CUPID'S BOW.
Down In the gloaming, where the river
makes a ben
There in the lane so narrow,
«Cupid is wandering, his bow to mend.
And sharpening the point of his arrow.
Sing heigho! when he lets it go,
Be sure that the mark it will not pass by,
For deep in each heart may be found tho
dart
Which Cupid sent when his bow let fly
.Down in the gloaming, when the stars were
shining bright,
Banishing gloom and sorrow.
Cupid straved in a sad and dismal plight,
. And longed for the coming morrow.
Sing heigho! for his bow he has let go.
It has fallen in the grass at his feet:
And his thoughts have flown to a love of his
own,
‘Whom tomorrow he hopes to meet.
Down in he gloaming tripped a merry littio
Picked ap the bow and arrow,
Pointed it streight and stood in the grass,
In a pateh of moonlight narrow.
Sing hetgho! when she lets it go,
Be sure that the mark it will not pass by:
For deep in Ins heart she will send that
dart;
“(ro straight,
i
she said, as the bow let fly.
Abs little Cupid, methinks the tale is told,
You are in for a time of sorrow:
He who lays a trap, like the folks of old,
Will be caught himself tomorrow.
Sing heigho! as your arrows go,
But be sure that your heart is safe, you
elf,
Or the story of old by you will be told,
And your bow will be used to shoot your-
self
—Ida Rowe, in Madame.
++ IN A TUNNEL 44
Ee
“Miss Alice! Miss Alice! will ye be
afthur comin’ upstairs? An’ sure
she’s dead intirely this time!” cried
the frightened servant girl, rushing
out on the piazza, where Alice Austin
stood looking anxiously down the
road.
Alice hurried upstairs and found
her sister-in-law lying still and white
on the floor.
“Bring me some water and the salts
from the bureau, Betty; she has only
fainted,” said Alice, kneeling beside
the prostrate form.
In a few minutes Mrs. Austin opened
her eyes and said feebly:
“Has Edward come home
feel so strangely sick!”
“We will send for the doctor pres-
ently, Margaret, when we get you to
beq. Ned will be home soon, I hope,”
and with Betty's assistance Alice
lifted the slight form on the bed.
Three weeks before Eddie Austin,
the two-year-old idol of the house-
hold, had disappeared, and all search
for him had proved fruitless. "As the
days passed on hope gave way to
despair, and the heart-broken mother,
weighed down by auxiety and the
cruel torture caused by false reports
of the discovery of her boy, sank into
a state of apathy bordering on insan-
ity, Daily was the cry heard through
the streets of the little village of Fair-
field: ‘Child lost! Child lost! Large
rewards offered!” till all hearts sick-
ened at the sound.
Mothers kept their little ones within
doors, dreading far less the entrance
of the Dark Angel than that fiends in
human form should steal their house-
hold treasure to gratify a merciless
passion of avarice
Jetty, you will have to take one
of the girls and go for the doctor,’
whispered Alice, in alarm, as
ticed a gray pallor, creeping over
wan face on the pillow.
‘An’ shure, miss, none of "em be
home but mese!f. And oh, Miss Alice,
I niver can walk alone to airfield
this dark, dark night.”
The zirl looked so fri
bare prospect of going t
after a pause:
“Well, Betty, then I s have to
go, and you must stay with Mrs. Aus-
tin. If Mr. Austin returns before |
do, tell hin I have gone by way of the
ah “.she added, putting on ler
hat and walking jacket.
“Phe saints deliver us! For Hiven’s
sake, don’t ye be goin’ be the tunnel,
Miss Alice!” exclaimed Betty, implor-
ingly.
“Don’t be
Alice, smiling.
I
yet?
she no-
the
«
g
hat Alice said,
shall
frightened,” replied
“No train will pass
for an hour, and it shortens my walk
nearly a mile. It is just 6 o'clock
now, and I shall be home a little after
7,” and, giving the girl some parting
injunctions about her sister, Alice ran
downstairs. Opening her brother's
oscritoire in the library, she took
from a private drawer a small pocket
revolver and, opening the front door,
stepped ont into the darkness.
