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\ J\ POIN J "\ C jj ANNIE \> 1 J EDWARDS. CHAPTER II. 2 Continued. 'Tin vnn w>? thp Tpnnnnts' h^rase. Mr. Mohun? Look straight away to the right, across those last larches -which ilivide Yatton from the moor. It used to hide its' intrusiveness and look almost respectable when the great elms iwere standing; but that old Goth, Mr.? Tennant, had them all cut dowr; last autumn, and the effect is, as you see ?no, as you do not see. Are you really looking for tiie Tennants' house in the centre of your own woods, Mr. Mohun? ?or haven't you heard a word of all the interesting country news 1 have l)een so busily telling you?" Now, Gifl'ord was thinking neither of Mr. 'Pennant's house nor of his own larches, but of his companion's fair little outstretched hand. Very pleasant hands to hold between tone's own, Gifford thought. Ac almost irresisuDie lmpmse oytrarae him, then and there, to take her !hnnd in his and kiss it, and ask her to give it to him for good. But he did not. Something in the girl's soft, unruffled face held him back from going to such fierce extremes just yet; and all he did do was to sigh very deeply, and then, blushing, I believe, to say he -r>?t hooril -arhnt Miss firfllld ?aid?and?and?he rather thought he must have been attending to something else. "The Tennants have grown up extremely pretty," remarked Jane, very quietly, and without blushing at all. 'Aggie, in particular, the one who used to be thought so jplain when they were children. Have you seen them yet?" Yes, Gifford had 6een them. The Tenuant family had been at Yatton that morning, and the young ladies had kindly assisted in presiding over fiome of the outdoor festivities. "Ah"?and the slightest shadow passed over Jane's heart. "Aggie is .vei-y pretty, indeed, isn't she? I don't think I ever saw such lovely eyes in any other face." "Well, they are neither of them beauties," said Gilford, indifferently; "and, cf the two, Miss Tennant is tne nancisomer. The little one?Aggie, did you call her?" (he had had quite a flirtation with poor Aggie that morning; and Jtier mamma and sister had already speculated upon the advantages of her future position as Mrs. Mohun of Yatton)?"the little one laughs too much, and inclines toward fat." "You think Miss Tennant very handsome, then?" "Better looking than her sister, certainly; but I am not in raptures about Jeither of them. My taste in beauty is difficult to please, Miss Grand!" And Gilford tried hard to look sentimental. "Your taste will be very unlike that cf all the rest of the world if you don't admire the Miss Tennants. I hear no girls get on so well at balls as they do; and both of them have received what Miss Lynch calls most eligible offers. ICS, inueea, jur. xuoiiuu, au j.e<u juai. ileal earnest, although you do look so skeptical. Mr. Tennant is so near about settlements and money that every one of the engagements have t>ecn broken off; but that the offers (were made is certain. Robert Nash, of the Craig, was the last. He wanted to inarry Aggie." "A Nash would do anything for money," said Gifford, with a somewhat supercilious uprising of the eyebrows, "even down to marrying a daughter of ?Id Tennant's." "You are very severe upon the Tenoants, Mr. Mohun. I suppose you think It a thoroughly degrading thing for a man to have made his money in trade?" Jane spoke quickly, and her cheeks , . grew hot. "I was not thinking of trade at al!," answered Gifford. "I was thinking of common honesty when I spoke of the kind of feelings a man must have who wish tn inherit Mr. Tennant's money, or to become the husband of one of Mr. Tennant's daughters." "But at least Bertha and Aggie are Innocent of all that their father may Siave done years and years ago. It is ivory haril to visit the- sins of fathers upon their children, I think." "Well, you need be under no fear of parental transgressions being too harshly remembered in the case of tlie Miss '.Pennants," said Gifiord, laughing. "I give a little eccentric opinion of my own when I say that I would rather marry the daughter of any honest farmer in the county; but there are plenty of men in the world?Mr. Robert Nash at their head?who hold a directly opposite opinion. As many thousands of pounds as Mr. Tennant possesses can cover a multitude of sins." "I think charity forbids us to impute evil to any one. Mr. Mohun." "But I don't think charity compels us to become MY.* Tennant's son-in-law, Miss Grand. A man with a good, broad pair of shoulders, like Mr. Robert Nash's, could find better ways of getting his bread than by buying it rvvitlx ill-gotten money." "And if lir? refillv should liaonen to care a little for Aggie, as well as for tier, fortune?" Miss Grand persisted. "Well, if a man fell in love with one of the Miss Tennants, without knowing Mr. Tennaut's history, and found it , out afterward, lie would be placed in a delicate position, certainly?that is t(* *ay, if he was a inan of decently honest feelings, not a Itobert Nash." "And how would you have him act? How would you act yourself, were you in such a nosition. Mr. Mohun?" "I should decline ?pressing my suit juiy further," said Gilford, with decision. "My children should not ho born to a stained name through any mere want of moral courage of mine." "Ah!" "You look very grave, Miss Grand. 