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MY EASTER EFFORTS. A
Xa By FRANCES DILLINGHAM. XLt
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Jjist Kaster I had a perfectly trau fi
tful time. The iam b a dr-ora t-i
magnificently, the choir boys Hans 1 1
vlnely, assisted by a glorious tenor,
find the minister pleached a veiy elo
quent Kaster sermon. , Add to nil those
delights my lianilm new grny Milt
and the walk ilmvn the avenue, and the
announcement of rny engagement to
Jlarold and the violets, and but what
ii tti? use df '1 lUviif on t h pant that,
i the poets say. has forever flown.
This Faster 1 went to visit Aunt Se
rena In lur dear little country village;
It Is co unpl-ix.'Uit to meet all tlv
lialf -concealed qu-ries over nrif's bro
ken fniiitRi-mcnt. So I Himply slipped
nway without saying a word to any
one. Nobody ever tells anyway why
their engagement is ilT. I expect most
Icople would lw ashamed to reveal the
ridiculous reason fur tin? break; I'm
sure I should. It always seemed to me
that people wtr inane lo make fo
much of trdhf. hot wlii'ii It nunn to
yon. somehow you can't help your In
anity. A lilt!" explanation would. i-(-Imps,
Mralght- r.cvei yihing, but you
ran t make- It; and so, since Harold was
tin proud a I. 1 know It was all owr
and went to visit Aunt Serena.
Now I had no Intention of withering
Into the gr.ive w ith a broken hoait, or
of letting sorrow pry upon my dam-
kcheek; my heart was somewhat
find and heavy, hut It heal regufarly
and firmly; my cheeks wire a, III He
finle, hut I Intended to grow plump and
rosy at Aunt Serena's. Of course, life.
oniotime 1-iokiM like a lone, gray
day, but I had once on-i heard thtt I
nvn a ferifibl'1 young person-- hori Ibh'
fdirawe and I intended to prove, it now.
All book of I'tl'pJette, advice and
morals, nnd r- I i u I . n hsih- lit raying
that the way to fur;;el one's self and
one's sorrow Im to make other people
tinppy. I uni afiali 1 have grown
rather ukr-fri r-jt1 as to conduct roclp
liut I deidded to try this one, eKpeeial
ly cine.' llier" wait m r plendl I f.n up
j)itutilly In Aunt f-Vien.i'd villane. At
lioriK", IViBter would have been a ifhnM
ly day, but here 1 would Inlerent myself
In the rhureti n rvlee, and mike It nr
. tn-ur Ilka thf city on- a pocHilde. 1
would derorate Ih" altar and ree t I
tho Kinitlnir, ami have Aunt f'-reti wi ai
th" ri-w bonnet I had brought for her
8tld oV'tl toy new ilt I had oidered
from the city.
Ilk oil ri'forniem, 1 mllil meet wiih
Opitlon. Not from Aunt Hereiia,
duar noul; ih" would have worn u Hlia
her honwt If I had aeked her, nd Him
In tho choir In hi r w et, cra ked o
irano.. Oiu nlehl, four or flv day
ttifore l-titer, J brought out her bon
net, whleh ) had kfpt In my ttunk
Ince tny arrival. I tarried It Into bet
roo mnnil laid It on tlu M. It wbh h
pretty thln, with thrw or four dainty
fslher brhlnd and notru! lovidy vlolet
round thft fdK. Aunt, Hfrenn wiif
aown-tnlrit, and I failed lo her ovtr
D banlnterii.
."Bring tho lamp tip-itali, no thai
you ran your now Ixinnet."
AtllU Percn rtri( Into I he room with
Ik lsiDD In her hand and f avt cry
of deliRht at the night of the bonnet.
I knuw she would like It.
"Try it on," I mild.
Khe lifted It from tho bed to put It
on, while I carried the lamp mt-rer
lh- mirror.
Hut Aunt Hetena did not put in on.
"Why, what id thlp?" nh asked,
I turnpd about, and then I saw that
Khe was huldliifr a bit; buin h of faded
violetx and looking ut the card attached
to them. Aciohh it was written Har
old's nam" with Fouift foolish, tender
wordH. He had given me the vioh.'tf
last ICjtster. I had kept them In the
trunk and they munt hav; r. night Hi
tlie lining of the bonnet.
