University of South Carolina Libraries
?THE SPLENDID SPUR 1 OH HE ADVENTURES OF JACK MARVEL j By ilflVB V. qUILLKB COUCH,* . CHAPTER X. - (Continued.) i was standing Oars with bar *??** In mine, and a burning remorse In my heart, when I heard the clear notes ?f a bugle blown, away on the road to Launceaton. Looking that way,. I aaw * great Company of horaee coming down over the crest, the sun shining level on their arms and a green standard ttat they bore In their midst. ? Joan spied them the same Instant, ?nd chocked her sobs. Without a *?o*d we flung ourselves down full length on the turf to watch. Tb<7 were more than a thousand, us I guessed, and came winding down the road very orderly till, being, full of them, it .seemed a long serpent iwrlthlng with shiny scales. The tramp of hoofs and jingling of bits were pretty to hear. "Rebels!" whispered I. Joan nodded. There were three regiments In all, !W hereof the llrst (the biggest) wss of dragoons. 80 clear, was the air I could fclmost read the legend on their stand ard, and the calls of their captains were borne up to us extremely dis tinct. As they rode leisurely past I thought of Master Tlngcomb's threat, and won. dered what this array could Intend. Nor, turning It over, could I find an/ , explanation, for the Earl of 8tamford's gathering, he had said, was In the northeast, and I knew such troops as the Cornish generals had to be quar tered at Launceston. Yet here, on the near side of Launceston, was a large body of rebel horses marching quietly to the sou' west. ? AVhere was the head or tall to ltt Turning my head as the last rider disappeared on the way to Bodmin. I spied a squat, oddly shaped man strld-' Ing down the hill very briskly; yet he looked about htm often and kept to the hollows of the ground; and was crossing below us, as It appeared, straight for Joan's cottage. Cried I: "There Is but one man in tho world with such a gait? and that's Billy Pottery!" And Jumping to my f^et (for he was Come directly beneath us) I caught up ? great stone and sent it bowling down tho slope. bounce it went past him, missing his legs by a foot or less. The man turned, and catching sight of me as I stood waving, made his way up the hill. .'Twas Indeed Captain Billy; and coming up, the honest fellow almost _ bogged me for Joy. "Was seeking "thee. Jack," he bawled; "learned from Sir Bevlll . where belike I might find thee. Left his lodging at Launceston this morn ing, and trudged ivery foot o* the way, 'A thirsty land. Jack ? neither horse's meat nor man's meat therein, nor a chair to sit down on; and three women only haye I kissed this day!" He broke Off and looked at Joan. "Beggln* the lady's pardon for sea manners and way o* speech." "Joan," said I, "this Is Billy Pottery, ? mariner and friend of mine, iind as deaf as a haddock." Billy made a leg; and as I pointed to the road where the cavalry had Just disappeared, went on with a nod: ' "That's so; old Q'arge Cudlelgh's troop o' horse sent off to Bodmin to seize the High Sheriff and his posse there. Two hour agone 1 spied 'em, and lia' been ever since play In' spy." "Then where be the King's forces?*" I made shift to lnquiitc by signs. "Marched out o' Launceston to-day, lad? an' but a biscuit a man between 'em. poor dears? for Stratton Heath, 1' the nor'cast, where the rebels be en camped. Heard by scouts o' these 'gentry beln' sent to Bodmin, and _ were minded to fight the Earl of Stam ford while his drngooners was away. And here's the long an' short o't; thou'rt wanted, lad, to bear a band wl' us up yonder? an' the good lady here can spare thee." And here we both looked at Joan? I shamefacedly enough, and Billy with a puzzled air, which he tried very deli cately to hide. She put her hand In mine. "To fight, lad?" I nodded my head. . "Then go," she said without a shade tn her voice; and as I made no answer, went on? "Shall a woman hinder when there's fighting to.ward? Only come back when thy wars be over, for I ?hall miss thee, Jack." And dropping my hand she led the way down to tho cottage. Now, Billy, of course, had not beard a word of this; but perhaps he ga{h> ?red some import. Anyway he pulled up short midway on the slope, scratched his head, and thundered: "What a good lass!" Joan, some paces ahead, turned at this and smiled; whereat, having rt> Idea he'd spoken above a whisper, Billy blushed red as any peony. 