Maryarrangedwiththeowner，aBayportman，toleasethishouseandlandatasmallrentalforthreeyears。Intheleasewasincludedconsenttothemakingofnecessaryalterationsandrepairsandtheprivilegeofpurchasing，atapricethereinnamed，attheendofthethreeyears，shouldthetenantwishtodoso。
　　Thenwiththeaidofsoapandwater，whitepaintandwhitewash，attractivebutinexpensivewallpapers，andoddsandendsofquaintoldfurniture，ofwhichtheparlorandbestbedroomoftheGould-
　　Hamiltonhomesuppliedthelargerquantity，sheproceededtomakeovertheinteriorofthelittlebuilding。Toeverybitofnauticalbric-a-brac，picturesofoldsailingshipsandseacuriosshegaveespecialprominence。Thenthelawnwasmowed，thetangledshrubberyuntangledandclippedandpruned；cheapbutprettylatticesmadetolookliketheshroudsofaship，overwhichclimbingrosesweresupposed——someday——totwine，wereplacedagainstthewalls，andrustictablessetaboutunderthetreesandthegrapearborwithshiplanternshungabovethem。Thedrivewaydowntothelanewasrolledandhardened，andasign，paintedbyJoshuaBemis，thelocal“House，BoatandSignPainter，TinsmithandGlazier“——seeMr。
　　Bemis’sadvertisementintheAdvocate——washungonaframebythegateway。
　　CaptainShad’sremarkswhenhefirstsawthatsignmaybeworthquoting。Maryhadnotconsultedhimconcerningit；shedeemeditbestnottodoso。Whenitwasinplace，however，sheledhimouttoinspect。Shadrachadjustedhisspectaclesandreadasfollows：
　　THEFOR’ARDLOOKOUT
　　TEAANDGIFTS
　　DAINTYTHINGSTOEAT
　　PRETTYTHINGSTOBUY
　　ALL’SWELL！
　　Therewasthepictureofafull-riggedship，witheverystitchsetalowandaloft，sailingthroughaseaofthickgreenandwhitepainttowardakindofgreenwallwithgreenfeatherdustersgrowingoutofit。
　　Shadrachsubjectedthisworkofarttoalongandsearchingstare。
　　Atlasthespoke。
　　“Carryin’everyragshecanh’ist，“heobserved；“nobodyatthewheel，landdeadaheadandbreakersunderthebows。Lookstomeasif’twasliabletobeashortv’yageandalivelyone。Butthefor’ardlookoutsaysall’swellandheoughttoknow；he’shadmoreexperienceaboardgift-shopships，Ipresumelikely，thanIhave。
　　What’sthosebristlythingsstickin’upalongshorethere——eelgrassorteagrounds？“
　　Forthefirstfewweeksafterthetea-roomwasreally“offtheways“
　　theoptimisticdeclarationoftheFor’ardLookoutseemedscarcelywarrantedbythefacts。Marywasinclinedtothinkthatallwasbynomeanswell。Infittingoutthenewventureshehadbeenaseconomicalasshedared，butshehadbeenobligedtospendmoneyandtotakeonafreshassortmentofdebts。Then，too，shehadengagedtheservicesofagoodcookandtwowaitresses，sotherewasaweeklyexpensebilltoconsider。Andthenumberofmotorcarswhichturnedinatthenewdrivewaywasdisappointinglysmall。
　　Butthenumbergrewlarger。AspeoplehadtalkedaboutHamiltonandCompany’sassortmentofChristmasgoods，sonowtheybegantotalkaboutthe“quaintnessanddelightfuloriginality“oftheFor’ardLookout。Theteawasgood；thecakesandicesweregood；onpleasantdaystheviewwasremarkablyfine，andtheprettythingsinthegiftshopweretemptinglydisplayed。So，asMaypassedandJunecame，andthecottagesandhotelsbegantoopen，thebusinessofthenewtea-roomandgiftshopgrewfromfairtogoodandfromthattoverygoodindeed。
　　Marydividedhertimebetweenthestoreandthetearoom，doingherbesttokeepasupervisingeyeoneach。Shewasinnomoodtomeetpeopleandkeptoutofthewayofstrangersasmuchaspossible；
　　evenofherformeracquaintanceswhocametotheFor’ardLookoutshesawbutfew。Ifshehadnotbeentoobusyshemighthavefounditamusing，thecontrastingstudiesinhumannatureaffordedbytheseformeracquaintancesintheirattitudetowardher。
　　Forinstance，Mr。andMrs。ChristopherMulletanddaughter，Irene，thelatternowthroughschooland“finished“untilherveneeringactuallyglittered，satdrinkingteaatatableonthelawn。SaidMrs。Mullet：
　　“AndTHISiswhatit’scometo；afteralltheairsandfrillsandthegoin’toEuropeandIdon’tknowwhatall。Heresheiskeepin’
　　aneatin’house。Aneatin’house——justTHINKofit！Ifthatain’tacomedown！Wouldn’tyouthinkshe’dbeashamed，’Rena？“
　　MissMulletdroopedawearyeyelidandsighedahopelesssigh。
　　“Oh，Mother，“shedrawled，indeepdisgust，“CAN’Tyoustopcallingmebythatoutlandishname？IwaschristenedIrene，Ibelieve。
　　PLEASErememberit。“
