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The Montgomery Monitor. D. 0. STJT r ON, Editor and Prop'r, DR. TALMAGE'S SERMON. THE MIDNIGHT BETEL. ITrt'achvd at Monona, \V!s.) Text: “In that night was Belshazzar, the King of tins Chaldeans, slain.” Daniel v., at). ’ Feasting has been know n in all ages It was one of the most oxcitiug times in Eng lish history when Queen Elizabeth visited Dord Leicester at Kenilworth Castle. The moment of her arrival was considered so im portant that all the clocks of the castle w ere stopped, so that th > hands might point to that one moment as being the most signifi cant of all. .she was greeted to the gate with float m ' islands and torches and the thunder ol cannon and fireworks that set the night abla.o, and a great burst of music that lifted the whole scene into perfect enchant' ment Thou she was introduced in a dining liall, the luxuries of which astonished Uie world: 100 servants waited upon the guests; the entertainment cost #5,000 each day. Lord Leicester made that great supper in Kenilworth Castle. Cardinal Wolsey entertained the French ambassadors at Hampton Court. The best cooks in all the land prepared for the ban quet; purveyors went out and traveled all the kingdom over to find spoils for the table. r i he time came. The guests we:v kept during the day hunting in the King's park, so that their appetites might be keen; and then, in th-' evening, to the sound of the trumpeters, they were introduced into a hall hung with siliv and cloth of gold, and there were tables a glitter with imperial plate and laden with the rarest of meats and a-blushwith the cost liest of wiues; and when the second course of the feast came it was found that the arti cles of food bad boon fashioned into the shape of men, birds and beasts, and groups dan dug and jousting parties riding against ea h other with laucos. Lords and I'rincos and Ambassadors, out of cups tilled to tho brim, drank the health, first of the King of England and next to tho King of France. Cardinal Wolsey pre pare t that great supper in Hampton Court. But my text takes us to a more oxcitiug banquet. Night was about to come down upon Babylon. Tho shadows of her gel I tow ers began to lengthen. The Euphrates rolled on, touched by tho fiery splendors of the set ting sun; and gates of brass, burnished and glittering, • opened and shut like doors of name. The hanging gardens of Babylon, wet w ith heavy dew, began to pour from starlit flowers and drippiug leaf a fragrance for man} miles Around. The streets and s |uares were lighted for dance and frolic and prom enade. The theatres and galleries of art in vited the wealth, and pomp, and grandeur of the city to rare entertainments Scenes of riot ami was-ail wore mingled in every street, and godless mirth ami outrageous ex cess and splendid wickedness came to the King’s palace to do their mightiest deeds of darkness. . A royal feast to night at the King’s ; alaee! Hushing up to tho gates are chariots upholstered with pre cious cloths from Dcdan and drawn by fireeyed horses from Togarmah, that rear and neigh in the grasp of the charioteers, while a thousand Lords dismount, and women dressed in all the splendor of Syrian emerald. and the color blending of agate, ami the chasteness of coral, aud tho sombre glory of Tyrian purple, n»a prinooly embroideries brought from afar by camels across the-desort and by'ships of Tarshish across tho sea. . Open wide the gates and let the guests come in! Tho chamberlains and cup-bearers are all ready. Hark to the rustle of the silks and to tho carol of the music! Foe the blaze of the jewels! Lift tho ban ners! Fill the cups! Clap tho cymbals! Blow the trumiets! let the night go l.y with song and danco and ovation, and lot that Babylonish tongno be palsied, that will not say: “0 King Belshazzar, live for over!” Ab, my friends! it was not any common bauquet to which these - great people came. A.ll parts of tho earth bad sent their richest viands to that table. Brackets an 1 chande liers flashed their light upon tankards of bur nished goid. Fruits, ripe and luscious, in baskets of silver, entwined with leaves, pluckod from," royal conservatories. Vases inlaid with emerald aDd ridged with exquis ite traceries, tilled with nuts that were thresh is 1 from forosts of distant lamis. Wine brought from the royal vats, foaming in the decanters an l bubbling in the chalices. Tufts of cassia aud frankincense wafting their sweetness from wall and table. Gorgeous banners unfolding in the breeze that came through the opened window, bewitched with the perfume of hanging gardens. Fountains rising up from inclosures of ivory in jets of crystal, to fall in clattering rain of diamonds and pearls. Statues of mighty men looking down from niches in tho wall upon crowns and shields brought from subdued empires. Idols of wonderful work standing on pedestals of precious stones. Embroid eries drooping about the windows and wrapping pillars of cedar, and drift ing on floors inlaid with ivory aud agate. Music, mingling the thrum of harps, and the clash of cymbals,'aud the blast of trumpets in one wave of transport that went rippling along the wall and breathing among the gar lands, and pouring down the co ridors, and thrilling the sou's of a thousand banqueters. The signal is given, and the lords and ladies, the mighty men and women of the land,come around the table. Hour out the wine! Let foam and bubble kiss the rim! Hoist every one his cup, and drink to the sentiment: “Oh, King Belshazzar, live for ever!” Bestarred headband and earcanet of royal beauty gleam to the uplifted chalices, as again and ngain and again they are emptied. Away with care from the palace! Tear royal dig nity to tatters! Pour out more wine! Give Us more light, wilder music, sweeter perfume! Lord shouts to lord, captain ogles to ca|>- aiu, goblets clash, decanters rattle. There omes in the obs ene song and the drunken iecough and the slavering lip and the guffaw of idiotic laughter bursting from the lips of Princes, flushed, reeling, bloodshot; while mingling with it all I hear: “Huzza, huzza, for great Belshazzar!” What is that on the plastering of the wall? Is it a spirit! Is it a phantom? LsitGodi The music stops. The goblets fall from the nerveless grasp There is a thrill. There is a start. There is a thousand-voiced shriek of horror. Let Daniel be brought iu to read that writing. He comes in. He reads it: “Weighed in the balan 'os, and art found wanting.” Meanwhile the Assyrians, who for two years bail been laying a siege to that city, took advantage of that carousal, and came in. I hear the feet of the conquerors on the palace stairs. Massacre rushes in with a thomarid gleaming knives. Death bursts upon the s ene: and I shut the door of that banqueting hall, for I do not want to look. There is nothing there but torn banners aud broken vrr, aths, and the slush of upset tankards, and th • blood of murdered women, and the kk-ke land tumbled carcass of a deal King. For in that night was Belshazzar slain. X. I iearn from this, that, when God writes anything on the wall, a man had better read it as it is. Daniel did not misinterpret or modify the handwriting on the wall. It is all foolishness to expect a minister of the gos pel to preach always things that the people like or the people choose. What shall I preach to you t i-<lay ? Shall I tell you of the dignity of human nature! Shall 1 tell you of the wonders that our race has accomplished! “Oh, no! ” you say, ‘‘tell me the message that came from God." I will. If there is any handwriting on the wall, it is this lesson: “Repent, accept of Christ and be saved.” I mignr tain ot a great many oilier things, but that is the message, and so I declare it. Jesus never flattened those to whom he preached. He said to those who did xiroflg find who were offensive in his sight: “Ye goueratioti of \ ipci's! ye whited sepulchres! how can ye escape the damnation of hell ?” Haul the Ap. stlc preached before a man who was not rea ly to hear him preach. What subject did htttasof Did he day: "Oh, you are a good in.in, a very tills mill), it Very noble man!’ No: be pled died iff righteousness, to a matt who was unrighteous; of temperance, to a man who w as the victmi/if bad appetites; of the ju lgment to come, to a man who was unfit lor it. So we must always declare the message that happens to come "to us. Daniel must read it as it is. A minister preached before Junto s 1. of Eng.and. who w a..James VI. of Scotland. What silbjectdld he takof The King was noted ail over tho world lor being unsettled aud wavering in bis ideas. Wba did tho minister preach about to this nnn wuo wa. James 1. of England and James \ 1. of Bcotiaml.' *He took for bis text, James i.. Us "He that wavoreth is liken wave of the sen dri ,en with the wind and tossed." Hugh Latimer otieuded the King by a sermon lie preached, aiul the King said: "Hugh 1 alii nor, come and apologize.” "1 will, said Hugh l.atitnor. So tho day was appointed, and the King's chapel was full of Lords and Dukes, and tho mighty mai aud w omen ol tint country, tor Hugh ; a timer was to apologize. He began Ins sermon by saying: “Hugn Latimer, be think thto! 1 hou art iu the pmeuce of thine UiUillly King, who can destroy thy body! But nothiuk thee, Hugh Latimer, teat thou art in the presence of tho King of Heaven and earth, who cau destroy both body mid soul in hell tiro. Oh. King, cursed be thy crimes!” Another lesson that comes to us: Thero is a great difference bet ween the opening of the bauquet of siu and its close, Young man, if you hud looked iu upon the bauquet m tho first few hours, you would have wished you had been invited there and could sit at the feast. "Oh, the grandeur of Belshazzar’s feast," you would have said; but you look in ut tho close of the banquet and your blood curdles with horror. The king of Terrors lias there a ghastlier banquet; human blood is tho wine and dying groans arc the music. Bin has made itself a King in the earth. It has crowned itself. It lias spread a banquet It invites all tho world to come to it! It has huug iu its ban queting hall the spoils of all kingdoms aud the banners of nil nations. It has strewn from its wealth the tables and floors aud arches. And yet how often is that banquet broken up aud how horriblo is its eud! Ever and auon there is a handwriting on the wall. A King falls. A great culprit is arrested. The knees of wickedness knock together. God’s judgment, like an armed host, breaks in upon the banquet, and that night is Bel shazzar, the King of the Chaldeans, slain. Horo is a young man whosays: ‘'lean hot see why they make such a fuss about the intoxicating cup. Why, it is exhilarating. It makes mo feel well. I can talk better, think better, foel better. I cannot sec why p ioplo have such a prejudice against it. ” A few years pass on and he wakes up and finds himself in the clutches of an evil habit which he tries to break, but cannot; and ho erios out: “Oh Lord God, help met*' ltseomsas though God would not hoar his prayer, and In nn agony of body and soul he crios out; “It biteth like a serpent and it stingeth like an alder.” How bright it was at the start! Hou’ 1 >l<•< ,lr if. vyilS fit. tlitt loot I Hero is a man who liogius to read French novels. “They are so charming,” he says; “I will go out and soo for myself whether all those things are so.” He opens the gate of a sinful life. Ho goes in. A sinful sprite meets him with hor wand. Bhe waves her wand, and It is all enchantment. Why, it seems as if the angels of God had poured out phials of perfume in the atmosphere. As ho walks on ho finds the hills becoming more raili ant with foliage, and tho ravines more resonant with the falling water. Oh, what a charming landscape ho sees! But that sinful sprite with hor wand moots him again; and now sho reverses the wauil and all the enchantment is gone. The cup is full of poison. The fruit turns to ashes. All the leaves of tho bower aro forked tongues of hissing sorpents. Tho flowing fountains fall back in a dead pool stenchful with corruption. Tho luring songs become curses and screams of demonia ■ laughter. Lost spirits gather about him and feel for his heart, and beckon him on with: “Hail, brother! Hail, blasted spirit, hail!” He tries to get out. Ho comes to the front door where he entered and tries to push it back, but the door turns against him; and in the jar of that shutting door he heirs those words; “This night is B lshazzar, tho King of the Chaldeans, slain!” Bin may open bright as tho morning; it closes dark as tho night, I learn further from this subject that death sometimes breaks in upon a banquet. Why did he not go down to the prisons in Babylon! There were people there that would like to have died. I suppose there were men and women in torture in that city who woul d have welcomed death. But ho comes to tho palace, and just at the time when the mirth is dashing bo tho tiptop pitch, death breaks in at tho banquet Wo have often seen the same thing illustrated. Here is a young man just come from col lege. Hers kind. He is loving. Ho is en thusiastic. He is eloquent By one spring he tiny bound to heights toward which many men have been struggling for years. A pro fession opens before him. Hois established in the law. His friends cheer him. Eminent men encourage him. After awhile you may see him standing in the American Benate, or moving a popular assemblage by his elo quence. as trees are moved iu a whirlwind. Borne night he retires early. A fever is on him. Delirium, like a reckless charioteer, seizes the reins of his intellect. Father and mother stand by and see the tides of life going out to the great ocean. The banquet is coming to an end. The lights of thought and mirth and eloquence are being extin gui li d. The garlands are snatched from tho brow. Tho vision is gone. We saw tho same thing on a larger scale illustrated at the last war in this country. (tor whole nation had been sitting at a na tional 1 anquet—North, South, East and West. What grain was there but we grew it on our hills! What invention was there but our rivers mast turn the new wheel and rattle the strange shuttle? What warm furs but our trailers mast bring them from the Arctic? What fish but that our nets must sweep them for the inarketsi IV hat music but it must sing in our halls? What eloquence but it must speak in our Senates? Ho! to |the national banquet, reaching from mountain to moun tain and from sea to sea! To prepare that banquet the sheepfolds and the aviaries of tho country sent their best treasures. The orchards piled up on the table their sweetest fruits. The presses burst out with new wines. To sit at that table came the yeomanry of New Hampshire, and the lumbermen of Maine, and the tanned Carolinian from the rice swamps, and the harvesters of Wisconsin, and the Western emigrant from the pines of Oregon; and we were all brothres— brothers at a banquet. Suddenly the feast ended What meant those mounds thrown up at Chickahominy, Shiloh, Atlanta, Gettysburg, Booth Mountain? What meant those golden grain fields turned into a pasturing ground for cavalry horses; What meant the corn fields gullied with the wheels of the heavy supply train? Why those rivers of tears, those lakes of blood! God was angry. Jus tice must come. A handwritingon the walll The nation had been weighed aud found wanting. Darkness! Darkness! Woe to Ml’. VERNON. MONTGOMERY CO.. GA.. THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER Hi. 18, si;. the North! Woe to the South! Woo lo the East! Woo to the West! Death at tbu ban quet ! 4. I have also to learn from tho subject that the destruction of the vicious and of thosC Who'despise God will bo very sudden. The wave e’s mirth had dashed to tfte highest point when ihitt Assyrian! army broke through. It was aneXptr*»>d. Suddenly, al most always, comes tho doom of those who lies] i-e God and defy the laws of molt. HnW was it at the Deluge. Do you suppose'it came through a loug northwestern storm, so that | people sos (lays before were sure it was com ing! No; I slippt.se tlm morning was bright; that calmness brooded OTt tho waters; that beauty sat enthrone 1 on flic hilt?, "hell sud denly tho heavens burst and the' mountains sank like anchors into the sea, that dnsliexl dour over the Andes and the Himalaya? The Red Boa was divided. The Egyptians tried to cross it. There could be no danger. The Jordelites had jdst gone through; where they had gStne, why not the Egyptians? Oh, it was such a beautiful walking place! A pavement of tinged shells and pearls, and on either side a great wall of water, solid. Thero can be no danger. Forward, great host of the Egyptians! Clap tfio cymbals ftnd blow the trumpets ot vuetory! After them! We will catch them yet and they shall be destroyed. Bat the walls of solidified water begin to tremble. Thov rook. They fall. Tho rushing waters! The shriek of drowning men I The swimming of the war horses in vain for the shore ! The strewing of the groat host on tho bottom of the sen, or pitched by the angry wave on tho beach—a battered, bruised and loathsome wreck I Sud denly destruction came. One half hour bo fore they could not have believed it. I am just setting forth a fact which you have noticed as well as I. Ananias comes to tho apostle. The apostle says: “Did you sell the land fofso much?" Ho says: “Yes." It was a lie. Dead! As quick ns that! Snpphira, his wife, colors in. “Did you sell the lan if or so much!” “Yes.” It was a lie, and quick as that sho was dead! God’s judg ments are upon those who despise and defy Him. They come suddenly. The destroying angel went through Egypt. Do von suppose thnt any of the people knew that he was coming? I>id they hear the flap of his groat wings? No! No! Suddenly, unexpectedly, he catno. Skilled sportsmen