HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1888-8-24, Page 3AUG. 17, 1888.,
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44ROUGHINO IT IN THE BUSH."
THE BRUSSELS POST
'CHAPTER IV,—(CoNeettuen.j The woods! 13a ?he I When 1 used to bo
We left the British ehoroa on the 1st of Ju. I roaming through tides) woods, shooting,—
ly, and oaetanohor,ias I have already shown, though not a thing could I over find to
under the ensue of St, Lonio, atdloobeo, an shoot, for birds and Nana are not such
l'''m Vf sou I fools as our nglish emigrants—and I
the 2nd of•beptamber, ' - '1 1 (Mantled to thinkkof yon 00/111111( to spend the
nailed the 1st of May, and had a epoody rest of your lives in bhe woods—I used to
passage, •and was, as wo •heard from hit
friends, comfortably settled in the bush, had
bought Is farm, and meant to commence
oporationo in the fall. All title was good
nowe, and as ho wan settled near my bro-
ther's location, we congratulated ourselves
that our eccentric friend had found a home
in the wildarrees ablest, and that wo should
soon see him again.
On the Sth of September, the steamboat
Wbli4aan J,1r, landed us at the then small
but rising town of , on Lake On-
tario. The night was dark and rainy ; the.
boat was crowded with emigrants ; and
when we arrived at the inn, we learnt that'
there was no room for us—not a bed to be
had ; nor waa it likely, owing to the num-
ber of strangers that had arrived for several
weeks, that we, could obtain cne by eearoh•
ing farther. Moodie requested the use of a,
'sofa for rife during the night , but even that!
produced a demur from the landlord.
Whilst I awaited the result in a passage,
crowded with etraagc faces, a pair of oyes
glanced upon are through the throng. Was
it porsible'?—could it be Tom Wilson?
Did any other human being ever ponces
ouch eyes, or the them in such an eccentric
manner? In another second ha had pushed
his way to my aide, whispering fn my ear,
" We met, 'twee in.a crowd."
"Tom Wildon, is that you?"
"Do you doubtit•? I flatter myself that
there is no likeness of iamb a handsome
follow to bo found in the world. it is I, I
swear 1—although eery little of me is left
to swear by, The beat part of mo I have
left to fatten the muequitoes and black dies
in that infernal bush. But where is
Moodie 7'
' There he ie—trying to induce Mr,
S.—, for love or money, to let me have
a bed for the night,"
"You shall have mine," said Tons. "I
can sleep upon the floor of the parlor in a
blanket, Indian fashion. It's a bargain—
I61 go and settle it with the Yankee directly ;
he's the beet fellow in the world 1 In the
meanwhile here is a little parlor, which is a
joint•etook affair between some of us young
hopefuls for the time being. Step in here,
and I will go for Moodie ; I long to toll him
what I think of this confounded country.
But you will find is out all in good time ;'
and rubbing hie hands together with a most
lively and miochievous exprooeion, he
shouldered his way through trunks, and
boxes, and anxious facee, to communicate to
my husband the arrangement he had so
kindly made for us.
"Accept this gentleman's offer, air, till
to -morrow," said Mr. S--, "I can then
make more comfortable arrangementefor your
family; but we are orowded—crowded to
excess. My wife and daughters are obliged
to sleep in a little chamber over the stable,
to give our guests more room. Hard that.
I guess, for decent people to locate over the
horsee."
These matters settled, Moodie returned
with Tom Wilson to the little parlor, in
which I had already made myself at home.
" Well, now, ie it not funny that I should
be the firth to welcome you to Canada I" said
Tom.
' But what are you doing here, my dear
fellow 7"
"Shaking every day with the ague. But
I could laugh in spite of my teeth to hear
them make such a confounded rattling; you
would think they were all quarrelling which
should first get out of my mouth, This
shaking mania forms one of the chief attrac-
tions of this new country."
"I fear," said 1, rem, king how thin and
pale he had become, " that this climate eau -
not agree with you."
"Nor I with the climate, Well, wo
shall soon be quite, for, to let you into a
secret, I am now on my way to England."
"Impossible 1"
" It is true."
"And the farm; what have you done
with it 7"
"Sold it." •
"And your outfit?"
" Sold that too."
"To whom?"
" To one who will take better care of both
than I did Ah 1 ouch a country I—snoh peo-
ple 1—such rogues I It beats Australi&
hollow ; you know your customers there
—but here you have to find them out.
Snoh a take•in 1—God forgive them 1 I
never could take ogre of money ; and, one
way or other, they have cheated me out of
all mine. I have scarcely enough left to
pay my passage home. But, to provide
against the worst, I have bought a young
bear, a splenlid fellow, to make my peace
with my uncle. You must see him ; he ie
close by in the stable."
"To -morrow we will pay a visit to Bruin;
but to -night do tell ne something about your.
nil, and your residence in the bush."
" You will know enough about the bush
by-and-by. I am a bad hiatorian," he con.
tinned, stretching out his legs, and yawning
horribly, " a worse biographer. I never
can find words to relate facts. But I will
try what I San do ; mind, don't laugh at my
blunders."
We promised to be eerioue—no easy mat,
ten while looking at and listening to 'Tom
Wilson, and he gave us, at detaohed inter-
vals, the following account of himself :—
" My troubles began at sea. We had a
fair voyage and all that ; but my poor dog,
my beautiful Duchess 1—that beauty in the
beast—died. I wanted to read bite funeral
service over her, but the captain interfered
—the brute 1—and threatened to throw mo
into the sea along with the dead bitch, as
the unmannerly ruffian persisted in sailing
my canine friend. 1 never spoke to him
egain during the voyage. Nothing hap-
pened worth relating until I got to this
place, where I chanced to meet a friend who
knew your brother, and I went up with him
to the woods. Most of the wise men of
Gotham wo met on the road were bound to
the woods ; so felt happy that I was, at
least, in the fashion. Mr.--- was very
kind, and spoke in raptures of the woods,
whioh formed the theme of conversation
during our journey—their beauty, their
vastness, the comfort and independence
enjoyed by those wbo had nettled in them ;
and he 00 inspired me with bhe subject that
I did nothing all day but sing as wo rode
along
"A life In the woods for me ;"
until we game to the woods, aid then I then
learned to ding that same, ae the Irishman
gays, on bhe other lido of my mouth,"
Here euaooeded a long petite, during
whioh friend Tom seemed mightily tinkled
with his remfniaoenoes, for he leaned bank
in Isle chair, and, from time to time, gave
way to loud, hollow bursts of laughter,
" Tom, Tom 1 aro you going mad 7" said
my husband, shaking him,
"1 never Watt fano, that I know of," re.
turned be, "You know that it runs in the
faniiiy, But do let me have my laugh out,
stop, and hold my Woe, and laugh until the
woods rang again, Ib was the only consola-
tion Iliad,"
" (,nod heavens I" avid I, " let us never
go to the recede."
" You will repent it ,you do," continued
Tom. "Bat let me proceed on my journey.
My bones were well-nigh dislocated before
.we got to 11 , 'The roads for the
last twelve miles were nothing but a mums.
Sion of mudholes, covered with the moth
ingenious invention ever thought of for
racking the limbs, oalled.00rduroy bridges;
not breaches, mind you,—for I thought
whilst jolting up and down over them, that
d should arrive at my destination minus
that indispensable covering, It was night
when wo got to Mr. --e place. I was
tired and hungry, my fade dieligured and
blistered by the unremitbtng attentions of
the blank files that rose in swarms from the
river. I thought to get a private room to
wash and dross in, but there is no then
thing as privacy in this country, In the
bath, all things are in common ; you cannot
even gen n bed without having to share it
with a companion, A bed on the floor in a
public sleeping -room I Think of that ; a
public sleeping -room 1—men, women, and
children, only divided by apaltry curtain,
Oh, ye gods 1 think of the snoring, equalling,
grumbling, puffing ; think of the kicking,
elbowing, and crowding ; the netfooating
heat, the muegnitoeo, with their infernal
buzzing—and you will form eome idea of
the misery I endured the fireb night of my.
arrival in the bush.
"But these are not half the agile with
which you have to contend. You ears pee -
tared with nocturnal visituuto far mare dis-
agreeable than even the muaquitoee, and
mush put alp with annoyances more diegast-
ing than the crowded close room, And then,
to appease the cravings of hunger, fat pork
is served to you three times a day. No
wonder that the Jews eschewed the vide
animal; they were people of taste. Pork,
morning noon, and night, swimming in its
own grease 1 The bishop who complained
of partridges every day should have been
condemned to three months' feeding upon
pork in the bush ; and he would have become
an anchorite, to escape the horrid eights of
swine's flesh for ever spread before him. No
wonder I am thin ; I have been starved—
starved upon pritters and pork, and that
disgusting specimen of unleavened bread,
yclept cakes in the pan.
"I had such a horror of the pork diet, that
whenever I taw the dinner In progress I fled
to the canoe, in the hope of drowning upon
the waters reminiscence of the hateful ban-
quet ; but even here the very fowls of the
air and the reptiles of the deep lifted up
their voices, and shouted, 'Pork, pork,
pork I"
111-- remonstrated with hie friend for
deserting the country for such minor evils as
these, which, after all, he said, could easily
be borne.
