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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1892-9-16, Page 3SEPT, 1 Rt,P2 Ameserentramoeznomarroutoemetrawasearsannon AN UNEXPECTED FIND, no \V 11,1110 album In the whole community there W1DS 110 man wlin bettor knew when and how to moll than did John Hugill, o elose-fietcyl termer, in the enmity of Yoelc, Ontario, Canada. So it, happened that ono morning in Juno, ho not out for the city of Toronto, with a batch of carefully seleotod spring landis, for ho shrewdly realized moll higher prices then catild have been obtained for the Mane animate when fell grown 1 and when he returned at night fifteen golden sovereigns jingled merrily in his pooltet—ono of the tnan's peculiarities being to accept nothing but hard coin hi payment for anything he had to soli. Winter or summer, dark or light, John a invariable habit waii to go to work, indoor» or out, at four o'cloelc in the morning and come in to breakfast at seven. On the Inc:ming next after the lambs were so profitably disposed of, ho veturned. for the early meal as usnal, but before sitting down, he went into the Intle room where he always slept, alone—hie faithful wife having died aome years before. A moment afterward, ho melted exeitedly oat, and, addressing Maggie McFarlane, maid -of -all work, and the only inmate of the small log' 1100180 beside himself and his only child, ten -year-old 1368810, grIlffly asked, 'Where have you pub the cash, Maggie ?" "Oath ! What oath, Mr. Hugill?" quer. ied the girl. "Why, the buckskin bag of gold, woman —the fifteen sovereigns I brought home last night and left under the pillow of my bed," "131ess, me, man 1 I've seen no gold nor bag, I just made up the bed a few min- utes ago, and there WM nothing in " Do you man to say that you did 1101 1110V0 the gold girl ?" rejoined Hugill, turn- ing pale moth anxiety. "I've told you already, sir, that I saw nothing of it. I know no more of your sovereigns than does this I i ttle beast, " pore t• ing to Bub, Bessie's pet 'coon, which sat on bench, stroking its innocent -looking face with its paws, " You lie ! Woman, you lie 1" thundered the now furious man. " You've stolen the bag, and hid it away somewhere." As theinsulting words were uttered, the girl staggered back as if from a blow, bot, quickly recovering, walked with calm dig- nity across to where the frightened Bessie sac, and, taking the child in 'her arms, cried, " Oh, poor, motherless bairn, I must leave you ! Your father accuses me of stealing, and I will not bear such a charge. I'll go home to my mother, and stay until Ire finds out his nustake !" Bessie threw herself into the arms of her friend, and, bursting into team, pitifully implored her to stay, while, to the harsh accuser, she said, 'Father, lather, how can you do so ? You know that Maggio could not steal—my own dear, pretty Maggie 1" But the poor gold -worshiper, groaning nnder his loss, would not linen even to hie child, anyl angrily drove the suspeoted young woman from his door by a threat of immediate arrest. Then, while Bessie rocked her four -footed pet to and fro in her arms, and sobbed, ' Ob, Bob, Bob, Maggio m gone 1 What shall we do without her, Bob? ' John Hu - gill drew up to the table, and tried to eat ; but every mouthful seemed to choke him, and he was not half through, when in strode the tall, gray Scotsman, Andrew Mont, lane, a laborer on the farm. "Mr. Engin, what lean this I hear 1" he sternly said. "Do you dare to call my beim a thief?" "It looks that way, Andrew," cooly re- plied the farmer. " fief t the money in my bed, and no one but Maggie has entered the room since and the melt is gone, "Well, man, I'd advise you to take back your words, or I'll maybe give you a chancre to p0000 them in open court." , take back no words of mine," said Hugill. "Here's your own and your girl's wages up to date, and I'll trouble you to move off my farm before night. Like father, like child. I daresay the stolen money will keep you till you got a new place." McFarlane turned on his heel to go, but, before doing so, impressively said, "If it were not for that motherless bairn there, I'd tan your hide 1 But never fear, I'll leave your place long before night, and engage with decent Davie Bence. I'll tell hire the whole story myself, and I warn you that if you have the braes to make your false charge publio, I'll prosecute you for slander, as sure's my names Andrew." Avaricious John Hugill, however, was altogether too prudent a man to do thio, lacking inoontestible proof, and a knowl- edge of the matter was confined to the peo- ple on the tvto farms, none of whom, except Hugill himself, believed Maggio guilty, 80 the girl suffered no loss of character or pop- ularity. Her remarkable beauty, sprightli- ness, andprotioiency in danolug and singing, had long made her an especial favorite in the neighborhood, and nothing that miserly Hugill could do was likely to hurt her in public estimation. In order to make up for the loss of his gold, the miserable man now worked harder than ever, and all throngh the ensuing hay- ing and harvest drove his laborers so re- lentlessly that most of them left on the first opportunity. Even to sweet little Bessie hetnias seldom ab this time civil, and the lonely child, now ender the charge of a strange servant, in- cessantly prayed, in her artless way, that the missing mouey might be found, for not even her father dared longer to assert, in her presence that Maggie had taken it. Meantime, on tho adjoining in= of David Bruce, stout Andrew and his little family dwelt in peace and comfort, though now and then, as the honest Scot thought of the foul acousation brought against his daughter, he felt strongly tempted to use language unbecoming to a member of tho auld kirk."' And he, too, prayed in his own earnest fashion that the real thief might be cliscov. ored—a consummation to be more devout. ly hoped for than expected, as, in the whole countryside there was not one indi. videal to whom suspicion might reasonably attach. Althongit everyone except her late em- ployer felt convinced of Maggie's 1011000110e, it WAS only natural that she ehould chafe and fret so lug Re creen he regarded her as a criminal. Beside, she longed for the oompanicntehip of little Bessie, and used to lie awake night after night, thinking until her pretty head oohed, bow to dear up the mystery ; but all her perplexing thought brought no solution. Throughout the slimmer months, Willie and Aleek Bruee, boys of fourteen and fif- teen respect:Witty, and famous young hnnt• ere hart toiled faithfully in the fields ; but now that September, the fleet Month with an " " in it han omno, they prepared to re. gamic their olcl.time nightly 'won hunts. The young. fellows owned a dog, called T Igor, an artnnal of unknown pedigtee and of no Inarticuler brood, ibit which, neverthe, less,Was celeebrated 1» tho locality for the SingnIar,sagaelty and eertainty With Whiell TI1E BRUSSELS POST. MAN he wo ail find and capture gam(); Minn dogs 1, few :plaint worm; of deroat 0 hanangiving. if Wing Awly, Bab7, of her higher rierten sloes were tett rly at 89°"' 1"-'w0X1'1. II° $11°°1` l'ImIf l'""1 II" Swing:twee, Bel. in the tree toe : . . • I ' Gude wife—Maggio, lairs, rise iguiekly I drop; traraie the ,,,,,,,i0erotg Brno° 10 the fora Stroald the hough 1)01)1110 10 ivon't matter) at fill 0 ami, I, faith, it. g ha a nanaaakhara 00 ow Others below you 01111 eltt011 in your fall. pride of .Minter John Begin, " Swing away, Betty : your little fist The startled women, haatily donning part Shows how your torah here ueed to exist; "II) their glr'n°1' ts'i k l'rritll (n)t. tr!",("1..11 til PreY:ir'utinwtteyBotIr'guirim'sitllIti'.'sblivI8uutIll 07111 trees, • fan t. e With thie faithful companion, and a couple of woe the Joys would sally re 1 of 011 evening along the creeks, over the t tn.:. Ifie, wits, and °or:Afield:I, or perhaps tin:Legit the (ley wanner foul wooded Icelandic, 111 Beard of tire cunning ') ringhtlis, ' seldom, Indeed, relenting empty handed, '111 er was • , 111 , a dog of rare gifts t Ile made no mistakes, laughing, °vying, and hugging each other, Swing away, Baby : if your hand growa and never got: nil's ' up. He hail a distinct aeon convinced themselves, by the indis. 1:11.od, you ean rest it by ueing 30)10 wee, Iiiia iti:c;idtrll gitets 1,t1,:alter,r,1 the shape, Ivo bay for each kit d of game, ma g; hge putable evidence of touch and sight, that tongue said " deer," " wolf," " fox," or I " 11 4". " coon the specral 011 111011 so Indioated Wee sure to be in front of him. Having once taken a trail, nothing (meld turn him aside until that peril:stelae quarry was run down or finally loot. The eon - sequence leas that the Bruce boys Begun:el more game and fura than all their compel:I- tors together, and were always nosh of proketmoney when other young Nimrods were " dead broke." One night, it was the ninth of September —I remember it well—the brothers set out shortly after dark to beat op their own and Farmer Hugill's cornfield, and, wit Ile yet on the borne lot, old Tiger caught on the ground and killed two 'coons. Then Ile Look up an evidently fresh scent, and went off, with his " treeing bark," in the direc- tion of lIngill's wood -pasture, only a few hundreds of yards front the farmer's house About the middle of this half -cleared fielcl there woo in wet seasons, a big pond and in the centre of the pond an immense swamp elm -tree. hollow as to its trunk, but yet in vigorous life, and with great, spread- ing branches reaching far out on every side Now, after the summer's drought the pond was dry, and Tiger seemed to be making etramhe for it. " Well, Aleck," said Willie Bruce, " I guess the old clog's going to drive to the big elm this time and if the 'coon don't, run into the hollow, so's we can smoke him out, we'll have quite a job of chopping " " bat the young rascals well have to cut zt up " All right," replied Aleck. :: I've got , and, pile it out of the way, or pay for doing spite against that tree, anyway, and would ib• ' Beseio, who had been vainly hunting like no better fan then cutting it down. all the morning tor Bob, prudently kept si- Following at their best imeed the dog's lance, end the two sat down to their moat lead, the boys, sure enough found him Presently, the child happening to glance tearing away at the decayed wood inside through the window, exclahned, " Why, the elm, and knowing now that the 'con father, Imre comes Andrew McFarlane and had climbed the hollow shaft, they struck his 3vife and Maggie—yes, and Willie Bruce fire with flint, steel, and punk, kindled EL and Alen, too I" smudge of rotten sticks and 111080 at the "C 'ming to beg off about the tree, 1 sup - bottom, and prepared to smoke him out pose," muttered her father. But, somehow the th'ng didn't work this The next moment the little party entered thee ; and after keeping ti.p the pungent the room, and Andrew, marching straight fumes for a good half.hour in vain, the ex- up to his former employer, laid the wellno- perienued hunters. concluded that their menl' ered buckskin bag beside his plate, game had taken refuge in the cavity of with the quiet remark, " 1 our idol's found, some greet lateral limb, 1,0 )01)1011 the smoke, Mr• filiffill." for lack of draught, perhaps, did Lot pone- " What, what what ?" cried the amazed trate. man, as, with trembling hands, he emptied So, putting oet the smudge, and building the shining coin on the table. "So the girl O huge outside fire to give light, they went has confessed at last, eh ?" . gaily to work to fell the forest giant, find- McFarlane flushed an angry red, and Mg the task not so very arduous, after all, seemed about to strike the speaker down, as the shell of green wood surrounding; the when Willie Bruue stepped forward, drew hollow, although of vast circumference, thereat culprit front behind Ids back, placed was less than five inches thick. Min in Bessie's waiting arms, and said, "This little fellow is the thief, Mr. Hugill." Twenty minutes or eo su Mout for the And the whole story was then told. skilled examen to cut through this, and the As the rising sun dispels the gloom of patriarch of a century's growth, with a pre. night, so now the sight a his recovered monitory shiver, slowly swayed to one s.i,cle treasure swepttho cruel lines from Hugill's hewing his mighty head, and, witl" swat'Y hard face, and, in a burst of magnanimity, accelerating momentum, three crashing to he exclaimed, " Well, boys, I'll say nothing the earth. about the tree, though it s going to give me Boys and dog rushed to the widespreading a lot of work," the ides, of dividing the top, and the unerring nose of the hound prize with its finders having evidently never quickly pointed to one particularly large occurred to him. branch no the 'coon's hiding -place. On tap- Ile had the grace, however to mumble an ping the limb, it proved to be hollow, typology to Maggie McFarlane ; and the though no orifice appeared on tho surface ; girl, for 13essie's sake, consented to resume so theboys out it offelose to the parent steni, Ion old place in the household. and then asked 'rigor whether "Stripeface" The strange find brought about some good was now in the cavity of the trunk, or in results, for the suspicious old farmer's pride that of the bough? in his own infallibility was thoroughly hunt. The knowing brute's reply being ramie. bled, and he became, in time, a mane (tithe- takably in favor of the latyer hypothesis, tienate father and pleasant neighbor. the limners plugged up the big end and cut In conolusien, I may say that this story notches in the limb at intervals of about is strictly true, all the actors having been eighteen inches, shutting off each blank di- e ell known to me in my youth, and the in - vision as they went along, until at last they :Admits having occurred under my own ob- came to the snug retreat of a whole 'coon servation—propor names, only, being colony. changed. One, two, three, four were drawn out and —4 -- painlessly dispatched, and the bonanza was suppose& to be exhausted. But Tiger said Stumbling Upon a Iline. "something still remained. Gold was discovered in California in 1848, Ones more Aleck thrust in his leather. and in Colorado in 1858. The discovery gloved hand, and justified the dog's sagac- was aecidental in both entree and the fact ity by pulling out a rather under•sized created the impression that mines were " ly• specimen, of which the bort nosooner °aught ing around loose." Adventurers drifted sight of than both started back in astonish. about in hope of " stnmbling npon a mine." ment, for around the little animal's neck Mr. Thayer, in his "Marvele of the New was tied a red xibbon. West," mentions several instances of lucky 'Twits, beyond all peradventure, Boole " stumbling." Three mon, while looking Hugill's pet mon, which had evidently for gold in California, discovered the dead taken a break to sleep once more among its body of a man who evidently had been wild kindred in what was, very probably, " prospecting." "Poor fellow 1" said one its own birthplroe. of the trio. " He has passed in Ids checks 1" The recreant Bob looked awfully ashamed "Let's give hint a decent bnrial," said an - of himself, and eter being secured by a other. 