"HAND AND RING."

Br Anna Kathrrine Green, Author of "Tho Loavanworth Murder," " The Sword of Damoaos," " Tho Defcnco the Prude," etc.

CHAPTER XXXIV,

WHAT WAS HID BEHIND IMOGENK's VVj L

Mark now, how a plain tale shall put you down. —Henbv IV.

The few minutes that elapsed before tho formal opening of court tho next morning woro marked by great cheerfulness. The ■crisp frosty air had put everybody in a good humour. Even tho prisoner looked less Bornbre than before, and for tho first time einco the beginning of his trial, deigned to turn his eyes toward tho bench where Imo gene sat, with a look that^ while it was not exactly kind, had certainly less disdain in it than before he saw his way to a possible ac quittal on the theory advanced by hia Counsel.

But ttiis look, though his first, did hot prove to be his last, Something in the atti tude of tho woman ho ga?ed tit—or was it WO mystery of the heavy black veil that fenveloped her features?—woke a strango dnubt in his mind. Beckoning to Mr Oreutt, ho communicated with him in a low tone.

"Can it be possible," asked ho, "that anything now could have transpired sinco last night to give encouragement to the prosecution ?" The lawyer, startled, glanced hastily about him and shook his head.

"No," he cried; "imdossiblo? What could have transpired V "Look at Mr Ferris," whispered the prisoner, "and then at tho witness who wears a veil."

With an unaccountable feeling of reluc tance, Mr Orcutt hastily complied. His first glance at tho District Attorney tnado him thoughtful. Ho recognised tho look which his opponent wore; ho had seen it many a time bofore this, and know what it Indicated. As for Imogeno, who could toll what went on in that determined breast? The close black veil revealed nothing. Mr Orcutt impatiently turned back to his client.

"I think you alarm yourself unneces sarily," he whispered. "Ferris means to fight, but what of that? He wouldn't be fit for his position if he didn't struggle to the last gasp even for a failing cause." Yet in saying this his lip took its sternest line, and from the glitter of bis eye and the close contraction of his brow it looked as if be were polishing his own weapons for the conflict he thus unexpectedly saw before him.

Meantime) across tho court-room, another whispered conference was going on. " Hickory, whoro have you been ever since last night ? I have not been able to find you anywhere."

"I was on duty—l had a bird to look after."

"A bird!"

"Yes, a wild bird ; one who is nouo too fond of its cage; a desperate one who might find means to force asido Its bars and fly •tray." "What do you mean, Hickory? What nonsense is this ?"

" Look at Miss Dare and perhaps you will understand." "Miss Dare?" •• Yes."

Horace's eyes opened in secrefralarm. " Do you mean " " I mean that I spent tho wholo night in tramping up and down in front of her win dow. And a dismal task it was too. Her lamp burned till daylight." Here the court was called to order, and Byrd had only opportunity to ask : " Why does she wear a veil ?" To which the other whispering^ N . torted: " Why did she spend the who^ 6 n ig]jt i n packing up her worldly goods, am } writing & letter to the CongregatK jna i m i n i s ter to be sent after the adjourr jmen t o f COUT t, t O . day ?" ,■: "Did shodotha*/;", "She did." " Hickory don't you know—haven't you been to' a w [ lat e^e , s OX posted to say or do hero. Co-day?" -' No."

" You only gue3s ?" "No, I don't guess." " You fear, then ?"

"Fear! Well, that's a big word to a fellow like me. I don't know as I fear any thing ; I'm curious, that ia all." Mr Byrd drew back, looked over at Imo gene, and involuntarily shook his head. What was in the mind of this mysterious ■woman 1 What direful purpose or shadow of doom lay behind the veil that separated her from the curiosity and perhaps the sympathy of the surrounding crowd ? It was in vain to question; he could only wait in secret anxiety for the revelations which the next few minutes might bring. The defence having rested the night bo fore, the first action of the Judge on the opening of the court was to demand •whether the prosecution had any rebutting testimony to offer. Mr Ferris instantly rose. " Miss Dare, will you retake the stand?" eaid he. Immediately Mr Orcutt, who up to the last moment had felt his case as secure as if it had indeed been founded on a rock, bounded to his feet, white as the witness herself. " 1 object!" he cried. " The witness thus recalled by the counsel of the prosecu tion has had ample opportunity to lay be fore the court all the evidence in her pos •ession. I submit it to the court whether mylearned opponent should not have ex hausted his witness before he rested his case." "Mr Ferris," asked the Judge, turning to the District Attorney, "do you recall this witness for the purpose of introducing freih testimony in support of your caao, or meroly to disprove the defence 1" "Your Honor," was the District At torney's reply, " I ought to say in fairness to my adversary and to the court, that since the case was closed a fact has come to my knowledge of so startling and con clusive a nature that I feel bound to lay it before the jury. From this witness alone can we hope to glean this fact; and as i had no information on which to base a ques tion concerning it in her former examina tion, I beg the privilege of reopening my ease to that extent." " Then the evidence you desire to sub mit U not in rebuttal?" queried the Judge. " I do not like to say that," rejoined the District Attorney, adroitly. " I think it may bear directly upon the question ■whether the prisoner could catch the train at Monteith Quarry if he left the widows house after the murder. If the evidence 1 am about to offer be true, ho certainly "^Thoroughly alarmed now and filled with the dismay which a mysterious threat is al waya calculated to produce, Mr Orcutt darted a wild look of inquiry at Imogene, and finding her immovable behind her thick veil, turned about and confronted the Diitrict Attorney with a most sarcastic umile upon his blanched and trembling P "Does my learned friend suppose the court will receive any such ambiguous ex planation as this? If the testimony sought 1 from this witness is by way of rebuttal, let him say so ; but if it is not, let him be frank enough to admit it, that I may in turn present my objections to the introduc tion of any irrelevant evidence at this '""The testimony I propose to present through this witness i» in the way of re buttal," returned Mr Ferris severely. " The argument advanced by the defence, that the prisoner could not have left Mrs Clemmens's house at ton minutes before twelve and arrived at Monteith Quarry Staion at twenty minutes part one, is not a tenable one, and I purpose to prove it by thMKK''slook of anxiety changed to «n« of mingled amazement and incredulity. ™Ml wftness! You have .chosen a Saigas over her at last." ■-'■■-. „ « But it is too late.

Mx&nMMo the Diatrict Attorney. had again to Miss pare hia desiro that sho should take the stand. Slowly, and uke a poison in a dream, ehe arose, un loosed her ve'l, dragged it from boforoher set features, and stepped mechanically forward to tho place assigned her. What was there in tho face thus revealed thai called down an instantaneous silence upon the court, and made the momentary pause that ensued momorable in the minds of all present ? It was not that she was so palo, though her close-fitting black dress, totally unrelieved by any suspicion of white, was of a kind to bring out any startling change In her com plexion ; nor was thero visible in her bear ing any trace ot the feverish excitement which had characterised it the evening be fore ; yet of all the oyes that wore fixed up on her—and there were many in thot crowd whoso only look a moment before had been one of heartless curiosity—there wero none which wero not filled with compassion and raoro or le*s dVead.

Meanwhilo, slie remained like a statue on the spot where shohad taken lier stand, and her eyes, which in her former examination had met tho court with tho unflinching gazo of an automaton, wero lowered till tho lashes swept her cheek, "Miss Dave," asked the District At tori:oy, as soon as ho could recover from his own secret emotions of pity and regret, " will you tell us whoro you wero at the hour of noon on the morning Mrs Cletnmens was murdered ?" Bofovo she could answer, before in fact her stiff and icy lips could part, Mr Orcutt had risen impetuously to his feet", like a man bound to contend every stop of tho way with the unknown danger that menaced him.

"I object!1' he cried, in tho changed voicoofa deeply disturbed man, while thoso who had an interest in the prisoner at this juncture could not but notico tlint lie, too, showed signs of suppressed feeling, and for the first timo sinco the boginuiug of the trial absolutely found his self-command in suiliciont to keep down tho rush of colour that swept up to Ms swarthy cheok. "Tho question," continued Mr Orcutt, " is not to eliafc testimony in rebuttal. " Will ray learned friend allow the wit ness to give hernnawor, instead of assuming wliat it is to bo ?"

'' I will not," retorted his adversary. " A child could sco that such a question is not admissible at this stage of the case." " I am sure my learned friend would not wish me to associate him with any such type of inexperience ?" suggested Mr Ferris, grimly.

But the sarcasm, which at one time would have called forth a stinging retort from Mr Orcutt, passed unheedod. The great lawyer was fighting for his life, for is heart's life, for the love and hand of Imogeno—a rocompense which at thia moment her own unconsidored action, or tho constraining powor of a conscience of whose might ho had already received such heart-rending manifestation, seomed about to snatch from his grasp tor •vec. Turning to tho Judgo, he said : " I will not delay the caso by bandying words with my esteemed friend, but appoal at once to the Court as to whether1 the whereabouts of Mies Daro on that fat»l morning can have anything to do with the defence wo have proved."

