THE UNCLOSED DOOR. As she went through the Houm of Life she closed All doors behind her all hti only one, And this she could not, even though she strove; One door that was ber anguish ana her shame One door that opened to the wind and sun From that still room where once she dwelt with Love. And lo, she died, and in the House of Death Even those doors she closed with her own hand Held her a prisoner. Lonn day by day Before the hundred doors of Faith and Joy . She strove with prayer, -with pleading, with command, To force but one and win where Heaven lay. And then came One with pity in His eyes And said: "Was there no door thou didst not close? -And she: "But one, that was my shame and sin; Surely I may not win to Heaven thus?" Then, even while she wept. He smiled, and rose, Ana through that door unfastened led her in! Theodosia Garrison, in Mimsey'i Miwaz.ut;. XJ V XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ X XJ XJ XJ XJ ' XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ rt n THE WONDER OF THE WORLD XJ XJ XJ nnnnrtBsnnrrnri Wn n'rt rt n n n n XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJJJXJXSXJXS trVAV By DONALD KENNICOTT VWVu XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJXJXJXJXJXJXJXJXJXJXJXJXJXJ V U XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ U U XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ Thorold the Indomitable had sworn by the splendor of God with hla own eyes to see the Wonders of the (World the mermaids that In a cer tain sea rise laughing about the gun wales; the slim, small fishes with scales of electrum and eyes of true eryl that leap up through the spray of an Island beyond Britain; the river of purple wine that foams down the hills to the south of the Pillars of Hercules. All of these Thorold .would see; and the forty strong men Who rowed with him would each fetch home a wife, a buxom lass from the Far-Lands. They had thus far pursued an empty quest had pulled over the North Sea swiftly, without even the sight of a whale or berg; had harried the Franklsh coast and found no poll at all, but only many and skillful bowmen; had fared on be yond the Pillars of Hercules, with never a glimpse of white-limbed mer maid or echo of siren singing, but only the shadow of black rocks in Uark water and the shriek of a tem pest that had swept the rowers' benches three parts empty; had land ed on many an island in the Mid Land Sea in search of the tall and red-lipped weir-women, but bad found only poisoned provender and deadly, disease and a reef that bad split their ship in sunder. Now the tide that was left of them was hud dled about the blue-green flames of a driftwood fire In a fisherman's hut on the Sardinian coast, surrounded by a horde of cowardly islanders Who sought to starve them like Wolves trapped In an empty sheep foid. ' Sigurd spoke: "Where are your weir-wives, Jurgen," he asked slow ly, turning to the old sailor whose tales of over-sea wonders had led them on. There was no bitterness of anger in his voice, but only the heavy sadness of a war-worn man ' Who is altogether spent. "Tell me, ' Jurgen False Word," he pursued, - drowsily almost; "tell me, where are the milk-white mermaids swimming up through the foam along the gun ' wales? Where are the little dolphins . with scales " of gold and eyes of emerald? How you lied to us, Jur- en." Passionately Tryggve broke in: "Ay, he lied, he lied. And ask him Where are the forty strong men who listened to his word and left a -good land for an empty voyage and a sharp death. Ask htm that!" "I lied not," the voice of old Jur gen boomed stolidly from out his white beard. "You have vexed the gods with an Impatience and they de ny you." He spoke manfully, but bis eyes shifted and his hand did not leave the sword-hilt. "There be no gods," Sweyne ob served wearily from where he lay at full length in the shadow; and no one answered him. Silence came, broken only by the giggle of Little Nils, who sat cross legged close to the fire and snapped his finger-Joints. Little Nils had been altogether witless,' ever since that day of fruitless battle, when the tone of a Balearic slinger had cracked his skull. "Odin and Thor," he cackled with an idiot leer at the tern face of old Jurgen, "Odin, Thor and Freya. They be the gods." Sweyne rose on his elbow and stirred the fire with his dagger-scabbard. The blue-green flames turned his bloodless face to a ghastly hue, and when he spoke, his voice rang hollow and far. "Ingeborn, Inge born," he mused. "She was well enough. I us3d to laug'j at her be cause in winter she went swaddled tip like an old wife, but for all that she was well enough- ..tr Hps were warm and her hair was soft and she had a leal heart, too. It.is like that she weeps for me for me that left her to steal a fairer bride from out the Far-Lands." His voice drifted off Into silence. but Tryggve's followed It almost like an echo. "And Ragnild," he mur mured huskily. "You remember Rag nild? She. was a buxom lass now. Bummer twilights 1 used to lie with my head in ber lap and watch the seagulls coming In. Only a fool wouia nave leu ner to seek a mate from out the shadow of the rea." All spoke save Thorold l'horold, whose eyes were the eri of a woman, whose heart was the hrrt of a king, whose limbs were the limbs of a young god. He bad been standing apart, peering out a crack in the door. Now he turned to the Ore. "It is black dark now," he an nounced shortly. "We will start" XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ V XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ XJ n n n n n n rt n n No one answered htm for a mo ment. Then Sweyne looked up at him with dull eyes. "There be no gods," he remarked drearily. Tryggve echoed cloee, "We are weary of war. It would be sweet now, to rest one's head on a wo man's breast." "I told 'lies," Jurgen muttered hoarsely, with averted face. "With my proper eyes I saw no welr-wlves or mermaids, but many other sailors had told me of them and one must hold hlB own about the camp-fire. They "lied also, belike." "Start," growled Slgnrd gloomily, "and where? There are a thousand jackal islanders ringed about us, Thorold." "Rather morn than that, from their fires," Thorold returned tran quilly. "We be six Northmen." "Even so what is there for us to do?" Thorold brought down his mailed fist upon his brazen shield. "What do," he stormed. "What do? Cut through them; steal boats; fare on." Turning, he swung open the door and strode out. And they followed him, but with bent heads and drag- An Apostrophe. BY DANIEL rHEN little children were the Son of God, His disciples proposed to send them away; but He BAid, "Suffer little children to come unto Me." Unto Me; He did not send them first for lessons in morals to the school of the Pharisees, or to the unbelieving Sadducees, nor to read the precepts and lessons phylacterled on the garments of the Jewish priesthood; He said nothing of different creeds nor clashing doctrines; but He opened at pnee to the youthful mind the everlasting fountain of living waters, the only source of eternal truths: "Suffer little children to come unto Me." And that Injunction is of perpetual obliga tion. It addresses itself to-day with the same earnestness and the same authority which attended its first utterance to the Christian world. It extends to the ends of the earth. It will reach to the end of time, always and everywhere sounding in the ears of men, with an emphasis .which no repetition can weaken, and with an authority which nothing can supersede: "Suffer little children to come unto Me." King steps, for they were spent men. All thus save witless Nils, who capered from one to another waving his sword and babbling loudly nis childish jargon "Odin and Thor. Odin, Thor and Freya. They are the gods." Too loudly. For before they had won halt the dlsta.ee to the beach, the Islanders were on them like a wolf-pack. Sweyne lost his footing In the rocks, and smothered by the press that swarmed upon him, never so much as cleared his sword. Old Jurgen and Sigurd stood back to back like a pair of dog-bayed bears and cleared a little space about them; but like the bears also went down at last when weariness had weakened them. Tryggve indeed gained the darkness and the shore, but the blood oozed everywhere from his armor joints, and he sank down helpless to wait his death on tbe wet sands. Only Thorold the Indomitable and Little Nils, whom the gods had cloaked, won clear together, and feeding their way along the sands in the darkness, stumbled upon a beached fisher craft and hastily put forth. A ragged sail saved them the la bor of rowing, and letting the wind have its will, Thorold knelt wide ned at the rudder, while Little Nils, after devouring a stale fish he had nosed out from among the tangled nets, curled up in the bow and slept Dawn unveiled an opalescent splen dor. Sardinia a mere dim blur be hind, and, across a mile of foam flecked water before them, a tiny islet vestured in deep verdure. Thor old held an unswerving course; de tail of tree and rock and shore-line was growing clear to him, when sud denly, uttering an eager shout, he dropped the tiller and leaned for ward wltu Henched hands and star ing eyes, (something more white tban any foam gleamed in the tlu water near the shore, once again across the strip of beach, and tnen disappeared in the purple shadows beyond. Roused by Thorold's cry. Little Nils rose to his knees and gazed at the gaunt, exalted fp.ee of bis com panion. "Od'.n and Tbor," he mut tered sleepily. "Odin and Thor. They be gods." The boat grounded and Thorold