“I hope that Mr. Strout and Hiram get along together well,” said Quincy.
“Hiram's a good feller. Mandy did well when she got him, but she has you to thank for it, Mr. Sawyer. If you hadn't set him up in that grocery store I'm afraid he'd be chorin' now. You remember Mrs. Crowley? She jes' loves them children, but Mandy's afeerd she's going to lose her. She's got a beau--a feller named Dan Sweeney, and his hair is so red you could light a match by techin' it. He works for your brother 'Zeke. He's a good enuf feller, but he and Strout don't hitch horses. You see he was in the same regiment with the Perfesser an' he knows all about him, same as you found out, and Strout don't talk big afore him. The fact is, the Perfesser hain't many friends. There was Abner Stiles. They two used to be as thick as molasses, but since Strout wouldn't give him the job in the grocery that he'd promised him, Abner's gone back on him.”
“Does Uncle Ike board with Mandy now?” Alice knew that he did, but wished Mrs. Hawkins' view of the strange doings of her uncle.
“Yes, he's there--goin' on eighty-two and chipper as a squirrel. He's got religion Mandy says, and so many kinds that she don't know which one he's got the most of.”
Quincy looked at his watch. “Mrs. Hawkins, we're going up to Ezekiel's house. We shall stay to supper, but will get back before you lock up--ten o'clock, isn't it?”
“No such hours in a hotel. We're allus open till twelve, and sometimes all night--when it pays. It's a hard life, but you know what's goin' on an' that's considruble for a woman who's tied up in the house as I am.”
Quincy had intended to drive to his brother-in-law's house, but Alice preferred to walk as the distance was so short. The Hawkins House was on Mason Street. A short walk brought them to Mason Square. In plain view were the Town Hall and the Chessman Free Public Library.
“I always thought it was foolishness to name these streets after me,” said Quincy, as they stood on the corner of Sawyer Street. “There's Adams Street back of the Town Hall and Quincy Street on the other side.”
“I don't agree with you,” said Alice. “I would rather have a street named after me than a monument erected to my memory.”
At Putnam Square they turned to the left into Pettingill Street and soon reached her brother's house. Huldah saw them coming and ran down the path to meet them.
