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Lanigan? Who’s he?”
    â€œHe’s the chief of police and he’s lived here all his life.”
    â€œGee, I’d appreciate it if you could find out definitely one way or another.”
    â€œI’ll make a point of it.”
    And because it occurred to Rabbi Small that if there was a legal right-of-way, it would certainly be likely to be used on a Saturday, and Rabbi Selig’s Sabbath might be disturbed as a result, he made a point of taking a trip downtown to see Lanigan and ask about it.
    â€œThat’s the old Clark estate,” said Lanigan. “Ezra Clark was a big-shot realtor in Boston. He bought the land from the old Boston Road all the way to Gardner’s Cove on the ocean. Got it dirt cheap, too, because it was mostly ledge. He built a house on what is now Evans Road. It’s now occupied by a man named. Miller, Professor Miller, I think. He teaches at your school and he was one of those I was going to ask about a ride for you. There was no street there at the time, but Clark chose that spot because there is some soil there so he could have a lawn. Then when his kids were grown and were having their friends come out, he put up another house on the top of the hill, the one your rabbi is in. Both houses were just summer shacks, but after the town put the street in, Evans Road, that is, he winterized them because he planned to sell them, I guess. See, the kids were grown now, and traveling—to Europe and elsewhere summers—and weren’t using the place much. Well, of course, he still thought of it as one parcel of land even though one of the houses was now on Evans Road and the other on the old Boston Road. And he’d just walk across the land that was now part of the house on the hill if he wanted to take the bus in to Boston, or if he came from Boston. And the kids and their friends would walk across his land when they wanted to go down to the beach. When he sold one of the houses—to a fellow named Willoughby—it was assumed that he’d have access to the beach. So Willoughby gave him access to the bus stop at the foot of the driveway. And though both properties have changed hands a couple of times, it’s been that way ever since.”
    On his way downtown, the rabbi had circled to get a look at Rabbi Selig’s house, so now he asked, “That hedge that runs alongside the driveway, that’s the boundary of Rabbi Selig’s lot?”
    â€œNo, it runs about three feet beyond the hedge, right to where the ledge drops off. By a sort of general agreement, it’s that three-or four-foot strip that has become the right-of-way. That’s not why the hedge was put up, though. It was put up because one of the Willoughby kids, while playing, roller-skating, I think, on that asphalt terrace at the end of the driveway, took a tumble off the ledge. Broke his leg, I remember. And that level land beyond the ledge, that was part of the property originally, but it was too narrow—it comes down to a point between Evans Road and the curve of the Boston Road—to build on, according to the zoning code, I mean. So Willoughby ceded it to the town, which cut his taxes a little and also put the burden of maintaining it on the town, cutting the grass and planting a few flowers, that sort of thing. But if your rabbi is worried about kids with sand pails and umbrellas traipsing across his land to the beach, tell him to forget it. It leads to Gardner’s Cove, which is more pebbles than sand and is apt to be pretty much covered with seaweed most of the time.”
    â€œI’m sure he’ll be glad to hear it. He was quite concerned.”
    â€œAnd you were concerned for him?”
    â€œHim and the congregation. The last thing they need is for their rabbi to get into a hassle with their neighbors.”

Chapter 7
    Rabbi Selig had driven around the town not only to acquaint himself with the location of the various buildings that might prove