————————— ———————————" TWO COUSINS---A RONDEAU. And so you vow 1've grown strait-laced, And call me prude, and say I'm fickle! You tell me how we've often raced To reach the bank where cool drops trickle, You seem to think I'm still a plekle Add never can be taught good taste; - And yet you vow-I've grown strait-laced, And call me prude, and say I'm fickle! That down is long enough to tickle, And I'm too old to be embraced; It almost forms a double sickle, And shan't be over my lip placed; “That's why you vow I've grown strait- laced, And cail me prude; and say I'm fickle. HRT Sn LE THE MISSING WITNESS, «I'm afrmd it is a bad case,” I said to myself as 1 laid down my brief after roading it over for the third or fourth time, and leaned back in my ohair to reconsider it for about the twentieth. «A bad case, and I am sorry for it.” 1 was a barrister, young both in years and in professional standing, and this was the first brief of any importance I had ever held My client was an Italian sailor named Luigi Bernini, and the crime of which he was accused was robbery; the plun- der being the life-long savings of a woman upward of eighty years of age, which the poor creature kept hidden in the thatch of her little cabin, The witnesses were the old woman herself, theft, and a neighbor who deposed to having met the prisoner in the immedi- ate vicinity of the cabin. When Ber- nini was arrested some days later, a curious foreign coin, identified as a part of the missing hoard, was found in his pocket. This, howeyer, he accounted for, by saying that he had picked it up on the road. The weak point in the chain of evi. and had afterward adhered to this state- ment with what appeared to be dogged obstinacy, rather than real, true oon- wicti~n, The prisoner himself positively de- at all on the day of the robbery, but unfortunately he could not speak with certainty as to his whereabouts, He had been lately dismissed from hospital, scarcely convalescent, after a bad fever; his own ship had leit the port, and he had been rejected by the captains to whom he had offered his services, as not being sufficiently robust for a sailor’s work, therefore, took to wandering aimlessly of her again. His mind had been weakened and confused by his illness, snd sithough he knew that for several days preceding and following that of the robbery he had been in a part of the country fally twenty miles distant, he could not positively *say where he the day in question. many persons interviewed who remem- bered ‘the poor foreign chap,” but no sccurate information as to dates was forthcoming, As the testimony of would not, unfortunately carry much weight in a court of justice, I had to trust for a defence to the cross-examina- tion of witnesses, whose character for veracity I hoped, by judicious manage- ment of the nsudl forensic weapons, to compel them to annihilate with their own lips. dence, as I was strongly prepossessed in favor of the prisoner; something frank and honest in his face making it difficult for me to believe him guilty of the cowardly crime of which he was ac- cused. Beside, it was, as I have said, my first important case, and self-interest and professional instinct alike prompted me to desire its successful 1ssue, But of this I had little hope. 1 laid aside my brief at length, and went up to the drawing-room, where I was greeted by my cousin and hostess with a somewhst petulant repreol for having lingered so long over those musty old law papers, Alice and I tad been children to- gether—a big girl and a little bcy—we had grown from playfeliows into friends, and since her marriage her house in Carrigarvan had been my resting place in assize times. 1 was at no loss to un- derstand ber vexation al my tardy ap- pearance, She was somewhat of a matchmaker, and having no one but myself on whom to exercise her talents, she had devoted them exclusively to my service, She had already decided on a suitable wife for me, and was now exerting herself to the very utmost to bring about the marriage, The chosen young lady was present, and I knew that Alice was much an- noyed with me for devoting the evening to my brief instead of Dora Lyne. The 1atter was the danghter of a solicitor in goed practice, and was herself a v pretty, bright looking girl, who Thc | 1 was compelled to admit, be a most desirable wife for a young,unknown bar. nster, I was thoroughly fond of Alice, and she was my chosen confidante, whenever 1 needed one; but I could not tell her even that the true reason which pre- vented Dora liyne's brown eyes and aweel voice their due impression on me was the remembrance of a {ace seen but during a three hours’ railway journey, a face with dark gray eyes and quiet, Shoughiifal expression, aud of a voice heard at somewhat rare intervals in the space of time, whose full, low. pitched tones still vibrated in my 1mag- ination, Alice would have been too good natured to laugh at me, but 1 felt ware tnat, had she known the state of the case, she would have entertained, end probable expressed, fears that over- study had affected my brain, an oplmon that would probably have shared by all persons whose characteristic was ©0ommon sense. ' Miss Lyne, perceiving that Alice was ' | vexed with me, and wishing, I think, to show that she did not share the feel ing, oalled me over to look at some prints and photographs she was exam- | ining. “Alice,” said Miss Lyne, at length, “did you show Mr, Lestrange that sketch “you found in that book?” “No,” said Alice, “‘I forgot it, You will find it in that volame of the ‘Stones of Venice’ on my table, Rich- ard. It is really a beautiful sketch, I wonder how 1t came to be forgotten in the book?” I brought the book to Dora Lyne, who turned over the leaves until she found the drawing. which she put into my hands, The moment I saw jt I uttered an exclamation of sur. prise, which brought my cousin to my side. It was a spirited water colored sketoh of a man's head—a dark, foreign- looking face, surmounted by a red cap. It was, however, neither the skill of the artist nor the picturesque beauty of the model that a%tracted my attention; it was the fact that in the somewhat peculiar features of the latter I recognized those of my client, Luigi Bernini, “What an odd coincidence!” said Alice, when I had explained. ‘‘J. won- der who could have taken the sketoh— some one who knows how to handle a it. “See, here are initials and a date, but they are so faint that I cannot make them out.” “Let me try,” said Dora; good sight,” She took the sketch closely. “W. M. D,, bat I cannot make out the date, tenth, 18-—." “May tenth-—why. taat was the very day o! the robbery,” 1 said, | full significance of this | turned giddy. “The alibi!” I gasped— | sketch, we might succeed in proving the alibi,” ready quickness, | from, was it notpAlice? They ought to | be able to tell you there who had it | May.” | is, will have to be hunted up,” I said, tiand there is so little time, nesday. I suppose Morrison's is closed by this, Alice?” | “Indeed It is,” she answered, | You must wait patiently nntil to-morrow, | Richard.” i ! | the batter, | The following morning found me at { Morrison's Library. | charge of the library department, from | whom I totally failed to obtain the re- | usually attended to that part of the business was away; if I could call next | week-— me, at the time, | self-control, that most praiseworthy next week would | not do, giving a partial explanation | of the circumstances. Bat the clerk, although apparently willing to help do 80, “You see, sir,” said he, *il yom wanted to know what book any sub- | seriber had out at a given time I could { probably tell yon, but as for ascertain. | ing the whereabouts of a special book— { it's an impossibility, If you like to look | over our entries for yourself, you are | welcome to Jo so,” I accepted this offer, and spent a good part of the day turning over the blotted pages wherein were inseribed subscribers of Morrison's, And an un- profitable morning's work it was, The record was to all appearances imper- fectly kept, aud I failed to trace the second volume of the ‘Stones of Ven- ice” through a pericd of longer than three weeks, duricg which time it had twice changed hands, Some hours more were spent in hunt. ing up the persons in whose possession it had been for that length of time, neither of whom could give any infor. mation concerning the sketch, An ap- plication to Bernini himsel! was equal- ly fruitless, He remembered that a lady and gentleman whom he had met during his wanderings had asked him to sit to them, but he did not know who they were, nor could he even make it clear where the imcident oc- curred. 1 returned home at dinner time, tired and baflied, to report my failure to Alice and her husband, from whom 1 received munch sympathy, but no sug- gestion of practical value. I had given up hope, and was endeavoring to dis- miss the subject from my thoughts, when late in the evening the hall door bell sounded, and a message came up that a person wanted to speak to Mr, Lestrange. Going down, 1 found wait- ing for me a bright-looking boy, one of the shop agsistants at Morrison's, who had been for a short time aiding in my investigation of the entries, “¥ think I have what you want, sir,” he said, as I entered the room. ‘It was in my mund all that day that I had given ont that book to some one, I couldn't think who, and a chance word that I heard this evening brought it all back to me like a flash, It was to Mrs, French of Redeourt that I gave it, and it must have been on the third or fourth of May, Here i= ths lady's name and address, sir;” and he handed me a slip of paper on which was written, Mrs, French, Redecourt, Kiloarran,” It was in Kiloarrap, or the neighbor- hood, that, scoording to Bérnini's own statement, ho had spent the day of the robbery, Thanking and dismissing the lad, I returned tc the drawing-room with m e, The next step was to CL cate with Mrs, French, Kiloarran was fully fifteen miles from Carrigarvan, and the trial was to begin the following morning. “Hand me over that railway guide, Dick.” said Alice's husband, “1 thought so —no train before ten, There's nothing for it but for me to drive to Kilearran the first thing in the morning the mare can easily do it in two hours ~and if I find that any one there oan give evidence worth having, I'll bring them back with me, and have them in ocourt before the case for the defence opens” The trial began next morning, pro- ceeding at an unusually rapid rate, It seemed to me that the learned counsel for the prosecution had never before put forth his wisdom and legal knowledge in so condensed a form, The cross-exam- ination of the witnesses was of course in my hands, and 1 did my best to make it as tedious as possible, totally failing, however, in my attemps to confuse them or enuse them to contradict them- selves, My only hope now lay in the unknown witness, and of him there were no tidings. The ease for the prose- oution closed, and the court adjourned for lunch; I was standing in the bar room, thinking over my speech for the defence, and mentally re-arranging my sentences after the manner of the most prosy member of the circuit, when a note was handed to me: “All right—the witness is in the sher- iff 's room.” Going into the sheriff's room, 1 found my cousin, accompanied by a strange **This is the prisoner's conusel,” the former, ws I entered, said “Allow me I turned to the lady as her name was bow, in my surprise and delight at me my dream of the last six my nuknown love, another | whom had been my chief | desire over since I lost sight of her | as she stood on the platform of the little roadside station where she had | alighted, “It was Miss Darcy who did that | members all about it.” “Yes,” said the girl, “the sketch