“Yes，Eben’sgone。Hewastookdownsuddenanddiedaboutteno’clocklastnight。Iwasthereand——“
“CaptainEbendead！Why，hewasaswellas——as——Shesaid——Oh，Imustgo！Imustgoatonce！“
Hewasonhiswaytothedoor，butshehelditshut。
“No，“shesaidgravely，“youmustn’tgo。Youmustn’tgo，Mr。
Ellery。That’stheonethingyoumustn’tdo。“
“Youdon’tunderstand。ByandbyIcantellyouwhyImustbethere，butnow——“
“Idounderstand。Iunderstanditall。Lordhelpus！ifI’donlyunderstoodsooner，howmuchofthismighthavebeenspared。WhyDIDN’Tyoutellme？“
“Mrs。Coffin——“
“John——youwon’tmindmycallin’youJohn。I’moldenough，prettynigh，tobeyourmother，andI’vecometofeelalmostasifIwas。
John，you’vegottostayherewithme。Youcan’tgotothathouse。
Youcan’tgotoher。“
“Mrs。Coffin，whatareyousaying？Doyouknow——Haveyou——“
“Yes，Iknowallaboutit。Iknowaboutthemeetin’sinthepinesandall。Oh，whydidn’tyoutrustmeandtellme？Ifyouhad，allwouldhavebeenSOmuchbetter！“
Helookedatherinutteramazement。Thebloodrushedtohisface。
“YouknowTHAT？“hewhispered。
“Yes，Iknow。“
“Didshetell——“
“No，nobodytold。Thatis，onlyalittle。IgotahintandI
suspicionedsomethin’afore。TherestIsawwithmyowneyes。“
Hewasnowwhite，buthisjawshotforwardandhisteethclosed。
“Ifyoudoknow，“hesaid，“youmustrealizethatmyplaceiswithher。Now，whensheisintrouble——“
“Wouldyouwanttomakethattroublegreater？Morethanshecouldbear？“
“IthinkImighthelphertobearit。Mrs。Coffin，youhavebeenmytruestfriend，butone，inTrumet。YouHAVEbeenlikeamothertome。ButIhavethoughtthisouttotheendandIshallgothroughwithit。Itismyaffair——andhers。Ifmyownmotherwerealiveandspokeasyoudo，Ishouldstillgothroughwithit。Itisright，itismylife。I’mnotashamedofanythingI’vedone。
I’mproud。I’mproudofher。AndhumbleonlywhenIthinkhowunworthyIamtobeherhusband。Isupposeyouarefearfulofwhatmycongregationwillsay。Well，I’vethoughtofthat，too，andthoughtitthrough。Whatevertheysayandwhatevertheydowillmakenodifference。DoyousupposeIwillletTHEMkeepmefromher？Pleaseopenthatdoor。“
Hewasverytragicandhandsome——andyoung，ashestoodthere。Thetearsoverflowedthehousekeeper’seyesasshelookedathim。Ifherownlovestoryhadnotbeenbrokenoffatitsbeginning，ifshehadnotthrownherlifeaway，shemighthavehadasonlikethat。
Shewouldhavegivenallthattheyearshadinstoreforher，givenitgladly，tohavebeenabletoopenthedoorandbidhimgo。Butshewasfirm。
“Itain’tthecongregation，John，“shesaid。“NorTrumet，noryourministry。Thatmeansmore’nyouthinkitdoes，now；butitain’tthat。Youmustn’tgotoherbecause——well，becauseshedon’twantyouto。“
“Doesn’twantme？Iknowbetter。“Helaughedinsupremescorn。
“Shedoesn’twantyou，John。Shewouldn’tseeyouifyouwent。
Shewouldsendyouawayagain，sure，sartinsure。Shewould。Andifyoudidn’tgowhenshesentyou，youwouldn’tbethemanIhopeyouare。John，youmustn’tseeGraceagain。Sheain’tyours。Shebelongstosomeoneelse。“
“Someoneelse！“Herepeatedthewordsinawhisper。“SomeoneELSE？Why，Mrs。Coffin，youmustbecrazy！Ifyouexpectmeto——“
“Hush！hush！Iain’tcrazy，thoughthere’stimeswhenIwonderI
ain’t。John，youandGracehaveknowneachotherforafewmonths，that’sall。You’vebeenattractedtoherbecauseshewasprettyandeducatedand——andsweet；andshe’slikedyoubecauseyouwereabouttheonlyyoungpersonwhocouldunderstandherand——andallthat。Andsoyou’vebeenmeetin’andhavecometobelieve——youhave，anyway——that’twassomethin’morethanlikin’。Butyouneitherofyouhavestoppedtothinkthatamarriagebetweenyoutwowasasimpossibleasanythingcouldbe。And，besides，there’sanotherman。Amanshe’sknownallherlifeandlovedandrespected——“
“Stop，Mrs。Coffin！stopthiswickednonsense。Iwon’thearit。“
“John，GraceVanHorneisgoin’tomarryCap’nNatHammond。There！
that’sthelivin’truth。“
Inhisabsoluteconfidenceandfaithhehadagainstartedforthedoor。Nowhewheeledandstaredather。Shenoddedsolemnly。
“It’sthetruth，“sherepeated。“SheandNatarepromisedtoeachother。Cap’nEben，onhisdeathbed，askedDr。Parkerandmetobewitnessestotheengagement。Nowyouseewhyyoumustn’tgonighheragain。“
Hedidnotanswer。Instead，hestoodsilentlystaring。Shesteppedforwardandlaidahandonhisshoulder。
“Setdown，John，“shesaid。“Setdownandletmetellyouaboutit。Yes，yes，youmust。IfItellyou，you’llunderstandbetter。
There！there！don’tyouinterruptmeyetanddon’tyoulookthatway。Dosetdown。“
Sheledhimovertotherocking-chairandgentlyforcedhimintoit。Heobeyed，althoughwithnoapparentrealizationofwhathewasdoing。Stillwithherhandonhisshouldershewentonspeaking。ShetoldhimofhervisittotheHammondtavern，sayingnothingofMr。Pepper’scallnorofherownexperienceinthegrove。ShetoldofCaptainEben’sseizure，ofwhatthedoctorsaid，andoftheoldCome-Outer’sreturntoconsciousness。ThenshedescribedthesceneinthesickroomandhowNatandGracehadplightedtroth。Helistened，atfirststunnedandstolid，thenwithgrowingimpatience。
“Soyousee，“shesaid。“It’ssettled；they’reengaged，andDr。
Parkerwilltelleverybodyoftheengagementthisverymornin’。Itwa’n’tanygreatsurprisetome。Thosetwohavebeenbroughtuptogether；’twasthenaturalthingthatwasalmostboundtohappen。
Eben’sheartwassetonitforyears。Andshe’llhaveagoodhusband，John，thatIknow。Andshe’lldoherbesttomakehimhappy。He’sagoodmanand——“
Theministersprangtohisfeet。
“Agoodman！“hecriedfuriously。“Agoodman！Onewhowillmakeuseofadyingfathertodriveagirlinto——Standaside，Mrs。
Coffin！“
“John，youmustn’tspeakthatwayofNatHammond。Heain’tthekindtodriveagirlagainstherwill。AndGraceisnotonetobedriven。“
“Areyoublind？Can’tyousee？Why，onlyyesterday，she——DoyouthinkIshallpermitsuchawickedcrimeasthatto——“
“Ss-sh！No，itain’twicked，it’sright。Rightandbestforeverybody，forherespecial。Yesterdayshemighthaveforgotforaminute。Butthink，justthinkwhatwouldhavehappenedifshecaredforyou。“
“Butshedoes！Iknowshedoes。Mrs。Coffin，standawayfromthatdoor。“
“No，John；ifyougooutofthatdoornow，togotoher，you’llhavetogobymainstrength。Youshan’twreckyourselfandthatgirlifIcanhelpit。Beaman。“
Thepairlookedateachother。Keziahwasdetermined，butso，evidently，washe。Sherealized，withasinkingheart，thatherwordshadmadeabsolutelynoimpression。Hedidnotattempttopass，butheslowlyshookhishead。
“Mrs。Coffin，“hesaid，“perhapsyoubelieveyou’redoingright。I
hope——yes，I’llgiveyoucreditforthatbelief。ButIKNOWIamrightandIshallgotoher。Sucha——aBARGAINasthatyouhavejusttoldmeofisnomoretoberegardedthan——“
“John，Ibegyou——“
“NO。“
“Thengo。Gothisminuteandbreakherheartandruinherlifeandspoilhergoodnameinthisvillagewhereshe’slivedsinceshewaseightyearsold。Go！beselfish。Isupposethat’spartofaman’smake-up。Go！Nevermindher。Go！“
“Ido’mind’her，asyoucallit。IAMthinkingofher。“
“No，you’renot。It’syourself。“
“Ifitwasmyself——andGodknowsitistheonlyhappinessonearthforme——ifitwasonlymyself，andIreallythoughtshewishedmetostayaway，I’dstay，I’dstay，thoughI’dpraytodiebeforethishourwasover。“
“Iknow，Iknow。I’veprayedtodiemyselfaforenow，butI’mhereyet；andsowillyoube。Wecan’tdiesoeasy。“
“ButIknow——“
“DoyousupposeSHEwouldcometoYOUifsheknewitwouldbeyourruin？“
Hehesitated。Thelasttimetheymet，agesbefore——no，onlythepreviousafternoon——shehadtoldhimitwashishappinessandhisfutureonlythatshethoughtof。Hechokedanddrewhishandacrosshiseyes。
“Mrs。Coffin，“hesaid，“youtellmeitwillbeherruin。YOUtellmeso。YouSAYshedoesn’twantme。Itellyouthattheonlythingthatwillkeepmefromherishearingthatfromherownlips。
WhenshetellsmetoleaveherIwill，andnotbefore。“
“She’lltellyou，John；she’lltellyou。Iknowyoumustdespiseme，prettynigh。Ical’lateyouthinkI’maworldlyoldwoman，carin’nothin’foryourfeelin’s。MaybeI’vetalkedprettyhardinthelastfewminutes，butIhaven’tmeanttobehard。Tobehonest，Ididn’tthinkyou’dlistentome。Iexpectedyou’dinsistonseein’heryourself。Well，then，goandseeher，ifyoumust，thoughwhatwillcomeofitcanonlybemoretrouble，foryouruntheriskoffolksknowin’itandbeginnin’towonder。AndIknowGrace。She’smadeuphermindandwon’tchangeit。ButIdoaskyouthis：Iaskyounottogonow。Waitalittlewhile，do。I
leftherasleep，wornoutbywhatshe’sbeenthroughandundertheeffectsofthedoctor’ssleepin’medicine。Hesaidshemustrestorhewasafraidherbrainwouldgiveout。Forhersake，then，waitalittle。Then，ifyoudon’thearfromher，maybeIcanarrangeameetin’placewhereyoucanseeherwithoutanyone’sknowin’it。I’lltry。Butdowaitalittlewhile，forhersake，won’tyou？“
Atlasthewaslisteningandhesitating。
“Won’tyou？“beggedKeziah。
“Yes，“heansweredslowly。“I’llwait。I’llwaituntilnoon，somehow，ifIcan。I’lltry。Butnotaminutelater。Notone。
Youdon’tknowwhatyou’reasking，Mrs。Coffin。“
“Yes，Ido。Iknowwell。AndIthankyouforhersake。“
Buthedidnothavetowaituntilnoon。Atsixo’clock，throughthedew-soakedgrassoftheyard，cametheHigginsboy。Forthefirsttimeinhisshortlifehehadbeenawakeallnightandhemovedslowly。
Thehousekeeperopenedthedoor。Ikeheldupanenvelope，clutchedinagrimyhand。
“It’sforyou，Mrs。Keziah，“hesaid。“Gracie，shesentit。Thereain’tnoanswer。“
Keziahtooktheletter。“Howisshe？Andhow’sNat？“sheasked。
“They’redoin’prettywell，somasays。Ma’stherenowandthey’vesentforHannahPoundberry。Gee！“headded，yawning，“Iain’tsleptawink。Beenonthejump，nowItellye。Didn’tnoneofthemCome-Outersgitin，notone。Isent’emonthehometackabilin’。YououghttohearmegiveoldZekeBassettHailColumby！
Gosh！Iwasjustahopin’HE’Dcome。“
Mrs。Coffinclosedthedoorandtoreopentheenvelope。Withinwasanotheraddressed，inGrace’shandwriting，toMr。Ellery。Thehousekeeperenteredthestudy，handedittohimandturnedaway。
Theminister，whohadbeenpacingthefloor，seizedthenoteeagerly。Itwaswritteninpencilandbyahandthathadtrembledmuch。Yettherewasnoindecisioninthewrittenwords。
“DearJohn，“wroteGrace。“IpresumeAuntKeziahhastoldyouofuncle’sdeathandofmypromisetoNat。Itistrue。Iamgoingtomarryhim。Iamsurethisisrightandforthebest。Ourfriendshipwasamistakeandyoumustnotseemeagain。Pleasedon’ttry。
“GRACEVANHORNE。“
Beneathwasanotherparagraph。
“Don’tworryaboutme。Ishallbehappy，Iamsure。AndIshallhopethatyoumaybe。Ishallprayforthat。“
Thenotefelltothefloorwitharustlethatsoundedloudinthestillness。ThenKeziahheardtheminister’sstep。Sheturned。Hewasmovingslowlyacrosstheroom。
“John，“shecriedanxiously，“youpoorboy！“
Heansweredwithoutlookingback。
“I’m——going——up——to——my——room，“hesaid，apausebetweeneachword。
“Iwanttobealoneawhile，Mrs。Coffin。“