“Well, I don't either, so far as that goes. I never see one myself, and I've never seen anybody that has. But when Kenelm came tearin' in to say he'd seen a light in a house shut up as long as that one has been, and a house that folks—”
Captain Bangs interrupted. He had been regarding Thankful closely and now he changed the subject.
“How did it happen you saw that light, Kenelm?” he asked. “What was you doin' over in that direction a night like this?”
Kenelm hesitated. He seemed to find it difficult to answer.
“Why—why—” he stammered, “I'd been up to the office after the mail. And—and—it was so late comin' that I give it up. I says to Lemuel Ryder, 'Lem,' I says—”
His sister broke in.
“Lem Ryder!” she repeated. “Was he at the post-office?”
“Well—well—” Kenelm's confusion was more marked than ever. “Well—well—” he stammered, “I see him, and I says—”
“You see him! Where did you see him? Kenelm Parker, I don't believe you was at the postoffice at all. You was at the clubroom, that's where you was. At that clubroom, smokin' and playin' cards with that deprivated crowd of loafers and gamblers. Tell me the truth, now, wasn't you?”
Mr. Parker's tie fell off then, but neither he nor his sister noticed it.