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THE NATIONAL BANK OF AUGUSTA L. C. HAYNS, Pres't V. G. FORD, Castler. Capital, 8250,000. Undivided Profil? } ?110,000. Facilities of our magnificent Kew Vault ?containing 410 Safety-Lock Boxes. Differ ent 81708 are offered 'to our patron? and the public at 93.00 to $10.00 per annum. THE PLANTERS LOAN AND SAVINGS BANK, AUGUSTA, GA. Pajo Interest on Deposits. Accounts Solicited. L. C. Hayne, President. Chas, C. Howard, Cashier. VOL. LXVII; EDGEFIELD, S. C.. WEDNSDAY. MAY 28. 1902 NO. 22. I _- -. , . -r- ,,.wr- LJCI Dm MR. ? The Bells of i i i AN IDYLL OF By DAV "Ye.may go down to the shore ii ye like, Annie Doon; but dne thing y? will not see, an* that's the Bonnie Ann weather the Beacon. . For she'll never come into Portknockie again. Oh, my son, my bonnie man, that I hae dandled on my knee!" She was an old woman, upon whose face many sorrows had set their seal. Have you ever looked at the faces of seafaring folk who live close to the great deep, and whose lives depend on its mercy from the cradle to the grave? If you have, you do not need me to tell you of the pathos, the patient, hungry, waiting look, which speaks of hearts not stayed intrust, but rather prepared for the worst, even the greatest tragedy of all. It was an October night on the shores of the North Sea. The sun had gone down in red wrath, leaving a long yellow glare on the horizon.which the inky blackness of the storm speedily swept into the sea. It was hard to say which month of the year gave the stormies; record; but perhaps if you .had asked the weather-wise, they would have said that the gale to be dreaded above all others on that trea cherous coast was the gale of the Equi nox in the late autumn. It was:a wild, magnificent, awful coast, with many beautiful but few kindly spots. The cliffs ijose sheer from the stony beaches, and were torn by great gullies and wonderful caves, which people came from distant parts to see when the weather was fine and there was nothing to frighten or frown at them. Here and there in the clefts* of the rocks a handful of red roofs or a little spire proclaimed the habitations of those who go down to the sea in ships. Here, too, there would be a strip of shingly beach, and a natural harbor, affording even at the best of times a precarious shelter. And here they lived and moved and had their being, ?*?pt and loved a-d suffered, those Wgo.strove to wrest a scanty living from-the great deep. On fiat wild night two women stood by an open cottage door, with shawls tied about their heads, their strained eyes peering out into the blackness of the night The noise of the mighty rushing wind and the boom of the sea against the rocks where the salt spray dashed into the air made it difficult ..?for them to hear one another's voices. w.hich "were shrill and high and striking the note of pain. .?Dinna say that, auntie," said the girl, and shivered as another great bil low broke in thunder on the shore: "Go back into th- house, and I will run to the harbor and hear if there's any news." Sho-^rt-T?--?-,*~*--r ? i?-rV"TIgOr?7 ana gently pushed her back into the house. She did not de-, mur. She was old. and the wind buf feted her; she was no longer , able to face and fight it. So she crept back to the desolate hearth, and sat down by the red embers to watch and pray. The girl closed the door, wrapped her shawl more closely about her, and turned to face the blast. It was only a few steps to the harbor mouth, but more than once she wavered, feeling as if the next gust must sweep her into the sea. A group of women, a few old men, and a handful of children crouching at their mothers' skirts were huddled under the frail shelter of the harbor wall. There is untold pathos always about the watchers when there is peril on thc sea; the women and children and the old men, who wait at home for the safe return of th o bread-winners. The harbor lights gleamed fitfully i\pon anxious faces and appealing eyes turn ed, ever turned, to the angry sea. Scarce a word was spoken, and when Annie Doon joined them she became a part of the silence. They fell apart a little to let her into the circle, and one of the women laid a kindly hand on her shoulder. For they knew that she feared for the man she loved, the stalwart skipper of the Bonnie Ann. "There's little use to stand here, nee bors." said one of the old men at length. "Until the wind fa's the open sea's their