It was a damp, cold night in No-
vember. The wind moaned drearily
through the leafless trees, and heavy
clouds chased each other across the
heavens, obscuring the moon. Cross-
ing the road, Alice walked a short dis-
tance and, clambering over a stone
wall, found herself in the narrow strip
of wood which bordered the railroad
cut. Following the narrow,
path through the trees, she
reached the edge of the ravine,
20 feet above the track. The path
continued its windings down the side
of the cut, but the way was stony and
. in many places dangerous. 'The dark-
ness, too, prevented anything like
rapid progress.
She finally reached the bottom of
the ravine and had crossed to the
right hand track, when a low sound
among the bushes above her caused
the cold drops to spring out on her
forehead and almost stopped her
heart's beating. Quickly crouching
down under an overhanging rock she
listened. Nothing was heal save
the soughing of the wind and the faint
ripple of a tiny rill running down
among the bushes near her. Sudden-
ly the bushes overhead weve stirred,
and a stone fell directly in front of
her. She scarcely dared to breathe,
but crouched under the rock with her
hand clasped tightly in her breast.
The tunnel was but a few rods beyond
her, but she dared not move.
““I’d like to know how much longer
yer going to keep up this confounded
tramp, Pete Johnson. It's bean
nothin’ but marchin’ and couunter-
marchin’ this whole cursed day,” said
a low, coarse voice among the bushes.
“Why did yer enter into tlie bar-
gain if yer goin’ to back out so soon?”
muttered another man, with an oath.
“Well, I'd be satisfied with half the
ten thousand, for I'm nigh done up
with these three weeks’ work,” said
the first one.
“An’ I tell ye I'll niver give him up
till I git the whole twinty thousand.
“The father’s rich, and its twinty thou-
soon
15 or
beaten-
]
i readily
| With Eddie
rhitened at the |
serve her surroundings distinetly.
| ter of
sand dollars or the mother’ll
see her swate darlin’ agin.’
A brutal laugh grated upon the
girl's ears; then the first speaker
whispered:
“I reckon she'll niver know her
boy in this little bag of bones, though
me arms is wore out wid carryin’ iim
the last three hours.”
Alice could scarcely teliave
her ears had heard.
and she nearly fell
ledge on which she
dawned upon her. Her brother's child,
her golden-haired little pet,
within her grasp, but two brutal men
kept watch over him. As she began
to realize the danger of her position,
her mind became clearer, and she re-
solved, at all hazards, to rescue him.
She heard the men step back some
distance from the bushes,and then all
was still. She waited a few minutes,
and then, with the pistol grasped
tightly in her hand,she crept stealthily
out of her hiding place and struck a
narrow path which led tc the top of the
bluff. She knew the way, and the
darkness favored her ascent. Reach-
ing the summit, she looked cautiously
around. The clouds had parted, and
the faint shimmer of moonlight
through the trees enabled her to ob-
never
what
Her brain reeled,
from the rocky
were the two men
stretched out on the ground, their
figures partially concealed by the
trunks of two large trees and a clump
of bushes. Between them Alice saw
a little baby form with its golden head
pillowed on the cold, damp grass.
Creeping along Tel 1ind the bushes
she reached one of the trees, and,
standing behind it, sha waited for
some minut hesitating what to do.
The stertorous breathings of the men
convinced her that fatigue had steeped
their-senses and that they would not
awaken. If she should be
successful in seizing the child, she
conld not return by the way she came.
in her arins she never
could scale the precipitous side of the
cut, followed, as she
be, by two relentless pursuers.
Again, if she should seek the shel-
the tunnel, the down express
train would soon pass through,and an
up train would follow but 10 or 15
minutes later. She resolved, never-
theless, to take the latter course, and,
with this decision made she prepared
to carry out her plans. Passing
swiftly round the i bitshes, she stood
before the sleeping group.
moon at that instant shone out bright-
ly and fell upon the white, pinched face
of the child. Not a moment was to be
lost. Grasping the pistol more firmly,
she glided between the men, and seiz-
ing Eddie, she sprang past them, but
in so doing struck the foot of one of
the ruffians. Darting up, he saw the
slight figure running swiftly down the
path. He sprang forward, awakening
his companion, and, with muttered
curses, they followed in hot pursnit.
