o give up the riddle. Lovers' quarrels were
by no means unusual, he knew that, and many young love affairs came to
nothing. Mary had never told him that she cared for Crawford. But she
had never said she did not care for him. And now she would say nothing
except that it was "done with forever." The Captain shook his head and
longed for Zoeth's counsel and advice. But Zoeth would not be able to
counsel or advise for months.

And now Mary seemed bent upon proving the truth of her statement that
she was henceforth to be solely a business woman. The summer being
over--and it had been, everything considered, a successful one for
Hamilton and Company--it became time to buy fall and winter goods, also
goods for the holidays. Mary went to Boston on a buying expedition. When
she returned and informed her uncle what and how much she had bought,
he looked almost as if he had been listening to the reading of his death
warrant.

"Jumpin' Judas!" he exclaimed. "You don't mean to tell me you bought all
them things and--and got TRUSTED for 'em?"

"Of course I did, Uncle Shad. It is the only way I could buy them; and,
so far as that goes, everyone was glad to sell me. You see, our paying
our bills up there in a shorter time than I asked for has made a very
good impression. I could have bought ever and ever so much more if I had
thought it best."

"Jumpin' fire! Well, I'm glad you didn't think it best. What in the
nation we're goin' to do with all we have got I don't see."

"Do with it? Why, sell it, of course."

"Urn--yes, I cal'lated that was the idea, probably; but who's goin' to
buy it?"

"Oh, lots of people. You'll see. I am going to advertise this fall,
advertise in the papers. Oh, we'll make Baker's Bazaar and the rest
worry a little before we're through."

The Captain was inclined to fear that the most of the worrying would
be done by Hamilton and Company, but he expressed no more misgivings.
Besides, if anyone could sell all those goods, that one was his
Mary-'Gusta, he was perfectly sure of that. He believed her quite
capable of performing almost any miracle. Had she not pulled the firm
off the rocks where he and his partner had almost wrecked it? Wasn't
she the most wonderful young woman on earth? Old as he was, Captain Shad
would probably have attempted to thrash any person who expressed a doubt
of that.

And the goods were sold, all of them and more. The advertisements,
temptingly worded, appeared in the county w