University of South Carolina Libraries
R&B breaking up, tEe flioTr on Sunday night; it had snowed all day on Monday, all Monday night, and now, after breakfast on Tuesday morning, it was snowing as hard as ever. “Would it never cease ?” we asked. It was but eleven o’clock, and the train was not due at Thorley till three. It was calculated that if the road was passable at all, an hour would surely be enough for the three miles’ drive. So ‘ fwn o’clock there was no event to -—-^-tmeTiine save lunch ; at least there was no event that we knew of. By-and-by, old Margaret came in and said there was a poor woman in the kit chen whom she thought the dog “ Fury ” had frightened out of her wits, because she could not speak a word that she Margaret—could understand. Some two or three of us went to see our strange visitor. We soon found that she was no more road than we were, only well nigh in despair, and exhausted. She could not speak one word of English, and we found our little stock of French, so ne glected as it was, very inadequate for conversing with her in her own tongue. It was enough for her, however, that at last she had actually found some one who had heard of France, and who knew there was such a language as the French. The poor woman’s tale was this. Her husband was dead. Her two little girls were just old enough to work at the straw-plaiting, but not old enough to walk all day with her in this terrible weather. Her money had been just c iough to pay their fare from Birming- ~ i to Dunstable, and she had sent [ off by rail that morning. At Dun- they would find a good French- 1 o would take care of them, she herself had not money enough o nde, so had set out to walk from Bir- mington to Dunstable, a distance of •orae hundred miles, for which walk she had allowed herself three days. And now Ihis morning, to begin with, she found she had got four miles out of her She could find no one to put her the. tjow was preventing her from naif the pace she had hoped md she could not in any way * her work at the time she had *ed to be there. She was a strong, - .‘-featured woman ; evidently very and not at all sentimental. But ilie did not beg, either directly or indi- ectly. She was evidently careful to .void it. She warmed herself by the ire, but when pressed also to sit down tud eat she said no, with many thanks, begged us to direct her on her way as we could which we did. >eiore she went she took out her little Jiwom purse and counted her small d. She asked us what we thought light be the railway fare from Banbury ' Leighton, and we told her as near as could guess. Then she shut her purse shook her head in a way that said she musL walk it all. Hut being pressed to take some little help to make up the tiU'e for this part of the journey, she took it—not without reluctance. Only nooe her courage seemed to fail her. When my sister’s little boy. a rosy little fellow, eighteen months old, suddenly began crying to go to her, she took him into her arms, kissed him, m.di.'-ie i over him, thinking nodoubt, of her own little ones and their loneliness at this happy Christmas time. CHAPTER If. r OOR BERTIE. ^f Kittj had not been the very best little mare that ever drew a wagon be hind her, she never would have got to Thorley station It had given up snow ing and the sun was shining a little. So, i s wo thought there would be room enough, coming back, I was tempted to brave the weather and go down with Sam to meet the train. For thirty years there had been no such snow-storm known in this part of the country. As we drove along—if I should not rather call it plowing—the ••om ricks showed like so many tumuli. Even the highest hedgerows could only be traced as long, sharp ridges, for the home frii over, am ing rou: were bus; wreaths ot mirrors, an they bled in doing so. Suddenly called out to Helen: “ But, annt, where’s Bertie—I have not seen him ?” “Oh, he’s asleep,” said Helen; “you’ll see him and hear him too by- and-by. ” Then, as if reminded by this, she left her holly-wreaths and ran up stairs to see if all the recent noise had not waked him. In a minute she was down again, and said : “ He’s not in his cot; some of them have got him in the kitchen ; run, Frank, and fetch him.” Soon Frank was back again, and back without the baby. Then the mother and was already where she could st soon gathered from child was he whom she had fondled | the morning, and then she forgot own care and eagerness to pursue way, and begged to be taken back I help in the search. So they had broua her with them, and she was wander about alone witk a lantern, not conti till she had looked for herself into " the places where we had all looked fore her. The sad summary of it all was began to mn about the house searching, i nQ 0 "~ of *1, wUo had been search and to grow uneasy. One of the maids, | ha<1 gaiueJ the 8lighte8t trftce of however, had been sent some half-hour i Bertie ago to a neighbor’s, and was expected 1 back directly. It was presumed, though no one had seen her take him, that she i narrow escape of hadame guie: had the baby with her. In a few min utes she came in—and knew nothing of baby Bertie. Baby Bertie was eighteen months old, and had just discontinued crawling and taken to walking. His little feet were for ever pattering from room to room. His little hands were forever laying hold of friendly skirts and coat tails. His little legs were forever carrying him slowly upstairs and tumbling him down again with much greater rapidity. Bertie, in short, had just got to that age that when in sight he was in everybody’s way, and when out of sight he was a cause of constant terror lest he should come to mischief. It was only when he was asleep that he was considered safe, and that his nurse-maid dared to turn her eyes from him. And uow he had effect ually given her and all of us the slip. At first, of course, we all of us, except Helen, made light of the missing baby, being sure enough that he would be found in some ridiculously safe corner. It is a large house with many a spare room and closet iu which a child could hide, and it took us some time to look through them all. But through them all we looked not once, nor twice, but many times, without finding a trace of him. Then through the barns, the cow houses, the stables, the very pigsties, and every out-oflice of the place we went i - - with lanterns aud candles, seeking ‘ whcn he rai8ed jt for au inBtant 4 Bertie and finding him not, calling Madame was able to scream. Bertie and getting no answer. CHAPTER III. I hope the reader will never make i to sit in so sad a circle as that whl gathered about our fire when the seal was stayed. The big Christmas stood in its pride, decked with all! fruit of toys and presents and lovj inscriptions. Tables groaned under jolly Christmas cheer that waited for oven. You are not to suppose that search i abandoned. We were sitting only wl we could decide what to do next, one of us but felt that it would bo ml endurable to wander searching, ei against hope, amongst the snow throt all the livelong night, than to sit th| nursing our own sad thoughts. We might have sat in this way haps half an hour—all of us togetl except Davie and Frank, who were nl out with the French woman—when si denly we were startled by a loud sere of fright, repeated two or three tin and each time checked, as it seemed, | force, aud accompanied by a shs savage growl. Rushiug out to the back door, whe^ : the sound came, we found poor Mada j Gnillot (for this was her name) on : back, securely held down by Fury,whl ; Davie and Frank were trying to remo| without success. Fury’s heavy paw 1 fiuug across her throat, aud it was ofl When ! did scream, she was at once checked the downcoming of the heavy pi Then we set ourselves to search out- accompanied by a terrible growl and side the gates, holding our lanterns care- at j m onitory shaking of her ample pe fully to the ground, aud all at once in coats Beyond her fright and the deep clean snow we saw the piint of . awaking, the good woman was none little feet amongst larger teet. Away j wor8ej ft nd of these she seemed to tb down the road we followed them, always tracing them easily amongst men’s feet aud horses’ feet for full two hundred yards away from the house. There we little, for the instant we had her on feet, she broke from us and rushed ag into the very jaws of Fury. The dj however, was too many for her, omnal 1877. $2.00 per Annum, in Advance. Whatever You Do, Do CheerfuHy- Whatever you do, do cheerfully, As if your heart was in it, ’Twill smooth the way to the goal you sees And give yon strength to win it, For little of silver or gold yen’ll get, If you make up your mind to frown or fret Little of joy for a lonely hour, If yon never have planted a single flower. What, though the task a hard one bo, Still with a smile begin it; And whatever yon do, do cheerfully, As if your heart was in it An Enterprising Correspondent. A writer in the Boston Commercial Bulletin tells ot an interview held with Archibald Forbes, the English war cor respondent, who has added to his al ready brilhaut reputation by the mag nificent description which he gave of the recent battle of Plevna. Mr. Forbes related some of his exploits in the field of journalism, and at length was asked “ And what do you consider your mas terpiece of generalship ?’ “My last exploit before leaving Eng land,” he replied. “I went down to Falmouth to meet the Warrior (ironclad), having on board the single survivor of that wrecked vessel, whose crew were adrift in a boat for eight days, and ate two of their comrades. Falmouth was full of correspondents ; so I put up in a house outside the town, and I engaged the only steam tug in the place. I waited three days, and on the night of the third in walks one of the correspond ents. “ ‘ Hello, Forbes,’ says he, in aston ishment ; ‘ you here ?’ “Ten minutes afterward came word that the Warrior was sighted. My tug at once put out, and we lay Quietly in the harbor, burning no lights. Present ly a dark mass loomed upon us and shouts arose. “‘Forbes! Forbes, I say! Come, no shamming. We know you are there. ’ “ But I kept quite silent, and remem bered with no little vexation that a sec ond tug had arrived in the harbor that morning. At length the Warrior ap peared. We steered toward her, and as we passed I sprang for her chains, and was dragged in the ship’s wake up to my waist in water. However I got on deck. I rau down to the steward and offered him five pounds to bring my man into his cabin. He did so, and locked the door. Then I offered fifty pounds to the FARM. GARDEN AND HOUSE HOLD. well- r |rs an poor, lean specimen of a shipwrecked sailor in exchange for his story. He be gan it, aud I scribbled away “Ten minutes later came a rapping. “ ‘ Let ns in, Forbes,’ said the known voice. ‘ ‘ But I only wrote the harder. At last an officer appeared, and insisted on my comiug oa deck. There J found tile czpUiiu in a towering passion. “ * What the deuce do you mean, sir, oy boarding my ship likethat ?’ he de manded. “ I offered him my credentials and ex cuses, and finally we were all put board the tug, including the shipwrecked mariner. “ The correspondents at first wanted to fight me, but I squared up to them with one arm, still clinging to my prize with the other. Having landed, I bur ried him to the station, and there met i my clerk, wlu^Pkd been sent to reserve * a railway caniage. He was white with j rage ami mortification. Unable to speak, ! he led the way to my reserved compart ment. Outside it was locked at both doors. Inside it contained four corre spondents, comfortably ensconsed in the four corners. They had waited when the rest went aboard the tug, and hat; climbed in through the windows !” “ And that was how the other papers were able to give the sailor’s yarn next morning ?” asked I. “Yes. He told it tons as we rode from Falmouth to Exeter. There we all left the train aud telegraphed onr narra tives to London.” Hereupon, the distinguished writer arose and took his leave. (.'heap Shelter for Poultry. Some persons are deterred from keep ing fine poultry by not having suitable buildings, and there being also a lack of money these hard times, they feel un able to erect such buildings as they fancy are necessary. To such we would say, begin in a small way. If you haven’t the funds to build an expen sive fowi house, make your ingenuity servo the purpose of capital. Those who live in country houses may always find some material at baud to make a shelter. Nearness t* a sawmill, of course, will make it easy to procure cheap lumber or slabs for the erection of a rough poultry house, rustic in appear ance, yet affording good protection from the hot sun, pelting storms and cold weather. In some localities, straw, salt marsh hay, or common mar-h hay may be used as material. We have seen some strong, healthy men who were raised in thatched cottages, and have no doubt but that winning birds may be reared under a roof of straw. The fowls may be kept in one of these homely structures till money enough is made from them to erect a substantial building for their accommodation. If one is in earnest there is a way. We will suppose you have plenty of straw; the style of architecture is primitive, very similar to that of the Indian. A side-hill location is good. In such case only one roof is necessary. But if the ground is level only poles and straw ai'e needed. Let the ends of the poles rest on the ground, being inclined at an angle suitable to the shed rain when the root is finished. The poles should be of equal length, made to serve as rafters. The upper ends of each pair should be securely fastcued; the lower ends should be eqnai-distant from side to side at the base of the structure. Smaller poles may be fastened on these rafters at rigid angles and the whole covered several ! inchefrw c, t-n two feet with straw. This violent I -cyTe of building may be continued in- dength, and divided into peas to accommodate diffefenT items ol interest. Monkeys are used for food in Japan. An article you can always borrow- - Trouble. The average cost of building rail- I roads in the United States is $45 t 250pei j mile. The richest man in the House of Rep resentatives is said to be Abram S. Hewitt. The Charlotte (N. C.) Observer steps up with a sow ten years old that has raised 140 pigs—22,350 pounds of pork —32,235. “ Will you open the services ?” asked the deacon of an oysterman, who was dozing near the altar. “No,” said he, * I have no knife. ” The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in New York in one week recently brought about the removal of several child acrobats from the stage. School savings banks, first introduced by Prof. Laurent in 1866, have proved very successful in France. At Bordeaux, in a year and a half, the savings of 4,521 children reached $10,000. The Shah of Persia has reduced the taxes of his subjects by one-half for the next fourteen years, because of the large amount of gold taken from the recently- diseovered mines of Ahmedabad, near Tahidj, and of the prospect of further large receipts. An Indian’s suicide is unusual, but a brave recently took his own life at Eu reka, Nevada. He was disconsolate over the death of his squaw, and being almost helpless with rheumatism, he opened a vein in his arm and bled to death before he was discovered. The funny man of the Detroit Free Press has taken to writing financial ar ticles. “ Suppose that silver is at par with gold,” he says, “ what has that to do with the currant worm ?” This is a conundrum on a current theme that will puzzle the best of them. Cause and effect: A sixteen-year-old girl out on Columbia street lias a button- string four yards long, containing 1,973 buttons. And that girl’s ather fastena Ms suapenders on his trousers with a shawl-pin, a piece of twine, and a sharp stick.