'Twas but n short hrlf hour when, tho mare being saddled and Hilly fed, we took our leave of Joan. Billy walked beside one stirrup, and the girl on the other side, to sec us a few yards on our way. At length she halted: "No leave takings, Jack, but ?Church and King!' Only do thy beat and not disgrace me." And "Church. and King!" she called thrice after us. standing In the road. For me. rts I rode up out of that valley, the drums seemed beating and the bugles calling to a new life ahead. Tho last light of day was on the tors, tho air blowing fresher as we mounted; and with Molly's every step the past five months appear'd to dissolve and fall away from me as a dream. On the crest I turn'd in the saddle. Joan wrfs yet standing there, s black speck on the road. She waved her* hand once. Billy had tnrn'd, too, and uncovering, shouted so that the hilltops echoed. "A food lass? a food lass! Bat what's hseoms o' t'other oner I % . V- V d J , ** Happy Adventure. I^kt came and found m bat mid way between Temple end Launceston; for tho' my companion etepp'd briskly beside me, twee useless to pat Molly beyond a welk; and, besides, the mare was new from her day's Journey. Billy engsged that by sunrise we shoold be In sight of the King's troops. % By daybreak we stood on a ridge a bore a bollpw rale into which the snn did not yet pierce, bat passing over to a high conical hill beyond, smote level on line after lone of white tents? the prettiest sight! Twas the enemy there encamped on the top and some wsy down the sides, the smoke of their trampled watch dree still curling among the gorsebushe#. | Looking down Info the valley at oar I fe^t, at first I saw no sign of oar own j troops? only the roofs of s little town* with overmuch smoke spread above It, like a morning mist. But here I heard the church bells clashing and a drum beating, and then a regiment of foot moving westward along the base of the hill. It was evident the battle was at hand, and we quickened our pace down Into* the street It lsy on the slope, and midway down we passed some watch fires burned out, and then a soldier or two running and fastening their straps; and last a little child, who seemed wild with the Joy of living amid great events and bid us proceed straight to tlie sign of "The Tree." It stood some way back from the street, with a great elm before the porch, where, by a stable, sat two men with tankards beside them and a small company of grooms and soldiers standing around. Both men were more than ordinary tall and soldier like, only the bigger wore a scarlet cloak very richly laced and was shouting or ders to his men, while the other, dressed In plain buff suit and Jack boots, had a map spread before him. ;whlch he studied very attentively, : writing therein with a quill pen. i "What a plague have we here?" cries ttbe big man as we drew up. I "Recruits, if it please you. sir." said II. dismounting and pulling off my hat. Ithoufch his Insolent tone offended me. ! "Slid! The boy speaks as if he were a regiment!" growls he half aloud. "Can'st fight?" I "That, with your leave, sir. Is what I am come to try." He turned ou Billy. j i "And this rascal?" ; Billy heard not a word, of course, yet answered readily: "Why, since your honor Is so pleas antly minded, let It be cider." Now the first effect of this, delivered with all force of lung, was to make the big man sit bolt upright and staring; recovering speech, however, he broke into a volley of blasphemous curses. , All this while the man in buff bad scarce lifted his eyes off the map. But now* he looks Hp*? and I saw at the first glance that the two men hated each other. ? "I think," said he quietly, "my Lord Mohun has forgot to ask the gentle man's name." "My name 'Is Marvel, sir ? John Mar vel." I answer'd him with a bow. ? "Hey!"? and dropping his pen he starts up and grasps my band? "Then 'tis you I have never thanked for His Gracious Majesty's letter." "The General Hopton?" cried I. "Even so, sir. My lord," he went on, still holding my hand and turning to his companion, "let me present to you the gentleman that in January nav'd your house of Bocconnoc from burning at the hands *of the rebels? whom God confound this day!" He lifted his hat. "Amen," said I. ns his lordship bowed, exceedingly sulkily. But I did not value his rage, being hot with Joy tQ lje so beprals'd by the first captain (as^ yet hold) on the royal side. Who now, not without a sly triumph, flung the prfee of Billy's cider on the table, and, folding up his map, nddress'd me again: "Master Marvel, the flght to-day will lie but little with the horse? or so I hope. You will do well, if you wish to serve us best, to leave your mnre be hind. The troop which my Lord Mo hun and I command together Is below. But Sir Bcvlll Grentllle, who has seen and Is Interested In you, has the first claim; and I would not deny you the delight to flght your first battle tinder so good a master. Ills men are. with Sir John Berkeley's troop, a little to the westward; and If you are ready I will go some distance with you, and put you In the way to find hlin. My lord, may we look for you presently?" The Lord Mohun nodded, surly enough; so, Billy's cider being now drunk and Molly given over to an ostler, we set out down the hill to gether, Billy shouldering a pike and walking after with the grooni that led Sir Ualph's horse. Be suro the Gen era!