presumelikelyshe’llhavetobe。I’llgofetchher。“
“Waitaminute，Mrs。Hobbs，“saidBaxter。“What’sthematter？Hasthechildbeenbehavingbadly？“
Mrs。Hobbs’leanfingersclinched。“Behavin’badly！“sherepeated。
“Ishouldsayshehad！Ineverwassomortifiedinmylife。Andatherownfather’sfuneral，too！“
“Whathasshedone？“
“Done？She——“Mrs。Hobbshesitated，glancedatCaptainShadrach，andlefthersentenceunfinished。“Nevermindwhatshedone，“shewenton。“Ican’ttellyounow；IdeclareI’dbeashamedto。I’llgogether。“
Shemarchedfromtheroom。Zoethrubbedhisforehead。
“Sheseemssortofputout，don’tshe，“heobserved，mildly。
Baxternodded。“SusanHobbshasthereputationofgetting’putout’
prettyoften，“hesaid。“Shehasatemperanditisn’talongone。“
“Hasshebeentakin’careofMarcellus’sgirl？“askedZoeth。
“Yes。Asmuchcareasthechildhashad。“
CaptainShadsnorted。Itwasevidentthatthehousekeeper’smannerhadnotimpressedhimfavorably。
“Humph！“hesaid。“I’dhatetohavehertakecareofme，judgin’bythewayshelookedjustnow。Say，“hopefully，“doyousupposeSHE
wastheonefixedthatchair？“
TheyheardMrs。Hobbsonthefloorabove，shouting：
“Mary-’Gusta！Mary-’Gusta！Whereareyou？Answermethisminute！“
“Don’tseemtobeinthatroomshewastalkin’about，“grumbledShadrach。“Tut！Tut！Whatavoicethatis！Gotarasptoitlikearustysaw。“
Mrs。Hobbswashearddescendingthestairs。Herface，whenshereenteredthesitting-room，wasredandshelookedmore“putout“
thanever。
“Sheain’tthere，“sheanswered，angrily。“She’sgone。“
“Gone？“repeatedZoethandShadrachinchorus。
“Gone？“repeatedtheJudge。“Doyoumeanshe’srunaway？“
“No，no！Sheain’trunaway——notforgood；sheknowsbetterthanthat。She’ssneakedoffandhid，Isuppose。ButIknowwheresheis。I’llhaveherhereinaminute。“
Shewashurryingoutagain，buttheCaptaindetainedher。
“Wait！“hecommanded。“What’sthatyousay？Youknowwheresheis？“
“Yes，orIcanguess。Ninechancestooneshe’soutinthatbarn。“
“Inthebarn？What’sshedoin“there——playin’horse？“
“No，no。She’shidin’inthecarriageroom。Seemsasifthechildwaspossessedtogetoutinthatdustyplaceandperchherselfintheoldcarryall。Shecallsitherplayhouseandyou’dthink’twasHeaventhewayshelovestostaythere。Buttodayofalldays！Andwithherbestclotheson！AndafterIexpresslytoldher——“
“Yes，yes；allright。Humph！Well，Zoeth，whatdoyousay？ShallwegotoHeavenandhuntforher？Maybe’twillbetheonlychancesomeofus’llget，youcan’ttell，“withawinkatBaxter。
“Hush，Shadrach！Howyoudotalk！“protestedtheshockedMr。
Hamilton。
“Let’sgoouttothebarnandfindtheyoung-oneourselves，“saidtheCaptain。“Seemsthesimplestthingtodo，don’tit？“
Mrs。Hobbsinterrupted。
“Youdon’tneedtogoatall，“shedeclared。“I’llgetherandbringherhere。Perhapssheain’tthere，anyway。“
“Well，ifsheain’ttherewecancomebackagain。Comeon，boys。“
Heledthewaytothedoor。Thehousekeeperwouldhaveaccompaniedthem，buthepreventedherdoingso。
“Don’tyoutroubleyourself，ma’am，“hesaid。“We’llfindher。I’molder’nIusedtobe，butIain’tsoblindbutwhatIcanlocateabarnwithoutaspyglass。“
“Itwon’tbeanytrouble，“protestedthelady。
“Iknow，butitmightbe。We’llgoalone。“
