What’sallthisaboutyourunclesfailinginbusiness？Thatisn’tpossible，isit？Tellmethewholething，justasitwastoldtoyou。“
SoMarytoldit，concludingbyexhibitingIsaiahChase’sletter。
“Itmustbeverybad，yousee，“shesaid。“Isaiahneverwouldhavewrittenifithadnotbeen。ItishardenoughtothinkthatwhileI
wasenjoyingmyselfinEuropeandatschooltheywereinsuchtroubleandkeepingitalltothemselves。Thatishardenough，whenIknowhowtheymusthaveneededme。Butifitshouldbetruethatitistheirmoney——moneytheycouldnotpossiblyspare——thatIhavebeenspending——wastingthereinBoston，I——I——Pleasetellme，JudgeBaxter！HaveIanymoneyofmyown？Pleasetellme。“
TheJudgeroseandwalkedupanddownthefloor，hisbrowsdrawntogetherandhisrighthandslappinghislegateachturn。Aftersevenoreightoftheseturnshesatdownagainandfacedhiscaller。
“Mary，“hesaid，“supposethisstoryaboutyouruncles’financialandbusinesstroublesshouldbetrue，whatwillyoudo？“
Marymethislookbravely。Hereyesweremoist，buttherewasnohesitationinherreply。
“IshallstayathomeandhelptheminanywayIcan，“shesaid。
“TherewillbenomoreBostonandnomoreschoolforme。TheyneedmethereathomeandIamgoinghome——tostay。“
“Whetheritisyourmoneyortheirswhichhaspaidforyoureducation？“
“Certainly。OfcourseInevershouldhavegoneawayatallifIhadnotsupposedmyownmoneywerepayingtheexpenses。Judge，youhaven’tansweredmyquestion——andyetIthink——Iamafraidthatyouhaveansweredit。Itwastheirmoneythatpaid，wasn’tit？“
JudgeBaxterwassilentforamoment，asifinfinaldeliberation。
Thenhenodded，solemnly。
“Yes，Mary，“hesaid，“itwastheirmoney。Infact，ithasbeentheirmoneywhichhaspaidformostthingsinyourlife。ShadrachGouldandZoethHamiltonaren’t，maybe，thebestbusinessmenintheworld，buttheycomeprettyneartobeingthebestMEN，inbusinessoroutofit，thatIhavemetduringseventyoddyearsonthisplanet。Ithink，perhaps，itwillbewellforyoutoknowjusthowgoodtheyhavebeentoyou。Now，listen！“
Hebeganatthebeginning，atthedayofMarcellusHall’sfuneral，whenhereadthelettertoShadrachandZoeth，theletterintrustingMary-’Gustatotheircare。HetoldofMarcellus’sunfortunateinvestments，ofthelossofthelatter’sfortune，andhow，whentheestatewassettled，therewerebutafewhundredswhereitwasexpectedtheremightbeagoodmanythousands。
“Don’tmakeanymistake，Mary，“hesaidearnestly。“Yourunclesknewtherewaslittleornomoneywhentheydecidedtotakeyou。
Theytookyousimplyforyourself，becausetheycaredsomuchforyou，notbecausetheyweretomakeacentfromtheguardianship。
Everythingyouhavehadforthepasttwoyearstheirmoneyhaspaidforandyoumaybeabsolutelycertaintheyneverhavegrudgedapennyofit。ThelasttimeIsawCaptainGouldhewasgloryinginhavingthesmartestandbestgirlinOstableCounty。AndMr。
Hamilton——“
Sheinterruptedhim。“Don’t，please！“shesaidchokingly。“Pleasedon’ttellmeanymorejustnow。I——Iwanttothink。“
“Thereisn’tanymoretotell，“hesaidgently。“Iamgoingintothenextroom。Ishallbebackinafewminutes。Then，ifyoucareto，wecantalkalittlemore。“
Whenhereturnedshehadrisenandwasstandingbythewindowlookingoutintothebackyard。Shewascalmandevensmiledalittleasheentered，althoughthesmilewasaratherpitifulone。
