swanIcanhardlymakeitseempossiblethathe’sgone！“
“NeithercanI，Shadrach。Andtothinkthatyouandme，hisoldpartnersandlifelongchumsasyoumightsay，hadn’tseennorspokentohimforovertwoyears。Itmakesmefeelbad。Badandsortofconscience-struck。“
“Iknow；soitdoesme，inaway。Andyetitwasn’tourfault，Zoeth。YouknowaswellasIdothatMarcellusdidn’twanttoseeus。Wewasovertoseehimlastandhescarcelysaidawordwhilewewasthere。Youandmedidallthetalkin’andhejustsetandlookedatus——whenhewasn’tlookin’atthefloor。Ineversawsuchachangeinaman。Weasked——yes，byfire，wefairlybeggedhimtocomeandstaywithusforaspell，butheneverdid。Nowitain’tnofurtherfromOstabletoSouthHarnissthanitisfromSouthHarnisstoOstable。Ifhe’dwantedtocomehecould；ifhe’dwantedtoseeushecould。Wewenttoseehim，didn’twe；andWEhadastoreandabusinesstoleave。Heain’thadanybusinesssincehegiveupgoin’tosea。He——“
“Sshh！Shh！“interruptedMr。Hamilton，mildly，“don’ttalkthatway，Shadrach。Don’tfindfaultwiththedead。“
“Findfault！Iain’tfindin’fault。IthoughtasmuchofMarcellusHallasanymanonearth，andnobodyfeelsworseabouthisbein’
tookthanIdo。ButI’mjustsayin’whatwebothknow’safact。Hedidn’twanttoseeus；hedidn’twanttoseenobody。Sincehiswifediedhelivedaloneinthathouse，exceptforahousekeeperandthatstepchild，andneverwentanywhereorhadanybodycometoseehimifhecouldhelpit。Areg’larhermit——that’swhathewas，ahermit，likePelegMyrickdowntoSetuckitP’int。AndwhenIthinkwhatheusedtobe，smart，lively，able，oneofthebestskippersandsmartestbusinessmenafloatorashore，itdon’tseempossibleabodycouldchangeso。’Twasthatwomanthatdoneit，thatwomanthattrappedhimintogettin’married。“
“Sshh！Shh！Shadrach；she’sdead，too。And，besides，Iguessshewasarealgoodwoman；everybodysaidshewas。“
“Iain’tsayin’shewasn’t，amI？WhatIsayisshehadn’tnobusinessmarryin’amantwentyyearsolder’nshewas。“
“But，“mildly，“yousaidshetrappedhim。Nowwedon’tknow——“
“ZoethHamilton，youknowshemusthavetrappedhim。YouandI
agreedthatwasjustwhatshedone。Ifshehadn’ttrappedhim——setareg’larseineforhimandhauledhimaboardlikeaschoolofmackerel——’tain’tlikelyhe’dhavemarriedheroranybodyelse，isit？Iain’tmarriednobody，haveI？AndMarcelluswasyearsolder’nIbe。“
“Well，well，Shadrach！“
“No，’tain’twell；it’sbad。He’sgone，and——andyouandmethatwaswithhimforyearsandyears，hisverybestfriendsonearthasyoumightsay，wasn’twithhimwhenhedied。Ifithadn’tbeenforherhe’dhavestayedinSouthHarnisswherehebelonged。Consarnwomen！They’reresponsibleformorecussednessthanthesmallpox。
’Whenamanmarrieshistroublebegins’；that’sgospel，too。“
Zoethdidnotanswer。
CaptainGould，afterasidelongglanceathiscompanion，tookahandfromthereinsandlaiditontheHamiltonknee。
“I’msorry，Zoeth，“hesaid，contritely；“Ididn’tmeanto——torakeupbygones；Iwasblowin’offsteam，that’sall。I’msorry。“
“Iknow，Shadrach。It’sallright。“
“No，’tain’tallright；it’sallwrong。Somebodyoughttokeepawatchonme，andwhentheyseemebeginnin’togethot，setmeonthebackofthestoveorsomewheres；I’malwaysliabletobileoverandscaldthewrongcritter。I’vedonethatallmylife。I’msorry，Zoeth，youknowIdidn’tmean——“
“Iknow，Iknow。Ahhum！PoorMarcellus！Here’sthefirstbreakintheoldfirm，Shadrach。“
“Yup。Youandmeareallthat’sleftofHallandCompany。Thatis——“
Hestoppedshortjustintimeandroareda“Gitdap“atthehorse。
