PI
MA'SJMYERY.
Y ESTHRtt 8EMH KKNNRTH,
f "For whom did you want the house
70UBlAdyT"
"For myself, sir."
Dr. Lee Leighton stood am axed.
21m girl before him .W4W bo yoting
not Moro than eighteen, And 00 pretty
golden-haired and bine-eyed as an
anfel. He had never dreamed that
he was making the application to
rait Thistle Co tinge herself. But
Mis Caroline Clarke took no notice
of hU surprise.
"The house is in good order, sir."
"It requires a few ropnirs, only,"
catd the young physician, rather stiff.
'y.
He had begun tothinghewas throw,
lag fata time away.
"And thope you will make?"
"II I let the cottage-yes."
The young lady mused' a moment.
"I think I will like it," she said
then.
"I beg your pardon, Miss Clarke ?"
"Yea."
ufo you quite understand the sit
Action?"
"I think I do. The house' thought
to be haunted, and tho rent is merely
seminal to anyone who will live
there."
"Ym. But How are you situated
to regard to family, my dear young
lady?"
"I have the care of two younger
brothers twelve and fourteen years
old, I have only a limited income,
which I eke out by embroidery. I am
anxtaus to get my brothers out of the
city and there is a good academy
here. 1 am not afraid of ahosts,"
with a faint smile. "We shall come."
Her wordB and manner wore not at
variance with her delicate beauty
all was so petite and yob so Botf-pos
eeesed and dignified. Dr. Lelghton's
experience in girls did not seom to
serve him at all in this emergency. He
recollected that his sinters, Maud and
Besft, always regarded tho outer walls
of Thistle Cottage with an apprehen
slve gaze, and could not be persuaded
to pais it alone after dark, and hero
was this girl, no older than they, pro
posing to livo there, with two children!
"You have no parents?"
"No."
"Relatives?" .
"None to rely upon. I depend on
Tnyst'K entirely, Dr. Leighton; I am
used to it. Would you like to let me
."have Thistle Cottage?" with a steady
jglauce into tho young msn's counte
nance. ' "I hesitate only on your account,"
be hastened to say. "It is no fable
that a man was killed there. He was
murdered bya son of unsound mind,
after a quarrel about money. The
estate was owned by my father. It is
sow mine. It long ago fell into ill
repute on account of tho murder, but
it is a very pretty place and has been
kept in repair. I will walk over it
with you again arid make any changes
you may find desirable," thus tacitly
consenting to tho young lady's pro
posal. What her words failed to do, hor
clear blue eyes had succeeded in ac
complishing. They had won tho con
fidence of tho owner of the cottage.
"She can but try ainco she wishes,"
he said to himself. "lam close by
At our house. If sho gets frightened
out she can come to us."
When they had gone over the houso
again, the girl asked, quito coolly:
"What became of the murderer?"
"He fled from justice is probably
dead. Ho has never been heard from,
and his ghost is said to haunt this
spot. It you can prove that it does
not. I will give you five years rent
here free."
The young girl made no reply, only
smiled brightly.
"What a brave little creaturel"
thought Dr. Leighton.
A week later Caroline Clarke and
her brothers were Bottled at the This
tle Cottage.
Dr. Leighton did not fancy the
boys. Ho told his mother that they
were "whelps that wanted licking in
to shape." But when he saw the gen
tleness and tact used by their sister
In managing them, when ho saw her
patience, her charminj smile in en
couragement of their simplest weir
doing, he was ashamed of his intoler
ance. "My father," she hesitated, "did
not sethis boys a very good example.
They wero much away from home be
fore he died. They will do much bet
ter here away from harmful associa
tions," Bhe said.
"That's a good girl a rare good
girl, Lee," said old Mrs. Leighton. "I
only wish Maud and Bess had half as
much character."
But Cara, as tho boys called her,
did not trouble her neighbors. She
was an exquisite housekeeper; sho had
piano an old one but of mellow
tone; she did much work with crewels
and flosses. In the evening she as
sisted her brothers with their studies.
They were fond of her under their
roughness and selfishness. Thev
hoveled snow, when it came, took
care of the poultry she encouraged
n In their ambition for prize chick
ensand kept in wood and
water. There was not a
brighter little home in the
village. Cara had finished the rooms
herself with pretty artistic, touches.
On the pale buff paper of the Bitting
room sue hau painted, here and there,
a bunch of red Bergundy roses. She
had gilded tho cornices " and hung.be
fore a doorway a crimson curtain.
