Fair Harbor

Fair Harbor, by Joseph Crosby
Lincoln

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Title: Fair Harbor
Author: Joseph Crosby Lincoln

Release Date: September 23, 2007 [eBook #22745]
Language: English
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FAIR HARBOR

* * * * * *
By JOSEPH C. LINCOLN
FAIR HARBOR GALUSHA THE MAGNIFICENT THE PORTYGEE
"SHAVINGS" MARY-'GUSTA CAP'N DAN'S DAUGHTER THE
RISE OF ROSCOE PAINE THE POSTMASTER THE WOMAN
HATERS KEZIAH COFFIN CY WHITTAKER'S PLACE CAP'N ERI
EXTRICATING OBADIAH THANKFUL'S INHERITANCE MR.
PRATT MR. PRATT'S PATIENTS KENT KNOWLES: "QUAHAUG"
CAP'N WARREN'S WARDS THE DEPOT MASTER OUR
VILLAGE PARTNERS OF THE TIDE THE OLD HOME HOUSE
CAPE COD BALLADS
* * * * * *
FAIR HARBOR
A Novel
by
JOSEPH C. LINCOLN
Author of "Galusha the Magnificent," "Shavings," "Mary 'Gusta," "Mr.
Pratt," "Cap'n Eri," Etc.

D. Appleton and Company New York :: 1922 :: London
Copyright, 1922, by D. Appleton Company Copyright, 1922, by the
Curtis Publishing Company
Printed in the United States of America

FAIR HARBOR

CHAPTER I
"Hi hum," observed Mr. Joel Macomber, putting down his knife and
fork with obvious reluctance and tilting back his chair. "Hi hum-a-day!
Man, born of woman, is of few days and full of--of somethin', I forget
what--George, what is it a man born of woman is full of?"
George Kent, putting down his knife and fork, smiled and replied that
he didn't know. Mr. Macomber seemed shocked.
"Don't know?" he repeated. "Tut, tut! Dear me, dear me! A young feller
that goes to prayer meetin' every Friday night--or at least waits outside
the meetin'-house door every Friday night--and yet he don't remember
his Scriptur' well enough to know what man born of woman is full of?
My soul and body! What's the world comin' to?"
Nobody answered. The six Macomber children, Lemuel, Edgar,
Sarah-Mary, Bemis, Aldora and Joey, ages ranging from fourteen to
two and a half, kept on eating in silence--or, if not quite in silence, at
least without speaking. They had been taught not to talk at table; their
mother had taught them, their father playing the part of horrible
example. Mrs. Macomber, too, was silent. She was busy stacking plates
and cups and saucers preparatory to clearing away. When the clearing
away was finished she would be busy washing dishes and after that at
some other household duty. She was always busy and always behind
with her work.
Her husband turned to the only other person at the crowded table.
"Cap'n Sears," he demanded, "you know 'most everything. What is it
man born of woman is full of besides a few days?"
Sears Kendrick thoughtfully folded his napkin. There was a hole in the
napkin--holes were characteristic of the Macomber linen--but the
napkin was clean; this was characteristic, too.
"Meanin' yourself, Joel?" he asked, bringing the napkin edges into line.

"Not necessarily. Meanin' any man born of woman, I presume likely."
"Humph! Know many that wasn't born that way?"
Mr. Macomber's not too intellectual face creased into many wrinkles
and the low ceiling echoed with his laugh. "Not many, I don't cal'late,"
he said, "that's a fact. But you ain't answered my question, Cap'n. What
is man born of woman full of?"
Captain Kendrick placed the folded napkin carefully beside his plate.
"Breakfast, just now, I presume likely," he said. "At least, I know two
or three that ought to be, judgin' by the amount of cargo I've seen 'em
stow aboard in the last half hour." Then, turning to Mrs. Macomber, he
added, "I'm goin' to help you with the dishes this mornin', Sarah."
The lady of the house had her own ideas on that subject.
"Indeed you won't do anything of the sort," she declared. "The idea!
And you just out of a crippled bed, as you might say."
This remark seemed to amuse her husband hugely. "Ho, ho!" he
shouted. "That's a good one! I didn't know the bed was crippled, Sarah.
What's the matter with it; got a pain in the slats?"
Sarah Macomber seldom indulged in retort. Usually she was too busy
to waste the time. But she allowed herself the luxury of a half minute
on this occasion.
"No," she snapped, "but it's had one leg propped up on half a brick for
over a year. And at least once a week in all that time you've been
promisin' to bring home a