safest bit." "But auntie saw the Bonnie Ann off the Beacon, Davie Duff us." said the girl feverishly; "just on the back o' six o'clock." "She dreamed it, lassie. Francie Scott wad never come near the Beacon in a nor'-easter like this, that is, un less he took leave o' his seevin senses, which is not likely." "But I think I saw her mysel', Davie, when the moon arose afore the rain came on. > And whaur can she be now?" "On the Beacon," he answered grim ly. "Uuless he made for Portknockie harbor. Wheessht! What's that?". Through the boom of the storm came the distant clangor of a bell. "It's the bell of Portknockie! She's on the Beacon," said the girl, in a low, anguished voice, and her fingers work ed convulsively with the fringes of her shawl. "Then there may be a chance. The coast-guard's oot afore the bell rings. Lord help them a'!" said the old man, and the crowd began to separate, as if their suspense and watching had come to an end. It had only, however, entered on a new phrase, and those who were able began to climb the steep brae face to the summit of the cliff, whence could be seen the cove at Portknockie, and the light on the dreaded Beacon Rocks. Thc Beacon was a sharp, sheer ledge of rock, which ran far out into the sea, and was always submerged, though at low water its black, cruel outline could bo defined by the troubled passage of the waves above it Upon this treach erous reef many a barque had founder ed, many a life destroyed. It had in deed been- the grave of many a fair and goodly hope. Annie Doon paused outside the door of her aunt's cottage, the home that had sheltered her since she had been cast orphaned on the sea of life. Through the unshuttered window she could see -the dropping figure in its hopeless attitude by the fire; she could even catch the expression on her face. It indicated prayer. kAA.AAAAAAAAA Portknockie. TK? NOKTH SEA. ID LYALL. "I winna go in," she said tb herself; with ? sob: "She canna hear the bell, and it may be th?t they'll fae saved yet." Then she sped up the brae with foot so fleet that she overtook them long be fore they reached the summit. Even from thr-.t point of vantage there was little to be seen. The night was of inky blackness, and the light of the Beacon only serv ed to show the- whereabouts of the treacherous rocks, but sent no beam afar. Quite suddenly, however, the clouds were swept aside as by an un seen hand, and a fitful moon shone out very clear and bright, revealing ' the boat in distress and also the res cuers on the harbor at Portknockie. The lifeboat was launched with a ringing cheer, and ploughed its way through the terrible sea tumult to the distressed men on the wreck. It was an hour! of terri ole suspense, but at last the survivers, three men and a boy, wer? taken off, and the boat leap ed in the trough of the sea again as they tried to steer it back. All this time there was no certainty among : the watchers on the cliff re garding, the boat or its crew; but somehow they accepted the fact that it was .-the Bonnie Ann, with John Ardbuckle, the skipper, on board, and Frank Scott. ->m Annie Doon loved. Now Ardbuc*. as Annie's cousin, and loved her. .s own soul. He was a big, slow, . man, of few words and forbidding aspect; but the young, slim girl who had grown up as a sister at his side had become a part of his life and being, and he had sworn, time and again, that none but he should have her to wife. But Annie had laughed at him, and said nobody ever married a brother, which was what he was to her. Then there had grown up in his soul a fierce, slow, terrible jealousy of Scott, who was part owner with him of thc" Bonnie Ann, and had been his constant companion all his life. And when some one outside, at Portknockie, had told him Annie and Scott were to be married at the New Year if the "drave" was good, he had, saying nothing, .vowed to himself that it should not be... Under cover of the darkness Apni? Doon slid down the face of the brae to Portknockie nimbly as a young deer, and came upon the harbor mouth as the lifeboat grated against the steps. Then she stood, with the shawl drop ing from her shoulders, and the wet wind in her hair, until fK one by one. Ardbuckle "Ye are there, Annie," h kind of gruff gentleness, ter been at hame." "Whpre's Frank. Job she asked, in a voice shri "We had to, lassie. A him clean into the sea b e'en. An' what could m then, puir chield? Come uwa uauiu. But she would not