“WhenIgettotalkin’aboutHallandCompanyIcouldtalkforamonthofSundays。Themwasgreatdays——yes，sir，greatdaysforSouthHarnissandthefishbusiness。WhyI’veseen，ofaSaturdaymornin’inthemackerelseason，asmanyasfortymenashorerighthereintownwithmoneyintheirpocketsandtheirhatsononesided，lookin’forfunortroublejustashappenedalong。AndCap’nMarcellusandhispartnerswaslookeduptoandrespected；notmuchmore’nboystheywan’t，buttheywasbig-bugs，Itellyou，andtheyworebeaverhatstochurchonSunday，everymanjackof’em。Fur’sthatgoes，Iworeone，too，andyoumightnotthinkit，but’twasbecomin’tomeifIdosayit。Yes，sir-ee！’Twasakindofcurl-
upbrimone，thathatwas，and——“
“Nevermindthehatnow，Isaiah，“interruptedMary。“TellmeaboutMr。Farmer。“
Isaiahlookedoffended。“Iamtellin’you，ain’tI？“hedemanded。
“Ain’tItellin’youfastasIcan？“
“Perhapsyouare。Wewon’targueaboutit。Goon。“
“Well——well，wherewasI？You’veputmeclearoffmycourse。“
“YouwerejustgoingtotellmewhatMr。Farmerdid。“
“Whathedid！Whatdidn’thedo，you’dbettersay！Theblackguard！
Hesmashedthefirmflat，that’swhathedone！AndherunoffwithMarcellus’ssister。“
“Marcellus’ssister！Mystepfather’ssister！Ididn’tknowheeverhadasister。Areyousurehehad？“
“AmIsure！Whatkindoftalk’sthat？CourseI’msure！ShewasyoungerthanMarcellusandpretty——say，sheWASpretty！Yes，theoutsideofherfigureheadwasmightyhardtobeat，everybodysaidso；buttheinsidewaskindof——well，kindofrattly，asyoumightsay。She’dlaughandtalkandgoonandEdFarmerhe’dhangoverthedeskthereintheofficeandlookather。Justlook——andlook——
andlook。HowmanytimesI’veseen’emthatway！Itgotsothatfolksbeguntotalkalittlemite。Marcellusdidn’t，ofcourse；heidolizedthatgirl，worshipedherlikeavainthing，so’stospeak。
AndCap’nShad，coursehewouldn’ttalkbecausehe’salwaysdownontattle-talesandliars，butI’vealwaysthoughthewasalittlemitesuspiciousandtroubled。AsforpoorZoeth——well，it’salwayshiskindthatarethelasttosuspect。AndZoethwasasinnocentthenasheisnow。Andasgood，too。
“Andthenonedayitcomeout，comedownonuslikethemainmastgoin’bytheboard。No，cometothinkofit，itdidn’tcomealltooncethatway。Partofitdid，buttherestdidn’t。Therestkindofleakedoutalongslow，gettin’alittlemiteworseeveryday。I
canseeitjustasplainasif’twasyesterday——MarcellusandShadrachintheofficegoin’overthebooksandaddin’uponpiecesofpaper，anditgettin’worseandworseallthetime。Andthewholetowna-talkin’！AndpoorZoethlyin’inhisbedroomtheretohome，outofhismindandravin’distractedandbeggin’andpleadin’
withhispartnersnottochase’em，tolet’emgofreeforhersake。
Andthedoctora-comin’！And——“
Marybegantofeelthatshe，too，wasindangerofravingdistraction。BetweenheranxietytohearthestoryandherforebodingsandgrowingsuspicionsshewasbecomingmoreandmorenervousasIsaiahrambledon。
“Wait！Wait，please，Isaiah！“shebegged。“Idon’tunderstand。
Whathadhappened？“
Isaiahregardedherwithsurpriseandimpatience。
“Ain’tIbeentellin’you？“hesnapped，testily。“Ain’tIthisminutetoldyou？ThisEdFarmerhadclearedoutandrunoffandhe’dtookwithhimeverycentofHallandCompany’smoneythathecouldrakeandscrape。He’dbeenstealin’andspeculatin’foryears，itturnedout。’Twashim，thedumthief，himandhisstealin’sthatmadethefirmfail。Wan’tthatenoughtohappen，I’dliketoknow？Butthatwan’tall；no，sir，thatwan’ttheworstofit。“
