Better than Hold. Bettor Uinn gramleur, holier than gol.l, Than ruuk and title* a IhouMiul lold, la a healthy body and a mind at enao Ami aimplo pleasure* that alwav* plcaan; A heart lliat can feel for anothnr'a woe, With ■jmpalhiea large enough to enfold All tnon an brother*, ia better Uian gold. Better than gold ia a conscience clear, Though toiling for bread in an humble sphere, Doubly blown*l with content and henlth, Unliiod by the luat* and earee ol wealth, Lowly living and lolly thought Adorn and ennoble a poor man'* cot, For mind and moral* in nature'* plan Are Uto genuine teat* ola gentleman. Better than gold i* the sweet repoae Of the eons of toil when the labor* close, Bettor than gold ia the poor inau'* *lep, And the balm that drop* on hi* similiter* deep Bring sleeping draught* on the downy bed, Where luxury pillow* it* aching head, Hie toiler simple opiate deem* A shorter route to the land of dreatn*. Better than gold ia a thinking mind, That in the realm of hooka can liud A treasure aurpuvting Australian ore, And live witli the great and good of yore. Hie sage's lore and the |ton's lay. Tint glories of empire* p,i*cd uway; The world'* great dream wilt thin unfold And yield a pleasure better than gold. Better than gold is n peaceful home Whc ■re all the fin-aide character* come, Hie shrine of love, tnc heaven ol life. Hallowed by mother, or i*ter, or wile. However humble the home may lie. Or tried with sorrow by heaven'* decree, The blessing* that never were Imught or sold And center there are better than gold. A Lesson in Obedience. S'te was all alone! I, was quite a new experience to l otty, thin housekeeping business, she had theorized a good ileal over 'Handy Housekeepers," "Comprehen sive Cook-Hooks" and "llome-iiuides," but she had never had any practical experience before. And now, up in these wild w IKS Is, the helm of domestic affairs was unexpectedly placed in her hands, and hers alone. She liked the woods and the river; the meadows all starred with daisies, and the long. low farmhouse, with its red brick chimney-stacks; its trellises all landing with the weight of vines; the old stone-walled garden, where ripening currants hung like ruby fingers. and the green gooseberries teemed to altsorb the very sweetness of the sunshine into their translucent hearts. To her mind it was a deal nicer than the city-flat, with the milkman yelling, the hand-organ droning, the everlast ing clouds of dust. And to-day, when Aunt Themis wanted .to go to hear her favorite elder hold forth at camp-meet lng. Dotty volunteered to stay and get the dinner for Reuben and Rankin, her two tall cousins. "L, child!" said Aunt Themis, "y-.o don't know nothin' alieut euokin'." "llut indeed 1 do." asseverated Dotty. "I can make a chicken fricassee as well as you. Aunt Theinv. I watched the way you did it last Saturday; and I knotr i can turn out a first-class cherry tart " "Well," said Aunt Themis, a little doubtfully, "anyhow, there's plenty of good rye-bread and new milk, and nobody needn't to starve on Jhat. And be sure, Dotty, you keep the doors bolted, and don't let tramps in. and don't forget that brood of young turkeys in the barn chamlier. and blow the dinner horn at twelve precisely; and don't on no account leave the milk-room door open, for that new cat is the theivingest creeter you ever did tec." "Oh. I'll take care!" said Dotty, with the reckless audacity of ignorance. "Everything shall be quite quite right! You'll nee, Aunt Themis." And after the old lady had departed, with many misgivings, Dotty drew a long breath of rapture, and executed an impromptu dance in the middle of the kitchen floor. "Only think!" she said, addressing the cat in the corner -"the whole house all to myself! Won't I get a superb dinner for Reulien and Rankin'' I'M make a mrrirvpir tart, and ice cream, and vanilla puffs, and chocolate cake, and I'll try my hand at mock turtle soup, and cream candy, and black coffee! And how I will sur prise them! And as for bolting the doors, how utterly ridiculous it would be to shut out the beautiful sunshine, and the butterflies, and the sweet scented air! This house always smells like blue mould when Aunt Themis is here; and of course nobody could get in while / snt here!" 80 Dotty skimmed the pans for cream to make the Ice cream, and Stirred up the v—-ilia puffs, and grated chocolate to I mri . ake, and put the two fat, little white chickens into the pot for tho fricassee; and then, feeling herself every inch a housekeeper, she frisked away up stairs to make the beds. llut there was no question of lieda, when once she was up stairs, where a huge old chest of some dark-stained wood itood open, near the landing. "The old oak