let him touch her. "Let me a be!" she said, and turning from him.disappeared in the darkness. And none saw which way she turned. They talked in low, regretful mur murs of their comrade whom the sea had claimed. He was one beloved of all for his high courage, his sunny heart, and generous disposition, and all were .wae for sweet Annie Doon, widowed before she was a bride. Ard buckle had little to say, at which, how ever, none wondered, knowing him to be a still, silent man, who refrained from all verbal expression even when he felt most. As there was nothing to be done until the dawning, when it would be their melancholy task to seek their comrade's body among the drift cast by the storm, they began to disperse slowly to their homes. It was close on midpight,.-..and that had been an anxious,'* weary ^day.' Ardbuckle, still keeping himself apart from his fellows, strode home to his mother's cottage on the Iee shore, under the shadow of the cliff. - No light burned there. The solitary figure crouching in despair by the fire had forgotten the flight of time. She sat so motionless, she might have been asleep or dead. The step on the shingle outside aroused her; it was the step she loved, and had scarcely hoped to hear again on earth. She sprang up with a low, shrill cry, and met her son at the opening of the door. "Eh, my laddie, are ye safe after a'?" she cried, beginning to weep now that the strain was loosed and relief had come; "where's Annie an' Frank Scott and wee Willie an' the rest!" "We are a' safe but Francie, mother. A wave swept him into the sea. It was like a mighty churn, an' he dis appeared in a moment." Although her joy at her son's re turn was overwhelming, her face cloud ed again. "Aa' where's Annie? Does she ken? Have ye no' seen her?" "She kens. I thocht I should find her here." "Her heart will be broken, John; it's set on him. She's but a frail thing, and she'll be wild. Maybe she has thrown hersel' into the sea efter him." "She walked away frae the sea. But I'll seek-her now if ye like." "But ye are soakin' to the skin, laddie, an' jist saved frae the sea. Come to the fire. Annie will be here soon. She'll come to nae harm." But Ardbuckle could not rest. He turned on his heel out into thc night again, and just at the head of the slop ing shingle met the girl walking with slow, disconsolate step. He took her by the arm, and his touch was tender ness itself. "Come; my dear, it will do nae good to be wanderin' here in the nicht. Ye are wet an' cauld, Annie. Come hame." She suffered him to lead her; but she spoke never a word. Once or twice her eyes turned to the angry sea, which had wrought such woe in her heart and life. They came together to the house, and old Jean Ardbuckle, whom the sea had robbed of three sons and their father, took the girl to her motherly heart. If there had been any bitter ness there because she had seen an other preferred to her own, it melted away at sight of that woe-begon face. There was no sleep tor them that night; it was spent by the glowing driftwood fire, and at the grey dawn ing some peace came to the troubled sea, mayhap to their hearts. Annie Doon crept to her bed in the attic room and sobbed herself to sleep. Next day, in spite of what they would say, she was with the sei chers on the drift strewn beach; but not On that day nor on any Other was the body of Prank Scott recovered. Nor would be until the sea g?ve up its dead. Life has to flow in its appoirited channels, even though hearts are at th? breaking. The daily duty then be comes the merciful healer.- The gaps closed up in Portknockie year by year; a few white hairs, a line about the mouth, a quietness and stillness of speech-these perhaps were accentuat ed by the increasing sorrow." But the boats put to sea as usual, and the same hours of anxiety and heart sickness " were endured by women on the shore. Out of it there grows a quiet courage, a dumb patience, a still, unmurmering waiting on the will of God. Annie Doon did not weep where she could be seen, nor did che give up a single item of her daily task. The only mother she had ever known was growing frailer day by day. The whole care of the house devolved on her; and there was work to be done, too, for the fishers and the nets. But out of the girl's heart the sing ing bird had gone. In the Spring of the next year, when the wonderful tenderness of an April sky was mirror ed on a sea which always smiled, Jean Ardbuckle