odates itself, without apparent effort, to
the accidents and diversities of society. Having few attributes of
mind, and no tastes in common with the secluded inhabitants of Green
Valley, but possessing a kind heart and an amiable temper, she
endeavored to conform, so far as native refinement would permit, to
the habits and wishes of her husband's pastoral charge.

For the first six months succeeding Mr. Lion's installation the
triumph of the immigrants seemed complete. Deacon Heedful was
reappointed to the office he held under Mr. Worthiman's ministration,
and Mrs. Tiptop assumed her undisputed place of honor next to the
minister's wife--introduced a maternal association, and a female
prayer-meeting among the women of the congregation, in the exercises
of which she invariably took the lead, and made herself so
_prominently_ useful, that Deacon Heedful often prayed that she might
live to be "a mother in Israel." Even the spirit of discord for a time
appeared to be exorcised from their midst, while admiration of the new
minister and his lovely wife was the absorbing passion of the day.

But the evil spirit that had built the church was not long to be
denied his right to a place in it, and before many months began to
show himself in various forms and guises. First, there arose an
indistinct murmur that Mr. Lion did not visit his people familiarly
and often enough; nor did he make pastoral tea-visits with his wife,
as was Mr. Worthiman's custom. Then a whisper was heard that Mrs. Lion
seemed to consider herself of "better flesh and blood" than others;
that even Mrs. Tiptop wasn't a confidential friend of hers; but they
guessed her piety was no better than theirs, by the fashionable way in
which she dressed. Then, the new minister and his wife cared more for
each other than they did for their parishioners, as they frequently
walked out together without stopping to call on any of them. Thus, in
various quarters, discontent began to show itself, and somehow or
other could always be traced back to Mrs. Tiptop, who evidently felt
chagrined at not being invited to share the secrets of Mrs. Lion's
household.

But now an unlooked for arrival at the new minister's gave fresh
impulse and direction to the evil genius of Green Valley. The
new-comer was a sister of Mrs. Lion's, just from England, who, it was
understood, would be a future inmate of the family. Miss May proved to
have the _disadvantages_, in the eyes of the village bel