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t TO THE BITTER END. A Talc of Two BOOK II.-CHAl'TKK VL ASTIIASUF rovvr.UMTIOX. "Perfectly," my father sniwered. "1 have reason to. " "Jut so. Vou have reason to," Lord Situated an our cottage was, at a ronsidur- AUr ton repeated. "You yourcelf, forioine able diitanoo from any tbor ui^hfare, our cam*) or another, were inteiested in thm hlmd were always left undrawn, and our allair. At the inquest, you presented your- windows wide open in order to enjoy a* **lf and atteni|ited to identify the dead much aspomible the faint but fragrant mgr I ' wmnan. In tlm you were so far success- breeze. Aud so from Ihe edge of the shrub- ful that on the ground of having met her bery fringing the lawn, win n- 1 hi 1 taken ] once abroad, or some other equally uisiith- up my lUinm, I rould we with eas* mt > .;.nl pretext, you wersj allowed to under- the room where my father ami his cueata were. At the further end Mr. Brown and my father were examining together a litvle pile of nniMy volume*, which 1 reuogniiiM an part of my father's choicest stock of rare books and tiist editions. Both seeim-d i-n tirely engrossed in their occupation, aud my father was evidently holding forth con- cen. ing his favorites lo Mr. lirown with ciiiisn lei able warmth. It it strange how his appearance changes at time*. Then, wilh iiis lips parted in a slight .mile, n.d a bright, keen light in his eye*, he seemed transformed. Although his face wa* aged and hi* brow furrowed, their disfigurement appeared more like the becoming trace, of a studious life than Ihe indelible marks of a deep sorrow and an ever-torturing anxiety. His upright mem, too, gave him a greater air of dignity than was usual. Il wu evi- dent thai in the keen enjoyment of conver of hi* life which at .n 11 sail MI wilh ary tacte* he that olher portion times laid hold of him so power fully, and which seemed to oppr him like a nightmare. I could not kee back a sigh of regret as I looked at him. only he would be always like thi/t ! It only thai olher self, so mysterious, so depressing, would fall away! Life would be a very dif ferenl thika, for me it only thii could come to pass. . . . A little way apart from my father and Mr Brown, and nearer the window, Mr. Carlyon and lx>rd Alceston were talking to- gether in a low tone. I could not overhear what they were saving, nor did I try to do so. But it seemed to me thai their conver- sation wai no very inportanl one, and I notired that every now and then Lord Alceston cast a furtive yet impatient glance towaid my father, as though anxious to peak with him. I'reiently a servant brought in a tray willi some tea and olher refreshment*, aud in t be light itir which followed, the relative position* of Ihe occupant* of Ihe room were changed. While every one'* altention wo* thus momentarily absorbed I saw Ixml Alceilou cross the room and whi*|>er something in my father's ear. My father Martrd. and 1 law a strange look flash into his eyes and ICTOSM hii face. He heiitsted only for a minute, however, Ihen riling to bis feet he fi.:. : L-nl Alceiton to the window. They stood talking there for a minute or two in a low luring which my father wai ciiieMy the listener, and presently they moved for- ward together ao though by common con- sent into the garden, only just giving me time lo gel behind a shrub liefore they were close upon me. "Now, my lord, we are secure from lis- tener*," my father said in a low, suppress e.l tone, "perbsps you can explain yourself ,,, , , j hers. "As well here as anywhere," Lsird Alces- ton answered. "I have very little explana- tion to (jive, though. I simply want to ask you a question." "If it is one which I can answer I shall be glad to do so," my father declared quietly. "There ii no doubt al out you being able to, Monsieur do Feurget," Lord A 1 said earnestly, "and a great deal lo me de- pends ii|>on your answer. It has reference partly lo someihiig which happened a MIS long time sgo." My father bowed bis head without re- mark, and Lor. I AK-c-'. n MO . -. iled. " It i* a strange thing, Monin nr de Ksni - get, thai you and I rhould n,..