hem, that Mrs. Bell would say.

It was in this manner that the good lady spread the report which she
desired through the gossiping little town. Rapidly did the little piece
of gossip swell and magnify. It even travelled into the country, and so
huge did its dimensions grow there, that it not only killed Matty, but
buried her, and placed a beautiful tablet in white marble over her
grave, erected by the repentant Captain Bertram and the remorseful
Beatrice Meadowsweet.

Meantime the dying martyr had a very dull time in her bed. She was not
the kind of girl to love very deeply--her mother had done her utmost to
make the poor child fall in love with Captain Bertram, but when all was
said he had only managed to tickle her vanity. Now she considered that
he had put her to shame and derision, and she began to dislike him very
much. Her sisters fostered this dislike with the tales they brought in
from the outside world.

"You're the laughing-stock of the town," Alice would say. "Everybody is
talking about you, and having a laugh at you. You needn't suppose that
you are pitied, for you are not."

"Oh," groaned Matty. "How I wish, how I do wish, I had never met that
horrid, odious man."

"He's not horrid nor odious at all," retorted the practical Sophy. "He
looks lovely when he walks about with Beatrice. I saw them yesterday in
the Green, and Beatrice came up at once and asked about you. What do you
think ma did, Matty? She turned her back on Bee and sailed away. Poor
Bee quite colored up, and didn't know what to make of it."

"They say Beatrice is to have a lovely wedding," said Alice. "And Mr.
Ingram is going to have the whole church decorated with flowers. And a
bishop is coming down from London to marry them. And Mr. Ingram is going
to give Beatrice away himself, for he says she's like a daughter to him.
And there's to be another great party at the Rectory the day of her
wedding, Matty, and lots of fire-works in the evening."

"Oh, dear," sighed Matty, "I think Captain Bertram is a very base man."

"You'd better give up that idea," said Alice, "for no one else agrees
with you. You know perfectly he never paid you attentions. It was all ma
who would think so. And you know, Matty, you can't deny it--you did try
to squeeze his hand the first day he danced with you."

"I didn't," said Matty, flushing all over with indignation. "I think you
both are cruel. I've had a very heavy trial, and you neither of you
sympathize a