“Thereain’tany’buts’；haven’tgottimefor’em。“
Mr。Hamiltonregardedhisfriendwithanoddexpression。
“Shadrach，“heasked，“doyourealizewhatyou’resayin’？“
“Who’ssayin’？Yousaidit，Ididn’t。Besidestakin’herhomewithustodaydon’tmeannothin’，doesit？Avisitwon’thurtus。
Visitsdon’tbindanybodytoanything。Jumpin’Judas！Iguesswe’vegotroomenoughinthehousetohaveoneyoung-onecomevisitin’for——foracoupleofdays，ifwewantto。Whatareyoumakin’suchafussabout？Hereyou，“turningtothehousekeeper，“ain’tyougoneyet？You’vegotjustthirteenminutestogetthatsatchelready。“
Mrs。Hobbsdeparted，outrageddignityinherwalkandmanner。
“Am——amIgoin’？“falteredMary-’Gusta。
Zoethnodded。
“Yes，“hesaid，“you’regoin’。Unless，ofcourse，you’dratherstayhere。“
“No，I’drathergo，if——ifIcantakeDavidandthedolls。CanI？“
“Canshe，Shadrach？“
CaptainShad，whowaspacingthefloor，turnedsavagely。
“Whatdoyouaskmethatfor？“hedemanded。“Thisisyourdoin’s，’tain’tmine。Yousaiditfirst，didn’tyou？Yes，yes，lethertakethedollsandcats——andcowsandpigs，too，ifshewantsto。
Jumpin’fire！WhatdoIcare？Ifafeller’sboundtobeafool，alittlelivestockmoreorlessdon’tmakehimanybiggerone……
Landsakes！Ibelieveshe’sgoin’tocryagain。Don’tdothat！
What’sthematternow？“
Thetearswerestartingoncemoreinthegirl’seyes。
“I——Idon’tthinkyouwantme，“shestammered。“Ifyoudidyou——youwouldn’ttalkso。“
TheCaptainwasgreatlytakenaback。Hehesitated，tuggedathisbeard，andthen，walkingovertothechild，tookherbythehand。
“Don’tyoumindthewayItalk，Mary-’Gusta，“hesaid。“I’mliabletotalk’mostanyway，butIdon’tmeannothin’byit。Ilikelittlegirls，sameasZoethsaid。AndIain’tmadaboutthejig-
tunechair，neither。Say，“withasuddeninspiration；“herewearesettin’hereandoneofourpassengershasleftthedock。Wegottofindthatcat，ain’twe？Whatdidyousayhisnamewas——Solomon？“
“No，sir；David。“
“David，sureenough。IfI’dbeenupinScripturethewayZoeth——Mr。
Hamilton，here——is，Iwouldn’thavemadethatmistake，wouldI？
Comeon，let’syouandmegofindDavidandbreakthenewstohim。
Say，he’llbesomesurprisedtofindhe’sbookedforaforeignv’yage，won’the？Comeon，we’llgofindhim。“
Mary-’GustaslowlyrosefromMr。Hamilton’sknee。SheregardedtheCaptainsteadilyforamoment；then，handinhand，theyleftthebarntogether。
JudgeBaxterwhistled。“Well！“heexclaimed。“ImustsayIdidn’texpectthis。“
Zoethsmiled。“Thereain’tmanybettermenthanShadrachGould，“heobserved，quietly。
CHAPTERIV
Mary-’Gusta，eventhoughshelivestobeaveryoldwoman，willneverforgetthatridetoSouthHarniss。Itwasthelongestrideshehadevertaken，andthatofitselfwouldhavemadeitunforgettable。Then，too，shewasgoingvisiting，andshehadneverbeenvisitingbefore。Also，shewasleavingMrs。Hobbsand，foratimeatleast，thatladycouldnotremindherofherqueernessandbadness。Morethanall，shewasgoingonajourney，arealjourney，likeagrown-uporapersoninastory，andherfamily——Davidandthedolls——werejourneyingwithher。Whatthejourneymightmeantoher，ortowhatsortofplaceshewasgoing——thesequestionsdidnottroubleherintheleast。Childlike，shewasquitesatisfiedwiththewonderfulpresent，andtothefuture，eventhedreadedorphans’
home，shegavenotathought。
Perchedonthebuggyseat，squeezedinbetweenCaptainShadandMr。
Hamilton，shegazedwide-eyedatthehousesandfieldsandwoodsalongtheroadside。Shedidnotspeak，unlessspokento，andthetwomenspokebutseldom，eachapparentlythinkinghard。
OccasionallytheCaptainwouldsigh，orwhistle，orgroan，asifhisthoughtsweredisturbingandmostunusual。Onceheaskedherifshewascomfortable。