I put the lamp down rather abruptly
and took tho (lowers art qukkly, but as
politely as possible out of her hands.
"Iwar me, have I been keepint? thosi
old thlnftn!" I Bald, and I threw them
into the. scrap banket.
Aunt Keremidld not Hay a word. That
in the. best of her; Khe In tiympathetit;
but unlet. h; only remarked, "It's a
pretty bonnet," and then the put rt
back on the bed.
I enld, "Yt.-B, It Ix pretty," and then
1 went out of the room.
We both of in I'oiKoL about tryinif
on the bonnet. '
Wle n I went down-stairs. I told Anne
to empty the Hctap backet early tlv
next moitiinK. Then I rexeued the
flowerx. I mil Id not find the card. I
hunted and hunted, and finally I de
elded it was bi tter lout. I had been
foolbdi to keep t, very foolish. Hut I
wouldn't throw (lie llowcis away Jai-t
yet,
Now was the time to prove the efll
ejii y of my remedy of outHldo Interest.
I mu.l nee the mlnlsiler to diHi-uss with
him the church nieKin- anil decorations
fur K.ter, He wait a vry young man,
very ple.ouint and rather Kentle, and he
yielded to me incefully. lie put ev
erything Into my experienced bands, fo
he isaid; poor man: He little, know
what Hwailed him.
The chun h i holr was a more difficult
problem, rhere wet- about twenty In
t'ne mixed chorus hulilbly mixed who
merely pieced out any inaieiu.icei( in
tin; coiiKif'KUtional riiiKlriK. .Now and
,Jlien they would lender a very ciuiple
unthem yv I! h heioimn, u h' t oiHm not
confined to the lneiH, but cXteiidinK
to the licteiiein n well. I decided they
were llOpeleHH, but tiled to noil out a
nuartet from thin miHCflluny. I was
to dm? alto, pretty little Mary Knight
wan lo lake the doprano, and we pe
lei ted a Iiiiku nnd ti nor ut doubtful
quality,
They were hard to tnannpe; at leant
the Hoprano vihh. 11 dawned upon me
by decree that (the wn jealoim of the
mlnlHier, who came to uur two rehear
i"aln, and whom It wsn often nececsary
for me to commit. To be nure, he nmv
im both home, but I considered that
thin wan really Fpaeiitiul, tin the buas
and tenor went homo togelher. Tha
nuither of, our of them told Aunt Ke
rena afterward that they were afraid
to auk Mary KnlRht for thn pleiimire of
her company, on account of the mlnln
ler'i (Hipponeil Bttentlonw, and they
were afraid to ask me became I came
from the cily As they were as weak
muHlcally as they were tMiclally, you
can imatrlne that the quartet was pret
ty bad, though at each rehearsal I
hoped for better thiniis.
Keeurlns planix for the decorations
proved another formidable task. Aunt
Serena drove about with me in her
little pony cart while we anked people
for the loan of their Mower, and when
we went about to collect them. I had
supposed the ladies would be flattered
to be Invited to contribute, but they
seemed to look upon me uh a city Up
slai't whose ignorance was only equaled
by her temerity. Henrietta Chafe was
afraid her lily would set broken; Mrs.
Wilson wan afraid hers would Ret
chilled, and wouldn't lend it anywJy
tinles-n Heniielta I'han; cave us hems;
and Mm. Ieaeon Hpk-er thought it
would make tpe minister nervous to
see a. lot of leaves wavitiK in fionl of
him.
Hut at last they were all collected.
We had taken everything we could net,
even common Beraiiium.s. and had de
elded to piece out further deficiencies
by evergreen. Sly chew d'oeuvre was o
cross covered with paper callas, which
hum? between two ropes of cverjrreoii
over the altar. This, as the little so
piano unkindly HUKKestod, choued thai
the decora! hms were Intended for Ka.s
ter rather than ChrlstmaR.
The Saturday nlKht rehearsal went
aiiorninably, but the minister and Aunt
Serena praised rny work highly, and
the quartet promised to come early
Knitter mornint! In order to practice u
Utile more. I went home that evening
tired enough to sleep and forget mem
ories of last Kaster in the weariness
of the present.
uh, it was a glorious day. Hut, Home,
how, I would rather have had It rainy
I felt pensive, though I tried hard to
remember my moral code of fortfottlnn
one's norrows In the interests of others.
J ut when 1 went to put on the new
nut t madame had jent from the city, )
could find no pleasure In It. I never
knew what made me, but I pulled out
my old (,'ray f;on, hat and all, Just as
I had worn it last Master, though I had
rer iocs. 1 did fasten the furled oni "
on the ftonl of my waist for a second,
ns I stood before the mirror.
Aunt Serena kissed me pood-bye
when I Ht.irted for church and hoped
I'd ha vn a Kind Kaster. It was kind ot
her, but It choked me up for a moment,
then I laughed and told her to be sure
and come, late tjo as to show off her
new bonnet.
Alas for the rehearsal! Those were
m ii mix to make angels weep. The little
(opirino wan maliciously weak and
faulty, the tenor had always been off
the key and was riot within balling
distance this morning, While, the bass
had a terrible cold, which had reduced
his voice to a hoarse growl,
"What rhall we do," I anked tho min
ister despairingly.
He was standing by the altar Just be
neath my pnper-calla cross. At lenst
the church looked pretty; I could be
proud of that.
"I think," said the minister In his
kindest tones, "we would better have
chorus work as a sort ot support for
the congregational slnRlng;we can have
the quartet some later Sunday, It has
been so kind of you to Interest your
self. Your decorations are eminently
successful."
He had hardly ipoken the words,
when, awful moment' the strips hold
ing tho cross above hiiu guve way.
Down through tin- air came (he cross
and directly upon the minister's head.
A!as! it was not nil pap"r; It had been
made on a wooden foundation. The
ede of the wood struek him on the
forehead, and he stnggerei) back against
the altar with his. band to his head.
We could see blood between his fjngcis.
The little soprano rushed forward.
"Oil. you are hurt: you are hurl!" she
cried.
The minister shook his head a rid
smiled at her. "Not badly, dear, not
at all!"
She blusled up to the tips of her
ears; I was just, behind and heard him
and saw her. "It's only a wrap-h," he
went on.
" liut It's bleeding," she cried, "come
into the vestry and let me stop it."
She took hold of bis arm and he
laughed as he looked down upon her.
"My dear, it's nothimr," he said again;
but he did look a trifle pale.
They went into the vestry and we ill!
tifiled after, the tenor, the bass and
I. I ran to get a glass of cold water
from the ladies' kilihen and dabbled
my Kaster handkerchief in it.
"Here, lust let, mo v ipe away the
blood with ttiis water," I said. The
minister's handkerchief was ail red
stains.
The little soprano took her own
handkerchief and dipped It Into the
glass. "1 will bathe It." she announced
with hauteur, and I rtood meekly by
squeezing the water out of my hand
kerchief and holding the glass for her.
"That cross ought not to have been
put. up there anyway," she muttered.
It did not prove a very deep cut.
Scon nil signs of blood were removed,
and then the hitherto useless tenor
produced some pink court -plaster, with
which the little soprano and he covered
the wound. The minister laughed while
they worked over him, but he did not
seem to mind it. I stood meekly by.
crushed and forgotten, holding the now
useless glass of water.
The biiHs came in from the church
carrying the fateful cross.
"Shall we put it up again?" he asked
cheerfully,
"For pity's sake, no!" I cried. "Throw
the thing' away."
"Pray don't blame yourself; it was
nof your fault." said the minister sooth
Intr'y, whereupon I aroused myself and
carried the glass or water to the kitch
en. When I came back through the
vestry 1 found the lonor and bass had
returned lo the church, and the little
soprano seemed to think I hud in
t ruded.
T had to say something. "We are
going to give up the quartet music,
aren't we?"
And the little soprano answered. "I
should hope so."
Then we all went Into the church.
The minister had combed his hair over
his, forehead, so that the court-plaster
did not show.
Tie church bells began to ring find
the people came struggling- in. Tint
Aunt Serena did not appear. T laughed
to mvself as I wondered If she were
going to take my advice and come late
with her new bonnet.
We were standing up, lending the
congregation in the singing of th first
hymn, when the swinging doors at the
back of the church moved and Aunt Se
rena entered. lUit behold! my third
Faster disappointment! Hear Aunt Se
rena had her beautiful new bonnet on
hind side before. It was pathetic; the
feathers slock .out over her eyes and
the violets were bunched on her fore
head. It must have been very uncom
fortable, but Aunt Serena probably
thought discomfort was a synonym for
style. Her cheeks were pink and her
eyes shone so that Hue bonnet was
not unbecoming at all. She carrier a
great bunch of violets, In her hand.
She did not start directly up lire
aisle, late as she was,-Vail appeared to
tie walling for somebody. Then the
swing doors parted again Rnd a man
came in, I clutched my book, the
church swam about me. Tor there, walk
ing; up the aisle beside Aunt Serena.,
was Harold. It seemed ns if I could
not stand there and see him seat him
self so quietly In that pew and then
raise and open the hymn-book for
Aunt Serena. I saw him do it, al
thoui'h I never looked at him; at least
no higher than his hands, but they
were trembling; I noticed that. Aunt
Seren.'i'H were too, no wonder! I found
ot nftorwardii how she sent that old
card to Harold In n letter. I never saw
the letter; she asked Harold to give it
back to her. lint I did not care; rny
foolish pride was gone. .
I shook all over us I stood there. 1
moved my lips, but could not make a
sound, nrfd I was thankful .hen the
singing was through and we could sit
down. Then the minister led In prayer.
I knew I prayed too, a prayer of thank
fulnesi over and over.
Then enrne the sermon. I did not
dare to look at Harold once. I was
afraid I should cry right out In church,
sitting there In the choir, facing the
people. At first It did not seern ns If
I could wait till the end of the sermon,
but when the minister b 'g in to speak,
I listened und was curried out of my
self. How he preached! H seemed ns If he
must have known! Kaster was not
merely a time fur clothes and flowers
and mush', ho said; It was a time for
life, a new and higher life, Upon the
death of our old and selfish loves should
arise a nn wand lofty love for (lod and
man. He went on and on, until I saw
how foolish I hud been In my old love.
I didn't wonder we had quarreled when
I had been so small and proud. Then,
somehow, though I have never been
very religious, I aeemed to realize the
Infinite luvo that Is back of all our love
for one another, the love of God.
At the end of the sermon, when we
atood up to Bins the lait anthem, I
could gCurcely see the last ' words for
glad tears. I chanced to glance up,
and for the first time met Harold's eyes.
And then well, lia-iold tuid afterward
that that hymn sounded like angels'
singing; I too thought no seraph's song
(ould lie sweeter, though the leading
alio was rat her wenk.
Al last it was over and people moved
and they whi'prcd about ihe lovely
sermon , n ml the beautiful decorations.
Aunt Sen na. and Harold wailed in the
pew and I was hurrying-down to them,
when-tile little soprano stopped me.
"Is ihat a friend of. yours wiih your
aunt?" she podded, and smiled and
biushed.
And instead of drawing myself up and
answering haughtily, I actually blushed
und simpered in turn. "Ves, it is," I
answei ed.
She followed me a step. "Oh," sha
whispered, "I hope you'll excuse my
biing so cross; I didji't mean to be."
"Oh, that's ail right." I cried, as I
went to meet Harold's outstretched
hand.
All right! Of couise it was all right;
nothing could be wrong on this glo
rious Kaster.
VICTORY DUE TO AN ELEHHANT.
Waited for His Dead Master's Ord
ers and Saved the Day.
The elephant is very Intelligent, but
stolid. If It had once been taught to
do a thing a certain way or obey a
certain master, it is almost impossible
to make the huge beast depart from its
leaching. As illustrating this trait a
siory Is told cf an elephant standard
hearer engaged in the Indian wars. At
the beginning of the battle in question
the elephant that bore the royal ensign
had lost its master, who had fallen
dead at the elephant's feet from a
wound. The battle closed In around"
the giant ensign bearer, but the ele
phant stood unmoved, waiting for its
master to g.ive ihe command Change
position, (iraiiually the native forces
fighting under the faiglish banner were
drivei back and a frantic effort was
made to make the elephant retreat
with the ensign, but the elephant stood
like a stutue of granite. The enemy
swept by after tile retreating foe, but
only for a minute. There was a cry,
"Save the ensign!" and the troops
turned and fought their way back to
the elephant. All day long the battle
surged about the patient beast that
waited in vain for its master's order.
