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The Exeter Times, 1888-2-16, Page 2NUTHE'S FATTIER. CHAPTER XVII, emt ono Impale>. ' Myleat untravelled til1. retails to tbeeW—Gloix- sem. To go e.broad each bad been the fairy castle of Nuttie's life. She h ad dreamed of $Wise mountains, Italien pictures, Rhein- land castles, v. perpetual panorama of de- light, and here she was in one of the great hotels of Paris, as little likely to isee the lions a that city as the had been to so these Cif London. The party were haltiug for two days there because the denttet, on whom Mr. Ere. moat's fine show of teeth depended, pumas - ed there; but Nuttie spent a great part of the day alone in the sitting- ohm, 8.nd lihr hand -bag and her mother's, with all they book s and little comforts, had been lost in the agony of landing. Her mother's atten- donee was required all the morning, or what Was worse, she expected that it would be, and though Nuttie persistence dragged out the said, silent English maid, who had. never been abroad before, to walk in the Tuilleries gardens, which they could see from their windows, both felt half -scared the whole time. Nuttie was quite unused to finding her own way unprotected, and and Martin was frightened, oross, and mis- erable about the bags, which, she averr- ed, had been left by Gregorio's fault. She no hated Gregorio that only a sort of adore - lion which she entertained for Mrs. Egre- • mont would have induced her to come tete- - a•tete with him, and perhaps he was visiting his disappointment about Mentone on her. In the afternoon nothing was achieved but a drive in the Baas de Boulogne when it was at once made evident that kr. Egremont • would tolerate no questions nor exclama- tions. His mouth was in no condition for eating hea public, and he therefore aecreed that his wife and daughter should dine at the table d'hote while he was served alone by Gregorio. This was a great been to Nettie and to her mother it recalled bridal days long past at Dieppe; but what was their astonishment when on entering the room they beheld the familiar face of Mr. Dutton 1 It was possi- ble for him to place himself between them, eaid there is no describing the sense of rest and protectionhispresence imparted to them, more especially to Nettie He had come over, as he did from time to time, on business connected with the ma- terials he used, and he was beguiled into telling them of his views of Mark, whom he had put in the way of learning the prelim- inaries needful to an accountant. He had 8, deep distrust of the business capacities and perseverance of young gentlemen of family, especially with a countesa.aunt in the neigh- borhood, and quoted Lord Eldon's saying that to make a good lawyer of, one it was needful orhim to heme'spentbothhis own and his wile's fortune to begin with, but he al- lowed that young Mr. Egremont was a very favourable specimen, and was resolutely ap- plying .himself to his work, and that he hiniself felt it due to him to give all the as- sistance possible. Miss Headworth, he could not deny, had aged, but far less than Mrs. Nugent in the past year, and it really was a great comfort to Miss Mary to have the old ladies together. He told too how the mission, now lately over, hadfstirred the Micklethwayte folk into strong excitement, and how good works had been undertaken, evil habits renounced, re- conciliations effected, religious services frequented. Would it hist? Nobody, he said, had taken it up so zealously as Gerard Godfrey, who seemed as if he would fain - throw everything up, and spend hie whole life in some direct service as a home mis- sionary or something of the kind. "He is a good fellow," said Mr. Dutton, "and it is quite genuine, but I made him wait at least a year, that he may be sure that this is not only a passing impulse." Nuttie thought that she knew what was the impulse that had actuated him, and filet a pleaeant elation and self-conscious- ness even while she repressed a sigh of pity for herself and for him. Altogether the dip into the Micklethwayte world was delight- ful, but when Mr. Dutton began to ask Nuttie what she had seen, she burst .not With, Nothing—nothing but just a walk and a drive in the Bois de Boulogne ;' and her mother explained that in Mr. Egre- =ones state of health,' etc. 'I wonder,' asked Mr. Dutton, if I might be allowed—' Nu ttie's eyes sparkled with ecstasy. rt ended in her mother, who had been wondering how Mr. Egremont could be amused all the long evening, arranging that Mr. Dutton should come in an hour's time to call on him, on the chance of being ad- mitted, and that then the offer might be made when she had prepared him for it, ad- vising Nuttie to wait in her own room. She was beginning to learn how to steer between her husband and her daughter, and she did not guess that her old friend was sacrificing one of the best French plays for the chance. It turned out well ; Mr. Egremont was conscious of a want of variety. He demanded whether it was the young fellow, and being Smtisfied on that part, observed in almost a good-humoured tone, "So, we are in for umbrellas, we may as well go in for the whole firm 1" caused the lights to be lowered Wader pretext of his eyes—to conceal the lack of teeth—did not absolutely refuse to let Nuttie take advantage of the escort, and when Mr. Dutton did come to the anteroom of the apartment, he was received with full courtesy, though Gregorio looked unutter- able contempt. Mr. Dutton was a man who could talk, and had seen a O good deal of the world at different times. Mr. Egremont could apreciate intelligent conversation, so that they got on wonder- fully well together, over subjects that would have been a mere weariness to Nuttie but for the exceeding satiafriction of hoeing a Micklethwayte voice. At last Mr. Dutton said something about offering his escort to thc ladies, or to Miss Egremont, who used, he said in a paternal way, to be a little playfellow of his; Mr. Egremont really smiled. and said, Ay, ay, the child is young enough to mind eights. Well, thank you, if you are as good as to take the trouble, they will be very greatfal to you, or if her mother cannot go with her, there's the mad. Nuttie thought he had never known him soamiable, clod hardly durstbelieve her good fortune would not turn the wheel before morning. And it so far did thee her mother found, or thought she found, that it would not do to be out of call, and sent the silent Martin in her stead. But Mr. Dutton had sent telegraphs to work and recovered the bags, which'Gregorio hadpro- fessed to rive up in despair. A wonderful amount of lionising was con- trived by Mr. Dutton, who had lived a few yeas at Paris ha early youth, and had made hiniself &untainted alike with what was most worth seeing, an& the best ways and means of seeing it so that as little time as possible was wasted on the unimportant. was one of the white days of Nuttie's life, wanting nothing but her mother's par- leipation in. the aiglit of the $t, Idlohapi of he Lonvre, of the Sainte Chapelle, of the vitas in Notre Dame, and of poor Mario Antoinettets cello—all that they lied longed to see together She hed meant to tell Mr. Dutton that it was all her father's seldshness, bet somehow the ould not say ao, there was souaething about him that hindered all unbefittiug put- brealee of vexation. And thus, when elle mentioned her disap- pointrneut at not being allowed to go to Micklethwayte with her uncle, he answered, " You could not of course be spared with your father iso unwell," "Oh, he never let me come near hira ! I wasn'p of the slightest use to him 1" "Mrs, Egremont would heve missed you." "Really he never gave her time, He per- fectly devours her, body- and soul. Oh dtar, no 1'Twas for no good I was kept there, but 'just pride and ingratitude, though mother tried to call it being afraid for my manners and my style. "In which, if you lapse into such talk, you fully justify the precaution. I was just thinking what a young lady you had grown into," he answered in a tone of banter, un- der which, however, she felt a rebuke; and while direetirig her attention to the Pan- theon, he took care to get within hearing again of Martin. And in looking at these things, he carried her so far below the surface. St. Michael was not so muoh Raffaelle's triumph of art as the eternal victory over sin; the Sainte Chapelle, spite of all its modern unsauctified gaudiness, was redolent of St, Louis; and the cell of the slaughtered queen was as a martyr's shrine, trod with reverence. There were associations with every turn, and Nuttie might have spent yeqrs at Paris with another companion without imbibing so many impressions as on this December day, when she came home so full of happy chatter that the guests at the table d'hote glanced with amusement at the eager girl as much as with admiration at the beautiful mother. Mr. Dutton had been invit- ed to come and take coffee and spend the evening with them again, but Mr. Egremont's affairs with the dentist had been completed, and he had picked up, or, more strictly speaking, Gregorio had hunted up for him, a couple of French ac- quaintances, who appeared before long and