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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times, 1887-12-8, Page 2TIES FATHER* CHA ER ITL--(Coismenuen.) There Was no one else to observe them 'bet deniiire Old Ugly, and in ten miuutes' Sinie they were in open space, where high apirite , might work themselves off, though eels battle over the botanical case was ended y Alias Nugent, who etrontely held that fnadiWA Should carry their own extra eocuin- lussaden, and slung it with a soarf over Neetie's shoulders in a knowing knepseek faehion. The two young people had known one tenother all their lives, for Gerard was! the onof a medioth man who hed lived next door to Miss Readworth when the children Were young. The father was deed, and the lemily had left the place, but this eo11 had gemained at school, and afterwards had been Tut into the office at the utnbrelle factory ander charge of Mr. Dutton, whose godson ha was, And who treated him as a nephew. Ile was e. good-hearted, eteady young fel. Zew, with his whole interest in ecclesiastical 4Li3tails, wearing a tie in accordance with 44 the colours," and absorbed in church music and decorations, while his recreations were almost all in accordance therewith, There was plenty of merrimeut, as he drew mad measured at the very scanty ruins, which were little more than a few fragments of wall, ,eniergrown luxuriantly with ivy and clematis, isett enclosing some fine old coffin -lids with tleriated crease, interesting to those who etarecl for architecture and church history, •as Mr. Dutton tried to make the ohildren do, so that their eeelesiastical feelings might he less narrow, and stand on a surer foun- dation than present interest, a slightly ag- texessive feeling of contempt for all the other town churches, and a pleasing sense of being eersecuted. They fought over the floriations and mouldings with great zest, and each main- tained a date, with youthful vigour—both Iseing, as Mr. Duttou by and by showed them, long before the foundation. The pond had been left to the last with a view to the well-being of the water -soldier on the return. Here the difficulties of the capture were great, for the nearest plant flourished too far from the bank to be reached with ssenrifort and besides, the sharp -pointed leves to which it owes its name were not to ihe approached with casual grasps. Oh Monsieur, 1 wish you were a Beau," sighed natio. "W hy, are you too stupid to go and get it?" ' It is- a proof of his superior intelligence," .tasid Mr. Dutton. "But really it is too ridiculous—too eerovoking—to have come all this way and mot get it," cried the tantalised Nuttie. '"�h, Gerard, are you taking off your boots dead stockings? You duck 1' "Just what I wish I was," said the youth, -smiling up his trousers. But even the paddling in did not answer. Mr. Mitten called out anxiously, "Take ,eare, Gerard, the bottom may be soft, and +mime down to the very verge just in time to hold out his hand, and prevent an utterly .selnestrous fall, for Gerard, in spite of his ;bare feet, sank at once into mud, and on the first attempt to take a step forward, found his foot slipping away .idnons under him, and would in another in - latent have tumbled backwards into the settaila and weeds. He scrambled back, his riat falling off into the reeds, and splashing Mr. Datton all over, while Monsieur began to bark "with astonishment at seeing his master in such a plight," declared the ladies, who stood convulsed with cruel laughter. assess "Isn't it dreadful ?" exelalmed Ursula. • " Well ! It might have been worse," cravely said Mr. Dutton, wiping off the =ere obnoxious of hie splashes with his –riazet handkerchief. "Oh I didn't mean you, but the water - soldier," said Nuttie. To have come five miles for it in vain 1" •"I don't know what to suggest," added eZerard. " Fven if the lathes were to "mare —" "No, no," interposed Mr. Dutton, "'tis 0..3 swimming ground and I forbid the expedi- wet.You would only be entangled in the weecls." "Behold !" exclaimed Mary, who had been prowling about the banks, and now held up in triumph one of the poles with a Mil -kook at the end used for cutting weed. "Bravo Miss Nugent !" cried Gerard. "Female wit has circumvented the water- eldier," said Mr. Dutton. "Don't cry out too soon," returned Mary; the soldier may float off and escape you wets' However, the capture was safely accom- plinhed, without even a dip under water to destroy the beauty of the white flowers. With these and a few water -lilies secured nyGerard for the morrow's altar vases, the party set out on their homeward walk, brough plantations of whispering firs, the low sun tinging the trunks wih ruddy light; across heathery commons, where crimson heath abounded,and the deli - 'Knee blush -coloured wax -belled species was a prize ; by cornfields in ear hanging out their dainty stamens; along hedges full of enguisite plumes of feathering or nodding ,e7rass, of which Nuttie made boquets land botanical studies, aod Gerard stored for 'harvest decorations. They ran and danced on together with Monsieur at their heels, while the elders watched them with some sadness and anxiety. Free -masonry had noon made both Mary and Mr. Dutton aware each other's initiation, and they had dis- oheeed the matter in all its bearings, agreed that the man was a scoundrel, and the 'woman an angel, even if she hed once been weak, and that she ought to be very resolute with him if he came to terms. And then they looked after their young companions, and Mr. Dutton said, "Poor children, what in before them ?" "It is well they are both so young," an- swered Mary. CHAPTER VII. THAT MAN. 4 It is the last time—'tis the last !"