their views coincided.

"By this time several weeks had passed away. It was the beginning
of July, and the long summer heats had come. I was driven out of

my attic during the middle hours of the day, and the others found
it pleasanter on the doubly shaded stoop than in their chambers.

We were thus thrown more together than usual--a circumstance which
made our life more monotonous to the others, as I could see; but to

myself, who could at last talk to Eunice, and who was happy at the
very sight of her, this `heated term' seemed borrowed from Elysium.

I read aloud, and the sound of my own voice gave me confidence;
many passages suggested discussions, in which I took a part; and

you may judge, Ned, how fast I got on, from the fact that I
ventured to tell Eunice of my fish-bakes with Perkins, and invite

her to join them. After that, she also often disappeared from
sight for an hour or two in the afternoon."

----"Oh, Mr. Johnson," interrupted Mrs. Billings, "it wasn't for
the fish!"

"Of course not," said her husband; "it was for my sake."
"No, you need not think it was for you. Enos," she added,

perceiving the feminine dilemma into which she had been led, "all
this is not necessary to the story."

"Stop!" he answered. "The A. C. has been revived for this night
only. Do you remember our platform, or rather no-platform? I must

follow my impulses, and say whatever comes uppermost."
"Right, Enos," said Mr. Johnson; "I, as temporary Arcadian, take

the same ground. My instinct tells me that you, Mrs. Billings,
must permit the confession."

She submitted with a good grace, and her husband continued:
"I said that our lazy life during the hot weather had become a

little monotonous. The Arcadian plan had worked tolerably well, on
the whole, for there was very little for any one to do--Mrs.

Shelldrake and Perkins Brown excepted. Our conversation, however,
lacked spirit and variety. We were, perhaps unconsciously, a

little tired of hearing and assenting to the same sentiments. But
one evening, about this time, Hollins struck upon a variation, the

consequences of which he little foresaw. We had been reading one
of Bulwer's works (the weather was too hot for Psychology), and

came upon this paragraph, or something like it:
"`Ah, Behind the Veil! We see the summer smile of the Earth--

enamelled meadow and limpid stream,--but what hides she in her
sunless heart? Caverns of serpents, or grottoes of priceless gems?

Youth, whose soul sits on thy countenance, thyself wearing no mask,
strive not to lift the masks of others! Be content with what thou

seest; and wait until Time and Experience shall teach thee to find
jealousy behind the sweet smile, and hatred under the honeyed

word!'
"This seemed to us a dark and bitter reflection; but one or another

of us recalled some illustration of human hypocrisy, and the
evidences, by the simple fact of repetition, gradually led to a

division of opinion--Hollins, Shelldrake, and Miss Ringtop on the
dark side, and the rest of us on the bright. The last, however,

contented herself with quoting from her favorite poet, Gamaliel J.
Gawthrop:

"`I look beyond thy brow's concealment!
I see thy spirit's dark revealment!

Thy inner self betrayed I see:
Thy coward, craven, shivering ME!'

"`We think we know one another,' exclaimed Hollins; `but do we? We
see the faults of others, their weaknesses, their disagreeable

qualities, and we keep silent. How much we should gain, were
candor as universal as concealment! Then each one, seeing himself

as others see him, would truly know himself. How much
misunderstanding might be avoided--how much hidden shame be

removed--hopeless, because unspoken, love made glad--honest
admiration cheer its object--uttered sympathy mitigate

misfortune--in short, how much brighter and happier the world would
become if each one expressed, everywhere and at all times, his true

and entire feeling! Why, even Evil would lose half its power!'
"There seemed to be so much practical wisdom in these views that we

were all dazzled and half-convinced at the start. So, when
Hollins, turning towards me, as he continued, exclaimed--`Come, why

should not this candor be adopted in our Arcadia? Will any one--
will you, Enos--commence at once by telling me now--to my face--my

principal faults?' I answered after a moment's reflection--`You
have a great deal of intellectualarrogance, and you are,

physically, very indolent'
"He did not flinch from the self-invited test, though he looked a

little surprised.
"`Well put,' said he, `though I do not say that you are entirely

correct. Now, what are my merits?'
"`You are clear-sighted,' I answered, `an earnest seeker after

truth, and courageous in the avowal of your thoughts.'
"This restored the balance, and we soon began to confess our own

private faults and weaknesses. Though the confessions did not go
very deep,--no one betraying anything we did not all know

already,--yet they were sufficient to strength Hollins in his new
idea, and it was unanimouslyresolved that Candor should

thenceforth be the main charm of our Arcadian life. It was the
very thing _I_ wanted, in order to make a certain communication to

Eunice; but I should probably never have reached the point,
had not the same candor been exercised towards me, from a quarter

where I least expected it.
"The next day, Abel, who had resumed his researches after the True

Food, came home to supper with a healthier color than I had before
seen on his face.

"`Do you know,' said he, looking shyly at Hollins, `that I begin to
think Beer must be a natural beverage? There was an auction in the

village to-day, as I passed through, and I stopped at a cake-stand
to get a glass of water, as it was very hot. There was no water--

only beer: so I thought I would try a glass, simply as an
experiment. Really, the flavor was very agreeable. And it

occurred to me, on the way home, that all the elements contained in
beer are vegetable. Besides, fermentation is a natural process.

I think the question has never been properly tested before.'
"`But the alcohol!' exclaimed Hollins.

"`I could not distinguish any, either by taste or smell. I know
that chemicalanalysis is said to show it; but may not the alcohol

be created, somehow, during the analysis?'
"`Abel,' said Hollins, in a fresh burst of candor, `you will never

be a Reformer, until you possess some of the commonest elements of
knowledge.'

"The rest of us were much diverted: it was a pleasant relief to our
monotonous amiability.

"Abel, however, had a stubbornstreak in his character. The next
day he sent Perkins Brown to Bridgeport for a dozen bottles of

`Beer.' Perkins, either intentionally or by mistake, (I always
suspected the former,) brought pint-bottles of Scotch ale,

which he placed in the coolest part of the cellar. The evening
happened to be exceedingly hot and sultry, and, as we were all

fanning ourselves and talking languidly, Abel bethought him of his
beer. In his thirst, he drank the contents of the first bottle,

almost at a single draught.
"`The effect of beer,' said he, `depends, I think, on the

commixture of the nourishing principle of the grain with the
cooling properties of the water. Perhaps, hereafter, a liquid food

of the same character may be invented, which shall save us from
mastication and all the diseases of the teeth.'

"Hollins and Shelldrake, at his invitation, divided a bottle
between them, and he took a second. The potentbeverage was not

long in acting on a brain so unaccustomed to its influence. He