GARDENS. Sllwtfli Fair garden*, the rtoh luall gardana ! Which bo man planted, and no man till*. Their strong seed, drifted, their brnve bloom i lifted, t Near and far o'or the vale* and hllU: •lp the bees from their cup* of nwcetnese, Polsea above them the wild free wine, .; And night and morn from their door* are i® -• borne The dreema of the ttmoa that blithe hearte wavin? gardens, the fragrant gardens I;.. » That to*a in the *un by the broad highway, jftrowlng together, gorse and hsather, ' Aster and golden-rod ail the day. JI*opple* dark with tho wine of slumber; Daisies bright with tho look of dawn. The gentian blue, and the ion? year through * Tho (lowers that carry the season* o.i And the dear old gardens, tho pleasant ■ gardens 1 i Where mother used to potter about. Vying and pullin?, and sparingly culling. And wntoliin; each bud as its (lower luu.hed out: Hollyhocks here, and tho prince’* feather, Larkspur and primrose, and llllos white 0 Sweet were the dear old fashioned gardens Where wo kissed tho mother, and said, "Good* night." —Harper’s Dazar. • -_ Lady Latimer’s Escape. DV CHABI.OTTK M. BBAE1KE. CHAPTER I. Fats la Against Some People From the Cradle to the Grave. "Chsnvr la the lew of wind end moon end And yi't 1 think, lost Ix>ve, bed you boon true. Homo oolden fruits hed rlponod for your pluokinu You will cot find In cordons that are now.** Many years havo come and gone In my life since this eventful one of which my story tolls. My name Is Audrey |;Ix>vel, and I am the oldest daughter of the Reverend Archibald hovel, and IfUlicent, his wife. The Roverend .Archibald has boon for many years wlcar of St. Hubert's church at King's Lorton. He lives In a beautiful, old fsahionod vlcurago, just outside the ■ town of King’s Lorton, a house such •» yon see in illustrated Christmas an • duals, with gable ends and great •taclcB of chimneys, and great wln , -dows with pleasant Boats in the deep 5 b*y»- Tangle of rosos and jasmine ■cover it in the summer; In the winter r: there is a wealth of green holly. A ■ large, old-fashioned garden surrounds it, whero every kind of tree grows " and flower blooms. A bright, suriny orchard lies beyond that, the gates of . which lead into tho clover meadow,and ■ at tho foot of the meadow runs the dlear, deep, beautiful river Linno, the - loveliest river In England, and the great torment of my mother’s life, for the boys were always coming to griof . over it, either skating when the ice was not an inch thiok, or swimming when the current was too strong— ■ Towing when the wind was against them—fishing and falling head-first into the stream. That river was the one blot on my mother's otherwise kappy life. i My father, not being by any means ■ .O rich man, was blessed with the 1/ twual largo numbor of children. He was heard to say, dospairingly, that lie should cease to count them after the number of seven was reached. , Wo were nine in all. Six hearty, 5 koalthy, hungry boys, and three girls. I was the eldest. Then came the , oldest son, certainly the most terrible l»y in the world. My mother used to •ay of him, ••Bob is all a boy," and that means a great deal. Archie, the r wecond, was not quite his equal in mis* ,j chief, but he had every desire to be k. •>. Willie, the third, was a quiet, iv Well-behaved boy, who lived in oon ’ tlnual fear of his two elder brothers, TPhen came a sweot, fair-haired little maiden; it was rest for one's eyes to look upon her. She was called after •our mother, Millicent. Then three more boys, the sole object of whose -nxlstence seemed to bo eating and .-noise, varied with skirmishes of all kinds, oarried on in all places and at i«ll times — skirmishes that almost made my hair stand on end. Then • «amo the last, sweetest, fairest, and best, a wonderfully fat, lovely baby girl, named Trottio; the roundest, prettiest baby ever seen, worshipped S>y the family, adored bv the bovs. „ ■“The boys!” Does any sympathetic ' render know what that means? If you suddenly hear a tremendous crash / like the roar of artillery,or a great up . beaval like a tropical earthquake, and you ask in alarm, “What is it?” the inevitable answor is, “The boys.” If there is a rush up and down the stair case, followed by sudden shrieks, un earthly noises, succeeded by silence even more terrible, and you ask; ■ **What is it?” “The boys.” Any un : expected explosion, any unforseen ac :j eident. any unthought-of hap, had but : ene source, “the boys.” Yet how we loved them, and what line, manly