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ncacon Tidd Explains his Conduct In "' d the H4lr.se 'l'ra e. !le seemed innorent. childlike, confiding, '· outh who swapped horses with m!J; ':rhat ant I've known of such mild manners hiding l)uplicity frightful to see. And a horse trade's a horse trade. Each party Is always suppased to intend 'foI~~i;fn°:~g·ke~~h:~e~;ee~~~ hearty Why, 1 wondered. air, how he could do it Wit!). such a frank, innocent air! ,,,_r my own part, I make no pretension .,u That all that I told him was true_; W · more, I negI e~t ed t;omen uon hat is Some outs my horse had that Umew, JJut a horse trade's a horse trade remember! l'he day is supµosed to be ooJd, "s the coldest we get in December, eFor him who turns out to bt1 sold. ~ · 'i~~e 'fo':i.~ci~~~·b~n~r~1~~th~~ ~:~;ve me fliat the youth didn t try to deceive me. But told the thing honest and square, l had beat him like blal'lea. Howbeit My conscience h clear. unde~stand; lf I lied yoµ have got to ag~eo it d Ia JUSt what our custcms eman · nut I've ponde1·ed a deal for a week on · hie. f I k new it· ~nd he lied brown hke the mlSC .A.bonthis five year-old mare: ,JJs~~I;:it;~~ti~:i;i;~~~~t~. ~~°aeon 'l'hat vouth has discovered m me. 11UPIDJT'7 Al\.'D 11ftJME V I 11 \) CHAPTER XIII.-(OONTINUED.) " Oh, my dear!" Thefine-featuredolii face lost all its healty color, t~e kind eyes filled with dismay, the darn mg was quickly laid down, and Mrs. Beaupre came over to her son's side with all her innocent happmess struck dead and all her vivid foars a.wake. "My dear"-she laid her hand uporilus shoulder and spoke with a wlStful pathos that went to the p;ian's heart- "! thought, I hoped th.at you were not thinking of that poor girl to-day." He drew down the kind head and pressed his lips to it; he held it s~ill fondly clasped while he answered quite calmly and steadily"I think of her always, mother. Would you have me forget so lightly and so soon " No, no; but, Arthur, you are very weak still. Can you bear t o speak of that dreadful time yet?" . He shook his h ead, and answered, with . a sorrowful smile"I am not such a coward as you t~mk me. Silence was the hardest of all thm gs to bear. I have borne that patientlynow let me speak." The upraised eyes seconded the prayer elequently. Mrs. Beaupre sighed, but Jnade no further protest. Perhaps Arthur knew lus own case best- any speech mi"'ht be less painful to him than this l!tl·0 a nge unnatural silence that had 11 endured so long She could not te ; one thing only was clear to her- she could resist his pleading no more. . "Well, my dear, ask any q~estwns you like, and I will answer them. "Sit down then. No- where I can see you, mother. ill~~ is so good to know that I have you st · Mrs. Beaupre obeyed, flm;hing with pleasure at this little outburst of t enderness from h er undemonstrative sonnot that she had ever doubted lns affection, but h e was not wont to put it into words. "Mother, who followed N era to the r· He turned to meet her eyes ; but she ;fixed them r esolutely on the table, as ~he said, in a low voice"Every one h ere - the ,hole parish." "Ay as a show, a spectacle !" he cried with a iook of bitterest pain. "But was there no one ther e to- to mourn her-~o one who had ever cared for her or seenm her m ore than a murderess wh o had slipped t hrough the hangman's ha,i;ds ?" "Yes Arthur; ther e was one. turJiJ.ed quickly at t he low-toned answer. " '\¥ho was it, mother-h er father, Mrs. Bruce, or Vance~" "No my dear. I followed her." pale lace flushed; his blue eyes kindled with a sudden grateful fire. "You mother ! Heaven bless you for the charitable thought ! You did not even know h er." · "My dear, I knew how well you loved her, and, poor unhappy girl, how she had !oved you only too well. It was only right that your mother would stand beside the g rave - your mother, who should one day have welcomed her home. " "Thank you I " Arthur said simply, but there was a world of unutte~ed eloquence in the look that accompamed t h e brief phrase. He did not speak again for a ~ew ll'!inutes, b:it sat dre.amHy staring with dim unseemg eyes mto t he fire. M rs. Beaupre waited a second or two for the quest10ns that did not come ; tl~en, thmkmg it b est to conclude the subject t hat bristled with painful complications, 1 · t to and would act as a perpetua irritan her son's mmd, she went on to volunteer informat10r:. "You know that Captain Bruce is dead ?" f Arthur turned hIS f ace round rom th e fire. · " l did not know that, though Cristine h t t old me- -" He paused ; t e men ion of Cristm e's name touched too sore a spot in his remembrance. " Poor old man I I hope he died before- -" "Yes, vl:)s, " M rs. B eaupre m t erpose d q uickly ; ""he n ever recovered consciousf h tl d d ness, and died on t e nr ay a t er the stroke." ..,.. B dh d ht "" "And L urs. f'lfce- afl he~ aug er ,d M rs. Beaupre s ace h u~ e no~, dan the clear bluo ey~s .t dat e t r son a m her1ted flashed wit Im igna ion. :i t lmow "Where tkhey are,notlw I c;:,hno or care to now, .o.r rnr. _,, o woman seems to be a weaMk andd selfishh cre;ture; and the girl- C y eaS r ! "1 ' toen co.tmbe her e, I 8 found ristm,,e m g e n cs a 1 1 . h d " ou nurse t · · is e "' Y Arthur turned round quickly , and there was no misi eadmg the disgust and annoyance of his look. "She was indeed," Mra. Beaupre went 011 with an emphatic little nod, well ' pleased that sh e liad a t 1as t 8 t' irre d A: 0 1 1 1 f t h ur rom u·s 1e tliar~y-t ch ange m o ·b d 0 1 ft t · d . t' a:s nothing · grie ioiJes m igna ion w, less than a ti iumph in the mother 's eyes. "I tO'ok an intense dislike to t he girl in grave~" the first moment of our meeting, thougl .1 aha had played the par.t of Good Samaritan to you." "Good Samaritan I" tlle young h Iman -'· l echoed bitterly. "I w.onder t at w.L not die under her hands ! Mother, do you know that Nora's step-sister did her best to swear Nora's life away i" '· I know· ; and, in spite of all her protestatl .ons of devotion and unselfishness, I let l\IT:ss s1·11aleton °ee that I rated hor J,u,i ~ ~ true value. When she proposed to share my wafoh and help to nurse you, I re1 d mmded her that her ffrsu uty was t O1 ier widowed moLher ,· w h en sh e spok e, w1tJ1 f d l tears ui her eyes, of the close nen d sup th existing between you, I answ.ere at that friendship must be a thmg of the d N B past now, as you hatl love J: ora ruce too well anC. loyally to endure the pres ence of the girl who h a d vol unt ee1·e d . the evidence that must have convicted her." A 1 B A.t any other time rt rnr eaupre must needs have lauizhed at tJie picture Qf Cristine Singleton~ wastmg her wiles and fascinations on the shrewd old S{lotchwoman whose 'Percept10ns were as keen as her heart was warm and tender. But the mere mention of Cristine's name filled hi{n with horror and disgust. "Do not talk of her, mother ; we h ave done with her now." "I thmk so, " Mrs. Beaupre agreed, with perfect placichty. "She went at last, looking very pallid and unc >mf~rtable, and domg her best to leave a stmg behmdher." "ln what way 1,, " Well, my dear, she sai~ that, as a Christian, I ought to appreciate the forgiving spirit which brought h er to your side for, though at heart you really loved her' best, you had jilted her for her stepsister's sake.,, Arthur stared blankly, appalled by the monstrous fiction. "l love or jilt her!" he cried savagely. "Mother, it is most wickedly untrue 1,, "So I told her; and do not think she liked the information. I said that you had frnquently mentioned her in your letters to me as an agreeable partner at the N ebtleton balls, and a well-looking, much-adnured young lady, but that, from the moment you saw h er, Nora Bruce had stolen into your heart ; and then- - " "And then T' Arthur echoed eagerly. "And the\l she went," Mrs. Beaupre finished with a little flitting smile. "And as yous~", Arthur, I think we have done with Mis~ Singleton now." Arthur answered only by a slight motion of the head, and silence again fell on the pair. B ut watching the sharpened outlme of the face 80 d ear to her, Mrs. Beaupre felt, on the- whole, well content wit h her work. The eye.~ were stern and sad; but the look of dreary apathy had passed away, never, s h e h oped , t o ~e t u rn · Sorrow would still reign supreme m the strong and lovmg heai t, but other feelmgs were wakmg mto hfe, and 1t would rule with unc hvided sway no more. The blow t hat had not killed him outright would not crush all energy and manhood out of the strong energetic nature. Her son was given back to her mdeed, and for her the darkest hour of hfe was passed. So the sunlight pierced the clouds to the mother's hopeful gaze, and, for h er sake her son strove to forget that his lifepath' lay throu"h that Valley of tho Shadow of Death which his lost but unforgotten love had trodden before h im. Arthu~ Arth~r's 1 And all this t ime 110 one asked what had become of Vance S ingleton. Forgotten and overlooked m the pre parations for the weddmg, agamst which h e made, from first to last, a more or less sarcastic protest, Captam Bruce's step son had not come forward to t ake part in the ternble scenes that followed, and to no one but his mother did this seem strange. ' "If Vance were only here, " poor Mrs. Bruce had murmured, in the GfSt bitter ness of her widowed gnef, "he would help us- h e would tell us what we had better do." " He would share the httle that we have and add his helplessness t o ours," Cristine answered coldly, " When did Vance ever h elp anyone, mother, or think of any one but himself The moth er a.nswered only by a fresh burst of tears and a murmured reproach to Criatine for h er cruelty. 