IF I tVEKE YOD
"Why.did he look so grave ? she asked , , ,
. "What might the trouble bel
"My lilt'e maid , " he sighing said ,
"Suppose that you were me ,
And you a weighty secret owned ,
Pray tell me what you'd do ? "
"I think I'd tell it somebody , "
' "if I ! "
Sa'dshe , were you
But still be sighed and looked askance ,
' Despite her sympathy.
"Oh , tell me , little maid , " he said
Again , "jf you were me ,
And If you loved a pretty lass ,
Oh , then , what would you do ? "
"I think I'd go and tell her EO ,
. Said she , "if I were you 1"
"My little maid , 'tis you , " he said ,
"Alone are dear to me. "
Ah , then , she turned away her head ,
And ne'er a woid said she.
But what he whispered in her ear ,
And w hat she answered , too
IK , O no , lean not tell you this :
gljKX < I'd guess , if I were you !
Iv * . Chambers ? Journal.
. .
j/f
& " "ELIZA. "
_
S * "
$ % "She makes a perfect picture , out
&f s. there in that tropical sunshine , " said
sHC" Mr. Villars. "Look at her , with that
scarlet ribbon at her neck and thoso
fit. - coils of hair waving blue-black in the
intense light ! It is likp a dream of
Italy ? "
"Yes , " said Mrs. Leeds , "she is
very pretty , but that don't signify
BO much. She's a good , smart girl ,
and don't loose any time looking at
herself in the glass , liko some I've'
had.31
, -j
' " * "Where did you pick her up ? "
asked tho young clergyman , carelessly
drawing tho newspaper from his
poukot as ho sat down on the carpet
of pino noodles under tho big ever
green tree.
"Didn't pick her up anywhere , "
said Mrs. Leeds tartly ( for this was a
part of tho transaction that had never
been quite satisfactory to her business
like aoul ) . "She came along. "
"Came along ? " ( with a slight ac
cent of surprise ) .
"Yes looking for work. "
Mr. Villars lifted his eyebrows.
"Then how do you know who she
is ? " he asked.
"I don't know ! " retorted Mrs.
Leeds , unconsciously betraying her
weak point by this irritability of man
ner ; "but I know what she is , and
that's more to the purpose. She's the
best washer that ever crossed my
threshold ; as docile as a kitten , and as
smart as a cricket ; does twico the
work of anyone else that I ever had ;
ind if she's ever tired , she don't say
JO. "
i Mrs. Leeds bustled off to interview
Farmer Parks for moro Alderney
: reani for the summer boarders , now
lhat the house was beginning to fill
op.
op.Mr.
Mr. Villars improvised a pillow out
of his coat , folding it cylinderwise and
placed under his head , and closed his
3yes in a sort of summer dream among
Ibe pine boughs and butterflies.
And Eliza , spreading oat blackber
ries to dry on the board platform that
had been erected along the garden
fence , began to sing softly to herself.
She was very silent ordinarily , but
jomehow it seemed as if the sunshine
had thawed out her very heart to-day.
Mr. Villars had been right There
; ras something of the atmosphere of
Italy about Eliza her eyes were so
seep and dark , her hair so glossily
ilack , her cheek stained with such a
tich olive.
Moreover , she did not move like tho
irls of' rock-bound New England.
There was a subtle , gliding motion a
languor of gracefulness in her gait
which was foreign to all her surrqund-
tags.
tags.The
The girls of the vicinage did not
fraternize with Eliza when , at rare in
tervals , she accompanied Mrs. Leeds
, ! o church , sowing circle , or village
fathering ; for in Stapleville the em
ployer and employe occupied one all-
jomprehensive social platform.
They said she was "odd ; " they
looked at her askance ; and Eliza , al-
jvays very quiet in her ways , made no
jffort to insinuate herself into their
; ood graces.
Why should she ? What did it sig-
lify , one way or the other , whethor
Deborah Smart , and Keziah Hayes ,
ind Abby Jano Clark liked her or not ,
is long as Mrs. Leeds was pleased with
icr ?
| | - But the village girls made one error
In their calculations. They had not
Intended , as the time crept on. to em
phasize their antipathy to Mrs. Leeds'
Eliza so strongly as to awake a par-
iisan feeling in Mr. Villars' breast ;
but they did so , unconsciously to them-
jelves.
l > { "Why do they neglect that girl so ? "
{ he young clergyman asked himself.
