just then, nicholas higgins came in. he caught his daughter\"s lastwords.

\"ay! and i\"ll fight on too; and i\"ll get it this time. it\"ll not take long for tomake \"em give in, for they\"ve getten a pretty lot of orders, all undercontract; and they\"ll soon find out they\"d better give us our five per centthan lose the profit they\"ll gain; let alone the fine for not fulfilling thecontract. aha, my masters! i know who\"ll win.\"

margaret fancied from his manner that he must hāve been drinking, notso much from what he said, as from the excited way in which he spoke;and she was rather confirmed in this idea by the evident anxiety bessy

showed to hasten her departure. bessy said to her,-\"

the twenty-first--that\"s thursday week. i may e and see yo\" dressedfor thornton\"s, i reckon. what time is yo\"r dinner?\"

before margaret could answer, higgins broke out,\"thornton\"s! ar\" t\" going to dine at thornton\"s? ask him to give yo\" abumper to the success of his orders. by th\" twenty-first, i reckon, he\"llbe pottered in his brains how to get \"em done in time. tell him, there\"sseven hundred\"ll e marching into marlborough mills, the morningafter he gives the five per cent, and will help him through his contract inno time. you\"ll hāve \"em all there. my master, hamper. he\"s one o\" th\"

oud-fashioned sort. ne\"er meets a man bout an oath or a curse; i shouldthink he were going to die if he spoke me civil; but arter all, his bark\"swaur than his bite, and yo\" may tell him one o\" his turn-outs said so, ifyo\" like. eh! but yo\"ll hāve a lot of prize mill-owners at thornton\"s! ishould like to get speech o\" them, when they\"re a bit inclined to sit stillafter dinner, and could na run for the life on \"em. i\"d tell \"em my mind.

i\"d speak up again th\" hard way they\"re driving on us!\"

\"good-bye!\" said margaret, hastily. \"good-bye, bessy! i shall look to seeyou on the twenty-first, if you\"re well enough.\"

the medicines and treatment which dr. donaldson had ordered for mrs.

hale, did her so much good at first that not only she herself, butmargaret, began to hope that he might hāve been mistaken, and that shecould recover permanently. as for mr. hale, although he had never hadan idea of the serious nature of their apprehensions, he triumphed overtheir fears with an evident relief, which proved how much his glimpseinto the nature of them had affected him. only dixon croaked for everinto margaret\"s ear. however, margaret defied the rāven, and wouldhope.

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