“Margaret, sir.”
“Well, what of her? has she been unfortunate?”
“If she has it has been her own seeking, no one’s else. She might have done well, but she would not.”
“What might she have done? and what has she done?”
“Why, sir, she might have married an industrious young man, who would have done well by her; but she chose to encourage a vagabond smuggler, who first set her up with high notions, and then ruined and left her to poverty and shame.”
“You do not mean to say that the young woman is a depraved and abandoned character?”
“No, no; I mean she don’t like any honester man, and so no one seems to care anything about her.”
A tear stole down the stranger’s cheeks; and, whoever he was, he seemed to feel a little relief at this information.
“Is the young woman living at home with her family?”
“Yes; because nobody will hire her. She is laughed at by the females, and the men don’t care anything about her. If they could catch her lover, and pocket a hundred pounds reward for his capture, they would like the chance.”