ish to thunder I'd been here. There'd have
been one mighty sick patient ready for the doctor and he wouldn't have
been a South Harniss native either. But Mary-'Gusta didn't take none of
his sauce, I tell you; that girl of ours is all right!"

"Yes, she is all right. But she didn't enjoy the experience, that was
plain enough, and, so far as I can see, she is likely to have a good
many others of the same kind. Now it isn't my business, I know that; you
can tell me to shut up and clear out any time you like, of course; but
do you think it is just fair to a girl like your niece to condemn her
to a life of storekeeping or the alternative of marrying one of the
promising young men you've been talking about? Don't you think such a
girl as she is deserves a chance; every chance you can give her?"

The two partners stared at him open-mouthed. Shadrach, as usual, spoke
first.

"Condemn her?" he repeated. "Condemn Mary-'Gusta? A chance? Why--"

"Hush, Shadrach," interrupted Zoeth. "Mr. Keith ain't done yet. He's
goin' to tell us what he means. Go on, Mr. Keith, what do you mean?"

Keith, having broken the ice, and found the water not so chilly as he
had feared it might be, plunged in.

"Well, I mean this," he said. "I confess frankly that I have been very
favorably impressed by your niece. She is an unusual girl--unusually
pretty, of course, but much more than that. She is simple and brave and
sensible and frank. If she were my daughter I should be very proud of
her. I know you are. She should have, it seems to me, the opportunity to
make the most of her qualities and personality. I've been thinking about
her a great deal ever since my call at the store here the other day. Now
I've got a suggestion to make. You can take it or leave it, but I assure
you it is made with the best of intentions and solely in her interest as
I see it; and I hope you'll take it after you've thought it over. Here
it is."

He went on to impart the suggestion. His hearers listened, Zoeth
silently and Shadrach with occasional mutterings and exclamations.

"So there you are," said Keith in conclusion. "The school is a good
one, one of the best in Boston. Two years there will do worlds for your
niece. It has done worlds for other girls I have known. It is rather
expensive, of course, but, as I understand it, Mary has money of her
own of which you, as her guardians, have charge. She couldn't spend a
portion of that money to better advantage."

Zoeth