The Husking Bee.
The rooster stalk* on tho manger's ledge,
He has a tail tike a scimitar's edge,
A marshal's plume on his Alghan neck,
An admiral's stride on his quarter deck;
ne rules tho roost and walks the bay
Willi a dreadiul cool and Turkish way.
Two broadsides Arcs with his tapid wings
This sultan proud, of a line ol kings—
One guttural laugh, four blasts ot horn,
Kivo lusty syllables rouso the moru —
Tho Saxon lambs in their woolen tabs
Are playing school with tho a, b, alia;
. A e! i, o! All tho cattle spell
Till they make the blatant vowels tell.
And a halt-laugh whinny fills tho stalls
When down in the rack tho clover falls.
A dove iH waltzing around his mate,
Two chorions black on bis wings ot slice,
And showing off with a wooing note
The satin shine ot his golden throat—
lib Ovid's "Art ol Love" retold
In a binding line of blue nud gold'
Ah, the buxotn girls that helped tho boys,
Tho noble Helens of humble Troys—
As they stripped husks wit It rustling told
From eight-rowed com as yellow as gold,
Hy the candle-light in pumpkin bowls,
And the git am that showed fantastic holes
In the quaint old livntory's tattued tin.
From tho hermit glira set up within;
lly the rarer light in girlish eyes
As dark as wells or as bine as skies.
I hour tho laugh when the car is red,
I see the blush with the lorieit paid.
The cedar cakes with the ancient twist,
Tho cider cups that the girls have kissed.
And I see the fiddler through the dusk
As he twangs the ghost ol " Money Musk' '
The boys and girls in n double row
Wait hue to face till the magic bow
Sludt whip the tune front tho violin,
And the merry pulse ol tho feet begin.
—B. F. Taylor.
QUIZ.
TAUT I.
That's what Fred called her when she
first came and the name has clung to Iter
ever since, although site has really
earned a more musical appellation.
One day when Fred and all of us were
at home, a strange woman, with ■ qtHW
little girl at>out five years old, canto to
the ooor and asked if site might come in
and get warm. It was the afternoon of a
oold windy day in March, and as Bridget
had gone out and tiie kitchen tire was
down, mamma let her come into the sit
ting-room where we all were,; Fred read
ing, Nell and I sewing, and Willie and
baby Belle playing with the blocks.
Mamma placed a chair by the fire for
the strange woman and pushed up a low
stool for tiie little girl, who seated herself
denyirelyupon it,and tlten began looking
at F red, who sat next to iter.
l'retty soon the woman arose, said she
had a long walk to take, and as she was
soon to return, asked if site might leave
tiie tittle girl, who was tired, witlt us
until she came hack.
We lived in a small country town, you
see. where tramps were few and far be
tween, and mamma,suspecting nothing,
consented, and the woman went away.
The little girl sat still for along time
and then suddenly startled us all hy ask
ing in a clear, childish voice.
" Wliatdathe ?" She was looking at
Fred, and nodded comically at the hook
heboid in his hand.
"That's a hook." said Fred.
" What be you do it with?"
" I'm reading it."
" What dat is?"
Here Fred's gravity gave way and he
burst into a hearty laugh. The child
only looked at him wonderfully and re
peated her question with grave earnest
ness.
" What dat is voq do?"
" Iok here, little Quiz," said Fred,
" yon must be a savage if you never saw
a book before;" and no tried to explain
to Iter what he was doing, hut at every
step site stopped Itim with a question,
always, as Wtllie said, putting the cart
before tiie horse.
" Well, Quiz." said Fred at last, " you
display a marvelous desire for informa
tion if you don'l know much now. I'ray
tell us what your name is?"
But for all we could learn front tiie
little stranger, who could ask questions
far easier than site eould answer them. ;
she had no name; so Fred said lie should
call her Qui* as long as she stayed witlt
us.
The afternoon wore slowly away, and
still the stranger woman did not eonte
back. Little Quiz stayed with us all
night, and the next morning papa made
inquiries and learned that she had taken
tiie train for Chicago, and was by this
time beyond the possibility of tracing. 1
We were all very indignant when
papa told us next day at dinner.
Quiz aroused as with her odd ways
and droll questions, and we thought it
very cruel for her mother, as we sup
posed the woman to be, to desert her in
that manner. And what was to become
of poor Quiz now was the question we
all asked of papa.
"B'yose we'il have to send Iter to the
county house," said papa.
" I guess you'll tind out what the rest
of the little paupers know in just no :
time, won't you. Quiz?" said Fred.
Quiz looked at him a moment witlt !
hfT great, serious, gray eyes; then iter
lips quivered, and two big tears rolled ,
slowly down her cheeks.
" Where be I sleep?" she said, with a
little, sharp sob.
Fred hesitated a moment between a
desire to laugh and a temptation to catch
her in his arms and kiss awav her tears.
Finally he asked her In a softened tone :
"Don't you want to go. Quiz?"
" I like to 'tay wl* you," answered
Quiz, witlt another sob. leaning hr head
on Iter hand and iter clltow on the table,
looking the very picture of sadness.
"Couldn't we keep her?" asked Fred
suddenly of papa.
"I don't know; what does mother
•ay?"
"Oh, mamma, do?" said Nell, whose
heart was even softer than Fred's.
"Oh. Y, mamma, ylo?" urged little
Willie.
Mamma thus appealed to lroked per
? plexed. Her motherly heart hud gone
out toward tiie lonely little stranger, hut
site had many cares and quite children
f enough to occupy both heart and hands.
" IMI help take care of her,' pleaded
Fred.
" We miffht keep her awhile, "mamma
[ said, and so we did.
Willie clapped his hands and cried
•'Hurrah!" Nell said. "Oh, goody!"
i Fred said, "That'sjolly!" butQuizaaiJ
nothing, onlv took np her fork and went
! on with her dinner
In time we all became vcrv much at-
Itachcd to her. Her demure, funny ways
were s constant source of amusement.
and she was gentle, affectionate and
generous.
Hut it wns Fred who held complete pos
session of her heart. For him the saved
half of lier candy, apples and other good
ies; for him she learned to sew, draw
pictures ami write letters, and when she
eaiue to go to school it was to him site
confided all troubles and triumphs and
to him she went for aid and assistance in
mastering hard sums, and s we called
iter Fred's protege.
When she lirst w< nt to school Fred
gave her the name of Orphnnia, and the
children en)led Iter "Orphic," hut she
retained her habit of asking questions
about everything, and so, partly for fun
and partly because the name suited her,
we continued to call her Quiz, and thus
things went on until site was twelve
years old and Fred was twenty.
One day Fred went to the city on busi
ness for papa, and we did not expect
him home until the eight o'clock express
entue in the evening. Toward night,
there canto* up a furious storm; it
thundered anil lightened, the wind blew
and rattled tlic window casements,while
at times the rain fell in torrents. As wo
were all seated around the evening lamp
with our work and studies, main inn
shivered and wondered if Fred had an
overcoat with him. and if papa, who
had not come up from the oftice, would
think to take i>ne over to the station.
A few mifiutes afterward Quiz arose
and slipped quietly out of the room, hut
.we thought nothing of it. for she was
in the habit of slipping away without
s.tqing anything, and we concluded that
she had either gone to the kitchen to
Biddy, or else had gone to hcrownrootn.
Site had done neither, however. Step
ping quietly into the hall, site had lirst
nut on her thick water-proof and rub
iwrs, then lighted Fred's lanU m, taking
his overcoat from the nail, went softly
out of the front door into the driving
storm.
The wind almost blew her over, and
the rain bent hard on her faic; but she
only tossed her bend defiantly, and
whispered:
"The elements cannot heat me; I
know them; they obeyed my voice
once." Just then Uie wind caught up
her ••ape and blew it over her head in
such a manner that sin* could not sec
where to step, and stumbled against the
fence and fell down.
The saucy wind twisted and nulled at
her clothing, the rain beat into Iht face,
and the thunder rumbled and roared on
every hand.
But Quiz didn't care- she straggled
bravely on until she reached an old dis
used shod near the bridge which she
would have to e rose on lira way to the
depot. Here she paused a moment, par
tially shelter d from the storm, to re
gain her breath before attempting the
highly-exposed bridge.
'1 he village streets were deserted, for
no one would venture out in such a
storm unless urgent business en Hod
them, yet Quiz heard voices quite near
her.
She was frightened at tirst, hut listen
ing a moment and finding that they
came from the shod against which she
was leaning, she was about to hurry on
when a sentence attracted her attention
and she stood still and listened.
"But. Jim, tho hull train'll go to
smash."
"Ifon't kere! guess it'll teach Vmnot
tu discharge a feller like me fur nothin'.
Ye see Johnson, the enjineer, and Ilink
loy, the conductor, are the onesthet re
ported me The bridge is turned now
anyhow, Corey an' Kemph, the bridge
tenders, are dead drunk, and ther's noth
in' fur ynu an' I hut tu skuik, and see 'em
all go to Satan."
Tho bridge turned I Quiz's heart gave
a great iunip, and then sank like lead:
Iter head grew dizzy, ami she was obliged
to lean hard'again it theshed to keep from
falling.
Then She stepped cautiously around
the corner of the shed, and. with beating
lp-art. looked down the river. A flash
of lightning showed her the railroad
bridge turned, and the dark river rolling
tet wren it and thebank where therxpress
train would soon nppear. In imagina
tion she saw the locomotive plunge
down the hank, followed one after
another by the cars loaded with passen
ger* unaware of apnroa< iiing death.
She heard tiie shrieks of the poor
victims as they were buried in the
crash, nnd the groans of the dying a*
they struggled with the wares, or lay
gasping math the ruins.
Turn she covered her face with her
liand to shut out the vision and thought
could site save them? But how? What
should she do? Flo back home? There
were none but helpless women there.
Hurry on to tell papa? It would then
he too late.
" I must save them myself," she whis
pered, and shutting her lips tight, grasp
ing tier lantern firmiv she flashed down
a cross street in the direction of the rail
road track.
Tlten she rememifcred that Fred, one
day in explaining to her alw.ut momen
tum, had told her tiiat the engine could
not easily to, on the down grade on this
side of the river, but that it was neces
sary, in order to do so. to go hack from
the river about a mile and a half to
where the descent first iegan, near the
curve.
To save time she decided to go cross
lots. Tiie storm increased, hut Qui*
never pnned a moment; over fences
through briars, across ditches, into mud
ami mire ankle deep, she staggered along,
holding close to the lantern upon whiidi
her hopes depended.
Once she fell down and hurt her side,
hut she Hcrntnhlid up and hurried on.
never heeding the pain. At last she
ncared the track ami saw the headlight
of the locomotive just rounding the
curve.
Mite tossed off her eloak, which im
peded her progress, ami with redoubled
energy pushed on. N'enrer and nearer
came the locomotive —fainter and fainter
came her breath—she was growing weak
—she stumbled over a stone—when she
arose the locomoth e was almost opposite
to Iter—she gathered all her strength and
reached tho side of tiie track on time
with the engine, she swung her lantern
sltove her In ad and shotted with all her
might: "The bridge Is turned!"
The train whizzed past her and she
fell fainting to the ground.
I'AKT 11.
When she came to herself she was ly
ing on the dump ground with a scat
ettshion under her head and a number
of gentlemen stnmHng around her.
" IP' they ail killed?"asked Quiz, with
a shudder.
" No; thanks to you, my brnve girl,
we are all saved," answered a ktnd
faeed gentleman, who wn bending over
her: "are you better now?"
"Yes, thank you; hut where's Fred?
Wasn't Fred oh the train?"
" Anvbody here by the name of Fred?"
asked the conductor, who stood near.
'Hire* or four gentlemen stepped for
ward, among them our Fre.i, who no
sooner looked at jwior Quia than he ex
claimed :
" Why, bless you, It's my sister!
Dear Qui/., how did you come hero?"
and 1m- caught her u* in lii* arms and
kissed her before tlicm all.
Her story was soon told, nnd several
of the gentlemen started oil' after the
villians, who were found in the very
shed where ( j ii/. had left them, and the
rest assisted the conductor getting the
l bridge in place. Qui/, was taken on
j board with Fred, and wln-n the bridge
bad been fixed, the train moved down
to the station, where a crowd of anxious
citizens, who had received a premonition
I that some tiling was wrong, had gatli
j ered.
Of course papa was with the rest, and
I when he heard what a little heroine
Qui/, had become, ho kissed her very
tenderly and was very th.-mklul thai he
had kept and eared for the homeless
little girl whom the strange woman leg!
thrust so unceremoniously upon him.
But the strangest jiart of tho story is
yet to come. Among the gentlemen who
came forward to thank Quiz and con
j grnlulate pa|>a on having sin-h a brave
little daughter, was the kind-faced man
wlio had first spoken to Quiz when she
hail found lu-rs-lf lying on the ground
after the train had passed her. No
sooner did he sjieak than papa reeog
nized him as his old friend and school
mate, Arthur Wilburton, whom lie had
not •■■en for nearly twenty years. IK
invited him to accompany httti to our
home, and he did so.
We, at home, were -till sitting around
the lire, wondering anxiously why jmpa
and Fixxl did not come and tec ling
thankful that the storm had at last
abated, when we heard papa's night-key
in the door and in a minute more they
came into the room, papa carrying Quiz,
who was weak and pah', while 10-r
clothing was disordered and covered
with mud. Fred and Mr. WUburton
followed close behind him
Nell tittered a little scream as she saw
Quiz, and the rest of us stared in amaze
ment. for we su|i|M>st'd Quiz was safe in
her own room, ami we could not account
for her disordered appearance. I'apa
soon told us the story, and then we all
cried and kissed her and called her our
little heroine, and a hen mamma insisted
ujion putting her to bed, fearing the e\-
jx'snre might make her ill, we alt wanted
to sit uj> and help take care f her.
The next morning, while we were all
in tlu* breakfast-room visiting with Mr.
Wilburton, and almost s iioiliering
Quiz with tend' r solicitude, the former
suddenly turned toward papa and said :
"You don't know. Frederic, how
much your little daughter, Orphic, re
minds tnc of my lost wife. Sh< has the
same soft eye* and quiet ways, and the
same tones in her voice."
"Why, Arthur." said papa; "I did
not know you had ever been married!"
" Ye," answered Mr. Wilburton
sadly ; " hut I did not long enjoy domes
tie happiness. But a few year* after
Nettie and I were iiiarri< d, 1 liecaiue un
fortunate in business spceulation* and
went to California in s< arch of luck.
"I had !*-• there two years and was
Is-ginning to look anxiously forward to
the time when 1 could have Nettie with
me, when I received a letter informing
■i- of her death.
"In those days it wa* somctini'-s
months after a letter was *• nt before we
received it. I nrranged my business a*
soon as I could, nnd returned to tny old
home in o-aroh of our child, and found
that a strange family who had Ic-cn liv
ing in the house with Nettie had taken
her with them. Whither this family
had gone I could not learn. They were
a strange wandering family, and had left
for part unknown in the night. 1 have
traveled far and wide, and liave spent a
good-sized fortune >mrching tor my little
one, but I ft-ar I shall never sec my little
.Mamie again. Fortune ha* been kind
tome; I am ri'li now, hut I'd give my
whole fortune for my rhild if ( could
but find her."
There were tear* in lii* eyes a* he
ceased speaking, and we all felt sad, for
we were beginning to love the man of
whom papa had so often told u*. But
Qui* was very mU'-h -x< ited, her cheeks
were red, her eyes ft|,l of tears, while
her breast heaved with every hr'-ath as
she icaned forward with clasjs-d hand*.
"Did you lenrn the name of the family
who took the rhild?" asked papa, after
a pause.
. " Ye*, they were called Ham and I,ue
Brown."
At this Quix uttered a cry and sprang
forwaro,
"I kn*w it now, I'm Mamie, I'm
Mamie, I'm Mamie!" she exclaimed,
passioiffttely, falling at Mr. Wilburton'*
feet, and sobbing a* ban! as "heeouln.
" What doe* this mean?" faltered Mr.
Wilburton. " Frederic, is not this your
child?''
In as few word* as possible papa told
him the story of how Qui* name to he a
member of our family.
" But have you nothing, nothing, my
child, which voii brought with you Irani
your old home?" asked Mr. Wilburton,
trembling between hope and fear.
"Only this," nohlied Quiz, taking a
locket from her neck; " the sick woman
who called me Mamie gave it to me to
keen always.
With trembling hands Mr. Wilburton
took the trinket and opened it, then
pressed it to lii* lips a* he exclaimed,
" It's Nettie herself, her own face! 1
remember the locket now!"
We young people slipped out of the
room then, and when we returned Qui*
was leaning against Mr. Wilburton'*
< hair with her hand in his, looking
brighter and happier than we hail ever
si-en her before.
It wa* very hard for us to give tier up
just a* she had become the dearest sister
in nil the worid. but Mr. Wilburton did
not take her far away. He bought a
beautiful house not far from us. over
wliieh Qui* presided in her sweet
womanly way.
When she was eighteen Fred per
suaded her to become our sister-in-law,
and now she is the mother of his baby,
Nettie, but we still call her Qui* some
lime*. and her father agrees with lis
that the name is quite appropriate, for
she never seem* tired of asking ques
tions about "her mother Nettie, whom
-lie can hardly remember.
Vaccination appeals to have untold
terror* for the country folk of (iermany.
A woman of Mpllrnbcrge. who wns re
peatedly notified to submit her child of
eftrlit months to the operation, and wns
threatened with nrrningnmenl in court
(she did not comply, jumped with th
oahy into the Fuhla. Both were drowned
" Whafla your name?" asked a teacher
of a boy. "My name 1* Jul*," wa* the
reply; whereupon the teacher impres
sively said. " You should have said
'.fuiin*. sir.'" "And now, my lad,"
turning to another hoy, " what ia your
name?" " Bilious, air.
A Hint Knee.
A French writer says: I remember
particularly a certain stilt race, one of
the oddest races that I ever saw. Si*
men and four women were " entered,'
as the horsey men would say. At Al
- the women share the exercises
of the men. There were then on the
bench of Kyrae t n tclmtikti*. In the
patois of the Kandcs, which one might
he tempted to confound with tlx- .Japan
ese or Chinese idioms, a tchnnka is a
person mounted on stilts, ami see
tchnnka means to no.union stilts. These
ten tchnnka* had all tho same traditional
costume, without distinction of t-ex, that
is to nay, a beret on the head, a mantle
of wool over the shoulders, u buttoned
doublet, hare feet, and the legs enveloped
in a eamano or fleece, fixed by red gar
ters. Their stilts raised th'-ni live or six
feet from the ground. A |>ole served
them as a third point of support. Kern
from a distance tlu-y looked like gigantic
grasshopper*. The tchnnka. hswever,
is seen to perfee'ion on the hare lands,
motionless and fixed like a solitary tri
angle at sunset, or else when lie leans
against a pine trc, silently knitting
stockings and guarding a black and lean
flock. Btorn and uiuto In tho midst of
the crowd, which was examining them
xritli curiosity, their thoughts xverc con
centrated solely on the race that they
were about to dispute. The price was
not much. The victor won twenty
franc*. Rut twenty franc* in the eyes
of the tchnnka represents a fortune.
So abate a signal given by the president
of the fete, they all ten spread over the
notch, howling ami yelling. If it had
not been for their immense strides,
which jia-s imagination, you might
have thought that you were present at
an Arabian fantasia. Their evolution*
were the same, accomplished with tie
same rapidity, in conditions which
touched upon the impossible, nn-1 on
ground where the stilt stink in a loot at
each step. Tle-ir mantles streaming in
the fvind, like those of Arabian cava
liers. they ran and pivoted round as
deftly as if they hod been on foot. The
woim-n were by no means inf< rioi to the
men; one of them, in fact, came in
second, and they were only to he dis
tinguished by tlc ir more piercing cries.
This ra'-e was followed by some private
exercises performed by the tchnnka* in
order to provoke the generosity of tie
-'pertator*. They junnn-d, they s.t down
and rose up again, and they picked uj> as
they ran pieces of money that were
thrown to tliem. The -i" etacle was not
the least extraordinary. Bouncing for
ward at full speed, the man was sud
ih nly seen to Stop, the stilts bent, fell, as
it were, to jslecc*. tip n something was
seen moving Iwtwccn three piece* of
wood, lik<- Uie fxwly of a j>id< r in ths
middle of its long h-g. The whole per
formance was done with lightning
rapidity, the stilt* rose again, and the
man r< appeared on the top of them and
r> suined hi* course.
A Fireman's Itrsir Deed.
I.ate at night a lire broke out in the
basement of a three-story lri< k une
ment on President streit, Brooklyn, ir
the apartment* of Andrew IK nor. and
rapidly filled the hott*e with --tifling
smoke. T|p-r* were three fnmiii'-* in
the houe .lolin M t'snn. hi* wife and
•even children occupied the third story.
XI OSt of the inmate* of the house wits
in bed when the fire broke out. There
wn* much exeiteinent, nnd the tenants
flcl down the stairway partly dressed,
and carrying in their hands su< h articles
as they could hastily collect. The fallli
li<-s in the first and second *tori->. <■-
coped easily. hut Mrs. McCaon was de
layed in waking up lp-r seven children
and getting tie in started into the street.
Clasping an infant in li-r arms she
group-,! live of the others together and
guided them down the stairs through
the dense smoke. She met a police ser
geant on the second tory on hi* wnv to I
fp-ip rescue the children, and told him
all of them, wee with her. hut wh< n *h
reached the sidewalk he missed lea
five-year old daughter Kmtna. Mr* Me.
Cann uttered n slirii k anil made a dash
for the entrance of the house, which by
this time had le-gun to lr light'd by the
fire below, while dense smoke filled the j
upper apartment*. She wa* restrained,
nnd a I ashler was nut up against the side
of the building.
Fireman Samuel Duff, foreman of No. 1
3. mounted the ladder, and for< ing open
the shutters of the window of tip- third
story, climbed in. The room was ai- i
rendy full of Smoke, wliieh was almost
suffocati -g. and Duff was tempted tore, j
turn, thinking that the child must have ;
ln-en smoth'-red. but just then heard the !
cries of the child, and. falling upon Id*
kne. *, he groped his way along the floor
until lie reached the !>od. He culled at
the top of his voice for the child to come
toward him. and felt over the brd with
out reaching Iter. Hearing the cry again
*e follow d it* direction, and found the
frightened child curled un against the
wall, lie grasped her hy the arm. and,
almost over'onie bv the mok*. started
for the window. He could not see, and
the first window he nwho I was rinsed,
but pdging his way along the wnl. to the
open window he reached the lodder,
whr-n 1 the police sergeant met him and
took the child. Duff was much ex
hausted by his effort*, and waited at the
top of the ladder for some minutes to re
eover himself. Mrs. Mefann was over
joyed to receive her child safe in her
arms.
Rum* neutiurl Itrextltes.
" Fortune taps at every man's do tr,"
hut it is the misfortune ot many men
never to tw at home to receive the calls.
It is agaliiHl l lie law to carry coiH-t-airU
arms, yet it is nothing uncommon nn
moonlight evening* to sec young Indie*
with half concealed arms around thcii
waist*.
The schooHioy will gloat for half a
day on the enigma* in a pur.xlo column
I Hit when lie comes to g tting his regular
arithmetic lesson lie considers it the
greatest bore on earth.
The Iknnntic Monthly desires to be
told " How to stuff egg plant." The lest
way is to have the egg plant sliced
thin, fried in egg and butter until it is
done brown, then stuff it Into the orifice
between the nose and the chin.
Sir Henry Thoinjrson is arguing stren
uously against big Knglisli dinner* witli
their unreason able superabundance of
viand* nnd their tediously protracted
scries ot courses. Ig*t him encourage
more of the English to go into tin? news
paper business if lie desires to make
effective inroads upon the bail<aii<:
practice.
Immediately after tho noon repast ■
very young lad petitioned hi* mother to
allow hint to spend lite afternoon, till
four o'clock, with hi* playmate mound
iho corner. The mother said he might
go to bring hack a top he had left there,
hut that lie must return immediately.
This led tho urchin to reflect and re
mark: "I don't think t can And the top
before four o'rlock."
Where the Ileal In Almol l'iifnilral)lr.
I lie following U an extract from the
letter of (i missionary's wife, and vividly
describe* the terrille le-al which prcviTf*
in India during the mimiix r: I remem
ber seringa fantastic lining l,y tiustave
j'"re, representing tople t The fire
burst forth from the mouths of huge
c averns, and e V . rythlng find a molten
and red-hot appearance. India at pres.
rnt IS very much in this condition. Tie
hot winds blow uninterruptedly from
four to eight hours dally as from a fiery
furnace. 1 lie tit rcejy blazing sun
! scorches and hums everything In the
j most uneompromising manner. The
earth has so oveny appearance, and is
• eru> ked open in large ||*sui<* with tie
intense heat, and scorch'-* the h-et even
through thick soled boots. Ihe misera
ble trees look unhappy and hang their
i poor wilted leaflet*. There i- not a
i spear of grass viib!c. Folks out-doorc
drag their weary J ngth* along.as though
each were carrying a hall and chain.
They seem tci have no ambition on earth
hut to drop down ami die quietly in some
shady nook. The roads are some Inches
deep in dust and the air i-> tilled with it,
so that br'Jitliing is difficult and pain
ful. There are no vegetables nor any
fruits. Wells and tanks and cisterns sr>
law and the water muddy and unhealthy.
Indoors the furniture hums the body
through the clothing. The -un glares
into every er.u k arid crevice so persist
ently that blinds and shades and thick
curtains <■ in hardly darken a room suffi
ciently. Kvery ciutsidv cioor is closed
tightly, from <-arly morning until after
sundown, to k> vp out the Ileal. The
air become* stagnant and suffocating.
A little relief is obtainable from the pun
kah. a large fan suspended from the
ceiling and worked by a servant from
the outside. The punkah swings day
and night. 'lii'- man whose business it
is to keep it swinging sometimes fails
asleep, ami then the air seeins to press
upon one at the rate of a thousand pounds
to the *<iuan- inch, llrcatliing is next to
impossible.
At night there is etill ic*s comfort to
le had. The- bed is hotter than the
body. We sprinkle the bed first and
then jump in. hut it is dry and hot again
in almost no time. We sprinkle the
floor and furniture and do everything
imagltir.Hlc to cool the sleeping room,
but all usrjc i|y. |t in ]|kc trying to
sleep in a well healed ovc-n. Although
w • may long to renounce the flesh and
-it in our boms, -till we know that Ixitli
fl<-sli an<l elotlic-sarc absolutely necessary
in order to protect tli" body from the
hot air. How superlatively happy mud
thcisc- he who live in a cold c limate!
What would I not give fur a breath of
coo] air from the Adriondaeks, or for n
plunge into the surf at Newport, or for a
walk on the str.md. or even for a dislun
glimpse o the sea*
The finest Diamond in the World.
France p "pose* to sell her crown
jcwi -. Among them is the Urgent, the
flncst of tie* great known diamond* of
tie* world. Tlcre are severe! that arc
larger in the royal tn a-uri'-s of F.urope.
and there- are- some few that arc more
valuable, hut the-re- are none soln-autiful..
Almost perfect is this pee rless stone-in
all re sj.ee s. In sha|>c. cutting, lusteT
anel color it may be pronounc-d fault
less, we re it not f'er a small and almost
imperceptible sjiot. which is visible to
the eye of an expert when the stone-is
taken from its setting.
The history of the Regent shows
through what varied adventures the his
toric ge in ef the world lnvc generally
passed. Found in the mines of <of
eonda. originally formed one of the
eyes of a famous idol placed in the pa
gesla of Chandermagose. in B>-nga!?
Stolen mysteriously by some unkneiwn
acivc-ntnre r. it passed from hand to hand
until it became the pi-ojx-rty of Thomas
I'ilt, the grandfather of the great Karl of
t hatharo, that gentleman havirg pur
chased it from a jewel nn reliant while
in India for the sum of $<V2.500. The
I hike of (>rleans, when Regi-nt of France,
Uiuglit for >C.OOO. l/ouis XV. and
Izauis XVI wore it in their hat*. Na
poleon 1. caused it to be set in the hilt
of hl sword. For a long time, during
the consulate and first e-mpire. this
precious diamond was held in pledge by
the state- lnkT. XI. Vanicrieerghc.
