Family did not want to be Reformed. He even wrote Anonymous Letters
telling them how Depraved they were. They were so Brazen and Hardened
they paid no Attention except to give him the Rowdy Hee-Ho when they saw
him pottering around the Shrubbery in his Front Yard, pretending to be
at Work, but really doing the Pinkerton Act, and keeping one Ear spread
for a nice, juicy Bit of Scandal.

[Illustration: THE HE-GOSSIP]

Mr. Bizzy watched the Family at all Hours of the Day and Night for many
Months. Although convinced that they were Children of Belial and pretty
Hard Nuts in general, he still hoped to Rescue them. He wondered if he
could not Appeal to the Man's Wife. She was a Daughter of Iniquity, all
right, but maybe she might listen to an Entreaty if it came from one who
was Pure, and who could point out to her in Fatherly Kindness that she
was leading her Family on a Short Cut to the Weeping and Wailing and
Gnashing of Teeth.

One Day Mr. Bizzy got a quiet Tip from another Moral Detective, that the
Man had stayed out until 2 A.M., at a Banquet given to a Militia
Company, so he knew it was Time for him to Act. He lay in Ambush until
the Coast was Clear, and then he went across the Dead-Line and caught
her on the Piazza. She was Surprised to see him.

He told her all the Reports he had heard about her Husband, and said he
was Sorry for her. He wondered if they couldn't get together a few of
the Respectable Men and Women of the Neighborhood, and have a Talk with
the Husband, and try to Pluck him as a Brand from the Burning. She
listened with that Ominous Calm which always precedes the Iowa Cyclone
that takes the Roof off the Court House and moves the Poor Farm into the