Heturned，sawher，andstoodpetrified。Maryenteredandclosedthedoorbehindher。BythattimeMr。Chasehadrecoveredsufficientlyfromhisossificationtospeak。
　　“Eh——eh——bytime！“hegasped。“Isnumifitain’tyou！“
　　Marynodded。“Isaiah，“sheaskedquickly，“areyoualone？Aremyuncles，bothofthem，atthestore？“
　　Butthecookandstewardhadnotyetcompletelygotovertheeffectofthesurprise。Hestillstaredather。
　　“ItISyou，ain’tit！“hestammered。“I——I——bytime，Idobelieveyou’vecomehome，sameasIaskedyouto。“
　　“OfcourseI’vecomehome。HowintheworldcouldIbehereifI
　　hadn’t？DON’Tstareatmelikethat，withyourmouthopenlikea——
　　likeacodfish。Tellme，areUncleShadandUncleZoethatthestore？“
　　“Eh——Yes，Ical’latetheybe。Ain’tneitherof’emcomehometodinneryet。I’mexpectin’oneof’em’mostanyminute。I’llrunupandfetch’em。Say！Howinthenationdidyougetherethistimeofday？“
　　“Ishalltellyoubyandby。No，Idon’twantyoutogetmyuncles。
　　Iwanttotalkwithyoualonefirst。Now，Isaiah，sitdown！Sitdowninthatchair。Iwantyoutotellmejusthowbadthingsare。
　　Tellmeeverything，allyouknowaboutit，anddon’ttrytomakethesituationbetterthanitis。AndpleaseHURRY！“
　　Isaiah，bewilderedbutobedient，satdown。Thecommandtohurryhadtheeffectofmakinghimsonervousthat，althoughhetalkedenoughtohavedescribedthemostcomplicatedsituation，hisideaswerebadlysnarledandMaryhadtokeepinterruptinginordertountanglethem。And，afterall，whathehadtotellwasnotverydefinite。
　　Businesswasbadatthestore；thatwasplaintoeveryoneintown。
　　“Allhands“weretradingatthenewstoreswherepriceswerelower，stocksbiggerandmoreup-to-date，andsellingmethodsfar，farinadvanceofthoseofHamiltonandCompany。
　　“Abouttheonlycustomersthatstickbyus，“declaredIsaiah，“arefolkslike’RastusYoungandtherestofthedeadbeats。THEY
　　wouldn’tleaveusfornothin’——andnothin’swhattheypay，too，drat’em！“
　　Thepartnershadnottoldhimoftheirtroubles，buttellingwasnotnecessary。Hehadseenandheardenough。
　　“Theyarerightontheraggededgeofgoin’ontherocks，“vowedIsaiah。“Zoeth，he’sthatthinandpeaked’twouldmakeasickpulletlookfleshyalongsideofhim。AndCap’nShadgoesaroundwithhishandsrammeddowninhisbeckets——“
　　“Inhiswhat？“
　　“Inhisbritchespockets，andhedon’tscurcelyspeakawordforhoursatastretch。Andthey’reupalltimesofthenight，fussin’
　　overaccountbooksandwritin’lettersandIdon’tknowwhatall。
　　It’splainenoughwhat’scomin’。Everybodyintownisontoit。
　　Why，Iwasuptothestoret’otherdaysettin’outsideonthestepsandAbBacheldorcamealong。HehatesCap’nShadworse’npizen，youknow。’Hello，Isaiah！’hesaystome，hesays。’Isthatyou？’hesays。’Courseit’sme，’saysI。Who’dyouthink’twas？’’Ididn’tknowbutitmightbethesheriff，’hesays。’Iunderstandhe’ssettin’roundnowadaysjusta-waitin’。’AndZoethwasrightwithinhearin’，too！“
　　“Oh！“exclaimedMaryindignantly。
　　“Yup，that’swhathesaid，“wentonIsaiah。“ButIgotinonedigonmyownhook。’Thesheriffdon’twaitmuchdowntoyourhouse，Abner，doeshe？’saysI。’Youbethedon’t，’sayshe；’hedon’thaveto。’’Well，he’dstarvetodeathifhewaitedtherelong，’
　　saysI。Ho，ho！Hiswife’sthestingiestwomanabouthercookin’
　　thatthereisontheCape。Why，onetimeshetookanotionshe’dkeepboardersandHenryRyder，thatdrivesthefruitcart，hestartedtoboardthere。Butheonlystayedtwodays。Thefustdaytheyhadbiledeggsandthenextdaytheyhadsoupmadeoutoftheshells。Coursethatprobablyain’ttrue——Henry’sanawfulliar——butallthesame——“
　　“NevermindHenryRyder，orAbnerBacheldor，either，“interruptedMary。“Howdidyouhappentosendforme，Isaiah？“
　　“Eh？Oh，thatjustcameofitself，asyoumightsay。Ikeptgettin’moreandmoretitteredupandworriedasIseehowthingswasgoin’andIkeptwishin’youwashere，if’twasonlytohavesomebodytotalkitoverwith。ButIdidn’tdasttowriteandwhenyouwashomeChristmasIneverdasttosaynothin’becauseCap’nShadhadvowedhe’dbutchermeifItoldtalestoyouaboutanyhometroubles。That’sit，yousee！Allthroughthistheirmainideahasbeennottotroubleyou。’Shemustn’tknowanythingorshe’llworry，’saysZoeth，andCap’nShadhesays，’That’sso。’Theythinkanawfulsightofyou，Mary-’Gusta。“
　　Marydidnottrustherselftolookup。