OfthetwotheJudgelookedthemoreperturbed。
“Whew！“heexclaimed，aftercarefullyclosingthedoorbehindhim。
“I’vebeendoingalittlethinkingmyself，younglady，sinceIleftyouhere。I’vebeenthinkingthatIhadbettertakeatriptoCanadaorChinaorsomewhereandstartinahurry，too。WhenyourunclesfindoutthatItoldyouthisthingtheyhavesucceededinkeepingfromyouallthistime——well，itwillbehightimeformetobesomewhereelse。“Helaughedandthenaddedgravely：“ButIstillthinkIwasrightintellingyou。Underthecircumstancesitseemstomethatyoushouldknow。“
“OfcourseIshould。IfyouhadnottoldmeIshouldhavefounditout，nowthatmysuspicionswerearoused。Thankyou，JudgeBaxter。
NowImustgo。“
“Go？Gowhere？“
“Home——toSouthHarniss。“
“Nonsense！You’renotgoingtoSouthHarnissyetawhile。You’regoingtohavedinnerwithmywifeandme。“
“Thankyou。Ican’t。Imustgoatonce。Bythenexttrain。“
“Thereisn’tanytrainuntilnearlyfouro’clock。“Then，noticingherlookofdisappointment，hewentontosay：“Butthatshan’tmakeanydifference。I’llsendyouoverinmynephew’sautomobile。I’mnotsufficientlyup-to-datetoownoneofthecussed——excusemethings，buthedoesandIborrowitoccasionally。Idon’tdriveit；
goodheavens，no！ButhismanshalldriveyouoverandI’llguaranteeyoubeatthetrain。Ifyoudon’t，itwon’tbebecauseyougotooslow。Now，ofcourse，you’llstaytodinner。“
ButMaryshookherhead。“You’reverykind，Judge，“shesaid，“andIthankyouverymuch，but——“
“Well，butwhat？“
“ButI——Ican’t。I——I——Oh，don’tyousee？Icouldn’teat，oreventryto——now。Iwanttogethome——tothem。“
“Andsoyoushall，mydear。Andindouble-quicktime，too。Here，Jesse，“openingthedoortotheouterofficeandaddressingtheclerk，“youstepoverandtellSamuelthatIwanttoborrowhiscarandJimfortwohours。TellhimIwantthemnow。AndifhiscarisbusygotoCahoon’sgarageandhireonewithadriver。Hurry！“
“Andnow，Mary，“turningtoher，“canyoutellmeanymoreaboutyourplans，providedyouhavehadtimetomakeany？Ifthisstoryaboutyouruncles’businesstroublesistrue，whatdoyouintenddoing？Ordon’tyouknow？“
Maryrepliedthatherplanswereveryindefinite，asyet。
“Ihavesomeideas，“shesaid；“somethatIhadthoughtImightuseafterIhadfinishedschoolandcomebacktothestore。Theymaynotbeworthmuch；theywereschemesforbuildingupthebusinessthereandaddingsomeothersortsofbusinesstoit。ThefirstthingIshalldoistoseehowbadthesituationreallyis。“
“Ihopeitisn’tbad。PoorZoethcertainlyhashadtroubleenoughinhislife。“
TherewasasignificanceinhistonewhichMaryplainlydidnotunderstand。
“Whattroubledoyoumean？“sheasked。
TheJudgelookedather，coughed，andthensaidhastily：“Oh，nothinginparticular；everyoneofushastroubles，Isuppose。
But，Mary，if——ifyoufindthatthestoryistrueand——ahem——alittlemoneymighthelpto——er——tidethefirmover——why，I——Ithinkperhapsthatitmightbe——ahem——arrangedsothat——“
Heseemedtobehavingdifficultyinfinishingthesentence。Marydidnotwaittoheartheend。
“Thankyou，Judge，“shesaidquickly。“Thankyou，butIamhopingitmaynotbesobadasthat。Iamgoingbackthere，youknow，and——
