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' 1 ' J ~ lewis m. grist, proprietor. | An $nkjpbtnf Jamil]) ftepapcr: Jfor % Ipromofion of f|c piifital, Social, ^griralfural anb Commorrial Jnfmsfs of % Soitf^. |terms--$2.50 a tear, in advance. VOL. 33. YORKYILLE, S. C.. WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 1887. NO. 3Q. BY H. RIDER HAGGARD, author op "king solomon's minks," "she," etc., etc. CHAPTER VIII?Continued. "How are yon, dapteinf he saidiu English, for be could talk English well, "and how do you like the Transvaal??must not call it South African Republic now, you know, for that's treason," and his eyes twinkled merrily. "I like it very much, meinboer," said John. "Ah, yes, it's a beautiful veldt, especially about here?no horse sicfcne?, 110 -Diue tongue,' and a good strong grass for the cattle. And you must find yourself very snug at Om (Uncle) Croft's there; it's tho nicest place In the district, with the ostriches and nlL Not that I hold with ostriches in this veldt; they are well enough in the Old Colony, but they won't breed here?at least, not as they should do. I tried them ouce iiid I ta>pw; oh, yea, I know.," "Yes, it is a very fine country, meinhoer. I have been all over the world almost, and I never saw & finer." "You don't say so, now I Almighty, what a tying it is to have traveled! Not that I should like to travel myself. I think that the Lord meant us to stop in the place ho has ma/to for us. But it is a fine country, and (dropping his voice) I think it is a finer country than it used to be." "You mean that the veldt has got 'tame,' meinhoer." "Nay. nay. I mean that the land is English now," he answered, mysterioungly, "and though I dare not say so nmong my volk, I hope that it will keep Euglish. When I was Republican, I was Republican, aiid it was good in some ways, the republic. There was so little to pay in taxes, and we knew bow to manage the black volk; but now I am English, I am English. I know the English government means good money and safety, and if there isn't a raad (assembly) now, well, what does it matter? Almighty, how they used to talk there!?clack, clack, clack! Just like an old black koran (species of bustard) at sunset. And where did thev run the wagon of the republic to?Burgers and those d d Hollanders of his, and the rest of them? Why, into the sluit?intoasluitwith peaty banks; and there it would have stopped till now, or till the flood came down and swept it away, if old Shepstone?ah! what a tongue that man has, and how foud he is of the kinderchiesl? (little children)?had not come and pulled it out again. But look here, captein, the volk round here don't think like that It's the 'verdomde Britisch gouvernment' here and the 'verdomde Britisch gouvernment' there, and 'bymakaars' (meetings) here and 'bymakau.*' there. Billy voik, they all run one after the other like sheep. But there it is. captein, and I tell you there will be fighting before long, and then our people will shoot those poor rooibaatjes (red jackets) of yours like buck and take the land back. Pour things! I could weep when I think of itn John smiled at this melancholy prognostication, and was about to explain what a poor show all the Boers in the Transvaal would make in front of a few British regiments when he was astonished by a sudden change in his friend's manner. Droppigg^l^s enormous paw on to his shoulder, COCtoiu broke into a burst of somewhat forced merriment, the cause of which was, though John did not guess it at the moment, that he had just perceived Frank Holler, who was in Wakkorstrooia with a wagon load of corn to grind at the mill, standing within five yards, and apparently intensely interested in flipping at the flies with a cowrie made of the tail of a vilderbeeste, bat in reality listening to Coeteee's talk with all his ears. "Ha, ha! 'nef " (nephew), said old Coetzee to the astonished John, "no"wonder you like Mooifontein?there are other mooi (pretty) things there besides the water. How often do vou onsit (sit ud at nichtl with TTnoln Croft's pretty girl, eh? I'm not quite as blind as an ant bear yet I saw her blush when you spoke to her just now. I saw her. Well, well, it is a pretty game for a young man. isn't it, 'nef Frank?" (this was addressed to Muller). "I'll be bound the captein here 'burns a long candle' with pretty Bessie every night?eb, Frank? I hope you ain't jealous, 'nef? My vrouw told me somo time ago that you were sweet in that direction yourself," and he stopped at last, out of breath, and looked anxiously toward Muller for an answer, while John, who had been somewhat overwhelmed at this flow of bucolic chaff, gave a sigh of relief. As for Muller he behaved in a curious manner. Instead of langhing, as the jolly old Boer had intended that he should, he hod, although Coetzee could not,see it, been turning blacker and blacker; and now that the flow of language ceased he, with a savage ejaculation which John could not catch, but which he appeared to throw at his (John's) head, turned on his heel and went off toward the courtyard of the inn. "Almighty!" said old Hans, wiping his face with a red cotton pocket handkerchief; "I have put my foot into a big hole. That stink cat Muller beard all that I was saying to ypu, and I tell you he will save it up and save it up, and one day he will bring it all out to the volk and call me a traitor to the 'land' and ruin me. I know him. He knows how to balance a long stick on his little finger so that the ends keep even. Oh, yes, he can ride two horses at once, and blow hot and blow ct ld. He is a devil of a man, a devil of a man! And what did he mean by swearing at yon like that? Is it about the inissie (girl), I wonder? Almighty! who can say? Ab! that reminds me?though I'm sure 1 don't know wby it should?the Kaflii-s tell me that i there is a big herd of ^uck?vilderbeeste and blesbok?on my outlying place about an hour and a half (ten miles) from Mooifontein. Can you hold a rifle, captain? You look like a bit of a hunter." "Oh, yes, meinbeer," said John, delighted at the pi-ospect of some shooting. "Ah, I thought so. All you English are sportsmen, though you don't know how to kill buck. Well, now, you take Om Croft's light Scotch cart and two good horses, and come over to mv nlace?not to-morrow for my wife's cousin is coming to see us, and an old cat she is, but rich; she had ?1,000 in gold in the wagon box under her bed?nor the next day, for it is the Lord's day, and one can't shoot creatures on the Lord's day?but Monday, yes, Monday. You be there by 8 o'clock, and you shall see how to kill vilderbeeste. Almighty! now what can that jackal, Frank Mulier, have meant? .Ah! ho is the devil of a man," and, shaking his head ponderously, the jolly old Boer departed, and presently John saw him riding upon a fat lit. tie shooting pony that cannot have weighed ' much more than himself, and that yet cantered away with him on his fifteen milo journey as though he were but a feather weight CHAPTER IX. jante's story. Shortly after the old Boer had gone, John went into the yard of the hotel to see to the inspanning of the Cupe cart, when his attention was at once arrested by the sight of a row in active progress?at least, from the crowd of Kaffirs and idlers and the angry sounds and curses that proceeded from them, he judged that it was a row. Nor was ho wrong about it. In the corner of the yard, close 1 >y the stable door, surrounded by the aforesaid crowd, stood Frank Mulier, a heavy sjambock in his raised hand above his head, m thoiiffli in the net to strike i.J?. ? very picture of drunken fury, Lis lips drawn up like a snarling dog's so that the two lines of liis white teeth gleamed like ]>olished ivory in tho sunlight, his small eyes all shot with blood, and his face working convulsively, was the Hottentot Jautje. Nor was this all. Across his face was a bluo wheal where the whip had fallen, and in his hand a heavy white handled knife which he always carried. "Hullo! what is all this?" said John shouldering his way through the crowd. "The swartsei (black creature) has stolen iny horse's forage and given it to yours!" shouted Muller, who was evidently almost oft his head with rage, making an attempt to hit Jantje with the whip as he spoke. The latter avoicjpd tho blow by jumping l>ehind John, with the result that the tip of the sjambock caught the Englishman on the leg. "Be careful, sir, with that whip." said John to Muller, restraining his temper with difficulty. "Now, how do you know that tho man stole your horse's forage, and what business have you to touch him i If there was anything wrong you should have reported it tome." "He lies, baas, he lies!" yelled the Hottentot in tremulous, high pitched tones. "He lies; he has always been a liar, and worse than a liar. Yah! yah! I can tell things bout him. The land is English now, and the Boers can't kill the black people a3 they like. That man?that Boer, Muller, he shot my father and my mother?my father first, then my mother; he gave her two bullets?she did not die the first time." "You yellow devil! You black skinned, black hearted, lying son of Satan!" roared the great Boer, his very beard curling with fury. "Is that the way you talk to your masters? Out of the light, rooibaatje" (soldier)?this was to John?"and I will cut his tongue out of him. I'll show him how we aeai wiin a yeuow uar;" ana wnuouo iurxoer ado he made a rush for the Hottentot As he came, John, whose blood was now thoroughly up, put out his open hand and bending forward rushed with all his strength on Muller's advancing chest John was a very powerfully made man, though not a very large one; and the push sent Muller staggering back. "What do you mean by that, rooibaatje?" shouted Muller, his face livid with fury. "Get out of my road or I will mark that pretty face of yours. I have some goods to pay you for as it is, Englishman, and I always pay my debts. Out of the path, curse you!" and he again rushed for the Hottentot This time John, who was now almost as angry as his assailant, did not wait for him to reach hinij but springing forward, hooked his arm around Muller's throat, and before he could close with him with one tremendous jerk managed not only to stop his wild career, but to reverse the motion, and then, by interposing his foot with considerable neatness, to land him, powerful man as he was, on his back in a pool of drainage that had collected from the stable in the hollow of the inn yard. Down he went with a splash and amid a 1 DOWN HE WENT WITH A SPLASH, shout of delight from the crowd, who always like to see an aggressor laid low, his head bumping with considerable force against the lintel of the door. For a moment he lay still, and John was afraid that the man was really hurt. Presently, however, he rose, and without attempting apy further hostile demonstration or saying a single word, tramped off toward the house, leaving his enemy to compose his ruffled nerves as best he could. Now, John, like most gentlemen, hated a row with all his heart, though he had the Anglo-Saxon tendency to go through with it unflinchingly when once it began. Indeed, the whole thing irritated him beyond bearing, for he knew that the story would, with additions, go the round of the country side, and, what is more, that he had made a powerful and implacable enemy. "This is all your fault, you drunken little blackguard!" ho said, turning savagely on the tottie, who, now that bis excitement had left him, was sniveling and driveling in an intoxicated fashion, and calling him his preserver and his baas in maudlin accents. "He hit me, baas; he hit me, aud I did not take the forage. He is a bad man, Baas Mailer.n "Be off with you and get tlio horses in spanneu; you are nau uiuuk, ue gruwieu, and, having seen the operation advancing to a conclusion, he went to the sitting room of the hotel, where Bessie was waiting in happy ignorance of the disturbance. It was not till they wore well on tl eir homeward way that he told her what had passed, whereat, remembering the scene she had herself gone through with Frank Muller, and the threats that lie had then made use of, she looked very grave. Her old uncle, too, was much put out when he heard the story on their arrival home that evening. "You have made an enemy, Capt. Niel," he said, "and a bad one. Not hut what you were rieht to stand up for the Hottentot. I would have done as much myself had I been there and ten years younger, but Frank Muller is not the man to forget being put upon his back before a lot of Kaffirs and white folk too. Perhaps that Jantje is sober by now." This conversation took place upon the following morning, as they sat upon the veranda after breakfast. "I will go and call him, and we will hear what this story is about his father and his mother." Presently he returned, followed by the ragged, dirty looking little Hottentot, who took off his hat and squatted down on the drive, looking very miserable and ashamed of himself, in the full glare of the African sun, to the effects of which he appeared to be totally impervious. "Now, Jantje, listen to me," said the old man. "Yesterday you got drunk again. Well, I'm not going to talk about that now, except to say that if I find or hear of your being drunk once more?you leave this place." "Yes, baas," said the Hottentot meekly. "I was drunk, though not very; I only had half a bottle of Cape Smoke." "By getting drunk you made a quarrel with Baas Muller, so that blows passed between Baas Muller and the baas hei-e on your account, which was more than you are worth. Now when Baas Muller had struck you, you said that he had shot your father and your mother. Wus that a lie, or what did you mean by saying iti" "It was no lie, baas," said the Hottentot, excitedly. "I have said it once, and I will say it ugaui. JListen, baas, ana i win ten you the story. When I was young, so high"?and he held his hand high enough to indicate a tottie o about 14 years of age?"we, that is, my father, my mother, my uncle, a very old man, older tliun the baas " (pointing to Silas Croft), "were bijwoners (authorized squatters) 011 a place belonging to old Jacob Muller, Baas Frank's father, down in Lydenburg yonder. It was a bush veldt farm, and old Jacob used to come down there with his cattle from the High veldt in the winter when there was no grass in the High veldt, and with him came the Englishwoman, his wife, and the your.g Baas Frank?the baas we saw yesterday. "How long ago was all this?" asked Mr. Croft. Jantje counted 011 his fingers for some seconds, and then held up his hand and opened it four times in succession. "So," he said, "twenty years last winter. Baas Frank was young then; lie had only a little down upon his chin. One year, when Oni Jacob went away, alter the first rains, he left six oxen tnat were too poor (thin) to go with my father, and told him to look after them as though they were liis children. But the oxen were bewitched. Three of them took the lungsick and died, 11 lion got one, a snake killed one, and 0110 ate 'tulip' and died too. So when Oni Jacob came back the next year all the oxen were gone. Ho was very angry with my father, and beat him with a yoke strap till he was all blood, and, though we showed him the bones of the oxen, he said that we had stolen them and sold them. "Now, O111 Jacob had a beautiful span of black oxen that lie loved like children. Sixteen of them were there, ami tliey would come up to the yoke when lie called them and put down their heads of thenisel^bs. They were tame as dogs. These oxen were thin when they came down, but in two months they got fat and liegan to want to trek about as oxen do. At this time there was a Basutu, one of Scquati's people, resting in our hut, for he had hurt his foot with a thorn. When O111 Jacob found that the Basutu was there he was very angry, for he said that all Basutus were thieves. So my father told the Basutu that the baas said that he must go away, and he went that night. Next morning the span of black oxen were gone too. The kraal gate was down and they had gone. We huuted all day, but we could not find them. Then Om Jacob got mad with rage, and the young Baas Frank told him that one of the Knffir boys had said to him that he had heard my father sell them to the Basutu f a- sheep which he was to pay to us in the summer. It was a lie, but Baas Frank hated my father because of something about a woman?a Zulu girl. Next morning, when wo were asleep, just at daybreak, Om Jacob Muller and Baas Frank and two Kaffirs came into the hut and pulled us out, the old man, my uncle, my father, my mother and myself, and tied us up to four mimosa trees, with buffalo reims. Then tho Kaffirs went away, and Om Jacob asked my father where thc?eattle were, and my father told him that he did not know. Their he took off his hat and said a prayer to the Big Man in the sky, ar.d when he had done Baas Frank came up with a gun, and stood quite close and shot my father dead, and ho fell forward and hung quite over the reim, his bead touching bis feet. Tben he loaded the gun again and shot the old man, my uncle, and he slipped down dead, and his hands stuck up in the air against the reiin. Next he shot my mother, but the bullet did not kill her, and cut the reim, and sho ran away, and he ran after her and killed her. When that was done he came back to shoot me; but I was young then and did not know that it is better to be dead than to live like a dog, and I begged aud prayed for mercy while lie was loading the gun. "But the baas only laughed, and said he would teach Hottentots how to steal cattle, and old Om Jacob prayed out loud to the Big Man and said he was very sorry for me, but it was tho dear Lord's will. And then, just as Baas Frank lifted the gun he dropped it again, for there, coming softly, softly over the brow of tho hill, in and out between the bushes, were all tho sixteen oxen. They had got out in the night and strayed away into some kloof for a change of pasture, and come back when they were full and tired of being alone. Om Jacob turned quite white ami scraicnea ms neaa, anu men ten upon his knees and thanked the dear Lord for saving my life; and just then the English woman, Baas Frank's mother, came down from the wagon to see what the tiring was at, anil when she saw all the people dead and me weeping, tied to the tree, and learned what it was about, sho went quite mad, for sometimes sho had a kind heart when she was not drunk, and said that a curse would fall on them, and that they would all die in blood. And she took a knife and cut me loose, though Baas Frank wanted to kill me, so that I might tell no tales; and I ran away, traveling by night and hiding by day, for I was very much frightened, till I got to Natal, and there I stopped, working in Natal till the land became English, when Baas Croft hired me to drive his cart up from Maritzburg; and living by here I found Baas Frank, looking bigger but just the same except for his beard. "There, baas, that is the truth, and all the truth, and that is why I hate Baas Frank, because he shot my father and mother, and why Baas Frank hates me, because he cannot forget that he did it and I saw him do it, for, as our people say, 'one always hates a man one has wounded with a spear;'" and having finished his narrative, the miserable looking little man picked up his greasy old felt hat, that had a leather strap fixed round the crown, in which were stuck a couple of frayed ostrich feathers, and jammed it down over his eai-s, and then fell to drawing circles on the soil with his long toes. His auditors only looked at one another. Such a ghastly tale seemed to be beyond comment. They never doubted its truth; the man's way of tolling it carried conviction with it. And, indeed, two of them at any rate, had heard such stories before. Most people have who live in the wilder parts of South Africa, though they are not all to be taken for gospel.. ... "You say," remarked old Silas, at last, "that the woman said that a curse would fall on them und that they would die in blood! She was right. Twelvo years ago Om Jacob and his wife were murdered by a party of Mapocli's Kaffirs, down 011 the edge of that very .uyuenuurg veiar. mere was a great noiso about, it at the time, I rememlier, but nothing came of it. Baas Frank was not there. lie was away shooting buck; so he escaped and inherited all his father's fur ins aftd cattle and came to live here." "So," said the Hottentot, without showing the slightest interest or sui prise. "I knew it would be so, but 1 wish I had lieen there to see it. I saw that there was a devil in the woman, and that they would die as she said. When there is a devil in people they always speak the truth, because they can't help it. Look, baas, I draw a circle in the sand with my foot, and I say some words so, and at last the ends touch. There, that is the circle of Om Jacob and his wife the Englishwoman. . The ends have touched and they are dead. An old witch doctor taught me to draw the circle of a man's life and what words to say. And now I draw another of Baas Frank. Ah! there is a stone sticking up in the way. The ends will not touch. But now I work and work and work with my foot, and say the words and say the words, and so?the stone comes up and the ends touch now. So it is with Bans Frank. One day the stone will come up and the ends will touch, and he, too, will die in blood. The devil in the Englishwoman said so, and devils cannot lie or speak half the truth only. And now, look, I rub my foot over the circles and they are gone, and there is only the path again. That means that when the}' have died in blood they will be quite forgotten and stamped out. Even their graves will be flat," and ho wrinkled up his yellow face into a smile, or rather a grin, mid tnen iiauoa 111 a matter ottact way: "Does Hie baas wish the gray inure to have one bundle of green forage or two?'' CHAPTER X. JOHN HAS AN ESCAPE. On the following Monday John, taking Janljc to drive him, departed in a rough Scotch cart, to which were harnessed two of the best horses at Mooifoiitein, to shoot buck at Iluns Coetzeo's. lie reached the place at about 8:00 o'clock, and concluded, from the fact of the presence of several curts and horses, that he was not the only guest. Indeed, the first jierson that he saw as the cart pulled up was his late enemy, Frank Muller. "Kek (look), bans,'' said Juntje, "there is Baas Frank talking to a Basutu!" John was, as may be imagined, not best pleased at this meeting. He had always disliked the man, and since