With the prospect of getting the long coveted carpets, came an increased desire for their possession.

In imagination Mrs. Ellis saw them already on the floor.  For some hours there was a struggle in her mind.  Then the tempter triumphed.  She dressed herself, and went out for the purpose of making a selection.  From this moment she did not hesitate.  Calling at a well-known carpet warehouse, she made her selection, and directed the bill, after the carpet was made and put down, to be sent in to her husband.  The price of the carpet she chose was two dollars and a quarter a yard; and the whole bill, including that of the upholsterer, would reach a hundred and sixty dollars.

When Mrs. Ellis returned home, after having consummated her purpose, the thought of her beautiful carpet gave her far less pleasure than she had anticipated.  In every wrong act lies its own punishment.  Uneasiness of mind follows as a sure consequence.  From the idea of her beautiful parlours, her mind would constantly turn to her husband.

“What will he say?”

Ah! if she could only have answered that question satisfactorily!

“I will be so good, I will disarm him with kindness.  I will humour him in every thing.  I will not give him a chance to be angry.”

For a while this idea pleased the mind of Mrs. Ellis.  But it only brought a temporary respite to the uneasiness produced by her wrong act.

“I’ll tell him just what I have done,” said she to herself, as the dinner hour approached, and Cara began to look for her husband’s return.  “He might as well know it now, as in a week; and, besides, it will give him time to prepare for the bill.  Yes, that is what I will do.”

Still, her mind felt troubled.  The act was done, and no way of retreat remained open.  The consequences must be met.

The hour for Mr. Ellis to return home at length arrived, and his wife waited his coming with a feeling of troubled suspense such as she had rarely, if ever, before experienced.  Smiles, ready to be forced to her countenance, were wreathing themselves in her imagination.  She meant to be “so good,” so loving, so considerate.  A particular dish of which he was so fond had been ordered,—­it was a month since it had graced their table.

But time moved on.  It was thirty minutes past the dinner hour, and he was still away.  At last Mrs. Ellis gave him up.  A full hour had elapsed, and there was little probability of his return before the close of business for the day.  So she sat down with her children to eat the meal which long delay had spoiled, and for which she had now but little appetite.

Wearily passed the afternoon, and, as the usual time for Ellis’s appearance drew near, his wife began to look for his coming with feelings of unusual concern.  Not concern for him, but for herself.  She had pretty well made up her mind to inform him of what she had done, but shrank from the scene which she had every reason to believe would follow.