They had found it necessary to shut this man up in iron and stone, and to guard him with a rifle with a large leaden ball in it.

This villain was a convict.  That was a terrible word, one that made her blood chill.

She, the admired of hundreds and the beloved of a family, had done a secret and shameful thing of which she dared not tell.  In these solemn hours the madness of her act appalled her.

She asked herself what might not the fellow do with the glove?  Surely he would exhibit it among his brutal companions, and perhaps allow it to pass to and fro among them.  They would laugh and joke with him, and he would laugh and joke in return, and no doubt he would kiss it to their great delight.  Again, he might go to her friends, and, by working upon their fears and by threatening an exposure of her, extort large sums of money from them.  Again, might he not harass her by constantly appearing to her at all times and all places and making all sorts of claims and demands?  Again, might he not, with terrible ingenuity, use it in connection with some false key or some jack-in-the-box, or some dark-lantern, or something, in order to effect his escape; or might he not tell the story times without count to some wretched curiosity-hunters who would advertise her folly all over the country, to her perpetual misery?

She became harnessed to this train of thought.  She could not escape from it.  She reversed the relation that she had hoped to hold toward such a man, and she stood in his shadow, and not he in hers.

In consequence of these ever-present fears and sensations, there was one day, not very far in the future, that she came to have an intolerable dread of.  This day was the one on which the sentence of the man was to expire.  She felt that he would surely search for her; and that he would find her there could be no manner of doubt, for, in her surplus of confidence, she had told him her full name, inasmuch as he had told her his.

When she contemplated this new source of terror, her peace of mind fled directly.  So did her plans for philanthropic labor.  Not a shred remained.  The anxiety began to tell upon her, and she took to peering out of a certain shaded window that commanded the square in front of her house.  It was not long before she remembered that for good behavior certain days were deducted from the convicts’ terms of imprisonment.  Therefore, her ruffian might be released at a moment not anticipated by her.  He might, in fact, be discharged on any day.  He might be on his way toward her even now.

She was not very far from right, for suddenly the man did appear.

He one day turned the corner, as she was looking out at the window fearing that she should see him, and came in a diagonal direction across the hot, flagged square.

Miss Eunice’s pulse leaped into the hundreds.  She glued her eyes upon him.  There was no mistake.  There was the red face, the evil eyes, the large mouth, the gray hair, and the massive frame.