Zoethshookhishead。“Iamwicked，allthesame，“hesaid，“butI
guessI’vebeenpunished。Therewan’tanyrealreasonwhyI
shouldn’thavetoldyouafore，butsomehowIcouldn’tmakeupmymindtospeakofit。Ijustcouldn’t。ButI’mgoin’totellyounow，Shadrach。“
Heheldupthecrumpledenvelope。
“YourememberwhenIwastooksick？“hesaid。“YourememberIwasstruckdownallofaheapinthekitchen？Yes；well，didyoueverwonderwhatitwasstruckmedown？I’lltellyou。’Twasaletterthatcametomeinthemailthatmorning。Thiswastheletter。I
managedtoputitinmyinsidevestpocketthattimewhenIsaiahrunoffafteryouandleftmelyin’there。Ididn’twanthimtoseeit。
Ididn’twantanybodyto——notthen。NowIwantyoutoreadit，Shadrach。Butbeforeyoudo，letmewarnyou。YoushouldasktheAlmightytogiveyoustrength。You’regoin’tobesurprised，Shadrach，surprisedandshocked。Hereitis；readit。“
Hehandedtheenvelopetohispartner。Thelattertookit，wonderingly，andlookedattheinscription。
“Nobody’shandwritin’thatIknow，“hesaid。
“Youknewitoncewellenough。“
“Idid？AnditwasmailedoutinCarsonCity，Nevada。Why，that’swheretheCrawfordSmithboylives，ain’tit？Whatonearth？“
Heopenedtheenvelopeandfromittookseveralsheetscloselycoveredwithfinelywrittenlines。Hebegantoreadand，asheread，hisexpressionchangedfromcuriositytowonder，toamazement，toanger，toamixtureofthelastthree。Thefinalsheetfellfromhisfingerstothefloor。Helookedupwithaverywhiteface。
“MyGod！“hesaidsolemnly。
Ahalf-hourlatertheywerestilltalking。Shadrachhadnotentirelyrecoveredfromthesurprise，butnowhecouldthinkandspeakmorecoherently，althoughthewonderofitallwasoverpowering。
“ItseemsasifthehandoftheLordwasinit，“hedeclared。
“Itis，“agreedZoeth，withabsoluteconviction。“Seehowitworkedoutaccordin’toHispromise。Thewickedflourishedforatime，butGodsentthepunishmentindueseason，didn’tHe？Can’tyouseethepoorfeller’sagonizin’ineverylineofthatletter？“
“POORfeller！GoodLordabove，ZoethHamilton，youain’tpityin’
HIM，areyou？Youain’tsorryforhim——YOU？“
Zoethnodded。“Iwan’tatfirst，“hesaid。“Atfirstthewholething，comin’onmeoutofaclearskyasyoumightsay，knockedmeflat。Thedoctor，whenhecame，saidhethoughtImusthavehadasuddenshock。Idid；thatwasit，thatletter。Butlateron，whenIwasgettin’betterandcouldthinkagain，andwhenIwasaloneandhadthechanceandcouldreadtheletteragain，Ibeganto——to——
well，notforgivehimforwhathedone——Idon’tsupposeIcaneverdothat“
“Ishouldsaynot！Damnhim！“
“Hush，Shadrach；he’sdead。“
“Soheis。Iforgot。Thenhe’sdamned，Iguess，withoutanyordersfromme。“
“Hewasdamnedhereonearth，Shadrach。Allhislife——thelastpartofit，anyhow——musthavebeenatorment。Hemusthaveidolizedthatboyofhis。Hesayssointheletter，butit’splainoneverylineofthewritin’withouthissayin’it。Andcan’tyoujustimaginehimastheboygrewupandtheylovedeachothermoreandmore，tremblin’andscaredeveryminuteforfearthatsomehoworotherhisson’lllearnthatthefatherhelovesandrespectsisa——athief——
and——andworse？SeemstomeIcanimagineit。Andthenallatoncetheboycomestohimandsayshewantstomarry——Oh，mysoul！
Shadrach，thinkofit！——hewantstomarryyourgirlandmine——
Marcellus’sstepdaughter。Why，itmusthavedrivenhimnighcrazy。
Andthentheyquarrel，andtheboy，theonlybein’onearthhe’slivin’for，goesoffandleaveshim。Andheknowshe’scomin’here——
tous——andthatsometimeorotherhe’ssartintolearneverything。
Nowonderhewrotethatletter。Nowonder——“
TheCaptaininterrupted。
“Writin’you，ofallpeople！“hesaid。“Writin’youandbeggin’younottoletMary-’Gustamarryhisson：andforwhat？Tosavetheboyfromsomethin’bad？No！Forallheknew，Mary-’Gustamightbewhatsheis，thebestandfinestgirlonearth。Whathewasbeggin’forwashimself——thathissonshouldn’tknowwhatHEwas，that’sall。
