“Itisuptonow，becausetheBostonfolksdon’tknow。ButWEknow，orwe’reafraidweknow，andthatmakesitworse。Howcanwegoonbuyin’fromfolksthathasstoodourfriendseversincewewentintobusiness，knowin’aswedothat——“
Hispartnerinterrupted。
“Wedon’tknowanythingyet，“hedeclared。“Keepastiffupperlip，Zoeth。Ninechancestoonewe’llweatheritallright。WHATasummerthishasbeen！AndwhenIthink，“headdedsavagely，“ofhowwellwegotalongaforethosenewstorescameitmakesmenighcrazy。I’llgooutwithacardofmatchessomenightandburn’emdown。Damnpirates！Callin’themselvesgoodCapeCodnames——namesthatdon’tbelongto’em！Baker’sBazaar！Ugh！Rheinstein’sRobbers’Roostwouldbenigherthetruth……Say，Zoeth，wemustn’thintawordtoMary-’Gustaaboutthis。We’vegotcashenoughonhandtopayherclearancechargesupthereatschool，ain’twe？“
“Yes，Shadrach，I’velookedoutforthat。Idon’tknow’sI’doughtto。Themoneymaybehadoughttogosomewhereselse，but——butrightorwrongit’sgoin’forherandIhopetheLord’llforgiveme。Andwhatyousay’strue，shemustn’tknowwe’reworried。She’ssoconscientiousshemightbeforgivin’upherschoolin’andcomin’
downheretohelpus。She’dbejustasliabletodoitasnot。“
“You’reright，shewould。Goodthingshethinksshe’sgotmoneyofherownandthatthatmoneyispayin’herschoolin’bills。She’dbefrettin’allthetimeabouttheexpenseif’twa’n’tforthat。YouandImustpretendeverything’slovelyandthegoosehangin’highwhenshe’saround。Andwemustn’tletIsaiahdropanyhints。“
“No。Isaiahhasaskedmetwoorthreetimeslatelyifthenewstoreswashurtin’ourtrade。Ishouldn’twonderifhehadsomesuspicionsdowninsidehim。“
“Umph！Well，that’sallright，solongastheystayinside。IfI
seesignsofoneofthosesuspicionsrisin’abovehisAdam’sappleI’llchoke’emdownagain。I’llputafleainIsaiah’sear，andI’llputmucilageonitsfeetso’s’twillstickthere。“
SoalthoughMarydidnoticethatthetwonewshopsinthevillageseemedtobeprosperingandthatbusinessatHamiltonandCompany’swasnotrushingevenforSeptember，theanswerstoherquestionsweresoreassuringthatheruneasinesswasdrivenaway。HerUncleZoethevadeddirectreplyandCaptainShadrachprevaricatedwhole-
heartedlyandcheerfully。EvenIsaiahdeclaredthat“everythingandallhandswasdoin’fine。“ButMarymadehimpromisethatshoulditeverbeotherwisethanfinehewouldwriteherimmediately。Hegavethepromisewithsomereluctance。
“Ical’lateifCap’nShadcaughtmetellin’talesoutofschoolhe’dgotoworkandturntoandbustmeovertheheadwithamarlinespike，“saidMr。Chase，withtheairofonestatingafact。
Marylaughed。“Oh，no，hewouldn’t，“shedeclared。“I’llstandbackofyou，Isaiah。Nowmind，youaretokeepmepostedonJUST
howthingsarehere。“
CHAPTERXVI
MarywentbacktoBostonandtoschool，whereoldacquaintanceswererenewedandnewonesmade。TheMissesCabotwelcomedherwithfussyanddignifiedcondescension。BarbaraHowehuggedandkissedherandvowedshehadnotseenagirlallsummerwhowashalfsosweet。
“Whyintheworldsomeonedoesn’trunoffwithyouandmarryyouthisveryminuteIcannotsee，“declaredthevivaciousyounglady。
“IfIwereamanIshould。“
Mary，whowasusedtoMissHowe’soutbursts，merelysmiled。
“Oh，no，youwouldn’t，“shereplied。“Ishouldhopeyouwouldbemoresensible。Noonewillrunoffwithme；atleastIwouldn’trunoffwiththem。“
“Whynot？Don’tyouthinkanelopementisperfectlysplendid——soromanticandallthat？Supposeyouwereheadoverheelsinlovewithsomeoneandhispeopleweredeadsetagainsthismarryingyou，wouldn’tyouelopethen？“
“IthinkIshouldn’t。IthinkIshouldtrytofindoutwhytheyweresoopposedtome。Perhapstheremightbesomegoodreason。Iftherewerenogoodreason，then——why，then——well，Idon’tknow。ButIshouldhesitatealongwhilebeforeIcamebetweenapersonandhisfamily。Itmustbedreadfultodothat。“
Barbaralaughed。“Nonsense！“shecried。“It’sdoneeverydayinthebestfamilies，mydear。Andthenthereconciliationisallthesweeter。Youjustwait！SomeofthesedaysIexpecttoread：
’ElopementinSouthHarnissHighLife。BeautifulSocietyMaidenWedsFamousFormerFootball——er——er——IwantanotherF——Oh，yes，FamousFormerFootballFavorite。’Isn’tthatbeautiful？Dearme，howyoublush！Orisitsunburn？Atanyrate，it’sverybecoming。“
TheFamousFormerFootballFavoritecalledatMrs。Wyeth’sontheeveningfollowingthatofMary’sreturntoBoston。Hewasasbigandbrownaseveranddeclaredthathehadhadawonderfulvacation。
“Andyou’relookingawfullywell，too，“heexclaimed，inspectingherfromheadtofoot。“Sheis，isn’tshe，Mrs。Wyeth？“