do not like to shoot a bird standing on a sprig noar by. If tlioy aro skilled, they pride themselves on taking it on tho wing, and they wait till it starts. Death is au old sportsman, and he loves to tako men flying under tho very huh . Ho loves to fake them on tho wing. Are there any hero who aro unprepared for the eternal world? Aro there any horo who have been living without God and with out hope! Lot me say to you that you had bet ter accept of (ho Lord Jesus Christ, lest sud denly your last chance bo gone. The lungs will cease to breathe, the heart will stop. Tho timo will come wlion you shall go no more to the office, or to the store, or to tho shop. Nothing will l e left but death, and judgment, ami eternity. Oil, flee to God this 1 hour I If there be one in this presence who lias wandered fur nwny from Christ, though lie may not have heard the call of the gospol for many a year, I invite him now to come and be saved. Flee from thy sin! Floo to the stronghold of the gospel! To-day I invite you to a grander banquet than any I have mentioned. My Lord, the King, is tho banqueter. Angels are tho cup boar, rs. All tho redeemed are the guests. The balls of eternal love, froscoed with light, i and paved with joy. and curtained with un | fading beauty, are the banqueting place. The harmonies of eternity are tho music. The chalices of heaven aro the plate; and 1 am one of tho servants coming out with both hands tilled with invitations, scattering them everywhere; und of that, for yourselves, you j might break the seal of tho invitation and road the words written in rod ink of blood by the tremulous hand of a dying Christ: “Come now, for nil things are ready." After this day has rolled by and tho night has come, may you have rosy sleep guarded by Him who never slumbers! May you awake in the morning strong and well! But, oh, art thou a dospiser of God? Is tho com ing night tho lust, night on earth? Bhoulilest thou be awakened in the night by some thing, thou knowest not what,, and there lio shadows flouting in tlio room, anil a hand writing on the wall, arid you feel that your last hour is come, aud there bo fainting ut the heart, and a tremor iu the limb, and a catching of tho breath —then thy doom would be but nn echo of the words of my text: “In that night was Belshazzar, tho King of tho Chaldeans, slain.” Throwing Host in Her Eyes. “I was just now a witness to what was almost a domestic tragedy,” icmurked a young man as lie alighted from a street car the otherday on his return from a visit to a married friend, “llow did it happen?” asked several together. "It all happened on account of the tender love and sym pathy a little girl possessed for her mother,” was the response. “You see, 1 was up at ’h house, and we had planned a nice little excursion to Keuka to-morrow. lie had just gone into the dining room to explain to his w'ifc how a sudden business appointment hud called him out of town over Sunday. He suc ceeded admirably, and coming out re marked in the hearing of his six-year-old daughter that he had filled the old lady's eyes with dust. She is a very sympa thizing little girl, and before we caught on she had a basin of water and a sponge and had gone into the diningroom, as she expressed it to her mother, ‘to w ash out the dust papa said he had thrown iu mamma’s eyes.’ It gave the whole thing away, and we are not going to Keuka.” “What did the wife do about it?' 1 asked the only unmarried man in the party; “did ” but his married auditors had fled. — Elmira Gazette. Site Knew. Wishing to teach his young daughter some home-made grammar, an Oakland father, desirous of impressing upon the child the difference between singular and plural number, said : “Wh it do we say of a young laly who is not m irricd ?” Instead of the expected answer, “that she is sipg'.O,” the pert miss retorted: “We say of her that she is going to bo married,” and so ended the first lesson, — San, ErancU o Alta. Wrongly Nailed. Boarder (doubtfully)—“What do you say these are called:” Landlady—“Them's breakfast gems, sir.” Boarder (emphatically)—“Gems! Why don’t you call them dia nonds?” Landlady—“ Why diamonds, sir?” Boarder —“Because diamonds are sup I posed to be the hardest thing ia tho world”— Nation'll Weekly. “SUB DEO FACIO FORTITER Opportunity. IT* who abuts his eyes ropining. When a shmlow dims tho day; May not the svmltgUf. shining When the clouds luiVo pciasctl away. Only when the clouds arc cloven, By the toni|>esfr passing by— Is the rain with sunshine woven, Then the rainbow spans tho sky. MontUln Advance. NONA'S OBEDIENCE. A lovely afternoon in the spring, when the balmy air mni the fresh, bright toi lets of tho ladies made a gala day even on Broadway. Philip Hays stood at his office door, thoughtfully pulling on Ids neatly-fitting gloves. 