Whenthethreewereinthebackyard，andthediscomfitedhousekeeperwaswatchingthemfromthedoor，headded：
“Idon’tknowwhythatwomanrubsmyfurthewrongway，butshedoes。IsaiahChasesayshedon’tlikemosquitoes’causetheygetonhisnerves。IneverthoughtIworemynervesonthebackofmyneck，whichiswhereIsaiahgetsskeeter-bitmostly，butanyhow，wherevertheybe，thatHobbswomanbothers’em。There’sthebarn，ain’tit？Don’tlookveryheavenly，butitmayseemthatwayafteraspellint’otherplace。Nowwhere’sthecarriageroom？“
Thedoorofthecarriageroomwasopen，andtheyentered。Abuggyandthemuslindrapedsurreywerethere，butnolivingcreaturewasinsight。Theylistened，butheardnothing。
“Mary！Mary-’Gusta！“calledBaxter。“Areyouhere？“
Noanswer。Andthen，frombeneaththecoverofthesurrey，appearedafattortoise-shellcat，whojumpedlightlytothefloor，yawned，stretched，andblinkedsuspiciouslyatthevisitors。
“Humph！“gruntedCaptainShadrach。“There’sonestowaway，anyhow。
Maybethere’sanother；I’vehad’emcomeaboardinpairs。“
TheJudgewalkedovertothesurrey，andraisedthecover。Frombehinditcameafrightenedlittlesqueal。
“Oh，thereyouare！“saidBaxter。“Mary-’Gusta，isthatyou？“
Therewasarustle，asob，andthenatimidvoicesaid，chokingly，“Yes，sir。“
“Comeout，“saidtheJudge，kindly。“Comeout；herearesomefriendswhowanttomeetyou。“
Anothersobandthen：“I——Idon’twantto。“
“Oh，yes，youdo。Wewon’thurtyou。Weonlywanttoseeyouandtalkwithyou，that’sall。Come，that’sagoodgirl。“
“I——Iain’tagoodgirl。“
“Nevermind。Wewanttoseeyou，anyway。Iguessyou’renotverybad。“
“Yes，I——Iam。Is——isMrs。Hobbsthere？“
“No。Comenow，please。“
Amoment’swait，then，frombeneaththecover，appearedasmallfootandleg，thelattercoveredbyablackstocking。Thefootwiggledabout，feelingforthestep。Itfoundit，thecoverwasthrownasideandMary-’Gustaappeared，apatheticlittlefigure，withrumpledhairandtear-stainedcheeks。RoseandRosette，thetwodolls，werehuggedinherarms。
JudgeBaxterpattedheronthehead。ZoethandShadrachlookedsolemnandillatease。Mary-’Gustalookedatthefloorandsniffeddolefully。
“Mary-’Gusta，“saidtheJudge，“thesetwogentlemenareoldfriendsofyourfather’sand，“withapardonablestretchingofthetruth，“theyhavecomeallthewayfromSouthHarnisstomeetyou。Nowyoumustshakehandswiththem。Theylikelittlegirls。“
Mary-’Gustaobedientlymovedforward，shiftedRosettetothearmclaspingRose，andextendedahand。Slowlysheraisedhereyes，sawMr。Hamilton’smild，gentlefaceandthen，besideit，thefaceofCaptainShadrachGould。Withacryshedroppedbothdolls，ranbacktothesurreyandfumbledfranticallywiththedustcover。
Baxter，surprisedandpuzzled，ranafterherandpreventedherclimbingintothecarriage。
“Why，Mary-’Gusta，“hedemanded，“whatisthematter？“
Thechildstruggledandthen，burstingintoastormofsobs，hidherfaceinthedustcover。
“I——Ididn’tmeanto，“shesobbed，wildly。“Ididn’tmeanto。
HonestIdidn’t。I——Ididn’tknow。Ididn’tmeanto。Pleasedon’tlethim。PLEASE！“
TheJudgeheldhercloseanddidhisbesttocalmher。
“There，there，child，“hesaid。“Noone’sgoingtohurtyou。“
“Yes——yes，theyare。Mrs。Hobbssaidsheshouldn’twonderifheknockedmy——myheadrightoff。“
“Knockedyourheadoff！Who？“
“Him。“