The setting sun is going down
Behind the western hills,

pursued Margaret;

It glitters like a golden crown,
"_On top of Motley's Mills!_"

added Alice; while Fanny, calling out to Henry Boyd, repeated the whole
verse as Susan's poetry, bidding him ask Miss Lindsay if Montgomery
could beat that. Susan was highly offended, saying that she considered
herself insulted, and chose to walk the remainder of the way.

"O no, Miss Sliver," said Joshua; "never mind Fanny Brighton--she is
only one of the blunt sort, saying right to your face what other folks
would say behind your back."

This explanation from Joshua was rather more favorable than Fanny
deserved; for she had not the faithful Christian charity, which, while
it unflinchingly speaks truth to those whom it concerns, is careful to
speak no evil anywhere. It was well known, that though Fanny boasted of
not being afraid to tell to people's faces what she thought of them,
she was not less fearless in talking of the same things in their
absence; so that she differed from common backbiters only in having
more--shall we call it impudence?

It is a harsh name, but let us analyze the principle. What spirit
possesses the human heart, when it shows a disposition to make others
uncomfortable? Is it frankness--we know that it is sometimes dignified