Loading...
The East Huron Gazette, 1892-02-25, Page 7gator. gallan, y another ; -teeth of 7 siren ge - of the on u1pr1t as brothers hal (Mal- hern (the gator. On mad iateiy It thee his If caught, ;er broth- -.ell>. He erea. way. could be • disap- ing made ice came, .e men got body and t conceal - just et al in ; but gle injury d and the pawan gs catch the ✓ rose to at it but the 'beast h the bait failed to vever two saw an eek, and borhood )us kind.s ans they hen taken tong, and toothless. 'aat it was phinaman ising him a -es non to go - ae of the when he ;trance of IScription: I pence in iuside, for rah. fter that ust as he aym en t, ce an to mouth in an, you ner !" I've paid ad a good oprietor, ying six- ner. him the dinner, ereupon a bill ab rds, and d do the a sever- , and he his bar - shop in re called proprie- the bill en offer. play the site side. "you're y l,t ha, says anges 111 by dis- rds and enlarged ect ions up by a , by fluid em bran- enclos- ho resulb here are hich the side of t he per - left side. y abiut ital, who ation of it was • left but of which °ranee. interfere in any a young e physi- he right ad been o wheels ross his nd it is by aandwe ugh the alk can . The refully • ea, and about in h there cent to are brick, rata are o made le of the The old ere ter- wer-men ely suf. ge ,jour- ne time s, has, of 12ft. uct it ensions These ing one of the er simi- e six of on the e of the e efflux it to the eels. her in. over a neatly: " said anti Where - HOUSEHOLD. The , Song Bird. You mar talk a.bout the music of the thnish, singing fro n a ses-ly nook in June; yoa maw belt ale Ls in early moring's hush. 1 Z-)ai IA' throat7Taleir melody attune; Ycei n ist even praise the chatter of the wren, But to me the sweetest warbling in the world Is the cut ent cut cutdaweut, Cut ea- ant entdaweut, Cut cat cut cut C.it cut cut cut dawcue Of the ordinary hen! I have naught against the bobolink toasay, Nor the blackbird's crazy quiverings ; ean Bsten qnite enchanted all the day I E the oriole a.bore me sings. 'Gainst the nightingale I've not a single word, But I claim there's no singing in the world, Like the cat cut ant cutdawcut, I Cut cut eut cutdawent, Cut eu t• cut cut Cut cut cut cut dawcut Of our gallinaceous bird! Tis a nean and a promise all in one, 'Tis an invitation to a feast; Tis an honest boast of useful labor done, And it tells of eapital increased. Dh. I praise no fancy bird with tongue or pen, For to me the aohiast music in the world Is the cut cut cut outda.went, Cut cut cut cutdawcut, Cut cut cut cut Cut cut cut cut dawcut Cf the common barnyard hen! Tru 'tis not a enitured operatic song, Like the caged c nary shouts and trills. But. it often makes a city fellow long For his boyhood back among the hills. While he dreams he's barefoot, hunting eggs again To that most pathetic music in the world, To the cut latent cutdawcut, Cut cut cut entdawent, Cut cut cut out Cut cut cut cut dawcut his mother's speckled hen ! --[George Horton. merse the mould in boiling water to within I A Winter Sonr. an inch of the cover. The water -should be, ft whirls like a ring -dove s feather?. boilinehard when the pudding is put in, The s°sn°w d - The t tosse an e d blown by the breath o ir and it should be brought back to the boil - ng -point as soon as possible afterward. Let the padding boil steadilfor at Ieast three hours. Serve it with a hard sauce flavored with nutmeg and, if yon wish, with lvandy. This same suet -crust is very nice for baked apple dumplings. Roll out a piece of the, crust until it is twelve inches wide by eigh- teen long, and cut it into six square. pieces., Core and peel six medium-sized tart apples. Rhode Island greenings are very nice for the purpose. Put a dash of nutmeg, a teaspoon- ful of sugar and a small bit of butter in the cavity of each apple, after placing it in the centre of one of the square pieces of crust. Moisten the edges of the dough and .fold thern firmly so as to enclose the apple. Brush over each of the dumplings with a lit- tle beaten egg and milk, if you wish to make them very glossy. I.Rt them bake in a moderately hot oven fen a half to three- quarters of an hour. Serve them with hard saue.,e, like the boiled apple-puddirg. The best rale for a hard sauce is: Half a cup of butter beaten to a cream (if it is salt butter it should be carefully washed to freshen it), a cup of sugar stirred in, and finally the un- beaten white of an egg. Stir all together till it is very light and white. Add a tablespoanful of wine or brandy, if you like, and half a nutmeg, grated fine. If you wish, you can arrange the hard sauce in a beehive shape when it comes to the table. This is the old-fashioned way of arranging this sauce, and it will be found quite attractive. Somethim, Chem) in Shades. The question ret snades tor windows is often a serious one, where as is usually the case in the country, the windows are numer- ous and one has become so accustomed to the use of shades tnat they seem almost a neces- sity, not a luxury. A writer in the New York Ledger tells how this matter was man- aged when living not exactly sixty miles froin a lemon but a good ways from any place. At the nearest point where such