With the child clasped closely to her
heart, Alice sped down the rocky
pathway. She h&ard the men close
behind her; stones were hurled at her,
and one struck her shoulder. Terror
lent wings to her feet, and she soon
reached the track, along which she
flew and entered the tunnel. On—on
she sped; but her breath came quick
and short, for her strength was fail-
ing. She heard the heavy pantings of
one close behind her. She almost
felt his hot breath. Hugging the lit-
tle form more tightly to her breast
and with a despairing prayer for help,
she ran on. A rude hand clutched
her shoulder, and, with a shriek that
ran through the tunnel, she turned
and faced her pursuer like a wounded
animal at bay, raised her pistol and
fired. With a yell of rage and pain,
the man leaped into the air and then
fell with a heavy thud on the track
beside her. Alice breathed more free-
ly and ran on, though with feebler
steps, through the darkness. ‘Sudden-
ly a low, rumbling sound smote upon
her ear,and toward the opening of the
tunnel she saw a faint light glimmer
in the distance. Nearer aud nearer it
came, and then the horrible truth
flashed upon her. It was the head-
light of a locomotive, and she knew
that the 7 o’clock express train was
thundering down the track.
Faint and bewildered, the horror-
stricken girl had lost her reckoning.
She knew not on which track she was
and stood staring with terror-strained
eyes as the thundering mass came
fearing down the rail. Its great red
eye lit up the black walls of the tunnel
with a fearful glare. Still the girl
moved not; fright had chained her to
the spot. The monster was close
upon her; she heard its horrible breath-
ings. Was she on the right track?
The roar of a Niagara deafened her,
and, with a shriek of despair, she fell
senseless to the ground.
few feet beyond
tes,
Mrs. Austin fell asleep soon after
Alice’s departure. Seven o'clock
came, and Betty began to be alarmed.
At that instant the bell rang. Rush-
[ that way,’
{directly Dana,”
| looking
{ turning to the
| from Betty,
| We
I need not be alarmed.’
word
| the tnnnel,
| lay
sat as the truth
| lay a
i mass of human flesh
| forward, the two men
| the tracks.
recognized
A
| one side and raised
As he did so, his companion bounded
| pain
cried out:
| She has
| has been
nrol Wiv > (3 1 |
probably would L henra tho tf
| of the spark of life still
The |
the door,
hall,
ing down stairs she opened
and Mr. Austin stepped into the
accompanied by a stranger.
“How is Mrs. Austin?” asked the
former, anxiously,
‘An’ shure she’s asleep,
oh, Miss Alice—hiv ye
Alice?”
“No;
Jut,
Miss
sir,
scen
where is she?”
“‘An’ oh, she wint afthur tho
for, sir, and she wint be the tunnel;
an’ I’m shure she’s kilt, for the thrain’s
jest afther goin’ by!" cried Betty, ex-
citedly.
“Good heavens! the ‘tunnel!’ ex-
claimed Austin, turning white.
“Yes, She said it was shorter
> sobbed the girl.
Get ‘my lantern, Betty,
upstairs. I'll be down
turning to the fine-
had brought with
sir,
“Hush!
while T run
man he
him.
He hurredtohis wife’s room, pressed
a kiss upon her white brow and re-
hall took the lantern
saying:
“Don’t leave Mrs. Austin an instant.
may be absent some time, but you
The two gentlemen did not utter a
as they left the house, but fol-
lowing the path through the woods
clambered down the cut and entered
swinging the lantern right
and left as they walked on. Snddenly
Dana stopped. Directly in his path
a dark heap. Throwing the light
of the lantern upon 1t, the gentlemen
| stooped and then started-back with an
was just |
for before them
mangled, shapeless
and bones.
“Some poor fellow has gone to his
doom,” muttered Dana, striding away
from the sickening spectacle.
They had walked some distance fur-
ther when a deep groan broke the
ghastly silence of the tunnel. Fiash-
ing the lantern on the other side of
the track, Dana discerned another
exclamation of horror,
bleeding,
{ man’s form close to the dripping wall.
As he was about to raise him, Austin
uttered a hoarse cry, and, springing
stood over the
form of a woman between
A pistol lay on the ground
her, which Austin instantly
as his own. He trembled
wolently that Dana pushed him
the slight form.
prostrate
beside
SO
which joy,
blended
past him and in a voice in
and incredulity were
Oh, my: boy,
found
little
my precious boy!
my Eddie!” and he
caught the form to his heart
and fairly sobbed aloud.
