ThatafternoonthestoreofHamiltonandCompanywasvisitedbyagoodlynumberofSouthHarnissresidents。Thateveningthereweremore。ThenewsthatMary-’GustaLathropwasathomeandwas“tendin’store“forherunclesspreadandwasmuchdiscussed。Themajorityofthosewhocamedidsonotbecausetheycontemplatedpurchasingextensively，butbecausetheywishedtoseewhateffectthefashionablefinishingschoolhadhaduponthegirl。Thegeneralopinionseemedtobethatit“hadn’tchangedheramite。“Thisresult，however，wasconsideredadesirableonebythemajority，butwasbysomecriticized。AmongthecriticswasMrs。RebeccaMullet，whosedaughterIrenealsowasawayatschoolundergoingthefinishingprocess。
“Well！“declaredMrs。Mullet，withdecision，assheandherhusbandemergedfromthestoretogether。“Well！IfTHAT’Sasampleofwhattheschoolshegoestodoesforthemthatspendtheirmoneyonit，I’mmightygladwedidn’tsendourRenathere，ain’tyou，Christopher？“
Mr。ChrisMullet，whohadreceivedthatveryweekabillforhisdaughter’s“extras，“utteredaferventassent。
“Youbetyou！“hesaid。“ItcostsenoughwhereRenais，withoutsendin’hertonomoreexpensiveplace。“
Thiswasnotexactlythereplyhiswifehadexpected。
“Umph！“shegrunted，impatiently。“Idowishyoucouldgetalongfortwominuteswithoutputtin’onpoormouth。Isupposelikelyyoutelleverybodythatyoucan’taffordanewovercoataccountofRena’sgoin’awaytoschool。You’doughttobeprouderofyourdaughterthanyouareofanovercoat，Ishouldthink。“
Mr。Mulletmutteredsomethingtotheeffectthathewasdumsurehewasnotproudofhispresentovercoat。Hiswifeignoredthecomplaint。
“Andyou’llbeproudofIrenewhenshecomeshome，“shedeclared。
“Shewon’tbelikethatMary-’Gusta，standin’upbehindthecounterandsellin’goods。“
“Why，now，Becky，what’sthematterwithherdoin’that？Shealwaysusedtosellgoods，andbehindthatverycounter，too。AndshecertainlycanSELL’em！“withareminiscentchuckle。
Mrs。Mulletglaredathim。“Yes，“shedrawled，withsarcasm，“soshecan——tosomefolks。Lookatyou，withallthatChristmasjunkunderyourarm！Youdidn’tneedtobuythatstuffanymore’nyouneededtofly。Whatdidyoubuyitfor？Tellmethat。“
Chrisshookhishead。“BlessedifIknow，“headmitted。“Ihadn’tanyideaofbuyin’it，butsheandmegottotalkin’，andshekeptshowin’thethingstome，andIkeptlookin’at’emand——“
“Yes，andkeptlookin’ather，too！Don’ttalktoME！There’snofoollikeanoldfool——andanoldmanfoolistheworstofall。“
Herhusband，usuallymeekandlong-sufferingunderwifelydiscipline，evincedunwontedspirit。
“Well，Itellyouthis，Becky，“hesaid。“Fur’sIcansee，Mary-
’Gusta’sallright。She’sasprettyasapicture，tobeginwith；
she’sgotmoneyofherowntospend；andshe’sbeenawayamongfolksthathavegotalotmore。Allthemthingstogetherareenoughtospoil’mostanygirl，buttheyhaven’tspoiledher。She’scomehomeherenotamitestuck-up，notflirtynorsillynortop-lofty，butjustassensibleandcapableandcommon-folksyasevershewas，andthat’ssayin’somethin’。IfourRenaturnsouttobethegirlMary-
’GustaLathropisIWILLbeproudofher，anddon’tyouforgetit！“
WhichterminatedconversationintheMulletfamilyforthatevening。
Butifthefew，likeMrs。Mullet，wereinclinedtocriticize，themany，likeherhusband，unitedindeclaringMarytobe“allright。“
AndherrearranginganddisplayingoftheChristmasgoodshelpedherandherunclestodisposeofthem。Infact，forthethreedaysbeforeChristmasitbecamenecessarytocallintheservicesofAnnabelasassistantsaleslady。Thestorewascrowded，particularlyintheevenings，andZoethandCaptainShadexperiencedforthefirsttimeinmonthsthesensationofbeingtheheadsofaprosperousbusiness。
“Looksgoodtoseesomanyyoungfolksinhere，don’tit，Zoeth？“
observedtheCaptain。“Andnotonlygirls，butfellers，too。Don’tknowwhenI’veseensomanyyoungfellersinhere。Who’sthatyoungsquirtMary’-Gusta’swaitin’onnow？Theonewiththewhittled-inbacktohisovercoat。Say，Solomoninallhisglorywasn’tarrayedlikeoneofhim！Mustbesomecityfeller，eh？NobodyIknow。“
Zoethlookedathisnieceandhercustomer。
“Humph！“hesaid。“Guessyouain’trubbedyourglasseslately，Shadrach。That’sDanHiggins。“
Mr。Higginsitwas，homeforafewdays’relaxationfromthefatiguesofcoffinselling，andgarbedasusualincityclothesthesplendorofwhich，asCaptainShadsaidafterwards，“wouldhavegivenablindmaneyestrain。“Daniel’sarmswerefilledwithpurchasesandheandMarywerestandingbesidethetablewherethetoysandgamesweredisplayed。Marywasgazingatthetoys；Mr。
Higginswas——not。
Thepartnersregardedthepairforamoment。Shadrachfrowned。
“Humph！“hegrunted。
“Daniel’stryin’tofindsomethin’hislittlebrother’lllike，“
explainedZoeth。
“Yes，“observedtheCaptain，dryly。“Well，helooksasifhe’dfoundsomethin’HElikedprettywell。Here，Mary-’Gusta，I’llfinishwaitin’onDan。YoujustseewhatMrs。Nickersonwants，willyou，please？“
ChristmasEveendedtherushofbusinessforHamiltonandCompany。
Thefollowingweek，thelastofMary’svacation，wascertaintobedullenough。“Nothin’todobutchangepresentsforfolks，“
prophesiedCaptainShad。“Givethemsomethin’theywantandtakebacksomethin’wedon’twant。Thatkindoftradeislikeshovelin’
foguphill，moreexercisethanprofit。“
Christmaswasahappydayatthewhitehousebytheshore，adayofsurprises。Tobeginwith，therewerethepresentswhichwerebesidetheplatesatbreakfast。Maryhadbroughtgiftsforall，CaptainShadrach，Zoeth，andIsaiah。Therewasnothingexpensive，ofcourse，buteachhadbeenchosentofitthetasteandlikingoftherecipientandtherewasnodoubtthateachchoicewasasuccess。
Isaiahproudlydisplayedajacknifewhichwasasmalltoolchest，havingfourblades，acorkscrew，ascrewdriver，achisel，abutton-
hookandgoodnessknowswhatelsebesides。
“Lookatthat！“crowedIsaiah，exhibitingtheknife，bristlinglikeaporcupine，onhisopenpalm。“Lookatit！Bytime，thereain’tnothin’Ican’tdowiththatknife！EverytimeIlookatitIfindsomethin’new。Now，Iwonderwhatthatis，“pointingtoaparticularlylargeandferocious-lookingimplementwhichprojectedfromthesteeltangle。“Ical’lateI’vesizedupabouteverythingelse，butIcan’tseemtomakeoutwhatthat’sfor。Whatdoyoucal’late’tis，Cap’nShad？“
Shadrachlooked。
“Why，that’ssimple，“hesaid，gravely。“That’sacrustcrowbar。“
“Awhat？“
“Acrustcrowbar。Foropenin’oneofthemcast-ironpiessameasyoumadeforuslastweek。Youdrillaholeinthecrustnightheedgeoftheplateandthenputthatthinginandprytheupperdeckloose。Goodidea，Isaiah！I——“
“Aw，gotograss！“interruptedtheindignantMr。Chase。“Inoticeyoualwayseatenoughofmypies，decks——yes，andhullandriggin’，too。“
ThentherewasTHEgreatsurprise，thatwhichthepartnershadpreparedfortheiridolizedniece。Maryfoundbesideherplateasmall，oblongpackage，wrappedintissuepaperandlabeled，“ToMary-’Gusta，fromUncleShadrachandUncleZoeth，withaMerryChristmas。“Insidethepaperwasapasteboardbox，insidethataleathercase，andinsideTHATahandsomegoldwatchandchain。ThentherewasmuchexcitedexclaiminganddelightedthanksonMary’spart，andexplanationsandbroadgrinsonthatofthegivers。
“Butyoushouldn’thavedoneit！Ofcourseyoushouldn’t！“
protestedMary。“It’sperfectlylovelyandIwantedawatchmorethananything；butIKNOWthismusthavecostagreatdeal。“
“Never，neither，“protestedtheCaptain。“Wegotitwholesale。
EdgarEmery’snephewisinthebusinessuptoProvidenceandhepickeditoutforus。Didn’tbegintocostwhatwecal’lated’twould，didit，Zoeth？Whenyoubuythingswholesalethatwayyoucan’mostalwayscal’latetoget’emlowerthanyoucal’lateto。“
Marysmiledatthissomewhatinvolvedstatement，butsheshookherhead。
“I’msureitcostagreatdealmorethanyoushouldhavespent，“shesaid。
“Butyoulikeit，don’tyou？“queriedZoeth，hopefully。
“Likeit！Oh，UncleZoeth，don’tyouKNOWIlikeit！Whocouldhelplikingsuchabeautifulthing？“
“How’sitshowupalongsidethewatchestheothergirlshaveuptothatBostonschool？“askedShadrach，withill-concealedanxiety。
“Wewouldn’twantourgirl’swatchtobeanycheaper’ntheirs，youknow。“
TheanswerwasenthusiasticenoughtosatisfyeventheCaptainandMr。Hamilton。
“I’msurethereisn’tanothergirlintheschoolwhosewatchmeanstoherwhatthiswillmeantome，“declaredMary。“Ishallkeepitandloveitallmylife。“
Thepartnersheavedasighofrelief。WhetherornotthewatchwasfineenoughfortheirMary-’Gustahadbeenasourceofworrimentandmuchdiscussion。AndthenIsaiah，withhiscustomaryknackofsayingthewrongthing，tossedabrickbatintothepuddleofgeneralsatisfaction。
“That’sso，“hesaid；“that’sso，Mary-’Gusta。Youcankeepitallyourlife，andwhenyougettobeanoldwomanandmarriedandhavegrandchildrenthenyoucangiveittothem。“
CaptainShadrach，whohadtakenuphisnapkinpreparatorytotuckingitunderhischin，turnedinhischairandglaredattheunconscioussteward。
“Well，bythejumpin’fire！“heexclaimed，withconviction。“Thefellerissartinlypossessed。He’slovesick，that’swhat’sthematterwithhim。Allhecantalkaboutissomebody’sgettin’
married。AreYOUcal’latin’togetmarried，Isaiah？“
“Me？Whatkindoffooltalkisthat？“
“Who’stheluckywoman？“
“Thereain’tnoluckywoman。Don’ttalksoridic’lous！AllIsaidwasthatwhenMary-’Gustawasoldandmarriedandhad——“
“Thereyougoagain！Marriedandchildren！Say，diditeverrunacrostyourmindthatyouwasalittlemiteprevious？“