NEIGHBORS WIVES. 
 
 J. T. TROWBRIDGE, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "NEIGHBOR JACKWOOD," "FATHER BRIGHTHOPES," KTO. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 L, E E AND SHEPARD. 
 
 1867. 
 
Entered accordftng to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by 
 
 J. T. TROWBRIDGE, 
 In the Clerk s Office of the District Court of the District of Massachus 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGK 
 
 I. THE ADOPTED SISTER, 7 
 
 II. MR. TASSO SMITH AND THE APJOHNS, ... 20 
 
 III. ABSENCE, 30 
 
 IV. MRS. APJOHN S ADVENTURE, ..... 35 
 V. COOPER JOHN TO THE KESCUE, .... 41 
 
 VI. SUNDAY EVENING AT ABEL S, .... 53 
 
 VII. MR. SMITH S FRIEND S JEWELS, . . " . . 63 
 
 VIII. FAUSTINA S TANGLED WEB, 71 
 
 IX. FAUSTINA RETURNS MRS. AP JOHN S VISIT, . 78 
 
 X. FAUSTINA S SUSPENSE, 85 
 
 XL TASSO s REVENGE, 91 
 
 XII. THE GUILTY CONSCIENCE, 104 
 
 XIII. THE SAD CASE OF THE COOPER, ... 114 
 
 XIV. MORE AND MORE ENTANGLED, .... 123 
 XV. TRAGICAL, 138 
 
 XVI. THE ARREST, 145 
 
 XVII. FAUSTINA CONSOLES HERSELF, .... 155 
 
 XVIII. " HE ENTERED IN HIS HOUSE, HIS HOME NO MORE," 159 
 
 XIX. HUSBAND AND WIFE, .... 164 
 
 XX. THE RETURN OF ELIZA, 172 
 
 (III) 
 
 M5S0374 
 
iv Contents. 
 
 XXI. HOME ONCE MOKE, 181 
 
 XXII. ANOTHER SUNDAY, 189 
 
 XXIII. ABEL AND ELIZA, 199 
 
 XX IY. THE NIGHT, 207 
 
 XXV. FIAT JUSTITIA, 220 
 
 XXVI. THROUGH PRISON-BARS, 235 
 
 XXVII. THE CONVICT S BEAUTIFUL WIFE, ... 247 
 
 XXVIII. THE CONVICT S CHRISTIAN NEIGHBORS, . . 254 
 
 XXIX. IN JAIL. LEAVE-TAKING, 260 
 
 XXX. THE OLD LADY TAKES FINAL LEAVE, . . .270 
 
 XXXI. THE BEGINNING OF THE END, .... 281 
 XXXH. Miss JONES AND MR. SMITH, . . . .291 
 
 XXXIII. ELIZA S MISSION, 300 
 
 XXXIV. ELIZA AND THE GOVERNOR, 303 
 
 XXXV. DELIVERANCE, .309 
 
 XXXVI. HOME, . ... 313 
 
NEIGHBORS WIVES. 
 
 i. 
 
 THE ADOPTED SISTER. 
 
 T was three years since old Abel Dane laid down 
 the compass and the chisel on his work-bench in 
 the old shop, and himself on his bed in the new 
 house which he had so lately built for his com 
 fort, and which he never left again until he was carried 
 out by his neighbors. 
 
 " To be sure ! " moralized one of the pall-bearers, on 
 that occasion, a pale, meagre, bald little man, John 
 Apjohn by name, and a cooper by trade, "it s with 
 houses as tis with every other airthly blessin . We re 
 no sooner ready to enjoy em than either they go or we 
 go. Here s neighbor Dane, been so busy building houses 
 for other people all his life that he never had -time till 
 now to build one for himself ; and to think on t ! " said 
 the cooper, with mournful, wondering eyes, " there the 
 house is, and here he is a-goin to his final home, and 
 leavin ever} r thing to his heir ! To be sure, to be sure ! " 
 and he shook his head solemnly at the decrees of fate. 
 
 (7) 
 
8 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 The heir mentioned was Abel Dane the younger, who 
 inherited his father s trade, the old shop, the new house, 
 and a faithful foster-sister. 
 
 It was three years since that dark day in autumn ; and 
 now just such another dark day in the fall of the year 
 was drawing to a close ; and Abel s foster-sister, having 
 set the supper-table, took her favorite place at the win 
 dow to watch for his coming. And there, sitting in the 
 cheerful room, which would soon be made more cheerful 
 by his presence ; remembering the sad day of the fu 
 neral, so like this day ; thinking of all God s mercies to 
 her, before and since, to her, a poor orphan, so un 
 worthy such a home and such a brother ; looking across 
 the gloomy common, whose very bleakness enhanced her 
 sense of life-warm comfort in house and heart, she saw, 
 through thick tears of happiness, which magnified him 
 into a glimmering seraph, with irregular, shining wings, 
 her " more than brother," returning. 
 
 Across the brown common, under the wild elm- 
 boughs swinging in the wind, he came rapidly walking. 
 He stopped to leave some tools he carried at the shop, 
 and that gave the little housekeeper time to get the tea 
 and toast on the table. Then she drew up the invalid s 
 chair, beat the cushion, and helped the invalid to her 
 seat, for this was another important item of Abel s 
 inheritance which we have neglected to mention, namely, 
 a paralytic mother. She was a cheerful old Christian, 
 with the most benignant of double chins, in the full pos 
 session of her mental faculties, but physically shattered. 
 
The Adopted Sister. 9 
 
 She had suffered two or three strokes, the last of which 
 had produced a singular effect upon her organs of 
 speech. 
 
 " Thank you, Gridiron," said she, for this was the 
 oddity of it, that sometimes she could not speak at all, 
 and sometimes she suddenly shot out the most unex 
 pected and irrelevant speeches quite involuntarily; and 
 sometimes when she meant to say one word, another 
 ludicrously inappropriate would drop out in its place, 
 as much to her own astonishment as anybody s. The 
 name of her adopted daughter was Eliza ; but the near 
 est she could come to it at that moment was Grid 
 iron. 
 
 Abel washed his stout carpenter s hands at the sink, 
 kicked off his boots, slipped on his slippers, and the 
 three sat around the little table together, Abel opposite 
 Eliza, a goodly young man and a strong, brown- 
 cheeked and chestnut-haired, with a countenance not 
 lacking in brightness generally, and particularly radiant 
 on this occasion. 
 
 Eliza noticed his gayety, and was glad. They were 
 not lovers, though she loved him. She had never con 
 fessed to herself that she hoped in her inmost heart to 
 be nearer and dearer to him some day than she was now. 
 To be to him what she was seemed happiness enough, 
 his sister, his servant, his, whom it was so sweet to 
 serve : preparing his meals, which it was her meat and 
 her drink to see him eat with appetite ; making his bed 
 and smoothing his dear pillow, with hands magnetic 
 
io Neighbors Wives. 
 
 with affection ; stealing his boots, and blacking them, 
 with the delight which love-lends to the meanest occupa 
 tion ; reading to him evenings and Sundays, or hearing 
 him read from the books that gave her a twofold 
 pleasure because he enjoyed them ; living thus day 
 after day and year after year in the nourishing atmos 
 phere of his out-going and in-coming, and satisfied to 
 live on thus forever. 
 
 And now, without questioning what made Abel so 
 joyous, she was joyous too ; for this is the blessedness 
 of love, that it annihilates selfishness, and makes us 
 happy in others happiness. Filling the cups, she poured 
 her own thankful spirit into them with the fragrant bev 
 erage, and sweetened them, not with sugar only, but 
 with her own spiritual sweetness, which both Abel and 
 his mother tasted in the tea she made and gave them, 
 and missed in that which others made and gave them, 
 without comprehending the subtle cause. 
 
 " Have another cup, mother ? " 
 
 "No, my dear," said the old lady. "But I ll thank 
 you for a piece of the contribution-box." 
 
 She meant to ask for cheese. Then she laughed at 
 herself, half- vexed. Abel roared with mirth. And Eliza 
 said, for Eliza was the wit of the family, 
 
 " I m sure, old cheese bears a strong resemblance to a 
 contribution-box ; for when it is passed around, you 
 often find a few mites in it." 
 
 Upon which Abel flashed his beaming eyes upon his 
 foster-sister. He was going to compliment her wit ; but 
 
The Adopted Sister. 1 1 
 
 something better than that, something glowing in her 
 face, attracted his attention. 
 
 " Why, Liza ! how handsome you are to-night ! " 
 
 Now Eliza was not handsome, and she knew it. She 
 knew that she was a plain little girl. She did not doubt, 
 however, but that Abel saw something pleasing in her 
 tace just then, and the delicious consciousness made her 
 blush like a rose. 
 
 " Positively beautiful ! ain t she, mother ? " cried Abel, 
 with fond enthusiasm. 
 
 " She is always beautiful to me, she is always so good," 
 the old woman managed to say, without a slip. 
 
 " A beautiful soul makes a beautiful face, they say," 
 added Abel. " Consequently a beautiful face indicates 
 a beautiful soul, don t it ? " with a gay, triumphant 
 smile, which Eliza did not understand till two hours 
 later, thinking, poor child, that his words referred to 
 her. 
 
 But, two hours later, Mrs. Dane having fallen asleep 
 in her chair, and Abel having shut the book he was 
 reading, and taken Eliza s work out of her hand, they 
 two sat together before the fire, which blazed up 
 brightly with shavings from the shop, and Abel looked 
 into her face with ardent eyes. 
 
 " Liza, I m going to tell you something." 
 
 A sweet tremor rippled all over her, as if she had 
 been a fountain, and his breath the warm south wind. 
 She looked through his eyes into his soul, and saw love 
 there; while he looked not into her soul. 
 
12 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 " It is my heart s secret," he went on ; for she was 
 dumb with fear and gladness. " I have wanted to tell 
 you; I hope it will make you happy. "We can t live al 
 ways in the way we do, you know; and I never can 
 think of parting from you, Liza." 
 
 How she trembled ! And now she felt a growing 
 terror in her joy ; for, to one whose daily life is blessed, 
 the thought of a great change, whether for good or evil, 
 comes like a portentous shadow. 
 
 " So I have concluded it is best to be married. I am 
 going to be married, Liza. When we were talking of 
 faces, do you know whose face I was thinking of ? The 
 most beautiful face in all this world ! Her face who 
 wrote this letter which I got to-day, and which has 
 made me the happiest of men. You may read it, Liza." 
 
 He placed it in her hands. It dropped from them to 
 the floor. She sat rigid, speechless, pallid a spasm of 
 misery in her face, something like death in her heart. 
 
 " Won t you read it ? " He stooped to pick up the 
 letter. " Don t think her coming into the family will 
 make any difference with you. We will all live here 
 together. You will always have a home here with us ; 
 you will love her; you can t help it, Eliza." He re 
 garded her a minute in silence, his brows darkening. 
 " You disappoint me," he added, heavily ; " I didn t 
 expect you would receive the news in this way. Don t 
 you like Faustina ? " 
 
 "I think she is very pretty," poor Eliza forced 
 her despairing lips to say. 
 
The Adopted Sister. 13 
 
 " Why, then, do you object to her ? " 
 
 "I? object? Oh, I don t! if you can make her 
 happy," 
 
 "What made you look so, then, when I told you? 
 It made my heart sick. And now that smile is worse 
 yet such a wretched smile ! I see you don t approve 
 of my choice," turning away resentfully. " I wanted 
 3 T ou, of all persons, to love and welcome her. But never 
 mind." 
 
 " Oh, Abel ! " she chokingly said, " don t blame me. 
 I can t bear it. I I am glad I will be glad for 
 your sake." 
 
 " You act glad, surely ! " grinned Abel, sarcastic; for 
 he thought her unreasonable, unkind; and so he stabbed 
 her with a look to punish her. 
 
 " Mother I think of her," gasped the miserable 
 girl; "so old, with her infirmity, which every person 
 will not bear with, and cherish her all the more tenderly 
 for, as we do." And covering her face, she shook with 
 a violent, convulsive breath, but did not sob. 
 
 Abel frowned at what he considered a mean insinu 
 ation against his beautiful Faustina; and, holding the 
 letter in his hand, looked moodily at the fire, utterly ig 
 norant and regardless of the agony in the weak woman s 
 breast at his side. " A girl s caprice ; a little trait of 
 envy. angry, perhaps, because I haven t consulted her 
 before; but she ll be sorry for it; and if she isn t, why, 
 I shall be independent of her"- with such a glorious 
 young creature for his wife ! And the young man self- 
 
14 Neighbor^ Wives. 
 
 ishly calculated the slight loss it would be to him, even 
 if Eliza should carry her resentment so far as to leave 
 his house; not, of course, seriously supposing such an 
 event possible. 
 
 Eliza conquered her agony, uncovered her face, and 
 quietly resumed her work. And there they sat by the 
 lire, in silence, with such different thoughts ! Silence 
 which rose like a rock in their hitherto united lives, its 
 hardness and coldness sundering them, two separate 
 streams henceforth, with leagues of misunderstanding 
 and estrangement broadening between them. Did you 
 never feel such a rock rise between you and one yon 
 loved ? and see the stream of his future flow toward 
 flowery embowered vistas of hope, while yours took a 
 sudden plunge into some chilly, unsunned, melancholy 
 cave? 
 
 " Well, children," said the old lady, waking, " I guess 
 I ll night-cap! " 
 
 " Go to bed ? " said Abel. 
 
 "Yes, I believe I was almost asleep; but I didn t 
 
 quite lose myself, did I ? Evenings are growing longer. 
 
 Interesting story where did you leave off ? I m so " 
 
 touching her forehead " what do you call it ? 
 
 jewsharp." 
 
 " Absent-minded," suggested Abel. 
 
 That was the word. And so she went off to bed, try 
 ing to recall the story they had been reading ; but catch 
 ing not even, a hint of the drama they had been actmn 
 before her face. Such is life; and such are its specta- 
 
The Adopted Sister. 15 
 
 tors. Daily and nightly, in street and dwelling, even 
 under the roofs where we abide, and in the very rooms 
 where we meet to laugh and sing away the hours to 
 gether, tragedies are acting in that little theatre, the 
 heart, and we catch so seldom any hint of them ! 
 
 Eliza conducted Mrs. Dane to her chamber; nor did 
 she return to sit a little while alone with Abel as usual, 
 but went to her own room, unlighted, and shut herself 
 up there with the dark and cold. 
 
 And now once more kneeling, with her throbbing head 
 pressed against the casement, she looked across the 
 bleak common, where the wild elm-boughs were sway 
 ing in the wind, and the pallid moonlight fell. The 
 loose leaves rustled along the ground under the win 
 dow. The gables moaned and thrilled, and the lone 
 crickets sang. And remembering how lately the out 
 door desolation had enhanced her idea of life-warm 
 comfort within, she thought her heart would burst. 
 
 Leaves of the dying autumn ! moonlight spread so 
 white and cold over the face of the night ! crickets 
 and whistling wind ! who gave you your power over the 
 human soul ? and why do you pierce and wring the 
 heart of a poor girl, pierced and wrung enough already 
 with unrequited love ? N~o wonder our forefathers 
 thought the moonlight fairy-haunted, and deemed the 
 waving elder-boughs the beckoning fingers of elves. 
 
 The next day, just a little paler than usual, but quite 
 self-possessed, Eliza went about her household-work. 
 She was the same to Abel, in most outward things, as she 
 
1 6 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 had ever been; but oh, the hidden mind ! This Abel 
 could not see. He resented her last night s conduct, and 
 waited for her to come to him humbly and ask his forgive 
 ness, when he intended to pardon her magnanimously, 
 after administering a fitting rebuke, and then be again 
 to her the kind brother he had always been, and always 
 meant to be, in spite of her faults. He had even pondered 
 what he ought to say to her on that occasion. And in 
 the mean time he treated her with very proper reserve. 
 
 The days passed, the leaves all fell from the trees ; it 
 was now November; and Eliza, having worked indus 
 triously to prepare the house for the coming bride, when 
 all was done, requested Abel, one Sunday afternoon, to 
 grant her a few minutes conversation. The generous 
 young man put aside his newspaper, and appeared quite 
 ready to receive her penitent confession. 
 - " Well, Eliza, what is it ? " he said, encouragingly, 
 trying to recall his speech. 
 
 " I thought you ought to know," she began, in a very 
 low, slightly tremulous voice, " that I am going away 
 to-morrow." 
 
 Abel forgot his speech, opened his eyes. 
 
 "Going! where ?" 
 
 " I think to Lowell." 
 
 " To Lowell ! what for ? Not to stay ? " 
 
 " Yes," she answered, quietly, " if I can find work in 
 the mills." 
 
 "The mills !" ejaculated Abel, frowningly. "What 
 are you talking of work in the mills for ? " 
 
The Adopted Sister. 17 
 
 " Because I shall not be needed here any more, and I 
 must get my living." 
 
 " Eliza," said Abel, sternly, " you are a strange girl ! 
 Can t you understand me ? Haven t I told you that you 
 could always have a home here ? And now what is this 
 absurd notion about getting your living ? " 
 
 "Don t be angry. You will do very well without 
 me. You won t miss me, after a few days. I go to 
 morrow." 
 
 Abel looked at her a minute, with fixed teeth. Her 
 subdued, calm, independent way exasperated him. 
 
 " You are a stubborn, ungrateful girl ! " 
 
 " I hope not," she murmured. 
 
 "To leave us at this time ! " he exclaimed; though he 
 did not like to own that he needed her to receive and 
 attend his bride. "I can t understand such perverse- 
 ness I " 
 
 Cut to the heart, Eliza did not answer, and he stalked 
 away. 
 
 What gave edge to his reproof was the consciousness 
 that she was acting unreasonably. Why not stay till the 
 wedding, and welcome the beautiful Faustina, like a 
 sensible girl ? Simply because she could not. It was 
 not jealousy, but something far deeper than jealousy 
 that set her soul against this marriage. The entire 
 instinct of the woman rose up and prophesied the un- 
 suitableness of Abel s chosen bride. Not solely for 
 her own sake, but for Abel s also, and equally for 
 his mother s, she must regard the wedding-day as an evil 
 2* 
 
1 8 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 one to them all; and to join in the festivities of that oc 
 casion, to mask her misery with smiles, to kiss and con 
 gratulate and witness the joy over an event which was 
 worse than death to her, would have been too terrible a 
 mockery. And so, even at the risk of seeming ungrate 
 ful and perverse, she must depart before the bride 
 came. 
 
 Did you ever leave a place that had been all that 
 home could be to you, and go forth shivering into the 
 dark future ? Some dreary November afternoon, you 
 take down the pictures from the walls which you may 
 never see again; empty the familiar drawers and shelves 
 which you will use no more, but which somebody else 
 to whom you give place will cheerfully occupy after 
 you; pull out the wretched trunk from its hiding-place, 
 and commence packing. Here are old letters to be de 
 stroyed. Here are keepsakes you hardly know whether 
 to take with you or return, Ophelia-like, to the giver 
 who has " proved unkind," they are still so precious to 
 you, while they make your heart so ache and sicken. 
 For relief you turn away and look out upon the bleak 
 sky of November. Small comfort you derive from the 
 drifts of gray clouds that lie like sandbars in the blue, 
 cold ocean of infinity, type of the sea you are about to 
 sail. It is insupportable ! The very roots of your being 
 seem torn up by this change. How- golden are the days 
 that are no more ! How like iron the grim gates of the 
 morrow ! Where will these miserable trifles you are 
 packing up be next unpacked ? Upon the walls of what 
 
The Adopted Sister. 19 
 
 lonely room will you hang this little Madonna, and this 
 print of the Saviour? Among what unsympathiz- 
 ing strangers will your solitary, toilsome lot be cast ? 
 There is One who knows ; and what is best for you, he 
 knows far better than you. 
 
2O Neighbors Wives. 
 
 n. 
 
 MR. TASSO SMITH AND THE APJOHNS. 
 
 " To be sure ! " said John Apjohn, the cooper, enter 
 ing his house the next day, and putting his feet on the 
 stove, with a prodigious sigh. " It is a sad world, Pru- 
 dy ! "What would old Abel Dane have said, I wonder ? 
 I m glad we ve no children. To be sure, to be sure ! " 
 
 " There now ! let that stove alone ! " exclaimed Mrs. 
 Apjohn. " You burn out more wood when you are in 
 the house five minutes, than I do in all day." 
 
 The meagre, shivering little man crouched over the 
 fire; and, glancing timidly up at the glowing face, ample 
 proportions, and huge arms of that warm-blooded and 
 superior female, his wife, who stood before him, bread- 
 knife in hand, to see her command enforced, he discreetly 
 laid back in the wood-box a stick he had taken out. 
 
 " It s a cold world," he sighed. 
 
 " So much the more need to be savin o fuel. "We 
 should be in the poor-house fore spring if twan t for 
 me." And Mrs. Prudence trod heavy and strong about 
 her work. 
 
 As she disappeared in the pantry, the cold-blooded 
 cooper took occasion to peep under one of the griddles ; 
 
Mr. Tasso Smith and the Apjokns. 21 
 
 and he had his hand on the interdicted stick again, when 
 her sudden reappearance with some bowls and spoons, 
 caused him to drop the griddle, the stick, and the fol 
 lowing philosophical remark : 
 
 " Changes in this world is very wonderful." He 
 rubbed his hands over the stove, and proceeded: " Who 
 knows but what it 11 be our turn next ? I knowed old 
 Mis Dane when she seemed as fur removed from trou 
 ble as anybody. Then she lost her husband. Then she 
 was afflicted in her speech. And now to be sure, to 
 be sure ! " 
 
 " What now ? " demanded Prudence. " Has anything 
 re ly happened ? or is it only your hypoes ? " 
 
 " My hypoes ? As if I didn t have reason to ! Hain t 
 I seen Lizy take the stage this mornin, goin nobody 
 knows where, to arn a livin amongst strangers ? She s 
 growed jest as thin as a stave lately, and she looked like 
 death when I put out my hand to say good-by." 
 
 " Why ! I want to know ! " said Prudence, from the 
 pantry. " Has she re ly gone ? Wai, I can t blame her, 
 as I know on, for wantin to be arnin somethin , it s 
 nat ral. I hear that stove! " 
 
 The cooper softly closed the griddle. 
 
 " I see old Mis Dane as I come by ; thought I d look 
 in ; and there she was, a-cryin . I tell ye it s too 
 bad ! " 
 
 "I sh d most thought Lizy d staid to the weddin ; 
 most gals would," said Mrs. Apjohn, bringing a pan of 
 milk from the pantry. " But probably she felt the ne- 
 
22 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 cessity of doin somethin for herself ; for Abel can t 
 afford to support three women in that house, massy 
 knows ! Fustiny 11 have to put them perty hands o 
 her n into dish-water. For my part, I don t think she s 
 any more fit to be Abel Dane s wife, than you be to be 
 president, John Apjohn." 
 
 " To be sure, to be sure," said John, mournfully ac 
 knowledging the force of the comparison. " Or than 
 you be," he added, " to be one of them circus-ridin wo 
 men." And at the quaint conceit of those immense 
 feminine proportions, decked out in gauze and tinsel, 
 balanced upon one foot on a galloping saddle, or taking a 
 flying leap through a hoop, the solemn face of the man 
 puckered into a dull, feeble smile. " To be sure ! " he 
 cackled. 
 
 " Wai, come to dinner," said Prudence, cutting the 
 bread against her bosom. 
 
 " Ain t we goin to have nothin but bread and 
 milk ? " said John, imploringly. 
 
 " Bread and milk is good enough. I couldn t afford 
 to cook anything to-day. Here s some o that corned 
 beef, and beautiful apple-sas." 
 
 " Cold day like this, ought to have somethin warmin ," 
 the cooper mildly remonstrated. " Cup o tea, bile 
 an egg; some sich thing." 
 
 " Eggs ! when we can git thirteen cents a dozen for 
 em ! " exclaimed Prudence. 
 
 " To be sure ! " And Cooper John submissively took 
 his seat at the uninviting board. 
 
Mr. Tasso Smith and the A-pjohns. 23 
 
 Did you hit the table then ? " with a look of alarm. 
 
 "No I " said Prudence. " "Wasn t it you ? " Another 
 knock. 
 
 " There s somebody to the front door, Prudy ! " gasped 
 the little man. " What shall we do ? " 
 
 " Let em in, of course; they ain t robbers this time 
 o day," and she tramped ponderously through the en 
 try. 
 
 It was not robbers the cooper feared, but some dread 
 messenger of fate. He was one of those timorous, 
 doubting souls, to whose morbid imagination life is 
 ever full of terror and difficulty; and even so trifling an 
 incident as a knock at the door has in it sometimes 
 something mysterious and awful. Though the most 
 harmless being in the world, he often thought, and often 
 said to his wife, when a stranger rapped, " What if that 
 should be the sheriff come to tell me I am arrested for a 
 murder or a forgery ! To be sure, to be sure, Prudy ! " 
 
 He was slightly relieved on this occasion to hear the 
 soft, simpering voice, and to see the soft, simpering face, 
 of a flashily dressed young fellow, with greased hair, a 
 tender moustache, a thick, unwholesome complexion, 
 pimples, and a very extensive breast-pin. 
 
 "Tasso Smith," said Prudence, as with a curious, 
 amused, half-contemptuous lifting of her brow-wrinkles, 
 she ushered the grimacing phenomenon into the kitchen. 
 
 " Possible ! Tasso ! Mr. Smith ! " confusedly cried 
 the cooper, springing to his feet, upsetting his chair be 
 hind him, and spilling the milk from the pan with the 
 
24 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 jostle he gave the table. " I shouldn t have knowed 
 ye, you ve altered so ! " 
 
 The young man looked conscious of having altered 
 very much to his own satisfaction; and condescendingly 
 gave the cooper two fingers. 
 
 " Seddown, seddown," said John, righting his chair, 
 and placing it for the visitor. " Don t it beat all, Pru- 
 dy I Where did you come from, Tasso Mr. Smith ? " 
 for he thought he ought to mister such a smart young 
 gentleman, though he had known him from his baby 
 hood. 
 
 " From the city," grimaced Tasso. 
 
 " To be sure, to be sure ! " repeated the cooper ; and 
 regarded him wonderingly. 
 
 " Been makin money, I guess, hain t ye, Tasso ? " 
 said practical Mrs. Apjohn. 
 
 She stood with a shrewd sceptical smile, amusedly 
 perusing him ; while before her sat Tasso, perfumed, 
 pomatumed, twirling his rattan, delightfully aware that 
 he was a cynosure. 
 
 " Managed to live." He nodded significantly at Pru 
 dence. " City s good place for enterpris n young men." 
 He nodded at the cooper. " Thought I d come out n 
 see what I could do for the ol folks." Crossing his 
 legs, he thrust his rattan into a button-hole of his blue 
 brass-buttoned coat, hung his hat on the toe of his 
 tight-fitting patent-leather boot, and pompously pro 
 duced his pocket-book. " I ve called to pay to re 
 munerate you for them barrels pa had of you some 
 
Mr. Tasso Smith and the Af Johns. 25 
 
 time ago. Can you change a fifty-dollar bill ? " Which 
 stunning proposition he uttered as if it was one of the 
 commonplaces of his life. 
 
 Cooper John sat right down and stared. Tasso 
 smoothed his moustache, and smiled. Mrs. Apjohn was 
 so well pleased at the prospect of the payment of a debt 
 she had long despaired of, that she began to regard the 
 cynosure with more favorable eyes. 
 
 " I declare, Tasso, I never expected you would turn 
 out so well. Ke ly payin your pa s debts, be you ? I 
 remember when you used to be around, the dirtiest, rag- 
 gedest boy t ever I see ! " She meant this for praise; 
 but it was gall to Mr. Smith. " And now you re payin 
 your pa s debts ! Think o that, John Apjohn ! " in a 
 tone which conveyed a triumphant reproof to the soul 
 of the said J. A. ; for the worthy woman had this way 
 of convicting her consort of his short-comings, by citing 
 to him illustrious examples of human conduct. " Think 
 of that, John Apjohn ! " always meant " Now, why 
 don t you go and be a man like the rest of em ? " 
 
 " To be sure, to be sure ! " murmured the cooper, 
 feeling very much disparaged, and turning an awe 
 struck glance upon the shining paragon who was paying 
 " his pa s debts." " Only ten and six, I believe, the ac 
 count is." 
 
 " With interest, it s rnore n two dollars by this time." 
 struck in his wife s strong treble. 
 
 " Oh, never mind interest, Prudy," said the weak, 
 quavering tenor. 
 
26 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 " Yes, I will," insisted Prudence. " Call it two dol 
 lars, anyhow." 
 
 " Sorry I hain t got no smaller bills," said Tasso, 
 glancing over a handful of bank-notes. " But you can 
 prob ly break a fifty." 
 
 John and Prudence looked at each other. Then both 
 looked at the visitor. 
 
 "Why, if you can t do no better," said Prudence, 
 hesitatingly, " I don o mabby I can change it." 
 
 It was Tasso s turn to be astonished, and he looked, 
 for a moment, very much as if he had no large note to 
 change. He reddened with embarrassment, and fum 
 bled his money, and presently began muttering, as he 
 turned each bill, 
 
 " Hunderd, hunderd, hunderd, I declare ! don t 
 b lieve got a fifty hunderd, hunderd, thought I had 
 remember, now, paying it out. Can you break a 
 0. ? " And he turned on the cooper a foolish smile. 
 
 John appealed to Prudence, and Prudence nodded 
 consent. The C. was not such cold water to her as 
 Tasso had hoped. 
 
 " Yes, I can break a (7. / " she answered, with just 
 perceptible disdain. "Though you thought it would 
 break me, I guess." 
 
 Tasso s smile faded ; and the effort he made to appear 
 business-like and at ease, sweating over his bills and 
 wiping his red, pimply face, was odd to see. Prudence 
 did not give him time to raise the value of his notes to 
 five hundred ; but, taking a key from the clock-case, 
 
Mr. Tasso Smith and the Af Johns. 27 
 
 proceeded to an adjoining room, followed by the cooper. 
 They left the door unlatched, and Tasso could hear busy 
 whisperings behind it. He got up, peeped through the 
 crack, and saw the thrifty couple on their knees by an 
 open chest, counting money. In a little while they came 
 out, and found their guest respectably seated, twirling 
 his rattan, with a serious, honest face, bank-notes and 
 pocket-book having disappeared. 
 
 " I ll look at your bill, if you please," said Prudence, 
 clasping a handful of money. 
 
 " Oh," said Tasso, as if he had quite forgotten the 
 subject, " le me see ! Oh, yes ! After you went out, I 
 found some small bills in my vest-pocket. Save you 
 the trouble." And, fingering the said vest-pocket, he 
 brought to light a little, dirty, rolled-up rag of paper. 
 
 " He put in his thumb, and pulled out a plum ; and 
 what a brave boy was I ! " laughed Prudence, as she 
 scornfully unrolled the rag. " Two one-dollar bills ! 
 Wai, that s what I call comin down a little. Great deal 
 of talk for a little bit of cider." 
 
 Tasso felt cheap. His game of brag, at which he had 
 been so unexpectedly beaten, had cost him more pride 
 and money than he could afford. He winced and sim 
 pered and switched his stick, and said, 
 
 " Might gi e me back th change, f you re mind to, as 
 pa didn t authorize me to pay no interest." 
 
 That was too much for Prudence, already sufficiently 
 provoked ; and she spoke hasty words, which, lodging 
 like evil seed in the breast of the young man Tasso, took 
 
28 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 root there, and grew, and in due season brought forth 
 bitter fruit for the future of more than one actor in our 
 drama. 
 
 " Idee o your hagglin bout a little interest money, 
 arter sech a swell with your hunderd-dollar bills ! " 
 (" Come, come, Prudy ! " said her husband, deprecat- 
 ingly.) "I don t believe you ve got a hunderd-dollar 
 bill in the world. ISTo Smith of your breed ever had ! " 
 (" There, there, Prudy ! " said the conciliatory John.) 
 " You d no more notion o payin that debt, when you 
 come into this house, than I have to fly ; and you 
 wouldn t, if I hadn t ketched ye in a trap ye didn t sus 
 pect." (" Prudy, Prudy ! you re sayin too much ! " 
 parenthesized the pale cooper.) "I ain t sayin any 
 thing but the truth ; and he can afford to hear that, 
 arter all the trouble he has put me to. Here s a nine- 
 pence ; I ll divide the interest with ye, and say no more 
 about it." 
 
 Tasso pocketed the ninepence and the affront, and, 
 white with rage, yet too much afraid of the strong, in 
 dignant woman to give vent to it, just showed his 
 yellow teeth, with a sickly, malicious grin, as he put on 
 his hat, and went strutting under difficulties through 
 the entry. 
 
 " I wouldn t have had it happen, Prudy ! " began the 
 wretched cooper. 
 
 " I would ! " said Prudence, with gleaming scorn and 
 triumph. " Sicli a heap of pretension ! with that little 
 bit of a cane, and them nasty soaplocks, and all that 
 
Mr. Tasso Smith and the Apjokns. 29 
 
 big show of one-dollar bills ! I like to come up with 
 sich people ! " And she grimly counted her money ; 
 while Tasso, who had heard every word she said, as 
 he listened at the door, let himself out, and sneaked 
 
 away. 
 
 3* 
 
30 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 III. 
 
 ABSENCE. 
 
 IT takes a woman to read a woman. A man, espe 
 cially a lover, is apt to confide too much in the title-page, 
 namely, the face ; although, like other title-pages, this 
 is often so false that its smiling promise affords scarce a 
 hint, to the unsophisticated, of the actual contents of the 
 volume. 
 
 The book of beauty which Abel Dane had chosen, 
 which he took out of the modest covers of maidenhood, 
 and bound in bridal gilt and velvet, and placed in the 
 closet of his affections, to be his inseparable companion 
 and book of life, was now to be tested. How soon 
 the gilt began to tarnish, the sumptuous velvet to fade, 
 the contents to belie the title, and Abel to learn how 
 much better Eliza had discerned their true character at 
 a glance, than he with all his admiring attention, let 
 us not too closely inquire. 
 
 There were at least two individuals that mourned 
 Eliza s departure, and could not be comforted by Faus 
 tina s coming. One was old Mrs. Dane ; she felt that 
 one of her roots of life had been severed, when her 
 adopted daughter went, and that she was too old a 
 
Absence. 31 
 
 tree to put forth vigorous young fibres to supply its 
 place. 
 
 "Wai, old friend, how do ye git along? to be sure!" 
 said Cooper John, looking in upon her one day. 
 
 " Narrowing at the heel," smiled Mrs. Dane ; then 
 laughed at herself, for she had meant to say, " Pretty 
 well, I thank you, John." " That s true, though, I sup 
 pose. My stocking of life is fast knitting up, and I shall 
 soon be at the toe." 
 
 " To be sure, yes ! " the cooper snuffled, and produced 
 his red silk handkerchief. " We shall all go soon or 
 late. Dreadful changes. Heard from Lizy ? " 
 
 " I had a wood-box from her dear me ! you know 
 what I mean." 
 
 " To be sure, a letter." 
 
 " She writes she s gone to work in the mills, and ap 
 pears to be contented ; but, oh, John ! " 
 
 She wept ; and John wept with her ; and Turk, the 
 house-dog, laid his great, shaggy head between his 
 paws, and winked sympathetically; for Turk was the 
 other mourner aforesaid: a faithful, grim old dog, that 
 would sometimes lie down before Eliza s vacant chair, 
 and growl at any one who approached it ; or, like the 
 old man in the story, go about 
 
 " Wandering as in quest of something, 
 
 Something he could not find, he knew not what;" 
 
 then suddenly take it into his head to bounce up stairs, 
 and bark furiously at her door, as if he had at last dis- 
 
32 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 covered the chest in which his Ginevra was concealed. 
 "What was singular, not all Faustina s attentions, feed 
 ing him and patting him with her fair hand, could 
 flatter him into forgetting his old mistress and accepting 
 a new one. 
 
 Mrs. Dane did not fail to answer Eliza s letter ; and 
 others also wrote to her ; for she had left behind her 
 many friends in the village. And now, in her lonely 
 retreat, she heard again and again how handsome Faus 
 tina was, and how much she was admired, and how 
 happy Abel seemed, and what new furniture he had 
 purchased, and what a gay winter they were having, 
 and how almost everybody except the joyous wedded 
 pair often inquired for her, and sent love. And do you 
 suppose that, as Eliza pondered these things all day, and 
 day after day, to the tune of the whirling spindles, her 
 sharp thoughts did not sometimes whirl too, and pierce 
 into her soul ? 
 
 So the winter passed, and the summer followed ; and 
 she learned that now Abel had especial reason to be 
 tender of his bride ; that he had bought a new carriage 
 to drive her out in ; that, in his devotion, he spared no 
 time or trouble or expense, if a whim of hers was to be 
 gratified. Then came the intelligence which she had 
 been long prepared to hear, but which, when at last she 
 heard it, smote her with faintness of heart. Abel, far 
 from her, forgetting her entirely, no doubt, in his sep 
 arate delight, was the father of a beautiful boy. 
 
 How the child thrived, and grew to look like his 
 
Absence. 33 
 
 mother ; how Faustina once more flashed into society, 
 which she dazzled by her beauty and jewels and dresses ; 
 how envious ones reported that she was running Abel 
 into debt by her extravagance ; how careworn he was 
 really beginning to look ; all this, with many dark hints 
 of things going wrong at home, Eliza heard during the 
 two years that followed. But never, directly or indi 
 rectly, did she get one word from Abel. Others invited 
 her to return to the village ; he never invited her. His 
 resentment seemed eternal. And though, often and long 
 after, when her life had grown less lonely, her thoughts 
 would fly back to her old home, and her heart, despite 
 of her, would yearn to follow, she saw ever the iron 
 gates, through which she had passed, closed and barred 
 behind her. 
 
 But at length, one September evening, as she went 
 home from her work, at the door of her boarding-house 
 a letter was given her. 
 
 The well-known hand-writing made her tremble so 
 that she could scarcely break the seal. It was Abel s 
 hand, changed, agitated, hurried, but still she knew 
 it well. 
 
 This was the letter : 
 
 " Come to me, Eliza. Do not remember my unkind- 
 ness. Let nothing keep you. I am in great trouble. 
 Come at once. ABEL." 
 
 Terror and dread swept over her. She did not stop 
 
34 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 to remember or to forgive. But love, like a strong 
 power, seized upon her, gave her strength, and guided 
 her hands, and sent her, the next day, whirling away 
 upon the train that bore her back to Abel and her home. 
 
Mrs. A-pjohrfs Adventure. 35 
 
 IV. 
 
 MRS. APJOHN S ADVENTURE. 
 
 AND now, what stress of ill-fortune had hurried Abel 
 into sending this alarming missive ? To answer which 
 question, we must go back to Tasso Smith and the Ap- 
 johns, and to one bright, particular Sunday in this history. 
 
 A still, September day, with the peculiar sentiment 
 of the Sabbath breathing in the air, yellowing in the 
 sunshine, brooding over field and orchard almost like a 
 conscious presence, and filling all the silent rooms of the 
 house with its cool hush. The bells have ceased ring 
 ing ; the choirs have ceased singing ; and the naughty 
 boys, sitting in the wagons under the meeting-house 
 sheds, can hear far off the monotonous tones of the 
 minister s discourse. 
 
 Abel Dane sits by his brilliant and showily-dressed 
 wife in their smart pew. His mother has also, by a 
 strong resolution and effort, got to church this afternoon, 
 thinking it the last Sunday of the season, and perhaps the 
 last Sunday of her life that she shall be able to hear the 
 good old man preach. On one side of this group you 
 may see the young man, Tasso Smith, occasionally strok 
 ing his moustache, with a display of finger-rings, and 
 
36 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 casting significant glances at Faustina ; while, on the 
 other, his bald pate shining in the light, sits solemn John 
 Apjohn, choking in black cravat, rolling up his large 
 eyes at the preacher, and now and then drawing down 
 the corners of his mouth with a dismal sigh. 
 
 Prudence is not present. In the morning she can 
 usually endure a sermon of reasonable length ; but in 
 the afternoon it is impossible for her to avoid the sin 
 of drowsiness. " The more flesh, the more frailty." 
 And it is so mortifying to the sensitive John to have 
 to keep waking her up, in order to prevent her nod 
 ding and snoring, that she has wisely resolved to spend 
 her Sunday afternoons at home. 
 
 She reads a little, sleeps a good deal, opens the till 
 of the chest to see that her money is safe, and perhaps 
 counts it over, then thinks of preparing supper. With 
 a basket on her arm, she visits the garden for vegetables. 
 She is sorry the tomatoes are poor and puny. She is 
 fond of tomatoes, and involuntarily looks over the fence 
 into Abel Dane s garden, where there are bushels of 
 nice, ripe ones. Before Eliza went and Faustina came, 
 the Danes used to give her all the vegetables she wanted ; 
 for they always had a large garden generously culti 
 vated, while she had but a poor little strip of ground, 
 with only a shiftless husband to look after it. 
 
 " Think of that, John Apjohn ! " she says to herself. 
 " If I only had a husband that was wuth a cent ! " 
 doubtless forgetting that it is not alone John s ineffi 
 ciency, but her own tight hold of the purse-strings, which 
 
Mrs. Af Johns Adventure. 37 
 
 prevents his enriching the soil in a manner to insure 
 good crops. " Now, old Mis Dane, and Abel, too, for 
 that matter, had jest as lives we d have some of them 
 tomatuses as not. It s a pity to see em wasted. They 
 look to me to be a-rottin on the ground. Anyway, 
 frost ll come and finish em fore their folks can ever use 
 em up. I ve a good notion jest to step over and pick a 
 few. They never d know it ; and John ll think they 
 come ofF m our own vines." 
 
 Up and down and all around she looks, and sees no 
 eye beholding her. 
 
 "They ve all gone to meetin cept the baby, and I 
 see Melissy take him and carry him over to her folks s. 
 House is all shet up, I know. Only a few tomatuses. 
 What s the harm, I d like to know ? I m sure I d 
 ruther any one would have my tomatuses than leave em 
 to rot on the ground. I will jest step over and take two 
 or three." 
 
 " Stepping over " was a rather light and airy way of 
 expressing it. Did you ever see a fat woman climb a 
 fence, and didn t laugh ? Cautiously feeling the boards 
 till she finds one she has confidence in ; hugging the 
 post affectionately ; tangling her knees in her skirts ; 
 putting her elbows over the topmost board, and finally 
 getting one foot over ; then turning around, as she 
 brings up the other foot ; stopping a minute to arrange 
 skirts, then getting down backwards, very much as she 
 got up, all this is in the programme. Prudence is 
 not nearly so spry as a eat ; but, give her time, and she 
 4 
 
38 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 is good for any common board-fence, provided nobody is 
 looking. She is particularly anxious, on this occasion, 
 to assure herself that nobody is looking. And so the 
 feat is accomplished, and she treads carefully among 
 the tomatoes. 
 
 Although purposing to pick only a few, they are so 
 large and so plenty that she fills her basket almost be 
 fore she knows it. Then, it is " sich a pity to see em 
 wasted," she thinks she will put two or three in her 
 apron. For this is the subtlety of sin ; that a thousand 
 excuses suggest themselves for taking just a little of the 
 forbidden fruit ; then to add a little more to that little 
 cannot really make much difference in the offence ; and 
 so you progress by degrees in the indulgence, till you 
 have not only filled your basket, but your apron also. 
 
 Stooping, with broad back to the golden sunshine and 
 blue Sabbath sky; holding up her apron with one hand, 
 and loading it with the other, she is peering among the 
 vines, when suddenly she is startled by a harsh growl. 
 In great fright she looks up and sees Turk bristling be 
 fore her. 
 
 " Massy sakes ! why, Turk ! don t you know me ? " 
 
 " Gur-r-r-r ! " answers Turk. 
 
 " Dear me ! " gasps Prudence. " You never acted so 
 before, Turk ! You never barked at me ! Come, doggy I 
 poor fellow ! poor fellow ! " 
 
 She reaches out her hand coaxingly, and the brute 
 snaps at it. Then the soul of the woman grows sick 
 within her, and her knees shake. Eight before her 
 
Mrs. Apjohn s Adventure. 39 
 
 stands the red-eyed, snarling monster, between her and 
 the fence, between her and her basket ; and what shall 
 she do ? 
 
 " Turk, it s me, Turk ! your old friend, doggy ! " she 
 tells him. 
 
 " Can t help it ! " plainly answers doggy, deep in his 
 thundering throat. 
 
 But he won t dare to bite her, she thinks. And, if she 
 dies for it, she must get out of the garden before the folks 
 come from meeting. She makes a charge at her basket. 
 Turk meets her with a terrific leap and snarl, and seizes 
 her apron with his teeth. Involuntarily screaming, she 
 retreats. She clings to the apron with her hands, he 
 with his jaw^s. She pulls one way, he tugs the other. 
 The string breaks. Prudence loses her hold of the 
 apron, and falls in the entangling tomato-vines. Turk 
 goes back upon his haunches, with the captured apron 
 in his teeth. 
 
 " I never, never ! Oh, dear, dear ! What shall I do ? 
 what shall I do ? " splutters Prudence, as she disen 
 gages her feet from the vines, feels the smashed tomatoes 
 under her, gets up, and still sees Turk, with her apron 
 and basket, between her and the fence. And now she 
 thinks she hears the carriages coming from meeting. 
 
 The impulse is to run. And leave her basket and 
 apron in possession of the enemy ? 3STo, they must be 
 brought off from the battle-field at all hazards. Pru 
 dence is wild, or she would never dare advance again to 
 the contest. Turk waits till she has reached the apron- 
 
40 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 string, and begun to pull it gently, when, once more 
 considering it time to assume the offensive, he gives a 
 bound, rescues the rag, hurls her backwards to the 
 ground, and seats himself beside her, with his fore 
 paws on her dress, and his red tongue, white teeth, hot 
 breath, and ferocious eyes close to her face. She does 
 not scream ; she does not attempt to rise ; for when she 
 stirs, his growl reverberates in her ear, and she feels his 
 moist muzzle wetting her throat. 
 
 A sad predicament for a respectable woman, isn t it ? 
 Oh, what would she give if she had only stayed in her 
 own garden, and never cast covetous eyes at her neigh 
 bor s ? If she only had her apron and basket safe and 
 empty the other side of the fence, would she ever, ever 
 do such a thing again ? Never, never ! 
 
 " Turk, Turk, good doggy ! " she pleads, in her des 
 peration, " do let me go ! Only this time, Turk ! I 
 never will agin ! Please do, that s a nice dog, now ! " 
 But the inexorable Turk glares over her, looking greed 
 ily up the road, and listening, not to her entreaties, but 
 to the sound of the approaching wheels. And there we 
 may as well leave her, for the present, to her interesting 
 reflections. 
 
Cooler John to the Rescue, 41 
 
 V. 
 
 COOPER JOHN TO THE RESCUE. 
 
 THE meetings are indeed out; the wagons have begun 
 to go by, and now the feet of scattered pedestrians clatter 
 along the wooden village sidewalks. A happy throng ! 
 they who ride and they who walk; those in fine silks 
 and broadcloth, and those in cheap prints and homespun ; 
 verily all are blessed whom the sun shines upon this 
 day, except one. If you are not lying on your back 
 among your neighbor s vines, with your neighbor s 
 watch-dog growling at your throat, what more felicity 
 can you desire ? 
 
 There goes, with the rest, the sweet youth, Tasso 
 Smith, elegantly strutting. If he but knew ! Behind 
 him curious contrast ! walks the meek John Ap- 
 john, choking in his Sunday cravat, winking over it, 
 ever and anon, with his melancholy eyes, and screwing 
 his mouth into a serious one-sided twist, as he goes pon 
 dering awful things. He passes within a stone s throw 
 of the crushed tomatoes, whose juice is oozing out from 
 under Mrs. Apjohn s unhappy shoulder-blades, but sees 
 not the pleasing sight for the intervening cabbages. 
 4* 
 
42 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 And now Prudence, where she lies, can hear the famil 
 iar sound of her own gate slammed. John has got home. 
 
 " To be sure, Prudy ! " begins the cooper, as he enters 
 the house, carefully laying off his black hat the first 
 thing, and giving it a final polish with his red silk before 
 putting it away for the week. " Them was two dreadful 
 good sermons to-day. Desperate smart man, old Mr. 
 Hard well, as feeling a preacher as ever I sot under. 
 You should have heard him dwell upon the vanities of 
 this world this arternoon ! All our pride and selfishness, 
 and what we call the good things of life, where ll they 
 all be in a few years ? " he said. " You ought to have 
 heard him, Prudy; to be sure ! to be sure ! " 
 
 Indeed, Prudy would give anything just now if she 
 had heard him; even if she were but present to hear her 
 worthy John ! How free-hearted and beatified she 
 would feel if she were at this moment taking off her silk 
 dress after church, instead of spoiling her calico gown 
 down there among the tomatoes ! 
 
 " Why, where be you, Prudy ? " says John, entering 
 the bedroom; for he had surely thought she was there, 
 not finding her in the kitchen. Still not much alarmed, 
 he takes off his Sunday coat and cravat ; and having 
 laid the one away in a drawer, and hung the other up in 
 the closet, he feels more comfortable. "Prudy," he 
 calls, " are you there ? " putting his polished little head 
 up the unanswering stair-way. 
 
 No Prudence in the house, no Prudence in the gar 
 den, where her husband looks next. What can it all 
 
Cooler John to the Rescue. 43 
 
 mean ? It is one of those little mysteries that appall the 
 imaginative John. He remembers that the back-door of 
 the house was open when he came in. The stove is 
 filled with fuel just ready to kindle. A fresh pail of 
 water has been drawn. The cloth is on the table. But 
 where is Mrs. Apjohn ? Pale, at the wood-pile, the 
 cooper stands and startles the Sabbath stillness by feebly 
 trilling her name. 
 
 " Pru-d-u-n-ce ! " 
 
 " D-u-n-ce ! " echoes Abel Dane s shop, as if it were 
 laughing at him. 
 
 But what is that ? Another voice ! a faint, far-off, 
 stifled scream. 
 
 " John ! John ! help ! " 
 
 " Where be ye ? " cries the terrified John. 
 
 " Here ! " says the voice. 
 
 It sounds as if it were in the well. Prudence in the 
 well 1 In an instant the cooper s vivid fancy pictures 
 that excellent and large-sized woman fallen, head-fore 
 most and heels upward, into the deep and narrow 
 cavity. How can she ever be got out ? A rope tied 
 round her heels and several men strenuously hoisting, is 
 the image which flashes through his brain. He is at the 
 curb in a second; peering fearfully in, with his eyes 
 shaded by his hands; but making no discovery there, ex 
 cept the silhouette of himself projected black upon the 
 glimmering reflection of the sky in the placid water. 
 
 " John ! come quick ! " calls the muffled voice again. 
 
 On the roof of the house this time ! How came Pru- 
 
44 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 dence on the roof of the house ? To run over to Abel 
 Dane s and borrow a long carpenter s ladder is John s 
 first thought. To get a good view of the roof, his next. 
 To this end he hastens down into the garden, and is 
 standing on tiptoe to discover Prudence on the ridge 
 pole, when once more calls the voice, this time unmistak 
 ably benind him , 
 
 " Where be ye ? and what s the matter ? " gasps the 
 cooper, gazing all around in vain. 
 
 " Here I am, and you ll see what s the matter. Don t 
 make no noise, but come as quick as you can, and git 
 away this horrid dog 1 " 
 
 Then John Apjohn, rushing to the fence, sees the 
 prostrate woman, and sedentary dog, and the guilty to 
 matoes, some in the apron and basket, and some on 
 the ground. He clings to the fence, bareheaded, in his 
 shirt-sleeves, white as any cheese-curd, by trembling and 
 ghastliness quite overcome, and uttering not a word. 
 
 " Quick, I say ! " cries Prudence on her back. " Take 
 off this dog, and I ll tell ye all about it by m by." 
 
 Over the fence tumbles the astonished cooper. But 
 to take off the dog is not so easy a matter. Turk is 
 averse to being taken off. He glares and growls and 
 snaps at the little man, as if he would swallow him. 
 
 " I can t, Prudy ! " falters John, retreating. 
 
 " Ketch right hold of him ! " commands Prudence. 
 "Choke him! pull him !" 
 
 " I da sn t ! " articulates John. 
 
