SheinsisteduponwipingthedisheswhileIsaiahwashedthem。Also，sheremindedhimthatthetableclothwhichhadbeensoseverelycriticizedthepreviouseveninghadnotasyetbeenchanged。Thestewardwasinclinedtotreatthematterlightly。
“Nevermindif’tain’t，“hesaid。“It’sgoodenoughforaspelllonger。Letitstay。Besides，“headded，“thewashin’ain’tbeendonethisweekandthereain’tanothercleanoneaboard。“
Mary-’Gustasmiledcheerfully。
“Oh，yes，thereis，“shesaid。“There’sarealniceoneinthebottomdrawerofthecloset。I’vebeenhuntin’andIfoundit。
Comeandsee。“
Sheledhimintothedining-roomandshowedhimtheclothshehadfound。
“It’sarealprettyone，Ithink，“shesaid。“Shallweputiton，Mr。Chase？“
“No，no，coursenot。That’sthebesttablecloth。Don’tusethatonlywhenthere’scompany——orSundays。“
Mary-’Gustaconsidered。Shecountedonherfingers。
“Howlonghaveweusedthisdirtyone？“sheasked。
“Eh？Oh，Idon’tknow。Fourorfivedays，maybe。“Then，evidentlyfeelingthattherepetitionofthe“we“impliedasenseofunwarrantedpartnershipinthehouseholdmanagement，headdedwithdignity，“Thatis，I’VEseenfittouseitthatlong。“
Thesarcasmwaswasted。Thegirlsmiledandnodded。
“Thatmakesitallright，“shedeclared。“Ifweputthisoneonnowit’llbeSundaylongbeforeit’stimetochange。Andwecanwashtheotheronetodayortomorrow。“
“Oh，WEcan，eh？“
“Yes，sir“
Isaiahlookedasifhewishedtosaysomethingbutwasatalossforwords。TheSundayclothwasspreaduponthetablewhilehewasstillhuntingforthem。
“Andnow，“saidMary-’Gusta，“ifyou’resureyoudon’tneedmeanymorejustnowIguessI’dliketogoupandseethestore。MayI？“
SitefoundthestoreofHamiltonandCompanyanexceedinglyinterestingplace。Zoethandhispartnergreetedhercordiallyandshesatdownuponaboxattheendofthecounterandinspectedtheestablishment。Itwasnotverylarge，buttherewasanamazingvarietyinitsstock。Muslin，tape，calico，tacks，groceries，casesofshoes，arackwithspoolsofthread，anothercontainingafewpocketknives，barrels，halfadozensaltcodfishswingingfromnailsoverhead，somesuitsofoilskinshangingbesidethem，atumbledheapofchildren’scapsandhats，evenaglass-coveredcasecontainingboxesofcandywithplacards“1c。each“or“3for1c。“
displayedabovethem。
“Likecandy，doyou？“askedMr。Hamilton，noticingherscrutinyofthecaseanditscontents。
“Yes，sir，“saidMary-’Gusta。
“Howaboutsassafraslozengers？Likethem？“
“Yes，sir。“
Shewassuppliedwitharollofthelozengesandmunchedthemgravely。CaptainShad，whohadbeenwaitingonacustomer，regardedherwithanamusedtwinkle。
“Sassafraslozengersaregoodenoughforanybody，eh？“heobserved。
“Yes，sir，“repliedMary-’Gusta。Thensheadded，politely：“OnlyI
guessthesearewintergreen。“
Shestayedatthestoreuntilnoon。ThenshewalkedhomewiththeCaptainwhoseturnitwastodinefirstthatday。ThehiringofAnnabelhadbeenanunusualbreakinthebusinessroutine。
Ordinarilybutoneofthepartnersleftthatstoreatatime。
“Well，“inquiredtheCaptain，astheywalkeddownthelane，“whatdoyouthinkofit？PrettygoodstoreforaplacelikeSouthHarniss，ain’tit？“
“Yes，sir。“
“Ibetyou！DifferentfromtheOstablestores，eh？“
“Yes，sir；I——Iguessitis。“
“Um-hm。Well，howdifferent？“
Mary-’Gustatookherusualintervalforconsideration。
“Iguessthere’smore——morethingsinitwithseparatesmellsto’em，“shesaid。
CaptainShadhadnoremarktomakeforamoment。Mary-’Gusta，however，wasanxioustoplease。
“They’renicesmells，“shehastenedtoadd。“Ilike’em；onlyI
neversmelled’emallatthesametimebefore。AndIlikethelozengersVERYmuch。“
