FAR away in the State of Maine there stands a fine old colonial mansion. It is out of repair now but you can easily see what a pleasant home it must have been for Hester, the little girl who formerly dwelt there. When her parents died the old house and all it contained were sold to strangers. Everything went to pay her father's debts, but of all the heirlooms the one she most regretted to part with was the full-length portrait of an ancestor in Continental uniform. Hester always regarded the old General with the deepest affection, and it seemed to her that he never failed to return her glances with a jovial smile. His face was round and rosy, and it was evident from his mellow eye and cheerful nose that he and port had been the fastest friends. He must have been an important personage if one could judge by his blue and buff coat with gold facings. One hand was on the hilt of his sword, the other held a folded paper and Hester used to wonder what was written on it. But the rosy General was sold with everything else.

      The distant relatives with whom Hester went to live as governess resided in the golden city of Manhattan. They were very wealthy and received her as cordially as the immeasurable social gulf between them would permit.

      Now a great surprise was in store for Hester. The day after her arrival she had occasion to enter the palatial drawing-room of her new home, and there, to her amazement and joy, she saw the old General on the wall. She was very happy and at once felt more at home. But the General seemed to have changed since last they met. She noticed that his eyes, instead of meeting hers with the old time smile, looked coldly over her head and with a much less amiable expression. She soon found, however, that when they were alone he beamed pleasantly upon her, but immediately resumed his haughty and faraway look when any of the family entered the room. The only reason she could think of for such conduct was that he objected to being taken for an ancestor of the family, although as a family they were aristocratic enough for any ancestor. They wallowed in style and were reeking with fashion. For all that is pompous and hollow they had a deep and honest reverence. But this was not true of the eldest son whose simple tastes and honest instincts were a perpetual mortification to his mother. He also had the good taste to fall deeply in love with Hester the first time they met.

THE USUAL CEREMONIES.

      On Christmas eve there was a great dinner at the house, and all the members of this complacent family were there, and also several others related to them by marriage; and even others who were not related. But all were prosperous and comme il faut, and absolutely correct in manner and deportment according to the latest information from abroad. Consequently they were startlingly original and interesting. After dinner the eldest son followed Hester into the library, and when he asked her to be his wife she could not say him nay, for her heart was already his. As the library was dimly lighted, they observed the ceremonies that usually attend occasions of this nature; after which he led her into the palatial drawing-room where all the family and guests were assembled. Then he announced the good tidings. All eyes were fixed upon them and it was a very embarassing moment for Hester. After her lover had made the announcement there was a chilling silence. Her embarassment became an agony, and she tottered and nearly sank to the floor when the haughty father said slowly, with a contemptuous expression:

A CRUEL SNUB FROM THE FAMILY.

      "Never, with my consent, shall you marry one so far beneath you."

      Then the outraged mother, her face flushed with anger, exclaimed:

      "Never, with my consent, shall you disgrace your family by such a mésalliance!"

      By this time all the mothers of marriageable sons had fixed their despising gaze angrily upon the blushing girl. The hot blood rushed to her face. Her knees were bending beneath her and the whole room began to swim about, when she was recalled to consciousness by an astounding sight. As her appealing eyes sought instinctively those of her old friend on the wall, she saw him turn his eyes toward the wealthy parents and reach forth his hand. To the wonderment of all present he stepped from his gilded frame upon the sofa beneath him and then to the floor.

      "A disgrace to your family, I understand?" he said, with a contemptuous smile. Then approaching the trembling maiden, he placed in her hand the paper he had guarded for so many years.

AS MY RIGHTFUL HEIR AND ONLY RELATIVE I GIVE YOU THIS.

      "As my rightful heir and only relative I give you this, and with it my blessing." Turning to the erstwhile haughty but now mortified parents, and pointing to the empty picture frame, he said:

      "Allow me to present to you the real founder of your house."

      And there in the gilded frame stood a vulgar, hard-faced man, shabbily dressed, and with no dignity in his bearing.

      When the eyes of the astonished company sought again the rosy General they sought in vain. He had vanished, and never more was he seen in that dwelling. The mysterious document proved to be the title to a rich estate, and Hester and her husband became at once enormously wealthy and lived happily together ever afterwards.

      The rosy General followed them to their new house and always occupied the place of honor on the wall.

      No human power could remove the undignified projenitor from the palatial drawing room and he stands there to this day. The house of course is deserted and filled with cobwebs, for no family with social ambitions can associate on equal terms with such an ancestor.

J. A. Mitchell.