—corr. Sundays were the ever -recurring centres eef work and interests to the little circle in $e. Ambrose's Road. To them the church services and the various classes and schools weed the great objects and erceitements of the Week. A cer- tain measure of hopeful effort and vary- kig is what gives zest to life, and the "purer and higher the ahn, and the more reminisced the motives, the greater the happi- 4ess achieved by the "something attempted, nomething done." Setting apart actual spiritual detrotion, the Altair vases, purchased by a contribt- nett, of careful savings, and adorned with 0,, Menke Horton lilies, backed by ferns from the same genitor ; the simplices made Js y the ladies thenaselves, the chants they 4 preotised, the hymns they had taught, ,seitad not but be much more interesting to thene than if they had laden mere lookers on. graty cress on the markers every flower on he alter cloth watt the work of one or other of them ; everything in the church was an itchievement, and Choir boy, wheel children, 141e olasaes, every member of the regular congregetion, had some special interest ; nay, every irregular member or yisitor migha be a couvert thne—if not a present sympathiser, end et the very least might swell the o rtoe t was destined to so many oe the struggling district. et Thus it was with some curiojt With Self.reprOfteh that Nuttie,' e81116- ing her benedictue among the tune ul shop - girls, to whom else was bound to set an ex- ample, became aware of yesterday's first. class traveller lounging, as far as the rows of cheire would permit, in the aisle, and, as she thous -ht, staring hard et her mother. It was well thet Mrs. Egremont's invariable custom was never to lift her eyes from her book or her harmonium, or she surely must have been disconcerted, her daughter thought, by the eyes that must have found her out, under her little black net bonnet and veil, as the most beau. tiful woman in church,—as she eertainly was,—even that fine good-for.nothing gen- tleman thinking so. Nuttie would add his glances to the glories of ler lovely mother 1 And she did so, with triumph in her tone of reprobation, as she trotted off, after the early dinner, to her share of Suudayetchool work as usual under Miss Nugent's wing. It began with a children's service, and then ensued, in rooms at the factory, lent by Mr. Dutton, the teaching that was to supply the omissions of the Board School; the estab- lishment of a voluntary one being the next ambition of Si. Ambrose's. Coining home from their labours in the fervent discussion of their scholars, and ex- changing remarks and greetings with the other teachers of various calibres, the friends reached their own road, and there, to their amazement, beheld Miss Head. worth. " Yes, it really is 1" cried Nuttie. " We can't be too late ? No --there's no bell ! Aunt Ursel I What has brought you out? What's the matter 2 Where's mother 2'' " In the houce. My dear," catching hold of her, and speaking breathlessly, " I came out to prepare you. He is come— your father—" " Where ?" cried Nuttie, rather wildly. "He is in the drawing -room with your mother. I said I would send you." Poor Miss Headworth gasped with agitation. "Oh 1 where's Mr. Dutton --not that any- thing can be done—" -7' Is it that man ?" asked Nuttie, and getting no answer, " I know it is 1 Oh, Aunt Ursel, how could you leave her with him? I must go and protect her. Gerard ---come. No go and fetch Mr. Dutton." " Hush ! hush, Nuttie," cried her aunt, grasping her. "You know nothing about it. Wait here till I can tell you." "Come in here, dear Miss Headworth," said Mary, gently drawing her arm into hers, for the poor old lady could hardly stand for trembling, and bidding Gerard open the door of her own house with the latch -key. She took them into the din'em-room, so as not to disturb her mother. sent Gerard off after Mr. Dutton in the very uttermost as- tonishment and bewilderment, and set Miss Headworth down in an easy -chair, where sho recovered herself, under Mary's soothing care, enough to tell her story in spite of Nuttie's exclamations. "Wait 1 wait, Nut - tie 1 You mustn't burst in on them so I No, you need not be afraid. Don't be a silly child! He won't hurt her! Oh no! They are quite delighted to meet." "Delighted to meet ?" said Nuttie, as