that 'twas kind of poky bein' all alone. Then
they talked about the weather, and about the price of coal, and about
the new plush coat Cap'n Jabez Bailey's wife had just got, and how folks
didn't see how she could afford it with Jabez out of work, and so
on. And all the time the smell of things cookin' drifted through the
doorway. Fin'lly Abbie says, says she:

"'Was you goin' home, Mr. Parker?'

"'Yes, ma'am,' says Kenelm. 'I was cal'latin' to go home and cook
somethin' for dinner.'

"'Well, there, now!' says Abbie. 'I wonder why I didn't think of it
afore! Why don't you come right in and have dinner with me? It's ALL
ready and there's plenty for two. DO come, Mr. Parker, to please ME!'

"'Course Kenelm said he couldn't, and, likewise, of course, he did.
'Twas a smashin' dinner--chicken and mashed potatoes and mince pie, and
the land knows what. He ate till he was full clear to the hatches,
and it seemed to him that nothin' ever tasted quite so good. The widow
smiled and purred and colored up and said it seemed SO good to have a
man at the table; seemed like the old days when Dan'l--meanin' the late
lamented--was on deck, and so forth.

"Then, when the eatin' was over, she says, 'I was expectin' my cousin
Benjamin down for a week or so, but he can't come. He's a great smoker,
and I bought these cigars for him. You might as well use them afore they
dry up.'

"Afore Kenelm could stop her she rummaged a handful of cigars out of the
table drawer in the settin'-room.

"'There!' she says. 'Light right up and be comfortable. It'll seem just
like old times. Dan'l was such a 'smoker! Oh, my!' and she gave a little
squeal; 'I forgot you've stopped smokin'.'

"Well, there was the cigars, lookin' as temptin' as a squid to a
codfish; and there was Kenelm hankerin' for 'em so his fingers twitched;
and there was Abbie lookin' dreadful disapp'inted, but tryin' to make
believe she wasn't. You don't need a spyglass to see what happened.

"'I'd like to,' says Kenelm, pickin' up one of the cigars. 'I'd like to
mighty well, but'--here he bites off the end--''twouldn't hardly do, now
would it? You see--'

"'I see,' says Abbie, scratchin' a match; 'but WE'LL never tell. We'll
have it for our secret; won't we, Mr. Parker?'

"So that's how Kenelm took his first tumble from grace. He told me all
about it one day a good while afterward. He smoked three of the cigars
afore he went home, and promised to come to supper the next afterno