The Sioux County journal. (Harrison, Nebraska) 1888-1899, August 13, 1896, Image 8
" CHAPTER IX. It was some weeks after the party mboTe described. They stood on the platform, Elizabeth mod Dorry. Leaning oat of the train be ide then were Mr. Denbigh and Xora. "Success on your firat concert tour, Nora! Don't look troubled, mother! We'll keep boose splendidly." "And you'll write to me eery day?" "Tea; nerer fear." Little Dorry wared her handkerchief. Then the two girls, left alone in Ecke, turned homeward. "Supposing, instead of on Saturdays only, we hare tea-dinners all the time mother's away. What a sare it would be!" auggeated Dorry. "Of course it would, and so nice, too." "I wasn't thinking of that We shouldn't mind about nicenesa, should we. Bet, if we could save a lot of money -against mother cornea home?" Toe first two days of their being alone passed ijuietiy enough. On the third day Elizabeth inserted an adTcrtisement to the effect that "advertiser," who bad passed the Oxford Exam, in three lan guages, intended starting a "Literature Course." It inust be known that, having never in her life attended any lecturea, Elizabeth had not the faintest notion how a Litera ture Course should be conducted; but here there's a will there's a way. The will was very strong in the second Miss "Denbigh. At rlie same time she was not ; prepared for the influx of pupils that im niediately followed ber advertisement. It vaa but the next day that Dorry, passing the hall door, saw a gentleman standing - at it, about to ring. She opened it before he did so. "If you will walk into that room." point ing to the drawing room, "I will tell my ister." Te gentleman entered the room indi cated, and was soon joined by Elizabeth,.' "Pardon me." he said. "Your sister ; admitted me. I am Director Schwarz." '"lit the large boys' school?" The as me. I wish to join your Litera ture Course. Miss Denbigh, with a few colleagues of mine." "How many?" (Elizabeth's heart gave a leap.) "Four gentlemen. "That will just make enough for a course. Will Wednesday evening from 4 to ! suit you?" "Perfectly." A few words more as to terms, etc., and Director Schwarz departed with "Auf Wiedersehn, Fraulein." Then the two girls sat down at a little table, on which was spread the midday meal, consisting of tea and bread and but ter; it being the fifth day of this menu. "I shall take two lumps of sugar in my tea to-day." said Elizabeth. "I was just going to say take three," said Dorry, whom the director's visit had suddenly cur.sed to forget all bounds of economy. "Do you know, Bet," she add ed, "I think e might indulge in a cake to-morrow?" But "Bet." who had swallowed half a cup of tea without eating anything, now pushed away her cup from her. "What's the matter, Liesel?" said Dor ry; one of her pet names for her sister being this German abbreviation. "I I don't know. I feel so heavy some low. 1 don't care fur anything; not even sugary tea. My head is so hot."' Dorry laid her hand on it. "So it is; poor old girl! Lie down a bi;." Elizabeth threw herself on a sofa near. All that day and the night following if, she suffered from acute headache brought on perhaps by the sudden excite ment of the director's visit The next morning Dorry was up be times, as usual, and laid a cold bandage on her head; then, to Elizabeth's amaze ment, herself lay down again. "What is the matter, Dorry?" "II've such a headache, too, Betty. How strange it is, to be sure!" CHAITEK X. So these two miserable little women lay in their beds opposite each other, with the difference only that Dorry was dressed. "I wonder what we can be going to lave," said Elizabeth, as she looked up -at her. "We've had measles, and scarlet fever, and mumps and chicken pox. You haven't, got any spots on your neck, have you. Dorry?" "Dear me. no!" said Dorry, after ex amining herself rather anxiously. "I'm too old to have anything like that There are lots of other illnesses; nervous fever, bronchitis, . and ever so many things xrown-np people' have. AH the same, I shouldn't think it was any illness at all that either of us has got, only that we aire both so bad at once. That seems as if you had something infections, and had given it to me." "I don't see that," said Elizabeth, brightening up. "We might have both -eaten something that disagreed with us." Suffering though she wai, a smile -crossed Dorry's face at this suggestion. "Eatmi!" she said. "Why, we haven't eaten anything these live daya but tea and bread and butter. I was just think ing we s-hould leant to lis on nothing -when that pain came. Oh!" , "What's the matter?" said Elizabeth. -Dorry! Dorry!" But this tisae there cam no answer. -"O, Mothcrr and Elisabeth Jumped tt bed. "Dorry! Dorry!" - Bat Dorry's lip remained silent. Mkd tainted. With trss&bHag fingers Elisabeth delug es! bet wish water. Tan the heavy eyelids moved, and af ter while Dorr aooka again: Taw M Bat! To think f ate falat tof ! Caw I ma hare frightened yon. Stay, I ttlaa J kaw what It the sutler '.swtJI m now. . "What?" said Elizabeth. "Nothing but tea dinners does not agree with us, perhaps. We are not strong, you know." "Why, dear me, yes, of course it's that," aaid Elizabeth. "You've frightened away my pain, Dorry, with your swooning, you dreadful girl! I'll dress Hke the wind, and be off and buy us a dinner." She waa as good as her word. A dinner? Why, yes, of course that was what they wanted. Strange, that two little maidens should not be able to live without dinners; rhe save would hare been "so enormous." The next day rhe hall door bell rang and four gentlemen walked in. "My colleagues, of whom I told you. Miss Denbigh." and Director Schwara held out hia hand. "Herr Gymnasialleh rer Werner; Herr Beallehrer Schultz; Herr Vicar Kummel." All the gentlemen made deep salaama, and said, "Freut niich sehr." Then the lecture began "Passing over the older poets, gentle men, we will begin with Chaucer." "What older poets?" asked Herr Kum mel, taking out a pencil. "Be so good, miss, to give rhe names and the data." Dorry gasped. What evil genus had prompted Eliza beth to let these dreadful German know that there were older poets? Elizabeth was inspired. With eloquence extraordinary she gave an epitome of pre-Chaucerian literature, and as Dorry listened to her "declaring like anything" (to use her, Dorry's, own language) on " The Brut of Layamon,' in which the author, gentlemen, acknowl edges his indebtedness to Bede in the peculiar semi-Saxon of the time;" on "Gloucester's Chronicle," "as Craik says, gentlemen, a narrative of British and English affairs from the time of Brutus to the end of the reign of Henry III." on "I)e Brunue's Chronicle," "belonging to a date not quite half a century later, gen tlemen;" on "Laurence Minot," "the first real poet worthy of the name, subsequent to the Conquest;" then after a graphic ket"h of " 'Piers Plowman's Creed,' gentlemen," based on ColHer and Craik, return ouce more to her old starting point, Chaucer, "well of English unde fyled" when Dorry heard all that, it was too much for her. She rose and left the room. . As fur Elizabeth, she made a point of looking her severest at the young man who had the audaciousness to be good looking, whilst at the others three as plain-looking specimens of the genus homo as ever represented a country's intellect she looked her pleasantest; and when the class broke up, shaking hands warm ly with them, she almost startled the un fortunate Kummel by bestowing on bim a look of unutterable disdain. "I must read up all about Spenser for next lesson," said Elizabeth. "A pity 1 haven't got the 'Faery Queen.' Where's my lint, Dorry? I should exceedingly like to have Spenser's 'Faery Queen.' " They received a letter from Mrs. Den bigh the next nioriiiug, informing them that she and Nora would be home Thurs day. "Well, I miust say I'm very gld," said Elizabeth. "After all. it's a great re sponsibility, our keeping house without mother." "They will come by the eight o'clock train in the evening, of course," said Dorry. "We must give them a supper." The menu of this supper was as follows: First. beefsteak a re.i.iy nice beefsteak, fried in butter; this to be served with floury potatoes, aud a salad a German salad potatoes, beetroots, and cucum bers, arranged like a flower bed, in gra dations, going up in a point (not in the style of your leaning towers, but like a dart), and surmounted by a tiny little beetroot for ornament. After that (but here let Dorry speak for herself) "After that a conflour shape, with a branch of laurel stuck in it as a metaphor, you know. Betty that is, apropos of Nora's success. Along with this, apple stew; a really juicy one. Then tea, aud what Nora's so fond of hot tea cakes, with lots of butter. What do you think of that?" and Dorry's eyes danced, as much as to say: "There's a supper for you!" "Splendid!" said Elizabeth. "The 'met aphor's' a lovely idea." It would take too long to relate in full the various mishaps attending this sup per and reception; how various questions were discussed, until the lamp burned out, and only the big, bright moon lit up the faces of three earnest talkers; for the mother, with her hand laid on little Dor ry's curly head, said nothing. CHAPTER XI. She rose and dressed softly; then, tak ing her shoes In her