** courtly manner of set ny blood ting. .ig. I seeni'd to grow a f til two Inches taller, and when, In the vt'e. we parted, he directing roe to the let , where through n gap 1 could see Sir ilevlll's troop forming at some five hundred paces' distance, I felt a very desperate warrior. Indeed; and set off at a run. with Billy behind me. - 'Twould be tedious to toll (ho whole of this long flght, which, beginning soon nftor sunrise, ended not till four In the Afternoon, -or therealKuits; and Indeed of the whole my recollection I* bnt n continual advance n:ul repulse. But nt 3 o'clock we, having been for the sixth time beatea back, were pant ing under cover of a hedge, and fclr John Berkeley, near by. wn* writing on a drumhead vmo ine*?nge to the camp, when there' comes a young man on horseback. Ill* face smeared with <*lrt and du?t, and rides up to him and Sir Bevlll. 'Twas (I have since loarn'd) to say 1lint the powder wan all spent I nt a barrel or two; but this only the captains kuow at the time. "Very well, then," crl?*a Sir Bevlll, toping up willy. "C^cne nlonjc boy? MaM the ektrgv, ad ip Away alaas the Hop* we Jmm4 the ?(bar truopctm wwndtag la uiw?r, and I better* 'twas a wain cordat to all of aa. BlUy Pottery was rtaged en my rlsht, la tbe first tank, aad next to mat ea tbe other aide, a slant, aaar aarea foot high, who aakl hie Mupe w^sTtn thonj Payne, and hie haatnaaa to act aa body-aervant to Sir BevllL And he It was that atruck op a tolshty carteoe sons In the Oornlah tonsoe, which the ! saat took op with a will. Twaa In credible how It pat fire Into than all; and Sir BotUI toes'd hla bat Into the air; and after him Uke schoolboys we pelted, atralght (or the maaaea ahead. For now orer the rampart came a company of red musketeers, and two of rnaaet-clad plkemen. charging down on aa. ? moment, and we were crashed back; another, and the chant roee again. We were grappling, band to band. In tbe mldat of their flies. Taktns breathy I aaw tbe enemy melt Ins off tbe aammlt like a mail's breath off a pane. And Sir Bevill cansht my band and pointed across to where, on tbe north aide, a white etandard em broidered with gold griffins waa mount ing. " *Tls dear Nick 81annlng!" be cried; "God be pcaiaed? tbe day la ours for certalnf The rest of this signal victory (In which 1700 prisoners were taken, be sides the Major- General Chndlelgb; aud all tl)e rebels' camp, cannon and vic tuals) I leave historians to tell. For very soon after the rout was assured (the plain below full of men scream ing and running, and Colonel John Dlgby'a dragoons after them, chasing, cutting and killing), a wet muzsie was thrust Into my hand, and turniug, I found Molly behind me, with tbe groom to whom I had given her In the morning. The rogue bad counted on a crown for his readiness, and swore the mare was ready for anything, he hav ing mlx'd half a pint of strong ale with her mash, not half an hour before. So I determln'd to see tbe end of It, and paying the fellow, cllmb'd Into the saddle. Billy Pottery strode at my stirrup, munching at a biscuit be had found In the rebels' camp. We turned Into a lane, which grad ually led us to westward, out of the main Hue of the rout, aud past a hamlet, where every door wss shut and all silent. And at last a slice of the sea fronted us, between two steep ly shelving hills. On tbe crest of the road, before It plunged down toward the coast, was a wagon lying against the hedge, with tbe horses gone; and beside it, stretch'd across the road, an old woman. Stopping. 'we found her dead, with a sword-thrust through the left breast; and Inside the wagon a young man lying with ills jaw bound up? dead, also. And how this sad spectaele lmppen'd here, so far from the battlefield, was more than we could guess. I was moving away, when Billy, that was kneeling in the rond. chanced to cast his eyes up toward the sea. and dropping the dead woman's baud, scrambled on his feet and stood loot ing, with a pussled face. [ Following his gase, I aaw a small ?loop moving under ehorten'd canvas, about two miles from tbe land. She made, a pleasant sight, with the last rays of aunllght flaming on her aalla; but for Billy's perturbation I could not account, so turn'd an Inquir ing glance to blm. "Suthin* T the wind out yonder,'* was his answer. "What's a sloop doing ou that ratch so close In by the point? Be dang*d! but there she goes again"? _ as the little" vessel swung off a point or two further from the breeze, that was breathing softly up Cliannek "Time to siip, lad. for the both of us," he broke off shortly. - Indeed, I was faint with hunger by this time, yet bad no stomach to cat (bus close to the dead. Bo turning into a gate on our left, we cross'd two or three fields, ond sat down to sup off Billy's biscuits, tlio mare standing qui etly beside us, and cropping the short graRS. The field where we now found our selves ran out along the top of n small promontory, and ended, without fence of any sort, at the cliff's edge. As J sat looking southward, I could only ob serve the sloop by turning my head; but Billy, who squatted over against me, hardly took his eyes off her, and between this and lain meal, was too busy to speak a word. I stetch'd my self out and found it very nlen!