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VOL. I.
When the twigs begin to rustle
And the birds are all a-bustle
On the bough;
When the azure skv discloses
Promise sweet of June with roses
On her brow;
When tho brook that sang so sadly
Welcomes every sunbeam, gladly
Frolicking;
When to wood-songs’ subtle rhyming
Countless echoes soft are chiming,
Then it’s Spring.
Mag Halman’s Debt,
r AD, them old
. of
cows
Hendrick’s is
__g 1' over yonder in
^ S the ’taler
1 patch!’’ don't
t i * ‘‘T° u
tell me so ! I’ll
jest ha’ter see
- 3 * p j »bout them
e e
cows o’ his’n. Mow’d they git in,
Mag?”
“Dunno, ’les they jumped the fence
over at the back side. ”
The freckled, red-haired girl re
treats into the cabin but reappears at
the window a moment later and calls
out—“Dad, I’ll take Joe and Billy
and go drive them cows out. You
jes’ stay hero and git yer talk out
* with Mr. Snow. Here, Joe, you an’
Billy come on an* hurry up, about it,
Yer air most as slow as ole Pete his
sef.” And with a merry laugh at her
bright remark Mag jerks a faded calico
sunbonuet from a nail on tbs “porch"
and followed by Joe and Billy, is soon
on her way to the “ ’tater patch.”
“Honey, be shore ’brin’ie an’ nut the fence
up good; that ole critter's a
tarrible jumper, she is,” colls the old
man after her, then turning to Francis
Snow he says:
“Mr. Know, that gal o’ mine’s a
mighty smart gal."
“Yes, Mt. Halman, I tee that she is
very industrious. Is she smart at
school or has she ever been to school?”
“Smart! Well, I should remark!
Why, Mr. Snow, I tell you whut’s a
fao’, Mag could beat every chile in
school an’ the teacher ter boot all
holler on spellin'an'readiu'1 Smart!
I should say she wits smart!”
Francis Snow stroked his soft thick
mustache in order to conceal a smile.
"Well, Mr. Hulmau, these little
country schools are well enough for
small children, but don’t you think
you ought to send Mag to college?
You told me you wanted to educate
your boys; now isn’t it just as irnpor
tant your girl should receive a college
education? I think that it is even
more so. Now suppose you were to
die suddenly—not that you look ill at
present”—with a slight smile as he
notes tbo round, good-humored face
and the robust frame of tho old man—
“but- such things frequently occur;
your boys could Jive on here and work
the farm, but what could Mag do?
Yes, Mr. Halman, I think you should
send her oil to school. How old did
you say she is?”
“Fifteen, sir; fifteen this month,”
replies the old man, as he removes his
wide hat and begiiTs to scratch his
head slowly and thoughtfully. “Well,
sir, everything you say is gospel
truth, and I b’leeve I ought’er send
Mag to a better school ’n what we has
np here. I did ’low ter send Jim over
to Perfeseer Jinkius’s as soon as the
cotton’s all picked, an’ how I’m agoia’
to pay fer two is more’a I kin see at
the present. Yes, siree! there ain’t
no doubt about it, Mag oughter be
sent to school some more ’gin she gits
gTOwn, ’cause Mag's a pretty tolerable
good gal, Mag is.”
“Well, Mr. Halman, I am very much
interested in Mag’s education, and if
you’ll pay half, why t’li go the other."
“Boy, air yon clean gone crazy?
You are grit through and through,
boy, and I’ll take it an’ pay yer back
when I kin.”
“And if you never can, it will be all
right; 1 will never miss the money.
Good-Dye, I’ll come over in the morn¬
ing,” and with a parting nod Francis
is walking away.
“HoP on! boy; Mag can’t go to
that thar town school, ’cause thar jest
ain’t no place fer her ter stay at, an’ I
have sot my foot down that thar shan’t
nary gal o’ mine board at none o’ them
colleges.”
Francis slowly retraces his steps.
“That matter can be easily arranged,
Mr. Halman. I have a sister in the
city, Mrs. Terroll, who no doubt will
be glad to have Mag stay with her.
I’ll write to her to-night. Good-bye.”
“Good day, Mr. Snow, I’ll talk ter
my wife about it,” and Air. Halman
enters the house, stooping his head a
little as he goes through the low cabin
door.
Francis Snow having written to his
sister and having received a satisfac¬
tory answer, and Mr. Halman having
talked it over with his wife and Mag,
they meet and hold a long conversa¬
tion, and the result is that when the
cotton is opening in the field, the
burrs are turning brown, and the
leaves begin to fall Mag leaves her log
cabin home in. the hills and eaters
Mrs. Bostwick’s Select Seminary for
Young Ladies in the city.
Four years have passed since Mag,
SIGNS.
When your clothes seem dank and clinging
And you cannot hear the singing,
Since a cold
Gave your head that buzz ecstatic.
When you throb with sharp, erratic
Pains untold;
When good-natUred folk assure you
That they know just what will cure you,
And you bring
A most harrowing melancholy
’Mougst your friends who would be jolly—
Then it’s Spring. *
with red, disheveled hair and bare,
brown feel, drove the cows out of the
potato patch, and to-night Mag, tall
and graceful, is to read her graduating
essay. The brilliant alumnae hall is
thronged with people who have asaem
bled to hear the commencement exer
cisea of Mrs. Bostwick’s school. Mag’s
essay is last on the programme. As
she rises and comes forward she is very
unlike tho Mag of four years ago. The
red hair is almost auburn now, and
the freckles havo disappeared. Her
simple white dress is made low, and
around the slender white neck is
clasped a beautiful gold necklace, the
gift of Francis Snow. She has chosen
for her subject “The Englishman in
America,” and handles it with skill
and grace. Only once does the clear
voice falter, and that is when, looking
down into the sea of faces, her bine
oyos encounter the dark brown ones
of Francis Snow fastened earnestly
upon her. When the exercises are
over he comes up on the stage to offer
his congratulations. After the recap
tion he walks with her to Mrs. Ter
roll’s,
“Did you like the little present I
sent you?” he asks, as they walk slowly
down the street.
“It is just beautiful. Thank yon so
much,” she answers quietly. “Mr.
Snow, how can I ever repay you for
what you have done for me?”
“Repay me! What do you mean? I
haven’t done anything for you,” he ex
claims in astonishment.
“But J know yon have been paying
the greater portion of niv expenses
during these ,"«ur ye -.6 I have been at
school.”
"Mag, who told you this?”
“Father told me two years ago when
was at home one summer.” There
is a moment’s silence, then Francis
says slowly :
“Mag, I am very sorry your father
told you. He promised me that he
wouldn’t tell. Yon speak of repaying
me ; never mind about it now, you may
repay an hundred fold some time.”
“No, not an hundred fold, but I
will try to nay you all I owe,” Mag an
swers a Ltt e sharply. They walk on
in silence until they reach Mrs. Ter
roll’s door, then Francis pauses a min
ute and says:
“Well, 1 suppose I must say good
bye. I only ran up to see you
your diploma. Tell sister good-bye
for me.”
“I will. Good-bye and thank yon
again.”
“Good-bye; remember what
said about paying me.”
“I will remember,” she
shortly, and in a moment Mag
passed into the hall and shut the door,
Bhe unclasps the shining necklace
her throat and puts it away in the very
bottom of her trunk, muttering:
“Now, stay there, you hateful thing
I never will wear you again! If
is any man in the State of
more conceited, more egotistical,
altogether more despicable
Francis Snow I have yet to see him.
Never mind, I’ll show him some
who can be the more high and mighty,
he or ‘Mag’ Halman.”
Francis Snow is sitting on the veran¬
da talking to his uncle when a ser¬
vant comes out and hands a letter to
him saying:
“A boy hab jes brung dat from Mr.
Halman’s, sah,”
Francis tears it open hurriedly
and reads:
Kisd Fbibnd: I! you have no other en¬
gagement please come over sometime to-day.
as I wish to see you on very important
business. I would not send so soon after
your arrival, but I did not know how long
you wish expected to remain before at your uncle’s, and
1 to see you you return to the
city. Respectfully,
Mabgabet Hai.mas.
“Tell the boy that I will be there at
once, and tell Robert to saddle Nancy
Hanks and bring her around,” he com¬
mands, and then awaits with im¬
patience. He has not been up here in
over five years, and is not prepared
for the changes which have been made
in his absence. At first he thinks he
may be lost, then he sees that the
barn and onthonses have not been
altered. The old log house has been
replaced by a neat white cottage, and
in place of the hollyhocks, bachelor
buttons, prince’s feathers and morning
glories, • which formerly “adorned”
the front yard, rosebushes, violets
and honeysuckles have been planted.
Kindly Mrs. Halman meets him at
the door with a smile of welcome.
“Howdy’e, Mr. Francis. Walk in,
Mr. Francis; take this cheer, Hit’s
a powerful sight better’n’tother nn.
Didn’t hardly know the old place, did
yor? Hit’s terribly improved; all
; Mag’s doing. Here, take this fan, Mr.
m
.
Murray EWS ’* ’ •
SPRING PLACE. GA., FRIDAY, APRIL 16, 1897.
Francis; ’pears ter me dike it’s power*
ful* warm for the time o’ year. I’ll
(kill Mag.”
Francis, left alone,, looks around
the tiny parlor with no small degree
of interest. As Mrs. Halrnau said,
things have indeed been “terribly im¬
proved.” The pretty matting on the
floor, the white muslin curtaius, the
flowers on the mantel, and in fact
every article in the room is indicative
of a retiued woman’s presence and a
woman’s thoughtful care.
In another moment Mag enters the
room. He extends his hand quickly.
“This is Mag 1"
“Yes, I am Margaret Halman,’’
without noticing the proffered'hand;
“have a seat, Mr. Snow.” They sit in
silence for a minute, then Francis,
looking at his companion, fanoies he
sees a faint smile quivering around
the perfect lips. pleasant
“Fr-r we are having
weather now,” he stammers, looking
at his companion. The fact is, he
simply cannot keep from looking at
her. He thought she was pretty four
years ago when she graduated, but she
is ten times more beautiful now.
“Do you think so? I never could
endure such extreme heat,” she an¬
swers calmly, “But, Mr. Snow, I did
not send for you in order to exohange
compliments on the weather. Mr.
Snow, I wish to know the exact amount
you expended in my interest while I
was at school?”
“I—I don’t remember the exaot
amount, Miss Halman—about fivehun
dred dollars, I think. Why do you
wish to know?”
“Because I have constantly expected
to hear from you relative to my debt
to you, and now that I have the money
I wish to make a settlement with
you.” think I
"Miss Halman, why do you
would write to you about it?”
“Because I thought that perhaps
you would think I had forgotten it, ak
you seemed so anxious to impress it
upon my memory the last time I saw
you,” bitterly. did think
“Miss Halman—Mag, you
I wanted you to pay me that way?
Didn’t you know that—that—that—”
“That-what?”
They have risen now and are stand¬
ing before the window.
“Didn’t yon know 1 loved you that
night, and that—that was what I
meant by yonr repaying me?”
“No,” slowly, turning her face Horn
him.
“Now that you know, won’t you
take me, Mag?” he asks softly, look*
ing down into her blue eyes.
“Won’t you take me, you mean, as
a mortgage on that debt,” she an¬
swers playfully; then, as he takes her
hand in his, she adds;
“Yes, if you think I will do as a
mortgage for a five-huudred-dollar
debt.”—Washington Silver Knight.
Diseases of Gems.
The Philadelphia Times is authority
fox the statement that gems are af¬
flicted with uiseases just as individuals.
Among the infirmities to whioh pre¬
cious stones are liable, says the Times,
is one common to all stones, that of
fading, or losing color, when long ex¬
posed to the light. Thb emerald, the
sapphire, and the ruby Buffer the
leoBt, their colors being as nearly per¬
manent as colors can be, yet experi¬
ments made a few years ago in Paris
and Berlin to determine the deteriora¬
tion of colored gems through exposure
showed that even those suffered, a ruby
which has lain for two years in a Bhow
window being perceptibly lighter in
tint than its original mate, which was
kept in the darkness. The causes of
the changes are not very clear, even
to expert chemists, but it is evident
that the action of the light on the’col
oring matter of the gem effects a de¬
terioration, slow but exceedingly sure.
In the case of the garnet and topaz
the change is more rapid than in that
of the ruby and sapphire. Opals that
have successfully passed the ordeals of
grinding, polishing and setting do not
often crack afterward, but it is best
not to expose them to even the mod¬
erate heat involved by the wearer sit¬
ting in front of an open fire, for ths
opal is composed principally of silicic
acid, with from five to thirteen per
cent, of water, a combination which
renders them very treacherous objects.
The idea that they are otherwise un¬
fortunate in the sense that they bring
disaster to the wearer may he dis¬
missed as superstitious.
The Eye a Perfect Camera.
The eye is a perfect photographer’s
camera, says a writer in the Ladies’
Home Journal. The retina is the dry
plate upon which are focused all ob¬
jects by means of the crystalline lens.
The cavity behind this lens is the cam
era. Tbe iris and pupil are the dia¬
phragm. The eyelid is the drop shut¬
ter. The draping of the optical dark¬
room is the only black membrane in
the entire body. This miniature cam¬
era is self-focusing, self-loading and
self-developing, and takes millions of
pictures every day, in colors and en¬
larged to life Bize.
Swiss Telephones.
In Switzerland, from the smallest
village it is now possible to telephone
to any place in the country at a fee
from two cents to eight cents for the
most distant points on instruments
through which one can hear with
perfect distinctness, and which are
kept in thorough repair.
WORDS OF WISDOM,
the Disappointments are wings that bear
soul skyward.
Whatever makes men good Chris
Mans makes them good citizens.
Kindness is a precious oil that makes
the crushing wheels of oare seem
lighter.
Happy the man who learns the im¬
measurable distance between his wishes
and his powers.
It is a good deal easier to convince
a man that, he is wrong than to get
liun to acknowledge it.
Enter into thebnsiness or trade that
you like best and for which nature
seems to have fitted you, provided it
is honorable.
It is the character of consummate
merit to be able to live in a retreat
with honor, after ouq has lived in pub
ho with splendor.
Words are good, but there is some¬
thing better. The best can not be
explained by words. Tho spirit on
which we act is the chief matter.
Oliver Wendell Holmes said: The
human race is divided in two classes—
those who go ahead and do something,
and those who sit and inquire, “Why
wasn’t it done the other way?”
Be cheerful. If you have no great
trouble on your mind you have no
right to render other people miser¬
able by your long face and dolorous
|ones. If you do yon will be generally
^voided.
The best way to remember anything
is to thoroughly understand it, and to
often recall it to mind. By reading
continually, with great attention, and
never leaving a passage without com¬
prehending it well, we cannot fail to
improve the memory.
It is a truth which needs continual
emphasis that the highest work for
any. one is that whioh he can do best.
A weak lawyer,an inefficient physician,
an incapable financier are vostly in¬
ferior as men and as workers to the
skilled mechanic or the well-trained
laborer who knows his work and does
it with thoroughness and self-respect.
Sixes.
A hand is 4 inches.
A size in eollars is 1 inch.
The nail is 2j inches long.
•A nautical knot is 6100 feet.
. 4t’-> ska in cuffs is half an inch.
A quarter of cloth is 9 inches.
The royal 82 mo. is 5x3 inches.
A royal quarto is I2jxl0.
One hundred quarts make a cask.
The royal 24 mo. page is 5^x3 i.
A square 16 mo. page is 4ix3|.
The hedgehog is 10 inohes in length.
A royal octavo volume is 10jx6j.
The ordinary pin is about 1 inoh
long. considered be about 2
A pace is to
feet.
The medium octavo is 9Jx6 inohes.
The 48 mo. paged volume is 3ix2j.
A size in finger rings is 1-16 of an
inch.
A bushel is equal to 2150.42 cubic
inches.
One hundred spoonfuls make one
quart. moccasin is from 18 inohes to
The
3 feet.
A demy folio volume is 18x11
inches.
Desks are from 26. to 30 inches in
height. human is 2
The ordinary nose
inches long. red from lj to
The common fox is
feet long,
A size in stockings is three-quarters
of an inoh.
Knitting needles are usually 9 inches
in length. from to 2$
The average ear is 2
inohes in length.
The viper grows from 2 to 3i feet
in length. 6
The average cigar is from 4 to
inches in length.
The American mole is about 6
inches in length.
Prison Sold at Auction.
The literature of auctioneering is
full of cleverness and verbal oddities,
but Carlow, England, turns up with
a line of humor which is all the more
effective because it is so unconscious.
An advertisement recently printed
there stated that “the old gaol” would
be offered in one lot. It goes on to
particularize with enthusiasm and di¬
late with zeal concerning a “female
prison of thirty cells,” “debtors’ pri¬
son,” “convict prison, containing
thirty-fonr cells,” “house of correc¬
tion,” "treadmill” and "three-throw
pump.” There is also “a very fine cut
granite gate entrance,” and “all cells
are fitted with double wrought-iron
doors.” In fact, “all modern improve
ments”would seem to be the only ad¬
ditional necessity in the way of entic¬
ing description.
The Ancient Uame ot Mora.
“Nessus” writes to the New York
Times, asking for a description of the
ancient game called mora. This is
the game the Romans used to call
Digitis Maeare (flashing or snapping
with the fingers). It is a very old
game, and is played in all parts of the
world, generally by only two persons after
at a time. One of the players, low¬
raising his right hand, suddenly
ers it with one or more of the fingers
extended; the other player tries to
guess the number of fingers so ex¬
tended. Mora is even now played for
small stakes in Mulberry street.
POPULAR SCIENCE.
The horse when biow mg is guided
entirely by the nostrils in the choice
of proper food, and blind horses ore
never known to make mistakes in their
diet.
Moths may be kept from furs and
woolens, United States entomologist
L. O. Howard concludes, by cold stor¬
age during the summer at forty de¬
grees.
Insects are for thoir size the strongest
members of the animal creation. Many
beetles can lift a weight equal to more
than 500 times the weight of their own
bodies.
Professor Riebarz and Dr. Krigar
Menzel, of Berlin, announce, as tbo
result of investigations extending over
twelve years, that “the density of tho
earth is such that tho whole globe
weighs 54,661 trillion tons.”
A number of people in New York
have formed a club called the Mycolo
gioal Club, which, as its name indi¬
cates, will have for its objects the
“classification and identification of
the larger fungi of the United States;
the study of edible mushrooms and
toadstoolsand also the poisonous varie¬
ties, and to arouse a wider interest in
economic foods.”
It has recently been discovered that
iodine exists in combination in the
human body. It ocours in the thyroid
gland, and may be concerned as the
essential chemical substance in the in¬
ternal secretion of that gland. The
proof of the occurrence of iodine in
the living structure of animals is of
great scientific interest and import¬
ance, says Knowledge, and is the most
remarkable discovery made by chemi¬
cal physiology for some time.
There are several speoie3 of fish, rep¬
tiles and insects whioh never si. ep
during their stay in this world. Among
fish it is now and positively known sleep that
piko, salmon goldfish never
at all. Also that there are several
others of the fish family that never
sleep more than, a few minutes during
a month. There are dozens of species
of fiies which never indulge in slum¬
ber, and from three to five species of
serpents which the naturalists have
never yet been able to catch napping.
The bat flight is somewhat flutter¬
ing, and they are exceedingly hard to
shoot, owing to their extraordinary
rapidity. The bat wing is formed on
a principle different from any other
wing. The flying-fox bat has its third
finger particularly elongated, and the
membrane of the wing is stretched
down to the side of the body. The
principal motion in flight is the down¬
ward sweep produced by the construc¬
tion of the breast muscles; and in
birdsthe breastbone has a vertical keel,
bo as to afford point or surface for at¬
tachment, which, in the chiokou, is
called the breaBt. In the bats we find
the keel and the collar bone.
The Biggest Sailing Craft.
The largest sailing craft in existence
is the Potosi, now engaged in the
nitrate trade with the west coast of
South America. She was built by F.
Laeisz of Hamburg, in 1895. Her
principal dimensions are; Length,
362 feet; breadth, 49j feet; depth,
3l£ feet; gross register, 2995 tons,
and net register, 3789 tons. She has
a dead weight carrying capacity of
6150 tons, and besides being the
largest sailing ship in existence, she
also possesses the distinction of being
the only five-masted one, with the ex¬
ception of the La France of Dunkirk,
whioh is of considerably smaller di¬
mensions. During her first voyage to
Iquique, a distance of 11,000 miles
was covered in seventy-two days, a re¬
markably fast trip. trade
The largest vessel engaged in
on the American coast is the Governor
Ames, a five-masted wooden schooner
trading regularly between Newport
News and Providence, R. I. She was
built at Waldoboro, Me., in 1888, by
Levitt Storer and her principal dimen¬
sions are: Length, 345 feet 5 inches;
beam, 21 feet 2 inches; depth, 21 feet
2 inches, and her net tonnage is 1,-
689.84. Captain C. A. Davis is the
master and owner, and her hailingport
is Providence. She is one of a fleet of
schooners engaged in carrying the
celebrated New River coal from New¬
port News to Providence, and carries
about 3000 tons on a draught of 22
feet. She is the only five-masted
schooner on this coast, the largest in
existence; and she has a sail area of
about 7000 square yards.
Study of Earthquakes.
Professor Milne described to the
Royal Institution recently the latest
discoveries regarding earthquakes. He
said that seismology was now so well
developed that he was able not only to
study earthquakes which no one felt,
buthad commenced to investigate their
relations, of which there were many,
with the most promising concerned results. As
far as geology is there are
thousands of earthquakes or eartl*
tremors every year, and a half of them
came from deep water. The ocean was
really the home of earthquakes.
Twenty years ago their study was com¬
menced in Japan, with the result that
the seismology of that country bad
revolutionized the seismology of the
whole world. As a consequence the
methods of building in Japan had been
entirely altered, so that the houses
erected on new principles stood while
their neighbors’ were shattered.
NO. 35.
AFTER THE BATTLE.
Sins banners and cannon and roll of drum!
The shouting of men and the marshuling!
Lo! cannon to cannon and earth struofc
dumb!
Oh, battle, in song, is a glorious thing!
Oh. glorious day riding down to the fight!
Oh, glorious battle in story and song!
Oh, godlike man to die for the right!
Ob, manlike God, to revenge the wrong!
Yen, riding to battle, on hattle day—
Why a soldier is something more than n
king!
But alter the battle? Tho riding away?
Ah, the riding away is another thing!
—Joaquin Miller.
rrra and point.
“Nan, did that editor return your
manuscript?” “Yes, the mean old
thing 1 Why, I poured a whole ounce
of the best violet extract on that
Btory 1”—Phck.
Editor—“Who was the first humor¬
ist?” Author—“I really don’t remem¬
ber." Editor—“Ithought you might;
you have been bringing us in his
jokes.”—Truth.
Tyres—“Have you named your boy
yet? ” Spokes—“No; my wife and I
can’t agree. She wants to name him
after her wheel and I want to name
him after mine.”
She—“The Count, you know, can
trace his flmily back 800 years.” He
— “Ah! Through the bankruptcy
court records, I suppose.”—Philadel¬
phia North American.
“I wish I were an ostrioh,” said
HiokB, angrily, as he tried to eat one
of his wife’s cakes, “I wish you were,”
returned Mrs. Hicks. “I’d get a few
feathers lor my hat then.”—Standard.
Bacon—“My partner and myself
want a wooden partition across the
store;” Builder~“Well, I guess if
you put your heads together you can
accomplish it. ’’—Yonkers Statesman.
Hicks—“It is so hard to get any¬
thing through Jaokway’s head." Wicks
—“Iknow it. Strange, too, when you
come to think of it. Surely, there
can be nothing in the way 1”—Boston
Transcript.
Lawyer—“I must know the whole
truth before I can successfully defend
you. Havo you told me everything?” the
Prisoner—“Except where I hid
money, I want that for myself,”—
Detroit Free Press.
“His aim in life seems to be a poor
one.” “Yes; he inherits that from
his mother. I once saw her throw a
stone at a dog in the street and hit
hei husband in the back yard.”—
Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Miss Summers—“That was an aw¬
fully old joke your friend got oft a
little while ago. I can remember
hearing it when I was a girl.” Mr.
Winters—“Oh, it can’t be as old as
that.”—Yonkers Statesman.
Author—“I am troubled with in¬
somnia. I lie awake at night hour
after hour thinking about my literary
work.” His Friend—“How very fool¬
ish of you 1 Why don’t you get up
and read portions of it?”—Standard.
Husband—“What did you think
when you heard the chandelier fall m
the night?” Wife—“I thought that
you had been detained on ‘business’
again and were getting upstairs Free as
quietly as you could.”—Detroit
Press.
Hieks—“What a confounded chatter
those women are keeping np in that
room! Wonder what they are up to?”
Wicks—“Having-a game of whist, I
believe.” Hicks—“Of course; I ought
to have known it.”—Boston Tran¬
script.
Old Friend—“Great heavens, man?
Do I find you reduced to playing a
cornet on the street corner to make a
living?” Boggs—“I ain’t doing this
to make a living. My wife won’t let
me practice in the house.”—London
Tit-Bits.
Very Stout Lady (watching the
lions)—“ ’Pears tome, mister, that
ain’t a very big piece o’ meat for sech
an animal.” Attendant—“I s’pose it
does seem like a little meat to you,
ma’am, but it’s enough for the lion.”
—Household Words.
A (Juaint Kentucky Episode.
News comes to the Mount Vernon
(N. Y.) Signal that a couple, just out
of their teens, got married over in
Madison County last fall. The mother
of the groom presented him with a
large sweet potato, directing him to
place it between the featherbed and
the straw tick to prevent its freezing,
that he might use it next spring for
seed. smoothly He did so, and everything ran
very until abont a week ago
thoy noticed that the bed had become
very springy, and upon examination
found that the potato had sprouted
and sent out vines until it had formed
a large mattress underneath, and at¬
tached to the potato was fifteen
pounds of small potatoes.
Left His Card.
Voltaire and Piron were enemies.
To their embarrassment they met one
day at the country house of a friend.
Piron got up early, went to Voltaire’s
door and wrote upon it the word
“Rogue.” At breakfast Voltaire
smilingly said tGhim: "I thank you
for showing your interest in my wel¬
fare by leaving your card at my door
this morning.”