the tall shining presses in one corner, the large embayed window, its heavy green worsted curtains closely drawn, and the stiff, upright, but sociable-looking black oaken chairs standing primly against the wall, all plain and old-fashioned, but homelike and delightful.

My father noticed my remarkable quiet, and asked me what was the matter. I answered nothing, but said:

"Jane Currie took me in to see her mother this evening, and she says she knows you, sir."

66

Ah, that she does, poor woman-so she does indeed-and how does poor Mrs. Currie ?"

"I don't know, sir-but Jane told me something about her father," I stopped suddenly, then breathing hard I partly whispered, "I would like to hear, father, why they put his head upon the market house."

"God bless me, child!" exclaimed my mother. "Who spoke to you of such things ?"

"Jane said it, but I did not like to ask her why; will you tell me, father?" I repeated.

"I will try, my dear, but it is hardly a fit story for you to hear."

However, my father told me enough to satisfy my curiosity then, and here is the substance of the tale, as I have heard it more at length in after years.

William and Alice Currie were of mature age when they united their fates together; having waited with a prudence unusual to their country and the time, until a prospect of decent maintenance was before them. Alice, who had seen thirty calm summers, was a pleasing, meek-looking woman, well suited in countenance and manner to the sober and sedate cheerfulness of her husband, who was rising forty-three. They were of the strictest sect of Dissenters, commonly called Covenanters, the remnant of the Scottish Cameronians of later days, those rigid followers of the tenets of the stern old military disciples of the Solemn League.

There were but few of their own peculiar sect in the town of M, so that the new married couple lived a retired, and to their gayer neighbors' notions, an unsocial life, almost isolated from those around them, by reason of their exceedingly different habits of thinking and acting. But though having little visiting intercourse with their

neighbors, they were kindly regarded and generally respected; and deservedly, for no one could be more obliging or tender-hearted than Alice, on any occasion calling forth her sympa thy; and equally so her husband, while his constant industry, and steady uprightness in all dealings, secured the place he held in the good opinion of the townspeople, and those of the vicinage.

When he first began his business of wheel-wright, he took a long lease of the residence I have described; his workshop was beyond the stonepaved yard at the back of the house; he was therefore always at home, and could see his Alice spinning or knitting, as he worked at the lathe, or hear her soft voice singing the ancient psalmtunes familiar from infancy, as she busied herself in more stirring labors. His little world of hopes and cares was concentrated in a small space; and here for the first years of marriage he enjoyed a placid and holy happiness, a mellowed bliss, that he often, when thanking the Almighty Giver of good for his numerous blessings, said, he trembled at heart in the midst of his gratitude, knowing the lot of mortality in general was not such as to encourage him to trust in a continuance of such felicity. And after a year or two little Jane, a solitary flower, came to brighten yet more the path of these happy creatures; and while fully conscious of their high responsibility, in having a living soul committed to their charge, with humble hopes of fulfilling every duty, their souls rested in a most sweet and pure repose.

People more opposite and unsuitable in every way to William and Alice Currie, could not have been found than the Williams family, who, when Jane was three years old, hired the house next door. They were reduced in circumstances, of great pretension, improvident, mean without frugality, and presumptuous with servility. By dint of fawning, and a willingness to watch and report the proceedings of every one near them, or into whose houses they could find entrance, they had established a sort of intimacy with the only great gentry of the town, old Rector Sodoun, and his sister-in-law, residing with him, who took especial note of the affairs of their humbler neighbors, more from a meddling curiosity than any desire to be serviceable with either coun

sel or assistance. They were all particularly active in the cause of loyalty -you might have supposed the fate of the nation depended on their exploration of their acquaintances' cellars and kitchens. The old Rector, though nearly superannuated, was a bitter partisan of Orangism; and to give proof of his being ready to stand to the death for his principles, he figured away as captain of yeomanry cavalry; but unable to sit on horseback, he had always to be driven in a gig at the head of his troop to parade.

The flaming politics of Mrs. Williams, therefore, ensured her his exclusive patronage, and a ready welcome to his abundant table; while the ladies having microscopic delight in the minutiae of every household, and the private history of every individual, received the daily budget, so charming a variety in the dull monotony of the Rectory, with unwearied eagerness, and ever craving demand for more.

The humble Curries very soon became obnoxious to the censures of Mrs. Williams. She could not avoid envying the neatness and comfort of their house, in contradistinction to the confusion, wasteful slovenliness, and scanty fare, of her ill-managed family; while she affected contempt for their lowly occupation, and (as she chose to consider it) pretended sanctity of life and man

ners.

