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The Brussels Post, 1894-3-2, Page 2PRE 13I J BELS POST, THE TROUBLESOME LADY, CHAPTER III• dresahugg--gown, but without Ilia embroider - and leaked ti from his ed cap, which had iny'etsriously disc pear- Moneieur de Reet P 0, ,,,,t, hetero the ol000d door of Clio log aside as the chill gray of dawn stole in the cabin, IID was amokiug peacefully, and window, „ seemed to regard the five strangolyaating "Heavens 1 he mntterod, "what night I've had l' mon in the road es a pleasing part of the had landscape, De Restaud, leaving lie coma lie puohod the chips away, for he panions some little distance away, rode. been a heavy loser, and staggered to hie olose to the cabin. i ilia ?" ho feet. He flung the banker at the game ri Mr. Oliver is, of oourse, wit roll of bank•noto0 and fumbled in his said, politely, pookets for gold, The vil.lan0ue fa000 of The doctor looked up at the pallid face his four earn auianslooked callow and hid- with its blazing eyes, the working lips, the eons after the long hours, His own head ciinehed hand, the frightful controlled wag aohiug, his mouth dry and parobed. He leaned out the window, drinking in the withdrawing his pipe, "Of course. fresh oh111 air as lay water. The room be- " He is alone so hind him was foul withcigar•smoke and the " I think so. His man is cleaning the aaaiuu, of the man and answered, calmly, smell of dregs of liquor in many glasses. "Go to bed," he said, weariedly ; "you know your rooms. I've pledtocon- tent," enough, you're all winnero; youought tent," Ono man muttered about giving him a olience, but De Restaud shook his head im• patiently, and they all went away. "1 was ugly to the little girl last night,' De Reatand said, half aloud. "What dldI do? Odd I can't remember. I wish she would keep away from me when I'm not myself. She has no more sense about some things than a child. I'll go see her." He tried her door ; no sound, not even the angry bark of her inseparable com- panion. I wonder if I killed the dog when I de Restaud, and I am a peaceable man. Therefore I may say I do not wake Mr. Oliver for business." "It is my belief, old man, you are lying. Oliver is not in your house." " It is his house : let us at least be Dor. rent. Suppose you questiou this man; ho may be willing to wake Mr. Oliver. Or you may settle yoar business with him, — Mike, Mike, I say." As the big fellow cane around the house, grinning sheepishly, the doctor picked up his book. ' Ifere, or, as your nation say, voiei le hired man. He is yours, monsieur. With your pardon, I will resume my chapter." He received no answer. De Restaud, seeing Mike had a fine rifle in hie hand, went back to the waiting men ,and they had a conference which ended in all riding closer to the houee. "Go tell your master Monsieur de Restaud desires to see him," said De Restaud, angrily. " I will endure no im- pudence. Do as I tell you." "I'm sorry, sor," said Mike, humbly. "'deed I am, fur I'd loike to oblige yeea, but him an' me setup till late last night waitin' fur the doctor; who'd gone doetorin' an' 1 was ordered to lit hllsther Oliver have his slope, The doctor's the only wan as over I see as could go widout elope an' appear the fresher fur it. 'Don't lie to me. Stand away,iI'll find out if he's in the house. We 11 break in the door and search it." "Ile might think you robbers and shoot," said the doctor, calmly. " Besiaes, yo aro not treating himhimfairly. Why do you wish to search the house ?" "Booause," cried Da Restaud, hoarsely, "my wife is gone, and he is the only one who would dare to help her in this coun- try." "Your pardon, Monsieur, of course you are naturally upset, bat Mr. Oliver has only met the lady once ; is it not snaking a story out of nothing ?" "I know her," hissed De Restaud " and, if he is your friend, he is a blackguard ; he is, as I know, the only one about hero who would offer to aid her." "Not the only one," said the little doctor, rising. "I should have been very glad to have helped the young lady escape from your care ; any true man would have bean. You are rating the settlers here very low, monsieur. Unfortunately, all we hear of you does not point to your making either a happy or a Baia home for a good woman. Put up your revolver; I ata not at all afraid ; the ranohmen here aro friendly to me. Now, if you desire, dismount, and I myself will show you through the house." ' Humph 1 you've changed all of a sud- den,"grunted one of the men. guns back of the !louse, " Mr. Oliver he sleep very late," hissed the Freuahtnan, forgetting his English in his wrath and muttering something in his own language, ' He de,' said the doctor, ungrammatic• ally, with a twinkle in Ilia eye. " I must ask you, sir, to wake your friend. I have business with him." " And I must answer, sir, I am very sorry, but I know his temper, and I do not care to wake my friend. He is nob as your nation say, tree amiable, when awakened from slumber." "I do not come here to quarrel with you," cried the Frenchman, " but with him," "It would require two to quarrel, Mr. kinked it. Wish I had ; but she'd never forgive mo. She riding down the road to see that fellow,—thinks of him all the time. I know in my heart she's as innocent as a child about it just out of school when I married her, but he will think she's like other women and take her nonsense in earnest. A man of the world, evidently. He had better keep out of my way. Thos boorish Americans,—ire has a fiat like a blacksmith," He went muttering down the corridor to his own room, and flung himself, still dress- ed on his bed. The house was silent for hours. Annette in the L went softly about her work, Monsieur was so dreadful if. awakened. Louis currying the horses in the corral scarce spoke above a whispor, but taciturnity had become a habit with him. The poultry, however, clucked mer- rily in the book yard ; the gobbler gave his views, and the hens, women -like conk], ed about it, white the ducks enjoyed the bonanza of deep mud and pools after the rain. The cows, loath to go upon the hills, huddled near the barns. Annette, round- faced, beady -eyed, neat es a pin, stood in the door, her hands on her hips. She look - with pride on her fowls,—how well the plump darlings repaid her care 1—then she glanced across at her husband, ten years her junior,—the beautiful man who had spent her dowry and told her so charmingly he married her for that money, and who had brought her to this wild county. She smiled to herself in satisfaction : in this wilderness no girl could take him away. Those Paris girls were such wretches,brazen things. The ranchers' daughters here, however, were well-behaved ; no matter what eyes Louis made, they would have none of him. The young girls of themoun- tains were brave and good. How they must suffer, though ! for Louis was so fasciaat- ing. "Louis," she called, softly, stepping out on the plank walk, :Madame is not. yet awake, nor the little dog. It is a strange ailepee for them who are usually out so early. You climb up on the roof of the corral and look in her window. She never would open her door to us." The mai hurriedly obeyed. He had been think:ng all the morning something was wrong. If she wore dead—Monsieur was wilder than common last night, and so hasty : he had been gambling and losing all day. The dog must be dead : he hated Louts, and generally made his appearance at the window early to bark at him. Louis climbed up one of the posts of the roof, crossed, and looked in the open window. Annette watched him, shading her era with her hand. She is there, Louis ?" He shook his head, and dropped to the ground at her feet. "No ; she is gone. The bed hasn't been slept in." " Heavens!" cried Annette, wringing her hands. " Monsieur will be terrible." " He ought to kill her, the little cat. You need not pity her : she makes game of you alwaysbeoause you cannot comprehend her English tongue. I must wake Mon- sieur." Followed by Annette, who prayed in a whispor, he knocked at Ivlonsieur's door. No answer. Then he went in and shook the sleeper gently. ' Monsieur," he said, tremulously, as De Restaud sat up dazed and haggard -eyed, "I hate to tell you, but I must : Madame is gone." Liar 1" cried the other, leaping to his feet. "She would not dare. Get my coat. Gone ! Where? Who would take her in? Ah, 1 know. I was not far wrong all the time. It is maddening. Break in her door, Louis: I have no strength." Doo., to know that threatened :»en live "TRAPPING" THE OLD FOX• louy�—pro safe, I id help � Mrs, de Res Rod (Mope ; you'd have one latah , Beene from Il1lCPC Outarj0' She oemo with great pnrplo marks on her throat, in a piteous state of terror, She ignorant tr n oil ilei a ;d •e a a 1 6 is 05 innocent Y of the world. Only suoh a woman would have stayed here so long. Any rauclimet)ltero with daughters of hie own would have helped her. They know what he is, and they aro chivalrous man. She came to me baoause—,because---t Craig, its the old story. I dont doubt you're in the right this tune,—.ld have helped her too,—bub you had to say sweet things and make love to her. You needn't shake your head: you can't help On m honor, Doctor John, all that long way I thought of her es of my own little slater sleeping in the old graveyard of the village I loft twenty years ago, The man who remembers a child slater would have thought only of her, of the purest things, with little Minny. She has your entbrolded Dap, old chap, and you will treasure it as a relic of lovely women if ever she returns the loan." "Bub you're not a married