Cooper yohn to the Rescue. 45 
 
 " If I had a man for a husband ! " exclaimed Pru 
 dence. " Git a club ! Kill the brute ! " 
 
 " To be sure I to be sure ! " and John starts to find a 
 club. There is a pole leaning on an apple-tree near by. 
 He secures it, and hurries back to stir up Turk. The 
 combat begins, with John at one end of the pole and 
 Turk at the other. Turk seizes his end with his teeth; 
 John holds his in his hands; and there they stand. 
 Turk growls to make John let go ; John shooes and ste- 
 boys to make Turk let go. 
 
 " Pull it away from him ! " exclaims Prudence. 
 
 John pulls till he has dragged the dog half across the 
 good woman s waist, when, as it would seem, the saga 
 cious brute, seeing a chance for a fine strategic effect, 
 suddenly releases his grip, and leaves the pole with the 
 cooper, who loses his balance, staggers backward rap 
 idly, and sits down, with his Sunday trousers, in an 
 over-ripe muskmelon. 
 
 "Now take the pole," says the commander-in-chief, 
 " and knock him on the head with it, hard ! " 
 
 " I shall hit you ! " utters John. 
 
 " Never mind me ! " says the resolute Prudy. 
 
 Up goes the pole, unsteadily and slow. 
 
 " Ready ? " says John. 
 
 "Yes; strike!" 
 
 And down comes the heavy, unwieldy weapon. Turk 
 sees it descending to damage him, and considers it hon 
 orable, under the circumstances, to dodge. He is out 
 of the way before the radius has passed through one 
 
46 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 half the arc ; but the momentum of the stroke is such 
 that it is impossible for the cooper to stay his hold; and 
 the blow alights upon Mrs. Apjohn s stomach. 
 
 " Ugh ! " says Mrs. Apjohn. 
 
 " Now I ve killed ye ! " exclaims John, despairingly, 
 throwing away the weapon. 
 
 " Don t ye know no better n to be murderin me stid 
 of the dog ? " cries Prudy. 
 
 "I didn t mean to!" murmurs the wretched, man. 
 " Broke any ribs, think ? " 
 
 " I don t care for my ribs, if I could only Oh, dear ! 
 why can t ye beat off this dog ? Empty out them to- 
 matuses, and throw the basket over the fence, anyway. 
 And give me my apron. Quick ! " 
 
 But Turk, also, has something to say about that. 
 Neither apron nor basket shall John touch; they are 
 confiscated. 
 
 " How come the tomatuses in the basket ? in your 
 apron ? " asks the cooper. " O Prudy, Prudy ! To be 
 sure ! to be sure ! " 
 
 " Wai I wal ! wal ! " chafes the impatient woman. 
 " I s pose I m to lay here till doomsday, or till Abel s 
 folks come home. There they come now, don t 
 they ? " 
 
 "Yes," answers the cooper. "They re late, on the 
 old lady s account. I ll tell Abel to come and call off 
 his dog." 
 
 " Don t ye for the world ! Squat right down; mabby 
 they wont see us ! " 
 
Cooper John to the Rescue. 47 
 
 ""What! ye don t re ly mean to say you you ve 
 been hooking the tomatuses ? " For hitherto John 
 has indulged a feeble hope that the affair could be hon 
 orably explained. 
 
 " Squat down, I say ! " And John squats, hugging 
 his knees, with his chin between them, as ludicrous a 
 picture of dismay and terror as was ever seen. He 
 feels like a thief; he knows he looks like a thief; and 
 the storm of calamity and disgrace, which he has im 
 agined impending above his little bare, bald head so 
 long, he is sure is now going to burst. 
 
 And there the three wait, Turk guarding both his 
 prisoner and the prizes; for the basket and apron are so 
 near that he can protect them without letting Prudence up. 
 
 "Prudy ! " whispers John. 
 
 " What ! " mutters Prudy. 
 
 " It s dreadful ! it s dreadful ! " moans John. 
 
 " Hold your tongue ! " says Prudy. 
 
 The cooper sinks his chin still lower between his knees, 
 sighing miserably. 
 
 " Prudy ! " after a long pause. 
 
 " What do you want now ? " 
 
 "I wish you d gone to meetin this arternoon, Prudy 1 " 
 
 " You can t wish so any more n I do ! " 
 
 " If you had only heard that sermon, Prudy 1 " 
 
 " Stop your noise about the sermon I " 
 
 Another long pause. 
 
 " Prudy ! " 
 
 "Well! what?" 
 
48 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 " I wish I was dead ! don t you ? " 
 
 " I wish this dog was dead ! " 
 
 Upon which, to convince them that he is not nor any 
 thing like it, Turk begins to bark. 
 
 " It s all over now ! " says Prudence. 
 
 John feels that there is nothing left him but suicide. 
 He can never confront Abel Dane after this ; so he looks 
 about him for something on which to beat out his brains. 
 No convenient and comfortable object for the purpose 
 meets his eye, but a good big squash. And before he 
 has time to consider which may prove the softer of the 
 two, his pate or the vegetable, in case of a collision, he 
 hears a foot in the grass. He twists his neck around on 
 his shoulders, as he crouches, softly turns up his timid 
 glance over the cabbages, and beholds the dreaded vis 
 age of Abel Dane. 
 
 Abel stops and gazes, too much amazed to speak. 
 Turk wags his tail, and looks wistfully for approbation 
 of his exploit. 
 
 " Come here, Turk ! " says the severe voice of Abel. 
 
 With ill-concealed misgivings, Turk takes his paws oft 
 his captive s calico, drops his head between his fore legs, 
 and his tail between his hind legs, and cringes at his 
 master s feet. 
 
 Cooper John, having once turned round his head, 
 softly turns it back again, and sits as still, in his former 
 toad-like posture, as if he had seen the face of a Gorgon, 
 with the old-fashioned result. Only the rear slope of his 
 little, shining bald crown, his broad, striped suspenders 
 
Cooper John to the Rescue. 49 
 
 crossed behind over the back of his clean Sunday shirt, 
 and a section of the Sunday trousers, bearing the im 
 print of the aforesaid over-ripe melon, are visible to the 
 wondering eyes of Abel. 
 
 As for Prudence, she loses no time, but gathers her 
 self up as soon as Turk permits, and begins hurriedly 
 to shake and brush her gown. 
 
 " "Wai, Abel Dane, this is a pooty sight for Sunday, 
 I spose you think ! And so it is I " flirting violently, 
 and speaking as if he had done her an injury. " And I 
 want to know, now, ^ you think it s neighborly to keep 
 a brute like that, to tear folks to pieces that jest set a 
 foot on to your premises ? For here he s kep me 
 groanin on my back an hour, if he has a minute." Then, 
 turning sharply to her husband: "John Apjohn ! what 
 are ye shirkin there for ? " 
 
 Thus summoned, the petrified man limbers, and rises 
 slowly upon his miserable feet; glancing, with those 
 woe-begone, large eyes of his, first at his wife, then at 
 Abel Dane, and lastly at the filched tomatoes. 
 
 " I am sorry," says Abel, " if my dog has put you to 
 any inconvenience. He didn t bite you, I hope I " 
 
 " ]S"o ! well for him ! " exclaims Prudence, red and 
 embarrassed, but trying still to pass the affair off with a 
 brave air. "The fact is jest this, Abel Dane: if you 
 begrutch me a few tomatuses, it s what your father never 
 done before ye, and I never expected it of you; and I ll 
 cheerfully pay you for em, if you ll accept of any pay; 
 and my husband here knows I only jest stepped over 
 
50 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 the fence to save a few that was bein wasted, which I 
 thought was sech a pity, and you d jest as lives we d 
 have em; and I meant all the time to tell ye I took 
 some, when that plaguy dog ! " 
 
 Here, having poured forth these words in a wild and 
 agitated manner, the worthy woman broke clown, and 
 wept and sobbed, and continued confusedly to brush her 
 gown. John stood by and groaned. 
 
 "Well, well, neighbors," said Abel, "you re quite 
 welcome to the tomatoes. I haven t known what I 
 should do with em all, and I m g$ad to get rid of em. 
 If you had come in through the gate, Turk wouldn t 
 have meddled with you." 
 
 As he spoke, kindly and consolingly, Prudence only 
 cried the more, and blindly flirted her skirts; while 
 John, wretchedly bent, with a supplicating countenance, 
 approached his neighbor. 
 
 " Abel Dane," said he, in a voice scarcely audible, it 
 was so weak and hoarse, " me and you ve knowed each 
 other ever sence you was a child, and I knowed your 
 father fore ever you was born; and I believe I ve al 
 ways had an honest name with you till now." 
 
 "And so you have now, Mr. Apjohn," said Abel, 
 cheeringly. "Don t let a little thing like this trouble 
 you. I understand you," and he shook the cooper s 
 helpless, cold hand with genuine cordiality. 
 
 "Thank ye, thank ye; to be sure ! " murmured John. 
 I am an honest man; and, though things don t look jest 
 right, I own, yet you know, Abel Dane, I d no more be 
 
Coo-per John to the Rescue. 51 
 
 guilty of takin anything that didn t belong to me than 
 I would cut my own head off." 
 
 Abel, pitying him sincerely, and seeing well enough 
 that this poor, shaking creature was innocent, whoever 
 was guilty, assured him again and again of his confi 
 dence and good-will. 
 
 "Thank ye, thank ye; to be sure, to be sure ! " said 
 John, gratefully, hunting in vain in his pockets and on 
 the ground for his red silk handkerchief to wipe his 
 eyes with. "And, if twon t be too much, I ve one 
 request to make. Twould make talk if it should be 
 known, and we would never hear the last on t, probably; 
 and I d ruther die at once than be pinted at." 
 
 " I promise you," interrupted Abel, " nobody shall 
 ever hear of it from me. Never fear; you won t be 
 pointed at. Now let s say no more about the matter. 
 Here are your tomatoes, Mrs. Apjohn; and, whenever 
 you want any more, you ve only to come in through the 
 gate and get them." 
 
 "I declare!" gulped the woman; "I ve no words, 
 Abel ! And, if you will be so kind as never to mention 
 it, I ll be so much obleeged ! " 
 
 " I never will. So that s settled." And Abel hurried 
 them away ; for he saw Faustina approaching. 
 
 John took the basket of tomatoes, heavily against his 
 will, and Prudence, with a sick heart, gathered up her 
 apron with its original contents; for it would not do to 
 refuse the gift which she was willing to take before it 
 was given. And so, dejected and chagrined, making 
 
52 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 sickly attempts lo utter their thanks to Abel and to be 
 civil to Faustina, who came out, splendid in silk, and 
 stared at them, the cooper and his wife departed through 
 the gate, and went home to their waiting, vacant house, 
 every room of which seemed conscious of the shame 
 that had befallen them, and the very atmosphere to be 
 heavy and depressed therewith. 
 
Sunday Evening at AbeTs. 53 
 
 VI. 
 
 SUNDAY EVENING AT ABEL S. 
 
 "ABEL," said the astonished Faustina, " what has 
 happened to Mrs. Apjohn ? " 
 
 The cooper and his wife were hardly yet out of hear 
 ing, and, as Abel walked slowly toward his own door, 
 with the beautiful face in the beautiful bonnet by his 
 side, he shook his head and was silent. 
 
 " Who told them they could have the tomatoes ? " 
 Faustina insisted. 
 
 " I did," said Abel. 
 
 " But what has she been down in the dirt for ? And 
 what makes em both look so like death ? Come, I am 
 dying to know ! " 
 
 Faustina had one of those restless minds which crave 
 excitement, and which, having no solid food of thought 
 or occupation, keep the appetite of curiosity continually 
 whetted for such slight morsels of village gossip as you, 
 of course, sage reader, hold in disdain. Abel saw at 
 once how difficult it would be to hide the secret from 
 her. 
 
 " You didn t give them liberty to take the tomatoes, 
 did you ? " she questioned, suspiciously. 
 5* 
 
5 4 Neigh bors* Wives . 
 
 " Yes," said he, resolving to trust her, and relying 
 upon her discretion. " Mrs. Apjohn had got a little the 
 start of me, however, and helped herself before I came." 
 
 " Stealing ! " ejaculated Faustina. 
 
 " Absurd ! " answered Abel. " She intended, of course, 
 to tell us what she had done; but, unluckily, Turk in 
 terfered, and rather disconcerted the poor woman by 
 keeping her on her back, as she declares, a full hour." 
 
 The handsome face grew excited. 
 
 " But it was stealing ! What right had she ? Such 
 people ought to be exposed at once, and made an exam 
 ple of." 
 
 " On the contrary, my dear, I look upon it as a very 
 unfortunate affair. The less said about it the better, 
 and I pledged my word to them never to speak of it." 
 
 " You did, did you ! " said Faustina, indignantly. 
 " The idea of letting a thief off that way ! " 
 
 Abel sighed, as he did very often lately; and the 
 weary, care-worn look he gave his wife was nothing 
 new. 
 
 " I don t think she meant to steal, I tell you," he said, 
 with some impatience. " And if she did, I wouldn t tell 
 of it. What should I ruin a poor woman s reputation 
 for, when it is probable she never did such a thing before, 
 and would never do it again ? " 
 
 " You are mighty easy with such folks, seems to me. 
 For my part, I am not. I say they ought to be pun 
 ished." 
 
 "Let him that is without sin, cast a stone; I will not. 
 
Sunday Evening at AbePs. 55 
 
 It isn t at all likely," added Abel, " that you or I will 
 ever be tempted to commit so foolish a trespass. But 
 are we never guilty of anything we need to be forgiven 
 for ? In this case, if only for Cooper John s sake, I 
 would hush up the affair. I pity him from the bottom of 
 ray heart. His wife might survive an exposure, but 
 it would kill him. So remember that my word is 
 pledged." 
 
 Faustina sneered. She was not so very beautiful 
 then. And as Abel looked at.her, he saw, as he had seen 
 many times before when he had refused to credit his 
 perceptions, that there was no beauty of soul, no inform 
 ing loveliness, in that fair shape; and that hers was a 
 shallow, selfish, merely brilliant face at the best. 
 
 They entered the house, a far more showy dwelling 
 now than when Eliza left it, but to Abel a home no 
 longer. The atmosphere of comfort and content was 
 wanting. For houses, like individuals, have their atmos 
 phere, and a sensitive soul entering your abode can dis 
 cern, before he speaks with its inmates, whether harmony 
 and blessedness dwell there, or whether it is the lodging 
 of discord and mean thoughts. 
 
 Proud and stern as he was, Abel could not hide from 
 himself how much he missed his foster-sister. He 
 missed that even and gentle management of his house 
 hold affairs, which he had never known how to prize 
 until her place was filled by an extravagant wife and 
 wasteful servants. He felt the need of her sympathy 
 and counsel in the worldly troubles that were thickening 
 
56 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 upon him ; for, somehow, he could never open his heart 
 on these subjects to Faustina. The holes in his socks, 
 the wandering shirt-buttons, the heavy bread, the want 
 of neatness and order from cellar to garret, reminded 
 him daily of his loss. In his mother s face he saw, un 
 der a thin veil of cheerfulness, perpetual sorrow for 
 Eliza s absence. When he came home to his meals, he 
 thought of the tender spirit that had welcomed him 
 once. And in the evening he remembered with regret 
 the books they used to read together. Faustina did not 
 like to read, and no book had power to interest her, un 
 less it were one of those high- wrought fictions, romances 
 of unreal life, which disgusted Abel. 
 
 "What she liked was company. Every evening, to 
 please her, they must go out somewhere, or have callers 
 and cards at home, and the small talk of some such nice 
 young man as Tasso Smith. Abel hated Tasso Smith. 
 
 " I like him," Faustina would say, with a little toss of 
 her head, which added, as plainly as words could do, 
 " and that settles it." 
 
 So Tasso, when he was in town, frequently favored 
 the Danes with his choice company. Faustina expects 
 him this Sabbath evening. She is irritable and restless. 
 
 " Go to your father, do ! " she says to little Ebby, who 
 is pulling her dress, and begging to be taken up. Grief 
 swells the baby face at the repulse; and he hastens for 
 refuge and comfort to his father s bosom. 
 
 And now, suddenly, having had a glimpse of a visitor 
 from the window, Faustina s discontented brow lights 
 
Sunday Evening at AbcFs. 57 
 
 up. Abel s countenance, a moment since, gentle and 
 tender, darkens as suddenly when the nice young man 
 walks in. 
 
 " Goin by, thought I d look in, see how you liked 
 the disquisition s aft noon," says Tasso, munching his 
 words and grimacing. 
 
 " I do wish the minister wouldn t have so much to say 
 about extravagance in dress ! " exclaims Faustina. 
 
 "If we can t go to heaven in decent clo es, what s 
 the use ? " says Tasso, stroking the moustache, and 
 showing the finger-rings. 
 
 " Besides," adds the lady, " I don t think the dresses 
 in our society are much to brag of, anyway. Taken as 
 a set, they are the homeliest women, and the worst 
 dressed women I ever saw." 
 
 "One or two xceptions, could mention," responds 
 Tasso, with a flattering simper. 
 
 " There s Mrs. Grasper s bonnet, what a fright ! " 
 
 " That s so ! Looks like a last year s bird s nest, 
 feathers left in. Do to go with her shawl, though. Same 
 shawl Grasper used last winter for a boss-blanket; pon 
 my honor; hi, hi, hi ! " giggles Mr. Smith, twisting his 
 ear-locks. "How je like the disquisition, t -day ?" pat 
 ronizingly, to the old lady. 
 
 She smiled placidly, and, struggling a moment with 
 her organs of speech, which refused at first to articulate, 
 she observed, 
 
 " Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbor s house, lest 
 he be weary of thee. " 
 
58 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 The text happened to be in her mind, and when she 
 opened her mouth to give Tasso a civil answer, it leaped 
 out. She tried to catch it, but it was gone. And it 
 seemed such a decided hit at Tasso, that he could do 
 nothing but look confused and silly, while Faustina red 
 dened with resentment, and Abel just lifted his eyebrows 
 with a smile of surly humor. 
 
 " Excuse me, Mr. Squash," the kind old lady hastened 
 to say. That did not mend the matter; and she frowned 
 and shook her head at herself with good-natured impa 
 tience. " Mr. Smith ! there, now I ve got it ! I meant 
 to say, I think the minister gave us, this afternoon, one 
 of his very best fricassees no what is the word ? " 
 
 " Sermons, I call them," said Abel. " Tasso calls them 
 disquisitions." 
 
 " One of the best sermons I ever heard," added the 
 old lady; " and probably the last I shall ever hear." 
 
 " Old Deacon Judd peared to like it," said Tasso, ral 
 lying. " Je see his mouth stand open ? Ye c d a drove 
 in a good-sized carriage, and turned around. Fricas 
 sees ! " he whispered aside to Faustina, and tittered. 
 
 " Mrs. Judd s ribbons took my eye ! " said Faustina. 
 
 " They look like pine shavings nailed to a well-sweep ! " 
 added Tasso. " Ye mind what a long neck she s got ? 
 Most extensive curvical appendage, ye und stand, they 
 is in town. Comes by stretching it up every Sunday 
 so s t she can hear the minister; deaf, I spose. It s so 
 long a ready, she has to get up on to a barrel to tie her- 
 bunnit." He whispered again, " Fricassees ! " and 
 snickered as before. 
 
Sunday Evening at Abel s. 59 
 
 Abel, weary of this unworthy Sunday-evening talk, 
 and perceiving that his mother was a subject of ridicule, 
 felt his wrath boiling up within him. 
 
 " Jim Locke s bought him a melodeon," was the next 
 theme started by Tasso. 
 
 " What for ? He never can learn to play ! " 
 
 " He ? no ! soft ! Think of Jim Locke with a melo 
 deon, Abel ! " 
 
 " And why not ? " sternly demanded Abel. 
 
 "Pshaw!" said Tasso; "he don t want a melodeon, 
 more n a dog wants a walking-stick." 
 
 " And why shouldn t a dog have a walking-stick, as 
 well as a puppy ? " And Abel glanced contemptuously 
 at Mr. Smith s rattan. 
 
 Melissa, the servant, now came to help the old lady to 
 bed; performing, as well as such unsympathizing hands 
 could, the task which always painfully reminded both 
 Abel and his mother of Eliza. And now, Abel, full of 
 ire and spleen, arose and left the room, hugging little 
 Ebby in his arms. 
 
 " Crusty t -night. What s the matter ? " whispered 
 Tasso. 
 
 " I don t know. Nothing pleases him," sighed Faus 
 tina. 
 
 " Don t believe that, now." 
 
 " Don t believe it ? why ? " 
 
 " Cause," simpered the eloquent youth, " there ain t a 
 man in the world you can t please, though he was as 
 cross as seven bears." 
 
60 Neighbors" Wives. 
 
 She sighed again, and regarded her visitor gratefully. 
 
 " Did you ever see such a tiresome old woman ? 
 Don t care if I do say it ! " she exclaimed. " And he 
 thinks I ought to be thankful for the privilege of having 
 her in the house." 
 
 " Fricassees ! " said Tasso. 
 
 " He don t like company, and thinks I ought to settle 
 down and be a dull old woman with her, and never see 
 anybody else from one year s end to the other." The 
 pretty face pouted. " In such a stupid place as this ! " 
 
 "Ought to be thankful for such near neighbors." 
 Tasso never neglected an opportunity to speak dispar 
 agingly of the Apjohns. " Interesting ! I could tell a 
 story ! " 
 
 " So could I." Faustina laughed. " Some of our 
 neighbors are extravagantly fond of tomatoes." 
 
 "Do tell! How fond?" 
 
 "Oh, enough so that they don t mind getting over 
 fences into other folks gardens, and helping them 
 selves ! " 
 
 " You don t say ! " cried Tasso, eagerly. 
 
 "Of course I don t; for I was told not to. And you 
 mustn t let Abel know I ve hinted a word about it, nor 
 any one else. What do you suppose we found when we 
 came home from meeting to-day ? " 
 
 " Something funny, I bet ! Give us the story I 
 Come ! " 
 
 " Will you give me yours ? You said you could tell 
 one." 
 
Sunday Evening at Abel s. 61 
 
 Tasso promised. 
 
 "But then," laughed Faustina, "Abel charged me 
 strictly not to mention how we found Mrs. Apjohn on 
 her back among the tomatoes, her apron and basket 
 well filled, and honest Turk holding her down, while 
 John skulked behind the cabbages." 
 
 Tasso was so delighted that he jumped up, clapped 
 his hands, and laughed with unbounded glee. 
 
 " Oh, that s too good ! it kills me ! Oh, no ! I ll never 
 mention it, if you say so. But wouldn t I have been 
 tickled to have been there ? " 
 
 " Now, what s your story ? " 
 
 "I don t dare to tell it now; you won t believe me. 
 You won t believe these poor people, who steal their 
 neighbor s tomatoes, are misers ! " whispered Tasso. 
 
 "Nonsense!" 
 
 " It s so, I tell ye. Perfect misers ! Eich as Jews ! 
 Keep a pile of money in the house all the time, and no 
 body knows how much more in the bank ! " 
 
 " How do you know that ? " 
 
 "I ll tell ye. Bout the time you was married, 
 united in the bonds of high menial blessedness, y un- 
 derstand, with your amiable consort, hem ! bout 
 that time I d just come out fr m the city, toler ble flush, 
 so I thought I d look into Apj ohn s and pay him some 
 money father was owing him, compensation for work, 
 ye know. Well, so happened I had some large bills; 
 and so I thought I d bother Cooper John a little, and 
 asked him to change. a C., y understand, a hunderd. 
 6 
 
62 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 By George ! I never was so surprised s I was when 
 Mrs. Apjohn took a key from the clock-case, and went 
 into the bedroom, and, after jingling silver and counting 
 bills there for five minutes, brought out change for my 
 hunderd-dollar note ! It s so," said Tasso, as Faustina 
 appeared incredulous. " I never told on t before, fear 
 sDmebody d rob the old misers. Now, by George, since 
 they ve hooked your tomatoes, I don t care whether 
 they get robbed or not ! I can tell you just where they 
 keep their treasure," and Tasso specified the chest-till. 
 "Yes," said Faustina, "very pleasant weather in 
 deed," as Abel, having tucked Ebby away in his crib, 
 reentered the room and sat down. 
 
Mr. Smith s Friend s Jewels. 63 
 
 VII. 
 
 MR. SMITH S FRIEND S JEWELS. 
 
 MORE than one cause was operating, that Sunday 
 evening, to make Abel appear, as Tasso expressed it, 
 crusty. The cheerlessness of his home was nothing 
 new. These frivolities of the evening had long since 
 usurped the place of the good old-fashioned readings 
 and social comforts. He had become accustomed to 
 seeing Faustina s features light up with animation at 
 the silly conceits of Mr. Smith, and he was not jealous. 
 But now there was a new burden on his mind ; his pe 
 cuniary troubles were culminating. Not long after his 
 marriage he had been obliged to mortgage his house. 
 Since then his debts had been constantly increasing. 
 He had many times been sorely pushed to meet his lia 
 bilities; but never had he seen a darker week before 
 him than this which was coming. 
 
 He slept little that night. Monday dawned. After a 
 light slumber, the gray morning beam stole in upon 
 him, and with it came the thought of the payments 
 which he could devise no means of making. A tide of 
 restlessness tossed him. He looked at the beautiful be- 
 
64 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 ing by his side. She was sleeping a heavy, most un- 
 spiritual sleep. 
 
 " Oh ! if she would only sympathize with me and help 
 me," thought Abel, "I could bear anything; but she 
 doesn t care. I have been too indulgent to her; I could 
 refuse her nothing, and so I am deep in debt." He 
 glanced at their sleeping child. " For your sake, little 
 one, I will be a braver and stronger man in future I " 
 
 He arose. His movements in the room awoke Faus 
 tina. 
 
 " Are you going, Abel ? " 
 
 " I have a hard week s work before me, and I must 
 begin it," he answered. 
 
 " O Abel ! I don t feel very well, and I don t know as 
 I shall get up to breakfast; but can t you leave me a 
 little money before you go ? " 
 
 " How much ? " 
 
 " Oh, ten, or fifteen, or twenty dollars, I don t care." 
 
 A bitter smile contorted Abel s face. " For what ? " 
 he asked. 
 
 " I am going into the village, by-and-by, and I always 
 see so many things I want; and I haven t had any money 
 to spend for myself for ever so long. I must have me a 
 dress right away," she said complainingly. 
 
 "Don t you know well enough," demanded Abel, 
 " that I am harassed almost to death with money-mat 
 ters already ? Haven t I told you that I have no more 
 idea than a man in his grave how I am to raise half 
 
Mr. Smithes Friends Jewels. 65 
 
 enough to pay what must "be paid this week ? And you 
 talk to me of new dresses ! " 
 
 When he was gone, Faustina consoled herself with 
 the reflection that he was the crudest husband and she 
 the most injured wife in the world; sighed to think she 
 couldn t have a new dress immediately, and went to 
 sleep again. 
 
 For three days Abel struggled manfully with the 
 obstacles in his way ; and when his utmost was done, he 
 wanted still a hundred dollars to make up the neces 
 sary amount. A small sum to you, flush reader, but au 
 immense one at that time to Abel Dane. But on the 
 fourth day he entered the house with tears of joy in his 
 eyes. 
 
 " What good news ? " asked his mother. 
 
 " A miracle ! " exclaimed Abel. " I will never lose 
 my faith in Providence again. Just as my last re 
 sources were exhausted, and I had given up all hope, 
 what should come to me, in a blank envelope from Bos 
 ton, but a draft for a hundred dollars ! " 
 
 Faustina, who had not yet got over the feeling that he 
 was an inhuman husband and she an injured wife, and 
 did not neglect to manifest, by her morose conduct, how 
 much she was aggrieved, was almost surprised out of 
 her sulkiness by this strange announcement. 
 
 " Who sent it ? " she inquired. 
 
 " I have not the remotest suspicion ; but whoever he 
 may be, he has saved me from ruin." 
 
 Whilst he was putting the draft away in the drawer 
 6* 
 
66 Neighbor? Wives. 
 
 which contained the money he had raised, and his 
 mother was inwardly offering up a prayer of thankful 
 ness for this favor to her son, Faustina was saying to 
 herself, " Well, I should think he might let me have a 
 new dress now, if I have to run in debt for it." 
 
 Poor Faustina ! let us not blame her too severely. 
 Her beauty was her misfortune. It was that which had 
 spoiled her. From her childhood, flattery and the un 
 wise indulgence of over-careful friends, had instilled 
 into her the pernicious belief that she was the fairest and 
 choicest of God s creatures, and that it was the duty of 
 everybody to administer to her pleasures, while it was 
 her privilege to think only of herself. She had never in 
 her life known what it was to make a sacrifice. The 
 blessed habit of helping others, of forgetting one s own 
 happiness in caring for the happiness of others, this 
 unfortunately fortunate beauty had never learned. No 
 doubt she had in her soul germs of noble womanhood, 
 which affliction, and wise kindness on the part of her 
 teachers, might have developed. But, as it was, she had 
 grown up to be a child still, with the proportions of a 
 woman, unreasonable, self-willed, with a mind undisci 
 plined, and impulses uncontrolled. 
 
 That forenoon Tasso Smith called. He found Faus 
 tina with her hair in curl-papers. 
 
 " Got sumthin t show ye ; sumthin nice, or I 
 wouldn t have took the trouble. How s tomatoes ? and 
 how s fricassees ? " he chuckled, as he undid a package. 
 " Friend of mine s got some jewelry he wants to raise 
 
Mr. Smith s Friend? s Jewels. 67 
 
 money on, and he sent some of it to me. You know 
 what jewelry is; so, just for curiosity, thought I d bring 
 it over." 
 
 "Oh-oh-h splendid!" cries the enraptured Faus 
 tina. " That s the most magnificent bracelet I ever 
 saw. O Tasso ! you must give me that bracelet ! " 
 
 " Most happy, if twas only mine," smiles the sweet 
 young man. " Just the thing for you, Faustiny ! " He 
 clasped it on her too willing arm. " By George ! ain t 
 it a stunner ? Didn t know it was so splendid, by 
 George ! Takes a beautiful arm to show oft" a fine 
 bracelet like that." 
 
 Faustina s cheeks were kindling, and her eyes began 
 to burn. Jewelry was an intoxication to the poor 
 child. She passed before the glass with her jewelled 
 arm gracefully folded beneath her breast. " O Tasso ! 
 I must have this bracelet, some way ! Come, you never 
 gave me anything in your life. All my friends make me 
 presents but you," poutingly. 
 
 " I d give ye the set that goes with it, if I could. 
 By George ! if you was my wife, Fanstiny, xcuse me 
 for saying it, I d make ye sparkle till men s eyes 
 watered ! If Abel was only a man of taste ! " 
 
 " Don t talk of Abel. Taste ! " said Faustina, scorn 
 fully ; and she sighed and caressed the bracelet. 
 
 "What did a plodding fellow like him ever marry 
 such a lady as you are for ? " said the insinuating Tasso. 
 " He don t want a brilliant wife, no more n a toad wants 
 a side-pocket. You ought to be the lady of some man 
 
68 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 of taste and enterprise, see the world, and not live 
 cooped up here." 
 
 " Hold your tongue, Tasso Smith ! " cried she, with 
 flashing eyes. " You make me wild. Do you think I 
 don t know what I might have been, and that I like 
 to be reminded of it ? " Yet it was evident that she was 
 not displeased; and Tasso knew that his flatteries were* 
 wine to her ambitious heart. 
 
 " Here, put em all on," said he. " That s a love of a 
 pin ! " 
 
 " Oh, it is ! And those ear-rings, what beauties ! 
 Tasso, you make me crazy showing me these things. 
 Oh, if I had some money ! " 
 
 " They can be had dog-cheap," Mr. Smith observed. 
 " It s a rare chance for anybody that wants such a set of 
 jewels. They won t become everybody, you know. 
 Takes a woman of style to wear such things. It s noth 
 ing to me, I ve nothing to gain by it, but I should 
 like to see you in them sparkling gems. I tell ye, that 
 bracelet is a screamer ! Why don t ye buy em ? " 
 
 " Buy them ? " repeated Faustina, tremblingly. " I 
 wish I could ! What do they cost ? " 
 
 " That bracelet and the set together retails for a hun- 
 derd dollars in Boston. The lowest wholesale price is 
 sixty, and they cost my friend about that. He wants 
 me to get sixty for em if I can; but, if you like, I ll 
 take the responsibility and let you have em for fifty. 
 If he ain t satisfied, why, twon t be but a few dollars dif 
 ference, and I ll make it up to him." 
 
Mr. Smith s Friend s Jewels. 69 
 
 " Fifty dollars I " sighed Faustina. " Oh, I can t buy 
 em, Tasso." 
 
 " Sorry," said Tasso. " You never ll have another 
 such a chance. You might go all over Boston, and you 
 couldn t find another such set as that for less n ninety 
 dollars, t the very lowest. I don t care so much about 
 . commodatin my friend, as I do to see you wear some- 
 thin that becomes you." He watched her cunningly. 
 " Well, I suppose I must be going; for I must write to 
 town by the next mail, and either send back the jewels 
 or the money." 
 
 The thought of giving up those precious ornaments 
 was too much for Faustina. 
 
 " I ll keep them," said she, " and pay you as soon as I 
 can get the money of my husband." 
 
 " If twas my affair, I d give ye as long a time* to pay 
 for em as you want," replied the smooth-tongued 
 Smith; " but my friend s only object in disposing of em 
 for any such low price is to raise money the quickest 
 possible. I don t happen to have the funds to spare jest 
 now, myself, or I d commodate ye. You may never 
 come acrost another such a set of gems ; for there s very 
 little such gold in the market; not to speak of the stones, 
 which are re l Berzil di muns." 
 
 " What s fifty dollars ? " suddenly burst forth Fausti 
 na, in one of her ungovernable impulses. " I ll take 
 them, Tasso I I may as well have something now and 
 then to make life pleasant, as to live in constant submis- 
 
70 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 sion to I hate the grovelling necessities of life, and I 
 won t be a slave to them any longer ! " 
 
 What she meant by these wild words, Tasso did not 
 know nor care to know. His mind was fixed on the 
 sale of his fictitious friend s very fictitious gold and 
 " di muns; " and when he saw her sweep from the room, 
 impetuously, and presently sweep back again with a 
 fifty-dollar bank-note in her hand, he was content, with 
 out raising any more questions. 
 
 " There, my beauty ! " said he, " though I ve no personal 
 interest in the matter, allow me to congratulate you on 
 securing a bargain, which wouldn t happen to you again 
 prob bly in a lifetime. And now, I must hurry and get 
 this bill into a letter, and mail it to my friend, enclose 
 it t my correspondent, y understand ; bless me, by 
 George ! " looking at his watch, which, by the way, did 
 not go, being pinchbeck, like the rest of his jewelry, 
 " I ve scarcely time to get around now ! Good-by ! " 
 
 He was gone almost before she knew it. Then, look 
 ing once more at the ornaments he had left upon her 
 person, remembering Abel and his payments, and realiz 
 ing fully, for the first time, what she had done, a guilty 
 fear came over her, and she ran to call Tasso back. 
 
 Too late ; he was already out of sight. 
 
Faustina s Tangled Web. 71 
 
 VIII. 
 
 FAUSTINA S TANGLED WEB. 
 
 "A WEIGHT like a mountain has been taken from my 
 mind ! " exclaimed Abel, coming in to dinner. " I don t 
 see how I could raise another dollar without putting up 
 my goods at auction. What I should have done but 
 for the draft which came this morning, I don t know, 
 yes I do, too ; I should have been a bankrupt for the want 
 of a hundred dollars. To have been fifty dollars short 
 would have been just as bad. I have seen Mr. Hodge 
 to-day, and he says he must have the money without 
 fail. I am to see him this evening and have a settle 
 ment. Faustina," Abel added, with real tenderness, " if 
 you could know what an ordeal I have passed, and the 
 relief it is now, to feel that I have in the drawer there the 
 means to help myself out of the worst place I was ever 
 in, you d forgive me for refusing you money as harshly 
 as I did, and be glad I did refuse you." 
 
 Faustina listened to these words with conscience-smit 
 ing fear. The jewels, which she had hastily hidden 
 away at his coming, were no solace now, but only a ter 
 ror to her soul. What would he do when he found he 
 
7 2 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 had been robbed ? What would he say when he learned 
 how she had squandered the missing money, and for 
 what ? Could she hope to pacify him by a display of the 
 baubles which had, in the hour of temptation, seemed to 
 her more precious than his honor and his peace ? They 
 were beginning to appear, in her own eyes, worthless as 
 they were. His scorn and wrath, if he should see them, 
 she could well imagine. More and more, as she looked 
 forward to it, she dreaded the inevitable exposure. Abel 
 perceived her flush and agitation; but, remembering how 
 sullen she had been since he refused her the money she 
 required, he thought her resentment had taken some 
 new form, and was not surprised at it. 
 
 " You don t mean to say," she ventured at last to sug 
 gest, " that only just fifty dollars would make such a dif 
 ference in your affairs ? " 
 
 " The difference would be," replied Abel, " that in 
 helping myself out of the well, the chain I am to climb 
 up by would lack just so much of reaching down to my 
 hand. And when a man has strained every nerve to 
 grasp an object, it might as well be withdrawn ten 
 yards from his hand, as ten inches." 
 
 " But," faltered Faustina, " ain t you afraid the 
 money will be stolen ? " 
 
 " Not with you in the house," replied the confiding 
 Abel. " Guard it as you would my life ! I could about 
 as soon face death as learn that any part of that money 
 had been lost ! Faustina," he said, cheeringly, " don t 
 look so gloomy. Better times are coming. We will live 
 
Faustinas Tangled Web. 73 
 
 more within our means, think less of the world and its 
 trifles, and be much happier. It don t require silks and 
 gewgaws to make a home comfortable." 
 
 He folded her in his arms. He was so thankful and 
 happy that he desired to bless her also with the overflow 
 of his large heart. 
 
 She suppressed her feelings as well as she could till af 
 ter he was gone. He had eaten his dinner, and departed 
 full of joy in his present good fortune and hope for the 
 future. But night would soon come, and with it disclos 
 ure and disgrace. She could imagine him unsuspecting 
 ly welcoming Mr. Hodge, taking out the money to 
 pay him, and starting suddenly appalled by the discov 
 ery of her theft. What should she do ? At heart a 
 coward, she felt that she could never meet her husband s 
 just and terrible wrath. It was a characteristic trait of 
 her selfishness, that, all this while, she thought little of 
 his ruin, and of what he would suffer when the disclos 
 ure was made, but only of the shock and the shame 
 that would befall herself. And now, the restraint of his 
 presence removed, she gave way to wild and desperate 
 resolves. Without staying to take her hair out of the 
 cuil-papers, she threw on her bonnet. 
 
 " Melissa," she said, " stop this child s crying. I am 
 going out a little while. Perhaps " the bitter impulse 
 prompted her, and she muttered the words through her 
 teeth -^ " perhaps I shall never come back." 
 
 For she had thrust the jewels into her bag, and taken 
 the bag upon her arm, with the blind, passionate feeling 
 7 
 
74 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 that she would never return to that house and to her 
 wronged husband without bringing back with her the 
 money of which she had robbed him. 
 
 In the slovenly kitchen of a slovenly house, in com 
 pany with a slovenly woman, two slovenly girls, and a 
 ragged old man, the elegant Tasso Smith was at dinner, 
 in his shirt-sleeves, when a quick rap came at the 
 door. 
 
 "It s Faustiny Dane; she wants to see you, Tasso," 
 said Miss Smith, having gone to the stoop with her friz 
 zled hair. 
 
 Tasso turned all colors in quick succession during the 
 half-minute that ensued, either from embarrassment 
 at having the beautiful Faustina find him in such a home, 
 and see his uncombed, slatternly sister open the door, or 
 because he supposed she had discovered the worthless 
 character of the trinkets he had sold her. He wiped 
 his lips hurriedly on the dirty table-cloth, put on his 
 coat, and went palpitating to the door, with the most in 
 ane, simpering expression which it is possible for the 
 human countenance to wear. 
 
 " Tasso," said Faustina, in quick, decisive tones, " I 
 want to speak with you a minute." 
 
 " W-w-will ye walk in ? " stammered the reluctant 
 Tasso, " or sh ll I get m hat ? " 
 
 For he knew that it was not a house fit to show her 
 into. 
 
 " Get your hat," said Faustina, with strange eyes and 
 hectic cheeks. 
 
Faustina s Tangled Web. 75 
 
 She walked with nervous steps to and fro on the half- 
 rotten plank before the door, until Tasso got his hat and 
 came out. 
 
 " Folks ain t very well ; m sister hain t had time to 
 change her dress to-day; I d invite ye in, but " 
 
 She interrupted the silly apology. 
 
 " Tasso, I can t keep the jewels ! " 
 
 " Can t ? Why not ? " 
 
 Mr. Smith grinned and picked his foolish teeth. 
 
 " I took some money my husband had got to pay off a 
 note with and the interest on a mortgage; he don t 
 know it yet, but when he does, I suppose he will kill me ; 
 and I must have that money, and take it back. Here 
 are the jewels." 
 
 She pulled open her bag, and eagerly handed out the 
 package, which Tasso did not touch. 
 
 " Don t speak quite so loud," he said. " Step this 
 way." 
 
 For the truth about that interesting young man was, 
 that, when not absent in the city, he was living upon his 
 thriftless relations, without making them any other 
 compensation than that which his elegant manners and 
 the value of his society afforded ; and he was unwilling 
 they should know that he had that day received a sum 
 of money which would have gone far toward paying his 
 summer s board. 
 
 "Like to keep my business little bit private; sisters 
 u d think might give them some jewels, if they knew I. 
 had any in my possession." 
 
76 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 " Take them," said Faustina, " and give them to any 
 body you please. And give me back the money, at 
 once ! " 
 
 " Sorry to say," replied Tasso, " I ve jest sent the 
 money oft to my friend. Why didn t you tell me of this 
 before ? It was no interest to me to sell you the jewels. 
 I mailed the letter an hour ago," he added, with a smile 
 on his countenance, and the money in his pocket at the 
 moment. 
 
 Faustina drew a quick breath, and cast upon him a 
 stony, despairing look; the hand which held the jewels 
 dropping by her side. 
 
 " Tasso," she said, " you have been my ruin. I can 
 never go back to that house without the money. What 
 shall I do ? " 
 
 " Sure. I don t know," palavered the deceiver. " I con 
 sider it the most unfortunate circumstance n th world, t 
 you didn t mention the way you was situated, fore I sent 
 off the money. Might stop the letter now, only the mail 
 has been gone as much as an hour. What will you do ? 
 If I only had the money to lend you now ! Most al 
 ways have as much as that about me," said he sympa 
 thetically, with the only fifty-dollar bank-note he had 
 had in his possession for six months peeping then out 
 of his waistcoat pocket. 
 
 " You must lend me the money ! " exclaimed Faustina. 
 " You must get it for me ! or else " her heart throbbed 
 up into her throat with the wildness of the thought that 
 dared to enter it "you will never see me again, Tasso: 
 
Faustina s Tangled Web. 77 
 
 I shall go I don t know where; but I shan t go back 
 to his home, that is settled." 
 
 " I have it ! " said Tasso. " I know where you can 
 borry the money." 
 
 " Where ? for mercy s sake ! " 
 
 " Of those misers so fond of tomatoes, you know." 
 
 " The Apjohns ! " she exclaimed. " Oh, I don t be 
 lieve they have got so much as you tell of; and they 
 wouldn t lend it, if they have." 
 
 " By George ! what I told you, now, it s a fact, by 
 George ! hope to die if tain t ! " said Tasso. " And 
 they ll lend, I guess," significantly. 
 
 " Go and ask them ! " 
 
 "Not to me, I don t mean; they wouldn t lend to me. 
 But you jest go and mention the tomatoes, and tell the old 
 woman you can t keep the secret no longer without she 
 commodates you to a hunderd dollars, may as well 
 get a hunderd while you re about it" (Tasso remem 
 bered he had more pinchbeck to sell), "and she ll 
 shell out her miserly hoards, I bet ye, now 1 " 
 
 " O Tasso, I don t know ! But I ll try. Wait here for 
 me, won t you ? Or, no ; meet me somewhere, where ? " 
 
 " Up by the meeting-house," suggested Tasso. 
 
 " Yes ! Don t fail me, now ! for if they won t lend me 
 the money, I don t know what I can do without you." 
 
 She hurried away on her exciting errand; while 
 Tasso looked after her with a pale, sickly, cunning leer, 
 picking his rotten teeth with one hand, and lingering 
 the bank-note in his pocket with the other. 
 
78 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 IX. 
 
 FAUSTINA RETURNS MRS. APJOHN s VISIT. 
 
 FAUSTINA walked back toward the cooper s house, 
 with dubious and undecided steps at first, but gradually 
 quickening her pace as her doubts gave place to deter 
 mination. Why had she not thought of the Apjohns 
 before ? They should help her. Would they dare to 
 refuse what she asked ? And could she not compel 
 them, by threats, to lend her the money ? 
 
 She reached the cooper s house. In her impetuous 
 impatience, she did not stop to knock, but would have 
 entered straight, without ceremony, had not the door 
 been locked. She hurried around to the kitchen door, 
 that was fastened also. A shade of disappointment 
 passed over her; but it fell like the shadow of a cloud 
 on a rushing stream, without checking its course. Her 
 purpose could not be thwarted; though she might have 
 to wait. 
 
 Mrs. Apjohn was certainly not at home. Perhaps the 
 cooper was. So much the better; for it would be easier 
 to deal with him than with his wife. She hastened to 
 the shop. That was likewise shut and silent. Here 
 was an unforeseen difficulty. 
 
Faustina Returns Airs. Af John s Visit. 79 
 
 Should she go and meet Tasso, and then come back 
 after the Apjohns had returned ? Or should she go 
 home and wait ? She could do nothing, think of noth 
 ing, till this exciting business was over. If she could 
 only get into the house ! 
 
 Then she remembered a circumstance which she had 
 several times observed, looking across from her own 
 house to her neighbor s. When Mrs. Apjohn was going 
 away and leaving John in the shop, it was her < /istom, 
 after putting on her bonnet and shawl and lockiiv^ the 
 backdoor on the outside, to carry him something, which 
 Faustina conjectured was the key. But when John w.^ 
 not there, she used to stoop down and secrete the said 
 something under the door-step; in order, probably, that 
 he could have the means of entering the house in case 
 he should come home before her. Faustina had also 
 observed that the one who returned first, on such occa 
 sions, invariably took something from beneath the step 
 before unlocking the door. 
 
 What if the key were there now ? She was back 
 again at the rear of the house in a moment. There she 
 stood, just long enough to look about her. Nobody was 
 in sight. No unneighborly watch-dog was there to in 
 terfere with her operations, as Turk had interfered with 
 those of Mrs. Apjohn in the tomato-patch. Quickly 
 she put down her hand where she had seen Prudence put 
 down hers. She touched something metallic, smooth, 
 and cold. It was the door-key. 
 
 " I ll go in and wait anyway. There can t be any 
 
8o Neighbors Wives. 
 
 harm in that," was Faustina s excuse, as she unlocked 
 the door. 
 
 The next minute she was alone in the closed and si 
 lent house. 
 
 She sat down and breathed. But she was too nervous 
 to remain long seated. She got up, and walked about, 
 and looked out of the windows, and peeped into the dif 
 ferent rooms. She listened to hear her neighbors com 
 ing; yet she almost dreaded to have them come. Sup 
 posing they should refuse her the money, and laugh 
 at her threats ? Oh, if she was only sure they had 
 money ! 
 
 In the bedroom she saw the chest as Tasso had de 
 scribed it. She entered softly, hesitating with that su 
 perstitious feeling which often haunts the visitor in a 
 still and empty house, especially if he has no rightful 
 business there. Perhaps Prudence was hid behind her 
 own petticoats that hung over the bed ; or what if the 
 little cooper was tucked away in the corner behind the 
 bureau, on the lookout for burglars ? Faustina just 
 tried the lid of the chest, and, finding it fastened, walked 
 back rather quickly to the kitchen, with starting and 
 creeping sensations in her nerves, which were not agree 
 able. 
 
 " Will they never come ? " she said to herself. " I 
 won t wait much longer ! " 
 
 She looked at the clock; but she forgot to notice the 
 time in the perturbation of thinking of the key which 
 Tasso said was kept hidden there. Summoning a bold 
 
Faustina Returns Mrs. Afyohrfs Visit. 81 
 
 resolution, she stepped to the high mantel-piece, opened 
 the clock, and found, sure enough, a key hung up within 
 the case. She ran with it to the bedroom, and was 
 almost frightened to find that it fitted the chest. 
 
 Well, she might as well finish what she had begun. 
 Though the Apjohns should suddenly come in and catch 
 her, she could easily silence them by holding the toma 
 toes over their heads. So she turned the key, and the 
 chest opened. 
 
 But here she met with an unexpected obstacle. The 
 till, in which she now firmly believed that there was 
 cash, was also locked; and Mrs. Apjohn, if she was the 
 prudent female we take her for, no doubt had the key 
 of it in her reticule. What was to be done ? Break 
 open the slender till ? That Faustina dared not do. 
 Abandon the search ? That she would not. Into every 
 corner of the chest she thrust ner hand, and overhauled 
 John Apjohn s shirts and Mrs. Apjohn s folded pillow 
 cases and sheets and bedspreads, in pursuit of the miss 
 ing key. She often thought she heard footsteps, and 
 stopped to listen, then with trepidation renewed her 
 search. 
 
 But no key was to be found. She tried the key of 
 the clock-case and the winding-up key; but neither of 
 them would fit. Should she give up so ? There was a 
 key in her bag ; she would try that. It was too large. 
 Then she bethought her of the key to the case of jewels. 
 She tried it, it was too small. No, it would enter 1 
 she could turn it; and lo, the till was unlocked ! 
 
82 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 Ah, well was it for Faustina, who had condemned her 
 neighbor s trespass so severely, that there was no big 
 dog to pounce in upon her now, and arrest her in the 
 midst of an act that looked quite as much like larceny 
 as anything Prudence Apjohn ever did ! It would be 
 interesting to know if she thought of the stolen tomatoes 
 then, and the remarks she had made on the occasion. 
 Alas for this poor human nature of ours, which prompts 
 us to pass sentence to-day upon the very sins we may 
 have been guilty of yesterday, or may commit to-mor 
 row ! The more liable we ourselves are to yield to 
 temptation, the sterner our judgment is apt to be of 
 those who have fallen. "Whereas the truly wise man, 
 who has known by experience what temptation is, and 
 has conquered it, is he of all others whose cloak of 
 charity is broadest and warmest. 
 
 Yet Faustina had never believed herself capable of 
 such an act as she was now committing. She had ap 
 proached the cooper s house full of virtuous indignation 
 against robbing and pilfering, and had the speech ready 
 by which she intended to humiliate the wrong-doer, and 
 exact indemnity for the wrong. And here she is, self- 
 abandoned to the sin which she had deemed so monstrous 
 and unpardonable in another ! 
 
 For Tasso had spoken truly once. In the till there 
 was a pocket-book. In the pocket-book there was a 
 roll of bills. These she hastily opened, and folded up 
 again as hastily. With quivering fingers she had ex 
 tracted the sum she required, a fifty-dollar note, the 
 
Faustina Returns Mrs. Apjohns Visit. 83 
 
 sight of which had sent a thrill of terrified joy to her 
 soul. This she thrusts into her bosom. The rest of the 
 money she returns to the pocket-book, places the pocket- 
 book in the till, and locks the till with the key of the 
 jewel-case. Then, having smoothed the rumpled linen 
 in the chest as well as she can, she lets down the heavy 
 lid again,- and locks it with the key, which she returns 
 to the clock-case. 
 
 All this has passed almost too quickly for thought. 
 But now, standing in the room, lingering and listening, 
 with tremors of heart, she begins to reflect, 
 
 " Maybe they never ll know who took it. I ll threaten 
 to tell about the tomatoes if they go to make a fuss." 
 But suppose she should meet them as she goes out ? 
 This is now her great trouble. " Who cares ? " she 
 says to herself. " I ll tell them I came to borrow some 
 money, and have taken it, and mean to repay it; and if 
 they say a word, they shall hear of the tomatoes all 
 over town. I ve got the money and they can t help 
 themselves." 
 
 So saying, she flirts a curl-paper out of her hair. 
 Without perceiving the insignificant loss, for has she 
 not a far more precious bit of paper in her bosom ? 
 she quits the house, locks it after her, puts the key un 
 der the door-step, and hurries home unobserved ? 
 