>aut t? lie still; nor, when Billy stood up ond sauntered off .toward the fp.r end of the headland, did I stir more than to turn in y head and lazily watch him. (To be continued.) INDIVIDUALITIES. Dr. William A*hmorc. the veteran missionary to China, Is eighty yearn old. Dr. J (?. Mont fort, Keillor editor of !l?c Herald mid Presbyter, liau eulcred iN nincly-flfth year Hlgnor (larofalo. t l?o Italian crimin ologist reckons Hint throughout Eu rope 10,000 person* are annually con denmed for murder. John <J. Pack hard, a rich Cailfornlan. Is having a $75,000 library building erected for Marysvlllc, Cal., beenmo he got liis start In life thrv. Manuel Kiulqncz. one of the oldest pioneer* of (California and the m*?: survivor of (Jcneral l?"r.Mnont'M hallal lon In lh:* Mexican war, lias just die: I at I /Oh Angeles, Cal. One of the many private pension lulls which passed Hie House recently pro Tided for Increasing the pension of Kd mund (.!. Itoss from ?12 to $30 a mouth. He was once a Hcnator. Dr. Nicola* Menu, of Chicago. Ill . the noted surgeon, urge* Kcnrral support of the White ( 'row* Hoc i e I v . saying that It Ik dCKtined to do In lime of peaee what t lie Hod Cro?* Society dots In war. Captain !?'. C. March, who arrived In Han Francisco, Cal.. recently from Manchuria, where he was American military attache with Ceucrai KflfOkl. brought with him .Vtf? photographs taken oil the field of battle. H. W. Kapp, who ha* Just been ap pointed general agent of the Pennsyl vania Itallroad lines at Haltlmore, >1(1., was born In Marietta. Pa., In 1H44. lie ginning IiIk railroad career eighteen years Inter In a humble position. Only one man In tbo city of I<ondon outside tbe Tower possesses the pass word which enables Itlm to answer tbe challenge of tbe entries at any time. It l? the Lord Mayor, and the paaa word la given to tm by aotborltr of la a mass of aMirie ataM Prof ee ?orVolttB. the iriiWHH French phy ?tdit, hu dieeovered a nmnber of dlt* aaada of mkrsscofte dimensions, bat of nfilar octahedral form and perfect prater. In one unbroken noctnrnal flight the European bird known ae the northern Ibluethroat hae been known to travel from Central Africa to the German Ocean, a distance of 1600 miles, mak ing the Journey In nine boors. It le thought that the Panama Canal Commission will procure from the Co lumbia River the 40,000 plies that will bo needed In the construction of the canal. That will be equivalent to 32.- 4 000,000 feet of timber, or equal, all told, to four of the huge rafts that arc built on the Columbia River and towed* to Ban Frandsqo at the rate of three each summer. The fourth Jewel screw of a watch is so smsll that to the naked eye It will not look like anything more than a bit of dust, says Ed. Key, watchmaker, In the 8t Louis Globe- Democrat, and Is probably the small&t screw made. It must necessarily be perfect In every respect, and the character of the work manship required on It Is Illustrated by looking at ittmder a powerful mi croscope, when It Is seen that the threads average 200 to the Inch. It is exactly 4-100 of an inch In diameter, and over 50,000 could be packed in a lady's thimble with ease. The lifting of massive Iron and steel plates weighing four, six and twelve tons by msgnetlsm, Is now done every workday In a number of large steel works. The magnets are suspended by chains from cranes and pick up the plates by simple contact and without the loss of time consequent to the ad justment of chain and hooks in the older method. It Is also found that the metal plates can be lifted by the magnets while still so hot that it would be impossible for the men to handle them. A magnet weighing 300 pounds will lift nearly five tons. In a paper published recently In the Hungarian Mathematlschen Dr. van Kaleccinxky gives an account of fur ther observations and experiments on the warming of different Inyers of liquid by the sun's rays. Observations in lakes in which salt water is covered with a stratum of fresIT water show that the salt water may be warmed to a much higher temperature than the overlying fresh wster. Experiment* with solutions of magnesium sulphate, sodium sulphate, ammonium chloride and sodium carbonate, and with fresh water covered with petroleum and with olive oil give similar results. It Is con cluded that the phenomeiwn is of gen eral occurrence, and that it is a factor of geological Improtance in the forma tion of certain deposits. AN INTELLIGENT PACKHORSE; Boom of th? P*rfona?nrM of "Dbkay" on the Monntolo Troll. Packhorses are . a most Important Item for the traveler