"HAND AND RING."

By Anna Katherine Green, "Tho Loavonworth Murrler," "The Sword of Damodcs," " The Def.enco of tho Prude," etc.

CHAPTER XLH

CONSULTATIONS,

That he should dio is worthy policy; Hut yet wc want a colour for :ns deatli; 'Tianieet he he condemned tiy course ot law —Henry VI.

Mr GRYCE was perfectly aware that the task before him was a difficult one. To be himself convinced that Mr Orcutt had been

in possession of a motive sufficient to ac count for, if not excuse, this horrible crime b was one thing ;to find out that motive and j make it apparent to the world was another. But ho was not discouraged. Summoning v his two subordinates, ho laid the matter be fore them. h "I am convinced," said he, "that Mrs Clemmens was a more important person * Mr Orcutt than her plain appearance f humble manner of life would sup- j .1, either of you know whether IV' jgt tj^j name has ever been associn A^bixit's private scandal, the kno" „£ i( .j, might have given her p- ~-<j!.ge pf which «I do not think him ." man," said Byrd Vas that kind of a put myself in . I have saw dispo?' rtik Way'of such persons as I though T *<•<£ to Converse 'about him, and i m an- /. have boon 'as tMiishcd to find how ].' ylfaero are who say they never quite jcea or altogether trusted this famous lawyer, I have heard nothing said in any way derogatory to his private character. Indeed, I believe, us far as tlio ladies were j concerned, ho was particularly reserved. I Though a, bachelor, ho showed no disposi-! tion to marry, and until Miss Dare appeared on tho scone was not known to be evon at tentive to one of her sex."

" Sonio one, however, I foVget who, told :_i_e that for a short time he avus sweet on a certain Miss PratV'lfemarkod Hickory.

"Pratt? Where have 1 heard that name?" jnunnured Byrd to himself. "But nothing came of it," Hickory con tinued. "Sho was not over and abovo amart thoy say, and though pretty enough, ,did not hold his fancy. Some folks declare she was so disappointed she loft town."

" Pratt, Pratt!" repeated Byrd to him self. "Ah ! I know now," ho suddenly ox claimod. "While I stood around amongst tho crowd the morning Mrs Clemmens was murdered, I remember overhearing somo ono say how hard she was on tho Pratt girl." "Humph!" ejaculated Mr Gryce. "Tho widow was hard on anyone Mr Oroutt chose to admire." I " I don't understand it," said Byrd. " Nor I," rejoined Mr Gryce'; " but I in tend to before the week is out." Then abruptly \\" When did Mrs Clemmens come to this town ?" " Fifteen years ago," replied Byrd. "And Orcutt—when did he first put in an appearance here ?" " At very much the'same time, I believe." " Humph! And did they seem to be friends at that time ?" " Some say Yes, some say No." "Where did he come from—have you learned ?" "From some place in Nebraska, I be lieve." " And she?" "Why, she came from some place in Nebraska too!" "The same place?" " That we must find out." " Mr Gryce mused for a minute ; then he Observed: "Mr Orcutt was renowned in his profes sion. Do you know anything about his Career— whether he brought a reputation for ability with him, or Whether his fame was entirely made In this place ?" *' I think it was made here. Indeed, I have heard that it was in this court he pleaded his first case. Don't you know more about it, Hickory ?" " Yes ; Mr Ferris told mo this morning that Orcutt had not opened a law-book •when he came to this town. That he was a country schoolmaster in some uncivilised district out West, and would nover have been anything more, perhaps, if the son of old Stephen Orcutt had not died, and thus made a vacancy in the law-office hero which he was immediately sent for to fill." "Stephen Orcutt? He was the uncle of this man, wasn't he ?" " Yes." *' And quite a lawwyer too ?" " Yes, but nothing like Tremont B. He ■was successful from tho start. Had a natural aptitude, I supp - ■" must have had, to pick up the profession in the way he did." "Boys," cried Mr Gryce, after another short ruminative pause, "tho secret we want to know is of long standing ; indeed, I should not be surprised if it were con nected with his life out West. I will tell you why I think so. For ten years Mrs Clem mens has been known to put money in the bank regularly every week. Now, where did she get that money ? From Mr Orcutt, of course. What for ? In payment for the dinner he usually took with her? No, in payment of her silence concerning a past he desired kept secret." "Butlthey^have been here fifteen years, and she has only received money for ten." " Sho has only put money in the bank for ten ; she may have been paid before that and may not. Ido not suppose ho was in a condition to be very lavish at the outset of his career."

" You advise us, then, to see what we can make out of his early life out West ?" " Yes ; and I will see what I can make out of hers. The link which connects the two will be found. Mr Orcutt did not say : 'It was all for you, Imogene,' for nothing." And, dismissing the two young men, Mr Gryce procoeded to the house of Mr Orcutt, where he entered upon an examination of such papers and documents as were open to bis inspection, in the hope of discovering some allusion to the deceased lawyer's early history. But he was not successful. Neither did a like inspection of the widow's letters bring any new facts to light. The only result which seemed to follow these efforts was an increased certainty on his part that some dangerous secret lurked in a past that was so determinedly hidden from the world, and resorting to the only expedient now left to him, he resolved to consult Miss Firman, as being the only person who professed to have had any ac quaintance with Mrs Clemmens before she came to Sibley. To be sure, she had al ready been questioned by the coroner, but Mr Gryce was a man who had always founu that the driest well 'could be made to yield a drop or two more of water if the bucket was dropped by a dexterous hand. He accordingly prepared himself for a trip to Utica.

CHAPTER XLIII.

JIBS HUMAN

Hark! she speaks. I will set down what comes from her. . . . . Heaven knows what Bhe has known.—Macbeth.

"Miss Firman, I believe?" The staid, pleasant-faced lady whom we know, but who is looking older and considerably more careworn than when we saw her at the coroner's inquest, rose from her chair in her own cozy Bitting-room and sun-eyed her visitor curiously. "I am Mr Gryce," the genial voice went on. " Perhaps the name is not familiar?" " I never heard it before," was the short but not ungracious reply. "Well, then, let me explain," said ho. "You are a relative of the Mrs Clemmens who was so foully murdered in Sibley, are you not t '.Pardon me, but I see you are ; your expression speaks for itself." How he could have seen her expression was a mystery to Miss Firman, for his eyes, if not attention, were seemingly fixed upon some object in quite a different portion of the room " You must, therefore," he pursued, " be in a state of great anxiety to know who her murderer was. Now, lam in that same state, madam; wo are, therefore, in sympathy, you see." The respectful smile and peculiar intona tion with which these last words were uttered robbed them of their familiarity and allowed Miss Firman- to perceive his true character. , "You are a detective," said she, and as he did not deny it, she went on : " You pay I must be anxious to know who my cousin, s murderer was. Has Craik Mansell, then, been acquitted ?" .., , " A verdict has not been given, said the other "His trial has been adjourned in order to give him an opportunity to choose a new counsel." .._._._._._. Miss Finnan motioned hervisitor to be seated, and at once took a chair herself, exact nature was, we, of course canno; cay, but from the results it is evident J*** told her his prospects bod Ranged, and with them his tastes and requirements, that she was not the woman bethought hei, "What do you want with me.' she asked, with characteristic bluntness. The detective was silent. It was but for a moment, but in that moment he seemed -read to the bottom of this womans

"Well," said he, "I will tell you. You believe Crnik Mansell to bo innocent ?" "I do," she returned.

"Very well; so do I." "Lot mo shake hands with you," was I her abrupt remark. And without a smile r she reached forth hor hand, which he took with equal gravity. ' This ceremony over, ho remarked, with a r cheerful mien: £ "Wo are fortunately not in a court of t law, and so can talk freely together. Why r do you think Mausell innocent? lam sure f the ovidenco has not been much in his a favour. "Why do you think him innocent ?" was the brisk retort. " I have talked with him." i "Ah!" " I have talked with Miss Da" j A different "Ah !" this tir * " And I was present ■ ___. ' breathed his last." fc The look she gay Mr Gryce's secro'' __ likQ cold water m V - , -^V growing hopes. wondennrr1 t hat to do with it?" she ,V'?' ,_<' : e_claimed. . , ..elective took ahothe'v ten'e. " r _rVVi did not know Mr Orcutt then?" j sft gui red. .. i ',' I had fiot that honour," was tlio formal ->[ " _ou have never, then, visited your 0. cousin in Sibley ?" s " Yes, I was there once, but that did not y give me an acquaintance with Mr Orcutt." ™ " Yet he wont almost every day lo Tier house." n "And he came White 1 was thero, but c that did not give mo an acquaintance with 1 him.*' • "He was reserved, then, in his manners, v uncommunicative, possibly morose f" 0 "He was just what I would expect such s a gentleman to bo at the table with WotiHM >' like my ocuieln und myself," " Not, morose thoh i cn_y reserved." 3 "Exactly," the short, quick bow of tlio • amiable spinster seemed to assort. ' ' Ml' Gryce drew a deep breath. This well 1 seemed to bo dostituto of oven a drop of • moisture.

