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THE END OF THE STORY.
Sou were standing alone in the silence,
When I passssd down the stair that night,
Alone with thoughts in the shadow,
Away from the fire’s soft light,
And never a greeting you gave me,
Not a word your lips let fall,
As I came from the light to your side, dear,
That night, in the old oak hall!
But I know, ah, so well, the secret
You fancied you kept unseen,
And 1 hated the pride that was standing
lake a shadow our hearts between.
So I told you, that night, a story,
And you listened as in a spell,
Till 1 saw that you guessed the meaning
Of the story I tried to tell!
You fain would have silenced me then, dear;
To leave it untold were best—
Too late, for X learned, as you drew me
To your heart, that you knewthe rest?
And the shadow passed by from between us
Forever, beyond recall,
As you whispered the end of the story
That night, in the old oak hall!
—G. Clifton Bingham.
PLAIN MAKY JANE.
BY MARGARET E. SANOSTER.
The Carterets were conspicuous for
their pretty names, which they always
wrote in full, even before a revolution in
taste had put Bessie, Nellie and Madge
out of fashion everywhere, except as pet
names to be used at home. There were
Clementina, Lilian Gladys, Marguerite and
among the girls, and Theo¬
dore, Reginald, Maximilian and Francis
Felix among the boys, and then came
No.!', with Francis Felix out of kilts,and
to go into society.
Mrs. Carteret had always had the naming
of her brood, but Mr. Carteret, holding
the blanketed bundle in his arms and
surveying clared that the wrinkled, rosy face, de¬
it was his turn at last.
“I shall call this daughter plain Mary
Jane, after her Grandmother Jenkins,”
he declared, “and, my dear, if ever we
have another son, his name shall be
John, you may make up your mind to
that.”
They never did have another son, how¬
ever, and Mrs. Carteret was spared the
humiliation of hearing a boy of hers sa¬
luted as Jack on the street or recorded
as Johnny on the baseball score of his
comrades.
she were no relation to them. Her
mother, lying languid on the sofa with a
novel in her hand, was distressed at the
air of rude health which
her youngest, and wonoered why so
great an affliction should have come to
her, when Mary Jane declared that she
preferred making puddings to practicing
her scales, and would rather mend the
stockings than paint cups and saucers
for the decorative art store. It had come
to pass, by the time Mary Jane was six
teen, that the family circumstances were
not what thev had been when Gladvs
and Marguerite were growing up. How
it had happened Mr. Carteret could not
■explain, had but year by year his law busi
ness lessened and liis income clwin
died. With expensive tastes, which
none of the family felt like denying,
with little outside the office to de
pend land upon, except some unproduc
tive in New Jersey, which had
never paid enough to defray the
taxes, Mr. Carte.et’s household was often
in straits, which would have astonished
tho possibility. neighbors, had they dreamed of their
The boys were nice fellows,
well-bred and agreeable, but witliuut a
and particle of push; the girls were elegant
school accomplished, judged by a finishing
.standard; yet Clementina’s piano,
Lilian’s embroider}',Gladys’s water-colors
and Marguerite’s French and German
were each and all sources of expense,and
not one, had either young lady chosen to
use her skill, would have brought in
enough to pay for decent gowns and the
gloves. Lilian only patiently tried
decorative art, once in a while selling a
cushion or a card-case, on which occasion
hot-house adorned flowers mother’s in profusion and always the
the table
family had ice cream for dessert.
Alcan while Airs. Carteret grew more
aud more fretful, languid aud depressed,
and Air. Carteret’s face took on a hunted,
anxious look, which if it troubled nobody
else distressed tbe heart of his daughter
Mary Jane.
“Papa’s little gill” she had called her¬
self as soon as she could speak plainly,
and “papa’s little girl” she remained
when her brown hair was brushed
smoothly back from a compact, sensible
forehead, and her gray eyes looked
straight of on the world with the courage
a young woman who meant to make
her wav, asking no odds on account of
youth “Who or sex. happy-faced
is that girl who so
often walks down the street with old
Carteret'?” standing said a merchant one day,
in his door and watching the
progress of the two toward Mr. Carter
ct’s office.
