Mark was twenty years old. "Better sen' 'im down ter Bosting, ole woman; he mought 'mount ter somethin' then."
There was, however, one thing which gratified Mrs. Stanley exceedingly. If he was nothing else, Mark Stanley was pious. This was in part because of a faint dash of Puritanism which he inherited from one of his mother's Connecticut ancestors; in part because of the excessively religious character of the musty and limited family library; and in part because with his peculiar quality of intellect he could comprehend religion better than anything else.
It was his interest in religion which, indirectly, changed the whole course of Mark Stanley's life.
Just before he attained majority, there was a religious revival at Bennington, which, if rumor might be relied upon, was likely to extend throughout New England. So extensive a movement could not fail to call out all of Mark Stanley's enthusiasm, and all through that winter he made regular trips to Bennington, once a week, to attend the "protracted meeting." He found it agreeable and convenient, on each of these trips, to stay in Bennington over-night, and in this way he soon made extensive additions to his circle of acquaintances.
In Arlington, his own town, his father's estimate of him was pretty generally accepted, as a father's estimate usually is when it happens to be derogatory, and he was altogether ignored by the girls, who called him "Stanley's calf." In Bennington the case was very different. Female society was his not only for the taking, but it was thrust upon him, vigorously and vehemently, whether he wanted it or not. This was especially pleasing to him, and he was nothing dismayed by the fact that the most of the young women were "factory-girls." They were attentive to him, and that, since it was so entirely a new experience, was quite sufficient.
The immediate result of all this was Mark's announcement to his parents, the following spring, that he intended marrying a Bennington girl at once. Surprise, the first emotion which this admission engendered, was swiftly merged into consternation when the further disclosure was made that the object of Mark's adoration was a factory-girl.
Subsequent investigation concerning this young woman led to discoveries which wrenched the bosom of Mrs. John Stanley as nothing else ever had.
Mary Harris, whom Mark proposed marrying, was possessed of uncommon beauty, and but little else. She was the daughter of a farmer, who, dying intestate, left his children to take care of themselves. Mary had three brothers, all of whom were older than herself. Her mother had died when she was two years old, and so she had grown up with no very definite principles. She was not quite fifteen when her father died, a few weeks after which event she and her brothers had moved to Bennington, to work in the factories. The transition from the quiet, isolated farm, where, free and unrestrained, she had lived so entirely with her father and brothers, to the lively, bustling town, was a dangerous one for her, in every sense. It was a loose, lax life, without limit or outline, and, though it was new,
