“Say，Judge，“headded，justbeforeleavingforhome，“there’sonethingmoreI’dliketosay。’MosteverybodythinksMarcelluslefthisstepdaughteraconsider’blesightofmoney，don’tthey？“
“Why，yes；Isupposetheydo。“
“Allright，let’emthinkso。’Twillgive’emsomethin’totalkabout。They’llbeguessin’howrichthechildisinsteadofmarkin’
offinthealmanacthedaysaforeZoethandmeheadforthepoorhouse。“
“Humph！Isee。Youdon’tcaretohaveitknownthatyouandyourpartnerareadoptingandsupportingherpurelyfrommotivesofkindnessandgenerosity。“
“Pooh！pooh！Nogenerosityaboutit。Besides，Marcelluswaskindandgenerousenoughtousintheolddays。Pityifwecouldn’ttakeourtrickatthewheelnow。“
TheJudgesmiled。“You’reagooddealmorewillingtotakethattrickthanyouwerewhenIsawyoulast，CaptainShad，“heobserved。
“Youseemtohavechangedyourmindcompletely。“
TheCaptaingrinned。“Well，yes，Ihave，“headmitted。“Maybe’tain’tsobigachangeasyouthink；Ihaveahabitofblowin’upasquallwhenI’mgettin’readytocalmdown。But，anyway，thatyoung-onewouldchangeanybody’smind。She’sdifferentfromanygirlofherageeverIsaw。She’sprettyasalittlepictureandsweetandwholesomeasa——asasummersweetapple。Shedon’tpester，andshedon’ttease，andshedon’tlie——no，sir，notevenwhenI’dconsiderlayin’thecourseap’intortwofromthetruthajustifiableproceedin’。She’sgotinsidemyvest，somehowor’nother，andIdidthinkIwasconsider’bleofahard-shell。She’sallright，Mary-’Gustais。I’maboutreadytosay’Thankyou’toMarcellus。“
Andsoitwassettled，andMary-’GustaLathropwasnolongeravisitor，butapermanentmemberoftheoddhouseholdatSouthHarniss。Shewasdelightedwhensheheardthenews，although，characteristically，shesaidverylittlebeyondconfidingtohertwo“uncles“thatshewasgoingtobeagoodgirlandnottakeDavidintotheparloragain。Theremainderofher“things“andbelongingsweresentoverbytheJudgeand，induetime，theguardianshippapersweresigned。
“There！“exclaimedZoeth，layingdownthepen。“Thatsettlesit，I
cal’late。Now，Mary-’Gusta，you’reourlittlegirl，mineandyourUncleShad’s，forgoodandall。“
“Notquitesolongasthat，Zoeth，“putinthesmilingShadrach。
“We’llhangontoherforaspell，Ishouldn’twonder；butoneofthesedays，ahundredyearsfromnoworsuchmatter，there’sliabletobeagood-lookin’youngfellersparkin’’roundhereandhe’llwanttomarryherandtakehersomewhereselse。What’llyousaywhenitcomestothat，Mary-’Gusta？“
Mary-’Gustathoughtitover。“If’twasahundredyearsfromnow，“
shesaid，“Iguesshewouldn’twantme。“
TheCaptainlaugheduproariously。“Well，maybewecandiscountthathundredsomeforcash，“headmitted。“Makeittwelveorfifteenyears。Thensupposesomebody——er——er——“withawinkatZoeth——
“supposeJimmieBacheldor，we’llsay，comesandwantsustoputyouinhishands，what’llyousaythen？“
Theanswerwaspromptenoughthistime。
“I’llsayno，“assertedMary-’Gusta，withdecision。“JimmieBacheldorhatestowashhishands；hetoldmeso。“
Allthatsummersheplayedaboutthehouseoratthestoreoronthebeachand，whenthefalltermbegan，thepartnerssenthertoschool。TheywerehappyandproudmenwhenMissDobson，theprimaryteacher，saidthegirlwastoofaradvancedforthefirstclassandenteredherinthesecond。“Justnaturalsmartness，“CaptainShadrachdeclared。“Naturalsmartnessandnothin’else。Sheain’thadamiteofadvantages，butupshegoesjustthesame。Why，Teachertoldmesheconsideredherareg’larparachute。“
“Aparachute’ssomethin’thatcomesdown，ain’tit，“suggestedZoeth，rememberingtheballoonascensionhehadseenatthecountyfair。
“Humph！So’tis。Seemsasif’twasn’tparachuteshesaid。’Twas——
’twas——“
“Parasol？“suggestedIsaiah，whowasaninterestedlistener。
“No，no；norparalysisneither。Paragon，that’swhat’twas。
Teachersaidthatchildwasaparagon。“
“What’saparagon？“askedMr。Chase。
“Idon’tknow。Butit’swhatsheis，anyway。“
