“There，there，Isaiah，“hepleaded。“Don’tactso。Weain’tfindin’anyfault。Shadrachwasn’tfindin’fault，wasyou，Shadrach？“
“No，no，courseIwasn’t。Don’ttalksofoolish，Isaiah。Nobodywantsyoutoquit。AllIsaidwas——Comebackhereandsetdown。
Yourtea’sgettin’allcold。“
ToMary-’Gustaitseemedasiftheteahadbeenatleastcooltobeginwith。However，Mr。Chasesufferedhimselftobeledbacktothetableandattackedhissupperininjuredsilence。Mary-’Gustaofferedasuggestion。
“IguessIcouldwashatablecloth，“shesaid。“Ialwayswashmydolls’things。“
Herthreecompanionswereplainlysurprised。TheCaptainwasthefirsttospeak。
“Youdon’tsay！“heexclaimed。
“Yes，sir，Ido。And，“withaglanceatthesilver，“Icanscourknivesandforksandspoons，too。IusedtohelpMrs。Hobbsscour’emsometimes。“
EvenShadrachhadnoremarktomake。Hegazedatthechild，thenatZoeth，anddrewalongbreath。
AssoonassupperwasovertheCaptainandMr。Hamiltonhasteneduptothevillageandthestore。
“Youbettergotobedprettysoon，Mary-’Gusta，“saidZoeth。
“You’retired，Iknow。Isaiah’llmakeyourbedforyou。We’llbeonhandandseeyoufirstthinginthemorning。Isaiah’llgoupwithyouandblowoutyourlightandall。Goodnight。“
TheCaptainsaidgoodnightalsoandthepairhurriedout。
Whenatteno’clocktheyreturnedtheyfoundMr。Chaseupandawaitingthem。Isaiahhadastorytotell。
“Ineverseeayoung-onelikethatinthisworld，“declaredIsaiah。
“Youknowwhatshedoneafteryouleft？Helpedmedothedishes。
Yes，sir，bytime，that’swhatshedone。Andshewiped’emfirst-
rate，too；goodenoughtosatisfyME，andyouknowthatmeanssomethin’’causeIain’teasytosatisfy。Andtalk！Say，Ineverhadachildtalksameasshedoes。Howoldisshe，forthelandsakes？“
Zoethtoldthemthevisitor’sage。
“Well，maybeso，“wentonIsaiah，“butshedon’ttalkseven；nigherseventeen，ifyouaskme。Pumpin’meaboutfunerals，shewas，andaboutfolksdyin’andsoon。Saidshecal’latedshe’dhaveadoll’sfuneralsometime。’Formercysakes，whatfor？’Isays。’Can’tyouthinkupanythingpleasanter’nthattoplay？Thatkindofgamewouldgivemethebluecreeps！’She，thoughtthatover——shegenerallythinksaboutathingforfiveminutesaforeshetalksaboutit——andsaysshe，’Iknow，’shesays，’butapersonmustgotofuneralsandsoit’sbettertogetusedto’emandknowhowtobehave。Ishouldn’twantmydolls，’shesays，’todothingsatfuneralsthatmakepeoplefeelbadandlaugh。’Icouldn’tgetthatthroughmyhead。’Iftheyfeltbadtheywouldn’tlaugh，wouldthey？’saysI。’THEYwouldn’t——theonesthatfeltbadwouldn’t，’
saysshe，’butothersmightlaughatthem。AndthatwouldmakethepersonwhowastoblamefeelTERRIBLY。’Nowwhatwasallthatabout？Canyoumakeanysenseofit？“
CaptainShadrachsmiledsheepishly。“Ical’latemeandZoethhaveanideawhatshewasdrivin’at，“hesaid。“Goon，Isaiah；whatelsedidshesay？“
“Whatdidn’tshesay？WantedtoknowifIthoughtGodwouldknockanybody’sheadoffthathaddonewrong，eveniftheydidn’tmeanto。
Yes，sir，that’swhatshesaid——ifGodwouldknockanybody’sheadoff。Mineprettynighcomeoffwhenshesaidthat。Itoldherthat，fur’sIknew，Hewasn’tinthehabitofdoin’it。ShesaidthatMrs。Hobbstoldherthatifshewasn’tpunishedforherwickednessinthisworldshewouldbeinthenext。Shewasrealkindofscaredaboutit，seemedtome。Nowwhat’sshedonethat’swicked，alittlecritterlikeher？“
Zoethsaidnothing，buthelookedvexedanddisturbed。
“I’dknockSOMEBODY’SheadoffifIhadmyway，“observedShadrach。
“OrifIdidn’t，I’dliketo。Whereisshenow，Isaiah？“
“She’supinthespareroom，asleepIcal’late。Andshe’sgotherdollsalongwithher，threeononesideandtwoont’other。Wantedmetobesureandwakeallhandsof’emupontimeinthemornin’。
He，he！Sheundressedthemdolls，everyoneof’em，aforetheyturnedin。Oh，yes，andshehelpedmemakethebed，too。SheCAN
