Mr。Greennodded。Herbusinesslikemannerhefoundamusing，althoughhebynomeanssharedherconfidenceinthefuture。
“Weshallbeverygladtoextendthetime，“hesaid。“YoumayrememberItoldyoutheothereveningthatsofarasourhousewasconcerned，weshouldprobablybewillingtosellyourunclesindefinitely，foroldtimes’sake。“
Hisvisitorfrowned。
“Wearenotaskingitforoldtimes’sake，“shesaid。“ItisthenewtimesIaminterestedin。Andpleaseunderstandthisisn’tsentimentbutbusiness。IfyoudonotbelievewhatIasktobeasafebusinessrisk，thatoneyourfirmwouldbejustifiedinacceptingfromanybody，thenyoumustn’tdoit。“
Mr。Greenhesitated。“SupposeIdonotacceptthatrisk，“hesaid；
“whatthen？“
“ThenIshallgoandseesomeothercreditors，theprincipalones，andmakethemsimilarpropositions。“
“Andsupposetheydon’taccept？“
“Ithinktheywill，mostofthem。Iftheydon’t——well，thenthereisanotherway。Myunclesowntheirhouseandstore。Theyhavebeenthinkingofsellingtheirpropertytopaytheirdebts。I
shouldhatetohavethemsell，andIdon’tbelieveitisnecessary。
IhavebeentalkingwithJudgeBaxteroveratOstable——IstoppedthereonmywaytoBoston——andhesuggestedthattheymightmortgageandraisemoneythatway。Itcouldbedone，couldn’tit？MortgagesareakindofbusinessIdon’tknowanythingabout。Theysoundhorrid。“
“Sometimestheyare。MissLathrop，ifIwereyouIshouldn’tsellormortgageyet。Iaminclinedtobelieve，judgingbythisbalancesheetandwhatyousay，thatyouhaveachancetopullHamiltonandCompanyoutofthefire，andI’mverysureyoucandoitifanyonecan。Areyougoingtobeinthecityforadayortwo？Good！Thenwillyouletmeconsiderthiswholematteruntil——say——Thursday？BythattimeIshallhavemadeupmymindandmayhavesomethingtosaywhichwillbeworthwhile。CanyoucomeinThursdayafternoonattwo？Andwillyou？Verywell。Oh，don’tthankme！Ihaven’tdoneanythingyet。PerhapsIshallnotbeableto，butweshallhopeforthebest。“
MarywentstraighttoMrs。Wyeth’shomeonPinckneyStreetandoncemoreoccupiedherpleasantroomonthethirdfloor。InspiteofherdeterminationnottocareshecouldnothelpfeelingalittlepangasshewalkedbytheMissesCabot’sschoolandrememberedthatshewouldneveragainenjoytheprivilegesandadvantagesofthatexclusiveinstitution。Shewonderedhowthegirls，herclassmates，hadfeltandspokenwhentheyheardthenewsthatshehadleftthemandreturnedtoCapeCodandstorekeeping。Somewouldsneerandlaugh——sheknewthat——andsomemightbealittlesorry。Buttheywouldallforgether，ofcourse。Doubtless，mostofthemhadforgottenheralready。
Butthefactthatallhadnotforgottenwasprovedthatveryeveningwhen，assheandMrs。WyethandMissPeaseweresittingtalkingtogetherintheparlor，Maggie，themaid，answeringtheringofthedoorbell，usheredinMissBarbaraHowe。Barbarawas，asusual，arrayedliketheliliesofthefield，butherfinepetalsweredecidedlycrumpledbythehugwhichshegaveMaryassoonasshelaideyesuponher。
“Youbadgirl！“shecried。“Whydidn’tyoutellmeyouwereintown？Andwhydidn’tyouanswermyletter——theoneIwroteyouatSouthHarniss？Ididn’thearawordandonlytonight，afterdinner，IhadtheinspirationofphoningMrs。Wyethandtryingtolearnfromherwhereyouwereandwhatyoumeantbydroppingallyourfriends。
MaggieansweredthephoneandsaidyouwerehereandIthrewonmythings——yes，’threw’istheword；nothingelsedescribestheprocess——andcamestraightover。HowDOyoudo？AndWHATareyoudoing？“
MarysaidshewaswellandthatshehadbeentoobusytoreplytoMissHowe’sletter。Butthisdidnotsatisfy。Barbarawantedtoknowwhyshehadbeenbusyandhow，soMarytoldofherdeterminationtoremaininSouthHarnissandbecomeabusinesswoman，Barbarawasgreatlyexcitedandenthusiastic。
“Won’titbeperfectlysplendid！“sheexclaimed。“IonlywishI
weregoingtodoitinsteadofhavingtostayatthatstraight-up-
and-downschoolandlistentoPrissy’sdissertationsonEmerson。
ShetoldtheFreshmanclasstheotherdaythatshehadhadthehonorofmeetingMr。Emersonwhenveryyoung——whenSHEwasyoung，shemeant；shealwaystellseveryFreshmanclassthat，youknow——andoneoftheFreshiesspokeupandaskedifsheevermethimafterwardswhenhewasolder。Theysaidherfacewasapicture；IwishImighthaveseenit。Butdotellmemoreaboutthatwonderfulstoreofyours。Iamsureitwillbeadarling，becauseanythingyouhaveanythingtodowithissuretobe。Areyougoingtohaveatea-
room？“
Maryshookherhead。“No，“shesaid，laughing。“Ithinknot。
There’stoomuchcompetition。“
“Oh，butyououghttohaveone。Notoftheordinarykind，youknow，butthe——theotherkind，theunusualkind。Why，Ihaveacousin——asecond——no，thirdcousin，arelativeofDaddy’s，sheis——whohadn’tmuchmoneyandwhosehealthwasn’tgoodandthedoctorsenthertoliveinthecountry。Livethereallthetime！Onlyfancy！Oh，I
forgotyouweregoingtodothesamething。Doforgiveme！I’msosorry！WHATaperfectgumpIam！Oh，dearme！ThereIgoagain！
AndIknowyouabhorslang，Mrs。Wyeth。“
“Tellmemoreaboutyourcousin，Barbara，“putinMary，beforetheshockedMrs。Wyethcouldreply。
“Oh，shewenttothecountryandtookanoldhouse，thefunniestoldthingyoueversaw。Andsheputupthequaintestlittlesign！Andopenedatea-roomandgiftshop。Idon’tknowwhytheycallthem’giftshops。’Theycertainlydon’tgiveawayanything。Far，farfromthat，mydear！DaddycallsthisoneofEsther’s’TheRobbers’
Roost’becausehesaysshechargesfortycentsforagillofteaandtwoslicesoftoastcutineightpieces。ButItellhimhedoesn’tpayfortheteaandtoastalone——itistheatmosphereoftheplace。
Hesaysifhehadtopayforallhisatmosphereatthatratehewouldbeasphyxiatedinafewmonths。ButheadmiresEstherverymuch。Shemakesheapsandheapsofmoney。“
“Thenhertea-roomandgiftshopisasuccess？“
“Asuccess！Oh，mydear！It’sascreamofasuccess！Almostanydayinsummerthereareatleastadozenmotorcarsoutsidethedoor。Everybodygoesthere；it’stheproperthingtodo。Iknowallthisbecauseitisn’tveryfarfromoursummerhomeinClayton——
inthemountains，youknow。“
“Soshemadeasuccess，“musedMary。“Werethereothertea-roomsabout？“
“Oh，dozens！Butthey’renotoriginal；hersis。Theyhaven’tthe——
thesomething——youknowwhatImean，Estherhasthestyle，theknack，the——Ican’tsayit，butyouknow。Andyouwouldhaveit，too；I’mperfectlysureyouwould。“
Marywasevidentlymuchinterested。
“IwishImightmeetyourcousin，“shesaid。
“Why，youcan。SheishereinBostonnow，buyingforthesummer。
I’llphoneherandwethreewilllunchtogethertomorrow。Don’tsayyouwon’t；you’vejustgotto。“
SoMary，ratherreluctantly，consentedtomakeoneoftheluncheonparty。Afterwardshewasgladthatshedid，forMissEstherHemingway——thiswasthecousin’sname——wasaninterestingperson。
ShetoldMaryallabouthertea-roomandgiftshop，howshestartedinbusiness，themistakesshemadeatfirst，andthelessonsshehadlearnedfromexperience。BecauseBarbarahadaskedhertodososhebroughtwithherphotographsoftheestablishment，itsattractiveandquaintexterioranditsequallydelightfulinterior。
“Thewholesecret，“shesaid，“isinkeepingeverythingingoodtasteandsimple。Choosetherightlocation，fitupyourroomsintasteandcheerfully，servethebestyoucanfind，andselltheunusualandtheattractivethingsthatotherpeopledonothave，oratleastarenotlikelytohave。Thenchargeadequateprices。“
“AdequatebeingspelledAdoubleD，“observedBarbarasignificantly。
MarypartedfromMissHemingwaywithanewideainherhead，anideathatsometimeorothershemeanttoputintopractice。
OnThursdayafternoonshecalleduponMr。Green。Thatgentleman，havinghadhisopportunitytothink，wasreadywithaproposition。
Brieflyitwasthis：HehadpersonallyseentheprincipalcreditorsofHamiltonandCompany——theywereallBostonbusinesshouses——andheandtheyhadagreedtomakethefollowingoffer：HamiltonandCompany’screditupondebtsalreadyowedwastobeextendedsixmonths。Marywastogohome，endeavortocollectwhatmoneyshecould，andwithitbuyforcashwhatevergoodswereneededforthesummerseason。Ifthatseasonwasasuccessandthebusinesspromisedwellforthefuture，thenarrangementscouldbemadeforfuturebuyingandforpayingtheolddebtalittleatatime。
“Atanyrate，“concludedMr。Green，“thispostponesthemortgagingorsellingforatimeatleast，andyoualwayshaveittofallbackonifyoucan’tmakeyournewundertakingpay。Ibelieveyoucan。
Iadviseyoutoaccept。Yourothercreditorsfeelthesameway。“
Hedidnotadd，ashemighthavedone，thattheopinionofthoseothercreditorshadbeeninfluencedalmostentirelybyhisownandthatinoneortwoinstanceshehadbeenobligedpracticallytounderwritethepaymentofHamiltonandCompany’sindebtednessbeforegainingconsent。HehadtalkedwithMr。Howe，whointurnhadcalledhisdaughterintoconsultation，andBarbara’senthusiasticpraiseofherfriendhadstrengthenedthefavorableimpressionwhichthegirlhadalreadymadeuponbothgentlemen。“Doyouknow，I
believeshemaywinout，“observedMr。Howe。
“Iaminclinedtothinkshewill，“concurredGreen。
“Ofcourseshewill！“declaredBarbarahotly。“Noonewhoeverknewherwouldbesillyenoughtothinkshewouldn’t。“
HenceMr。Green’sunderwritingexpeditionandthepropositiontoMaryastherepresentativeofHamiltonandCompany。
Maryaccepted，ofcourse。Shewasverygratefulandsaidso。
“Idon’tknowhowtothankyou，Mr。Green。Ican’tpromiseanything，butiftryinghardwillwin，Icanpromisethat，“shesaid。
“That’sallright，that’sallright。Iknowyou’lltry，andIthinkyou’llsucceed。Now，whydon’tyougoupandpickoutsomeofthosesummergoods？Youdon’tneedthemyet，andyouneedn’tpayforthemyet，butnowisthetimetoselect。GivemyregardstoyouruncleswhenyouseethemandtellthemIwishthemluck。ImaybemotoringdowntheCapethissummerandifIdoIshalldropinonyouandthem。“
MaryhadnewstotellwhenshereachedSouthHarniss。Itwaslistenedtowithattention，ifnotentirelyinsilence。CaptainShadrach’sejaculationsof“Youdon’tsay！““Iwanttoknow！“and“Jumpin’fire，howyoutalk！“servedaspunctuationmarksduringthenarration。Whenshehadfinishedherstory，shesaid：
“Andnow，UncleZoethandUncleShad——nowthatyou’veheardthewholeofit，andknowwhatmyplanis，whatdoyouthinkofit？“
Bothanswerswerecharacteristic。Zoethdrewalongbreath。
“TheAlmightysentyoutous，Mary-’Gusta，“hevowed。“TherewasatimealittlespellagowhenIbeguntothinkHe’dprettynighdesertedus。Iwasalmostdiscouragedanditshookmytrust——itshookmytrust。ButnowIcanseeHewasjusttryin’usoutandinHisgoodtimeHesentyoutohaulusofftheshoals。He’lldoit，too；IknowitandI’llthankHimtonightonmyknees。“
Shadrachshookhishead。“Byfire！“hecried。“Mary’-Gusta，I
alwayssaidyouwasawonder。You’vegivenusachancetogetclearofthebreakers，anyhow，andthat’ssomethin’we’dneverhavedoneourselves。Now，ifyoucancollectthatmoneyfromJeremiahCliffordI’ll——I’ll——IswantomanI’llbelieveanything’spossible，evenJonah’sswallowin’thewhale。“
“Oh，Shadrach！“protestedhispartner。“Ifyouwouldn’tbesoirreverent！“