WhenMaryreadthisportionofthelettertoherUncleShadrachhisscornwasoutspoken。
“Gettired！“hescoffed。“JerryCliffordgettiredofbein’dunned！
DON’Ttalksofoolish！Why，hegetsfatonthatkindofthing；it’sthemainexcitementhehas，thatandspendin’acenttwiceadayfornewspapers。DidyoueverwatchJerrybuyapaper？No？Well，yougouptoEllis’ssomedaywhenthemornin’papersareputoutforsaleandwatchhim。He’lldriveuptothedoorwiththatoldhoopskirtofahorseofhis——that’swhatthecritterlookslike，oneofthemold-fashionedhoop-skirts；therewasnothin’tothembutframeworkandahollowinside，andthat’sallthereistothathorse——Well，Jerryhe’lldriveupandcomeintothepapercounter，hiseyesshinin’andhisnervesallkeyedupandonehandshoveddownintohisbritchespocket。He’llstandandlookoverthepapersonthecounter，readin’asmuchofeveryoneashecanfornothin’，andthenbyandbythathand’llcomeoutofhispocketwithacentinit。Thentheotherhand’llreachoverandgetholdofthepaperhe’scal’latin’tobuy，getagoodclovehitchontoit，andthenforaminutehe’llstandtherelookin’firstatthecentandthenatthepaperandrubbin’themoneybetweenhisfingerandthumb——he’sfiggerin’tohavealittleofthecoppersmellleftonhishandevenifhehastoletgoofthecoin，yousee——and——“
Marylaughed。
“UncleShad，“sheexclaimed，“whatridiculousnonsenseyoudotalk！“
“Nononsenseaboutit。It’sdeadserious。Itain’tanyjoketoJerry，youcanbetonthat。Well，afteraspell，hekindofgetshisspunkuptomaketheplunge，asyoumightsay，laysdownthepenny——Oh，heneverthrowsitdown；hewouldn’ttreatrealmoneyasdisrespectfulasthat——grabsupthepaperandmakesabreakforoutdoors，neveroncelookin’backforfearhemightchangehismind。
Whenhedrivesoffinhisbuggyyoucanseethathe’sallhetupandtrembly，likeoneofthemrecklessWallStreetspeculatorsyoureadabout。He’sspentacent，buthe’shadalovelynerve-wrackin’timedoin’it。Oh，afellerhastosatisfyhiscravin’forexcitementsomehow，andJerrysatisfieshisbuyin’one-centnewspapersandseein’hiscreditorsgetmad。Doyousupposeyoucanworrysuchacritterasthatbytalkin’tohimaboutwhatheowes？Mightaswelltrytoworryacodfishbyleanin’overtherailoftheboatandhollerin’toitthatit’sdrownin’。“
Marylaughedagain。“I’mafraidyoumayberight，UncleShad，“shesaid，“butIshan’tgiveuphope。Mychancemaycomesomeday，ifI
waitandwatchforit。“
Itcameunexpectedlyandinaratheroddmanner。Oneraw，windyMarchafternoonshewasverymuchsurprisedtoseeSamKeithwalkintothestore。Sam，sincehisgraduationfromcollege，was，asheexpressedit，“moaningonthebar“inBoston——thatistosay，hewasattendingtheHarvardLawSchoolwiththehope，onhisparents’
part，thathemightultimatelybecomealawyer。
“Why，Sam！“exclaimedMary。“Isthisyou？“
Samgrinnedcheerfully。“’TisI，“hedeclared。“Iamhere。Thatistosay，thehandsomeyouthwhosefootfallsyouhearapproachinguponhorsebackisnoneotherthanourhero。Mary，youare，asusual，asighttobethankfulfor。Howdoyoudo？“
MaryadmittedthatshewasingoodhealthandthendemandedtoknowwhathewasdoingdownontheCapeatthattimeoftheyear。Hesatdowninachairbythestoveandproppedhisfeetagainstthehearthbeforereplying。
“Why！Haven’tyouguessed？“heasked，inmockamazement。“Dearme！
I’msurprised。Ishouldhavethoughttheweatherwouldhavesuggestedmyerrand。Hearthatzephyr；doesn’titsuggestbathingsuitsandoutingflannelsandmosquitoesandhammockflirtations？
Eh？“
Thezephyrwasasixty-mile-an-hourMarchgale。Samrepliedtohisownquestion。
“Answer，“hesaid，“itdoesnot。Right，mychild；gouphead。But，honestInjun，Iamdownhereonsummerbusiness。ThatMr。Raymond，Dad’sfriend，whowasvisitingusthissummeriscrazyabouttheCape。HehasdecidedtobuildasummerhomehereatSouthHarniss，andthefirstrequisitebeinglandtobuilditonhehasaskedDadtobuythestripbetweenourownpropertyandtheNorthInlet，alwaysprovideditcanbebought。Dadaskedmetocomedownhereandseeaboutit，sohereIam。“
Maryconsidered。“Oh，yes，“shesaid，afteramoment，“Iknowthelandyoumean。Whoownsit？“
