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WILLIAH CTLLEN Bit Y A XT'S I.AST POEM.
THE TWENTY-SECOND CV FEISRCAKT.
Pale is the February sky.
And brief the midday’s sunny hours;
The wind-swept forest seems to sigh
For the sweet time of leaves and flowers.
Yet has no month a prouder day,
Not even when the summer broods
O'er meadows in their fresh array,
Or autumn tints the glowing woods-
For tills chill season now again
Brings, in its annual round, the morn
When, greatest of the sons of men,
Ourglorious Washington was born.
I.o, where, beneath an icy shield,
Calmly the mighty Hudson flows!
By snow-clad fell and frozen field
Broadening the lordly river goes
The wildest storm that sweeps through space,
And rends the oak with sudden force,
Can raise no ripple on his face.
Or slacken his majestic course,
Thus 'mid thewr ck of thrones, shall live
Unmarred, undimmed, our hero's fame,
And years succeeding years shall give
Increase of honors to his name.
Jean’s "Winter
in the City.
BY STEPHEN BBENT.
(Concluded )
CHAPTER XIII.
‘The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd winds slo" ly o’er the lea,
The plowman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me.’
‘Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight,
And all the uir a solemn stillness li .Ids,
Save where the beetle wheels his drowning flight,
And drowsy tinkiings lull the distant folds.’
These two beautiful veisas describe the close
of the summer day far better than any words of
mine. Every thing seemed to be at peace around
the old farm house. Jean sat on the verandah
steps, silent and thoughtful. It was sweet to be
at home again, to rest and think, even though i but again and again
earth. Everything seemed strangely dreary,
and Jean felt the silent, subtile influence. With
out in any way applying the lines, she glanced
up at the spot of clear sky where the evening
sfa~ was shining like a great jewel, and mur
mured aloud:
•I have lived long enough; my way of life is
| fallen into the ‘sere, the yellow leaf ‘
‘It is a melancholy state, is it not Jean ?'
Mute and white with a sudden shcck of great
joy, she turned and faced Gordon Palmer. It
was still light and she could see the proud, ten-
den smile on his face, the brilliant light in his
eyes. Her slender hands clasped each other,
and she wondered if it was true, that Mr. Pal
mer was standing there, or was it only a part of
hei dream ? His next words dispelled this il
lusion.
‘Do not look so white, child. Iam not a ghost,
see, 1 he came nearer and unclasped her hands,
keep ng them in Lis.
Jetn found her voice.
‘Itis so gulden, so unexpected,* there she
forgot what else to say and was silent again.
Palmer smiled. It was so exquisitely delight
ful to be there, to watch the changes pass over
her girlish face, that he was in no hurry. Pa
tient wa.ting is indeed no loss. After a brief
silence, he bent his head and whispered:
‘JeaD, don't turn your head away. Look at
me, I want to tell you why I came. ‘
She raised her eyes bravely, the sensitive
color flashing her face, rising to the edge of her
silky hair.
‘Jean, I came after my wife.*
She tried to release her hands, saying, with
forced calmness:
‘I did not know yon were married. ‘
‘I am not yet, but will be soon, if the lady
will give her consent. Do you think she wili ?•
holding the trembling hands fast.
Jtan turned awa^ from the keen 6yes.
•I do not know, she ought. 1
-Sol think. Will you Jean?*
She turned with brightly angry eyes.
‘Mr. Palmer, I do not know why you Lav«
come to torment me with such jests. Release
my hands this instant. ‘
He suddenly folded her to his breast.
‘Jean, my da ling, my proud little girl,didn't
you know that I loved you, have loved you since
that night, when I saw you asleep in the car?*
He raised her face scanning it with eager
eyes.
•Child it has been a weary waiting, and after
all 1 may be toe late. Is it eo?“
Her reply the mind alone heard, but he bent
his head and kissed the soft pure lips, not once,
Besieged by a Rhi
noceros.
By David Ker .
the thinking often brought pain. Alias Grey
sat on the verandah, knitting, her kind homely
face wearing a look of calm content. Every few
minutes her eyes would rest lovingly on the
young girl, sitting close to her feet, and once her
busy fingers were laid caressingly on the brown
bead. It wts so sweet to have her Lark, un-
spciled by all the glories of city life. She was
otianged, it was true, but only as a flower is
changed from the bud to the bloom. She was
simply dressed in soft, pure white, with a
snowy jasmine in her hair. An open bcok lay
on the steps, but the dark eyes were not looking
on it. Tney were turned to the flaming west.
