She paused. Galusha looked puzzled.
“Ah—um, yes,” he observed. “On the other side? Yes—ah—quite so.”
“Oh, that was just his way of speaking, Mr. Bangs. I tried to change the subject. I asked him if he didn't think we should report the engine trouble to the inspector when he came next month. It was a mistake, my saying that. He got up from his chair. 'I'm going to report,' he said. 'I'm going to make my report aloft and ask for guidance. The foghorn ain't the only thing that's runnin' wild. My own flesh and blood defies me.'”
Martha interrupted. “You hear that, Mr. Bangs?” she said. “And we were all hopin' THAT snarl was straightenin' itself out.”
Galusha looked very uneasy. “Dear me,” he said. “Really, now. Oh, dear!”
“Well,” continued Lulie, “that was enough, of course. And the next day, last Thursday, Zacheus said Ras Beebe told him that Ophelia—that's his sister, you know—told him that Abel Harding told her that his wife said that Marietta Hoag told HER—I HOPE I've got all the 'hims' and 'hers' straight—that Cap'n Jeth Hallett was going to have another seance down at the light pretty soon. Marietta said that father felt he needed help from 'over the river'.... What is it, Mr. Bangs?”
“Oh, nothing, nothing. For a moment I did not get the—ah—allusion, the 'over the river,' you know. I comprehend now, the—ah—Styx; yes.”
But now Martha looked puzzled.
“Sticks!” she repeated. “Lulie didn't say anything about sticks. Neither did Cap'n Jethro. Spirits he was talkin' about.”
“Yes, I know. Certainly, quite so. The shades beyond the Styx.”