　　“Iknow，“shesaid。“Goon，Isaiah。“
　　“Well，Ikeptthinkin’andthinkin’andonedaylastweekEzraHopkins，that’sthebutchercartfeller，heandmewastalkin’andhesays：’Tradeain’tverybriskuptothestore，isit？’hesays。
　　’Everybodysays’tain’t。’’Thenifeverybodyknowssomuchwhatd’yeaskmefor？’saysI。’Oh，don’tgetmad，’sayshe。’ButI
　　tellyouthis，Isaiah，’hesays，’ifMary-’GustaLathrophadn’tgoneawaytothatfoolBostonschoolthingswouldhavebeendifferentwithHamiltonandCompany。She’sasmartgirlandasmartbusinesswoman。Ibelieveshe’dhavesavedtheoldfellers，’hesays。’Shewasup-to-dateandshehadtheknow-how，’sayshe。Well，Ikeptthinkin’whathesaidand——and——well，Iwrote。Forthelandsakesdon’ttellShadnorZoeththatIwrote，butI’mgladIdoneit。I
　　don’tknow’syoucandoanything，Idon’tknow’sanybodycan，butI’mmightygladyou’rehere，Mary-’Gusta。“
　　Marysighed。“I’mgladIamhere，too，Isaiah，“sheagreed，“althoughI，too，don’tknowthatIcandoanything。But，“sheaddedsolemnly，“Iamgoingtotryveryhard。Nowwemustn’tletUncleShadorUncleZoethknowthatIhaveheardabouttheirtrouble。WemustletthemthinkIamathomeforanextraholiday。
　　ThenIshallbeabletolookthingsoverandperhapsplanalittle。
　　WhenIamreadytotellwhatImeantodoIcantelltherest……
　　Sshh！Herecomesoneofthemnow。It’sUncleZoeth。Lookhappy，Isaiah！HAPPY——notasifyouwerechokingtodeath！Well，UncleZoeth，aren’tyousurprisedtoseeme？“
　　Surprisedhecertainlywas；atfirst，likeIsaiah，hecouldscarcelybelieveshewasreallythere。Then，naturally，hewishedtoknowWHYshewasthere。ShedodgedthequestionsasbestshecouldandZoeth，innocentandtruthfulasalways，acceptedwithoutasuspicionhervagueexplanationconcerninganopportunitytorundownandseethemforalittlewhile。DinnerwasputonthetableandthenIsaiahhasteneduptorelieveShadrachatthestoreinorderthatthepartnersandMarymighteattogether。
　　TheCaptainarrivedafewminuteslater，red-faced，vociferous，andjoyful。
　　“Well，“heshouted，throwinghisarmsaboutherandkissingherwithasmackwhichmighthavebeenheardinAbnerBacheldor’syard，“ifTHISain’tasurprise！Zoethsaidthismornin’hefeltasifsomethin’wasgoin’tohappen，andthenIsaiahupsettheteakittlealloverbothmyfeetandIsaidIfeltasifitHADhappened。Butithadn’t，hadit！Well，ifitain’tgoodtolookatyou，Mary-
　　’Gusta！How’dyouhappentocomethistimeofyear？Hastheschoolhousefoundered？“
　　MaryrepeatedtheexcuseshehadgivenMr。Hamilton。Itwassufficient。Thepartnersweretoohappyathavingherwiththemtobeovercuriousconcerningherreasonsforcoming。CaptainShadtalkedandjokedandlaughedandZoethnoddedandsmiledinhisquietway。IfMaryhadnotknowntheirsecretshewouldnothaveguesseditbut，asitwas，shenoticedhowpaleandwornMr。
　　HamiltonlookedandhowtheCaptainhadbecomepronetofitsofunwontedsilencefromwhichheseemedtoarousehimselfwithaneffortand，afteraglanceather，totalkandlaughlouderthanever，Oncesheventuredtoaskhowbusinesswasanditwouldhavebeenalmostfunnyifithadnotbeensopathetic，thehastewithwhichtheybothassuredherthatitwasaboutthesame。
　　Afterdinnersheannouncedherintentionofgoinguptothestore。
　　HerunclesexchangedlooksandthenZoethsaid：
　　“Whatmakesyoudothat，Mary-’Gusta？NicedaylikethisI’dbeoutofdoorifIwasyou。Wedon’tneedyouatthestore，dowe，Shadrach？“
　　“Notmore’nafishneedsabathin’suit，“declaredtheCaptain，withconviction。“Yougoseesomeofthegirlsandhaveagoodtime，Mary-’Gusta。“
　　ButMarydeclinedtogoandseeanyofthegirls。Shecouldhaveabettertimeatthestorethananywhereelse，shesaid。Shewenttothestoreandspenttheafternoonandeveningthere，watchingandlistening。Therewasnotmuchtowatch，notmorethanadozencustomersduringtheentiretime，andthoseboughtbutlittle。Thehardestpartoftheexperienceforherwastoseehoweagerherunclesweretopleaseeachcallerandhowanxiouslyeachwatchedtheother’seffortsandtheresult。ToseeZoethatthedeskporingovertheledger，hislipsmovingandthepenciltremblinginhisfingers，wasasbadas，butnoworsethan，toseeCaptainShadrach，afrownonhisfaceandhishandsinhispockets，pacethefloorfromthebackdoortothefrontwindow，stop，lookuptheroad，drawalongbreaththatwasalmostagroan，thenturnandstridebackagain。