White and Black Lies, by Madeline Leslie—A Project Gutenberg eBook

"Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord; but they that deal truly
are his delight."

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by

HENRY HOYT,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of
Massachusetts.

THE Bible ranks truthfulness among the cardinal virtues. Perfect veracity is a prominent element of a good character, lying at the foundation of permanent success and of enviable fame. Yet, from the prevalence of a passion for the marvellous, the temptations are numerous in our age and country to the practice of the arts of deception.

The thought of these exposures of the young has recently revived my early recollection of the excellent treatise on lying, by Mrs. Opie, a book which I read in childhood with the liveliest interest, and which has deepened my conviction of the desirableness of a work expressing similar sentiments, but more fully illustrated and enforced by the teachings of the Bible.

CHAPTER I.

"JOSEPH SAUNDERS, take those glasses off this very minute! How many times have I told you never to touch my things!" Nevertheless, Aunt Clarissa laughed heartily.

"They aren't yours," answered the boy, saucily. "They're father's, and he says I may take them just as much as I have a mind to."

"Take care, Joseph; when your conscience gives a twinge like that, you had better recall your resolutions about lying."

Joseph Saunders was a motherless boy. His father was a master mason; that is, he did not work himself; but kept a number of men, who did the jobs, while he superintended them, to be sure the work was right. This is a very profitable business, and by it Mr. Saunders had become quite a rich man. He lived in a handsome house, in a street overlooking a pleasant park which in summer was filled with beautiful flowers. He had three children,—two daughters and one son.

Alice, the elder, was fifteen, and was away from home at a boarding school. Ellen was three years younger, and still remained with her father. Joseph, the baby, as his sisters teasingly called him, was but six, though he insisted he was old enough to wear suspenders, and have a watch-pocket.

Mrs. Saunders died when Joseph was little more than a year old, so that he could not remember her. But he had so often heard his father describe her sweet smile, her dark loving eyes, her broad polished forehead, over which her shining hair was so smoothly parted, that it seemed to him, he could remember her, and that when he went to heaven, he should know her at once. Then her voice, which his father told him was low and musical, like the chiming of silver bells, he often heard in his dreams. Sometimes he awoke, calling her, and it was difficult to convince him that she had not stood by his side, and that it was only a dream.

Soon after his mother died, Aunt Clarissa came to take care of the children, and to direct the servants in her nephew's family. Though aunt to Mr. Saunders, Miss Clarissa was only ten years older than he was, and would have felt quite insulted, had she even suspected that she was not considered a young lady. She was a very good housekeeper. The upper shelves in the china closet were always filled with jars of jelly and sweetmeats, neatly covered with white paper, and tied with pink cord. Her sponge cake, custards, and Washington pies, always came out of the oven done to a turn, and exactly the right shade of brown; and as to her waffles, why, nobody who had eaten Miss Clarissa's waffles ever expected to make any equal to them! So light, so rich, and covered with just the right quantity of butter and sugar.

Mr. Saunders was fond of inviting his friends to dinner, and this at first annoyed his aunt, who disliked hurry or confusion, such as the sudden appearance of a guest was likely to occasion; but she gradually became accustomed to this, and to all her duties, and even grew quite fond of being seated at the head of a luxuriously spread table, richly ornamented with its display of silver, china, and cut glass.

In the laundry, too, Miss Clarissa was quite as successful as in the china closet. The making up, as she called it, of her nephew's shirts was both her pride and delight; while her own laces—I do not say caps; she would consider me very presuming to hint that she wore caps—and her niece's muslins were the envy of all who saw them. Then this good lady was skilled in all kinds of preparations for the sick. Few, even of well persons, could refuse her chicken-broth or beef-tea; and those who came on to the sick list were willing to try her senna, her jalap, or her thoroughwort, for the sake of the delicacies which accompanied them.

If any one person in the world was neater than every other, that person was Aunt Clarissa. The least particle of dust on the furniture, or on the heavy mouldings; the slightest variation in the width of the snow-white sheet when it was turned down over the smoothly-spread counterpane; the tiniest speck upon the shining silver, or on the large panes of glass in the windows, was sure to attract her attention; and woe be to the servant who had so shamefully neglected her duty.

So far then as her housekeeping was concerned, Miss Saunders was every way calculated to render her nephew's family exceedingly comfortable; but I am very sorry to say, she was in no ways adapted to educate his children. In the first place, she had no fixed principles for the regulation of her own conduct. To be sure she did occasionally, on a stormy Sabbath, read her Bible; and she had heard of the inspired rule, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it;" but she had little idea of the literal meaning of the old-fashioned precept. So far as she had any rule, it was this: "Train up a child to have his own way, and when he is old he will be a model of perfection."

The first part of this adage she certainly carried out. Alice, Ellen, and particularly Joseph, were trained to have their own way in every particular. If the little dears chose to obey her, and overload their stomachs with her rich dainties, well and good. If they disobeyed her commands, quarrelled, went on the damp ground with thin shoes, talked impudently to the servants, or told what was not true,—why, such follies must be expected from children. Does not even the Bible say, children go astray as soon as they are born?

Whether Miss Clarissa's training was such as to make her nieces and nephews honor their father, and her who took the place of a mother; whether it would render them "kindly affectionate one to another;" whether it would make them lovers of truth; whether it would cause them to become ornaments of society, loving their Creator, and endeavoring to serve him,—we shall see as we proceed with their history.

Alice was called a handsome child. She had small regular features, a pink and white complexion, and an abundance of soft, light hair, which waved over her cheeks and neck. Her eyes were blue, but of so light a shade, that they had the appearance of being faded. In disposition, she was naturally amiable; and under judicious training, such as her mother, had she lived, might have exercised, was capable of making a useful, agreeable, but never a strong, character.

Ellen was the exact opposite of her sister, both in person and disposition. She was a brunette, with dark flashing eyes, a low forehead, and somewhat wide but laughing mouth. She was warm and enthusiastic in her temperament, to a degree which astonished every member of the family; strong and unyielding in her prejudices, keenly alive to all the weaknesses of Aunt Clarissa's character, and ready to take advantage of them for her own benefit. Being a very positive character, she soon exercised a most decided influence over her more yielding sister, and though three years younger, until Alice left for school, was almost always appealed to in cases of doubt.

"Would you go to church? Would you wear that? Do you think this hat looks well?"

If Alice was invited to go to a party, it took her a long time to decide whether she would send a note of acceptance or regret; whether she cared enough about it, to take the trouble to dress. In the midst of her queries and uncertainties, Ellen would come in, and with her decided, "I shall go," or "I shall not go," put an end at once to the controversy.

Alice, without proper training, would become a negative, indolent young lady; Ellen, an obstinate, self-willed, and passionate one.

From the many years of difference between Ellen and Joseph, an infant brother having died between their ages, the boy was always petted and indulged by all. He was what would be called a smart child, and his sayings and doings were repeated and laughed at, until it was not strange, he considered himself a wonderful personage.

It was Joseph's great ambition to be old; and if money could have purchased him a dozen years, he would have given those around him no peace until he had added them to his life; but as even Aunt Clarissa, with all her desire that he should be gratified, could neither increase his stature, nor present him the moon for a toy—he was obliged to content himself with aping the dress and manners of a man. With this intent, he would often steal into his father's bedroom, and, arraying himself in stock and collar, would then mount his father's glasses on his nose, seize his cane, and with a rude, swaggering air saunter into the parlors.

"Joseph Saunders! I do believe there never was such a mischievous child!" Aunt Clarissa would exclaim. "How dare you take a clean collar, sir!" But at the same time, she would join most heartily in the shout of mirth with which his appearance was greeted by the others.

CHAPTER II.

MR. SAUNDERS was a moral man, strictly honorable in his dealings with his fellow-men. He would have scorned the idea of cheating his patrons, or any one with whom he had to do; because such conduct was, in his opinion, mean and low. For a liar, he had the greatest contempt. Imagine, then, his horror when he found that neither of his daughters had the slightest regard for truth.

On one occasion he brought home a valuable book of engravings, lent him by a friend. For a few days, he was so much occupied, he had no time to examine it; but when he did, he found almost every page marred by marks of dirty fingers. Mortified and chagrined, he called, first, Alice and then Ellen, and holding up the volume, demanded an explanation. They both denied having touched the book, or even having seen it, and looked in his face, as they repeated the assertion, with such unblushing effrontery, he could not believe them to be the guilty ones.

A few days later, he met a young man at the bookstore who was on intimate terms in his family. Mr. Saunders was about purchasing a duplicate of the volume which had been so mysteriously injured, when the other remarked,—

"What do you mean?" inquired the gentleman, a bright flush spreading all over his face. "Did you see Ellen with a book like this?"

"I had no idea I was telling tales," he said; "but I happened in one day when you were not at home. The girls were earnest in their admiration of the engravings, and in her zeal, Ellen pulled it from her sister, though her hands were half full of fruit. Ask them; they will tell you about it."

The father opened his pocket-book, laid down the price of the volume, and walked out of the store without another word. Perhaps in all the years since his wife died, he had never so forcibly realized the responsibility which rested upon him as he did during that short walk. What adepts in lying his daughters must have become, when they could so entirely deceive him! His boy, too,—there was no knowing how soon he would follow their example. Before he reached his own steps, his eyes seemed for the first time open to the fact that Aunt Clarissa, however excellent a housekeeper, was not equal to the moral training of his children.

On entering the house, he sent for his daughters, and was deeply pained to see how readily they reiterated the falsehood, and, even when he convinced them he was aware of the fact that they had deceived him, how little shame they exhibited at the detection. Indeed, they did not feel that they had committed a grave offence, nor realize that not only had they deceived a kind, indulgent parent, but had violated one of God's holy commands, "Lie not one to another."

A sharp pang shot through the heart of Mr. Saunders, as he remembered how entirely he had neglected to teach his children their accountability to God. After a few words to them, expressing his horror of their crime, he dismissed them abruptly, and passed the next hour in forming resolutions for the future. He realized, for the first time,—because circumstances had not heretofore brought the subject before him,—that if they went on as they were now going, with no counter-influences to check their impulses, they would be ruined. Something must be done, and that at once, to change their whole course of conduct.

If Mr. Saunders had been a Christian father, he would have reasoned differently. He would have said, "My children are by nature sinful; the seeds of corruption have begun to take root, and must be exterminated. The grace of God and the constant instructions of his holy word alone can do this. I will give them line upon line, and precept upon precept, and pray for God's blessing upon the result."

But, as it was, he saw the evil, yet was puzzled as to the cure. That night but little sleep came to his pillow, and the morning dawned with only one advance upon the doubts of the preceding day, and that was a resolve to consult a friend, who had several daughters of her own, as to the course he had better pursue.

Mrs. Peters was a woman of the world. It was her ambition that her children should excel and shine in society. She therefore was unwearied in her devotion to what she considered their best interests. She would have thought it a sin to omit one of their studies, or to remit an hour of their daily penance of sitting with their feet in the stocks, with their arms tightly braced back to give grace and vigor to their frames. They were to be outwardly polished and beautiful; but she had not given a thought to the fashioning of their souls in the image of their Saviour. She condoled with Mr. Saunders, as to the state of perplexity in which he found himself, and advised him at once to send Alice to a fashionable boarding school, where she would be taught every accomplishment, and where, of course, she would soon learn that lying and all those things were very low and unladylike.

Though not entirely convinced by her reasoning, Mr. Saunders determined to follow her advice, and in less than a month, Alice became a member of Mrs. Lerow's celebrated school for young ladies, where for the present we shall leave her.

Now that his attention had once been directed to the subject, the gentleman watched closely his other daughter, and was pained to perceive that, with many fine traits, she was growing up not only a liar, but passionate and self-willed. It was evident she needed a firm, careful hand to direct her physical and moral training for a few years.

Mrs. Saunders's sister was married and lived fifty miles in the country. It had been her habit; ever since her sister's death, to visit her brother-in-law once in a few years; and just at this time, she wrote announcing her intention of spending a week in the city. The gentleman was intensely relieved.

"She is just the person," he said to himself, "to have the charge of Ellen. I wonder it did not occur to me before. It will be the saving of the child, if her aunt will consent to take her."

Mrs. Collins had not been in the house many days, before she agreed with her brother that his children needed a mother's careful, judicious management. Ellen, ardent, impulsive as she was, had always been her favorite; but she was deeply grieved to see how entirely the child was wanting in moral and religious principle.

When Mr. Saunders first mentioned his wish of sending his daughter home with her to remain for an indefinite period, she shrank from so great a responsibility; but after making it a subject of prayer and direction from her Father in heaven, she thought here was an opportunity to do good which ought not to be neglected, even though it involved great personal sacrifices.

There were some conditions, however, which she insisted upon as essential to the well-being of Ellen. She should be entirely under her aunt's influence, not even visiting home until her present habits of deceit were so far eradicated that she would not be likely to return to them; and that Mr. Saunders would co-operate with her in everything she considered essential for the good of the child.

Ellen, herself, was in raptures at the proposed change. Mrs. Collins prolonged her visit another week, in order that the necessary preparations might be completed, and as, in the mean time, she accompanied the lady on her shopping expeditions, and in many instances had her own taste consulted in the choice of her dress, she expressed herself as more happy than she had ever been in her life.

CHAPTER III.

BEFORE she left the city, Mrs. Collins remonstrated with her brother upon the course of indulgence he was pursuing with Joseph, assuring him that, if he persevered in it, the result might be more fatal even than in the case of his daughters.

With all due respect to the excellencies of Aunt Clarissa, she explained to him that her influence over the child was very injurious indeed; that the lady was completely governed by him, and, except by her words, never enforced, did not oppose him in anything. He paid no more attention to her constant reminder:

Than he did to the sighing and moaning of the autumnal wind. She recommended that he be placed in a good school, where, for six hours every day, he be under a proper influence and restraint, or that a private governess be taken into the house.

How many times, in after years, did Mr. Saunders regret he had not acted upon this last piece of advice!

Mrs. Collins resided in a quiet country town. Her husband was a physician, and kept a small shop of medicines more for the convenience of his neighbors than from any advantage which accrued to himself. They had one son, who was at an academy pursuing studies preparatory to entering college, and a daughter one year older than Alice.

There was but one church and society in the whole village, over which the Reverend Mr. Allen had been settled for a score of years.

The district schoolhouse, where Mr. Collins's children had been thoroughly taught the rudiments of knowledge, was but a short distance from their home and to this the lady determined to send her niece.

For the winter term, a gentleman of high attainments had been engaged, and Mary Collins, also, expected to become a pupil.

Though scarcely a day passed, without some trials with the impulsive, untutored girl; yet her aunt hoped much from the silent influences which surrounded her. From Mary, too, she expected great assistance by inspiring in the mind of her cousin a love for virtue. This young girl was an earnest, sincere Christian, and, though modest and unobtrusive in her manners, extremely decided where principle was involved.

In the centre of the village, there was one large variety store, sufficient to satisfy most of the wants of the residents. As Mr. Saunders, without his sister's knowledge, had liberally supplied his daughter with pocket-money, she used to invent a variety of excuses for visiting the store, where she had seen one small shelf devoted to jars of confectionery.

Mrs. Collins often wondered that her niece, when called to meals, felt so little appetite for her food, not even suspecting that she had been overloading her stomach with poisoned sweets obtained at the store.

After a few weeks, Ellen's money was gone, but not her sickly craving for sweets. She felt convinced that her aunt would disapprove, if not wholly forbid, her eating so much candy, and determined not to apply to her. She now wished more than ever that she could write and direct a letter by herself; for if so, she would beg her father or Aunt Clarissa for means to gratify her appetite; but as she could not, she concluded to run up a bill at the store, which she would be careful to pay with the first remittance from her indulgent parent.

"I want six gibraltars, and six sticks of peppermint candy," she said, one morning, to the young clerk, who stood smiling behind the counter.

He selected them as directed, folded them neatly in a small parcel, and then held out his hand for the pay.

"Aunt Collins wants you to put what I buy on a bill, and my father will pay it," she answered, with a somewhat heightened color.

"Stop a minute," he said, walking quickly to his master, who was at the other end of the counter. "Well," he added coming back, "you must tell me, though, what your father's name is. I suppose there is no doubt your aunt said so," looking keenly in her face.

This was lie the second, and Ellen, somewhat provoked, turned quickly from the counter, lest she should be obliged to tell lie the third.

She broke open the parcel, took out one gibraltar, which did not taste as sweet as usual, and crowded the rest into her pocket. Though she had equivocated many times since she came to P—, she had not before told a downright falsehood; and somehow, the thought of it troubled her. At home it seemed natural to deceive; and then nobody had told her how wicked it was.

"What an impudent fellow that is, to ask so many questions!" she soliloquized. "I am almost sorry I did not leave the candy with him after all. He may keep it if he is so afraid of losing his money. I wish father would send me some; and I would pay his bill, and never buy anything at his store again."

But all this did not satisfy her conscience, which was beginning to be more enlightened. She had not listened, morning and evening, to her uncle's prayer for strength to resist the temptations of our own hearts to do evil, without some feeble desire for help to do likewise. She had not been witness to the lovely, consistent conduct of her cousin, without hoping at some future time to be like her. She had begun to love her aunt and, indeed, the whole family; but she found herself during the day returning short answer to their affectionate questions, not daring to look them frankly in the face.

She had promised Mary that she would try to be good, and would ask her heavenly Father to help her; but in the evening when she retired to her room, and began to repeat the form of prayer she had learned, her heart seemed to rise up in her throat and choke her. Covering her face with her hands, she gave way to a passionate burst of grief and thus her cousin found her.

But for some time the sobbing girl could not speak. Indeed, there was a severe struggle going on within her. Conscience, awakened at last, urged her to confess her fault, ask God, and then her aunt, to forgive her. Next pride would plead, "What a fuss you are making for just a little lie which can do no harm to any one. You bought the candy, and mean to pay for it. You have told bigger lies a great many times, and never cared about it."

Oh, how little Ellen then realized that the gracious Spirit of God was hovering over her; that his influence was operating on her heart; that if she resisted him, she might be left to work out her own ruin!

Mary kneeled by her side, affectionately pressing her cheek to her cousin's wet one.

"But why, dear cousin? You were singing merrily half an hour ago. Has anything happened since? It is a sad thing when we cannot tell our heavenly Father our troubles. You know praying is only talking with God,—telling him our desires. If we have sinned, we confess it to him as we would to an earthly parent, only we do it more readily, as we know he is more ready to forgive. He says, 'Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.' You feel sure your father loves you. Mother has often told me how tender and indulgent he is. But your heavenly Father is infinitely more so. He sees you all the time, and knows just what your temptations have been; and the moment he sees you are sorry, he is ready to forgive."

Ellen started up and looked eagerly in her cousin's face. "How has she found out that I have been tempted?" was the question which alarmed her.

But Mary returned the glance so kindly, she was relieved, and saying to herself, "After all, what's the use of feeling so. I never mean to tell another lie," she laughed hysterically, as she sprang to her feet.

Mary went on, not at all deceived by her appearance, and opening her Testament, she read the thrilling account of the prodigal son returning to his father.

"Christ told his disciples this parable," answered Mary, "to show poor sinners how willing God is to forgive them. It is true that many, many poor prodigals have gone astray from their Father's house, have offended against his holy laws, and have found that where they expected pleasure, they only met with pain, sorrow, and weariness of heart. When oppressed with poverty and want,—at last they remembered that in the home they had left there was plenty; and with penitence for their sin, in so foolishly throwing away their blessings, they arise at last and say, 'I will go to my Father, confess my fault, and be happy once more.'"

Ellen began to pick the trimming on her apron, her countenance looking very thoughtful.

Mary slowly closed the book, and putting her arm around her cousin, said, softly,—

"You and I, dear girl, and all mankind, are sinners before God. Our sinful hearts have led us far away from home; but we shall never know peace until we return to him with the prayer of the prodigal on our lips:

"'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants, even the lowest place in thy kingdom is far more than I deserve.'"

For a few moments they sat in profound silence, then Ellen, without a word, undressed herself and retired to her couch, while her cousin, checking a sigh of disappointment, went quietly from the room.

CHAPTER IV.

NOTWITHSTANDING, Ellen's sorrow at the commission of so grave a fault, which she vainly tried to convince herself was a very trifling one, the temptation a few days after proved too much for her, and she added to her bill at the store by the purchase of twenty-five cents' worth of candy and lozenges. This way of gratifying her sickly appetite for sweets proved so easy, that she resorted to it again and again, until the clerk informed her she owed nearly five dollars.

"Five dollars!" was the poor child's frightened exclamation. "The story of five dollars,—it can't be true! You have not counted it right."

"See," he said, "how often you have had twenty-five cents' worth, and it only takes four times that to make one dollar. If you don't like large bills, you had better pay this before it comes to be larger. Mrs. Collins never allows anything for herself to be charged."

"I will write a letter to my father to-day," exclaimed the distressed girl. "He gives me as much spending money as I want."

"Very well," answered the young man, "I dare say it will be all right; you don't look like a young miss who would run up a bill without the means of paying it."

Vexed with the clerk for the insinuating smile which accompanied his words, and more angry with herself for having given him the opportunity to speak so familiarly, she hastily returned home.

With a weight on her heart, she walked slowly along, ever and anon saying to herself, "What shall I do? I think it's real mean in Aunt Collins not to give me money, and then I should not have to run up a bill." Upon each member of the family in turn did she try to affix the blame which conscience told her belonged only to herself.

Hurrying up to her own chamber, she stealthily drew a sheet of paper from her cousin's desk. Under other circumstances, she would have begged her aunt for what she needed; but the fear that she would be asked what she wanted of paper led her to the commission of another crime; so true it is that one sin leads to many others.

With a lead pencil, which she was obliged to wet continually, the point was so blunt, Ellen rapidly wrote, or rather scrawled, a few lines to Aunt Clarissa,—for to her she had concluded the application must be made,—in which, in words badly spelled, she expressed her desire for some money; she did not care how much, only it must be more than five dollars.

She now considered it fortunate that the post office was kept at the store; for she had concluded to ask the clerk to direct and post it for her. This was another humiliation to which her falsehood had subjected her; and her cheeks burned as she made the request.

Ellen was too angry to reply, and turned away with a toss of her head; but presently remembering she was still in his power, went back to say, "When my letter comes, I will pay your money at once;—and never have anything more to do with you," she muttered to herself, as she went abruptly out of the store.

"Oh, how very unhappy I am!" she soliloquized, as with slow and faltering steps she made her way home. "I mean to tell aunt I am homesick, and had rather live with father."

