And the captain admitted to himself that it WAS dull.

He had half a mind to take a flying trip to Boston, make the round of the wharves, and see if any of the old shipowners and ship captains whom he had once known were still alive and in harness.
"JINGLE! Jingle! JINGLE! Jingle! Jingle! Jing! Jing! Jing!" Captain Cy bounced in his chair.

That was the front-door bell.

The FRONT-door bell! Who on earth, or, rather, who in Bayport, would come to the FRONT door?
He hurried through the dim grandeur of the best parlor and entered the little dark front hall.

The bell was still swinging at the end of its coil of wire.