Cap'n Abe bustled through the living room to the kitchen in the rear, and they heard him shaking the grate of the range to liven the fire. A moment later the harsh jangle of the coffee grinder announced his hospitable intent. "A mug o' hot coffee won't go bad to-night, boys, afore you go out into the cold again," said the storekeeper, returning after putting the coffee-pot on the stove. He settled into his own creaking chair and reached for the ever-ready knitting on the stand by the window, over which hung an empty bird cage. The sock he was fashioning could be for none but his own generous-sized foot. "Wal," he said, smiling broadly on the other two men, "I can see there's somethin' on both your minds. Le's have it." 'Liphalet's glum visage lightened with sympathy as he turned to Cap'n Jonah. "Do you want me, Cap'n Hand, to put this here difficulty o' yourn before Cap'n Abe?" he asked gently. "Steam ahead, Truitt," said the captain gruffly. "You've the gift of gab, and you're a friend." "The Cap'n," said 'Liphalet, to the storekeeper, "needs advice. I told him you was the man to come to for it, Cap'n Abe." The storekeeper, knitting briskly, made a clucking sound with his tongue to notify his visitors that he modestly disclaimed any desire to pose as an oracle. Yet his attitude was one of willingness to help if he could. "You've lived in this neighborhood longer than I have, Cap'n Abe," pursued Mr. Truitt, "although I was born in Cardhaven. You have been here on the Shell Road for more than twenty years. And endurin' that time I wouldn't wonder if you had got purty close to an opinion on Orrin Petty and his wife." "Hi mighty!" ejaculated Cap'n Abe, "I sh'd say I had," and glanced with compassion at Cap'n Jonah. "Cap'n Hand," went on Mr. Truitt, "had good and sufficient reason, so he says, to expect a welcome and kindness, from Sarah Petty when he came to live with her. Her father, and naturally Sarah herself, was under obligation to Cap'n Hand----" "Belay all that!" interrupted Cap'n Hand. "'Twas a family matter. Nothin' but what I should have done for John Hand, my own brother, as I had neither chick nor child myself." "In the same spirit," Mr. Truitt insisted, "Sarah Petty should have been willing to help you. Ain't that a fac'?" "'Twould seem so," admitted Cap'n Jonah. The storekeeper listened and clicked his needles. "What air you drivin' at, 'Liphalet? Is it that Orrin and Sarah's made it onpleasant for Cap'n Hand up there at their house?" "Whatever!" ejaculated Cap'n Jonah. "And the way they treat that gal, Pearly, is a sin and shame. I can't stand it!" "Why don't you get a place of your own, Cap'n Hand, and take Pearly with you?" asked the storekeeper bluntly. "I guess we could fix it with the town selectmen. Ev'rybody knows what a tongue Sarah Petty's got and how parsimonious Orrin is. And Pearly is a good little thing and always was."