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■ .'J,. r. ■ - v I ■ - ' , \ T I ' , ' TIMES ENTERPRISE, THOMASVILLE, OA., AUOtTST 19, 190^. , X denhucstnHa w WALTER S'LOOMFIELO CopyrtsM BW. br W*m Bmn'i bom CHAPTER XXIII. , Continued ( Them obaerratloiM convinced mo that unde Sam hod that morning de ceived me when he bad ao Jauntily na- •erted that old Mr. Wolsey could tell lik wife nothing which ahe did not al ready know. 1 was not, howevgr, ao much interested In that conairtemtion as la the disquietude of Constance, hud lu hope that I might be able to •comfort her, mg aunt had no sooner taken up her position by the piano than I crossed over and occupied the seat she had Just vacated, i The intention of the company waa wholly bestowed upon the singer, and the sound of another voice, though hut In a whisper, would have been rightly regarded aa an Ill-mannered Interrup tion. Though I could not for the mo ment apeak to my feir one, I was able, even in that public situation, to press Iter little band In mine with a slgnlfl- Vance w)Hch was not misunderstood- Aunt, llertrude was followed by sev eral Wher singers of Various degrees of rf|frlt, but all alike In so far as they prevented conversation between Con afance and me, nor could I find any 'convenient opportunity to Interrogate her until We were again on board the Iroquois. Fortunately l had not ioug to wait for this, for the river being a ■low way to return to New York Oily It was decided that we should leave Tarrytown early. We were no sooner on board than my aunt, whom I sus pect partly understood the aspect of affairs, wttidrew to the cabin tp re sume her book. leaving Constance and I to do aa we would. -The evening being delightfully fine and cool, and t|» sky on unfathomable blue studded with Innumerable stnrs, to any noth log of other reasons, of course we pre ferred (o remnln upon deck. Notwithstanding my Impatience to know precisely how Constance was af- . fueled by (he Information ahe had gained from Mr, Fuller's letter to Mr. Price, we were seated clbeely together for several minutes before I ventured to ask her, and when I did so my que*> lion received no reply, but hot teors fell upon my hand. I was painfully ■urprlsed and unnerved by this Inci dent, and knelt down beside the dis tressed girl, saying I know not whnt, but doing all In my power to comfort her. After a little while ahe beohrae more composed and looked at ms etoad- Hy. “My slater muat never know of this, 1 ahe snld; “It would klU her.” “Muat never know of whntr I asked. "Of the contents of that letter Mr, Price showed me.’ “I have not read that lettor, but I fear I know what yon refer to,” I an- - swrred. “Your words confirm the letter. 1 Teored It wns true as I read It. l’oor dear CScrtle! and she Is such n loving wife, and has such unbounded admira tion of her husband. Can It lie that all men are false? • “No, darling, It cannot, big I confess f greatly fonr there are many such. Speaking for myself. I swear by the iky above and the water beneath, and by the great Being who created them both, that you ore the only woman I have ever desired; that If you will be mine and faithful to me, according to yonr promise and my belief, I am yonra, and yonrs only, till I die. With yonr faith In mankind thus rudely ahaken, and knowing Ihnt 1 must leave Non to-morrow net to see yon again for at least a month, eon you trust me?' Constance looked np at me, and the tears In her eyes glistened In the star light as she softly replied; “I will trust yon." I caught the dear girl In my nv;ns, and pressing her fare to mine, for the first lime rsstowed upon her Ups What Is this I am writing! This will never do. On rending this page It really Impresses me as more like- a leaf from a novel than n passage from tho memoirs of a middle ■ aged English squire. I. ’■!' CHAPTER XXIV. THE ACCUSATION. Holdenhurst village! Was It possible that I had Itevu absent from It but lit tle more than Ihree weeks? The calen dar affirmed that such was the ease. Why. In those few days I had traveled further, seen more of mnnklml, and committed myself for good or for evil more deeply Ikon In all my lire Ik shies. Yes; this wns my native place, un changed -lit any respect, yet somewhat strange to me now that I regarded It In the light of nil enlarged experience. There waa the quiet, straggling street: the old'Norman (lmreh on ike hill sur rounded by moss-grown, knlf-obllter- ated