Before he was out of sight Mrs. Mumpson betook herself to the rocking chair
and began to expatiate on the blindness and obduracy of men in general and of
Mr. Holcroft in particular. "They are all much alike," she complained, "and
are strangely neglectful of the proprieties of life. My dear, deceased
husband, your father, was becoming gradually senserble of my value in guiding
him in this respect, and indeed, I may add in all respects, when, in the very
prime of his expanding manhood, he was laid low. Of course, my happiness was
buried then and my heart can never throb again, but I have a mission in the
world--I feel it--and here is a desolate home bereft of female influence and
consolation and hitherto painfully devoid of respecterbility.

"I once called on the late Mrs. Holcroft, and--I must say it--I went away
depressed by a sense of her lack of ability to develop in her husband those
qualities which would make him an ornament to society. She was a silent
woman, she lacked mind and ideas. She had seen little of the world and knew
not what was swaying people. Therefore, her husband, having nothing else to
think of, became absorbed in the accumulation of dollars. Not that I object
to dollars--they have their proper place,--but minds should be fixed on all
things. We should take a deep personal interest in our fellow beings, and
thus we grow broad. As I was saying, Mr. Holcroft was not developed by his
late spouse. He needs awakening, arousing, stimulating, drawing out, and such
I feel to be my mission. I must be patient; I cannot expect the habits of
years to pass away under a different kind of female influence, at once."

Jane had been stolidly washing and putting away dishes during this partial
address to herself and partial soliloquy, but now remarked, "You and me will
pass away in a week if you go on as you've begun. I can see it comin'. Then,
where'll we go to?"

"Your words, Jane, only show that you are an ignorant, short-sighted child.