things could be purchased the price, $1 a windew, struck ns so utterly unreasonable that we declined -Mr disburse the necessary amount of cub, especially as there were something like twenty-four windows in the building. The timely arrival of an ingenious friend helped us out amazingly. She had written to as that she was coming, and we wrote her the particulars of our dilemma about the shades. When she arrived she brought. amoug other luggage a parcel whi h was duly turned over to be the head of the family, with the laughing remark : " There my dear are all the necessary sup- plies for your winnows and the bill is just three dollars and a. half." The parcel contained two dozen shade rollers with fixtures, a lot of fringe and some white muslin, the purpose of which we did not at first understand. The next day our friend went to work, measured the windows, sawed the rollers, and put up the fixtures. She then, with a very sharp shears cut the curtains of exactly the size required, out of the muslin and fastened them to the rollers with the sniallest gimp tacks, which were also in the parcel. The hems of the curtains were finished, the fringe put on, and sticks put in. The curtains were then tacked to a cross beam in the garret,this being the most convenient place. They were fastened by sticks in the hems, very slender nails being driven through at each end and through the middle. The cloth was then saturated - with starch, in which was dissolved some white glue, and weights were attached to the rollers. They were then allowed to dry without being touched. Having been cut by the threat. and tacked so th it the cloth fell in exactly perpendicular line, the curtains dried perfectly square and when put up, rolled as easily as a holland, which they very closely resembled. In large cities curtaies are so inexpensive that it, is scarcely worth while to take the trouble to make them, but, in country dis- tricts or wherehoods are very high priced it pays excellently well tp make the curtains at home.. It ie really very little work, re- quiring only careful attention vO cutting of the cloth and sawing the sticks and a Me- chanical eye to put the fixture up straight. Some horne-made curtains have been so neatly finished that the casual observer would never imagine them other than the work of a professional. Fine heavy sheeting, " Pride of the West," or even cambric, makes extremely retty shades if carefully managed. Fringe or any other desired finish may b used, and will add greatly to the neatness of the jleb. A fine quality of size may be used instead of starch and glue, but must be very carefully amplied and permitted to become thoroughly dry before using. On Apple Pudding. An En elish apple -pudding is a wholesome and hearty dessert. It is properly made weis a suet crust -not with the biscuit cruet so mach used by American cooks. When will our cooks learn that a crust raised with ba,kieg-powder, puffy and light though it be, may pall upon the taste? It is served to us in dumplings with our soup, in potpie with our ragout, in our meat -pies as the crust (and a thick, clumsy crust it makes) ; it returns •gain, like a harlequin with his lightning changes, as a crust to our apple -puddings; and, alas ! it is ever there sort of an incompetent r astry- maker ts a crust for apple-pie. A baking-howeler &eta is a goon thing, but a baking powder must may pall upon the taste if we have - t served in each of six courses of a dinner. day not a new Talleyrand arise and tell its, with justice that we have 250 religions ind but one crust? Yet a biscuit crust, ra.sed with baking -powder, or its equival- int, soda and cream of tartar, seems to be the beginning and end of our cooks' know- adge on this matter An English steet-crust is wholesome, iconomical and by far the best crust to use n an apple -pudding. To make it, use a planer of a poirnd of firm beef -kidney suet; et it be ice-cold, then mince it fine. It is inpossible to chop suet to a powder unless t is cold and bard. Add a heaping pint A pastry flour to the suet and half a tea- rpoonful of salt. Rub the suet and flour together with the hands until they are thoroughly mixed. Wet, up the dry in- gredients with enough ice-cold water to make a firm paste, just flexible enottgh to be easily handled. Roll it out until it is something less than a quarter of an inch thick. Butter a quart pudding -mould or Boston brown -bread tin and line it with this pastry, leaving about half an inchabove the edge of the tin. Fill the crust with sliced eples. Tart, 'well -flavored apples shank tie ehoson for this purpose. Add a. tittle eugar to the apples and half a grated nutmeg- Arrange a cover, dampen the edges and put it Q. Flour a thick cloth triit*Mir the to ahf the mould. Im- Tee -- • ----+NOIXI—mmoimum.--ft The Road to Fortune. - Dame Fortune's castle, great and grand. Upon a mighty hill doth stand, Yet she invites on every hand All who may care to come; The rich and po. r from every land Shall have her "welcome home." 3 1 ere you reach her castle wall, Or sup within her banquet hall, A host of foes must die or fall Beneath your conquering hand, For nought but men of wor h e'er shall Within her port 1 stjnd. The first great foe that mn be &airs Is Indolence, who with his chain Will seek to hold you in th To stop your bold ; But lift your sword, cleave ina in twain, Halt not, nor once r lent. Then Pleasure with invitin, smile May your unwary heart begnilea And from tho upward pa h to wile The weak, unsteady feet, But man thyself in noble style And with contempt her treat - Then ae you climb the rocky steep. And fear such lonely paths to keep, A dangerous foe wilt near you creep To.pierce you from behind 'Tis sly Timidity -but leap The higher up and safety find. And as you seem to upward rise, And these ignoble foes despise, Then worldly Hate with envious eyes Will use its utmost skill To rob :s on of your well -won prize, But press on da,untiess still. These are a few of deadly foes Who do th' aspiriag beat oppose, But many more will round you close To drag you to the earth; Who s ays them all but el .arly shows That he's a man of wor 11. --1Thos. Currie. A 'Cute Boy. Among the guests at a large West -end hotel was a maiden lady from the rural dis- tricts. The landlord noticed about nine o'cloek every night she would come down- stairs, get a pitcher of water, and return to her room. "One night," he said, "I made so bold as to speak to her, and ask her why she did not ring the bell for a hall -boy to bring the water to hen" "There is no bell in my room," said the lady. "No bell in your room. madam! Pray let me show you," and with that I took the pitcher of water in my hand and escorted her to her apartment. Entering the room, I pointed out to her the knob ot the electric bell. She gazed at it with a sort of horror, and then exclaim- ed : " Dear me ! Is that a ball? Why, the hall -boy told rre that it was the fire -alarm :finnan and I must never touch it except in case of fire !" And that is how the hall -boy saved i self the trouble of going for water- __ Dakota Cold„ We don't seem to know much about cold weatherhereinOntario. At Pembina, N. D., the thermonietor stood at forty-eight, de- grees below zero one day recently. At Spirit - wood Lake, in the same region, the ice is three feet thick, and in cutting it on cold days the saw stuck fast frequently, and had to be cut out with an axe. The weather has been so cold that few people have been about the farming districts. The Sykestnn Gazette remarked the other day: "We com- municate once more with the outside wend to -day, by means of an auger hole, made by the rotary plough through the drifts." And yet a Dakotan in Ontario recently was com- plaining bitterly of the cold. He said that here fifteen degrees above zero, or even thirty-five above, with the dampness, was more searching and uncomfortable than thirty-five below in Dakota Six Times Condemne d to Death. Corsica, which has always been a favorite heme of the brigands, is "(says the D ,ily Telegraph,) keeping up its reputation. The wails of the Court -house at Hestia are just now adorned with a notice calling upon Giacome and Antonio Borelli better known as Bellacoscia, to surrender to justice for the purposeof being executed, in accordance with a sentence of death recently passed upon them in default. On this occasion the brigands were tried for having sought to kill nix gendarmes. Death sentences,however,are an ordinary_ occurrence in the lives of M m Borelli. for each of them has been condemned to capital punishment six times already,and so long as they are very careful that they do not go by default there seems no reason why they should not be condemned to the guillo- tine Many times more. Superstition assumes some very peculiar forms in Hawaii. For instance, some of the natives believe that if theycross the threshold of the royal palace with the left foot first, a train of bad luck will follow them in some way, either in health or busi- ness. Th c average llawaiian would as soon welcome tbe sight of an ocean of hot lava pouring over the country from Mauna Loa as to see a foreign warship anchor in the great harbour. The natives believe a war- ship brings bad luck. Vice -President Shaughnessy, of tbe Canadian Pacific railway who arrived at. Vaacouver on Tuesday per steamship Em- press of India, after a tour through the trade centres of China and Japan, gives a glowing account of the possibilities of creat mg a trade in staples with these foreign countries. On account of race discrimina- tions the Chinese would prefer to trade with Canada rather than with the United States. May; An icy hand holds the ltraoteintether, 'rhe sad wind dirges the passing day; But you, love, and I, love, happy together, Laugh though the skies be gray._ Mirth and joy are the draughts We mingle, And pledge Ring Winter a lusty reisna_a We pile the logs on the roari g Mee, We tune tho lute to a lover's strain, And marry song to tbe strings and tingle With never a note of pain. They say that May is the month for mating When the leaves beak and the songster woo; We wish all well in their weary waiting For the pied -green meads and the arching blue; . _ • , • tint there's life and love in these airs elating, And this is the tirne for two! -[Clinton Scollard. PRDEESSORS SKELETON. The Professor was a good mauea- man of unimpeachable Ilharacter and reputation- a