Maryarrangedwiththeowner，aBayportman，toleasethishouseandlandatasmallrentalforthreeyears。Intheleasewasincludedconsenttothemakingofnecessaryalterationsandrepairsandtheprivilegeofpurchasing，atapricethereinnamed，attheendofthethreeyears，shouldthetenantwishtodoso。
Thenwiththeaidofsoapandwater，whitepaintandwhitewash，attractivebutinexpensivewallpapers，andoddsandendsofquaintoldfurniture，ofwhichtheparlorandbestbedroomoftheGould-
Hamiltonhomesuppliedthelargerquantity，sheproceededtomakeovertheinteriorofthelittlebuilding。Toeverybitofnauticalbric-a-brac，picturesofoldsailingshipsandseacuriosshegaveespecialprominence。Thenthelawnwasmowed，thetangledshrubberyuntangledandclippedandpruned；cheapbutprettylatticesmadetolookliketheshroudsofaship，overwhichclimbingrosesweresupposed——someday——totwine，wereplacedagainstthewalls，andrustictablessetaboutunderthetreesandthegrapearborwithshiplanternshungabovethem。Thedrivewaydowntothelanewasrolledandhardened，andasign，paintedbyJoshuaBemis，thelocal“House，BoatandSignPainter，TinsmithandGlazier“——seeMr。
Bemis’sadvertisementintheAdvocate——washungonaframebythegateway。
CaptainShad’sremarkswhenhefirstsawthatsignmaybeworthquoting。Maryhadnotconsultedhimconcerningit；shedeemeditbestnottodoso。Whenitwasinplace，however，sheledhimouttoinspect。Shadrachadjustedhisspectaclesandreadasfollows：
THEFOR’ARDLOOKOUT
TEAANDGIFTS
DAINTYTHINGSTOEAT
PRETTYTHINGSTOBUY
ALL’SWELL！
Therewasthepictureofafull-riggedship，witheverystitchsetalowandaloft，sailingthroughaseaofthickgreenandwhitepainttowardakindofgreenwallwithgreenfeatherdustersgrowingoutofit。
Shadrachsubjectedthisworkofarttoalongandsearchingstare。
Atlasthespoke。
“Carryin’everyragshecanh’ist，“heobserved；“nobodyatthewheel，landdeadaheadandbreakersunderthebows。Lookstomeasif’twasliabletobeashortv’yageandalivelyone。Butthefor’ardlookoutsaysall’swellandheoughttoknow；he’shadmoreexperienceaboardgift-shopships，Ipresumelikely，thanIhave。
What’sthosebristlythingsstickin’upalongshorethere——eelgrassorteagrounds？“
Forthefirstfewweeksafterthetea-roomwasreally“offtheways“
theoptimisticdeclarationoftheFor’ardLookoutseemedscarcelywarrantedbythefacts。Marywasinclinedtothinkthatallwasbynomeanswell。Infittingoutthenewventureshehadbeenaseconomicalasshedared，butshehadbeenobligedtospendmoneyandtotakeonafreshassortmentofdebts。Then，too，shehadengagedtheservicesofagoodcookandtwowaitresses，sotherewasaweeklyexpensebilltoconsider。Andthenumberofmotorcarswhichturnedinatthenewdrivewaywasdisappointinglysmall。
Butthenumbergrewlarger。AspeoplehadtalkedaboutHamiltonandCompany’sassortmentofChristmasgoods，sonowtheybegantotalkaboutthe“quaintnessanddelightfuloriginality“oftheFor’ardLookout。Theteawasgood；thecakesandicesweregood；onpleasantdaystheviewwasremarkablyfine，andtheprettythingsinthegiftshopweretemptinglydisplayed。So，asMaypassedandJunecame，andthecottagesandhotelsbegantoopen，thebusinessofthenewtea-roomandgiftshopgrewfromfairtogoodandfromthattoverygoodindeed。
Marydividedhertimebetweenthestoreandthetearoom，doingherbesttokeepasupervisingeyeoneach。Shewasinnomoodtomeetpeopleandkeptoutofthewayofstrangersasmuchaspossible；
evenofherformeracquaintanceswhocametotheFor’ardLookoutshesawbutfew。Ifshehadnotbeentoobusyshemighthavefounditamusing，thecontrastingstudiesinhumannatureaffordedbytheseformeracquaintancesintheirattitudetowardher。
Forinstance，Mr。andMrs。ChristopherMulletanddaughter，Irene，thelatternowthroughschooland“finished“untilherveneeringactuallyglittered，satdrinkingteaatatableonthelawn。SaidMrs。Mullet：
“AndTHISiswhatit’scometo；afteralltheairsandfrillsandthegoin’toEuropeandIdon’tknowwhatall。Heresheiskeepin’
aneatin’house。Aneatin’house——justTHINKofit！Ifthatain’tacomedown！Wouldn’tyouthinkshe’dbeashamed，’Rena？“
MissMulletdroopedawearyeyelidandsighedahopelesssigh。
“Oh，Mother，“shedrawled，indeepdisgust，“CAN’Tyoustopcallingmebythatoutlandishname？IwaschristenedIrene，Ibelieve。
PLEASErememberit。“
