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AS soon as Jeremiah had swallowed his tea he hastened
up to his room, and in passing through the hall he saw
the shawl and bonnet of Huldah Hogshart lying upon the
bannister, and an uncontrolable fit of lovingness coming over
him at the sight of them, he took them in his arms and stealthily
bore them off to his chamber, and having turned the
key inside, he took a pillow from his bed and dressed it up in
the habiliments of his mistress, and then drew his chair to the
side of the one on which he had placed it, with an air of the
most insinuating and seductive nonchalance; and putting his
arm in a very familiar and easy manner round the neck of his
imaginary mistress, he crossed his legs and looked round the
room very much in the style of a theatrical performer. He
was quite astonished at his own boldness, and patted the
young lady under her imaginary chin, and pressed her waist
with a freedom quite unbecoming; and then he rose from his
seat and falling upon one knee declared his love in the most
impassioned terms conceivable, and vowed that unless she
would accept him as a lover, life would lose all its attractions
and the consequences to himself would be too serious to speak
of. Then he seated himself again by her side, and in a more
subdued and respectful manner, related in a plain and

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business like address the story of his affections, and reasoned with
her upon the advantages which a union would be likely to
confer upon them, throwing in a careless and unpremeditated
word about the delight of educating young souls for eternity,
and the advantage of having one's pillow smoothed in sickness
by a companion and friend through evil report and good
report. But he was suddenly startled by a slight noise as
though somebody was breathing through the key hole of his
door, and he discovered that he had been so imprudent as to
go through with his amorous performances directly in the
range of it so that anybody, and everybody, might have looked
at him if they had been disposed to do so; and the supposition
that somebody had been doing so was the most
reasonable thing in the world, for he listened with suspended
breath, and was almost certain that he heard a light footstep
retreating from his door. The thought of having been seen
in his pantomimic performances quite overcame him, and he
blushed to the very tips of his fingers. He undressed the pillow,
and while in the act of folding up the shawl, a smart tap
at the door made his blood tingle all over his body. But he
threw the bonnet and shawl hastily into his clothes-press and
opened the door.

“Good evening Mr. Jernegan,” said Mrs. Bates as she
pushed herself into his chamber,” where is your friend, Mr.
Jernegan?”

“My friend,” said Jeremiah, with the guiltiest look that
ever an innocent man wore, “what friend do you mean, Mrs.
Bates?”

“O, yes;” replied Mrs. Bates, “Mr. Pious, I understand
perfectly. Where is she?” And without further ceremony
she looked under Jeremiah's bed and was evidently astonished
at finding nobody there.

“I shall not allow such liberties in my room,” said Jeremiah
spiritedly; “what can you mean, Mrs. Bates?”

“Don't ask me for a meaning, sir,” replied the lady in a

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tone of sarcasm, “but please explain yourself, sir, for introducing
a female person into your room, sir, without my permision,
sir, in my house, sir.”

“There has been no person in my room, either male or female,
to my knowledge,” replied Jeremiah calmly, “except
myself.”

“Very well, sir, very well, sir,” replied the lady; “I have
got eyes, sir, yes sir, I have got eyes, and ears too. Please remember
that, sir;”

“I shall remember it, madam, without any prompting,”
replied Jeremiah, and he was going to add that he was
aware that the lady was the possessor of a tongue as well as
eyes and ears, but it was not in his nature to say an unkind
word to anybody; so he checked himself, and again asked
Mrs. Bates to explain her conduct. But as the lady could
not consistently make an explanation, and as Jeremiah did
not in reality need one, he did not insist upon it, and the lady
withdrew herself in great confusion, which she endeavored to
hide by working herself into a great passion. As soon as she
was gone, Jeremiah sat down to consider how he might best
free himself from his difficulty; but as there was no possible
way of doing it without making a confession that he could
not persuade himself to do, he determined to deliver himself
into the hands of Fate, and meet events as they might transpire
in the best way he could.

But a new difficulty soon presented itself, which, strangely
enough, he had not anticipated. On going below he found
the whole house in a state of great excitement about Miss
Hogshart's shawl, and the young lady herself in tears. Somebody
had entered the hall while the boarders were at supper
and stolen it and her hat, although the thief had taken nothing
else, notwithstanding there were a number of coats
hanging upon the hall stand. This was the report. Jeremiah
blushed with shame, for he at once made up his mind
not to confess his guilt. And yet he hesitated upon second

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thoughts, for he had to acknowledge to himself that it would
be a piece of gross dissimulation, a thing that he abhorred.
Poor Jeremiah! he had never before stood battling between
good and evil. He was in a sad perplexity, but as he could
not see that any harm could come of the business, except to
himself, he at last resolved to make a present of just such
another hat and shawl to Miss Hogshart, and keep his own
folly to himself.

Let not the reader suppose that we would justify the conduct
of Jeremiah: No. He acted a lie, and he must abide by
its consequences; what they may be, we shall ascertain bye and
bye. But let the reader bear in mind, although we would not
insinuate that he would be guilty of such a thing himself,
that a lie to screen one from ridicule is as bad as a lie to gain
anything else, even so poor a thing as money.

Jeremiah felt more guilty and shame-faced than he had ever
before felt in his life, when Huldah Hogshart thanked him
for his goodness, and extolled his generosity in the presence
of all the boarders. It is true that the shawl she had lost
could not be replaced, as Jeremiah discovered; it was of a
much finer quality and a richer pattern than any that could
be found in Broadway. How so modest a young lady as Miss
Hogshart had happened to possess a shawl of such rare
beauty, he had too much delicacy, of course, to inquire, but it
puzzled him when he thought of it, for he had never seen
her wear it before that evening.

On entering the parlor, John found his father watching
anxiously for his return, and he resolved at once to make a
full confession of the true state of his feelings in regard to
Julia Tuck; but the old gentleman immediately began to talk
about his property, and to give directions about the investment
of certain sums; and at the close of every period, just
as the young man was on the point of divulging his secret,
he would begin anew, and so the evening wore away until
it was time for bed, when just as an opportunity offered by a

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lull in the old gentleman's conversation, they were startled by
a knock at the door, and directly a stout gentleman, with
glossy hair and a red face, wearing the clothes of a gentleman
but without the smallest air of one, made his appearance, and
announced himself as a police officer. His business was to
inform Mr. Tremlett that he had arrested a person who bore
a strong resemblanceto Mr. G. Washington Mortimer, the gentleman
whom Jeremiah suspected of breaking into Mr. Tuck's
house on the night of the poor man's death. John was very
much excited at this intelligence and offered to go immediately
in search of Tom Tuck, and with him and Jeremiah, go to
the house of detention to satisfy themselves whether the
prisoner were the real culprit.

Mr. Tremlett at first objected to the young man's proposition,
but at last consented, and he left the house in company
with the officer and proceeded to Mrs. Tuck's, where they
found Tom, but he refused to join them, lest he should be
tempted to do some violence to the villain. They found
Jeremiah in bed, but he immediately dressed himself and
went with them to the prison, although he declared that in
his heart he hoped it was not the right man, as he would be
extremely sorry to get the poor fellow into trouble. The
police officer said he had no doubt of it, and told Jeremiah
he was a regular wag. For which Jeremiah reproved him
and told him he made no pretensions that way.

On entering the lock-up-house, they found the prisoner
stretched at full length upon a wooden bench, with his glazed
cap for a pillow, snoring very loud and apparently enjoying a
sweet and dreamless sleep.

“My, my!” said Jeremiah, looking upon the sleeper, “that
cannot be the person.”

“What for?” said the officer.

“Surely, he could never sleep so soundly, if he had ever
injured anybody,” replied Jeremiah.

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“O, no, of course not; particularly after such a tramp as I
gave him yesterday and to day,” said the police officer, who
thought that Jeremiah was giving vent to his waggishness.
“But the proof of the pudding isn't in looking at it. Come,
get up, and let's see the color of your eyes;” and without
farther ceremony he kicked over the bench and put a sudden
stop to the gentleman's snoring.

“Stop of that!” exclaimed the suddenly awakened gentleman,
“don't you know better nor to commit such an outwage
on a gentleman confined on suspicion. If you do
something of that sort again I'll make you wepent of it, mister.
See 'f I don't. I know my wights as well as another
individual.”

“What do you think of him, gentlemen?” asked the officer
“is he the man?”

“No doubt of it,” replied Jeremiah, “let us go, I do not
like this place.”

“Stop, stop,” said his companion, “I should like to inquire
after his lady. I wonder if she is as particular as ever about
her eggs.”

“Don't,” said Jeremiah, “the man has feelings, and I
would no more inflict a wound upon his mind than I would
upon his body. Let us go. I am satisfied.”

“Well, gentlemen, you'll be on hand in the morning? We
shall want your testimony, and I shall want the reward you
know.” And so they parted.

“The reward!” thought Jeremiah as he walked through the
now deserted streets, after he parted with John. “The reward!
O, is there no way for that poor man to live, but he must trade
on the crimes and sufferings of his fellow-creatures. The
reward! It is by such means then, that he buys those fine
clothes, and perhaps his wife and daughters flaunt through
the streets, and parade their silks and gew-gaws up and down
the aisles of churches, while he is prowling about in dens of
vice, and among the haunts of wretchedness and misery to

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seize upon some poor wretch on whose head the law has set
a price. And he claims a reward! Perhaps this poor man
whom he has now seized was taken from the arms of an innocent
wife, or torn from shrieking children, who have never
dreamed of their father's crimes. And the Law provides no
officers for the apprehension of wrong-doers, but private citizens
must offer rewards to tempt men to act like bloodhounds
and hunt their fellow beings for the sake of gain. Ah!”—

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