The Patchwork tjuilt.
In ahe >ti of silken splendor,
With glittering threads f tedd,
I'v.' HC. n the waving marvels
That hung in walls of old;
When fair hands wrought the lily,
\ml hrave hands held the lanee,
Viel stately lords ami ladies
Btepp< I through the courtly dan en.
I've liKiked im rarer fabrics,
The wimilim of the loom.
That eaught the flowora of Munimer.
And ( active held their bloom;
lint not their wreathing lH'auty,
Though tit for queens to wear,
fan willi one household treasure.
That's all my own compare.
It has no goldtn valni ,"
Tin- sltuplo imtehwork spread;
Its flf|iuirc* in homely fashion.
Net in with green and red:
Hut ill those faded pieces
For me are shining bright.
Ah! many a summer morning,
And many o winter night.
Tlie d wy breath of clover.
The. leaping liglit of flame,
I .ike ■ |M lis my lieart came over,
As one by 010 I name
These bits of old-time dr. *so*
Chintz, eambrie, calico .
Tlia'. I'siked so ft sli and dainty
On my darling long ago,
Tiiis violet was my mother's;
I iterm to see her face.
That ever like sunshine
Lit up the shadiest place.
This bull ls-lotig.il to Hunan,
That scarlet s|sit was mine;
And Fanny wore this pearly white,
Where piirph j-ansics shine.
1 turn ray patehwork over
A Lsik witli luctured leav
Ami I feel tlie lilac fragrance,
Ami the snow-fall on the eaves.
Of all my heart's possession*,
I think I least could spare
Tlie quilt we ehildr- n pieced at home, I
When mother di ar was there.
The Fisher's Daughter.
High tide,with In antiful whitc-crcsted
waves breaking on the shingle, a blue
sky reflected on the Itosoin of the
waters, and the honest, bronze-faced
fishermen busily mending their nets
and smoking their pijie-t after their mid
day meal.
One of the oldest and most re |>ooted
of thorn all is Matthew Golding, whose
genial countenance and cheerful good
hninor renders him a general favorite j
among his comrades, and he was looked
np to and esteemed by one and all. He
had been a widower for many years—
his wife slept in the chnrchyard on the
top of the hill, and within its sacred
walls Matthew Guiding worshiped
even* Hundav, his honest face lighting
up at the good old rector's words, that
told him of the, home of peace and rest ;
after liis earthly toil was done,
A girl is standing near the break
water and looking out at sea, her even
shaded with her hand. A girl with a
pretty, graceful figure, and simply yet
tastefully clad; her hair, worn in two j
thick plaits, reaches Wlow her Waist, !
and her whole appearance is worthy an
artist's study.
She is Matthew Holding's daughter
•the pride of her father's heart and the
belle of the littlo fishing village.
Her father, as he sits mending his net,
lifts tip his eyes ever and anon to gaze
at his pretty daughter, and with the
glance a shade falls across his usually
pleasant face.
Heated near him, busied in the same
seen put ion as himself, is a young man,
dressed also in the garb of a fisherman,
and to him Matthew turns and sjieaksof
her who is leaning on the breakwater.
" She is as love-sick as she can lie, I
tell yon, Mark, and I don't like it at all,
for I don't believe as Mr. Carleton
means any good to her."
"Hhe is certainly very much changed," ■
replies the younger fisherman, with a
sigh. "I know she cared for mo once, j
but it don't seem to make much differ
ence to her now whether I am ashore or
not."
"Ever since last spring he's been a
dangling at her heels," continues old
Matthew, "and I don't sec what's to
eome of it. 8110 has never been a willful
lass, or acted contrary to my wishes;
but it seems as if she had lost her head
as well at her heart, too. There, don't
be down-hearted, lad, she'll come to her
senses by-and-bye, and see her folly; rest
well assured of that."
Mark Fenton made no answer, but
his fingers trembled once or twice as
he wont on with his work ; and a drop
of salt water, to which lie had long lieeti
a stranger, fell upon his hand.
