nearly eight o'clock before
As for Captain Jerry , he was janitor at the schoolhouse . The catch was heavy the next morning , as has been said , and by the time the last fish was split and iced and the last barrel sent to the railway station it was almost supper time . Captain Eri had intended calling on Baxter early in the day , but now he determined to wait until after supper . The Captain had bad luck in the `` matching '' that followed the meal , and it was nearly eight o'clock before he finished washing dishes . This distasteful task being completed , he set out for the Baxter homestead . The Captain 's views on the liquor question were broader than those of many Orham citizens . He was an abstainer , generally speaking , but his scruples were not as pronounced as those of Miss Abigail Mullett , whose proudest boast was that she had refused brandy when the doctor prescribed it as the stimulant needed to save her life .