1 say “thoughtfully,” because that word just, describes bis state of mind, which was that of halting between two opinions—whether to go for his usual uptown stroll, have n comfortable dinner at the Westminister, and a little flirtation with Jessie Mabin afterward, or to cross tho river and take a train for his brother’s lovely place in Jersey, lie told himself, as he was carefully button ing his right hand glove, that the cher ries were ripe, and that ho really needed a little fresh air and country milk. But he knew of a far better reason yet, if he would have acknowledged it; and what is more, other people know it too Brother Will was wise enough to credit his pretty sister-in-law with Philip's re markable access of fraternal affection, and little Nona Zabriska herself liad a shrewd guess as to what kind of cherries Mr. Philip Mays came to tho country to taste. Well, on this particular afternoon the country proved to bo finally tho more powerful attraction, and in an hour and a half after the gloves had been fitted to a nicety they were taken oil' again, that the wearer might clasp tho hands of tho dearest, sweetest, brightest litllo coun try maiden that any man with the right kind of heart or eyes could desire to sec. What Philip said to Nona, and what Nona said to Philip, the cherry-trees and tho evening-star probably know; but it wns very delightful, and so satisfying that tho young people canto back to tho house without any cherries at all, and presently there was a great deal of hand shaking and kissing, which ended in a bottle of champagne and mutual good wishes. Well, after this, for a couple of weeks, there was no hesitating at tho office door. Philip said “strawberries” now when his friends rallied him about his sudden passion for tho country, and tho straw berry excuse did just as well tut tho cher ries. But as tho weather grew hotter, tho subject of summer resorts became upper most. Philip’s mother and sister were going to somo fashionable Virginian springs, and ho greatly desired that his little Nona should go with them. To tell the truth, he did wish slie was a little more stylish, and would put up her curls, abandon aprons, and dress like Jessie Mabin did. That would perfectly satisfy him, ho thought. Yes, Nona Za briska dresssed like Jessie Mabin would leave him nothing to desire. lie went about his plans with that tact which young men who have sisters easily acquire. A little present from Tiffany’s, and a modest check “just for spending-money,’ made his sister Cecelia sufficiently interested in his project. “Nona is a dear little girl, Cecelia,” he said. “All she wants is a more state ly manner and stylish dress.” “If that is what you desire, Philip, why do you not marry Jessie Mabin? I thought you liked her well enough.” “Because, Gecile, I want a heart inside tho dress—a pure, fresh, loving heart.” “It seems to mo—.” But here Cecilo stopped. She was wise enough to know she would be “throwing words away.” The next difficulty was to make Nona delicately understand his wishes, and in duce her to accept the invitation sent her by Ids mother and sister. He approach ed the subject under the most favorable circumstances; the moonlight did not betray his confusion, and Ids encircling arm held her so close to his heart that he had no fear of not securing attention if argument or explanation became neces sary. “I am so glad, Nona, that you are going with Cecile. I am sure it will do you good.” And then lie stopped and kissed her for emphasis. “I go to please you Philip. I arn quite well, thank you." ft Oh! but I don’t mean about your health, Nona. You little witch! who could have such bright eyes and red lips and not be quite well! I mean about dress and deportment, and those kind of things.” There was a little ominous silence, and then a low, grieved voice: “I don’t think I understand you, Philip.” “No, dear; and upon the whole I am glad you have never understood so far. You s«', when we are married we shall live in tho city, and wo must behave aud dress as city people do. Cecilo will show you all about it, darling, so don’t troublo