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? CX>0^0*0^0^0K>^0*0404040 1 EQUAL P, *rt ?*' * g By HOWARI *n CHAPTER XVI. I 1 ELSrE FEItrETKATES A JEST. HEY say." remarked Elsie, "that people pJ 1ZcP always feel particuJPl I Vy larly well just beH\ I JLSj fore they die. Do m J'ou remember Rerntt/3^5^C3f ^art^t In 'Camille.' *^^v-vy the very last words before she dies In Armand's arms: T | shall live! Ah. how well I feel!' How I cried when she said that! And then i , Gaston says. 'She sleeps.' Isu't that a j lovely scene?" "As it came to your mind at this mo- i' ment." said Brenda. "I joyfully iufer 1 that you are foelius very much better." ! "You must think 1 am silly to talk so much about dying." said Elsie. "i am soggy with sentimentality." ! , "You have mentioned it on just four occasions," said Brenda. "including this, but it seeins often to us because we don't wish to lose you and to your- , self because really and truly you don't ; wish to die. On the whole, you have j been as cheerful as any girl could possibly be under the circumstances, and as for your sentimentality, my dear, I'd give the world to have some of it myself." . "I was going to say." continued El' sic. "that my motive for continually , harping on it is that you may know I ^, am not afraid, and afterward you may tell II r. Alden." This exchange of pleasantries upon a cheerful subject occurred during the time when Kendall was experimenting with the white mice. "I must have been pretty near it the last time," said Elsie. "It was double. I scarcely knew what was the matter * "in thnncli I'd fainted n 1 III 1 4 4 L'V^Uii, V . v?. ?..VW{Sw - ? such a little while before. It was like drifting, drifting away. You are surprised. You think you must stop, and before you really have time to be frightened you are gone. But I waked jnst for a second?just long enough to remember and realize; then down, down. down, sideways to tbe left there, slipping away from the room and the light. The last was a sensation that they wore lowering me into the ground. But I'm going to be cremated. You've promised me that, Brenda." Then catching the expression of amused horror ? if that can be ? on Brenda's face, she laughed with the most lelieious and clear sound, like the singing of birds. "Oh. but it hurts to laugh." she said. "You mustn't make me do it." "IV" cried Brenda. "You're the first that ever accused me of being amus, lug" "Do you know," said Elsie, "that of the two of us you're the blue one? It's much more cheerful to talk about dying ban to "roast' oneself as you L do" m "Roasting Is popularly supposed to w be oue step beyond dying." replied r Brenda. "But I suppose the roasting [ you moan is the saying of uncomplii mentary things. My child. I can't help ^ jj.; I suffer by contrast." V "With uieV" cried Elsie. "Now you | really are amusing. If 1 had your hair ] and eyes! Web. that's absurd, of i course. But do you know I lie here | He came hitck with a titmbler. Imitating your ways, your calm, gentle, sweet way of doing things? I'm studying you. lJronda. and if 1 were to nl*iv i> sooiftv nnrt airain vou'd see' This is the way you say: 'Good morning. Dr. Kendall. * 0 * Ah. thank you so muc h. ? * ? Shall we see you again ) soon? ? ? Goodby.' Vou make all the little things mean something. That's dignity, personality. 1 haven't any tuoro than a blade of grass, but I'm gaining on it. If I live another week. I shall die and go to Daniel Frohnian's No. 1 company instead of to heaven. I'd rather." "Do I sn?ak like that when I address Dr. Kendall?" said Brenda. with a slight, access of color. "Well, it may be so. You are very clever, my dear." "This Is the way you hold your arms when you walk." said Elsie. "Isn't that pretty? Of course 1 can't do it very well lying down, but see the fingers and the ease of the wrist. "Were you taught to do that?" "I used to have a governess who was crazy on Delsarte." replied Brenda. "But she presently went crazy on all other subjects also, and we had to send ' I 1RTNERS1: ' * ?$ ) FIELDING || Charles W. Hookc. ?< cj? >0+0+0+Q+0*0+Q+Q+0+Q+'^+0*0 the i>oor thine to an Institntk>u. I was not aware of my debt to her." "You owe her a great deal." said Elsie. "I wish I'd had a lunatic of that kind in my family. I couldn't afford to have much teaching. Of course I had some, but when 1 found what my 1 mother was enduring in order to pay for it?well. I took an engagement with the first thing that came along. And it was a barnstorming crew! We gave 1 six plays a week, and I had to learn a long part iu every one ot uiem. j.ue second Monday, in the afternoon, the ' leading lady came into my room and found me huddled up on the tloor in the corner gibbering?just gibbering, that was all?words out of all the plays, as she told me afterward, all jumbled together, and I was cross eyed j with sitting up all night studying un- j dor little flickering gas Jets. Yes, that's i the way she found me, and the room ' was as cold as a barn too. I had the | bed quilt wrapped around my shoul- : ders and my arm through a hole in it. I "The leading lady yelled to the ju- j venile man. and he really was juvenile ; ?about 18, as I remember. She said, j 'Go get a glass of braudy!' The ju- i venile man went down to the bar and \ came back with a tumbler solid full. He had to carry it carefully in order to keep from spilling any. The leading lady was a temperance woman. She j never touched a drop of wine, and, iu j fact, she was a regular straitlaced | New England pilgrim, but somebody , 1 had told her once that brandy was : good for the thing that I had?'white i brain.' we call it. The juvenile man i ' didn't know how much brandy a per- ! 1 son ought to take, and I?well. 1 didn't j know anything. So 1 drank it all. and j then 1 lay down on the bed, and the leading lady covered tne wua every- | thing she couhl find, and pretty soon the bed got up and stood on the ceiling. | and 1 didn't care at all. "When it came time to go to the the- ; atcr (Brenda. it's disgraceful, but 1 Was so?so drunk that I couldn't walk straight) the leading lady got me up and told the juvenile man to walk me J around the block, and he walked me around about fifty times in the snow. We were in a little .Minnesota town, and it had snowed for a week. When he took me to the theater. I was per- ' fectly sober, and I didn't care for any- | thing. I had no troubles whatever. 1 walked nn to the stasre manacer. and 1 i said cheerfully, 'Well, what do we play tonight?* He told me, and I couldn't remember ever to have heard of it, but I got out my part aud studied it while , I was making up. "When I went on, I knew about half of my first scene, which was the Ion- J gest one I had in the play. Hut I didn't care. I'd always been troubled with stage fright more or less, but not this i time?not a fright. When 1 forgot, I ; waited calmly for the prompter, who ! was off left, having a fit. By and by 1 had to go across right and sit down by a table. I knew 1 couldn't hear th? prompter there, so I walked over and got the table and dragged it clear across the stage, and the audience applauded because I did it so naturally. "Then I went crazy, aud what h^>- | pened afterward I scarcely know. But when 1 came off after the thrilling cli-' max of the scene I fell into the lead- j Jng lady's arms, and she hugged me up tight. She said: 'You never played so well as that before. You were like Julia Marlowe.' And she kissed me on ' both cheeks. Julia Marlowe was my! idol then, and 1 cried with heavenly i joy on the leading lady's neck. That's all true, just as it happened, Brenda. and I never had stage fright afterward." 'Toor little Elsie!" said Brenda, kissing her. "It was a bard school where you were taught." "It was." said Elsie. "Yet I think I wouldn't have amounted to tnuch anyway. How could any mortal man fail to see the difference between you and me?" "My child." said Rrenda. "no man can. Why. the brass knobs on the posts of this bed know the difference between you and tne?the vital, essential difference. They love you in their little brass hearts. Everybody^ loves yon. l>r. Kendall, for a cold blooded sawyer of hones who eould amputate my bead without a trace of emotion, takes your hand with the eternal reverence of man for woman, and when he gives you pain 1 can see Ids own heart shrink. Rut he treats me as if I were a gentleman whom he bad met at the club." hisie opened her eyes so wide that they seenn d to light the room as she stared at Rreudn. whose cheeks were Hushed by tier unusual earnestness. "I am glad to hear you speak like that." she said. Rrenda rose and walked across to the window. Then she returned to the bed and took Elsie's baud. "I am going to open my heart to you." she said. "It was not because Clarence Ahlcn preferred you to me that 1 lost uiy self control that last day. 1 cared nothing for you. despised you: I admitted no comparison. It was because, though the iuteusity of his own nature for a time deceived him. he never really loved me at all. Nobody ever loved me. I an> ealled good looking, even a beauty. ,ln the society columns of the papers, "and I am bo rich that I hare attracted many < \ i meu. But not one of them was able to present even a creditable counterfeit of love (though some of them could counterfeit almost anything else, from good breeding to the uational currency) until Mr. Alden entered the lists. That's hardly fair to him: he was sincere, but mistaken." "Yet 1 didn't have at all the feeling that I have now," she continued. "It was only that last day that I became enraged, mostly at myself. It is sinec I have come here, fitn-e I have known you. the most womanly of God's creaitiresj thnr 1 have had some true com prehension of my own lack, some honest sorrow for it." "Only since you have been here." said Elsie. "IIow remarkable! But. Brenda, it is sweet of you to talk this way to rae. and I am so glad, so very glad! How long have you known Dr. Kendall?" "What a queer question!" said Brenda. "About two years, but we haven't met a dozen times. By the way, be is going to be married." "He is going to be married!" exclaimed Elsie. "To whom?" "1 don't know," Brenda replied. "From something he said the other clay. I judge there's a difficulty. I don't know the lady's name." "Well." said Elsie, letting her head ( sink back on the pillow as one relieved, "you will when it happens." "If you mean that he cares anything for me, you are quite mistaken." said Brenda. "His manner when he is in ttils room suouiu snow mat. i ?ui nothing?a piece of furniture. Do you know, it has inspired me with something like jealousy?jealousy merely of the difference between you and me, which is the theme we started with." "I'll show you what Dr. Kendall I thinks of that difference." said Elsie. "Wait till he comes in here again. I'll suggest that j'ou're going away, and then you watch him. He'll know that I'm going to stay till I'm carted away. But watch him." "You must not do it," said Brenda. But Elsie insisted that she should, and they were 6till having a cheerful little quarrel about it when tbey were inter- j rupted by Kendall's familiar rap. The doctor entered, looking very seri- | ous. but bis brow cleared at the sight : of Elsie. "Upon ray word." he said, approach- ! lag the bed, "yon are the miracle of our . species." "1 am so well" replied Elsie, "that Breoda is thinking of deserting me." Kendall had been holding Elsie's hand. lie dropped it and slowly straightened his tall figure till be stood ; erect. The dead white mice seemed to : be dancing before his eyes. "You can't mean it." he said, and his face was bluish pray as be thought of the certaiD inference that Elmendorf would draw from Brenda's departure at this time. "Brenda"? be began, "1 truly beg your pardon"? "That is tny name," she said, "and 1 6ball always answer when you speak it." "I thank you from my heart." said be. "And?Brenda. you mustn't go? not now. I can't explain. I was taken unaware and may have said too much already. Upon my soul. I don't know what 1 have said. But don't leave us now"? In his excitement his voice broke in a queer little sob. "! had no idea," said Breada, "that my presence was so important." "1 can't think of anything earthly that is more important than your pros- j euee here," he said, with such impressive earnestness as would have carried conviction to any woman's heart. jXhis must seem strange to you. this . sudden outburst, but I am nervous, ! overstrained. You must pardon me. I j cannot tell you all I mean"? "(Jo on." said Elsie. "Don't mind me." And she put her fingers into her ears, j Then for the first time Kendall com- ; prehended the preposterous construe- ; tion