WhenthelittlemiteofbusinesshadbeentransactedandthepairreturnedtotheWyethhousetheyfoundMrs。WyethandMary-’Gustaawaitingthemintheparlor。Thegirlhadthefeelingthatshehadbeenundergoingarathervigorouscross-examination。Mrs。Wyethhadnottalkedagreatdealherselfandhermanner,thoughbrusqueandmatteroffact,waskind;butshehadaskedquestionsaboutMary-
  ’Gusta’shomelife,aboutCaptainGouldandMr。Hamilton,aboutschoolandfriendsandacquaintances。Andhercomments,whenshemadeany,weredirectandtothepoint。
  SheandMr。Keithexchangedlookswhenthelatterenteredtheroom。
  Keithraisedhiseyebrowsinquiringly。Shenoddedasifgivingemphaticassenttohisunspokenquestion。
  ShadrachandMary-’Gustaleftthehousesoonafterward。WhiletheCaptainandMr。Keithwerewhisperingtogetherinthehall,Mrs。
  Wyethbadethegirlgood-by。
  “Ilikeyou,mydear,“saidthelady。“Youseemtobeasweet,sensiblegirl,andIdon’tmeetasmanyofthatkindnowadaysasI
  couldwish。Iamsureweshallbegoodfriends。“
  “AndWHATdidshemeanbythat?“demandedMary’-Gusta,assheandtheCaptainwalkedalongPinckneyStreettogether。“Whyshouldwebegoodfriends?ProbablyI’llnevermeetheragain。“
  Shadrachsmiled。“Oh,youcan’talwaystell,“hesaid。“Sometimesyoumeetfolksoftener’nyouthinkinthisworld。“
  Mary-’Gustalookedathim。“UncleShad,“shesaid,“whatdoesallthismean,anyway?Whydidyougotoherhouse?AndwhatwasthemysteriousbusinessofyourswithMr。Keith?“
  TheCaptainshookhishead。“We’vegotahenon,sameasItoldyou,“hedeclared。“Whenit’stimeforthecrittertocomeoffthenestyou’llseewhat’sbeenhatchedsameastherestofus。How’dyoulikethatMrs。Wyeth?Hadaprettysharpedgeonhertongue,didn’tshe?“
  Mary-’Gustaconsidered。“Yes,“sheanswered;“shewasoutspokenandblunt,ofcourse。Butsheisalady——areallady,Ithink——andI’msureIshouldlikeherverymuchwhenIknewherbetter。Ithink,though,thatshewouldexpectapersontobehave——behaveinherway,Imean。“
  “Judas!Ishouldsayso。Don’ttalk!Iain’tfeltsomuchasifI
  waskeepin’mytoesonachalkmarksinceIwenttoschool。Idon’tknowwhatherhusbanddiedof,butI’llbet’twasn’tcurvatureofthespine。Ifhedidn’tstandupstraight’twasn’thiswife’sfault。“
  Mary-’Gusta’scuriosityconcerningthemysteriousbusinesswhichhadbroughtthemtothecitybecamegreaterthaneverbeforeitwastimetotakethetrainforhome。Apparentlyallofthatbusiness,whateveritmightbe,hadbeentransactedwhenheruncleandMr。
  Keithtooktheirshortwalktogetherafterluncheon。CaptainShadrachseemedtoconsiderhisBostonerranddoneandthepairspenthalfofthehourbeforetraintimewanderingalongTremontandWashingtonStreetslookingintoshopwindows,andtheotherhalfinthewaitingroomoftheSouthStation。
  Greatandgrowingaswashercuriosity,thegirlaskednomorequestions。Shewasdeterminednottoaskthem。AndtheCaptain,neitherwhileinthecitynorduringthehomewardjourney,referredtothe“hen“inwhichheandhisfriendfromChicagoweremutuallyinterested。Itwasnotuntilnineo’clockthatevening,whensupperwasoverandZoeth,havinglockedupthestore,waswiththeminthesitting-room,thatthehithertosecretivefowlcameoffthenest。
  ThenShadrach,havinggivenhispartneralookandreceivedoneinreturn,clearedhisthroatandspoke。
  “Mary-’Gusta,“hesaid,“meandyourUncleZoethhavegotsomenewsforyou。Ical’lateyou’vebeenwonderin’alittlemitewhatthatbusinessofMr。Keith’sandminewas,ain’tyou?“
  Mary-’Gustasmiled。“Ihavewondered——justalittle,“sheobserved,withmildsarcasm。
  “Yes——yes,Iain’tsurprised。Well,thebusinessisdoneandit’ssettled,andit’saboutyou。“
  “Aboutme?Why,UncleShad!Howcanitbeaboutme?“
  “’Causeitcananditis,that’swhy。Mary-’Gusta,meandZoethhavebeenthinkin’aboutyouagooddeallatelyandwe’vecometotheconclusionthatweain’ttreatedyoujustright。“
  “Haven’ttreatedmeright?YOU?“
  “Yes,us。You’reagoodgirlandasmartgirl——thesmartestandbestgirlthereisinthistown。Agirllikethatoughttodosomethin’better’nthanstayhereinSouthHarnissandkeepstore。