your pretty little head.” “I thought you liked mo just as I am, Philip. What is wrong in (be city that is proper and pretty in the country, will you tell me?” “Certainly, Nona. Your loose flowing hair and short dresses, and your frank, familiar ways, all so perfectly charming just here, would occasion remarks and unpleasant criticisms in the city. 1 want my little girl to bo as fashionable) and as stylish as—ns well, as Jessie Mabin.” "All 1 she is your ideal, is she?” Much more to tho same purpose, min gled with kisses and compliments, was said, but nothing in it deceived tho wounded woman’s heart. For Nona, though not a fashionable woman, was a truo woman, nevertheless, and under stood not only what had been said, hut also all that had been left to bo inferred. It was not possible for him to leave his business entirely, hut it had boon ar ranged that once a lurtnth lie was to pay a few day’s visit to the springs, and in the intervals bo refreshed and comfortod by regular and plentiful supplies of let ters. Tho supply wns pretty fair tho first week, but fell off gradually afterward, until several days passed without any token of Nona’s faith and memory. Still ho did not feel much troubled. Ho thought he quite understood Nona’s rea sons, and at any rato he relied with im plicit confidence on tho effect which Philip Hays ill his own proper person could not fail to make. This confidence did not ngreo with events. He arrived at the springs and found Nona out driving with Jack Chris tie a young man whom he particularly disliked for his pretentious manners, lie was on the piazza when they returned, and ho was certain Nona saw him, though she kept her eyes on Jack’s face, and pretended tho greatest interest in his foolish conversation; for of two things Philip was certain first, that her inter est was pretended, and second, that Jack’s conversation was foolish. Then he felt unaccountably and, as ho very well know, unreasonably chilled by the greeting of tho splendidly dressed Nona, wtio calmly and nonchalantly ex tended tho tips of her gloved lingers to him, drawling out tho while a pretty lit tle assurance of being “so glad to see Mr. Hays,” with the information that "Cecilo hod been expecting him sinco the early in riling train.” “Cecile 1” he said, reproachfully. “And you too, Nona?” “Oh dear no, Mr. Hays. It is quite too exhausting to expect anything. One at a time is quite sufficient.” Philip was shocked and silenced for the time. For one distressing half hour ho tried to assume his rights as her be trothed, but slie kept Jack Christie per sistently between them; and so, angry and hurt, he. sought his sister Cceile. “Cecile,” lie said, “what a change there is in Nona! What is the cause?” “A wonderful change! I never saw a girl improve so rapidly. I suppose you are the cause. Do you know that she is really tl m bellel .Jack Christie and Ed. Forsyth and half a dozen others are rav ing about her. Positively they are, Phil.” “Very kind of them, but—” “Well, so it is, you know. Very first families, and all that kind of thing, you know. Upon my word, brother, 1 believe Nona will make a sensation next winter. Mamma is quite satisfied now." But Philip was not. No, not at all. Very far from it. That night at the hop Nona looked lovely and grand enough for a queen, her golden hair arranged in some picturesque style, which Jack Christie amiably declared to be “just the thing,” yards of satin and lace mak iag a track of glory behind her, and gold and jewels flashing from her head, her throat, and her wrists. All in vain, however, Philip pleaded for a dance. Nona had been engaged for every set since breakfast, and she reminded him rather maliciously of the necessity of conforming to the usages of society. Ho he had the satisfaction of watching the social triumph of the fu ture Mrs. Hays. Three miserable days of continual disappointment and then Philip deter mined to go back to New York, and sec Nona no more until she returned to her country home. He bade his mother and Cecilo good by, and gave tho regulation kiss to Nona, who received it with perfect, placidity and many kind wishes for his pleasant journey; for, as he was to leave very early in the morning, the ladies did not expect to sec him again before his departure. As they passed out of tho parlors Nona YOU. I. NO. 28. turned a inomerP, and a flash of tho fdd tenderness matin her fare lieautiful, her lips parted, and slit 1 hesitated a moment