man, Oraig," said the doctor, plaintively, "and women ean be aggravating, especially little ones with red Bair, a0 Mike says ehe's got. There must be something on the French- man's side." "Lunacy, There is my o,free at last. We'll go for elk to -morrow instead of to- day : I hear there are some on Sisty's Peak," "But, Oraig," said the doctor, as the other atretehod out his tall length and walked wearily to the house, " there's the Mexican who will bring back your team and whose horse you had' he might tell." "I have bought him at a good price," said Oliver, carelessly, "Still, if ho does tell, if the Frenchman pays more, why, then the Frenohman and I will settle it. If ono Ispat to sleep to -day or shelf-oentury hence, what matters Al I like life, but I am not shirking death." (To BE CONTINUED.) 1VMARcn 2, 1894 rustles making a hoe -line for the barn. MR. AND MRS, 130'W$1. Fi. Troia the "box.tra t" comes a noise as of a oat fiolb, '° there, shoo governor, 1 o brute - t , „g a h "There's half a do4en go om, ear* t o 1lrnnd!!ally by the old F:181110l :ilid 1114 h ired ma n, 1►lice 11n—t strainXa Result or Now mimes the fun, T he fox has played e_ d Tlr't4 —lsth0r R'VxTeeth, hta•1i ale game •the theties will soon play theirs. Together they Doter r the goose. poo," sabre bho box and Dairy to into b10 riddle of a. ten -lore field, The old man goes tor a " long -handled ' pitchfork, and directs the hireling to soonre a similar weapon, The first impulse is to set fire to the box, and prevent any obanoe of the animal a escape. This la rejected as un• sportsmanlike. The old man poises the pitchfork ; his assistant preparee to draw the board, " One, two three, let 'or 'go," Quick as a flash the board is drawn up, Nothing comes out. "Shove fn yer hand, Hiram, and jerk the villain out" 'I'll see your neck as long as my arm' first. I'll squint in, though. We somethin white, by gosh, . W banged if I don't believe it's the dog." • "The dog be darned," yells the old man. "It's bho'fox," To the gentle oall of " here Collie, Collie,' the canine Dams forth looking like a sheep• thief. " Well I'm the knook-kneed, cantanker- ous flyfa'•dragon. Don't that beat alt? Who'd a thought that confounded dog knowecl no bettor than that? Tell the folks that the fox is ketolled, Hiram." Blue ruin, mortgages and rag.piekiu', aro familiar rural predictions for the boy who la aeon carrying 0 fhnt.look tuuskctand fol. lowed by a dog with a higher aubib ion than "(Attie tlrlvin." Rarely does the old anon boast of his shot onoo when ho picked off the head of a chipmunk in a aixty foot tree. The fact is mentioned in muffled bones, so that be may be no bad example to the family, it is only incidence of the hen houee that the old man interferes with the ravages of the "beasbo." Ono who is not perfectly acquainted with the goose -eating habits of the fox could exoase the governor's absolute contempt for scriptural teaching:: at such times. He expresses himself in plain Anglo-Saxon, and: never drops the H's. The hired man is a shade better, He sympabbizea with his employer's loss only so far us it concerns with his own ineads, Ho forbears using swear words, He likes to listen to the boss. The invader of the most begins operations just before cold weather. Tlie old man i0 rightly beat to know what's takin' off them hens," until snow falls. He openly accuses several of kis neighbors, and won- ders whytwo-legged foxes shouldn't be shot, No fox, wolf or bear, he declares, if aided by all the denizens of the woods, could "carry off them hens and not let them cackle." This state of alfairs•lasts until the old man begins to make night hideous with his sudden yell of " there's something squeal. ing among the hens." When his statement is proved to bo Eales, he says " he must of been dreamin'." In the morning there's a hen gone all the same. Try to persuade the old man flat's a fox and he'll tell you that the best one in the bush isn't man enough to do what's been done "round them buildin's."' "The thief," he says, "is a thing that calla himself a man, but ain't by long odds." The climax is reached when the hired man comes in to breakfastand says : "There's a goose gone." A goose gone! Then, by Hickory, that long.fingered sinner over there's a gone goose." No time is wasted on breakfast. The governor dons his heaviest Dow hides, and starts to inspect the barn -yard. Enough snow has fallen to plainly reveal the tracks of the " cussed fox." Half the grudge against his neighbor is removed, and dire vengeance pronounced on the fox. - To anxious listeners in the house, he tells where he saw the tracks of over a dozen foxes, One track he declares, no fox ever made. This is exciting. The old man com- mences a long discourse on the beat way of frightening foxes. He will adopt the plan this very night. When it gets dark, the governor tells the hired man to take the lantern and do the chores in the usual way, while he " tends the geese." Very carefully they are driven into the pen. He counts them as they peas, closes the door and goes for the dog. With a "watch 'em collie," the old' man goes to the house and retires. In the morning he is first to turn out. He goes straight to the barn and unfastens the dog. To avoid a sudden shock he opens the door gradually and peeps in by degrees. It's all too true. There's another goose gone. Between cursing the dog and won- dering if foxes Dan climb sides of barns, he keeps his senses for a time. " They ain't no use in talkin' ; no fox ever passed that dawglast night," he says to himself. "My stars I see them feathers. What'll the missile say to that?" Alter a short inepec- tfon ire funds where the fox got in. He firmly believes there was a ground hog helping it. "More dirt was dug out'n that hole than two man could do with a shovel," he says. The "women folks" are told that the plan succeeded perfeobly. The geese were "Shoddin'their feathers mightily bad though." All this is believed. The old man regards his word a great deal more than he regards his hennery. The hired man gives a knowing wink, but ,be gov- ernor looks savage, and that endo it. The boss forbids any of the family going to the barn " till the blame thing's caught.' "• No tellin' what the an'mal might be," he says in it chilling voice. All day he ponders the situation, and re- solves to set a trop that'll hold a bear. No pains are spared in preparation. At night a large steel trap is placed in the hole where the fox gained entrance. No metal is left visible. It is carefully covered with feathers and loose earth. Once more the old man passes a restless night. In his dreams he sees the fox flying through the air with a goose. Tho fox is seen struggling in the trap. He wakes up in a passion because thus last vision isn't reality. Now for a tip -toe march to the barn, and a sly peep around the corner. The governor plainly sees that the trap lies been moved. With a beating heart he slips towards it and discovers the lower part of a leg but no fox. "Well, I'll be clawed up if the thing ain't eat its foot off," he mutters, "1'm whanged if I over seethe like afore. Guess the brute feels mighty sick though." Here he opens the dobr. "By the jumped-up moose -meat, if they Dint another gone. Who'd s'pose the beggar would go at them geese after gebtin' in the trap?" Remarkable Animals. Very nearly related to the field -mine are the lemmings, which are In theft way among the most remarkable of animals. They are about five incites long, with very short tails. Dwelling in the highlands of the great Den• ural mountain chain of Norway and Sweden, they build their nests of straw lined with hair under stones and tussocks of grass. They are very pugnacious. When disturb• ed, instead of trying to escape, they sit up- right, hissing, and showing fight. Certain cultivated districts of Sweden and Norway, where these creatures are ordinarily un- known, are ourasionally, at intervals of fro m five to 20 years, overrun by armies of them, which steadily and slowly advance, always in the sante direction, regardless of all ob• staeles, swimming aortas streams, and even lakes several miles in breadth, and commit- ing great devastation. In turn they are pursued and harassed by crowds of beasts and birds of prey, such as bears, wolves fox- es, wild oats, weasels, eagles, hawks, and owls. Liven domestic animals, cattle,gnats and reindeer, join in the hunt. None of these migrant lemmings ever return by the coarse from which they Dome. Tho onward march of the survivors never eases until they roach the sea, into which hey plunge, and, swimming onward in the samedireotisn as before, perish in the waves. As matter of fact, the lemmings which perish in the sea are acting under the same blind impulse that led them previously to Dross smaller pieces of water in safety. No survivors of the migrating hordes ever live to transmit their final and fatal experience to subsequent generations, and so this gigantic mistake is periodically repeated. Abnormal inorease of number and conse- quent necessity for food bring about the migration from the highlands to the low- lands, winding up in the ocean. The anis male only travel at night, andause when they find sustenance plentiful. Exhaustion of the food supplyoompels them to proceed. Naturally, they would not turn back on their tracks, the region behind being oaten bare. Itisa curious fact that during these journeys they multiply enormously and even morerapidly than at home. Such a migration bate from one to throe years. The man burst the door open with one powerful thrust, and they entered. The pillow was tumbled, an impress of a 'head, and there was a crumpled hand- kerchief still damp from tears. A little round depression at the foot of the bed showed where the dog had lain. De Restaud looked in her wardrobe. He knew she wore that yellow silk : she persisted in that since the stranger had been there. Her very small shoes were all in a row,—au untidy one at that. She had worn her little bronze slippers. And here, Annette vouched for this, were all her hats and wraps, She had no mooey,he was sure of that: did not Hannah patten tell hin she had refused to give Minny money, for fear the child might run away and get into trouble? Ho hated Hannah . Patten, but he knew her 10 he honest. There was one man who would dare aid her,—that stranger, with his cool gray eyes and contemptuous glance. It was all the some Minny had, to go to this entire stranger for help; and he would help her: wa+ she hot young and pretty and a fool ? Da Restaud was very white now,and oddly cool. He went to his room for his pistols, Hie friends, awakened by Louis,were loop- ing at the loading of theirs. Annette had hurriedly prepared coffee, which the men drank standing up, Louts brought the horses around; "Shall I come, monsieur ?" he asked eagerly. "No ; you would be needed if I did not return, You will tell the general. If my suspicions are true, I shall (till that man or be killed myself, But I will be stare ; and all of you watt until I tell,you to Det. I intend to make no mistakes. The five men galloped down the road in a haze ofolden dust. It was eleven o'olook and Madame do Restaud had been gone as many hours. She lead a long start on her way, and -they might ride far and fast to find her, Doctor John, in his flowered "I have always held," said the doctor, pleasantly " that a man who could nob change an opinion was a bigot. Obstinacy is often ignorance. Your errand being such a serious one has quite convinced me it is not only right but my duty to wake Mr. Oliver." In his heart the doctor was thinking "That oertainly was Craig I heard in the, house ; he has got back, and must have, heard whatI said. His window fa onen.' " I shall wake Mr. Oliver, then," he said loudly, as they dismounted and went into the house, " but I shall not be responsible for his profanity.—Craig open your door, please." The doctor rapped, but his heart stood still. If Oliver should not be there 1 The bolt shot bank, and the man, half dressed, with blood -shot eyes, disordered hair, and a dazed sort of manner, appeared in the door -way. "What in h— is all the row ?" ho said, angrily, "You must keep me up all night and wake me at an unearthly hour in the morning. What do they want ?" "Mr. de Restaud's wife is missing. They desire to search your house,—Here, gentles men, is a camp -bed, a trunk, and one chair. The lady is not here. Shall we keep on 1" Craig lay bank on the ked and drew his travelling -rug over him. "They have my permission," he said, sleepily. ''There's a oellar undernoath,aud one small barn. Look well under the hay. —So your wife has gone, Mr. de Restaud? Perhaps her only relative has had feeling enough to save the poor little thing and las taken her from your guardianship. I fancy you would not care to have that looked _into too closely ; and if I ware you, npeak- 105 now as a lawyer, I would not advertise this affair too widely. Your wife might, you know, be persuaded to come back.' The doctor, fearing the consequences, shut the door hastily and led his visitors away. They searched the premises closely, but, not knowingg_of the buckboard, did not :nisi it, and the Mexican's good little beast, it lather of foam, was hidden in a grove of pines a quorbar of a mile away. Shortly after hie guests bad mounted their Koreas in sulky silence and galloped away, Oliver, newly shaven and carefully dressed, canto out fn the annlighb. He WAS ghastly pale,and staggered as he walk- ed. "I've had Mike make me sour" coffee," he said, sinking in a chair. " Gad, I'm played out. I wasn't five hours coming back; and I'm a heavy man for the horse, Yd like to own him. I can't Sloop; too tired I suppose. Beaides, I was a little worried. Whore 15 our friend?" "Gone," said the dootor, laoanioally, "And•naw, Craig, as questions are in order, where is the Troublesome lady 7" "On her way to Maino, I hope." "If you aro not honest in the matter that man will frill you." "I have lived long enough on the frontier, Which is the Longest Lived Animal? The elephant on land, and the whale in the sea, are believed to bo the longest lived animals; both these animals, under favorable circumstances, living for about four centuries. When Alexander the Groat conquered Porus, King of India, he captured a huge elephant which had fought very stoutly against him, and set it free after having placed round its leg a band of metal recording the fact that he had sled• icated it to the Sun. Three hundred and fifty years later this elephant was found with the incription of Alexander intact. The age of whales is ascertained by the size and number of laminse of the whalebone whtch increases yearly. Ages of three and four hundred years have been assigned to whales from these indications. The tor• noise has been thought by some writers to live four hundred years, but there has not been sufficient reliable evidence to sub• etantiate it. Amongst fishes the pike is believed to be the longest lived. In the Museum at Mannheim there was a skeleton of a pike whiolt measured 10 feet, and had wring round it with this inscription in Greek, "I am the fish which was first of all put into tbo lake by the hands of the Governor of the Universe, Frederick 1I., the 6th October, 1230." The flab, having been caught in 1407, was 267 years old. Amongst birds the raven and the eagle lived for a hundred years, and swans for more than half that period. THE CZAR'S DOUBLE. A Danish Iranian. W110 18 5Le Exact Conn terp:4rt or Czar Alexander—the Know- ledge Drives 1I114 151111. The Marquise Do Fonbemoy, who writes some vary noticeable sooiety notices in the Chicago '' Herald," in a recent issue gives the following curious items on the subject of wraiths, doppelgangers, eta :— There is eaarcoly a sovereign .in Europe or a prince of the blood, of any importance, who does not possess whatthe French desig- nate as his " sosfe" or living counterpart, who bears such an exact resemblance to him in outward appearance that the one is often mistaken for the other. The Prince of Wales, for instance, has a number of " somas," who not only do everything they can to increase their resemblanoe to the future king, but even endeavor to ape his very gesture and peculiar ascent. The result is, that they are often taken for Queen Viotoria'a eldest son, who is then held re- sponsible for their vulgarities and for their misdeeds. To me it has always been n question as to whether this was not the real cause of the Prince being charged with a greater number of shortcomings than it is possible for any one human being to be guilty of. Czar Alexander's "sosie" is the wel lknown banker, Carlven, of Copenhagen, who has just become insane and has been placed under restrain, his mental affliction being attributable in a measure to his wonderful resemblance to the Muscovite autocrat. Until five years ago the unfortunate man had no idea that he was the very image of the Czar, and might have gone on ignoring it had not his attention beenoalled thereto by one of his friends. This remark had the effect of entirely changing the current of hisrideas and the train of his thoughts, and from that time forth ho set to work to increase the reeem• blance by copying the out of the Emperor's beard, by imitating his walk, his gestures and the full tones of his voice. His only ob- ject, beoamo to secure a presentation to the Czar, and when, finally, his wishes were realized and His Majesty had even, as he expressed it "condescended to express his astonishment at; the extraordinary resem- blance," his happiness knew no bounds. Indeed, so great was his delight, that it had the effect of turning his head, and from that time forth he refused to go out driving in anything else than a carriage and four, deeply gratified whets the people 000asion• ally mistook him for the Russian Emperor and saluted him as such, manifestations of respost which he received in the most con• descending manner, comical to behold.. Everything would have been all right if matters had stopped here. But the banker had become so thoroughly imbued with the idea that he was not the Emperor's double, but the Emperor himself, that he was con- vinced Olathe was in onvincedOlathewasin clanger of assassination by the Nihilists, and that the latter were plotting by night and by day to take his life. He became afflicted with what is medically known as the persecution mania. Having attempted suicide the other day, with the object as he declared, of escaping the nitro•glyoerine bombs with which he imagined that he was threatened, he has now become hopelesslyinsane, and has been incarcerated in an asylum. Another prince who had several "soles" was the late Prince of Orange, so well knownby his Parisian nickname of"nitron," and many of the escapades laid at bus door were really committed by his alter egos, a fact well known to the Parisian police at the time. But perhaps the royal personage who Buffered most through her "eosiee" ryas the unfortunate Queen Mario Antoinette of France, whose name was dragged in the black. est mud in connection with the historical diamond necklace scandal, owing to one of the principal' actors therein being