man who bad never been known to make a mistake, and also a man who was thormigh- ly aware of the fact. So much for himself. For his abilities -he knew his work, and to do it, he likewise knew a, good deal about other people's work, and, as far as he conveniently could, insisted upon its being done too. Without going into details, it will readily be understood that, though un- doubtedly a useful man in his day and generation, the Professor was by no means a popular one ; and it was over one of his latest interdicts that his wife and his step- daughter were conferring one rainy morning in the solitude of the best parlour. "It is of no use whatever, my dear; he will not even discuss the question. I am very sorry ,for you; but I don't see any help for it. ' "You give way to him a great deal too much, mother. If he had one shadow of ommon-sense on his side, it would be nether story. It's too late now to pass hings over in that high-handed feshion." Mary Andrews spoke with some heat. Had she not good cause? Her first lover, unexceptionable in all respects, had appear- ed upon the scene ; and without rhyme or reenon, the Professor had put down his foot and refused to countenance any such pro- ceeding. •• ny ? why ? In my days, young peo- ple did not pressume to question the why and wherefore of their guardian's conduct; it ought to be sufficient for you that I have good reasons of my own, Mary," be had told her when she tried to argue the mat- ter. " But it's net sufficient," returned Mary. "I'm too old to be treated that way, papa If you have anything against him, you must tell me straight and plain." "Well, for onething," "began the Profes- sor, fairly driven to bay -for one thing, his meaner is objectionable. I dislikethat light jesting style exceedirigly. 'I- believe him to be incorrigibly careless and staperficial ,• and I do not speak without observation. Then he is wanting in the commonest courtesy of a gentleman ; I caught him only the other day with a grossly caricatured representa- tion of myself en his desk. You may think these trivial matters, my dear ; but straws show the way the wind blows." The Professor had been edging towards the door as he spoke ; with the test 'word, he vanished from the room. With all his learning, he was not altogether above such devices •, and Mary quite understood that, and made up her mind to resume the discus- sion the very first opportunity: not so was the Professor to dispose of her views and feelings, whatever he might do sith her mother's. Discretion is said to be the better part of valour. Dr. Dow did not appear again that day. Where or how he spent the time was a matter best known to himself; but for many days afterwards it, was im- possible to secure the smallest chance of an • interview with him. Mary met her love, on the Park road one afternoon, and'owned, with mingled wrath an.' irritation, that affairs were still as before. She had been able to accolnplish nothing in the way of bringing the Professor to a more satisfac- tory state of mind. h "lam sorry to say it of anycne connected with you, Mary," remarked the young man gravely; "but there is a good deal of stub- bornness in yolir respected step .father's composition, he will neither be led nor driven Shall we throw him overboard, and do without his kind permission ?" Mary shook her head despondently. "We can't do that, John ; it means moth- er too: besides, he has a kindly nature underneath." "Then he has a mast unpleasant way of showing it on the surface." was the rejoin- der. " E simpese yon go off to your country quarters next week, and it will be rank heresy for me to show my race within tweney limes ot the pace. By the time von come hack, it's hard to say what may have hap- pened. "1 may even have married into the band of professors inyself," said Mary demurely, and have an infallible guide of my own." " I'll qualify him for three months in hos- pital first time I come across him," was Mr Grierson's reply. "Seriously, John, we can't very well help ourselves. You can write as (Nen as von like: and the first chance I have of a solemn square up with the Professor, be sure I'll take it. But for that unlucky caricature, te ere might have been no trouble of any kind. Why did you risk it?" "It was impossible to help it, Mary. If only you had seen him chasing round with that famous umbrella after some imaginary miscreant who had tampered with his pap- ers -it was too good to be lest -not that I have not been sorry enough about it since," he added in a graver tone. It could not be undone now, and the pair had just to make the best of the position. For the next few days Dr. Dow kept his household in a perfect whirlwind of prepar- ation that effectually shut out all hope of private debate. On Sunday he raked up some acquaintance at the other side of the town, and spent the whole day there; and oi Monday morning, provokingly triumpn. ant, he stood on -the front steps surveying the train of cabs waiting to convey -his fam- ily and their belongings to the station, and keeping a vigilant outlook for possible short. comings. - "Mary, my dear, if you would have some little regard tor neatness. I never in my life saw such a disreputable portman- teau. What was your mother thinking of to allow it to go 1 "Unless I look after every thing myself' — " Richard, did you notice if that roll of rugs was carried out?" interrupted Mrs. Dow from behind. "It was, my dear, and put into the cab I never yet met with a woman who knew where the wraps Went, or if there were any at alL It takes a man"— Mrs,, Dow did not wait to hear the rest, had probably heard it befere. She went back into the dining -room, wbere a farther consignment of packages was stacked upoa the table, and began to strap up an over-_ flowing bag. "Now,mother" said Mary warningly, "that is not work for your fingers. Where is papa, that he can't?"