Muller's conduct on the previous Friday, and Jantjo's story of the dark deed of blood in which be lmd been the principal actor, he positively loathed the sight of him. He got out of the cart, and was going to walk round to the back of the house in order to avoid him, when Muller, to all appearance, suddenly became aware of his presence and advanced to meet him with the utmost cordiality. "How do you do, captain?" he said, holding out his hand, which John just touched. "So you have come to shoot buck with Om Coetzce: going to show us Transvaalers how to do it, eh? There, captain, don't look as stiff as a rille barrel. I know what you are thinking of; that little business at Wakkerstroom on Friday, is it not? Well, now, I tell you what it is, I was in the wrong, and I ain't afraid to say so as between man and man. I had had a glass, that was the fact, and did not quite know what I was about. We have got to live as neighbors here, so let us forget all about it asd be brothel's again. I never l>ear malice, not I. It is not the Lord's will that we should bear malice. Hit our- from the shoulder, I say, and then forget all about it. If it hadn't been for that little monkey," ho added, jerking his thumb in the direction of Jnntje, who was holding the horses' heads, "it would never have happened, and it is not nice that two iJI lM.mil.-> MIUU1U i|UUM'L'l aUUUl> MIV.U uv. Muller jerked out his long speech in a succession of sentences, something as a school boy repeats a hardly learned lesson, fidgeting his feet and letting his eyes travel about the ground us be did so; and it was evident to John, who stood quite still and listened to it in icy silence, tliut it was by no means an extemporary one. It had too clearly been composed for the occasion. "I do not wish to quarrel with anybody, Meinheer Muller," he answered at length. "I never do quarrel unless it is forced on me, and then," he added, grimly, "I do my best to make it unpleasant for my enemy. The other day you at tucked first my servant and then myself. I urn glad that you now see that this was an improper thing to do, and, so far as I am concerned, there is an end of the matter," and he turned to enter the house. Muller accompanied him as far as where Jantje was standing at the horses' heads. Here he stopped, and, putting his hand in his pocket, took out a two shilling piece and threw ] it to the Hottentot, calling to him to catch it. Jantje was holding the horses with one hand. In the other he held his stick?a long walking kerne that he always carried, the same on which he had shown Bessie the notches. In order to catch the piece of money he dropped the stick, and Muller's quick eye catching sight of the notches beneath the knob, ho stooped down, picked it up, and examined it "What do these mean, boy?" he asked, pointing to the line of big and little notches, some of which had evidently been cut years ago. Jantje touched his hat, spat upon the "Scotchman," as the natives of that part of Africa call a two shilling piece, and pocketed it before he answered. The fact that the giver had murdered all his near relations did not make the gift less desirable in his eyes. Hottentot moral sense is not very elevated. "No, baas," he said, with a curious grin, "that is how I reckon. If anybody beats Jantje, Jontje cuts a notch upon the stick, and every night before he goes to sleep he looks at it, and says: 'One day you will strike that man twice who struck you once, and so on, baas. Look what a line of them there are, baas. One day I will pay them all back again, Baas Frank." In another minute old Hans Coetzee came, and announced that it was time to be moving. Accordingly the whole party got into their carts or on to their shooting horses, as the caso might be, and started. Frank Muller was, John noticed, mounted as usual on his fino black horse. After driving tor more than half an hour aldng an indefinite kind of wagon track, the leading cart, in which was old Hans Coetzee himself, a Malay driver and a colored Cape boy, turned to the left across the open veldt, and the others followed in turn. This went on for some time, till at last they reached the crest of a rise that commanded a large sweep of open country, and here Hans halted and held up his hand, whereon tho others halted, too. On looking out over the vast plain before him, John dist.liA rnnenn A hmit. Vinlf a mil* Ha neath tbem was a great herd of blesbuck, feeding, 80) or more of them, and beyond them again another herd of some sixty or seveuty much larger and wilder looking animals, with white tails, which John at once recognized as vilderboeste Nearer to them again, dotted about here and there on the plain, were a couple of dozen or so of graceful yellow springbuck. Then a council of war was held, which resulted ill the men on horseback?among whom was Frank Muller?-being dispatched to circumvent the herds and drive them toward the carts, that took up their stations at various points toward which the buck were HJcelv to make. Then came a pause of a quarter of an hour or so, till, suddenly, from the far ridge of the opposite slope, John saw a couple of puffs of white smoke float up into the air, and one of the vilderbeesto below roll over on his back, kicking and plunging furiously. Thereon the whole herd of buck turned and came thundering toward them, stretched i:i a long line across the wide veldt; the springbuck first, then the blesbuck, looking, owing to their peculiar way of holding their long heads down as they galloped, for all the world like a herd of great bearded goats/ Behind and mixed up with them were the vilderbeeste, who twisted and turned, and iutnped into the air as though they had gone clean off their heads and were next second going clean on them. It is very difficult, owing to his extraordinary method of progression, to distinguish one part of a galloping vilderbeeste from another; now it is his horns, now his tail, and now his hoofs that present themselves to the watcher's bewildered vision, and now aguin they all seem to be mixed up together. On came the great herd, making the ground shake beneath their footfall; and after them galloped the mounted Boers, every now and ngain jumping from their horses to fire a shot into the line of game, which generally resulted in some poor animal being left spra wling on the ground, wherein the sportsmen would remount and continue the chase. Presently the buck were within range of some of the guns in the carts and a regular fusillade began. About twenty blesbuck turned and camo past John, within forty yards of him. Springing to the ground, he fired both barrels of his "express" at them as they tore past?alas and alas! without touching them. The first bullet struck under their bellies, the second, must have shaved their backs. Reloading rapidly, he fired again at about 200 yards' range, and this time one fell to his second barrel. But he knew that it was a cuance shot; he had fired at the last buck, and he had killed one ten paces in front of him. The fact of the matter is that this sort of shooting is exceedingly difficult till one knows how to do it. Jumping into the cart again, and leaving the dead blesbuck to look after itself for the present?nor. a very safe thing to do In a country where there are so many vultures? ] John, or rather Jautje, put the horses into a I gallop, and away they went at full tear. fnttr nr en fhov WfMtltl nil 11 11H whenever the game was within range, and John would spring from the cart and let drive, and then jump