Ab for guests when people queried
lier, sho simply answered; "No, I
have not seen any."
But perhaps the air of the mount
ain village did not agree with Cara
Clarke, for she grew pale. She was
Always sweet, but sometimes she had
A Httle wearied air. Dr. Leighton
Aske4 her if she did not work too
bard. "Jt is not that," she answered.
He wondered sometimes, with a secret
disquiet, if sho had not somowhere a
sweetheart who did not write to her,
But Cam kept her own counsel.
The fall and winter woro away with
out any revelation to him t of what
troubled hor. Jack and Willie, tho
boys, woro jubilant over tho pros
pect of a vegetable garden with pose,
potatoes and squashes of their own
raising. But their sister looked so ill
that the younz physician felt called
upon to expostulate.
"Cam," ho said, "I want to speak
to you. You must have a change or
yov wilj die."
, no. I shall not she replied, in
crtiiMouoly. "Tour countenance Gives token of
unmistakable exhaustion. You are
doing too much labor or you have
some trouble Cara, why do you not
confide in me? Do you not believe I
am your friend?"
"Oh, yes. It is nothing, only I do
not sleep very well."
"Why?"
She made no reply, and seeing that
his inslstance distressed her, he ceas
ed to urge her confidence at that time,
though more certain than ever that
Bhe had a painful secrot. He was sat
isfied that she had no organic disease;
and. her mjnd seamed to have no, mor
bid tendency. But the colorless cheek,
the hollow temples, theair of languor,
betrayed that something dally and
hourly sapped the young girl's
strentith.
One morning, Willie, the younger
boy, rapped at his office door.
"Something's the matter with my
sister," he said. "We can't wake her
up. Won't you come over?"
Dr. Leighton found Cara in a Btupor
and delirious, with every symptom of
brain fovor. Ho lost no time in get
ting4 assistance. Mrs. Hodgdon, the
village nurse, was at Cara's bedside
when she awoke.
Dr. Leighton had just left tho room
and was in the uoxt apartment. He
did not go in immediately, though he
heard tho girl talking.
"Am I ho very sick?" she asked.
"No, dear. You was fevorish and
your mind wandered a little, and I
was out of a placo and told Dr. Leigh
ton 1 could stay with you a day or
two as well as not for my board. I
hain't forgotten tho jackots as Willie
outgrow that you sonb to my Bobbie;
and I had feeling for a young girl with
no mother's hand in the hour o'
need."
"Oh," moaned thoyoung girl. "I'm
not sick, I'm worn outl Oh, this
dreadful house! I have not slept
soundly all winter."
"Why, deario?"
"Oh, Mrs. Hodgdon, thero is some
body in this houso beside ourselves.
Beside mo and the boys, I mean.
Somebody creeps about and I am al
ways listening tor that step. It is
killing me! Oh, don't tell anyone! I
did not mean to cell you, but I am so
weak. Don't, don't say a word to
Dr. Leighton. I must bear it, because
its all the home we have, and the boys
Cever had such a pretty, nice home
efore, and thoy aro doing so well,
and are so good. I was not afraid at
first. I am not afraid now, only for
them. Thero may bo some evil about,
though nothing has over harmed us.
But as soon as I fall asleep I start up
and listen."
Cara was begging the old woman not
to betray her confidence, when Dr.
Leighton came into tho room.
"You must tell me tho whole story,
Cara!" he said. "You shall not lose
anything by it," ho added.
But Cara broko out, crying, in her
weakness giving way to hor emotions,
and for a time the tumult would have
Its way. Sho was brought to listen to
reason at last.
"It was two months after wo camo
here," sho said, "that I first heard
those creeping, creeping steps. I tried
to think it was the trees, or tho wind,
orthacat, but I heard thorn when
thero was no wind at all, and tho cat
was asleep on the foot of my bed, and
cno mines were movou irom cneir
P
n
laces about tho house, and lately I
iavo missed food. That's since I
would not allow myself to believe that
a spirit haunted the place. I have
searched every spot and nook in this
house. Thero is only the space above
the scuttle in tho roof, and there are
no stairs."
"Oh, Dr. Leighton!" groaned Mrs.
Hodgdon, "then, of course, it's
spirits."
"Nonsense."
Dr. Leighton contented himself with
prescribing for tho sick and over
wearied girl, and after a tew days of
care arranged a drive for her in his
now buggy, with her brother Jack as
attendant.