“That’swhatIdidn’tknow，“saidSam。“ButIdoknownow。IaskedthefirstpersonImetafterIgotoffthetrainandoddlyenoughheturnedouttobetheownerhimself。ItwasoldClifford——Isaiah，Elisha，Hosea——Jeremiah，that’sit。Iknewitwasoneoftheprophets。“
“SoMr。Cliffordownsthatland。Ididn’tknowthat。“
“NeitherdidI。Hedidn’ttellmeatfirstthathedidownit。
AskedmewhatIwantedtoknowfor。“
“Didyoutellhim？“askedMary。
ForthefirsttimesinceMr。Keith’sarrivalthatyounggentleman’seasyassuranceseemedalittleshaken。Heappearedtofeelratherfoolish。
“Why，yes，tobehonest，Idid，“headmitted。“Iwasanidiot，I
suppose，buteveryoneasksabouteveryone’selsebusinessdownhereandIdidn’tthink。HekepttalkingandpumpingandbeforeI
realizeditItoldhimaboutRaymond’sbeingsoanxioustogetthatproperty，beingdeadsetonitandallthat，andaboutmybeingcommissionedtobuyatanyreasonablefigure。Andthen，afterawhile，heastonishedmebysayingheownedthelandhimself。
Confoundit！Isupposehe’lljamthepriceawayupafterwhatI
toldhim。“
“Oh，thenyouhaven’tbought？“
“Notyet。Iwaswilling，butforsomereasonhewouldn’tsellatonce——wouldn’teventalkprice。Wantedtothinkitover，hesaid。
Ican’twaitnow，butIamcomingdownagainonMondayandweshallclosethedealthen。“
ThateveningMarytoldShadrachwhatSamhadsaid。TheCaptainlookedpuzzled。
“Ididn’tknowJerryCliffordownedthatland，“hesaid。“Idon’tbelievehedoes。“
“Ofcoursehedoes，UncleShad。Hewouldn’thavetoldSamhedidownitifhedidn’t。Whatintheworldwouldhegainbythat？“
“Why，nothin’，Ipresumelikely。Buthemusthaveboughtitmightyrecent。LastIheardJimmieG。ownedthatpiece。’Twaspartofthepropertyhisfatherlefthim。NexttimeIseeJimmieI’llaskhim。“
So，threedayslater，whenJimmieG——hislastnamewasPeters——
passedthestoretheCaptainhailedhimand，invitinghimin，wentstraighttothepoint。
“WhendidyousellJerryCliffordthatNorthInletlandofyours，Jim？“heasked。
JimmieG。lookedsurprised。“HowintimedidyouknowIhadsoldit？“hedemanded。“Itbeatsallhowthingsgetaroundinthistown。
Ineversoldthatlanduntildayaforeyesterdayevenin’andthedeeddidn’tpasstillyesterday，andyetyouknowthewholebusiness。NotthatIcare；’twasJerrywanteditkeptstill。Whotoldyou？“
CaptainShadwhistled。“Isee，“hesaidslowly。“Isee。Yes，yes。
WhenJerrytoldSamheownedthatlandhe……Humph！It’sjustanothercaseoftheboylied，that’sall。Tut，tut，tut！WhenyougetaheadofJerryCliffordyou’vegottoturnoutearly，ain’tyou？
Ihopeyougotagoodpricefortheland，Jim。“
“Well，Ididn’t；thatis，notverybig。What’sup，anyway？Whatareyouhintin’at，Cap’nShad？“
BeforetheCaptaincouldanswer，Mary，whohadbeenlisteningtotheconversation，brokeintoaskaquestion。
“Mr。Peters，“shecriedeagerly，“wouldyoumindtellingmethis：
Whosenameisthenewdeedin，Mr。Clifford’sorhiswife’s？“
JimmieG。laughed。“Why，thatwaskindoffunny，too，“hesaid。
“YouknowJerry，Cap’nShad；heneverhasnothin’inhisownname——
it’sallinhiswife’s。That’saprincipleofhis。“
“I’dcallitalackofprinciple，“gruntedShadrach。“Nevermind，Jim；goon。“
“Buthewasinaterriblerushtoclosethesale，forsomereasonorother，“wentonPeters，“andIforgot，myself，andhadthedeedmadeinthenameofJeremiahClifford。Hemadeabigrowatfirst，butitseemedasifhecouldn’twaitformetohaveitchanged，sohehandedoverhischeckand——“
“Wait！Wait，please，Mr。Peters！“brokeinMary，hereyesflashingwithexcitement。“JusttellmeifIunderstandyoucorrectly。YousoldthatlandtoMr。CliffordandheownsitnowINHISOWNNAME？“
“Why，yes——sartin。“
Marywaitedtohearnomore。Sheranoutofthestoreandtothepost-office。AfewminuteslatershewastalkingwithJudgeBaxteroverthetelephone。WhenshereturnedtheCaptainwascurioustoknowwhereshehadbeen，butshewouldnottellhim。
“Wait，“shesaid。“Wait，UncleShad；Ithinksomethingisgoingtohappen。“
IthappenedonMondaymorning。Marywasatthedesk；Simeonwasinthebackroomgettingreadyhisearlymorningorders，andCaptainShadwasstandingbythewindowlookingout。SuddenlyMaryheardhimutteranexclamation。