831 "Can they not' see how infinitely su
perior she is to them ? It's a shame ! "
And so Abby Jane Clark , the De
borah Smart , and Keziah Hayes
| l | . jealed their own doom , so far as Mr.
Villars was concerned.
There was not one of them but
i | | " would have been delighted to win a
' " jmilc , a glance , a pleasant word from
the. young man who was summering
it the Leeds farm house.
But , alaa ! like the priest and the
Levitc , ho passed by on the other
ude ; and when the village girls , in
their afternoon muslins and ribbons ,
jat at their windows and wondered
jyhv "he came not , " he was , in nine
j- ases out of ten helping Eliza to
rather peaches for tea ; standing be-
aide the brook , while she spread oui
towels and pockethandkerchiefs tc
bleach , or even explaining to her the
difference between the notes of the
thrush and the woodlark , the speckled
eggs of tho robin and the pearl gray
treasure of the whip-poor-will.
"Ho seems to be taking a nottfbn to
her , " said Mrs. Leeds to herself , as
she eyed tho pair shrewdly from her
milkroom window. "Well , why
shouldn't he ? It's true he's a minis
ter , and my own nephew ; but in my
mind Eliza is good enough for any
man. My sakes ! won't Abby Jace
Clark be mad ? If ever a girl wanted
to bo a parson's wifo , Abby Jane
does ! "
Thus things were progressing , when
one day a smart young tradesman
from an adjoining town came to board
out his fortnight's vacation t Deacon
Clark's.
The Claiks wore a well-to-do fam
ily ; but the deacon was a little close
in his financial administration , and
Mrs. Clark and Abby Jane were not
averse to earning a new dress now
and then out of the rent of their big
apare-room. And Mr. Trudkins
brought a letter of recommendation
from a friend in Packorton , ana he
dressed in the latest fashion , and had
a big black mustache that overshad
owed his upper lip liko a penthouse.
"Oh , ma , how very genteel ho is ! "
said Abby Jane , all in a llutier of ad
miration.
-"A very .nice yxniug man , indeed , "
responded tho deacon's wife.
And the very next week Abby
Jane came down to tho Leed's farm
house.
"Have you heard this news about
your Eliza ? " she asked of the farmer's
wife in a mysterious whisper.
"Eh ? " said Mrs. Leeds.
"She's nothing but a play actress ! "
said Abby Jane , nodding her head un
til the stuffed blue bird on her hat
quivered as if it were alive. "Mr.
Alphonso Trudkins saw her himself in
the Great New York Combination
Troupe. She was acting a woman
who was married to a Cuban , and lost
her pockethankerchief , arid was after
ward choked with the pillows off the
best bed. Desdemonia her name was ,
I think. "
"Well , and suppose she was ? " said
Mrs. Leeds , who was too good a Gen-I
oral to let the enemy see what havoc'
had been carried into her camp. "What
then ? "
"What then ! " echoed Abby Jane. '
"Well , t do declare , Mrs. Leeds , I am
surprised ! "
"I don't believe a word of it ! " said
Mrs. Leeds , defiantly.
"But Mr. Trudkins saw her with his
own eyes ! " cried Abby Jane , flushing
scarlet with indignation. "He knew'
her tho minute he looked at her yes- !
terday in church. Elizabeth Ellesmerej
her name was , he saysin the adver- '
tisements , and she danced a dance ,
with a yellow scarf and a lot of roses , )
between the pieces , making herself\ \
out to be a Spanish mandolino player. ,
It's enough to make one's hair stand'
on end to hear Mr. Trudkins tell about
it"
"It don't do to believe all one hears , " ,
said Mrs. Leeds , losing all count ofj
the eggs she was breaking into
a china bowl , in her consternation. )
"And Stapleville does beat all for
gossip. "
"Well , you can ask her yourself ,
and see if she dares deny it ! " said Ab
by Jane , exultantly. "Here she comes1
now. Ask her only ask her ! "
And Eliza came into the kitchen ,
with the spice box in her hand. Mr. '
Villars followed close behind , fan- >
ning himself with a straw hat.