chest!" cried Dotty, who was full of romance as a white clover blossom is of sweetness. "And to think that Aunt Themis never let me look into it before!" There was nothing very particular, after all, in it. Only stuffy-smelling blankets, a moth-eaten gown or two, the brass buttoned military eoat in which Uncle Amaniah—dead these ten years—had been wont to "rally" on training days. "Pshaw!" said Dotty, "There ought to have been a forgotten will there, or a skeleton, at the very least. It's a humbug, that old chest." Just as this reflection passed through her mind, a whining, nasal voice sounded at the bottom of the little wooden stairway, which wound up like a corkscrew from below. "Any old clothes to exchange for beautiful china vases, lady? Any cold victuals for a poor man?" lie was a stalwart, black-browed ; fellow, with villainous, slit-like eyes, 1 and a tattered velveteen suit; and j Dottv's heart stood still with terror ' for a second. Oh, if she had only obeyed her Aunt Themis aud locked up those doors! "No!" she said, shortly. "Go away." "Don't be hard on a poor fellow, | miss!" whined the man. And Dotty was quite certain that i ! shf naw the spout of Aunt Themis' old solid silver cream jug protruding from the flaps of his ragged velveteen pocket. At the same moment, he began ascending the stairs with insolent deliberation. In an instant all the doubts, the dreads, the possibilities, the horrors of the situation, glanced across Dotty's mind. Reuben and Rankin were in the dis tant meadow cutting grass; the tin horn, by means of which she usually summoned them, was hanging up down stairs at the back of the kitchen dair. Not a neighlair lived within sight or ca" Anl here she was at this steaahy facial brute's mercy. Would he gag Itbt ? Would he murder her * What was to become of Aunt Themis' gold heads and Reuben's new breast pin, besides all the nice old silver which had desaended to them from Grandmother Rluffet? "No," a d iHitty to herself; "for myself 1 do not care. Rut the silver ■'hull be protected !" With a -pni k glimp inspiration, she advanced toward tin- shambling fellow with the sinister face. "There are some old garments in that big chest," said she. "You may look at theio; perhaps they will la w-hat you want'" The eyes of the sinister man, who had by this time reached the top of the -tairs, glistened. He promptly ad vanced, and bending over the side of the monster chest. peered into its depths. "Most anything'll work in in mv trade," said he. "I ain't no ways pa'tiekler. la-cause " Now was 1 Kitty's time. As he bent over, with at least two-thirds of his laaly in the old chest, she sprang alertly forward, and bundled the other third into the stuffy recesses. The tramp dropped like a huge over grown kitten into the flannel blankets, , In a second, Ihitty had the lid shut down, and hail turned the key. "Now I've got you!" said Dotty, all triumphant, though dishevelled. "Oh, ves! kick and |>onnd all that you like, j hut you'll not get out until Reuben and Rankin are here!" And flying down stairs, she seized the old tin horn and blew a blast wbi'-h echoed like the "Horn of Itoncesvalles' over hill and dale. Reulien, swinging his scythe on thp side hill, stopped to listen, Rankin dropped his whetstone, and Miles ! Rugglcs, the hired man, cried out; "Je ru salem! it ain't twelve o'clock j yet!" "There's something up, anyhow!" cried Reulien, making a grasp at the linen coat which hung on the nearest ; tilberry bush. "Mother ain't home, and Dotty is all alone?' exclaimed Rankin. "Wal, ef there's anything extraordi j nary on the carjiet," declared Miles. "I ain't a-goin* to lie left out in the cold." Up hill and down dale, over lng -1 bridged streams and across hutnmocky ' swamp hastened the three brave re i cruits, without loss of time, and rushed, all abreast. Into the kitchen door. Dotty stood there, with the broom in one hand, and a saucepan of boiling water in the other, pale hut resolute. 1 "Dorothy!" cried Reulien, "what on earth is the matter?" ; "He's up stairs!" gasped Dotty. "Who is up stairs?" demanded Ran ; kin as he reached down a loaded re volver from the very top shelf in an odd little three-cornered cupboard. 