'Allow me to ask if I am upsetting any little prearrangement of your own in positively declining to fall in love with 1 ok, | \ FOR HER FATHER'S 1\ T \ SIN. | F Vj I HONOR.;\ | either of the Miss Tennants?" Jane smiled, but her smile -was a forced one. She by no means wished Gifford to fall in love with either of the Miss Tennants. She had heard, not without satisfaction, that he did not think them as handsome as it was the fashion for other persons in that neighborhood to call them. But a strange, an indefinable pain smote her heart when he. spoke of Mr. Tennant's past life. What interest had she in such a subject at all? What was Mr. Tennant's good or evil repute to her? Nothing?she knew that; but the pain she could not account for was at her heart still, to be remembered through long after years as the first dark whisper of her own fate?tie skeleton whose grim hand had been upon her, though with faint, unsteady hold, even in those earliest moments of the one festival of her life. "I am thinking, Mr. Mohun; I am pondering on what you have just said." "And youarriveat the conclusion?" "I arrive at the conclusion"?she looked very steadily in his eyes as she said this?"that you have never known anything at all about really deep feeling. A person who, who knew what love was, could not speak of 'pressing his suit no further,' just as though he were deciding about some mere matter of business, and not very important business, either. If you were engaged to Aggie Tennant?no, we will leave poor Aggie alone, and speak generally? if you were engaged to any one you really cared for, you would not change merely because you found out something in her father's history to be disapproved of." "You speak as one having authority, Miss Grand. I defer to you. I have never been in love yet, as you justly surmise. I know nothing about the laws and canons of the passion. EvimiiloKfitnnil tho whnlf* thine UCUUJ JVTU uuutiotwMu ? c , thoroughly. I submit." "Mr. Mohun, I understand nothing about it, either; but I know?I mean I feel?that no one really in love could change, on principle, as you talk of doing." And then Gifford answered?something which I dare say would not appear strikingly clever if it were to be recorded here?something, however, which had the effect of making Miss Grand's heart flutter, and her eyes sink down from his face. And then she remembered that it was already past j tbe time at which she had promised Miss Lynch to return; and, as it was getting so late, she thought she must really go back the shortest way to Chesierford, although that walk through the lower plantation was rather a lonely one as evening fell. Gifford would go with her. Oh, dear, no! she could not let Mr. Mohun take so much trouble for worlds?just as far as the outskirts of the last plantation, then?she could get on quite well alone when she once found herself in the open fields by the village. And the moon was shining high and clear above their heads when Mohun left Jane Grand at the garden gate of her own cottage that night. CHAPTER III. ' Trial- n Mohtm of Yatton should so far lose himself as to fall in love with a young woman Jn the position of Jane Grand, was one of those aberrations concerning which the high moral sense of county society, generally, could entertain but one opinion. When It became known (as everything becomes known within twentyfour .hours in a village) that GifTord MohUn had been seen in Yatton woods with Miss Grand on the evening of his birthday?lrjstead of presiding, as he should have done, at the public parish rejoicings?and that lie had called at Jane's house early the next morning and had accompanied Jane and Miss Lynch in their walk upon the same afternoon?when these tilings became known, mauy and bitter were the things said about Miss Grand by all the matron-tongues within five miles of Chesterford, many and pitying the remarks as to that poor silly lad's foolishness, and the danger in which he stood of becoming seriously entangled with so designing and forward a young person as his immediate neighbor. Could any one interfere? Could any one open his eyes for him? Would it not, at least, be one'? duty to let liim know that Miss uranu uau oeen considered as living under a cloud ever since she first took up her abode In the parish of Chesterford? There was a mystery about tier. What was she ever sent into that part of the country for, at all? What real relation was Miss Lynch to her? Was there, in reality, any relationship between them? What did they do when they went to London once in three years? They had no visitors; they had scarcely ever any letters; there was evidently something exceedingly odd about them; and they had a small income. Perhaps it was that last sin of omission which threw out all their other transgressions and shortcomings into such fearfully strong relief. One fact was certain; good society in general had not a dissentient remark to offer whenever the names of Miss'Grand ana nor govtrik^s weir hhthuhcu. Tliey were not visited; tiiey were jiving under a cloud. "Bui you are taking a desperately hold step in asking nie to your ball, Mr. Mohun. 