atone memorials of bygone getter* ations; the Truman Arms', our village Inn. wilh the carrier's horse drinking water from a trough outside while his master refreshed himself within, and The great Iron gates of the Halt, sur mounted by the heraldic devlcer of the Truman family, a lion struggling in the colls of n python | It wns past midday when I entered Holdenhnrst on foot, and the street wt« more than usually deserted, out the villas* Mk. with qxceptioo only of the very yonng and the very old, coaid be discerned harvesting in the Holds beyond, while over the whole scene brooded that opjjreselTe heavt- hoes which in England not common- ly heralds an autumnal storm. As I had not communicated with my father since despatching the telegram from New York announcing my Intend ed return, no conveyance was at Bury Ft. Edmund’s to meat me—a circum stance for which I was Inclined to he thankful, for my Journey from New York, long and tedious aa It was, hod not sufficed for me to digest Oil my ro- oent experiences, and 1 waa anything but prepared to meet my father and John Adams—particularly the latter. A long walk alone on a country road I had always found a favorable condi tion for solving any problem which perplexed me, but to-day my specific failed to produce Itc usual effect; I waa unable to shape or In any way ad- oqtmte!y realise the scaults which might follow the doing of that which I had returned to England to do, and when I turned Into the patch which led up to the Hall'my mind waa scarcely more clear tfian the eky abort mo- now more than ever dark, but emit ting frequent flashes of lightning. On entering the house I was told by eerrnnt that my father and Mr. Wolsey were together lb the study, and I went there to them at onoe with out ceremony. Both Were unfelgnedly pleased at my return, my grandfather regarding me with much enrloslty. and 'expressing his pleasure at my Increased height and apparent health. "To tlilnk that five years should make such a different??’ exclaimed my grandfather. "'When I left Hol denhurst! yon wore a mere boy; now yon are almost a man.’’ "Not quite?” I asked. "Well, hardly," said my grandfather. “A rellow-paseenger of mine, a clever old fellow who came from Sydney to England with me. used to Sky there was no man under thirty years of age. 1 "Your friend Is wrong," I replied. “A large part of tho world's best work has been done.by men when they were !*■■ than thirty. For my part. I am convinced that my Judgment In gen eral matters Is as sound as It will ever be, Slid I shouldn't hesitate In making unassisted decisions In all matters re- Inttng to myself." Mr. Wolsey seemed -a little discon certed by my rlgorope reply, and looked .Inquiringly nt my father, but the latter, affecting not to notice It, turned the conversation by asking If I bad a pleasant voyage to England. 'A very pleasnnt voyage. Indeed," I replied; “no such storin ns this either going or returning"—for at that mo ment tlie rain was lashing against the windows with tremendous force, nnd thunder and lighting were nlinost con stant. "I was Jnat completing an arrange- meat with yonr grandfatlier," said my father, speaking slowly, as he turned over n number of lenses and agree ments which lay piled upon his desk In front of him. "Mr. Wolsey has agreed to settle down nt Holdenhurst, though not ns my tenant. As jou know, I have no less tlinu four forms at present meant, and ns soon as Mr. Cooper goes I shall linvo another. To look for an agricultural tenant In these times Is like seeklug for the philoso pher's stone, so 1 have offered your grandfather his old house (It has re- alnod empty ever since ho loft It) and a small salary, nnd ho lias under taken to superintend the cultivation of niy tenantless farms. What with bad seasons nnd the low prices at which foreign agricultural produce Is put upon our nmrkets, the farmers sre really In desperate straits, and It's diffi cult to see what the end of It all will he. Nothing but a duty on tho Impor tation of corn, or n European war. can save them from ruin. Mr. Fuller lilm- solf admits ns much, though lie doesn't eoo Ids way clour to pray for either of those things. Of course you are glad that your grandfather Is to bo near us gain.” "Most assuredly I am. and " 1 added with n sudden outburst of cour age—"I am very pleased that ho lias accomplished the purpose which occa sioned his going away. How Is itiy -opsin Annie?" My grandfather seemed surprised at y question nud remained silent, hllc my faiher glanced uncomforta bly nt ns both. “Is she quite well?” 1 Inquired again. 