MaryadmittedthatsheknewSamslightly。
“Isn’thefun！SamandIaregreatchums。Doesn’thedancedivinely！“
“Idon’tknow。Ineversawhimdance。“
“Thenyou’vemissedsomething。Doyouknowhisfriend，theoneonthefootballteam——CrawfordSmith，hisnameis——doyouknowhim？“
Marynodded。“I——I’vemethim，“shesaid。
“YouHAVE？Don’tyouthinkheisperfectlysplendid？“
“Idon’tknow。Ishe？“
“Ofcourseheis。Haven’tyoureadabouthiminthepapers？HemadethatlongrunforatouchdownintheYalegame。Oh，youshouldhaveseenit！Icouldn’tspeakfortwodaysafterthatgame。Hewasjustascoolandcalm。AlltheYalemenweretryingtogethimandhedodged——Ineversawanyonesocoolandwhokepthisheadsowell。“
“Ithoughtthepapersspokemostofthewayhekepthisfeet。“
“Thenyoudidreadaboutit！Ofcourseyoudid！I’mjustdyingtoknowhim。Allthegirlsarecrazyabouthim。Wheredidyoumeethim？Tellme！“
Marysmiled。OntheoccasionofheronlymeetingwithCrawfordSmiththatyoungfellowhadbeenanythingbutcool。
“Imethiminmyuncle’sstoreatSouthHarniss，“shesaid。“Itwasthreeyearsago。“
“Andyouhaven’tseenhimsince？HeisagreatfriendofSam’s。
AndSam’speoplehaveasummerhomeattheCape。Perhapsyou’llmeethimthereagain。“
“Perhaps。“
“Goodness！Onewouldthinkyoudidn’twantto。“
“Why，Idon’tknowthatIdo，particularly。WhyshouldI？“
“Whyshouldyou！MaryLathrop，Idothinkyouarethequeerestgirl。Youdon’ttalklikeagirlatall。SometimesIthinkyouareasoldas——asPrissy。““Prissy“wasthedisrespectfulnicknamebywhichtheyoungladiesreferred，behindherback，toMissPriscillaCabot。
Marylaughed。“Notquite，Ihope，“shesaid。“ButIdon’tseewhyIshouldbesoveryanxioustomeetCrawfordSmith。AndI’msureheisn’tanxioustomeetme。Ifalltheothergirlsarecrazyabouthim，thatoughttobeenough，Ishouldthink。“
Thisastonishingprofessionofindifferencetothefascinationofthefootballhero，indifferencewhichMissBarbaradeclaredtobeonlymake-believe，wasmadeonaSaturday。Thenextday，asMrs。
WyethandMarywereontheirwayhomefromchurch，theformermadeanannouncement。
“Wearetohaveaguest，perhapsguests，atdinnerthisnoon，“shesaid。SundaydinneratMrs。Wyeth’swasserved，accordingtoNewEnglandcustom，atoneo’clock。
“Samuel，Mr。JohnKeith’sson，istodinewithus，“continuedMrs。
Wyeth。“Hemaybringacollegefriendwithhim。YouhavemetSamuel，haven’tyou，Mary？“
Marysaidthatshehad。ShewasatrifleembarrassedattheprospectofmeetingSamKeithinhernewsurroundings。Athome，inSouthHarniss，theyhadmetmanytimes，butalwaysatthestore。Hewaspleasantandjollyandshelikedhimwellenough，althoughshehadrefusedhisinvitationstogoonsailingpartiesandthelike。
Sheknewperfectlywellthathismotherandsisterwouldnothaveapprovedoftheseinvitations，forinthefeminineKeithmindtherewasagreatgulffixedbetweenthesummerresidentandthenative。
Thelatterwastobehelpedandimprovedbutnotencouragedsociallybeyondacertainpoint。Marysoughtneitherhelpnorimprovementofthatkind。Sam，itistrue，hadnevercondescendedorpatronized，buthehadnevercalledatherhomenorhadshebeenaskedtovisithis。
Andnowshewastomeethiminahousewhereshewasconsideredoneofthefamily。Hisfatherhadbeeninfluentialinbringingherthere。DidSamknowthisand，ifhedid，whatinfluencewouldtheknowledgehaveuponhismannertowardher？Wouldhebeloftyandcondescendingor，ontheotherhand，wouldhepretendafamiliaracquaintanceshipwhichdidnotexist？Aloneinherroomsheconsideredthesequestionsandthenputthemfromhermind。
Whateverhismannermightbe，hers，shedetermined，shouldbewhatithadalwaysbeen。Andifanyembarrassmentwasevidenttoothersatthismeetingitshouldnotbeonherpart。
Whenshecamedownstairs，Mrs。Wyethcalledtohertocomeintotheparlor。Assheenteredtheroomtwoyoungmenrosefromthechairsbesidethemahoganycentertable。OneoftheseyoungmenwasSamKeith；shehadexpectedtoseeSam，ofcourse。Buttheother——theotherwastheveryindividualinwhosedaringdeedsandglorifiedpersonalityshehadexpressedacompletelackofinterestonlythedaybefore，theyoungfellowwhomshehadlastseenracingmadlyacrossthefieldsintherearofHamiltonandCompany’sstorewiththelargerportionofasheetofstickyflypaperattachedtohiswhiteflannels。Mr。CrawfordSmithwastallerandbroaderthanonthatmemorableoccasionbutsherecognizedhiminstantly。
