Rensselaer Republican, Volume 22, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 May 1890 — Page 6

ALLAN QUATERMAIN.

BY H. RIDER HAGGARD.

CHAPTER XXlll—Continued. “Listen," she went on, raising her voioe. *T have naught to say, save '.hat I would that I had won instead of lost Do thou with me even as thou wilt, oh, queea, and let my lord the king, there, ” i(pointing to Sir Henry), • for now will he be king, let him earry out the sentence, as it is meet lie should, for as he is the beginning of the evil, let him also be the end!” \nd she drew herself up and shot one +ngry glance at him fsom her deep ■'ringed eyes, and then began to toy with her spear. Sir Henry bent toward Nyleptha and whispered something that I could not •ateh. and then the queen spoke. “Sorsis. ever have I been a good sister to thee. When our-father died, ind there was much talk in the land as to whether thou shouldst sit upon the throne with me, I being the elder, I gave my voice for thee and said, ‘Nay, let her sit. She is twin with me; we were bora at a birth; wherefore should the one be preferred before the otherP’ And so has it ever been ’twixt thee and me, my sister. But now thou knowest in what hort thou hast repaid me, but I have prevailed, and thy life is forfeit, Sorais. And yet art thou my sister, born at a birth with me, and we played together when we were littie and loved each other much, and at night we slept in the same Cot with our arms each around the other’s neck, and therefore even now does my heart go out to thee, Sorais. “But not for that would I spare thy life, for thy offense has been too heavy; it doth drag down the wide wings of my mercy even to the ground. Also, whilst thou dost live the land will never be at peace. “Yet shalt thou not die, Sorais, because my dear lord here hath begged thy life of me as a boon; therefore as a boon and as a marriage gift give l it to him, to do with even as he wills, knowing that, though thou dost love him, he loves thee not, Sorais, for all thy beauty. Nay, though thou art lovely as the night in all her stars, oh, Lady of the Night, yet is it me his wife whom he loves, and not thee, and therefore do I give thy life to him." Sorais flushed up to her eyes and said nothing, and I do not think that I ever saw a man look more miserable than did Sir Henry at that moment. Somehow, Nyleptha’s way of putting the thing, though true and forcible enough, was not altogether pleasant. “I understood,” stammered Curtis, looking at Good, ‘*l understood that you were attached—eh—attached to to the Queen Sorais. I am—eh—not aware what the—in short, the state of your feelings may be just now; but if they happened to be that way inclined, it has struck me that—in short, it might put a satisfactory end to an unpleasant business. The lady also has ample private estates, where I am sure she would be at liberty to live unmolested so far as we are concerned, eh, Nyleptha? Of course, I only suggest.” 1 ‘So far as I am concerned, ” said Good, coloring up. “I am quite willing to forget the past; and if the Lady of the Night thinks me worth having, I will marry her tomorrow, or when she likes, and try to make her a good husband. " All eyes were now turned to Sorais, who stood with that same slow smile upon her beautiful face that I had noticed the first time I ever saw her. She paused a little while, and oleared her throat, and then thrice she courtesied low, once to N yleptha, once to Curtis, and once to Good, and began to speak in measured tones. •*I thank thee, most gracious queen and sister, for the loving kindness thou hast shown me from my youth up, and especially in that thou ha st been pleased to give my person and ray fate as a gift to the Lord Incubu—the king that is to be. May prosperity, peace and plenty deck the life path of one so merciful and so tender, even as flowers do. Long mayst thou reign, oh, great and glorious queen, and hold thy husband’s love in both thy hands, and many be the sons and the daughters of thy beauty. And I thank thee, my Lord Incubu —the king that is to be— I thank thee a thousand times in that thou hast been pleased to accept that gracious gift, and to pass it on to thy comrade in arms and in adventure, the Lord Bougwan. Surely the act is worthy of tfiy greatness, my Lord Incubu. And now, lastly, I thank thee also, my Lord Bougwan, who in thy turn has deigned to accept me and my poor beauty. I thank thee a thousand times, and i will add that thou art a good and honest man, and I put my hand upon my heart and swear that I would that I could say thee ‘yea.’ And now that I have rendered thanks to all in turn”—and again she smiled— “l will add one short word. “Little can ye understand of me, Nyleptha and my lords, if yo know not for me there la no middle path; that I scorn your pity and hate ye for it; that I cast off your forgiveness as though it were a serpent’s sting; and that standing here, betrayed, deserted, insulted, and alone, I yet triumph over ye, mock ye. and defy ye, one and all, and thus I answer ye!” —— And then of a sudden, before anybody guessed what she intended to do, she drove the little silver spear she carried in her hand into her side with such a strong and steady aim that the keen point projected through her back, said she fell prone upon the pavement. Nyleptha shrieked, apd poor Good almost fainted at the sight, while the nest of us rushed toward her. But Sorais of the Night raised herself upon her hand, and for a moment Used her glorious eyes intently on Curtis's face, as though there were soma message la

