Many people do not know the dori
"ration of the word "fad." F. A. D.
tneans for a day.
There are 71,000 more women that,
men in the Mate of Massachusetts,
and this excess 1h nil In persons over
fourteen.
The Berlin town council has de
tided to appoint a municipal "by
drologist," whose duty it shall lie to
supervise the water supply of the city.
In a sermon at Hnlinn, Kan., on a
recent Sunday, llev. J. II. Lockwood
said: "Let us give a man a little more
taffy when living, and not so much
epitaffy when he is dead."
t
A physician has invented a combi
nation of the vitascope and the mi
croscope that reveals the presence of
deadly microbes or bacilli in the blood
and will assist the prevention of dis
ease. German capitalists are said to be
taking advantage of the willingness
of Cuban property holders to dispose
of their estates at a sacrifice, and are
making large purchasers of augar.to
bacco and coffee lands.
Verestchagln, the Russian battle
painter, will be the first recipient of
the Nobel prize, given for "the propo
gation of pacific ideas," it is said, as
his pictures have brought out the true
horrors of war. Kaiser Wilhelm calls
them "the best assurance against
war."
The advocates of municipal owner
ship of railroad franchises are point
ing with approval to the fact that
street railroads are, owned and oper
ated by thirty-three cities of England
and Scotland, by some cities of Ger
many, Switzerland, Holland, aud of
the Australian colonies; by Toronto
and in a measure by New Orleans.
During the last few years nearly
150,009 Hebrews have entered Jeru
salem, and tho arrival of another host
is said to be imminent. Already the
railways are opening the country be
tween tho coast and Jerusalem aud
Damascus, aud a Hebrew migratiou
on a large scale may cause Syria to
become once more of vast importance
in the East.
The state supreme court of Cali
fornia has affirmed the judgment of
guilty of murder in the first degree
found agaiust J. E. Banks, who killed
Mrs. Harriet Stiles and J. B. Borden
at Ooean Side, San Diego county, on
September 6, 1805. The case was ap
pealed on the grounds that the evi
dence was circumstantial and that the
lower court erred in refusing to allow
a hypnotist, B. A. Stevens, to testify
that he hypnotized the defendant after
the murder and that the latter denied
the crime when under the hypnotic
spell. Commissioner Searles, whose
opinion was affirmed by the court, said
that the law did not recognize hypnot
ism. In passing on the case the su
preme court agreed, but Justice Mo-
Farland took occasion to say that he
did not quite agree as to the attitude
of the law toward hypnotism. It
could not be considered in this case,
he said, though it might be in others.
The New York Times says : The
tremendous speed of the little Welsh
wheelman, Michael, lends some con
firmation to the theory that the com
bination of light weight and a strong
pair of legs ought to produce a fast
rider. Michael weighs 100 pounds,
- and his leg muscles are like steel. He
rides easily, but his great speed is
made easier by his trick ef riding close
np to the quartet that "paces" him.
A big machine with four riders neces
sarily overcomes the resistance of the
air, and riding at their heels the little
racer has something like a vacuum in
front of him and air in swift, eddying,
and favorable motion on both sides.
His thirty miles iu 59 minutes and 44
seconds is good railroad speed, while
his feat of making thirty-two miles,
very one of which was ridden in less
than two minutes, leaves the trotting
horse forever outclassed. The dyna
mics of high speed with the wheel are
only just coming within the oompre
tension of the racing cyclists, as is
proved by the quick shifting of the
honors of the reoord mile. Becently
Gardner rode a mile in 1.39 2-5 at
Philadelphia. MoDuffee.at the Charles
Biver track August 11, made the mile
In 1.88 1-5, which was the world's
reoord until the 19th, when Hatt-Betts
rode a mile in 1.37 8-5 at the Crystal
Palace track, London. Already the
bicycle mils reoord is within a trifle
over two seconds of Balvator's running
mils in 1.85 1-2. That record will
surely be beaten. It will, then be a
demonstrated possibility for man to
transport himself by bis own power
faster than ths swiftest horsa cap
carry bim.
