THE AUCKLAND EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, JULY 23, 1887.

[SUPPLEMENT.

Ruby,s Reward.

l MRS GEOKGIE SHELDON, '" . I(The Forsaken Bride," ' 3tb °r . : , » -That ..B^ie's Triumph, Dowdy," etc

CHAPTER XVI,

AC AUAKD ITS RESULT. „>-second week soon slipped away, Surnedtohisbusinesswithaheart o „ e ind resolution. ttTS^o years under Mr Con ggfe do „e excellent work, so that ' M old hini-work which, though T£* Pop j* drudge ttwould never regret. And now *2 to serve two years more in the Lland in learning how to manage con- Tata salary which would be gauged Idin'tothe progress he made After Should be ready to go into business Lllf if he should feel so disposed. r n Lt felt that he had secured a >Ir C°Ti r for he proved to be pecu * ad3P Id by he apt and valuable '^intricate plan?, while he certainly mt SenftastUnd judgment. SS BB3 hin-eifof .Alr Gordon's S£ to call-not-longafter ■: hia return ft S most cordiallyreceived by all ld !mbers of the family, although Ins ' c 2£shortly interrupted by the en- SSSdWnter^vhohadre "j his visits and attentions to Ruby Jdiately upon discovering that she was Y^^arpenter was evidently anything i °. 0 ,1 'n find Walter a visitor m that ;fSr;Sed bin* coldly, while an litakeable frown settled upon his brow ?SKconsidered his impertinent as icefor daring to be upon such laniibar Sh people so far above him socia ly. S he endeavoured to monopolise S time and attention. She tried to fcfe her favours between her two callers, .Edmund Carpenter adroitly managed Lke all such effort appear so forced v she otcw embarrassed whenever she Snptef to speak to Walter, and he, ob- Sit was upon the point oi excusing tell and taking his leave, when Mr Gor bndrewhim into conversation regarding .iineff residence, which was now nearly ady for oocupancy, and after that things aoredalcnsr more smoothly, although the jvening proved to be anything but a pleas atone. , -• . , _~ He could not fail ,to. perceive that Ed mandhad serious' designs upon 'the young nrlwliom he had learned Ito love, and he told himself that, perhaps, he had noright lo interfere between her and tho brilliant prospects that would be hers if he could wither for his wife; and yet the very thought«as torture to him. Rnbywasnothereelf at all that evening; sk wW labouring under a painful restraint, Rieendered. by the antagonism which she leUkbTidrimnd Carpenter entertained for Walter, and she, too, was very miser-' j&irhenat'length the young man arose' to take his leave. ''•''■■ Edmund 'made his adieus at the same ta,awl the two men passed out together, wieWalter instinctively felt that he had «s_terpurpose in thus accompanying Mia. . ? ........-. leifainotlongloftin doubt. . "..reyou not rather presuming in visit .'__j»sMy*ifiMr__! Gordon's position ¥' yonng Carpenter abruptly asked, after they had StSsd&to the street. "If you call responding to an invitation; fira by Mr Gordon, and seconded by his te,'presuming.' doubtless I am guilty oi tie charge," Walter replied, with some tddness. - •'■ .*.-... i•■ ..

"Indeed!. When were you so fortunate i" to secure snob, an' invitation ." allow me to ask." - - "Tobeexacfc, I believe it was tendered .eon the twentieth' of last month."

"NeitherMiss.Gordon nor her brother •fw in the city at: that time," retorted Hanind Carpenter. •'■ A "Very true; neither was I," Walter quietly replied. \ "Ha! where were you?" "I spentthe two weeks of my vacation titliMr Ruggles at Redville." Mr Carpenter emcrienced an inward ™>t this information. ''Were you there during Miss Gordon's vat to the fai-rti ?" '■ ■ "Iwas."

"And played the gay cavalier to the best Mpr ability, I presume?" .'■ldonofc know what you mean to in- EMate by that, Edmund," Walter said, «y; "but, at all events, I took Miss Portion about a good deal, and enjoyed a g pleasant visit . with her and I her

JJwd Carpenter gnawed his under lip * This, then; accounted, for the un fcJfv rye-which Ruby had manifested m himanco her return. _3_\ vhm Pl^-1-!? the ag-'eeable to j Jbho was atllodville, He must nip 7™gi:rihebud. • . y bdSLH^-'S™®* aftor consider. SS Poln'5 _for a few mi0«t«8, " I wish fit T h, at Xam addressing.Miss J jMdwithher b re fih w '_ permission, ■jwwthßy plana.. | , Un i inf. e? d> rece'-tly sought Mr £lSflolcitedhisc'°^entto Bhisad. we«g his sister. 3BK_ $* he should never lay «21 "iS_ '^ °£ llor happiness ; **,iit S^ tOW heraffectioL upon %ilmdeeenafclledvili°. that never marry Edmund Garpen- H$ St t • fCelln- of Mignabion _ 'I&, aV lie tone Author- W •'.?•. adopted toward

% *of vnnten l°n t0 **" ***#«* M-nth* " Plans» Edmund," he f 4e to «• T *°KM befbre. . " If ?* 01- those v! "nmtentional - em >C,,rniS ciV both Mriand Miss 3 -*«« S n Cd ,nc their hospitality, W not : myself of it >yoa^ c" to win Miss' Llncl^l«'eser.t,",h esa y i fe' >" a 7om;"! ghti *^'&pohter