1 suppose you think no one will be angry with you, whatever you do, but I can assure you I hardly think Mrs. 'Pennant and her daughters will be able to breathe through the evening with me in the room. Jane Grand at Yatton! the very idea is too shocking." "Do you think so?" said GifFord, in his tender, melting tones. "Now to me ??W?I Ik"?? the very idea Is too delightful?Jane Grand at Yattcn!" It was a -week now since the first meeting in the woods, but Mohun and Jane felt as if they had seen each other daily for years past; as if no break in time had existed between the days of valentines and this delicious rose-colored present. As Janeprotested against the honor of meeting all the county on terms of equality at Yatton she was standing?not in a romantic position, reader?bat picking raspberries in her I own little cottage garden, with that fine gentleman, Mr. Gifford Mohun, humbly holding a basin of very ordinary yellow ware by her side. "We shall see what the Tennants think and do," she went on, in that happy voice into which no ring of sorrow had ever as yet entered. "But I can hardly picture to my imagination what I shall feel when I find myself actually in the presence of them all. Of course, you know, Mr. Mobun, that I am not, and never have been, visited by any of the country people?" "I suppose Miss Lynch has not thought you old enough to go out yet?" said Sir. Mohun, hotly. This fact of Jane's not being visited was just the one thing about her that he liked the least The woman he admired ought to be at the head of society?courted, looked up to, popular? as he himself meant to be. "It is simply absurd to think of such people as the Tennants not wishing to visit you. I should be very sorry indeed to think of your being intimate with them." "Why, Mr. Mohun?" "I think I told you once before wny I disliked them. Old Tennant made his money dishonestly. It is a disgrace to all the people in this neighbdrhood that they let his past life be burled for the sake of his present money." "But there are other people in the county beside the Tennants, and they none of them know me. No, Mr. Mohun, the fact can neither be denied nor explained away. I am quite old enough to get out; Miss Lynch would have let me go to parties for the last three years if I had been invited?but I never have been; and the strangest thing is," she added rather mournfully, "that I have no idea why I am excommunicated. I am sure Miss Lynch is as nice and well educated as any lady in the neighborhood, and I have been brought up by her, and I have never done anything that I know of to prejudice people against me. But still the prejudice *- * - *#? VfrvVinn T 0 in nnt vis t* A J K IE. llTiSf XTJL i . jxxvsum**, M. ?... ited, and however kindly you mean it, you are taking a bold step in inviting me to Yatton." If she had known all the hidden weaknesses of GifFord's heart, Jane could not have played upon them with ' greater success than she did by the; wistful earnestness of this little simple speech. It was disgusting, 110 doubt, that a girl he meant to love?(he had actually progressed thus far in the last ten minutes)?should have been, hitherto, in a subordinate position to such people as the Tennants. But was he not Mohun of Yatton? the possessor of the oldest name, of the best blood, in half th? country? Would not his wife be a member of his family? Would it not be delightful to see the homage with which all the neighborhood would receive her as soon as they perceived her to be, as it were, hallowed and ennobled by her presence? The idea did not present itself under the aspect of vanity or intense selfishness to Gifford. He thought lie should be performing a singularly honorable I action in putting public opinion on one I side for the sake of Miss Grand's pretty face; and his voice shook with I genuine emotion as, bending over her, low?and this time taking her. hand, without subterfuge or concealment, in his?he began to whisper about the importance ui wuai llicj uiuuDui, each other, not of what the world thought; and how he would not give a ball or any other festivity unless Jane promised to be there; and "And I hope, Miss Grand, that that will not be the last time you will come to Yatton!" (To be continued.) Voices of the Marsh. There is a quality in the frogs' serenade that strikes in one's mind the chord of sadness, in another the chord of contentment. To me it is the chant of the savage, just as the hoot of an owl or the bark of a fox brings my mind back to the wilderness. We have been occupied with thoughts of the world when out of the night s>nn-.nc< +1*o cnft ornnn nf fl little SPreGCll I WlilCO 11AC OU1.V ViVVf* v*. ? ...... owl and we arc brought back to nature at once. Our cities are new?this cry is almost ns ancient as the hills. It belongs with the soil beneath our towns. It is the spirit of the past crying to us. Old books,carry us back to our racial periods, but this cry takes us back from all books. So the dirge