'Poor Annie Is betler In health than reputation," snld my father after a pause, answering for Mr. Wolsey, "I l sorry to say It, but my brother Is heartless villain. I never thought he was so black as lie Is." And 1 don't think be Is so black as some people regard him.” I answered, Ith unguarded warmth. “Is It not possible uncle Snm may be able to urge some conalderation which will estemmte the fact that he took Annie away without her father’s consent! Besides, Annie Is old enough to know the consequences of her act*." “Did your uncle tell you to say that to us?" asked my two companions in a breath. "No, indeed, he did not; nor did be sug gest any such Ideas to me. I speak only for myself.’’ “Then I am sorry, Ernest, that yon bare no clearer Ideal of right and wrong,” raid my father. “Ob, aa to that, different people view a matter differently. Even If a man were convicted of t particular Offence I should not regoxd that Met aa proof of his guilt Of another and totally dif ferent offence, blit there are people Whoae ideas bf right and wrong permit them to ibason ah.’’ 1 felt strongly, for my uncle Sam, and could not bear the man who, bad been so extraordinarily kind to me nbuahd without a feeling of indignation. Aa If to add force to my declaration I had scarcely articulated the last ward when a terrible flash of lightning bril liantly Illuminated the almost dark ened room, and waa followed by a tre mendous thunderclap which shook the whole bouse. The relied reference to the inference my father had drawn from uncle Ram's affair with Annie Wolsey did not es cape attention. But my father was too firmly convinced that hla brother bad atolen the sequins to wlnoe at any tatlre I was tnsetcr of. hooking at me steadily be said 1n a reproachful tone: You have been away from home nearly a month, and are no sooner re turned than we almost quarrel, a tiling wo never did till my brother enme here. Has not thpt man caused mis chief enough—to me, to your grand- rather, to your coueln. end I know not who else beslde^-but tie must need destroy aH sympathy between yon and me?' Not yonr brother bor nny man eould do that," I asserted stoutly. “I nan your sou, end honor you as a good father to whom I owe everything, but none the less do I profoundly lielleve that jsou are tho victim of a disastrous mistake, and I don't despair of a day to come when you will be thankful that my opinion In the matter of the sequins dlffersd so widely from yours. Whst If I were to establish beyond question that your brother never had anything to do with those seqnlns!" “I should be Immensely relieved and most devoutly thankful. But I have no each hope; common sense forbids me to entertain St." “And my common eonse will not per mit me to reject It,” I replied. ‘That bring so, It Is useless for ns to talk any more of the matter until yon have something tangible to show In support of your views,” sold my father, turning away. "Quite so,” I agreed; “1st us speak no more on this wretched subject until I Imre.” The gong In the hall wns sounding far luncheon, bnt eould only be heard Imperfectly amid the din of the storm, which still raged furiously. My father Ed the way to the dining room, where luncheon was Igld far three. There, nervously fusafug about the sideboard and appearing older and more decrepit than ever, waa the man who laid occa sioned my hasty return from America. John Adams regarded roc with a pur- sled Jook, apd with that familiarity which Is not unfrequently' permitted In old servants congratulated me on my safe return from abroad. We were no sooner seated nt tahle than MV. Wolsey. with tlie laudable dflrire, ns 1 thought, of preventing the conversation from running upon illsn- grqpnbh, topics. Inquired how I liked NOw York, to which I answered Hint I thought It was o very fine city gener ally, bnt that Us harbor nnd chief river were mngnltleent. "New York did not Imprees me so fa vorably,” remarked Mr. Wolsey; "It Is ' ^PLUCK, ROMANCE ' v /[NO W VENTURE, 1 CRUSE SAVED THE TROOPER. HOMAS CRUSE, quarter- master's department, Uni- tod Staled Ariiiy, got an other atop tbe Other day and onoe more changed the little" image in his shoulder sirup. Colonel Cruse has beeu a k>ng time iu the staff department which has to do with army