From his earliest boyhood he had
learned to love his pretty playfellow,
Hetty Golding, and for nearly two years
now she had Wen his promised wife.
But in the early spring of the year of
which we are writing, Dudley Carleton
—a youth with more money than brains
—had come to spend a fow months in
the little fishing town, where the sweet,
graceful figure of Hetty Golding had
enchanted him. >
Nothing was pleaaanier to young
Carleton than to flatter this simple
maiden, and whisper love-words in hei
ear, as meauihglce# as they were subtle.
To ready a listener proved Helty
Golding, and she, inflated with lite no
tion of (toon becoming "a lady" and
Dudley Garleton's wife, turned her back
upon her faithful lover, Mark l'enton,
and for the last few weeks bad hardly
given him a worth It was a great trou
ble to her honest father, for of all men
of his acquaintance there was not one so
worthy of her a Mark, nor one to whom
ho wonld so readily have given iter in
marriage. In vain ho had advised and
counseled Iter. Hetty, formerly so gen
tle, so ready to comply with licr father's
wishes, hung her head in sullen silence,
and sought, more persistently than ever,
the society of Dudley Carleton. On
this particular morning on which our
story opens lie, with a party of friends,
had gone forth 011 a boating excursion,
and Hetty, a< she knew the time was
drawing near for tin ir returning, had
taken up her station at the breakwater
where the pleasure boats were usually
drawn ashore. Carleton was not nlotio
in tho village ; some cousins of his own
age had aecotupaniod him thither with
their sisters, and Hetty hud observed
that on one, young and prettier than the
rest, Dudley liad begun, within the last
few days, to bestow more than ordinary
attention, and her young lieart was hot
| within her as she stood shading her
; eyes and watching for the returning
I boat.
" Von seem out of sorts to-day, lass."
•She recognized Mark's voice, and it
brought the crimson blood in a torrent
to iter cheeks.
Site gave her shoulders an impatient
twist, while her pretty forehead wrinkled
into a frown.
" Ob, do go away ; you are the plague
of my life," she said, angrily.
With her eyes fixed on the oCcan, she
did not see the look <>f pain that came
j over the swarthy face of the fisherman.
Presently she felt her little white
hand—fair and delicate enough for a
! duchess—seized somewhat roughly in
I his own, and she struggled in vain to
t draw it away.
" Von shan't tell me that twice,'
Hetty," he said, in tones of sorrow
rather than anger. "I will go away;
but before I go I'll have it out with
this young gentleman that's changed
yon so, and ask him whether lie means
to act honorably toward yon or whether
he's only fooling you, as I suspect lie
is."
" You dare to say one word to Mr
Carleton!" exclaimed the girl, indig
nantly. "It is no business of yours,
He—"
"Oh, no business of mine, eh?" in
terrupted Mark. "I should like to
know what is my business then, consid*
1 ering that your father gave yon to* mo
months and mouths afore this chap
! rami- here. We might have been mar
ried now if it hadn't been that you are
iso changed. If it liadn't been that —"
"Oh, don't preach, Mark; I hate it,"
' cried Hetty, impatiently. "I am very
sorry if you care for me, because really
I I don't think I care for you quite as
I ought—and as I once thought I did."
" How long have you found that out?
' —only since he came to the village,
with his soft blarney and honied
I tongue," retorted the voting fisherman.
" Well, we shall see," he added, in
quieter tone. "If he marries yon, well
and good ; 1 wouldn't stand in the way
of your happiness, even though it —it
broke my heart to part writhyou. You're
pretty enough to grace a crown and all
, the village says so but that ain't the
thing. If he so much as hurt one hair
| of your head—l'd break every bone in
| his hotly."
And the strong hand of Mark Kenton
clenched as he s|oke, ami he looked at
that moment powerful enough to fell an
ox with one blow.
Hetty turned away, not altogether at
ease ; but, affecting nn air of the most
supreme indifference to all her lover
had said, she resumed her former posi
tion, tapping one dainty foot im
j patiently on the shingle.
Mark left her without another w.>rd ;
j and at that moment tho boat, bearing
| the form of him she imagined she loved,
came in with a dash of spray as it (
reached the breakwater.
