“Ineversaidchildren。WhatIsaidwaswhenshewasoldandhadgrandchildren。“
“Grandchildren！Well，that’sadumsightMOREprevious。Let’shavebreakfast，allhands，forthelandsakes！Isaiah’llhaveuscruisin’alongwiththethirdandfourthgenerationinafewminutes。I’Msatisfiedwiththisone！“
Thatevening，atbedtime，asthepartnersseparatedintheupperhalltogototheirrespectiverooms，Zoethsaid：
“Shadrach，thishasbeenamightyniceChristmasforusall，ain’tit？“
CaptainShadnoddedemphatically。“Youbet！“hedeclared。“Don’tseemtomeIeverrememberanicerone。“
“NorI，neither。I——Iwonder——“
“Well，heaveahead。Whatareyouwaitin’for？Whatdoyouwonder？“
“Iwasjustwonderin’if’twasrightforustobesohappy。“
“Right？“
“Yes。Havewebeen——well，goodenoughthispastyeartodeservehappinesslikethis？“
Shadrachgrinned。
“Iain’tputtin’inanytestimonyonmyownhook，“hesaid，dryly，“butIdon’tseemtorememberyourbein’desperatelywicked，Zoeth。
CourseyouMAYhavegotdrunkanddisorderlythattimewhenMary-
’GustaandIleftyouandwenttoBoston，butIkindofdoubtit。“
“Hush，hush，Shadrach！Don’tjokeaboutseriousthings。WhatI
meanishaveyouandIwalkedtheLord’swayasstraightaswe’doughtto？We’vetried——thatis，seems’sifwehad——butIdon’tknow。Anyhow，allthisafternoonI’vehadafunnyfeelin’thatyouandmeandMary-’Gustawas——wellwasasifthetidehadbeencomin’
inforusalltheseyearssinceshe’sbeenlivin’withus，andasifnow’twouldbegintogooutagain。“
TheCaptainlaughed。“Andthat’swhatyoucallaFUNNYfeelin’！“heexclaimed。“Zoeth，I’vegotafunnyfeelin’，too，butIknowwhat’sthereasonforit——thereasonisturkeyandplumpuddin’andmincepieandthelandknowswhat。Whenacoupleofoldhulkslikeyouandmeh’istinacargoofthatkindit’snowonderwehavefeelin’s。Goodnight，shipmate。“
CHAPTERXIII
ThedayafterNewYear’sMarywentbacktoBostonandtoschool。
Thelongwinterterm——thetermwhichMadelineTalbott，whosefatherwasajudge，called“theextremepenalty“——began。Boston’sfamouseastwinds，sowelcomeinsummerandsorawandpenetratinginwinter，broughttheirusualallowanceofsnowandsleet，andthewalksfromPinckneyStreettotheschoolandbackwerenotalwayspleasant。Mrs。WyethhadaslightattackoftonsillitisandMissPeaseabronchialcold，buttheyunitedindeclaringtheseafflictionsdueentirelytotheirownimprudenceandnotintheleasttotheclimate，which，beinglikethemselves，thoroughlyBostonian，wasexpectedtomaintainaproperdegreeofchill。
Mary，fortunately，escapedcoldsandillness。Thewalksinallsortsofweatherdidhergoodandherrosycheeksandcleareyeswerecompetentwitnessestoherstateofhealth。Shewasgettingonwellwithherstudies，andtheMissesCabot，nottooeasytoplease，wereapparentlypleasedwithher。Athome——forshehadcometoconsiderMrs。Wyeth’scomfortablehouseahome，althoughnotofcoursetobecomparedwiththerealhomeatSouthHarniss——atMrs。
Wyeth’sshewasmoreofafavoritethanever，notonlywiththemistressofthehouse，butwithMissPease，whowasconsideredeccentricandwhoselikingwasreportedhardtowin。Thetwoladieshadmanytalksconcerningthegirl。
“Sheisremarkable，“declaredMissPeaseononeoccasion。
“Consideringherlackofearlyadvantages，Iconsiderhereaseofmannerandself-possessionremarkable。Sheisaprodigy。“
Mrs。Wyethsniffed。SheenjoyedhearingMarypraised，butsheobjectedtoherfriend’schoiceofwords。
“Formercysake，Letitia，“shesaid，“don’tcallherthat。Theword’prodigy’alwaysremindsmeoftheCrummlesinfant，theonewiththegreenparasolandthewhite——er——lingerie，in’NicholasNickleby。’“
MissPeasesmiledwiththesuperiorityofthecorrectedwhoisabouttocorrect。
“Idon’tseewhythatshouldbringtheindividualyoumentiontomind，“shesaid。“IfIremembercorrectly——andIwasbroughtuponDickens——shewasa’phenomenon，’notaprodigy。However，itmakesnomaterialdifferencewhatyouandIcallMaryLathrop，thefactremainsthatsheisanexceptionallywell-behaved，good-mannered，polite——“
“Sweet，healthygirl，“interruptedMrs。Wyeth，finishingthesentence。“Iknowthataswellasyoudo，LetitiaPease。AndyouknowIknowit。Now，whathaveyouinyourmindconcerningMary？I
knowthereissomething，becauseyouhavebeenhintingatitformorethanaweek。Whatisit？“
MissPeaselookedwise。
“Oh，Ihaveaplan，“shesaid。“Ican’ttellevenyou，Emily，justwhatitisasyet。Yousee，itisn’treallyaplan，butonlyanideasofar。Shedoesn’tknowitherself，ofcourse。“
“Hum！Isitapleasantplan——oridea，whicheveryoucallit？Thatis，willshethinkitpleasantwhenshelearnswhatitis？“
“Icertainlyhopeso。“
“Lookhere，Letitia，“withsuddensuspicion，“youaren’tplanningsomeridiculoussentimentalnonsenseforthatchild，areyou？
You’renottryingtomakeamatchforher，Ihope？“
“Match？Whatareyoutalkingabout？IfyoumeanamItryingtogethermarriedtosomeMAN，“withascornfulemphasisontheword，“I
mostcertainlyamnot。
“Humph！Well，ifsheeverismarried，Ipresumeitwillbetoaman，oranimitationofone。Allright，Letitia。Iamgladyourgreatideaisn’tthat，whateveritis。“
“Itisnot。Youknowmyopinionofmarriage，EmilyWyeth。And，sofarasmatchmakingisconcerned，Ishouldsayyouwereamorelikelysubjectforsuspicion。Thatyoungrelativeofyours，SamKeith，appearstobecominghereagreatdealoflate。HeMAYcomesolelytoseeyou，butIdoubtit。“
Mrs。Wyethsmiledgrimly。
“Samuelhasbeenratherprevalentrecently，“sheadmitted，“butdon’tletthattroubleyou，Letitia。Ihavehadmyeyeontheyoungman。Samuelisassusceptibletoprettygirlsaschildrenaretothemeasles。Andhisattacksremindmeofthemeaslesasmuchasanything，suddenoutbreak，highfeveranddelirium，thenageneralcoolingoffandarapidrecovery。Thisseizureisn’talarmingandthereisabsolutelynodangerofcontagion。Marydoesn’ttakehimseriouslyatall。“
“Andhowaboutthatotheryoungman？——Smith，Ithinkhisnameis。
HehascalledheretwicesinceChristmas。“
Mrs。Wyethseemedtobelosingpatience。
“Well，whatofit？“shedemanded。
“Why，nothingthatIknowof，except，perhaps——“
“Thereisnoperhapsatall。TheSmithboyappearstobeaveryniceyoungfellow，andremarkablysensibleforayoungpersoninthishoity-toityage。FromwhatIcanlearn，hispeople，althoughtheydoliveoutWest——downinamineoruponabranchoraranchorsomething——arerespectable。Whyshouldn’thecalltoseeMaryoccasionally，andwhyshouldn’tsheseehim？Goodnessgracious！
Whatsortofaworldwouldthisbeifyoungpeopledidn’tseeeachother？Don’ttellmethatyouneverhadanyyoungmaleacquaintanceswhenyouwereagirl，Letitia，becauseIshan’tbelieveyou。“
MissPeasestraightenedinherchair。
“ItisnotlikelythatIshallmakeanysuchpreposterousstatement，“shesnapped。
Sothe“youngmaleacquaintance“calledoccasionally——nottoooften——
Mrs。Wyethsawtothat；probablynotsooftenashewouldhaveliked；buthedidcallandtheacquaintanceshipdevelopedintofriendship。Thatitmightdevelopintosomethingmorethanfriendshipnoone，exceptpossiblythesentimentalMissPease，seemedtosuspect。CertainlyMarydidnot，andatthistimeitisdoubtfulifCrawforddid，either。HelikedMaryLathrop。Shewasaremarkablyprettygirlbut，unlikeotherprettygirlshehadknown——
andasgood-lookingcollegefootballstarsareprivilegedbeyondthecommonherd，hehadknownatleastseveral——shedidnotflirtwithhim，norlookadmiringlyupintohiseyes，norpronouncehisjokes“killinglyfunny，“norflatterhiminanyway。IfthejokesWERE
funnyshelaughedahealthy，genuinelaugh，butif，assometimeshappened，theywereratherfeeble，shewasquitelikelytotellhimso。Shedidnotalwaysagreewithhisviews，havingviewsofherownonmostsubjects，andifheaskedheropiniontheanswerhereceivedwasalwayshonest，ifnotpreciselywhatheexpectedorhoped。
“ByGeorge！You’refrank，atanyrate，“heobserved，ratherruefully，afteraskingheropinionastoapointofconductandreceivingitforthwith。
“Didn’tyouwantmetobe？“askedMary。“YouaskedmewhatI