Zoeth

“ Zoeth sighed. “No, Shadrach,” he admitted. “I guess likely we don't, but—”
“But what?”
“Well, we've got to realize that those kind of notions come—come sort of natural to young folks Mary-'Gusta's age.”
“Rubbish! I don't believe that girl's got a single one of 'em in her mind.”
“Maybe not, but they'll be there some day. Ah, well,” he added, “we mustn't be selfish, you and me, Shadrach. It'll be dreadful hard to give her up to somebody else, but if that somebody is a good man, kind and straight and honest, why, I for one will try not to complain. But, Oh, Shadrach! ”

“ What did he say to that?”
“Oh, he laughed that big laugh of his and told me not to worry. 'I'M feelin' pretty average satisfied with life just now, Mary-'Gusta,' he said, 'and as for Zoeth—well, he asked me this mornin' if I didn't cal'late 'twas wicked for him and me to be so contented with the things of this world, so I know HE'S all right. When Zoeth gets real happy he always begins to feel sinful.' I hope that a consciousness of sin isn't the only test of happiness,” she added, “because I don't believe you feel wicked the least bit. ”

“ Zoeth sighed. “I wish—” he said slowly, “I wish I knew—”
“What do you wish you knew?”
“Eh? Oh, nothin'. If—if I was only a little mite stronger I'd try to talk with Mary-'Gusta myself. I'd like—I'd like to have her tell me about it.”
“Meanin' you don't believe me, eh? There, there, shipmate, it's all right. I was only jokin'. But I wouldn't ask Mary-'Gusta about that, if I was you. ”

“ You see, we was both sot on eatin' supper with you tonight, no matter store or not, and Isaiah, he was just as sot as we was. But all to once Zoeth had an idea. 'Shadrach,' he says, 'in Scriptur' times when people was real happy, same as we are now, they used to make a sacrifice to the Almighty to show how glad and grateful they was. Let's you and me make a sacrifice; let's sacrifice this evenin's trade—let's shut up the store on account of our girl's comin' home.' 'Good idea!' says I, so we did it. ”

“ Zoeth said nothing, but he looked vexed and disturbed.
“I'd knock SOMEBODY'S head off if I had my way,” observed Shadrach. “Or if I didn't, I'd like to. Where is she now, Isaiah?”
“She's up in the spare room, asleep I cal'late. And she's got her dolls along with her, three on one side and two on t'other. Wanted me to be sure and wake all hands of 'em up on time in the mornin'. He, he! She undressed them dolls, every one of 'em, afore they turned in. Oh, yes, and she helped me make the bed, too. She CAN make a bed, blessed if she can't. ”

“ I must take everyone of them a Christmas present. What fun that will be! Little Zoeth used to call me his ‘story-gal’ because I told him the tales Uncle Barney had told to me. Oh, I know what I’ll do. I’ll buy him a book full of pictures of fairies and giants. Zoey is going to the village school this winter and if I choose a book with short words in it and big print, he may be able to read the stories all by himself.
“Now what shall I get for Linda Wixon? Something bright and pretty to wear. That’s what she was always wishing for,” Muriel ended breathlessly. ”

“ Somebody ought to keep a watch on me, and when they see me beginnin' to get hot, set me on the back of the stove or somewheres; I'm always liable to bile over and scald the wrong critter. I've done that all my life. I'm sorry, Zoeth, you know I didn't mean—”
“I know, I know. Ah hum! Poor Marcellus! Here's the first break in the old firm, Shadrach.” ”

“ Mrs. Jubal Smalley remarked. “Thar’d ought to be a plant settin’ on the window sill, just atop o’ it.”
No one noticed when little Zoeth slipped away, but they all saw him return triumphantly bearing his greatest treasure, a potted geranium which had three scarlet blossoms. With cheeks burning and eyes glowing, the little fellow placed it upon the window sill. “It’s for yer mither to keep,” he said, looking up at the Irishman, who was deeply touched, for well he knew how the little fellow had nursed the plant, which the year before Lindy had rescued from a rubbish heap in the summer colony. ”

“ Zoeth made the next attempt at conversation.
“Never been to South Harniss, have you, Mary-'Gusta?” he inquired.
“No, sir,” gravely. “But,” remembering the housekeeper's final charge not to forget her manners, if she had any, “I'm sure I'll like it very much.”
“Oh, you are, eh? Well, that's nice. What makes you so sure?”
Mary-'Gusta reflected. She remembered what Mrs. Bailey had said after a week's visit in Bayport, which is fourteen miles from Ostable. “I think everybody enjoys a change of air,” she observed.
“My soul and body!” exclaimed Mr. Hamilton. ”