Willis* it was in his possession lie
adopted a novel no t led of keeping it
safny. His wife u-ci to wear it con
stantly sewed uji iii a hell. while the
wary hanker exhibited to the eyes of
the curious a tine far-smile in paste of
the celebrated gun During tlie second
empire it formed the crowning jewel ol
a sj.lendid diadem of antique form en
tirely composed of diamonds, which
the beautiful empress wore on all gram!
occasions of public fe-sjivity. Those
who have ever beheld this peerless
Stone biasing like a star alcove that fair
brow have never forgotten the sight.
A full inventory of the crownoel jewels
of France was taken in ITui by order of
the National Assembly. Therein the He
?;ent is newribed as "a superb white
irilliant of a square form, with round'-d
comers, weighing i-arats. and valued
at twelve mil lions of francs (f'J.fcsi.ouo)."
The great diamonds of the world are
generally ugly and luster less, as witness
the Koh-i-noor. It is on.y tho great
French diamond that shows as regal in
its beauty as in it* siae and value.
Phenomenal Wells.
A letter from Meadville, Pa., to the
Raitimore Anuriran says: Four miles
from Clintonville, Venango county, a
well was sunk three month* ago to the
depth of woo feet. No oil hut a heavy
vein of gas was found. The owner of
the well attempted to remove the easing.
It was raised a foot The fresh water
at the top of the hole rushed into the
bottom. It was caught by the great rush
of gas and thrown a hundred feet in the
air. This natural fountain has Iwen
gushing at the rate ol 3.000 barrels of ire
cold water a day ever since, with no in
dieation that it will ever eense.
Rome months ago a party of oil opcr
atorsfrom Titusville and St. Petersburg
began operation* in Uie newly diseov
erad oil r.-gion ot Trumbull county,
Ohio. They have struck a vein ol pe
troleum of a character hrretolorr un
known in the nil business. It is lubri
cating oil of the flncst quality, and It
eomea from the earth refined and ready
for use on the finest mac liinery. This
well is flowing five Itarrels of this oil a
day. for which the operators hare a
rendy i ale at tlfl a barrel. Ordinary oil,
in the Pennsylvania regions, is now sell
ing nt sixty-tluee cents a barrel. The
tract in which this phenomenal well is
located is near West Mecca Two thou
sand acres has been leased at enormous
prices by other speculators. Ths dis
coverers ol litis refined lubricating oil are
putting down other wells on their Isnd.
Among the sand rock taken from Tew A
Thurston's new oil well near State I.lne,
at a depth of over I,(loofeet, was a niece
thickly studded with sea shells and bear
ing the impressions of curious fishes.
Katllr*nakr* to kr*r<mn.
Rattlesnake* are plenty in Ariaona.
I li'y r<;u li i|j< Ir n%o here, and
;u- more *;tvag< thaii rfo*w|ir*rr*. Tin
Arizona rattlesnake In ripe for a fight an
soon a* he CM. i. , anything in the simps
of a man. Not rattling and th<-n sneak
ing off. lik" hi* namesake in some of the
coldi r Intitu leu, hut with heailereet and
eye* blazing lury and defiance, in-coil*
•lid spring* at liis enemy. Tlx-sc Ari
/ona ttnak'K are c*pcriajjy fierce when
met in the road, never yielding the right
lof way until they are killed. They
vary in color. < hie sort in almost black,
i with yellow spot* from head to tail;
| another in a tawny yellow; and still an
otl.'i- i* the coloi of the country rock,
r roin .1 line to ScpP-nilx-r the thcrrnomo
| ter on th" plain* average* from HOte
, I -<l degree* through the day, and often
i* high an 116 lit night. Snake* do not
move mui h through the day in then*
month*, prefirring to ensconce them
•< iVe- unit r tti" friendly *iiade of a pro
leeting ro' k or an occasional hit of rage
ru*ii, and aw ait tin- going down of the
-uri. then tliey come out and stretch
then.M Iv. * in till raxil dtpit of tin- high
way*, i hi* i* aM ry dangerou* country
for traveler* at niglit. Horse- an- fre
quently bitten on tlie leg*, and die in
agony. 'I heir live,*arc sometimes waved.
' hut not often.
A few week* ago. write* a New Yi>rk
Suti correspondent, I aaw a Me*jean of
thirty year*' residence in Arizona. My
notice WM attracted to him liy a large
lump or hag of flenh hanging from hi*
faee. | inguinal about it. lie had I teen
captured by a lot ol Apache ludialis
1 when a ehild. Tin y fancied him for hi*
U-autyand hi* w ii knit frame, and de
-ired toki'p 11itit in the triiie, having
previously put it out ol hi* pow< r to r -
turn liotne by massacring hi* parent*
and burning tin- house; *o they titok
him into the mountains, WII<TC there
w*. no danger of puruit. There they
eau*ed a ratllonake to hit'- him on the
left cheek. They permitted the poison
to take effect to a certain extent; then
they applied an antidote and saved his
lif". Hut be has mrsiaoe eariled tboM
this unsightly reminder of hi* Strang*
experience.
