Marynodded。“IthinkIunderstandwhatyoumean，“shesaid。
“Yes，Ithinkthereisnodoubtthatalmostallofmyfather’smoneywasmadethereintheWestafter“——hehesitatedandthenwenton——
“afterthe——theotherdiedandafterhemarriedmymother。ButneverthelessIshallalwaysfeelasifwhatevertherewasbelongedtoyouruncles，thesurvivingmembersoftheoldfirm。IfIcould，Ishouldgiveittothem。“
Marysmiled。“Thankyouforsayingit，dear，“shesaid，“andIknowyoumeanit；butitwouldbenousetooffer；theywouldn’ttakeit。“
“Iknowtheywouldn’t。Sowemusttryandmakeituptotheminsomeotherway。Butsupposeweleavethatforatimeandgetbacktomywork。I’mgoingtokeeponwithit；Iwanttoandyousaythatyouwantmeto。“
“Ido，verymuch。Iamsureyouwillbehappierinthatworkthaninanyother，andbesides——IsupposeIameversounpractical，butI
dofeelit——Ihadratheryoumadeyourownway。Somehowtheideaofourdependinguponthatmoneyouttheredoesn’t——doesn’t——Oh，I
can’texplainexactly，butIdon’tliketheideaabit。“
“Iknow。Iprefertopaddlemyowncanoe，ifIcan。Butayoungdoctor’scanoeislikelytomoveprettyslowlyatfirst。AndI
intendtakingapassenger，youknow，andIwanthertobecomfortable。“
Marylaughed，acontentedlittlelaugh。“Shewillbe，“shedeclared。“DidItellyouofthetalkUncleShadandIhadtheotherday？Hesawmesittingbythedining-roomwindowlookingoutatnothinginparticular——andlookingsillyenough，too，Idaresay——
andheaskedmewhatIwasthinking。Isaid，’Nothingmuch，’whichwasn’ttrue，andhesaidnothingmustbegoodtothinkof，Ilookedsocheerful。ItoldhimIwas。ThenIaskedhim——myconsciencetroubledmealittle，youknow——ifhewassurethatheandUncleZoethwerehappy，becauseIshouldn’tbeunlesstheywere。“
“Well，thatwascharacteristic。Whatdidhesaytothat？“
“Oh，helaughedthatbiglaughofhisandtoldmenottoworry。
’I’Mfeelin’prettyaveragesatisfiedwithlifejustnow，Mary-
’Gusta，’hesaid，’andasforZoeth——well，heaskedmethismornin’
ifIdidn’tcal’late’twaswickedforhimandmetobesocontentedwiththethingsofthisworld，soIknowHE’Sallright。WhenZoethgetsrealhappyhealwaysbeginstofeelsinful。’Ihopethataconsciousnessofsinisn’ttheonlytestofhappiness，“sheadded，“becauseIdon’tbelieveyoufeelwickedtheleastbit。Atleastyouhaveneversaidyoudid。“
Crawfordlaughed，andtherefollowedoneofthoseinterruptionstoconversationwithwhich，althoughundoubtedlyinterestingtotheparticipants，outsidersarenotsupposedtobeconcerned。WhenitwasoverMarysaid：
“OfcourseIamnotsofoolishastomeanthatyoumustnottouchthemoneyyourfatherleft。Thatwouldberidiculous。ButImeanI
thinkweshouldnotdependuponit；itshouldnotchangeourplansorspoilyourlifework，oranythinglikethat。Itwillmakelifeeasierforus，ofcourse，andwithitshelpwecanmakeiteasierforotherpeople。Ithinkthatiswhatweshoulddowithit。“
“SodoI，mydear。Andourfirstduty，itseemstome，istowardyouruncles。Iftheywouldconsent，andIsupposethereisn’ttheleastchancethattheywould，IshouldliketoselloutthestoreandtheLookoutandtherestofitandtakethemwithus，whereverwedecidetogo，andgivethemaneasy，carefreetimeofittherestoftheirlives。“
Maryshookherhead。“Theywouldn’tlikeitabit，“shesaid。
“Thatpreciousoldstoreisthejoyoftheirlives。Withoutittheywouldn’tknowwhattodo；theywouldbeaslostandlonesomeandmiserableasapairofstraykittens。No，ifwetakecareofthemwemusttakecareofHamiltonandCompany，too。Andwemustn’tletthemknowwe’redoingit，either，“sheaddedwithdecision。
Crawfordlookedtroubled。“Isupposeyou’reright，“hesaid；“butitislikelytobesomethingofapuzzle，theirproblem。Itwillmean，ofcourse，thatyouandImustgoandleavethem。“
“Oh，no，wecan’tdothat——notforsometime，atanyrate。“
“Itseemstomewemust。Wehavedecided，youandI，thatIshallgobackWest，finishmypreparatorywork，thencomehereandmarryyou。Afterthat——well，afterthatwehavedecidedthatIamtolocatesomewhereorotherandbegintopracticemyprofession。
You’llgowithmethen，Ipresume？“
“Silly！OfcourseIwill。“
“Ihopedso。Butifwecan’tleaveyourunclesandtheywon’tleavethestore，whatarewegoingtodo？Putthestoreonatruckandtakeitwithus？“
