70 MY WATCH. sitt's wate, fast ticking ont All the houts of pain and doubt, All the tumult, toil and sirife king up our span of lifa, the hoari-wrung sighs and toars Falling faster with the years, is the petals drop and fade from the bloom life's Summer mada, Ah! what though 's cach other chase 4s I look upon your face! 1 Every tick your motions give, Ine tick loss have I to live, Did I realize this thought, With such solemn meaning fraught, When soma new-born joy drew nigh in the happy days gone by, And your slight han is all ‘00 slow Round about your face did go ? Ah ! those tardy hours have passed Would they were not now so ast | Yover stopping in your flight, Sever pausing day or night; Sota moniant's rest you crave from the cradle to the grave, Vith a never-coasing motion, Steadfast as the tides of ocean; Seeming evermor : to hurr, fot without a moment's flu ry; Till our worn hearts almost pray Chat you would a moment stay. All things rest--the clouds at noon, And the leaves in nights of June; And the grief-Lewilde ad brain When »leep falls like softest rain; And the stars whon day awakes, And the day when Hesper shakes Gleams of gold from out the skis {nto wandering lovers’ ayes, fou alone speed on your way, Never resting night or day. Yot what joys those hands have brought! dolden days with rapture fraught; Soldea days by sunlit fountain; Bolden days on breezy mountain; Days made more divine by love I'ban by radiance from above, Ah! Bring such joys and bear them hence; those hands that to the sense could we know what Time concea's Neath those little ticking wheels! 5 1 Yet when those slight hands shall mark I'bat last hour when sll grows dark; And shall «till keep ticking on When o th's light from me is gone, Little watch, your face shall be 3till 8 memory sweet to me, Though diviner light may shine On these opened eyes of mine. For your hands that never cease Bring at last the perfect peace. {Temp'e Dar TRAILED BY A PANTHER. In the spring of "73 [ entered the ser- vice of the Canadian Government in the capacity of a rodman in ove of the nu. merous parties which at “hat time were engaged in trying to locate a practicable route for the projected Canadian Pacific Railway through the howling wildoerness which stretched away westward from the shores of Lake Superior. My party had spent the summer running levels between Thunder Bay (ad Poke Shebandowan, and late in the fall had gone into camp near the first rapids of the Kaministiquia River, distant about twenty miles from its mouth. More than two months had passed since the receipt of our last mail; so im- mediately upon our arrival at the river, a messenger had been dispatched for it to Prince Arthur's Landing, about twenty- three miles down stream, with instruc tions to rot without delay. Six days had elapsed since Sandy Mac- pherson, our messenger, had donned a clean shirt and bade us good-bye, with many a hearty assurance of a speedy return: and we were still looking anx. fously and vainly down the trail for the first sign of his bushy whiskers, On the evening of the day aforesaid the situation in camp had become simply desperate. Twenty big-fisted Highland- ers sat on the trunk of a fallen tree just outside the camp and cursed Sandy Mae herson; and they were still at it when, fate in the afternoon, I threw myself bodily into the ever-widening breach and announced my intention of starting for | the Landing at once, A lull in the men's swearing succeeded my declaration, and Sandy McPherson's heartless desertion of his brother Scotts in distress was forgotten as twenty pairs of hard, honest hands helped me to! gird on my armor, which coasisted of an old muzzle loading *‘Colt’s,” and a heavy bunting knife. The day had been a gloomy, threaten. ing one, and just as I had completed my arrangements for departure, a cold driz. zling rain set in, But off [ went at an Indian lope, a half hour of which brought | ie to the junction of the trail with the Pigeon River mailroad, at which point | and close to the river bank, a crew of wood-choppers from the old Hudson | Bay post of Fort William had recently | erected a log shanty. As I was passing | this lonely habitation two men, who | were pushing a punt in the stream, | hailed me and inquired whither [ was bound. Upon learning that I was on my way to the settlement, they offered me a seat on a pile of empty meal sacks in the bottom of the boat, informed me at the same time that they were about to pull down to the company's farm, distant about six miles, to bring back a cargo of potatoes. I gladly accepted the invita. tion, and we were soon bowling down stream as fast as a two-mile current and four stout arms could send us, My fellow-voyagers, who were both Bcotchmen, i well pleased to have a and chatted almost incessantly as the ugly craft shot down the swollen current. We had been rusning in mid-stream from the start, but as the boat rounded a sharp bend in the river it shot into a narrow cove, which geadaally terminated in a dark ravine. e craft was laid alongside the banks, and after having been told fully half a dozen times that would find the mail-road by striking out to the right from the head of the ravine, | ashore amid a perfect shower of 4 luck to ye,” Jost so time in getting wt of the or in tree Rais remained to keep three trees in lon, Reaching the level, I laid my course care fully and followed it at a run. I was going along in good shape when sudden ly 1 found the ground sloping away sharply to the front, ths slope terminas. ine in a shallow ravine densely timbered with spruce and ‘‘Jack” pine. It was quite dark in this bottom, and the spruce grow in almost impenetrable clumps, making it impossible to follow a straight line. As 1 pushed my way with nervous haste through the dripping boughs I be- gan to realize that the darkness about me was not entirely due to the lay of the ground and thickness of timber growth. The dull twilight had faded out as sud- denly as if the sun had been instantly snuffed out of existance. As the day- light died the rain changed to a steady downpour, drenching me to the skin and chilling me to the marrow, After a half-hour of struggling through a tangle of hazel thickets where the branches thrust themselves aggressively soaked leaves clung to my cheeks with a cctact like that of a drowned man's hand, I came to the conclusion that I wise and in a direction parallel to the line of the mail road. 1 was on the point of changing my course when the ground sloped abruptly upward, and, scrambling up a bank of very greasy clay, I found myself in a clearing, one side of which seemed to me to stretch away in definitely into the darkness. There was a smell of wet ashes and cinders in the air, and the half burned trunks of fallen trees were scattered about in a careless, unstudied manner. For the twelfth time I extricated myself from an involuntary embrace with Mother Earth, and [ was groping around for my hat, which had been lost in the last tum- ble, when my hand suddenly slipped downward into space, and a black gulf myself heavily backward; in falling my hand came it contact with a partly con- sumed pine not. This I grasped and threw far out into the darkness, One, two, three seconds passed, and then the where below, The missile into the river Then for the first time I became viv. idly conscious of the disagreeable fact \ i ing my larkness— As I sat staring into the «¢ becoming nccustomed indistinct outline of the river bank y unfolded itself to me Trusting to my keenness of vision to keep me from tumbling over the biuff, 1 £3 it the slowly that down stream | y making tolerably good time in that direction when sud. denly, from out of the darkness behind me, there eame a sound that seemed to draw the last of blood from chilled extremities to art, stilling that organ until I fairly gasped for breath. A laugh, a wild exulting the roaring o followed in the next instant by a sue cession of unearthly screams that caused each hair of my head to stand out as if electrified. While my hand instinctively clutched the butt of the revolver, yet | drew it forth with a feeling that I had to with something more than mor- tal, against which earthly weapons would be of along it. 1 knew to the left, and 1 was drop the : the h laugh, rose high sbove { the storm, contend no avail, Cold, fatigue, the possibility ishing from exposure—all were as | listened to that thrilligg cry. It was the cry of a panther—the mountain lion of California, the puma of Mexico, ot wirotten and it came from the top of a clump of lofty pines not twenty yards away. Then I knew that the dark object which had glided past me in the darkness was no creature of the imagination, and my besides cold when I thought of how close the treacherous brute had been to me. Passing the Colt's into the left hand I drew the hunting knife and tightening from its fastenings, and pushed it inf, the creek until its outer end was clear of the strip of mire, Although the pole sauk under me until I was knee deep in the blinging mud, I managed to reacn “ae deep, open water, 1 knew that there + we 3 good landing place near the mouth | of tne creck, so plunging in, I struck out down the stream. 1 had taken scarcely a dozen strokes when my kuees bumped against a smooth, bard bottom. I reached the top of the bank with the ut. most difficulty, my limbs had grown so benumbed. As I recled against the blockhouse door I tried to shout for help, but the words died in my throat, I felt around for the old latch string, which I had always fouad ‘*‘hanging outside.” It was missing, and in its place was a huge padlock. The door was locked hard and fast! In vain I threw myself against it——equally vain was my search for something that could be used as a battering-ram. I had | just given up trying to break the loc. with the butt-of my revolver, when the i panther broke cover across the creck. | There was not a moment to lose, for I | knew that my foe was a good swimmer, In the rear of the shanty, and about | six feet from it stood a tall haystack, the sides of which were slmost perpendicu- lar. My only remaining hope lay in reaching the top of that stack. The rough corners of the shanty afforded an i excellent foothold, so that [ reached the i roof without difficulty. Running slong the ridge, knife in hand, I leaped to the | stack, and driving knife downwarl into it, pulled myself to the top. Tearing away a portion of the thatch, I worked my way, head foremost, into the newly gathered hay, to the centre of the stack. Half dead from the cold and exhaustion, lay there with the quick surge of my pulse sounding in my ears with the dis. tinctness of a drum beat, While I did not care to hope that | | had wholly outwitted the panther, I was at least from immediate attack, Moreover, I was assured of a breathing spell, without which I should have been as a child in the clutches of the power. ful brute that was making resound with its cries Suddenly the ceased, stillness of death reigned gloomy hottom. i tightly and listened. wnfe clearing and the the my knife 1 had just besun to flatter myself that the panther had lost the trail at the creek, cries {rread clutched and had aban doned the pursuit, when a deep th ated growl came from the roof of in next breath the st shaken from top to bot! as the beast landed it directly head And there it lay, a dead, eating weight, waiting, no untoward ac the shantt the shiant ack wey BRTACE my suf and the upon over iV some ident true position. For fully minut hardly able to breathe, much loss a muscle, when | suddeniy taker with an acute chill, and in spite of every effort to keep it back, a convulsive shiver ran through my That i In the next instant the swaying ing of the stack told me that cious creature was diggin with teeth and talons, and that the crisis { of my life was close a dd The brute was dig ad in) position slightly, 1 turned on just as a paw was space winch my head had | Of course | co sed 1] could feel it, face as it baried : hay alongside me fifteen es | lay Was frame the fero g down to me = spot where my he Lanning \ beris sa tis Id not it brushed if deeply I knew sharp fangs would soon {oll | I clutched the 80 close t > for Tram i o my fa touchd it by | tonzue, right hand 1 ford through the hay until in the around which my left hand had closed in a death-grip. The point of the knife had found the panther’ Throw ing the whole of my failing strength into the effort I drove the Kaoile sharply up- { ward —once, twice, thrice, far as the hilts would let it and loosened my grip on the leg ! With a yell of agony stricken brute sprung felt a spasmodic muscles of tl por wy Pe & hide as gO the mortally upward, fell back the loop around my wrist, I dashed away | on the stack, thrashed around there for down the river as fast as the roughness a while, and, finally rolling off, struck of the country and the darkness would | the ground a dead thud, that told me permit. { how well the knife had done its work. I had no hope of cluding pursuit as I| I had not the faintest recollection of tore through hazel thickets, stumbled leaving my hiding place that night, but gullies and scrambled frantically out of | one of the Mission herders miles down them again. But I knew that less than | the river wandering about the woods in a mile down stream, on a narrow strip of ever live to reach ita small block house which for years had been occupied dur- ing the haying season by laborers from the Catholic mission at Fort William, As I sped along I seemed to see my back trail stretching out in perspective A on account of having fallen into ite on its farther edge I saw the gaunt form of a gigantic panther, craning its long, sinewy neck out over the gulf as it sniffed vigorously st the spot where 1 had fallen. Suddenly it gathered itself up, gazed intently in the direction that I had taken, cleared the gully with a vaulting spring and came boundin after me, screaming at every bound! There was no mistake about the scream ing, for the forest was ringing with it when I staggered out into the clearing on the further side of which stood the block house, I knew that on the left of the clearing a deep pool lay, bordered by a quagmire, which, at one point, was separated from the river by a strip of low ground, searce- ly ten yards in width. This pool {bund an outlet into the river by means of a sluggish creek, about twenty feet in widen, with a broad margin of deep mire. * Fortunately I had visited this clearing early in the summer, while runnin “trail” lines out from Fort William, and . the m log over, 1 had specially assigned to the duty of charting the pool and fits outlet, to which circumstance I am, no doubt, indebted for not having died a death by suffocation that n in the almost bottomless mire of creek, ia delirium of fever, and with a bloody { hunting knife dangling by its loop from i my wrist, | In a little whitewashed bedroom of | the old Mission I saw, during the follow. | ing fortnight, panthers enough to have | stocked a dozen mefageries, When at last I was able to sit up and talk I { learned that during the first week of my illness searching parties had scoured the woods in quest of the supposed victim of the bloedy knife that had been found on wy person. At last an Ojibway trapper | struck my back trail and followed it up. | At the foot of the haystack in the clear { ing he found the carcass of the panther lying just where it had fallen, with its heart divided in two. The creature weighed 162 pounds: and messured seven feet three from tip to tip. * ——— Oldest Settlements In States, In 15635 the first permanent settlement in the United States was made at St, Augustine, Fla, by a party of Spaniards under Melendez. Between the years 1540 and 1583 Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, Captain Francisco de Coron- ado and Don Antonio de Espejo ex. plored New Mexico and occu tem- jority various points in that region, n the Espe the United latter year Don Antonio de took possession of a native or town, called Tueas or Toas, it La Ciudad de Santa Fe, fdentical in site with the ] | THE JOKERS’ BUDGET. i se —— : JESTS AND YARNS BY FUNNY MEN : OF THE PRESS, i | That Little Loan—In Doubt--Helping | Him Out -Up to Date~The Critics, | | Ete, Ete, | THAT LITTLE LOAN, { Hicks—Say, see here, when are you going to pay me that $10 you owe me? | Dix--0Old man, I forgot all about it, { I'll make a note of it now, { Hicks—DBetter make it a sight draft, — [Somerville (Mass, ) Journal, IN DOUBT. “Are you going to see the play to- night?” I shall see the play or only an opportu | nity to study the latest forms of milli nery architecture I cannot tell.” HELPIXG HIM OUT, He tried to kiss the maiden true, For fear that he would fail She did as we had better do— She gently drew the veil, Judge, UP TO DATE. First Frenchman—I would chall you t y combat but for one Second Frenchman——What 1s ths First Freochman--There is a cl my insurance policy [New York Herald : 0 AeMRLY Cf agalust dueiling THE CRITICS, Enthusiastic Listener (as the pianist concludes)—1 tell you, Was 4 are sir, that musical treat Matter - of - Fact hought m If it wasn't vers —! Buffalo Courier. “ee THR WRONG BEND. Mr. I her Jinks (something of a philo -It would be less unpleasant couomize if they did not in- t on beginning at the wrong end. Mrs, Binks—0O{ course, Winks, fo might ithout overshoes, and no one he New S50 for people to « . fat is Mrs. I here's t have ingtanes a r iasiance, waa foUe W would notice it; but, instead of that, » went and boug York Weekls : hit a cheap bonnet, — OPER PRIDE HeWasn't that the Countess air that just went by! 1 tho gut you i of vours yogas] told me she was a frien She-()1, we meet : but I've Mohair, really been I'm s -resily, she always sopnpow [ m dead, — Punch ENT He—Truth is stranger tl -It hy by oe nate riatis z ae {insinuating to mark my in Lady's Maid lady Baroness—Buat how is haven't marked all them wonogram ? Lady's Maid —Indeed, I have, my lady. I marked one with your mongram, and i giarked all the others with the word tte with my of A SEW VIEW, American Actor—l think these foreign ators should be allowed to come into this country free of duty. Friend — Well, IT don't, A A.—Well, I do. There isa recent decision that Egyptian mummies can be imported free of Laties. and that's what most of these foreign actors are, Why favor the Egyptians !—{Texas Siftings. FINANCIAL REPARTEE. + “1 am worth twenty of you,” dollar bill to the nickel. “That's what you say,” replied the nickel, “*but I notice that I can buy a a cigar without having to go broke, which is more than you ever do.” =={Indianapo- lis Journal. A BOXED said the OF SYMPATHY. Bagley -~Tall girls are all the rage now, Brace-~That may be, but 1 like short ones better, Bagley~-Why so ? Brace-~1'm generally short myself, — {New York Herald. A BRELIEVER 14 MODERATION. Jack Ford—Don't be so down on your luck, old man. Remember, *‘ Sweet are the tases of adversity.” Up n Walker—Oh, itisn't its uses; it 4 its abuses I objeot to !—{Puck. VERY LIKELY. > she has rejected you!” i" Ces.” “What was the matter?” “I don't know." “Foel bad?” “I do; she is such a sensible girl." “H'm! If she had less sense you might have got her.” From this fact the conclusion flows: Though it accords with nature's plan Sometimes to tilt a maiden’s nose, It isn’t tilted at & man, A DANGEROUS RIVAL, “Ilave you any hopes of winning er 1 “I had, but I haven't now, I have a rival.” “Who is he 2” “Young Tiltednose.” ‘Is he socially popular?” “Socially popular f Why, man, he's at the head of our amateur theatrical club, "—{ New York Press, WHERE THE CHICKEN GOT THE AX. Menagerie Assistant—The big ostrich attempted toswallow a turnip to-day and choked itself, Manager—H'm! A PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDY. Got it in the neck. Mrs. Slimdiet-—I do have such a time getting my boarders up in the morn- ing, I've tried bell-ringing, gong- banging, door-knocking, snd every- Boarder—That shows that the sense of hearing is not easily aroused in sleeping persons. tI should say it wasn't.” ““ No: there's no doubt on that sub. ject. Try awakening the sense of smell.” “Smell? But how?” */I think the odor of a broiling porter. house steak might be effective,” —[ New York Weekly. IX THE WRONG CHAIR, Uncle Treetop (on his way to dentist's office)—Most likely it'll stop aching by the time I get in the chair. If it does, | MERCENARY, Teacher— Now, Robbie, you may name the five senses, Robbie—The one cent, the nickel, the fifty cents, DOMESTIC Poor Man- wa Ww ell, ECONOMY. did you buy that how to economize in the kitchen 7 Wife—Yes, I've got it. Poor man—That's good. say 7? Wife--It's full of recipes telling how utilize cold turkey—but we haven't the turkey. —{ New York Weekly What does it to roast MODUS VIVENDL “You say you wunst lived off the fat of the land,” jeered Walkabout Beggs. “How'd ye eat it 7 “Eat it with responded Hasty th [841 e¢ fork Rafa * ry é 1a » "bout ole Attie Boy—Why? “Queen Elizabeth wasn't she!” “Yes.” “Well. t yapers say Professor Dryas. ust i ’ lecture on “I'he Age of 2, "el (300d News. was an old maid, sizabeth ’ A PHILOSOPHICAL MIND, Little Boy—The hens out West must awful little.” Mamma Why so? Little Boy--1 says he's seen hailstones there as large ss hen's eggs. (Good News, be : ) ncle John AX TRRESTIBLYE BAIT. “Gentlemen,” he Sheriff, puttin 3 ng r room, *“if there is immediately step to his head into the jus no chance of you : a verdict the 3. vad A “Tell his Honor he may go to lunch” id the foreman about to add.” continued iff, “that the circus comes into town o'clock, and its 20 minutes to 3 “ $ the said the foreman, *“tell the METHOD IX IT. Jess—1 don't see how you can be such a goose as to engage yoursell to Dickey Bess-