She sighed heavily, and forcibly restrained her tears, as conscience reminded her of a passage occurring in her last Sunday's lesson: "The way of transgressors is hard."

"But I used to be a great deal worse than I am now," she went on, "and I thought nothing about it. I used to tell lies all the time; and take Aunt Clarissa's cake and jellies, which Mary considers as bad as stealing."

"The prodigal son revelled in sin," again suggested the inward monitor, "and thought not of his folly; but by and by he began to mourn over it, and then he desired to return to duty."

"Well, I've suffered so much, that if I ever get out of this, I shall know better than to get myself into trouble again. At any rate, I can't help it now."

Then a voice whispered, "Why not confess to your aunt; ask her to settle with the storekeeper, and restore your self-respect?"

"Oh, no, that would be too mortifying! I could not bear my uncle or Mary to know how foolish I have been."

Now it so happened that the continued want of appetite for wholesome food had begun to excite the serious anxiety of Mrs. Collins. She consulted her husband, who suspected at once she was or had been in the habit of eating confectionery.

"But isn't it strange the effect should continue?" inquired the lady. "I am sure she has eaten none since she came to P—."

"I think you may be mistaken, mother," suggested Mary, who was present. "I have often seen her with candy; and she has occasionally offered me some. One day I joked her about her excessive fondness for it; and she seemed very much confused, but said that her Aunt Clarissa always gave her as much as she wished."

"Where can she obtain it?" asked the lady, in great surprise. "She has no money. At least, none that I am aware of. Her father gave me a generous sum for the supply of every want; but as I thought her too young and untaught to use it properly herself, I requested him not to allow her spending money. Perhaps her companions have given her some."

Mary smiled, as she answered, "I cannot say; and unless I had heard you express a fear lest she was injuring her health, I should not have mentioned having seen her eat candy."

"I have noticed of late that she was more petulant," added Mrs. Collins, after a brief pause, in which a painful suspicion shot through her mind; "it may be that something troubles her conscience."

Mary was silent. Not even to her mother had she felt at liberty to relate the incident which had occurred many weeks before, when Ellen wept so bitterly. She was just debating the question, whether she ought to do so, when the young girl entered. They both noticed that she was excited; her eyes sparkled and her cheeks were crimson.

"Come here, my dear!" exclaimed the lady, a sudden gush of tenderness toward the motherless child for a moment overpowering her. "We were just talking of you, and we think you are neither as well in health, nor as happy, as when you first came to us. We love you, dear Ellen, and thought we could make you happy; but if we cannot, perhaps we ought to send you back to your father."

Ellen eagerly caught her aunt's hand, and pressed it to her lips. Oh, how she longed to throw herself into her kind arms, and confess all!

"If I only had Aunt Clarissa's letter, with money enough to pay the bill, I would do so," she thought; "but I fear she would despise me."

Don't blame this child too much, reader. You perhaps have always been watched by a tender Christian mother, who has kindly pointed out your faults, and taught you that the first step toward curing was to confess them. Aunt Clarissa had taken the best care of which she was capable of her body; had seen her well, even fashionably, clothed, but had never inquired into the state of her heart; while her father, busied in acquiring wealth for his children, had wholly neglected their moral culture until, frightened at the result, he shrank from the responsibility he had incurred.

Mrs. Collins waited patiently for her niece to speak: but though Ellen kept repeating the words, "It is not your fault that I am not well. I do love you dearly!" Yet she gave no reason for her too evident unhappiness.

"I must inquire more particularly into this. There is something I do not understand," the lady said to her daughter as, with a sudden start, Ellen left the room.

In the evening, as the family, including Frank, who had just returned from school, were seated around the table, Mary entered, portfolio in hand. "Ellen," she said, with an anxious flush, "have you taken a piece of paper from my drawer?"

The young girl started, gave one searching glance into her cousin's face, and then faltered, "No, I haven't."

"You are welcome to as much paper as you wish," she added, misunderstanding the expression of distress; "but I have lost one sheet on which I had made a memorandum of books my teacher gave me. I have searched every place I can think of, but I cannot find it; and I was so sure I put it in my portfolio."

It was with the greatest difficulty the poor girl could refrain from screaming aloud. She bent over her book to hide her tears, while Mrs. Collins gazed in astonishment.

"Come to the side table, Nelly," at length exclaimed Frank, breaking the awkward pause which ensued. "Let's play a game of checkers. I know just how you feel," he added, in a low voice, when they had arranged the board.

"I mean when Mary asked you if you had taken her paper. Our master at school missed his gold pencil from his desk, and a pretty piece of work he made of it. When the school were all seated for prayers, he spoke out in a solemn tone and told us what he had lost, and asked whether any of the scholars had seen it. He began at the back row, and cast his eyes along through every desk. When he came to me, I couldn't help it to save my life, but I turned as red as fire, just as you did when Mary asked you. I was vexed that I had made such a fool of myself; but when the scholars saw how long the master's eye rested on me, they all looked at me until, like a great booby, the tears came right into my eyes. I choked and choked, but it was no go. Master said no more. He thought he'd found the thief. After school, he called me, and asked,—

This was said with such a tone of honest indignation, that the young girl's heart beat furiously; but she presently comforted herself that he supposed her innocent.

"Two days after," Frank went on, "master found his pencil in an old vest pocket, and he made an apology to the school."

"I am vexed with myself," Ellen heard Mary say, "that I did not take better care of my memorandum! I am ashamed to ask my teacher again; it seems so careless!"

"I don't believe you like to play checkers," said Frank. "You have made a false move twice, and I've had to take your king."

"I don't feel like playing to-night," she said, softly; "my head aches so hard." And to his surprise, she rose suddenly and left the room.

"That's polite!" exclaimed the youth, trying to conceal his vexation, as he deliberately restored the checkers to the box.

Ellen ran to her own room, and throwing herself on the bed, wept as if her heart would break.

"Oh, what a dreadful day this has been!" she kept repeating. "How little I thought when I bought that first candy that it would ever make me do so many wicked things! Mary and Frank will hate me when they find out I have deceived them; and I fear God will hate me too," she added, with a fresh burst of tears. "Oh! Will he ever forgive me?"

CHAPTER V.

"I DIDN'T tell you the whole of my story last night," said Frank, as the next morning, Ellen, pale and sad, seated herself in the window to study her lesson. "Mr. Taylor is a real good teacher, though he is awfully strict. As soon as he found his pencil just where he had left it, he thought, I suppose, that he had suspected me without cause, or rather because I was silly enough to blush upon being asked a simple question.

"He took occasion to give the whole school a lecture on circumstantial evidence, and proved, by some good anecdotes, how unsafe a mode of judging it was. Why, some men have been hanged, being judged by circumstantial evidence; and afterwards they were found to be innocent. When he had done, he alluded to the pencil again, and said he had known some persons with such a tender conscience that the simple fact of their being questioned would cause them to show all the signs of guilt. I guess I blushed some then; for all the scholars smiled as they looked at me, and Mr. Taylor looked in my face and smiled too. So you see, I knew just how to pity you last night. But, of course, Mary is glad to give you paper and pens, too, whenever you want them."

"Oh, how I wish he would never speak another word about it!" thought Ellen, almost ready to cry again.

"Mary is a dear, good sister!" cried Frank, gayly, determined, if possible, to win a smile from his cousin before he left her.

"So she is!" was the earnest response. "She is just as kind to me as if she were my sister, too. But I must study my lesson now."

It took but one day for a letter from P— to reach the city, and one day for an answer to be returned; so that, when at the close of the third day, Ellen had received neither answer nor money, her anxiety and restlessness were almost more than she could endure. Her feverish appearance attracted the attention of her uncle. He called her to him to feel her pulse, ordered her to take a cup of weak tea and go to bed.

The next morning, however, all was explained. On his way to visit his first patient, he called at the post office and took out a letter to his wife from her brother-in-law, Mr. Saunders. There was something peculiar in the appearance of the envelope, and he hastily tore it open, hoping it enclosed a note for Ellen, which would bring back her old gayety: for the doctor was almost as much vexed as his wife at the sad change in their young guest.

The clerk who had noticed the postmark, and was interested in the result, saw the doctor change color and, after a brief glance at an enclosed paper, shut his lips firmly together, and leave the store.

When he was in his sulky, the doctor unfolded the letter again, when his eye fell upon a pencilled memorandum, "Abercrombie's Mental Philosophy, page 50, etc., etc."

"The girl is a liar, too," he muttered. "Here is the sheet Mary lost. Whew! Gibraltars, sticks of candy, lozenges, to the amount of five dollars. No wonder the child looks pale and has the headache. Well, what does her father say to such a bill?" He slackened his pace and read:

"MY DEAR SISTER,—The enclosed note came to hand yesterday morning. It was directed, as you see, to Aunt Clarissa, who would gladly have sent the money, and kept the knowledge of the letter from me. But I insisted on seeing it. I presume Ellen is not quite cured of her old habit of deceit, and has run up this bill without your knowledge. I enclose the amount, but wish you to do just as you think proper about paying it. The sight of the miserable, poorly spelled scrawl makes me blush for my daughter's ignorance.

"We all are well, though Joseph grows every day more wilful. What shall I do with the boy? It seems hard that I must deprive myself of the society of all my children, or see them growing up to be a curse to themselves, and to everybody who belongs to them.

"Your affectionate brother,

"JOSEPH SAUNDERS."

"There is a document which will help you to solve a mystery," remarked Dr. Collins to his wife, about the middle of the forenoon.

"Poor child! I feared something of this," was the tearful reply, after the lady had slowly perused both the enclosed letters. "Oh, how my sister would have grieved over her! The lost memorandum too! Oh, Ellen! Cannot you learn to be frank and truthful?"

"From Mr. Saunders's note, I fear one lesson will not suffice for him. Did you notice what he said about his boy?"

"Yes," she answered, sighing. "His father's neglect and Aunt Clarissa's indulgence will prove his ruin."

"Well, about Ellen, I would make a serious matter of this want of confidence. The child has been unhappy no doubt, as she deserved to be; but I would not pay the money too readily."

"If there was any way in which she could earn it, the lesson would be more lasting," exclaimed Mrs. Collins, eagerly.

After her husband left, the lady retired to her chamber, where, upon her knees, she sought counsel of her heavenly Father in regard to this case of discipline. By this exercise, her own feelings were softened, so that when Ellen returned from school, she was able to receive her with affection, a mode of treatment which cut the penitent child to the heart.

Mrs. Collins still hoped that the young girl would confess her fault. Little did she suspect the dreadful struggle between conscience and pride which was going on in the breast of her niece; but after waiting until evening, she followed the child to her chamber, where she found her with her head resting on her arm, the tears trickling down her cheeks. Stooping tenderly forward, the lady said,—

"Ellen, as the child of my dear sister, I love you. It grieves me to see you so unhappy. Cannot you tell me frankly what has caused this sad change?"

"Don't speak so, aunt; it makes me cry more. If you would only be cross with me, I could bear it a great deal better; but I have been very wicked! I—I don't deserve to have you love me!"

"I know all about it, my poor child,—your letter to Aunt Clarissa, and all; but I would have you confess your fault."

Ellen sprang to her foot. "Has she sent me the money?" she almost screamed. "Oh, if she has, and I can but pay that hateful bill, I am sure I never shall be so wicked again."

"No, Ellen; she has not answered your letter; your father enclosed it in one to me."

"I will advance you the money," rejoined her aunt, "and will accompany you to the store to pay your bill, on one condition,—that you promise me never to repeat this offence. Afterwards you can earn it and repay me."

"I have been too miserable ever to do so again," faltered the poor girl; "and Mary's paper too; did you know about that?"

"Yes, here it is. Now what shall I do? Cut off this pencilled slip at the top, and lay it in Mary's portfolio, where she will no doubt find it; or will you tell her frankly that you took it, and was betrayed into deceiving her?"

Ellen hesitated, cast down her eyes, blushing crimson, but presently exclaimed, "I will tell her; I feel so much happier already, now that you know it! Oh, aunt," throwing her arms about the lady's neck. "I do mean to try to be good! If I thought I could ever be like Mary!—It seems so easy for her to do right."

She drew a low stool to her aunt's feet, and there in her own impulsive manner gave an account of her temptation and of her sin,—how one lie led to many others until she found herself entangled in difficulties from which she saw no way of escape. Many tears showed how bitterly she had suffered; but the bright flush of pleasure with which, when she had ended, she said, "Now I have told you all, I am so happy!" encouraged Mrs. Collins to believe that having once learned the delight resulting from a frank confession of her fault, she would never be guilty of the like deception again.

"Does uncle know about it?" she asked, as her aunt tenderly parted her hair on her forehead.

"Yes; he brought me the letter. He will rejoice as sincerely as I do that we have found our own light-hearted Ellen, again."

She covered her face with her hands; there was a quick gasp, and then she said, firmly:

Frank's look of astonishment as Ellen, with burning cheeks, repeated her sad story was, perhaps, the severest punishment she had borne. From his cradle, he had been taught to despise a liar as too mean and cowardly to be endured; but when, with a burst of feeling, she ended with the words, "You know I had never been taught how wicked it was, till I came here," there was an instant revulsion of feeling, and with boyish enthusiasm, he exclaimed,—

"I'm real sorry for you, Nelly, but I think you're a trump after all to confess it now. I'm going to forget all about it right off; and we'll all help you to be a first-rate truthful girl. Wont we, Mary?"

"Yes, indeed!" said his sister, her lips quivering. "I love you, dear Ellen, better than ever; for I believe you are really penitent."

"Just as the good father did his prodigal son," said the humbled girl, smiling through her tears; "but do you know I took your paper too. You never can imagine how it pained me to tell you that lie. As soon as you spoke, I remembered seeing something written on the sheet; but I dared not say so; I was afraid. You see I didn't know then how much easier it would be to tell the truth right out."

"But you'll know after this," interrupted Frank. "The only way is if you've done wrong to get it off your mind at once."

"You'll be lucky though, if father doesn't give you a dose of jalap, or castor oil to cure you of too much candy," added the boy, merrily.

"That wouldn't be half so bad as bearing this pain all alone;" and Ellen put her hand to her heart.

CHAPTER VI.

"IT is not very late," said Mrs. Collins, "and I want to talk with you a little more before you go to bed."

"It is right for us to confess to each other," she added, solemnly; "but there is a duty still higher than that. The sin against me or your cousin is nothing compared with the sin against your heavenly Father. He has given us a terrible instance of his displeasure against liars, in the punishment of Ananias and Sapphira. You know they owned property which they sold, and pretended to give all the proceeds to the disciples. As Peter told them, they need not have sold the property. If they chose, they had a perfect right to keep it; and after they had sold it, they would have been justified in retaining the money for their own use; their sin was in pretending that they gave all they obtained from the sale for charitable purposes, while in fact they only gave part and kept back the rest. When the apostle asked whether they had sold the land for so much, they said, 'Yes, for so much,' lying not only to him, but to God. Their instant death is an awful warning to those who depart from the truth, or speak lies, as the Bible terms it."

Ellen shuddered. "I have always told lies," she said, softly; "Alice does, and Joseph and Aunt Clarissa too."

"Well, she does. She often tells Joseph, 'I'll certainly let your father know if you behave so, tumbling up all his clean clothes, or meddling with my baskets!' But she never does tell him; and we all know she never means too. Isn't that lying? Then she tells the chamber-girl if she doesn't sweep cleaner, she'll dismiss her right off; but the girl only laughs. She's heard it so many times, she don't believe a word of it. So that is lying.

"And one day," she went on, eagerly, "a lady called, and asked aunt to visit her; and Aunt Clarissa told her that every day, for a week, she had been meaning to call. After the lady had gone, Alice said,—

"'I don't like her at all,' aunt replied. 'She runs round all the time and neglects her family.'

"Alice laughed, as she said, 'I suppose that's what you call a fashionable lie.'"

"I am both sorry and grieved," sadly remarked Mrs. Collins, "that the children of my dear Sarah should have been exposed to such influences. Fashionable lies, white lies, lies of convenience; or by whatever other name they are called, are in God's word all classed under one head, against which this fearful penalty is pronounced: 'All liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death.' Among the seven crimes which God specifies as things which he hates, he classes the lying tongue and repeatedly avers, 'he that speaketh lies shall not escape.'

"You will see, at once, that a child or man who is known to speak falsely is never believed. They soon become despised of their fellows; even when they do speak the truth, no one is willing to take their word; and thus they not only merit the displeasure of their Maker, and expose themselves to his dreadful curse, but their object in telling lies is destroyed, since their very oath is disregarded."

"Dear aunt," softly murmured Ellen, "do you think God will forgive me? I never knew before what a dreadful sin lying is."

"We will ask him, my dear. We know—and how blessed is that assurance—that his word never fails."

Together they knelt, while Mrs. Collins implored the blessing and favor of God upon her penitent niece, poor Ellen's sobs bearing witness to the depth of her sorrow for sin. She prayed, too, that grace from above might be given the young girl, to assist her in keeping the resolutions she had formed; and that at last she might become perfect through the blood of her crucified Saviour.

The next morning Ellen arose early, and after begging a sheet of note-paper of her cousin, sat down to write a letter of confession to her father.

Mary was greatly pleased that the proposal came from herself; but suggested that she should make a first copy on the slate, where it could be corrected, and then written neatly on the paper.

For the next hour, the young girl bent all her energies to this task, and when, at the breakfast-table, she exhibited her epistle to her aunt, the lady gave it her decided and smiling approval.

The young girl felt that there was an especial meaning in the doctor's prayer that morning, and also in the tenderness with which he afterward patted her head, as he said,—

With her heart swelling with gratitude for this unexpected kindness, Ellen took her books from her satchel and began to study her lesson.

Frank presently approached and said, gayly, "How bright and happy you look to-day! I began to be afraid, yesterday, that I shouldn't like you. I thought you were dumpish and moping; but now I think I shall like you first-rate, almost as much as I do Mary."

"Please remember, my son," remarked his mother, with a smile, "that you are not now under oath to tell all the truth."

"Well, Frank knows, which is enough for this morning. Some other time I will explain my meaning to you. You have but little more than an hour for your lessons."

"I hate sums!" she exclaimed, presently. "And I don't see how four-sixteenths and two-eights, and ever so many more fractions, are to be reduced to a common denominator."

"Let me help you!" cried Frank. "I'll make it as clear as noon-day, as our master says."

"Oh, I do see! I understand now," she cried, gayly clapping her hands, after his patient and repeated explanation. "I see how they're done. They're just as easy—"

"As 'tis for puss to lick her tail, when you once know how," said Frank, with mock gravity. "Now you can do them on the run."

"Ellen Saunders, perfect recitation," repeated the teacher as the class were leaving their seats.

The young girl smiled and looked so pleased that the lady, who had heretofore considered her a dull scholar, detained her a moment for a few questions.

"Yes, ma'am," was the unhesitating, self-complacent reply. "They were very easy at last."

She was turning away, when with a sudden start she said, eagerly, "My Cousin Frank helped me do the first one and explained the rule, else I don't think I could have done them at all."

The lady smiled approvingly, and Ellen, turning to go too her seat, met the kind glance of Mary, and felt a thrill of pleasure such as she had not experienced for many a day.

In the evening they were scarcely seated around the cheerful fire, before Ellen began,—

"What did you mean, Aunt Collins, about it not being right to tell all the truth?"

"That's a strange doctrine for you to advance, my dear," said the doctor, glancing archly at his wife.

"I think I did not say exactly that, Ellen," answered the lady. "Though we ought always to speak the truth, if we speak at all; yet we are not bound to tell all we know, upon any subject. For instance; if a lady should call here whom you thought extremely disagreeable, and very homely; and Frank should ask you what you thought of her, it would be enough for you to say, you did not admire her. That would be the truth, but not all the truth."

"Oh, I see!" exclaimed Ellen, her eyes flashing with merriment. "I need not say, as Aunt Clarissa sometimes does, 'What a sallow complexion!' or, 'What a very homely nose!' or 'How wretchedly her dress fitted!' Though I might think it all the time."

"Or, I need not say," cried Frank, with mock gravity, "'Ellen, how red your lips are!' or, 'How your eyes sparkle!' or, 'What a pretty white hand you have!' Though I might think it all the time; but if I said so, it might make you vain, you know."

"In a court of justice," said Dr. Collins, "a person is put upon oath, that is, he promises before God, in whose presence he stands, to speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. In that case, if Frank were asked what he thought of the personal appearance of his cousin, he might be obliged to repeat what he has just said, however painful such testimony would be."

The doctor glanced so comically at his niece when he said this, that, notwithstanding her blushes, she burst into a hearty laugh.

"Did you know, Ellen," inquired Mary, after a pause, "that a person can tell a lie, and yet not speak a word?"

She hesitated, colored, and stopped, while Mary, to relieve her, went on quickly,—

The young girl shook her head, while Frank, in rather a condescending tone, explained,—

"I beg pardon, my son," suggested the doctor, smiling. "Suppose, for instance, Mrs. Holmes, whom I left very ill, should die suddenly, without my knowledge. Your mother asks, 'Is Mrs. Holmes living?' I say, 'Yes;' and I say it honestly, believing it to be true; and yet it may not be true after all. Still I do not tell a lie."

"A lie is an intention to deceive. The words are spoken, or the motions made, for the purpose of deceiving. If, as Mary says, not a word is spoken, by a nod of assent, or a shake of the head, you may give and intend to give a false impression, and thus be guilty of lying."

"Do you remember, father," asked Mary, "how dreadfully Abby Jones's brother was whipped at school, because she nodded her head to assure the teacher that he took her dinner out of the pail?"

"Yes; they had quarrelled, and she had threatened to be revenged on him. So when the teacher, who had forbidden such thefts, repeatedly questioned her as to her brother's fault, and whether he did it, she, by a nod, gave her testimony against him."

"But you are not under oath, and therefore, not obliged to say all you think of her conduct," whispered Frank, with a laugh.

"I hope I never shall tell another lie as long as I live," was the earnest rejoinder. "I wish somebody would talk to Alice, and explain to her how wicked it is."

CHAPTER VII.

"FATHER," asked Alice Saunders, on the evening of her return from school for a short vacation, "when is Ellen coming home? It seems very odd to be without her."

"I cannot tell, my dear; probably not for a long time. Your aunt writes a very favorable account of her improvement. Among other things she says, 'I can trust her word most implicitly.'"

There was the slightest shade of contempt upon Alice's placid face, as she answered, "That is high praise from Aunt Collins."

