"Some of this stuff is good to eat, isn't it?" said Mr. Mitchell.
"Not just by itself. This kind," Gwen picked up a bit of the moss, "when thoroughly washed and dried, can be used for what Miss Zerviah calls 'blue monge.' Have you chanced to meet Miss Zerviah, Mr. Mitchell? She is quite a character."
"I don't think I have even heard of her," was the reply.
"Then you still have something to live for. You may not have heard of Miss Zerviah, but you may rest assured that she knows all about you from the size of your collar to the number of your shoe."
"Dear me!" Mr. Mitchell looked uncomfortable.
"Let us hope it isn't quite as bad as that," said Kenneth. "She is not a bad sort at all, Mr. Mitchell, a very kindly soul. If you fall ill she will be the first to send you a dish of 'blue monge.' She has helped my sister out of no end of difficulties. She was telling us rather a good story yesterday. Have you happened to hear about Ora Tibbett's young man, Miss Whitridge? The one who came over from the Neck to see her last Sunday?"
"No, I haven't heard. I thought Manny Green was her young man."
"He has a rival it seems, some one whom Ora met at a dance, I believe. He rowed over last Sunday and invited Ora for a walk. The family were so pleased that Ora should countenance anyone beside Manny that they invited the young man to supper. The boys of the island, however, were not so willing that an outsider should infringe upon what they considered their rights, and they took up the cudgels in Manny's behalf. After supper there was another walk, we were told, so that it was pretty late when the visitor went forth to get his boat, but the boat wasn't there. He hunted high and low. He knew just where he had tied it up, but not a sign of it was to be seen. He appealed to everyone to help look for it, but it was not to be found."
"They had cut it adrift, of course," put in Mr. Mitchell.
Kenneth laughed. "Not a bit of it. They did better than that. They kept the fellow searching about all night, and toward morning, just as it was beginning to get light, he discovered it hanging up high between two of the tall poplars in front of Cap'n Dave Purdy's house. They had lashed ropes around it and hauled it up there, where it stayed till he could get it down. 'I guess he won't come back,' Miss Zerviah said."