Whenever he met the young man, he had something pleasant to say,
and was always inviting him into the store to take a drop when he
passed. Meanwhile, however, so far as the latter's opportunities of
seeing or talking with Desire were concerned, she might just as well
have been in Pittsfield, so strictly did she keep the house. A week or
ten days passed thus, every day adding fuel to his impatience, and he
had already begun to entertain plans worthy of a brigand or a
kidnapper, when circumstances presented an opportunity of which he
made shrewd profit.
During the Revolutionary war it had been a frequent policy with the
town authorities to attempt to correct the high and capricious prices
of goods, always incident to war times, by establishing fixed rates
per pound, bushel, yard or quart, by which all persons should be
compelled to sell or barter their merchandise and produce. It had been
suggested in the Stockbridge Committee of Correspondence, Inspection,
and Safety that the adoption of such a tariff would tend to relieve
the present distress and promote trade. Ezra Phelps proposed the plan,
Israel Goodrich was inclined to favor it, and Perez' assent would have
settled the matter.
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