Hepaused，evidentlyexpectinghishearertomakesomecomment。Shewasleaningforward，hereyesfixeduponhisface，butshedidnotspeak。Mr。Chase，judgingbyherexpressionthathehadcreatedthesensationwhich，asstory-teller，heconsideredhisdue，wenton。
“No，sir-ee！thatwan’ttheworstofit。Youandmemighthavethoughtlosin’allourmoneywastheworstthatcouldbe，butMarcellusandShadrachdidn’tthinkso。Marcelluswasprettynighstoveinhimself——therewasnothin’onearthhelovedthewayhelovedthatsisterofhis——butwhenheandCap’nShadthoughtofpoorZoeththeycouldn’tthinkofmuchelse。ShadrachhadlikedherandMarcellushadlovedher，butZoethhadfairlyboweddownandworshipedthegroundshetrodon。Anythingshewanted，nomatterwhat，shecouldhaveif’twasinZoeth’spowertogetitforher。
He’dhumoredherandspiledherasifshewasachildandallheaskedfordoin’itwasthatshe’dpathimontheheadonceinawhile，sameasyouwouldadog。Andnowshe’dgone——runoffwiththatthief！Why——“
Maryinterruptedagain。“Wait！Wait，Isaiah，“shecried。“ItellyouIdon’tunderstand。Yousay——yousayCaptainHall’ssisterhadgonewithMr。Farmer？“
“Sartin！sherunoffwithhimandnobody’slaideyesoneitherof’emsince。Thatwaswhy——“
“Stop！stop！WhatIdon’tunderstandiswhyUncleZoethwassostrickenbythenews。WhyhadHEhumoredandspoiledher？Washeinlovewithher？“
Isaiahstaredatherinblankastonishment。
“Inlovewithher！“herepeated。“Coursehewas！Whywouldn’thebe？Wan’tshehiswife？“
Therewasnodoubtaboutthesensationnow。ThecolorslowlyfadedfromMary’scheeks。
“HisWIFE？“sherepeatedslowly。
“Sartin！They’dbeenmarried’mostfiveyear。Didn’tItellyou？
Shewasagooddealyounger’nhewas，but——“
“Wait！What——whatwashername？“
“Eh？Didn’tItellyouthatneither？That’sfunny。HernamewasPatience——PatienceHall。“
Thelastdoubtwasgone。ClearanddistincttoMary’smindcameasentenceofCrawford’s：“Isawhernamefirstonthegravestoneanditmadeanimpressiononmebecauseitwassoquaintandold-
fashioned。’Patience，wifeofEdwinSmith。’“
SheheardverylittleofIsaiah’sstorythereafter。Scatteredsentencesreachedherears。Isaiahwastellinghow，becauseofZoeth’spleadingandthelatter’sdesiretoavoidallthepublicscandalpossible，noattemptwasmadetotracethefugitives。
“TheywentWestsomewheres，“saidIsaiah。“Anyhow’twassupposedtheydid’causetheywasseentogetherontheChicagotrainbyanOrhammanthatknewFarmer。AnybodybutMarcellusandyouruncles，Mary-’Gusta，wouldhavesotthesheriffontheirtrackandhauled’embackhereandmadethatFarmerswabgiveupwhathestole。I
don’timaginehehadsuchaterriblelotwithhim，Ical’latetheheftofithadgoneinstockspeculatin’，buthemusthavehadsomethin’andtheycouldhavegota-holtofthat。Butno，Zoethhesays，’Don’tfollow’em！Forhersakeandmine——don’tmaketheshamemorepublicthan’tis。’Yousee，Zoethwasthesamethenasheisnow；you’dhavethoughtHEwastoblametohearhimtalk。Heneversaidawordagainstherthennorsince。Amightygoodman，yourUncleZoethHamiltonis，Mary-’Gusta。Saintonearth，Icallhim。“