- * Surely,- you cannot feel y^ery confident of succeeding in. your designs, if you fear that the occasional visits of any one willmar your plans." : _, , . __, '■_'" '" Edmund turneo upon him fiercely :. " None of your sarcasms to me, if yon please. I know what lam about. I am bound'to win the pretty heiress if I can, and it won't be healthy for you, or anyone, to baulk me in my purpose." "Then it is the heires*, not a Wire - not the sweefcj gentle woman—whom you wish to win," said Walter, a note of scorn in his tone for all his manhood arose indignantly against such a fate for beautiful Ruby Gordon. ' , „, "Sweet and gentle fiddlesticks! was the contemptuous retort. fDoh'fc be ab surdly sentimental,* Walter. Of course I admire Ruby Gordon-fees her, if you will. Who wouldn't love a pretty girl like that, with thirty thousand dollars tacked on as an additional charm ? lam going to marry her if I can get her, and—/ leant yoiitp keep out. oj my way. Do you understand?' "Yes. I understand," Walter said, calmly, but longing to make him suffer for speaking so flippantly of the woman he loved. Edmund Carpenter turned upon him with an angry frown. • ( "Do you mean to imply by that tone that yoiv understand my wish but will not heed it ?" he demanded. Walter paused a moment before reply ing ; then he said, quietly, but firmly : " I should be willing to heed any reason able and civil request which you might make, Edmund, although I do not feel that I owe you very much of consideration ; but if you imagine that I am going to deprive myself of the enjoyment of a pleasant and profitable friendship, simply to comply with or pamper a freak of jealousy on your part, you have made a mistake. I will con tinue to visit at Mr Gordon's so long as I am welcome." _„ ~ . " Then I warn you that if I fail in my plans because of you, it will be the sorriest daay that you ever knew, Walter Richard son '." cried his companion, in a rage. " You may spare your threats, Edmund, for I shall not heed 'them. I wish you no ill, and I would not knowingly injure you in tho estimation of anyone. If you can win Miss Gordon's heart, she will doubtless marry you ; if you cannot, she will never be ko untrue to herself, or to you, as to take such a.false step." "You speak very confidently. You must have closely studied Miss Gordon's character."

" Yes, I do speak confidently ; and I am sure that Ruby Gordon is a true and conscientious woman—that sho will never forfeit her self-respect by acting a lie." "I am not sui'e but that you have al ready fallen in love with her yourself!" cried young Carpenter. The young man's face flushed and his heart bounded wildly at the accusation. ~ He Jcnew. that Edmund Carpenter could never feel for Ruby a tithe of the affection which--his true hear; had' bestowed upon her; while the mere thought of losing her —of having" sricrificed to his designs—was like rending soul from body. '.' i But he would never confess his secret to the .man beside him; torture should not wring it from him. " Silence signifies . .assent." pursued Edmund, bending forward to look into Walter's face aa they passed a street lamp. . . " Not necessarily," was the unmoved re ply. A".I did not think it worth whibto make any response to your sneering re mark." ' ...

A " Be'rgar! pauper! Is this the return you malce for all that has been done for you in the past?" Edmund was exasperated beyond en durance at. Walter's superior self-control, and tho indifference that he had hVanifested to his commands and threats.

. Walter's hands closed and unclosed with a convulsive movement, arid 'for a fiiomerit his was tempted to make his .insolent com panion measure his length" lipon the pave ment.

Buthifebe'tterftattireeontrolle(ihiffi,tJhdugh his -high-spirited nature resented the op probrious epithets that had been applied to him.

I "lam neither a beggar nor a pauper," .he returned slowly and with impressive dis tinctness, arid 1 owe you no return for ''any thing; for you have never done me a kind or fenerous act during all the years that we aye known each other. Your father I loved and reverenced for his goodness to me, and had lie lived, any service that I could have rendered him would have been bite a pleasure to me. I do not wish to quarrel with you. For his sake, I would wish to always treat you with respect and consideration. But it is worse than folly to prolong this interview. I turn here, and will wish you good-night."

" Stay," cried young Carpenter, laying a heavy hand upon Walter's shoulder, and speaking in a low, fierce tone, "I hope you understand me ; it will not be isiie for you to cross my path at the Gordon's. very often."

; Walter shook himself free from that de taining hand, and faced the man proudly. ! " I think you hardly understand me," he said, in a haughty tone. "I quail before no man's threats, as I will prove to you here and now. Suppose, for instance, that I do love Ruby Gordon ; if I were sure that sho would return my affection, I should try —provided I was in a position jto warrant my doing so —I say I should try to win her honourably and openly before all the world. Any other man has the same privilege and right in this free country, and no one has any authority to lay restrictions upon another. Good-night, Edmund." "He turned upon his heel, and walked resolutely away, but not before he had caught the ominous words that were thrown savagely after him : "Braggart, I have only one word to say to you — beware ! "

CHAPTER XYH

ME AXD MIIS. BCOGLKS COME TO PHILADEL PHIA.

Mk Robert Gordon's ' house was at last completed, furnished and ready for occu pancy, and a veritable palace of luxury and elegance it was, too. The site upon which it had been built was unexceptional, while the grounds had all been laid out with exquisite taste before the house was erected.

