to deal
out pecks of potatoes and superintend her basket of cantaloupes in the
Jersey market, in pasteboard bonnet and linsey petticoat. Her companions
were of the infamous class. If Arthur were still in the city, there is
no doubt that the mother and son might renew the ancient terms of their
acquaintance.

"The old man, thus robbed and betrayed, sought consolation in the
bottle, of which he had been at all times over-fond. He wandered from
one tavern to another till his credit was exhausted, and then was sent
to jail, where, I believe, he is likely to continue till his death.
Such, my friend, is the history of the Mervyns."

"What proof," said I, "have you of the immoral conduct of the son? Of
his mistreatment of his mother, and his elopement with his father's
horse and money?"

"I have no proof but the unanimous report of Mervyn's neighbours.
Respectable and honest men have affirmed, in my hearing, that they had
been present when the boy treated his mother in the way that I have
described. I was, besides, once in company with the old man, and heard
him bitterly inveigh against his son, and charge him with the fact of
stealing his horse and money. I well remember that tears rolled from his
eyes while talking on the subject. As to his being seen in the city the
next day after his elopement, dressed in a most costly and fashionable
manner, I can doubt that as little as the rest, for he that saw him was
my father, and you, who know my father, know what credit is due to his
eyes and his word. He had seen Arthur often enough not to be mistaken,
and described his appearance with great exactness. The boy is extremely
handsome, give him his due; has dark hazel eyes, auburn hair, and very
elegant proportions. His air and gait have nothing of the clown in them.
Take away his jacket and trousers, and you have as spruce a fellow as
ever came from dancing-school or college. He is the exact picture of his
mother, and the most perfect contrast to the sturdy legs, squat figure,
and broad, unthinking, sheepish face of the father that can be imagined.
You must confess that his appearance here is a pretty strong proof of
the father's assertions. The money given for these clothes could not
possibly have been honestly acquired. It is to be presumed that they
were bought or stolen, for how else should they have been gotten?"

"What was this lad's personal deportment during the life of his mother,
and before his father's second marriag