 Now, breathless, in her own room she stands; takes 
 off her things, and arranges her hair before the glass; 
 incorporates Mrs. Apjohn s note with the sum which 
 Abel had saved, inventing a score of arguments towards 
 
84 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 self-justification; hides away the miserable jewels; and 
 then, forgetful of her engagement with Tasso, establishes 
 herself at the window to watch, through the curtains, 
 for Mrs. Apjohn s return. 
 
Faustina s Suspense. 85 
 
 x. 
 
 FAUSTINA S SUSPENSE. 
 
 IT is an anxious hour to Faustina. With all her reit 
 erated assurances to herself that she has done only what 
 necessity compelled her to do, and what she had a per 
 fect right to do after Mrs. Apjohn s example, she feels a 
 deep concern to know whether her visit to the house 
 will be discovered, and, in that case, what wfll be the 
 issue. For a long time she perceives no signs of life 
 about the Apjohn premises. The grocer s boy comes 
 with a bundle, knocks, and, after waiting a few minutes, 
 deposits it on the door-step. Then Cooper John ap 
 pears, and Faustina holds her breath. But he passes 
 by, just looking at the bundle on the door-step, and en 
 ters his shop, where presently he can be heard hammer 
 ing the old tune on the hoop, " Cooper Dan, Cooper 
 Dan, Cooper Dan, Dan, Dan!" sounds which never 
 fell so heavily on Faustina s heart before, 
 
 But soon she has more dreadful things to contemplate. 
 
 Prudence Apjohn has returned, with her arms full of 
 
 packages from the store. These she lays beside the 
 
 larger bundle which has already arrived, and inserts a 
 
 8 
 
86 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 hand beneath the door-step. Then she unlocks the door, 
 and opens it. Then she loads up her apron with the 
 packages, and enters. Then she shuts the door behind 
 her, and all is ominously still, and Faustina waits for 
 the anticipated explosion. Prudence has had plenty of 
 time to go to the chest and discover the burglary; still 
 there is no movement of alarm. But now it is coming ! 
 Faustina feels her cheek blanch as the kitchen-door of 
 the Apjohn cottage flies open, and the portly figure of 
 Prudence appears. But apprehension is useless. No 
 scream is heard; the ponderous arms are not flung up 
 ward with despair at the loss of half her treasure; 
 Mrs. Apjohn has a tin teakettle in her hand, which she 
 fills at the well, and goes back with it to the house 
 again. 
 
 Faustina s fear is relieved. And now she considers 
 within herself the expediency of going over and telling 
 Mrs. Apjohn what she has done. But her evil genius 
 whispers, "You will never be discovered; keep still !" 
 
 Faustina kept still accordingly. She entered the 
 kitchen, and finding some work to do, set herself about 
 it with remarkable industry. Faustina was cheerful. 
 Faustina was demure. She spoke pleasantly to Me 
 lissa, and did not scold. She actually tolerated little 
 Ebby, and did not say, as usual, "Oh, go away; you 
 spoil my nice collar ; take him, Melissa." And what 
 was most extraordinary, she appeared quite amiable to 
 ward the old lady. 
 
 " Do you feel pretty well to-day, dear mother ? " with 
 a smile of filial solicitude. 
 
Faustinas Suspense. 87 
 
 " Oh, quite well," smiles back the old lady, " with the 
 exception of the pain in my bootjack," meaning her 
 rheumatic shoulder. 
 
 Abel comes home to supper, and is, at first, pleased 
 with the change in his fair young wife. The cloud has 
 passed from her brow. She greets him with a serene 
 aspect. But she is almost too affectionate, too eager to 
 please. He half-suspects that she means to coax money 
 out of him by putting on these fascinations. There is a 
 nervousness in her manner, an ill-concealed excitement 
 in her looks, and often an incoherence and singular ab 
 ruptness in her words, which do not seem quite natural. 
 Lively as she w T ould fain appear, her replies are fre 
 quently mechanical and absent-minded. So that Abel 
 hardly knows whether he ought to feel gratified, or 
 view her behavior with suspicion. 
 
 But she lisps no syllable of a wish for money. He 
 therefore concludes that what he said to her at noon has 
 produced a salutary effect. She evidently regrets her 
 late extravagance and unreasonableness; means to be a 
 better wife to him than she has been; and is now trying- 
 hard to appear contented with her lot. Kegarding in 
 this light the part she is playing, he can well forgive her 
 for overdoing it. And once more he hopes as he has 
 so often vainly hoped before that happier days are at 
 hand. Alas, Abel ! 
 
 Faustina cannot help starting and losing her color, 
 when she hears any noise without. Visions of the 
 affrighted cooper, of Prudence, furious at the loss of her 
 
88 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 money, rise before her at every slight sound. Turk, 
 knocking at the door with his wishfully-wagging tail, as 
 he waits to be let in, makes her heart sink. And now 
 footsteps actually approaching take her very breath 
 away. 
 
 It is Mr. Hodge, come to have his settlement with 
 Abel. She is glad it is not somebody else. Yet his 
 presence disturbs her; for now the money is to be., 
 counted, and change hands, and she dreads she knows 
 not what. Her hand shakes so that she puts the candle 
 out when she goes to snuff it. She lights it with a match, * 
 and then blows the candle out instead of the match, 
 which burns her fingers. Fortunately, Mr. Hodge and 
 Abel are talking and do not observe her. 
 
 The settlement takes place in the sitting-room. There 
 she leaves the candle with Abel and the visitor, and pre 
 tends to return to the kitchen, but finds some excuse to 
 linger at the door and listen. 
 
 " "Well," exclaimed Abel, looking over his money, " I 
 didn t know I had a bill on the Manville Bank ! I had a 
 fifty-dollar bill but it s curious ! I should think I d 
 have noticed it." 
 
 " One bill is as good as another, if the banks are good 
 and the bills genuine," carelessly observes the merchant. 
 
 " Yes ; but I don t see how I could have that bill in 
 my possession, and not know it," says the puzzled Abel, 
 while Faustina s heart throbs suffocatingly. 
 
 " If you handled as much money as I do," replies 
 Hodge, " you couldn t always think of keeping the run 
 
Faustina s Suspense. 89 
 
 of it." And the conversation turns upon other matters. 
 Faustina is faint. 
 
 Hodge soon after took his departure, which now 
 proved as serious a cause of disturbance to Faustina as 
 his coming had been; for he carried away with him the 
 irrevocable bank-note, to which his attention had been 
 drawn in such a manner that he could not fail to re 
 member and trace it back to Abel, in case any trouble 
 came of it in future. She had fondly imagined that, as 
 soon as the money was out of her husband s hands, her 
 mind would be at rest. But there is no rest for the 
 guilty conscience. Half the night she lay tormenting 
 herself with fears of detection; while Abel, for the first 
 time in weeks, slept tranquilly at her side. Then she 
 also slept, and dreamed that Mrs. Apjohn s apron was a 
 huge bank-bill, and that it contained, in place of toma 
 toes, several red and bleeding hearts, one of which was 
 hers and one Abel s. She thought that she and Tasso 
 were waiting for Mrs. Apjohn to fall asleep, in order 
 that they might unlock the lid of the apron, and steal 
 her heart out of it, which they had just succeeded in 
 doing, and were running away with it, when she 
 Faustina, not Mrs. Apjohn awoke. 
 
 There was a loud knocking below ; Abel was bestir 
 ring himself; and presently Melissa screamed at their 
 chamber-door, 
 
 " Mr. Dane ! Mr. Dane ! here s Mr. Apjohn wants 
 to see you ! " $ 
 
 "Wei], well; I m coming," answered Abel. "What 
 
 8* 
 
9 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 can the cooper want, making such a racket this time of 
 day ? " 
 
 It was just daylight. Abel, half-dressed, hastened to 
 the door, where the cooper met him, with a face as white 
 as chalk and eyes starting from his head. 
 
 " Good-morning, Mr. Apjohn," said Abel. " What s 
 the news this morning ? " 
 
 " I m a ruined man I " said the cooper, with grief, 
 despair, and bitter reproach in his tones; " and it s you 
 that *has ruined me." 
 
Tasso s Revenge. 91 
 
 XI. 
 
 TASSO S REVENGE. 
 
 WHILST Abel is drawing the poor man into the house 
 and getting from him his story, and whilst Faustina, 
 having overheard the alarming outburst at the door, is 
 quaking with consternation, and trying in vain to 
 harden her heart with indifference and stubbornness, 
 it is necessary to go back a few hours in our narrative, 
 and relate how John Apjohn came to be knocking at 
 Abel Dane s kitchen in the gray morning. 
 
 Prudence, on her way home from the village with her 
 purchases the previous afternoon, had encountered Tas- 
 so Smith, walking up and down by the meeting-house 
 green. Tasso was waiting for Faustina, and impatient 
 at her failure to keep the engagement. He had some 
 more of his friend s jewelry to show her, in case she had 
 succeeded in borrowing more than fifty dollars of Mrs. 
 Apjohn. At length he had a glimpse of a female figure 
 approaching by the young elms up the street. That 
 was not the direction from which he expected Faustina; 
 but he concluded that she had gone around the square, 
 and come that way to the rendezvous, in order to avoid 
 the appearance of going directly to meet him. He 
 
92 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 turned and walked back slowly, that she might overtake 
 him ; when with mutual surprise they would recognize 
 each other, and walk on together. He had his face made 
 up to the premeditated expression; he lifted his hand to 
 his hat as the footsteps came beside him, and, turning with 
 his genteelest bow and most ravishing smile, saluted 
 Mrs. Apjohn ! 
 
 Did you ever, when a child, throw a chip at some proud 
 cock of the walk, just as he was stretching up his neck 
 and beginning to crow ? The jubilant, shrill-swelling 
 note breaks off in the middle, and dies in a miserable 
 choking croak; the loftily curving neck and haughty 
 crimson crest are suddenly abashed; down sink the flap 
 ping wings; and chanticleer, dodging the chip, hops 
 from the fence to the ground, humiliated at being put thus 
 to confusion in sight of the admiring pullets and envious 
 young cockerels, before whom he is desirous of showing 
 off. 
 
 Such a bird was Tasso; and such a chip the look Pru 
 dence Apjohn gave him. It was too ridiculous; it was 
 exasperating: instead of the anticipated smile from 
 Faustina, a sarcastic sneer from that hateful woman ! 
 Instead of the beautiful countenance, that great, round 
 russet face ! Instead of the superb form, about which 
 there was such a grace and style, an immense, waddling 
 female shape, with adipose folds rolling over the tight- 
 drawn apron-string. And he had got up all that elabo 
 rate flourish, put on his sweetest expression, and actual 
 ly touched his hat, to that disgusting creature ! The 
 
Tasso s Revenge. 93 
 
 smile petrified on his lips. His waving bow broke, 
 withered, bore no fruit. 
 
 " Scuse me ! " he muttered. " Thought twas some- 
 b dy else." 
 
 "No doubt you did think it was somebody else ! " 
 answered Prudence. "You wouldn t have took sech 
 pains to bend your back and look sweet to me, 1 know ! 
 You han t liked me a bit sence that affair of changin 
 the hunderd-dollar bill which you never had, come, 
 now, ain t that the reason ? You used to come to my 
 house, often enough, and beg a doughnut, or a piece of 
 gingerbread, when you was a little boy. You remem 
 ber, don t ye ? You used to sing them days. Don t ye 
 remember how you used to sing ? You d come in when 
 we was to supper; I can see you now in that ragged 
 little roundabout you wore, all grease and dirt; hair 
 wasn t quite so slick as tis now, for if it see a brush or a 
 comb once a month them days, twas a wonder; and 
 you d commence and walk round the table, and sing that 
 little song of your n, 
 
 I wish I had soraethin to eat, 
 I wish I had somethin* to eat. 
 
 Remember it, don t ye ? " 
 
 Tasso remembered it only too well ; and he could 
 have throttled Mrs. Apjohn for remembering it too. 
 
 " Many s the doughnut you ve had to my house, and 
 welcome," she resumed. " I never d refuse even a beg 
 gar t I never see before, much less a neighbor s boy 
 
94 Neighbors- Wives. 
 
 that never seemed to have enough to eat to hum. I don t 
 say this cause I ve anything laid up ag inst ye ; only to 
 remind you t I ve always been your friend, and never 
 give you no reason, as I know on, to act so insolent 
 towards me as you do lately. You think j^ou re a gen 
 tleman, Tasso Smith; but you ought to know that 
 wearin Sunday-clo es every day, and them mustawshy 
 things on your upper lip, and that great, danglin watch- 
 chain, and struttin up and down when you should be 
 helpin your pa git a livin , and sayin to a woman like 
 me, after bowin to her by mistake, O/i, you thought 
 twas somebody else ! so insultin ! this kind o con 
 duct don t make a gentleman, and you ought to know 
 it. If you was re ly a gentleman now, you d ofler to 
 carry some of these bundles, seein you re goin the 
 same way I am." 
 
 "Much obliged to you," said Tasso; "I turn off 
 here." And he took a by-street, returning to the meet 
 ing-house, while Prudence trudged along home. 
 
 Stung to fury, burning for revenge, he parted 
 from her with a white smile. A generous soul would 
 either have forgiven her on the spot or have answered 
 her on the spot. But his was one of your grovelling and 
 cowardly natures. He preferred a secret and safe re 
 venge, to an open one that might expose him to danger. 
 Besides, he saw an advantage in postponing his resent 
 ment on this occasion. He felt that he held in his hand 
 a weapon that would have annihilated the strong, plain- 
 speaking woman. As David slew the Philistine with a 
 
Tasso s Revenge. 95 
 
 pebble, so he could have brought Prudence low with a 
 tomato. He longed to suggest that she was hardly a fit 
 person to give lessons in good behavior, who furtively 
 filled her apron in her neighbor s garden. But that 
 would take the wind out of Faustina s sails, he reflected; 
 for what would her threats of exposure avail with Pru 
 dence, if the latter knew that, her fault was already 
 published ? " After Faustina has got the money, 
 then ! " and he walked back towards the church, pon 
 dering an ingenious revenge. 
 
 Home went the unsuspecting Prudence in the mean 
 time, unlocked the house, took off her things, and put 
 on the tea-kettle. She had cheated John and herself 
 out of a dinner that day; and she was going to have 
 supper early. The cooper, cold and starved as usual, 
 came in just as she was blowing ashes and smoke into 
 her face and eyes, trying to kindle a smouldering brand 
 and save a match. 
 
 " Now, what do you want, I d like to know ? " she 
 cried, naturally cross under the circumstances. " Sup 
 per 11 git along jest as fast without you, and a little 
 faster." (Blow, blow.) " Musn t bother me now." 
 (Blow, blow, blow.) " Hateful smoke ! And I ve got 
 my mouth full of ashes. I do declare ! why can t the 
 pleggy thing kindle ? " 
 
 " Shan t I blow ? " said the meek cooper. 
 
 " You ! ther s no more breath in you than there is in 
 my shoe ! I wish you d stay in the shop. How I do 
 hate to have a man nosin around ! " 
 
96 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 u To be sure ! to be sure ! " answered John, more 
 melancholy and submissive than ever since the affair of 
 the tomatoes. " I haven t got a right to come into my 
 own house, I suppose. But I was gitt n hungry. 
 Haven t had anything but a crust to eat sence mornin . 
 But never mind." And he turned up his eyes with a 
 resigned expression. 
 
 "Guess you won t starve; it s only a quarter-past 
 two." Blow, blow, smoke, ashes, blow. 
 
 " Prudy ! " remonstrated John, in a feeble, dejected 
 way, " it was two o clock before I come home ; and that 
 was an hour ago." 
 
 " Jest look at the clock there. If you won t believe 
 your ears, maybe you will your eyes." 
 
 " To be sure, to be sure ! " said the cooper, in mild 
 astonishment. " But, Prudy ! Prudy ! that clock has 
 stopped I " 
 
 True enough; w T hen Faustina replaced the key of the 
 chest, she had touched the pendulum unwittingly, and 
 the pointers remained fixed at the minute when the 
 larceny was consummated. 
 
 " Massy sakes ! so it has ! and it may have been stop 
 ped an hour, fur s I know. You didn t wind it up last 
 night; jest like your carelessness, John Apjohn ! " 
 
 But John demonstrated to her, l>y the position of the 
 weights, that the clock had not run down. And he 
 seemed to consider the mysterious circumstance as the 
 forerunner of some dire chance. 
 
 " It never done sich a thing afore, Prudy; it never done 
 sich a. thing 1 afore." 
 
Tasso s jRevenge. 97 
 
 " Wai ! " contemptuously "I wouldn t be so scart 
 by a little trifle like the stoppin of a clock ! Here s 
 the chist-key all right. And now, while I m puttin 
 away my things, and the fire s kindlin , you run over 
 to Abel s and see what time it is." 
 
 The cooper only groaned and shook his head. Not 
 even his wife s energetic wishes could induce him to face 
 one of the Dane family, after his last humiliating errand 
 to their garden. 
 
 " Wai, now, I wouldn t be so sheepish ! I ain t goin 
 to let that thing trouble me. I ll hold up my head, 
 while I ve got one; and let folks put upon me, if they 
 da s t ! I give that Tasso Smith a piece of my mind, as 
 I was comin home. He mustn t think he s goin to 
 have over his impudence to me, and not git as good as 
 he gives. I sa} r for t, John Apjohn ! " opening the chest, 
 to lay her shawl into it, " you shan t come to this chist 
 at all if you ve always got to tumble it up so, now jest 
 look here ! You shall keep your shirts in the ketchall, 
 and never come near my things, if you can t be a little 
 more careful." 
 
 In vain the cooper protested that he had not opened 
 the chest. Who had, if he hadn t, she desired to know. 
 
 " To be sure ! " he answered, helplessly, the evidence 
 being against him. " I must have done it in my sleep, 
 though." 
 
 " I say, in your sleep ! You re never more n half 
 awake. You han t touched the money, have you ? I 
 ain t goin to have that touched, till we buy two more 
 9 
 
98 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 railroad shares with it and what Mr. Parker will be pay- 
 in us now in a few days. I run in debt for the things 
 I got to-day, for fear we might fall short, and I m very 
 anxious to have the shares, and put the money out of 
 our hands, and have it bringin in somethin ." 
 
 Then, having unlocked the till, to see that the pocket- 
 book was there, she locked it again, and returned to the 
 kitchen. The smoke had "by this time got out of her 
 eyes; the tea-kettle was simmering, and her heart, too, 
 began to simmer cheerfully. She told John about her 
 purchases, whilst she was setting the table; the pork 
 was soon fried and the potatoes warmed up; and they 
 sat down to supper. They had no tomatoes that 
 night. Indeed, John had lost his appetite for toma 
 toes, and Prudence herself was not very fond of them 
 lately. 
 
 The cooper felt lost without the time. He was afraid 
 they might not go to bed at just eight o clock, and seemed 
 to think something dreadful would happen if they failed 
 in that important particular. And then, how would 
 they ever know when to get up in the morning ? These 
 doubts so harassed the poor man s mind, that he lay 
 awake half of the night, and heard robbers around the 
 house, and was out of bed at four o clock, with a candle 
 in his hand, looking for daylight and burglars. 
 
 " I guess if there d been anybody around I should 
 have heard em as soon as you would," said Prudence. 
 " I don t care half so much about the thieves as I do 
 about the taller you re burnin out with your narvous- 
 
Tassels Revenge. 99 
 
 ness. Come, either dress ye or conie back to bed agin. 
 I don t think it s much after midnight, anyway." 
 
 But John is so sure of the noises he has heard during 
 the night, that he cannot be easy till he has opened the 
 door and looked out. It is a still, cold morning. The 
 earth is hushed and dark; the east is scarcely yet tinged 
 with the dawn ; overhead the constellations glitter. 
 Hesperus stands with golden candle in the dim doorway 
 of the world, and looks down upon John Apjohn stand 
 ing with tallow dip in the doorway of his humble 
 kitchen. In the northern sky, Cassiopeia and the Bear 
 are having their eternal see-saw, balanced on the Pole. 
 The cooper beholds and wonders, for the vastness and 
 silence and majesty of the night have a meaning for the 
 soul of this man also. 
 
 Forgetful of the burglars, heedless of the flaring and 
 dripping candle, he stands in his shirt and trousers, 
 agaze at the heavens. An astounding circumstance re 
 calls him to himself. Something is dangling at the 
 door. He feels to ascertain what it is, advances the 
 candle, utters one stifled cry of dismay, and retreats 
 into the house, horrified. 
 
 " John Apjohn ! what is the matter ? " demands Pru 
 dence, rushing to his side in her night-clothes. 
 
 He cannot speak, but he points; he helplessly holds 
 the candle, to call her attention to an object which he 
 has partially dragged into the house, and let fall across 
 the threshold. 
 
 " Sakes alive ! what is it ? Where did you find it ? 
 
ioo Neighbors Wives. 
 
 Vines 1 What under the sun ? Tomatuses ! " And 
 the terrible significance of the symbol burst upon her, 
 too. 
 
 Tasso was revenged. 
 
 " To be sure ! to be sure ! to be sure ! " were the only 
 words the miserable cooper could utter, as he stared at 
 the portent. 
 
 But Prudence, more resolute, pulled the vines from 
 the outer door-handle to which they were attached, and 
 finding a piece of paper pinned to them, took it off, and 
 held it to the light. It bore the following inscription: 
 
 " For Mrs. Apjohri s apern." 
 
 She spelled it out, aloud, as she deciphered it. If 
 Cooper John had any strength remaining up to this 
 time, it was now taken from him, and he sat down shiv 
 ering on the cold stove. Mrs. Apjohn also succumbed 
 to the chirographical thunder-bolt, and went down 
 upon the wood-box, with all her burden of flesh. 
 The light she placed on a chair; the trail of vegetables 
 variegated the floor ; in her hand she still held the mis 
 sive. And there the twain sat, in a long and very awful 
 silence, a scene for a Dutch painter. 
 
 " Wai ! " said Prudence, as soon as she could regain 
 her powers of respiration and utterance, " I hope that s 
 mean enough, anyway ! That s Abel Dane s work, 
 John ! " 
 
 " Oh, no ! no ! Abel Dane wouldn t do sich a thing 
 as that," moaned the cooper. 
 
 " So much the wus, then ! If he didn t do it, he has 
 
Tasso s Revenge. 101 
 
 told somebody; and didn t he promise never to tell ? 
 And which is the wust for us, I d like to know, to have 
 him insult us in this way, or tell all over town, and send 
 somebody else to do it ? " 
 
 " To be sure ! to be sure ! " The stricken man took 
 the paper from her hand, and held it to the light to study 
 it. " A, j>, e, r, n, apern I It is somebody that knows 
 how to spell, Prudy; it s somebody that knows how to 
 spell ! " And he turned to his wife with the air of one 
 who has made an appalling discovery. 
 
 Like most ignorant men who have a large element of 
 wonder in their nature, he stood greatly in awe of learn 
 ing; and he naturally thought that if the vicious joke had 
 been perpetrated by some blockhead, whose orthographi 
 cal attainments were not equal to the spelling of opera, 
 it would not be so bad. 
 
 " It s Abel Dane, or he s to the bottom on t, take my 
 word I " said Prudence, with mingled chagrin and ex 
 asperation. " Oh, the smooth-spoken, desaitful wretch ! 
 He never d have da s t to do it if I d had a man for a 
 husband ! Oh, it s too mean ! too mean ! " and the 
 worthy woman burst into tears of anger and shame. 
 
 Suddenly the cooper started to his feet. 
 
 " I ll know the truth of it, Prudy ! I ll see Abel, and 
 know the truth. If it s all over town, we may as well 
 go and jump into the well fust as last; for what ll be 
 the use of tryin to live where everybody ll be pintin 
 at us and hootin ? " 
 
 " I ll live to be even with Abel Dane ! " vowed Pru- 
 9* 
 
102 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 dence. " I shan t think of dyin till I ve come up with 
 him ! Oh-h ! you ll see ! " (through her teeth). " If 
 he hadn t been so ily-tongued and ready to promise, I 
 wouldn t mind. Goin right over now ? That s right. 
 Show your spunk for once, John. But put on your hat, 
 put on your hat, and your jacket, too." 
 
 " To be sure, to be sure ! " murmured John, con 
 fusedly turning round and round, till at last he got hold 
 of the table-cloth instead of his jacket, and was on the 
 point of donning the skillet in place of his hat. 
 
 "Don t you know what you re about?" said Pru 
 dence, putting her hand on her knee and helping herself 
 to get upon her feet, which ponderous operation was 
 performed with considerable more alacrity than usual. 
 " Here s your hat." She clapped it on his head. Then she 
 opened his jacket for him to get into. " Here, stick out 
 your arms ! " And, having thus equipped him as if he 
 were a knight of old and these coverings his armor and 
 coat-of-inail, she sent him to meet the foe. " Look out 
 for that pesky dog ! " she counselled him as he sallied 
 forth. 
 
 The earth, that slept tinder the night s dark blanket 
 and spangled coverlet, was now throwing them off and 
 putting on her glorious morning-gown. Dim in its 
 socket nickered the candle of the watcher Hesperus, his 
 feet on a threshold of silver. Immortal youth and 
 freshness breathed in the atmosphere like a finer air. 
 Music awoke with beauty, the birds twittered, and the 
 cock blew his bugle in the misty tent of dawn. But 
 
Tasso s Revenge. 103 
 
 what was the joy of sight and sound and honeyed taste 
 of life to Cooper John Apjohn, rushing to his neighbor s 
 on such desperate business ? What to Faustina, peeping 
 wildly from the window, were the crimson sleeves and 
 refulgent, rosy scarf of mother earth at her dewy toilet ? 
 Alas, for mortal man ! Daily the harmonious doors of 
 the museum and picture-gallery of God open to invite 
 us ; nor is wanting the mystic key by night, which un 
 locks them again to the wise; and there, in celestial 
 livery, with star-torches, attendants wait to guide us 
 among the white and awful forms of contemplation, as 
 the pope s servitors show, by the light of flambeaus, 
 the statuary of the Vatican. But we are hurrying to 
 market or to mill, chasing pleasure, or pursued by fear, 
 absorbed in calculations of profit and loss, or preoccu 
 pied by shame and heart-ache, the hat of vulgar habit 
 slouched over the eyes, so that glimpses of the shining 
 vestibule and perfect pageant do not reach and win the 
 soul. 
 
104 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 XII. 
 
 THE GUILTY CONSCIENCE. 
 
 AFTER the cooper entered, Faustina drew back from 
 her window, and waited, scared and palpitating, for the 
 expected catastrophe. It did not come. The sitting- 
 room door closed upon the voices of Cooper John and 
 her husband; and now all was still. Her guilty and im 
 patient spirit tormented itself with conjectures; and she 
 stood with brows knitted and lips apart, wringing her 
 thoughts for some drop of certainty regarding the ob 
 ject of their neighbor s early visit, when Melissa ran to 
 the door and rapped. 
 
 " Mrs. Dane, you re wanted ! " 
 
 The summons went to the wretched woman s heart. 
 So the hour had arrived, and she was to be arraigned 
 and accused. 
 
 " Melissa ! " she whispered, " come in ! What is 
 it ? " 
 
 " That s more n I know, ma am. But Mr. Apjohn s 
 in a terrible way; and it seems it s something you ve 
 done." 
 
 " I ? What ? What have I done ? " And poor Faus 
 tina catches hold of the girl s arm, as if she meant to 
 
The Guilty Conscience. 105 
 
 hold her till she hears the truth. " "What have I done, 
 Melissa ? " 
 
 " That you know best, ma am. Mr. Dane says come 
 quick. Shall I help you ? " offering to assist in dress 
 ing her mistress. 
 
 " I don t know O Melissa ! if I dared to tell you I 
 How do they know it was me ? " 
 
 " You went into Mr. Apjohn s house yesterday, when 
 they wa n t to home, and mabby that s it," suggested 
 Melissa, thinking to throw a little light on the subject. 
 
 "" I did ? How dare you say I did, you wicked girl ! " 
 shaking her. 
 
 "Why, I seen ye !" says the innocent and amazed 
 Melissa. " But I didn t think there was any harm in 
 it." 
 
 " Did you tell any one ? Did anybody else see ? Tell 
 me the truth, Melissa ! " 
 
 " No ! not as I know on. I hain t mentioned it." 
 
 " Don t you, then ! not fbr your life. I ll give you 
 that watered silk I ll get Abel to raise your wages 
 you shall have those satin shoes you like so. O Me 
 lissa ! I ll be the best friend you ever had, if you ll stand 
 by me." 
 
 "Why, ma am!" the girl opened her honest eyes 
 betwixt delight and incredulity at these extravagant 
 promises, "I ll stand by ye, and be thankful; but 
 what dreadful thing is t you ve been and done ? " 
 
 " Melissa ! " said the unhappy woman, eager to gain 
 the sympathy and counsel of some one, no matter if it 
 
io6 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 was only her servant, "promise me never to lisp the 
 secret so long as you live ! " 
 
 Melissa, who had suffered enough from the capricious 
 pride and temper of her mistress, was glad of an oppor 
 tunity to establish more confidential and friendly rela 
 tions between them. To promise, secrecy is easy; and 
 she promised. 
 
 " Swear it I " said Faustina, like the heroine of a mel 
 odrama. " Put your hand on this Bible, and swear ! 
 Say, I swear a solemn oath " 
 
 " I swear a solemn oath I " repeated the staring Me 
 lissa. 
 
 " Never to breathe to any mortal soul " 
 
 " Never to breathe to any mortal soul " 
 
 " What I am going to tell you." 
 
 " What I am going to tell you." 
 
 " Now kiss the book." 
 
 Melissa smacked the leather. Then Faustina poured 
 forth her story. 
 
 " But I didn t steal the money; I meant it for Borrow 
 ing, true as I live, Melissa. But won t it seem like steal 
 ing ? And now they have found it out, oh, what shall 
 I do ? What would you do, Melissa? " 
 
 "La, ma am!" said Melissa, with unaffected concern, 
 " I don t know ! Seems to me I should go and tell em 
 I only borrowed it, and meant to pay it back." 
 
 " It s too late ! " Faustina shook her head and com 
 pressed her lips. " I shouldn t care for the Apjohns, if 
 twasn t for my husband. What will he say ? Melissa, 
 
The Guilty Conscience. 107 
 
 I shall deny it. And you must bear me out in it. Oh, 
 dear! there s Abel calling, and I must go. Am I very 
 pale ? " And she turned to the glass, and put her 
 knuckle into her fair cheek, which whitened under the 
 pressure. 
 
 " No, you look red," said Melissa. 
 
 " Do I ? I mustn t appear agitated. I won t I There ! " 
 with sudden resolution, putting on a haughty and brazen 
 air, " I am not going to be afraid. Remember, Melissa, 
 the watered silk and the shoes ! " 
 
 Little Ebby had been crying unheeded for the last five 
 minutes. Melissa remained to take care of him, while 
 Faustina, trembling and faint-hearted in spite of her ef 
 fort to seem unconcerned, went to the dreaded interview. 
 
 The cooper was sitting with his feet upon the chair- 
 round, brooding dejectedly over his knees; and Abel 
 was endeavoring to soothe and reassure him, when she 
 entered. 
 
 " Here she is," said Abel. John lifted his colorless and 
 woe-begone countenance. " Faustina, neighbor Apjohn 
 brings a serious charge against us ; and I want you to 
 clear yourself from it, if you are innocent." 
 
 He spoke earnestly. He was convinced of her guilt, 
 she thought. She did not answer, but looked down as 
 coldly as she could at the cooper, who looked up ag 
 grieved and disconsolate at her. 
 
 u I wouldn t have supposed," said John, with an affect 
 ing quaver in his voice, " that a lady like you could do 
 sich a thing, Have I ever done you any harm ? " 
 
io8 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 "No, Mr. Apjohn," replied Faustina. "Who said 
 you had ? And what have I done to you ? " 
 
 " Done ! What have you done ! To be sure ! to be 
 sure ! O Mrs. Dane, I hope you may never suffer 
 as you have made me. To be robbed of the hard earn 
 ings of years, that would be nothing, but " 
 
 " Robbed ! " interrupted Faustina, feigning surprise, 
 " who has robbed you, Mr. Apjohn ? " 
 
 " Who has, if you have not ? And sich a robbery ! 
 Not gold or silver ! " sobbed the poor man, thinking of 
 his good name gone forever. 
 
 " Gold ? silver ? " cried Faustina. " I haven t touched 
 your gold and silver. Not a dollar of it. Who says I 
 have?" 
 
 " It isn t gold or silver I ve lost," said John, moan 
 ing, as he brooded over his knees. " Gold and silver, 
 no ! no ! " And he shook his sorrowful head. 
 
 " I haven t touched your paper-money, either ! " cried 
 Faustina, assuming an indignant air. " How should I 
 know you had any ? You might keep thousands of dol 
 lars in your house, and I never should know it; and I 
 never should care. But you mustn t come here accusing 
 me of breaking into your house, and stealing the money 
 you have been hoarding up, while you have passed for 
 poor people with your neighbors. No, John Apjohn ! 
 And I shouldn t think it was for you to charge others 
 with stealing, any way. If you live in glass houses, 
 you mustn t throw stones. I warn you, Mr. Apjohn ! " 
 
 This vehement speech produced a strange effect upon 
 
The Guilty Conscience. 109 
 
 her audience. The cooper raised himself gradually upon 
 his elbows, then sat bolt upright in his chair, regarding 
 her with vague and helpless wonder. Abel fixed upon 
 her an expression of severe disapprobation, believing that 
 this vociferous denial of an offence with which she had 
 not been charged, was only a feint to parry the real 
 point at issue. 
 
 " These are useless words, Faustina," he said. " "What 
 do they mean ? " 
 
 " Useless words ! " she echoed; " what do they mean ! " 
 Flushed with passion, and chafing violently, she turned 
 upon him. " You, Abel Dane ! my husband ! YOU ! 
 would have me stand here and listen tamely to an insult 
 from this man ! I, guilty of purloining money from his 
 till ! And you credit it ! Oh, it is too much ! " And 
 she swept across the room, flirting out her folded hand 
 kerchief, and stanching with it imaginary tears . 
 
 " Faustina ! " cried Abel, amazed, and utterly at a loss 
 to comprehend her conduct, " hear me a moment. I said 
 they were useless words, because you have misunder 
 stood the poor man." 
 
 " To be sure ! to be sure ! " broke in the cooper, sym 
 pathizing with her passion and distress, " I never thought 
 of laying such a thing to you, Mrs. Dane." 
 
 " Oh, didn t you ? " she retorted, with bitter scorn. 
 
 " I wonder what you call it then. You d better take it 
 
 back ! If you ve been robbed, I m sorry for it. You 
 
 shouldn t keep so much money locked up in your chest, 
 
 k if you don t want to invite burglars. They broke in last 
 
 10 
 
HO Neighbor Wives. 
 
 night, I suppose. You must have slept soundly ! I m 
 sorry for you," she went on, so rapidly that neither Abel 
 nor the bewildered cooper could put in a word; "but 
 you must take care how you accuse innocent people. 
 When you talk of robbing neighbors, look at home. 
 What if I should accuse ? What if I should tell about 
 the tomatoes ? Take care, then ! " 
 
 "Now you touch upon the subject," said Abel. 
 " Haven t you already told about that unfortunate 
 affair ? " 
 
 " I ? No ! " replied Faustina, surprised. 
 
 " You have not mentioned or hinted it to any one ? ? 
 
 "No! truly!" A positive denial; though she had 
 not quite forgotten her confidences with Tasso. But 
 this was only a white lie, she thought, and necessary to 
 cover the black one. For, in order to hold the Apjohns 
 in awe of her power, they must believe that she had not 
 yet made the exposure which, of course, she would 
 make, if the charge of robbing them was persisted in. 
 
 " There, Mr. Apjohn," said Abel, " I told you she 
 would clear herself. We have not betrayed you. And 
 you may be assured that neither of us would stoop to 
 the pitiful device of insulting you in the way you com 
 plain of." 
 
 The cooper only groaned, and got down over his knees 
 again, in an attitude of the deepest despondency. 
 
 " So much the wus, then ! as Prudy said. Our dis 
 grace is known; but to who ? and how many ? That s 
 the misery on t ! " And he buried his face. 
 
The Guilty Conscience. m 
 
 Faustina, sobered by surprise, and unable to compre 
 hend the cooper s mysterious trouble, asked an explana 
 tion. 
 
 "Why," said Abel, "some wretched scamp went last 
 night, in the night, wasn t it ? " he asked, to divert 
 John Apjohn from his gloom. 
 
 " Yes; I heerd em around the house," said the cooper, 
 to the relief of Faustina, who was afraid he would say, 
 " No, it was in the afternoon, when we were gone from 
 home." 
 
 " Went and hung some tomato vines on his outside- 
 door, labelled, For Mrs. Apjohn s apem? And he 
 thought I had done it," continued Abel. "And when 
 I assured him I had not only not done it, but had not 
 told anybody but you of the little mistake his wife made 
 in getting the wrong side of the fence, the good man 
 thought you must have told somebody else, or have 
 gone yourself and left the tomato vines." 
 
 " I ? I never dreamed of such a thing ! But is that 
 is that all ? " Faustina eagerly asked. 
 
 " All ? Ain t it enough ? " said the cooper, between 
 his knees. 
 
 " Why, I thought dear me ! indeed ! " Faustina 
 fluttered, and grew wonderfully smiling and affable 
 " you haven t been robbed, then ? " I m so glad of that ! 
 How could I have misunderstood ? " Her smiles be 
 came sicklied o er with the pale cast of thought. What 
 folly had she given utterance to, betraying her guilt, 
 perhaps, in her very eagerness to deny it ! Still she 
 
H2 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 smiled. " I m sure, Mr. Apjohn, you don t think I would 
 go and hang tomatoes on your doors, do you ? " 
 
 - " No ! no ! no ! to be sure ! to be sure ! to be sure I 
 well ! well ! well ! " He rose to go, looking about 
 him like one whose wits are slightly damaged. " Did I 
 have a hat ? I think I had a hat ! Thank ye, Abel. A 
 fine morning, a very fine morning, Mrs. Dane," he said, 
 in accents which foreboded that there were no more fine 
 mornings for him in all this weary world. 
 
 He bowed with feeble politeness, and, after trying to 
 get into the closet, found his way, with Abel s assistance, 
 to the outer door. Faustina followed, with the same 
 forced smiles, and strangely shining eyes. 
 
 " Good morning," she said lightly. " A pleasant day 
 to you, Mr. Apjohn." 
 
 " You ll excuse me for troubling you," said the cooper, 
 from out the dust of his humiliation. "I I wish you 
 well. You re both young. There s happiness for you ; 
 but none for me ! none for me ! " and he pulled his rue 
 ful hat over his eyes. 
 
 "Come, come, man!" cried Abel, encouragingly; 
 " don t take it too much to heart. Cheer up, cheer up. 
 If the matter has got out, never mind ; it will soon 
 be forgotten; you ll live it down, honest man as you 
 are. I wouldn t mind the mean insult of a spy and 
 coward, who plays his tricks in the dark, and dares not 
 show his face by daylight." 
 
 " Ah, yes ! you re right, Abel, you re right, and very 
 kind. To be sure, to be sure. I hope the old lady is 
 
The Guilty Conscience. 113 
 
 well this morning ! I hope she is very comfortable. I 
 hope yes, sincerely I " 
 
 He faltered, like one who forgets what he is saying, 
 stood aimlessly pondering a moment, then, suddenly 
 catching his breath, as it were with a stitch in the side 
 of his memory, he blindly waved his hand, and, without 
 looking up, jogged heavily homewards. 
 10* 
 
114 Neighbor Wives. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 THE SAD CASE OF THE COOPER. 
 
 PRUDENCE had all this while been waiting anxiously 
 for her good-man s return ; wishing a hundred times, 
 in her impatience, that she had gone herself and settled 
 the affair with Abel. The hour of John s absence was 
 perhaps the longest in that worthy woman s life. The 
 morning twilight was never so provokingly cool and 
 slow. The mists were in no hurry to lift from the hills ; 
 the sun took his time to rise, just as if nothing had 
 happened. " I shall fly ! " she repeatedly informed the 
 deliberate universe, as she looked over towards her 
 neighbor s, and the sluggish wheel of time brought no 
 sign of the cooper s coming. 
 
 The wings were not yet grown, however, with which 
 that massy female was to perform the threatened aerial 
 excursion. . She was by no means a volatile animal. The 
 consequence was, that when at last John s doleful phys 
 iognomy appeared coming through the gate (the very 
 posts of which looked solemn, in sympathy with him, 
 and seemed to squint pathetically at each other, from 
 under their wooden caps, as he passed), the solid house 
 wife still gravitated as near the planet as any unfledged 
 biped on its surface. 
 
The Sad Case of the Cooler. 115 
 
 " O John Apjohn ! " said she, reproachfully, " I ve 
 wanted to git hold of you ! What was you gone so long 
 for ? " 
 
 " To be sure, to be, sure ! " said meek John, " I might as 
 well have not gone at all. No use, no use, Prudy." And 
 he sat down as if he didn t expect ever to get up again. 
 
 " O you dish-rag ! " ejaculated Mrs. Apjohn. " There s 
 no more sperit or stiffenin in you than there is in my 
 apron-string ! " 
 
 " Don t speak of aprons ! don t speak of aprons ! " im 
 plored the cooper; the subject being so painfully asso 
 ciated with that of tomatoes, that he did not think he 
 could ever see an apron again without qualms. 
 
 " Well ! " sharply " what did you find out ? You 
 let Abel soft-soap you to death, I know by your looks ! " 
 
 "Prudy," answered the cooper, lifting his earnest, 
 melancholy eyes, " Abel Dane s an innocent man. So is 
 his wife. Twasn t neither of them that hung them 
 things on our door, and they haven t told nobody. I ve 
 their word for t." 
 
 " That for their word ! " Prudence snapped her fin 
 gers scornfully. " Don t tell me ! don t tell me, John 
 Apjohn ! They may make you believe that absurd 
 story, but I know better. Jest look here ! " 
 
 She displayed before his eyes an old letter-envelope 
 which had been rolled up, pipe-stem fashion, and which, 
 when unrolled, showed an obstinate tendency to fly to 
 gether again, very much after the manner of one of 
 Faustina s curl-papers. 
 
Ii6 Neighbor s Wives. 
 
 " What is it ? where did you get it ? " John asked, with 
 feeble interest. 
 
 " Don t you see what it is ? It s one of the kivers, 
 what ye call ems, of Abel Dane s letters. Here s his 
 name on t, don t ye see ? And where do you s pose I 
 got it ? On this very floor, see ! " exclaimed Prudence, 
 " when I went to sweep up after them nasty tomatuses." 
 
 " Abel Dane ! " pronounced the cooper, with difficulty 
 holding the scroll open with his unsteady fingers, whilst 
 he spelled out the name. "To be sure, Prudy; to be 
 sure ! On the floor ? How come it on the floor ? I 
 don t understand. I don t understand." 
 
 " No, you never understand ! " said bitter Prudence. 
 " You can t see through a grin stun without somebody 
 stands by and shows you the hole. It s jest as plain as 
 day to me now that Abel Dane come here last night and 
 stuck them tomatuses on our door, jest as plain as if 
 I d seen him do it. He had his label ready to put on to 
 em, but in takin it out of his pocket, he dropped this. 
 Then when you dragged the vines into the house, you 
 swep it along in with em. Who else should have one 
 of his letters ? Answer me that, John Apjohn ! " 
 
 " Wai, wal ! " said the cooper, convinced by this over 
 whelming circumstantial evidence, " it must be as you 
 say, Prudy. But I wouldn t have thought he d have 
 done it; I wouldn t have thought he d have done it ! " 
 
 " I swep the house only ye s d y mornin , and there s 
 been nobody in t sence but us two, has there ? Tell me 
 that I " 
 
The Sad Case of the Cooper. 117 
 
 tu No, not as I know on," said John. 
 
 " There ! " she exclaimed, arrogantly, as if he had been 
 opposing her theory. " How, then, I d like to know, did 
 this paper come here V If you know any better n I do, 
 why don t you say ? If you can explain it, why don t 
 you ? Come, you know so much ! " 
 
 " I don t pretend, I don t pretend," murmured John. 
 
 " Wai ! " triumphantly " I guess you ll give it up, 
 then, that I m right for once. Takes me, after all ; as 
 you ll learn after I m dead and gone, if you don t before, 
 and I never expect you will ; but you ll think of me, and 
 miss my advice and judgment in matters when I m laid 
 in my grave; and I guess you ll wish then you d heerd 
 to me more, and thought more of my opinions; but I 
 hope your conscience won t trouble you on that account, 
 Mister Apjohn ! " 
 
 " Don t, don t, Prudy ! " entreated the cooper, holding 
 his leg on his knee, and bending over it, and rocking it 
 plaintively. " I can t bear it ! " 
 
 For the frail mortal saw nothing absurd in the hy 
 pothesis of surviving his robust spouse; and he didn t 
 know but he might feel remorse for his supposed cruel 
 treatment of her. 
 
 " I shan t be always spared to you, Mister Apjohn ! " 
 The Mister was peculiarly cutting. "I hope you 
 don t wish me out of the way before my time comes ; 
 though I sometimes half think you do," she continued, 
 giving vent to her feelings in a strain to which she com 
 monly had recourse, when very much in fault, or very 
 
n8 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 much perplexed and depressed. " It s nat ral, I know; 
 and I don t say I blame you. A woman can t expect to 
 git credit for her vartews now-days; but if she happens 
 for once to be a little unfort nate in her ca c lations, oh, 
 it s a dreadful thing ! and it s laid up ag inst her as long 
 as she lives." Prudence sighed and snuffed. 
 
 " Prudy," said John, " I hain t laid up nothing agin 
 ye; nor I don t blame ye for nothin , nuther; " w T hich 
 powerful array of negatives, seconded by a strong sym 
 pathetic snuffing on the part of the cooper, afforded her 
 the solace she sought for her wounded self-respect. 
 
 " Wai ! " she exclaimed, wiping her eyes with the cor 
 ner of her apron, " as I said afore, I ain t a goin to die 
 till I m even with Abel Dane, if I have to live to be as 
 old as Methusalem. Come, don t set mopin there over 
 your knees ! I m a goin to have breakfast; and I shan t 
 let this thing spile my appetite, nuther ! " 
 
 Prudence was herself again. But John could not so 
 easily extricate himself from the slough of despond ; and 
 she felt that she ought to do something to encourage him. 
 
 " Come, John," said she, at table, " drink your tea, and 
 eat your flapjacks, and be a man ! Don t let it worry you 
 a mite. We ve got our house and home left, and a lit 
 tle property to make us comf table and respected in our 
 old age, and about money enough a ready to buy two 
 more shares; and I ll tell ye what, John Apjohn, don t 
 le s lot on doin much work to-day. We re gittin fore 
 handed, so s t we can begin to think of a holiday once in 
 a while. And I ve an idee of what we ll do. Soon s I 
 
The Sad Case of the Cooper. 119 
 1 
 
 git the dishes cleared away, we ll count over the money 
 and see jest how much there is, though I s pose I know 
 perty near ; then we ll go and see about gittin that 
 money of Mr. Parker, and buyin two more shares. 
 And jest think, John ! that will give us sixteen dollars 
 more dividends every year, which ll be a comfort to think 
 of dull days, now, won t it ! " 
 
 John failed to be much enlivened by his wife s 
 schemes. He had not the heart to show himself to the 
 eyes of the w r orld that day; and, sorrowfully shaking 
 his head, he answered, as she urged the subject of going 
 out, 
 
 " No, Prudy, no; you may go and enjoy yourself, but 
 I shall stay to hum." 
 
 Accordingly Prudence, craving some stimulus to her 
 dashed spirits, set out, about an hour afterwards, unac 
 companied, to see Mr. Parkef about the money, her 
 proposal to compute, in the mean time, the contents of 
 the till, not having been carried into effect, in conse 
 quence of John s dismal lack of interest. 
 
 " "What s money now ? " said the poor man to him 
 self, sighing as he saw her depart, and wondering how 
 she could care for such things any more. " O Prudy, 
 Prudy I I d give all we ve got in this world if we could 
 hold up our heads as respectable as we did a week ago ! 
 But now ! " 
 
 He was going mechanically to feed the pigs; but at 
 the door his eye fell upon a coil of green vines in a bas 
 ket, where Prudence had thrown them, and some red 
 
I2O Neighbors Wives. 
 
 tomatoes floating on the swill ; and he was so overcome 
 by the sight, that the swine were left to squeal in vain 
 for their breakfast the rest of the morning. 
 
 Back into the kitchen crept the cooper, and shut him 
 self up. There was no one to observe him now; and he 
 gave vent to his woe, uttering a groan at every breath, 
 tearing out imaginary handfuls of hair, and scouring 
 with imaginary ashes that smooth, naked scalp of his, 
 until it shone. Then for a long time all was still in 
 that doleful kitchen; and he might have been seen sit 
 ting, in a reversed position, astride, upon one of the 
 splint-bottomed chairs, his arms folded upon the back of 
 it, and his head bolstered upon his arms, a little 
 doubled-up human figure, motionless as an effig} . 
 
 John was having a vision, not of the heavenly kind. 
 He saw innumerable doors festooned with tomato-vines. 
 He saw his neighbors, with sarcastic polite faces, nod 
 coldly at him as he passed on the street, and wink sig 
 nificantly at each other behind his back. He saw the 
 children rush out of the school-house to jeer and hoot, 
 whenever he and his wife appeared. He saw the sus 
 picious clerks keep an unusually sharp watch over the 
 goods on the counters, when they entered a store. He 
 observed the sly glances, and the unnatural hush, in 
 dicative of a sensation, when they walked down the 
 church-aisle on a Sunday morning. He beheld troops 
 of roguish boys flocking to his house by night to fasten 
 the badge of disgrace to his latch; and he heard the 
 scornful laughter. This part of his vision was so vivid, 
 
The Sad Case of the Cooler. 121 
 
 that he, for a moment, actually believed that there were 
 impish, leering faces at the windows, looking in upon 
 him, and insulting hands holding up red tomatoes to 
 taunt him. He started to his feet. The vision vanished ; 
 but the intolerable burden of his shame and distress was 
 with him still. 
 
 " Oh, I can t live ! I can t live ! " he burst forth. " I 
 never can show myself where I m known again; and 
 what s the use ? " 
 
 He thought of the well. He went and looked into it. 
 It was thirty feet deep , cold, dark, and uninviting. If 
 Prudy had been there, to fortify his resolution by her 
 sympathy and example, he might have jumped in. But, 
 alone, he had not the heart. He concluded that his ra 
 zor would open the most expeditious and least disagree 
 able door of exit from this dreary world, and went back 
 into the house. He examined the tonsorial implement, 
 and honed it. But at every stroke his dread of wounds 
 and his horror of blood increased. He would not like to 
 present a ghastly, mangled appearance afterwards, and 
 aggravate Prudy s feelings by staining her clean floor. 
 He cast his eyes upwards. There were hooks in the ceil 
 ing, supporting a kitchen pole, one of those old-fash 
 ioned domestic institutions devoted to towels, dishcloths, 
 coils of pumpkins, sliced in rings, drying for winter use, 
 and on the ends of which farmers hats are hung. 
 
 John thought of ropes and straps, clothes-line and 
 bed-cord, none of which promised to be very comfort 
 able to the neck, and concluded that his red silk hand- 
 11 
 
122 Neighbors 1 Wives. 
 
 kerchief would best answer his purpose. The red silk 
 was "brought out of the bedroom, folded to the requisite 
 shape, and a solemnly suggestive noose tied in it. This 
 he slipped over his neck, and drew reasonably close, to 
 see how it would seem. Then he ascended a chair, and 
 passed the loose end of the handkerchief over the middle 
 of the pole, and fastened it, only to see how it would 
 seem, you know; for it was his intention to write Prudy 
 an affectionate letter of farewell before committing him 
 self to the fatal leap. 
 
 Or it may be he had as yet formed no inflexible deter 
 mination to destroy himself, wiser men than he having 
 been known to divert their melancholy by playing at 
 suicide. Perhaps, in a little while, he would have de 
 scended from the improvised scaffold, removed the halter, 
 wiped his eyes with it, and felt better. Let us hope so. 
 Unfortunately, however, at a critical juncture, a noise, 
 real or imaginary, startled him. What if his neigh 
 bors were coming once more to insult him ? He turned 
 to look; then turned again hastily to disengage his neck, 
 and get down. It was an old splint-bottomed chair he 
 was using, and to avoid injuring the half-worn seat, he 
 stood on the edges of it. In his agitation, he made a 
 terrible misstep; the chair was overturned, it flew 
 from beneath his feet, and he was launched. 
 
