THE WANDER-LUST.
With book nnfl handle on my bnck, and knotty staff In hand,
I faro along the dusty rond through wood nnd mendow-lnnd;
Or, gazing from tho Hying train, behold the starry night,
Or, loaning from tho vessel, watch tho wake of creamy whlto.
On, on through sleeping villages with curtained panes I pass,
IJy many a silent, moonlit Held knee-deep In fragrant grans.
Though In some green and pleasant spot I chance a while to stay,
The tiro of travel In my blood soon urges me away.
I see the Hash of glided domes beside a turquoise flood,
And vineyards purpling In tho sun, and aloes In the bud;
Before me from the mountain tops, by ancient tower and town,
An angel clad in golden mall, tho morning, marches down.
A pilgrim of the earth am r, no narrow walls conllno
My soul, as In a rusty sheath, the horizon Is mine;
The Joy of motion leads my feet untlred o'er vale and hill,
And from the shadows and tho mist new prospects beckon still.
-Four-Track News.
TSie Artfulness
CjOIIKUE was a knock on the door
II of second floor side (in lodging
house terms, the accent is al
ways on the hist word), and when It
was opened by a gray-eyed, Huffy
haired girl of twenty, Mary Mary
of the broom and mop, of the fresh
face and insinuating smile, imparted
tho information that her sister's
t'ouugest was "took bad." itemembe.
Ing her recent attack of la grippe, in
which Mary had Hgurod as a minister
ing angel, second-Hoor-side said most
heartily, "And you want to go to your
sister; go right along. I shall be In
until evening service, and can answer
tho bell Just as well as not."
"Oh thank you, miss," declared the
grateful Mary. "You see, miss, she
won't be homo till nin o'clock; would
two hours be too long, miss?"
"No, Indeed, stay three or four. Are
many of the people In?"
"No, miss, they'll not be many
rings, unless, its the top floor front,
them girls Is always forgetting their
keys, they're that light-headed; tho
ilcove is away over Sunday; the
Becond-tloor-back is out on a case; only
Hie seoond-lloor-back Is in." (There
was a little puckering of eyebrows at
this, but Mary did not notice). "Not
forgetting the top-Uoor-back, the night
eporter, miss, but he sleeps 'til live.
And If you'd not mention iU to her,
r" miss. I think she'd not ho Hkinir me
fj-y leave the house."
Mary was assured that not for
vorlds would Mrs. Brown be Inform
5d, and Mary departed basement
wards. "I'll see that the flres Is al
Mght, miss," were her last words, and
Kr smile now In the shadow of the
stairway was broad and beaming for
rmo so harrassed by sudden and seri
ous family illness.
Seeond-Hoor-baek could not nvoid
noating this conversation. One of his
window's was up; evidently Ids neigh
bor's one window was also up. lie
had Just come In from dinner and
as in the act of removing ids coat.
What could cause his sudden hide
ision, also that pleased chuckle, the
ue?r pantomime and that crafty look,
;iat seemed so ill suited to such iln
pen, honest face? In a word, second-.'oor-bnek
had been for weeks making
'lie most diplomatic efforts to get
;pon speaking terms with his shy but
Interesting neighbor, with results,
viiy, tho usual results where a really
;iee girl is concerned. Here was tho
opportunity of a lifetime. Only an
Hot would allow It to pass by. He
losted himself at the window until ho
uw Mary's ample torm disappear
through the alley gate. Then he put
n his hat and went downstairs.
Second-Aoor-side, deep In "Avery,"
neord the front door bang. "Thank
doodnoss," she said. Her relief was
7hort-llved, for In exactly ten minutes
there was another bang, a masculine
mounting of stairs, and next an osten
tatious rattling of newspaper floated
through the open windows. "Been
buying a paper," she thought. She
ivas Just beginning the last fascinat
ing chapter when there came the
warning click from a radiator, not
hers, for like nearly all side rooms,
this was suiliclently heated from the
hall.
"Oh. I'm afraid Mary forgot the
steam!"
i As If in afllrmatlve came another
and a sharper click, then the regular
"chug-chug" of expanding iron.
"Oh dear, I'm sure she has!"
"Chug-chug, chug," came the an
swer, now loud enough to be located.
