"
"Why! Why, Captain Obed! How you do talk! You don't mean that Mr.
Daniels is a cheat, do you? You don't mean such a thing as THAT?"
The captain waved a protesting hand.
"No, no," he declared. "I wouldn't call any lawyer a cheat. That's too
one-sided a deal to be good business. The expense of hirin' counsel is
all on one side if it ever comes to a libel suit. And besides, I don't
think Daniels is a cheat. I never heard of him doin' anything that
wa'n't legally honest. He's sharp and he's smart, but he's straight
enough. I was only jokin', Mrs. Barnes. Sometimes I think I ought to
hang a lantern on my jokes; then folks would see 'em quicker."
So Mr. Daniels came, and Mr. Hammond came, and so also did Miss Timpson.
The first dinner was served in the big dining-room and it was a success,
everyone said so. Beside the boarders there were invited guests, Captain
Bangs and Hannah Parker, and Kenelm also. It was a disappointment to
Thankful, although she kept the disappointment to herself, the fact
that the captain had not shifted what he called his "moorings" to her
establishment. She had hoped he might; she liked him and she believed
him to be just the sort of boarder she most desired. It may be that he,
too, was disappointed. What he said was:
"You see, ma'am, I've been anchorin' along with Hannah and Kenelm now
for quite a spell. They took me in when 'twas a choice between
messin' at the Holt place or eatin' grass in the back yard like King
Nebuchadnezzar.
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