"Hear, hear!" applauded Lionel.
But Hiram lifted a hand for silence. "One moment, Brother Horatio," he drawled. "Before ye wind up yer speech, ye'd better let me make a few remarks. Ye may want to change yer peroration."
"How delightful!" murmured Harriet.
"Go on, Cousin Hiram," urged Kate.
"Hear, hear!" repeated Lionel.
"Ahem!" coughed the curate and sat down.
"I've called you people in here," continued Baxter, "to tell ye something that I've been thinkin' about fer quite a while. We're goin' to Brighton to-day, Eleanor and me, fer a couple o' weeks—this ghost business has broke Eleanor up a good deal—and I want to get this thing off my chest before I leave. Yer all good friends o' mine and yer all more or less in hard luck. Seems like things naturally go wrong with ye—it's been so fer years, ever since I've had the honor o' belongin' to this family. Well, a man hates to see his wife's relations suffer and I've tried to do what I could, but—I'm here to tell ye now that I don't feel as if I've ever done the right thing by ye. No, sir. All these years I've tried to help ye out of yer troubles, but I've never turned the trick."
"Oh, I say!" protested Lionel.
"You've been splendid," Kate declared.
"We wouldn't have you any different, dear Cousin Hiram," beamed Harriet.