ichie, and got all the proofs of her parentage."

"Thank Heaven!" said Mrs. Swan, giving the baby a toss in the air, while
its little soft-hearted mother hid her head on the old man's shoulder,
and shed a few tears of thankfulness and relief.

"What! crying just at the hour of triumph?" said her spirited friend. "I
did not know how cruelly you had suffered from these base suspicions,
until now."

"There, there, child," said Mr. Garnet, gently, smoothing the satin hair
with his horny hand, "get on your things and wrap up the baby. There's a
select few up at Dr. Little's to-night, and, though he ain't a
particular friend of mine, I've a notion to give him a surprise party, a
kind of comin' out occasion, you know, for the minister's new
step-daughter."

The spacious parlors of the doctor's residence were as brilliantly
lighted as the illuminating power of six large kerosene lamps, in full
blaze, would allow, and as Mr. Garnet had declared, a "select few" of
that gentleman's friends were there assembled, to talk over the
feasibility of the minister's calling the detractors of his amiable wife
to a speedy account before the proper authorities of the village.

That injured lady sat enthroned in easy chair, in a quiet corner,
casting martyr-like looks upon her sympathizers. Just as we are
observing that stately personage, she interrupted the Elder, who had
been speaking, with great volubility, "Don't say another word upon this
painful subject, husband. I can't bear it. To think that all my
well-meant efforts should be rewarded with such base ingratitude, wounds
me deeply. Still I would use no harsh measures, but ever incline to the
side of mercy."

"But justice must be done, my dear sister," said the doctor. "In your
generous disinterestedness, you must not forget that you owe something
to your husband and the church, over which he presides. Your dignity
must be sustained, and it would never do to pass over this matter, since
it has become the theme of idle gossip for the whole town. _I_ advise my
brother to call in the aid of the law, without delay."

"Oh, I could never think of that," returned the lady; "something else
will have to be decided upon. I do not wish the Elder to be drawn into a
lawsuit on my account. I can live down these foul aspersions. In time,
these people, whom I have come among, will know me as I am."

It seemed as if the lady's prophetic forebodings were to be literally
verified then and there. A