Hehadbeenonthepointofsayingsomethingwhichwouldhavebeenfarmoredisastrousthanhisreferencetothetroublesfollowingmarriage。Zoethwasapparentlynotcurious。Tohisfriend’sgreatreliefhedidnotwaitforthesentencetobefinished，nordidheaskembarrassingquestions。Insteadhesaid：
“Iwonderwhat’sgoin’tobecomeofthatchild，MaryLathrop’sgirl。
Whodoyousupposelikelywilltakechargeofher？“
“Idon’tknow。I’vebeenwonderin’thatmyself，Zoeth。“
“Kindofacutelittlething，shewas，too，asIrecollecther。I
presumelikelyshe’sgrownupconsid’blesince。YourememberhowshesetandlookedatusthatlasttimewewasovertoseeMarcellus，Shadrach？“
“Remember？HowshelookedatME，youmean！ShallIeverforgetit？
I’djusthadmyhaircutbythatnewbarber，SimEllis，thatlivedhere’longaboutthen，andItoldhimtocutofftheends。HethoughtImeanttheotherends，Ical’late，forIwenttosleepinthechair，sameasIgenerallydo，andwhenIwokeupmyheadlookedlikethemaintruckoftheoldFaraway。Allitneededwastohavethebaldplacegilded。IgiveyoumywordthatifIhadn’tbeenbornwithmyearssetwingandwinglikeaschoonerrunnin’aforethewindI’dhavebeensmotheredwhenIputmyhaton——nothin’butthemearskeptitproppedupoffmynose。YOUrememberthathaircut，Zoeth。Well，allthetimeyouandmewasinMarcellus’ssettin’-roomthatstepchildofhisjustsetandlookedatmyhead。
Nevertookhereyesoffit。Ifshe’dsaidanything’twouldn’thavebeensobad；butshedidn’t——justlooked。Icouldfeelmybaldspotreddenin’uptillIswantomanIthoughtitmustbebreakin’outinblisters。’Neverseeanybodythatlookedjustlikeme，didyou，Sis？’Isaystoher，whenIcouldn’tstanditanylonger。’No，sir，’shesays，solemnasanowl。Shewasrightoutandhonest，I’llsaythatforher。That’stheonlytimeMarcelluslaughedwhilewewasinsidethathouse。Ididn’tblamehimmuch。Ho，ho！Well，heain’tlaughin’nowandneitherarewe——orwehadn’toughttobe。
Neitheristhechild，Ical’late，poorthing。Iwonderwhatwillbecomeofher。“
Andmeanwhilethechildherselfwasvaguely，andinchildishfashion，wonderingthatverything。ShewasinthecarriageroomofthebarnbelongingtotheHallestate——ifthefewacresoflandandthebuildingsownedbythelateMarcellusmaybecalledanestate——
curleduponthebackseatoftheoldsurreywhichhadbeenusedsolittlesincethedeathofhermother，AugustaHall，fouryearsbefore。Thesurreywasshroudedfromtoptofloorwithadustcoverofunbleachedmuslinthroughwhichthesunshinefromthecarriageroomwindowsfilteredinamysterious，softenedtwilight。ThecoveredsurreywasafavoriteretreatofMary-’Gusta’s。Shehaddiscovereditherself——whichmadeitdoublyalluring，ofcourse——andsheseldominvitedherjuvenilefriendstoshareitscurtainedprivacywithher。Itwasherplayhouse，hertent，andherenchantedcastle，muchtoosacredtobemadecommonproperty。HereshecameonrainySaturdaysandonmanydaysnotrainywhenotherchildren，thosepossessingbrothersorsisters，playedoutofdoors。Shelikedtoplaybyherself，toinventplaysallherown，andtheseotherchildren——“normalchildren，“theirparentscalledthem——weremuchtoolikelytolaughinsteadofsolemnlymakingbelieveasshedid。Mary-’Gustawasnotanormalchild；shewas“thatqueerLathropyoung-one“——hadheardherselfsodescribedmorethanonce。
Shedidnotlikethephrase；“queer“wasnotsobad——perhapsshewasqueer——butshehadaninstinctiverepugnancetobeingcalledayoung-one。Birdsandrabbitshadyoung-onesandshewasneitherfeatherednorfurred。
