"Come pretty nigh losin" somethin" overboard that time, didn"t you?" he observed.
Mr. Bangs pulled the brown derby as far down upon his head as it would go.
"I--I"m afraid I made a mistake in buying this hat," he confided. "I told the man I didn"t think it fitted me as it should, but he said that was because I wasn"t used to it. I doubt if I ever become used to it.
And it really doesn"t fit any better to-day than it did yesterday."
"New one, ain"t it?" inquired Raish.
"Yes, quite new. My other blew out of the car window. I bought this one at a small shop near the station in Boston. I"m afraid it wasn"t a very good shop, but I was in a great hurry."
"Where was you comin" from when your other one blew away?"
"From the mountains."
"White Mountains?"
"Yes."
Raish said that he wanted to know and waited for his pa.s.senger to say something more. This the pa.s.senger did not do. Mr. Pulcifer whistled a bar or two of his "Follies" song and then asked another question.
"You any relation to Josh?" he asked.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Eh? Oh, that"s all right. I just asked you if you was a relation of Josh"s--of Hall"s, I mean, the folks you"re goin" to see."
"Oh, no, no. We are not related. Merely friends."
"I see. I thought there wan"t any Bangses in that family. His wife was a Cahoon, wan"t she?"
"I--I BEG your pardon?"
"I asked you if she wan"t a Cahoon; Cahoon was her name afore she married Hall, wan"t it?"
"Oh, I don"t know, I"m sure.... Now, really, that"s very funny, very."
"What"s funny?"
"Why, you see, I--" Mr. Bangs had an odd little way of pausing in the middle of a sentence and then, so to speak, catching the train of his thought with a jerk and hurrying on again. "I understood you to ask if she was a--a coc.o.o.n. I could scarcely believe my ears. It WAS funny, wasn"t it?"
Raish Pulcifer thought it was and said so between roars. His conviction that his pa.s.senger was a queer bird was strengthening every minute.
"What"s your line of business, Mr. Bangs?" was his next question.
"I am not a business man. I am connected with the Archaeological Department of the National Inst.i.tute at Washington."
If he had said he was connected with the interior department of a Brontosaurus the statements would have conveyed an equal amount of understanding to the Pulcifer mind. However, it was a fixed principle with Raish never to admit a lack of knowledge of any subject whatsoever.
So he said:
"From Washin"ton, eh? I see. Yes, yes. Cal"latin" to stay here on the Cape long, Mr. Bangs?"
"Why, I don"t know, I"m sure. I have not been--ah--well of late. The doctors advise rest and--ah--outdoor air and all that. I tried several places, but I didn"t care for them. The Halls invited me to visit them and so I--well, I came."
"Never been here to the Cape afore, then?"
"No."
"Well, sir, you"ve come to the right place when you came to Wellmouth. I was born right here in East Wellmouth and I"ve lived here for fifty-two year and if anybody should ask me what I thought of the place I"d tell "em--"
He proceeded to tell what he would tell "em. It was a favorite topic with him, especially in the summer and with visitors from the city.
Usually the discourse ended with a suggestion that if the listener should ever think of investing a little money in real estate "that"ll be wuth gold dollars to you--yes, sir, gold dollars--" he, Horatio G.
Pulcifer, would be willing to point out and exhibit just the particular bit of real estate to invest in. He did not reach the climax this time, however. A gentle nasal sound at his shoulder caused Raish to turn his head. Mr. Bangs had fallen asleep. Awakened by a vigorous nudge, he apologized profusely.
"Really," he declared, with much embarra.s.sment, "I--I am quite ashamed of myself. I--you see--I have, as I say, been somewhat unwell of late, and the fatigue of walking--I DO hope you will excuse me. I was very much interested in what you were saying. What--ah--what was it?"
Before Raish could have repeated his real estate sermon, even had he so desired, the car came to the top of a hill, emerged from the clumps of pines shutting in the road on both sides, and began to descend a long slope. And through the fog and blackness at the foot of the slope there shone dimly first one and then several lights. Mr. Bangs leaned forward and peered around the edge of the wet windshield.
"Is that it?" he asked, in much the same tone that Mrs. Noah may have used when her husband announced that the lookout had sighted Ararat.
Raish Pulcifer nodded. "Yes, sir," he declared, proudly. "Yes, sir, that"s East Wellmouth."
The fog in the valley was thicker even than that upon the hill and East Wellmouth was almost invisible. Mr. Bangs made out a few houses, a crossroads, a small store, and that was about all. From off to the right a tremendous bellow sounded. The fog seemed to quiver with it.
"WHAT is that?" asked Mr. Bangs, nervously. "I"ve heard it ever since I left the train, I believe. Some sort of a--ah--steam whistle, isn"t it?"
"Foghorn over to the light," replied Raish, briskly. "Well, sir, here you be."
The car rolled up to the side of the road and stopped.
"Here you be, Mr. Bangs," repeated Mr. Pulcifer. "Here"s where Hall lives, right here."
Mr. Bangs seemed somewhat astonished. "Right here?" he asked. "Dear me, is it possible!"
"Possible as anything ever you knew in your life. Why not? Ain"t sorry, are you?"
"Oh, no--no, indeed, I"m very glad. I was--ah--a trifle surprised, that is all. You said--I think you spoke of Mr. Hall"s cottage as being--ah--off the track and so I--well I scarcely expected to reach his house so easily."
Raish had forgotten his "off the track" statement, which was purely a commercial fiction invented on the spur of the moment to justify the high price he was charging for transportation. He was somewhat taken aback, but before he could think of a good excuse his companion spoke again. He was leaning forward, peering out at the house before which the car had stopped. It was a small, gray-shingled dwelling, sitting back from the road in the shadow of two ancient "silver-leafs," and Mr. Bangs seemed to find its appearance surprising.
"Are you--are you SURE this is the Hall cottage?" he stammered.
"Am I sure? Me? Well, I ought to be. I"ve lived in East Wellmouth all my life and Josh Hall"s lived in this house ever since I can remember."
This should have been rea.s.suring, but it did not appear to be. Mr.
Pulcifer"s pa.s.senger drew a startled breath.
"What--WHAT is his Christian name?" he asked. "The--the Mr. Hall who lives here?"
"His name is--Why? What"s the matter?"