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The Brussels Post, 1898-12-9, Page 2T ,1,7. .1'J B dY M 1.7 B B ,6,.! S POS T. Tr_stzkg '' Diamond Cut ➢Jaamond 001, THE ROUT OF THE ENEMY. CHAPTER V. earthly—land° to battle and to fight A wide expanse of flooded meadow lin the think of life's combat—whilst land, frozen completely over, a lame- Angel was but a dream -child, fost. dary of stunted willows in a long mel-{ erect upon tender fancies, and erad- auaholy nue to the rising ground to) led in a poetic atmosphere of beeu- the north, nnl.ufttded ever with clumps of tiful imaginations. bare and blackened trees, surmounted! "You had much better wish us by o the east fog, and flatness rand wil ' as de ht�ooand Less ler so o they reasaid hed Duane he lows—and over all the grey gloomy ; front door—Angel had gone on. "You curtain of an afternoon winter sky. 'can't like tea—not really!" she added A melancholy scene indeed, save for with a comical persistence. two moving apatite of vivid life, which ' 1 don't in the least," lie answered, transfigured the whole picture into "I like you and your sister," brlghtnesa and vitality—two girls The dran•ingroom at Harliford Grange skimming over the face of the frozenwas ruddy with the firelight, it look - water, the swish swish of their thoroughly homelike a,nd cosy in eon - skates keeping time to the rhythmicaltrast to the greyness and coldness movemeuts of their figures. Never a', without. It was untidy end lit - word do they speak, only as they bal-! tered over with feminine trumperies, gnoe themselves easily on their flying for there was no careful mother to feet, they approach and part, andwhirl put things straight when the girls in wide circles round each other with had gone out; their fancy work and e certain method in their evolutions,' painting materials lay scattered about that eaoh seems to know and act up- the room, the open piano was strewn on. with music, the table covered with Never Ran a woman's graceful form novels and magazines ; there was a have a mare becoming baokground than general sense of irresponsibility about that of snow and ice—every curve, ev- it, an aspect of womanhood in her first ery undulating movement of these +youth, unrestricted by maternal or charming figures is thrown out into maiden -aunt -like snpervision, yet it sharp relief against the surface of icewas homelike for all that—there was upon which they move. They are I a charm in the very disorder, for it both of them perfect mistresses of the! told of the daily lives, fall of interests art of skatutg. As they advance and j and ocoupations, which the two sisters retreat by turns, as they skim fleetly lads together over the frozen surface. or Angel had but rung the bell for tea describe wonderful patterns at almost in passing, flung ber bat and skates inconceivable angles, no ungraceful or down upon a sofa, and sat down at awkward movement disturbs the ab- once to tbe open piano. When Dulcie solute security of their well -poised at- and Lessiter came in after their short titudes—each glia. keeps her bands well passage at arms in the hall, her voice, tucked into her muff, and seems as a pure high soprano, was ringing much at home upon the slippery sur-', through the room in the npening notes face Be though she were walking across of one of Tosti's songs—Dulcte, on her ber drawing -room in the grey house ; knees upon the hearthrug poking the beyond on the slope of the hill. •fire, joined in with a second; music So absolutely speechless are they, and i was a part of their Alfa, the piano a so perfectly still are their bodies, save friend that filled up all the unoccupied tor the swift flying feet and the slight Intervals of -existence. The song nev- er movement of their dark, er got further than the first vrrse, for red skirts, that there is at last; aeon Angel got up and joined the two at In the awift darkening twilight, some- the fh'eside. thing almost akin to the uncanny in' Do you know that ?" she asked of the sight of them—a. something that I'essiter- aauses a stealthy watcher, who has "You sang it to me the last time I been standing motionless for some was kers," he answered. time under one of the willows along Ah, yes," she murmured softly. So the ditch to the south, to exclaim he remembered, then I She gazed aloud, more however to himself than with dreamy epee into the fire. - for the benefit of tbe actors in the "My dear Angel, do take your jacket scene he watching: atch' off, you will get so hot," suggested "Great is ns are you never go- Dulcie the practical—she was for ever ing to stop!" The volae sped through cutting in upon these moods of Angel's the keen frosty air with preternatural Oh' why world she not sec, why would distinctness. The skaters slackened she not understand? she said to her - their speed, drawing nearer to each I self with in, sort of anger at the bliud- other as they did so—each reached out nese of the sister she adored. For n band to her sister, and the rough Angel was Duloie's idol—her beauty grating of their arrested skates croak -:and her talent, her sweet temper and ed out harshly and inharmoniously to- i her poetic er temperameIIt, of all hely ped her gether. younger sister, a divinityover which Did anybody speak, Ange!?^ I it seemed to Inc it was heprovince to "I-1 think so, Dulcie—what did it watch and to guard, lest trouble or sound like?" vexation should in any fashion come "It sounded like a—man," replied' near her. And now, despite her ten - cis solemnly, with the noun quite der care, this dreadful thing had hap - iii capital letters. "Pray Heaven its nota tramp I"pend that Angel had fallen in love It was remarkable that neither •of ' with Horance Lessiter. Horace, them was in the very least degree out whom every child might have seen to of breath.be infatuated with herself. It is pos- "I think it moat be Captain Least - i.' that, but for Angel, Dulcie might ter " said Angel. with a flush upon her have responded to the adoration ex- ialjt, peach -like face. pen ed upon her, for Lessiter was an A tall young man now name walk- idle, good-looking young fellow, for Lag across the ice towards them, from ever at the house, and the girls' Lives the shelter of the willows. He was moreover strangely solitary and lonely; dressed in a reugh shooting coat and moreover Lessiter, nithoiigh not en - leathern gaiters. It was difficult at dowed with any very noble qualities, first, in the fading light, to distin- had agreeable manners and was like- sh his face; but as he name near -able and companionable, and love, as like - gash everyone has beau told, begets love. er, they recognized him. "Stand and deliver!" cried mkt.. as a factor of possible misery i o Angel, "Are you a burglar, or a tramp 3—or, she almost bated him; every misdirect- a pleasant compound of both?" ed and misunderstood sentence that. he 'Which did you take me for ?" uttered, every misappropriated look "Neither, Captain Lessiter ; I knew and word which Angel in her blind - you at owe," said Angel, softly. nese took to herself, pierced the heart By Jove! bow splendidly -you girls of her sister with impotent wretched - do skate! I never saw anything like Hess. She did not dare to tell her the it—it quite frightened me, at least. Itruth—she might indeed have said to began to think you were not alive— her, "Horace Lessiter does not love only automatically wound up. I never you," but should Angel question, "Why saw Englishwoman skate like that—" than is be always Here?" it was not in "We are not English—we are Can- her nature to wound the gentle heart. adians," cried Dulcie, with her little by the reply, "Ha comes hero for me," nose in the air. "It would be a die- This was the serio-comedy that was grave to us, if we couldn't skate pro just now playing itself out at Harliford perly, after spending five winters in Grange. Soon, new actors are to be in - Canada with our mother's people." traduced and new sreuea placed upon "Ah, that accounts for it then. So ta stage, but at this moment there aro your mother was a aCnadian—but Mr.but these threw. The tall, fair-haired Halliday, surely he !s an English- Young man, indolent, impecunious, man?" without. any settled home or accupa- "Papa? Oh, he's John Bull to his tion, having Fold out 00 his profession finger-tips," answered Dulcie, with a from sheer idleness, existing vaguely little scornful, careless shrug of upon his position of heirpresumpliv° to her shoulders—"but we, Angel and I a childless brother but a few years old - her than himself, and livingfor e a Lh e like betterto belongto our moth w Present uponnn what allowance flat oro - er's people." By this time they had. reached the l:har °hoar to give him, and the two side of the foe nearest to the house— Halliday girls, with their bright nom - the girls skimming along slowly, with Alexions and gracrfui figures— Angel swaying backwards and forwards move- positively beautiful, and Dulice dangn''- masts; the tall young man walking, Dusty piguante and a.ttea otive—such is with long atrid:as, between them, They the trio gathered about the little tea- with off their skates, nimbly and swift- tabPeo le don't understand the ly, declining masculine assistance. lof skating in this ban' hted.countjoys y s of telt?" .said Horace J.essiter verive me a y humbly, Dulcia was Baying, with her mouth „ standing, like a plaintiff at the bar, full of bui.t.ared toast. "When we gat before them beth. Ii c looked at a good frost nobody seems lo make the Angel—but there was a furtive move- most of it. Doesn't your sinter -in-law went of his whole, broad -shouldered skate?" person towards .Uulci.e. "Lady Instiller'? Ohl after a fashion "Of course—coma up to the house to —she wrote to town for some skates I tea," murmured Angel, with down-,Yesterday,I believe." and ,eyes—but Dutch: lifted. hers bold- There it nal Why hadn't she got ly--and somewhat defiantly—up to her skates all ready?" . his. "Oh, Dulled" exc•lnimed Angel, "Tea'? You Englishmen take five "don't you wish we could have anight o'clock tea like women. What a mise procession with lamps, as we used to erable, soft -nurtured set you all are]' ;have in Canada? It was so lovely, "You refuse me hospitality, then?"Captain Lessiter; we all used to go out be said bitterly, turning upon her— 'after dinner in couples in a long pro - "the hospitality of a cup of tea--" 1oession, hand in hand, each couple car- Dullae laughed. "Oh, if you care to ried a lantern. You can't ;think bow come," alta began, Iovely it looked — all the moving "i do care," --he answered eagerly-- lights, and the dark figures, and the "Miss Halliday turning to Angel, strange, mysterious echoes, Oh, Dui. "you know that I carol" loin! dona you think we might get it up They were walking up to the house ham?" --Angel's peifeet profile was turn -1 "My dear child, where is the procea- eel aside—a flush of happiness—the i —thesten to come from? You and S with happiness vvhiah the presence of the Captain Lassiter to carry the carriage man. whom she lovas gives to a wo- lamps behind us? That wouldn't: make Mall, was upon her face—s e ad noIt ver 'striking ex ihilion as regarded courage to lift ]tar oyes to his—pear, i in the light: of a midnight illumina- shoriesighted Angel, Dulcie walked I tion—now would it?" on her other eide--eha was not neer- I "Wouldn't Sir George and Lady ly so lovely as her deter—the had s,!Lessiter join!" part,' rehouses nose, and a wide! "'.i'ee, I daresay they might," admit- latughinu mouth -but Dulice was a wo-'tad Horace, to whom the idea of amid - Men, with all a woman's keen, quiek!night skating tete-°'tote, hand In hand instincts. She was of the earth, with either sister, presented, by no means an uutempting prospeoi, "and then we could send for soma of the neighbours perhaps; that ,is, if Vene- tia fancies the Idea, and takes trouble about it -she would give us all supper at the Hall afterwards, too, I dare- eay!' ,Antisl clapped her hands with de- light. Oh, do ask heel It ought to be to- morrow, because the ice is in such per - perfect order--" "And one never knows what a day may bring forth in this detestable all - mate," interpolated Delete. There was a sudden soaad of car- riage wheels outside, "Here comes papa. How early he is bank to-niglttl Be must. have. caught the four -thirty train." There was a slight confusion of nois- es in the hall outside, then the draw- ing -room door opened, and Mr. Halli day, still muffled up, stood in the doorway, and his eyes rested, not al- together delightedly, upon the fam- iliarity of the little trio at the tea - table. A chorus of voices greeted him: "Oh papa, how nice and early you °rel" "\Ve have got such a delightful plan to tell you aboutl" "Captaiu Lessiter is going to ask Lady Lassiter—" "It will be such fun] Just what we used to do in Canada." "lf only we can manage it for to= morrow! Sit down, and we will tell you all about it." All this time the two girls were dutifully attending to their father, pulling off his cant and muffler, and taking his gloves and parcels out of his hands. "Softly, °oftly, my dears. What is It all about? Don't you see that 1 am not alone?" And then they looked behind him to- wards the door, and saw, standing upon the threshold of the room, a slight young man with brown eyes, who seemed to be taking everything in with a good deal 01 amusement. "My dear children," said Joseph Halliday, somewhat formally, turn- ing to the young man in the doorway, "allow are to present to you the nep- hew of my excellent partner — Mr. Geoffrey Dane—my eldest daughter, Angel—my second daughter, Dulcie. Mr. Dane has come down to stay over Sunday with us; give orders, my clear, for a room to be got ready for him." The girls shook hands mechanically with the new comer, they were smit- ten with a sudden dumbness. Angel poured him oat n cup of tea and hand- ed' it him in silence, and then she rang the bell in obedience to her father's directions concerning the room. Mr. Halliday spoke in the background to Horace Lessiter,-Geoffrey stood with his book to the fire sipping his tea, and looking with critically apprecia- tive eyes at the fair beauty of his young bostesses. Tben Dutoie sud- denly found her voice again nndapoke to him. "Have you got skates with you, Mr. Dane?" "Yes, Miss Halliday, 1 have." "01, then you'll do for the proces- sion," said Dulcie, with decision. But whether the procession was of a religi- ons or secular character. where it was to ba formed, whither it was to wend its way, and of what nature were to be its compouanL parrs, were all mys- teries to whioh Geoffrey was unable, es yet, to form any conclusion. CHAPTER IV. Venetia Lessiter took to the idea not ouly with delight, but it may al - moat be said, with passion. She was a woman of sudden freaks and fannies, she pursued things and people hot- headed for a short season, then she turned aside and rushed wildly and breathlessly after something else. Anything that was to be done in a hurry commended itself to her volatile fancy. A few days ago she bad taken it into her head to send for a friend whom she had not seen since the days of her girlhood, and who for some years had been living in great retirement; nothing had satisfied her till, by dint of telegrams and letters, she had induced this friend to consent to come and spend a few days with her. When she had gained her point, she- had tele - 'graphed to town for some friends of her husband's, "to make the house lively," although she bad expressly promised to her friend that her visit should be strictly quiet, and a strong detachment from London was expected down for Sunday. When her brother- in-law propounded the plan of the lamplight procession to her, as sug- gested by Angel and Dulice Halliday, she was enchanted, and flung herself into the scheme with rapture. Grooms with notes were sent flying on horse- back in all directions that very even- ing, to beat up recruits throughout the naigbbourhood. The cook was bidden to prepare for an unlimited number of dinner guests, and strange orders were Issued to the housekeeper er and the b mulled. vines utter com•erning m a % and hot. punch that were to be in re- quisition towards the small of the fol- lowing night. Horace, too, was des- patched up to town by the first train on the Saturday morning with diteo- tione to bring hack as many bull's-eye lantern as he could lay hands upon. Letters, too, were sent flying between the Hall and the Grange, so that by five o'clock arrangement was com- pleted. Meanwhile, Geoffrey Dane was spending a quiet and pleasant day et Etrliford Grange. bfr, Hi.laidey had gone up to business as usual for the Saturday half-day, but Geoffrey had hie uncle's directions to take a whole holiday. and he had remained with the girls. He was interested and pleased with them bath; Dulcie's liveliness and smart talk diverted and amused him, but Angel's superior beauty and an- complishments attracted him perhaps the most. She exercised a vague fas- nination upon him, reminding him in some undefined manmer oe another woman whose image floated nonstantly before. his imagination. During the morning hour he played the accompa- lraniments to Angels songs, for he was a bit of a musician in en unpre- tending way, and then they fell to talking of books and poetry as they eat over the fire, whilst Duioie ran in and out of the room, joining in now and than with her laughing criliolams or her-preetieal common sense. To be Continued, . STRANGE GRAVE MARKS, In Zululand the graves of the dead are deeoral.nd with the bodies ol,the attending doctors, THE BIOME OF LORD MINN, SOMETHING ABOUT HIS EXCEL- LENCY'S PATERNAL ABODE, fps ]Relies or the Past -There Souvenirs Along %witn a Large Nmuher of 4'arlaus Mahe nu 'meet -ding pllleulen-lila l:zevllenoy as 8 nest. Minto Castle, the home of Lord Minto six miles dtstant from the quaint old town of Hawick, is situated in the more mountainous partione of Rox- burgahlre. Nature has endowed the district with mush beauty in hill and dale, and history has invested it with romantic charm associated with deeds of arms in Border wars, Additional interest is evoked by the fact that the home of Lord Minto is not only in clos- est touch frith the land of Scott, but the ,great novelist himself visited Min- to Castle. In "The Lay of the Last Minstrel" he alludes to the well-known Crags, which, washed by the Teviot at their base, are prominent objects throughout the countryside. You can- not fail to notice this natural pinnacle, capped by a tower recently restored and now guarded by a gun taken by "Elliott the Brave" from the French admiral Thurot in the action off the Isle of Man in 1760, as you proceed along the road from the little station of Hassenden on lbs Hawick end Edin- burgh line. On arriving, after a drive of a mile and a half at the ornamental West Lodge, you at once enter the deep woods of Iine old timber bordering the drive; while in the open park you may notice some shaggy Highland cattle, Presently you cross a deep glen, through which .flows the stream that supplies the lake Jying at. the base of the steep slope on vvhiah • ' MINTO CASTLE STANDS. The house which is of stone, is of some- what unusual architectural construc- tion,, Originally it consisted of two wings placed at right angles, with a porch at the junction giving admit- tance to a eiraular hall. Afterwards, when it Was altered, and added to in the beginning of the present century, the new work consisted chiefly of a duplication of the old, not only giving far greater depth to the honest but pro- viding two halls, ono leading into tbe other, while a. naw handsome semi-eir- cular Corinthian porch was a further addition. 'Trophies of arms and the old colours of the Border Militia, rais- ed to resist the threatened invasion of Napolean decorate the first hall, which is panelled with oak, ns is Lord Minto'° study, removed from the old law courts at Westminster. ' The second ball is domed and floored with oak. J1'rom above, the light sbines down on the bust of Pius IX, presented to your host's grandfather when on a spe- cial DIPLOMATIC MISSION TO ROME. while a marble dog, an antique, which was a gift from Caroline, Queen of Naples, sister of Marie -Antoinette, with some bureaux, are suitably placed. On leaving the annex hall you enter the south ante -room opening to the draw- ing -room on the right, and to the left to the splendid library, unsurpassed in all Scotland for its wealth of choice and rare edition, while it is the favor- ite resort of every ono at Minto. To reach Lord Minto's study, you have to pass through a long corridor, which is hung with all kinds of weap- ons, shields, snowshoes and deer-hoads; and similar trophies decorate his pleasant oak -panelled sanctum, which looks over the lawn and the surround- ing woods. His study strikes you as particularly interesting from the num- ber of engravings, miniatures; and medallions to be seen oP the distin- guished members of the Elliott family. For instance, there aro portralta of the first and second baronets, both Sir Gilbert. Elliots, who were each succes- sively Lord Minio as Lords of Session in Scotland. Near these there hangs an engraving 01' THE FOURTH BARONET; who, on the British evacuation of Cor- sica, was created' Baron Minto, and who, on bis return Iron filling the appointment of Governor-General of 1 r a created Earl of Minto. He Bengal, was l; . t f Nelson, and un friend N was a great f ie. n , leaving Corsica was a passenger on Nelson's ship, the Minerve, when she fell in with the Spanish fleet off Cape St, Vincent. After the battle Sir Gil- bert accompanied the despatches home on board the Lively, bringing with hien one of the swords surrendered by the brave commander of the San Josef. to Nelson. This eword is one of the most prized of tiro historical treasures at Minto Castle, while a pastel of Nel- son Prem life, executed by Schmidt in 1800, finds a fitting resting -place over n bureau. By Royal license the first Earl of blinto assumed the surnames of his mother, Murray-li'ynynmound, the heiress of Melgund and Loehgclly, pro- perties in Iforfarshire and 1"ifeshiee, and it is interesting to hear from your host that a branch of these :Ltynyn- mounds settled in France about the thirteenth oentw•y, where they aro now known as Lha Comtns de Q.uine- nront. As you might expect to find in the home- of a soldier, there are nanny re - mindere of rho profession at arms at Minto Castle, Besides several battle pieces illustrating the conquest of In- die—one of which portreys the battle of Mnhideore, its 1817, where Lord Mlnto's grandfather, General Sir Thomne Hislop, was in command—there are many memorials to remind your. host of engagements and campaigns in which be has takeu part, ].'hese Egyp- tian spearheads and rifles, for in• stance, are souvenirs al the time when he gave his services as a volunteer in the Egyptian campaign of 1882, serving as a captain in the Mounted Infantry, and getting wounded at Under, just before Lord Wolseley fought the battle of Tel-e!-110ir, , Those Turkish tro- poles, too, vvi11 probably recall his at. turbulent. to the Turkish forces during the Russo-Turkish war, an appoint- ment which he obtained from Sir Henry I,nyard, at the Instance of Col- onel Meme, of the Intelligence Depart- tnent of the War Office. Ile was pre- sent nt the bombardment of Nieopolis, and was with the Turks at the passage of the Danube by the Russians under Sknheloff, and then crossing of the Bal- kans a day after Gourko's force, he joined Beouf Paella at Slivno, 'Then he was with Lord Roberts throughout the Kurrum Valley campaign, and stayed at the front till the signing of the Treaty of Oundemuk, when he went to Simla; and Lord Minta may add ]bat be was very nearly ,joining the mission of Sir Louis Cavagnai'i, who, with his retinue, was MASSACRED AT CABUL, A very handsome " oshteen," or Af- ghan sheepskin jacket, beautifully em- broidered, which formerly belonged to Lord Roberts, may remind you that he was his secretary en his proceeding to the Cape after the disaster of Mnjuba Hill. But, as Lord Minto could tell you, his experience In South Africa was very limited, being confined to twenty- four hours on shore, in consequence of an armistice being arranged with the Boers. Although Lord Minto has not seen native service since be was Chief of the Staff, under General Middleton, in the expedition for the suppression of the Riel insurrection, yet since 1888 he has had the command of the "Scottish Border" Volunteer Infantry Brigade, brigadier -general, and still retains the same interest in military subjnots as when be was a lieutenant In the Scots Guards; while he occasionally aonCri- butes articles on them to the Edin- burgh Review, the Nineteenth Century and the United Service Magazine. After luncheon in the dining-room— where you may notice many fam- ily portraits, among them a full length pastel of Lord Minto in the Ilhakee tunic and buffalo -hide patrol jacket he wore in the North-West campaign — Lady Minto, who Is the most charming hostess, takes you to the drawing -room, which is s. harmony in green and gold, generally suggestive of the Louis -Seize period. At once you are attracted TO A LIFESIZ.E PORTRAIT; —which occupies one side of the room —of Lady Minto, who is wearing a soft white muslin gown, on the shoulders of vvhiah there rents a rose-colored man- tle edged with fur. Though you can- not perhaps examine every one of the numerous miniatures and curios by which you seem quite surrounded in this daintily furnished room, you should not omit to notice u miniature of Marie Antoinette, given to the first Earl of Minto by Mirabeau, end anoth- er of Napoleon, painted by Isabey. Then among the medallions you will find one of Queen Caroline of Naples, presented by her to Ms. Hugh Elliot when Minis- ter at Naples; while the portrait of General Sir Charles Grey, private sec- retary to the Queen and the Prince Consort, is doubly interesting as being the likeness of Lady Minto's father. Presently your host suggests a work round the grounds and a look in at the stables, giving you, however, before leaving lbs house, a peep into the In- dian room, another repository of Af- ghan and Eastern curios well displayed against a vermilion background. There is nothing surprising in the conversa- tion turning to the aubjeots of hunting and racing, for Lord Minto has been devoted to the "pig -skin" from very early days, when he, then Lord Mel- gund, was an undergraduate at Cam- bridge, and rode in a silk jacket over hurdles as "Mr. Holly," a pseudonym borrowed frons Eton ,where he was a very respectable oar, and, after being second in the sculling, distinguished himself as a member of the Kingston Rowing Club, In athletics, also, he was well to the front, winning the Third Trinity mile at Cambridge, Lord Minto rode in tunny races on aha flat and aoross country, and in' 1874 brought. Captain Machel!'a Defence in fourth for the Grand National at Liv- erpool and won the Grand National Staepleebaae of France at Auteuil on bliss Hungerford ; and in many other events over hurdles he rode winners trained by Mr,,Ricbardson. It is re- lated of Lord Minto that at the Lincoln Spring meeting of 1875 he passed the post first on five different mounts. He was also well known as a bold rider with the Duke of Grafton's, Lord Yar- borough's, and the Bicester Hounds. EQUAL TO OCCASIONS. 'rwo leatden's WIdch Show 'What (find ol'a Man lord whltnvorlit was. Lord Whitworth, who bold various posts of honor in English diplomatic circles, was a kindly, gracious gentle- man, as Well as a wit and a man of the world. In his viceroyalty of Ireland, he proved to be so destitute of bigotry and bitterness that he was sometimes amused of lacking energy; but the is- land government probably seemed a small thing to him who had been the voice of England at St. Petersburg and Paris. He bad, indeed, almost measured swords with Napoleon, at the 'Tuileries, %viten that despot .railed at England for not having evacuated Egypt and Mal- ta, accused her of having violated trea- ties, and ended -by flourishing a cane dangerously near the face of Lhe Eng- lish ambasead:or. Lord Whitworth put his hand on the hilt of his sword. "'What would you bane done, if the emperor bail str•u.ck you? he was af- terward naked, "I would bave felled hint to the ground," was the quiet answer. Perhaps the hest story told of him is one showing how his quick wit die- Posed of a rival. When be was at the Russian court, Vox sent there, as a sort of ambassador of his own, a man named Adair, the son of a surgeon. One day .the empress, speaking in French, soul to Lord Whitworth:. "Ts he a very important man, this Monsieur Addict" "Not so very, madame," replied Lord Whitworth, 'although his father was a grand seigneur" --a remark which readers, of French will recognize es a vary good pun, for the word las need by Lord Whitworth means "blood -letter," while by Its sound it also meant a great lord. A girl doesn't froatltle herself much about the superiority of the pen or the sword; it's the uniform that cutches her eye. Agricultural I GOOD TEETH PREVENT LAMENESS. Some years ago a lest was made by an expreaa ocmpany, who had 000 boyars in constant use, twenty-five of which were indlsoriminataly selected for proper dental treatment, and sep- arately weighed, Their oats and maize were reduced two quarts per day each, After the first month a great improve- ment to (hair general condition was ap- parent, continuing during the second and third months, when they were again weighed, and it wee found that an average increase of forty-eight pounds per head was the result. The test lasted during the bot months of July- August and September when flatulent °olio was very apparent in the citable, yet not one single case had occurred among these twenty-five horse! Since ibis trial and whenever a carload of newly purchased young horses arrives, it is considered a waste to feed them until their teeth are examined and put in proper shape, As a preventive for lameness, to commence operations on the teeth would appear to some very ludicrous, yet common sense and practice would convince them that this would be the proper means of preventing interfer- ence, ono of the chief causes of lame- ness in young horses. Young horses fully developed show signs of fatigue and weakness after a journey, and interfere. Some grab the quarter of the fore foot with Lhe toe of the hind foot, or overreach. In such oases the ordinary prnoti- tioner would treat locally, possibly ad- vise different shoes, order tonic balls or condition powders, and a few days' rest, the latter would benefit mostly and give temporary relief. Now supposing there were irregulari- ties of the tooth, as is usual with all young horses, the first treatment should be to put them in perfect or- der, so as to promote mastication and good digestion, to enable proper assim- ilation of the nutritive qualities of the food, and there ensure increased strength end condition, thus remov- ing the original cause of tba weakness, 1t may seem equally absurd to some of our readers to assert that operating on the teeth will prevent pulling and other vices, but that it is not so is proved by the following ineident: A pony that we treated had changed owners for no other cause than that none of them had been able to drive him with ease, although various bits and contrivances had been tried. The primary cause must first be discovered, which in this instance was a decayed toot]', the removal of which affected an instantaneous cure. Tho pony is now driven in plain straight bit without a curb chain, by the present owner, an elderly gentleman who appreciates the animal's quietness and docility so much that no amount of money could part them. MAKING THE MILK. The man who owns the cow is the one who makes the milk. He Ran make little or mush of it, he can make it clean or dirty, cheap or expensive, in fact, ho can vary the milk to suit him- self. The ooW is only a complicated apparatus, in which be burns his var nous fodders, and out of which he ob- tains his finished product in the shape 01 milk. Like all other machines, the cow is subject to the laws of thermo- dynamics. She must use a certain am- ount of her fodder to keep the vital machinery in motion. This inolndes the keeping of the animal heat at the right point, the circulation of the blood the digestion of food, the elaboration of milk and all the other vital actions whish go to make up the life of the animal. Experiments have shown that it re- quires sixteen pounds of dry organ- ic matter to keep this machinery in motion, that is to keep the animal alive and in health. it'rorn the meat of the food given above that weight, the dairyman may expect greater or less returns in the form of milk, Here comes the first point. Now, how natal fodder does it take to keep that cow? Six- teen pounds or twenty pounds? Tliere is n wide margin here—all the differ- ence between profit and loss. Ask the cow and see what she says. If she is using twice as much fodder us she ought to, to keep her matahine in mo - Lion, then she is not a profitable ant cannot If. she use the excess of feedg ivenher over the maintenance ration, to produce a profitable amount of butter fat, she is not worth keep- ing and should be disposed of as soon as possible. No dairyman can afford, under pre- sent conditions, or even under any con- ditions, to keep animals that eat food that they cannot return a greater value for in Ma milk pail. If he does keep such animals, his progress down the financial hill ns neither slow nor comfortable. His life is one long strug- gle againa conditilons that he might change if he only would. There are many roads that load to loss of pro- fit on the farm, but the broadest, smoothest roe with the steepest down- ward pitch is the one (:raveled by the unprofitable cow. TIIE .13.EST 10001) FOR 114(19, The best food for marking lien ley is lean meat, \('hen the supply of eggs 1 foods l •a fails slap all ocher oo and feed lean meat or liver, any cheap meat will answer, and it will be found superior to anything that can be used. Green hone that contains a large proportion of lean meat is even bettor, provid- ed the fat portions are removed from the bone. It will be found enamor than grain because it will make eggs, One renaon why hens sometimes faail to lay when they have plenly of grain is that: they' require a change, and meat oontaina the motorial for sup- plying the nlhumen of the eggs, and is therefore it sultatntaoe that the hens ,must have or they cannot, perforin ser- vice. If. the hens are fat give one mince of '.can meat each day, allowing no other food, Por a week or two, Ufa. 9, 1898 lG 1O'IIIC... ,Among Elle nrany radinui °henges in farm monagenrent during the last quarter of a oentury there are few that have brougli1 the farmer greater profit than that of marketing pigs at six or seven months old, instead of keeping them three dines as long. The beat market demand at present is for good, fat pigs, and they command the highest price, It hue been demonstrat- ed over end over again, that the noel per pound increases with