Finally the enemy were driven back,
defeated, and tile native troops swept
on in pursuit of them. .Still the ele
phant stood by the body of its master
and would not move until its master's
son was brought form a village 100
miles away. The elephant had been
taught to obey the child's voice, and
at the lirst order peacefully left the
field, after three days and three nights
of waiting. When the story of that
battle is told the elephant Is given
credit, for the victory which the native
troops won oer the opposing forces.
A Puzzling Trick.
IJquid air is perhaps the coldest
tiling in the world. It is so cold that
a cake of ice is like a fierce lire as
compared with it, for a kettle of li
quid air placed on a cake of ice will
boil Just as water boils over a hot fire.
It freezes mercury so hard that one
can diive nails with it. The story is
told that Charles 15. Tripler, the ex
perimenter in liquid air, recently took
a quart (an of the remarkable sub
stance with him on a visit to a friend.
On the way he slopped in a restaurant
lo cat a beefsteak. The waiter brought
inci ting was given over into the hands
in a hot broiled steak and placed it in
front of Mr. Tripler. As soon as the
waiter's back was turned Mr. Tripler
hastily opened the can and exposed the
meat to the liquid air. Ins-tantly the
steak was frozen as hard as a rock.
When the waiter came back his cus
tomer complained that the steak was
frozen, So the waiter called the head
waiter, and the head waiter blamed
Ihe cook, and the cook was at a loss
to explain, and tin: result, was that the
frozen steak was taken back Into the
kitchen as a mysterious curiosity. A
new steak was broiled for Mr. Tripler,
and llils one he ate with much relish,
Couldn't Fool Him,
A butcher in Manchester, N. IT., tried
to fool ft dog which was in the habit of
coming to his stand dail yfor meat, and
bore the name of "Horace Greeley."
One day Horace went to ,the butcher
stand, on which, as usual, be placed
ills ten-cent stamp. Thu butcher put
Iho stamp In his drawer, and paid no
attention to the dog, thinking it was a
Rood Joke on the animal. Horace did
n't understand why his goods were not
;,'lvcii to him, but waited patiently,
keeping a sharp eye on the man all
the while and following his every
movement. After a few minutes spent
In this way he began to comprehend,
and decided lo piny a little Joke In re
turn. Ho he coolly walked up to the
bench, seized a quarter of lamb und
waltzed away, with Indignntion and
triumph depicted in every wag of his
tall.
The new wraps for summer show a
great, variety of capes In light cloth
covered w ith stitched , bands arranged
In some fancy desicn, and no end of
net chiffon, lace and silk combinations
for dress. Capes of cloth applique on
cream lace net made over while silk
and satin and finished with pleatlngs of
chiffon mulching the cloth are really
good style and very pretty. Taffeta
silk guipure over black forms another
style of cape and cream lace with
black net and chiffon is another va
riation. The capes fit the shoulders
closely, fall moderately full belov and
are finished with medium high flaring
collar,
TRICK OF A FAKER.
How a Corn Salve Seller Attraotatfk-
Attention of a Crowd.
From the Washington Tost: The
portly man with the'ljVlgijr; tjoat pock,
ets began to lose- bis f.c.ntei; of gravity
gradually at the cu'ruiT"of Fifteenth .
street and New York a'verfue"." One foot
slipped from beneath-' huru'on. the iey, .
pavi merit, and by the .ti-m.' hviad re
established connections wit,lj,yie brlcka
with that one the other shot put from
under him. Thou they both begaii to
execute a quick and devilish shuttle
dance. The man's srms fje,v outi and'
he seemi d U be nr. "king a wihi out fu-
tile effort to pull siees out of the nippy
atmosphere. Then he simply sat right ,
down, without any superfluous cere-f
inony or h d hub whatsoever. Of courae
all the i .. uithin a r. 'Ins of eighty
feet acj. . ; " their hand; v . their sfdet)
and ha-ha-ed joyously. T. eie is only
one thing on earth that tickles a man
more than to yee his fellow-man drop
ker-llop on , ,c icy pavement it tickle
cm ji fiie ii ne iiappens 10 nave a oui
tie of bug Juice in his rear pocket.
