Was it Chance The wind swept over a silver string; Tbh oord responded, but why did it sing • WM it chnnce ? The golden sun, rising, illuminod the sk/t Tho lotus awakened, bat why did it sigh t Was it chance T Tho nightingale hovered all night o'er the rose; Why blossomed tho rosebud at duwu? Who knows? Was it chance? The moon flow away with the dark gazelle; Which courted the other ? Who can toll ? Was it chauco ? The lover found many strange ways to his fair, Aut, arrived %t the spot, she was over there. Was it chanoe ? —Froth thr Ptrtian. CHARMING BETTIE, "It was ull very long ago," the old lhaid said. "Can you believe I ever Was pretty?" I'riscilla opened her mouth to speak; but Miss llettie did not wait to hear her. "Yes, I was pretty once, and I was called 'Charming llettie.' My hair was always curly, and my eyes used to be very hrigtit. My cheeks were red ao red, they accused me of painting toany a time, and my teeth white and even, and iuy tigure round and trim." She had her snug, brown house,with Its pretty, old-fashioned garden, her thirds and her flowers, and her white kitten; but she must at times, I'riscilla fancied, he very lonely, in spite of it all I'riscilla could picture her in the j |png winter evenings, sitting in the j little, dim, lamp-lighted parlor, knitting j —knitting. "Miss llettie," she said, gently, afte r a little, "who called you that—'Charm ing llettie?" "Who?" Oh, a good many. He j tailed me so first, and then they all got to calling me that. I liuvo never told py one yet. Ilut sometimes I thiuk it would do me good to speuk alnuit it. 1 get tired of only thinking—l think so much," with a little sigh, and the fitting lying idle now in her lap. .k'Tlis name was David Allyn," Miss Uettie said, rather tremulously. J) "David Allyn—Lawyer Allyn!" I'ris jtllla cried, her dark eyes large with in tense surprise. ■■ The spinster nodded. 4"I have a picture of him, taken when he was young." she said, and she got up and went to a little shelf and took jt down. "lie was a handsome lx>y." ifxe went on, handing the faded daguer- Jbotype to the girl, "and he was as g<>d as he was handsome." , The lieardless, boyish face, with its Irregular, unformed features, and lather sunken black eves, did not strike I'riscilla as being at all hand* *>'""• ' "Did you meet him here in K ?" She asked. \ "Yes, at a dance at one of the neigh bors'. He was a young lawyer, had dust graduated, and hadn't hung out bis shingle. Hut he was uncommonly ' even then. He is our leading lawyer now, you know," the spinster added, with no little pride, "It seems so strange to think he was your lover," I'riscilla exclaimciL I "Yes. it does seem strange now. after all these years," Miss llettie -aid, with another little 9igh; "hut it seemed very natural th n. We met very often after the night of the dance, and we grew to know these country ro i ls near here by heart, for many were the long walks we t<*>k together. There is one road—that one that leads hv the Hill* man cottage—l never rare to go now. It was there, on that road. Just almut dark one October evening that he told me he loved me. There had been a fine sunset, and the sky had been a bright Maine-color. As the glow faded and the meadows grew dark, and a little mist began to shut out the hills ire turned to go home. 'Lean on my ann. dear,' he said, and when I did so, trembling a little, he said; 'How would you like a young fellow's strong arm to lean on always?' I didn't say anything right then, he t*>k in* so by aurprise; and presently he went and told me how pretty be thought I was, / and he said, with a laugh, and giving my arm a little pinch; "I am going to name yon 'Charming llettie.* So after that lie always called me that, and soon • nearly every one in It—— hegan call ing in" it, too. We were never engag ed to each other, although I wear a little ring he gave me, in remembrance of our love, vet," Miss llettie said, and held out one thin hand, on whirh shone, in the tireiight, a worn band of gold, "There was just this understanding between us; some day when he had got a nice start in the law and had a little hoine of his own to take me to, then I was to lie his wife. We were young and we were content to wait; and one day he went away to the city to go into partnership with and old es tablished lawyer, a friend of" his father's. It was a grand chance, a fin--opening for him, and we both knew ft. and rejoiced over It like children, a!- (hough wo dreaded tho separation. 'Never mind. Charming llettie,'he said, when ho oaine to kiss me good by 'ln a few years 1 will he nicely llxtxl; perhaps rich, who knows? Anyway. I'll have a good start, and I will come hack and carry you away.' And then he was gone, and that was the end, for when David Allyn came home at tho end of two years lie did not como alone; he brought his wife with him. "They staid here a little while, and then went hack to the city. I met her, once, in church and I overheard her ask David 'who that ugly little thing with the red face was ho was staring at so hard?" If that was 'Charming llettie?' That day I walked for tho first time after David's marriage up the Ilillmancottage road, and, although I shed many hitter tears, I resolved not to let what had happened spoil my life for me; but somehow it has the spinster endsl sadly, and she starisl at the lire with dim eyes. "Miss llettie, she is dead now," the girl said softly, after a little pause, "and he is a widower." I'riscilla had been staring at the lire also, and weaving a little romance of her own. "llusli, child!" Miss Sligo cried, "How can you? She has not been in her grave a year yet, and David Allyn will never marry again, anyway. His romance, like mine, is ended." Miss I'riscilla kissed the maiden lady's faded cheek, and ilung her young arms affectionately around her. "I shall love you better than ever, now," she said, tenderly, "anil I hope some day things will yet come right." Then she went away, and Miss llettie stood in her open window for some time after, looking at the sunset. Lawyer Allyn saw her as he came up the street from his office. He had moved to It from the city, and walked more slowly as he came to the little brown house among the trees. They always g|M)ke to one other; it always seemed foolish not to speak. S> when he got by the window he said: "Your (lowers are looking very fresh and nice. Miss Met tic." The spinster gave one of her little nervous starts, she had n>>t seen him coming. Her hand struck against one of the flower-pots and knocked it over, it rolled off the narrow sill, and lay at David Allyn's feet. "It is broken to pieces," he said, picking it up, with a little smile on hi s thin, sallow fa> - e, "but lam going to keep it may I not?" "Yes if you want to," she made answer, a little breathlessly. He took the plant a pale-pink ger anium—out of the earthern pot, and shook a little of the dirt off the roots. "This shall bloom in my window." ho said," and I am going to name it 'Charming llettie,' in memory of other days." Mi<- Sligo's tlusbnl a deep risk "Good-night," she said, abruptly, and was altout shutting the window. She felt shocked; his wife bad riot leen dead a year. "No, don't go yet," David Allyn said, his hand on the fence railing. Then lm seemed to remember himself "Very well, gnoil-night," he added and walked slowly away, the little pink geranium in his hand. A few days later, another stormy afternoon, near dusk, Miss *M.g> heard a kn< kat her front door. There, on the porch, W.LS Lawyer Allyn. Miss Ib-ttie smoothed her curls quickly and hastened to the door. She led the way to the little parlor. "Take this chair," she said, drawing a large rocker close to the lire. The lawyer held out his hands to the blaze. "You have a snug little home. Miss llettie," he olwervcd. "I suppose you would never lie willing to leave it now." "1 am attnchisl to the house," the spinster said, gravely. "My dear father and mother ixith died here, and it has man} associations." She was sitting in another rocking cliair near by, ami had taken up her knitting. David Allyn watched the swift-tlv ing needles. "Don't you ever get lonely?" he ask ed, after a few moment's silence. "I do. up in my big house. It is a pretty place; but it is too big fur me." Miss llettie only knitted faster, and was silent. His coining hud disturbed her greatly, (suddenly, he moved for ward, and took her work away. "1 don't want you to knit any more to-night," lie said; "I want you to look at me." "Lawyer Allvn!" "No, not Lawyer Allyn—David. Call me that, as you used to." Miss llettie trembled; her cheeks glowed as in youthful days. David Allyn took one of the spinster's thin hands in his tho one on which the little worn ring was, it happened. "llrtf.e." !;•• s lid, gravely, "I have come benight to .t': your forgiveness and your love again. 1 feel I made a mistake—a great mistake, onco In iny life, and I want, if possible, to rectify it. Don't tell mo it Is to late." To feel that she was loved again, after all these lonely years, was too much for Miss Mettle; she burst Into tears. 