Farmer，andhereinthephotographsentherbyCrawfordwasEdwinSmith。AndsavethatEdgarS。FarmerwasayoungmanandEdwinSmithamaninthemiddlesixties，theywerealmostidenticalinappearance。EachtimeshehadseenMr。Smith’sphotographshehadfeltcertainshemusthavemettheoriginal。Herewasthereason——
thismanintheotherphotograph。Theonlydifferencewasthedifferenceofage。EdwinSmithhadanoselikeEdgarFarmer’s，andachinlikehisandeyeslikehis。AndIsaiahhadjustsaidthatEdgarFarmerhadacrookedfingeronhisrighthandcausedbyanaccidentwithahogsheadofsalt。MaryrememberedwellsomethingCrawfordhadtoldher，thathisfatherhadafingerontherighthandwhichhadbeenhurtinamineyearsbeforehe，Crawford，wasborn。
Itcouldnotbe，ofcourse——itcouldnotbe——andyet——Oh，WHATdiditmean？
CHAPTERXXIV
Inhisownroomattheendofthesecond-storyhall，overthekitchen，Mr。Chasewassittingreadingthelocalpaperbeforeretiring。Itwasahabithehad，oneofwhichCaptainShadrachpretendedtoapprovehighly。“Bestthingintheworld，Isaiah，“
declaredtheCaptain。“Sleep’swhateverybodyneedsandIcan’tthinkofanysurerwayofgettin’tosleepthanreadin’theSouthHarnissnewsinthatpaper。“
Whetherornotthisunkindjokewasdeservedisnotmaterial；atalleventsIsaiahwasreadingthepaperwhenhewasverymuchstartledbyaknockatthedoor。
“Who——whoisit？“hestammered。
“ItisMary，“whisperedavoiceoutsidethedoor。“Iwanttospeakwithyou，Isaiah。You’renotinbed，areyou？“
Isaiahreluctantlyrelinquishedthepaper。“No，no，“hereplied，“I
ain’tinbed。What’sthematter？Zoethain’tnoworse，ishe？“
“LetmeinandI’lltellyou。“
“Comeonin。Youdon’tneednolettin’。“
Maryentered。Shewasverygraveandveryearnest。
“Whatinthenation，“beganIsaiah，“areyouprowlin’aroundthishourofthenightfor？“
“Hush！Isaiah，youmusttellmeeverythingnow。There’snousetosayyouwon’t——youMUST。WhowasEdgarFarmerandwhatwrongdidhedomyuncles？“
Isaiahsaidnothing；hedidnotattempttoanswer。Insteadhegapedatherwithsuchanexpressionofguiltysurprise，fright，andapprehensionthatatanyothertimeshewouldhavelaughed。Justnow，however，shewasfarfromlaughing。
“Come！come！“shesaid，impatiently。“Imeanit。IwantyoutotellmeallaboutthisEdgarFarmer。“
“Now——now，Mary-’Gusta，Itoldyou——“
“Youtoldmeaverylittle。NowIwanttoknowtherest。EveryoneelseinthisfamilyknowsitanditistimeIdid。I’mnotachildanymore。Tellmethewholestory，Isaiah。“
“Ishan’tneither。Oh，bygodfreys，thisiswhatIgetbysayin’
more’nIoughtto！AndyethowcouldIhelpitwhenIseethattintype？It’sjustmyluck！Nobodyelsebutmewouldhavehadthedrattedlucktohavethatpicturestuckintotheirfaceandeyesunexpected。And’twasjustsowhenyoufoundthatotheroneyearsagoupattic。Ihadtobetheoneyousprungiton！Ihadtobe！
ButIshan’ttellyounothin’！“
“Yes，youwill。Youmusttellmeeverything。“
“Well，Ishan’t。“
“Verywell。ThenIshallgostraighttoUncleShad。“
“Towho？ToCAP’NSHAD！Oh，mygodfreysmighty！Yougotohimandseewhathe’llsay！Justgo！Why，he’dshutuptighter’naclamatlowwaterandhe’dgiveyoufitsbesides。GotoCap’nShadandaskaboutEdFarmer！Mysoul！Youtryit！Aw，don’tbefoolish，Mary-
’Gusta。“
“I’mnotgoingtobefoolish，Isaiah。IfIgotoUncleShadIshalltellhimthatitwasthroughyouIlearnedtherewassuchapersonastheFarmermanandthattherewasasecretconnectedwithhim，thatitwasadisagreeablesecret，that——“
“Hush！Landsakesalive！Mary-’Gusta，DON’Ttalkso！Why，ifyoutoldCap’nShadhe’d——Idon’tknowwhathewouldn’tdotome。IfheknewItoldyouaboutEdFarmerhe’d——IswantomanIbelievehe’dprettynighkillme！“
“Well，you’llsoonknowwhathewilldo，forunlessyoutellmethewholestory，Ishallcertainlygotohim。“
“Aw，Mary-’Gusta——“
“Isurelyshall。Andifhewon’ttellmeIshallgotosomeoneoutsidethefamily——toJudgeBaxter，perhaps。Hewouldtellme，I’msure，ifIasked。No，Isaiah，youtellme。Andifyoudotellmeallfreelyandfrankly，keepingnothingback，I’llsaynothingtoUncleShadorUncleZoeth。Theyshallneverknowwhotold。“