in and follow on again. This went 011 for nearly an hour, in which time he hud flred twenty-seven cartridges and killed three blosbuck and wounded a vilderbeeste, which they proceeded to chase. But the vilderbeeste was struck in the rump, and a buck so wounded will go a long way, and go very fast also, and some miles had been got over before he began to rest, only starting j 011 again as they drew near. At last, on j crossing the crest of a little rise, John saw 1 what at first ho took to be his vilderbeeste i dead. A second look, however, showed him | that, although it was a dead vilderbeeste, it most undoubtedly w as not the one that he ' had wounded, for that was standing, its head I hanging down, about 120 yards beyond the | other animal, which had, no doubt, fallen to somebody else's rifle, or else been wounded farther back and come hero to die. Now the vilderbeeste lay within 100 yards of them, and Jantje pointed out to John that his best j plan would bo to get out of the cart and j creep 011 his hands and knees up to the dead I animal, from the cover of which he could get j a good shot at his own wounded bull. Accordingly, Jantje having withdrawn j with the cart and horses out of sight under j the shelter of the rise, John crouched upon I his hands and knees and proceeded to carry j out his stulk. He got 011 all right till be got ! quite close to the dead cow, and was just congratulating himself 011 the prospect of an excellent shot at the wounded bull, when suddenly something struck the ground violently just beneath his stomach, throwing up a cloud of earth and dust. He stopped amazed, and as he did so heard the report of a rifle somewhat to his right. Scarcely had he realized this when there was a sudden commotion in bis hair, and the soft black felt hat that he was wearing started from his head, I apparently of its own accord, and, after twirling round twice or thrice in the air, fell gently to the earth, and as it did so the sound of a second report readied 111s ears. it was now evident that somebody was firing at liiin; I SOMKBODY WAS FIRING AT HIM. so, jumping up from his crouching position, he tossed his arms into the air and sprung and shouted in a way that left no mistake as to his whereabouts. In another minute he saw a man on horseback, cantering easily toward him, in whom he had little difficulty in recognizing as Frank Muller. Ho went and picked up his hat; there was a bullethole right through it Then, full of wrath, he advanced to meet Frank Muller. "What the did you mean by firing at me?" ho asked. r ^ABemachter, Carle!" (Almighty, my dear ftjlow) was tho cool answer, "I thought that you were a vilderbecste calf. I galloped the _ cow and killed her, and she had a calf with liter, and when I got the catridges out of my riBo?for one stuck and took me some time? aiad the new ones in, I looked up, and there, AT thought, was the calf. So I got my rifle A and let drive, first with one Larrel and t&en with the other, and when I saw yon jiimp \jp like that and shout, and that I had lye*1 firing at a man, I nearly fainted. Thank the Almighty I did not hit you." John listened coldly. "I suppose that I am bound to believe you, Meinheer Muller," ho said. "But I have been told that you have the most wonderful sight of any man in these parts, which makes it odd that at 300 yards ^ you should mistake a man upon his bands and knees for a vilderbeeste calf." "Does the captain think, then, that I wished tojmurder him; especially," he added, "after I took his hand this morning?" ;,W don't know what I think," answered John, looking straight into Muller's eyes, winch fell before his own. "All I know is that .your curious mistake very nearly cost g iq^my life. Look here!" and he took a lock ? ofchis brown bair out of the crown of his per- * fcfSted hat and showed it to the other. :-mit was very close. Let us thank dod . ' *!t could not well have been closer, meinheer. I hope that, both for your own sake and for the sake of the people who go out } shooting with you, you will not make such a r mistake again. Good morning." ^ The handsome Boer, or Anglo-Boer, sat on his horse stroking his beautiful beard and . gazing curiously after John Kiel's sturdy English ldoking figure as he marched toward c the cart (for, of course, the wounded vilder- c beeste had long ago vanished). 8 "1 wonder," he said to himself aloud, as he ( turned his horse's head and rode leisurely I away, "if the old volk ore right after all, and t if there is a God." (Frank Muller was sufli- i ciently impregnated with modern ideas to be i a free thinker.) "It almost seems like it," he j went on, "else how did it come that the one f bullet passed under his belly and the other . ? just touched his head without hurming him? s I aimed carefully enough, too, and I could * make the shot nineteen times out of twenty and not miss. Bah, a God! i snap my fingers at him. Chance is the only god. ^ Chance blows men about like the dead grass, \ till death comes down like the veldt fire and * burns them up. But there are men who ride 1 chance as one rides a young colt?ay, who t turn its headlong rushing and rearing to their ? own ends?who let it fly hither and thither ( Ull IE is wenry, anu men earner it ujuiik me I road that leads to triumph. I, Frank Muller, am one of those men. I never fail in the end. I will kill that Englishman. Perhaps I will kill old Silas Croft aud the Hottentot, too. Bah! they do not know what is coming. I know; I have helped to lay the mine; and unless thoy bend to my will I shall be tlio one to fire it. I will kill them all and I will take Mooifontein, and then I will many Bessie. She will fight against it, but that will make it all the sweeter. She loves that rooibaatje; I know it, and I vill kiss her over his dead body. Ah! there are the carts. I don't see the captain. Driven home, I suppose, on account of the shock to his nerves. Well, I I must talk to those fools. Lord, what fools they are with their talk about the 'land' and the 'verdomde Britischegouvemment.' They don't know what is good for them. Silly sheep, with Frank Muller for a shepherd! Ay, and they shall have Frank Muller for a president one day, and I will rule them, too. Bah! I hate the English; but I am glad that I am half English for all that, for that is where I get the brains! But these peoplefools, fools. Well, I shall pipe and they shall dance!" "Baas," said Jantje to John, as they were driving homeward, "Baas Frank shot at you." 1 "How do you know that?" asked John. t ."I saw him. He was stalking the wounded bull, and not looking for a calf at all. There ] was no calf. He was just going to fire at the i wounded bull when be turned and saw you, 1 and ho knelt down and covered you, and be- r fore I could do anything he fired, and then j when he saw that he had missed you ho fired ( again, and I don't know how it wus he didn't j kill you, for he is a wonderful shot with a s rifle?he never misses." < "I will have the man tried for attempted murder," said John, bringing the butt end j of his rifle down with a bang on to the bottom of the cart. "a villain like that shall * not go scot free." ( Jantje grinned. 