Ligonier Banner., Volume 13, Number 51, Ligonier, Noble County, 10 April 1879 — Page 3

The Ligomier Banmuer, LIGO:NI:ER,' ;’: 't:o :m: m;;I;;;lNA.

THE GHOST OF THE NIGER. THREE yefrs ago I shipped on board the Niger, Capt. Phillips. OQur voyage ‘was to Hilo, Sandwich Islands, and back to Puget Sound, whence we sailed. The Captain, officers: and crew were, when 1 joined, Americans and West Indiamen; but, as another hand was wanted beside myself, [ persuaded Jack ‘Chester, an Englishman with whom I had become friendly, to fill up the vacancy. Jack was a fine-looking fellow, a jovial companion, and had lots of information, which he knew how to use; but, although he dressed and talked like a sailor, he had not been long on board ship before it became plain that he had not been brought up a salt. Our Captain was a Tartar, and no mistake; and, as-he had the eye of a hawk, no fault committed by man or boy escaped him. This was especially unfortunate for my English shipmate. He had shipped on able seaman’s wages; but his deficiencies were so many and glaring that, our Captain, who seemed to watch his movements more carefully than those of the rest of the crew, often inflicted upon him punishments painful to witness. I had a strong attachment to Chester, and stood his friend wherever I could, by taking some of his duties along with my own; but I was not always on hand to help him, so he fell oftener than others beneath the Captain’s displeasure.

"One night when I was at the wheel, the wind rose into a gale. The Captain came on deck and set all hands to reef the topsails. The men were manning the halyards to hoist away, when poor Chester, instead of letting go the reeftackle, let go the weather foretopsail brace, and away went the yard fore and aft. By luffing up smartly, however, we managed to get checked without carrying anything away. But Capt. Phillips, frothing at the mouth, swore he would tan the foolish lubber’s hide who had done so clumsy a thing. Saying which he rushed at Chester with a piece of ratline, which he brought down upon his head and shoulders, giving them a fearful cut. He was in the act of' raising it again, when a voice from aloft roared out: ¢‘Hold your hand!”’ E The voice was wonderfully loud and clear, seemingly coming from— the maintop. The Captain fell back, and, lookir'lg up, cried in great rage: ¢‘Aloft there!”’ o $a

<< Halloa!”’ was the answer back. ““ Come down on deck,’” was the Captain’s imperious order. P ‘Come up here and see how you will like it,”” was the contemptuous response. “Come down, I say, on deck,” foamed the Captain. ‘““©Come up and fetch me,”” returned the voice from aloft. : ; ““Who is up there, Mr. Rassom?” cried the Captain, appealing to the First Officer. ' aedina “¢No one, sir,”” was the reply, -* so far as I can see. All seem present on deck.” i : ‘ - The Captain’s rage was now terrible to witness. ¢¢All seem present, Mr. Rassom? What do you: mean by that, +gir? I ask you again, who is up there?” - ¢“Noone known to me,” returned the Mate. All are present. All are on deck, in sight.” " ‘ s Such was the case. But the Second Mate, without awaiting orders, sprang up the rigging and looked over the toprim, then made the circuit of it, looking “all round the masthead, and then reported himself alone. ’ ‘“ Then the ship must be haunted!” cried the Chief Mate. The Captain hereupon dropped the rope’s eng which he held in his hand and went below. It was evident that he was strangely affected by what had occurred. And so my fellow-country-man escaped further punishment that night. + i : ‘ ~_ But, in a:few days our skipper had-‘ forgotten his fears, and looking about for another object upon which he could vent his spleen, I had the ill-fortune to feel his wrath. He| ordered me to make a knot in the end of an old fagged rope to be used in making a lashing. lln a little while I returned, saying that I had made the best job 1 could of a rope which was quite fagged | out. : |

‘“ Well.” said he, *“¢‘if that’s your best, you are as much of a lubber as your friend Chester. But I'll dock you both to ordinary seaman’s wages.””: I tried to show him that the rope was too much worn to make a neat piece of work of it. ¢¢‘lndeed,” I sai(f, it is :sadd%y fagged.”’ ' ‘ e a%ged, is it,”’ cried he, scornfully; ‘“then I'll finish it over your lubberly back.”’ : ; ; “No, you won’t,”” roared out a voice from behind the longboat. The Captain rushed in the direction of the sound, but failed to discover the speakQY. ; : % “Who was that?”’ he ecried, in a storm of wrath, adding, ‘‘ Let mcknow who it is, and I'll thrash him within an inch of his life.” ¢ Will you? ha! ha! ha!” was the mocking reply, dropping seemingly from the maintop. It was broad daylight when this took place, so every one could see that there was no one up there. I was as much startled and mystified by the occurrence as was the Captain; but neither he nor I, nor any of the crew to whom he appealed, could throw light theréon. But whoever or what--ever uttered the words, my purpose was served, as was Chester’s on a pre‘vious occasion. The irate Captain went below, filled more with fear than rage, throwing behind him, as he step};:ed upon the cabin ladder, the rope’s end which had so vexed him. Sailors in %eheral are superstitious _beings. Whatever cannot easily be ‘made out or accounted for on natural principles is laid to the account of the supernatural. Our Captain was no better in this respect than his crew, for he was as illiterate as they, except in the iatter of navigation, and as rough and untutored. He ,evident(lly‘ ‘believed that his ship was haunted,

and that a spirit from the vasty deep bhad a mind to torment him by its interferenees. His fears were increased not many days after. On retiring to rest, at the end of his evening’s watch, his slumb(g's were disturbed bg a loud and fearful ery, which seemed to enter the cabin’' by the sidelight, which was left open for ventilation. The cry was heard by the Second Officer, who was on the quarter-deck, and by Chester, who was at the wheel, neither of whow could throw light upon the incident to' the Captain, who 'had rushed on to the deck in a state of terror, and demanded in vain for the production of the oftfender.

From that day it was clear to all that Capt. Phillips was tormented by apprehensions of coming disaster. An idea was fixed in his mind that his ship was visited by a spirit from the invisible world, which preferred to make itself heard rather than seen. And this idea was strengthened by the fact, that when he was on deck and became angry at the conduet of any of the men, especially when his anger was made manifest in oaths and b%ows—-—the unseen but ever-vigilant visitor, from afar, would —perched apparently on the top of the mainmast—utter the insolent laugh or the dolorous warning. On these occasions the poor man would rush off to his cabin, with blanched cheek and tottering limb, and there abide until the gale in his moral sensibilities should subside. ‘That it was angry with no one else but the Captain was clear, from the fact that it never took notice of the conduct of any other person. The Mate or the Boatswain- might act as they liked, or the men might jibe and call each other hard names; no matter—the voice was not heard—neither langh nor moan fell upon our ears. But most of those who lived in the forecastle were far from being happy; many of them shared the fears of the skipper; and I saw that they would much rather have braved his wrath than to be tormented as théy were by the *‘voices of the night”’ or the ‘“day.” Myself and Chester were exceptions. What ' his opinion was he would not say; he met all my questions l:iy adroit evasions. As for myself, I had no explanation to ve. : _ nghus matters went on until we were within two days’ sail of the islands. All the while our poor Captain had been kept from tyranny by his fears of the voice; but now, exasperated by some fault in seamanship on the part of Chester, and being the worse for liquor, he hurled a belaying-gi.n at him, which struck him on the head. Clapping both hands thereon, with a yell he rushed into the forecastle. It was evident the skipper expected to hear the voice, for he looked nervously aloft; but when all was silent in that direction his courage returned, and he desired the second officer to call Chester back to the deck. Getting no answer to his call, the Mate went below, when he found the poor fellow delirious. Returning to the deck, he reported him to be in a dangerous condition. - This filled the Captain with fear. He ordered that every attention should be paid him, which was done. That night it became necessary to have all hands on deck to reef, and while we were on the yards an awful cry, like that of a maniac, arose from the bows of the vessel, and next moment several of us saw a human form on the rail near the fore-switch, saffid then a loud splash was heard in the water under our lee.

The Captain and chief cfficers who were on deck rushed to the side. A hat was seen for a moment bobbing on the crest of a wave, the maniacal scream was repeated, when Capt. Phillips, himself uttering a cty, fell senseless on the deck. The Mate then hailed us who were on the top-sail yard: ‘“Come down from aloft! clear away the small boat!” We thought he was as near beside himself as was the 'Captain; and so he was for. the moment, for when we had gained the deck he was ready to countermand the order. Everythin was awful beyond expressiofi; the wing and water were raging wild; it wasimpossible for a small boat to live in so rough a sea, so, making a virtue of necessity, the search for the poor maddened fellow was ‘abandoned, amid vows of vengeance against the Captain and tears for our lost messmate. ’

Forty-eight hours -after this we entered the port of Hilo. A vast change had come over the crew. The Captain, knowing their peculiarities, had suFplied them with money and copious libations of whisky; so, instead of reporting him to the Consul, as they declared they would, they were ready to shout his praise all‘day long. In this, however, gdid not agree; but unable to bring the tyrant to justice singlehanded, I resolved to quit=the Niger. Idid so. After hiding in the woods ceveral days I was caught and brought back to the ship. As my adventures as a fugitive are not essential to the unfolding of my story, I pass them by, and take up the thread of my narrative.: e

‘We set sail on our return voya%ia. Capt. Phillips was an altered man: He abstained from spirits, hé controlled his temper, and this, with the addition of a fine, steady breeze, made our lives on board -happy. But, alas! we were doomed to a sad ending up of the voyage. K’eepi’n% too near the land, and a squall laying hold on the ship, we were driven on-a lee shore. It was just after midnight . when we struck, and the darkness was terrible, and, leapin§ out of my hammock, I ran on deck. I could see nothing save the wild waters racing over the deck. I cried out to my shipmates,’but got no answer. It was not possible to reach the afterpart of the vessel where the life-belts were képt, so acting on the impulse of the moment, I leaped into the sea. Catching hold of a friendly rock, I was saved. Da’iylight came after a weary waiting. The first thing I saw was the dead body of 'poor Capt. Philligs, and not far from ‘it that of our Chinese cook. The rest were saved. . - We made our way to Portland, where we were paid off. Thence I proceeded to San Francisco. I had often asked myself whence came those strange voices and fearful words which had so alarmed our Captain and put most of the crew in terror, and hmf 80 opportunely on one occasion saved me from the vengeance of the Captain. But it was beyond my power to answer the inquiry; neither could the Mate nor

any of the survivors throw any light thereupon. Had we known what ventriloquism’ was we might have had therein a solution of the mystery; but I had never heard an adept in the art, neither had any of my shipmates; otherwise I judged such fact would have been mentioned and the voices accounted for on that ground. Poor Chester, when with us our most intelligent shipmate, seemed to be as much in the dark as the rest of us, althoufih he was not in the least put out' of the way by the oceurrence. . : ber

Strolling along the streets- of San Francisco one night about a year after the wrecg, ready for anything in the way of amusement that might turn up, my eye caught a large poster, which announced the wonderful doings of Prof. Meredith, ‘the unrivaled and world-renowned ventriloquist.’” This, thought I. shall be the source of my evening’s enjoyment. Turninfi my face in the direction of the ‘“ Ha of Science and Emporium of Amusement,”” I was soon seated in a snu corner of the body of the building, a.n‘g was not 101:-% in being carried away by the wonderful sayings and doings of the Professor. At last he told us that he would hold an imaginary conversation with a person up the chimney. He did so. When' in the midst of a dialogue, the person in the flue gave a derisive ‘‘Hah! hah! hah!’ I was ‘startled. I sprang from my seat. *‘Sure--Iy,” said I, half aloud, #‘that is the voice, and tone, and words which ‘more than once came from the maintop of the Niger.”” And while I was staring at the Professor, with eyes ready to leap out of their sockets, he came to the front of the stage to perform his part. Then, in spite of his flowin beard and @ other decorations, % saw in Prof. Meredith the identical Jack Chester, who, over twelve months before, was believed to have leaped, in a fit of madness, into the sea and was drowned. W ¢“Chester!”’ I cried out in my excitement.

¢ Sit down!’ cried one; ‘put him out!’ said some others. In the meantime 1 had come to myself, and resumed my seat, but not before I had got from the professor a sign of recognition. When the performance was over, my old shipmate, for it was he, beckoned me to him, and, taking me to his private room, he grasped my hand in all the fervency of ardent friendshig. ¢t Sit down, Henry my boy,” he said, ‘“and you shall have a solution of the mystery which hangs over me.”” '~ ‘“ How came you to be saved from a watery grave on that awful night when you plun%ed into the raging sea?” I impatiently asked. ¢ ‘I did not jump overboard,” replied Chester, laughing; ¢* neither was I any less sane than [ am at this moment. The entire affair was a trick of my own inyention to frighten the Captain, and ‘then get away from his clutches. My ‘madness was a sham, and the man ~overboard was simply a bundle of old ‘togs, topped by my old hat, which I had just put together. The moment I gitched them over the rail I slipped own in the fore-peak, where I lay hid until the night after the: shig entered the port, when I stole out and went on shore. 1 had taken care to lay up plenty of junk, and I managed to avoid detection until the Niger sailed. The cries which you heard from the maintop, from behind the long boat and in the cabin, I need not now explain.” - - “No,” said I, ‘“all is made clear by the doings of this night.” + ““Exactly so,’” said he. And thenhe continued: ‘I had performed as a ventriloquist in most large cities and towns in Europe before you knew me; but, becoming somewhat restless in my habits, and ha.vin% squandered all my earnings, in a fit of recklessness I took to the sea, and, in the capacity of a sailor, found my way to Puget Sound. But I had not in me the stuff of which sailors are made; so, after my adventures on board the Niger, I went back to my old profession, in which I have done well. My wild oats are all sown, I hope, and, having learned wisdom by bitter experience, I shall stick to that line of life for which I have capacity—a better thing than splicing old ropes or taking in topsail-reefs on a blowing night.”” : i J “I should think so,”” I said. < But you nearly killed the Captain with fright, while you caused’ us many a heartaché at your supposed loss.” | *For the latter lam very sorry,”’ returned Chester. ¢ But I cannot say that I pitied the Captain. His cruelty to me was terrible, and he would possibly have ended by Kkilling me but for my fortunate gift of ventriloquism. «All's well that ends well.” ’ ““True,” I returned, ¢ and I rejoice that you are alive to say so. You kept {)our secret famously, ior neither Capt. hilligs nor any of his crew ever suspected that incapable Jack Chester was the ghost that haunted the Niger.””’— Argosy. '

Devoted Wives. ‘ History from the twelfth century,: when the wife of the noblest crusader] proved her love by bravery and selfdenial, to the present day, is replete with instances of.conjugal affection and heroic virtus in woman. We all remember the story of Eleanor, Queen of Edwardl., who, disregarding all danger to herself, extracted with her own lips the poison from a wound the King had received from a poisoned arrow while in Palestine. Then we have that remarkable instance, the devoted attendance of the wife of Sir Walter Raleigh to quote from. Not only did she share with Sir Walter the privations and sufferings of his cruel twelve years’ incarceration, but, after his execution, remained his faithful widow for twenty years; indeed, to the hour of her death. The quick wit and clever wting' of Marie, wife . of the 'celebrated Grotius, liberated him from his imprisonment in the Castle Louvestine. He had been permitted to receive his books in a large trunk, and these were often exchanged for others through the. same medium. His wife, observing that the guards gradually ceased toexamine the trunk, and having made a number of holes in different placesto admit the air, induced Grotius to place himself within. She closed the trunk, and when the guards entered she stood b{ the curtains of the bed;feignix:g much distress at the indisposition of her lord.

The ruse was successful, and from her own confession the authorities leurned the means of escape; she was not puhished, but allowed to rejoin her husband in his liberty. Max:iy such instances occurred in France during the reign of terror. Among others, that of Madame Lavalette, who effected her husband’s rescue by taking his place in the condemnped cell. When the chiefs of the different departments were trying to vindicate themselves to the King from any blame in the escape, His Majesty coolly replied, *“ I do not see that anybody has done his duty, except Madame Lavalette.”? .