-t here. If w hut 1 am told i* Irue, there waa a lake tbe expense of her funeral, and not only did you af end it yourself, but you did 10 in company with your daughter, Made- moiselle de reui gel. ' My father's manner was changing rapidly. The unnalurai calm hail gone, ami he look- i-.l unxious even fearful. The lone of hi* ainw er, too, was slurp and suspicion*. "How did you know that?" he asked qtii. kly. " My name diii not appear in ihe paper." " Xo ; be-ause you gave a fale one " Lord Alceston answered, "But I know you may have had very good reason* for doing ao ! 1 am not your jud^e w.th regard to tho ji. Only 1 know. And now Moniieur de Feurget," he continued, laying his hui.l upon my father's shoulder, " tell me this, and for Co.l.s sake tell me quickly ! Who was tbat woman?" There wai a short silence she rt, but so intense lhat, w bile I crouched ihere with sympathizer in hii liter- I n , y eyesfixed'upon the two men, Icould hear had forgotten for a while ,|, e qu i c k hurried Iwating of my heart. At . ,, i, /...*.. i last, to my unutterable relief, my father broke the deop silence. Had it lasted hut afew momenta longer, I must have shrirke 1 forthe tension upon my alreadyoverwrought nervi-s wu nearly too much for me. " You auk that 'que.tion. Lord Alceiton," hiiaid, "with great confidence almost as ' though you had some right to ask it. \et, '[tor sour own sake, I would advise you not lo press for an answer." An answer I will have," Lord Alceston laid, his voico trembling with emotion. " I am told, Monsieur de Feurget, that thai woman wasOcile d'Augcrville, my father's wile. Was this so? You knew her, and you saw the dead body. Waith.sso?" "It wai.'' There was a brief but awful silence. Lord Alcestnn stood with his face covered in his hands for a full minute. I would have given, oh, I would have given the world to have been able to go lo him and Iry to comfort him. But I dared not, though the tear*) were in my eye*. "Why did you not identify her?" Lord Alceston asked presently. My father shrugged bis shoulders gravely. "Who would have lieen llie gainer? I knew that your father had been deceived. an I that he hail married again. To have published the identity of the murdered woman would have been lo bring disgrace upon you anil profited no one. So 1 kept th* secie'." "And, Monsieur de Feurget, how was it that you luil any idea at all t.ial the mur- dered woman in an K.isl F.nd lodging bouse wai your iiit*r-in-law ?" "I will tell you. .lust before my wife died she discovered that her sister was still hung, and il.e made me promise to do my best to prevent her fioni declaring herself, anil not to let her come to Kngland if I I discovered that she bad left for London aud followed her. I had almost traced her out when I read of tin* murder in the vicinity where I knew she wan. An impulse prompted ma to go and look at theUidy. It was a terrible .hock to me s\ h< n I recogni/ed her." There was a question w -hich Lord Alces- ton tried inoi* than once to ask. bill seem- his half closed eyes, as though trying to read what was in my thoughts, liut I hail nerved inyselt to my talk, and n.y eyei met uuitaatlily. " \n, 1 am not going out yet," he an- Kwsred. " My time is at your disposal. What do you want, to say lo me, child? Is it a new dreni, or a hat from Madame r'aveur'*, or a bracelet, or what?" " I .hook my head a little *adly. " II i- in. ne of these Ihingi, mou pere," I -aid. " I have plenty of all of thorn." "Then what i* it?' 1 I took hii hand* in mine aud itroked them, "Mm pcre," I cried softly, " I air. not " I yen* ago, in which my father was one who figured most unhappily, and there wa* a Moniieur da Keurget there too! Are you heV "Yes! It was I." My father's voice was calm und express- 's yet I, who was wat.-hinij him close- ly, could see ill the clear moonlight the. pray pallor crei-p into I. is face and the old look of trouliln into hi* eyes. " You were the Count iVAugcmlle's .i-oin.l, then?" " I wai. Not Iwoiuse I had any faith or sympathy m the justice of his ratine, hut lireaiixe tlidc was none else at hand ; and I'l.ti.leM, he had claims upon n,.. "You were a friend of llie household, j Monsieur de Feurgel! You knew In* I wu engaged to marry I,, Vi'.urally. ne nf t III-IM.'' "And you diil marry In i ?" "1 did I" "It wo* Marie,, was it not? ed to lack the courage. At lost ho asked il in a!ow, nervous ton.-. " lla-. e you any idea any theory at to Ihe Inlll il. ' The question Deemed to agitate my father almost ai much as Lor I Abi -ton. He was white lo the very lip., and for several on. in. ii TH :.l.