" Why do you ask me about Mr Orcutt? Has his death in any way affected young Hansell's prospects." "That is what I want to ilnd out," de clared Mr Gryco. Then, without giving her time fo- another question-, he. Said : " Whore did Mrs Clemmen'3 first make the acquaintance of.Mr Orcutt? Wasn't it in some town out West J"

. " Out West ? Not to my knowledgo, sir. I always supposod sho saw him first in Siblov."

This was certainly very dry. '" Yet you are not positive that this is so, are you ?" pursued the patient detective; " She camo horn Nebraska, and co tfid ho; now, why may they not liavb khown each other thore'"

" I did hot know that ho camo from Nebraska." " Sho has novor talkod about him then ?" "Never." Mr Gryce drew anothor doep breath, and lot down his bucket again. " I thought your cousin spent her child hood in Toledo ?" " She did, sir." "How came she to go to Nebraska, then." "Well, she was left an orphan and had to look out for herself. A situation in some way opened to her in Nebraska, and she wont there to take it." " A situation at what 1" "As waitress in some hotel." " Humph ? And was sho still a waitress ! when she married ?" | " Yes, I think so, but lam not sure about it, or anything else in connection with her at that time. The subject, was so painful we never discussed it," " Why painful?" " She lost her husband so soon." " But you can toll mo the name of the town in which this hotel was, can you not?" "It was called Swanson then, but that was fifteen years ago. Its name may have been changed since ?" Swanson ! There was something to learn, but not much. Mr Gryce returned to his first question. "You have not told mo," said he, " why you believe Craik Mansell to be innocent?"

"Well," replied she, "/believe Crnik Mansell to be innocent because-he is the son of his mother. I think I know him pretty well, but I am certain I know her. She was a woman who would go through fire and water to attain a purpose sho thought right, but who would stop in the midst of any project the moment sho felt the least doubt of its being just or wise. Craik has his mother's forehead und eyes, and no one will ever make mo believe ho has not her principles also." " I coincide with you, madam," romnrked the attentive detective.

" I hope the jury will," was heronergetic response. He bowed and was about to attempt an other question, when an interruption oc curred Miss Firman was called from the room, and Mr Gryce found himself left for a few moments alone. His thoughts, as he awaited her return, were far from cheerful, for he saw a long and tedious line of inquiry opening before him in the West, which if it did not end in failure, promised to exhaust not only a week, but possibly many months, before certainty of any kind could be obtained. With Miss Dare on the verge of a fever, and Mansell in a position calling for the utmost nerve and self-control, this prospect looked anything but attractive to the benevolent detective; and^cariicd away by his impatience, he was about to give utterance to an angry ejaculation against the man he believed to be the author of all this mischief, when he suddenly heard a voice raised from somo unknown quarter near "by, saying in strange tones he was positive did not proceed from Miss Fir man :

"Was it Clemmens or was it Orcutt? Clemmens or Orcutt? I cannot remember."

Naturally excited and aroused, Mr Gryce rose and looked about him. A door stood ajar at his back. Hastening toward it, he was about to lay his hand on the knob when Miss Firman returned.

" Oh, I beg you," she entreated. "That is my mother's room, and she is not at all well."

" I was going to harassistanc*," asserted the detective with grsJve composure. " She has just uttered a cry." " Oh, you don't say so !" exclaimed the unsuspicious spinster, and hurrying for ward she threw open the door herself. Mr Gryce benevolently followed. " Why, she is asleep," protested Miss Firman, turning on the detective with a suspicious look.

Mr Gryce, with a glance toward the bed he saw before him, bowed with seeming per plexity. "She certainly appears to be," said he, ' "and yet lam positive she spoke but an instant ago ; I can even tell you the words she used. "What were they ?" asked the spinster, with something like a look of concern. " She said : ' Was it Clemmens or was it Orcutt? Clemmens or Orcutt? I cannot remember.'" " You don't say so ! Poor ma ! She was dreaming. Come into the other room, and I will explain." ~_... And leading the way back to the apart ment they had left, she motioned him ogam toward a chair, and then said : " Ma has always been a very hale and active woman for her years; but this murder seems to have shaken her. To speak the truth, sir, she has not been quite rifht in her mind since the day I told her of" it; and I often detect her murmuring words' similar to those you have just heard." " Humph ! And does she often use his name ?" "Whose name? " Mr Orcutt's." . "Why, yes; but not with any under standing of whom she is speaking." '•Are you sure?" inquired Mr Gryce, with that' peculiar impressiveness ho used on great occasions. " What do you mean! _ " I mean," returned the detective, dryly, "that I believe your mother does know what she is talking about when she links the name of Mr Orcutt with that of your cousin who was murdered. They belong together; Mr Orcutt was her murderer. "Mr Orcutt?" ... " Hush !" cried Mr Gryce, you will wake up your mother." And, adapting himself to this emergency as to all others, he talked with the astounded and incredulous woman before him till she was in a condition not only to listen to his explanations, but to discuss the problem of a crime so seemingly without motive. He then said, with easy assur ° " Your mother does not know that Mr Orcutt is dead?"

"No, sir." " She does not even know he was counsel for Craik Mansell in the trial now going

° '< How do you know that?" inquired Miss Firman, grimly. _ "Because I do not believe you have even told her that Craik Mansell was on trial." " Sir, you are a magician. "Have you, madam ?" " No, sir, I have not.' "Very food; whit don she know about Mr Orcutt, then ; and why Aould she con nect his name.with Mrs Clemmens? "She knows he was her boarder, and that he was tho first one to discover she had been murdered."

" That is not enough to account for her frequent repetition of his name." „ i " You think not ?" '" I "I am sure not. Cannot yov have some memories connec* r (gdlttr name of which you are igno- ___ s .No, sir; we havo hv a«t'{" house for twenty-fi- _^ geth er in this ™ h m th°Up ■'* • W <"><* have thing about X Ye knQwn frm -,4m * Ann which **d ??!• - Worfs she has just spoken sprang -efttal confusion. She Is almost like .•id someti-nes." Afir 'Gryde >miled. If the cream-jug he / ?iappened to bo gazing at on a tray near by ; had been _\.ll of cream, I am far from cer . Tain ft would not have turned sour on tho 1 -pot. " I grant tho montal confusion," said he ; "but why should she confuse those two t names in preference to nit others?" And, with quiet persistence, he remarked again : ii "Sho may bo recalling some old fact of years ago. Was there never a time, even c While you lived hore together, when she could have received some confidence from Mrs. Clemmens " " "Mary Ann, Mary Ann I" came In querulous acconts from the other room, ,1 "I wish you had not told me j Emily would be a better one to khow your secret', r "It was a startling intbVrlijjtiWh to co'ih'e just at that trtoment. The two surprised t listeners gliine'ed 'toward each Qttisr, ftn<J '' Jsitss 1 irman coloured. ---r "That sounds ai if your iurm.se wns true," she dryly observed. t " Let us make an experiment)" said he, r and motioned her to re-enter he* mother's room, which Hhe did With a pt'eeipHAUon , that showed hfer cott.pdsiiro hM been eerely shaken by these i.nCApected occurrences. \ Htt followed her without ceremony.

The old lady lay as bofore in a condition botweon sleoping and waking, and did not movo as they camo in, Mr Gryoeat once withdrew out of sight, and, with finger on his lip, put himself in the nttltudo pf Wait' ing. Miss Firman, surprised, and possibly curious, took her stand at tho foot of tho bed.

A few minutes passed thus, durinjj winch a strange dreariness seemed Id eotDo upon the room ; thei. the old lady spoke again, this tiirto repenting the words ho had first heard, but in n tono which betrayed an in creased perplexity. " Was it Clemmens or was it Orcutt? I wish somebody would tell me." Instantly Mr Gryco,, with his soft tread, drew near to tho old lady's side, and, lean ing over her, murmured gently : "I think it was Orcutt."

Instantly the old lady breathed a deep sigh and moved. ''Than hor name was Mrs Orcutt," said she, " and I thought you always called her Clemmens."

Miss Firman, recoiling, stared at Mr Gryco, on whoso cheek a faint spot of red had appeared—a most unusual token of emotion with him.

" Did she say it was Mrs Orcutt ?" ho pur sued, in tho even tones he had before used. "She said " But hero the old lady opened her eyes, and, seeing her daughter standing at the foot of her bed, turnod away with a peevish air, and restlessly pushed her hand undor the pillow.

Mr Gryce at onco bent nearer. " She said "ho suggested, with care ful gentleness. But tho old lady mado no answer. Her hand seemed to have touched some object for which sho was seeking, and sho was ovidently oblivious to nil else. Miss Firman came around and touched Mr Gryce on tho shoulder.

