prepared to pay a liberal price."

Poor Asaph was kind of throwed on his beam ends, so's to speak. He
hemmed and hawed, and finally had to blurt out that he didn't own the
place. The Lamonts was astonished. The colonel wanted to know if it
belonged to Mrs. Badger.

"Why, no," says Ase. "The fact is--that is to say--you see--"

And just then the widow opened the kitchen window and called to 'em.

"Colonel Lamont," says she, "there's a sailboat beating up the harbor,
and I think the folks on it are looking for you."

The colonel excused himself, and run off down the hill toward the back
side of the point, and Asaph was left alone with the girl. He see, I
s'pose, that here was his chance to make the best yarn out of what was
bound to come out anyhow in a few minutes. So he fetched a sigh that
sounded as if 'twas racking loose the foundations and commenced.

He asked Mabel if she was prepared to hear something that would shock
her turrible, something that would undermine her confidence in human
natur'. She was a good deal upset, and no wonder, but she braced up and
let on that she guessed she could stand it. So then he told her that
her dad and her had been deceived, that that house wa'n't his nor Mrs.
Badger's; 'twas the Wellmouth poor farm, and he was a pauper.

She was shocked, all right enough, but afore she had a chance to ask
a question, he begun to tell her the story of his life. 'Twas a fine
chance for him to spread himself, and I cal'late he done it to the