-d lo uuswer it. "'Ve had lii-tter imtdiHi-ii.i that, I think," he said hoarsely. "We may have our ideas. l.i up kei-p tin-in in oui>t-l\rs. Il is nol a thing to lie whispered about." Again ihere was a brief silenre, which my falh.-r broke, speaking in a somewhat lighter ton.-. " Come, let us) go inside. I have neglect- ed n-y quests long enough." I . \ n. .1 for a moment will. nut moving. Thm my father went and laid hiit band UJMIII hii ariii. " I'ruy cinne in, my loid, ' he said earn- estly. " K.'inemlicr that we twoalone know ot this thing, ami with inn it is burn d," Lord Alceiton roused himieif, an though wi Ii un t-lloit. I link you, Monsieur de i. Yes, I will come in with Jou. Km jimt one word on another subject. M. n aiour il'Anbron was a guest of your* this evening '.'" "Yes, he wa. ; but neither a frequent nor a welcome one. In fact, il waa hi* first anil last viiii." " I am glad of it. I heard nt (lie hotel that my .011-111 had been win pl.tyin^ with him. "I oaw them playing togather at the ..I! ",;' ll ";. w " -I owino." my father answere,,, "and heard "\ e. Ihe other, ( ecile. was married to j Mr . r . irlj ,, n |ir ,, miM to KO , ,, roolnsto . mglit. I knew Ui.it that would be a danger you Lord Alii'ston panned fora ininuto, but I knew ll al the rnver*ition wan not yet at an end tb.it it ha<l not yet, in. In. I reached it* climax. It seemed to inn that he ua* nerving himself tn ask a question the answer to ivlnrh lir ilrcadcd. At last it .Mine, and I knew that 1 was right. For j hi* voice had lost the quiet, caay ring, and the word* came hastily, almont iii.liiiiuclly, from tremulous liiM. "Moiimeur de Kenrget, can you tell me tins' When did the Cecile my father's wife, ilu 'I rcmed to me that my father shrank ..MII answering, almost a* much an Lord Alccction had from asking tin* question. A ghutly *hade passed over hi* fare, and ho turned hi* head away. " Lord Alcenton, you had better not ask that que.tion of me. It will be better for you not to know," he laid slowly. " It will, n,. I. 'i. I.' 1 M.ui.ieur de Feurget, I must know," wa* the grave answer. " It is necessary. I ii.e put it tn yon in thin wy. On that awl'nl night when my father was mm .1 r. .1, was a brutal on, no rominittcd in the F.ait Knd. A woman, .'M unknown woman, was mnrderel in a moat mysterious manner by n 'nan whom it w.m pi o> . il Im.l .1. ilely i.'.^lit l.rr out with that inteuti..|i. You rauttinucr tr.i?" iglil. I knew that Dial would he a danger ous visit for your cousin, and he suemi a ii..i'l, .\ ; n I if., i tli. -in to come I. ere in- slunl, ami havo bad tlm pleasure of balk- ing MoiiHieur il' Alibi on'* lit I le game. " I felt a great sense of relief at my father's words, for 1 aaw lhat Lord Ali-eston was satisfied. The two men tnuvi-.l .lowly away, and i'|. i}.i-iunl thionxh tln'<>|icn window. Then I rose up, cramped HIH| stiff, and softly crossing the lawn made m\ way to my room. CHAPTKIl VII. A VAIN ArTKAL. I slept, bully that night, nnd remained in my room till lato on the following morning. Whim I dcHcended, just before lunch-tune, I ti mid my father mil on the balcony nlnne, lolling in a low basket -chuir and lazily rolling a cigarette. I went out to him at once, full of the purpose which was in my minil. I).- n< id. led a brief good-morning to me, and went on with Ins talk. 1 watt-hod him for a few moment* in silcr.ce. Then 1 drew a chair out to hii side and sat down. " I hi'i'i; yon are not sjoitisjeat Ibid morn- ing, iin-ii }>"," 1 said. " 1 u.ini to talk lo you." Ill looked at uuo Marcuingly In in out of " Not happy :" lie repeated llie word* lingeringly, an though he found some sort of mockery m them. Then he looke I steadily nt me. " \N ill you explain?" "I will Iry," I answered, with a sigh, for his rr.nnner wa* not encouraging. " l)o youiuppuw, inon |re, that a girl of my X 1 ' can lie happy without a *ingle compan- ion or relation and living somehow under a cloud ? No, I am not happy. I am miser- able." " I am aorry for it," he .aid, a little cold- ly. " I have done my be.l for you." " I think you have, nion pere, and I am grateful to you very grateful. Hut, all the same, 1 am not happy," 1 confessed sa-lly. " Will you try and explain yourself further ?" h laid. " I will if I can," I ans wired. " Let me try and put my life before you." I was silent for a few minutes, collecting my thoughts. When I was ready to com- mence hi* face did not please me. It* ex- pression was hard and cold, and there was no promise of lympalhy in it. But my mind was firmly made up, and no word* or looks of Ina would have (topped me. " I don't think I remember anything be- fore the convent," I began. " I must nave gone there when I wai very young indeed." " You were five years old," my father interru|>' I. "Ah! I could not have been older. From the very first there seemed to lie something strange about me. The other ftirui had all of them their lather, and mothers aud bro then lo talk about had, many of them, the tame circle of friendi and were always looking forward to holidays and !