the glance, then dropped her ho&d and sighed, and with a sob her dark yet splendid spirit passed. Well, they gave her a splendid funeral, ahd there was an end of her. • * * • * • It was a month after the last act of the Sorais’s tragedy that there was a great ceremony in the Flower Temple, and Curtis was formerly declared king-consort of Zu-Vendis. I was too ill to go myself; and, indeed, I hate all that sort of thing, with the crowds and the trumpet-blowing and banner waving; but Good, who was there (in his full dress uniform) came back much impressed, and told me that Nyleptha had looked lovely, and Curtis had borne himself in a right royal fashion, and had been received with acclamations that left no doubt as to his popularity. Also he told me that when the horse Daylight was led along in the procession, the populace had shouted, ‘ ‘Macumazahn, Macumazahn!" till they were hoarse, and would only be appeased when he, Good, rose in his chariot and told them that I was too ill to be present. Afterward, too, Sir Henry, or rather the king, came to see me, looking very tired, and vowing that he had never been so bored in his life; but I dare say that was a slight exaggeration. It is not in human nature that a man should be altogether bored on such an extraordinary occasion; and, indeed, as I pointed out to him, it was a marvelous thing that a man, who but little more than one short year before had entered a great country as an unknown should to-day be married to its beautiful and beloved queen, and lifted, amidst public rejoicings, to its throne; and I oven went the length to, exhort him in the future not to be carried away by the pride and pomp of absolute power; but always to strive to remember that he was first a Christian gentleman, and next a public servant, called by Providence to a great and almost unprecedented trust. These remarks, which he might fairly have resented, he was so good as to receive with patience, and even to thank me for making them. It was immediately after this ceremony that I caused myself to be moved to the house where I am now writing. It is a very pleasant country seat, situated about two miles from the Frowning City, on to which it looks. That was five months ago, during the whole of which time I have, being confined to a sort of couch, employed my leisure in compiling this history of our wanderings from my journal and our joint memories. It is probable that it will never be read, but it does not much matter whether it is or not; at any rate, it has served to while away many hours of suffering, for I have suffered a deal of pain lately. Thank God. however, ther" ‘"Ml 1 not be much more of it. * + * » i It is a week since I wrote above, a id now I take up my pen forVhe last time, for I know that the end is at hand. My brain is still clear and I can manage to write, though with difficulty. The pain in my lung, which has been very bad during the last week, has suddenly quite left me and been succeeded by a feeling of numbness of which I can not mistake the meaning. And just as the pain has, gone, so with it all fear of that end! has departed, and I feel only as though I were gJ>ihg to sink into the arms of an unutterable rest. Happily, contentedly, and with the same sense of security with which an infant lays itself to sleep in its mother’s arms, do I lay myself down in the arms of the Angel Death. All the tremors, all the heart-shaking fears which have haunted me through a life that seems long as I look back upon it, have left me ..now; the storms have passed, and the Star of our Eternal Hope shines clear and steady on the horizon that seeftraso far from man, and yet it is so very near to me to-night. ~ TO BE CONTINUED. r * BABY'S MEMORY. A One-Year-Old Boy Hides and Finds a King. A curious instance of dormant memory in infancy took place in our family. My mother went on a visit to my grandfather, who lived in London. She took With her a little brother of miiie, who was 11 months old, and hi*, nurse, who waited on her as her maid, On< day the nurse brought this baby boy into my mother’s room and put him on the floor, which was carpeted ail over. There he crept about and amused himself according to his lights. When my mother was dressed a cex tain ring that she generally wore wax not to be found. Great search was made, but it was never produced, and, the visit over, they all went away, and H was almost forgotten. Exactly a year after they again went to visit the grandfather. The baby was now a year and eleven months old. The same nurse took him into the same room, and my mother saw him after looking about him, deliberately walk up to a certain corner, turn a bit of the carpet back, and produce the ring. He never gave any account of the matter; nor did he, so far as I know, remember it afterward. It seems most likely that he found the ring on the floor and hid it, as in a safe-place; under a corner of the Brussels carpet where it was not nailed. He probably forgot all about it till he saw the place again, and he was far too Infantile at the time it was missed to understand what the talk that weat on was about, or to know what the search, which, perhaps, he did not notice, was far.

THE TAILOR'S GOOSE.

NEW LIGHT ON THE OLD QUESTION OF ITS PLURAL Aft«r Several Interviews and Some Pictures a Conclusion Is Beached, and the Problem Solved. A Chicago Tribune reporter who was detailed to look np the tailor’s goose question aa to whether one ahodld ask for two tailor’s geese or twq tailor's gooses writes: Everybody has heard of the man who ignobly dodged the point at issue by

IF TWO

evaded. They must be met and grappled with boldly, let the consequences be what they may. The ordinary barnyard goose derives its name from the Greek, Icelandic, Swedish, Danish, and other foreign lingoes commingled and filtered through the Anglo-Saxon. The tailor’s goose is so called, it is alleged, from certain points of resemblance it hears to the barnyard goose. It derives its name, therefore, from the same sources. For the consideration of this matter, however, it is not necessary that the tailor’s goose should be allied in any

way to the order of Anseres, the family Anatidai, or the subfamilies of plectropterin te, ■arkidiornis.or chenalopex. Ornithologists my ignore it, the opulent pos-

sessor of a gooaehone may give it the cold shake, aud the pates foie gras may turn up his carbuncled nose at it, but the tailor’s goose is right there ah the time. It cannot be ignored, ridiculed, or frowned out of existence. The Tribune emissary called on Abimelecli Tuff, a granger from Potato Hollow, who was attending to some business on South Water street, and propounded the question to him: “Mr. Tuff, would you say tailor’s geese or tailor’s gooses?" Mr. Tuff thoughtfully bit off a large huuk of plug tobacco and said he didn’t know and didn’t care a dang. Several extensive poultry-dealers expressed a preference for “geese,” but did not wish to ho quoted' as authorities, for the reason that their specialty is chickens. Horace Birkenhead, the owner of a $250 incubator in Lake View, had no

ARE GEESE

backsonbeimar, one of the most extensive ready-made clothing dealers on South Clark street expressed himself with much positiveness to the effect that '•gooses’’ should be used in all cases where more than one is spoken of. His own family, he said, could eat two gooses for dinner any day in the week. Mr. Bilderbacksonheimer was clearly of the opinion that any man who could ■peak the American language at aid ought to know better than to ask such fool questions. My partner, Mr. Kassovorowiez, preferred “geeses,” but said it was only a matter of taste —he had heard it both ways. Sapolio O’Whaekmard.a walking delegate for the Iron-Moulders’ Union No. 11, was unwilling to commit himself without consulting the Oomitay on Patterns and calling a meeting of the anion. The reporter inquired of J. Cordnrojr Hillis, an accomplished tailor on Madi-

son street, if he had any objection to giving his views on tbis subject. "Not at all,” he replied. “If I were in Boston I should say, ‘A pair of implements used by-

manufacturers of masculine integuments for imparting an unwrinkled surface in the same.’ If I were trying to buy a pair in New York I should ask the first Englishman I met on the street what he thought about it, and 1 would be guided by his advice. If I were in St. Louis I would get some man who understood the Missonn language and use him for an interpreter." "But what is your own opinion, Mr. Hillis?”, “Mine? Geese, you goose.” Mt. Spooley, a scholarly sartorial practitioner on Adams street, was called upon next. “The question is one,” said Mr.Spooley, “that can be settled by analogy,

WOT TWO

would be nobody rash enough to dispute the assertion that ‘ducks’ would be the proper plural. What is sauce for the duck must be sauce for the—h’ml—for the goose. “The tailor’s goose,” continued Mr. Bpooley, "may grow old, but its constitution does not change. It does not become tongbsff. lt never masquerades as a spring gosling. It is always and under all circumstances the same goose. It is entitled to every courtesy, every right, every terminology that pertains to the goose whose ancestors of old saved Rome by their cackling. When Blender, in 'Merry Wires of Windsor/ exclaims: ‘Hon my lather stole two geese eat of a pen,' do you suppose he would have said two gooses,' ii his kleptomaniacal parents had stolen them out of a tailor's shopT No. It would b*’*'* been neither correct nor Shakspearian. ‘I harm stood on the pillory for geese he hath killed, ’ roars somebody in two Gentlemen of Verona.' If thie unfortunate person had suffered thus vicariously for geese another had stolen

writing an order as follows: “Please send me a tailor’s goose. “P. B.—Hang it, while you are about it send me another." Questions like this must not be

OF THESE

hesitation in sayiug that if he should ever succeed in hatching out a couple of tailor’s smoothing irons he should call them geese every time. Solomon Bilder-

WHY ARE

induction, and the scientific use of metaphysics. If this iron”—and he laid a shapely white hsndohthe goose before him—“were commonly known as a duck there

from the shop of a Veronese talloi

would there have been any difference, think yon, in the manner of characterizing or signifying the plurality of the things stolen? ‘ Hardly." Seizing a pencil

and sheet of paper Mr. Spooley rapidly sketched the outline of a domestic gooae. “To show that the resemblance between a tailor's gpose and this wellknown fowl is no fanciful one," he said, “it is only necessary to apply the principle of evolution to the case. Observe the gradual change from the barnyard goose to the tailor's implement.” Here Mr. Spooley drew a number of additional sketches, which are carefully reproduced in this article, showing the successive steps by whieh the one gooso merges into the other. “It may be regarded as certain,” he continued, “that the living goose antedated the iron goose. Bat if the case were reversed it would make no difference. The evolution from cold iron to warm goose meat would have illustrated the idea fully as well. “To sum up," observed Mr. Spooley, “there is no rule of orthography, orthoepy, philology, mineralogy, common sense, or logic to justify the use or any

GEESE ATLSO?

will be siflniug against light and knowledge. t Grotesque Novelties. ' The artist of the Puli Mall Gazette ■ketches a few grotesque novelties just

INKSTAND.

hidden away in the insect’s body. ' The fisherman is also of bronze, and bis nel is of wire. It will be used for catching

visiting cards next season. A naturalsized model of a beer barrel is a useful novelty for, a bachelor’s room. | The barrel is of polished oak, with nick el b an d a.

There are drawers inside for tobacco, cigars, etc., and one end of the barrel can be be let down to form a table. The

WORK COMPANION.

ver on the lid. Men’s silk hats him been converted into work-bags, pincushions, and bon-bonuieres. They are made in several sizes. The largest costs 25 shillings. Plain sleeves will be coming in by and by as a novel. They are very scarce ai present. The dress maker has allowed her fancy to run free for a loDg time in bringing about all sorts of capricious shapes. Mantles arc made with long, trailing, airy sleeves that might or miglil not belong to them. The sleeves of cloih jackets are often entirely of velvel or astrachan. A gray cloth jacket with a deep rolled collar of astrachan had sleeves embroidered with black braid from shoulder to wrist.

COLLAPSIBLE NEWSPAPER OR MUSIC RACK.

Among the popular novelties is a eol lapsible newspaper or music rack, with a shelf at the bottom for books. This is hand-paiuted.

