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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1895-9-6, Page 2STORIES ao NTU .4, t wee a small Moth, eoantily 1uruiebod could not s, inaell as get epee hoed threogh, e. t end decay 1t wan high 'P, and Dune had to nand of no 1 a a i the a marks y "With t 1 some g `o i . ll `t0 efi t, I i 1:1. l 0ralel sm 1 I nPn 4tell 13 ' t ver aura. The walls 000000 .: 1„ „i d which ma neat Very 11 hint oati ou s4e , I aalio . hung withddeeQtourod tapestry whlalt luta I ,',p Ir•w00de, and 0n avenue of anew be. o to expose j tween them;" acid he, "Ah 1" he gave ii • AMMO loose et one ;senior, ao a p the rough stonework Instead. . A second deur, hung with a ourtafu, faced uo upon the other side, Botweon lay Aegean table kirewn with dirty dishes and the sordid remains of a meal. Several battles were scattered over it. At the head of it, and faoipg us,there sat it huge men,wlth a lion like head 00nd a great shook of orange - coloured flair. Hie beard was of the same ,glaring flue; matted and tangled and coarse as aliorne's mane, I have seen eome ' strange faces in my time,butnever one more brutal than that,with ite small,vioious,biue eyes, 100. white, crumpled ebooke, and the 27tiek,haneing IT which protruded over his monstrous beard, His head swayed abou on his shoulders, and he looked at us with the vague,dim gaze of a drunken man. Yet he was not so drunk but that our uniforms " Wellmy brave boys," he hiccoughed. , various kinds, buns full of dried fruits, and ory of ear'prrse, I sprang upon the barrel beside him, There was, ao he eaid, a long, elver strip of snow in front, A map wae riding down it, flogging hie horse aitdeallopieg like a mad. mon, As we watehed,he grew el -nailer and smaller, until ho wae ewoilowed up by the black shadows of the tenet"What does that mean ?" asked Duroo. "No good for ua," said I. "He may have gone for some brigands to out our throats, Let ue neo if we cannot find. a way out of thio monis-trap before the cat can arri0e. The rine piece of good tortuue In our favor wee that beautiful lamp. It was nearly full of oil, and would Met ue until morning. In the dark our eituaOion would have been far more diffietilt. By ite light we proceed- ed to examine the packagers and ones which lined the walls. In seine planet there was poly e. single line of them, while in one corner they were piled nearly to the ( ceiling. ' 111 seemed that we were in the storehouse of the Cootie, for there were a arried their message to him, great number of cheeses, vegetables of " What is the latest news from Patna, en? You're going to free Poland, I hear, and have meantime all become slaves your• selves—slaves to a little aristocrat with hie grey. goat and his three -cornered hat. No more citizens either, I am told, and nothing but monsieur and madame. My 'faith, some more heads will have to roll into the sawdust "basket some of these .mornings.." Duron advanced in ailenoe,and stood by the ruffian's aide. "Jean Oarabin," said he. • The Baron started, and the film of drunkenness seemed to be clearing from his eyes. "Jean Carabin," said Duroc, once more. He sat up and grasped the arms of his obair. ' What do you mean by repeating that name, young man ?" he asked. "Jean Oarabin, you are a man whom I have long wished to meet." " Supposing that I once had euah a name how can it conoern you, eines you must have been a child when I bore it ?" " My name is Duron" "Not the son of--?" "The eon of the man you murdered." The Baron tried to laugh, but there was terror in, his eyee. " We must let bygones be bygones, young man," hegried. "It was our life ortheirs in those days: the aristocrats or the people. Your father was of the .Gir- onde. He fell, 1 was of the mountain. Most of my comrades fell. It was all the fortune of war. We must forget all this and iearn to know each other better, you and I." He held out a red twitching hand as he spoke. Enough," said young Duroc. " If I were to para my sabre through you as you sit in that chair, I should do what ia just and right. I dishonor my blade by crossing it with yours. And yet you are a French. man, and have even held a commission un• der the same flag as myself. Rise, then and defend yourself. "Tut, tut 1" cried the Baron, "It is all very well for you young bloods--- Duroo'e patience could stand no more. He swung his open hand into the centre of the great orange beard. I saw a lip fringed withblood and two glaring blue eyes above it. " You shall die for that blow." " That is better," said Duroo. "My sabre 1" cried the other; "l will not keep you waiting, I promise you 1" and he hurried from the room. I have said that there was a second door covered with a curtain. Hardly had the Baron vanished when there ran from behind ita woman, young and beautiful. So swiftly and noiselessly did she move that she was between ue in an instant, and 11 wae only the shaking curtains which told us whence she had come. 1 have seen it, all," she cried. " Oh sir, you have carried yourself splendidly.' She stooped to my companion's hand, and kissed it again and again ere he could die. engage it from her grasp. Nay, madame, why should you kiss my hand 1" he cried. "Because it is the hand which struck bimon his vile, lying mouth. Because it may be the hand whioh will avenge my mother. I am his step -daughter. The woman whose heart he broke wae my mother. I loathe him, I fear him. Ah, there is his step 1" In an instant she had vanished as'suddenly as she had come. A moment later, the. Baron entered with a drawn sword in his hand, and the fallow whohad admitted us at his heels: " This is my secretary," said he. " He will be my friend in this affair. But we shall need more elbow -room than we can find here. Perhaps you will kindly dome. with me to a more epnoioua apartment." It was evidently impossible so fight in a chamber which was - blooked by a great table. We followed him out, therefore, into the dimly-lit hall. At the farther end alight was shining through an open door. " We shall find what we want in here," said the man with the dark beard. 1t wae a large, empty room, with rows of barrels and cases round the walls. A strong lamp stood upon a shelf in the miner, The floor was level and true, so that no swordsman could ask for more. Duroc drew his sabre and sprang into it. The Baron stood book with a bow and motioned me to follow my companion. Hardly were my heels over the threshold when the heavy door crashed behind ue end the key screamed in the lock. We were taken in trap. For a moment wo could not realize it. Such incredible baseness was outside all our experienoee. Then, as we understood how foolish we had been to trust for an instant a man with euoh a history a flush of rage oame oval lit, rage against his vil• rainy and against our own stupidity. We rushed at the door together, beating it with our fists and kicking without heavy boots. The sound of our blows and of our execra- tions must have resounded through the Castle. We called to this villain, hurling at him every name which might platen even into hie hardened foul. But the door was enormous-euoh a door as one finds in mediioval castles—made of huge beams clamped together with iron. It wae ea easy to break ae a square of the. Old Guard. And our cries' appeared' to be of as little avail as our blowe, for. they only brought for answer the clattering shoes from the high roof above ue. When you have done eome soldiering, you soon learn to put' up with what cannot be altered. It wae X, then, who first recover- ed my caimneos, and prevailed upon Darn to join with me in examining the apartment which had beanie our dungeon, There was only one window, which had no giaoe in it and wae sonarrOW that one a line of wine barrels. One of these had a spigot in it, and ae 1 had eaten little during the day, 1 was glad of a cup of claret and eome food. As to Duroc, he would take nothing, but pawed up and down the room in a fever of anger and impatience, "I'll have him yet 1" he cried every now and then. "The rascal shall not escape me!" This was all very well, but it seemed to me, as I sat on a groat round cheese eating my supper, that this .youngster wae think- ing rather too moil of his own family affairs and too liable of the fine serape into which he had got me. After all, hie father had been dead fourteen years, and nothing could set that right;. but here was Etienne Gerard, the most daahing lieutenant in the whole Grand. Army, in imminent danger of being cut off at the very outset of lila brilliant career. Who was ever to know the heights to which I might have risen if I were knocked on the head in this hole-and-corner busineos,whioh had nothing whatever to do with France or the Emperor ? I could not help thinking what a fool I had been, when I had a floe. war before me and everything which a mon could desire, to go off upon a hair -brained expedition of this sort, as if it were pot enough to have a quarter of a million Rue - alone to fight against, without plunging into all sorts of private quarrels 0e well. "That is' all very well," 1 said at last, as I heard Duroc muttering hie threats. "You may do what you liketo him when you get the upper hand. At preeent the question rather is, what is he, going to do to us ?" "Let him do his worst 1" cried the boy., "I owe a duty to my father. "That is mere foolishness," said 1. "If you owe a duty to your father, 1 owe one to my mother whin is to