Farmer，andhereinthephotographsentherbyCrawfordwasEdwinSmith。AndsavethatEdgarS。FarmerwasayoungmanandEdwinSmithamaninthemiddlesixties，theywerealmostidenticalinappearance。EachtimeshehadseenMr。Smith’sphotographshehadfeltcertainshemusthavemettheoriginal。Herewasthereason——
　　thismanintheotherphotograph。Theonlydifferencewasthedifferenceofage。EdwinSmithhadanoselikeEdgarFarmer’s，andachinlikehisandeyeslikehis。AndIsaiahhadjustsaidthatEdgarFarmerhadacrookedfingeronhisrighthandcausedbyanaccidentwithahogsheadofsalt。MaryrememberedwellsomethingCrawfordhadtoldher，thathisfatherhadafingerontherighthandwhichhadbeenhurtinamineyearsbeforehe，Crawford，wasborn。
　　Itcouldnotbe，ofcourse——itcouldnotbe——andyet——Oh，WHATdiditmean？
　　CHAPTERXXIV
　　Inhisownroomattheendofthesecond-storyhall，overthekitchen，Mr。Chasewassittingreadingthelocalpaperbeforeretiring。Itwasahabithehad，oneofwhichCaptainShadrachpretendedtoapprovehighly。“Bestthingintheworld，Isaiah，“
　　declaredtheCaptain。“Sleep’swhateverybodyneedsandIcan’tthinkofanysurerwayofgettin’tosleepthanreadin’theSouthHarnissnewsinthatpaper。“
　　Whetherornotthisunkindjokewasdeservedisnotmaterial；atalleventsIsaiahwasreadingthepaperwhenhewasverymuchstartledbyaknockatthedoor。
　　“Who——whoisit？“hestammered。
　　“ItisMary，“whisperedavoiceoutsidethedoor。“Iwanttospeakwithyou，Isaiah。You’renotinbed，areyou？“
　　Isaiahreluctantlyrelinquishedthepaper。“No，no，“hereplied，“I
　　ain’tinbed。What’sthematter？Zoethain’tnoworse，ishe？“
　　“LetmeinandI’lltellyou。“
　　“Comeonin。Youdon’tneednolettin’。“
　　Maryentered。Shewasverygraveandveryearnest。
　　“Whatinthenation，“beganIsaiah，“areyouprowlin’aroundthishourofthenightfor？“
　　“Hush！Isaiah，youmusttellmeeverythingnow。There’snousetosayyouwon’t——youMUST。WhowasEdgarFarmerandwhatwrongdidhedomyuncles？“
　　Isaiahsaidnothing；hedidnotattempttoanswer。Insteadhegapedatherwithsuchanexpressionofguiltysurprise，fright，andapprehensionthatatanyothertimeshewouldhavelaughed。Justnow，however，shewasfarfromlaughing。
　　“Come！come！“shesaid，impatiently。“Imeanit。IwantyoutotellmeallaboutthisEdgarFarmer。“
　　“Now——now，Mary-’Gusta，Itoldyou——“
　　“Youtoldmeaverylittle。NowIwanttoknowtherest。EveryoneelseinthisfamilyknowsitanditistimeIdid。I’mnotachildanymore。Tellmethewholestory，Isaiah。“
　　“Ishan’tneither。Oh，bygodfreys，thisiswhatIgetbysayin’
　　more’nIoughtto！AndyethowcouldIhelpitwhenIseethattintype？It’sjustmyluck！Nobodyelsebutmewouldhavehadthedrattedlucktohavethatpicturestuckintotheirfaceandeyesunexpected。And’twasjustsowhenyoufoundthatotheroneyearsagoupattic。Ihadtobetheoneyousprungiton！Ihadtobe！
　　ButIshan’ttellyounothin’！“
　　“Yes，youwill。Youmusttellmeeverything。“
　　“Well，Ishan’t。“
　　“Verywell。ThenIshallgostraighttoUncleShad。“
　　“Towho？ToCAP’NSHAD！Oh，mygodfreysmighty！Yougotohimandseewhathe’llsay！Justgo！Why，he’dshutuptighter’naclamatlowwaterandhe’dgiveyoufitsbesides。GotoCap’nShadandaskaboutEdFarmer！Mysoul！Youtryit！Aw，don’tbefoolish，Mary-
　　’Gusta。“
　　“I’mnotgoingtobefoolish，Isaiah。IfIgotoUncleShadIshalltellhimthatitwasthroughyouIlearnedtherewassuchapersonastheFarmermanandthattherewasasecretconnectedwithhim，thatitwasadisagreeablesecret，that——“
　　“Hush！Landsakesalive！Mary-’Gusta，DON’Ttalkso！Why，ifyoutoldCap’nShadhe’d——Idon’tknowwhathewouldn’tdotome。IfheknewItoldyouaboutEdFarmerhe’d——IswantomanIbelievehe’dprettynighkillme！“
　　“Well，you’llsoonknowwhathewilldo，forunlessyoutellmethewholestory，Ishallcertainlygotohim。“
　　“Aw，Mary-’Gusta——“
　　“Isurelyshall。Andifhewon’ttellmeIshallgotosomeoneoutsidethefamily——toJudgeBaxter，perhaps。Hewouldtellme，I’msure，ifIasked。No，Isaiah，youtellme。Andifyoudotellmeallfreelyandfrankly，keepingnothingback，I’llsaynothingtoUncleShadorUncleZoeth。Theyshallneverknowwhotold。“
　　Mr。Chasewrunghishands。Eversincehehadbeencookatthewhitehousebytheshorehehadhadthisdutylaiduponhim，thedutyofkeepinghislipscloseduponthenameofEdgarFarmerandthestoryconnectedwiththatname。WhenCaptainShadrachfirstengagedhimforhispresentsituationtheCaptainhadorderedhimnevertospeakthenameormentionthehappeningsofthattime。AndafterlittleMaryLathropbecamearegularandmostimportantmemberofthefamily，thecommandwasrepeated。“Shemustn’teverknowifwecanhelpit，Isaiah，“saidShadrach，solemnly。“YouknowZoethandhowhefeels。Forhissake，ifnothin’else，wemustn’tanyofusdropahintsothatshewillknow。She’llfindout，Ipresumelikely，whenshegetsolder；there’llbesomekindsoularoundtownthat’lltellher，consarn’em；butWEshan’ttellher；andifYOUtellher，IsaiahChase，I’ll——IdeclaretomanI’llheaveyouoverboard！“
　　Andnowafteralltheseyearsofignoranceduringwhichtheexpectedhadnothappenedandnooneofthevillagegossipshadrevealedthesecrettoher——now，hereshewas，demandingthathe，IsaiahChase，revealit，andthreateningtogostraighttoCaptainGouldandtellwhohadputheruponthescent。Nowonderthecookandstewardwrunghishandsindespair；theheavingoverboardwasimminent。
　　Mary，earnestanddeterminedasshewastolearnthetruth，thetruthwhichshewasbeginningtobelievemightmeansomuchtoher，neverthelesscouldnothelppityinghim。
　　“Come，come，Isaiah，“shesaid，“don’tlooksotragic。Thereisn’tanythingsodreadfulaboutit。Haveyoupromised——haveyougivenyourwordnottotell？BecauseifyouhaveIshan’taskyoutobreakit。IshallgotoJudgeBaxterinstead——ortoUncleShad。
　　ButofcourseIshallbeobligedtotellhowIcametoknow——thelittleIdoknow。“
　　Mr。ChasedidnotliketheprospectofhergoingtotheCaptain，thatwasplain。Forthefirsttimehisobstinacyseemedtowaver。
　　“I——Idon’tknow’sIevergivemyword，“headmitted。“Ineverpromisednothin’，asIrecollect。Cap’nShadhegivemeorders——“
　　“Yes，yes，ofcoursehedid。Well，nowI’Mgivingyouorders。AndIpromiseyou，Isaiah，ifiteverbecomesnecessaryI’llstandbetweenyouandUncleShad。Nowtellme。“
　　Isaiahsatdownuponthebedandwipedhisforehead。
　　“Oh，Lordy！“hemoaned。“IwishtmymouthhadbeensewedupaforeeverIsaidawordaboutanyofit……But——but……Well，“
　　desperately，“whatisityouwanttoknow？“
　　“Iwanttoknoweverything。BeginatthebeginningandtellmewhoMr。Farmerwas。“
　　Mr。Chasemarkedapatternonthefloorwithhisslipperedfoot。
　　Thenhebegan：
　　“HecomefromupCapeAnnwayinthebeginnin’，“hesaid。“TherestofthefirmwasCapeCodders，buthewan’t。However，he’dbeena-
　　fishin’andheknewfishandafterthefirmwasfuststartedandneededanextrybookkeeperheappliedandgotthejob。Therewasthreeof’eminHallandCompanyatfust，allyoungmentheywas，too；yourstepfather，Cap’nMarcellusHall，hewastheheadone；andMr。Zoeth，hewasnextandCap’nShadnext。’Twan’tuntilthreeorfouryearafterwardsthatEdFarmerwastookinpartner。Hewassosmartanddonesowelltheygivehimashareandtookhimin。
　　“Everybodylikedhim，too。Hewasyoungereventhantherest，andfinelookin’andhehada——akindofwaywithhimthatjustmadeyoulikehim。Thewaythebusinesswashandledwassomethin’likethis：
　　Cap’nMarcellus，yourstepfather，Mary-’Gusta，heandCap’nShaddonetheoutsidemanagin’，bossin’themen——wehadalotof’emonthewharfthemdays，too，andtherewasalwaysschoonersunloadin’
　　andcartsloadin’upandfellersheadin’upbarrels——Oh，HallandCompany’sstoreanddockswasthebusiestplaceontheSouthShore。
　　Youaskanybodythatremembersandthey’lltellyouso。
　　“Well，Cap’nMarcellusandCap’nShadwassortofoutsidebosses，sameasIsaid，andZoethhewassortofgeneralbusinessboss，’tendin’tothebuyin’suppliesandpayin’for’emandgettin’moneyandthelikeofthat，andEd——EdgarFarmer，Imean——hewasinsideofficeboss，lookin’outforthebooksandthecollectionsandthebankaccountandsoon。MarcellusandZoethandCap’nShadwasoldchumsandhadbeenforyears；theywasasmuchtoeachotherasbrothersandalwayshadbeen；butitwan’tsoverylongaforetheythoughtasmuchofFarmerastheydidofthemselves。Hewasthatkind——youcouldn’thelptakin’anotiontohim。