To Keep the Stove Bright.

After doing its first duty as a heater, the next thing we require of a stove is to look bright. A dull, dusty, smoky stove will make a room look disorderly and uncomfortable. It requires only a few minutes' care each day to keep the Solish bright and nickel-plate shining. cep one cloth, used for nothing else, to rub off the stove. When used first on a newly-blacked stove the cloth becomes filled with the surplus polish, which rubs off so easily, and it is then ready to impart a gloss whenever it is needed. Another plan is to use old newspapers to rub off the stove, instoad of a brush. In mixing stove polish use vinegar and a teaspoonful of sugar. Strong soap-suds are recommended for the same purpose. If it is used the luster will appear immediately, saving work and dusL To brighten the nickel-plating rub it with whiting and kerosene, using a wooleu. cloth and flour. If the mica in the stove door has become discolored with smoke it can be easily cleaned by washing it witli vinegar. The fancy zinc uow used so generally under stoves only requires to be dusted off with a dry cloth. To clean a plain zinc wet :ut with vinegar and use it to scour •a zinc, rubbing with a woolen cloth. -Amerioan Agriculturist. Celluloid. tie explosive qualities of celluloid a .practically demonstrated a few ..>ys ago in a Philadelphia saloon, when a spark from a cigarette lauded on the collar of ono of the frequenters of the piece, and Unbiased u» la a second.

OF THESE

other word than ‘geese’ as the plural of ‘goose.’’’ This closed the investigation. If “Constant Reader” ever orders a pair of tailor’s geese by any other name he

introduced i n .the London shops. The Ngrasthopper is a bronze inkstand and the ink is

CARD BASKET.

cases have been sold as present! for young gentlemen. They are made of lizard, crocodile, and morocco, and the monogram of the person to whom it‘ is to be presented appears in sil-

DUTCH SCHUTTERS.