<' days when they went home or their friends came to see them. With me it wai all very different. I alone had neither relations nor friends nor home." " You had me," my falher interrupted. " Yes, I had you. But how often <li.l you come to see me, and how long did you stop when you did com*?" " I was hard at work earning money to keep you tit the convent. Madame Duque ville'i charges were not low, and I wa* poor then. " " I am not grumbling, ion Jr- , far from it. I only waul you to see how lonely I wa* there, and howstrange try position wa*. Iliad no idea even a* to what myfather'ipoii- tion wa*, or to u hat rank of life he Iwlonged. Nor did I know anything of my mother. Sometime*, when I tried very hard to re- n.i-miH r a little al out my earlier childhood, 1 hail dim -very dim union*. " I paused, and let my eyes wander thought- fully away, over the pleaxan' garden! and the bending pine tree* to the long itieak of blue ca far away in the distance. My father started a little at my la*t word*, and letting fall his cigarette, leaning forward towaid me with a hull-questioning, half- tartled light in hi* dark eye*. " Yimou. ? Memories? Bah! you can lememlicr nothing ! " he exclaimed. " No, that ii true, "I answered with t igh. " There i* only OUR thing I want to remember : my mother'* face -And thai I cannot. Will you not tell me something alxnit her, mon pere?" He stood over me with flashing eyes and 1 1. iiioiin,: lipi. "Maiie! Did I not forbid ynn ever to mention her name ? She is dead 1 toll you, I nnd that i* enough. .She died when you were a baby." " You will tell me nothing about her you keep me ignorant of everything, " I cried sadly. " Oh, non /r- , 1 will com- loam no longer nt our lonely life, I will vtiurv you for not Inns;. I will r intent my- self if only you will give me one thing your trut, your <-.n.ii !. i . I hear you walk re.tleuly up nnd down your room all ni^ht loiif; ; I see you shun all so.'iety and livo alone, that you may hug tho closer nine c..-rel sorrow ; I see the lines and can of a great grief written int.: your face, and I know nothing of it. lean utl.-r yu no *yni| a'liy, no .oir.I'.rl. 1 mint live on, frn mill-it.'-, and lonely, IIII-IT tble in l).r nha.l ow of y.ur trouble. Only let iue really hare il and I will be biave I will com- plain no more. " He turned away from me, and shook his head sa.lly. I .'it m >t, child. It in impossible. The f it would rrimh you. " Try me," I cried eagerly. " I cannot ' " Then for Cod', iwke, let mo go back to the roir cut again I" I cri.-.l |ia--i..nately. " lx*l me go somewhere away from here." " liai-k to th ..... 'ivcnl I No, I'hild, yi.ii must utop hei e. What e.iuld you do there .11 vi. in aite" " " I rould teach teach mini'-, and Kinging, nnd l-'.ii.'lmb enough for th little on. . At any rate, I HhonM be no longer a trouble lo you," 1 cried bitterly. My father wai very pale, and the ha,nd \vbuhlielil his long cigaiclte ihook. At Hut I thought that it \vja anger; since I have thought that it may have bee.i ome other emotion. " I am H-iny that you are so unhappy," he said slowly. " I clul not know it. It i* u new idea to me. I must think it all over, and ur must lalk Again. 1 Hill *ee whether . . nun..! make nome change." And with these words he left me. (TO DC CONTINl KD.) TTLSTEE. A ri. iiiiir,,! ,.,,1 ., r,,,.,,. , ...i. < ..uiilri I wonder if the day will ever come when thm beautiful country, Ireland, will attract tin- British tourut. To a tourist with an eye for llie pictureique Ireland can give his money'* woith. No country in Kurope can allow within an equal upace so many scenic oeautiesas present themselves during a Irip, say, from Dublin, through Wiuklow. by ' ' >rk, and down to Quemistown and along the southwestern coast. dlenganfT, at the head of Hantry Bay, i* one of the loveliest spots in HIM world; Dublin Hay, with its l>ackgroiiiid of mountains, it. gleaming lea, its woody shores, dotted with villtgea and country residence*, reminding one of a mm- mer day in Italy. The route from Dublin to Itelfait i* not so Iteautiful a* thai from Dublin through Wi.-klow, but it is txceed- ingly pretty all the lame ; sufficiently attractive to lead the attenlion captive from one'siialch of newspsper*. Dirk green woods, bright green meadow., *tream, hill and sea are the constant and changing ele- ments in moot of the kaleidoscopic railway route of 110 mile* between the two cities. Nearly the whole way lo Dundalk skil Is ihe seashore. Skerries, with lla wide expanse of sea, U a prelly spot. So is Balbri^gan and llie country about Lay town ; but Drog- h. ila i* without doubt the place which, both on account of its beiuty ami hislorical associations, will most interest the traveller. " Boyne Kegetta," printed in large letter* on a large poster, were the first word* which caught one'* eye ai 1 rogheda Station. the train mopped at Down below a long Mninrn rollllrlaas. There were three of the candidates for ihe Knliah 1'arliament whose wives made themselves very prominent a. speechmakers in their interest Henry M. Stanley, the Hon. Hichard Chamberlain, and Col. Corn- walli* West, all members of ihe Liberal Un- ion par'y. All of these candi late* have been defeated notwithstanding the elo- quence and enthusiasm ot their wives. Mrs. Stanley's speeches on the hunting* were far better than her husband's and her Courage in confronting the disorderly mobs was far greater than hii ; yet Stanley was " beaten awfully " by the electors. Mrs. Ricliard Chamberlain il the beautiful and brilliant young wife of a man who won a seat in Par- liament before he married her, yet who lia* just been defeated as a candidate for re- election, though he enjoyed the powerful aaaisUnce of her oratory. She not only made ipeechei for him, but the went around among the working men, pleaded with them personally, and exercised her blandishments to secure their votes. They marched to tho polls and voted against her huaband for whose election ihe had striven so vehemently. Next, we come to the case of Colonel Cornwallis West, whose brave wife fought for him as he himself never fought for Queen Victoria. When the riotous mob would not let him speak the rushed to the front and raised her voice in his behalf ; On one <> -cation her life wai in danger, but ihe itood her ground. " I am an Irish woman !" *l.e exclaimed, "and not till now have I ever found men capable of refusing to hear a woman plead her cause. " Her hearers yelled, hissed, and stormed until she was forced to stop speak- ing. Then she pushed her way through the mob lo another platform that was held by way In-low the railway bridge lay historic Drogheda, with it* gray itreets piled up nn the steep wooded dopes of ihe Boyne. Town, quay*, river, were as lileul as if Ihe day her husband's enemy and cried oul inal she were a .Sabbath of the Cromwellian saints, was rssdy to argue the matter with him. A Belfast man would have aaul that the XN " he rea "y " fcnglishman or was he an place was pretty to look at, hut bad for African savaee? \V hy, he shook his fist in business. They are hard grit, those Belfast ner ' nd there w " general scrimmage folk. They fortify themselves with the all around her until the meeting was broken reflection thai their capital of Ulster can "P- Thus it was thai Mrs. Cornwal'is \\cst buy up most towns in Irelsnd. Urogheda labored for her Liberal I nion husband, w ho. town, quays and llie placid Boyne, with her however, was defeated by Ihe elector*, steamers and sailing ships lying one behind Truly, there ire some brave women in the other, in ludiau fie, are, or seem to be, I England, and yet three of the brave.t of an dead commercially as the Shannon at tneu ' ". Mr - Stanley, Mrs, Chamberlain, Limerick "d Mrs. West, have been confounded in Beyond Drogheda the sea-view recedes their allempts to get their husbau.lselecled until nothing of it i* left but the sky 1'srliament. How in the mischief n this line that flashes out at intervals over the to be accounted for? |is, or between gaps in the landscape, like the edge of a sword. At Uundalk Ihe sea-view expands again, and llie distant .hips look like fixed spots on the horizon. Soon the Iruin dashes into a hilly country, Erre Mii.