of the frog is the cry of the spirit of river and marsh land. That old bull's croak, how old he must be, probably greatgrandsire of the lesser fry. He must be ancient. At least he is the chief exponent of the ancient order of things.?Walter King Stone, in Recreation. Tripe For the Aristocracy. It would be worth while, if we wish the poorer classes to adopt some sensible nourishing food, for philanthropic ladies and gentlemen to make it the fashion at their own tables, writes Lady .Greville in the London Graphic. Let them breakfast on porridge and milk, dine on tripe, and end up the ftvnniiirr wiih Rtowort nnions. cabbaees. I ' mashed potatoes and sausages, and a fresh haddock. "Tripe a la Duchess," "Sheep's trotters a la Marquise," or "Haddock a la General," "Porridge a la John Burns," "Beans a la Bernard Shaw," might bccome the fashionable dishes of the future. Gorman Army CIiHnjyoa Color. The authorities of the German Army have decided to alter the color of the militarj- uniform. The dark blue color is to be discarded as unfit for service in the field, and a cloudy gray shade has been chosen. Three battalions of the German Army are already supplied with, the new uniforms. In shape the trousers are to remain as before, and the caps and helmets will not be changed. The tunic, however, is to be looser in the waist.?London Standard. The locomotives on the new fast expresses between Cologne and Berlin are built after an American pattern. < In Quito, Ecuador, it ie usual to uncover one's head when there is a flash of lightning. This ie probably a relic of fire-worshiping days. * * "* ? TTTtrn ft KnUiflfl All Old man uumea j\uas woo uuu<.u in Egregy, Hungary, with his fortune of $17,000 in his coffin. His relatives heard of it and exhumed his body and divided the money. A Paris bicycle thief who had stolen a bicycle belonging to a M. Marcel Brunard, was impaled on a mechanical poniard which the owner had concealed in the saddle of the machine for such emergencies. An egg with a perfect yolk and containing another egg about the size of a linnet's egg, which also had a good shell and was perfect, has been laid by a hen belonging to a Swindon (England) tradesman. Many curious instances of old laws may still be found in England. In Chester the man who fails to raise his hat when a funeral is passing becomes liable by an old law to be taken before a magistrate and imprisoned. Organ grinders in Vervieres, Belgium, are by law compelled -to appear every morning before the police superintendent and play their instruments. The organs which chance to be out of tune must be set in order before a license to play on the streets will be granted. The following is an official report sent to his superior by the station master at Nimba, on the Uganda Rail of AiasKan moose aic j.i ~ Museum, at Chicago. Tliey have a spread of seventy-eight and one-half inches, and weigh ninety-three and one-half pounds.?From "Heads and Horns," by W. T. Hornaday, in Scribner's. Schiller's Mean lteronco. When Schiller was a boy at school he was tormented by a Swiss tutor named Kuplig, who came from the Grlsons canton. Years later, when tho poet wrote "The Robbers," he reveuged himself on Kuplig and the Grisons by introducing this little speech: "To bo a scamp you must have genius. Moreover, a special climate is needed for the growth of scamps, and to prove this I recommend you to visit the Grisons canton. It is the veritable Athens of modern rascality." In the later editions of "The Robbers" this quaint pit of spleen does not appear. It is suggested that Schiller was not moved to expunge it by any remorseful feeling, but by a very forcible protest from the residents of the abused canton against this calumny. Cnnsp of ITcadficlie. As is naturally to be expected, thf commonest cause of headaches is some nervous disturbance or weakness irritated by some experience lin?? nf Imnlth which in prime cuimiuuu v.. would produce no perceptible effect. The common causes are therfore of two classes, namely, tliose which previously exist within the body and those which exist outside of it and excite the inner or latent evils into action. Only Auiorlcan Lire Guard. Marshall Roberts occupies the more or less enviable position of being the only native born American who ever became an officer in the British Life Guards. way:* "To station xsairooi, irum ?iuiion Venani. From station master. Guard No. 2 reports struck giraffe at mile 158. No damage to permanent way or train. Driver states giraffe ran off uninjured." A difference of opinion seems to have risen over the effect of firing a candle at a board. For a long time the ancient tradition lias held its own that a soft tallow hurled at the mark by a musket would put a hole through an ordinary plank. Yet here comes a gunbearer who declares that he has tried the experiment and finds the material of the candle wildly scattered upon the target. Of course, with present-day rifles and brechloaders it may not be possible to discharge a candle effectively from a military arm or from the latest style of sporting guns. But It would certainly be a pity to leave the question unsolved. THt ALASKAN MOOSE; Wonderfol Antlers of TliU Northern Besot of the Wllitg. * "" ><>? hoon cni/1 nllOIlt the A11C1 UJi JUU0 Ubl/U UH.v. horns of the world's greatest horned animals, there are positively none that equal in impressiveness the gigantic mass that crowns the head of a really big Alaskan moose. Take them in situ, as the geologists say, on the head of their rightful owner, and in length, breadth and thickness they inspire in the mind of every intelligent human being a feeling of genuine awe. I do not see how even an intelligent dog or horse can behold a pair of seventy-inch moose antlers without being, profoundly impressed. The antler springs horizontally from an upper corner of tl?e head, on a stem of solid bone that is like the trunk of a hickory sapling. A foot or so from the burr it throws off toward the front, quite gratuitously as it were, two or three big spears of bone that are of much use in a flght. As soon as there is room for real development, the main stem flattens out into an enormous slab of bone, perhaps two inches in thickness, from twelve to eighteen inches wide, and from two to three feet long. This is the "palrnation," and a very appropriate name it is, too; for in the centre it is hollowed like a human palm, and studded along its upper edge with from six to twelve fingers and thumbs of solid bone. In sheer exuberance of strength, and excess of horn material, an Alaskan moose antler occasionally throws off from the lower surface of its palm, or it may be from the front of the beam, a big, rugged spur-root of bone, which always has an extra-impressive effect on the beholder. The largest antlers ? "+I10 KMolrt j RESOURCES OF THE MIKADO. Japan In Mot an Asricnltaral Conntry. ? Says Mr. Millard. First among the natural resources of the country are its agricultural products. An impression has gone abroad that the Japanese are remarkably skilful agriculturists, who cultivate up to its utmost productivity the arable land of their national domain, and not a little of the present sympathy Western peoples feel for the Japanese desire to acquire new territories is based upon the prevailing notion that the country cannot support its present population. It will probably surprise many people to learn that there i9 now only about one-half the arable land of Japan in cultivation. Some time before the war the Japanese Government appointed a commission to inquire into the state of agriculture In the realm, which in due time reported certain facts bearing thereon. Commenting upon the findings of this commission, one of the looillnff nnrJ mrtro ortnooruatlTA nfltlVA journals had this to say: "According to the latest statistics compiled by the Geological Investigation Bureau of the Department' of Agriculture and Commerce, the present total area of cultivated fields in Japan forms only 13 2-3 per cent, of her total area. Comparing this with I the ratios of cultivated land in foreign countries it will be seen that the land cultivated by countries in Europe covers from one-third to one-half of the total land area. * * * From the above (figures) it will be seen that Japan still has forty-eight per cent, of the total land area which can be turned into cultivated land. There is at present about 5,000,000 cho (a cho is equal to 2.45 acres) of cultivated land in the country, leaving some 4,500,000 cho to be still cultivated. Should efforts be made to turn -this arable land to advantage, the increase of population is little to be feared." Not only is it true that half tho land in Japan which might be made productive is now producing nothing, but ??? ? +V*n*- nr)i{/th 4a In ^tilflwofinn r1nt*u CV Cli luftb nuivu 10 <u vuiutuuwu \*v? w not produce what it should. Here again I come in conflict with existing popular impression. The average tour-, ist in Japan, observing the tiny fields and generally neat aspe;t of agricultural conditions, junjps at once to the conclusion that the Japanese are expert farmers. Nothing could be further from the truth.?"The Financial Prospects of Japan," by Thomas F. Millard, in Scribner's. Automobile Farming. A new and special type of automobile has recently been put on the mar ket in iScotiana wmcn ib aesigneu ?bpecially for farm work, and which is not only suitable for plowing, but may be equipped with a cultivator or reaper. It will prepare the ground and sow the seed at one operation, and can be operated at a better speed than a horse. Thus, when plowing, it can cover from six to seven acres a day, and goes over the field so as to leave it in final shape for cultivation. When not in use in the Aeld, the motor can be used to drive all farming machinery, and when plowing, the cost of fuel, labor and deprecation, has been computed at $1 per acre,, or less than one-half the expense of plowing by horse. It is interesting to note that the cost of the machine is about $1500, an amount that does not seem prohibitive for a large farm, where a thorough test of the new machine could readily be made. The automobile, unlike the farm animal, does not have to be fed when it is not working, and it is here that a substantial element of economy caa probably