Th» Qneer Drill lor ° r Holland's Happy Go.Lnekj Militia. Holland is becoming exceedingly fidgety about her militia affairs, says a letter in the N. Y. Tribune. The national defenses are in a disorganized condition, and the Dutch would be unable to offer much resistance to any invasion. Reform is the cry on every Tiand, and universal conscription is advocated on all sides; but no one seems to feel disposed to carry the matter through. A e things now are, no Dutchman need serve in the regular army if he can pay for his substitute. The consequence is that the rich are opposed to universal conscription, beeanse they do not want to serve, and the poor are against it because they would no longer receive the large suras which their children earn by serving as substitutes. Every man, however between the age of 25 and 40 is forced to belong to the militia, or schuttery, as it is designated in Holland. The latter numbers about 2 per cent of the entire population. But it is quite harmless, and partakes to a certain extent of the nature of the Opera coraique. Nothing can be more amusing than to watch the schutters on their way to to drill latte in the afternoon of summer and autumn days. They can scarcely be described as presenting a martial appearance in their blue and red uniforms, with their shakoes perched rakishly on one side of their head, the chin strap barely reaching down to the nose, a cigar or pipe in the mouth, and an anteailuvan-looking old musket carried, over the shoulder, butt end upward. At the close of his drill the bold militiaman, whose portly figure causes' him to dislike any violent exeroise, sends his gun and bayonet home by a porter or dientstman, who is often as not his corporal or sergeant, and then adjourns to a beer-garden. There he spends the remainder of the evening with a number of equally martin blades, washing down the accumulated dust of the mimic battle-field rwith copious libations, and consigning the founder of the sehuttery to" Mie darkest depth of hades. In winter when it rains or snows the monthly drill at Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and other important cities, usually takes place under cover in the bourse after the business of the day is over. The drill sergeants, however, dislike this; for it doubles their work, since the schutters devote far more attention to the figures of the afternoon stock quotations, still chalked upon the board, than to the figures of drill. Thus, for instance, wheu the sergeant shouts out: “Schutter Jansen! What do you mean by standing there like that? Keep your feet together and year stomach in.” Jansen, who is lost in the contemplation of the board, exelaims by way of response: “Herr Qk»tt! Ninety-six and a half per cent! I am in a nice hole!” The officers of the militia regiments ace exceedingly gorgeous oreatures, with their long, clanlnng sabere, their plumed hats, and their profusion of gold lace. Their knowledge of things military is but one degree superior to that of the men under their command, for they have been forced to drill for two hours a week during a period of six weeks with the regular line regiment. Under ordinary circumstances they manage to fulfill their duty after a fashion, but during the annual raathey are subjected to great trials. A schutter captaiu will be standing in front of his company, when a corporal acting as orderly approaches with the followiug message: “The enemy is close at hand. The colonel sends you his very best compliments aud wishes to know if you would oblige him by leading your men to attack.” All at once the latent patriotism aud military ardor of the captain blaze forth. He draws his sword, and calling on his soldiers to follow him, rusher to meet the imaginary enemy. Suddenly his advance is checked by a shallow ditch filled with muddy water.. This causes his fierceness to abate, for he would not for all the world soil his uniform. He pauses for a few seconds. All at once a happy thought strikes him. “Fire by volleys!” he cries to his men. Immediately the ramrods are heard to rattle in all the enormous barrels of the old muskets, and a minute later the hammers fall witli a clicking noise of old metal. For the militiamen are not only forbidden the use of gunpowder, but are even denied percussioti caps. In the middle of all this the adjutant of the regiment, who is invariably an officer of the regular army, dashes up on horseback and exclaims in frantic tones to the captain: -—— “Good heavens! man, don’t you know that in case of volley firing the officers must not stand in front of the muzzle of their men’s guns?” Nowise disconcerted, the captain I lulls his hand-book of military regulations out of his pocket and, after carefully glancing over several pages, replies in a nonchalant manner: “Well, I don’t see anything about it in here.” The face of the adjutant becomes scarlet, he gulps down two or three big oaths, ana finally ejaculates: “Hero give me the book. See there! It is page 48." And then, with a look of despair and a shrug of his shoulders, he aashes off to some other equally well-informed schutter officer. Meanwhile the captain has leisurely returned his sword tff its scabbard and has inscribed in his notebook the following memorandum: “In case of volley firing it is better for the officer to keep to the rear of the front, so as not to come into contact witli the muzzle of his nien's guns. ” The majors, tCe lieutenants, and the colonels of the “schuttery” are all cut oat of the same cloth as the captain above portrayed; always ready to argne the point with their superior officers, and producing the drollest effects by their utter ignorance of military tactics. There is even a “schutter’ genera, who is a retail tea merchant. None of the officers or men •re acquainted with the mechanism of a modern .rifle, and there, are probably bnt few es them who would venture to handle one if they knew it was loaded. One word more to complete this brief •ketch of Holland’s gaHant defenders. As soon as the hour appointed for the

.. , drill strikes at the town* hall dock the officer in aommand takes a sand-glass and tarns it upside down. He then : waits until the sand inns out, that is to say, a quarter of an hour, before giving the roll-call to proceed. Anybody arriving after that time is subjected to a small fine.

On the Delsarte Plan.

A new profession has been started in ; Washington. It is a branch of the Delsarte science, but promises to have many followers. Among a number of literary and social advertisements j there appears this announcement, appended to which is the name of wellknown instructor in social deportment: : Professor of Kissing. : ***** I had a curiosity to call and inquire into this osculatory science, says a Washington letter in the Detroit Free Press. The professor is a quiet little man of declining years, who teaches the art of conversation, how to write letters, and carries on a brisk business in the answer and regret line. He was once a Consul to some foreign port, and wears distinguishing badges of past office. “Yes, I teach kissing,” he said, “it is a very necessary accomplishment. I teach the kiss active and the kiss passive; the kiss social and the kiss polite. I will show you my method.” There upon the professor touched a bell and two rather pretty girls, neatly dressed, entered his little parlor. “Miriam and Fanny; the school kiss.” ■ —’ The young ladies turned toward each other, held out hands and bobbing forward pecked like little birds at each other’s cheek. ( “Now the good-bye kiss.” This was a slower and more solemn event. There was no smack, but theylingered a moment, saluting each other on the cheek as before. “Do you teach the lover’s kissP” "I do, and have much sucoess. My son practices with his sister. I have introduced the eye-kiss, which is much more serviceable and proper than the lip-kiss. The accepted lover kisses his betrothed on the eye lids. It is very affectionate and poetical.” I found that the old man taught stage kissing. It was rather tame and colorless, being a mere mechanical salute with closed lips. He assured me that few people knew how to kiss well; that it was a most neglected branch of social education, and that his method was so correct that strangers could salute each other with perfect propriety. Those who have seen kissing on the public promenade, at depots and in cars will be pleased to know that the smack is obsolete, and that a school of kissing will not allow its pupils to make spectacles of themselves in public.