engrossed him entirely. Mr. Dutton sat between the two ladies on a stiff dark green sofa on the opposite side of the room, and under cover of the eager, half -shrieking, gesticulating talk of the Frenchmen they had a quiet low -toned con- versation, like old times, Alice said. "More than old times," Nuttie added, and perhaps the others both agreed with her. When the two Englishwomen started at some of the loud French tones, almost imagining they were full of rage and ay, their friend smiled and said that such had. been his first notion on comirg abroad. "You have been a great deal abroad?' Mrs. Esmemont asked; you seem quite at home in Paris." "O, mamma, he showed me where the school was that he went to, and the house where he lived ! Up such an immenee way 1" Mr. Dutton was drawn on to tell more of hie former life than ever had been known to them. His fa.ther, a wine merchant, had died a bankrupt when he was ten years old, and a rehetion, engaged in the same buainess at Paris, had offered to give him a few years of foreign schooling, and then make him useful in the business. His excellent mother had come with him, and they had lived together on very small means, high up in a many -storied lodging - house, whilehe daily attended theLyeee. His reminiscences were very happy of those days of cheerful contrivance, of her eager deeire to make the tiny appartement a home to her boy, of their pleasant Sundays and holidays, and the life that in this manner was pecul- iarly guarded by her influence, and the sense of being all she had upon earth. He had scarcely ever spoken of her before, and he dwelt on her now with a tenderness that showed how she had been the guiding spirit of his life. At fifteen he was taken into the office at Marseilles, and she went thither with him, but the climate did not agree with her;- she drooped, and, moreover, he discovered that the business was not conducted in the hon- ourable manner he had suppoaed. After a few months of weighing his obligations to his kinernan against these instincts, the question was solved by his cousin's retiring. He resolved to take his mother back to Eng- land at any loss, and falling in with one of the partners of the umbrella firm in quest of French silk, he was engaged as foreign correspondent and brought his mother to Micklethwayte, but not in time to restore her health, and he had been left alone in the world just as he came of age, when a small legacy came to him from his cousin, too late for her to profit by it. It had been invested in the business, and he had thus gradually risen to his present posi- tion. Mrs. Egremont was amazed to hear that his mother had only been dead so short O time before she had herself come to Micklethwayte; and fairly apologised for the surprise she could not help betraying at finding how youthful he had then been, and Nuttie exclaimed, in her original unguarded fashion: "Why, Mr. Dutton, I always thought you were an old bachelor 1" "Nuttie, my dear 1" said her mother in a note of warning, hut Mr. Dation laughed and said: "Not so far wrong! They tell me I never was a young man." "You had always to be everything to your mother;' said Mrs, Egremont softly. "Yes," be said, "and a very blessed thing it was for me." " Ah 1 you don't regret now all that you must have always been giving up for her," returned Alice. "No, indeed. Only that I did not give up more." "Thai is always the way." " It ,is indeed. One little knows the whips that a little self-will prepares." Nettie thought he said it:for her admoni- tion, and observed, "But she was good," only, however, in a mumble, that the other two thought it inexpedient to notice, though it made both hearts ache for her, even Alice's —with an additional pang of self-reproach that she herself was not good enough to help her daughter better. Neither of them guessed at the effect that O glimpse of the logely young seeming widow had had on the already grave self -restrained young man in the home lately made lonely, how she had been his secret object for years, and how, when her history was revealed to him, be had still hoped on fer a certainty which had come at last, as so fatal a shock and overthrow to all hie dreams. A life of self-restraint and self -conquest had rendered it safe for him to thoroughly enjoy the brief intercourse, whitish had come about by the accident ot his having Orne to dine at the Hotel de Lowere, to meet a Wend who had fatted him. Theseewere two completely happy horns to all the three, and when they said " good - tight" there was a sense of Imo -thing and in- ingoration on Alice's mind; and