ah helped him
get ready; picked out his necktie for him and loaded him up with clean
handkerchiefs and land knows what. She all but give him her blessin'
afore he started; she did say she hoped he'd have a good time."

"She did! Mercy on us! Is the world comin' to an end? Last night she
was--"

"Yes, I know. Well, we've got to give Hannah credit; she's got a head
on her shoulders, even if the head does run pretty strong to mouth.
Imogene's took her measure, judgin' by what you said the girl said to
you. Hannah's thought it over, I cal'late, and she figgers that while
there's life there's hope, as you might say. Her brother may be engaged,
but he ain't married, and, s'long's he ain't, she's got a chance. You
just see, Mrs. Thankful--you see if Hannah ain't sweeter to Kenelm from
this on than a molasses jug stopper to a young one. She'll lay herself
out to make his home the softest spot in creation, so he'll think twice
before leavin' it. That's her game, as I see it, and she'll play it.
Give Hannah credit; she won't abandon the ship while there's a plank
above water. Just watch and see."

Thankful looked doubtful. "Well, maybe so," she said. "Maybe she will be
nice to her brother, but how about the rest of us? She wouldn't speak to
me last night, nor to Emily--and as for Imogene!"

"Yes, I know. But wait until she sees you, or Imogene either, next time.
She'll be smooth as a smelt. I'll bet you anything she'll say that,
after all, she guesses the engagement's a good thing and that Imogene's
a nice girl. There's a whole lot in keepin' the feller you're fightin'
off his guard until you've got him in a corner with his hands down. Last
night Hannah give me my orders to mind my own business. This mornin' she
cooked me the best breakfast I've had since I shipped aboard her vessel.
And kept askin' me to have more. No, Imogene's right; Hannah'll play
the game, and she'll play it quiet. As for tellin' anybody her brother's
engaged, you needn't worry about that. She'll be the last one to tell."

This prophecy seemed likely to prove true. The next time Thankful met
Hannah the latter greeted her like a long-lost friend. During a long
conversation she mentioned the subject of her brother's engagement but
once and then at the very end of the interview.

"Oh, by the way, Mrs. Thankful," she said, "I do beg your pardon for
carryin' on the way I did at your house t'other night. The news was
pitched out at me so sudden that I was bl