hands, quitted the room in her stockings. With quick, noiseless steps she crossed the passage, and entered a room at the other end of it, dosing the door quietly behind her. The cool morning air was blowing in at the window. A clock was striking five. Troops of workmen were trudging down rhe street silently. The girl approached a piano, opened it, and took tip a book of exercises. Ger many is the land of mnaic and of meth ods. Ttois book contained a German mo steal method, according to which the author's theory is that anf one may be come a musician, the one essentisl being that he have tea fingers and patience. Possessed of these, be need bnt cramp his arm into a certain position on a level with the keyboard, square hia fingers lata a certain position on a level with bis wrists, and tighten bis thumb into a certain position, which, to be understood, needs to be felt The appearance of the woold-b pianist, When arms, wrists, hands snd thumbs are thus contracted, resembles that of a skewered fowl, perhaps, store nearly than anyrhing else, the sensation he undergoes at first being probably not unlike that which said f-wi ia happily spared from undergoing. "Bend or break," murmured the girl as she looked sadly from the music to ber hand. "Bend or break" it is woman's watch word ha!f the world over just now. "Posing" herself as indicated, she be gan to play orm of these exen-ises. first with one hand, then with the other for twenty minutes. A pained look then flit ted acmes her face, her lips twitched, her eyelids b,gan to oen and close qtiickiy. Still she played on. Another teo min utea and her fingers trembled, her arms jerked convulsively, a look of acute suf fering settled on her face. "One, two, rhree, four one, two, three, f " She stopped suddenly, and leaned back in her chair, a deathly pallor spreading over her face. Then she roae and went over to the window. Troopa of silent workmen were still wending their way down the street, their steady tramp mingling with the song of the birds flitting in and out of the treee that dotted the road at equal distance. How sweetly they aung! The girl listened with wrapt attention. The air was f ill of chirping, twittering voices, and far off came one long note. What bird was that, she wondered. Ah! how ahe loved music! Would she ever be a musician? She knew ahe had no talent, bnt the method the method. Again she sat down at the piano. One, two, three, four one, two, three, four till the pale Hps turned still paler, and the child-like face looked marble In its pitiful whiteness. So much for meth ods and the watchword of the day, "Bend or break." The girl's whole body trembled. Still she played on. "Good-by, mother!" It was the same Dorry, some hours later, dressed In hat and glove, with her music portfolio in her hsnd. "I'm off to my music lesson." And off she started, swinging her music as she went. One is blithe at fourteen. "Good-morning, Herr Professor." It was the same Dorry again. No, not she same Dorry. This was a monosylla bic young lady, whom Herr Professor bad never seen smile, aud about whose austere little face the framework of tossed black curls looked strangely out of place. This was shy little Dorry Denbigh, as the outer world knew ber; a young lady who held herself very erect and looked at you with strangely earnest brown eyes. The professor turned round. "Good-morning, Fraulein." His tone was not very genial. He had already given two leesons, was tired, and Miss Denbigh was no favorite with him. While she played her scales he walked up and down the room, as usual; and, as usual, stopped every now and then, and shook bis head with a look of utter de spair. It was not to be wondered at. Scales are at no time a treat to a- musical ear. and as Dorry played fbetn they were pecu liarly trying. Her bands were stiff and unwieldy; every note as she struck it jar red on the sensitive ear of ber master. He was only a man after all aud a mu sician. This little "Englanderin" was too exas-IH-ra,tii)g. Had she no soul, no ears? "You play as if you were wood, and you'll never do anything else." What was that? With a cry, as of physical paiu, Dorry leaned forward; then burst into tears. Tearful scenes were not uncommon in the professor's experience. Germany is the land of weeping maidens, and no where shall we meet with better examples of what we islander once for all choose to eonsidT the typical German girl eoii sisting of one-half Si hwermuth and the other half Xchwarmerei than in that German institution, a music achil. But there are tears and tears. The child's whole frame shook. Sm- had forgotten her master, forgotten herself, forgotten everything but the one word "never." "Ncvit," she muttered. Iieiwecu her solis, "and, oh, I so loe music." The professor looked at her. "Poor little one." he then said k'tidly, wirh something like a i,uiver in his deep, gutters) voice. Dorry raised her eye and tried to apeak, but could not. Her utterance had become rhick; her lip twitched convul sively. Her master started. "Poor little nue," he repeated, and this time be laid his hand on the child's curly head. "It was your own wish to try the meth'xl. It has been too much for you." "I thought it would make a musician of any one." "So it would, almost. But some it Child, you are ill." That was the end of little Dorry' mu sic. The method had proved too great a strain on the child's constitution. It makes musicians of some (query, are musicians then made?), others it Sentence unfinished. Little Dorry it half killed, tnsJ. method in the land of music. CHAITEK XII. The girl walked home slowly. There were no tears in her eyes Dow. Nesr her home, ahe was met by her friend the Scotchman. "Eh, how do you do, Miss Daury?" "Yoo play as If you were wood, and you'll never do anything else." A wiser man than Tom Thomson might have smiled at this curious reply. A wiser man than Tom Thomson might not bare known what to think of the little Irish girl, with her sad eyea looking far beyond him aa she spoke. But ttie Scotch man did not smile, as, stooping, he took the girl's portfolio from ber, and silently accompanied her the rest of her way. What had revealed her sorrow to him? What alone makea us quick to read the sorrows of others? Tom Thomson hsd himself been disappointed In his time, but had "put his sorrow by," to nse the saying commonly applied to those who do not wear their grief ss an everyday attire. Only when they bad reached the bouse door did the Scotchman spesk again. , "Child, K comes to sll in some shspe; it-it " He paused and colored, half sorry that he bad spoken at all, feeling how little eloquent his tongue was, and not know ing how full of eloquence was his face. "Yes," replied the girl simply; and put her band In Ids, ber brsve lip trem bling. It wa strange to find a comforter In Tom Thomson; everything was so strange to-day. Up the atair she walked like one aaleep; then, having reached the .op of the bouse, sat down on the outer landing, and cried aa only a child can cry. Why do we laugh at the tears of youth? There ia a much agony tn the grief of a child a In all the grief of after life; to i!l-balam-ed are yet heart and brain. Have you forgotten the sorrows of your child hood; that otter abandonment to grief, when you told yourself, and believed it, that in all the world wa no one, no one is wretched ss you, whose new kite had flown away, whose doll wa broken, or who, misery of miseries! were in disiraee that terrible thing in childhood? Who but a'.4iild think jtscif the center of hu manity? thinks all the agonies of all the ags conceutrated in it sorrow of rhe m.,ment, and all the eye of the world fixed ujion it disgrace? And what child does not feel this ? Have you forgotten the time when you a boy or girl, felt it? As for little Dorry, she had not passed that stage. She had hugged a child' plan, whereby two stiff, unwieldy hands were to grow as supple a those of Mei ter Liszt; whereby sheer industry and ambition were to make of Dorry Denbigh a second Madame Menter. Then came those words: "You play as if you were wood, and you'll never do anything else." Being but a child, rhe blow half stunned her. Being but a child, she saw in her own disappointment an event that would make her a by-wonl in Rhe town of Eck. How should she show nerself In the streets, she whom "Every one" (with a capital E, of course,) would know aa the girl who bad failed? How should she break the terrible news to mother? How to Nora? to Lizbeth? How should she face rhe daylight? How irbould she bear thia sorrow? Sitting on the stairs, with her hat thrown off, and resting her curly bead on one hand, whilst the great tears rolled down ber face, these were Dorry's thoughts. Ah, for more sympathy with the tears of childhood! Then she descended the stairs. She was met by her morher al rhe door leading into rtieir flat. "Well, Dorry, what is it? You stagger as if you were walking in your sleep." Again the thick utterance, aa in her music lesson, that made it imisissible to understand the child's reply. "Why, you are trembling all iver! My Dorry, what doe it mean' There, there, I know all." For the girl, instead of answering, had flung her portfolio from her. The mother needed no furrher explanation. But the cvntiiiiied twitching of hands and lips was not explained till half an hour later by a doctor. Dorry was threat ened with St. Vitus' dance. Nothing could avert.it but entire rest, and, the doctor added, if possible, change of air and scene. She waa forbidden to touch the piano. (To be continued.)