sprang forthwith out into the waist deep . water, dragged the hapless Little Nils after him. and floundered to tM shore. HiB searching eyes l.ikiiiy caught sight of tiny foot prints in the wet sands, and he fol lowed their course across the beach to a path through the close-set pop lars, that in turn led him to an open glade, an olive yard, and a white walled dwelling. He paused a mo ment In the shadow, while pleasant sounds and odors came to whet the famine of his senses sharp scent of hearth-smoke, fragrance of trodden grapes, perfume of new-reaped grain; melody of swallows and splash of drawn water; a woman's laughter. Loosening his sword, he swung bold ly up t the portico. Little Nils trot ting at his heels and whimpering like a famished hound. None met him, bis feet made no sound on the thick-strewn rushes, and he passed without pnuslng, even to the open door of the atrium. There In the bar of sunlight that came through the roof-hole, sat a woman drying her unbound hair neither mermaid, nor siren, nor welr-wlfe, but a woman such as Thorold had never seen, red lipped and great-eyed, straight limbed, deep-bosomed, splendid. Bending forward, she tied the purple sandal-thongs firmly about her ankles; rising, she drew over her loose white garment a saffron-colored mantle of silken cloth and gird led it closely about her. She turned then to a mirror of polished stiver, and with swift, dexterous fingers bound up the rebellious masses of her dark and glossy hair, and con fined it within a hoop of turquoise studded gold. Peering under Thorold's arm, Little Nils cried out In childish de light at her beauty, and she turned swiftly, w'ith paling cheek. Yet she neither cried out nor fled, but stared calm-eyed at the tawny Northman In the doorway. And when, striding forward, he pointed toward the sea and beckoned her to him, she gave only a little scornful laugh by way of reply, and with a look of bitter ness and hatred darkening her face, pointed, in her turn, through an arched casement behind her. Three men were coming down a path, the firBt a Bhaggy. savage bulk, wearing a leather war-cap, the others, re tainers evidently, bearing burdens of provender and fuel. Thorold looked once at the men without and twice at the woman be fore him. Then, leaping forward, he jerked off his shoulder belt, bound her both hand and foot, and clasping WEBSTER. brought Into the presence of her' close to him, strode out again. Even then she made not outcry, but fought him fiercely, sinking her strong white teeth into the flesh of his arm and breast. He gained the open with her, but there the three islanders met him midway and ran forward with a savage shout. He laid the woman down, but could' never have cleared his long sword had not Little Nils, screaming shrilly, inter posed his helpless body and futile blade. They thrust him through quickly and trampled him underfoot, the blood bubbling on his Hps, "Odin and Thor," he babbled as he sank down, "Odin and Thor. They be the gods." The two retainers fell facile prey to the long two-handed fcword which the Northman now flashed hither and thither like darting lightning, but their leader, running in close would have ended the struggle with his short Roman blade bad not Thorold dropped his weapon and grappled. Yet even bo it was a losing fight, for the Northman, unarmed now, could at best but hold back the weapon of his adversary. With close-locked limbs they pitched hither and thither about the turf, neither gaining. Yet steadily Thorold felt his famished and war-worn limbs grow weary, and never for an instant did the vigor of his adversary abate. He felt him self yielding at last, and saw a flame of triumph kindle and flare up in the eyes of his enemy. And, too, another thing Thorold saw then the woman sitting up un steadily, watching them with parted lips and heaving breast. Suddenly she bent over her bound wrists and tore at the fetters with her teeth. They had been tied hastily, and in a moment ber freed hands were loosen ing the strap about her feet. Then, turning to one of the huddled corpses beyond, she snatched up a dagger and ran swiftly back with it to the death-gripped combatants. For a moment she paused over them, watch ful, hesitant, feline, tbe flame of her eyes matching the bard glitter of the poised blade. Even In the bitter anguish of that despairing moment Thorold smiled to think that after fifty manful fights, his death Should be borne to bim in the hands of a woman. With a mighty effort he struggled to free an arm to shield bis heart, but in that same moment the woman lunged downward with a sharp, exultant cry, and he felt the warm blood flowing over his breast. For an instant she leaned over him, her Hps parted In a gleeful laugh of triumph and then setting hard in a cruel smile, as she