r of our town."

"The young man had good taste, it seems," Mrs. Montgomery remarked.

"Better than the young lady showed in taking him for a husband," said I.

"Ah? Then your opinion of him is not so favorable."

"He was not worthy of her, if I possess any skill in reading character.
But there was one worthy of her, and deeply attached to her at the same
time."

"This young Wallingford, of whom we were speaking?"

"The same."

"But she didn't fancy him?"

"She did fancy him. But--"

"Was not able to resist the attractions of a New York merchant, when put
in opposition to those of a humble country lawyer?"

"The truth lies about there. She took the showy effigy of a man, in
place of the real man."

"A sad mistake. But it is made every day," said Mrs. Montgomery, "and
will continue to be made. Alas for the blindness and folly that lead so
many into paths that terminate in barren deserts, or wildernesses where
the soul is lost! And so our young friend has been crossed in love."

"The experience is deeper than usual," said I. Then I related, with some
particularity, the facts in the case, already known to the reader.
Both the mother and daughter listened with deep attention. After I had
finished my story, Mrs. Montgomery said,

"He possesses will and strength of character, that is plain; but I can't
say that I just like the deliberate process of _un_loving, if I may use
the word, which you have described. There is something too cold-blooded
about it for me. Like the oak, bent under the pressure of a fierce
storm, he comes up erect too soon."

I smiled at her view of the case, and answered,

"You look upon it as a woman, I as a man. To me, there is a certain
moral grandeur in the way he has disenthralled himself from fetters that
could not remain, without a life-long disability."

"Oh, no doubt it was the wisest course," said Mrs. Montgomery.

"And may we not look among the wisest men, for the best and most
reliable?" I queried.

"Among those who are truly wise," she said, her voice giving emphasis to
the word _truly_.

"What is it to be truly wise?"

"All true wisdom," she answered, "as it appertains to the affairs of
this life, has its foundation in a just regard for others; for, in the
degree that we are just to others, are we just to ourselves."

"And is not the converse of your proposition true also? In the degree
that we are just to ourselves, are we not just to others?"

"Undoubtedly. Each