e State of Maine, was on the
platform "speaking her piece," and he could just distinguish some of the
words she was saying:

"For it's your star, my star, all the stars together, That makes our
country's flag so proud To float in the bright fall weather."

Then suddenly there was a clarion voice cleaving the air, and he saw
a tall man standing in the centre of the stage and heard him crying:
"THREE CHEERS FOR THE GIRL THAT SAVED THE FLAG FROM THE HANDS OF THE
ENEMY!"

He was sore and bitter enough already; lonely, isolated enough; with
no lot nor share in the honest community life; no hand to shake, no
neighbor's meal to share; and this unexpected public arraignment smote
him between the eyes. With resentment newly kindled, pride wounded,
vanity bleeding, he flung a curse at the joyous throng and drove toward
home, the home where he would find his ragged children and meet the
timid eyes of a woman who had been the loyal partner of his poverty and
disgraces.

It is probable that even then his (extremely light) hand was already on
the "new leaf." The angels, doubtless, were not especially proud of the
matter and manner of his reformation, but I dare say they were glad to
count him theirs on any terms, so difficult is the reformation of this
blind and foolish world! They must have been; for they immediately
flung into his very lap a profitable, and what is more to the point, an
interesting and agreeable situation where money could be earned by doing
the very things his nature craved. There were feats of daring to be
performed in sight of admiring and applauding stable boys; the horses
he loved were his companions; he was OBLIGED to "swap," for Daly, his
employer, counted on him to get rid of all undesirable stock; power and
responsibility of a sort were given him freely, for Daly was no Puritan,
and felt himself amply capable of managing any number of Simpsons;
so here were numberless advantages within the man's grasp, and wages
besides!

Abner positively felt no temptation to steal; his soul expanded with
pride, and the admiration and astonishment with which he regarded
his virtuous present was only equaled by the disgust with which he
contemplated his past; not so much a vicious past, in his own generous
estimation of it, as a "thunderin' foolish" one.

Mrs. Simpson took the same view of Abner's new leaf as the angels.
She was thankful for even a brief season of honesty coupled with the
Saturday night remittance;