Produced by Donald Lainson KEZIAH COFFIN by Joseph C. Lincoln CONTENTS CHAPTER I.-- IN WHICH KEZIAH HEARS OF TWO PROPOSALS AND THE BEGINNING OF A THIRD II.-- IN WHICH KEZIAH UNEARTHS A PROWLER III.-- IN WHICH KEZIAH ASSUMES A GUARDIANSHIP IV.-- IN WHICH KEZIAH'S PARSON DECIDES TO RUN IT BLINDFOLD V.-- IN WHICH THE PARSON CRUISES IN STRANGE WATERS VI.-- IN WHICH OLD FRIENDS MEET VII.-- IN WHICH CAPTAIN NAT PICKS UP A DERELICT VIII.-- IN WHICH THE PARSON AND MR. PEPPER DECLARE THEIR INDEPENDENCE IX.-- IN WHICH MISS DANIELS DETERMINES TO FIND OUT X.-- IN WHICH KEZIAH'S TROUBLES MULTIPLY XI.-- IN WHICH CAPEN EBEN RECEIVES A CALLER XII.-- IN WHICH CAPTAIN EBEN MAKES PORT XIII.-- IN WHICH KEZIAH BREAKS THE NEWS XIV.-- IN WHICH THE SEA MIST SAILS XV.-- IN WHICH TRUMET TALKS OF CAPTAIN NAT XVI-- IN WHICH THE MINISTER BOARDS THE SAN JOSE XVII.-- IN WHICH EBENEZER CAPEN IS SURPRISED XVIII.--IN WHICH KEZIAH DECIDES TO FIGHT XIX.-- IN WHICH A RECEPTION IS CALLED OFF XX.-- IN WHICH THE MINISTER RECEIVES A LETTER XXI.-- IN WHICH MR. STONE WASHES HIS HANDS XXII.-- IN WHICH KEZIAH'S PARSON PREACHES ONCE MORE KEZIAH COFFIN by Joseph C. Lincoln CHAPTER I IN WHICH KEZIAH HEARS TWO PROPOSALS AND THE BEGINNING OF A THIRD Trumet in a fog; a fog blown in during the night by the wind from the wide Atlantic. So wet and heavy that one might taste the salt in it. So thick that houses along the main road were but dim shapes behind its gray drapery, and only the gates and fences of the front yards were plainly in evidence to the passers-by. The beach plum and bayberry bushes on the dunes were spangled with beady drops. The pole on Cannon Hill, where the beacon was hoisted when the packet from Boston dropped anchor in the bay, was shiny and slippery. The new weathervane, a gilded whale, presented to the “Regular” church by Captain Zebedee Mayo, retired whaler, swam in a sea of cloud. The lichened eaves of the little “Come-Outer” chapel dripped at sedate intervals. The brick walk leading to the door of Captain Elkanah Daniels's fine residence held undignified puddles in its hollows. And, through the damp stillness, the muttered growl of the surf, three miles away at the foot of the sandy bluffs by the lighthouse, sounded ominously.