of which his words were susceptible. His face suddenly blazed with color. "We?we really need you." he stammered. "both of us. Tell me that you will stay." "I had no intention of going." said Brenda in a strange and stifled voice. "It was only Elsie's joke." "Thank heaven!" exclaimed Kendall, and he took both of Brenda's hands. "I fl # m "/ have your promise?'' said he. can't be pure of what you think I mean, but"?and be threw back bis bead with a One. strong air?"whatever it is, I mean it from the bottom of my soul"' lie still held her hands, but not at all in the society fashion which Brenda had recently deprecated. "I have your promise?" said he. "I can't be sure of what you mean," she answered, smiling, "but whatever it is you have It!" They looked straight Into each other's eyes for a moment. Then ttey laughed together like bappy children. Kendall's bands closed more sL, tightly upon hers. He released tbem gently and inclined his head as be turned and left the room. "Well, considering that that was only T a little joke." said Elsie, "I don't think I ever saw so much for the money." "What could the man have meant?" exclaimed Breuda. u "He probably meant." said Elsie, ci "that you were nothing more to him t( than a geotleraau whom he had met at C( the club." j j TO BE OOMTINCM). h tl PSOWIMTNT PEOPLE. g' - __?? * p President Koosevelt is forty-four a years old. Kinc Edward has been godfather n to seveutv-tive persons. U! Premier Balfour is not only a fine musician, but also a golfer and an au- ^ tomobilist. For a country seat. Robert T. Lincoln, of Chicago, has bought HoOO acres of land at Manchester, Vt. n: The Crown Prince of Germany is a t( clever automobilist and understands 6< how to repair all accidents to the ma- c< chine. >? The Shall of Tersia owns the largest g( diamond in the world, while the Sultan y of Turkey is the possessor of the largest ruby. jr The German Emperor lias taken up a o: new hobby. lie is very much fascia- b ated just now with the collecting of p book plates. a The Hon. Maude Paincefote, daugh- P ter of the late British Ambassador, Is b compiling her father's papers for pub- ci lication in memoir form. u Nothing could prove more clearly the complete restoration of King Ed- . ward to health and strength than his j1 visit to the Newmarket races. ^ Senator Pcttus, of Alabama, declares tj the secret of longevity to be: Work, jj He says those who get rich and retire early from business are apt to die. u Lord Kitchener, when asked recent- w ly for his autograph refused, saying: p "Young man, make your own auto- H "r.inh wnrtli snmethini? Mine's worth h nothing." M John Mcrloy has presented the li- J' brary of the late Lord Acton, which tl was given hint by Andrew Carnegie, a to Cambridge University. There are n: 70,000 volumes. ti Hedin Sven, the Asiatic explorer, ^ has been ennobled by Sweden, despite a the protests of many friends that he might better have received a money " compensation for his discoveries to atone for the fortune he has spent on ^ explorations. NEWSY CLE ANINCS. Massachusetts lias the largest apple crop for several years. >i A combine of American and Euro- C nean linotype manufacturers is content- a plated. ? Large quantifies of chinnware are . being shipped from fJermauy to Jo- tj hannesburg. South Africa. Sioux Indians have ordered a marble 0 monument to mark the battle of ^ Wounded Knee. S. I>. k Timber is bping exported from T5o?- v nia to South Africa to he used in re- t! build ng farms destroyed during the k war. c The trustees of the National MeTvin- h ley Memorial Association will not start n construction until *(*>0,000 has been a raised. ' a Russian newspapers desiring to publish only certain portions of tlie official nun i xiv-a im * v n# r??....v .... .. . viatod news to the Ministers of the J' court. A commission of Mexican commor- n cial experts ims started through South a America to see what can bo done to a open up trade between Mexico and r South American countries. ^ Of the 47,0<)0 persons who were ex- t nniiurd for employment by the (Jovern- g ment in the period covered by the last v published report of the Civil Service p Commission ol.fXK) passed and 13,000 p failed. s Everything that was