village. Again he had Bright up before the magistrate, who
justified the aggression, but fined the aggressor ten dollars a kick,
which Bright considered cheap enough considering what was got for his
money. Bright declared it a principle with him to give his customers
what they wanted, and let them be the judge of their own necessities.
Bigelow Chapman held that mankind was a big beast, to be subdued and
governed by laws made for his subjection. It never occurred to him,
however, that there might be reason in the opinions of others. Finding,
however, that he could not get the better of Bright in any other way, he
organized a company and set up an opposition tavern, where a traveller
could feel at home and have none of the annoyances of beer. The new inn
was to be conducted on strictly temperance principles, and the price of
board was to be reduced a dollar a week. But the principle of temperance
was carried out so rigidly in the fare that travellers, although treated
politely enough, found it difficult to get anything to eat, to say
nothing of drink.

While this was going on Mrs. Bigelow Chapman was busying herself getting
up an anti-tea-and-coffee-drinking society. She declared that this
coffee and tea-drinking was nothing less than an oppression, breaking
down people's health and making them poor, while the grocers who sold
the stuff were getting rich. It was evident, also, that she was carrying
her principles out on the table of the new inn. However commendable
these reforms might be in the eyes of a true reformer, they were not
exactly the thing to satisfy the wants of hungry travellers. The new inn
soon got up an excellent reputation for giving its customers nothing but
politeness and clean linen. This not being satisfactory to the
travelling public generally, the establishment had to close its doors
for want of customers. Chapman was surprised at this. He could not
understand why reformers were not better appreciated about Nyack. The
stock-holders, however, had lost all their money, and were glad to sell
out to Chapman, which they did for a trifle, and that was all he
wanted.

People began to inquire what the big building would next be turned into.
Mrs. Chapman and her dear husband, as she called him, were always
projecting something new. Indeed, she saw two fortunes in the future
where Chapman only saw one. The thought invaded her mind that there was
a fortune to be made by turning the big house into a great mora