Keziah Coffin
Page 50
Aunt Keziah?"
"Yup; me. You are in love with him; at any rate, you said so. And you'rehere with him, ain't you? If you two ain't engaged you ought to be."
"Aunt Keziah, how can you speak so? Don't you realize--"
"Look here. Don't you want to marry him?"
"WANT to? Oh, please--How can you? I--"
"S-s-sh! There! there! I am a bull-headed old thing, for sure. But I'mlike the dog that chased the rat across the shelf where they kept thebest china, my intentions are good. Don't cry, deary. Let's get to thebottom of this thing, as the man said when he tumbled into the well.When I first knew that you and John were in love with each other, I feltdreadful. I knew your uncle and I knew Trumet. If you had married then,or let people know that you thought of it, 'twould have been the end,and ruin for John and you. But things are diff'rent now, a good dealdiff'rent. John is worshiped pretty nigh, since his pluck with thatsmallpox man. He could go into church and dance a jig in the pulpit andnobody--or precious few, at least--would find fault. And you've stoodby him. If it wa'n't for you he wouldn't be here to-day, and people knowthat. Dr. Parker and Captain Zebedee and Gaius Winslow and dozens moreare fighting for him and for you. And the doctor says they are going towin. Do you want to spoil it all?"
"Aunt Keziah, that night before uncle died I was upstairs in my room andI heard uncle and Captain Elkanah Daniels talking."
"Elkanah? Was he there at your house?"
"Yes. Somehow or other--I don't know how--he had learned about--aboutJohn and me. And he was furious. Aunt Keziah, I heard him say thatunless I broke off with John he would drive him from the ministry andfrom Trumet and disgrace him forever. He said that if I really cared forhim I would not ruin his life. That brought me to myself. I realized howwicked I had been and what I was doing. That was why I--I--"
"There! there! Tut! tut! tut! hum! Now I see. But, Gracie, you ain'tgoin' to ruin his life. No, nor Elkanah ain't goin' to do it, either.He can't, no matter how hard he tries. I've lived to see the day whenthere's a bigger man in the Reg'lar church than Elkanah Daniels, and Ithank the good Lord for it."
"I never should have come here. I know it. But he needed me. AuntKeziah, he was sick and dying almost, and I couldn't leave him. I came,and now he will be ruined and disgraced."
"He won't, I tell you; he won't. Listen to me. I ain't talkin' for myhealth. Listen!"
She argued and pleaded and coaxed, and, at last, when she began to thinkshe had prevailed, Grace brought forward another objection. She hadgiven her word to her uncle. How could she break that promise made to adying man? She would feel like a traitor.
"Traitor to who?" demanded the housekeeper, losing patience. "Notto poor Nat, for he's gone. And don't you suppose that he and Ebenunderstand things better now, where they are? Do you suppose that Natwouldn't want you to be happy? I know he would, for I knew him."
It was still unsettled when the long talk was over, but Grace agreed notto leave the minister at present. She would stay where she was until hewas himself again, at least. Keziah was satisfied with the preliminaryskirmish. She felt confident of winning the victory, and in the prospectof happiness for others, she was almost happy herself. Yet each time themail was brought to the shanty she dreaded to look at it, and the sightof a stranger made her shake with fear. Ansel Coffin had threatened tocome to Trumet. If he came, she had made up her mind what to do.
The parish committee was to meet. Captain Elkanah had announced hisintention of moving that John Ellery be expelled from the Regularchurch. There was to be no compromise, no asking for a resignation; hemust be discharged, thrown out in disgrace. The county papers were fullof the squabble, but they merely reported the news and did not takesides. The fight was too even for that.
Captain Zeb chuckled. "It's all right, Keziah," he said. "We know what'swhat and who's who. The Rev. Mr. Ellery can preach here for the nexthundred year, if he lives that long and wants to, and he can marrywhoever he darn pleases, besides. Elkanah's licked and he knows it. Heain't got enough backers to man a lobster dory. Let him holler; noisedon't scare grown folks."