formerly eonsid- s ered waste is now made use of in some ii way. but a distinctly new idea comes j ii from Jena. (lermnny. where a large 1 s Cerman factory utilizes its surplus hot a water in giviug 1000 baths to its workmen a week. n One of tho notable results of the long n coal strike is the largely increased at- v tention that is now given to the otlier f3 fuel supplies of the country. Never be- '' fore has the usefulness of oil. gas. coke, b soft coal, wood and peat been so much considered as during the past month or two, and it will be strange if important discoveries touching substitute fuels do not come out of the situation. 8 r Mothers Flog Their Boys in Court ^ A brand new whip made its appear- 8 ance in Juvenile Court and five offend- v ers are willing to swear as to its sting- n ing qualities. Four stout mothers, at j t the order of the Court, whipped as ; e 1- eoul I many smaii uu>s unm uc uunci the punishment was satisfactory. The new whip is mad3 of a select piece of oak. to one end of which is attached a haif-cozc-n small straps. Four toys. Pat Hunt, Alva Piercefield. Oncv P.arnott and Walter Worth c who broke into a shed at the yard of ^ the Coburn Lumber Company on West 1 Maryland street several days ago. were E before the court. The first three c named are old offenders, and were v given a good thrashing by their mo- t thers in tee basement of the police d station :r. the presence of an officer, ^ who reported to the judge that the (. boys had been properly punished. The r fourth. Walter Worth, nine years old, ^ was given a lecture only, as it was his first off r.co. Lloyd Cabbal. a colored newsboy, who confessed to having stolen $2 fro who confessed to having stolen $2 p from a crtsk in the office of the Aetna v Savings and Loan Company's build- v ing, was allowed to go free after his p 'p.'her had administered a good, sound f( thrashing.?Iudianapolis Sentinel. o t! The automooile seems destmed to * supersede the horse; hut in establish- ^ ing its supremacy the automobile should not be permitted to Indulge in v massacre. c THE STATE FAIR A SUCCESS he Admissions Were Away Above the Average. The South Carolina State Fair, held nder the auspices of the Fair Assoiation. was the feature of general in'rost last week. Columbia was c?ow;l1 with visitors all the week. It was ir most largely attended fair in the istory of the Association. The at acfions were numerous, the racing ood and, the display of agricultural roducts, poultry and stock up to the verage. Many prizes were awarded ) the successful exhibitors. The adlissions were far more numerous than sual, and financially the fair was a reat success. For Assistant Attorney General. The announcement has just been lade that Attorney General-elect Gun;r has appointed William Hay Town?nd, Esq., the present State code Dmmissioner to be assistant attorney eneral when the transfer of the office i made in January. A prominent outh Carolina journal in speaking of [r. Townsend says: "The subject of this sketch was born 1 the town of Barnwell on the 9th day t January, 1868. Though he has seer, ut 34 summers, he has filled several laces of trust and honor, worthily nd to the entire satisfaction of the ublic?every position he has occupied as been adorned by reason of his inumbency. Mr. Townsend read law nder that distinguished jurist, Hon. ames Aldrich of Aiken. In May, 589, he was admitted to the bar. Durlg the fall of the same year he went ) Beaufort to practice his profession, he firm of Elliott & Townsend was ig result, Congressman William Elott being the senior member of the rm. This copartnership continued ntil Mr. Townsend's removal to Barnell in 1894, when he formed a co- i artnership with Hon. G. Duncan Belnger, which still continues. In 1899 e was appointed solicitor by Governor icSweeney to succeed Col. C. E. Sawer, who resigned to go to the front in le Spanish-American war. In Janury, 1901, he was elected code coralissioner of the State by the legislate over several worthy opponents, rownsend's code.' as it has been charcterized. stands as a legal monument. "Mr. Townsend will enter upon the ischarge of his duty as assistant atDrnev eeneral with an exDerience rhich covers every branch of the law. minently