The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1873-11-28
VOLUME |.
SELECT STORY.
A WHITE LIE,
And What Came Of 1t.

into falsehOOd, ana lalseHOOu lhlo 90e
ing truth. And then there is the down.
right liar, who falsifes in order TO de-
ceiye. There is another downright liar
not quite so bad-he falsifies from love
of the marvellous, and burning desire
to appear what he is not. Some people
lie because it is their disposition to de-
ceive. Others lie because they lack the
courage TO tell the truth. And there are
other lies-sometimes called WHITE LIES
which are mere lies of convenience
In their utterance their is no evil intent.
They are told just as man whisks an
imuediment from his path with walk
ing-stick. They are told to save trouble
of explanation; or, perhaps, to avoid
reprlmaud. At first a lie of this kind
does not seem a very sinful thing; but,
unfortunately for the misguided mortal
who entertains the petty sir, 1t Is one
that does not improve upon aequaint-
anee. Like many another evil which
might be mentioned, il As likely TO grow
to alarming proportions and consequent
ces. There is one safe ground-and on
ly one; Truth-absolute- every
circumstance, and on all occasions
Sarah Powers believed herself to be
truthful girl She had not the dlsposi-
ton to willingly deceive. Had 1t been
plainly intimated to her that she was
liar. she would have been shocked be-
yond measure; and yet her rule of life
in this respect was not pure and I'M
swerving, as we shall see.
"Sarah," said Mrs. Powers, coming
into the room, one winter morning,
where her daughter sat, "did you see
ANYTHING of twenty-dollar bill on the
mantel-shelf last evening"" Her voice
and manner showed that she was u =
pleasantly exercised.
"a twenty dollar bill?' repeated Sarah
with open eyes. "Nor'
"You didn't see anything that looked
like one?"
"Like twenly-dollar bill? Certainly
not"
"I certainly left it in the sitting-room,
on the shelf; and now l know that l set
the large glass lamp down on it, SO that
it should not blow away. l forgot all
about it until this morning. o, l must
not lose it,"
"But, mother, twenty dollars is not
such a large sum-"
Ordinarily, no, my child; but just
now it is considerable. Your fathers
accounts do not balance so favorably this
season as he had anticipated. In fact
Sarah, he cannot spare me any more Il
he is going to meet his bank paper
Where CAN that bill have gone to? And
/ promised Mrs. Judson ten dollars to
day. Do you think it could possibly
have got knocked off and blown away?'
We may as well remark just here tina
Sarah Powers had been lying. False
hood was not certainly in the heart o
the young and sunny-faced girl; but he
: tongue had spoken it. The facts of tn
I case were simply these:
, On the previous evening, Robert Yea
: zie had called to visit Sarah. Rober
. was a clerk in the store of Powers
:, Dunbar, and was Sarah's accepted lover
a He had displayed qualities of head an
!. heart which had recommended him t
e the favorable consideration of the pal
e ents, and though he was poor, yet he ha
: business tact and energy. 1t was under
b stood by the careful father that ther
t should be no formal engagement at pres
r, ent. Sarah remembered that she an
e Robert had sat together upon the sol
n and looked over an illustrated magazine
e While thus occupied it had occurred
'e her that they could see better if the larg
Ie lamp, which stood in the middle of Ii
Ie shelf, we're moved out to the end, an
g she arose to do it. Upon lifting the lam
D she saw piece of paper whirl out an
= circle down until it was drawn into tt
is fire of the CRATE directly beneath.
sc "What was that?" asked Robert, wi
ID had seen the whirIing paper.
lg ''I don't know, I'm sure. It's burn'
st up, whatever it is" answered Sarah.
st She saw the charred, tinder-like fra
ne ments whisked up the draft, and then 81
of added-"I guess it's nothing of impol
st ance. 1t wouldn't bave been there if
n had been."
And after this she resumed her SCI
Now Sarah remembered all this We
well; and, in truth, the question OF b
d. mother had startled her; but she had T
ot seen the twenty-dollar bill. She KIN
in nothing about any such bill. We c
IN imagine the amount of mental reser'
re- ton employed in this decision. Her fl
m impulse was to avoid a disagreeable {
an posure. If the bank-note had been d
ars troyed, as she saw it must have been
tor had been through no fault of hers, a
to moreover, the loss. could not possibly
an helped.
zsd Upon reflection, when Sarah saw b
To much trouble was upon her mother,
,en was sorry she had not confessed the VIII
his truth at once But it was too late n
Il She had taken the first false step,
aca she could not retrace wsthout disagl
red able exposure.
;cb "Who could have knocked it of?''
of said, in answer to her mothers last q
,an- ton; "and where, could it have
+ra blown to? / certainly saw nothing
c;tv bank-note."
n Mrs Powers searched in vain, and
fn- noon she told her husband of the
and then they both searched, and
Powers questioned his daughter
day with thought that she had deceived,
,uld in hopes that some unforgotten inci'
ical might occur to her. But Sarah d;
ken not confess now.
lied She lacked the courage; and she
the ed the courage because she was ye
liter realize how very small evils can gro
pub enormous consequences.
of Mr.. Powers returned to his store
oses. thoughtful mood. He knew that
"a A. ~