But at length the Sabbath was over, and M. P. Tracy had bottled up his religion and corked it well for another week. Not that he considered it in danger of exploding; there was not enough vitality in it for that. But he had work to do, and his religious profession was sadly in his way. So there he sat propping his head with his hands, trying to drive away or frighten off or in any manner get rid of certain passages he had read in an old-fashioned volume: "'Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.'" "'Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; and my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.'" After half an hour, he rose to convince himself that the door leading into his sanctum was securely locked, and returned to his seat again. But this time, he seized a pen, and began a rapid calculation in figures. "Ten thousand clear gain," he soliloquized, "and nothing done that the law can touch. That's what I call a neat stroke. Wouldn't I like to see another lead mine agent as clear headed as Myers. Ten thousand gain on my book, and not one dollar out. Didn't I pull the wool over my ward's eyes? Let me see, I drew ten thousand out of his city stocks, and invested it in shares, on condition with Myers that I should have an equal amount gratis. In my character as guardian, I conclude to sell Frank and Helen my shares, and out comes another ten thousand to pay for them. All fair, honorable and aboveboard! But about this parson who was to have been my successor according to my old employer's will. I'd no idea he would make such a row about my proposal in behalf of Roswell. What shall I say to him?" He took a letter from his breast-pocket and read with considerable irritation a request from Mr. Knowles to meet him on Tuesday afternoon at three o'clock at the office of S. R. Miles, attorney at law, in reference to the property of Francis and Helen Edmond. "I'll plead excess of business and decline meeting him," he exclaimed, knitting his brows. "I'll suffer no interference. But will not my refusal court farther inquiry? Frank, who is now of age, will apply to the court for liberty to remove his property from my hands? Sometimes I wish Mr. Edmond had never named me as executor. I did humbug the old man to be sure," and an unpleasant smile passed over his features. Another silence, the frown on his forehead growing sterner every moment. At length, he burst out: "What a piece of folly I've been guilty of! I can see it plainly now. Helen has the spirit of —; well I wont call hard names.