On Tuesday I read in the _Commercial Intelligence_ that one of
the most remarkable features of the time was the marvellous rise taking
place all over New England in the value of hotel and bar property. On
Thursday, in the list of failures, I came across no less than four
laundry proprietors; and the paper added, in explanation, that the
American washing industry, owing to the rapid growth of Chinese
competition, was practically on its last legs. I went out and got drunk.
"My life became a curse to me. All day long I thought of Josiah. All
night I dreamed of him. Suppose that, not content with being the cause
of his domestic misery, I had now deprived him of the means of earning a
livelihood, and had rendered useless the generosity of that good old sea-
captain. I began to appear to myself as a malignant fiend, ever
following this simple but worthy man to work evil upon him.
"Time passed away, however; I heard nothing from or of him, and my burden
at last fell from me.
"Then at the end of about five years he came again.
"He came behind me as I was opening the door with my latch-key, and laid
an unsteady hand upon my arm. It was a dark night, but a gas-lamp showed
me his face. I recognised it in spite of the red blotches and the bleary
film that hid the eyes.
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