“That,” danghter—plain said the person addressed, “is
his Mary Jane they call
her, I believe. She has taken the place
of office boy for the old gentleman just
at present, and it’s no doubt a great re
lief, for even that expense is a burden
when a man’s funds are as low as Carter
et’s chronically are.” merchant, with
“Whew!” said the a
long whistle. “I didn’t know that
Carteret had a daughter who knew
enough to play the part of office boy.”
Had curiosity led the critic to follow
the pair he would have seen Mary Jane—
her stiff dress covered withabrown linen
wrap, her hair enveloped in a cap, long
loose gloves protecting her hands and
arms—sweeping, rights, dusting, setting things
to singing a merry tune the while;
then later, copying legal documents and
looking up references for her father, serv
ing teiligence him, indeed, with a quickness, in- the
and interest unknown to
tribe of office boys.
“I hope no one among our friends will
ever find out that papa allows Mary Jane
to go so familiarly to the office,” sighed
Gladvs deprecatinglv, as she dipped her
brush daintily into the lemon-yellow with
“It’s not good form 15 ’ raid thc° Reginald
posingbefon; the patrician triass to try effect
of bangs for his countenance.
echoed “Papahas always spoiled reo-ardino- Mary her Jane,”
Mrs Cateret ° son
with complacent satisfaction.
“There is a manishness about Mary
Jane which is women‘of sinn-ularly unlike the
gentility of the our family,” *
remarked Marguerite.
Clementine, who had been married for
several years, and who had less tolera
tion than formerly for the Carteret de
ficiency in the exchequer, threw cold
water on the general disfavor by saying,
in a matter of fact way:
“Oh! well, girls, and mamma, you
know very well that nobody will ever
choose Mary Jane for her beauty, and if
she can help papa, for goodness sake let
hlm ’
The housekeeping had fallen a good She
deal into the hands of Mary Jane.
had a perfect genius for contriving
ragouts and fncasees out of the left
overs and fragments: sne would buy a
“soup-piece” for a few cents and make a
delie’ous pot-au-feu, and as for watching
the weekly hills and cutting off a cent
here and a sixpence there her talent was
marvelous. Plebeian if you choose, but
nevertheless a convenient and comfort
able talent for the child of an impe
cunious parent.
But the day came when not all Mary
Jane’s magic could evolve dinners out of
nothing. Invention she had, but crea
tion was beyond her powers, and not all
her willing service, diligent and faithful
as it was, could bring business than enough
to poor Mr. Carteret to more pay
his office rent. Mrs. Carteret, poor lady-,
cried till her eyes were red, but what
good did that do ? Lilian went to live
with Clementine. Marguerite thought under
she would try writing for the press
the impression that hero was an easy
road to fame and fortune—so respecta
ble, couldn’t too, and needing so little outlay—
for she throw off poems and
stories at a sitting if them she could only find
an editor to pay for ! Two of the
boys went oil on a ranch in the train of
an English nobleman and the others
were at work, though they were able to
do little more than support themselves,
situation, Mary Jane determined question to improve how? the
but the was
What could she do which would bring
in money? Day after day, night after
night she definite. thought, Meanwhile but could she fix mended upon
nothing daraed, turned curtains and fuvni
and
ture covering, kept the house bright
and shining, and found herself discouraged repaid by
seeing her fa'her lose the
expression which had overlaid his natural
cheerfulness.
“You have inherited the Jenkins
faculty,” ho said one day. “We Car
tcrcts and your mother’s people, the
Truemans, are lacking in resource, but
my mother's mother was Mary Jane Jen-
kins, and she was a woman among a
thousand.”
Jenkins faculty, or Carteret elegance,
Mary Jane pondered, which was to come
to the front and prove helpful.
She was mounted on a step ladder rc
hanging hours in a repairing portiere, which she had spent
and freshening, when
a visitor was announced. It was a certain
Mrs. Despard, an old and fashionable
friend, and Maria, now maid-of-all work,
hurried from her tubs to open the door,
and ushered her, without ceremony, into
the room where the young mistress was
busy with her amateur upholstery,
“For pity’s sake!” ejaculated Margue
rite, _ in the chamber above. “Mary Jane
is in the middle of the work and she’ll
never “Mary apologize. I will not go down.”
Jane mortifies me every day of
my life,” foamed Mrs. Carteret, brushing
her thin hair and taking her best lace
handkerchief from the bureau drawer,
“I wish,” she continued, sorrowfully,
“that dear Mrs. Despard had called
when the drawing room was somewhat
in shadow. Mary Jane has no doubt
admitted floods of light and every thread
bare line in the carpet and all the make
shifts will show, and oh! it is hard to
let the world know how poor we are!”
Thus tragically the mother and daugh
ter above stairs regarded each other,
while below Mary Jane having tripped
from the step-ladder, shaken out the por
tiere and established the caller in a great
eas y chair with a hassock at her feet and
her back to the light, a screen between
her find the bit of fire in the grate was
with finding her herself all at once face to face
“ Is lt possible, my dear, that you can
„ “ n< * suc ^ things yourself ?” exclaimed
Mr s ; Despard. “Do pardon me, but
neither . for love nor money do I know
to find any one who can take
etches when they are needed, arrange
m y P rett y thln g s daintily, drape a lam
brequin aud generally see to what my
'laughter would have done if she had
U ved - You know I lost Mignon when
s , e was on r two Ion and she were
“ v *
born in tlic same month with the April
violets, Mary Jane.
D° w 11 about Mary Jane could
no } } haie told, but before Mrs. Carteret
entered the parlor a compact was made
and th f, Das P ard l? ort 'eres and furniture
»"?*«, gnl blight ‘°P ass the next day before afternoon. the
s eyes
et p a y y°>>. my dear
cbdd , . - ® aid tile . , * ad J> in a scdt aside > a3
voice! 0 ^ ““
“Certainly, Mrs. Despard,if I am able
to serve you I will charge you a fair
price. until but find you must whether not count upon me
y0 u out or not I can
rea llv be of use.”
Mrs. Carteret exclained as the door
close d:
‘-That I should have lived to see this
day. Mary Jane! Mary Jane! What
will people think of you?”
“uh, mv dear little mother, what mat
ters it what they may think if only they
will find mv work good of its kind and
pay 1 me a living °-- price for it.”
It was not many weeks before Mary
Jane had all she wanted to do. A dozen
families were in need of precisely such
helpful assistance ss she could render,
and she had her regular days and went
from one regarded to another, household gradually coming
to be as a oracle,
For, were there stains on the linen, Mary
Jane could remove them; was a bit of
lace frayed, her deft hands could re
store it to its primitive freshness; did a
lady need a liat for reception or opera
and there was no time to send for a
French miliner, here was Mary Jane
with magic in her finger-tips, and give
her a few ends of ribbon, a flower or two
and a bit of tinsel, and there you were,
She could mend a three-cornered rent
so that you would not see the
scar of her repairing, arid as for table
cloths and napkins, she laid tile patience
and the skill of a medical man in rcstor
ing them when they had her begun to go.
The Jenkins faculty stood in stead,
in these days, and though Mamma
Carteret fumed, she was so environed
with new comforts aristocratic that shegrew prejudice, resigned while
in spite Carteret,with of cver-incrcasingpride,
Papa boasted of this business-like
openly daughter. “Papa’s little girl,”
mean
while, was si happy and busy, and stic
cessful, that she began to look beautiful,
and “plain Mary Jane” seemed like a
misnomer in earnest.
One day she was looking over the
morning paper, when her eyes fell upon
1 a paragraph which set her wits to work
in earnest. She drew her father aside,
and, smoothing his dear old head with
her hand, a hand which had a good deal
of magnetism in its tender touch, she
suddenly said:
“Papa, excursion?” dear, wouldn’t you like to take
me on an
“Where, my darling,” was the sur¬
prised reply. Provident Mary Jane was
seldom anxious that money should be
spent tired, on jaunting for pleasure. would Was she
he wondered,and an outing
do her good? But there was no hint of
fatigue in the wide-open childish gaze,
in the lips with their forceful set, con¬
tradicting that the laughing eyes, as if to pro¬
test Alary Jane was a woman for all
her girlish fun and freedom.
