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About Plattsmouth weekly journal. (Plattsmouth, Neb.) 1881-1901 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 20, 1894)
jiaitfimoulIi Journal c v.". m:kkax, I'oh'l-hrr. KV.ll t fi'LA1TIOJ'J TIIE MAX FROM GRIMSBY. Andrew Copley T0II3 tha Reason for His Bachelorhood. Of the old folk of the bleak little sea- fort. Andrew Copley dwells most vivid y in ray memory. As prosperity is panged at Port St. Bede. Andrew the owner of half-dozen full-equipped fishing-smacks was accounted a pros perous man. I recall him now his kind'y face, tanned and netted in wrinkles; his Ions- hair, grizzled this many u, day; his stubby pray beard; his Jicht-blue ej-es, bespectacled for reading yes. there he sits. Many is the "crack" I have had with him; yet there was one story he chose to leave "buried in silence and that, his own. I never dared broach the topic, alba it I inwardly burned with impatient curi osity. One day, however, the history became mine unsolicited. Some re mark I chanced to let slip anent his Jjiflong- bachelorhood caused an infre yqaent far-away look to settle upon his I eyes. We were walking up the steep, .' cot le-paved "street" at the time, past ' they ine-washed front of the "Traw piers' Inn."' to the higher gTound, from "Which the old Norman church tower vJkept ward over the slumberous village. Q "Why lia'e I never married, say ye?" ,Kthe old man exclaimed, after a long ' apell of silence. "Like enow, ye"ll bear afore long: an I don't see what should stop me fro' tellin" ye mysen, if bo be " Hurriedly stepping into the roadway, Andrew snipped off his broad-brimmed hat and stood motion- jj f ;s. Turning into the sanded lane i . - I ... .1 1 1. 1 1 A iiiii .gz.a gjjeu jaM lue tiiurtu, lie ud.u well-nigh jostled two slow-paced women, tho younger of them about fifty years of age; the elder, twenty years or so older. It was the latter that attracted my marked regard, for it wa; towards her that Andrew held his down-bent head. A wan, frail looking creature she was, dressed in "black, with a close-fittinc, old-fashioned bonnet tied under her chin with a bow of broad black ribbon. Her hair, Eincothed evenly upon her forehead, fchiuimered silvery as the new-churned I jam in the bay. She moved halting ly, even with the aid of an oaken staff and the helping arm of her companion. i jmarawir.rr ner arm, sue 2au.-cu 1 in th pathway and pointed her stick Stewards the bare-headed old fisherman. in i:nu, quavering tones, as u. - vortis were saia by note, tucre oemg rk vi cfted: vehemence in her utterance, the Ah, I knaw ye 1 knaw ye. Bau ye, for no speakin' me fair."' With to more passion than if she were re peating some soulless formula, she added: "Curse ye. Andrew Copley! It was a lie! Curse ye fort!" 1 "Come awa," the other woman put r (i 1-; 11 rlv- "fnrri( thrtf Rwa' home. then." Unresisting, the old lady allowed herself to be led away. Through it all, Andrew diJ. not stir a limb, but stood there with doited hat, his head bowed and his mane of gray hair rufflinsr in the breeze. We had left the church behind, the deep-rutted lane. the narrow stone stile that gave upon j the fields; we had traversed half the length of the meadows themselves be- j fore he spoke, "le asied me how 'twas I never married," said he, slowly. "That is the reason." So he began upon his life story. But as his narrative would be hard to fol-loy- if I adhered to his exact words, f:h his numerous digressions and ir- r - . . 1 : . 1 . 1 relevancies, uttereu im quaint, uurr cf t-'iigue. and, moreover, as his lnod- tly seen fit to gloss over certain facts ic:i i neara 01 later in oxner quar ters. 1 venture to set it forth after my own fashion. We hark back a full half century. Port St. Bede no vast size at this pres ent was then a mere nest of sand stone, shale-roofed cottages, planted at the foot of the bill, and, slragglin? disjointedl- up it to form the "street." Later improvements have displaced or rebuilt most of these one-storied dwellings, and filled in the gaps: and filled in the gaps: but the it b 1 i "Trawler's Inn" looks just as ked iv years ago. It lies back some ten races irtm the rcadway, the thir.ir'.ed space thus obtained being highly favored of loungers and gos- 6ips. The purpose so cry iroes. spot served an identical far back as the oldest mem- A little knot of fisher-iolk. men and women, foregathered there one Wednesday morning, to await the ar- rival of the Morperland letter-carrier. Twice a week, on Wednesday's and Sat urdays, he trudged