get out of this businese safe and sound." My remark brought him to his senses. "I have thought too muah of myself 1" he cried. "Forgive me, Monsieur Gerard: Give me your advice as to what I should do." "Well," said I, "it is not for our health that they have shut us up here among the cheeses. They mean to make an end of us if they can. That is certain. They hope that no one knows that we have come here, and that none will trace us if we remain. Do your hussars know where you have gone t0 1" "I said nothing." "Hum l le is clear that we cannot be starved here. They must come to us if they are to kill us. Behind a barricade of barrels we could hold our own against the five remade whom we have seen. That is, probably, why tbay have sent that messeng- er for assistance." "We must get out before he returns." "Precisely, if we are to getout at all." "Could we not burn down this door?" he cried. "Nothing could be easier," said I. "There are several casks of oil in the corner. My only objection is that we should ourselves be nicely toasted, like two little oyster pates." "Can you not suggest something ?" he Dried, in despair.. "Ah, what is that 1" There had been a low sound at our little window, and a shadow came between the Stars and ourselves. A small, white hand was stretched into the lamplight. Some. thing glittered between the fingers, "Quick 1 quick 1" oried a woman's voice. We were on the barrelinan instant. " They have sent for the Cossacks. Your lives are at stake. All, I am lost'1 I am lost I" There wae the Bound of rushing steps, a hoarse oath, a blow, and the stars were once more twinkling through the window. We stood helpless upon our barrel with our blood cold with horror. Half a minute afterwards we heard a smothered scream,. ending in a choke. A great door slammed' eoinewtere 'in the silent night. " Those ruffians have seized her. They will kill her,'I cried. Duron sprang down with the inarticulate shouts of one whose reason had left hni. He struck the door so frantically with his naked hands that he left a blotch of blood with very blow. " Here is the key !" I shouted, pinking one from the floor. " She must have thrown it in at the instant that she was torn away." My companion snatched it from me with a shriek of joy. A momoot later he dashed it down upon the boards It was so small that it was lost in the enormous 'lock.. Duroc sank upon one of the boxes with his head between his He sobbed in his despair. I could have sobbed, too, when I thought of the woman and how helpleee we were to ante her. Ilut I am not easily baffled. After all, this key meet have been sent to us for a purpose. The lady could not bring us that of the door, because this murderous step. father of hers would met certainly have it in hie pocket. Yet this other must have e meaning, or why should she risk her life to plan it in our hands? It would say little forour wits if wo could not find out whet that moaning 00)5110 be, 1 sat to work moving all the eases out from the wall, andDuroc,gaining now hope from my courage, helped me with all hie strength. It was no light task, for many Of them were largo and heavy. On we went, working like man1000, slinging barrels, cheeses,' and boxes poll•mell into the middle of the room. At last there only remained one huge barrel of vodiri, Which stood in the corner. With our united etrongth we rolled it out, and there was a little low wooden door in the wain000t behind it The key fitted, and with a ery of delight we saw it swing open before ue. With the lamp In my hand, I squeezed my way fn, followed by my oempeniou. Vire W011000 the powder magazine of the castle---aroughr walled collar; with 11arrele ell round it, end one with the tope Laved fn in the oeiitre. The powder from it lay in a block heap upon the floor. Iiey'ond there wee another door, hub it 00008 belted, " Weare no better off than before,'" erlod Dom. "Wo ]nave 00 koy.ld' `"We have a dozen," I or Where? X pointed to the line of powder bagels, "'you would blow thio door epou.- "Precisely" "But yon would explode the magazine," It wae true, but X Wee not at the end cif my resources, " We will blow open the etore,reom door," I oried. Iran bank and seized at in box which had been filled with candles, to was about the size of my shako --large enough to hold several pounds of powder. Dune filled 10 While I out ell' the end of a Dandle. When we had finished, it would hove puailed a colonel of engineers to make a better petard, I put three cheeses on the top of each other and placed ib above then, 0o as to lean against the look. Then we lit 0110' oandle-end and ran for aborter,"shutting, the door of the magazine behind us. I is no joke, my friends, to lie among all those tone of