fellows they were. But , they were the very torment of our ; lives. How they enjoyed luring that unhappy little maiden, Millie, into the %: most unheard-of situations. The only v one they held in supreme awe was Baby Trottle, who ruled them with a *od of iron. A large, happy, healthy family, and if at the time this story opens I was just ; eighteen. I had, thanks to my father’s insistence, received an excellent edu cation, and was now supposed to be helping my mother. Being the eldest daughter I had cer - tain privileges. I had a dear little ^ room of my own, the window of which overlooked the green meadow and the lovely brimming river! I had the entry to my father's library, a privilege V which “the boys” most virtuously :! shunned. Altogether I loved and en joyed my life, with its simple duties and pleasures. I had thought little of love and lovers. The boys absorbed i all my leisure time—to save them lrom drowning, to keep them from breaking their necks by sliding down 'the great carved balusters, exhorting them as much as possible not to climb the very tallest trees in search of birds’-nests, and preventing them ■from throwing stones quite close to "the windows. My father took life very easily—the boys Neomod to look upon him as a be* loved friend and a natural enoray; no skirmishes wero indulged in In his presence, no practical jokes. When they had misbehaved themselves to nny great extent, they wore very wary In turning corners, lest he should spring upon thorn suddenly, and a pe culiar shrill whistle was the signal for clearing the coast; it meant that he was coining, and that summary justice might is? expected. My farther was a well-bred gentleman, and a splendid scholar; ho spent the greater part of his life in writing and reading. His income was a small one, but my mother managed it. My mother was one of the sweetest and most gracious of womon, loved by everyone, the soul of generosity and kindness. Bhe never raisod her voice, even to the boys. She was essentially a motherly woman, and the boys were the pride, the dolight, the torment, and joy of her life. She was well born, well-bred, a lady in every sonse of the word. She could make pud dings and cakes, darn stockings, and yet in the drawing room she had all the graces and swoet stateliness of an accomplished Indy. I may mention that the boys’ wardrobe was something fearful to behold, but my mother un derstood it. There was no affluence, no luxury in our house; and, indeed, there was a difficulty in making both ends moet. Hut wo were very happy, vory loving, devoted to one anothor. There was no quarreling, a terrific fight among the boys did not always moan a quar rol. There was no selfishness: there is no such school for learning self-de nial and self-control as a large family. About two miles from the vicarage stood the grandest mansion in the county, the rosidoncoof Lord Latimer, the greatest man in the county, and it was called Lorton’s Cray. It was the wonder of our childish lives. A mag nificent mansion, with thick, gray, ivy-covered walls. It had boon built in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and hold every boauty of the architecture of that period. The rooms were all largo and lofty, with grout windows; the floors and staircasos wore all of pollshod oak: the ceilings painted, the entrance hull a marvel of stained glass windows, with a magnificent groined roof. Onco or twice in our lives we had Iwen allowed to go through this house. It produced such an impression on the boys that they were silent for some days afterward. The picture-gallery ran the whole length of the house, and hold some priceless paintings. The portraits of the Latimors for many generations past hung there, with a fine collection of modern paintings. The drawing-room was a magnificent apartment; we hold our breath as wo stood on the throshhold; oven Bob and Archie collapsed—they were speech less. It was all white and gold. There was no color except the rich bloom of the rare flowors that stood in the jardinieres; the hangings were of white velvet and white satin embroid ered with gold; chairs, couches, lounges the same. From tho large windows thore was a Buporb view of the square of fountains und the deep groon of the rich foliage beyond. 