More and more Entangled. 123 
 
 XIV. 
 
 MORE AND MORE ENTANGLED. 
 
 WELL might Faustina s heart, meanwhile, be filled 
 with stinging regrets and fears, a restless swarm, 
 although she knew not yet half the mischief she had 
 done. She wished she had never seen Tasso Smith; 
 she bitterly repented confiding her secret to Melissa. 
 Of her blind and foolish haste to deny her real guilt, 
 when only a minor fault was charged against her, she 
 could not think without anger at her own stupidity and 
 dread for the result. And the jewels, she loathed 
 them. And the purloined money, the remorse and 
 terror it gave her grew momently. She was in such a 
 state of suspense and alarm that, when she saw Mrs. 
 Apjohn going to the village that morning, a wild fancy 
 seized her that the robbery was discovered, that Pru 
 dence was in pursuit of a magistrate, and that the safest 
 course now would be to overtake her, confess the bor 
 rowing, and offer the jewels as a pawn for the repay 
 ment of the money. 
 
 Accordingly, this creature of impulse once more 
 threw on her bonnet, thrust the jewels into her bag, and 
 hurried forth. Not often had she ventured to show 
 
124 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 herself in the street in a calico morning-dress; but this 
 time apprehension conquered pride. Her step was 
 swift, and she came in sight of Prudence as she was 
 passing the meeting-house green. Then well would it 
 have "been for all, had Faustina promptly carried out 
 her original intention ! But, at the critical moment, her 
 courage failed. She shrank from the humiliation of 
 placing herself, by a confession of her trespass, on a level 
 with her neighbor. Aiid the secret hope revived that 
 her fears were after all groundless, and that her guilt 
 might never be known. So she resolved to delay a 
 little, and watch Mrs. Apjohn s movements. 
 
 Prudence passed down the main street of the village, 
 and appeared to enter a shoe -store, Faustina following, 
 vigilant and anxious, at a safe distance. Waiting for 
 her to transact her business and come out, the young 
 wife proceeded more leisurely, and began to think of 
 her unpresentable attire, and to hope that she might not 
 see anybody that she cared for. Vain wish ! A young 
 gentleman was sunning himself on the sidewalk. He 
 had a self-satisfied smirk, a complacent, airy strut, a 
 little moustache, and a little rattan. He bowed rather 
 formally to Faustina, and was passing on. 
 
 "O Tasso," she cried, stopping him, "you re doiiii? 
 everything you can to destroy my peace ! " 
 
 " Be I ? Wasn t aware." And Tasso, who not only 
 resented her failure to keep her engagement with him 
 the day before ? but also foreboded importunities anent 
 the jewels, treated her with provoking coolness. 
 
More and more Entangled. 125 
 
 " Didn t you promise me you never would tell about 
 Mrs. Apjomi ? But I was a fool," said Faustina, "to 
 expect you to keep a secret I couldn t keep myself! 
 Though I did rely on your promise, Tasso, and never 
 suspected you of betraying confidence ! " 
 
 " Who said I had betrayed confidence ? I haven t 
 betrayed no confidence, madam ! " said Tasso, stiff and 
 distant. " I said I wouldn t tell, and no more I hain t." 
 
 " Then it was you that hung the tomatoes on her door 
 last night ! " 
 
 " Have I promised not to hang tomatoes on anybody s 
 door ? " retorted Tasso, with an inward chuckle. " And 
 what if 1 did, though I don t say I did, mind, what s 
 the harm to you ? " 
 
 " Oh, you don t know, Tasso ! " And Faustina did 
 not dare to inform him, though she longed to. 
 
 "I sh d think you had time enough to borrow the 
 money, by the way you kept me walking up and down 
 yesterday, waiting for you, by George ! " And Smith 
 tapped his patent leather with the aforesaid rattan. " I 
 walked in sight of the church there fourteen hours 
 or more. Never was so disappointed in my life, by 
 George ! " Switch. "I keep my engagements." 
 
 "Forgive me, Tasso. You know what a trouble I 
 was in. I couldn t come." 
 
 " Well, never mind," said Tasso, softening. " Good 
 joke, though, about the tomatoes ! Hung on Apjohn s 
 door ? Hi ! hi ! hi ! How d you learn V " 
 
 " Oh, there s been such a time about it ! Mr. Apjohn 
 11 * 
 
126 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 was at our house before daylight to know if we had done 
 it" 
 
 "Hi! hi!" tittered Mr. Smith. "Capital joke, by 
 George ! Wish I d seen him ! I m waiting now to meet 
 the old woman, when she comes out of the lawyer s 
 office; see how she looks; see if she ll be so deuced inde 
 pendent with me to-day. Look here; I ve got something 
 to please her ! " Tasso unfolded his handkerchief, and 
 displayed a tomato. 
 
 Faustina scarcely heeded the malicious insinuation, a 
 word he had previously dropped distracting her thoughts. 
 
 " What lawyer s office ? " she asked, excitedly gazing. 
 " She went into the shoe-shop, if you mean Mrs. Ap- 
 john." 
 
 " No, she didn t; though t might have looked so to you. 
 She s in Lawyer Parker s office now; over the shoe-shop; 
 entrance next door." 
 
 Taking legal counsel I Then all was lost; and all 
 might have been well, Faustina thought, had she but 
 made haste and carried out her first intention, instead of 
 delaying to reconsider and observe. And yet, perhaps, 
 the faint hope kindled within her, it was not too late to 
 retrieve her error. Why not go straight to the lawyer s 
 room, call out Mrs. Apjohn, and stop legal proceedings ? 
 
 "What s the matter?" said Tasso. "You look 
 scared ! Going ? What s your hurry ? Didn t you git 
 the money of her yist day ? " 
 
 " Yes no I must see her now. Wait till I come 
 back, Tasso!" 
 
More and more Entangled. 127 
 
 And she hurried away from him; while he, crossing 
 the street with the smiling air of a gentleman of elegant 
 leisure and happy adventures, ensconced himself in an 
 alley where the warm sunshine fell, and where, screened 
 from general observation, he could mellow his tomato 
 and watch the course of events. 
 
 Up the lawyer s stairs rushed Faustina; and her hand 
 was on the latch before she had taken an instant to re 
 flect upon what she was doing. There she paused to 
 regain her breath, still her rapid heart-beats, and think 
 over a speech to Prudence. But already the wind of 
 impulse began to fail her, the sails of her spirit to col 
 lapse and shake, and the fogs of doubt to loom before 
 her. And such were this woman s feebleness of con 
 science and fickleness of heart, that she might have 
 changed her purpose once more, and stolen aw r ay with 
 out lifting the latch, had not the lawyer, hearing a move 
 ment, opened the door, and found her standing there 
 confused and irresolute, and invited her in. 
 
 " You are occupied ? " she faltered. 
 
 "I shall soon be at leisure," said the cordial old man; 
 " won t you sit down and wait ? " 
 
 His broad and genial manners restored Faustina s 
 confidence. He would not be so civil, she was sure, if 
 he had undertaken a case against her. The proposal to sit 
 down and wait seemed to her almost providential; for, so 
 deep is the natural instinct of faith, that even the wrong 
 doer will often flatter himself that his course is shaped 
 by some divinity. An opportunity to compose herself, 
 
128 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 frame excuses, look about her, and then proceed warily, 
 was what she most desired. And she went in. 
 
 Near the desk sat a farmer. He had the appearance 
 of doing business with Mr. Parker, who went back to 
 him, after placing a seat for Faustina. In a retired cor 
 ner was a third visitor, a female, russet-faced and 
 portly, with stoutest arms, and a form whose adipose 
 folds quite buried her close-drawn apron-strings, as she 
 sat compressed into one of the office-chairs. 
 
 We recognize our friend, Mrs. Apjohn. She has the 
 look of a client, awaiting her turn. A most fortunate 
 circumstance for young Mrs. Dane, you think; for of 
 course she will take advantage of it, to do her difficult er 
 rand, won t she ? Not at all. She nods a good-morning, 
 takes her position as far from Prudence as possible, and 
 pretends to read a newspaper which she picks up; 
 while the other holds aloft her head with an air of indif 
 ference, not at all natural, and by sneers and frowns 
 and wry faces and contemptuous snuffs, expresses the 
 opinion she has formed, since yesterday, of her fair 
 neighbor. 
 
 Faustina, who nervously turns and rustles the news 
 paper, and runs her eye over it without understanding 
 a word that is in it, understood very well these demon 
 strations of resentment on the part of Prudence. But 
 she is at a loss to determine the cause of that resentment. 
 Is it the money of yesterday, or the tomatoes of last 
 night ? In either case, she feels that she ought to be 
 more conciliatory in her manner, and prepare the way 
 for explanations. 
 
More and more Entangled. 129 
 
 " How pleasant it is, this morning, Mrs. Apjohn ! " 
 
 "Pleasant ! " mutters Prudence, with a scowl, elevat 
 ing her chin another degree. And with grim satisfac 
 tion she perceives that the cut has told. 
 
 Poor, proud Faustina ! At another time such inso 
 lence would have angered her forever. But this morn 
 ing she cannot afford to take offence. She must humble 
 herself even at the feet of that miserable, low-bred wo 
 man; and, with her heart guiltily sinking, and her throat 
 rebelliously rising, she must smile serenely, and respond 
 sweetly, 
 
 " Rather cool, however; quite a change in the weather 
 since Sunday." 
 
 " Change ! " snarls Mrs. Apjohn, regarding this as an 
 insulting allusion to her Sunday-afternoon adventure. 
 And, giving her head a jerk, her frock a flirt, and her 
 chair a hitch, with a parting look of hatred, she turns 
 upon Faustina a shoulder of the very broadest and cold 
 est description. The latter was smitten dumb; not 
 doubting but it was the complete and certain knowledge 
 of her guilt which made Prudence so insufferably rude 
 to her. Then, to increase her confusion, she perceived 
 that the outrage she dared not resent was observed by 
 the farmer, who had risen to go, and by the lawyer, who 
 was advancing to learn the business of his female vis 
 itors. And the time had come for her to act, or at least, 
 to offer some pretext for being there: and she had not 
 yet formed a plan, and her wits were a chaos. She was 
 glad that the lawyer addressed himself first to Mrs. Ap- 
 
130 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 John ; though she expected the next minute to hear her 
 crime denounced. 
 
 But Prudence was averse to transacting business in 
 the presence of her neighbor. " I am in no petic lar 
 hurry," she said. " I can wait, while you attend to that 
 other person." 
 
 _So the bland-faced lawyer turned to the " other per 
 son." 
 
 " I prefer to take my turn," Faustina managed to say. 
 " Mrs. Apjohn was here first." 
 
 " I ll wait for her," said Prudence, -obstinately. " Nev 
 er mind who come first. The first shall be last, and 
 the last shall be first, we are told," with a significant 
 scoff at the handsome and once haughty Faustina. 
 
 The lawyer looked bothered, and he once more ap 
 plied to his younger visitor. 
 
 "I really cannot come in before her; it wouldn t 
 be fair," Faustina stammered. 
 
 " Wai," exclaimed Prudence, sharply, " I hope I ain t 
 so silly as to stand upon ceremony and all that non 
 sense ! My business is ruther private; but if Mis Dane 
 wants to stay and hear it, I ve no petic lar objection," 
 
 " I ll go," and Faustina made a flutter toward leav 
 ing. 
 
 " No, you needn t, you may as well stay. I jest as 
 lives you would. Come to think on t, I d a leetle druther 
 you would." 
 
 For Mrs. Apjohn, who had hitherto, for reasons of 
 her own, kept her financial concerns a secret from her 
 
More and more Entangled. 131 
 
 neighbors, determined of a sudden to manifest her inde 
 pendence and command the respect of the worldlings, 
 by letting her wealth be known. She drew near the 
 desk. 
 
 " I have come, Mr. Parker, to see about that fifty 
 dollars. 1 
 
 It needed not the surly, exultant glance she flung at 
 Faustina to carry consternation to that trembling wo 
 man s soul. It was time to speak. She began, 
 
 " As for that fifty dollars, Mrs. Apjohn, you can have 
 it almost any time. I suppose," 
 
 She hesitated, quite out of breath. 
 
 "I can, can I?" said the astonished Prudence, 
 while the lawyer lifted his mild eyes with a puzzled 
 expression. 
 
 u Yes I I have just a word to say." 
 
 " You have, have you ? I should like to know 1 " 
 
 Faustina s face was scarlet, and she spoke in a wild 
 and hurried whisper, 
 
 " I hope I assure you your money won t be lost. 
 If you will have the patience to wait " 
 
 Prudence regarded her with grisly scorn. 
 
 " Wait ? Didn t I offer to wait ? I gave you a 
 chance to speak, and you wouldn t take it. Now I ll 
 thank you jest to hold your tongue," she added, with 
 overpowering arrogance, "and let me do my business 
 with Mr. Parker in peace. I ve no idee of my money 
 bein lost ! Trust Mr. Parker for that ! Tisn t as 
 though I was goin* to look to you for it ! " 
 
132 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 This cool cup of impudence dashed the color from 
 Faustina s cheeks. She stood up, white and quivering 
 with excitement, defiant and desperate now that the 
 worst, as she believed, had come. 
 
 " Threaten, do you ? Yery well ! what do I care ? 
 I laugh at you ! Get your money if you can ! I fancy 
 you ll get it about the time I get the tomatoes stolen 
 out of our garden. Come, my lady " (with frightful 
 irony), " you see two can play at your game. Finish 
 your business with Mr. Parker ; then I ll propose 
 mine. You can guess by this time what it is ! " 
 
 Passion had concentrated the rash young woman s 
 scattered wits, and she had come to the quick deter 
 mination to enter a complaint against Prudence for 
 a theft of vegetables, if the latter persisted in taking 
 legal measures to recover the stolen money. Perhaps 
 Mrs. Apjohn understood something of the malign 
 intent. Certain it is that her contumeliousness was 
 very suddenly suppressed. 
 
 " Mr. Parker, I leave it to you if I ve said or done 
 anything to merit sech treatment as this I " 
 
 " Indeed," said Mr. Parker, " I am utterly at a loss 
 to understand this unfortunate misunderstanding." 
 
 " I offered to explain," cried Faustina. " I m not 
 ashamed to have Mr. Parker know all, if you are not. 
 Begin now, tell your story; then I ll give my side," 
 and she sat down with flashing eyes. 
 
 " I come here," said Prudence, " on a quiet matter of 
 business. I shall go on with it. I am sorry if I 
 
More and more Entangled. 133 
 
 have offended you," she humbled herself to say, the 
 words sticking in her throat. " Now, Mr. Parker, le s 
 see ! About that fifty-three dollars " 
 
 " Fifty ! " spoke up the excited Faustina. " It was 
 only fifty ! Don t try to make it more than it is." 
 
 The simmering wrath of Prudence came near boiling 
 over again at this interference. 
 
 " I said fifty at first," she spoke patiently as she 
 could, "but with interest it s fifty-three and a trifle 
 over." 
 
 " Interest ? interest since yesterday ! but go on; go 
 on ! " said Faustina, " see what you ll make pf it." 
 
 Mrs. Apjohn could hardly restrain her fury. 
 
 " Will you stop, and wait till I am through ? I guess 
 me and Mr. Parker knows what we re about. Interest 
 since yesterday ! " she repeated. " Think I m a fool ? 
 It s interest for the past year, as Mr. Parker knows." 
 
 Mr. Parker smiled assent, and inquired if she had the 
 note. 
 
 " Yes, 1 brought it with me," said she; " for it s on de 
 mand, and you spoke as if you d like to pay it, and we re 
 making up a little sum for the first of October, which ll 
 be here next week; and if it s jest as convenient to-day, 
 why, you can pay it to-day ; if not, some other time; 
 though we should like it by the first, anyway." 
 
 It seemed to rain riddles around Faustina, \vho heard, 
 and stared, and rubbed her forehead, as if to awaken 
 some benumbed sense which would enable her to see 
 through the bewildering drizzle. 
 
134 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 " I m very glad to pay you now," said Mr. Parker. 
 
 A little time was consumed in computing the interest 
 to Mrs. Apjohn s satisfaction; which gave Faustina an 
 opportunity to recover herself, and see upon what a 
 brink of folly she had rushed once more, hurried thither 
 by her own accusing conscience. 
 
 " What a simpleton I am ! " she said to herself, trem 
 bling at her narrow escape. " Fool to think I had been 
 found out, or would be ! " 
 
 And she resolved she would not open her lips again to 
 speak of the transgression which she now firmly believed 
 would never be discovered. 
 
 She was still hardening her heart with this determina 
 tion, when Mrs. Apjohn exclaimed, 
 
 " Why, Mr. Parker, where did you git that bill ? " 
 
 " The fifty ? " said the lawyer. 
 
 " Yes ! I declare, it s jest like one I ve got to hum, 
 on the Manville bank, my mark on t, too ! " with in 
 creasing trepidation. 
 
 " I had that bill not over an hour ago, of neighbor 
 Hodge," replied Mr. Parker. 
 
 " Do ye know where he got it ? " demanded Mrs. Ap 
 john, her russet face actually pale with fright. 
 
 "No, I don t; but I ve no doubt he can tell you." 
 
 " If he didn t have it of my husband, then IVe been 
 robbed ! And John Apjohn wouldn t dare no I 
 is Mr. Hodge to his store now ? " And Prudence has 
 tily rising, lifted along with her the chair into which her 
 ample proportions were compressed, upsetting it with a 
 
More and more Entangled. 135 
 
 noise that went to Faustina s quaking soul like a crash 
 of thunder. 
 
 The next moment she was gone. And Mrs. Dane, 
 rousing from her stupor, ran to the window to see which 
 way she went. 
 
 Prudence, issuing from the office stairway, started 
 first towards Hodge & Company s store. Then she 
 changed her mind, determining to rush home and know 
 for a certainty if her till had been robbed. Then 
 she changed her mind again, and concluded that she had 
 better see Mr. Hodge. While she was hesitating thus, 
 something fell at her feet. She gave it a glance: twas a 
 ripe and well-mellowed tomato. She did not see Tasso 
 tittering in the alley; but, casting a lurid look upwards, 
 caught sight of Faustina s sleeve, disappearing from the 
 window. 
 
 Faustina was moved by another gust of impulse to 
 give chase to Mrs. Apjohn. But how was she to run 
 the blockade of that craft of the law, the man-of-war- 
 rants, standing off and on to ascertain what had 
 brought her into those straits ? 
 
 " Excuse me if I have acted rudely this morning," she 
 said. " Circumstances have made me irritable, I am in 
 great haste. I " 
 
 She was trying to beat out of the channel betwixt the 
 table and the wall; but he intercepted her, and, tack 
 which way she would, she found herself running under 
 his bows. 
 
 " What can I do for you, this morning, madam ? " 
 
136 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 This round shot brought her to. 
 
 " I wish to raise a little money. I thought per 
 haps you might " 
 
 "Might aid yon. Likely enough; but you will have 
 to enlighten me in regard to your plans. Sit down." 
 
 " Thank you I must go unless " a new idea. " I 
 have some jewels here which I should like to borrow 
 fifty dollars on." 
 
 Mr. Parker smiled curiously, as he glanced at the 
 trinkets, and returned them to her. 
 
 " This is a kind of business I never do," he politely 
 informed her. 
 
 Her heart sank ; but she drew herself up coldly and 
 proudly, as she put the dross back into her bag, beg 
 ged his pardon for calling upon him, and quickly took 
 leave. 
 
 In the street, Prudence was nowhere in sight. Faus 
 tina, in an agony of shame, apprehension, and uncer 
 tainty, was hesitating which way to go, when she saw 
 Mrs. Apjohn issue from Hodge & Company s store 
 and run actually run up the opposite sidewalk. 
 She crossed over to accost her; this time with the full 
 determination to tell her everything. 
 
 " Mrs. Apjohn ! " 
 
 " Don t you stand in my way ! " screamed the furious 
 woman. " Git out, you thing ! No more of your in 
 sults to me, or I ll " 
 
 Faustina stood aside as the broad red face blazed past 
 her. 
 
More and more Entangled. 137 
 
 " You better ! Throw any more tomatuses at me, 
 if you da s t ! I ve been robbed, or I d tend to your 
 case now, you stuck-up silly upstart ! " And Prudence, 
 with a glare of rage, turned her capacious back, and set 
 off at an elephantine trot ; while Tasso walked softly out 
 of the alley, and joined Faustina. 
 
 "Wish she d tread on that tomato, and slip up; 
 wouldn t she make a spread ? " observed that genteel 
 youth. 
 
 " I won t try again ! That s twice I ve tried to tell 
 her; and you saw how she treated me !" said the in 
 censed Faustina. " Let her find out if she can ! " 
 
 Tasso regarded her admiringly. "By George, you 
 look splendid, now perfic ly superb ! S wuth while to 
 see you mad once, if s only to get one flash of them 
 splendid eyes ! What s the scrape ? " 
 
 " You got me into it, Tasso ! not that I blame you. 
 We mustn t stand talking here. Come along with me, 
 and I ll tell you all about it." 
 12* 
 
138 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 XT. 
 
 TRAGICAL. 
 
 WE left the cooper noosed. And we must beg his 
 pardon for neglecting him so long in that ticklish situa 
 tion. It was necessary to bring forward the array of 
 events to the moment when he heard the noise which 
 precipitated the leap. That done, the reader is pre 
 pared to learn the nature of that noise ; and he will, we 
 hope, be gratified to know that it is the bustle of Pru 
 dence returning. She flings open the door, and is plung 
 ing straight into the house, bent on the examination of 
 her coffers, when the lamentable spectacle meets her 
 eyes. 
 
 The chair overthrown, face to the floor and heels up, 
 as if cowering in. fright and horror; the kitchen pole 
 sagging and shaking with its unusual burden; the red 
 silk tied to the pole; and John Apjohn tied to the red 
 silk: this was the tragical picture. As when some foggy 
 morning Phoebus, belated, having overslept himself, or 
 lingered too long over the Olympian beef-steaks and 
 coffee, looks at his watch, cries " Bless me ! is it so late ? " 
 claps on his hat, mounts his omnibus, and whips in hot 
 haste out of the stables of night into the broad way of 
 
Tragical. 139 
 
 the zodiac: like that original red-faced stage-driver, 
 Prudence, all in a fume, blown as was never fat woman 
 before, glows in the entrance of the misty and dismal 
 kitchen; her eyes so inflamed with heat and sweat that 
 she can hardly discern at first the character of the 
 ghostly object strung between the zenith and nadir of 
 that little universe. 
 
 Then the truth, or at least a fragment of it, bursts in 
 upon her preoccupied mind. John has discovered the 
 robbery and hung himself ! The hanging was obvious ; 
 though Prudence, who would have deemed the finding 
 of superfluous vegetables on the door-latch a very poor 
 excuse for the deed, and the loss of a large sum of money 
 the very best excuse, fell naturally into an erroneous 
 conjecture of the cause. 
 
 John s attitude was extraordinary for that of a hanged 
 man. He did not kick. Was he then past kicking ? 
 No; he had not indulged at all in that little convention 
 ality of the gallows. He had other work for his legs to 
 do. They were straightened and stretched to their ut 
 most, whilst his feet maintained a painful tiptoe posture, 
 in the effort to avoid the extremely disagreeable exer 
 cise of dancing upon nothing; for the sanguinary hand 
 kerchief had relented a little, and the remorseful pole 
 had yielded a good deal, so that he could just reach and 
 support himself on the floor, as the sagacious reader 
 has no doubt foreseen, having been all this time, like the 
 cooper, only imperfectly held in suspense. 
 
 And there, in the midst of the kitchen, hung, or rather 
 
140 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 stood, or partly hung and partly stood, the melancholy 
 man, considerably dark in the face, his eyes protruded 
 and rolling, mouth open, and tongue out, with serious 
 symptoms of asphyxia, and both hands raised, one above 
 his head, grasping the red halter for a stay, and the other 
 struggling in terror and haste with the silken knot under 
 his ear. 
 
 " John ! John Apjohn ! " ejaculated Mrs. J. A., " what 
 you doing ? " 
 
 " Ich ich yaw ! " said John. For you have only 
 to choke a man sufficiently in order to make him talk 
 like a Dutchman. 
 
 " Be ye dead, John ? " cried his spouse. 
 
 " Yaw yaw," gurgled Meinherr. 
 
 " O John ! " groaned Prudence, clutching the hand 
 kerchief, and swaying down the gallows to ease his wind 
 pipe. " Tried to hang yourself ! "Why did you, John ? 
 Oh, dear ! About killed ye, has it ? " 
 
 John essayed to speak, but only croaked and clucked. 
 
 "Oh, dear ! oh, dear ! Misfor tins never come singly ! 
 "What shall I do, if I lose you and the money too ? " Her 
 mind flew between those two buffeting disasters like a 
 distracted shuttlecock. " Don t die just at this time, 
 John ! don t. Can t ye git it off now ? " And she pulled 
 the red silk like a bell-rope, in her endeavor to unhang 
 him. 
 
 " C-c-u-t i-it ! " cackled John. 
 
 " Wai now, you ve said it ! " exclaimed Prudence. 
 " Guess you ll git along ! Cut a good new han kerchief 
 
Tragical. 141 
 
 like this ere ! Why didn t ye take soniethin else, some 
 old thing, if you was detarmined to hang yourself? 
 Your Sunday silk ! Jest like you, John Apjohn, for all 
 the world ! " 
 
 " Knife in my p-p-pocket ! " strangled the cooper. 
 
 " Come ! " cried Prudy, losing patience. " I wouldn t 
 try to talk if I couldn t talk sense. Can t you untie 
 a knot ? Take your teeth ! " Query : how was he to 
 apply his incisors to a knot under his own chin ? But 
 Prudy did not consider that little difficulty. " Bite it! " 
 
 " C-c-a-n-t ! " quacked John. 
 
 " Can t ! let me then ! Why, it s a slip-noose ! Why 
 don t ye slip it ? Oh ! " moaned Prudence, " if I was 
 half as sure of gittin back my money as I be of gittin 
 you out of this trap ! How did we git robbed, John ? " 
 
 " Robbed ? " said John, in a more human accent. 
 
 " Why ! didn t you know it ? Ain t that what you 
 went and hung yourself for ? " 
 
 " No ! " 
 
 " And haven t you been to the till ? " 
 
 " No ! " said John, getting his eyes back into his head 
 again. But the relief was only temporary. 
 
 " Haven t you ? Then maybe wait a minute ! " 
 and in her agitation she let up the pole, which carried 
 with it the handkerchief, which once more tightened 
 around John s gullet. 
 
 " Oh ! what you b-b-bout ? " he bubbled. 
 
 " Hold on ! " cried Prudence, " you can stan it a min 
 ute ! I m dyin to know ! " 
 
142 Neighbors 1 Wives. 
 
 " Yiz iz ich ! " choked the cooper, up again on his 
 toes. 
 
 Prudence, eager as she was to get to the till, stopped 
 to right the chair and help him up on to it, where he 
 stood, like a reprieved culprit, with the noose about his 
 neck; while she snatched the key from the clock, flew to 
 the chest, unlocked it, and unlocked the till with another 
 key from beneath it. 
 
 Her grca.t fear was that all her money had been 
 stolen; for the possibility of a burglar taking the trouble 
 to extract fifty dollars and leave the rest had not entered 
 her mind. Equally great now was her joy when she saw 
 the pocket-book in its place and money in the pocket- 
 book. Her fright, then, had been causeless. There 
 were two bills on the Manville Bank precisely similar; 
 and somebody had put a private mark, exactly like her 
 own, on the extraordinary duplicate. Such were her 
 reflections as she came out of the bedroom, with delight 
 on her countenance, and her treasure in her grasp. 
 
 John had in the mean time slid the ends of the pole out 
 of its supports, taken down his gallows, and seated him 
 self, with it across his lap, on his scaffold. And there he 
 was, bent double, patiently loosening the tie of his red 
 choker, when Prudy threw herself on the wood-box, ex 
 claiming, 
 
 " We hain t been robbed arter all, John ! Here s the 
 wallet and all the money, I s pose, though it s the 
 greatest mystery about that fifty-dollar bill ! And oh ! 
 it s well for Abel Dane that he hain t been rneddlin with 
 
Tragical. 143 
 
 our cash. I ve bore enough from them Danes. To 
 think that stuck-up Faustiny had the impudence to fling 
 one of her nasty tomatuses at me in the street, the trol 
 lop ! " 
 
 John uttered a lugubrious whine, and dropped his 
 hands from the noose as if he had half a mind to leave it 
 where it was, get up, and finish the hanging. 
 
 " So I KNOW now twas one of the Danes that tied em 
 onto our door ! And only think ! she had the meanness 
 to twit me of em fore Mr. Parker ! Oh ! only give me 
 a chance, and I ll make her and Abel smart ! I d be 
 willin to lose a little money, if I could prove Abel Dane 
 had stole it. Come, John I don t have that mopin face 
 on. You look blue as a whetstun. And don t you go to 
 hangin yourself ag in, if you expect me to help you down, 
 for I shan t." Here Prudence, who, in her excitement on 
 the subject of her neighbors and their insulting ways, 
 had held the pocket-book open, commenced a more care 
 ful examination of its contents. " Gracious ! " she 
 screamed. 
 
 " "Was t a spider ? " inquired the cooper, in a weak 
 voice. For Prudence, with all her strength of charac 
 ter and robustness of frame, had a horror of spiders, 
 and he was used to hearing her shriek at them. 
 
 " That bill, it s gone ! "We have been robbed ! " Again 
 she turned over the money. " Sure s the world, John ! 
 thout you have took it. Have you, sir ? " 
 
 John, who had succeeded in removing- his uncomfort 
 able cravat, was resting the pole on his knee, and 
 
144 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 meekly rubbing his throttle, with a most piteous ex 
 pression. "No, Prudy; I hain t," he answered, taking 
 no interest. 
 
 " Then, oh ! " Vengeance gleamed in Mrs. Apjohn s 
 eyes. " The bill ain t lost; for we can both swear to t, 
 and recover it as stolen property. I left it in Parker s 
 hands ; he must look to Hodge, and Hodge must look to 
 Abel; and Abel, let him be prepared to give a pretty 
 strict account of how he Come by that bill, or it ll go 
 hard with him ! He ll have trouble, or I ll miss my 
 guess ! A man that would serve us sech a trick with the 
 tomatuses would hook our money. O Faustiny ! Fans- 
 tiny ! you ll come down from your high-heeled shoes I 
 you ll haul in your horns ! " 
 
 And Prudence, still reeking from her recent exertions, 
 set oft again at full spe.ed for Mr. Parker s office, the 
 cooper rolling his eyes after her with feeble astonish 
 ment, foreboding fresh woes, but scarcely comprehend 
 ing the seriousness of her charges and threats against 
 the Danes. 
 
The Arrest. 145 
 
 XYL 
 
 THE ARREST. 
 
 ABEL, flattering himself that his pecuniary difficul 
 ties were ended, sat down that evening to enjoy himself. 
 
 " Thank Providence, I ve weathered this storm. 
 Though I thought I was going to have another little 
 squall this afternoon. I had a lawyer s letter, from 
 Mr. Parker, and what do you think he wanted ? " 
 
 Fancy Faustina s alarm at hearing that name, and 
 seeing Abel s honest eyes look over the tea-table at her, 
 as he put the question. 
 
 " You needn t be so frightened," he laughed. " I was 
 a little bit startled myself, though, till I ran up to 
 Parker s office and found out what the trouble was. It 
 seems Mrs. Apjohn is determined to be revenged on me 
 for an offence I never dreamed of committing. She. 
 won t believe it possible that anybody else could see what 
 was done in our garden last Sunday, and contrive a 
 sorry joke to remind her of it; but I must have done it ! 
 And how do you suppose she has gone to work to pay 
 me ? " 
 
 " I can t imagine I " said Faustina. 
 
 " I laughed in Parker s face when he told me. She 
 13 
 
146 Neighbor s Wives. 
 
 accuses me of a robbery. At least she claims that a bill 
 I gave Hodge last night was stolen from her ! " 
 
 " "Who ever heard of such a thing ? " said Faustina. 
 
 " Ridiculous, isn t it ? I told Parker I wasn t going to 
 submit to any annoyance from that source. I referred 
 him to Deacon Cole, from whom I had all the large bills 
 that I paid to Hodge. But what is curious," added 
 Abel, "I can t remember receiving that particular bill, 
 though I noticed it when I was settling with Hodge last 
 night. Here ! hello 1 you re making my cup run over ! " 
 
 " What was I thinking of ? " And the trembling wo 
 man, to make matters worse, instead of pouring the 
 superfluous liquid into the bowl, turned it into the 
 cream-pitcher. 
 
 " I should think you had been accused of stealing, and 
 might be guilty," Abel jestingly said. Then, as he 
 watched her, a grave suspicion crossed his mind, that, 
 notwithstanding her positive denial of the fact in the 
 morning, it might be through some complicity or indis 
 cretion on her part that the affront for which vengeance 
 was now threatened had been put upon the Apjohns, 
 and that her agitation arose from the consciousness of 
 having thus brought him into danger. 
 
 " Faustina," said he, with deep seriousness and kind 
 liness, " if we are aware of having committed any fault 
 by which our neighbors are aggrieved, we ought to 
 acknowledge it, and, if possible, make reparation for it. 
 The honestest course is the wisest. A word of frank 
 avowal now may save a world of vexation and vain 
 
The Arrest. 147 
 
 regret hereafter. At least, do not keep anything from 
 me; but, I beg of you, if you have anything on your 
 mind that I ought to know, speak it now." 
 
 It seemed that Faustina could not resist this earnest 
 appeal. She felt that her husband was, after all, her 
 best, her only friend; and she longed to confess to him, 
 and throw herself upon his generosity and mercy. But 
 she remembered her last interview with Tasso, who had 
 counselled her by no means to avow her misdeed to her 
 husband or to any one, but persistently to deny it, 
 whatever happened. 
 
 " That s the only way when you ve once got into a 
 scrape," said Tasso. "It s bad; but you must lie it 
 out." 
 
 These words she recalled, and again the dread of 
 Abel s condemnation dismayed her, and Tasso s predic 
 tion, that the Apjohns, though they should try, could 
 prove nothing, comforted her; and the false wife, in an 
 evil moment, looked up at her deceived husband with . 
 feigned wonder, and replied, 
 
 " I can t think of anything I ve done, Abel. Why do 
 you ask ? " 
 
 "Well, then, never mind," said Abel. "I m not 
 suspicious; but I feel extreme anxiety to be entirely 
 free from offence toward my neighbors, and I put as 
 strict questions to my own heart as I put to you. Con 
 sciousness of being in the wrong makes me a perfect 
 coward ; but let me be assured of the righteousness of 
 my course, and I can face any misfortune. The longer 
 
148 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 I live, the better I know what a precious refuge truth 
 is, and what a den of serpents is falsehood." 
 
 " Oh, yes ! I know it ! " assented Faustina, with the 
 accent and the aspect of a saint, and with her soul in 
 that den, amidst the writhing and the hissing, at the 
 moment. 
 
 Abel was convinced; for that creature could assume 
 a seeming that might have deceived even the elect; and, 
 shoving back his chair with satisfaction, he called to 
 Melissa, who showed her face at the door with Ebby in 
 her arms. 
 
 " Come to your supper. Give me the young gentle 
 man. Did you leave mother comfortable ? Ho, you 
 Goliath of babies ! " tossing the delighted Ebby. 
 "Ha, you fat pig !" tickling him. "Ebby has no 
 cares yet to work down his flesh. Care is a jack-plane, 
 that takes thick shavings from the breast and ribs. 
 You little sultan ! " standing him up on his knees 
 in a royal attitude; for he was a proud and splendid 
 child. " Wonder if my little fairy will ever be a man, 
 and have whiskers, and a little boy to pull em, a real, 
 plump, loving little boy, to make him forget all his 
 troubles when he comes home at night ? " And, with a 
 sense of his own blessedness, and with a gush of affec 
 tion, he clasped the happy boy to his heart. " Come, 
 now let s go and see grandma." 
 
 " Poor thick ga ma ! " said Ebby. with his chubby fin 
 gers in the paternal hair. 
 
 "Yes, poor sick grandma; and we ll go and make her 
 well." 
 
The Arrest. 149 
 
 Abel had risen, and was carrying Ebby gayly on his 
 arm, when, as they passed the door, there came a rap 
 upon it. Faustina, at the sound, grew pale, more ap 
 prehensive, now, of fateful visitors, than Cooper John 
 himself. But Abel, joyous of countenance, and free of 
 soul, feeling, like Romeo, " his bosom s lord sit lightly 
 in his throne," ignorant that the gleam, which illu 
 mined that moment in his life, was not sunshine, but a 
 flash out of the gathering thunder-cloud, the young 
 father, holding up his boy with one hand, threw open 
 the door with the other, and met the sheriff face to face. 
 
 The sheriff was a kind-hearted man, and, at sight of 
 the happy domestic scene, which it was his thankless of 
 fice to disturb, no doubt his feelings were touched. He 
 shook hands with Abel, for they were well acquainted, 
 and gave a hard finger to the fat little hand which, at 
 the paternal instigation, Ebby bashfully stuck out to him. 
 
 " Come in, won t you ? " cried Abel, thinking of "him 
 only as friend Wilkins, and not once connecting him 
 with his commission. 
 
 " Perhaps you d better step out a minute," answered 
 Wilkins. " I ve a disagreeable errand to do." 
 
 " Here, mamma I take baby I " cried Abel. But baby 
 did not want to go to mamma. And mamma had no 
 word or look for baby, in the consternation of thinking 
 the sheriff was there to arrest some one, it might be 
 Abel, it might be herself! "Well, then, where s his 
 little shawl ? and papa s hat ? We ll go out and see the 
 man. Hurrah ! " 
 13* 
 
150 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 " Co-ah ! " crowed Ebby, throwing up his arms with 
 delight. He liked papa best of anybody at all times; 
 and now he and papa were going to have an adventure. 
 
 Sheriff Wilkins was sorry to see the boy come riding 
 out in triumph on his father s arm. He felt it would be 
 easier to do his errand out of sight of wife and child. 
 He has such a pretty wife ! and such a beautiful 
 child ! " thought sheriff Wilkins. 
 
 It was a moonlight evening; and there, in the quiet 
 and white shine, with the shadows of the pear-tree mot 
 tling the ground at their feet, spotting old Turk s 
 shaggy back, as he snuffed suspiciously at the officer s 
 shins, and flinging an impalpable shadow-crown upon 
 King Ebby s head, in low voices, friendly and busi 
 ness-like, the two men talked, and the errand was done; 
 Faustina, meanwhile, peering eagerly from the kitchen- 
 window, and those other witnesses,, the stars, looking 
 placidly down through the misty skylight of heaven. 
 
 Then Abel, bearing the babe, returned into the house; 
 and Faustina, like the guilty creature she was, started 
 back from the window, and stood, white and still as 
 the moonlight without, waiting to hear the worst. 
 
 Abel came up to her, with a curious expression of 
 amusement and disgust, a smile married to a scowl. 
 
 " It grows interesting ! " he said. 
 
 " How ? what ? " whispered Faustina. 
 
 " I am arrested I " growled Abel. 
 
 "Arrested ! " Faustina tried to echo; but her voice 
 refused to articulate. 
 
The Arrest. 151 
 
 " Don t be alarmed, I am not I " added Abel, with 
 mocking levity. " It s such a neat revenge ! Mrs. Ap- 
 john is welcome to all she can make out of it. Wonder 
 how it will seem to go to jail ? How would you like to 
 go with me ? " 
 
 For an instant, Faustina thought she was arrested 
 too, and that this was his mild way of breaking it to her. 
 
 "Fudge, child ! " he laughed; " don t take it so seri 
 ously. I thought it would be a good joke for you to 
 insist on keeping me company, and to take Ebby along 
 with us. I guess we could enjoy ourselves as well in 
 jail as the Apjohns out of it." 
 
 " Ebby go ! " cooed the enterprising infant, thinking 
 some pleasant journey was contemplated. 
 
 "No, Ebby can t go; he must stay at home with 
 mamma, to take good care of grandma. She may as 
 well not know it," continued Abel, the smile dying, and 
 leaving the scowl a grim widower. " It would disturb 
 her too much. I almost wish Turk had finished Mrs. 
 Apjohn when he was about it. I shall get off, or, at all 
 events, get bail in the morning; but to-night I may have 
 to sleep in jail." 
 
 " In jail ! O Abel ! " said Faustina, relieved to learn 
 that it was he, and not herself, who must go, yet terrified 
 at the consequences of her folly. 
 
 " There ! don t be childish ! " 
 
 Abel put his right arm about her tenderly, still hold 
 ing Ebby with the other. 
 
 " I don t care a cent on my own account. I d just as 
 
152 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 lief go to jail as not. You and I are not to blame, and 
 why should we be disturbed ? Mrs. Apjohn, or whoever 
 is to blame, will get the worst of it. Or perhaps you 
 think we shall be disgraced ? Villain of a husband, to 
 put his innocent young wife to such a trial ! You for 
 give me ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes ! " Very magnanimous in Faustina. 
 " But what what proof is there ? " 
 
 " Proof ! " exclaimed Abel. " Do you think there is any 
 proof ? Do you heavens and earth, Faustina ! do 
 you imagine I am a scoundrel ? " 
 
 " No, Abel I But if you had taken money," she 
 gasped out, "I could forgive you." 
 
 " I should despise you if you could ! " he answered, 
 haughtily. " I could never forgive myself." 
 
 " But you forgave Mrs. Apjohn," she reminded him, 
 almost pleadingly. 
 
 "That s another thing. A few tomatoes. But 
 money ! I could no more take my neighbor s cash 
 than I could take his life ; and I don t suppose anybody 
 really thinks I could. Deacon Cole has no recollection 
 of paying me the bill Mrs. Apjohn says was stolen from 
 her ; and they have got up an absurd story about finding 
 the envelope of one of my letters in their house, proof 
 positive that I got in and lost it there when I stole the 
 money ! That s the proof, as you call it. Come, be 
 yourself, Faustina, and let me see a hopeful smile on 
 your face when I go. What s a clear conscience good 
 for, if it can t sustain us at such times ? " 
 
The Arrest. 153 
 
 " Oh, I am sustained 1 " Faustina tried the hopeful 
 smile, but it was a failure. " I know my dear, noble 
 husband is innocent ! " And she put her lovely arms 
 about his neck and kissed him. 
 
 " Good-by," he said, more convinced than ever of late 
 that she loved him. " I am on parole, and Wilkins is 
 waiting for me. Tell mother I have business, and put 
 her to bed. And, Faustina, whatever occurs, let us be 
 true to each other and to our own consciences, and all 
 will be well." 
 
 " "We will ! we will ! " she murmured, kissing him 
 again with lips as chill as dew. 
 
 " Now, mamma, take Ebby," said Abel, with moist 
 eyes. 
 
 " No ! no ! Ebby go ! Ebby go 1 " 
 
 " Oh, Ebby can t go with papa to-night. Mamma take 
 him." 
 
 " No ! no ! no ! " remonstrated the child, stoutly. 
 And he flirted his ungrateful hands, and kicked his un- 
 filial feet, when she reached to receive him; and lament 
 ed, and screamed " Ebby go ! Ebby go ! " with ungov 
 ernable persistence. 
 
 " What shall I do ? " said Abel, with strong parental 
 emotion. " It would almost seem that his wise little 
 spirit foresees some greater wrong than we suspect. 
 The instincts even of babes are so wonderful. See I he 
 won t let me go without him ! " 
 
 And Abel looked proud and gratified, though per 
 plexed, when the subtle-sensed child, shunning the guilty 
 
154 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 parent with all his might, put his arms about the neck of 
 the innocent, and hugged him with all his heart and 
 strength. 
 
 " He knows ! " cried Abel, with laughter and tears, lit 
 tle guessing how much more there was in the divine in 
 stincts of the infant than even his words had expressed. 
 " There now, Ebby, be papa s good boy. Melissa, take 
 him." 
 
 Then Ebby loosed his hold, stayed only to kiss the 
 father he loved, one long kiss over his whiskers, put out 
 his hands to Melissa, and, without a murmur, only the 
 corners of the little serious mouth drawn down, went 
 to her unresistingly, though he still refused the hospi 
 tality of the maternal bosom. 
 
 Faustina was cut to -the heart. For, though she had 
 never loved her beautiful boy too well, she was jealous 
 of his affection ; and to feel, at this time, when she was 
 conscious of having forfeited her husband s esteem, that 
 neither had she any part in her child s love, made her 
 seem to herself worse than a widow and childless. 
 
 " By- by, Ebby ! Keep good heart, Faustina ! " 
 These were Abel s parting words; and, rejoining the 
 sheriff, he walked off gayly with him to the magistrate s. 
 But Faustina, with an indescribable sense of heaviness, 
 loneliness, and guilt, wishing herself dead, wishing 
 herself where she might never see husband, or child, 
 or any face she ever knew, again, shrank back into 
 the house, with the long night of remorse and dread 
 before her. 
 
The Arrest. 155 
 
 XVII. 
 
 * 
 
 FAUSTINA CONSOLES HERSELF. 
 
 THE long, dreary night ! how could she endure it ? 
 Never a woman of courage, or of resources within her 
 self against ennui, no wonder that the coming lonesome 
 hours were awful as phantoms to her. She gazed out 
 of the windows; the moonlight and the stillness were 
 chill and forbidding. She could not content herself 
 a moment with the old lady; Ebby was no comfort; 
 and Melissa, who knew her secret, she was beginning to 
 hate and fear. She went to her chamber; its solitari 
 ness was intolerable; a gust from the door, as she closed 
 it, extinguished her light, and the moonshine came be 
 tween the curtains like the face of a ghost. 
 
 Pitiful for one who at all times loved company so 
 well, and was never willingly alone an hour in her life ! 
 What would she not resort to for relief from her own 
 fears and imaginings ? She would have swallowed 
 laudanum, if she had had any. She thought of a bottle 
 of brandy in the kitchen closet. That would do. She 
 would stupefy herself. 
 
 Melissa was in the kitchen, suffering great distress of 
 mind at the occurrences of the evening. 
 
156 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 " O Mis Dane ! " she exclaimed, " ain t it too bad he 
 has to go to jail ! And we know he didn t take the 
 money ! " 
 
 " Hold your tongue ! " said Faustina. " Of course he 
 didn t; and they can t do anything with him." 
 
 " Can t they ? " cried Melissa, eagerly ; for she had 
 felt the remorse of an accomplice in sharing Faustina s 
 secret. " Oh, I m glad ! " 
 
 " You stupid girl ! " Faustina seized her arm. " Me 
 lissa ! Melissa ! " in a menacing whisper, " hear what I 
 say ! As you value your oath, as you value your life, 
 never breathe a syllable of what you know ! " 
 
 " La, ma am ! " with open-mouthed astonishment, 
 " what will happen to me if I do ? " 
 
 "You will die! You will die a most sudden and 
 dreadful death ! " 
 
 " La, ma am ! will I though ? Oh dear ! " And Melissa 
 began to whimper with fright, thinking her mistress 
 must surely be in league with supernatural avengers. 
 
 " There ! stop crying ! They shan t hurt you, if you 
 mind me." There was something awfully suggestive in 
 the indefinite, mysterious plural they. " Only keep your 
 oath, Melissa ! An oath s a shocking thing to break. 
 Nobody is safe afterwards." 
 
 " Why, what happens to em ? " 
 
 " Some are sent to prison, lucky if they ever get out 
 again. Some are struck by lightning. Some are mur 
 dered in broad daylight, nobody ever knows how. Some 
 are found dead in their beds, though as well the night 
 
Faustina Consoles Herself. 157 
 
 before as you are this minute. A great many disappear, 
 and are never heard of again ; it s supposed the gob 
 lins catch them." 
 
 " Oh, la, ma am I how you scare me ! " 
 
 " You needn t be scared, only keep your oath. Ke- 
 member ! Kow go and put Ebby to bed, and see to the 
 old woman. I can t, I m sick. Where s that brandy ? " 
 
 The brandy was got. Melissa was gone. And Faus 
 tina in her madness began to drink. She placed the 
 bottle on the table, with water and sugar, and sat down, 
 deliberately and systematically to lay siege to the castle 
 of oblivion, of which drunkenness opens the gates. 
 
 " Hillo I by George, I cotched ye at it this time ! " 
 
 Faustina started up with trepidation; but when she 
 saw what visitor had entered so softly as to stand beside 
 her before she was aware, she was pacified, and sat 
 down again. 
 
 " I ve an excruciating toothache, Tasso ! I was put 
 ting a little brandy into it." 
 
 " I ve an excruciating toothache, too," said Tasso. 
 " I d like to put a little brandy into mine." 
 
 The liquor had begun to do its office. Faustina was 
 delighted to have company. She was social; she was 
 ardent; she wrung Tasso s hand confidentially, and 
 brought him a glass from the closet. 
 
 " Seem Abel s off, thought I d drop in. Hi, hi ! 
 tain t a bad joke after all ! Got him up fore the jus 
 tice ! Couldn t help laughing ! " And Tasso illustrated 
 with a giggle, which he quenched with a dash of sweet- 
 14 
 
158 Neighbors* Wives. 
 
 ened brandy and water. " That s good liquor, I swow ! " 
 He smacked, and filled again, confirming his verdict, 
 being no doubt a discriminating judge of strong waters; 
 for he had tended bar in Boston till he was suspected of 
 pilfering from the drawer, when he retired at his em 
 ployer s urgent request, seconded by a boot which 
 accelerated his progress down the stairs. He had lost 
 his situation, but retained his taste. 
 
 " It s dreadful, Tasso ! " said Faustina. " He won t 
 come home to-night, I suppose. Oh, I m so glad you ve 
 come ; it s so horrible lonesome here ! Let s go into 
 the sitting-room; for Melissa ll be back in a minute. 
 Bring the sugar." 
 
 " Toothache hain t a chance in this house," observed 
 Tasso, smilingly holding up the bottle to the light. 
 
 " Come ! I ve so many things to tell you ! " And 
 Faustina led the way, carrying the pitcher of water 
 and the candle. 
 
His House, his Home no more. 159 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 U HE ENTERED IN HIS HOUSE, HIS HOME NO MORE." 
 
 LATER in the night, when the village streets were 
 silent, and the village lights mostly extinguished, a man 
 appeared briskly walking across the common, in the 
 moonlight. 
 
 It was Abel Dane. He was softly whistling a lively 
 air, to which his feet kept time. He had not yet seen 
 the inside of the big stone jug, as the jail was called, 
 and didn t think now that he ever would. He had had 
 the good fortune to gain a hearing before the magis 
 trate that night, and to get admitted to bail. Deacon 
 Cole himself had volunteered to be his surety. Every 
 body was inclined to take a jocular view of the charge 
 against him. And Abel was happy; congratulating 
 himself that Mrs. Apjohn s malice was baffled, and enjoy 
 ing, in pleasant anticipation, Faustina s surprise and 
 delight at his unexpected return. 
 
 For Abel, poor fellow, was so eager to snatch at every 
 bubble of circumstance in which his hope or fancy saw 
 glimmer some floating, unsubstantial image of domestic 
 happiness I He was rushing to grasp a very large and 
 eitremely flattering bubble of this description now. His 
 
160 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 wife s distress, on seeing him torn from her embrace 
 and dragged away to jail, so to speak, had moved 
 him greatly. " After all," he thought, " she loves me. A 
 change is taking place in her character, I sincerely hope. 
 She never manifested so much concern for my welfare be 
 fore. And she said she could forgive me, even if I had 
 taken money ! Such charity, such affection, I did not 
 expect to find in her. Who knows but the faults of her 
 spoiled girlhood and false education may be cured, and 
 she may prove a true wife and mother after all ? God 
 grant it ! " he murmured aloud, his eyes upturned mistily 
 to the moonbeams, his features glowing and surcharged 
 with the emotion of his prayer. 
 
 He hurried on. He saw a light in his own house. 
 " Poor girl ! she is too anxious to sleep ! She could 
 not go to bed and rest while I was supposed to be 
 locked up in stone walls. Foolish child ! But I am 
 glad she is wakeful; I wouldn t have her make light of 
 my arrest, though I do. I can imagine how lonesome 
 she is, sitting up, thinking of me. I ll go softly to the 
 door, and surprise her. Now I shall know, I ll take 
 her behavior as a sign, whether she really loves me." 
 
