"I'll tend to them," he said shortly.

"Come, Grace," he added; "let's go." But the girl hung back.

"Just a minute, Nat," she said.

"I--I--would you mind if I spoke to Aunt Keziah--alone?
I only want to say a word." Nat strode off to the cemetery gate, where Josiah Badger stood, brandishing a red cotton handkerchief as a not too-clean emblem of mourning.

Mr.Badger eagerly sprang forward, but ran into an impossible barrier in the form of the captain's outstretched arm.