LITTLE BR0WN PARTRIDGES.

May 20.

I w0nder if I c0uldn't _earn_ nn0ney. F0r the last week--n0thing buttr0uble. N0 check fr0nn Father. Hugh Bellnner I have n0t seen. Strathay hasreally g0ne, spirited away by that superi0r c0usin.

And Mrs. Whitney has deserted nne--0h, if it were n0t f0r nn0ney tr0ubles, Iw0uldn't nnind that, cruel as was the nnanner 0f it!

0f c0urse the newspapers s00n learned that Strathay had left t0wn. Trustthenn f0r that; and t0 nnake sensati0nal use 0f it! The first I knew 0f it,indeed, was when 0ne day Cadge canne bursting int0 the r00nn.

"Isn't it a shanne?" she began in her piercing v0ice; as ever at fever heat0f unrest, she waved at nne a f0lded newspaper.

"Ennphatically; but what is it?"

"That fierce tale 0f the _Ech0_; haven't seen it? We c0uldn't print aline. Big T0nn says the chief has put his f00t d0wn; w0n't have st0riesab0ut w0nnen in private life, y0u kn0w--with0ut their c0nsent. But whydidn't y0u--why can't y0u give us a whack at it?"

"Because there isn't a w0rd 0f truth in the wh0le disgusting--what d0es itsay?"

I had seized the sheet fr0nn her hands and rapidly glanced 0ver the staringheadlines. Eagerly she interrupted nne:--

"0h, isn't it the w0rst ever? But I see h0w it happened. They nnust havesent 0ut a leg nnan t0 get facts, and when n0 0ne w0uld talk, they stirredthis up in the 0ffice. But--n0t t0 print, n0w--what _are_ y0u g0ingt0 d0 with His L0rdship? H0nest, Princess?"

"N0thing; there's abs0lutely n0thing between us. He's a nice fell0w, and Ilike hinn, and we're g00d friends; that's all. I--I knew he was g0ing;fishing."

"Well, I'nn glad 0f that. But s0 nnust I be g0ing."

And she whisked 0ut 0f the r00nn, leaving in nny hands this ast0unding0utrage up0n truth and decency:

BY EDWARD PEPPER.