ed and respectful admiration. But
suddenly the uplifting of his eyes was stopped by a remark from the
lady herself, as she said,--

"Sam--Mr. Kimper, I've heard some remarks about your speech at the
experience-meeting the other night. You know I was there myself; you
remember I spoke to you as you came out?"

"Mrs. Prency, I know it; an' that isn't all; I'll remember it just as
long as I live. I'd rather have been the dyin' thief on the cross than
said what I said in that church that night, but I was asked to do it,
an' the more I thought about it the more I thought I couldn't say no.
But I didn't know what else to say."

"You did quite right, Mr. Kimper: you spoke like a real, true, honest
man. If it's any comfort to know it, I can tell you that my husband,
the judge, thinks as I do. I told him what you said,--I remembered it
all, word for word,--and he said to me,--these are exactly his
words,--'I believe that is an honest man, and that he is going to
remain an honest man.'"

Sam bent over the shoe a little closer, and said, in a faint voice, as
if he were talking to himself,--

"What Judge Prency says about human natur ort to be true. If there's
any other man in this county that's had more opportunities of knowin'
all about it, I don't know who he can be."

There was silence for a moment or two. Sam quickened his labors upon
the shoe, and the lady bent her gaze closely upon the shoemaker. At
last she said,--

"Mr. Kimper, don't mistake the meaning of what I am going to ask you. I
am a member of the church, myself, and I have as hearty an interest in
you and sympathy for you as the best friend you have. But I want to ask
you one thing, merely out of curiosity. Has any one questioned you,
since, about what you said that evening?"

"Nobody but Deacon Quickset, ma'am."

"Ah? Deacon Quickset? Did he say anything that annoyed you in any way?"

"I can't say that he did, ma'am; though he kind o' filled my mind with
doubts an' gave me a sort o' sleepless evenin'."

"I'm very sorry for that. There's some one else who may trouble you
somewhat, and I'm sorry to say that if he does I shall be to blame for
it. He is a young lawyer. His name is Reynolds Bartram."

"I know him, ma'am; at least, I know him by sight. He's of very good
stock, ma'am. His folks have been in this county a longtime, from what
I've heerd, off an' on."

"Very true," replied Mrs. Prency; "but he has peculiar views, and when
he hears of any on