SUMMER'S FAREWELL.
The mnples snom to tnurmor, the lilies teem
to sign. .
For summer says good-ly,
Kor summer sn'va imod-byi
And ths dnw upon the daisies, like a tear
drop rrom the sky,
f'or tlit summer says good-by
(lood-livl
Tho sunflower fain would follow, the Illy
whispers, "Mtiiyl
When summer says good-hy,
When summer shvs aood-bvt
In all tho crimson closes the roses woopj
Delay!"
When sumnwr snyg good-by
Oood-byl
flut she calls her children round lief 'nnath
the sorrow ol the sky,
And kisses them good-hy.
And klsnes them Kood-lyi
Then passes from their presence, wlillo tho
ecno oi a sign
Drifts heavenward with "Onod-by
Uoou-uy!
F. I,. Ktnnton.
YELAZZIO'S DAUGHTER.
"There's something wrong or why
this secrecy, and this hunted expres
sion? Jefferson look here! Masters,
mv old college chum and the dearest
friend I had in the world, had gripped
my shoulder, and whispered tlint im
pressive warning only a week before.
"There's a mnn named Velazzio, and
you've got to cut yourself free from
him or don t be astonished if yon re
presently asked to resign your club
membership. It's being talked about,
understand me? The fellow knows
you are hot-headed and have money.
He may be fascinating, but if he isn't
one of the gang of Italinn Anarchists
conducted to the frontier last yenr
well, good-night, Jeff!"
Yes, there was a sword hanging over
me I could almost see it, but it was
too late to think of that. Velazzio
himself, with his indescribable fascina
tion, I could havo shaken ofT by one
determined effort but there was Nina,
his daughter Nina! Masters could
look pale and stern; but he had never
seen Nina. Iu my place I was certain
he would have acted precisely the
same.
How had the deadly thing begun? I
hardly knew. Three months before
the man had happened to sit near me
at a debnte of a local Socialistic
society, and from the first I hail been
greatly struck by his face of a waxy
whiteness, with big, shining eyes, and
a curling black beard. At one minute
his expression was eager and wistful
as a child's; at the next it would be
sneering and almost tigerish. Possibly
the attraction had been mutual. At
any rate, as I stopped to light a cigar,
haif-way home, a man overtook mo. It
was the Italian, aud he paused as if
he had known me for years. He
voluuteered to accompany me home,
and by the time my door was reached,
I was positively fascinated; but the
straugest part of it. was that for the
next few days I seemed to run across
him wherever I went. Soon I found
myself unconsciously shunning old
friends and associations to be in his
company.
One day whether it was part of a
plan or not I never kuew Velnzzio
went a step farther. He invited me to
his house. Quite casually; besides,
somehow or other, up to the moment
when he turned the key in his door
a dingy house in a street turning off
the Strand I had been thinking of
Velazzio as a single man, who lived
alone with his dreams as a woman
hater. The truth did nor strike me
even when I heard a girl's voice sing
ing not until he walked into the room
with the calm re'uiark:
"Mr. Jefferson, my daughter Nina
all I have in this world to love!" .
I am certain I stood with my mouth
open for a moment. His daughter
Nina! She had been sitting at the
window, over some bead-work. When
she turned and smiled, with a carmine
spot springing to both cheeks, I knew
only one thing that I had never seen
such a woman as Velazzio's daughter.
Why, with those wonderful dark eyes,
shining as changeable as his own; red
lips, wax-white skin, and mass of black
hair well, she looked as if she had
stepped out of an Italian picture. If
Velazzio had asked me, as I left his
house that night, to become a member
of his secret society, forswearing my
honor and previous ties for his
daughter's sake, I do not think I
should have paused to reflect.
He was too subtle for that. A
month went by a never-forgotten
month; at the end of it I was hope
lessly in love with Nina and ready to
go any length to win her. Velazzio
appeared unconscious. It was not not
until he asked me in a whisper one
evening to take charge of some incrim
inating documents, as they would run
less risk of detection in my hands than
in his own, that I began to realize how
far I had allowed myself to drift into
his power.
