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By Root 5045 0

it’s best to tell people,” Mrs. Kissel went on. “Whenever people tell me I’m always grateful. I don’t care who they are. It reminds me of something that happened to me. Some years ago Mr. Kissel and I went up to Maine for his vacation. Mr. Kissel comes from Maine. He graduated from Bowdoin College. We went up in the sleeping cars. The train arrived at the station early in the morning and I had the most awful time getting my clothes on in that berth. I’d never been in a sleeping car before. Well, when we got off the train there were quite a few people there on the platform. The stationmaster was there, waiting for the mail, I guess, or something like that. Well, he came right over to me. I’d never seen him before in my life and I couldn’t imagine what he wanted. Well, he came right over to me and he said ‘Madam,’ he said in a low voice, ‘Madam, your corset is undone.’” Mrs. Kissel lifted her head and laughed for an instant like a young, young woman. “Oh, I’d never seen him before,” she said, “and I never saw him again, but he came right over to me and told me that and I didn’t resent it. Oh, I didn’t resent it at all. I thanked him and went into the ladies’ room and fixed it and then we took a carriage to the hotel. Those were the days when they had carriages.”

Honora turned and stared at Mrs. Kissel, seized with jealousy, her neighbor seemed so simple and good and to have so few problems on her mind. They were at Travertine then and when the bus stopped Honora got off and marched up the street to the sign painter’s.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Early the next morning Leander walked down the fish-smelling path to the wharf where the Topaze lay. A dozen passengers were waiting to buy their tickets and go aboard. Then he noticed that a sign had been hung on his wheelhouse. Then he thought at once of Honora and wondered what she had up her sleeve. The sign was painted on wood and must have cost five dollars. NO TRESPASSING, it said. THIS YACHT FOR SALE. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION SEE HONORA WAPSHOT 27 BOAT STREET. For a second his heart sank; his spirit seemed to wither. Then he was angry. The sign was hung, not nailed, to the wheelhouse, and he seized it and was about to throw it into the river when he realized that it was a good piece of wood and could be used for something else. “There won’t be any voyage today,” he told his passengers. Then he put the sign under his arm and strode through the group to the square. Of course most of the tradespeople in the village knew about the sign and most of them watched Leander. He saw no one and it was a struggle for him to keep from talking loudly to himself. He was, as we know, in his sixties; a little stooped, a little inclined to duck-foot, but a very handsome old man with thick hair and a boyish mien. The sign was heavy and made his arm lame and he had to change it from side to side before he got to Boat Street. His spirits by this time were fulminating. There wasn’t much common sense left in him. He pounded on Honora’s door with the edge of the sign.

Honora was sewing. She took her time getting to the door. First she reached for her stick and went around the parlor gathering up all the photographs of Moses and Coverly. She dumped these onto the floor behind the sofa. The reason she did this was that, although she liked having photographs of the boys around, she never wanted any of the family to catch her in such an open demonstration of affection. Then she straightened her clothes and started for the door. Leander was pounding on it. “If you mar the paint on my door,” she called to him, “you’ll pay for it.” As soon as she opened the door he stormed into the hall and roared, “What in Christ’s name is the meaning of this?”

“You don’t have to be profane,” she said. She put her hands over her ears. “I won’t listen to profanity.”

“What do you want from me, Honora?”

“I can’t hear a word you say,” she said. “I won’t listen to swearing.”

“I’m not swearing,” he shouted. “I’ve stopped swearing.”

“She’s mine,” Honora said, taking her hands down from her ears. “I can do anything I want with