that the health and spirits of Ferdinand were gradually improving. In one of her letters to me, Mary mentioned that old Mr. Wallraven had sold the property of Hickory Hall, and left the State, accompanied by his two children. This was the first and last time that Mary ever mentioned them in any of her letters.

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Why, certainly I do! Do you mean to insinuate that I don't?"

"Oh, no! by no means! There, you see I do not always speak the truth when it would be rude

"Blewitt?

I do believe that you mean to question my veracity! And I won't stand that from any man! "

"Or dangerous," pursued Blewitt, without heeding the interruption.

"What the mischief do you mean? I feel as

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if there was something in your talk at which I ought to take offence."

"Then don't, my dear Morris! I mean to say, if you always speak the truth you are a miracle of morality; I had almost said a monster of iniquity!"

"I never told a falsehood in my life; I have spoken the truth from my childhood up;" said Morris, growing red in the face.

"Good Lord! he has not the remotest idea of how fast he is lying now!" thought Blewitt to himself.

"Falsehood!" continued Morris, warming with the theme "why, falsehood is the lowest, the meanest, the most degrading, the-the-the-" "Oh yes, we know all that; but it is a necessary evil."

"And truth-Divine truth-is the most lovely, the most beautiful, the most elevating"

"Ex-actly! Yet if this lovely, this beautiful, this elevating truth was to prevail for one day in London, there would be-such a go as never was!"

"Blewitt, you shock me."

"Yes, but truth would shock the earth. Why, the destruction of Jerusalem, the sack of Rome,

the Reign of Terror, would be child's play to the horrible hubbub there would be in this world if the truth were spoken for one day! It would be confusion, distraction, perdition, and chaos come again!"

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Blewitt, I never will believe the world so bad as that never!" exclaimed Morris, earnestly.

"The Bible says it is—and I know it is-so wicked so deceitful, and so self-deceiving, that it could not bear the light of truth for a single instant; for when that full light of truth is poured upon the world-the Day of Judgment will have come, for this earth will be no longer habitable." "Blewitt, I cannot agree with you; I do not believe in your theory."

"Well, test it, my dear own little orbit of duty.

nothing but the truth, for

fellow-test it in your Speak the truth, and

one week, or even for

one day, and see what will come of it!" "What can? ""

"I'll tell you without pretending to be a prophet. If you, Joseph Morris, nephew and heir-apparent of John Morris, retired cheesemonger-betrothed husband of Lizzy Bell, the prettiest girl in Little Britain; head salesman in the great haberdashery establishment of Black,

Brown, White, and Green-were to dare to tell the truth for one single day, you would be kicked out of your master's shop, discarded by your sweetheart, and disinherited by your uncle; and that if you further persisted in speaking the truth for a week, you would be clapped in a lunatic asylum as a madman too dangerous to be permitted to go at large.'

"Good gracious, Blewitt! and do you really believe that I have retained all my present advantages-my uncle's affection, Lizzy's favor, my employers' trust, and my very liberty to boot, only at the price of being habitually false-and that I should forfeit them all in a week by being

true?"

"Yes; that's-just-exactly—what I mean." "I ought to kill you for it!"

"Don't; it would get you into an ugly scrape. Besides it would be much wiser to test the facts; and, moreover, I would like myself to see the experiment tried. Come, now, to make it more interesting, I will lay you a wager-'

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Betting is the fool's argument; I never bet." "Not even at the Derby?"

Morris was silent; but to do him justice, the