MaryadmittedthatsheknewSamslightly。
　　“Isn’thefun！SamandIaregreatchums。Doesn’thedancedivinely！“
　　“Idon’tknow。Ineversawhimdance。“
　　“Thenyou’vemissedsomething。Doyouknowhisfriend，theoneonthefootballteam——CrawfordSmith，hisnameis——doyouknowhim？“
　　Marynodded。“I——I’vemethim，“shesaid。
　　“YouHAVE？Don’tyouthinkheisperfectlysplendid？“
　　“Idon’tknow。Ishe？“
　　“Ofcourseheis。Haven’tyoureadabouthiminthepapers？HemadethatlongrunforatouchdownintheYalegame。Oh，youshouldhaveseenit！Icouldn’tspeakfortwodaysafterthatgame。Hewasjustascoolandcalm。AlltheYalemenweretryingtogethimandhedodged——Ineversawanyonesocoolandwhokepthisheadsowell。“
　　“Ithoughtthepapersspokemostofthewayhekepthisfeet。“
　　“Thenyoudidreadaboutit！Ofcourseyoudid！I’mjustdyingtoknowhim。Allthegirlsarecrazyabouthim。Wheredidyoumeethim？Tellme！“
　　Marysmiled。OntheoccasionofheronlymeetingwithCrawfordSmiththatyoungfellowhadbeenanythingbutcool。
　　“Imethiminmyuncle’sstoreatSouthHarniss，“shesaid。“Itwasthreeyearsago。“
　　“Andyouhaven’tseenhimsince？HeisagreatfriendofSam’s。
　　AndSam’speoplehaveasummerhomeattheCape。Perhapsyou’llmeethimthereagain。“
　　“Perhaps。“
　　“Goodness！Onewouldthinkyoudidn’twantto。“
　　“Why，Idon’tknowthatIdo，particularly。WhyshouldI？“
　　“Whyshouldyou！MaryLathrop，Idothinkyouarethequeerestgirl。Youdon’ttalklikeagirlatall。SometimesIthinkyouareasoldas——asPrissy。““Prissy“wasthedisrespectfulnicknamebywhichtheyoungladiesreferred，behindherback，toMissPriscillaCabot。
　　Marylaughed。“Notquite，Ihope，“shesaid。“ButIdon’tseewhyIshouldbesoveryanxioustomeetCrawfordSmith。AndI’msureheisn’tanxioustomeetme。Ifalltheothergirlsarecrazyabouthim，thatoughttobeenough，Ishouldthink。“
　　Thisastonishingprofessionofindifferencetothefascinationofthefootballhero，indifferencewhichMissBarbaradeclaredtobeonlymake-believe，wasmadeonaSaturday。Thenextday，asMrs。
　　WyethandMarywereontheirwayhomefromchurch，theformermadeanannouncement。
　　“Wearetohaveaguest，perhapsguests，atdinnerthisnoon，“shesaid。SundaydinneratMrs。Wyeth’swasserved，accordingtoNewEnglandcustom，atoneo’clock。
　　“Samuel，Mr。JohnKeith’sson，istodinewithus，“continuedMrs。
　　Wyeth。“Hemaybringacollegefriendwithhim。YouhavemetSamuel，haven’tyou，Mary？“
　　Marysaidthatshehad。ShewasatrifleembarrassedattheprospectofmeetingSamKeithinhernewsurroundings。Athome，inSouthHarniss，theyhadmetmanytimes，butalwaysatthestore。Hewaspleasantandjollyandshelikedhimwellenough，althoughshehadrefusedhisinvitationstogoonsailingpartiesandthelike。
　　Sheknewperfectlywellthathismotherandsisterwouldnothaveapprovedoftheseinvitations，forinthefeminineKeithmindtherewasagreatgulffixedbetweenthesummerresidentandthenative。
　　Thelatterwastobehelpedandimprovedbutnotencouragedsociallybeyondacertainpoint。Marysoughtneitherhelpnorimprovementofthatkind。Sam，itistrue，hadnevercondescendedorpatronized，buthehadnevercalledatherhomenorhadshebeenaskedtovisithis。
　　Andnowshewastomeethiminahousewhereshewasconsideredoneofthefamily。Hisfatherhadbeeninfluentialinbringingherthere。DidSamknowthisand，ifhedid，whatinfluencewouldtheknowledgehaveuponhismannertowardher？Wouldhebeloftyandcondescendingor，ontheotherhand，wouldhepretendafamiliaracquaintanceshipwhichdidnotexist？Aloneinherroomsheconsideredthesequestionsandthenputthemfromhermind。
　　Whateverhismannermightbe，hers，shedetermined，shouldbewhatithadalwaysbeen。Andifanyembarrassmentwasevidenttoothersatthismeetingitshouldnotbeonherpart。
　　Whenshecamedownstairs，Mrs。Wyethcalledtohertocomeintotheparlor。Assheenteredtheroomtwoyoungmenrosefromthechairsbesidethemahoganycentertable。OneoftheseyoungmenwasSamKeith；shehadexpectedtoseeSam，ofcourse。Buttheother——theotherwastheveryindividualinwhosedaringdeedsandglorifiedpersonalityshehadexpressedacompletelackofinterestonlythedaybefore，theyoungfellowwhomshehadlastseenracingmadlyacrossthefieldsintherearofHamiltonandCompany’sstorewiththelargerportionofasheetofstickyflypaperattachedtohiswhiteflannels。Mr。CrawfordSmithwastallerandbroaderthanonthatmemorableoccasionbutsherecognizedhiminstantly。