Anticlimax.

i walked a city street, and suddenly I 1 saw a tiny lad. The winter wind Howled fitfully, and all tbo air above The elear-cut outline of the buildings tall Seemed full of knives that cut against the face: An awful night among the unhoused poor! The boy was tattered; both his hands were thrust For show of warmth within his pocket-holes, Where pockets had not been for many a day. Onto trouser-leg was long enough to hide The miked flesh, but one. In mockery A world too short, tho’ he was monstrous small. Left bare and red his knee—a cruel thing! Then swelled my selfish heart with tenderness And pity for the waif: to think of one 80 young, so seeming helploss, homeless too, Breasting the night, ashiver with the cold 1 Gaining a little, soon I passed him by, My fingers reaching for a silver coin To make him happier, If only for An hour, when—l marvelled as I heard— His mouth was puckered up in cheery wise. And in the very teeth of fortune’s frown He whistled kind a scrap of so mo gay tune! And 1 must know that tul my ready tears Fell on vsteod more merry than ibino own. —.Kioliani K.. Burton, In Harper's Magaalne.

“Catt pilars.”

The catterpilar is a cralliDg thing and hears all over his back and fannie found one down her back and it made rue cralljike everything, birds eat cat* terpilars and give them to their children to eat. I don’t see how they cuu eat them, I know I- could not eat thmn, they are such horrid things, theylook so so offly and feel i don’t know how. Cittterpilars climb trees, the other day i saw a big, big catterpilar and he was so horrid that i took a stick and kild him with it and threw it away to let the swill man pick it up and take it home period catterpilars ha.vo 1,000 or more legs, he may not have so many, and he may have more the big ones have more than the little ones i gess that but i don’t know. Catterpilars eat flies and other insects such as ants, micatos, and others like that. Also they eat leaves, plum leaves and in short all kinds and some flowers to,some have baby catterpilars. in short all of them. Catterpilars drink water, in short everything they can get. Catterpilars, i can not say much more about catterpilars. but one good root is never throw a catterpilar at a man or anybody for it gives them such a fright. I have told you all they eat, drink how many legs it has -and the rool. A catterpilar can climb, you. can not. Ma be some of you can, I cant, but most of the things that a catterpilar can do we can not, and most of tim things that wo can do they can not. —Quoted by the buffalo Express.

Lincola's Courage.

If you will allow mo to diverge a little here, let mo say'of Lincoln that lie had a little of Andrew Jackson in him, considerable of it. He was a western man. He felt that whon ho had anything to say ho would say it, and after there had been a great deal of diplomacy about the escape of the "Alabama,” which preyed upon our commerce, and when diplomatic,notes used up a groat deal of nice paper and a great deal ot good ink, tmt lio coiisttfcr erable brains of the writers (laughter) had been expended upon the question, aud when Mr. Adams notiiied Mr. Lincoln that perhaps another "Alabama” might escape, Mr. Lincoln took up a card about the size of an ordinary visiting card, and wrote on that card* ‘•Teil Palmerston that another 'Alabama 1 mesas war.” No "Alabama” escaped.— Men Butler's Address.

A Good Old Clock.

C. S. Chapman of Water bury, Conn., has a clock which has ticked* off, the lime without stopping since 1788,