if ansfixed. "Yes," said her aunt. "Oh yes, I al- ways knew the poor chilcl oared for him and tried to believe in him all along. He only had to'say the word." "1 wouldn't," cried the girl, her eyes flashing. "Why didn't you ask him how he could desert her and leave her 2" "My dear 1 how can one come between husband and wife! Oh, my poor Alice !" "How was it, how did they meet, dear Miss Headworth ?" asked Mary, adminis- tering the wine she had been pouring out. "You hadn't been gone half an hour, Alice was reading to me, and I was just dozing, when in came Louisa. A gentle- man to see Mrs. Egremont,' she said, and there he was, just behind. We rose up— she did not know him at once, but he just said Edda, my little Edda, sweeter than ever, I knew you at once,' or some- thing of that sort, and she gave one little cry of I knew you would come,' and sprang right into his arms. 1—well, I meant to make him understand how he had treat- ed her, but just as I began Sir'—he came at me with his hand outstretched--" "You didn't take it, aunt, I hope ?" cried Nuttie. "My dear, when you see him, you ill know how impossible it is. He has that high -bred manner it is as if he were confer- ring a favour. Miss Headworth, I con- clude," said he, 'a lady to whom I owe more than I can express.' Just as if I had done it for his sake." Miss Nugent felt the open expressien dangerous on account of the daughter, and she looked her consternation at Mr. Dutton, who had quietly entered, ruthlessly shutting Gerard Godfrey out with only such a word of explanation as could be given on the way. "Then he comes with—with favourable intentions," said Mary, putting as much ad- monition as she could into her vois.e. "Oh 1 no doubt of that," said Miss Head - worth, drawing herself together. " He spoke of the long separation,—said he had never been able to find her, till the strange chance of his nephew stumbling on her at Abbots Norton." "That is--possib--probably true„' said Mr. Dutton. "It can't be," broke in Nuttie. "He never troubled himself about it till his neph- ew found the papers. Yon said so, Aunt Ursel 1 He is a dreadful traitor of a man, just like Marmion or Theseus, or Lancelot, and now heis telling lies about it ! Don't look at me, Aunt Vrsel, they are lies, and I will say it, and he took in poor dear mother once, and now he is taking her in again, and I can't bear that he should bo my . fa- ther !" It was Bo entirely true, yet so shocking to hear from her mouth, that all three stood aghast, as she stood with heaving chest, ,ermison cheeks, and big tears in her eyes. Mise Headworth only muttered, "Oh, my poor child, you mustn't !" Mr. Dutton prevented another passionate outburst by hie tone of grave, gentle author- ity. " Listen a moment, Ursula," he said. "Ib is unhappily true that this man has act- ed in an unjustifiable way towards your mother and yourself. But there are, no doubt, many more excinteit for him than you know of, and as I found a few years ago that the people at Dieppe had lost the address that had been left with them, he naust have fotind no tram:is of your mother there. You connot understand the difficulties that may have been in hie way. And there is no 1113e, quite the contrary, in making the worst of him. Ile has found your mother out, and it seems that he claitne her affectionately and she forgives and welcOmes Iiiin—buteif the sweet tenderness of her heart. "She may—but I can't,' =viewedNut- nor a Christian, to say," NZ Duttou eternly " That is not a fit thing for a danghter, 1531`.7is not for ninsell—'as for her," ob- jected Nuttie. IrtVeThex at'e nonsenee ; a mere cuse, he etinmed. et "Yu have nothing at all to forgive, since lee did not know you were in existence. And as to your mother, whom you say you put first, what greater grief or pain can you give her than by showing enmity audresent. moth against her husband, when she, the really injured person, loves and forgives ?" a bad nom. If she goes back to him, I know he will make her un- happy -------' " You don't know any such thing, but yen do know that your opposition will make her unhappy. Remember, there's no choice in the matter. Ile has legal rights over you botla, and shies+ he thews himself ready (as I unclerstaud from Miss Head worth that he is) to give her and you your proper position, you have nothing to do but to be thankful. 