"Fifty thousand dollars!" gasped Miss Pryor; "do I hear aright? I wonder
what Mrs. Dr. Little, and the Briers, and all them that turned against
her, will say to that? It will be a particularly sweet morsel for the
Owens. I must call round and visit each one of them, to enjoy their
discomfiture."

"What a thing it is to be ignorant and narrow-minded," added Mrs. Wynn.
"I can't see how people get along through life without any knowledge of
human nature. Our poor departed Elder used to say he never could quite
make up his mind what to think of a new-comer until he had my opinion of
them, and, if I _do_ say it, as shouldn't say it, I've used these eyes
thus far to pretty good advantage."

"If she'd have used them less about her neighbors and a little more in
looking after that precious daughter of hers," whispered the spinster,
maliciously, as the old lady rose to put away the dishes, "it would have
been better for all concerned, I guess."

"Why, Betsey, how you _do_ talk!" replied Mrs. Swan. Then in a louder
tone: "I came near forgetting another thing that I wanted to ask you
about. I've sustained a dreadful shock. It's on account of these new
people at the Burton place. I had a long confidential talk with Sister
Arguseye, lately, and I haven't had a peaceful moment since. She called
in to see me to warn me about associating with them. You know she came
from the same place that they did, and knew all about the family."

"What did she say?" chorused both voices.

"Well, I'm grieved to say her report wasn't favorable. It seems the
elder Mrs. Garnet, who appears to be a perfect pattern of propriety, has
a grown-up, illegitimate daughter, whose existence they are trying to
conceal from strangers, whom they think they can successfully impose
upon."

"They have come to the wrong place for that. Vice will be exposed in
this community, and the workers of iniquity receive their reward,"
responded Mrs. Wynn, oracularly, and pursing up her thin lips and
sniffing her sharp nose higher in the air; "we must ferret this out,
Betsey."

"We must, indeed," echoed the spinster, looking as if nothing would
delight her more; "such a state of affairs cannot be tolerated in our
midst."

"The worst part of it is," continued Mrs. Swan, "they say that the
modest-looking daughter-in-law, whom I have felt so interested in, is
equally culpable, and married the son for similar reasons. I feel
dreadfully about the affair, for I was expecting