" It is useless," said sho ; " she is awako now, and you won't hear anything more; come I"

And she drow the reluctant detective back again into tho other room. " What does it all mean ?" she asked, sinking into a chair. Mr Gryce did not answer. Ho had a question of his own to put. "Why did your mothor put her hand under her pillow," he asked. *' I don't know, unless it was to Bee if her big envelope was thero." " Her big envelope!" "Yes; for weeks now, over sinco sho took to her bed, she has kopt a papor'in a big onvelope under hor pillow. What is in it I don't know, for she never seems to hear me when I inquire." " And have you no curiosity to find out?" "No, sir. Why should I? It might easily bo my father's old letters sealed up, or, for that matter, bo nothing more than a piece of blank papor. My mother is not herself, as I have said before." " I should like a peep at the contents of that envelope," ho declared. " You »" "Is there any name written on the out side ?" "No." "It would not be violating anyone's rights, then, if you opened it." "Only my mother's, sir." " You say sho is not in her right mind ?" "All the more reason why I should respect her whims and caprices." "Wouldn't you open it if she were dead ?" " Yes." " Will it bo very different thon from what it is now ? A father's letters ! a blank piece of paper! What harm would thore be in looking at them ?" "My mother would know it if I took them away. It might excite and Injure her." "Put another onvelopo in the place of this ono, with a piece of paper folded up in it." "It would bo a trick." " I know it; but if Craik Mansell can bo saved even by a trick, I should think you would bo willing to venture on one." " Craik Mansell ? What has he got to do with tho papers under my mother's pillow?" " I cannot say that he has anything to do with thorn ; but if he has—if, for instance, that envelope should contain, not a piece of blank paper, or even the letters of your father, but such a document, say, as a certificate of marriage——" " A certificate of marriage ?" " Yes, between Mrs Clemmens and Mr Orcutt, it would nottake much perspicacity to prophesy an acquittal for Craik Man sell."

" Mary Ann the wife of Mr Orcutt!, Oh, that is impossible !" exclaimed the agitated spinster. But even while making this determined statement, she turned a look full of curiosity and excitement toward the door which separated them from her mother's apartment. Mr Gryce smiled in his wise way. " Less improbable thingß than that have been found to be true in this topsy-turvy world," said he. "Mrs Clemmens might very well have been Mrs Orcutt." "Do you really think so?" she asked; and yielding with sudden impetuosity to the curiosity of the moment, she at once dashed from his side and disappeaied in her mother's room. Mr Gryce'a smile took on an aspect of triumph. It was some few moments before she re turned, but when she did, her countenance was flushed with emotion.

" I have it," she murmured, taking out a packet from under her apron, and tearing it open with trembling fingers. A number of closely written sheets fell out.

CHAPTER XLIV,

THE WIDOW CLEMMENS,

Discovered The secret that so long had hovered Upon the misty verge of Truth. —Longfellow,

"Well, and what kjivo you to cay?" It was Mr Ferris who spoke. The week which Mr Gryce had demanded for his inquiries had fully elapsed, and the three detectivos stood before him ready with their report.

It was Mr Gryce who replied. " Sir," said he, " our opinions have not been changed by the discoveries which we have made. It was Mr Orcutt who killed Mrs Clemmens, and for the reason already stated that she stood in the way of his marrying Miss Dare. Mrs Clemmens was his wife."

" His wife ?"

" Yes, sir; and, what is more, she has been so for years; before either of them came to Sibley, in fact."

The District Attorney looked stunned. "It was while they lived West," said Byrd. "He was a poor schoolmaster, and she a waitress in some hotel. She was pretty then, and he thought he loved her. At all events, he induced her to marry him, and then kept it secret because he was afraid she would lose her place at the hotel, where she was getting very good wages. You see, he had the makings in him of a ■villain even then."

" And was it a real marriage ?" " There is a record of it," said Hickory. " And did he never acknowledge It ?" " Not openly," answered Byrd. "The commonness of the woman seemed to revolt him after he was married to her, and when in a month or so he received the summons East, which opened up before him tho career of a lawyer, he determined to drop her and start afresh. He accordingly left town without notifying her, and actually succeeded in reaching the railway dep6t twenty miles tway before he was stopped. But here a delay occurring in tho departure of the train, she was enabled to overtake him, and a stormy scene ensued, What its

ted that he could Jiot ah'ii Would not take her E&sf, with him fts his wife ; while sho, ton her side, displayed full as muoh spirit as !ißi S_ad replied that if he could desert her like this he wasn't the kind of a man she could live with, and that he could go if he wished ; only that ho must acknowledge her claims upon him by giving her a yearly stipend, accovdiHgtohis income and success. At all events, some such compromise was effocted, for he came East and she went back to Swauson. Sho did npt stay there long, however; for tho next we know she was in Sibley, where she set up her own little house-keeping arrangements under his very eye. More than that, she prevailed upon him to visit her daily, and even to take a meal dt her house, her sense of iu«tlcc seeming to bo satisfied if ho showed her this littlo attention and gave to no other woman the place ho denied her. It was the weakness shown in this last require ment that doubtless led to her death. She would stand anything but a rival. He knew this, and preferred crime to the loss of the woman he loved."

" You speak very knowingly," said Mr Ferris. "May I ask where you received your information V " It was Mr Gryce ttilp firisOTrdd, "Ftohi letters. Mrs Ckmmens wag one ef those womon who del;^-1,,^ in putting their feelings -■„ pa p C f,. Fortunately for us, oven WOlften aro not rare. See here I" And he pulled out beforo tho District Attorney a pile of old letters in tho widow's well-known handwriting, " Where did you find 111688?" nsked Ml' Ferris.

''Well.'sftid Mr Gryce, "I found them In lather a curious place. They were in the keeping of old Mrs Firman, Miss Firman's mother, Mrs Clemmons, or, rather, Mrs Orcutt, got frightened soiuo two years ago at the disappearance of her marriago cortillcato from the place where she had al ways kept it hidden, and; thinking that Mr Orcutt was planning to throw her off, she resolved to provide herself with ft confidante capable of standing by her in case she wished to assert her lights. She choSO olt^ Mrs Firiitan. Why; whqn her daughter would have been so much more suitable for the purpose, it ia hard to toll ; possibly the widow's prido revolted from tolling a woman of her own years the indignities sho had suffered. However that may bo, it was to the old lady she told her story and gavo these letters—letters which, us you will see, are not written to any special person, but are rather separate leaves ,of a"journal which sho kept to show the state of her feel ings from time to time." "And this!" inquired Mr Ferris, taking up a sheet of paper written in a different handwriting from tho rest. " This is an attempt on tho part of the' old lady to put on paper tho story which had been told her. She evidently thought herself too old to be entrusted with a secret so important, and, fearing loss of memory, or perhaps sudden death, teok this means of explaining how sho came into possession j of her cousin's loters. 'Twas a wise precaution. Without It wo would have missed the clue to tho widow's journal. For the old lady's brain gavo way when sho heard of tho widow's death, and had it not been for a special stroke ef good-luck on my part we might have remained some time longer in ignor ance of what very vnluablo papers sho secrotly held in her possession." " I will rend the letters," said Mr Ferris. Seeing from his look that ho only waited their departure to do so, Mr Gryce and his subordinates arose.

" I think you will find them satisfactory," drawled Hickory.

" If you Jo not," said Mr Gryco, " then give a look at this telegram. It is from Swanson, mid notifies us that a record of a marriage between Benjamin Orcutt—Mr Orcutt's middle namo was Benjamin—and Mary Mnnsell can be found in tho old town books."

Mr Ferris took tho telegram, tho shado of sorrow settling heavier and heavier on his brow.

"I see," said he, "I havo got to accopt your conclusions. Well, thero are those among tho living who will bo greatly re lieved by these discoveries. I will try and think of that."

