or both plaintiff and
defendant, and speedily to reconcile their conflicting interests. It is
true I am on a prospecting tour: I have no retainer from him yet. But I
shall soon pocket that, and master his side of the suit. O, I'll take
him up tenderly, and handle with care."

"Of course you will, Robert," said Mabel. "If there is any quality for
which you are distinguished, it is the even-tempered justice of your
mind. You can argue on both sides of a case with equal fluency and
force, and that quite independent of your personal predilections."

"Just so. But I fear Jane has not the same confidence in my fairness and
ability with you, my dear. You will have to talk to her privately, and
bring her to a proper frame of mind. She is my only and much loved
sister, and I can't go till she has faith in me."

"It is you who are not in a proper frame of mind as to Mr. Hartman's
side of this affair, brother. A man has no sympathy, no charity, for
another man. You can be all tenderness, and consideration, and faith,
and loyalty, to a woman--when she has Clarice's looks; but when it is
only an old friend who trusts you, you will laugh, and sneer, and amuse
yourself at his expense, and either delude him or hopelessly estrange
him."

"Did you ever hear the like? Yesterday, and the day before, she insisted
on my going; and now, when I am all on fire to go, she throws cold water
on my zeal, and--"

Here my wife interrupted me. "Jane, it is you who show undue levity. You
forget that Clarice is my cousin; that is why Robert is so fond of her,
and espouses her cause so warmly. I think it is very good of him, and
very generous."

"Now you have hit it: Jane, hide your diminished head. Mabel, if Hartman
can prove affinity with you, I will take just as much pains for him as
for Clarice. But, sister, you and I must be one. I tell you what I will
do: I will stay at home all next Sunday, and let you preach to me: then,
if you can't fill me to the nozzle with your views, whose fault will it
be? Or you might go along, as you wanted to in May. Then you could
personally superintend the campaign."

"My only hope is that you will sober down before you get there. In this
mood you could do no good at all."

"That's where you are mistaken. Jim expects me to brighten him up: _he_
is not wholly without a sense of humor. But if you think I am going
there for amusement, you are out again. I shall take Young's Night
Thoughts, and Hervey's Meditatio