Going off to a tavern don't mend the matter, I'll admit; but, when I leave the house, alone, after nightfall, and in a bad humour, it is the most natural thing in the world for me to seek the pleasant company of some of my old friends--and I generally know where to find them." Such was the state of mind in which Ellis returned home.
A word or two will give the reader a better idea of the relation which Henry Ellis and his wife bore to each other and society.

They had been married about six years, and had three children, the oldest a boy, and the other two girls.

Ellis kept a retail dry-goods store, in a small way.

His capital was limited, and his annual profits, therefore, but light.

The consequence was, that, in all his domestic arrangements, the utmost frugality had to be observed.