laid her down to die. She was neither sad nor glad to go. She would die as she had lived, acquiescing in the will of God. "Annie," she said one day, as the girl, wh-<? had been twice a daughter to her, Irpt over her bed, "he has lo'ed ye lanh, my John. When I am gane, unless ',c talc' him, what will ye do? If I cwJd ' ?. ye man an' wife afore I dee I would shut my e'en in peace." "I can never be wife to ony man, auntie; my heart is died," the girl an swered, simply. "But it wad come to life again, Annie. Listen. When I was young I thocht as you do; but I married a man that had loved me true for years, and when I was his wife and his bairn lay upon my knee I knew he was the man God meant for me. John has lo'ed ye a' his life." The girl's face flushed a little, and her eyes were troubled. In the soit calm of the spring night she went out upon the hrae to commune with her own heart .nd to ponder on what had passed bei jen her aunt and herself. She thought of all the years she had been sheltered in that humble home, of John's tender if undemonstrative care, and a strange humbleness and ?pomi-? >AnoH?i him Mmp over her. _ ^ _w-?/ilOSV, v where the pink sea daisies blew. And a there they stood stil, she leaning t against a boulder, with her eyes to g sea. She was very frail and slight, g and her face was one of uncommon 1 ^ sweetness, with that touch of sadness ( which set her apart. He was stalwart { and strong, and the salt sea had tanned his cheek, and his eye v/as as blue as tha wave where the sun had kissed it. But his face was sad also, and there was silence between them. "Auntie's failin*. John," said Annie. "She will not live long noo." "I see that. An* you an' I will be left. Annie. We hae that to think j on." "Aunt Jean has been speakin' to me, John," said Annie, and there was a faraway, note in her voice. "If it will mak' her happier, as she says it will, I am wiilin', an' I'll dae my best to be a good wife to you for a' your goodness to me." There was a look of high resolve, rather than of tenderness, in her face, and he knew in his heart that if she had loved him as he loved her the words could not have fallen so glibly from her tongue. His ruddy color paled, and the strong hand which had fought the waters since his boyhood trembled as it touched the stone where her slender fingers lay. "Annie! Annie!" he said hoarsely. "I canna. I am no' worthy, though God abune kens that I loe ye." She turned to him with a smile of inexpressible sweetness. "Ye needna say that to me, John. Have I no' kent ye a' my deys?" "Ay, but-" He took two steps away from her. and the struggle in his soul was terrible. For his nature was deep and slow, and he loved this woman with the passions of a life. When he came back his face had clear ed of its agitation, and there was a look of settled sadness about it. "Listen, Annie, and I will lay down the burden that has been on my soul since the Bonnie Ann was wrecked. I saw the wave comin' that washed puir Frank away, and had I been quick enough I micht have saved him, though maybe at the expense o' my ain life. But that wadna hae mattered, for ye aye liket him best." Her face paled, and the smile grew wan about the mouth. "It was thc will of God that Frank should be drowned. John. It was his weird-his time had come." "But there was as guid as murder in my heart. Annie. I hated him be cause you liked him best. Am I no' a murderer in God's sieht?" "I dinna believe what you say, John -you that never wad hurt the small est beast or bird. It's the horror o' that nicht upon ye yet." she said, and there was no reproach in her voice. "Frank aye said we should never be man an' wife because the sea would tak' him first. An' if-an' if it be true that there was sic a thocht in your heart, God is merciful. He kens an' sees the heart.' John Ardbuckle turned away, and his bosom heaved, while a stinging moist ure, salter than the sea, was in his eyes. .'Annie," he said humbly, "surely God has bidden you speak to me. This is the first peace I hae had since that awful nicht. An' if it be that ye can Join your life to mine I pray that J be worthy o' ye afore I dee." "Oh, wheesht, I am but a puir laasid that kens naething, and a' Partknockie kens what you are," she said, as she laid her hand with the women's courage and tenderness upon his arm. "Come, let us go back to Auntie Jean." -British Weekly. GRIM COURTSHIP. CtUtottis of Kidnaping nntl Marder Still ?xtnnt