In the present age, Ananias may enjoy a religious resurrection more premature than that premised nineteen centuries ago. For the oracular omniscience from Brooklyn has placed a syndicated wreath on the grave of the supreme liar of history. The dramatic example which clinches the justification of lying further serves to revivify the long-dead Ananias. Were a man chasing a woman with intent to kill and the woman slipped down a side street unobserved. Dr. Caedmon asserts that he would feel no scruples in misdirecting her pursuer.

Thus a blessing on a subtly sublimated form of falsity circulates throughout the country. With this publicity, Mark Twain's school of artistic lying has support in its war against prudish cherry trees. Apparently the hatchet is no vital weapon with which to attack the elastic spirit of falsehood. The ghost of Ananias may yet take corporeal form to lead the genial forces of fabrication.