•What a:e you thinking of my dear, ‘ asked
aunt Debby gently.
A iaint smile curved the girl’s lips’ an instant,
then laded into something like sadness.
‘I was thinking of what papa said onoe as
we watched the suns6t from an English church
yard. •
‘And what was it dear.*
•That Nature wts at her prayers, in the hour
between sunset and dark. 1
Miss Grey looked out over the broad fields, to
where the chuich spire at Cross Carness, rose
against the sky.
‘It is beauiitul to think that Nature can praise
the great Creator. ‘
After that they were silent, while a tender,
primrose color succeeded the brilliant tines in
the olouds and sky. A bell tinkled below the J
orchard.
•There 1 Brammie has come at last, 1 said Miss
Grey roiling up her work. ‘I must tell Jerry
to put her in the pasture. 1
T wili letdown the bars,‘aunty, raid Jean
rising.
•Well, I expect a short walk will help you. It
hes been so hot tc-day. ‘
Jeau went down the lane by the orchard, and
let down the bars, patting the dun colored cow,
whose large sett eyes regarded her so wistfully.
After putting up the bars, she foldtd her
arms on the top one, her face grave to sadness,
bbe was thinking of the many things that had
oon e to pass in less than a year.
FirBt came the sere November afternoon,
when caieless and heart-free, she walked across
the bar-, brown fields, to Croes Carness, to get
the letter that bad so charged her life. Then
the brilliant season in New York, where she was
introduced imo a life, that before she had only
dreamed of. The scenes of the winter passed
before her mind, like warmly colored pictures,
touched here and there with sober grey. Her
friends rose up, one by one, Della, Mrs. Carroll,
M. Edna), little Ctcile, and dearer than all,
Goruun Palmer. She had Ynown the saintly-
faetd cripple only long enough to learn how
bussed it is to be patient and contented, then
she was taken away from all of earth’s sorrows,
carried up by waiting ai gels, to be crowned in
the pr< sence of Gcd. Her artist friend was in
sunny Fiance, Mrs. Carroll in the White moun
tains, ano Delia in Swi’zeriand. No one seemed
to remember her, except her cousin, and M
Carroll. They wrote regularly, and the Cross
Cari ess postmaster told Jtan his prediction had
oome true.
in her first letter Mrs. Carroll spoke of the
change in Palmer’s life.
T think 1 know the reasons why his aunt is
so bitterly angry with him, - she wrote, ‘but I
shall not tell you, for I have a prophetic feeling,
that you will hear of it before the summer is
over. Gordan has gone bravely to work, and
will some day make a mark iu tile world, al
though he says it will be nothing but a grave. 1
Jcaa was puzzled. She couldn't read the
hidden meaning of the paragraph, and begged
her old fiiend to be more lucid, but received
the brief answer to ‘wait.*
As yet her waiting had not cleared anything.
Mr. Palmer had passed completely from her
life. Sue had searched her heart, with sttra
rigidness, and although her love would always
remain, excluding any other, there was not the
shadow of a hope, that it would be leturned, or
that she would ever even see him again. She
accepted her fate with patient r< signation, look
ing into the future with eyes that were clear and
steadfast. At times the shadows would darken
her visicn, blotting ont all that was bright, but
they would soon pass, letting in new light on
her soul.
Della wrote amusing letters from a Swiss
Chalet on lake Zurich. In the last that Jean
had received she wrote:
•We are coming home soon, and then my
dear Jean, I am coming to see you, and try my
powers of persnisions on your rock-like firm
ness. I like Switzerland almost as well as I do
America, and our brief tour has proved a very
pleat-ant one. Lennox Holmes esme here yes
terday, with a party of tourists. Ho is so brown
and so altogether changed that I hardly knew
him.*
A bird trilled its good-night song on a tree
near her, and Jean s retrospect was over.
The clouds had lived their brief hour of glo
ry and were passiDg sway in hta^y gray masses.
A low wind was sighing through the trees and
Night was spreading her black wings over the
Heedless of how the night was f illing, he un
veiled his whole heart to her clear ey; s. Told
her why he had not spoken before, that he was
wailiEg to prepare a home for her.
•For, I am a poor man now Jean,* he said in
conclusion.
