held the tub with the hole upwards, and while he went
through the process of alternately pressing and ceasing to press, she
produced a bottle of water, from which she took mouthfuls, conveying each
to the keg by putting her pretty lips to the hole, where it was sucked in
at each recovery of the cask from pressure. When it was again full he
plugged the hole, knocked the hoop down to its place, and buried the tub
in the lumber as before.

'Aren't the smugglers afraid that you will tell?' he asked, as they
recrossed the churchyard.

'O no; they are not afraid of that. I couldn't do such a thing.'

'They have put you into a very awkward corner,' said Stockdale
emphatically. 'You must, of course, as an honest person, sometimes feel
that it is your duty to inform--really you must.'

'Well, I have never particularly felt it as a duty; and, besides, my
first husband--' She stopped, and there was some confusion in her voice.
Stockdale was so honest and unsophisticated that he did not at once
discern why she paused: but at last he did perceive that the words were a
slip, and that no woman would have uttered 'first husband' by accident
unless she had thought pretty frequently of a second. He felt for her
confusion, and allowed her time to recover and proceed. 'My husband,'
she said, in a self-corrected tone, 'used to know of their doings, and so
did my father, and kept the secret. I cannot inform, in fact, against
anybody.'

'I see the hardness of it,' he continued, like a man who looked far into
the moral of things. 'And it is very cruel that you should be tossed and
tantalized between your memories and your conscience. I do hope, Mrs.
Newberry, that you will soon see your way out of this unpleasant
position.'

'Well, I don't just now,' she murmured.

By this time they had passed over the wall and entered the house, where
she brought him a glass and hot water, and left him to his own
reflections. He looked after her vanishing form, asking himself whether
he, as a respectable man, and a minister, and a shining light, even
though as yet only of the halfpenny-candle sort, were quite justified in
doing this thing. A sneeze settled the question; and he found that when
the fiery liquor was lowered by the addition of twice or thrice the
quantity of water, it was one of the prettiest cures for a cold in the
head that he had ever known, particularly at this chilly time of the
year.

Stockdale sat in the deep chair abo