Poor Alice!—Poor in all the heart's rich treasures, though beautiful in person, and fairy like in figure. In the fashionable boarding school where she had passed six months, she had been taught many things; but a strict adherence to truth was not among her accomplishments. She had acquired a more correct pronunciation of the French language; could dance with singular grace; could enter a room filled with company with the ease and polish of a lady of thirty; could write an acceptance or regret to a party with taste and elegance, and without any special violation of the rules of rhetoric,—but, alas! In all that pertained to the true, stern discipline of mind, or that regarded her moral culture, she was, if possible, more ignorant than ever.

Thrown into the society of half a hundred young misses, whose only aim seemed to be to outshine each other in dress or fashion; with teachers whose main ambition seemed to be to give, with a smattering of many kinds of knowledge, that superior ease and grace of manners which the papers ascribed to the pupils of Mrs. Lerow; every sentiment of virtue, or the stern principles of right, seemed to be blunted, while nothing really valuable was acquired.

One thing Alice, in common with most of her companions, had learned; and that was to sneer at, or hold in contempt, those persons who had a higher standard of morals than her own. The Bible, too, although her mother's favorite book, was considered old-fashioned and rigid, containing a code of laws which were to the present generation a kind of dead letter and of no manner of importance.

The Sabbath and the sanctuary she had learned to regard as golden opportunities to display the rich, fashionably made dress with which, at the suggestion of Mrs. Lerow, her father so abundantly supplied her.

On the evening of her arrival at home, her father gazed at her with pride, and expressed his satisfaction at her evident improvement in the warmest terms; which opinion Alice took calmly, as praise to which she was justly entitled.

The next day, however, when he took advantage of her return to invite a few acquaintances to dine, he was pained and humiliated by her pertness and affectation. There was such an effort to show off before the young gentlemen of the party the knowledge she had so recently acquired,—such art, in even the tossing of her head, or the languishing expression of her eyes, that, fearing she would disgust his friends as she had disgusted him, he suddenly gave Aunt Clarissa a hint to move from the dining hall to the parlors.

But when a young man invited her to sing, he was more displeased than ever; she had been, she said, so much occupied in her studies; she had practised so little; her music was not yet unpacked; and her voice was affected by a cold.

Her manner of saying all this made it too evident that she wished to be urged; but her father, who, though talking with one of the guests, was attentive to all that was passing, abruptly interfered, saying,—

"Well, my daughter, it is of very little consequence whether you sing now; Madame—, the celebrated singer, is in town, and we shall, no doubt, all have a chance to hear some really fine music."

On returning to his house the next day for dinner, he heard Alice talking over the stairs to a servant.

The peculiar smile on the servant's countenance arrested Mr. Saunders's attention.

"Miss Huntington called; and as I was not dressed for company, I sent word 'not at home.'"

"Margaret," said the gentleman, turning to the servant, "the next time you obey an order which obliges you to tell a falsehood, I wish you to come to me for your wages. I will have no one in my house who will carry a message like that."

"Thank you, sir, and my mother will thank you, too," answered Margaret, blushing with pleasure.

"Alice," sternly remarked Mr. Saunders when he had followed her to a parlor upstairs. "Where have you learned to deceive, and to teach your servants to deceive?"

"Oh, papa! It is the most common thing in the world—I mean in genteel society—to send word you are not at home; it is understood to mean that you are engaged."

"Then why not say so? Why put lies into your servants' mouths? Don't you see that if you teach them to lie for you, they will soon learn to lie to you?"

"You use such dreadful words, papa, you quite frighten me; I'm sure I never thought I was doing the least harm."

"I use the right words, Alice. I am cut to the heart to see that, after all the money I have paid for your education, you should be so devoid of the first principles of honor."

He sighed deeply, as he walked to the window, revolving in his mind a plan to send her also, to her Aunt Collins; but, recalled to the present by the dinner-bell, he added,—

"I wish you to understand, Alice, that I will not allow such a system of deception in my house. Margaret has already been notified that one more occasion like that I witnessed, and she leaves her place."

This was plain talk in plain words; and Alice put up her lip with an ugly pout. She did not appear at dinner until her father and aunt were nearly through the first course, and then rendered herself so disagreeable that Joseph called out,—

"Pa, I wish you'd have company every day; Alice acts better when gentlemen are here to see her do so." And he rolled his eyes so exactly in imitation of her action the previous day, that Aunt Clarissa and even her father laughed aloud.

During the weeks which followed, there was scarcely a day passed without proving to Mr. Saunders the entire recklessness of his daughter in regard to the truth. One day he came home and entered the back parlor while she was entertaining a friend in the front one with reminiscences of school life. They were so much engaged they did not notice his entrance, but amid shouts of mirth went on with their conversation.

"Oh, no, indeed!" was the laughing reply. "We had our exercises, of course; but we generally contrived to copy them from one another. Why, half the last term I had my answers written on a paper I held inside my handkerchief; at last the class-teacher mistrusted something from my always being so correct, and asked me up and down whether I had committed the lesson. I told her, of course, I had. It was only a white lie, you know, and everybody tells white lies."

"You remind me of an old lady who visited us last week," rejoined the young girl. "She heard me telling a story at the table, and then repeating it to some callers in the evening. I suppose I did not remember to use exactly the same words, and—do you think she had the impertinence to tell me I had been guilty of falsehood! I excused myself, saying, as you did, 'Everybody tells little lies, or white lies, in these days.'

"'No, my dear,' she said, 'not everybody; I could name several, and among them, some you would call the most polished ladies in the city, who would not, for their right hand, tell a lie, white or black. Truth—simple, unvarnished truth—is their motto, and a beautiful motto it is, such as I wish every young and every old lady would abide by.'

"'But you must own,' I said, 'that almost all fashionable people tell what is called white lies?'

"'I acknowledge that it is far too common,' she went on. 'We are becoming corrupt and unprincipled as a nation; but I will give you one instance where a white lie, and a very innocent one, as the young lady called it, was the means of breaking off a match between two persons who before that had been sincerely attached to each other.'

"'You remember,' she went on, 'that pale, intellectual lady you saw riding with me last week?'

"I had noticed her particularly, for she was very beautiful, though so sickly; and I told her so.

"'She was a gay belle ten years ago; no party was thought perfect without her presence. She was amiable, too, and very accomplished; that is, she sang well, danced divinely, as her admirers used to tell her, talked French as fluently as her native tongue; but she had a habit of telling white lies, which threw a blight over her fair prospects, and in the end destroyed her peace.

"'Mr. Stanton, the gentleman who had won her from a score of admirers, really believed her to be an angel. The possibility of her violating or falsifying her word had probably never occurred to him; for he had that high sense of honor which would have led him to forfeit his life rather than be guilty of an act of deception.

"'A French singer of rather questionable reputation just about that time came to the city, and attracted great crowds to her concerts. Miss Hill had a great desire to hear her; but, after listening to her friend's arguments against encouraging a person of such character, she declared nothing would tempt her to go. This was her first lie, for she meant to join a party the next evening; but how to deceive her lover was the question.

"'The next morning, with the help of a friend, the plan was made. She was to go early before the hour when he usually made his appearance, call for her chaperone in a carriage, leaving word with the servant that she had gone to pass the evening with a sick friend, and would not be at home till late. In order to make this excuse more plausible, Miss Hill wrote her lover an affectionate letter, regretting the necessity that deprived her of the pleasure of his company for the evening, adding, "I know that you would say duty is paramount in this case."

"'The carriage was at the door at the moment, and, giving extra charges to the girl to say nothing that could betray her, she hastened away to the brilliant scene.

"'Soon after, Mr. Stanton made his appearance with a carriage to take her to the E—House, where some valued friends had just arrived. He was exceedingly disappointed, as he had promised them, he would call with her. He read her note, and asked the girl in what street the sick friend lived.

"'"I don't know, exactly," she stammered at this unexpected question; "but it was somewhere out of town, for now I remember she took night clothes, and said if the lady was not better, she should be away a day or two."

"'"It is very unfortunate for me," he said, speaking to himself; "I would go anywhere for her, if you could learn where she is."

"'"Oh, sir!" exclaimed the girl. "Her father has gone, too, and nobody else in the house knows anything about it."

"'"This is strange!" he said, stepping into the carriage and giving orders to be driven back to the hotel. "I wonder she did not mention the name of the sick lady. Probably it is some near relative, as her father has accompanied her."

"'The evening was passed with his friends, and at a late hour, he was about to take his leave when a mutual friend entered.

"'"I have been playing the agreeable all the evening to Miss Hill, and merit your warmest thanks."

"'"At Madame R—'s concert, of course. All the world was there to-night. To tell the truth, I was somewhat surprised to see Miss Hill, knowing, as I did, your opinion of her concerts; but she appeared to have no scruples."

"'Mr. Stanton turned very pale at this reply, but in a moment controlled himself, and said, "Are you sure Miss Emily Hill was at Madame R—'s concert?"

"'"As sure as I am that I stand here," seriously replied the gentleman, perceiving this was no time for a joke. "I was in the same slip with her and Mrs. Jones who was her chaperone, and after the concert, waited upon her to their carriage. She excused your absence by saying you had a previous engagement which prevented your accompanying her."

"'"Enough," faltered Mr. Stanton; and rising soon after, he took a hasty leave of his friends.'"

CHAPTER VIII.

"'THE night which followed was spent by Mr. Stanton in pacing the floor of his chamber; and the first dawn of the morning found him resolved upon an immediate termination of his connection with Miss Hill. He could not take to his heart one in whom he had no longer the least confidence. But the rupturing of this bond, which he had heretofore considered almost as sacred as marriage, made his noble heart sink within him.

"'At an early hour he called at Mr. Hill's. The servant was all smiles, and informed him that her mistress found her friend better, and returned late the previous evening. Stifling a groan at this new proof of duplicity, he asked her to inform Miss Hill that he wished to see her. She presently made her appearance, and, though rather startled at his pallor, exclaimed, gayly,—

"'"Wasn't I fortunate in being relieved so soon? I was able to return last evening."

"'"Emily," he said, in a tone which cut her to the heart, "I know all. It is unnecessary for you to burden your conscience with another falsehood. I know the story of a sick friend, of duty to her, is all a falsification. You passed the evening at Mrs. R—'s concert."

"'She sank back in a chair, blushing violently, while he, with great effort controlling himself, went on,—

"'"I loved you, Emily; but that love was based on a false estimate of your character. I believed you as pure in morals as you are beautiful in person. Yesterday, only yesterday, I would have taken your word against all the world; but now the illusion has passed away. We must part, Emily. You have ruined my happiness. If it were not for the recollection of my mother, you would have ruined my faith in your sex."

"'"I must be dreaming!" she exclaimed. "Surely, this cannot be true! You do not, cannot, mean to give me up just for one little white lie?"

"'"One white lie," he repeated, "has been enough to ruin my hopes of happiness forever: but you have done far more than that. You have proved yourself to be wholly lost to that rectitude which must be a ruling principle with my wife; you have not only told me, who trusted you so implicitly, many deliberate falsehoods, but you have taught your servant, also, to deceive me; even now you met me with a lie—call it white or black, as you please—on your lips."

"'"Try me! Try me!" she repeated, in agony. "I will never be guilty of even the smallest variation from the truth."

"'"It is too late—too late, now!" he murmured, hoarsely, pressing her cold hand. "But oh, Emily, remember hereafter how I have loved you; and when your lips would utter that which is false, call to mind a lonely wanderer, whom your crime has exiled from his country and home!"

"'They parted, and have never met since. Remember,' added the lady, 'all his suffering, all her years of sorrow, since that eventful morning, came from what she then considered an innocent deception.'"

"'She is a penitent Christian woman,' she answered. 'From that time, I do not believe she has ever deviated from the truth; but oh, what a fearful lesson is hers! I have seen her shudder when gay, thoughtless young ladies utter words which are totally false. I have told you this story, hoping you may profit by her experience.'"

The young girls were both startled when Mr. Saunders advanced slowly from the back parlor.

"I have heard your story," he said to the visitor. "I knew both Mr. Stanton and Miss Hill. The breaking off of their engagement occasioned much talk at the time. I never understood the cause till now, when I think him perfectly justified in the course he pursued. I hope, Alice, Miss Hill's experience will prove a most useful lesson to you. Lies show a mind and heart so degraded and mean that no beauty of person or polish of manner can, for any length of time, hide the deformity."

As I have before said, Mr. Saunders was most liberal in gratifying the wants of his children. He liked to see his house handsomely furnished, his table set with abundance and elegance, and his children dressed tastefully, even richly. When Alice came from school, he gave Aunt Clarissa a handsome sum of money, and requested her to replenish his daughter's wardrobe.

Wishing to outshine her companions in dress, the young miss begged for one or two articles which even Aunt Clarissa considered extravagant. Alice, however, was vain, and having been told how becoming they were to her particular style of beauty, determined in some way to obtain them. One was a richly embroidered velvet mantilla, not at all suitable for a girl in her teens, the other a love of a Paris bonnet, as she termed it, made of blue velvet and lace, with an exquisite white feather tipped with blue. The bonnet the milliner pronounced low at fifteen dollars, while the price of the mantilla was forty.

"I will have them charged," she said to herself, "and then save all my pocket-money until they're paid for."

The next Sabbath, the young girl, arrayed in a new lustrous silk, together with her bonnet and mantilla, appeared before her father to accompany him to church.

"Why, Alice! I scarcely recognized you," he said, starting back, actually dazzled by the beauty of her appearance. "Well," he added, after a moment, during which he surveyed her from head to foot with a most comical expression, "you certainly are decked out. I never saw your mother dressed so extravagantly in my life. Where did you get this, and this?" Touching with his finger the bonnet and mantilla.

She looked full in his face as she made this reply; and he, quite satisfied, said he was ready, and it was time to go to church.

Alice heaved a sigh of relief. She had got over the interview much better than she expected; and so wholly was her conscience seared by a long course of deceit that she felt scarcely a pang when she thought of the ready falsehood by which she had obtained the coveted articles.

But the end was not yet. Day after day of the vacation glided away. The evening before she was to leave for school, her father returned home rather earlier than was his wont, and sending a servant to his daughter's room, desired her to join him in the parlor. He did this in order that he might be alone with her; for on several occasions his aunt had been present when he reproved his child, and had always taken her part, or suggested such ready excuses for her conduct, that his advice was entirely counteracted.

Alice came running down the stairs, humming a refrain from a favorite song. Her cheeks were tinged with the softest rose color, and the silken tresses lay lovingly upon them, while a pretty smile dimpled her small mouth.

As she entered the room, fully expecting to see a caller, her father stood and gazed at her; but no pleasure kindled his eye or heightened the color on his cheek. He was thinking how much to be preferred were the plainest features accompanied by true nobleness of heart! How mean, how degraded she appeared to him then, as he recalled his business with her!

They stood for a moment gazing at each other, and then, with a burst of feeling, he exclaimed,—

She started, and turned pale. "I did not mean you should ever see it," she said, quickly. "Indeed, papa, I meant to save all my spending money until I had paid it myself."

"Did your aunt know of this deception?" he asked, looking keenly in her face. "If you have not lost the power of speaking the truth, tell me, did Aunt Clarissa encourage this deceit? Remember, I am not in a mood to be trifled with!"

"How, then, did she suppose you obtained these expensive articles, entirely unsuited to your years?"

"Lie upon lie," he repeated, bitterly. "Oh, Alice, that I should ever live to bless the day your mother died! But this conduct would have killed her!"

He covered his face with his hands, while a few tears trickled down her cheeks. They were, however, tears of regret that her falsehood had been detected, and not tears of penitence for her sin.

"Bring the bonnet and mantilla to me," he said, presently. "Pack them in the boxes in which they came."

Astonished at such a command from her usually indulgent parent, Alice reluctantly obeyed.

"To-morrow morning these will be returned," he said, in a firm tone, after having satisfied himself that they were in no way injured.

He made no answer, and presently waved his hand for her to leave the room, but suddenly called her back to say, "You can unpack your trunks. I am satisfied Mrs. Lerow's influence over you has not been what I wished. I shall look out for a school of an entirely different character, where such finery would be out of place."

CHAPTER IX.

BUT where all this time was Joseph, with whose story we commenced this book. In accordance with his aunt's advice, he had been sent to a day-school, and was, therefore, for six hours of every day under wholesome restraint. Miss Sanborn, an excellent young teacher, well-calculated to win not only the love but the respect of her pupils, soon discovered his habit of lying, and took every pains to correct it. But, young as he was, his lips had so thoroughly learned deceit that she could make no impression upon him.

Every day, at the close of the school, the children were required to give in their report as to their own conduct, or the teacher would ask them like this:—

Even though he had repeatedly been sent to his seat to commit his lesson more thoroughly, he would not confess he had failed.

In vain she told him of his sin, and explained to him that he gained nothing by his lies; for a liar is not believed even when he speaks the truth. In vain she illustrated her meaning by stories from the Bible, and from her own observation; the habit had been formed almost before he could speak.

Aunt Clarissa lied to him when she told him the medicine was not bitter, and laughed, after he had swallowed it, at her success in deceiving him. Margaret lied when she promised to sit by him all the evening, and then slipped away when he had fallen asleep. Even his father lied when he threatened to punish disobedience to his commands, and then failed to execute the threat.

One day, when Joseph had been more than usually unruly and then insisted that he had broken no rules, the teacher detained him after the scholars were dismissed and tried to point out the wickedness of his conduct.

"It is the devil; who, the Bible says, goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."

"I never saw him, so I guess he don't come to this town," the boy answered timidly.

"Yes, he has been in this room this afternoon. He was close by your elbow and whispered in your ear when you pinched Tommy and when you made such times at little Ellen, who complained that you had torn her book. And he was there again when you told me you had been a good boy. Didn't you hear the good spirit whispering, 'Oh, Joseph, don't tell a lie! God wont like it?' You have been very naughty indeed. It makes my heart ache when I remember that God, who never lies, who never in any way deceives us, has said, 'All liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone.'"

Joseph's attention was arrested. He was a bright boy, not wanting in quickness and apprehension, and after a moment's reflection, he said,—

"My Sister Ellen used to tell lies; but now she never does; Aunt Collins wrote about it. When I'm as large as Ellen, I shall leave off."

"But, my poor boy," cried the lady, tears filling her eyes, "you may not live to be as old; you may die this very night. Will you promise me you will try to be a truthful boy?"

Joseph, however, had no idea of buying a top. He had been with his companion that morning into a store and had seen some cocoanuts of which he was very fond. He was sure if he asked for money to buy a cocoanut, he would be refused, because they always made him sick. He thought a cocoanut very cheaply obtained when he had only to tell one lie for it.

In the night, Mr. Saunders was aroused by a stealthy step coming into his chamber, and presently by Aunt Clarissa's voice saying,—

The physician came just after the child had thrown from his stomach a quantity of indigestible matter.

"He has been in dreadful pain all night," remarked his aunt, who was holding his head.

"Well, he'll die one of these days, if you are not more careful what he eats," said the doctor, dryly. "He's had cocoanut again, which is rank poison to him."

"Joseph, have you eaten any cocoanut?" asked his father. "Tell me the truth, my boy, and I'll forgive you this time."

"Pshaw, it's no use to try and deceive me," added the doctor, sternly. "Here it is in the basin."

"I should really like to know how much he ate," said the physician, pointing to pieces of the indigested food.

"I gave him money yesterday, to buy a top," gravely remarked Mr. Saunders. "He must have spent it for this."

After administering a simple quietive, Dr. Long turned away, and, motioning the father from the room, said, abruptly,—

"Your boy will end his days on the gallows, if you don't correct his habit of lying."

As soon as Joseph was well, his father, having ascertained from the grocer that he had bought a cocoanut at his store, gave him a more severe punishing than he had ever received in his life, to make up for which Aunt Clarissa ordered the cook to bake him a nice little loaf of frosted cake, richly filled with raisins and citron.

The room where Joseph attended school was situated on one of the principal streets, just opposite a druggist's store. The front windows with their immense panes of cut glass, behind which were large jars filled with colored liquid presented a most attractive appearance, and Joseph, in common with his other companions, often paused in front of them.

The only objection Miss Sanborn had to her schoolroom was, that there was no yard adjoining, where the pupils could exercise at recess; and thus they were obliged to play in the street. Throwing ball was strictly forbidden, and rolling hoop was inconvenient to passengers, so that it required considerable invention to devise plays which would not be objectionable.

Among his companions there was not one Joseph liked so well as Dexter Russel, a boy near his own age, who resided in the same block. This child, the son of watchful Christian parents, was a lad of ardent temperament and quick passions, but of generous, noble impulses, and perfectly truthful. If, as often happened, he had been guilty of breaking his teacher's rules, when questioned concerning it:

Joseph and Dexter had each of them a hard India-rubber ball, with which they sometimes amused themselves out of school-hours.

One afternoon, Miss Sanborn, having an engagement, hurried to her boarding-place, the moment her little ones were dismissed, leaving some of the boys in the street near the schoolroom.

Joseph readily agreed, and each taking out his ball, they commenced throwing them upon the pavement, eager to see who could catch it, when it bounded, and keep it from falling longer than the other.

"Go away from here!" called out the druggist, coming to the door. "That's a dangerous game so near the windows."

The boys ran farther along, but presently, in the excitement of the play, ran back again laughing in great glee as they followed their balls.

But suddenly their mirth ceased. In order not to lose his throw, when a lady was passing him, Joseph unconsciously drew nearer the window, and, with a loud crash, the ball went through the large pane of glass into the druggist's shop.

The man rushed angrily to the door just in time to see Joseph running for home as fast as he could go, while Dexter, pale with fright, was gazing at the broken glass.

"No, sir, it was not my ball; here is mine," said the lad, looking the man full in the face; "but it's my fault, though."

This reply so astonished the incensed druggist that he asked, in a less angry tone, "What do you mean?"

"I asked him to play, sir. I'm real sorry! He was going home, but I asked him to play."

"I'll give you all my spending money, sir!" cried Dexter, his cheeks flushing. "Will it cost a great deal, sir?"

"Yes, more than you'd have in a good many years. You know I told you to go away," he added, softening, as he saw the distressed, eager face looking into his so wistfully; "and I can't afford to buy glass for boys to break."

"My father promised to buy me a magic-lantern; would the money that would cost pay for it?"

"Well, you may go now; and remember, I forgive your part of the blame because you so courageously confessed the truth."

The same evening, Joseph was sitting near his father, talking and laughing, when a ring of the door-bell summoned Mr. Saunders from the room. He came back presently, however, followed by the druggist's clerk, who said at once,—

The father frowned, looked again at the bill, "For damages, one pane of cut glass, twenty dollars," and then turning to his son, said,—

"Why can't you learn to confide in your father? Why didn't you tell me what, you had done, Joseph?"