mules, tent*, canteens and haversacks. When he first left the line for the fltdft friend* ftuid he couldn’t stand it, but when ii man has fought more than moat and licked all that lie fought, it’s not overbard to urge him to take the soft aide of a pillow. They say In the army to-day that Tom Cruse can’t pick up a sample shovel that some contractor has sub- blitted for Inspection without coming to an “advance ftarbittt” with It, aftd later trying to flock the thing. Cruse for years was an officer hi the Sixth Cavalry. Out at Port Sheridan the other day a retired enlisted man who had served under Cruse some years ago, told the story of how the quarter master officer won Hie little bit of bronze which on certain occasions lie wears pinned to his blouse. In the early summer of 1882 Cruse was a seeond lieutenant In ”R” Troop Of tho Pixth Cavalry. lie was out scouting after Apaches down hi the ▼cry hottest part of Arizona. Tlte command had trailed along till it came to tbe rocky basin known as the Htg Dry Wash. Ornse bad something loss than a corporal’s guard with him The little band bad not teen a sign of an Indian since it .set out. but titan Apaches fire not given to making signs, nor do they wntt for formal in troductlon before extending warm greetings to tliose who would cross the threshold of their rocky desert fastnesses. » Beyond the basin of the Big l>»y Wash was a natural fortification of rocks. Cruse sent a man by the Tight flank to take a peep behind the bowl ders Ik* fore erossiug. The trooper re turned and reported there wns nothing there. Then the little eojnmnml rushed down Into the basin, and hades opened front behind the rocks to their front. The fire wns concentrated end terrific. Two of the fix saddles were emptied nnd the mounted command gave way nud sought the shelter of the rocks to the roar. Under the trumping hnil of bullets. Cruse lifted n wounded trooper to his saddle and boro him back to shelter, where the men dismounted and took what count they could of their hidden enemy across the basin. It wns supposed flint tho second trooper who ha<J fallen in the open was dead. While looking out across tbe waste between him ami tbe am- bus lied savages Oruse saw the fitl'AH trooper move. Then there happened one of those things which a single Hue in tho medal of liouer list tells about, bnt to which a whole volume can not do Justice. Cruse, carbine In hand, stood straight up, a fair and cosy mark for a bullet. A tawny lace showed beyond and an eye glanced along a rifle barrel. Before the weap on spoke. Cruse’s carbine sent n bullet straight through the Apache’s head. Then lu* rounded the rock In front ami strode across the open towards the w w dod soldier. At every stride he evjdent that you have seen only tho j fired. He was otic of the crack shots bettor part of that city. I was there ; of the army and the bullets scared tlio for two months, and I never wont to rocks close to the hands of the lurk- the place again.” I big rods. [ wns lu New York for only five They had scon their comrade’s head days, nnd I hope to see that clty'ngnln : *I>Ht clean nt 150 yards. They dared very soon. Indeed I am not sure hut, ««t expose themselves enough to take that I would l!ko to live there entire- j careful aim. but they answered the ly.»» officer's challenge with a scattering The absence of a middle class cor- volley. He reached tho moaning responding to what we In Englnnd mi- trooper. Behind him had conic two derstnnd by that term.” pursued Mr. °f bis men. Wolsey, Ignoring my remark, “strikes “Ph'k him up. boys.” sniff Prose, me ns very bad for tho whole of so- "nnd I’ll cover the retreat." clety there. Perhaps yon did not oh-! stood there facing the enemy’s serve that It Is only rich persons who, lurking place. A savage braver than can afford to keep a house entirely for *be rest stood np and fired. The bill- their own use, and that the smaller J scratched Prust- s arm. hut nn ounce trnders, artisans nnd laborers nro,, ' cad crashed Into the Apache’s herded together In teuement houses—, bead. Cruse walked backward, while huge, unsightly barracks of groat! behind him his two devoted men height, each accommodating scores of bore their stricken follow. Bullets families. Whnt can he said for such : to,v W P *bo * and - l)nt ( be magnificent a system lu n climate where In summer j nprvp nnd ° ourn «°, of * hp "° M,pr "ho tho thermometer commonly stands 8on * bark true a shot for every volley palsied tho Apacli ninety In the shade, and for wacks to gether there Is not so much breeze as would flutter a leaf?” “I noticed none of those things.” “They are to be seen l*y whocrei looks for them.” continued Mr. Wol sey. “And then again, the conditions of life are every bit ns hard as In Lon don or any other great city. Work in New York is fully ns difficult to obtain and Is no better paid for. prices consid ered, than In nny city of the Old World. No Intelligent American who has traveled denies this.” I am afraid Ernest takes hut little interest In public questions,” remarked my father. “They will force themselves upon his attention as he grows older,” Mr. Wolsey went on. “With but little mod ification my remarks apply with equal truth to Mb 1 bourne and Sydney, or In deed any city of modern creation. Back to their breastworks the sol diers went with their burden. Cruse standing erect and sending one last shot before sinking to cover. Then re-enforcements came nnd eighteen savages were put to flight. To-day ft is nothing but two cents’ worth of bronco nnd a hit of ribbon that re minds one of the gallantry on that July day In the basin of the Rig Dry Wash. —Edward B. Clark, tn Chicago Record- Herald. BABY PLAYS WITH A SNAKE. Undismayed by a blacksnnke that- crept Into the clothes basket In which she lay In the yard, Eva Bnelah, three years old. daughter of refer Bnelah, a River Hill, Pa., farmer, bail**] the intruder ns a pet and earessad it ns she would a kitten until rescued from dangerous position by her fright all of them the old-fashioned qualifier! pned lather. Her years were too few of patient perseverance, abstinence nnd thrift arc ns necessary to tin amassing of a fortune as in England, to-day, though they afford greater op* j portunities for the wily ami itnscrupu-! lous to grow rich speedily in the man- • ipuUtion of monopolies and public j funds, and the practice of rascalities! not possible lu older communities.” : To be continued. ! Mount Rcweuzorl, in equatorial S Africa, is about 20.000 feet high, has ; for knowledge of the scrape her proto type had got Into with connection with a serpent, but little Eva perhaps wns wiser than Eve: for, whereas the mother of the race let the constrictor do most of the talking, the baby kept up an Interrupted flow of prattle to the snake. From the moment in which it dragged its four feet of length into her wicker paradise she was the most delighted youngster in those parts. Shn cooed to the salffe playmate, rapport it the heart with her rattle and twenty miles of glaciers, and i« neti> j delight when It wrift- ly always cloud covered. 1 tied 0V€r her * Ucr l >nrent « beard and saw her, but they didn’t perceive the snake until the father walked from the door of the house toward tbe basket. Then he dashed to her side, fiflelab snatched the little one from the bas ket and gave her a fling that sent her felling Over the grass. Then he raised •a citifbei pole and swung it on the snake until he ikul beaten the reptile to a palp. He was astonished to find Eva unharmed. There was no danger ef poison, but the snake, being of the odnatfietor species, easily might have choked the child in its folds. WOLVES ATE THE fcOUGSISUTS. Wolves have been particularly ag gresslve this past winter lu the North west, and many narrow escapes of hu man beings have been reported. A aieighioad 6f people in Cass County, Minnosota, iVere pursued by a pack of wolves the other day. The pur sued dropped doughnuts along the way. aud tbe wolves fought so hard for the delicacies Hint the whole party got home in safety. Two lumbermen Id the employ of Sam Simpsou, a log ger operating in tbe neighborhood of Dtrlirtb. Minn,, heard the ho\vl of a wotf when they were about a mile from their eabin. The men hastened towqrd samp, but did not apprehend any real danger, In a few minutes a wolf was heard at much closer range. Then several wore hoard at various points. The mqn eould think of nobody that tbe wolves had in view for supper but thenwrelves, and they broke Into a full. They arrived breathless nt their oarnp. three wolves following them to withlil 150 feet of the cabin door. Ten minutes later the howls of wolves In tlie vicinity indicated that a great pack had assembled. “If you want to get a record as a first-cinhh runner,” said one of the lumbermen who had escaped, “Just get out some place and get yourself chased by a pack of wolves. You will Add that you have more muscles in your body than you have any idea of, “Yofl want to Imagine every Jump that they are about to spring on you. ami wonder whether or not it will hurt when they are gnawing the flesh from your bones. “I know that I can bent the ten- second class of runners in a walk.”