- Id the Glass. Opinion as to the origin of mirrors are numerous aud contradictory. No doiilit the limpid brook was the Hint mirror; but liiiiiiun Ingenuity soon found an artificial substitute for the meandering brook. Some stones an swer fairly well for the purose. and, iu fact, we read In ancient writers of atone mirrors. Pliny nieutloiis the obsidian stone lu this n-spect, and we know that the ancient Peruvian. Iteside; mirrors of silver, copper and bras. possessed some which aston ished their Spanish conqueror. Tln-so were made of a black and opaque stone, w hich was susceptible of a tine polish. At an early jx-riod the Greek were possessed of small mirrors;, ehlciiy of bronze. Ilomuti writers. In decmlm lug against increasing luxury, state that It was the ambition of every fool ish woman to posses a silver mirror. It Is Hupi'tost'd that the Celtic popu lation of England copied the form and substance of the Koiuau mirror. It was not, however, till the early part of the sixteenth century that they bo came common as article of furniture and decoration. Previously they we;e curried at the girdle, being; merely small circular plaque of iMtllslied ma terial lixed in a shallow box. The out side were often of gold, enamel, ivory, or ebony, ami much ingenuity and art were expended in their decoration with relief representation of love, domes tic, hunting and other Interesting sctics. Even after the method of cov ering glass wit If thin sheets of metal wa discovered, steel and silver mir rors were still cherished by their con servative owners. To the yrescnt day mirrors of melal are common lu Ori ental countries not afflicted with the malady styled progics. Disabilities of Kx-Conf (ler-ites. The famous amnesty proclamation of President Johnson, Issued May 2(1, 1Mm. really Iwnetlted only the rank and tile of the Confederacy and the liumliler citizens. Fourteen classes of jierson were exempted from Its Is'in llis, anions whom were army and naval olllcct had resigned their com mission In the United States service to engage In the Confederate service. Governors of States In the Confederacy, memlM-rx of the Confederate Congress anil beads of the executive department, nil diplo matic agents and foreign envoys, all officers nlwve the rank of colonel iu the Confederate army or lieutenant in the navy, all members of the United States Congress who jiartlelpnted In the rebel lion, all persons educated at the mili tary or naval academy who aided the Confederacy and all persons who bad taxable property exceeding f'.tMMS) In value. These were the leading class,- of exempts, and. In one way or another, these Included nearly every promlm-nt man In the South. Little by Utile, the disabilities were removed, until Dually Jefferson Davis stood alone as the only person exempted from the amnesty measures. Antl-Hqalrrrl Convention. An anti-squirrel convention is to b held In Spokane, Wash., on May l. which will be attended by delegate from all county boards In Easter Waahlngton. The purpose of the con ventlon la to make united and deter mined efforts to exterminate the groiitu' aqulrrels, which annually destroy grali and other crops In that region to the value of several hundred thousand dol lars. , It la a greet pleaaure for a man to niako a proposal of marriage, but be always run the risk of being accepted. fT fl 1 mm ' - sitrengtbenlna Iron. It was formerly believed that cast Iron, when subjected to long-continued shocks and jarring, lecame "crystal lized" and brittle: but Mr. A. E. Outer bridge, Jr., of Philadelphia, has re cently shown, by a series of experi ments, that Instead of lsdng weakened, cast Iron Is really strengthened by re pcatcd blows and concussion. A Gfaoatlv Cat. An Invention calculated to terrify mice and rats Is descrllMd In Popular Science News. It consists of a metallic cat, which, being covered with lumin ous paint, shine in a dark room with a mysterious radiance which, the Inven tor thinks, will be more effectual than traps, or even genuine cats. In ridding bouses of rodent peats. CarnlvoroD Plants. That such plants as "Venus' fly-trap" actually catch and squeeze to death flies aud other Insects alighting on their leaves has long been known, but the dbvovcry I comparatively recent that the plants digest the softer part of their prey by mean of a ix-ptlc fer ment secreted by the leaves. These, then, are real Instances of plants feed ing usn animals. Marveltoua Measurement. At the recent "conversazione" of the Royal Society In London a pendulum Instrument was exhibited. Intended to record the slightest tilts and pulsations of the crust of the earth. It was as serted that this Instrument would ren der observable a tilt of itn than one three-hundredth of a second of arc. In other words, If a plane surface were tipped tip only so little that the rise would amount to a Rlngle Inch In i thousand miles, the instrument would reveal the tilting! A Ilearh of Iron fund. On the western const of the northern Island of New Zealand Immeuse de M)its of magnetic iron sand are found. The sand I brought down by many stream from the slope of Mount Eguiont. The cliffs consist of a mix ture of ordinary silica sand and Iron sand, but the waves sweeping the beach carry the lighter silica sand away, leav ing an almost pure deposit of Iron samf fourteen feet In depth. Furnaces have beeu erin-tcd by which the sand I tsmulted and formed Into pig Iron. Killed by Llttht. Dr. James Weir, Jr., who lias studied strange iuli.iblt.ints of the Mammoth Cave In Kentucky, say that the cele brated blind llsli from that cavern, when placed lu Illuminated aquaria, seek out the darkest places, and he be lieves that light I directly fatal to them, for they soon (lie If kept 111 a brightly lighted tank. The avoidance of light seem to be a general charac teristic of the nightie. creatures dwel ling lu the great cave. Doctor Weir lias seen au eyeless spider trying to avoid the light, and animalcule from the waters of the cavern hiding under a grain of sand on the stage of his mi croscope. He thinks the light In these case I In some manner perceived through the sense of touch. An Air Tratrr. An Insiruuieut for measuring the amount of Impurity In the air of a room' or shop was shown at the Zurich In dustrial Exhibition recently. It con sisted of a glass bulb containing a red liquid which turns white on contact with carbonic acid gas. The liquid lu the bulb wa kept from the air, but Din e If) every 1)0 seconds a drop, drawn automatically from the bulb through a bent tulie, fell upon the upper end of a stretched cord and (wgau slowly to descend the cord. If the air wa foul with carbonic acid the drop turned white at the upper cud of the cord, and' the purer the air the farther the drop descended before changing color. Alongside the cord ran a scale, like that of a thermometer or barometer. Indi cating the degrees of impurity of the atmosphere. Vneer Facta About Colora. According to information given by a German officer to the Horse Guards' Gazette, an experiment was recently made In Europe to determine what color In a soldier's uniform Is the least conspicuous to an enemy. Of ten men two were dressed In light gray uni form, two In dark gray, two In green, two In dark blue and two In scarlet. All were then ordered to inarch off, while a group of officers remained watching them. The first to disappear In the landtM'npe was the light gray, and next, surprising ns It may seem, the scanlet! Then followed the dark gray, while the dark blue and the green remained visi ble long after all the others had dis appeared. Experiments lu firing at blue and red targets, according to the same authority, proved that blue could be more easily seen at a distance than red. Manaoleam In a Tree. One of the moat curious mausoleums In the world waa discovered the other day In an orchard at the vitiate of No. elslenltE, In Saxe-Altenburg. A gigan tic oak tree, which a atorra had robtwd of Ita crown, waa up for public auction. Among the bidden happened to be a Baron Von Thnmmel, scion of a fam ily of ancient lUieag that nag given the world of literature mi" l,nrm!r,. n,-t aul the Father! ml t- V '1 st.a- guisbed statesmen. The l.afii. ho lives on a n. ighlsiring estafe, had r: i den to the auction piace quite ai-ctden-tally. Finally the tree wa kn-tcked down to liliu for V mark Upon bis arrival at the castle he told an old ser vant of his purchase, describing the tree and Its situation. The old servant said be rt iiieiiils're-l attei. Vug the fu neral of a Itardon Tlmiinm ! i nty or eighty years ago. aud that the 11 y had 'leeu buried lu a l.""0 ear-old oak, tteloiiging to the parson ige. In vestigation clearly proved Cat the or chard had once been the proierty of the village church, and that at one side of the old oak was an Iron shutter, rusty ami time-worn, that the ieoplt of the town bad always supK.sed to have beeu placed there by some joker or mischievous Isjys. The Iron shutter proved to ! the gate to the mausole um of Baron Han Wllhelm Von Thuiii mel, at oue time Minister of the