Subsequent to Micah’s recovery, he went to the Kennebec River and visited his friends.  After his return, he commenced trading, and is now doing quite an extensive business.  He has entirely broken off from his old habits of swearing and gambling, and discountenances them among the people.  He attends religious worship constantly, and sets a worthy example in keeping the Sabbath day.

He is also getting his ideas up on the subject of education.  Not long since, he told me it was his opinion that “there warn’t half school larnin’ enuf among the people, and there’d oughter to be longer schools.  There’s Jinny Campbell, there, a bright leetle imp as ever was, and ef she’d had a chance would a taken to her books, like a chicken to a dough dish.  And there’s others, most as smart as she is, all reound, that need schoolin’.  I feel the want of it myself, neow its tew late to git it”.

A few days ago, Micah told me he expected to build a new house for himself soon.

“Ah!  Micah”, said I, “have you got tired of that comfortable old house of yours, where we have had so many nice suppers and cosey times together?”

“Well, no, Captin’; I hain’t, and I’m afeerd I shall never like another place as I dew that.  But ye see, ef a feller is a goin’ to git merried, he’s got to stir reound and dew what suits other folks as well as hisself”.

“Married!  Micah”, I said, in complete astonishment, “are you going to be married?”

“That’s jest the way I expected yeou’d look”, said he, “when I told ye abeout it, because ye knew I used to talk agin it, like fury.  But ye see, Captin’; I aint just as I used to be, abeout some things.  I’ll tell ye heow it came reound, any heow, so as to sahtisfy ye I ain’t crazy.  Well, when I was a beginnin’ to git better o’ that terable sickness, the fust and only one I ever had in my life, Miss Campbell, she used to send Jinny up, with bits o’ briled chicken, nice broth and sech, to kinder tempt my appetite like.  The little critter used to bring ’em in and be so pitiful to me and say, do Micah try to eat this, so that you may git well; and she seemed so pooty, sincere and nateral like in all her ways, that I took to her mightily, specially as I hadn’t Miss Adele to look arter and chore reound for, any more.  Once or twice, when she came to bring suthin, Ant McNab kinder advised her to do this and that, and the way the leetle critter spunked up and had her own way, made me think o’ Miss Adele and pleased me some, I tell ye.

“Well, arter I got well, she seemed to be just as chipper and pleasant as ever, and was allers glad when I went to the heouse, and so it went on (I won’t bother abeout the rest on’t) till six months ago.  As I was a walkin’ hum from a meetin’ at the Grove with her, she sed, ’what a pooty Grove that is, of yours, Micah;’ Witheout a considerin’ a half a minit, I sed, right away, ’Jinny, I’d give yeou that Grove and all I have beside, upon one