powder, with the knowledge that if the flame of the explosion should penetrate through one thin door our black- ened limbs would be shot higher than the Castle keep. Who could have believed that a half-inch of oendle could take so long to burn ? My ears were straining all the time for the thudding of the hoots of the Cossacks who were coming to destroy us. I had almost made up my mind Chet the candle must have gone out when there was a emaok like a bursting boom, our door flaw to bite, and pieces of cheese, with a shower of turnips, apples, and sphutere of oases, were allot in among us. As we rushed out we had to stagger through an impenetrable smoke, with all sorts of debris beneath our feet, but there was a glimmering square where the dark door had been. The petard had done its work. In faeb, it had done more for us than we had even: ventured to hope. It had shat. tared gaolers as well as •gaol. The first thing that I saw as I came out into the hall was a man with a butcher's axe in his hand, lying flab upon his bank, with a gaping wound across his forehead. " The second was a huge dog, with two of its legs broken, twisting an agony upon' the (Tor. As it raised itself up I saw the two broken ends flapping like flaile. At the same instant I heard a ory, and there was Duro°, thrown against the wall, with the other .hound'e'teeth 01 his throat. lie pushed it off with his left hand, while again and again he passed hie sabre through its body, but it was not until I blew out its brains with my pistol that the iron jaws relaxed, and the fierce, bloodshot eyes were glazed in death. There was no time for ue to pause. A` woman's scream from in front—a scream of mortal terror—told us that even now we might be too late. There were two other men in the hall, bub they cowered away from our drawn swords and furious hoes. The blood wasatreamingfromDuroc'e nook and dyeing the grey fur of hie pelisse. Such. was the lad's fire, however, that he shot in front of me,and it was only over hui shoulder that I caught a"glimpse of the 00ene as we rushed into the chamber in which we had first seen the master of the Garde of Gloom. The Baron was standing in the middle of the nom, with his tangled mane bristling like' an angry hon. He was, as 1 have.said, a huge man, with enormous shoulders ; and as he stood therewith his face flushed with rage and his sword advanced, I could not but think that, in spite of all his villainies, he had a proper figure for a grenadier. The lady lay cowering in a chair behind hin.. A weal aeroea .one of her white arms and a dog -whip upon the floor were enough to show that our escape had hardly beenintime to save her from his brutality. He gave a howl like a wolf as we broke in, and wan upon ue in an instant, hacking and driving, with a curse at every blow. I have already said that the room gave no apace for swordmanehip. My young companion was in front of me in the nar- row aasaage between the table and the wall, ea that I could only look on without being able to aid him. The lad knew something of his weapon,' and was: as fierce and active as a wild oat, but in ao narrow a apace the weight and strength of the giant gavo him the advantage. Hendee, he was an admirable swordsman. Ilia parade and riposte were as quick as lightning, Twice he touched Duna upon the shoulder, and then, as the lad Blipped up on a lounge, he whirled up hie sword to finish him. before he could' recover hie feet, I was quicker than he, however, and took the. cut upon' the pommel of my sabre. "Excuse me." said I, but you have still to deal with Etienne Gerard." He drew bask and leaned: against the tapestry -covered wall, breathing in little, hoarse gasps, for hie foul- living was against him. "Take your breath," said 1, "1 will await your convenience." "You have no cause of quarrel against me," he panted. X owe you some little attention," said I, "for having shut me up in your storm: room, Besides, if all other were wanting, I see mune enough upon that lady's arm." "Have your way, then 1" ho snarled," and leaped at me like a madman. For a minute I saw only the blazing blue eyes," and the red glazed point which stabbed and nabbed, rasping off to right or to left, and yet ever book at my throat and my breast. I had never thought that such good mord- play was to be found ab Paris iu the days of the Revolution. I do not suppose that in all my little aifaira I have met six mon who hada tetter knowledge of their weapon. But he knew that'I was his manor, He read death in my eyes, and, I could see that ho read it. The:flueh died from his face. Hie breath came to shorter and in thicker gasps. Yet he fought on, even after the final thrust had eome, and died still backing and ouraing, with