It was not ended, of course.  Mary-’Gusta went to her room that night declaring she would not leave her uncles to attend any finishing school.  They went to theirs vowing that she should.  The real end came the next day when Zoeth put the subject before her in a new light by saying: 

“Look here, Mary-’Gusta; just listen to me a minute and think.  Suppose the boot was on t’other foot:  suppose you wanted us to do somethin’ to please you, you’d expect us to do it, wouldn’t you?  Anyhow, you know mighty well we would do it.  Now we want you to do this to please us.  We’ve set our hearts on it.”

Mary-’Gusta was silent for a minute or more.  The partners watched her anxiously.  Then she asked an unusual question, one concerning her own financial status.

“Can I afford it?” she asked.  “Have I money enough of my own?”

Zoeth looked troubled.  Shadrach, however, answered promptly and diplomatically.

“Haven’t I told you,” he said, “that Zoeth and me are your guardians?  And didn’t I say we’d gone into the thing careful and deliberate?  And didn’t I pay your first year’s schoolin’ yesterday?  Don’t that alone show what we think about the money.  Be still, Zoeth; that’s enough.  Well, Mary-’Gusta?”

Mary-’Gusta considered a moment longer.  Then she rose and, crossing the room, gave them each a kiss.

“I’ll go,” she said, simply.  “I’ll go because I think you mean it and that it will please you.  For that reason and no other I’ll go.”

CHAPTER XI

The Misses Cabot’s school was to open on the fifteenth of September and, on the morning of the fourteenth, Mary-’Gusta bade her guardians good-by on the platform of the South Harniss railway station.  Shadrach had intended going to Boston with her, but she had firmly insisted on going alone.

“I must get used to being away from you both,” she said, “and you must get used to having me go.  It will be best for all of us to say good-by here.  It won’t be for very long; I’ll be home at Christmas, you know.”

The three weeks prior to the fateful fourteenth had been crowded with activities.  Twice the girl and Captain Shadrach had journeyed to Boston, where in company with Mrs. Wyeth, whose services had been volunteered in a crisp but kindly note, they visited shops and selected and purchased—­that is, the feminine members of the party selected and the Captain paid for—­a suit and waists and hats and other things which it appeared were necessary for the wardrobe of a young lady at finishing school.  Shadrach would have bought lavishly, but Mrs. Wyeth’s common sense guided the selections and Mary-’Gusta was very particular as to price.  Shadrach, at the beginning, made a few suggestions concerning colors and styles, but the suggestions were disregarded.  The Captain’s taste in colors was not limited; he fancied almost any hue, provided it was bright enough.  His ward would have looked like an animated crazy quilt if he had had his way.