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:V -i 1 i?? J I j CHAPTER H?Continued. ' One hour went by?two. The 6upper l>ell rang, but Beatriee never left ner | task. Sne was writing now. A singu- I lar feature of chirography, hers, it eems. for she wrote with a coarse pen, I in a bold, masculine hand, and then Vith a fine one in delicate Italian characters. 1 } She manipulated the two letters, 80 dissimilar in appearance, folded them, 1 placed them in an envelope, carefully I ? added the superscriptions, cad then, stamping the' envelopes, put on her E ?loak and hat and stole from her room, i i Down the dark hall, through the front * portals, out Into the road, and town- ? wards she sped. At the village post* J bfflce she paused to drop the letter into i . i the box thce> and a faint gleam of a E pamp near by showed the address plainly?"Mr. Raymond Marshall." g "Done!" she murmured, breathlessly, WJr as she hurried homewards. "Circum- j ' stances, accident, all are in my favor. I could not have endured the confidences that broke my heart, much longer. , Hdna will never write, her father's letter tells me why. She will never 6e? ( her old friends again. Raymond Marshall will forget her in time?I will be ( his friend, his consoler, and then " f I The dark eyes glistened, the fair face J as sentient with vivid emotion. Then! t Ah! balm for the hungry heart, love for tne Btarved soul, peace for the self-tor- j ture, for word and feature betrayed the ; eecret of a woman who could suffer, ' conceal, and plot as well, to consummate the hopes dictated by hatred, jeal* j ousy and love! CHAPTER III. TWO LETTERS. , I ; "Two letters, Mr. Marshall." Baymond Marshall took the tendered c missives from the hands of the anti- i tjuated postmaster of Hopedale, thrust j one, an ordinary business missive, intc t His pooKet careiessiy, uui, luu uLtivi? i i his eye brightened and his pulses came ] quicker. t "From Edna," he murmured, recognizing the handwriting on the envelope. "Something alout the reception to- j night. I hope that tiresome Mr. Brins- j ley is not to be her escort. It is toe (j precious, too sacred to read hero." He reaened home and went to hie room with a gay song on his lips. The j memory of the girl he loved was al- j ways with him, the possession of a Bhy, dainty epistle from her enhanced c its' sweetness. t "Kather bulky," ho commented, a9 he t carefully cut open tho envelope, as if every scrap of paper her hands had touched was precions. ".Mr. Marshallwhy! what is this? Oh, Edna! a joke, a cruel hoax, surely." ( The words died in a gasp. With star- t lng eyes Marshall surveyed the letter before him. Then staggering to a seat, j be sat glaring at it with colorless fact c and chilled heart. A formal dismissal, a cold, precise { disavowal of all the past, the cruel \ words seemed icy fingers reaching for t his heart, to blight all the faith and love of his nature with a single touch. Ede*i had written it?her slanting, , Italian style showed in the chirography. i ?AnlJ V.a r\r\ rlrtliVit- nf thnt hilt ? IIUI C WVUIU UK, UV uv??vw V* ? J the language!?oh! what did it mean? Briefly it addressed him as might one a stranger. Circumstances, the latter ( feaid, had in an hour changed her des- j tiny. All was over between them. It was better so, since fate ordained it. Rememter her as a friend, their brief j "flirtation" as a wayward caprice for passing the summer months away! , "False! Deceitful! I will never be- j lleve it," panted the petrified Marshall. ? "Why! yesterday?the ring I gave her, i the pledges we made?oh! this is some farce, some hidden dream! What is , this?" , Mechanically turning the wretched missive over and over in his nerveless hands. Raymond Marshall observed foi ] the first time that it was comprised o! , twcj sheets of paper. And striving to separate them, he as- | certained that stray patches of mucilage , held the lower page to the other. In e lew minutes he discerned that it could ! cot have been the intention of the sender to inclose the second sheet. That was accidental. It had stuck tc j tne top sneet anu nau uccu juiuuu iu . with it by a hasty, careless hand. ' It bore writing?not Edna's writing. ] A dagger seemed driven to Iiay Marshall's heart as he tore it fre^, and the , bold, masculine chirography danced be- , fore his vision. If he had been startled before, every , { ulse stirred with fierce fire now. The | etter had evidently bien received by Edna the day previous, and was signed Vith the name or the only rival in her affection to whom he had ever given a thought, Mi86 Chandler's cousin, Edna's announced escort of that evening?Barton Brinsley. The letter of an accepted lover to the woman he loved, it betrayed decided en-ouragement from Edna. It even bore a sliaht ridicule of Marshall's pretensions. Edna had endured this! Edna I had played him false, and while her shy lips were responding to his ardent e.