The Mayor's Wife

et her. From the toys scattered about her feet I judged that the child had been with her, and certainly the light in her eyes had

"I'm feeling very well this morning. That is why I have brought out this big piece of work." She he

bout herself, then, seeing she was in a favorable mood for gossip, was on the point of v

t and day till nothing else seemed real or would rouse the slightest interest? I mean a religious idea," she stammered with anxious a

and quietly as I knew how; "I

o throw them off?-by

on mine. How unexpected the privilege! I felt

"Everything yields to time and

lieved at once, can the will be made to suffice, whe

t it is better to fill the mind so full with what is pleasant that no room is left for gloom.

the pleasures which surround me." Here she took up her work again. "I will forget-I will-" She stopped and her eyes left her work to flash a rapid

s her glance stole back to

ectly warm. I don't feel slight changes. I thought some

oor she indicated. It was slightly

o one here

, and gave no indication of speaking again on that or t

ormer basis? Idly I glanced out of the side window I was passing, and the view of the adjoining house I thus gained acted like an inspiration. I would

ed my seat at her side. "I replied, 'Sometimes'; but I might have said i

ok more of curiosi

thought she knew enough not to do that. There's nothing to fear here, Miss Saunders; absolutely nothing for y

me,-living eyes, living passions, the old ladies next door," I finished falteringly, for Mrs. Packard was looking at me with a show of startling alarm. "They stare into my room night and day. I never

effect upon her. The result disappointed me; she wa

eep them from coming here. I think if you were to call upon them they would leave you alone after that. They are very fond of being called on. They are persons of the highest gentility, you know. They owned th

convinced that these strange neighbors of hers were more or less invo

rt of desperation, perhaps because my husband's name inspired them with confidence. Immediately after, I could see that they regretted the impulse, and so I have remained silent.

e not to talk about it?"

immediately inspires confidence. I shall exa

d to promise secrecy. It might become my i

both of their f

odd

. I had known very little about them before; no more, in fact, than I have already told you. I was consequently much astonished when they called, for I had supposed them to be veritable recluses, but I was still more astonished when I noted their manner and the agitated and strangely penetrating looks they cast about them as I ushered them into the library, which was the only room I had had time to arrange. A few minutes' further observation of them showed me that neither of them was quite right. Instead of entering into conversation with me t

ose. Preparing myself for I knew not what, I regarded them with such open interest that before I knew it, and quite before I was ready for any such exh

ckly raised them, at which Miss Thankful to

heir privations; but they were broken-hearted and had been so for a long time, because they could no longer do for him as of old. Shabby themselves, and evidently ill-nourished, they grieved not over their own changed lot, but over his. They could not be reconciled to his lack of luxuries, much less to the difficulties in which he frequently found himself, who was made to ruffle it with the best and be the pride of their lives as he was the darling of their hearts. All this the poor old things made apparent to me, but their story did not become really interesting till they began to speak of this house we are in, and of certain events which followed their removal to the ramshackle dwelling next door. The sale of this portion of the property had relieved them from their debts, but they were otherwise penniless, and were just plann

e fell, and I cast

s in those days?"

ll sick, and they had to call in a nurse to assist Miss Thankful, who by this time had a dozen lodgers to look after. Then he grew very restless. Miss Thankful said he seemed to be afraid of this nurse, and always had a fever after having been left alone with her; but he gave no reason for his fears, and she herself was too straitened in means and in too much trouble otherwise to be affected by such mere whims, and went on doing her best, sitting with him whenever

d his case, and that he was really very near death. She was in a flurry and wanted to call in the neighbors and rout

e bed to hear what he had to say to her, for he looked ve

ery room where it had all happened. As she reached this part of her narration, she pointed to the wall partitioning

te to her. Though he had seemed the indifferent brother for years, his heart had always been with his home and his people, and he was going to prove it to her now; he had made money, and this money was to be hers and Charity's. He had saved it for them, brought it to them from the far West; a pile of money all honestly earned, which he hoped would buy back their old house

f only it might be enough! Five thousand, ten thousand. But no, it could not be so much. Her brother was daft to think she could restore the old home on what he had been able to save. She said something to

hen sat again, overcome by her delight. Placing her hand on

; there was no mistake in the figures. She held fifty thousand dollars in her hands for the space of half a minute; then he bade her put them back, with an injunction to wat

her eyes towards the window, and she found herself looking out upon what for the moment seemed the continuation of her dream. This was the figure of her nephew, standing in the doorway of the adjoining house. This entrance into the alley is closed up now, but in those days it was a constant source of communication between the two houses, and, being directly opposite the l

y her brother slept, she slipped out of the room to the side door and ran across the alley to her own house. Her nephew was no longer in the doorway where she had seen him, but he had left the door ajar and she rushed in to find him. He was in the parlor with Miss Charity, and no sooner did her eyes fall on them both than her full heart overflowed, and she blurted out their good fortune. Their wonder was immense and in the conversation which ensued unnoted minutes passed. Not till the clock struck did she realize that she had left her brother alone for

But she was a brave woman and in another instant her courage had revived. The money could not be far away; she would find it at the first search. Turning on the nurse, she looked her full in the face. The woman was gazing at the empty wallet. 'You know what was in that?' queried Miss Thankful. A fierce look answered her. 'A thousand dollars!' announced Miss Thankful. The nurse's lip curled. 'Oh, you knew that it was five,' was Miss Thankful's next outburst. Still no answer, but a look which seemed to devour the empty wallet. This look had its effect. Miss Thankful dropped her accusatory tone, and attempted cajolery. 'It was his legacy to us,' she explained. 'He gave it to me just before he died. You shall be paid out of it. Now will you call my sister? She's up and with my nephew, who came an hour ago. Call them both; I am not afraid to remain here for a few moments with my brother's body.' This appeal, or perhaps the promise, had its effect. The nurse disappeared, after another careful look at her patient, and Miss Thankful bounded to her feet and began a hurried search for the missing bonds. Th

ed; "and the ne

t, and she to seek work which was all the more necessary to her, since she had lost her pay,

are all day out of their upper window at these wa

ng in some out-of-the-way place in these old walls, and are jealous of any one who comes in here. This you can understand better when I tell you that one feature of their mania is this: they have lost all sense of time. It is two years since their brother died, yet to them it is an aff

uppose they have appealed in the same

ver has. The traditions associated with the house," here her manner changed a little, "are of qu

w much of this old woman's story do you believe? Can not she have been deceived as to what she saw? You

oves anything; but somehow I do believe in the money, and, what is more,

the same; it lends such an interest to the pla

ver find it. The house was all redecorated when we came

souls their silent watch over these walls

ve lost your

ui

owing me for the first time a face of