Yet, nftor the detectives wore gono, and ' ho sat down in solitudo before those evi dences of his friends' perfidy, it was many long and dreary moments before ho could summon up courago to poruso them. But when ho did, he found in them all that Mr Gryco had promised. As my readers may feel Rome interest to know how the seeming widow boro the daily trial of hor lifo, I will give a few extracts from those letters. The first bears date of fourteen yoars back, and was written after she came to Sibley : " Novbsiakb 8, 1567.— In tho samo town ! Within a stone's throw of tho court-houso, where, they tell mo, his business will soon tnko him almost overy day I Isn't it a triumph ? and am I not to be congratu lated upon my bravery in coming hero! He hasn't seen me yet, but I have seen him. I crept out of the house at nightfall on pur pose. Ho was sauntering down the street and ho looked—it makes my blood boil to think of it—he looked happy." "November 10,1867.— Clcmmons—Clem mens—that is my name, and I have takon ' tho titlo of widow. What a fate for a'_ woman with a husband in tho noxt street! He saw me to-day. I mot him in the open square, and I looked him right in tho faco. How ho did quail 1 It just does me good to think of it 1 Perk and haughty as he is, he ' is, he grow as white as a sheet when he saw mo, and though he triod to put on airs and ' carry it 'off with a high hand, ho failed, just ub I knew he would when he oame to moet mo on even ground. Oh, I'll have my way now, and if I chooso to stay in this place where I can keop my eye on him, he won't daro to Bay No. The only thing I fear is that ho will do me a secret mischief some day. His look was just murderous when he left mo." "Fedruary 24, 1868.-Canl stand it? I ask myself that question overy morning when I get up. Can I stand it! To sit all alone in my little narrow room, and know that he is going about as gay as you please with people who wouldn't Took at me twice. It's awful hard; but it would be worse still to be where I couldn't see what he was up to. Then I should imagine all sorts of things. No, I will jußt grit my teeth and bear it. I'll get used to It after a while." "October 7, 1868.—1f he says he never loved me he lies. He did, or why did he marry me? I never asked him to. He teased me into it, saying my saucy ways had bewitched him. A month after, it was common ways, rude ways, such ways as ho wouldn't have in a wife. That's the kind of man he is." "May 11, 1869.—0ne thing I will say of him. He don't pay no heed to women. He's too busy, I guess. Ho don't Boem to think of anything but to get along, and he .does get along remarkable. I'm awful fproud of him. He's taken to defending criminals lately. They almost all get off. " October 5, 1870.—He pays me but a pittance. How can I look like anything, or hold my head up with the ladiea here if I cannot get enough together to buy me a new fall hat ? I will not go to church looking like a farmers wife, if I haven't any education or any manners. I'm as good as anybody here, if they but knew it, and deserve to dress as well. He must give mo more money." "November 2,1870.—N0, hesha'n't give me a cent more. If I can't go to church I will stay at home. He sha'n't Ray I stood in his way of becoming a great man. He is too gcod for me. I saw it to-day when he stood up in the court to speak. I was there with a thick veil over my face, for I was determined to know whether he was as smart aB folks say or not._ And he just is I Oh, how beautiful he did look, and how everybody held their breaths while he was speaking ! I felt like jumpmg.up and say ing: 'This is my husband!? we were married threo yoars ago.' Wouldn't I have raisod a rumpus if I had ! I guess the poor man he was pleading for would not have been remembered very long after that. My husband ! the thought makes me laugh. No other woman can call him that, anyhow. He is mine, mine, mine, and I mean he shall stay so." *, " January 9,1871. —I feel awful blue to-' night. I have been thinking aboutthose Hildreths. How they would like to have me dead ! And so would Tremont, though he don't say nothing. I like to call him Tremont; it makes me feel as if he be longed to me. What if that wicked Gou verneur Hildreth should know I lived so much alone ? I don't believe he would stop i at killing me! And my husband !Heis : equal to telling him I have no protector. { Oh, what a dreadful wickedness it is in me , to put that down on paper !It isn't so—it I ißnt so ; my husband wouldn't do me any harm if he could. If ever I'm found dead in my bed, it will be the work of that Toledo man, and of nobody else." "March 2, 1872.—1 hope lam going to have some comfort now. Tremont has begun to pay me more money. He had to. j He'isn't a poor man any more, and when ho moves into his big house, I am going to ' move into a certain littlo cottage I have found juit around tho corner. If I can't have no other pleasures, I will at least have a ki_eh<_s I tan call my own, and a ' parlour too. What if there don't no com pany como to i : they would if they knew. ' I've just heard from Adelaide; she says Craik is getting to be a big boy, and is so j smart." ; I ' (To be Continued,) '

THE GARDEN.

(~,). — [By HoitTtts.]

Calendar dt chliJ.'ai.e.is, September 13.

[Hortcs Is willing to answer any queries. Cor respondents must give their full names and addresses, though not for publication.]

TO CORRESPONDENTS. Onions (Brown Spanish, Walkatoh-I think you will find the greater part of your letter answered In the Bunplernent of August 30th. Trbttdltlg thfe ground beforo sowing onion Beed is dono for the follow ing reason: The produce will ho harder and firmer in the flesh, and will keen better, when treading, don't treat too hard. It in quite possible to make tho groundsohnrd that it would almost bo Impossible to grow ans thing. All that ia required is to got a moderately firm surface. Potatoes (Amateur, Newton).-! think from your description that yotir sdil is too wot, Btiff, and oold to gfow gobd early potatoes. Eathdr tfy tho late, varieties! it Is father too early to plant thettl yet. Prepare Jour ground by digging it dyer roughly whon you get a fow dry days. Leave it in this state for another month, then it will be time enough ,fdr you to plant. Tho best wfty fdb ?01. id gtJt.yi.lA: B H_U-|to flood V,o.klllg condition is to mix in with it plenty of cqijl ftßhe* A« jm Hip. j, 9w snreftd tbcm o?fc* the ihrface of tho dug gr6iltuY.' Afl yfffl work tho soil the second time they will get incorporated. As much as will cover tho surface to a depth of two inches will not be too much for your soil. Also use as much stable manure as you like. Sowing Annual Sekd (Garden).-I think a good many of your queries woro answered Mot week in my short article on annual growing. Yon will he better to sow your asteis, oookscombs mcrigolda in boxes, placing a pane of glass ovor them, so as to protect them and keep them warm. Sow thinly in rich soil. When they attain a suffi cient slzo prick them out into borders. It la too early to sow them in tho open border yet. Male and Fbmalk Flowers (" Hop").—Cer tainly, thoro aro malo hop vinos, and you will find In books devoted to the culturoof this vipo a full dcs rlpiionof both sexes, Tho malo or Btuminate plants do net boar any Btrohilca or hop cones, but have long, Blender, white (lowers, quite different from nhythiug foiiad oh the female plants which aro called hops. Hop growers in the East Usually net a few staminAte plants In tlltilr hop yards, as it is thought they are bonellclal. Thore aro malo and Female floweis among all kinds of plants, but they ar_i usually designated as etarainaio mid pistillate. In fruit trees, such ns tho apple, poar, neach, and cherry, both sexes arc In tho sanio flower, but in somo kinds of trees, like tho wulnut and chestnut, thoy ore sepa rate. Tho pistillatea aro very small, and oan be found protruding from the ombryo nut, while tho Btamiuates arc in long calkins scattered ovor tho tree In great profusion.

Kitchen Garden.

Mucti work will iio^ htive tb be done in a very limited amount of time by all who have not mado good advances towards having all ground dug and many oarly crops planted. One of the drawbacks con nected with leaving suoh work until tho last moment is that all the work Is hurried forward with such undue haste as to bo done only indifferently. Where parsnips and onions aro not planted previously, as advised, this had better be done upon such ground as Is dug. The former succeed boet in stiff soil, and moderately moist in its nature ; tho latter in a deep sandy, or stony soil, thoroughly enriched by good dressings with manure.

Onions are very partial, besides, to firm ground. When they are sown upon such as is light and not over-retentive in ltd nature, the whole should be trodden over before the final raking takes place, or if to hand a roller may with advantage bo trundled over it. Both must, howover, be done, as all seed-sowing is best done whon tho surface of the soil is moderately dry. In raking loose stones, &c, off tho bed after it is sown, It is best to draw tho rake along the rows, and not acrosß them. Sow now a bed of radishes, in a warm sunny corner, a row of mustard and cross beneath some high shelter, such as the over-hanging branchos of a fruit bush. Sow tho latter very thickly on the surfaco, covering them with very fine soil slightly, so as not to entirely hide thorn from view. A few seeds of cos lettuce sown across the onion bed will givo a fow nloo early heads whore room for bed* of all things separately does not exist. Hardy Fruit Garden. Grafting must now bo finally completed ; both graft and Bcion must bo so cut and fashioned to fit each other like the joints in a flag-staff. It is not necessary that the wood of both should bo of equal circum ference, but the splico of the two must be cut straight, and at a similar angle one to tho othor, and on ono side at least the bark of both must bo mado to meet with exacti tude. Upon this much depends in regard to thoir forming a successful junction. Clay in n moist state is proßsed around the wounds, after they hr.ye been tightly tied togothor. The ligature had better be abundantly bound around, as it will prove an additional aid in keeping the joints tight, and tho air from too free egress around them. Each graft should be so shortened as to leave only four or five buds upon it. Cultivate Flowora, There is nothing that adds to the ap pcaranco of n farmhouse moro than flowers and shrubbery. The appearance of flowers around the home gives the stranger a good impression of thooccupantß,andenlivensand cheers tho heart, not only of the stranger, but also of the ownor, and besides the pleosuro they afford, they give an impres sion of ease and refinement. Somo one has . said: " Tho beautiful flowers I Tokens of God's boundless love I Were It not that thoy gr»w along our pathway as we travel this journey of life, dreary indeed would It be." Trees Near Wolls. A gentleman in California recently found In his well, sixteen feet deep, a mass of roots belonging to a eucalyptus tree, stand ing some fifty feet distant. The roots had gone through a brick wall, and had then nent out millions of fibres, forming a large mass at the bottom of the well. The roots of the elm and willow will often go twice fifty foot through moderately stiff noil in order to reaoh a moist spot, or even water, and for this reason such trees should cover be planted near wells or drains into which the roots can find access. The eucalyptus being a broad-leaf evergreen of rapid growth, it can be readily understood how such trees •an be made useful for planting in low marshy soils in warm climates, for they must absorb an immense amount of mois ture, giving it off again through their leaves In a purified form, Bouvardia, Tho continuous flowering habit pos sessed by these plants, and the freedom with which their highly fragrant blossoms _ are produced, render them an almost indispensable greenhouse plant. Thoy aro natives of Mexico. They succeed best in good fibrous loam, one fourth leaf mould, with a sprinkling of sand. The plants are of a naturally bushy habit, but if any shoot shows a disposition to take the lead, pinch it back. . They are easily propagated from cuttings with a little heat. Thoy also succeed well planted out in the border in warm situations, AcliLmenen. A place should be reserved in every greenhouse for a few varieties of this class of plant. The achimenes are pro pagated from tubers. In September these should be set in pans, with the light sandy soil, about six inches apart. The pans should.bo setjin a warm place, and the soi kept slightly moistened. When the young plants are from two to three inches long, repot into six or eight-Inch pote with soil three parts fibrous loam, two parts leaf mould, and a little sand. When tho plants are six inches long, pinch the points of the shoots to induce them to branch out. As soon as the flower-buds appear, give oc casional waterings with liquid manure, and give plenty of air and water while flowering. When they show signs of going to rest give I less water, and when the tops are thoroughly ripened off, take the tubers out of tho pot and store them in dry sand. Begonias. There are numerous varieties of the begonia. Some are grown for their ornamental foliage, others for their /lowers. I The flowering varieties are easily propagated from cuttings, which strike freely in sandy soil. As soon as roeted, pot into three-inch pots, with light loam mixed with leaf mould and sand. They should be pinched to keep them bushy. Repot when they require it, not overpotting. Grow them near the glass, giving them occasional waterings with liquid manure. The tuberous-rooted ; varieties require to be kept at rest during , tho winter. Commence repotting in August iin light loam, leaf mould, and sand, and < place them in a warm part of the house, I giving occasional waterings with liquid manure, and they ]will soon make nice plants. After flowering, the supply of water must be curtailed, keeping them pretty dry during the winter. They are increased by summer and autumn cuttings, sometimes propagated from the leaves. ! Coleus. ' For New Zealand we do not think that of all the greenhouse plants imported there is one 30 useful or handsome for de corative purposes as the coleus. Tho ' different varieties have such a rich diversity in arrangement of colours in their highly ' ornamental foliage. These plants are easily struck from cuttings throughoutthe wholo •of the growing season. It is difficult some times to keep old plants throughout, the ' winter; they seem to damp oft. It i_ always

■l better to strike a few cuttings of each variety late in autumn, striking them in some light sandy soil, and letting them jsrqw ill willtei' in the Outting pots. Early m the spring strike cuttings off these plants again. As soon as struck, commence growing the young plants as rapidly as possible, shifting them into larger pots as they may require it, pinching them back and training them either in the form of a pyramid or ball, always bearing in mind that a large, handsome foliage is the object to be attained. It is always better to have li good nutiibgr of siriall plants coining on, ns they will be very effective in filling up a blank here and there. Whenever any of the plants begin to go back or look scraggy in the beginning of winter, throw them away, taking care to preserve cuttings. Young plants rapidly pushed on every season will always make the best specimens.

An Irish Outrage

" I stayed some little timeat the Cormficks' seeing the country in company with my host, and forming my ideas of Irish poli tical economy as It is and as it should be, Which, being rather a hobby of mine, J. Won't new trpuble you with. TherC WBS a gentle man's family living in the neighbourhood, which I sopn made the acquaintance ef, as in that out-of-thp-way locality the arrival ef a stranger was as great an event as that ef a fpreign petentate in London. Several afternoons I spent pleasantly at ' the big house,' playing lawn-tennis with the young ladies of the place, whom I found to bo far more proficient in the art than their English sisters, probably from the solitude of their country life having obliged them to concen trate their energies on that particular form of amusement.

" One day that I had been spending in the above manner, and on which I had ac cepted a kind invitation to dlnuer enfamille, I noticed that Mf M. seemed more abrcnt than hsuah and a trifle quick-teinporcd, as though ho had bceii annoy'id by something or somebody. When the ladies had left iis, and we wore sitting over the usual post prandial bottle of wine, he took a letter from his pocket and showed itto inc. "'That's the kind of thing we have to put up with hero, Mr Ellerslie,' said he. ' You mu&n't go away with your ideas of tho country too much eoukur de rose' "That was in truth a strange production. It was written, or rather, laboriously printed, on a sheet of coarse paper, headed by ti rough but spirited drawing of coffins and bell-mouthed blunderbusses. Below was the following composition, of which 1 made a copy out of curiosity :— . "M. M. UOKT .00. TO . MOTE ,OR. I . WL . II . YOOH . END . 'JET . IT . B . BIT . OR . WRONG . IET . VVT . HIGQINS . BTVY . AT . OME. , " I looked at my host for an explanation, *" It is a threatening letter,' Bnid he, and net the first either that I have received. Tho printing is easy enough to read on the phonographic principle, with the caution that most of the A's and L's aro upside down. Tho meaning is that one of my tenants having against my express orders ploughed up a grass field, I have given him notice to quit, ond went into Moate yesterday to consult my attorney as to what compensation I was obliged to pay under the Irish Land Act. I got this the day before, lam not personally afraid of the follows, but it is very annoying, and I urn always on thorns lest one of thoßO letters should reach my wife ; it would almost frighten her te death, I fancy.'

" ' You met with no interruption going into Moato, I suppose?' said I. " 'No ; but Itook my precautions. I got a policeman on my car and drove in by a roundabout route. It isn't a pleasant way of (loin;.' things, is it ?' " I quite agreed with Mr M. that it was not, and ox pressed my surprise that the author of the letter could not be brought to justice.

"A sudden thought struck me. I had 6een that the last few words of tho document were lighter in colour, as if they hod been blotted. If so, would thero not remain an impression on the blotting-papor ? "[ don't know what evil spirit took pos session of moat this juncture, unless—l own it with contrition—it were that of inordinate self-conceit. Should Ibe üble to get onough evidence to convict Pat Higgins myself, I should certainly derive much credit for my [ingacity, and have an excellent story for my friends in England on my return. With this end in view I said nothing of my happy thought, determined towerkitout myself.

"iN'ext morning, having found out the locality of Higgins's cottage from Cormaok, I want to make a call thero. Tho solo occu pant of tho tenement when I arrived there uas a wrinkled old woman sitting on a three-logged stool and smoking a black clay pipe, tiho looked at me suspiciously, but her tiativo hospitality forbade her to refuse mo a sout. For the first timo I felt some qualilis ol conscience at the character of my errand, but those were speedily dissipated by the siyht, in a corner of the large open hearth, of the very thing I was seeking, a pleco of dirty blotting-paper crumpled up into a ball. To be sure the floor had not been swept for years, judging from its nppoaranco, and there was notelling how long tiio papor might have lain there; still, I lolt n conviction that it was the object of my search. ■ "The devices to which I resorted to get possession of that mute pieco of evidence were worthy of a detective policeman. I maniEuvred my chair closer under pretence of feeling a draught, though with the un pleasant consciousness that the old woman did not bolieve me. Fortune, however, favoured mo at last In theßhapoof a fierce contest between an old sow and a dog just outside the door, which made the crone hobble out briskly to separate the combat ants. She was not gone long, but I had p'.enty of time during her absence to eocreto the paper. As soon as I decently could afterwards I took my leave.

" The moment I was out of sight of the door I opened my prize, and found it to be what I hoped, a fairly good inverted copy of the threatening letter. Of course the last words wore the most distinct, but on the whole it was a very pretty piece of prim/l facie evidence against Mr Pat Hig gins. I presented the paper to Mr M., who praised my sagacity and thanked me warmly for my exertions on his behalf. That same evening I made a deposition before a magis trate who lived near by, and, much, to his gurpriso, Higgins was arrested. " Now I come to the unlucky portion _of my story. How my share in the foregoing proceedings got about I don't know; but a day or two after this I found a great change in Cormack's manner towards me. Hitherto hehad been hospitality itself; nowheseemed anxious to get me to leave bis house, though he was as studiously polite in hiding his wishes as the most finished gentleman oould have been. Of course, however, I could not stay longer with a man who was tired of me, and I signified to him accord ingly my intention of leaving him. He appeared to me somewbett relieved by the news. ■ • "I dined at Mr M.'s the night before my departure,; after a farewell game of tennis with the ladies, and did not leave the house tillnenrly dusk. As I was walking back to Cormack's I noticed footsteps be hind me, and, looking round, saw that I was followed by a small body of men, all armed with sticks. Not wishing them to come up with me, I quickened my pace a littlo. Thoy did the same, and closed on me somewhat. "I had to pass a sharp turn of the road. Just as I neared the hedge, and for tho moment lost sight of my followers, I saw a woman on the other side close to me. Lean ing forward, she said eagerly: 'Run for yer life, sir; it's you they're after.' Before I could reply she had sunk down behind tho hedge again, as my pursuers came in sight. " I hope if ever there be any chance of holding my own that I shall not be found ready to run away ; but when followed by a dozen men with sticks it is about the only thing that can be done, so I trust I may be pardoned for taking to my heels. "The men instantly followed at full speed, and for a time the pace was hot. But, having still my tennis shoes on, and being naturally swift of foot, I soon distanced them, and they were a good half mile behind me when I reached Cormack's door.

" Cormack himself was standing on the threshold. At one glance he took in the situation, having probably had some previous information as to what was going to happen. With a muttered oath he seizsd me by the arm and hurried me through the house and into the yard at the back. There was a rick of turf there which had that day been opened, leaving a small aperture in the smooth continuity of its rows. " Get in there, sir,' said Cormack, ' and you, Pat' (addressing his son, who was working in the yard when we entered), ' build up the clamp again while I go and lock the door. An' if ye tell the boys where the gentleman is ye'er no son of mine. " The case was not ono which admitted ot parlev^g. I got into the rick, anti fat i R'uo the outeide turf with marvelous ' yrAA There was room enough ior air and.'o'und to enter through the internees between the sods, but the dust nearly I choked me. However, I was glad enough S of even that refuge when I heard the storm Of curses that broke from my pursuers, as, having at length burst open the door, they 1 poured into the yard,

" I could hear Cormack saying: 'I let him out at the back-door, boys. _ Was I to let the gentleman be murdered in me own house, and he staying there V "Curiotisly enoii.ghj as I thought, the angry men admitted the plea, but ali now turned upon Pat to know which way I had gone. He gave them most minute, though untrue, directions as to the route I had taken, and, after a hurried search of the house and yard, they started off in pursuit.

"When they were out of sight Pat "un packed me. By this time I was almost fainting from the suffocating dust and smell of the turf, and I was glad to sit down in the kitchen and have a draught of butter milk. Meanwhile Cormack had saddled one of his horses and brought it round to the door.

"'Get up on that horse, sir,' said he, ' and rido as hard as ye can to the police station at Bally—it's tho only place yell be safe in after this. I'll ssnd on yer luggage there for ye. I've saved yo this day be cause ye were stopping iii me own houso, but only for that I wouldn't have put out a finger to help ye for an English informer as ye are. So there's no thanks due to me.'

"I attempted a few words of explanation and gratitude, but I confess to feeling de cidedly ' small' as I rode away, and in ttaMly tfloj. ji Vow liefer to interfere with other, people's business again. "I sent my late ho?t X ch'epjueafterwards for what I considered a fair suni lot my fortnight's board and lodgings, with a letter expressing my sense of obligation to him, and my wish to have made him a present to remember mc by did I not fear to offend him. The cheque was returned without a word.

" I was obliged to attend at the trial of Pat Higglng, who, rather to my satisfac tion, was triumphantly acquitted by a jury of his compatriots, so that all my trouble and danger had been incurred for nothing." " Who was the woman who warned you ." asked I; " did you ovor find out ?" " She was Cormack's daughter, and, curiously enough, was engaged to Pat Hig giliß, no I found out afterwards," answered HUersllo.

The Causes of Cholera Panic.

It is extraordinarily difficult to understand fully the feeling created in Southern Europe by any alarm of cholera. It is not confined to Frenchmen, as some imagine—though Frenchmen make panic most visible by its .contrast with their usual courage—but is manifested in at least an equal degree by Spaniards and Italians, and even Southern Germans and Slavs. These races aro not only bravo, but they show themselves under certain circufh'stlinccs lfe'ss sensitive to the fear of death or illness than the peoples of tho north. Their doctors arid engineers and deputies are nearly as well acquainted with the laws of hygiene as our own ; but it is almost impossible to induce them to take the permanent sanitary precautions which to Englishmen seem so indispensable, Thoy will not make the arrangements for sewage which Englishmen hold so necessary, and which they have contended for successfully in all the places they visit; and they will for years tolerate water so impure and cens pools so visibly dangerous that Londoners, rather than bear them, would upset aGovorn menti They will not enforce stern rules of cleanlinees, even when uncleanliness involves liability to.typhuji— that is f to rapid death. Part of this negligonce is no doubt du,a to ignorance, but part also to an habitual in differehce, and a little-talked-of but much felt fatalism which ought to be permament protections against panic, and in the East are so, No possible outburst of a disease could stir Mussulmans, or Hindoos, or Chinese into tho panic exhibited recently by a family in Marseilles named Lenfli who, losing one of their number by cholera, fled the city without burying the d«ad and with out the slightest attempt to protect the considerable property lying in his room. Hindoos in particular show a submis6iveness to disease as part of the will of God, which is at once the despair and the admiration of the doctors, and i 6 in the most direct and wonderful contrast to their usual timidity. We should have said, however, that Mersfeil laise, and Neapolitans, and the people of Barcelona feared death habitually less than Englishmen; yet the moment there te an alarm of cholera all these people seem to lose their reason. Their impulse is to fly in vast crowds, and it is obeyed. Toulon has been emptied like a city threatened with destruction ; the rich in Marseilles are flying to the mountains, and in northern Spain it is said " the cholera," which has not appeared, suspends business, depresses the funds, and forms the sole subject of conver sation. No measure of prevention is con sidered too cruel; and men who live by visitors vote eagerly for precautions which no visiters not driven by necessity will encounter. Who is going to the Pyrenees to lie stripped and sponged with disinfectants, before obtaining permission to quit the railway station ? Even the claims of pro fessional honour give way to an unreasoning fear, and its asserted gravely, we hope falsely, that in Marseilles doctors are reluc tant to volunteer for the hospitals'; that compulsion is used to obtain carriers for the dead; and that the police are with the utmost difficulty kept together. Nothing of this kind has ever been seen in London, though there have been discreditable cases in bad districts; and the Europeans of India, who are never free from the liability to the scourge, face it as they face sunstroke —as a most disagreeable but unavoidable incident of daily life. The work must be dono, and it is done. Yet the latter are, as a rule, a comfort: lov_Bg class, and ate peculiarly well aware of the awful rapidity with which cholera, in its earlier outbursts, before its _poisonouo energy has partially expended itself, slays its victims. The main cause of the difference—apart from the difference in his attitude towards religion is, we (" Spectator "(conceive, the segrega tiveness of the Englishman, tho disposition he has cultivated in himself to be himself, and not yield to the contagion of emotion. He likes a separate compartment even when he is frightened. He is himself by himself there in his separate house, and is not a member of a crowd, talking, exaggerating, communicating fear by_ contact and un reasoning discussion. We all know how a crowd can cower, and shriek, and fly, though each individual is brave—remem ber the scene in the Ring Theatre of Vienna some years ago—and _' in these southern cities everyone is a unit in a crowd, accustomed to a gregarious out of door life, habituated to respect neighbours' opinions, untaught to consider that he must, as a self-respecting human being, be in all matters not settled by law his own guide and master. Ho has sought help from his fellows, from tbelr ideas, their sympathy on certain subjects, all his life ; and when they get frightened he gets frightened too, with a fright which, like that of a crowd in a theatre on fire, shortly develops into a mania of selfish panic. In that horrible scene, the burning of the groat theatre of Vienna, only one man retained reason enough to remember that the hot smoke which was choking all around must, by the law of its being, rise. He threw himself under tho benches, ordered his Bister to lie down too, and both were saved. The rest flung themselves, like wild animals in terror, into passages already blocked by impassable heaps of dead. The Marseillaise or Neapolitan lives always in a theatre, and, like the member of a packed audience, is always liable to be carried away by the contagion thoactualcontagion,foritisthat —of any great emotion, fear, of course, being the most strong. Panic, in such circum stances frequently partakes so closely of the character of insanity, that even in the con demnation which is essential to society some pity should mingle.

"I MEAN TO WAIT FOR JACK."

Sweet Kate at Wyndham's dairy and Jack of Oldham Mill- Oh, lonit they wood and fond they coou, .a faithful Jack and Jill! But times were had for lass and lad, and Badly both confessed 'Twas not the thing to buy the nig before they'd lined the nest. "Courage, ladl" said Katie. "Yes, we,U have to wait; But though, my dear, It's twenty year, I'll take no other mate." But England wanted Jaeky, for war was in the air. And arms more grim were press d on him than Katie's bonny pair. So all through Spam, in rough campaign, he chivied bold Mossoo, And fired his gun and made him run like fun at Waterloo. „._,_._, When the lads came round her, Katie bade them pack. T „__ " There's girls enow for you U woo; i mean to wait for Jack." The gray in Katie's ringlets was mingled with When'/bSm^-'thump, an eager stump came And JJiXffi Sand here's twenty pound; so let Tt*%i_S_ffli£_S&al set the bells a-chime, SMS? andbTissto love like this that bravoly bides its time. Frederick Langbridge.

THE ARMY, NAVY, AND VOLUN TEERS.

(By "A Waikato Warrior.")

THE departure of the 2nd Battalion, South Lancashire' Regiment, for Natal will leavo seven regiments with both battalions serving abroad, viz..—The Essex (44th and 56th. The former is stationed at Aden and the latter at Egypt—depots atWarley ; the East Surrey (31st and 70th), Gibraltar and Dinapore—depots at Kingston;" the Koyal Irish (18th), Meerut and Malta—depots at Clonmel; the Durham (68th and 106 ft), Allahabad and Gibraltar-depots at New castle-on-Tyne; the Sussex (35th and 107 th), Egypt and Malta — depots at Chichester; the Dublin Fusiliers (102 nd and 103 rd), Ceylon and Gibraltar — depots at Naas; and the South Lancashire (40th and 82nd), Peshawur and S2nd, en route for Natal, The Highland Light Infantry continues to have both battalions (71st and 74th) serving at home; The following rogitoents which served in New Zealand are under orders to return to England from foreign service' with the 85th and 86th reliefs, 40th, 43rd, 68th, and 70th regiments,

A singular suicide took place at Devon port on Saturday'^ the sergeant of a High land regiment, named Hagh Cousans, being found with his throat cut. tie had bled to death, and had committed the act with a razor. It appeared deceased was at the Battle of Tel-el-Kebir, but ih consequence of being moved from his regiment, he v,:as not recommended for the classes. He fre quently complainedthnthehadbeen unjustly treated, and it was evident the matter preyed upon his mind. A verdict of tem porary insanity wiss returned.

At the dinner given by the officers of the 2nd Life Guards recently to the Duke of Cambridge, there were three officers pre sent —Lords Strathnairn, Lncan, and Tem pletown—whoso united aires camo-to no less than 252 years, and their united services to nearly 200 years.

Major Boyce, late 34th Kegiment, one of the best-known of the Metropolitan Volun teer Adjutants, is, we hear, succeeding to the vacant Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the 3rd London, a corps with which he has been advantageously associated for the last fifteen years.

The following regiments which served in New Zealand are stationed as under :—The Ist Battalion, 12th Suffolk, is stationed at Roorkee, India—depot at Bury St. Ed munds j _!nd Battalion, Galway, Ireland depot at Bttry St. Edmunds; 14th, Prince of Wales o#n (West Yorkshire) ; Ist Battalion, . Casfclebar, Ireland—depot at York; 2ndi Battalion, Sealkote, India depot at York j 18th Royal Irish, Ist Battalion, Meerut — depot at Clonmel; 2nd Battalion, Malta—depot at Clonmel; 40th South Lancaster, Peshawnr, India —depot, Warrington, England; 43rd, Oxfordshire Light Infantry, Bangalore depot, Oxford; 50th, Queen's Own West Kent (Col. Leach), Cyprus—depot, Maid stone ; 57th, Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex), Guernsey—depot, Hounslow. 58th, Northamptonshire, Cape—depot, Northampton. 65th, York and Lancaster, Dover—depot, Pontrefract; 68th, Durham Light Infantry, Allahabad—depot, New castle-on-Tyne j 70th, East Surrey, Dina pore—depot, Kingston.

Two officers of the Spanish Army who took part in the rising' in Catalonia in April have been executed at Gerona. The most extraordinary efforts were tnade to save the lives of the doomed men, but the Government felt that, for the sake of pre serving military discipline, it was necessary to made an example.

The Queen having signified her intention of personally conferring medals for distinguished conduct in the Mediterranean during the Soudan campaign, the following non-commissiened officers and men of the 65th York and l_ancaster Regiment attended at Windsor Castle recently, and were decorated by her Majesty, viz. :—Colour- Sergts. Wake and Ht_y ward, Sergt. Webb, Lance-Sergts. Doyle, Haycock and James, and Corpls. Baxter and Dossett.

A soldier of the 2nd Battalion of the 24th South Wales Borderers committed suicide at Fort St. George on June 6. At about 6 a.m. the regiment was on parade, under command of the sergeant-major, while Capt. and Adjt. Clements was inspecting the guards. Pte. Brine, G Company, walked out on the front verandah with his rifle. He sat on a bench, loaded his rifle, took aim, and fired. The bullet struck the ground just beside Capt. Clements's foot. The soldiers saw Brine reload his rifle and take aim again. They dispersed in different directions, while Capt. Clements, with ad mirable coolness and presence of mind, ordered the guard whom he was inspecting to fix bayonets and arrest Brine, Capt. Clements himself running at their head. Private Brine fired again, but hit nobody ; and. the party had just arrived at the top of the stairs when they heard a third shot fired. Capt. Clements still pressed on, and found that Brine had left the verandah and retired to his room, where he had reloaded his rifle for the third time, held it with his right hand just below the right side of the jtfw, and pressed the trigger with his toes. The consequence was instantaneous death. The deceased was never punished by the adjutant, and could therefore have had no reason to en tertain any ill-feeling towards him.

The men of the battalion are, the Madras paper states, now supplied daily with fresh cocoanut toddy. Thisbeverageisconsidered to be very wholesome ; and it has been intro duced during the present hot season on the recommendation, we understand, of Col. Armstrong, an Indian officer of much experience, in view of diminishing the use of ardent spirits of doubtful quality among the soldiers.

Although fear bars to the Egyptian war { medal will shortly bo in existence, no officer , of the army can lay claim to the full num- , ber, and only a few officers of the sister '■ service have been fortunate enough to count , "four by honours." It would be interesting . to know who are the lucky recipients of all four clasps—Alexandria, Tel-el-Kebir, Soudan, and EH Teb or Tamasi. The generally accepted spelling for the last named engagement differs, by the way, from the official, which has it in general orders as "Tamaai." But, then, Horse- Guards spelling gives us both "Afghanis tan" and " Afghanistan," "Cabool" and "Kabul" in the list of honours at the head ef the unnumbered regiments. A Distinguished Service Reward of £50 a-year has been awarded to Major Jones, late Quartermaster 70th Regiment, with which he served in the Indian Mutiny, New Zealand, aad Afghan Campaigns. A second of these pensions has fallen vacant by'the death of Captain Timothy Morris, late Quartermaster 30th Regiment, who had drawn the reward since 1867. Prince George of Watep will be entered this year at the Royal Naval College, at Greenwich. The British tar seems to have changed somewhat of late in his habits, and we doubt very much whether so greet an amount of thrift as exists in the English navy will be found among the seamen of foreign Powers. The Naval Savings' Banks return, recently presented to Parlia ment, shews that on March 31, ISB4, the deposite and interest amounted to £133,688. There were received in deposits during the twelve months following over £127,714, the interest thereon amounting to over £4,886. During the same twelve months the sum of £126,832 was withdrawn by depesltors, and on March 31, 1883, there remained due to 13,509 depositors £139,458, or, say, £10 odd a-piece. The assets of the Naval Savings Banks just exceed the de posits (£139,486 4s 7d) by £28 3s 4d. A correspondent writes to the "Scots man :"—lt may not bej uninteresting, to remind your readers that it is twenty-five years ago to-day—the 20th of June, 1859— that the first company of Volunteers assembled for drill in Scotland. This was what was known as the " Advocates Com pany," Edinburgh. The place of drill was tho Parliament House. There were eighty members present, officered by Captain E. b. Gordon (the late Lord Gordon), Lieutenant Maitland Heriot, and Ensign Bbyle; and the drill-instructor was Colour-Sergeant Henry Baker, Royal Sherwood Foresters, and now the keeper of Helyrood Palace. The Volunteermovement rapidly spread through out the city and throughout Scotland. In the course of another week, the 2nd company, or the Ist Citizens, was formed ; and imme diately thereafter the Company of Writers to the Signet. What changes since! At the annual inspection of the Queen's Edin burgh R.V.B. on the 7th of June, there was on parade 1,669 of all ranks—79 officers, 119 sergeants, 39 buglers, and 1,425 rank and file. Not in numbers only, but in general efficiency—in shooting and in discipline— the progress of the Volunteer movement during the past quarter of a century is a gratifying feature of the national life.

CLIPTOMANIA.

(Selectkdby Our Lnr-Do.. CobbespondentJJ Tim profits of the "Standard" last year 1 exceeded f 100,000. This is a handsome in«'■. come, but i! is far less than the revenue ■' annually t!«-„ived fiom the "Daily Tele-? graph," which verges on a quarter of a9 million ! ' jj

As an instance of the heavy losses bus* tamed by backers at Ascot, a correspondent tells me that the Blues, who are quartered at Windfor, and their friends who were stay ing with them in barracks, lost over £40,0C0 up. to Wednesday, and that their total losses on the wpek amounted to over £50,000.—"Truth."

M. Zola, in his brick house on the hillside at Medan, on the Ouse, twenty miles from Paris, reads English novels in translationfj ,'■ and thinks that they are written senti* mentally for young girls. For his new novel of mining life he himself can write from his notes three pages a day.

The following advertisement appears in a provincialpape: : "To Mineral Borers. — " Offers wanted to put down six bores in the town of Cork, Ireland." It would be in» teresting to know the names of the half dozen " bores " whom this advertiser is ap parently anxious to suppress.

Mr F. Eargus, the author of "Called:'; Back," who is about to leave Bristol toI reside in Lcjfldon, was entertained by the.; .Mayor last Thursday at a farewell dlnner," at which about sixty of the leading in-;1; habitants of Bristol and Clifton were., present. Mr Eargus has accepted a number, of engagement—too many, I should say— .';:; for he has on hand a serial story for " Mac-.-. raillah's," a story for "Harper's," and an-' other for the "Graphic." -,%_

The girl undergraduates at Cambridge, had their innings the other day in the Moral': Sciences Tripos, when the only first-classy, was a Newnham student; but they were' ather " out of It " in the longer and more 1 important class-lists which were read in f_te_'.'_ Senate House on Saturday. In the Classical, | Cripos the ladies had no first class; and in; | the Mathematical they had no" wranglers,;Y| tnd their best " man " was only equal to tbj9_T:';S forty-fourth on the list.—"Truth." They had a new sensation in Paris : .the.i;sj other day. A working man fell over into; I rhe bear pit at the Paris Zoo, and a bear-Y; began to gnaw the homy-handed one's S head. The spectators were just settling-■ lown to a quiet ten minutes' real sports,; when a man came along with a rope, and . rescued the banquet from the disappointed. . lear. What a singular thing it is that.;: 1 there are always nasty officious fellows in; r.he world ready at a moment's notice to | spoil sport.

For real journalistic enterprise wemusf, V strange to Bay, go across the Channel— V: jven to Paris. In the French capital there is published early every morning a paper, V printed in English, called the "Morning V News," which finds a kind of echo in "Le V Matin," both belonging to the same pro* ■:._ V prietary. The "Morning News" has an office in London, is, in fact, edited there, and, by the aid of a special telegraphic . wire, which it rents at an outlay of £2,000 ' _'" a year, it is enabled to publish in Paris at 7 a.m. the cream of the news contained in , ■dl the London daily papers of that same * i morning ! There is an idea of establishing in London a paper like the " Paris Morning : News," Conducted on the same lines, it could not fail to be a gigantic success, .for. _ ' it is precisely the kind of paper we want, V I.' The venerable "Chambers's Journal"" j contains a chatty article on "Umpires at V Cricket." A parish clerk at Sheffield was a~; notable umpire. One hot Sunday he fell, « asleep in church, and at the conclusion of ". the sermon, when he should have said .' "Amen," he astounded the divine and de-" V lighted the rustics in the congreglftSon by ■:,,•_' announcing in a loud voice the magic word, "Overl" '■ '..; ;. It was a smart stroke on the part of the Brooklyn police authorities the other day to V ..tation constables at various points on all thoroughfares and stqp each milk-van as it ; V . Irove past. One by one the dttenus were brought before the Health Inspector, at the Central Police Station, where their milk cans were opened and the contents analysed, ~j Out of fifty only one was found below the',.,, V standard. Alas! the-London milk trade J - could not stand such a test so creditably. What next?—A journal called "Orange Blossom" is announced.' The feature, as I the title denotes, will be accounts of wed- '.■■;•-., dings, audit is promised that each number shall contain photographic poitraita of ■■-..■,. prominent brides. I also hear of a new ' venture under the auspices of Mr Bowles, „ to be entitled the "Statesman." July is b'i not the best month in the year for starting 3 a paper. ", One of the American papers reports that 1 aMr Janett (a misprint, it is supposed, for f Mr Jarrett) has made-such flattering offers § to Miss Florence St. John and M; Marius I for an American tour that the artists are - uf likelj to accept. Miss St. John's engage- V ment with Mr Henderson was, it is believed; for one year certain. That she would make ;■: an enormous success in America, nobody who knows anything at all about American •', amusement-giving has the smallest doubt. "> We have all heard of condensed tea, ' which can be carried about in little cakes. But condensed, or rather solidified, drinks' '■■'"■ of a more potent nature than tea are'in deed a novelty. An ingenious chemist is daid to have discovered a method by which "•'■ any wine, spirit* or malt liquor can be solidified into a cake like chocolate, and so > conveniently carried about in the pockets. What will become of refreshment bars if every one who pleases can. carry half-a-''-'' dozen solidified brandies and soda in his V waistcoat pocket? Notwithstanding the New York panic, ? and the hundred and one financial crashes " brought about by.it, a satirical story is going the rounds of the American press. ?_&. sparrow thief has been appropriating the public money in Philadelphia. The bird ' built a nest in the roof of the Mint, and be- -V: came so tamo as to fly about freely iv the smelting-room and other parts of the build ing, where the floating particles of gold-dust collected in his feathers. The sparrow - shook off the dust into his nest, which was t found to be so full of gold that it is to be broken up and assayed. White stockings, which for some time past have been little worn, are coming in again. Doctors are beginning to discover that the sole of the foot absorbs dyes, V whether black or coloured, and that a eon- . tlnuous process of Blow blood-poisoning is "« now going on amongst those who wear i coloured stockings. The doctors attribute . ' to this several new diseases that have lately „, been added to the heritage of our human • flesh.—"Truth." Samuel Clemens ("Mark Twain ") was a member of the Rev. Mr Twichell's church '.-'"' in Hartford, and so was thejlate ex-governor Marshall Jewell. But the ex-governor was " higher up "in the church, as the humor- ■ ist expressed it, and used to take round the V plate. One day Mark Twain said "to the ex-governor, "Seehere, governor, they let you collect the donations, but would never 1 let me do it." "Oh! yes they would" said Jewell,"" that is, with a bell-punch."' J He was a young barrister, and was de- ' livering his maiden speech. Like most young advocates, he was florid, rhetorical , wandering, and tedious. For three weary hours he talked at the Court and the jury '.' until everyone felt like lynching him ; When he got through, his opponent, i A . grizzled old professional, rose, looked . sweetly around at the judge and jury, and , said: "My lud and gentlemen, I will , follow the example of my young friend who 1 has just finished, and submit the casewith* , out argument." Ho then sat down, and the silence was strikingly oppressive. ' _ James .Payn, the novelist, allows himself , - but one exercise—laughter. . lie never walks when he can ride, and hates athletics i of all kinds. Of medium height, and what V " is called wiry in build, Mr Payn suggests ;"i the constitution of an active physical 3 capacity, notwithstanding his confessed in* : dolenceof body. What is more bewilder* . ! ing still is that ho finds time to play whist ' nearly every day of his life," and goes to I ' bed as a rule by ten o'c'ock. Should yofc j have the privilege of being received by him at his office, you will find him busy with a " pipe in his month. If you are a friend he "'■ will get up from his desk -and run his hands : over a collection of othar pipes upon his mantelpiece, with an invitation to smoke • If you do not care for a pipe, he will find V you cigars and cigarettes. ',■-_."_■■ ■':'< Two hundred and five poems were written on Barnum's white elephant in competition for the prize of §500 The i Rev. Robert CoUyer was one ol? the Yd : . indicators. Eighteen of. the efforts were - considered worthy of serious consideration 3 and wore re-read, and the final verdict was b 3 embodied in a note to Mrßarnum, in which ; i the judges declared that three had merit, .1 but that none, in their opinion, was worthy - of the $500 prize offered by the great show- I t man. They therefore declined to designate ' a any particular poena as the best ° Fr "'' Barnum conferred with the authors of the poems, and divided the prize among theui. They were Joaquin Miller, who do .uribc-

?S? AftckiANir fivam is, im

3



I Somebody has bean circulating a report lin America that Miss Minnie Palmer is | married to her manager, Mr J. C. Rogers. I The gentleman vigorously denies the soft | impeachment, while the lady demurely says j she has had enough of Mr- Rogers as her I manager, without desiring farther ex- I perience ol him as her husband.—" Figaro."



IFLIE&AND BUGS, kwtlM,._HHM_,,ra____f l ant-, bed bug«*»t_jsfw, pp-UKI, cMiTOOTta, «le_.r«diratl!r"J_oiw_!<n_ *_^a__m,KmtOmi>r Rtawt • <fi» Man, Aficklu l I ,:■:,: '.■-■•■ _i_ [,!___ __ii___<________,_______