Keziah Coffin Read online

a devoutCome-Outer, to hurry along the main road, a handkerchief at her mouthand her eyes sparkling with fun, was a circumstance calculated tofurnish material for enjoyable scandal. And Didama missed it.

  Other happenings she missed, also. Not knowing of Captain Daniels's callupon Keziah, she was deprived of the pleasure of wonder at the length ofhis stay. She did not see him, in company with Mrs. Coffin, go downthe road in the opposite direction from that taken by Grace. Nor theirreturn and parting at the gate, two hours later. She did not see--butthere! she saw nothing, absolutely nothing--except the scraggy sprucetree in her tiny front yard and the lonely ten feet of walk borderingit. No one traversed that section of walk except old Mrs. Tinker, whowas collecting subscriptions for new hymn books for the Come-Outerchapel. And Didama was particularly anxious NOT to see her.

  The dismal day dragged on. The silver-leaf trees dripped, the hedgeswere shining with moisture. Through the stillness the distant surf alongthe "ocean side" of the Cape growled and moaned and the fog bell at thelighthouse clanged miserably. Along the walk opposite Didama's--themore popular side of the road--shadowy figures passed at long intervals,children going to and from school, people on errands to the store, andthe like. It was three o'clock in the afternoon before a visitor cameagain to the Coffin front gate, entered the yard and rapped at the sidedoor.

  Keziah opened the door.

  "Halloa!" she exclaimed. "Back, are you? I begun to think you'd beenscared away for good."

  Grace laughed as she entered.

  "Well, auntie," she said, "I don't wonder you thought I was scared.Truly, I didn't think it was proper for me to stay. First Kyan and thenCap'n Elkanah, and both of them expressing their wishes to see you aloneso--er--pointedly. I thought it was time for me to go. Surely, you giveme credit for a little delicacy."

  Keziah eyed her grimly.

  "Humph!" she sniffed. "If you'd been a little less delicate aboutfetchin' that hammer, we might have been spared at least one smash-up. Idon't s'pose Laviny'll ever speak to me again. Oh, dear! I guess likelyI'll never get the memory of that--that Kyan thing out of my mind. Inever was so set back in my born days. Yes, you can laugh!"

  She laughed herself as she said it. As for Grace, it was sometime beforethat young lady became coherent.

  "He DID look so funny!" she gasped. "Hopping up and down on that shakychair and holding on to that pipe and--and--O Aunt Keziah, if you couldhave seen your face when I opened that door!"

  "Yes; well, I will say you was sometime gettin' it open. And then, ontop of the whole fool business, in parades Elkanah Daniels and--"

  She paused. Her companion looked delightedly expectant.

  "Yes," she cried eagerly. "Then Cap'n Elkanah came and the very firstthing he said was--I almost laughed in his face."

  "Almost! Humph! that's no exaggeration. The way you put out of that doorwas a caution."

  "Yes, but what did the cap'n mean? Is it a secret? Ahem! shall Icongratulate you, auntie?"

  "Grace Van Horne! there's born fools enough in this town without yourtryin' to be one. You know 'twa'n't THAT. Though what 'twas was surpriseenough, I will say," she added. "Grace, I ain't goin' away to-morrow."

  "You're not? Oh, splendid! Has the cap'n decided to let you stay here?"

  "I guess his decidin' wouldn't influence me, if twas stayin' in hishouse he meant. The only way I could live here would be on his charity,and that would be as poor fodder as sawdust hasty puddin', even if Iwas fond of charity, which I ain't. He said to me--Well, you take yourthings off and I'll tell you about it. You can stay a little while,can't you?"

  "Yes, I was going to stay all the afternoon and for supper, if you'd letme. I knew you had so much to do and I wanted to help. I told uncle andhe said certainly I ought to come. He said he should try to see you andsay good-by before you left tomorrow."

  "You don't say! And me a Regular! Well, I'm much obliged, though I guessyour Uncle Eben won't see me to-morrow--nor speak to me again, when heknows what I AM going to do. Grace, I ain't goin' to leave Trumet, notfor the present, anyhow. I've got a way of earnin' my livin' right here.I'm goin' to keep house for the new minister."

  The girl turned, her hat in her hand.

  "Oh!" she cried in utter astonishment.

  Keziah nodded. "Yes," she affirmed. "That was what Elkanah's proposalamounted to. Ha! ha! Deary me! When he said 'proposal,' I own up fora minute I didn't know WHAT was comin'. After Kyan I was preparedfor 'most anything. But he told me that Lurany Phelps, who the parishcommittee had counted on to keep house for Mr. Ellery, had sent word hersister was sick and couldn't be left, and that somebody must be hiredright off 'cause the minister's expected by day after to-morrow's coach.And they'd gone over every likely candidate in town till it simmereddown to Mehitable Burgess. And Cap'n Zeb Mayo spoke right up in thecommittee meetin' and gave out that if Mehitable kept house for Mr.Ellery he, for one, wouldn't come to church. Said he didn't want to hearsermons that was inspired by HER cookin'. Seems she cooked for the Mayosone week when Mrs. Mayo had gone to Boston, and Cap'n Zeb declares hisdreams that week was somethin' awful. 'And I'm a man with no nerves andmighty little imagination,' he says. 'Land knows what effect a dose ofMehitable's biscuits might have on a MINISTER.'

  "And so," continued Keziah, "they decided Mehitable wouldn't do, andfinally somebody thought of me. I have a notion 'twas Zeb, althoughCap'n Elkanah did his best to make me think 'twas himself. And the cap'nwas made a delegate to come and see me about it. Come he did, and wesettled it. I went down to the parsonage with him before dinner andlooked the place over. There's an awful lot of sweepin' and dustin' tobe done afore it's fit for a body to live in. I did think that when I'dfinished with this house I could swear off on that kind of dissipationfor a while, but I guess, judgin' by the looks of that parsonage, whatI've done so far is only practice." She paused, glanced keenly at herfriend and asked: "Why! what's the matter? You don't act nigh so glad asI thought you'd be."

  Grace said of course she was glad; but she looked troubled,nevertheless.

  "I can hardly make it seem possible," she said. "Is it reallysettled--your salary and everything? And what will you do about yourposition in Boston?"

  "Oh, I'll write Cousin Abner and tell him. Lord love you, HE won't care.He'll feel that he did his duty in gettin' me the Boston chance and if Idon't take it 'tain't his fault. HIS conscience'll be clear. Land sakes!if I could clean house as easy as some folks clear their consciences Iwouldn't have a backache this minute. Yes, the wages are agreed on, too.And totin' them around won't make my back ache any worse, either," sheadded drily.

  Grace extended her hand.

  "Well, Aunt Keziah," she said, "I'm ever and ever so glad for you.I know you didn't want to leave Trumet and I'm sure everyone will bedelighted when they learn that you're going to stay."

  "Humph! that includes Laviny Pepper, of course. I cal'late Laviny'sdelight won't keep her up nights. But I guess I can stand it if she can.Now, Grace, what is it? You AIN'T real pleased? Why not?"

  The girl hesitated.

  "Auntie," she said, "I'm selfish, I guess. I'm glad for your sake; youmustn't think I'm not. But I almost wish you were going to do somethingelse. You are going to live in the Regular parsonage and keep housefor, of all persons, a Regular minister. Why, so far as my seeing you isconcerned, you might as well be in China. You know Uncle Eben."

  Keziah nodded understandingly.

  "Yes," she said, "I know him. Eben Hammond thinks that parsonage isthe presence chamber of the Evil One, I presume likely. But, Grace, youmustn't blame me, and if you don't call I'll know why and I shan't blameyou. We'll see each other once in a while; I'll take care of that. And,deary, I HAD to do it--I just had to. If you knew what a load had beentook off my mind by this, you'd sympathize with me and understand. I'vebeen happier in Trumet than I ever was anywhere else, though I've seensome dark times here, too. I was born here; my folks used to live here.My brother Sol lived and died here. His death was a heavy trouble tome, but the heaviest came
to me when I was somewheres else and--well,somehow I've had a feelin' that, if there was any real joys ever plannedout for me while I'm on this earth, they'd come to me here. I don't knowwhen they'll come. There's times when I can't