'Some wife or mother will be glad piece of string, lay down to watch further if she ever knows it." They began to dig proceedings wale enrions interest. a grave. Three feet below the surface they " Let's open the limb up, and see what discovered signs of gold. The stranger was kind of a nest the little rascals have made," buried in another place, and where they proposed Willie. had located a grave they opened a gold No sooner said than done. The already. mine. nicked slabs were split off, and the whole An adventurer who had drifteclinto Lead - long chamber exposed to view ; and a sin. ville awoke oue morning without food or gularly-furnished apartment it was. money. Tie went ont and shot a deer, kicked up the The searchers threw out great handfuls which, in its dying agonies, of hair, wool, feathers, clam -shells, soft dirt and disclosed signs of gold. The poor mosses and leaves, and were carefully ex- 1111011 staked out a "claim," and opened one amining the bottom of the semi•oirenlar of the most profitable mines ever worked trough, when they came upon surprising in Leadville. evidences of 'coon acqaisitivoness in the " Dead Man Claim," the name given to shape of several spools of thread, a brass another rich mine in Leadville, was disaovy Humble, three horn buttons, two pewter spoons, a piece of broken minor, some patches of red cotton, and, last of all, firm- ly wedged in a crack a little heavy buokskin bag. On bringing this to liobt, the boys shnul- tam:01181y yelled, "Hugill's lost money 1 Hugill's lost money I" And on their unty- ing the string., out rolled the fifteen untar- nished sovereigns 1 "00, Bob, you villain, what miaohief you have done i" cried Alook. "How will you ever make op for it ?" ' But Bob demurely stroked his face, and anewered not a word. Staggering along under their heavy load of dead game, and carrying &NO the sly thief, the jubilant youths tow hurried home. It was nearly midnight when they 005e11 - ed their father's door, and everyone in the home was asleep t but; the tidings worn ton important to brook delay, and DU Wel 0 00. ceremoniously aroused to hear the wondrous tale. Then off to McFarlane% shanty sped the excited youngsters, and their thundering summons was quickly anwered by old Au - drew in person. " Eli, Hoaven ewe us, teddies l' What's all this ?" he exelaimed, on recognizing his ttntimely visitors. " Oh, Andrew, we've got the thief at lath 1" said Willie " And the money, too 1" supplemented Aleck, placing the auk in the wondering man's hand. , , , mug n W 1 the gold was acttut y found. 1 " B ib you brew 'eddies, whour's tho L.93'11131; awriV. BOY, MolikeY and Man. thief ?" queried Mistress 1110Parlane, who 110111 1101.0 b001111118115 1111011 One common plan, Ono missing feature you II live to bewail still stuck to her broad Scotoh. I Only a rudiment's left 01 3001' tom " 00, he's tied up safe at our house. Alld , who do you think it is Maggie 1" said '''""ing away, liabY swine! You 1110, 00 not , Need or 0 oradle, a crib, Or it rut, Willie Bruce, Mansion or cottage, or lodging:4 or flat; "I cannot even gum, Willie," replied TrO00, 0111Y trees, aro your true habit at. the delighted girl. " Why, Maggie, it's that little thanip Bob," "Bob—Bob 1 What Bob?" asked she " Why, Bob—Beosie's pet 'coon," ex- plained the boy. "150 stole the bag that teeming, before you wetrt in to make the bed, I suppose, and carried it off to the big hollow elm• and whcuten we were hunting to- night we cut the tree down, and found him, and the money, too, in an old limb." , Maggie's cheeks were Nvet with joyous tears, but she broke now into peals of merry laughter, as she inquired, " Did you find aught else, lads ? " " Yes, lots of things—buttons, thimble», and such like. " " Well, well the (cunning, wee rogue 1 We often missed bits of odds and ends, but I blamed it all to the rats." Punctually at seven o'clock next m000- ing, John Hirgill came to breakfast in very ill -humor, and grumbled to Bessie that somebody—her Maude the Bruce boys he supposed --had felled the big elm. " The tree bets no good," Ile added, TIM stern olcl Sootehman wan holdings, lighted candle but on hearing tide astound- ing revelation', he dropped it to the floor, Whore 11 sputtered a moinent and went out. Then, by the faint glientnet of the stars' the bow) sa' him raise hie oyes reverently to /Mean, While he audibly MurMured a DO Not hide the Bible. "Oh, don't do that, please I" said Mabel Coy to her chum Rose King, as they were arranging their room at the Oak Knoll Seminary at the beginning of the school year. " Don't do what, pray?" asked Rose, opening her large black eyes very wide, "Excuse me, plena°. I must seem very abrupt, but I thought you were about to put your Bible at the