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Home My WebLink AboutThe Brussels Post, 1900-1-25, Page 22 '"$E BRuesELB POST. 3,4 2', X900 r'mow'' a'yr,,yqeeeee 4.•►' .�r.1rIn',,��►!;y . 490 F7 A L ITTLE REBEL BWL diaagraeable as possible. His eyes are still aflame ; but Perpetua is not afraid of him. She 1s angrywith hire, in a measure, but nod afraid op hien, Ono might be afraid of Sir Rlastings, but of Mr. Curzon, no 1 The professor had seen the glad rush ot the girl toward him, aid a terrible Pang of delight bad run through his valve -to be teamed by a motion, She bad come to him because she wanted tun, because be might be oe use to her, ,not because , What bad Hastings been sayingto here His wrathful eyes are on hie brother rae ther than on her whoa he saris "You are tired it" "Yes," says Perpetua, "Shall I take you to Gwen/Wine?" "Yes," says Perpetua again. "Mies Wynter is In my care at pres- ent," says Sir Hastings, coming indo- lently forward. "Shall I take you to Lady Baring ?" asks he, addressing Pelmelun with a sauve anile, "She will come with me," says the Ctrodessor, witb. cold decision. A command," says Sir Hastings, laughing lightly. "See what it is, Miss Wynter to have a hand -hearted guard- ian." He shrugs bis shoulders,. Perpetua makes him a little bow, and follows the professor out of the conservatory. If you are tired," says the pro- fessor, somewhat curtly, and without looking at her, "1 should think the best thing you could do world be to go to bed le This astounding advice receives but little favor at Miss Wynter's hands. "I am tired of your brother,".says she, promptly. "He is as tiresome a creation as I know -but not of your sister's party; and -I'm too old to be sent to bed, even by a Guardian 1" puts a very big capital to the last ,vord. 1 don't want to send you to bed," says the professor, simply. "Mongb I think little girls like you--" "I am not a little girl," indignantly. "Certainly you, are not a big one," says he. It is an untimely remark. Miss Wynter's hitherto ill -subdued anger now bursts into flame. "I can't help it if I'rni not big,' cries she. "It isn't my fault. I can't belp it, either, if papa sent me to you. I "You were eaying?" says she dream-! didn't wane to go to you. It wasn't Hy. 1 my fault that I was thrown upon your "That the charm you possess, though' hands. And -ane -her voice begins to tremble -"it isn't my fault, either, -that you hate me." That I -hate you 1" shuc Thked.e Professor's voice is cold and "Yes, it is true, You need not, deny it. You know you bate me." They are now in an angle of the hall where few people come end, go, She nods her head at him with much ! and are, for the moment,, virtually emeouragement. alone. Hair encouragement falls short. Sir Who told you that I hated you R' Hustings, who had looked for girlish asks the professor in a peremptory I confusion, is somewhat disconcerted by sort of wav. this open patronage. "Moly I?" says ne-"you permit me, then, to tell you what I have so long - Bee Neat do not fall before his. She Is plainly thinking. Yes ; Mr. Bard - Inge was right, he will never like ben She is, only a stay, a eindtraaoe to biml "I understand," says she,'sorrowful- ly.: "He will not care -ever. I shall be always a trouble to him. "Why think of hien?" &aye Sir haat ings, contemptuously, Be leans toward her 1 fired' by hex beauty, that is now enhanced by tbe regret that lies upon bee pretty lips, tie determines on pushing his case at once, "If be cannot appreciate you, others can -I can. I-" Be Pauses; far the first time in his life, on such! an occasion as Ibis, he is eonsainus of a feeling of awkwardness. To telt a woman he loves her has been the simplest thing in the world hith erto, but now, when at last he is in earnest -when poverty hoe driven him to seek marriage with an heiress as a cure for all tics ilte-he finds him- self tongue-tied; and not only by the importance of the situation, so far as money goes, but by the clear, calm, wailing eyes of Perpetua, "Yes?" says she, and then sudden- ly, es if not caring for the answer she hes demanded. "Your mean tbat he - You, too, think that be dislikes nee?" There is woe in tbe pale, small, love- ly face, "Very probably, He was always ec- centric. Perfect nuisance at booze, Nene of us could understand him. I shouldn't in the least wonder if be had taken a rooted aversion to you, and taken it badly, too 1 Miss Wynter, it quite distresses me to think that it should be my brother of all meni who Ma failed to see your charm. A charm tbtit-" He pauses effectively, to let his really fine eyes have some, play. The conservatory is sufficiently dark to disguise the ravages that dissipation has made upon his handsome features. He can see that Perpetua ie regard- ing biro earnestly, and with evident lntereat. Already he regards his cause as won. It is plain