“Eh？Didn’tI？Imusthaveforgottentomentionit。She——sheIS
here，youknow。“Mrs。Wyethshookherhead。
“Samuel，you’reperfectlyidiotictoday，“shedeclared。“Ofcoursesheishere；anyonewitheyescanseesheis。Sheis——ahem——
visitingmeandsheisattendingtheMissesCabot’sschool。There！
Now，Mr。Smithunderstands，Ihope。Anddinnerisready。Don’tanyofyousayanotherworduntilweareatthetable。MyfatherusedtosaythatlukewarmsoupwastheworstsortofcoldreceptionandI
agreewithhim。“
DuringdinnerSamwastremendouslycurioustodiscoverhowandwherehisfriendandMaryhadmetandwhatthescrapemightbetowhichCrawfordhadreferred。Buthiscuriositywasunsatisfied。Mr。
SmithrefusedtotellandMaryonlysmiledandshookherheadwhenquestioned。
Theyoungpeoplefurnishedmostoftheconversationduringthemeal。
Therecentfootballseasonanditstriumphantendingwerediscussed，ofcourse，andtheprospectsofthehockeyteamcameinforitsshare。Sam，itappeared，wasoutforaplaceonthehockeysquad。
“Youmustseesomeofthegames，Mary，“hesaid。“I’llgetticketsforyouandCousinEmily。You’recrazyaboutsports，aren’tyou，CousinEmily。“
Mrs。Wyethregardedhimthroughhereyeglasses。
“Iimagine，“sheobserved，“thatthatremarkisintendedasajoke。
Isawonefootballgameandthespectacleofthoseboystramplingeachothertodeathbeforemyeyes，andofyou，SamuelKeith，hoppingupanddownshrieking，’Tear’emup’and’Smash’em’wasthenearestapproachtoinsanityIeverexperienced。SincethattimeI
haveregardedDoctorEliotasPresidentEmeritusofanasylumandNOTauniversity。“
Samwashugelydelighted。“That’sfootball，“hedeclared。“IwilladmitthatnoonebutlunaticslikeCrawfordhereplayfootball。
Hockey，now，isdifferent。Iplayhockey。“
Crawfordseemedsurprised。
“Doyou？“heasked，witheagerinterest。“Noonehaseverguessedit，noteventhecoach。Youshouldn’tkeepitasecretfromHIM，Sam。“
MissPease，havingbeeninvitedoutthatday，wasnotpresentatdinner。AfterthecoffeewasservedtheirrepressibleSamproposedawalk。
“Youwon’tcaretogo，CousinEmily，“hesaid，“butI’msureMarywill。Itisafineafternoonandsheneedstheair。Crawfordisn’tmuchofawalker；hecanstayandkeepCousinEmilycompany。Wewon’tbelong。“
BeforeMarycoulddeclinethisdisinterestedinvitationMrs。Wyethsavedherthetrouble。
“Thankyou，Samuel，“shesaid，crisply。“Yourkindnessisappreciated，particularlybyMr。Smithandmyself。Icanseethatheisdelightedwiththeidea。ButMaryandIaregoingtotheafternoonserviceattheArlingtonStreetchurch。Soyouwillhavetoexcuseus。“
Thisshouldhavebeenasquelcher，butitwasnot。SamannouncedthatheandCrawfordwouldgowiththem。“Wewerethinkingofgoingtochurch，weren’twe，Crawford？ItisjustwhatIsuggested，youremember。“
Mrs。Wyethsaid“Humph，“andthatwasall。SheandMarywenttotheirroomstogetready。Sam，surprisedattheunexpectedsuccessofhissuddeninspirationandimmenselytickled，chuckledintriumph。Buthisjoywasmateriallylessenedwhenthequartetteleftthehouse。
“Thesesidewalksaretoonarrowforfour，“declaredMrs。Wyeth。
“Samuel，youmaywalkwithme。Mary，youandMr。Smithmustkeepcloseatourheelsandwalkfast。Ineverpermitmyselformygueststobelateatchurch。“
DuringthewalkCrawfordaskedanumberofquestions。Howlonghadhiscompanionbeeninthecity？Howlongdidsheintendstaying？
Didsheplanreturningtotheschoolforanotheryear？WherewouldshespendtheChristmasvacation？Marysaidshewasgoinghome，toSouthHarniss，fortheholidays。
“It’sabullyoldplace，CapeCod，“declaredCrawford。“IneverhadabettertimethanIdidonthatvisitatSam’s。WishIweregoingthereagainsomeday。“
“Whydon’tyou？“askedMary。
Theyoungmanshookhishead。“Ordersfromhome，“hesaid。“Fatherinsistsonmycominghometohimthemomentthetermcloses。ImadethatvisittoSam’sonmyownresponsibilityandIgotfitsfordoingit。DadseemstohaveaprejudiceagainsttheEast。Hewon’tcomeherehimselfandhedoesn’tliketohavemestayanylongerthanisabsolutelynecessary。WhenIwrotehimIwasatSouthHarnisshetelegraphedmetocomehomeinahurry。HeisEasternbornhimself，livedsomewherethiswaywhenhewasyoung，buthedoesn’ttalkaboutitandhasmoreprejudicesagainstEasternwaysandEasternpeoplethanifhe’dlivedallhislifeinCarsonCity。