well，asUncleShadrachwouldsay，wemaysavetheshipyet。Atanyrate，wewon’tcallforhelpuntilthelastminute。“
JudgeBaxterregardedherwithadmiration。
“ShadrachandZoetharerichinonerespect，“hedeclared；“they’vegotyou。Butitisawickedshamethatyoumustgiveupyourschoolandyouropportunitiesto——“
Sheheldupherhand。
“Pleasedon’t！“shebegged。“IfyouknewhowgladIamtobeabletodosomething，ifitisonlytogiveup！“
ThecarandJimwereatthedoorafewminuteslaterandMary，havingsaidgood-bytotheJudgeandpromisedfaithfullytokeephimpostedastoeventsathome，climbedintothetonneauandwaswhizzedaway。Jim，thedriver，afterafewattemptsatconversation，mainlyconcerningthe“unseasonableness“oftheweather，findingresponsesfewandabsentlygiven，relapsedintosilence。SilencewaswhatMarydesired，silenceandspeed，andJimobligedwiththelatter。
Overtheroadbywhich，adozenyearsbefore，shehaddrivenintheoldbuggyshenowrodeagain。Then，asnow，shewonderedwhatsheshouldfindatherjourney’send。Here，however，theresemblanceceased，forwhereasthenshelookedforward，withachild’santicipations，tonothingmoredefinitethannewsightsandnewandexcitinglydelightfuladventures，nowshesawahead——what？Greatcareandanxietyandtroublecertainly，theseatthebest；andattheworst，failureanddisappointmentandheartbreak。Andbehindhershewasleavingopportunityandthepleasantschoollifeandfriends，leavingthemforever。
ShewasleavingCrawford，too，leavinghimwithoutawordofexplanation。Shehadhadnotimetowriteevenanote。Mrs。Wyeth，afterprotestingvainlyagainstherguest’sdecisiontoleavefortheCapebytheearliesttraininthemorning，hadhelpedtopackafewessentialbelongings；theothersshewastopackandsendlateron，whenshereceivedwordtodoso。Thethree，Mrs。Wyeth，MissPease，andMary，hadtalkedandarguedandplanneduntilalmostdaylight。Thenfollowedanhourortwoofuneasysleep，ahurriedbreakfast，andtherushtothetrain。MaryhadnotwrittenCrawford；theshockofwhatshehadbeentoldattheHowes’andhergreatanxietytoseeJudgeBaxterandlearnifwhatshehadheardwastruehaddrivenevenherownlovestoryfromhermind。Nowsherememberedthatshehadgivenhimpermissiontocall，notthiseveningbutthenext，tosaygood-bybeforeleavingfortheWest。
Hewouldbedisappointed，poorfellow。Well，shemustnotthinkofthat。Shemustnotpermitherselftothinkofanyonebutherunclesorofanythingexceptthegreatdebtofloveandgratitudesheowedthemandofthesacrificetheyhadmadeforher。Shecouldrepayalittleofthatsacrificenow；atleastshecouldtry。Shewouldthinkofthatandofnothingelse。
AndthenshewonderedwhatCrawfordwouldthinkorsaywhenhefoundshehadgone。
CHAPTERXVIII
ThemainstreetofSouthHarnisslookednaturalenoughasthemotorcarbuzzedalongit。ItwasbutafewmonthssinceMaryhadbeenthere，yetitseemedeversomuchmore。ShefeltsomucholderthanonthoseChristmasholidays。WhenthestoreofHamiltonandCompanycameinsightshesankdownonthebackseatinordernottobeseen。Sheknewheruncleswere，inallprobability，thereatthestore，andshewishedtoseeIsaiahandtalkwithhimbeforemeetingthem。
Isaiahwasinthekitchenbythecookstovewhensheopenedthedoor。