Imogene nodded emphatically. "She needs two of them," she declared. "One
to manage the place and another to keep that Parker man workin'. He can
eat more and talk more and work less than any guy ever I see. Why, he'd
spend half his time in this kitchen gassin' with me, if I'd let him. But
you bet I don't let him."
The captain thought more and more during the days that followed. At
length he wrote a letter to Emily Howes at South Middleboro. In it he
expressed his fear that Mrs. Barnes, although in all other respects
perfect, was a too generous "provider" to be a success as a
boarding-house keeper in East Wellmouth.
She'll have boarders enough, you needn't worry about that, [he wrote]
but she'll lose money on every one. I've tried to hint, but she don't
take the hint, and it ain't any of my affair, rightly speaking, so I
can't speak out plain. Can't you write her a sort of warning afore it's
too late? Or better still, can't you come down here and talk to her? I
wish you would. Excuse my nosing in and writing you this way, please.
I'm doing it just because I want to see her win out in the race, that's
all. I wish you'd answer this pretty prompt, if you don't mind.
But the reply he hoped for did not come and he began to fear that he had
made a bad matter worse by writing. Doubtless Miss Howes resented his
"nosing in."
Thankful now began advertising in the Boston papers. And the answers to
the ads began to arrive. Sometimes men and women from the city came down
to inspect the High Cliff House, preparatory to opening negotiations for
summer quarters.
Pages:
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137