290 BEACH GRASS 



journey over the sands was too much for the old 

 man. His was a kindly and genial personality. 

 The picture of his ruddy cheeks and twinkling 

 blue eyes I shall always cherish. Since his death 

 over twenty years ago there has been a succession 

 of light-keepers at Ipswich, with all of whom I 

 have made acqaintance. There is always a 

 warm welcome in their cosy kitchen no matter 

 how cold and blustering the day outside. The 

 model housewife might well envy the housekeep- 

 ing of a United States light-keeper. It mattered 

 not how many children they had, nor the unex- 

 pectedness of the visit, one always found the 

 house as neat as wax, the paint immaculate — 

 not a speck of dirt or dust anywhere. The men 

 who occupied this station in the last twenty years 

 have all had interesting characteristics, and in 

 my brief visits on cold winter's days I have 

 learned many things. One of our best keepers 

 was George Howard, an all round man, a jack-of- 

 all-trades, constantly studying to improve him- 

 self, later the head light-keeper at the important 

 station of Thatcher's Island off Cape Ann. 



His father, Captain Alfred A. Howard, whose 