This poi i ;: man w ith the bulging
overcoat pockets looked around him io
a dazed way, as if he were endeavoring
lo study the thing out. Meanwhile a
dozen of the men who were waiting for
cars just lay back and hollered. Tha
portly man made no effort to rise, and
the longer he sat there looking mysti
fied, the funnier It seemed to the merry
gang around. Finally they began, to
cj,ose in on him.
"Made you see constellations, hey?"
asked one of them, laughing uproari
ously at his own humor.
"Just taking a little rest, I s'posej
Inquired another. i :y
"Gentlemen," said the portly party,
"you are all wrong. I simply took this
method of attracting your attention,
and wish to introduce to your notice
my patent corn-killer the best in the
universe, warra.nte,d to, eradicate any-'
thing from ingrowing toenails to whisky-blossoms
on the nose. And it, sellsu
gentlemen, at the unheard-of, scan
dalously low price of 25 cents. What
gentleman wishes a box, now? Come
quick, for I ha'e only a few left!" ...
Several of the gentleman InvesteoV
and considered they got the worth ot
their money in the joke, while thai
others slunk away crestfallen.
A DEPARTED SPIRITS
Returned To His Own Funeral and
Thanks His Friends.
Hammanton (N. J.) Special to New,
York Herald: Of peculiar interest were
the funeral services! of Gerry Valen
tine. Mr. Valentine waa one of the
early settlers of this place, and waa
more than 80 years old. He was an
ardent spiritualist, and when he die
he left directions for his funeral, which,
were Intended to be a practical dem
onstration of his belief.
The services w ere held in the TJnl
versalist church. The preacher waa
Sampel Wheeler, a noted spiritualist of
Philadelphia, and he chose "The Rain
how Bridge" asi his subject. hTen the
of Mrs. Minnie Brown, a clairvoyant
from Philadelphia.
Immediately after Mrs. Brown haA
taken her position several raps were
heard.
"Our brother has a message for Cy
rus F. Osgood," said the medium. "He
wishes to thank Mi-. Osgood and the
others for their care in carrying out
his wishes in regard to his funeral
ceremonies."
Mrs. Brown then gave the Informa
tion that "Mr. Valentine was not alonev
but that J. O. Ransome, Mr. aPrkhurst
and Mr. Wyatt. former friends of tha
ilead man, were with him on his "little
fourney in the world." Several other
shades of departed spiritualists haA
come with them. They reported that
they had made things homelike for Mr.
Valentine, . and gave messages to the
friends of the latter whleh were 1 in
tended to cheer and comfort them.
The announcements were hailed by
Ihe many spiritualists in the audience
with pleasure, and after a few more
longratulatory raps Mr. Valentine's
iplrit and its companions rapped
''Adieu."
SUBMARINE BOATS.
They Can Easily Be Seen From a
Balloon Directly Above.
Should the submarine hoat take the
place in naval warfare that some na
tions expect, one of the chief precau
tions taken by the world's navies will
be an Immense Increase in the num
ber of balloons, with duly trained staffa
to work them, carried by war vessels.
The balloons carried by thes-e battle
ships are of exactly the samp material
and pattern as those in use in the
army, only smaller. They have a use
far In advance of nny mere long-dis
tance observational purpose, for, tho
(he wake of a ruhmnrlne boat sunk
deeply In the water can only be traced
with difficulty from such an elevation
as that afforded by the ship, both such
wake and the boat itself can be seen
with absolute and undevlatlng clear
net's from a captive balloon. Thin is
the result of a Rclenliflc nnd optical law
and when ship balloons were first put
to Ihe practical test In regard to thla
matter, the results attained were of
the most surprising kind.
Kvcn where the water Is dlstlnctry
cloudy, object of a much smaller kind
than a submarine boat, and painted ol
neutral color, could be seen from
balloon to the utmost clearness ut a
depth of five fathoms, or thirty fmt.
though the surface waa rough. Na
submarine boat could In the daytime
get within striking distance of a ahlp
that had a balloon without being ek
served.