1 "And I think he's kicking through I the side of the chest," falteied Dotty, clinging to Rankin's arm. "Jo riiHiilom!" again remarked Miles Buggies, under his breath. "Who?" persisted lieu ben. "What <:li cat ?" "The burglar!" said Dotty. "He's j in the old rhest uj> stairs. I tipped j him into it. And, oh, 1 was so al'ruid afterward thai he would suffocate to death, because he wits so still for a minute or two!" "Astonished, maybe," suggested Miles lluggles, under his breath. "1 should a-been, I know." "Hut when he began to kick," said Dotty, with a little gasping breath, "and swear, I knew he wits all right." "I should think so!" said Jteuben, with a lowering brow. "How did the villain get in, Dotty?" "I —left all the doors open," confessed Dotty, with a conscience-stricken air. "Aunt Themis told me not to; but I thought there wits no harm. And I had hardly got upstairs, when he caiue shullling up, and I saw the old silver milk jug in his jM*ket, lie wanted old clothes; and 1 told him we had Some in the chest; and when he stooped over to look, 1 just pushed him in." "Brave little heroine!" said ICankin. "And locked it tight," nodded Dotty. "The best thing you could have i done," declared Heuben, admiringly. "Je-rtisalein!" commented Miles ! Buggies, smiting the kitchen table with one horny palm. So up they proceeded, in solid j phalanx, and released the velveteen ; captive, who was very sullen and com -1 plctcly bathi-d with perspiration,in con sequence of the vain efforts he haul made to get free. "Collie"' roared Heiils-ii. who was a voting giant of six feet odd inches, and broad proportionately, at the miserable prisoner scrambled out and stood cowering l>efore them, "what are you doing here ?" "< lid clothes in exchange for china vases!" lie faintly stammered. "Then what are you doing with our : silver milk pitcher and ten forks in your coat pockets?" demanded Benl**n. "And what the ,le rusalem business hev sou a-prowlin' round and si arm' the women folks *" said Miles Ituggb s, coming valiantly to the front. "Here, Hankin, I'll get up the old one-ln>ss w agon your ma's got th<-shay an' cart the feller off to Justice tiilliland's. He'll settle him in qtiii-k time, I tell ye what Jest tie the fellow's hands, and make him all ship-shape, 'that's all I ask of you!" So the sim-ter scoundrel, in hla< k velvtteen, was horne un#-er<--ii .niously ofT by stout Miles Buggies, is the first stage toward .i two years' captivity in the n-ar#~it dates pris#in; and Ih.tty was relies ed at last frnin the incubus of bis presence. First hn laugh#* I at Itankin's idea that she was a heroine, and then she cried and shuddered at 10-r vivid j#-r -i eption of the terror she had endured. "But, Beul-n and Bankin," she said, "you must promise solemnly now never to tell \unt Themis tliat I disols-yed her and left Uie door ojien.' \nd the two young men leiiind tliemsi-lves solemnly ever to keep the vow of eternal silence uj>n the sulv jrs-t. "since there is rra'ly no harm done," said lieu ben, laughing. "Except Dotty's fright." said Ban kin, quite seriously. So the chicken fro assee was made, and the vanilla puffs; but the ice raenm was postponed indefinitely, and the chocolate cake remained forever a disemlKHlled ideal. And it look the two young men all the afternoon to console I kitty. And w hen Aunt Themi* came home, i full of the preacher, and the brethren, and the camp meeting, they all listen ; ed in dutiful silence, and she never once mistrusted that anything had ' happened. "But I'm sure," whispered Dotty to ! Itankin. when they went out together to get a pail of spring water, "it will always lie a lesson in oliedienee to me.* H'len For rett Mr art*. A Mongol Characteristic. With many good qualities, anil with almost a superabundance of religion, the Mongols have no love of truth, and are wont to despise a man who cannot meet the stress of daily events by an apt llv On one o< casmn, traveling with a guide over the desert. Mr. tiil mour was frequently asked whether he carried a revolver. He constantly made the truthful reply that he did not. This so aroused the fear and excited the indignation of the guide that his employer's sad state l>ecama a matter of deep thought, resulting in this solu tion. He suggested that to all future queries Mr. Gilmour should reply, "Supposing I have, what then? Hup posing I have not, what then Y" The canny Scotch wit of the missionary led i him to learn a lesson even from a Mon gol. "I saw no harm in this form of answer, agreed to use it, and have , often since staved off in the same manner Impertinent questions," THK OMTKIfIf. Qirr tin tot nfa l-ranliar IllrS -flow fha Oatrlrh 4 limited. A letter to the Now York Timea do- Hcrilx-s the ostrich farm at Anaheim, <-al. Dr. fSket hlcy, owner of (In form, on which there are twenty-one birds, said to the writer: "They lay eggs every other day. | Age does not affect them. I have seen a pair of birds which were H2 years old ; ami they were just as valuable for I breeding and feather raising as ever. | Were they decrepit? You could not tell the difference in any way last ween \ them and very much younger birds. 