be se Cured.?Harpers wec&ijr. An Austrian Custom. One of the oddest of the Austrian customs is the result of legislation. According to law every house must be closed from 10 o'clock at night until G o'clock the following morning. During that time each house is in charge of an attendant known as the "Hausbesorger," or caretaker. In large apartment buildings this Hausbesorger is usually a uniformed porter. Every person entering the house between 10 at night and C in the morning mustpay to the Hausbesorger twenty hellers (four cents). This gives rise to a curious condition. Naturally the man who comes home at early hours need not necessarily pay anything, while the man who habitually gets in at 2 or^3 in the morning is a frequent- contributor to the Hausbesorger's bank account. Inquiry of the Hausbesorger concerning Mr. A. may result In the startling information that he is a most disreputable, mean sort of man, while the night hawk Mr. B. will undoubtedly be lauded as a splendid fellow of excellent reputation. As a conservator of the public morals, therefore, the Hausbesorger can hardly be called a success. ?Outlook. J. A Tip Frmn the Uenoli. "When Judge McCay was on the bench for the Northern District of Georgia, the attorneyship of which the . President has offered Representative Carter Tate," said a Georgia representative, "a young lawyer secured the attention of the judge and told hini that he wished a postponement of a case in which lie was to appear for the defendant. The case was one of simple moonshining, hut the lawyer contended that it would take several hours for the argument. can understand all you will have to say in an hour's time." said the judge. "I am satisfied I shall take fully eight hsurs in my argument,' contended the lawyer. '"Very well; have your own way; !>tit it will take the prisoner about three years to tell why lie employed you.' "?Philadelphia Ledger. i linRland'H Visitors. When she is in England the feminine Australian dosnises and rejects Australia. It is jiot so with the American woman or the Canadian. They are, it is true, possessed of a mania of admiration for all old things, and make extravagantly enthusiastic pilgrimages 1 to such shrines as the Fleet street tavern where Dr. Johnson is reported to have lifted his elbow, to Stratford-onAvon or Windsor Castle?hut run down any part of the> American continent, and he edified hy the fine way in which they bite your head oft!?Sydney Bulletin. THE SUNDAY SCHOOL INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS FOR NOVEMBER 5. Subject: Either Pleading For Her People, E?th. It., 10 to v., 3?Golden Text, P?a. exlv., 20?Memory Yeroca. 13,14 ?Commentary on the Day's Lerton. t * . ' < , I. Mordecai and Esther (vs. 10-14). Mordecai learned of thjs terrible de- ( eree and sent word to Queen Esther j and asked her to intercede with the 'I king for the preservation of her race. 1 10. "Haiach." An officer appointed to wait on the queen. 11. "All?do< | know," etc. It was a universal rule, ? known by all. The object of this law 4 was to maintain both the dignity and nf thfi Irlncr an cnanfro " _ Persian monarcbs are always repre- j sented as holding a long tapering staff J in the right hand. "Have not beent I called." She therefore had just cause to fear that the king's affections were I alienated from her, "and that neither I her person or her petition would be ac- I ceptable to him." Oriental monarchs * were fickle and despotic; In attempting to save her .people the queen must risk everything. Tire ardor for the king had for the time cooled toward Esther, and she feared she had lest * her influence with the monaVcb, and * if so how could she hope to influence 1 him for the salvation of the despised 8 Jews. We must not be surprised that * Esther shrank from obeying the summons of Mordecai. She proved her he- 8 rojsm by deciding to go in unto the king, knowing as she did the danger ~ to which she was exposed. Let. us learn (1) tnat it is right to carefully * estimate difficulties; (2) that we should J never ho disrmirflsred herause there * are difficulties; (3) that those who go at the call of duty, In the face of difficulties, may expect divine support. 13. "Think not," etc. It seems that Esther had not been known us a Jew, but the fact would be brought to light and in the general slaughter she would ' perish with her people. 14. "Then will relief and deliverance arise" (R. V.)? Mordecai had strong faith that God would not allow the Jewish nation to be destroyed. "But thou," etc. Yon will not escape destruction, but you will lose an. opportunity of saving your people. "Who knoweth." God may have put you in your present position that you might be the means of saving your people in this hour of darkness. It is a great blessing to have some work assigned us by God, and to see God's hand in our lives, accomplishing that work. This makes us strong, and renders life glorious, since It is a plan jf the almighty and all-wise God. Several motives influenced Esther in.this hazardous undertaking: 1. She was m danger. 2. Mordecai's words tnat ieliverance would come from some athgr source and tLat she would lose the opportunity of saving her people. 