There were long, gravelled walks, overarched with wide-spreading, luxuriant trees, leading up to it. There was a beautiful lawn, greon and as smooth as velvet, in front, and this was ornamented with choice shrubs, lovely beds, and here and there a fountain and choice pieces of gleaming white statuary. Wide marble steps led up to the spacious mansion, and the grand entrance- hall, whoso rich and elegant furnishings ga\e but a faint idea of the magnificence await ing beyond. On one side of this was the grand drawing room, extending the whole length of the •house, and furnished with almost royal splendour. ' Opposite were a reception u'bom,; the- library,l and -dining-room, all 'marvels- of luxury'; while beyond there was a spacious conservatory, filled with choice plants and exotics. j Ai/imposing stairway of carved oak led to'the looms above, which were arranged cri -untie, nnd which were also as rich- and beautiful as money and good taste could make them. " • ; tfX

Ruby's apartments, comprising a parlour, bedroom and dressing-room, were upon tho south sido of the house, commanding a de lightful view of tho Schuylkill and Fair mount Park,'and were fitted up with a daintiness just suited to the lovely girl._ The "family" moved -into the luxurious abode about the first of December, and. Mr Gordon and his wife planned; to- give a grand house-Warming not far from Christ mas time.

" Robert, "-'let .us send for Mr and AMrs Ruggles ; it would be something grand for them to be at such* a party," Ruby said, when they were making out their list of in vitations.

Mr Gordon laughed and glanced at his wife.

" Estelle, what do you say to Ruby's pro position ?" he asked.

"Don't you imagine that they would feel rather out of their element?" Mrs Gordon inquired, raising her eye-brows, while her lips curled with a smile of scornful amusement.

" People like to get out of their element, sometimes," her husband responded. "They treated us very handsomely when we were at Redville. If you have no serious objections, it might be as good a time as any to return their hospitality and show them something of the city ; besides, Ruby seems anxious to have them here."

"Oh, Estelle, let them come," Ruby pleaded. " Nhey are very nice, harmless Eeople, and I will manage not to let them c conspicuous at the reception to annoy you with their rustic ways." " Very well," asserted Mrs Gordon. " But mind, I shall hold you to your promise. They will be your guests, and you must entertain them. "

She was a woman who had a great rever ence for orold, and she felt that even the rustic Ruggles could be endured for a time, since they bade fair to become, if they were not already, one of the wealthiest families in the State.

Ruby was delighted at having gained her sister' 3 consent. She know it would be a red-letter day in their lives, so she directed their invitation, and wrote a kind letter to send with it, in which sho begged them to come a week before the grand reception, and make them a little visit.

She was quite diplomatic in this move ment, for she thought it would give her time to see that they were properly equipped for the occasion, so that her sister's fastidious taste need not be offended, nor they rendered conspicuous anions, their guests by any eccentricity of costume.

An answer came very shortly, accepting her invitation, and mentioning the day on which they would arrive in the city.

One other favour Ruby had craved of her brother : but she did it with dropping lids and a flush upon hor cheeks.

It was that ho would send Walter a card for their house-warming. " You're too i.ate, my pet," he said, laughing, and patting the rosy cheek nearest him. "One has already gone to our fine young architect."

" Oh, thank you, Robert, for remember ing him. I would not liko to have him tie glected. lam sure it will be a rare plea sure."

" A rare pleasure to whom, petite ?" quizzed her brother, with a twinkle in his eyes.

" Why, to Mr Richardson, of course," Ruby retorted, but with a blush which be trayed that it would be a pleasure in which she would share.

A week before the grand reception Mr and Mrs Ruggles arrived, and were kindly and graciously received by the Gordons, the fastidious lady of the house not ex cepted.

Mrs Gordon.after giving the matter some thought, had concluded that it would be policy to extend every possible courtesy to them.

She knew that they were relatives of Ed mund Carpenter — who, in her own mind, she had decreed should marry Ruby, if any manoeuvring on her part could accomplish such a union. . They had no children of their own, and, since they had taken such a fancy to her beautiful young sister, their great wealth might possibly be thus added to their family. Accordingly, she surprised Ruby bjAbeing very gracious to them. Mr Gordon, having no such mercenary calculations, was most cordial and genial simply outof-iike nobility of his great heart, while Ruby betrayed genuine delight in her welcome.

Mrs Ruggles was very -beeoirungly arrayed in a modest but rich travelling costume of fine, dark-groy cloth, whilo her husband looked really neat in a new and becoming business suit.

.' The house-warming had been set for the 21st, and Mrs Ruggles confided to Ruby at the outset that she must have a dress suit able for the occasion, and asked her advice and help in obtaining it. " You are not to count the cost either, Miss Ruby," Owen Ruggles interposed. " I want mothor to do you credit, so you just get the best—What you would want your own to wear to such a party." Ruby'seyes twinkledat these instructions, for she remembered Estelle's fears regarding eccentricity of costume, and she resolved to give her sister a surprise such as she had not had for many a day. " I will take you to my own dressmaker," she said. '• She wiil tell us just what you need, and we will have her make it." So a private consultation was held with the fashionable modiste. A* handsome black satin was advised, and Ruby enjoyed herself hugely in purchasing it, together with some other really nice adornments for the approaching festival. " Father is going to have a new suit, too - made to order at Wanamaker's" Mrs Ruggles confidentially informed Ruby; and the latter could hardly wait to witness the astonishment which she knew this new departure on the jiart of the farmer and his wire would occasion both Estelle and Edmund Carpenter. That gentleman was still very marked in his attention for Ruby, but she seemed to feel more and more of aversion toward him, and shunned his society upon every possible occasion when sho could do so without actual rudeness. -

The week that followed the arrival of her guests was a very busy and pleasant one, for she took them to" all the points of interest in the city, visiting churches, art museums, the Mint, picture-galleries, etc., during the day, and going to some concert or theatre in the evening. Walter had called soon after their arrival, and had been invited. to inakp one of the party, whenever he could spare an even ing. This was a temptation and privilege he could not resist, and he was thus thrown much into Ruby's coveted society, where he was made to feel both welcome and use ful.

" You will be with us here to-morrow evening," Ruby said to him on the night before The 21st, as he was taking his leave of her after having escorted her party home from the theatre.

" Yes, I had planned to come for a little while," he replied, with quickened heart throbs, as he looked into the lovely eyes raised with such eager questioning to his. ' " For a little while !" she repeated, in a disappointed tone. "Oh, I hoped you -would come • early, and stay through the whole. We are to have a delightful time. You know the stable is but just finished— aill but the stalls and boxes—and Robert has had it beautifully decorated, and .an awning- extended from the house to it,vand we are to dance there. You dance, do you

not?" '■■■' ■"'"' "I used to." ■■•- H -A .. ■'- -h ~ "And.is the experience so far In the dim past that you have forgotten how ?" Ruby asked, archly. » '■' • "Np, indeed, andil enjoy, dancing very much; but my life has been. such, during the last few years that Ihave had iio op portunity to exercise: my accomplishments in that line." .., .... , ...,.,

'-'Then a little tripping of the 'light fantastic' will refresh your memory and do you good." " But I shall be a stranger to almost everyone here." "I believe / did not find it such a for midable undertaking to get acquainted with you," Ruby retorted, with a light laugh ; "and I know scores of young ladies who will make charming partners :after an in troduction: I'shall, expect you to present

yourselves in season for the dfirst" quadrille.''.' "I promise, upon one condition," said Walter, in an eager tone. "And what is that?"

| " That you will dance it with-me." A ripple of colour stole into Rubj''s cheek; I and her eyes dropped an instant as she met his glance. Then she drew back and swept him a charming little courtesy, saying : " With pleasure, Mr Richardson. lam delighted to have secured your presence upon such easy terms." "Thank you," Walter simply returned, but his eyes told her that he longed to givo utterance to much stronger language, while the clasp of hia hand at parting had a lover's lingering touch in it. ( To be Continued.)

A QUEER COREAN LEGEND.

The Rip of That Far Away "Land Similar

to Ivvlng's Rip,

Was the legend of Rip Van Winkle wholly the creation of Washington Irving, or did he put into such pleasing shape some story he had unearthed in his antiquarian re searches ? In Perceval Lowell's book, " A Sketch of Corea," p. 205, I find this legend under tho head of " Demon Worship :"

There lived once upon a time a certain well-to-do countryman whose business took him into the woods. He was a feller of tim ber, and in pursuit of his work he often went far into the mountains. All Coreans are fond of nature, and this man was no ex ception to the rule ; so, with his business as excuse and his love as incontive, he would ramble on in the virgin forest. One day he wandered further than usual, and found himself at last some distance up the side of the mountain. Before him lay the peak seemingly close, and under the impulse of that species of folly whioh urges men to go to the lop of anything lofty, in spite of their bette'A judgment and repeated experience that the end never justifies the means, he climbed it. When at last ho reached the summit he found there four old men busily intent on a game of go. 'J hey were seated, squatting in a circle, the go-board in their midst, while around them on the grass lay flagons of sul, and a page sat hard by to replenish the cups as they were emptied. The four looked up as he approached, bowed with great civility, and, observing that he was tired, ordered the page to pour him out some sul. He sat down, sipped the sul, and looked on the game. After t.trrying what seemed but v very short time in such agree able company he rose to take his leave. They bade him good-bye with os much courtesy as they had welcomed him, and he started down the mountain. Ho de scended without accident, and reached the bottom in much less time than it had taken him to go up. Mindful of hjs wife and children, he struck out for home, and arrived there in safety before supper. On entering his own abode he was somewhat surprised to find the place occupied by people he had never seen. What was worse, they ordered him off the premises as an in truder. He remonstrated at thus being turned out of-his own house, and in the altercation that ensued the master of the place came out from an innor room to sec what was going on. He was a man well on in life, and yet the woodman never re membered to have laid eyes on him before. Appealing to him, however, for redress, the woodman asked his name, und on giving it the man replied that such was his first name too. [In Corea the • first name is equivulent to our last name.] On further questioning it turned out that the present incumbent"was the woodman's own grandson. The wanderer had come back to another world. His wife had lon<r since died, his children, all were buried ; most of their children too, had passed away, and his great-grandchildren had grown up to manhood. He Had been gone 100 yoars.

Proposed Army Reforms in England.

Another report has also been presented tothelmperialßarliament, viz., thatof theln quiry Ordnance Commission; and again there is a manifest reluctance to sheet tho blame home to anyone, although it is admitted that there has been gross mismanagement and inefficiency. It is gratifying, however, that the allegations of corruption have boon conclusively disproved, and that, beyond blunders and incompetence, there is no" dishonesty. The principal cause of the general inefficiency is stated to be tho divided responsibility which at present exists, no individual being actually answerablo for any particular scheme or system, but many 'persons- being implicated, among whom it is impossible to apportion the "blame. To remedy this state of things it is proposed to appoint as supreme head an eminent officer, who will be assisted by a small board of advice. Under such guidance it is believed that the service may be remodelled so that there will be comparatively little waste and the minimum of friction.