It came from the .seoond-floor-buek.
"And It's almost like summer, to
day, not the slightest need of a Are!"
"Chug-chug, snap," came in corrob
oration. The housekeeper, pro tem,
opened her door softly, and listened.
From behind closed doors came the
same alarming sound, several of them,
only more niuilied. "That poor night
reporter," sho walled, "why did I tell
Mary sho could stay so long?"
"Chug-er-ty-chug chug." That mis.
crablc radiator In tho next room seem
of Jeremiah, Jr. 1
mm
Co) -----
ed in demoniac possession. She could
hear the occupant adjusting tho valve.
"I hope he's good and mad." She
might have meant the radiator.
"Chug-chug, snap!" And now came
the accompanying hiss of steam from
somewhere; remembering an occasion
of neglect on the part of Mary's pre
decessor, which resulted In soppy car
pets and n ruined celling, to say noth
ing of said predecessor's dismissal,
second-floor-side became desperate and
started pell niell for tho basement
When shj opened the door of tho
boiler-room a cloud of steam sent her
flying backward with nil possible
haste. The little room wos nearly
white with steam, which issued sput
teringly from the very dangerous look
ing wheels, and away up In a maze
of pipes near the celling a valve was
whistling merrily. There was steam
enough to heat a good-sized hotel, but
of this sho was ignorant, as Ignorant
ns she was of the various wheels and
rods. "Oh, If It were only a furnace!"
she moaned, her eyes fairly bulging
"would two norns he too i.ono?"
at the hissing, spitting monster, which
seemed like some living creature
ready for Instant destruction of it
self, of Mrs. Browne's domicile, of the
entire block. She ht-sltuted but a
moment, then shutting the door, she
sped up three flights of stairs, straight
to the door of second-floor-hack and
knocked smartly. She was breathless
frightened and rosy, a fact which did
not escape the observation of second-lloor-baek,
who opened his door with
a face of Sabbatic calm.
"I beg your pardon, but will you
come quickly," she said, "something
Is the matter with tho steam."
"Very unlike the Miss Prim
who passes ino in tho hall
with such frigid little nods,"
Is what lie wanted to say as he
followed her downstairs. What he
did say was, "I should think so, by
the racket going on," then, very Inno
cently, "Where's the management?"
"I, I am keeping house, you see, and
I don't know the slightest thing about
steam; Mary was to flx the flres all
right before she left," was the
troubled explanation. "There!" they
were passing the big radiator of the
lower hall, It seemed about bursting
with concentrated energy. "Oh, do
you think it will blow up?" Uncon-'
Ktiously she drew nearer.
Second-floor-back's smile was wick
ed, but the hall was dark. "Pray do
not lie alarmed," he said In tho most
assuring tone, "there must be a safety
valve; that will have to blow off bo
fore any serious danger can threaten.
But do not come down I know a lit
tle about steam, I'll get things fixed."
"But I'd rather not stay, stay alone,"
and she led the way down tho narrow
basement stairs. "Hero Is tho door,
Just see the steam! Are you sure It
Is safe to go In?"
Tho steam already hid his face.
"Absolutely, don't feol troubled about
me," came tho cheerful reply. "Ah,
It's u Winchester," his voice expressed
great surprise. "How lucky! And
every draught open, and tho water
gauge, too," surprise gave way to
amazement He screwed up two small
wheels, tho hissing stopped and tho air
began to clear.
Second-floor-back watched him
breathlessly as ho moved about shut
ting a door here, opening ono there,
pulling a rod, and lastly opening tho
feed door, from which the lire, burned
to a whlto heat, sent our n rush of
hot air.
"How easy It all looks! You get
to work as If you, you "
"Were In the business? So I am."
Ho fumbled in his vest pocket and
presented a small card. It bore the
announcement of
Norcross Brothers,
Plumbing and Heating.
Represented by Jeremiah J. Penrose,
Jr.
"How lucky that you were in." Sho
accepted the card, also the chair that
Jeremiah, Jr., brought from the laun
dry. "I cannot think what made Mary
go off and leave It. It was very care
less." "Very," was the emphatic reply.
