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■Mi ww WV : ' ’ 6 V '- <5 ••: '’.f.: SUMMER IN WINTER. Rammer time In winter—the bird* were on lllie* Beetned to nod tb« wlnK. ' And «end *weet mewagee of lore to the Woe The meadow dreamed of rloleU as aweet as realms of God ! And all the birds remembered the songs they And all the world was beautiful, and all the luved to slue 1 world was bright; Thesplendid day dreamed soft away to meet Summer time In winter—the daisies decked the restful night the sod. That rippled from clear start to earth Its Late sprinkled with the silver frosts, and * loveliness and light! —F. L. Stanton. JBt.dk. Jk.Jk.JBk.jtk. A.jtk*Jtk. A. An Early Bird. r "m* •y 'v ri v ' i ysF' i y | y i y^B r i y “Bother the fellow!” I muttered savagely. “Just wheu I’d screwed up nty nerves almost to the point of put ting the question, and so settling my late one way or the other, here he must come and upset everything with his confounded ‘Our dance, Miss Bei jinger, I believe!’ Deuce take the man and his dance, too!” f My gaze followed the pair as they passed between the double row of palms toward the ballroom. For a moment the music swelled higher,and mingling with it iu my ears came the silvery ripple of Joan’s laughter. Con fusion seize the clown!—he seemed to have the knack of amusing her, if nothing else. Then the door of the conservatory swung to behind them. I rose from the settee,frow ned with- eringly at a big hydrangea bloom and thought things not to be found in the category of polite proverbs. From this genial mood I was roused by the frou-frou of a woman’s dress and a tripping footfall which caused me to glance round quickly, half-expeetant- ly. But it was merely my sister Ber tha. “What’s amiss, Tom?" asked she merrily. “You don’t look extrava gantly amiable tonight.” “Don’t I, indeed? Well, I feel even less cheerful than I look.” “You couldn’t, Tom, dear,” Bertha protested, flippantly. “Come, now, what is it? Anxiety about Aunt Jane’s health?” “Oh, hang Auut Jane!” “Tom -Tom!” and Bertha’s hands ■went up in simulated horror. “Your own blood relation, too. How utterly depraved of yon !’’ As a matter of confession I never could bring myself to a due state of honest sympathy where Aunt Jane’s neurotic ailments were concerned. True, they were the only only relax ations the poor old soul allowed her self, but then she ever and inexorably worked them for all they were worth. Among other instances, whenever she felt, one of her “attacks” coming on, li ilfldn fWrf hand and foot, from morning till night. It was precious hard lines on Bertha, maybe; yet it is the penalty a girl has to pay for beiug a gentler nurse than sister. “Not Aunt June!” Bertha went on, after a panse. “Then it must be Joan. That-was she I saw just now with Captain Moston, wasn’t it ? Have you and she been falling out or what ?” “Quite the contrary. We were getting on famously together until that conceited jackanapes thrust him self forward uiql carried her off.” “Why, what can you complain of in that? I suppose he simply claimed the waltz she had promised him. What are parties and dances for?” “The only rational use of them is to keep people out of the way of those who don’t want to dance. Otherwise, they’re nothing but stupid circuses, in my opinion. ” “Tom, you’re a grumpy bear—a downright morose,irritable,sqrly,rude person!—and I’m sofry nnele ever in vited you down here at all. You’ve scarcely been ‘24 hours in the house yet, and already yon show a temper —that—that There, Joan must be an angel to have tolerated you for live minutes!” I did not feel called upon to find fault with the classification. My quarrel was not with Miss Bellinger— nor yet with Bertha. “Well,” said I, quickly, “ this swash-buckler fellow — this army bounder—who is he, anyway?” “Captain Moston is nothing more than a gentleman,” retorted Bertha, w ith w hat she considered an air of delicate irony. “He isn’t one of your sort at all, Tom.” “Whoever he may be, ho needs a lesson iu manners,” I rejoined hotly. “The w ay in which he has been hang ing round Miss Bellinger ever since I’ve been here is absolutely insuffer able. Of course you haven’t noticed it; you’ve been upstairs with Auut Jane all the time. But I have, and by Jove! thero’l! be ructions soon if Moston doesn’t?” Bertha put in, bur. riedly. “Oh, I’ve come across the type be fore—the irresistible, self-complacent, professed gallant, who never ” Flushing scarlet, Bertha stamped her foot angrily. “I won’t listen to you. It’s dis graceful! He is—he is At all events, I know Joan likes him—is very fond of him, in fact. Hhe told me so herself. And if