"Your Honor," commonced the District Attorney, calmly following the lead of his adversary, " I am ready tostake my roputa tion on the declaration that this witness is in possession of a fact that ovorturns tho wholo fabric of tho defonco. If tho par ticular question I liavo mado use of, in my endeavour to elicit this fact, in displeasing to my friend, I will venture upon another less ambiguous, if more direct and porhaps leading." And turning i»^ ft ; n to the wit ness, Mr Forris calmly inquired s " Did you or did you not see tho prisoner on the morning of the assault, at a time distinctly kr;own by you to bo after ten minutes to, twelve ?

Itw^s out. The lino of attack meditated by FerrU was patent to everybody. A r jurmur pf surprise and interest Bwept through bho court room, while Mr Orcutt, who in spite of his vague fears was anything but prepared for a thrust of this vital nature, started and cast short demanding looks from Imogene to Mansell, as if ho would ask them what fact this was which through ignorance or presumption they had conspired to keep from him. Tho startled look which he surprised on the stern face of the prisoner, showed him there was every thing to fear in her roply, and bound ing again to his feet, he was about to make some further attempt to stave off tho im pending calamity, when the rich voico of Imogene was heard saying : " Gentlemen, if you will allow mo to toll my story unhindered, I think I shall soonsit satisfy both the District Attorney and tho counsel for the prisoner." And raising her eyes with a slow and heavy movemont from tho floor, she fixed them in a meaning way upon the lattor. At once convinced that he had been un necessarily alarmed, Mr Orcutt sank back into his seat, and Imogeno slowly pro !ceedod.

She commenced in a forced tono and with a sudden quick shudder that made hor words come hesitatingly and with strange breaks: "I have been asked—two questions by Mr Forris—l prefer—to answer tho first. He asked me—wkere I was at the hour Mrs Clemmens was murdered."

She paused so long one had timo to count her breaths as they came in gasps to her white lips. " I have no further desire to hide from you the truth. I was with Mrs Clemmens in her own house."

At this acknowledgement so astonishing, and besides so totally different from the one he had been led to oxpect, Mr Ferris started as if a thunderbolt had fallen at hia feet.

" In Mrs Clenimens'Bhouse?" he ropoated, amid the excited hum of a hundred mur muring voices. " Did you say in Mrs Clemmens's house ?"

" Yes," she > returned, with a wild, ironical smile that at once asiured Mr Ferris of his helplessnoss. "lam on oath now, and I assert that on the day and at the hour Mrs Clemmens was murdered I was in her house and in her dining-room. I had come there secretly," she proceeded, with a sudden feverish fluency that robbed Mr Ferris of speech, and in fact held all her auditors spell-bound. " I had been spend inganhourorso at Professor Darling's, whose house in West Side is, as many here know, at the v»ry end of Summer Avenue, and close to the woods that run along back of Mrs Olemmens's cottage. I had been sitting alone in the observatory, which is at the top of one of the towers, but being suddenly seized with a desire to see the widow and make that promised attempt at persuading her to reconsider her decision in regard to the money her—her—the prisoner wanted, I came down, and unknown to any one in the house, stole away into the woods and bo to the widow's cottage. It was noon when I got there, or very near it, for her com pany, if she had had any, was gone, and she was engaged in settling the clock where "

Why did she pause ? The District At torney, utterly stupefied by his surprise, had made no gign; neither had Mr Orcutt. Indeed, it looked as if the latter could not have moved, 'much less spoken, even if he had desired' it. Thought, fooling, life itself, seemed to be at a standstill within him as he sat with a face like clay, waiting , for words whose import he perhaps taw foreshadowed in her wild and terriblo mien. But though his aspect w&s enough to stop her, it was not upon him sho was gazing when the words ripped on her lips. It was upon the prisoner, on the man who up to this time had borno himself with such iron like composure and reserve, out who now, with every sign of feeling and alarm, had started forward and stood surveying her, with his hand uplifted in the authoritative manner of a master. The next instant- he sank back, teeling the eye of the Judge upon him ; but the signal had been made, and many in that court-room looked to see Imogene falter or break down. But she, although fascinated, perhaps moved by this hint of feeling from one who had hitherto met all the exigencies of the hour with a steady and firm_ com posure, did not continue silent at his bid, ding On the contrary, her purpose, what ever it was, seemed to acquire new force, for turning from him with a strange, un earthly glare on her face, she fixed her glances on the jury and went steadily on. "I have said," she. began, "that Mrs Clemmens was winding her clock. When I came in she stepped down, and a short and angry colloquy commenced be tween us. She did not like my coming there. She did not appreciate my interest in her nephew. She made me furious, frenzied, mad. I—l turned away—then I came back. She was standing with her face lifted toward her clock, as though she no longer heeded or remembered my pres ence. I—l don't know what came to me ; whether it .was hatred or love that maddened my brain—but :" She did not finish ; she did not need to. The look she gave, the attitude she took, the appalling gesture which she made, sup plied the place of language. In an instant Mr Ferris, Mr Orcutt, and all the many and confused spectatorswhohungupon her words as if spell-bound, realised that instead of giving evidence inculpating the prisoner, she was giving evidence accusing herself; that in other words, Im6gene Dare, eoaded to madness by the fearful alterna tive of either destroying her lover or saon

ficing herself, had yielded to the claims of her love or her conscience, and in hearing of judgo and jury, proclaimed herself to be tho murdoress of Mrs Clemmons.

Tho momont that followed was frightful. Tho prison or, who was probably the only man present who foresaw her intention when sho began to speak, had sunk back into his seat and coverod hia face with his hands long boforo blio reached the fatal de claration, But the spectacle presented bj1 Mr Orcutt was enough, as with eyes dilated and Hps half parted in consternations he Stood before them a victim of overwhelming Binotion \ so overcome, indeed, as scarcely to be able to giv"e vent to the one low and memorable cry that involuntarily loft his lips as the full realisation of what sho had done smote home to his .stricken breast.

As for Mr Ferris, ho stood dumb, ab solutely robbed of speech by this ghastly confession he hud unwillingly called from his witness's lips ; while slowly from end to end of that courtroom tho wave of horror spread, till Imogene, her cause, rtnd that of tho wretched prisoner himself, seotned swallowed up in one fearful tklo of un reality and nightmare. The iirst gleam of rolief camo from the Judge.

" Miss Dare," said he, in his slow, kindly way that nothing could impair, "do you realise the nature of the evidence you havo given to the Court?" Her slowly falling head and white face, from which all the fearful excitement was slowly ebbing in a dead despair, gavo answer for her.

" I fear that you are not in a condition to realise tho effect of your words," tho Judge went on, "Sympathy for the prisoner or the excitement of boing recalled to tho stand has unnorTod or confused you. Tako time, Miss Dare, the Court will wait; re consider your words, and then tell us the truth about this matter."

But Imogcne, with white lips and drooped j-.»id, answered hurriedly: "1 have nothing to considor. I havo told or attempted to tell, how Mrs Glom irens came to her death. Sho was struck down by me ; Craik Mansell thoro is inno cent."

At tills ropotitiou in words of what nho had before moroly intimatod by n gesture, tho Judge ceased his questions, and tha horror of tho multitude found vont in ono long, low, but irropressiblo murmur. Taking advantage of tho momentary dis turbance, Byrd turned to his colloaguo with the agitated inquiry: "Hickory, is this what you have had in your mind for tho lost fow days f" "This," repeated the other, with an air of careful consideration, aasumed, as Byrd thought, to conceal any emotion which he might have felt; " no, no, not roally. I— I don't know what I thought. Not this though." And he fixed hie eyea upon Imo gene^ fallen countenance, with an sxpres aion of mingled doubt and wonder, ai batlHng in it a nature oaths tons of roice lie had usod.

"But,"stammered Byrd, with au earnest ness tkafc almost partook of the Mature of pleading, "she is not speaking tho truth, of course. What we heard her say in the knt ".

"Hush!" interposed the other, with a significant gesture and a sudden glance to ward the prlsonor aud his counsel; " watch ing is better than talking just now. Be sides, Orcutt is going to speak." It was so. After a short and riolont con flict with thoalmoßt overwhelming emotions that had crushed upon him with the words and actions of Imogene, the great lawyer had Bummon«d up sufficient coutrol orer himself to reassumo the dutios of his posi tion and face ouco more tho expectant crowd, and tho startled, if not thoroughly benumbed, jury. His lirst words had tho well-known ring, und, liko a puff of cocl air through a hoatod atmosphere, at once restored the court room to its usual condition of formality and restraint.

" This is not evidence, but the raving of frenzy," ho said, in impassioned tones. " The witness has been tortured by tho do mauds of tho prosecution till she is no longer responsible for her words." And turning toward the District Attorney, who, at tho first Bound of his udversary's voice, had roused himself from tho stupor Into which he had been thrown by the fearful and unaxpoctcd turn which Imogeno's con fession had taken, ho continued : "If my learned friend is not lost to all feelings of humanity, ho will withdraw from tho stand a witness labouring undor a mental aberra tion of so serious a nature."

Mr Ferris was an irritable man, but ho waa touched with sympathy for his friend, reeling under tc heavy a blow. He there fore forbore to notice this taunt save by a low bow, hut turned at ouce to the Judge. " Your fionor," said he, " I desire to be understood by tho Court, thst the stato ment which has just been inado in your hearing by this witness, is as much of a sur priso to me as to anyone in this court-room. Tho fact which I proposed to elicit from hor testimony was of an ontirely different nature. In tho conversation which wo held last night " But Mr Orcutt, vacillating between his powerful concern for ImogehO and his duty to his client, would not allow the other to proce«d." " I objeot," said ho, " to any attempt at influencing the jury by the statement ol any conversation which may have passed between the District Attorney and the wit ness. From its effects we may judge some thing of its nature, but with its details we have nothing to do." And raising his voice till it filled tho room like ft clarion, Mr Orcutt said :

" The momentistoo serious for wrangling. A spectacle, the most terrible tha« can be presented to the eyes of man, is beforo yuu. A young, beautiful, and hitherto honoured woman caught in the jaws of a cruel fate and urged on by the emotions of her box, which turn erer toward self-sacrifice, hap, in a moment of miitakon zeal or frantic torror, allowed horeolf to utter words which sound lihe a criminal confession. May it please your Honor and Gentlemen of tho Jury, this is an act to awaken compassion in the breast of every true man. Neither my client nor myself can regard it m any other light. Though his case were ten times more critical than it is, and con demnation awaited him at your hands in stead of a triumphant acquittal, he is not the man I believe him if he would consent to accept a deliverance founded opon utterances so manifestly frenzied and de void of truth. I therefore repeat the objec tion I hare before urged. I ask your Honor now to strike out all this testimony as Irrelevant in rebuttal, and I beg our learned friend to close an examination as unprofit able to his own cause as to mine."

" I agree with my friend," returned Mr Ferris, "that the moment is one unfit for controversy. If it please the Court, there* fore, I will withdraw tha witness, though by so doing I am forced to yield all hope of eliciting the important fact I had relied upon to rebut the defence." And obadient to the bow of acquiescence he receiT«d from the Judge, the District Attorney turned to Miss Dare and consider ately requested her to leave the stand. But she, roused by the sound of her name perhaps, looked up, and meeting the eye of the Judge, said : " Pardon me, your Honor, but I do not desire to leave the stand till I have made clear to all who hear me that it is I, not the prisoner, who am responsible for Mrs Clemmens's death. Tho agony which I have been forced to undergo in giving testimony against him, has earned me tho right to say the words that prove his inno cence and my own guilt." " But," said the Judge, "we do not con sider you in any condition to give testi mony in Court to-day, even against your self. If what you say is true, you shall have ample opportunities hereafter to cen i firm and establish your statements, for you ' must know, Miss Dare, that no confession of this nature will bo censidered sufficient without testimony corroborative of its ! truth."

"But, your Honor," she returned, with a dreadful calmness, "I have corroborative testimony." And amid the startled looks of a'l present, she raised her hand and pointed with steady forefinger at the astounded and by no means gratified Hickory. " Lot that man be recalled," she cried, "and asked to repeat the conversation he had with a young servant girl called Roxana, in Pro fessor Darling's obserTatory some ten weeks ago." The suddenness of her action, the calm assurance with which it was made, together with the attention it evinced of summoning actual evidence to substantiate her confes sion, almost took away the breath of the as sembled multitude. Even Mr Orcutt seemed shaken by it, and stood looking from the outstretched hand of this woman he so adored to the abashed countenance of the rough detective, with a wonder that for the first time betrayed the presence of alarm. Indeed, to him as to others, the moment was fuller of horror than when she made her first self accusation, for what at that time partook of the vagueness of a dream seemed to be acquiring the substance of an awful reality. Imogene alone remained unmoved. Still with her eyes fixed -on Hickory, she con tinued :

" He lias not told you all he knows about this matter, any more than I. I! my words need corroboration, look to him."

And taking advantage of the sensation which this last appeal occasioned, she waited where she was for the Judge to

speak, with all the calmness ef one wh< has nothing more to fear or hope for in thii world. But the Judge sat aghast at this spectack of youth and beauty insisting upon its owr guilt, and neither Mr Ferris nor Mr Orcutt having words for this omergoncy, a silenco, tleop as tho feeling which had boon aroused, gradually Hottled over tha whole court, It was fast becoming oppressive, when suddonly a voice, low but firrii and endowed with a strange power to awake and hold the attention, was hoard spoaking in that quarter of the room whence Mi Orcutt's commanding tones had so often issued. It was an unknown voice, find for a minute a doubt seemed to rest upon the assembled crowd as to whom it belonged. But the chango that had come into Imogeno's faco, as well as tho character of tho words that wero uttered, soon convinced them it was the prisoner himself. With a start, overyono turned in the direction of the dock. Tho sight that met thoir eyeo seemed a fit culmination of tho scene through which they had just passed. Erect, noblo, as commanding in appearance and address as the woman who still] held her place on tho witness stand, Craik Mansoll faced tho judgo and jury with a quiet, resolute, but courteous assurance, that scorned at once to rob him of the character of a criminal, and sot him on a par with tho ablo and honourable men by whom he was sur rounded. Yet his words wore not thoso of a belied man, nor was his pi a ono of inno cence " I ask pardon," ho was saying, " for ad dressing the court directly ; first of all, the pardon of my counsel, whose ability has never beon so conspicuous as in this case, and whoso just resentment, if ho wero loss magnanimous and noblo, 1 feol I am now about to incur." Mr Orcutt turned to him a look of sur prise and severity, but tho prisoner .saw nothing but tho fuco of the Judgo, and con tinued : "I would lmvo remained silent if thodis position which your Honor and tho Dis trict Attorney proposed to mako of this last testimony woro not in danger of recon sideration from I he appeal which tho witness lias jiiKt made I believe, with you, that her testimony should bo dlsrogardod. I intend, if I havo the power, that it shall bo disregarded." The Judge hold up his hand, ns if to warn Uio prisoner, and was about to speak. "I ontrcat that I may bo hoard," said Mansell with tho utmost calmnoss. I beg the court not to imagine that I am about to imitate tho witness in any sudden or ill-considered attempt at a confession. All I intend is that her self-accusation ahull not derivo strength or importance- from any doubts of my guilt which may spring from the defence which Ims been interposedin my behalf." Mr Orcutt, who, from tho moment the prisoner began to .ipeak had given evidence of a great indecision as to whether ho should allow his client to continue or not, started at these word«, so unmistakably pointing toward a dumolishment of his wholo caso, and hurriedly rose. But a glance at Imo g*no seemed to awaken a now train of thought, and he as hurriedly reseated him self. Tho prisoner, seoing ho had nothing to foar from his counsel's interference, and meoting with no robuko from tho J»dgo, wont calmly on: " Yesterday 1 felt dillcroufcly in regard to thi'j matter. If I could be £avud from my fate by v defence seemingly so imprugnabls, I was willing to lio «) laved, but to-day I would «>o a coward and a disgrace- to my bo* if, in faco of tlio generous action of this woman, I allowed a falsehood of whatever description to place her in poril, or to stand botweun mo and tho doom thut probably awaits mo. Sir," ho continued, turning for tho first timo to Mr Orcutt, with a geßture of profound rospocfc, "you had boon told that the path from Mrs Clemmonß's house to the bridgo, and bo on to Montoith Quarry Station, could not bo traversed in niuoty minutes, and you bolieved it. You were not wrong. It cannot bo gone over in that timo. But I now say to your Honor and to tho jury that tho distanco from my aunt's house to the Quarry Station can bo made in that number of minutes if a way can be found to cross tho river without goiug around by tho bridge, I know," ho proceoded, as a torrent of muttered exclamations rose on his oar, foro most among which was that of tho much discomfited Hickory, " that to many of you, to all of you porhaps, all moans for doing thirf seem to bo lacking to tho chance wa^ furor, but If there woro a lumberman hero, ho would toll you that ttio logs whiuh aro frequently lloatod down xrlia stream to tho station afford an easy means of pannage to ono accustomed to rido them, as I have beon when a lad, during the year i. spent in tho Maine woods. At all event*, it was upon a log that happened to bo lodged against the banks, and which I pushed out into the stream by moans of tho 'pivy' or long-spikod polo which I found lying in tho grass at its sido, that I crossed tho rivor on that fatal day ; and if tho detective, who has already mado such an ofl'ort to contro vert llio defonco, will rink an attempt at this oxpodient for cutting short his route, I havo no doubt he will be able to show you that a. man can paes from Mrs Clem mons's liouho t« tho station at Monteith Quarry, not only in ninety minutes, but in lesi, if the oxigonciss of tho case soem to demand it. I did it." And without a glance at Imogeno, but with an air almost lofty in its pride and manly assertion, tho prisoner sank back into his Beat, and rceumod once moro his quiet and unshaken domoanour. This last chango in tho kaleidoscopo of ovonts, that had boon shifting boforo thoir oyos for tho last half hour, was too much for tho continued equanimity of a crowd already workod up into a state of feverish excitement. It had becomo apparent that by stripping away his deferico, Mansell left himself naked to tho law. In this excite ment of tho jury, consoquont upon the self accusation of Imogeno, the prisoner's ad mission might prove directly fatal to him. He was on trial for this crime; public justice domanded blood for blood, and public excitement olamoured for a victim. Id was dangerous to toy with a feeling but one degreo removed from tho sentiment of a mob. The iury might not stop to sympathise with the self-abnegation of those two persona willing to die for each other. They might say : " The way it clear as to the prisoner at least; he has confessed his defence is false; tho guilty interpose false defences ; wo are acquit Woro God and men if we convict him out of his own mouth." The crowd in tho court-room was saying all this and more, each man to his neigh bour. A clamour of voices next to impos sible to suppress rose over the whole room, and not oven tho efforts of tho officers of tho court, exerted to their full power in tho maintenance of order, could havo hushed the storm, had not tho spectators become mute with expectation at seeing Mr Forris and Mr Orcutt, summoned by a sign from the Judge, advance to tho front of the bench and engage in an earnest conference with the court. A few minutes afterward the Judgo turned to the jury and announced that tho disclosures of tho morning de manded a careful consideration by the prosecution, that an adjournment was un doubtedly indispensable, and that the jury should refrain from any discussion of tho case, even among themselves, u»til it was finally givon them under the chargo of the courb The jury expressed their concur rence by an almost unanimous geßturo of assent, and the orier proclaimed an adjourn ment until the next day at ton o'clock. Imogenc, still sitting in the witness chair, sawthoprisonerledforth bythegaolorwith out being ablo to gather, in the whirl of the moment, any indication that hor dreadful sacrifice-for sho had made wreck of hoi life in tho eyes of the world whether hot confession wero true or false—had accom plished anything save to drivo the man she loved to the verge of that doom from which she had sought to deliver him. (To be Continued.)

Hop Bitters are the rarest and Best Bitters Ever Made.

They are compounded from Hops, Malt, Bnchu, Mandrake, and Dandelion—tho oldest, best, and most valuable medicines in the world, and oontain all the best and most curative pro portios of all other remedies, being the rrcatest Blood Purifier, Liver Regulator, and Life and Health Restorinß: Agent on earth. >.o disease or ill-health can possialr long exist where these Bitters are used, so v/sried and perfect are their operations. They give new lift and vigour to the aged and infirm. To all whose employments cause irregularityof the bowels or uricary organs, pr who require an .Vppetißer, Tonio and mild Stimulant, Hop Bitters are invaluable, being highly curative tonio and stimulating, without intoxicating. No matter what your feelings or symptoms are, what tba disos-se or ailment is, uae Hop Bitters. Don't wait until you are sick, but if you only foel bad or miserable, use Hop Bitters at once. It ma? save your life. Hundreds have been saved by so doing. £000 will be paid for a case they will not cure or help. Do not sulTur or let your friends suflfer, but ! use and urge them to use Hop Bitters. Remember, Hop Bitters is no vilo, dmgged, drunken nostrum, but the Purest and Best Medicine ever made; the "Invalid's Friend and Hope," and no p»rson or family should be without them. Try the Bitters to-day. Get at Chemists' or Druggists'. -i

A CONTRAST.

Captain Cook's Endeavour and Captain Crutchloy's Ruapohu. (From Our London Coßiussr-ONDENT.) I wisii to draw special attention to the folloAVing article* It appeared in tho "Daily Telegraph"'of the 17th inst., ntid is by Mr W. Clark Russell (tho author of tho "Wreck of the Grosvenor," "Jack's Courtship," and other romances of the sea), who has by common consent been pronoun ced the greatest living literary authority on everything connected with our mercan tile marine. Mr Ruesoll's exordium on tho speed, spaciousness, and comfort of the Ruapehu, togethor with his generous tribute to tho dexterity and forsight of Captain Crutchley should be most satisfac tory to the New Zealand Shipping Com pany who are begining to reap the reward of their pluck and enterprise. "It is not," begins Mr Russell, "quite 115 years ago since tho people aboard the ship Endeavour, commanded by Captain Cook, sighted upon tho horizon a faint blue film, which afterwards proved to bo a portion of tho coast of N«w Zealand. This was on October 6, 1709. There is not to my fancy a more stirring and graphic pago in marine Btory than that portion of the narrative of the great navigator which re lates his discovery of Now Zealand. Tho poet's startling fancy is realised: "Wo wero tho first who over burst into that silont sea," Tho Endeavour was a vessel of 1570 tons, abtfut tho sizo of an ordinary ■jailing coaster of to-day. Sho must have been pretty deep, for she was victualled for eighteen months, carried eighty-four seamen, bosides a crowd of extra hands, and sho mounted twelvo guns oh carriages and twelvo swivels. I liko in fancy to stand on her deck and figuro her as sho swinge over tho long Pacific Bwell with the blue lino of tho Now Zealand coast on her lee bow. She will be a perfect tub of a craft to the eye, her length porhapß not more than three times nor beam ; hor quaint ftern goes sheering up over tho water with her name written largo undor tho glittering cabin windows, and her bows will probably be a perfoct bed of timbers, with a bowsprit steovod at an angle of 45 degrees, forking out from them. Yet sho had carried her company of aa tronomors, navigators, and adventurers many thousands of leagues, and on that 6th of October had fairly brought them to the uttermost parts of tho earth. For, say what one will, Now Zealand seunds further off than any othor place in the world, how •vor tho facts may be as regard true dis tances from this country. China seoms adjacent, India a mere stone's throw, Aus tralia little more than over th« way com pared to New Zealand. In the chart of the world it is squeezed »p in the right hand corner, and has to be brought round to the other sldo, as though to savo it from falliug overboard, as a sailor mights say. Anthony Trollop rightly ternnd it "as of all inhabited lands the moat ab solutely Antipodean to Ureeenwich." This homo of immoiißO distanco visits ono when one thinks of it. As Cook, dreased In tho stockings and lapols of tho naval uniform of that time, stood on his deck eyeing the coast his ship was heading for, somo thoughts of tho prodigious space of ocoan that separated tirnt land from England nay havo visited him. It had taken him 14 mouths to penetrate to this point, and ho would probably consider tho passage a very good ono, allowing for the various stop pages ho had been forced to make for water., cleaning tho ship, ilnd so forth. There arc many fancied pleasant to indulge in, Ono would like Dr. Johnßon, who found no happinOßß equal to being ewlftljr driven in a postchaiso, to have a rido behind the fly iug Sootchman. One would like Dr Lard ner, who doubted that tho Atlantic would over bo crossed by steam, to tako a trip in tl»e Oregon. And ono would liko old Cap tain Cook to know that the verdant moun tainous land ko sighted on October 8, 150 years ago—which for nearly a century afterwards was only to bo reached from this country after a four months' Btrugglo with tho calms and galon of throo great oceans— was, in tho yoar 1384, to be brought within tho compass of a run of .a little more than thirty-Sevan days, Tbis wonderful passage has beon made by a steamship named tho Ruapohu. Thonows is of nocossity a little stale to those who are interested in such things, but the tempta tion to cay a few words on a remarkable marino exploit is too great to Buffer ono to neglect tho topic merely because in those swift times iiowb grows old very fast. I will givo later on a fow particulars of tho run— the swiftest known as a pioce of sustained steaming. It is tho contrast established by tho first voyage of tho Ruapohu, it is the difl'orenco thut has beon workod out by ye»rs so fow that thoy easily fall within a quarter of a century, which came homo to me when I road how n steamer boaring tho rugged and ungraceful name of a high Now Zealand mountain had sailed from the othor »ido of the world, had navigated half tho length of the vast Pacifio, had achloved the passage of the Horn, and lnoa- Kurod tho mighty surfaces of the two Atlantic Oceans in a month and a very fow days. For much as steam has done to ac custom us to despatch, it has not yet made voyages of this kind so familiar as td possess no power of exciting wondor and admira tion. .In truth our minda turn to tho At lantic when wo think of tho marvols of tho propeller. That is the sea which has boon usod as tho marine racecourse. Tho noblo and fruitful dependencies whose shores are washed by tho southern »nd Pacific Oceans wo know are regularly visited by fleots of lino stoamorß ; but numbers of sailing ships aro still employed in tho passongor traflic between this country and Australia and Now Zealand, and that is no doubt a reason why thoso oolonios aro always thought of as being Immonsoly distant, when, as I havo before eaid, places protty nearly as roraoto soom comparatively close, and why tho traditions of the four months' passage aro sustained in respect of thorn, when the month or fivo. weeks' voyage for-. morly occupied by the clipper passonger vessels trading between English and North American ports is clean forgotten. There aro many exceedingly fine sailing ships now regularly making the voyage to Australia and New Zealand. It seems scarcely fair to select one of them for the contrast I want to draw, for some of them make tho run in less time than the shapely little Aberdeen clippers used to employ, and furnish some striking examples of remarkable sailing, qualities. Let me go back, then, to a period when Iron sides, narrow beam, double top-gallant yards, and many other matters of a like kind, were either not known or not appreciated. One need not transport oneself far. A man does not require to be very old to remember tho time when, if he wanted to go to Aus tralia or. Now Zealand, he had to prepare his mind for a hundred and twenty days of sea. Those memories linger, they aro per petuated indeed by many annual sufferers, and that is why the distance to thoso colonies seems quite measureless. There was a deal of tho old stage-coach life about those voyages. It is but twenty years ago, say, and yet a contemplative man might well feel that the bustle and busi ness of embarkation at tho docks at Grave- Bend or at Plymouth was but half-over, whilst his will remained anmade. Every thing was very comfortable—to first-class passengers, I mean— as far as the accommo dation went. But then tho accommodation was small. The smoking-room was in front of the cuddy, as tEo saloon was called, and consisted simply of tho shelter of the break of the poop, so that when the ship was braced sharp up in high lati tudes it could never be said that this refuge of the smokers was not well ventilated and cool. There was not often a bathroom, unless it were over the head whore the fore castle pump stood. I do not remember any libraries, ladies' boudoirs, lavatories, and so forth. When you had lunched or dined, if you did not care to go on deck, you with drew to your berth, and got into your bunk or cot, and amused yourself by watching the green water washing over your scuttle. But then there was plenty to eat, the drink was tolerable, the stewards were

plentiful and abliging, the captain was | nearly always what the ladies would call a nice man, with a bronzed face, and a trick of watchingtheskylight. Tho qjiief mate was commonly pensive and reserved, with a very high castle indeed, built, poor fellow, upon tho basis of the captain's certificate ho had held for many years ; whilst, of the grimy faces that would pop out of the forcscuttle to the tune of the bosuns pipe, there wae no need for you to know anything at all. Everything, indeed, was fairly tolerable but the voyage. That would often become a hardship the moment the tug let go; for a strong westerly wind might rise, with black nigh to and horrible Channel seas, and keep the lordly fabric beating and ratching and clawing along her watery road the whole way to the Atlantic if she hadn't to call at Plymouth. Then, after a succession of head winds, it is consistent with truth to figure a dead calm in the Bay of Biscay, the ship dipping her old-fashioned channols into it to the ehear-poleß, the courses clewed up, and the topsails filling the air overhead with sounds like a thunderstorm, most of the passengers who had recovered from sea-sickness dreadfully ill again, and the abominable motion caused by the huge glass-smooth folds of water, making even tho seasoned 6kipper feel as if he had got a,

motionless as far as progress is concorned and all tho irritable people fcilk in a louc ( voices of how many dnys out. thu chip now ii? : " and our latitude to-day only forty-six, tir Forty-six, sir, by heaven !" The north-east trades would ruise the spirits again; but then they wero always followed by tho dol , drums, where tho fierce vertical heat of the (equatorial' zono replaced tho Biscayan ! swell an an agent of suffering and made one crave for Cape latitudes, even for Nova Zembla or the Horn ; for anything, in short, but deck-seams full of pitch, bubbling like hot wax, tho stifling atmosphere of the cuddy which the wind- Bails only mocked, and a berth which in five minutes drove a man in the lightest attire to bo soaked on dock by tho dew which fell in showers from one didn't know where. The whole voyage was—as it still must be where canvas is concerned —a procossion of stoppages and slow sneaking 3; swift rush ings before the wind and stormy and giddy driftings with the fore and missen yards aback. Those who loved the sea did not find such voyaging tedious. Before the high shores of tho Antipodean land had hove in sight old Ocean had exhibited a hundred glorious, tonder, or dreadful pictures of flaming sunset, of moonlit calm, of black and hollowing tempost; and then for the invalid,- the sooker after health, the pro longed passage gave him all the medicine ho needed. But to thoso who were im patient to got to Australia or tho further colony, or wero anxious to obtain a sight of tho English Channel coast, these voyages, or passages rather, of ninety-five, and a hundred, and a hundred and twenty or thirty days were things formidable to con template, and distressing to enduro. For think of two months and a half or three months to the Cape; and then, after all that time had been spent in running through tho trades and tumbling about in calms, and fighting with stripped spars and head to tho Hea ; having to poor over the bow at some thousands of miles of Pacific Ocean stretch ing into tho visionary oast to ba struggled through and encountered with all its varioty of foul weathor and favouring breezes and head winds beforo tho ship reaahed her destination ! This for tho outward journey. The homeward run was much the same—tardier, perhaps, and usually fuller of disagreeable weather, becauso there was tho terrible climate of tho Horn to pass through with its gigantic icebergs trooping up from the frozen South, and its easterly hurricanes blinding with snow and spray to heave you to and keep you so for hours which some times ran into days. Naturally, when a man who remembers all this hears of a steamer making the passago from New Zea land to Plymouth in a little moro than a month his first thought is of the amazing contrast tho circumstance es tablishes, and above all how very few year* have been needed to achieve that comparison between, let ma say, 1804 and 1884. The exact time occupied by tho Ruapehu in steaming from Lyttel ton, Now Zealand, round the Horn to Plymouth was thirty-seven days twenty hours and forty minutes. Her commander, who has achieved the. high distinction, in an ago, too, of extraordinary competition in that way, of having performed not only tho fastest paHßuge from the Antipodes on record, but tho fastest continuous run under steam, having regard to tho enormous dis tance moasurcd, Is Captain W. Caius i Ciutchloy, to whose doxtority and foresight as a seaman tho swiftness of this remarkable pußsugo is owiug, as I understand that tho north-east trades w«ro blowing so stormily that tho passago was only saved by tho captain hauling well over to tho African coast. ]t is noteworthy that tho run was mado with scarcely any help from sail power. For a wosk beforo rounding tho Horn tho Ruapehu encountered a suc cession of eastorly gales, and I am assured that the vessel had not ono day's good wind from Lyttelton to Plymouth. Indeed, I notice in tho abstract from the log that the first start was inauspicious, as I read, " Pre vented from getting south by strong south westerly galo, which filled up the decks, and began to break things." This was on April 7, and tho state of tho sea is entered as "tremendous." Yet, spite of all this, tho moan hourly speed of tho ship frota flew Zealand homo was a good 12J knots, and in tho ipaco 37 days 20 hours and 40 minutes «ho taaversed a distanco of 11,880 miles ! She Is, for a steamer—my old seafaring prejudices in favour of tacks and sheets will, I trust, be forgiven mo—as pretty a model a» there good be seen afloat. Sho has a cutwater, figure head, and bowsprit, is barqno-rigged, and presents to tho oyo tho suggestion of speed and sca-worthinoss, which sho confirms by her behaviour. And assuredly sho is a luxurious substitute—l moan as respects hot accommodation, for I know nothing about tho living aboard—ferovon the most comfortablo of tho old Bailing liners which swung lazily into tho river out of tho Black wiill Docks, and arrived at tho end of the world after long lapso of timo like later Endeavours, astounded by their own achievements. Bath-rooms and bars, bou doirs, state-rooms, lavatorios, and the like, nil contribute to mako life at sea plea sant, and in such mattora tho Ruapehu ig very handsomely and abundantly i found'; but it is tho shortness of the time ' i»he has occupied in convoying her passen gers from Now Zealand to this country | which constitutes tho special interest one take* in this voss«l. The sumptuousness, of cabins has ceased to impress; but we continue to hear or read with admiration mid wonder of feats of speed which bring the fabric of a ship, opposed as It is by winds and spib, into close rivalry with the (mooth-slidiiig locomotive. Hitherto our amazement has been limited to Atlantic passages; but the measureless Pacific may now claim our attontlon under this head. Nor as Englishmen can wo withhold our largor admiration for the later triumph. It is immensely convenient indeed that we should bo able to land at New York in less than seven days; but an element of national importance ontors into the closer linking of our most distant dependencies to the mother country by increased swiftness in our communication with them; and as tonishing as have been the conquests of steam over the eullon and capricious deep, there has been, I will daro to say, no aocom plishmont of this kind of greater interest to us imperially, or of greater significance as marking tho potentiality of the marine engine in tho very widest uses to which it can be put, than tho achievement of the steamer whose passago has brought the remote colonies of Australia, VanTJiemen's Land, and Now Zealand, with their brave, loyal, and industrious populations, within less than thirty-eight daya f reaoh of us.

THE FARMER'S GARDEN.

Seeing that a garden is always and every where a good thing, it must needs be espe cially good in association with a farm. Gardening may indeod be regarded as a fine kind of farming, just as farming is a rough and largo sort of gardening, and to draw a sharp line between them is next to impos sible. When properly brought into juxta position they help each otherontho principle \of give and take that rulos between true friends, or of pulling the same way, which is the prime key to the prosperity of married couples—that is, you know, when they not only pull the same way, but the right way ! ITS ADVANTAGES. And hereat wo note a peculiar advantage in the garden of a farm, that it promotes completeness of domosticity, which farming of itsolf does not, for the large work has far its aim to plant something in the market, and thereafter something in the bank. But the smaller and more pretty business con tributes directly to the table in vegetables and fruits, 'and to the sideboard and the cosy-room in flowers and sweet scents. And the taming and domesticating that accom panies gardening is very much needed in this country, where there is often a lack of society and but few amusements for leisure hours, and a tendency in things and fate and the general complexion of the world to breed melancholy, and therewith heaps of prejudices and a certain sourness of the heart that is somotimes over-sweetened'by drinking. As material views are apt to obtain first attention, it may with advantago be re marked that a garden is absolutely neces sary as a feature of every farm that is intended to be endurable as a home, as well as profitable in the way of business. The farm is usually so far removed from a mar ket that the "little things" that are daily, even hourly, needed in aid of good living cannot bo purchased with sufficient fre quency and plenty. If there is not a well kept garden there cannot be a bountiful table, and if there is not a bountiful table there cannot be true prosperity, or any reasonable amount of happiness, no matter what may be the politics or faith ruling the household. The townsman can buy almost anything at his very doorstep; the farmer, generally speaking, must produce all he requires of the more delicate and perishable necessities and luxuries, or he and his must go short, finding discontent where the nlums ought to be, and encouraging rough thoughts as the complement of rough living. "how to add delicacies to the dinner TABLE. And very rough the living is on many a farm where of real means there is no lack, and of opportunity abundance. It is amongst my agreeable remembrancestha^v^en

, shooting, I daily contributed to the dinner 1 by playing the part of the j>ro lem. There , was abundance of. everything save vege ! tables and fruits, and as the garden croft ; was a dirty bit of a quarter of an acre, set ; in the midst of 800 acres of arable and pas ■ ture, the disproportion was made conspicu i ous at every meal. One day I took a basket i into a field of mangels, and delicately nipped out young leavo3, taking one leaf from any one plant; and that day we were regaled with a fine dish of spinach to accompany our roasted meats, and none but the house wife and myself knew whence or how it was obtained. And again, in rummaging about the dirty garden I found, in a heap of forgotten stuff at the back of n half rotten melon frame, a huge store of fat mushrooms, and of these I every morning collected a basketful, which were sent to the kitchen, and in due time were fragrant and delicious adornments of the table. GARDENING AS A TASTIME. But such impromptuous providings do not go far, and do not last long. The gar den should have much care for many reasons. It should be the housewife's market, the children's school, the master's recreation and solace, and to the whole family it should contribute food for the body and food for the mind, and servo ever to stand between them all and those depressing influences that are begotten of isolation and loneliness, and the temptations of morbid introspec tion, of which in the country there is often more than enough. And if gardening in a general way may be indicated as one of the most profitable of occupations, and one of the most delightful of pastimes, the vindi cation is augmented in force when we turn from the suburban garden of the citizen, which is environed by enemies and dotted with difficulties', to the garden of the farm, which, for the most part, is singularly ad vantaged by surrounding circumstances. As Douglas Jerrold once said of a fruitful country, " You tickle it with a hoe, and it laughs with a havvest," so it may be said of the farmer's garden, that whatever thing you stick into it becomes presently "a thing of beauty and a joy for over." There is no town smoke to kill the roses; a handy labourer can do wonders in the way of work with a little intelligent direction; there are no cats to ravage the place by ; night, and no gossipers to spoil the work by day; and in respect of carting, manuring, and the first purchase of whatever is wanted, the farmer has the advantage over the townsman to tho tuno of fifty per cent., and therefore can never say that his cab bages cost him a shilling a piece, and his apples would not be secure even if watched by a whole army of policemen. Observe, when you can, the quality of the stuff grown in a good country garden, and make note of the gain in this respect of isolation. Surely the garden should make a happy compensation for the removal from the world that in more or less degree accom panies farming—a compensation, in part, at least, for it promotes good living, and in a sentimental way may be regarded as the half-way house to the truo paradise where contentment breeds felicity. VALPK OF THE FARMKR'S GARDES. An an aid to the actual work of tho farm, the garden is of no immense value. It may be made a trial ground at no cost whatever, because scraps of produce can be put to, account in somo way or other. Farmers often suffer losses through mistakes in the selection of seeds and sorts, and they might avoid such mistakes by making the gardon tho testing ground both to determine, the distinctneis of character, as well as the purity of a stock of any particular thing that is to be grown in quantity. It must be observed by every one who has mado a systematic study of tho plants that obtain the attention of farmers and gardeners, that many golden opportunities are lost through mistakes in selecting, as well as mistakes in managing, in consequence, generally, of the unpreparedness of tho oporator. Our seasons are so brief when they happen to be bright, and so trying when they happen to be dull, that to scrape anything of a materially profitable nature from the soil is a hard and even sometimes painful task. Certainly, in this way of life, a man needs to be well armed and stout of heart, and with his head over as clear as the water of Winifred's well. To the enterprising and earnest farmer, to tho man who really means it when he orders out the plough, and turns to his newspaper to read up in market prices, to such a man a garden may be as a suit of armour, as a guiding-book, as a danger signal, and as a key to secrets that in the end resolve into money, and make gladness whero there might have been gloom, and prosperity where penury might have pinched the door. The whole business of funning, from first to last, and the whole business of gardening, from first to last, is in the nature of an experiment. Now, an experiment should, in the first instance, be carried out on the smallest scale possible, because if we are to pay for a failure we wish the cost to bo the least possible, and with every experi ment failure is a possible contingency. The garden therefore should in all convenient instances be made the botanical and cultural and commercial gateway to the farm. FIELD I'KAS. My friend, Mr. House, of Peterborough, used to grow a certain number of acres of a cheap pea of no character. One day he observed in his garden how well adapted for field culture the pretty blue pea, William the First, appeared to be, and he put that out on his large pieces, and the result in money was something like ten times greater than the field pea, hitherto favoured, had ever returned to him. Do you suppose this a very peculiar and exceptional case ? It is nothing of the kind. If I could find apace and time for anecdotes, I could tell you of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of similar occurrences. POTATOES. I once gave a great English potatx>grower what he called (in a language I do not un dorstand) a "straight tip." I advised him to grow champions and magnum bonums, and he did so, harvesting huge crops at the very moment when these crops were realis ing fancy prices, and he made some money by the business in a year when the formers were beginning to consider If they could fry old wrappers and make soup of worn-out whip-thongs. But there was no special merit in my knowledge of the capabilities of these particular potatoes, because it has been one of my best amusements for many years past to grow all the sorts of potatoes I could lay hands on, whether good or bad, and I should be a poor stick if, after all this work, I could not advise on the planting of a thousand acres or so. But the result of that " straight tip," as it was bo strangely and, as it seems to me objectionably called, was that my friend started an experimental garden. He has, in consequence, reformed many of his hitherto settled modes of pro cedure. His leading idea now is to keep out of ruts that lead nowhere, or, at the best, to a bad market, and to adapt the work of every year to the probabilities of the markets. And he grows rich, and can afford to amile when men say in hia hearing that farming is a starvation trade. THE "LITTLE THINGS" THAT PAT. After all, I can hear some one say, "Bah 1 what will a garden teach me about growing barley or vetches?" Well, really, if this question were forced upon me, I should have to make a roundabout answer. I could not happily meet it directly. But I know that many men who call themselves farmers find it hard to make both ends meet, and some of them are dropping out of the market dinner and tho country club, whether tg begin life anew in a colony, or to waste away in a warehouse, I know not. But I will venture to say at a guess, and will stand to it as old disbutants did, but with out endeavouring to talk nonsense in an infinity of languages, I will stand to it thai not many farmers who have made good use of their opportunities for a bit of good gardening have gone the wrong way in these last bad years. Gardening expands the mind, refreshes themoral nature, and teachei much of the minute workings of natura laws, and thus it is a perpetual aid to thai larger culture of the land that bears th< name of farming. — Live Stock Journa, Almanac for 1883.

Presentiments.

Mozart's sad notion that the requiem he had undertaken to write for his mysterious customer would be his own death-chant proved as prophetic as Hogarth's serious assent to the jocular suggestion that when "the end of all things" was completed there would be an end to the painter. Fechtor's intuition was not at fault when it made him urge the sculptor, taking his in structions respecting his last resting place, to set at work at once, as there was no time to lose. When the tomb was ready for the tenant, the tenant was ready for the °Tom Sheridan, bidding Angelo good-by, with the remark, "Ihave twenty months to like," gauged the term of his existence tOAwakenedfromasick man's slumber by the baying of hounds and the uproar at tending the pulling down of a stag in a neighbour's garden, sport-hating Millet ex- claimed, "It is an omen!" and in a few days took leave of pencil and pen for ever. Not long before his fatal illness, Prince Albert said to the Queen, "I do not cling to life. You do, but I set no store by it. Zf I knew that those I loved were well cared fcr, I should be quite ready to die to-mor-> row. I am sure If I had a aevere illness j ahoulg^iveij^^njl^y^U^^ytoMfa

My First Introduction to De Tre mens and Co.

lam an old commercial. I have been on the road nearly thirty years, during which time I have managed to make our house at Bockdale the most famous in the tradefor Welsh flannels and railway rags. My success, however, with my customers has not so much depended upon the cheap ness or goodness of the goods I had to offer, as upon my personal abilities to please all sorts of people. I can sing a good song, and tell a funny story. I can drink wine, beer, or whisky, in any reasonable quanti ties, without growing dull or drunk. I can even sit with a teetotal customer for mortal hours, over a cup or two of tea, without swearing, always providing there is a fair chance of a line in my order sheet. One day last month, I was journeying in my gig from Shrewsbury to Chester;; the day was dull and damp, and a Scotch mist pervaded creation; the hedgerows on either side of the road, the people I met or over took, the cows and sheep in the fields, the •rows and sparrows, the houses I passed, seemed utterly miserable, wet through, don's up, and mystified* I have weathered many a storm, have been wet and dry again two or three times a day; I have been spilt into ditches, pitched into hedges, and against Btone walls; I have_ been robbed and nobbed by footpads and life-preservers; but never before had I lost the natural buoyancy and jollity of my disposition. On the morning of the day in ques tion, however, I felt like all things animate and inaminate—to speak com mercially, foozled. Of course I had my ramedy with me in my driving-box, which I soon pressed into service ; it was a pint flask, full of the purest Glenlivat. "This is balm of Gilead for any weather," thought las I took my first dose. My. mouth holds exactly one-eight of a pint. Hundreds of gallons have travelled the same way, but I believe ambrosial nectar could never have been so grateful to a thirsty god as that streak of liquid sunshine was to me. I felt my chest expand, and my mind's eye could see my other eye's sparkle with a glint of their ÜBual fire. What care! I for wet without? The whisky within was proof against watery particles, and defied them in any shape. So, taking another drink to make sure I had not served out short measure on the previous occasion, I jogged on, sometimes musing on my past, sometimes speculating as to my future, re freshing my memory and spurring my hopes with spirits of the Elixir, until in due course I arrived at the Red Dragon, at Chester, full of my usual spirits, but with an empty flask. By the time a hissing-hot rump steak was ready for absorption into my system, I had duly sent off my dispatches to our house. Business first, pleasure afterwards; so I sat down to my dinner pint of sherry, then had a drop of brandy to assist digestion, and then my usual forty winks. I considered I had now fairly got through the busiueia of the day, and, brightening up, I called for my pipe and a lorum of toddy, and resigning myself to the sooth ing influence of the weed and whisky, I waited patiently for'an arrival to spend the evening with ; for I was alone in the com mercial room, and the only sounds cognis able to my senses were those of the rain pelting away at the window, and the hollow rumbling of strange vehicles over the paving-stones. I did not count, —I never do, — but I be lieve I had arrived at my fifth grog and pipe, when, feeling chill, I drew the heavy arm-chair closer to the fire. Thin little act occupied several minutes, for the bandy legs of the stupid old chair would make for themselves a place under the hearth-rug. I tried to circumvent the awkward limbs, and temporised with my toe; but the more I kept on wanting to get them right, the more they kept on wanting to be righted, and being fidgety in all little matters of personal comfort, I was positively obliged, it the risk of a rush of blood to tho head, to lift the club-footed old chair with one mnd, and to lav the refactory corner of the ug with the other. When, by this effort of exhausted nature, I had accomplished my object, I took a stiff )ull at my replenished toddy, filled my pipe and lighted it, and, with tho feelings of a man who has obtained a victory, I threw myself into my late enemy's lap, pinched his mahogany old arms with my elbows, stretched out my feet upon the fender, and laughed outright at my triumph, with my usual jolly Ha ! ha I till the room rang again. "Ha ! ha! ha! ha !" till the room rang again, followed like an eoho the Ha ! ha! that originally belonged to me. To my surprise and delight I found an arrival had ensconced himself in the fellow chair to mine, had his jorum of toddy on the other corner of the mantle, his pipe in full blast, his elbows on the mahogany arms of my late enemy's own brother, and his toes almost touching mine on the fender. I looked at the arrival, and the arrival looked at me. I bowed to him, and re ceived a courteous bend in return. " Wet night," slid I. "Wet night," said he. " And cold," said I. . ■ 14 And cold," said he. ' "Nice fire," said I. "Nice fire," said he. He seemed to try to give his words my exact intonation. He was mocking me! " Damn it!" said I, and laughed.. "Damn it!" said he, and laughed— laughed so much like me that I could not distinguish any difference, either in quan tity or quality ; he was right to a single "ha." I took another pull at' my toddy, and so did he! I smoked my pipe serenely, and made a very deliberate survey of my friend. He became immediately engaged in the same interesting occupation with me. He was a man about my own age, and evinced his taste by adopting a style of costume clesely resembling my own. I noticed particularly that his feet were encased in French clou boots, with narrow tips of patent leather at the toes, like mine; in fact, 1 felt tempted to offer him considerable odds that I could name the maker and the number of the lasts upon which they were made. His face, too, seemed to be very like my style of face. There was the noble brow, the partially bald pate, the expressive mouth, the magnificent teeth, the chiselled nose— no, not the eloquent dark eyes—the same sort of eyes though, ■ differing only from mine in one little particu lar feature. His eyes had a red ring round each, caused, perhaps, by cold or grief; nor could he boast of a rosy fresh com plexion such as mine; his w.as decidedly choleric—blue as indigo. I concluded at once that he travelled for some drysalter— and had been fidgeting with his samples— perhaps bad received a parcel of blue stuff in bulk to save carriage, which he had been weighing out and packing with his own hands into tho required quantities for his various customers in the district. Then having done his work,, it was not un reasonable, to suppose be had made his toilet for the commercial-room, and bad in a moment of forgetfulness used the indigo bag for a towel. I am fond of harmless fun, and I confess I fervently wished for a few more arrivals to enjoy it with me. In the space of a few minutes I invented a dozen funny, things to say ; the last was so rich that I laughed outright—and so did he. We sat and looked at each other. I no ticed thui, when I took a drink, he did the same. When 1 puffed, he puffed. If I moved a hand or foot, so did he. ' I could stand it no longer; I was angry, and I said to him : " I am not to be insulted with impunity, sir. My name's Brown. I represent the house of Bimmock's, sir—there^ my card. Stand up like a man, sir 1" The cadaverous wretch repeated my very words and actions, and handed me a card, on which was engraved "De Tremens and Co., Wine and Spirit Merchants." I finished my toddy, took off my coat, locked the door, androoked him full in the face. i

He finished his toddy, threw off his coat, went to the door, and pocketed the key! But never for an instant did he take bis eyes off me. He was quite ready for me. He waited for me. His azure countenance had changed; he looked fiendish. The noble art of self-defence had been a feature in my education j when at school I could parry and counter capitally; my blow was equal to a hundred and thirty seven pounds, and I could give the upper out beautifully; but somehow I felt afraid of this fellow, and I looked at him as fiercely as I could, in the hope that he would make me an apology. Nothing of the kind !On the contrary, bis. demoniacal scowl grew fiercer and wilder every moment, the Ted ness round his eyes became more strongly defined, and his orbs shone with a dazzle that seemed to freeze my blood. I would have given a month's salary, and expanses to boot, to have been safely anywhere else. I looked at the window as the thought rose, and determined to risk a limb by jumping through it -into the street below. But I must have passed him. His eyes were upo> mo, and I gave up the idea as soon."'' formed. , ■' "■. I had contrived, however _jvool>-* table between us, and> v" ' v-^-nrf' face. I could np^^^^^^^^^^^^^M

I shrank from his terrible stare, at! ImH blood seemed to gallop as though I In drop in my body had entered :-or, anl Bill running on, a steeplechase throngj Plan veins, with a wind-up leap from my II to my brain. ll To my horror I became sensible th« i table was moving with a alow but et |I motion towards the side of the too! ■ held it with all my strength, bat wi' IKB avail. My antagonist was evident IB much stronger man than myself, aw flj tho design ol making for himself a fate . 881 on which to exhibit his prowess. I w IH| have pulled the bell out by its rootl |Mi help, but my hands were riveted tot fiffl| table. I moved with it against my ilpjiß his terrible eyes were upon me. -. i Jj&jtiSa At, last the table touched the f T^g my enemy lifted his hands, and asjie dflHffiL I found mine were released. Quick as 4H|M ning he sparngat me. Quick as HghtninfiluMj| remembered I had a large sprmg-baaMHHB knife in my pocket; I thrust my nana HIM search of it-; but I was already in the I |H of a vice, receiving blows tbat would I II have disgraced a mammoth's hammer.! 11 was knocked down. I was_ knocked I ISM I was thrown over his head, kicked in mi mWm places at once, jumped upon, kaelt.un EM My teeth were punched out, my nose fl HflH tened, my neck dislocated, my skull fl |l| tured, my ribs smashed in, before I col 111 HI even plant one with left upon any panl B|j my antagonist. 1 Rail At length I obtained freedom for I ||| right hand; the next minute he was dj! gli! at my feet! With great difficulty I area Bin and, drawing the table to its origiji BM position, I secreted the body underneafl KM Then, with an inexpressible feeling 1 | triumph and joy, I wiped my trusty weapjj 111 Horror! In every chair, on every | on the solemn old clock, on a row on fl ||| mantleshelf, were new arrivals! .Indjl |H dealers; all waiting to hare a turn with, ml SB The iro.fing after my arrival at""ij|."Jß Red Dra on, I found myself in oil B|| strapped down. The people of the inn tdl In me that I had been mad the night befell i W and had fought a battle royal with evaj Bfl article of furniture in the room. I kn«l II better, of course; but I kept my ovl- 111 counsel. I could have told them that Ihl 11 conquered not only De Tremens himself, b] I ■■ alsoliis awful Co.—" Prize Story " from til 1| "Prize Winner." ... |S] SIS

MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE.

Men and Women Better Off Where n voroes are Wot Easily Obtained; - IN. 0. Davis in " North American RkvihwJ All precedent shows that human life, an especially woman's life, is happier, as rule, in countries where divorce !is nd lawful and not permitted than, insthoe ; where it is most common and free.* Fo divorce is an evil that always grows b what it feeds upon. It feeds upon the basej views of our nature, and they propagat* and increase as the demand enlarges to mcc an inordinate and depva7ed appetite, i striking illustration of this fact has just bee] j disclosed by the discovery of a manuf actor; of forged divorces in the City of Brooklyn from which it is said two hundred decree! hove lately issued with the apparent forma, lities of judicial procedure, the parties ob taining them looking and caring for nottung . butexpeditlon, cheapness, and secrecy. Bucß a state of things could not exist but for the appalling moral laxity bred by the fre quency of divorces. Both physically and morally, men accommodate thenibelves to the rule and necessity of conditions. So, if the condition of life and law be such that the marriage tie may be easily disrupt**!, men speedily come to think of its dis ruption as a process of relief, proper and defensible. Ihis fact speedily operates to change the harmonies ot wedded life into discords; and conjugal jars, which otherwise might -only bo considered as new starting points for cfoser and tenderer affiliations, are nursed into irreconcilable and fatal quarrels. But; when the rule and necessity are the opposite both husband and wife are taught by that condition to adhere to the true nature of, marriage by turning discords out of doors, and studying the conciliations due to mutual happiness. -,-. ■. :>\

Skinning the Dead to Repair the Living.

Db. Gerdneb, a surgeon attached to the ■ staff of Bellevue Hospital, recently per- "■' formed, successfully an operation Whereby."• I he removed a large pioce:of skin from.they body of a suicide and transplanted, it upon the arm of a patient whose flesh had been.-; denuded of its covering. The operation con-: flicts with the prevalent theories which maintain that the fluids of the tissues be come poisonous after death, and when placed in contact with the fluids Of the j living body produce pyasmia, or'blood paisoning, which is eenerally fatal. The causes that led to the operation are as wonderful as the successful ißSue itself, i Charles Johnson, a little boy, during the summer of 1883; was struck by lightning; ; the electrio current passed through his ■;■ body, tearing off the clothing. The boy, | who was kitting by an open window, was . thrown to the floor, where he remained un conscious for several hours. He was sub sequently removed to the hospital, where ... it was found that the greatest injury was done to the brain. Contrary to all expectations, the lad recovered and regained the full possession 6f all .;: '. his faculties. It "was noticed, how- ■'•.:■ ever, upon his admission, that the skin on . his left shoulder and arm to the elbow had a peculiar dark purple; hue, suggestive of gangrene. The application of stimulating lotions failed to restore the activity of the j I bldod vessels. Gradually the parts died and dropped off, leaving the muscles exposed, with ragged edges that bled fonder the slightest provocation. , ' .' '.;",'.. . 6r. Gardner, under whose attention the sufferer came, resplvedtotrythe experiment 6f transplanting a large piece of skin at one time. Ab living prisoners were not very 1 willing to part with that useful part of their ; anatomy, Dr. Gerdner was obliged to look about for some other means, "it is a well-' known fact that the skin is,one of the tissues of the body that will not reproduoe ; if once its functions are destroyed. To avoid the evil results of a pressing, eieatrix, r the doctor hit upon "the idea of using the skin of somebody as'soon after death.as possible. Ad opportunity presented itself a few days after, when the body of a young German suicide was brought into the morgue about three hours after life was extinct and while etill warm., Dr. Gerdner regarded this as the mOBt favourable time for his operation, and. he prepared his patient for the experiment.., A fow clever strokes from the scalpel blocked,out a piece;of " skin, slightly larger than the area to ba covered on the boy's arm, to allow for the ft shrinkage of the integument, whioh is very elastic, and in a few minutes more the piece | was dissected off clear down to its muscular attachments. ■ , ~. ■. ~, . ■ ■, - The boy's arm was cleaned of the Bears and excoriations, and the piece about a foot square, out up into small sections about one quarter of an inch square, was placed upon the arm. The work occupied about two hours, at the end of which the arm was com pletely covered with the new skin, ranged like tiles upon a ball floor. Bandages'were applied, and stimulating lotions spread over it. The little vessels from the muscles pen etrated the new tissue and set up a healthy , circulation, and the new skin took upon it self all the functions of the original integu ment. Two of tho little pieces refused to attach themselves .and died, sloughing away without doing damage to the surrounding parts. Nerves appeared, and .sensation in the new covering became almost perfect about a month afterwards. .', The operation, in the face of an article,, which lately appeared in a German medical..;.;: paper, which described a similar case/*r proves that the work of the American aftr*;; eeon antedated the German operation;?-* "New York World. 1' :

Encouraging Home Industry.

The Corporation of Berlin announced last year that prizes wouldbe given fot the neatest, most durable, and moat practical set of furniture for a small dwelling, con sisting of bedroom, sitting room, and kit chen, at a price not exceeding $125, and to - be competed for by Berlin cabinet-makero alone. Numerous firms responded, and on the 14th of May a speoial exhibition was opened by the Crown Princess, who ex pressed great satisfaction and astonishment that bo many useful things could be fur nished at such a price. The furniture is in everyway likely to fulfil the intention of the Corporation in desiring to make_ the. poor man's home as comfortable as possible.

I Standard Preparations Just receivwt'at Aickin'B. The Pharmacy, Queen^treot— - "epler's Extract of Malt, two sizes; Keplers. itraoViFMalt, witfc Cod Liver Oil; Kepler's, ---««X trY Malt, with lodide of Tron; Kopltf'S; e*S<T*. Malt, With PftTTish'SiFoodi;HAZßs.2i WopeAu anillrohsWine; SfcUawjsia

THE AUCKLAND EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 1884.



DON'T DIE IN THE HOUSE.-"nough on Ban" elMiii out rate, inlee, beetles, touches, bed-bugs, fllea, aat>, tnncte, motes, Jack-r&Vbits, gouheis. gempthorms. Siotsa * Co., AudOud,