the ten miles to de liver his meager package of letters. SHe always made his way first to the j"Trawlers," where it had become cus- uhary for the populace those who "id not expect letters alike with those j r vho aid to assemble and waylay him. j yin tnat manner tiie canny souls pot ; Tjews 01 the ouisiue worm wituoui De- 1 ing put to the expense of a postal fee, J while the official on his part was quit of his letters all the sooner. On this particular morning, however, the fray ety of the group was under eclipse. Thev talked together in hushed tones, lull of concern, every now and then referring a question to the bronzed, middle-aged seaman in their midst. "An 3 e"re sure ye've got the rights o' "t, Jake?" queried a big-faced woman, whose skimpy petticoats showed her ample brogues and shape less ankles. "It'U kill t' lass if she hears o' 't-' "Oh, I'm noan mista'en not me, answered the teaman, positively. I seed him mysen i' Grimsby not three days back, an' I 'card it read out i' church the second time o' axin' it were last Snnduy." "Poor maid poor maid! An' her Tvaitin for h':m here as patient an' as anybody could wish. Ab, them ?h them men!" the frowsv old crcne was baking her Kray locks ever the per - 1 loviii v p fidy tti mankind, she stole a sidelong look towards the window-bench, against which Andrew Copley then a wtll-set-up young fellow of four-and-twenty -was moodily leaning. "Ay, but he takes on badly wi' t, she said, jerking her head in Andrew's direction. "I'm main sorry for him, too. lie al'ays were sweet on her, ye know, an I do believe she'd a had h'm if that man fro' Grimsby hadn come this way wi'his pert, weel favored face." Further tattle was nipped short by the appearance of the letter bag. In all there must have been close on a dozen letters a goodly batch for Port St Bede. It was one of the last which the postman held aslanr to catch the light. "Miss Kellettf he called out wheezily. "Why. that mun be Hilda," ex claimed one of the bystanders. "She isn't here. Te ll ha'e to take it up the noose." "I'll save 3-e the walk," said Andrew, stepping forward. "I'm bouh' that way an I'll see she gets it." "Don't tell her o' the goings-on o' that Grimsby chap," cried the fishwife before mentioned. "It'll drive her clean daft. Conscience sake, Andrey, don't tell her that." During the period we are dealing with education at Port St. Bede was at a wo fully low ebb. Not twenty people in the whole thorp could write their names or recognize them when penned; few could read anything but "print;" fewer still were able to puz zle out written characters. Among this community Andrew Copley was reckoned a "tine scholard;" and by virtue of that repulation his services were in frequent demand by those who, having passing need of the Tarning," chanced to be in the bad books of the rector or the Wesleyan minister. lie stuffed the letter into his jacket pocket long before he came abreast of the cottage, Happing a tattoo on the door, he lifted the latch and as was the custom walked straight in. A slim, fair-haired girl peeped into the room from a side door. "Oh, it's you, Andrew," she said, coming forward. Andrew perched himself on the edge of the nearest rush-bottomed chair and fumbled hesitatingly with his cap between his knees. "I was down by the 'Trawlers' when the letters came," he said, after a strained interval. "There was one for ye, Hilda, an' I made free to say I'd bring it. Here 'tis." "For me!" and Hilda's eyes bright ened as she stretched out her hand. "Then it's fro' Ben. isn't it, Andrew?" "It's the Grimsby mark," replied Andrew, softly. "Then it must be fro' Hen. He said he'd let me know as soon as the brig got back to Grimsby. An' how I trem bled for him all through that storm o' Monday. If-at he's safe this shows he's safe, Andrew." A plaintive look of alarm crept into her blue eyes as Andrew, iever answering, kept his gaze clamped to the floor. "This shows he's safe!" she repeated, quaveringly. "I'll tell ye straight out. Hilda, what they were Bayin' over at Morperland yesterday. P'r'aps that letter may contradict it all, but there was a deal o nasty talk about the Vampire as how she'd gone doon 1' the " "Head it to me," cried Hilda, thrust ing the missive into his hand. "Ye knaw I can't mysen. Head it, An- drew!" Taking firm grip of his lips, Andrew opened tho letter and glanced at the signature, "its noan tro mm, tic said. "It's wrote by Peter Worsley, the skipper o" the Vampire." "Not fro' Hen!" exclaimed Hilda, trj a il -i .. "Hi isa't isn't dead?" Andrew