1 think myself that it is a great subject of thankfulnesa that your mother can return so freely without any bitterness. It is the blessing of such es she " Nuttie stoodmouting, but more thoughtful and less violent, as she said, "How can I be thankful? I don't want position or any - thine. I only want him to let me—my own mother, and aunt, and me alone." "Child, you are talking of what you do not understand. You must not waste any more time in argument. Your mother has sent for you, and it is your duty to go and let her introudce you to your father. I have little doubt that you will find him vary unlike all your imagination represents him, but let that be as it may, the fifth Commandment does not say, "Hon- or only thy good father," but, "Honor thy father," Come now, put on your gloves get her hat right, if you please, Miss Mary. There—now, come along, be a reasonable creature, and a good girl, and do not give unnecessary pain and vexation to your mother." He gave her his arm, and led her away. "Well done, Mr. Dutton 1" exclaimed Miss Nugent. "Poor Mr. putton 1" All Aunt Ursel's discretion could not suppress that sight, but Mary prudently lot it pass unnoticed, only honouring in her heart the unselfishness and self-restraint of the man whose long, patient', unspoken hopes had just received a deathblow. "Oh, Mary 1 I never thought it would have been like this 1" cried the poor old lady. "1 ought not to have spoken as I did before the child, but I was so taken by surprise 1 Alice turned to him just as if he had been the most faithful, lovine husband in the world. She is believing every word he says." "It is very happy for her that she can," pleaded Mary. "So it is, yes, but—when one knows what he is, and what she is 1 Oh, Mr. Dutton, is the poor child gone in ?" "Yes, I saw her safe into the room. She was very near running off up the stairs," said Mr. Dutton. "But I daresay she is fascinated by this time. That sort of man has great power over women." ' "Nuttie is hardly a woman yet," said Miss Nugent. "No, but there,must be a strongreaction, when she sees something unlike her com- pound of Marmion and Theseus." "1 suppose there is no quustion but that they must go with him 1" said Miss Head - worth wistfully. "Assuredly. You say he—this Egre- mont—was affectionate," said Mr. Dutten quietly, but Mary saw his fingers white with his tight clenching of the bar of the chair. "Oh yea, warmly affectionate, delighted to find her prettier than ever, poor dear ; I suppose he meant it. Heaven forgive me, if I am judging him too hardly, but I ver- ily believe he went to church to reconnoitre, and see whether she pleased his fancy—" "And do you understand, added Mr. Dutton, "that he is prepared to do her full justice, and introduce her to his family and friends as his wife, on equal berms? Other- wise, even if she were unwilling to stand up for herself, it would be the duty of her friends to make some stipulations.' "1 am pretty sure that he does," said her aunt; "I did not stay long when I saw that I was not wanted, but I heard him say something about his having a home for her now, and her cutting out the Redca,stle ladies. "Besides, there is the nephew, Mr. Mark Egremont," said Mary. "He will take care of her." "Yes," said Mr. Dutton. "It appears to be all right. At any rate, there can be no grounds for interference on our part." Mr. Dutton took his leave with these words, wringing Miss Headworth's hand in mute sympathy, and she, poor old lady, when he was gone, fairly collapsed into bit- ter weeping over the uncertainfuture of those whom she had loved as her own children, and who now must leave her desolate. Mary did her best with comfort and sympathy, and presently took her to share her griefs and fears with gentle old Mrs. Nugent. (To BE COI,TTINCED.) He Hated to Take Any Chances. Mr. Franks had brought his children up to believe faithfully in a veritable Santa Clausbut there was one small seceder who thought for himself and rejected the nurs- ery belief. When Christmas Eve came last year he confided to his mother his doubts and fears. "I just b leeve that I dont b leeve in any Santa Claus,", he said, gravely, "though sometime% mamma, I don't b'leeve I know what I do bleeve." Later in the :evening, when the whole family were assembled in the parlor, the door opened and a genuine Santa Claus-- dr&s, pack, white whiskers and all the re- gulation features entered. Little Phil looked round With an incredulous grin and counted, the members ot his tribe. They were all proSent, and each one had request to give Satitat Phil kept up his unbelief and Santa Claes turned to go. As lm passed into the hall fear and doubt attuggled in the email boy's mind. He didn't believe in any such personage, but he hated to take any chances, Hitt feet wig gled, and at lest he slid from his chair and ran after the disamparing figure. As the patron of Christmas retched the front door he heard a very beseeching voice grasp at his heels : " H-a-n-cl s -l -e -d 1" Concluded to Let the Matter Drop. , Orampson—" Remember that newspaper man Who insulted me last' week ?" Short-pa,ntz,--P 1 temeneber. -You (said rah were going behave satisfaction." "Well,It ealled on him and he throw ma down stairs." , Then you are not eatisfled ?" "Yes, lam. I've been licked an well as insulted, and 8o I have connlnded to let the *tatter drop.