"You aro to take a nice long drive,
and not be back under two hours,"
ho said, Bmiling.
Tho kindness and care Biirrouuding
Cara waB new and very pleasant to
her. As the wheels rolled away from
the door in the brightness of the
spring day, her trouble fell away
from her like a nightmare, and the
color camo back to the prettv cheek.
Five minutes after her departure
from Thistle Cottage two men were
in the house with Dr. Leighton. They
went rapidly through it, beginning with
the cellar. Every wall was tried, with
tho idea of discovering any unknown
space or passage. Nothing unknown
was developed. At length a short
ladder was Drought, and the men as
cended to the ntttc
It was only a hollow space beneath
the center of the roof, quite unlighted.
But enough light penetrated the place
to show an unkempt figure rising from
its liar of straw and rags in one cor
ner.
"What's this? Are you alter me?"
he said, in hollow tones.
The men Bilently gazed on this object
with astonishment, repulsion and
pity. It was a man, but so thick the
mask of dirt and crim, so ragged the
beard and hair, grotesque the costume
of tatters from which fell feathers and
straw, it seemed some unknown crea
ture instead of a human being.
"Great heavens! it is Simon Leland!"
cried Dr. Leighton.
This only added to the consterna
tion of the other men, for Simon
Leland was the half crazed boy who
murdered his father at Thistle Cottace
five years before. But want and
misery had given him the appearance
of an old man.
"I don't care what you do with
mo!" cried tho hollow voice. "Only
give me something to eat."
"Come with us and you shall have
all you want," said Dr. Leighton; not
unkindly.
"Where? Down thero, where the
fire and tho light and tho girl is?" ask
ed the wretched being, and when they
nodded, ho caught up a rouih ladder
of rope, quickly adjusted it and swung
himself down before them. But he
was so weak he staggered, and they
were obliged to help him down the
stairs to the kitchen, where Mrs. Hodg
don, shaking with excitement and
consternation, placed food upon the
table from which ho snatchod It, with
out any pretence of eating from a
plate.devounng it hko a half-famished
animal. When ho had filled himself,
ho would have laid down on the
floor and gone to sleep, but that the
unaccustomed ulentv sickened him. I
And he began to groan and roll about.
In a short time, tile sheriff, who had
been sent for, arrived, and he was
taken away. No one believed that
the poor, underwitted, half-dying
creature was a fit subject for punish
ment, but the county ail was a clean
and comfortable refuge for him in his
destitution. Here he .remained .until
consigned to tue almshouse. No re-
liable account at his career could be , appliances for the founding of this ex
obtained from him, but it is probable tensive and humane object, which I
t.hcLf. Ha hoj? amifrlit-. rafiirrn of. FPlifai-lA ' will nsf nrtov rlttrntl unftr.
Cottage in its desertion, and existed
miserably there a great while before
discovered. He had prowled about
at night searching for food, of which
he founds Boantysupply.steallngfrora
corn bins, pigs and poultry, and rob
bing hen roosts, eating the flesh of the
-. wiuwt.w .UIUJV CV .HtOVID
iowis raw. xt was the occasional dis
covery of his miserable figure which ,
had called into existence the story of
the place being haunted by his ghost.
But so reduced had he become he
would probably have died in his lair
but for Dr. Leighton's discovery of
him.
Dr. Leighton kindly saved Cara from
witnessing so much misery. She nev
er saw Simon Leland. Her norves
had already borne much, and that
sho had been willing still to sutler in
secret lor tno sake 01 preserving a
good homo for her young brothers was
nice wnicn Decamo Known ana en
deared her to many hearts. Her
friends multiplied, and, when sho ac
cepted as a life companion, Dr. Leigh
ton, the oldest friond of all, hearty
kindness surrounded her and warm
wishers for her happiness danced
morrily at the wedding.
'PAYING ATTENTIONS."
The
Evils of Premature Gossip
About Love Affairs.
Harper's Bazar.
