“That’sallright，Mary-’Gusta。Hello！who’stintype’sthat？“
HehadcaughtsightofthephotographuponthearmofMary’schair。
Hepickeditupandlookedatit。Sheheardhimgasp。Turning，shesawhimstaringatthephotographwithanexpressionofabsoluteamazement——amazementandalarm。
“Why，Isaiah！“shecried。“Whatisthematter？“
Isaiah，nottakinghiseyesfromthepicture，extendeditinonehandandpointedtoitexcitedlywiththeother。
“Forgodfreysmightysakes！“hedemanded。“Wheredidyougetthat？“
“Getwhat？Thephotograph？“
“Yes！Yes，yes！Where’dyougetit？Where’ditcomefrom？“
“Itwassenttome。Whatofit？Whatisthematter？“
Isaiahansweredneitherquestion。Heseemedtohaveheardonlythefirstsentence。
“SENTtoyou！“herepeated。“Mary-’GustaLathrop，haveyoubeentryin’tofindout——Lookhere！whosentyouEdFarmer’spicture？“
Marystaredathim。“WHOSEpicture？“shesaid。“Whatareyoutalkingabout，Isaiah？“
Isaiahthrustthephotographstillclosertotheendofhernose。
Alsohecontinuedtopointatit。
“WhosentyouEdFarmer’spicture？“herepeated。“Where——where’dyougetit？Youtellme，now。“
Marylookedhimoverfromheadtofoot。
“Idon’tknowwhethertosendforUncleShadorthedoctor，“shesaid，slowly。“Ifyoudon’tstophoppingupanddownandwavingyourarmsasiftheyworkedbystringsIshallprobablysendforboth。IsaiahChase，behaveyourself！Whatisthematterwithyou？“
Isaiah，duringhisyearsasseacook，hadlearnedtoobeyorders。
Mary’stonehaditseffectuponhim。Hedroppedonehand，buthestillheldthephotographintheother。Andhestaredatitasifitpossessedsomesortofhorriblecharmwhichfrightenedandfascinatedatthesametime。Maryhadneverseenhimsoexcited。
“EdFarmer！“heexclaimed。“Oh，Iswantoman！Idon’tseehow——
Say，itIShim，ain’tit，Mary-’Gusta？Butofcourse’tis！Icansee’tiswithmyowneyes。Mygodfreysmighty！“
Maryshookherhead。“IfIdidn’tknowyouwereablueribboner，Isaiah，“shesaid，“Ishouldbesuspicious。ThatphotographwassentmefromtheWest。ItisapictureofagentlemannamedEdwinSmith，someoneIhaveneverseenandI’mperfectlysureyouneverhave。Whyintheworlditshouldmakeyoubehaveasifyouneededastrait-jacketIcan’tsee。DoesMr。Smithresemblesomeoneyouknow？“
Isaiah’smouthfellopenandremainedsoashegazedfirstatthephotographandthenather。
“Ed——EdwinSmith，“herepeated。“EdwinSmith！I——Idon’tknownoEdwinSmith。Lookhere，now；honest，Mary-’Gusta，AIN’TthatapictureofEdFarmer？“
Marylaughed。“Ofcourseitisn’t，“shesaid。“WhoisEdFarmer，pray？“
Isaiahdidnotanswer。Hewasholdingthephotographneartheendofhisownnosenowandexaminingitwitheagerscrutiny，mutteringcommentsashedidso。
“Ifitain’thimit’sabetterpicturethanif’twas，“wasoneofhisamazingobservations。“Don’tseemasiftwofolkscouldlooksomuchalikeandnotbe。Andyet——andyetIcansee——Icanseenow——
thisfeller’shair’sprettynighwhiteandEd’swasdarkbrown。ButthenifthisfellerwasEdhe’dbe——he’dbe——let’ssee——he’dbeallofthirty-fiveyearsolderthanhewasthirty-fiveyearsagoandthatwouldaccount——“
Maryburstoutlaughing。
“Dobestill，Isaiah！“shebrokein。“Youareperfectlyidiotic。
Thatman’snameisSmith，Itellyou。“
Mr。Chaseheavedasigh。“You’resartin’tis？“heasked。
“OfcourseIam。“
“Well，thenIcal’lateitmustbe。ButifEdFarmerhadlivedalltheseyearsandhadhadhistintypetookhewouldn’tgetonetofavorhimmorethanthatdoes，Ibetyou。My，itgivemeastart，comin’ontomesounexpected！“
“ButwhoisEdFarmer？“askedMary。Thenamehadmeantnothingtohersofar。Andyet，evenasshespokesheremembered。Herexpressionchanged。
“Doyoumean——“shecried，eagerly。“Why，Isaiah，doyoumeanthemaninthatoldphotographIfoundinthegarreteverandeversolongago？Theoneyoutoldmewasa——ablackguard？“
Isaiah，stillstaringatMr。Smith’slikeness，answeredemphatically。
“That’stheone，“hesaid。“That’stheoneImeant。My，thisfellerdoeslooklikehim，orthewayIcal’latehewouldlookifhelivedaslongasthis！“
