"Humph! I rather guess so, too."

"Well, you can't always tell. Sometimes when you really get inside of a
person you find a generous streak that--"

"Not in a Daniels. Anybody that got inside of Elkanah would find nothin'
but Elkanah there, and 'twould be crowded at that. So he's talkin' to
the new parson, hey? Bossin' him, too, I'll bet."

"I ain't so sure. Mr. Ellery's young, but he's got a mind of his own."

Captain Hammond chuckled and slapped his knee.

"Ho, ho!" he laughed. "I've been hearin' somethin' about that mind. Went
to the chapel last night, I understand, and he and dad had a set-to. Oh,
I heard about it! Wish I might have been there."

"How does your father act about it?"

"'Bout the way a red-hot stove acts when you spill water on it; every
time he thinks of the minister he sizzles. Ho, ho! I do wish I could
have been there."

"What does Grace say?"

"Oh, she doesn't say much. I wouldn't wonder if she felt the way I do,
though we both keep quiet. I'll tell you, between ourselves and the
ship's pump, that I sort of glory in the young chap's spunk."