Heturned，sawher，andstoodpetrified。Maryenteredandclosedthedoorbehindher。BythattimeMr。Chasehadrecoveredsufficientlyfromhisossificationtospeak。
“Eh——eh——bytime！“hegasped。“Isnumifitain’tyou！“
Marynodded。“Isaiah，“sheaskedquickly，“areyoualone？Aremyuncles，bothofthem，atthestore？“
Butthecookandstewardhadnotyetcompletelygotovertheeffectofthesurprise。Hestillstaredather。
“ItISyou，ain’tit！“hestammered。“I——I——bytime，Idobelieveyou’vecomehome，sameasIaskedyouto。“
“OfcourseI’vecomehome。HowintheworldcouldIbehereifI
hadn’t？DON’Tstareatmelikethat，withyourmouthopenlikea——
likeacodfish。Tellme，areUncleShadandUncleZoethatthestore？“
“Eh——Yes，Ical’latetheybe。Ain’tneitherof’emcomehometodinneryet。I’mexpectin’oneof’em’mostanyminute。I’llrunupandfetch’em。Say！Howinthenationdidyougetherethistimeofday？“
“Ishalltellyoubyandby。No，Idon’twantyoutogetmyuncles。
Iwanttotalkwithyoualonefirst。Now，Isaiah，sitdown！Sitdowninthatchair。Iwantyoutotellmejusthowbadthingsare。
Tellmeeverything，allyouknowaboutit，anddon’ttrytomakethesituationbetterthanitis。AndpleaseHURRY！“
Isaiah，bewilderedbutobedient，satdown。Thecommandtohurryhadtheeffectofmakinghimsonervousthat，althoughhetalkedenoughtohavedescribedthemostcomplicatedsituation，hisideaswerebadlysnarledandMaryhadtokeepinterruptinginordertountanglethem。And，afterall，whathehadtotellwasnotverydefinite。
Businesswasbadatthestore；thatwasplaintoeveryoneintown。
“Allhands“weretradingatthenewstoreswherepriceswerelower，stocksbiggerandmoreup-to-date，andsellingmethodsfar，farinadvanceofthoseofHamiltonandCompany。
“Abouttheonlycustomersthatstickbyus，“declaredIsaiah，“arefolkslike’RastusYoungandtherestofthedeadbeats。THEY
wouldn’tleaveusfornothin’——andnothin’swhattheypay，too，drat’em！“
Thepartnershadnottoldhimoftheirtroubles，buttellingwasnotnecessary。Hehadseenandheardenough。
“Theyarerightontheraggededgeofgoin’ontherocks，“vowedIsaiah。“Zoeth，he’sthatthinandpeaked’twouldmakeasickpulletlookfleshyalongsideofhim。AndCap’nShadgoesaroundwithhishandsrammeddowninhisbeckets——“
“Inhiswhat？“
“Inhisbritchespockets，andhedon’tscurcelyspeakawordforhoursatastretch。Andthey’reupalltimesofthenight，fussin’
overaccountbooksandwritin’lettersandIdon’tknowwhatall。
It’splainenoughwhat’scomin’。Everybodyintownisontoit。
Why，Iwasuptothestoret’otherdaysettin’outsideonthestepsandAbBacheldorcamealong。HehatesCap’nShadworse’npizen，youknow。’Hello，Isaiah！’hesaystome，hesays。’Isthatyou？’hesays。’Courseit’sme，’saysI。Who’dyouthink’twas？’’Ididn’tknowbutitmightbethesheriff，’hesays。’Iunderstandhe’ssettin’roundnowadaysjusta-waitin’。’AndZoethwasrightwithinhearin’，too！“
“Oh！“exclaimedMaryindignantly。
“Yup，that’swhathesaid，“wentonIsaiah。“ButIgotinonedigonmyownhook。’Thesheriffdon’twaitmuchdowntoyourhouse，Abner，doeshe？’saysI。’Youbethedon’t，’sayshe；’hedon’thaveto。’’Well，he’dstarvetodeathifhewaitedtherelong，’
saysI。Ho，ho！Hiswife’sthestingiestwomanabouthercookin’
thatthereisontheCape。Why，onetimeshetookanotionshe’dkeepboardersandHenryRyder，thatdrivesthefruitcart，hestartedtoboardthere。Butheonlystayedtwodays。Thefustdaytheyhadbiledeggsandthenextdaytheyhadsoupmadeoutoftheshells。Coursethatprobablyain’ttrue——Henry’sanawfulliar——butallthesame——“
“NevermindHenryRyder，orAbnerBacheldor，either，“interruptedMary。“Howdidyouhappentosendforme，Isaiah？“
“Eh？Oh，thatjustcameofitself，asyoumightsay。Ikeptgettin’moreandmoretitteredupandworriedasIseehowthingswasgoin’andIkeptwishin’youwashere，if’twasonlytohavesomebodytotalkitoverwith。ButIdidn’tdasttowriteandwhenyouwashomeChristmasIneverdasttosaynothin’becauseCap’nShadhadvowedhe’dbutchermeifItoldtalestoyouaboutanyhometroubles。That’sit，yousee！Allthroughthistheirmainideahasbeennottotroubleyou。’Shemustn’tknowanythingorshe’llworry，’saysZoeth，andCap’nShadhesays，’That’sso。’Theythinkanawfulsightofyou，Mary-’Gusta。“
Marydidnottrustherselftolookup。
“Iknow，“shesaid。“Goon，Isaiah。“