3. The suggestion that God had brought her to her present,position that 3he might be a deliverer in this terrible hour. 4. The assurance she had that God would give her success. II. The three day*' fast (vs. 15-17). 16. "Fast ye for Me." In My behalf. Fasting implies humiliation, repentance, consecration to God, faith in God, prayer to God. It was the expression, outwardly, of the intense desires of the heart. Only God could .rive success to her efforts. "Three days." It has been supposed that Esther could not have meant an absolute fast?complete abstinence from both food and drink?for so long a period as three days; but the time intended, from the evening of the first to the morning of the third day, need not have much exceeded thirty-six hours. "My maidens." They were probably cither Jews or proselytes to that religion. and thus Would be' In sympathy with her. "If I perish." I -win put forth every possible effort to save my people even though I perish in the.attempt. The great danger to which Esther was exposed will be seen more clearly when we consider the despotic nature of Xerxes. When he was on his way to Greece he baited at Cellenae, a city of Phrygia, where he was entertained by Pythias with incredible magnificence. Pythias even offered to contribute some millions of dollars toward the expenses of the war. But when Pythias begged as a favor that, of his five sons in the king's army, the Mdest might be left with him in his old age, the brutal monarch went into a rage, and caused the son to be slain in the presence of his father, the body to be divided into two parts, and placed the one part on one side of the road, and the other on the other, and ordered the whole army to march between them. 17. "Mordecai went his way." He went (1) believing. (2) obeying. (3) praising. r IJI. Esther's success (vs. 1-3). 1. tl "The king sat." The position of the j1 king was such that he could see all \ who came into the court. h 2. "Saw Esther." As the king sat a upon the throne, the two were face to ^ face, though there was quite n distance jj between them. It was a critical n:o- ^ ment, though Esther did not forget that "the heart of the king was in the b hand of the Lord." "Touched.... e sceptre." This was, no doubt, the usual Sl ? ? ? ^ *? Irltwr'o fot'Al' " A Q 1| way ui ntcciJuuK me ?n?b o ...... tj the sceptre was the ensignof the highest ]j find most absolute authority in the king, so the queen's touching it, or, as some say. kissing it, was a token of her subjection and thankfulness for his favor. ? Thus Esther's mission was so far suecessful. At this time she invited the . king and Hainan to a banquet, though ? the king doubtless understood that, this . was preliminary to-a request of greater importance. The banquet was held; p and yet Esther did not dare to present ^ her real request. She simply asked r| her guests to come again the next day. Then follows Hainan's downfall and ? death and Mordecai's elevation to , power. The remaining chapters of the . book of Esther tell us how the Jews were saved, from destruction. * Pencil ia Appendix. Robert Hanners, a baker, walked into the County Hospital, at Chicago, 111., v and said to the phj'sician in charge: Cl "Doctor, two years ago I swallowed n a lead pencil and it's bothering me a sJ bit." The doctor laughed at him, but Hanners stuck to his story and com- ti plained of a severe pain in his right 0 cSsl/v TTio An ca -nrne rlio nrimcorl O C q n? ? ijIUUi J_tIO TT U<9 uiu^uvuvu uv7 v*j> pendicitis tliat required immediate op- S1 eration. The pencil, five inches in P length, and sharpened at one end, was 0 found imbedded in the appendix. 'c ii Pussy Feeds a Robin. Close rival to the Bowdoinham cat is the Richmond feline who w^is seen early the other morning providing food ,t] for a younfr robin. When seen by his mistress, this tenderhearted kitten was * busily engaged in dropping food into c< the wide stretched mouth of the young bird, who seemed in nowise disturbed by his unusual foster mother. . ii American Salmon fa Japan. n American dried salmon is being Sl shipped in large quantities to Japan. I( \ ' . . 9 ' fi i.^.' THE Sm/I/LE DESIRE. ' f"v ) Master let me walk with. Thee, n lowly paths of service free; .'ell me Tny secret, help me bekr 'he -train of toil, the fret of care. lelp me the slow of heart to move !y some clear, winning; word'of lovf^. flg eacn me ine wayward ieec 10 stay, Lnd guide them in the homeward way. - v.'each mc Thy patience, still with Tneo ^ n closer, dearer company, q work that keeps 6uth sweet and atronfc n trust that triumphs over wrongi n hope that 6ends a shining ray 'ar down the future's broadening way. n peace, that only Thou canst give, Vith Thee, 0 Master, let me live. ?Washington Gladden. < The Church (fed Its Mission.In order that a church may become a otil-winning institution it mart realBe that tkfere ifcwBfietbing to save mea rom. We hear a great deal about the omething to save men to; to a life of e^pectability, to home, to heaven. Welear Very little these days that there is> omething to save men from. A friend of mine tells this