1 "It is no use, baas. lie would get off, for I '' am the only witness. a jury won't believe a f black man in this country, and they would ? never punish a Boor for shooting at an Eng- r lishman. No, baas, you should lio up one day in tho veldt where ho is going to pass and shoot him. That w what I would do if I dared." * [TO BE CONTINUED.] Volcanic Phenomena.?Strange * volcanic disturbances are said to ] have been frightening the people t living along the Blood liiver, near 1 New Concord, in Calloway county, 1 Ky. The phenomena was first no- j ticed a short time ago, when all the g wells suddenly ran dry, and at night 1 there was a deep rumbling noise re- * sembling the muttering3 of distant * thunder, which seemed to come from s theearth. Occasionally there would r bean explosion like the booming of 1 a far-off gun, and recently a column ( of fire has been seen to shoot up at J I'nfAwttiJj f ho niirht IVniri * I'ucivmo uum.p, tut, Ston^er's bluff, two miles from the f town. Citizens who went out to investigate the disturbance say that f the heat near the bluff wasso intense J thatthey could not approach it. The : scene of the phenomena is one of the 1 wildest and most rugged parts of the c State, and is remote from eommuni- \ cation by mail or telegraph. j A Monument to St. Paul.?One of the latest projects proposed by a 1 number of gentlemen in this country ] is to build a monument to St. Paul t in his native city of Tarsus, Asia j Minor. There are a great many jj churches in both this country and t Europe which have been named after St. Paul, but none of these have ^ been erected to his memory. The $ nmst fitting place for such a monu- ^ ment is the city of his birth, about r which there is no uncertainty, for as ? Paul himself said: "I am a man f which am a Jew of Tarsus?a city in i Cilicia ; a citizen of no mean city." t The present population of Tarsus is \ about 20,000. It is situated on the t Cydrine river, and stands within con- r trolling distance of the great pass of c Taurus mountains, now, as in ancient f times, thesole easy land communica- 1 tion between Persia, Syria, and the g West. c 1 Spontaneous Combustion.?A larmer near unamoersuurg, x-u., re- , eently prepared some home made c phosphate from lime and chicken k manure, which he left in a heap upon his barn floor. Some time after it was discovered that a peculiar smell, tl as of some substance burning, was ^ issuing from the barn. Upon investigation it was found that the phosphate was a mass of fire. The dif- rj ferent compositions of which it had t been made generated such a great ^ heat that spontaneous combustion was the result. With the aid of * others the farmer succeeded in pitch- f ing the burning mass from the barn. The barn floor, whereon the mass lay, t was considerably charred and black- j ened.?Chicago Herald. t a Claious Weather in Olden r Times.?The people up North in 1800 f never used to put a kernel of seed 5 corn in the ground until May 7th. c And it is a matter of history that, on the morning of May 14, 18.34, the 1 people in Maine, New Hampshire, 1 Vermont and all Northern New c York, arose to find eighteen inches t of snow on the ground. Yet, the t crops never did better. d ptettltotwmus Reading. ""NOTES ON SOUTH CAROLINA. Ilev. William Weir, of Philadel)hia, one of the secretaries of the National Reform Association, who ast month made several addresses n South Carolina in the interest of he object's of the Association, has vritten a pleasant letter to the C/irisian Statesman, published in Philalelphia, giving his impressions of his State as formed after association vith our people. Rev. Mr. Weir vas accompanied a part of the time vhile in this State by Mr. John Alexander, of Philadelphia, an aged gentleman and Christian philanthro)ist, who, while in Yorkville, belame violently*'ill and was forced to akehisbed. The following is Mr. Weir's letter: The last ten days have all been ipent on South Carolina soil. Four ? i J- A: MHCes nave ueen visuieu in mat time ind more or les9 presentment of our ;ause made in each. Thi9 is the hisory: . - . WINNSBORO. This is a pleasant town of sixteen lundred population, thirty-five miles inrth-east of Columbia in a fine cot011 growing region, some ten thoustnd hales it is said being handled lere annually. It is the county seat >f Fairfield county. There are eight ihurches, six white and two colored, tnd a good school. In the A. R. P. Church, one of the best of this delomitiation in the South, our cause vas presented on Sabbath evening, \pril 10th, to a good and very much nterested audience. The next evenng a union .meeting was held in he same place. There was a good ittendance. Mr. Alexander, though iomewhat hoarse, spoke briefly on he historical aspect of our movement. From all that I can learn it vas quite satisfactory to the people, ind the pastor of the church, Rev. r. C. Chalmers, expressed himself in ts lavor publicly. Of dissent in the own but one instance was reported ind he was troubled as so many ilsewhere are over the consciences of he Jews. Brother Chalmers and his seopie will keep the fire burning lere without the presence of a Dis;rict Secretary. And this is a point influence not merely for its county, :>ut brother Chalmers has his hand lpon the press as associate editor of ;he Associate Reformed Presbyterian -vnicn Derore our coining imu given is favorable notice. CHESTER. Twenty five miles north of the ormer place is this pretty town, he county seat of Chester county, vith a population of twenty-five mndred. There are eight churches, ;wo newspapers, a few small manuactories and about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton handled anualy. There is a good school here unier the care of the M. E. Church for he colored people, having over two lundred pupils. This was visited ind a pleasant chat had with the Prinjipal, Dr. Loomis, on National Reorm and education. He is doing loble work here, and is highly eseemed by the citizens of the town. We held our meeting in the A. R. P. Church of which the Rev. Moflatt s pastor, formerly cared for by Rev. VI. W. Pressley, of Philadelphia. The audience was fair in number, food in quality, and sympathetic with >ur cause. Brother Chalmers, who iccompanied us hither, declared himielf in a short address "in favor of he movement in toto." So did the castor. Chester will stand for Naional Reform in the future safely ;nough. The good brother who :ares for the flock with which our neeting was held, subscribed for the #atesmun that he might do it fully md well. Then next day we bade jood by and were off to our next neeting at YORKVILLE. This is another pretty town, quaint md old fashioned like the others, he county seat of York county, with sixteen hundred population, five hurches, one weekly newspaper, and food schools. Our meeting was a union one of Baptists, Methodist, A. R. Presbyerians and Presbyterian's in the Presbyterian Church. The minisers present were Baptist, Metho" a 1.