"I'm cal'latin' to," he said, cheerfully. And his sister, to the
surprise of Mrs. Barnes and Emily, did not utter another word of
protest.

Captain Obed volunteered to accompany them to the hotel and to the
store of Mr. Badger. On the way Thankful mentioned Mr. Parker's amazing
independence in the matter of the pipe.

The captain chuckled. "Yes," he said, "Kenelm smokes when he wants to,
and sometimes when he don't, I guess, just to keep his self-respect.
Smokin' is one p'int where he beat out Hannah. It's quite a yarn, the
way he done it is. Some time I'll tell it to you, maybe."

The hotel--it was kept by Darius Holt, father of Winnie S.--was no more
inviting than Miss Parker's and Captain Bangs' hints had led them to
expect. But Thankful insisted on engaging a room for the night and on
returning there for dinner, supper and breakfast the following day.

"After that, we'll see," she said. "Now let's go and make a call on that
rent collector of mine."

Mr. Badger was surprised to meet the owner of the Barnes house,
surprised and a bit taken aback, so it seemed to Mrs. Barnes and her
cousin. He was very polite, almost obsequiously so, and his explanations
concerning the repairs which he had found it necessary to make and the
painting which he had had done were lengthy if not convincing.

As they left him, smiling and bowing in the doorway of his store,
Thankful shook her head. When they were out of earshot she said: