GAMBLERS. Flung on the whirling cosmic wheel, This great green sphere spins out the game Through alternating night and flame, Reckless of what the players feel. Eager, each change of luck they mark, With curse or prayer, or grin or smile, And win or lose a little wnile, And then go back into the dark. And some lose all, dead broke and blank; Most hedge, some plunge to make or break And some win wild on every stake, But none will ever break the bank. By their drawn brows and quivering lips, As their stacks slowly grow or shrink, The looker-on might almost think They played for money, not for chips. And one vague dread without a name, Shadows on everybody here— By what back stairs can we get clear, Should the powers come to raid the game? —Frank Lillie Pollock, in Life. OOQCOGGQGGGOOGCGQOQGGOOQO 1 TRACK | 1 OF FLOUR 1 o o oocoococoooooocoooooooaoo SOME persons change their con dition for better or worse, as the fates may go. Others have their modes of life changed for then). Helen Gray belonged to this latter class. It happened before the flonr incident of a snowy day in mid winter, and it happens now. But you may read and know. Long ago, oi long it "Seems now. though hut few years have passed since then, Helen played with her doll under a great elm tree which shook its branches in front of a Southern home and east its shadow across the Broad reranda and Corinthian pillars. A few years wont by and Helen's skirts lengthened, and her hair, which in former summers had been left to curl, was knotted on her head, and she put In her time with hammocks and hooks when the great tree threw its shadow along the house. Then she had callers, Hplen did. gentlemen friends of her early youth, and gradually they fell away to two, who became suitors and rivals. One was long of face and hair —which was straight—and talked of authors and flowers. The other was tall, had smiles for everything, his curly liair dancing over a shining face. Mrs. Gray liked this dandy of the South. Helen was more favorably im pressed with the former. Their names were Frederick Hudson and Harold Stetson Frederick was a young at torney of the town, and Harold—well, he had nothing to do, and did nothing, for his father was rich. ITelen's ROWD touched the floor and trailed fat out as she came down to dinner one Sunday afternoon, the day slie was to tell ITnrold his pleadings had been heard and his prayers grant ed. It had been a long struggle, and had lasted more than a year. Freder ick found in Helen's face and voice the thing that kept him so long. That which ho saw came from the heart and he knew It, r The mother won. When the bolls rang out for Christ mas Helen and Harold walked slowly up the aisle of the church while the or gan piped out its wedding march. Bright were the lights and rich the gowns; beautiful were the flowers and sparkling the gems that night. And all the tears were tears of joy and all that was said were congratulations. But In the hack of the church sat a young man, somewhat by himself, and watched the march to and from the al tar. and who had heard the words that made the two one for all time. After the procession had passed out of the door he. too. rose and went away It was Frederick Hudson, lawyer, hut the olace knew him no more, for that night he went away into the North and snow. One night in the early spring follow ing the wedding Harold was brought home oy his companions. He was breathing hard, and when Helen stooped over him the men laughed and she smelled liquor on her husband. From then on he drank hard and sat late before the green cloth. After a time old Mr. Stetson died and Harold was left with the mills and the estate of his father. But he ran through it al! like the fire that got in his cotton gin. and had nothing. Neither did Helen have a thing to add, for she had given him all she had and all her mother had left, even to the house with the elm tree where the girl had spent her baby hood. As for working. Harold knew little and cared less The young man thought if lie could get away from his asso ciates he could get to work, and even if it was that of a day laborer it would be the "entering wedge." It was that which caused them to sell off tlie household furniture and the de sire to get away from all who knew them that drove them to Chicago, where for a time they struggled against fate, and where Harold fell among those who were like the asso ciates he had left. He got to drinking and gambling and one stormy day the woman was summoned to the morgue. Harold was there, dead. The police had found his form in a doorway. His grave was in the potter's field. After the funeral—simple in the ex treme— Hplen sat down in her single room and asked herself what she should do. Snows neat upon the win dow. and the fire burned low in the