"Haven't I forbidden you to throw a ball in the street? And now here is a bill of twenty dollars because you didn't obey me!"

"Tell the truth, Joseph; did you do it?" Mr. Saunders's voice was so stern the boy began to cry.

"No, sir, I didn't; it was Dexter. He asked me to play with him, and then his ball went right into the window."

With a sickening dread lest his only son was again deceiving him, the gentleman said,—

"Tell your master I will see to this in the morning. If my boy broke it, I shall, of course, pay for it; but I wish first to be sure of the fact."

As soon as the clerk was gone, Mr. Saunders took Joseph and went to Mr. Russel's. Dexter was just going to bed; but, at the gentleman's request, was called back to the parlor.

The father, who was closely watching his boy, saw that when his companion entered, smiling frankly, he looked very much confused.

"I want you to tell me all about Mr. K—'s glass. How did it happen to be broken?" said Mr. Saunders, after having cordially shaken the child's hand.

Dexter, without a moment's hesitation, and with his eye fixed on the gentleman's face, repeated minutely the events of the afternoon. Every word of which carried positive conviction of its truthfulness to the father's heart.

He looked at Joseph, when the story was finished, with such an expression of anger and contempt that the boy began to cry. At last he sobbed out,—

The doctor's warning flashed across Mr. Saunders's mind but, making an effort to control himself, he patted Dexter's head fondly, saying, "You are a noble boy," and then, followed by Joseph, took his leave.

CHAPTER X.

THE next morning, the money was paid; but for days, the poor mistaken father looked as if he had lost all his friends.

He talked long and earnestly with Aunt Clarissa, pointing out to her the result of all her foolish indulgence; but she was far from viewing it in as serious a light as he did. She urged that he was very young; that such habits would soon correct themselves when he was older; that she was sure the poor child meant no harm.

With a sigh he turned from her, feeling that it was hopeless to try and convince her of her error, and passed half the night in writing Mrs. Collins, and urging her to be a mother to his motherless boy.

After some weeks of struggle between inclination and what she feared was duty, she wrote that she would take Joseph into her family for a few months, but could not yet promise to do so for a much longer period. Before the arrangements could be made for his removal, however, a painful event occurred which prevented him from going to P—.

On his way to and from school, Joseph usually passed an old-fashioned wooden house, enclosed by a high board fence, which ran for a distance of twenty rods along the street. Within this enclosure was a dog-kennel inhabited by a large animal of the Newfoundland breed. Looking through a knot-hole in the fence, Joseph and Dexter often shouted to the dog to come out from his house; and once, when the butcher had left the gate ajar, they ventured in to examine more minutely the accommodations of Nero. A hoarse growl warned them to be cautions; but ever after, when they had an opportunity, they ran in for a minute to prove to him that they were his friends.

One day they were standing near the dog-kennel, when a gentleman in the house opened the window, and said,—

"Shut the gate fast, and don't come in again!" added the man, assuming a stern voice.

They turned away, with a lingering gaze at the dog and then reluctantly left, shouting "Good-by, Nero! Good-by!"

"I wish you to see that the gate is kept fastened for a few days. Some little boys have been in the habit of coming in to see Nero, and may do so again."

She looked in the face of her usually kind master and was going to remonstrate, when, seeing his expression of decision, she refrained, and in a moment, he was gone.

When Joseph returned from school at noon, after a glance at the windows, he gently tried the gate, but found it bolted; but at night, a man happened to be carrying in something, and it was ajar.

"I mean to go right in," he said to Dexter; "I don't see that cross old man about anywhere."

Joseph ran forward, muttering, "I don't care," but presently, with a loud scream of pain, fell to the ground. Nero had caught his leg and bitten it severely.

Dexter sprang forward to help his companion, when a strong arm caught him and placed him outside the enclosure. One glance showed him that the act was performed by the gentleman they had seen at the window, and that his face was deathly pale.

Joseph was not so much hurt but that in a few minutes, when the wound had been dressed, he was able to walk home accompanied by the gentleman, who seemed strangely agitated at the event.

As Mr. Saunders had not yet come in from his office, the stranger left, but returned in a few minutes with a distinguished surgeon, who, after a rapid examination of the wound, gave orders for fresh bandages, and directed that the door should be locked.

Aunt Clarissa was indignant, and began to remonstrate, when he cut her short by saying, curtly, "It is his only chance of life." For a few minutes the most piercing screams issued from the closed room, and in the midst of them, the father entered.

"Mr. Saunders," said the surgeon, when he was admitted to the side of his boy, "I am sorry to say your son has had a bite in the leg from a dog. It would be slight, however, were it not for the fears of the owner that the dog—is—mad."

"I brought him home, and, knowing his only chance of life was that the wound be cauterized without delay, I summoned Dr.—, who has just completed the operation."

Mr. Saunders, pressing his hand to his forehead, rushed to the sofa where Joseph lay pallid and exhausted with suffering.

Before he left, the stranger stated that for a day or two, Nero, who was a great favorite in the family on account of having saved the life of a young brother, had acted so strangely that his suspicions were excited that all was not right; still, no symptom of madness had appeared. In the morning, he had seen two children in the yard, and had ordered them out, forbidding them to enter again, and he had also ordered the gate to be kept locked. With a countenance almost as agitated as that of the stricken father, he then took his leave.

"I regret most keenly being under the necessity of informing you that Nero, who, since the accident to your son, has been in confinement, has shown unmistakable signs of madness, and just been shot."

For more than a fortnight, however, no symptoms of hydrophobia appeared in the boy, and great hopes were entertained that the means taken by the surgeon had proved effectual.

But at the end of that period, he had a violent fit, which was followed by many others, until, at the close of the sixth week from the time he was bitten, he died, leaving his father a prey to the keenest grief and remorse, while Aunt Clarissa, half frantic with sorrow, wandered from room to room, wringing her hands and calling to Joseph to:

Alice, who had been placed under the care of a lady who superintended the education of a dozen young misses, was recalled for the funeral. Her father was somewhat comforted in his affliction by seeing that her brother's death seemed to make a great impression upon her usually volatile mind. During the few days she remained with him after the funeral, he had many grave conversations with her regarding her future, representing to her that, now Joseph had been taken away, all his comfort for this life depended on her and her sister.

"I look forward," said he, warming with the subject, "with pleasant anticipations to a calm old age, brightened by the attentive care of my virtuous daughters. If I may be permitted to live," he added, with more seriousness, "to see them, like their mother, adorning the station to which God shall call them, I shall be happy indeed. But remember, Alice," taking her hand affectionately, "your mother was a Christian lady. Since Joseph died, I have reflected much, and with bitter regret, that I have not more faithfully performed the duties of a father." He paused, much agitated, but presently added, "Oh, Alice! I hope you may never give me occasion to mourn over my fond, foolish indulgence to you as I have mourned for your brother!"

Alice was affected at her father's words, and made a resolve to be more dutiful and regardful of his wishes. But she made it in her own strength; we shall see whether she kept it.

For a time, the sight of Dexter, so intimately associated with Joseph, was exceedingly painful to Mr. Saunders and to Aunt Clarissa; but after Alice had returned to school, they found their house so lonely that they begged Mrs. Russel to allow him to run in and out as he used to do. After this, the old lady tried her best to spoil the boy.

CHAPTER XI.

TO return to Ellen. As soon as Joseph was taken ill, Mr. Saunders wrote his sister-in-law, relating minutely the circumstances, and leaving it with her to decide whether his daughter should return.

Dr. Collins peremptorily said, "No; let the child stay where she is. Aunt Clarissa would do her more harm in a fortnight than the good she would be likely to gain by being present at such a scene."

Ellen wrote her father very affectionate, sympathizing letters, begging him to send her word when there was the least change for the worse. Every morning she walked hastily to the office, her young heart heaving with anxiety, lest she should learn that her dear little brother was dead. She had begun to pray now, and with her whole soul, she begged for a blessing on her brother,—that his sins might be forgiven, and he prepared for heaven before his last change should come.

"Oh, how I wish Aunt Collins could have had the care of him!" she exclaimed one morning, with a burst of tears, returning from the office with the intelligence that the poor boy's life was fast drawing to a close. "How can I endure to have him die so?"

"You must pray, and pray earnestly, dear cousin," replied Mary. "God is both able and willing to bless the poor boy. His Spirit can work on the heart of the dear sufferer even when, to those around him, he may appear unconscious."

"I can't help thinking that I might have been taken. If I had died before I came here, while I was so wicked, oh, it makes me shudder to think what might have become of me!"

"We ought to be thankful, dear, if anything leads us to review God's dealings with us; and to call to mind his many mercies."

"Do you think, Mary, I shall ever be a Christian?" sighed Ellen, hiding her face in her cousin's shoulder.

"Yes, darling; I think you have already begun to walk the strait and narrow road. You love to pray; and I feel sure you have chosen Jesus as your Saviour."

"But you know, Mary, how many things I do that are wrong every day. I thought when I had become a Christian, that it would be so easy to do right. I have such a quick temper, too, that I speak before I think."

Mary smiled encouragingly. "I think," she said, "you have governed yourself bravely of late."

"No, I haven't! Only yesterday I was real downright angry with Margaret when she wouldn't iron my white apron in season for me to wear it to school. You know all our class had aprons alike with pockets, and all braided the same pattern; and we had agreed to wear them together." Ellen's face flushed as she recalled her disappointment. "Yes, I was really angry, and felt like calling her a hateful, disobliging old girl!"

"But, instead of that, you controlled yourself and returned good for evil, by giving up a pleasant walk, to write a letter for her to her aged mother in Ireland. Do you think you would have done that when you first came here? Or, could you have done so now if the good Spirit had not aided you?"

"I think I should once have scratched her face for her; but, Mary, do Christians ever feel angry? I never saw you, nor aunt, nor uncle vexed."

"You make me ashamed of my short-comings," said Mary, blushing. "I think as you have acknowledged your fault so freely, I must step into the confessional box, and say that I overheard your talk with Margaret about the apron, and after you left, reproved her sharply for disappointing you. I think she did very wrong; if I had known about it in season, I would have ironed it for you. I have heard mother say that I had naturally a passionate temper; but as I was taught to curb it from my earliest infancy, it has become easy to do so. You deserve far more credit than I do."

Mr. Saunders wrote his sister, who broke the sad intelligence to her niece in as cautious a manner as possible. Though the event had been expected for days, yet Ellen wept as if wholly unprepared for it.

"Is he happy now? Has he joined mother in heaven?" were questions ever recurring for the next few days.

Mrs. Collins wept with her niece, begging her to leave her dear brother where she had left herself,—in the hands of a merciful and forgiving God.

"Remember, dear Ellen," she said, "that your mother was a Christian woman, who early dedicated her son to his Saviour. What may those prayers not have done for him even in the last moments of his life?"

This was the saddest hour Ellen had ever known,—warm and ardent in her attachments to an extreme. Now that Joseph had gone, she tortured herself with thinking how little she had ever labored for his best good.

"If I had done my duty, had been a truthful, obedient child," she would exclaim, with a fresh burst of grief, "this dreadful sorrow would never have come upon us! Now father has no son, and I have no brother."

The impulsive girl put her arms around her cousin's neck, and embraced her tenderly.

It was not, however, until Frank's return from school, that Ellen regained her wonted cheerfulness.

Dr. Collins made a great pet of her; and the first time he saw her smile in return to some sally of wit from his son, he said that a ton's weight seemed lifted off his breast.

"I miss my birdie's merry songs," he said, tapping her cheek. "Now that you are beginning to look like yourself, I shall hope to hear them again."

Frank's presence had a cheering effect on the whole finally. He had so much to relate about his school, and told his jokes in such a dry, off-hand manner, that no one could help laughing.

There were times, however, when he and Ellen sat together in the bay window, that he listened tearfully to her account of her brother,—how bright and intelligent he was; how capable under Aunt Collins's care, of becoming a useful man,—and showed her that with all his heart, he sympathized in her sorrow.

"But, Ellen," he added, one night after she had related many events in Joseph's early life, "you have a brother still. As long as I live, I will take care of you."

"Thank you, dear Frank," she answered, warmly; "but you know father will need me soon. I must go home and finish my education in the city."

"Then I wish you had never come at all!" he exclaimed, throwing her hand petulantly from him. "I thought you would stay here always; your father has Alice."

"And Uncle Collins has a wife and Mary and a passionate boy," Ellen answered, laughing. "When I'm gone, you'll be sorry you treated my poor hand so badly."

The youth gazed a moment in his cousin's face, then left the room without speaking.

I do not mean to give the impression that Ellen had changed suddenly from a passionate, deceitful child to a yielding, truthful one. She still had many faults to overcome, some of which sorely tried the patience of her good aunt: but the influences around her were all in her favor, and she was trying to do right.

The suffering and mortification sue endured during the first weeks of her residence with her aunt fixed indelibly on her mind the sin of lying as well as the happiness resulting from perfect truthfulness. More than all, Ellen, having learned by sad experience the weakness as well as the sinfulness of her own heart, sought strength from above to resist all temptation to do evil. Every day she witnessed in the conduct of a schoolmate the sad consequences of lying, and was more than ever resolved to guard carefully the door of her lips lest her mouth should utter deceit.

Josey Maxwell was an only child, indulged in every wish that her foolish little heart could form. At last her mother was taken sick and died, leaving her daughter to the care of the old housekeeper. This woman soon grew tired of her whims and caprices, and in the absence of her father, sent her to school. There she was under restraint, which soon grew so irksome that she resorted to every means to evade it.

With the most unblushing effrontery, she told falsehood after falsehood to her teacher as an excuse for not learning her lessons. Sometimes she had been suffering from severe headache, or her book was lost, or the housekeeper wished her to go away on an errand, or a letter from her father required an immediate answer. But on inquiring at home, the teacher found not one of these excuses had any foundation in fact. Then, in her reports, she could not be trusted; and so hardened was she by her guilt that she scarcely seemed to feel any mortification when a schoolmate was appointed over her to render a report in her place. At last she was expelled from school, the teacher fearing her corrupt example would have a bad effect on her associates.

A few days later, Ellen was walking slowly past Mr. Maxwell's handsome house in the village, when Josey came out and greeted her in the most cordial manner. The young girl was quite handsome, and, when so disposed, could render herself very agreeable. She urged Ellen to go in and see her, and our young friend, hoping to do her good, after a moment's hesitation, complied.

An hour or two was passed in talking of the school and then Ellen came frankly to the point of Josey's want of candor, begging her, by what she had herself suffered, to turn from so wicked a habit, and try the beauties of sincerity and truth.

At first, Josey looked very angry, but for reasons of her own, did not wish to show it; and concealing her true feelings, urged her companion to visit her often.

"I should like to," was the frank reply, "I thought I could influence you to become good. If I had not been sent to a kind friend like Aunt Collins, I don't know what would have become of me."

"Well," said Josey, "I'll promise to do as you wish me, if you will grant me one favor. Don't tell anybody you have been to see me; or if you do, don't say what we have talked about."

"I always tell aunt everything," she said; "and she'll wonder where I've been. I'll promise not to tell unless I am asked; and certainly, I need not say what our conversation has been."

They parted, our young heroine sanguine as to the reformation of her former schoolmate.

CHAPTER XII.

IT was near a fortnight later that one evening Miss Granby, the teacher, called at Dr. Collins's. Ellen, who ran joyfully to the door to meet her, noticed that she was unusually grave.

"I called to see you on business," said the lady when Mrs. Collins entered the parlor.

Ellen instantly rose to leave the room, blushing violently as she did so. There was something in Miss Granby's manner which she could not understand.

"I wish you would not leave the house," added the teacher, seriously; "I wish to talk with you before I go."

"What can it mean?" the young girl asked herself, retiring to her favorite seat in the bay window. "Perhaps something has happened at home, and they are afraid to tell me."

It was scarcely ton minutes before she heard her aunt speaking in a loud, excited manner.

"Ellen," said her aunt, gazing searchingly in her face, "your teacher has heard some strange rumors about you; but I think you can explain everything fully to my satisfaction. She says you have visited Josey Maxwell."

"That while there you talked against your teachers, and some of your schoolmates, whose conduct you called too strict; that you mimicked Miss Granby's words and tone; that you complained of being unhappy here, everybody was so pious, and declared your intention of writing to your father to take you home; worse than all, it is reported that you talked in an indelicate and improper manner of a young man, whose name Miss Granby cannot recollect. Now, what do you say to all this, my dear?"

While Mrs. Collins had been speaking, Ellen twitched her hand from her aunt and stood quivering with passion, looking defiantly in her teacher's face.

"It's all a lie,—a wicked lie!" she exclaimed, with more passion than her aunt had ever seen in her before. "I never thought of mimicking my teacher or making fun of her in any way; I told Josey—" She checked herself in great confusion and then went on. "I couldn't talk against her, for I always loved her before to-day. You know, aunty, that I love you and Uncle Collins and all the family dearly; and that I never was so happy as since I came to live with you. All I ever said about writing to father was to beg him to come and live here too."

Miss Granby pursed up her mouth, and looked unconvinced; but Mrs. Collins said, soothingly,—

"Don't get excited, Ellen; I believe all you say. Now what is it about the young man?"

"Then you do acknowledge going to visit Josey after she was dismissed in disgrace from the school, and that, too, without the consent of your aunt?"

"Try to control yourself, my poor child," said the former, leading Ellen to a chair, and laying her hand on the hot temples. "I feel quite confident that you meant to do right. Take time, and tell us what was said during your visit."

"You see, now, that I was right," urged the teacher, sitting very erect, and smiling unpleasantly. "If there were no wrong, there would be no concealment."

Ellen, uncovering her face, saw that her aunt was very pale; and, with a cry of anguish, screamed out,—

"She is making you hate me! You are beginning to believe her! Oh, dear! But I'll go to Uncle Collins. He will be my friend, and Frank will know I'm not guilty!" And, with a fresh burst of grief, she rushed from the room.

Her aunt immediately followed her and, by caresses, sought to convince the poor child that her confidence was unimpaired. When she had somewhat soothed her, they went back to the parlor where Miss Granby sat firm and unbending. She was a good woman; but her dignity had been deeply wounded by the liberties taken with her name; and fully believing in her pupil's guilt, she took no pains to conceal her feelings.

The doctor's gig at this moment drove into the yard; and Ellen, who heard his voice, said, eagerly,—

The gentleman presently made his appearance and gazed inquiringly at one and another, as if waiting for an explanation of the scene.

"Uncle," cried Ellen, "if I make a promise not to tell anything, wont it be a lie if I should tell?"

"I went to Josey Maxwell's once. I used to know her at school; and I felt very sorry for her disgrace, because I couldn't help thinking that I—you know."

"One day I was walking by, and she came out and urged me to go in. I thought at first I wouldn't, and then—" She leaned forward and whispered in her uncle's ear.

"I stayed a good while, and when I come away, Josey promised to do what I had been asking her, if I would promise not to tell that I had called there, and what we had been talking about. I promised the first unless I was asked, and said certainly I wouldn't tell the last."

"Now," said Mrs. Collins, "there are sad reports concerning that visit, all of which Ellen indignantly denies."

"But not quite to my satisfaction, I must confess," added the teacher, with a forced smile.

"Pshaw such stories are simply absurd. We know our Ellen too well to believe such nonsense. She has become a truthful girl, Miss Granby; and it will take a good deal more than the testimony of a miss who has been convicted of lying as often as Josey Maxwell has, to make me doubt her word."

"If there was nothing wrong in the conversation," murmured the lady, "what motive could there have been for concealment?"

"Ellen, look me in the face," said her uncle, in his abrupt way. "Was there anything in the conversation alluded to which you would be ashamed to tell me or your aunt?"

"Oh, no, indeed, sir! I was only—Yes, now I do remember a boy's name; it was Hiram Jenkins, at the store. I was—But I mustn't repeat it. I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll go right away with you to Josey's house and ask her to let me tell you."

"Yes, that will do finely. Miss Granby, I make a request that you will remain here till I return."

Not a word was spoken during the short ride, though the doctor could see how closely every variation in his countenance was watched by the excited child.

Unfortunately, Josey was away from home for a visit of a week, and the explanation was, therefore, necessarily postponed.

"I wish I might tell you, uncle," said Ellen, when she had again squeezed herself into her seat beside the doctor in his buggy. "I couldn't think why she should wish to keep it secret."

Mrs. Collins was greatly disappointed. "Not on my own account," she said, "but in order to satisfy Miss Granby that our confidence in Ellen is deserved."

"You and I are satisfied; aren't we, pet?" added the merry doctor, tapping her cheek.

"I'm sorry Miss Granby don't believe me," faltered the poor child, after a glance into the teacher's uncompromising face.

"That is not of the slightest consequence," the doctor began, when, meeting a cautionary glance from his wife, he added, "compared with the approval of your own conscience. Miss Granby does not know you as well as we do, or she would not have been so ready to believe a report coming from such a source."

The teacher suddenly remembered that Dr. Collins was chairman of the school committee, and that her capabilities as an instructor might be questioned after this. She made an awkward attempt to justify the proceeding and then took her leave.

The half-hour passed at the supper table was usually a merry one; but on this occasion, no one seemed disposed to talk. Ellen ate mechanically, her thoughts appearing absorbed in a reverie; and Mary, who had heard what had passed, having been especially requested by her mother not to allude to the subject for the present.

The doctor, having listened to all the particulars of the teacher's visit, had ventured the remark to his wife that personal pique at hearing herself ridiculed had prompted the interview,—that he was mistaken in the woman, having always before considered her a person of good sense.

The next morning, Ellen was learning her lessons as usual, after a great struggle in her own room for grace to forgive her teacher's unkind looks, when her aunt said,—

"How could anybody believe I wanted to go away from this dear home," she said, eagerly, "when you are such a darling mother to me."

Still Ellen did not seem quite happy. Several times during the day her aunt saw her sitting lost in thought. She was wondering what motive could have induced Josey to tell such dreadful lies about her, and whether her innocence would ever be proved. Another thing also troubled her. She was afraid that she had indulged in anger toward her teacher and that God was displeased. Even now she found it difficult to say, "I can forgive her;" how, then, could she repeat the Lord's Prayer, "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors"?

On the Sabbath, Ellen passed Miss Granby in the porch, and though blushing painfully, held out her hand as usual to the lady. Mrs. Collins was deeply grieved to see that the teacher took no notice of the friendly salutation.

The next afternoon, the doctor in driving from one patient to another, stopped at the house and beckoned Ellen, who sat at the window, to come to the door.

"Tell your aunt," he said, "that she is to have company to tea. The lady will be here about five, and I'll try to be at home by that time."

