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Chapter 5

Most summers, something new turned up in Castine and whether it was a health fad, a new person, a row, a scandal, a tragedy, or psychoanalysis, some of these innovations were inherently desirable and finally took their place among the established traditions. One year it was announced that the old white house which over- looked the long meadow sloping down to Oakham Bay and the mouth of the Bagaduce River had been sold to Miss Katharine Butler of Salem. Miss Butler was said to be some kind of a cripple who had spent most of her childhood lying on a board, poor thing. People wondered what she wanted of such a big house but the story was that she drove down from Salem with members of the family, saw the old white house and bought it within a fortnight, cash down. She was even planning to build on a big porch upstairs. In fact, the front door stood open most of the day and Ahra Clement went in and out with his saws and planes and very soon the new