“I do think, papa,” said Mary Jane,
taking “that his breath away by her audacity,
you and I ought to do something
about that cranberry swamp of ours in
New Jersey. It’s a sin and a shame that
it isn’t paying us something, instead of
being a cost which we dread whenever
it’s time to pay the taxes. And so, dear,
I propose that we go and see what is tc
be done.”
All this was several years ago. This
winter the Carteret ship, under the
pilotage in of plain Mary Jane, finds itself
peaceful waters. The cranberry
swamp is paying well. The upholstery
business has its headquarters in a neat
little office, where Miss Carteret takes
orders and from'which she sends out men
and women to do the best work in town,
never disappointing fulfill an employer by fail
ure to an engagement nor ever
her word.
“I tell you what, girls,” says Clemen
tines _ husband, addressing his wife and
her sister, “you all used to be ashamed
of plain little Mary Jane, but what a brick
the child has turned out!”
“It’s the Jenkins faculty!” says Papa
Carteret, smiling.
“It’s Emerson’s doctrine,” _ says poor
been Marguerite, appreciated. whose literary work has brick not
“ ‘Get your
ready for the wall.’I begin to sec that I,
for one, have been all tho-c years work
ing lutphia away at the wrong brick.”— Phila
'lime'.
Betting on Hickory Nuts,
“Bet you five cents I can guess within
one 0 j th e num ber ^ you take in your
hand „ canvas'bag said a voun „ a n, holding out a
a dirty of hickory nuts to
ward ori6 0 f a g r0 up in a Bowery saloon,
^ft er a moment’s hesitation he to whom
the offer was made thrust his hand into
»»t be induced;«,hew he, Zn't'hl ,h,
al) A
??, ld J un y ? ln . e f’ l° v h - f if,+ t f f V • , ^ 1 • i,' bunches ’ , v,! t ■, 1 of e five, and „ n ! !i
"' hen four lives ,. had been counted lo!
[ hree nu f s remal “ ed - he “ 1 C r0 J\!
became intere=tecl. Bet , after ,„ bet t was
mailc, and though t.ie mk.r sometime^
lost, he usually won. At tne end oi half
an hour he slipped out adol.ar orso richer
than when fie entered,
the trick is an old one. l no ir.Kir
. that most men m P la J in g tne at
ows '
tie , game grasp as many hickory nuti as
their fists will hold, and he knows some-
1!n f as t0 ca P aclt y 0 t- ie iumau
“ v antl IT u ma , <es s F* ie 39 * as .,®
; ‘ ’
t'’ tae , nuts . into . tne . , lat 0
coun e< >
secs how near he has guessed to the right
? un i ne has guessed to many
be deft ’j’retains , an,:t out of one o. t
£ r ° u P s nv( j as ne urops them w
hat r f. tallis >. ana . c ^' in , he ts a l lias second guessed tla J c f too su ^ lew as “ he
’
slips an extra , nut or so into the waiting
hat ' Much practice has made l ni ex
P e r r> an A 118 wj ct > I j s ai'C (“ten tuamefl
with . drink. . jV urk, Mai. and hjprn*.
w l
The Horses of the World.
Given _ the important . roles which
cav
airy and artillery p ay in the art. ol mod
errl warfare, it may be interesting to
know the tottl number of animals which
Die leading countries of tne world can
throw in;o the i eld ol bathe. Here,
according to the latest statistics, is the*
list? Russia, 21,5<0,000horses; America,
0,000,000; the Argentine 1 epuulic,
4,000,000; Austria, 3,500,000; Germany,
0,350,000: France, 2,800,000 lioises and
300,000 mules; 2,024,000; England, Spain, 0,700,000; 080,000;
Canada, Italy,
horses and 2,300,000 mules;
2,000,000 horses; Belgium, 583,000;
Denmaik, 210,(00; Australia, 301
000; Holland, 125,000, and Portugal, will
88,000 horse: and 50,000 mules. It
be remarked that Russia heads the list by
( an enormous majority .—Pall Mu l G<t
' zslte.
\ C. Elbe has passed successful
j ' examination Miss in dentistry in Sweden.. a