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SUMMER IN WINTER. BammAr time In winter—the birds were on the wine. The meadow dreamed of violets as sweet as those of spring. And all the birds remembered the songs they lv,ved to sing! Summer time In winter—the daisies decked the sod. T,at« sprinkled with the silver frosts, and lilies seemed to nod And send sweet messages of love to the blue realms of Ood ! And all the world was beautiful, and ail the world waa bright; The splendid day dreamed soft away to meet the restful night That rippled from <dear star* to earth its loveliness and light! —F. L. ft tan ton. 3cte«i—I thought disappointing for verail, biting my other person you 1A A A. A AAA, . ■«*. A A.*. A A, AAA.A AA ► An Early Bird. “Bother the fellow!” r # mutterecl savagely. “Just when I’d screwed up my nerves almost to the point of put ting the question, and so settling my trv vvwvvsfvvv vwMI Mostou doesn’t?” Bertha put iu, bur- riedly. “Oh, I’ve come across the type be fore—the irresistible, self-complacent. fate one way or the other, here he professed gallant, who never must come and upset everything with J Flushing sea'let, Bertha stamjied his confounded ‘Our dauee, Miss Bel- her foot angrily. linger, I believe!’ Deuce take the man and his dance, too!” i My ga/.e followed the pair as they passed between the douole row of palms toward the ba'lroom. For a moment the music swelled higher,and mingling with it in my ears came the silvery ripple t>f 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 conserva'ory swungto behind them. I rose from the settee,frowned with- eriugly at a big hydrangea bloom and thought things not to he found in the category of polite proverbs. From this genial mood I was roused by the frou-lrou of a woman’s dress and a tripping footfall which caused me to glance round quickly, half-expoctant- ly. But it was merely my sister Ber tha. “What’s amiss, Tom?” asked she merrily. “You don’t look extrnva- ^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 Aunt Jane!” “Tom-Tom!” and Bertha’s hands went up iu simulated horror. “Your own blood relation, too. How utterly depraved of you !” As a matter of confession I never could bring myself to a due state of honest sympathy where Aunt Jane’s nenrotic 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, nothing would do but that she must have her favorite niece to wait upouhev, HneN bn gentler fffl for being a nurse than sister. “Not Aant Jane!” Bertha went on, after a< pause. “Then it must be Joan. That wan she I saw just now with Captain Moston, wasn't it ? Have you aud she been falling out or what?” “Quite the contrary. We were getting on famously together until that conceited jackanapes thrust him self forward aud 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 ouly 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,iu my opinion.” “Tom, you’re a grumpy hear—a downright morose,irritable,surly,rude person!—and I’m sorry nude ever in vited you down here at all. You’ve scarcely been 24 hours in the house yet, and already you show a temper —that—that There, Joan must be an angel to .have tolerated you for five minutes!” I did not feel called upon to find fault with the classification. My quarrel was not with Miss Bellinger— nor yet w ith 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, with what she considered an air of delicate irony. “He isn’t one of vour sort at all, Tom.” “Whoevet he may be, he needs a lesson in manners,” I rejoined hotly. “The way in which he has been hang ing round Miss Bellinger ever sin' e I’ve been here is absolutely insuffer able. Of course you haven’t noticed it; you’ve been upstairs with Aunt Jane all the time. But I have, and by Jove! there’ll be ructions soon if It “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 you wonder at that. Just wait until you sec him flirting with me. You forge 1 : you haven’t had an opportunity of witnessing that yet.” “I don’t care twoi enoe whom he flirts with,so long us it isn’t Miss Bel linger,” replied I. “Besides, it isn’t fair to her. No man has a right to monopolize any girl as he does,unless he seriously thinks almut—means to —to——” ‘ “And how do you know Captain 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 you. If you wish to oust Captniu Moston, I can assure you you’ll have to got up very early in the morning.” Tins outburst was indeed a facer for me; but I did not intend that ray tor ment of a sister should note its ef fects. “I wish you wouldn’t be so slangy, Bertha,” 1 said, reprovingly. “It shows shocking had form iu girls.” “f hanks 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, aud soon afterward, by an odd coincidence, Captain Moston also strolls away, but invariably iu the op posite direction. Now, doesn’t that strike yon as being somewhat signi ficant? While yon are lazying in bed —unless you 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 Tom, truly I pity you!’’ And with a mock-solemn shake of her head she was gone. I. mooned np into the billiard room, wheBMubaequently I was badly beaten -old eonsin “Say,'Ttom,you’re a bit off color to night, aren’t you?” ho exclaimed pat ronizingly. “Never saw you make such a rotten show in my life. But what d’you think of my play, eh? I’ye come on a lot lately, haven’t I? Fact is. Captain 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 Name gallery ns 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 the lock on the outside of the door. Ere I fell asleep I had settled upon a ruse de guerre. Waking soon after daybreak, I dressed hastily and slipped out into the corridor. Listening at the cap tain’s door, I could hear his heavy, regular breathing within; he was still fast asleep. My fingers sought the protruding key, and softly, warily, I turned it, the bolt sliding into its socket without a sound. ‘ Now, I well knew that all 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 oxvn, and I flattered my self upon the tactical use to which *1 had been enabled to put my knowl edge. Of a certainty there would be 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 hau^ • 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 as I had been led to expect. Myself unseen, I followed after, until she entered the ornate wooden chalet near the tennis conrt. 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 gronnd vexedly with the toe of her boot, glancing this way and. that at intervals, with growing impatience. I thrust through the bushes behind her. “How late you are!” she cried, turn ing round at the noise; then, seeing me, she stammered confusedly: “Oh, Mr. Varcoe, I it was some one “That’s a litl both of us,” I lip. “It was some hope! to see—ehf “I said—expected. ” “Don’t you think it amounts to aboat the same thing,” I hazarded suavely, “under the circumstances?” “Not at all—why need it? Still, I mast confess I wish you had not come just now. I didn’t want to see you, nor yon to see me.” I swung round as if to leave her. “A girl never ll|ks her best when learning to cycle,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 yon’ve found it out and have come to laugh at me.” “I declare not,” said I, returning to her side. “I hadn’t even the faintest idea that you were qualifying for a feminine Ixion ” “There! Ikn’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. Yon ought not to chaff or discourage a beginner —for I do so wan|$o learn.” Again she peerfd round in search of him who, to mjr certain knowledge, w ould never put in an appearance that morning. . “How annoying!” she ejaculated, pursing up her lips. “What can he keeping him? I wouldn’t have given him those three dances last night if I had thought he would have failed me now. That was the condition.” “A pleasurable »ne, surely,” I murmured, trying vainly to recollect more than one ch the three dances mention d. “To be of service to you in any way, to be with you, alone, and iu ** “Oh, t must it qot be delightful?” cried Joan, in eei|asy. “I can imag ine nothing more glorious!” The exclamation struck me os 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 drivo 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 Gsesar!” I cried, ofi 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, eagerly. “Every morning they go for a spin as far as Bra’esley and back. Mustn’t it be just glorious? buoyancy, “Every morning?” 1 repeated, oon fusedly. “Bertha and Captain Mos ton? I don’t think I quite under stand.” “Hasn’t Bertha told you? She and Captain Moston have been great friends ever so long, and they have become But, there, now, I’m betraying strict confidences. I ought not to have said a word about it, bnt I made sure she would have told her own brother.” “That’o her way of informing me of the fact,” replied I,pointing toward the flying figures. “And, all things considered, she might have chosen a worse method. Bertha possesses more tact than I ever gave her credit for. I ouly hope I may hit upon an equally pleasant and original plan for acquainting her with my engage ment ” “Yonr engagement!” murmured Joan, with a manifest effort to control herself that set my heart thumping with joy. “You—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, Joa«>” “It’s good of yon to offer, Tom. I’m afraul 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 aud keep you there firmly, securely ” “Oh, bnt I didn’t mean that, you stupid boy! And need you hold me quite so tightly? My other teacher did not.” “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 yon snit.” “With any 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, you 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? Just when we were managing so nice ly, too!” As Joan spoke, my uncle’s young hopeful came loping along the path, breathless and spent with the haste he had made. “Awfully sorry I’m so late. Miss Pellinger,” gasped he. “Some silly idiot fastened me into my bedroom this morning, and it took me a beastly long time to screw off the lock with my penknife. I’ve half a notion it was one of Captain Moston’s jokes. ” “Captain Moston?” said I, my hand going instinctively into my pocket, where lay the incriminating key. “Yes; onr rooms we close together, SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS. 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 Hpitzbergen, most of them being un known on the European continent. Padlocks are being manufacturer! with an auxiliary chamber which car ries an explosive to be fired by a ham- the left. But I’ll find some dodge to pay him out for this lark before 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- now and leave you. Go ahead, old chap! I uever like to spoil sport.” —Chambers’ Journal. WHEN THE STARS FELL mer inside the lock and give an alarm yon know—his two rooms to the right when the lock is tampered with, of yours, just as mine is two doors to 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 tened to put in. Havre, France, passed resolutions “For me, yon mean?” exclaimed he, f avor j n g the introduction of hygiene, grinning. “Well, I gO<ed some- physical training and athletic sports in thing of the sort when I slw you here. a n schools and colleges, with quar- I’d better clear out, eh? So I’ll ta-ta terly reports to parents on the physi cal development of their children. The great earthquake of June 12 is found by the Indian geographical sur vey to hqve affected a greater area than the historical Lisbon earthquake. The cylinder seismometer at Shillong re corded an oscillation 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 all in tents and purposes, the 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 nnmber 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. 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 instrument 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 in England, consists of a canvas belt shouts made the woods ring and added with cork layers at intervals, extra Meteoric Shower Followed by a Season of Religion* Activity. The recent eclipse was disenssed in a crowd of old-timers the other day, and it was unanimously almitted 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 aud meteors, and the big shower of falling stars in November, 1833, was referred to by one of the talkers. “I remember 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 harry, 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 about the trouble until he started home. He was with a friend, named Jones, a man of religious tarn of mind, and when the stars commenced cutting up their capers my father was anxious to reach home as soon as possible. Bnt Jones was frightened out of his wits, and got down on his knees by the side of the road to pray. It was no nse reasoning with him. Every hundred yards or so he collapsed and dropped on his knees. He had a pow erful voice, and his lamentations and he lost no time i» 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 seemed 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 howls, and from every cabin might be heard snatches of prayer aud religious songs. 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 miud, 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. Remarkable Ear of Corn. An ear of corn which Patrick Cullen believes to be worth a small fortuneis being carefully preserved by that indi vidual, who 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 «f corn. Its kernels are not of solid g<Tld, nor are there any diamonds conSealed about the cob. ' Its value lies iu 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 nnmber 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 conld be, and that it was really a curiosity. Cullen is now looking for the agricultural so ciety which offered the $'.000 reward. —Philadelphia Record. Klondike! Cnlinary 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’xkickin’ becanse there's more nuggets thau noodles in his 9000!—Chicago Tribune. under the arms, and 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 oat of water, while if a passenger by sea is timid he may wear the belt constantly under his other clothes. The wearer is not prevented from swimming. Theories as 1o Why Birds’ Eggs Are Colored. The why and wherefore of the color's of birds’ eggs has been a favorite theme for speculation, from the quaint snrmisings of Sir Thomas Browne to the solemn guess work of Shufeldt, in his ten “biological laws explanatory of the variation in color of the shells 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 eves, 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 ns that the colors of eggs are due to the in fluence of their respective surround ings on the imagination of the hen 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 experiences of the parents; but it does not explain why the equally rapacious fowls pro duce pure w hite eggs, or the blood thirsty skuas and shrikes lay greenish ftnes.—Ernest Ingersoll, in Harper’s Magazine. Gn!d<>* for Be^t-ars, 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 suo cumb to their pedatory devices. Some time ago a Mr. H. Grant published in England a volume entitled “The Charitable Teh 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 ont an appendix, to be called “The Guide to Givers,” and to contain the names and ad dresses of “several thousand addition al and living benefactors, collected with the erreatest care.” fe.1 ur#: