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Cooper, James A.

"Cap'n Abe, Storekeeper"


Gusty Durgin spied her as she entered and found a small table for
Louise where she would be alone. A fat woman whom Gusty mentioned as
"the boss's sister, Sara Ann Whipple," helped wait upon the guests.
Several of the business men of the town, as well as the guests of the
Inn, took their dinners there.
To one man, sitting alone at a table not far distant, Louise saw that
Gusty was particularly attentive. He was typically a city man; one
could not for a moment mistake him for a product of the Cape.
He was either a young-old or an old-young looking man, his hair graying
at the temples, but very luxuriant and worn rather long. A bright
complexion and beautifully kept teeth and hands marked him as one more
than usually careful of his personal appearance. Indeed, his character
seemed to border on that of the exquisite.
His countenance was without doubt attractive, for it was intelligent
and expressed a quiet humor that seemed to have much kindliness mixed
with it. His treatment of the unsophisticated Gusty, who hovered about
him with open admiration, held just that quality of good-natured
tolerance which did not offend the waitress but that showed discerning
persons that he considered her only in the light of an artless child.


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