Mary ran after him and caught his arm.

"Come back, Uncle Shad!" she ordered. "Come back, sit down, and don't be
foolish. I don't want you to talk to me! I am going to talk to you, and
I'm not half through yet. Besides, it wasn't Isaiah who told me, it was
Judge Baxter."

"Judge Baxter! Why, the everlastin' old--"

"Hush! He couldn't help telling me, I made him do it. Be still, both of
you, and I'll tell you all about it."

She did tell them, beginning with her meeting with Mr. Green at the Howe
dinner, then of her stop at Ostable and the interview with Baxter.

"So I have found it all out, you see," she said. "I'm not going to try
to thank you--I couldn't, if I did try. But I am going to take my turn
at the work and the worry. To begin with, of course, you understand that
I am through with Boston and school, through forever."

There was an excited and voluble protest, of course, but she paid no
heed whatever to commands or entreaties.

"I am through," she declared. "I shall stay here and help you. I am
only a girl and I can't do much, perhaps, but I truly believe I can do
something. I am a sort of silent partner now; you understand that, don't
you?"

Shadrach looked doubtful and anxious.