Soveryfewoftheneighborhoodchildrenwereinvitedtotheshadedinterioroftheoldsurrey。Herdolls——allfiveofthem——spentagooddealoftimethereandDavid，thetortoise-shellcat，cameoften，usuallyundercompulsion。WhenDavidhadkittens，whichinterestingdomesticeventtookplaceprettyfrequently，he——orshe——
positivelyrefusedtobeanoccupantofthatsurrey，growlingandscratchinginadecidedlyungentlemanly——orunladylike——manner。
TwiceMary-’GustahadattemptedtomakeDavidmorecomplacentbybringingthekittensalsotothesurrey，buttheirparenthadpromptlyandconsecutivelyseizedthembythescruffoftheirnecksandlaboriouslyluggedthemuptothehaymowagain。
Justnow，however，therebeingnokittens，DavidwasslumberinginafurryheapbesideMary-’Gustaatoneendofthecarriageseat，andRosette，thesmallestofthefivedolls，andRose，thelargest，weresittingboltuprightinthecornerattheotherend。Thechristeningofthesmallestandnewestdollwastheresultofapieceofcharacteristicreasoningonitsowner’spart。ShewasveryfondofthenameRose，thesamebeingthenameoftheheroinein“EightCousins，“whichstoryMrs。Bailey，housekeeperbeforelastforMarcellusHall，hadreadaloudtothechild。Whenthenewdollcame，atChristmastime，Mary-’GustawishedthatshemightchristenitRosealso。ButtherewasanotherandmuchbelovedRosealreadyinthefamily。SoMary-’Gustareflectedandobserved，andsheobservedthatabigrolloftobaccosuchasherstepfathersmokedwasacigar；whilealittleone，assmokedbyEbenKeeler，thegrocer’sdeliveryclerk，wasacigarette。Therefore，thebigdollbeingalreadyRose，thelittleonebecameRosette。
Mary-’GustawasnotplayingwithRoseandRosetteatthepresenttime。NeitherwassheinterestedinthepeacefulslumbersofDavid。
Shewasnotplayingatall，butsitting，withfeetcrossedbeneathherontheseatandhandsclaspedaboutoneknee，thinking。And，althoughshewasthinkingofherstepfatherwhosheknewhadgoneawaytoavagueplacecalledHeaven——aplacevariouslydescribedbyMrs。Bailey，theformerhousekeeper，andbyMrs。SusanHobbs，thepresentone，andbyMr。Howes，theSundayschoolsuperintendent——shewasthinkingmostofherself，MaryAugustaLathrop，whowasgoingtoafuneralthatveryafternoonand，afterthat，nooneseemedtoknowexactlywhere。
ItwasabeautifulAprildayandthedoorsofthecarriagehouseandthebigdoorofthebarnwerewideopen。Mary-’Gustacouldhearthehenscluckingandthevoicesofpeopletalking。Thevoicesweretwo：onewasthatofMrs。Hobbs，thehousekeeper，andtheotherbelongedtoMr。AbnerHallett，theundertaker。Mary-’GustadidnotlikeMr。Hallett’svoice；shelikedneitheritnoritsowner’smanner；shedescribedbothvoiceandmannertoherselfas“toosoothy。“Theygavehertheshivers。
Mr。Hallett’stonewassubduedatthepresenttime，butatrifleoftheprofessional“soothiness“waslacking。HeandMrs。Hobbswereconversingbrisklyenoughand，althoughMary-’Gustacouldcatchonlyawordortwoatintervals，shewasperfectlysuretheyweretalkingabouther。Shewascertainthatifsheweretoappearatthatmomentinthedoorofthebarntheywouldstoptalkingimmediatelyandlookather。Everybodywhomshehadmetduringthepasttwodayslookedatherinthatqueerway。Itmadeherfeelasifshehadsomethingcatching，likethemeasles，andasif，somehoworother，shewastoblame。
Sherealizeddimlythatsheshouldfeelvery，verybadlybecauseherstepfatherwasdead。Mrs。Hobbshadtoldherthatsheshouldandseemedtoregardherasqueererthaneverbecauseshehadnotcried。