AN OUTLAW TRIBE. By Frank Liliic Pollock. EARLY one September day I left tile river steamer on the head waters of the Ottawa, and struck off into a wilder ness broken by settlements only near the navigable reaches of the river. I was.looking for a farm. My uncle, who had been in the mil itia during the "Fenian raids," unex pectedly found himself entitled to a quarter-section of what was known as "veterans' lauds" in northern On tario, aud as he was unable to leave his business, I had volunteered to se lect a desirable claim. This would at the same time give me an opportunity for my customary annual camping expedition. Byway of companion I took with me a small but abnormally restless fox terrier who had been In the woods with me before. No one can possibly bo lonely In the company of a fox-terrier, and I had educated .Tack to take a more scientitle interest in partridges and rabbits than is natural to his breed. Having such small game and the occasional backwoods settlers to depend upon, I expected to have no difficulty about provisions, and carried merely a few pounds of concentrated supplies in my knapsack. The rest of ray load consisted simply of a gun and a liberal stock of ammunition. At the end of (lie corduroy road, with n geo logical survey map as a guide, I took a half-obliterated trail into the forest. I found settlers less frequent, the land less promising, and the woods' much less penetrable than I bad been led to expect. For three days and a half Jack and I threaded the tangled undergrowth, became involved in swamps, and rafted ourselves across rivers. During all this time the weather bad been perfect, but the >urth day rose cold and cloudy. At .'.bout noon a heavy rain began, that presently settled into a dismal, all-day drizzle which saturated everything above ground, and produced an inde scribably dreary effect of autumn and desolation. It depressed even .Tack's abundant spirits, and he trotted soberly behind me. manifesting only a slight interest in the rabbit and woodehuek burrows We passed. As for myself, I did not much mind getting drenched; but I greatly disliked the idea of a wet camp. No shelter presented itself, but short ly before sunset I came unexpectedly upon an unmistakable wood-road, choked with "second growth," yet in dicating the neighborhood of human beings. I turned up it at once, with the pleasurable anticipation of finding a clearing and a hospitable settler at the end of it; but as the road continued to show every indication of long dis use, these hopes gradually weakened. Still, there was certain to be a building of some sort, even if deserted, and, in deed, a quarter of a mile farther the road curved a little, and I saw before me the expected clearing, with the empty log shanty, black-windowed and <j£se:'tetl, staring drearily through the twilight rain. v, It was a most melancholy-looking place, and under ordinary circling stances I should vastly iiave prgfetivd camping in the open forest. But Til this weather I welcomed it and pushed through the dripping jungle of shrub bjrj, weeds and berry bushes that had Brown over and choked a rather ex tensive clearing. The door had blown from its leather hinges and lay beside tile threshold; leaves had drifted into the interior, and there were many birds' nests in tlie inner corners of the walls. The Internal aspect of the place suggested that it had been abandoned for two or three years at least, but the roof did not appear to leak—not more, that Is. than wns naturally to bo expected. Tlie shanty contained two rooms, and In the Inrger nnd outer one was the great rock fireplace, still showing traces of blackened brands. A couple of smnll windows appeared never to have been glazed, nnd there was not n stick of furniture about the place. A doorway with no door led to the in ner apartment, and the presence of these two rooms, I thought, indicated that the house had been occupied by a real family; a bachelor establishment In the woods usually finds a liouso of one room most convenient. This second chamber was fitted with a log shelf above tlio doorway, nnd on the opposite wall another sliclf seemed to have served as a sort of table. Evidently other travelers bad been liar bored here before me, for tlie floor was heaped with twigs of hemlock nnd spruce, now dry and rusty red. I carried an armful of this material back to the fireplace for tinder, and split out one of tlio window-frames for kindling. Jack's spirits had bright ened upon getting under shelter, and lie was manifesting enthusiasm over a hole which he had discovered