° A GLINPSE AT JAPAN. Tho tglicultura1 ittooltroo$ Etiltstrieti There are very few readeee, have either the tune, inclination er opportunity for studying the numnere end customs of the Japanese, and equally few who conseive that of the 156,000 square miles, or let us say Soo,oeq,ouo area covered by their re- markable empire, only Immo 12,000,000 acres aro extually under any kind of cultivation. Yet, from this small space, these industrious and thrifty people—se ho wear no woolens and eat neither beef, mutton pork, milk, butter, nor cheese --manage to obtain, not only all the nutritive and textile plants thet provide them with food and clothes, but an annual surplus of 40,000,000 pounds of tea, 25,000,000 bales of silk and enormous quan- pities of rice, tobacco and hemp for explirt. ation to their foreign neighbore. Of the population of 38,000,000, more than half are agriculturists; 4,500,o0o being landlords owning and tilling an average of 2S, acres. The soil is generally a black, vegetable mold, with occasional patches of sandy and clam loams, and as it never freezes on the lower levels, owing to the mildnees of the climate, it is made to bear both winter and eummer crops the same year. Consid- ering the immense areas unoccupied for tillage, and so admirably adapted for graz. ing, the Japanese possess a relatively smaller number of domestic animals than any other nation; they have, therefore, no farm yard fertilizers to assist them in maintaining the soil's fecundity. To the farmers of our own beautiful coun try this must sound anomalous, for there is very little doubt that with our prevailing notions our agriculterel operations would, uuder similar conditiOns, soon be brought to a deadlock ; but with the Japanese the mat- ter is altogether different; they menage perfectly well without this resource, and with no precise knowledge of either botany or chemistry, succeed, by their intensive system, in raising crops five times heavier than ours. One of their chief manural agents is sea weed, which is thrown up by the tides along their 3,000 miles of coast in great banks, collected when the tide recedes, piled up and allowed to decompose. When ready for use it is carried up to the foot hills in boats, and thence by long lines of pack horses to the fields. It is not at all an unusual thing to meet in the course of half a day's travel, some 1,000 or 1,500 horses or cattle loaded with this material, and as the same animals bring down the farm produce to the sea, river or canal, the cost of carriage is very small. The fishing grounds of Japan are probably more extensive in proportion to its size than those of any other country, and as during certain parts of the year the water swarms with fish that are useless for food, large fleets of boats and junks are employed in catching them for manurial purposes. The untilled and ungrazed lands on the plains, hills and mountain sides, are covered with a wild and rank vegetation, which is constantly cut down by men, women and children, and carried upon their backs or on the backsof cows, tothe farm -houses, where, being burned in great heaps, together with all the ears and straw of the rice, rye, oats, wheat, barley and millet, the ashes are plow- ed into the grtund. Inexhaustible deposits of shells, limestone and gypsum are also worked, burned, and employed in the same way. The extent and value of all these sources of fertilizing material are sufficient- ly obvious to need no comment ; but it must not be supposed that, of themselves, they would be sufficient for the purpose. The great reliance and stand-by of the Japanese farmer it the night -soil of the towns, cities and villages, every particle of which is saved collected, and distributed, sometimes over enormous distances, and there can be no doubt that the remarkable fertility of his lands and the richness of his crops are directly traceable to its effects. In our own country it is a standing reproach to chemical science, that no means of practically turn- ing this vast agricultural necessity to any useful or profitable account have yet been deyised, and that because of our inability to conveniently store and render it inoffensive, i our legislators are compelled to send it ' through our sewers, where it continually endangers the lives of our citizens by con- taminating our drinking water and breeding diphtheria and other pestilential diseases. At Kioto the olcl capital and home of the Mikados, the conquering races have i tilled the soil for 2,600 years ; and t is affirmed by many travelers of undoubted authority, that their average summer crops of rice, amount after hulliug, to 70 bushels, and that their winter crop of wheat grown in the same ground, never yields less than 40 bushels per acre. Every farmer is alive to the necessity of putting back into the soil, after each crop, all the elements of fertility which that crop has taken away, and spares no effort in order to accomplish that encl. What a salthory lesson is contain- ed in that briefly stated fact! How well our own agriculturists might profit by laying ' it to heart The staple crop of the country is rice, fully half the land being devoted to its two varieties, lowland and upland. Lowland rice is grown in valleys, where irrigation is practicable, and where, to