both of you understand that
I decline to read anything which relates to another person's private
affairs."

Neither the one nor the other of his companions paid the slightest heed
to this announcement. Amelius was reading the newspaper extract, and
placid Rufus was watching him. In another moment, he crumpled up the
slip, and threw it indignantly on the deck. "It's as full of lies as it
can hold!" he burst out.

"It's all over the United States, by this time," Rufus remarked. "And I
don't doubt we shall find the English papers have copied it, when we
get to Liverpool. If you will take my advice, sir, you will cultivate a
sagacious insensibility to the comments of the press."

"Do you think I care for myself?" Amelius asked indignantly. "It's the
poor woman I am thinking of. What can I do to clear her character?"

"Well, sir," suggested Rufus, "in your place, I should have a
notification circulated through the ship, announcing a lecture on the
subject (weather permitting) in the course of the afternoon. That's the
way we should do it at Coolspring."

Amelius listened without conviction. "It's certainly useless to make a
secret of the matter now," he said; "but I don't see my way to making
it more public still." He paused, and looked at Mr. Hethcote. "It so
happens, sir," he resumed, "that this unfortunate affair is an example
of some of the Rules of our Community, which I had not had time to
speak of, when Mr. Dingwell here joined us. It will be a relief to me
to contradict these abominable falsehoods to somebody; and I should like
(if you don't mind) to hear what you think of my conduct, from your own
point of view. It might prepare me," he added, smiling rather uneasily,
"for what I may find in the English newspapers."

With these words of introduction he told his sad story--jocosely
described in the newspaper heading as "Miss Mellicent and Goldenheart
among the Socialists at Tadmor."

CHAPTER 3

"Nearly six months since," said Amelius, "we had notice by letter of the
arrival of an unmarried English lady, who wished to become a member of
our Community. You will understand my motive in keeping her family name
a secret: even the newspaper has grace enough only to mention her by
her Christian name. I don't want to cheat you out of your interest; so
I will own at once that Miss Mellicent was not beautiful, and not young.
When she came to us, she was thirty-eight years old, and time and trial
had set their marks