' Easily borne 1" exclaimed the indignant
Wilson. " Go and try them ; and toll me
that. I did try to bear them with a good
grace, but it would no do. I offended every-
body
verybody with my grumbling. I was constantly
reminded by the ladies of the house that
gentlemen should nob come to this country
without they ware able to put up with a
little inconvenience ; that'I should make as
good a settler as a butterfly in a beehive;
that it was impossible to be nine about food
and dress in the bush; that people must
learn to eat what they could gat, and be
content to be shabby and dirty, like their
neighbors in the bush,—until that horrid
wird bush became synonymous with all
that was hateful and revolting in my mind.
"It was impossible to keep anything to
myself, The children pulled my books to
pieces to look at the plat -urea ; and an im-
pudent, bare•Iegged Irish servant girl took
my towel to wipe 1 he dishes with, and my
clothes brush to black shoes—an operation
which sba performed with a mixture of soot
and grease, 1 thought I should be better off
in a plaae of my own, so I bought a wild
farm that was recommended to no, and paid
for it double what it was worth. When I
came to examine my estate, I found bhere
was no house upon it, and 1 should have to
wait until the fall to get one put up, and a
few acres cleared for cultivation. I was
glad to return to my old quarters.
" Finding nothing to shoot in the woods I
determined to amuse mnyself with fishing;
but Mr.— could not always lend his
cane°, and there was no other to be had.
To pass away the time, I set about making
one, I bought an axe, and went to the for-
est to seleob a tree, About a mile from the
lake, I found the largest pine I over mew. I
did not much like to try my maiden hand
upon it, for it was the first and the last I
ever cut down. But to it I went ; and I
blessed God that it reached the ground
without killing me in its way thither. When
I was about it, I thought I might at well
make the canoe big enough ; but the bulk of
the tree deceived me in the length of my
V010301, and I forgot to measure the one that
belonged to. Mr.—. It took me six
weeks hollowing it out, and when it was
finished, it was as long as a eloop•of-war,
and too unwieldy for all the oxen in the
township to draw ib to the water. After all
my labour, my oomb&ta with those wood.
demons the blaok•flies, sand•flioa, and mus-
quitoes, my boat romaine a melees monu-
ment of my industry. And worse then this,
the fatigue I had endured, while working
at it late and early, brought on the ague ;
which so disgusted me with the country
that I sold my farm and all my traps for an
old song; purchased Bonin to bear me oom.
pany on my voyage home ; and the moment
I am able to get rid of this tormenting fever,
I am off,"
Argument and romonetrancewere alike in
vain, ho could not be dissuaded from his
purpose, Tom was as obstinate as his bear.
The next morning he conducted us to the
stable to see Bruin. The young denizen of
the forest was tied to the manger, quietly
masticating a oob of Indian corn, which he
held in his paw, and looked half human at
he sat upon bis haunches, regarding us with
a solemn, melancholy air. There woe an ex.
traordinary likeness, quite ]tidierous, bo-
bwaen Tom and the bear. Wo said nothing
bub oxohanged glandes. Tom read our
thougi b .
"Yes," said he, "there is a strong re-
semblance; I saw it when I bought him,
Perhaps we aro brothers ;" and baking in bis
hand the chain that held the bear, bo be=
stowed upon hint sundry fraternal °arouses,
which the ungrateful Bruin returned with
low and savage growls,
"Ile can't flatter, Ho's all truth and
sincerity. A child' of nature, and worthy to
be my friend; the only Canadian I over
mean to acknowledge as soh,"
About an hour after this, poor Tom was
shaking with ague, which in a few days re.
duoad him ib low that I began to think bo
.novor mould sen hie native shores again. Ile
bore the ailliotioa very philoeophioally, and
all Wu well days ho 'peat with us,
,One day my husband was absent, having
anoompanied Mr, S-- to luepeet a farm,
wlmioh he nftorwardspurehaoed, and I had to
got through the long day in the best manner
1 couid, '1 he local papers were soon ex-
hnuatod, At that period, they posasoeed
little or no interest for me. 1 woe aotonfshed
and disgusted at the abusive ananner in
which they were written, the freedom of the
press being enjoyed to un extent in this pro.
vines unknown in more elvilized conmuuf•
'hiss,
Men, in Canada, may call one arother
rogues and miaoreants, in the most approved
Billingsgate, through the medium of the
newepapere, whioh are a sort of safety valve
to lee oil' all the bad feelings and malignant
passions floating through the country, with-
out any dread of the horsewhip. Hence it
is the commonest thing in the world to hoar
ono editor abusing, like a piokpocket an op-
position brobher; calling him a reptile—a
crawling thing—acalumtaeater—a hiredvendor
of lies, and has paper a stout machine—a
cite corruption, •aa bass and degraded as the
proprietor, &o. Of this description was the
paper I now hold in my hand, which had
the impudence to style iteeli the Reformer—
not of morals or manners, certainly, if one
might judge by the vulgar abuse that de-
filed every page of the preoioue document.
I soon flung it from me, thinking it worthy
of the fate of many a better produotion in
the olden times, that of being burned by the
common hangman ; but, happily, the office
of hangman has Income obsolete in Canada,
std the editors of those refined journals may
go on abusing their betters with impunity.
Books I had none; and I wished that
Tom would make hie appearance, and amuse
me with hie oddities ; but he had suffered
so much from the ague the day before that
when he did enter the room to load me to
dinner, he looked like a walking corpse—
the dead among the living !so dark, so livid,
so melancholy, it was really painful to
look upon him.
" I hope the ladies who frequent the or-
dinary, won't fall in love with me," said ha,
grinning at himself in the miserable looking -
glees that formed the vaso of the Yankee
clock, and was ostentatiously displayed on
a side table ; "I look quite killing to -day.
What a comfort it is, Mrs. M—, to be
above all rivalry."
In the middle of dinner, the company
was disturbed by the entrance of a person
who had the appearance of a gentleman, but
who WAS evidently much flustered with
drinking. He thrust hie chair in between
two gentlemen who eat near the head of the
table, and in a loud voice demanded fish.
"Fish, six 7" said the obsequious waiter,
a great favourite with all persons who fre-
quented the hotel ; "there is no fish, sir,
There was a fine salmon, sir, had you come
sooner; but 'tie all eaten, sir."
"Then fetch me something, smart 1"
" Pil see what I can do, sir," said the
obliging Tim, hurrying out.
Tons Nilson was at the head of bhe table,
carving a roast pig, and was in the aot of
helping a lady, when the rude fellow thrust
his fork into the pig, calling out as he did
SO.
"Hold, sir 1 give me some of that pig 1
You have oaten among you all the fish, and
now you are going to appropriate the beet
parte of thepig."
Tom raised his eyebrows, and stared at
the stranger in his poouliar manner, then
very coolly planed the whole of the pig on
his plate. cI have heard," he said, "'of
dog eating dog, but I never before saw pig
eating pig."
' Sir 1 do you mean to inaulb me?' oried
the stranger, his face crimsoning with an-
ger.
Only to tell you, air, that you are no
gentleman. Here, Tim," turning to the
waiter, " go to the stable and bring in toy
boar ; we will plane him at the table to teach
this man how to behave himself in the pre.
Bence of ladies.
A general uproar ensued ; the women left
the table, while the entrance of the bear
throw the gentlemen present into convulsions
of laughter. It was too much for the human
biped ; he was Inroad to leave the room, and
succumb to the bear.
My husband concluded hie purchase of
the .arm, and invited Wilson to go with us
into the country and try if change of air
would be beneficial to him ; for in his then
weak state it was impossible for him to re-
turn to hngland. His funds were getting
very low, and Tom thankfully accepted the
offer. Leaving Bruin in the oharge of Tim
(who delighted in the oddities of the strange
English gentleman, Tom made one of our
party to --
(TO B5 CONTINUED,)
Curious Items From Khartoum.
The "reliable news" from Khartoum dis-
closes a t,reible picture of the state of that
mysterie:..3 other. The Sisters of Charity are
selling beans 000ked iu oil ab the Mailers
front door ; Lupton Bey is the Mandi's coi-
ner ; Slatin Bey is the Mandi's footman ;
Neufeld is used as an experimental dummy
for the M andi s hangman, spending the in-
terval in ohains. These are only It few items
whioh are interesting to Europeans. Hong-
ing and murder are everyday occurrences,
He who smokes or (elle tobacco, he who
trades, he who keeps his cash, he who stores
hie corn is immediately done to death, So
nsuoh for the meesage from Khartoum which
has been btought down the Nile by native
messengers. Down the Congo Mr. Ward
has sent news which aonffrtne the rumour
that Stanley, the master of surprises, was
marching to the relief of these miserable sap.
lives who have fallen into the hands of the
groat Ogre of the Desert.
How to Estimate Speed.
Enquiry, says an exchange, is frequently.
made ae to how thespeed of a train may bees.'
timated. Tho traveller, especially, is curious
about the speed his train is making, and we
suggest three methods by whioh the speed
may be guessed with remarkable accuracy as
follows :-
1. Watoh for the passage of the train by
the large white mile posts with blaok figures
upon them, and divide 3,000 by the time in
seconds between the poste ; the result is the
speed in miles per hour.
2. Listen attentively until the ear digitin
guioheo the click, eliok, of the wheels as t
passes a rail joint, The number of olioks
upon one side of the oar is the speed in miles
per hour, where the rails aro thirty feet fn
length, and this is the case generally.
8, Count the number of telegraph poles
passed in two minutes, if thorn, aro four or
five wires to a polo, and in two minutes and
twenty seconds, if thorn are only ono or to
lines per pole. The number of poles paned
is the number of miles per hour at whioh
the train is travelling.