she had to choose between you and him, I’m per fectly certain which she would favor.” Here Bertha broke out into another high-pitched giggle. “Really, Tom, I’m almost sorry for yon. If you wish to oust Captain Moston, I can assure you you’ll have to get np very early in the morning.” Tuis outburst was indeed a facer for me; but I did not intend that my tor ment of a sister should note its ef fects. “I wish you wouldn’t be so slangy, Bertha,” I said, reprovingly. “It shows shocking bad form iu girls.” “Thanks for the benefit of the ex ample,’’retorted she, airily. “Only I didn’t mean it for slang, either. It’s a piece of advice to be taken literally. I’ll explain—though you don’t deserve any such consideration from me, really. Now listen to this. Every morning, before breakfast, Joan wanders off by herself through the park toward the shrubbery, and soon afterward, by an odd coincidence, Captain Moston also strolls away, but invariably in the op posite direction. Now, doesn’t that strike you as being somewhat signi ficant? While you are lazying in bed —unless yon have amended your hab its of late —no doubt he is improving the golden opportunities. You recol lect uncle's adage, that women are apt to guage a man’s affection by his per sistence, especially where But the waltz is over, and here comes the crowd. My poor Tour, truly I pity you!” And with a mock-solemn shake of her head she was gone. wliereTitTjseqJenTfy “Oh, now I begin to understand,” interposed my sister, amusedly. “That’s how the wind blows, is it? You’re jealous, Tom. Gracious me, it’s clear you don’t know Captain Mos ton since yon wonder at that. Just wait until yon see him tlirting with me. Yon forge 1 you haven’t had an opportunity of witnessing that yet.” “I don’t care twoi euce w hom lie flirts w ith,so long as it isn’t Miss Bel- linger ” replied I. “Besides, it isn’t fair to* her. No has a right to monopolize any girl iwhe does,unless lie seriously thinks abont—means to —to ” “Ami how do you know Captain y beate by my 15-year-old cousin Harold in “hundred np” game. His flukes were phenomenal. “Say, Tom,you’re a bit off color to night, aren’t yon?” he exclaimed pat ronizingly. “Never saw yon make such a rotten show in my life. But what d’you think of my play, eh? I’ve come on a lot lately, haven’t I? Fact is, CaptafU Moston’s been tipping me a few- wrinkles the last day or two. Jolly clever chap, the captain, you know.” I offered no comment—audibly. The youngster entered into a glow ing eulogy of the captain’s many splen did accomplishments and good quali ties, rattle to which I had neither the desire nor the patience to hearken. Incidentally, however, he happened to mention that the bedroom of the gen tleman in question opened out of the same gallery as mine—was, indeed, next but one to it. Later, when I passed this particular room on my way up to bed, I chanced to observe that the key projected from thelock on the outside of the door. Ere I fell asleep I had settled upon a ruse de gupre. Waking soon after daybreak, I dressed hastily arttf slipped out into the corridor. Listening at the cap tain’s door, I could hear his heavy, regular breathing within; he was still fast asdeep. My tingers sought the protruding key, and softly, warily, I turned it, the bolt sliding into its socket without a sound. Now, I well km^v that nil the apartments in my uncle’s house were fitted with patent fastenings, each one having its special key, no one key opening any other lock than its own. and I flattered my self upon the tactical use to which I had b?en enabled to put my knowl edge. Of a certainty there would he no Captain Moston at the rendezvous that morning. Chuckling over the success of my stratagem, I thrust the key into my pocket and hurried down stairs. Half an hour afterward, from the embrasure of the library window , I stood and watched Joan issue from the stone porch, cross the terrace and wend down by the shrubberies— exactly us I had been led to expect. Myself unseen, I followed after, until she entered the ornate wooden chalet near the tennis court. In a few min utes she reappeared with a bicycle, which she trundled down to the level gravelly path beyond. Here she waited, tapping the ground vexedly with the toe of her boot, glancing this way and that at intervals, w ith growing impatience. I thrust through the hushes behind her. “How late yon are!” shecried, tam ing round at the noise; then, seeing me, she stammered confusedly: “Oh, \ Mr. Varcoe, I I expected—I thought it was some one else!” “That’s a little disappointing for both of ns,” I answered, biting my lip. “It was some other person you hoped to see—eh?” “I said—expected.” “Don’t you think it amounts to abont the same thing,” I hazarded suavely, “under the circumstances?” “Not at all—why need it? Still, I must confess I wish you hail not come just now. I didn’t want to see you, nor you to see me.” I swung round as if to leave her. “A girl never looks her best when learning to cycle,”she went on. “One always feels so helpless, so awkward, so very ridiculous an object at first. That’s why I practise out here before the other folks are astir. And now you’ve found it out and have come to laugh at me.” “I declare not,” said I, returning to her side. **l hadn’t even the faintest idea that you were qualifying for a feminine Ixion—:—” “There! Isn’t that poking fun at me? Really, it's too bad! Why,Ber tha told me that yon yourself were an enthusiastic cyclist - almost as expert a rider as Captain Moston. You ought not to chaff or discourage a beginner —for I do so want to learn.” Again she peered round in search of him who, to my certain knowledge, would never put in an appearance that morning. “How annoying!” she ejaculated, parsing up her lips. “What can be keeping him? I wouldn’t have given him those three dances last night if I had thought he would have failed me now. That wasThe condition.” “A pleasnrable one, surely,” I murmured, trying vainly to recollect more than one of the three dances mention d. “To be of service to you in any way, to be with yon, alone, and in ” “Oh, must it not be delightful?” cried Joan, in ecstasy. “I can imag- breathless and spent with the haste ! he had made. “Awfully sorry I’m so late, Miss Bellinger,” gasped he. •‘Borne silly idiot fastened me into my bedroom this morning, and it took me a beast y long time to screw off the lock with my penknife. I’ve half a n<i r ion it was one of Captain Moston’s jokes. ” “Captain Moston?” said I, my hand goings instinctively iato my pocket, where lay the incriminating key. “Yes; our rooms are close together, yon know—his two rooms to the ilfeht of yours, jnst as mine is two doors to the left, But I’ll find some dodge to him out for this lark before SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS. pay I’m a day older, yon bet. And now, Miss Bellinger, if it isn’t too late to begin ” “I rather fancy it is,Harold,” I has tened to put in. “For me, you mean?” exclaimed he, grinning. “Well, I guexsed some thing of the sort when I saw you here. I’d better clear out, eh? So I’ll ta-ta now and leave you. Go ahead, old chap! I never like to spoil sport.” —Chambers’ Journal. WHEN THE STARS FELL ine nothing more glorious!” The exclamation struck me as being somewhat incredible. Looking up in surprise, I found that she had not been paving heed to my words at all; her lips parted, she stood gazing with sparkling eyes across the greensward to where the carriage driva wound down beneath the elm trees toward the park gates. Along this stretch of road a tandem bicycle was being rid den at a hot pace. “Great Ctesar!” I cried, on catching sight of the distant scorchers; “that’s Bertha, isn’t it? And the other—no, it can’t be ” “Is Captain Moston,” interposed Joan, eageiix,. “Everyjnorning they bai The sense of freedom, of buoyancy, of swift joy,of life and power, of—of Oh, hoxv I envy them!” “Every morning?” I repeated, con fusedly. “Bertha and Captain Mos ton? T don’t think I quite under stand.” “Hasn’t Bertha told you? She and Captain Moston have been greaifriends ever so long, ami they have become But, there, now, I’m betraying strict confidences. I ought not to have said a word about it, but I made sure she would have told her own brother/’ “That’s her way of informing me of the fact,” replied I,pointing toward the Hying figures. “And, all things considered, she might have chosen a worse method. Bertha possesses more tact than l ever gave her credit for. I only hope I may hit npon an equally pleasant and original plan for Acquainting her with uiy engage ment ” “Yonr engagement!” murmured Joan, with a manifest effort to control herself that set my heart thumping with joy. “Yon—engaged?” “To teach you cycling.” “Oh! I thought you meant—some thing else.” “Since it’s clear your regular in structor will not be available today, may I ask you to consider my proposal, Joan?” “It’s good of you to offer, Tom. I’m afraid you’ll find me a terribly backward pupil, and I know I shall never be able to get on by myself.” “Then allow me to help you. First, you place your right foot on the pedal —so; now I lift you to the saddle and keep you there firmly, securely ” “Oh, but I didn’t mean that, you stupid boy! And need yon hold me quite so tightly? My other teacher did not.” • Meteoric Shower Followed by a Seanon of lleliglntia Activity. The recent eclipse was discussed iu a crowd of old-timers the other day, and it was unanimously admitted that whenever anything unusual occurred in the heavens it impressed the be holder more than any other phenome non. From the subject of eclipse the conversation turned to comets and meteors, and the big shower of falling stars iu November, 1833, was referred to by one of the talkers. “I rememlier it,” said Colonel George W. Adair. “At that time I was only a small boy, but the spec tacle was one not to be forgotten in a hurry, and the agitation and alarm of the older people around me impressed it upon my mind. “It was the night of November 13, 1833, when the stars fell. I was then living out iu the country, in Henry county, and was fast asleep when the shower came. “My father had gone that night to a corn-shucking, and knew nothing abont the trouble until he started home. He was with a friend, named Jones, a man of religions turn of mini), and wheu the stars commenced cutting up their capers my father was anxious to reach home as soon as possible. But Jones was frightened out of his wits, and got down on his knees by the side of the road to pray. It was no uee reasoning with him. Every hundred yards or so be collapsed and Hjejl on his knees. He had a pow- shouts nfaae the woods ring and added to the horrors of the night. On an average, man’s physical strength begins to decay at the age of thirty-six. Botanists have found no fewer than 120 different kinds of flowers on Spitzbergen, most of them being un known on the European continent Padlocks are being manufactured with an auxiliary chamber which car ries an explosive to be fired by a ham mer inside the lock and give an alarm when the lock is tampered with. A fossil extinct mammal, somewhat larger than a rhinoceros and of a spe cies hithertounknown, has been found complete 500 feet below the surface in a coal mine at Kymi, in the island of Euboea, Greece. The recent Congres Olympiqe at Havre, France, passed resolutions favoring the introduction of hygiene, physical training and athletic sports in all schools aud colleges, with quar terly reports to parents on the physi cal development of their children. The great ea-thqnake of June 12 is found by the Indian geographical sur vey to have affected a greater area than the historical Lisbon earthquake. Th« cylinder seismometer at Shillong re corded an osciilaiion of 7.4 inches at the rate of 50 times a minute, and masonry was simply shattered to pieces rather than overthrown. The depth to which the sun’s rays penetrate water has been recently de termined by the aid of photography. It has been found that at a depth of 533 feet the darkness was, to ail in tents and purposes, ttie same as that on a clear but moonless night. Sensi tive plates exposed at this depth for a considerable length of time gave no evidence of light action. There are 110 mountains in Colorado whose peaks are over 12,000 feet above the ocean level. Forty of these are higher than 14,000 feet, and more than half that number are so remote and rugged that no one has dared to at tempt to climb them. Some of them are massed with snow, others have glaciers over their approaches, and others are merely masses of jagged rocks. “By George, I should hope not, in deed! He couldn't put his whole heart and soul into the matter as I can —that is, if I am to consider myself definitely engaged.” “Well,not definitely, Tom; say tem porarily, until I see how you suit.” “With auy prospect of a permanen cy, Joan?” asked I, unsteadily. “I’m serious now; you cannot have misun derstood ” “Oh/Tom—hold me! I’m go—go— going! There, yon nearly let me tumble over that time! Why, I don’t believe you’re a bit abler instructor than the other- one, after all. You may be stronger and have better the ories as to Why, here’s Harold himself! Now, isn’t that tiresome? “Finally my father got home, and he lost no time in waking my mother and myself, I shall never forget the scene spread out before me when I went out into the yard. It was inde scribably grand and awful, and the heavens«eemed to be filled with mil lions of skyrockets. Streams of fire rolled in every direction, and the stars, or meteors, fell like flakes of snow. “Nothing like it had ever been seen by the people then living, and they were badly scared. The colored people set up the most unearthly yells and hcwls, and from every cabin might be heard snatches of prayer aud religious sougs. Many of the spectators be lieved that the world was coming to an end, and they were in a frenzy of terror and excitement. “The next day everybody felt re lieved, but there was* very little work done. Naturally everybody got into a religions frame of mind, and for weeks after the preacher had large congregations, and a crowd of old sin ners joined the church. “It was a wonderful sight, and I never expect to see anything like it again.”—Atlanta Journal. With an apparatus called the myo- phone, M. d’ Arsonval has proven that the nerves may, contrary to the old belief, live many hours after the death of the body. This cannot long be made perceptible through the excita bility of the muscles, but the sound in the jnstruihent shows that a nerve may act on a muscle, in a state of elec tric excitability, without producing more than simple molecular vibration. A new life preserver, recently tested buoyancy beiug given by four bladder floats of rubber. The belt is strapped, under the arms, aud the bladders are inflated through tubes provided with self-closing valves. The advantage claimed is that the wearer is always supported in the water in an upi ight position, with his face safely out of water, while if a passenger by sea ia timid he may wear the belt constantly under his other clothes. The wearer is not prevented from swimming. Theories as to Why Birds* Kgs* Are Colored. Just w hen we were managing so nice ly, too!” As Joan sjioke, my uncle’s yonng hopeful came loping along the path, Remarkable Kar of Corn. An ear of corn which Patrick Cullen believesrto be worth a small fortune is being carefully preserved by that indi vidual, w ho recently found his prize on Farmer Upright’s place at Merion square, Montgomery county. To the ordinary city man there is really noth ing remarkable about the ear of corn. Its kernels are not of solid g<Tkl, nor are there auy diamonds consented about the cob. Its value lies in the fact that somewhere at some time or other some agricultural society offered a reward of $1000 to any one who would find a perfect ear of corn with the kernels growing in an uneven number of rows. It has always been found that the rows are even, say ten, twelve, or fourteen to a cob. This ear which Patrick Cullen found, however, shows thirteen rows around the butt and eleven around the middle of the cob. Many farmers to whom Cullen showed his prize assured him that the ear was as perfect as it could be, and that it was really a curiosity. Cullen is now looking for the agricultural so ciety which offered the $1000 reward. —Philadelphia Record. The why and wherefore of the colors of birds’ eggs has been a favorite theme for speculation, from the quaint sunnisings of Sir Thomas Browne to the solemn gness work of Shufeldt, iu his ten “biological laws explanatory of the variation in color of the sheila of the eggs in class Aves. ” Hewitson piously concludes that the beauty of these elegant and often exquisitely attractive objects is intended for the delight of human eyes, hence, as he says, eggs simply white are put out of sight iu holes! He also sees in the larger number of eggs laid by game birds a provision by a benevolent Providence for the joy of the sports man and the delectation of the epicure. Next comes a man who assures us that the colors of eggs are due to the in fluence of their respective surround ings on the imagination of the heu birds—the old story of Jacob’s little trick on Laban in the matter of young cattle. This school instances as an example the red blotches prevalent on the eggs of falcons, regarded by it as a record of the bloody experience^ of the parents; but it does not explain why the equally rapacious fowls pro duce pure white eggs, or the blood thirsty skuas and shrikes lay greenish ones. —Ernest lugersoll, in Harper’s Magazine. Klomlikp Ctilinnr.v Note. Proprietor (of Dawson City restau rant)—What’s the matter with that chap down there at the other end of the table? Waiter—He’s kickin’ because there’s more nuggets than noodles in his 80'*o!—Chicago Tribune. Cidiitefi for Bcgganh It is an interesting proof of the im portance the begging letter profes sion has attained that its practitioners are now provided with specially com piled directories containing the names and addresses of people likely to suc cumb to their pedatory devices. Some time ago a Mr. H. Grant published in England a volume entitled “The Charitable Ten Thousand,” at the price of one. guinea—a mere trifle to a begging-letter writer of average skill and industry. This was so suc cessful that Grant now announces that he is bringing out an appendix, to be called “The Guide to Givers,” and to contain the names and ad dresses of “several thousand addition al anfl living benefactors, collected with the arreatest care.” 'ymm HIP