in Ut? Cnucimn*. The manners and customs of the people of the Caucasus have not changed to ? great extent sinc? the country was subdued by Russia. One of the relics of the good old times to which the Caucasians especially cling is the custom of kidnapping the wo men whom they desire to make their wives. Recently a case of this kind result ed in a tragic end. A prominent in habitant of thc little Caucasian town of Katuhagan, named Ismail Ogli Oki. tried to kidnap the sister of his best friend's wife while his friend was ab sent from home. The girl resisted his attempt to carry her off, aided by her married sistcY The baffled lover drew his sword and inflicted danger ous wounds on both the ladies. At this moment his friend returned, and, enraged at finding what had occurred, killed Ismail on the spot. Then cut off Ismail's head and carried it arouDd to show the neighbors what a fearful revenge he had taken. In the same district a young noble man desired to marry the daughter of i neighboring land-owner, and invited the girl with her parents to a grand ball given at his castle. During the evening he found an opportunity of de coying the girl into a secluded part of the house, where she was seized by his men and placed in a carriage. The prince jo'- d her, and, in spite of the girl's o ' ties, started out to drive :o a placv. where they could be mar ?ied without much delay. The girl's father, on finding that his lost had disappeared with his daugh er, gave chase, and being on horse lack, overtook the carriage. He shot he nobleman without ado, and took lis daughter home. The nobleman, ?owever, had won her heart during he drive, and the girl was now reluc ant to marry the man of whom her ather approved, but the stern parent nsisted on the wedding taking place it once. The bride appeared in the ?burch, pale, but cool and collected. )urlng the ceremony she drew a dag ;er and stabbed thc bridegroom to the leart. Afterward she committed sui ide.-London Mail. QUAINT AND CURIOUS. Mower nf Wellintrton. Kan., the wholesale as a preventive measure .gainst the plague. This disturbed he religious scruples of Umat'ario Ne- i ;al of Akasaka-ken and he began to ee rats at night. To get rid of tho [reams he has spent $1000 in building i stone pillar twelve feet high and six eet thick, in honor of the spirits of he killed rats. ? An ingenious method of obtaining i reputation for patriotism cheaply las been invented by certain Berlin jublicans. On their shop fronts they lang legions to this effect: "So long is the war in South Africa lasts I for lid any Englishman tc enter my pre nises." The use of this placard is, it is said, entirely confined to houses 3f a class that never entertained an Englishmj^Jn the course of their ex istence. The American oppossum is one of the most curious animals living in the United States. It is the only one that carries its young in a pouch like the kangaroo. It. is the only animal that can feign death perfectly. It is re markable for hanging by its tail like a monkey. It has hands resembling those of a human being. Its snout is like a hog's, while its mouth is liber ally furnished with teeth. It's eyes are like a rat's, and*it hisses like a snake. A. G. Webster reported to the Amer ican Physical society in New York City recently the results of experi ments on a singular difference in the audibility of sound when passing over water and over grass. Under similar conditions of quietness it was found that a given sound could be heard al most exactly four times as far over water as over grass. The assumption that water is a perfect reflector and grass a complete absorber of sound waves is not, Mr. Webster says, suf ficient to explain the phenomenon. The practical importance of knowing this peculiarity, where sound may have to be sent across a grassy plain, is evident. Sarah Fisher, a character of the country-side, of Hampshire, Eng., has just died at the age of 90 years. She lived in a cottage by herself, and spent nearly all her time in the open air. Every day, no matter what the weath er was, she tramped about the coun try, wandering miles away from her home. Twice a week she called at Sir Robert Wright's house at Headley Park, where she received a basin of soup and plenty of "victuals" to take away with her. She called at a neigh hors house the evening before she died to get a loaf which the baker had brought, and left to go home across the fields. Missing her way she fell into a ditch, and there her body was found the next morning. His I'nnHhmonf. Captain-Sergeant, note down Priv ate Grasgrum-three days on bread and watpr for slovenly turnout on par ade. Sergeant-Beg pardon, captain, that .won't make the slightest difference to him-he's a vegetarian. Captain-Then give him three days on meat and soup.