“Gracie——Van——Horne！Godfreysmighty！She——shemethim？Where？
DowntoPeters’sgrove，wasit？“
“Peters’sgrove！No。Whatonearthmadeyouthink’twasthere？
She’dbeenvisitin’KeziahCoffinattheparsonage，andwhenshecomeoutonthemainroadsheheardhimaravin’downthelane。
Musthavepassedrightbythishouseandweneverheardhim。I
neverseesuchadeadmanasyoubewhenyou’reasleep。Youdon’tSOUNDdead，I’llsaythatforyou，butnothin’wakesyouup。“
“Why，Laviny！youneverwokeupyourself。“
“That’sright，layitontome。Iexpectedyouwould；it’sjustlikeyou。ButwhyintimedidyouthinkGracemettheministerwaydowntoPeters’sgrove？That’sthemostloonynotioneverIheard，evenfromyou。Whatmadeyouthinkofit？“
“Nothin’，nothin’。IguessIWASloony，maybe。Dear！dear！dear！
haveyouheardhow’she’sgettin’on？Ishetookbad？“
“Iain’theardnothin’yet，nobodyhas。Butseehere，’BishPepper，youactfunnytome。IwanttoknowmoreaboutthatPeters’sgrovenotion。WHYdidyousayit？“
Kyanwriggledupontherackanddodgedandsquirmedforthenexttwentyminutes。Hetriedhisbesttokeepthefatefulsecret，butheadmittedtoomuch，ornotenough，andhissisterkeptupthecross-examination。Attheendofthesessionshewasstillunsatisfied，butshewasonthescentandherbrotherknewit。Hefledtothewoodshedandtherepunctuatedhismorningtaskofkindlingchoppingwithgroansandawfulforebodings。
Oneoftheveryfirsttohearoftheminister’sillnesswasKeziahCoffin。Mrs。ParkertoldherandKeziahstartedforthebeachbeforethetaleofGrace’spartinthenight’shappeningsreachedthevillage。Shedidnotwaitforaconveyance，hardlywaitedtothrowashawloverhershoulders，butbegantocoverthethreemilesonfoot。ShehadwalkednearlytwothirdsofthedistancewhenCaptainZebMayoovertookherandgaveheraseatinhischaise。
Theysaidlittleduringthedrive，theshockandanxietyforbiddingconversation。Attheropeswasthesamegroup，largernow，andDr。
Parker’shorsewashitchedtooneoftheposts。
“Youcan’tgoin，Mrs。Coffin，“saidThophBlack。“Thedoctorgiveushisordersnottoletnobodygetby。Iguessnobodywantsto，butallthesame——“
KeziahpaidnottheslightestattentiontoMr。Black。Shestoopedbeneathhisarm，undertheropeandwasonherwaytotheshantybeforetheyrealizedherintention。CaptainZebroaredacommandforhertoreturn，butshekepton。Noonefollowed，noteventhecaptain。Mrs。Mayohadstrictlyforbiddenhispassingthedeadline。
Keziahopenedthedoorandenteredthelittlebuilding。Thelivingroomwasempty，butatthesoundofherstepsomeonecamefromtheroomadjoining。ThatsomeonewasGrace。
“AuntKeziah！“shecried。“Whatdidyoucomeherefor？Whydidyou？“
“Gracie！“exclaimedthehousekeeper。“You？——YOU？“
Dr。Parkerappeared，holdingupahandforsilence。
“Hush！“hecried。“He’squietnowandIthinkhewillsleep。
Don’ttalkhere。Gooutside，ifyoumusttalk——andIsupposeyoumust。“
Graceledtheway。Fortunately，thedoorwasonthesidenotvisiblefromthespotwhereCaptainZebandtherestwerestanding。
Keziah，bewilderedandamazedatthegirl’spresence，followeddumbly。
“Now，auntie，“whisperedGrace，turningtoher，“youwanttoknowhowheis，ofcourse。Well，Ithinkheisbetter。Thedoctorthinksso，too。Butwhydidyoucomehere？“
“WhydidIcome？I？Why，becausemyplacewashere。Ibelongedhere。Fortheloveofmercy’ssakeswhatareYOUdoin’here？WithHIM？Andthesmallpox！“
“Hush。Ican’thelpit。Idon’tcare。Idon’tcareforanythinganymore。I’mgladIcame。I’mgladIwastheonetofindhimandhelphim。Nomatterwhathappens——tome——I’mglad。Ineverwassogladbefore。Ilovehim，AuntKeziah。Icansayittoyou，foryouknowit——youmustknowit。ILOVEhimandheneededmeandI
came。HewascallingmynamewhenIfoundhim。Hemighthavediedthere，aloneinthewetandcold，andIsavedhim。Thinkwhatthatmeanstome。“
Thegirlwasinasortoffrenzyofexcitementandhystericalexaltation。Allthenightshehadbeencalmandquiet，repressingherfeelings，andtendingthemansheloved。Now，withsomeonetowhomshecouldconfide，shewascalmnolonger。Keziahansweredhersoothingly，questioningherfromtimetotime，until，atlast，shelearnedthewholestory。
ThedooropenedsoftlyandDr。Parkercameout。
“He’sasleep，“hesaid。“Andhe’sbetter，muchbetter。AndI’lltellyousomethingelse，ifyouwon’tmaketoomuchnoiseaboutit——
hehasn’tgotthesmallpox。“
Thetwowomenlookedathim。
“Fact，“hesaid，withanemphaticnod。“Notasymptomofit。I’dhavebetmybesthatthathewasn’tgoingtohaveitandIwon’thavetogobareheadedyetawhile。Heisprettyclosetobrainfever，though，butIguesshe’lldodgethatthistime，withcare。