"Yes?" he said, politely. "Oh, yes, yes. Yes, indeed."
She shook her head.
"I do believe you don"t know what I"m talkin" about," she said. "Now, do you?"
"Why--ah--why, Miss Phipps, I confess I--I--"
"Well, I declare! I never saw a person like you in my life. Didn"t you notice ANY difference in that suit of clothes?"
Mr. Bangs, looking downward, suddenly became aware of his immaculate appearance. He was very much upset.
"I--I don"t know what you must think of me," he stammered. "I have been--that is, I was thinking of other things and I--Dear me! Oh, dear!
I am VERY grateful to you. But you shouldn"t take so much trouble."
"It wasn"t any trouble. The suit was hangin" in your closet and I noticed how wrinkled and out of shape it was. And the stains on the trousers--my!"
"Yes--ah--yes. I wore it over at the cemetery the other day and I--ah--imagine I must have gotten down on my knees to examine the tombstones."
"I guess likely. It looked as if you might have crawled from here to the cemetery and back. Now don"t say any more, Mr. Bangs. It was no trouble at all. I always used to take care of father"s clothes. He used to say I kept him all taut and shipshape."
Lulie met them at the door.
"Where is Primmie?" she asked.
"She"ll be over pretty soon," replied Martha. "I knew you wouldn"t need her yet to help with the supper and the longer she stays away the more talk there will be for the rest of us. She is to eat in the kitchen, Lulie, remember that. I WON"T have her chatterin" all through our meal."
"She and Zacheus are to eat together," replied Lulie. "It is all settled. Now if Nelson will only come. He is going to get away just as soon as the down train leaves."
He arrived soon afterward, having bicycled over from South Wellmouth.
Primmie arrived also and bursts of her energetic conversation, punctuated by grumblings in Mr. Bloomer"s ba.s.s, drifted in from the kitchen. Supper was a happy meal. Young Howard, questioned by Martha and Lulie--the latter evidently anxious to "show off" her lover--told of his experiences aboard one of Uncle Sam"s transports and the narrow escape from a German submarine. Galusha, decoyed by Miss Phipps, was led into Egypt and discoursed concerning that marvelous country. Lulie laughed and chatted and was engagingly charming and vivacious. Martha was her own cheerful self and the worried look disappeared, for the time, from her face.
After supper was over, the ladies helped Primmie clear the table while the men sat in the sitting room and smoked. The sitting room of the light keeper"s home was even more nautical than that at the Phipps"
place. There was no less than six framed paintings of ships and schooners on the walls, and mantel and what-not bore salt-water curios of many kinds handed down by generations of seafaring Halletts--whales"
teeth, little ships in bottles, idols from the South Sea islands, bead and bone necklaces, Eskimo lance-heads and goodness knows what. And below the windows, at the foot of the bluff on the ocean side, the great waves pounded and muttered and growled, while high above the chimneys of the little house Gould"s Bluffs light thrust its flashing spear of flame deep into the breast of the black night.
It was almost half past eight when Martha Phipps, whose seat was near the front window of the sitting room, held up a warning hand.
"Listen!" she cried. "Isn"t that an automobile comin"?"
It undoubtedly was. Apparently more than one motor car was approaching along the sandy road leading from the village to the lighthouse.
"Who in the world is it?" asked Martha, drawing aside the window shade and trying to peer out. "Lulie, you don"t think it can be--"
Lulie looked troubled, but she shook her head.
"No, it can"t be," she declared. "The seance was to be away over in Trumet and it is sure to last hours. They couldn"t have gone as far as that and--"
She was interrupted. From the dining room came the sound of rushing feet. Primmie burst into the room. She was wildly excited.
"My Lord of Isrul, Miss Martha!" she cried. "It"s them come back. It is, it is, it is!"
"Who? Who, Primmie?" demanded Miss Phipps. "Stop flappin" your wings--arms, I mean. Who"s come back?"
"The sperit folks. All hands of "em, Marietta and "Phelia Beebe and Abe Hardin" and Cap"n Jeth and all. And--and they"re comin" in here--and here"s Nelson right where Cap"n Jeth can catch him. Oh, my savin" soul!"
From behind her agitated shoulder peered the countenance of Mr. Bloomer.
"She"s right, Lulie," observed Zach, with calm emphasis. "The whole crew of ghost seiners is back here in port again, Cap"n Jeth and all. Better beat for open water, hadn"t you, Nelse, eh? Be the divil to pay if you don"t.... G.o.dfreys, yes!"
CHAPTER VII
The announcement exploded like a bomb in the midst of the little group in the light keeper"s sitting room. Lulie turned a trifle pale and looked worried and alarmed. Martha uttered an exclamation, dropped the window shade and turned toward her young friend. Mr. Bangs looked from one to the other and was plainly very anxious to help in some way but not certain how to begin. Of the four Nelson Howard, the one most concerned, appeared least disturbed. It was he who spoke first and his tone was brisk and businesslike.
"Well, Lulie," he said, "what do you want me to do? Shall I stay and face it out? I don"t mind. There"s nothing for us to be ashamed of, you know."
But Lulie shook her head. "Oh, no, no, Nelson," she cried, "you mustn"t.
You had better go, right away. There will be a scene, and with all those people here--"
Miss Phipps put in a word. "But perhaps Nelson"s right, after all, Lulie," she said. "There is no reason in the world why he shouldn"t come to see you, and maybe he and Cap"n Jeth might as well have a plain understandin" now as any time."
Miss Hallett"s agitation increased. "Oh, no," she cried, again. "Don"t you see it mustn"t happen, on father"s account? You know how he--you know how excited and--and almost violent he gets when any one crosses him nowadays. I"m afraid something might happen to him. I"m afraid.
Please go, Nelson, for my sake."
The young man nodded. "Of course, Lulie," he declared. "You"re perfectly right. I"m off. Good-night."
He was hastening toward the dining room door, but Primmie, dancing up and down like a jumping jack, barred his way.
"No, no, no," she squealed, "you can"t--you can"t. They"re almost to the door now. He"ll catch you sure. He WILL. Oh, my Lord of Isrul!"
Sure enough, the latch of the door leading from the side porch to the dining room was rattling at that moment. Fortunately the door itself was hooked on the inside. Nelson hesitated.
"Humph!" he grunted. "Could I get through to the kitchen and out that way, do you think, Zach?"
"G.o.dfreys, no! Not with them winder curtains strung up higher"n Haman the way they be. No, no! G.o.dfreys!"
Martha stepped across the sitting room and flung open another door on the opposite side. As she did so there sounded a prodigious thumping from the side porch and the bull-like voice of Captain Hallett bellowed his daughter"s name.
"Go let "em in, Lulie," whispered Martha. "I"ll look out for things here. Quick, Nelson, out this way, through the front hall and out the front door. QUICK!"
Captain Jeth was accompanying his shouts by thumping upon the side of the house. Lulie, after one desperate glance at her lover, hurried to the dining room. Young Howard hesitated a moment.
"My hat and coat?" he whispered. "Where are they?"
They were hanging in the entry upon the door of which the captain was thumping. Zach hastened to get them, but before he reached the dining room they heard the outer door open and Jeth"s voice demanding to know why Lulie had kept him waiting so long. Nelson, with a somewhat rueful smile and a wave of the hand to Martha and Galusha, dodged into the blackness of the front hall. Miss Phipps closed the door after him.
The conspirators looked at each other. Primmie"s mouth opened but the expansive hand of Mr. Bloomer promptly covered it and the larger part of her face as well.