ht, just the same. Why, it ain't got any paint left on it."

"Nonsense! It may need a little paint, here and there, but----"

"Humph! A little here and a lot there and a whole lot more in between.
Elvira Snowden, that image looks as if 'twas struck with leprosy, like
Lazarus in the Bible; you know it well as I do."

Sears Kendrick enjoyed the reading of these resolutions. If it were not
for certain elements in the situation he would have considered the
morning's performance the most amusing entertainment he had witnessed
afloat or ashore. He managed not to laugh aloud, although he was obliged
to turn his head away several times and to cough at intervals. Once or
twice he and Elizabeth Berry exchanged glances and the whimsical look of
resignation and humorous appreciation in her eyes showed that she, too,
was keenly aware of the joke.

But at other times she was serious enough and it was her expression at
these times which prevented the captain's accepting the whole ridiculous
affair as a hilarious farce. Then she looked deeply troubled and
careworn and anxious. He began to realize that this affair, funny as it
was, was but one of a series, a series of annoyances and trials and
petty squabbles which, taken in the aggregate, were anything but funny
to her. For it was obvious, the truth of what Judah Cahoon had said and
Judge Knowles intimated, that this girl, Elizabeth Berry, was bearing
upon her young shoulders the entire burden of responsibility for the
conduct and management of affairs in the Fair Harbor for Mariners' Women
at Bayport. Her mother was supposed to bear this burden, but it was
perfectly obvious that Cordelia Berry was incapable of bearing any
responsibilities, including her own personal ones.

Miss Snowden solemnly read the concluding paragraph of the resolutions.
It summed up those preceding it and announced that those whose names
were appended, "being guests at the Fair Harbor, the former home of our
beloved benefactress and friend Mrs. Lobelia Phillips, _nee_ Seymour,
are unanimously agreed that as a simple matter of duty to the
institution and those within its gates, not to mention the beautifying
of Bayport, the collection of lawn statuary and fountain now adorning
the estate of the late deceased Captain Seth Snowden be bought,
purchased and obtained from that estate at the very low price of
seventy-five dollars, this money to be paid from the funds in the Fair
Harbor treasury, and the said statu