“That’sallright,Mary-’Gusta。Hello!who’stintype’sthat?“
HehadcaughtsightofthephotographuponthearmofMary’schair。
Hepickeditupandlookedatit。Sheheardhimgasp。Turning,shesawhimstaringatthephotographwithanexpressionofabsoluteamazement——amazementandalarm。
“Why,Isaiah!“shecried。“Whatisthematter?“
Isaiah,nottakinghiseyesfromthepicture,extendeditinonehandandpointedtoitexcitedlywiththeother。
“Forgodfreysmightysakes!“hedemanded。“Wheredidyougetthat?“
“Getwhat?Thephotograph?“
“Yes!Yes,yes!Where’dyougetit?Where’ditcomefrom?“
“Itwassenttome。Whatofit?Whatisthematter?“
Isaiahansweredneitherquestion。Heseemedtohaveheardonlythefirstsentence。
“SENTtoyou!“herepeated。“Mary-’GustaLathrop,haveyoubeentryin’tofindout——Lookhere!whosentyouEdFarmer’spicture?“
Marystaredathim。“WHOSEpicture?“shesaid。“Whatareyoutalkingabout,Isaiah?“
Isaiahthrustthephotographstillclosertotheendofhernose。
Alsohecontinuedtopointatit。
“WhosentyouEdFarmer’spicture?“herepeated。“Where——where’dyougetit?Youtellme,now。“
Marylookedhimoverfromheadtofoot。
“Idon’tknowwhethertosendforUncleShadorthedoctor,“shesaid,slowly。“Ifyoudon’tstophoppingupanddownandwavingyourarmsasiftheyworkedbystringsIshallprobablysendforboth。IsaiahChase,behaveyourself!Whatisthematterwithyou?“
Isaiah,duringhisyearsasseacook,hadlearnedtoobeyorders。
Mary’stonehaditseffectuponhim。Hedroppedonehand,buthestillheldthephotographintheother。Andhestaredatitasifitpossessedsomesortofhorriblecharmwhichfrightenedandfascinatedatthesametime。Maryhadneverseenhimsoexcited。
“EdFarmer!“heexclaimed。“Oh,Iswantoman!Idon’tseehow——
Say,itIShim,ain’tit,Mary-’Gusta?Butofcourse’tis!Icansee’tiswithmyowneyes。Mygodfreysmighty!“
Maryshookherhead。“IfIdidn’tknowyouwereablueribboner,Isaiah,“shesaid,“Ishouldbesuspicious。ThatphotographwassentmefromtheWest。ItisapictureofagentlemannamedEdwinSmith,someoneIhaveneverseenandI’mperfectlysureyouneverhave。Whyintheworlditshouldmakeyoubehaveasifyouneededastrait-jacketIcan’tsee。DoesMr。Smithresemblesomeoneyouknow?“
Isaiah’smouthfellopenandremainedsoashegazedfirstatthephotographandthenather。
“Ed——EdwinSmith,“herepeated。“EdwinSmith!I——Idon’tknownoEdwinSmith。Lookhere,now;honest,Mary-’Gusta,AIN’TthatapictureofEdFarmer?“
Marylaughed。“Ofcourseitisn’t,“shesaid。“WhoisEdFarmer,pray?“
Isaiahdidnotanswer。Hewasholdingthephotographneartheendofhisownnosenowandexaminingitwitheagerscrutiny,mutteringcommentsashedidso。
“Ifitain’thimit’sabetterpicturethanif’twas,“wasoneofhisamazingobservations。“Don’tseemasiftwofolkscouldlooksomuchalikeandnotbe。Andyet——andyetIcansee——Icanseenow——
thisfeller’shair’sprettynighwhiteandEd’swasdarkbrown。ButthenifthisfellerwasEdhe’dbe——he’dbe——let’ssee——he’dbeallofthirty-fiveyearsolderthanhewasthirty-fiveyearsagoandthatwouldaccount——“
Maryburstoutlaughing。
“Dobestill,Isaiah!“shebrokein。“Youareperfectlyidiotic。
Thatman’snameisSmith,Itellyou。“
Mr。Chaseheavedasigh。“You’resartin’tis?“heasked。
“OfcourseIam。“
“Well,thenIcal’lateitmustbe。ButifEdFarmerhadlivedalltheseyearsandhadhadhistintypetookhewouldn’tgetonetofavorhimmorethanthatdoes,Ibetyou。My,itgivemeastart,comin’ontomesounexpected!“
“ButwhoisEdFarmer?“askedMary。Thenamehadmeantnothingtohersofar。Andyet,evenasshespokesheremembered。Herexpressionchanged。
“Doyoumean——“shecried,eagerly。“Why,Isaiah,doyoumeanthemaninthatoldphotographIfoundinthegarreteverandeversolongago?Theoneyoutoldmewasa——ablackguard?“
Isaiah,stillstaringatMr。Smith’slikeness,answeredemphatically。
“That’stheone,“hesaid。“That’stheoneImeant。My,thisfellerdoeslooklikehim,orthewayIcal’latehewouldlookifhelivedaslongasthis!“
“Ishedead,then?“
“Idon’tknow。Wedon’tanyofusknowaroundhere。Iain’tlaideyesonhimsincethedayaforeithappened。Irememberjustaswellasif’twasyesterday。HecomeoutoftheofficeontothewharfwhereIwasworkin’andhesaystome,’Isaiah,’hesays,knockin’ontheheadofabarrelwithhishand——therighthand’twas,theonethathadthebentfinger;hegotitsmashedunderahogsheadofsaltonetimeanditnevercamestraightagain——
’Isaiah,’sayshe,’it’saniceday,ain’tit。’AndIansweredupprompt——Ilikedhimfust-rate;everybodylikedhimthemdays——’Yes,sir,’Isays,’thisisagoodenoughdaytogoseeyourbestgirlin。’Inevermeantnothin’byit,youunderstand,justasayin’
’twas,butitseemedtogivehimakindofstart。Helookedatmehard。’DidanyonetellyouwhereIwasgoin’?’sayshe,sharp。
’Why,no,’saysI。’Whyshouldthey?’Hedidn’tanswer,justkeptonstarin’atme。Thenhelaughedandwalkedaway。Ididn’tknowwherehewasgoin’then,butIknownow,darnhim!Andthenextdayhewent——forgood。“
Hestoppedspeaking。Marywaitedamomentandthenasked,quietly:
“Wentwhere,Isaiah?Wheredidhego?“
Isaiah,whowasstanding,thephotographstillinhishand,started,turnedandlookedather。
“What’sthat?“heasked。
“Isay,wheredidthisMr。Farmergo?“
“Eh?Oh,Idon’tknow。Hewentaway,that’sall。Don’taskmeanymorequestions。I’vebeentalkin’toomuch,anyhow,Ical’late。
Cap’nShadwouldskinmealiveifheknewI’dsaidasmuchasI
have。Say,Mary-’Gusta,don’tyousaynothin’toeitherhimorZoeth,willyou?Yousee——it’s——it’sakindoflittlesecretwehaveamongstusand——andnobodyelseisinonit。’Twasthisplagueytintypegotmetotalkin’。Nowonderneither!Ineverseesuchalookontwofolks。I——there,there!Goodnight,Mary-
’Gusta,goodnight。“
Hetossedthephotographonthebureauandhurriedoutoftheroom。
Marycalledafterhim,buthewouldneitherstopnoranswer。
AfterhehadgoneMarytookupthephotograph,seatedherselfoncemoreinthechair,andstudiedthepictureforalongtime。Thensheroseand,lampinhand,lefttheroom,tiptoedalongthehallpastthedoorofCaptainShadrach’sroom,andupthenarrowstairstotheattic,heroldplayground。
Herplaythingsweretherestill,arrangedinhercustomaryorderlyfashionalongthewalls。RoseandRosetteandMinnehahaandtheotherdollswereseatedintheirchairsorthedollcarriageorwiththeirbacksagainstShadrach’soldseachest。Shehadneverputthemawayoutofsight。Somehowitseemedmorelikehometoher,theknowledgethatthoughshewouldneverplaywiththemagain,theyweretherewaitingforherintheiroldplaces。Whileshewasawayatschooltheyhadbeencoveredfromthedustbyacloth,butnowtheclothhadbeentakenawayandsheherselfdustedthemeveryothermorningbeforegoinguptothestore。AsShadrachsaid,noonebutMary-’Gustawouldeverhavethoughtofdoingsuchathing。
Shedid,becausesheWASMary-’Gusta。
However,thedollsdidnotinteresthernow。Shetiptoedacrossthegarretfloor,takinggreatcaretoavoidtheboardswhichcreakedmost,andliftedthelidoftheoldtrunkwhichshehadfirstopenedonthatSaturdayafternoonnearlytenyearsbefore。Shefoundthepocketontheundersideofthelid,openeditandinsertedherhand。Yes,thephotographofHallandCompanywasstillthere,shecouldfeeltheedgeofitwithherfingers。
Shetookitout,andclosedthepocketandthenthetrunk,andtiptoeddownthestairsandtoherroomagain。Sheclosedthedoor,lockedit——somethingshehadneverdoneinherlifebefore——andplacingthephotographshehadtakenfromthetrunkbesidethatsentherbyCrawford,satdowntocomparethem。
AndasshelookedatthetwophotographsherwonderatIsaiah’soddbehaviorceased。ItwasnotstrangethatwhenhesawMr。EdwinSmith’slikenesshewasastonished;itwasnotremarkablethathecouldscarcelybeconvincedthephotographwasnotthatofthemysteriousEdFarmer。Forhereintheold,yellowphotographofthefirmof“HallandCompany,WholesaleFishDealers,“wasEdgarS。