“Of course it will be all right,” declared Mrs. Wyeth promptly.  “I shall be glad to have her.”

“Thank you, ma’am.  If she won’t be in the way I—­”

“If she were likely to be in the way I should say so.  She won’t be.”

“Yes—­er—­yes, ma’am,” stammered Shadrach.  “Thank you, ma’am.”

When he and Mr. Keith were out of the house he drew a long breath.

“Judas!” he observed, feelingly.  “Say, that cousin of yours don’t waste any words, does she?  When it comes to speakin’ what’s in her mind she don’t fool around none.  She’s as right up and down as a schooner’s fo’mast.”

Keith laughed heartily.  “Emily is blunt and outspoken,” he said.  “She prides herself on that.  But she is as square as a brick.  She never says one thing to your face and another behind your back.”

“No, I—­I judge that’s so.  Well, that’s all right; I ain’t got any objections to that way of talkin’ myself.  But say, if every woman was like her there wouldn’t be many sewin’ circles, would there?  The average sewin’ circle meetin’ is one part sew and three parts what So-and-so said.”

When the little mite of business had been transacted and the pair returned to the Wyeth house they found Mrs. Wyeth and Mary-’Gusta awaiting them in the parlor.  The girl had the feeling that she had been undergoing a rather vigorous cross-examination.  Mrs. Wyeth had not talked a great deal herself and her manner, though brusque and matter of fact, was kind; but she had asked questions about Mary-’Gusta’s home life, about Captain Gould and Mr. Hamilton, about school and friends and acquaintances.  And her comments, when she made any, were direct and to the point.

She and Mr. Keith exchanged looks when the latter entered the room.  Keith raised his eyebrows inquiringly.  She nodded as if giving emphatic assent to his unspoken question.

Shadrach and Mary-’Gusta left the house soon afterward.  While the Captain and Mr. Keith were whispering together in the hall, Mrs. Wyeth bade the girl good-by.

“I like you, my dear,” said the lady.  “You seem to be a sweet, sensible girl, and I don’t meet as many of that kind nowadays as I could wish.  I am sure we shall be good friends.”

“And what did she mean by that?” demanded Mary-’Gusta, as she and the Captain walked along Pinckney Street together.  “Why should we be good friends?  Probably I’ll never meet her again.”

Shadrach smiled.  “Oh, you can’t always tell,” he said.  “Sometimes you meet folks oftener’n you think in this world.”

Mary-’Gusta looked at him.  “Uncle Shad,” she said, “what does all this mean, anyway?  Why did you go to her house?  And what was the mysterious business of yours with Mr. Keith?”

The Captain shook his head.  “We’ve got a hen on, same as I told you,” he declared.  “When it’s time for the critter to come off the nest you’ll see what’s been hatched same as the rest of us.  How’d you like that Mrs. Wyeth?  Had a pretty sharp edge on her tongue, didn’t she?”