SoMrs。KeithwasnotpopularwiththeSouthHarnissnatives，perhapsbecauseshetriedsohardtobe；herhusband，whoapparentlydidnottrytobe，was。Heandhisopinionswerelikedandrespected。Whenhecameintothestore，therefore，onthisoccasion，ZoethandShadwelcomedhim，askedhimtositdown，andtheconversationbeganwiththeastonishingriseinthepriceofsea-frontpropertyanddriftedfromthattoothertimelyandgeneraltopics。
　　JusthowitdriftedtoMary-’Gustaandherfutureneitherofthepartnerscouldhavetold——however，driftthereitdid，andtheyfoundthemselveschantingherpraisestotheircaller，whoseemedmuchinterested。
　　“Sheisaremarkablycapablegirl，“observedMr。Keith。“Andbeforewerealizeitshewillbeayoungwoman。Areyouplanningthatsheshallkeepstoreandkeephouseforyoutherestofherlife，ortherestofyours？“
　　Zoethshookhishead。“Why，“hesaid，mildly，“Idon’tknow’swe’veplannedmuchaboutitsofur。Thosethingssortoftakecareofthemselves，alwaysseemedtome。OrtheAlmightytakescareof’emforus。“
　　Theirvisitorsmiled。“Someoneelsewillbewillingandanxioustotakecareofherbeforemanyyears，orImissmyguess，“hesaid。
　　“Sheislikelytomarry，youknow。Theremustbesomepromisingyoungfellowsdownhere。“
　　Shadrachsniffed。Itwasasubjectheneverdiscussedwithhispartneranddidnotlikeeventothinkabout。Theremarkofthehatandcapdrummerconcerningthecomingofa“Mr。Right“hadtroubledhimnotalittle。
　　“Ugh！“hegrunted；“there’spromisin’onesenough。MostofthosethatarecontentedtostayhereinSouthHarnissarenothin’BUT
　　promise；theyain’tsostrongonmakin’good。’Tain’tlike’twaswhenZoethandmewereyoungourselves。Nowallthesmart，ambitiousboysgouptothecitytowork。“
　　“Someofthegirlsgoupthere，too，don’tthey？Toschool，orcollege？Didn’tIhearthatChristopherMullet’sdaughterwasatschoolinBridgewater？“
　　“Ugh！“gruntedShadrachagain。“Ical’lateyoudidhear。Ifyoudidn’tyou’retheonlyoneintownthatain’t。BeckyMullet——yes，andChris，too——ain’tdoneanythingbutbragabouttheirIrene’sgoin’offtowhattheycall’finishin’school。’Judas！IseeHER
　　finish。Sheain’tgot——Iswanthatgirlain’tgotanythinginherheadbutgas，andeverytimesheopenshermouthshelosesenoughofthattokeepalighthouselitupallnight。“
　　“Shadrach，“murmuredZoeth，“don’tsaysuchunlikelythingsaboutfolks。Becharitableasyoucan。“
　　“Judas！Iam——asmuchasIcan。IfIwasn’tcharitabletothatMulletgirlI’dbetalkin’yet。IhovetoaforeI’dgotscarcelyunderway。“
　　Keithputinaword。“Finishingschoolsarenotallbad，byanymeans，“hesaid。“Therearevariouskindsandgrades，ofcourse，butagoodprivateschoolforgirlsisafinething。Itteachesthemtomeetandjudgepeopleofallkinds，andthatfinefeathersdon’talwaysmakefinebirds。Then，too，agirlatagoodschoolofthatsortisunderstrictdisciplineandheracquaintances，maleacquaintancesespecially，arechosenwithcare。Sixteentoeighteenisadangerousagefortheaveragegirl。
　　“Bytheway，“headded，“didyourniecetellyouofherexperiencewiththattravelingsalesmantheotherday，thefellowsellingChristmasnovelties？No？Well，Ihappenedtobehereatthetime。
　　Itwasratherinteresting。“
　　HetoldofMary-’Gusta’ssessionwithMr。Kron。Thepartnerslistenedwithgrowingindignation。
　　“Well，bythejumpin’！“exclaimedCaptainShad。“Didyoueverhearsuchbrassytalkinyourlife！IwishtothunderI’dbeenhere。
　　There’dhavebeenonemightysickpatientreadyforthedoctorandhewouldn’thavebeenaSouthHarnissnativeeither。ButMary’-
　　Gustadidn’ttakenoneofhissauce，Itellyou；thatgirlofoursisallright！“
　　“Yes，sheisallright。Butshedidn’tenjoytheexperience，thatwasplainenough，and，sofarasIcansee，sheislikelytohaveagoodmanyothersofthesamekind。Nowitisn’tmybusiness，Iknowthat；youcantellmetoshutupandclearoutanytimeyoulike，ofcourse；butdoyouthinkitisjustfairtoagirllikeyourniecetocondemnhertoalifeofstorekeepingorthealternativeofmarryingoneofthepromisingyoungmenyou’vebeentalkingabout？
　　Don’tyouthinksuchagirlassheisdeservesachance；everychanceyoucangiveher？“
　　Thetwopartnersstaredathimopen-mouthed。Shadrach，asusual，spokefirst。
　　“Condemnher？“herepeated。“CondemnMary’-Gusta？Achance？Why——“
　　“Hush，Shadrach，“interruptedZoeth。“Mr。Keithain’tdoneyet。
　　He’sgoin’totelluswhathemeans。Goon，Mr。Keith，whatdoyoumean？“
　　Keith，havingbrokentheice，andfoundthewaternotsochillyashehadfeareditmightbe，plungedin。