-Pick-Me-Up. RE INSTINCT FAILS j! By J. Carter Beard. T X" ?T the reader, as he linds oc jP^'casion and opportunity, try the following experiment : 1nr ' tn tr Take a deep, wldo-inouthod Jar, j^iy from seventeen to twenty Inchjadong, with a neck from live to J! ?n? TrnvF.v-DEW make the most of thc opportunity given them to escape; the bec, on the con trary, though popularly supposed to be the wisest of insects, will buzz in anely about the closed cud through which the light comes, without sucking to escape iu any other direction. Light and liberty with the bee arc synonyms, and she will perish rather Hint J prove false to her convictions. You can keep her confined with the back door ot* her prison house wide open as long as you choose; she will never And ber way out. Mr. Fly, on the cm tra ry. an idle fel low, "a mau about town," whose Ir regular habits subject him to innum erable perils, has developed a faculty for getting out of scrapes which, though perhaps not equal to that he possesses for getting into them, is superior to anything of the sort Iiis more Indus trious compeer eau boast of. Near the cottage where an experi ment similar to the one here described was, in pursuance of the suggestion of Sir John Lubbock, tried, grew some pitcher plants; and toward these, as if to show that the instinct of Hies also has its limitations. Hie prisoner that first escaped from the jar made his way. These pitcher plants are the tlfmllng places of fast Insects of var ious sorts, particularly Hies. Spread about the opening to the vegetable sa loons ls a regular free-lunch counter open to all comers. Mr. Fly, attracted THE PLANT KA F FL ES IA ARNO) TAINTED BEEK, UPON WUK by the drops of nectar upon thc ctn ions leaf of Hie Sarracenia, uiisus peet inply follows thc trail ot' I read trous sweetness to the portals of Hi vegetable saloon where Hie nectar i Abundant. He ls a thirsty individual: perbap his free hinch makes bim more so: an the cool, green depths of the pitcbui plpnt contain a store of tempting li quid refreshment. Ile crosses Hie hos pitable threshold and enters what is to him a spacious and elegant apart ment, si rolling along, stopping hero and there to sip a drop of nectar, until he is well within the walls of the en folded leaf. Here he encounters a glazed zone; a portion of the leaf of such :i peculiarly smooth and slippery surface, consisting of delicate, over lapping glossy hairs, upon which even lie, that can walk upside down upon a glass skylight, lintis it difficult to keep hi? footing. Ile slips ami falls, but sp;catling his wings, Hies and attempts to alight on the opposite side, a little farther down perhaps, to avoid thc slippery zone, but encounters a sur face thickly set with stiff, downward pointing hairs, that affords him no footing; and even if he succeeds with the greatest difficulty iu alighting, pre vents his progress upward. Taking Hight again and pounding against the Avails, bewildered, tired, perhaps stupe lied or intoxicated by the food be has taken, he Inevitably, sooner or later, falls into the liquid at the bottom of the tubular leaf, a pool of death in which are already imprisoned the bodies of numerous previous victims, and so incontinently becomes a subject "to point a temperance lecture or adorn n tale." A BEE (CHALICODOMA) EBBCTR?G A SKY SCRAPES UP?X A CELL ALBEADV BUILT. structures. Mason Vices fashion nests of very solid masonry. Chalieodotna murarla is solitary in her habits; she constructs lier habitation alone and unaided, usually selecting a bowlder of considerable size as a solid basis upon which to build an adobe edifice of a suitable sort of earth moistened with ber own saliva. Wlien this is about au inch high she proceeds to lill MU, GIVING OUT TITI-] SMELL OF UH FLIES LAY TH El lt EtUJS. .- it about half ?till of honey and o !