thoughtmaybeMr。Farmerwas——“
Neveryoumindwhohewas。Hewasadarnedblackguardandhisnameain’tmentionedinthishouse。That’sallIcantellyouandyoumustn’taskanymorequestions。Why，ifyourUncleZoeth——yes，oryourUncleShadeither——wastohearyouaskin’abouthim——they’d——I
don’tknowwhatthey’ddo。I’mgoin’totearthisthingup。“
Hewouldhavetornthephotographacross，butthegirlseizedhishands。
“Oh，no，youmustn’t，“shecried。“Pleasedon’t。Itisn’tmine。
ItbelongstoUncleShad。Youmustn’ttearit——giveittome。“
Isaiahhesitated。“Giveittoyou？“herepeated。“What’llyoudowithit？“
“I’llputitrightbackwhereIfoundit。Truly，Iwill。Iwill，honest，Mr。Chase。“
Isaiahreflected。Then，andwithconsiderablereluctance，hehandedherthephotograph。
“Allright，“hesaid，“onlybesureyoudoit。Andlookhere，Mary-
’Gusta，don’tyouevertouchitagainanddon’tyouevertelleitherofyourunclesoranybodyelsethatyoufoundit。Youhear？“
Mary-’Gustasaidthatsheheard。Sherantothegarretandreplacedthephotographinthepocketofthetrunk。ShedidnotmentionitagainnordidIsaiah，butthereafterwhenheractiveimaginationconstructedaliferomancewithMr。ZoethHamiltonasitshero，thatromancecontainedavillainalso，andthevillain’snamewasEdgarS。Farmer。AndthefirmofHallandCompany，herfather’sfirm，hadafourthandmostmysteriouspartnerwhowasablackguard。
CHAPTERVIII
ThesummersandwinterscameandwentandMary-’Gusta’sbirthdayscameandwentwiththem。Shegrewtallerandmoremature。HerplaceasassistanthousekeeperwasrecognizednowandevenIsaiahconsultedheronmattersofhouseholdmanagement。Asforheruncles，shemanagedthemwhetherconsultedornot。Theytooktheplaceofthediscardeddolls；shewastoooldfordollsnow，althoughDavidwasstillmotheredandpettedasmuchasever。ButwhenUncleZoethhadacolditwasshewhoinsisteduponhiswrappingupandsawthatthewrapswereready，andifUncleShadwascaughtwearingsockswithholesinthemhewasscoldedandsuppliedwithfreshones。SheselectedtheclothestheyshouldwearandinsistedthattheyblacktheirbootsonSunday。ShehelpedtheminthestoreanditbecameoccasionallypossibleforthemtoleavethatplaceofbusinessatthesametimewithoutengagingtheservicesofAnnabel。Atfirstthepartners，CaptainShadrachespecially，protestedagainstthesupervisionandtheinnovations，butMary-
’Gustatactfullyanddiplomaticallycarriedeachpoint，and，afteratime，theCaptainceasedtoprotestandacceptedtheinevitablealmostwithmeekness。
“Nouse，Zoeth，“hesaidononeoccasion；“I’vetalkedandtalkedbutI’mwearin’thenecktiejustthesame。Itoldher’twastoogoodtowearweekdaysanditoughttobesavedforSunday，butitain’tSundayandI’vegotiton。Shesaid’twasbecomin’andtheoneI’vebeenwearin’wasn’tandthatshecrocheteditformeandI
don’tknowwhatall。SohereIam。GotsoIain’tevenbossofmyownneck。“
“Well，’tisbecomin’，“observedZoeth。“Andshedidcrochetitforyou。Inoticedyoudidn’tstophertyin’itonyouevenwhileyouwasvowin’youwouldn’twearit。“
Shadrachsighed。“Tothink，“hegroaned，“thatI，Cap’nShadGould，amanthat’shandledasmanyfo’masthandsasIhave，shouldcometobeledaroundbythenosebyaslipofagirl！Byfire，I——Ican’thardlybelieveit。It’sdisgraceful。“
Zoethsmiled。“Oh，bestill，Shadrach，“hesaid。“YoubearupunderthedisgraceaswellasanybodyeverIsaw。Youknowperfectlywellyouwastickledtodeathtohavehertiethatnecktieonyou。Youwasgrinnin’likeaChessycatallthetime。“
“Iwasn’t，neither。Iwaschokin’，notgrinnin’。Youdon’tknowagrinfromachoke。“
Zoethchangedthesubject。“It’samightyprettynecktie，“hedeclared。“Thereain’tanybodyinthistown，unlessit’sPhilanderBearse’swife，thatcancrochetanybetter’nthatgirlofours。“
Shadrachsnorted。“Whatareyoutalkin’about？“hedemanded。“EttaBearseneversawthedayshecouldcrochetlikethat。No，nordoanythingelsesowell，either。LookatthewayourcandytradehaspickedupsinceMary-’Gustafixeduptheshowcase。Youcal’lated’twasallrighttheway’twasaforeandthought’twasfoolishtochange，butshechangeditand——well，we’vesoldathirdagainasmuchcandy。“
Zoeth’ssmilebroadened。“SeemsasifIrememberyoursayin’afewthingsaboutthatshowcase，“heremarked。“Yougavemefitsforlettin’herfusswithit。Annabelwasint’otherdayandshesaidfolksthought’twasqueerenoughourlettin’athirteen-year-oldchildrunourstoreforus。“
“Shedid，eh？She’sjealous，that’swhatailsher。AndtothinkofHERsayin’it。ThatAnnabel’sallbrass，likeaship’sspyglass。
Bythejumpin’Judas！I’mproudofthatshowcaseandI’mproudofMary-’Gusta。Shedon’tmakemanymistakes：Ican’trememberofhermakin’any。“
