orgot to tell her that you had a wife in England."

"I thought it unnecessary," stammered the baronet.

"How could you disturb the peace of mind of a young girl, when you
knew you could not requite her affection?" continued Lady Stanley.

"It was only a flirtation, to pass the time," said Sir Frederic; "but
I acknowledge it was culpable. My dear Emeline, I thank you for your
present. I shall ever cherish it as my dearest possession--next to
yourself."

"For you, sir," said the beautiful actress, turning to Ernest, "I
cannot think of depriving you of your best effort. Take the portrait.
I wish the subject were worthier." And she withdrew the curtain from
her picture.

"I am ungrateful," said Ernest, in a low and tremulous tone. "Much as
I prize the picture, I can never be happy without the original."

"Is it so?" replied the actress, in the same low tone of emotion;
then, placing her hand timidly in his, she added, "The original is
yours!"

UNCLE OBED.

A FULL LENGTH PORTRAIT IN PEN AND INK.

Uncle Obed--we omit his family name for various reasons--lived away
down east, in a small but flourishing village, where he occupied a
snug house, and what with a little farming, a little fishing, a little
hunting, and a little trading, contrived, not only to make both ends
meet at the expiration of each year, but accumulated quite a little
property.

In personal appearance he was small, but muscular and wiry. He was far
from handsome; a pug nose, set between a pair of gooseberry eyes, a
long, straight mouth, a head of hair in which sandy red and iron gray
were mixed together, did not give him a very fascinating aspect. He
rarely smiled, but when he did, his smile was expressive of the
deepest cunning.

Uncle Obed had one grievous fault--an unhappy propensity for acquiring
the property of others--"a natural proclivity," as General Pillow
says, to stealing. The Spartans thought there was no harm in
stealing--in fact that it was rather meritorious than otherwise,
providing that it was never found out; and both in theory and
practice, Uncle Obed was a thorough Spartan. A few of his exploits in
this way will serve to show his extraordinary 'cuteness.

A neighbor of his had a black heifer with a white face, which
occasionally made irruptions into Uncle Obed's pasturage. One evening,
Obed made a seizure of her, and tied her up in his barn. He then went
to the owner of the animal.

"Mr. Stagg," said he, "there's b