11 or white kitten purred and rubbed its soft little bead against her dress. The firelight dnneisl on the wall and made black shadows in tho corners. In the uncertain light David Allyn bent and kissed the faded cheek beside him. They were speedily married. American Society. American society, as now carried on, is maintained solely for the bene fit of young girls, and is generally lit tle better than a marriage mart. The parents launch their offspring as well as possible, ami display their wares to the greatest advantage, but the busi ness of tin- market is carried on chiefly by the young girls themselves, instead of by their mothers, as in England and Europe. There is no special "Ejection to this method of transacting the bus iness, but it is preposterous that young girls and their affairs should over shadow and shut out everything and everybody else. The result of this ab sorption in one class and one pursuit is that American society is often in sufferably dull and flat. It is made up too exclusively of ignorant girls and their attendant lioys. Half the education of a cultivated woman is of course that which is derived from so ciety and from the world ; and yet Aiucriean society is almost wholly given iii• to the business of entertain ing and marrying those who are neces sarily wholly destitute of such ab education. Another effect of the prev alence of social principles of this de scription, is the supremacy of that most rustic and unattractive of habits, the pairing system, which converts so ciety into a vast aggregation of tete a-tctes. This prevails ail over the world to a greater or less extent, but it should never reign supreme. The upshot of the whole thing with us is t>i drive out of society nearly all mar ri**l people, for marriage under such a system is destructive of soci.il value; nearly all unmarried women over 25 are thought to have overstayed their iuark< t; and, finally, a considerable jxirtion of the unmarried men of -'lO and upwards. In other words, except at few largo balls and receptions, all the best and most intelligent part of s H-jety is usually lacking. It has Ix-cn pushed aside, and is obliged to find .ill its ..sial amusements in small coterier of its own. This retirement is of course voluntary, be. ause the pairing system ruins general scu tv, and make, it, iu fact, imjxKsible in the best and trmst sense. A clever young Englishman not lotig ag > express.*! bis surprise at the fact that whenever lie ask■-1 who a lady of a Certain age, as the French say, might be, he was in variably told, not that she was Mrs. I'!.ink. but that she was tie- mother of Mrs. Hlank. The girl, like the l*y, is pr periv the newt insignificant mem ber if s.. i.-t y. When a young man goi-s forth into the world he start* at the 1 ttoin of the ladder, and work# his way up. The same rule should apply to vming ladies in society. They have their place, and it is an Impor taut one; but they should not start in social life at the top, and then slowly d< scend. Such a system is against ev ery law of nature or art. with its con comitant of universal tete-a-tetea, makes really attractive general society llll|H wsible. We place the social pyra mid upon its apex, instead of upon its base, and then wonder that it is a |or, tottering anil unlovely object.—Atlan tis Monthly. A Temperate I.lfe. George Bancroft. ! ■ historian, is 83 years old, and yet of us clear intellect, sure memory, unflagging industry* hungry for new farts historical and sci entific. and fond of society and out door exercise as a man of half his age He rides frequently, and sits his horse with only a student's stooping of the shoulders, and his white hair crowns a face full of animation and lit hy quirk and expressive eyes. At his di-sk at five or six in the morning, he has all the freshness of a youthful litcrateur, anil is devoid of the vanity common to youth and old age, of jietting his own ideas and style. In revising the early volumes of his history he trikesoiit lib theories of twenty years ago as readily as hi* superabundant diction, and re places them with lately discovert*! fait* in ethnology and chronology and with terse and direct language. Ills intel lectual henlthfulness is due probably to constant and unhurried work, a* his IKSIIIV vigor is attributable to regular ity .aid temperance in eaHng, drinking and general living. He is a remarka ble Instance of long-preserved elasticity of all the faculliea t'MITINUN FOB THE CI IDOLS. Germany still beheads her criminals for certain capital offenses. Landscapes have been photographed