Mrs。Wyethadmittedthatshethoughtso。Crawfordnoddedemphatically。
“ByGeorge，youare！“herepeated。
Therewasnodoubtofhissincerity。Infact，theadmirationinhisvoiceandlookwassoobviousandunconcealedthatMary，althoughshecouldnothelpbeingpleased，wasalittleembarrassed。Theembarrassmentworeaway，however，whenhebegantotellofhissummerintheSierrasandtoaskforadditionalparticularsconcerningherEuropeantrip。Hestayedlongerthanusualthateveningandcameagainafeweveningslater——toshowthemsomephotographshehadtakeninthemountains，sohesaid。AndthefollowingSundayhedroppedintoaccompanythemtochurch。And——
butwhyparticularize？Perhapsitwillbesufficienttosaythatduringthatfallandwintertheboyandgirlfriendshipprogressedassuchfriendshipsarelikelytodo。MissPease，theromantic，noddedandlookedwiseandevenMrs。Wyethnolongerresentedherfriend’slooksandinsinuationswiththesameindignantcertaintyofdenial。
“Idon’tknow，Letitia，“sheadmitted。“Idon’tknow。I’mbeginningtothinkhecaresforherandmaybereallyseriousaboutit。WhetherornotshecaresforhimisquiteanotherthingandI
amsureIshan’tpresumetoguess。Ifshedoesshekeepsittoherself，asshedoessomanyotherthings。Sheknowshowtomindherownbusinessandthatisagiftpossessedbyfew，LetitiaPease。“
MarywenthomefortheChristmasvacationandspenttheholidays，asshehadspentthoseofthepreviousyear，inhelpingherunclesatthestore。TheChristmastrade，althoughnotsobriskasshehadseenit，wasnotsobadastoalarmher，andthepartnerswereoptimisticasever。Isaiah，whohadbeentalkedtolikeaDutchunclebyCaptainShadandwasconsequentlyindeadlyfearofthelatter’swrath，declaredthatasfarashecouldseeeverythingwasallright。SoMaryleftSouthHarnissandreturnedtoschoolandthedutiesofthewintertermwithfewmisgivingsconcerningmattersathome。CrawfordmetheratthetrainandcametothePinckneyStreethousethateveningtohearthenewsfromtheCape。Itwassurprising，theinterestinCapeCodmattersmanifestedoflatebythatyoungman。
OnadayinearlyApril，Mary，hurryingtoMrs。Wyeth’safterschool，foundaletterawaitingher。Sheglancedatthepostmark，whichwasSouthHarniss，andthehandwriting，whichwasIsaiah’s，andthenlaiditasidetobereadlateronatherleisure。AftermanypostponementsandwithconsiderablereluctanceshehadacceptedaninvitationtodinewithBarbaraHoweatthelatter’shomeinBrooklineandthiseveningwasthetimeappointed。Itwouldbeherfirstplungeintosociety——thehomelifeofsociety，thatis。TheHoweswereanoldfamily，wealthyandwell-connected，andMarycouldnothelpfeelingsomewhatnervousattheordealbeforeher。Sheknewsomethingofthenumberandvarietyofexpensivegownspossessedbyheryounghostessandherownlimitedwardrobeseemeddoublylimitedandplainbycomparison。ButshesummonedherunfailingcommonsensetoherrescueandfoundconsolationinthefactthatBarbaraandherpeopleknewshewas，comparativelyspeaking，apoorgirl，andthereforecouldhardlyhaveinvitedherwiththeexpectationofseeingherarrayedinfineclothes。Andiftheyhaddoneso——herewasabitoftheoldMary-’Gustaphilosophy——
theiropinionwasnotworthconsiderationanyhow，andthesoonertheyandshereachedmutualdisgustandpartingthebetter。
Butalthoughherbestgownwasnotnewnorexpensive，andherjewelswereconspicuousbytheirabsence，thepictureshemadeasshestoodbeforethemirrorgivingthelasttouchestoherhairwasdistinctlynotanunpleasingone。Maggie，themaid，whoenteredtheroomtoannounceacaller，wasextravagantinherpraises。
“Ah，sure，Miss，youlookfine，“shedeclared。“You’rethatsweetonelookatyouwouldsugaracupoftea。Ah，he’llbethatproudofyouandheoughttobe，too。Buthe’safineyoungman，and——“
“Who？Whatareyoutalkingabout，Maggie？“interruptedMary。“Whowillbeproudofmeandwhoisafineyoungfellow？“
“Who？Why，Mr。Smith，ofcourse；whoelse？He’sdownintheparlorwaitin’foryounow。I’lltellhimyou’llbedown。“
BeforeMarycouldstophershehadlefttheroomandwasonherwaydownstairs。Maryfollowedamomentlater。ShehadnotexpectedavisitfromCrawford，whohadcalledalreadythatweek。Shewonderedwhyhehadcome。
Shefoundhimintheparlor。Mrs。WyethwasoutshoppingwithMissPease，andheandshewerealone。Herosetomeetherassheentered。
“Why，Crawford，“shesaid，“whatisthematter？Hasanythinghappened？Whydoyoulooksoserious？“
Hesmiledruefully。“IguessbecauseIamratherserious，“heanswered。“I’vehadsomenewsandIcametotellyouaboutit。“
Then，noticinghergown，headded：“Butyou’regoingout，aren’tyou？“