Captain Bangs laughed. "You've guessed it, first crack," he said. "It
is a pigpen. Some of Laban's doin's, that is. He used to keep a pig and
'twas too much trouble to travel way out back of the barn to feed it, so
Labe rigged up this contraption. That door leads into the potato cellar.
Labe fenced off half the cellar to make a stateroom for the pig. He
thought as much of that hog as if 'twas his own brother, and there WAS a
sort of family likeness."

Thankful snorted. "A pigsty under the house!" she said. "Well, that's
all I want to know about THAT man!"

As they were returning along the foot-path by the bluff Captain Obed,
who had been looking over his shoulder, suddenly stopped.

"That's kind of funny," he said.

"What?" asked Emily.

"Oh, nothin', I guess. I thought I caught a sight of somebody peekin'
around the back of that henhouse. If 'twas somebody he dodged back so
quick I couldn't be sure. Humph! I guess I was mistaken, or 'twas just
one of Solon Taylor's young ones. Solon's a sort of--sort of stevedore
at the Colfax place. Lives there and takes care of it while the owners
are away. No-o; no, I don't see nobody now."

Thankful was silent during the homeward walk. When she and Miss Howes
were alone in their room, she said:

"Emily, are you real set on gettin' back to South Middleboro tonight?"