was i Having by a few hurried questions | Daroy’s testimony, I took her and placed | prisoner, latter for a minute or two, and then said | She looked attentively at the | “Yes, that is the man.” I opened the case for the defencas in | as possible, and then Hhe stated | that she lived at Rdeourt with her | sister, Mra, French, and that on the | tenth of May she and her cousin spent | the greater part of the day sketching | by the river side at Kilcarran, At about | two o'clock a gust of wind had carried her hat into the stream, whenoo it was recovered by the prisoner, who hap- pened to pass by at that moment. In. terested by something io his appearance, with him, bat without much success, | his English being very imperfect. They, however, managed to make him under- stand that they wished to employ him | as a model, and he sat to them patiently for more than an hour, at the end of which time he went away with many ex- gratitude for the money they gave him, Miss Darcy would have (which was produced her cousin aad the ninth of in court) as arrived at Kiloarran on May and left on the | Cross-examination failod to cast auy her veracity was of | The jury professed themselves satisfied with the evidence, and pronounced a verdiot of | “Not Uailty,” The prisoner was | scized upon by some of his ocom- | patriots, who were serving on the | mixed jury, and carried off in tnumph, somewhat dazed by the change in bis prospects, Some months afterward a man, dying from the effects of a hurt received in a drunken brawl, acknowledged himself guilty of the erime of which Bernini had been scoused. He also was an Italian, and bore sufficient resemblance to Lis countryman in height and com- p.exion to account in some degree for the mistake of the witnesses, As for me, I date the beginning of both my professional sucoess and my life's happiness from the day of Ber- nin's trial Chicago Cheek. * May I bave this seati” she asked of the genteel looking drummer whose bag- was occupying it “[ don’t know, ma'am.” he answered politely. *‘It belongs to Lhe railroad, you know; but 1'll see the conductor, and may be he can give it to you.” . She grew purple and said. “You don't understand me. | mean, can I take It4” “Well, I don’t know that, either. Youn pee it 18 fastened very firmly to the car floor, and would be troublesome to get up; however, 1'll have a carpenter {0 come on board at the next station and ask hus ad. vice." +4 don’t want to take the old thing, ’ she howled. *‘Is this your traps on 1?” “No'm,” blaandly answered the drums. mer; ‘they belong to the firm 1 travel for.” “Well, can [sit down herel” ste fin- ally screamed, after shifting from one foot to the other, «1 don’t know, madam; you are the best judee of your muscular powers." “Where do you travel fromi” she “Chicago,” he replied. “That settles it,” she said meekly; ‘will you please move your valises, and permit me to ocoupy a small’ portion of this seat?” . “Certainly,” he replied, “why didn’t you say that at feat?” The train sped on, while he sat count. ing up his ex and she wondering it Ohieago prop ogo. any equal under the sun. An Indian Trias In the Bummer of 1847 a young brave was tried in Michigan for the murder of a chef. The trial was conducted in accord- ance with the unwritten law of the In disns. IL 18, or was, an Indian custom that when a murder is commitied among them the murderer flies to the protection of the chief and band to whom he is the nearest akin, and remains there until the chief secures a court or council for his trial. In the meantime the murderer must remain in the wigwam of the pro- tecting chief (unless the latter accompany him forth) until the court assembles, ‘I'he chiet who is nearest of kin to the murderer calls the court in conjunction with the medicine man. It is alwaye held in a new wigwam in which no one has ever slept, eaten or lived. The wigwam on this occasion was large enough to hold about two hundred persons. When the time for convening the court is fixed, all the relatives and friends of both sides are secretly notified, and they at once begin to make preparations for the feasts which are to be celebrated in the forenoun in the village where the court 18 1 con- vene in the afternoon. The chiefs and relatives of the murdered man meet in one wigwam, and the medicine man, the chiefs and the relatives of the murderer meet with the latler at another wigwam and feast together. This party has brought the presents which are to be given by the medicine man during the open trial to the family of the slain. After tbe feasts are ended the prosecuting parily march in single file to the new wigwam, which they enter with funereal solemnity, Zressed in their gayest attire. The most distant relative filed in first, walked half way across and sat down op lhe The wife and children of the defendant party made front of the wigwam very quietly, shaking 8 semi circle and then hands with (How do you do?) The murderer was & forlora picture of human medicine man sullen, depravity. were the last soal 10 denote his sorrow, and his blankets pathy of his opponents. The in the ogntre of the wigwam, with the criminal on one side ard the presents on the other to be given In froot of ths wigwam perhaps a hundred lodisos, come to witness the trial of who had All dealh the speakers, in council on the great This fools chief. friends, felt When we, his heard this bad very sorry in to-day. And we are sh Ww you buy of you reistives and news, we all mel bere to to try and the, life of this , The medicine man now ar ried across the wigwam some new Indian Mackinac Disnkets, and sud them down in front of the mourniog family. here me and car- He aod pro his own family. sixteen years old, has to hunt and get food for his mother her other children. His place the council is vacant, sod this makes us all (dar wl for TH in there (pointing to his stricken family); his 3C Cle