"I'd go."

"Hey? Oh, I----"

"I'd go, if I were you. You know there's likely to be a good deal goin'
on."

"Think so, do you?" Judah was evidently on the fence. "Course, I----
Well, maybe I had better, come to think of it. Good night, Mr. Phillips.
I'll tell you about that octoreen feller next time I see you. So long,
Cap'n Sears. I'll report about," with a wink, "the cacklin' later.
Creepin'! it's most eight now, ain't it?"

He hurried out. Egbert looked rather relieved. He smiled tolerantly.

"Evidently an eccentric, your--er--man," he observed.

"He has his ways, like the majority of us, I guess," declared the
captain, crisply. "Underneath he is as square and big-hearted as they
make. And he's a good friend of mine."

"Oh, yes; yes, I'm sure of it. Captain Kendall----"

"Kendrick, not Kendall."

Mr. Phillips begged pardon for the mistake. It was inexcusable, he
admitted. He had heard the captain's name mentioned so frequently since
his arrival in Bayport, especially by Mrs. Berry and her daughter, "so
favorably, even enthusiastically mentioned," that he certainly should
have remembered it. "I am not quite myself, I fear," he added. "My
recent bereavement and the added shock of the death of my dear old
friend the judge have had their effect. My nerves are--well, you
understand, I am sure."

He made a lengthy call. He talked a great deal, and his conversation was
always interesting. He spoke much of his dear wife, of life abroad, of
Genoa and Leghorn, ports which the captain had visited, and of the
changes in Bayport since his last sojourn in the village. But he said
almost nothing concerning his plans for the future, and of the Fair
Harbor very little. In fact, Sears had the feeling that he was waiting
for him to talk concerning that institution. This the captain would not
do and, at last, Mr. Phillips himself touched lightly upon the fringes
of the subject.

"Do you find your duties in connection with the--ah--retreat next door
arduous, Captain Kendrick?" he inquired.

"Eh?... Oh, no, I don't know as I'd call 'em that, exactly."

"I imagine not, I imagine not. You are--you are, I gather, a sort
of--oh---- What should I call you, captain; in your official capacity,
you know?"

He laughed pleasantly. Sears smiled.

"Give it up," he replied. "I told Elizabeth--Miss Berry, I mean--when I
first took the berth that I scarcely knew what it was."

"Ha, ha! Yes, I can imagine. Miss Berry--charming girl