\Eressions of devotion her hypocritical eart was thinking of Barton Brinsley. Thf. i-mnnlieation was maddening. With eve? da?he<l with the insanity oi despair the tortured artist looked up. clenched the tell-tale sheets in his hand as it' they were the false heart of the g;rl who had jilted him, and that of the man who had stolen away her love. "I?I will kill him! "he choked out, his bo ui a Maze. Ai:d then, realizing the folly of such a sentiment,- the right of any man to honorably strive for a woman's preference, with the bitterness of death comprehending that the woman was the deceiver, remembering iiis motner s taunt once made that he had better many some one besides "a nameless, homeless, nobody," he eainled down, put on his hat, and walked from the hou^o liko one in a dream, his lips firmly set. but si -k at heart. Ho went straight to the seminary. There was that in his heart so manly, bo straightforward, so inclined to doubt the falsity of tho woman he had ic blindly trusted, despite the terrible evidence in his hanus, that, though the meeting killed him, he was determined to have tho matter .settled now anc finally. He would demand to see F.dna?he would show her the letters. His philanthropic friends had more than onc e told him that ail womankind were changing butti-rll.es of sentiment. If she had indeed only played with his heart Ik | would leave her presence and the plaee J forever; w.thout a word accept the bitter lesson as a warning against trusting ,3^El2 all humanity, and in snence and distance wait for the end of a life blighted, profitless, unendurable. A servant admitted him and took his card to the lady principal. Miss Chandler lookeci serious as she entered the room, but greeted mm witn me geniality phe always bestowed on Edna's friends. Bhe started at the sight of his wretched face, however. "Miss Chandler,"he spoke, In his misery and agitation neglecting to take her proffered hand, "I wish to see Edna? Miss Deane." "Edna?" ejaculated the lady principal, wonderingly. "Why! did you not inow * "Know what?" he demanded, sharply, iiis heart taking a new alarm. "That she is gone'/" "Gone!" he repeated,blankly. "Gone? n ilea, were, wiiu nnuuii "She left us last evening. Poor, dear Sdna; her happy school life is over, md?why, Mr. Marshall!" He had arisen to his feet at her first itartling words. He felt his senses reelng now, and swayed where he stood, rhe sight of such vivid emotion in a (trong paan alarmed the gentle lady. "Go on!" he choked out, waving his land agitatedly. "It is nothing. The ihoek, the suddenness " "Surely she wrote you that she wae joing?" "No. That is You say 6he went ast evening?" "Yes." "Alone? Why did she leave so abuptly?" His heart hung on the reply. Mi6s Chandler's face fell. "Mr. Marshall," she said, in a low, subdued tone, "you must not ask me. i lave pledged myself to make no explalations. In fact, I know very little, she left in safe hands, of that I am assured, and she will never return to UnncHaln, It has deoressed us all: but ? ~r ~?? ?a rarely she will soon write to you and jxplain." "Miss Chandler, I must know where Edna Deane has gone. You must tell ne more!" His voiee was husky, but it bore a ing of sharp, lacerating anguish. "I cannot. I never break a promise >nce made, Mr. Marshall," spoke the ' ady, with dignity. "You may 6ee Miss fiercer, if you choose. She was Edna's nost intimate friend. She may have he right to tell you, but I cannot. ?dna may have left a message with icr." "Allow me to speak with her, please." How strained and unnatural wore his ones! How like a man marching tc lis doom ho followed Miss Chandler lown the broad hall and to the door oi he oiTlce of the seminary. "Miss Mercer is in there alone, I hink," spoke Miss Chandler. "Yes. Jeatrice, Mr. Marshall." And the principal opened the door and ilcsed it upon JKaymona jiar^uuu turn he woman he so disliked and disrusted. CHAPTER IV. TIIE TRUTH REVEALED. Beatrice Mercer was seated at a desk sorrecting some exercises of the pupils, ler own portfolio spread out before her. I'he color died from h.