Many little annoyances were borne uncomplainingly from the boys by William Currie, more than he ever cared to acknowledge to Alice; as they were often leaping over the wall, breaking his tools, chasing the cat, and in all kinds of mischief; but as there was nothing really bad in their disposition, he excused them even to his wife, who, in her own department, was likewise a sufferer from the occasional domiciliary visits of the lady, and more frequent ones of the gossiping maids, who on some pretext or other, seldom allowed a day to pass without their very inconvenient company being forced upon her. Now it so happened the pear tree before mentioned in Willie's strip of garden, being carefully tended by Alice, produced remarkably fine summer fruit of the earlier species, which she usually sold to the green-grocer or huckster women; but in the present season Mrs. Williams purposed another destination for her neighbor's little luxury. And

being desirous to conciliate her great friends at the smallest possible expense, she scrupled not to send to Mrs. Currie for a basketful of pears for the Rectory ladies, who had none so early ripe, even in their own fine garden. Alice civilly gathered a few and gave them to the servant who brought the message, for Mrs. Williams herself, but refused to comply with her demand, as she had already engaged them to the women who depended on having them to sell at the summer fair, to be held in a few days from that time. Mrs. Williams was exceedingly indignant at this denial, but there was no help for it; so day by day she watched the tempting pears with a longing and envious eye, finding no alleviation for the pangs of covetousness while seeing Alice carefully pick them off to put away as they became ripe enough for her customers.

One dark night, a thick close rain falling, Pincher, Currie's house-dog, barked so fiercely, and ran so furiously round and round the yard, it disturbed his master's sleep. Willie jumped up from bed and opened a window, saying to his wife, he believed some one was shaking his pear-tree, as he heard the sound of fruit tumbling on the ground; so he hurried down stairs, and out, just in time to seize on one of the marauders, who struggled stoutly with him, as he endeavoured to draw him towards the light Alice was bringing to the door. But at length after being well cuffed and shaken, the lad succeeded in escaping through a back lane by the workshop, and Billy returned to the house, saying there was no use in risking health by looking after fallen pears in the rain; and replying to Alice's wonderings of who it could be, by a grave and rather sorrowful shake of the head, he sat down in the kitchen with the candle lighted in the window, to prevent the thieves coming back for their prey, and laying the large old Bible before him, told Alice to go to bed, as he should watch till morning, muttering sadly, " Poor lads, poor lads, it's a dreadful bringing up for ye, a dismal example."

"But, Willie dear," interposed the wife, "you forget the law, dear, the light must go out this minute:" and each looking fearfully pale at the other, mutually whispered, "How could we do this?" and immediately extinguished the candle.

Now it so happened, but a few weeks before, the battles of Antrim and Randalstown, towns at no great distance from M- , had begun the rebellion of '98 in the north of Ireland, and almost every place was occupied by soldiers, and put under the terrible rigors of martial law. M— was also suffering under this infliction, besides having infantry and dragoons quartered there, commanded by officers of noted severity towards all suspected of disloyalty.

Good reason, therefore, the timid couple had for alarm; yet supposing it not likely even the inquisitorial spies of loyalty might be stirring on such a night, they went to bed, consoling themselves with the hope of no greater evil occurring than the one already experienced. There was a perceptible commotion among their neighbors next morning very much substantiating the Curries' suspicions: the boys, instead of leaping on the wall as usual, kept to the farther side of their own yard; while on the contrary, the slatternly servant-maids directly espying the tree divested of its fruit, were loud in their condolence to Mrs. Currie and very soon one of them hurried in, more conveniently to wonder, pity, exclaim, and abuse, greatly to the annoyance of the quiet Alice, who repeatedly told her the matter was one of far less consequence to them, than she, Biddy Sheehan, seemed disposed to make it.

"Well, how ye can bear such roguery, Mistress Currie, I can't understand. I'd be at the bottom of it. I'd root them out that did it-faith, it's not the stocks only, but the jail I'd get them into, av' it was my pear-tree." "If you could find them out, Biddy," said Alice.

"Oh, sure, ye may guess pretty near. Phil Skinner wasn't peepin' and creepin' round the back wall yesterday evening for nothing."

The said Phil was a desolate orphan, who, in his half-naked leanness, and elfish agility, looked more like a monkey than a child, and was a suitable scapegoat for the delinquencies of all the better-clothed and protected lads in the neighbourhood.

"Oh, poor Phil," replied Alice, "he might assist, but could not possibly have done the mischief without older and stronger hands than his own in the business."

"Oh, ye don't know him, Mistress

Currie-ye can't consave the devilment he's up to-sure our lives is pestered with him, bekase Master Joe will be givin' him a bit or sup now and then ; and troggs, its often he stales that same for Phil."

Just then Willie Currie came into the kitchen with part of an old lattice frame in his hands. Having a long lease of his house he was altering and improving an upper room, into which, for the being better lighted, he was putting modern sash-windows, and removing the old lozenge-paned lattices, one of which, as I said, he carried in his hand, as he entered to interrupt the declamation of Mistress Biddy Sheehan.

"Oh," remarked Willie, quietly, "if we desired to track the thief, Biddy, it is perhaps more easily done than you suppose. I picked up an old shoe under the tree this morning, not a bad landmark."

Biddy looked uneasy, and colored deeply.

