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。“