Mrs, Booth, of Washington county, Ten-
nessee, died recently in the log house she
was born in ninety-eight years ago, She
hal in all that time never been further than
five miles from home,
8
YOUNG FOLKS.
Bob White.
BY 00104 30000 001100(.5,
Look 1 the velleya are think with grain
Heavy and tall;
Peaohes drop in the grassy land
By the orchard wall ;
Apples) streaked with a crimson stale,
Bask in the sunshine, warm and bright;
Hark to the quail that pipes for rafn—
Bob Whits I Bob White 1
Augur of mischief, pipoa for rain
Bob White 1
Men who reap on the fruitful plain
Skirting the town,
Lift their eyes to the shifting veno
Aa the sun goes down ;
Slowly the farmer's loaded wain
Climbs the slope in the failing light,—
Bold is the voice that pipes for rain—
Bob White I Bob White 1
Still from the hillside, pipes for rain—
Bob White l
Lo, a burst at the darkened pane,
Angry and loud 1
Waters murmur and winds oomplain
To the rolling cloud ;
Howled ut the farm, the careless swain,
Weaving snares while the fire burns bright,
Tunes hie lips to the old refrain—•
Bob White I Bob White 1
Oh, sound of the blithe refrain—
Bob White I
OBSERVING LITTLE THINGS.
BY JOHN BCRROCOIIS.
I real a otatemenb not long ego, about
the spiders' webs that cover time fields and
meadows on oertain mornings in the summer,
whioh WAS not entirely exact. It is not
quite true, in the sense in which it was
uttered, that these spiders' webs are more
abundant on some mornings than on others,
and that they presage fair weather. Now
the truth is, that during the latter halt of
summer these webs are about as abundant
at one time ae at another; but they are
much more noticeable on eome mornings
than on others,—a heavy dew brings them
to view. They are especially conspicuous
after a morning of fog, such as often fills
our deeper valleys for a few hours when
fall approaches. They then look like little
napkins spread all over the moadowa; i saw
fields last Bummer in August, when one
could step from one of these dew-napkina to
another, for lsng distances. They are little
nets that catch the fog. Every thread it
strung with innumerable, fine drops, like
tiny beads. After an hour of sunshine the
webs, apparently, are gone.
Most country people, I find, think they
are duo to nothing but the moisture ; others
seem to think that the spiders take them in
as morning advances.. But they are still
there, stretched above the grass at noon and
at sunset, as abundant as they were at sun-
rise ; and are then more asrviceeble to the
spiders, because less visible. The flies and
other insects, if any were otirriog, would
avoid them in the morning, but at midday
they do not detect them HO readily.
If these wpbs have any significance as
signs of the coming weather this may be the
explanation
A heavy dew occurs under a clear cool
sky, and the night preceding a day of rain
is usually a dewless night. Much dew, then,
means fair weather, and a copious dew dis-
closes the spider's webs. It is the dew that
is siggnifioant, and not the webs.
We all need to be on our guard against
hasty observations and rash conclusions.
Look again and think again, before you
make up your mind.
One day while walking in the woods, I
heard a sound which I was at once half per-
suaded to believe was the warning of a coil-
ed rattlesnake ; ft was a swift, buzzing rattle,
and but a few yards from me. Cautiously
approaching, I saw she head and neck of a
snake. Earlier in my life I should have
needed no further proof, and probably
should have fled with the full oonviotion
that I had seen and heard the dreaded rat-
tlesnake. But as I have grown older, I
have grown more wary about jumping to
oonoluaiona—oven where jumping serpents
are oonoerned. I looked again, mud again,
and drew nearer the rattler at each glance.
Soon I saw that it was only a harmless bleak
shako shaking his tail at me. Was he try-
ing to imitate the rattlesnake? I only knew
that there he lay, with his tail swiftly vi-
brating in contact with a dry leaf. Tho
loaf gave forth a loud, sharp, humming
rattle. The motive or instinct that prompted
the Snake to do this seemed a suggestion or
a prophecy of the threat of the rattleenat e.
It evidently was done on account of my pre.
sande as a warning note. Since then I have
seen a small garter snake do the sante thing,
He was found in the oatbin, liow he got
there is a mystery ; but there he was, and
when I teased him with a stink he paused
and vibrated the end of his tail so rapidly
that, in contact with tho oats, it gave out
a sharp buzzing sound. He also was an in-
cipient rattlesnake. Such foots were of
great interest to Darwin, as showing marked
traits of one epecfes propping out, casually
or tentatively, fn another,
In line with these is another observation
which I made two summers ago, and was
enabled to Confirm last summer. Our blue-
bird is no doubt a modified thrush ; that is,
its ancestor in the remote past was doubt•
leas of the thrush family. One evidence of
this is the faot that the young of the blue-
bird has a epeokled breast like the thrush ;
and Darwin established the principle that
peculiar markings or traits confined to the
youth of any species are an inheritance from
early progenitors. In addition to this, I
have noted in the song of the female blue
bird—one of a pair that for two seasons have
built near me—a distinob note of the thrush.