—Burlington Hawkeye. It is computed that the grain used for or different selections from the same breed. Poultry may be profitable even in such a wigwam .is this, and the proprietor of such a structure may raise some speHmcijs fco sell at a high price to stock some modem fowl house erected by the man who has more money to spend in the gratification of his fancy. —Poultry World. Winter Care of l.ivr Stork. A writer in the Went England Farmer, in a seasonable article, thus gives his method of taking care of cattle in the winter : Cleau the mangers and feed with hay at 5:30 in the morning ; then milk, feed meal and roots ; then another foddering of hay, water aud clean stable at 7:30 ; then feed poorer hay or straw, of which they will eat what they want, and then lie down and chew the cud and be quiet till four in the afternoon, when they re watereu, mongern »rul stables cleaned hen feed with hay ; then nrilkeTT arH fed again with hay or straw. I find they are more quiet and do better than when fed the same amount at intervals during the day. They will all drink heartily as soon as it is light in the I liqubrsTirir year- m reaches 70,000.000 bushels, whir mak# #1,050,000,000 four pound loaves of bread. Great Britain uses 80,000,000 bushels of grain yearly for the same pur pose, and annually imports food to the value of nearly $400,000,000. Charles Thorpe, better knowu as “Champagne Charley,” is dead. His father left him $50,000, and he chose champagne as a steady drink. Hence, a few years ago, after his exploits had been told so often as make him com paratively well known about London, some one embalmed him in verse, and “ Champagne Charley ” was long a fa vorite song in the music halls. Interesting Facts. Pistols in use, 1544. Muskets in use, 1370. found the mark of where our little mnu i n8 tantly had her on her back as bef< s d luscious grapes are as common as bar berries in a New England pasture. The business part of Sau Francisco is level— wholly made, the circumference being filled up or leveled. Strange enough, Chinatown—that foul blot—is iu the very heart of the business city. A block from the great thorough fare of trade, aud the'promenade of fashion and elegance, brings ne into the very centre of the Mongolian settlements. Imagine 60,000 Chinese in possession of Boston, from State street to Essex, and from Wash ington street to Fort Hill ; or in New York, from the Astor House to Canal street, ou the west side. The houses occupied by the Chinese are the cheap wooden dwellings built iu California’s early days. When a Chinaman comes into a block everybody moves out. Filling one block, he moves on to the next. He steadily invests his portion of the city and moves on to the works of the natives, according to his necessity. He is tucked iu and shelved everywhere. He will make two stories out of one, and sleep comfortably iu quarters that would make a dog howl. For these miserable lodgings Johnny Chinaman pays higher rent in proportion than any resident of the city. A Geographical Mania. The geographical mania which is now the rage in France, reminds one of the mania for spelling bees which existed not long since in this country. New geographical societies or associations are springing up everywhere. They have got it into their heads over there that one of the causes of their reverses during the war with Germany was the superior knowledge of the German gen erals and officers in geography and topog raphy, in which particular, it is alleged, their own officers are woefully deficient. An amusing story is told which rather confirms the idea. A Pussian officer was taken prisoner by the French. His cap- tors wished to bring him to the nearest town, but on coming to a spot where the road branched off iu two directions, they no longer knew which to take. Their prisoner, who was desirous of a rest, upon seeing their perplexity, con sulted his map, told them which way to take, and how many miles they had yet to travel. So, in case of war another time, Frenchmen have resolved that superior topographical knowledge shall be of no avail to their adversaries, and hence their mania for maps and charts of every description. morning, and the cows usually drink at night. The water is warm, supplying five different, apartments without freez ing over in the coldest