over a mountain trail. In "The Mountains/' Stewart Edward White tells of a pack animnl named "Dinkey," and of his experience with her characteristics. At times Mr. White was inclined to think her per fection; at other times he wonld have "considered thirty cents a large price to pay for her." To enumerate her good points, says Mr. Wh|ta she was an excellent weight carrier, took good care of her pack that it never scraped nor bumped; knew all about trails, the possibilities of short cuts, the best way of easing herself down hill^kept fat and healthy In dis tricts where there was next to no feed at all; was past mistress in the picking of routes where a trnliiess country. Her endurance was marvelous, aud so was her intelligence. In fact, too great Intelligence perhaps accounted for most of her defects. She thought too much for herself; she spec ulated- on Just bow far each member of the party, man or l>east, would stand Imposition, and tried conclusions with each to test the accuracy of her specu lations. She obstinately Insisted on her own way In going up and down hill; n way well enough for Dinkey, perhaps, but hazardous to the other loss skilful animals who naturally would follow her lead. Her performances when she was be ing packed were ridiculously histrionic. As soon as the saddle was cinched she spread her legs apart, bracing them firmly, as If about to receive the weight of a safe. Then as each article of the pack wos thrown across her back she flinched, and uttered tbe roost heart rending groans. Wc used sometimes to amuse ourselves by adding merely an empty sack, or other article quite with out weight. The groans and tremblings of the braced legs were quite as pitiful as If we had piled on a sack of flour. If Dinkey did condescend to do things according to your ideas. It was with n mental reservation. You caught her sardonic eye fixed on you contemptu ously. You felt at once that she knew another method, a much better method, with which yours compared most un favorably. The Killer'* Voy?((, The Imperial yacht Ilohenrollem ha* received orders to l?e fitted oat and provisioned for n prolonged trip. It In announced from Potsdam that their Im perial Maje*fles -will leave Berlin, trav eling by rail to Genoa, where they will fhlp 011 board one of the steamer* of the Hamburg-American Line, and spend the first part of their cmlae on this veaael. From Malta they will use the Hohenxollern, thence proceeding to Grecian water*. It I* their Majes tic*' wish to meet the home-coming aallor Prince Adalbert somewhere In the Mediterranean. After their Majes ties return to Berlin the marriage of the Crown Prince will take place.? Ten don Telegraph. Invitation to W?lk Blow. Tom Gorbln died near Kashville the other day. and one of the neighbors wns looking for pallbearer*. He wont If- Ben Stnart nnd said; "Ben, how would yon like to walk slow behind *Mfc {Mter-AtchLaou tilth* ONC CJtUSK OF ILLMCSV ^ physician apon bdoc uk?d pwitiy what to the chief cause of ill ???1th replied: "Thinking and talking i boat it all the tine. This ceaseless atrospsctlon in which so man j of the jwn* generation of nervous folk in dulge, is certainly wearing them oat 122 ' ?**. 001 worryln* ?? to ?2? y *i**p to? moch or too ittle, they are lldgetlnc orer the unount of food they take or the quan ity of exercise necessary for health, in short, they never give themselves i moment's peace. Our frsndfsthers lid not concern themselves with these luestions. They ate, drsnk, slept ss Prompted them. Undoubtedly , y were healthier in mind and body or their sublime Indifference, snd If ourselves fewer questions, wo thoold have less time to analyze our imagined ailments." That medical science has made re markable progress in the last few Aecades cannot be denied. . The fault for some present day undesirable con ditions lies not with the doctor but with the patient. There has been too Srent a tendency on the part of the alty to acquire a smattering of medl ial knowledge through the reading of ?o-called "health" magazines and pam- ? phlets, and to put into practice, on their own account, that "little knowl edge" which. It can uot be denied, is t "dangerous thin*." The following of some most ridiculous fnds along Ihe lines of eating, drinking, sleeping ?nd exercises has assisted in swelling the mortality statistics. Our grand fathers would hold up their hands in terror at many of the foolish things we do In the name of "health." A little more of the comfortable non chalance of our healthy ancestors would do no harm to the rising genera tion.? Housekeeper's Magazine. WORDS OF WISDOM.* "The worst bankruptcy is to lose heart." Experience is the extract of suffer ing.? A. Helps. How blessings brighten as thev make their flight.? Young Next to excellence Is the apprecia "on of it. ? Thackeray. There is 110 genius in life like the genius of energy and activlty.