"Will I?" I repeuteil, hardly know
ing what I said. "You know'l would
go farther than' that, if you wish to try
me. Velnzzio, you surely must under
stand" "Velazzio is certain enough," he
puts in, ."but the others they are
afraid, without a stronger proof than
you might care to give." A pause.
He looked me full in the eyes; think
ing of my money, perhaps, although
it did not Btrike me then. "Yes, mat
ters will soon come to a head now.
Meanwhile," he whispered, "love does
not always go haud-in-hsnd with
loyalty."
I walked home that night in a sort
Of fever. Give up Nina, I felt I could
not, and yet I had an indescrib
able dread of the price I might have
to payof the true character of
Velazzio and his associates. Thero
was a full light in my sitting-room.
Entering carefully, I tiptoed upstairs.
Yes, ths door was half open; my heart
jumped again at sight of man sitting
at the tsllo--Masters, resting his chin
gloomily in both hands. I had avoid
ed him for a week had seemed to
dri t out of his world altogether. And
those documents bulging out of my
vest I must creep by and hide them
in the bedroom. Holding my breath,
I was attempting it, when he took
three strides and stood in the door
way, his eyes wide, bis lips twitching.
"Oh! it has come to this, has it?"
he said, huskily. A strained pause.
I could not look at him. Then: "Jeff,
I can't stand it longer. What does it
mean? I wait here an hour tn see
yon, and yon slink past me like a thief.
Not a wordl Come in here, yon shall
speak! Now, you mad fool, what are
you mixed up in? I'll know before
I leave this house before I put the
police on the fellow."
He held the doorway, and he meant
something. The mere sight of his
fnce, working with mingled incredulity
and indignation the mere recollection
of all the dear old times together was
enough to break down the miserable
barrier; but there was Nina Nina's
glorious face between us that night.
I turned my head doggedly.
"Well?" he asked.
"It's too late," was my answer. I
knew Mnsters; only the truth would
silence him. "Anything that happens
to him now, happens to me. Is that
enough?"
"Good heavens!" He stood staring.
f'Jeff, Jeff! do you know what you
have said what you are doing?"
"Yes; too well!" I spun round
then, both hands out, unable to keep
it back come whatmight. "Jack, cut
me dend, every one of you, but don't
ask me questions, for I can't answer
them. ' lie does belong to a secret
society I admit to yon, and not an
hour ago I asked him to initiate me as
a member to put me to any test.
There! no, I'm not mnd; but but I
hope to marry his daughter, the dear
est nud niont innocent girl on God's
earth? Now you know Jack!"
He had gone picked tip his hut like
a man dn.e 1' nud gone! I heard him
feeling his way down the stairs as if
his sight had failed him Mnsters, my
lifelong cliiim! Myself, I could not
move for a time. Call him back? no,
I could not! It was too lute. If be
meant Nina on the one hand and salva
tion on the other I must choose
Nina!
"For your life do not come near.
The house is watched by police. A
false move now, and the work of
months goes pouf! We want frieuds
immediately friends with money and
devotion. Y'ou you may have a
double incentive! Kay nothing of it,
but go quietly to 4 llupert street,
Soho, at seveii' this evening. There
is an emergency meeting, nud there
may be an ordeal from which you need
not shrink. Knock twice and sny,
'The Cause.'
Velazzio."
That was it in a double envelope,
dropped into my letter box early two
days lator. "For your life do not
come near!" I read it incredulously
through ove:' aud over attain, thrilled
almost into cowardice by the pre
gnaucy of the message. My Nina in
a house watched by the police! An
ordeal! I spent that day in a perfect
fever of . misgiving. Quite a dozen
times I started np with the determina
tion of seeing Velnzzio and learning at
any cost what had happened since
yesterday, but each time somothing
held me buck. Wheu 0 o'clock caiue
I was in no condition to reflect. I set
out mechanically to find 4 Bupert
street.
At seven I was standing outside it
a dull-gray house iu an obscure
thoroughfare. Barely a seoond of
irresolution, and then Ikuocked twice;
and almost instantly the door was
opened by a beady-eyed foreigner.