　　“Allright，’Re——allright，Irene；Iwon’tforgetagain。Oh，there’sMary-’Gusta，now！Showin’herselfoutherewithallthesecityfolks，whenshe’snothin’butahiredhelp——atablegirl，asyoumightsay！Ishan’tnoticeher，anyway。Imaybuyherteaandstuff，butI——Who’sthatrunnin’uptoherand——andkissin’her——
　　and——mercyonus！You’dthinktheywassisters，ifyoudidn’tknow。
　　Whoisit？Lookskindofcommon，shedoestome。Don’tyouthinkso，’Rena——Irene，Imean？“
　　Irenesniffed。
　　“That，“shesaidwithcuttingemphasis，“isBarbaraHowe。HerpeoplearebuildingthatbigsummerhouseatOstervilleandherfatherisamillionaire，sotheysay。Andherpeoplewouldn’tlethercometotheschoolyousentmetobecausetheythoughtitwasn’tgoodenoughforher。That’showcommonSHEis。Imetheronce，butshedoesn’tknowmenow，althoughsheisperfectlycrazyoverthatMaryLathrop。I——Oh，there’sFatherdrinkingoutofhissauceragain！Forheaven’ssake，let’sgohome！“
　　AndjustthenBarbarawasenthusiasticallyhuggingherformerschoolmateandexclaiming：
　　“Youdidit！Iknewyouwouldifyouwouldonlytry。IsaiditrequiredaknackorageniusorsomethingandthatIwascertainyouhadit。It’sthedearestplaceofthekindI’veeverseen，mydear，andifeverysinglepersonIknowwhoisinthisvicinitydoesn’tcomehereatleastonceaweekandspendlotsandlotsofmoneyI’llneverspeaktothemagain。I’mgoingtoturnmyselfintoawalkingphonograph，mydear，withjustonerecord：’IfyoulovemevisittheFor’ardLookout。’Andofcourseeveryonelovesme——howcantheyhelpit？So——well，justwaitandseewhathappens。“
　　Sofarasspreadingabroadthepraisesofthenewtea-roomwasconcerned，shewasasgoodasherword。InAugustthepatronagewassogreatandcontinuousthatMaryfounditnecessarytohirethreemorewaitressesandasalesgirlforthegiftshop。Shespentmoreofherowntimethere，leavingthecareofthestoretoShadrach，SimeonCrockerandanewclerk，whohadbeenhiredtohelpwiththesummercustom。WhenearlySeptemberbroughtthebeginningoftheseason’sendthebooksofboththeLookoutandofHamiltonandCompanyshowedasubstantialprofit。
　　WhileallthiswasgoingonZoethwassteadilygaininginhealthandstrength。InJulyhewassittinginthesunshineuponthefrontporch。InAugusthewasabletoclimbtothebuggyseatandbedrivenuptothestore，wheredayafterdayhesatinhisarmchairbehindthecounter，watchingwhatwasgoingon，listeningtohispartner’shappychatter——forShadrachwasinhighspiritsnow——andoccasionallysayingawordortwohimself。OnpleasantSundayshewasdriventochurchandtheCaptainandMaryaccompaniedhim。Hewaswhiteandfrailandthin，butthedoctorassuredthemthat，sofarashecouldsee，therewasnoreasontoexpectanythingbutacompleterecovery。
　　ItdidseemtoCaptainShad，however，thathispartnerhadsomethingonhismind。Heseemedoftentobethinkingdeeplyandattimestobetroubledanddisturbed。TheCaptainhadneverasked，neverattemptedbyquestioningtolearnwhatthecauseofthetrouble——
　　providedtherewasany——mightbe。Hehadbeentoldoftenenoughthatthepatientmustnotbeexcited，sohemeanttotakenorisks，butZoeth’slongsilencesandtheexpressiononhisfaceashesatthereinthechair，evidentlythinkingdeeply，puzzledandworriedhisfriendandpartner。HenoticedthesameexpressionattimeswhenMarywasintheroom。Zoeth’seyeswouldfollowherasshemovedaboutandinthemwasthelooktheCaptaincouldnotunderstand。
　　ShadrachhadtoldhisfriendofMary’ssendingyoungSmithaway。
　　ZoethhadaskedconcerningCrawfordalmostassoonashewaspermittedtotakepartinalengthyconversation。Heappearedgreatlyinterested，eveneager。
　　“But，Shadrach，“hesaid，“areyousureshesenthimawaybecauseshedidn’tcareforhim？Areyousurethatwasthereason？“
　　“Whatotherreasoncouldtherebe？“demandedtheCaptain。“Sheasmuchastoldmethatwasit，herself。Iwassomesurprised，ofcourse，forI’drathercal’lated’twasasgoodassettledbetween’em，butitturnedoutthatIdidn’tknowwhatIwastalkin’about。
　　ThatHAShappenedaforeinmylife，strangeasitmayseem，“headdeddryly。
　　Zoethsighed。“Iwish——“hesaidslowly，“IwishIknew——“
　　“Whatdoyouwishyouknew？“
　　“Eh？Oh，nothin’。If——ifIwasonlyalittlemitestrongerI’dtrytotalkwithMary-’Gustamyself。I’dlike——I’dliketohavehertellmeaboutit。“
　　“Meanin’youdon’tbelieveme，eh？There，there，shipmate，it’sallright。Iwasonlyjokin’。ButIwouldn’taskMary-’Gustaaboutthat，ifIwasyou。CourseIknowshecaresasmuchormoreforherUncleZoeththanforanybodyonearth，andshe’dtellhimanythingifheaskedher；butIdon’tbelieve——Well，Iwouldn’task，ifI