struck again, yet more savagely. With measureless amazement, Thorold felt the grip of his enemy re lax and the body grow limp within his arms. Yet only when, struggling dizzily to his feet, he saw the light in the woman's eyes, did he compre hend, and comprehending know for his the ultimate wonder of tbe world. San Francisco Argonaut. Steel freight cars are being exten sively used in South America. The base of most of the chewing gum used Is a by-product of petro leum, scented and flavored according to the various tastes. Leprosy is not, In the ordinary sense, a contagious disease. Physi cians, nurses and missionaries min ister to lepers for years without Buf fering from the exposure. Bad sight is given as the reason for men going wrong. Defective vUion has been proved to be the cause of lack of self-control, alcoholism and drug taking. ( Subject to the action of liquid air, lead becomes elastic and can be made to rebound or serve as a spiral spring during the continuance of this low temperature. In a recent campaign of the French in Madagascar 14,000 men were sent to the front, of whom twenty-nine were killed in action and over 7000 perished from preventable diseases. In the Boer War the Eng lish losses were ten times greater from disease than from bullets. 'A - specially constructed derelict destroyer has recently been launched from a Virginia shipyard. The ves sel is nominally a revenue cutter, but Its work will be the destruction of derelicts and ether accidental ob structions to navigation. For this purpose the vessel has been designed with great ' coal-carrying capacity and the ability to keep the open sea in all weather. A possible vision of the future, when tall towers near great cities may indicate the location of wireless telegraph stations, is suggested by a project now on foot to connect New York and Philadelphia in that man ner. Plans have been filed for a tower 200 feet high, and thirty feet broad at the base, to be erected on Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, as a sending and receiving-station for the aerial messages. A similar tower is to be built in the environs of New York. The plan is to distribute mes sages from the stations by telephone. Sir Norman Lockyer has recently announced the discovery of the strongest spark lines of sulphur in the spectrum . of the bright star Rl gel. These lines have not previously been traced in the Bpectrum of any celestial body.' Certain sulphur lines which behava in an abnormal manner in spark and vacuum tube spectra are not found in the spectrum of Rlgel, but they do occur in stars of the type of Bellatrix and Epsllon Orionis, which represent higher stages of temperature thaa do stars of the type of Rlgel. A Wonderful Railroad. Two famous cities of Italy, Genoa and Milan, are to be connected by a marvelous electric railroad eighty-five miles in length, which Is to cost $47, 000,000. The excessive cost is owing to the nature of the country through which the line will pass. It will re quire nineteen tunnels, one of which will be twelve miles long. There will be 372 bridges, and the road will be six years in the course of construc tion. The cost of the line construc tion alone will be $500,000 per mile. The line will bo double tracked and there will be no grade crossings. Trains will consist of three cars, each accommodating fifty passengers. It Is proposed to run twenty trains a day, and it is estimated that the dally traffic will be 6000 passengers. The Boy's World. The Mediterranean. The evaporation from the surface of the Mediterranean is much great er than in the Atlantic Ocean, owing to the heat coming from the African deserts and the shelter which the high mountains afford from the north winds. It is in consequence of this fact that its waters are Salter than those of the Atlantic. It is a mistake to suppose that the Mediter ranean Is tideless. In the Adriatic, as well as between that sea and the coast of Africa, the tide rises from five to seven feet. Destruction of Famous English Oak. One of the seven fine old oaks in Salcey Forest, Buckinghamshire, has been burned to the ground. . It is sur mised that visitors to the forest made a picnic fire in the hollow trunk, and the result was the complete destruc tion of the tree, which is said to be 800 years old. Salcy Is the second great royal forest and has belonged to the Crown since the Conquest London Dally Mail. John Burns Is said to have the best working library of any member ot the English' Hduse of Parliament HOUSEHOLD FFAIRS TO COOK EGGS IN THE SHELL. To cook eggs In the shell, evenly throughout, put them Into a deep pan, cover them with boiling water and let them stand for ten minutes or more, where the water will keep Just below the boiling point. This prevents the albumen from congulatlng, but jellies both white and yolk, making the eggs more appetizing in appearance than when at the ordinary soft boiled stage, and at the same time easy of digestion. Boston Cooking School Magazine. REMOVING STAINS. Brass which Is badly tarnished should first be rubbed with salt and vinegar or oxalic acid; wash this oft with soap and water and polish as usual with a good prepared cleanser. Vinegar and salt will remove the brown stains from the side of a tea cup. It Is said, however, that dry salt well rubbed In will be as efficacious as when dissolved In vinegar, so try this first. When the bars of a grate have burned red add a little lemon juice to the blacking and the grate will look as good as new. Remember not to put the stopper In a bottle that haB been washed out until the interior is perfectly dry. Otherwise the glass will be smoky and streaked, and the stopper itself will stick when any one attempts to remove it. Sliced raw potato and hot water are considered excellent for cleaning the inside of a decanter In which vine dregs have been allowed to dry. HOW TO COOK WATER. Few people know how to cook water. The secret Is In putting good, fresh water Into a neat kettle already quite warm and setting the water to boiling quickly, and then taking it right off to use In tea, coffee or other drinks, before it is spoiled. To let it steam, simmer and evaporate until tbe good water Is all In the atmos phere and the lime and iron and dregs left In the kettle, that Is what make a good many people sick and Is worse than no water at all. A crit ical taste will detect at the first mouthful, if the nose has not already demurred and given warning, the faintest trace ot dead water in tea, coffee, porridge and many other items designed for the stomach. More fre quently than otherwise the breakfast kettle is set boiling with a remnant of yesterday's supply In it; the coffee urn has been neither washed, dried, sunned nor aired; possibly In the in terest of a rigid and mistaken econ omy, some ot yesterday's coffee also Is "boiled over," and the partakers wonder at their lassitude and dys peptic conditions. Whatever Is neg lected, the teakettle and its associate pots should be thoroughly cleansed, dried and aired every day, and in no case should water that has stood over an hour in pitcher, pall or kettle be used for cooking. If people will drink tea and coffee, let them at least have it as nearly free from poisonous conditions as possible. That much benefit may be derived by many peo ple from drinking hot water is not disputed, but the water should be freshly drawn, quickly bailed in a clean and perfect vessel and Immedi ately used. The times of using, the adding of milk, mint, lemon or other fruit Juices Is a matter of preference or special prescription. Mock Indian Pudding Two slices bread buttered, put in dish, Just cover with boiling water, soak a few minutes until soft; add one egg (beaten), one quart milk, three-quarters cup of molasses and bake one hour. Easy to make; nice hot or cold, with or without cream. Rhubarb Pie One and one-half bunches of rhubarb, one and one-balf cupfuls ot sugar. Cut in small pieces after stripping off skin, cook it very fast in shallow stewpan, with sugar. Line le-plate with the paste; wet rim; add rhubarb, cold; lay three bars of paste across, fastening ends; lay three more across, forming diamond-shaped spaces; lay round a rim, wash over with eggs and bakj In quick oven fifteen minutes. Nut PuCding Take one cupful of molasses, one cupful ot sweet milk, one and one-half cupfuls ot flour, one-half teaspoonful ot salt, one tea spoonful of grated nutmeg, one tea spoonful of soda mixed in the flour, one cupful ot chopped beet suet, one pound ot English walnuts, chopped fine, and one-quarter pound of figs, chopped. Mix all dry ingredients to gether, then the milk and molasses mixed. Stir all together and steam for two and one-hall ours. Eat with orange or lemon sauce. Queen Pudding Two cups stale bread crumbs, yolks of two eggs, one quart of milk, one-halt cup sugar. Jelly, whites of two eggs, two level tablespoons sugar. Soak the crumbs in cold water until soft and drain. Beat the egg yolks slightly and add the milk and one-half cup sugar and strain on to the crumbs. Pour into a buttered baking dish and bake ,n a moderate oven until firm. When cold spread with jelly. Beat the whites of the eggs stiff, and beat in the sugar. Spread on top of jelly and brown la the oven. The Miracle of Self -Confidence By ORISON 8WETT MAItDEN. It was said that Napoleon's pres ence in a battle doubled the strength of his forces. Halt the effectiveness of an army resides In the soldiers' faith In their leader. When the lead er doubts, hesitates, wavers the whole army is thrown Into confusion; but his confidence doubles the assurance of every man under him. The mental faculties, like soldiers, must believe In their leader the un conquerable will. The mind of the doubter, the hesitator. the waverer, the man who is not sure of himself, who thinks he Is not equal to what he has undertaken, Is set toward failure, and everything works against him. There is a weakening all along the line. In an emergency, as In danger, a . man cftn often perform feats of great strength which he could not even ap proximate in cold blood. Arousing a man multiplies his power tremen dously. Think of what delicate men and women, even invalids, have ac complished when dominated by some supreme occasion or a mighty passion. The Imperious "must" gives added strength and unusual power to all the faculties. So a great self-faith, aa unwavering self-confidence, braces up tbe entire man, physically, mentally, morally. It raises him to his highest power, and makes him do with ease what would be impossible without this wonderful stimulus. An overmastering faith in oneself often enables comparatively Ignorant men and women to do marvelous things feats which sensitive, timid, doubting people, of far greater abil ity and much finer texture and nobler qualities shrink from attempting. I know people who have been hunt ing for months for a situation; but they go into an office with a confes sion of weakness In their very man ner; they show their lack of self confidence. Their prophecy of failure ' is In their faces, In their manner. They surrender before the battle be gins. They are living witnesses against themselves. When you ask a man to give you a position, and he reads this lan guage in your face and manner, "Please give me a position; do not kick me out; fate Is against me; I am an unlucky dog; I am disheart ened; I have lost confidence in my self," he will only have contempt for you; he will say to himself you are not a man, to start with, and he will get rid of you as soon as he can. If you expect to get a position, you must go into an office with the air of a conqueror; you must fling out con fidence from yourself before you can convince an employer that you are the man h is looking for. Yon must show by yonr very presence that you are a man of force, a man who can do things; with vigor, cheerfulness, and enthustaslsm. If you carry with you evidence of your power, the badge of superiority, then you will not wander the streets looking for a situation very long. Everywhere employer., are looking for men who can do things, who can conquer by inherent force and ener gy. From Success. If You Want to Be Loved. Don't contradict people, even If you're sure you are right. Don't be inquisitive about the af fairs of even your most intimate friend. Don't underrate anything because you don't possess it. Don't believe that everybody else In the world Is happier than you.' Don't conclude that you have never had any opportunities In life. Don't believe all the evils you hear. Don't be rude to your inferiors in social position. Don't repeat gossip, even if it does interest a crowd. Don't jeer at anybody's religious belief. Learn to hide your aches and pains under a pleasant smile. Few care whether you have the earache, head ache or rheumatism. Learn to attend to your own busi ness a very important point. Do not try to be anything else but a gentleman or a gentlewoman, and that means one who has consideration for the whole world and whose life is governed by the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would be done by." Christian World. Eyes and Seeing. Prof. W. D. Scott sounds a note of warning about the increasing use the eyes for reading and the inspec tion ot small near-by objects. This especially affects school children. Professor Scott says that the human eye was evolved for distant vision, and in its structure is relatively poor ly suited for near-by vision. The in crease of all sorts of printing aug ments the trouble every day, and "all things seem to be conspiring to make us use our eyes more and more for the very thing for which they are the most poorly adapted." There is, no doubt, much reason in this, but could the world banish its printing presses and retain its civilization? Growing a Foot a Dny. During the long drought of last spring, in Mauritius, a singular spec tacle, amid the stretches of dying j and desiccated plants, was presented by the white flowers of giant aloe stems, which sprang up on the moun tains and over the waste lands with amazing speed. At the time of tbe flowering, shafts as thick as a man's arm shot up from the heart of the plant, grew from twelve to eighteen Inches in twenty-four hours and reached a height ot thirty feet. A cluster of aloes before the flowers ap pear resembles a gigantic asparagus plant of j
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers