Mary-’Gusta，theboxofmarshmallowsinherhand，regardedtheboyonthenailkeg。Hiseyesmethersandinthemwasalookofsuchuttermiserythatthegirlrelented。Herfeelingofsatisfiedresentmentchangedtoonealmostofpity。Shehadbeenmadetofeelridiculousherselfatvarioustimesinhershortlifeandsherememberedthesensation。Mary-’Gusta，ashasbeenmentionedbeforeinthishistory，wasoldforheryears。
　　Sheconsideredamoment。Thenshethrusttheboxbeneaththecounter。
　　“IguessI’dbetternotsellyouthose，anyway，“shesaidwithdecision。“UncleZoethsaidtheyweren’tfresh。I’llopenthecaseinthebackroom。“
　　Ednastampedherfoot。
　　“Wecan’twaitforthat，“shedeclared。“Wemustgowithoutthem，I
　　suppose。Oh，dear！Andtheydependedonustogetthem。It’ssoprovoking。Nowwecan’thaveanytoastatallanditwouldhavebeensuchfun。“
　　Mary-’Gustaglancedoncemoreattheoccupantofthekeg。
　　“Iwasthinking，“shesaid，slowly，“thatyouneedn’tbothwaitunlessyouwantedto。PerhapsMissKeithmightgoonandtelltheothersand——er——Mr。SmithcouldstayhereuntilIopenedthebox。
　　Thenhecouldmeetyouattheboat。“
　　Ednahesitated。“ShallI，Crawford？“sheasked。
　　Hercompaniondidnothesitate。“Ithinkperhapsyou’dbetter，Edna，“hesaid。“I——IguessIwon’tbelong。“
　　MissKeithhurriedout。Mary-’Gustaturnedherattentiontotheremainingvisitor。
　　“Youcangetupnow，“shesaid。“Someofitwilltearoff，anyway，andifyouhurryyouwillhavetimetorunhomeandchangeyour——
　　yourclothes。“
　　Crawfordwasevidentlymuchsurprised，alsohisembarrassmentwasnotlessened；butherose。
　　“Then——thenyouknew？“hestammered。
　　“OfcourseIknew。Isawyousitdownonit，didn’tI？IfI’dknownwhatyouweregoingtodoI’dhavetoldyoutolookout。ButyoudiditsoquickIcouldn’t。Nowtearoffasmuchasyoucan。“
　　Theyounggentlemanobeyedorders。“Doesitshowmuch？“hequeried。
　　“Ican’tsee。Istheremuchleft？“
　　Mary-’Gustasmiled。Hiscontortionswereasviolentastheywerevain。“There’senough，“shesaidsimply。“Herearethethingsyoubought。Nowgooutofthebackdoorandcutacrossthefields。
　　It’stheshortestwayhome。“
　　Mr。Smithtookhisvariousparcels，includingthesixboxesofmarshmallowswhichMary-’Gustaproducedfrombeneaththecounter。
　　“Ithoughtyousaidthesewerestale，“heobserved，wonderingly。
　　“Isaidtheyweren’trealfresh，butthey’refreshenoughforatoast。IsaidthatsothattheKeithgirlwouldn’twait。Ididn’tthinkyouwantedherto。“
　　“YoubetyourlifeIdidn’t！Sothat’swhyyousaidyouwouldhavetoopentheotherbox？Just——justtohelpmeout？“
　　“Yes。Nowdon’tstopanylonger。You’llhavetorun，youknow。Gooutthebackway。“
　　Crawfordstartedforthedoorofthebackroom，butatthatdoorhepaused。
　　“Say，“hesaid，feelingly，“thisismightywhiteofyou，doyouknowit？AndafterthewayIguyedyouwhenIfirstcamein！IguessI
　　wasratherfresh，wasn’tI？“
　　“Yes，youwere。“
　　“Yes，yes，IguessIwas。Ithoughtyouwerejustacountrykid，youknow，andI——say，byGeorge，youWEREwhite。IfI’dbeenyouI’dhavegotsquare。Youhadthechance；’twouldhaveservedmerightforplayingthesmartAleck。Ibegyourpardon。You’reallRIGHT！AndI’mawfullysorryIwassuchachump。“
　　Itwasastraightforward，honestapologyandconfessionoffault。
　　Mary-’Gustawaspleased，butshedidnotshowit。Hehadreferredtoherasakidandshedidnotlikethat。
　　“Ifyoudon’thurry——yes，andrunlikeeverything，“shesaid，“youwon’thavetimetogethomeandchangeandmeettheothersattheboat。Andsomebodyelsewillseeyou，too。You’dbettergo。“
　　Theyoungmanwentwithoutfurtherdelay。Mary’-GustawatchingfromthebackdoorsawhimracingacrossthefieldsinthedirectionoftheKeithcottage。Whenherunclesreturnedshesaidnothingoftheoccurrence。Sheconsidereditfunny，butsheknewCrawfordSmithdidnot，andshewassurehewouldprefertohavethesecretkept。
　　ThefollowingafternoonthepartnersofHamiltonandCompanyentertainedacalleratthestore。ThateveningShadrachspokeofthecalltoMary-’Gusta。
　　“ThatyoungSmithfellerthat’sbeenvisitin’theKeithswasintoday，“saidtheCaptain。“Didn’twanttobuynothin’；saidhejusthappenedin，that’sall。Askedwhereyouwas，hedid。Ididn’tknowheknewyou，Mary-’Gusta。“
　　Mary-’Gusta，whowasbusyclearingthesuppertable，answeredwithoutlookinground。“HeandEdnaKeithboughtsomethingsatthestoreyesterday，“shesaid。
　　“Yes，sohesaid。Hesaidtellyoueverythingwasallrightandhehadafinetimeatthepicnic。Seemedtocal’lateyouwasaprettybrightgirl。Weknewthatafore，ofcourse，butitwasniceofhimtosayso。He’sleavin’ontomorrowmornin’strain。Goin’wayoutWest，heis，toNevada；that’swhereheandhisdadlive。Hisma’sdead，sohetoldus。Mustbetoughtolivesofurofffromsaltwater：Icouldn’tstandit，Iknowthat。Funnythingaboutthatyoungfeller，too；hisfacelookedsortoffamiliartomeandZoeth。
　　Seemedasifhelookedlikesomebodyweknew，butofcoursewedidn’tknowanyofhisfolks；wedon’tknowanySmithsfromwayoffthere。“
　　Thesubjectwasdroppedforthetime，buttwodayslatertheexpressmanbroughtapackagetothehouse。ThepackagewasaddressedtoMissMaryAugustaLathropandcontainedafive-poundbasketofexpensivechocolatesandbonbons。Therewasanotewithitwhichreadasfollows：
　　Hopeyou’lllikethese。Theyarefresh，atleastHuyler’speoplesweartheyare，butIdon’tbelievetheyareasgoodasthosemarshmallows。AndIKNOWtheyarenotasfreshasacertainpersonwasatacertaintime。Pleaseeatthemandforgettheotherfreshness。
　　C。S。
　　Youwereaperfectlittlebricknottotell。
　　Mary-’Gustawasobligedtotellthen，butshemadeherunclesandIsaiahpromisenottodoso。She，withtheableassistanceoftheothermembersofthehousehold，atethecontentsofthebasketinduetime。Thebasketitselfwastakentotheparlor，whereitwasgivenaplacebesidetheothercuriosities。Asforthenote，thatdisappeared。Andyet，ifonehadinvestigatedthecontentsofthesmalldrawerofMary-’Gusta’sbureau，whereshekepthermostintimatetreasures，themysteryofitsdisappearancemighthavebeensolved。
　　Itwastheonlyepistleofitskindthegirlhadyetreceived；and，afterall，good-lookingyoungcollegemenarewhattheyare。AndMary-’Gusta，inspiteofherqueerness，wasfeminine——andhuman。
　　CHAPTERIX
　　WhenMary-’Gustawasseventeenagreateventtookplace。Thehappeningwhichledtoitwastrivialenough，buttheresultswereimportantandfar-reaching。Theyledtothesecondgreatchangeinherlife，achangeasimportantasthatbroughtaboutbyhermemorable“visit“toSouthHarniss。
　　Shewasagirlinyearsstill，buttallforherage，andinthoughtandmanneralmostayoungwoman。HermanagementofherunclesandIsaiahwasnowcomplete。Theynolongerprotested，eventoeachother，againstthemanagementand，infact，gloriedinit。Thecookandstewardacceptedherordersconcerningthedailymarketingandheandsheauditedthemonthlybills。Thewhitehousebytheshorewasadifferentplacealtogethernowand“chicken-poxtablecloths“
