SheinsisteduponwipingthedisheswhileIsaiahwashedthem。Also，sheremindedhimthatthetableclothwhichhadbeensoseverelycriticizedthepreviouseveninghadnotasyetbeenchanged。Thestewardwasinclinedtotreatthematterlightly。
　　“Nevermindif’tain’t，“hesaid。“It’sgoodenoughforaspelllonger。Letitstay。Besides，“headded，“thewashin’ain’tbeendonethisweekandthereain’tanothercleanoneaboard。“
　　Mary-’Gustasmiledcheerfully。
　　“Oh，yes，thereis，“shesaid。“There’sarealniceoneinthebottomdrawerofthecloset。I’vebeenhuntin’andIfoundit。
　　Comeandsee。“
　　Sheledhimintothedining-roomandshowedhimtheclothshehadfound。
　　“It’sarealprettyone，Ithink，“shesaid。“Shallweputiton，Mr。Chase？“
　　“No，no，coursenot。That’sthebesttablecloth。Don’tusethatonlywhenthere’scompany——orSundays。“
　　Mary-’Gustaconsidered。Shecountedonherfingers。
　　“Howlonghaveweusedthisdirtyone？“sheasked。
　　“Eh？Oh，Idon’tknow。Fourorfivedays，maybe。“Then，evidentlyfeelingthattherepetitionofthe“we“impliedasenseofunwarrantedpartnershipinthehouseholdmanagement，headdedwithdignity，“Thatis，I’VEseenfittouseitthatlong。“
　　Thesarcasmwaswasted。Thegirlsmiledandnodded。
　　“Thatmakesitallright，“shedeclared。“Ifweputthisoneonnowit’llbeSundaylongbeforeit’stimetochange。Andwecanwashtheotheronetodayortomorrow。“
　　“Oh，WEcan，eh？“
　　“Yes，sir“
　　Isaiahlookedasifhewishedtosaysomethingbutwasatalossforwords。TheSundayclothwasspreaduponthetablewhilehewasstillhuntingforthem。
　　“Andnow，“saidMary-’Gusta，“ifyou’resureyoudon’tneedmeanymorejustnowIguessI’dliketogoupandseethestore。MayI？“
　　SitefoundthestoreofHamiltonandCompanyanexceedinglyinterestingplace。Zoethandhispartnergreetedhercordiallyandshesatdownuponaboxattheendofthecounterandinspectedtheestablishment。Itwasnotverylarge，buttherewasanamazingvarietyinitsstock。Muslin，tape，calico，tacks，groceries，casesofshoes，arackwithspoolsofthread，anothercontainingafewpocketknives，barrels，halfadozensaltcodfishswingingfromnailsoverhead，somesuitsofoilskinshangingbesidethem，atumbledheapofchildren’scapsandhats，evenaglass-coveredcasecontainingboxesofcandywithplacards“1c。each“or“3for1c。“
　　displayedabovethem。
　　“Likecandy，doyou？“askedMr。Hamilton，noticingherscrutinyofthecaseanditscontents。
　　“Yes，sir，“saidMary-’Gusta。
　　“Howaboutsassafraslozengers？Likethem？“
　　“Yes，sir。“
　　Shewassuppliedwitharollofthelozengesandmunchedthemgravely。CaptainShad，whohadbeenwaitingonacustomer，regardedherwithanamusedtwinkle。
　　“Sassafraslozengersaregoodenoughforanybody，eh？“heobserved。
　　“Yes，sir，“repliedMary-’Gusta。Thensheadded，politely：“OnlyI
　　guessthesearewintergreen。“
　　Shestayedatthestoreuntilnoon。ThenshewalkedhomewiththeCaptainwhoseturnitwastodinefirstthatday。ThehiringofAnnabelhadbeenanunusualbreakinthebusinessroutine。
　　Ordinarilybutoneofthepartnersleftthatstoreatatime。
　　“Well，“inquiredtheCaptain，astheywalkeddownthelane，“whatdoyouthinkofit？PrettygoodstoreforaplacelikeSouthHarniss，ain’tit？“
　　“Yes，sir。“
　　“Ibetyou！DifferentfromtheOstablestores，eh？“
　　“Yes，sir；I——Iguessitis。“
　　“Um-hm。Well，howdifferent？“
　　Mary-’Gustatookherusualintervalforconsideration。
　　“Iguessthere’smore——morethingsinitwithseparatesmellsto’em，“shesaid。
　　CaptainShadhadnoremarktomakeforamoment。Mary-’Gusta，however，wasanxioustoplease。
　　“They’renicesmells，“shehastenedtoadd。“Ilike’em；onlyI
　　neversmelled’emallatthesametimebefore。AndIlikethelozengersVERYmuch。“