Whenever I hear the voice of this bird it re.
minds me of that of a oertain thrush—the
olive -backed.
But I am wandering far from my subject.
I set out to talk about spiders, Do you
know that we have a spider palled the wolf
spider, and ono that well deserves the name,
to Berne and savage it he ? He is a wobleas
spider, that prowls about seeking whom he
may devour. I had not seen one since boy-
hood till the other day, when I mob ono in
the path between the house and tbo study,
He was eo large and black, and was march-
ing along so boldly, sustained upon his
eight long lege, that he attracted my atten-
tion et anon. f poked at him with the toe
of my shoo, when he boldly charged me, and
tried to run up my leg. This deepened my
'n n bent down to him and
interest inhim, and I w
ohalleuged him with a load pencil. At firth
he tried to eeoape into the grass, but being
headed off he faced me in an attitude of de-
fame, He reared up like a wild animal, his
forward legs in the air, his row of minute
oyes glistening, and his huge fangs, with
their sharp „eke, slightly parted ready to
seize mo. As I teased him ith tho pencil,
he ttied to parry my thrutte with hie arms,
like a boxer, till he SAW his opportunity,
when be eprang fiercely upon the poison
and, elating Itis fangs upon it, allowed
to be lifted from theround,
When he had let go, two minute crops of
moisture were visible where the fangs had
touched the polished outface of the pencil.
This was the poison they had secreted, and
would probably make his bite very dangor-
oua, After ho had discharged his wrath
and his venom in this way, 05500 or twice,
he grow reluctant to repeat the operation,
juet ae a venomous snake does, His valor
seemed to suhufde as his supply of venom
dimloiohed. h.nally, ho would not bite at
all, but held up his arms or legs simply on
the defensive. His lenge were two thick
weapons, surmounted by two small bleep
hooks, probably a sixteenth of an inch long
They were very formidable ublo in appearunoe.
The spider himself was an inch and a half
in length, blank and velvoty ; and, with his
eight prominent lege till in motion, was
striking to look upon. I captured him and
kept him a prisoner for a few days 1s) a box
with a glees Dover. We put large flies in
his cage which he would not touch while we
were present, bot in the morning only
empty simile of flies remained. Then we
put in wasps, and to these he seemed to
have to greet antipathy. He probably
knew that they also had venom, and knew
how to use ib, When the wawa buzzed
about eeokiug to escape, he would shove up
a wall of cotton (for there was cotton in the
box) between himself and them. In the
morning the weeps were always dead, but
not devoured. We also put in grasshoppers,
and their kinking much annoyed the spider,
but be would not eat them, In one respect
he showed much more wit than the inseote
which we placed in hie nage ; they labored
incessantly to escape through the glaae;
but, after two or three attempts to get out
he made up his mind that that course wee
aselces; ho was capable of being convinced,
while the flies and bees were not. But
when the glass was removed and he felt
himself in the open air once more, with
what haste he scampered away 1 Xe fled
like a liberated wolf, indeed, and struggled
hard against recapture, When we gave
him his freedom for good and all he rushed
off into the grans and was soon lost to view.
Next in interest to the wolf spider is the
sand -spider, which you may have observed
in the sand upon the sea -coast. They sink
deep wells into the sand, and las in wait
for their prey at the bottom. When you
are upon the beach, notice these little holes
in the sand among the coarse, scattered,
wild grass. Insert a straw or a twig into
one of them and then dig downward, follow-
ing this as a guide, A foot or more below
the surface you will unearth this largo,
gray nand -spider, and with a magnifying -
glees you can see how fiercely his sight eyes
glaro upon you, Try &leo to force a oricket
into one of these holes and see how loth it
will seem to go in.
One's powers of oltsetvation may be culti-
vated by noting all these things, and the
pleasure which one gets from a walk or from
a vacation in the country is thereby greatly
increased. Nothing is beneath notice, and
the closer we look the more we shall learn
about the ways and doings of Nature.
Orators,
It ie encouraging to young speakere to
know that there never bas been, and never
will be, • such a thing as a "born orator."
There has never yet been an instance of an
orator becoming famous who did not apply
himself assiduously to the cultivation of his
art. Many even bad to overcome great phy.
deal infirmities that rendered it almost hope-
less for them to adopt the career of a public
speaker.
The bast known instance is that of De.
mosthenes, who passed some months in a
subterranean Dell, shaving one side of his
head so that he could not appear in publio.