-I) u. Mitchell. Our ancestors have traveled the iron age; the golden is before us. St Pierre. A desire to have Scripture on- our aide Is one thing; to desire to be on the side of Scripture Is <juite another.? \\ hately. 1o realize supreme liliss we must not be extremely attached to anything or anybody excepting tJod; to be at tached to anything or -any oue except ing ?od, is to be an abject slave.? Daniel Webster. To be silent, to suffer, to pray when we cannot act, is acceptable to (Jod. A disappointment, a contradiction, a harsh word received and endured as In His presence. Is worth more than a long prayer.? Fenclon. If I do what I may In earnest, I need not mourn If I work no great work on the earth. To help the growth a.. lhou?ht that etruggles toward the light; to brush with gentle hand the earth stain from the white of one snowdrop? such be my ambition. ? l*eorge MacDonaid. To live In love is to live an everlast ing youth. Whoever enters old age by this royal road will find the last of life to be the very best of life. In stead of finding himself descending the hills of life, he will find It uphill all the way, into clearer air. There the on reaches farther; here the sun sets are more golden nnd the twilight lasts longer.? Mary A. Livermore. ' Where lie Mule Hid Mlatnke. "I reckon," observed the man lu the mackintosh, "I'm the biggest fool lu the room." Nobody disputed the proposition, but they asked him what new evidence had turned up. "Well," he said, "I offered to bet a man $."> that there wvre no mules in Noah's ark, in the time of the flood, and agreed t6 leave it to the first twj men we met. He snhl it was a go, and steered me into a hotel. We found two men lounging in the hotel office, and I told them the terms of the bet and asked them to decide. They said, ?Well, mister, we're from Missouri, and you can bet you're sweet life we'll nevet* go back on the innle. You've lost.' " "Your original remark," commented the man who had his fert on the table, removing the cigar from his month and blowing a ring of smoke toward 'the celling, "was correct/ You are."? Chicago Tribune. Flowery PolHenca* In France. ? There Is an agitation in France against the flowery politeness which winds up a letter. Frenchmen are asking why they should write: "Ac cept the assurauce of my most distin guished sentiments and believe me your very humble and obedient ser vant?" It Is long and abject. "Your devoted" considered more dlgultk'd, as well as concise, if the person ad- ' dressed be n man. Hut if one is writing to n woman he may be flowery still. There Is a story of Victor Hugo, who was listening to a speech from an old republican col league. The orator addressed his au dience constantly as "Cltoyens, clto yens." At last Hugo broke In. "I am a pretty good republican." he snirt, "but when I address a woman I rail her my sovereign, my queen!" The company seems to have taken this protest with perfect gravity. Hrtplnir Her Oar. At the end of January Mr*. Wtinder brought her nice new expense hook to her husband. "I can figure up my January balance all right," sho said, "but I'm either tflO.Ofi behind or ahead. I remember what the other Items are for. Dut I can't recall whether I sppnt that $10.4)5 for something, or you gave It to mo for household expenses." Mr. Wutider looked at the page for a moment, then handed back the book with a condescending air. "My dear," he said, "that 1003 seems to indicato to nre what year tm# tv.'v-wgt, - ? ? COSY KITCHEN. There should be comfortable chhlrs In the kitchen, a table with drawer* ? a settle table, which may be so ad justed as to provide an Ironing tab!e or a comfortable seat, and the box scat may be used as a receptacle for kitchen lore, magaslnes or domestic science. There should also be a good clock, a calendar, a slate for memoranda and a thermometer.? Newark Advertiser. THE NOON-DAY I.UNCH. The habit of giving one's self suf ficient time for one's lunch and. pej haps, ten or fifteen minutes in which to rest afterward, ia one well worth culti vating. Then by all means try to dls l>euse with the so-called woman's lunch. A piece of roast beef eaten at noon will do you more good than nil the salads and sweetmeats that were ever concocted. One should never, eat when one Is extremely tired; the prac tice of resting twenty minutes after each meal will go a long way toward curing an obstinate case of dyspepsia. THE WINDOW DKESSEIl. Men who dress the windows of the large stores In the shopping districts wear bags of cotton cloth over theii shoes, presumably to protect the tine fabrics they have often to walk over. Slippers would no doubt answer as well, but the bags are In general use. To wear them may be a trade condi tion. Much of the fixing up is done at night In this rush season, and the men may often be seen at work behind drawn shades. When the shades do not quite reach to the l>ottoin of the window