bottom of that pile of books." "And what if I do? it is my ewe Bible." " I did not think of that ; it was simply that 1 have been brought up to never put anything on the top of a Bible." You look too sensible to indulge in suoh superstitiono" 'It is not superstitine ; it reverence." "The Bible is only a book." "The Bible is God's only book. It should never be bidden or put on a high shelf or wedged into a. ease. It aliould be in plain view, unobetrueted, read, to be opened by any person at any time." "1 never heard of any such thing. Where did you get such ideas?' " It is one u(000 most cherished family traditious. Papa is a minister and an editor. His study table may be piled high with papers, but the Bible will be free, on its own particular corner. The Mahn was taught him in his childhood, He says that early love and reverenoe 1 r God's book mule him anxious to read it, and resulted in making a minister of "And I fancy it has helped to make a preacher ora lecturer out of you," said Rose, laughing. -‘ Am 1 lecturing you? 1 beg your pardon. I was only attempting 1 excuse my seeming rudeness and to defend my position. Please allow me to say farther that this thought- fulness about tbe Bible has awakened a reverence and a love for ib that have stimu- lated me to read it, and I love God and His Son cur Saviour better on account of know- ing Him better than I shmild had I not a knowledge of the Holy Scriptures." Mabel spoke with such serious sweetness that Rose :multi not: forget her words. Then, too, the sight of Mabel's Bible on 0. dainty little tripod stand in a, corner was a constant reminder. Hanging on one side of the stand was a small portfolio -shaped basket containing a Sabhath-sehool quarterly and a Christian Endeavor topic card. " So that I may know just where to find them," said Mabel, So much valuable time may be wasted in hunting for things." her other ',treks, and was not open in re. quisition for she usually read a story or wrote letters during the time Mabel spent daily oversher Presently, one evening there came to 'Rose by express a tiny old-fashioned claw- excInin:med oMabel, footed candle -stand, and as she finished reading the note that accompanied it she " Ruse's Bible wits on hey study table with I shall have to tell you how I happened to receive this pretty gift. I do not in the least deserve it. You see I wrote home all about your reverence for the Bible "—Mabel noticed with pleasure that she did not say superabition--" and grandma writes in reply that the idea is such a beautiful one she is sure it cannot help being a benefit to any person who will follow it out in practice, and SO she sends me this little old stand that came from England, and has been in our family for generations e.nd she hopes it ' will help to remind me how much the Bible meant to our Puritan ancestors, and that I shall not lose sight of the fact that this government, founded on scriptural precepts, can only bo eustained by a Bible -reading and Bible - loving people." Now, isn't that quite a preachment for one's sweet) little old grand' ma 1 and wasn't it lovely in her to rob her room of its greatest treasure for poor little unworthy me ?" "Indeed it was," replied Mabel, assisting to remove the wrappings from the little stand. " What a beauty ibis 1 Now, in appreciation, you must make yourself her greatest treasure. You can do it by making yourself a Bible -reader and a Bible -lover." "tut I don't know how to do that." "Read the Bible with me 0 half-hour regularly every day. Try to read it prayer- fully and understandingly." "But, Mabel dear, 1 am not a praying girl." You ought to be. It is entirely your own fatilt that you are not, and it is a fault very easily overcome." Just then the evening mail was brought bathe door, and several letters fell to Rose's erect by a broken-down miner while ("Tong ehare. , atter looking them over she said : "1 t grave, A miner died when there wore several Mabel, my oonscience will not be feet of snow on the ground. HIS comrades ; think: i quite clear until I have confessed that n laid his body in snow -bank, and hired a mon for twenty dollars to dig a grove The ' every letter I have written this term I have gravedigger, after throe dayeabsence, indulged in some merriment about: you and was found digging amine instead of ft grave, I your Bible, and it has been the means of While excavating he had struck gold. Tor- ! my finding out that my friends consider me getting the corpse and his bargain, he ' a frivolous young person indeed. They all thougnt only of the fact that he had "streak say how beautiful your spirit a remelt:3e O rich."is, and that Bibles are so common in this An uneucoessful Australien minor went day nud generation that people fall into a up and down in Colorado for several months, ' habit of treating them with disrespect "prospooting" for gold and finding none.. They are all rejoicing that I have a room - One day he tat down upon a stone, and mate Who is a Christine, and trust that: my while musing over hie hard luck, aimlesaly ,bad habit of turning all serious subjects struck another stone with his pick. He into ridicule will not prevent you from in. chipped off a piece, ad sprang to his feet. , fluenoing me for good. Now, 013 1100 that it fine record for to young wotnen of my ago and advantages? "Te it true " asked Mabel, softly. Oh, yes, you know it is, although you agreed to sate the wood to pay t'oe 00)113105hat made ve y low attempts to appeoaoh Ido chipped sample The result of the es- me on garnets subjects. But, Mabel dear," say sent Win back to his " claim." When ahe wont on with some hesitation, " was Ile had taken mit of it four hundred and very much affected by hearing your fifty thousand &Alarm, he told the mine for prayer for me last night. You thought throe hundred theusand dollars in cash and me sleeping and your voice was very otte million in stook, low ; but my Marin 18 rennet and. I But Hume "stumblings" aro the exceptions understood et ery word. NoW I NV11.00 to the rule that mines are found by palter- to know if you believe that God ways listen taking, intelligent prospectors. They p eed ing to your prayer." wearisome months in exploring mountains , The young girl looked °Abolished at the and gulches, They are mineraloglets, geolo- ! query, but she reicied quiekly :— este and, abotio all, practical explorers, who 1 o He that eynnoth to God must believe 0e11 tell from a " twist " the grain of the ! that Ho is, and that He 18 a rent:rider of rook or from the eoler of a spin seam whoth- them that seek after " or " paying gold " can be mined in the ict. Ie that in the Bible? gion, " " Cortainlye It is in thee beautifu Eleotricity in its various xorms of appli- elbeverth ohaptee of Hobrowe. /0 ie al mit faith, know. " Ohm is said to give employment to 5,000,. 00 pore ono et " I do notyou knew ail" thhig partioular The elim Was 1:1011 gold quartz. He hurried into the little town of Rata, and went to the aseity office, where a team- ster had just dumped EL lond of wood. He the Bible I liovur ,0110,1 to .111 10 11(`• for. 1)n yoa think, Mabel, that "oil wouid listen tO me were Ito may to Him, asking to be one of His followers ? " Mabel turned to her little stand, opened her Bible, turned to the passageshe wanted arid react aloud :-- " With the heart, 110111 believeth unto righteousness, mut velth the mouth 001n1e0- 01011 is made unto imivation. Whoeoever e Felthfill Witneatt 1 When the byte Professor 131melie ,e,1 his first sermon, his mother' unable to be present, wrote to a friendwhom 8110 she keen: would be among his hearere, to know tmov 1101' boy got on. His text was, " Be - 1 hold, I stand a t the door and knock," and' ;wm e ay guess the ehhe araeter 41 teermon from the following beautiful Three, the , 1,1,100y.'s reply to Mrs. lelinglieel Question I :-- )0 el" 0LI Hi I 011 01 01 10II" I 1mll gmI"'(1 l , 01 " a , heki the lf amp otruth th t d whosoever shall call upon the name of the i_se:itioa. vgati:hoonr,, ai , . ii; 1.0.0:1: Ligbt,, Lord shall be saved." "Can everything be anew red out of the IA:: 'yce, 1 11401 0trilile da11- tigm w 'Y' between -- Bible, Mabel?" . ThineLlit'1101bni.J.111.1.11utritirietid;q1lasiVPree win wen 1 aboldrort think there con be any doubt 11 „ Ile held the pitcher, stooping low " Well, from this time on Ian) resolved. Raiiiirlf il"uk:' ere byygel.,°a‘ryyteaint, ' to be not ashamed, but to make the Bible 1.,a,ndhlininuatlii111,41:Inty lionuillibm,.Labvii,1 faint but live also as It would have me. 'line, 1 0 p the guide of my life, and not only to ray, ewe t e son e WM Se01-111 Wang° it is that your exclamation begging ,r.trallgeornanngla'slt,I,1?„,12,ti?,;181,%721101,1),1,30:;r: me not to cover up my,Bible should have And then with louder note and hdd, led me to this decision ? ' To raze the wane; of Satan's bold, " Nothing In the providence of God is The trumpet coining thus between. The luynd that hetet it mama 001108000strange," replied Mabel, " But when the captain says 'Well done. Thou good end faithful servant come Lay down the nitchor and the lamp, Lay down tee trumpet, leave the emelt ' The weary hands will then be seen, Clasped in there pierced ones -nought be- tween." In Idle Moments. 0. AUZLIA 01. Here 18 a suggestion that might well be acted upon by all. How many of us have inwardly groaned over what to get for J. and L. and how many alas like myself have fallen back on the always appropriate "cup and saucer." The little woman is swinging in the ham- mock and you imagine she is building cas- tles in Spain or some other far-off country, Were a great burden of distress upon hie when saddeoly she announces, "I must pub mind. He had committed no crime; but he, that clown." had been searching for months, 00 he said,. To convince yourself she is s.wake yen for "salvdtion." aok, " What 1" He was like Lather on his return from. " Why, last night when Louise went to Rome, anxiously oryiug out, "What is the garden party she had to carry a Jap righteousness? And how shall