　　andtarnishedsilverwerethingsoftheforgottenpast。Atthestoreshehadbecomealmostasilentpartner，andHamiltonandCompany’s“emporium“was，thankstoherjudgmentandtact，ifnotyetanup-to-dateestablishment，atleastashopwherecommoditiestobesoldwereinplaceswheretheymightbeseenbyprospectivepurchasersandreadilylocatedbytheproprietors。
　　Shespentagooddealofhertime，exceptinschoolhours，atthestoreandmuchofthebuyingaswellasthesellingwasdonebyher。
　　ThedrummersrepresentingNewYorkandBostonwholesalehousesknewherandcherishedkeenrespectforherabilitiesasaselectorandpurchaserofgoods。
　　“Say，“saidoneofthesegentlemen，afteralengthysessionduringwhichhisattemptstoworkoffseveral“stickers“hadbeenfrustratedbyMary-’Gusta’scommonsenseanddiscernment——“Say，thatgirlofyoursisawonder，doyouknowit？She’sthesharpestbuyerIeverrunacrossonmytripsdownhere。Idon’ttakeabackseatforanybodywhenitcomestosellinggoods，andthere’smightylittleIcan’tsell；butIcan’tbluffher。Sheknowswhat’swhat，youhearme！“
　　Shadrach，towhomthisremarkwasmade，chuckled。“Youbetyou！“hedeclared，withenthusiasm。“AnybodythatgetsaheadofourMary-
　　’Gustahasgottoturnoutaforethemornin’watch。She’ssmart。
　　Zoethandmeain’taboardthesamecraftwithher。“
　　“Ishouldsaynot。Andyoucan’tgetgaywithher，either。Mostgirlsofherageandasgoodalookerassheisdon’tobjecttoalittleragging：they’reusedtoitandtheylikeit——butnother。
　　Sheisn’tfishingforboxesofcandyorinvitationstodances。Thatlineoftalkmeansgood-byandnosalewheresheis。Businessandjustbusiness，that’sallthereistoher。Howlongareyougoin’
　　tokeepherhere？“
　　“Howlong？Why，forever，Ihope。Whatareyoutalkin’about？“
　　Thedrummerwinked。“That’sallright，“heobserved。“Youwanttokeepher，Idon’tdoubt：butoneofthesedayssomebodyelse’llbewantinghermorethanyoudo。Mr。Right’llbecomingalongheresometimeandthen——goodnight！She’syoungyet，butinacoupleofyearsshe’llbeaqueenandthen——well，thenmaybeI’llstandabetterchanceofunloadingthoselastsummercapsthehousehasgotinstock。Girlslikeherdon’tstaysingleandkeepstore；there’stoomuchdemandandnotenoughcompetition。Gad！IfIwasn’tanantiqueandmarriedalreadyIdon’tknowbutI’dbegettingintoline。That’swhat！“
　　CaptainShadrachwasinclinedtobeangry，but，althoughhewouldnothaveadmittedit，herealizedthetruthofthisfrankstatement。
　　Mary-’Gustawaspretty，shewasmorethanthat，andthelinewasalreadyforming。JimmieBacheldorhadlongagoceasedtobeacompetitor；thatfriendshiphadendedabruptlyatthetimeofDavid’snarrowescape；buttherewereothers，plentyofthem。
　　DanielHiggins，sonofMr。SolomonHiggins，thelocallumberdealerandundertaker，wasseverelysmitten。DanwasatworkinBoston，wherehewasengagedinthecheerfulandremunerativebusinessofsellingcoffinsfortheAmericanCasketCompany。Hewasdiligentandactiveandhisfuturepromisedtobebright，atleastsohisproudfatherboasted。Hecamehomeforholidaysandvacationsandhisraimentwasanythingbutfunereal，butMary-’Gustawasnotimpressedeitherbytheraimentorthepersonalitybeneathit。ShetreatedthepersistentDanielasaboyandaformerschoolmate。