"The Cause," I whispered. Next
moment I was groping along the
gloomiest, stillest passage imaginable.
The man where w as he? Where was
the meeting? I was conscious of a
burning heut breaking out over me.
"Quick, this way, iriend!"
It came, n mu tiled sound, from the
end of the passage. Holding my
breath, I walked forward, seeing noth
ing.''" suddenly my arm was grasped
by a man who, I take it, had been
standing behind a curve iu the wall.
I was swung round, and heard a door
creak at my book. Then a thick,
husky voice was close at my ear.
. "Why we should trust an English
man, I know not, but Velazzio insists.
So listen! We have one test only,
and it is usually enough. In the
darkened room behind yon, twenty
feet by eighteen, waits a man, chosen
by lot, aud armed with a knife pre
cisely like this." I was just faintly
conscious that my fingers had closed
over a bundle, and no more. "He is
preparing to risk his life for the safety
of the cause, and yon yours. Courage!
It need not be a duel to the death, nor
even to a wound; should you cry out,
'Enough!' you may go as you came.on
a condition which Velazzio say you
fully understand. In each case, the
door will be opened in five minutes.
But remember your opponent will
strike if he can!"
To my dying day I could never for
get my sensation while that astonish
ing proposal burning ' itself into my
brain. But before I could properly
realize, much less resist, a push aud
I staggered into the horrible room,
and I heard a lock click . behind.
Simultaneously I caught a movement
close by me. I could have screamed,
but the sound would not coine;instead,
I gave a convulsive twist aside, touched
a wall, aud stood panting and
trembling against it, both hands wav
ing madly. Not a sound; uot a glim
mer in the blackness. In that first
moment every hair on my head seemed
to be an erect, red-hot wire, Let any
msn conceive a more painful position,
if he can.
A minute, and ths tremble had per
fores passed. ' My nerves at a tension
bordering upon insanity, my eyes
Straining through the darkness, 1
waited for the other to move again.
Only to know his whereabouts! Stir
myself I dared not, could not; there
was the door close by, and there was
the chance of ending it all by one
shout, but I must havo forgotten both
in the sudden horror.
I expected every moment to feel his
grip, to close with him, to feel the
probe of his blade.
Five minutes surely that nnmber
had passed! and that blow had not
come. Involuntarily 1 took two strides
out into the room, and there stood on
toe tips, turning as an a pivot to clutch
at something warm.
Nothing! But to stand still now,
having once moved, was impossible.
The cunning of sheer desperation took
me. The floor seemed to be thickly
carpeted, aud gave back no sound.
Two more stealthy strides another;
now I must be close to the opposite
wall. I would reach out and touch it,
and then make two rushes at different
angles clutch him with arms and legs,
and hold him powerless. But what
was that? His breathing, just there,
where the wall should be? I could
bear it no longer; I threw out both
arms in a frenzy, and my left palm
touched a smooth, bald head. Back I
went shuddering. It was a real man,
stooping to avoid me, contemplating
some trick and the horror of that
first contact brought the reaction.
The light! the light! Nina must go
everything must go.
"Enough!" I shouted, madly; and
simultaneously two arms closed about
my waist. Ah! In an abandonment
of fear, then, I gripped at his throat,
bent him back and struck twice,
three times at hischest.I think and
up to the very hilt each time, and
then
Some one was plucking me back
and out into the passage. I sank on
a stair and lay there, while the ground
seemed to be rocking under me. I
knew nothing that passed until a glass
was put to my lips.
"Drink this! You have killed him.
I think bnt you cried 'Enough!' "
that first husky voice was whispering.
"You must go straight away, in case
it is discovered. Ljsten! a cab waits
outside, and I have put money in
your pockets. Go at once to Brighton
Brighton, do you hear? and stay
there until yon hear from us that it is
safe. Ask ench day at the postofllce
for a letter. No questions now; go,
nud nil will be well!"
