she'll say any more."


Strange to add, Mr. Hamlin's surmise was correct. Mr. Rylands found Jane
still in the kitchen alone, terrified, remorseful, yet ever after
silent on the subject. Stranger still, the hired man became equally
uncommunicative. Mrs. Rylands, attributing her husband's absence only
to care of the stock, had gone to bed in a feverish condition, and Mr.
Rylands did not deem it prudent to tell her of his interview. The next
day she sent for the doctor, and it was deemed necessary for her to
keep her bed for a few days. Her husband was singularly attentive and
considerate during that time, and it was probable that Mrs. Rylands
seized that opportunity to tell him the secret she spoke of the night
before. Whatever it was,--for it was not generally known for a few
months later,--it seemed to draw them closer together, imparted a
protecting dignity to Joshua Rylands, which took the place of his
former selfish austerity, gave them a future to talk of confidentially,
hopefully, and sometimes foolishly, which took the place of their more
foolish past, and when the roll of calico came from the cross roads, it
contained also a quantity of fine linen, laces, small caps, and other
trifles, somewhat in contrast to the more homely materials ordered.

And when three months were past, the sitting-room was often lit up and
made cheerful, particularly on that supreme occasion when, with a great
deal of enthusiasm, all the women of the countryside flocked to see Mrs.
Rylands and her first baby. And a more considerate and devoted couple
than the father and mother they had never known.