noddec1. "Drownded!" he murmured huskily. The caligraphy of the Vampire's ! master must have been all but iliegi- ble, judging from the difficulty An ; drew had in deciphering it. He read j slowly, humming and hawing through J the whole epistle. Here is the gist of 1 it. In the recent heavy gales, the umpire a crazy, under-manned tim-br-bh.ip had sprung a leak, her crew being eventually compelled to aban don the foundering vessel and take to the long boat. Their parlous case as little bettered thereby, for twice the boat had been capsized; when she was righted the second time only four of the sailors succeeded in scrambling into her. Of the two men missing, the mate, lien Webb, was one. The sur- j vivors were picked np on the fobow- 1 ing day and landed at Grimsby. It J vas in f ulClment of a pied made at the outlet of their peril, and m fate- , in anticipation ot its outcome, tnat : Capt. Worsley now broke the sad news to the tteaa man s sweetneart. Even in the intensity of her grief not a cry escaped Hilda's lips. An drew, the big, clumsy, soft-hearted gomeral, saw that no sympathy of his could soothe her distress; she must just 'fret her dole." And so he left her with her sorrow. "I had to do it." he muttered, strid ing beachward. "An' it's better that nor t'other it's better." Fervently he added: "God send she doesn't let any body else read it!" He might have been at peace on that score. To Hilda, the skipper's letter was as the last word of her drowned lover a nacred thing, not lightly to be lingered or spoken of; she i packed it away with the sundry rib- j bona, gloves and cheap gewgaws Ben had given her, to be treasured with them throughout this side of time. So two years went by. Then, her mother having been laid to her last long rest under the gnarled elms in the churchyard, Hilda went to live with her eister. Abel Maxon, the cooper's wife. At this juncture, hoping that Time had salved her wound, Andrew Copley made bold to offer her all an honest man can offer the woman he loves bis name, his home, his big steadfast heart. His insight was at fault, for she. would have none of them. In all simplicity, she told him that her love lay dead with him who slept in the dec a seas; she chose to share the lot of no man to whom she could aot 1 gire Ltxself heartily, wholly. "I knaw ye like me, Andrew," ehe said frankly; "I've al'ays knawn it, an" I thank you. If ever I come to think i' that other way, an if I see ye're I the same mind still, I'll speak first. Don't ask me any more, Andrew, I'll speak first." Henceforth, as before, they were friends close, firm friends but no further. Season after season Andrew sailed off in bis yawl for the white fishing on the Dogger, returning each time with braia aflame for the sight of her. And sha met him with a mere simile and handshake, in her eyes no token of change, no glimmer of awak ening affection. Eight years thns lumbered away eight weary, joyless years and nei ther Hilda nor Andre w had sought to break through their part of silence. About this time, Hilda was sore stricken with typhoid, then rife in the village, and for an anxious space she dwelt on the very border-line of Here and Hereafter. On Andrew's persua sion he staking his word that the great man's fees should be forthcom ing Abel called in Dr. Ratcliff, of Morperland, uuder whose care Hilda blowly bearan to mend. It was while Andrew was away at the Bank the doctor's comforting assurances for company that the truth stripped Itself before Hilda, to torture and affiict ber with its mocking ghastliness. As yet 6he was not able to leave the bed, but lay there with pinched face, her hair tangled on the pillow, her thin blue fingers twitching idly at the garish patchwork quilt, her eyes wan dering to the half-open lattice through which was borne the distant sough of the waves, and whence fehe could see the sun-flecked crests far ou t bej-ond Fork Rocks. Then she would turn to answer some question put to her by her little niece, Mary Abel's eldest daughter, "rising ten" who had crept into the sick room. Presently the lit tle maid fell to babbling, childlike, of the doings and sayings of her school friends. "Ay, but ye'll be gettin' a fine schol ard, Mary," said Hilda. "Itwasaguid thing for the weans when t' parson opened a schooL I wish it had been done long sin'." "It was our 'xam'nation to-day," re plied Mary, eager with fresh news. "Mr. Harvey heard me read an' patted me o' the head. Out of a newspaper hard words they was, too." "An' maybe ye can read