 He drew near. He heard what ? Laughter I That 
 did not please him so well. 
 
 "Who has she got there?" He listened. "Tasso 
 Smith ! " 
 
 He went to the kitchen door; it was unfastened. He 
 entered, and closed it after him. The moon lighted his 
 steps, and he advanced, stepping noiselessly, to the 
 
His House, his Home no more. 161 
 
 sitting-room door. His purpose to afford Faustina a 
 surprise had become a dark and deadly purpose, and 
 the blackness of darkness clothed his soul. He waited ; 
 for, in that first terrible revulsion, he felt that Tasso 
 could not fall into his hands without danger, and he 
 feared the violence of his own rage in confronting 
 Faustina. He was determined to be calm ; yet it was 
 not easy to get his wrath under control, with the intol 
 erable tittering from within irritating it like sputters 
 of vitriol. 
 
 When his hand was quite steady, he found the door 
 knob, touched it warily, turned it charily, opened it 
 with silence and caution, and laid bare the scene within. 
 
 Do you think this dishonorable in Abel ? No matter. 
 In his place you would very likely have acted dishon 
 orably too. 
 
 The scene: A table, with the tools of intoxication 
 upon it; beside it two chairs, unsuitably near together. 
 In that nearest the door you saw the nice youth, Tasso 
 Smith, one hand encircling a glass which rested on 
 the edge of the table, the other resting familiarly on 
 the back of the chair beyond, his countenance, like 
 silly cream, wrinkled up with the last inanity of tipsy 
 merriment. 
 
 In that other chair sat Faustina, her eyes swimming 
 with an unmistakable tendency to double-vision, and 
 her lovely head so tipsy that she could hardly resist its 
 proclivity to rest on Tasso s shoulder. A pretty pic 
 ture for a husband ! 
 
 14* 
 
162 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 One minute, two minutes, the petite comedy went 
 on; two unconscious actors playing their parts with 
 perfect naturalness and abandonment, such as you sel 
 dom see on the stage, before an intensely interested 
 audience of one. 
 
 Then you might have heard a fall. Mr. Smith heard 
 it as soon as anybody. Indeed, something had hap 
 pened to that individual. He had tumbled, in a most 
 astonishingly sudden and mysterious manner, under the 
 table. Over him stood Abel, and in Abel s hand was 
 the chair which had been jerked from beneath him. 
 And there was danger in the atmosphere, as the sa 
 gacious youth sniffed readily when once he put out his 
 head carefully from under the table and carefully drew 
 it back again. He had done curing the toothache, and 
 done tittering, too, for that night. 
 
 But Faustina laughed on, not perceiving the spectre 
 of wrath that had stalked in behind her, and now stood 
 holding her companion s tilted chair. She looked down 
 by the table, and was presently aware of a pair of per 
 pendicular legs, not Tasso s. Or was Mr. Smith double, 
 and had he four legs ? He appeared to be rapidly crawl 
 ing off with a horizontal pair, and, at the same time, to 
 be standing firmly on the two at her side. 
 
 She looked up, and was shocked into something like 
 sobriety by the apparition of her husband. 
 
 " Abel ! why where I thought you is it morn 
 ing ? " And she winked to see if it was day, thinking 
 he had passed the night in jail and come home and 
 caught her carousing. 
 
His House, his Home no more. 163 
 
 Abel stood motionless and white, still clinching the 
 chair, as if diabolically tempted to break it over the 
 head of Tasso, rising from behind the table and retreat 
 ing, with the grimace of a scared monkey, to the door. 
 But with extraordinary self-control, he neither spoke 
 nor stirred until Mr. Smith had slunk out; then he 
 kicked his hat after him, for that young gentleman 
 had quite forgotten that he was bareheaded, broke 
 the cane that stood in the corner, and threw the splin 
 ters into the retiring face. Then, having closed and 
 locked the door, he turned and confronted Faustina. 
 
164 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 HUSBAND AND WIFE. 
 
 " WHY Abel what s the matter?" gasped the 
 wretched woman, trying to gild her guilty fright with 
 smiles. 
 
 " My wife I disgraced forever I " 
 
 These words, uttered incoherently, with suppressed 
 fury, carried to the heart of the half-sobered Faustina 
 the stunning conviction that all had been discovered. 
 She slipped down upon her knees before him. 
 
 " Mercy ! mercy ! Don t cast me off, Abel, don t I 
 I will tell you everything ! " 
 
 " Where did you get these trinkets ? " For the jewels 
 had been brought out, and now lay on the table. 
 
 " I bought them, Abel." 
 
 " You bought them ! With whose money ? " 
 
 "With with yours. I took it from the drawer. 
 Yesterday Tasso came and showed them to me, and 
 made me buy them." 
 
 "Faustina, don t dare to tell me anything but the 
 truth now ! " he muttered, wringing her wrist. 
 
 "I won t. I ll tell you everything. But, oh, don t 
 cast me off ! Don t shame me before the world ! I ve 
 
Husband and Wife. 165 
 
 been a bad and selfish wife to you, I know; but I ll be 
 better. Oh, I ll be so true always, always, Abel ! if you 
 won t expose me now." 
 
 " Speak ! " said Abel, hoarse, bewildered, chills of a 
 strange new terror creeping over him. "What have 
 you done ? " 
 
 "I was so frightened afterward, ! thought you 
 would kill me when you missed the money ! " 
 
 " How much was it ? " 
 
 " Fifty dollars." 
 
 Abel dropped her arm and staggered back. He knew 
 all. No need for her to tell him more. But she talked 
 on, eager in self-excuse. 
 
 "I went to borrow it of Mrs. Apjohn. But she 
 wasn t there when I took it; and I didn t dare to go and 
 tell her of it, and you had paid the money to Mr. 
 Hodge, and, O Abel ! I have been so wretched ! If 
 you only knew, you would have mercy ! Don t expose 
 me now, and cast me off ! don t let me go to jail ! 
 don t ! don t ! don t ! " 
 
 In the most abject servility, with passionate terror and 
 entreaty, she pleaded, kneeling and wringing her hands. 
 Abel had sat down. Under the calamity that had smit 
 ten him, he could not stand. He felt weak and shattered 
 and lost. 
 
 " Oh, do pity me ! " she prayed, creeping toward him. 
 "You pity others ! You forgave Mrs. Apjohn the to 
 matoes. She is nothing to you, and I am your wife; 
 
166 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 I 
 
 and such a wife I will be to you, O Abel ! if you will 
 only be merciful to me now 1 " 
 
 She cut her knee on something sharp. It was Tasso s 
 glass, which had been thrown down and broken when he 
 fell. It reminded her of the carousal which had been 
 interrupted. Sobered more and more, she felt now how 
 unpardonable that scene must have appeared in Abel s 
 eyes. 
 
 " I didn t know what to do. I was so wretched, I felt 
 such remorse when you were gone. I thought I couldn t 
 live through the night. I was wild, frantic, and I got 
 the brandy. I never did such a thing before, you 
 know I never did. I meant to kill myself. I hoped I 
 should. I wish I had ! Then Tasso came in. There 
 was never anything more between us than you saw to 
 night, nor half so much. I swear it ! I ll swear it on 
 the Bible, and call Heaven to witness ! It was the bran 
 dy, it was the brandy, Abel I Oh, don t look so stony 
 and cruel at me; for I see my fate in your eyes ! They 
 are like dead men s eyes, there s no compassion in 
 them. Don t, don t look at me so, Abel ! " And she 
 grovelled at his feet. 
 
 Still he made no motion, but sat as he had fallen, with 
 a blind and frozen look, which well might awe Faustina. 
 
 " Abel ! dear Abel ! my husband ! remember how 
 you have loved me 1 " 
 
 Her voice, which had been wild and strong in its elo 
 quence of fear, now grew tremulous and fond. She 
 kissed his feet. She wept and laughed. " Oh, you will 
 
Husband and Wife. 167 
 
 love me again ! You do love me ! Think how happy 
 we have been ! And we will be happier now. For I 
 shall never care for anybody or anything but you after 
 this. If you only forgive me, and I know you will 1 " 
 looking up in his face with pleading sweetness and tears. 
 " You are so good, Abel ! " And she flung herself upon 
 his bosom, kissing and clinging with the witchery she 
 knew so well how to use. 
 
 But Abel was inexorable. Her caresses he loathed 
 them. 
 
 " Get off ! " said he. She turned from him with such 
 semblance of despair that he could not but relent a 
 little. " Go to bed. You are not yourself to-night ; 
 and I am sick ! In the morning I will tell you what I 
 will do." 
 
 " I can t go till you forgive me ! " she answered, 
 fawning upon him, and covering his hand with kisses. 
 " Why do you say, Go to bed ? It was always, Come 
 to bedS till now. Oh, I see by your face, so cold, so 
 cold, that I am not to be your wife any more ! " 
 
 She fell upon the floor. There she lay motionless and 
 unnoticed for many minutes. Then he stooped, sternly 
 commanding her, and lifted her up. 
 
 " Come with me ! " 
 
 " Oh, you hurt me, Abel I Your hand is iron ! " 
 
 " There is iron in my soul ! " said Abel. 
 
 " Pity me, pity me, Abel ! " she implored, " when I 
 suffer so ! " 
 
1 68 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 " You suffer ! And I ? Who will pity me ? Alone; 
 and the ruins fall upon me ! " 
 
 " Dear Abel, I pity you. Don t look so terrible I You 
 are not alone, I am with you." 
 
 Fdr a minute he stood in a sort of trance, his visage 
 pallid and awful, his eyes fixed on vacancy. She watched 
 him, in dread and distress, waiting for him to look at 
 her and speak. 
 
 " Faustina," he said, with deep and strange calmness 
 
 but there was something sepulchral in his voice, 
 " do you know that I am under bonds to answer for 
 your crime? " 
 
 " My crime I " she gasped. 
 
 "Oime ! " he repeated. " It is worse than simple 
 larceny, it is house-breaking. I thought it an idle ac 
 cusation till now. Now I see what it means. It means 
 dishonor. It means endless disgrace. It means trial, 
 conviction, sentence, for one of us. Years in prison, 
 
 for one of us. Does any one know of your guilt ? " 
 " No one, no one but you. And you will spare me, 
 
 Abel ! dear Abel I won t you ? " Thus she lied, and 
 pleaded. 
 
 " And suffer in your place ! " 
 
 " No, no, Abel. You are innocent. They cannot 
 punish you for what you have not done. And you are 
 a man I " 
 
 He smiled; but his smile was even more frightful to 
 her than his frown. 
 
 " Punishment has no terrors for me now. I think I 
 
Husband and Wife. 169 
 
 shall soon be glad to hide my head even in prison. If 
 it wasn t for Ebby my boy ! " 
 
 " What do you mean ? " she cried. " Don t frighten 
 me so, Abel ! They can t imprison you, how can 
 they ? " 
 
 " You have made your act appear as my act. You 
 did the robbery, and I received and used the money. 
 People know how I was distressed for money at the 
 time; that is evidence against me. The Apjohns 
 identify the stolen bill ; they can produce proof to show 
 how they came by it, which I cannot do. Then there 
 is one of my letter-envelopes, how came it in their 
 house ? They found it rolled up in the kitchen." 
 
 " I don t know, I don t know ! " said Faustina. 
 
 " I know 1 " answered Abel. " If others only knew ! " 
 A powerful emotion shook him, as he looked upon her, 
 so young and beautiful and proud, and thought of her 
 ruin and disgrace. " Twas one of your curl-papers. 
 You lost it when you took the money. And you stopped 
 the clock, when you took the key of the chest out of it. 
 Did you leave any other trace of your guilt ? " 
 
 Then Faustina s strength went from her, and hope 
 went with it, and despair possessed her. 
 
 " I will certainly kill myself, Abel ! " she said. 
 
 " Would one of us had died already ! " he answered. 
 u But killing ourselves now will not mend matters. I 
 am sick enough of the world, to leave it very willingly. 
 But I shall bide my time. Come ! " 
 
 She followed him, walking in a sullen stupor. He 
 15 
 
170 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 conducted her to her chamber, their chamber hereto 
 fore, where Ebby lay sweetly slumbering. He led 
 her to the bedside; and there they both stood for some 
 moments gazing upon the lovely little sleeper, each with 
 what different thoughts ! 
 
 "Go to bed," then said Abel. 
 
 She obeyed him without word or resistance. He 
 waited till she had lain down. Then he put his arms 
 gently about the unconscious babe, and took him from 
 her side. At that she roused. 
 
 " Oh ! are you going to leave me ? " 
 
 " Yes, Faustina." 
 
 " Go, then ! Be kind and forgiving to every one but me. 
 But leave me my child, our child, Abel, won t you?" 
 
 " No, Faustina." 
 
 Then she turned upon her face, burying it in the pil 
 low, which she clutched and bit convulsively. 
 
 And bearing the dewy-cheeked infant in his arrns r 
 Abel went out, closed the door behind him gently and 
 firmly, and entered another room. 
 
 jit was the room that had been Eliza s. In the bed 
 that had been Eliza s he laid down his precious bur 
 den, and threw himself heavily down beside him. " 
 
 " Papa ! papa ! " said Ebby, waking, and glad to find 
 the. whiskers he loved on his face. And stretching up 
 his little arms, he hugged the dear good head. of his 
 father to his sweet moist bosom. 
 
 Abel sobbed. And there he lay, thinking of his des 
 olation and remembering his sins. Who could help 
 
Husband and Wife. 171 
 
 him ? God can help us, but not always within our 
 selves. He uses instruments and mediators. Abel 
 longed for human sympathy and aid. And he thought 
 of one whom he had wronged. 
 
 "How I wronged her!" he said, and gnashed his 
 teeth. "Idiot that I was ! and she so wise and good ! 
 Nobody but her ! nobody but her I " he repeated, think 
 ing of those who, out of all the world, might be of 
 service to him then. " And I grieved her away ! O my 
 baby ! my mother ! my good name among men ! 
 if only Eliza was here ! " 
 
 A soothing influence stole over him, as he thought of 
 her. Something of her spirit seemed still to pervade 
 the room; and he found rest in it. Then what if she 
 herself were there ? His longing for her, the cry of 
 his inmost soul became irresistible. He arose, and 
 penned the brief letter which called her home; then 
 returned to bed, drew Ebby to his heart, and slept the 
 sleep of the innocent. 
 
172 Neighbors 1 Wives. 
 
 XX. 
 
 THE RETURN OF ELIZA. 
 
 THE letter went the next day to its destination. The 
 day after was Saturday. "Would Eliza be here before 
 the Sabbath ? Would she come at all ? 
 
 It is another moonshiny night; the chill mists 
 rising, the village dogs barking, the elm-trees droop 
 ing in the dew, with now and then a liquid rustle, and 
 a young woman hurrying across the common through 
 shadow and gloom. 
 
 It is a plain, earnest face you see under the brown 
 bonnet, pale, in the moonlight, and full of anxious 
 thought, gazing toward Abel s house. Why does her 
 bosom swell so, and her heart beat so fast ? 
 
 Oh, the realization that she is going home, that 
 here she is again in sight of the house, which stands 
 with its white gable to the moon, waiting as in the well- 
 remembered bygone sheeny nights ! No, it is not a 
 dream, Eliza; you are fully awake. 
 
 The feeling of the old, frequented paths under her 
 feet; the familiar scent of the soil and trees; Abel s 
 shop, Cooper John s shop, and Cooper John s squatty 
 house, which always to her mind bore such a ludicrous 
 
The Return of Eliza. 
 
 likeness to good Mrs. Apjohn; again, the night- fog steal 
 ing up from the hollow, mingled with which comes an 
 indefinable, tantalizing sense of change in the native 
 atmosphere of the town; something, after all, foreign 
 and forbidding in the features of the landscape lying 
 dim in the moonlight; all this makes her strangely 
 afraid and strangely glad. 
 
 Her hands are encumbered with travelling-gear; yet 
 she walks swiftly. And now she is near the gate; and 
 now she pauses and shrinks. What is this that rushes 
 upon her? All the past in a flood, the old, warm 
 current of love; the cutting ice of disappointment; 
 the wrecks of happiness; faces of dead friendships; 
 pleasures and hopes and pains ; all which she sees, like 
 a drowning person, in one wild, stifling instant of time. 
 
 Then comes a sudden dash through the yard. Old 
 Turk, who has been for the last hour assiduously sere 
 nading the moon, his big, bluff barytone, distinguish 
 able afar off amid the chorus of village curs, leaves 
 that thankless occupation, gives a bounce at the gate, 
 which flies open, and, with yelps of furious delight and 
 frenzied wags of tail, madly leaping and licking, gives 
 her a devouring welcome. Eliza drops bag and band 
 box, and hugs the dear old monster in her arms, crying 
 for very joy. 
 
 " Old Turk ! dear Turk ! There, stop, you saucy 
 boy ! Can t you be glad without tearing me to pieces ? < 
 You dear fellow ! Down ! " 
 
 To be thus remembered and greeted by her dumb 
 15* 
 
174 Neighbor s Wives. 
 
 friend is a great comfort. She accepts it as a good 
 omen, and her heart grows light, only to grow heavy 
 again, however, a moment later. 
 
 Her hand is on the latch. Shall she open, as in old 
 times, the good old times, forever past, when she 
 was as the mistress of that house ? She remembers 
 that another woman is mistress there now, and, awk 
 ward and unnatural as it seems, she knocks like any 
 wayfarer. What tremor, what suspense, waiting 
 there on that door-step for some one to open unto her ! 
 Who will come ? Will Abel s face be the first to meet 
 her, or the beautiful Faustina s, which she somehow 
 dreads, or dear old Mrs. Dane s, benevolent and be 
 loved ? Oh, to think she is now to see these faces once 
 more, that the moment, which she thought would 
 never come, has at last arrived ! If only the door 
 would open ! But it doesn t. 
 
 She knocks again, less timidly, louder even than 
 her heart is knocking all this time. And now there is a 
 stir within. She is aware of some one peeping out at 
 her from the window. Then the door is cautiously 
 opened, and the edge of a face appears, a face un 
 known to Eliza. 
 
 " Is Abel Mr. Dane at home ? " 
 
 Alas, Eliza ! that ever you should come to that door 
 with such a formal question, and stand coldly outside 
 till a stranger s tongue has answered it ! 
 
 "No; gone away," says the face through the crack 
 the door yielding only about a hand s breadth. 
 
The Return of Eliza. 175 
 
 In her disappointment, Eliza is half a mind to go 
 away too, and come again no more. Indeed, what busi 
 ness has she there ? The letter which brought her 
 she must have merely dreamed of such a letter. Or, 
 even were it a reality, why was she so foolishly eager to 
 answer the summons ? Abel did not expect she would 
 be, it is evident. Since he had been so long reticent and 
 cold, ought she not to be ashamed of her ready and ar 
 dent zeal ? 
 
 " I would like to see old Mrs. Dane," she falters. 
 
 "She s wus; don t see nobody," replies the face 
 through the crack. 
 
 What shall she do ? Is this then coming home ? Is 
 this the hour she looked forward to with such palpitat 
 ing hope during her long journey ? She turns half 
 round. She sees the moon shining on the trees and fields 
 as she has seen it a hundred times before. Its cold 
 beams are more hospitable than the glimpse of light in 
 the forbidden house. The wide, roofless night is not 
 so solitary as this half-shut guarded door. " Abel ! 
 Abel ! " says her heart, " if you sent for me, why are you 
 not here to welcome me ? " 
 
 " But this is morbid," says her better sense. 
 
 " Is young Mrs. Dane at home ? " she forces herself to 
 inquire. 
 
 " Yes m ; but she s sick a-bed too. Don t see no 
 body." 
 
 This, then, is Abel s trouble, Eliza thinks. His wife 
 is ill, perhaps dying, and she has been sent for to 
 
176 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 save for him that precious life. Well, she will do her 
 duty. 
 
 " Will Abel be home soon ? " 
 
 " Don t know. Guess biineby. Didn t say, when he 
 went out." 
 
 " I will come in and wait," says Eliza. Still the door 
 does not open; and the face at the crack looks out sus 
 piciously at her, with a foolish, doubting smile. 
 
 " Do you know if they were expecting any one to 
 night ? " 
 
 "Q-uess not; hain t heerd r em say." 
 
 " This used to be my home. Did you ever hear them 
 speak of Eliza ? " 
 
 At which word, Turk, grown impatient of delay, 
 brushes past her, forcing the door. 
 
 " La, ma am ! is this Eliza ? " cries the flustered 
 housemaid, recovering from Turk and the surprise. 
 " I ve heerd old Mrs. Dane talk of you ever so many 
 times ! My name s Melissy, Melissy Jones, ye 
 know -; though mabby ye never heerd of me afore, 
 seein as how my folks only jest moved into the place a 
 little more n a year ago. Old Mrs. Dane 11 be dreadful 
 tickled to see ye, I know ! La, I thought twas a strag 
 gler ! and I m kind o skeery, folks bein sick so, and 
 Abel away from home. Take a seat and set down, won t 
 ye?" 
 
 Eliza is gazing vacantly about the room, and begin 
 ning to take off her things. What object is it which 
 suddenly fixes her sight ? 
 
The Return of Eliza. 
 
 " That s baby, that s Ebby," Melissa explains. " I 
 was lonesome, so 1 kep him up for comp ny; but, la4 
 he dropt right off to sleep, jest as he never will evenings 
 when we want him to." 
 
 In the rocking-chair, sunken in pillows, dimpled 
 cheek on dimpled arm, with the smile of some happy 
 dream just stirring the sweet mouth, the chubby cherub 
 sleeps. Eliza bends over him, kneeling. Her face, 
 bowed low, is hidden from Melissa. Long she gazes, 
 silent. O fortunate Abel, parent of that darling boy ! 
 O proud Faustina, to be the mother, and the father s 
 cherished wife I Eliza touches, with quivering lips, the 
 lily-white, dewy skin, the warm, aromatic, rosy mouth. 
 Then she says, calmly, 
 
 "He looks like Abel, I think? 
 
 " Yes in," assents Melissa, " he dooes. Most folks 
 thinks he favors his pa the most." 
 
 " How long has his mother been sick ? " 
 
 " Only sence yist day." 
 
 " Is she very sick ? " asks Eliza, surprised. 
 
 " Don t know. Perty considerable, though not very, 
 I guess," Melissa confusedly answers. 
 
 " Does she see the doctor ? " 
 
 "No, ma am; she don t see nobody. Better take a 
 seat and set down." 
 
 Melissa would like to change the subject. Eliza, 
 seating herself, persists in questioning her. 
 
 " But she must see somebody. Who takes her food 
 to her?" 
 
178 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 "I do ; but she won t eat, and she sca cely looks at 
 me, but keeps her head kivered up under the bedclo es. 
 Oh, dear ! " sighs Melissa, remembering the secret, 
 which she dreads to keep, yet fears to betray. 
 
 " But she sees her husband ! " says the astonished 
 Eliza. 
 
 "Euther guess not; for he sleeps in t other room 
 now, long ith Ebby." 
 
 " How long has he done so ? " 
 
 " Only last night and the night afore, ma am." 
 
 " She can t be very sick, then, or else he would go 
 to her." 
 
 " Wai, I do no; she don t git up. I guess it s trouble 
 more n anything." 
 
 " What trouble ? Tell me ! I am come to help them, 
 and I must know." 
 
 " Don t ax me ! it s too bad ! Oh, dear ! " And up 
 goes Melissa s apron, and down goes her face into it, 
 with a sob. 
 
 Eliza, with her quick sense of the comical, smiles, but 
 faintly. There is no laughter in her heart to-night. 
 
 "Melissa," she assumes authority, "put down 
 your apron ! " 
 
 The girl only clutches it more closely to her weeping 
 face. 
 
 " Will crying mend matters ? Don t keep me in 
 suspense ! Tell me at once ! " 
 
 " O ma am," Melissa uncovers her interesting linea 
 ments, but holds the apron under them with both hands, 
 
The Return of Eliza. 179 
 
 like a basin, to catch the sacred drops of grief, " it s 
 all sence day before yist day. She was well enough 
 then. But that night that night," another explosion 
 is coming ; she has the extinguisher ready, "he he 
 
 was took up for stealing ! " 
 
 This time she flings the apron completely over her 
 head, and rocks and wrings herself in it tempestuously. 
 Eliza is calm, you would say. But how very white ! It 
 is a minute before she can get herself heard. She takes 
 hold of Melissa s hands as she would a child s, and en 
 deavors to remove the muffler. At length the weeper 
 permits her frizzled head and one corner of the corru 
 gated countenance to be uncovered, peeps out with one 
 streaming red eye over the saturated calico, and whim 
 pers forth the story. It is given in bursts and snatches, 
 incoherently enough ; and, of course, one very important 
 portion of it is suppressed, in terror of her mistress and 
 her oath. 
 
 Eliza listens, sick at her very soul. 
 
 " And Abel is in jail to-night ! Why didn t you tell 
 me?" 
 
 " Oh, he ain t ! He s innocent, ye know. And they 
 can t keep him in jail, can they ? Say ! " Both eyes 
 come out of their retreat, and appeal earnestly to Eliza, 
 
 " Do you s pose they can ? " 
 
 " How do you know he is innocent ? " 
 " Oh, I don t know only his wife says he is ! " so 
 much she dares confess. 
 
 " If she says so, and thinks so, why does she give up 
 
i8o Neighbors Wives. 
 
 to the shame and misery of the thing, and keep her bed, 
 instead of rising, like a woman, to cheer and help him ? " 
 demands Eliza, her heart growing great within her. " I 
 am sure he is innocent ! My Abel ! steal V Come, 
 come, Melissa ! We have something else to do besides 
 lying in bed or hiding our heads in our aprons. Go and 
 tell mother I have come. It will comfort her to see me, 
 I know. Has she heard about Abel ? " 
 
 " I guess he told her yesterday," answered Melissa, 
 finding a dry edge of her apron to wipe up with. 
 " They was alone together for ever so long; and I could 
 see something had a most killed her afterwards. Oh, I m 
 so glad you ve come ! " looking up with hope and 
 confidence at Eliza. "The house seems so dreadful 
 lonesome I Le me pump you some water, if you want 
 to wash. La, now, there s Ebby waking up jest at the 
 wrong time ! " 
 
 " I ll take care of him. Go and prepare mother fox 
 seeing me," said Eliza. 
 
Home once More. 181 
 
 XXI. 
 
 HOME ONCE MORE. 
 
 Now, with slow footsteps and a leaden heart, Abel 
 Dane came home to his dishonored house. For some 
 moments he stood gloomily outside, without the cour 
 age to enter. His wife sullen and mad with he knew 
 not what remorse or shame, his child worse than moth 
 erless, his own mother broken-hearted by the disgrace of 
 his arrest, though she knew not all; what was then 
 left to him ? And Eliza had not come, as he believed, 
 and would not come, he feared. 
 
 He opened the door. Turk bounced upon him, her 
 alding the good news. And there, demurely sitting, 
 with Ebby awake and happy in her arms who ? 
 Could he believe his eyes ? 
 
 " Eliza ! " He ran to embrace her. " Bless you for 
 this, Eliza I " And he bowed himself. 
 
 She did not rise. "My brother," she whispered. 
 And with one arm holding his infant boy, and the other 
 gathering his head to her bosom as he knelt, she felt 
 that she was blessed. 
 
 M How came you here ? " he asked, holding her hand, 
 and looking at her in a kind of rapture. " I have been 
 16 
 
182 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 to meet you. I was never so disappointed as when the 
 stage came without you. I thought I should have to 
 wait till next week, and that maybe you wouldn t come 
 at all." 
 
 " If I had only known you would meet me ! " said 
 Eliza. "It would have saved me so much. But the 
 stage was coining by the common; so I got out, and ran 
 across. And here I am, though we missed each other." 
 
 " And glad to be home again ? " he tenderly inquired. 
 
 " I am glad now, now that you have come ; for I 
 see you are glad." 
 
 " Glad ? Eliza," and he stroked her hand, still 
 gazing at her with joy and tears. " I can bear any 
 thing now. You have heard ? " 
 
 " Melissa has told me." 
 
 " And you believe in me ? " 
 
 "Implicitly, Abel." 
 
 " I knew you would ! And you have forgiven me ? " 
 
 " Forgiven you ? " 
 
 "Yes; for I was very harsh, very unjust to you, sis 
 ter." 
 
 " But you did not mean to be," she answered, with 
 melting gentleness. 
 
 "No, I did not; I was so wise and virtuous in my 
 own conceit. But, Eliza, you were so much wiser and 
 better than I, that I am amazed, I am incensed at my 
 self when I think how we parted. I feel like the prodi 
 gal son. I have been wandering, Eliza, wandering ! 
 Now I am once more at home. But I am selfish," he 
 
Home once More. 183 
 
 continued, saddening; "I have no such home to offer 
 you as you left; and, if you stay, it will be to sacrifice 
 your better interests, and share my broken hopes." 
 
 " I never had any interests that were not yours," an 
 swered Eliza. " And as for your broken hopes, I will 
 mend them!" her pale face beaming so with love 
 and truth that it warmed his inmost heart. 
 
 And now he saw how time and absence had changed 
 her. She had grown older; but years and affliction had 
 not curdled the current of her life. Deep and clear and 
 bright it shone out upon him from the blue of her pure 
 eyes ; and the tones of her voice betrayed how musical 
 and how full were the waters of that inward stream. 
 
 For Eliza, in those years, had not lain supinely on 
 the bed of disappointment, as many do, while brooding 
 sorrow sucks their blood ; but, by a generous activity 
 of hands and head and heart, she had driven away that 
 vampire; and her soul, hungering in the wilderness for 
 human sympathy, had been fed by manna from God; 
 and, on the rough brier of trial, for her had blossomed 
 the white rose of peace. 
 
 Who has not suffered ? Bereavement conies some 
 time to all, and it depends upon ourselves whether it 
 shall be unto us a blessing or a curse. Like the dwarfed 
 little old woman of the story-book, when ill-received by 
 a grumbling and grudging housewife, it proves an evil 
 guest, and goes not without leaving behind some bitter 
 token of resentment. Yet, when the same dark and 
 unlovely disguise enters the abode of a cheerful and, 
 
184 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 though poor, benevolent host, and is kindly entertained, 
 a wondrous charm enters with it, the larder is re 
 plenished, the fire never goes out, the household work is 
 done by unseen hands, floors are miraculously swept 
 over night, and all troublesome and venomous insects 
 are banished; till, by-and-by, the visitor, departing, lets 
 fall the tattered mantle and brown hood; the fairy 
 stands an instant revealed, then leaps, with a laugh, 
 upon a yellow-tailed sunbeam, and vanishes, leaving the 
 house filled with her beautiful gifts. 
 
 Unto Eliza had come such a fairy in that humble, still 
 abode, her breast; and the cupboard of its charities had 
 been kept well supplied, and the fire of the heart had 
 not failed, and those busy fingers, the faculties, were 
 sped magically in their tasks ; and lo, when the night was 
 gone, and the morning of consolation come, the world s 
 dust was found swept clean from the chambers ! and, 
 though the fairy had flown, her charm and her blessing 
 remained; all because Eliza had used gentle behavior 
 towards her unwelcome guest, and had not shut her 
 door against the messenger of God. 
 
 " Mamma ! " said Ebby, exploring with his pleased 
 fingers the new, kind face, with which he already felt 
 himself at home. And he looked at his father, and again 
 pointed at Eliza, and repeated, with a little crow of de 
 light, " mamma ! " curiously feeling the eyes and 
 mouth and chin, which he evidently found beautiful, 
 whatever others might think. 
 
 Abel was strangely affected. 
 
Home once More. 185 
 
 " Yes, precious ! " said Eliza, smiling with suffused 
 eyes, " I will be his mamma if ever he needs one. But 
 I am his auntie now." 
 
 " Mamma ! " insisted Ebby, trying to put his thumb 
 into her nose. " Dood mamma ! " 
 
 Abel trembled, and clinched his teeth hard, and tried 
 to fix his features, which worked and quivered in spite 
 of him. Eliza did not speak, but bent over the boy, l 
 whom she held close to her heart, gazing upon him with 
 absorbing tenderness ; bathing him, so to speak, in soft 
 est dews of blessing from the heaven of her soul. 
 
 Oh, had his mother such a soul, and such a heart of 
 love ! the father thought. But what now was the use, 
 he added bitterly within himself, of vain wishes or re 
 grets ? 
 
 " I was sorry afterwards that I had written you such 
 a letter," he said. " What did you think ? " 
 
 "I knew you were having a good deal of trouble 
 about money." 
 
 " You knew ! " interrupted Abel. " How ? " 
 
 "By letters. I have two or three correspondents. I 
 heard you were likely to fail; so I thought I hoped 
 your distress was nothing worse than that." 
 
 " Eliza I " a new revelation had suddenly broken 
 in upon Abel, " one mystery is explained ! Eool, that 
 I didn t think of you before ! " 
 
 " Of me ? " said Eliza. 
 
 " Look in my eyes ! Twas you that sent me that 
 draft for a hundred dollars ! You had it mailed from 
 16* 
 
1 86 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 Boston, that I might not suspect you. And that after 
 all my unkind treatment of you ! " And Abel bent his 
 face upon her hand, which he wrung and kissed with 
 mingled gratitude and self-reproach. 
 
 It is not probable that Eliza was sorry now to have 
 her benevolent action known. And somehow the emo 
 tion he betrayed thrilled a nerve of joy in her breast. 
 
 "I told you," she murmured, " that I have no interests 
 apart from yours. I never had. It seemed that an 
 eternity of silence could not make me forget that I was 
 still your sister, that I owed more to you than I could 
 ever repay." 
 
 " O Liza, Liza ! " said Abel, " don t heap such coals 
 on my head ! " 
 
 " And now I have come to share all your troubles," 
 she went on, cheerfully. " And, in the first place, tell 
 me all about them." 
 
 Abel s forehead gloomed. He thought of the guilty 
 woman, cowering in the bedclothes in the chamber, 
 waiting to hear her doom from him. He remembered 
 v her anguish and her prayers, and knew that he held her 
 destiny in his hands. It was hard to abandon her to 
 the shame her folly had earned. It was easier to bear 
 himself the obloquy, and, if needful, suffer punishment 
 in her stead; for she was still his wife, the mother of 
 his boy. He could not forget that; and what would 
 life be worth to him after giving her up to ignominy ? 
 Here was Eliza. She might more than recompense him 
 for the loss of a selfish, shallow-hearted wife. But 
 
Home once More. 187 
 
 he chased instantly the unworthy thought from his 
 mind. 
 
 "Sister," he said solemnly, lifting his head, after a 
 moment s heavy thought, and there was an ague in 
 his voice as he spoke, "I shall tell you all I can hon 
 orably tell you, be sure; for I must have your sympathy 
 and trust. But some things may be left long untold, 
 and you must not question me concerning them. In 
 due time, now or hereafter, you shall know all. I am 
 innocent, of course; though Mrs. Apjohn s malice has a 
 better foundation than I at first thought." 
 
 "Enough," said Eliza; "I trust you wholly, and I 
 ought to be above idle curiosity. But here is Melissa. 
 What did mother say ? " 
 
 " She couldn t believe me when I fust told her you d 
 come," replied Miss Jones. " Then she chirked right 
 up as pleased ! I had to stop and put clean piller-cases 
 on the bed, though, fore she d let me bring you in to 
 see her; for she says you re dreadful petic lar, and I 
 guess she don t want you to know things ain t kep look- 
 in quite so scrumptious around as they used to be. 
 But you ll find it out fast enough," added the simple- 
 minded girl; " and you ll find tain t all my fault, 
 neither." 
 
 While she was speaking, Eliza delivered Ebby to 
 Abel, and prepared to accompany her. Melissa went 
 as far as the old lady s door; saw her rise up in bed to 
 meet the long-lost daughter of her adoption; heard the 
 stifled sobs and kisses as they fell into each other s 
 
1 88 Neighbor s Wives. 
 
 arms; then drew back from the closed door, rubbing 
 her red eyes redder still with sympathy. 
 
 Like her let us also retire, and leave these two, re 
 united, to their sacred privacy. The evening is now 
 advanced. Eliza makes up a bed in her mother s room, 
 resolved to lie there that night and the nights thereafter, 
 so long as her faithful attendance can be of comfort to 
 the invalid. And there, when the deep, still hours 
 come, blissful rest steals upon her, and she sleeps when 
 she would watch. And the invalid becomes herself the 
 watcher, too happy in the wanderer s return to close 
 her eyes that night. And the night passes over them 
 and over all, aged watcher, youthful dreamer; Abel 
 in the chamber apart, at peace, with Ebby at his side; 
 and Faustina, moaning in her sleep with" evil dreams, or 
 starting awake by fits, to find herself alone, and bite her 
 pillow with convulsive teeth until she sleeps again. 
 
Another Sunday. 189 
 
 XXII. 
 
 ANOTHER SUNDAY. 
 
 ANOTHER Sunday morning, how pure and tranquil 
 after the fever of the week 1 The farm-wagon is housed, 
 and the unyoked oxen graze in the autumn pastures. 
 The mill is silent; the cool, damp cavern under it echo 
 ing only to the plash of the water dripping over the 
 great wheel. The carpenter s chest is locked, the shop 
 closed and solitary; only mice in the shavings rustling, 
 and flies buzzing in the dust and cobwebs of the sunny 
 windows. Even the active young jackplane, resting on 
 the work-bench, has a serious, composed look, as it 
 were, an air of keeping the Sabbath. 
 
 And the cooper s tools lie idle. And the freshly- 
 shaped staves, standing in the corners, seem to be look 
 ing at each other, and wondering at the vicissitudes of 
 life; feeling, no doubt, that they have been dreadfully 
 shaved. "While the rows of sober, adult barrels arid little 
 juvenile firkins, all in their new, clean dresses, are hold 
 ing a solemn Quaker-meeting, so very life-like, you 
 would say yonder pretty matron in hoops is just going 
 to open her head and say something. 
 
 Judging from the aspect of the cooper this fine morn- 
 
190 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 ing, you would furthermore infer that the said solemnity 
 will never be interrupted by him, that it will be always 
 Sunday henceforth in his shop, and Quaker-meeting 
 among the casks. He himself, he thinks, is through with 
 church-going, and listening to psalms and sermons for 
 ever. No more shall he sit piously in his pew, while the 
 words from the pulpit fall and feed him, or the singing 
 of the sweet-voiced choir breaks silvery over his soul. 
 Never again shall he hold up his head, unshamed in the 
 congregation. Even the ringing of the church-bells, in 
 the holy calm, is intolerable to him; their swelling, sono 
 rous roar, their dying moan and murmur, awakening in 
 his breast such vibrant memories, vague terrors, and 
 sick regrets. 
 
 Astride his chair he sits, his head bowed upon the 
 back of it, a pitiable object. Not even Mrs. Apjohn s 
 robust bosom can resist a thrill of pity as she looks at 
 him. Or does the ringing of the church-bells disturb 
 her also ? She has resolutely put on her black silk, de 
 claring that she is going to meeting, anyway; that she 
 can hold up her head in church or out of church. But, 
 the hour arrived, her heart succumbs. Can she bear 
 the ordeal of jeers and significant glances ? What if she 
 should find a tomato in her pew ? "Will there not be 
 some text read at her from the Scriptures, or some appli 
 cation to her trespass made in the sermon ? She has 
 put on her bonnet with indecision; her fingers hesitate 
 with the ribbons. 
 
 " Sick, John ? " she says, turning partly round, as she 
 stands before the glass. 
 
Another Sunday. 191 
 
 "I ain t well, Prudy; I ain t well; not over n above," 
 answers melancholy John, under his elbow. 
 
 Now, Prudence flatters herself that she is not afraid 
 to face the nation. But John is poorly ; John is down 
 hearted; maybe John will resort again to his sanguinary 
 handkerchief. Ought she, as a faithful wife, to leave him 
 alone ? she asks herself, glancing from his submissive 
 neck to the kitchen pole. 
 
 " I declare, John," she says, out of one corner of her 
 mouth, pins in the other corner, "I won t go to 
 meetin , after all ! You re sick; and I ll stay to hum 
 and mi s ye." 
 
 " Never mind me; nevermind me," says Cooper John. 
 " Go if ye can, and take the good on t. To be sure, to 
 be sure." 
 
 These were the only words he spoke, until Prudence 
 had taken off her black silk, put on her every-day gown 
 again, and sat down in the rocking-chair, with the Bible 
 on her lap. 
 
 " Come, John ! le s be sociable, and have a sort of 
 comf table Sunday to hum. What ye thinkin about ?" 
 asks Prudence. 
 
 " What a week can bring forth ! the difference 
 twixt this Sunday and last, Prudy I " And remember 
 ing how then, in his sleek Sunday clothes, he walked to 
 church, a respected cooper, and the honest husband of 
 an honest wife; no neighbors incensed against them, 
 no finger of scorn pointed at them; the sight of a blush 
 ing tomato no more to him than the aspect of your chaste 
 
192 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 cucumber or innocent pippin; everybody friendly to him, 
 the deacons recognizing him, the selectmen often deign 
 ing to shake hands with him, even the minister saying, 
 kindly, "Good-morning, Mr. Apjohn ! " or, "I hope 
 you are well this blessed morning, brother Apjohn ! " 
 remembering such things were one brief week ag*o, 
 and can never be again, he takes his little bald head in 
 his two hands, and wrings it, as if he would force tears 
 of blood out of that juiceless turnip. 
 
 " Highty-tighty, John ! " says Prudence; " don t be so 
 foolish ! " 
 
 " It won t be Mr. Apjohn any more ! " laments the 
 cooper. " But it ll be Old Apjohn; or Tomato Apjohn." 
 
 " Never mind, John ! " says Prudence the inexorable. 
 " We ll spite em to our heart s content ! Le s think 
 o that, and take comfort." 
 
 " Spite em ? Comfort ? " repeats the cooper. " No, 
 no, no ! " And the tolling bell says "No no no ! " 
 with slow and mournful roar. And the angels whisper 
 in their hearts, " No, no, no ! " But though the sorrow 
 ful tongue of her husband, and the iron tongue of the 
 bell, and angels sweetly persuasive lips, should all unite 
 to warn or to entreat, they could not turn Prudence 
 from her revenge. 
 
 " I can t see a sign of their gittin out to meetin ," she 
 observes, looking out of the window towards Abel s 
 house. " No wonder they don t go ! They re deeper n 
 the mud n we be n the mire, enough sight; we ve got 
 that to console us ! Why, John, what s a few tomatuses 
 
Another Sunday. 193 
 
 twixt neighbors ? only think on t ! But breaking into 
 a house, and into a chist, and stealin fifty dollars in 
 money, that s a State s-prison job, John ! Oh, we ll 
 give folks somethin to talk about, that ll make em for- 
 git the tomatuses, John ! " And with a gleam of ma 
 licious joy, she sits down again, with the Bible on her 
 lap. 
 
 " Bead a chapter, Prudy," says the cooper. 
 
 And she reads, 
 
 " But why dost thou judge thy brother ? or why dost 
 thou set at naught thy brother ? for we shall all stand 
 before the judgment-seat of Christ." 
 
 " That s it ! to be sure ! " comments the humble lis 
 tener. " Prudy, how can we be unforgivin to others, 
 when we stand" so much in need of mercy ourselves ? 
 Before the judgment-seat of Christ, Prudy ! remember 
 that ! " 
 
 Prudence turns to read in another place : " Woe 
 unto you, when all men shall speak well of you ! " and 
 thinks that here is solace, that here is something that 
 will suit her better. But the very next paragraph com 
 mences that sublime and beautiful injunction, "Love 
 your enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless them 
 that curse you." 
 
 And she closes the book impatiently. The Bible does 
 not please her to-day. 
 
 In the meanwhile very different scenes are passing in 
 Abel s house. Faustina still keeps her bed. But Eliza, 
 active, helpful, effusing an atmosphere of cheerfulness 
 17 
 
1 94 Neigh bars Wives . 
 
 around her wherever she moves, more than fills the 
 place of the sullen, absent wife. She has quickly learned 
 the ways of the altered household; she has the old lady 
 once more in her chair, in the cosey kitchen-corner; and 
 again she is the sunshine of the house, as in old times. 
 Indeed, it seems as if the old times, and the beautiful, 
 harmonious order of departed days were now restored. 
 And, but for Ebby prattling yonder, watching his new 
 " mamma " with pleased eyes, Abel could almost fancy 
 his married life a wild dream. 
 
 " Oh, this is Sunday ! " he thinks. No such day of 
 rest has he known for months. The light of Eliza s 
 countenance is joy to him; the sense of her presence is 
 a balm to all his hurts. He looks at his mother s dear 
 old face, freshly washed with dews of gladness and 
 gratitude, and shining in the morning brightness of a 
 new hope ; he sees Melissa inspired with unwonted 
 activity and cleverness ; he observes even the dumb 
 inmate, Turk, thumping his susceptible tail against 
 every object he passes, in his restless delight at Eliza s 
 coming; he almost forgets the guilty, despairing woman 
 in the chamber, and her crime, which he must answer 
 for ; and still he says in his soul, " Oh, this indeed is 
 Sunday ! " 
 
 Again Eliza sat with him and his mother at break 
 fast ; and again she poured the elixir of her own sweet 
 spirit into the cups she gave them. And the muffins, 
 Abel would have known they were of her cooking. 
 Taste them wherever he might, he could not have been 
 
Another Sunday. 195 
 
 deceived. They possessed an ingredient which is not 
 mentioned in any receipt-book. They had the real 
 Eliza flavor. No such muffins had been eaten in his 
 house since she left it; and as for that unmistakable 
 flavor, how often had he longed for it, sitting down to 
 an ill-furnished table, and turning heart-sick from the 
 uninviting edibles ! 
 
 Then, sometimes, in the midst of his thankfulness, 
 the recollection of Faustina and of her crime crosses 
 his spirit like an eclipse ; and all the future is darkened. 
 
 Then, too, the aching thought of what might have 
 been, had Eliza never gone and Faustina never come, 
 pierces him. And the thought of what may be still, if 
 he will but decide to sacrifice his wife, agitates him like 
 a temptation. 
 
 For he knows now, with certainty, that all hope of 
 happiness with her is shattered ; that, under the thin 
 veneering of her beauty, there is no true grain of 
 character; that what the deep heart of man forever 
 hungers for, and can find only in the deep heart of 
 woman, what he has sought so ardently and long in 
 her, and sought always in vain, can never be his so 
 long as she is his; and that to be her husband now, in 
 aught but the name and outward form, will be a sin 
 against his own divine instinct of marriage. 
 
 And, with equal certainty, he knows that, in this 
 woman whom he once called sister, and loved so calmly 
 and purely and habitually, under the illusion of that 
 name, that he never guessed the strength and sacredness 
 
196 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 of the tie between them, there exists a soul richly fur 
 nished with all the grace and goodness and sympathy 
 which he has longed for in a wife, but which he did not 
 find when he set the vanity of his eyes to choose for him. 
 
 It avails not for Abel to put away these thoughts. 
 They return : when the small, sprightly, electric form 
 moves before him, or he catches the flash of her sunny 
 glances ; when his ears drink the soft music of her con 
 versation or laughter; when once more, as in bygone 
 years, in the mild Sunday afternoon, they read together, 
 aloud, in the consolatory. Gospels, or the mighty poem 
 of Job; when their voices blend in singing again the 
 old beloved tunes, and their spirits blend also in a more 
 subtile and delicious harmony; continually the wishes, 
 the regrets, the passionate yearnings return, with their 
 honey and their stings. 
 
 It is too much. Oh that the simple strain of an old 
 tune, flinging out its spiral coil, should have power to 
 lasso the will and master it ! that the near rustle of a 
 robe should convulse a strong man s affections ! that 
 the mere sight of an industrious little hand setting the 
 supper-table should thrill the heart to tears ! 
 
 After supper, Abel went out to walk, to calm his 
 emotions, to cool his spirit in the bath of the evening 
 air, to read the riddle of his life, if possible, in the 
 light of the sunset and the stars. And as he walked, 
 thinking of the two women, her he loved, and her he 
 loathed. doubting, hoping, in anguish and humility; 
 he remembered the prayer of Jesus, and a part of it, 
 
Another Sunday. 197 
 
 which had always been dark, suddenly became clear. 
 And he prayed within himself, 
 
 " O Father in Heaven ! hallowed be thy name, which 
 is LOYE 1 
 
 " O LOVE ! lead us not into temptation ! " 
 
 This day it had been revealed to him that, by the deep 
 er law of marriage, he and Eliza belonged to each other, 
 and that she, with her woman s nature, supreme in 
 matters of the heart, had recognized the truth, long since, 
 and been moved by it when he deemed her conduct so 
 strange and unpardonable. If he had hitherto repented 
 of his unkindness to her, how did he now gnash his teeth 
 at the recollection of his own blindness and madness ! 
 
 At sunset he stood upon a hill, and overlooked a 
 landscape which had all his life been familiar to him; 
 the same earth, the same sky, the spectacle of the sun 
 down. But now, for the first time, by some chance, 
 bending his head, he discovered a phenomenon, known to 
 every shrewd lover of nature. His eyes inverted, look 
 ing backwards under his shoulder, saw the world upside- 
 down. The unusual order in which the rays of color im 
 pinged the nerve of vision exhibited them with surpris 
 ing distinctness and delicacy. The green valley, the 
 glimmering stream, the tints of early autumn on hillside 
 and cliff, the light on the village roofs far and near, the 
 blue suffused horizon, the glittering sun beyond, were 
 transfigured with magical loveliness. In the cloudless 
 purity of the sky, which had scarcely attracted his atten 
 tion before, burned the most exquisitely beautiful belts 
 7* 
 
198 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 of color, more splendid than any rainbow. And Abel 
 said, " How bli;id we are to the glories that are always 
 before our eyes ! Eliza was with me every day. I was 
 as ignorant of her dearness and worth as I have always 
 been of the beauty of the world until now. Oh, why 
 have I discovered the charms of the earth and sky just 
 as I am threatened with being shut up from the sight of 
 them in the walls of a prison ? And why have I never 
 felt her charms until now I look at them through the 
 grated windows of wedlock ? " 
 
 So saying, or rather thinking, or rather feeling, for 
 his emotions did not shape themselves in words, he 
 turned to descend the hill. 
 
 " Why should I suffer in that wretched woman s 
 place ? " he repeatedly asked himself, in the sweating 
 agony of his heart. " I can force her to write a full confes 
 sion. That will exculpate me. That may lead to O my 
 God ! let me not sin in this ! Let my duty be made 
 plain ! " 
 
 He walked far. He returned by the common, and 
 stood struggling with himself in sight of his house. 
 It was now moonlight; and the stars twinkled in their 
 eternal spheres. He could see the windows, behind 
 which his wife lay writhing with terror and shame. He 
 could see the door of his house, once more rendered dear 
 to him by her, the very thought of whom could agitate 
 and swell his breast. 
 
 " I will talk with Eliza, I will tell her everything, 
 and she shall tell me what to do." 
 
Abel and Eliza. 199 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 ABEL AND ELIZA. 
 
 ABEL walked on, strong in his new resolution, and was 
 near his own door, when it opened, and some one came 
 out. It was Eliza with her bonnet on. She was hurry 
 ing past him, when he spoke. 
 
 " Abel ? " she said, with a start, not glad to meet him 
 then. 
 
 " Where are you going ? " 
 
 "Not far; a little walk." 
 
 " Let me go with you ? " 
 
 " Certainly, if you wish to." 
 
 Yet she spoke with a hesitation and reserve which 
 dampened his ardor. 
 
 " You are low-spirited ? " she asked, as they walked 
 by the common. 
 
 " Do you wonder that I am ? " said Abel. 
 
 "No; it is natural; but all will come out right, Abel, 
 I am sure. We must all go through the wilderness 
 some time, if we would see the bright land beyond." 
 
 " You have been through ? " asked Abel, falteringly. 
 
 " I have," she answered in a low, very tender voice. 
 " Thank Heaven ! " 
 
2OO Neighbors Wives. 
 
 
 
 " And you are happy ? " 
 
 " I am happy, Abel." 
 
 He was startled. That she could be happy, and at 
 peace, while before him was tempestuous darkness, gave 
 him a pang. 
 
 "Your happiness is not my happiness," he said de- 
 spondingly. 
 
 "But I can reach out a hand to help you, dear 
 brother ! " And she pressed the hand that was laid 
 upon hers. 
 
 That was meagre comfort. Reach out to him ? Only 
 that? 
 
 " Eliza, I am miserable ! My married life you may 
 as well be told is a wretched failure ! " 
 
 "I know it; I have known it all along," she answered. 
 
 "Yes; and you foresaw it. And you warned me," 
 groaned Abel. 
 
 " Did I ? " There was a slight tremor in her sweet, 
 clear voice. " Well, it was better, I suppose, that you 
 should follow your own choice." 
 
 " When it was leading me into the pit ! " he exclaimed. 
 
 " We are sometimes permitted to go very, very wrong, 
 for the benefit the experience will bring with it, Abel." 
 
 " But a life-long experience of disappointment and 
 misery I " 
 
 "There is something that will sanctify and sweeten 
 all that to you," said Eliza. 
 
 " What is it, for God s sake ? " 
 
 " Duty ! Never swerve aside from that." 
 
Abel and Eliza. 201 
 
 " But what is my duty ? " demanded Abel, with a 
 bitter outburs-t. "What is the duty of a man, who 
 wakes from a dream of folly, to find himself bound for 
 all time to a woman who proves unworthy of his trust 
 and repugnant to his whole nature ? " 
 
 " It is the question of questions I " said Eliza, after a 
 deep pause. 
 
 " Which you cannot answer," cried Abel, " any more 
 than I can." 
 
 "Xo; nor as well. What your private relations to 
 her shall be," said Eliza, timidly, " must be left entirely 
 to your own conscience. But you have assumed out 
 ward obligations towards her," she added, in a firm, un 
 hesitating, spiritually clear tone of voice; "you have 
 taken her from her father s house, and you have vowed 
 to cherish her through evil report and through good 
 report. You must never forget that; you must remem 
 ber how we all stand in need of charity and forbearance, 
 and suffer long and be kind. Do not shrink from suf 
 fering. In the end it will be gain to you. I know." 
 
 She spoke with generous sympathy, yet out of the 
 depths of a spirit whose tranquillity and firm faith 
 seemed to remove her farther and farther from, his 
 troubled sphere. For she perceived his fever and weak 
 ness- perhaps, also, she knew his temptation; and had 
 fortified herself. To the strength which had been born 
 to her out of trial and endurance, had been added a 
 power beyond herself for this hour and this meeting. 
 So that Abel might well exclaim, 
 
202 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 " You seem nearer to the cold stars up there than to 
 me. You talk like an angel. It is all beautiful and 
 true, what you say; but I d rather you d be a woman 
 now. You do not know all, Eliza ! " Emotions crowd 
 ed his voice. "I have something terrible to tell you." 
 
 They were passing near the post-office. 
 
 " Wait a minute," she said; " then I will hear you." 
 
 She stepped aside to drop a letter in the box, then 
 rejoined him. 
 
 " A letter ! " murmured Abel. A jealous fear over 
 shadowed him. He took her hands; he stood looking 
 down at her pale face in the moonlight for a minute, 
 without a word. 
 
 " You were going to tell me something," she said. 
 
 " You are going to tell me something ! Eliza, who 
 have you been writing to ? " 
 
 " To a friend. Why do you ask ? " 
 
 " A dear friend ? " 
 
 " A very dear friend." And the pale face met his 
 gaze with a frank smile in the moonlight. 
 
 " A man, Eliza ? " 
 
 " A man, Abel. Why not ? " 
 
 He gave her wrist a convulsive pressure, then dropped 
 it, and, with a tremendous sigh, drew back from her, 
 almost staggering. Sh,e was alarmed. She took his 
 hand. 
 
 " What is the matter, Abel ? " 
 
 "It is well; it is well! Come, Eliza; we will go 
 home now." 
 
Abel and Eliza. 203 
 
 She leaned upon his arm, too full of love and pity and 
 regret for the mockery of words. 
 
 " I am glad you have found friends in your absence," 
 he said, after a brief silence. 
 
 " I have found some very excellent friends," she an 
 swered. 
 
 " You did not wish me to know you had a letter to 
 mail. I understand now." 
 
 " I think it ig better you should know, Abel." 
 
 This was not the reply he hoped for. Every minute 
 and every word seemed to sharpen the fangs that 
 gnawed his heart. He could not endure suspense. 
 
 " When are you to be married ? " he demanded, ab 
 ruptly. 
 
 " I don t know. Not while I feel that I am needed 
 here," came the low, unfaltering response. 
 
 " I beg of you," said Abel, " don t let your regard for 
 us interfere with your happiness," with something of 
 his irrepressible despair writhing in his voice. 
 
 "Duty first and always, and happiness cannot fail," 
 said Eliza. 
 
 " I hope he is worthy of you," he added. 
 
 " I wish," she replied, " that I was half as worthy of 
 him." 
 
 They passed on in silence; his hot thoughts almost 
 stifling him. 
 
 " But you were to tell me something," she reminded 
 him. 
 
 " It is this," said Abel. " I thank you from the bot- 
 
204 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 torn of my soul for your advice to me. I shall do my 
 duty." 
 
 " I am sure you will, Abel ! " 
 
 " Yes, thanks to you. Whatever happens, I can suf 
 fer. God grant your married life may be happier than 
 mine has been I " 
 
 Eliza s serenity was fast forsaking her. She loved Abel 
 too well, she sympathized with his sorrow too much, to 
 answer now with calm words of counsel. Misgivings, 
 also, it may be, with regard to her own future and duty, 
 disquieted her. 
 
 What right had she, loving this man, to be happy in 
 another s arms ? Had she sinned, when, lonely and cold 
 and famished, she accepted the solace of a good man s 
 affection ? Because one hope had perished, should she 
 go through God s bright universe refusing to be com 
 forted ? Because Abel was married, should she forever 
 obstinately shun the high destiny of woman, wifehood 
 and motherhood ? 
 
 These were no new questions. Long, in anguish and 
 supplication, she had wrestled with the great problem. 
 Many a woman and many a man has wrestled with it 
 the same, wrestles with it still. Each must solve it for 
 himself or herself. It is good to live true to one s own 
 heart ; sacrificing all things else to that ; through ab 
 sence, and lapse of time, and death of hope. And to 
 renounce the impossible, accepting cheerfully the best 
 that is given, is also good. Consider it well ; let the 
 soul choose ; and who shall condemn ? 
 
Abel and Eliza. 205 
 
 Eliza had chosen. Yes, and even now she felt that she 
 had chosen wisely. Excepting only Abel, this other, of 
 all men, stood highest in her regard. She had acquainted 
 him with all the doubts of her heart ; nor had she left 
 him to enter this ordeal of danger without his consent 
 and blessing. 
 
 And in all things, so noble did he appear to her, so 
 dear had he rendered himself by his generosity and truth, 
 that she knew she could make him a true and happy 
 wife. Yet once more, to-night by Abel s side, stirred by 
 his love and grief, the old perturbations arise. Only 
 solitude and prayer can put them again at rest. She 
 was glad that the gate was near, and that Abel did not 
 offer to go in with her. 
 
 " I shall walk a little further," he said. " Comfort 
 mother till I come." 
 
 And the gate closed between them with a harsh sound. 
 And both felt that another gate shut also between them ; 
 the gate whose hinges are providence, and whose latch is 
 fate. 
 
 " Idiot ! idiot ! " muttered Abel, with angry and bit 
 ter scorn of himself. " I merit what I have. I will 
 take with calmness what is still to come. Tongue, hold 
 your peace ! Misery, do your worst ! Misfortunes, 
 rain, hail, pour ! " 
 
 He walked in the placid and smiling moonlight. And 
 
 something of the silence and vastness and chasteness 
 
 of the night glided into him. His thoughts grew great 
 
 and solemn and tender. To go to prison for another s 
 
 18 
 
206 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 sake did not seem much to him then. To die for an 
 other s sake did not seem so bitter. He murmured 
 Eliza s name with a prayer for her happiness. He 
 thought of Faustina with gentleness and compassion. 
 He remembered how near his mother s feet were to the 
 still portals of eternity, and smiled. Only when he 
 thought of his child he wept. 
 
 For his child s sake he would willingly humble him 
 self; and, seeing a light in the cooper s house, he be 
 thought him to go in, and try if it were possible to 
 conciliate the enemy. 
 
The Night. 207 
 
 XXIY. 
 
 THE NIGHT. 
 
 THE Apjohns were just going to bed; and Cooper 
 John came to the door, with a candle, in his shirt and 
 trousers. He looked aghast at Abel. 
 
 " Come in: to be sure, to be sure ! " he said. " Prudy I 
 Prudy ! " 
 
 Prudy came out of the bedroom, presently, in her 
 petticoat, with a shawl over her shoulders, nodding sar 
 castically. 
 
 "How do you do, Mr. Dane?" she carelessly in 
 quired, arranging a corner of the shawl the better to 
 cover her portliness. "John Apjohn," turning to the 
 shivering cooper, " go to bed ! " 
 
 Meekly snuffing, John set the candle on the table, and 
 withdrew. 
 
 " Is it peace ? " said Abel, holding out his hand. 
 
 " Peace, Abel Dane ? I should say peace ! " retorted 
 the grim housewife, scornfully laughing. " I wonder 
 the word don t blister your mouth ! Peace, after sech 
 treatment as I have had from you and your upstart 
 wife ! I say for t 1 " 
 
 " Prudy," whispered the cooper, putting his head out 
 of the bedroom. 
 
208 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 " What now ? " she demanded, sharply. 
 
 " Let it be peace, Prudy; let it be peace," said John. 
 
 " Shet up ! " ejaculated Prudence. 
 
 And the imploring visage was slowly withdrawn, and 
 the door softly closed again. 
 
 "When you were in my garden a week ago," said 
 Abel, " did I look at you with scorn ? Did I magnify 
 your offence ? Did I set myself up as your judge, and 
 make haste to pronounce sentence ? " 
 
 "No, no; to be sure! Eemember that, Prudy!" 
 answered a ghostly voice in the direction of the bed- 
 ro.om. 
 
 " No, to be sure ! " repeated Prudence, with a vin 
 dictive toss. " He didn t da s to, to my face. But what 
 did he do behind my back ? the sarpent ! Strung to- 
 matuses on to my door ! And that wasn t enough, but 
 you must come and rob us of our hard-earned money, 
 thinkin we wouldn t da s to make a fuss about it, I 
 s pose. But you ll see, you ll see, Abel Dane ! Talk 
 of peace ! Ha ! ha ! " 
 
 Abel commenced, protesting his innocence of the 
 string of " tomatuses." 
 
 " Tut, tut," said Mrs. Apjohn; "I s pose you ll deny 
 you stole the money next ! " 
 
 Once more the meek, bald pate of the cooper was 
 pushed into the room. 
 
 " Hear what the man has got to say, Prudy dear, 
 do !" 
 
 " John Apjohn ! " 
 
The Night. 209 
 
 " What, Prudy ? " 
 
 " I said go to bed." 
 
 " Yes, Prudy ! " (Exit bald head.) 
 
 u My worthy woman," then said Abel, seating him 
 self, and speaking candidly and earnestly, " I have come 
 to talk with you as neighbors should talk, and I beg of 
 you to hear me with patience and without prejudice." 
 
 4 Wai, sir," Prudence occupied the wood-box for a 
 seat, and pulled her shawl together and looked crank, 
 " I hear you, sir ! " 
 
 " I see it is useless for me to deny the charge of in 
 sulting you with tomato-vines, and I have no intention 
 of setting up a claim to the fifty dollars, which, I pre 
 sume, belongs rightfully to you; but I here solemnly 
 protest that I never meant to rob you, or injure your 
 reputation, or wound your feelings. I call Jleaven to 
 be my witness ! " 
 
 Again the bedroom-door opened, and again the coop 
 er s head appeared, this time w r ith a night-cap on. 
 
 " Prudy," he said, in an awe-struck voice, " he calls 
 Heaven to witness ! " 
 
 " He didn t call you I " retorted the Juno of this little 
 Olympus, and the night-capped Jupiter disappeared 
 again. 
 
 " Furthermore," said Abel, " I pledge you my honor 
 that whatever reparation can be made for the injuries 
 you complain of, shall be made. And I tell you I am 
 sincerely sorry for all that has happened; and for what 
 ever I have done amiss I humbly ask your pardon." 
 18* 
 
2io Neighbors Wives. 
 
 " Wai, sir ? " 
 
 " Well, Mrs. Apjohn, I believe it depends upon you 
 whether this charge against me shall be prosecuted. If 
 we can come to an understanding, and you withdraw 
 your complaint, there will not be much difficulty in 
 avoiding an indictment. Question your own conscience 
 before you answer," said Abel, foreboding evil from the 
 grimace and toss with which she prepared to reply; 
 " and consider whether you can afford to be unmerciful; 
 remembering that what mercy we show shall be shown 
 to us." 
 
 Prudence pulled her shawl together nervously and 
 compressed her lips, and elevated her chin and said, 
 
 " Wai, Abel Dane, you ve had your say ; now hear me. 
 Nobody can accuse me of havin an Injin temper; and 
 you can t say t ever in all my life I spoke of you one mis- 
 beholden word. You was always as decent a kind of a 
 man till you got married, as ever I knowed ; and you 
 would be now, if it wa n t for that pesky proud wife of 
 your n, that I m bound to come up with some way, and 
 I only wish it was her that took the money, and not you ! 
 She s made a fool of ye, and made a proud, desaitful, 
 mean, underhanded scamp of you that was a perty honest 
 and tolerable respectable neighbor afore. I feel bad for 
 you, Abel Dane; and, as I said, I only wish it was her 
 that I could prove took the money; then if she wouldn t 
 smart for t, I miss my guess." 
 
 Abel sighed; for now he saw how vain it would be to 
 shift the responsibility of the theft from himself to his 
 
The Night. 211 
 
 wife, in the hope that their enemy would be more merci 
 ful to her than to him. 
 
 The night-capped head was at the bedroom door again ; 
 but it was only moved with a slow and dismal shake, in 
 silence. 
 
 "You are a hard-hearted woman," said Abel, sadly 
 smiling, as he rose to go. 
 
 " Mabby I be ! I can t help it ! Human natur is hu 
 man natur ! " Prudence grinned, put her hand on her 
 knee for a support, and got up from the wood-box. " I 
 tell ye, I never laid up anything ag in you, Abel; and if 
 it wa n t for that stuck-up critter, your wife, we never d 
 quarrel; though I don t know but you re bout as bad as 
 she is now. There ! " holding her shawl together with 
 one hand, and taking up the candle with the other, 
 "You ve had your say, and I ve had my say, and now 7 
 good-night." 
 
 " One word more. Remember I have a mother and a 
 child." The emotion in Abel s voice would have shaken 
 Prudence, if it had been possible to shake her. But she 
 only compressed her lips as before and said, 
 
 "I ve thought of them; I ve thought it all over; and 
 I ve said all I ve got to say." 
 
 The cooper, at these words, retreated, and crept in 
 between the sheets with a groan. 
 
 "Very well," answered Abel, sternly and impres 
 sively. " I have done. I leave you to your conscience 
 and your Maker." 
 
 " I guess my conscience and my Maker will use me 
 
212 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 perty well, sir ! " And, with sarcastic courtesy, Mrs. 
 Apjohn lighted him from the door with the candle. 
 "Remember me to your wife," she added; "and tell 
 her, if you please, what I say." 
 
 Eliza had retired with the old lady to her room, 
 when Abel returned home. He found the kitchen for 
 saken, silent, and lighted only by the pale shimmer of 
 the moon. He entered the sitting-room ; that, too, was 
 forsaken, silent, and lighted only by the pale shimmer 
 of the moon. There was something in the aspect of his 
 house that struck like desolation to his soul. 
 
 Half an hour later, he opened gently the door of 
 Faustina s chamber, and stood at the threshold. There 
 he stood, dark and stern, for a minute or two, and looked 
 in. By the bedside sat Melissa, with Ebby crying in 
 her arms. In the bed, covered completely, even to the 
 crown of her head, round which the bedclothes were 
 twisted in a disordered heap, lay the boy s mother. 
 
 " O papa ! " said Ebby, stretching up his little arms, 
 in his night-gown. 
 
 Melissa started, and gave a frightened look at her 
 master. 
 
 " Put that child to bed ! " said Abel. 
 
 "Oh, I did, sir!" Melissa hastened to explain. "I 
 put him to bed all of an hour n a f ago." 
 
 " Then what is he here for ? " 
 
 "She wanted him; she had me take him up, and 
 bring him to her, jest so s t she could see him, she said; 
 her own baby, so ! " 
 
The Night. 213 
 
 Abel was touched; as no doubt Faustina meant he 
 should be, when he should learn what the yearning, ma 
 ternal heart of her had prompted. 
 
 " Why don t she look at him, then ? What was the 
 child crying for ? " she heard his deep voice demand. 
 
 " O sir ! mabby you think she don t keer for her 
 baby; but she dooes ! " This was a part of the lesson 
 Faustina had taught Melissa, and she repeated it very 
 pathetically. "And when she wanted to have him in 
 bed with her, and he didn t want to go, she was so 
 worked ! her own baby so, you know. And she jest 
 kivered up her head, and said, no matter, she would die, 
 and he wouldn t have no mother, not no more; and 
 that s what made him cry." 
 
 " Me dot new mamma ! " Ebby declared, with a sob 
 of subsiding grief between the words. 
 
 " Take him to bed," said Abel. 
 
 " Tiss, papa ! " implored the beautiful, aggrieved face, 
 through its tears. 
 
 The father gave the wished-for kiss ; and Melissa took 
 the child away. Then Abel shut the door, and sat down 
 by the bed. 
 
 All this time, Faustina had not stirred. Abel gazed 
 at the vortex of bedclothes in which she had coiled her 
 self, and sighed, and clenched his teeth hard, and waited. 
 O memory ! was this his marriage-bed ? 
 
 "Faustina!" No motion; no response. "Have you 
 anything to say to me ? " he continued. 
 
 " I won t stir. I ll make him think I m dead ! " 
 
214 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 thought the wretched being under the clothes. Then 
 she almost wished she was dead, and could stand by and 
 witness his terror and remorse when he should lift the 
 sheet and discover her lifeless form. 
 
 But it was a difficult part to play. Madam was 
 smothering; and if she kept covered much longer, she 
 felt that, instead of making believe dead, she would be 
 dead in earnest. That was not so pleasant to think of, 
 notwithstanding the fancied satisfaction of breaking his 
 heart with the sight of her lovely corpse. Vanity and 
 spite was not quite equal to the occasion ; and she waited 
 accordingly, with increasing ache and anxiety, for him to 
 make another and more moving appeal, which she re 
 solved beforehand not to resist. Why didn t he speak, and 
 afford her the longed-for excuse for uncovering? He was 
 in no hurry ; he took his time ; deliberate was Abel, a 
 good deal more so, she thought, than he would have 
 been, had his own head been under the blanket. 
 
 But it was serious business with her, poor thing, de 
 spite all her foolish artifice. Dread and despair were 
 with her there under the bedclothes. 
 
 " If you have nothing to say to me," Abel resumed, 
 at last, " I have still a few words which I want you to 
 listen to. Will you hear me ? " 
 
 At that, the arms were suddenly disengaged, the 
 clothes thrown back, and staring eyes rolled up wildly at 
 Abel, from a tragic face still half concealed by rumpled 
 pillows and tangled hair. 
 
 " Is this you, Faustina ? " exclaimed Abel, astonished 
 and heartsick at the sight. 
 
The Night. 215 
 
 Upon which she glared, and rolled her orbs, and grated 
 her teeth, with superior artistic effect, for a matter of 
 twenty seconds, or thereabouts; then dived again, and 
 twisted herself up in the bed-covering, with writhings 
 and moanings extraordinary. Abel sighed deeply, and 
 waited patiently for her to come up to breathe again, 
 which she was not slow in doing, then said, 
 
 " When you are calm, and in your right mind, I will 
 speak." 
 
 In her right mind ? That gave her a cue to another 
 fine piece of acting. What if she could convince him 
 she was insane, overwhelm him with a spectacle of the 
 wreck his hard-heartedness had made of her ? She 
 would try it, the inconsiderate and impulsive creature. 
 And, indeed, she was not altogether in her right mind, 
 but just excited enough with fear and suffering to enter 
 well into the part. 
 
 This is what she did: 
 
 She sat up in bed, swept her hair from her face with 
 both hands, in a terrific frizzled mass, stared at Abel 
 again frightfully, rolled her eyes hideously, grinned 
 idiotically, chattered her teeth, and burst into a laugh of 
 frenzy. 
 
 She laughed to be heard a mile. She laughed with an 
 ease and inspiration for the exercise which astonished 
 herself, and without cessation or interval, except to 
 catch her breath and recommence. She laughed, in 
 short, until she laughed away all self-control, and could 
 not stop, for the life of her; having, as you perceive, 
 
2i6 Neighbors 1 Wives. 
 
 like an actor of first-class imagination, slipped swiftly 
 from the counterfeit into the reality, just as some 
 times the elder Booth, from playing Richard, became 
 Richard, and would rant and foam at the mouth, and 
 fight the feigning Richmond in right deadly fashion. 
 
 Madam had, in fact, gone off in a genuine fit of hys 
 terics. She laughed till she sobbed, and sobbed till she 
 fell into convulsions, in which she was wrenched and 
 rolled, like a body in the breakers of an Atlantic storm, 
 and which finally heaved her, breathless and quivering, 
 upon the strands of unconsciousness. 
 
 And Abel thought her dead. JECe stood like one 
 stunned, gazing at her with a stony wonder, his lips 
 parted, and his hair lifting with horror. Deep, solemn 
 gladness, an awful hope, mingled with his fear. 
 
 He looked across the bed at Eliza, for she was there, 
 
 all the women in the house having been summoned by 
 the hysteric shrieks. Their eyes met over the insensible 
 form. Something like lightning flashed between them, 
 
 an instant only, and it passed forever. 
 Faustina was not dead, nor would she die yet for a 
 
 score of years at least. Things do not happen in life as 
 they do in romances. Tis pity, for now might we bring 
 our tale joyfully to a close, would she but revive 
 enough to make a free confession, before witnesses, of 
 her sins against the Apjohns, murmur her repentance, 
 ask to see a clergyman, place Eliza s hand in Abel s, 
 declare they are for each other, smile contentedly, and 
 die at a mest convenient season. Then Eliza s absent 
 
The Night. 217 
 
 lover should be opportunely tossed by some iron bull of 
 a locomotive, or sent to heaven by an exploding steam 
 boat boiler; leaving, of course, a will in her favor; when 
 nothing would remain but for the surviving hero and 
 heroine to be married, and enter upon the enjoyment of 
 that limpid existence of lymph and honey miscalled 
 happiness, which never was on earth, and never will be 
 anywhere, probably, except in story-books. 
 
 But this is no fine fiction; no far away Eden of un 
 imaginable beauty this, but a plain little garden-plat, 
 where a few common flowers grow, with many coarse 
 plants and weeds, rooted in this homely New England 
 soil, and breathing the actual air of the present. And 
 we must plod our way patiently to the end of the pro 
 saic path. 
 
 " Eub her hand ! " cried Eliza, setting a brisk exam 
 ple, having first dashed water into Faustina s face. 
 
 " Stand her on her head and let the blood run back 
 into it ag in ! " gasped Melissa, seeing the utter pallor of 
 her mistress, and- having some dim notion that the head 
 was a vital part, and that when the blood forsook that, 
 then came death. 
 
 " Bathe her nostrils with the land of Canaan ! " said 
 the old lady, meaning the contents of a camphor-bottle 
 which she brought. 
 
 " Brandy ! " ejaculated Abel, remembering that a few 
 drops of his little store of spirits had been saved by his 
 timely interruption of a certain convivial entertainment, 
 not many nights ago. 
 19 
 
218 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 All the proposed remedies were tried, except Melis 
 sa s, who could find no one to favor her novel theory of 
 the blood. And the result was that Faustina came 
 duly back to consciousness, without having been stood 
 upon her head; and Abel had shall we say the satis 
 faction ? of seeing her breathe and live again. 
 
 But by this time all his unworthy thoughts and wicked 
 wishes regarding her had given place to repentance and 
 pity. And as soon as he could dispense with assistance, 
 he sent the rest away, and remained alone to watch by 
 her bedside. 
 
 " Don t let me die ! " whispered Faustina, in a weak 
 voice of entreaty. 
 
 " No, no," said Abel, confidently, " you shall not die." 
 
 " I didn t mean to do it," she added, whimperingly, in 
 terror of what had happened. 
 
 " I know you didn t," he answered, kindly. " But 
 you must keep perfectly quiet now. I shall stay with 
 you. No harm will come whilst I am here." 
 
 She looked up gratefully into his face. 
 
 " Oh, you are good, Abel ! Kiss me, won t you ? " 
 
 And he touched his lips to her cheek. 
 
 " Oh, we can be happy yet, cairt we ?" she pleaded. 
 
 " I hope so," he replied, to quiet her. 
 
 " Oh, and you will not" 
 
 He knew what she would say. 
 
 " No, I will not," he promised. 
 
 " Oh, thank you, thank you ! " and she covered his 
 hand with kisses. " But tell me true, you will save 
 me?" 
 
The Night. 219 
 
 " I tell you true, I will. At every risk to -myself, I 
 will shield you. And I forgive you, too., There; now 
 rest." 
 
 " Oh ! oh ! oh ! " she cried, in an ecstasy of gratitude; 
 " you are such a good Abel ! And we shall be so happy 
 once more ! " 
 
 But Abel s brow was dark. 
 
 " You must keep quiet, Faustina," he said. " If you 
 have another such fit, you may die in it." 
 
 "And you don t want me to die ? " she said, with that 
 childlike simplicity which was one of her girlish arts to 
 please or touch. 
 
 " I want you to live," replied Abel, in a low voice, 
 out of a conscience grim as night. 
 
 " Come to bed then, wo n t you, my Abel ? " 
 
 " Uo: I shall sit up and watch." 
 
 " But you won t leave me ? " she implored, with self 
 ish and clinging fear. " And tell me again you won t 
 expose me, not even to her, Eliza." 
 
 " Not even to her. The secret is locked here." Abel s 
 hand pressed his bosom. " Now sleep." 
 
 And she slept. And he watched by her side all 
 night. And the lamp burned out, and the moon set 
 upon his watching, and the sun rose. 
 
 And Abel had not said to her what he entered her 
 room that night to say ; but he kept that also locked in 
 his breast. 
 
22O Neighbor^ Wives. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 FIAT JUSTITIA. 
 
 ELIZA had written to her friend of the condition of 
 affairs in her old home. He promptly and generously 
 replied : 
 
 " Your place seems to be there for the present. ... I 
 trust all to you; for I know you will do what is right." 
 
 So Eliza remained. And more, she placed what 
 was left of her savings at Abel s disposal. 
 
 It was a grief for him to be obliged to accept still 
 further pecuniary assistance from her. 
 
 " It is all one," she said. " Even if I did not owe you 
 more for years of kindness to me than I can ever hope 
 to acknowledge, still I am your sister, you know, and 
 all that is mine is yours." And she forced her earnings 
 into his hands. 
 
 " I can t ! " he exclaimed. " I have no right to your 
 poor little purse, Eliza." 
 
 " Don t you go to making fun of it, if it is little," she 
 cheerily replied. " I am little, and, I tell you, little 
 things are not to be despised." 
 
 " But your marriage," said Abel. " You must not 
 go to your husband penniless. 
 
Fiat Justitia. 221 
 
 " He is well-off, and needs none of my money. He 
 has told me so." 
 
 "I am glad he is well off," faltered Abel, with an 
 indescribable contraction of the heart. 
 
 "So am I for his sake. And for ours, too, Abel," 
 she added, frankly. " Tor you will need more than I 
 have, to pay your lawyers; he mentions that in his 
 letter, and offers to lend you." 
 
 This was rather too much for proud Abel Dane. He 
 choked upon it a minute, and wrung her hand. 
 
 " Thank him for me. I am in your power; I am at 
 your mercy, Eliza. Don t be too kind to me ! " 
 
 So it was settled that Eliza should remain till after 
 Abel s trial. And there was need; for the old lady 
 could not endure even the thought of her going; and 
 Ebby clung to his new mamma; and Faustina continued 
 a prey to depression and nervous caprice ; and both the 
 management and cheerfulness of the household depended 
 upon Eliza. 
 
 And the weeks went swiftly by, and the time of the 
 trial arrived. 
 
 It was now December, a bleak sky overhead, a bar 
 ren, paralyzed world beneath, cold winds blowing, 
 streams freezing over, and thin flurries of snow flying 
 here and there in the sullen, disheartened weather. 
 
 During two days the trial progressed; two days of 
 dread and uncertainty to the innocent accused, and no 
 less to the guilty unaccused; two days of general ex 
 citement in the village, and of sharp forensic fencing, 
 19* 
 
222 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 harassing legal quibbles, flushed and gaping crowds, and 
 much unwholesome heat and fetor in the court-room. 
 
 With the feverish details of those days, how Abel 
 bore himself in that shameful public position, confront 
 ing the abusive attorneys, the grave judges, the silent 
 twelve, and the open-mouthed multitude; what his 
 mother suffered, awaiting the result which was to de 
 cide not his fate only, but which would also prove a 
 word of life or death to her; and how Faustina experi 
 enced a plentiful lack of amusement during those two 
 days and nights, it is needless to weary the reader. 
 
 It was the wish of Abel s lawyers to have both his 
 wife and mother present in the court-room. The age, 
 infirmities, and tears of the elder lady, and the beauty and 
 affection of the younger, could not fail, they argued, to 
 have a favorable effect on the jury. And Ebby, held up 
 in their arms, would have been an important addition to 
 the group. But old Mrs. Dane was already worn out 
 with anxiety in his behalf, and he knew that it was not 
 possible for her to support the fatigue and agitation of 
 witnessing his arraignment. And Faustina was kept at 
 home by her own miserable terrors and an illness either 
 feigned or real. 
 
 With two invalids to care for, Eliza could not easily 
 leave, to go and sit by Abel s side in this hour of doubt 
 and peril. But, on the morning of the third day, she felt 
 irresistibly impelled to the court-house. The case had 
 been given to the jury the night before, and at the open 
 ing of the court it was expected they would bring in 
 
Fiat Justitta. 223 
 
 their verdict. She could not wait for the news to reach 
 her; but she must hasten, and be on the spot. 
 
 Accordingly, she left Melissa in charge, and set out on 
 foot for the centre of the town. It was full two miles to 
 the court-house. She walked all the way, through a 
 blinding storm. The snow, which had evidently been 
 trying hard to fall during those two days, was now fill 
 ing the air, and whirling in the wintry gale. It drove 
 full in Eliza s face, but little she cared for it, hastening 
 on a business the thoughts of which were far more biting 
 and bitter. 
 
 The court-room was already crowded on her arrival; 
 and, to her despair, she found herself unable to penetrate 
 the steaming throngs that choked the passages. She did 
 not know the way to the more private entrance, where, 
 as a friend of the accused, she might have gained admis 
 sion and found a seat near his side. So, after all her 
 trouble, she could not get in; and, being shorter than 
 anybody else, she could see nothing but the elbows and 
 backs between which she was soon tightly wedged, the 
 gray, unsympathizing ceiling when she looked up, and 
 now and then, when she looked down, a glimpse of the 
 little close-shaded puddles of trodden and melting snow 
 under her feet. 
 
 The court had not yet come in; and some of the spec 
 tators near her filled the interval with conversation and 
 comment. 
 
 " They say his wife used to be a great belle," said a 
 red-cheeked maiden. 
 
224 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 " Used to ? " retorted an affectedly soft masculine voice. 
 " Handsomest woman th is in this county, to-day ! " 
 
 " I want to know ! " whistled a toothless woman s 
 voice. " You know her, then ? " 
 
 "Like a book; neighbor o mine ! such a figger ! and 
 eyes, glorious, you better believe ! " 
 
 " Is she so very perty, though ? " asked she of the red 
 cheeks, with a slightly envious intonation. 
 
 " Pufficly magnificent, I assure ye ! Unlucky day for 
 her, though, when she married that sneaking Abel Dane." 
 
 Moved by an impulse of angry indignation, Eliza 
 thrust herself forward, till she could see, over the old 
 woman s hood, the half-shut, simpering eyes and smirking 
 mouth of the speaker. She would have been tempted to 
 strike that lying mouth, had it not been safe beyond her 
 reach. 
 
 " So you set it down he s guilty," whistled the old 
 woman. 
 
 " Guilty ! " echoed the young man. " Nobody doubts 
 that, that knows him as well as I do." 
 
 " Oh, ain t it too bad, aunt ! " said the girl. " They 
 say his conduct has broke her heart." 
 
 " Yes," corroborated the youth. " She s been sick 
 a-bed ever since he was took up, apprehended, ye 
 know," hastening to amend his speech with the more 
 elegant word that occurred to him. " Naturally harrow 
 ing to a wife s feelings, y und stand." 
 
 " What a shame, to disgrace his family that way ! " 
 said the elderly female. 
 
Fiat Justitia. 225 
 
 "He might at least have had some regard for his 
 wife ! " chimed in the girl. 
 
 " Outrageous ! " added the smirking mouth. " Take a 
 beautiful girl away from her home, creature of ex- 
 queezit sensibilities, ye know; genteel folks, fust-rate 
 tip-top ristocratic s ciety, ye know; surrounded by the 
 lap of luxury " 
 
 " I want to know if she was, poor thing ! " exclaimed 
 the whistler. 
 
 " Better believe ! " And a dingy hand, presenting a 
 remarkable contrast of foul nails and showy rings, 
 stroked a languid mustache that shaded the smirking 
 mouth. " Outrageous, I say, get a wife on false pre 
 tences that way, and then go to committing burglary, 
 as if expressly a-puppus to overwhelm her with 
 obliquity ! " 
 
 " Tasso Smith ! " cried a warning tongue in the 
 crowd. 
 
 The proprietor of the rings started, and looked all 
 around, with a foolish, apprehensive stare, to see who had 
 spoken. It was apparently a female voice, and it seemed 
 to come from some mysterious depths in the crowd. 
 
 " Is t re ly burglary now ! " exclaimed the woman, to* 
 whose ear the word had an appalling sound. 
 
 " Burglary in th secon degree," the youth answered, 
 lowering his voice, and still glancing uneasily around. 
 " Twould have been burglary in the fust degree, if he d 
 broke into the house entered the tenement, ye know," 
 he added, in more classic phrase, " in the night. Per- 
 
226 Neighbors 1 Wives. 
 
 petrating the attempt in the daytime, that makes secon 
 degree." 
 
 "But I thought they couldn t prove just when he 
 broke in ; that s how I understood it," observed a rough- 
 looking man, whose shaggy coat concealed Eliza. 
 
 "-My friend," the youth, recovering his equanimity, 
 spoke with a complacent, patronizing air, as if conscious 
 of showing off his attainments to an admiring audience, 
 " My friend, you understood puffic ly correct. Nobody 
 seen him break in, of course. But it s mos probable he 
 done it consummated the atrocity, ye know," he trans 
 lated himself, " the afternoon the Apjohns was away; 
 absent from the dormitory, ye understand." 
 
 " Absent from the domicile, you mean! " sneered a lad 
 of fifteen, regarding him with immense disgust. 
 
 "Same thing," and the ringed and grimy paw was 
 passed once more across the conceited mouth. " Clock 
 being stopped at certain hour that afternoon, which was 
 effected mos probable, when he took out the key of the 
 chist or put it back ag in, ye know, seems to indi 
 cate the time of the operation. That s no consequence, 
 though ; they ll prove a compound larceny, safe enough, 
 and that covers the hull ground, y tind stand." 
 
 "His lawyers made a bad job, trying to prove his 
 whereabouts all that afternoon," observed the rough- 
 
 coated stranger. 
 
 " Puffic ly ! Ye see, it couldn t be did. Lucky for 
 him a wife ain t permitted to testify aginst her hus 
 band; if he gets off, successful acquittal, ye know, 
 it 11 be on that account." 
 
Fiat Justitia. 227 
 
 " What, sir ! " whizzed the imperfect dental apparatus 
 of the girl s aunt, "ye don t think she know d of his 
 hookin the money ? " 
 
 A peculiarly knowing smile stirred the young man s 
 mustache. "I ah apprehend she knowed as much 
 about it as anybody. Ye see, she might a been con 
 victed, in her own mind, of his turbitude, or else she 
 wouldn t been so puffic ly succumbed by the dispensa 
 tion ! " he added, with that characteristic elegance of 
 diction which corresponded well with his jewelry, being, 
 one may say, the pinchbeck of language displayed on 
 the unwashed joints of a vulgar mind. 
 
 " Have you seen the poor creetur lately? " inquired 
 the toothless one. 
 
 " No, madam, I hain t, not very recent." The youth 
 drew himself up pompously. " Ye see, after that ah, 
 despisable affair I cut her husband s acquaintance. 
 A gentleman don t like to compromise his repetation, y 
 und stand, by calling at the house of a thief, if he has 
 got a charming woman for a wife." 
 
 " Tasso Smith ! " called once more the mysterious, 
 warning voice. 
 
 " Hello ! " said Pinchbeck, with a gasp, and a sallow 
 grin. " Who speaks ? Good joke ! ha ! ha ! " with a 
 forced laugh. 
 
 " Somebody s callin Tasso Smith ! " said the woman. 
 " Be you Tasso Smith ? " 
 
 " That s my ah patternimic," the young man ac 
 knowledged. 
 
228 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 " Now I wan to know ! Huldy Smith s boy, be ye ? 
 Huldy Bobbit that was ? Why, me an her was school- 
 gals together. Didn t ye never hear her tell of Marshy 
 Munson ? " 
 
 " Can t say I ever did ! " and the young man lifted 
 his head superciliously. 
 
 " Wai, you tell her how you seen Marshy Munson to 
 the trial. It s Munson still, tell her. I m a livin now 
 to my brother s, Gustus Munson s; this s his darter. 
 Your mother married a Smith, I heerd, and had a son 
 Tasso; though it s years sence I ve seen her; but I hope 
 now we shall visit back and forth a little. Dear me ! " 
 the scraggy-toothed spinster interrupted herself, re 
 garding Tasso admiringly, "is it possible Huldy Bob- 
 bit s got a boy that tall ! smart and good-lookin too ; I 
 can say that thout flatterin . And to think I should 
 meet you here, and find out who you be, and that 
 you knowed all about the case fore ever it come to 
 trial ! " 
 
 " 1 congratulate myself," said Tasso, haughtily, 
 " that I was bout as well posted as mos folks, gener 
 ality of individuals, y und stand." 
 
 " How about the letter he lost in Apjohn s house ? " 
 inquired Marshy Munson s niece. " Was that proved 
 against him ? " 
 
 " It was, miss, supposed to be," smiled Tasso; " and it s 
 one of the mos overwhelming circumstances in the case." 
 
 "And the tomatoes, that was hung onto Apjohn s 
 door wasn t that mean ? " 
 
Fiat yustitia. 229 
 
 " Mean ? I believe ye ! " said Tasso, slightly wincing. 
 
 " And of course he done it, you think ? " 
 
 " Of course ? Nobody mean enough to perpetrate 
 such a thing, without it s Abel Dane; as anybody that 
 knows him " 
 
 " Tasso Smith, you are a liar ! " 
 
 Tasso turned yellow as his linen, and stopped short as 
 if the little hand, instead of the little tongue, of the con 
 cealed speaker, had smitten him. From that moment, he 
 became singularly reserved, not venturing to open again 
 his mendacious mouth. He now turned his eyes stead 
 fastly towards the bar; and the tittering occasioned by 
 his discomfiture had scarcely ceased, when the court 
 came in. 
 
 " Hello, my little girl," said the rough-coated stranger 
 to Eliza, " you seem bound to git a look." 
 
 u Oh, sir! if I only could ?" 
 
 " Sho ! some friend of your n, is he ? this Abel 
 Dane?" 
 
 " He is a dear friend my adopted brother I " 
 faltered Eliza, from her anxiously throbbing heart. 
 
 " Ye don t say ! Here, I ll make a place for you. 
 Give way a little there, you square-shouldered fellers; 
 let this young woman pass in; she s the man s sister, 
 Abel Dane s sister ! " 
 
 Although ashamed of being thus publicly announced, 
 
 Eliza was glad of the advantage the kind, rough man 
 
 obtained for her; and in a minute she had passed, she 
 
 scarcely knew how, the close barrier of the crowd, and 
 
 20 
 
230 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 stood in front of it, with garments sadly disordered by 
 the strain and pressure they had sustained. 
 
 Before her was a railing as high as her arms, and 
 within that a bewildering scene ; the lawyers and priv 
 ileged visitors, whispering, writing, arranging papers, 
 or getting their seats, in the midst of whom her eye 
 singled out the well-known side-head of the man she 
 sought. He was seated, composedly awaiting the ar 
 rival of the jury with their verdict. He turned to speak 
 to a friend by his side, and then she saw his features, 
 which were firm, but careworn and haggard. She dared 
 not move beyond the rail; but at sight of that dear, suf 
 fering face, she flew to him in spirit, and flung her arms 
 about him, and irrepressible tears ran down her cheeks. 
 Order was soon secured in the court, and from a distant 
 door an official-looking personage entered, bearing a 
 portentous perpendicular staff, and ushering in a file of 
 twelve men, who silently took their places upon seats 
 reserved for them beyond the bar, at the right-hand of 
 the judicial bench. Eliza almost forgot to breathe, and 
 leaned faintly upon the rail before her, as she thought 
 that the fate of Abel lay in the voice of these twelve 
 men, and that in another instant she might hear his 
 doom pronounced. 
 
 There was a brief delay, she knew not for what; then 
 the question was asked, had the jury agreed upon their 
 verdict. 
 
 They had agreed. Low and ominous came the re 
 sponse from the foreman. 
 
Fia t Justitia . 231 
 
 Was the accused at the bar guilty or not guilty ? 
 
 Eliza s brain reeled. She did not know whether she 
 heard the answer, or only a part of it. She looked dizzily 
 around. She saw the excited faces ; she heard the whis 
 pered echoes; then all was chaos and darkness about 
 her. But she still clung to the rail, and did not 
 faint. 
 
 " Told ye so ! " said Tasso, with a look of malicious 
 satisfaction at his new acquaintances. " Yes ! " he 
 whispered to the tiptoe listeners behind him ; " GUILTY ! 
 
 GUILTY ! " 
 
 "When Eliza recovered the mastery of her senses, she 
 saw, as in a dream, Abel standing up in court, erect and 
 pale; and heard some one inquiring if he had anything 
 to say why sentence should not be passed upon him. 
 
 Abel s voice was deep and agitated, as he answered, 
 
 " I have nothing to say, but once more to protest 
 my innocence, and that is idle now. I believe the jury 
 have come honestly to their decision ; but, God knows, 
 they have condemned an innocent man." 
 
 Silence followed these impressive words, broken only 
 by a single cry of pain, a sharp moan wrung from 
 Eliza s very soul. 
 
 Abel, after hesitating a moment, as if there was more 
 he woiild have said, passed his hand across his forehead, 
 and sat down. But he was presently required to stand 
 up again, and receive the sentence of the court. 
 
 " Oh, his poor old mother ! his poor little baby ! " 
 sobbed Eliza, audibly. 
 
232 Neighbors? Wives. 
 
 Abel hid his face with his hand for a minute, strug 
 gling with the emotions that had well-nigh mastered 
 him, then stood up, stern and calm. 
 
 In the midst of the hushed and crowded court-room, 
 
 confronting the jury that had pronounced him guilty, 
 and the judge who was to declare his sentence, the focus 
 of a thousand eyes which well might burn his cheeks to 
 coals, or whiten them to ashes, the one absorbing object 
 of pity, or wonder, or gloating satisfaction, to all those 
 packed benches, and thronged windows and doorways, 
 
 a spectacle also, no doubt, to bands of angels, weeping 
 over the weakness of human judgments, or tenderly 
 smiling with joy at the divine wisdom which underlies 
 them, and works through them, and changes the bitter 
 ness of wrong into the sweetness of mercy at last, 
 there, on that wild December day, which blinded the win 
 dows with snow, and darkened all the air with storm, 
 Abel Dane, the carpenter, stood up to receive the doom 
 of a felon. 
 
 In a slow, monotonous, and dogmatic speech, the 
 judge commented on the majesty of the law, which had 
 been offended, and the necessity of dealing justice to the 
 oifender. RText, the enormity of Abel s crime against 
 society was duly made clear to him. He was also re 
 minded of the obligation he was under to feel grateful 
 for the enlightened process of law by which he had been 
 convicted, and for the patience and impartiality with 
 which his case had been heard. It now remained to de 
 termine the punishment, which should be at once a just 
 
Fia t Ju stitia. 233 
 
 retribution for his offence, and serve as a solemn warn 
 ing to other wrong-doers. 
 
 Then, in the same unmoved, formal, droning tone of 
 voice, the court proceeded to discharge its heavy re 
 sponsibility, by pronouncing judgment. 
 
 This was the judgment,: 
 
 To serve a term of FIVE YEARS, AT HARD LABOR, IN 
 
 THE STATE PRISON. 
 
 This was the doom of Abel Dane. 
 
 It smote the appalled heart of Eliza. FIVE YEARS I 
 It seemed to her that the heavens had fallen, and justice 
 had not been done. 
 
 Abel bowed his head, and sat down, and the sentence 
 was irrevocably recorded against his name. He was 
 committed to the charge of the sheriff, to be taken from\ 
 the court to the jail, and thence to be convej^ed to the 
 place of his long, weary, ignominious confinement. 
 
 He was marched away by the officers. The distant door 
 opened before him and closed again behind him. It was 
 done. And Eliza, forced into something like calmness by 
 the very intensity of her despair, or stunned by the awful- 
 ness of the stroke, or held by a ghastly unbelief, looked 
 about her, saw the soulless visage of the judge still 
 sitting there ; the misty sea of faces around; the windows 
 streaming, as it were, with tears; the vast, dim, empty 
 space under the dome, but nowhere Abel; receiving, in 
 that instant of time, upon the tablet of her brain, a picture 
 of blurred desolation, of sickening unreality, to haunt her 
 days thenceforward, and to wake her by night from har 
 rowing dreams. 20 * 
 
234 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 She was roused from that momentary palsy of the 
 soul, by the audience breaking up; for the show was 
 over, the tragedy ended; the strained chord of excited 
 interest had snapped; and the next case on the docket 
 was too tame to excite the public appetite after such a 
 highly seasoned entertainment a*s had just been enjoyed. 
 
 The jury went out and another came in. And the court 
 coldly turned to the next case. And the lawyers scrib 
 bled and quibbled. And the darkening storm whirled 
 and whistled without. And the affairs of the great 
 world went on, and there was joy, and there was laugh 
 ter, just the same now as when Abel Dane, the convict, 
 was a free and happy man. 
 
Through Prison Bars. 235 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 THROUGH PRISON-BARS. 
 
 BUT now the heavy doors of the jail were clanging 
 behind him, and the keys turning in the locks. He 
 was -no longer of the world. 
 
 Henceforth solitude, hopeless toil, years of coxrod- 
 ing misery, which seemed a lifetime to look forward 
 to, and years of reflected infamy afterwards, if he was 
 so unfortunate as to live to be old, a despised and 
 broken-spirited old age; such was the dismal vista of 
 the future. 
 
 There was no escape now. The cold walls of the jail, 
 the suppressed, sad voice and compassionating look of 
 the sheriff, as he took leaye of him, the portentous click 
 and jingle of the retiring keys, the grated windows, and 
 the wild, white-maned storm plunging by outside, as 
 if to mock him with the terrors and beauty of its 
 magnificent freedom, all conspired to assure him that, 
 marvellous and past belief as such a fate appeared to 
 him, it was no dream, butra stern, stony reality. 
 
 An hour ago there was hope; but now there was no 
 hope. Then it seemed not impossible but the bitter cup 
 might pass from him ; and the thought of returning to 
 
236 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 his humble occupation, to his mother and his child, to his 
 old home, and the old life of care and trial, which did 
 not seem so bad a life after all, would thrill his heart 
 most tenderly. But that is denied him inexorably I 
 The lot of a felon is his. 
 
 To go with inglorious cropped hair; to work at his 
 trade under a task-master, in a silent company of con 
 victs; to be dressed like them in the shameful prison 
 uniform; to be marshalled in degrading mechanical or 
 der to the workshops in the morning, and driven back 
 in a dull tramping row at night, himself one of that 
 jeering, grotesque, melancholy file, stamping with bi- 
 colored legs, in sullen time with the rest; crowding close 
 at the prison-doors, with some reckless horse-thief be 
 fore him, and some muttering murderer treading close 
 behind ; turning his head now over his red shoulder, and 
 now over his blue one, for a breath of untainted air ; to 
 take his turn at the kitchen slide, receiving his morsel of 
 black bread and tin plate of mush, and carrying them to 
 his allotted cell in the row of cells; his lonely supper; no 
 wife, no child, to comfort him, no friend dropping in of 
 an evening, no plans for to-morrow, or for next week, 
 or for next year ; no human face to cheer him ever, 
 only the dreary face of the chaplain, the unsympathizing 
 countenances of his keepers, and the morose, brutal vis 
 ages of his fellow-convicts ; a spectacle to curious visit 
 ors, who come to stare and make careless remarks while 
 he marches in or out, or feeds, or cringes at his work, 
 forbidden to look up ; and this life day after day, and 
 
Through Prison Bars. 237 
 
 week after week, and month after month, and year after 
 year; O merciful God ! must it be ? 
 
 Did the judge, who enunciated the sentence with busi 
 ness-like precision, or the listeners, who heard it with 
 keen relish of the tragical, measure the depth and 
 breadth of its fearful significance; or weigh well one 
 little grain of the load of grief and shame those few ea 
 sily-spoken words heaped irretrievably on the convict s 
 head ? 
 
 And Abel was innocent; but what if he had been 
 guilty ? It seems, when we think of it, a very special 
 act of divine favor that any man is innocent of crime. 
 The coil of circumstance has such subtile entangle 
 ments; and the glue of evil, wherever we move, is so 
 plentiful and adhesive, and the way to the pit is so 
 often in appearance the very path of necessity, and to 
 advance step by step is so easy, while to return is so 
 difficult; and ever the illusions of sin are so seductive, 
 and the human heart so weak, how is it any one es 
 capes ? 
 
 Guilty ! innocent ! are these mere words ? Who is 
 there that never did a wrong act, or felt a sinful desire ? 
 And what is the mighty difference, in God s sight, be 
 tween wicked wishing and wicked doing ? or between 
 the great and daring transgressor, and the small, weak, 
 timid one ? or between him who is powerfully tempted, 
 and sins accordingly, and him who is tempted not at all, 
 and so never, as we say, sinned ? Man provides pun 
 ishment for a few; but how about the rest, who may be 
 
238 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 equally deserving ? Are there no murderers, loose in 
 society, whom the law cannot touch, whose victims 
 died, not by bludgeon and drug, perhaps, yet by the 
 poison of secret wrong, and the strokes which make 
 broken hearts ? How many robbers, think you, walk 
 abroad with high heads, respectable, and defiant of 
 grand and petit jury; who have committed no literal 
 larceny, indeed, nor positive act of pocket-picking; but, 
 by more cautious practices in craft, have possessed 
 themselves of their neighbors goods, rendering no 
 equivalent ? On the other hand, how many compara 
 tively honest men, like Abel Dane, have been subjected 
 to punishment and life-long dishonor more by the in 
 iquity of others than their own ? And, to pry closely 
 into the roots of things, what precious right have you, 
 sir, or you, madam, to condemn your brother or your 
 sister ? Have you thought of it, ye proud, who esteem 
 yourselves better than the f est ? And you, O virtuous 
 judge ! have you considered it, sitting there on your 
 cushioned bench, and uttering judgment, while your less 
 fortunate brother stands trembling in the dock to be 
 doomed ? 
 
 If these be riddles to the wise, well may they puzzle 
 the poor wits of honest Abel Dane. Social order must 
 be had. The time has not come when the prison-house 
 can be safely demolished. The world is not yet wise 
 and good enough to put into practice the sublime and 
 sweet doctrine of love, which knows neither gallows 
 nor chain. In the mean while appearances and the rule 
 
Through Prison Bars. 239 
 
 of force have their day. The outward semblance of 
 good-citizenship shall pass for good-citizenship. The 
 gross transgressor, who maintains but one virtue to a 
 thousand crimes, if that one virtue be a hen-like pru 
 dence hiding -the evil brood under its wings, shall 
 be, perhaps, one of the guardians of society. And the 
 man of many unknown virtues, and one poor little crime 
 that betrays him, shall be delivered over to the judg 
 ment. What else ? Peace, loud-mouthed reformer ! 
 Patience, ye seething brains, that have begun to think, 
 or to think you think ! Charity, all I charity not for 
 the criminal only, but for those, also, who hate the crim 
 inal ; and, if they did not help to make him what he is, 
 at least help to keep him so. God lives ; and his infinite 
 providence enfolds alike the noble and the ignoble, the 
 accuser and the accused ; and the proud have their re 
 ward, and the meanest are not forgotten; and perfect 
 justice is perfect mercy; and that shall comfort us. 
 
