if anybody'd go down on their knees to me."

"Now I am sure, Aunt Rachel, that's cruel in you."

"There ain't any man that I'd trust my happiness to."

"She hasn't any to trust," observed Jack, _sotto voce_.

"They're all deceivers," pursued Rachel, "the best of 'em. You can't
believe what one of 'em says. It would be a great deal better if
people never married at all."

"Then where would the world be a hundred years hence?" suggested her
nephew.

"Come to an end, most likely," said Aunt Rachel; "and I don't know
but that would be the best thing. It's growing more and more wicked
every day."

It will be seen that no great change has come over Miss Rachel Crump
during the years that have intervened. She takes the same
disheartening view of human nature and the world's prospects, as
ever. Nevertheless, her own hold upon the world seems as strong as
ever. Her appetite continues remarkably good, and although she
frequently expresses herself to the effect that there is little use
in living, probably she would be as unwilling to leave the world as
any one. I am not sure that she does not derive as much enjoyment
from her melancholy as other people from their cheerfulness.
Unfortunately, her peculiar way of enjoying herself is calculated to
have rather a depressing influence upon the spirits of those with