The doctor and his guest came up the yard together. He was in high spirits, while the lady looked anxious.

Ellen ran to the door to meet her uncle and give him her usual kiss of welcome. Miss Granby bowed rather stiffly.

After tea, the doctor ushered his company into the parlor, and then began in rather a formal manner,—

"Hush, pet! I have the floor now. I saw the young lady. I had considerable difficulty in bringing her to the point, but finally overcame her objections, and prevailed on her to put her confession in writing. Here it is, and I do not hesitate to declare the statements she made regarding Ellen as lies of first-rate malignity; lies which any person acquainted with our pet could scarcely credit."

"I, Josey Maxwell, do hereby confess that every word I reported concerning the conversation that passed between Ellen Saunders and myself was false,—that I told the story because I hated her for being a favorite among the scholars; and for reporting that I whispered in the class; and because she talked to me on the subject of lying. It was for the same reason I made her promise not to relate what had passed between us, from which promise she is now free.

"JOSEY MAXWELL."

It was curious to watch the countenance of Ellen as her aunt read the above. Joy, surprise, and contempt expressed themselves by turn on her beaming face. At the close, she heaved a great sigh of relief, and clasping her hands, said, softly,—

Next to Ellen, Dr. Collins was interested to watch the effect of the letter on Miss Granby. He was pleased to see her slyly wipe a tear from her eye, and then, with something of a struggle between her pride and conviction of duty, she rose, and approaching her pupil, said, with real feeling,—

"I have been grievously mistaken, Ellen; I really believed from your confession that you were guilty. Will you forgive me?"

"I love you now just as well as I did before. I was vexed at first; but I remembered that you couldn't trust me as well as you can Mary, because I used to tell falsehoods, you know."

"I shall always trust you in future, my dear child. You have taught me more than one lesson by your ready forgiveness."

"So that you no longer wonder that her old uncle doats on her," said the doctor, laughing, as he seated his niece on his knee. "But you must pity poor Josey. She had a bitter pill to swallow this morning. It needed all the influence of the lawyer I took with me to induce her to take it."

CHAPTER XIII.

THE school to which Alice Saunders was sent was different in almost every respect from the fashionable establishment of Mrs. Lerow. In regard to the studies, Miss Salsbury labored far more to discipline the mind, and lay a thorough foundation upon which a good education might be reared up, than to have her young pupils pointed at as ladylike and accomplished.

In her thirty years of experience in teaching, she had seen many young misses sacrificed to their own or their parents' love of what was merely superficial in learning,—preferring a smattering of French, ability to sing a few Italian operas, and to dance gracefully, to those acquirements which would fit them for the real duties and responsibilities of life. She had an old-fashioned opinion, that when a young lady left school, her education was by no means complete,—that only a substructure was formed upon which a beautiful temple might be raised.

If Alice had been under her influence at an earlier age, the seeds of vanity and deceit which had early taken root in her young mind might have been eradicated; but half a year in such a hot-house as Mrs. Lerow's school had brought these shoots to a fearful state of maturity.

With Miss Salsbury's discernment, it did not require many hours' acquaintance with her new pupil to give her an insight into the purposes and motives which governed the young lady. Beautiful in person, bewitching in manner, but wholly destitute of moral rectitude, could the preceptress have consulted her own wishes, she would have sent Alice directly back to her father, so much did she shrink from the responsibility involved in the moral training of such a girl. Then she doubted her own wisdom in introducing so artful a character among her other pupils.

"Certainly," was her mental exclamation, "with such an influence to oppose, I must be doubly vigilant."

As the house was too full to allow the new scholar a room by herself, and as the preceptress was far too conscientious to expose those committed to her care to such intimate companionship as would be unavoidable in roommates, she turned with a sigh from the parlor, where she had been talking with Alice, to make hasty arrangements for giving her a room with one of the under teachers, who was her own niece, a young lady of Christian courtesy and great integrity of character.

In half an hour, Miss Saunders was introduced to a pleasant chamber on the third flight, where she found Miss Farley, her new room-mate, awaiting her.

Emma Farley was an agreeable young lady of twenty years, wholly unacquainted with her aunt's motives in putting Miss Saunders under her care, and very favorably impressed in regard to the new-comer.

On the other hand, Alice was deeply chagrined at the idea of being under the constant surveillance of a teacher; but she was quite too much a woman of the world, and had profited too well by Aunt Clarissa's example to betray such a feeling. Indeed, the first words she spoke expressed exactly the opposite sentiment.

"What a pleasant room!" she said in her sweet, languid voice. "I am very happy to share it with you. I think we shall have delightful times together."

While the new miss lazily arranged her wardrobe in the closet and drawers, the acquaintance progressed rapidly. Alice, with a degree of art far beyond her years, praised her companion's hair, complexion, and general appearance,—accounting herself most fortunate in being thrown in with one evidently accustomed to the best society,—and then drew from the unsuspecting teacher an account of the families in the neighborhood, with difficulty concealing her pleasure at the announcement that an academy for young men was in flood-tide of success at the other end of the village.

"Of course," she remarked in an indifferent tone, lazily arranging a box of laces to hide her eagerness, "the pupils here are allowed no intercourse with the young gentlemen?"

"Aunt Salsbury is as cautious as possible," answered Miss Farley; "but as Dr. Bowles's pupils occupy the opposite wing to ours in church, they know each other by sight, and as a number of our young ladies have brothers there, some visiting is unavoidable."

Alice returned to her wardrobe, the school formerly so much dreaded being invested with new interest.

"What do you think of Miss Saunders?" anxiously inquired Miss Salsbury, at a late hour the same evening.

"I think she will be a great acquisition to the school," was the enthusiastic reply. "She is lovely in person, and as far as I can judge, of a bright mind."

"Yes, there is no doubt of that, Emma; but her morals,—has her conscience been cultivated quite as diligently as her personal charms?"

"I see no reason to think the contrary." Emma repeated part of the conversation, and then retired.

"I must guard against prejudice," said the preceptress to herself; "but, if I do not mistake, my unsuspicious niece has been duped by a few lies of politeness. But time will show the real character of my new pupil."

Less than a fortnight sufficed, not only for mutual acquaintance between the young ladies, but also to raise Alice to the height of popularity. Her dress and her opinions were quoted as law; her most trifling acts commented upon with favor; while her frequent remissness in the recitation room was excused on account of her inability to apply herself closely without bringing on an excruciating pain in her head. This artifice the young girl had resorted to immediately upon ascertaining that none of the tricks to evade duty so successful in Mrs. Lerow's school would avail here. So far, the plea of ill-health had worked well.

Alice had been in the recitation room but a few times before she found that she could neither make use of copied exercises, nor glance at her book held adroitly inside a fan. The teachers were so thorough, and required so many explanations of the rules, that no such artifices availed. She must either give her attention wholly to the business of study, or invent some plausible excuse for not doing so.

Alice, however, was too experienced in deceit to allow her tactics to fail her now, and therefore resorted to the plea of headache, which her natural delicacy of complexion enabled her to simulate with a good chance of success.

She had been twice to church, where even Miss Salsbury's strict ideas of propriety could detect nothing wrong. But the young girl had made good use of her eyes, and was aware, long before the extravagant compliments reached her through sisters of the young gentlemen, that her beauty had caused no slight degree of excitement among the susceptible youth ranged on the opposite seats in church.

Even the very gentlemanly-looking under teacher, sitting at the head of the back slip to overlook the conduct of his charge, had fixed his bright blue eyes on the new-comer with far more than ordinary interest.

At the close of the second week, Alice wrote her father that, though she was greatly disappointed at being compelled to leave Mrs. Lerow's school, she now was happy here, as the teachers were very kind, and aimed to do their scholars good. She complained, however, of headache on severe application to study; and requested her father to ask Miss Salsbury to allow her more time for exercise in the open air.

Mr. Saunders was delighted with the apparent improvement in his daughter. He wrote at once to the preceptress, begging the lady to give Alice all possible indulgence that her rules would allow in regard to the hours of exercise.

Hitherto the young girl had conducted herself with such seeming propriety that she completely blinded her teachers, so that Miss Salsbury, in endeavoring to make amends for her former distrust, gave the new scholar far more credit than she deserved.

In the mean time, these first weeks did not pass without some advance on the part of Dr. Bowles's pupils toward an acquaintance with the beautiful stranger. All those who could form any excuse to gain an entrance into the charmed mansion eagerly availed themselves of the opportunity. Alice, on one pretext and another, had been called down to the parlor and introduced to half a dozen of them. After this, projected walks and incidental meetings in the street caused the acquaintance to ripen faster than was desirable.

Miss Saunders, the beauty and heiress, the model of taste in dress and fashion, had already acquired more influence in the school than any young lady had done since its formation. But, sad to say, in order to attain this popularity, she had uttered, without one compunction of conscience, lies of politeness and lies of flattery almost without number.

An incident occurred in school about this time, which directed the attention of the preceptress to this vice.

A little girl named Clara Dalton, the youngest scholar, had been detected several times in equivocation, and once in a deliberate falsehood. The circumstances were these.

Wednesday and Saturday afternoons were half-holidays; and under certain restrictions, the pupils were allowed to employ themselves as they chose. It was a rule, however, that they should not exceed a certain limit in their walks without special permission. Somehow or other, Clara had formed the acquaintance of a girl living quite at the other extreme of the village; and as Miss Salsbury for some reason disapproved the intimacy, she had forbidden Clara to visit her.

Wednesday morning came again, inviting all lovers of green fields and pure air to walk forth. Miss Gleason, one of the older pupils, having arisen earlier than common, was sauntering through the garden with a volume of poems in her hand, when she heard a low murmur of voices close to the hedge separating the garden from the road.

"I will!" exclaimed a low, earnest voice. "I'll tell you how I can manage it. I'll get one of the girls to ask Miss Salsbury if we may go to the post office. We'll start early, and while the girl has gone in, I'll run across the fields to your house, as fast as I can go."

"So you can!" answered another voice. "I'll be there somewhere to meet you. Be sure to bring the money, and I'll have the earrings all ready."

"What an old tiger Miss Salsbury must be, to keep you caged up so!" said the street girl, spitefully. "Come as early as you can."

The young lady stood still, greatly troubled. Should she—ought she to report to the preceptress? She had recognized the voice as Clara's; and soon after, the child crept cautiously from her hiding place, and ran stealthily toward the house. After some hesitation, she decided that she was not called upon to mention what she had seen.

In the evening, there was some unusual excitement in the hall, and presently a child's voice was heard crying bitterly. It was Clara, who had just reached home, her clothes soiled and torn, and her eyes swollen with crying.

The preceptress led her forward into the large recitation room, where most of the scholars were assembled, and commenced an investigation of the case. It was ascertained that, immediately after dinner, Clara and a young companion, Annie Mellege, started together for the post office, being charged with letters from several of the young ladies. At the door of the office, Clara stopped to tie her shoe, and Annie went in alone. When she came out, her companion was nowhere to be found.

When questioned why she left so suddenly, Clara sobbed and hid her face in her apron; but as Miss Salsbury waited calmly for her to speak, she said at last, that she heard an organ-grinder down a lane near by, and ran to find him, when a great dog flew at her, and tore her dress. Then a woman came out of a house and pulled her in and made her stay there.

"That is a very unlikely story," said Miss Salsbury, shaking her head; "but as you have cried yourself sick, I shall postpone any farther examination of your case till morning."

CHAPTER XIV.

NOT a word was said on the subject of the previous evening until the lessons for the morning had been recited; and then Miss Salsbury called upon the young ladies to resume their seats at their desks.

"I wish to make some remarks," she began, "on a subject of vital importance to every one of you; that is, the habit, too prevalent at the present day, of falsifying the word. But first I will relieve your curiosity concerning Clara by informing you that, early in the morning, she was overheard planning an excursion which she was well aware was contrary to the rules of the school. With premeditated deceit and cunning, painful to think of in one of her years, she carried these plans into execution, slipped away from the companion she had induced to join her in a walk, and ran for half a mile to meet a child with whom I had forbidden her to associate.

"Here she disobeyed another rule and bought a pair of earrings without permission of any teacher to make such a purchase. This morning, a lady came to claim the earrings which the wicked child had stolen from her. I went to Clara's room, where I had left her till she was willing to confess where she had been, and found the jewelry thrust into her pocket; but even then she made many excuses before she would confess the truth. I shudder to think that I have a child under my care so dreadfully addicted to the sin of lying. And I think perhaps no time will be so favorable as the present for impressing the enormity of this offence upon your minds.

"The subject for discussion and essays this week will, therefore, be the various methods by which persons falsify their word, such as lies of convenience, lies of flattery, lies of malignity, etc., etc. To aid you in the examination of the subject, I wish to direct your attention to Mrs. Opie's excellent work on lying, which you will find in the library, and more particularly to the word of God. In your essays on this subject, I wish you to quote and illustrate as many passages of Scripture as possible."

The bell for the long recess then was rung, and the scholars dispersed to talk over poor Clara's sin, and to speculate on the punishment she would receive.

A group of young misses stood together on the lawn, eagerly listening to Miss Gleason's account of the stolen interview of the morning. When she had finished, one pupil said,—

"It's so mean to lie!" rejoined another. "I should be ashamed to show my face if I had told an untruth!"

"God showed his displeasure at the sin," remarked Amelia Davis, gravely. "I think I shall take the case of Ananias and Sapphira for my composition."

At this moment, Alice gracefully crossed the lawn and joined the group. On her head she wore a bewitching straw hat, trimmed with a long drab plume and tied with ribbon of the same hue. Her complexion was as delicate as an infant's, the color in her cheeks being somewhat heightened by her excitement.

"What a fuss Miss Salsbury makes about a few white lies that child has told!" she said, her lip curling contemptuously. "I doubt whether Clara is old enough to know that there is any harm in what she said,—such a little thing as she is!"

"But if the fault is not corrected while she is young," said the lady who last spoke, "it will grow upon her. I can conceive of no worse trait than to be a confirmed liar."

"Certainly. Of course lying is vulgar, to say nothing of its being immoral; but I don't believe the child meant to deceive, or would have done so, if she hadn't been frightened into it. She wanted the earrings, and, as the girl offered to sell them, I don't see how she can be much blamed."

The young ladies seemed rather surprised at this view of the case, coming as it did from one they admired; and presently the baneful influence began to work; for one of them said, playfully,—

"Of course she is. I dare say she would call me a liar for sending word 'not at home' to a caller whom I wish to avoid, as if it were not everywhere understood that it means you are engaged; or because I reply that 'my tablet is full of engagements,' when a disagreeable gentleman wishes to dance with me. If she knew anything of fashionable society, she would understand that such white lies are unavoidable. It would be an insult to a gentleman to refuse to dance with him."

"Oh, how I wish I could go to a ball!" exclaimed one enthusiastic young lady. "I don't think there would be much danger of my having to tell white or black lies; I'd dance with every one who asked me."

"I shall never go into fashionable society if such deception is necessary," remarked Amelia Davis, in a serious tone.

Friday afternoon was devoted to the composition, each young lady signing hers with a mark known only to the teacher. These were placed in a box, and pupils, generally the highest class, were called to the platform in succession to read them. As some of these explain the different kinds of lying I shall copy them.

   "The sin of lying is denounced in the Bible in the same catalogue with the most heinous crimes. In the Revelation we read, 'For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.' The punishment denounced against them is dreadful: 'All liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.'

   "There are many kinds of lies; but I shall only mention one of them, which I shall call lies of trade. In these are embraced all the different forms of deception by which persons dispose of the articles they have for sale. I was once acquainted with a storekeeper who confessed many of these tricks of the trade, as he called them, and insisted they were perfectly harmless. For instance, he used to tell customers that calico would wash like a piece of white cloth, which was literally the fact, though they understood him to mean that the colors were fast.

   "Or he would say, 'I gave a dollar a yard for this silk by the piece, and cannot afford to sell it less than one twenty-five,' when these very goods had been bought at auction prices, and would bring a good profit at ninety cents.

   "Or, when questioned as to quality and durability, he would answer, 'This delaine is all wool,' when he knew it to be part cotton; 'it will wear like iron,' when he more than suspected it to be tender, and, therefore, wished to be rid of it.

   "This storekeeper also told me of tricks by which the grocers try to get off cheap or injured articles. They mix sand with sugar, adulterate tea and spices, sell barley for coffee, and Indian meal for ginger, all the time giving their word that the articles are pure and of the best quality."

   "What is a lie? By some writers it is explained as an intention to deceive.

   "Can a person be guilty of lying who does not speak? I think he can; for a single motion of the head will sometimes convey a wrong impression.

   "What is the difference between a lie and a falsehood? A person may tell what is not true, or a falsehood, without the intention to deceive, which constitutes a lie.

   "What does the Bible say of lying lips? 'The lip of truth shall be established forever; but a lying tongue is but for a moment.' 'Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord.' 'He that speaketh lies shall not escape.' 'Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbor.'

   "Is there such a thing as a lie of flattery? There is; and I will give an instance.

   "A girl named Hannah Morrill once lived with a lady as a kind of companion. She soon discovered that her mistress had a weak mind and was very susceptible to praise. The lady was exceedingly homely; but Hannah flattered her with the assurance that she was fine-looking and remarkably intelligent. She falsely quoted the opinion of others who agreed with her that her mistress was a pattern of elegance, taste, and refinement, until she succeeded in convincing the lady that her glass deceived her as to her personal appearance and that, as to her other qualities, her modesty had hitherto blinded her as to her many excellences.

   "In this way Hannah gained many favors, and was so much encouraged by them, that she became so gross in her flatteries that at last her mistress began to suspect her of insincerity. Wishing to try her, she brought from the store an elegant lilac silk, more suited to a bride than to a lady past sixty. Expressing, herself, a doubt whether this color was becoming to her age, she asked Hannah's opinion, when the girl warmly declared that she was only slandering herself when she thought the color trying to her complexion; for it made her look like a young miss, holding the rich folds up before her.

   "Only half convinced, the lady was called from her chamber to see company, from which she returned suddenly, unobserved by any one. Hearing loud talking and laughing in the next room, she stopped a moment to listen, and soon heard Hannah mimic her voice and manner before the mirror.

   "'What an old fool she must be to believe you!' answered the cook, with a coarse laugh.

   "'I can make the simpleton believe black is white,' urged Hannah; 'I told her, yesterday, that her old yellow, crooked teeth were the envy of half the young ladies, and the silly creature actually swallowed the flattery.'

   "'Not quite,' said a low, stern voice; 'that lilac silk I brought from the store to test your frankness. If you had told me what I knew to be true,—that it was ill-suited to me,—I intended to have given it to you. I am glad I have been undeceived in season to dismiss both of you from my service. I will give you an hour to pack your trunks; and at the end of that time, I will have a constable here to search them; for I am not so great a simpleton but that I understand that a person who will lie to her benefactress will steal from her whenever opportunity occurs.'

   "Many interesting anecdotes illustrating different kinds of lies are given by Mrs. Opie in her book on lying."

CHAPTER XV.

THE composition next in order was scarcely finished when Miss Salsbury requested the young lady who was reading to pass the copy to her.

Glancing at it with a look of serious displeasure, she took a small book from her desk, compared the signature with one marked there, directed the reading to proceed, and then sat more than usually erect, while attending to the composition which followed.

   "Of all lies," commenced the young lady, "those which relate to the character of others are the most to be dreaded. These lies are in direct violation of the ninth command: 'Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.' How often, for the sake of telling news, we are tempted to repeat stories to the disadvantage of others, even though we know they are untrue.

   "There is a fault of this nature, not quite so common, of which I will give an instance.

   "A lady in rather high life was in the habit of underrating her own beauty, talents, and taste in order to have others praise her. One evening she attended a religious meeting appointed for conversation with the pastor. After confessing her own sinfulness, she said,—

   "'I scarcely think there can be mercy for such a wicked creature as I am.'

   "She expected that these words, wholly insincere on her part, would lead the clergyman to express his admiration of her lovely moral character; but the good man, either wholly deceived by her apparent distress, or wishing to give her a deserved rebuke, said,—

   "'Madam, you are far more sinful than you have described. You have offended God's holy laws; you—'

   "'I should like to know what I've done!' she exclaimed, in great wrath, rising and standing defiantly before him."

Many of the young ladies laughed on hearing this story, and then Amelia Gleason responded to the call, and rose with such blushing cheeks to read a composition, that her companions conjectured it was her own.

   "A young lady, fair and beautiful, sat in a luxuriantly furnished parlor. Statues of the rarest art filled the niches, while paintings from the old masters adorned the walls. The house was evidently the abode of wealth and refinement.

   "The young lady, whose name was Isabel Montgomery, sat, or rather reclined, against one of the large cushions of the divan, with an elegantly bound volume open before her.

   "Suddenly the outer door was heard to open. Isabel started, her cheeks flushing, and her eyes beaming with pleasure. The servant entered, bearing a beautifully embossed card on a silver salver.

   "The lady's breast heaved. It was evident a crisis in her young life was approaching; but suddenly the scene changed.

   "'Pshaw!' she exclaimed, angrily. 'It's that tiresome old maid. Why didn't you tell her I was out? You're a stupid piece not to know I didn't wish to be disturbed! But I wont see her. Go, directly, and tell her I'm not at home, and don't expect to be for a month. How provoking!' she said petulantly, when the servant had retired. 'I was sure it was Mr. Clayton.' Then, glancing at her jewelled watch, she added, with a pout on her red lips, 'He prides himself on his punctuality; but it is already one minute past the time.'

   "The moments lagged wearily, now, until they lengthened themselves into hours; but the expected one did not make his appearance, and at last, disgusted with her lover, with herself, and with life in general, she retired to her own chamber where she indulged in a flood of tears.

   "Indignation at last gave way to anxiety. Some accident must have happened to the loved one. This was the morning which was to decide her fate for life. Frederic Clayton, the most elegant as well as the most wealthy young man in the city had sued for her hand. An appointment was made for him to meet her hither at his counting room at an early hour; and then he begged leave to come and receive his answer from her own sweet lips. No doubt what that answer would be. Something awful must have occurred, or he would have flown on the wings of love to her presence.

   "At last, the thought flashed through her mind that not one visitor had called during the entire morning with the exception of the tiresome old maid, as she invidiously termed her; and this was so unusual a circumstance that she rang the bell furiously to ask the servant whether any callers had presented themselves.

   "The servant-girl entered, a glance of low cunning gleaming from her half-closed eye. Before her mistress could speak, she advanced rapidly with the salver upon which lay several cards.

