;
but this could not be considered a great satisfaction, seeing that every
such discovery impugned my taste and judgment, and impaired the worth of my
most cherished possession. At length we resolved that Truth and we were not
made for each other, and, having verified the accuracy of this conclusion
by uttering it unrebuked in Truth's own palace, quitted the unblest spot
with all possible expedition. No sooner were we outside than our tenderness
revived, and, the rites of reconciliation duly performed, my wife found
nothing more urgent than to try whether her dye had recovered its natural
properties, which, as ye may perceive, proved to be the case. We are now
bound for the Palace of Illusion."

"Nay," said he who had escaped thence, "if my experience suffices not to
deter you, learn that they who have known Truth can never taste of
Illusion. Illusion is for life's golden prime, its fanes and pavilions may
be reared but by the magic wand of Youth. The maturity that would recreate
them builds not for Illusion but for Deceit. Yet, lest mortality should
despair, there exists, as I have learned, yet another palace, founded
midway between that of Illusion and that of Truth, open to those who are
too soft for the one and too hard for the other. Thither, indeed, the
majority of mankind in this age resort, and there appear to find themselves
comfortable."

"And this palace is?" inquired Truth's runaways simultaneously.

"The Palace of Convention," replied the youth.

NEW READINGS IN BIOGRAPHY

I.--Timon of Athens

No, it was not true that Timon was dead, and buried on the sea-shore. So
the first party discovered that hastened to his cave at the tidings,
thinking to seize his treasure, and had their heads broken for their pains.
But the second party fared better; for these were robbers, captained by
Alcibiades, who had taken to the road, as many a man of spirit, has done
before and since. They took Timon's gold, and left him bound in his chair.
But on the way home the lesser thieves mysteriously disappeared, and the
gold became the sole property of Alcibiades. As it is written, "The tools
to him that can handle them."

Timon sat many hours in an uncomfortable position, and though, in a general
way, he abhorred the face of man, he was not displeased when a gentleman of
bland appearance entered the cavern, and made him a low obeisance. And
perceiving that Timon was bound, the bland man exclaimed with horror, an