"I have come from the men in the
" said he. " want
hay-field , "They an
other jug of cool ginger and water ,
with plenty of molasses stirred in ,
Aunt Leeds. Good morning , Miss
Clark ! I hope the deacon is quite well
this morning ? "
Abby June turned pink , and 'smiled
her most seductive smile.
"Oh , quite so , " she simpered. "I
I only came on "
"Is it true , Eliza ? " Mrs. Leeds
asked , sharply. "Have you been de
ceiving me ? Are you a play-actress
all this time ? "
Eliza's large eyes turned slowly
first to one , then to another of the 'lit
tle group. She did not blush it was
not her way but the color ebbed
slowly away from her cream-palo
cheek.
"I have been deceiving nobody , "
said she. "I am not an actress now.
1 have been one. But I did not like
the life , and so I left it. If any one
had asked me , I should have told
them about it long ago. "
Mr. Villars came forward and stood
at tho girl's side , as he saw his aunt
shrink away.
"Well , " he said , "even taking it all
for granted , where is the harm ? "
"Charles ! Charles ! " cried Mrs.
Leeds , putting up her hands with a
gesture of warning. "Remember
poor Avice ! "
"It is because I remember her that
I speak thus , " said Mr. Villars , calm
ly. "I had an elder sister once , " ho
added , turning to Abby Jano Clark ,
"who ran away from home and be
came an actress. She had talents far
above the average , but my parents
were old fashioned people , and their
ideas ran in narrow grooves. They
disapproved of the stage , so Alice left
us. Whether she is dead or living we
' J
Iknow not , but wherever sh'ais , lam
sure that she can not but be good and
true and pure. "
Abby Jane's eyes fell under his
calm glance. She was a little sorry
that she had chosen to come hither
and bear tho news herself.
Somehow , Mr. Villars had taken it
in a different spirit from what she had
anticipated. And Eliza's soft , lan
guidly-modulated voice broke on the
constrained silence like drops of silver
dew. i
"I have been an actress , and per
haps I should still iiave been on the !
stage , " she said , "had it not been for
circumstances. My father dealt in
stage properties , and I was brought
up to the business , but still I never
liked it. But one can not easily step-
out of the path where one's feet have *
been placed , especially if one is a wo-j
man.
"However , tho turning point camo
at last Oar leading lady fell sick of'
a contagious fever , in a lonely villege
where we had stopped to play one
night The manager packed up every
thing in a panic , and bade us all to bot
ready to go. I told him I could not1
leave Mrs. Montague aloue. He said
that if I left the company thus , I
should never return to it' "
"Well , what could I do ? The stage
was my living , it is true , but our lead- '
ing lady had no friends. It would'
have been inhuman to desert her , so 1 ;
stayed behind and took care of her.
She died , poor thing , and it swallowed'
up all my earnings to bury her de
cently.
"And then I tried here and there to
earn my living as best I could. I was'
not always successful. More than
once [ have been hungry and home-i
less ; but , heaven be praised , I have ,
always found friends before the worst' '
came to tho worst Now you know
all , " she concluded quietly , leaning
up against the door , where the swing
ing scarlet beans made a fantastic
background for her face.
Mr. Villars had advanced a step or
two toward Eliza as she spoke ; his
gaze had grown intent
"This this leading lady of whom
you mention , " said he , with an effort
"Do you remember her name ? Her
real name , I mean ? "
"They called her Katharine Mon
tague on the bills , " said Eliza. "If
she had any other name , she never
told me what it was. 1 say if , be
cause because Oh. Mr. Villars , L
never quite understood it before , but
there is a look in your eyes that re
minds me of her ! I have been
startled by the familiar expression
many a time , but I never could con
vince myself where the link of associ
ation belonged. And and I still keep
a little photograph ot her that I found
in her Bible after she was dead. I ,
kept them both. Wait , and I will
bring them to you. "
'Mr. Villars gazed at tho picture in _
silence. Mrs. Leeds uttered a little'
cry of recognition.