“NeithercanI，noteveninneckties。There，there，Shadrach！I
knowyou。Youtalkaboutdisgraceandsuch，butyou’reascrazyaboutMary-’Gustaas——as——“
“Asyouare，eh？Well，maybeIam，Zoeth。Whenshewasfirstwilledtous，asyoumightsay，Iusedtowonderhowwe’devergetalongwithher；nowIwonderhowwegotalongwithouther。Ifsheshouldbe——er——tookawayfromus，Idon’tknow——“
“Sshh，shh，Shadrach！Don’ttalkaboutanythinglikethat。“
Mary-’Gustawasmakinggoodprogressatschool。Atfourteenshegraduatedfromthegrammarschoolandinthefallwastoenterthehighschool。Shewaspopularamonghermates，althoughsheneversoughtpopularity。
AtpicnicsandchurchsociablesshehadalwaysasmallcircleaboutherandtheSouthHarnissboyswereprominentinthatcircle。ButMary-’Gusta，althoughshelikedboysandgirlswellenough，nevershowedalikingforonemorethantheotherandshewastoobusyatthehouseandinthestoretohaveheryoungfriendshangingabout。
Theybotheredher，shesaid。Asforhavingaparticularfriendoftheothersex，whichsomeofthegirlsinherclassnoolderthansheseemedtothinkanecessaryproofofbeingintheirteens，shelaughedattheidea。ShehadheradoptedunclesandIsaiahtotakecareofandboybeauxweresilly。Talkingaboutthemasthesegirlsdidwassillierstill。
Thatsummer——thesummerprecedingMary-’Gusta’sfifteenthbirthday——
wastheliveliestSouthHarnisshadknown。Thevillagewasbeginningtofeelthefirstsymptomsofitslaterboomasasummerresort。AnumberofcottageshadbeenbuiltforpeoplefromBostonandNewYorkandChicago，andtherewastalkofanewhotel。Alsotherewastalkofseveralnewstores，butHamiltonandCompanywereinclinedtobelievethismerelytalkanddidnotworryaboutit。
TheirtradewasunusuallybriskandthedemandforMary-’Gusta’sservicesassalesgirlinterferedconsiderablywithherdutiesasassistanthousekeeper。
Onefine，clearJulymorningshecameuptothestoreearlyinorderthatthepartnersmightgodowntothehouseforbreakfast。Theyhadgoneandshehadjustfinishedplacingonthecountersandinotherlikelyspotsaboutthestoresheetsofstickyflypaper。
FliesareanuisanceinSouthHarnissinmidsummerandCaptainShaddetestedthem。Justasthelastsheetwaslaidinplace，ayoungfellowandagirlcamein。Mary-’Gustarecognizedthemboth。Thegirlwastheseventeen-year-olddaughterofawealthysummerresident，aMr。KeithfromChicago。TheKeithshadafinecottageonthebluffattheotherendofthevillage。Theyoungchapwithherwas，sogossipreported，acollegefriendofherbrother。Hissurnamewasprosaicenough，beingSmith，buthisfirstnamewasCrawfordandhishomewassomewhereintheFarWest。Hewasbigandgood-looking，andtheBostonpapersmentionedhimasoneofthemostpromisingbacksontheHarvardFreshmaneleven。Nextyear，sothesportingwritersopined，hewouldalmostcertainlymaketheVarsityteam。MostofMary-’Gusta’sfemininefriendsandacquaintancesratedhim“perfectlysplendid“andregardedEdnaKeithwithenviouseyes。
ThismorningbothheandtheKeithgirlwerearrayedinthegayestofsummerregalia。YoungSmith’swhiteflanneltrouserswerecarefullycreased，hisbluesergecoatwaswithoutawrinkle，histieandsockswereaperfectmatch，andhiscapwasofastylewhichtheyouthofSouthHarnissmightbewearingthefollowingsummer，butnotthisone。Takehim“byandlarge，“asCaptainShadrachwouldhavesaid，CrawfordSmithwasanimmaculateandbeautifulexhibit；ofwhichfacthe，beingeighteenyearsofage，wasdoubtlessquiteaware。
HeandtheKeithgirlwere，soMary-’Gustalearned，acommitteeoftwoselectedtopurchasecertainsuppliesforabeachpicnic，acombinationclambakeandmarshmallowtoast，whichwastotakeplaceoveratSetuckitPointthatday。SamKeith，Edna’sbrother，andtheothermembersofthepartyhadgoneontoJabezHedges’residence，whereJabezhadpromisedtomeetthemwiththeclamsandotherthingsforthebake。Ednaandherescort，havingmadetheirpurchasesatHamiltonandCompany’s，weretojointhematthe“clam-
man’s。“Thenthewholepartywastogodowntothewharfandthesailboat。
MissEdna，whowasatalkativedamsel，informedMary-’Gustaofthesefactsatonce。Alsosheannouncedthattheymusthurrylikeeverything。
“Yousee，“shesaid，“wetoldSamandtherestwe’dbeattheclam-
man’sintenminutes，and，ifwe’renotthere，Samwillbeawfullycross。Hehatestowaitforpeople。Andwe’vebeentoolongalready。It’sallyourfault，Crawford；youwouldstoptohearthatfruitmantalk。Itoldyouyoumustn’t。“
The“fruitman“wasMr。GaiusSmall，and，althoughhestammered，helovedthesoundofhisownvoice。ThedemandforadozenorangesfurnishedGaiuswithsubjectsufficientforalengthymonologue