"Then I judge you'll be tryin' to find the foot for it too, Mr. Currie?"

"I don't know, Biddy; it would hardly be worth while for the value of a few pears to bring some foolish boy, or his friends, into trouble."

"Then I'm sure you've a kind heart, Mr. Currie; but there's nobody denies that any how."

"But," said Alice, " Willie, is it not a conniving at sin, dear, and a snare to lead others into evil ways, not to give some punishment to offenders?"

"Well," he answered smiling, "I punished one pretty severely last night at any rate; and indeed they may have suffered more than the few pears were worth, if we knew all."

"Oh, then," said Biddy, "perhaps, Mr. Currie, you're not so sure of the people as ye pretend to be, and by not sarchin' them out, you're making a virtue of needcessity.'

"May be so, Biddy, may be so," as stripping the lead off the lattice panes he kept rolling it up in a ball, and coolly looking direct in the girl's face, he asked, "What ails Master Joe's leg, that he goes so lame this morning?"

Biddy was evidently both angry and frightened at this question.

"What should I know? Some of his jumpin' tricks, no less. What d'ye think I can tell about his limpin'?"

"No need to be angry, my woman," said Willie, laughing; "you look almost

as frightened as he did, when I called to him this minute from the room above, in answer to his question of what I was doing with the lead I'm stripping off these panes, that I was going to make bullets to shoot thieves with. He, he, he! Poor lad, he grew so red and pale by turns, I was sorry to see him, though I was only joking."

"I'm sure you're very funny about it," retorted Biddy, tossing her head"but I must be off,-it's well you can take everything so asy, Mr. Čurriemighty well indeed it is."

"And now, Alice, dear," said Willie, as the door closed after the prying servant, "there's the proof of our neighbor's idle boy's folly," throwing an old light slipper on the table, "I found it awhile ago in the yard, and do you see on the lining yet visible, the shoemaker's writing, Master S. Williams?' But let us thank God, we have hopes our ways of bringing up children will be under wiser regulation than these proud and erring people, and never let us say another word about it."

In the parlor of the Rectory that same afternoon, at the ample dinner table, covered with a handsome dessert, steaming punch, and generous old wine, sat, in addition to the family, two officers of the regiments then quartered in M—, Captain Clavering of the dragoons, and Major Horner of the infantry. Also a tag of gentryhood, who just then subsisted on ferreting out evil-doers against government, a Mr. Musgrave; and in an accession of nervous irritability, partly proceeding from the disasters of the previous night, the favorite Mrs. Williams.

Their conversation was of course local, and turned principally on the abuses crept in among all classes and conditions beneath their own; and the imperative necessity of strenuous measures being taken to regulate the people, and prevent the spirit of rebellious independence spreading further. Instances were given of the presumptuous aspirings to think for themselves and their individual miseries among the poor; and means of greater restraint and needful precaution were debated among the gentlemen; while terrible and exaggerated stories of the outrages of the peasantry, and some of the better classes, on the late open stand made against the king's army, were related to the horrified ears

of the good ladies of the Rectory, who having been in France during the Revolution, and the Reign of Terror, their heads were half-turned with fears of similar excesses in their own country.

"But the worst of it is," said Mr. Musgrave, "steady, sober persons now give countenance to this ungovernable desire of liberty as they call it; and in particular, the dissenters are not a whit behind, but even worse than the papists, in my opinion."

Very true indeed," affirmed Mrs. Coxe, and their impertinence and want of respect to superiors, you have no idea. Only think of that quiet, decent man, as we always thought him, Willie Currie, having the insolence to threaten my friend Mrs. Williams' sons with punishment on pretence of having robbed his pear-tree. And showing the lead he is pulling off his lattices; for you must know-however he has made it he is rich enough to be putting new windows in his house: but as I said, showing the lead to the boy, he told him it was to make bullets to shoot thieves with! Imagine such impudence-upon my word!"

"Ah?" said Musgrave, with a sharp glance at the officer, "bullets indeed! Bullets are rather ticklish things to meddle with just now. I thought all firearms were delivered up," he continued, inquiringly.

"Of course," replied Major Horner; turning to Mrs. Williams, "You say, madam, this Currie has lead in his possession?"

"Just as Mrs. Coxe said," she answered; "he has taken it off his windows; and he not only threatened my son, but showed it also to my servant Biddy Sheehan."

"Ah!" drawled the Major, looking at Musgrave with a peculiar smile.

"The fellow," interposed the old Rector, pompously waving his hands, "has been always contumacious; he belongs to the most stiff-necked sect of dissenters, those abominable Covenanters. They own allegiance to nothing; they have respect for neither King nor laws."

"Indeed," said Mrs. Williams, bitterly, "they despise every one's law but their own; for in defiance of orders, Biddy told me, there was a light burning in Currie's window at twelve o'clock last night."

"Musgrave," whispered the Major, "we shall retire soon; it is proper to inquire into this affair: there are, you