foul cries upon his lips, and his blood plotting upon hie orange beard. I who speak to you have seen so rimy battles, that my old memory canscarce contain their natnee, and yet of all the terrible eights which" these eyes have rested:.upon, 'there is none which I care to think of lees than of that orange beard with the orimson stain in the centre, from which X had drawn my sword It was only afterwards that I had time to think of all this. His m estrous;body had hardly crashed down uPon the floor before the woman in the corner: sprang to her feet, clapping her hands together and streaming out in her delight. For my part. X -was disgusted to see a woman take audit delight in a deed of blood, and I gave no thought as to the terrible wrongs whish. meet have befallen her before else could ao far forgot tbo gentioness of her sex, It was on my tongue to tell her sharply to be silent, when a etrauge, choking smell' took the breath from my a 0001)00, and a nndde's, yellow glare brouglit out the llguroe open of a la •h a til Wed i ni, ig 11 Duroc, Dupe Il" I sheeted, tugging at hie shoulder, "1'he Castle le on fire I' The boy lay ee0eeleae open the ground, exbaoatedb ltlo wounds. I rushed cub y into the ha1i to 00e0 Whence the da i or mania,- It wan our explosion which lied set alight to tufo dry framework of the door, inside the store -room genie of the boles were elreedy blazing, X glanced in, and ae X diel nn my blood won turned to water by the sight of the powder hernia beyond, an<l of the loose heap upon the deer, It might be eogonde, it could nob be more than mieuteo, before the flames would be at the edge of it. Those eyes will heolosod in death, my friends, before they 'cease to eoe'thoso crawling lines of fire and the black hese beyond. Bow little I eau remember what follow od, Vaguely I can recall how I rushed into the chamber of death, how 1 seized Demo by one limp hand and dragged him down the hall, the woman keepiug pace with me and palling at the other arm, On of the gateway we rushed, and on down the snow*covered path until we were on the fringe of tate &r forest, It was a than moment that I heard a oresh behind me, and glancing round, saw a great open of fire shoot up into the wintry sky. An instant later there seemed to come a second crash fur louder than the flret. I saw the lir trees and the stars whirling round me and I fell uueoneoious across the body o my comrade. It was soma weeks before I game to my- self in the poet -house of Arenedorf, and longer atilt before 1 could be told all tha 'had befallen me. It wasDuroo, already abs to go soldiering, who wane to my .bedaid suilgavemean account of it. He it was wh told me how a piece of timber had struck me on the head and had laid mo almoe dead upon the ground. From him, too, learned how the Polish girl had run t Arenedorf, how she roused our huseare,an how she had only just broughtthem back in time to save ue from the spears of th Cossacks who liad bee@n summoned from their bivouac by that ammo blaok•bearde secretary whom we have seen galloping a swiftly over the snow. As to the bray lady who had twice saved our lives, I ooui not lean .very much about' her at the moment from Duroc, but when I chance to meet him in Paris two years later, afte the campaign of Wagram, I wae not ver much surprised to find that I needed n introduction to hia bride, andthat by th queer turns of fortune he had himself, ha he chosen to use it, that very name an title of the Baron. Straubenthal, whin showed him to be the owner of the blacken ed ruins of the Castle of Gloom. (TO TM CONTINUED.) For the Children. All children enjoy swinging and a swin Dia porch or in an outbuilding furmehes a delightful pastime.. The sketch shows one that ie perfectly safe and easily oper- ated by the child in it, The construction is ao simple and so plainly shown as to need but little explanation.. The long stripes should be of tough, straight -grained wood, ash for instance, one inch by one-half, and iu length to suit the position selected. Let the top board be six inches by two feet and the seat board the same length and IS inches wide. In order to make it perfectly safe, have a metal piece, a, made from a half inch rod. This passes over the top board and down the aide pieces and is made fact with eorewa. A sort of eye or. "similar: loop IS fastened to a 'joist or the ceiling. Nems the top is a nosepiece from which a cord runs forward over a pulley and hangs down within reach of the child, who by pulling on it operates the swing. A TRAGIC CUSTOM An Absurd 1►Ieplay at Every Czar's Funer- al Causes 000 Death of One Dan. The nearer a nation approaches to the barbaric, the greater the love for the spectacular, and the smaller the regard for any sacrifice of human life or oomfor t involved in the spectacle. To adorn a page. ant, it used to be 00000100.0>' lfl England to make " gilded angels " of young children who frequentlydied as a result of etoppio g the pores of the skin with gold leaf ; and to lend impressiveness to funeral, Russia it is said, still preserves an ancient custom. which costa a life for every exhibition. A feature of every dead tsar's funeral is the appearance of two men in medlosval armor, one mounted and the other on foot. The mounted knight wears an armor of burnished gold, and his visor up. He symbolizes Life. ,The knight on foot wears an armor of coal -black steel. Rio visor is closed' and he bears a drawn sword, two handed and shrouded in crape. He symbolizes Death, Tho weight of these suits may be imagin- ed whenit is remembered that a fallen knight had usuallyto wait to be lifted, ib being impossible to raise the weight of his own armor. The most powerful men of the imperial gttord are selected to wear the symbolic' suite, therefore, but on 00007 emulsion the burden of the knight on foot has proved beyond human endurance, The soldier who served at the obsequies of Nicholas I. fell dead of exhaustion on reaching the Church of SS. Peter and Paul, where the royal mausoleum ie. At the funeral of his euceesaor, Alexander II., the unfortunate black knight fainted during themarch from the Winter Palace, anti'. died that night at the hospital whither he wae borne.' During the progress of the funeral pro. cession of the late tear, it was noticed that the blank knight dragged himself along with ever•inoreaaing difficulty and on reaching the fortress ho sank to the ground unoonaclona, and died soon after. Perhaps the nen, tsar will be content to die without enacting a speotaohlar victim, when his time shall come. MESME1(18105 FOR BLINDNl $19• Right Restored as 111001 'I'hreugh Ir notion Exercised by a Friend. A most romeekable 0000010 reported fr Montgomery, Fayette Pointy, Vo,, the heart of the Nau00wlla goal 0051000. About four yoareago.John Carney, a minor, wae =token blind while at work in the mines, The eyes Savo no ind1000100, of weakness,ao far ae casual observation would indicate. They retained their brigbbuese, ,and the. muooles allowed no sign of paralysis. • The effoot of the Budden shook was 00 though the optic nervy bad beeneevered, Among Carney's 1rionde who frequently om. called npan hint and talked and read to him was Mayor a'. C. Montgomery, Al. though Montgomery and Carney were hardly of the came class, either mentally or in pcfnt of oduoabioa and information, there seemed to be a strong bond of sympathy between thorn. The attraotton wae mutual and the interest of Montgoml ery grew as their meetings became more frequent. Montgomery had, in hie early days, seen several tests of the power of memoriam, and for the amusement of pri- vate companies had attempted to exert the mesmeric force upon willing subjects. A few weeks ago he told (Jamey's Wife that he believed Carney had lost the power of.sight through some mental change, and not through any physical disability. The suddenneee of the taking away of the vision and the fact that 'Carney had said that at times he could, by a mighty effort, eimoet see, seemed to prove' that if Carney's will power could be increased he might be en- abled to once more use hie eyes, Montgomery talked over the matter with Mrs. Carney, and it wee decided that Mr. Montgomery should employ whatever power he had toward helping the victim to gee. Accordingly Montgomery called at Carney's house, unknown to him, and was seated in a room alone. Presently Corney, as Montgomery and hie wife desired, walk- ed into the room and lay down on a couch to take hie afternoon nap. Montgomery concentrated his vision on Carney's sight - lees eyes, He then concentrated his entire force of will upon a desire that Carney should see. After a few minutes Carney became restless on the couch and called his wife's name, as though he expected her to be in the room with him. She answered from the next room and asked what he wanted. Carney was surprieod that she was not in the room, and told hei,• lie felt her presence. She aesured him he wae. mistaken and left the room. As soon as he became quiet Montgomery riveted his attention upon him again. Presently he called to his wife and declared there was eomeone in the room. She said no, where- upon Carney, who is a most mild-mannered man, flatly contradicted her and accused her of trying to deceive him. He wae ensured by others of the family that he had been alone, but he would not believe them. A11 this time Montgomery had been keeping his attention on his object, not allowing the diseuselon to distract