20h, Leave: 1, he is dead! Gerald,
look at him!” and the father’s eyes
burned with anguish as he looked on
| the white baby face pillowed upon his
J 1 }
breast.
Dana laid Alice on the ground
looked earnestly at the child.
“Cheer up, Ned. The little fellow
drugeed. Listen; his heart
and, putting his ear down,
faint flutterings which told
remaining in
and
beats!”
the wasted form.
“And Alice, is she—
“She is in a swoon, and the sooner
we get her to the doctor's the better.
It is quite evident that she was pur-
sued by those scoundrels while rescu-
”
i ing your child, and that fellow yonder
has somewhere in his body a ball from
this pistol,” picking it up as he
spoke.
Lifting the insensible girl in hig
strong arms, Dana strode down the
track, followed closely by Austin, who
held his boy wrapped warmly under
his coat. After some minutes’ walk
they were out of the tunnel and
reached the depot, where they drove
directly to a doctor’s. For an hour
Alice lay insensible in the doctor’s
office, and when she opened her eyes
Austin whispered in alarm:
“Why does she look so strangely,
doctor?”
‘“I'here has been
strain on her nervous
fear she may have an attack of brain
fever unless a reaction takes place
he replied with some anxiety. ‘A
good hearty cry would do her more
Food than any of my remedies.’
“Let her see the child. That baby’s
face ought to be enough to melt a
heart of adamant,”’ said Dana, com-
passionately.
Austin laid Eddie beside her.
looked at the littley white, emaciated
face with a troubled, sorrowful ex-
pression for an instant and then,
clasping her ams tightly around the
child, burst into a passionate, uncon-
trollable flood of tears.
By this time the news of the child’s
rescue had spread like wildfire through
the town. Bells were
lighted, and men, women and children
rushed to the doctor’s house,crowding
the street and sidewalks. The entire
village had turned out, and yards,
doorways and stoops were alive with
an excited populace. The crowd was
clamoring to see the little hero of
the hour, and cries for ‘‘Eddie Aus-
tin”’ filled the air.
‘‘Ned, you will have to take him on
the stoop to satisfy them,’ said Dana,
as the shouts and. cries were re-
doubled.
Austin took the child out on the
steps, and as the bright light of the
torches fell upon them, cheer after
cheer rent the air. When the father
raised the little inanimate form so
that all could see it, the excitement
and enthusiasm knew no bounds.
Women cried alond for joy, boys
shrieked and hurrahed, and many a
tear coursed down the hard, weather-
beaten cheeks of stalwart men in the
crowd. Alice stood beside her
brother, leaning on Dana’s arm, but,
overcome with agitation, was led back
fainting to the sofa.
Roused to indignation by the sight,
some one shouted out: ‘‘Death to the
child-stealer!” In an instant the
cry was canght up by the excited
thronz: who rushed in frantic haste
such a terrible
system that I
doe- .
She |
rung, bonfires |
| the law into your own hands,”
-
toward the railroad. Dressing the
wounded man from the tunnel, they
would have lynched him on the spot
had not Dana, with the sheriff Fan one
or to others,arrived to preventithem.
The wretch was groveling on the
ground in an agony of pain and ter-
ror. With haggard face and blood-
shot eyes he lcoked up and cried
aloud for mercy, but he saw no pity
in the white, inexorable faces sur-
rounding him. A rope was around
his neck, he was dragged to a tree,
when Dana hurried to the spot.
““Untie that rope!” he demanded,
sternly.
“We'll string him up to high heav-
en first!” answered an angry voice
near him.
“However deserving the fellow may
be of death, it is not for you to take
replied
{ Dana.
! too!
| quill pens,
| years before
|
] 1
ne |
i deragia,”’
“The dence take the law and you,
What right have you to inter-
fere between that man and justice?”
said the man,clinching his fists threat-
eningly.
The excitement had now reached a
fever heat. The crowd had quickly
aathered around Dana, who stood be-
side the wounded man; threats and
curses were freely lnorled against
both, and the state of aflairs began to
look alarming.
“If the-man is guilty he has a right
to be tried, and I'll shoot the first one
of vou who dares to touch him!” said
Dana, coolly.
His quiet, commanding tone, and
still more the menacing gleam of the
pistol he made no effort to conceal,
quelled the tnmult, and the miserable
man was carried to the village jail,
followed by au angry, hooting crowd,
clamorous for his death.
An hour later Eddie Austin was in
his mother’s arms. Tor days death
hovered over the darkened home,
threatening to carry away first one
and then the other. But’ when over
the little village of Fairfield the sun
shone brightly, it smiled, too, upon
the happiest home in all the land.
For a golden-haired boy, with rosy
cheeks, was playing near his mother’s
chair, and Margaret looked up with a
proud, happy smile to her husband's
tace as the little fellow laughed in
baby- glee and rolled and tumbled
over the good-natured hound who lay
stretched on the rng before the blaz-
ing wood fire.—New York News.
QUAINT AND CURIOUS.
The Spaish Armada consisted o? |
132 ships, 3165 cannon, 8766 sailors,
38 galley ‘slaves, 21,855 soldiers,
1355 volunteers.
The
opera of
rubies, sapphires
valued at £2000.
Reed pens,
glasses platinum set
at the oe like
found iu
split
have been
dating
Christ.
The largest theatré in the world is
the Grand Opera House of Paris. It
covers more than three acres of ground
and cost 63,000,000 francs.
Gold ish are of Chinese origin,
They were originally found in a large
lake near Mount Tsientsing and were
first brought to Europe in the seven-
teenth century. The first in France
came as a present to Mme. de Pompa-
dour.
tian tombs,
Channcey Osborne and his” brother
John, aged residents of Nuda, Livings-
ton county, are happy in the owner-
ship of a sweet-toned violin made by
Gaylord Duffio in Italy in 1527. It
has been in the possession of their
family for 140 years.
A man died recently in a town not
far from Philadelphia with the remark-
able record of having been injured
twenty-five times inrailroad accidents.
Some of his injuries were very seri-
ous, yet he lived to a good old age
and died from natural causes.
A man who went to do some gas-
fitting in a Baptist church in Hones-
dale, Pa., fell into the baptismal pool,
which had been filled for Sunday,and,
not knowing how to swim, would have
been drowned ‘had not the sexton
heard his cries and rescued hin.
It is stated that the most crowded
spot on the earth’s surface is the ‘ ‘Man-
in the city of Valetta, in
Milan. Upon a spot in this place
about two and a half acres in extent
no fewer than 2574 live. This is at
the rate of 536,000 a square mile, or
1017 to an acre.
A cultivator in Aubervilliers, France,
found a superb Lycoperdon, commonly
known as the puff ball. It measured
two metres (over six and one-half feet)
around. In order to develop it well,
its owner covered it with muslin and
watered it three times daily. Fresh
! puff balls are eaten cooked.
The sugar crop of the world amounts
in a normal year to about 8, 000,000
tons, of which the larger part, about
4,500,000 tons, comes from beets, and
the remainder, 3,500,000 tons, from
sugar cane. Of the latter the largest
proportion comes trom the West In-
dies, and a large amount from the
Island of Java.
In the reign of Edward TIT there
were at Bristol, England, three broth-
ers who were eminent clothiers and
woolen weavers, and whose family
name was Blanket. They were the
first persons whe manufactured that
comfortable material, whieh has ever
since been called by their name, and
which was then used for peasants’
clothing.
A Mixed Nationality.
The Duke of Manchester, who at
tained his majority on March 3,is half
English, a “quarte* Gérman and a
quarter Spanish. His father, whom
he succeeded in 1892, at the age. of
fifteen, was English; his grandmother,
now Duchess cf Devonshire; is a Ger-
man; while his mother is a Cuban
Spaniard. .
Pi a 4 Talec ag air J o .
Princess of Wales has a pai of } of the radish
with |
and turquoises and |
(moistening it
| a string
Dolly Takes Tea.
When Dolly sits down to the table,
And ev'rything’s ready, you see—
With cookies and water for Mabel,
And water and cookies for me.
We nibble and chatter with dolly,
And offer her ‘“‘tea’ from a spoon,
And often our meal is so jolly,
It laststhrough the whole afternoqn.
Till Mabel jumps up in a hurry
And says that she really must go,
And TI say, **Oh, truly, I'm sorry.
And dolly’s enjoyed it, I know.”
Then gaily we clear off the table
When dolly has finished her tea,
With cookies and water for Mabel,
And water and cookies for me.
