!
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j
V -
CHAPTER I.
"Order the pony trap at once, Jenifer,
and drive in to Extter as fast as you can.
It is really providential that I got that
card from Tammy last night, telling me
about the teal and widgeon: teal is what
yonr brother prefem, I know, but if the
teal are all gone "
"If there" a doubt about any being
left, don't you think I may aa well give
myself the benefit of the doubt, mother,
aad stay for tennis this afternoon?"
"My dear Jenifer, what are you think
ing about? With all I have on my head
between now and to-night, ia it likely that
I shall overweight myself with the 'last
straw' which tennis would be?" Mrs.
Bay asked, with a manner that, had it
been silk, might be descriled aa amuse
ment shot with vexation. "Your brother
your eldest brother is bringing home
his bride, and I have only six hours
wherein to prepare a fitting reception for
ler."
"1 don't think my eldest brother de
serves to hare so much consideration
shown to him, as we never knew that he
had a bride, or thought of having one, till
his telegram came half an hour ago," Jen
ifer said, coldly.
"Ah, my dear, perhaps not; but If you
had a son you would moot likely lie as
lenient to his lapses toward yon as I am
to Hubert's toward me. I am his mother,
and if the thought of his wife has put me
out of h.s mind for a time, why, all I can
do is to love her the more for having won
so much from my son, for to have won
o much she uiust have given largely."
"And if I could ever forget a moment
(which I can't) that you are the sweetest
and wisest mother in the world, I'd say
yon were talkin ; stuff and nonsense now,"
Jenifer said heartily. "As it is I'll only
tell you that the teal shall be offered up
to Hubert to-nisht, if any are to be got in
Exeter."
"I shall put the dinner off till eight,
Jenifer. Tnat will give you time to do
all the (lowers after you come back. What
will your father say when he hears of it?
I wish he would come before any of these
possible tennis people arrive. It would
be s.i awkward telling hitu before them
all."
"Father will oe furious for five min
utes, and then he will make us feel that
we are not half fervid enough in our ex
pression! of delight at the prospect of re
ceiving Hubert's bride. Don't trouble
yourself more than you can help, mother
dear, while I'm away."
Her heart was heavy and ber head
ached, bnt she did not let Nettle, the pony,
lag on his way. As she drove him from
shop to shop in Exeter, there were many
who noticed that Miss Kay looked very
thoughtful. Indeed, so absorbed was she
in the contemplation of the subject of her
brother's marriage, that she passed sev
eral acquaintances without recognizing
them. At last, one bolder than the rest,
tnraed. after lifting his hat, when he
heard her pull up at the game shop. And
as she sprang out of the trap be contrived
to be passing.
"You here. Miss Kay. and a tennis
party going on at Moor Royal V What
does this portend?"
"You here, Captain Edgecumb, when
we all thought you safe on leave for the
next mouth? You would have had an in
vitation for tennis to-day, only father told
i you were away."
"1 came back unexpectedly got sick of
London, and sic for one of the environs
f Exeter. May I come in and help you
to choose some of Tammy's wild fowl?"
"No: but yon may hold Nettle; or, better
till, yon go in and get what I want and
I'll get into the trap again."
When he came out again, she stooped
forward and said:
"You generally see Hubert when yoa
go to town. Did you call on him this
time?"
"I tried to look him tip," be said, engag
ing himself in rearranging her parcels m
the bottom of the trap, "bnt he was out
when I called."
"He Is coming borne to-night He Is
slurried, and his wife and be are coming
borne to-night.'
He lifted bis eyes to hers quickly
enough now, and she was sure there was
something of surprise and something of
anger In their expression.
"Married, i be?" he Mid coldly. "Rath
er sodden, Isn't it? Home fellows like
Msg tarprise tricks. I'm a quiet fellow.
Mi dos't go In for sensation myself."
Ho sfeJ kin hat nod stood aloof as be
poke, and Jenifer drove off with the last
osareMton that bad flitted across hla
banilsnmi face photographed on her ment-
"How sympathetic bo la! II looked
Mito tarry for me. A ad yet I never aald
word to make bin think I didn't like
CWt' marriage."
Op;:it t'!veK'j refBt.ed kia stiol!
through the High street, musing on what
he had just heard.
"It clears my path toward the other
one; but I didn't think you would have
stolen such a march as this on me. Miss
Elhe; but, no matter! , I only hojie, for
Jenifer's sake, you won't ruin Hubert
Kay."
As Jenifer more than half feared and
expected, she found all the possible guests
assembled on the tennis ground when she
got home. Kut though the moving spirit
of Moor Koyal was abselit, the mistress
of the house had done well for them. That
is to say, she had jiermitted those who
came to flirt to do so without interrup
tion, and she had given plenty of tea, cof
fee, cakes, delicately rolled bread and
butter and era pea to those who think ten
nis a snare and a delusion without these
accompaniments.
And all of these guests were full of curi
osity respecting the great event; for Mrs.
Kay had deemed it better not to make a
mystery about what must be so soon wide
ly known.
So she told them that her son was mar
ried, and that he and hi bride would be
home that night, and that was 11 she bad
to tell.
Time went on, the tennis party broke
up and dispersed, and each individual
member of it carried away a different
version of tne story of Hubert Kay's se
cret marriage, for circulation in bis or ber
own set.
It grew dusk in these October days at
six o'clock, and at seven Hubert and his
wife would arrive. And still the head of
the house, the master of the family, was
absent and in ignorance of his eldest sou's
marriage. Mrs. Kay grew strangely nerv
ous. Her husband was wont to be out late
frequently, for he was an ardent sports
man, and with his duck gun and punt be
would pass many a winter night on the
marshes about Extnouth.
At seven o'clock Jenifer came down,
dressed for dinner, into the drawing
.room, aud found her mother then; uloue.
"Is Jack in, mother dear?" she said.
"Yes, Jenny; Jack came in ten minute
ago. I thought be might have been with
ymr father, but Jack has seen nothing
of him all day."
Jenifer went Aff in search of her young
est brother, with a sense of oppression and
uncertainty about ber such as had never
afflicted her before.
J:ick was still whistling when his sis
ter knocked ut his door, and she felt that
she could have rebuked him hotly for such
evidence of callousness, when her soul
was being wrong by doubts aud fears for
Hubert
".Make liastt down, and do be a little
grave for once, Jack," she said, as a hand
some hid, the very counterpart of herself,
opened the door.
"Why am I to !e grave? I was prepar
ing to be especially festive! I thought it
was the right thing to be when a bride
was hurled into the midst of a family." .
"What do you think about it, really,
Jack?"
"I haven't thought much alout it, only
I shouldn't like to think that you would
marry a fellow, and bear down uixm his
people without having been duly adver
tised. What do you think of it yourself,
Jenifer?"
"I'm afraid to think. I'm afraid I
shall never like her, and shall never for
get that she lias Is'en the cause of mak
ing Hubert do the first mean thing he
ever Cid in his life."
Jack's room was in a side wing, and
his window looked out on the stable yard
at the east end of the window. But even
at this distance from the front entrance,
sounds reached them now, as of an ar
rival and confusion.
"They've come," Jenifer said, quick
changes of color fleeting over her face.
"Jack, come down with me. I dread "
She paused abruptly. More sound, more
Confusion. The trampling now of many
feet, and then a long, sharp cry.
At the sound of that cry the young sis
ter mid brother sped along the corridor
and down the stair on flying feet. Ther
in the ball, held back hustled back it al
most seemed by distracted, weeping ser
vants stood their mother, qniet now, but
with such a look of horror on her face as
made them pray that she might cry,
scream, do anything to relieve that terri
ble tension of agony. And there on a
hurdle, covered op with n.gs, "something"
wa lying in sncb awfnl stillness that
they knew at once it wa death.
And farther knew that death and their
father bad met.
CHAPTER II.
A doaen voices were raiaed la explana
tion, consolation, suggestion, sympathy;
bnt the sorely smitten family never heed
ed one of them. The children pressed
forward to their mother, and with all
tle'.r fcn bore her away io her
own room, where the silence, and the
thought that he would never share it itil
her again fell upon her mercifully like a
blow, aud rendered her unconscious.
"Better so," Jenifer said to Jack. -who
wa unversed in the duct ripe Jf the
"blessed balm" of uu-ousci.juni,.: "she'll
I come out of this fainting tit exkiaast-
ed that she must sloep. aud'Uea fbe
awakes she'll be stronger to bear every
thing. Oh, Jack! and an hour ago we
thought Hubert's marriage a trouble!"
With his fai-e swollen with crying. Jack
went down presently, to have bis father's
corpse moved out of the way of his
brother' bride; anil, as he stood there in
the hall giving broken directions amidst
his sol, the carriage drew up at the door
with ihe newly married pair.
Hubert leapt into the house at once,
ardent, exiectant, half ashamed of him
self, and yet full of pride in the wife who
was calmly awaiting her reception in the
carriage outside.
"What! no father and mother, and no
Jenifer to welcome us?" he cried in sur
prise; and then he saw Jack's face, and
kuew in an instant that some tragedy
had just been enacted.
In a few words the younger brother put
the elder one in possession of so many of
the facts as he was acquainted with him
self, and while they were still shaking
in disjointed sentences and broken tone.
Mrs. Hubert Kay sprang out of the car
riage into the hall, and stood before them,
looking strangely bright and indifferent
in that bouse of horror.
"What is it, Hugh?" she asked In a
ringing, high-pitched voice; "have we
come to the wrong house, or haven't your
people got the telegram? I detest "
Then her husband checked her. telling
her, gently and gradually, aud with far
more consideration than was needful,
that his father was dead.
"How awkward I mean how dread
ful!" she said quickly, and then she drew
her long sealskin cloak more closely round
her, and turned to warm her feet at the
wood fire which was burning cheerfully
through all the misery at the euj of the
ball.
Looking at her a she stood there, one
tiny foot stretched out to catch the full
force of the bright blase, the figure sllght
?y thrown back to maintain Its equilib
rium, and the face averted to save it from
getting scorched. Jack and the others who
beheld her for the first time saw a most
attractive young lady.
Slim to a point of slimness that might
almost be called attenuation, not tall,
but giving the impression of good height
by reason of ber extraordinarily erect and
graceful carriage; fair, with a white fair
ness that would always render hers a re
markable face in a country in which the
rose predominates over the lily; with no
feature worth mentioning for it good
ness, save the eye. Hut these most dis
tinctly were worth mentioning. ' Hlue,
cold, and bright as steel, they had a fixity
of purpose in their steady, unflinching
gaze that rarely failed to find out what
ever she wanted to have retreated.
Huliert went for and came back with
his sister hanging on his arm, and Mrs.
Huliert withdrew ber foot from the fire,
stood a trifle more erect, and, with un
ruffled mien, waited for the introduction
that was imminent
"You two are sister now, and must love
one another like sisters," Huliert said,
with a faint assumption of hoie that such
might be the case. Whereat his wife
sniUed politely, gave her hand to Jenifer
an instant, and then resumed ber occupa
tion of warming her feet.
"They get so cold traveling," she said,
apologetically; "so cold that often when
I come in I won't speak to any one."
"Mother can't see you yet" Jenifer said,
shivering. "Will you take her love and
good wishes from me?"
"Oh, yes." Mrs. Hubert said, affably.
"Will you tell her from tne that I feel
it to be very distressing and awkward
that I should have come just at this time,
but you see I couldn't know what was
going to happen, could I?"
"Oh, no one could know! Oh. my fath
er my father!" Jenifer wept out ill a
fresh burst of anguish,
"Dinner is when did yon say?" Mrs.
Huliert asked, as Mrs. Kny's own maid
apieared with lighted candle to conduct
the bride to her room.
Mrs. Huliert addressed Jenifer, but
Jenifer hud endured to the utmost, and
this was the lust straw.
"Whenever you please to order it for
yourself. We Kay have not much appe
tite for dinner."
"Oh, I'm a Kay too, for that matter,"
Mrs. Hubert said lightly, as her sister-in-law
swept past her and out of the hall in
a torrent of tears ami wrath.
"I supose 1 needn't dress?" Mr. Hu
liert said to Chalmers, the maid, when
she reached the state bedroom which hail
been prepared for her with care, under
Mrs. Kay's loving nierintendence.
"I suppose you will do as you please,
ma'am," Chalmers replied with hardly
sustained self-control.
Her hands were trembling as she un
fastened Mrs. Hubert' traveling trunks;
but full as her heart was of woe for the
calamity that had come uion the house,
she would not let a tear fall before this
well-tcmered bit of steel who had come
to be the young mistress at Moor Royal.
