nted her all the day. After breakfast her mind began
to ponder what Mrs. Claxton had said on the day previous, and the more
she thought of her advice and example, the more she felt inclined to
adopt a similar course of action. On new Brussels carpets she had, long
ago, set her heart, and already worried her husband about them past
endurance. To obtain his consent to the purchase, she felt to be
hopeless.

"I must get them in this way, or not at all. So much is clear." Thus
she communed with herself. "He's able enough to pay the bill; if I had
any doubts of that, the matter would be settled; but I have none."

With the prospect of getting the long coveted carpets, came an
increased desire for their possession.

In imagination Mrs. Ellis saw them already on the floor. For some hours
there was a struggle in her mind. Then the tempter triumphed. She
dressed herself, and went out for the purpose of making a selection.
From this moment she did not hesitate. Calling at a well-known carpet
warehouse, she made her selection, and directed the bill, after the
carpet was made and put down, to be sent in to her husband. The price
of the carpet she chose was two dollars and a quarter a yard; and the
whole bill, including that of the upholsterer, would reach a hundred
and sixty dollars.

When Mrs. Ellis returned home, after having consummated her purpose,
the thought of her beautiful carpet gave her far less pleasure than she
had anticipated. In every wrong act lies its own punishment. Uneasiness
of mind follows as a sure consequence. From the idea of her beautiful
parlours, her mind would constantly turn to her husband.

"What _will_ he say?"

Ah! if she could only have answered that question satisfactorily!

"I will be so good, I will disarm him with kindness. I will humour him
in every thing. I will not give him a chance to be angry."

For a while this idea pleased the mind of Mrs. Ellis. But it only
brought a temporary respite to the uneasiness produced by her wrong act.

"I'll tell him just what I have done," said she to herself, as the
dinner hour approached, and Cara began to look for her husband's
return. "He might as well know it now, as in a week; and, besides, it
will give him time to prepare for the bill. Yes, that is what I will
do."

Still, her mind felt troubled. The act was done, and no way of retreat
remained open. The consequences must be met.

The hour for Mr. Ellis to return home at length arrived, and