Ebenezer sat down in the rocker. “Judas priest!” he said for the third time. “Don't talk to ME! When it comes my time they'll have to prove I'm dead. I won't believe it till they do. Ju-das PRIEST!”
“Then you recognize him?”
The old man nodded solemnly.
“Yup,” he said, “it's him. Mr. Ellery, what are you goin' to do about it?”
“I don't know. I don't know. I must go somewhere by myself and think. I don't know WHAT to do.”
The minister declined to wait for breakfast. He said he was not hungry. Leaving Ebenezer to put on the coffeepot and take up his duties as day nurse, Ellery walked off along the beach. The “dead line” prevented his going very far, but he sat down in the lee of a high dune and thought until his head ached. What should he do? What was best for him to do?
He heard the rattle of the doctor's chaise and the voices of Ebenezer and Parker in conversation. He did not move, but remained where he was, thinking, thinking. By and by he heard Capen calling his name.
“Mr. Ellery!” shouted Ebenezer. “Mr. Ellery, where be you?”
“Here!” replied the minister.
The old man came scrambling over the sand. He was panting and much excited.