“Yes，sir，“shesaid。
“Havin’agoodtime？Liketogotoride，doyou？“
Mary-’Gustaassumedhermostgrown-upair。
“Yes，sir，“shesaid。“Ijustlovetotravel。It’sbeenthedreamofmylife。“
“Gosh！Iwanttoknow！“exclaimedtheastonishedShadrach；thenheshookhishead，chuckled，andorderedthehorsetohurryup。
Thedollswerearrangedinarowagainstthebackofthedashboard。
Infrontofthem，andbetweentheCaptain’sfeetandZoeth’s，thebatteredsatchelcontainingthechild’severydaydressandvisitingessentialswassqueezed。Mary-’Gusta’sfeetstuckstraightoutandrestedonthetopofthesatchel。David，inabasketwiththelidtiedfast，wasplantedbetweenthelastmentionedfeet。Daviddidnotappeartosharehis——orher——owner’sloveoftravel。Thecatwailedlugubriouslyatintervals。
Zoethmadethenextattemptatconversation。
“NeverbeentoSouthHarniss，haveyou，Mary’-Gusta？“heinquired。
“No，sir，“gravely。“But，“rememberingthehousekeeper’sfinalchargenottoforgethermanners，ifshehadany，“I’msureI’lllikeitverymuch。“
“Oh，youare，eh？Well，that’snice。Whatmakesyousosure？“
Mary-’Gustareflected。SherememberedwhatMrs。Baileyhadsaidafteraweek’svisitinBayport，whichisfourteenmilesfromOstable。“Ithinkeverybodyenjoysachangeofair，“sheobserved。
“Mysoulandbody！“exclaimedMr。Hamilton。
CaptainShadlookeddownathissmallpassenger。
“Howoldareyou，sis？“hedemanded。
“I’mseven。ButIain’tasis；Ihaven’tgotanybrothersorsisters。“
“Oh！Well，that’safact，too，nowIcometothinkofit。Howolddidyousay；seventy，wasit？“
“No，sir。Seven。DidyouthinkIsaidseventy？“
“Eh？No，Iguessnot。“
“Icouldn’tbeseventy。IfIwasI’dbelotsbigger，youknow。“
“That’sso；Ipresumelikelyyouwould。“
Morereflection。Then：“IfIwasseventyIguessyouwouldn’thaveaskedme。“
“Sho！Wouldn’tI？Whynot？“
“’Causegrown-upfolksdon’tliketobeaskedhowoldtheyare。I
askedMrs。Hobbshowoldshewasonceandshedidn’tlikeit。“
“Didn’tshe？“
“No，sir。Shetoldmetomindmyownbusiness。“
TheCaptainlaughedaloud。Then，turningtoMr。Hamilton，hesaid：
“Say，Zoeth，Isaiah’llbealittlemitesurprisedwhenheseesthiscraftmakeport，eh？“
Zoethsmiled。“Ishouldn’twonder，“hereplied。
“Um-hm。I’dliketohaveatintypeofIsaiah’sface。Well，sis——
er，Mary-’Gusta，Imean——there’sSouthHarnissdeadahead。Howdoyoulikethelooksofit？“
Theyhademergedfromalongstretchofwoodsandwereatthesummitofalittlehill。Fromthecrestofthishilltheroadwounddownpastanoldcemeterywithgray，moss-coveredslatetombstones，overabridgebetweenacreekandagood-sizedpond，onthroughaclumpofpines，whereitjoinedthemainhighwayalongthesouthshoreoftheCape。Thishighway，inturn，woundandtwisted——therearefewstraightroadsonCapeCod——betweenotherandlowerhillsuntilitbecameavillagestreet，themainstreetofSouthHarniss。Thesunwaslowinthewestanditslightbathedtheclusteredroofsinawarmglow，touchedwindowsandvaneswithfire，andtwinkledandglitteredonthewatersofNantucketSound，whichfilledthewholesouthernhorizon。Therewaslittlebreezeandthesmokefromthechimneysrosealmoststraight。So，too，didthesmokefromthedistanttugsandsteamers。Thereweretwoorthreeschoonersfarout，andnearershore，asailboat。Aprettypicture，onewhichartistshavepaintedandsummervisitorsenthusedovermanytimes。
ToMary-’Gustaitwasnewandwonderful。Thechildwasinamoodtolikealmostanythingjustthen。Mrs。Hobbswasmilesawayandthememoryofthemusicchairandherowndisgraceandshamewerebutmemories。Shedrewalongbreathandlookedandlooked。