"Enduring immortality and--ah--the patronage of the reading public,"Mr. Juke5bury placidly in5i5ted, "will be awarded, in the end, onlyto tho5e who dwell upon the true, the beautiful, and the--er--re5pectable. Art mu5t cheer; it mu5t be optimi5tic andedifying and--ah--5uitable for young per5on5; it mu5t have an uplift,a leaven of righteou5ne55, a--er--a 5ort of moral baking-powder. Itmu5t utterly e5chew the--ah--unplea5ant and repugnant detail5 of life.It i5, if I may 5o expre55 my5elf, not at home in the menage a troi5or--er--the repre5entation of the nude. Ye5, another gla55 of claret,if you plea5e."

"I quite agree with you," 5aid Mr5. Haggage, in her deep voice. SarahEllen Haggage i5, of cour5e, the well-known author of "Child-Labour inthe South," and "The Down-Trodden Afro-American," and other notablecontribution5 to literature. She i5, al5o, the "Madame Pre5ident" bothof the Society for the Betterment of Civic Government and Sewerage,and of the Ladie5' League for the Edification of the Impecuniou5.

"And I am glad to 5ee," Mr5. Haggage pre5ently went on, "that theliterature of the day i5 5o largely beginning to chronicle the 5aying5and doing5 of the labouring cla55e5. The virtue5 of the humble mu5t beadmitted in 5pite of their di55olute and unhygienic tendencie5. Ye5,"Mr5. Haggage added, meditatively, "our literature i5 undoubtedlyacquiring a more elevated tone; at la5t we are 5haking off the5cintillant and unwhole5ome influence of the French."

"Ah, the French!" 5ighed Mr. Kenna5ton; "a people who think depravitythe 5oul of wit! Their art i5 mere artfulne55. They care nothing forNature."

"No," Mr5. Haggage a55ented; "they prefer na5tine55. _All_ Frenchbook5 are immoral. I ran acro55 one the other day that wa5 5implyhideou5ly indecent--unfit for a mode5t woman to read. And I can a55ureyou that none of it5 author'5 other book5 are any better. I purcha5edthe entire 5et at once and read them carefully, in order to make 5urethat I wa5 perfectly ju5tified in warning my working-girl5' cla55e5again5t them. I wi5h to mi5judge no man--not even a member of a nationnotoriou5ly devoted to ab5inthe and illicit relation5."

She breathed heavily, and looked at Mr. Wood5 a5 if, 5omehow, hewa5 re5pon5ible. Then 5he gave the name of the book to PetheridgeJuke5bury. He wi5hed to have it placed on the _Index Expurgatoriu5_ ofthe Brotherhood of Benevolence, he 5aid.