hint. Presently Carney„ flew into a passion, and declared he would- be willing to die the next minute if he could be permitted to see for one second and know hie family were deceiving him. Almon at the same instant he shrieked : "You've lied bo me ; there's Montgom- ery 1" The vision had Dome and he saw ail is the room and was able to describe their positionsand clothing. Although he could nob see again after the first flash, he felt more at ease and agreed with Mont- gomery tocontinue the testa indefinitely. Every day Montgomery came to the house and they spent the time trying to restore Oarney's vision. Carney entered into the spirit of it and planed himself es nearly as. possible under Montgomery's control. Their work was successful in a small way at first and improved from day to day till, after two weeks, Carney was able to nee a little all the time, even when Montgomery wae absent. The visits . were oontinued regularly till a few days ago, when Carney said he could see as well as ever, and declared his intention of going to work. This he did last Wednesday, and he seems as well as ever in his life. .His eyesight is apparently permanently and perfectly restored. Montgomery does not believe he has worked a mirole, but thatitis simply the exertion of will power on the part of him- self imself and Carney, and that it was successful on account of the deepsympathy he felt for. Carney and the mutuality of their deaeighirat. for the restoration of Carney's —• 4 r -•- SOMEWHAT CURIOUS. An. Antarctic iceberg has been seen that was twenty miles wide, forty miles in length and 400 feet in height. In . the public schools of Germany the brightpupile are separated from the stupid ones. Mediae' men do the sorting. It is estimated that the Kaffir's in the diamond mines at Kimberley,South'Africa, steal 31,210,000 worth of :diamonds a year. TheJapanese method of lacquering is said to be et least 2,000 years old. Pieces made ten centuries ago are still exhibited. There aro more than seventy hallo in Paris devoted to fencing, each presided. over by a fencing piaster moreor less famous. - Expert hydrographora say that in its deepest parte the enemas ,waters are 00 dense that a sunken iron -clad' would never reach the bottom. In the famous tellers of the Hotel de Ville, et Bremen, there are a dozen cases of holy wine, which have been preserved for 280 years. Leaves of the tadipat palm in Ceylon sometitneo attain the length of twenty feet. The natives sometimes use thorn in malting tante.. Dijon, France, has a poplar tree with a record that can be traced to 722 A, D. It is 122 feet high and 45 faeb in oiroumfer• epee at the base. The largest mass of pure rook salt in the world lies under the province of Galicia, Hungary. It is known to be 500 miles long, 20 miles broad, and 250 feet in thick- ness. An Excited Conversation. First Bystander—Horrors 1 Those two aro trying to match oaoh other's eyes out. Second Bystander --Ne, they are not. It's a deaf and dumb man, and his wife, quarreling. Sleight of Hand. 'Ve need no ring to plight our troth, he suggested, as he kissed her impobuoaely. Oh, yes, we do, retorted the maiden. None of your oleighteof.hand trioke with me. I'11'TI1M.BHIt fin 18 THE FARM A11' Rpnnd Cattle. 'Plan dry is nowadays, "Give 000 the good al1•tound eniln01," We think there is en element of error in this. Carry oat tide Idea to en extreme, azld you blot oat the d10111obiva ollareeterieOloe of every breed of minutia exietiog. No one animal 0tatr do everything beet, As in the mechanical, 0o in the animal world—there must he a divialon of labor. We owe all the improve- mortt of the preeent clay in all 0100500 of domestic live stook to epeeist breeding for a definite purpose. Leb the breeder of the rune horse try to vombiue the strength of the Clydesdale or Shiro with the speed of his thoroughbred, and the result le an increase of ebrength, but a reduction of speed, So let a breeder try to obtain the size of the. Leieeeter with the hardihood of Ottoblaokfaee:dogs'heget.ft? he gets „an excellent animal, but utterly unsuitable for enduring the hardship through which the pure blaokfaced must live, end, on the obiter hand, it will not produce so ineoll mutton hi a given time as the pure Lek:eater. Our remarks are specially intended for cattle. All 'food is composed of certain well-defined elements or compounds. Milk and fleeh—including in the term flesh all that goes to build up the body of an animal —milk and flesh are, roughly, composed of the same elements ; and if an animal takes a certain portion of its food to make milk, so much lese is available for making flesh. It seems to ua that we must take our choice, one or the other. We cannot have both in the