 But was Abel Dane so comforted ? The hour of an 
 guish is not just the time to compute carefully the com 
 pensations of suffering. No doubt truth shall triumph 
 in the long run ; and the gloss of appearances shall not 
 always avail; and every wrong shall be made right at 
 last. At last I but is that a salve to quiet the grief 
 of a present wound ? 
 
 Staggering and heavy within him was the soul of 
 Abel, as he stood and looked around him in the jail, 
 and tried to understand, to feel, to be assured of him 
 self. A convict ! a jail-bird ! one of the despised an! 
 
240 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 outcast of the earth I How was it ? He had endeav 
 ored to prepare himself for this emergency, but some 
 how it found him altogether unprepared. He had antic 
 ipated, even if condemned, a light sentence, not more 
 than a year, at the most; and he had believed he could 
 endure so much. But FIVE YEARS ! the thought be 
 wildered him. He remembered how lately he had said 
 in his heart that it would be easy to go to prison for 
 another s sake; but now that seemed an idle conceit, a 
 flower of sentimentalism that could not stand the with 
 ering heat of this terrible day; and the memory of it 
 sickened him. 
 
 He could not help feeling that there was some mistake 
 about the sentence. In his shaken state, he even had a 
 dim hope that it had been pronounced only to try his 
 manhood; or that the judge would think better of it, and 
 order him to be released. Yes ! there were the rattling 
 keys again, the sheriff was coming to set him free. 
 
 Abel indulged in these miserable fancies, as some 
 times men, in the most utter hopelessness, will play with 
 the phantoms of hope, as the child at its mother s 
 funeral will gaze on the pallid face; and though it knows 
 what death is, and that this is death, thinks it impossi 
 ble but that the closed eyes shall open again and the 
 cold lips smile once more. 
 
 But the sound of the keys and of opening locks was 
 no delusion. And what was this that flew like a bird, 
 yet with a human cry and sob, to the grated door, and 
 looked in upon him, clinging to the iron bars ? 
 
Through Prison Bars. 241 
 
 "Abel! OAbel!" 
 
 He had sat down, without knowing it, upon a wooden 
 bench. His face was buried in his hands. But at the 
 call, he lifted his head, and then got up, moving slowly 
 to the door. 
 
 " Eliza ! " he said, in a hollow voice, trying to smile. 
 
 He reached her his hand. She seized it and kissed it 
 through the bars. 
 
 " Why, Eliza Eliza," he spoke in the same hol 
 low, broken voice, but tenderly and soothingly, much 
 as in old times, " don t cry, child ! there, there ! 
 don t cry." 
 
 " O Abel ! I never thought it would be so 1 " 
 
 " Neither did I, my girl. But so it is. 1 try to be 
 lieve there is a God ! " he said, and paused, the black 
 ness of atheism rising like a cloud in his soul, shedding 
 a sullen gloom, and darting defiant lightnings. He 
 stood, with clenched teeth, grim and dark. 
 
 " O brother ! don t ! " sobbed Eliza. " There is a 
 God ! " 
 
 "I say, I try to believe it," returned Abel; "and I 
 suppose this is all right, if we could only see it so. But 
 there is a black devil in my heart. He says to me what 
 Job s wife said to Job, Curse God, and die ! " 
 
 Eliza could only wring his hand and weep. 
 
 " Why did you come to me ? " he asked. Haven t you 
 
 begun to think of me as the world will think ? I am 
 
 going into a living tomb; to be buried five years; to 
 
 rot in the memories of men, and be eaten by worms. 
 
 21 
 
242 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 There are worms that eat the body, and there are worms 
 that consume heart and hope and good name. In a little 
 time my friends will think of me with loathing, that 
 is the worst to bear." 
 
 " Never ! never ! " Eliza interrupted. " You must 
 not imagine such a thing. I would die for you now, 
 Abel ! And do you think I will ever forget you, or 
 distrust you, or anything but love you ? " 
 
 " You are a good girl. I know you are sincere, and 
 mean all you say. But I see ! " And the prisoner 
 sighed with unutterable sadness, and shook his head. 
 " In a little while you will be a wife, and happy, and full 
 of interest for your husband and household and little 
 ones. And you will have new acquaintances, and a bright 
 world all open to you, and occupation, and diversion ; and 
 what will I be to you then ? " 
 
 " What no one else will ever be ! " she answered, with 
 strange energy. " No one can ever fill your place, not 
 even my husband. Abel, you never knew how I loved 
 you, I never told you, but I will tell you now; and, 
 oh, if my love could only give you strength and com 
 fort ! If I could give up all my happiness, which you 
 speak of, and save 3 r ou, how gladly I would do it ! " 
 
 " What ! your husband, your future, your friends, 
 all, Eliza?" 
 
 " All I I would give all to you, and feel that I was 
 more blessed by the sacrifice. Then don t say I will 
 ever forget you. Don t think I will in spirit forsake 
 you one moment in all those dark coming years. Never 
 
Through Prison Bars. 243 
 
 imagine, though all should neglect you, that I shall for 
 an instant neglect you in my wishes and in my prayers." 
 
 " Eliza ! angel ! " murmured the prisoner, thrilling 
 from head to foot, and regarding her with a look all 
 love and tears; "if we had only known each other, 
 I should not now be here, I should not now be the 
 son of a worse than childless mother or the father of a 
 worse than fatherless child, or the husband of of any 
 body but you, darling Eliza ! " he said, with ineffable 
 tenderness, folding her hand between both his, as if it 
 were the most precious thing to him in all the world. 
 
 " We do not know," said Eliza with a strange abstrac 
 tion, her face full of pain and vague yearning, her eyes 
 full of sorrow and tears, looking, not at him, but, tremu 
 lously, far away. She seemed neither to be offended nor 
 much surprised by what he said ; but to accept it as sim 
 ple truth that might be spoken and heard without shame, 
 now that prison-bars and the gulf of years were be 
 tween them. " God only knows," she added. " And 
 his ways are best, Abel. Oh, believe that ! Oh, let us 
 never doubt that, whatever comes ! " 
 
 " Pray for me ! " said the prisoner, his whole man 
 hood shaken. " I am afraid I have lost the power to 
 pray for myself. I tried to, as I sat on the bench there, 
 but couldn t. My thoughts were like lead. Frozen 
 clods weighed me down. And I said, I will pray no 
 more, for God will not hear. But you awaken something 
 in me that I thought was dead. For your sake, for 
 your love s sake, Eliza, I would not be lost. For your 
 
244 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 sake, for your love s sake, I would live through the 
 dreary years before me, and keep my faith in God, and 
 in man, and in justice. Pray; and save me from that 
 scepticism that is ten times worse than death ! " 
 
 Eliza did not answer. She was weeping softly and 
 unrestrainedly now, holding his hand pressed close 
 against her cheek. Her head was bowed against the 
 iron bars, through which, reaching, he laid his other 
 hand soothingly upon it. 
 
 " Don t cry ! " he said again, with wondrous depth 
 and sweetness of love in his tones ; " I am better now 
 and stronger. You have given me strength. Bless 
 you, sister, dearer than any sister ! Go to your hus 
 band. Be happy, dearest. I want you to be very happy. 
 It will lighten my heavy loneliness, thinking of you and 
 your happiness. From this day I am but as a dead 
 man. But you are still in the world, and you do right 
 to enjoy it." 
 
 " How can I ever ? " burst forth the heart-broken 
 girl. " O Abel, how can you say so ? " 
 
 " I am not speaking bitterly, but in all soberness and 
 truth. It will solace my solitude to remember you, and 
 know you are happy. And, though I am dead, I shall 
 hope for the resurrection, in this world or the next, 
 when we shall meet again. Go now, darling. I want 
 you to carry the news to my mother and my wife. 
 My horse is at the tavern; you can drive him home. 
 Make haste; for I don t want mother to hear the news 
 from anybody but you. You will know how to be 
 
Through Prison Bars. 245 
 
 gentle and tender with her. Heaven- comfort her poor 
 old heart ! " 
 
 "How can I tell her? Abel, it will kill her; she 
 loves you so, and you are all she has ! " 
 
 "Not all, she has you now. Stay a little while 
 with her, Eliza, if you can. It will not be long that she 
 will need you." 
 
 " I will never leave her while she lives, be sure of 
 that ! " said Eliza. 
 
 " Then I am content. I have settled up my affairs, 
 so that I think the little remnant of my property will 
 last out her days. As for my wife, she has friends 
 she can go to, if necessary. But Ebby, my boy, 
 what will become of him ? " 
 
 " If his own mother cannot provide for him, I will 
 take him, and be thankful for the privilege. I will be 
 his mother ; and I will love him for your sake, Abel." 
 
 " Will you ? Then my mind is at .rest. He may 
 call you mother; but, darling, do not forget, nor let him 
 forget, that I am his father. I could not bear to have 
 him learn to call any one else father, even so good 
 a man as your husband. And, Eliza, you will bring 
 him up to think of me with affection, and without 
 shame for the name he bears. Forgive me for saying 
 it; I know you will be true to us both. There, wipe 
 your tears, child. You must go." 
 
 " Go ! and not see you again ? Oh, I can t," she 
 sobbed, " I can t say good-by ! " 
 
 "I am told I shall not be removed till to-morrow," 
 21* 
 
246 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 said Abel; " so any one that wishes to visit me, can 
 do so this afternoon. If Faustina wants to come, maybe 
 you will come with her. And bring Ebby. I would 
 like to kiss him for the last time, and have one last look 
 to remember him by; he will be changed, he will be an 
 other child, five years from now. You must bring him to 
 me in prison, at least once a year, Eliza. I can t bear 
 the thought of his growing beyond my remembrance." 
 
 With incoherent words, Eliza promised. And now, 
 consoled by the thought of returning to him again in 
 the afternoon, she found strength to take leave. 
 
 " I hope mother will not think of coming with you," 
 said Abel. " She couldn t stand it, and it would be too 
 much for me. By all means, persuade her to stay at 
 home. Yet " a spasm twitched the muscle of his 
 mouth "perhaps I shall never see her again. But 
 it will be better, yes, it will be better for her not to 
 come. The storm is dreadful." And he looked up at 
 the gusts of snow driving by the jail- windows. 
 
 " Kiss me, brother," whispered Eliza. 
 
 Between the bars of the grated door their lips met. 
 Their hands clung together in a last embrace. Neither 
 spoke. Then Eliza, hiding her face in her veil, disap 
 peared in the dark passage. At the end of it was an 
 other door, which had been locked behind her as she 
 entered. She gave the necessary signal; it was soon 
 opened again, and closed again; and Abel was alone 
 and she was gone. 
 
The Convict s Beautiful Wife. 247 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 THE CONVICT S BEAUTIFUL WIFE. 
 
 MEANWHILE Faustina waited, in torments of anxiety, 
 to learn the result of the trial, Abel s fate and her own. 
 Now she tossed and groaned upon the bed. Now she 
 went to the window, and looked out upon the tempest 
 uous snow-storm, straining her eyes to see, through the 
 white, driving cloud, Abel or Eliza, or at least some 
 friendly neighbor coming with the news. But no Abel 
 appeared ; and nevermore would she behold, in storm or 
 shine, that goodly form of manhood returning home to 
 her as she had seen it countless times and cared not, in 
 the by-gone, wasted years. 
 
 Sigh, wretched wife 1 Wring your passionate, white 
 hands, O woman fair to see ! Weep; blind your eyes 
 with hot, impatient tears, as you gaze ! He is nowhere 
 in the storm. He is not just beyond the corner of the 
 common, where you could see him but for the dim vor 
 tex of snow, as you sometimes fancy. He will never 
 come to you again, he will never smile kindly upon you 
 again, at noon or evening, coming from his work, in all 
 this weary world. Toss then upon your bed, and groan, 
 thinking of what has been lost, and fearing what is to 
 come. 
 
248 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 For she was tortured also with fears. Up to the last she 
 could not believe that Abel would really sacrifice himself 
 for her. If conviction became certain, then surely he 
 would save himself by giving her up. It was for his 
 interest to preserve her good name, if possible to do so 
 and at the same time avoid suffering the penalty of the 
 law in her place. But more magnanimous conduct she 
 could not understand. Each day of the trial, therefore, 
 and now on this third day especially, she trembled with 
 dread of exposure. And when she looked for her hus 
 band, she more than half-expected to be frightened with 
 the sight of an officer sent to summon her before the 
 awful court. 
 
 * 
 
 But nobody came. She could not have even the mis 
 erable satisfaction of knowing the \vorst. And there 
 was no one to sympathize with her, and listen to her 
 conjectures and complaints, and help her waste the lone 
 ly hours of waiting, except Melissa. She made the 
 most of Melissa, which indeed was not much. Now 
 she called her to her bedside, and clung to her desperate 
 ly, and confessed to her, and questioned her; promised 
 extravagant favors if she remained true to her, and 
 threatened all the pains of death and hell if ever she be 
 trayed her secret. Then she would send her to the 
 windows to look, or to the outer door to listen, to know 
 if anybody was coming, or at least to form some 
 opinion whether anybody would come or not. 
 
 " "What do you think ? " she asked once when the girl 
 had been absent some minutes from the room, and re- 
 
The Convict s Beautiful Wife. 249 
 
 turned to ii as appeared to Faustina with the same 
 slow discouraging step as usual. " Is he coming ? Has 
 he got clear ? Oh, dear I dear ! Melissa, why don t you 
 speak ? " 
 
 But it was not Melissa who mournfully drew near the 
 head of the bed, and stood there, unseen by Faustina, 
 regarding her with speechless grief. 
 
 " Oh, I shall die ! I shall have another dreadful fit, I 
 know I shall. Melissa, if you would save my life, why 
 don t you tell me again you think he is acquitted, and 
 will be here soon ? I want you to keep saying it. 
 That s all the consolation I have. And he wouldn t be 
 tray me, would he ? Do you think he would ? " 
 
 No answer from the figure at the bed-head. But now 
 wonder began to mingle with the heavy sorrow of the 
 eyes that watched the writhing woman. 
 
 " He promised me so faithfully ! But if he should not 
 get clear ! Oh, what shall I do ? What would you do 
 in my case, Melissa ? I wish I had run away a month 
 ago ! "What a fool I was ! I d have done it if it hadn t 
 been for Tasso. He told me not to be afraid, but to stay, 
 and never care what happened to my husband, as if a 
 body could ! as if I hadn t before my eyes every min 
 ute what may happen to myself. Oh, dear ! " 
 
 And Faustina, restless, rose up in bed, and pushed 
 back her hair, moaning as she twisted it away and threw 
 it over her shoulder, and looked with burning languor 
 and despair around her, as if in search of some object 
 of hope on which to cast her weary heart; but saw in- 
 
250 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 stead, with a start of alarm, the silent figure behind her 
 pillow. 
 
 " Eliza ! " she scarcely articulated, staring pallidly. 
 " Where where is Melissa ? " 
 
 " She is gone to put the horse in the barn," replied 
 Eliza. 
 
 " The horse I What horse ? " Faustina hardly knew 
 what she was saying, so great was her trepidation, think 
 ing of what she had already said, and Eliza not Me 
 lissa had heard. " How did you come ? I I 
 what did I say ? " 
 
 Eliza advanced to the side of the bed, and sat down 
 upon it. The two looked at each other, one with a 
 countenance full of anguish and pity, the other with 
 guilty, affrighted eyes. 
 
 " You know best what you were saying, and what you 
 meant by it," Eliza answered. " I was thinking of what 
 I have come to say, and what you must prepare yourself 
 to hear." 
 
 " Abel ? " Faustina whispered, " did he has he 
 come ? " 
 
 "Mrs. Dane," Eliza said, with indescribable repug 
 nance in her heart, when she felt that she ought to show all 
 sympathy and pity to the distressed creature before her, 
 "your husband cannot come now; if you wish to see 
 him you must go where he is." 
 
 Faustina did not speak; but, putting both hands to 
 her head, slid them into her hair, and clenched them thus 
 entangled over her neck, with an aspect of abject fear. 
 
The Convict s Beautiful Wife. 251 
 
 " I have come for you, if you wish to visit him. You 
 must get ready, while I go and break the news to 
 mother." 
 
 " Where is he ? " 
 
 " In jail. To-morrow he will be taken to prison." 
 
 " To prison ? O heavens ! You are dreaming, trying 
 to frighten me ! " 
 
 " It is only too true," said Eliza. " I heard his sen 
 tence," clasping her hand on her heart at the remem 
 brance. 
 
 Faustina was not so full of astonishment and grief for 
 her husband, as not to reflect, with a secret, selfish hope, 
 that her own guilt had probably remained concealed. 
 She remembered also, in the midst of her consternation, 
 that she had a part to play. 
 
 " To prison, did you say ? What prison ? " she asked. 
 " For how long ? " 
 
 " To the State prison. For five years," replied Eliza. 
 
 "State prison! my husband I Five years!" 
 And the miserable woman wrung her hair, and thrust 
 it into her mouth, biting it. How much of this seeming, 
 too, was real and unaffected, and how much disguised or 
 assumed, it would be hard to say. And whether it 
 was chiefly grief for Abel, or remorse for her own mis 
 conduct, or only a selfish sorrow and alarm, who shall 
 judge ? But that fear and dismay were upon her, there 
 could be no doubt. 
 
 And why did not Eliza endeavor to soothe and en 
 courage her V She believed it her duty, and accounted it 
 
252 Neighbors? Wives. 
 
 a privilege, to give aid and counsel wherever they were 
 needed. But, when she would have spoken sympathiz 
 ing words to this unhappy being, her heart contracted 
 and her tongue refused to utter. It was not her own 
 affliction, it was not jealousy, or vindictive hatred, be 
 cause of the irremediable wrong she knew this woman 
 had done to her and to Abel, which made her shrink 
 away and close her lips ; but rather a sense of falsehood, 
 and of a deeper wrong concealed, which her sensitive 
 nature scented like a corruption in the very air Faustina 
 breathed. She arose from the bed. 
 
 " Will you be ready ? " she asked, going. " We are 
 to take Ebby with us." 
 
 " Oh, I can t ! " cried Faustina. " Such a storm ! 
 Besides, I am sick. How can I go ? " She threw her 
 self upon her face. To confront her husband in jail; to 
 be present, knowing what he suffered, and was doomed 
 still to suffer, for her, and she wickedly permitting; 
 to listen to his reproaches, or, if he uttered none, to wit 
 ness the uncomplaining trouble his soul was in for her 
 sake, more cutting than any reproach; to hear his trem 
 ulous words of leave-taking, to look into his face, and to 
 part for so long, oh, it seemed impossible to go 
 through all this ! Nevertheless, she reflected that it 
 would be far the safest policy to visit him ; to go, and 
 show her love; yes, and carry Ebby with her, to touch 
 his heart; repeat her professions of fidelity, and make 
 him promise again, and once for all, never to betray her. 
 
The Convict s Beautiful Wife. 253 
 
 " Tell me what to do ! " she cried. " It shall be as you 
 say. Did he send for me ? " 
 
 She raised her head as she spoke, and looked for Eliza. 
 But Eliza was not there. She was at another bedside 
 now, holding in her arms the almost dying form of the 
 convict s stricken mother; trying in vain to impart to 
 her a little consolation out of her own scanty store. 
 
 Then Faustina, left alone, resolved to rise and dress 
 herself whilst she was deciding in her mind what to do. 
 She found a sort of distraction and relief in the occupa 
 tion. And though she vowed incessantly to herself that 
 she could not go, and that she would not go, she con 
 tinued to put her apparel on, even to her mantle and 
 furs; so that, when Eliza sent for her, lo, she was 
 ready. And though she now, almost frantically, in 
 formed Melissa that she could not and that she would 
 not, nevertheless, as if a spell had been upon her which 
 she was powerless to resist, she went trembling and 
 sighing to the outer door, where the wagon stood, and 
 got into it, and took Ebby with her under the buf 
 falo-skin ; and did not faint dead away, as she had de 
 termined to do in Eliza s sight, so that she might be left 
 behind, but, irresolutely holding that strategy in reserve 
 until it was too late, rode through the storm of wind and 
 snow, and through the wilder storm of her own thoughts, 
 to the centre of the town, and found herself at last 
 alighting afc the jail-door, as weak and helpless as Ebby 
 himself, in Eliza s governing hands. 
 22 
 
254 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 THE CONVICT S CHRISTIAN NEIGHBORS. 
 
 FROM the window of his shop John Apjohn had seen 
 Abel Dane s wagon arrive and depart again. For the 
 cooper did not attend court that morning. The two 
 previous days, when he was required to be on the spot, 
 had been enough for him, yea, too much. To swear 
 the solemn oath; to stand up, in the presence of judge 
 and jury and spectators, and bear witness against his 
 neighbor, whose eyes were upon him; to tell, in terror 
 of perjuring himself, the story of the tomatoes, and to 
 hear the tittering, had been the most fearful ordeal of 
 his life. How he was gored by ruthless forensic horns, 
 and ferociously trampled and tossed as if the truth had 
 been his life-blood, to be worried out of him in this mad- 
 bull fashion ; how he fainted, and was carried out to be 
 revived, and then brought back into the arena, to be 
 whirled again in the air and trodden again in the dust; 
 and how he was at last pitched carelessly out of 
 the arena, a used up man, covered with sweat and 
 flushes, while Prudence took the stand, and made sport 
 for the Philistines, all this he remembered sufficiently 
 
The Convict s Christian Neighbors. 255 
 
 well to be made sick ever after by the sight of a court 
 house. 
 
 But John s was no merely selfish woe. He had been 
 in a measure diverted from his own shame by his consci 
 entious concern for Abel. With the vindictive feelings, 
 which animated his worthy wife, he had no sympathy; 
 and this third morning, he waited and watched from his 
 shop-window, afflicted with pangs of conscience, and un 
 able to work until he should learn that his neighbor had 
 been acquitted. After seeing the wagon come and go, 
 his restlessness grew intense. Remain in his shop he 
 could not. A bold resolution inspired him, and putting 
 on his coat, and turning up the collar about his ears, he 
 issued forth. Mrs. Apjohn called to him as he passed 
 the house; but the said collar, and the storm that 
 whistled about it, prevented her being heard. 
 
 " Where on airth can he be goin ? Why, he s stop- 
 pin* into Abel Dane s gate, sure s the world. The man s 
 crazy I " said Prudence. 
 
 When the cooper returned, after a short absence, she 
 flew to the door to meet him. 
 
 " Wai sad, John Apjohn ! What have you done ? " 
 she cried, grasping him as if he had been a little boy, 
 and dragging him into the house. " Give an account of 
 yourself, sir ! " 
 
 u What have we done?" iterated the cooper; "what 
 have we been and done, Prudy ? To be sure, to be 
 sure I " 
 
 " We ? what do you mean by we ? " She helped him 
 
256 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 shake the snow from his coat, not very gently. " What 
 have we done, say ! " 
 
 " I ve seen Abel s mother. She s a sight to make any 
 man sick of life, most of all, one that s been helpin to 
 heap her troubles on to her. For Abel, Prudy, Abel 
 he s sent to State s prison for five year ! for five year , 
 Prudy ! And it s all our doin s; it s all our doin s 
 from the very fust ! " And as he uttered this speech, 
 the agitated and remorseful John, having previously un 
 buttoned his coat, began to button it up again excited 
 ly, with the collar about his ears. 
 
 The moment of triumph had arrived for good Mrs. 
 Apjohn. But, alas ! where was the satisfaction ? She 
 looked somehow as if smitten by ill tidings. She had 
 achieved a signal victory over her supposed enemy, and 
 she Was not glad. All the imps that had been goading 
 her on, and whispering in her soul night and day how 
 good the revenge would taste, seemed suddenly to have 
 deserted and left her to bite barren ashes. She sat 
 down on the wood-box; and it was some seconds before 
 she spoke. 
 
 " Wai, I don t know as it s my fault now. I m as 
 sorry for ol Mis Dane as anybody, and for her little 
 gran child, he s a re l pooty little boy, and I pity him. 
 And nobody can say t ever I hated Fustiny bad enough 
 to want her husband sent for five year that seems 
 mos too bad, I allow ! " Prudy s voice quavered, and 
 her countenance betrayed trouble. " And I d no idee of 
 his gittin so long a sentence ! had you, John ? " 
 
The Convict s Christian Neighbors. 257 
 
 John had been busy tying his red silk in a broad fold, 
 over his upturned coat-collar, around his nose and ears, 
 so that he now stood muffled to the eyes; and the voice 
 of him seemed to issue from a tomb. 
 
 " I m a goin for to see him, Prudy." 
 
 "To see who ?" 
 
 "Abel. I m a goin with ol Mis Dane. Lizy and 
 Faustiny and the boy had gone off; and she was in a 
 dreffle state, sayin they d insisted on her stayin to 
 hum ; but she know d she never d see Abel agi n in the 
 world, if she didn t see him to-day, and she didn t keer 
 for the storm, nor for sickness, nor for nothin ; but go 
 she must and would ; and if I d harness up and carry 
 her over, she d be obliged. And I m a goin , Prudy I " 
 With which announcement, he closed up the aperture 
 which he had opened between his handkerchief and his 
 nose to make a passage for the words, and, putting on 
 his hat, tightened the muffler about his ears as if deter 
 mined neither to say nor hear more on the subject. 
 
 " Now, John ! " began Prudence disconcerted, " I don t 
 know bout your goin off on any sech wild-goose chase ! 
 Why didn t you ask my advice ? Old Mis Dane ain t 
 fit to stir out of the house, in the best weather, cordin 
 to all accounts; and to start off in sech a storm" 
 
 " I m a goin , Prudy," said the voice from the tomb. 
 And John s hand was on the door-latch. 
 
 " No you ain t goin , neither ! " exclaimed Prudence, 
 astonished by this act of rebellion. " Jest stop a min 
 ute, can t you, and hear to reason ? You do beat all 
 22* 
 
258 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 the obstinate, headstrong critters ! Come ! " She put her 
 hand quickly on her knee, and got upon her feet with all 
 possible dispatch, and launched herself towards the door, 
 with arm extended to seize him. But too late. Ob 
 stinate or not, John Apjohn meant to have his own 
 way this time. Headstrong or not, for once in his life he 
 determined to defy her conjugal authority, and take the 
 risks. If she was the more muscular of the two, he was 
 the more nimble. She was ponderous ; but he was fleet. 
 Prudence saw that she had no chance; and to stand in 
 the door, and shout, against the indriving tempest, for 
 him to return, she soon perceived to be idle. So she 
 retired into the house, baffled, and inspired with a cer 
 tain respect for .her husband which she never felt be 
 fore. 
 
 He was going to take Mrs. Dane over to the jail, 
 that was settled. "What should she do in the mean 
 time ? Suffer it to be said that she was less neighborly 
 than her husband ? And leave him alone to be wrought 
 upon by the scenes he was to witness ? She seemed 
 boiling with trouble for a minute; then she, too, formed 
 a novel resolve. Off went her old frock, and on went her 
 second-best gown, in a twinkling. The hooks and eyes 
 flew together with amazing rapidity, considering the 
 capaciousness of the charms enclosed. And so great 
 was her industry, that, by the time John had obtained 
 a pony at a stable near by, and harnessed him, Prudence 
 had locked the house, and stood ankle-deep in the snow, 
 with her bonnet and cloak on, ready to accompany him. 
 
The Convicfs Christian Neighbors. 259 
 
 At sight of her, John was alarmed. But she said 
 kindly, 
 
 " Put in a board, John, for you to set on. Me and 
 Mis Dane I guess 11 about fill up the seat." 
 
 And John, without a word, put in a board. 
 
260 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 IN JAIL. LEAVE-TAKING. 
 
 ELIZA warmed her numbed hands in the vestibule of 
 the jail, while Faustina, with Ebby in her arms, fol 
 lowed the keeper. 
 
 He opened the first heavy door, and, after usher 
 ing her in, clanged it together and locked it again. 
 Then they were ready to advance to the second door. 
 The ring of the iron, the formality and preparation, 
 the dim light in the passage, the sound of the keep 
 er s feet on the echoing stone floor, added to the 
 thought of so soon meeting her husband, filled her limbs 
 with trembling, and her soul with almost superstitious 
 dread. She could scarcely support the burden of her 
 child upon her fainting heart. As if to enhance her 
 trouble, Ebby began to cry. She stood waiting for the 
 jailer to precede her. "White and terrified, she obeyed 
 his summons to follow. Before her was the grated, 
 door, through the bars of which he called Abel to ap 
 proach ; and she heard his slow footsteps coming along 
 the floor of the hollow cell, tramp, tramp, while 
 each moment there was danger that the swoon she had 
 
In Jail. Leave-Taking. 261 
 
 had in contemplation so long, and kept in reserve, would 
 take vengeance for being trifled with, and master her in 
 good earnest. 
 
 But the grated door was opened also ; and Ebby, as 
 he slipped from his mother s breast, was caught in the 
 arms of his father. And Faustina, bowing her face 
 upon Abel s shoulder, clung and wept there until her 
 limbs fairly failed beneath her, and she sank down help 
 lessly upon the jail-floor. 
 
 Half-kneeling and half-sitting, she sank and bent her 
 fair head, from which the bonnet had fallen, and covered 
 her fairer face, a rather graceful and exceedingly pa 
 thetic figure; the sight of whom, together with the pris 
 oner standing by, hugging the child, and saturating his 
 little curls with big, manly tears, did mightily wrench 
 that unofficial part of the jailer s nature, called a heart; 
 for the jailer was the sheriff also. It was excellent Mr. 
 Wilkins, whom we remember; the same who went to 
 arrest Abel, and was sorry to see him come out of the 
 house with Ebby in his arms, that moonlight night in 
 autumn. He was not one of the brutal, relentless turn 
 keys you read about in romances, but a man. And 
 now, retiring with the keys, having locked the duplicate 
 doors, and wiped the duplicate tears that surprised him, 
 he went and sat down in the vestibule, and talked feel 
 ingly to Eliza, and told her how grievous a thing it was 
 for a young wife, so beautiful and affectionate, to see 
 her convict husband in jail, and to take leave of him. 
 And he brushed his misty eyes again, good, honest 
 
262 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 gentleman, and no doubt thought he was informing 
 her of something new; for Eliza did not find occasion 
 to wipe her eyes, but sat in a sort of dreamy stupor, and 
 warmed her benumbed hands, and tried to warm her 
 benumbed heart by the fire. 
 
 Abel assisted his wife to arise, and led her, reluctant 
 and sobbing, to a bench. There they sat down, silent 
 both, a long time, he with Ebby in his arms, Faustina 
 weeping still. 
 
 " Papa," said the child, frowning with dislike at the 
 walls, as he glanced furtively around, " go home, papa ! 
 go!" 
 
 Abel heaved a tremendous sigh. 
 
 " Home, my poor boy ? Papa can t go home any 
 more," he said, in a convulsed voice. 
 
 The baby frown contracted to a scowl of pain and terror. 
 
 "Home, papa ! home I " he entreated. "Ebby f aid." 
 
 " Hush, my boy," answered Abel, soothingly, stroking 
 the child s hair, and kissing again and again his beauti 
 ful white forehead. " Papa will go home some time, 
 yes, some time, darling ! Ebby must love mamma, and 
 mamma must take care of Ebby now." 
 
 " O Abel," uttered Faustina, with wild and stifling 
 grief, " I can t have it so ! I never believed it could be ! 
 It is too hard ! too unjust ! " 
 
 "Hard and unjust, truly," said Abel; "but it must 
 be borne. Be calm, now, Faustina; for I have many 
 things to say to you, and the time is short." 
 
 But the distressed one seemed resolved not to be calm. 
 
In Jail. Leave-Taking. 263 
 
 She threw her face down despairingly upon his lap, ut 
 tering moan after moan. At length she lifted her head, 
 and, with wet, flashing eyes, whispered passionately, 
 
 " Abel, I am determined ! You shall never go to 
 prison ! If either must go, I will I I ll see the judge, 
 and tell him everything. I d have done it before; but 
 I thought you would be acquitted. You know you 
 know I can t let you suffer in my place, for my fault," 
 looking around to see that no one was listening. 
 And she made a motion towards rising, thinking, no 
 doubt, that Abel, the devoted, would detain her. 
 
 But he didn t. Whether he suspected the sincerity 
 of her declaration, or was indeed willing that she should 
 assume the responsibility and odium of her own act, he 
 sat seemingly content to let her do as she pleased. 
 That was a more effective damper to her resolution 
 than any opposition could have been. She had no more 
 than half-risen when she fell again upon his breast. 
 He regarded her with a dreary smile and head-shake, 
 but said nothing. 
 
 " Oh, what shall I do ? " she inquired, embracing him. 
 
 "Ask your conscience, not me," said Abel. "I ve 
 as much as I can do to give counsel to my own heart. 
 These are bitter days, Faustina. I shall try to do my 
 duty, and I pray God you may do yours." 
 
 " What is my duty ? Tell me, and I ll do it, if it is 
 to kill myself ! " vowed the fair one. 
 
 "It is not to kill yourself, but to live, if not for 
 yourself nor for me, for our child here." said Abel. 
 
264 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 "I will ! I will !" Faustina eagerly cried; for truly 
 she had no very lively wish to die; and to promise that 
 she would devote herself to Ebby out of prison, whilst 
 Abel devoted himself to her in it, struck her as an easy 
 and reasonable compromise. 
 
 " As for your acknowledging to the world the error 
 for which I suffer, I have no advice to give," he went 
 on. " At first, I should have honored you, had you 
 been so brave and true. Such nobleness would have 
 more than purchased my pardon. But I have given 
 you my pardon without it. And I don t think now 
 that you have any heart to redeem me from infamy and 
 imprisonment by criminating yourself. "Well, I am 
 satisfied. I have given you my word not to expose 
 you; and I shall keep my word. In return I ask only 
 one favor, and that not for my sake, but for your 
 own and our child s. Remember me in prison. Think 
 of the long days and long nights of those terrible and 
 solitary years. And atone, Faustina ! before God, atone 
 for the wrong you have done, by becoming a true 
 woman and mother ! " 
 
 She only wailed in low, disconsolate tones. And he 
 continued : 
 
 " So this awful calamity may be made a blessing to 
 us all. For I shall not regret it, if, five years from now, 
 I see you the woman you may be, Faustina ! Oh, put 
 away falsehood and frivolity now ! Conquer that rest 
 lessness, that hankering for excitement, which argues a 
 mind uncentred in itself, and unblessed by duty. Let 
 
In Jail. Leave-Taking. 265 
 
 your tender care of our child occupy you now. It will 
 be occupation enough; it will be amusement enough. 
 For what other amusement can you have while I am 
 serving out my sentence? Oh, deepen your heart; deepen 
 your heart ! " he entreated her. " It is shallow, Faus 
 tina; even here, and now, it is shallow and vain and 
 full of pretence. I say it not unkindly, but pityingly 
 and in sorrow." 
 
 He laid his hand upon her head; and for the moment 
 something of his own overmastering earnestness seemed 
 to pass into her. 
 
 " Oh, yes ! pity me ! " she said. " Be sorry for me ! 
 I can t help being as I am, I would help it if I could. 
 But I will be better; I will try, oh, so hard ! " 
 
 " I think you will try," said Abel. 
 
 "Every day, every night, I will remember you; and 
 I will not be vain any more. I will not be idle and 
 proud any more. How can I be proud now ? " 
 
 " Poor child ! poor child ! " said Abel, very heavy- 
 hearted, but full of the tenderness of mercy. " God 
 help you ! Pray to HIM. Oh, be faithful and sincere ! 
 Again, I entreat you ! don t forget me; and love, oh, 
 love and cherish this our darling boy ! " 
 
 Ebby cried again, shrinking from his mother, and 
 nestling in Abel s bosom. 
 
 Vehemently, then, Faustina pledged herself to do all 
 he required of her. She would avoid unprofitable asso 
 ciates. She would do everything he could wish. A crop 
 of fair promises, profuse and instantaneous as fungi, 
 23 
 
266 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 and alas, equally unsubstantial, whitened over the 
 rottenness of her heart. And once more Abel almost 
 believed in her, and almost hoped. 
 
 " And Abel ! " she said so softly and sadly and fondly, 
 that it was impossible for the strong, tender man not to 
 be touched, " I want you to say one thing. Only one 
 thing, dearest ! I can t be strong, I can t hope, I can t 
 even live without it ! " 
 
 K Speak, and I will say all I can," replied Abel. 
 
 * You know," murmured the sorrowful one, resum 
 ing more and more of her old winsome ways, which be 
 came marvellously her depressed and tearful state, 
 " you know, Abel, you haven t been to me what you were 
 before " (with a shudder). " You have forgiven me; 
 and you have been kind, too kind. But the dreadful 
 separation ! Oh, if I have nothing better to look forward 
 to, I had better die now. If I am never to have your 
 confidence and affection again, if you are not to be my 
 husband again, but only as a friend, a father, so distant, 
 so cold, oh ! what have I to live for ? " 
 
 Abel kept silent a moment, mightily shaken by this 
 appeal. He thought of Eliza, a wife. He recalled 
 his first hopeful and fresh passion for this erring daugh 
 ter of Eve, 
 
 " His life and sole delight 
 Now at his feet, submissive, in distress." 
 
 And the wreck of himself thrown back upon the world, 
 broken, despised, after five years of shame and insult to 
 
In Jail. Leave-Taking. 267 
 
 his manhood, he well enough foresaw. Who would 
 love him, who would comfort him then ? She kissed 
 his hand; she pleaded. Oh, would he not give her one 
 word of hope ? 
 
 " I will ! I will ! " said Abel^ with quivering lips. 
 "Faustina, be assured. In the sight of Heaven, now, 
 we will plight our vows, not idly, as when we plighted 
 them for our first, false marriage; but this second mar 
 riage shall be solemn and true. It is a long engage 
 ment, five gloomy, gloomy years; but the probation 
 will be blessed to us, if we are equal to it. And, hear 
 me now, if, when I come again into the light and air 
 of liberty, I find you faithful to your promises, a true 
 woman and mother, then I will be indeed your husband, 
 and give you more love and confidence than you ever 
 had or asked." 
 
 With a cry of joy and gratitude Faustina clasped 
 him, and entered into this strange second engagement 
 with plenteous vows. 
 
 Then Abel spoke to her of his worldly affairs, and 
 finally came to the subject which he had reserved for 
 the last, because what he had to say on that he wished 
 especially to be remembered and esteemed sacred, 
 her duty to his mother. 
 
 But hardly had he commenced his earnest charges 
 when, greatly to his amazement and alarm, Mr. Sheriff 
 Wilkins reappeared, jingling keys arid opening doors, 
 followed by Eliza and excellent Mrs. Apjohn, who sup 
 ported between them the feeble, tottering form of old 
 
268 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 Mrs. Dane. Hat in hand and awe-stricken, the bald 
 little cooper walked humbly in the rear. 
 
 Abel, at sight of his mother, set Ebby hastily down 
 and rose to his feet. He extended his arms, and, with a 
 cry, she fell forward upon his neck. Eliza supported 
 her still, and helped to place her gently on the bench; 
 whilst Prudence found her handkerchief and wiped her 
 red nose, and the honest man, her husband, hid his face 
 behind his hat. 
 
 "Come, John !" said Prudence, turning away; "this 
 ain t no place for us. We ve done our duty, and showed 
 our good will; and now le s leave." 
 
 But, lo ! the door was locked, and soft-hearted Sheriff 
 Wilkins had retired. And John, strangling behind his 
 hat, gave no heed to his good wife s suggestion. And 
 now Abel, emerging, as it were, from the sea and tem 
 pest of his grief, lifted his head, and addressed the Ap- 
 jolm pair. 
 
 " No, don t go ! I have something to say to you. 
 Neighbor Apjohn, I have to thank you for your kind 
 ness. You have not persecuted me. You have not will 
 ingly borne witness against me. And you have done a 
 neighborly act in bringing my mother here to see me; 
 though, Heaven knows, I hoped she would not come. 
 Still, I thank you; I thank you for your good will from 
 the bottom of my heart." 
 
 But the cooper did not seem to hear. He stood where 
 he had stood from the first, stifling behind his hat. 
 Prudence changed from purple-red to sallow-pale, and 
 
In yail. Leave-Taking. 269 
 
 looked with an embarrassed, restless expression about 
 her, and coughed, and blew her nose, not knowing what 
 else to do. 
 
 Abel sat with his arms about his mother, endeav 
 oring to solace and soothe her. But she, heart-broken, 
 could do nothing but weep helplessly, and choke with her 
 own tears, a piteous spectacle, she was so old and 
 feeble, and loved her son with such entire and dependent 
 affection, and had always been so proud of him, and was 
 left so desolate now. 
 
 " If you had died, my son ! " she broke forth inco 
 herently, " it would not have been so hard. I shall die 
 soon, and we might hope to meet again. But this ! 
 Oh, I can t be reconciled to it ! Heaven forgive me, 
 but I can t ! " 
 
 It was singular that sorrow seemed to have swept 
 away the old obstruction in her speech, and that her 
 words flowed now with her tears. 
 
 Eliza could not endure the scene ; but, turning to the 
 iron-grated door, she put her face between the bars, 
 and sobbed alone. And she was guiltless of any wrong 
 towards Abel: what, then, must have been her pangs 
 had she felt upon her conscience the burden which Mrs. 
 Apjohn was trying to carry off so stoutly, or that which 
 Faustina was laboring to conceal ? As for the latter, 
 she occupied the time in crying, and so played her part; 
 whilst Prudence pinched her lips together, -and used her 
 handkerchief, and tossed her chin, and so played hers. 
 23* 
 
270 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 THE OLD LADY TAKES FINAL LEAVE. 
 
 JEAE mother," said Abel, " it is not so bad as 
 it might be. Though convicted and sentenced, 
 still I am innocent ; and that ought to comfort 
 us. Whatever others may believe, we have that 
 knowledge, and that comfort." 
 
 " Poor comfort ! " replied his mother, convulsively. 
 " The innocent suffer, and the wicked go unpunished. 
 The wrong is too great to endure. I have no malice," 
 she went on, after a paroxysm of silent anguish, "I 
 never cursed anybody in my life ; but I do pray that 
 them that s done this deed, and made you the scape 
 goat of their sin and spite, I pray they may feel the 
 evil they have done recoil upon their own heads. I 
 may not live to see it ; but I humbly pray it may 
 be so." 
 
 This was uttered with an energy which the mild and 
 benevolent old lady rarely manifested ; then she re 
 lapsed again into unconstrained grief. Faustina still 
 kept masked ; but Mrs. Apjohn winced. 
 
 " Wai, Mis Dane," she began, " I spose you mean 
 that for a hit at me and my husband here " 
 
The Old Lady takes Final Leave. 271 
 
 " Not your husband ! not John ! " the old lady in 
 terrupted her, "I believe he s as harmless as this child 
 here." 
 
 At which allusion to himself, Master Ebby, who had 
 long been looking on, in wonder and terror and pity, to 
 see the grief of them all, and especially the grief of his 
 good old grandmother, in that strange, ugly place, set 
 up a scream. Eliza came and took him. John Apjohn, 
 meanwhile, touched by Mrs. Dane s testimony in his 
 favor, might have been seen strangling harder than ever 
 behind his hat. 
 
 " Come, come, mother," said Abel, smoothing her thin, 
 gray hair with his troubled hands, as he strove to pacify 
 her; " we will blame nobody; we will bear all patiently, 
 and blame nobody." 
 
 " Yes, I would, now ! " said Mrs. Apjohn, flushed, her 
 lips violently compressing and relaxing, and her entire 
 frame (which is saying a good deal) trembling with her 
 emotion. " You may blame me ; I m perfectly willin . 
 And I don t mean to say but what I m desarvin of 
 some blame, but not all. I jest as much believed Abel 
 hung them tomatuses on to my door, and stole my money, 
 as that my name is Prudence Apjohn; and I hain t seen 
 no good reason yit for changin my mind. And I con 
 sider I had a right to feel hurt, and make a complaint 
 fore a justice, under the circumstances. But as for 
 wishin Abel Dane to go to State s prison for five year , 
 my husband here he knows I never wished any sech 
 thing; and I m as sorry for t as anybody." So saying 
 
272 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 the worthy woman dropped some penitent water from 
 her eyes, without appearing to know it, however, for, 
 instead of using her handkerchief, now there was really 
 need of it, she bore up like a good ship against-the storm, 
 carrying her head high. 
 
 " "Well, well ! the Lord knows ! the Lord knows ! " 
 murmured old Mrs. Dane. " He knows many a secret 
 that s hid from our eyes. And the day of reckoning will 
 come for us all soon. I bear no malice; I bear no mal 
 ice," she repeated. "You was kind to come over here 
 with me; though I don t suppose you d have come if t 
 hadn t been for John. I had always generally found 
 you a kind neighbor enough till this quarrel. You got 
 a terrible quirk into your head then, which I never could 
 account for; though it was nat ral enough, I presume. 
 But that you may know how you have misjudged my 
 son, let me tell you this, that he never mentioned, even 
 to me, about your taking the tomatoes from our garden 
 till after he was arrested." 
 
 " As for the tomatoes," spoke up Faustina, seized by 
 one of her unreasonable impulses, " you have been a 
 fool, Mrs. Apjohn I It was not my husband who hung 
 them on to your door. It was " 
 
 She had commenced speaking under the influence of a 
 wild feeling that the misunderstanding about that un 
 happy retaliatory trick of Tasso s was the origin of all 
 this trouble, which might even now be remedied by 
 declaring the truth. But having spoken thus far, a 
 fear that she was saying something indiscreet caused 
 
The Old Lady takes Final Leave. 273 
 
 her to hesitate. Abel had started with surprise ; and 
 the suspicion that alarmed him had entered Mrs. Ap- 
 john s mind also. 
 
 " It was you, then ! Own up now ! " cried Prudence. 
 " You can t deny it ! It s too late ! you ve half-con 
 fessed it ! " 
 
 That decided Faustina to avow the truth. 
 
 "It wasn t me, nor my husband. But I ll tell you 
 who it was ; it was TASSO SMITH." 
 
 Prudence was struck dumb. 
 
 "Do you know what you say ? " demanded Abel. 
 
 "Yes, I do; for he told me." 
 
 " And how did he know tomatoes would insult Mrs. 
 Apjohn ? " 
 
 "I I suppose I told him ! " confessed Faustina, 
 perceiving now what a rash thing she had done. " But 
 I I had forgotten it." 
 
 Abel breathed thick and hard, restraining himself, as 
 he looked upon her and listened to these words. 
 
 " And why on airth," burst forth Prudence, with all 
 her power of astonishment and indignation, " didn t you 
 never tell it was Tasso, and so .save all this trouble to all 
 on us ? " 
 
 Poor Faustina scarcely remembered why she didn t. 
 Ah, yes ! it was because she feared Tasso would betray 
 her, if she did ! And here she was implicating him, and 
 laying herself open to his revenge 1 ever as foolish as 
 she was false. But she would see him and excuse her 
 self to him, she thought. And now a convenient lie 
 
274 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 suggested itself as an answer to Mrs. Apjohn s reasona 
 ble inquiry. " Because," said she, " I never knew it 
 myself; Tasso never told me till long after. I met 
 him the other day in the street, and he was very 
 sorry, and begged of me not to tell. Abel was in 
 dicted then, and I knew nothing could prevent his 
 having a trial." 
 
 Abel groaned. " But you should have told me, Faus 
 tina ! Why didn t you ? " 
 
 " I didn t want you to know I had seen Tasso. I 
 didn t mean to see him, it was an accident, but you 
 dislike him so, I thought you would be offended." 
 
 Faustina possessed a decided talent for mendacity; 
 by the exercise of which she was now in a fair way to 
 repair her recent indiscretion. There was such a var 
 nish of vraisemUance on these lies, that all were de 
 ceived by them. 
 
 " O Tasso Smith ! Tasso Smith ! " muttered Prudence, 
 quivering with rage. 
 
 Abel groaned again. " You see, my friends, you had 
 truly no reason to seek revenge against me." 
 
 " And some day, Mrs. Apjohn," cried old Mrs. Dane, 
 " some day, you will know that my son was as innocent 
 of stealing your money as of contriving that trick with 
 the tomatoes. I shan t envy you your conscience then I 
 I shan t envy you your conscience then ! " 
 
 Poor Prudence, confused, convinced, pricked to the 
 heart, knew not which way to turn or what to say. At 
 this juncture, however, there occurred a circumstance 
 
The Old Lady takes Final Leave. 275 
 
 which gave her something to do. Cooper John, de 
 fending himself from observation behind his hat, and at 
 the same time shutting out from his eyes the spectacle 
 of the convict s interview with his family; strangling 
 more and more; and leaning latterly against the wall 
 for faintness, as he listened to the last stunning revela 
 tion; the sensitive and conscientious little man, over 
 whelmed at length by a cumulative sense of error 
 and fatality, as by a slowly-gathered tremendous wave, 
 grew dizzy under it, saw all things color of dim purple 
 a moment, and was carried off his legs. A cry and a 
 tumbling fall announced his catastrophe. 
 
 "Prudy, P-r-u " he weakly gasped, and measured 
 his length along the jail floor. 
 
 The swoon, which Faustina had kept by her so long, 
 had deserted, and gone over to Mr. Apjohn. And a 
 very mortal-seeming swoon it was. Pallid, breathless, 
 and apparently pulseless and bloodless, lay the limp, 
 insensible cooper, his tuftless crown having struck 
 the pavement with a concussion of itself almost sufficient 
 to rive the rind of life round that " distracted globe." 
 
 Prudence picked him up, getting down with no little 
 difficulty to perform that office. But his lifeless hands 
 fell from him, and his head rolled this way and that, as 
 she endeavored to set him up and hold him in position 
 on her knee and arm. Meanwhile, Abel seized his 
 pitcher (the prisoner s solitary pitcher), and besprinkled 
 the white face with its contents. All in vain. The last 
 tick of life s timepiece seemed over in that still breast. 
 
276 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 " O John I John ! John ! " cried Prudence, wildly, 
 " don t die ! Somebody run for a doctor ! Oh, dear I 
 to be locked up in jail at sech a time, and my husband 
 dyin ! " And she screamed for help, not perceiving 
 that Abel was doing all in his power to summon assist 
 ance. " That s right, Lizy, rub him ! Blow in his 
 face I Does he breathe ? " 
 
 No; John did not breathe, and there was no lively 
 prospect that he would ever breathe again. Observ 
 ing which, all the latent affection and regret in Mrs. 
 Apjohn s large, blunt nature was aroused. 
 
 " Oh, I ve been a wicked woman ! and this is to pun 
 ish me ! I never desarved so good a husband; for he was 
 the bestest that ever was ! Do you hear me, John ? 
 Squeeze my hand, John, if 3^011 do ! " 
 
 But John did not squeeze her hand. However, Eliza 
 now declared that he exhibited signs of returning con 
 sciousness. 
 
 " Oh, bless him ! bless him ! if he will only live ! " 
 cried Prudence, hoping fondly for a reprieve from what 
 seemed certain widowhood. " I never ll be ha sh with 
 him agin! I ll listen to his advice always, which if 
 I d done it in this affair of Abel s, we wouldn t none of 
 us be here now ! Comin to, ain t you, John ? Don t 
 ye know me, John ? Oh, the blessedest man ! Give 
 me some sign, can t ye ? " 
 
 The " blessedest man " had been laid upon his back, 
 with Abel s coat for a pillow. And now, anxiously and 
 
The Old Lady takes Final Leave. 277 
 
 tenderly, broad-bosomed Prudence bent over him, look 
 ing for " some sign." 
 
 u If you love me, John, spit in my face ! " she entreat 
 ed him. 
 
 John did not grant this expressive token of endear 
 ment. But he moved his mouth, uttered a faint groan, 
 and opened his eyes. About this time the jailer ap 
 peared; some spirits were quickly brought and adminis 
 tered; and the cooper was soon able to rub his contused 
 scalp, stare about him, and spit in anybody s face that 
 might request that precious favor. 
 