story: MI? ersey City .a family was at fte "bjreakast table one morning when suddenly, here was a cry ot, Are and ftie wholeamily rushed ont into the yard. When bey were safe in the yatd the wife e id: 'Oh, there is that old sideboard. don't mind losing the house and verythtng in it, bnfcl.dohate to losehat si'^board!' "'TO .., said her-hqstotkl, 1 think ve can get that out/ aud he and tb? on went back into the dining roojn. ["he husband^ got on the front aide of t, and the son on the'rear, andtheyi lulled and pushed luitil, fin.tHj. they;ot it to the front door, -and then'Ufty, vedged it in-the door so that' ?o**0? ould either get it outOTin. The poorB toy was,,; blocked bj;^t ioBi^e-jiftba touse, and there was bd iftiice for lim to escape. The father, realizing be sad situtaton, jumped off the front tojjroh and ran arouud to the back of hehouteT As he came to the window, iver which there were several bars of ron, he saw through it his boy stand* ng there and heard him screaming: Do you know what that father did? 3Ta oA^fTA^ +I?aca hnvo a# lt*An -f naTrjrf ocua^u uiuo?( i/uf o - vt. uvu, hem off and reached in and polled Mm rat of the window and delivered iri? o his mother." This friend of mine said he told * >reaeber that story, and this preacher tne Sunday night concladed he would ise It at the close of his sermon as on ippeal to the unconverted. Thinking* ?f the fitness of the illustration he for* jot to teli one important thing about it. He described a family slttic; at the jreakfast table, when suddenly they til jumped up and ran out of the fcooss tnd all at once the wife said: "Ob, :here Is my sideboard." He told howi :he father and son went back to get it, md how Ibey got that sideboard wedged tight in the door, blocking tbe> x>y on the inside. Then, how the father ran around to the back of the bouse, ierked off the iron bars, rushed in, got lis boy and pulled him out and delfv;red him to his mother. When ths ircacher finished, everybody was lookng at everybody else, everybody was ooking strange, and everybody felt strange, and be was greatly surprised/Returning home he said to his WjM; 'Wife, why was it that story of min? ildn't hit? I never saw people ad so itrangely in my life under as good a story as that. Not one single solftary soul moved." "Why," she said, "yofa old the story all right, only you forgot o say the house was on fire." You think that is a very ridiculous )icture. Well, it is. Yet I want to tell rou that just such things as this are iccuiTing in a large number of pulpits Sunday after Sunday. We talk to peo>le about salvation, and never press lpon them the great fact that there is omething to save them from. Brethen, I believe that the preaching of the uture is to be a preaching of law as veil as of love,, I bj^iege that it is toces&iry to mak6 men feel the awfuliess of sin before you. can ever make *en feel the need of the love and salation of Christ.?From, "A Soul Winling Church," by Dr. Len G. Broughon. ' xne FrtntfufnMf of Kcll??ion. What but the mig&fymastership Of eligion has ever" led a people up lirongh civil wars and *revolutions lto a regenerated order and liberty? Phat has nlanted colonies for a great istory but religion? The most august nd beautiful structures of tbe world ave been temples of religion, crystalzations, we may say, of worship. The oblest charities, (lie best fruits of jarning, tbe richest discoveries, the est institutions of law and -justice, very greatest thing the world has sen. represents more or less directly ie fraitfnlness and creativeness ot re* gion.?Horace Bushnell. Help Weak. ** ; The world is full of weak ones. Tn* lible has not commanded us to despise tie weak, to crush the weak, to negsct the weak, but to support the weak. We that are strong ought to bear the lfirraities of the weak." Christ bore our infltmitieK. Lik?f liin we should be burden-bearers. >ut how can we support thp weak so >ng as we have no strength of our wn? How can we support the weak rliile we walk in doubt and fear? Bejre we can support the weak we must ecome strong. This is a duty. "Be trong," is a command.?Christian Adoca te. One of tlie earliest legends of Chrlr-H anity tells the story of a king intoH 'Lose hand was treacherously "put aB up of poison. Bill tlie king spoke tbeH arae of God over the cup, aud it wasH liattered in his grasp. H There is a profound aud lumioasH nth in this story, as in so many of theH Id legends, that have surrived in lit-H rature because of theit ethical andB piritual significance and value. TheH oisonous thing, the soul-killing thing,H f whatsoevei sort, is rendered power-M ;ss by naming over it the name of Go(iH 1 sincerity and trust. II Cat Swallowed Her Gold Tooth. H 'A cat In Concordia, Cal., swallowedM i.e gold tooth which her careful mls-H :css had had put in to replace one de-H iyed from eating condensed milk.H 'he cat is dead, and was buried in affin lined with mouse skins. S Rabies For Ten Coiits. Dr. Horace Q. Byers, professor offl hemistry at the University of Wash-M igton, says he has discovered .theH leans of making rubies which can beM old at a profit for ten cents each. i)(-M - -^^1