“Maybeso，but’twouldpleaseyouandmeifhewentwalkin’withus。
I’veaskedhimtimesenough。Whycan’thedowhatIwantaswellasmydoin’whathewants？“
“’Causehethinksit’swrong。Youdon’tthinkgoin’tochurchiswrong，doyou，UncleShad？“
Shadrachshookhishead。“Byfire！“heexclaimed。“You’rearegularyounglawyer，youare，Mary-’Gusta。JudgeBaxterhasn’tgotyoubeatwhenitcomestomakin’outacase。Lookhere，now；behonest；hadn’tyourathergotowalkwithmethangotothatmeetin’-house？“
“Yes，sir，“frankly；“I’drather。“
“Oh，youhad，eh？ButallthesameyouwantustogiveupourwalkandgotochurcheverySundayjusttopleaseZoeth。Isthatit？“
Mary-’Gustatookhishand。“No，sir，“shesaidshyly，“butI
thoughtperhapswecoulddivideup。YouandIcouldgowithhimoneSundayandtowalkthenextSunday。Thatwouldbefair。I’mhislittlegirlsameasIamyours，UncleShad，ain’tI？“
Shadrachwasstumped，andhewenttochurchthatSundaymorning。
ThesermonhadnothingtodowithJonahorthewhale，sohisfeelingswerenotruffled。ZoethwasmightilypleasedandMary-
’Gustawashappybecausehewas。TheplanofalternateSundayswasadopted。Itwasbutoneinstanceofthe“managing“qualitywhichthegirlpossessed。Isaiahdeclaredthatshewoundallhandsaroundherlittlefinger，butevenheseemedtoenjoythewinding。
AsshegrewolderMary-’Gustalearnedmoreandmoreconcerningheruncles，theirhabits，theircontrastingtemperamentsandtheirpasthistory。ShelearnedalittleofHallandCompany，theprosperousfirmofwhichtheyhadbeenpartners，withMarcellusHall，herstepfather，asthehead。Isaiahtoldheralittleconcerningthefirm：“NobiggeronCapeCod，“hedeclared。Sheaskedwhyithadnotcontinuedinbusiness。Mr。Chasebrusquelyansweredthatithadn’t，that’sall，andwouldnotgiveanyparticulars。ShequestionedthestewardconcerningShadrachandZoeth。Theformerhadnevermarried；thatwasfunny；whyhadn’the？Isaiahsaidhedidnotknow。Hadn’tUncleZoethevermarried，either？Yes，Zoethhadmarried。
“Whodid——“beganMary-’Gusta，butIsaiahcutshortthecatechizing。
“Youmustn’tasksuchquestions，“hedeclared。
“Whymustn’tI？“
“’Causeyoumustn’t。Youruncleswouldn’tlikeitamiteiftheyknewyouwaspryin’intotheiraffairs。Youmustn’teversayawordaboutyourUncleZoeth’sgettin’married。“
“Wouldn’thelikemeanymoreifIdid？“
“No，youbethewouldn’t；he’d——Idon’tknow’shewouldn’tcometohateyou。Andyoumustn’tsayittoCap’nShadneither。“
TheideaofbeinghatedbyUncleZoethwasadreadfuloneandMary-
’Gustaavoidedthetabooedsubject。Butshethoughtaboutitagooddeal。Shenoticedthatinneitherofthetwolotsinthecemetery，onewheretheGouldswereburiedandtheothertheHamiltons，wasastoneerectedtothememoryofthe“belovedwifeofZoethHamilton，“
althoughotherbelovedwivesoftheformergenerationswerecommemorated。Thisseemedodd。AshereducationprogressedshereadmoreandmoreandfromherreadingshebuiltupseveralimaginativeromanceswithZoethasthehero，andastheheroinesbeautifulcreatureswhohaddiedyoung，inshipwreck，probably，andwhosenameswerenottobementionedbecause……Shecouldnotfindasatisfactorysolutionofthebecause。Shipwreckorburialatseashededucedfromthefactoftherebeingnograveinthecemetery。Mothersandfathersofseveralofherschoolmateshadbeenburiedatsea。PerhapsthelateMrs。Hamiltonhadbeensoburied。ButZoethhadneverbeenaseafaringman。
OneSaturdayafternoon——shewasabouttenyearsoldatthetime——shewasinthegarret。ThegarrethadtakentheplaceoftheoldsurreyatOstable，andthithersheretiredwhenshewishedtobealonetoread，orplay，orstudy。ThisafternoonshewasrummagingthroughtheoldtrunksandseachestsinsearchofacostumeforRose。Itwastobeamasculinecostume，ofcourse，fortherewasnofeminineapparelinthatgarret，butinthegameswhichthegirlplayedwhenalonewithherdolls，Rose，thelargestofthefamily，wasfrequentlyobligedtochangehersexwithherraiment。
