"'Miss Hill gasped for breath.
"'"I must be dreaming!" she exclaimed. "Surely, this cannot be true! You do not, cannot, mean to give me up just for one little white lie?"
"'"One white lie," he repeated, "has been enough to ruin my hopes of happiness forever: but you have done far more than that. You have proved yourself to be wholly lost to that rectitude which must be a ruling principle with my wife; you have not only told me, who trusted you so implicitly, many deliberate falsehoods, but you have taught your servant, also, to deceive me; even now you met me with a lie—call it white or black, as you please—on your lips."
"'He paused, overwhelmed with emotion.
"'"Try me! Try me!" she repeated, in agony. "I will never be guilty of even the smallest variation from the truth."
"'"It is too late—too late, now!" he murmured, hoarsely, pressing her cold hand. "But oh, Emily, remember hereafter how I have loved you; and when your lips would utter that which is false, call to mind a lonely wanderer, whom your crime has exiled from his country and home!"
"'They parted, and have never met since. Remember,' added the lady, 'all his suffering, all her years of sorrow, since that eventful morning, came from what she then considered an innocent deception.'"
"And what is she now?" I asked, when I had wiped away my tears.
"'She is a penitent Christian woman,' she answered. 'From that time, I do not believe she has ever deviated from the truth; but oh, what a fearful lesson is hers! I have seen her shudder when gay, thoughtless young ladies utter words which are totally false. I have told you this story, hoping you may profit by her experience.'"
The young girls were both startled when Mr. Saunders advanced slowly from the back parlor.