I beg your pardon for hollerin' and grabbin' hold of you." "Granted." "Thank ye.

Now," hesitatingly, "would you mind tellin' me why you asked me if I was married ?" "Not in the least.

I asked merely because it occurred to me that you might be.

Of course, I had seen nothing of your wife, but it was barely possible that she was away on a visit, or somewhere.

There is no regulation forbidding lightkeepers marrying--at least, I never heard of any--and so I asked; that's all." Seth nodded.