mention to her--there was no very valid reason, nothing but
what she would have called prejudice. So he hesitated and reddened.

She went on. "_I_ like him," she declared. "He is a gentleman. He is
always polite and considerate--as he was just now about breaking in on
our business talk. What did you dislike about that?"

"Well, I--well--oh, nothin', perhaps."

"I think nothing certainly. He is an old friend of mother's and of the
people here in the Harbor. They all like him very much. I am sorry that
you don't and that you spoke to him as you did. I didn't think you took
unreasonable dislikes. It doesn't seem like you, Cap'n Kendrick."

So once more Sears felt himself to have been put in a bad position and
to have lost ground while Phillips gained it. And, brooding over the
affair, he decided that he must be more careful. If he were not so much
in Elizabeth's company there would be no opportunity for
insinuations--by Egbert Phillips, or any one else. So he put a strong
check upon his inclination to see the young woman, and,
overconscientious as he was so likely to be, began almost to avoid her.
Except when business of one kind or another made it necessary he did not
visit the Harbor. It cost him many pangs and made him miserable, but he
stuck to his resolution. She should not be talked about in connection
with him if he could help it.

He had had several talks with Bradley and with her about her legacy from
Judge Knowles. The twenty-thousand was, so he discovered, already well
invested in good securities and it was Bradley's opinion, as well as his
own, that it should not be disturbed. The bonds were deposited in the
vaults of the Harniss bank, and were perfectly safe. On dividend dates
he and Miss Berry could cut and check up the coupons together. So far
his duties as trustee were not burdensome. Bradley had invested
Cordelia's five thousand for her, so the Berry family's finances were
stable. In Bayport they were now regarded as "well off." Cordelia was
invited to supper at Captain Elkhanah Wingate's, a sure sign that the
hall-mark of wealth and aristocracy had been stamped upon her. At that
supper, to which Elizabeth also was invited but did not attend, Mr.
Egbert Phillips shone resplendent. Egbert was not wealthy, a fact which
he took pains to let every one know, but when he talked, as he did most
of the evening, Mrs. Wingate and her feminine guests sat in an adoring
trance and, after these guests had gone, the