the swaddled feet moving about so actively are rather a queer sight. THE SERVANT PROBLEM. "I've found a solution of the servant problem In'tlie learning of tlie Swedish language," said a housekeeper, the other day. "I've taken to employing women of that nationality, and I've found that the best way to keep them Is to know their tongue. You know these women have a way of coming to you ns green as grass. They really are of no use ordinarily until you teach thoin their duties nn<\ the English lan guage. Then they go where they can got better wages. I went through that experience several times, ami at last my husbnnd asked mo if it wouldn't be easier to learn Swedish than to run n continuous kindergarten for teaching English. I found it did not take long to pick up enough words to say ail I needed. Then, when I got a cook and a maid who had just landed, I used no English with tlioni, Thoy have their Swedish friends and so have not tried to pick up our language. The result is I have had them three years, and ex pect to keep them a long time? unless they should marry." TO RENOVATE PORTIERES. Nothing la better for this than gaso line, but one can not be cautioned too often or too strongly to handle this dangerous fluid carefully. To clean a" pair of chenille or velour portieres, six to eight gallons of gasoline is neces sary, and the work must bo performed out of doors. Spread the hangings on the grass and brush lengthwise nnd across, and on both sides; never hang on a line to brush or beat, as the strain is very likely to break the warp. Look them over carefully for soiled spots nnd dust streaks, and mark each spot and streak with a white thread. Tut the hangings in a tub and cover with gasoline; rub the s?lls, and afterwards the whole curtain with the hands nnd work up and down in the fluid until it looks clean. Gently squeeze out the gasoline, but on 110 account wring; rinse In another tub of fresh gasoline and hang to dry in the shade, without wringing or shaking, and use as few pins as possible. As the curtains dry. occasionally pull them out smooth and straight. The odor will disappear in drying.? Household. Palsy? Whites of three eggs, one linlf cup of butter, oup cup of sugar, one nnd one-half cups of flour, one tenspoonful of yeast powder and a tenspoonful of lcinou or rose. Tills a very nice cakc, and Is especially pret ty when frosted wltli yellow fronting* Roan Rarebit? Melt two table?poon fuls of butter nnd add one-fourth ten spoonful of paprika, one-lialf tenspoon ful of salt, one cupful of cold baked beans, well mashed, nnd three-fourths of a tenspoonful of pood tabic sauce. When thoroughly heated add two-thirds cupful of milk and three-fourths cup ful of mild, soft cheese, tlnely cut. Stir until the cheese Is melted. Rice Pudding? Roll half n pound of rice In milk until it is quite tender, b"at it well with a wooden spoon to mash the grains; ndd three-quarters of a pound of sugar nnd the sntne of melted butter; linlf n nutmeg, six epps, some ?rn ted lemon peel; puf a paste in the disli nnd l?nkc it. For a change It may be boiled and eaten with butter, sugar and wine. Dessert Puffs? Take one pint of milk and cream each, the whites of four cgus beaten to n stiff froth, oup heaping cupful of sifted flour, one sennt cupful of powdered sugar: ndd n little grated lemon peel and a little salt. Reat these Ingredients all together until very llplit, bake In gem pans, sift pulverized sugar over them and cnt with n sauco flav ored with lemon. Tli* JK*port? of Ytalr< The principal exports of Itnly nre raw silk nnd silk good*. wine*, olive oil, fruit nnd vegetable*, butter and cheese. poultry nnd eggs, nnd other agricultural produce. It hns n large ex port trade In innrble, about thirty per cent, thereof jjolng to the tlnlted States, 'to which it also sends about 4500 tons of Hiininc nnnunlly. Results among the wool growcrii have been pnrtlculnrly gratifying. The i Oregon exceeded 17^ tSIXfl THE OIL SPRAT. For the ncale insect, crude petroleum Is really effective. l?nt the public hears too much of a few tree losses to use It freely. According to J. It. Smith, New Jersey State entomologist. Its ac tion seems to benefit old |?ear trees, aside from killing the scale. There Is a grade of crude oil known hs insecti cide oil. which is considered most relia ble. It goes farther when heated to eighty degrees, and applied uuder heavy pressure through a line nozzle. HINTS FROM ORCIIARDI8TS. Make the hens cultivate apples, plums and small fruits. Have yards enough so that liens can be changed from one yard to another, and in that way keep for them a sueeesslou of green feed in summer, while they help you to grow the fruit. Sow buckwheat or other grain In the yards when the hens are not using them, for 4 hem to gather later. Have small, movable coops or pens for the liens to roost In. and sheltered laying boxes, also mova