 " I ve saved him ! I ve saved my man ! " exclaimed 
 Prudence. " And O Mis Dane 1 " she continued, in the 
 fulness of her heart, " I d save your son for you if I 
 could ! I ve done wrong, and I regret it, and shall regret 
 it the longest day I live. Oh, that Tasso Smith ! that 
 Tasso Smith ! Whuther you took the money or not, 
 Abel, I don t know, and I don t keer ; for we re all on us 
 liable to be tempted," as that virtuous woman knew 
 from experience. " Fustiny hain t used me well, and 
 she knows it; but I m sorry I ve had a spite agin 
 her. And as for you, Abel Dane, I ve always sot 
 by you from a boy, and my husband here, he knows " 
 
 What the sad, gaping, half-stupefied cooper knew did 
 not appear, for the good wife s speech was lost in inward 
 convulsion ; the snow-mountains of her breast (to com 
 pare great things with things which can hardly be called 
 small) had melted, and avalanche and torrent were 
 plunging. 24 
 
278 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 When she recovered, aiffl her man had altogether come 
 to, they witnessed an alarming movement. Attention 
 had too long been directed to them. The excitement 
 which had so far sustained old Mrs. Dane, and the emo 
 tion which agitated her, had passed away, and taken her 
 life-force with them. Abel and Eliza had simultaneously 
 observed her sinking. They caught her, they bore her 
 to the prisoner s narrow bed. No shriek, no violent out 
 cry for help; but silent celerity, a murmur of grief, 
 and all-absorbing sadness and tenderness, gave token of 
 the entrance within those walls of the unseen messenger, 
 
 the same who enters alike the abode of the fortunate 
 and the dwelling of the wretched, and waits not for doors 
 to be opened, and stops not for prison-bolts and bars. 
 
 " Abel children," faintly fell the voice of the dy 
 ing, " where am I ? " She revived a little, and saw 
 the beloved faces bending over her surcharged with 
 love and sorrow. " I remember ! " And the smile of 
 the dying was sweet. " My son ! I shall be with you ! " 
 
 The assistant-jailer entered, and, failing to perceive 
 the solemn mystery that was enacting, announced that 
 the visitors time was up. 
 
 " True," whispered the scarce audible voice, " my time 
 
 is up. I am going. Eliza ! do not mourn ! Our 
 heavenly Father, he is merciful ! He has sent for 
 me ! " 
 
 Her clear and beautiful countenance became singularly 
 Illumined. Something had been said of calling a physi 
 cian. 
 
The Old Lady takes Final Leave. 279 
 
 " No tell them," she roused herself to remonstrate. 
 " Let me go in peace. Only my children around me. 
 Tell Mr. Apjohn I thank him. And Mrs. Apjohn 
 I forgive her." 
 
 Aghast and pale, like one lately raised from the dead, 
 the cooper stood behind the bed, and saw and heard. 
 Mrs. Apjohn wrung her hands with unavailing remorse. 
 
 " It s me that s done it ! it s me that s done it ! " came 
 bubbling from her lips. 
 
 " Where is Ebby ? " the dying woman asked. Abel 
 lifted up the boy. "Here," she added, with a feeble 
 motion of her hand upon her breast. Abel placed him 
 softly there. She kissed him with her pallid lips; she 
 caressed him with her pallid hands, and murmured a 
 blessing; and Abel took him gently away. "Faustina, 
 where is she ? " 
 
 The guilty girl was crouching, fear-stricken, over the 
 foot of the bed; watching, with I know not what fren 
 zied thoughts, the death of which her own heart told 
 her she was the cause. Eliza led her forward, strangely 
 shrinking. 
 
 " My daughter 1 " Weakly the cold, death-stricken 
 hand took the fevered hand of the living. Starting back 
 instinctively, Faustina snatched away her hand, and 
 Eliza s was taken instead. "Abel my son!" His 
 hand was taken also; and, now in the blindness of death 
 not seeing what she did (though I think the spirit saw, 
 and knew), the parting mother placed Eliza s hand in 
 Abel s. 
 
280 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 "Be a true loving wife! My son! love her al 
 ways ! God bless " 
 
 She drew the united hands to her lips, which closed 
 upon them. Astounded, plunged in deepest affliction, 
 Abel could not withdraw his hand; nor could Eliza 
 hers. Long and lingering was that prophetic, dying 
 kiss. Kor did the hold and pressure of the thin aged 
 fingers relax when all was over. 
 
 For all was over in very deed. The fingers that clung 
 still, and the lips that kissed still, were the lips and fin 
 gers of the dead. And Abel and Eliza lifted up their 
 eyes, and looked at each other with emotion unutterable; 
 while Faustina crouched again at the foot of the bed, 
 white and shivering, like an outcast. 
 
The Beginning of the End. 281 
 
 XXX I. 
 
 THE BEGINNING OF THE END. 
 
 THE storm whirled and whistled by the window, and 
 the afternoon grew dim, in that solemn cell. The hands 
 of the living had been withdrawn, and the hands of the 
 dead were placed composedly upon the breast now 
 stilled forever. Abel stood and gazed long ; his counte 
 nance emerging from its cloud and agitation into a 
 strange, almost smiling tranquillity. 
 
 " It is well ! She is happier." He turned to his wife : 
 " You have now no care but our child ; be faithful and 
 remember." Then, laying his hand upon Eliza s fore 
 head : " You are free now. Go to your husband and be 
 happy." 
 
 Dimmer still grew the afternoon ; and the hour came 
 when the corpse must be carried out, and Abel must look 
 his last upon it, and behold Eliza go with it, to return to 
 him no more. Mrs. Apjohn, assiduous and energetic, 
 accompanied; the cooper had glided out before, like a 
 silent ghost. Lastly, Faustina took leave, with Ebby. 
 And Abel was left alone. 
 
 Alone ; and the night descended, tempestuous, sifting 
 snow and sleet beating all night upon the pane; howls 
 24* 
 
282 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 and moans resounding all night about the prisoner s cell. 
 Sitting or walking, he pondered ; or, lying on the hard 
 couch on which his mother had died, he waked, or slept, 
 waiting for the morrow. 
 
 The morrow ! what a day was that ! The storm rag 
 ing still; the corpse lying in the house; neighbors com 
 ing in; preparations for the funeral; the hush as of 
 ashes strewn upon the floor; the utter, bewildering 
 vacancy, the silent ache of the heart, which one 
 mourner felt, thinking of the empty morrows still to 
 come, and of her fellow-mourner far away. 
 
 The next day was the funeral. Where was Abel 
 then ? When the sexton tramped through the drifts 
 with pick and spade to the graveyard; when the cus 
 tomary sermon was preached, and the psalm sung, and 
 the prayer said; when the little procession followed the 
 corpse to the fresh heap of earth thrown up beside the 
 snowy mound beneath which mouldered the ashes of old 
 Abel Dane, the carpenter, the dog Turk walking seri 
 ously through the snow by Eliza s side, leaving the prints 
 of his feet; when Eliza lifted Ebby up to take a last 
 look of what had been his good old grandmamma s face, 
 before the coffin-lid was closed and screwed down; 
 when the coffin was lowered, and the gravel shovelled in 
 upon it, to the sound of the tolling bell; and the 
 mourners and neighbors returned, dazzled by the sud 
 den glitter of sunshine on the pure, new-fallen snow ; and 
 Eliza entered once more the hollow house, and listened 
 to the drip of the eaves, and the blue sky smiled 
 
The Beginning of the End. 283 
 
 overhead, and neighbors came and went; where, all 
 this time, was Abel ? 
 
 Side by side now, in the white and quiet field, under 
 the pacified December weather, slept all that was mor 
 tal of old Abel Dane the carpenter, and of Abigail his 
 wife; while Abel, son of the preceding, was buried, 
 mortal part with the immortal, in a very different tomb. 
 
 Would you penetrate that mausoleum of the living, 
 behold him with shaven crown, in convict s cap and coat, 
 the livery of the doomed, visit him when he eats, in 
 his whitewashed solitary cell, the crust by the state 
 provided, stand by when he subdues his spirit to work 
 under an overseer, at the work-bench of condemed horse- 
 thieves and burglars, his predecessors and companions, 
 witness the sweat of his body and the sweat of his 
 soul, the clays and nights of his long death ? 
 
 For this living is true dying ; 
 This is lordly man s down-lying.", 
 
 Nay, rather let us leave him there, as we leave his 
 mother where she also lies buried, and keep with those 
 who still walk abroad in the sun. 
 
 Faustina walks abroad, or is at liberty to do so. 
 And Mrs. Apjohn enjoys that precious privilege. And 
 Tasso Smith, this wild December morning, comes forth, 
 basking. 
 
 Pleased is Tasso; smiling and airy his port. A note, 
 sent by Melissa s hand, has summoned him to an in 
 terview with Faustina. Locks well greased and curled, 
 
284 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 coat buttoned close, to conceal his unpresentable linen, 
 his showy red-topped boots drawn over his strapped- 
 down pantaloons, he treads daintily through the thaw 
 ing snow, flourishing his light stick. For the first time 
 since the memorable night of his discomfiture, he stops 
 at Abel s gate, and rings the door-bell with complacent 
 mien ; considering that, by consummate diplomacy and 
 strategic skill, he has, without loss to himself, but 
 through the agency of others, routed his enemy, Abel, 
 whose castle now lies at his mercy; never suspecting 
 that he himself, like all the rest, is the agent of a 
 Power above them all. 
 
 The garrison of the place, in the person of old Turk, 
 growls at his red-topped boots, in a way the conquering 
 hero does not like. But Melissa makes haste to admit 
 him, and he is ushered into the presence of Faustina. 
 
 In the parlor sits the afflicted daughter-in-law, clad in 
 deep mourning. With a dreary sigh she recognizes 
 Tasso, and, half-rising, gives him her sad hand. 
 
 " Come to condole with you," says Mr. Smith. " Aw 
 ful dispensation, old lady s dying so. Mus n t let it 
 break your heart." 
 
 " Don t mock me, Tasso ! I m in a dreadful situa 
 tion ! You ve no idea of it ! " 
 
 " Well, no, I don t see it." 
 
 " Oh, I am ! Think of my husband ! What will 
 become of me, Tasso ? " 
 
 " Good joke, I say, bout your husband, as you call 
 him ! " chuckles Tasso. " Good nough for him ; jeal- 
 
The Beginning of the End. 285 
 
 ous, grouty, unhospitable feller, like him ! Don t you 
 go to sheddin no unnecessary tears on his account, 
 le me me advise ye." 
 
 But Faustina had fears for her own safety and reputa 
 tion. " Murder will out, folks say ; and I believe it," 
 she declared, in allusion to her own guilty secret. 
 
 " Fudge, no danger ! Only you walk pertty straight 
 now, and do as I tell ye, conform ble to my s ges- 
 tions, y und stand. If a feller s only shrewd enough, 
 he can do what he s a mind to in this world, and not git 
 found out. There s my little compliment to Ma am Ap- 
 john, tomatuses, ye know," whispered the highly sat 
 isfied Tasso, " who s found that out ? By George ! 
 they think twas Abel, to this day ! " 
 
 " O Tasso ! " exclaimed Faustina, " that s one thing 
 I wanted to see you about. Mrs. Apjohn knows, 
 she has heard, somehow, the gracious knows how, I 
 don t ! " 
 
 " Heard what ! Not that I " began the startled, in 
 credulous Mr. Smith. 
 
 "Yes; in the jail, before Abel, she declared that it 
 was you, as she had certain means of knowing." 
 
 " Most stonishing thing ! " muttered Tasso, confused 
 to learn that his brag of superior shrewdness had been 
 somewhat premature. " She must have guessed at it." 
 
 " So I suppose. But she turned, and accused me so 
 positively of having first told you of her stealing 
 our tomatoes, that I couldn t deny it. How she ever 
 knew that, I can t surmise." 
 
286 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 But Tasso thought he could ; for it had not been in 
 his nature to refrain from imparting the pith of so ex 
 cellent a jest to one or two choice companions, whom he 
 now cursed in his heart. Faustina, perceiving that her 
 version or rather perversion of the facts was 
 received, assumed the air of a person who had had 
 injuries, and went on, 
 
 " So you see the blame all fell on me, after all. And 
 I thought it was too bad ! I shall hear of somebody s 
 betraying me altogether, next." 
 
 Tasso, completely outlied by the fair Faustina, after 
 all his conceited cunning, protested that her suspicion 
 was unfounded, and volunteered some excellent advice 
 and consolation. 
 
 "Don t you have no fears whatever, indulg u in 
 unfounded apprehensions, y und stand. ]S"o use ; all 
 right you are; and you can jest go and take your pick 
 of another husband soon as ye please, handsome 
 woman like you. Ye can git a divorce now, j e know 
 it?" 
 
 " A divorce ? " Faustina looked up with interest. 
 " From Abel ? " 
 
 " Of course ! didn t you know ? Five years in state s- 
 prison, that s a sufficient ground for a divorce, in this 
 State. And, by George, Faustina ! charming woman 
 like you, of course you aint so soft as to keep tied to 
 a state s-prison culprit, in for five years, when you ve 
 only got to say the word, to swap him off for some- 
 thin more attractive, more suitable to your refined 
 
The Beginning of the End. 287 
 
 tastes;" and Mr. Smith smoothed the curve of his 
 mustache with a significant, seductive smile. 
 
 Much more sage counsel of the kind the disinterested 
 visitor gave freely, without incurring any very severe 
 reprimand from Faustina, who only sighed and raised 
 feeble objections. They then parted, on quite confi 
 dential terms. Thus Faustina had made haste to break 
 one of her solemn promises to Abel, that she would 
 avoid all unprofitable associates; and "it could hardly 
 be expected that her other promises would be kept 
 more sacredly. 
 
 The remainder of the day, and the night that fol 
 lowed, when she should have remembered Abel, in 
 prison for her sake, and have had no care but for his 
 child, what was she feverishly dreaming ? 
 
 The next morning, hurried and fluttering, she ap 
 peared before Eliza. For Eliza still remained in the 
 house, from which she could not resolve to depart, al 
 though those she loved had gone, and a husband and 
 a home awaited her in another place. 
 
 " I have concluded," said Faustina, " that I ought to 
 go and see my relations, and make some arrangements 
 for the future. I suppose I can live with them, and 
 this house can be let until Abel until we want it 
 again." 
 
 " And Ebby?" said Eliza. 
 
 Oh ! Ebby, I was about to say, I suppose 
 I d better not take him with me ; for I don t know yet 
 what I am going to do. If I make such arrangements 
 
288 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 as I hope to, I will either return for him, or have Me 
 lissa bring him to me. You wont object to waiting a 
 few days, until I can decide, will you ? " 
 
 "By no means," answered Eliza. "I will remain as 
 long as I can be of service here, and do all I can for 
 you. "With regard to Ebby, I have had it in my mind 
 to say to you, that, if you cannot conveniently keep 
 him with you, I shall be only too glad to take him." 
 
 " What ! you ? " exclaimed Faustina, with real or 
 affected surprise. " Abel would never consent to such 
 a thing ! " 
 
 Eliza suppressed some words of bitter truth that rose 
 from her heart almost to her lips; and, after a little 
 pause, replied calmly, 
 
 " I ventured to speak to Abel about it. And he said 
 that in case you should find it too hard to take care 
 of Ebby, he was willing that I should have him." 
 
 " I m not willing, if he is," retorted Faustina, decided 
 ly. " I can never, never be parted from my darling 
 boy ! " 
 
 Eliza regarded her with deep, sad eyes. " I know," 
 she said, very quietly, " it would be too cruel to separate 
 you from him." 
 
 "No," said Faustina; "I could never suffer it. It 
 would not be kindness to the child. Who can fill a 
 mother s place ? " 
 
 "True," said Eliza, with something too solemn for 
 sarcasm, from the depths of her aggrieved spirit; "who 
 can fill the place of a mother ? " 
 
The Beginning of the End. 289 
 
 " So that is settled," exclaimed the exemplary mother, 
 very positively. 
 
 " Still," replied Eliza, " you may remember my 
 offer." 
 
 " I ll remember it; and it is very kind in you, cer 
 tainly. But if you will have the goodness to remain 
 here a few days, as I said, not more than a week, at 
 the most, I ll be infinitely obliged to*you ; after that, 
 I think I shall not find occasion to trouble you any 
 farther." 
 
 That day Faustina departed. At the end of a week 
 Eliza had not heard from her. Another week also passed 
 without bringing any tidings of the absent mother. Ac 
 cordingly Eliza, finding herself in a perplexing situation, 
 wrote to inquire what were her prospects and intentions. 
 Several days after the letter was sent, there came a 
 tardy, despondent, indefinite reply. Faustina had not 
 been able to accomplish her object as yet. She had 
 been ill, else she would have written earlier. Some 
 of her relatives were absent, and she could not form any 
 plans until their return, etc. 
 
 Eliza could not peer through the mists of distance, 
 and see this passionately devoted mother of the child 
 from whom she could never, never be separated, seek 
 ing distraction and solace in the home of her spoiled 
 and petted girlhood. She could not hear the objurga 
 tions hurled by her flatterers at the villain husband, the 
 utterly remorseless Abel, who had ruined the hopes and 
 happiness of so beautiful a being. She possessed no 
 25 
 
290 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 means to penetrate that beautiful being s breast, and dis 
 cover, among the selfish purposes there cherished, the se 
 cret determination never to return to the convict s home 
 again, and never to be troubled with the maintenance 
 of his child. So Eliza remained in doubt, and did her 
 duty to Ebby, and wrote to Abel as cheerful and com 
 forting letters as she could, letters, by the way, which 
 were not nearly so abundant in protestations of affection 
 and fidelity as those he was at the same time receiving 
 from Faustina. 
 
 At length Eliza became weary. The house had grown 
 lonesome and ghostly to her oppressed heart. She wished 
 to be away. She resolved, therefore, to place no more 
 reliance upon the mother s promises, but to go, and take 
 Ebby with her. 
 
Miss Jones and Mr. Smith. 291 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 MISS JONES AND MR. SMITH. 
 
 " WE will shut up the house, Melissa. You can keep 
 the key of it until Mrs. Dane decides what she is going 
 to do. Those things in the closet ought to be sent to 
 her, so as to leave as few as possible locked up in the 
 house." 
 
 " Them things is mine, if you please, ma am," said 
 Melissa, hanging her head, and casting up timid glances 
 at Eliza. 
 
 " Yours, girl ! Did Mrs. Dane give you those 
 dresses ? " 
 
 Melissa hesitated, corkscrewing a foolish finger into a 
 corner of her mouth, as if she meant to uncork it. 
 
 " Yes, she did, if you please, ma am." 
 
 " Why did you never take them, then ? " 
 
 " Cause, ma am " Melissa was making a spiritless 
 attempt to introduce her fist after her finger, and talk 
 ing at the same time, "I wa n t sure, ma am, s I d 
 ought er take em. I don t know hardly now whuther 
 I d ought er take em, or whuther I hadn t dought er. I 
 ruther guess" (down went the timid eyes, very meekly) 
 " I hadn t dought er take em, after all." 
 
292 Neighbor^ Wives. 
 
 " If she gave them to you, they are yours, -and you 
 shall certainly have them," said Eliza. 
 
 But now a sense of guilt and shrinking fear overcame 
 the conscientious Melissa. 
 
 "No, no, ma am; 1 wont take em, if you please, 
 ma am; it wouldn t be right.! 
 
 " "Why not, if they were given to you for honest ser 
 vice ? " 
 
 " Oh, dear ! they wa n t ! I m afraid they wa n t, 
 ma am ! " whimpered the. girl. " Don t ax me no more 
 about it, if you please, ma am." And the apron was 
 got in readiness for an imminent outburst. 
 
 Now Eliza had not lived three months in that house, 
 and observed the external daily life of it, without sus 
 pecting that there were things hidden beneath the 
 surface which should be brought to light. Especially 
 since the morning when she returned from Abel in the 
 jail, and entered the room where his wife lay expect 
 ing Melissa, had she been conscious of extraordinary 
 confidences between mistress and maid, in which, per 
 haps, Abel s honor was concerned. Still she had 
 avoided hitherto any attempt to pry into these secrets ; 
 and, but for the girl s singular conduct on this occasion, 
 what followed might never have occurred. 
 
 Miss Jones threw her apron over her head to defend 
 herself, begging for mercy. 
 
 " Mercy, child ? " said Eliza. " Why do you talk and 
 act in this way ? What harm will happen to you, if 
 
Miss Jones and Mr. Smith. 293 
 
 you tell the truth about the dresses, and, if they are 
 yours, take them? " 
 
 " I don t want em ! " sobbed Melissa in her apron. 
 "Please, ma am, don t make me take em; and don t 
 make me tell the truth about em, for Mrs. Dane told 
 me never to tell the truth, so long as I live. Oh ! Oh ! 
 Oh!" 
 
 " Hush ! hush ! She told you never to tell the truth ? 
 Nonsense ! " 
 
 " Oh, yes, she did, ma am ! She give me the things 
 to hire me never to tell; and I wa n t never to tell why 
 she give em to me; and now, oh, dear, dear, dear, I ve 
 been and gone and told ! " 
 
 Eliza, now fully roused, endeavored to pacify her, 
 then said, firmly, 
 
 " I certainly do not wish you to tell anything which 
 you ought not to. But, do you know, Melissa, it may 
 be very wrong for you not to tell ? " 
 
 "Oh, yes, ma am; I ve thought so myself many and 
 many a time, and told Mrs. Dane so; and then she d 
 give me something else, and make me promise ag in, 
 and tell me buggers would ketch me if ever I lisped a 
 word on t ! And, oh, dear, dear, what shall I do ? " 
 
 " Think it over," said Eliza, " then do just what you 
 think is right. If what you know has any connection 
 with Abel s being in prison, where we are so sure he 
 ought not to be, then, as you fear God more than you 
 do Mrs. Dane, speak ! " 
 
 "Oh, I will! I will !" exclaimed Melissa, throwing 
 
294 Neighbors 1 Wives. 
 
 off her apron, and all concealment with it. And as her 
 face emerged red and wet from that covering, so the 
 truth came out glowing, and saturated with tears of 
 repentance, from the cloud of deception which had been 
 so long laid over it. A tragic interest held Eliza, as 
 she listened. 
 
 " Who else knows of this but you ? anybody ? " she 
 asked. 
 
 " Nobody, not as I know on, thout tis Tasso Smith, 
 she s told him some things, I don t know how much." 
 
 Eliza left the girl wiping her face ; and, throwing on 
 her bonnet and shawl, set out to call on Mr. Smith. 
 
 As she was passing Mr. Apjolm s house, Mrs. Ap- 
 john threw open a front window, showed her animated 
 russet face, and, putting out an arm of the biggest, 
 beckoned violently. 
 
 " Come in here ! come in here ! " she cried. * Come 
 right straight in, Lizy; without a word ! " 
 
 Not knowing what momentous question was at issue 
 or what lives were at stake, Eliza felt impelled to go in 
 and see. She ran to the door, which the excited Pru 
 dence opened for her, and, entering, beheld with surprise 
 the pale, pimpled, simpering face of a worried youth, 
 whom Mrs. Apjohn indignantly pointed out to her. 
 
 It was Mr. Tasso Smith, entrapped, it seemed, ex 
 pressly for her. Behind Tasso stood Mr. Cooper Ap 
 john, submissive, sighing and winking, and meekly en 
 deavoring to deprecate his wife s wrath. 
 
 " Look at him ! " said Prudence. " I want ye to look 
 
Miss Jones and Mr. Smith. 295 
 
 at him well, Lizy ! See if ye can t make hiin blush, 
 for I can t ! the miserable, lyin , pompous, silly, con- 
 saited jackanapes ! " 
 
 " Prudy ! Prudy ! don t be rash I don t be rash, 
 Prudy ! " interposed the cooper. 
 
 "Oh, let her speak her mind," said Tasso, with a 
 ghastly grimace. "Like to have folks speak their 
 minds, express their honest sentiments, y und - 
 stand;" and he pulled his mustache nervously. 
 
 "You needn t be the leastest mite consarned but 
 what I ll speak mine," Mrs. Apjohn informed him. 
 " I ve been waiting to git holt of ye ever sence the 
 trial. An you ve kep out of my way perty well, 
 as if you knowed what was good for yourself, you 
 sneakin , desaitful, underhand, silly, grinnin ," 
 
 " Prudy I Prudy ! " interrupted the cooper. 
 
 "I was jest walking by, like any quiet gentleman,"/ 
 Tasso explained to Eliza, "when she reshed out, by 
 George ! and actchilly collared me, by George ! J ever 
 hear of such a thing ? By George, I thought she meant 
 to serve me as she did Dane s tomatoes, steal me and 
 cook me and eat me for dinner ! by George ! " 
 
 At that Prudence collared him again, and choked and 
 shook the pale joker till his teeth chattered. 
 
 " See here ! better take care ! my clo es ! " observed 
 Tasso, startled by the cracking of stitches. 
 
 " I don t care for your clo es ! " said Prudence, furi 
 ously. " Insult me to my face, will ye ? You dirty, 
 mean, impudent, dastardly, squash-faced, measly," 
 
296 Neighbor^ Wives. 
 
 " Prudy ! Prudy ! " whispered the cooper. 
 Eliza now thought it time to interfere. Her calm, 
 decisive manner exerted a Christianizing influence over 
 the energetic Prudence. 
 
 " Wai, then ! " said the latter, "to come to the p int 7 
 what I wanted of you is this : I ve charged this scoun 
 drel here with hangin them tomatuses on to my door, 
 and he denies it." 
 
 " Certainly I do," corroborated Tasso, who, it may 
 as well be told, having conferred with his cronies, who 
 he feared had betrayed his secret, and become con 
 vinced that they had not, was now prepared to maintain 
 his innocence by stoutest lies. " And I defy her to 
 prove it." 
 
 " And I," added Prudence, " of course, told him what 
 Faustina said that day in jail. But he declares she 
 never said no sech thing, but I said it, and tried to git 
 her to own up to it ! Now, what I want of you is, to 
 tell jest what was said that day, and who said it." And 
 Mrs. Apjohn folded her immense arms. 
 
 Thereupon, in few words, Eliza related the simple, 
 direct truth. That dashed the spirits of young Smith 
 more than all Mrs. Apjohn s hard names and shaking 
 had done. 
 
 " By George ! d she say that ? What else d she 
 say ? by George ! " glaring maliciously. 
 
 Eliza perceived that the moment was ripe for her pur 
 pose. Her eyes held him, as she spoke, by the power 
 of their earnestness and truth. 
 
Miss Jones and Mr. Smith. 297 
 
 " She did not say all she might have said. She was 
 more ready to accuse others than to take any blame to 
 herself. It is your turn now, Tasso Smith, to speak the 
 truth concerning Faustina Dane." 
 
 Tasso smirked and glared, hesitating between resent 
 ment against Faustina and an unforgotten grudge* 
 against Eliza. 
 
 " Shouldn t think you d expect much truth from me, 
 after the ruther hard joke you tried onto me that day 
 in the court-house; callin me a liar, right fore all the 
 people, by George ! " 
 
 Sturdy little Eliza, unabashed by this retort, stood up 
 unflinchingly facing him, her brow beaming with courage 
 and sincerity. 
 
 " And did you not deserve that I should call you a 
 liar ? Eemember what you were saying of Abel at the 
 very time, and of Faustina, when you knew every 
 word you said was false. If I had known then, what 
 I know now, I d have dragged you before the court, and 
 compelled you to testify ! " 
 
 " Hey V By George ! what did I know ? " said Tasso. 
 
 " That s what you are to confess before ever you quit 
 this house ! And don t imagine you can deceive me jn 
 any particular. Mrs. Dane had more confidants than 
 one ; and everything has been revealed. I was on my 
 way to see you; for it is time you should do something 
 to avert the suspicion of being her accomplice," 
 
 " By George I I warn t no accomplice of nobody s : 
 I ll resk that suspicion ! " 
 
298 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 " Don t be too sure ! " Eliza warned him. " Abel Dane 
 felt himself safe against a false charge, trusting in his 
 own innocence. You are in some danger, Tasso ! You 
 sold Mrs. Dane the jewels; you are aware how she 
 paid for them, and how she replaced the money with 
 4 which she paid for them. You see the truth is 
 known." 
 
 Tasso saw, and felt sick. It took him not long now to 
 make up his mind what to do. Since Faustina had set 
 the example of treachery by betraying him, and since 
 her other confidants, of whom, he now thought, she 
 might have twenty, had also set the example, he 
 resolved to waste no time in purging himself of the 
 aforesaid suspicion. 
 
 " Sit down," Eliza directed, with a quick, quiet, domi 
 nant, business-like manner. And Tasso sat down. 
 
 " Mrs. Apjohn, bring me a pen and ink." 
 
 A pen, used in keeping the cooper s accounts, and in 
 making memoranda in the almanac, was produced, to 
 gether with some muddy ink. 
 
 " Now, sir, tell your story. You are not under oath 
 yet, but you will be before I am through with you. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Apjohn, listen." 
 
 They listened; and Eliza wrote; while Tasso pro 
 ceeded to make his astounding revelations, by which 
 Melissa s statement was fully confirmed. 
 
 " O Prudy ! Prudy ! " cried the wonder-stricken 
 John. " Abel is a innocent man, arter all ! And he is 
 in for five year ! and his mother has been killed by it I 
 
Miss Jones and Mr. Smith. 299 
 
 and we we ve been O Prudy ! Prudy I To be sure, 
 to be sure 1 " 
 
 Eliza did not wait to hear the exclamations and 
 lamentations of the worthy pair; but, fastening herself 
 to Tasso, informed him that he was to go presently be 
 fore a magistrate and take oath to the statement she 
 had received from his lips. They were to stop on their 
 way for Melissa; and Mrs. Apjohn eagerly volunteered 
 to "run over and take care of the baby," during the 
 girl s absence; for that solid and sterling woman was 
 now enlisted with her whole body and soul in Abel s 
 cause, showing herself even more anxious for his deliver 
 ance than she had ever been for his condemnation. 
 
300 Neighbors Wives, 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 ELIZA S MISSION. 
 
 TASSO S elegant signature was soon affixed, under oath 
 and in the presence of witnesses, to the paper Eliza 
 had drawn up. Next, Melissa s affidavit was secured. 
 Then, how to proceed, with these instruments, to effect 
 Abel s liberation, became the important question. For 
 now Eliza could not rest, day or night, until the requi 
 site steps had been taken to restore him to honor, and 
 freedom, and happiness. 
 
 She was dismayed when told that the sentence must 
 be set aside by due process of law; and that, to make 
 the necessary appeal, and await the slow course of jus 
 tice, would require patience and time, perhaps months, 
 when every moment was precious. " Besides," she 
 was assured, " any confession Faustina might have 
 made, or might still make, would probably be insuffi 
 cient to exculpate her husband. They were one, by 
 marriage ; for her actions he was in a certain sense ac^- 
 countable; he had shared the fruit of her crime; and 
 her evidence, even if she chose to give it, could hardly 
 be received in court, she being his wife ; and there were 
 many other difficulties to be overcome. Individuals 
 
Eliza s Mission. 301 
 
 might Tbe easily convinced of Abel s inocenee ; but the 
 law was not an individual. The law had no conscience; 
 it was without sympathy or understanding; it was a 
 machine." 
 
 Still she was not disheartened, she would not rely 
 upon the law to right the wrong the law had done. She 
 would rely upon the human heart, and upon the justice 
 of her cause; and nothing should divert her from her 
 purpose, or induce her to waste an hour in idle delay, till 
 Abel was free. 
 
 In addition to the affidavits of Tasso and Melissa, she 
 procured those of John and Prudence Apjohn, in which 
 they, as chief witnesses against Abel, now declared their 
 conviction of his innocence, for reasons assigned. She 
 also visited the attorneys who had prosecuted him, the 
 judge who had sentenced him, and each individual 
 of the twelve who had found him guilty. She car 
 ried with her a well-worded petition which she had 
 prepared; and such was her eloquence, such her mag 
 netic and persuasive earnestness, that lawyers, judge, 
 and jury, all signed it. To these names she found 
 no difficulty in adding the signatures of a hundred 
 of Abel s townsmen, including three ministers, a con 
 gressman, two ex-members of the State legislature, 
 together with several selectmen, deacons, and other 
 prominent citizens. 
 
 More than a week was consumed in these preliminary 
 labors, notwithstanding Eliza s utmost endeavors to 
 despatch them in a day or two. From dawn to mid- 
 26 
 
302 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 night she was incessantly employed, with a vigor and 
 vigilance and hope that never flagged. At length all 
 was ready. And, armed with her affidavits, her peti 
 tion, and a formidable legal document which Abel s 
 counsel had furnished, she set out, one memorable 
 morning, on a journey. 
 
 The petition was to the governor of the State. Her 
 mission was to him. On the evening of the same day 
 she reached the capital of the State ; and, without stop 
 ping even to change her attire, inquired her way hur 
 riedly through the strange streets till she came to the 
 governor s house. 
 
 He was at home. How her heart throbbed on being 
 told this by the servant at the door, and being invited 
 in ! And so, tremblingly, yet with a brave and resolute 
 heart, she entered the warmly-lighted hall of the house 
 in which she felt that the question of Abel s destiny was 
 to be finally decided. 
 
Eliza and the Governor. 303 
 
 XXXIY. 
 
 ELIZA AND THE GOVERNOR. 
 
 IN a quiet little room she was told to sit down, while 
 the servant communicated her name and the nature of 
 her errand to the governor. She had not long to wait. 
 His Excellency a kind, affable person came pres 
 ently into the apartment, looked at her somewhat curi 
 ously, shook hands with her, and sitting down, like any 
 pleasant gentleman, with no frown of the high official 
 about him, listened to her story. 
 
 He was a man who loved straightforward dealing and 
 despatch; and the directness, simplicity, and brevity 
 with which she laid her business before him made him 
 smile. 
 
 But he was a cautious man withal; and, when she 
 had finished, all he could promise was, that the petition, 
 with the accompanying documents, should be carefully 
 examined, and laid before his council; and that he 
 would endeavor to do impartial justice in the matter. 
 It might be several days, he said, before he would be 
 prepared to grant or refuse the pardon for which the 
 hundred petitioners prayed; but there should be no need 
 less delay; and, if it would be any satisfaction to her 
 
304 Neighbor? Wives. 
 
 impatience, she might call on him again the next evening 
 at his house. 
 
 " If I am occupied, and cannot see you, of course," he 
 added, " you will not take it unkindly, nor be discour 
 aged." 
 
 She thanked him, with tears, which his gentle and 
 frank speech called forth. Hitherto she had controlled 
 herself well, concentrating all her emotions to give 
 power to her appeal. But now the grief she had held 
 back, -the suffering of nights and days, kept down by 
 constant activity, the hope and fear she felt, and her 
 deep conviction of Abel s innocence, deeper and 
 stronger than any reason she could give, found utter 
 ance in a few broken but fervent words of thanks and of 
 entreaty. And so she departed; not knowing whether 
 she had spoken well or ill, shedding silent tears, and 
 moving her lips to silent prayers, as she once more 
 threaded the strange streets. 
 
 She slept that night for, after all her toils, she slept 
 well at a boarding-house to which one of the ex-mem 
 bers of the legislature had recommended her. The next 
 day she felt refreshed and strong. But do you think 
 she spent the hours that intervened till night in viewing 
 the sights of the city ? Not she. Having learned, by 
 inquiry, where the state-prison was, she went to learn 
 her way to it; so that, the pardon procured, she could 
 hasten, without an instant s uncertainty, to bear it to 
 her dear prisoner. A half-hour s ride and a few min 
 utes walk brought her in sight of the formidable pile. 
 
Eliza and the Governor. 305 
 
 There rose the impassive gray walls, somewhere within 
 which she knew her Abel breathed the air of captivity, 
 that calm winter s morning, while she breathed the air 
 of freedom without. How mournfully and hopefully "she 
 walked by them, and far around, viewing them on every 
 side; "with what memories and thrills of tenderness she 
 thought of him there immured, hopelessly plodding, 
 never suspecting how near she was to him; with what 
 stifled aspiration and rapture she anticipated their next 
 meeting; and how she lingered, feeling a strange satis 
 faction in being there, though she could not see him nor 
 make her presence known, all this may be imagined, 
 but not told. 
 
 In the afternoon she returned to her boarding-house, 
 and prepared for the evening. The hope of seeing the 
 governor, and of hearing something favorable to her mis 
 sion, kept her heart occupied. But the hope was des 
 tined to disappointment. His Excellency was absent 
 from home. And the only consolation she received was 
 a notification that he would expect to see her at his 
 office the next day. 
 
 The next morning, at the hour assigned, little Eliza 
 was already at the state-house, waiting for the bell to 
 strike the minute. She had taken care to find the doors 
 of the executive department; and punctually, at the ap 
 pointed hour, she entered the awful precincts, and was 
 ushered into the presence of the governor. 
 
 He appeared absorbed in business ; but, recognizing 
 26* 
 
306 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 her, and, looking up at the clock, he immediately turned, 
 and motioned her to a seat near him. 
 
 " I have not forgotten you," he said, " though I was 
 obliged to disappoint you last night." 
 
 He then spoke to a clerk, who "brought to him a pack 
 age of papers, which Eliza perceived to be her petition, 
 affidavits, and so forth. 
 
 "I have done something in this unfortunate affair, 
 too," he added; but his manner was not promising. 
 Eliza s eyes were delighted by no pardon, and her hopes 
 began to sink. "But how happens it," he inquired, 
 u that, among all these papers, there is no memorial 
 from the prisoner himself ? " 
 
 " Sir," said the earnest girl, " I can explain that. He 
 does not know yet that a pardon has been applied for. 
 I thought it best not to inform him; for I would not 
 raise false expectations in his mind. Besides, for I 
 wish to be entirely frank with you, and rely upon your 
 goodness, I think it possible that he might not have 
 approved of what his friends were doing." 
 
 " And why not ? " said the governor, lifting his eye 
 brows with some surprise. 
 
 "I will not conceal anything," replied Eliza. "I 
 think Mr. Dane was aware of his wife s guilt; yet he 
 would not expose her. He preferred to sacrifice him 
 self in her place." 
 
 " It would appear, then, that he not only accepted and 
 used the stolen money " 
 
 " O sir I that was without his knowledge, the affi- 
 
Eliza and the Governor. 307 
 
 davits show that, and I would pledge my life that it 
 is true," 
 
 " And yet," said the governor, " according to your 
 own representation, he concfe tiled her crime, and thus 
 became an accessory after the fact." 
 
 " Do not, sir ! do not let appearances and technicali 
 ties stand in the way of justice ! " Eliza conjured him. 
 " If appearances were truths, if the law was infallible, I 
 should not be here. Grant that, in the eyes of the law, 
 he was an accomplice; grant that it was criminal to 
 conceal her crime, I don t care ! " she cried, with 
 flashing spirit. " I know, and you know, sir, that it 
 was nobler in him to conceal than to expose it. It was a 
 holy sacrifice he made of himself, unworthy as she was. 
 His conduct is to be admired, and not blamed. In your 
 heart you must commend it, whatever you may say. 
 If what he did was a sin, I think such a sinner is wor 
 thier of heaven than many a precise saint. Such a spirit 
 of self-sacrifice, it overcomes me now to think of 
 it " and Eliza dashed the quick tears from her eyes. 
 
 " But will this fine sinner thank us for what we are 
 doing ? " asked the governor, with a smile. 
 
 " He will at least forgive me for saving him in spite 
 of himself and without his knowledge. And when he 
 learns how his wife has repaid his devotion by deserting 
 his child, he will not regret that justice has come about 
 through her own indiscretion." 
 
 "Well," said the governor, smiling again very cu 
 riously, " if that does not satisfy him, I have something 
 
308 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 here that I think will. Have you seen the morning 
 papers ? " So saying, he took one from a pile on the 
 desk, and handed it to Eliza, pointing to a paragraph. 
 " That will interest him, I think." 
 
 Eliza read, and turned white with astonishment and 
 indignation. 
 
 " O sir ! " she said in thick, tremulous tones, after a 
 pause of speechless amazement, " after this " 
 
 " After this," interrupted the governor, " I think both 
 he and you will be satisfied with what I have done." 
 With which quiet speech, he opened a drawer, and pro 
 duced a large unsealed envelope, which he placed in her 
 hand. 
 
 Eliza knew well what it contained ; and as she drew 
 forth the precious paper, and unfolded it, she could but 
 just see the great shining seal and blurring signature 
 through the tears of joy that blinded her. 
 
Deliverance. 309 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 DELIVERANCE. 
 
 AND now Abel Dane was summoned from the prison 
 workshop. In his bi-colored convict s cap and coat and 
 trousers, one-half the man from head to heel blue, 
 the other half red; one side the hue of despondency, 
 the other the tint of shame, forth he came, curious 
 to know what was wanted. Following the warden, he 
 crossed the prison-yard, ascended the steps he had 
 descended on his arrival thither, and entered once more 
 the room he had passed through when he left all hope 
 behind; so changed, since then, that she who waited 
 for him there did not know him, but took him for some 
 other. 
 
 But he knew her in an instant And at the first 
 sound of his voice, at a look out of those deep, glad 
 eyes, she recognized, in the grotesque wight before her, 
 the transformed manhood of AbeL 
 
 How they met; how she revealed to him the cause 
 of her coming, and put with her own hands into his the 
 governor s pardon; and he knew that he was raised 
 from the dead, and that she, his best-beloved was also 
 his deliverer ; I am aware what a moving scene 
 
3io Neighbors Wives. 
 
 might be made of all this. But enough, our story 
 draws to a close. 
 
 Abel was taken in charge by the warden for the last 
 time. The clothes he put off at his entrance into prison 
 were restored to him; and he left behind his convict s 
 costume, for the benefit of some sad successor. Then 
 he rejoined Eliza; and they quitted the prison to 
 gether. 
 
 But it was all like a dream to him yet. Explanations 
 were needed to relieve his uncertainty and suspense. 
 And as they walked the street together, and he tasted 
 with her the sweet air of liberty, and knew that his- 
 brief, terrible nightmare of prison life was indeed 
 shaken off, she told him how his redemption had been 
 achieved. 
 
 Abel was troubled. In the midst of his gratitude and 
 joy he was grieved for Faustina, She was his wife 
 still. " And I had hoped," he began. 
 - " I know what you hoped," Eliza tenderly replied. 
 "And I know we all know you have done every 
 thing for her a hero and Christian could do. But in 
 vain. And, Abel, she is no longer your wife." 
 
 " True ! true ! " said Abel. " By God s law, may-be, 
 he is not. But man s laws, they are different, I 
 must abide by them." 
 
 He said this with a great sigh; hoping perhaps for 
 some word of comforting assurance from Eliza. She 
 too was agitated. She could hardly control her voke 
 to answer him, 
 
Deliverance. 311 
 
 44 Yes, Abel. You must you will be willing to sub 
 mit, I think. But the law, human law, what strange, 
 strange things it is sometimes made to do ! Abel, I 
 have brought this to show you," And she gave him the 
 governor s newspaper, putting her finger on the para 
 graph his Excellency had pointed out to her. 
 
 Abel read as they walked the street. It was a notice 
 of divorces granted; among which was one to Faus 
 tina Dane, from her husband, Abel Dane. " Cause 
 state-prison. 
 
 Grief and indignation convulsed him a moment 
 
 " The injustice of it, Eliza ! I in prison for her 
 fault ! and this after all her promises ! O Faustina ! 
 selfish and impulsive ! foolish and false ! Thank Heav 
 en, it is she that has done this, and not I ! " 
 
 So saying, with a deep breath of the pure electric air, 
 a sense of relief, a new sense of freedom, and of some 
 thing deeply and divinely great and glad, entered into 
 him. Eliza perceived it, 
 
 "Yes, Abel; it is better. And oh, is it not wonder 
 ful, that God often makes those who would injure us 
 the agents of our good ! Oh, let us trust him, let us 
 trust him always ! " 
 
 But even as she spoke, a shadow as of a brooding 
 fatality fell upon them both. Kot from the prison of 
 stone alone, but also from the bondage of a false mar 
 riage, Abel saw himself, this day, as it were miraculous 
 ly delivered. And he could see how Tasso s meanness, 
 and Mrs. Apjohn s spite, and Faustina s perfidy, how 
 
312 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 all his misfortunes, even that which had seemed the 
 greatest, had tended steadily, by sure degrees, to this 
 consummation. And here he was, a free man, superior 
 to disaster and disgrace, walking by the side of the 
 woman he loved, and to whom he owed his rescue; 
 and she, her work was now done, and nothing re 
 mained but for her to go and bless the husband who had 
 been so long waiting for her, in the home he had prof 
 fered, and which she had promised to accept. 
 
Home. 313 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 HOME. 
 
 THEY stopped in town to get some presents for 
 Ebby, then took the train, and reached home the same 
 evening. 
 
 Alighting at the village, they looked in at the post- 
 office, and found a letter for Eliza. Whence and from 
 whom it came, both knew. Abel was deeply moved; 
 and Eliza, it must be owned, felt heavy misgivings as 
 she pressed it unopened into her pocket. 
 
 It was late; the fire was nearly out in the kitchen; 
 the candle burned low in its socket; Melissa had fallen 
 asleep over her knitting; Ebby was dreaming and 
 smiling in the cushioned arm-chair ; and old Turk lay in 
 the corner. 
 
 Suddenly the scene changed. Melissa jumped up, 
 rubbed her eyes, and, at the summons of a well-known 
 voice, ran to open the door. Turk bounced from the 
 hearth, and madly welcomed his master. Ebby also 
 awoke, and saw his mamma (as he always persisted in 
 calling Eliza), and his father who had come home with 
 her, and the playthings they had brought him, and was 
 the gladdest boy the round world then contained. 
 
314 Neighbors" Wives. 
 
 There are kisses, and questions, and supper for the 
 new-comers ; and again the scene changes. Melissa is 
 sent to put Ebby to bed. Then Abel and Eliza alone, 
 the clock telling the minutes of midnight; the long, 
 earnest, tender, sorrowful talk; she, yielding to him 
 one all too sympathetic trembling hand, while with the 
 other she clasps the still unopened letter in her pocket, 
 as if that alone could keep her true to the absent one ; 
 there parting at last, in anguish, after all the joy and 
 triumph of the day, he lonely and bereft, she faithful 
 still in purpose to her affianced, despite her most un 
 faithful heart; the sound of the door that closed be 
 tween them, and the utter silence and solitude of the 
 night that followed; at which closing scenes of our 
 drama we can only hint, for were we to relate in detail 
 all that passed, 
 
 The story would outlast a night in Kussia, 
 When nights are longest there." 
 
 Early the next morning, Abel, " wrapped in dis 
 mal thinkings," having vainly endeavored to sleep, 
 sat alone by the fire, in the home to which he had 
 been restored, only, as it seemed, to feel its vacancy, 
 Faustina lost, his mother gone, Eliza about to go. !N"o 
 doubt Eliza was fast asleep, and dreaming of her -dis 
 tant lover, to whom she was so soon to return. So 
 Abel thought, disconsolately enough; reflecting ungrate 
 fully that even his saddest night in prison had been 
 
Home. 315 
 
 happier than this; when he heard the door softly open, 
 and, looking up, saw Eliza. She smiled faintly. 
 
 " Darling ! " he cried ; "I knew you could not \ 
 I knew you would come back to me ! " though, poor 
 fellow, he certainly knew no such thing, or else, as he 
 sat there, the world would have looked to him somewhat 
 less dreary. 
 
 But Eliza, although she smiled, was shivering, and 
 very pale; and he knew not yet whether to hope, or 
 still to keep company with despair. 
 
 " There is something here which I thought you 
 ought to know of " she said, in a voice shaking with 
 the cold. And the letter of her betrothed, which, after 
 much unhappy de^ay, she had summoned the resolution 
 to read, she placed in Abel s hand. Ah, different now 
 the times from those long ago, when he placed in her hand 
 the letter of his love, the beautiful Faustina, and she could 
 not read it for the wrong that was wringing her heart! 
 
 Perhaps, by this time, that wrong had been amply 
 avenged; as all wrongs are, soon or late, in this world 
 or the next. 
 
 Abel read with interest, which darkened into pain as 
 he proceeded, then kindled into surprise, and brightened 
 at last into a blaze of triumph. 
 
 The devoted lover, the generous, disinterested friend, 
 had grown at length impatient. Eliza s letters had 
 not satisfied him; that she cared more for Abel in 
 prison than for him in the home he had offered her, was 
 but too evident; and so, without penning a single re- 
 
316 Neighbors Wives. 
 
 proach (for, indeed, she had dealt truly with him from 
 the first, as he acknowledged), but not without pro 
 found regret on his part, he begged leave to release 
 her from her engagement. 
 
 " But, Abel ! " suddenly exclaimed Eliza, disengaging 
 herself from his arms; and a shadow fell upon her 
 glowing, suffused face. 
 
 " What is it ? " Abel asked, starting from the dream 
 that their bliss was perfect now. 
 
 " I OWE THAT DEAR MAJST THREE HUNDRED DOL 
 LARS 1 " 
 
 " Phew !" whistled Abel, pursing up his brows; for 
 he knew this debt had been incurred for his sake, and 
 that she had impoverished herself to fee his lawyers, 
 and could not pay it, and that he had never a cent. 
 
 " He must be paid," said Eliza. 
 
 " Certainly, he must be paid," Abel muttered, plunged 
 in thought, " but how ? All my property is mortgaged. 
 I can t borrow. I ve sold even my tool-chest. I can 
 go to work, and if ever I worked with a will, I shall 
 now, but that is a debt that should be paid at once. 
 He is a noble man: he certainly deserved you, Liza, 
 better than I do, I m afraid, I know ! " feeling with 
 deep humility how selfishly he had acted towards her 
 from the first. 
 
 They sat talking until the morning was well ad 
 vanced, Abel s mind still perplexed. 
 
 There came a knock at the door, and, Melissa opening 
 it, in walked John Apjohn the cooper, and Prudence 
 
Home. 317 
 
 Apjohn his wife; who, having heard of Abel s return, 
 had hastened to be the first to congratulate him. 
 
 Prudence was radiant, and John was gay and smil 
 ing, all his melancholy having been dissipated by the 
 glad tidings of Abel s release from prison. 
 
 " And if ever I heerd a bit o news that done my soul 
 good," said Prudence, all smiles and tears, " it was when 
 old Mr. Smith come to our house jest now for a firkin, 
 and said you was seen gittin out o the stage, you and 
 Lizy, up to the square, last night." 
 
 " And, I was a goin for to say," said John, with boy 
 ish eagerness, " knowin as how you was put to t for 
 money fore the trial, I was a goin for to say," 
 
 " Fact is," Prudence snatched the thread of his 
 discourse, " me and my husband here has got three or 
 four hunderd dollars a comin in jest about this time, 
 money we ve lent in years past, an as we ve no 
 airthly use for it right away," 
 
 " An knowin t you sold off everything," struck in 
 the cooper, " an you must stand in need o somethin 
 for to give ye a start," 
 
 " An if twould be any sort o commodation to you," 
 resumed Prudence, "to have the use o that money, 
 thout interest, for a year or so, or as long as ye want, 
 till ye git a little forehanded agin, thout interest" 
 she repeated, emphatically, " why, you re welcome to 
 it, you re welcome to it, Abel Dane, as much as if you 
 was my own son ! " 
 
 " To be sure, to be sure," assented the cooper. 
 
318 Neighbors 1 Wives. 
 
 " O Abel ! how we are provided for ! " exclaimed 
 Eliza. 
 
 Abel shook his neighbors heartily by the hand, and 
 thanked them with deeper joy and gratitude than he 
 could express, and of course consented to relieve them 
 of their superfluous hundreds; sending them home 
 rejoicing. 
 
 The debt was paid, and Abel began life anew. 
 
 And so all things came duly round at last: the circle 
 grew complete, Abel obtaining without long delay a 
 divorce from his already divorced wife, and entering 
 with Eliza the path of blessedness into which the devi 
 ous ways of difficulty and the sometimes dark ways of 
 duty had led them. 
 
 It remains to add only a word. Faustina never saw 
 husband or child again. But while Abel consoled him 
 self, and Ebby found indeed a mother in Eliza, she, the 
 beautiful one, married a second time, and lives, as I 
 learn, a gay life. 
 
 And so poetical justice is not done ? Very well; 
 divine justice is done, nevertheless. I am not aware 
 that either she or Tasso Smith ever received for their 
 misdeeds what the world calls punishment. But that 
 any one is permitted to live on, unrepentant and un 
 checked, a life of selfishness, is perhaps, in the sight of 
 a higher Wisdom, the greatest punishment of all. 
 
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