ed now to
take no notice of the unusual state of things, but talked to me--to any
one, on indifferent subjects, regardless of her father's gravity, of
her mother's piteous looks of bewilderment. But once my eyes fell upon
her hands, concealed under the table, and I could see the passionate,
convulsive manner in which she laced and interlaced her fingers
perpetually, wringing them together from time to time, wringing till
the compressed flesh became perfectly white. What could I do? I talked
with her, as I saw she wished; her grey eyes had dark circles round
them and a strange kind of dark light in them; her cheeks were flushed,
but her lips were white and wan. I wondered that others did not read
these signs as clearly as I did. But perhaps they did; I think, from
what came afterwards, the minister did. Poor cousin Holman! she
worshipped her husband; and the outward signs of his uneasiness were
more patent to her simple heart than were her daughter's. After a while
she could bear it no longer. She got up, and, softly laying her hand on
his broad stooping shoulder, she said,--

'What is the matter, minister? Has anything gone wrong?'

He started as if from a dream. Phillis hung her head, and caught her
breath in terror at the answer she feared. But he, looking round with a
sweeping glance, turned his broad, wise face up to his anxious wife,
and forced a smile, and took her hand in a reassuring manner.

'I am blaming myself, dear. I have been overcome with anger this
afternoon. I scarcely knew what I was doing, but I turned away Timothy
Cooper. He has killed the Ribstone pippin at the corner of the orchard;
gone and piled the quicklime for the mortar for the new stable wall
against the trunk of the tree--stupid fellow! killed the tree
outright--and it loaded with apples!'

'And Ribstone pippins are so scarce,' said sympathetic cousin Holman.

'Ay! But Timothy is but a half-wit; and he has a wife and children. He
had often put me to it sore, with his slothful ways, but I had laid it
before the Lord, and striven to bear with him. But I will not stand it
any longer, it's past my patience. And he has notice to find another
place. Wife, we won't talk more about it.' He took her hand gently off
his shoulder, touched it with his lips; but relapsed into a silence as
profound, if not quite so morose in appearance, as before. I could not
tell why, but this bit of talk between her father and mother seemed to
take all the factiti