facilitate the flooding of the plains, the land is subdivided into small plats and leveled up or embanked. In order that these plats may be level, it is customary, in sloping district% to make the embanked subdivisions very small, generally about the size of an ordinary room, but seldom larger than an average -sized homes. Rice, however, being composed of pure starch, would not of itself suffice for their support, and they consequently devote their winter cultivation to wheat, barley and rye, which are either hulled, boiled and eaten like rice, or ground and mixed with other substances and made into cakes. The people have no knowledge of or word in their language for what we call bread, and in addition to their utter ignorance of fer- mentation, do not possess a single flour mill in their entire empire. They grind their grain in small hand mills, the exact counter- part of those that are pictured on the tombs and temples of the Egyptions, and bolt it by shaking flour through several sieves or screens covered with cotton cloth. A Mexican Tailor. "Hero I bring you a piece of cloth for a pair of pantaloons," says a customer. The tailor measures it. " It is not &sough." The customer gathers up the cloth and carries it to another tailor. "Is there enouph of tide piece to make me a pair of pantaloons ?" "Yes, Six; day after to -morrow I will send them to you by my son." The boy comes With the -pantaloons two days later. The customer notes that the youth is wearing a jacket suede of the Same piece "of cloth. " "Boy, how is this that the other tidier said there was not enough cloth for a pair of pantialtions, and your father has not only made my pantaloons but also a jacket for t of the pieoe 2" "Sir, the on of the other tailor is a much I bigger boy than I am." PERSONAL. The first kettle of Longfellow to be erect- ed will be set up in Portland, Me., the poet's birthIace, and wiil be the worle tranklin Simmons, a Maine seulptor. The clay model boa just been finished in Rome, and represents th&. poet in a eitting attitude, the right arm reetang itt an easy position on the beck of a richly carved and ornamented chair, while the ether ts thrown carelessly forward on his lap, and loosely holds e Mass of manuscript. &untie' B. Holden, of Craigh, Missouri, has had annealing of a Rip Van Winkle ex- perience. Eight years aro he came home one day comp/aining of an intense pain in his head. In t*enty.four hours he was a drivelling idiot. A few days ago he came suddenly out of this etate of idiotey, and took up his life's story where he had. left it off eight years before. All the physi- clam of his neighborhood are puzzling over the extraordinary case, which is being dis- cussed with all seriounness and perfect good faith by the newspapers of Missouri. Mr. Henry Irving says that his receipts were $180,000 for his recently closed season in London. When acting, Mr. Irving lives in rooms in New Bond Street, not far from hie theatre; but his home is at Hammer- smith, an hour's drive from there, where he occupies the house that was originally owned by Nell Gwyne, and more reoently by the Bethmans. A more beautiful home could scarcely be imagined. Mr. Irving spends very little time there, but the house is always open and in readiness for his visits. A magnificent gift has been made to the Natural History Museum, South Kensing- ton, by Capt. Wardlaw Ramsay. The late Marquess of Tweeddale had perhaps the fineet private collection of birds in Great Britain, and had in addition a very valuable ornithological library. This collection and the library were bequeathed to Capt. Ram- say, who has now assigned the whole to the nation, together with many rare ornitholo- gical specimens obtained by himself in the far East. The value of this present im,E15,- 000. General Charles J. Paine, whose fame as a yachtsman is now world-wide, is a direct de- scendant of Robert Treat Paine, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He was born in Boston fifty-four years ago, and is a graduate of Harvard, class of '5:3. He is tall, spare, and stoops slightly. The heir rn the top of his head is exceedingly thin, but it has not yet begun to whiten. General Paine made the bulk of his money by his own exertions, though he inherited a little and married a wealthy wife. His rec- ord as a soldier during the war is no less sbirnielleiant than he has made as a yachtsman To see Mr. Gladstone walk a mile on the turf is said to be a rich treat. Even in the streets of London he is shout the most graceful and nimble pedestrian you would meet in a day. He strides with the springy freedom of an athlete, and has all the eloquent grace of a dancing -master, without a trace of the dandyism. More likely than not you will see him swinging his old hat in one hand, while widening his collar with the other. Then in to breakfast—a whole- some, simple English breakfast, which he eats with a hearty relish that is the envy of most of his juniors. Then after lunch at two comes work in