One afternoon a few days before the date set for the meeting Elkanahand two or three of his henchmen were on the piazza of the Daniels home,discussing the situation. They were blue and downcast. Annabel was inthe sitting room, shedding tears of humiliation and jealous rage on thehaircloth sofa.
"Well," observed her father, "there's one thing we can do. If thevote in committee goes against us, I shall insist on the calling of acongregational meeting. Hum--ha! Yes, I shall insist on that."
"Won't be no good, cap'n," sniffed Beriah Salters dolefully. "Thebiggest part of the congregation's for Ellery, and you know it. They'reas sot on him as if he was the angel Gabriel. If you'd only told whatyou knew afore this smallpox business, we'd have been able to give himand his Come-Outer woman what b'longs to 'em. But not now."
Captain Daniels shifted uneasily in his chair.
"Hum--ha!" he barked, to cover confusion. "Hum--ha! It seemed to memore--er--charitable to give the misguided young man another chance, andI did it. But--What's that?"
Some one was talking excitedly on the sidewalk beyond the lilac bushesat the border of the Daniels property. Voices answered. Didama Rogersdarted out of her yard and past the house in the direction of thesounds. Salters rose and walked down to the gate.
"Hey!" he shouted. "Halloo! Ahoy there! You, Em'lous, what is it?"
Emulous Sparrow, the fish peddler, was seated in his cart, which wassurrounded by men and women, neighbors of the Danielses. There was aperfect storm of questionings and ejaculations. Salters opened the gateand joined the group. A moment later he came running back, up the walktoward the piazza.
"Cap'n," he shouted. "Cap'n Elkanah, here's news! What do you think? Atelegram's just come from Nat Hammond. He's safe and sound in New York,and he'll be here day after to-morrow."
They could not believe it and rushed out to hear more. Emulous, glowingwith importance, affirmed that it was so. He had seen the telegram atthe store. It was for Grace Van Horne and they were just going to send aboy over to the shanty with it.
"No details nor nothin'," he declared. "Just said 'Am all right.Arrived to-day. Will be in Trumet Thursday.' And 'twas signed 'NathanielHammond.' There!"
"Well, by thunder!" exclaimed Salters. "If that don't beat all. Iwonder what's happened to him? Two year gone and give up for dead, andnow--What do you cal'late it means?"
Captain Elkanah seized him by the arm and led him out of the group.The old man's face was alight with savage joy and his voice shook withexultation.
"I'll tell you one thing it means," he whispered. "It means the end ofEllery, so far as his marrying her is concerned. She gave her word toHammond and she'll keep it. She's no liar, whatever else she is. He maybe minister of the Regular church, though I'LL never set under him, buthe'll never marry her, now."
CHAPTER XIX
IN WHICH A RECEPTION IS CALLED OFF
Far out on the Pacific coast there are two small islands, perhapsa hundred miles distant from one another. The first of these isuninhabited. On the other is a little colony of English-speaking people,half-breed descendants of native women and the survivors of a crew froma British vessel cast away there in the latter part of the eighteenthcentury.
On the first of these islands, the smaller one, the Sea Mist had beenwrecked. Driven out of her course by a typhoon, she staggered throughday after day and night after night of terrific wind and storm until,at last, there was promise of fair weather. Captain Nat, nearly worn outfrom anxiety, care, and the loss of sleep, had gone to his stateroomand the first mate was in charge. It was three o'clock, the wind stillblowing and the darkness pitchy, when the forward lookout shrieked awarning, "Breakers under the lee!" Almost the next instant the ship wason a coral reef, full of water, and the seas breaking over her from stemto stern.
Morning came and showed a little patch of land, with palm trees andtropical vegetation waving in the gusts and green in the sunshine.Captain Nat ordered
the boats to be lowered. Much as he hated thethought, he saw that the Sea Mist had made her last voyage and mustbe abandoned. He went to the cabin, collected papers and charts andprepared to leave. The ship's money, over ten thousand dollars in goldbelonging to the owner and to be used in trade and speculation among theEast Indies, he took with him. Then the difficult and dangerous passagethrough the opening in the reef was begun.
Only the captain's boat reached the shore. The mate's was caught by