   "Isabel eagerly clutched at one bearing the name, 'Frederic Clayton,' and screamed, in a voice of passion—

   "'How came this here? Why wasn't he admitted? How long since he went away?'

   "'He was in the ante-room, ma'am,' said the girl, 'when I went back with the message to the old lady. He looked very much disappointed, and asked me two or three times if I was sure you were not at home; that he had an appointment with you, and it was very important he should see you this morning. I told him you went off all of a sudden, almost as soon as it was light, and said you shouldn't be back for a month.'

   "Isabel put out her hand and tried to speak, but her passion choked her voice; then she flew at Bridget and tried to scratch her face.

   "'You old wretch,' she screamed, 'you shall be punished for this! You did it on purpose. I know you did!'

   "'I haven't told you all,' said the girl, in a triumphant tone. 'The old lady was Mr. Clayton's aunt, and he came with her in her carriage. If she had gone, I should have given him a hint that you were in the parlor expecting of him; but as you bid me say you were away, I valued my character too much to take back my words while she was there. They talked mighty earnest together for a time. Once I thought he'd faint, he looked so pale; and he kept repeating, "I can't believe it! The blow is too sudden! Only a half an hour ago, and I was so happy!"

   "'His aunt pitied him a sight; but it didn't do him a mite of good till she said, "Be a man, Frederic. I acknowledge your future looks dark now; but the day will come when perhaps you will thank the Lord for this." Then they looked around and saw me still standing there, and went away.'

   "Isabel had stood like a statue; but when Bridget stopped talking, she sank back in the divan, and with one shriek of agony buried her face in her hands. The hour which followed was the darkest her life had ever known; but darker moments still were yet before her. At six o'clock, her father returned to dinner, and sent Bridget to her room to say that he wished to see her immediately.

   "'What does this mean?' he asked, angrily, when, noticing the dreadful pallor of her countenance, his wrath changed to pity.

   "'Where is he—Frederic?' she gasped, trembling in every limb.

   "'On his way to Smyrna with his sick brother. I found him waiting at my office when I reached it, impatient to gain my consent not only to your engagement, but to an immediate marriage, in order that you might accompany him abroad. They would wait, in that case, until the next vessel, which sails in a fortnight. I mentioned the trousseau, but he said all that could be attended to in Paris before your return. I found out, too, that Elise Bosworth, your mother's old friend, is Clayton's aunt, and was waiting to bring him here to use all the influence she possessed, through her love for your mother, to induce you to forego all the ceremony so natural to the occasion, be married at once, and accompany him abroad. She brought a casket of diamonds which were her sister's for her wedding gift. After some hesitation, I gave my consent, and expected, on reaching home, to find the house in an uproar of preparation, when, just before I left my office, I received this letter from poor Clayton, together with an enclosed note directed to you.'

   "Isabel, who had sank back almost fainting, mechanically stretched out her hand for the letter. The one to herself was as follows:

   "'Isabel, farewell. Hope whispered a different result to my wooing; but I have deceived myself. I am not yet calm enough to write; the shock was too sudden. Your father will explain. You are to be absent a month. Before your return, I shall be thousands of miles away. Perhaps I shall never return. May God bless you and give you a worthier, though you can never have a more loving, friend!

"'FREDERIC CLAYTON.'"

   "As my composition has already extended far beyond the contemplated limits, I will only add that a long and dangerous illness followed Isabel's lie of convenience. Near the close of the year, she persuaded her father to accompany her abroad, where, in a gay party in Paris, she met Mr. Clayton and his beautiful young wife. Having heard, through friends in his native city, the story which Bridget, dismissed in disgrace, had so diligently circulated, he had learned to thank God for preventing his union with one who could thus trample on the commands of his holy word which says, 'Lie not one to another.'"

CHAPTER XVI.

SOME of the young misses had noticed Miss Salsbury's displeasure when one of the compositions was read, and wondered at the cause. They did not have to wait long for an explanation. The next morning, just before the preceptress struck the bell for school to be dismissed, she said,—

"Young ladies, I would like your attention for a few moments. Yesterday, among the compositions I noticed one which sounded strangely familiar. I at once examined the private mark by which I identify the writings of each of my pupils, and immediately after the close of the session, I took a book from my library and compared the two. They were precisely alike. Not a comma or semicolon wanting in one which was not in the other. You may imagine my surprise and displeasure when I found that I had one scholar who could thus be guilty of a lie of plagiarism, in attempting a composition on the sin of lying.

"I will not at present expose the young lady, whose punishment I have not yet decided upon. As for the rest of you, the consciousness that you have been guilty of no wrong in this respect will uphold you under the common blame which the sin of one of your number has caused you to bear. This crime is as truly a sin as any other lie. The scholar here virtually says to her teachers and schoolmates, 'These are my thoughts and opinions,' when she has been guilty of the meanness of stealing them from others.

"I remember once," added the lady, "of travelling in a stage-coach, when one of the company produced a book to while away the tedious hours of travel. It was a work which had been published anonymously, and had by its merit caused quite an excitement in the reading public.

"'Ah,' exclaimed one lady present, 'you have the new work I see. May I ask you how you like it?'

"I noticed that another lady in the corner seemed greatly confused by this remark; and when the one addressed replied that she greatly admired it, remarked,—

"This of course was as much as saying to the company that she was the author of the book; and from that moment every one of them regarded her with great interest.

"In due time, I reached the end of my journey, and found my friend had invited a large party to do honor to the author of the new work. I entertained not a doubt but I should meet my acquaintance of the stage-coach. Imagine my surprise when I was led forward by my hostess to a seat in the corner, where sat a youthful matron, blushing at the attention paid her, and begging my friend to allow the fact of her being an author to remain, at least for the present, a profound secret.

"In great distress for the truthfulness of my stage companion, I withdrew my friend to another room, and asked her what ground she had for believing Mrs. Gordon, the lady present, to be the author.

"'The very best of reasons,' she said, smiling: 'I read the work in manuscript, and subscribed for a dozen copies of the first edition, before I could persuade my modest friend that the public would regard her work with favor.'

"Now, I ask you, young ladies, what is your opinion of the traveller, who, by her manner, led her companions to believe her the author?"

"It was mean!" "I should die of shame!" "She was guilty of a wicked lie!" exclaimed one and another from different parts of the school.

"And is not that young lady equally guilty who appropriates the words and thoughts of another, and claims them as her own?"

"Young ladies," said the preceptress, "before you are dismissed, I have only to add the inspired words, 'These six things doth the Lord hate, yea seven are an abomination to him: a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief; a false witness that speaketh lies, and him that soweth discord among brethren.'"

For the next fortnight, there was great curiosity among the scholars to know who was the guilty individual referred to; but as Miss Salsbury maintained the most profound silence on the subject, nothing certain could be learned. Several times when the topic was mentioned in the presence of Alice, a contemptuous curl of the lips was her only answer. By this time, however, her sentiments on ethics were pretty well-known, and shrewd conjectures began to be whispered about as to the author of the plagiarism.

Alice found the moral atmosphere of Miss Salsbury's establishment so entirely uncongenial that she would, long ere this, have resorted to some method of leaving, had it not been for private plans which could not be carried out if she were removed to another school.

She had so far conducted herself with the strictest regard to propriety while in her own room, and Miss Farley, her room-mate, though often questioned by her aunt, answered most favorably of the new scholar. But there were methods by which she disobeyed the rules and evaded the laws which her teachers dreamed not of. Neither did they imagine what an influence for evil this heartless, deceitful girl was constantly exercising over one of her young companions.

Ella Morris was a girl of only thirteen years, warm and ardent in temperament, of generous noble impulses, but easily influenced by those she loved. When Alice first entered the school, Ella regarded her with admiration. Miss Saunders's beauty and style were her constant theme out of study hours. The least notice from the handsome stranger was reported to her companions with emotions of pride and pleasure.

Ella had a brother in Dr. Bowles's school who called upon her soon after Alice's first appearance at church. Ned Morris told his sisters to invite Miss Saunders to the parlor, as he wished to be introduced to her. He was a tall youth of eighteen years, with small, effeminate features, going among his companions by the name of "Our Dandy." He was good-natured to a proverb, with a weak mind, but entirely moral in his character. He had been dazzled by Alice's beauty, and now was just shallow enough to imagine her as intelligent as she was lovely in person. Even during that first interview, he had to put a constant constraint on himself to keep from betraying his warm admiration.

After this, Ella had no need to complain of want of attention from her brother. He was constantly sending her notes with presents of oranges, figs, or pine-apples,—all of which he directed her to share with her new friend.

The little girl was almost intoxicated with delight at the praises bestowed upon her by her new friend, until Alice, who one day heard her boasting of some favors, cautioned her not to do so, lest others of her companions should expect the same notice.

After a few weeks, a small perfumed envelope came, enclosed in Ella's letter from her brother, directed to Miss Saunders. Alice would not yet trust the sister sufficiently to confide an answer to her care, but dropped a sentimental epistle into the office with her own hand. After this, the correspondence became very frequent, sometimes Ella's letters and sometimes the mail being the medium of communication between the friends.

Alice now found the benefit of having liberty for early walks;—indeed, it was this very reason that had induced her to write her father to intercede for that privilege with the preceptress. Every morning she was up and dressed before many in the household were awake, and met by appointment Ned Morris, when they walked and talked together.

At last the frequency of Ella's letters and her brother's unusual devotion to her interests began to excite suspicion; and one of the under teachers reported to the preceptress that when Mr. Morris called, he always asked for Miss Saunders to play to him.

The same evening, Miss Salsbury summoned Ella to her private parlor, and made careful inquiries whether there was any correspondence between her brother and any of the scholars.

Alice had already anticipated this question, and bade Ella, as she valued her friendship, never to reveal anything that she knew or suspected on the subject; so that the child at once denied any knowledge of such letters.

But the evils attending wicked companionship had only just commenced. Before this, Ella, though sometimes equivocating, had not told a downright falsehood since she came to the school. Now, unless she would criminate herself, she was obliged often to repeat the sin. From being a merry, contented child, she soon became peevish and ill-tempered. Alice was obliged to employ all her arts of fascination to retain what she considered necessary influence over her.

Through other young gentlemen from Dr. Bowles's seminary, who visited their sisters, the story of Ned Morris's admiration for Miss Saunders began to be circulated through the school, and at last reached the ears of the preceptress.

"Slightly," answered the young girl, in the most indifferent tone. "I was passing the hall door when Ella met me going out with her brother and introduced him; but I was in haste and did not stop long."

The lady gazed searchingly in her pupil's face, but could detect nothing to induce the suspicion that the young miss was trying to deceive.

"Really," said she, with a smile, "I cannot remember, as I did not consider it a circumstance of any importance. I suppose I may have seen him four or five times."

"I do not ask the questions from curiosity," added the teacher, "but because your father placed you in my care, telling me that you were a motherless child, and needed special watching. You are well aware that the rules of my school absolutely forbid all correspondence, or special attention even, between my pupils and those connected with Dr. Bowles's seminary. Have you ever violated these rules?"

"I have not received any such. If Ella knows of a communication, she has not delivered it to me."

"I am relieved to know that such is the fact. Both you and the young gentleman are far too young to form any attachment at present."

In recalling this interview at a later hour, Alice did not feel one qualm of conscience in regard to the dreadful untruths of which she had been guilty; but she was somewhat vexed that anything should have excited the suspicion of the teachers, as now it would be more difficult to evade them.

That very evening, she wrote a note to Mr. Morris, begging him to be more careful what he said of her, and consenting to ride with him the next afternoon which was a half-holiday.

Throwing a veil over her head, she stole softly out to the garden to a place in the hedge accessible from the street, where of late she had placed her letters.

Miss Salsbury acknowledged to her niece that she felt much easier after her interview with Alice, who appeared wholly indifferent to the admiration of Mr. Morris, if indeed any such feelings existed. She even owned that she had been prejudiced against the young lady ever since the affair of the composition; but Alice had explained that, if not to her satisfaction, at least so as to prove that she might have been guilty of such a plagiarism without understanding that it was improper.

It was true that soon after the event occurred, Alice was summoned to account for her misdemeanor. She told the preceptress that in Mrs. Lerow's school, the young ladies all made selections from favorite authors; that the teachers were not only aware of it, but often referred them to particular passages when they found it difficult to select for themselves. This, like most of her other statements, since her arrival at the seminary, was wholly false.

When the teacher explained the deception, she thanked the lady warmly and declared she would never be guilty of copying again.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE next morning, when school was dismissed, Miss Salsbury and her niece, Miss Farley, started immediately for the next town, where they had business. It was near night before they were able to return, and they were driving through a retired street which shortened their distance about a mile, when they saw in front of them a buggy upset, and a crowd rapidly gathering about it.

"I am afraid some one is injured," remarked Miss Farley, as they drew nearer. "See, they are lifting a lady from the ground."

"John," said Miss Salsbury to the driver, "stop here. We cannot get through the crowd and I wish to get out."

The man, who was on the front seat, went on a few yards, stopped, stood up in the carriage to see better, and then said,—

At this moment, Mr. Morris limped away from the buggy, trying to walk to a house near by. He was evidently suffering, and his face was deathly pale. A horrible suspicion flashed through Miss Salsbury's mind. Miss Saunders, her pupil, had deceived her,—had taken advantage of her absence to break the rules of the school, and ride with Mr. Morris. Without waiting for John to open the door, she turned the handle herself and got out. Two men were assisting Alice up the steps to the house, when Miss Salsbury stopped them.

"You needn't take the young lady up there," she said; "I have a carriage here and will convey her home. If one of you will go for the doctor as quickly as possible, and ask him to call at the Ladies' Seminary, you will do Miss Saunders a great favor."

"John," called his mistress, "take Miss Saunders in your arms and lift her into the carriage as carefully as you used to lift your sick mother. My niece will support her, and I will sit in front."

Mr. Morris stood with his hand to his head, viewing all these arrangements with a stupid gaze of astonishment. It seemed so strange that, of all persons in the world, the preceptress should happen to be there.

Just as they started away and while the crowd stood gazing after them, Miss Salsbury said,—

"Mr. Morris, you will do me a favor if you will request Dr. Bowles to call at the Ladies' Seminary this evening."

Dr. Wilson reached the hall nearly as soon as the preceptress was ready for him. With the proffered assistance of John, Alice was conveyed to her room, where she was laid on the bed, groaning terribly.

"Get me some camphor or sal volatile," urged the physician, "she is faint; or stay, I have some ammonia."

When she revived, the young lady complained of severe pain in the side and difficulty in drawing a breath. The doctor soon discovered that, in addition to her broken arm, she had broken two ribs.

It was more than an hour before the jacket he wished for a support to her side could be prepared. And then her poor arm must be carefully splintered, so that a second message came from Dr. Bowles before he could leave.

As yet Miss Salsbury had found no time to inquire into the particulars of the accident; but after the patient, under the influence of an anodyne, had fallen asleep, she learned that soon after she rode from the door, Alice and Ella started from the hall for a walk; one of the teachers remembering the fact from the circumstance of Miss Saunders wearing her dress, hat, and mantilla.

Ella returned in less than an hour, saying her companion had extended her walk to the village. Miss Salsbury instantly sent for Ella, who, since the accident, had sat in her room crying bitterly. She was now completely humbled and ready to confess everything.

The preceptress listened with horror as the child unfolded a long tissue of falsehoods into which she had been led by her artful friend.

"I haven't been happy at all as I used to be," sighed Ella. "I wanted to confess to you how wicked I have been, and how wicked Ned was growing, for he has told Dr. Bowles a great many lies; but Alice wouldn't let me."

"Poor child," said her teacher, "I ought to have guarded you from such influences; but I never knew you were intimate."

"Alice told me not to speak to her when others were by. She was afraid you would suspect about Ned," sobbed the weeping girl. "Oh, how sorry my mother will feel! Do you think Ned is hurt so he will die?"

"No, Ella; I do not imagine either he or Miss Saunders are in any immediate danger; but I am more shocked than I can tell you at what I have heard. I hope, dear child, you will learn by this sad experience how dangerous it is to trifle with God's commands. Solomon says, 'A lying tongue is but for a moment.' Sooner or later a liar will be put to confusion, and his words, even though he speak the truth, be distrusted."

"My mother taught me to tell the truth," faltered Ella, her lip quivering; "and I don't believe Ned ever told lies till he knew Alice."

The next morning, when the doctor came, he told her that Alice was far more comfortable than his other patient, who had struck his head against a stone, and had been delirious all night. On first reaching home, however, he had frankly confessed to his teacher his sorrow at having broken the rules of the school, taking all the blame of the accident on himself, saying he was struck with the beauty of Ella's friend, and had repeatedly invited her to ride with him, which she had constantly refused until the occasion when this dreadful accident occurred.

From one of his classmates, the doctor learned that he confessed to have hired the buggy professedly to carry his sister to ride, but always intending to take Alice, and thought the accident a just punishment for the deception he had practised toward his teacher. They rode about ten miles to a neighboring town, and were returning to the place where Miss Saunders wished to alight, when the horse took fright and ran backward against a stone wall, upsetting the buggy and throwing them both to the ground.

During the night, his thoughts ran upon his mother, who he seemed to imagine was standing over him, and whom, in the most heartrending terms, he implored to forgive him.

The first moment of returning consciousness, he begged the nurse to ask his teacher to come to his bedside, and when Dr. Bowles instantly complied, entreated that his mother might not hear of his sad conduct until he could write and confess it to her.

"I am her only boy," he said, feebly putting his hot hand on the doctor's, "and it will not hurt her so much if she hears it from me."

Dr. Bowles readily promised this, offering to send for Mrs. Morris if he wished, only stating that he had met with an accident.

"If I'd done my duty, I shouldn't have been hurt. I ought not to make her suffer for my fault. No, I'll try and do without her, though I never was sick without her being by me."

Miss Salsbury was much affected by this account, and sighed as she remembered that her pupil had, as yet, manifested no penitence. Indeed, she replied to any question that was asked her only in monosyllables, whispering that it hurt her to talk.

The physician pronounced her free from fever, and, ordering that the bandages on the arm should not be disturbed and that the patient should live on gruel for a day or two, he took his leave.

   "MR. SAUNDERS.

   "Dear Sir:— When you confided your daughter to my care, you mentioned that she was addicted to falsehood. I, therefore, placed her in the room with my niece, and thought that if she did not receive good impressions from the influences around her, she certainly could do no harm to my other pupils; but I was mistaken. Alice, beautiful and accomplished, soon acquired an influence with her schoolmates which, I am deeply pained to tell you, she has used for evil. She has set her will in defiance of the rules of the school, and brought pain and sorrow, not only upon herself, but upon others.

   "Yesterday she was thrown from a carriage while riding stealthily with a young man, a member of an academy near us. She induced the sister of this youth to be the medium of communication between them, and what was far worse, to tell repeated falsehoods when questioned on the subject.

   "Your daughter was fortunate to escape with a broken arm and two broken ribs. The doctor reports her this morning as doing well; and I have provided a nurse to take the exclusive care of her.

   "Under these circumstances, it is my wish that she should be removed as soon as she is able to bear the journey. I will instantly report to you if there is an unfavorable change, unless you should wish to visit your daughter immediately.

"Yours respectfully,

"M. A. SALSBURY."

CHAPTER XVIII.

SIX months later, let us glance into Mr. Saunders's pleasant parlor; and we shall see whether Aunt Clarissa's prophecy—that when her nieces are older, they will be ashamed to indulge in falsehood—had been fulfilled.

The lady sits midway between the window and the cheerful fire in the grate, earnestly discussing the merits of a gentleman who, after a somewhat prolonged call, has just taken his departure.

Alice is warm in her praises of his moustaches, his white teeth, and his graceful figure. Aunt Clarissa, suddenly awakened to her responsibility as the chaperone of a marriageable young lady, has become strangely cautious.

"Mr. Coleman may be a fine young man for aught I have heard," she says, earnestly; "but we really know nothing of him. I doubt whether your father would approve the acquaintance until he can learn something of the gentleman's whereabouts."

"Pshaw!" murmured the cherry lips. "It's so vexatious to be treated like a child! I'm old enough to judge for myself about my friends, and I'm positive that Mr. James Duncan Coleman is a gentleman in every sense of the word!"

Miss Saunders rose, took a card from the salver, and examined it critically, as if she would read the owner's character from his address.

"Did you notice how gracefully he left the room, and how well he talked about the pictures?" asked Alice, after regarding her aunt for a moment with a smile. "Then none but a real, high-born gentleman would have been so respectful in his address to you. Really, Aunt Clarissa, if I liked him particularly, I should be jealous of you; for he admires you exceedingly." This was lie the first.

The spinster's cheeks were suffused with the least tinge of crimson, and her niece, noticing it, was satisfied that the lever was placed in the right position, and that force was all that she needed in order to raise the burden.

"I wonder," said the young girl, laughing "whether women ever outgrow their curiosity? Why, when you were gone to the library to get that piece of mosaic, he said,—

"'What an elegant lady Miss Saunders is! She must be a perfect treasure to your father.'" Lie the second.

"I acknowledge he is singularly pleasing," remarked Aunt Clarissa, after a brief pause. "The next time he calls, I will ask him to stay to dinner. I think your father would be pleased to meet him; and then he could soon find out his antecedents."

Alice pouted. "I don't want him asked for papa to criticise," she exclaimed, rudely. "I care nothing at all about him—" lie the third, "only that he makes an hour pass agreeably. Very likely I shall never meet him again." Lie the fourth.

Days glided into weeks until the spring opened, and Alice by her judicious and well-timed flattery had so well managed her aunt, that nearly every morning found Mr. James Duncan Coleman sitting familiarly in Mr. Saunders's parlor, while that gentleman had as yet to be informed that there was such a person in existence.

The young lady had an indefinite idea that her father would disapprove, certainly in the light of a suitor for her hand, of a man who had no regular employment, except to spend his mornings in detailing gossip and small talk in a lady's parlor, while his evenings alternated between the theatre, opera, and ball-room; and indeed, sometimes a doubt intruded itself into her mind whether such a man could render her happy; but then he was so fond of her, and his moustaches were so splendid. At the very nick of time, as Alice termed it, Mr. Saunders announced his intention of improving Ellen's vacation by taking her and her cousin on a trip to the West.

"If I were pious, like Aunt Collins," exclaimed the young girl, "I should say that papa's journey really seems providential. I have put off inviting Mr. Coleman to dine, on one excuse and another, until I am almost ashamed to look him in the face."