1 | have known birds 110 years old, a pair, j valued at i'BMSI, You can see the chances here. If the birds are in proper condition I expect that we | shall have IKHI chickens in a year. The difficulty in ostrich farming is in 1 raising the chickens. They catch odd. ; But when they are over a month old they are all rigid. Ostriches have no disease that i know of, and I hnve had eight years' experience with them. I When a chicken is ♦ months old the value of its feathers is alsmt fid; when it is 11 months old the value is ; between fJO ami s.'fi, and wheu the ! bird is between .'ij and I years old the value is alsmt f JV) annually. Sixteen years ago the business of ostrich farm ing was Ix-gun; now flO.iSki.tJtKJ are invested in it" An ostrich is apparently alsmt the roost ill-tempered bird in existence. They never a- quire a fondness for any one. They have no particular prefer ence ordinarily as to mating. They are alw ays on the lookout to ki< k some one. and if tln- kick has the intended effect it is pretty sure to he fatal. The blow is aimed forward, and is accu rate. For this reason the person who pulls the sticking over the ostrich's head at the time when the feathers ar<- to is- cut must is- wary and experi enced. As Dr. >ketoldey walked along by the corrals, of which there are alsmt a baker's do/en, the ostriches, with a few exceptions, followcsl along with an evident de-ore to get a kick at him. A Chinaman carrying a vythe along hv one -f the c irrals was at on< an object of provocation to the ostrich es in that corral and of fear to Dr. >ketehley. The latter tried to make the Chinaman understand that tlu-re was danger to the pp-chm* birds from the scythe should they ki with their h- el* with all their available force. which from the sound seemed to Is- considerable. It was stuh a sound .is might come from a muffled drum. Having in dulged in tins outh irst for awliile.they st.ilks| a) out with that peculiar gait, which seemed to is- their | roja-rtv in common • nli with the camel or ro edary; then they again lay in the dust and repeatisl th>- drumming opera tion. Dr. sketchh-i sue# #-ede#l in < aid ing '-ne lij the net k. hut <1 if anger which results in the prostration and drum ming. they emit a loud hiss like a go#**-, opening the mouth to stieh an extent as to hsik like a letter V lying on one side and stretches! very wide apart. The danger is all from the one toed feet, witn the obviously prodigious muscle of leg and thigh to projiel them. A striking difference exists between the corraled and farmed ostriches and those running over the African deserts, inasmuch as the latter never fight. Dr. Hketchley hunted for nine months in the desert. The hints have to 1* hunted sclent Ideally. Certain facts are known, one leing that the birds will always run in a semicircle. First they will run with the wind, that they may use their wings to help them. After they get what the sailors call "a head wind," they go around the other way. They must le run down. One horse cannot "wind" them. The great . trouble Is to kefpthein in sight They will run 4< miles on a stretch. If they ever get n breathing sp>ll they will get away. The hunter starts out with a fresh horse. A Bushman boy rides another ami leads one. As soon as it is seen which way the bird will run. the boy takes his cue and drives to , where he thinks the hunter will need j the friwh horse. In the meantime the ostrich singled out for the chase and the hunter are speeding along like the wind, the latter straining every nerve to keep In sight of the bird and the bird nicking its most prodigious strides for freedom. A great deal now de pends OQ the Bi'.shman boy's judgment, , in having the fresh horse at the right place, that no time may be wasted. It is seldom that the hoy makes a mis. take. The hunter leaps on the fresh horse and gains on tin- birl, which, growing tired, goes more and more awkwardly. The hunter has only, j when iie catches it, to rap it on the head with Ids hunting whip and the chase is over. There are really 'inly two kinds of ostriches, the North Afri can and South African birds. The mah-s are black and the fi-mai#* drab. All are of one color, drab, until alter | they are two years old. One of the most singular features is the location of the ostrich's stoma#-!). He carries it on his hack between his shoulders, ami the fo#nl can lie seen winding around irisi#le - ' pear t#> b- in Hue feather. The plum age is soft, silky, #-l#*an, and glossy as it grows, an-l is all ready for market speaking of the relative value of the birds, Dr. hketchley sai#l that while one might yield more feathers or prove a lietter breeder, he averaged them. The value is determined mainly by breeding qualities. The ostrich is <#>n siderad a chicken until it is 12 