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116 Mrs. Bassett rustled to the window and opened a shutter. A broad ray streamed in, full of dancing motes, and the room sprang suddenly into shape and color. The flowers of the carpet leaped into gaudy bloom, the haircloth-covered chairs seemed to stretch out their old arms to the unfamiliar light. And, made visible now, Garth saw many odd things ranged on the shelves and "whatnots" in the room. Mrs. Bassett beckoned him to her side, where she stood peering into a cupboard. She opened its glass doors and very carefully took out first one thing and then another, putting them in a row upon the table. There was a curious figure, made of ivory; a charm cut in jade and suspended from a tarnished silver tassel; a little roll of amber-colored India silk; a tiny boat, carved from a peach-stone and polished by the handling of many centuries.

"My father was a sea-farin' man," Mrs. Bassett explained, "an' my grandfather afore him. I can jest recollect, like 't was yesterday, runnin' down to the quay when gran'pa's ship come in. 'T wa'n't here in Quimpaug, but in my old home; I was a little thing, knee high to a hoppergrass. Gran'pa'd set me aboard, an' oh my, the things he'd show me in his cabin! An'