The young lady wa arraying herself
in a while cashmere dressing gown, trim
med richly with white lace, which fell
around her in soft, snowy fold a she
spoke. All her moremeut were soft, un
dulating and graceful, and It must have
bceu i fastidious eye iudeed that did not
rest on her wito pleasure. Nevertheless
Chalmers recoiled from her, called her
"a white cat" privately, and went off to
seek Mr. Hubert, with the firm conviction
in her mind that be had done an 111 deed in
marrying and bringing home this fash
ionable looking white witch.
Meantime, Hubert and Jenifer had been
having that trying thing a first inter
view after the first breach of trust
"There is no thought of it being other
than an accident, is there?" he niked,
anxiously, si nking of his father's death.
"Oh, Hubert, no! don't even ask that of
our father; hi foot must hare caught in
the bramble on the top of tb badge,
and in the fall be must hart struggled
and the gun went off a ho fall. Jack
says, for it wa not lu his hand when he
was found."
"It's awful to me to think that my
father should never hav seen my wife."
"He never even knew that you bad one;
he wa out all day, and nJ mother and
I had to )ear it all alone."
"Yon mean the news of my marriage?"
Jenifer nodded.
"I was afraid -ou'd be ataggered by the
telegram; but. Flora she' Kffie'a sister
Is a great hand for doing thlnga off sharp
ly, Khe'a a charming woman; you'll like
her Immensely if he only take to you,
and ahe'a sure to do that, Jenny, for
you're the sweetest and prettiest creature
in the world; but she's Impalsivs to a do-
free, and somehow or other, when one's
with her, one' hurried on to do every
thing she suggest. If it hadn't been for
her I should never have bad the pluck to
propose a suJ leu secret marriage to Elbe,
for Efhe was engaged to tome one else,
you know; but Flora Mrs. Jarvoise told
me in confidence that if I didu't marry
EHie straight off the reel without givi-
ber time to think, that I should lose ber
altogether. Say something. Jenny dear;
it' not like you to withhold sympathy
from me. Say something about her; she's
one of those charming girl who get so
worshijw-d tuat they seem a little spoilt
sometime, but in reality (be i capable
of sacrificing herself to auy extent for
those she loves; ee how be ha sacrificed
herself for me."
"I can only I mean, I boie she will
make you happy," Jenifer aid piteously.
"Don't ask me to say more to-night, Hu
bert. My beau and heart are both burn
ing. This is our first trouble, aud you
are not sharing It with us as you would
have done. Oh, Hubert, forgive me!
Everything is too hard to-night."
"Never mind, dear," he said forgiving
ly, wiping bis own eye, and moving bis
sister to deeper remorse by the ght of
his emotion; "never mind, dear. It' a
little uard on r Etiie that through this
dreadful misery she should be made to
feel herself hi the way; but she's not one
to make a fuss alwut things."
"If you please, sir," Chalmers said,
coming up at this juncture, "Mrs. Ha
liert's love to yoii. and her head is aching
horribly, and she's as uncomfortable as
she can be, and will you go to her at
once?"
"I'oor Elfii !" her husband exclaimed
despairingly, a he hurried from the room
to see after his bride's well being.
In a minute more Jenifer wa In her
mother's room. The blessed stage of un
consciousness was long past, and the be
reaved woman, with every sense keenly on
tlie alert, was sitting by the fire, not so
much for the sake of the warmth as lie
cause in its fiery caverns she seemed ?o
pictures of her past happy life.
The picture the flames painted most
vividly was the one of her home-coming
as a bride. How joyful and bright all
had been at Moor Royal that dny! And
now he who ha I brought her home and
mad.; all the joyfulness and brightness
wns lying dead, aud their eldest sou bad
brought home his bride, and gained noth
ing but a cold welcome for her.
Her thoughts were dwelling on this as
Jenifer came in, and in un instant the
daughter saw that there was some men
tal stimulant at work in her mother.
"I was stunned just now, Jenifer, and
hardly understood that I was refusing to
see my new daughter. Iet Hubert bring
her to me now. We can learn to love one
another as well in sorrow as in joy," she
said as Jenifer came and knelt before her.
"You arc sure you can stand it, mother
darling? Yon are sure you won't put
yourself to more pttin by the exertion?"