-r face as she ecognized her visitor, then it turned leep-red with reactionary emotion. His thoughts were too full of Edna to illow of his reading, aright the tremuous emotion, the half-repressed fright hat his hostess betrayed "Miss Mercer," he spoke, hoarsely, 'I have come to ask of you the irfor- 1 nation that Miss Chandler refuses. iVhy did Edna Deane leave the semilary? "Where has she gone?" "I cannot tell you." thr pvp<; flnshod excitedlv. He lenched his hands in an excess of 6ufering and suspense. "You musl!" he gasped, frantically. 'Do you understand what I am endurng? 0oubt?anguish?heart-breaking!" From beneath her veiled eyelids the jirl studied his working face. Crafti- ' less was there, but Wv.ll masked. A sinister triumph in her heart gave her strength to simulate. "I pity you," she said, softly. "I vould be glad to tell you all, but It is iseless." -Useless?" "Yes. She has left the seminary, FTopedale, her friends, forever. She has ;one to her relatives under a vow never jo reveal her true identity, Happy in icr new life, with golden promises of ivealth, you must not blame her im petuous nature If she finds new friends i who make her forget the o;d." How well the shalt went home! The blank despair, the settled conviction of faithlessness in the man's face was pitiable to witness. "She left no word for me?" he forced himself to ask. "No. She wrote a letter to Mr. BarIon Brinsley, but it is unmanly for you to have me betray my friend." "Speak'" ordered Marshall, fiercely. "Do you not see that this suspense it killing me?" "Then know the worst," answered Beatrice, bulking all her fancied powei [>n a final venture. "She wrote to Bnrton Brinsley. This morning he lefl Hopedale. Miss Chandler sav6 he ha* gone away on business. I think it is tc see Edna's new relatives arid ] ress hit suit there. Mr. Marshall, oh, why will vou force me to tell these bitter truths': Forget her?she is unworthy of you She never knew her own mind. There are truer hearts, hearts longing lor a love they would cherish and never betray." His head had sunk on his breast. He beiieved now. and his heart was broken. Beatrice had drawn nearer to him. Her eves atrlow. her chocks throbbinir. her hand upon his arm, heart and soul breathed forth the secret that had made her life one great void of misery since she had first seen his handsome, earnest face. j w ltn jl SHOCK i1c iookgu up. ? UllUtil * i merit, intelligence in his glance, it drove her back abashed. Her face betrayed hor secret, she loved him! llis face told unmistakably that he read that secret aryjht. "Oh! how could I.' But 1 jiity you so! Think me unwomanly, but if your heart is breaking so is mine. Go, Mr. Marshall?Baymond?go! and leave me to the wretchedness of the fecrct your suffering has wrung from my lips." She was sobbing, shrinking, now. In consternation her companion regarded her. She loved him! This had been the secret of her wayward moods. Despite himself a great wave of pity swept his chivalrous heart, "i am sorry," he said brokenly. "A true woman's regaru is ueuer uuu a. false friend's treachery. Misr Mercer, when I leave you, it is never to know happiness again, but I may know the - . ? .1 <-.,11 T peace 01 navmg uuhv my inn uuij u * trace this all'air down to the last. I must see Edna?she shall tell me from her own lips what I already know! Then I am content to cherish my misery in silence. Speak! Win my gratitude, at least, by telling mo whither uhe ha9 gooe-1 - - * There waB no reply. Only th? subdued sobs broke the waiting silence. "You know whore Edna is?" persisted Marshall. "Yes, I know!" cried Botrlce, lifting \ her face, flashing with jealousy and emotion; "but do you thins'I will tell you?send you to beg at the feet of a woman unworthy of you? Leave mel j If you are suffering, I am tortured. Oh! cruel! cruel! cruel!" Her frantic hands swept the open portfolio across the desk as 6he shrank kiHtnrr li?>r hnrhiliofinn hpr liUili X1WJJ, ..UM.WiUWVW, ? | jealousy, her love in hot, burning tears. About to speak reassuriagly to her, to j plead with her anew for the- knowledge he so craved, Haymond Marshall started as if dealt a sudden blow. His eyes happened to fall to the open < portfolio. He recoiled, stared closer, i and then sprang to his feet with a wild, j ; intelligent, hopeful cry. For upon a sheet of paper, written : there indubitably by the woman who [ had iust so shame-facedly confessed her love, was the record of hatred and ] treachery that had so nearly blighted . i his life. i There were the first experiments of i , the clever forger to simulate Edna Deane's handwriting. There