Won’tevencomeontoseemeplayfootball。IdoubtifhecomestoCommencementnextspring；andIgraduate，too。“
“IwonderhepermittedyoutogotoHarvard，“saidMary。
“Hehadtopermitit。I’vealwaysbeenforHarvardeversinceI
thoughtaboutcollege。DadwasallforaWesternuniversity，butI
satbackinthestirrupsandpulledforHarvardandfinallyhegavein。HegenerallygivesinifIbuckhardenough。He’sabullyoldDadandwe’regreatpals，morelikebrothersthanfatherandson。
Theonlypointwherewedisagreeishisconfoundedsectionalprejudice。HethinksthesunnotonlysetsintheWestbutrisesthere。“
ThegirllearnedthatheintendedenteringtheHarvardMedicalSchoolinthefall。
“Ihadtofightforthat，too，“hesaid，withalaugh。“I’vealwayswantedtobeadoctorbutDadwouldn’tgiveinforeversolong。HeisinterestedinminingpropertiesthereathomeanditwashisideathatIshouldcomeinwithhimwhenIfinishedschool。ButI
couldn’tseeit。Iwantedtostudymedicine。Dadsaystherearealmostasmanystarvingdoctorsastherearedown-at-the-heellawyers；ifIgoinwithhim，hesays，Ishallhavewhatispracticallyasurethingandasoftsnapfortherestofmydays。
Thatdoesn’tsuitme。Iwanttowork；Iexpectto。Iwanttopaddlemyowncanoe。ImaybethepoorestM。D。thateverputupasign，butI’mgoingtoputthatsignupjustthesame。AndifI
starveIshan’taskhimoranyoneelsetofeedme。“
Helaughedagainashesaidit，buttherewasadeterminedringinhisvoiceandasquaresettohischinwhichMarynoticedandliked。
Hemeantwhathesaid，thatwasevident。
“Ithinkadoctor’sprofessionisoneofthenoblestandfinestintheworld，“shesaid。
“Doyou？Goodforyou！SodoI。Itdoesn’tbringinthedollarsasfastassomeothers，butitdoesseemaman’sjobtome。Thebigspecialistsmakealotofmoneytoo，butthatisn’texactlywhatI
mean。SomeofthebestmenI’vemetwerejustcountrydoctors，workingnightanddayinallsortsofweatherandgettingpaidornot，justasithappened。ThatoldDoctorHarleydowninyourtownisoneofthatkind，Ithink。IsawsomethingofhisworkwhileI
wasthere。“
“Didyou？Ishouldn’thavethoughtyouhadtimeforthat，withallthepicnicsandsailingparties。“
“Idid，though。ImethimatSam’s。Mrs。Keithhadacoldoracoughorsomething。HeandIgottotalkingandheaskedmetocomeandseehim。Iwent，youbet！Wentoutwithhimonsomeofhisdriveswhilehemadehiscalls，youknow。Hetoldmealotofthings。He’sabrick。“
“It’squeer，“hewenton，afteramoment，“butIfeltreallyathomedownthereinthatlittleplace。SeemedasifIhadbeentherebeforeand——and——byGeorge，almostasifIbelongedthere。Itwasmyfirstexperienceonandaroundsaltwater，butthatseemednatural，too。Andthepeople——Imeanthepeoplethatbelongthere，notthesummercrowd——Ilikedthemimmensely。Thosetwofineoldcardsthatkeptthestore——Eh，Ibegpardon；theyarerelativesofyours，aren’tthey？Iforgot。“
“Theyaremyuncles，“saidMary，simply。“Ihavelivedwiththemalmostallmylife。Theyarethebestmenintheworld。“
“Theyseemedlikeit。I’dliketoknowthembetter。Hello！here’sthatconfoundedchurch。I’veenjoyedthiswalkeversomuch。GuessI’vedoneallthetalking，though。HopeIhaven’tboredyoutodeathgassingaboutmyaffairs。“
“No，youhaven’t。Ienjoyedit。“
“Didyoureally？Yes，Iguessyoudidoryouwouldn’tsayso。Youdon’tactlikeagirlthatpretends。ByGeorge！It’sarelieftohavesomeonetotalkto，someonethatunderstandsandappreciateswhatafellowisthinkingabout。Mostgirlswanttotalkfootballanddancingandallthat。Ilikefootballimmenselyanddancingtoo，butthereissomethingelseinlife。EvenSam——he’sasgoodastheymakebuthedoesn’tcaretolistentoanythingserious——thatis，notlong。“
Maryconsidered。“Ienjoyedlistening，“shesaid，“andIwasgladtohearyoulikedSouthHarnissandmyuncles。“