-- " liUsh ! He's counting up the boxes. You know it takes a man '-- " Oh yes; I know all about that," laugh- ed Mary, finishing the refractory straps herself. "Now, mother, we will just go and put ourselves into the first cab, and leave the "man" to wind up any way that pleases him." - She swept her mother out of the chaos, past the energetic Professor -who was ex- pounding the first-, principies of leverage to a sulky porter -into the roomiest cab, whence they looked out at the rest. of the performance with rather malicious satis- faction on Mary's part. It came to an end at last. The Professor, with his hands under his coat-tails, looking not at all unlike a dignified bantam cock, strutted round the various rooms, turned the key in the front door with his own hand, and descended the steps. One foot in the cab he paused and looked searchingly at his wife. "Isabella, where was my study coat packed?" " Oh dear," cried Mrs Dow, stricken into dire confusion and consternation; "1 do believe it hasn't been packed at all ; it's hanging up in that dark closet behind your study." "1 knew it 1" ejaculated her husband. The eoat in question was a baggy venerable garment, of a nondescrip greenish hue, but dear beyond price to the heart of its owner. The holiday would have been ncr holiday without it,and the whole establishmen knew that very well; hence the Professor felt that here was solid ground for a prievance at last. He waved the cabman aside and went back into the house. "Take care of the matehes, dear," his wife cried after him. Dr Dow stalked majestically in without vouchsafing a backward glance; he passed the dining -room door, his study door, and turned un a dim narrow passage; the close door was at the end, a big dark cavern, that served as a general receptacle for lumber, and all the odus and ends of the household. The Professor tumbled over two trunks, and knonked his hat off against some sharp pro- jection, before it occurred to him to dive in- to his coat-tail pocket for a match. Then he discovered that the unfriendly projection had been the gas bracket, and that the shock had knocked off the burner. No matter; it was only one more annoyance. He lighted the burnerless pipe and proceeded to look for his coat. There it was, not even decently hung up -just thrust out of sight and mind behind au. empty crate. The Professor carried it out into the lobby and sorrowfully viewed the creases by the light of day. "Papa !"-it was Mary's voice at the front door in a tone of indignant expostulation- " do you, know we have only fifteen minutes left to get to the station? It's no use going at all if you don't come now -this minute!" Dr. Dow gathered up the maltreated coat under his arm. His papers, his umbrella - where were they? What way was this for a man to set off to his well-earned reet ? In a fever of justifiable impatience at the utter unreasonableness of all things animate and inanimate on this particular morning, the Pt ofessor turned and locked the closet door -which had swung to of its own accord --- and rushed once more into the street. That was the last of the day's minor wor- ries; nothing else went wrong. They did not miss the train or lose their luggage. The rescued coat was tenderly brushed, and folded up in the rack above. The sun shone out over browning fields and purpling heather; the anxious lines faded out of Ars. Dow's face ; she moved up a tittle closer to her troublesome husband, and both lo c ked as contented as though their days went by in one uhbroken round of peace and con- cord. They meant to enjoy their holiday - time. . For the pair who were separated there was always one grand resource -the post. Mary wrote endless letters to her young lover ; and neither of them appeared to be absolutely steeped in misery and despair, whatever they might choose to say on that head, and thought ',hat solemn s paring up' had come, and gone, and been of noneef- feet. "It is entirely for your own good, my dear," said the learned mar, looking at her quite pathetically. He had held his ground through all her arguments and entreaties. "If I believed the young man to be worthy of you, no one would welcome him into the family more joyfully; but I have been un- able to discover ore redeeming point about him ; and I should be failing, most miser- ably failing in my duty to you if, for the sake of present peace,. I allowed you to sacrifice your future. Do not, speak to me any more on this matter, my dear, I beg of you " OE course all this was faithfully reported to John, wh o as fat th f ully promised by return, to do any doughty deed that might present itself in the rather limited round of daily existence. "If he would hurl himself into the sea, I would only be too pleesed to fish him one -again ; or if he want a contribution to any pet charity, lie has but to hint as much. I am ready to thrash any rival Pro- fessor within an inch of his life for him ; but I must say it is a trifle hard on us both his stick.ng out in this fashion, when there's net the least likelihood of anything of the kind." Some days after the exodus from town, it chanced that the Professor had occasion to go back to attend a committee meeting. He was to return theta:tame night. Neverthe- less, Mrs. Dow and Mary escorted him to the tiny railway station and surrounded him with little attentions, as if it were to be a lengthy parting; a state of things that tne Professor thoroughly appreciated. He looked down upon teem from the window of the railway carriage with quite a benign- ant expression. " Richer I, dear," observed his wife, em- boldened by it to a parting petition "the evenings are a little chilly; would you mind calling at the house anclbringing my fur cloak back with you? Its hanging up in that dark closet.' " Certainly, my dear," he answered. " You may depend upon me, though you would have left my coat in that same closet." Dr. Dow reached town vary comfortably, attended his meeting, and, after lunch, pro- ceeded leisurely in the direction of his own house. Not very far from it, he unexpect- edly and iather unwillingly cameupon John Grierson. The young man was turning a corner sharply, and the pair almost came into collision. There was no loophole for pretending- they had not obierved each other; Mr. Grierson at auy rate wanted zro loophole; it was a chance nos to be lightly lost. "Ab, Dr. DowI am lucky to have met yon," he -said. "-1 thought you were in the country." "So we are, A committee ineetinc itrought me in for tbe day" -that quickening ,hispaee os-hospoke.,..- Mr GreIrson quickenedbietelo. -"I want- ed to tell you that lehavegot4hat anrintr merit I mentioned, it_will J*4143.-.a, _very comfortable 4de:tie-It:to any me.P'- 1avzt/etIhw4tt1Iee " arteile$ Oilier frigidlj steps,-" Iwi Xre Onre ow, Mr. Grierson; I have to look in here f unn"'Titeheonrptewrhoa" ps you will allow me to wait for you? I have several other things to speak to you about." Very reluctantly, the Professor gave way; he had the instincts ot a gentlemen, and could hardly decline as curtly at his own door as elsewhere. "The house is en des- luzbille," he said, opening the door with his latchkey; "but if you 1.ke to wait here for a moment, I will not detain you longer. Leave the door open -it feels nneommonly close certainly eceinrstialel" Idig. John Grierson stood in the doorway, looking thoughtfully out at the passing cabs and oinuibuses, a d making up his mind that there should be no fur- ther begging the question by his pro- posed father-in-law. If fair means did not answer, he should be made to understand in plain Saxon that they would do without him. At thi point Mr. Grierson suddenly became a ware of smothered execra- tions and ejaculations from the regions be- "ilullo ! is anything the matter ?" be call- ed out. "Burglars—Good gracious 1" He had found his way to the little passage behind the study. Dr. Dow was there, clutching at the door into the dark closet, from which a lurid light shone. The air from it was like a blast from a furnace; but the interior was like unto no furnace either of them had ever seen. The gas had been burning in the closet since the day the family left town 1 The Professor had neglected to turn it of before he locked the closet door! And there it was, the smoking gas jet -without a burner -flarig away, as it had flared day and night since the house was shut up. How the house itself had escaped entire destruction was a mystery not to be explained. From wall and ceiling of the closet, from shelves and pegs and crates and garments, bung waving pendieles of soot. Every box and bundle was crusted with it, even to the boarded floor: and the luckless Professor stood gaz- ing helplessly in at the havoc he had accom- plished. Mr. Grierson gave vent to a prolonged whistle. "Phew ! if that's the plight your servants leave behind them, I'd make a clean sweep of them, every one. Why, the place might have been burned down three times over." "It was I who left it," gasped the con- victed master, "not the servants." •1 0-h 1" "1 wouldn't have had it happen for ten - twenty -.-fifty pounds," pa ited the Profes- sor. "1 have always been so particular about anything of that kind, and now "— He broke off with a groan that expressed more than words. Mr. Grierson made no comment; he did not feel called upon to express any sympa- thy -it was hardly to be expected of him. The Professor might be great in metaphysics, but in a practical emergency he lives no- where. As far as John Grierson could per- ceive, they were likely to spend the rest, of the evening gazing at the sooty scene. " You are going hack hy the six train, I suppose ?" he remarked entatively. "How can I go back with a house like this?" detnarded the Professor. "1 shall never hear the last of it. Look at Mrs. Dow's cloak ; I was to have taken it back with me." . He lifted the edge of the gar- ment as he spoke ---the fur -lining might have been composed of black fringe, for any colour that could be seen. Mr. Grierson shook hishead discouraging- ly "I'm afraid Mrs. Dow will never put that on again." "1 never had a misfortune like this in my life before," wailed her unhappy husband. "I'd almost as soon the whole place had caught fire." Mr. Grierson shook his head a second time. It was quite a refreshment of spirit to be able to look on reprovingly; he would not have missed the chance for a good deal, even if his own affairs had to stand over in consequence. All at once a sudden gleam of inspiration came upon him some expres- sion that was hardly compassion so much as self interest sweot across his complacent face: he dimly saw some beautiful possibilit of establishing a held upon the immaculate Professor, and working it round to his own end . "How wruld it be if you were to say nothing at all about it?" he suggested cauti- nusly. "Get a charwoman in and have this mess cleared away? Its only soot, after all -there's no real damage done." The Professor grasped at the idea, like the proverbial drowning man at the straw. " Could it be done ?" he asked anxiously. "There is that cloak, too, only bought last winter." "Couldn't you get another like it ?" insin- uated the tempter. "They're sure to have plenty more at the shop it came from; women's clothes are all cut after the same pattern. The Professor fell headlong into the trap; the downward path is fatally easy, once the first crooked step is taken. John Grierson prom ptlt placed himself at the head of a,ffai rs and the Professor was like clay in the hands of the potter. A charwoman was hunted up brooms and brushes brought into full play, Dr. Dow and Mr. Grierson a,ssistina till they might have passed for a pair of itiner- ant Christy Minstrels. The cloak was vigor- ously shaken out of the study window, and tied up in a clumsypaper parcel, ready for negotiating the change next morning. By ten o'clock that night the Professor's credit was saved; but his innoeence was gone. For him, a grimy skeleton would haunt that el o,s, e‘tvtohurloduigtc baelliy)tismsiebletotoccem4p. up that gas pipe, do you think ?" he asked his accom plice, as they stood critically surveying the result of their labours. "It doesn't look at all bad till you turn that light on ; a person coming in with merely a candle would not nomtier!anGryiedrsioffnerelanugeeh. ed. "All right. We'll make assurance doubly sure. A plug 01 paper will keep that pipe oft duty till it's convenient to put it on again. -Now we may as well look after some soap and water for ourselves; we have put in a fair night's work" Whatever John Grierson's failings might have beeu in the past, Dr. Dow had no reason to complain of his doing things by halves on this occasion. He gave the finishing touches to everything. swept away all trace of the charwoman's presence took upon himself the sole respon- sibility of the cloak transation, and pregent- ed himself at the station the next morning in abundance of time to band it in to the professor's carriage and assure him that good deal of trouble ea nint niecid- erit. I am alni de- tection was impossible. yon, Mr. Grierson," said the; Professor, un - .4 I really do not know what to Say to :; sadly arranging his pFee onithe-nprisite h seat. "You havexi r - I slightly yesterda anything of tit can perhays und have it generaily "Don'tt: with great have wart some k' of Bke- - hye • be sire and tell ary F1Italktii over too see her on Saturday." And somehow -into the details of the process it is better not to inquire too elowin ly-the Profess tr brought himself todeliver - the message verbatim. He knew that that same skeleton would be a powerful lever in all coming arrangements. Some years back -about the juvenile era of the present generation -it was the uni- versal creed that no good action ever went marewarded, no deed of darkness undis- covered and unpunished. Nevertheless, there have been many exceptions recorded. Dr. Dow's skeleton is one of them: months of quiet dust have gathered undisturbed about it ; no ruthless hand has let in the light of day, or gas, into the dark closet be- hind the study, and possibly Mrs. John Grierson is the only outsider who bas ever l•eard it whispered that there was any mystery connected with it. The nearest approach to discovery came with the Christmas bills; even gentle Mrs. Dow was aghast at the length of the quarters' gas account. "It is a, perfect imposition," she declared indignantly; "we have not burned the half of it. 1 am most carerul in seeing that it is never used unnecessarily. 