tbat the girl is attracted by his face, as in- deed she isl She is at this moment asking herself who is it be is like? of no value in the eyes of your guard- ian is, to me, indescribably attractive. In feet, I-" A second pause, meant to be even More effective. Perpetua turns her gaze more dir- ectly upon him. It occurs to her that he is singularly dull, poor man. "Go on," says she "No," says she, shaking her bead, "I shall not tell you that, but I have heard it all the same." ed, feared to disclose. I"-dramatical- "Ona ,.nears a great many things if l y -"rape you." one is foolish enough to listen.' Cur - Ila is standing over her, his hand i011'5 face 15 a little Pale now. "And -I can guess who has been talking to you." "Why sbould I not listen? It is true, 1s it net l" She looks up at him, She seems tremulously anxious for the answer. "You want me to ,deny it, then"? "Oh, no, no 1" she throws out one on the back of her chair, waiting for the swift blush, the tremor, the usual signs that follow on one of his de- clarations. Alas! there is no blush now, no tremor. no sign at all, "That is very good of you," says Per- petua in an even tone. She moves a little away from him, but otherwise hand with a little gesture of mingled Showa no emotion whatever. "The regret. and anger Do more so, in that it must be so diffi- wg g you think I cult for you to love a person in four- wrong. .yd toto Iia altol' with There I Tim wrong. After all,'• a half smile, sadder than most sad smiles because of the youth end sweetness of it, "I do not blame you, I am a trouble I sup- ings' eyes. pose, and all troubles are hateful. I'• This little Australian girl, is she holding out her band -"shall take your laughing at him? But the fact is that advice, 1 think, and go to bed." Perpetua is hardly thinking of him at "It was bad advice, says Curzon, all, ac merely as 0. shadow to her taking the hand and holding it. "Stay thoughts. Who is he like? That is up, enjoy you'rselt, dance—" "Oh, 1 am not dancing," says she as if offended. "Why not?" eagerly. "Better dance than sleep at your age. You -you mistook me. Why go so soon?" She rooks at him with a little whim - steal expression. "I shall not know you at all present- ly," says she, "Your very appearance to -night is strange to me, and now your sentiments] No I sball not be swayed by you. Good -night, good -by!" She smiles at him in the same SOT- rowful little way, and takes a steps or two forward. 'Perpelue," say s the professor, sternly, "before you go you must lis- ten to me. You said, just now, you would not hear me he to you - you shall hear only the truth. Who ever told. you that T hated you is the most unmitigatedliar on retard." Perpetua rubs bar fan up and down her Cheek for e. little bit, "Well -I'm glad you don't hate me," says she., "but still I'm a worry, Never mind" -sighing -"I dare say I shan't be so for long." "You mean 1" asks the professor, anxiously. Nothing -nothing et all. Good- night. Goodnight., indeed." Must you go ? Is enjoyment noth- ing to you?" Ah't you have killed all that for me," says she. This parting shaft she hurls at biro -malice prepense. It Is effectual. By it she murders sleep as tborougbly as ever did Macbeth. Tha professor spends the remainder of, the night paring up and, down his rooms. teen days I Ab, that is kind, in- deed." A curious light comes into Sir Hast - the burden of her inward song. At this moment she knows. She lifts her head to see the professor standng in the curtained doorway down be- low. Ah l yes, that is it l And, in- deed, the resemblance between the two brothers is wonderfully strong at this instant 1 In the eyes of both a quirk fire is kindled. CHAPTER XII. "Love, like a June rase, Buds and sweetly blows - But tears its leaves disclose, And among thorns it grows." The professor had been standing in- side the curtain for a full minute be- fore PerpeLna bad seen him. Spell- bound, be bad stood there gazing at the girl as if bewit:ehed, U15 to this he had seen her onlyin lilack-black always -severe, cold -but now 1 It is to him as though ho had seen her for the first time. The graceful curves of her neck, her snowy arms, the dead white of her gown agatn't the whiter giory of the soft bosom, the large, dark eyes so butt of feeding, the little dainty head( Are they all new -or some sweet, amebae memory of a picture well beloved? Then lie had seen his brotherl- Hastings-the disgrace, the roue and bending over hers . There had been that little movement, and the girl's calm drawing back, and -- The profeesor's etep forward at that moment bad (betrayed him to Per- petua. She rises now betting her fan fall without thought to the ground. "You 1" cries she, in a little, soft, quiets way. "You!" Indeed, it seems to her impossible that it can be Na. She almost rune to him. If she had quite understood Sir Beatings is