— Oblcago Inter Ocean Correspondence. WILD RABBETS SAVED BISHOP. Wild rabbits saved the lives of Bishop Peter K. Rowe, Episcopal Bish op of Aluakn, and his companions. In March, while they were en route over tbe new mail trail from Fairbanks, Alaska, to Vnhha. Bishop Rowe made the Journey with a mall carrier named Karstens and John Chllson. They went through Oolcoua Valley to Copper River. At the top of the divide they were to meet am! obtain provisions from a mail carrier named Frayne, bound from Valdez to Fairbanks. Either Bishop Rowe’s party or Frayne missed tlie trail nnd they passed each other miles apart. Their food wns exhausted, compelling thr Bishop nnd his oomrades to depend upon their gun for sustenance. Rabbits formed their sole diet for throe days until they reached a mining camp and obtained food. The trip was very hard, tiring both dogs nnd drivers. Bishop Rowe seemingly enjoyed the hardships, hav ing lieconie inured through thousands of miles of arctic winter travel while (siting his widely separated missions. Each day he steamed rabbiti while his tired companions rested. ALONE. MTIT CHARGE OF 700. A dispatch from (Synngtse, Tibet, Ives the details of the Tibetan attack on Knugmn i»ost. In which one Sepoy killed mill six wounded formed the total British losses. Tlie onslaught of Tibetans began at dawn. They do- s“ended a bill in two solid masses.-A part of the troops had already started to march from the post, but those out do the fortifications I mm c<l lately ran back to cover, save one Sepoy. He re fused to budge and received the charge of the whole 700 Tibetans. After shooting five of them he was cut down, despite a heavy Arc from the post. The Tibetans reached the walls and attempted to climb over, hacking nt the men nt tlie-loopholes with their swords, and even seizing the muzzles of the protruding rifles. Meanwhile those behind kept up‘a furious fire with matchlocks and Lhasa rifles. Tho Tibetans kept up the attack for half an hour with the utmost ferocity. They then withdrew, the garrison pursuing them. Kintllv ••Do k « of XV«r.” The latest movement of the Russians to provide further aid for their wound ed, which is badly needed, is the util ization of dogs. The German Emperor has presented three .Scotch dogs which have been trained in ambulance work to the Russian I fog Breeders’ Association, and after they have been tested they will be sent to the Far East. It Is alto intended by the association to teach a number of the animals to be of assistance, cither by remaining st the side of a wounded man when they have found .him and attracting the attention of the ambulance corps and conducting it to the spot where the wounded man is lying. Each animal is to carry a wallet strapped on his back containing ban dages, restoratives and water, thus fob lowing the old custom of the hospice at St. Bernard. Only Two Rctldent*. Thus far New York bas contributed only two Presidents by election—Van Buren and Cleveland. New York has contributed nine Vice-Fresidents, how ever—Burr, Clinton. Tompkins, Van Buren. Fillmore, Whenler, Arthur, Morton and RatseTelt. ; electricity in the laboratort rrotetm Mmto Tvrvmce tnd Its I Advantages. Harmon V. Morse, professor of are alytical chemistry st the Johns Hopkins; j University and adjunct director of th*. | chemical laboratory, has Invented andj i recently perfected an electric furnace, 1 which, it is believed, will revolution!** practical laboratory work I” chemjstrjv gays the Baltimore Sun. The ordinary copper oven ia encased id a box doubly lined with asbestos, with air space be tween, the whole covered with alumin ium paint, which Is not affected by high temperatures. Is a very poor beat, radiator and preserves tho asbestos from Shredding. This arrangement practically prevents any Joss of neat uyt radiation. The source of heat is In the stove, which Is placed within the copper oven.’ The construction of this stove is th«j ingenious part of the apparatus, ana. requires the highest type of experi mental skill. It is constructed of a number of parallel slabs of soapstone coated with graphite, the soapstone- being unaffected by the heat. The graphite must be evenly distributed over tlie slabs of soapstone, in order that the heat may be developed uni formly over the surface. The oven it self is not so difficult of construction* but the making of the heating appara tus within, through which the electric current is passed, has formed the grgnfc stnmbling block in the way of f^mer Investigators. This electric furnace* can be operated at a cost of less than one cent a day. A constant tempera ture of 150 degrees can be obtained for eight hours at a stretch at a vofit of three-fourths of a cent. ~~ fiaperitltlon* For June. June was the month which tho Re* mans considered the most propitious season of the year for contracting matrimonial engagements, especially If the day cbosefc was that of the full moon; the month of .May, on. the con trary, being especially Jn he avoided as under the influence of spirits ad verse to happy households’. Hence the June brides. All those pagan superstitions ^erp retained in the Middle Ages, with many others which belonged more particu larly to the spirit of Christianity. » The “best man.” by tlie way, used, to cut qnlte nn important part in Sweden. In ancient days it was b r.entli the dig nity of a Scandinavian warrior to court a woman's favor by gallantry and sub mission. He waited nntil she had be stowed her affections on another and wns on her way to the marriage cere mony, when, collecting his faithful fol lowers. they fell upon tlie wedding cor tege and the stronger party won. To favor this practice, marriages were usually performed at night. A pile of lances is still preserved be hind the altar of the ancient church of Husnby. in Gothland, into which were- fitted torches and which were liorne before the bridegroom to give light and protection. It wns tbe province of grdpinsmen, or “best men” to carry these, nnd the stoutest and strongest of the bride groom's friends were chosen for the duty. v */ Thu MlarliUf of Statistics. The announcement that the director of the Yale “commons” has been obliged to put up tlie price of meals to £4.50 a week henceforth nnd that at the old price of a dollar or so less tho college has lost $20 a year, will doubt less fill the hearts of many patient housekeepers with unspoken gratitude- For years the American housewife ban been suffering from the baleful activity of tlie man of statistics, who prove* conclusively in the columns of endless periodicals that $5 n week will feed anybody royally, nnd that a delightful dinner may be given for $2.50. includ ing flowers. A groat pence conics to the harassed souls when a thoroughly equipped organization like Yale give* up the struggle, nnd frankly owns de feat by raising prices. A periodical ostensibly devoted to the interests of the American home once published statistics showing how a man nnd wife and two children had lived comfortably on $200 a year. Tim misery caused by these statistics, over the whole broad land, was beyond com putation. These facts from Yale, we hope, will cheer the survivors.—Har per’s Bazar. In Texas. “They do things quickly at El I’aso, Texas.” said a commercial traveler the other day. “I was on a train near there on my last trip, when the porter lit the car was in a scrap nnd hit n pas senger over the head with a poker. The passenger drew a gun and shot the porter six times. “Well, we took tho wounded man off the train at Ei Paso, but he died before the ambulance arrived, and I was told to be at the inquest at 10 a. in. next day. to testify. “I got to the place a little late—at 10.10, to be exact—and as 1 was going in I met the officers coming out. ” ‘I’m here as a witness.’ I said. “ ‘Too late,’ they said. ‘The passen ger was acquitted five minutes ago.’ *• -Philadelphia Press. Chicken* Reared by a Cat. A remarkable freak of nature is ported from Wadebridge, in Coruwi where a cat is successfully bring! up a brood of chickens. The cat a chickens arc the property of a M Williams, of Trenant. It appears that the cat recently h kittens, and tn due course the lati were drowned. The cat. while lo< lug for her offspring, found an old h with a brood of chickens only i cently hatched, and decided to ta charge of the chickens and bring thf up as her own family. Tbe cat at pi sent carefully nurses the chickeus the fireside, and carries them about her mouth. Just as she would her ox lhtons.^London News.