Mark stood watching tho party land,
while a rich flush of color mantled
i Hetty's cheek. Hhe stood with her
bosom heaving, expecting a look or
even a word, but she received neither,
1 Dudley Carleton appeared utterly un
conscious of her presence, and passed
her a* if there hail Wen no such crea
ture as Matthew Holding's daughter in
j existence.
Tlie color failed from her cheek,
1 , leaving her white to her I'ps, and no
1 sooner was the boating party out of
sight than she turned and walked slowly
' toward her father's cottage.
' But the feeling of disappointment did
• not continue with her long. Dudley,
• doubtless, had not seen her -no, she
f was sure that he could not have done so
1 —and at their next meeting be would
be the same as ever. Hhe hail apjiointed
1 to meet him on the morrow, away from
•, the busy fishing town, at a little nook
1 in the cliffs, the spot of many a former
tryst; and she was almost counting the
% hours until the time should arrive,
e Hhe hardly remembered how she dsag
r ged through the day, almost siek with
u anxiety, lest Dudley's love had waned.
' Mark Fen ton, usually their guest at
• supper, did not appear that evening,
I and her father was gloomy and Hileiit,
t so that Hetty erept away to bed as hooii
, as she was able.
r The morrow dawned, bright, fair and
- sunny, aa the previous day hail been;
i and at the appointed time and plaeo
, Hetty, looking wonderfully pretty in
, her fr. sh Sunday attire, with tliodainti
, est of Htruw lrntH, trimmed with Hpruyn
I of pink heather, stood await ing the arri
. val of Dudley Carleton.
< For more than an hour she waited,
burrowing tinv holes in the earth with
the end of the fritigi 1 parasol that had
| once been her mother's, and walking np
and down until she seemed familiar
with every blade of grans and weary
of the Hound of her own footsteps.
Dudley Carleton eamo not.
I ! Suddenly she bethought her elf of
. | her father's tea, and not until then did (
,! ulie Neem to be aware that her lover j
( ! had broken liis word. She had j
| i little time to question herself,
I however- she must hurry home, get her
, | finery laid away, and the table spr< ad in ;
' readiness for his return from work.
| She was hot and flushed from the :
i haste she had made, when tho old fisher
man entered, and looked a little guilty
I too; but she talked cheerfully to him j
throughout the meal, and made a ilc
■ j perate effort to appear as though noth
ing out of the ordinary way had hap-,
l>enol.
More than a week passed. Mark had
I taken lor at her word and kept out of
| her way, and ho had Dudley Carleton,
I for the matter of that, for she had >• en '
j ami heard nothing of him either.
In vain slio waited for him on tho
1 boaeh, trusting that ere each morning
, was out ho would In* down there with
; his lmat; but he never came, ami she
bog-in to fear that he had left the little
fishing village, and that all her "castle
building" win gradually crumbling to |
'' pieces.
She never snspeetcd how narrowly in
these days Mark Fenton watched the
girl he loved ; he eould almost read her
thoughts by every change of her face
' so closely had he studied it of late.
One evening, wending hi war home
ward to his solitary lodging (for by tin
death of his mother, some years back 4
Mark Fenton hud be en left alone in the
i world i, his heart rtul mind oppressed ,
' , with anxious thoughts of Hetty, a i
figure came out of the gloaming and ad
vanced toward him.
A second glance was all that was re
quired to enable hiru to recognize Dud
lev Carleton, and when once the reeog- |
nit ion had leen made, Mark slackened
1 his pace and waited for the young man
to approach him.
They were alone on the cliffs, those
two men—pntriciansnd ple|eian and as
the light of the moon fell upon the face
of the former, the latter saw that it was
slightly jailer than usual Dudley!
Carleton knew him to t Hetty Hold
ing'* lover; for the girl had on more
than one occasion pointed him out as
the man her father wished her to marry.
lie stopped because Mark stopped,
although his glance somewhat quailed
In-neath that of the stalwart fisherman.
"Mr. Carleton—is that you? AW
thought you hail left the village," said
Mark, somewhat steinly ; "and ho does
some one else, whom you have basely
deceived."
" I what do you mean exclaimed
Dudley, angrily, th hot blood rising to
his smooth cheek. " How dare you ac
cost me thus? I have no feelings in
common with you ; I don't even recol
lect your name —that is to say if I ever
knew it."
"Never mind what my name is," re
torted Mark, fiercely. " I know who
you are. You are one of those men
who go about the world and call them- #
reives gentlemen who steal a simple
lassie's heart with their lies, and, when
they have grown tired of it elinek it
away, like children play with the shin
gle."
"I am not going to handy words with
a fellow like yon," cried Dudley, livid
now with stifled passion. "I snppore
I ran converse with a pretty girl if I
like, without leing brought to account
I by a low-born fisherman,"
" Low-born you call me, do yon ?" j
repeated Mark Fenton, in tones of with- !
ering scorn. "Ifl am low-lmrn, lam
honest, which is more than some folks
are ; and I would rather have to leg for
my bread than call myself a no truer
gentleman than yon!"
An angry oath, followed by a still ;
angrier blow, woe all the answer vouch- j
I safed to Mark Kenton's unpalatable j
, speech, and the two men closed together
> in a fierce and desperate struggle,
f They nearcd the edge of the cliff, but
r in their mail anger they were utterly
forgetful of their perilous position.
1 A moment more and they hail both
, reeled over together—over the great,
B rugged cliff* of old red sandstone—on
to the beach lielow, that made one
1 (liny to look down upon.
1 In the morning their bodies were
a fonml by aoroe fishermen who had
k misaeil Mark Fenton*# presence from
r among them, and hat! immediately be
e gun to make anxious inquiries. Mark,
though aenaelem, was 'alive. His fall
I- had been broken by a piece of projeot
h ing earth, and he waa Carried home with
I. a broken arm and a wounded head.
• ..
The gracfnl, youthful figure of Dudley
Carleton lay crushed and dead ujn the
beach, and one of the fisherman—who
had known him best, through having
sometimes aeompanied him and his
frietyds on their boating nxeursionH—
went and communicated tho mid tidings
to his relations.
Meanwhile Murk was borne away to
the cottage where ho lodged ; and the
worthy housewife, who hail become
terribly alarmed at his absence, pro
ceeded to dress his wounds with all a
mother's tenderness.
Her only son had been drowned a few
months previous to Mark Fenlon's com
ing to make his home among them, and
she had learned to look upon the young
fellow iti the light of that son she had
lost.
One hour later and the news had
reached Hetty, who entered the cottage
' with a wild despairing cry and threw
j herself by her lover's side.
"Mark—oh! dear Mark live for my
I sake!" she ejaculated, in accents well
nigh choked with emotion. "I never
! knew how dearly. I loved you until now.
I never kin-w that till the world is as
nothing compared to you. I have been
' a foolish, wicked girl, and I want you to
I forgive me!"
Murk Fenton opened his eye , and
fixed them on the wr! ite, haggard face
of Matthew (Inkling's daughter.
"My poor las:he murmured, faintly
prating the delicate fingers which lay
| in his open palm, " I knew you'd regret
it before long. Don't take on, my dar
ling ; lam not going to die yet; I feel
1 so much better now that I have seen
' von, and heard your own sweet words.
I am sorry Mr. Carleton's ch-od ; I shall
always f. el that 1 had omething to do
! wth it and yet He who is one day to b<-
my Judge knows that I meant him
no harm. Don't take on so, la-sie
ilon't take on so."
"Oh, Mark! I am a great dial more
j to blame than you," continued Hettie,
still weeping. " I can never forget
what a wicked girl I have been."
i "y. iyon vi|l,4Mr; waif till loont*
down on the beach again," rejoined
Mark, "and we shall he so lmppv to
gether. Kiss me, Hettie, and Jet me
see you bright and cheotfnl every day ;
that will do me more good than all the
doctor* in England."
• • • • •
And it was as M irk Fenton hud said.
He did grow better every day, although
hi recovery to In alth and strength
was a more lengthy affair than either
ho or Hetty had ever anticipated; for it
was not until the following spring that
he was seen at ltia work again, and dur
ing that time the frequent visit# of the
worthy rector had elx ored and soothed
him, and lie went about hi business at
lost like the Mark Fenton of old. A
change, however, Hail nunc over Hetty,
and perhaps for the l*>ttcr.
A magisterial inquest was held re
•ijMi'ting the discovery of Dudley Carle
ti l's Ihmlv, and his death was asserted
to have Ik'cii occasioned i ntirely by his
own passion,
Hetty eonld not do too much for
.Mark to prove the afiV< lion thai l.e once
had feared she hail bestowed upon
another, and in the early summer, to
the infinite satisfaction of old Matthew,
they were quietly married in the little
rustic church.
Their cliil lren may now l>e seen J'lay
ing n | siti the betcb, for they love to
listen to the song of the waves, or climb
on " grandfather's" knee when tired of
their gam Ito IT and listen to his wonder
ful tales; but there is one spot on the ■
cliffs which Hetty isui never |>ass with
out a shudder, or recalling to mind
events in the j<ast to which her husband
ha* never onee alluded.
She Saw llitn a Few Better.
The public has long conceded that
the power of the hotel clerk is superior
to thai of the President A new rival
has sprung up in the railroad ticket,
I agent, iCi was demonstrated at an lowa
station a few weeks ago.
" I want a ticket to B—" said a
well-known lady of the town, just before
train.
" Twenty-four cents," responded the
agent, working his sausage machine.
Hho laid down a silver quarter. Being
1 well-acquainted and a practical joker,
the agent drew frm hi* pocket a glit
s tering pants button and possed it over
with the ticket and scooped np the
i quarter
j "Is this legal tender?" asked the
! lady, quietly.
"Oh, yes," he answeroil, with mock
| gravity, "they are the mainstay of the
! republic."
Hho jiocketed it and got abwrd. leav
ing the agent's face coruscating with
smiles.
A few days after he told it to a bri
gade of runner* buying ticket* for B—,
and while he was enjoying the encore
the lady apjieareil with:
" Ticket for B—, please."
" Twenty-four rent#," with a sly wink
at the runner*. He laid down the
ticket. She scooped it and laid down
twenty-four dazzling jant* button#,
exactly like the first.
"Yon said they were legal tender.
They go a long ways in supporting the
family," ate chirped, sweetly, as she
bowed from tho presence of more than
presidential prerogative.
If OH A L ANI> UII.K.KHS.
(Niltnllnn li fraycr.
A correspondent of the Chicago 7W
bura writes: In Copiah county, > Missis
•ippi, I wan shown a place where a man
was not handed, who nevertheless seems
to have come very near experiencing
that fate. He wm u noted home thief,
and was at la- t captured hy a company s
of indignant farnu re wlio had found
Home of Iheir own horses tied tip in the
wood, and had remained in ambush :
near by until the thief came hack to
dispone, of his booty. The whole coun
tryside wan soon informed of the arrest,
and the men assembled with rifle* and
I Hhotguns to we the prisoner and decide
| or ham what was to hi done with him.
; It wan determined, after due deliber
ation, that he ihotlld he hang" I then
and there. A rope was accordingly
I procured, one end wan fastened to a
I convenient limb and the other made
' into a noose which was adjusted around
the prisoner's neck. Ho was mounted
i upon a male, and a man was selected
• who was to Betas executioner bvleading
• the animal away from the tree, thus
leaving the culprit dangling in the air.
Apparently his la t. moment had come,
and he had too ranch good i nse to ask
j for his life.
I tut his captors w t re nearly all re
• ligions men, member" of the Christian
churches of the neighborhood, anil at
this juncture oni of the leader Hiig
g( ted that as it was a very solemn
; thing to Mod human ml into eter
nity especially if in an unpre.
pared conditicn, as was most likely
the cv e in this in tance, he thought
they ought to engage in prayer before
, hanging the man. To this all [u 1 seated
and the man who had proponed devo
tional exerciser was apjointcd to load
:in prayer. He did ho, and made a nioft
feeling an 1 fervent plea for divine
mercy for the sinner who was just about
t-> appear in the pr< m nee of the M i
High with all his crimes ti|onhis head
■ The company hi, • deeply itnpressed ;
many wen- even mov< 1 to team. But
tic prayer came to an end, the tear
I bedewed <vi were dried, and the "ex-
VTI i< iof tlii occasion" were about to
l>e completed according to the pro
gramme, when the man who hail held
the mule by the bridle declared that he
did not feel willing to discharge the
duty which had been assigned to him.
" Homeliody <1 do it; I don't want to
have nothing to do with hangin' him,"
said he, and his feeling was found to be
' tlrn unanimous sentiment of the assem
bly. The result was that the prisoner
was delivered to the sbirifT, and was
won afterward sentenced to a long terra
in the penitentiary. I think he must
have lieon ever afterward an earnest l>e
liever in the • flicacy of prayer.
ttrllsitori* Nra tn4 Voir*.
Three years ago there were in Pari*
wnly twenty-two I'roU tant mii-don
stations; n<>w there are forty-five,
s -atU rcl all over France.
' The general synod of the Evangelical
Lutheran church in the United State
will 1> held at Altoona, Pa., June H,
The |;< v. Marcus Palmer, M. D.,
formerly a PresbytoriAn miasionary
among the Indians died recently at
Milan, Ohio, aged eighty-six.
Sixteen missionary, Bible arid tract
societies havolwcn invited to participate
i in tb%missionary conference to be held
j in Constantinople, June 3.
"I used to bo an odd-job Christian,
j but I am now working full time," was
the remark of a laloring man who had
leon remiss in his duties, but had lieen
through a revival.
The opponents of organ music in a
Presbyterian church in Toronto Mopped
its notes effectually by pouring hot
glne into the pipes and upon the keys.
The revival in the Methodist church
in M end an, Conn., lasting fifteen weeks,
, resulted in 850 conversions. Of the
<yravorts, 400 joined the Methodist
i ehnreli.
The senate and house of deputies of
I Brar.il have passed article eight of the
j reform of the constitution giving Prot
: estnnts the same civil and political
j rights as Catholics enjoy.
Tlic clergy list of the Church of Eng
land contains upward of 25,000 names.
Those in jmstoml service number only
17,070. Of these 11,180 are incumbent*
j resident, 1,500 incumbents non-resident,
' ,'W7 curates in charge, and 4.BKH assist
ant curates.
The late Mr*. P.. .1. Wallingford, of
Pittsbnrg, left 85,000 each to the Pres
byterian board of foreign missions, the
board of Home missions, the board of
Edneation and the Ixiard of relief.
Smaller amounts were bequeathed to
other church object*.
There are, it appears, in the United
States no less than fifteen distinct
Methodist denominations, of which the
Methodist Episcopal and Methodist
Episcopal South ehnrchoa are by far the
largest. Of the fifteen churches, eight
are Episcopal and seven Presbyterian
independent. The total of communi
cants is 8,521,000, which la estimated
to represent a Methodist population of
14,086,400, or more than twice the
Roman Catholic population.
, The finger ringa of this country are
worth 868,000,0 W.
CLII'I'INUM FOR TIIK CIKIOUft.
Twenty year* ago an iron theater wax
shipped to Anatniiia, from England, in
convenient sections, so i- to in- put np
••awily on arrival there.
By a Htriet enforcement of a new and
rigorous law against opium dealing and
; smoking, idalio in confident of her
ability to crush the growing vice.
A celery garden of forty-nix acre a, be
. lit ved to IMi the largest in the world, is
cultivated in the suburlwi of London,
, and produces annually about half a (
! million plants.
Every shell fire.d l>y an army during
siege (liberations costs, with the powder
with which the mortar is charged, the
sum of eight dollars —enough to sup
i jsirt u poor family for a fortnight.
If a jiernon of fair complexion ex
-1 I*h , himself to the electric light for
some time examining the action of
lamp' , the hands and checks will show
all the symptoms of sunburn, even in
midwinter, and h" will develop freckles
on his countenance as quick as when he
goeaabout ospratsstsd by a sun-nm
brella in midsummer.
It is said that there n as much dif
! ference between a cultivated oyster and
, one taken from its natural Ik<l, an there
! is Iw twaen our best Harriett and com
mon J 1 ar. The cultivation of the mol
; In ks also greatly increases the supply,
1 us the oyster-raiser watches his lds
and keeps them free from the depreda
tions of the Marfi 'i, the drill and tha
periwinkle allenemiesof the oystor.
That the Mississippi may d iervedly
lie <alb <l the " Fnlb< r of Wattr," the
j following data will show. Quantity of
water di charged by that river annually*
cubic ft 11; quantity
of sediment discharged annually, 1,-
IKH,HH:i,H'.ri cubic f<ct; area of
| the delta of the river, ac ording to
Ly ll' l ( xtiruat*. Id.fMW squan miles,
and depth of the same, as calculated
by Professor Riddell. 1,056 i< <t. The
delta, const qui ntly, as apjs ars from
! tb e figures, contains
'sst cubic feet, 0r2,720 cubic mile . and
it would require for the formation,
there! qg of one cubic mile of delta
five years and eighty-one days—for the
formation of one square mile, of the
depth of 1,056 feet, one year sixteen
and one-fifth days, and for the for
; mation of the whole delta 11,'2'tH 4-5
1 years.
The Queer Fisherman.
T1 <• otter is admirably adapted to its
aquatic habits. Its body is long and
flexible, with a long, tail,
which serves as a rudd-r in the per
' formance of the evolutions of the ani
mals under the water. The limbs ara
short, but very muscular and jiowerfnl;
' and the feet, which consist of five toes
I each, are webbed, so ax to serve as ]>ad
, dies or oars. The eyes are large, tha
j cars short, and the lips arc provided
with strong whiskers. The covering
consists of two kinds of fur —an under
| vest of close, short, waterproof wool,
and an outer Vest of long, coarse, glossy
' hairs. Shy and recluse, the otter is
nocturnal in his habits, lurking by day
in its burrow, which opens near the
water's edge, concealed among tha
tangled herbage.
Voracious, active and liold, it is no
torious for its devastations among the
fish in our rivers and lakes, vhi' b ara
not protected from this foe. cither by
tbe element in which they live, or by
their rapidity of their motion in it.
Like them, the otter is at homo in the
water, swimming at any depth with tbo
i utmost velocity. *
Many instances are ujin record of the
successful employment of tamo otters
for angling purposes. Bishop Holier
relates that at Pondicherry, on tha
hanks of the Matta Colly, he saw a row
of nine or ten very large and lieaatifn!
otters, tethered with straw collars and
long strings to lxunboo stakes. Some
were swimming abont at the full extent
j of their strings, or lying half in or half
out of the Water; others were rolling
themselves in the sun on the sandy
bank, nttering a shrill, whistling noise,
as if in play, The bishop observes that
j most of the fishermen in the neighbor
hood kept one or more of these animals,
who wers of great nse in listing, some
times driving the shoals into the net*,
' and sometimes bringing out the larger
flßh with their teeth.
————
A ltohber Moved to Merry.
The worst of us are human some
times as the following incident goes to
prove:
j A burglar entered a house in which a
' mother was sitting np with a sick child
"Sir," she said to him in a whisper, as
j soon ax she could compose herself to
speak, "there ia nothing of value in
, this house except that child's life, at
least to me, but you may find otherwise.
Here, take my keys, search everywhere,
take what you want, bnt speedily and
without noise, I implore you." She
handed him the keys, placed her finger
on her lip and pointed to the door. The
burglar mowed quietly away, then
turned and said in a kw voice, " Is he
wiry sick T **His life hangs on tbe
continuance of this deep." •'Then he
will recover for all tbe noise HI make."
the roblter answered, laying down the
keys and noiselessly taking his depart- >
ure. bnt absolutely nothing also.