owns him. Haven't you found that out?"

"Yup, I cal'late I have and I glory in his spunk."

"I'm glad to hear you say so. Of course Cap'n Elkanah is boss of the
parish committee and--"

"What? No, he ain't nuther. He's head of it, but his vote counts just
one and no more. What makes you say that?"

"Oh, nuthin'. Only I thought maybe, long as Elkanah was feelin' that Mr.
Ellery wa'n't orthodox enough, he might be goin' to make a change."

"He might? HE might! Say, Keziah Coffin, there was Mayos in this town
and in this church afore the fust Daniels ever washed ashore; and
they'll be here when the last one blows up with his own importance. I'm
on that parish committee--you understand?--and I've sailed ships and
handled crews. I ain't so old nor feeble but what I can swing a belayin'
pin. Boss! I'll have you to know that no livin' man bosses me."

"All right! I didn't mean to stir you up, Zebedee. But from things Cap'n
Daniels has said I gathered that he was runnin' the committee. And, as
I'm a friend of Mr. Ellery, it--"

"Friend! Well, so'm I, ain't I? If you ever hear of Daniels tryin' any
tricks against the minister, you send for me, that's all. I'LL show him.
Boss! Humph!"

The wily Keziah alighted at the parsonage gate with the feeling that she
had sown seed in fertile ground. She was quite aware of Captain Zeb's
jealousy of the great Daniels. And the time might come when her parson
needed an influential friend on the committee and in the Regular
society.

The news of the engagement between Captain Nat Hammond and Grace Van
Horne, told by Dr. Parker to one or two of his patients, spread through
Trumet like measles through a family of small children. Didama Rogers
learned it, so did Lavinia Pepper, and after that it might as well
have been printed on the walls for all to read. It was talked over and
gossiped about in every household from the lighthouse keeper's family to
that of George Washington Cash, who lived in the one-room hovel in the
woods near the Wellmouth line, and was a person of distinction, in his
way, being the sole negro in the county. And whenever it was discussed
it was considered a fine thing for both parties concerned. Almost
everyone said it was precisely what they expected.

Annabel Daniels and her father had not expected it. They were, however,
greatly pleased. In their discussion, which lasted far into the night,
Captain Elkanah expressed the opinion that the unexpected denouement was