CHAPTER XIV.
THE UNPARDONABLE SIN During the first week in May the old Squire and grandmother Ruth made a trip to Portland, and when they came back, they brought, among other presents to us young folks at home, a glass jar of goldfish for Ellen.
In Ellen's early home, before the Civil War and before she came to the old Squire's to live, there had always been a jar of goldfish in the window, and afterwards at the old farm the girl had often remarked that she missed it.

Well I remember the cry of joy she gave that day when grandmother stepped down from the wagon at the farmhouse door and, turning, took a glass jar of goldfish from under the seat.
"O grandmother!" she cried and fairly flew to take it from the old lady's hands.
Ellen had eyes for nothing else that evening, and as it grew dark she went time and again with a lamp to look at the fish and to drop in crumbs of cracker.
During the four days the old folks were away we had run free; games and jokes had been in full swing.

There was still mischief in us, for the next morning when we came down to do the chores before any one else was up, Addison said: "Let's have some fun with Nell; she'll be down here pretty quick.

Get some fish poles and strings and bend up some pins for hooks and we'll pretend to be fishing in the jar!" In a few minutes we each had rigged up a semblance of fishing tackle and were ready.

When Ellen opened the sitting-room door a little later the sight that met her astonished eyes took her breath away.