thought to be well-off from an oversaving spirit; and who, worse still, are
unsocial. Almost anything will be forgiven sooner than "thinking one's self
better than the other folks;" and that is the usual interpretation of shy,
reticent people. But there had been a decided tinge of selfishness in the
Holcrofts' habit of seclusion; for it became a habit rather than a principle.
While they cherished no active dislike to their neighbors, or sense of
superiority, these were not wholly astray in believing that they had little
place in the thoughts or interests of the occupants of the hill farm.
Indifference begat indifference, and now the lonely, helpless man had neither
the power nor the disposition to bridge the chasm which separated him from
those who might have given him kindly and intelligent aid. He was making a
pathetic effort to keep his home and to prevent his heart from being torn
bleeding away from all it loved. His neighbors thought that he was merely
exerting himself to keep the dollars which it had been the supreme motive of
his life to accumulate.

Giving no thought to the opinions of others, Holcroft only knew that he was in
sore straits--that all which made his existence a blessing was at stake.

At times, during these lonely and stormy March days, he would dismiss his
anxious speculations in regard to his future course. He was so morbid,
especially at night, that he felt that his wife could revisit the quiet house.
He cherished the hope that she could see him and hear what he said, and he
spoke in her viewless presence with a freedom and fullness that was unlike his
old reticence and habit of repression. He wondered that he had not said more
endearing words and given her stronger assurance of how much she was to him.
Late at night, he would start out of a long reverie, take a candle, and, going
through the house, would touch what she had touched, and look long and fixedly
at things associated with her. Her gowns still hung in the closet, just as
she had left them; he would take them out and recall the well-remembered