ble.? A. W. Fisher, in the Massachu setts Ploughman. i FERTILIZING TEACH TREES. The |icach Is somewhat sensitive to overfeeding with nitrogen or amnion late manures. Trees grown near barn yards shoot out very vigorously at first, but the tissues seem to degenerate rapidly, forming gum pockets and ex uding large quantities of gum. The trees have been observed by pencil men to suffer from winter killing and In ex treme cases are often killed outright. An qpplieation of nitrate of soda, at the rate of :M>0 pounds per acre In ono case noted by the Pcpnrlnicut of Agri culture, retarded the ripening time of poaches two weeks. Peaches regularly ripen 011 the poor knolls and hilltops earlier than in adjacent valleys or pockets a -few feet away, where seep age nitrogen affects them. The latter are also more subject to certain fungi. Tiie proximity of an old stable was in one case the cause of the fruit being Inflated, and while the trees and fruit were larger, the latter was Inferior In color and quality. In a series of tests the fruit on the trees moderately sup plied with nitrogen was brighter in color, sweeter and liner in texture, and only slightly smaller. In fact, the ?peach is healthiest and yields the best fruit in soils which, for most other crops, would lie considered detlclent lit nitrogen. The plum in this respect behaves re ry much like the peach, especially the Japanese varieties. Two plum trees were given six pounds of nitrate of soda? which is a large m>pJJegtk>,r.? strewn In a circle around the trees about equal to t lie spread of tho branches. It was applied In spring after the growth had started and while growth was moderately stimulated dur ing the season and they appeared to be all right In the fall, they were kllls'-V root and branch, the following wiuter, though adjacent trees were entirely, nnharmed. On account of this sensi tiveness to riirrogcn. skilful peach and plum growers are always very muttons In the use of nitrogenous fertilisers, especially stable manure.? (J. E. M., lu the Indiana Fanner. THE IIITCIIINOS METHOD. Tlio "Ilitchlngs" nietliod of orchard culture, as It Is called, lian excited very wide attention, because It ban shown results which have not been equalled by ordinary methods, not even by the improved methods of the most ad vanced scientists. The Itural New Yorker thus tells how It is: Mr. Hitching* docs not plow or culti vate his orchards. His soli Is naturally strong, and Is well adapted to fruit growing. The trees are planted in sod, and are kept "mulched"? that Is, a covering of manure, strnw, grass, or whatever is available. Is put aronml them. As the grass in the orchard grows it Is cut with a mowing machine and left to decay 011 the ground. It Is not cured and taken ? out as bn3*? Manure, straw, or other organic mate rial is hauled in and spread over the surface of the ground. The object of this is to add organic matter to the soil and prevent the evaporation of moisture. The thick covering of grass and weeds on the surface keeps the soil cool and moist, giving an ideal condition for apple roots. The constant supply of humus or organic matter in the soil holds moisture, while Its slow decay ahls somewhat In making the fertility in the soil available. ITnder this system there is no loss of fertility except that removed In the crow of ap ples. The trees grown on in is fVlan are peculiar In shnpe. They do not aw 1 n rule make ns much wood growth as the cultivated trees, and the limbs ap pear to sprawl out Instead of growing erect. But little pruning Is done un der this system? simply cutting out branches which tend to Interfere with others. This "mulch method" must I not be confused with ordinary "sod ! culture," where the grass is cut in the ! orchard and hauled out for hay, or | where hogs or sheep are pastured. The 1 advantages of this mulch method are ! evident. One man can care for a large number of trees. It Is well suited to rough and sleep hillside, which , makes excellent location for apples, : but can not be cultivated at reasonable ' expense. The fruit grown In this way ? is firm and of Mull color -of better S keeping ?jiiiiiit.v usually than that front ! cultivated orchards. The chief objec , lion Is the dang, r from tire when the mulch is dry. though this Is not serious at the season when such tires are most likely to occur. Togo'n Way. 1 Admiral Toko Is a small man, turn ! frig gray, with a short cropped naval beard and a face that shows little emotion. Most polite In manner, he paid us every attention. The great man had a peculiar way of landing with both hands spread out on hU hips and his anus akluho, 1 took a sketch of him in this position; and then I found a most amusing coin cidence. His officers, from the chief of his slatT down to the middles, all aped their beloved chief and stood with their arms and hands In th? same attitude. ? Frederick VIIHtrf, ^ ^ort Arthur.'1