The Closing Days. Er wild winds com*, or lone and rains, We walk the pleasant meadows, With bennty crowned, the fruitful plains, The wood-path flocked with shadows, W here, in tho room of starry bloom, Are little fox-grapes glowing ; While oardinat, to light the gloom Its blood-red flag is showing I M ith glory every scene is fraught J The miracle of old is wrought. The autumn's bright memorial hue Now gilds familiar places ; How shines the stream, the skies how blue. And every bramble graces! A trail of Are the vines creep higher, Among the cellars waving i The roving eye doth never tire. It finds no dull engravings. With glory ev'ry sceno is fraught; The mirncle of old is wrought. The bursting husks tho schoolboys see, Where poli-hed chestnuts cluster, And they with glee round chosen tree, To glean the walnuts muster ! And hanging down so ri|o and brown. The russet harvests finding, While husbandmen in ev'ry town The Intest sheaves are tending. With glory ev'ry scene is fraught; The nnracle of old is wrought! —Qrorge H. Griffith. A SEA MONSTER. Tom Langtry, walking along the pebbly bench a few miles from Mullin garth, came upon a sheltered inlet where undisturbed he might indulge in the luxury of :t swim. It was a warm afternoon, and Tom, oppressed with the fatigue and dust of a long railroad journey from Dublin that morning, could not resist Uie tempta tion of a " dip" in the cool, sparkling water. Leaving his clothes half hidden among the rocks, he plunged] in itnd struck out boldly from land.! After half an hour's lusty buffeting with tin- waves, he swam slowly back to shore, and, scrambling up the shelving beach, saw, to his indescril*- able consternation, that of his garments left on the rocks not a trace remained. Hi-stood fora moment looking alsiut him in breathless dismay, shivering and miserable, hut with energy enough left roundly to malign the rascally thief who had taken his clothes. He shouted in a strong, clear voice—once twice, three times—hut no answer came. What was to lie done? He could not walk hack to the town as lie was, and it was growing late and unpleasantly cool. What a fool lie had been to risk his property within reach of a possible thief! Yet the spot he hud chosen had seemed so safe. A quantity of rank, coarse-obred sea weed grew on the rock, and the re mains of a tish-net were hanging from a .-.take driven into the sand. No Ix-t --ter idea occurring to him. Captain Langtry t<>re great handfuls of the slimy weed from its stony bed, and, winding it aliout his shivering form, secured it with fragments of the net. The oily seaweed, thickly Is-sprink ltsl with barnacles and sharply-edged cockle-shells, was but a sorry suMi tute for the neat tweed suit and fine linen, the loss of which he so bitterlv regretted. He advanced a few steps, when the absurdity of his appearance struck him, and he laughed till the tears ran down his cheeks. Would his gay companions in Dublin recognize him now? How differently from of old would the belles of that bright city regard Dim could they ss- him, clothed in yards of slimy seaweed! He made his way inland from the beach as fast as his unshod feet would hear him over the rough stones, and, crossing a barren meadow came at length upon a cabin more picturesque than the average, shaded by several fine oaks. Uelp seemed finally at hand for surely the roughest peasant would' have more suitable attire than sea weed to lend in an emergency. Cap tain Langtry hastened toward the open doorway, and proclaimed his ar rival by a knock and loud " Hallo!" His summon* was quickly answered hv a girl of sixteen or eighteen, who, after one swift glance at the new comer, threw up her hands and ex claimed; "The saints defend us, hut it is the Ould One himself!" Captain Langtry gave no heed to this inhospitable greeting, so pleased and fascinated was he by the girl's beauty. Her real Irish eyes of clear dark blue shone with excitement, her cheeks were flushed, and her glossy black hair, c urling and soft, had fallen over one shoulder in picturesque con fusion. But her mental summing up of the captain was far from compli mentary; she saw only a shaggy, drip ping creature, with little human about him except u tawny mustache ami saucy blue eyes. " Begone, you villain, or I will throw this hot water over you!" she cried, seizing the boiling kettle from the hob, Tom saw that she was In earnest, and as sbe absolutely refused to listen to his pitiful story, lie thought It better to avoid the scalding water and depart In.peace. With a last regretful glauc-- I at the beautiful little fury brandish ing the tea-kettle, he disappeared be hintl the house, and found himself In a flourishing potato Held. In a far corner an old woman, in one of the long dark, blue coats of the country, was busily bending over the hillocks. For the first time in his life Captain Lungtry played the part of u sneaking thief. lie stole softly up behind the helpless old creature, nnd, seizing ! her cloak, tore it from her shoulders i and sped like the wind across the pie | tato field, wrapping himself in the [ ample covering us he ran. " Ilowly mother, preserve us!" he hoard screamed behind him, and then a groan and execration reached his ears. One swift glance backward revealed the old woman on her knees ! among the hillocks; hut whether she had assumed this position by accideht or to pray for the return of her cloak, Captain Langtry had no time to in quire. His trials were now well-nigh over, for the cloak, though an odd gar ment for a man, robbed him of bis | troublesome, supernatural appearance. ! Beyond the lire of sarcasm from ur chins encountered on the way, lie was allowed to re-enter Mullingarth unmo lested, where, over a cup of hot tea, ho laughed at his adventures of the after noon. Six months passed, and after an ex tended tour in Norway Captain Lang try found himself again in the little fishing village of Mullingarth. All through bis wanderings in foreign lands he had oddly enough been haunted by j the bright eyes of the fiery little coun try lass who hud threatened to deluge ' formation with avidity, and, after hav , ing assured himself that the blue-eye. 1 heroine of the tea-kettle still held her swav in the household, he engaged a room for a month in the little lodg ing-house, which rejoiced in tho naiue of " The Cull's Nest." Folded in the lnittom of his trunk, ' which was shortly convey id to its new dwelling, lay the long blue cloak which Captain Langtry had found of such service on a former occasion. If he i found it expedient to acknowledge I himself the thief lie would restore the old woman's property without delay, as his conscience trouhhd him for not having done so long ie-fora. Shortly after ins installation in his i new abide a timid knock, accompanied i by the rattling of dishes, sounded at his door. To Captain Langtry'# great delight his attendant proved to In* no other than the charming little girl for the sake of whose pretty face he had given up his comfortable rooms in Mo town. She sat the tray, containing a carefully-prepared tea, on the table and a-ked, bashfully, what the gentleman's further wishes might I**. It was hardly |co*sihlo that in the well-dp--sod, polite man who greetid her with a ph-asant sieile she should recognize the shivering wretell who had come to I their cabin door the previous summer, and Captain Langtry felt safe against questionings on that disagreeable sub ! "What shall I call the graceful lit tie fairy v. ho brings my refreshment#?" I he asked, gallantly. '• Who, please, sir ?" " What is your name—Hose, Lily, Daisy? Something equally suggestive, I am sure." " Norah, sir." " Norahr—a pretty name that suits you exactly." The pleased Mush on the girl's | cheek showed plainly that this time the captain's words had been under stood, and with a half-saucy, half depn-cating courtesy she left the room. .During the six months that had elapsed Norah had grown more charm ing than ever; Iter manner had lost its wildness, perhaps through greater eon tact with the people of the town; nnd Captain Langtry discovered, almost with delight, that she was an orphan with some gentle blood m her veins, her father having been a poor gentle man who hail IM-CQ disowned by his family for the mesalliance lie had con tracted with Norah's mother. In Norah's cousin Teddy there was nothing to excite admiration, either as to eomliness of person or brilliant qualities of mind; he was a freckle faced, red-haired man, belligerent of disposition and ad verse to all at tempts at improvement. When Captain Langtry happened to stroll out into the garden Teddy was always ready to pause in his occtipa 'tlon of hoeing potatoes and chat by the hour, his most eloquent theine being the abuse of the rascally villain who itolen his grnndinother's cloak. " Faith, captain, never was such an lill-lookin' thief seen la-fore," lie would say, leaning on his hoe, " wid his wild ; eyes and the weeds trailin' about hiui.! | It wasn't enough to frighten Norali ; iuto fits, but he must chaao the poor 1 old woman in the prayty-fleld and ruh j her of her warm cloak, the like of which she couldn't replace again in the winter. May tho Ould Hoy crack lis tninns! And she's been limpin' and groauin* ever since wjd tho pain in her knees from ajfall when tryin' to run after him. The villain, wouldn't I like to have him within reach of me two fists!" Captain Langtry thought of the cloak lying at the bottom of his trunk and could scarcely suppress a smile. "(lid Nelly and Norah think it was a ghost,'or the Evil One himself who stole the cloak ; do you not agree with them?" Captain Langtry asked. " No, your honor; even though Norah declares she saw the two horns of him stiekin' up through his ragged hair, I have rayson to believe it was a man like ourselves who stols tho cloak ; " and To bly chuckled to him self, and a knowing light shone in his eyes, but he could not bo prevailed upon to express himself further. As tho summer wore on, Captain Langtry threw worldly prudence to the winds, and allowed bright-eyed Norah to take complete possession of Ills heart; and, what w;is of more im portance, he knew that love had awakened in her bosom for him. He had not a relative in the world. His aristocratic friends might scoff and make sport of his tender heart if they chose; lie would take this wild rose for his own, and they could wander away to a newer country, if their life in the old was not happy. So more and more la-came his companion in his daily walks, his rambles by tho sea shore, and his idle half hours in the garden; and each day he grew more convinced that, without her, happiness could riot exist for him. As the autumn drew near the vil lagers heard rumors of a quiet wed ding that was to take place in the little rustic church; and old Nelly waxed eloquent and her ca|vfrilLs swayed over a very radiant face as she spoke of Su rah's elevation to a place among "the qmility." ****** -V fair was in progress on the out skirts of the village, and Teddy was to grace the assemblage with Ids pres ence; Is'fore starting forth he ap peared among the dwellers of "The < lull's Nest" for their approval. As Captain Langtry was complimenting him ujN.n the neat fit of his leather; hrs*'hos, a noise in the street drew the young irishman outside. During his absence the captain caught sight of the IM>WI of a inoer ebaum pije- which looked strangely familiar; it was pis-ring forth frmn the |Hieket of Teddy's ecat, which hail Is-en thing across the back of a chair. He examinul the pi|e and found, as he expected, initials and a •late on the silver band near the mouth piece. "Teddy trad-d off an ould pistol for it at the last fur." said Nellie, noticing her guest's interest "I wonder if that old witch is an accomplice, or if the fellow humbugged her?" muttered the captain to him self. Ashe retiri-d the pipe to its hiding pl.vu'. hv could si-arcely suppress an in dignant exclamation, for he discovered a silk handkerchief blaring his own inofioipaiii and crest In the same dingy jxs-ket, but, when Teddy re-entered the room, all trace of astonishment liail vanished from Captain Langtry's f;ice, and he allower] tiie young man to depart without remark. "Confound the rascal !" the captain exclaimisl, when he was .-done. •• To think of Ids hav ing my pipe and hand kerchief in his possession all this time, besides all the other tilings that he stole from the rocks that day! No wonder the villain han-st folks." " Are you quite sure of the honesty, Teddy?" " What do you mean, sir? " •"I mean that for stealing my pipe and handkerchief, which you have in your jHisM-ssion now, and the other tilings, which you may have di-q><*e People Fall in Life, They neglect details. They fail to push business. They talk jHilitics too much. They have no eye to business. They imitate their neighlmrs. They know not the power of method. They become rusty and b-se ambi tion. They let their help waste and de stroy. They have too much outside busi ness. They fail to invent or have new ideas. They are not polite or arcommoda king. They are penny-wiae and pound foolish. They are not liberal to home enter prism. They hope for fortune to drop In their laps. They think most thing;; take too much trouble. They attend to exerything but their own business. • They do not advertise their business in tbeir home piqier. " I am dressed to kill." as the recruit aid when he had donned his uniform. Thanksgiving, Then and Now. "Thanksgiving" originated in the pious sentiment that to the Lord of tho Harvest were eing the Indian season for planting—they "set" the corn and sowed the barley and peas. " Sf its feasting ; its day of • holv convocation." Now, as when first set apart from the days of the year, it is l*>th a do mestic and religious festival. It lathe day that brings back children and children's children to the old home. Its point of attraction is the family, that vital unite and subtle nexus who e spiritual gravitation molds a tear, preserves the man and guides a nation.— Youfft's Companion, A Baffled Ambition. Peter Thullusson, a banker who died in England over a hundred years ag<>. was ambitious to found several great families, or. failing in that, one prodigious family. His property aniouutisl to over six hundred thou sand pounds, and he directed that ft should 1M- left to accumulate during a period whieh was estimated would ex tend to seventy-five years. Then it was to le divided among the reprewnt ative.s of his three sons. An actuary calculated that the for turn-, at the end of that period, would am-mntto at least one hundred and thirty-six million dollars. If one de. scendant only should take it. his yearly Income would 1M- nine million dollars. The ianker's sons disputed the va lidity of the will on the ground that it was contrary to public |Milicy to al low such an accumulation of property. The w hole, they said, might fall to a single individual, w ho^t hereby would become too powerful for a subject and too dangerous to public lilterty. But their apprehensions were al layed by that effectual instrument for dissipating large fortunes, the court of chancery. The law expenses eat up almost the whole of the accumulations. When, in 1850, the heir came into possossion of the projorty,it amounted to little inure than six hundrvsl thou sand pounds, the sum originally de vised by his eccentric great grand father. SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS. Some French chemists have too. carded in solidifying petroleum, ill which state it burn* like tallow. Thin solidification 1m affected iijr adding to distilled petroleum twenty-flvs pea cent. of the purified Juice of plants bo longing to the family of the Eupbor bice®. The notion that dogs and eats con tract hydrophobia because they are confined, chained or muzzled does not appear to l>e well sustained by fact. At any rate, rabies, according to Pro feasor Xavier Landerer, is very com mon among the wild dogs, cats and jackals of the East. Recently, while a stiff southeasterly gale was blowing, seventy gallons of oil were pumped upon the wave* in Aberdeen harbor from three valves twenty-eight feet apart. The effect is said to have been very marked, the waves disappearing wherever the heavy belts of oil were traced. Mr. John Field has prepared an es timate from the accounts of the com panies of the quantity of gas used in London last year. It was, in round numbers, 20,230,000,000 cubic feet. This is equal to a hulk of one rnila square by 720 feet high, Consumer* paid f 1 for this immense sup ply. At ttie Munich electrical exhibition one of the curiosities was a telephone transmitting music performed at Ober- Ammergau, over a distance of sixty three miles. At the palace a Luge telephonic arrangement brought over music from the English cafe so that whole immense audience could hear tin- pieces quite distinctly. Hut perhaps the most significant exhibit was a single wire which conveyed eleo tical energy a distance of thirty-seven miles from the coal mines of Miesbach, where it was generated. < LII'FI>GS FOR TOE CD RIO US. There are 262,366 Indians In the United Stat.es. fine California orchard ships about twenty tons of j>each stones year Sventeen thousand five hundred and forty-five stray dogs were taken into custody in London during 1881. The Baroness Ilurdctt-Coutts-l'.art lett owns the smallest pony in the world. It stands tliirteen inches high and is five years of age. An apple thirteen inches in circum ference one w ay and fourteen inches the other way, and weighing one pound, is the boast of a gardener at Racing Wisconsin. It is asserted that in the three years . ended 1880 there were no few er than Jo— theatres destroyed by fire, or partly so. resulting in 4,37odeaths and about 3,400 injuries. With a nciv apparatus for ascertain ing tin- velocity of railway trains, a train weighing 127 Ipns and traveling at a speed of forty-fivt miles an hour has b<-en found to run a level track a few feet more than fiv<^ | ruiles after steam had I sen sliut off. V One of the curious consequences of tlie construction of the Suez canal lias been the introduction into the McH terranean sea of sharks, which were formerly almost unknown there. The sharks have proved very destructive to the edible fish, and it is now difficult for fishermen to supply the demand. THE FAMILY DOCTOR. A handful of flour bound on a cut will immediately stop the bleeding. The lx-st treatment for sprains and bruises is application of water of such temperature as Is most agreeable. Dr. Foote's H'alth Monthly advises people not to lw " too anxious to check a cough by some quieting syrup; the mucus is letter raised than left to de ©>inpose, irritate and cause ulcera tion." A teaspoon fill of charcoal in half a glass of warm water often relieves a sick headache. It al>orl>s the gases and relieves the distended stomach, pressing ajiainst the nerves that ex tend from the sttunach to the head. A good remedy for warts and corns: Drop a little vinegar on the wart or corn, cover it immediately with cook ing soda or salaratus; let it remain ten minutes. Hejeat several times a day for three days, and the warta and corns will Iw gone. General linger, the editor of a new*, paper called the Key West /Vmocrof, is twenty years old. forty inches high, and wei-jh* thirty-five pounds. The gene ml was born in San Domingo and raised iu Florida. The flr*l newspaper published In Eu tope i* Mid to have Wen mild in ihs street* of Pari* in 1494, during the Ital ian war. It exj. -td in 1495, andean now only be found in tbe public library of Nan tea.