“Well，Ikeptthinkin’andthinkin’andonedaylastweekEzraHopkins，that’sthebutchercartfeller，heandmewastalkin’andhesays：’Tradeain’tverybriskuptothestore，isit？’hesays。
’Everybodysays’tain’t。’’Thenifeverybodyknowssomuchwhatd’yeaskmefor？’saysI。’Oh，don’tgetmad，’sayshe。’ButI
tellyouthis，Isaiah，’hesays，’ifMary-’GustaLathrophadn’tgoneawaytothatfoolBostonschoolthingswouldhavebeendifferentwithHamiltonandCompany。She’sasmartgirlandasmartbusinesswoman。Ibelieveshe’dhavesavedtheoldfellers，’hesays。’Shewasup-to-dateandshehadtheknow-how，’sayshe。Well，Ikeptthinkin’whathesaidand——and——well，Iwrote。Forthelandsakesdon’ttellShadnorZoeththatIwrote，butI’mgladIdoneit。I
don’tknow’syoucandoanything，Idon’tknow’sanybodycan，butI’mmightygladyou’rehere，Mary-’Gusta。“
Marysighed。“I’mgladIamhere，too，Isaiah，“sheagreed，“althoughI，too，don’tknowthatIcandoanything。But，“sheaddedsolemnly，“Iamgoingtotryveryhard。Nowwemustn’tletUncleShadorUncleZoethknowthatIhaveheardabouttheirtrouble。WemustletthemthinkIamathomeforanextraholiday。
ThenIshallbeabletolookthingsoverandperhapsplanalittle。
WhenIamreadytotellwhatImeantodoIcantelltherest……
Sshh！Herecomesoneofthemnow。It’sUncleZoeth。Lookhappy，Isaiah！HAPPY——notasifyouwerechokingtodeath！Well，UncleZoeth，aren’tyousurprisedtoseeme？“
Surprisedhecertainlywas；atfirst，likeIsaiah，hecouldscarcelybelieveshewasreallythere。Then，naturally，hewishedtoknowWHYshewasthere。ShedodgedthequestionsasbestshecouldandZoeth，innocentandtruthfulasalways，acceptedwithoutasuspicionhervagueexplanationconcerninganopportunitytorundownandseethemforalittlewhile。DinnerwasputonthetableandthenIsaiahhasteneduptorelieveShadrachatthestoreinorderthatthepartnersandMarymighteattogether。
TheCaptainarrivedafewminuteslater，red-faced，vociferous，andjoyful。
“Well，“heshouted，throwinghisarmsaboutherandkissingherwithasmackwhichmighthavebeenheardinAbnerBacheldor’syard，“ifTHISain’tasurprise！Zoethsaidthismornin’hefeltasifsomethin’wasgoin’tohappen，andthenIsaiahupsettheteakittlealloverbothmyfeetandIsaidIfeltasifitHADhappened。Butithadn’t，hadit！Well，ifitain’tgoodtolookatyou，Mary-
’Gusta！How’dyouhappentocomethistimeofyear？Hastheschoolhousefoundered？“
MaryrepeatedtheexcuseshehadgivenMr。Hamilton。Itwassufficient。Thepartnersweretoohappyathavingherwiththemtobeovercuriousconcerningherreasonsforcoming。CaptainShadtalkedandjokedandlaughedandZoethnoddedandsmiledinhisquietway。IfMaryhadnotknowntheirsecretshewouldnothaveguesseditbut，asitwas，shenoticedhowpaleandwornMr。
HamiltonlookedandhowtheCaptainhadbecomepronetofitsofunwontedsilencefromwhichheseemedtoarousehimselfwithaneffortand，afteraglanceather，totalkandlaughlouderthanever，Oncesheventuredtoaskhowbusinesswasanditwouldhavebeenalmostfunnyifithadnotbeensopathetic，thehastewithwhichtheybothassuredherthatitwasaboutthesame。
Afterdinnersheannouncedherintentionofgoinguptothestore。
HerunclesexchangedlooksandthenZoethsaid：
“Whatmakesyoudothat，Mary-’Gusta？NicedaylikethisI’dbeoutofdoorifIwasyou。Wedon’tneedyouatthestore，dowe，Shadrach？“
“Notmore’nafishneedsabathin’suit，“declaredtheCaptain，withconviction。“Yougoseesomeofthegirlsandhaveagoodtime，Mary-’Gusta。“
ButMarydeclinedtogoandseeanyofthegirls。Shecouldhaveabettertimeatthestorethananywhereelse，shesaid。Shewenttothestoreandspenttheafternoonandeveningthere，watchingandlistening。Therewasnotmuchtowatch，notmorethanadozencustomersduringtheentiretime，andthoseboughtbutlittle。Thehardestpartoftheexperienceforherwastoseehoweagerherunclesweretopleaseeachcallerandhowanxiouslyeachwatchedtheother’seffortsandtheresult。ToseeZoethatthedeskporingovertheledger，hislipsmovingandthepenciltremblinginhisfingers，wasasbadas，butnoworsethan，toseeCaptainShadrach，afrownonhisfaceandhishandsinhispockets，pacethefloorfromthebackdoortothefrontwindow，stop，lookuptheroad，drawalongbreaththatwasalmostagroan，thenturnandstridebackagain。