--! ,1 A r> lisi, rresuyieriuu*, aim t>vu rx. x*. Presbyterians. Xo public expresiion of views was made, but brother English, and both brother Ross and trother Galloway of the A. R. P. Jhurch afterward expressed themieives in its favor, and there is good eason to think that the entire eomnunity entertain the same views. Here Mr. Alexander was over oiiie by a cold against which he had >een struggling for several days, and ;et April 19th, is closely confined to lis room. His illness unavoidably lisareipiged our plans, causing us to niss a meeting arranged with the !nd A. R. Presbytery, and postponng another. Butall this is butsmall :ompared with the loss of such a nan as Mr. Alexander to our cause. L.et us all fervently pray that if it )lease our Lord his life may bespnred 0 many days of helpfulness. On Sabbath morning by request of >rother English, I preached in the ^resbyterian (Jhurch on "JesusChrist he Supreme Ruler of the American Nation." The audience was good md seemed to give deep interest to his vital matter. Too much praise could not well be riven to the warm hearted kindness ihown by the good people of York/ille during Mr. Alexander's sickless. Sympathetic inquiry besieg>d me at the hotel table, when taking 1 walk, etc. Many were the callers, Deluding ladies, to learn of his coalition. Nurses kind and capable vere instantly forthcoming, far more han we could use. Brother English lursed him one whole night, and mly sickness at home prevented mfiher Galloway doing likewise, rhe colored waiters scarcely ever aw me without inquiry as to the ondition of "de ole gentleman." J's worth while to be sick to learn io\v much Christian kindness there s in the hearts of our brethren. iVell, just wait till we catch a sick southerner over in Pennsylvania. COLUMBIA. On the arrival of Mr. L. II. Alexinder from Philadelphia, to take :harge of his father's case, the broken hread of work was taken up and the lext train conveyed me to Columbia, ["his is the Stale Capital of ten or welve thousand population, on the ,'ongaree river, at the head of navigation. To use a quotation well vorn by our fathers, it is "beautiful or situation." The State residence if the Governor, the Post Office, and he State House, are fine buildings, iut the glory of the city is in her rees. Miles of streets set on either ide with stately water oaksand-elms, narvellous in their luxuriance of oliage. It is worth a journey to the South to see its magnificent water laks. In the evening I called upon I)r. 'atton, of the Carolina College, and le, after hearing the nature of our ause, took me to see Mr. McBryde, he President. This is a State instiution, giving free tuition to all stulents residing in the State. It ac commodates two hundred students. Its control is eminently religious, but the limited time given for chapel exercises forbade my proposed address the following morning on Na- , tional Reform. President McBryde assured me that he would inform him beforehand. Next morning I called on Governor Richardson and found him a frank, affable gentleman, disposed to talk freely of public affairs, past and present. He expressed the hope that more northern men would come down ; that he would be glad to introduce me to the citizens and do all he could to make me comfortable. I took the liberty of calling attention, r\f Anr A canniotiAn in o^carkiij^ va vujl aoov imuiviif wv the ommission of all mention of the Lord Jesus in our Thanksgiving Proclamations. He expressed himself favorable to such mention. May he join his fellow Governor of North Carolina next autumn and may the number grow with every year. How fresh and sweet are these mornings and evenings our Master gives this Southern climate. This morning in crossing 8idney Park, a curious, bowl shaped enclosure crammed with great water oaks and other trees, the clouds as a soft grey mist hid the hot sun, the foilage took that rich dark hue it never wears in sunlight, the air was as gentle, fragrant, dewy, refreshing, as the breath from Spring's own lips. But yesterday evening, on my way to the postoffice, I suddenly came out where the street came along the edge of a bluff. For miles and miles stretched the beautiful vision. Here before me lay a large portion of the city with its shaded streets and homes hid in vines. The air was rich with the last song of the robins. Away to the right lay the valley of the Congaree and the eye ran beyond the farthest line of its bluffs until sight was lost in the hazy blue. Along the distant sky trailed a column of smoke as of a passing train. Such indescribable purple shadows in the Southwest. Such a glorious sky overhead. And in the west the evening star shone, a solitary magnificent brilliant, fastening a bow of dull crimson cloud at the throat of Evening. William Weir. POWER OF SUNSHINE. In a recent number the Chciutauquan there is an interesting article by Charles Barnard, in which he shows that the great star which we call the sun is literally the stove that keeps the whole world warm. In conclusion, he gives the following curious facts: Heat expands and cold contracts, and everything warmed by the sun expands under its gentle heat. Every rail on all our railroads expands and grows perceptibly longer in bright sunshine, and contracts and grows shorter whenever a cloud cuts off the heat, or the earth in turning moves away from the sun. So it is frinr\rl nonocconr tnlpgve O litMpsnflPP 1UUUU UWVVOCUIJ VV.VMTV between every rail whereby it can stretch itself in hot summer days. Were all the rails pushed close together in laying the track, the first day of hot sunshine would pull the track to pieces, or render it so uneven that it could not be used. Every iron bridge stretches in 'the sunlight, and would tear itself to pieces were it not carefully adjusted for this expansion in the sun and given a chance to freely move on its foundations whenever the warm fingers of the sun are laid upon it. Brooklyn Bridge is in four distinct pieces, with plenty of room between to move, and it does move every day. In warm sunshine it is longer by several inches than on a cold night. The cables of the bridge are continuous, but the expansion caused by heat lengthens the cables, and they let the bridge sink two or three feet in the middle. Even a passing cloud, hiding the sun for a few moments, will cause the entire bridge to rise in the middle by cooling and contracting the cables. I have personally measured the movement of Brooklyn Bridge on a hot summer's day, between bright sunshine and the shade caused by clouds, and have seen that it moved over one inch in less than two hours. In building the great bronze Liberty in New York Harbor, the same thing had to be guarded against, and provision is made to allow the whole vast figure to move nnderthe expansion caused by the heat of the sun. The movement, owing to the irregular surface of the statue, is not visible, as in the Brooklyn Bridge, yet it is there. Even Bunker Hill Monument, which is built wholly of stone, is distorted every day by the enn thniiwh thp mnvpmpnt cannot be proved except by certain experiments made for the purpose. What will finally become of our Stella stove no man can positively say; yet, judging from what we know already, it is quite possible that it isalready burningout. When its fires finally die down, the end of our planet is at hand, and all life here will slowly, or suddenly, perhaps, become extinct by freezing, and our planet will meet its end as a dead star swinging through the awful cold of the Stella species. People of fervid imagination have thought the world would come to an end in a general conflagration. It is much more likely our Stella stove will go out and the world will calmly freeze up. Of the two methods of ending earthly history, the latter will be evidently the more comfortable. The First Steamer to Cross the Atlantic.?In 1819 the Atlantic was first crossed by a ship using steam. This was the Savannah, of .'180 tons, launched at Corlear's Hook, New York August 22,1818. She was built to ply between New York and Savannah as a sailing packet. She was, however, purchased by Savannah merchants and fitted with steam machinery, the paddle wheels being constructed to fold and be laidfcipon the deck when not in use, her shaft also naving a joint ior mat purpose. She left Savannah on the 26th of May, and reached Liverpool in 25 days, using steam 18 days. The logbook, still preserved, notes several times taking the wheels in on deck in thirty minutes. In August she left Liverpool for Cornstadt. An effort was made to sell her in Russia, which failed. She sailed for Savannah, touching at Copenhagen and Arendal, and arrived in 53days. Her machinery later was taken out, and she resumed her original charter as sailing packet, and ended her days by being wrecked on the south coast of Long Island. Butsteam power had by 1880grown large enough to strike more boldly. The Savannah's effort wasan attempt in which steam was only an auxiliary, and one, too, of a not very powerful kind. Our coastwise steamers, : as well as those employed in Great Britain, as also the voyage of the Enterprise to Calcutta in 1835 (though ' she took 113 days in doing it,) had i settled the possibility of the use of i steam at sea, and the question had | now become whether a ship could be built to cross the Atlantic depending entirely on her steam power. 