stove; nothing was in the larder. Never before had the woman been hun gry. but she was starving. Yet she went to bed with the intention to again apply for work In the wholesale houses. Without breakfast Helen slipper] down the stairs and looked on the outer world. Snows were iU'ing and the wind was eom ing down the street in gusts that to the blast and struggled forth, stag gering along till she eatne to a door that opened the way into a warm rooac. But there they wanted no one, and she turned about to face the storm again. House after fwuse she visited, and In, all of them met the same an swer—surly. some of them were, and sent her back into the street wonder ing where she could go next. Next? That was a problem. It seemed she had been everywhere and still she was cold and hungry; her head ached and she was bedraggled by the snow. At that juncture Helen came to a track of flour that led across the sidewalk and into the open door of the docks of a steamship company. In front stood a dray laden with bar rels of the stuff, fresh from the mills, and inside the big shed the driver was wrangling with the foreman. In a twinkling Helen grabbed a paper from the hack of the wagon and swept the path of flour from the walk with her bare hand, one track after the other, until she had them both in her paper and straightened from her toil. Into the eyes of Frederick Hudson she looked "You here!" he exclaimed. "I am," replied the woman, standing at her full height. She was Helen Gray again, even in the storm of snow. "1 am here," she repeated. "And " "A widow and starving!" Tears trickled down her cheeks as she said this: "A widow—and starving?" Frederick echoed. "I have been your friend in the past and will be now. You shall not want." Arm in arm they walked away, and she told him all; how her husband had fallen; haw their all had been sacri ficed, and how at last they had come to Chicago; how he had met his death, and why she was in the streets. When they were seated at a table in a res taurant Fredefiek told her how he had come to Chicago and how he had pros pered as a lawyer. That very week the remains of Har old Stetson were shipped to his former home in the South and were accom panied by the widow. At the funeral was Frederick Hudson. A year later there was a quiet wedding in that town in which Helen Stetson was bride and Frederick Hudson the groom. Now this man and wife live on the South Side of this city, and tile man is a lawyer of prominence.—Harry A. Armstrong, in the Chicago Record- Herald. Still Finds Life Worth Llvlag, Two years ago a wealthy New Yorker was injured while swimming and it was thought that he would never get over the effects of the accident. But by a modern miracle of surgery he recovered after lying for months between life and death. He Is still confined to his bed and will never again he able to stand on his feet. The greatest luxury that he lias enjoyed since his accident came the other day when he was allowed to smoke a cigar. When it became certain that he would live the question of the place of residence was the most important. As his wealth made it unnecessary to con sider any question hut the suitability of a place for a person compelled to stay in the house always, it was not so difficult to find a home for him aa it might have been. The choice finally fell on an apartment house on Brook lyn Heights. The windows of this house command a wonderful view of the harbor and the East River. Night and day there is always a moving panorama of beauty before the eyes of the injured man who lies on his couch by the window. And he is philosophical enough to ad mit that life even under such condi tions is well worth living.—New York Sun. A Mounter Topaz. An Interesting story of a valuable topaz now In the possession of Signor Nicola Carelli comes from Naples, says the Rome correspondent of the London Leader. The topaz which Signor Car elli brought back from Bazil some years ago is so large that it is said to weigh over two pounds. A Neapolitan artist, seeing the stone, begged to be al lowed to engrave the figure of Christ on it in cameo. The work is now fin ished and Signor Carelli has been look ing for a purchaser. The value of the jewel is. however, so great that even the Pope himself, to whom it was of fered, could not afford to btiy it. Fin ally, says the Italie, a committee has been formed in Naples with the pur pose of buying the jewel from its pres ent owner by public subscription and offering it to Leo XIII as a jubilee present. H is to be hoped, therefore, that this wonderful treasure will be seen oy visitors to the Vatican Mu seum. Signor Carelli declares that there is no other such stone in the world. If© Knew the Secret. The secret of growing younger as the years advance Is not the solo posses sion of womankind. There are cir cumstances under which man may learn the art and ply the trade with a success that may put woman to shame. A bachelor who five years ago unblush ingly acknowledged his fifty years as his companions drank his health around the festive board has recently taken to himself a bride who boasts of eighteen summers When the news papers announced the engagement last spring the prospective bridegroom was referred to as a man of forty-five. Just now there are invitations out for a banquet to celebrate his thirty-eighth birthday. Some of his friends are won dering if the next year's celebration will be in honor-of his attaining his majority.—-New York Sun. She Funny of Life. Economy. "Thrice armed is he," so we are told, Who hath his quarrel just, But that a little less will do Is what we hope and trust. For when it is a lover's tiff 'Tis proven in a trice, You very probably will find Two arms will quite suffice. —New York Times. The Auto-Commuter. Summer Boarder—"ls this what you call live minutes from the station?" Farmer Geeliaw—"Yes, sir." Slimmer Boarder—"How many miles an hour is that?"—-Puck. A Definition. Little Clarence—"Pa, what Is experi ence?" Mr. Callipers—"Experience, my son. Is the headaches you acquire from buttiug against the world"—Puck. Their Polite Restraint. Gussie (gleefully)—" Bah JoveJ All the girls around here smile at ma" Tom—"Well, that shows they have some manners. Anywhere else tlioy would laugh outright."—Chicago News. Itlglit in Their T,lnp. "How did your baseball game come out?" "They mopped the ground with us." "I thought they would when I heard you calling them a scrub nine."—Chi cago Tribune. Tlic Important Detail. Dealer—"Now, sir, you will find this automobile always ready to go auy distance—" William Wise—"That's all right; but, say, how will I find 1 ivnou I'm ready to stop?"— Puck. The Proper Answer. Mrs. Newlywed—"What is the dif ference between 3*oll and a twenty dollar bill, pet?" Mr Newly wed—"l'll glv~ . up*" Mrs. Newlywed-"Tli; J the answer, dear—l need a no— -Puok. A Hargain. Hotel Proprietor—"lf the whole com pany puts up here I'll knock off twen ty-five per cent." Press Agent—"Make It fifty and I'll catch a twenty-two-pound trout aud see the sea serpent."—New York Sun. Poetic Justice. "Are you a believer in poetic jus tice?" asked the critic. "I am," answered the foreign author; "at least to the extent of hoping that the laws will see to It tha': we get the money coming to us for royalties." A Coming Terror. Fare—"l say. what's gone wroug? Why are 3 r ou going down here?" Santos 1001—"Gm a puncture, Fir! One o' them 'ere wireless telegrams, I expect, gone slap through my balloon." —New York Commercial Advertiser The Plagiarist. "Oh, Mr. Wrltemuch. is everything you write original with you?" asked the giddy young thing of the literary lion. ( "I'm afraid not," replied the 1. I.; "ovcry word I use may be found In the dictionary."—Cincinnati Commer cial Tribune. A Grave Responsibility. Do you think the king will recov er?" ' Yes," answered one of the royal physicians, "we feel 110 further appre hensions concerning his majesty What we desire to do now is to keep some of the people who expected to be so cially prominent at the coronation from dying of disappointment." Oue Definition of It. "What do you consider domesticity in man ?" "It is the trait of wanting to stay home when his wife wantß him to go out with her." "And what Is domesticity in wom an?" "That is the trait of being willing to stay home when her husband wants to go out without her"—Chicago Post. A Responsible Position. "So you have dismissed your stenog rapher?" "Yes," answered Senator Sorghum. "Wasn't he accurate?" "Yes; that was the trouble. I haven't had a good stenographer for years. What I want Is somebody who can throw in a few big words on bis own account for the sake of style with out changing the tucuniug."—Washing ton Star. VILLAGE LIFE. Change Wrought l>y Telephones, Trolley Cars and Mail Delivery. Telephones, rural mail routes, Inter urban and trolley lines have had the effect, It is said, of making small vil lages more quiet than formerly. A lit tle cross-roads settlement, with a gen eral store, a postotHce a blacksmith shop and a doctor's otHce as Its chief business establishments, is not at any time a very lively centre, but the com ing and going of the persons with af fairs to transact at these places create whatever stir is, and at times bring about the appearance of consid erable activity. But now that the farm telephone has come into use its owner does not "hitch up" and go to the village as formerly to do his er rands. He telephones to the store keeper his order for goods and asks him to send them out by trolley or by the first man traveling that way; he consults the doctor ovoi the telephone, and talks with his friends in the vil lage In the same way. The mall is brought to his gate, and thus relieves him of the necessity of a daily trip. His relations with the blacksmith remain unchanged, for no way has yet been devised whereby that useful personage can shoe a horse or mend a wagon without having horse and vehicle present. But these needs nre not of daily occurrence, nnd so it happens that the little street or open square which was wont to seem almost crowded with horses and vehicles at certain hours every day or on certain days in the week now often wears a deserted look, and the residents are conscious of a sense of loneliness. They Bay too, that when once a man gets on a trolley car with intent to make a purchase lie passes by the little country store and goes to a larger town, and that this is particularly true of his wife or daughter on similar errand. All this is a natural but rather curious development following the extended use of modern conveniences, nnd what remedy the village has Is not plain. Its only hope is apparently to establish attractions of a social or educational nature that will offset the loss in other directions and will draw its rural neighbors there for amusement and en tertainment.—lndianapolis Journal. WISE WORDS. One has only to die to be praised.— German proverb. The only way to keep a secret is to 6ay nothing.—French proverb. Opportunity sooner or later comes to nil who work and wish.—Lord Stanley. One lie must be thatched with an other or it will soon rain through.— Owen. Fullness is always quiet: agitation will answer for empty vessels only.— Aleott. Just do a thing! Don't talk about it! This is the great secret of success in all enterprises.—Sarah Grand. Awake no man from a dream unless he struggles In It. A weak belief is preferable to a bittei unbelief.—Lan dor. Readiness to answer all manner of questions involving book learning is the beginning of a species of idiocy.- The Unspeakable Scot. The good right arm of the breadwin ni. is strengthened more by an unex pected caress or an encouraging word from loved ones than by all the roast beef in Christendom.-Buell Hampton. True elevation of mind does not take a being out of the circle ot those who are below him, but binds him faster to them, gives advantages for a closer at tachment and conformity to him.—Sox tus. To know that the greatest men of earth are men who think as I do, but deeper, and sec the real as I do, but clearer, who work to the goal that 1 do. but fastet, and serve humanity as I do, but better—that may be an incite ment to my humility, but it is also an Inspiration to my life.—Baldwin. True poetry is truer than science, be cause it is synthetic, and seizes at once what the combination of all the sciences is able, at most, to attain as a final result, l'he soul of nature is di vined by the poet. The man of science only serves to accumulate materials for Its demonstration.—Amiel's Jour nal. Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Somt blunders nnd absurdities, no doubt, crept tn: forget them aB soon as you can. To-morrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This day is all that is good nnd fair. It is too dear, with its hopes nnd invitations, to waste a moment on the yesterdays.—Ralph Waldo Emer son. Treeß and Llßhtnlng. An ancient Swiss proverb advises people during thunder storms to avoid the oak tree, to tly from the fir and to seek the beech tree, which is safe. A little time ago a special inquiry was made In the canton of Lucerne to find if there were any truth in the proverb. Statistics showed that out of eighty trees struck by lightning in a forest district fifty-six were oaks, twenty four firs and larches, but, though there were seventeen beeches, not a single one suffered.—Chicago News. A Naval Scoot. A new fast cruiser Is now being built in the Baltic shipbuilding yards at St. Petersburg, intended for scout ing purposes and for carrying dis pntches to nnd from the Russian Pa cific squadron. She will be of 3000 registered tonnage, fitted with 18,000- liorse power engines, nnd capable of developing a speed of twenty-five knots. The vessel will be armed with quick-firers and torpedoes, and will carry a complement of 400 men. Jobs That Are Easy Not Worth While By President Roosevelt. IN this life, as a rule, the job that is easy to do is not very well 0 worth while doing. Now, let each man here look back in his life 9 and think what it is that he is proud of in it—what part of It he is e * glad to hand on as a memory to his sons and daughters. Is it • oeso* his hours of ease? No, not a bit. It is the memory of his of his triumph, and the triumph and the success could only come through 1 work [applause], the rough effort. Is not that true? I.