62 THE TEMPERANCE MEETING

 

Le Roy made some indifferent answer,
merely to satisfy his wife, who seemed
worried by the incident. But the fact men-
tioned produced an unpleasant impression
on his mind.

“T wonder what business he has spying
about my place?” said he to himself. “T
don’t owe him any thing.”

The satisfaction with which he uttered
the last part of the sentence was rather
diminished by the recollection that his bill
at; the store had been suffered to run up
until it amounted to over sixty dollars, and
that he owed the shoemaker nearly twenty
more. Debts like these had never before
been permitted to accumulate.

After supper he was led by his inclina-
tions, as usual, to the bar-room of Miller,
which was always well filled with pleasant
companions. His wife saw him depart with
troubled feelings. She was, alas! too well
aware that he had entered the downward
road, and that his steps were on the way
to ruin.