the older woman in her former capacity of huckster, second-hand dealer, and money-lender.
Still less-had anyone forgotten the tragic evening when the old woman was found assassinated, with nothing but splinters left of the lid of the chest in which she kept her money and a few earrings and trinkets of gold; still less, the horror that spread through the neighborhood at the news that the thief and assassin was none other than Antonia's husband, as she herself declared, adding that for some time past the guilty man had been tormented with a desire for his mother-in-law's money, with which he wished to set up a butcher's shop of his own. The accused, to be sure, attempted to establish an alibi, relying on the testimony of two or three boon companions, and so far confused the facts, that, instead of going to the gallows, he got off with twenty years in prison.
Public opinion was less indulgent than the law; in addition to the wife's testimony, there was one overwhelming piece of evidence, namely, the wound itself which had caused the old woman's death, an accurate, clean-cut wound, delivered from above downward, like the stroke used in slaughtering hogs, evidently with a broad, keen blade, like that of a meat knife. Among the people, there was no question but that the culprit should have paid for his deed upon the scaffold. And Antonia's destiny began to evoke a holy horror when the rumor was circulated that her husband had sworn to get even with her, on the day of his release, for having testified against him. The poor woman was expecting soon to have a child; yet
