eyes, as if he were trying to see the ear-rings, he appeared to give
up the effort, and said, "Well, he'd got ear-rings in his box to
sell, so it's nat'ral to suppose he might wear 'em. But he called
at every house, a'most, in the village; there's somebody else,
mayhap, saw 'em in his ears, though I can't take upon me rightly to
say."

Mr. Snell was correct in his surmise, that somebody else would
remember the pedlar's ear-rings. For on the spread of inquiry among
the villagers it was stated with gathering emphasis, that the parson
had wanted to know whether the pedlar wore ear-rings in his ears,
and an impression was created that a great deal depended on the
eliciting of this fact. Of course, every one who heard the
question, not having any distinct image of the pedlar as _without_
ear-rings, immediately had an image of him _with_ ear-rings, larger
or smaller, as the case might be; and the image was presently taken
for a vivid recollection, so that the glazier's wife, a
well-intentioned woman, not given to lying, and whose house was
among the cleanest in the village, was ready to declare, as sure as
ever she meant to take the sacrament the very next Christmas that
was ever coming, that she had seen big ear-rings, in the shape of
the young moon, in the pedlar's two ears; while Jinny Oates, the
cobbler's daughter, being a more imaginative person, stated not only
that she had seen them too, but that they had made her blood creep,
as it did at that very moment while there she stood.

Also, by way of throwing further light on this clue of the
tinder-box, a collection was made of all the articles purchased from
the pedlar at various houses, and carried to the Rainbow to be
exhibited there. In fact, there was a general feeling in the