Imogene was immensely interested in the
history. She had just finished the Revolution and the effect of her
reading was evident when she announced the names she had selected.
The horse, being the most important of all the livestock, she christened
George Washington. The pig was named Patrick Henry. The largest hen
was Martha Washington. "As to them two roosters," she explained, "I did
think I'd name the big handsome one John Hancock and the littlest one
George Three. They didn't like each other, ma'am, that was plain at the
start, so I thought they'd ought to be on different sides. But the very
first fight they had George pretty near licked the stuffin' out of John,
so I've decided to change the names around. That ought to fix it; don't
you think so, ma'am?"
On the seventeenth the High Cliff House was formally opened. It was
much too early to expect "summer" boarders, but there were three of the
permanent variety who had already engaged rooms. Of these the first was
Caleb Hammond, an elderly widower, and retired cranberry grower, whose
wife had died fifteen years before and who had been "boarding around" in
Wellmouth Centre and Trumet ever since. Caleb was fairly well-to-do and
although he had the reputation of being somewhat "close" in many matters
and "sot" in his ways, he was a respected member of society. He selected
a room on the second floor--not a front room, but one on the side
looking toward the Colfax estate. The room on the other side, across the
hall, was taken by Miss Rebecca Timpson, who had taught the "upstairs"
classes in the Wellmouth school ever since she was nineteen, a
considerable period of time.
Pages:
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131