Mrs. Carroll’s words were explained now.
‘And you gave it all up for me, ‘ said Jean
softly.
‘All for you, bonny Jean, and I would do the
same thing over again if called on. ‘
Miss Grey waited for Jean to come in, but
waited in vain. Twilight came, and she went
to the gate, and called her, but there was no
answer. Frightened at the strange silenoe, she
hurried down the lane.
‘Jean, my child, where are you ? I—Jean. 1
Sue stopped am; zsd and indignant.
‘Will you explain the meaning of this scene.*
Palmer turned smilingly to the indignant old
lady.
‘Certainly madame, I have just won Miss
Dalare’s cot sent to be my wife, and I hope you
will not object.’
‘I don't know; I never wr.s so surprised.
Jinn marry? Why she is nothing but a child.
Come to the house, the dew is failing, and I
am not youDg, but an old woman, and am sub
ject to the rheumatism.
Palmer paused on the park, and lifting Jean’s
hand to his lips whispered.
•Mv wife. Mine through all time. ‘
And they were married one lonely Septem
ber morning, in the church at Cross Carness.
The first glow of Indian summer was changing
the leaves to russet gold, and the air thrilled
through the summer warmth, like frosted wine.
Aunt Debby gave up her child, bat it cost her
bitter pain. She was the love of her old age,
the one thing left for her heart to cling to, but
she remembered her own youth, and the happi
ness that the gates of death shut from her for
ever. Oat in the churchyard there was a grave
made a long time ago, and it held the young
lover that was stricken down in the spring of
life.
There was not a great many there, but surely
dull Cross Carness never saw so many great
people. The par>y consisted of the Rivers, the
Carroll’s, Mr. Armitage, and Lennox Holmes.
•I felt in my soul that it would end this way,’
said Mrs. Carroll, kissing the fair young bride.
For a wedding present, Mr. Atmittge gave his
nephew one hundred thousand dollars. When
Palmer would have refused to take it, he said:
‘Don’t Gordan. If I cannot give it to you,
what must I do with it. Keep up that magazine
affair with it, but don’t refuse my gift. If you
will only give me a corner in your house, I will
rtst satisfied.’
Tne wedding tour was to the South. Travel
ling slowly through the country, lingering
among the orange grovts of Florida, where tne
warm gulf winds make perpetual summer, it
was near Christmas, when they turned their
faces homeward,
—My little story is finished. One by one, the
characters pass away.
Lenncx Hoimes is looking forward to the
time when his happiness will be made perfect.
Delia has grown very tender, and thoughtful,
and her lover rests contented in the thought
tha* her heart is in his keeping. Mrs. Danleath
lives alone at Brierfield Ha L Sae wiil hardly
ever forgive Gordon Palmer for disappointing
her s bitterly, and the old house will pass into
stranger s hands after all.
Oae more scene and finis will bs written.
Coming home from his offioe one evening, Gor
dan Palmer found his wife sitting by the win
dow reading.
•What is it bonny Jean ?’ he asked, passing
his hand over her hair.
‘Would you really like to know ?’ still look
ing at her book.
‘My dearest, would I not like to know every
thought that passes through your mind; every
emotion that thrills your heart?’
His voice was full of passionate tenderness.
‘Now tell me.’
She raised her dark eyes to his, half tender,
half smiling.
‘Only this Gordon.’
‘True hearts are more than coronets,
And simple faith than Norman blood.’
The end.
Sunset In Venice.
“Baas, baas! spoor groed one-horn skellum!
Such was the. to me, rather unintelligible an
nouncement with which my friend M ’s bush-
boy came rushing in just about sunrise one
morning, as we were sitting over our breakfast
at the door of the house, —one of these regular
old Dutch-built farm-honses. that one ha-dlv
ever sees nowadays, except in South Africa. What
be meant t y it was, “Boss, boss! the tiail of a
big rhinoceros rascal!’’
“Where?'’ cried M , jumping np;tor he
was a keen sportsman, and never lost an oppor
tunity of “potting,' something.
“Out by Hollow Spring, baas; spoor good!’’
“There's a chance for yon, my boy,” said he.
turning to me, “Now you’ll be able to see how
these elephant guns of mine do their work; I
think yon’il find them the right sort.’’
“Let me try the job by myself,” cried I, ea
gerly; lor, like all ‘greenhorns,’ I was frantic to
do some unheard-of feat, and win my laurels at
once. ‘I’ve Eever shot a rhinoceros yet, yon
know.’
‘CbbT, really, my dear boy,’ said M , in
the most exasperating indulgent tone; ‘when
you’re a little better used to the African bu3h,
you can do what you like; but if I were to let
you go alone now, the least I could expect would
be a lifelong remorsa for having connived at a
suicide. No, we-11 make a party of three to vis
it our friend, and he‘11 haidly give the slip to
us|a!l, I fancy.*
Accordingly, we started ont that very night,
Swart, the bush-boy, making the third of onr
party; but 1 suppose the rhineceros was too
modest to face so many visitors at once, for al
though we kept watch until sunrise, there was
no sign of him. The next night it was just the
same; and at last I got so mad at the idea of
lesing my chance,—the first I had ever had with
the big game,—that, in spi‘e of what M bad
said, I made up my mind to try my luck single-
handed.
I should have told you that the Hollow Spring
frequented by my four-footed friend, lay about
eight miles from the house, in a deep gully, one
side of which went up into a steep, hog-backed
ridge, topped by a big knuckle of rock that over-
looked the spring at a range of fifty yards—as
pretty a stand as aDy sportsman could desire.
So, when nieht came, I stole ont cf the house
with one of M ’s vaunted ‘elephant-guns, ‘—
apiece carrying a five-ounce ‘explosive ball,'
steel-tipped, and holding enough fulminating
powder to blow out the spine of a megatherium.
To guard against the recoil of such a cha.ge, the
stock was fitted with a thick pad; so, with gun
and ammunition together, I had quite enough
to carry for an eight-mile tramp through the
bush.
I dare say there are ugly thickets in South
America and Central Asia: but Africa beats them
both. Imagine a forest of fish-hooks, relieved
by an occasional patch of penknives, and you
have it exactly. There’s i ne horrid, spiky thing,
called by the Dutch ‘Wacbe-em-betje,’ which
the English have corrupted into ‘wait-a-bit,’and
it does make you wait a bit, if it once gets hold
cf you. I've kaown a fellow to be laid up for a
fortnight with a gash from one. So you may
think that with masses of this stuff around me,
I had to pick my way gingerly enough.
When I got to the place, lo! and behold, the
pad of my gun had fallen cflfl To go back and
look for it would have been like hunting a nee
dle in a hay-staok; so I filled my handkerchief
with wild grass, and tucked it under the shoul
der of my j icket as a substitute, and then I took
my post behind the rock, and waited.
The full moon was just rising over the trees (a
glorious sight, I can tell you) when I heard a
distant trampl'ng, like the tread of an elephant,
only quicker; for a full grown rhinoceros, clum
sy as he looks, can be active enough at times, as
you’d soon find out if you s‘ood a cha ge from
him when his temper's up. So I had not long
to wait before there came a thick snort, and the
great brown barrel of a body loomed out in the
streak of moonlight, just over the spring. I
hardly stopped to take aim, before I pulled trig
ger.
The next few seconds were a blank ; and then
1 aW o 0b hin 0 t fi h o e i C f°-f Ci0Uf r 6 u that “y Boulder . d the monk were the 8tar actor8 among the
was aching as if it were broken, and that some- feathered trib J and the brute creation. As the
thing was granting savagely a few yardsoff; and
A BEAUTIFUL PICTURE.
But Venice, beautiful,historio, romantic Ven
ice—the city of palacies and liquid streets—is
lovelisst at sunset. There, in the angle of a
narrow way, smiles a marble Madonna upon thi
passers-by. Fresh flowers are on her shrine
and just underneath three women have planter
chairs and are sitting there working as if in a
private little room of their own. It is quaim
and pretty; but then, one is always falling on
quaint and pretty little scenes which carry one
out of one's own more enclosed western life. As
when one sits out of doors on the broad pave
ment bafore th# hotel, and watches the stream
of human life flowing backwards and forwards
as the laborers and sailors go home to their pooi
rooms by the Giardino.and the women and chil
dren come out for a little fresh air after night
fall.
But the most beautiful things af all are to be
seen on the sea,or rather the canals and lagoons.
Great painted saffron and crimson sails come
out from the distanoe, looking in the sunlight
like the wings of some gigantic tropioal bird;
11 iwers and glittering ornaments hang at the
mast-head or midway, just where the second
slanting mast crosses; the burning sunset turns
all the sky to opal, all the churches to pearl, all
the sea to gold and crimson; every color gains
an intensity and purity like to nothing ever
seen in northern climates. The distant moun
tains glow like lines of lapis lazuli washed with
gold; the islands are bowers of greenery spring
ing from the bosom of the purple waters, where
you may fanoy are hidden all sweet secrets of
art and poetry and love. The moon slowly brigh
tens and makes her path of silver across the la
goons; the gondoliers congregate together and
siDg snatches of fervid love songs or those of
plaintive sorrow or passionate patriotism and
sometimes the grave, s weet sonnets written by
Tasso, and adopted as heir-looms of the craft.
Tire anohored vessels hang out their lights, and
the gondolas shoot across the waters like fire
flies in the darkness. Everywhere you hear
music and song, and the splash of the swift oars
and the hum of human vo ces; everywhere 301
see the glorious outlines of stately buildings,
silvered by the moonlight into the woik of ma
gicians who were greater than men; everywhere
you drink in the charm,the subtle intoxication,
the glory of this beloved queen among the na-
tiors; and when the night has fairly come, and
the world has sunk to rest, you lay your head
on the pillow with a smile—your last thought;
‘I am in Venice, and tomorrow I shall see her
beloved beauty again!—’
Funny Tilings In Nature.
We have ail noticed, perhaps, that a monkey
never laughs itself, though its very appearance,
its every movement and gesture cannot fail to
6xcite mirth in ourselves. We can rot speak of
a monkey gravely, even the came is not men
tioned without a smile or a laugh. How amus-
iog its antics. The care of its young, inspect
ing closely what is given it, and every action
eliciting screams of laughter from grown-ap
people as well as delighted children.
Tue maternal kangaroo is a comical animal,
cafryiDg her young family in a pouch or bag-
pooket, from which they may occasionally be
seen peeping like so mauyj avenile bipeds from
a huckster’s panniers. Jas; think what a mon
strous crime pocket-picking must appear to a
female kangaroo with a oharge of vouog chil
dren.
Then there is a little animal, also in Austra
lia—that land of contraries and comicalities—
that is a good living joke. It is like a rat, but
muoh larger, furnished" with a duck's bill and
web feet, whioh gives it a very queer and fan
ny personelle. It is called the ornithorhyncus —
a hard name, young folks, but the only one for
it that I know.
The whole race of parrots is amusing, and, to
me, wonderful. I do not think their power oi
repeating words and phrases is merely mechan
ical, taught by human masters, for, by timing
their jokes, they often show that they eDjoy
them. It is said that parrots, monkeys and
mocking-birds are undoubtedly possessed of
that same power of imitation which men employ
to the excitement of mirth in comedy or the
mimetic art, So I should think that these birds
THU li Viit.ixr ix
tiik noiia.r.
A little girl twelve years old, writing from the
Flowery Land, says; “I have jnRt read your sto
ry of ‘Water Lillies’ in the Sunny South. I
wish you could come down to Florida in May,
and see our lakes all snowed over with lillies,
beautiful, I a-n sure, if not quite as large, as the
wonderful South American water lily—the gran-
di flora Bv the wav, isn't this the largest fliw-
er in the w arid? We had a controversy about it
i esterdav, and n y cousin insisted there was a
larger flower, but could not|remember its Dame.’'
Y’ .nr cousin is right—the largest flower in
the worid is a native of Snma‘ra, called
the R-fiLsia. It is heavier than any- ordina-
ry-s'z-td baby—weighing fifteen pounds. Be
ing red and cream color, and of enormous size,
bursting out from a great, leafless sraky vine
that clings aronnd the bnge trees of that island,
it makes a marvelous show, you may believe.
It was discovered by Dr. Arnold, an enthusias
tic young naturalist, who thus describrs it.
“It is a parasite, like many of the ecoentrio
species of plants, and wholly without leaves.
The bud springs from one of the cable-like
vines of the tropics. It pushes its way through
the bark and grows to the s'ze of a very large
cabbage and resembles it in firm as well as sizs
before the petals expand. In about three months
the flower opens and displays five enormous pe
tals, averaging about three-quarters of an inch
in thickness, of a brick-red color, but having
the surface covtred with small, irregular protu
berances, whioh are cream-like, in color.
These petals are slightly concave, and about
twelve iDchis in length, set aronnd a cup large
enough to contain about six quarts of water.
L’his cup is not empty, but filled about half way
up by a thick, fl-shy disk, the upper surfsce of
of which is covered with projections curved and
pointed, resembling in shape the horns it oat-
tle. The flower would undoubtedly have be
come a favorite with the fl irist, but for the un
fortunate fact that the odor is that of carrion,
and so close is this resemblance that it is sup
posed by some to deceive insects, as it is often
found surrounded by swarms of flies. The flow
er remains but \ short time in perfection; the
petals rapidly decay and leave the central disk,
which swells into a large fruit with a rough ex
terior and filled with small seeds.
then I saw the huge snout aDd great white tusks
coming right at me ! I don’t think any acrobat
could have been quicker than I was in clutching j
a projecting bough, and swinging up into the j
tree overhead, and I’d hardly got there when |
the brute came Lang against the trunk, almost
shaking me off again. For a minute or two my
heart was in my mouth, for he thumped against
the tree till 1 really thought he would have it
down; and when he oonldn’t, he stamped the
earth with fury* and tore it up with his horn in
a horribly suggestive way that made my fljsh
creep.
Here I was, then, in the crisis of a regular
‘adventure,’such as I had always longed for;
but somehow, now that I was in it, it did n’t
seem so delightful. It's one thing to real of
adventures in an easy-clair after dinner, and
A clergyman ‘out West,’ tells the following
good one of his small boy: Little Willie H
was puzzled over his lessons—one of his earliest
lessons. His impatience and desperation were
expressed iu the very suggestive expression: T
wish I done got big, done got edicated, done
got married, done got good, and done got to
heaven !’ Willie evidently saw a tedious way
before him, full of trials. My wife says she
supposses lie thought marrying a part of the
necessary tribulation through which he must
pass. 1 confess she saw a point where I did not.
‘ Do not marry a widower,’ said the old laly.
‘A reaiy-made family is like a plate of cold
potatoes.' ‘Oh, I‘11 soon warm them over,’
replied the damsel, and she did.
monkey is such an inimitable imitator of the
human animal, that is why Mr. Darwin insists
upon claiming him for an older brother.
We have often heard some persons make use
of the improper and exaggerated expression, ‘I
thought I would die a-laughiDg.’ While they
did not die, and wer6 in no danger of such a
result, it is recorded that some persons have
died in this manner, as there is said to be a
poisonous plant growingon the island ofSirdin-
ia that causes those who eat it to die of langh-
iog. I do not know its name, but it resembles
parsley, and those who eat it begin to laugh
and cannct stop till death ensues. I don’t men
tion this as a ‘iunny thing,'but its efftots would
certainly be amusing if it were not for the in
evitable and sad result. It is also strange that
this is the only poisonous plant on the island.
another to act them for'yourself all night on a Bat tber ° “ an ? tber ®? ecim ® n , the t
hard bough, with thousands of mosquitos pitch- ! ble w f ° t rld that 19 A nd “i? f aT
friends will remember, is a Latin term that
means pertaining to old age, and the ludicrous
peculiarity of the plant shows at ones from what
it derived its name. The plant is simply a kind
of stump covered with long, white, streaming
hair, and exactly resembles the head of an old
man. In its native country it grows to the
htlgth of ten or twelve teet, and when it ap
proaches a flowering state, a circlet of short,
black fur appears around the summit, which
gradually increases till it takes the very form
and appearance of a lady’s fur muff The flow
ers are crimson and are produced at the top in
a circle. Th9 reader may therefore judge what
a comical figure our old gentleman plant cuts
in his native wood, with his body all covered
with long white hair, surmounted by a black
muff, and above all a wreath of crimson flowers.
about underneath.
The likeness between my situa'ion and some
of those recorded by Captain Mayne Reid set
me overhauling my recollections of that vera
cious author, in the hope of no idea; but the
more I thought, the more the Captain failed me.
Basil, when followed up a tree by a bear, got
his brothers to throw him a rope, and slid down;
but I had no brothers, and no rope. Ban
Brace, when ‘treed’ by the lion, lassoed his
dropped musket, and slew the king of beasts
therewith; but I had no lasso, and could n’t have
used it if I had. Somebody else, blockaded by a
‘grizzly,, waited untill bruin fell asleep, and
then slipped away; but my rhinoceros seemed
distressingly wide-awake, and even if he had
dez >d, the experiment would not have com-
mendod itself to my fancy. In short, the most
masterly stiatagem I could devise was to lie still
where I was, and I did so.
That night was the longest I ever spent, and
no mistake. Toward morning, Master Rhino
frequently took a brief leave of absence into the
busn, ss if to tempt me down; but I heard him
trampling in the distance, and was n’t to be
caught.
Day was just dawning, and I was beginning to
wonder how mnch longer I could stand the
thirst that was parching me up, when suddenly
I heard a shot amoDg the bushes, so close that
it made me start. Then the boughs parted,
and I saw M ’s jolly face looking up at me,
with a grin from ear to ear.
‘Fairly treed, eh, my boy ? Well, I’ve raised
the siege for you, and yonder lies the enemy.
Your bullet’s run down his side, under the skin,
without exploding; so I suppose you must have
hit him slantwise. Betier luck next time.
Anyhow, I’m glad to find you alive; but I fancy
you wont go out alone in a hurry !
And, to tell the truth, I didn’t, for a pretty
long while after that day.
Step up to a citizen and tell him that his fa
ther and grandfather were lunatics, and see how
quickly he’ll crook his elbow. Yet, let that citi
zen shoot somebody, and he’ll bless you if you’ll
help him to prove that all his ancestors were not
only crazy, but the biggest fools in the neigh
borhood
The Trap Door Spider of Jamaica.
This spider digs a barrow in the earth and
lines it with a silken web. The burrow is closed
by a trap door, having a hinge that permits it
to be opened and closed with admirable accura
cy. Tne door is circular, and is made of alter
nate layers of earth and web, and is hinged to
the lining of the tube that ieads to the burrow
by a baud of the silken secretion. The door ex
actly fits the entrance to the barrow, and when
closed, so precisely corresponds with the sur
rounding earth that it can hardly be distin
guished, even when its position is known It
is a strange sight to see the earth open, a little
lid raised, some hairy legs protrude, and grad
ually the whole form of the spider show itself.
The mode in whioh these spiders procure
food seems to be by hunting at night, and in
some oases by catohing insects that are entan
gled in the threads that the creature spins by
the side of its house. In the day time they are
very chary of opening the door of their domi
cile, and if the trap be raissd from the outside,
they run to the spot, hitch the claws of their
fore feet in the 6ilkec webbiDg of the door, and
those of the hind feet in the lining of the bur-
I row, and so resist with all their might. The
, strength of the spider is wonderfully great in
| proportion to its size.
A Woman’s Logic.—“It is useless to take medi
cine. I shall feel better to-morrow. Besides, I need
ihe money to get that lovely new hat. My old one is
such a fright and people will look more at my bonnet
than they will at my face. I will wait ti 1 I feel worse be
fore I spend any money for medicine.” The new bonnet
is purchased and fifty other feminine necessaries in the
form of ribbons, laces, brooches, etc. Meanwhile the
lady's face becomes avery day paler and thinner, and her
body weaker, nntil disease has gaiued so firm a foothold
in her system, that the most thorough, and cf'-times a
longand tedious, course of t.eatmeut is necessary to re
store her to health. Ladies, attend to yourhealth before
you even think of apparel. A fresh, blooming fa e in a
plain bonnet is much handsomer and far more attractive
to your geutlemen friends, than a pain wore, diseased
face ip the most elebjra'e and elegant hat your milliner
could devise. Dr. fierce’s Favorite Prescrip,ion is every
where acknowledged to be the standard remedy for
female oomplaints and weaknesses. It is sold by drug
gists.
Suffering; for a Life Time.—Persons afflicted
with rheumatism often suffer for a life time, their tortures
being almost without remission. The joints and mus
cles of such unfor: unates are it most cases shockingly
contorted and drawj out of shape To afford them , ve»
temporary relief, the ordinary remedies often prove ut
terly useless. Hostetter’s Stomach Bitters, on the o'her
hand, is avouched by persons who have used it to be a
genuine source of relief. It keeps the blood cool by pro-
moti g a regular habit of body, and removes front it im
purities which, in the-pinion of all rational pathologists
originate this agonizing complaint and its ki dred mala
dy, the gout. Besides this, the Bitters remedy disor
ders of the stomach, liver and nerves prevent and eradi-
cale intermittent and remittent fevers promote appetite
and sleep, and is highly recommended by physicians as a
desireable medicinal stimulent and tonic.
The celebrated instruments of Dame’ F, Beatty the
great piano and organ manufacturer of Washington N
J„ are unrivalled in purity of tone, action, and exowiten-
cy oftinisd, being the result ot years of indefinable la-
uur, the a;m of which has been t Q make only the very
best, and sell at the lea*t possible p™ut. This coarse
has resulted in the name of Beatty becoming » house
hold word in every State and territorv of the Union and
Canadas, snd familiar to lumbers of (he residtms of
England. Germany. France «nd Italy. The special csrers
of Air Beatty, which appea.'.tt our columns to-day. mewj
just what hey-ay. 't he inst-nmeuts are all and more
than is claimed lor them, while the prices are barely
manuf .cturer's cost, tor Mr. Beatty is determined to place
his unexcelled instruments in the homes of the entire
music-loving population. No one contemplat ng the
purchase of a-organ or piano should fail to take advan
tage of his offers, as a n. gleet to do so will be a matter of
regret. Remember these offers are only good during the
next thirty dajs. The illustrated catalogue of Mr. Beat
ty is detailed and fnll of information interesting to every
one. It will be mailed free on application. Send for a
copy to Daniel F, Baatty, Washington, New Jersey.
Worth Twice tile Sum. — We are just in re
ceipt of The Chicago Lelger, the leading
Family Paper of the West, whica is now enter
ing upon its seventh volume. The Ledger is a
large forty-eight column weekly paper, printed
upon bold, plain type, whioh can be read with
eas9, by either the old or young, and is fitted
with choica stories and matter of particular in
terest to every household. This excellent j turnal
is supplied to subscribers, postage paid, for the
extremely low price of one dollar and fifty
cents per year. In order to more rapidly in
crease its present large list of readers, the
publishers of this paper have just made a new
contract for the manufacture of sevral thousand
fine Nickle-plated English Steel-Barrel-and-Cyl-
inder Seven Shot Revolvers-22 caliber—which
they propose to distribute among their sub
scribers at cost, and therefore offer one of these
elegant weapons of defense and The Ledger
one year for three Dollars. The revolver will
be sent by mail, postage paid, on receipt of
the price. They have already distributed 3 000
revolvers and are mailing hundreds daily. Now
is your time to get a first-class revolver and tie
best paper in the country for lesi than half the
actual warth of either. Three sample copies of
The Ledger will be sent to any address for
ten cents. Address The Ledger, Chicago, 111.
Why Will Yon Allow a old to advance in yonr
system and thus encourage more serions mala lie*, such
as Pneumonia, Hemorrhages and Lung troubles whenan
immediate re'ief can be so readily attained? B 'schee’s
German Syrup has gained tbe largest sale in the world lor
the cure of Conghs, Colds and the severest Lung D s-
eases. Ii is Dr. Boschee's famous German prescription,
and is prepared wiih the greatest care, and no fear need
be entertained in administering it to the youngest child,
as per directions. The tale of this medicie nis uoprece-
demed. Since first introduced there has been a constant
increasing demand and without a single report of a fail
ure to do its work in any case. Ask your druggist as to
the truth of these remarks. Large size 75 cents. Try it
and be convinced.
Coussens’ Honey of Tar will relieve severe
coughs of long standing, and prove a blessing to
all who suffer with affections of the throat 'and
lungs, and is confidently offered the public as the
best remedy in the world. In our rigorous clime
where coughs and colds prevail, this favorite rem
edy should have a p'ace in every household. When
Ihe little ones are attacked by croup, or whooping
cough, nothing will afford such instant relief as
Coussens’ Honey of Tar. Price 50 cents. For
sale by Hunt, Rankin, & Lamar, Wholesale Drug
gists, Atlanta, Ga.
• The Mexican Dallar.
What is the difference between the Mexican dol
lar and Tab'.er’s Buckeye Pile Ointment ? Odo
does what it promises and the other doesn t. The
Mexican dollar says, ‘I am one hundred cents; ’
but when you come to invest i,t you find it is only
eighty-five. Tabler s Buckeye Pile Ointment says
‘I wiil cure you of Piles ; and upon trial it is found
to do so in every case. It makes but one promise—
to cure Piles; and does so without failu.e. Price
50 cents a bottle. For sale by Hunt, Rankin &
Lamar wholsale Druggist, Atlanta, Ga.
INSTINCT PRINT