State of Saxe-Alteiiburg, who db-d lu 1V24, and wished to Is? burled "In tlK l.iMjO-year-old tree lie loved so well." Iu the hollow of the tree Huron Hans caused to lie built a sepulchre of solid masonry, large enough to ammmiodate hi coffin. The cotlln waa placed there, as the church records show, on March 3, 1SJ-4, aud the opening wa closed by an Iron gate. In the course of time' wall of wis! grew over the o-nlngV which had leu enlarged to admit the' workmen and the cotlln, and for many years It has been completely shut, thus removing the last xestlge of the odd use to which the old tree had l-en put. Chinese Treatment ot Child 'en. However little liked the Chinaman may be by his white neighbors, I have at all time found that the Chinese had at least oue good and praiseworthy iua!lty the kindness shown by nil of them toward their children. The poor est parent always seem able to save enough money to array their little one lu gay garment on New Year's day or other holidays. The children in turn seem to be remarkably well-behaved and respectful toward their elder, and rarely. If ever, receive corporal punish ment. They seem very happy, and apparently enjo.. their childless! mora than most American children. On al most any wtitiny day the fond and proud father may be seen at every turn In Chinatown carrying his brightly attired youngster lu his arms. Other little tots, hardly old enough to feel quite steady on their legs, toddle about with Infants strapped on their back. They do not appear to mind this, and It doe not seem to Interfere with their child ish pastimes. About the time of the Chinese New Year f'lilm'se children arc particularly favored, and the fond fathers deny them nothing. The little one alwavs iitmear to be well pro - vided with pocket-money to buy toy and candles. St. Nicholas. Victor Hugo's Youthful Work. Victor Hugo, the great French poet and novelist. Is famous every where. H i began his literary career at the age of 13. At l'l he drew up his llrst novel in two weeks! The Academy at Tou louse crowned two of his ishw that b wTirfe at 17. At -0 his first volume of iMii-ms was so good that he received a pension of $3X1 from the French Gov eminent; and yon are all aware how he came to be one of the grmteHt, a well a one of the most popular, of the French )s,ets. Ills patriotism was a great as !ii literary gifts. His life I one of the imwt Interesting In the lit erary annuls of France. I saw hi fun eral In Paris, in May, lssr, when he wo followed to the grave by a concourse cf sorowful people. The procession was miles In length. i-Vw emperor or suc cessful generals have had a more Im posing burial, nor was ever man laid to rent who was more deeply, truly mourned than this grand and gifted Frenchman. Sf. Nicholas. "The Woods or Kborne." Leavingthe highway by a pretty lane, we are presently In a most magnificent wood, a vast cathedral of nature. Its columns are tall dark trunks of elm tree, supisirtlng leafy. Intersecting arches of golden green; It nave and transept are carpeted with the softest moss, in which a footfall I silent; Its screen are of hawthorn ami houey suekle; Its chancel I trcwu with tbw growing violet; and It chapel are adorned with rhododendron and ivy. Through and iiikui It all Hood the soft ened sunlight; over our head slugs a vnt choir of birds; and around u the melodious hum of the Iwos sounds like soft organ notes. Here and there In the wixsls we come tion hamlsome, russet-plumaged pheasaiit strutting alsiut, rabbits hopping fearlessly across the clearings, and squirrel scampering from tree to tree. St. Nicholas. C'ushlng's Heroic Deed. In 1WS1, at the very beginning of our civil war, a young lad named William Barker dishing entered the navy as a volunteer officer, though be bad pre viously been through the Naval Acad emy at Annupolls. He waa only lit years old, but a braver or more reckless sailor never grasped a cutlass or stood by a gun. Never a fight but be waa la' the thick of I., never a battle but Cusb Ing's name was mentioned In orders. He dared do anything that man dared. One dark ulght, at Plymouth, N. C, he took a boat's crew nnd, stealing quiet ly away, he crept up beside the Con federate ram "Albemarle" a.id, taking the chances of almost certain death, be sank her by a torpedo fired from hia ateam launch. Then he fought at Fort Fisher with great bravery, and. what lai ever rarer, he used sound Judgment, ae-' curing for his command all the fruits or the victory .-Rt. Nicholas. A woman never seems to liavo i any! , and good time until her husband dies. lie gets hi life Insurance. Every man la more or Jess cf a fool about some tlilnga.