Madeline Leslie

“ 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." ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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." ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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? ”

“ The young lady started, exclaiming,—
"There he is!—There's Mr. Barton! I must go, now!"
This was followed by some earnest, whispered remark to Ada, and the parting words,—
"You'd better follow my advice, dear; frankness is always best."
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?" ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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.
"Do you know, Joseph, who is the father of lies?" she asked, seriously.
"No, ma'am."
"It is the devil; who, the Bible says, goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." ”

“ 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." ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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.
"What do you mean by that remark, Alice?" was asked, with assumed dignity.
"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. ”

“ 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." ”

“ Still I do not tell a lie."
"What is a lie, then, sir?"
"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?" ”

“ 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 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. ”

“ 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."
"How dare you talk so, Alice?" gasped Miss Saunders, her chin quivering. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 sprang upon her feet, and caught her breath with difficulty.
"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. ”

“ 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! ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 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,—
"That's the boy, sir."
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?" ”

“ The old lady dropped her crocheting, and stared at her niece in amazement.
"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." ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”