Keziah Coffin | Page 4

of plump, strong arms,
a saucer of tacks before her, and a tack hammer with a claw head in her
hand. She was taking up the carpet. Grace Van Horne, Captain Eben
Hammond's ward, who had called to see if there was anything she
might do to help, was removing towels, tablecloths, and the like from
the drawers in a tall "high-boy," folding them and placing them in an
old and battered trunk. The pair had been discussing the subject which
all Trumet had discussed for three weeks, namely, the "calling" to the
pastorate of the "Regular" church of the Rev. John Ellery, the young
divinity student, who was to take the place of old Parson Langley,
minister in the parish for over thirty years. Discussion in the village had
now reached a critical point, for the Reverend John was expected by
almost any coach. In those days, the days of the late fifties, the railroad
down the Cape extended only as far as Sandwich; passengers made the
rest of their journey by stage. Many came direct from the city by the
packet, the little schooner, but Mr. Ellery had written that he should
probably come on the coach.

"They say he's very nice-looking," remarked Miss Van Horne soberly,
but with a MISCHIEVOUS glance under her dark lashes at Keziah.
The lady addressed paused long enough to transfer several tacks from
the floor to the saucer, and then made answer.
"Humph!" she observed. "A good many years ago I saw a theater show
up to Boston. Don't be shocked; those circumstances we hear so much
tell of--the kind you can't control--have kept me from goin' to theaters
much, even if I wanted to. But I did see this entertainment, and a fool
one 'twas, too, all singin' instead of talkin'--op'ra, I believe they called it.
Well, as I started to say, one of the leadin' folks in it was the Old Harry
himself, and HE was pretty good-lookin'."
Grace laughed, even though she had been somewhat shocked.
"Why, Aunt Keziah!" she exclaimed--those who knew Keziah Coffin
best usually called her aunt, though real nephews and nieces she had
none--"why, Aunt Keziah! What do you mean by comparing the-- the
person you just mentioned with a MINISTER!"
"Oh, I wasn't comparin' 'em; I'll leave that for you Come-Outers to do.
Drat this carpet! Seems's if I never saw such long tacks; I do believe
whoever put 'em down drove 'em clean through the center of the earth
and let the Chinymen clinch 'em on t'other side. I haul up a chunk of
the cellar floor with every one. Ah, hum!" with a sigh, "I cal'late they
ain't any more anxious to leave home than I am. But, far's the minister's
concerned, didn't I hear of your Uncle Eben sayin' in prayer meetin'
only a fortni't or so ago that all hands who wa'n't Come-Outers were
own children to Satan? Mr. Ellery must take after his father some.
Surprisin', ain't it, what a family the old critter's got."
The girl laughed again. For one brought up, since her seventh year, in
the strictest of Come-Outer families, she laughed a good deal. Many
Come-Outers considered it wicked to laugh. Yet Grace did it, and hers
was a laugh pleasant to hear and distinctly pleasant to see. It made her
prettier than ever, a fact which, if she was aware of it, should have been
an additional preventive, for to be pretty smacks of vanity. Perhaps she
wasn't aware of it.

"What do you think Uncle Eben would say if he heard that?" she asked.
"Say I took after my father, too, I presume likely. Does your uncle
know you come here to see me so often? And call me 'aunt' and all
that?"
"Of course he does. Aunt Keziah, you mustn't think Uncle Eben doesn't
see the good in people simply because they don't believe as he does.
He's as sweet and kind as--"
"Who? Eben Hammond? Land sakes, child, don't I know it? Cap'n
Eben's the salt of the earth. I'm a Regular and always have been, but I'd
be glad if my own society was seasoned with a few like him. 'Twould
taste better to me of a Sunday." She paused, and then added quizzically:
"What d'you s'pose Cap'n Elkanah and the rest of our parish committee
would say if they heard THAT?"
"Goodness knows! Still, I'm glad to hear you say it. And uncle says you
are as good a woman as ever lived. He thinks you're misled, of course,
but that some day you'll see the error of your ways."
"Humph! I'll have to hurry up if I want to see 'em without spectacles.
See my errors! Land sakes! much as I can do to see the heads of these
tacks.