'lnere was a spacious banqueting hall, a cozy dining-room, a library that was unequaled for its size, a morning-room opening on a rose gar den. The great state apartments wore in the eastern wing. There were in numerable pretty little rooms, in numerable pretty nooks and corners in the old house. It was a house full of surprises; where it was least expected one would find a large window with comfortable seats, a lonely little room, a door opening on to a quaint staircase that led to the grounds. Then, all over the place there was a porfect wealth of ornaments, the accumulated treas ures of long-generations—and tho Lat imers had always been very wealthy. The grounds were magnificent; the fine old trees, tho beautiful, undulating park, the lovely fairy dells whore vio lets and cowslips grew, the matchless terraces, the broad marble steps that lod from one to the other—it was all beautiful. When we came from our last visit, my young brothers looked at me with contemplative, solemn eyes. "Androy," said Bob* “you will be, I think, good-looking. I hope you will remember your brothers, and marry well.” “A brother-in-law with a house like that would suit mo,” said Archie em phatically. “Of course, as your brothers, we should be offered the run of the house," said Bob. "In fact, it would doubtless be thrown open to us.” How little I thought, while they teased me and enjoyed themselves over this future brother-in-law—how little I dreamed of what was to be! Lord Latimer had not been to King's Lorton within my recollection. The house was beautifully kept. There was a faithful old housekeeper, Mrs. Ileath; an ahcient butler, who seemod to be part of the place; and plenty of servants. Everything was kept in readiness; no matter when or how the old lord might return, he would have found everything prepared for him at any moment. For some years there was no mention made of Lord Lat imer's return; all at once we heard that he was coming back, and bring ing with him a young wife. “A young wife!” cried my mother, when she heard it. "Why, that must be impossible; that must be untrue; he is over 60.” “Yes,” replied my father, incau tiously enough, considering the boys were all round him: “but then he is a very well-preserved man.” And the boys spent the remainder of the day in trying to find out what a "well-preserved” man was, and then making caricatures of him t -i." - Vi..; CHAPTER H. The news of Lord Latimer's mar riage and return spread like wild*flre Over the country; nothing else was spoken of. “It will be good for us and good for the poor," said my father. “Lord I^atimer is very gonorous. But I noticed one thing—my father never spoke of any other quality of the earl. Ho was generous, and he attended church regularly—two fine qualities. Our children wore all on the qul vivo to see the now lady of Lorton's Cray. We heard that the old lord had suddenly returned without having given ono moment’s warning, bringing with him his young wife and her lady's-maid. She was beautiful, they said, as an angel, her hair glittered like gold, and her faoe was fair as the dawn of the morning. She wore rich drosses of strange texture, and rare Jewels. Some said she was proud and capricious, others that she was most loving and gentle. Every one gave a different opinion of her, and she had made a different impression on every person who had seen her—from which fact my father arguod that Bhe must be a wonderful woman. kora Latimer rode over to see my father the day ufter his arrival, an act of attention which delighted him. He behaved most generously—ho gave him a check for the poor, a cheek for the church; ho promisod to assist with some alterations on which my father had set his hoort; he inquired after the number of children at the vicar age, smiled when he heard there were six boys; he was—and wo all liked him best for that—most amiuble and agreeablo to our dear mother; he spoke of his wife, said the journey had tired her, and that she was not quite well—but there was a curious tightening of the lips as he spoke of hor. Iho noxt day was Sunday, and we were all interested, knowing that we should see Lady Latimer at church. I need not say that our family pew was a sight to be remoml>ered. Nine healthy, happy faces ornamented it. I am sorry to add that the conduct of the inmates was not always above sus picion. If Hob lookod particularly de vout, or Archie collected and calm, I knew that a dire catastrophe im pended. It is not in boys’ nature to remain quiot for more than ten min utes, if for so long. I am ashamed to confess with what longing of impatience we awaited the coming of the Lorton's Cray party to church. Bob, who excelled himself in wickedness that morning, was busy, I could see, making a