makeabed，blessedifshecan’t。Andallthetimea-talkin’，oneminutelikeachildandthenextlikeaforty-year-oldwoman。She’sthequeerestyoung-one！“
“Iguessshe’shadakindofqueerbringin’up，“saidZoeth。
“Where’sthat——where’sSaul——er——Elijah——what’shisname——David？“
askedtheCaptain。“Where’sthecat？“
“He’soutinthebarn，lockedin。ShehadtogooutalongwithmewhenItotedhimthere，andkisshimgoodnightandtellhimnottobefrightened，andgoodnessknowswhatall——you’dthinkshewasthatcat’smother，tohearher。Howlong’sshegoin’tostay？“
“Don’tknow，“repliedShadrach，hastily。“Thatain’tsettledyet。“
“How’dyoucometofetchheroverhere？You’rethelastonesIeverthoughtwouldbefetchin’achildtovisityou。Say，youain’tcal’latin’tokeepherforgood，areyou？“
Zoethhesitated。Shadrach’sanswerwasemphatic。
“Coursenot，“hesnapped。“WhatdoZoethandmeknowaboutmanagin’
achild？Keepherforgood，theidea！“
Isaiahchuckled。“’Cordin’tomynotion，“hesaid，“youwouldn’thavetoknowmuch。Youwouldn’thavetomanageher。Ifshewasn’tmanagin’you——yes，andme，too——insideofamonth，I’dmissmyguess。She’sabornmanager。Yououghttoseeherhandlethemdollsandthatcat。“
WhenthetwopartnersofHamiltonandCompanywentupstairstotheirownbedroomstheyopenedthedoorofthespareroomandpeepedin。
Mary-’Gusta’sheadandthoseofthedollswereinarowuponthepillow。Itwasastrangesightinthatroomandthathouse。
“Ideclare！“whisperedZoeth。“Andthismornin’weneverdreamedofsuchathing。Howlongthisdayhasbeen！“
“Judgin’bythestateofmynervesandkneesit’sbeentwoyear，“
repliedShadrach。“I’veagedthatmuch，Iswantoman。Humph！I
wonderifMarcellusknowswhat’shappened。“
Histonewasnotloud，butitorthelamplightinherfaceawakenedMary-’Gusta。Shestirred，openedhereyesandregardedthemsleepily。
“Isitmornin’？“sheasked。
“No，no，“repliedZoeth。“It’sonlyteno’clock。CaptainShadrachandIwasgoin’tobedandwelookedintoseeifyouwasallright，that’sall。Youmustgorighttosleepagain，dearie。“
“Yes，sir，“saidMary-’Gusta，obediently。Thensheadded，“IsaidmyprayerstomyselfbutI’llsay’emtoyouifyouwantmeto。“
TheembarrassedCaptainwouldhaveprotested，butthegirl’smindseemedtobemadeup。
“IguessIwillsay’emagain，“shesaid。“There’ssomethin’in’emmaybeyou’doughttohear。“Sheclosedhereyes。“PleaseGodblessFather——Oh，Iforgot——blessMrs。HobbsandCap’nGouldandMr。
Hamilton。IthoughtI’daskhimtoblessyou，youknow，becauseI’mvisitin’here。AndblessDavidandRoseandRosetteandEmmaandChristobelandMinnehaha。They’remydolls。Andplease，God，forgivemeforbreakin’themusicchairandmakin’itgooff，becauseyouknowIamverysorryandwon’tdoitagain。And——and，Oh，yes！——blessMr。Chase，Amen。Youdon’tmindmyputtin’youandMr。Chasein，doyou？“
“No，dearie，notamite，“saidZoeth。
CaptainShad，lookingmoreembarrassedthanever，shookhishead。
“Goodnight，“saidMary-’Gusta。Zoethhesitated，thenhewalkedoverandkissedher。
“Goodnight，littlegirl，“hesaid。
“Goodnight，Mr。Hamilton，“saidMary-’Gusta。ThensheturnedexpectantlytowardtheCaptain。Shadrachfidgeted，turnedtogo，andthen，turningback，strodetothebed，brushedthesoftcheekwithhisroughoneandhastenedoutintothehall。Zoethfollowedhim，bearingthelamp。AtthedooroftheCaptain’sroom，theypaused。
“Well，goodnight，Zoeth，“saidShadrach，brusquely。
“Goodnight，Shadrach。This——thisisqueerbusinessforyouandme，ain’tit？“
“Ishouldthink’twas。Humph！YousaidthismorningthatmaybeMarcelluswasalongsideofustoday。Ifheisheknowswhat’shappened，don’the？“
“Perhapsheknowsthatandmore，Shadrach。Perhapshecanseewhat’llhappeninthefuture。Perhapsheknowsthat，too。“
“Humph！Well，ifhedoes，heknowsaheapmore’nIdo。Goodnight。“
CHAPTERV