months old. a feather bird only until about iij years old, and at t years it should breed. The most valuable iire#-#lirig birds are called "guarantee birds," from the discovery that their eggs will hatch. The average life is supposed to he alsiut I**) years among long-lived birds. These birds are now Is-twis-n * and years old. Should they live and tin- experiment prove successful, Southern California may yet contain thousands of ostriches. How tine Novel was Written. Wilkie Collins w rites most of his novels with his own hand, hut now and then rheumatic gout gives him sin ha pain that he cannot hold a p< n. and then lie employs an amanuensis. The greater part of "The Moonstone" w.is dh tated, and Mr. < oil in* says it is the only one of his works which lie lias never read. The re ollcction rh#Ksl. and local Barnums ina#lc the parent*. well to-do peasants, many tempting offers to turn their child's misfortune to account by exhibiting him almut the country. But these offers we.-e invariably lecline#l, 1 and when Jean was
ut into a cage with its comrades it could not move, hut lay dying in the corner where it had laser* placed. When food was put into the < the jesir old bird could only look at it longingly, without having the strength to drag itself within reach of it. Then it was that one of the younger birds manifested a singular spirit of kind ness. Quickly, and even with an air of tenderness, as it seems, they carried food to the decrepit old bird, and fed it as if it hail la-en only a fledgling. There are several different species of harbets found in Africa and South America, and though not graceful in shape, many of them are exceedingly beautiful in | lumage. They get their name of l aria t from the French word hartjt, meaning beard, because* they have* tufts of stiff ha;r at the base of the bill. Naturalists place them in a genus call'-d tin—, and some persons call them puff-birds, liecause thev have an i!cl way of puffing out the feather* all over the UsK. which then 1< ks more like a hah* of feathers than a bird.—A'f. Sirhola*. 4 Tuhlni liir Idrnt, "lk bird* think 'f" Le-t me tell yot of a bircl I once owned. The little bird wa* a female mocking-bird who hiel a nest c,f young ones alsiut a we-t*k old. The baby birds were never healthy, inheriting wc-akne-ss from their father, who had tlie* asthma. Farly one morning I was a*.*.akenwl bv the mother bird standing on my pillow ]xiuriiig into my car the mest mourn ful ric.tes I ever heard. I knew .some thing was wrong ami arose at once* I lie mother flew to her ne-st. then I<*kc*d to .er if I was following, which 1 was. As sc*>n as I reached th> nest she took hold of one of the baby birds' wings, pinched it gently with her Iw-ak and watched it eagerly, 1 t!iink. to see if it moved. Then she took hold of one of the little feet and pinched it in the same manner, and. finding it did not move, she looked up at me in a pleading way, as if sh p wanted no* to try to awaken them. I reached my hand out toward the riest she stood aside and looked on with as much interest and feeling apparently as any young human mother. "I examined the lifeless little boding and when I withdrew my hand the mother hastened to hover over the little . lies, see ming to think that if she could warm them they would awaken. In a few moments she hopjad off the nest, looking at her babies, held food close to their mouths and coaxed and called them, but in vain. She flew all around the mom, as if in search of some untried remedy. Several times she perched on my shoukler. and looked so distressed and pitiful 1 could scarcely keep from crying. 1 put her In a cage, and hung her in the sunshine to see if she would lieoome quiet. She took a bath. I ait still remained nervous and seemed anxious, and by and by grew sorest less I had to let her out of the rags and let her go to the nest again. ••she stood quite a while looking -at-V her dead children. Then she went ever all the little bodies—pinching them gently and watching them close, ly to see if they mo vest. When she saw no signs of life she seemed pur.rled. She seemed at last to make up her miml the little ones were dead. And one by one she lifted them ten - derly in her beak and laid them side by side in the middle of the mom. She looked at them lovingly a mo ment, then flew to her empty nest and gared woodertngly into that Finally she perched on mr shoulder and looked into my eyes, as If to ask. What doe* , all this mean What a lesson of lovw I and devotion that little bird taught f'J She always fed the little one* lisfore taking a mouthful herself, and she would stand coaxing them to take one more mouthful, and finding they had enough would swallow 1* herself— Chunga Timet.