~Albert Bigelow Paine, in St. Nicholas.
Pipeless Soap Bubbles. .
Here is an appliance for making
soap bubbles that you can carry in the
corner of your pocket and have no
fear of breaking or harming it, as you
might the pipe that is generally used.
Take a piece of heavy wire and
wind it once around a broom handle:
then twist the ends together till a ring
is left that is large enough barely to
slip on and off the handle. To make
bubbles by use of the ring, prepare a
solution of soap and water and dip the
ring into it, holding the ring by the
wire ends that are twisted together.
When a film of soapiness has formed
across the opening in the ring care-
fully lift it in front of the mouth and
blow softly through the ving. By
this method a bubble will gradually
form and will finally cut loose from
the ring and float away.—Chicago
Yecord.
rhe Radish Trick
When you are sitting at the break-
fast table and somebody asks you to
hand him the radishes it is the easiest
| thing in the world to take hold of-the
plate containing. them and to pass
them to your neighbor at table. But
if you learn the trick here explained
vou can surprise him by taking hold
and causing the plate
to cleave to the vegetable.
It is similar to the old trick of tak-
ing a piece of upper leather and
with water. Passing
through the middle of the
sucker knotted on one end it will bear
la
[ There is this advantage with the
I trick —nature
own weig
radish
provided Toth the
string and the moisture. All you
have to do is to hollow it ont and to
deftly substitute it, while you are not
observed, for one of the good radishes
on the plale. 4
thousand times its
has
as
Fanciful Toothache Cures. of
Before the days of dentists and
when people generally believed in the
value of charms there were ever so
many ways of preventing toothache.
One of these was to rinse a newly
baptized child’s mouth in the sancti-
fied water. Another much in vogue
was to dressthe right side of the body
first—right stocking, right shoe, right
sleeve, right glove. A favorite pian
in Scotland was to draw a tooth, salt
it well and burn it in full view on
glowing coals. In Cornwall many
save (?) their teeth by biting the first
young ferns that appear. The custom
of catching a common ground mole,
cutting off the paws while the little
creature still lives, and wearing them,
is traced to Staffordshire, England.
Some people who are fond of exercise
believe that walking twelve miles, no
more, no less—to get a splinter of the
toothache tree that grows particularly
well in Canada and Virginia will drive
away the worst ache and pain that
ever tortured a poor tooth.
The belief that toothache is caused
by a worm at the roots is prevalent in
many parts of the world, hence this
cure: Reduce several different kinds
of herbs—the greater variety the
better—to a powder. Put a glowing
cinder into this powder and inhale the
incense. Afterward breathe into a
a cup of water and the worm will be
gone forever.
The Royal Fern,
A legend has been handed down
from the time of the Danish invasion
of Britain, explanatory of the generic
name of Osmunda—an island, covered
with large specimens of this fern,
figuring prominently ‘in this story.
Osmund, the ferryman of Loch Tyne,
had a beautiful child, who was the
pride of his life and the joy of his
heart. In those days, when the
merciless Danes were making their
terrible descents upon the ccasts of
treat Britain, slaughtering the peace-
ful inhabitants, and pillaging where-
ever they went, no man could say how
long he would be free from molesta-
tion and outrage. But Osmund,
throughout the troublous times, had
lived quietly in hiscountry home with
his wife and beautiful daughter.
The peaceful calm of his life was,
however, destined to be broken. One
evening the ferryman was sitting with
his wife and child, on the margin of
the laka, after his day’s work. The
setting sun was tingeing with roseate
glory the fleecy bauks of clouds, piled
up against the horizon, silvering the
surface of the rippling lakeand adding
a richer hue to the golden locks of
Osmund’s darling child. Suddenly
the sound of hurrying footsteps
startled the quiet group. Men, women
ht.’
and children came hastening from the
neighboring village, and breathlessly,
as they passed.they told the ferryman
that the terrible Danes were coming.
Quick as thought Osmund sprang to
his feet, seized his wife and child and
hurried them into his ferryboat.
Away he rowed with them—pulling
for very life—in the direction of a
small island in the loch, densely cov-
ered with the tall and stately fronds
of the royal fern. He quickly hid his
precious charges amongst the cluster-
ing fronds, and then rowed rapidly
back to his ferry place. He had
rightly divined that the Danes needed
his assistance, and would not hurt
him.
For many hours of the ensuing
night he worked with might and main
to carry the fierce invaders across the
ferry.” When they had all disappeared
on the opposite bank Osmund re-
turned to his trembling wife and child
and brought them safely back to his
cottage. In commemoration, it is
said, of this event, the fair daughter
of Osmund gave the great island fern
her father’s name. Those who care
not to accept this fanciful origin of
the name Osmunda, wiil perhaps in-
cline to another suggestion which has
been made, that the generic name
had been derived from an old Saxon
word signifying strength, the specific
name including its royal or stately
habit of growth.
The Opossum.
This animal inhabits North America,
and is hunted with ahnost as much
perseverance as the racoon, not, how-
ever, for the sake of its fur but of its
flesh. When it perceives the hunter,
it lies still between the branches, but
if disturbed from its hiding place, it
attempts to escape by dropping among
the herbage and creeping silently
away. 5
Its food
Coorg
egos
consists of insects, birds,
, ete, and it is very destructive
among the hen-roosts. The opossum
uses its tail for elimbing and swinging
from branch to branch as the spider
monkeys use theirs, but the opossum
uses its tail in a manner the
monkeys have never yet been observed
to do, that is, making it a support for
voung, who sit on its back and
twist their tails round their mother’s
in order to prevent them from falling
off, Lawson, in a passage quoted in
the Musenm of Animated Nature, gives
the following quaint account of this
“If a cat bas nine lives this
for if
Pi
ts
animal:
creature surely
vou break every bone in their skin
and mash their skull, leaving them
dead, yon may come an hour after,
and they away. or,
perha; 3 you may meet them cre eping
away. I have for necessity in the
wilderness eaten them. Their flesh is
very white and ivell-tasted, but their
tails put me cut of conceit with
that fare.”
1 Audubon’s delight!
> eshil iting exactly ne
v art of the opos cum:
or has snp
: tof killing one
of his ot ‘owls. His angry fee ings
urge him to kick the poor be: st, whie 1,
conscions its a bility : to. re ast
rolls oft like a ball. The more the
farmer rages, the more reluctant is
the animal to manifest resistance; at
least there it lies, not dead, but ex-
hausted, its jaws open, its .eyes
dimmed; and there it wonld lie until
the bottle-fly should come to deposit
its egos, did not its tormentor walk
off. ‘Surely,’ says he to himself,
‘the beast must be dead.’ But no,
reader, it is only ‘possuming,’ and no
sooner has its enemy withdrawn, than
it, eradually gets on its legs, and once
more makes for the woods.”
The length of the opossum is about
twenty-two inches, and its height
about that of an ordinary cat. When
disturbed or alarmed it gives out a
very unpleasant odor.
has nineteen,
for
will be quite gone
of
Sparrows’
“Sparrows build their nests in pe-
culiar places,” says aman who has a
small fruit stand down at the " Union
depot, ‘but the birds who flit about
this old building have chosen the odd-
est home I ever heard of.”
As he spoke he pointed to an elec-
tric light that was sputtering and flar-
ing under the iron covered roof ot the
depot porch, A brood of little spar-
rows were flving in circles around the
light and suddenly one of them darted
toward it, only to disappear into the
cone-shaped iron hood which over-
hangs the big white china globe.
“That's where the birds live,” the
man saml. ‘‘lIhey have nests in the
top of that iron reflector or hood,
whichever it ig called. It must be hot
up there, very hot,”’he continued, ‘‘and
I can’t understand why the sparrows
have selected such a place to build
nests in. P= Ruse City Star.
Light Housekeeping.
Why Cannibals Eat Human Flesh.
According to a French writer named
Petrie, twenty per cent. of all canni-
bals eat the dead in order to glorify
them; nineteen per cent. eat great
warriors in order that they may in-
herit their courage, and eat dead chil-
dren in order to renew their youth ;
ten per cent. partake of their near
relatives from religious motives, either
in connection with initiatory rites or
to glorify deities, and five per cent
feast for hatred in order to avenge
themselves upon their enemies. Those
who devour human flesh becanse of
famine are reckoned as eighteen per
cent. In short, deducting all these,
there remains only a proportion of
twenty-four per cent. who partake of
human flesh because they prefer it to
other means of alimnentation.—Medi-
cal News.