"Heayen be goo'd to us ! " she wailed ;
"it is our Avice , sure enough. "
For the leading lady in Mr. Rod
erick Applegate's Great Combina
tion. Troupe , tho poor soul who !
had died and been buried away !
from all her friends , had been Avice
Villars.
The sequel of this little life idyl is
simple enough. Any one may guess
it. ' Charles Villars married Eliza.
And even the most fastidious "sis
ters" of her husband's flock can utter ;
no word of reproach against the min- .
ister's wife , although she makes no
secret of the fact that she was once an ;
ctress.
And poor Abby Jane Clark is chew
ing the bitter husks of disappointment
For even Mr. Trudkins has gone back
to Packerton without declaring him
self.
self."There's
"There's no dependence to bo put
upon men , " says Abby Jane discon-
BolateljHelen Forrest Graves.
My Uiiele in China.
The pawn-shop in China is a queer
institution. It is quite different from
anything you ever saw. They are
very large and especially high stone
buildings , and as nearly fire and burg
lar proof as possible. In fact , they
are nea ly twice as high as other build
ings. In the winter the women send
their winter-clothing to the pawn-shop
for safe-keeping ; in the fall they take
them out and put the summer suits in.
A lady with several elaborate cos
tumes will have them in pawn for safe
keeping only. In the morning she
will say : "Precious damsel whom tho
gods love to smile upon , " which prob
ably means Bridget if translated to
Irish , "go to the pawn-shop and get
No. 1 suit Mrs.
my ; May-your-shudor7-
never-grow-less , " which is likely Mrs.
Vun Lung or Sour Keo in Chinese "is
going to call on me to-day. " The
precious one will put ner head out of
the window and say : "Adorable mis
tress of the four seas alle thinkee
catche plenty lain to-day ; more better
you wear no finee suit. " But the
dress will bo taken out" of pawn and
returned again after tho visit. When
the owner becomes tired o the suit
the shopkeeper is instructed to sell it
Cor. St. Paul Globe.
There Is a mistake in the current account
ot theyounii lady who rejected her lover for
sending her love-letters written with a type
writer. It is not , as has been stated , because
' the letters were "machine-made , " but because
I they were dictated to a young woman opera-
I lire employed by the lover. Detroit Free Prat
V * '
'
SNIFFLES GOES GUNNING , ' -
And Has a Fire Days Sport at tho Expense oi
the Dos.
No. 1. Borrows Snipes Gun and Dog.
No. 2. Thinks it will Work all Right.
No. 3. The Bird has Flown.
No. 4. In Hot Pursuit.
No. 5. Won't Got Left this Time.
No. 6. And He Didn't
Ten man-eating whales were captured re
cently by two men In San Diego bay. It has
never been supposed that these fish lived in
that locality.
Less than four oat of each hundred Ameri
cans lived In cities in 1793. The city popnla-
Jion had Increased in 1840 to 8 per cent , and Is
now 22.
The Central rark authorities in New Tork
paint the obelisk with parsmne to protect it
Irom the disintegrating climatic effects.
(
8PIBITUALIS3I IN EUSSIA.
Sfaklng More Scientific than Popular Prog
ress.
he eccentric modern movement
termed spiritualism , so widely spread
inEuiope and America , has also via-
itod Russia and penetrated into oven
tho most remote of her provinces. Tho
Collossus , writes a St. Petersburg cor
respondent , has passed through all tho
phases of table-turning , rappings ,
spirit materialization , and similar
marvels , and has had by no means a
scant harvest of writing , raping , cur
ing , and prophesying "mediums. "
The Russian "mediums , " however ,
have never a ained tho world-wido
reputation of tho Homes , Davenports ,
Katie Kings , and tutti quanli. They
have been generally of a familiar do
mestic description , and thoir doings
and sayings , however remarkable ,
have been mostly confined to the nar
row circle of home and friends. But ,
strange to say , it is m this country that
spiritualism , as the development of
the science of psychology , has found
its most earnest interpreters , and it is
in St. Petersburg and Moscow that
these curious manifestations hare at
tracted and interested such men as
Prof. Boutleroff , of European celebrity ,
and Prof. Wagner , both attached to
tho Petersburg university ; tho Russian
savant , Mr. Alexander AxakofT , Prof.