　　“Well，Imeanthis，“hesaid。“IconfessfranklythatIhavebeenveryfavorablyimpressedbyyourniece。Sheisanunusualgirl——
　　unusuallypretty，ofcourse，butmuchmorethanthat。Sheissimpleandbraveandsensibleandfrank。IfsheweremydaughterIshouldbeveryproudofher。Iknowyouare。Sheshouldhave，itseemstome，theopportunitytomakethemostofherqualitiesandpersonality。I’vebeenthinkingaboutheragreatdealeversincemycallatthestoreheretheotherday。NowI’vegotasuggestiontomake。Youcantakeitorleaveit，butIassureyouitismadewiththebestofintentionsandsolelyinherinterestasIseeit；
　　andIhopeyou’lltakeitafteryou’vethoughtitover。Hereitis。“
　　Hewentontoimpartthesuggestion。Hishearerslistened，ZoethsilentlyandShadrachwithoccasionalmutteringsandexclamations。
　　“Sothereyouare，“saidKeithinconclusion。“Theschoolisagoodone，oneofthebestinBoston。Twoyearstherewilldoworldsforyourniece。IthasdoneworldsforothergirlsIhaveknown。Itisratherexpensive，ofcourse，but，asIunderstandit，Maryhasmoneyofherownofwhichyou，asherguardians，havecharge。Shecouldn’tspendaportionofthatmoneytobetteradvantage。“
　　Zoethsaidnothing，buthelookedattheCaptainandtheCaptainlookedathim。
　　“SheHASmoneyofherown，hasn’tshe？“inquiredMr。Keith。“Ihavebeentoldshewasleftanindependentfortunebyherfather。“
　　Therewasanotherintervalofsilence。ThepartnerswerequiteawareofthegeneralbeliefinMary-’Gusta’sindependentfortune。
　　Theyhadnotdiscouragedthatbelief。Itwasnoone’sbusinessbuttheirsandtheirrespectandaffectionforMarcellusHallhadpreventedthedisclosureofthelatter’spoverty。ThatsecretnotevenMary-’Gustaknew；she，too，believedthatthemoneywhichpaidforherclothesandboardandalltherestwasherown。Heruncleshadhelpedhertothinkso。
　　SowhentheirvisitoraskedthepointedquestionZoethlookedatShadrachandthelattershookhishead。
　　“Yup，“heanswered，brusquely，“it’strueenough，Ical’late。
　　Marcellusleftherallhehad。But——butlookhere，Mr。Keith。DoI
　　understandyoutoadviseustosendMary-’Gustaaway——toschool——fortwoyears？Jumpin’fire！How——howcouldwe？She——why，whatwouldwedowithouther？“
　　“Itwouldbeharderforyouhereinthestore，ofcourse。“
　　“Thestore！’Tain’tthestoreI’mthinkin’about；it’smeandZoeth。What’llWEdowithouther？Why，she——why，nodaughtercouldmeanmoretousthanthatgirldoes，andifZoethandmewasherown——er——motherandfatherwecouldn’tthinkmoreofher。We’dbeadriftandoutofsightoflandifMary-’Gustawentaway。No，no，wecouldn’tthinkofsuchathing。“
　　“Notevenforhersake？She’sworthaprettybigsacrifice，agirllikethat。“
　　Alongdiscussionfollowed，adiscussioninterruptedbythearrivalofoccasionalcustomersbutresumedassoonaseachoftheseindividualsdeparted。Zoethaskedaquestion。
　　“This——thisMiss——er——What’s-her-name’sschoolyou’retalkin’
　　about，“heasked，“areg’larboardin’school，isit？“
　　“Yes，buttherearedaypupils。Itwasmyidea，providedyoutwowerewillingtolistentomysuggestionatall，tosuggestthatMaryattendasadaypupil。Shemightliveneartheschoolinsteadofatit。Thatwouldbemuchlessexpensive。“
　　“Um-hm，“musedShadrach，“but——butshe’dhavetolivesomewheres，andIforonewouldwanttobemightyparticularwhatsortofaplaceshelivedat。“
　　“Naturally。Well，Ihavethoughtofthat，too，andhereissuggestionnumberthree：Ihaveacousin——acousinofmyfirstwife’s——wholivesonPinckneyStreet，whichisnotfarfromtheMissesCabot’sschool。Thiscousin——Mrs。Wyethishername——isawidowandshehasn’ttoomuchmoney。Shedoesn’tkeepaboardinghouseexactly，butshehasbeenknowntotakeafewofwhatshecalls’payingguests。’She’sveryBostonianandveryparticularconcerningthereferencesandfamilyconnectionsofthoseguests，butIthinkIcouldmanagethat。Ifyourniecewereplacedinhercareshewouldhavearealhomeandmeetonlythesortofpeopleyouwouldwishhertomeet。“
　　HemighthaveaddedthatMrs。Wyeth，beingundermanyobligations，pecuniaryandotherwise，toherwealthyChicagorelative，wouldneedonlyahintfromhimtogiveMary-’Gustathecareandattentionofaparent，averyparticular，Bostonfirst-familyparent。But，unlikehispresentwife，hewasnotinthehabitofreferringtohischarities，sohekeptthisinformationtohimself。
　　Zoethsighed。“Ideclare，“hesaid，“you’remightykindinallthis，Mr。Keith。Iknowthatyou’resartinthisgoin’awaytoschoolwoulddoMary-’Gustaasightofgood。But——butIswanI——I