Mary-Gusta | Page 3

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This etext was prepared by Donald Lainson, [email protected].

MARY-'GUSTA
by Joseph C. Lincoln

MARY-'GUSTA

CHAPTER I
On the twentieth day of April in the year 19--, the people--that is, a
majority of the grown people of Ostable--were talking of Marcellus
Hall and Mary-'Gusta.
A part of this statement is not surprising. The average person, no matter
how humble or obscure, is pretty certain to be talked about on the day
of his funeral, and Marcellus was to be buried that afternoon. Moreover,
Marcellus had been neither humble nor obscure; also, he had been
talked about a good deal during the fifty-nine years of his sojourn on
this planet. So it is not at all surprising that he should be talked about
now, when that sojourn was ended. But for all Ostable--yes, and a large
part of South Harniss--to be engaged in speculation concerning the
future of Mary-'Gusta was surprising, for, prior to Marcellus's death,
very few outside of the Hall household had given her or her future a
thought.

On this day, however, whenever or wherever the name of Marcellus
Hall was mentioned, after the disposition of Marcellus's own bones had
been discussed and those of his family skeleton disinterred and
articulated, the conversation, in at least eight cases out of ten, resolved
itself into a guessing contest, having as its problem this query:
"What's goin' to become of that child?"
For example:
Mr. Bethuel Sparrow, local newsgatherer for the Ostable Enterprise,
seated before his desk in the editorial sanctum, was writing an obituary
for next week's paper, under the following head:
"A Prominent Citizen Passes Away."
An ordinary man would probably have written "Dies"; but Mr. Sparrow,
being a young and very new reporter for a rural weekly, wrote "Passes
Away" as more elegant and less shocking to the reader.
It is much more soothing and refined to pass away than to die-- unless
one happens to be the person most concerned, in which case, perhaps, it
may make little difference.
"The Angel of Death," wrote Mr. Sparrow, "passed through our midst
on Tuesday last and called to his reward Captain Marcellus Hall, one of
Ostable's most well-known and influential residents."
A slight exaggeration here. Marcellus had lived in Ostable but five
years altogether and, during the last three, had taken absolutely no part
in town affairs--political, religious or social. However, "influential" is a
good word and usual in obituaries, so Bethuel let it stand. He
continued:
"Captain Hall's sudden death--"
Erasure of "death" and substitution of "demise."
Then:

"--Was a shock to the community at large. It happened on account of--"
More erasures and substitutions. "--It was the result of his taking cold
owing to exposure during the heavy southeast rains of week before last
which developed into pneumonia. He grew rapidly worse and passed
away at 3.06 P.M. on Tuesday, leaving a vacancy in our midst which
will be hard to fill, if at all. Although Captain Hall had resided in
Ostable but a comparatively short period, he was well-known and
respected, both as a man and--"
Here, invention failing, Mr. Sparrow called for assistance.
"Hey, Perce," he hailed, addressing his companion, Mr. Percy Clark,
who was busy setting type: "What's a good word to use here? I say
Marcellus was respected both as a man--and somethin' else."
"Hey?" queried Percy, absently, scanning the eight point case. "What
d'ye say?"
"I asked you what would be a good thing to go with 'man'?"
"Hey? I don't know. Woman, I guess."
"Aw, cut it out. Never mind, I got it:
"--As a man and a citizen. Captain Hall was fifty-nine years of age at
the time of his demise. He was born in South Harniss and followed the
sea until 1871, when he founded the firm of Hall and Company, which
was for some years the leading dealer in fresh and salt fish in this
section of the state. When the firm--
"I say, Perce! 'Twouldn't do to say Marcellus failed in business, would
it? Might seem like hintin' at that stuff about his sister and the rest of it.
Might get us into trouble,