TothecircleatBennington，aletterfromBearCreekwasalwaysawelcomesummonstogatherandhearofdoingsverystrangetoVermont。Andwhenthetaleofthechangedbabiesarriveddulybythepost，itcreatedamorethanusualsensation，andwasreadtoalargenumberofpleasedandscandalizedneighbors。“Ihatehertobewheresuchthingscanhappen，“saidMrs。Wood。“IwishI
couldhavebeenthere，“saidherson-in-law，AndrewBell。“Shedoesnotmentionwhoplayedthetrick，“saidMrs。AndrewBell。
“Weshouldn’tbeanywiserifshedid，“saidMrs。Wood。“I’dliketomeettheperpetrator，“saidAndrew。“Oh，no！“saidMrs。Wood。
“They’reallhorrible。“Andshewroteatonce，beggingherdaughtertotakegoodcareofherself，andtoseeasmuchofMrs。
Balaamaspossible。“Andofanyotherladiesthatarenearyou。