TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. Text in Old English (blackletter) font is denoted by =equal signs=. Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources. All misspellings in the text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. =Books by Margaret Deland.= THE OLD GARDEN, AND OTHER VERSES. Enlarged Edition. 16mo, gilt top, $1.25. THE OLD GARDEN, AND OTHER VERSES. _Holiday Edition._ Illustrated in color by WALTER CRANE. Crown 8vo, $4.00. JOHN WARD, PREACHER. A Novel. 16mo, $1.25; paper, 50 cents. SIDNEY. A Novel. 16mo, $1.25; paper, 50 cts. THE STORY OF A CHILD. 16mo, $1.00. MR. TOMMY DOVE, AND OTHER STORIES. 16mo, $1.00. PHILIP AND HIS WIFE. A Novel. 16mo, $1.25. THE WISDOM OF FOOLS. Stories. 16mo, $1.25. HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO. BOSTON AND NEW YORK. THE WISDOM OF FOOLS BY MARGARET DELAND [Illustration: (Publisher colophon.)] BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY MDCCCXCVII COPYRIGHT, 1897, BY MARGARET DELAND ALL RIGHTS RESERVED CONTENTS PAGE WHERE IGNORANCE IS BLISS, ’TIS FOLLY TO BE WISE 3 THE HOUSE OF RIMMON 66 COUNTING THE COST 136 THE LAW, OR THE GOSPEL? 191 THE WISDOM OF FOOLS WHERE IGNORANCE IS BLISS ’TIS FOLLY TO BE WISE I “THE most delightful thing about our engagement is that everybody is so pleased with it.” Amy Townsend said this, smiling down at her lover, who, full length on the grass beside her, leaned on his elbow, watching her soft hair blowing across her forehead, and the color of the sun flickering through the shadows, hot on her cheek; for she had closed her fluffy white parasol and taken off her hat here under an oak-tree on the grassy bank of the river. “I should have thought that the fact that we were pleased ourselves was a trifle more important,” he suggested. But Miss Townsend paid no attention to his interruption. “You know, generally, when people get engaged, there are always people who exclaim: either the man is too good for the girl (and you are too good for me, Billy!), or the girl is too good for the man”-- “She is; there is no question about that,” the man interrupted. “Be quiet!” the other commanded. “But in our case, everybody approves. You see, in the first place, you are a Parson, and I’m a Worker. That’s what they call me,--the old ladies,--‘a Worker.’ And of course that’s a most appropriate combination to start with.”