Meanwhile , the whole population of Parker 's Falls , consisting of shopkeepers , mistresses of boarding-houses , factory-girls , mill-men and schoolboys , rushed into the street and kept up such a terrible loquacity as more than compensated for the silence of the cotton-machines , which refrained from their usual din out of respect to the deceased . Had Mr. Higginbotham cared about posthumous renown , his untimely ghost would have exulted in this tumult . Our friend Dominicus in his vanity of heart forgot his intended precautions , and , mounting on the town-pump , announced himself as the bearer of the authentic intelligence which had caused so wonderful a sensation . He immediately became the great man of the moment , and had just begun a new edition of the narrative with a voice like a field-preacher when the mail-stage drove into the village street . It had travelled all night , and must have shifted horses at Kimballton at three in the morning . `` Now we shall hear all the particulars ! '' shouted the crowd . The coach rumbled up to the piazza of the tavern followed by a thousand people ; for if any man had been minding his own business till then , he now left it at sixes and sevens to hear the news . The pedler , foremost in the race , discovered two passengers , both of whom had been startled from a comfortable nap to find themselves in the centre of a mob . Every man assailing them with separate questions , all propounded at once , the couple were struck speechless , though one was a lawyer and the other a young lady . `` Mr. Higginbotham ! Mr. Higginbotham ! Tell us the particulars about old Mr. Higginbotham ! '' bawled the mob . `` What is the coroner 's verdict ? Are the murderers apprehended ? Is Mr. Higginbotham 's niece come out of her fainting-fits ? Mr. Higginbotham ! Mr. Higginbotham ! '' The coachman said not a word except to swear awfully at the hostler for not bringing him a fresh team of horses .
The lawyer inside had generally his wits about him even when asleep ; the first thing he did after learning the cause XXXXX the excitement was to produce a large red pocketbook .
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