hornpipe on a wasp's nest.
"She'll keep 'em hoppin' high, _I_ tell ye," proclaimed Judah.

Little Mrs. Tidditt would have liked to keep Mr. Phillips hopping high,
and did administer sly digs to his grandeur whenever she could. In the
praise services among the "inmates" which were almost sure to follow a
call of the great man at the Fair Harbor it was disconcerting and
provoking to the worshipers to have Esther refer to the idol as "that
Eg." Mrs. Brackett took her to task for it.

"You ought to have more respect for his wife's memory, if nothin' else,"
snapped Susanna. "If it hadn't been for her and her generosity you
wouldn't be here, Esther Tidditt."

"Yes, and if it hadn't been for her _he_ wouldn't be here. He'd have
been teachin' singin' school yet--if he wasn't in jail. _You_ can call
him Po-or de-ar Mr. Phillips,' if you want to; _I_ call him 'Old Eg.'
And he is a bad egg, too, 'cordin' to my notion. Prob'ly that's why his
wife and Judge Knowles hove him out of the nest."

And, as Egbert climbed in popularity while Captain Sears Kendrick
slipped back, it followed naturally that Mrs. Tidditt became more and
more the friend and champion of the latter. She went out of her way to
do him favors and she made it her business to keep him posted on the
happenings and gossip at the Fair Harbor. He did not encourage her in
this, in fact he attempted tactfully to discourage her, but Esther was
not easily discouraged.

It was she who first called his attention to Miss Snowden's fondness for
the Phillips society.

"Elviry's set her cap for him," declared Mrs. Tidditt. "The way she sets
and looks mushy at him when he's preachin' about Portygee pictures and
such is enough to keep a body from relishin' their meals."

But of late, according to Esther, Elvira was no longer the first violin
in the Phillips orchestra.

"She's second fiddle," announced the little woman. "There's another
craft cut acrost her bows. If you ask me who 'tis I can tell you, too,
Cap'n Sears."

And Sears made it a point not to ask. Once it was Elvira herself who
more than hinted, and in the presence of Elizabeth and the captain. The
latter pair were at the desk together when Miss Snowden passed through
the room.

"Where is mother?" asked Elizabeth. "Have you seen her, Elvira?"

Elvira's thin lips were shut tight.

"Don't ask _me_," she snapped, viciously. "She's out trapping, I
suppose."

"Trapping!" Elizabeth stared at her. "What are you ta