Aunt Clarissa looked grave. She was growing uneasy with the responsibilities resting upon her; and would gladly have shared them with her nephew. Once or twice of late she had noticed that Mr. Coleman started when she had proposed an interview between him and Alice's father; but this her niece readily explained by saying that they were having such nice times together, she presumed he didn't like to have them disturbed. She assured her aunt, again and again, that Mr. Coleman's society was eagerly sought in the best families: that many of her young friends were dying of envy on account of his attentions to her, and that every one she had asked spoke in the highest terms of his moral character. Lie the fifth. She had repeatedly heard dark hints respecting his integrity; but these slanders of course she did not believe.

But for once the spinster was firm, and would not consent that Mr. Coleman should be invited to dine unless there were other guests. On the third day, therefore, after Mr. Saunders's departure, four gentlemen found themselves seated around his hospitable board.

On this occasion, Alice had interfered with the appointments of the table sufficiently to order the servant to display to the best advantage all the rich plate that the house afforded.

"It is so vexatious," Alice exclaimed, with well-acted sincerity, after the guests had partaken of the first course, "that papa did not return to-day as he expected! The house seems so dreary when he is away." Lie the sixth. Oh, Alice!

"Yes," murmured Aunt Clarissa, "he ought to have been at home by the noon train; but on his visits to his daughter, he never knows when to leave. I wish he were here with all my heart."

The last words were true, and were suggested by a sudden start from one of their guests, who sat opposite Mr. Coleman, when the latter gentleman addressed a laughing remark to Alice. There was something in the manner of the former which made her suspect this was not the first time they had met, though they had been introduced half an hour earlier and had shaken hands like strangers.

She watched them until quite assured that the continued gaze of the stranger was far from pleasing to the other, and only waited a favorable opportunity when they had returned to the drawing room to make inquiries on the subject. Only one circumstance helped her to go through the different courses with any degree of comfort, and that was the fact, that her niece, turning from the fulsome compliments of Mr. Coleman, paid marked attention to the other guests.

She might have known Alice well enough to suspect that she was acting out lie the seventh.

Miss Saunders's plot of discovery was, however, prevented by a circumstance which occurred after dinner.

Mr. Coleman was standing under the chandelier, where the strong rays of the gas-light fell directly on him, looking carelessly over a book of choice engravings, while Alice was talking with a gentleman by the window, when the stranger suddenly stepped toward him and, touching his arm, said in a low voice,—

"I—I hardly think I have had that honor," returned Mr. Coleman, with an evident struggle to retain his composure.

"It was while on a tour to the lakes," persisted the stranger, "you were in the employ of government."

"Ha, ha! That's a good joke!" Mr. Coleman exclaimed, with a forced laugh. "I wish I had been so fortunate; but, ha, ha, ha! Government has never deigned to notice me."

"Excuse me, sir," replied the other, turning to Miss Saunders who stood near, devouring every word; "but these resemblances are very striking."

At a later hour, the stranger begged Miss Alice to give them some music; and while helping her choose a song, took the opportunity to say,—

"Are you much acquainted with the gentleman yonder calling himself Mr. Coleman?"

"Scarcely at all," she answered, in the same low tone. "He is one of my father's friends, not mine." Lie the eighth.

The next morning the servant who took care of the silver reported to Miss Saunders that three of the largest forks and a heavy gold-lined pudding spoon were missing.

The spinster's character, as housekeeper, was touched at once. She called all the servants together, and insisted upon an instant and thorough search for the missing articles, threatening, if they were not found, to deduct a sum necessary to replace them from their wages.

"I can answer, for one, that I'm innocent," said the girl who had reported the loss. "I went to the dining hall as soon as I heard the gentlemen go to the parlor, and found Miss Alice's beau there, picking up his handkerchief he said he'd dropped under the table. I began collecting the silver at once; but didn't miss anything until I had washed the forks and was counting them to put them away."

Much displeased, Miss Saunders ordered them not to give up the search; saying of course the forks are somewhere in the house; and then was returning to her chamber when her niece called out from the parlor,—

"Aunt Clarissa, have you seen my bracelet anywhere? I suppose it must have coma unclasped in the evening; for I can't find it in my room."

"My new one of course," was the petulant reply, "the one I had to tease papa so long for. It's enough to vex a saint," she added, looking under a large chair. "I don't recollect missing it from my arm in the evening; and I was so tired when I went to bed, I can't remember whether I unclasped it then or not."

"Then it is certain there are thieves about!" shrieked Miss Saunders. "I'll send for a detective at once, and put him on the track. I sha'n't dare to look your father in the face. Why, that bracelet cost sixty dollars, the forks were three apiece, and the pudding-shovel fifteen! I paid for them with my own hands."

A man, plainly dressed in citizen's clothes, soon made his appearance and announced himself as a member of the detective police, to whom Aunt Clarissa gave in detail an account of the missing articles.

"I dare say there is a great deal more stolen," she said, casting her eyes searchingly around the room; "but we have discovered no other loss."

The officer smiled, and after receiving from aunt and niece rather a confused account of the dinner party, during which the spinster freely owned that she wished it had never taken place; and having taken the name and residence of each gentleman carefully down in his note-book, he said he "should like to examine the servants."

Half an hour later he left the house satisfied that the thief, if such there were, did not reside within its walls, promising to give the subject his immediate attention, and report to them at the earliest moment.

One week, two weeks passed, and Alice, in the excitement of present scenes, had almost forgotten her loss. But not so Aunt Clarissa; for several other articles of more or less value had disappeared as remarkably as the first.

Mr. Coleman now had become quite domesticated, as often as two or three times a week stopping to dine, so that nothing but the parting injunction of the detective—that they should say nothing of the theft—prevented the old lady from claiming sympathy from her guest.

One morning in the early part of April, the stranger we met at Mr. Saunders's table was busy in his counting room, when a man entered and asked for five minutes' conversation with him. To what this referred the reader must guess, as they talked with closed doors; but one thing is certain: when the officer emerged from the office, he looked as unlike the man who went in as can well be conceived. His eye flashed and his nostrils dilated in an alarming manner.

The same evening, Alice, having in vain plead with her aunt to allow her to have a ball, had assembled around her a few gay friends, and was in the midst of a merry frolic, when Mr. Saunders unexpectedly returned.

He was an indulgent father, and soon was joining in the conversation, when a ring at the door-bell announced more company.

The stranger entered, and neither aunt nor niece could repress a start of astonishment as they saw he was accompanied by the detective.

But the surprise had scarcely commenced; for Miss Saunders was debating with herself whether she had better take her nephew aside and state that the officer was in her employ, when her hesitation was cut short by seeing the detective suddenly lay his hand on Mr. Coleman's arm, with the words,—

It is needless to tell of the shrieks of Alice, the horror and secret remorse of Aunt Clarissa, the surprise and displeasure of the host, and the despair of the convicted thief.

The stranger referred in explicit words to a meeting in Sing Sing: while the officer informed him that, as the stolen articles had been found in his trunk, he might as well prepare for a return to government service.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE mortification of Alice at the degradation of a man who had dared sue for her hand did not speedily pass away. The intimacy had advanced much farther than Aunt Clarissa ever dreamed of. The young miss shuddered as she realized what might have been her doom if she had yielded to his entreaties and been privately married in the neighboring city.

For several weeks, she was more thoughtful than ever before. She could not rid herself of the bitter reflections that were forced upon her; and sometimes confessed to herself that truth and frankness were more to be relied upon than deceit and art.

"I have a great mind—" she exclaimed, one day after there had been a long pause in which neither the young lady nor her aunt felt inclined for conversation, "I have a great mind to set up for a saint, end marry a minister."

"It makes me sick of society every time I think of Mr. Coleman," remarked Alice, with a faint smile at her aunt's continued gaze. "I would follow Ellen's example and discard fibbing, or lying, as she bluntly calls it; only truth-telling is often so inconvenient."

"I think Ellen's rule would be a profitable one for all of us," returned Miss Saunders with a heavy sigh. "I mean if it were not carried to an extreme."

"Just so, aunty. Now you are at one extreme and Nelly at the other, while I maintain the happy medium."

"Alice Saunders! What are you talking about?" cried the old lady, growing very white about the mouth. "I insist that you explain yourself immediately."

She turned away to conceal a smile, a bitter, scornful smile, and then began suddenly,—

"I can but just remember mother's death. The room had been dark; but all at once nurse fastened back the heavy damask curtains, and a flood of golden light from the setting sun poured into the room, making everything beautiful. I remember just how it shone on mother's face, giving it an unearthly beauty; and how eagerly she gazed through the window at the gorgeous spectacle.

"'See there!' she said, pointing her thin finger toward the illuminated heavens. 'Before the sun rises again, I shall be where there is no darkness, where the Sun of righteousness shines forever and ever.'"

"I didn't know you remembered that, Alice," faltered Miss Saunders, in a softened tone; "but I have heard your father tell of it again and again. Your mother was a good Christian, Alice; but I don't see what that has to do with the subject we were talking about."

"It has everything to do with it; for after mother died, you came; and then our education commenced. I wonder whether I should have been good, if my mother had lived." The last words were uttered softly, as if to herself.

"I'm going to tell you the truth for once, aunty, and I think you'll agree with me that lying is vastly more agreeable. You remember how I praised you to Mr. Langworthy last Sabbath, telling him what a blessing you had been to us motherless children? That was all a fib,—a white or black lie, just as you please to call it, manufactured for a variety of purposes; such as to make you appear to the best advantage, and thus reflect credit on your niece; and to insinuate that I had been under the very best of influences. I thought that course justifiable, and even praiseworthy. Nov I'm going to tell you the plain, unvarnished truth. You are a liar, Aunt Clarissa,—one of the extreme kind, who flinch at nothing to carry out your plans. I can remember I first began to doubt your word when you gave me a dose of rhubarb, telling me it was nice like sugar. That was when you first came to us; and since that hour, I have never known you tell the truth when a lie would suit your purpose better."

"Wait a minute, aunty; I haven't done yet; but I will do you the justice to say that I suppose fibbing has become so confirmed a habit with you that you yourself are scarcely aware of it; and then you have naturally a kind heart which prompts you to make everything as agreeable as possible. This is the reason why, when a visitor comes in, you say flattering things, such as, 'What an exquisite color your silk dress is!' and 'How charmingly suited to your delicate complexion!' or 'How well your children behave, Mrs. So-and-so! I wish Mrs. This-and-that would follow your example;' when, the moment their backs are turned, you laugh at their easy credulity, and want of good taste in the selection of colors."

"Stop! stop, child! I wont hear you talk so! I say it's shameful, after all I've done for you, slaving myself so many years, when I might have lived quietly by myself without any care!"

"Truth isn't pleasant; is it? I wonder what you'll do when Ellen comes home. Why I've only begun to enumerate the ways in which you have taught us to tell white and black lies. Why, there was poor little Jo, who knew as well as I did, when you threatened him with punishment, or promised to tell father some of his tricks, that you never intended to keep your word. Wasn't that a good lesson for a bright, imitative boy to learn? And didn't he learn it to perfection? Perhaps he would have been alive now, if he had been taught to be truthful."

"And so you charge me with murder,—the murder of one I loved so dearly that I would have had my hands cut off to save his life! Alice Saunders, I'm telling the truth now if I never did before; and I say that you'll repent of this. You shall repent of it!" Then, with a burst of tears, she left the room.

Five minutes later, the young lady sauntered to the piano and began to play a new and favorite opera. The scene had made little impression on her.

The next week, however, she was delighted to receive an invitation from a former schoolmate to visit her in the country, and gaining the consent of her father, was soon on her way.

Ada or Adeline Morrison was a simple, unassuming girl, who had been easily won to admiration by Alice's beauty of person and ease of manner. She was at this time in need of a confidant, and chose one she supposed possessed of qualities of mind and heart corresponding to her outward appearance. We shall see whether she chose wisely.

Squire Morrison, as he was always called, lived in a handsome house in the village of W—. He was what is sometimes styled a denominational man; that is, he was strongly attached to his own church, and unwilling any of his family should attend any other, or associate with members of other societies.

Now it so happened that a young, unmarried clergyman was about to settle over the new church, and that Ada, in visiting a poor servant of her father's, had met this gentleman, and considered him singularly interesting. Nay, she carried her admiration so far that she would willingly have forsaken the associations of her childhood and youth, for the pleasure of hearing him preach. Twice, indeed, she had enjoyed that privilege, unknown to her parents, while visiting a young friend, and fancied that the clergyman's eyes expressed pleasure at seeing her there.

Alice had scarcely been in the house an hour before she was acquainted with every thought of her friend's heart on this subject. And when Ada with flushing cheeks exclaimed, "Now, if I can only manage to get acquainted with him, I shall be perfectly happy!" she was ready with the answer,—

"Nothing can be easier, my dear; I shall tell your father that I always attend the Presbyterian Church, and of course he will not object to your accompanying your guest. Then if your clergyman is a gentleman, he will inquire us out and call upon us."

Ada clapped her hands and gave her friend a warm demonstration of her affection. It never entered her heart that Alice was planning a deliberate lie, having never entered a Presbyterian church in her life.

Squire Morrison gave his consent when his guest hinted her desire that his daughter should escort her to church. Ada, influenced by real feeling, would have chosen a retired seat, where, unobserved, she could listen to the teaching of the man who occupied so large a portion of her thoughts; but this was not agreeable to Alice, who requested the sexton to show them to a slip near the pulpit.

During the service, the clergyman's eyes rested frequently on those two apparently earnest hearers of the word, causing a thrill of such delight in the heart of poor Ada that she could scarcely conceal her emotion.

Her companion meanwhile was charmed with the intellectual countenance of the preacher, with the elegance of his form, and the rich, mellow tones of his voice. She no longer wondered at the infatuation of her companion, nor hesitated one moment to violate their friendship by a determination to win him for herself if she could.

While Ada was moved to tears by the touching appeal from the pulpit, and forming earnest resolutions of profiting by the discourse, Alice was making her plan for her new conquest. Henceforth the subject of amusements, the theatre, operas, etc., etc., must be tabooed as forbidden pleasures. Religion must be the order of the day; and the artful girl did not hesitate one moment before assuming the sacred guise, nor doubt she could effectually cover the deceit.

After a lingering glance at the desk, the strangers were about to leave the slip, when Ada's friend, Miss Locke, stepped from an opposite pew and welcomed her; then followed an introduction to Miss Saunders, a ceremony Alice never went through in a hurry; and by that time Mr. Barton had reached the aisle on his way out of church.

Nothing was more natural than for his parishioner to introduce him to the strangers, nor for him to walk by their side two-thirds of the way home, as his path was in the same direction. When they parted, Alice was sure she had made an impression.

"Oh, how thankful I am that you came!" cried Ada, pressing her companion's arm. "Didn't it all happen beautifully? And isn't he a splendid preacher?"

"He is a gentleman and a scholar," was her cool reply; "and perhaps, if I had not a beau ideal of my own, I might admire him as much as you do. Now I am free to aid you, all in my power."

Two weeks passed, and Mrs. Morrison, a sincere, trusting person, considered her guest a young lady of earnest Christian character; for she not only was present at the three regular services of the Sabbath; but Tuesday and Friday, in company with Ada, wended her way to the vestry, where the weekly lectures were attended. As they went alone, Mr. Barton, as a matter of course, escorted them to Squire Morrison's door, and sometimes entered the parlor for a few minutes. On these occasions, Alice carried on the most of the conversation with the clergyman, while Ada, whose innermost soul had been moved by his pungent appeals, was abundantly content to listen to his instructive remarks. She sometimes envied her friend that she so readily entered into the feelings of the pastor, who, only by an occasional glance, acknowledged her own presence.

Alice had never been so excited and happy as during this visit, which was prolonged from week to week by the cordial invitation of both mother and daughter.

CHAPTER XX.

ONE evening, when Alice had been in W— nearly a month, Ada was so unwell that Mrs. Morrison would not consent to her leaving the house. This was a severe disappointment; for, aside from her interest in the preacher, the young girl was deeply affected by the preaching. Indeed, sometimes she thought the desire to live a new life a life of holiness and happiness such as he described that of a Christian to be—was paramount to her wish to gain his friendship. She plead earnestly with her mother; but Ada was an only daughter,—a tender, well-beloved plant, needing constant culture,—and the lady was firm in her refusal.

"I will tell you about the lecture," said Alice, secretly rejoicing in this opportunity to be alone with the pastor, "and perhaps he will call as we return."

There was a peculiar expression on her countenance as she said this, which awoke the first suspicion in Ada that her friend was not sincere; and when left alone, she recalled many circumstances leading to the conviction that Alice was more interested in the clergyman than she would acknowledge.

True, the latter had freely described Mr. Mortimer, a gentleman to whom she declared herself engaged to be married; but the distrust once awakened could not be removed; and the startled girl speedily arrived at the very unpleasant conclusion that her friend had proved unworthy of her confidence.

It was nearly an hour later than usual when the visitor returned; and by this time Mrs. Morrison had become so alarmed for the safety of her guest that she was pressing her husband to go in search of her, when her voice was heard at the door.

She entered, smiling, wholly unprepared for the searching glance with which Ada met her. Her cheeks were brilliant with excitement, and as she stood under the chandelier, toying with her gloves, the light shining full on her beaming features, Mrs. Morrison thought she had never seen a prettier picture, and wondered whether the clergyman did not entertain the same opinion, and whether he could long remain insensible to such charms.

When the young girls retired to their room—for Ada, though weary, had insisted on remaining down-stairs till her friend's return,—Alice evidently labored under some great excitement, which she in vain endeavored to subdue.

"I have so much to tell you," she began: "but your mother has forbidden us to talk long. Mr. Barton inquired after you, and when I told him you were quite ill, was very uneasy."

"He was detained by some persons in the vestry. Only think how mortifying to me to have to wait there for him, as if I expected of course he would come home with me but there was no alternative, as I dared not come alone."

This was only partly true. Mr. Barton stopped a moment on his way out, and the rest of the time had been passed walking in the moonlight at the young lady's suggestion. She was artful enough to see that, as the clergyman was deeply interested in the duties of his profession, an appeal to him about her own heart would best secure his attention to herself. She commenced, therefore, by telling him that, although she had professed religion (lie the first), she had grown cold and worldly,—that his preaching had roused her to a sense of her danger, and that it was solely to enjoy the privilege of his ministration that she had prolonged her visit from week to week.

Mr. Barton heard her in silence, and then gave her some solemn advice upon the danger of trifling with conscience.

This was not exactly what the young lady had calculated upon; but, disguising her real feelings, she spoke of Ada, and found the gentleman all attention. Vexed at his indifference to herself; and indignant that she had not secured the first place in his esteem, she determined to prevent his forming a particular attachment for Ada.

This was not quite so easy a task as she imagined; for the gentleman was a keen judge of character, and before he had ever seen Alice, formed a high opinion of Ada's merits. Then he often met her friend, Miss Locke: and somehow the conversation always turned on the absent one. The apparently careless remark of the young lady, therefore, that she greatly regretted Ada's want of seriousness (lie the second); but that her mind seemed wholly absorbed in an attachment she had formed, did not weigh as much with him as she expected.

Mr. Barton was too anxious a pastor not to discern the signs of real feeling; and he had too often witnessed the tear of penitence in the eye of Ada to believe the first charge.

The second statement rather startled him, though he gave no outward sign of it, and presently remarked,—

"Miss Morrison has been so tenderly nurtured that her parents will be careful, I suppose, to whom they consign her future happiness."

"Yes," was the artful reply; "and in this case, unfortunately, they do not approve her choice."

Squire Morrison and his good wife had not the slightest idea of any attachment which their daughter had formed, and therefore this was lie the third.

"Indeed!" remarked the minister, not caring to pursue the subject at present. "But just see how brightly the moon is shining upon the water."

He then gave his companion an account of a lake near his father's house, hundreds of miles away; and how the moon, shining on it, converted it into a sheet of burnished silver. Thoughts of home so softened his heart toward his companion that when he left her at Squire Morrison's door, the parting was almost tender.

The next day, Ada was unable to leave her bed; and Alice, who had repeatedly declared that she could not longer postpone her return home, exclaimed that she would not leave her.

The sick girl was glad that her mother's presence prevented her making any reply; for Alice's absence was now as earnestly desired as her presence had formerly been.

A day or two later Miss Locke called and was shown at once into Ada's chamber, where Alice found them after an hour deeply engaged in conversation. Her entrance was followed by a sudden silence, during which her usual sang-froid entirely left her, and she could not conceal her embarrassment and vexation. This was Saturday, and she had been prevented from attending the lecture alone the previous evening by Mrs. Morrison's remark,—

"If I were your mother, Miss Saunders, I should advise you not to go to lecture to-night; though your motive may be excellent, it seems like courting the attention of the clergyman. I have resolved that when you leave, Ada shall never put herself in so awkward a situation."

This suggestion, taken in connection with Miss Locke's long call, led Alice to fear that her remark concerning Ada had been repeated, and that it had excited the mother's displeasure; for, notwithstanding her statement that Ada's parents disapproved her attachment, she believed they would be delighted to have their daughter secure the affection of so good a man as Mr. Barton.

To do Alice justice, she had sense enough to see that the young clergyman was vastly superior to any of the gentlemen she had heretofore dignified with the name of lovers, and, though vexed that he never praised her beauty, yet her heart was touched as it had never been before. The thought that Ada loved him, and that her affection was reciprocated, roused passions in her of whose existence she was wholly unaware. An angry flush, therefore, distorted her features on observing a quick glance of caution from Miss Locke to her friend, and she turned to leave the room, but, with a sudden resolve to prevent all farther private communication, she took a seat near the window, and presently saw Mr. Barton walk deliberately up the front avenue toward the house.

In a moment the thought occurred that he had called to inquire why she was absent the evening previous; but this pleasant fancy vanished at once when the bell rang, and she heard him, through the open door, ask whether Miss Locke was ready to accompany him.

This was followed by some earnest, whispered remark to Ada, and the parting words,—

Ada arose from her chair to watch them walk away, and then returned to her seat.

"Alice," she began, timidly, her pale cheeks flushing crimson, "how could you tell Mr. Barton that I had an attachment which my parents disapproved; and still worse that this attachment prevented my feeling any interest in serious subjects?"

"That is not answering my question, and I have often heard you pronounce it ill-bred to answer one question by asking another. I only asked why you did it. The fact I know very well."

"It was all for your good, my dear. You know it is true that you have an attachment, and that your father is so strictly denominational that only his civility to a guest influences him to allow you to hear Mr. Barton preach. How could I infer otherwise than that he would be displeased?"

"But why speak on such a subject to him?" Ada inquired, earnestly. "It appears to me strange and indelicate, besides violating a friend's confidence."