No later than 1856, a drama full of solemn sweetness was enacted almost in our midst, too, proving not only: the strength of wifely devotion gnd courage, but that a woman, when taught, can, even under the’ most adverse cir‘cumstances, as well steer a ship as ply the needle. [ refer to ithat bright girl of fortune’s prosperous home in Fflsh Boston who married the gallant Capt. Patton. In the first days of their honeymoon he was offered a'magnificent command, which being refused on the plea of not wishing to leave his bride, he received permission in a year’s ‘time again to assume the position, his. . wife having leave to accompany him, which she did. From the outset she made herself the companion, helperand pupil of her husband. She studied navigation, and was soon enabled to take observations, steer by the chart and keep the ship’s reckoming. The FKirst Mate was the Captgin’s enemy on board, who for some reason of his own was bent on carrying the ship into Valparaiso, which would have been in direct disobedience of orders, and have compromised the honor of the Captain. Before reaching Cape Horn, Capt. Patton’s health began to decline, until he was taken down with violent fever, which in a few months ended in hopeless insanity. - Now was the opportunity for the Mate to achieve his purpose, and he commenced by txgring to intimidate the heroic wife of his Captain, threatening her with the responsibility of every life on board, her own included, if she presumed to interfere. She replied that her husband had not trusted him while he was well, and she would not trust him now that he was ill. She assembled the crew, laid before them the facts, asking them to accept her authority, and save the honor of their Captain. They unanimously agreed, regarding almost with superstition the = eloquent appeal of this loyal woman. They soon learned to love and reverence her; a young wife, alone with men, a raving husband to protect, a crew to command, their lives to preserve and an enemy to wat¢h; she had indeed a herculean task before her. N ightly ‘she could be seen at her studies, now among medical books which could instruct her in her husband’s case, now'keeping the reckoning and making entries in the log. At noon and midnight, on deck taking observations; she marked the charts without mistakes, and carried the ship into portin fine condition. The husband blind, deaf, delirious and dying; the wife calm, grave, careworn and resolute. Another incident of wifely consideration and delicacy of feeling was that of the young village belle in marrying the honest but illiterate locksmith. The latter was asked to sign his name, whereupon he made his cross, and the ‘maiden receiving the pen did the same, to the expressed astonishment of her bridesmaids. “*Hush!’ the wife replied, *“would you have me putmy husband to the blush? To-morrow I will begin to teach him writing.”” Love is said to laugh at locksmiths; in this case hé seems to have given pity, his nearest kin, instead of mirth, his direst foe. It was Aristotle who laughed at love to Alexander, upon which the maiden of Alexander’s fancy revenged herself upon the aged philosopher by so enchanting him with her loving arts and wiles that he carried her on his back and passed the Emperor’s window, who, seeing them, said: ‘¢ Sincelove has power to melt the frosts of i:fie’ it is not surprising that it should kindle up the fires of youth.”’— Philadelphia Progress. :

A Queer Story. SoME thirty years ago there appeared in a Philadelphia newspaper what purported to be an extract from an English newspaper, to the effect that Mr. ——, an English’ gentleman, had died in that place, leaving by will a large estate to a certain merchant in New Haven, in the United States. This act was out of gratitude to the New Haven merchant, who had befriended him while sick and destitute some years before, when he was sojourning at the Tontine Hotel in that city, a stranger in a strange land. The testator, unfortunately, had forgotten the American (Good Samaritan, but in his will gave the locality of the store of the merchant—Exchange Block, fronting the Green—and so described his business and personal appearance that it was evident to the public whom he meant.

Every one congratulated the merchant on his goad fortune, as he was a gentleman of some excellent, kindly qualities, and had just failed and gone out of business. It was subsequently ascertained that the entire story was a fraud, the alleged extract having been written by the merchant himself and inserted in the Philadelphia paper for the purgose of getting credit in his desperate circumstances. ; ~ But here the funny part of the stery comes. While the matter was béing agitated in this community, a former partner of the merchant, also in desperate circumstances, came’ out in a card in a New Haven paper, stating that he, and not the merchant, was the real heir to the estate; that it was he, and not the merchant, who had kindly nursed the sick Eng}zshman and loaned him money in his distress, ail the circumstances of which were as fresh -as ye’sterda.g' in his memory! \ Both have long since died, the privilege of doing which even people ‘“hard up’” are not denied when their time comes. Andnow none of their blood walk these streets to have their cheeks tingle at this_ revelation.—New Haven (Conn.) Journal and Courier. v i - o A ik —~The clashing of: eymbals—using a mixed metaphor. __ ;

9 v Youths’ Department THE LITTLE BROWN SEED. *T3 of no use,” said a little brown seed: ... " Where shall Igo and hide? | I'm little and brown, with nobody’s love, And ugly beside.” ; L S 0 she rolled, and she rolled very quickly away, “ And tumbled on the round ; The rain came in. torrents, &mf fell upon her - And all things around. And she lfxeu: herself sinking in darkness beneath, Poor little faithless seed! Where never an eye could see her sad fate, = O:g she was hidden indeed! The little brown seed ISF still in the earth, i To herself sti nighing——- 4 Till at last with an effort she rose up, and cried, - ““T’ll begin by trying. 3 \ ** I'll try and stop fretting, for ’tis of no use, And if I’ve nobody’s love, . I'll look up in éxope for there is one who will see, (Fhe ear God above.” . Oh, would you believe it! straightway the dark ground Began to tumble and shake; : And make way for the little seed, honeful now, ‘_ Her upward way to takel = - Up, up she went, till at last she saw, " ; The lovely, _b}'i‘ilht blue sky; . Oh! the beautiful spirit had found release, . And the summer time was nigh. The brightness and bqauty that grew upon her, I cannot begin to speak; i Crowned with flowers she stood, beloved by all, : So lovely—yet so meek. e —The Common People.

i : Correct Speech. . '‘NOTHING bespeaks a true lady and gentleman or well-bred child more than the use of correct language, pure, clean speech. Cultivate, my young friends, good English in every-day conversation. Unclean speech is in keeping with a smutty face, begrimed hands and soiled clothes. Strange how easy and almost unconsciously one slides into a careless, slipshod way of talking, even when the rules of grammar are quite familiar. It is not uncommon to find people learned in all the rules of syntax who apply them to the art of writing, yet habitually talk incorrectly. ‘ | Early culture and association with refined persons-are quite essential to give purity to speech; but if onehas un‘fortunately been deprived of these he should continually watch his words till he gets in the habit of using decent English, for nothing so unmistakably marks one with vulgarity, no matter how elegant is the outside covering, as shabby, low-born speech. Not¢ Ilong since the young folks belonging to several families in a certain neighborhood who had frequent intercourse with each other, entered into an agreement to ‘pay a small forfeit every time either of ‘them made use of certain vulgarisms in. speech that had become a habit with them. Old and young, large and small, soon became interested and entered into the compact. All had fallen into the habit, for false syntax is contagious, and spreads through whole communities when it once breaks out, and one of its worst phases is that people are affected by it without knowing'it. For a time the treasury, the contents of which, by the way, was given to charitable purposes, was pretty full. Each one wasa self-appointed monitor. The plan caused considerable fun, but, what 'is better, completely cured the bad habit. 1 doubt if in that circle the horrid words ¢“ain’t,”” or ‘ won’t,” or ‘“ have %ot” are ever heard, or *‘done’’ i for **did.” And their conversation is seldom embellished with ¢ you know,”’ ‘““now a,” I itell you what,”’ ¢of course,” and the like, or with :highsounding superlatives where only the moderate positive have any meaning. As much as I dislike slang, even what is termed the better sort of it, which, by the way, should be used very spar--ingly if at all, apt as. it sometimes seems, I dislike these specimens of false syntax, these vulgarisms, more, and they should be carefully watched lest they creep in and spoil fair speech. 1 would recommend-to my young friends. who have frequent intercourse with each other the formation of such a club as 1 have been describing for mutual benefit. My word for it it is a marvelous corrector of false syntax, and the rules might extend to other bad habits, and so be constituted a reform club.— Tllustrated Christian. '%