I obtain it 1" paper fan—her others were broken—with Tired with his search the boy stepped her pretty drees, too," And the speaker into the chapel and sat down in an oboure ooked thoughtful. Then turning to Crew- , aeat. In the pulpit a preacher confronted Ile, who was stretched full length on the 'him, pale as death. Ho was as thin as e, rugand intently reading, she asked : "What skeleton, and his deep -sot eyes seemed to size shoe do you wear, fiharlieboy I fix themselves upon the young stranger, "Goodness, does it obstruct your view? He gave out his text : "Look unto me, and I beg your pardon." And he sat up straight. be ye saved." Then looking carefully at first one shoe end I " Why, that's just what I'm after,". then the other he said : "Thanks, but these thought the boy. "Look" Some fifty years ago, on a anowy Decem- ber evening, a homeless boy found himself standing before a chapel at Colchester, E ng - land. Although he WELS very young there are all right yet, dearie," " Yes, but what size ?" "Six, B," promptly, And being answered, the little woman Then the.preaoher turned and gazed upon him, and hes piercing eyes seemed to pene- trate his heart. " Young man," he cried, in a loud voice, went in to see if supper was ready. I fol- "500)) are in trouble 1" owed, and found ohe had gone straight to 'Sure enough, 1 am. How does he her desk and taking 000 a new memoran- know it ?" murmured the boy to himself. dum-book, wrote at the top of one page, "Yon will never get out el' it unless yon "Louise!" and under that, "Fan." Tarn- look to Cheist," returned the preacher, And , ng over a leaf she wrote, "Charlie," and then, lifting up his hands in n most impres- tnder that "Shoes; 0100 0, B." Seeing my sive way, ha cried out, as only a Primitive curiosity she laughingly said : is Methodist could do, "Look, look, Look! 10 he beginning of my Christmas list. 1 is only Look 1" have so much more time in summer to look This phrase, which !night have meant little about and think over what each one needs or nothing to some one else, was everything and would like; anyl, too, I find it saves so to that troubled boy. His heart bounded_ much worry later on, If I only have 00010 Re 111111 been waiting for a clitlieult way ont ,ben what to get." "13ut shoes1" I said. "Why, our young mon, who le jnst enter - ng society, has many demands on his purse and I thonght as I lay there, 'Why 1100 )0100 dm a pair of fine shoes for Christmas?' So, when Brotl,er Will goes to Now York in Novernber I wilt have hint get a pair of six, B—and oh, yes," turning to the book again, he only to leo to Christ 1 Was that all? "while there he can just buy himself to fiue Only -A turn his head and see the way of oluthes-brush, and he will think it is for 1110 and peace? ne." Anti she laughingly closed the book This was the way in which the great ' of his spiritual distress. The simplicity ef Ole direJtion took him off his feet. He had been ready to go anywhere out of his way, or to do anything out of the com- mon, or like Paul to see visions and have strange experiences ; but the single thought awl the magic, word then took possession of him, and afterward controlled his life. Had and put it in her own particular drawer. Curious Property of Water. At a recent lecture before the Royal In. stitution in London some very interestitg facts were explained, which depend upon the existence of what 10 called the surface film of water. Many simple experiments show that the surface of water possesses a property which causes it to resist tbe pas. sage of bodies either from above or from below. This is true not only of soapy water, but of the cleareet and purest water as well. A sheet of fine gauze tends to float, because, its weight being widely dis- tributed, each of the numerous separate wires is resisted by the surface film so that the water cannot readily pees through the meshseeC ltats and plants utilize this fact in many interesting ways. Some water -plants, whose leaves float 01) 0110 water, have a very simple oontrivance to keep the upper sur- faces of the leaves dry. This consists of a great number of minute hairs covering the tops of the leaves. Water cannot penetrate among these hairs even when the leaves are forced down beneath the surface. The little rafts of eggs that gnats set afloat on the water are kept from sinking and froin being upset through this same principle. The tiny eggs have their points all upward, and they are glued together so closely that, while there is open space all around the point of en.th egg, yet the width of these spaces ie so slight that water can. not readily pass through. You may again and again upset such an egg raft, but it will right itself every time, and the upper urface will remain dry. The water spider'which apends most of ts time under water, carries It bubble of air for breathing on the under side of its body, and when this air is exhausted it genes to the surface for morn. It is enabled to carry the air bubble be- ause the leader side of its body is covered vith tiny hairs not so close together that he surface film of the water does not pass hem, although the air does, and thus the air is imprisoned among the hairs, Every reader can observe for himself in. cresting instances of the way in which nsects take advantage of the resisting roperty of the sedan° fihn of water, Royal Smokers. Some time ago it was stated that tho Queen of England smoked cigarettes. The totement hardly required contradiction, but it is now asserted that) the Consorts of evoral of the arowned beads of Europe are dfficted to smoking. 