He 'ain't been a-lookin' forward to eatin', but to payin' up the interest money when it came due; he 'ain't been a-lookin' forward to heaven, but to clearin' off the mortgage.

It's been all he's had; it's bore down on his body and his soul, an' it's braced him up to keep on workin'.

He's been a-livin' in this Christian town for ten years a-carryin' of this fine mortgage right out in plain sight, an' I shouldn't be a mite surprised if somebody see it an' hankered arter it.

Folks are so darned anxious in this 'ere Christian town to get holt of each other's burdens!" Simon Basset edged his chair away still farther; then he spoke.
"Don't s'pose you expected folks to up an' pay Abel Edwards's mortgage for him," he said.
"No, I didn't," returned Ozias Lamb, and the sardonic curves around his mouth deepened.
"An' I don't s'pose you'd expect Doctor Prescott to make him a present of it," said Jake Noyes, suddenly, from the outskirts of the group.

He had come in for the doctor's mail, and was lounging with one great red-sealed missive and a religious newspaper in his hand.
"No," said Ozias Lamb, "I shouldn't never expect the doctor to make a present to anybody but himself or the Lord or the meetin'-house." A general chuckle ran over the group at that.