For one moment Alice's thoughts recurred to the scene in Aunt Clarissa's chamber, when the truth made the old lady tremble, and she said to herself, "Truth is certainly very disagreeable;" but she quickly rallied and answered, in a grieved tone,—

"I see. Ada, it is time for me to leave you. You have listened to the counsels of others, and have begun to distrust your old friend. I could explain entirely to your satisfaction; but you are not in a state of mind to listen unprejudiced."

"If you knew how sad I felt when I heard it, you would not say so, Alice. Now justice to yourself demands that you should speak. There is enough of our old friendship left in my heart to plead for you."

"Perhaps I was imprudent," Alice began; "but it was all through my affection for you. I saw you were becoming so much absorbed in your attachment that your health was affected, and that your seriousness was yielding to love; and I wished to convince myself whether the attachment was mutual."

"I was convinced," Alice went on, "that Mr. Barton is heart whole. I don't believe he ever wasted a moment's thought on such a subject."

At this moment Mrs. Morrison entered, and, noticing that her daughter was unduly excited, recommended that Miss Saunders should retire to the parlor where she would soon join her.

After persuading Ada to lie down for a while, the lady went to her guest and requested a few moments' conversation.

"I am sorry to have occasion for what I feel constrained to say to you; but duty to my daughter requires it. I fear we have been deceived in you. A lady visiting in W— informs us that your father has always attended the Baptist church; that your mother was a member there, and that you had never made a profession of religion. She said many other things which I will not repeat. I was aware of this when I advised you not to go to lecture last night; but I was not aware, until within an hour, of the manner in which you have returned our hospitality. I was sewing in the next room, and heard my daughter question you concerning a conversation with Mr. Barton, and I agree with her that it was equally unladylike, unchristian, and ungrateful for you to converse with him as you did. Ada, I am happy to say, agrees with me that it would have been safer for her to confide in her mother, and in the desire you expressed to terminate your visit, which, after these events; must be far from agreeable to either party."

Ten o'clock the next day was the earliest hour that Alice could leave. The entire evening she busied herself in packing her trunk, but in the morning was obliged to join the family at breakfast.

Perhaps the reader can imagine her chagrin when, as they arose from table, the servant brought in an elegant bouquet to which was attached a card with the words, "Miss Ada, with the regards of Charles Barton."

Her surprise was equal to her vexation when she heard Squire Morrison read the card and taking the flowers from the servant, carry them himself to his daughter's room, with the laughing remark,—

Alice's parting with the Morrisons was rather constrained. Her journey home was enlivened by reflections that, though truth may sometimes be disagreeable, falsehood proves much more so. Certainly lying had in her case not tended to her happiness or prosperity. She made a half-resolve to turn over a new leaf; but she made it in her own strength, and we shall see that evil habits proved too strong for her.

CHAPTER XXI.

ALICE SAUNDERS had always been called amiable. She certainly thought herself so; but the propensity to falsify her word prompted a line of conduct far from amiable.

Not many weeks after her return home, she was in a large party, when a lady asked her how she had enjoyed her visit to W—.

"He is a young clergyman residing in W—. Ada is interested in him; but—" She checked herself, and arched her splendid eyebrows.

At this moment a lady joined their group, and stood arm in arm with the companion of Alice.

"Is he not correct in his morals?" urged the other, judging from her friend's manner that something was amiss.

"I do not call any man correct, who trifles with the happiness of a young lady."

"I have heard other remarks prejudicial to him; but it was sufficient for me to know that after deliberately winning the love and confidence of a beautiful girl, he left her on the appearance of a wealthier rival."

"I wish for Ada's sake it could be doubted. Imagine my situation as a guest, knowing what I did, yet not wishing to wound her feelings by telling her."

"It might have been better; but I had not the moral courage. Really, the worry I had between expediency and a fear of losing Ada's friendship almost spoiled my visit. If I but hinted at the truth, she would at once communicate the fact, with the authority for it; and I should either have been obliged to bring proof, or have been thought officious."

"Either course would have been trying, but if she really loved you, and was worthy of your friendship, she would have appreciated your motives. Could you not hint the facts to her parents in a letter?"

"Oh, no! You cannot be acquainted with Squire Morrison, or you would never think of such a thing. To tell the truth, he was not at first over-pleased with Mr. Barton; but Ada is an only daughter, and he would not thwart her wishes. If he thought the gentleman had been guilty of such meanness, he would set all W— in a blaze."

A day or two after, the servant announced Miss Perry and Mrs. Mark, the two ladies with whom the conversation had taken place. After a few moments, the latter said,—

"I have thought much about poor Ada Morrison. Suppose she should marry Mr. Barton and find afterward that he had deceived her."

"I have thought of that," murmured Alice, vexed that the subject was renewed; "and I have determined to do nothing about it."

"They say there are things which would depose him from the ministry, if generally known."

"He must be a villain," returned the young lady. "I don't see how he can be such a hypocrite as to write sermons! I heard him once; but I little thought what a vile creature he was."

"That is the worst of the whole," continued Alice. "If I'm not very much mistaken, whole pages of his fine oratory may be found in the best English divines."

While Miss Perry held up her hands and raised her eyes in silent horror, and said, "I'm going to W— to-morrow. My aunt belongs to Mr. Barton's church. What will she think of him when I tell her what a rascal he is! Why, the state prison is too good a place for him!"

"Remember," she said, "that all I have told you about Mr. Barton or Squire Morrison's family was in strict confidence. I would not have my name connected with such scandal for the world."

"I have a doubt whether such iniquity ought to be covered up," rejoined Mrs. Mark.

Three months after her visit to W—, Mr. Saunders pointed out to Alice a paragraph in the paper. It read as follows:

"On the 8th inst., by the Rev. Giles Moody, Rev. Charles Barton to Ada, only daughter of Squire Morrison, of W—."

The young lady read the notice with vexation that her friend had married the man in whom she was interested, and pleasure that her falsehoods troubled her not as she feared they would. Mechanically she ran her eye over the paper, when it fell on the following:—

   "We regret to say that Rev. Charles Barton has asked a dismission from his people in W—. This unhappy result has been brought about by slanderous reports concerning the gentleman's moral and clerical character, put in circulation by some evil-minded person. On the first intimation of these, he called a meeting of the church, when he told them frankly of the slanders current in the community, and requested them to co-operate with him in searching out the author, or examining the proof of such statements. He told them he knew nothing how they, individually, or collectively, felt regarding his innocence or guilt; he asked nothing but justice, and justice, with the help of God, he would have.

   "A council of the neighboring churches was therefore called, which most thoroughly examined the grave charges. Mr. Barton urged the investigation. The result contained these resolutions:—

   "'Resolved, that our beloved brother has been foully and wickedly slandered, but has come forth from this trying ordeal like silver refined in a furnace.

   "'Resolved, that we have no terms in which to express our cordial and unqualified approval of Mr. Barton's course during the whole examination. We commend him anew to the love and confidence of his church and congregation, with the hope that his useful labors among them may long be continued.'

   "Yet Mr. Barton immediately proffered a request to his people for a dissolution of their connection, giving it as a reason, that a pastor's name should be above reproach; that, however unjustly, his name, both as a gentleman and Christian, had been connected with crimes at which his soul revolted; and that he never again could labor here in the cause of his Master. If the event was to any a sorrowful one, it must be charged to the person or persons who originated the slander."

Alice scarcely breathed until she had read every word. Her hot blood burned like fire. Seizing the paper, she rushed to her own room, locked the door, and threw herself in a chair, covering her face with her hands. Conscience was aroused, and set before her the effects of her own lies.

"Was this the way to return Ada's love and Mrs. Morrison's kindness? How did Mr. Barton offend me that I so shamefully slandered him?"

She began to think she had suffered enough to atone for her crime; that what was done could not be undone now; and therefore that it was useless to mourn longer. But the end was not yet.

Scarcely a month passed before Mrs. Mark called one day and requested to see her alone.

"Will you have the goodness to tell me the name of your informant concerning the rumors you heard about Mr. Barton?"

"I regret that I cannot oblige you. I'm sorry I ever mentioned the silly affair."

"Miss Perry is almost frantic at the trouble she has brought upon herself. She was actually brought before the council of ministers, and was forced to give your name as her authority for all the reports. Ada was there; as his betrothed wife, she insisted she had a right to be near him. When she heard your name, she fainted and was carried out of church. She was scarcely able to stand during the wedding ceremony, which she would not consent should be postponed, because Mr. Barton needed her more than ever; and now there are alarming symptoms of a hasty decline from the shock."

The lady paused as she noticed the blanched countenance of her hearer, but presently added, "If you could give me the name of your informant, it would relieve you from the terrible burden now resting on your shoulders."

CHAPTER XXII.

LET us, now, look forward to a period when Ellen has remained with her aunt four summers, and is almost seventeen years of age. She has grown taller by two inches than her elder sister, and is a fine, rosy-looking girl.

In her studies she has advanced until, at her graduation from an academy in P—, she attained the highest rank. And yet there is nothing especially brilliant about this young country maiden, except her flashing black eyes and the rich plaits of her abundant hair when the sun strikes upon them. She is a simple, warm-hearted, enthusiastic girl, as unlike her quiet Cousin Mary as possible, and yet bound to her in the strong love which both of them cherish for their Saviour.

During all these years, she has never once returned to her city home; but she has not remained a stranger to her father. He has spent long weeks with her, and two years in succession has accompanied her and her Cousin Mary to a distant State, where they had relatives. But now, he wrote his sister, his health was feeble, and he absolutely yearned for the company of his daughter at home.

Ellen shed some tears at the thought of parting from friends who had become so dear, but realized at once that duty required her to do all she could for her father's comfort. How she was to conduct herself away from the influences for good which now surrounded her; how she would resist the temptations to worldliness it a large city, were questions which frequently arose in her mind, but which, like all other trials, she left at the foot of the cross.

At this time, it was decided that at the close of another week, her father was to come and conduct her home. She had begged for this postponement because it was just at the commencement of Frank's college vacation, a time long anticipated for the execution of many cherished plans.

The cousins had, during the day, been very busy in tying straw around their favorite bushes, digging up dahlia-bulbs, and preparing the garden for the approaching frost, but had now finished supper, attended family prayers, and had drawn up around the cheerful fire, presenting a home scene reminding one of the familiar words of Cowper:

"Now stir the fire and close the shutters fast;
Let fall the curtains; wheel the sofa round."

"Now, Frank, don't forget to make my garden during your spring vacation!" exclaimed Ellen, with a laugh. "Because I shall be here for a long visit in the summer, and I shall want it to look beautifully."

Frank, for a wonder, looked absorbed in his own thoughts; but she was not the girl to let him off.

"If my garden don't look as handsome as Mary's," she went on, after giving his sleeve a playful pull, "I shall know you've forgotten all about me, and I shall—"

A quick, peculiar, earnest glance from under his long lashes rather confused the laughing miss, and she stopped abruptly, with a deep blush.

"It's altogether likely we shall forget you," he said, with an air of perfect gravity. "We shall have so much in P— to distract our thoughts from our friends. You, in the city, going constantly into company, receiving attention from nobody knows who, and going to no one knows how many parties a week, will probably think of us more frequently and remember us much longer."

"You may joke about it as much as you like, Frank," she rejoined, rather more warmly than the occasion called for; "but I know you don't believe any such thing! I'm sure you and Aunt Collins and Mary and everybody knows that this is the dearest home I ever had: and that nothing but my feeling that father needs me makes me happy at all, when I think of leaving it. I love every old stump of a tree and every brown cottage in this dear quiet country place better than all the fine houses and parks there are in the city. And, beside all that, here is Uncle Collins always ready to pull my teeth when they ache, and aunty, dear aunty, to tell me my faults so kindly that I'm afraid I don't feel half bad enough about them, and Mary to love, and you to—"

"No,—infinitive mode, present tense, passive voice,—'to be teased,' if you please," she added, gayly. "You'll be sorry, sir, when I'm gone, you didn't appreciate my society better; and you'll be glad, if you have any feeling left, to come to B— and see me. Oh, Frank, I hope it isn't wicked, but I really wish you were my own brother! I should be so glad if you were obliged to go with me to the city; for I shall so need somebody to tell me a great many things."

The young collegian made a wry face, and, during the remainder of the evening, scarcely spoke.

The few days which intervened before she was to leave passed rapidly away. Together the cousins visited every nook, hill, and streamlet of their favorite haunts. They talked much of the past, but spoke little of the future. Mary, in her own peculiar way, was continually suggesting some pleasant and improving theme for conversation, and Ellen was constantly regretting that she had not profited better by this dear friend's lovely example.

Frank's conduct was variable: sometimes he was very lively and full of fun; and then, again, his sister's eyes would be fixed upon him with tender reproach, as he answered some question of hers or Ellen's with impatience or bitterness.

To both the doctor and his wife, it was with keen regret that they parted with one who had become to them like an own child. They gave her much good advice; her aunt, especially, talked with her long and earnestly of the duties that were before her, and the necessity of keeping her own heart with all diligence, if she would hope to show those around her that she loved her Saviour.

Of Alice, too, they spoke, and of Aunt Clarissa. Mrs. Collins advised her niece to be obliging and attentive to these relatives, to convince them by her conduct of her desire to please them, so far as she could do so without violating her own conscience, or the duties she owed her God.

"The child who is to leave those who love her so fondly—to the kind care of her heavenly Father." Asking him to be her protector, her guide, her portion for evermore.

Then they retired to her aunt's chamber, where, with a burst of tears, Ellen exclaimed,—

"To-morrow night I shall hear no prayer! Oh, how shall I act when left to myself?"

"You will have an ever-present Friend, my dear child," said her aunt, suppressing her own emotion. "Go to him freely with all the trials that afflict you. Ask his help as you would ask that of your earthly father. Remember you are his child, adopted into his family, and have a claim upon the promises for support and protection, with which the Bible is filled."

"Dear aunt, what do I not owe you?" sobbed the weeping girl. "Think what I was when I came here! No one but you would have loved a wicked liar. I cannot bear to think of it!"

"There was One who loved you far better than I did; One who gave his life that you might be saved from the consequences of all your sins; One who will go with you to-morrow, and remain with you as long as you desire his presence. Oh, Ellen, keep near to him by prayer! He knows all the trials to which you will be subjected in your Christian course. For your sake, he became a Man of sorrows that he might know how to succor you when you are tempted. You are very, very dear to all of us, Ellen. We shall miss you every hour of the day; and every time we gather around the family altar we shall implore a blessing for you."

Morning dawned,—a blustering, November morning, the dull leaden sky adding to the gloom which surrounded the family as they gathered, at an unusually early hour, around the table for breakfast.

"You must remember your promise, Mary, to make us a long visit this winter, and we'll have a very pleasant time," said Mr. Saunders, as he uttered a few parting words and waited for the carriage. "And Frank has a standing invitation to make our house his home whenever he can leave his studies."

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE parting was over, and they were fairly on their way; but Ellen could not so suddenly repress her tears, though her father's voice fell soft and lovingly on her ear. His heart was filled with pleasure at the praises of his child to which he had been listening from Dr. Collins; and, as they hurried on after the iron horse, a smile played on his lip, while she, stealthily wiping her eyes, read again and again a tiny note which Frank had crowded into her hand.

"Forgive, dear cousin, the fretfulness and peevishness I have manifested since the day we dug up the dahlia roots. I meant to have made this last fortnight of your stay in P— so pleasant that you would always have remembered it. My only excuse for my foolish conduct is a remark you made to me that night, but which, at present, I cannot repeat. I know, Ellen, you will try to do right wherever you are; and I hope you will be happy.

"FRANK."

The evening of the same day found our young friend seated at her father's table, Aunt Clarissa, primly dressed in a rich, rustling black silk, behind the urn, and her own beautiful sister Alice opposite.

Here, in the old familiar rooms, more than she had ever done, did Ellen miss her brother Joseph; but she felt that this was not the time to cherish sad reflections.

"I am in my own dear home," her heart kept repeating, "with a fond father and aunt ready to indulge every wish, however foolish, and a sister more beautiful than I ever dreamed of to be the companion of my every day life."

And yet, before Ellen retired, she felt that she would give all she had for just one glimpse of the friends she had left.

"What are they doing, now?" she asked herself. "Does Frank really miss me as he said he should? I can't imagine what remark of mine he alludes to."

Alice and Ellen had each of them a room fitted for their use in as tasteful a manner as their father could devise. Aunt Clarissa accompanied the latter to her chamber,—for Ellen found, before the first evening had passed, that her handsome sister loved no extra exertion,—and inquired whether she needed any assistance.

"No, indeed," she answered, laughing. "You are just the same dear, kind Aunt Clarissa you were four years ago. You must teach me to help you, and not wait upon a great healthy girl like me."

Miss Saunders took a seat, unasked, and began to explain how carefully she and her nephew had arranged everything for her niece's comfort.

Then Ellen, after expressing her thanks, and saying, "I hope you'll find I'm not ungrateful," took out her small Bible, the gift of Cousin Mary, and began to read.

"Just see how far Mary and I have read together," she said, warmly. "Let me read aloud to you. Here, please take this easy seat."

And, having arranged everything to her satisfaction, she began the ninety-first Psalm, which she read in a manner which proved that she relied upon its blessed promises.

"Good night," said Miss Saunders, rising, when her voice ceased. "You are a very good reader. I shall ask to come in again."

Ellen jumped up and gave her a fervent kiss, which made the spinster's heart warm all night.

The next morning, the sisters were sitting together in Alice's room, when Aunt Clarissa entered; Ellen was just saying,—

"No, I never learned to dance, and I don't expect to go to balls; but I love singing dearly."

Alice arched her splendid eyebrows with astonishment. "What will people think?" she asked in her own soft voice.

"I'm a school-girl, yet, you know," said Ellen, slightly blushing. "Father says I'm to attend Mr. Adams's classes in the city; but that is not all," she added, conquering a momentary hesitation. "I don't think I should enjoy myself in parties of that kind. I had rather go where I should meet with society that would do me good."

"Let me thread your needle, Aunt Clarissa," cried Ellen, running to the window near which her aunt was trying in vain to do so. "I shall always love to do it for you."

"La, dear child! I can generally see very well; but this morning is so dark." Nevertheless, she smiled and looked pleased at the attention.

"Tiresome creature!" exclaimed the beauty. "What possessed him to come here so early? I have a great mind to say I'm too ill to see him."

"Come, Ellen, I wont go and entertain him alone. Besides, he's just one of your kind."

Alice, half-pouting, brushed her hair until it shone, and accompanied by her sister, left for the parlor.

Mr. Mansfield was a gentleman whom she had met at a concert, and who, though a wise man, and near thirty years of age, experienced some quickening of the pulse, as he gazed upon her lovely countenance.

"If the mind and features correspond," he said to himself, "I will win her, if I can."

Ellen was astonished at the warm reception her sister gave one whom she had appeared so reluctant to meet. Alas, she soon learned that all with Alice was appearance! There was no reality, no sincerity, even in the most simple words or actions. They sat and talked upon a variety of subjects until the young girl felt quite proud of her sister, who seemed a prodigy of learning.

Before he rose from his somewhat lengthened call, Mr. Mansfield congratulated the sisters upon meeting after so long a separation; and then looking at them he said, smiling,—

"You forget," exclaimed the other, laughing; "I am three years younger than you."

The beauty cast a glance of displeasure at her sister, which was not unperceived by their visitor, and which gave him a keen pang. He bowed rather gravely, and wishing them good-morning, took his leave.

"Now, Ellen," said Alice, when he had scarcely shut the door, "we may as well understand each other. Once for all, I wont have you correcting me in company! It's bad enough to have father watching me, without your breaking in with, 'You're mistaken, sister. It's so;' or 'it's so.'"

"But," interrupted Ellen, "I didn't suppose,—I never thought you wished to deceive him."

"But if I said nothing, I, too, should be guilty of falsehood; and I wouldn't tell what is not true. I had rather cut off my right hand."

"Nonsense!" cried Alice, now really provoked. "What do you suppose I care for your Puritan notions. You'll find you can't carry them out in fashionable society."

"Then I'll renounce it forever; nor will it cost me one pang to do so. I am only grieved because—"

She stopped suddenly; there was a noise of something falling near the door. Springing forward, she found herself face to face with Mr. Mansfield; his cane had dropped from his hand.

Ellen, her cheeks burning with excitement, and her kindling eyes bearing marks of the indignation her sister's unkind words had called forth, frankly expressed her astonishment at finding him there.

"I was drawing on my gloves in the entry," he began, gravely, "when it occurred to me that it might be pleasant for you both to attend Mr. E—'s lecture this evening. I stepped back toward the door when I heard your remark, 'But if I said nothing, I, too, should be guilty of falsehood.' Then followed your sister's retort, when— In fact, I don't think after that I knew exactly what I was about."

"I may never see you again, Miss Ellen," he added, with an expression of pain; "but I do not like to go until you say you will excuse me for what I involuntarily heard."

"Mr. Mansfield, you are a great deal older than I am, and perhaps will not understand my frankness. As far as I am concerned, I excuse you; but don't you think it would have been better for you to walk right away?"

"Yes, if I had been responsible for my own actions; but to tell the truth, I was stunned with what I heard. And then it may affect the happiness of my whole life. But I feel that I have gained a friend, if I have lost one. I thank you for your candor, and the more as I know what an effort it cost you. As you value your own peace and that of your friends, retain your truthfulness at whatever cost. Truth is a priceless jewel, and I am delighted to see that you, at least, possess it."

As our story has already exceeded its limits, I can only add that Alice, though acknowledged to have more beauty of features and more ease of manner, was neither loved nor respected like her sister. She married at the age of twenty-six a man whom she had deceived into believing her to be four years younger, and for whose position in society she had made one dreadfully false oath at the altar, when she promised to love and cherish him till death.

Ellen remained with her father in B— until her school education was completed; and then, as Alice was in Philadelphia visiting one of her fashionable friends, accompanied him to Europe, where they remained two years. At the end of that time, they returned, and were soon welcomed by Dr. Frank Collins, who had gone into partnership with his father in P—.

"Ellen," he said, on the evening of her arrival, "I have one question to ask you; and as I know you to be truthful, I expect a candid reply. Will you be my wife?"

After the marriage of Alice, Mr. Saunders sold his property in the city, and went to P— to live with his daughter, Ellen Collins, in a beautiful house he had built for them. Where every year that he witnessed her truthful, conscientious life, he became more convinced that, in the words of the poet, though:

"The grave's dark portal
Soon shuts this world of shadows from the view
Then shall we grasp realities immortal,
if to the truth within us, we are true."

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The Project Gutenberg eBook of White and black lies

WHITE AND BLACK LIES: