第88章 IN WHICH A RECEPTION IS CALLED OFF(3)

Somebody'll tell him.Telling things is Trumet's specialty.Then you must stop it.No one must tell him--no one except me.Ishall tell him,of course.He must hear it from me and not from anyone else.He would think I was disloyal and ungrateful--and Iam!I have been!But I was--I COULDN'T help it.You know,doctor,you know--Yes,yes,I know.Well,I'll promise,but it will all come out right,you see.You mustn't think I--we--have been interfering in your affairs,Grace.But we've all come to think a whole lot of that parson of ours and what he wanted we wanted him to have,that's all.I know.Thank you very much for all your kindness,and for your promise.He would have liked to say much more,but he could not,under the circumstances.He stammered a good-by and,with a question concerning Mrs.Coffin's whereabouts,went out to join Captain Zeb.

Well?queried the latter anxiously.How is it?What's up?

What's the next tack?

We'll go to the parsonage,was the gloomy answer.If anybody can see a glimmer in this cussed muddle Keziah Coffin can.Keziah was on her knees in her room,beside a trunk,the same trunk she had been packing the day of the minister's arrival in Trumet.

She was working frantically,sorting garments from a pile,rejecting some and keeping others.She heard voices on the walk below and went down to admit the callers.

What's the matter,Keziah?asked Dr.Parker sharply,after a look at her face.You look as if you'd been through the war.Humph!

I suppose you've heard the news?

Keziah brushed back the hair from her forehead.Yes,she answered slowly.I've heard it.Well,it's great news,and if it wasn't for--if things weren't as they are,I'd be crowing hallelujahs this minute.Trumet has got a good man safe and sound again,and the Lord knows it needs all of that kind it can get.Yes.

Yes.But there's the other matter.I've been to see Grace.She didn't say so,but it was easy enough to see;the man she promised to marry and thought was dead,is alive.She's a girl of her word--she promised him and she promised her dying uncle--and she'll marry him.And then what will become of John Ellery?He'll go downhill so fast that a ship's anchor wouldn't hold him.If he doesn't die I'll have to send him away somewhere,and the Regular church will lose the minister we've fought so hard for.Yes,concurred Zebedee,and them blasted Danielses'll run the shebang and the rest of us'll have to sing small,I tell you.So we've come to you,Keziah,went on the doctor.Do you see any salvation?Yes,I do.

You do?Where?

In Nat Hammond.If he knows Grace doesn't want to marry him,do you suppose he'll hold her to her promise?I don't know.I'm not so sure.Men don't give up girls like that so easy.I wouldn't--by George,I wouldn't!And she won't tell him the whole truth,I'm afraid.She'll pretend to be glad--hang it!she IS glad--to have him home again and--Of course she's glad.Ain't we all glad and happy and thankful?

We ought to be.But--she hesitated--doctor,you leave this to me.So far as John and Grace are concerned you needn't worry.

I'll take it on myself to see that they have each other,as the Almighty meant 'em to.Leave it to me.Just leave it to me.IKNOW I can do it.

She would not say more,nor tell on what grounds she based her optimism.She would go back to the shanty that evening,she said,and stay until the following afternoon.Grace would undoubtedly go to the old tavern to prepare for the homecoming.Let Mrs.Higgins take her place as nurse.

I shall have to leave,myself,she added,for a little while;so perhaps you'd better try to get somebody else to help the Higgins woman.Don't ask me any questions,please don't,and be sure not to say a word to anybody--most of all to Grace.Just do as I tell you and leave it to me.And don't come and see me again until after--after he comes home.Good-by,doctor.Good-by,Cap'n Zeb.She shook hands with each of them,a rather unusual proceeding as they thought of it afterwards.Then they went away and left her.

Humph!mused Parker,as they came out at the gate.Humph!She seems sure,doesn't she.And yet she doesn't act like herself.

Did you notice that?

Yup.I noticed it.But I expect Nat's droppin'out of the clouds shook her up,same as it done the rest of us.Well,never mind.

She's a bully good,capable woman and what she says she'll do she gen'rally does.I'm bettin'on her.By time!I feel better.Captain Elkanah Daniels and his friends were feeling better also,and they were busy.Trumet had a new hero now.On Wednesday the Boston papers printed excerpts from Captain Hammond's story,and these brief preliminary accounts aroused the admiration of every citizen.It was proposed to give him a reception.Elkanah was the moving spirit in the preparations.Captain Nat,so they learned by telegraphing,would arrive on the noon train Thursday.His was not to be a prosaic progress by stage all the way from Sandwich.Aspecial carriage,drawn by the Daniels span and escorted by other vehicles,was to meet the coach at Bayport and bring him to Trumet in triumphant procession.All this was to be a surprise,of course.

Wednesday afternoon the Daniels following was cheered by the tidings that Grace Van Horne had left the beach and was at her old home,the Hammond tavern.And Mrs.Poundberry reported her busy as a bee gettin'things ready.This was encouraging and indicated that the minister had been thrown over,as he deserved to be,and that Nat would find his fiancee waiting and ready to fulfill her contract.Reg'lar whirligig,that girl,sniffed Didama Rogers.