Well，nevermind。Yes，I’llwrite，ofcourse。Ihope……No，I
can’tsaythat，notnow。I’dbettergoatonce，Ithink，beforeI……Good-by。“
Heseizedherhand，pressedittightly，tookhishatfromthetableandhisbagfromthefloorandswungoutofthedoor。Inthedoorwayshestoodlookingafterhim。Atthegateheturned，wavedhishand，andhurriedon。Hedidnotlookbackagain。
Whenathalf-pastsixCaptainShadrach，havingleftAnnabelandtheboyinchargeofthestore，camehomeforsupper，Isaiahhadsomenewstotellhim。Itwassurprisingnews。
“Youdon’tsay！“exclaimedtheCaptain。“Well，well，Iwanttoknow！AllthewayfromoutWest，eh？Sho！Whereishenow？“
Isaiahshookhishead。“That’sthefunnypartofit，he’sgone，“hesaid。
“Gone？Gonewhere？“
“Idon’tknow。AllIknowishecomeandsaidhewantedtoseeMary-’Gusta——Iwentupandtoldherandshecomedowntoseehim。I
stayedupalongofZoethuntilDebbyT。camebackfromhershoppin’
cruise。ThenIcomedownstairsagainandhishatandbagwasgone。
Therewan’tnobodyhere。“
“WherewasMary-’Gusta？Whereisshenow？“
“Upinherroom，Ical’late。Iheardhermovin’roundthereaspellago。“
Shadrachwentupthestairs，alongthehall，andknockedatMary’sdoor。
“Whoisit？“askedafaintvoicewithin。
“It’syourUncleShad，Mary-’Gusta。CanIcomein？“
“Yes。“
Heentered。Therewasnolampandtheroomwasdark。
“Whereareyou？“hedemanded。
“Here，bythewindow，UncleShad。“
Shewassittingintherockerbythewindow。Hecouldnotseeherface，butashebentandkissedhercheekhefounditwet。
“Mercyonus！You’vebeencryin’！“hedeclared。
“Oh——Oh，no，Ihaven’t！I——“
“Rubbish！Yes，youhave，too。Settin’aloneuphereinthedarkandcryin’！Mary-’GustaLathrop，comehere！“
Shehadrisenfromtherocking-chair，butheseizedherinhisarms，satdowninthechairhimself，andliftedhertohiskneejustasheusedtodowhenshewasthelittleMary-’Gusta。
“Nowthere，dearie，“hesaid。“You’lltellyourUncleShad。Whatisit？“
“Oh，nothing，UncleShad，dear。Iwas——I’mfeelingjustalittlesillythisafternoon，Iguess。Youmustn’taskme。“
“Allright，Iwon’task——I’lltell。ThatyoungfellerfromoutWest，thefellerwiththeuncommonname——Brown——Jones——Oh，no，Smith，thatwasit——hecamecruisin’aroundhereand——“
“UncleShad，howdidyouknow？“
“Alittlebirdtoldme。Along-leggedbirdwithoutmuchhairontop——abald-headedeagle，Ical’latehemustbe。Hopsroundourkitchendaytimesandroostsintheatticnights。“
“Isaiah！Ofcoursehewouldtell。“
“Ofcoursehewould——BEIN’Isaiah。Well，thisSmithcritter，hecameand——and——well，Iguessyou’llhavetotellmetherest。“
“Thereisn’tmuchtotell。Hecameand——andthenhewentawayagain。“
“Wentaway——where？“
“OuttoCarsonCity，Isuppose。“
“Ain’thecomin’backanymore？“
“No。“
“Why？Don’tyouwanthimtocome，Mary-’Gusta？“
“Oh，UncleShad，pleasedon’t。Idon’tfeelasifIcouldanswer。
Don’taskme。“
“There，there，dearie；don’tyouanswernothin’。Yousetstillhereandbemybaby。Iain’thadachancetobabyyouforalongspellanditseemsgood。“
Silence。SuddenlytheCaptainfelttheheadwhichnestledagainsthisshoulderstir。
“UncleShadrach，“saidMary-’Gusta，“whatdoyoudowhenyouwanttoforget？“
“Eh？Wanttoforget？Oh，Idon’tknow！Cal’lateIturntoandsailinandworkalittleharder，maybe。Why？“
“Oh，nothing……ButIammuchobligedforthesuggestion。NowI
amgoingtowork。Ishallbegintomorrowmorning。Iwishitwastomorrowrightnow。“
“Don’t。Jumpin’fire！Don’twishtimeaway；someofusain’tgottoomuchtospare。Butain’tyouBEENworkin’，formercysakes？I
shouldsayyouhad。“
Anotherintervalofsilence。ThenMarysaid：
“UncleShad，agoodwhileago，whenyouaskedmeabout——abouthim，I
promisedyouIwouldtellwhentherewasanythingtotell。Iamgoingtokeepmypromise。Hecametodayandaskedme——askedmetomarryhim——notnow，ofcourse，butbyandby。“
Shadrachwasnotgreatlysurprised。Neverthelessitwasamomentbeforehespoke。Maryfelthisarmstightenaboutherandsherealizedalittleofthestrugglehewasmaking。Yethistonewasbraveandcheerful。
“Yes，“hesaid。“Well，I——Ikindofcal’latedthatwouldcomesomedayorother。It’sallright，Mary’-Gusta。Zoethandmehavetalkeditoverandallwewantistoseeyouhappy。Ifyousaidyestohim，ZoethandI’llsay’Godblessyou’tobothofyou。“
Shereachedforhishandandliftedittoherlips。“Iknowyouwould，“shesaid。“Allyourlivesyouhavebeenthinkingofothersandnotofyourselves。ButIdidn’tsayyes，UncleShad。Iamnotgoingtobemarriednoworbyandby。Idon’twanttobe。IamthesilentpartnerofHamiltonandCompany。IamabusinesswomanandI
amgoingtowork——REALLYwork——fromnowon。No，youmustn’taskmeanymorequestions。We’lltrytoforgetitall。Kissme，UncleShad，dear。That’sit。Nowyougodowntosupper。Ishallstayhere；Iamnothungrytonight。“
CHAPTERXXVI
CaptainShaddidaskmorequestions，ofcourse。Heaskednomorethatevening——hejudgeditwisestnottodoso；butthenextday，seizinganopportunitywhenheandhisniecewerealone，heendeavoredtolearnalittlemoreconcerningherreasonsfordismissingCrawford。TheCaptainlikedyoungSmith，hehadbelievedMarylikedhimverymuch，and，althoughhecouldnothelpfeelingaguiltysenseofreliefbecausethedangerthatheandZoethmighthavetoshareheraffectionswithsomeoneelsewas，forthetimeatleast，outoftheway，hewaspuzzledandtroubledbytheabruptnessofthedismissal。Therewassomething，hefeltsure，whichhedidnotunderstand。
“Ofcourse，Mary-’Gusta，“hesaid，“Iain’taskin’anything——thatis，Idon’tmeantoputmyoarinaboutwhatyoutoldmelastnight，but——well，yousee，Zoethandmewasbeginnin’tofeelthat’twasprettynighasettledthingbetweenyouandthatyoungman。“
Marywassittingatthedesk——sheandherunclewereatthestoretogether——andshelookedupfromtheledgeroverwhichshehadbeenbendingandshookherheadreproachfully。Shelookedtiredandworn，soitseemedtoCaptainShadrach，asifshehadnotsleptwellthenightbefore，orperhapsforseveralnights。
“UncleShad，“shesaid，“whatdidItellyou？“
“Eh？Why，youtoldme——Youknowwhatyoutoldme，Mary-’Gusta。
Whatdoyouaskthatfor？“
“BecauseIthinkyouhaveforgottenthemostimportantpartofit。
Itoldyouweweregoingtoforgetitall。Andweare。Wearenotgoingtospeakofitagain。“
“But，Mary-’Gusta，why——“
“No，UncleShad。“
“Butdojusttellmethismuch；ifyoudon’tIshan’trestinpeace：
youdidn’tsendhimawayonaccountofZoethandme？Itwan’tjustbecauseyouthoughtweneededyou？“
“No，UncleShad。“
“Then——“