Tourkevitch , Dr. Basil Mmailoff , and
many more distingu'shed men of sci
ence and letters , such as Dastoensky ,
Solovioff , and Dimitri Tsertelefil Hay
ing found hospitality in such au exalt
ed circle , spiritualism ceased to bo an
amusement for drawing-room idlers ,
and became a problem"with preten
sions to a scientific solution. Tire pub
lic was lost in amazement at first to
behold three scientific stars of capital
magnitude pay tho most concentrated
and serious attention to this question
in its modern form , to tlip moving and
rapping of tables , tho trances of som
nambulists , and the pranks and antics
of so-called "mediums , " which tho
conclave of experimenters had over
from England , Germany , and even
America , regardless of expense. Both
Mr. Boutlereff and Mr. Wagner had
previously been declared enemies of
this movement , and tho most inveter
ate materialists withal , so that at first
they were supposed by their col
leagues at tho university and by
the students to hayo gone out of their
minds.
It may be said hero that such a col
lection of chevaliers d1 Industrie and
bold adventuresses as those "medi
ums" proved to bo was rarely met
with'anywhere out of a fair. Tho
scientific investigators were at lirst
much disconcerted at tho evident de
ception played upon them , but never
theless persevered and carried on a
series of tho most minutely and care
fully controlled observations upon aud
investigations into tho more genuine
of thoso phenomena organizations
called "mediums , " and finally came
to the positive conclusion that there
was something in it after all. They
then proceeded with marvelous pa
tience to ferret out the small grains of
truth in tho midst of deception , bad
faith , and greed for money. The re
sults of this most tedious task , which
lasted for years were as follows : Prof.
Boutlereff came to the conclusion that
the manifestations called spiritual aro
founded upon a series of curious facts
having their source in some force
hitherto unknown , but .by no means
unknowable. He admits , together
with the English specialist in chemis
try , Mr. Crookes , the existence of a
more subtle and refined state of matter
than thoso hitherto known , which can
become perceptible only in a certain
condition of the body , a condition
usually produced by magnetism and
moro easily attained by so-called
"mediums , " i. e. , organizations nioro
than ordinarily susceptible and nerv
ous. Prof. Boutlereff has given a
great deal of time and care to the re
search of this mysterious agent , and
his experiments have confirmed tne
discovery of Mr. Crookes.
Tho Russian spiritualists , who have
few adherents among their compatri
ots , and have had to put up with a
great deal of annoyance on tho part
of the public as well as on that of the
government , do not seek to popularize
their ideas as yet , but rather to con
solidate them and gather them into a
scientific formula. They consequently
seek to attract into their circle men
of science , doctors , materialists ; in
short , persons deprived of romantic
sentimentality and religious enthusi
asm , so as to fairly place tho question
upon a new ground , not letting it de
generate into sectarianism , giving no
food whatever to the imagination , and
so rendering it interesting to positive
and serious minds.
Had this programme been perso-
veringly adhered to tho question
might have made progress , but both
Profs. Boutlereff aud Wagner adopted
( although most unwillingly , at first , )
the hypothesis that these manifesta
tions must be produced by the spirits
of former inhabitants of this planet ,
and this point of view having been
prematurely given to the world in a
series of articles principally due to tho
pen of Prof. Wagner , aud published in
one of tho best periodicals , throw
great discredit on tho cause at the
very outset , and made people open
their eyei in astonishment at tho
credulity of the professors. Perceiv
ing thou : imprudence : md the blows
this hypothesis was going to striko at
tho whole structure , Messrs. Bontler-
eff and Wagner turned abruptly on
another track , and in subsequent arti
cles endeavored to keep on strictly
concerning tho
objective ground
cause of tho manifestations Unssto
now possesses a considerable litera
totally dif
ture on the subject-which
fers from productions of tho same
kind abroad , inasmuch as these arti
cles are stamped with a spirit of genu
ine scientific research and present tho
subject in quite anew light
Tho government does all in its pow
er to discourage tho movement , as it
is supposed to bo closely allied to
socialism. Anyone having read tho
books of Andrew Jackson Davis will
easily understand that such reading
would never do for tho Russian people
at present , and of course all such
works are strictly forbidden and are
only read by a few persons. Spritual
manifestations aro regarded not only
by tho clergy but even by tho holy
synod itself as having their origin in s
the source of all evil. Newspapers
most unwillingly publish articles in
favor of tho question , though they
eagerly accept anything against it
The censor is extremely severe , and it
is m vain that Mr. Axakoff , who is a
man of ample means , ready to sacri
i
fice any sum , has endeavored to start
some organ through which to acquaint
persons interested therein with tlio
results of tho experiments made.
Thus it will be seen that Messrs.
Bouliereff , Wagner , and Axakoff , and
their friends have to struggle against
no ordinary difficulties. But they are
men of no common energy and char
acter , and , moreover , deeply convinc
ed of tho truth of tho greater part of
tho doctrines taught by spiritualists ,
and though they move but slowly they
have been able to draw into their cir
cle persons of talent and distinction ,
who , if not all yet fully convinced , are
greatly in'crested in the experiments.
Among tho moro cultivated mem
bers of tho Russian clergy one some
times meets with persons interested in
spiritualism. They talk of it timidly
and are visibly afraid of compromis
ing themselves , but it is evident the
subject possesses great attraction for
them. I lately spoke with a very re
spectable and erudite orthodox priest ,
and asked him to give me his opinion
concerning the manifestations. He
told me that ho fully believed in thum ,
and could perceive nothing in these
facts contrary to the teachings of the
church. Among the common people
in Russia the belief in ghosts , spirits ,
and all kinds of fantastic beings is
almost universal , there not being per
haps in the world a more superstitious
people. But all attempts to commu
nicate with spirits of the dead inspire
them with terror , and they cousidet
persons who do so as magicians aud
sorcerers. As to the middle classes ,
there are among them a good many
believers in sp'ritualism who even
sometimes organize circles , but this is
in off-aiid-on amateur
usually done au - -
sort of way , showing little genuine in
terest in the subject
Like His Fatlu-r.
The other evening there were sev
eral visitors at Colonel Gradson'a
house. Tho colonel takes great de
light in "showing oft" his little son ,
and when the boy appeared at the
parlor door , the colonel said :
"Come in , Henry. Speak to'tha
ladies and gentlemen. Ah , that's a
man. "
"He's a fine little fellow , " said Mrs.
Graftncy , one of the visitors. "Come
here , my little man. "
The boy approached her and per
mitted her to lift him on to her lap.
"Why , you aro heavy. How old aro
you ? "
"Six years , goin' on seven. "
"Yes , aud you'll soon boja * man.
What are you going to do when you
become a man ? "
"Do like pa does. "
"How dees he do ? "
"Oh , sometimes when he comes
home at night he falls over a chair "
"Henry ! " exclaimed the colonel.
"Falls over a chair and when maw
gite mad he says its a pretty way for
a woman to go on just because a man
takes two beers and "
Tho colonel had seized him. Ar-
kansaw Traveler.
Simile from Sam Jones.
Tho Rev. Sam Jones , at the Carters-
ville camp-meeting , was speaking ol
growing in grace , and of a religion
that made men kind , and concluded
by saying : "That is whai we want
love toward God and love toward man.
It is said tho larks of Scotland are thi
sweetest singing birds of earth. No
piece mechanism . that man has ever
made" has the soft , sweet , gloriou !
music in it that the lark's throat has.
When tho farmers of Scotland walS
out early in tho morning theyilush the
larks from the grass , and as they rise
they sing , and as they sing they cir
cle , and higher and higher they go ,
circling as they sing , until at last the
notes of their voices die out in tin
sweetest strains that earth ever listen
ed to. Let us begin to circle up and
sing as we circle , and go higher and
higher , until we flood tbo Throne o ;
God itself , andthestrainnof ourvoicei
melt in sweetest sympathy with thi
music of the skies.
In Massachusetts pneumonia has , slno
1S57 , grown almost twice as fast as the popu
Ictloa.