without a
compass. We've got so we think we don't need a pilot or a chart, but
are so everlasting smart we can cruise anywhere on our own hook.' 'Why,
father,' said I, 'what do you mean?' He glared at me then. 'Mean?' he
asked. 'I mean we've had guidance offered to us, offered to us over and
over again, and we've passed it by on the other side.'"

She paused. Galusha looked puzzled.

"Ah--um, yes," he observed. "On the other side? Yes--ah--quite so."

"Oh, that was just his way of speaking, Mr. Bangs. I tried to change
the subject. I asked him if he didn't think we should report the engine
trouble to the inspector when he came next month. It was a mistake, my
saying that. He got up from his chair. 'I'm going to report,' he said.
'I'm going to make my report aloft and ask for guidance. The foghorn
ain't the only thing that's runnin' wild. My own flesh and blood defies
me.'"

Martha interrupted. "You hear that, Mr. Bangs?" she said. "And we were
all hopin' THAT snarl was straightenin' itself out."

Galusha looked very uneasy. "Dear me," he said. "Really, now. Oh, dear!"

"Well," continued Lulie, "that was enough, of course. And the next day,
last Thursday, Zacheus said Ras Beebe told him that Ophelia--that's his
sister, you know--told him that Abel Harding told her that his wife said
that Marietta Hoag told HER--I HOPE I've got all the 'hims' and 'hers'
straight--that Cap'n Jeth Hallett was going to have another seance down
at the light pretty soon. Marietta said that father felt he needed help
from 'over the river'.... What is it, Mr. Bangs?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing. For a moment I did not get the--ah--allusion, the
'over the river,' you know. I comprehend now, the--ah--Styx; yes."

But now Martha looked puzzled.

"Sticks!" she repeated. "Lulie didn't say anything about sticks. Neither
did Cap'n Jethro. Spirits he was talkin' about."

"Yes, I know. Certainly, quite so. The shades beyond the Styx."

"SHADES? STICKS! For mercy's sakes, Mr. Bangs--!"

Lulie laughed aloud. "He means the River Styx, Martha," she explained.
"Don't you know? The river of the dead, that the ancients believed in,
where Charon rowed the ferry."

And now Martha laughed. "My goodness gracious me!" she cried. "Yes, yes,
of course. I've read about it, but it was a long while ago. Mr. Bangs,
I'm dreadfully ignorant, I realize it about once every ten minutes when
I'm with you. Perhaps I've got a little excuse this time. I've been
figurin'