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“Jim baa a future front of him”—
Tbut’e what tuey used to say of Jim,
, #Vkr when young Jim was only tea
Hoiawjjlcd with the wisest men,
With wisest men he used to mix, (
And talk ofiaw and politics;
And everybody said of Jim,
4 *He has a future front of him.”
When Jim was twenty years of age,
Ail costumed ready tor life’s stage,
HC La 1 a perfect man’s physique,
And knew philosophy and Greek;
He’d delved In every misty tome
Of Old Arabia aud Rome,
And everybody said of Jim,
“LAsbus a future front of him.”
When Jim was thirty years of ago ’
He’d made a world-wide pilgrimage,
•Infd walked and studied’nealh the trees
<f£ German .universities,
Aud.visited aad pondered on
The sites of Thebes and Babylon;
And everybody said of Jini,
“He has a future front of him.”
The heir to all earth’s heritage
Was Jtm at forty years of age,
The lore of at. the years was shut,
Aud focused in his occiput;
Arid people thought, so much he knew,
“What wondrous things our Jim will do!”
They more thau over said of Jim,
“HC bus a future fiont of him.”
At fifty years, though Jim was changed,
, lie bad his knowledge well arranged.
All tabulated, syntonized,
And a uctoiuately synthesized,
‘Hieti eau was so well filled within
ILc thought: “I’m ready to begiu,”
Aud everybody said of Jim,
“He has a future front of him.”
At sixty—No more may be said—
At sixty years poor Jim was dead.
The preacher said that such as he
Would shine to all eternity;
In. Other worlds beyond the blue,
There was great work for Jim to do;
Aud o’er his bier ho said of Jim,
i “He has a future front of him.”
The great deeds we are going to do
Shine ’gainst the vastness of the blue,
lake sunset clouds of lurid light
Against the background of the night;
And so we climb the endless slope.
‘ Par up the crownless heights of hope,
And,each one makes himself a Jim,
And. rears a future front of him.
AGATHA’S SAOHIFICE,
Agatha, hovering over the conser¬
vatory treasures, flitting from shrub
to 4hrub, from flower to flower, ut
tewld a cry of delight, and darted
through the gap left in a hedge of cac¬
tus by tlio removal of a box. This
j^.f Agatha
•ever stopped to think of that.
Bcforo her, fenced in by a screen
sf Cue wire, was a vining plant,
which, left unprotected, had twined
and intertwined its tendrils until it
stood an impenetrable mass of foliage,
covered now with budding clusters, a
few of which towards the top had
burs$ iuto early bloom. Glowing,
tup-like blossoms grouped on slender,
waving stems, and seeming to spill
down streams of fragrance from their
rosy hearts. Agatha held her breath
Und. clapped her hands in silent ecs
tasy.
Philip Armstrong, coming slowly
down (lie bordered path, caught a
sight-of her through a break in tiie
cactus hedge, and cried out in quick
horror. He sprang forward, his face
blanched deadly white, as hers was
row- He caught her up, and bore hc r
out where the marble basin of a foun¬
tain caught the falling spray, and
trickled over in tiny ice-cold streams.
t She’ was lying in his arms, still and
senseless. He dashed the water In
her face, and set about chafing her
in a mannor which would have
appeared cruelly rough but for the in
tense anxiety hi’, face betrayed. He gave
a sigh of relict when she opened her
eyes languidly, and then, after a mo¬
ment, sat up, brushing the moisture
from her eyes.
“What is the matter?” she asked.
“15id I faint? I never was so silly be¬
fore.”
“For heaven’s sake, never let your
bo caugut so again.”
Tho danger past, Ids usual brusque
returned.
“Do you know what you were
doing?”
“No—what?”
“Taking an express ticket to immor¬
tality, by the shortest aud easiest
route.”
“What do yon mean? Where was I?
I remember now—the beautiful
blossoms. It is a shame to keep them
there entirely from view. I’m sure it
•uust be your work. Mrs. Rcdbrooke
Its not so selfish.”
“Not so daring. The plant, Agatha,
i« the deadliest poison. A drop of the
secretion from its succulent leaves, or
the direct inhalation of its perfume,
will alike product) almost instant
death. You owe your own safety to
your distauce from the opou blos¬
soms.”
She shuddered visibly.
“Ami it is so lovelyl Is thoro noth¬
ing beautiful that docs not carry
fatality with it, I wonder?"
She regretted her thoughtless speech
when she saw the sliado settle down
upon his face.
“There is no such thing as perfec¬
tion, you know; 60 that which seems to
approach it nearest must conceal the
greatest defect, to vindicate the rule.
It was careless of my sister Alico not to
Warn you from that corner.”
“Oh, Mrs. Rcdbrooke did, but I
forgot when I saw the blossoms. I
shall not make excuses, for 1 mean to
explore it any way. Att interdiction
without the reason given is apt to
arouse my natural Eve!”
That was the beginning of their
friendship. Before, Philip Armstrong
had held himself aloof from all com¬
panionship— was gradually becoming
enveloped in a crust of misanthropliy
and prejudice, which nvght tarnish)
hut could not corrode, (lie happy nat¬
ural faculties he possessed. Beguiled
from his brusque eccentricity of man¬
ner and solitary habits, ho proved an
agreeable as we 1 at an instructive'
companion. Ilis was (lie old story of
early love and betrayed faith; and be¬
cause one woman had played him false
he decided that there were none true.
Agatha, strong in her belief of hu¬
man goodness, imposed upon herself
the task of showing him Ids error.
An easy lesson to acknowledge vylien
inculcated by such a teacher; but
Pniiip was not prepared to yield up
ids stronghold of years without a show
of resistance.
During his years of seclusion, Phil¬
ip had imbibed a love of chemistry,
and filled up a little room with neces¬
sary apparatus for experimental re
searches. Passing litis that tamo
afternoon, Agatha saw him, with a
h„ IIWIM innrr
ov
dc
to
hi
ca E
th
dat .. ... um. lan umc i
should jeopardize my own to insure
their security.”
“Is not your life precious?” she
asked, reproachfully.
4 i Stinted and barren, how can it
be? However, I have led you to over¬
estimate tiie danger. Only inexpe¬
rienced bands would create it here.”
“Bearding tlio lion in bis den?”
cried Mrs. lledbrooke, coming down
the passage. “Agatha, I wonder at
your temerity. Is he very formida¬
ble?”
Laughing, she looked over Agatha's
shoulder in her brother’s laboratory.
“Go away, both cf you,” cried
Philip. “I shall bo tempted to pro¬
voke an explosion, if the labors of
science are to be thus interrupted.
Alice, take charge of that young lady,
if you don’t want the house demolished
about, your ears.”
“Come, then, rny dear. Mr. Mal¬
lard is in the parlor; ho will appre¬
ciate you.”
“Oil, dear!” sighed Agatha, mov¬
ing away. “That beardless boy!”
Philip, hearing her, stroked his own
luxuriant hirsute growth with proud
fondness, and, smiling, resumed his
task. He went down, hours later,
wearied and disappointed.
“The antidote,” asked Agatha, “did
you discover it?”
“No; but I am sanguine still. Sim
plq failure does not necessarily imply
defeat.”
Still the object of his search eluded
him; but repeated failures only served
to increase his resolution. Early and
late, Agatha knew him to be in his
laboratory, working with scarcely
diminished zeal. Then, one day came
when her little room did not witness
his presence; neither did he appear
within tiie family circle. Agatha
wandered restlessly about until Mrs.
Redbrooke came, atul changed her
vague uneasiness into a settled, dull
pain, which weighed heavily down
upon her.
“Oh, Agatha, my 6wcet friend,’>
tiie lady began, “it is coming out like
a romance—nlots. misunderstandings
and the usual happy finale. I told
you of Phil’s early disappointment,
you remember. We all thought Flora
Mucy trentod him very badly; but it
appears that Hie poor girl was im¬
posed upon by somo ridiculous stories
to his discredit, and was persuaded by
false representa ions into her mar¬
riage with her cousin. It was her
father’s doing, to keep the Macv es¬
tate unbrokon. But sho is a widow
now, and lias written to Phil, explain¬
ing it all. Poor girl! To think of
our blaming her so, when she lias
really suffered most.”
“lie has gone to her?” Agatha
asked, constrainedly.
“No. 11c is quiie overcome by the
news; and lias locked himself in his
bed-chamber. But I have planned a
surprise for him. I am going for
Flora without his knowledge. You
shall pccompany mo if you wish, my
dear.”
Agatha pleaded an excuse and went
away; while Mrs. Rcdbrooke, never
knowing the mischief she had uncon¬
sciously wrought, proceeded ou her
well intended mission.
Philip, coining down in the dusk,
paused at the door of the yet unlightcd
parlor.
“Agatha, are you there? I have
found my antidote at last.”
A figure that was not Agatha’s float¬
ed out of die dimmer shadows of tlio
room, his hand was imprisoned in the
clinging clasp of soft, white fingers,
his pardon implored by a voice broken
with tearful sobbing.
“Ob, Phil, Phil! Can you forgive
and forget. I have suffered so for my
hasty judgment of you! If you, knew
all, you would bear mo no ill-will—I
explained my mistakes and my wrong¬
doing in such bitter remorse.”
“Flora, is it yon? Don’t reproach
yourself for what is irrevocably past.
I forgave you when I thought you
were more in fault than I now know
you to have been.”
That was all; and Flora Macy felt
tj^e cliill of disappointment—knew
the old relation between them
d never be re-established,
; ut Agatha, on the stairs, seeing
r figures dimly outlined there to
ler in tlio waning light, broke out
!i a dry sob, and fled away from
sight which was torture to her.
e caught tiie sound of her speed
step* and followed after her, fear
I»e knew not what. But lie lost
her on the way, and, seeking vainly
for a time, turned at length towards
(he conservatory. The last rays of the
fading western light fell upon the
wide central aisle. Coming towards
him, her face alight with glorious
tenderness, her arms filled with clus¬
ters of the beautiful deadly flowers,
was Agatha. She saw him standing
there, struck motionless with horror,
and sposo quietly, but with breath¬
less intensity.
.“Ah, my love I It is fitting you
should know my sacrifice. I could
not live and see another woman
blessed by your dear love, which I
coveted. But I can die—oh, so gladly!
—wishing you ail happiness with her!
Sec!”
She buried her face among the fra¬
grant blossoms. That broke the spell
which held him. lie tore them away
from her, flung them back into a far
corner, and rushed away to his labora¬
tory. The antidote was there to his
hand; and, despite her action, Agatha
was saved. She did not know it,
though, or realize the assurance of
perfect happiness to which she awoke
at last, until sho had passed days of
torpor succeeded by weeks of fever,
after which came complete convales¬
cence.
When she could move about again,
at her request, Philip took her to the
spot where the dangerous plant had
been. It was gone, and sweet-scent¬
ed mignonette grew there instead.
“I could not trust it, even with my
antidote,” lie declared. “But here
you have all the fragrance without
the bane.”
Agatha was contented, though she
know it would never have tempted
her agaiti.
A Patient Man.
“No, Mr. Trotter,” she said firmly,
“I repeat it a thousand times—no!”
“Well, keep on,” he remarked,
pleasantly; “Uiat’s only twice, and by
the time you reach the six hundredth
you’ll be glad to vary it with a ‘yes.’
Will you kindly begin?”—[Munsey’s
Weekly.
LAKE DWELLERS.
Large Villages and Towns Built
in the Water.
The Inhabitants Keep Cattle tn
Pens Beside Their Houses.
Much attention was recently called
to the region around Kotonou, on tlio
Gulf of Guinea, near which place sev¬
eral hundred of the women warriors
of the King of Dahomey were killed
in battle by the French troops, One
of tlio mod interesting features of this
region is tlio largo native villages and
towns that liavo been built in the
water. The inhabitants many years
too j. t ],j 8 mean80 f trying to escape
frQm tho terrlble ra i, ls 0 f t h e King of
D;ihomoy< Many hundreds of people
wero actually driven by tiie powerful
King iuto tiie water. It happens that
the Dahomians aro very superstitious
about travelling in canoes or crossing
streams, and (he fugitives took advant¬
age of this fact to secure protection
for thcraselrcs.
On any good map one may see the
“Denham waters’* near Kotonou. This
is the home of these lake dwellers
Tiie towns jiave each a population of
from 200 or 300 souls to as many as
thousands. Physically tlio people are
fine and healthy specimens of Afri¬
cans and as a rule they are free from
disease. Governor Moloney of Lagos
says tlio houses are built upon piles or
straight branches of hard wood three
to six inches in diameter. Tlioy are
driven into the bottom of the lake.
Tlio upper ends are seemed by cross
pieces, on which aro laid a bamboo
flooring, two-thirds or one-half of
which is covered in by a house. The
uprights of the house are fixed first
and secure 1 below the platform to tiie
supporting piles. Tiie roof frame is
next made on the platform, and is
covered with grass or bamboo leaves,
and raised to its position. The re¬
maining portion of flooring is used as
a veranda. In the construction no
nails are used.
These natives are fishermen and also
a pastoral people. It is a curious fact
that they keep cattle in pens adjoining
their houses built on piles over the
water like their dwellings. Sometimes
during the dry season tiie shallowness
of tiie water admits of the cattle being
allowed to wander cn terra firms; but
fodder is brought in canoes to many
less fortunate animals which are com¬
pelled to eke out their existence in
these pens surrounded by water until
such time as they are tethered and
transported by canoe to the butcher.
The present natives are still in dread
of tlio Dahomians, but even if this
fear no longer existed it is probable
that tiie habit which they and their
fathers before them have long follow¬
ed would lead them to prefer these
aquatic residences. It is not known
how many lake dwellers there are, but
it is supposed there are at least 10,000
of them among the various tribes
whose huts cover the Denham waters.
Once in a while these tribes make war
on one another, and they conduct
their fighting in canoes, capable of
holding two or three persons, and their
weapons are guns, harpoons, spears
and c’ubs.
In some other parts of Africa, par¬
ticularly in the Congo basin, the habit
of dwelling in huts sustained on piles
in lakes or rivers is very largely fol¬
lowed. and perhaps a million or two
of the people of Africa aro still per¬
petuating the phase of hfe of which
we have relics in tiie remains of the
lake dwellers of the prehistoric era—
[New York Sun.
The Kaiser as an Outfitter.
Regulations have been just issued by
the Kaiser as to how the officers
of tho German Navy may and may not
dress themselves. Among tiie need¬
less barbarity is an order that no of¬
ficer double back or round offtho cor¬
ners of his collars. Shirt fronts must
be perfectly plain, hut while at sea he
may wear an oilskin coat and “sou’¬
wester.” Tiie Kaiser should go into
the “men’s furnishing” line of busi¬
ness; lie seems so well at home in the
details.—[Saturday Review.
Sorry for llitn.
“Do you shave yourself?” asked
Moodies of tiie barber.
“Yes, sir,” returned the barber.
“Well, you have my sympathy,”
said Moodies-
Kcmm liable Echoes.
There are several very rcmnrkablo
echoes in the world, at Woodstock and
at the Sicilian cathedral of Gergonti,
whero the confessions poured forth
near the door to priestly cars wero
heard by a man concealed behind the
high altar at the opposite end. It is
curious that 6uch a spot should have
been accidentally chosen, for the oou
fessional. The whispering gallery in
St. Paul’s is another instance of the
echo.
Echoes are produced by the rcllcc
tiou of the sound waves from a plane
or even surface. A wall, or even a
cloud, will produce echoes. Thunder
is echoed from the clouds, The hills
of Killarney contain an echo, and the
bugle sounds are beautifully repeated,
in the cases of ordinary echo, when
tlie speaker wails for tlio answer, he
must place himself opposite the rock.
If lie stands at the side the echo will
reply to another person in a corre¬
sponding place on the farther side, tor
the voice then strikes the rock at an
angle, and the angle of rciieotion is
the same as in the case of light.
But if it should liappon that there
are a number of reflecting surfaces the
echo will bo repeated over and over
again, as at the lakes of Killarney.
The Woodstock echo, already referred
lo, and menlioned by several writers,
repeats seventeen syllables by day and
twenty by night. In Shipley (here is
even a greater repetition. Whisper¬
ing galleries carry sound by means of
the carved surface, Sir John Ilerschel
mentions an echo in the Meuai suspen
tion bridge. Tiie blow of a hammer
on one of the main piers will prodace
the sound from eacbjof-tlic crossbeams
supporting thQ-road way and from the
opposite pier 576 feet distant, as well
as many other repetitious.— [Brook¬
lyn Citizen.
Families in Heligoland.
Tho women in Heligoland are, gen¬
erally speaking, small and gracefully
formed and present a remarkable con¬
trast to their tall and strapping mates.
The female loveliness is unfortunately
somewhat transient, no doubt owing
in large measure to the inferior fare
and rough work with the nets. No
idea of female suffrage is ever likely
to enter a Jlehgolander’s head. His
idea of tho relation of the sexes is the
old one that the man is the head of the
wife and that women, take them as
you like, are an inferior order; they
are kind and courteous to their women
in all respects, but there is no doubt
who is lord and bread winner. The
patriarchal system has scarcely died
out.
Each lusty, broad-shouldered son,
though he may have passed his twenty
first birthday, is required to give ail
or nearly all his earnings to his father
so long as he lives in his father’s
house. When he marries and takes
np house for himself then only does
the patria protestas come to an end.
Heligolanders as a rale marry young;
there are more women titan men, and
it is not difficult to find a mate.
Housekeeping is not an expensive job,
and there is plenty of money to be
earned if a man is intelligent and in¬
dustrious. It may be some time be¬
fore the vonng husband has a boat of
his own, for a boat costs $125 (they
are all built in the i-land), but he can
always hire one, paying for its hire
about 35 per cent, of the payment he
himself charges.— [Chicago Herald.
The Success of Woman’s Exchanges.
Woman’s exchanges, as carried on
in many cities outside of Now York,
have been the means of many deserv¬
ing women making a comfortable
living. Miss Susie Ilenwick writing
in the Woman’s News, says that three
women last year earned respectively
these sums by furnishing supplies to
tho exchange in Cincinnati: One
woman earned $2400, another $1781
and the third $1554. The exchange
furnishes a midday lunch for business
men, and the articles supplied by
women aro pic9, cakes, jellies, canned
fruit and other edibles.
Glimpse of a School in I ersia.
Little hoys sit on tlio floor in a
stooping position, in a Persian school,
studying the Koran, increasingly
rocking their bodies, and with loud
and sing-song voices reading texts in
the holy language of tho Prophet, of
which they probably did not under"
stand one word.— [Galignani Mes¬
senger. I
