“Insane?  My savin’ soul, what put that idea in your head?  He ain’t crazy, Jethro Hallet ain’t.  He’s smart.  Wuth consider’ble money, so they say, and hangs on to it, too.  Used to be cap’n of a four-masted schooner, till he hurt his back and had to stay ashore.  His back’s got to hurtin’ him worse lately and Zach and Miss Martha they cal’late that’s why Lulie give up her teachin’ school up to Ostable and come down here to live along with him.  I heard ’em talkin’ about it t’other day and that’s what they cal’late.  Miss Martha she thinks a sight of Lulie.”

“And—­ah—­this Miss Lulie is the light keeper’s daughter?” Bangs was not especially interested in the Hallett family, but he found Primmie amusing.

“Uh-hm.  All the child he’s got.  Some diff’rent from our tribe; there was thirteen young ones in our family.  Pa used to say he didn’t care long’s we didn’t get so thick he’d step on ary one of us.  He didn’t care about a good many things, Pa didn’t.  Ma had to do the carin’ and most of the work, too.  Yes, Lulie’s Jethro’s daughter and he just bows down and worships her.”

“I see.  I see.  And is—­ah—­Miss Hallett as spookily inclined as her parent?”

“Hey?”

“Is she a Spiritualist, too?”

“No, no.  Course she don’t say much on her pa’s account, but Zach says she don’t take no stock in it.  Lulie has to be pretty careful, ’cause ever since Cap’n Jethro found out about Nelse he—­ Hey?  Yes’m, I’m a-comin’.”

Miss Phipps had called to her from the kitchen door.  Galusha stood by the fence a while longer.  Then he went in to supper.  Before he went to his room that night he asked his landlady a question.

“That—­ah—­maid of yours has a peculiar name, hasn’t she?” he observed.  “Primmie.  I think I never heard it before.”

Miss Martha laughed.

“I should say it was peculiar!” she exclaimed.  “Her Christian name is Primrose, if you can call such a name Christian.  I almost died when I heard it first.  She’s a queer blossom, Primmie is, a little too much tar in her upper riggin’, as father used to say, but faithful and willin’ as a person could be.  I put up with her tongue and her—­queerness on that account.  Some friends of mine over at Falmouth sent her to me; they knew I needed somebody in the house after father died.  Her name is Primrose Annabel Cash and she comes from a nest of such sort of folks in the Mashpaug woods.  She provokes me sometimes, but I have a good deal of fun with her on the whole.  You ought to see her and Zacheus Bloomer together and hear ’em talk; then you would think it was funny.”

“Is this Mr.—­ah—­Bloomer queer also?”