weather in win ter. The stables are also very warm the teams that labor on the farm are fed regularly three times a day, the sheep twice a day, but are fed both times at daylight. Cattle and sheep like a vari ety of food, and sometimes eat very poor fodder for a change, but should never be starved to make them eat it, as they will not thrive under such treatment, and their keeping will be a dead loss. Meal and roots fed to cattle will give them a good appetite for coarse fodder, and if fed together will be beneficial, but I think every intelligent and observ ing farmer will say that turnips are of little or no value when few with straw alone, but are of great value when fed with meal, shorts, bran or hay. Good early cut hay or dried grass make good food for all kinds of stock, and is the most profitable crop for the farmer to raise, but we must have a variety. had set himself down to rest, and there, alas ! we found one of his little boots, with a sock in it, and from that point forward could trace the little footprints still, the mark of the boot and the mark of the wee naked toes now side by side. Some fifty yards or s«», however, from where v found the boot there were signs of hi" having wandered from the road into the deep snow ; there were signs of trampling there by other feet, aud there all trace was lost. Not another footmark could we find beyond this point, nor any footmark that indicated that he had turned to go home again. It was clear that our little man had first wan dered outside the gate, had been at once confused by the snow, aud lost his way; hail waudered on and ou, further away from home (we fancied how the poor little thing cried, heartbroken), and had at last lain down overcome with cold, and—slept. And all this while the poor mother was with us. But now at last by main force she had to be taken home, and I with her, while the search was continued without us. At every neighboring house our peo- But Helen hail seen something m There it was indeed, the “ little shoe **— the second red shoe, companM-i M^the one found in the iane. It was lying just outside Fury’s ^cnnel, and the light fell full upon it from the lantern. In an in stant Helen hail it in her hand, and found that not only was it the missing shoe but that one of the missing feet was inside it—nay, that one of the missing legs was attached to the foot, and the whole of the rest of the missing body attached to the leg ! By the leg, in fact the missing Bertie was dragged out, covered with straw, busily rubbing his eyes with his little fists, and just waking up from a very souud sleep in which he had been indulging in Fury’s apartment, Fury, seeing that he hail lost his ward, at once liberated Madam Guillot of his own accord, and (pushing his big nose in amongst us, began to assist Bertie to wake, by vigorously licking his face, till Helen snatching him up, rushed with him into the house. We, looking into the kennel, saw where he had made his little nest. It was in the comer, completely out of sight, and sheltered from the wind. He without a better reason.. When he found that all his efforts had failed, he left the Huron iu the manner stated, with the intention not to return. For this he was placed under arrest aud tried by court martial at Washington navy yard, in August last. In defence he made a | statement, in substance as above, aud called Commodore Glitz, Commander George P. Ryan, of the Huron, and other officers to prove that, before leav ing the ship, he told them of the dread —in fact, horror—he had of finishing the cruise in the vessel. This is a mat ter of record, on file in the navy depart ment, and, though such a line of defense was laughed at when tuade, the fate of the Huron will cause many superstitious people to think that Mr. Fletcher’s pre monition was fully proven to be a true one by the wreck off Kitty Hawk, N. C. — Springfield Bepublican. There is often much more plesaure in gh ing a thing to another than in receiv ing it. Any one whe^ doubts t] should try^thc expo^. ^ Vvith a dos* ' of medicine. Hiased by Wolves. McIntyre, r* Jasper Township, jViv says the Corning (Towai <-V < ‘ J ~, left home ou foot to meet his son, who was j Pressley, sheriff’ on his way from Lenox with a team wtri ■ Ind., sold the wagon loaded with lumber, and when about three miles from home, while crossing a piece of breaking, was met by a large gray wolf that exhibited signs of familiarity, and Mr. Me. began to pelt him with turf. Mr. Wolf became en raged, and boldly attacked him, and it was with the greatest difficulty that he was enabled to keep the enraged animal at bay ; aud had he not luckily come upon a stake that had been used by the breakers as a guide, he might have re ceived serious injury. By dint of walk ing backward and a free use of his blud geon, he was enabled, with safety, to reach a dwelling about a mile distant, and none too soon, as the sequel proved, for he was not there long before a pack of a half a dozen or more hungry wolves surrounded tie house, keeping a short