ame of checkers; the Widow Seth Wray's boy
rested immovable, with his chin and hand on the counter, where he had
been trying since the Widow Holman went out to catch Hackett's eye and
buy a corn-ball. Old Cap'n Billy Wray was the first to break the spell.
He took his cigar from his mouth, and held it between his shaking thumb
and forefinger, while he pursed his lips for speech. "Jabez," he said,
"did Cap'n Sam'l git that coalier?"

"No," answered the whittler, cutting deeper into his chair, "she did n't
signal for him till she got into the channel, and then he'd got a couple
o' passengers for Leyden; and Cap'n Jim brought her up."

"I don't know," said Cap'n Billy, with a stiff yet tremulous reference
of himself to the storekeeper, "as spryness would help her, as long as
he took the notion. I guess he's master of his own ship. Who's he going
to marry? The grahs-widow got well enough?"

"No. As I understand," crackled the store-keeper, "her husband's turned
up. Folks over there seem to think't he's got his eye on the other
doctor."

"Going to marry with her, hey? Well, if either of 'em gets sick they
won't have to go far for advice, and they won't have any doctor's bills
to pay. Still, I shouldn't ha' picked out just that kind of a wife for
him."

"As I understand," the storekeeper began; but here he caught sight of
Widow Seth Wray's boy, and asked, "What's wanted, Bub? Corn-ball?" and
turning to take that sweetmeat from the shelf behind him he added
the rest in the mouth of the hollowly reverberating jar, "She's got
prop'ty."

"Well, I never knew a Mulbridge yet 't objected to prop'ty,--especially,
other folks's."

"Barlow he's tellin' round that she 's very fine appearin'." He handed
the corn-ball to Widow Seth Wray's boy, who went noiselessly out on his
bare feet.

Cap'n Billy drew several long breaths. When another man might have been
supposed to have dismissed the subject he said, "Well, I never knew
a Mulbridge that objected to good looks in women folks. They've all
merried hahnsome wives, ever since the old gentleman set 'em the example
with his second one. They got their own looks from the first. Well," he
added, "I hope she's a tough one. She's got either to bend or to break."

"They say," said Cap'n George Wray, like one rising from the dead to say
it, so dumb and motionless had he been till now, "that Mis' Mulbridge
was too much for the old doctor."

"I don't know about that," Cap'n Billy replied,