n to eat dog. And here
comes the end of the matter, if I'm not mistaken. So mix us a stiff
toddy. I want one more good drink at the 'Sickle and Sheaf,' before the
colors are struck."

And the man chuckled at his witty effort.

During the day, I learned that affairs stood pretty much as this man
had conjectured. Lyman's suits had been on sundry notes payable on
demand; but nobody knew of any property transactions between him and
Slade. On the part of Slade, no defense had been made--the suit going
by default. The visit of the sheriff's officer was for the purpose of
serving an execution.

As I walked through Cedarville on that day, the whole aspect of the
place seemed changed. I questioned with myself, often, whether this
were really so, or only the effect of imagination. The change was from
cheerfulness and thrift, to gloom and neglect. There was, to me, a
brooding silence in the air; a pause in the life-movement; a folding of
the hands, so to speak, because hope had failed from the heart. The
residence of Mr. Harrison, who, some two years before, had suddenly
awakened to a lively sense of the evil of rum-selling, because his own
sons were discovered to be in danger, had been one of the most tasteful
in Cedarville. I had often stopped to admire the beautiful shrubbery
and flowers with which it was surrounded; the walks so clear--the
borders so fresh and even--the arbors so cool and inviting. There was
not a spot upon which the eye could rest, that did not show the hand of
taste. When I now came opposite to this house, I was not longer in
doubt as to the actuality of a change. There were no marked evidences
of neglect; but the high cultivation and nice regard for the small
details were lacking. The walks were cleanly swept; but the box-borders
were not so carefully trimmed. The vines and bushes that in former
times were cut and tied so evenly, could hardly have felt the keen
touch of the pruning-knife for months.

As I paused to note the change, a lady, somewhat beyond the middle age,
came from the house. I was struck by the deep gloom that overshadowed
her countenance. Ah! said I to myself, as I passed on, how many dear
hopes, that once lived in that heart, must have been scattered to the
winds. As I conjectured, this was Mrs. Harrison, and I was not
unprepared to hear, as I did a few hours afterward, that her two sons
had fallen into drinking habits; and, not only this, had been enticed
to the gaming-table. Unhapp