ThetwoorthreedayswhichCaptainShadhadsetasthelimitofthechild’svisitpassed；asdidthenexttwoorthree。Shewasbusyand，apparently，enjoyingherself。ShehelpedIsaiahwiththehousework，andalthoughhefoundthehelpnotaltogetherunwelcome，hewasinclinedtogrumblealittleatwhathecalledher“pesterin’
around。“
“Ineverseesuchayoung-one，“hetoldhisemployers。“Idon’taskhertododishesnorfillpitchersnornothin’；shejustdoesitonherownhook。“
“Humph！“gruntedCaptainShadrach。“SoIjudgedfromwhatIsee。
Doesitprettywell，too，don’tshe？“
“Um-hm。Wellenough，Iguess。Yes，“withaburstofcandor，“forherage，shedoesitmightywell。“
“Thenwhatareyoukickin’about？“
“Iain’tkickin’。WhosaidIwaskickin’？Only——well，allIsayisletherdodishesandsuch，ifshewantsto，only——only——“
“Onlywhat？“
“OnlyIain’tgoin’tohaveherheavin’outhintsaboutwhatIoughttodo。There’stwoskippersaboardthiscraftnowandthat’senough。Bytime！“withanotherburst，“thatkid’sareg’larbornmother。Shemothersthatcatandthemdollsandthehensalready，andIswantomanIbelieveshe’dliketoadoptme。Iain’tgoin’
tobemotheredandhintedattodothisandthatandputtobedandtuckedinbynokid。I’llheaveupmyjobfirst。“
HehadbeenonthepointofheavinguphisjobeversincethedayswhenhesailedascookaboardCaptainShadrach’sschooner。WhentheCaptainretiredfromtheseaforthelasttime，andbecamepartnerandfellowshopkeeperwithZoeth，Isaiahhadretiredwithhimandwasengagedtokeephouseforthetwomen。TheCaptainhadbalkedattheideaofafemalehousekeeper。
“Womenaboardshipareadumnuisance，“hedeclared。“I’vecarried’emcabinpassageandIknow。IsaiahChaseisagoodcook，and，besides，ifthebiscuitsaremorefitforcodsinkersthantheyareforgrub，Icantellhimsointherightkindoflanguage。Wedon’twantnowomansteward，Zoeth；youhearME！“
Zoeth，althoughtheCaptain’sseafaringlanguagewasatrialtohisgentle，churchlysoul，agreedwithhispartneronthemainpoint。
Hisexperiencewiththeothersexhadnotbeensuchastowarrantfurtherexperiment。SoIsaiahwashiredandhadbeencookandstewardattheSouthHarnisshomeformanyyears。Buthemadeitapracticetoasserthisindependenceatfrequentintervals，although，asamatteroffact，hewouldnomorehavedreamedofreallyleavingthanhisfriendsandemployerswouldofdischarginghim。Mr。Chasewasaspermanentafixtureinthathouseastheship’schronometerinthedining-room；andthatwasscrewedtothewall。
And，inspiteofhisgrumbling，heandMary-’Gustawererapidlybecomingfastfriends。ShadrachandZoethalsowerebeginningtoenjoyhercompany，herunexpectedquestions，herinterestinthehouseandthestore，andshrewd，old-fashionedcommentsonpersonsandthings。Shewasa“queeryoung-one“；they，likethepeopleofOstable，agreedonthatpoint，butMr。Hamiltonwasinclinedtothinkherways“sortoftakin’“andtheCaptainadmittedthatmaybetheywere。Whathewouldnotadmitwasthatthegirl’svisit，althoughalreadyprolongedforafortnight，wasanythingbutavisit。
“Ipresumelikely，“hintedZoeth，“youandme’llhavetogivetheJudgesomesortofananswerprettysoon，won’twe？He’llbewantin’toknowaforelong。“
“Know？Knowwhat？“
“Why——whywhetherwe’regoin’tosayyesornotowhatMarcellusaskedusinthatletter。“
“Hedoesknow。Fur’sI’mconsarned，heknows。Ispokemymindplainenoughtopoundthroughanybody’sskull，Ishouldthink。“
“Yes——yes，Iknowyoudid。But，Shadrach，ifshedon’tstayhereforgoodwherewillshestay？Sheain’tgotanybodyelsetogoto。“
“Sheisstayin’，ain’tshe？She——she’smakin’usavisit，sameasI
saidshecould。Whatmoredoyouwant？Jumpin’fire！Thisfixisyourdoin’anyway。’Tain’tmine。IfyouhadpaidattentiontowhatIsaid，thechildwouldn’thavebeenhereatall。“
“Now，Shadrach！Youknowyouwastheonethatwouldfetchheroverthatveryday。“