caricature on one sido of the leaves of his prayer book. Archio was making a desperate effort to become possessed of it. Mil lie, seated between the two belliger ents, had a terrible time of it, and looked ready to cry. I had just restored order when they came. I saw something that looked to me like a vision of grace and loveli ness floating up the aisle of the old church. I saw rich silk and velvet sweep the ground, priceless lace fall in perfumed folds, jewels gleam here and there; in tho breathless silence the soft frou-frou of tho rich silk was distinctly hoard. I did not sec her face until she was seated in tho pew and all the excite ment incident upon their coming was over; then I looked at her. I loved her that first moment; I have loved her ever since, and I shall love her until I die. In what words can I tell the dainty, marvelous beauty of that fair young face, tho perfection of its features, the loveliness of its coloring? It was the perfection of fair and brilliant beauty. A low, white brow, round which golden rings of hair clustered, shining rings of rich, rare gold; dolicate, level brows, dark, beautiful eyes, a mouth that seemed at once all good and all sweetness, a delicate chin, perfectly molded—a face that, once seen, could never be forgotten. [TO BE CONTINUED.] Swimming; Cavalry. Some very interesting exorcises in swimming cavalry took place lately on tho Cabul river at Peshawur. The Thirteenth D. C. O. Bengal lancers have been practicing their horses in a large tank in their lines and on tho river for some time. Ono squadron took cover along the river bank and kept up a steady fire to protect the passage of the other squadron, who placed their arms, accoutrements, and clothes in large country boats, and conducted their horses into t le water. Some horses seemed to thoroughly en joy themselves in the water; others be came unmanageable through fear. However, the opposite bank was reached and war paint resumed, and the squadron was with most creditable rapidity taking measures to protect theircomrades, crossed in like manner. Be Wa» a Villain. Friend—Well, Eliza, how do you like your husband? Eliza—He is a villain. Friend—All men are; but what has he done? Eliza—You know he was a widower. Well, I found out that all his love let ters to me were copied verbatim from the ones he wrote to his first wife when they were courting. Friend—Well, I wouldn’t mind it. He will never send you any more. — Texas Siftings. First Discovery of Coal lu America. There are strong reasons for believ ing that we are indebted to the early French missionaries for the first dis covery of coal on this continent. In McFarland's “Coal Regions of Ameri ca” I find the following: “It is a re markable fact that the first discovery of coal in America, of which an ac count has been preserved in a printed book, was made so far in the interior as Illinois, by Father Hennepin, more thun 200 years ago.”—St. Louis Re public. ABROAD FOB A WIFE. THIS IS REPORTED OF JAPAN'S CROWN PRINCE. This Young Noble** Bride. Whoever She May lie, Will Have an 111 us tr ion* Father-In-Law — Genealogy of the Prince'* Family. T IS REPORTED by cable that Jap anese envoys in Eu rope are instructed to look out for a European bride for the mikado’s heir. The Japanese min ister at Washing ton. however, dis claims all knowl edge of so delicate a subject, and is disinclined to speak of the matter. The lady, whoever she may be. who consents to wed the mi kado's heir, will have the satisfaction of allying herself with a family whose genealogical claims are the proudest in the world. An ancestry of a few beggarly centuries pales into insignifi cance when contrasted with a line of descent which is asserted to run back to the twilight of the gods. The mi ado, himself, no doubt, is too much en lightened, too completely in touch with the current of modern ideas to share the belief held by hundreds of thou sands of his subjects that divine blood courses through his veins. But, wheth er he believes in this or not, the ruler of Japan can at least point to a genealogic al tree which entitles him to boast of possessing the ‘•bluest” blood on earth. His imperial majesty is the 123d emperor of Japan. The Japanese have their history and their mythology, and the present emperor comes from .Jimmu Tenno, who was the first mikado, and ruled Japan 600 years before Christ was born—2,554 years ago. This man was a descendant of the sun goddess, and Mutsuhito, the present emperor, traces his descent