her living counterpart, a resemblance, indeed, upon which the ringleaders of the conspiracy based their hopes of immunity from pan. ishment. T15 ►'0011014 fe Loon VOW Purse, but It mu SIM awn ,Mr. Bowser," began finMts, Bowser afterbar fidgeting about for two or three minutes, "suppose a lady should lose her purse on the street. s he Nllilious of 'em do 1"be replied a looped ab her over the top of lire gle0se0. "Do you think it would do any good to advertise for ib1" "Not the slightest good, A woman. who hasn'bsenae enough to get down bowta and back with a dollar or so shouldn't make things worse by advertising the feet to the world at large. So you lost your purse today, eh . " I—I think I left it In the street ear, I know I had it--" "That's a smart piece of businose, isn't it?" he interrupted. " Yon think you left it In a street ear, but the faob is you may have left it in forty obherpiaces. How much money did you have?" " Not much—not over $7." "Seven dollars 1 You ought to bo sent to an idiot asylum for the rest of your life I That makes over $1,000 you've lost in the last year I" " It's the only money I ever lost, Mr. Bowser, and. that may have been picked out of my pocket," ' Worse and worse ! A woman who will sit down in a street oar and go to sleep de• serves to have the bonnet abolen off her head 1 Seven dollars 1 Seven big dollars ! It's bad enough to lose the money, bub the idea that my wife hasn't got more sense than that outs me to the soul 1" " And you wouldn't advertise ?" "I positively forbid 11 1 Do you suppose I want to be pointed out on the street as The Rule of the Road. In England it is the rule for vehicles to keep tD rho left un the road instead of to the right as with us. A recent explanation of the custom is that "in rho good old times in England when 'stranger and ' ouetny' were synonymous terms, the foot traveller passed to the right that the shield on the left arm might be interposed to ward oila trees:11m sblow and the right, or sword arm, free to strike: Horsemen, however, usual-. ly had mail to protect them, tied there was more safety in being near the antagon- ist than in having to strike across the Bores as would have been necessary had they turned to the right. When vehicles came into use later the drivers instinctively fol. lowed the old horseback custom and turned to the left." If this is the reason for turning to the left, why is it not general in Europe? The same oondition existed in medieval Prance and Germany as in Eng• land, but in France anis Germany vehicles, equestrians, and pedestrians all keep to the right. The English explanation is that vehicles keep to the left so thab drivers, sitting on the right aide- of the box, are rlireobly over the wheel, and in a crowded thoroughfare tan easily guard against lock. ing wheels with a passing team. It is re• markable that this advantage in beeping t0 -ahs left has not been observed and adopted in other' oountrios, The old man is almost distracted, Serious as his financial leas is, it is rho shame of being outwitted by a fox that worries him. He wonders why geese weren't made to ails on a roost like other birds, or why foxes were made at all. The hired mai is taken into the confidence of his employer. The boas atrially charges hint to keep everything secret, and lend his assistance in the work. In answer to the hireling's suggestion that in case of capture, the shin should be his property, the old man fiercely replies— "No, Hiram, no, 'taint that I begrudge you the hide, mind, If that fox falls into my hand there ain't Goin' ;to be any hide. left, I'm talkin':' Both rustics put their heads together and devise what the old man ileolaree to be the het scheme. "ave use in sebtin' that steal trap agin." he says. "If ho got ketched by the neck he'd lust thaw his head off." "Like as not he'd swipe a goose jest as reeler," rept led the hired mem, A largo box is made. It is closed at one end and at the other ie a small opening. The latter hi intended to admit the fnx,and a board halmtoed vertically will do the east. Thebox is planed with the aperture facing the hole where the fox previously entered, "Now lot Mr. AN come," murmurs the old man. "Bell never go if bo does," adds his assis- tant, "It's end is mighty nigh," Six o'olook in the morning 80 Ob the two 1 it /,'` - ITE ,100l'ED Ur AND DOWN. sthe husband of the woman who shut her eyesand opened her mouth and crossed her feet in a street car and lot soniebody pink herpocket?" r But you might inquire at the streetcar office. If I happened to leave it on the seat and the conductor--" "I shall make no inquiries 1 After this when you want to so down townI will hire a policeman to go along with you and see that you don't lose the shoes off your foot," Next day Mrs. Bowser called at the street -car office and found her purse. She • had laid it on the cost beside her while ar- ranging her wraps, and the conductor bad found it and turned it in. She decided not to say anything to Mr. Bowser unless he opened the subject again, but he seemed strangely preoccupied when he Dame home to dinner. She noticed that he married his hand to his breast pocket every two or three minutes, as if feeling to see if his wallet was safe, but she waited until she caught him looking over the "Found" advertise- ments in the evening paper and then quietly asked "Did you ever have muoh money in it, Mr Bowser 1" "Are you addressing me 1" he sharply replied as he glared at her with flushed fade. " Certainly. I hops you didn't have much money with you. Was it done in a crowd?" "If you aro talking to me instead of the cat then go ahead and speak English?" he exclaimed as ho bobbed around in his chair. Then how did you loos your wallet ?" "I haven't lost it ?" "Let nio see it, please." "Am I running my wallet, or are you ?" "You are, of course, but 1 didn't know but you had left it in the street car or had it picked out of your pocket and had ad- vertised for a reward. I am glad that such was not the case." "When I can't go from the house to the office without loeiug my wallet l'll ask the (Darts to give me a guardian. I don't go to sleep in a street oar and lose $7 1" "But I got it back, Mr. Bowser." "W -what?" "I got ft back all right at the lost proper- ty office. It was careless of mo to lay it down on the scat, but the con--" "Mrs. Bowser, do you mean to say you got your purse back?" he exclaimed as Ito rose up and towered above her. "0f course. There it is." "And some slab•sided son of a gun picked $06 out of my pocket on the hind platform this morning and I shall never see hide nor hair of it again I" "You don't say I • Why, Mr. Bowser, how could you have been standing there with your eyes shut, your mouth open, and your feet crossed and let somebody rob you ? Sixty-five big dollars 1" It's bad enough to lose the , bub Idea--" Mr. Bowsermoneyhad boxethed himself up.in his excitement. He had taken an oath as big as a house that he'd never let Mrs. Bowser know of his loss, He had blurted out the fact, however, and now felt that he was gone, but all of a suddou an inspiration came to him and ha waved his arms and jumped tip and flown and shouted : "Woman, I see through it as clear as noonday l You got me robbed for revenge on D10 for criticising your carelessness, and you have no doubt divided the boodle with the thief I Robbed your own husband 1 Could human iniquity sink deeper 7" And he rushed for the library and banged the door shut after him, and she saw him no more that evening. She listened ah the door after a bib, however, and heard him walling around the room and growling`:' " You're a nice old hayseed, you are. Pitch into your wife for losing 07, and then let a gaodor•shanked, squint eyed critter go through you for ten times as much and tell her all about it I I. hope yon won't bear the last of it for ten years 1" He Bears a Great Responsibility. It may indeed be a great achievement to discover n continent aud open 1.6 up boo civilization, aeexplorars have done in Africa, but there is a tavern aide of the picture, This, I must admit, I did not realize un• btl a friend rauently called it to my attention in narrating the remarks of his little daughter, who had reached Africa in her geography. Returning hone one evening reoenbly he [mind the little mita in tears, and inquiring the reason learned between sobs that she mold not memorize alto hard names of the countries, rivers, and mountain peaks of the African Continent, Pioking up the geography the gentleman glanced at Africa for the first time its twenty years, and was himself surprised at the amazing changes. "Why," said he to the little one, "how it has changed! There area dozen countries now whore there was but one when I was a little boy. All the centro of the continent was a blank then. Stanley has done a wonderful work," "Yes, papa; that's it. Mr. Stanley's responsible for ball. If he hadu't discover- ed all those nasty old conntrice and rivere and mountains, then 1 could learn Afrloa just as you did when you was little." The father oonld nob restrain a smile at this, for it called to mined only too vividly the early tortures of hard geographical names, and he could easily realize law little Stanley's work was roliehed by the sohcol-children of Ilia present generation, Money Saved is Money Earned. Mrs. Winks—"1'$ just like to know why those Mirtkses have so mtuolt more money than we have." Mr, Winks—" Mrs, Minks was born on Christmas Day, and married on Christmas Day, so that the throe celebrations' come atan05. Think of the pilo Mr. Minks has savant on presents toher."