distance^ ’©from, however, and set rv bringini: to the mirfl/i. A Fortune in the Rag Bag. Two or three months ago John T. of Marion county, office furniture and fix- liM tm«s, including a fire-proof safe, belong ing to Dr. James H. Fuller, to satisfy au execution. The things were taken dur ing the doctor’s abseuce Ccnm Indianap olis, the sheriff breaking into tile office to get the goeds. The safe was pur chased by a second-dealer, who opened it and sold the papers to a rag man. Now, ou the doctor’s return, suit is brought, the complainant setting forth that among the papers was sold a bundle of notes and mortgages to the value of $10,000, and tax certificates worth $2, 000 more. Meanwhile, the rag man dis poses of the papers, and they forever disappear from sight. The records iu the auditor’s office show Dr. Fuller to have been a large purchaser of tax cer tificates, and there is money now in the county treasury which he cannot n<wi avail himself of because he cannot vj-o- ace/the certificate. The doctor.<te 8 sheriff and others who helped Growth of the Telegraph Business. Mr. W. J. Johnston, speaking of the early days of the electric telegraph in a work ou telegraphic matters, called “ Lightning Flashes,” says : The first public telegraph line in this country was erected in 1844, and ran from Baltimore to Washington. In the followingyear— thirty-two years ago—a single wire was erected to an abscure office beneath the Express office at 16 Wall street, New York, and two wires from Washington terminated in a small room over the ferry house in Jersey City, where three operators easily, and not very continu ously, performed the whole telegraphic system of the city of New York. The eutire telegraphic system of the United Kingdom consisted at the same time of a single line to Nine Elms, and a small office at 334 Strand, London. Things have changed very materially since then. One company alone in this country now ^operates about 250,000 iLfioa of wire, nearly 8,000 offices, and handles >bout 25,000,000 messages a year. The Western Union main office in New York has iXW employees, includ ing 125 ladies. In the central office in London, ns many as 1,500 persons, in cluding 350 ladies, find employment. The lumber of words which pass throigh this one office alone in a week, is emivalent to several hundred thou- san< messages. These immense estab- lishnents are but the growth of a little <ver a quarter of a century. Spectacles invented, 1280. Paper made from linen, 1300. notes invented, 1380. Linen n^t ' - »»» 'K’ngland, 1235. Clocks first made in Englanu'iiWW* Pens first made of quills, A.. D., 635. Printing first introduced into Eng land, 1471. Paper was invented in China, 170 years B. C. . Saddles came into use in the fourth century. Plays were first acted at Rome, 23 years B. C. Horse shoes of iron were first made A. D. 43. Stirrups were not made until a cen tury later. Printing invented at Metz by Gutteu- berg, 1450. Potatoes were first introduced into Ireland, in 1586. Tobacco first introduced into France by Nicot, 1450. Cannons first used at the siege of Alzegiras, 1342. The art of weaving was introduced into Euglaud, 1330. Astronomy aud geometry brought into England, 1230. The calendar was reformed by Julius Ctesar in the year 45 B. C. The first public library was founded at Athens, 526 years B. C. The first public library in Rome was founded in the year 167 B. C. Paper of cotton rags invented towards the close of the tenth century. Comedy and tragedy were first ex hibited at Athens 257 years B. C. Turkeys and chocolate introduced into England from America, 1526. The figures of arithmetic brought into Europe by Saracens A. D. 991. , Post-office established in France, 1464 ; ! in Euglaud, 1581 ; in Germany, 1641. Insurance on ships and merchandise was first made in 43 A. D. The first public library was founded at Alexandria, Egypt, 84 A. D. The first regular bank was established in Venice in the year 1157. Stone buildings and glass were first introduced in England in 674 A. D. Pleadings in courts of judicature were first introduced in the year 778 A. D. Manufacture of silk brought from India into Europe in the year 551 A. D. . of the property. One Thomas cat, if he tends to busi ness right sharp, can destroy eighty dollars’ worth of gold fish in one night, and wake up twept^-fivo households as he goes home af daybreak. A Dock Battle. A gentleman from Packwaukee relates the particulars of a novel sight he was witness to the other day on Buffalo lake. [ His attention was attracted toward the lake by a proach of a hurricane, and there he dis covered myriads of ducks engaged in mortal combat. He watched them for a while, and discovered that the battle was between the mallards and the canvas-backs, who were evidently striv ing for the supremacy on the celery fields. The lake was fairly strewn Sv* ’ feathers, as if all the ducks in the liuttu' had been picked for the eocasion.— Wisconsin State Register. THIS PAGE CONTAINS FLAWS AND OTHER DEFECTS WHICH MAY APPEAR ON THE FILM Aj