Nowaday* tin- Apache* nre walely eor
raled on government reservation*, and
the rntth -risk" i 1< ft to hi* own playful
fanele*. Tin y genet ally know if any one
i* around, and make their own presence
known. In some part* of the 'I erritory
tln-y are so ficrci that they will attack
a man on horseback if he come* within
striking distance. Tom Kwing. r>f San
Fram iiM-o, who erected senral quartz
mill* in Arizona, wa* driving along one
day when hp progress wa* hHrred at an
abrupt turn liy a monster rattlesnake.
lli hore he< amr panic stricken, and a*
he was unarm l d he was forred to turn
around and *e k a**i-taa< < at tie* n ar-st
station. Seviral tn<n came out with
shotgun-, and alter a tight, which cams
near proving fatal to one of tin in. the
venomons reptile wa* killed. It stretched
clear across the road, a distance of four
te( n feet three inches. .lodging from
the number of rattli-*, hi* age could not
have i**en le-s th:Uj lorty-two years. 1
do not vouch for tlii* story, hut there are
lie n in Arizona w ho claim to have *<* u
tii" -nake aft r lie was killed. It i on*
of the tradition* of the Territory.
Snak's from five to eight feet in length
are not at all uncommon. 1 was riding
along through Nalt river valley at the
ol< -< of a terrible hot day in .July, when
I caiin upon an oasi* in the wilderness,
the home of a settler named Marks. It
had IM-en *o hot ali day that no work
could lie done out of coors, and it wa*
only a few minute* before my npt>ear
ame that an Indian boy in Marks" em
ploy had gone to the upper end of a
small vegetable garden to do some neces
sary chore*. He had been there tiut a
moment wlo-n he cried out in alarm in
the Indian tongue, •' A snake! a snake!"
and jumped upon a shelving rock hard
by. Marksgrahlsed hi* shotgun and tan
through the garden ju-t in time to sw
an immense rattlesnake preparing to
strike the boy. Hejumpea to one side
an<l fired, blowing the snake'* head off
and saving the boy's life. This snake
measured nine fee; and one inch, and
was as big as a man's leg.
Curiosltie* of the Fairs.
Jockeys arc the boy* who generally
suffer in life and limb at fairs, but Mis
souri offer* a tragedy in which a booth
keeper i the victim While Senator
CWkrell was delivering an nddr** at
the Saline county lair, at Marshall, the
cry of *' murder" was rained and the
great crowd broke away from around the
orator to pour down upon a Itnotb kept
hy Robert Montague. A man by the
name of flatter bad quarreled with
Montagu ■ and slabbed him to the heart
with a dirk. There wa* the most Intense
excitement among the 6,000 people pres
ent.
At the Fulton (Wis.) fair the most
valuable row on exhibition keeled over
and gave up th" ghost. The cattle doe
tors all gathered around the animal and
made a post-mortem examination in
publir. The i ause of death, wonderful
to relate, was found to have been a hair
pin in the beast's heart. The remains of
the girl who perhaps went down with
the pin were not discovered.
The novelty during the early dav* of
the Rourlwn county (Ky.) fair was a
baby show. The Cineinnali Enquinr
dispatch, which chronicles the fact that
W. I'. Coupland.of l/eadvHie,Colorado,
won the prixe. Adda: "At the time of
the tying the ribbon it set mod as though
•< v. ml fights were imminent among the
mothers of tip' kids who were entered.'
At the Wisconsin State fair John Me-
Oullough. the tragedian, recited from
Julius CVsar. Othello and other plays
for the benefit of the rustics. There
' was a ballon ascension, also.
It was so cold at the Minnesota State
fair (list an old-fashioned back-log fin
in the lumberman's camp was the most
popular attraction to the blue-nosed
siglit-seers.
brilliancy was given to the domestic
department of the Minnesota fair by
covering the tables alternately with red.
white and blue cloths.
A coin collection, in which all ages
and nations were represented, was the
curiosity at the To halo (Ohio) tri-St ate
fair.
Among the attraction* to garner the
shekels at the St.. Paul (Minn.) fair was
Captain Roganius, Uc crack shot.
In his ascension from an Ohio fair lite
other day an aeronaut took up a live
coll.
Many farmer* were encamped In army
tents orathe lowa State fair grounds.
TJe novelty at the Ifecatur (HI.) fair
was a 400-yard foot race.
Ttecr was banished from ths Michigan
State fair grounds.
The people who here no aim In Ufs do
tie most snooting—tSom/m**.