- pollen; lays nil egg ?iii it, ?ind close i- it over with a roc!" of cement. Afte e eight or nine of these cells have bee/ s completed she adds an additional prc I tv t ion. a thick layer of mortar placet ts ove:- the cul ire construction, il A cell in an early singe of construe r-J tiou was '>?ken away, aud in piuco o -From the New York Tribune. lt was substituted ouo already built ?ind stored with honey and pollen. One would, in such a case, naturally sup pose that the mason bee, glad to be saved so much labor, would simply supply the necessary egg and seal up the cell. But no, indeed! the regular, ancient and established custom in the Chailcodonia order of procedure is far too important to be disturbed by a little thing like this; the bee calmly goes on building until the cell is built up as much as a third more than thc proper height; then, although a suf ficiency of provision for the larvae had been already supplied, she wastes ni tins ca??s <...? wv. genus, but of a different specie* frou^ that just described; it is the Chalico doma pyrenalca. This species builds cells as does the other, bin fills them with honey as she goes on, raising the walls a bit, then going on several ex peditions for honey, then building up the walls again, and so on until the cell Is finished. A ?ell was chosen which was almost completed, and while the bee was away a hole was pierced in the cell below where thc bee was working, allowing the honey in the cell to gradually es cape. Entirely ignoring an incident so contrary to precedent and established usage, the bee on ber return calmly worked away as if nothing had hap pened, adding mortar to the edges of the cell and honey, which immediately ran out, leaving tho nest empty. This experiment was repeated many times with differences of details, but none in the results. As it might possibly be conjectured ?hat the bee had failed to notice the injury a cell was selected which had but a very little honey in it. A large hole was made in this, which the bee returning with thc honey certainly noticed, for she went down to thc bottom of her cell, and not only examined the aperture carefully, bu( felt its edges with her antennae ant' pushed thom through it. Did she then as might naturally 1 ie supposed, stoi it up? Not at all. To do so would Ix to prove false to all the traditions ol her race-be a departure from the im memorial usages of the Chalicodom ?ans. and introduce a new and a dis turbing element into the ancient ant honorable order of mason bees. However this is, thc poor, devotee creature went on emptying into thii vessel load after load of honey, which as a matter of course, escaped at tbi bottom as fast as she'emptied lt at tbi top. All of one long, hot summer af ternoon did she labor at this booties; task, and began again next morning At last, when, regardless of the result she had performed her prescribed dut; in the prescribed manner, made tb customary amount of journeys am supplied the usual amount of honey she conscientiously laid her egg an closed up the empty cell. It ls quite common to speak of th Intelligence of insects, but it reall; seems, in the light of recent scientlli investigations, almost as correct t speak of the intelligence of a watel Insects doubtless accomplish wondei ful results, but shell results seem t be effected tas are ii1?1 equally woi derful adaptations of meaos to an eu by tlie vital organs in our own bodies by automatic, unconscious, and unit telligent obedience to internal or e: terna! stimuli.-Scientific American. Leonids' 10001 li Tour. Thc next return of the Leonids, t November meteors, will mark tl 1000th anniversary of the first recoi of this swarm. Last November, on tl morning of tho 15th, one America observatory estimated that 1000 m (cors an hour were falling. In En land a number of meteors were doub observed, the mean heights of eigl being tims calculated at SI to 50 mile with visible paths of 22 to 07 miles. A Japanese family of five can ll on less than $8 a mouth. "IKttb I MA I ri?VC ntui u? ..... Let others sing in praise of mea, Of art and books galore; My song shall be ot impress deep Wrought by the woodland's store; Of aspirations that the oak Taught from ber acorn small; Of perseverance that my soul Learned from the chestnut tall. The maple fair, tbe stately pine, Each willow by the brook Guided my childhood's careless thought In upward ways to look. But yet 'tis true beyond dispute, As memory'9 loaves I search. The tree that influenced me most Was mother's little birch. > -Life. HUMOROUS. Noll-What a deep voice he ha?. Belle-Yes, for such a shallow mind. Blobbs-Bjones has a suit of clothes for every day in the week. Slobbs-So have L I've got it on