out of her porch, and chased him from her premises. When he and the
boy got back, they bore marks of the bad luck of the adventure. Such
things had perhaps happened before, and it was found that whoever
provoked her resentment was very likely to come off second best from
the encounter; yet Bridget was a member of Mr. Hale's Church in
Beverly, and retained her standing in full fellowship there. It must
have been thought, by the pastor and members of that church, that no
charge seriously affecting her moral or Christian character was justly
imputable to her.

The traveller of to-day, in passing over Crane-river Bridge,
approaching the present village of "The Plains," near the eastern end
of the Townsend Bishop or Nurse farm, will notice a roadway by the
side of the bridge descending through the brook and going up to rejoin
the main road on the other side. Such turnouts are frequent by the
side of bridges over small streams. They are refreshing and useful,
cooling the feet and cleansing the fetlocks of horses, and washing the
wheels of carriages. One afternoon, Edward Bishop, with his wife
behind him on a pillion, was riding home from Salem. Two women,
mounted in the same way, joined them; and they chatted together
pleasantly as their horses ambled along. When they came to the bridge,
Bishop, probably merely for the fun of the thing, dashed down into the
brook, instead of going over the bridge, to the great consternation
and against the vehement remonstrances of his wife, who berated him
soundly for his reckless disregard of her safety. They got through
without accident; and the four jogged on together until the Bishops
turned up to their house, and the other two kept on to their home in
Beverly. But all the way from the bridge, until they parted company,
Bishop was finding great fault with his wife, saying that he should
not have been sorry if any mishap had occurred. She did not say much