l this about, anyway? You
don't cal'late I'd take you walkin' Sundays if I thought 'twas wicked,
do you?"

"No, sir; but Uncle Zoeth thinks not goin' to church is wicked. If you
and I went to church with him 'twould please him ever so much."

"Maybe so, but 'twould please you and me if he went walkin' with us.
I've asked him times enough. Why can't he do what I want as well as my
doin' what he wants?"

"'Cause he thinks it's wrong. You don't think goin' to church is wrong,
do you, Uncle Shad?"

Shadrach shook his head. "By fire!" he exclaimed. "You're a regular
young lawyer, you are, Mary-'Gusta. Judge Baxter hasn't got you beat
when it comes to makin' out a case. Look here, now; be honest; hadn't
you rather go to walk with me than go to that meetin'-house?"

"Yes, sir," frankly; "I'd rather."

"Oh, you had, eh? But all the same you want us to give up our walk and
go to church every Sunday just to please Zoeth. Is that it?"

Mary-'Gusta took his hand. "No, sir," she said shyly, "but I thought
perhaps we could divide up. You and I could go with him one Sunday and
to walk the next Sunday. That would be fair. I'm his little girl same as
I am yours, Uncle Shad, ain't I?"

Shadrach was stumped, and he went to church that Sunday morning. The
sermon had nothing to do with Jonah or the whale, so his feelings
were not ruffled. Zoeth was mightily pleased and Mary-'Gusta was happy
because he was. The plan of alternate Sundays was adopted. It was but
one instance of the "managing" quality which the girl possessed. Isaiah
declared that she wound all hands around her little finger, but even he
seemed to enjoy the winding.

As she grew older Mary-'Gusta learned more and more concerning her
uncles, their habits, their contrasting temperaments and their past
history. She learned a little of Hall and Company, the prosperous firm
of which they had been partners, with Marcellus Hall, her stepfather,
as the head. Isaiah told her a little concerning the firm: "No bigger on
Cape Cod," he declared. She asked why it had not continued in business.
Mr. Chase brusquely answered that it hadn't, that's all, and would not
give any particulars. She questioned the steward concerning Shadrach
and Zoeth. The former had never married; that was funny; why hadn't he?
Isaiah said he did not know. Hadn't Uncle Zoeth ever married, either?
Yes, Zoeth had married.

"Who did--" began Mary-'Gusta, but Isaiah cut short the catechizing.

"You mustn't a