from the windows of a train running forty miles an hour. I'ittahurg, I'enn., manufactures glass shingles, said to be more durable ami Impervious to rain than slate. A Maria surgeon advertises that he will supply people with all the dimples they may desire at a napoleon apiece. The practice of cremation is making such progress in Japan that it is said about ytJOO bodies are annually dispos ed of In this manner. The last census of India shows that there are 21,imhi widows in the land of elephants and jungles. This is due to the fact that no woman whose hus band dies is allowed to remarry. The total land area of the I'nited States, not including Alaska, is I,'JOH,- 80* i.i Hh i acres, and the total amount of farms, according to the last census. 536,081,835 acres. The number of acres owned by the government at the time that (S-risus was taken was 1,273,* 1U6.13H. A cubic Inch of gold is worth $2l", a cubic foot, $362,380, a cubic yard, $O,- 797,762. This is valuing it at fir an ounce. At the commencement of the Christian era there was In the world sl27.* tof the la iies. Although ;• -e-l of a counte nance so fi-ro- i : in appearance com pared with which the vicious hull-ter rur apjs-ars placid and ls-nign, th<- pug is the inf'-t harmless of matures. I'ligna- ty i- an unknown quantity in the o.injMeuti nof a pug. lb enjoys '.he proud distinction cf setting the rub-s and tie m-s of physiognomy aside in the < -lunation of chara ter. Were h<- n--t fashionable, he woiihl Is positively ugly. A- it is. roinm :ipc*e pie. who have neither the means nor mind to la- • -Hu tu . regard the pug as really repulsive. A pug of certified |**ligree insuring the greatest p -.ijble meann***-* of coun tenance is worth $75 t<> s!'*>. lb weighs from nine to thirteen pounds. A little arithmetic will show how a pound of pug goes a great way Into dollars. A] ug require- an elaborate ly-made and tnonogramed blanket and harness. Then- are several tailor ing firms in Cincinnati wh< make a specialty of clothing pugs and plugs. A plain garment for a pug costs as much as $2", and as much tnore mono In the way of jeweled collars, and gold and silxor trappings can Is-put on him, as the demands of fashion require. The pug is a fashionable institution. Imrrowed from England. All the rep resentative sir-s and damca of this family of leasts are owned by the no. bility of England whose kennels un guarded as closely as their stables and preserves. The money required for the purchase and maintenance of a pug would keep a joor child and relieve maternal distress for a year. I'oor children and maternal distress are not fas'iionable however, and pugs are. A Man Neter had Teeth, A man who never in hi* life hail a tooth In hi* jaws was at one time a resident of Montana. This fact was brought to the recollection of an old resident of Montana by seeing a state ment in an Eastern paper that one of the most wonderful natural curiosities of the ag<- isa 10-years-old Georgia lmy who never had any teeth and show* no signs that he ever will have any. The man referred to ataive was 60 years old and ha- plv Mr. Ilearclaw with teeth she tried to make amends hy furnishing him with long, strong flnger-nalls and toe nails, which were almost a* hard a* (•one Mid fully an eighth of an inch thick. It is not known whether he got the name of Ilearclaw from the circumstance or If that was properly his name. He was from Illinois, to which state he returned in 1865 or 1866. t THE HON MAKCIIK An ICatahllahment thai Irrdi, MhrlUrf aea. A1 most every one known this won derful f them. Of course, when full and hot, they are beyond the ability of man to move, so pulb ys are arranged which lift the kettles from the lire and place them where they are wanted. For the clerks there isa r -tii f■ r amusements where tl.ere are billiard bibles, rh< - ih* kcrs, dominoes, etc., but no caro playing. The ladv clerks have a pleasant little parlor, where there is a piano, and w here they can sj*end their evenings when they ch<- l'.ach girl has a r " in entirely to herself, which is plain ly but very comfortably furnished. There are rub - to Is- observed by a!k but tliev are not burdensome or oj>- pressive; the doors are not cl"-i l or. week days until 11, an l or. Sunday* until l-.ik' at night, but the occupa tions and entertainments inak< it more enticing to remain at home than to go out. Every one in the vrxic*- of the ' lion Marche" receives a certain com" mission oncv< ry thing sold or delivered and after a certain number of years" s. r\ice < ach ac juir an interest in th store that increases yearly. It iff on of the in est complete works of licnevo lence known. It would be almost im possible to think of any details that are not attended to. Th-re is a barlier' shop in the building b-r the use of tho employes, a physician is employ *1 by the store, and his services are free to all; moreover, there is an infirmary in another part of the city where those who are sick are cared for; a pair n* iwxits is blacked for every member of the establishment every day. When asked if any lioard wa paid the answer was "no." but I supjwjse at least some difference is made In the salary.— Fnthion Courier. Father of Water*. lteccnt data show the Mississippi river to possess fifty-live tributary streams, with a length of navigation of 16,571 miles, or about two-thirds of the distance round the world Even this, however, represents but a small amount of the navigation which will foliow when the Federal government has made the contcmplatisl improvement.* In the Upper Mississippi, in the Min nesota, Wisconsin and other rivers in which it is now engaged. Hut while the Mississippi has 16,571 miles nav. igalile to steamtioala, it has 20,221 navigable to barges. Knew lltin Well. "Do you know the prisoner?" asked a judge of a witness. "Yes, sir, I do; I know him Inti mately; he and I were in a bank to gether at the same time." "Ah, when was that f was the que* tion of a shrewd lawyer, who was counsel for the prisoner. "Well, as near as I ran remember, it wa* five years ago. and about 3 o'clock in the morning; none ot the lawk oftl. cers were present at the time." The wltnesa was ajwwdUy excused , * i \ —T-JL . f riK FAULT DOCTOR. DyipepHia. —The late J)r. Lwod, In Jn his recently publish*! way on "The ("UUH** ami Treatment of Indignation," lays down as a fundamental principle /hat the amount of f'xxl whieh each /nan in capable of digesting with -a MS always has a limit which le-ars relar • lion to his age, constitutaion, health, and habits, and that indigestion is a consequence of exceeding this limit. Different kinds of food are also differ- i entlv a/1 apt*si to different ronstitutlons Dyspepsia may is; brought on by eat ing irregularly, by allowing" bri long an interval between meals, and by eat ing too often. Frequently the meals are not gang*] as to their relative amount, or distributed with a due re gard for health. Thus, when we go out after taking a light breakfast and keep at our work, with a still lighter lunch only during the interval, till evening, we are apt, with the solid meal which tempts us to indulgence, to put the stomach to a harder test than it can Is-ar. "When a light 1 breakfast is eaten, a solid meal is re ! quisite in the middle of the day. When the organs are left too long un employed they secrete an exeessof mu cus which greatly interfere with di gestion. One meal has a direct influ ence on the next; and a poor breakfast leaves the stomach over-active for din. ner. . . . The jsiint to laar in mind is, that not to eat a sufficiency at one meal makes you too hungry for the next ; and that, when you are b* hun gry, you are apt to overload the stom ach, and give the gastric juices more j to do than they have the power to per : form. Persons who eat one rn--.d too | quickly on a-,other must likewise ex pect the stomach finally to give notice that it is imjMsuvl ujein. Other pro vocative of dyspepsia are imjerfectod mastication, smoking and snuff-taking, which occasions a wa-te of saliva— ' although soine people find that smok ing as-ists dig<-stion, if done in moder ation sitting in position-* that cramp the stomach, and the pressure that is inflicted on the stomach by the tools of some trad*-*, as of curriers, shoema kers, and weavers. The gen'-ral symp toms of dvsjx-psia an- well known. - me timt d' -crvc sj,-. j,,i remark are fan* i-s that tin- hubs • r hands ar<- dis ' rt'-l. mental depress! .n. extreme ner \ousnes.. liyjMichr-ii-lria. .m-1 other af ! feet ~ lis of the mm 1. The cur*-is to be ; sought in av- idingthe f -1 and haMU hy whieh dvsjK-poa are promoted, and and u-ing and pm*il< :ng tie-**- which ire found to agree l*-.-t with the sys- I*-111 of th*- subject. Hog;il.,rity in the hour* of meals can n->t )*• t jo strongly in-i*t*-l <-n. "The st--ma h should not ' -*• disapp int-d wlun it expects tube replenished. If disaj-] int*l, even a 'Jiininislie-l .iiii injure th*-stomach, r * Is** impairs its muscular action." , —Popular . s i>nr. Monthly. Hl* Papa's Name. There was a bright little boy be* ! tw een J and ff years <>l