fitting him to be the associte of the brilliant, peerless Gunter." Airs. Nation in Charleston. Charleston, Special.? Mrs. Carrie ration arrived here at midday from Columbia, where she has been making study of the operations of the disensary law. She had not been in 'harleston 15 minutes before she was a a blind tiger, almost opposite to be St. John hotel, where she is stoping. She made a close examination f the place and then called for whisey and beer. The proprietor knew er to be the saloon-smasher and he ,'as fearful of trouble. He told her hat he did not handle beer or whis:ey, and the great temperance advoate was not foolish enough to believe im, and she told him that she did ot accept his word. She pointed to . beer sign which adorned the place nd asked why the sign was in place r beer was not sold and the keeper eplied that it was an old sign, anteating the dispensary law. Again she it the blind tiger know that she knew hat he was not telling her the truth. Mrs. Nation said that she visited a mmber of blind tigers at Columbia na tnese places were or rne same sort, s are found in parts of Kansas. She eg retted the non-enforcement of the ispensary law. although she believed hat liquor should not be sold at all. She commended upon the number of rhiskey advertisements which she saw n passing along the street on her way o the St. John hotel. She will spend everal days in Charleston, but she aid that she will not do any smashrig here. She has already paid $5,000 n fines this year for breaking up aloons. She registered at the hotel s "Carrie Nation. Home Defender." Mrs. Nation delivered an address toJght at the First Christian Taberacle, under the auspices of the .omen's temperance societies. She ad a good audience, many preferring t to the minstrel show which held the oards at the academy of music. Sliver worKers i lay smite. New York, Special.?A meeting of ilver workers, attended by 800 men, epresenting the 3,000 of the craft loyed in this city, Brooklyn and Newrk. was held to discuss differences boween the employers and workers. It ras decided to go on strike at noon tomorrow unless a 9-hour day instead of he 10-hour day, now the rule, is grantd. A Sti'l Hunt. Blacksburg, Special.?State Contable R. L. Scoggins of Hickory Irove, and Chief of Police J. C. Dur.an of this piace, made a raid Saturlay night in the King's Creek section n search of moonshiners and their nanufaeture. Owing to the darkness f the night they lost their way and 'ere delayed for several hours, an ! then they arrived at the place they iiseovered that the parties they were mnting had gotten warning of their oming and had torn up and removed heir still. However, they found 1.000 0 1.500 gallons cf ' mash" and beer rhich they destroyed. Educational Gifts. New York, Special.?Franc is Asbury 'aimer, founder of the National Broadray bank, died Sunday at the age of 90 ears. He spent the last days of his life 1 arranging for the distribution of a ortune of $6,000,000 among various ducational institutions. Which are he institutions are net known. Th* lerald will say tomorrow that from au uthoritative source it was learned that ittle or no provision has been made or the relatives, although family serants are to receive substantial laga ies. . aI Vi'vSfj \ i |^ousehold ^ patters % To n?lacqa?r Bnu Boda. If your brass bed Is tarnished yon can relnequer it yourself at small coat. Buy ton cents' worth of gum shellac dissolved In alcohol, and apply it with a paint brush. Other household arti- , clos made of brass may be treated in the same way. Lavender-.See utcd Sheet*. Lavender-scented sheets are the delight of dainty housewives, and it i? claimed that they induce sweet slumbers. The odor Is exceedingly fresh, clean and wholesome, and old-fashioned housewives always scented their linen and napery with sprigs of the sweet flower. Italian orris root is sometimes sub-' stituted for the lavender if the latter cannot be procured, but there is no reason why the farmer's wife or any one who has a plot of ground large enough fo ra vegetable or flower garden should not raise quantities of lavender- and keep the liueus dellciously fragrant. Kaths For Palma. \ . "Those whose palms persist in having yellow