writin", Mary?" "Oh, yes," returned she, nowise dis posed to belittle her atainments. "When you get any letters, Aunt Hilda, I'U read them all through to you every word. I'm sure I could!" "Well, I'm goin' to try ye," said Hilda, smilingly. "Now, open that drawer no, the second one an' bring the little black box to me. Yes, that is it." Tenderly picking out the finery with which the box was filled, Hilda placed the various articles by har side on the bed. Underneath, untouched since that day, lay the very letter which had told her its sad tals through Andrew's mouth. "Now, what name's that?" said she, pointing to the signature. Mary screwed her eyes into beads, hung her head sapiently on one sido and spelled the words under her breath. "B-e-n, Ben; W-e-b-b, Webb." she announced, at last, with a ring of triumph. "It's main bad writin, but " "No! no!" cried Hilda, rising ex citedly upon her elbow. "Not Ben not Ben Webb. Are you sure, Mary?" "B-e-n; W-e-b-b, Webb," repeated her niece. Hilda sent up a choking cry. "He said it came fro' Capt. Worsley." she ejaculated gaspingly. "He lied to me. It's fro" Ben fro, Ben. Ben isn't dead!" Her whole frame, atremble, she turned to Mary with: "Begin at the first. Read it all to me. Can ye? can ye?" Mary at all events was willing to try. and although she blundered often and painfully uuder the tnt.k. between them they managed to piece the words into sense. "Dear Hilda, " it ran, "I didn't mean to fay a word, but 1 can't do it without telling you first. Don't hate me. for I tlid love you. and do, more nor her. Anyways, you can't Ksy I diin't tell you all about Polly Barclay how we was to be married, and how it was broke off. Well, me and her have made it up again. Her uncle's dead, and left ber everything his three houses and "4J0 in the bank. You see, I didn't have a free hand, so you can't blame me. Besides, there's Andy Cop ley only too glad to have you; and the banns has been read twice in Grimsby church. I think things are best left alone, and no fuss made, especial a 1 don't ask the presents back, nor " Mary had plodded through her letter so far, when Hilda, with a loud r.hrU:k, dropped back upon her pillow. Abel and his wife hastened upstairs to find ber again sitting up in bed, round-ey-;d, and gesticulating with clenched fis-ts. "I might ha won him back I would ha'!" she cried, shrilly. "A lie, An drew Copley! It was a lie!" In this fashion she raved all through the night and long into the next day. Dr. Radcliffe said it was brain feier, and, although he eventually brought her back to bodily health, ber m jid never recovered its sanity. Poor Hilda! She knows not that 'or the bread she eats, for the shelver above her head, for the very clothes upon her back, she is beholden to the man whom she, for forty years past, has daily execrated. "She never sees me but she throws them awfu words i my face," said An drew to me. "I thowt I were act in' for t' best when I did as I did I the wt so truly." "I suppose you have never met this Ben Webb since?" "Oh! but I ha'e. I went to Grimsby ? purpose to spoil his beauty. If he's living now, he's livin' wi' the nose o' him all askew. That prank cost me a week o' jail, but I'd stand a hundred years o' lock-up for the comfort the joi gave me." Chambers' Journal. PERSONAL AND LITERARY. Olive Sch re iner-Cron wright consid trs simple domestic labor quite as ele vating as writing books, and she and her husband prove their belief by work ing a dairy on their farm, "Krautz Plaats," in South Africa. In the inter vals of this work they devote them selves to their literary labors. One of the odd effects of the recent labor troubles was to make doubl3' pop ular the novels of Charles Reade among the reading classes in labor circles. A Hartford bookseller explains the fact upon the ground of the popular treat ment by Reade of the labor troubles in England in several of his1 well-known books. Miss Margaret Rogers, a twenty-three-year-old girl of Monterey county, California, has already made a fortune in the horse and cattle business. She rounds of cattle, breaks horses, can j plow, sow and harvest and is withal a refined woman who adhors loudness. ; She is a charming hostess, a good per- j former on the piano and has an excel- j lent education. I The duke of Marlborough, instead of marrying an American, as his father did, will take an Australian as a part- j ner for life. Her father, Mr. Morgan, 1 is the owner of the famous Mount Mor gan mine in Queensland, which he pur chased eight years ago for about seven thousand