Is it not so ?" Horace Holmcroft looked up from the table.

"Mercy Merrick ?" he said.
"Who is Mercy Merrick ?" Surgeon Wetzel pointed to the corpse on the bed.
"I have found the name on the handkerchief," he said.

"This lady, it seems, had not curiosity enough to look for the name of her own countrywoman." He made that mocking allusion to Mercy with a tone which was almost a tone of suspicion, and a look which was almost a look of contempt.

Her quick temper instantly resented the discourtesy of which she had been made the object.

The irritation of the moment--so often do the most trifling motives determine the most serious human actions--decided her on the course that she should pursue.