on Nuttie' that patience and dutifulizens were the be modes of doing jotter) to her Mioklethwayte training, although he had isoaroely paid a Word of direct rebuke or comae'. While Mr. Dutton sped home to toll Miss Heaclworth that Mrs, Egremont looked love- lier than ever, and wasa-yes she was—more of an angel, that her husbeucl bad been very pleasant, muck better than he expected, azid, 'Mcleod, might come to any thing good under moll influence; and as to little Nuttie —she was dovelopiug fast, and had a brave constant heart, altogether at Micklethwayte. But that servant who was rioting as courier was an insolent scoundrel, who was evidently cheating them to the least degree. CHAPTER XVIII.—A Fawn ria NEED. i" True conrage often Is in irIghtoned eyes."— wentgets and Verses. All the preliminaries of the sojourn at Nice had been settled in correspondence, and the Egremont family had nothing to do, after arriving at the station, but to drive up to Villa Eugenie, whose flower -wreathed balconies were like a vision of beauty, Ser- vants had beeu hired through agencies known to Mr. Egremont, and Gregorio look- ed very black at his mistress keeping the reins in her hand, and tried to make her feel herself inefficient. It was not an eventful or very interesting part of Ursula's life. She was almost wild with the novelty and beauty of the South at first, but except for what she could thus see, there was little variety. The mould of the day, was as much as possible after the Bricigefield fashion, except that there were no cousins at the Rectory, no pariah interests, very little society, as far as the ladies were concerned. Mr. Egremont had old acquaint- ances and associates with whom he sperm after- noons and evenings, after his own fashion, but they were not people to whom he wish- ed to introduce his wife and daughter. And the superior Exiglish habitues of Nice, the families who formed the regular society, knew Mr. Egremont's reputation sufficient- ly to feel by no means disposed eh be cor- dial to the fair wife and grown-up daughter whom he so unexpectedly produced on the acme. It had been different at home, where he had county standing, and the Canon and Canoness answered for the newcomers but here, where all sorts of strange people came to the eurface, the respectable felt it need- ful to be very cautious, and though of oourse one or two ladies had been asked to call through the intervention of Lady Kirkaldy or of Mrs. William Egremont, and had been assured on their authority that it was "alt right," their attentions were clogged by doubt, by reluctance to involve their mankind in intimacy with the head of the family. Thus very little of the proverbial gaiety of Nice offered ieself to Nuttie and her mother, and, except by a clerical family who knew Mr. Spyers, they were kept at a distance, which Mr. Egremont perceived and resented by permitting no advances. The climate suited him so well that, to his wife's great relief, he seemed to have dropped his incli- nation for sedatives ; but his eyes would not bear much, and she felt bound to be always on the alert, able to amuse him and hinder his feeling it dull. Gregorio highly disap- proved of the house and servauts, and was always giving hints that IVIentone would agree far better with his master; but every day that Mr. Egremont seemed sufficiently amused at Nice was so much gain, and she had this in her favour, that he was always indolent and hard to move. Moreover, between his master's levee and late dinner Gregorio was hardly over to be Gregorio was hardly ever to be found. No doubt he knew the way to Monte Carlo well, enough, and perhaps preferred that the fam- ily should be farther off, for he soon ceased to show himself disoontented with their present abode. Once when his absence was inconvenient, Mr. Egremont abused him roundly as a good-for-nothing gambler, but when Alice hoped that he might be called to a reckoning, the wrath had subsided with the immediate vexation and as usual she was told "Alt those fellows were alike." The foreign servants were not to be in- duced to give the early -rising ladies more than a roll and cup of coffee, and Nuttie felt ravenous till she learned to lay in a stock of biscuits, and, with Martin's conniv- ance, made tea on her own account, and sustained her mother for the morning's walk be -fore the summons to Mr. Egremont. He always wanted his wife much earlier in the day, during his hours of deshabille, and letting her write his letters and read the papers to him. She was pleased with this advance, but it gave Nuttie a great deal more solitude, which was sometimes judiciously spent, but it was very hard not to be desultory in spite of learning lessons in French, Italian, and drawing. Later in the day came the drive or the visit to the public gardens when the band was playing, but this became less frequent as Mr. Egremont observed the cold civility shown to his wife, and as he likewise grew stronger and made More engageinents of his own. Then Nuttie had happy afternoons of driving, donkey -riding, or walking with her mother, sketching, bota.nisiog, admirinta and laying up stores for the long descriptive letters that delighted the party in St. An- bro se Road, drinking in all the charm of the scenery, and entering into it intelligent- ly. They spent a good many evenings alone tegether likewiee, and it could not but give Alice a pang to see the gladness her daugh- ter did not repress when this was the case, even though to herself it meant relaxation of the perpetual vignanue she had to exert when the father and daughter were together to averthollisions. They were certainly not coming nearer to one another, thongh Nuttie was behaving very well and eubmissively oe the whole, audselclom showing symptoms of rebellion. This went on throah the early part of their stay, bet latterly there was a, growing onse upon that she and her mother were avoided bysome young ladies to whom i they bad been ntroduced, end whom they saw regularly at the daily services at St. Michael's Church. They were pleasant - looking girls, with whom Nuttie longed to fraternise, aud he was mortified at never being allowed to get beyond it few frigidly civil words iu the street, more especially when she Caine upon sketching parties and picnics in which she was never included. (TO BE CONTINUED.) AN ILL-FATED VESSEL. ' The British Ship Abereorn Wrecked ou the Washington Territory Coast—Only Three of the Crew of 21 Saved. SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 9 —Advice* have been received here to the effect that a vessel supposed to be the British iron barque Ab - °room, bound from Mare port, England, to Portland, Oregon'was wrecked on the Washington Territory coast on the night of February 1. The vessel arrived off Colum; bia, River bar February 1, but being unable to get over the breakers put to sea again. She was caught in the gale, driven north- ward, and during the night was wrecked on the cost near Gray's Harbour, The sea was so high that the officers and crew eould not leave the vessel. They tried to do so, bit bfailed, and all perished exoept two seamen andan appr suttee. It is thought that fully 20 lives were lost. Her captain was named MoCullon. The vessel had a cargo of iron ore, and the ship and cargo were valued at $120,000. A Portland, Oregon, dispatch says: It is reported here that the barque Abercorn, wrecked off Gray's Harbor, carried a crew of 27 officers and men of whom but three were saved. :A MURDER PLOT EXPOSED. The Plotters Insured a Man's Life, and Then Attempted to Mill ALBANY, Fes, lst.—A startling story comes from Valatie, though the names are withheld for the present for the reason that some of those believed to be implicated have not yet been arrested. A well-known reel - dent of the'village has made a deposition be- fore Justice Miller that another Valatie man some time ago proposed to him that they snould induce a neighbor to insure his life for $2,000 in their favor, and then make away with him so as to get the insuranoe money. The witness agreed, and the two conspirators paid their contemplated victim $25 to take out a. policy. Afterward the originator of the scheme mixed a pint of whiskey and two ounces of blue vitrol and tied to get the manto drink it. He remark- ed upon the unusual color, and persisted in drinking from his own flask. Then the villains planned to make their victim intox- icated, walk him out on a plank to the mid- dle of a stream, and then tip him off. The man was very wary, however, and this plan also failed. The instigator of the plot is in jail, and the informer will be called at his trial as a witness for the State. Methods for Despatching Criminals. hAuto da fe or execution by the Spanish inquisition, usually by burning. • Beating with clubs, practised by the South African tribes. Beheading or decapitation, known to the Greeks, Romans, and Jews, and used for- merly in England and France, and now in China and Japan. Blowing from cannon, employed in quell- ing a rebellion among the Sepoys in India. Boiling formerly used in England in the case of poieoners. Burning, a familiar mode of execution in the time of the early religious