She
professed to have discovered a striking resemblance between Miss Howes
and a deceased relative of her own named Melinda Ellis.
"The more I see of you, Miss Howes," she declared, "the more I can't
help thinkin' of poor Melindy. She was pretty and had dark eyes and hair
same's you've got, and that same sort of--of consumptic look to her. Not
that you've got consumption, I don't mean that. Only you look the way
she done, that's all. She did have consumption, poor thing. Everybody
thought she'd die of it, but she didn't. She got up in the night to take
some medicine and she took the wrong kind--toothache lotion it was and
awful powerful--and it ate right through to her diagram. She didn't live
long afterwards, poor soul."
No one said anything for a moment after this tragic recital. Then
Captain Bangs observed cheerfully:
"Well, I guess Miss Howes ain't likely to drink any toothache lotion."
Hannah nodded sedately. "I trust not," she said. "But accidents do
happen. And Melindy and Miss Howes look awful like each other. You're
real well, I hope, Miss Howes. After bein' exposed the way you was last
night I HOPE you haven't caught cold. You never can tell what'll follow
a cold--with some people."
Thankful was glad when the meal was over. She, too, was fearful that her
cousin might have taken cold during the wet chill of the previous night.
But Emily declared she was very well indeed; that the very sight of the
sunlit sea through the dining-room windows had acted like a tonic.
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