  Keepin’store’sallrightforoldhulkslikeZoethHamiltonandShadGould,butyouain’tanoldhulk;you’reayoungcraftrightoffthewaysandyououghttohaveachancetocruiseinthebestwaterthereis。“
  “UncleShad,whatareyoutalkingabout?Cruiseinthebestwater?“
  “That’swhatIsaid。Yououghttomixwiththebestfolksandgetafineeducationandmeetsomebodybesidesdrummersand——andSolHiggins’sson。Sellingcoffinsmaybeagoodjob,Idon’tsay’tain’t;somebody’sgottodoitandwe’llallhavetoinvestinthatkindof——er——furnituresometimeor’nother。AndDanHigginsisagoodenoughboy,too。Butheain’tyourkind。“
  “Mykind!UncleShad,whatintheworldhaveIgottodowithDanHigginsandcoffins——andalltherestofit?“
  “Nothin’,nothin’atall。That’swhatI’mtryin’totellyouifyou’llgivemeachance。Mary-’Gusta,yourUncleZoethandIhavedecidedthatyoumustgotoschooluptoBoston,attheMissesCabot’sschoolthere。You’llboardalongwiththatMrs。Wyeth,theonewemettoday。She’sagoodwoman,Ical’late,thoughsheissoeverlastin’straightupanddown。You’llboardthereandyou’llgotoschooltothoseCabotwomen。And——“
  ButMary-’Gustainterrupted。Thehenwasoffthenestnow,therewasnodoubtofthat,andofallunexpectedandimpossiblehatchingsherswasthemostcomplete。Theabsurdityoftheidea,tothegirl’smind,overshadowedeventhesurpriseofit。
  “What?“shesaid。“UncleShad,what——?DoyoumeanthatyouandUncleZoethhavebeeninconspiracytosendmeawaytoschool?TosendmeawaytoBoston?“
  Shadrachnodded。
  “Noconspiracyaboutit,“hedeclared。“MeandZoethandMr。Keith,we——“
  “Mr。Keith?Yes,yes,Isee。ItwasMr。Keithwhoputtheideainyourhead。Howperfectlysilly!“
  “Silly?Whyisitsilly?“
  “Becauseitis。It’sridiculous。“
  “No,itain’t,it’scommonsense。Othergirlsgotocityfinishin’
  schools,don’tthey?ThatIreneMullet’sjustgone,forone。Don’tyouthinkwefiggertodoasmuchforourgirlasBeckyMulletcandoforhers?Jumpin’fire!Ifyouain’tworthahogsheadofgirlslikeIreneMulletthenImissmyguess。“
  “Hush,UncleShad;whatdifferencedoesthatmake?“
  AndnowZoethputinaword。“Mary-’Gusta,“hesaid,“youknowwhatagoodschoolliketheoneShad’sbeenspeakin’ofcandoforagirl。Iknowyouknowit。Now,berightdownhonest;wouldn’tyouliketohaveacoupleofyears,say,ataschoollikethat,ifyoucouldhave’emjustaswellasnot?Didn’tyousaynotmore’nafortni’tagothatyouwasgladIreneMulletwasgoin’tohavesuchachancetoimproveherself?“
  Mary-’Gustahadsaidthatverything;shecouldnottruthfullydenyit。
  “OfcourseIdid,“sheanswered。“AndIamglad。ButIrene’scaseandminearedifferent。Ireneisn’tneededathome。Iam,and——“
  Shadrachbrokein。“Ah,ha!Ah,ha!Zoeth,“hecrowed,triumphantly。“Didn’tItellyoushe’dsaythat?Iknewshe’dsayshewouldn’tgo’causeshe’dthinkshe’doughttostayhereandlookoutforus。Well,Mary’-Gusta,youlistentome。ZoethandIareyourguardians,lawfullyappointed。We’reyourbosses,younglady,foraspellyet。Andyou’regoin’todoaswesay。“
  “But——“
  “Thereain’tany’buts。’The’buts’areallpastandgone。Mr。
  KeithhasarrangedforyoutoboardandroomalongwithMrs。WyethandI’vearrangedforyourschoolin’attheCabotplace。Yes,andI’vedonemore’nthat:Ipaidforyourfirstyear’sschoolin’thisveryafternoon。Sothere!THAT’Sended。“
  Itwasnotended,ofcourse。Mary-’Gustawenttoherroomthatnightdeclaringshewouldnotleaveherunclestoattendanyfinishingschool。Theywenttotheirsvowingthatsheshould。TherealendcamethenextdaywhenZoethputthesubjectbeforeherinanewlightbysaying:
  “Lookhere,Mary-’Gusta;justlistentomeaminuteandthink。
  Supposethebootwasont’otherfoot:supposeyouwantedustodosomethin’topleaseyou,you’dexpectustodoit,wouldn’tyou?
  Anyhow,youknowmightywellweWOULDdoit。Nowwewantyoutodothistopleaseus。We’vesetourheartsonit。“
  Mary-’Gustawassilentforaminuteormore。Thepartnerswatchedheranxiously。Thensheaskedanunusualquestion,oneconcerningherownfinancialstatus。
  “CanIaffordit?“sheasked。“HaveImoneyenoughofmyown?“
  Zoethlookedtroubled。Shadrach,however,answeredpromptlyanddiplomatically。