persecutions. Burying alive, employed among barbarous tribe° and even m civilized countries. Crucifixion, a very ancient form of execu- tion. Decimation, employed by military trib- tmale where every tenth man was chosen by lot to die in eases where a large number of soldiers mutinied. Dichotomy, or bisecting, mentioned in the Bible, where it is written men were sawn asunder. Dismemberment, used in France in the seventeenth century. Drowning, in vogue in ancient Syrie, Grew, Rome, and Persia. Exposure to wild beasts, an ancient pun- ishment. Flaying alive, formerly used in England. Flogging with the knout, used in Russia. Garroting, a punishment originally de- vised by the Arabs and Moors. The guillotine, hal-kart, impalement, pois- oning, hanging, pounding in a mortar, pre- cipation, pressing to death, the rack, run- ning the gauntlet, shooting, stabbing, ston- ing, strangling, and suffocation. --,,,swimetennemene- Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe is in better health than for several years. Nething aodelerates the netVOUS Inaa'il pace So Hulett aS hearing it ton of coal beingtliseharged 011 the Sidewalk PUS behitul him. EUROPEAN NEWS. Darkening War Clouds—A Step vrhich Precedes an Ultimatum. BERLIN, Feb. 6.—While the sernimffivial press effects to regard the publioation of the Austro -German treaty as having a pacific intent, official and diplomatic, circles know that its real aim is to force the Clear to an immediate war or compel hina to submit to terms for a permanent peace dioteted by the allies. The substano of the treaty has long been known to both the Russian and French governments. At the time of ite int option at the conference between Prince Bismarck and Count Andrassy at Gasteiu, in August, 1879, confidential disclosures stating the character of the compact were m ade by Prince Bismarck to the Czar as an inducement to break off negotiations for a Russo -French alliance. The day after the treaty was signed Prince Bismarck made a special communication of the fact to both the French and Russian ambassadors, with- holding only the exact terms of the treaty. The publication reveals nothing to any Europeen Government. Before disclosing ib to the people the step was anxiously and repeatedly discussed by Prince Bis- marck, Couut Kalnoky and Herr von Tisza. The Austrian Ministerial Council, the Em- peror presiding, consented to the publication of the treaty only last week, upon urgent representations from Prince Bismarck that the time was opportune. Its appearanoe at the present juncture recalls the utterance of Prince Bismarck when he was reproached in the Reichstag for refusing to submit to that body certain diplomatic correspond- ence. "Once a government determines th publish important documents," he said, "matters should have gone so far that no- thing but war is likely to be the outcome of thehituation." By the light of this memor- able statement the immense signifi- cance of the publication of the treaty at the present crisis will be • seen. It is the step which precedes an ulti- matum. If Russia continues to arm and push forward masses of troops, menacing the strategic points on the frontiers, and if the pending negotiations. for an offensive and defensive alliances with France should succeed, the central powers will not wait the convenience of the French and Russian governments to declare war. The crisis, therefore, nears a climax. PRESIDENT YLOQUET AND THE czAR. Advices from Si. Petersburg to -night seek to minimize the importance of the reconcil- iation between the Czar and M. Floquet, by representing that the exchange of courtesies between M. Floquet and Baron von Mohnen- helm, the Russian Ambassador at Paris was not of high !political significance, and that M. Flovaet has outlived the "Tivega, Po- logne 1" mistake. His present attitude jaa- tifies the approaches of Baron von Ifohron- helm. If the Floquet incident had been a mere exchange of courtesies the Berlin Chancellerie would not have heeded it. Its tame :significance, as learned through the German Embassy at Paris, is that Baron von Mohrenheim is negotiating an alliance, under President Carnet's assent, with lead- ers of the Frenee Radicals, who are likely to term a lasting war Cabinet. MM. Flo- quet, de Freycinet, Brisson and Motions have been sounded on the subject. If Moh- renheim succeeds in convincing the French leaders in favor of an alliance, the Tirard ministry will be replaced by a Freyoinet Boulanger Cabinet within two months. He Wasn't Going to Begin to Rob People So Early in the Year. Customer—" The coat is too large, I tell