1 It had become wholly a question ] of fuel consumption. The Savannah \ it may be said, used pitch-pine on her outward voyage, and wood was for a very long time the chief fuel for steaming purposes in America.? Scribne7,}s Monthly. "My Lads, Be Honest."?Dr. Livingston, the famous explorer, was descended from the Highlanders, and he said that one of his ancestors one day called his family around him. He was dying and had all of his children around his death-bed. He said: "Now, lads, I have looked all tVirnnorli nnp hiQtnrv n? far hnplr ftS I can find it, and I have never found a dishonest man in all the line, and I want yout to understand that you inherit good blood. You have no excuse for doing wrong. Be honest." Horace Greeley once said: "The darkest hour in the history of any young man is when he sits down to study how to get money without earning it." What an heritage honesty is. There are people who believe in blood. Their theory is that low-lived parents transmit their qualities to their descendants; and high-toned, well-bred people do the same. Of course there are exceptions to all general rules, but the rule holds good as a whole. And this we call heredity. We inherit our progenitors' property, but a good name is more valuable than gold or silver or cattle upon a thousand hills. Oh! young man, be honest! Young woman, be honest and just to yourself, and you will be honest and just towards your neighbor, and above all to your Creator.? Morning News. Serpent Lore.?The marvellous stories told of serpents are Innumerable. There is one reptile about a yard in length, as thick as the upper part of a strong man's arm, which haunts dry wooden places. It is so venomous, especially in May, that not only will the first person it bites in that month die himself, but any one who stands beside or comes to help him will share the same fate. Tf ho folia honoofh n t.rpp. that. t.nn_ or, if it he very large, at least one half of it will be killed. Again serpents of all kinds are very fond of milk. In the old days before the railway was built, a coachman, who used to drive on the road between Foggia and Naples, once fell asleep outside a little inn while his horses were baiting. His mouth was open and a snake crawled down his throat. After this he felt unwell, though he did not know why, and none of the doctors could tell what was the matter with him. At last he consulted the professors of the University at Naples. They hung him up by his feet and placed a great bowl of milk beneath his heaa. The snake, attracted by the smell, crept out to drink, but still kept a great part of its body in the mouth and throat of the coachman. A young doctor sprang forward and pulled it out and threw it away, when it was killed. It was about two feet and a half in length. After this the patient was as well as ever.? Watford's Antiquarian. Curious Origin of Dakota's Name.?The territory of Dakota, is, in many respects the most interesting grand division of our country's domain. For a few years it has occupied more attention than any other. No state or territory, certainly, haye ever risen to such rapid and surprising importance. The origin of its name has been a subject of some dispute; but the best Indian authority, a dweller for forty years among the Sioux Indians, makes the word an abbrevia tiori of Pa-ha-Sota, which means "many heads, or plenty." The affix "Sota" always means "plenty" in the Sioux language. In the words Minnesota, it means plenty of water, the appropriateness of which designation is made manifest when you consider that the state bearing that name is only two-thirds land, the remaining one-third being water. What the many heads were that gave to Dakota its title I do not pretend to say from actual knowledge, but I suppose they were the heads of buffaloes. Nothing could be dearer to the Indian than this game, and here they abounded. Their "countless trails and wallows are still to be found on every hand not to speak of the elk, deer and antelope," specimens of which have survived the buffalo's practical extinction in the territory. A Practical Religion.?We want a religion that softens the step and tunes the voice to melody, and checks the impatient exclamation and harsh rebuke; a religion that is polite, deferential to superiors, courteous to inferiors, and considerate to friends; a religion that goes into the family and keeps the husband from being cross when the dinner is late, and keeps the wife from fretting when the husband tracks the newlywashed floor with his muddy boots, and makes the husband mindful of the scraper and the door-mat; keeps the mother patient when the baby is fretful, and amuses the children as well as instructs them ; cares for the servants besides paying them promptly: projects the honey-moon into the harvest-moon, and makes the happy home like the Eastern figtree, bearing in its bosom at once the beauty of its tender blossoms and the glory of the ripened fruit. We want a religion that shall interpose between the ruts and gullies and rocks of the highway of life and the sensitive souls that are traveling over them ?Exchange. Labor.?All labor well and worthily performed, is in itself, a direct means of elevating and improving the laborer. In the first place, it calls forth enertrvand force, and they grow by exercise. No system of selfculture, however elaborate, can ever give that tone and vigor to the system, or that sense of power to the mind, which come from regular, well-performed labcr. To work with a purpose whether it be at the forge or the shop, in the factory or the office, in the field or the studio, in the kitchen or the school-room, gives a conscious ability that nothing else can produce, and that goes far to make the manly and womanly character. Reading Faces.?Could we read aright, we should find that every human being carries the lineaments of the life in the face. Good looks or ill looks accord respectively with the complexion of the life. It is very certain that beauty is added to and called forth by the exercise of the kindly affection of love, of pity, of trust, of hope and of pure joy, and it is equally certain that intellectual qualities have a similar result, for we have it upon ancient and high authority that "a man's wisdom rnaketh his face to shine, and the hardness of his face is changed." Thus beauty is not only skin deep, as another saying affirms, but it may also be said to be so natural that it ?oes all through. SQT Never have dark furniture for the kitchen; it shows dust much more than light and requires double the care. t