r curious and unexpected.
It brought Harry close to me and established our relations to each
other. That they admitted me to his confidence as a friend and
counselor of the utmost frankness was on the whole exceedingly
fortunate. From that time he began to trust me and to distrust
himself.

"So it happened that I was really introduced to Harry by the Bishop of
St. Clare, who died in 1712, and those credentials gave me a standing
which I could not otherwise have enjoyed.

"Coming home, I limbered up my imagination and outlied Harry.

"I was forced to invent that cheerful, handy liar the late Dr. Godfrey
Vogeldam Guph, Professor of the Romance Languages in the University of
Brague and the intimate friend of any great man you may be pleased to
mention. With his help I have laid low even the most authoritative,
learned, and precise liars in the State of Connecticut. I do it by
quoting from his memoirs.

"Harry's specialty were lies of adventure in court and palace, and, as
Dr. Guph had known all the crowned heads, he became an ever-present
help in time of trouble.

"Every lie of Harry's I outdid with another of ampler proportions. He
put on a little more steam, but I kept abreast or a length ahead of
him. By and by he broke down and begged for quarter.

"'On my word as a gentleman,' said he, 'that last story I told was
true. It really happened, don't you know?'

"'Well, Harry, if you will only notify me when you propose to tell the
truth, I shall be glad to take your word for it,' was my answer.

"'And keep Dr. Guph chained,' said he.

"'Exactly, and give you like warning when I have a lie ready to
launch.'

"'That's a fair treaty,' he agreed.

"'And a good idea,' I said. 'As a liar of long experience I have found
it best to notify all comers what to expect of me when I see a useful
lie in the offing. That has enabled me to give my fancy full play
without impairing my reputation. My noblest faculties have had ample
exercise while my word has remained at par.'

"We made an agreement along that line, and Harry ceased to be a liar,
and became a story-teller of much humor and ingenuity."

III

WHICH IS THE STORY OF THE PIMPLED QUEEN AND THE BLACK SPOT

"Well, on our return, Mrs. Delance had a helmet and a battle-ax, with
sundry accessories, emblazoned on her letter-heads and the doors of
her limousine. Here was another case of charge it, but this time it
was charged against her slender capital of goo