'r he Empress of Austria it is said, consumes forty cigarettes a day; the Czarina has an occasional puff n the Winter Gardens ; the Queen of Italy rakes a cigarette itt private, and the Queen f Spain indelges m the sante habit n the same reenter. The ex -Queen of Servia ie so fond of smoking that he will smoke anything ; while the Queen of Portugal orders her mgarettee from Dres- den. The Queen Of Roumania patroniges Levantian tobacco. In foot, the obly Eu- ropean Royal lady who does not smoke hi tho wife ot the German Emperor: All thls 10 distinctly interesting, but we wonder tow foe it is maturate. preacher Spurgeon was led to his work. He himself said that tho word "Look 1" heard for the first time upon that stormy evening, in that obscure chapel, was the spring that moved the great sconces of his power. Most of us are trying to find ont the mean - 'ng of a religious life. It seeme as eomplex as a problem ht higher mathematics. But,., tndeed, it is not so. Look at the example - of the Master, and accept His teachings. An earneseahristian woman ley upon her - deathbed in a Boston Hospital. She ha& devoted herself, body and aoul, to an unself,: ish lite, and contracted the ellsease that, caused hdr death in spending her life for others. The night she died, she said to her attendant.: "Please raise the curtain." There, on a great church, opposite the - hospital, flooded by moonlight, stood Thor- wetIclsen's statue of the Master. Long and; silently she gazed upon it. " What do you see?" asked her friend', gently. "Don't drop the curtain," she pleaded:. " I want to look at Christ," Oor doubts, our sins, our troubles our Perplexities are all ourtains that fali! be- tween us and the true meaning of a simple Christinn life. Raise them—and look at him the one teacher whose wisdom none n question; the one Saviour by whom itu- mortality is assured. Tae Hard Text. He, Jesus, did not mean that he would build his church upon a sinful, weak man like Peter. No mere lean was strong enough for that. Jesus himself is the chief corner stone of his church, the Bible says. Read the verse thus and the meaning will be plain : You are Simon Rock (Peter means a stone or rook), bat this—what yooi have just said about tne—I will build any church upon, That saying is firm as 0. rock. This is the doctrine, the preaching, that will loose sonls from Satan and bind them to Heaveu. He who preaches Jesus the Saviour of the world will be approved in Heaven. Quite a craze has come over tho French gardeners. They 110Ve suddenly begun to bond all their energies to the creation of neni flowers and the acalimatigation of nth as have never before been cultivated in France. Among the latter is a flowee from Central Americo (ys yot unnamed in Franco) which changes its color three times a dav. 30 10 White in the morning, gets pink at nowt and turns ID lovely blue when the sun is seam* Rope -Climbing Made Easy. It is more difficult to climb a rope than people who have not attempted it suppose. Firemen, sailors and others in spite of long practice find the effort fatiguing and pain- ful, An attempt to alt them has been made by an ingenious Inventor who has recently patented Ills device. It consists of two boards joined by a hinge and held firm by strong olamps. The rope passes through the oentre and on the upper side are leather loops into which thc elinther thrusts his feet, When the feet are raised and the weight of the body is eupported by the hands, the rope passes easily between the boards, but ashen tho feet are pressed downwind the rope is gripped firmly and the climber oan met on a secure standing -place until he is ready to make a now lift with his halide The de- vioe, therefore, reduces the labor of climb. Mg and aloe prevents the danger of the man slipping down aga-n. The latter advantage is important, for the climber is very apt te elip back unless be has a very firm grip of the ropn. It, is go iespiritualmatters. Re» action too often follows o period of religious exaltation in a revival or other tinhorn of speelal privileges, and the height attained is est in a time of depression. Mechanical de. 01000 are not availablo 111 such a ease and there is no remedy for hbn who woad vise but to keep a firm hold, through faith, on God and Tway for strength to resist the at- traetions Of the world, "forgetting the things *Melt aro behia and reaching forth I0000 those things whielt aro before," (Phil, fit 14.)