ir-balsam and the faintest flavor of seaweed from the ledges, bare and
brown at low tide in the little harbor. It was so still and so early
that the village was but half awake. I could hear no voices but those of
the birds, small and great,--the constant song sparrows, the clink of
a yellow-hammer over in the woods, and the far conversation of some
deliberate crows. I saw William Blackett's escaping sail already far
from land, and Captain Littlepage was sitting behind his closed window
as I passed by, watching for some one who never came. I tried to speak
to him, but he did not see me. There was a patient look on the old man's
face, as if the world were a great mistake and he had nobody with whom
to speak his own language or find companionship.

XVII. A Country Road

WHATEVER DOUBTS and anxieties I may have had about the inconvenience of
the Begg's high wagon for a person of Mrs. Blackett's age and shortness,
they were happily overcome by the aid of a chair and her own valiant
spirit. Mrs. Todd bestowed great care upon seating us as if we were
taking passage by boat, but she finally pronounced that we were properly
trimmed. When we had gone only a little way up the hill she remembered
that she had left the house door wide open, though the large key was
safe in her pocket. I offered to run back, but my offer was met with
lofty scorn, and we lightly dismissed the matter from our minds, until
two or three miles further on we met the doctor, and Mrs. Todd asked him
to stop and ask her nearest neighbor to step over and close the door if
the dust seemed to blow in the afternoon.

"She'll be there in her kitchen; she'll hear you the minute you call;
'twont give you no delay," said Mrs. Todd to the doctor. "Yes, Mis'
Dennett's right there, with the windows all open. It isn't as if my fore
door opened right on the road, anyway." At which proof of composure Mrs.
Blackett smiled wisely at me.

The doctor seemed delighted to see our guest; they were evidently the
warmest friends, and I saw a look of affectionate confidence in their
eyes. The good man left his carriage to speak to us, but as he took Mrs.
Blackett's hand he held it a moment, and, as if merely from force of
habit, felt her pulse as they talked; then to my delight he gave the
firm old wrist a commending pat.

"You're wearing well; good for another ten years at this rate," he
assured her cheerfully, and she smiled back. "I like to keep a strict
account of my