the age of the pig, and so it iee in the line of economy to push the pigs from the °Cart and sell early. I have no data to determin'exnatly -tubal• the saving is, but 1 venture the assertion that a ton of pork ran be made from pige six to seven months old, for one-third less. money than from mature hogs, says Waldo '13, Brown, Probably the best rea- son 1 can give for this is that in add- ing one hundred pounds to the weight of a pig after it reaches 200 pounds, you must furnish food for support to repair the waste of Lhe 200 pounds, while adding the extra weight. Again, the gain in the first place is made up of growth as well as fat to a much greater extent than when hogs near maturity are fed. The risk of loss from disease is reduced at least in propor- tion to the shortest time the hogs are fed, and 1 believe even more than this, for I find it easier to keep young grow- ing hogs thrifty than those of mature age. There is also a saving in labor, for every farmer knows that there is a large arnount of hard work In feed- ing hogs ]haat must be attended to every day, and it is much easier to feed 200 days (bar 100. BROAD TIRES. The tests thus far made have shown in the main that the draught is less when wide tires are used, yet these re- sults have not been accepted as con - elusive and final by Lhe public, and there yet remains in the ,minds of many intelligent farmers and teams- ters a well defined and positive con- viction that the wide tire will draw very much heavier over roads in what may be termed average condition, and that in mud they will draw so much heavier as to positively preclude their use, Clearly, all efforts to induce the farmers and teamsters to adopt the broad tires must be futile so long as thereis any question as to the rolaa- tive draught of the two classes of wheels on roads in the different condi- Averaging all the trials on pasture lands, it was found that a team could haul a tan and a half on the broad tires with the same effort required to draw a ton on the narrow Urea. In nearly all conditions of meadows end pastures the broad tire benefited the surface, rather than injured it, In no case can a ton load be hauled on the ordinary narrow tire eve such a surface without injuring the sod. The tests on stubble land, including corn and stubble in every condition, from muddy to dry enough to plow, were also uniformly favorable to the broad lira. ;- Averaging all the results, it is found that 8,000 pounds could be bauled with required to haul 2,000 pounds. with the the broad tires with the same effort narrow tires. On plowed ground, both ,thoroughly plowed and harrowed and ready for seeding, the results are strikingly fav- orable to the bread tire, and asaving of about one-third of the draught was effected by using the six-inch tires. SOME "LADIES." The word "lady" still has about it a pertain halo which ought to prevent its indisoriminat'ivc use. In this coun- try we can hardly expect to see social distinctions reflected in the use of the word; and yet we might, perhaps, ex- pect to see it employed more equitably than it was by a certain <ley -goods storekeeper in a Massachusetts town not very long ago. The daughter of a senator of toe_ United States drove one day from box father's summer cottage to a store in a city near by, and ordered some arti- cles to be sant to her father's house. When the goods were sent a mistake was made, and the senator himself stopped at thestoreto aorrect it, The proprietor called the saleswoman, and after consulting with her, apologized for the misteik . s "You sae err," he explained,lained "the lady who took to order didn't alto unerstand whet the girl said]" i. A somewhat similar story was told of n remark made by a Yankee ser- vant of the :enmity of John Lathrop of Motley, the historian. On one occas- ion, when the historian svaa at home OD the ancestral estate near Boston, and when Iris brother James was also there, an intimate friend of thefamlly who was eojourning at the house carne out from Boston on a late afternoon train The family coachmen met him with a carriage et the station. On the tvay to the house the guest said to the driver: train?" 'pfd any one comet out on the earlier "011 yeas," sand the madman, "the' Ives four; the' was John and Jim and two ladies," The guest know that "John and Jim" were the historian and his brat ber, but he wondered who the ladies were, Afterward, ho found out that they woredl it seamstress and, a now ollap11)er- nrni The Met extraordinary use of the term that we aro likely to find any re - mord of is related from England. The home surgeon of a London hospital, we ale told, woe attending to the in- juries of a wotnan who earl been be (1- ly bitten on the arm. As he was deveang the wound he said; - "1 cannot melee nal: what sort of a eyenture let you, 71 is too email for at horse's bite anritoo largo for a dog's, "01, sir," said. the patient, "It wasn't a bammal--it •was another rydyl There is nothing like an 'inr'tbquakc for opening up naw fields, A 1' i i