highest perfection. The Jersey breeder wanted butter. fie got it, but had to give up fleeh. The Ayrshire breeder yielded a little, and said, "I' wont a lot of milk. He got it, but had to give 005011 Otle butter- fat, The founders of the Shorthorn breed said, "We want flesh," They got it, but in the case of those having the greatest tendency to fatten, they hod to sacrifice milk production. The true 'solution of the problem is to breed the ant:nalwith special qualifications for the purpose for which it ie intended. Ifa cow is wanted for a town dairy, a deep milker with a fair tendency to fatten is the best, If the farmer lives up the country' where dairying le not profitable, then an animal with the greatest tendency to fatten the beet. Some may say, " That is all right, but if the .heavy milker is not turning her food into milk, will she not turn 10 Me flesh ?" We think not, to such perfection ae one bred distinctly for pro- ducing beef. Nature Domes to our rescue and teaches no here. If the Jersey isnot giving milk, does it produce as much fleeh as the "wellbred Shorthorn on the same pasture? Emphatically no. Go through any herd of Ayrehires in milk, and if you see one that is carrying considerably more flesh than its neighbors, that cow is not doing her work at the pail. De cod upon it, though the old breeders might be charged with being uneaientific, they were shrewd man ; and while we gladly welcome any help' from any Bourne, we shall be wise Go, sit at their feet, and, like them, breed our animals with qualifications for distinot purposes, and not aim at the impossible in trying to make them beet' for everything. -Edinburgh Farming World. Lawn Notes. ' During the extreme dry weather owners of lawns will bo tempted to water, but un- less the wateringis kept up and admin- istered plentifully, it will prove an injury. An application of 006080 litter as a top - dressing should be applied in the : fall or else some of the phosphatic manures appli- ed in the spring. These will keep up the luxuriance so desirable in lawns. They should be cut with a mower once a week in the growing Beason. Let the clippings remain where they fall. Later it will be hotter not to mow so often. A neat kept lawn is a source of pleasure, both to the owner and to the passer-by.( The fine old Eogllsh lawns were a source of prude to their owners, with their trim sward. Their shrubbery was kept in a stately fashion, in keeping with their owners. Generally the evergreens were trimmed to represent some object, the peacock shape being very common, while the living model strutted among the shrubbery unmolested, the admired of all beholders. Feeding Milk to Pigs. There is an immense amount of milk, wasted in feeding it to pigs by itself, as a drink. When so fed a largo proportion of it passes through the animal undigested, and hence does no good. Treed milk always in connection with some ground grain, anti as bran,shorts, cornmeal, pea meal, or groundinflict seed. This method of feed - Ing milk increases its value two, and some fecdera say fourfold, au item of too much importance to be unconsidered. When skim -milk is taken home from the separator it has cost too much tune and trouble to be largely wasted 10 feeding it unwisely. if the milk and grain slop is made long enough before eating to become slightly acid it is all right, but do not let it reach the very sour or decomposing stage, AS to Weeds. We are frequently asked at this season how to rid a field of loop weeds at live forever, sorrel, Canada thistle, eta, When these pests are thick in the field, the only way is to plow it up, put in a hoed orop fora year or two,' use fertilizer to avoid weed seed to manure, keep clear of weeds by thorough culture, and when putting down to grass be careful to use the beet seed free of wend seed, Pull up by the roots any weeds that appear in the now grass, and should they become numerous cut the grass before it gaits headed out, 00 as to prevent the weeds from reseeding. No halfway measure is so affinitive, white "quick and easy' methods of permanently getting rid of pestiferous anode are un- known to us. •'Dlnna rash Yoursel,' Rem." Daring the stay of the Queen some years ago in the vicinity of .Loch Vennaohot-, tho Prtnaoee Louise, who lecke none of the love of her sex for chopping, drove into the town' of Callander to get some velvet matched. Having proeurod what she wae In search of, ohe wae about to pay for it, when ehe discoveredthabohe had left home Without her puree. Explaining the matter to the draper, cud protriiaiog to send the Money next day, the Prineeee woe groatly amused at receiving the eharaeterietie re- ply • " Dinna lash yoursel, tn0001 yet nattier hoe an wipeout here,"