ke such
measures as the occasion prescribed. I now saw the folly of supposing
that these measures would be neglected, and that my presence could not
essentially contribute to the benefit of the sufferer. Still, however, I
lingered in the room, till the infant was covered with a cloth, and the
still senseless parent was conveyed into an adjoining chamber. The woman
then, as if she had not seen me before, fixed scowling eyes upon me, and
exclaimed, "Thief! villain! why do you stay here?"

"I mean to go," said I, "but not till I express my gratitude and
pleasure at the sight of your attention to this sufferer. You deem me
insolent and perverse, but I am not such; and hope that the day will
come when I shall convince you of my good intentions."

"Begone!" interrupted she, in a more angry tone. "Begone this moment, or
I will treat you as a thief." She now drew forth her hand from under her
gown, and showed a pistol. "You shall see," she continued, "that I will
not be insulted with impunity. If you do not vanish, I will shoot you as
a robber."

This woman was far from wanting a force and intrepidity worthy of a
different sex. Her gestures and tones were full of energy. They denoted
a haughty and indignant spirit. It was plain that she conceived herself
deeply injured by my conduct; and was it absolutely certain that her
anger was without reason? I had loaded her house with atrocious
imputations, and these imputations might be false. I had conceived them
upon such evidence as chance had provided; but this evidence, intricate
and dubious as human actions and motives are, might be void of truth.

"Perhaps," said I, in a sedate tone, "I have injured you; I have
mistaken your character. You shall not find me less ready to repair,
than to perpetrate, this injury. My error was without malice, and----"

I had not time to finish the sentence, when this rash and enraged woman
thrust the pistol close to my head and fired it. I was wholly unaware
that her fury would lead her to this excess. It was a sort of mechanical
impulse that made me raise my hand and attempt to turn aside the
weapon. I did this deliberately and tranquilly, and without conceiving
that any thing more was intended by her movement than to intimidate me.
To this precaution, however, I was indebted for life. The bullet was
diverted from my forehead to my left ear, and made a slight wound upon
the surface, from which the blood gushed in a stream.

The loudness of th