ns if slit; would speak, but finally passed on aud away. Poor Philip! He took bis cigar and sat down on the dark, silent balcony, miserable enough; hut in about half an hour a timid little figure stole through the deserted room, and without warn ing laid her band upon his shoulder. He turned rapidly, all the great passion, which bad grown to deep r intensity in his buffering, bursting out in one im ploring whisper of “Nona!” “Philip 1” Well, you know the end. Philip did not like tho fashionable Nona at all; his whole heart cried out for the sweet, nat ural girl that lie luid never prized enough till he believed her gone forever. Tho tangled curls, the short dresses, even tho little milled aprons, never .note looked homely in his eyes. Ever afterward he had the most whole some fear of Nona turning fashionable; and sho to this day, when Philip is in the “opposition,” reminds him of his ono experiment in managing women, and as sures him that in tho long run lie would not like his own way if ho got it, anil so ho takes hers, which, after all, 1 have no doubt,is tho most scnsihlo thing ho can do.— llarper't Weekly. v 4 Ho Holds >lie Pence. Several weeks ago a Detroiter pur chased a piece of land in the west end of tho county. After tho purchase had been completed ho engaged a surveyor’s services to see if ho had been cheated. The discovery was made that alinc-fenco was over on his land eight inches. When ho went to tho owner of tho adjoining property with the statement tho man re plied : “Stranger, the row about that fence began twenty-eight years ago. It was then five feet over tho line, and the two men lit and fit tint 1 one was killed and the other crippled. After a while it was moved a foot, and then the other owners fit and fit until the lawyers got tho two farms. The fence was then moved an other foot, and the two now owners spent half tin; year in jawing each other and tho other half in Inwing. One died and the other got sold out on a mortgage, and when I got this farm the fence was moved over another foot. Then I fit and lit, and two years ago was kicked in the ribs and laid up fur three months. During that time tho fence was moved to tho present line. Ho it’s still on your land?” “Vos.” “Well, I s’posc the proper thing is a row. if you’ll go out by the barn with your revolver I’ll come out and hunt for you with the shot-gun. If you git the drop on me don’t let go, because I shall shoot to kill.” It took the Detroiter some time to con vince the farmer that lie didn’t care for eight inches of land.and that lie wouldn’t have the fence moved for fifty dollar.), mid when he had succeeded the old man drew a long breath of relief and replied: “That’s kind o’ you, and it leaves my boys a chance to fit and fit after I’m gone. I hope you aint cornin’ out here to live alongside o’ me?” “No.” “Glad on’t. If you lease, git some man who’ll want them other eight inch es. The hoys and I is lonesome for ex citement. ” Detroit Free Pre»». A Feline’s Fright. Last week in connection with a study of the carnivora, says a Denver scientist, 1 obtained a cat from an acquaintance at a dinner and carefully dissected it in a room above our stable. When I had fin ished tho cut was, as may ho supposed, hardly recognized. I cleaned the scal pels, placed them iu the case, and took thorn to the house. No sooner had I put them down than I observed our own cat go and sniff all around the case with a peculiar look of intense wonder. I took the instruments away and thought no more about it; but a short time after I returned to the remains of :ho dissected cat in order to prepare tho skeleton, when I saw our cat standing at a distance of about a foot from tho dissection, and presenting an appearance of most help less terror. She was trembling from head to foot, and in such a condition of evi dent horror that my presence had no ef fect upon her. After some moments sho noticed me, and then darted away with a scared look such as I had never before seen. Hire did not return to tho house that day, a thing quite unusual, but on the next day she returned and entered the house witli a fearful caution, as though realizing the probability that she herself might become a victim to science, and her whole conduct was changed. This suggests that the country custom of using dead birds, weasels,etc., as a scare to the like is not entirely unreasonable, and it would lie interesting to know whether others have noticed similar ef fects.