1 don't know what the Professor will say when he sees it." But the Professor co _ling in just then, declined to interfere. It was better -much better, he said -speaking very feelingly -to be cheated than -to cheat; and if there was any imposition in the matter, he preferred to leave it entirely to the conscienee of the gas company. It was curious that Mr. Grierson took much the same view when he saw the bill. After that, Mrs. Dow had no alternative but to pay it, though she did it under pro- test, and with a firm conviction of flagrant iniquity in high quarters. How a Methodist Minister's Wit Turned the Tables on a Baptist Parson. At a recent banquet in this city there was a neat bit of repartee betaeen two of the aftersiiiiiner speakers. which was greatly appreciated by those about the festive board. The first speaker was a State official and member of the Baptist Church, who evi- dently placed but a small estimate upon his powers of entertainirg, as he told the company he would talk simply to save therti from the worse fate of listening to the next speaker. To illustrate his position he related a story of a party of lynchers who had harged a man and were afterward greatly concern- ed about breaking the news gently to the widow. After casting about for some time as to the best means of conveying the in- telligence they had decided upon writing the following note: "Dear Madam: We have this day saved your husband from drowning." "And so, gentlemen," continued the speaker, "in my holding the floor to -night, though my speech may be an uninteresting and a boring one, I may still be saving you from the worse fate of drowning at the hands of the speaker who is to follow me." The company laughed ahd wondered what the next speaker would say to this good- natured reflection on his power of elo- quence. It happened that the following speaker was a Methodist minister, and as he rose to respond to his toatt he neatly turned the point against his predecessor by remarking: "Gentlemen, as I am not a minister ot the Baptist Church and consequently do not practice immersion, there is no fear of any attempt on my part to drown you.' -[Boston Herald, How the London Streethlud is D13 palL 3 f The mud collected in the London streets is carted to the landing -stage of the caual or the river, and there emptied into barges, whereby It is conveyed to Barking Creek, and Crossness, fourteen miles below London Bridge, where the contents of London sewers are discharged. Three new vessels have just been orderEd from Lancashire, for the purpose of discharging out at sea the sluolge and mud from the London sewers. Shen these are completed, thei e will be a fleet of five ships engaged in this work. These will be capable of removing 4,000 tons per week. The mud and refuse removed annually from the London strt ets amounts to a total weight of two million tons, and the clearing of it away costs £320,000 per year. In order to do this thorouJily, there are employed 1,50 carts, 3,000 men, and 1:50 bar_:es. These men have .to deal with two pounds of rubbish per head of popula- tion per day. _sat The oyster seems, from all accounis, to be scarcely less prolific, actually, than the fly. It is estimated that each mother oyster throws off from 200,000 to 2,000,000 ova annually. The whaleback steamers which have created somewhat of a sensatiou in ship building and other circles, is like'y to he superseded by another marine curiosity known as the turtle deck. And it is grati- fying to know that the first one of these new steamers is to be built by a Canadian firm, the Poison Company of this city. For some time a firm in Swe len have been nego- tiating with the Poison's for the construc- tion of a steamr ot the turtle back patt tern. The plans have been prepared, and show that the proposed steamer will bear a sumag resemblance to the Macdougal whaleb:cks, which have in the last few years become such an important factor in grain and ore transportation in the United States and elsewhere. The whalebacks are built with both ends alike, ve. y much in lia,pe of a spoon; but experience has shown that such a shape exposes the rudder and wheel to more than ordinary risk, and, moreover, can lay no claim to any eounter- halaecing advantage over the ordinary style. For this reason it wag deemed advis- able to retain the old and tried model. The motive power will be steam alone. There are no masts, no rigging, no bulwarks. There is nothing to break the sweep of the deck, except a look -out tower well forward and a small deck -house at tbe stern'strongly built of steel to re- sist all sorts of weather, and cover- ing the space occupied by the machinery and crew's qaarters. All forward of this will be devoted to freight, whieb will be loaded and unloaded through seven hatches opening direct from the hold. This arrange- ment admits of speedy and convenient hand- ling of the cargo. The deck is curved like the back of a turtle, a device which increas- es materially the seaworthiness of the vessel. Her dimensions will be as follows :-Length, 250 feet; beam, 40 feet; depth of hold, 234 feet. Steam will be generated in two Clyde boilers, having each a diameter of 14 feet. She will be furnished with the triple expansion engines, with cylinder having diameters of 21, 32, and 58 inches, and I 441inchstroke _ On account of the absenet -at :of all masts, sails and rigging, the coat al pt constructing a steamer of this kind is, fully '-20per 014, less than that‘ of an ordinary thiheitlfi,littnal carrying capacity. If the • Ptract-b0-4htered -upon, and there is every-. fiebabilit:,..?that 18 will, the hull will ix. -ItipV*4*.430pull, and theensi as% 47';