ke, with his traffic and
dickering, had let the money received for his two acres slip through
his fingers,--he scarce knew how. Conrad, on the contrary, had bought
another field from an emigrant, and very nearly paid for it. Mike did a
commission-business, and thought of selling another field to set
himself afloat again.

[Illustration: The new parson was a young man of great zeal.]

"Now, there arose up a new king over Egypt," is a verse of which the
people of the village might have made a peculiar application. The old
parson was dead. He was a good man, but let things go their own way.
The new parson was a young man of great zeal. He was bent upon righting
all things, and did accomplish a great deal, until at last he got into
a declared connection with Lisa, the Lamb Innkeeper's daughter; after
which he ceased to meddle with people's private affairs,--for then he
might have been told to sweep at his own door. But as yet he was in the
full tide of reform.

One Sunday afternoon, when church was over, people sat about on the
lumber brought for the new engine-house which was to be built near the
town-house well. Mike was there too, sitting with his elbows on his
knees and chewing a straw. Peter, Shackerle's John's boy, who was only
five years old, was passing. Somebody cried, "Peter, I'll give you a
handful of nuts if you'll do like Conrad: how does Conrad do?" The
child shook his head, and was going on, for he was afraid of Mike; but
they held him fast, and teased him till at last he did the tying of the
knot, the pulling up, and the stretching out of the tongue. The shouts
of laughter could have been heard through half the village. The boy
called for his nuts, but the contractor was found unable to furnish
them; so Peter kicked at him,--which made them all laugh again.

The new parson, who chanced to be coming down the little hill at the
town-house, had stopped to see the whole transaction. When the boy was
on the point of being pummelled for his indignant dunning, the parson
stepped up quickly and took the boy away. The farmers all arose in
great haste and pulled off their caps. The parson walked on, taking
with him the image-keeper, who happened to be among the crowd. From him
he heard the story of the feud between the brothers.

Next Saturday, as Conrad was breaking stones in the village, he was
summoned to meet the parson next morning after church. He looked
astonished: his pipe went out, and for two seconds th