第76章

"Good land!" she exclaimed."Mr.Langworthy! Why, Mr.Langworthy is the minister at Wellmouth Centre, ain't he? I thought he was.""He is, but perhaps there's another one.""No, there ain't--not another Baptist.And--and this church, what little I can see of it, LOOKS like the Wellmouth Centre Baptist Church, too; I declare it does!...Where are you goin'?"Caleb did not reply, neither did he turn back.Hannah, who did not propose to be left alone there in the dark, was hurrying after him, but he stopped and when she reached his side she found him holding the lantern and peering at an iron gate in a white fence.His face, seen by the lantern light, was a picture of bewildered amazement.

"What is it?" she demanded."What IS it?"He did not answer, but merely pointed to the gate.

"Eh? What--why--why, Caleb, that's--ain't that the Nickerson memorial gate?...It can't be! But--but it IS! Why--"Mr.Hammond was muttering to himself.

"We took the wrong road at the crossin'," he said."Then we must have switched again, probably when we was arguin' about kindlin'

the fire; then we must have turned again when the harness broke;and that must have fetched us into Lemuel Ellis' wood-lot road that comes out--""Eh? Lemuel Ellis' wood-lot? Why, Lemuel's wood-lot is at--""It's at Wellmouth Centre, that's where 'tis.No wonder that church looked familiar.Hannah, we ain't been nigh Bayport.We've been ridin' round and round in circles through them woods all night.""Caleb HAMMOND!"

Before Caleb could add anything to his astonishing statement the silence of the night was broken by the clang of the bell in the tower of the church.It clanged four times.

"WHAT!" exclaimed Caleb."Only four o'clock! It can't be!""My soul!" cried Miss Parker."only four! Why--why, I thought we'd been ridin' ten hours at least....Caleb Hammond, you and me don't want to find a minister; what we need to look up is a pair of guardians to take care of us."But Mr.Hammond seized her arm.

"Hannah," he cried, excitedly, "do you understand what that means--that clock strikin'? It means that, bein' as we're only five miles from home, we can GET home, if we want to, afore anybody's out of bed.You can sneak up that ladder again; I can get that horse and team back in Thankful's stable; we can both be in our own beds by gettin'-up time and not one soul need ever know a word about this foolishness.If we--"But Miss Parker had not waited for him to finish; she was already on her way to the carryall.

At a quarter after seven that morning Thankful knocked at the door of her boarder's room.

"Mr.Hammond!" she called."Mr.Hammond!"Caleb awoke with a start.

"Eh?" he said.

"Are you up? It's most breakfast time."

Caleb, now more thoroughly awake, looked about his room.It was real; he was actually in it--and safe--and still single.

"Yes--yes; all right," he said."I'll get right up.Must have overslept myself, I guess.What--what made you call me? Nothin'--er--nothin's happened, has it?"

"No, nothin's happened.But you're usually up by seven and, as Ihadn't heard a sound from you, I was afraid you might be sick.""No, no; I ain't sick.I'm feelin' fine.Has--has Kenelm Parker got here yet?""Yes, he's here."

"Ain't--ain't said nothin', has he?"

"Said anything? No.What do you mean? What did you expect him to say?""Nothin', nothin', I--I wondered what sort of a drive he and Imogene had yesterday, that's all.I thought it would be fine to hear him tell about it.You run along, Mrs.Barnes; I'll hurry and get dressed."He jumped out of bed.He was tired and lame and his head ached--but, Oh, he was happy! He had stabled George Washington and reached his room without disturbing anyone.And, as Kenelm had, according to Mrs.Barnes, spoken and appeared as usual, it was evident that Hannah Parker, too, had gotten safely and undetected to her own apartment.

Thankful knocked at his door again.

"I'm sorry," she said, "but Melindy Pease hasn't sent home your mendin' yet.I'm afraid you'll have to do without your--er--your winter things for one more day.""Hey? My winter--Oh, yes, yes.Well, I don't care.It's warmer today than 'twas yesterday.""Oh no, it isn't; it's a good deal colder.I hope you won't catch cold.""No, no, I shan't.I'm feelin' fine."

"Well, thank goodness for that."

"Thank goodness for a good many things," said Mr.Hammond, devoutly.