now." "Borrowell-Alas ! I'm undone. Harduppe-I'm worse than that. "How do you mean?" "I'm dunned." Silicus-I understand the bride is quite a gifted young woman. Cynicus -Yes, she got a good many presents. He-Fine feathers don't always make fine birds. She-No; but they make fine bonnets, and that's more important. Will-Before they were married she had him clean out of his mind. Belle-And now he has her clean out of his mind. Poeticus-There are no geniuses in attics nowadays. Cynicus-No; most of them seem to have got down to business and are running elevators. "Young man," ?aid the millionaire, sadly, "my daughter is my only child." "Yes," confided the suitor, "that's one reason why I thought I'd like to mar ry her." Mrs. Towne-Have you any close neighbors, dear? Mrs. Subbubs-Yes; they are all close. So closo that you couldn't borrow a flatiron or a cup of sugar to save your life. "Keep cool!" whispered the lawyer. "The sweat's just bubbling out of you!" "Yes," returned the witness on the stand, "it's trying to keep cool that has got me so overheated." "What! back again," exclaimed the housekeeper. "Why, I gave you soup only yesterday." "Yes, lady," re sponded the polite tramp, an' one good tureen deserves anoder." She-I wonder why it is that the average lovers you poets write about are so awfully stupid. He-Why, there has to be something stupid about them to rhyme with cupid. "What are you swearing about?" in quired the senior member of the firm. "O! that new office boy," replied the silent?partner; "he's never to be found when he's wanted. "Hereditary, I -"MWRP. His father's a policeman, ".Hit VT Aye Gauss?ir-W?4T,- 4-~iroTie-rr--8ae? au? .?%? - goes in for the most expensive things. Mr. Henpeck-Not always. "Talk is cheap," and she goes in for "that." Preparing tim Impromptu. Great orators have generally refus ed to speak on thc spur of the moment on important themes. Demosthenes, the king of orators, would never speak in a public meeting without previous thorough preparation. Daniel Web ster, when once pressed to speak on a subject of great importance, refused, saying that he was very busy and had no time to master it. When a friend urged that a few words from him would do much to awaken public at tention to the subject he replied: "IX_ there be so much weight in my words .N it is because I do not allow myself to speak on any subject until my mind is imbued with it." On one occasion "Webster made a remarkable speech without notes before the Phi Betta Kappa Society at Harvard University, and a book was presented to him. Af ter he had gone a manuscript copy of his eloquent "imprompu" address, carefully written, was found in the book, which he had forgotten to take away.-Philadelphia Post. Lurk tn Hor*e?hofl*. The superstition dates back too far for record, but it was not always con fined to the horseshoe. Any piece of iron found in one's path was accounted a sign of good luck, and as horseshoes were more commonly picked up than any other article of that metal, that particular object at last became the standard emblem of good fortune and the supposed defense against bad luck. In Aubrey's "Miscellanies," written 200 years ago, the author mentions hav ing seen the horseshoe nailed up in church, and he also says that "most of the houses in the West End of Lon don have the horseshoe on the thres hold." The horseshoe to possess vir tue, must have been round, not pur chased or looked up. Admiral Nelson had great faith in the luck of the horseshoe, and one was nailed to the raaai'gfif his ship, the Victory. pd" Royal Homo. Th( A mfa Belgians, who has just <^"?8H Bt sixty-first birth day, conies ^J^^?iost. il-fatcd royal house in Euroi^^he house of Haps burg-and her cup of grief is more than full. Her hair is said to have been white while she was still in her thirties. The queen's only son, the Duke of Brabant, died suddenly under circumstances which suggested poison ing; her son-in-law was the Crown Prince Rudolph, who ended his life in a most tragic manner; her favorite nephew was killed in an accident, and her sister is in a lunatic asylum, not far from the palace at Brussels. Queen Marie Henrietta has not neglected the social and intellectual side of life, how ever. She is a clever horsewoman, a gifted composer of music and as fond of her stud as she is of her cam era and her piano. A snow wall four feet thick ls a perfect protection against a rifle bul let at 50 yards distance.