HewentontotellhowMarcellusandShadrachhadfoughttokeepthefirmonitsfeet，howforatimeitstruggledonagainsttheloadofdebtleftitbytheirformerpartner，onlytogodownatlast。
“Marcelluswentdownwithit，asyoumightsay，“continuedIsaiah。
“Betweenlosin’hissisterandlosin’hisbusinessheneverwasthesamemanafterwards，thoughhedidmakeconsider’blemoneyinotherways。HimandCap’nShadrachbothwentbacktoseafarin’againandafteraspellIwentwith’em。PoorZoeth，whenhegotonhisfeet，whichtookalongspell，hestartedalittlestorethatbyandby，whenCap’nShadjoinedinwithhim，wasHamiltonandCompany，sameasnow。AndwhenShadrachcomeIcometoo，ascookandsteward，youunderstand。Butfromthatdaytothisthere’sbeentwonamesnevermentionedinthishouse，one’sPatienceHall’sandt’other’sEdFarmer’s。Youcanseenowwhy，whenIthoughtthattintypewashis，Iwassotookaback。Yousee，don’tyou，Mary-’Gusta？Why！Whereyougoin’？“
Maryhadrisenfromherchair，takenupthelamp，andwasonherwaytothedoor。
“I’mgoingtomyroom，“shesaid。“Goodnight，Isaiah。“
“Whatareyougoin’nowfor？Icouldtellyoualotmorepartic’larsifyouwantedtohear’em。NowI’vetoldsomuchI
mightaswelltelltherest。IfI’mgoin’tobehoveoverboardfortellin’Imightaswellmakeabigsplashasalittleone。Ifyougotanyquestionstoask，heaveaheadandask’em。Fireaway，I
don’tcare，“headded，recklessly。
ButMaryshookherhead。Shedidnoteventurntolookathim。
“PerhapsImayaskthemsomeothertime，“shesaid。“Notnow。
Thankyoufortellingmesomuch。Goodnight。“
Aloneinherownroomoncemoreshesatdowntothink。Itwasplainenoughnow。Allthepartsofthepuzzlefittedtogether。EdwinSmithhavingbeenprovedtobeEdgarFarmer，everythingwasexplainable。Ithadseemedqueertoher，Mr。Smith’saversiontotheEast，hisrefusaltocomeEasteventohisson’sgraduation；butitwasnotatallqueerthatEdgarFarmer，theembezzler，shouldfeelsuchanaversion，orrefusetovisitalocalitywhere，evenafteralltheseyears，hemightberecognized。Itwasnotoddthathedislikedtobephotographed。Anditcertainlywasnotstrangethatheshouldhavebehavedashedidwhenhissonannouncedtheintentionofmarryingher，MaryLathrop，stepdaughterofoneofhisformerpartnersandvictims’andadoptednieceandwardoftheothertwo。
WhataterriblesurpriseandshockCrawford’scommunicationmusthavebeentohim！Thedeadpast，thepasthenodoubthadbelievedburiedforever，hadrisenfromthetombtoconfronthim。Hisonlyson，theboyheidolized，whobelievedhimtobeamanofhonor，whoseloveandrespectmeantmorethantheworldtohim——hisonlysonaskingtomarrythewardofthemanwhomhehadwrongedbeyondmortalforgiveness，askingtomarryherandintimatingthathewouldmarryherwhetherorno。Andthesecretwhichhehadguardedsojealously，hadhiddenfromhissonandtheworldwithsuchinfinitepains，suddenlythreateningtobecriedaloudinthestreetsforall，hisboyincluded，tohear。Maryshudderedassherealizedwhatthemanmusthavefelt。ItmusthaveseemedtohimlikethedirecthandofavengingProvidence。Nowonderheatfirstcouldnotbelieveittobemerelyaccident，coincidence；nowonderthatheaskedifZoethHamiltonhadsentCrawfordtohim，andhaddemandedtoknowwhatZoethHamiltonhadtold。
Itwasdreadful，itwaspitiful。ShefoundherselfpityingEdwinSmith——orEdgarFarmer——eventhoughsheknewtheretributionwhichhadcomeuponhimwasdeserved。