Shelookedupathimandsmiled。“Ihaveaplan，“shesaid。“I
haven’tquiteworkeditoutyet，butifitdoesworkIthinkit’sgoingtobeaveryniceplanindeed。No，I’mnotgoingtotellyouwhatitisyet，soyoumustn’ttease。Youdon’tmindmyplanningforyouandbossingyouandallthatsortofthing，doyou？Ihopeyoudon’t，becauseIcan’thelpit。It’sthewayI’mmade，I
think。“
“Idon’tmind。Bossaway。“
“Oh，Ishall。I’mlikethatScotchgirlintheplayMrs。WyethtookmetoseeinBoston——Bunty，hernamewas。Shemademethinkofmyselfmorethanonce，althoughshewaseversomuchmoreclever。
Attheendoftheplayshesaidtohersweetheart，’William，Imusttellyethis：ifImarryyeI’llayebemanagin’ye。’Shemeantshecouldn’thelpit。NeithercanI。I’mafraidI’mabornmanager。“
Crawfordstoopedandkissedher。
“DoyourememberWilliam’sanswer？“heasked。“Ido。Itwas：
’Bunty，I’llgloryinmyshame。’Manageallyoulike，mylady，I’llgloryinit。“
Theplandidworkoutanditwasthis：DoctorHarley，whohadpracticedmedicineforforty-oneyearsinSouthHarniss，wasthinkingofretiringaftertwomoreyearsofactivework。Hewaswillingtosellouthispracticeattheendofthattime。HelikedCrawford，hadtakenafancytohimontheoccasionofhisfirstvisittothetownwhenhewasaguestoftheKeiths。Crawford，afterMaryhadsuggestedtheideatohim，calledupontheolddoctor。BeforetheendoftheweekitwasarrangedthatafterCrawford’sfinalseasonofcollegeandhospitalworkhewastocometoSouthHarniss，workwithDoctorHarleyasassistantforanotheryear，andthenbuyoutthepracticeand，asCaptainShadsaid，“putuphisownshingle。“
“Idon’tmeantostayherealways，“Crawfordsaid，“butitwilldomegoodtobehereforatime。Harley’satiptopoldchapandathoroughlycompetentgeneralpractitioner。He’llgivemepointsthatmaybeinvaluablebyandby。Andacountrypracticeisthebestoftraining。“
Marynodded。“Yes，“shesaid。“AndattheendofthiswinterI
shallhaveSimeonCrockerwellbrokeninasmanagerofthestore。
AndIcansellthetea-room，Ithink。Myunclesdon’tcaremuchforthat，anyway。TheywillbeperfectlyhappywiththestoretoputteraboutinandwithSimeontotakethehardworkandcareofftheirshoulderstheycanputtertotheirhearts’content。“
“ButsupposeSimeondoesn’tmakeitpay！“suggestedCrawford。
“That’satleastapossibility。Everyoneisn’taNapoleon——IshouldsayaQueenElizabeth——offinanceandbusinesslikeyourself，younglady。“
Mary’sconfidencewasnotintheleastshaken。
“Itwillpay，“shesaid。“Ifthetownspeopleandthesummercottagersdon’tbuyenough——well，youandIcanhelpout。ThereisthatmoneyintheWest，youknow。“
Henoddedemphatically。
“Good！“hecried。“You’reright。Itwillbeachanceforus——justalittlechance。Andtheywillneverknow。“
Hewentawayattheendoftheweek，buthecamebackforChristmasandagainatEasterandagaininthelatterpartofMay。Andsoonafterthat，onadayinearlyJune，hestood，withSamKeithathiselbow，intheparlorofthewhitehousebytheshore，whileEdnaKeithplayed“HereComestheBride“onthepianowhichhadbeenhiredfortheoccasion；and，withherhandinZoeth’sarm，andwithCaptainShadrachandBarbaraHowejustbehind，Marywalkedbetweenthetwolinesofsmiling，tearyfriendstomeethim。
Itwasalovelywedding；everyonesaidso，andasthereprobablyneverwasaweddingwhichwasnotpronouncedlovelybyfriendsandrelatives，wemaybedoublycertainofthelovelinessofthis。Andthereneverwasamorebeautifulbride。Allbridesarebeautiful，moreorless，butthisonewasmore。Isaiah，whohadbeenfavoredwithapeepattherehearsalonthepreviousevening，wasfoundlateronbyShadrachinthekitcheninastateofecstaticincoherence。
“Iswantogodfreys！“criedIsaiah。“Ain’t——ain’tsheanangel，though！Didyoueverseeanythingprettier’nsheisinthemclothesandwiththat——thatmoskeeternetonherhead？Anangel——yes，sir-ee！oneofthemcherrybinsoutoftheBible，that’swhatsheis。
Andtothinkit’sourMary-’Gusta！Say，Cap’nShad，willcheckeredpantsbeallrighttowearwithmybluecoattomorrow？Iburntaholeinmylavenderonestryin’topressthewrinklesoutof’em。
AndIwentdowntothewharfin’emlastSundayandtheysmellconsider’bleoffish，besides。“