“Well，“hedemandedbrusquely，“thesupper’shereandsomebody’sgottoeatit，Ical’late。Fetchiton，Isaiah！Whatareyoustarin’
atmelikethatfor，youdumbhead？“
Isaiahbroughtinthesupper。Thenhedemandedtoknowwhatthefusswasallabout。Shadrachtoldhim。Isaiah’schiefinterestseemedtocenterontheattemptedshooting。
“Whythesonofaswab！“hecried，excitedly。“OfallthecheekI
everheardofinmylifethatAbnerBacheldor’sgottheheft！Toborreraman’sowngun——yes，andcartridges，too——tokillthatman’sowncatwith！Ofallthesolidbrass！Henevertoldme’twasourcat。Allhewantedtoknowwascouldheborreryourgunandsomethin’toloaditwith。IfI’dknown——“
Hisemployerinterruptedhim。“WHAT？“heroared。“DoyoumeantosaythatAbBacheldorcamehereandborrowedMYgunto——todowhathedonewith？“
“Sartinsurehedid。Andonlythisveryafternoon，too。“
“Anddidheknowwhosecat’twas？“
“Hesaidhedid。Mary-’Gustawashere’longwithmewhenhecome。
Isays：’Knowwhosecat’tis？’andsayshe，’Iknowallright！’I
thoughtheactedkindofsheepishandfunny。I——Here！whereyougoin’？“
TheCaptainwasonhisfeetandhiscapwasinhishand。
“Goin’！“hesnarled。“I’mgoingtomakeanothercallonAbner。
And，“withhishandonthelatch，“ifyouhearsomebodybein’
murderedoverinthatdirectionyouneedn’tcalltheconstable，neither。“
“But——but，holdon，Cap’nShad！Youain’tfinishedyourownsupperyetandZoeth’swaitinguptothestoreforyoutocomebackso’shecancomedownandgethis。“
Thereplywasemphaticand，initsway，conclusive。
“Tothebluebrimstonewiththesupper！“roaredShadrach。“ItcanwaitandsocanZoeth。Ifhecan’thecandothenextbest。“
Hewasabsentforhalfanhour。WhenhereturnedMr。Hamiltonwasinthedining-room。Shadrachentered，bearingthepreciousshotgun。
Hestooditcarefullyinthecorner。Therewasasatisfiedlookinhiseye。
“Forgoodness’sake，Shadrach！“exclaimedZoeth，“whathaveyoubeenthinkin’of？ThereIwaswaitin’andwaitin’andhankerin’andhankerin’andnoyounornosupper。Ihadtolockupthestorefinally。’Twaseitherthatorstarve。Iain’tafault-finder，generallyspeakin’，butIhavetoeat，sameasotherfolks。“
Hispartnerpaidnottheleastattention。HisfirstremarkwasintheformofaquestionaddressedtoMr。Chase。
“Lookhere，Isaiah，“hedemanded，“didIunderstandyoutosaythatMary-’Gustawaswithyouwhenthatsculpincometoborrowmygun？“
“Yup。Shewashere。“
“Andsheknewthathewasgoin’toshootacatwithit？“
“Sartin，sheheardhimsayso。“
Shadrachstrodetothemantel，tookfromitahand-lamp，lightedthelampandwithitinhishandwalkedfromtheroomandascendedthestairs。Zoethcalledafterhim，buthedidnotanswer。
HeenteredMary-’Gusta’sroom。Thechildwasinbed，thedollsbesideher。Shewasnotasleep，however。Thetearstainsonhercheeksandthedampnessofthepillowshowedhowshehadspentthetimesinceleavingthedining-room。
Shadrachputthelampuponthewashstand，pulledachairbesidethebedandsatdown。Hetookherhandinhis。
“Mary-’Gusta，“hesaid，gently，“youknew’twasmygunthatAbBacheldorwastryin’toshootDavidwith？“
Mary-’Gustamovedherheadupanddownonthepillow。
“Yes，sir，“shesaid。
“Youwasherewhenheborrowedit？“
“Yes，sir。AndthenIknewitwasyourswhenhehaditthereinthefield。Isawthesilvernamethingonthehandle。Itkindofshinedinthesun。“
“Um-hm。Yes，yes。Isee。Youknewit，ofcourse。Butyoudidn’ttellme。Whyonearthdidn’tyou？Didn’tyouknowthatifI’drealizedthatswabhadborreredmyguntokillmycatthatwouldhavebeenenough？Ifthecritterhadstoleamillionchickens’twouldn’thavemadeanydifferenceifI’dknownTHAT。Thecheekylubber！Well，hewon’tshootatanythingofoursforonespell，I’llbet。Butwhydidn’tyoutellme？“
Mary-’Gusta’sanswerwaspromptlygiven。
“Why，’cause，“shesaid，“thatwasjustit。Iknewifyouknewthatyouwouldn’tcarewhetherDavidstolethechickenornot。AndI
wantedyoutoknowhedidn’t。“
“Um，Isee。Butifyouhadtoldmeyouwouldn’thavehadtotellabouttheparlor。I’Dneveraskedasinglequestion。“
“Ye-yes，sir；butIwantedyoutoknowDaviddoesn’tstealchickens。“
Shadrachswallowedhard。“Isee，“hesaid。“Yes，yes，Isee。Sojusttoclearthatcatyouwaswillin’togiveupthepicnicandeverything。“