He there practiced with pebbles in his mouth
to overcome a defeat in his speech, and ges-
ticulated beneath a suspended sword to rid
himself of an ungraceful movement of the
bhoulder. Even than he was hissed from the
Gema in hie early efforts, but he persevered
—the world knows with what success.
When Robert Walpole first spoke in the
House ho paused for want of words and oon-
tinued only to stutter and stammer. Cur-
ran was known at scboolas "stuttering Judi
Curran," and in a debating society which he
joined, as "Orator Mum,"
Every one will also readily recall Disraeli s
failure when he rose to make his maiden
epoch. Cubdeo's first effort was also a
humiliating failure. But one should not
oonolude from these instances that every
speaker who breaks down is sure to blossom
into fame subsequently. • We have been
quoting the exceptions to the general rule.
More frequently speakers' mishaps are like
that of the Earl of Rooheeter.
" My lords," said be, on one occasion, I
—1-1 rise thin time, my lords, I—I—I
divide my discourse into four branches."
Here he came to a woeful pause, and then
he added: " My lords, if ever I rise again
in this house I give you leave to cut me off
root and branch forever."
Many of the best orators have even to
their latest efforts, felt a tremor on doing
to speak. Erskine said that on his rising
to plead tor the first time he should have
eat down in confusion hes he not felt his.
children tugging at his gown. The Earl
of Derby, •'the Rupert of debate," always
know when he was going to speak well
by hie nervousness on tieing. This was
also a charaoteristic of Canning. Ab a din-
ner given by the Mayor of Liverpool he
was to nervous before being palled on to
speak that he had twine to leave the room
to eolleot hie thoughts. This may have
been, however, owing to the comparative
novelty of hie position.
Many an orator outside his acouetomed
haunts is oompletely lost. Lord Eldon said
he was al ways somewhat nervous in speaking
at the Goldsmiths' Dinner, though he could
talk before Parliament as though he ware
addressing so many rows of cabbage plants.
Mr. Cobden, speaking of Lord John Russell,
said : "On the boards of the House of
Commons Johnny is one of the most subtle
and dangorous of opponents; take him off
these boards and 1 care nothing for him."
To few was it given as to O'Connell to
suoceed equally with all audiences. Before
he entered the House he was declared to
be a mere " mob orator:" bot in 1830 he
was returned, and in 1831 he was reoog-
nfzod as a leader. Whether in swaying a
meiltitude on a hillside, appealing to bhe
more educated assembly in Parliament, or
in persuading a jury in a court house, ho
was equally at home_
Mu is) in tho Night,
Mies Clara (retired for the night) —•Ethel,
wake up ; there is the sweetest music you
ever Board in front of the house. I just ex-
panted that Charley and his friends would
serenade tie to -night I
Miss Ethel (excited)—Oh, Clara, isn't it
lovely ? Oughtn't we to drop Dome flowers)
from the window?
Miss Clara—Oh, I think so (dropping a
Munch of roses with great nasion). There,
Ethel l
Voice (below)—Mein Gott in internal, ve
no lif on roses.
" Well," said Parson Potmdtext, "I stook
to my text this morning anyhow.' " You
did that," bald the doaoon wearily ; "you
stunk to it till we thought you'd grown fast
to it, Seemed tome you'd newt let go,
MISCELLANEOUS.
New Orleans has dieooverod that there le
money in the panning of shrimps, and It
developing the industry rapidly. It is said
that fully 100,000 esus a day are peeked
there during the season.
A hen was found oonfined in a oar of lumber
from Tenneseeo reoently received et Belfast,
Me„ having been two or three weeks on the
way, The fowl was alive but nearly famish.
ed. It recovered, and is doing well.
A dentist of alleged skill and reputation,
a former Preeident of a Stats dental aseo-
elation ,waa recently sued by a New Bedford
man for pulling the wrong tooth and a piece
of jaw with it, and the jury gave the plain.
tiff 5.100 damages.
frlre.Gooyo, a woman over 70 'years (of
age, was !oft alooewith her two littlegrand-
ohildren in their home or St. Albans Bay,
Vt., the other evening She put the child-
ren into aflit•bottom boat and started from
shore, with nothing but apaddle with which
to control the cranky Draft. A gale was
blowing, the boat was driven out into the
bay and capsizsd,, and grandmother and
grandchildren were drowned.
In England there is just apace enough
between the Dago of the railroad station plat -
forme and the footboards of the passenger
care to let an unwary traveller fall between
and be ground to pi000s by the moving train.
An accident or two has happened, and an
agitation has begun in favor of reform in
the lcotboards or the platforms. "In Amer -
ice," the reformers urge, ".suoh en accident
could not bappsn. "
Persia ie building a railroad from Tehe-
ran to the Caspian Sea. Instead of begin-
ning the railroad at the sea and building
inland, bringing forward the rails and other
materials on the road as it progresses, the
Persians have had all the rails carried on
mules across the desert to Teheran and
have begun the building there. The trans.
poriation expenses are the biggest item -
almost in the cost of the road.
