The water dashed down in a misty cascade, through what looked like
the portal of some infernal subterranean structure; and far within the
portal we could see the mist and the falling water; and it looked as if,
but for these obstructions of view, we might have had a deeper insight
into a gloomy region.
After our return, the little minister set off for his eighteen miles'
journey across the mountain; and I was occupied the rest of the forenoon
with an affair of stealing--a woman of forty or upwards being accused of
stealing a needle-case and other trifles from a factory-girl at a
boarding-house. She came here to take passage in a stage; but Putnam, a
justice of the peace, examined her and afterwards ordered her to be
searched by Laura and Eliza, the chambermaid and table-waiter. Hereupon
was much fun and some sympathy. They searched, and found nothing that
they sought, though she gave up a pair of pantalets, which she pretended
to have taken by mistake. Afterwards, she being in the parlor, I went
in; and she immediately began to talk to me, giving me an account of the
affair, speaking with the bitterness of a wronged person, with a
sparkling eye, yet with great fluency and self-possession.
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