doors—letters, Homer (he is always pegging away at his Homer), the writing of magazine ,articles on theology, Greek and Latin poetry, how to make jam, the Bulgarian question, practical forestry, old China, ancient Troy—goodness knows what Gladstone has not written, is writing, or will write about, and always as an au- thority, too. MURDERS ON TIT Pi DANUBE. Hundreds of Workingmen Killed for Their idioney. At Giurgevo, on the Danube, accident has recently led to the discovery of a series of systematic murders. Numerous peasants and workmen from the interior of Roumania have b'een in the habit of ceassing the Danube at the above mentioned port forthe purpose of seeking labour iu Bulgaria, but on their re- turn journey with their savings, fearing the indiscreet questions of the Roumanian cus- toms officials, thetravellers have long evaded them by landing on a small island in the Danube, whether they were rowed by Turk- ish or Bulgarian boatmen, mostly during the night. From this island it was possible to reach the Roumanian shore in different ways un- noticed by the authorities. Some time ago a soldier, accidentally walking on the banks of the river, heard terrible screams issuing amperently from some reeds near that island. After a silence of several hours similar screams were again heard by persons whom the soldier had called to the spot. On the police proceeding thither they found that on both occasions persons crossing the river and landing on the island had been murdered by their own boatmen. A comprehensive inquiry was now insti- tuted by the Roumanian Fiscal General, M. Populeane, the result of which has been to establish with certainty that hundreds of workmen ro peasants havebeen rnerdered on the island at the moment of landing, and were then robbed of the money and goods they had with them; their corpses being either buried in the graves already prepared for them or thrown among the reeds in the Danube. In all cases the murderers were Turkish or Bulgarian boatmen from Rustchuk, who carried concealed under their clothes the knives and daggers with which they des- patched their victims, one after another, as they set foot in the dead of night on the lonelyisland in the Danu be. ' GEMS OP THOUGHT. No perch is so high but climbing will reach it. - The man who depends upon himself is sel- dom disappointed in his friends. To think other people are fools is a com- mon method for a man to EMONV his lack of wisdom. The man who can keep his temper inay not get rich theteby, but it never pays him to lose it. In all undertakings let us firitt examine our own strength; the enterprise next ; arid thirdly the people with whom we have to do. Of all the means of ruin which dog "the stops of life not one is more prolific of evil than the inability to eay "No" at the right time, If you your lip would keep from slips, five things observe with care—of Whom you speak, to Whom you speak, and how, and when, and where. A Hamilton lady asked one Of ehe child- ren in her Suncley-school olass, "What was the sin of the Pharisees 2" "Eating camels, ma'am," was the reply. The little girl had read that the Pharisees "strained at gnats and swallowed camels." LIU IN,THE ITARVA Milliken Ida g of ihe Western 'World as to nu Epstein Institution, In theory the Moslem classes hie Women - kind with the holy of holies of Mecca. The innermost amine of his temple and the rooms with latticed windows aro both called by the same name of ',tante or " Sacred." The apartment is harem and the ladies who lire in it are harem for all but the lord and mini. ter. Ile limy enter at will, but generally announces his coming beforehand, so that he may not run the tisk of meeting female vis- itors who are probable' the wives of hie Mende. In well regulated houses the bus. band intrudes only la fixed hours, perhaps for a short time after midday prayers, and does not else favor his harem till he retires to rest. Home life, such as we underetand it, can scarcely be said to exist for the Mo- hammedan, The men lives in and at his work outside, and the woman among her slaves and friends in the harem. The mofit interesting view of the home life of the he. rem is when it is considered as the cradle in which Eastern manhood is reared. Sohoold of any kind are few and meagrelypatronized and bearding schools are unknown. A few boys are sent to Paris, Constantinople, or Syria to be educated ; but the majority grow up among slave girls and servants, seeing a great deal which they ought not to see, and learning very little of what they should. It is small wonder, then, that the better moral qualities, if any were ever inborn, are ra- pidly obliterated, and the hot grows up to the man saturated with vice and effeminacy. The women occupants are the wite or wives and the female slaves. Perhaps on no sub- ject does greater misconception prevail than on this of harem slavery. The field, how- ever, is too wide a one to be touched ou more than incidentally. The name of slave as applied to the Geor- gian or Circassian girl is a misnomer. She occupies more the position of a friend, or at least of a lady's companion, if she does not, as is often the case, become an adopted daughter of the house. She is well and sometimes expensively dressed, and shares the smell amusements of her mistress at the theatre, the moolid or the promenade. Now and then the lady may fly in a passion and soundly box the girl's ears or pull out a handful of hair : but a reconciliation soon takes place, and is usually cemented with a present of jewelry or a new dress. The princip il diversions of harem life oon- sist in the visits ot friends and of a. perni- cious class of trading women, who hawk about articles of dress and gewgaws from one house to another, retailing the latest gossip and scandal with their wares, and assisting the ladies to get into all manner of scrapes. Wise women, who tell fortunes by cards and incantations, are also in great de mend, and their vaticinations, are, as a rule, believed in by the ladies with much the same delightful and blind confidence as is given by farmer's daughters to the mys- terious prophecies of the gypsies. Now and then condign punishment awaits these hage, as in the case of the notorious Ayesha, who several years ago, was called for one night, hustled into a carriage under pretence of visiting a great herem, and has never since, been heard of. But, as a rule, their so 1 les, evil eyes, and charms are perfe 7 harmless, and when there is nothing better to do they are all called in to beguile the heavy hours. Nor must the men singers be left out in the catalogue of delights of the harem—a delight, nevertheless, which is but sparingly indulged in, and can only be enjoyed to the full when the harem's lord is raowmpuay, esh ntofator a, liberty would immediately take A tion seems generally prevalent in Eu - oh ifonly the harem doors were opened place, and many are the sympathies w sted on the supposed prisoners of the Moh et- dan marriage tie. In reality, both m d ,,, women consider their state far superioi 'to that of Europeans. The man argues thus; "You are a slave from the moment you marry. You can not go out to lunch or dinner or to your friends without taking your wife with you. You cannot even leave her alone for a few hours without giv- ing an account of yourself. Such a state of things would be unbearable to me. I go where I like and she goes where she likes. I pay my servants to look after her, and I am sure that she is not flirting with other men when I am uot by her side. You are never sure of this," Sm. This is his line of argument. "The woman says: "My religion for- bids me to look upon other men than my husband. If 1 changed my religion perhaps I would like to mix up with every fellow I came across, but so long as I am a Moham- medan I detest the thought of it. I cover my face from the sight oi the world, as your women cover their bodies. As to being watched and guarded, it is a compliment which shows how much my husband cares for me. If he were to leave me to do what I liked, I should know he did not care for me and I should feel deeply insulted." It is difficult for the Western mind fully to grasp the immense gulf between our ideas and theirs. Their reasoning is fallacious and almost ridiculous from our standpoint, but it is good enough from theirs. And, therefore,as long as the Mohammedan re- ligion lasts so long. will the harem exist. And its existence is, on the whole, a happy and contented one, in spite of all the reason- ing which may be brought to show that it ought to be miserable. Centuries of com- munion and contact with Europeans may possibly change the ideas born and culti- vated the in harem, but there is asyetno sign whatever of such a change. Up to the present no appreciable difference is notice- able in the domestic economy of the Moslem. A Preference for German. Customer (to barber)—Do you speak more than one language? Barber—Yes, I speaks English and Sher- man. Custemer—Well, I wish you would talk to me in German. Barber—You oonderstand Sherman? Customer—No. The comments made by some of the Eng- lish newepaperd upon the delay in hanging the Atiarchiets in Chicago are to this degree good ones, that the time during which they were permitted to live after eentence had been passed upon them gave an oppor- tunity for falee sentiment to be cultivated in their favor. In the hurry of American life past events are quickly forgotten, and the sorrow and euffering that Were brought to a great many households in consequence of the act for which the Anarchists were punished, were lost sight of by many itt their contemplation Of what thoresult of the prinishinent ef the mutderers would be. Im- Mediately after the Chicago riot an unquali- fita deinand for the punishment of thss bomb timeworn Was raised, and if at that time they had been exeethed, not even a great amount of sympathy would have hem expressed for them. But the delay In the execution carried the Mattel' from one ex - ironic to the other.