ept her
in doors as much as possible; and she spent most of the time knitting
ascension-robes for the saints of the twelve tribes of the house of
Judah. These were long garments, coming nearly to the feet, each of a
single color, royal purple and blue being her favorites. She said that
she must improve every moment, lest the great and dreadful day of the
Lord should come, and she should not be ready, i. e., would not have a
robe prepared for each of the saints to ascend in. When her son, a boy
of twelve, died, she had him buried by the front doorstep, so, when
the procession of saints should pass out at the door, Erastus could
join them immediately, and not have to come from the burying-ground, a
mile away.

It was after sunset when Mr. Pike passed along the village street, on
his way home, and was informed by a good woman, standing at her gate,
that his wife had gone by about one o'clock, and that, not long after,
Jane and Sarah Holmes were missed. Some little girls they had been
playing with had seen them get into Mr. Pike's house through the
dining-room window, and that was the last that had been seen or heard
of them. Mrs. Holmes was going on dreadfully; for she thought that, as
likely as not, Madam Pike had thrown them down in the well, or hid
them where they would never be found, and then run away. The
bewildered man hurried home to harness his horse, and go in search of
his wife; for, with a trust in her better nature, worthy of a woman,
he believed that she would tell him where the children were, if she
knew. Fortunately, he found her in a tavern about a mile from home,
preaching, as the children would say. As usual, she was exhorting her
hearers to prepare for the great and terrible day of the Lord, etc.,
etc.; but when her husband appeared in the doorway, the thread of her
discourse was suddenly broken, and she turned and accosted him with,
"Ah, Mr. Pike, have you seen my prisoners in the Cave of Machpelah?
They belong to that wicked and rebellious tribe of Korah, you know."

"Well, Mary, let's go home, and see how they are getting along," said
he, in a confident tone; for he instantly divined who her prisoners
were, and that the Cave of Machpelah could not be far away.

Mrs. Pike was quite willing to go with him, and worried all the way
home; for she said prisoners were always in mischief, and there were
the robes hanging in the cave, which she had forgotten to put out of
their reach. So when they arrived,