- A True Story. WHEN I was a very little %irl, not more than four years old, we lived in a cottage down in Maine. This home was under big trees which were brimfull of acorns and all alive with queer little striped squirrels. There was a garden full of roses, and justin the center a big rock all covered with moss which looked just like tea. I used to scrape it off and tie itin little paper parcels and sell it to mamma. ‘ - L She didn’t gay me much, only buttons; but I liked it and so did she; ’cause she alwayslaughed. One day a neighbor sent for mamma to come and stay with her because she wagt sick. Papa said: ¢<lf you have to stay all night, I will come over, after somebody is in bed.” I heard him. I knew who somebody mesant; so I said: <l'll keep awake to-ni%ht, see if Idon't!”” Ididn’t want to be left alone. I watched the corner behind the door where the dark always came first, and watched the door for mamma; but she didn’t come, and the dark did. Then I watched papa. How nice he fixed the fire, and how he felt in the pocket where I always found peppermints, and then said: ‘“Now, come ride.” 1 wanted the ride and the peppermints, but I wouldn’t go to sYe'ep this time. : 2

Papa slipped the candies into my hand and cuddled me up -¢lose, and somehow I forgot; and then I woke quick, and it was dark, and the fire was out, and papa was gone. : I jumped out of bed quick and felt around for my clothes, but I couldn’t find them; so I went to the outside door and opened it softly and slipped oL . : = -The stone step was cold, and it was just as dark out of doors as it was in the house; but I wanted liapa and ‘;namma. I didn’t run, but I walked ast. L . 1t was thick woods on one side of the road, and pasture and orchard on the other. It wasn’t long till I saw the house. I went to the side door and knocked softly two or three times, and

then p.asa. opened it very carefully. He almost dropped the lamp when he saw just me. I didn’t know papa-was ever afraid of anything. He led meinto the room: where mamma and the sick woman were, and mamma . looked so white and said; ¢ f half mile alone, this dark night!’ Papa locked at his watch and: said: ¢“ At one o'clock.” They held my feet to. the fire and wrapped me in a shawl, and I hada nice ride back on papa’s shoulder. When I woke in the morning, mamma was home, and breakfast was ready. I wondered what made her kiss me so many ' times, and I heard papa say ‘‘He shall give his angels charge.””—l did not hear the _rest,gbut there was some more.—N. Y. Observer.

The Smartest-Dog in the World, — 7 48 8L 1 HAVE a dog called Guard, a spaniel, who, my little ones say, is ‘‘the smartest dogin the world.”” I think the readers of the Nursery will say so too when they read this story, which I can vouch for as every word true, strange as it may seem. : e One day last month, as I was overseeing the manufacture of some ropes, I had the misfortune to have my foot and ankle badly hurt—so badly, indeed, that T sent for a canjiage, and drove at once to a doctor’s office. Guard followed me, and stood watching the doctor with great interest while#fie dressed and bound up the foot. For a week after this I went everyday to the doctor and had my foot re-bandaged, Guard always going with me. - S Some days after my foot was quite well, the doctor was surprised, one morning, at seeing Guard walk into the office alone, h‘o%ding “up one of his paws. On looking at the ,gaw,‘ the doctor fourd a nail in it, which he took out; then he tied up the paw, and the dog limped away. But the.next day he came again, and had his foot tied up as before. He did the same th’i:fi every day for a week, just as I has done.— Nursery. . : [

FACTS AND FIGURES. NEW Yoßrk has 1,100 dairy factories, 23,000 dairymen, representing ‘308,350 cows, producing 3,214,100 pounds of butter and 96,032,750 pounds of cheese. NEw York City is extraordinarily ° weighted with officeholders. There are 13,000 individualsdrawingsalaries from. the city and State, and 7,000 who are paid out of the Treasury of the United States.. . | o THE number of emigrants who left Irish ports last Yea,r was 41,626—an increase of 401 only on the previous year, notwithstanding the agriculturaf and trade depression. Forty-one thousand one hundred and twenty-four of these were natives of Ireland; but ifisremarkgble that enly 35 per cent. of the whole number went to the: United States. L v DurinG 1878 the -American and En§lish societies distributed 3,850,870 ibles: In Russia, 749,828 in sixty-nine languages; in Turkey, 64,508 in nine languages; India, 343,616; China, 159,103; Japan, 61,398; Italy, 52,828; France, 133,160; Servia and Roumania, 928,170; Spain, 68,393; Austria, 274,- | 362; Germany, 468,108; South America, 35,848; Mexico, 30,000. ' o ’ Persons fond of statistics may be delighted to know that one day recently a man on the top of the- CustomHouse in Newburyport, Mass., counted sixty-five fishing vessels. “Each vessel, he estimated, carried eight men; each man attended to about 800 hooks; so, if his figures were correct, about 416,000 hooks were hanging -aggravatingly on that day before the nosesof the hun- , éry codfish on the little strip of New ngland ' coast within. the line of his yistons 0. e Sl :

THE following nationalitieslive under the .scepter -of the Czar of Russia: Great Russians, Little Russians, White Russians, Poles, Finns, Estons, Samoveds, Laplanders, Osiaks, Tunguz, Yakuts, Kamtchadales,” Tartars, Bashkirs, Kirguiz, Kalmuks, Tcherkessi, | Ossettini, Lesguini, Armenian, Lith--auer, Tchuvashie, Ul%_a,lenz’i, Coloshen, 'Tchukehi, Grusini, Koriski, Eskimos, ‘ Yuca%uir,i,‘ Lopari, Truchmen, Korels, ‘ Vagals, Tchapao%iri, Tchechenzi, Gypsies, Hebrews and Mennonites. - Each of these speaksitsown language, which_ is foreign to all'the others. - - IN the recent readjustment of Post~offices and salaries of Postmasters | graded upward agcording to business one and stamps used, 145 were added ‘to what are called Presidential offices —an office becoming Presidential when the receipts are sufficient to entitle the Postmaster to a salary of $l,OOO or more. - The following is a list in full of - the number of Presidential offices in ‘each State: . i : b liqlel‘lvlvxo!;grk%bglxew Hz.mpslnre . %55 Pennsylvania. .......127/Georgia ..... ../0..v. 21 ORIQ voossssie i vena-110Narmont o- o 8 il9 Massachusetts .......105/Tennessee..... ...... 17 lowa .c.ooonseeeneoo.. 90| Nebraska . ... .., ... 1T Michigan ............ T1|A1abama............. }6 Indiana ........ .:... 69|Mississippi........... 16 Wisconsin .... .......58}M&rylamf..... Ay 12 New Jer5ey.......... 60/Colorado ....... .... 12 (onnecticut ..., ..... 45|North Carolina...... 11 California ........... 42|South Carolina...... 11 Missouri «.....0...u.. ,42'Rho:li§ 151 and........ 11 Texa.5...,..i......’..‘ gg,ggv_ e e ,lg - Minnosots .11 111 B Mot s./ Maine. ..... ......... 26|West Virginia........ 7. DURING the ten years ended Dec. 31, 1877, no fewer than 1,159 persons were killed in London and 23,379 maimed or injured by vehicles of various descrip-ti-gns, the largest proportion of acecidents being caused by lit%lht carts, by ‘which 215 persons lost their lives and 7,181 were injured. Vans, although responsible for a smaller number of accidents—namely, 3,6Bs—caused as many as 265 deaths. -Cabs, omnibuses and cars killed 244 and injured no fewer than 6,712 persons during the ten Xears. Saddle horses occasioned the deaths of 28 persons and injured 7735 others, while o‘r::g)ersqn was killed and 46 were injured by velocipedes. The police returns show an alarming increase in the number of street: accidents year by year; for whereas in 1868 there were 1,348 accidents, causing the death of 83 persons, in 1877 ‘the number of accidents re%stemd was 2,956, or more than double those in 1868, while no fewer than 120 persons lost thelp lives, 7o -odilias: Sield SR o 4 —A money-order—commanding a remiftance. =~ it o o