"'Lucinda,' says he, you will blow yourself up some day.'"
"'Oh no, I sha'n't!' says she. Well, finally she did blow herself up, sure enough, only it fell mostly on the innocent little children. Now, wasn't she responsible for the death of those little girls?"
"'Course she was!" said Jeduthun.
"Old Mrs. Bell, her mother-in-law, was talking about mysterious dispensations of Providence," continued Mrs. Fairchild, "and she went on till I couldn't stand it, and says I:"
"'Now, Mrs. Bell, don't put it on Providence. If a man was to put a match into a barrel of gunpowder, you wouldn't call that a very mysterious dispensation of Providence if he was blown up,' says I. 'Lucinda had been warned times enough, and she knew her danger,' says I, 'and Providence don't work miracles to keep folks from the consequences of their own carelessness,' says I."
"And when I told the old lady how it happened, she hadn't another word to say. Now, I do think that was something like a murder."
"I think so too," said Eben. "But I hope Mr. Antis will not distress himself any more about me. I shall do very well, I dare say. Never shall I forget how I felt when I got my hand fairly on the rope. I should have been still more glad if I had known all about it. Did Mr. Francis know that the insurance had run out?"
"Oh yes. Mr. Antis told him all about it."
"Did he scold?"
"Not a bit. All he said was, 'Mr. Antis, let this be a warning to you, never to put off what needs to be done to a more convenient season. That is what has wrecked thousands of men for time and for eternity,' says he. I could see that touched Mr. Antis, because, you see, he's been kind of on the fence this good while about religion—off and on, as you might say. But he's made up his mind at last, and he's going to join the church next Sunday. He told me so himself. However, Eben, you have talked enough, and done enough, for one day. You'd better lie down and rest, or you'll be getting feverish again. I'll bring over your books and the rest of your things to-morrow."