s last week. You drill a hole in the crust nigh the edge of
the plate and then put that thing in and pry the upper deck loose. Good
idea, Isaiah! I--"

"Aw, go to grass!" interrupted the indignant Mr. Chase. "I notice you
always eat enough of my pies, decks--yes, and hull and riggin', too."

Then there was THE great surprise, that which the partners had prepared
for their idolized niece. Mary found beside her plate a small, oblong
package, wrapped in tissue paper and labeled, "To Mary-'Gusta, from
Uncle Shadrach and Uncle Zoeth, with a Merry Christmas." Inside the
paper was a pasteboard box, inside that a leather case, and inside THAT
a handsome gold watch and chain. Then there was much excited exclaiming
and delighted thanks on Mary's part, and explanations and broad grins on
that of the givers.

"But you shouldn't have done it! Of course you shouldn't!" protested
Mary. "It's perfectly lovely and I wanted a watch more than anything;
but I KNOW this must have cost a great deal."

"Never, neither," protested the Captain. "We got it wholesale. Edgar
Emery's nephew is in the business up to Providence and he picked it out
for us. Didn't begin to cost what we cal'lated 'twould, did it, Zoeth?
When you buy things wholesale that way you can 'most always cal'late to
get 'em lower than you cal'late to."

Mary smiled at this somewhat involved statement, but she shook her head.

"I'm sure it cost a great deal more than you should have spent," she
said.

"But you like it, don't you?" queried Zoeth, hopefully.

"Like it! Oh, Uncle Zoeth, don't you KNOW I like it! Who could help
liking such a beautiful thing?"

"How's it show up alongside the watches the other girls have up to that
Boston school?" asked Shadrach, with ill-concealed anxiety. "We wouldn't
want our girl's watch to be any cheaper'n theirs, you know."

The answer was enthusiastic enough to satisfy even the Captain and Mr.
Hamilton.

"I'm sure there isn't another girl in the school whose watch means to
her what this will mean to me," declared Mary. "I shall keep it and love
it all my life."

The partners heaved a sigh of relief. Whether or not the watch was fine
enough for their Mary-'Gusta had been a source of worriment and much
discussion. And then Isaiah, with his customary knack of saying the
wrong thing, tossed a brickbat into the puddle of general satisfaction.

"That's so," he said; "that's so, Mary-'Gusta. You can keep it all
your life, and when you