A Song of Spring. 0, for a joyous song— A song to sult the May-— A song to sing with merry ring, In harmony with happy Spring To comrades bright and gay! Winter is past and gone— The Winter sear and cold; Upon his bier we shed no tear; The gentle Spring brings more of cheer To hearts of young and old. The welcome birds have come Singing their songs of love; And Cupid now, with busy bow, Bids many a telling arrow go In garden, fleld and grove, The waiting trees burst forth With leaf and blossom bright; Fair Nature's breast is gaily dressed And all the Earth is richly blessed With pleasing warmth and light, While softer skies again Shine on us from above, Teach us to know, in weal or wos, From Thee, O God, all blessings flow Of joy and peace and love. So warm our hearts anew And fill with every grace To fit us for another shore Where smiles sweet Spring forevermore, Beyond life's fleeting race. RN IRR EaR THE DEVIL'S CARD. It was miduight. Fernand de Ro- quefeuil was seated in a cafe on the boulevary among six of his intimate companions, all young men of the world like himself, In accordance with an ancient Paris custom, he wished to bring his life of single blessedness to an end by giving a merry entertain- ment to his former comrades, Ie was to be married in three days at Saint- Philippe-du-Roule. The intended bride was Mme. de Lucay, a charming young widow, who had many ardent suitors. As wine went round his friends heartily congratulated him on his tri- umph. During the repast his good for- tune was the chief topic of conversa- tion, until, at dessert, many already had begun to envy him. “Well, Fernand,” remarked one of the guests, “I must say that when you came into the world you drew a lucky ticket in the lottery of fortune,” “Yes, indeed, between ourselves, I 1st admit I have very little to com- plain of,’’ answered Fernand. Just as he had finished speaking the ottle of champagne was opened. he foam sparkled in the crystal cups. » young men, wholly intent on en- joyment, scarce +} vie xt } ol 1 1% eng an and noise of Paris when the to sink into slum- 15t this moment 5 entered and little card, wur, and in a publ is about + hi with an air gentleman ny to-morrow, Jl be very ard I the hi mzelf at LEIS ai oO hie present street ¢ Ol have not the ys oriiest s ntly guesis ap taken name of the ends in his card.” 30," replied Fernand. is this fellow who 1 queer visiting hours, even at ai “uo card $ gust of air. The wind snapped up the sheet of paper, swept it through the window and carried it to the devil—I mean to his address, ”’ “How did you come to the knowledge of all these things, sir?” “Allow me to finish my story, if you please. From the following morning your life was a perfect run of good luck, Fortune flew to you. In rum- maging one day under an old piece of furniture you discovered a large roll of money, without knowing how it came there—10,000 francs in coin, Having gone to Baden-Baden, you risked the entire sum three successive times on the wheel of fortune and won each time. With this capital you then en- gaged in railroad speculation. Before a week had passed you found yourself a rich man.” “All that is very true, sir, but—" “Just wait awhile. Let me finish, [ need hardly tell you that your sudden acquisition of wealth was the result of vour letter to the mysterious and pow- erful being who you invoked in your hour of distress.” “Well, sir, what about it?” “Just this, M. de Roquefeuil. In 48 hours hence your tenth year will have expired,” “Well, and what then?” “In 48 hours you will belong to me, I am the devil,” One would naturally imagine that Fernand and his six friends would only burst into a fit of laughter at this strange declaration from this unex- pected visitor. To-day we may be sure he would be told to carry his transpar- ent joke elsewhere. But this happened some time ago, when his Satanic ma- jesty figured prominently in romantic literature. In the first place the fan- tastic writings of that day had a great number of readers on account of the stories of Theodore Hoffman, then largely scattered throughout Again, Frederic boulin, still living, had made his sable majesty quite fashion able by the recent publication of the Nevertheless, Fernand and his com- rades laughed in chorus, one ot them remarking: “Mons, Satan as this is the first time we have had the pleasure of your dis- tinguished presence, you will do us the honor of accepting a glass of cham- pagne?"’ **My ordinary beverage tears,” replied the King of terrors, I suppose I may make one exception Pour out the wine!’ He emptied his glass with apparent zest, and retired, ithdrew, to Fernand: Roquefeull, I expect to of calling you Uu 13 an gracefully }i0% ' } at al . ‘ all ¢ ou retired i his room at a card. f the card of the ever name scrawled in » life of me I on a puzzled way can’t to each of his frie + vile £ tl i 3.1 tabie, struggled with sated aroun {he six o turn. an in Lie 1 my gave up in ince ne cuinst alo » curiosity of than Fernand’s,. A moment was about to dismiss the I unceremoniously now he had the keenest desire Lo see him. “Tell the gentleman to come in, said, addressing a waiter. In a moment the seven gay youths gaw approach a young man, in rather below medium height, 10 saluted all present with a grace- il bow and in a pleasant tone of voice, was dressed in t with white cravat and gloves, a dainty little eye-glass, was extremely handw«ome—a too effeminate for a young man, bore the expression of lution that seemed to com- absence of beard and he ry rpT 1 inti "3 hat 1 } hand, i wl face hat it a quiet res pensate for the moustache A ns Ol send fore have been considerate enough to in your card, and I should there- know your name, but, truth to not even to spell it,” “Very well, sir, I shall have honor of telling it to you in an stant,” replied the stranger with pleasant smile. “But, in the meantime, Faby in- a you will have come to speak to me?” “In that of creditor, Perhaps had better retire to a private seat for a moment.”’ “It is not speak out without the least reserve, friends, They will not be at all sur- prised to learn that I have a few out- standing debts in Paris. And now may i inquire what it is about?” “Monsieur de Roquefeuil, some ten years ago, as you douljtless remember, you sacrificed your entire fortune to save the honor of the Viscount de Brevames, an old friend of your father’s boyhood. After having paid a debt of 300,000 francs you found that your ex- cessive generosity left you entirely de- pendent. What could a young man like you, brought up amid wealth and luxury, do on finding himself suddenly deprived of all his means? your apartment on Louis-le-Grand street you took one evening a sheet of note paper, and wrote in large lelters the following words: I, the undersigned, do hereby agree to deliver up my soul to Satin provided he be. stow on me ten year's riches, FERNAND pr ROQUEFEUIL, “The window chanced to be open at that moment, There cane a sudden anonymous, of that Mme, de yi widow a day or p., and was ia his most JUN ro, had given it to wed one intimate six gallants who | table with him the Of course, & man of ot be annoyed at any- ined in an anonymous let- 3 written by a coward; nev. he found such precise details Knew 4 true, and thought to be unknown to hat he could not help gi den ¢ to the whole letter, The third letter contained a steno- graphic account of a conversation that recently occurred $ iis one of those + seated at the ter, alway . ] 158 850 5 bia which he others, ti ve cre- in a club, of which | It was a sort of a run- | commentary of the principal nembers of the club on the merits and character of Fernand himself. The latter was by no means flattered; on the contrary, he was regarded as the | “Well, these are odd series of coin- cidences,”’ exclaimed the undeceived | Fernand, as he proceeded with a sad air to complete his toilet. *“Just think Fortune, friendship, social con- Not a thing left Oh, yes, 1 had forgotten, 1 have | * The idea then struck him to look at | i closely than he did the evening before, | The signature was still illegible, but | a few words traced with a pencil in| first rate French told plainly enough | that Satan was a man about town, This is what Fernand read under the | redoubtable scratch: FERNAND: "The Devil's Part” will be played this evening at the Opera Comique. Come there at 9 o'clock; knock at the third box. You will be sure to find me there, Your oldest friend, THE DEVIL, Was this a mystery or was it a freak? Fernand reflected a moment, “To go there would be childish,” he mused, , “And not to go there will give the idea that I am afraid,’ - He decided to go. About 9 o'clock in the evening he entered the theatre, and, come what might, walked straight or dhe third box, a8 directed, To his un kable amazement he found himself in the presence of a lovely young girl, Seated in front of the box, she was dressed with the most exquisite good taste, and griatally toyed with a fan in her and, Strangest of all, the face was the same as that of the devil who a peared to the six Joung men in the cafe on the boulevard the evening be. fore. But why should Satan present himself this time under the semblance of a daughter of Eve? There wassome new mystery here. On seeing him enter the young lady rose with a sort of unconscious eager- ness, and as soon as the door was closed she began: “Monsieur de Roquefeuil, you see me to-lay under my real form, My name is Ophelie de Drevames. 1 am the only daughter of that friend of your father’s, for whom you were gen» erous enough to sacrifice your entire fortune, Do not be surprised, then, at seeing me offer you a restitution, I am rich, and wish to repay the losses you suffered for my father’s sake in the hour of his misfortune, All I possess 18 yours, myself included, If you think me worthy of the love of 80 generous a heart,” “Ma, foi,” exclaimed the young man, half dazed with astonishment, ‘‘but if you are the devil he is the most charm- ing being I ever met in my lifel” He offered her his hand and sat down beside her. Three days after they were spending their honeymoon at the watering-place of Bagnere-de-Bigorre. A Highly Cultured Boston Dog. A young girl was crossing the public garden the other morning upon the main path which crossed the bridge, She was accompanied by a magnificent mast ff, which strode along beside her in the most companionable sort of way, looking up into her face occasionally as if there anything he could do for her, The two crossed the bridge together and finally came to Charles street gate, Here the young girl, evidently not wish- was TONS OF SILVER. Counting and Welghing $40,000,000 in Silver Coin. Expert money counters have been weighing and counting the $00,000,000 in gold, $40,000,000 in Silver and $30, - 000,000 of notes and bills stored at the United States Sub-Treasury, Yew York. Describing the process of hand]. ing the silver, the Commercial Adver- tiser Bays: The high silver vault 18 a room of about sixty feet in length by forty feet in width, Its walls, floors and ceilings are of heavy plates of riveted iron, sur- rounded by thick walls of granite, The foundation of the vault is of solid mas- onry extending down as deep as the foundation of the sub-treasury itself, This iron room is divided into twelve compartments ranged on either side, eight compartments on one side and four larger ones on the other, with a narrow passageway between them. The compartments are formed by boiler iron, partitions and fronts with doors or gates of half-inch iron bars, crossed like lattice work, with the interstices too small even to admit of the inser- tion of a child’s hand, Each door iz provided with a ponderous padlock. The entrance to the vault ed by two iron bars; the outer one sim- ilar to a heavy safe door, and the inner the strongest lock that modern ingenu- ity could devise, The vault is burglar- proof, fireproof and almost air-proof. Within these solid walls no murmur of the busy, bustling above and around ever penetrates, . 1 Orie vault coutain nearly $40,000,000 in ing to have the care of the dog in the | busy streets, turned to him and said: “There, that 1s far enough now, You need not go with me any | farther, but turn about and go back | home,’ She did not take her hands out of her muff to point the way, and she spoke as | would to a small brother, in a pleasant, conversational tone,” i Marco looked at her with his larg eyes, then looked across the common, wagged his tail slowly, as though he | thinking how very pleasant it | go the rest of the way, Bile of his head and Mainly as though the! come from mouth: farther, it is words had his 's ‘No, dear; I'm ANSWere + when sent back along with his | +3 t on the U1 a Imnoment children swimming on toward ¢ an wat th avenue, TI hed him until he had dis nd the gates, then resum OWn Way whethe . hd , Wondering The Latest Hotel Swindle, the bell boy tel he rusi wei, As He + Key out y thought struck thins } Le DOX Li, AD at the envelope lying there. “Who want “lady in parl Front, dancing “That ain't her ask for her name." Front disappeared presently, siowly. looked in flerence she’s gone."’ ated the clerk to ‘she was work- “She says it don’t make no di it’s a mistake-——and hought 80." ejacu sorter standi he new rack k pei women generaiy. ladies’ parlor, ring for ey go the and a matter-of-fact way for room, He asks the and if he is busy and think- ing of something else he hands it oul without question, Then the female sharper goes through the room in a in of the key some occupant will not return before she gets Then the hotel is responsible the loss, — Repeating A Foolish Mistake. A traveler in making change at the railway station at Condord, N. H., gave the ticket agent a five-dollar gold piece for a penny. The agent saw it and handed the coin back. The man thanked pulled | one, and the agent brushed it into the drawer with the pennies, After the | train started the traveller jumped off, | and rushed back: “I gave you a five | '* he said. | “Yes, said the agent, and I gave it | back to you.” “But I gave it back to | you againl Look and see,” The agent | looked and there was the gold piece, | The man bad made the same mistake | twice, LL ———— Chinese Opposition to Steamboats, Among the remarkable reasons nd. vanced by the Chinese for opposing the introduction of steamboats on the Up- per Yangste is the allegation that a very flerce and strong species of monkeys live along the river where it : through the mountains, and that they would not fail to hurl large stones from the heights down upon the steamers, probably sinking them, while the au- thorities would be powerless to prevent the outrage or arrest the offenders, The real obstacle in the way is not monkeys, but about 20,000 junk men, who think steamboats would take away their present means of livelthood, All meat should be cooked before fed to fowls. need it every day, If eggs are expected. though by far the larger portion is com- posed of silver dollars, The each tion over fifty numbers sixty pounds, These are pilled from the front to the and from the floor to the ceiling with the utmost regularity and nicety, until they form almost a them. The holding between $8,000,000 and §95,000,- 000 each, and the eight $2,000,000 each, smaller come $2 now he ie 1 viel $1000 and quantity of coin stored in { Cal contains Ly 8 avoird city, ag AS el weighs six four ton in bers, in Wis it 3 bases would EN a 3 3 weight, real'ly bags, would be 1 (¥ {Hs ’ $1,000 000, an CI IRLIBT 1 . I narrow compartment 1 en from a full compu ed, and, if correct, Mnpartm was iu Lhe taining only perfe which has been isn as t used “as i 3 8 as ik hie {test of 2 bursting quent oocury lower tiers of weight of the silver ab thie lower bags and ruptures them, the broken aided as us VE presses upon All bags are dis ! discoverad and new their stead, It requires twenty men to carry « weigher, or man at the s . men, the watchers, the piler, and eight or ten men to simply bags and carry them one by one from the one compartment the and from the scales to wan who does the repiling. The manual labor it who are used to heavy A dozen 'longshoremen hey work and the strain on their backs, caused by lifting and carrying the sixty-pound bags, al- though they are accustomed Lo handl- ing much heavier burdens, but the pe- culiar weight and solidity of the silver makes it much barder than the handl- ing of twice the weight in some other material or form. The vault is imper- fectly ventilated for so many people, and the breathing and perspiring of scores of men in its close confines and the heat from the half