Mr。Chasewrunghishands。Eversincehehadbeencookatthewhitehousebytheshorehehadhadthisdutylaiduponhim，thedutyofkeepinghislipscloseduponthenameofEdgarFarmerandthestoryconnectedwiththatname。WhenCaptainShadrachfirstengagedhimforhispresentsituationtheCaptainhadorderedhimnevertospeakthenameormentionthehappeningsofthattime。AndafterlittleMaryLathropbecamearegularandmostimportantmemberofthefamily，thecommandwasrepeated。“Shemustn’teverknowifwecanhelpit，Isaiah，“saidShadrach，solemnly。“YouknowZoethandhowhefeels。Forhissake，ifnothin’else，wemustn’tanyofusdropahintsothatshewillknow。She’llfindout，Ipresumelikely，whenshegetsolder；there’llbesomekindsoularoundtownthat’lltellher，consarn’em；butWEshan’ttellher；andifYOUtellher，IsaiahChase，I’ll——IdeclaretomanI’llheaveyouoverboard！“
Andnowafteralltheseyearsofignoranceduringwhichtheexpectedhadnothappenedandnooneofthevillagegossipshadrevealedthesecrettoher——now，hereshewas，demandingthathe，IsaiahChase，revealit，andthreateningtogostraighttoCaptainGouldandtellwhohadputheruponthescent。Nowonderthecookandstewardwrunghishandsindespair；theheavingoverboardwasimminent。
Mary，earnestanddeterminedasshewastolearnthetruth，thetruthwhichshewasbeginningtobelievemightmeansomuchtoher，neverthelesscouldnothelppityinghim。
“Come，come，Isaiah，“shesaid，“don’tlooksotragic。Thereisn’tanythingsodreadfulaboutit。Haveyoupromised——haveyougivenyourwordnottotell？BecauseifyouhaveIshan’taskyoutobreakit。IshallgotoJudgeBaxterinstead——ortoUncleShad。
ButofcourseIshallbeobligedtotellhowIcametoknow——thelittleIdoknow。“
Mr。ChasedidnotliketheprospectofhergoingtotheCaptain，thatwasplain。Forthefirsttimehisobstinacyseemedtowaver。
“I——Idon’tknow’sIevergivemyword，“headmitted。“Ineverpromisednothin’，asIrecollect。Cap’nShadhegivemeorders——“
“Yes，yes，ofcoursehedid。Well，nowI’Mgivingyouorders。AndIpromiseyou，Isaiah，ifiteverbecomesnecessaryI’llstandbetweenyouandUncleShad。Nowtellme。“
Isaiahsatdownuponthebedandwipedhisforehead。
“Oh，Lordy！“hemoaned。“IwishtmymouthhadbeensewedupaforeeverIsaidawordaboutanyofit……But——but……Well，“
desperately，“whatisityouwanttoknow？“
“Iwanttoknoweverything。BeginatthebeginningandtellmewhoMr。Farmerwas。“
Mr。Chasemarkedapatternonthefloorwithhisslipperedfoot。
Thenhebegan：
“HecomefromupCapeAnnwayinthebeginnin’，“hesaid。“TherestofthefirmwasCapeCodders，buthewan’t。However，he’dbeena-
fishin’andheknewfishandafterthefirmwasfuststartedandneededanextrybookkeeperheappliedandgotthejob。Therewasthreeof’eminHallandCompanyatfust，allyoungmentheywas，too；yourstepfather，Cap’nMarcellusHall，hewastheheadone；andMr。Zoeth，hewasnextandCap’nShadnext。’Twan’tuntilthreeorfouryearafterwardsthatEdFarmerwastookinpartner。Hewassosmartanddonesowelltheygivehimashareandtookhimin。
“Everybodylikedhim，too。Hewasyoungereventhantherest，andfinelookin’andhehada——akindofwaywithhimthatjustmadeyoulikehim。Thewaythebusinesswashandledwassomethin’likethis：
Cap’nMarcellus，yourstepfather，Mary-’Gusta，heandCap’nShaddonetheoutsidemanagin’，bossin’themen——wehadalotof’emonthewharfthemdays，too，andtherewasalwaysschoonersunloadin’
andcartsloadin’upandfellersheadin’upbarrels——Oh，HallandCompany’sstoreanddockswasthebusiestplaceontheSouthShore。
Youaskanybodythatremembersandthey’lltellyouso。
“Well，Cap’nMarcellusandCap’nShadwassortofoutsidebosses，sameasIsaid，andZoethhewassortofgeneralbusinessboss，’tendin’tothebuyin’suppliesandpayin’for’emandgettin’moneyandthelikeofthat，andEd——EdgarFarmer，Imean——hewasinsideofficeboss，lookin’outforthebooksandthecollectionsandthebankaccountandsoon。MarcellusandZoethandCap’nShadwasoldchumsandhadbeenforyears；theywasasmuchtoeachotherasbrothersandalwayshadbeen；butitwan’tsoverylongaforetheythoughtasmuchofFarmerastheydidofthemselves。Hewasthatkind——youcouldn’thelptakin’anotiontohim。