Itwasevidentthathedidnotrecognizeher。Mrs。Wyethcametomeether。
“Mary，“shesaid，“youknowSamuel，Ithink。Youandhehavemetbefore。Samuel，willyouintroduceyourfriend？“
SamwasstaringatMarywitheyeswhichexpressedavarietyofemotions，intensesurprisethemostprominent。HewasinastatewhichBarbaraHowewouldhavedescribedas“fussed，“onemostunusualforhim。HehadknownofMary’spresenceinthehouse；
aftertheaffairwassettledJohnKeithtoldhisfamilywhathehaddone，facingwithserenephilosophyhiswife’sdispleasureandpropheciesofcertainregrets。SamhadvividandpleasingrecollectionsoftheprettycountrygirlintheSouthHarnissstore。
Hehadnottoldhiscollegefriendthattheyweretomeetherthatday，onereasonbeingthathewasnotcertaintheywouldmeet，andtheotherasecretmisgivingthatitmightbewelltowaitandinspectandlistenbeforeboastingofpreviousacquaintanceship。
Sam’smotherhadlecturedhimonthesubjectbeforehelefthome。
“Don’tbetoofamiliar，Sam，“washerwarning。“Youmaybesorryifyoudo。ThegirliswellenoughhereinSouthHarniss，wheresheisaccustomedtohersurroundings，butinBostonshemaybequiteoutofplaceandimpossible。Ihavetoldyourfatherso，buthewon’tlisten，ofcourse。Don’tYOUbefoolish，formysake。“
Butherewasnogreencountrygirl。Theself-possessedyoungwomanwhostoodbeforehimlookednomoreoutofplaceandimpossibleinMrs。Wyeth’sdignifiedandaristocraticparlorthanshehadinthestorewherehehadlastseenher。Hergownwassimpleandinexpensivebutitwasstylishandbecoming。Andhermanner——well，hermannerwasdistinctlymoreateasethanhisatthatmoment。
MaryhadbeenbuteightweeksamongtheMissesCabot’syoungladies，butshehadusedhereyesandherbrainduringthattime；shewasadaptableandhadlearnedotherthingsthanthoseinthecurriculum。
Also，shewaspreparedforthismeetingandhadmadeuphermindtoshownoembarrassment。
SotheusuallyblaseSamuelwastheembarrassedparty。Helookedandstammered。Mrs。Wyethwassurprisedandshocked。
“Samuel，“shesaidsharply，“whatisthematterwithyou？Whydon’tyouspeakandnotstandtherestaring？“
Sam，withaneffort，recoveredsomeofhisself-possession。
“WasIstaring？“hesaid。“Ibegyourpardon，CousinEmily。Er——
Howdoyoudo，MissLathrop？“
Mrs。Wyethsniffed。
“Mercy！“sheexclaimed。“Isyouracquaintanceasformalasthat？I
thoughtyoukneweachother。Theboysandgirlsofthisgenerationarebeyondme。’MissLathrop，’indeed！“
Marysmiled。“Perhapshedidn’texpecttoseemehere，Mrs。Wyeth，“
shesaid。“Howdoyoudo，Sam？“
SheandSamshookhands。Mrs。Wyethaskedanotherquestion。
“Didn’tyouknowMarywaswithme，Samuel？“sheasked。
“Oh，yes，CousinEmily，Iknew。Iknewshewashere，ofcourse。
But——butIdidn’t——byGeorge！“withasuddenoutburstofhisrealfeelings，“Ihardlyknewher，though。Really，Ididn’t。“
Marylaughed。“HaveIgrownsomucholderintwomonths？“sheasked。
“Oh，youhaven’tchangedthatway。I——I——“Theyoungman，realizingthathewasgettingintodeepwater，seizedanopportunitytoscrambleout。“Oh，Iforgot！“heexclaimed。“Sorry，Crawford。
Mary——MissLathrop，Iwanttopresentmyfriend，CrawfordSmith。
He’smyroommateatcollege。“
MaryandCrawfordshookhands。
“IhavemetMr。Smith，too，before，“shesaid。
Theyounggentlemen，bothofthem，lookedastonished。
“Haveyou？“criedSam。“Oh，Isay！Ididn’tknowthat。Whenwasit？“
Hisfriend，too，wasplainlypuzzled。“Ihardlythinkso，“hesaid。
“Idon’tbelieveIshouldhaveforgottenit。Idon’tremember——“
“Don’tyouremembercomingintomyuncles’storeatSouthHarnisswithMissKeith，Sam’ssister？Youboughtsome“——withamischievoustwinkle——“somemarshmallows，amongotherthings。Isoldthemtoyou。“
“You？GreatScott！Areyou——whythatgirl’snamewas——whatwasit？“
“Itwasthesameasmine，MaryAugustaLathrop。ButinSouthHarnisstheycallmeMary-’Gusta。“
“Thatwasit！AndyouareMary-’Gusta？Yes，ofcourseyouare！
Well，Ioughttobeashamed，Isuppose，butIdidn’trecognizeyou。
IAMashamed。Iwasawfullyobligedtoyouthatday。Youhelpedmeoutofascrape。“
Sam，whohadbeenlisteningwithincreasingcuriosity，brokein。
“Say，what’sallthis？“hedemanded。“Whenwasthis，Crawford？
Whatscrape？Younevertoldme。“
“Andyoudidn’ttellmethatMissLathropwashere。Youdidn’tsayawordabouther。“