"Now watch the Indicator, Hfteon,
fourteen, fourteen-and-a-half; see how
quickly It goes down. We'll let It
cool off to about three pounds, then
I'll have to put on a little more coal,
the life is burned out of this." Fifteen
minutes later, the heater having been
declared tractable, they went Upstairs.
"I really don't know how to thank
you," she told lilin gratefully.
"I do," was the unexpected reply.
"You've never lived In Boston before,
have you?"
"How do you know?" It was her
turn to look surprised.
"Oh, by the way you treat us all,
as though we were thieves or cut
throats, especially myself."
Second-floor-back laughed. "Is It as
bad as that Mother was particular
to"
"I know; I came from a small place
myself. You'll got over It; for really
there aro lots of nice people here; and
you won't cut mo dead the next time
you meet me? Honestly I never want
ed to know any one as much as I do
you."
"Why?" was her unexpected ques
tion. "Why? why, because." His confu
sion prevented everything- but the old
childish reason.
"Just because?"
He felt she was laughing at him,
and squaring his shoulders, he looked
her straight in the eyes. "Well," he
said soberly, "there are three reasons,
one Is, I like to overcome a prejudice,
you were prejudiced against me?" She
nodded, and there was a gleam of fun
In her eyes. "You were so, so "
"I know, I was too anxious to get
acquainted, you mean. I hope I am
going to bo forgiven?" He waited
a moment. Her smile was reassuring.
"The second reason I though tyoti wore
sometimes tired nnd homesick, and
needed cheering up. I did not know,
and yet I did know. Can you under
stand such a contradiction?"
"Yes, and you nre very kind. I am
tired, awfully, sometimes, my work
Is new to me; ns for being homesick!"
she swallowed hard, and Jeremiah,
Jr., looked considerately out of tho
window of the parlor, where they had
paused to tnlk, until she said: "But
you haven't told mo the third rea
son?" He shook his head. "I don't think
I can, now."
There was something In his "now"
tlint caused her to change tho subject
"We'll not tell on Mary, will wo?"
she asked.
"No, indeed, she might lose her
place. I am not sure," continued ho,
artfully, "that wo had better mention
It to Mary that sho forgot the Are,
I mean. Of course she thought sho
left it all right."
"That is so, it might make her feol
badly, and thanks to you, no harm
was done. Goodby," for they wore at
their landing.
"Goodby -Miss " there was a chal
lenge In his voice.
"Miss Noble, Amy Noble." She
laughed and went Into her room. "A
thief and cut-throat, how ridiculous!"
she said behind her closed door there.
"He Is nice." She was still smiling,
when looking from her window sho
saw Mary ahead of time and not
alone. A stalwart fellow In shining
Sunday apparel was following her Into
tho yard and he had that air which
plainly suggested that he had come
to spend the evening. "That's why
Mary forgot" wos Miss Amy Noble's
wise conclusion.
But that is not nil of tho story? Oh,
no. There were weekly installments,
a cunningly arranged tete-a-tete In
Mrs. Browne's cosy parlor, a chanco
meeting on the street after otllce
hours, occasionally tho theater or a
concert, and then Jeremiah. Jr., had
ills mother and sister down for a few
days, ostensibly for the Buster serv
ices, hut the end, beg pardon, the be
ginning, camo sooner than tho ono
most Interested dared hope. Norcross
Bros,, decided to open a brunch estub-
Ilshment In B a flourishing little
town twenty miles out, nnd Penrose
was selected to tuke charge.
"It means living out there, I sup
pose?" ho asked the senior member
with whom he was talking.
"Yes, It would scarcely pay you to
co buck uud forth- Why, wlwt's the
matter?" noticing tho puzzled lines
upon his employe's face.
"Why, living there; that's tho stick
er Just now," confessed Jeremiah, Jr.
"Oh, that's Itl Well, can't you take
her along? Of course wo expect to
give you a raise." Then followed a
conversation relating solely to dollars
and cents, with the result that on the
following Sunday afternoon tho oc
cupant of tho second floor side was
beguiled into a trip to B to see
"a neat little Job wo have Just Iln
Ished." They found the new cottage a mar
vel of modern architecture, and Miss
Amy Noble's appreciation was evi
denced by delighted little "Ohs" and
"Ahs." After explaining the latest Im
provements above cellar, Jeremiah, Jr.,
said: "Now let us take a look at tho
heater."
"Why, how nice and wide the stairs
are! Bather an Improvement upon
Mrs. Browne's, and how nice and light
tho cellar is. Why, It's a Wlnehe.Uor."
She read the name and date aloud.
"Of course; do you suppose I'd have
anything else?"
"You? Is this your house?"
There wns a pause, then Jeremiah,
Jr., said: "That Is for you to decide."
She could not fall to understand his
meaning. Sho did not exactly feel
faint, but somehow she wanted to sit
down. He anticipated her wish and
dragged up a box which the carpent
ers had left It was large enough
for two.
"Here Is the proposition," Jeremiah,
Jr., tried to make his voice business
like. "I have been assigned to this
place. I can rent this house for $20
a month. I earn $25 a week and
have a llttlo nest-egg besides. Can
you, will you little girl, say some
thing to me?" ho begged.
Like most girls, Amy Noble- had her
own plans and spcciilcntlons regarding
tlie proposal which the only man In
the world, when he came, was to
make to her. This, it must lie con
fessed, did not bear a striking re
semblance to said proposal; but the
voice in her oar was terribly in earn
est; she dared not look up, for she
knew his eyes were even more ter
ribly In earnest; moreover, the hand
that had Just dosed on hers was big,
strong and Arm; there was something
In It to clasp. But why continue?
Amy Noble was a sensible girl and
made up her mind In exactly thirty
seconds. "And this Is that other rea
son, the one you would not tell me?"
she asked In a very low voice.
"That I loved you almost from tho
flrst? Yes. I have read of such
things. I rather think I laughed at
them until you came."
They were married in early autumn,
but It was not until a chilly night in
October when tho master of the now
house was getting up steam for tho
flrst time that he made his little con
fession. Tho lire was going merrily,
and he had explained tho intricacies
of the heater, in tho event of his be
ing absent any length of time.
"There, I think that Is all I can
hold in my head for the flrst lesson.
I shall get It all mixed up If you tell
me any more," tho new mistress de
clared. "Mrs. Jerry" this Is what ho de
lighted to call her his voice was
solemn, and he dropped down on ono
knee in a droll attempt at supplica
tion. "Mrs. Jerry, I am reminded of
something I must tell you."
Her eyes danced' In a way he par
ticularly approved.
"I believe you know exactly what I
am going to say," he declared In
chagrin.
"Certainly," her voice- took on mock
severity, "that you opened the
draughts of Mrs. Browne's heater, that
day."
Jeremiah, Jr., collapsed, mentally
and physically, and Mrs. Jerry's
laughter rang out musically. "Oh,
Jerry, do get up; you are getting
yourself covered with dust"
"Never mind tho dust," ho sold, ns
he scrambled up from all fours. "Now,
madam, will you kindly Inform mo
how, when nnd where you found mo
out?"
"The very next day, sir, when I
sow Mary. You were not cute enough
to leave things exactly us you found
them; then I wns silly enough to drop
the curd you gave me. 'Murder will
out' "
"How did you explain mutters "
"Oh, I let her think you must have
been burning up old letters, or some
thing." "Mrs. Jerry, you should have been
a man! Your shrewdness would have
earned you nothing short of Wash
ington. Honestly now, weren't you
afraid to trust yourself to such u base
deceiver?"
It might have been what she said,
It might have been her way of saying
It; however that may be, Mrs. Jerry
suddenly found herself picked up
bodily, and carried off through tho
"nice clean cellar," over the "idee,
wide Btairs," through tho spotless
kitchen, and Into the cosy sitting
room. At flrst she kicked and strug
gled, then sho laughed, and then, sho
did exactly what was proper under tho
circumstances, she put her two plump
white arms around a tlruiv brown
column of n neck and "hold on fori
denr llfo," until sho was deposited In
her pot rocking chair. American Cultivator.
"CREEPING" RAILROAD TRACKS.
Cotidltlniui Under Which Kntln Work
Along HcnciitU tho Train.
That mils, apparently tired of lying
still In the same place, sometimes em
ulate the trains that puss over them
by starting off on excursions of their
own, Is a fact well known to railroad
men. Tho lengthwise motion of tho
rail, while of course very slow, Is of
ten irresistible; nothing avails to stop
it. Authorities differ regarding onuses
and remedies, and according to tho
Ualhvay Age u recent exhaustive
study of civil engineers does not seem
to have settled the question. Says u
writer In that paper:
"Wo knew better before, and scarce
ly know more now, that rails creep
with the direction of tralllc except on
heavy grades; that trestles and unsta
ble embankments ore favorable to tho
creeping of rails; that rails creep more
under fast tralllc or n heavy tralllc
than they do under a slow or a light
tralllc.
"There aro several points upon
which there Is a virtual agreement,
and these consist, flrst, In ascribing tho
creeping of rolls largely to an unstable
condition of tho track, which arises
from two causes a loose foundation
and tho comparative shortness of tho
pieces of rail. Indeed, several of tho
men who discussed the question lay
particular emphasis upon this point,
and even Mr. Lldenthal, who does not
bellevo thoroughly In tills theory, ad
mits that discontinuous high, still' gird
ers on solid continuous hearings, prob
ably would creep less than tho preesnt
form of track.
"There Is absolute agreement on tho
futility of spiking In slot holes, or fre
quent strap connections with tho cross
ties, for any but tho least serious
cases, and the only practicable method
now suggested Is ono which long has
been In practice, and Is tho Insertion
of u split point lu the rail, with substi
tute rolls of varying lengths to suit tho
changed conditions, f
"One correspondent names a caso
where the track was carried over a
swamp on a gravel embankment from
six to eight feet high, and hero tho
splice plntes were broken at the cen
ter nnd the rails separated from six to
twelve Inches; where the plates failed
to break, tho bolts were sheared off,
and this gentleman, F. S. Stevens,
ascribes the trouble not wholly to tho
swamp, but quite as much to the geo
oral looseness of the track construc
tion. "This Is a view so largely taken In
the discussion that tho observer must
l)e impressed by It, and tho euro re
solves Itself merely Into a better form
of track construction. It must lie many
years before any great Improvement In
method can take place, but with so
many criticisms of our prevailing
forms short rails, isolated supports,
lnefllclent spikes and insulllclcnt
splices there would seem to be a
growing sentiment for tho greater sta
bility which will attach to a continu
ously supported roll."
i
CAT'S LONG RIDE ON ENGINE.
Animal Perched Underneath KcfiiHccI
to He DlHlodueil.
Tho driver of the 9:15 p. in. moll
train from Poddlngton to Swludoiii
hud uu unauthorized pusseuger on his
engine, says tho Loudon Express, nnd
ho believes that he will bo lucky- for
tho rest of his lifo In consequence. '
Just before the train was due out
tho driver went beneath his englnu
with his oil can. Suddenly the oil can
dropped from his hand. Ho scrambled
out hurriedly and told his comrades
that he hod seen a pair of Aery eyes
glaring ut him from tho darkness,
Investigation with the aid of a lamp
revealed a black cat, which had taken
up a position between tho engine and
tender. Tho cat was invited to coma
forth, but declined to move. A cleaner
went beneath the engine and mudo
an attack upon the position, but tho
cot hud the advantage of higher
ground, and replied with suC ood
effect that the cleaner retired lu con
fusion. An attack by porters with mops was
easily beaten off. The driver blew his
whistle nnd, let off steam, but without
effect Kven the tempting lure of n
saucerful of milk was treuted with
scorn.
"Time" wos up, and tho 0:15 started
with the cat still In position. Whet?
he reached Swlndou the driver found
it In tho some place, covered with oil
and cool dust, but still defiant,
When the train returned to Pudding
ton next morning tho feline traveler
alighted, bedraggled but triumphant.
With something like a swngger ho
walked post the astoundoJ porters a till
collectors, nnd disappeared lu East
bourne terrace, to toll the tolo of Ills
151-milo Journey to t.ls friends.
A CunnibaliHtio InYltution.
Mary Juckowskt .'unio to the door to
cull her brother to supper.
"Michael Juckcwskl," sho shrilled
out, "coino In and out yourself. Your
mother she's on tho tublo and your
futher bo's half ot ulrcudy " Jiu)jj,