you, Isaac. Why, man, it hangs on re like a sack." Clothing Dealer (second-hand) —" Do you dinks this vas a coal yard or a grocery sdore eh? Vell, it vasn't 1 I gifs you goot mea- sure, mine vriendc. I gifs you the vorth of your money. Vat you vent mit a goat dot fit you like de paint on a parpers bole, preezes blowing through mit your viskers, eh? I guess node. I gifs you plenty cloth th keep the cold owid." "But, hang it, a man wants th be as near the fashion as possible. I don't vant to look like a clothes pole wrapped in a bank - "Ho 1 ho 1 You vents to be a dude! Hol ho 1" "No. I simply vent to be ',decently dressed." "Veil, mine vriendt, dot goat make you so. Let me sec; turn ronnt. ! you looks like Lord Landsdowne in dot goat. No, you vas node so tall as Lansdowne. You vas aboud the heighd of the Brine of Vales, und py shiminy yon looks shoost like the Brince in dot goat. Not kvide so sdoud, but shoot aboud id. vot aid I say vas de brice of dot goat ?" " Seven dollars." "By shiminy gracious, I was rob' mine- seluf if I sells dot goat for seffen telex. Dat was a fifteen tolar goat—" "Bat you offered it to me for seven del tars.' " Vell, yell, dake it, dake it. 1 dond go back on mine vort. Bat I was rob mine- seluf so helup me gracious." "Yon aro robbing yourself by givinv it to me for seven dollars?" "So helup me gracious 1" "Well, then, I will rob no man. I swore off all evil on New Year's Day and I am not going to begin to rob people as early as this. I won't take the coat." "You woad dake dot goat? Dot goat dot make you look like the &ince of Valet?" "Not if it made me look like Mayor Clarke. 1 will rob no man." "Say, mine vriendt, vat you gif for dot goat?" "1'11 give you three dollars." "Tree dollar 1 Ha 1 ha 1 ha 1 Pahaps you clinks I keeps a aharity bureau." "Three dollars." (Preparing to take the coat off.) "Sy fife toter." "Three dollars." "Say four War," "Dake it, dake it, dake it." A Rule that Doesn't Always Work. "Blessed are they that expect little," he said to the convict, "for they shall not be disappointed." " Hold on there, pard. That's just where you're out. I expected little when I was up for burglary, and got twenty years." Sarah Bernhardt proposes to be the great- est mother-in-law on record. "1 shall put into the part all my heart, all my art," says she. Her preitents to the daughter-in-law began with a diamond neoltlace for 60,000 franca aid ran all the way down to a fur PERS ORAL. rauline Lucoa hasanuounced,her intention of tahing up her abode in Vienna anti giv- ing stngiug lessons. Mr. and Mrs. Glaclathne left orders that no letters should be forwarded to than from England during their stay in Italy. 21Ieezi Victoria is to receive the first bar of gold taken from the newly discovered, G wyn-fynydd Mine at Dolgelly, Wales. Madame Sollier, a beautiful mulatto wo- men, the wife of a French professor, has passed her examinatiozas and been received as a Doctor of the Paris Faculty; Von Moltke's simple habits are likely to iasure him a long old. age. He enjoys faintly life, shuns company, and talks rarely, but pithily, and relishes a good game of whist. The Austrian Ministereof Public Instruc- tion has issued a deoree terbidding the use of small printed books telrweblic schools, as the cause of the near-sightedness so prevalent among school olaildren, Mine. Adelina Patti has decided to for- sake Wales. She was shocked by the recent burglarious visit to Oraig-y-noe Castle, by which she lost one of her most valuable rings, the gift of a distinguished admirer. She has determined to part with her Welsh estate, and it will soon be in the market. De Brom, the African explorer, says the upper Congo region teems with ivory. He found large quantities of tusks in some of the villages, and they were often offered to him for small quantities of beads. While he was floating down the river he saw in eight days 105 elephants along the bank. George W. Rosure, known as the "cow- boy evangelist," is said by an Arkansas newspaper to be worth $700,000, which yields him an income of $150 a day. His fortune was made in cettle and by lucky in- vestments in real estate. He is just 40 yore ol 1, and in his youth was reputed to be one of the most lawlees of the desperadoes of the plains. W. J. Florence, the comedian, is the pes sessor of more than 100 volumes of rare old plays that were given him by the Duke of Manchester. Among them is a oopy of the first playhouse edition of " Hamlet, ' which was once the property of Betterton'and is annotated on almost every page by his pen- cil. The Crown Princess of Austria presented her