“Ishedead，then？“
“Idon’tknow。Wedon’tanyofusknowaroundhere。Iain’tlaideyesonhimsincethedayaforeithappened。Irememberjustaswellasif’twasyesterday。HecomeoutoftheofficeontothewharfwhereIwasworkin’andhesaystome，’Isaiah，’hesays，knockin’ontheheadofabarrelwithhishand——therighthand’twas，theonethathadthebentfinger；hegotitsmashedunderahogsheadofsaltonetimeanditnevercamestraightagain——
’Isaiah，’sayshe，’it’saniceday，ain’tit。’AndIansweredupprompt——Ilikedhimfust-rate；everybodylikedhimthemdays——’Yes，sir，’Isays，’thisisagoodenoughdaytogoseeyourbestgirlin。’Inevermeantnothin’byit，youunderstand，justasayin’
’twas，butitseemedtogivehimakindofstart。Helookedatmehard。’DidanyonetellyouwhereIwasgoin’？’sayshe，sharp。
’Why，no，’saysI。’Whyshouldthey？’Hedidn’tanswer，justkeptonstarin’atme。Thenhelaughedandwalkedaway。Ididn’tknowwherehewasgoin’then，butIknownow，darnhim！Andthenextdayhewent——forgood。“
Hestoppedspeaking。Marywaitedamomentandthenasked，quietly：
“Wentwhere，Isaiah？Wheredidhego？“
Isaiah，whowasstanding，thephotographstillinhishand，started，turnedandlookedather。
“What’sthat？“heasked。
“Isay，wheredidthisMr。Farmergo？“
“Eh？Oh，Idon’tknow。Hewentaway，that’sall。Don’taskmeanymorequestions。I’vebeentalkin’toomuch，anyhow，Ical’late。
Cap’nShadwouldskinmealiveifheknewI’dsaidasmuchasI
have。Say，Mary-’Gusta，don’tyousaynothin’toeitherhimorZoeth，willyou？Yousee——it’s——it’sakindoflittlesecretwehaveamongstusand——andnobodyelseisinonit。’Twasthisplagueytintypegotmetotalkin’。Nowonderneither！Ineverseesuchalookontwofolks。I——there，there！Goodnight，Mary-
’Gusta，goodnight。“
Hetossedthephotographonthebureauandhurriedoutoftheroom。
Marycalledafterhim，buthewouldneitherstopnoranswer。
AfterhehadgoneMarytookupthephotograph，seatedherselfoncemoreinthechair，andstudiedthepictureforalongtime。Thensheroseand，lampinhand，lefttheroom，tiptoedalongthehallpastthedoorofCaptainShadrach’sroom，andupthenarrowstairstotheattic，heroldplayground。
Herplaythingsweretherestill，arrangedinhercustomaryorderlyfashionalongthewalls。RoseandRosetteandMinnehahaandtheotherdollswereseatedintheirchairsorthedollcarriageorwiththeirbacksagainstShadrach’soldseachest。Shehadneverputthemawayoutofsight。Somehowitseemedmorelikehometoher，theknowledgethatthoughshewouldneverplaywiththemagain，theyweretherewaitingforherintheiroldplaces。Whileshewasawayatschooltheyhadbeencoveredfromthedustbyacloth，butnowtheclothhadbeentakenawayandsheherselfdustedthemeveryothermorningbeforegoinguptothestore。AsShadrachsaid，noonebutMary-’Gustawouldeverhavethoughtofdoingsuchathing。
Shedid，becausesheWASMary-’Gusta。
However，thedollsdidnotinteresthernow。Shetiptoedacrossthegarretfloor，takinggreatcaretoavoidtheboardswhichcreakedmost，andliftedthelidoftheoldtrunkwhichshehadfirstopenedonthatSaturdayafternoonnearlytenyearsbefore。Shefoundthepocketontheundersideofthelid，openeditandinsertedherhand。Yes，thephotographofHallandCompanywasstillthere，shecouldfeeltheedgeofitwithherfingers。
Shetookitout，andclosedthepocketandthenthetrunk，andtiptoeddownthestairsandtoherroomagain。Sheclosedthedoor，lockedit——somethingshehadneverdoneinherlifebefore——andplacingthephotographshehadtakenfromthetrunkbesidethatsentherbyCrawford，satdowntocomparethem。
AndasshelookedatthetwophotographsherwonderatIsaiah’soddbehaviorceased。ItwasnotstrangethatwhenhesawMr。EdwinSmith’slikenesshewasastonished；itwasnotremarkablethathecouldscarcelybeconvincedthephotographwasnotthatofthemysteriousEdFarmer。Forhereintheold，yellowphotographofthefirmof“HallandCompany，WholesaleFishDealers，“wasEdgarS。