was a copy of the missive he had received that ' morning. There, too, was the draft ot ' the more masculine epistle that had accompanied it. Beatrice Mercer had looked up at his strange cry. Her eyes met his, follow? ing their glance to the portfolio, and then, shrinking back, her guilty face told the truth. "You wrote that?you wrote those letters!" fairly shouted Marshall. "Oh, blind, wicked that I was, to doubt my true-hearted darling! It was a cruel forgery?a plot Speak, Beatrice Mcr cer! All you have told me, ail tnoso letters told, was a falsehood." Beatrice had snatched up the portfolio. Defiance in her face, she panted like a tigress at lay. "If I did," she cried wildly, "It waa only to save you a fruitless chase. I alone know where Edna Deane has gone. I know that she will never dare write to you or see you again. You hate me, you spurn me?you, for whom I would have given a lifetime of devotion. Then find the pale-faced child you dote over, but never with my help." A great, joyful glow sprang to the face of Marshall. "So be it!" he cried. "Knowing her to be true, knowing all this forgery to be a lie, love will iind a way. Revealed in your true colors at last, I know what to expect of you; but, as I live, I vow : never to rest till I find the woman I ' love, the victim of some dark plot, if I , : pursue her half the world over!" | . He strode from the room and the I presence of the woman of whom he had i made a relentless enemy as he spoke, j strong in the consciousness of love's inighty power. j Yes, be would find the woman he loved, though peril, privation, death , barred his way, and cruel schemers l wrought dangerous pitfalls for his eager feet at every step he took! All these might be evaded. Festi- | ' lence might pass him bv, perils graze Viim imar>nth?rl death itself be warded 1 back by the love that knew no obstacles, but. more weird, more tortuous than he ever dreamed was the path that was | lending him to ihnt far day when, once , again, standing face to face with Edna, he should shrink before a mystery and 1 a plot that would daunt, appall, and ' batl'.e even his bold courage and t-ry his 1 loyal soul a- by an ordeal of firo! I Izo BE CONTINUED.! j | - . TEMPERANCE. ? I A BARBEL OF WBISKT. A drayman rolled fortn Irom his cart to the .street i A. red-headed barrel well bound and complete, And on it red letters, like forked tongues ol , flame. Emblazoned the grade, number, quality, i fame, Of his world-renowned whisky from some- I body's still, Who arn;sted the grain on the way to th< mill. So there stood the barrel, delivered, but I Could see that a shadow was hovering nigh? A sulphurous shadow that grew as I gazed To th^ form of Menhisto. Though sorelj amazed. "I ventured to question this imp of the realm Where Vice is the pilot, with Crime at the helm, Aud asked him polittSy his mission to name, j And if he was licensed"to retail the same Identical barrel of whisky which he Was fondly surveying with demoniac glee'i ' Oh. I never handle the stuff." he replied. ' My partners, mortal, are trusty and tried. IL.yhap, peradventure, you might wish tc look At the invoice complete I will read from thie book. You will find that this barrel contains something more Than forty-two gallons of whisky, galore.' And ?re I could'slip but another word In He checked it off gaily, this cargo of sin: oarroi oi neauacnes, ot nearcacnes, uj woes; A. barrel of curses, a barrel ot blows: A barrel of tears from a world-weary wife; A. barrel of sorrow, a i arrel of strife; A liarrel of all unavailing regret; A barrel of cares ana a barrel ol' debt; A l>arrel of crime and a barrel of pain; A bax-rel of hopes ever blasted and vain; A barrel of falsehood, a barrel of cries That full from the maniac's lips as he dies. A barrel of agony, heavy aud dull, A barrel of poison?of this nearly full; A. barrel of poverty, ruin, and blight; A. barrel of terrors that grow with the night, A barrel of hunger, a barrel of groans; A. barrel of orphans' most pitiful moans; A barrel of serpents that hiss as they puss ?rom the bead on the liquor that glows in the giais? My barrel, my treasure, I bid thee farewell. 5cv/ ye the foul seed. I will reap it in hell!" ?Trestleboard. alcohol and hot weather. Onn of tlie lessons which the falal hoi weather teaches most impressively is the danger in alcoholic stimulants. A very considerable number of the deaths reported from sunstroke were occasioned by too free indulgence in ardent spirits. The first impulse of every human being wheii suffering from the heat is to drink. Sensible people drink sparingly oT iion-alcohrilifi beverages. 