　　Itwasevidentthathedidnotrecognizeher。Mrs。Wyethcametomeether。
　　“Mary，“shesaid，“youknowSamuel，Ithink。Youandhehavemetbefore。Samuel，willyouintroduceyourfriend？“
　　SamwasstaringatMarywitheyeswhichexpressedavarietyofemotions，intensesurprisethemostprominent。HewasinastatewhichBarbaraHowewouldhavedescribedas“fussed，“onemostunusualforhim。HehadknownofMary’spresenceinthehouse；
　　aftertheaffairwassettledJohnKeithtoldhisfamilywhathehaddone，facingwithserenephilosophyhiswife’sdispleasureandpropheciesofcertainregrets。SamhadvividandpleasingrecollectionsoftheprettycountrygirlintheSouthHarnissstore。
　　Hehadnottoldhiscollegefriendthattheyweretomeetherthatday，onereasonbeingthathewasnotcertaintheywouldmeet，andtheotherasecretmisgivingthatitmightbewelltowaitandinspectandlistenbeforeboastingofpreviousacquaintanceship。
　　Sam’smotherhadlecturedhimonthesubjectbeforehelefthome。
　　“Don’tbetoofamiliar，Sam，“washerwarning。“Youmaybesorryifyoudo。ThegirliswellenoughhereinSouthHarniss，wheresheisaccustomedtohersurroundings，butinBostonshemaybequiteoutofplaceandimpossible。Ihavetoldyourfatherso，buthewon’tlisten，ofcourse。Don’tYOUbefoolish，formysake。“
　　Butherewasnogreencountrygirl。Theself-possessedyoungwomanwhostoodbeforehimlookednomoreoutofplaceandimpossibleinMrs。Wyeth’sdignifiedandaristocraticparlorthanshehadinthestorewherehehadlastseenher。Hergownwassimpleandinexpensivebutitwasstylishandbecoming。Andhermanner——well，hermannerwasdistinctlymoreateasethanhisatthatmoment。
　　MaryhadbeenbuteightweeksamongtheMissesCabot’syoungladies，butshehadusedhereyesandherbrainduringthattime；shewasadaptableandhadlearnedotherthingsthanthoseinthecurriculum。
　　Also，shewaspreparedforthismeetingandhadmadeuphermindtoshownoembarrassment。
　　SotheusuallyblaseSamuelwastheembarrassedparty。Helookedandstammered。Mrs。Wyethwassurprisedandshocked。
　　“Samuel，“shesaidsharply，“whatisthematterwithyou？Whydon’tyouspeakandnotstandtherestaring？“
　　Sam，withaneffort，recoveredsomeofhisself-possession。
　　“WasIstaring？“hesaid。“Ibegyourpardon，CousinEmily。Er——
　　Howdoyoudo，MissLathrop？“
　　Mrs。Wyethsniffed。
　　“Mercy！“sheexclaimed。“Isyouracquaintanceasformalasthat？I
　　thoughtyoukneweachother。Theboysandgirlsofthisgenerationarebeyondme。’MissLathrop，’indeed！“
　　Marysmiled。“Perhapshedidn’texpecttoseemehere，Mrs。Wyeth，“
　　shesaid。“Howdoyoudo，Sam？“
　　SheandSamshookhands。Mrs。Wyethaskedanotherquestion。
　　“Didn’tyouknowMarywaswithme，Samuel？“sheasked。
　　“Oh，yes，CousinEmily，Iknew。Iknewshewashere，ofcourse。
　　But——butIdidn’t——byGeorge！“withasuddenoutburstofhisrealfeelings，“Ihardlyknewher，though。Really，Ididn’t。“
　　Marylaughed。“HaveIgrownsomucholderintwomonths？“sheasked。
　　“Oh，youhaven’tchangedthatway。I——I——“Theyoungman，realizingthathewasgettingintodeepwater，seizedanopportunitytoscrambleout。“Oh，Iforgot！“heexclaimed。“Sorry，Crawford。
　　Mary——MissLathrop，Iwanttopresentmyfriend，CrawfordSmith。
　　He’smyroommateatcollege。“
　　MaryandCrawfordshookhands。
　　“IhavemetMr。Smith，too，before，“shesaid。
　　Theyounggentlemen，bothofthem，lookedastonished。
　　“Haveyou？“criedSam。“Oh，Isay！Ididn’tknowthat。Whenwasit？“
　　Hisfriend，too，wasplainlypuzzled。“Ihardlythinkso，“hesaid。
　　“Idon’tbelieveIshouldhaveforgottenit。Idon’tremember——“
　　“Don’tyouremembercomingintomyuncles’storeatSouthHarnisswithMissKeith，Sam’ssister？Youboughtsome“——withamischievoustwinkle——“somemarshmallows，amongotherthings。Isoldthemtoyou。“
　　“You？GreatScott！Areyou——whythatgirl’snamewas——whatwasit？“
　　“Itwasthesameasmine，MaryAugustaLathrop。ButinSouthHarnisstheycallmeMary-’Gusta。“
　　“Thatwasit！AndyouareMary-’Gusta？Yes，ofcourseyouare！
　　Well，Ioughttobeashamed，Isuppose，butIdidn’trecognizeyou。
　　IAMashamed。Iwasawfullyobligedtoyouthatday。Youhelpedmeoutofascrape。“
　　Sam，whohadbeenlisteningwithincreasingcuriosity，brokein。
　　“Say，what’sallthis？“hedemanded。“Whenwasthis，Crawford？
　　Whatscrape？Younevertoldme。“
　　“Andyoudidn’ttellmethatMissLathropwashere。Youdidn’tsayawordabouther。“