They were inventions of Providence to beguile me to a better life.

It sounds curiously innocent and conceited, now, but to me there was nothing strange about it; it was quite in accordance with the thoughtful and judicious ways of Providence as I understood them.

It would not have surprised me, nor even over-flattered me, if Providence had killed off that whole community in trying to save an asset like me.

Educated as I had been, it would have seemed just the thing, and well worth the expense.

_Why_ Providence should take such an anxious interest in such a property--that idea never entered my head, and there was no one in that simple hamlet who would have dreamed of putting it there.