'fhe haughty arrogant woman was completely crushed and utterly submissive to h er imperious daughter's will. " Ther e is little enough for us two," tl1e girl added, with a sickly smile. 'i'L et Vance support himself for a while at least ; he has left us to b ea; this shame and agony alone.,, "He is not in England, Cristine. You know h e told- -" She paused abruptly, cho~iJ1g over t he once familiar word. But Cristme calmly finished t he sentence. "Told Nora he sh ould ·be away, I know. W ell, it is only fair that, when he comes, h e should find us gone. England is unendurable for us at present. L et us try France and Germany, moth er, for a time. " Mrs. Bruce assented as meekly as a child ; she had made such disastrous work of her manageme , nt for others that she was qmte content to be managed for the rest of her hfe. If she r ebelled at any arrangemeut of Cristme's, she rebelled in secret , as sn e learned at last even to weep for Vance. And mean time, where was Vance 1 ' deserted his mother and sister in Had he the moment of th eir bitterest n eed, with a su preme selfishness of whwh few men would have been capable, or was h e ~n some remote corner of t he earth , still liapp1ly l"nornnt of the tra0 etedy m which 0 Nora 's young hte had closed i Mrs. Bruce cluIJg desperately to the latter beh ef ; Cr1stme h eld t o the former with firm undoubtmg faith. Between tl1e brother ancl sister ther ci had always b een the strangest ta.01t enmity; t hey were as unlike, ph;ys1cally, morally and mentally, as two dnld1eu of one mother well could Cristine, with her cl11lly t einperament a~d frostily perfect . f h d k face, very opposite t e ar e"ed bemg dark the -haired, reckli' ss o impetuous -' ' who openly avowed , from tl1e Vatice, hour of his mother 's second marriage, that h e greatly preferred Nora to his own CHAPTER~IV. ~rand r· I mirers would have suspected her of talk- Mother and I will 'coach' you; you can sister even adding boyish insolooee · t' that h'e thlimght herwith an infim.tely l?rettier m g so 1ong without one Jes mg worcl or irnt ~ a small engagement with u,s, perhaps, t laughmg look 1 "But you forget the and then -- " 0 1 girl, whicla latter dee aration r1s me other ahernative, Miss Clare." "'vVe must trust the rest t o fate," the neither forgave nor foraot. ·'The Colonies!" she laughe.d at last, younrr man · intwered gravely i "and th t f A th f ·1 0 r ur but it was in very genuine scorn of her whether it gives me a1 ure or success, And mdeed up to ' e nne 0 Beaupre's rep~rted death, Nora had been compamon's simplicity. Miss Clare, I shall never forget my debt the one savmg influence of the young " You foolish boy, do not you know of grat1tude to you." scapegrace's bfe. His step-father's sever- that im1mgration means only another and " Oh, bush I" she cried, with a )ook of ity, his mother's foolish fondness, Cris- heavier drain upon the paternal purse ~ genmne;distres~ " We do not say m1;1ch tme's cold sneers-these were so many If 1 1 t' 1 d about it, Mr. Smgleton ; but do y ou t hmk m· cer1tives to ill· Nora was always No ' no! you want rea Y.prac a - we can ever forget-mother a1 1d I-that ' butand but"ica w1th his gentle counseller friend, ~atien.t VlCe I could give you some · -, · l'f i w ld t h 1 a sh~ke of the little close-curled head- we owe you Jenny 8 1 e · e cou no with lus many failure, tolerant wit ns I h db t t,, pay that debt, though we assured you the many backslidm0 ,,.;i, hopeful always'ofbet.. "perhaps e , D 1,, h a d tei no l ' fo·· tliere was fame of anirvmg t o-morrw." 0 ter things. . e crie eager y, (TO BE ., noNTIYUED.) f · ' k th 1 ttl _, "y011 shall not ~ give yonrsel up, somethmg so busmess1i e m e l e Vance," she would cry h opefully from creature's look that h e f e It cert am s h e d t SI . t H time to time-" you have brams an had pondernd some rea1 prnJeC . ie was Evemngs a ome. youth and strength; but you must work, certamly some five or six years Vance's GAMES. . b h and more prac h dear." JUmor, ut so muc wiser Games in which t 1 le w 01 e company And fr om time to time Vance prom- tical t hat there seemed nothmg mcon- can en rra"e add to t he pl easu,,re of an . h t · "Y 0 0 ised that he would ; but his was a ligh t, gruou::1 or absurd m t e pa romzmg ou evemng at home. "Bost on can be careless nature, occup10d always with the foolish boy!" or the semi-mat ernal t one played by old and young, and enjoyed. pleasure of the moment, and he never mto which she had unconsciously shp- Place chairs for the entire company in a really took the l esson to h eait until the ped. · circle, and after all are seated give each a commg of those darkly-shadowed days in "Give me your advICe, :n~~ss Clare; I number; blmdfold one of the company whICh Nora hy longmg for tho death that promise to prize and take it ! and pia.ce him m the centre of the circle ; would not come, and h e found ~mself "Not quite so fast !" ahe interrui;ted h e is to call out two numbers, and the adriH, as it were, on an unfriendly brightly. "Now prepare for an electnc players whose numbers are called must sea. shock, Mr. Smgloton ! Why do you n ot change places without being caught by Life at Nettleton had never been very JOlll us thl:) person in the centre ; if either rn Conizenrnl · i"t grew unbearable then. Re stared at her in b.l ank amazecaught , the plo.yer blindfolded must guess ~ ~ , k eaptam Bruce was more than usually ment . Tlus wa~ an electuc I!1 ioc m- the name o~ the p]ayer caught; if he aloomy and abstracted ; Mrs. Bruce op- deed. cannot two more numbers must be callpressed with a conviction that, when "Join you!" he faltered feebly. "Go ed to change places.. It gives a pl~asant things went wrong so generally, someone on the stage ! Act ! Oh, M1ss,,Clare, I variety to th e game if the person m t he must be to blame, was fretful even to her am quite sure I could not do it ! centre will occasionally call " Boston ," at darlmgson; while Cristine's never very "Without agreatdealofcoachingyou which all change places; the cne .left amiable temper grew so absolutely fiend· certainly could not," she answered calm- standmg will then be the one to be blmdlike that at times he fa;:ucie~ she was go- ly. "lt is only m novels that J uhets and folded. ing mad. Oppressed by his home sur- Romeos appear on t he mspirat1on of the "Jerusalem ,, is played by plac~ng rounding~, the young man absolutely be- moment and take the town by storm. I do chairs in the centre of the room, facmg gan to thmk, and, strangely enough, he not propose any such dazzlmg feat .to alternately in opposite directions ; have did not find the novel occupat10n a pleas- you. But I am certam th~t, with ordm- one more pl ayer than chairs-some one of ant one. ary diligence and attent10n, the stage the company who plays readily any simple "You are six-.a nd-twenty," s:iggested would be more t han a decently lucrative music in march time ; all t h e comp any the inward momtor'. who, havmg once career to you ; and I am not alo?-e m. my march to the music around the chairs and been stirred from. his l.ong r ep.ose, ~as op:illion that your natural quahficat10ns when the music stops- which should be disagreeably persIStent m makmg ~1m- are first-rate. I do not know a bet.ter in t he middle of the bar-all take seats. self heard. "You ha.ve no profess10n, judge than moth er, and she was saying As there are more players than chairs one because you were toe idle tJ adopt one only yesteiday what an ideal lover you will be left standing, which al ways gives when your step-father offered you t he would make!" . rise to much m erriment. R emove on e means. You have squandered so large a Vance felt himself blush, forgetting the chair every time the musi? stops. . portion of his modest savmgs t hat he has purely busmess point of view from which "Choosmg P artners," is also amusmg. 111 all probability neither the means nor the girl and the mother appraised him. Arrange chairs in a circle, with a pla:yer the mclination to renew the offer now .. Mrs. Clare is very kmd, " he mu~- in every other chair. A correspondmg Vance Smcrleton, you cannot blink the mured rather foolishly, at which Nettie number of players leave the room, those fact-you a~e an ignomimous soCial fail- shrug·>ed her shoulders, with a droll h ttle seated select one wh o is out of the room, ure. It is high time you were up and laugh~ and the one sel ected must enter and seat doint?, if you can do no more than t ake "Kind t You do not suppose sh.e himself on t he chair selected for him the Queen's shillmg, and follow the col- meant to flatter you ?" she asked, so evi- without bem.,. told which it is. If he does ors a1ound the world, as many a better dently amused by the idea th<t.t he color- n ot select th~ ri"ht chair he is "clapped man has done before you." ed again, tlus time with vexation and dis- out " of th e roo~ and another p layer seIt was a fine trumpet-call t o duty; .but gust. "No ; she meant simply th is, that lected. he answered it in rather a laggmg fasluon. you are t all and good-lookmg, have a "Sta ere-coach" is a game familiar to All his senses were confused, and his eyes handsome face and a soft sentiment.al many. The players sit in a row, and each were somehow dazzl ed, as though h e had lo®k, that you speak well and clearly and rs etiyen the name of some part of the p,issed suddenly mto a new and trying carry yourself like a gentle~an, and th~t coa~h ; when the part of the s tage is menlight; he wanted to strike a. new the demand for such qualitrna as thcs~ is t1onecl for which they are named th ey track, but as yet h e could not see his way at present much greater t han the supply. turn round, and at t he wor d stage-coach clearly. Now do you understand my suggest10n, all turn once and change I places. d h. Any Never, he thought, did man set forth l\fr. Smgleton, and will you cons1 er one who forgets to get up w ien ts name more lightly armecl for the great battle of it ~" _. IS called pays a forfeit-that 111· when the life- nevor did man enter the great She spoke with absolute simplicity, word "wheel " is said, th e wheel gets up market -place with goods less suited for without the famtest change of color or and turns around ; if he forgets, h e must barter- two helpless hands, a not too bril- tmge of embarrasment m her bright frank pay a forfeit. Thi i~erson m the company liant brain, and a sufficiently costly, but manner; t he vamest man ahve could n?t who can t ell the best story begms an ac exceedmaly useless, educatiou. Htlcould have fancied her personally mterested m count of a journey in a st age coach; durnot write~ he could n@t pamt-it was too the subjec~; and th e conviction that tlus ing the recital the names of t he various late to turn lawyer, parson , or doctor ; was so piqued and wounded Vance, parts of the stage-coach are mentioned. decidedly his was not a bright or prom1s- I thourrh he did his best to hide what he The crame will vary m mterest 111 proporing look-out. If Nora had be~n out and l kne"~ to be a stupid and ungrateful feel- t10n to the mterest of the story, but the about, as usual. ready to admm1st er one ing. .~ 1eal object is t o collect forfeits, to be reof her friendly lit tle lectures, and contra-I " You are more th an kind to think of deemed at the close of the game. 1 diet her scolding words with the over- me at all " he began st1ffiy. "lam most Anotlwr gMne is played by selecting fl.owmg sympathy of h er pretty changeful 1 "rateful ;' but--" one of the company, ancl asking all sorts eyes, he would have carried his new / b "But you are off,,nded all the same," of quest10ns for t he purpose of making weight of cares to her ; the two young cr11a- Nettie interrupted q mckly ; and for t he h im laugh , if at t he askm g of the twelfth tures would have put t heir heads together, ! fiist time t heie came a lit tle fl~sh of color question he has not smiled, he sel~cts one and, teu chances to one, her quick w1ts l to the creaniy-tmted skm , a shght rm~ of of the company, of whom qu~st10ns a~e would have seen some other way out of mortifif d feelwg to the clear pretty v01ce. asked in t urn. At th e first smile a forfeit the maze. B ut Nora lay between hfe "Foraet that I was so iool1sh as to talk is paid, t o be r edeemed later. and cleath, absorbed in a sad dr~am-world to yo;{ seriously, Mr. Smgleton. Look on " How do you like i t? When do you of her own, far away fr.om lum and his my advice as .an excellent Joke, seek like it ? Where clo you like i t?" is an old 1 smaller trouble; and so it chanced that, a more drnnified adVIser next time. . rrame and an arnusmg one. One player in the utter lack of all home com:"Never!" Vance cned h otly, feelmg leave~ the r oom. Some 'object rn selectsel, he carried all his woes to- N cttie sure that t he extra sparkle of the bright ed by the players, which must bl:) gues~ed Clare. brnwn eyes was a lustre born of t ears, by the one sent out of the r oom, ask~g Re never knew how he came to think and ha~mg to thmk that any foolISh the questiolll! in th e title of the game m of telling his woes to the young act ress- words of his had pained this generous and their order unt,il he g uesses the name of indeed h e did not ·'think ofit" a tall. Some- warm-hearted lit tle friend. "Nettie- the object selected ; if this is not done, how the dtsmal tale popped out unawares, Miss Clare you do not thmk me such an a forfeit is paid. and he hardly knew he had spoken on ~he ungrateful' ass! You are jokmg now!" A simple rrame called ".Judge and subj ect when he found hnnself hstemug He caught her hand and held 1t close- Jury " is played by each pla~er in turn to Nettie's sagely given advice. ly Such a pretty soft little hand it was, asking t he J ud ge for perrmsswn t o make "So you are not rwh, IJ:Ild you have as· soft and white as Nora's or Cristine's, certam movements, the ultimate aim of no profession, and you are six-and t wenty and yet it kept that modest h ousehold t o- which is to turn a plate, the J udge deci~ years of age," she slowly. "Dear me, gether. This sh m slight was ing on which side the plate must fall i if Mr. Smgleton, that 18 rather a desperate bread _ winner of a family_ while t he plate does not fall on t hat side, the state of affairs!" . . . he- player pays a forfeit , t he J ury of t_ wo The words ought to have :irritated him; With quite a new sor t of disgust Vance person s deciding at the close of t he game but they did not, fallmg gently from~ et- hated himself sincerely at t hat m<?men.t, how each forfeit must redeemed. If the tie's pretty r ed lips. She looked musmg- and began to see Nettie's suggestion m player objects to the decis10n of the Jury, ly mto his face as sh e spoke, with frank quit e a differen t light. he appeals to the J udge, and al ways brown eyes that were a shade graver and " J okmg Indeed 1 am not, ,, she said, abides by his decision. 1 less saucy than usual ; but h e thought turnincr round an April face and quietly The redeeming of forfeits can be m ade them all the prettier for that. . leasi~g herself "l was very foolish to very interest ing as well as amusmg . Mak"lt is mdeed, MISS Clare, " h e said ~ake such a ~uggest1on; p lease for- ing the owner of the forfeit I\ statue; regloomily. He was m a specially gloomy t t,, peating verses of poety ; k eepmg silence frame of m~d on that day, for Captam ge, /I'w1ll do nothing of the kind," he while the en tire company endeavor t o Bruce had ,discover ed outstandmg debt s, said decisively . "If you r e'l.lly think make the owner laugh; singi~g thcliscale, and Vance s conscience had echoed every that I can make an h onest h vmg on the or the verse of a song; changm g e ex word h e ~p.oke. He had wasted all his stage I will take to it to-morrow. " pression of the face to show grief, joy, opportunities, h e was a burden on his · . kl' sorrow, anger, disdain ; example in menate -fat her. It was high time t hat h e "Really ?" she asked, with spar m g tal arithmetic to work out, are among the dilsomething for himself i but what- eyes. "You mean w~at you say ? .You many ways in which forfeits may be r~oh, what was that somethimr to be ~ have no preJud1ce agamst t h e professio~ 1 deemed. Avoid keepmg up a game until ~ desperate You do not ~.ear t h e 1oss o f case, t or d ig- all are tired of it ; it is wiser t o c1ange l "Desperate diseases reqm~e remedies," M iss Clare said quietly. m ty, or- . . l h d the game as soon as a l ack of int erest is "V\'hat do you propose doing now? H e could not help it- Vance aug ~ shown by any one engaged. N ever emFor of course Captain Bruce is right : aloud, cuttmg the t hread of her sp~ech m barrass persons by keepmg them too l ong you must be a drone in t he hive n o twam a little rudely ; but she did not in the cent re of a game because of net un inore." mmd that. . . . derstandmg it, or because of a s 1 owness of Ther e was a pretty decision in h er ton e "My dear M ,, iss Clare, wh at d 1 ~mt Y either mmd of body ; a true 1ead er of which at once shamed and comforted have I to lose ? he asked smcerely. The games will discover the cause a nd remove him _ evidently sh e did not think much of d1gmty of loafing a b out m a h ouse tl1a t it or change t he game. When a company what he had hitherto done, evidently sh e does n ot belong me, and spongmg on a of people are not 1 vell acquamted, a game thouoht there wao hope of his doiug step -father who has already wasted on m~ tha.t will engage all, young and old, is the b tl more than h e can afford 1 No, caste an best barn er-breaker of wlu ch we have 5 t"ll some nng pierl1aps-01· · " Enl1'st perhaps try the d.1!!mty .may go ove1b oard at once - be - knowledge. ~ it seems to me "tliat ac t ors are Colon1 ·es, tl1a t inodern Tom Tiddler 's sides, - - -- - -1s ;;owNad ays. grouml of th e impecunious," Vance an - rather swe1 d d During l ast year Sheffield, England, swered, with rnther a forced la ugh"Oh, yehs, el tlt ie agreeth :eqa I1 Yt, turned out armor for one Russian ironfor he fel t that he was poor mdeed wheu drawing upf erdsm~, ters~~ w1l ua~n clad and for the l tahan ii onclads Italia he could not pretend to b e even the owner little air 0 pride, t ie 0 ,v u ~r treJU- and Lepa.uto. Compound armor h as been 0 ois go also supplied to France. of a plan. dices are fast 1 ~~ppearmg · I t supplied But Netti·e waved botl1 sk etcl1y suizges- everywhere now· _ f 1 w t c 1 1. d ~ t " h ct said , plat also or t ie a.1sp1 e, o fleet, mg woo , tions away with a peremptory movement "But the ly musth1earn t ottao' and es Edmbnrgh of t he E ugltsh and of h er little hand. with a sm1 e at is pre y mom resa; n ow t he fii Jn of Cammel & Co., of Shef" Enlist? N onsen se! You cannot "and I have not a rudm1entary notion of field have conclud ed a contract with the seek the bubble reputation at the cannon's the art." h t 1 t lk b Rus~ian Government uuder which works mouth, because I clo not t hmk we are at "Oh, as fort a,,', pM eop Celmus V: d a c- arc t o b e set up at Kolpmo for the manu lf d · f th can r un ~ iss are sa1 sa<>ewar with more than 1 ia a ozen mgger or.; ey · b , t" , facture of Sheffield ll.lmor required for chiefs; and you w~:ml~ hardly care to ly. "You do not ~~nt to ecvme a 8 ar the next ten yea rs, to be tur ned out h alf lounge away your life m country q uar - all at ~nee, I hop!l · t · f h t at Kolpino a nd half at Sheffield, so that tllrs flirting with all t h e nursemaids m Ravmg but the bvag~es i~ea of w atha in the event of a naval war Sheffield can the t own- now would you, Mr. Single- "star" mighthbe, utt hgu teftt$hmg r?mt. e 1 '1 . 1 "" severity of t e tone a e aspira ion ook on wi t 1 mpart1a eyes. ton ' . V ce nswered More than 22,000,000 steel pens are " man was an improper one, "Emphatically no I" the youn0 an a . sa1 ·d , w1 ' tJ, a smile at the little creat ure's h ,um . blY tl111t li e } ia d n ever entertam- made every week, two-tlurds of them · r eady en -· ergy and desperate earnestn ess. e d it . h being d produced at Birinmgham, Eng'Vluch of Nettie Ulare's numerous ad " Th en all the r est will b e easy enoug · 1an · L r· I I I an~ sai~ crea~ure t~e Water Drinking. I s IS · somewh at surprismg ·· tl1at m · a.. country in which rain falls , every day in large or small measure the use of pure ~ater as a drink is n ot b etter understo"i "' ., than it is. E ven now that the sway temperance is well established, and continues to extel).d, we should be surprised to learn that a majority of Englishmen do n ot habi tually discard the use of the natural beverage for one or other in which it IS compound ed with forei!!ll ~ ingredien ts. Yet its very purity from all but a salutarv trace of nuneral matter what 18 · " it capable of exact1 renders y satisf ymg, . Irnr more or 1ess than sat1ssymg, . ancl n01t the needs of thirsty tissue, and of assisting by its mere diluent and solvent action, without stinwlat1on or other affection of . h d. d t f funct10n, t e 1gest1on an exc1e ion o food. No other qualifications are necesl d f oo d , and sary. G iven d. 1gest i bl e, soi fair-that it, normal- digestive power, water alone is all sufficient as liquid. f bl t d. D urmg the ee eness consequcn on isease or overwork everythmg 1s changed. There blood, though unpoveushed in quality,18to receive and convey nutritive material, and there are tissues t o be fed, but the i>isa forgo, the drivmg power of the heart , resides ma l anguid muscle, and the alim entary cannl, itself but poorly j}. · r1gated froi;n t h e centre of supp1 y, receives what food is taken only to prove its incapacity t o utilise it. Nature is flaggingj and a stimulant alone will make ends moeb in the cir cle of tissue-building processes. As a general rule however, abstmencc holds the first r ank, both in theory and practise. We do not assert that the m an who regularly, and in st rict moderat ion partakes of a slight stimulant -claret, for instance-may not, especially if he is equally regular in regard to outdoor exercise, live comfortably t o the full t er m of human life ; but what we say is that the m ore simply the man fares, ffire more he employs such adventitious measures for actual physical ueceesity, the more he will gain in health, in life, in workrng power, and in aptitude to benefit by stmrnlation when strength is failin~ fr om d isease or from decay. B ub if water be the drink, how shall it be drunk i· T he means must have iegard to the end requited of them. To moisten food and prepare it for digestion it is hi.rdly necessary to say th at it should be t aken with a meal i a cou ple of t umblersfull at dinner is not an excessive quantity for most persons. F or thirst-quenching properties. not hing can surpass tlus sim plest of d rmks, and all wluch approach it in efficacy owe their power almost entirely ~O· it . As to te mperature, however, t here is no real ground for supposmg that one should not, drink a sufrlciency of cold water when the body is heated by exert ion. The inhabitants of hot climates have no such obJection. S ome tropical wells are dug so deep that the water with· 11 t hem, even 111 hot seasons, is as cool as 1 that of a E uropean sprmg. In fevers, too, the use of we in quantities sufficient to allay t hirst is a part of rat10nal an d leg1t1mate treatment. 'r he shock which has to be avoided m all such states is not that win ch cools th~ mucuous membrane, but that of sharp chill applied to the surface of t he body. Some persons, however, find it convenient and benefici~l to imbibe a certam amount of warm wa,.ter daily , prefei·ably at bed-time. They :find that t hey thus obtam a bland diluent and laxative, wi thout even t he moment a.ry reaction wlnch follows the m troduct10n of a cooler fiuid, and softened by abstraction of its c11.lc11reous matter in the previous process of boilmg. This method, which is an accommodutiou to jaded stomachs, has its value for such, though it is not great even for them; but it affords no nll· ticeable advantage for those of greater tone. The use of water as an aid to excretion deserves some remark. In certain cases of renal disease it lias been found t o assist elimination of waste by flushmg, without in anyway mitating the kid neys. E very one is probably a ware of its similar action on the contents of t he bowel when taken on the old-fasluoned but common-sense plan of drinking a glass of water regularly morning and eveni11g without any solid food . ' Vhat· ever may be true of harmless luxuries, enough has been said t o show that health, happiness and work find stimulus enough in the unsophistrnated well of nature.1'he Lancet. ___ _....,_..._......_ _ _ W Curiosities of IJlstioct In t heir dealings with the dull-nosed biped, some of our game-birds have found it the safest plan to r ely on t heir pro.!iective colors. They have learned to_dis· tinguish between dog-allied and single hunters, and at t he approach of the latter variety, th ey "flatt en " themselves and.remain motwnless, at the risk of bemg trodden to death. In taking wing t hey do n ot delude themselves with the h2pe that swiftness of flight would save them from the dynamic properties of gunpowder. They go in a zigzag, or, rather, in a combination or irregular movements. In East Virginia, where sportsmen do much h b k . h b of th eir hunting orse ac it mounted as een noticed that if on a member of , a huntmg party turns suddenly back, he is ap t to come across all kinds of game t hat hasel d ued his companions. The only exh h b . f o b P lanation is t a t as soon as t e aymg the hounds, ancl other symptons etray the m arch-route of the hostile force, d Renard hastens to m getorder m their an even follows them, t o rear, out-manreuvre the flank movement s. At the headwaters of the Telhca river, . in Monroe coun ty, Tennessee, wolves sti1 1 kl ·1a f find a refuge in a t rac d ess l w11 erness I k to roQk spr uce, anascertamtid aure t 11c s, and s, havG so pme e rnctly all ethe passes by which tl1eir stronghold can possibly be approached, that they baflfo even sunul taneous raiders, by slipping through between their Imes of march. h ,_ l · On eir own t of ey obstacles, will ma ..e t 1eir wayt h across anyraids series rather b d 1 th ~~~nc~f~ro1~~ya f;l~~':n~oatr:eub:ds o_f e~ water course. B y the remorseless la~ h natural select ion, the apitude for sue tricks mcreases wi th the necessity of their exercise, and it is probable that only mimals whose bulk defeats their attempts. 1 at concealment, will ever be wholly ex· d Li . ' u· terminate .·ppincott ~ -"-'aqazine. __,,_,.... d d l .k Why are young u green es 1 to e thrash, very nevr wheat? Doth are toe ,, -