As it is obviously a young man'sdu
ty to pay attentions to some young
woman, considering that this is really
the chtol motive of social intercourse.
it is rather hard upon him that ho no
Booner begins to fulfill his mission, and i
calls, and drives, and dances more or
1 t ,i ,.. , . .. 11
less boldly with one damsel, than all
tho match-making women to whom a '
love affair, anvbodv's love affair, is '
niwinnd rtr,;i onfHininn infL.n '
b 6
ideas upon the subject and report
that young Crayon is in love with'
Miss Coupon; and although he may
novor havo thought of love in rolation
to Miss Coupon, and although ho may
possibly have united into a genuine
affection sooneror later if nobody had
meddled since proximity is a danger
oils factor, und brings about more
marriages than match-making the
firemature report has a very damag
ng effect; ho begins to seo that unless
ho is serious in paying attentions he is
compromising not only iiini3olf, but
the young woman, and keeping other
suitors at a distance; and although
he may not know whether ho has any
pouitivo designs or no, and his emo
tions may bo in a state of evolution,
and he may not entirely understand
nis own designs, yet lie is put upon
his guard, the cordial relation between
the two cools, and ho earns the name
of being a heartless trifler, or is forced
into a hasty declaration before he is,
ready to make it. Naturally the look-er-on
says that he ought to know his
own mind; that ho has no business to
devote himself to a woman whom he
does not love. But love is not an in
stantaneous affair, like being struck
by lightning; it is a growth. And how
prithee, is a young man to know
whether he loves or not if he may not
live moro or less in the companion
ship of that "not impossible she?"
if ho may not have opportunity to
observe and study her? To be suro
Miss Coupon may object to being
made a Btudy of.to being placed under
the microscope, and then by-and-by
turned aside as an inperfect specimen.
But she has the same privilege herself,
and would be sadly shocked if
any one supposed that she would
accept a lover without some knowl
edge of his qualifications. One might
ask if she, on her side, hud serious
and matured designs when she answer
ed his notes, accepted his invitations,
his bouquets and confectionery, if she
were not also attempting to discover
if he were her ideal. We do not dis
pute the fact that thero are men who
flirt maliciously, so to speak who do
not mean to fall in love who have
themselves well In hand; but they
need not be confounded with those
who aro simply trying to discover
their heroine.
Messrs. L. W. Habercora, Louis Bcfaade,
Blraon Wolf and Rev. L. H. Shleder, of
Washington, addressed the House com
mittee on the alcoholic liquor tratllc In op
position to the bills to provide for a com
mission ot Inquiry on tbeliquortrfttiic and
for prohibition In the Districtot Columbia.
A general court martial nt Fort Missou
la, Mont., sentenced Private Thomas Mo
Evily, Company D, Third Infantry, charg
ed with desertion, to be dishonorably dis
charged from the aervico of the United
States, forfeit all pay and allowances due
and be confined at hard labor for three
years,
SUNSET COX ON FISH.
An Acre of Water Equal to an Aora
of Land-One of the Marvels of
the Tlme-The Puritan Platform.
From tho speech of Mr. 8. 8. Cox, of New
York, on the bill to establish the office
of Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries,
and pay him a salary of $5,000,3
Tliis business of propagating our
food fishes is woll appreciated by the
people all over our country. Since
Professor Baird began this work there
has been sent out by tank, cans, and
otherwise throughout the land, from
Texas to Maino and from the Colum
bia River to tho St. John's, 100,000,
OOO of young fish or spawn for tho
promulgation of this food.
The report of Professor Goode
(House Miscellaneous Document No,
89) to tho present Congress shows the
cost during tho last fiscal year of the
production, transportation, and dis
tribution of these 100,000,000 from
their sixteen hatching and rearing
stations. The propagation expenses
were $180,000; the cost of fishponds
and distribution was $15,000, and
the same sum for vessels engaged in
the service. There are existine other
... WWW .TV MI1VM UUWHI
Tho time has almost come, uronhe-
Bled by Professor Huxley, when an
acre of water will produco almost as
much food for the support of human
life as an acre of land.
The science of fish propagation is
onn of the marvels of our times. It is
one of the miracles of physical cul-
ture. We have understood, appreciat
ed, and encouraged by law this won
derlul multiplication of food fishes.
If I am permitted to refer modestly
to my travels, I will say that when I
was coasting around Norway a scien
tist informed me pointing out over
the Arctic ocean, which wo were in
spectingthat thero had been the year
before a shoal of codfish near the
Loffoden islands a mile in superficial
extent, containing 150,000,000 cod,
and that these codfish had fed on
420,000,000 herring. Thero is no limit
to the wonderful Infinitude of these fin
ny creatures of the deep.
Professor Baird Baw with generous
vision this result of natural law. Al
though I believe tho invention or dis
covery of this remark ible fecundity
and modo of proportion in fish
was made at an earlier dato than
1871, still ho utilized it. To be iust
in this connection, I may remark that
before professor Baird undertook this
service Dr. Gariick, an Ohio man, dis
covered the process. His is not a
happy name, but his discovery was
felicity itself to millions. Is it not a
curious fact that Ohio alwayB seems
to bo a little ahead of otber States in
certain affairs political or otherwise?
Laughter. Excuse my seeming for
wardness in speaking of Ohio pro
ducts, for I was born there myself.
Laughter.
Nevertheless, Mr. Speaker, there
nvr was. an ,i"teJ?8ab in ,thta country
" cared for by the government as
this of fish. Our first efforts, at lease
in New England, began with fish.
When our ancestors I refer to New
England, where I was educated
whAn m
when our ancestors went to King
James for a charter to go across tho
seas and colonize Massachusetts, tho
King asked the Puritans:
"What is your object? What do
you intend?"
Their answer was: "To worship God
and catch fish!" Laughter.
Then the King rejoined: "I give you
the charter. Fore Gad! it is the apos
tle's own calling!" Renewed laugh
ter. Why, sir, even in the early churches
of New England the early and pious
Puritans used to sing:
Ye monsters of the bubbling deep,
Yo'tr Maker's name upraise;
Up Irom the sands ye codlings peep,
And wag your tails always.
Laughter and applause.
So that in early New England the
cure and care of iish was concomitant
with commerce, liberty, and sanctity.
In later times New England has ob
tained Congressional enactments giv
ing free salt for her fish, while the mis
erable man in Chicago can not get free
salt for his pork. Laughter. Con
gress has always had a kindly word
tor tho fishermen. For many decades
it gave bounties at so much per cod.
These fishermen have not become
less tenacious of their rights since the
bounty ceased. They are a power in
numbers and influence. They number
a million or more of men constantly
engaged in their hardy and hazardous
occupation. Their calling is associat
ed at the present time with some curi
ous wriggling in diplomacy. Laugh
ter. But wherever they are and
wherever they should adventure, they
should bo cared for by th fostering
arm of the government. The main
object of this bill is not to assist tho
fishermen so much as the consumers
of fmh. It would send out the seed
broadcast, that food harvests may
' grow in all tho waters of this land. I
t trust there will be nothing done hero
to impair the usefulness of this bureau.
I trust.as this bill takes no money out
of tho treasury, that no further
objection will be made to its
Eossage; that the president may
e able to select a good prac
tical man of science and energy,
whether he be Democrat or not, to oc
cupy and honor the position. I am
not sure but that there may be found
some good scientific Democrat in the
country to administer this office.
1 Laughter. All the sciences cannot
I be monopolized by the Republican
party. There may be a Democrat
discovered with the qualities of a
good scientific fisherman. The Presi
dent himself is somewhat of an expert
in that line. Laughter. Atalleve'nts,
let us by this enactment enablo him
to select the right man for the posi
tion. So far as I am individually
concerned I am not over eager
whether he selects a Democrat or a
Republican to carry out the humane
and beneficent provisions proposed
by this bill reported by my honored
friend from Arkansas Mr. Dunn), to
whom I tender my thanks for the
frivilege of these desultory remarks.
Applause.
TERRIBLE VENGEANCE.
A Jealous Husband Has the Hand '
of His Wife Cut Off and Sent to '
ner Lover.
From a London Exchange.
At tho restoration of Louis Phil
lippe to the French throne many
of Napoleon's soldiers were left in
comparative poverty. One of them.a
famous genoral.hod a beautiful dough
ter whom he wished to marry rich,
but who roll in love wit h a poor young
man an under secretary or some
thing of that kind. She married, at
her father's request, a rich count, but
refused at tho wedding ceremony to
allow the ring to be placed upon hor
eft hand,upon which she woro a ruby
put there by her lover. Her jealous
husband was not long in finding out
what was the matter.and intercepting
a letter in which the ardent young
lover claimed Matilda's hand as his,
he determined upon an awful revenge.
One night as the celebrated surgeon,
Lisfranc, was returning from a
professional visit, he was captured by
a party of men, blindfolded and tak
en to a distant palace, and led
through a labyrinth of passages and
rooms. At last he found himsolt in a
small chamber furnished with remark
able luxury, and half-lit by an alabas
ter lamp hu ng from the ceiling.
Tho windows were hermetically sealed
as woll as the curtains of an alcove at
the end of the room.
"Doctor," said the man with whom
he now found himself alono, in an ab
rupt, loud voice, "prepare for your
work an amputation."
"Where is the patient?" asked the
doctor, turning toward the alcove.
The curtains moved slightly, and he
heard a stifled sigh.
"Prepare, sir," said tho man, con
vulsively. "But, sir, I must see the patient."
"You will see only the hand you aro
to cut off."
Tho doctor, folding his arms and
looking firmly at tho other said:
"Sir, you brought me hero by force.
If you nped my professional assistance
I shall do my duty without caring lor
or troubling myself about your sec
rets,, but if you wish to commit a
crime you cannot force mo to be your
accomplice."
"Bo content, sir," replied tho other;
"thore is no crime in this," and lead
ing him to tho alcovt he drew from tho
curtain a hand. "It is this you are
to cut off."
The doctor took the hand in his;
his fingers trembled at the touch. It
was a lady's hand small, beautifully
modeled, and its pure white set oil by
a magnificent ruby encirclod with
diamonds.
"But," cried the doctor, "thero is
no need of amputation; there is"
"And I, sir! I say," thundered the
other, "if you refuse I will do it my
self," and, seizing a hatchet, he drew
the hand toward a small tablo and
seemed about to strike. The doctor
arrested his arm. "Do your duty,
then doctor."
"O, but this is an atrocious act,"
Baid the surgeon.
"What is that to you? It must be
done. I wish it; madam wishes it al
so. If necessary sho will demand it
herself. Come, madam; request the
doctor to do you thiB service."
The doctor, nonplussed and almost
tainting under the torture of his feel
ings, hoard from the alcove in a half
expiring voice and an inexpressible
accent of despair and resiguation:
"Sir, since you are a Burgeon yes
I entereat you let it be you, and
not oh, yes, you! you! in mercy!"
"Well, doctor," said the man, "you
or I?"
The resolution ot this man was so
frightful, and tho prayer of the poor
lady so full of entreaty and despair,
that the doctor felt that even hu
manity commanded othim compliance
with the appeal of the victim. Ho
took his instruments with a last im
ploring look at the unknown, who
only pointed to the hand, and with a
sinking heart bean the operation.
For the first time in his experience
his hand trembled, but the knife wns
doing its work; thero was a cry from
the alcove, and then all was silent.
Nothing was heard but the horrid
sound of the operation till the hand
and the saw fell together on the floor.
Lisfranc woro tho ruby on his
watch chain, where it was seen by the
young lover on his return to Paiis,
and out of it grow a duel that led to
a disclosure of the infamous crime.
The morning after tho lover's arrival
at the capital he was presented by a
man in livery with un ebony box.
Opening it he discovered a bleeding
hand Matilda' 3 and on it a paper
with these words: "Seo how the
countess of keeps her oath."
Drainage and Fruit Troea.
The best way is to under-drain with
tile laid from two or three feet deep.
Deep surface drains may carry of!
surface water, but low-land is gener
ally kept wot by ground water rising
from below. It tile are unattainable
stones can be used, laid so as to leave
a throat, the ditch partly filled with
small atones, inverted sods over the
stones, and then with toil. Where
neither are accessible, three poles laid
so as to leave a throat will sometimes
answer tor a few years. Fruit trees
should be planted 03 soon as the
ground will do to work in soring. Dig
holes large enough to receive all the
iootR straightened out; cut off tho
ends ot all broken roots smooth; trim
the tops to correspond with lost roots;
set the tree about the same depth it
stood in the nursery; cover the roots
with fine, rich soil tree from stones or
clods; when roots are well covered
tread down the soil frmly, fill the holy
and again tread or stamp down.
Daily ought we to renew our pur
poses, and to stir ourselves up to
greater fervor, and to say: "Help me,
my God, in this my good purpose and
in Thy holy service, and grant that
I may now this day begin perfectly.
Thomas a Kempis.
I JOHN RUSKIK'S ROMANCE
How He Courted, Married, and Was
Dlvoroed From His Ideallstto
Woman.
Kew York Graphic.
John Ruskin did a strangely way
ward thing when he consehted to get
married. Ho did a most erratic and
to the public a most inexplicable thing
when ho arranged for his divorce.
He had accepted some of the loftiest
traditions about womanhood that
men sometimes read of and talk
about, and he looked for his ideal
companion, One night he met her iu.
the drawing-room Of a London friend,
who, without his knowing it, had
brought the young lady to meet the
eyes of tho great writer.
It was a June night. He wab thirty
five, and she looked like a Greek
goddess.
He was dazzled. She was a tall,
graceful girl Of nineteen, with a face
And figure as faultless as one of the
statues of old. No one ever expected
Ruskin to fall in love, and he did not.
She was poor, needed a- home and its
comforts, and so they were married.
Their wedded life was peaceful,
friendly, kindly to the highest degree,
but there was not a spark of affection
to lighten their existence. She ad
mired the great man she had married,
and was grateful for the wealth and
comfort he showered on her. He
worshiped her as he would the marble
made life-like by the sculptors's chis
el. There was nothing human about
the life they led as husband and wife;
and she was u woman, who, in her
heart, like all true women, laughed at
tho traditions that made her sex love
distant worship.
One day Ruskin brought an artist
to paint his wife's picture. And the
man was Millais. and he was a bright,
cheery, handsome fellow, human,
evety inch of him, with it great and
absorbing love for the beautiful, and
a willingness to tell of his love.
Ho began to paint tho portrait of
the magnificent woman, and when he
had finished he was in love with his
friend's wife.
Womanlike she saw It, and perhaps
she was not lull of sorrow and re
proach. It was tliR first tribute of
real manful love that had been laid at
her feet.
And Ruskin? His wide eyes saw the
romance that was weaving around
iheir two lives, and his heart realized,
how little affection he had to lavish,
on the woman whom ho had made his
wife. How he told her the story of his
pride in her, and the sacrifice he was
to make for her, while she lay prons
at his feet, is one of .the things which
onlyshe or he could tell.
It is difficult to obtain a divorce in
England, but John Ruskin secured it
tor her, and one bracing morning in
tho early winter, a month after the
divorco was granted, Ruskin stood
beside the couple in one of Lopdon's
quiet churches, and saw them made
man and wife.
That was a good many years, ago,
and since then Millais has become
rich and famous, an.d is now Sir John,
and his wife is my Lady Millais.
The warmest, sturdiest friend the
struggling painter had in his toiling;
days was the man whose wife be had
married, and through all the years of
Milfais' later success and great honor
John Ruskin has been the wolcome
guest and almost daily visitor to the
man and woman whose lives he so
unselfishly crowned with happiness.
, - .
HowUltra-Fashionabe Young
Men of Boston Spend Their
Leisure Hours.
Boston Porrosjiondciice.
ThisTs the greatest club town in the
world. '.Every phase of the intellect
ual activity for which Boston is so
famous is represented by a socfal or
ganization. There is going on here
what might be called a perpetual fer-nientationofi(3enB,8ciontific,philosoph-ical,
literary, religious every kind,
in short, that interests highly civilized
I n inanity all of which are seeking,
expiession and recognition, very nnich
as the molecules of a gas strive inces
santly to escape from the receiver con
fining them. Now, the most effective
way to push an idea, as every one
admits, is over a dinner table. The
man who would otherwise regard
your pet hobby as no end of s
bore will listen to you patiently as
an accompaniment to the nuts and
raisins, and, with extra-dry cham
pagne and a pousse-cafe to top off,
your most uninteresting remarks will
appear to him positively oracular.
Thus it happens that fordining clubs
there is a perfect craze in this enlight
ened metropolis. Everybody who is
anybody belongs to at least half A
dozen, each of which represents some
thing calculated to excite convival en
thusiasm, say, once a month. The
object to v?bich this enthusiasm is di
rected is of coparatively little impor
tance, so long as the grub is palatable
and the wine of good flavor. It may be
theological, political, musical, artistia
whatever you please. Every religi
ous denomination in Boston has its
representative club, with the solitary
exception of the Episcopalians, who
arejust now organizing one. Theirs
will be the swellest of all for the
fashionable portion of the town,,
though honeycombed with more or
less agnostic Unitarianism, is profess
edly devoted to the church of En
gland. At periodical intervals each
pious sodality is assembled for the
Eurpose of discussing over the festive
oard Buch important questions of
sectarian interest as may chance to
bo uppermost. Likewise the literary
coteries meet for mutual admiration,
the scientific people for learned dis
cussion, the politicians for the incuba
tion of Machiavellian schemes, and so
on ad infinitum. There is not, in short,
an imaginable subject of contempo
raneous human interest which is not
represented in Boston by a club,