im- possible to know, for no one has ever asked her since, but certainly rho ad- vent of her guardian is a relief to her, "Ton 1" she says again, as if only ball believing, ,ler gaze grows bewildered. It lee had never sten her it anything but blank before, she had never seen him in aught bei: antiquated mourning clothes, Is this really the professor? Per cyte ask the question anxiously, `,Chis 'tall, arletoonette, perteotiy-ap- poin,ted n1111 this man who looks pose- e t lively geuug. Where are haglasses that until now had his eyes? Where is that odd, old coat? "Yes," Yes, the professor certainly and as CHAPTER XIII. "Through thick and thin, both over bank and bush, In hopes her to attain by hook or crook." "Yon will begin Lo think me a fix- ture," says Bardinge, with a some- what embarrassed laugh, flinging Min - self into an armchair, "You know you are always wel- come," says the pro/tenor, gently, if somewhat absently. It is next morning, and he looks de- eidedly the worse for hie sleeplessness, Iris face seems really old, hiseyea are sunk in his head, The breakfast ly- ing untouched upon the table tells its own tale. Dissipation doesn't ogres with you says Hard.ituee, weth a faint smile, "No, I snail give it up," returns Cmrzonl his laugh u . trifle grim, "I was never more euz'prieed in my life than when' I saw you et your sie- ter'a last evening. I was relieved, too sometimes it ie necessary ler a man to go out, and -end see bow tbintea are going on with' bis own eyes.' "I wonder when that" would be?" asks the professor, indifferently, When a man is a guardian,"replies Ineedinge, promptly and with evident meaning, The professor glances quickly at "You ancon-" says he, 01 I yea, of course I mean some- thing," says Hardinge, impatiently. But I dont' suppose you want me to explain myself. You were there lest night—you meat have seen for your - sell:" " Seen what 1" " Pshaw 1" says Hardinge, throwing up his bend, and flinging his aigar- ette Into the empty fireplace. "I saw you go Into the conservatory. You found her there, and. -him. It is be- ginning to be the chief tole of conver- sation among his friends just now. The betting is already pretty free." " Go on," says the professor. "I needn't go on. You know it now, if you didn't before." " 1r, is you who know it -not I. Say it!" says the professor, almost fierce- ly. "11 is about bar," "Your ward? Yes. Your brother, it seems, bas mads his mind to bestow upon her bis hand, hie few remaining acres, and," with a sneer, " bis spot- less reputation." " H'irdinge1" cries the professor, s'p'ringing to his feet as if shot. *Ile is evidently violently agitated, ale companion mistakes the nature of his excitement. "Forgive mei" says he, quickly, "Of course nothing can excuse my speak- ing of bin like that -to you. But I feel you ought to be told. Miss Wyn- ter is in your eare, you are in amen_ aur: reaponaible for her future happi- ness -the happiness of her wbote life, Currin -and if anything goes wrong with her—" The professor puts up his band as if to shack him. Be has grown ashen- :and the other hand resting on the back of the chair is visibly trem- bl Vathing shall go wrong with her," save he, in a curious tone. Finrilinge regards hien keenly. Is this pallor, this unmistakable trepida- tion, mused only by his dislike to beer his brother's real character ex- posed. "'WVelt, I have told you," says he coldly. { ' "It is a mistake," says the profes- sor. "He would not dare to approach a young, innocent girl. The most hone arable proposal such a man as he could male to her would be basely dishon- orable. , " Oh 1 you see it in that light, too," says Hardinge, with a touch of re- lief. "My dear fellow, it is hard for me to discuss bine with you, but yet I fear it must be done. Did you no- tice nothing in his manner last night?" Yes. The professor had noticed something, Now there comes back to him that tall figure stooping over Per - penile the handsome, leering tone bent low -the girl's instinctive withdraw- al. "Something must be done," says be. Yes. And quickly. Young girleare sometimes dazzled by man of his sort. And Per -Miss Wynter, . Look here, Curzon," breaking off hurriedly. This is your affair, you know. You are her guardian. You see to it." "I could speak to hem" " That would be fatal. Sha is just the sant of girl to say ' Yes" to him bernasc ilia was told to say 'No.'" "You seem to have studied her," says the professor, quietly. ' Well, I confess I have seen a great deal of herr of late," " And to some purpose. Your know- ledge of her should lean youth making a way out of this difficulty" "I have thought of one," sena Her- dinge boldly, yet with a quick flush, "You are bar guardian, Why not ar- range another marriage for her, be- fore this affair with Sir Hastings goes too far." There are two parties to a mar- riage," said the professor, 'his tone al- ways very low. "Who is it to wham you propose to marry Miss Wyn- ter?" To be Continued. MODERN SOLDIERS OP' FORTUNE. ,(Yen 41 ho nave Served Ender More T111111 eon Flag 1,,'1'hls Century. In the Transvaal to -day the mailer of fortune is making his last stand, No other country in the world is like- ly to offer the alien adventurer of the future the same positions and profit that have hitherto been the portion of Seb'el, Von Albrecht, end the other European mercenaries of Krugerdom. And in this very fact, we may Safi the decline of the soldiers of fortune, if we compare his gains with the colossal harvests of his predecessors in history. Perron, the wonderful Frenohman who commanded the Maliratta army, arriv- ed In Hindustan a penniless petty of- ficer from a man -o' -war, and in nine years had amassed between one and two m4lione sterling. Even inore repel was the progress of Col. Han- nay, who had to leave "John Com- pany's" service to ovoid the bailiffs. %Ic entered the service of the Nawab Wazir of Oude in 1778, and ]eft it af- ter three years with a fortune of dSOO,00t1• Many other French and English adventurers were nearly as lucky. AL that time there was not the pre- judiceagainst these mercenary swords which the military ethics of modern Europe have fostered, Tow foreigners have risen to eminence in the Eng- lish service, but large numbers Of aliens were recruited for use in the Napoleonic wars, Besides the fam- ous Hessians, there were the French (Masseurs Britannique, throe Swiss regiments, the Corsican Rangers, and the Greek Light Infantry. In the Crimean War a German legion was re- cruited ib Heligoland, but they never distinguished tbemselvea on the field, and the Precedent le, not Jike!y to be followed, In spite of the onunng effeot 01 modern ideas, the soldiers of fortune of the nineteenth °eatery form a picturesque gallery- HEROES AND RASCALS. b'enians and Royalists, Poles, English - Men and adventnrmi'e Of no coultiry. Some of them, like Lord Cochrane and .Hobart Pastia, have establisbod them - Went on a bigher plane than the =gr- eenery can usually hope to money. The former's brillinnt enticed with the English, Chillae, Brazilian, and Greek naviee in turn is probably, unique, tbongh Paul Jones may be set down as a bad second. The ex -apprentice of a Whitebaven collier, who was the most auccassful Amerlean naval of- ferer in the War oe Independence, and held' command thereafter in the Drench, and then in the Russian Navy is not the hernia figure which modern eulogists le the United Slates like to picture, but he was a Eine seaman and a gallant fighter, In feet, he was the typical soldier of fortuaa, for the ae- cident that be fought at sea does not rob bin of lis placer, in that gallery. The revolutionary wars of the Con- tinent have naturally attracted many of these adventurers. Count Itinski' was a Pole who fought the Russians Ln his native land, and when all was lost took service under Sohamyl, Prince of Ciroassla. 'rhe Hungarian War of Independence in 1848 neat em- ployed his desperate valor, and at Temeswar he had three horses killed under him. Finally, he became Col- onel of a Turkish cuirassier regiment, and was itnoevn as Iskauder Bey. In the Hungarian Revolt, Gen. Guyon, an Englishman, was a famous figure, and at Tyrnau ha held his ground until be had lost three-fourths of his bat- talion and the village streets were streaming with blood. A less attrac- tive personality is Gen. Cluseret, who served as a Captain in the French Army he Algeria, then under'Gramont, La the American Civil War; was next a Fenian "General," and then War Minister under tbe Commune. Dom- browski, another "General" in the Commune, and a. far abler and braver man than the ex -Fenian, had fought in Poland and under Garibaldi. He was killed at the barricades in 1871. Among Continental forces of aliens one ought to mention the French Le- gion, which still includes the run- away aristocrates aid broken -men of half Europe, and tee Irish Brigade which fongbt for the Pope in 1860 un- der the command of Major Myles O'- Rielly. M. P. An old soldier of the Papal Zouaves, another Irishman, is now Gen. Coppinger,, of the United States Army. GARIBALDI HIMSELF. is of course entitled to a niche in (his gallery of fame, and his son Rieciotti has since his ILallan campaigns fought for France in 1870 and for Greece in 1897, ea both bravely fighting for a lost cause. The New World offers us condottiori of a new type, like Walker the filibus- ter, who became Dictator of Nicaragua and might have ruled Honduras but for a British mango' -war. Gen. Ca- roll-Teviss, who served in the Franco- Prussian war and' a good many South American struggles, was a Fenian hero. So was Captain John Mc- Afferty, who served en the Mexi- can War in 1885, and was then as officer in the Confederate Army. He was in all the Fenian, plots of 1866-7, and was twice tried less for treason - felony. He was acquitted at, one trial, and amnestied after the second, a leniency wraith he repaid by renewed activity in the ranks of the Clan-na-- Gael. He was said to be the real "No. 1" behind the Phoenix Parisi murders. Egypthas employed many aliens. Muzinger Bey was a Swiss .who had been British Consul at Massowah ; Gess, Pasba, an Italian who, after serving as interpreter to the English Army in the Crimea, became Gordon's Lieutenant in the Soudan, and smash- ed the slave -hunters' revolt in Darfur. Loring Pasha was an American sol- dier ; Lupton Bey, Governor of the Bahr-al-Gazel, who died in the Mandi's dungeons, an Englishman. Statin and Emin were both Austrians. In mora recent years we have bad Gan, Ii;ohues, an ex -major in the Ger- man Army who landed a cargo of Mannlincher rifles for the Chilian Congressionalists, drilled their troops, and defeated Balmacedaa. Gen. Ron- ald McIver, a Scotsman v{bo has serv- ed under fourteen flags, from the Con- federate to the Carlist, is another roaming Briton, like Raid Maclean, an ex -lieutenant in our service, who is now commander of the army of the Sultan of Morocco. Gen. Digby Wil lougbby, who commanded, in blue and silver, the Bova army, has since fought for the Chartered Company iu Rhodesia, but has now turned to the arts of peace. ODD C,ul,..sN,)ARS. Oce A1•reiI to itu,.,i Es Ts'elre 58 Ahead or ears. The most out-of-date almanac is that possessed by Russia, while the palm for the "largest circulation" goes to that issued' from, Peking. 1n - credible though it may sound, 3r, is nevertheless a face that the land of the Great White Tsar still charisbes a calendar which is 12 days ahead of everybody else, It is true that our own calendar was 11 days out until 1751. Then our Erig- lish forefathers -put it straight by dropping these spire days out of the reckoning, muo11 to the dismay of the une.lueatod. The publio state of ruled et that time may best be ri allzed'from the fact that it held riotous mass meetings, to pmoLasl against the "robbery," with bands and banners, from the latter of which blazed forth its grievance -"Give us our 11 dayst" indeed, it, wee not until several beide had been uroken by the swords of the military that those which still remain. el intact (reeled sufficiently to a'ppre- ciate the fact that the change was dn- evttahle, aid not merely the outcome of a Government dodge to fleece the workingman out oe 11 'days' pay. GETTING AT THE FACTS, She -Yes, she Is a woman who has suffered a great deal bocauae of bee bene(, ,Bo --Indeed! And what is her be- liefSh1 e -That site can wear a No. 8 shoe 00 a tt+io, tl foot. PRETORIA'S ATTRAUTIONS1 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CAPITA OF THE TRANSVAAL. itlatt Agreeilble U? 8en1L African 'Pawns- $I'e111et1e11'1'1HIt lila Itaers nil' Re 110 Lay.,t 10 11r111sh nog 444 Ara Front% Uatnullnps, '. Pretoria is in many respeots the mostagreeable of all South Melvin towns 'tor permanent readdenee, It le on mange plateau, whea•o the air is dry and bracing. Geographically, it la admirably situated as the proapeetive centre of a railwey net destined to hind Belagoa Bay with the African west coast and Cairo with the Cape, writes Poltney Bigelow in the New York Herald. South Aimee is fortunate in bavin'g towns very different one from the other -each offering points of piotur- esque interest to the traveller. Oape Town has the noble Table Mountain, towering majesttoally like a massive; drowsy lion al the gateway of the Dark Continent. Under its shadows are the aneeatral avenues planted by hutch Fast Indiamen two'eundred years ego. At Fast London, by contrast, we find a wide awake, essentially modern Eng- lish town, with nnuch that m'gl t re- call Brighton or Barwick, and very little to snake one realize that this is all some six thousand miles from home.. At Durban we seem ,to be in a totally; new world --part India, part savage Africa, Banana trees, bungalows, pun- kahs, palms, Zulus, -these arrest the eye of thenewly atrrived and distract his attention from the 'excellent mun- icipal administration, and the many evidences of modern progress at this essentially up to date port. SPLENDID PORTUGUESE FAILURE. Only a few mites further is a splen- did Portuguese failure, L'ourenco Mar- ques, in Delagoa Bay -picturesque from e. distance, but full of foul smell and saddening praspeot when one ap- proaeltes to within hailing distance. This Portuguese pest hole reminded me of certain Turkish towns ad thin lower Danube, which seemed like bits of ro- mance from the Arabian Nights, for at a distance one perceived only the minarets shining in gorgeous sunlight, the battlements of the mediaeval walls or the domes of sacred buildings. But to preaerva our illusions in such coun- tries we should never go asbore-ixld- d1e past them fan' away under the op- posite bank, and read Byron rather than contemporary history. Bloemfontein prepares one for Pre- toria, as San Antonio in Texas sug- gests the typical Mexican city. Bloem- fontein and Pretoria both boar the stamp of their bucolic or+gin in the vast open plane at the centre where long oxtrains can find rest and the farmers dispose of their produce or find quarters during the periods of religious congregation. The great eq'uzla'as in the midst of Boer towns have their counterpart in those of Mex- ico and wherever the (rattle interest predominates. -'PRETORIA AND BLOBMFONTEIN. Pretoria i0 not today so pretty a town as Bloemfontein, but ,that is for reasons which may be obvious. Bloem- fontein gives the impression of good taste, of general comfort, of barman- ious developmeat, At Pretoria, on the contrary, we find Boer cabins with mud floors ranged alongside of pre- tentious government buildings, built obviously to impress the beholder by; their size. The Boer government in 1881 was practdally without .stoney ex oepting for the indispensable. Tba gold mines suddenly them into the empty. treasury of this "cowboy" adminis tratton eo mircii money that it was rather embarrassing to know' what to do with lt. The Boer legislators, who had prob- ably never seen a five -pound note -me- th. the Oullenders opened the mines at Johannesburg, coan,meneed their, career of political independence much in the same way. Instead of work- ingslowly and spending the Money for the future good of the country by as-; tablisbing good schools, and building; roads, bridges and things caloulated to Increase comfort, they aoted on1he' assumption that intercourse with their: naighbora was a bad thing, and that to be strong they must remain a pecu-; liar and isolated people. The .money' which should have gone to the con- struction of railways, was divertediu to the building of huge forts. Instead of welcoming Afrikanders to assist in. their administration, they preferred to import clerks directly from Holland and Germany, as though these might prove more loyal to them than even' their own kinsmen reared at theCape, of Natal. The private residences at' Pretoria are overtopped by monstrous government offices, where much mon- ey has been spent for show and lit- tle for beauty, REFLECTION OF PRESIDENT II.RU GER, ]''a'etoria. is in its way a reflection of Paul Kruger. That noble rattle herd- er bas no political creed beyond Hatred of the Oilaudeu' and loyalty to what he thinks is liberty, In theory he is the twat/nation of primitive democrsey yet outwardly he leeks himself with tawdry decorations loaned to him by Eumopean monarchs, and apes semi - royal pomp when he drives abroad. We lose eight oe Kruger's dignity, mirage and political virtues when we see htm driving about Pretoria, with all the norieensioal parade of a South American dictator. So are we apt to lose sight of thebanuties of the town itself, beconse at prresenl, there is so much that is 1'noongzvous-such vio- lent contrasts between the normal re- sidents of a Boer patriarch arid the mammoth. peablie buildings in which Ile is called upon to legislate, Pretoria has an exec/Meet supply of delicious water, which runs in refresh- ing abundance before the very doors of the inhabitants. Title is an lnaatitn- able blessing in South Akira, where the one looping thing is watt,. On the occasion of my vielt to Johannes- burg water was sa oastty that et the club men ware frequently driven to wish their hands in soda water. I%d a z• L an ir. t�ia ll,ruger g ve anon spent r'u attoJt (ire mtoatey It devoted to ur- tillllery and fortifications, I doubt if the present -ewes• would have been 00 popular. The stemets of Pretoria are broad avenues, laid out originally ratter with reference to the gceat ox trains than to the probability of marmot traffic, likely to prove crowding• ekt present the str'eeta are zenith +too with for the termination, and tbe exponae of main- talning them and laying the dust la, cf corse, heavy, 1 GLIMPSE INTO MB FUTURE, In mind's I Hve a' vision of Pretoriaxny ten yearseye lrenaaa, It w111 be a city where all Afrikandet's unite under an Afrikander flag to do for that great country what Canadians are doing at Ottawa and Yankees at Washington. Been in the year of the Jameson raid, 1811(3, Boers and British !wired seeiety at the Pretoria Club, and while there was much divergence of opinion on many matters there was unsnlmity enough on ert'ain vital questions to givoe considerable con- fidence do a brighmt future for rho unit- ed white races, .Boer, Briton, Yankee and German --there were plenty of these oven in that year who were heartily sick of Kruge.rism, much as they honored the old mail for his pest servlcea. Men' of 'affairs, who had money to invest, men who desired to grOW up twhietbpetehteexounpu(rty -a foritl hym'bey n lwruitgherpren- greseive mnds=were dispinsed with foo e• TpihnegmothdeercnBotrer nppareboiaacktaswiatrhd necessity for liberal legislation, quite as much as any Afiikander, and where England shall have demonstrated be- yond question that she not only can conquer all obataeles in South Africa, but means to .remain Ihe paramount Power in that region, then, it is my belief, the best portion of the Boers will throw in their lotcheerfully with the new order of 'things and be to the British flog as loyal as are theFrenoh of Montreal or the Chinese of Wei -Hai - Wei. ELEPHANTANDENGINE. Pato of the Beast Which Tried to P.,sh a Locomotive ttnalrw:,ret. It is not only in South Africa, and by statesmen who ought to knowhet- ter, that the march of civilization is opposed and obstinacy pitted against progrses. The elephant has many human qualities, and if the story that comes to us from Perak, one of the Straits Settlements, be well founded, occasionally shares with politicians hardly less intelligent their prejudice against the spirit of the age. It ap- pears that a big tusker, which bad long bean an object of pursuit, to the sportsmen of that remote district, wandered on to the railway line and. tried conclusions with the engine of a goods train, charging it repeatedly, and keeping up the contest for nearly en hour. The engine was reversed in the hope that the beast would quit the find and allow the train to pro- ceed; but as soon as there was any attempt to renew the journey the ele- phant returned to the encounter and resumed its obstructive tactics. The driver was afraid to charge the brute, lest tbe train should be thrown off the metals; and the coolest might have gone on much longer had not the ele- phant backed into the engine, and, setting its fore feet firmly between the rails, endeavored, to shove the train backward with its hind quar- ters. The driver took advantage of the op- portunity sad put on steam, gradually forcing the beast off the line. In this maneuver one of the wheels of the engine want over the hind lags of the animal, which was put out of its misery by the guard of a loilowiug passenger train. This is not the first time that the engine in question has encountered an elepbant on the line. Just about five years ago, while it wee drawing a passenger train, on adark night through the heavy tropical for- est, a sudden shock was felt, and the train came to a standstill. The engine and tender were thrown off the me- tals and half way down the embank- ment, though, fortunately, they sad not drag the carriages atter them. When the driver, who had been pitched off, went back to ascertain the cause of the accident, he caw a large bull ele- phant at the bottom of the embank- ment ou the other side of the line. It died a few minutes niter the collision from the violent shock and loss of blood, its off fora leg, having been shattered end a mace of the trunk torn off. Beyond the fright and shock caus- ed by the Budden stopping of the train, which, luckily, was traveling aL only DeLeon miles an hour, uo injury resulted to may of the passengers. In the seine month of the same year a similar accident occurred on the llin- gal-Nagpur Railway in India, Ou a pitch dark night, a mail train was running at the rate of twenty- seven miles an hour through very thick jungle which was known to hold wild elephants. The driver felt an ob- slr.uotion and attempted to reverse, but the engine lett the metals, drag- ging with it a brake van, the carriage of the locomotive superintendent and some other carriages, but without caus- ing injury to any ot the passengers or officiate, At first it: was thougbt that the accident had been brought about by cattle straying on the lino but the officials soon founts n dead eta - plant. Apparently the animal had been crossing the line just aft the train name up, and had been struck by the engine, and hurled down !ha blink. The agent of the company sone borne one of the tusks to be put up in the board rosin as a memorial of the occurrence. Those instances et a train being thrown oft the line through collision with au elephant show, thea, while such Accidents are pretty sure to he " bad tar the elephant,'` they aro also attended with eonsidernble danger to rolling stock, and even to human life, The latter consideration oompinLee the" analogy we have already drawn, BUMP. FIFTY TIIJT SI EIEIIAT IS NOW T1REAT1N80 13Y THE MARCH OF RUSSIA. 1411(4110 Is Billeted 041411 tiantk Arden, lis. I naeltrpge ss, 01111 the 1435441, I,aalts 03101. C., l•aiens liyea II11aa 41141 "Flay to 114,1414' -os4's riuly 1llslory, keine --11, Englishlorlrwvelers through Central Asia have written bone that Russia ie mobilizing troops along the frcat er eoutlguous with Peres and Afghanestan, [this :looks serious, It means.a revival of those ugly ruinore about the Bear 01 Europe, It means that the Czar is looking with etiveloue- nese 00 India, famistaing with starva- tion, as d1 !s, For horat, "the lcay'• to Indira" lays. but a few, bu,ndred miler,/ to the south- east .of Aslikabad, where the mobilize - boa le reported as taking place.. Englishmen at home, in the aecurlty, of their cheerful newspapers, do not consider the danger imminent. ,They read of the physical character of Oen tral Asia, they have heard' of the boundless steppes, so arid that the frugal Tartars have to move their camps weekly for fresh forage go oten14 of the deserts and marshes into which =ego .ravers disappear; of the tower- ing, almost impassable mountains, and titer 'feel secure. RUSSIA S ACHIEVEMENTS. But Englishmen who have gone through that country do not smile so contentedly,'They see how Russia has surmounted obstacle after obstacle. ,, They lenow of the modern railway that connects Brants, the best harbor on the eastcoast of the Black Sea, with Baku, Ore the Caspian, passing through Tiflis, the capital of the Tratus-Caul• Casio. They know of Ube largo squadron of Russian man-of-war on the Caspian, centered at Baku, where a powerful station is fully equipped in every way; of the fleet of steamers, built to be...t used as transports, that belong to the Trans -Caucasian Railway. With these facilities for transportation they see how quickly Russia can and does land infantry, cavalry and artillery on the eastern. shore of the Caspian at Kras- novodek, They know, too, of the other railway tint leads from than to Asbkabad, "the key to Beret," and goes on over the steppes and desert to flousbid Khan Keith, which is near the ruing of the ancient dlrey so often a boue of 0o0teneon on account of the ion mance oasis i a t controls. When an army has two good roads} by which to mete It it may b.: a-&umad that it will divide and at.00k by both, This the Bussisns can ensi,y ,1u. They can leave Ashknbed, in Russian Ttark- estan, march south to Sherwan, in Persia, where they would be on the highway that runs almost southeast through Dieehed, crosses the Af- ghanistan herder in open country, and makes straight for. Herat. The Shah would not cau.ee trouble, as it is well known that he is at the back and call of the Czar. HERAT'S FIGHTING RECORD. Herat is the 50 times besieged city. If the sieges are ae:uratoly iqu,eteri, Ore result is 52. It tot the capital of TLmur; it was fought for by the Mo- haanmedans, by the Persians, by the Ameers of I£11bui, and there was al - wept an reamer of Herat anxious to regain his patrimony. The, years when Herat has not been fighting have been rare, aid Herat 14 a vary old town. During the pre:eui eeirtury it bas been un.ucessi'ully besieged in 1837 awd, 1838 by the Pereions, and taken by them to In al, regained. by Dose Mohammed, Ammer 01 Kabul, in 1803.; lost by him to its Amor of IIerat, and regained by Kabul in 1881 under the pre -end Ameer, Abdurrahman Khan. And why to Herat "the key to India," when it is satiated in the extreme northwest of Afghanistan, nearly G00 mules, as the crow flies, from the Dr- eier' ,Frontier? 213..caa:0 Herat is the controlling point of the approaches to the only two passes late India that ere traversed by railroads, THE ROAD TO INDIA, One highway, that goes eastward from Herat, keeps south of the. ili•ndoo Kush and reaches Kabul, whence there is a short route through Kabul Pass to Peshawar. Isere, at Peshawar,, cem- meatoey 0110 of the important railevaya of India, a great trunk line, as it con- netats at Lahore for all points in the Lillian penin=ula, A more direct way for the itussiane to .,mike out for India Is over the roll- ing, fertile plains southeast toKanda- lzar and Saidan right to the Indian border, much further south than the Kabul Pees, Leto, too, the English, have advanced their strittegic railway Leto Afghanistan .territory to Sallan, P"k' so once the railway, is taken the ro lays open to Bakker, in Sind, a jtece tion of almost eti'ategic importancree Pesh,aar, +' If it'nvfa in the Russian mind to torso an entry into India we will hear of Tiarat, and whichever way Herat goes _ Afghanistan will follow, Willi Af- ghanistan under Russian control, as Persia is to -day, India will be hard to r defend, 644 551 1' WEIGHT 011 SOMI?, QUEENS. The flumen of Italy is still a very hamlaomo women, and eartainiy most sympathetic. in manner and speech, But, she is growing too heavy. Her majesty is Heavier than any oilier queen in Europe, her weight being 176 pounds, while Queen Victoria dots tat weigh more than 171 pounds. Next in weight conics the queen of Spain, who weighs 147 pounds, and then the queen of the Belgians, who weighs 148 pounds. Tho empress of Russia does not weigh more ehitn 120 pounds, AllIS NOTE, Mates Fliplon-Do you like eats, Str. Pilkington? Mr, Pilkington -Yes, indeed; when s, they are made of calico and stuffed evith carted• hair,