1'eonle who are a litlle less sensible drink great quantities of mild drinks. Only suieu'al fools rush to the barroom. Alcohol causes cerebral congestion, which is soon aggravated by high temperature. The alcoholic is always a fair mark forsunstrok?. The cases reported in the newspapers of men falling dead from their chairs when they have not engaged in violent exercise or subjected themselves to exposure are usually found to have been caused by liquor drinking. Then why do men drink in hot weather? That is a question which ama/.us physicians, who sec more reeling drunkards in the ?tr?!ets during a period of hiKh temperature, when a man must be in the finest health to resist <l'-.ith, than at any other time. But it is n:>t rnor? difficult to answer than the question: Why do men driuk at all??Chicago Times-Herald. srr.Ars from jons plowman's almanac. Fools' mouths and tavern doors aro best closed. Where the devil does not go he sends his agent, drink. In the "Mantrap Arms" they catch foois. Blue ribbon and blue sky make many evils lie. The cup of devils should be put away by a shild of God. A gin shop is a bad spot to find good A drinking dame is a special shame. Grog blossoms are not pretty flowers. Which is more loolisb, wasliiDg swino or Jrinking wine? r _ ? : >tL. I LOVELY CARACAS. ? o VENEZUELA'S CAPITAL AND ii SOME OF ITS ATTRACTIONS. b ' G e [lomes of the Inhabitants?An 1mpreseive Capitol?A Famous Co flee c Region ? Statues of Wash- c ington and Bolivar. r 8 /~~Jr ARACAS, for three hundred 1 I / years the oapital of Venezuela. I Vjy presents itself to view -with en- * chanting dramatic effect, 8 writes Almont Barnes in the Washing- I ton Star. One goes by rail or other 6 road up from the edge of the sea at La Guayra, winding among the curves ^ and lifts of the mountains until he is c five thousand feet above that city, be- c yond which the Caribbean looks like < a mill pond, and its fleets like ' 'painted 1 Bhipeon a painted ocean," but five or i Bix miles away. The peak of Naiguita i and La Silla Mountains tower above 1 tii.nii tVinntand feet. UXUbiaCUCO VUiGW HUWM?*? Bat he winds along through the di- ] vide, amid shrubbery and forests of ^ the univebsit: perfect growth and loveliness, and a i bewildering profusion of wild flowers, in* view of a plantation, protected on one side bv a sheer declivity of 1500 feet, and with flocks of swift parrots ! and more brilliant birds above his bead, and all at once at his feet, a thousand feet below, lies Caracas, spread out in a basin of which all i * "* i.-: Bides are apparently muuuitnuB iu tuo south, hazy, golden, f^r-away, as in dreams, bnt hold and dominantjwhere you are passing and along to the nine- i mile distant coast. What a city that i is for a new world?a mosflio of white walls and red roofs, with patches of ! trees in the plazas, palms beyond the city edges, and outlined against the clearest of skies the spires and towers i of public buildings and churches, and then agaiD, beyond the city, cofiee i grows on the mountain side and emerald green crops of alfalfa and cane < pon the plain?the city antique as the crusades, its setting new and fresh i as the youDgest babe of time. Santiago de Leon de Caracas (St. James of the Lion of Caracas) has its last name worthily from an Indian chief. It is a city of romantic history. THE CAPITOL. While the buccaneers swept the Southern seas it never had a carriage road to it from the coast, yet it was captured and sacked by Sir Francis Drake. Then, in 1811, on tl|e 5th of ; July, the revolutionary assembly there : passed its declaration of independence of Spain. There Bolivar was born, liberated 1 his slaves, was President, Dictator and 1 after achieving the independence of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru, and dying in exile and poverty, there his bones are gathered -'ho Poritlionn and liis hronze statue I adornesthe principal plaza. Above and extending down into the newer city are the ruins of the old one, destroyed in 1812 in an earthquake of a few moments' duration, with twelve thonsand or more of its people. 1'he earthquake delayed independence, as the people were taught that thus deity manifested Hie displeasure. The importation of the Spanish method of domestic architecture into tropical America was manifestly wise. No style of dwellings can be more comfortable and healthy outside a snowy zone. High and commodious', rooms built around a large open cen-l //- - * '*J -a * A STKEET i: tral court or patio secure privacy, shade, open air and light, with room for plants and flowers, where women nnrl ohildrPTl are at home out of doors. Caracas is full of such homes, usually j neatly plain outside, but elegant and j invitiDg within. They are eminently | social homes, suited to the inhab- | itants. The capitol js a maEsive building of | ;one and stucco, the legislative part xr eing one grand story, the part for ii ffiues of two, and all the building, p aclosing a large open square, of equal w eight. The style of architecture iB C< rrecian. From the impressive front p ntrance, or from an immense salon p o its left, which contains portraits in iil of all the most distinguished itizene of the country, mostly by lative artists, you may look out upon > statue of Washington, while still arther to the lei*; in the beautiful )laz3 fronting the Casa Amarilla (yelow house) of the President, on one ide, and public offices of large pro)ortions on another, you may see the ennpfltrian statue of Bolivar. "1 The 5th of July is celebrated in 7enezuela officially in each city with >rations in the legislative or municipal hambers, processions headed by the ihief officials and foreign representa/ivee, to the churches, ending with a nass and fireworks. The writer can lever forget one such celebration, in which the orator, as i& usual, lauded SVaehington and Bolivar as the great liberators, and in which, side by side fiorornl f!ftr?hftno. he aided in ' nlvxA ~ I , I |M ; "<\N 0, VIL ' V OF CARACAS. officially representing the two Bepublios. We of the older Republic do not sufficiently appreciate how the best people of the new ones love the liberties they have and the ancient difficulties they have to combat 'in sustaining them. On the western edgejjof^.the city of Caracas is a round hill of considerable extent, upon 'whioh is looated the dis-* tributing reservoir of the city water works, and a fine public garden, adorned with flowers and shrubbery along open and shaded walks, centering at a hcroic statue of Guzman Blanco, the self-styled and to some extent real "illustre Americano" and "regenerador" of his country. He certainly gave it a vigorous forward impulse, and took his pay as he went along. From the hill, which is reached by beautiful carriage ways and walks, one may study at leisure nearly the whole city spread below, the greater +Vio nlmn on/1 t.lio ciiTrnnnd CAbCiiV U1 CUO W? VMW >. v.. ing mountain masses. The view is one of mingled loveliness and grandeur, and when the bells from the numerous churches ring out their chimes and the music comes back in Boftened eohoee, repeated from the mountains, until the air is saturated with softest and almost saddest melody, the unreality of it a>l becomes intense. And then, beneath it all, sleeps the earthquake and the possible ruin. This thought returns and makes paradise iraperlect. Toward the capitol is the splendid ohurch of Santa Ana, and the faoe of its pictured Virgin is as the face of the wife of Guzman Blanco. Nearer is the new theater, the finest in South America, Far to the front is the Masonic Temole. with its twisted and ungraceful columns, and on ground near the foothills of La Silla (the saddle) where the earthquake made havoc, stands the Pantheon, where the bones ol heroes of the independence are enshrined. In removals there of the remains of General Paez, once President, and Admiral Brion, compatriots of Bolivar, the writer was privileged to take part and to hear noble orations in honor of liberty and republican institutions, worthy of any land. If Washington City knew Caracas as Caracas does Washington City, the latter would be always a more interested and willing neighbor. * a I * ? uaracas nas street car uueo iur its 80,000 people; railways reaching inland, and to its seaport at La Guaira and its bathing resort at Macnto; electric light and telephone service, and the telegraph, of course. Its public and National schools, inoluding the University of Caracas, are of well known excellence. It has a large public library, and its book stores and current publications are well patronized. Its people are highly cultivated, intelligent, active, honorable, hospitable and have a genius and destiny of their own. Caracas is flanked and backed by a famous coffee and cacao region, and as these products are the principal ones ol the country's uo called agriculture, I the city becomes the only point of j I S CARACAS. j convergence for them before they are shot down the seaward side of the mountain, through La Guaira, into the export steamers. Caracas cacao is Feconu objy to mat or rjcuauor iu iue . foreigu market, though tho Mexican i is perhaps as ^'ooil; and "La Guaira" t coflee was famous before it became' simply false Mocha and Java. In 1877 coffee was so cheap in all * isrketa?four cents and leea perpound 1 La Guaira? that large numbers of lantations were destroyed and reset ith cacao trees. But since the use of offee now increases faster than the roduction, coffee raising has become rofitable beyond most products, and GENEBAL BOLIVAB's STATUE. Venezuela is gaining greatly in pros* perity, and Caracas planters in easily earned wealth, many citizens having country plantations, and taking life more without care than the old cotton planters. The enchanting Venezuelan capital would be, with the sanitary care ol tbis capita] city, one of the healthiest cities of the world. At present it ia one of the safest of Sontb American cities, seldom being tronbled even with yellow fever, and then in mild form. Latterly more care has beeD given to sanitation, with obvions benefit. Bnt usually it is a safe as well as a delightful city to visit, where "Eng? lish is spoke" as well as Spanish, and an American mav ohance to meet several of his countrywomen married and happy there, among them Mrs. Santana, a daughter of Josh Billings, who, with her family, sometimes makes a visit "home." Another Mammoth Care. Another mammoth cave has been discovered in Kentucky. James Hoar* ino, E. N. Ingram and John H. Hurst made an exploration of a cave at the limestone quarry near Pineville. They report going into\he earth half a mile and finding a small lake some eighteen or twentv feet square, of ice water. They brought out with them some stalactites aud other peculiar formations. It is at present wet and muddy, and after leaving the entrance and going back about one hundred feet, one comes to a precipice about twenty-five or thirty feet high, and down which people must let themselves with a rope or ladder. It is not yet known how far back the cave extends, nor if it will become popular as a place of resort.?Atlanta Constitution. . A Great Chinese Beauty, Here is a curious and quite authentic portrait of one of the most celebrated actresses in China. In Pekin ji^i His CONSIDERED A BEAUTY Df CHINA. she is considered to be very beautiful. It would seem that Eastern and Western notions as to what constitutes beauty differ even more widely than one would have thought. The Red Man and the lJicycle. "The noble red man may yet be civilized by means of bioycles," said A. L. Bartlett, of Beatrice, Neb., at the Regent. "The Otoe tribe have steadily resisted all efforts to induce them to become citizens, and their- numbers 1?- ''-inJio/i nr?m Vinf. few of them JiUVC Uniuuicu uuv** remain. In fact, there are few more Indians in Nebraska now than in New York and Indiana. A few days ago one of the chiefs of the Otoe tiibe visited Beatrice and became much interested in bicycles. The owner thought it would be fun to let the old Indian learn to ride, and it was not long before the chief had mastered the art. Then he must have a wheel of his own, and not having any money he traded four ponies for one. He rode it to the reservation and nest day half e dozen Indians came to town, bringing pcnies to trade for bicycles. 'Bide taster. No feed,' they say, and when the bicycle manufacturers learn thif new field it is probable that they will reap n harvest, und the Inaitfns tih lay asule their primitive customs ant1 join the L. A. W. in a body."?Washington Star. What the Father Said. Pnoxsutawnoy vonng men are o! careless speech, according to a Joca' paper, which says that ono of them faking his sweerheart home said tc her on reaching the gate, "Just, one," und was painfully surprised to hem her father's voice through a lattice, saying, "Your watch is an hour fast: it isn't more than 12, but it's time you were taking your sneak."?New Yorh Stiri. A Station Indicator. The introduction of advertisements rvn tl-io n-nllo nf tliA railroad stations in London has made it necessary foi the Metropolitan Rnilway to introduce a station indicator to announce to the passengers the name of the statioD which the train he is riding in is approaching. AN OCEAN FREAK. The Deep Sea Fish Known as "Black Swallower." Tbe chiasmodon is one of the r creatures known to science, three specimens of it have ever seen, so far as naturalists have record. And of these none was 1 alive. The chiasmodon is gene known as the "black swallower." is not understood that he has any sion on earth except to swallow, the only reason he ever comes to d that he does his work too well, "black swallower" is a deep sea dwelling, when he is at home, in a iROfi fathoms of water. The specimens that have been-obtafl have all been picked ap in the Nfl Atlantic, not far from the NewfcH land coast. They are built for H business. In color they are H black, as the name indicates, sa\S the stomach. The body is lonf^J of almost nniform thiokness. taper of the tail is very abrupt, fl are devoid of soales. The skin ieH fectly smooth. A scaly coat lnieriere wim perxeuu <u??vi.;n that is the "black swallower'a" earily strong point He must st9| or bis job is gone. H Of course, this fish, swallowing? monsters that he does, must hifl month constructed eSDeoially foifl purpose.. His head is subcon shape, narrowing forward, and egregious, all swallowing mod deeply cleft. It runs away ba his eyes and is filled with teeth, i are long and movable so as to b< ten out pf the way if need be. ' therm ore, they point baekward, the teeth of a snake, so that once THE CHUSMODON "WHEN G0B3E1 ing seized the tail of another fit Aan lof rrr\ T7n rmnof r?A l/OU JJCYC1 tcv gUi AXO uiuov gv whole figure, engorge his victic fail and be trailed along opon-mou until he dies. When dinner time oomes ant chiasmodon is very hungry he se a fish about twice his own length of almost any bulb. He approj his prey cautiously from behinc seizes him firmly in that giant m( After the first brief flight and stri are over the real job of swallowin gins. The jaws are nnbipged steadily the swallower climbs ove victim. This is the time whei elastic skin is called into play. I this stage of the proceeding the c modon has been a long, lean fish xt_ a - "L 1 as ine prey uiBappeara niuu vy within those horrid jaws it is cro' down into the stomaoh, which dial to accommodate it. What Tapioca Is. Tapioca is not a grain, but a kit starch made from the roots of a j known as Janipha manihot, w grows in South America in the to zone, it is, in fact, a similar pro to the starch of the potato, and any nearer than that of being a at grain. The fleshy roots are gr and washed in water jnst the san potatoes are, and the starch settW the bottom, the water is drawn off xv. -A 1. ?i, me Biarou is ueuteu uu uuu when it swells np into the shap which it is kept for sale in the sti A curious property of this root, w is also called cassava, is that in stage of this process the starch tains a virulent poison, of w twenty drops will kill a man in a minutes; this, however, ia drivei by the'heat. Of the two ophr <-?net.Vint. taninfia. in n, crrain and anc wMvrM?. ? r ~ O . that it is a mixture of rice and caai neither is right.?New York Time Bat Hunting in Washington. "Bat hunting is our favorite at ment and occupation these % nights," said a resident of MoPlie Square, "for all of a sudden and out any previous notice we hav< visitors in profusion every n Their headquarters seems to be i KTove of trees in McPherson Sq though their visits are by no i limited to our immediate neig hood, for I have heard of their to houses four or five blooks di I from us. Though the bats are u ! ally large they do not seem be 1 any harm and after annoying a j some cases frightening those visit they depart only to returi^H ebort time, probably the next ni^| ?Washington Star. fl| Noble Charities. flj The -will of the late Xatha^B Graves, of Syracuse, N. Y.f prcB for the erection of a home in theflj for indigent aged people. Mr. estate is estimated at SoOO.OOC^B about $100,000 of this is bequ^H to the home. The will also Svrucnse University a beneficial I the amount of $10,000, the incoH| which is to be applied to a lectn^H on missions, anil which will perp^H the course to which Mr. Graves^H ally for some years had given New Orleans Picayune. In Storms Take to tlie TroI^B "There are some people wb^H mortally afraid during a th^H storm," said Vice-President Hut^J of the Citizens' Company, the -3 NTkrt^ rtrtnnnf fi n rl CL QO.T?tt^^H UUV. IIJCIAIIUUUI UUV ad jwhere than on board of an e^H car. Lightuing cannot-strike because they are absolutely prq^H against such danger. If they we^Hj and the electric fluid should stril^H it would go to the power hou^H burn out the whole plant."?I^B Free Pres9. Is Young Tct. A four-year-old girl id CalifoMB said to be able to repeat from I anything she lifts ever oenru.^M will improve in time. When^H old enough to join a chnrch circle ehe will doubtless be abl^H peat things she never heard.? Express. mgM