dollars. The " mine is now bringing him in a revenue of five mil lions of dollars. The present sultan of Zanzibar, Hammed bin Thueni, is one of the best swordsman in his empire, and this ac complishment arouses great respect in the breasts of his subjects. He is also a traveled and educated man. His predecessor. Sultan Ali bin Said, was a brilliant rider, and, it is said, could pick up a finger-ring from the ground when at full gallop. Jewesses of every age, whether rich or poor, are invited to niemlerdiip in the recently-formed National Coun cil of Jewish Women, which has its ob ject the advancement of the common interests of all members, general serv ice in the behalf of Judaism, and the promotion of philanthropic works un der a methodical system. Tiie consti tution of this body is described as a model of comprehensiveness and pre cision, and it is lelieved that, thanks to the vigor with which local sec tions are being formed, all parts of the country will soon be represented in the council. Mrs. Henry Solomon is the president. An occasional contributor to the magazines says that it is becoming next to useless to offer articles to their edi tors. "Magazines." he declares "are made up more and more from ordered matter, and the men who stand in favor with the editors have the call. I don't believe in this talk about 'rings' and "cliques, but we can all tell whom we may expect to find in the next number of Harper's or the Century, and even what artist will mule e the illustrations. When I have a scheme for an article now I write to an editor and ask him if it's any use to send it. Generally it isn't. The American magazine is be coming about as conventional, cut and dried an affair as a patent office re port. Stories of incident, romances and e-says are barred, and young writers are actively discouraged. The newspapers are taking the place of magazines with a large class of readers." HUMOROU5 "Your pies don't taste like moth er's did. They " Wife "I don't care. I wish I'd never met y " '"I never could eat hers at all.'" Inter-Ocean. She "You say yon love me, but I doubt it. What you take for love is merely a disease." He "I v.ish it were contagious." X. Y. World. The Millionaire's Tlaint. Hark ward, turn backward. O time in thy f.icht. Make n:c dead broke aj-'ain ju-.t for to-n i'ht: I am anxious to know the sonsa-.ion. to fe-l An appe' iw for oae good, honest square meaL Truth. llo'.'dley "Why do you smoke con tinually from morning until night?" Weedlcy "It's the only time I get. I skvp froT night till morning.'' Tit Hits. A Misunderstanding. "Yes. I was at the church. Tiie bride walked in on the arm of her fether." "What! 1 didn't know she was an acrobat." Texas Siftings. lie "Funny, in't it. how we men get baldheaded and yon women don't?' She "I don't think it's str::nge. You knov: we never get to !e old enough for that." South lloston News. "How did yon sett'o that trouble about the division l:n- between your plfce and Miggs"?" "Oh, easily enough." "Engaged a lawyer?" ".Xo bought a lot of chickens."" Inter Ocean. Annoyed by the brevity of her nap, Grace's mother asked, somewhat impa tiently, why she awoke so soon. Look ing up in childish wonderment, sh said: "Why, I slept od there was!" Youth's Companion. ICecdlck "Young Hrowne added the e to his name aftor he inherited his uncle's big fortur." Fosdick "That's cpite right, l ich people are entitled to more ease than poor people.1 White 1'lains Weekly. His Four-in-Hand. Cholly "Yes, often exhibit a fine four-in-hand while driving down the avenue.'" Cholly's Skeptical Friend "Hetter wear simple bow-ties. They'er more fashionable now." Chicago Record. Counsel (for defendant) "Would it be contempt of court to say hat your honor has presided over this '-ase in a manner which is a disgraet. to the bench?" Judge "Certainly it would. I should commit you at once." Coun sel "Then I shall not say it." Tit Hits. Highwayman (to Mr. Hevy, second hand dealer in miscellaneous property) "Your money or yonr life." Mr. Levy "Mine frendt, you gannot ex p;ct me to gif you my money for noi ingN. and mine life vond't do you no goot. lint I tells you vot I ill do I vill buy dot bistol c2 ycu at a fair brice."