. Beecher," said she,'slyly.

"Why did you laugh, then?"

"Shall I tell you? It was just this, then, passing in my mind. I was
wondering within myself whether the habit of reducing all men's motives
to the standard of morality observable in the 'ring' more often lead to
mistakes, or the contrary."

"I sincerely trust that it rarely comes right," broke in Conway. "I was
close upon four years on the turf, as they call it; and if I had n't
been ruined in time, I 'd have ended by believing that an honest man was
as great a myth as anything we read of amongst the heathen gods."

"That all depends upon what you call honest," said Beecher.

"To be sure it does; you 're right there," chimed in Kellett; and
Beecher, thus seconded, went on,--

"Now, I call a fellow honest when he won't put his pal into a hole; when
he 'll tell him whenever he has got a good thing, and let him have his
share; when he'll warn him against a dark lot, and not let him 'in' to
oblige any one,--that's honesty."

"Well, perhaps it is," said Conway, laughing. "The Russians said it was
mercy t' other day, when they went about shooting the wounded. There's
no accounting for the way men are pleased to see things."

"I 'd like to have _your_ definition of honesty," said Beecher, slightly
piqued by the last remark.

"How can you expect me to give you one? Have I not just told you I was
for more than three years on the turf, had a racing stable, and dealt
with trainers and jocks?" He paused for a second or two, and then, in
a stronger voice, went on: "I cannot believe that the society of common
soldiers is a very high standard by which to measure either manners or
motives; and yet I pledge my word to it, that my comrades, in comparison
with my old companions of the turf, were unexceptionable gentlemen. I
mean that, in all that regards truthfulness, fair dealing, and honorable
intercourse, it would be insult to compare them."

"Ah, you see," said Beecher, "you got it 'all hot,' as they say. You
're not an unprejudiced juryman. They gave you a bucketing,--I heard all
about it. If Corporal Trim had n't been doctored, you 'd have won twelve
thousand at Lancaster."

Conway smiled good-humoredly at the explanation thus suggested, but said
nothing.

"Bother it for racing," said Kellett "I never knew any real taste for
horses or riding where there was races. Instead of caring for a fine,
showy beast, a little thick in the shoulder, square in the joints, a