If he could not have
ascertained her intentions otherwise than by such a desperate measure,
he would have waited till the Hamlins set out, and then been on hand
to see for himself whether she went or not.
CHAPTER SIXTEENTH
AN AUCTION SALE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
Squire Woodbridge had not failed to detect the first signs of decrease
in the ebullition of the popular mind after the revolt of Tuesday, and
when by Friday and Saturday the mob had apparently quite disappeared,
and the village had returned to its normal condition, he assured
himself that the rebellion was all over, and it only remained for him
and his colleagues cautiously to get hold of the reins again, and
then--then for the whip. For, the similitude under which the Squire
oftenest thought of the people of Stockbridge was that of a team of
horses which he was driving. There had been a little runaway, and he
had been pitched out on his head. Let him once get his grip on the
lines again, and the whip in his hand, and there should be some fine
dancing among the leaders, or his name was not Jahleel Woodbridge,
Esquire, and the whipping post on the green was nothing but a
rosebush.
He was in a hurry for two reasons to get the reins in his hands again.
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