in n remote corner of the floor. From its small size I concluded that it was a woodchuck's burrow, and from the dog's conduct I Imagined that the owner was at home, for lie became so noisy that I was finally compelled to suppress liim with severity. A blazing fire on the great hearth made a world of difference in tlie ap pearance of the deserted house. Out side the rain still dripped dismally, but scarcely any of it came through the roof, and Jack nnd I supped in con siderable comfort on a couple of par tridges and a lump of hard bread. I was tired, and after I bad dried my self as well as I could, I dragged in a lot of tlie hemlock twigs and lay down before tlie fire. I was awakened from heavy slumber by Jack's loud barking. I must have eltpt a long time, for the lire had burned almost entirely out; only few ash-covered brands glimmered on the hearth. I was greatly annoyed at the disturbance, and although I could not see the dog, I called angrily to him to be quiet. He must have mistaken my tone for one of encouragement, for I heard him make a sudden rush across the lloor. There was an outburst of snarlings, a sudden, sharp, catlike "yowl," and the sound of a vicious rough-and-tumble scrimmage in the darkness. I jumped up, wide awake now, but before 1 could make any further movement Jack had broken away from his enemy nnd rushed back to me for protection. He was whining and quivering with rage and excitement. From the other side of the room, from his unseen antagonist, I could hear a low, purring growl, rising oc casionally to a shrill snarl, like that of a belligerent tom-cat. Although I could make out neither form nor out line of tile animal, I was presently able to distinguish a pale greenish glimmer of eyes. It was not difficult to identify their owner. It could be nothing but a lynx, I thought, that had strayed in some way into the cabin. So I was not particularly alarmed, for the Canada lynx is neither very ferocious nor hard to kill, nnd I picked up my gun from the wall and cocked it. At the click the eyes seemed to regard me more intently, and the growling snarl rose a note or two. I aimed squarely be tween the phosphorescent points and pulled the trigger. Tlie Hash blinded me, and I couhl see nothing. A savage snarl followed the shot, and Jack dashed yelping into the smoke. There was a confused scam pering of feet across the boards to ward the inner doorway and more out cries from the dog, who seemed to have followed his wounded antagonist into the second chamber. I tried to poke up the lire, but it was too nearly extinct, and I lighted a match. The room was empty, but in the middle of a shot-torn space on the roughly-boarded floor lay a broad patch of blood. Jack was standing in the doorway, barking violently and looking back to me for encouragement, nnd I could see red streaks on his white hide be fore tlie match burned out. I was considerably surprised that the shot at close range had not been fatal, but I reloaded my discharged barrel, lighted another match and cautiously approached the door. In the insuffi cient light I could see nothing. I leaned into the doorway and held up the little flame. I stepped inside, and the match burned my lingers nnd dropped, anil I was fumbling hurriedly for another when a sort of small, animated thun derbolt struck me on the top of the right shoulder. Before I could realize what had hap pened my cheek was laid open by a savage claw-stroke. I felt the soft, cool fur against my nock, and I was being clawed and bitten with savage energy; the animal, whatever it was, lyes clinging to my coat ami using veritable fugy< i,t.-.br'ned small, but it" r.m.'.ztng fer ocity terrified me, and I clutched at it and tried to' throw it off. I was in stantly bitten In the hand, and It hung like a bur, snarling in my ear; but I wrenched It loose nnd filing it to the floor. A medley of yelps and yowls told mo that It had been attneked by the terrier, but I was making for tlie door In a panic. 1 did not stop till I was outside tlie cabin, where Jack immediately fol lowed me. having been worsted again. It was pitch dark and mining harder than ever. No sound proceeded from the uullghtod shanty. Blood was trickling down my cheek, and I washed my wounds, which did not seem very serious, with rain-water, and tried to decide what sort of animal this could lie, so smnll nnd so ferocious, that had attacked me. It was much too small for either a bay or a Canada lynx; it had seemed not larger or heavier than Jack him self, but its savage energy of assault was terrific. In spite of tlio demoral ized condition of my nerves, I was de termined to clear up the mystery. Be sides, I had either to rid the shanty of its invader or resign myself to pass the rest of the night in the rain. It was hard, nevertheless, to muster courage to re-enter that dark cabin, but after some minutes of hesitation and doubt I did it, and reached the fireplace without interruption. 1 threw an armful of the sapln upon tlio hearth and lighted it with a match; the resin ous twigs blazed up like straw and il lumined tlie room brilliantly. There was no sign of the enemy, al though of course I could see little of the farther apartment. My courage revived at tlie cheerful blaze, and I twisted a stout torch of the dry boughs, lighted it, anil again approached the point of danger, my cocked gun in my right hand and tlio flambeau in my left. I realized that the brute must have dropped upon me from the high shelf above the doorway, and this time I poked about with my gun-barrel at arm's length until I had satisfied my self that there was no danger In that quarter. Then I stopped just inside the doorway, and Jack charged in un der cover of the light. The wailing snarl began again. On tlio wide shelf directly opposite me crouched a yellowish-gray animal, which, to my astonished amusement, I recognized at a glance as a very huge domestic cat. The domesticity, how ever, was rather a racial than an in - dividual characteristic, for I never saw a livelier picture of wild fury. - TUe fu i' stood on end nil over Its body, making it appeal- twice Its real size; its ears twitched; Its tail snapped viciously to and fro, and its eyes blazed green, while from between its bared teetli came that savage and rhythmic war-cry. Its gaze was alter nately directed at me and at Jack, who started toward it, barking furiously, but taking good care to keep out of reach. I took in this surprising scene at the first glance, and at the second I per ceived another cat, of a pure Maltese gray, lying apparently dead under the table-slielf. This must have been the one I had shot, and beginning to real ize that I had to deal with a whole family, I looked about somewhat ap prehensively for others. The third I presently discovered skulking in a dark corner, with gray back arched and tail puffed like a feather boa. This one seemed more anxious for concealment than for combat, and I glanced over the room for the rest of the tribe; but there seemed to be no more. I have always had a fondness for cats, and in spite of the unattractive appearance of these specimens, I could not think of shooting them down. No doubt they had been abandoned here by the original settlers of the cabin, and I felt sorry for the deserted crea tures. But It was absolutely necessary for the sake of peace to get them out of the house, and I shouted at them and threw chips and bits of bark. These had no effect, and I picked out a lump of the mud chinking be tween the logs, and flung It at the cat upon the shelf. The missile hit pretty hard, and with a yowl of despairing rage the animal sprang from its perch and alighted squarely upon the terrier, who had ventured too near in his ex citement. Jack yelped at the shock, but fought heroically, conscious that my eyes were on him. I could make out only a tangled mass of white and gray fur, spinning like a wheel and emitting a frenzied medley of every imaginable sort of canine and feline ejaculation. The second cat joined sympathetically in the outcry, and the uproar was indescribable. But Jack was far outmatched in everything but weight, and in a few seconds ho broke away again with a pitiful howl and darted behind me for protection. Reckless with rage, the cat followed him. I kicked out -wildly, and the cat fastened upon my legs with tooth and claw. I struck it with the butt of my gun and beat it with the flaming torch. Fire flew in all directions. The cat let go with a cowed snarl, but the loose hemlock had caught fire like gunpow der, and instantly the room was full of smoke. I dashed to the door, preceded by the dog, and In the dark I stumbled over something soft that spa*- at me. Once fairly outside, I slopped and looked back. The inner room of the shanty seemed all ablaze, but I was pretty certain that the light mass of twigs would burn up and go out without doing any serious damage. This, in fact, happened, but even then I had no inclination to re-enter the building. I did not mind admitting that I was fairly whipped. It was. almost cer tain that the cats hail tied, like our selves, from the conflagration, but I greatly preferred to getting wet to run even a remote risk of another encoun ter with that outlaw family. And the "est of that night Jack and I spent Very uncomfortably under a great j spruce, wet and shivering. As soon as it was light I went back to get my knapsack. My belongings, being in the outer room, had not been touched by the tire, and there was no trace of our nocturnal disturbers ex cept the body of the dead cat lying among the scattered ashes. It was too badly burned for examination, but it was easy to see that its size was far beyond that of the liearth-rug puss. Jack's hole in the floor had a now meaning for me now. It seemed to lead to a sort of den under the Jiouse, into which I could not see, but which, front tlio vile odor of decayed bones that came up, must have been in use for a long time. In fact, as everything indicated that the cabin had been for years abandoned by human life, it seemed to me probable that these feline tenants were of the second, per haps of the third, generation from their domesticated ancestors. A cat, at the best, is domesticated only on the surface, and these cats had prob ably fallen into the life of the woods with the greatest facility, remaining at tile shanty only through the charac teristic attachment of their race for their wonted haunts. Certainly these animals seemed to possess every qualification for flourish ing in their new environment, nnd it seemed certain that they would in time tend to revert to the original savage type of their race. It is not impossible that some time in the future some naturalist may report the discovery of a now sort of lynx or catamount in the forests of northern Ontario.— Youth's Companion. Olri-riiuo Itemed ion. In the family Bible of a lloxborough man there are a number of medical rules, written over seventy years ago by the great-grandmother of tile Bible's present owner. Among the rules are the following; "A stick of brimstone worn in the pocket is good for them as lias cramps. "A loadstoan put In the place ware the pane is, is beautiful for the liheu mntiz. "If you have hiccoughs, pinch one of your wrists wile you count sixty, or get somebody to skar# you and make you jumpe. "The earache—Put onion in ear after it Is well roasted. "The consumption—Eat us many pea nuts ns possible before going to bed." —Philadelphia Itecord. Greater licrliii'i Populutlo.9r The present population of Greater Berlin exceeds 2.530,000—ju5t 2,000,000 more than Munich. <MLDREN f S raPAR^ A Raggedy Doll. My sister's got a lot o' dolls, N' one's a sojer one; The's shiny buttons on his coat, 'N' he's got a teenty gun. Bhe's got a sailor doll, besides, 'lth clo'es all white and blue; He wears a cap 'ith strings behind, 'N' letters on it, too. 'N' 'en the's more'iTa dozen more 'At goes to sleep 'r talks; N' one bg wax one, cost a pile; t 'F you wind her up, she walks. But best of all's the raggedy doll, 'lth only one good eye. A leg is broke, 'll so's an arm; But 'at's no reason why She can't like Muster Raggedy Doll Th' best of all th's lot. She tb'ows him 'round, misuses himj 'N' for days he'll be forgot. But al'ays comes a time again Wen nothin' else 'll do • But Mister Raggedy, Raggedy Doll: He's better'n dolls 'at's new. j: —Christian Register. ?How to Make a Joggling Hoard. It Is a rare thing to iind one of these fascinatig things in any but the south ern part of the country, where they are quite common. This seems rather strange, too, as the hoard is much THE JOGGLING EOARD IN MOTION, more interesting to navigate than an ordinary hammock, to say nothing of the greater number of people It will Qccouimodate. To be sure, the one who sits in the middle will feel a little like a sardine. The most important thing Is the board itself, which should be of sea THE MISSING BOYS' PUZZLE. r~ VTMI 111 I.l*ll TTI-~r 111 I UMII Xu this German scene can you find two more boys? Boned oak, free from knots, with as straight a grain ns possible, at least ten feet In length and not less than ten inches wide. The rockers or horses should he of hardwood, but spruce or hemlock will do. These should be very strongly made, with tight joints, Well pinned or screwed together. The four rockers must be cut from seven-eighths or one-inch stuff, accord ing to the length of your board. Cut in a semi-circle, as shown in the draw ing. There should be at least eighteen Inches from point to point. The up-, right should be of seven-eighths or one-inch stuff also, nbout twenty-six inches in height and four inches in width. Cut along this line, half way through, and with a sharp chisel re move the section. This Is to he done ~o TT g- | ! THE ROCKER COMPLETE. with all four pieces, and you must also in the top of the four rockers cut a section out into which these sawed ends will snugly fit. Fasten these in the rockers by boring four one-quarter inch holes and driving pegs. When you have completed the four rockers you are ready to join each pair. T-his is easily done by fastening two pieces three inches wide and four teen inches long on each side of the upright close to the rocker. About two inches from the top of each rocker fas ten two more three-inch pieces. All of this work can he fastened with l'/j-incli screws. Vour rockers are now complete, and you are ready to place the board. Be fore doing this, however, you must fasten with screws two stout cleats about a foot from each end. When the board is In position It should fit down over the pieces you have fast ened across your uprights, and the cleat prevents it from slipping, as it is bent up and down. There are several ways of fastening this, but the one given is the simplest.—Atlunta (Ga.) Journal. Incombustible Wood. Alum and glue in equal parts are dissolved in water strongly saturated with salt. Both solutions are mixed together. Dip splinters of wood into the fluid until every part Is saturated, let them dry, aud repeat the process. Wood prepared In such away will not burn. To make the trick more inter esting and to avoid the suspicion that the splinters are prepared, mix them among otlu-f unprepared splinters af ter marking them in a certain way. After burning a few splinters, pick out one of the prepared ones and de clare that by your magic influence tile splinter you bold in your hand will become incombustible. Hand it over to the audience, and it is easily understood that nobody will be able to set it a tire.—New York Tribune. nistory's Great Naval Hero. Paul .Tones wns a naval adventurer, whose real name was John Paul. He was born In Kirkcudbright, Scotland, son of a gardener; took to the sea, engaged in llie slave trade, settled in Virginia, threw in his lot with the colonists and against the mother coun try, and offered his services as a sea captain in the war with a ship of eighteen guns; he in 17T8 infested the British coast and made a descent on Hie shores of his native country; his sympathies were with the French in their struggles for liberty, and he fought in their service as well, making the "proud Forth quake at his bellying snils," and capturing two British war vessels off Flamborough Head. He died in Paris, where lie languished In poVerty, but the National Assembly granted him a "ceremonial funeral," attended by a deputation; "as good," reflects Carlyle in his apostrophe to liim, "as good had been the natural Presbyterian kirk bell, and six feet of Scottish earth, among the dust of thy loved ones." Ants and Spiders as Food. In some countries the people eat ants. In Sweden they mix them with rye and flavor the stew with brandy. They make a dish of pressed ants, nnd soften it with milk until it looks like our chocolate. In Africa the children roast large white ants and eat them by the hand ful like popcorn. Travelers who have eaten them say that they taste like almond paste. Many people cook nnd eat the locust. They boil them in salty water, roast them in oil or fry them in butter. Sometimes they dry and grind the lo custs and make the powder into bread by adding a little water. The Mexicans are fond of roasted spiders. They also dry the eggs of a certain water fly, grind them into flour and sell it by the sack. This flour is sweet uud much used for cakes. These are only a few of the many queer things eaten by the boys nnd girls of other lands. The children of our own country often eat roasted grasshoppers, and say that they taste like parched horse corn or maize. SC!ENCE|jpA|CS No insect is so dreaded in Africa as the tsetse fly, -the bite of which is fatal to horses. The only effectual pro tection to the horse is a complete suit of pajamas, rvhich are largely in use."\— The cloth of -which the pajamas are ™ made Is sting-proof. Dr. Calvello, an Italian, has discov ered that nine per cent, of essence of thyme and eighteen per cent, of es sence of geranium mnlce nn excellent disinfectant, when freely used, for the hands of medical operators. As tjiese essences enter largely into the composi tion of eau de Cologne, it follows that this scent is a good antiseptic for or dinary purposes. In his experiments with various vehi cles, M. Mlchelin has found that iron tires require greater motive power than either solid rubber or pneumatic. Aa electric automobile running with five per cent, greater speed with pneumatic tires took eighteen per cent, less power - than when fitted with solid tires; and | in stopping, the solid tires required nu " increase of fourteen per cent, in brak ing power. For shallow-draught steamers, both side-wheels and stern-wheels have dis advantages, especially In the weight of their machinery, while propellers—as they have been used in fixed tunnels lose efficiency through increased fric tion as loading sinks the tunnel's open ing. In a new English propeller boat for shallow rivers, the stern end of the tunnel is made adjustable by a hinged flap. Baising or lowering the llap keeps the opening just below the surface, and it is claimed that with a moderate load the gain is twenty-llvo per cent. The search for a welding process for aluminium still goes on, in spite of the-* claim of several investigators that they W" have discovered a practical solution of ' the problem. One of the latest claims Is that of Mary W. Eiumo, of New York City, who lias discovered that tho result may be attained by heating the two contacting ends of aluminium un der suitable condition approximately to or above a temperature of UOO degrees Centigrade. To carry out the process successfully the parts must be scrupu lously cleansed before heating them to tho welding point, and it is stated that the result is a mass possessing the same physical qualities of a piece of aluminium which has never been sub jected to separation. The London School of Tropical Medi cine has discovered a new parasite which is the cause of a tropical fever which resembles malaria, but which does not yield to the same trentment and is generally fatal in its rcsnltslK The new creature does not inhabit the corpuscles like tho malaria parasite, but is free in the blood current, like the Marine, which is the cause of elephan tiasis; and it is either identical with or closely resembles the parasite commun municatcd to certain animals by the tsetse fly. It is described as a tricho somn. Its discovery is too recent to admit of more than a bare mention, but it undoubtedly opens out a pros pect of cure In a class of cases which have hitherto proved almost absolutely intractable, and onae more demon strates the wisdom of establishing such a school of medical research. The promises of economy gains from burning pulverized coal have for years led to persistently recurring experi ments and each new venture in the die Id has been hernlded with claims of final success. After all, liowever\ experience in every instnnee seems have ultimately demonstrated that it is difficult to obtain combustion of such fuel with as small an amount of air per pound of fuel as can be obtaiued In" the best practice with coal fired on an ordinary grate, and this has always tended to make the economy lower than with the usual method. Besides this, the power required to operate the coal pulverizer and feeder has counted against the efficiency of the plant as a whole, and there is generally some dif ficulty from the collection of ashes and uncousumed particles of coal in tho hack connections of the hollers. Judg ing from all the available data, these drawbacks still remain to be overcome. The Hoodoo at Work. The conductor of au elevator in n big down-town office building appeared nervous a few days ago. "I've half mind to ask tho superintendent to me off for the remainder of the day," 1 he remarked. "Why? Because there's evidently a hoodoo of some sort at work, and I feel almost sure that an accident is going to happen to me or to this car. I tell you, the feeling is n mighty uncomfortable one. What lias caused me to worry? Well, sixteen' people, by actual count, have told mo this morning that last night they) dreamed about this elevator. Now, you must admit that that's something more than a strange coincidence. "I guess I'll feel better tomorrow if T rest to-day," added the elevator man, as he carefully started the car down ward and) toward the basement where the superintendent of the building has his headquarters.—Washington Star. Tailors' Resonrcefulness. i If men knew the many artifices tailor has to resort to in order to make them presentable they would be less ready to make him the butt of ridicule. Truly the tailor has need of padding and wadding, haircloth and canvas, to enable him to clothe his customers in such away as to hide their deformi ties, and bring into prominence their points of beauty.—Tailor and Cutter.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers