Whydon’tyougoseeher，too，Mr。Ellery？’TwouldbeawelcomechangefromZekeBassettandhistribe。Goahead！itwouldbetheAlmighty’sownworkandthesociety’dstandbackofyou，allthemthat’swuthconsiderin’，anyhow。“
ThiswassurprisingadvicefromamemberoftheRegularandwasindicativeofthechangedfeelinginthecommunity，buttheminister，ofcourse，couldnottakeit。Hehadplungedheadlongintohischurchwork，hopingthatitandtimewoulddullthepainofhisterribleshockanddisappointment。Ithadbeendulledsomewhat，butitwasstillthere，andeverymentionofhernamerevivedit。
OneafternoonKeziahcameintohisstudy，wherehewaslaboringwithhisnextSundaysermon，andsatdownintherocking-chair。
Shehadbeenoutandstillworeherbonnetandshawl。
“John，“shesaid，“Iaskyourpardonfordisturbin’you。Iknowyou’rebusy。“
Ellerylaiddownhispen。“Nevertoobusytotalkwithyou，AuntKeziah，“heobserved。“Whatisit？“
“IwantedtoaskifyouknewMrs。Princewassick？“
“No。Isshe？I’mawfullysorry。Nothingserious，Ihope？“
“No，Iguessnot。Onlyshe’sgotacoldandiskindofundertheweather。Ithoughtp’r’apsyou’dliketorunupandseeher。Shethinkstheworldandallofyou，’causeyouwassogoodwhenshewasdistressedaboutherson。Pooroldthing！she’shadahardtimeofit。“
“Iwillgo。Ioughttogo，ofcourse。I’mgladyouremindedmeofit。“
“Yes。Itoldheryouhadn’tmeanttoneglecther，butyou’dbeenbusyfussin’withthefairandthelikeofthat。“
“Thatwasall。I’llgorightaway。Haveyoubeenthereto-day？“
“No。Ijustheardthatshewasailin’fromDidamaRogers。Didamasaidshewasallbutdyin’，soIknewsheprob’lyhadalittlecold，orsomethin’。Ifshewasreallyverybad，Diwouldhavehadherburiedbythistime，so’stobesurehernewswasaheadofanybodyelse’s。Iain’tbeenupthere，butImethert’othermornin’。“
“Didama？“
“No；Mrs。Prince。She’dcomedowntoseeGrace。“
“Oh。“
“Yes。Theoldlady’sbeenawfulkindandsympathizin’since——sincethisnewtrouble。Itremindsherofthelossofherownboy，I
presumelikely，andsoshefeelsforGrace。John，whatdotheysayaroundtownabout——aboutHIM？“
“CaptainHammond？“
“Yes。“
Theministerhesitated。Keziahdidnotwaitforhimtoanswer。
“Isee，“shesaidslowly。“Dotheyallfeelthatway？“
“Why，ifyoumeanthatthey’veallgivenuphope，Ishouldhardlysaythat。CaptainMayoandCaptainDanielswerespeakingofitinmyhearingtheotherdayandtheyagreedthattherewasstillachance。“
“Aprettyslimone，though，theycal’lated，didn’tthey？“
“Well，theywere——weredoubtful，ofcourse。Therewasthepossibilitythathehadbeenwreckedsomewhereandhadn’tbeenpickedup。Theycitedseveralsuchcases。TheSouthPacificisfullofislandswherevesselsseldomtouch，andheandhiscrewmaybeononeofthese。“
“Yes。Theymight，butI’mafraidnot。Ah，hum！“
Sheroseandwasturningaway。Elleryrosealsoandlaidhishandonherarm。
“AuntKeziah，“hesaid，“I’mverysorry。IrespectedCaptainHammond，inspiteof——of——inspiteofeverything。I’vetriedtorealizethathewasnottoblame。HewasagoodmanandIhaven’tforgottenthathesavedmylifethatmorningontheflats。AndI’msosorryforYOU。“
Shedidnotlookathim。
“John，“sheanswered，withasigh，“sometimesIthinkyou’dbettergetanotherhousekeeper。“
“What？Areyougoingtoleaveme？YOU？“
“Oh，’twouldn’tbebecauseIwantedto。Butitseemsalmostasiftherewasakindoffatehangin’overmeandthat，“shesmiledfaintly，“asif’twassortofcatchin’，asyoumightsay。
EverybodyIevercaredforhashadsomethin’happento’em。Mybrotherdied；my——themanImarriedwenttothedogs；thenyouandGracehadtobemiserableandIhadtohelpmakeyouso；IsentNatawayandheblamedmeand——“
“No，no。Hedidn’tblameyou。Hesentyouwordthathedidn’t。“
“Yes，buthedid，allthesame。Hemusthave。IshouldifI’dbeeninhisplace。Andnowhe’sdead，andwon’teverunderstand——
onthisearth，anyhow。IguessI’dbetterclearoutandleaveyouaforeIspoilyourlife。“
“AuntKeziah，you’remyanchortowindward，astheysaydownhere。
IfIlostyou，goodnessknowswhereIshoulddrift。Don’tyouevertalkofleavingmeagain。“
“Thankyou，John。I’mgladyouwantmetostay。Iwon’tleaveyetawhile；never——unlessIhaveto。“
“Whyshouldyoueverhaveto？“
“Well，Idon’tknow。Yes，Idoknow，too。John，Ihadanotherlettert’otherday。“
“Youdid？From——fromthatman？“
“Yup，from——“Foramomentitseemedasifshewereabouttopronounceherhusband’sname，somethingshehadneverdoneinhispresence；butifshethoughtofit，shechangedhermind。
“Fromhim，“shesaid。“Hewantedmoney，ofcourse；healwaysdoes。
Butthatwa’n’ttheworst。TheletterwasfromEngland，andinithewrotethathewasgettin’sickofknockin’aroundandguessedhe’dbeforcomin’totheStatesprettysoonandhuntin’meup。
Saidwhatwastheuseofhavin’anable-bodiedwifeifshecouldn’tgiveherhusbandahome。“
“Thescoundrel！“
“Yes，Iknowwhatheis，maybefullaswellasyoudo。That’swhyIspokeofleavin’you。IfthatmancomestoTrumet，I’llgo，sureasdeath。“
“No，no。AuntKeziah，youmustfreeyourselffromhim。Nopoweronearthcancompelyoutolongersupportsucha——“
“Noneonearth，no。Butit’smypunishmentandI’vegottoputupwithit。Imarriedhimwithmyeyeswideopen，doneittospitethe——theother，asmuchasanything，andImustbeartheburden。
ButItellyouthis，John：ifhecomeshere，tothistown，whereI’vebeenrespectedandconsideredadecentwoman，ifhecomeshere，Igo——somewhere，anywherethat’llbeoutofthesightofthemthatknowme。AndwhereverIgoheshan’tbewithme。THATI
won’tstand！I’dratherdie，andIhopeIdo。Don’ttalktomeanymorenow——don’t！Ican’tstandit。“
Shehurriedoutoftheroom。Later，astheministerpassedthroughthediningroomonhiswaytothedoor，shespoketohimagain。
“John，“shesaid，“Ididn’tsaywhatImeanttowhenIbrokeinonyoujustnow。ImeanttotellyouaboutGrace。Iknewyou’dliketoknowandwouldn’task。She’sbearin’upwell，poorgirl。ShethoughttheworldofNat，eventhoughshemightnothavelovedhiminthewaythat——“
“What’sthat？Whatareyousaying，AuntKeziah？“
“Imean——well，Imeanthathe’dalwaysbeenlikeanownbrothertoherandshecaredalotforhim。“
“Butyousaidshedidn’tlovehim。“
“DidI？Thatwasaslipofthetongue，maybe。ButshebearsitwellandIdon’tthinkshegivesuphope。Itrynotto，forhersake，andItrynottoshowherhowIfeel。“
Shesewedvigorouslyforafewmoments。Thenshesaid：
“She’sgoin’away，Gracieis。“
“Goingaway？“
“Yup。She’sgoin’tostaywitharelationoftheHammondsoverinConnecticutforaspell。Icoaxedherintoit。Stayin’hereathomewithallthissuspenseandwithHannahPoundberry’stonguedroppin’lamentationslikekernelsoutofacornsheller，isenoughtokillahealthybatchofkittenswithninelivesapiece。Shedidn’twanttogo；feltthatshemuststayhereandwaitfornews；
butItoldherwe’dgetnewstoherassoonasitcome，andshe’sgoin’。“
Ellerytookhishatfromthepegandopenedthedoor。HisfootwasonthestepwhenKeziahspokeagain。
“She——itdon’tmeannothin’，John，exceptthatsheain’tsohard-
heartedasmaybeyoumightthink——she’saskedmeaboutyou’mosteverytimeI’vebeenthere。Shetoldmetotakegoodcareofyou。“
Thedoorclosed。Keziahputdownhersewingandlistenedastheminister’sstepsoundedonthewalk。Sherose，wenttothewindowandlookedafterhim。ShewaswonderingifshehadmadeamistakeinmentioningGrace’sname。Shehadmeanttocheerhimwiththethoughtthathewasnotentirelyforgotten，thathewas，atleast，pitied；butperhapsitwouldhavebeenbettertohaveremainedsilent。Hergazeshiftedandshelookedoutoverthebay，blueandwhiteinthesunandwind。Whenshewasagirltheseahadbeenkindtoher，ithadbroughtherfatherhomesafe，andthosehomecomingswereherpleasantestmemories。Butshenowhatedit。
Itwascruelandcoldandwicked。Ithadtakenthemanshelovedandwouldhavelovedtillshedied，eventhoughhecouldneverhavebeenhers，andshehadgivenhimtoanother；ithadtakenhim，killedhimcruelly，perhaps。Andnowitmightbebringingtohertheonewhowasresponsibleforallhersorrow，theoneshecouldnotthinkofwithoutashudder。Sheclungtothewindowsashandprayedaloud。
“Lord！Lord！“shepleaded，“don’tputanymoreonmenow。I
couldn’tstandit！Icouldn’t！“
Ellery，too，wasthinkingdeeplyashewalkedupthemainroadonhiswaytoMrs。Prince’s。Keziah’swordswererepeatingthemselvesoverandoverinhisbrain。Shehadaskedabouthim。Shehadnotforgottenhimaltogether。AndwhatdidthehousekeepermeanbysayingthatshehadnotlovedCaptainHammondinthewaythat——
Notthatitcouldmakeanydifference。Nothingcouldgivehimbackhishappiness。Butwhatdiditmean？
Mrs。Princewasverygladtoseehim。Hefoundherinthebigarmchairwiththequiltedbackandtheprojecting“wings“ateachsideofherhead。Shewaswrappedina“RisingSun“quiltwhichwasapatchworkgloryofredandcrimson。Ayounggirl，aneighbor，whowasapparentlyactinginthedualcapacityofnurseandhousekeeper，admittedhimtotheoldlady’spresence。
“Well，well！“sheexclaimeddelightedly。“Thenyouain’tforgotmealtogether。I’mawfulgladtoseeyou。You’llexcusemefornotgettin’up；myback’sgotmorepainsinitthanthereisbones，agoodsight。Dr。Parkersaysit’snothin’serious，andallIhadtodowassetstillandtakehismedicine。Itoldhimthateithertheachesorthemedicinemadesettin’stillseriousenough，andwhenyouronlyamusementislistenin’toEmelineBerry——she’sthegirlthat’stakin’careofme——whenyouronlyfunislistenin’toEmelinedropyourbestdishesinthekitchensink，it’sprettynightragic。There！there！don’tmindanoldwoman，Mr。Ellery。Setdownandlet’stalk。It’sacomforttobeabletosaysomethin’
besides’Don’t，Emeline！’and’Besureyoupickupallthepieces！’“
Mrs。Prince’sgoodspiritswereofshortduration。Herconversationsoonshiftedtothelossofhersonandshewept，usingthecornerofthequilttowipeawayhertears。“Eddie“hadbeenheridoland，asshesaid，itwashardtobelievewhatfolkskepttellin’her，thatitwasGod’swill，andthereforeallforthebest。
“That’ssoeasytosay，“shesobbed。“MaybeitisbestfortheLord，buthowaboutme？Ineededhimmorethantheydidupthere，orIthinkIdid。OMr。Ellery，Idon’tmeantobeirreverent，butWHYwasitallforthebest？“
Questionslikethisarehardtoanswer。Theyoungministertried，buttheanswerswereunsatisfactory，eventohim。
“Andthere’sNatHammond，“continuedMrs。Prince。“Afineman——nobetteranywhere，eventhoughhisfatherwasaCome-Outer——justgoin’tobemarriedandall，nowtheysayhe’sdrowned——why？Whywasthatnecessary？“
Ellerycouldnotreply。Theoldladydidnotwaitforhimtodoso。ThementionofCaptainNat’snameremindedherofotherthings。
“PoorGracie！“shesaid。“It’sturriblehardonher。IwentdowntoseehertwoorthreetimesaforeIwastookwiththisbackache。
She’sanawfulnicegirl。Andprettyasapink，too。Don’tyouthinkso？Hey？don’tyou？“
“Yes。“
“Yes。I’vebeenkindofexpectin’shemightgetuptoseeme。
HannahPoundberrytoldtheBerrysthatshesaidshewascomin’。I
don’tcareaboutherbein’aCome-Outer。Iain’tproud，Mr。
Ellery。Andthere’sCome-OutersandCOME-Outers。Proud！Lord’a’
mercy！whathasanoldwoman，nextdoortothepoorhouse，gottobeproudover？Yes，shetoldHannahshewascomin’，andtheBerryfolksthoughtitmightbeto-day。SoI’vebeenwatchin’forher。