Kenelm ate enough for two and then, announcing that he couldn't heave away no more time, having work to do, retired to the rear of the barn where, the rake beside him, he slumbered peacefully for an hour.
“There!” said Thankful to Imogene that night. “We've started anyhow. And 'twas a good start if I do say it.”
“Good!” exclaimed Imogene. “I should say 'twas good! But if them boarders eat as much every day as they have this one 'twon't be a start, 'twill be a finish. Lor—I mean mercy on us, ma'am—if this is a boardin'-house I'd like to know what a palace is. Why a king never had better grub served to him. Huh! I guess he didn't. Old George Three used to eat gruel, like a—like a sick orphan at the Home. Oh, he did, ma'am, honest! I read about it in one of them history books you lent me. He was a tight-wad old gink, he was. Are you goin' to give these guys as much every meal, ma'am?”
“I mean to, of course,” declared Mrs. Barnes. “Nobody shall starve at my table. And please, Imogene, don't call people ginks and guys. That ain't nice talk for a young woman.”
Imogene apologized and promised to be more careful. But she thought a great deal and, at the end of the first week, she imparted her thoughts to Captain Obed.
“Say, Captain Bangs,” she said, “do you know what is the matter with the name of this place? I tell you what I think is the matter. It hadn't ought to be the HIGH Cliff House. The CHEAP Cliff House would be a sight better. Givin' guys—folks, I mean—fifteen-dollar-a-week board for seven dollars may be mighty nice for them, but it's plaguy poor business for Mrs. Thankful.”
The captain shook his head; he had been thinking, too, and his conclusions were much the same.
“You mustn't find fault with Mrs. Barnes, Imogene,” he said. “She's a mighty fine woman.”
“Fine woman! You bet she is! She's too plaguy fine, that's the trouble with her. She's so afraid her boarders'll starve that she forgets all about makin' money. She's the best woman there is in the world, but she needs a mean partner. Then the two of them might average up all right, I guess.”
Captain Obed rubbed his chin. “Think she needs a business manager, eh?” he observed.