“O, if you would! That was what I wanted to ask you all the time, but didn’t know how to.”
“There’s nothing Captain Rhines likes so well as a coot stew. It’s their turn to come to our house, for we were there last. Sam Hadlock is coming here to-morrow morning, little after sunrise, to get Fred’s corn. I’ll send over by him, and invite all Captain Rhines’s folks, and tell them to be sure and come, Tige and all. The captain and his wife will come on the horse, and the girls will walk. I’ll tell Sam to invite Fred. You can all go out berrying in our pasture, and then ask them. They will ask their mother. You can go home with them in the evening, and make all your plans.”
“But do you think Mrs. Rhines will say yes?”
“I know she will.”
“Where is a good place to get berries, when we go to sail?”
“Smutty Nose—that’s burnt ground. There’s lots of them there.”
“Where’s a good place to get some fish for a chowder? You know we don’t want to go outside, because ’twould take too much time out of the day.”
“And you had rather be ashore picking berries, and sitting under the trees talking?”
“That’s it.”
“I’ll tell you: a haddock is a good fish for a chowder. Do you know where Pettigrew’s house is?”