Mary-’Gustasobbed：“I——Ididwanttogoso，“shemoaned。
TheCaptainliftedherfromthepillowandputhisarmabouther。
“YouAREgoin’，“hedeclared，emphatically，“youjustbetyou’regoin’。“
“Oh！Oh，amI？AmIreally？I——IknowIhadn’toughtto。Iwasabadgirl。“
“You！You’readummedgoodgirl！Thebestandsquarest——yes，andthespunkiestlittlegirlIeversaw。You’reabrick。“
“I’mawfulsorryIwentintotheparlor，Cap’nGould。“
“Blasttheparlor！Idon’tcareifyoustayinthereaweekandsmasheverythinginit。And——and，seehere，Mary-’Gusta，don’tyoucallme’Cap’nGould’anymore。Callme’UncleShad，’willyou？“
JustbeforebedtimethatnightMr。Hamiltonbroachedasubjectwhichhadtroubledhimallday。
“Shadrach，“hesaid，timidly。“I——IguessIoughttotellyousomethin’。Iknowyouwon’twanttotalkaboutit，butseems’sifImusttellyou。IhadaletterthismorningfromJudgeBaxter。Hesayshecan’twaitmuchlongerforananswerfromusaboutMarcellus’sgirl。He’sgottoknowwhatwe’vedecidedtodowithher。“
Shadrach，whowassmoking，tookhispipefromhismouth。
“Well，givehimtheanswerthen，“hesaid，shortly。“Youknowwhat’tis，wellasIdo。“
Zoethlookedtroubled。
“Iknowyoudon’twanttokeepher，“hesaid，“but——“
“WhosaidIdidn’t？“
“Who？Why，ShadrachGould！Yousaid——“
“Isaidagoodmanythingsmaybe；butthat’snothin’。YouknewwhatImeantaswellasIdid。“
“Why，Shadrach！You——youdon’tmeanyouAREwillin’tokeepher——
here，withus，forgood？Youdon’tmeanTHAT？“
TheCaptainsnortedimpatiently。“Don’tbesofoolish，Zoeth，“heprotested。“YouknewplagueywellInevermeantanythingelse。“
CHAPTERVII
ThenextdayCaptainShadrachdrovetoOstableandspentseveralhoursinconsultationwithJudgeBaxter。Adjustingmattersbycorrespondenceisaslowprocessatbest，andtheCaptain，havingsurrenderedunconditionally，wasnotthemantodelay。
“Icansettlemoreintenminutes’talk，“hetoldhispartner，“thanthethreeofuscouldinamonth’sletter-writin’，especiallyifI
hadtowriteanyoftheletters。Ineverwasanyhandtowriteletters；youknowthat，Zoeth。AndwhenIdowriteonethefellerI
sendittoisliabletocomearoundandaskmetoreadit’causehecan’t。LikeasnotIcan’teither，ifit’shadtimetogetcold，andthereweare，rightwherewestarted。No，I’llgoandseetheJudgeandwhenIfetchporttonightthere’llhavebeensomethin’
done。“
Thisprophecywasfulfilled。BeforetheCaptainleftOstableforthehomewarddriveagooddealhadbeendone。JudgeBaxter，inhiscapacityasadministrator，hadalreadybeenlookingintotheaffairsofhislateclientand，ashehadexpected，thoseaffairswerebadlytangled。Whentheoutstandingdebtswerepaidtherewouldbelittleleft，athousandortwo，perhaps，butcertainlynomore。
“Sothereyouare，Shadrach，“hesaid。“I’mmightygladyouandZoethhavedecidedtokeepthegirl，butI’mafraidshe’llcometoyouwithverylittlepropertyofherown。IfsheistohavethegoodeducationandalltherestthatMarcelluswantedhertohaveI
guessit’llbeyourmoneythatpaysforit。That’sthehonesttruth，andIthinkyououghttoknowit。“
TheCaptainnodded。“That’sallright，“hesaid。“Iexpectedjustaboutthat，accountofwhatyousaidthedayofthefuneral。MeandZoethareabout，asfurfrombein’richastheship’scatisfrombein’skipper，butwe’veputbyalittleandthestorefetchesusinadecentlivin’。We’lltaketheyoung-oneanddoourbestbyher。
Landknowswhatthatbest’llbe，“headded，withadubiousshakeofthehead。“Speakin’formyself，IfeelthatI’maboutascompetenttobringupachildasaclamistofly。“
Baxterlaughed。“MarcellusseemedconfidentthatyouandHamiltonwereperfectlysuitedtothejob，“hesaid。
“Um；yes，Iknow；Marcellushadconfidenceinagoodmanythings，thestockmarketincluded。However，whatistobewillbeandweallhavetotakechances，asthefellerthatwasjustmarriedsaidwhenhetackledhiswife’sfirstmincepie。Yougetthoseguardianpapers，whatevertheyare，madeout，andZoethandme’llsign’em。
Asforthecompetentpart——well，“withachuckle，“thatchild’sprettycompetentherself。Ihaveanotionthat，takeitfiveorsixyearsfromnow，it’llbeherthat’llbebringin’usupinthewayweshouldgo。IfeelagooddealasifIwassignin’onforalongvoyagewiththechancesthatI’dfinishmateinsteadofskipper。“