Mary-’Gustahadransackedthesetrunksandchestsprettythoroughlyonpreviousoccasions，butthistimeshemadeadiscovery。InanoldtrunkwhichhadobviouslybelongedtoCaptainShadrachshefoundasortofpocketontheundersideofthelid，apocketclosingwithaflapandacatch。Inthispocketweresomepapers，oldreceiptsandthelike，andaphotograph。Thephotographinterestedherexceedingly。Itwasyellowandfadedbutstillperfectlydistinct。
Therewasalargebuildingstandingonpostsfixedinthesand，andbeyonditwerewharvesandaglimpseofschoonersandthesea。
Barrels，agoodmanybarrels，werepileduponthewharvesandattheendofthebuilding。Overthedoorwasthesign，“HallandCompany，WholesaleFishDealers。“
Thissignofitselfwasinterestingenough。EvidentlyherewastheplacewhereherstepfatherandCaptainGouldandMr。Hamiltonhaddonebusinessyearsbefore。Butmoreinterestingstillwasthegroupofmenstandingontheplatformunderthesign。Therewerefourofthesemen，dressedinclothesandhatswhich——especiallythehats——lookedqueerandold-fashionednow。TwoofthemenMary-
’Gustarecognized，orthoughtshedid。TheywereCaptainShadrachandMr。Hamilton。Muchyoungertheylooked，ofcourse；theirhairwasnotgrayandZoethworeabeard，whileShadrachhadonlyamustache。But，inspiteofthesethingsandtheoddclothestheywore，shewassuresherecognizedthem。And，havingrecognizedthem，shealsorecognizedthemaninthecenterofthegroupasherstepfather，CaptainMarcellusHall。Thefourthman，evidentlyyoungerthantheothers，ahandsome，square-shoulderedchapinhisshirtsleeves，shedidnotknow。
Sheturnedthephotographover。Onitsbackwaswritten：
FirmofHallandCompany。TakenAugust19th，1877。
MarcellusHallZoethJ。HamiltonEdgarS。FarmerShadrachB。Gould。
Thenameswereindifferinghandwritings。Evidentlyeachmanhadsignedthephotograph。
Mary-’Gustascrutinizedthephotographagain。Then，withitinherhand，shedescendedtothekitchen。Isaiahwassittinginachairbythestovereadinganewspaper。
“Mr。Chase，“saidMary-’Gusta，“whowasEdgarS。Farmer？“
Ifthatkitchenchairhadbeenthenever-to-be-forgottenpieceoffurniturewiththemusicboxbeneathitandthatboxhadstartedtoplay，Isaiahcouldnothaverisenmorepromptly。Heliterallyjumpedtohisfeetandthepaperflewfromhishands。Hewhirleduponthequestioner。
“What？“hedemanded。“What’sthatyousaid？“
Hewaspale，actuallypale。Mary-’Gustawasfrightened。
“Why——why，Ijustasked——“shefaltered，“Ijustaskedwho——who——
WhatCANbethematter，Mr。Chase？“
Isaiahwavedhishand。“WHATdidyouask？“hedemanded。
“Iasked——IaskedwhoEdgarS。Farmerwas，that’sall。Ididn’tmean——Ididn’tknow——“
“Bestill！Bestill，formercysakes！WhatdoyouknowaboutEdFarmer？Whotoldyouabouthim？“
Thegirlwasmorefrightenedthanever。Isaiah’snextmovedidnottendtoreassureher。Hestrodetothedoor，lookedupthelane，andclosedandlockedthedoorbeforeshecouldfindwordstoanswer。
“Now，then，“hesaid，comingclosetoherandlookingherstraightintheface，“whotoldyouaboutEdFarmer？“
“Nobodytoldme。Honest，theydidn’t。“
“Somebodymusthavetoldyou；elsehowdidyouknow？“
Mary-’Gustahesitatinglyheldupthephotograph。“It’swrittenonthis，“shesaid。
Mr。Chasesnatcheditfromherhand。Helookedatthepictureandthenather。
“It’swrittenontheback，“wentonthegirl。
Isaiahturnedthephotographover。
“Humph！“hesaidsuspiciously。“Isee。Whogavethistoyou？“
“Nobodygaveittome。Ifounditinanoldtrunkupintheattic。“
“Humph！Youdid，eh？Well，Iswantoman！Haveyoushowedittoanybodyelsebutme？“
“No，sir。Honest，Ihaven’t。Ijustfounditthisminute。“
“Well，Iswan，that’slucky。’Twasinatrunk，eh？Whosetrunk？“
“OneofUncleShad’s，Iguess。“
“Humph！Ipresumelikely。Well，whatmadeyouaskabout——abouttheoneyoudidaskabout？“
“Iknewwhotheotherswere。IknewmyfatherandUncleZoethandUncleShad。ButIdidn’tknowwhotheFarmeronewas。Itsays’FirmofHallandCompany，’andallthosenamesaresigned。SoI