　　ThetwoorthreedayswhichCaptainShadhadsetasthelimitofthechild’svisitpassed；asdidthenexttwoorthree。Shewasbusyand，apparently，enjoyingherself。ShehelpedIsaiahwiththehousework，andalthoughhefoundthehelpnotaltogetherunwelcome，hewasinclinedtogrumblealittleatwhathecalledher“pesterin’
　　around。“
　　“Ineverseesuchayoung-one，“hetoldhisemployers。“Idon’taskhertododishesnorfillpitchersnornothin’；shejustdoesitonherownhook。“
　　“Humph！“gruntedCaptainShadrach。“SoIjudgedfromwhatIsee。
　　Doesitprettywell，too，don’tshe？“
　　“Um-hm。Wellenough，Iguess。Yes，“withaburstofcandor，“forherage，shedoesitmightywell。“
　　“Thenwhatareyoukickin’about？“
　　“Iain’tkickin’。WhosaidIwaskickin’？Only——well，allIsayisletherdodishesandsuch，ifshewantsto，only——only——“
　　“Onlywhat？“
　　“OnlyIain’tgoin’tohaveherheavin’outhintsaboutwhatIoughttodo。There’stwoskippersaboardthiscraftnowandthat’senough。Bytime！“withanotherburst，“thatkid’sareg’larbornmother。Shemothersthatcatandthemdollsandthehensalready，andIswantomanIbelieveshe’dliketoadoptme。Iain’tgoin’
　　tobemotheredandhintedattodothisandthatandputtobedandtuckedinbynokid。I’llheaveupmyjobfirst。“
　　HehadbeenonthepointofheavinguphisjobeversincethedayswhenhesailedascookaboardCaptainShadrach’sschooner。WhentheCaptainretiredfromtheseaforthelasttime，andbecamepartnerandfellowshopkeeperwithZoeth，Isaiahhadretiredwithhimandwasengagedtokeephouseforthetwomen。TheCaptainhadbalkedattheideaofafemalehousekeeper。
　　“Womenaboardshipareadumnuisance，“hedeclared。“I’vecarried’emcabinpassageandIknow。IsaiahChaseisagoodcook，and，besides，ifthebiscuitsaremorefitforcodsinkersthantheyareforgrub，Icantellhimsointherightkindoflanguage。Wedon’twantnowomansteward，Zoeth；youhearME！“
　　Zoeth，althoughtheCaptain’sseafaringlanguagewasatrialtohisgentle，churchlysoul，agreedwithhispartneronthemainpoint。
　　Hisexperiencewiththeothersexhadnotbeensuchastowarrantfurtherexperiment。SoIsaiahwashiredandhadbeencookandstewardattheSouthHarnisshomeformanyyears。Buthemadeitapracticetoasserthisindependenceatfrequentintervals，although，asamatteroffact，hewouldnomorehavedreamedofreallyleavingthanhisfriendsandemployerswouldofdischarginghim。Mr。Chasewasaspermanentafixtureinthathouseastheship’schronometerinthedining-room；andthatwasscrewedtothewall。
　　And，inspiteofhisgrumbling，heandMary-’Gustawererapidlybecomingfastfriends。ShadrachandZoethalsowerebeginningtoenjoyhercompany，herunexpectedquestions，herinterestinthehouseandthestore，andshrewd，old-fashionedcommentsonpersonsandthings。Shewasa“queeryoung-one“；they，likethepeopleofOstable，agreedonthatpoint，butMr。Hamiltonwasinclinedtothinkherways“sortoftakin’“andtheCaptainadmittedthatmaybetheywere。Whathewouldnotadmitwasthatthegirl’svisit，althoughalreadyprolongedforafortnight，wasanythingbutavisit。
　　“Ipresumelikely，“hintedZoeth，“youandme’llhavetogivetheJudgesomesortofananswerprettysoon，won’twe？He’llbewantin’toknowaforelong。“
　　“Know？Knowwhat？“
　　“Why——whywhetherwe’regoin’tosayyesornotowhatMarcellusaskedusinthatletter。“
　　“Hedoesknow。Fur’sI’mconsarned，heknows。Ispokemymindplainenoughtopoundthroughanybody’sskull，Ishouldthink。“
　　“Yes——yes，Iknowyoudid。But，Shadrach，ifshedon’tstayhereforgoodwherewillshestay？Sheain’tgotanybodyelsetogoto。“
　　“Sheisstayin’，ain’tshe？She——she’smakin’usavisit，sameasI
　　saidshecould。Whatmoredoyouwant？Jumpin’fire！Thisfixisyourdoin’anyway。’Tain’tmine。IfyouhadpaidattentiontowhatIsaid，thechildwouldn’thavebeenhereatall。“
　　“Now，Shadrach！Youknowyouwastheonethatwouldfetchheroverthatveryday。“