d not mentioned, and
which she would attempt to gratify. He was disappointed, and went out,
hoping to see her at dinner. Dinner time came; he sat down to the meal,
finished it, lingered on for a whole hour, although two new teachers were
at that moment waiting at the chapel-door to speak to him by appointment.
It was useless to wait longer, and he slowly went his way down the lane,
cheered by the thought that, after all, he would see her in the evening,
and perhaps engage again in the delightful tub-broaching in the
neighbouring church tower, which proceeding he resolved to render more
moral by steadfastly insisting that no water should be introduced to fill
up, though the tub should cluck like all the hens in Christendom. But
nothing could disguise the fact that it was a queer business; and his
countenance fell when he thought how much more his mind was interested in
that matter than in his serious duties.

However, compunction vanished with the decline of day. Night came, and
his tea and supper; but no Lizzy Newberry, and no sweet temptations. At
last the minister could bear it no longer, and said to his quaint little
attendant, 'Where is Mrs. Newberry to-day?' judiciously handing a penny
as he spoke.

'She's busy,' said Martha.

'Anything serious happened?' he asked, handing another penny, and
revealing yet additional pennies in the background.

'O no--nothing at all!' said she, with breathless confidence. 'Nothing
ever happens to her. She's only biding upstairs in bed because 'tis her
way sometimes.'

Being a young man of some honour, he would not question further, and
assuming that Lizzy must have a bad headache, or other slight ailment, in
spite of what the girl had said, he went to bed dissatisfied, not even
setting eyes on old Mrs. Simpkins. 'I said last night that I should see
her to-morrow,' he reflected; 'but that was not to be!'

Next day he had better fortune, or worse, meeting her at the foot of the
stairs in the morning, and being favoured by a visit or two from her
during the day--once for the purpose of making kindly inquiries about his
comfort, as on the first evening, and at another time to place a bunch of
winter-violets on his table, with a promise to renew them when they
drooped. On these occasions there was something in her smile which
showed how conscious she was of the effect she produced, though it must
be said that it was rather a humorous than a designing consciousness, and
sa