“Allright，’Re——allright，Irene；Iwon’tforgetagain。Oh，there’sMary-’Gusta，now！Showin’herselfoutherewithallthesecityfolks，whenshe’snothin’butahiredhelp——atablegirl，asyoumightsay！Ishan’tnoticeher，anyway。Imaybuyherteaandstuff，butI——Who’sthatrunnin’uptoherand——andkissin’her——
and——mercyonus！You’dthinktheywassisters，ifyoudidn’tknow。
Whoisit？Lookskindofcommon，shedoestome。Don’tyouthinkso，’Rena——Irene，Imean？“
Irenesniffed。
“That，“shesaidwithcuttingemphasis，“isBarbaraHowe。HerpeoplearebuildingthatbigsummerhouseatOstervilleandherfatherisamillionaire，sotheysay。Andherpeoplewouldn’tlethercometotheschoolyousentmetobecausetheythoughtitwasn’tgoodenoughforher。That’showcommonSHEis。Imetheronce，butshedoesn’tknowmenow，althoughsheisperfectlycrazyoverthatMaryLathrop。I——Oh，there’sFatherdrinkingoutofhissauceragain！Forheaven’ssake，let’sgohome！“
AndjustthenBarbarawasenthusiasticallyhuggingherformerschoolmateandexclaiming：
“Youdidit！Iknewyouwouldifyouwouldonlytry。IsaiditrequiredaknackorageniusorsomethingandthatIwascertainyouhadit。It’sthedearestplaceofthekindI’veeverseen，mydear，andifeverysinglepersonIknowwhoisinthisvicinitydoesn’tcomehereatleastonceaweekandspendlotsandlotsofmoneyI’llneverspeaktothemagain。I’mgoingtoturnmyselfintoawalkingphonograph，mydear，withjustonerecord：’IfyoulovemevisittheFor’ardLookout。’Andofcourseeveryonelovesme——howcantheyhelpit？So——well，justwaitandseewhathappens。“
Sofarasspreadingabroadthepraisesofthenewtea-roomwasconcerned，shewasasgoodasherword。InAugustthepatronagewassogreatandcontinuousthatMaryfounditnecessarytohirethreemorewaitressesandasalesgirlforthegiftshop。Shespentmoreofherowntimethere，leavingthecareofthestoretoShadrach，SimeonCrockerandanewclerk，whohadbeenhiredtohelpwiththesummercustom。WhenearlySeptemberbroughtthebeginningoftheseason’sendthebooksofboththeLookoutandofHamiltonandCompanyshowedasubstantialprofit。
WhileallthiswasgoingonZoethwassteadilygaininginhealthandstrength。InJulyhewassittinginthesunshineuponthefrontporch。InAugusthewasabletoclimbtothebuggyseatandbedrivenuptothestore，wheredayafterdayhesatinhisarmchairbehindthecounter，watchingwhatwasgoingon，listeningtohispartner’shappychatter——forShadrachwasinhighspiritsnow——andoccasionallysayingawordortwohimself。OnpleasantSundayshewasdriventochurchandtheCaptainandMaryaccompaniedhim。Hewaswhiteandfrailandthin，butthedoctorassuredthemthat，sofarashecouldsee，therewasnoreasontoexpectanythingbutacompleterecovery。
ItdidseemtoCaptainShad，however，thathispartnerhadsomethingonhismind。Heseemedoftentobethinkingdeeplyandattimestobetroubledanddisturbed。TheCaptainhadneverasked，neverattemptedbyquestioningtolearnwhatthecauseofthetrouble——
providedtherewasany——mightbe。Hehadbeentoldoftenenoughthatthepatientmustnotbeexcited，sohemeanttotakenorisks，butZoeth’slongsilencesandtheexpressiononhisfaceashesatthereinthechair，evidentlythinkingdeeply，puzzledandworriedhisfriendandpartner。HenoticedthesameexpressionattimeswhenMarywasintheroom。Zoeth’seyeswouldfollowherasshemovedaboutandinthemwasthelooktheCaptaincouldnotunderstand。
ShadrachhadtoldhisfriendofMary’ssendingyoungSmithaway。
ZoethhadaskedconcerningCrawfordalmostassoonashewaspermittedtotakepartinalengthyconversation。Heappearedgreatlyinterested，eveneager。
“But，Shadrach，“hesaid，“areyousureshesenthimawaybecauseshedidn’tcareforhim？Areyousurethatwasthereason？“
“Whatotherreasoncouldtherebe？“demandedtheCaptain。“Sheasmuchastoldmethatwasit，herself。Iwassomesurprised，ofcourse，forI’drathercal’lated’twasasgoodassettledbetween’em，butitturnedoutthatIdidn’tknowwhatIwastalkin’about。
ThatHAShappenedaforeinmylife，strangeasitmayseem，“headdeddryly。
Zoethsighed。“Iwish——“hesaidslowly，“IwishIknew——“
“Whatdoyouwishyouknew？“
“Eh？Oh，nothin’。If——ifIwasonlyalittlemitestrongerI’dtrytotalkwithMary-’Gustamyself。I’dlike——I’dliketohavehertellmeaboutit。“
“Meanin’youdon’tbelieveme，eh？There，there，shipmate，it’sallright。Iwasonlyjokin’。ButIwouldn’taskMary-’Gustaaboutthat，ifIwasyou。CourseIknowshecaresasmuchormoreforherUncleZoeththanforanybodyonearth，andshe’dtellhimanythingifheaskedher；butIdon’tbelieve——Well，Iwouldn’task，ifI