Apropos of the administration of the War Office, Lord Wolsely delivered a remark able speech in May last. Ho presided at a locture delivered by Colonel Lonsdale A. Hale, R.E., on Tactics as affected by Field Telegraphy, and in closing the'dis cussion which followed the paper, Lord Wolsely said he was a believer in novelties, and he believed that the more they were adopted the better the army would bo, and therefore the better it would be for the nation. Tho necessity of guns could be shown, and advice might be given on all hands that proper organisation would need a corps of cyclists and other things, but he should like those who suggested those things to have to go before the Secretary of State for War with their views, then they would get the answers as to why those things were not adopted. Why even the, state of our forts at home and abroad, owing to neglect, wore most discreditable to the nation and to everyone responsible. ... When 'the facts were laid beforo the authorities, it did not •matter whether it was a question of guns, or ropairs to forts, or the j provision of new facilities of communication, or anything else, the same process went on. First, there was a large expenditure of pens and ink on the part of some, and of patience on the part of others. One gentleman would write a minute upon any subject to a gentleman, his friend, in the next room, and after the repetition of this process the matter would at last get to the-hands of the Secretary of State for War, who, ad vised by his 'financial friends', at once told the army advisors that there was no funds. If the army authorities asked for requisites for the army they were told that they must "economise" in some way'to get them if machine, guns were asked for, • then the reply came that the fighting ■ men must be reduced, br, under the same conditions, carts .and horses which were necessary for. any army would be supplied. If the country ..went on longer iii this Way knocking off cavalry and artillery whenever increased expenditure was required-- the army would soon be reduced to two. men and, a boy. Thero had been aii earnest endeavour Jnade oh the part of: the army authorities, :_s all connected with the army know, to organise; a force which, might; from necessity )iav'e to be- sent abroad—two, army corps and one cavalry division. So far as the mon were.. concerned,. life 1 ivas- justified in saying that the men could be got ready 'to be put on board tho ships before the ships could be got ready, and the nation could thus be defended -from an enemy by striking that enemy elsewhere. But it was of no use'talking of the necessity of providing novelties like telegraphs when the army had. not, even; stores or transports. Most im portant as it was to. havo such.. things as telegraphs, the army felt; it was of no _use asking for thehvwheh it was; thus deficient" id the first means of mo vine.

A Severe Dominie.

The ghastliest school legend I ever heard was at Mr Poppleton's academy for, young gentlemen from nine to fourteen years of age. I have since had reasons to believe that some particulars of it were borrowed from a dreadful incident that happened during the last century at the University of Cambridge : but all Poppleton's bite's be lieved it to be original, indigenous, and true in every particular, and so' of course did I. The "discipline of the school was severe in my time, but my Poppleton was said to have been an angel of mercy com pared to his father, who presided over the establishment before him. In his latter days, however, his conduct had been almost Christian ; lie came in (to the educational business) like a lion, but went out like a lamb, in consequence of the following incident :—A young gentleman —Bodger by name had' been sent to this school at the beginning of. the Easter term: whereas, from his delicate constitution and nervous temperament,'' he ought to have been sent to a girls' school. The wicked Poppleton so terrified him that he van away the next day, but was overtaken by P. upon a pony, and brought back captive, it was averred, with a rope round his neck. He was sent to his dor mitory with the comforting remark to sleep upon that on tho morrow morning he would be caned to within an inch of his life, but no measures were taken for his security. It was thought the broken-spirited youth would not dare to run away again. When morning came, however, no Bodger was to lie found. The wicked Poppleton stfarted off onco more on ponyback with the rope, but when he returned in the evening he had nobody at the end of it. The country was scoured and a number of little boys were taken up but none of them the right one. Bodger'.. papa arrived post haste on the fifth day of his sou's absence and " pitched into Poppleton" to that, ex tent that there *\vas no school for a week afterwards. There was even a vague report that Bodger, senior, had slain the common enemy, but the delight which that, in telligence infused in every youthful bosom was only temporary. Tho headmaster reappeared, but without his cane. His evil temper was subdued, and the boys took the greatest possible advantage of it. They chalked up, " Who killed young Bodger?" and " Who hid the body ? upon the palings round his private garden 'in the largest Roman hands. On his front door were once found the words " Who ate him ?" engraved so deeply that thoy had to be erased with a plane. And yet these terrible intiondoeS ■wore hardly loss awful than the thing which had nolually occurred. There was a certain room over the laundry where the boxes which tlio boys brought with them were kept until they wont home for the holidays, and nothing else was kept there, so that it was not visited for months together. Into this apartment poor Bodger had fled, and shut himself up in his own box - which was near to him,. perhaps, as having come, from his home. It was the story of the " Mistletoe Bough," with this sad addition, that he could have got out if he liked, for there was no.spring lock. Tho unusual number of blue-bottlp flies which came in and. out of tho room through a crevice in the dcor at lo.lt attracted somebody to the spot. This hidoous incident was the thing most in sistednpon by narrators of thestory, and con sidered most satisfactory by. tho hearers. Vv c never saw a bluo-bottl, fly at Poppicto!) without exclaiming "Hooray, bore's Bodger !" or something to that effect.— From hohool legends, by Janie.! I'ayn.

Death of an Eccentric.

Dr.. George W r. Frost, the noted hotel hermit of Brooklyn, N. V., died Tuesday morning. May 17th. Ten or twelve years ago he had a large circle of friends. For twenty years he was the physician in charge of the Sailors' Retreat on Statco Island. Eight years ago, after, he had sought rest from his labours in several localities,he went to Brooklyn and began his retired life in the botch He was then 73 years old. His friends at first came frequently to see him, but he soon showed these and those about the hotel who sought to know him that lie did not care for society any more. He foil into a methodical way of living, which did not vary a, moment a day in its regular routine. His place at the solitary tabic reserved for him was always filled at exactly 930 o'clock. Ho spent just one hour in eat ing and smoking, and then was seen no more until 3 o'clock in the afternoon, when he went out for his daily walk, and re mained out until exactly 0 o'clock. It was this programme, rain or shine, year in find year out, until last January, when his health began to fail. Ho grow to have a strange apprehension that people would speak to him, and lie was careful to give no one an opportunity. It was his regular custom to stop for a glass of beer at a well knoAvn saloon, and one day a man saw him standing at the unfrequented end of the room, aud going up to him, slapped him on the back and remarked : " Why, Dr. Frost, I haven't seen you for ten years !" The aged doctor, scowling, said gruffly : -- Keep your hands off my shoulder. I have been coming here every day for three years, and no one has recognised me, and now you come in and expose me before all these people !" Then, turning quickly, ho left the saloon, never to re-enter it. It is said that Dr. Frost was worth 300,000dois. at the time of his death, the larger part of which he leaves to charitable institutions. Dr. Frost was never married, and his near est living relatives are a-nephew and two nieces.

Practice With Repenting Rifles.

A correspondent lately saw at Metz a com pany of German troops drilling with the new repeating rifles,and writes as follows : "The company !I saw had had but little practice, and were getting reprimands from half a dozeri officers standing beside the drill sergeant, for the slowness of their move ments, but to-a non-military eye nothing could have been more machine-like. The repeating rifle differs from the ordinary rifle in the fact that the stock, instead of stop ping short where it is grasped by the left hand, is prolonged to within an inch of the end of the barrel. This constitutes the reservoir of cartridges. The tiring consists of three movements—the ' ready,' during which each man gives a sharp turn to tho right to a-little lever above the lock of his gun, and tho familiar ' present' and ' fire !' Tli company stood four deep, the two front ranks firing'while the two rear ranks: re charged their magazine. So -rapid were the movements that the magazine, holdingeither ten or twelve cartridges-—I f orgetwhich - was with a .perceptible allowance each "time for rapid aim, in ten seconds.. Tho, thought.of what would happenito,any body of men exposed to lualf, a minute of firing like this niadethespectaclealmost.appaliing. A. stolid-looking German, by my side, who, as.l afterwards learned, had been one,of the Landwehr in the war, expressed: his feelings in one word —the most vigorous in his native .tongue,;-, ri' fcjchaudqvnaft 1'- he, exclaimed ' under his breath., It is all very well fo;*a Russian,governor to issue orders to his, troops,.calling upon them to remember that battles arc won by courage and not by re-, peafeing.rifles, but the moral effect of the I new weapon both upon those using it and those opposed to it must he enormous. ~ To be able to,,wait until the enemy, in what-; ever form he may be, .is within a.few; yards of you, and then to deliver your fire upon him at the rate of a, shot a second, is enough to make J .cracks'. out. of | even Falstaffs levies,"

Habits of Men and Women.

" JrsT look at:that girl!" iA ' ."Yes; it is Miss Blank. What about her ?"

"Don't you see her tongue ?" "Oh, yes. Isn't it perfectly dreadful? They say she always sticks it out like that when she's thinking- about anything." The young woman in question was pro menading the east side,of State-street early yesterday morning, attired in a bewitching costume and a pensive expression, while the tip of her little tongue protruded in a manner .anything but fascinating between two lips of the description known to nove lists as coral. " Yes," said one of her femi nine acquaintances, " She always does that when thoughtful or worried. It's one of those terrible habits which, when once con tracted, stick closer than a million brothers. Miss Black began it when a child, and no one ever took the trouble to break her of it. Now, poor girl; it mortifies her terribly to be told about it, though, of course, sheis anxious to cure herself. But then, nearly everyone has some curious little habit which he would be very glad to break if he could.; some trick more or less unpleasant, caused in the first place probably by nervousness. We all know the man who tugs at his moustache and the one who is perpetually pulling up his collar. Then there is the girl who is always rubbing one eye, as if in search of a stray ej-.lash, and the man who can't be quite happy without some more or; less fragile article to twist and turn and wind about in his fingers. Anything and every thing, from your fine lace handkerchief ibo your now and extremely delicate paper cutter, is sacrificed to the demand of nerv ousness which possesses him, and yet you can't find it in your heart to deprive him of his plaything. He is quite happy and at his case so long as he is allowed'to twirl and twist as much as he wants to,. but' be reft of the temporary object of his affections he would be abjectly miserable, aud you know it. Many n man can talk fluently and well while winding something—anything about his finger, who, without it, would be oonstwiiucd, awkward, silent. One of the iijost annoying forms of this disease is the incessant tattoo which some people keep up on their knees or the table, or whatever happens to be most convenient as a key board. I have noticed that musicians usually indulge this habit, and it is a very trying one, though I don't know that it is woi'se than ' twiddling your thumb.' You don't know what that is? Why, clasping your hands with the fingers interlaced, and then moving the thumbs slowly, very slowly, round each other. Nearly all old English people arc addicted to this habit, and loo!* upon it as a refuge from ennui during times of enforced idleness, such as that ' blind man's holiday,' when it is too dark to work or read, and yet not dark enough, according: to English notions, to light the pas. At this time an old English woman will sit and ' twiddle her thumbs ' so many times from right to left and then so many times from left to right, until one begins to1 think she has discovered the secret of perpetual motion. The habit gains such a hold upon men that they are unable to sit unoccupied for a moment without immediately beginning to ' twiddle.'

Of com'so everyone knows people who bite their nails, and nearly all of us can re member some girl who has destroyed what was intended for a pretty mouth by a sense less fashion of biting, or rather gnawing at her lip. This is.ono of the most difficult habits to break, and at the same time one of the commonest. If the lower lip is tho one attacked tho pretty curve is in time destroyed and the fulness flattened outji while if the upper lip is ill-treated therosults are almost worse, for it becomes lengthened in a very unbecoming manner. Then some Women bite the inside of their lips at the side, just at the ' gusset' of the mouth, and this e:ids in a chronic pout. lam convinced that if the girls who indulge in this trick realised fully its ill effects they would make irioro serious efforts to overcome it. It is comparatively easy to do this when one is young, and it is quite possible to break children of such habits.

"There are lots of other curious little ways peculiar to individuals. I know a man who. when embarrassed, always taps the side of his nose with his little finger, and a girl who is so given to pushing back her hair behind her left ear that she has worn a bald spot there."

HERR WINDTHORST.

A Pen Picture of Prince Bismarck's Celebrated Opp nenf.

Hkrr WixnTHOKST is very ugly, but his features are not unpleasant; on the con trary, they show goodness and an extraor dinary degree of intelligence. His large eye*, shaded by a thick pair of pebbles, sparkle with mischief. The " Kladcra ■ datseh " often depicts him in tho form of a frog, and it must be admitted that tho caricature is strikingly like him, thanks to Herr Windthort's enormous mouth and thin lips, which look like a saber's cut slashed across the face. Herr Windthorst is exceedingly polite and very good-natured. His conversation is very witty and distin guished by a kind of jog-trot, imperturb able hnmonr, which the Germans call geiiuith. His gallantry to the softer sex is proverbial. He never fails to propose a toast to the ladies, n thing unhenrd of in the fatherland until Herr Windthorst took tho initiative. And the ladies are corres pondingly grateful. When lost year he celebrated his seventy-fifth -birthday he had a groat number of addresses signed by ladies, nnd this year at the opening of the Reichstag, Herr Windthorst found his seat covered with flowers, sent by 'the Berlin Catholic ladies, Whenever Prince Bis marck speaks, and however protracted the discourse, Herr Windthorst remains on his feet. He is even smaller than Douglas Jer rold or Thomas Moore, so that he seems to be seated when, in fact, he is standing. His hand in his waistcoat, his head some what forward, he listens without taking a note, for his sight permits him neither to read nor to write. Only now and then,at the most violent passages, his face lights up with a sarcastic smile. But his memory is so wonderful that inch by inch he refutes the Chancellor's points until, the latter even in his own opinion—has not a leg to stand, on. He is the only man who has the knack of getting the Prince out of temper, and lately ho did it to such an extent that, throwing down his big carpenter's pencil, with which he is in the habit of taking notes,'the Chancellor took up his hat and left the chamber.

How Slaves are Treated in Africa.

Toward the end of May a female slave of one of the Arabs came and claimed refuge and protection in my station against the bad treatment she alleged she had received from her master. : Unable to see any, serious marks or blows, I. only allowed the woman to remain until she was claimed personally by her master. '■■ On-his arrival the liext day, after vainly trying to buy the slave from him on behalf of the Congo free state;" I handed -her over to him; he having promised that he Would no longer 'ill-treat her or punish her for having claimed my protection, explaining1 to him distinctly that if- she returned: -to "me with i any: sighs'.of [illtreatruent I would ■ never ,-give her up [again. Three days later this woman re turned; her back, one mass .of-welts and covered • with blood, nearly i naked; i She threwherself at'my feet .and begged for refuge and protection, pointing to the flag of the state, i On inquiry, not only of this poor slave, but of tlie natives, and even of some of the Arab's men, ,1 gathered that this woman, on arriving at the Arab settle ment, had. : been immediately stripped naked and bound to a tree, receiving one hundred blows every day until she succeeded in making her escape on the I third day.—rCongo Cqi\ " J_ondpn Times,"

The Human Maw.

Elizabeth ' Chaklotte, the Duchess 'of '■ Orleans, writing under the date of i December 6, 1718, says : "The late King,!- Monsieur the 'Dauphin, and the Due cie'* Berri, were terrible eaters. 1 have often seen the King eat four plates of dilTerenb kinds of soup, a whole pheasant, a partridge, a dish of salad, two thick slices of ham, muttou flavoured with garlic, a plateful of pastry, and finish his repasb fruit and hard-boiled eggs." There was a good old German from Wittenberg; where my Lord Hamlet attended the j University, who had a fine faculty for storing away provender. His case is well attested. For a -wager lie would eat a"; whole sheep or a whole pig, or put out of sight a bushel of cherries, stones and all. ! He lived until he was about eighty years of age, a greater portion of the time support- j ing himself by exhibiting the peculiarity of his appetite, which, to say the least, j must have been a very eccentric one. ' Thus, he would chew glass, earthenware and flint into fragments. He had an especial preference for caterpillars, mice ' and birds, and when these were nob procurable he would content himself with mineral substances.

Once he put down his " maw and gulf," a pen, the ink and the sand-pounce, and he , would have gobbled the inkstand, too, had ' he not been restrained. Taylor, the water ; poet, tells ofANicholas Wood, of the County ( of Kent, in England, who was a tolerably j good trencherman : On one occasion he gob away with a whole sheep ; at another time with several rabbits ; at a third with three dozen pigeons well-grown pigeons, nob squabs ; again with eighteen yards of black puddings, and on two other occasions sixty , pounds of cherries and three pecks of dam-' sons. Dr. Copeland, in speaking of two ! children who had wonderful appetites, the youngest, seven years old, being the worst, said: "The quantity of food devoured by her was astonishing. Everything thab' could be laid hold of, even in its raw state, j was seized upon most greedily. Among other articles an uncooked rabbit, half a j pound of candles and some butter were taken ' at one time." The mother stated that this little girl, who was apparently in good health otherwise, took more food, if she could possibly obtain it, than the rest of her amily, consisting of six besides herself.

A trifle over a hundred years ago a Lon don youth ate five pounds of shoulder of lamb and two quarts of green peas in fifty minutes : and a Polish soldier, who was presented at the court of Saxony, succeeded ' in one day in getting outside of twenty pounds of beef and half a roast calf, with the appropriate "fixings." When George 111. was king, a watchmaker's apprentice, nineteen years of age, in three-quarters of an hour devoured a leg of pork weighing six poundr and a proportionate quantity of pease pudding, washing all-down with a pint of brandy, taken in two '• tots." The tall Nick Davenport, the actor, is known to have eaten a seven-pound turkey at a single sitting. Instances of depraved ap petites are numerous, and men have been known to swallow tire, swords, : spiders, fiies, toads, serpents, cotton, hair, ; clay, chalk, flint, musket balls and earthenware. One man could swal low^ billiard balls and £old watches. In the New York " Medical Jouraal " for 1882 a record is made of a man who could swallow clasp-knives with impunity. One day he ' overdid the business by swallowing four-' teen, and it killed him, which well it might. In 1870, in England, two men of Wiltshire wagered with each other as to which' could consume the greatest quantity of food in the shortest space of time. One of them blotted from existence G_ pounds of rabbit, a, loaf of bread and 2 lb of cheese in a quarter of an hour, and he was so pleased with the approbation he received from the bystanders that he finished off with a beef steak, and a pint and a half of gin and a half pint of brandy.

The Best Time to Bathe.

It is best to bathe just before going to bed, as any danger of catching cold is thus avoided, and the complexion is improved by keeping warih for several hours after leav ing the bath. A couple of pounds of bran put into a thin bag and then in the bathtub is excellent for softening the skin. It should be left to soak in a small quantity of water several hours before being used. The in ternal aids to a clear complexion are most of them well known, and the present season is the best for a thorough cleansing end puri fying of the blood. The old-fashioned remedy of sulphur and molasses is con sidered among the best. Charcoal powdered and taken with water is said to be excellent, but it is most difficult to take. A strictly vegetable and fruit diet is followed by many for one or two weeks. "

Powers in the Feeble-Minded.

It is a strange but well-known fact that in • many persons who are idiotic or but little removed from the mental condition of idiots, certain powers of the mind may be de- : veloped to an extraordinary degree. Remarkable precosity in the powers of arithmetical calculations is frequently com- ' biffed with a positive deficiency in other directions. Jn institutions devoted to the care of feeble-minded children such ex- ■ amples are < nearly always present., Defi- I cient in some faculties, others are developed | - to excess. Some such can carve and draw with great skill. Extraordinary memory is often met with, associated with very great. ' defect'of reasoning. One boy, in reading Gibbon's " Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire," skipped a line on the third page at - his first perusal. Ever after, when reciting from memory the stately periods of Gibbon, he would, on coming ,to the third page, skip > the line and retrace his steps, just as when '■ he first committed the passage to memory.

Often the memory takes the form ofre- | membering dates and past events. One boy never failed to tell correctly the name and address of every confectioner's shop he had visited in London, and could as readily tell the date of every visit. The faculty of ■ number is usually slightly developed in •'• feeble-minded- children, while memory i 3 f fairly well developed ; yet occasionally the - power;'of mental arithmetic has been devel oped. Improvisation is an occasional faculty. Memory of tune is a very common \ faculty among tho feeble-minded; they readily acquire simple airs and rarely for get them. ; A In none of the cases of idiot savants has there been any history of the possession of a similar faculty by the parent or sisters or brothers. In one case a.necropsy is re ported by Dr. J. L. Down, of London. The boy had a remarkable, indeed perfect, appreciation of past, or passing time. There was no difference from an ordinary - brain, With the exception that there were itwo well marked and distinct soft commis sures.; '■'■■ Dr Down's explanation- of the phenomena was' that, as every movement of the house -was! absolutely punctual, he had data from which he could estimate the ' time by accurate appreciation of its flux.

j Every •form of mental deviation, may be met with in the congenital feeble-minded. They ■■.tniay. j become. :the subjects ■• of. acute and ;C_u.-onic mania,; of acute and: chronic I melancholia, and' of dementia. I , Occasion- I ally under the influence of acute mania the . feeble" intelligence! tof the youth becomes fanned,:, into. ,a brighter flame.': The ; taciturn-may become loquacious ; the timid " and■; respectful A proud and defiant; the amiable and tractable abusive >< and de- cj 'Structive. Three remarkable instances : occurred to Dr. Down of boys'who had ■never been able: to speak makinguse of \ welhformed sentences during the high - febrile state of acute pneumonia or scarlatina. [__?_•

It-is of much interest to .report- all such cases, as they throw great light on the workings, of the human mind in tiealth.