satisfy her. She retired with quicker
steps; and did not again return during the evening.

Ah! what a commentary upon the uses of an attractive tavern was here!
My heart ached, as I thought of all that unknown mother had suffered,
and was doomed to suffer. I could not shut out the image of her
drooping form as I lay upon my pillow that night; she even haunted me
in my dreams.

NIGHT THE SIXTH.

MORE CONSEQUENCES.

The landlord did not make his appearance on the next morning until
nearly ten o'clock; and then he looked like a man who had been on a
debauch. It was eleven before Harvey Green came down. Nothing about him
indicated the smallest deviation from the most orderly habit. Clean
shaved, with fresh linen, and a face, every line of which was smoothed
into calmness, he looked as if he had slept soundly on a quiet
conscience, and now hailed the new day with a tranquil spirit.

The first act of Slade was to go behind the bar and take a stiff glass
of brandy and water; the first act of Green, to order beefsteak and
coffee for his breakfast. I noticed the meeting between the two men, on
the appearance of Green. There was a slight reserve on the part of
Green, and an uneasy embarrassment on the part of Slade. Not even the
ghost of a smile was visible in either countenance. They spoke a few
words together, and then separated as if from a sphere of mutual
repulsion. I did not observe them again in company during the day.

"There's trouble over at the mill," was remarked by a gentleman with
whom I had some business transactions in the afternoon. He spoke to a
person who sat in his office.

"Ah! what's the matter?" said the other.

"All the hands were discharged at noon, and the mill shut down."

"How comes that?"

"They've been losing money from the start."

"Rather bad practice, I should say."

"It involves some bad practices, no doubt."

"On Willy's part?"

"Yes. He is reported to have squandered the means placed in his hands,
after a shameless fashion."

"Is the loss heavy?"

"So it is said."

"How much?"

"Reaching to thirty or forty thousand dollars. But this is rumor, and,
of course, an exaggeration."

"Of course. No such loss as that could have been made. But what was
done with the money? How could Willy have spent it? He dashes about a
great deal; buys fast horses, drinks rather freely, and all that; but
thirty or forty thousand dollars couldn't escape in this way."

At the moment