or
butter, with the burnt-out stove, were in his wagon and his bank book
was in his pocket. It was with sinking heart that he thought of making
further inroads on his small accumulations.

Before he was out of sight Mrs. Mumpson betook herself to the rocking
chair and began to expatiate on the blindness and obduracy of men in
general and of Mr. Holcroft in particular. "They are all much alike,"
she complained, "and are strangely neglectful of the proprieties of
life. My dear, deceased husband, your father, was becoming gradually
senserble of my value in guiding him in this respect, and indeed, I may
add in all respects, when, in the very prime of his expanding manhood,
he was laid low. Of course, my happiness was buried then and my heart
can never throb again, but I have a mission in the world--I feel
it--and here is a desolate home bereft of female influence and
consolation and hitherto painfully devoid of respecterbility.

"I once called on the late Mrs. Holcroft, and--I must say it--I went
away depressed by a sense of her lack of ability to develop in her
husband those qualities which would make him an ornament to society.
She was a silent woman, she lacked mind and ideas. She had seen little
of the world and knew not what was swaying people. Therefore, her
husband, having nothing else to think of, became absorbed in the
accumulation of dollars. Not that I object to dollars--they have their
proper place,--but minds should be fixed on all things. We should take
a deep personal interest in our fellow beings, and thus we grow broad.
As I was saying, Mr. Holcroft was not developed by his late spouse. He
needs awakening, arousing, stimulating, drawing out, and such I feel to
be my mission. I must be patient; I cannot expect the habits of years
to pass away under a different kind of female influence, at once."

Jane had been stolidly washing and putting away dishes during this
partial address to herself and partial soliloquy, but now remarked,
"You and me will pass away in a week if you go on as you've begun. I
can see it comin'. Then, where'll we go to?"

"Your words, Jane, only show that you are an ignorant, short-sighted
child. Do you suppose that a woman of my years and experience would
make no better provision for the future than a man's changeful mind--a
warped and undeveloped mind, at that? No; I have an agreement with Mr.
Holcroft. I shall be a member of his household for three months at
least, and