e attack of delirium
tremens, and, when matters were at the worst with him, and they thought he
would die, Hannah's energetic mind began to form plans for the future.
Henry and Esther should be married; the money in the Bank should pay off
the most pressing liabilities; the care and industry of the young people
should restore the house to its former flourishing condition; Mrs.
Jackson, the mother, could live with her son, and they should all be once
more happy--for, the tempter gone, George would be sober. Was he not sober
now at the pleasant farm-house, where he was living with her friends? Did
not every letter of her cousin's praise him, and assure her that he never
expressed a desire to drink; and that even although they had been to a
christening in the neighborhood, where there was a vast deal of
conviviality, George had been so abstemious and cautious, as to delight
them all?

But, alas! Jackson recovered, and with his recovery Hannah's plans were
frustrated; but she had a fertile brain; and, where the welfare of those
she loved was concerned, her energies never slept. She learnt from Harry,
that Jackson's creditors were more pressing than ever, and that he did not
know which way to turn for money. It was quite certain that if nothing
were done, his property would be seized, and his wife turned into the
street. Might she not take advantage of these embarrassments, and execute
her original plan on condition of his abandoning the neighborhood
altogether? Next to his death, his removal would be the best thing. Harry
and Esther would keep the House; the creditors would be indulgent; and,
among the family, they would make an allowance for the support of Mr. and
Mrs. Jackson in some distant spot; any sacrifice being preferable to the
certain ruin that impended. Mrs. Jackson was afraid that her husband would
not consent to the scheme; but she was mistaken; people who are the
victims of intemperance are easily won to acquiesce in any measures that
are proposed for their advantage; their adherence to them is another
affair. But Hannah set to work; and as there was a general sympathy with
her laudable endeavor, she met with full success. Such portions of the
debt as they could not pay, Harry and Hammond were to become answerable
for; and as the business of the King's Arms had once been a profitable
one, there was every reason to hope that the young man might lure back the
customers, in process of time release his father-in-la