Miss Fambrough of Scull Shoals, Fla„ is a.
young woman of nerve and presence of mind.
The other day her father's Je say bull at-
tacked him, and was in a fair way to 1511
bim. His wife saw him fall and ran toward
him, but the daughter, more thoughtful, first
got the axe, and running up hit the bull inch
a tremendous whaok that it etunaed him, so
that the father had a ohanoe to get up, grab
the axe, and bury its head in the skull of the.
brute.
A pair of sparrows and a pair of robins
net up housekeeping in the same shrub in a
front yard in Canton, Me. The robins,
were first to put a brood abroad, and some
diff eulty with a prow resulted in the death
of the young ones and their father. The
mother robin, after mourning bitterly for
a day or two, discovered the young spar-
rows, end immediately adopted them, and
was found brooding them carefully while
theparent sparrows brought worms and
guarded the home.
Cretonne of the cheap sort used for decor-
ating rooms, turns out to be as arsenioally
poisonous as neon wall paper. Out of forty-
four samples recently examined in London,
none were free from arsenic, three had only
faint traces of it, twenty-one had large traces,
eleven were classed as very bad, and nine
were oallsd "distnotly dangerous." One
specimen yielded nineteen and one-half
grains of white arsenic to the/ square yard,
The greens and blues were the least harm-
ful, while rads, browns, and blacks were
heavily loaded with the poison
In France the surprises of divorce increase
now that the etatietmes have been compiled
and published. These only extend to throe
years—the first three years of the altered
law—but the reeulte are a little starbliag.
The first year 1,800 divorces were pronounc-
ed, the second 4,000, and the third 4,500.
English experience is reversed ; for women
have demanded divorce mi'oh more largely
than men, in the proportion of 60 to 40 per
sent. In more than half of these unhappy
homes there were no children. Tha arftioal
period of married life proved to be the
second ten years of its enjoyment, but there
were 105 couples who parted after thirty
years of married life and twenty four after
forty years. A hundred quarrelled and
were divorced within a year of their union.
The mercantile classes supply the greater
numbers of unhappy marriages—that is,
amongst the well•to do. They are in the
proportion of 800 to 500 amongst profession-
al man and men living on their incomes.
Farmers eome to only 300, but labourers
and artisans to 1,800. There are, of course -
the largest proportion of divorces in the
wealthiest and busiest parts of Franco. In
the more rural districts married people
aro happier or leas venturesome. Taking
the whole of France, it was found that for
every 1,000 marriages there were four
divorcee.
Boulangiam does not, to outward seeming,
progress very fast in France. It would,
however, be rash to assume that it hes ex-
pended its force, or that the ridicule with
which it is assailed in Paris makes much
lees sorioue the danger with which it threat-
ens the Republic. Tho doughty general
himself seems full of hope. 'The move-
ment," he says, " becomes every day stron-
ger and more marked." "Have confidence;
you are sure of euooeeel" As no one ex-
cepting himself, and perhaps even that
exception need not be made, 8e01115 to under.
stand very clearly what the movement is,
or in what direotion it is setting, it ie nob
wonderful that the evidences of pro-
grees are less visible to other oyes than
his own. Much depends, no doubt, upon
the action of the Government. As the
blunders of .the former Ministry gave him
the chance to vault into hie present position,
so a mistake on the part of the present not
vary strong or popular one may at any mo-
ment give him another advantage, which he
would not be slow to use, Sig. Caetelar
probably hardly exagrerates the danger of
the situation when he speaks of Soulaagism
as a " madcap polioy," whioh " may lead to
an explosion of bombshells and dynamite on
every side and to a general war in Europe,"
Should any turn of events lead the fickle
populace to place Boulanger for the moment
at the head of affairs, it to doubtful if any-
thing could avert either the internal oonvul-
sion or the Euro can conflagration whioh
would almost surely follow.
Not Deceived.
Near the end of April last the dirooter
the German mint, at Berlin, brought to th
Emperor Frederick, in his sick ohambe
the first thin bearing bis imago, whioh ha
been struck since his melancholy aooeesi°
to the imperial throne, It wee the first
from the die.
"When will the public issue of this oohing
of mine begin?" asked the sick Emperor,
" On the IStlt of may," said the director
of the mint.
" And shall I not be deal on time 15th of
May 7" maid the Bemordn
Tho Ensnarer, who had been bravely
teeing death far months, otedently was
under no delusion to bo the oharaoter of hie
ilium. Yet he .lived to neo the thin issued ;
n month latex his brief taiga had come to
an end,