directly from him. Japanese history gives the story of each of the 122 emperors between the two, and if you will think a moment you will see how far back 060 B. C. is. It was before Borne had become an empire. England was unknown even to the Romans, and hundreds of years were yet to elapse before Caesar pene trated Gaul. Such is the ancient line age claimed by the present emperor of Japan. If antiquity of descent counts for anything a more aristo cratic father-in-law surely could not be desired. The young prince, for whom it is said a western bride is being sought, will be some years younger than his consort. lie was born on Aug. 31, 1879, and is therefore only in his 16th year. But in the east boys and girls become men and women more rapidly than in the west. The mikado him self succeeded his father at 15 and married before he was 17. The prince, his son, will attain his majority this year, and no doubt his marriage will follow as soon as circumstances will permit. The crown prince, who was .proclaimed heir to the throne in Novem ber, 1889, is naturally as yet compara tively unknown to the great outside world, but all that has transpired respecting him goes to show that he is a bright, pleasant and attractive young fellow. He has a strong taste for military affairs, is enthusiastic about his country’s modern army, in which he holds a commission, and wears an officer's uniform. He carries himself with an erect and dignified carriage and is somewhat reserved. He is, however, not too dignified to be devoted to boat racing and other forms of outdoor sport. He was educated at PRINCE YOSHITO HARUNOMIYA. IHelr apparent to the Japanese throne.] the noble's school, and worked as hard as any of his rivals. He has been thor oughly educated in accordance with western ideas, and he speaks English, German and French._ Growth of Southern Cities. In the southern states, as well as in the northern, the cities are growing with marvelous rapidity. When the war broke out Atlanta was a dull lit tle place in Georgia with a population of less than 10,000. It has grown since then to be more than ten times that j size; it has cast off the mantle of dull I ness and put on the habiliments of en terprise; , it is the booming city of Georgia; it is alive with business; it is the Greater Atlanta; its manufacturing institutions are prosperous. From the Savanah to the Cliattahoochie there is no city like Atlanta. By a count just made, it has 208,644 inhabitants—twice as many as it had ten years ago—and more than half of them white. Said of Alexander. The late czar was a devoted and gallant husband to a winning and tender hearted wife. A few years ago a feminine visitor at the Russian court laughingly rallied the czar on his dis like for waltzing. The tall, handsome man smiled and said frankly: “Madame, I never dream of waltzing unless with my wife.” March April Are the Best Months in Whic Purify Your If! And the Best Blood Purifier is Which Purifies, Vitalizes and Enriches the Blood. At this season everyone should take a good spring medicine. Your blood must be purified or you will be neglect ing your health. There is a cry from Nature for help, and unless there ie prompt and satisfactory response you will be liable to serious illness. This demand can only be met by the purifying, enriching ana Blood-Vitalizing elements to be found in Hood's Sarsa parilla. “My mother-in-law, Mrs. Elizabeth 'Wolfe, at the age of 72 years, was at tacked with a violent form of salt rheum; it spread all over her body, and her hands and limbs were dreadful to look at. At the same time, my little daughter Clara, who was just one year old, was attacked by a similar disease, like scrofula. It appeared in Large Sores under each side of her neck; had th» attendance of the family physician and other doctors for a long time but seined to grow worse. I read of man, people cured of scrofula by Hood* Sarsaparilla. As soon as we eav« Hood’s Sarsaparilla to Clara, she bis gan to get better, and before the lint Bottle was gone, the sores entire], healed up and there has never b»n any sign of the disease since. She is a Healthy, Robust Child. Her grandmother took Hood s Sarss. parilla at the same time, and the salt rheum decreased in its violence and a perfect cure was soon effected. It took about three months for her cure, and she ascribes her good health and strength at her advanced age to Hood'i Sarsaparilla. It has certainly been a Godsend to my family.” Mrs. Sophu Woltk, Zaleski, Ohio. HOOD’S