- Tifc-BlU. FOR YOUNG PEOPLE VA'TIN AT THE DOOR. TTve had a lot o' blossln's lu my time, Tout never l:noweil The pleasure of enjoyin' every violet that prowed. An' every streak o' sunshine, bearaia brighter evermore. Till ManJy went to meetin an' I trailed at tha door: Vi been a-lovln' Mandy almost too Ion? to tell; X only know 'twas nat'ral, an' she seemed to like it Trell: Bat there come a little coolness an' Tre hadn't sr.okc before Tint Cay sue went to meetin' an' I waited at tiie door. Two weeks or three's more like we d kinder walked r.part. With her a-tossin' of her head an' hidin' cf her heart: Aa' I warn't first fer Kpcaldn", tciug proud as well r.s poor, Till thut day she weat to meetin' an' I waited tt tho door. I don't know why I waited, fcr I thought the sermout Ions, Aa' it did seem like the choir'd never finish up a sons" An" it 'ix-red li!:o all the village knowed try heart Wis feclin' sore. An that ilandy was in meetin' an' nc haugtn" roun' the door: But I waited couldn't help it in a state 'o hope an' doulit, "Till I heard 'em sing "Old Hundred" an' they come a-trompin' out: An' Ttterff come Mandy, cryin' ! Xever seen her so before, Fer ycu see. she'd got religion while I waited at the door! She run to meet me! "Mandy:" an' sho an swered, weepin': "John:" An' we stopped behind a little, whiio the rest went waiLin' on; Eat I didn't know that minute all my senses in the lurch If the church was on the steeple, or tho steeple on the church: "O John: I've been so triflin', but a better life 1 11 live; It was sweet in you to love me, an' it's sweeter to forgive."' Eut I couldn't speak for chokln', till I said three times or four: It's me that needs forgiveness, out here wait In' by the door.'" Well: we went home in the sunshine happy, happy on the way: An' I took an' lo?t ten dollars at the preacher's ho:;;, that day; An' I would ha' made it twenty, an' kept run- nia' r.p the score, Fer the love that conio to meet me fer that waitiu' at the door: Frank L. Stanton, in Atlanta Constitution. PARALYZES THE NERVES. Why Ice Cream or Ie Water Somtim Causes Tain. When the weather is very warm you often run into an ice cream saloon to try and cool your body by a saucer of the frozen delicacy. If you are in a great hurry you are apt to make the tirst few teaspoonfuls of the cooling mixture rather large. This almost immediate- gives you a violent pain in the temples, or somewhere in the re gion of the eyes. Why is this? Did you ever stop and think? One man, who has studied the physi ology of the case, says it is caused in the following manner: The frozen mixture, coming into contact with the nerves of the throat, tsmporanly para lyzes them. The sensation instantly shoots to the center of the nerves, which is in the brain, but there is a side connection, the great facial nerve, which starts from the front of the car and extends its branches over the side of the faco This great facial nerve sidetracks the pain which proceeds from the chill, throwing it out along the nerve which runs across the tem ples, the pain being keenest at the point where the nerve branches. SMART LITTLE GIRL. Fannie Frdofy Knows a TLanjrcage for Every Year of Her A;re. Little Fannie Erdofy is only four years old. but she is one of the most accomplished young ladies, in Xew York. She speaks four languages fluently, and her father promises to teach her two more before she reaches 7 'ti fv trrrcE faxnie ekdofy. her fifth birthday. She does not care for dolls or other toys, but plays only with irregular verbs, ablative abso lutes, moods, tenses and syntactical puzzles. She speaks German like a I'.crlinese, French like a l'arisicnne, Hungarian like a Iloyar and English, with a Harlem accent. Miss Fannie's gift iHustrates the law ci heredity. Her father, Arthur HrJofy, who is an interpreter at Ellis Wand, was born in Huda-I'esth. Hun gary, thirty-two fears ago. He has the special linguistic aptitude of his race, having command of not less than ten langnagcs. Mrs. Erdofy speaks English, Hungarian, German, French md Slavonian. It is said that the difficulty is not in teaching Miss Fannie a new language, but in preventing her from overtaxing her strength learning one without in struction. Difficult to Translate. It was the duchess of Gordon, a clev er and beautiful Scotch woman, who successfully dumfounded a pretentious dandy. lie was beside her at a r.upper party, and in order to gain her good grac'js, affected a liking for the Scot tish tongue, declaring there was not a Scottish phrase he did not understand. 