The rest seems like a part of a
dream. I groped obediently out, half
blinded by the sudden light, and into
a hansom that waited outside. An
hour later, without knowing how I had
got there, I was in a train whirling
south. "Killed him! Killed him!"
snng in and out of my brain. I had
killed a man! That was all; of Nina
I never once thought. But, no it
was all some nightmare. I would
credit nothing until I received that
letter.
. And one morning, when I put the
usual hoarse inquiry, an envelope was
handed to me. One nervous glance,
then an incredulous gasp. The hand
writing upon it was Mastors'! Ten
minutes lator, I was trying hard to
take in a stupefying revelation, sob
after sob of relief shaking me. A
revelation yes, indeed!
"Deah Old Jeff I am only pray
ing that this reaches yon all right.
Heaven knows I have longed to put
you out of your misery, but it was
not safe. But now, however, Velazzio
aud bis daughter should be well out of
the country, and probably I have suc
ceeded in preventing you making the
mistake of your life.
"Jeff, it was all a clever trick of
mine. That night, after what you told
me, I saw you were on the edge of a
precipice, and I took one of the fellows
into my confidence. We hired the
house in Soho, got the Italian to write
that letter, and concocted an ordeal.
When you stabbed so murderously at
your opponent in the dark room yon
were stabbing at your old chum, Mas
ters. Thank heaven, we had provided
you with that "property knife, with the
vanishing blade, that we bought for
last year's theatricals.
"Disguised, I saw you safe off to
Brighton, and then I put a real de
tective on Velazzio's track, and gave
him his chance to clear out. Results
show that he was only too glad to take
it. And so it is all over, and you will
live to thank me for it.
"Yours ever, Jack Masters."
Tit-Bits.
The Largest Floating Dry Dock.
A new floating dry dock has just
been completed at Hamburg, Ger
many, iu connection with the shipyard
aud machine shops of Messrs. Blobm
& Vohb. The American consul, Robert
son, who reports the fact, says that it
is "the largest of its kind in exist
ence." It has a carrying capacity of
17,600 tons. Its length, with the
pontoons, is 621 feet 4 inches, and its
width 118 feet 1 inch. It will raise
the largest merchant vessels that have
thus far been built, and even the
heaviest men-of-war. Owing to its
peculiar construction, the dock, in
time of war, or in case of other emer
gency, could be taken down the river
like a boat. The dock will take ves
sels with a draught of 29 feet 0 1-2
inches. No vessel with a greater
draught than 27 1-2 feet has ever suc
ceeded in reaching Hamburg.
Veusant Llf of an ArtUt.
Rosa Bonheur, the famous artist,
leads the life of a peasant, rising early
and going to bod late. Every morn
ing on getting up, she takes a walk
in her garden, invariably accompanied
by her dog. From 9 o'clock until half
past 11 she works in her'studio. Then
she has breakfast. At 1 o'clock work
is resumed nntil 5, when Mile. Bon
heur goes for an excursion iu the for
est near her home. She finishes her
day by reading.
frsSMssfssgflsSSTn? "i Jt-jfc
A Quarrel In the Oven.
O, the gingerbread boy and ths pieorust
girl,
Tboy had a quarrel on day;
Together they sat on ths oven shelf,
The pieorust fsy and ths gingerbread elf,
And the quarrel commenced this wayi
Bald ths gingerbread boy to the piecrust
girl.
"I'll wager my new browa hat,
That I'm fattor than you and muoh mere
tanned,
Though you're filled with pride till you can
not stand
But what, la the good of that?"
Then ths pieorust girl turned her little nose
In a moat provoking ;
ay.
"Oh, maybe you're brown, but you're poor
as can be,
You do not know lard from a round green
peal
Is there aught that you do know, pray?"
Oh, the gingerbread boy, he laughed loudly
with soorn
As he looked at the flaky pieorust,
"Just watch how I rise In tha world!" orlod
he;
"Just see how I'm bound to grow light,"
orled shot
"While you stay the color of rust!"
So the gingerbread boy and the pieorust
girl,
They each of them swelled with pride,
'Till a oolso wnt heard la a room without,
A ory of delight, then a very glad shout;
And the oven was opened wide.
Then tho gingerbread boy and the piecrust
girl
Could have soreamed and wept with
pain,
For a rosy-cheeked loss and a small bright
eyed lad
Took a bite ot eaoh yes, this tale's very
sad
Bo they'll now never quarrol again.
Atlanta Journal.
The Bnmhlebee.
In early spring, when the meadows
first take on a tinge of green, and the
apple trees put forth their rosy buds,
we may often see a single large
bumblebee flying low and swiftly back
and forth across the lawns or pas
tures. These great bees are the queens
who have just awakened from their
long winter's sleep, and are now seek
ing some favored spot wherein to
commence housekeeping and found a
colony, for these insects, like their
cousins, the honey bees, live in
colonies, consisting of three classes
or castes, "drones," or males,
"queens," or females, and "workers."
When our big queen has at last dis
covered a satisfactory building, usually
a deserted mouse hole, she cleans it of
all rubbish and litter, and places with
in a ball of pollen, in whioh she lays
her eggs. The young grubs hatch
out possessed with enormous appe
tites, and, feeding on the pollen, eat
into it in all directions. At last when
fully grown and their craving for food
is satisfied, they spin cocoons of silk
in the remains of the pollen, and
change to pupa. While her family is
thus sleeping quietly within their
silken cells, the old queen is constantly
at work, building up and strengthen
ing the cocoons with wax.
Finally, their sleep being over, the
pupa cases burst, and the young bees
oome forth in all their glory of black-and-golden
livery and gauzy wings.
The first brood consists entirely of
workers, who immediately fall to and
relieve their mother queen of all work
and duties, with the exception of
laying eggs. They fly hither and
thither, always busy and industrious,
now plunging into the centre of a
gorgeous hollyhock or a sunny dande
lion, or buzzing about among tha
modest daisies, or diving head first
into some sweet-scented, aristocratic
lily or rose, always emerging from
their quest for honey covered with
the golden dust of pollen. The honey
and the pollen thus gathered are
stored away, and the eggs laid in the
waxen cells from which the workers
issued, and the next brood composed
of drones and young queens feed upon
this store of nectar.
Boys Catching Turtles.
The small boy seems to have more
ingenious ways of making money for
the family while the hard times are on
than his father, and he is putting them
to good nse, at least in this section,
where the numerous big ponds and
rivers offer him an opportunity. Not
only does be go frog-hunting every
night, selling his catch for a good,
round sum per dozen, but he has dis
covered that there is a good market
f ?r turtles, both snappers and soft-shell,
and that it costs him hardly anything
beyond his trouble aud a good broiling
in the hot sun, which he does not
mind, to catch enough in a day to dis
count the wages of the stoutest work
iiigmen. The " News correspondent noticed a
nnmber of little fellows in a butcher
shop two days ago, trying to obtain
some tainted meat. They explained
that they used it iu catching snappers.
They go to any creek, or to the ponds,
or to the Ohio, where the water is not
too deep and the bottom muddy, whioh
is the favorite resort ot the snapping
turtle. The hooks are baited with
the meat, and it is seldom long until
ons of these creatures is caught Tbo
boys have to be careful not to allow
their oatoh to bite them, but beyond
that and the occasional loss of a hook,
there is no risk.
Some of the boys do not even re
tort to hook and Hue, but use simply
their feet, doing their turtle hunting
in the shallow waters of a gronp of
ponds back of this city. They wade
into the water, which is hardly knee
deep. At their approach the turtles
sink into the bottom mud, and the
youngsters, wading along, soon uis
cover their game by stepping on it .
with their bare feet and bringing it to
the surface triumphantly. The turtles
sell for a good price, whioh varies,
however, considerably from day to
day, and a good turtle catoher can
make as much as $2 a day.
Soma of the youngsters givs ths
soft-shell turtles, found on shallow
banks in Ohio, the preference, since
they can at the same time catch turtles
and enjoy a swim. They simply sur
prise the turtles while on the sand
banks. These turtles furnish a jelly
which is the delight of the gourmand,
Indianapolis News.
Flower Families.
Do yon know that flowers as well as
people live in families? Come into
the garden and I will show you how.
Here is a red rose; the beantifnl
bright-colored petals are the walls of
the house, built in a circle, yon see;
next come the yellow stamens, stand
ing also in a circle; these are the
fathers of the honsehold. They stand
around the mother, who lives in tha
veryjmiddle, as if to protect and take
care of her. And she is the straight
little pistil, standing in the midst of
all. The children are seeds, put
away for the present in a green cradle
at their mother's feet, where they will
sleep and grow, as babies should,until
by and by they will all have oppor
tunities to come out and build for
themselves fine rose-colored houses
like thai of their parents.
It fs in this way that most of the
flowers live; some, it is true, quit
differently; for the beautiful scarlet
maple blossoms, that open so early in
the spring, have the fathers on ons
tree and the mothers on another, and
they can only make flying visits to
each other when a high wind chooses
to give them a ride. i
The goldenrod and asters and some
of their cousins have yet another way
of living, and it is of this I must tell
you today.
You know the roadside asters, purple
and white, that bloom so plenteously
all through the early autumn? Eaoh
flower is a circle of little rays, spread
ing on every side; but if you should
finll it to pieces to look for a family
ike that of the rose, you would be
sadly confused about it, for the aster's
plan of living is very different from
the rose's. Each purple or whits ray
is a little home in itself, and these ars
all inhabited by maiden ladies, living
eaoh one alone in the ons delicately
colored room of her house. But in1
the middle of the aster you will find a
dozen or more little families, all
packed away together; eaoh one has
its own small yellow house, each has
ths father, mother and one child;
they all live here together on the flat
circle whieh is called a disk, and
round them are built the houses be
longing to the maiden annts, who
watch and protect the whole. This is
what we might call living in a com
munity. People do so sometimes.
Different families who like to be near
each other will take a very large house
and inhabit it together, so that in one
house there will be many fathersy
mothers and children, and very liketf
maiden aunts, and bachelor uncletL
besides.
Do you understand now how the
asters live in communities? The
golden-rod also lives in communities,
but yet not exactly after the aster's
plan in smaller houses generally, and
these, of course, contain fewe:' fam
ilies: four or five of the maiden aunts
live in yellow-walled rooms round the
outside, and in the middle live
fathers, mothers and children, as they
do in the asters; but here is the differ
ence: if the goldenrod has smaller
houses, it has more of them together
npon one stem. I have never counted
them, but you can, now that they are
in bloom, and tell me how many.
And have you ever noticed how
gracefully these great companies are
arranged? For the goldenrods are
like elm trees in their forms; some
grow in one single tall plume, bending
over a little at the top, some in a
double or triple plume, so that the
nodding heads may bend on each side;
but the largest are like the great
Etruscan elms, many branches rising
gracefully from the main atom and
curving over on every side, like those
tall glass vases which I dure say you
have all seen.
Do not forgot, when you are look
ing at these golden plumes, that each
one, as it tosses in the wind, is rock
ing its hundreds of little dwellings,
with the fathers, mothers, babies and
all. Detroit Free Frees.
A Boy'a Idea.
A lady wont not long since to
call upou a neighbor in the country
and found the five-year-old son of the
bouse playing upon the lawn.
"How do you do, Georgia, "she said.
'Is your mamma at home?"
"No, Mrs. Gray," he answered with
tba most approved politeness.
"I am sorry for that," the caller
eaul. "Will she be gone long?"
"I don't ' know," the littU fellow
replied doubtfully. "She's gone to a
Christian and devil meeting."
"Gone to what?" the lady ex
claimed in astonishment. "lo a
Christian and devil meeting in the
vestry," was the reply.
There was a meeting of the Society
nf Clirixtian Endeavor at tha vaatrv of
1 1 V 1L.1 - Jl. Hi., tlf
me cuurcu uiuv Biteruuuu, -oiuwau SV
National Gazette.