-ailim 1st England nod Wale*. The effect of the Free Kducalion Act upon ihe schools of England and Wales has which reminds one of a hundred localities, been unexpectedly gratifying. Out of a tola in Southern and Western Ireland. There ; o f 19,000 schools affected by the act it U are the low walls or "dykes" of gray atone | estimated tbat between 15,000 and 16,000 . n .-lining tiny pitches of sloppy bog, :he ' are now alxsolutely free, and the attendance diminutive hut. like dog kennels, the heaps i has) largely increased, especially among of peat, the outcrop of gray rock, the cat- younger children. Under the former system tered boulders, whi-h are such familiar ,,f requiring the payment of a weekly fee objects in Clare and Galway and Kerry and by each child, it often happened that on Limerick and Mayo. But the character of Monday the parents had not ihe requisile change before pence, and when a child was detained at home on that day il stayed away all the week. There ii now no more reason for absence upon Monday lliau upon any olher day, and attendance i* much more against the fresh green of the country. In regular. The great argument in favor of the meadows appear streaks and heap*) of [ the payment of fees wa* the demorali/.ing what appears lo lie snow, The meadowi 1 effect of providing free schooling, but, cur- ai the bleaching ticldi, and ihoie great jously enough, some striking evidence in buildings are the linen tactorir*. We have refutation of thii argument bin appeared ihe lull nnd llie cultivation Keubrook i* reached. Than beyond Port* down conies a change really startling in it* magnitude and suddeiiiiei'. Factory chim- neys, tall, built of red brick, stand out \V rushed all at once into a new country alto- from ill* return* of ihe fost-otlice. Thi* gether unlike Ihe Celtic an. ICalholic Ireland i office took measures, in co-operation with we have left behind, and among tue ilrenu- j the Department of Kducalion, to enable i.n, rentiers, hard-headed, pragmatic, I schoolchildren to lay up their treasures "door," puihing, matttr of facl, precise j either in penny banks or by means of Ihe people totally unlike the careless, happy- stamp deposit system. Taking a period of go-lucky, untidy, genial, humorous race of the South. Here we are almost before we know it in the roar and invoke of Belfast. thing ; its ethnology another. heights winch surround Belfail Lough Ihe Itelfasl man may on sclearish day gaze straight across the sea into the home of ihe strenuous, hard-headed, yet cur.ously sen- timental, m liter of fuel, yet curiously ro- mantic, obstinate, indomitable people from whom he is sprung. This energetic town of Belfast is, a* it were, placed on the bottom equal length, before and after ihe pas- Education Act, it the act -30 new . while after it was rrom the passed tho nnmher rose to '2, HIM}. The nuin- sage of the Free seems that prior to The geography of the Belfast region is on* , banks were "started, ?lhno' her of depositors rose from 1.11, .100 to 010, n.Xi, and a like increase took place in the number of those using the stamp-deposit system. Indeed, the extension of this system alone indicates the deposit of pence to the extenl of 1'oO.UUO this year an of the total jiiiount equal to 5 per cent. amount grained by the (iovernment in lieu of a plate, the rim of which is composed of o ( f eea . At the same time it doe* not ap- the Holywood Hills, Caitlereagh Hills, the , p^ r that the abolilion of fees h%s mated- Divis range and ihet asw Mill. Its streets of , a ||y injured the private schools, as we workmen, bouses are, without a doubt, far -hould call them, although they receive mi|i. i IIT to any localities of the same class, lnme ,J from ihe (Government. U'hatever in tireal Britain. Belfast ha* l>een and is , lie thought of the jwlicy oJ furnishing advancing l>y leapt imdliounds, while every , c hooling free, it was evident from the be- other low n in I ruland u stationary or decay Pat's Arithmetic- Two clever-wilted YanUeeH espying a MI m pie looking 1 1. simian, who had just arrived in the land of the Stars and Stripes, thus accosled him with a view of testing his uab'iilating powers. " Say, I'a.lilv, could you reckon how many of us are here ?" I 'adily, abruptly : "100." One of the two Yankees, who were laugh- iirg heartily ai I'at's ignorance, a*kcd him how IK made (lint out. " \Viaha and begor," sayi Pat, ': that'* ally, for I'm '.he one and ye aie tin- u\o noughts." in.-. In of its rapid growth Belfast more rloa.-ly resemble* an American than a British town. Ten year* ago the Koyal-.tve. of Belfast, a stately, prosperous stint, which together with Donegal Place form* the principal buiinms quarter of Ihe town, was nothing but a collection of mean little .'p ami houses that wire all hovols. W alking tlinu'^li Bella.l streets, when the fai-tory hands are coming out or goim; in, one ini^ht imagine himself in a great mnnii fa.-tiiring town of Kn^l<m.l or of Scotland. No longer does Bedfast depend upon the linen trade slonu for her prosperity. Shipbuild- ing is already one of her greatest industries. The is town extending in all direction*. X.n in this wonderfully rapid extension are -iniUiv and architectural consideration! I'isregarded ; on the contrnry, the newer street! are wide and wull built. Belfait also pouease* five parks, one or two of M in. h as pretty a* any in Scotland or Kng laud. ginning thai Ihe penny-i-wcek lystera of IMS ineiit would nol woik, for the same rea- son that toll -gates have generally been abolished. Theoretically tlioee who use a road oughl to pay for it, but making them stop and pay whenever they use it becomes an unbearable vexation. Very much the same il true of schools, the difficulty of col- lecting fees from children being a greater evil than any imagined encouragement ot their parents in improvidence by Iramfer- ring llie charge to the general revenue. It is more profitable to advertUe before season thin after leason. Kiequently be- fore season is worth more than during sea- son. the Cholera. The Russian liovermnent is displaying much energy in ita efforts to prevent ihe spread cf Ihe Asiatic cholera, which has reached Uussia from Persia. 'I'hc Sanitary Commiwion, which is aUovernmsnt institu- tion, is exercising its full authority, in co-operation with the provincial and muni- cipal funclionaries of Ihe region lying belweeu Ihe Caspian Sea and the Black. Agents havo been scut out in all directions upon special duty, funds are supplied for the necessary service, a rigid quarantine U enforced at all points of danger, disinfect- ants are distributed wherever needed, Iravel and iraflic have been suspended in some _ .. . r n ami uaim in>.: uevu uvuvuucu ... e.ru.w A. early .. January or rebruary folk. loea , lllt . j aml m ary meaiure. of various e beginning to think of what they will klmlg ar^applie,!, a* far a. they can be ap- n> tn i lia unrina. . * . . ., .. buy in the spring The Knglnh and Iriih coast ha* been repeatedly declared by Knijlish newspapers, tin- London Times among them, to bo in- sufficiently lighted, biiosed and patrolled. Now that the Kider has gone ashore on en- tering Southampton, and the City of Chi cago, close, to the entrance of (juuenitown, both on ledges knowu to be dangerous, it may strike the Kldcr Brethren 01 Trin- ity to follow the advice which their papen are lavishing, and protect approaching .teamen by more frequent buoy sand lights, ('iili disasters, however, it i* well to re member, are due to the pressure on every steamship captain to make time. This cads him to .have Ihe shelving Knglinh coast as near as possible to save a few miles and moments. When Ihis in done on n coast with most irregular sounding* ap- proached by dead reckoning in a fog, aome ->> oner's liotto-n ii crri.un to nmkc land In. m tiin to i. -in- a litlli look out. sooner than her plied, upon abort notice under difficult cir- cumstances. We do not remember that the Russian Government and its functionaries have ever before displayed as much energy in presence of the dreaded plague, or m striving to keep it out of the country, or in adopting scientific mean* of preventing it* ravage*. Russia has been far behind all the counlriea of western Kurope in the en- forcement of sanitary laws, ana the news of the present action of the Czar's Government it serious evidence of progress. It is of grave importance to mankind. The great object at this time is to prevent the plague fiom enisling ihe Caucasus Mountains to the) northwurd. It is at Buku on the Caspian aud at Tillis, both of which places are south of the mountains, and there has been a re- port of its appearance in the Crimea, but this report is nol sustained by the latest despatches. We muit hope that the lUssian loiscrnment will be successful in confining it to the narrow region in which it uov cx- uu.