husband, Prince Rudolf, with a complete outfit of geometrical instruments as a New Year's gif t. The case of walnut, inlaid with silver, which held the inetruments also con- tained a pretty letter from the Princess trusting that their lives would "henceforth be happier." Misa Tanker, a rich and eccentric old lady, died just before Christmas at her ountry place in Essex, England. She was a persis- tent disbeliever in railways and never enter- ed a railway carriage, but mlyeana trgehlita in her own coach, following the old-fashion- ed method when undertakingre long journey of having her homes changedlat the roadside inn:fashion paper tells of a remarkable wed- ding in London recently, where the bride was attended by a lot of little girls clad in blaok velvet frocks, red et-in:kings black shoes'red cloaks, and red thhee-oornered hats, trimmed with black velvet and carry- ing red bunquete tied with red -mead black ribbons. Somebody said that they looked like a lot of little devils—a very good des- cription, to judge from the costumes. A correspondent who had a personal in- terview (or says that he did) with the poet Whittier on his eightieth birthday, writes that the 'good old man seemedquite sadfundei O strong impression that it was hisettest birthday. The subject of marriage Co in- troduced, and he said "as a -blond gathered over his face :" "Ah, I was so interested in my poetry and in the slavery struggle that I permitted those golden days to go by with- out getting married, and now I am. sorry.' A man named Zeli Baba, aged 102, who was the last of the Janissaries, has just died at Sarajevo. When the Janissaries were massacred in 1826 by order of the Sultan, Mahmoud IL, Zeii Baba escaped and took refuge in Russia. He subsequently return- ed th Sorajevo, and was earniog his living there as a sohoolmaster when the Austrians took possession of the country. He was a man of great abilities, and published a book of Persian poems, which are much read in the East. Phil Armour's method of distributing Christmas gifts to the 2,000 Sanday-school children of his 8280,000 mission was peculiar. „. After the usual Christmas services the lights ete were turned down and then was seeeweewthe ' platfoim, brilliantly lighted, aninfiliature fac-smile of the mission building. Every architectural peculiarity and clutraoteristie was reproduced. As the children marched past the portico of the little building men within handed ont Cartstmas presents, and when they were all gone the building was taken to pieces and was then found th be made of articles imitable for gifts and which were distributed. The millionaire pork packer was present with his family, appar- ently as happy as the happiest child there, If the throat trouble of the Crown Prince of Germany causes his death soon, the heir to the throne will be his eldest son, Prinoe Wilhelm, of whom the Countees von Krock- ow writee "The Germans cannot for- give an heir apparent of the throne having been born mediocre in figure and imperfect- ly formed. Prince Wilhelm has a crippled ann. The fingers are mere knobs. In the Hussar uniform there is a pocket, and he wears it because the three fingers of the helplets member etin be hung in the pocket. Otherwise it haugs awkwardly and help- lessly in its sleeve. His horses are especi- ally trained, and before the Prince is to mount are ridden three-quarters of an hour to wear them down. He can just manage to hold the reins. We were together in a country house. 1 looked with our hostess at the fork with which he eats. It fit of silver, and not conspicuously different from others, but fixed to the under tine there is o sharp, small blade. What re Prince cannot cat with the one hand are 1 with this blade he does not undertaker to eat. The right hand and arm are large and of ex- traordinary dexterity, but the little finger is deformed by a growth which the Prince only imperfectly conceals by wearing ringe up to near the third phalange." A Skull. Grim mockery of man 1 that beeriest to emile With lipless leer whene'er I pass thee by; Whose inghtlese orbs in blank uncertainty With steadfast stare my tranquil gaze revile; I know tho lesson of thy strange profile That from this body soon my soul shall fiy, And, when nay tongue is still and olosed mine eye, Upon my bones the mother earth must pile; Thou jeiisteo; Truth—in but a little while Femm This e ahall be as thine, perchatite to lie Before another we would learn to die, And with the dust hie thoughts would room, o From thee these Words unspoken mob my hoart. rs4k Prepare to meet thy God when soul and body part.