Theparagoncontinuedtoprogressinherstudies。Alsoshecontinued，moreandmore，totakeaninterestinthehouseworkandtheaffairsofheradoptedunclesandIsaiahChase。Littlebylittlechangescameinthelifeofthefamily。OnonememorableSundayCaptainShadrachattendedchurch。ItwasthefirsttimeinagoodmanyyearsandwhetherthecongregationorZoethortheCaptainhimselfwasthemoreastonishedatthelatter’sbeingthereisaquestion。Mary-’Gustawasnotgreatlyastonished。Itwastheresultofcarefulplanningonherpart，planningwhichhadasitsobjecttherelievingofMr。Hamilton’smind。ZoethnevermissedaSundayserviceoraFridaynightprayermeeting。And，beingsincerelyreligious，hewasgreatlytroubledbecausehisfriendandpartnertooklittleinterestinsuchthings。
Shadrach’saversiontochurchesdatedbacktoasermonpreachedbyaformerminister。ThesubjectofthatsermonwasJonahandthewhale。TheCaptain，havingbeenonseveralwhalingvoyagesinhisyoungerdays，hadhisownopinionconcerningtheprophet’sfamousadventure。
Iftheministerhadbeenayoungerandmoretactfulmantheargumentwhichfollowedmighthaveendedpleasantlyandthebreakhavebeenavoided。Buttheclergymanwaselderly，assetinhiswaysastheCaptainwasinhis，andthedisagreementwasabsoluteandfinal。
“Thefellerisaregularwooden-head，“declaredShadrach，hotly。“I
waswillin’tobereasonable；Iwaswillin’togiveinthatthisJonahmanmighthavebeenoutofhisheadand，afterhewashoveoverboardandcastashore，thoughthe’dbeenswallowedbyawhaleorsomethin’or’nother。Ipickedupasailoroncewho’ddriftedaroundinaboatforaweekandhecouldn’tremembernothin’ofwhathappenedafterthefirstdayorso。Ifyou’dtoldhimhe’dbeenswallowedbyamackerelhewouldn’thavesaidno。ButI’vehelpedkillagoodmanywhales——yes，andI’vehelpedcut’emup，too——andI
knowwhattheylooklikeinside。Noman，whetherhisnamewasJonahorJehoshaphat，couldhavelivedthreedaysinawhale’sstomach。
How’dhebreatheinthere，eh？Cal’latethewhalehadventilatorsandaskylightinhismaindeck？How’dthewhaleliveallthattimewithamanhoppin’’roundinsidehim？ThinkI’dliveifI——ifI
swallowedalivemouseorsomethin’？No，sir-ee！EitherthatmousewoulddieorIwould，Ibetyou！I’veseenawholeparcelofthingstookoutofawhale’sinsidesandsomeofthethingshadbeenaliveonce，too；buttheywasn’talivethen；theywasinchunksandpartdigested。Jonahwasn’tdigested，washe？Andthewhalewasn’tdeadofdyspepsyneither。That’swhatItoldthatminister。’Youtryityourself，’Isaystohim。’There’swhalesenoughbackoftheCrabLedge，twentymileoffOrham，’saidI。’You’reliabletoruninsightof’emmostanyfairdayinsummer。Yougooffthereandjumpoverboardsometimeandseewhathappens。Firstplace，nowhalewouldswallowyou；nextplace，ifitdid’twouldchewyouorsiftyoufinefirst；and，thirdplace，ifyouwaswholeandalivethatwhalewouldbedeadinsideoftenminutes。Youtryitandsee。’
Goodfairoffer，wasn’tit？Butdidhetakeitup？Notmuch。SaidIwasascofferandaninfidelanddidn’tknowanythingaboutScripture！’Iknowaboutwhales，anyhow，’Itoldhim。Andheslammedoffandwouldn’tspeaktomeagain。Don’ttalktoME！I’llnevergoinsidethatmeetin’-houseagain。“
AndheneverhaduntilMary-’Gustacoaxedhimintoit。ShewasaregularattendantatSundayschool，butonSundaymorningsinpleasantweathershehadbeenaccustomedtotakeawalkwithShadrach。Thesewalkstheybothenjoyedhugely，butonebrightmorningsheannouncedthatshewasnotgoingforawalk，butwasgoingtochurchwithUncleZoeth。Shadrachwasdisappointedandastonished。
“Landsakes！What’sthismean？“hedemanded。“Thoughtyoulikedtowalkwithme。“
“Ido。Ilikeitverymuch。ButIdon’tthinkit’sfairformetodoiteverySunday。UncleZoethALWAYSgoestochurchandhefeelsrealbad’causeyoudon’tgo。Hetoldmeso。Hesaysthechurchfolksthinkyouwon’tgotoHeavenwhenyoudieandthatmakeshimfeeldreadful。He’sgoin’toHeaven，youknow。“
“Oh，heis，eh？“
“Ofcourse。Hecouldn’thelpit，he’ssogood。Don’tyouthinkhe’llgotoHeaven，UncleShad？“
“Who？Zoeth？SartinIdo。Ifhedon’t，nobodywill。“
“Wouldn’titmakeyoufeelbadifyouwasafraidhewouldn’tgothere？“
“Humph！Maybeso，butIain’tafraid。“
“Iknow，butheisafraidYOUwon’t。Hethinksanawfullotofyou；
asmuchasyoudoofhim，youknow。UncleShad，I’mgoin’tomeetin’withUncleZoeththismornin’，andIwantyoutogowithus；
willyou？“
TheCaptainpulledhisbeard。
“Lookhere，Mary-’Gusta，“hesaid。“What’sallthisabout，anyway？
Youdon’tcal’lateI’dtakeyouwalkin’SundaysifIthought’twaswicked，doyou？“
“No，sir；butUncleZoeththinksnotgoin’tochurchiswicked。IfyouandIwenttochurchwithhim’twouldpleasehimeversomuch。“