No，Zoeth，Ican’tpityhimmuch。He’sdead，andthat’sagoodthing，too。Thewonderofitisthathe’sbeenaliveallthistimeandwedidn’tknow。Andtothink——butthere；it’sallwonderful。“
Bothweresilentforamoment。ThenZoethsaid：
“Theonethingthat’stroubledmemostinallthis，Shadrach，isaboutMary-’Gustaherself。HowdoesshereallyfeeltowardsCrawford？Shesenthimaway，youtoldmethat，butareyousureshediditbecauseshedidn’tcareenoughforhimtomarryhim？Areyousuretherewan’tanyotherreason？“
“Shegavemetounderstandtherewan’t。Whatotherreasoncouldtherebe？“
“Well——well，Shadrach，italldepends，seemstome。YouknowMary-
’Gusta；thelastpersonshethinksaboutonearthisherself。IfshedidthinkasightofCrawford，ifshethoughtENOUGHofhim，shewouldn’tlethimsufferonaccountofher，wouldshe？Sheknew，probably，thathelovedandrespectedhisfatherandafather’sgoodnamemustmeanalottoason。Then，thereisus——youandme，Shadrach。Shewouldn’tletussuffer，ifshecouldhelpit。DoyouseewhatImean？“
“Humph！“musedtheCaptain，thinkingaloud，“Ical’lateIdo，Zoeth。
YoumeanifMary-’GustahadfoundoutthefactsaboutEdFarmer，whohewasandwhathedone，andifsheknewCrawfordSmith’sdadWASEdFarmerandthatCrawforddidn’tknowitandwedidn’tknowit——youmeanthat，BEIN’Mary-’Gusta，ratherthanbringsorrowandtroubleonCrawfordandonus，she’dsacrificeherownfeelin’sand——andwouldpretendshedidn’tcareforhimsoastogethimtogoawayandsavehimandus。That’swhatyoumean，Ipresumelikely。“
“That’sit，Shadrach。“
“Um——yes。Well，there’sjustonethingthatmakesthatnotionseemconsider’blemorethanunlikely。HowintheworldcouldshehavefoundoutthatthereeverwasanEdgarFarmer——“
“GoodmanyfolksinSouthHarnisscouldhavetoldherthatifthey’dhadamindto。“
“Maybeso；buttheycouldn’thavetoldherthatEdwinSmith，ofCarsonCity，Nevada，waseverEdgarFarmer。No，sir，theycouldn’t！
Nobodyknewit——butEdFarmerhimself。HowcouldourMary-’Gustaknowit？“
“Idon’tknow，Shadrach，unless——she’sawfulsmart，youknow——
somethin’mighthaveputheronthetrackandshepuzzleditout。I
knowthatain’tlikely；but，Shadrach，ifshedoescareforCrawfordandhecaresforher，I——Iwant’emtohaveeachother。Ido。Theymust。“
Shadrachstaredathim。
“ZoethHamilton，“heexclaimed，“doyouknowwhatyou’resayin’？
Youwantourgirltomarrythesonofthemanthat——that——“
“Iknowwhathedid，Shadrach；youdon’tneedtotellme。Buthe’sdead，andhisboyisagoodboy——youlikedhimandsodidI。AndShadrach，I’vebeenthinkin’anawfullotaboutthissinceIgottheletterandhavebeenwellenoughtothink。AndI’vemadeupmymindtojustthis：Therehasbeensorrowandtroubleenoughbroughtonalreadybythatwickedness。Thereshan’tbeanymore。Whatwreckedallourlivesthirty-fiveyearsagoshan’twreckthesetwo，ifIcanhelpit。IfMary-’Gustacaresforhimandheforhertheymusthaveeachotherandbehappy。AndyouandIwillbehappywatchin’theirhappiness。“
Hepausedandthenadded：
“SoIwish，Shadrach，therewassomewayoffindin’outforsurethatshesenthimawaybecauseshedidn’tcareforhimandnotforanyotherreason。“
Shadrachrosefromhischairandlaidhishandonhisfriend’sshoulder。Heclearedhisthroatonceortwicebeforespeakingandtherewasstillashakeinhisvoiceashesaid：
“Zoeth，you’reabettermanthanIeverhopetobe。Ideclareyoumakemeashamedofmyself。“
Neitherofthematemuchdinner，althoughIsaiahhadpreparedacranberrypie，madefromthefirstfruitofthefallseason，andwascorrespondinglydisappointedwhenbothofhisemployersleftituntouched。
“Ain’tamiteofusemyslavin’myselftodeathcookin’fancyvittlesforthiscrew，“hegrumbled。“Istoodoverthatcookstovethismornin’untilIgotsoeverlastin’hotthateverytimethecoldairblowedontomeIsteamed。AndyetIcan’tsatisfy。“
“Oh，yes，youcan，“observedCaptainShad，risingfromthetable。
“Yousatisfiedustooquick，thatwasthetrouble。Wewassatisfiedaforewegottothepie。“