“ Wouldn't I? Why not?”
“'Cause grown-up folks don't like to be asked how old they are. I asked Mrs. Hobbs how old she was once and she didn't like it.”
“Didn't she?”
“No, sir. She told me to mind my own business.”
The Captain laughed aloud. Then, turning to Mr. Hamilton, he said: “Say, Zoeth, Isaiah'll be a little mite surprised when he sees this craft make port, eh?”
Zoeth smiled. “I shouldn't wonder,” he replied.
“Um-hm. I'd like to have a tintype of Isaiah's face. Well, sis—er, Mary-'Gusta, I mean—there's South Harniss dead ahead. How do you like the looks of it?” ”

“ Just how it drifted to Mary-'Gusta and her future neither of the partners could have told—however, drift there it did, and they found themselves chanting her praises to their caller, who seemed much interested.
“She is a remarkably capable girl,” observed Mr. Keith. “And before we realize it she will be a young woman. Are you planning that she shall keep store and keep house for you the rest of her life, or the rest of yours?”
Zoeth shook his head. “Why,” he said, mildly, “I don't know's we've planned much about it so fur. Those things sort of take care of themselves, always seemed to me. ”

“ We can't do nothin' else.”
“And you, Mr. Hamilton?”
Zoeth appeared to hesitate. Then he asked:
“What sort of a girl is she?”
“Mary-'Gusta? She's a bright child, and a well-behaved one, generally speaking. Rather old for her years, and a little—well, peculiar. That isn't strange, considering the life she has led since her mother's death. But she is a good girl and a pretty little thing. I like her; so does my wife.”
“That was her at the cemetery, wasn't it? She was with that Hobbs woman?”
“Yes.”
“I thought so. Shadrach and I met her when we was over here two years ago. ”

“ Zoeth's smile broadened. “Seems as if I remember your sayin' a few things about that showcase,” he remarked. “You gave me fits for lettin' her fuss with it. Annabel was in t'other day and she said folks thought 'twas queer enough our lettin' a thirteen-year-old child run our store for us.”
“She did, eh? She's jealous, that's what ails her. And to think of HER sayin' it. That Annabel's all brass, like a ship's spyglass. By the jumpin' Judas! I'm proud of that showcase and I'm proud of Mary-'Gusta. She don't make many mistakes: I can't remember of her makin' any.” ”

“ The partners, looking rather foolish, said nothing for a moment. Then Zoeth muttered that he didn't know but she had.
“Yes,” said Mary-'Gusta, “I—I think so. You see I'm—I mean I was a stepchild 'long as father was here. Now he's dead and I ain't even that. And I ain't anybody's cousin nor nephew nor niece. I just ain't anything. I'm different from everybody I know. And—and—” very solemnly—“I don't like to be so different.”
Her lip quivered as she said it. Sitting there on the cranberry crate, hugging her dolls, she was a pathetic little figure. Again the partners found it hard to answer. ”

“ Shadrach had liked her and Marcellus had loved her, but Zoeth had fairly bowed down and worshiped the ground she trod on. Anything she wanted, no matter what, she could have if 'twas in Zoeth's power to get it for her. He'd humored her and spiled her as if she was a child and all he asked for doin' it was that she'd pat him on the head once in a while, same as you would a dog. And now she'd gone—run off with that thief! Why—”
Mary interrupted again. “Wait! Wait, Isaiah,” she cried. “I tell you I don't understand. You say—you say Captain Hall's sister had gone with Mr. Farmer?”
“Sartin! ”

“ But a day or two afterwards he called at the store. Zoeth and Captain Shadrach were alone there, their niece having gone down to the house, a fact of which the caller was aware.
The partners liked John Keith. They considered him, as Captain Shad said, “a first-rate, everyday sort of feller,” who did not patronize nor put on airs, even though he was a “summer man” and rich. When he talked with them it was of things they understood, local affairs, the cranberry crop, fishing, and the doings of the Board of Selectmen. ”

“ What was it you said?”
“I said that Captain Marcellus Hall has left whatever property he owned, after his creditors are satisfied, to his stepdaughter. He has left it in trust until she becomes of age. And he asks you two to accept that trust and the care of the child. Is that plain?”
It was plain and they understood. But with understanding came, apparently, a species of paralysis of the vocal organs. Zoeth turned pale and leaned back in his chair. Shadrach's mouth opened and closed several times, but he said nothing. ”

“ If he can't he can do the next best.”
He was absent for half an hour. When he returned Mr. Hamilton was in the dining-room. Shadrach entered, bearing the precious shotgun. He stood it carefully in the corner. There was a satisfied look in his eye.
“For goodness' sake, Shadrach!” exclaimed Zoeth, “what have you been thinkin' of? There I was waitin' and waitin' and hankerin' and hankerin' and no you nor no supper. I had to lock up the store finally. 'Twas either that or starve. I ain't a fault-finder, generally speakin', but I have to eat, same as other folks.” ”

“ Baker's Bazaar! Ugh! Rheinstein's Robbers' Roost would be nigher the truth. . . . Say, Zoeth, we mustn't hint a word to Mary-'Gusta about this. We've got cash enough on hand to pay her clearance charges up there at school, ain't we?”
“Yes, Shadrach, I've looked out for that. I don't know's I'd ought to. The money maybe had ought to go somewheres else, but—but right or wrong it's goin' for her and I hope the Lord'll forgive me. And what you say's true, she mustn't know we're worried. She's so conscientious she might be for givin' up her schoolin' and comin' down here to help us. ”

“ Keith condescended to ornament the occasion; some of the “best people” had seen fit to make much of Mary Lathrop and Mrs. Keith never permitted herself to be very far behind the best people in anything—and Mrs. Wyeth was there, and Miss Pease, and Mr. Green who had received an invitation and had come from Boston, and Doctor Harley, and Simeon Crocker and his “steady company,” one of the tea-room young ladies, and Annabel and—and—well, a dozen or fifteen more.
When the minister asked, “Who giveth this woman to this man?” Zoeth answered, bravely, “I do—that is, me and Shadrach.” ”

“ Thou seest the white seas strike their tents, O warder of two continents, And scornful of the peace that flies, Thy angry winds and sullen skies, Thou drawest all things, small or great, To thee beside the Western Gate. ”

“ THE RED GODS CALL. “Are you in a tremendous hurry? Could you spare me a minute or two?” Armitage rose from the seat in the orange walk and intercepted Zoe on her way to the terrace.
“Oh yes. I was only going to wait for Princess Emilia. Is anything the matter?”
“Oh, nothing much. Only that I want to tell you something, and after that—well, I suppose I shan’t trouble you again.”
“You mustn’t be so doleful,” said Zoe, in her elder-sisterly way. “If there is anything wrong, you know that every one of us would do all we could to help you. It’s nothing about the yacht, is it? ”

“ She is of a type of woman appointed by God in his foresight as breeders. Zoe, my adorable one, will probably not take kindly to babies.
I am ordered to report myself at Kiel by next Monday.
I am terribly tempted to ring up Zoe on the telephone before I leave: it seems dreadful to leave her without a word; but at the same time I feel that she would interpret this as a sign of weakness on my part--as indeed it would be. I must be firm, for strength of mind pays with women, even more than with men.
At Kiel.
I left Bruges without a word either to or from my obstinate darling. ”

“ Zoza pondered over the words of the old woman, and after ruminating and turning over a hundred thoughts in her mind, until her head was like a mill full of doubts, she was at last struck by a dart of the passion which blinds the judgement and puts a spell upon the reason of man; and taking with her a handful of dollars from her father’s coffers, she left the palace, and walked on and on, until she arrived at the castle of a fairy, to whom she unburdened her heart. ”

“ This narrative, and his deep dejection, set Zoe's tears flowing. “Poor Edward!” she sighed. “I would not survive you. But cheer up, dear; it was only a dream. We are not slaves. I am not dependent on any one. How can we be parted?”
“We shall, unless we use our opportunity, and make it impossible to part us. Zoe, do not slight my alarm and my misgivings; such warnings are prophetic. For Heaven's sake, make one sacrifice more, and let us place our happiness beyond the reach of man!” ”

“ She will send Maurice if she cannot come herself, but perhaps this will be just what the doctor said she needed to rouse her.”
“I hope the Princess is better?” said Armitage.
“Oh, poor thing!” said Zoe. “It is her mind that is suffering more than her body. You remember how delighted she was when you gave her back the Girdle of Isidora, Kalliopé?—Danaë, I mean—and how she seemed quite different? Well, I think she must have felt, somehow, that this baby was sure to be a boy. When she found it was a girl, it seemed to take from her all desire to live. ”