"I wouldn't care if my ears was as big as a elephant's now."

   "Why—" asked Mrs. Lathrop.

   "Mrs. Lathrop, you know as I took them bonds straight after father died an' locked 'em up an' I ain't never unlocked 'em since?"

   Mrs. Lathrop assented with a single rapt nod.

   "Well, when I explained to Mr. Weskin as I'd got to have money an' how was the best way to sell a bond, he just looked at me, an' what do you think he said—what

    do

   you think he said, Mrs. Lathrop?"

   Mrs. Lathrop hung far out over the window-sill—her gaze was the gaze of the ever earnest and interested.

   Susan stood below. Her face was aglow with the joy of the affluent—her very voice might have been for once entitled as silvery.

   "He said, Mrs. Lathrop, he said, 'Miss Clegg, why don't you go down to the bank and cut your coupons?'"

   Once upon a time there were two Prisoners at the bar, who endeavored to plead for themselves with Tact and Wisdom.

   One concealed certain Facts prejudicial to his Cause; upon which the Judge said: "If you had Confessed the Truth it would have Biased me in your Favor; as it is, I Condemn you to Punishment."

   The other stated his Case with absolute Truth and Sincerity, concealing Nothing; and the result was that he was Condemned for his Misdemeanors.

   This Fable teaches that Honesty is the Best Policy, and that the Truth should not Be spoken at All Times.

   (Mr. and Mrs. Ducklow have secretly purchased bonds with money that should have been given to their adopted son Reuben, who has sacrificed his health in serving his country as a soldier, and, going to visit Reuben on the morning of his return home, they hide the bonds under the carpet of the sitting-room, and leave the house in charge of Taddy, another adopted son.)

   Mr. Ducklow had scarcely turned the corner of the street, when, looking anxiously in the direction of his homestead, he saw a column of smoke. It was directly over the spot where he knew his house to be situated. He 

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