Mr. Mullet muttered something to the effect that he was dum sure he was not proud of his present overcoat. His wife ignored the complaint.

"And you'll be proud of Irene when she comes home," she declared. "She won't be like that Mary-'Gusta, standin' up behind the counter and sellin' goods."

"Why, now, Becky, what's the matter with her doin' that? She always used to sell goods, and behind that very counter, too. And she certainly can SELL 'em!" with a reminiscent chuckle.

Mrs. Mullet glared at him. "Yes," she drawled, with sarcasm, "so she can--to some folks. Look at you, with all that Christmas junk under your arm! You didn't need to buy that stuff any more'n you needed to fly.

What did you buy it for? Tell me that."

Chris shook his head. "Blessed if I know," he admitted. "I hadn't any idea of buyin' it, but she and me got to talkin', and she kept showin'

the things to me, and I kept lookin' at 'em and--"

"Yes, and kept lookin' at her, too! Don't talk to ME! There's no fool like an old fool--and an old man fool is the worst of all."

Her husband, usually meek and long-suffering under wifely discipline, evinced unwonted spirit.

"Well, I tell you this, Becky," he said. "Fur's I can see, Mary-'Gusta's all right. She's as pretty as a picture, to begin with; she's got money of her own to spend; and she's been away among folks that have got a lot more. All them things together are enough to spoil 'most any girl, but they haven't spoiled her. She's come home here not a mite stuck-up, not flirty nor silly nor top-lofty, but just as sensible and capable and common-folksy as ever she was, and that's sayin' somethin'. If our Rena turns out to be the girl Mary-'Gusta Lathrop is I WILL be proud of her, and don't you forget it!"

Which terminated conversation in the Mullet family for that evening.

But if the few, like Mrs. Mullet, were inclined to criticize, the many, like her husband, united in declaring Mary to be "all right." And her rearranging and displaying of the Christmas goods helped her and her uncles to dispose of them. In fact, for the three days before Christmas it became necessary to call in the services of Annabel as a.s.sistant saleslady. The store was crowded, particularly in the evenings, and Zoeth and Captain Shad experienced for the first time in months the sensation of being the heads of a prosperous business.

"Looks good to see so many young folks in here, don't it, Zoeth?"

observed the Captain. "And not only girls, but fellers, too. Don't know when I've seen so many young fellers in here. Who's that young squirt Mary-'Gusta's waitin' on now? The one with the whittled-in back to his overcoat. Say, Solomon in all his glory wasn't arrayed like one of him!

Must be some city feller, eh? n.o.body I know."

Zoeth looked at his niece and her customer.

"Humph!" he said. "Guess you ain't rubbed your gla.s.ses lately, Shadrach.

That's Dan Higgins."

Mr. Higgins it was, home for a few days' relaxation from the fatigues of coffin selling, and garbed as usual in city clothes the splendor of which, as Captain Shad said afterwards, "would have given a blind man eyestrain." Daniel's arms were filled with purchases and he and Mary were standing beside the table where the toys and games were displayed.

Mary was gazing at the toys; Mr. Higgins was--not.

The partners regarded the pair for a moment. Shadrach frowned.

"Humph!" he grunted.

"Daniel's tryin' to find somethin' his little brother'll like,"

explained Zoeth.

"Yes," observed the Captain, dryly. "Well, he looks as if he'd found somethin' HE liked pretty well. Here, Mary-'Gusta, I'll finish waitin'

on Dan. You just see what Mrs. Nickerson wants, will you, please?"

Christmas Eve ended the rush of business for Hamilton and Company. The following week, the last of Mary's vacation, was certain to be dull enough. "Nothin' to do but change presents for folks," prophesied Captain Shad. "Give them somethin' they want and take back somethin'

we don't want. That kind of trade is like shovelin' fog up hill, more exercise than profit."

Christmas was a happy day at the white house by the sh.o.r.e, a day of surprises. To begin with, there were the presents which were beside the plates at breakfast. Mary had brought gifts for all, Captain Shadrach, Zoeth, and Isaiah. There was nothing expensive, of course, but each had been chosen to fit the taste and liking of the recipient and there was no doubt that each choice was a success. Isaiah proudly displayed a jacknife which was a small toolchest, having four blades, a corkscrew, a screwdriver, a chisel, a b.u.t.ton-hook and goodness knows what else besides.

"Look at that!" crowed Isaiah, exhibiting the knife, bristling like a porcupine, on his open palm. "Look at it! By time, there ain't nothin' I can't do with that knife! Every time I look at it I find somethin'

new. Now, I wonder what that is," pointing to a particularly large and ferocious-looking implement which projected from the steel tangle. "I cal'late I've sized up about everything else, but I can't seem to make out what that's for. What do you cal'late 'tis, Cap'n Shad?"

Shadrach looked.

"Why, that's simple," he said, gravely. "That's a crust crowbar."

"A what?"

"A crust crowbar. For openin' one of them cast-iron pies same as you made for us 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 gra.s.s!" 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 get to be an old woman and married and have grandchildren then you can give it to them."

Captain Shadrach, who had taken up his napkin preparatory to tucking it under his chin, turned in his chair and glared at the unconscious steward.

"Well, by the jumpin' fire!" he exclaimed, with conviction. "The feller is sartinly possessed. He's lovesick, that's what's the matter with him.

All he can talk about is somebody's gettin' married. Are YOU cal'latin'

to get married, Isaiah?"

"Me? What kind of fool talk is that?"

"Who's the lucky woman?"

"There ain't no lucky woman. Don't talk so ridic'lous! All I said was that when Mary-'Gusta was old and married and had--"