and brown tips on their fronds should try the expedient of glv ing them a uany ana inorougu umu, says a woman who has always been most successful with her winter palms. "A sponge dipped in warm water and rinsed as often as it becomes dusty . should be used to cleanse every crevice and both the under and upper side oif the leaves, as otherwise the plaDt cannot breathe, and breathing is nc essential for plants as for people. Then instead of pouring water on the top of the earth set the pot, if not too large to handle, in a bucket or the bathtub over night, two or three times a week. In either case the water should not be above the level of the pot, so that the plant may drink the moisture up and the porous earthenware vessel become thoroughly saturated. In this way no earth or sustenance is washed from the roots."?New York Tribune. Indian Rags Need Disinfection. A woman who knows the West and Its Indians gfces a word of caution to those who are collecting Indian baskets and rugs. Any one, she 6ays, who has ever been among the Indians realizes the unsanitary conditions prevailing in their wick-i-ups or hogans. Filth and disease of all sorts are mncb more apt to be the rule than the exception. Among the aborigines of the Southwest y particularly water is almost an unknown quantity. They have to depend upon the irrigation ditches through their reservations, and a "two ~ hours' run" of water every eight or ten flays with no vessels to conserve the precious fluid for use in the meantime, gives small leeway for water to be used for cleansing purposes. The beautiful Pinea and Apache baskets will alt bear a good scrubbing with some disinfectant in the water. The Navajo rugs, if new, may be disinfected with sulphur or formaldehyde?but if they > show signs of any wear?wash thoroughly. The native wool blankets colored with vegetable dyes are improved, net injured, by washing. Those dyed with mineral dyes are ape to shrink and fade. The Navdjo rugs honestly j made are not only practically inde| struetible, but rarely beautiful iu de1 sign and coloring.?New York Comracr! cial Advertiser. ^ . . RECIPES ... i ?->r?lro/l Knntich?Hnorttip tho cmiflfih and remove the s>eds; place in a baking pan; pour on It a few spoonfuls of water, just enough to keep from uurning. and bake In a very moderate oven until tender and merely scrape the soft portions from the shell; mash, season well and serve very hot. Egg Salad?Cut hard boiled eggs in thick slices or into quarters; arrange each portion on a leaf of lettuce partly covered with mayonnaise; arrange in a circle on a flat dish or platter, placing the stem of the leaf toward the centre of the platter; place a bunch of nasturtium flowers in the centre. Vanilla Sauce?Scald two cupfuls of ; milk in the upper part of a double boiler. Cream together two tablespoonfuls of sugar and the yolks of four eggs and stir them into the boil??g milk. Stir the custard until It thickens. Remove it from the fire, add a teaspoonful of vanilla and stand away to cool. ^ fMim finnn?Plmn fino ?i f-mifiil f\t clams and add to them their own liquor, strained. Put in one cupful of water, one slice of onion, a blade of mace, and simmer for thirty minutes. Thicken two eupfuls of milk with tyro tablespoonful* of flour and two tablespoonfuls of butter. Strain the liquor from the clams and stir it slowly with milk. Season with salt and a dash of paprika. Just before the 60up is sent to the table, and as It is removed from the lire, stir in the well-beaten yolks of two eggs. Stewed Celery?Scrape and wash the green stalks of the celery; cut each stalk into inch pieces; let them stand in cold water ten minutes; put them in a steam pan; cover with boiling water and add one tablespoonful of salt; cover the pan and let cook until celery is tender: then drain off the water and cover with cold water; put one level tablespoonful of butter in a frying pan; when melted add one tablespoonful of flour; stir until smooth; add gradually ore cupful of milk; stir over the Are until boiling aud thickened; add half a teaspoonful of salt, a little pepper and the stewed celery; serve in a vegetable 'dish very hot. Since 1S72 4000 miles of railroad* ,f. have bees laid in the Japanese Empire. '