You didn't say that,
of course.'
The Carrier set his grip upon the collar of the Toy-
merchant, and shook him like a reed.
'Listen to me!' he said. 'And take care that you
hear me right. Listen to me. Do I speak plainly?'
'Very plainly indeed,' answered Tackleton.
'As if I meant it?'
'Very much as if you meant it.'
'I sat upon that hearth, last night, all night,' ex-
claimed the Carrier. 'On the spot where she has
often sat beside me, with her sweet face looking into
mine. I called up her whole life, day by day. I had
her dear self, in its every passage, in review before
me. And upon my soul she is innocent, if there is
One to judge the innocent and guilty!'
Staunch Cricket on the Hearth! Loyal household
Fairies!
'Passion and distrust have left me!' said the Car-
rier; 'and nothing but my grief remains. In an un-
appy moment some old lover, better suited to her
tastes and years than I; forsaken, perhaps, for me,
against her will; returned. In an unhappy moment,
taken by surprise, and wanting time to think of what
she did, she made herself a party to his treachery,
by concealing it.
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