The willow shook her head.
"It will plea' Hubert, and what have
I to live for but to please my children?"
"That's no new thing; you have done
that all our lives," Jenifer said, rising up
and kissing her lumber's hands In a
paroxysm of love and pity.
Then she steadied and collected her
self, and, half fearing how ber mission
would be met, went in search of her
brother and his wife.
(To be continued.)
Strange but True.
A well-known naturalist aud sports
man was shooting quail one day near
the Pyramid. Sighting on owl. he
raiaed hi gun, ami was about to pull
the trigger when, Judge of hla surprise,
the bird suddenly twisted In It flight
a If shot, and came Uutterluf to his
feet. On examination he discovered
that the bird, although !n midair, bad
broken It wing through the mere ex
ertion of its flight.
When shoot lug on the moors In York
shire an unlucky sportsman had his
one solitary chance during the beat
spoiled by an extrordlnary accident
Just a he was shooting at a grouse
Hying about forty yards away, an
other bird, which had evidently lost
It presence of mind, fluttered In front
of h!a gun. receiving: the whole of the
charge in Its body. It wa literally
blown to piece.
Booth, the well-known collector of
Brighton, once did the very same thing.
He was firing at a small flock of com
mon oclinrd when the charge hung
fire, lu consequence of which a rare
specimen hail time to fly Into the line
of shot It Is now In the Brighton
Museum.
Apropos, a strange freak of part
ridge may be mentioned. Upon cer
tain occasions they will fly fur out
to sea anil settle ou the top of the
wave with a much unconcern a
If they were ou a turnip fluid, al
though It means certain death to every
one of the covey. Pearson' Weekly.
An Ingenious King,
Before Mgr. Massala was elevated
to the cardlnalate be passed much
time In Abyssinia and was the prime
favorite of King Menelek. One day
the king asked the future prince ol
the church to secure him a Hewing
machine, of which he had heard. The
much I tie wa shipped to Abyssinia In
parts, and no one at the court or In
the following of Mgr. Massala could
put them together. At last the king,
dcspalrltig of outside help, took the
machine to hla room, worked nt It
all night, and the next morning sent
for the monslgnor and the queen to
show them his handiwork. He had
succeeded In putting the parts to
gether perfectly.
Varnishes.
Turpentine varnishes are prepared
by dissolving the softer resins, such
as common roln, mastic, etc., In the
best commercial oil of turpentlns.
They are mostly lighter In color than
oll-varnihe; tlioy dry quickly, bnt
the surface of dry v.nnlh produced
la less dorabio thau thnt obtained w!tb
oil varnish.
It appears the led brick It not coo
sldered sufficiently artistic, and In I
place we are furnished with the.bric
of lighter hue pink, buff, yellow, and.
In fact, of nearly every shade. A brick
can be made that ' as mottled as a
seagull's egg, or one that will show
tbe varying tint of an anhitnn leaf.
Tnmbllne; Mustard.
It to said that the tumbling mustard,
a weed introduced from Europe a 1 wilt
twenty years ago, ha lieeome very
troublesome In Manitoba aud other
part of Northwestern Canada. Prof.
Fletcher, of Ottawa, estimates that a
single plant bear no less tlmu 1,.KJ0,W
Reeds!
"I'urk Lluht."
Monsieur I-e Boll, a French experi
menter, report that he has obtained
outline photographs ou a dry plate
through a sheet of iron, simply with the
aid of an ordinary kerosene lamp. lie
get the liest effects by barking the iron
with a sheet of lead, but the rays do
not, like the X-rays, penetrate black
paper. He cnlU the radiation which
produce the photograph "(lark light"
The Cradle of .Mankind.
The recent discovery lu Somallland
by Mr. Setoti-Karr la regarded a bu
Important contribution to the evidence
by mean of which men of science hnie,
eventually, to Ik able to locate the cra
dle of the human race. The implements
referred to are Identical In form with
those found lu Northwestern Europe
and lu India, and thut fact is thought to
bean Indication thit lu the remote pre
historic times called the Palaeolithic
age the Inhabitants of Asia, Africa anil
Europe belonged to a single race.
Klterininutingr liutterflic.
Collector of butterflies In England
are aomewluit alarmed at the prospect
of the extinction of several localized
specie, mainly through the effect of
overeollectlou. It a pears that three spe
cies of butterflies have already been
exterminated, at least from their
known luiutito, aud that three other
species are In imminent danger of ex
tinction, and the Entomological Society
ha been requested to take some action
for the protection of the Insect. Some
of the much-hunted species, it is Raid,
will prolmlily take filial refuge lu the
irreclaimable fen of Norfolk.
Valuable Fox-Skin.
The most expensive and beautiful of
all fox fur, according to Knowledge, 1
tliat of the American sliver fox. The
color Is usually almost entirely black,
except the tip of the tall, and certain
gray-white marking ou the hack,
thighs and head. Occasionally a com
pletely black specimen 1 found, and
there are also some which are com
pletely gray. The animal was once
comparatively abundant but I now
scarce, and about a year ago a single
fine skin wa sold In I-ntiibm for the
surprllng sum of $N75. In 1K4 many
skins were Hold for more than $r0()
apiece, The cheapest skin are the
pale-colored one, Home of which do not
command more than $l'."i.
A Wilkin Kish.
A queer UmIi. called the "walking
goby," or the "hupping fish," I found In
the Iudlan Ocean a well a along the
shores of West Africa. Crowd of
these curious creatures, resembling tad
poles In their outlines, bask lu the
sun on a muddy shore and scamper off
ill being disturbed. Many of them keep
the end of their long tall dipped in
the water, while they He on the hum
heated mud, or sit on mangrove room,
and Prof. Hnddon ha Hiiggestftl that
there may be an org.in of respiration
in the end of the tall, additional to the
olmllar organ In the gills. A more re
cent Investigator, Dr. Forbes, of Liver
pool, think the fish are able to store
a sulllciciit quantity of water In ilielr
gill to maintain aquatic respiration
during their prolonged absences on the
hhore.
Great Tide Waves.
Those who ee the rle and fall of tli.j
tide In our Atlantic linrltor seldom
think of the wonderful career of the
moon-raised oceau-wave which cause
the tidal flux and reflux. Such billow
not only cross the sea, but flow from
ocean Into ocean, and In thl way com
plicated movemcnt ore set going.
Thus, a Mr. Vaiighnn Cornish ha re
cently reminded English readers, onco
in every twelve hour the moon raise
a tide billow In the Southern Indian
Ocean. When this billow Mises the
CaM of Oood Hope, nt noon, It snc
eesMor I already born, and by the time
the hrt billow ha reached the Azores
Island, at midnight, the second U
rounding the Cape, and a third has
come into existence lu the southern
ocean. By 4 o'clock In the morning fol
lowing It pange of the Cape the tide
billow reaches the English Channel aud
there the shallow water delays It so
much that It does not arrive at the
Straits of Dover until 10 a. in. Here
the narrowing Channel causes (he tide
to rise very high and almost puts an
end to the wave. In the meantime an
other branch of the billow runs around
the western side of tbe British Islands,
rounds the north point of Scotland, and
moves slowly down the eastern coast
of England, until It Anally flows up the
Thames, and laps tbe wharves of Ion
don. Troo-KlBBO.
On May 28 mention was made In this
column of a curious theory concerning
the history of a very old fir-tree from
North America, a section of tbe lower
part of whose trunk Is preserved lu En
gland. Tbe growth rings In tbe trunk
bow that the tree lived for several
hundred year, aud tliat when It wa
atxiut a century old something hap
pened which Interfered with and de
layed It growth. The effect wa to pro-dm-e
a eri. of rin.p very narrow and
close together, followed by rings of the
usual width. Indicating that the tree
had suddeuly regained It vigor. Ac
cording to the theory mentioned the
Influence that retarded the growth of
the tree was a scries of atnmsjlieric dis
turbances lu the Middle Ag which
caused w Idespread epidemic In Europe
aud Asia, and presumably In North
Amerh-a also. Mr. H. E. Fcruow, of
Washington, write to Nature that ha
thinks thl theory I hardly tenable,
one of narrow ring, he say, are
common In nil of our tree, and he sug
gest thi explana'.lon: I-ct a tree, Ilka
the fir in question, grow up uuaer ra
vorable conditions for a hundred years,
aud then let a hurricane break off a
large jiart of Its crown. Suddenly, at
least within a year, the ring of growth
will lR-come narrow. Within about
thirty years the crown recuperate, but
still the food-material descending from
the leave la scanty for the lower xr
tion of the trunk and narrow rings con
tinue to form there, 11 gher up the tree,
however, the ring will be found widen
ing. Finally, and rather suddenly, the
supply become normal lower down
and the ring resume their regular
width. Thus various accident occur
ring to a tree record their effect In Its
ring of grow tli.
England's Food Supply.
Strong o the English war fleet Is, It
i very far from being strong enough to
(ueeessfully engage a possible combina
tion of fleet and at the same time pro
tect our sea Imrne food supply, say
the Nineteenth Century. If the I'ui'ed
States aud Russia declared war with
England there would practically be no
food supply left to protect. They
would keep the Immense supplies we
now get from them at home, and the
fear of capture or destruction would
effectually prevent Argentina oud other
neutrals from sending food to us lu auy
sutllcleut quantity.
Wliat 1 wanted Is thnt. Instead of
only a precarious week's supply, we
should have stored up In this country
enough com to Inst for at least twelve
months. Experts In the corn trade
agree that there would lie no Insupera
ble difficulty in gradually accumulat
ing thl store of corn. It would be for
expert to advise a to the best meth
od nud places of storage.
Perhaji the best plan would lie to dis
tribute It over the country In magazines
at the military depot, giving the mili
tary authorities charge of It, but If It
was In the country and safe It would
not ho much matter where It was. Al
though most of our corn 1 made into
flour at the great ports. It would not lie
wise, seeing that most of them are so
defenseless, to store It there.
The entire control aud maiiagemeut
of this great national store of corn
Hhould be under some permanent gov
ernment deiartment Although Its ex
istence could not fall to have a steady
ing effect on the corn niarket, It should
be outside all speculative Influences,
the price at which it would be sold,
when necessary to sell It, lielng fixed by
law. It would be lio sacrifice, In the
long run, for the country to provide
such a reserve of food, a It would al
way Ik? worth 1th cost.
Other nations accumulate gold for use
In war time. We should have a war
chest of corn. If we have It, what will
It do?
It will give our navy time to devote
Itself to the crushing of the navy or
navies opposed to us. It will give tt
time, with out great resources, to aug
ment our fighting fleet to almost any
extent, and It will give our fanner
time to grow three or four time a
much com and breed a much larger
quantity of cattle and sheep than they
now do.
Napoleon's Irregular Dealings.
The Embargo Act, passed In isn7 by
the American Congress, had been en
tirely to Nopoleon'w liking, as I proved
by the Ha yon m decree of l.NOK, which
ordered the seizure and sale In French
liartiors of all American ships trans
gressing It; but the Non-intercourse Act
of March 1, IStilt. enabled a viwscl hold
ing both n French mid a British license,
It provided likewise with "simulated"
paper of any neutral stutc, to trade In
British good almoftt without restric
tion. This Naoleoi chose to consldei
:is open hostility, and under the Hum
boulllet decree of March 23, 1S10, Amef
lean vessels, with their cnrgoin, worth
together over $K,rtS,0S). were seized.
Ills dealings with the I'nlted Statci
were very Irregular; Ix'tween 1N02 and
1X11, on one pretext or another, 558
ships flying their flag were seized In
French linrlsirs; and the number seized
In those of Holland, Spain, Denmark
and Naples was also very large; but
during the same period (ireat Britain
seized 10", and there is no proof that
Nn'Hilcou Intended anything more than
forcing the transatlantic republic Into
hostility with England. Century.
Protection Against Hnorers.
Now a New Jersey Justice has passed
Judgment ou a man who was charged
with disturbing the neighborhood with
lils snoring, which tbe prosecution
likened unto the noise from a boiler
factory In full operation. The Justice
advised the man with the wonderful
snoring power to move or readjust his
breathing apparatus. It was claimed by
the neighbor that be could lie beard
snoring a square or more nwny. An
Individual with such lungs would
doubtless make a good cornet player.
Over In Jersey they do not want to
give a man a chance to even sleep
without disturbing blm. Harrlsburg
Patriot .
Yon have probably remarked bow
soon yon get over being In lore. Well,
people who are In lore with yon art
just aa bad.