'Kax me n, sprawl o' that bubbly jock," replied the duchess, without changing a muscle of her face. The exquisite looked appaUed, and then tlnnk away in confusion, while the commission was performed by a cavalier bailing from the north of the Tweed. She wanted a turkey -wing. CLEVER LINK PUZZLE. IS Ton FoIIott These Instructions Ton Cms Slake One Yourself. The puzzle is simply of construction. To succeed, however, yon must pay careful attention to my instructions: Yon require two pieces of steel wir (or brass, if you prefer) 4 of an inch thick and 2J-4' inches long. Carefully round the ends with a file, or by rub bing them on a piece of tile or brick. Bend the wire to the shape of A and B respectivcl3T Fig. 1. If 3-ou use steel wire you can bend it to shape cobi (as you will do if you use brass wire), but in case of stout steel wire it may be better to beat it a dull red, and gently hammer it round an iron rod of the required size. You can get the re quired turn with a pair of pincers, or by any other means your ingenuity may suggest. One reason why I prefer steel wire is that you can nicely burnish the links, either with emery powder or by sim ply rubbing between the hinds. If 3-011 happen to have a lathe and burnishing wheel, why, there you are. Another reason and an important one is that the steel link can be made of finer wire than I have given, and stiU retain the required stiffness neces sary to prevent them being forced to gether, in fact, no force is required at all. 1 must now call your attention to some important points, unless you ob serve which 3ou will fail to gain tho desired end. First, take particular no tice that the ends and B overlap the bends from which spring the straight ends. Thouglt not shown in the illus tration, it must bo distinctly under stood that the ends A and B do not touch the bends, there being a space between them almost the width of tha wire. You may now proceed to put the pua zla together. If you carefully studj Fig. 2 you will easily succeed; not, however, if you have A and B too close to their respective bends. Also, if you have too much f.pace the links will "fall" together. What you wan is to po regulate this space that you know ing "how it's done" have difficulty to accomplish the feat. It will then test your friends' ingenuity before they succeed. To take the links apart again well, suppose jou exercise your ingenuity. Golden Days. A SAGACIOUS DOG. The Newfoundland Was Round to Ilavfl His Evenins Walk. There is a stcry of a French dog; whose breakfast was forgotten, where upon lie ran otit into the garden and retundng with a sprig in his mouth, deposited it at his master's feet. It was a sprig of forget-me-not. The truth of this story is pert tips open to question, but a story almost as remark able has been furnished to Cassell's Saturday Journal by a gentleman whose veracity is said to be undoubted. The story runs: Jack is a handsome Newfoundland dog. Every evening, at nine o'clock, he is taken for a walk by his master, who has an orangewood walking stick which he particularly likes and usually carries. Every evening at the stroke of nine Jack rushes to the bat rack in the ball, noses about among the walking-sticks and umbrellas until he finds the orangewood stick, and immediately afterward appears lefore his master, carding it in hLs teeth. He wags his tail and prances delightedly- about, and shows as plainly as possible that he will be a broken-hearted dog if bis friend and master omits the usual even ing stroll. One evening tte family were in the sitting-room with some guests. A shower had come on and it was raining hard when the ciock struck nine. The strokes had hardly died awaj when Jack danced gayly in the room with the orangewood stick in his mouth. "No, Jack," said his master, "we can not go to-night. It is raining too hard. We should get wet. Just listen to it. Jack." With that the host turned his attention once more to his guests, and presently they heard Jack pulling over the things in the hat rack. They sup posed be was putting away the walking stick, like the clever dog that he is. A few moments later a beseeching little bark was heard. There in tho sitting-room door stood Jack, with an umbrella in his mouth. Every oue flew for the waterproof and hat of the man of the house, and that gentleman, bearing the umbrella so persuasively offered him, took Jack out for his walk without further delay. The Difference tn Voice. One's surprise at the fact that no twa persons' voices are perfectly alike ceases when one is informed by an authority on the subject that, though there are only nine perfect tones in tha human voice, there are the astounding number of 17.5'C1S0,044,415 different sounds. Of these fourteen dir?ot muse cles produce 16.3S3, and 30 indirect muit cles produce 173.741,823, while all in co operation above produce the total giverr &