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A DYING PROMISE OR, THE HISSING WILL CHAPTER XIX--(Continued.) ested in a little mechanical puzzle which lay on the table. "Oh! Miss Medwaj," she replied; "they are not love-letters. You see, we are not liko other people---" here she broke off and colored, as Claude looked up. She would have turned tho subject, feeling that she had already said more than was becoming of her own concerns, but that something in that vift, electric glance was like a chal- Ih'e blushed for the first time; present associates the thought of which fill-led him with disgust. .All that poets said of love was true. He thought with a sort of self-pity how litto pure human affection there had been i lot till i It i with the selfish love of the utterly helpless that Ethel clung to him, another sister had died in childhood, leaving a sorrowful memory; Lady Gertrude had fondled him over much l infancy, and v i lie c ,sed f be lenge ind i ! like 1 tinued, with grt iss Medway? "Ol: wrought lish rejoinder, ip together like ," she continued; people who find by bit, and are Then how did you become engag-' asked Ethel. ly parents had always wished ind when my dear father was dy-lie Joined our hands; and that," .added, looking up after a long, tthless "We and binding." "I don't think s disgusted at the ought to fall in love and be proposed to, and refuse a little at first just to bring the other one on, before they are married. If papa told me to marry anybody I should instantly hate him, and run away with somebody else. Why, people never fall in love with the people th. are told to, do they Claude?" "Not such naughty girls as you ho replied, touched by the tliougl that there could be none of the youthful experiences for that poi child, ight I iiul throw his arms around her neck We are I Decallse he rumpled her hair; he must ter," sho;not come too neaI% gho (iidn't liko lty; "but why boys treading on hor dress and pull-with my affairs, jng hQr about, their hands were never clean. And when he grew up, a curled darling, an ornamental as wel las useful social appendage, he |knew too well what value to put upon his mother's appreciation of him. [ There was instinctive affection be-Itween himself and his father and 'brothers, but no tenderness. Yet I but a month or so since he would I have laughed at the idea that he |needed tenderness; married bliss was a thing to smile at; conjugal virtue, j though respectable, a thing too rare, !at least on the one side, to enter ! seriously into an estimate of life. | Once Jessie caught his rape gaze as lhe thought these thoughts, and it flashed upon her that he had a look of Philip, something less than the I moulding of a feature, something 'more than a passing express. She | glanced from him to a picture on the wall of a young cavalier with \ plumed hat and flowing curls, who Iliad fallen in the Civil War. He turned, following her gaze. I "You are interested in Sir Philip?" asked; "you often look at hi note, bidding her come to the Court, an honor which she declined, upon which Clara appeared at Redwoods. Jessie was in the garden gathering fruit for those endless pots of jam which Cousin Jane delighted to make, and thither Miss Lonsdale penetrated without invitation, to Jessie's secret indignation. "Miss Meade," she said, "will you have the goodness to walk through the plantations with me? I cannot tell you my errand here." She could say "will you. have the goodness?" so as to convey the impression of "you will refuse on your peril;" the fascination which she had exercised upon Jessie, lessened though it was since she had discovered that Clara Lonsdale was not only capricious but rude, had always contained an element of fear, and between this fear and tho tenderness she still felt for tho lonely woman, she yielded and followed her. "Jessie," Miss Lonsdale said when they had crossed tho intervening fields and reached the plantation, "you know that you have been dear to me, that I have treated you as a "You hav hard v. grateful. Bu and hai'e ofte rude of late. you? Co and talk r much. Y ; dull, trouble to sei these faggot: How can a man be other-he lives at the rate of three thousand a year, when he has but three hundred." Claude murmured something about expectations. "Which he throws to the winds by-marrying a barmaid, and making his uncle cut him off with a shilling." "Not a barmaid, sir, a governess, a lady by birth, a very pretty and charming girl-" "Barmaid or governess, it is all the same: the girl had not a. penny," cried Sir Arthur, with irritation; "neither beauty nor charm pay butcher's bills, much less wine merchant and Bond Street tailors. "What I cannot conceive is that you should to plants, and the have done the thing twice," contin- less bulky a: ued Sir Arthur, indignantly. "A On the othci man may make a fool of himself once--but this second bill seems a deliberate act--a--upon my soul, Claude, it is too much." "Of course it was foolish, but, by George! sir, I think you would have done the same," he replied. "You the poor devil was to be sold and utterly d< USE OF MANURE. of prevailing opinio chemists as well as practical that where it is practicable it is best to apply manure and urine to the soil in the freshest possible condition. The fertilizing constituents merchant I of well-rotted manure, as already plained, are more quickly available ure itself is ■> distribute, hand, fresh manure ixed with the soil readily under-srmentation which not only the availability of its <Wn lublo the hither- ; and cried t brought her baby, and,--and--well s in rendering insoluble fertilizing constituents ;he soil. In fact, even with spec-pretty fermentation under the feet of tie heap, the great- n^o?" he i what i soft-hearted fool ti ilf laughing; j rn is lik ! supplied in tho fresh condi- i fori; whic And | ing Claude ■turned Ethel, ; of i pretty woman cries. be applied, says W. H. tas a baby, I suppose my timber terrnined largely byte be cut down, and my land j -which it is to bo used, tgaged. I hoped you would set- ment. of th' tie down and marry, and take proper position in the country, here I am with Jim to. send to Oxford, and Jack's commission to buy, and with Hugh vowing that an attache must live beyond his present icart," ' allowance, and what with bad times figure the state of the country, losses here j and losses there--perhaps it is well desired, and that this place is not entailed like rtiich she de- the Suffolk property, though Clara said, should be sorry to sell Marwell- Bee.l If i oil I de- erally advisable to apply Tery zoarse manure before the litter has become at least partially decomp»se4. It appears, therefore, that no fixed rules regarding the condition in which manure should be used which will apply to all cases can be laid down. It is a matter which naturally must be left, largely to the individual judgment of the farmer, based upon a careful study of the character of the soil and climate aMi the requirements of the crop to be grown. SHIRRING THE SURFACE SOIL. Prudent men, in the light of the most recent knowledge w-e have of soil conditions and performances, do not commit themselves into saying this or this is true of the soil, and this is the law. They have come to regard the fields they plow, till and plant as great books with many uncut folios. We can peep in, and here and there catch a word or a phrase, and make what we think pretty intelligent guesses, but he who says he has read it all and understands it, even to the digesting of its laws, gives good evidence of trespassing "where angels fear to tread." But we aro sure that if we want o receive all the advantages from he work of these unseen friends of he soil we must surround them with conditions at least not unfavorable Wits at 1 and well-rotted soils. If, howcv i of the fertilizir "Sell Ch life the;, mply don't e •He i linds ne a little i Randal," she "Probably not; ono does not expect everyday life to be a poem," Jessie replied, with quiet indifference, as she rose. "And now, dear Miss Lonsdale, I really must say good-by-" "Nonsense, child, sit down," Clara returned, a flash of green light com-" BT eyes as sho detained her Marwell ("surely you cannot be soriou [last chance of breaking tho of marrying Jessie was gone "I am sorry to say," continued h: father, "that I am in but too sa earnest"--he paused, and reflected rendered available awhile, and the in turn made his con- pjant needs them, fession, one that, like his son, ho considerable dancer nd v . had 1 , Claude," Ethel t Phil rith ; his appeal have him, He knev : ineligible make jfor i fan.:;. just ( Wilful, tho father died, he Knew when Philip went out to India, he knew Jessie's age, the whole stor ywas clear to him, and particularly her intention in proclaiming the special solemnity of her engagement; his eyes grew softly brilliant, a smile played over his face, which seemed instinct with triumph and happiness; even Ethel wondered at ual beauty of her handsome was thankful for the timely terruption of tea. She had lived viong simple outspoken people, and as herself of a noble simplicity of tought and speech, but sho had the stinrtive lady's dower of reticence, id shrank from the publicity she id thought it necessary to give, to ff*om the grand romance which has set so many hearts beating and charmed so many minds in such different ages; those who irst dreamed it aro dust. :md s its glai those I tho s a ho rliest iouI- I brot r centuries, and yet' to-day iarm is fesh and irresistible as C Ethel soon slept, lulled by Tho golden glory, with its cr< armorial jewel, fell full upon , e, sitting sidewise close to eeping girl; it fell upon Clat ho was facing her on the other s tiquo hy should it? No one in that house It yourself lias ever shown me any- ling but kindness--" "Kindness!" echoed Clara in an :cent that burned into Jessie liko arrosivo acid, "kindness from a an like Claude Medway to a girl ke you! Why, he is one of the i girls had long brooded over, but feared make; a story of growing expenses : stituents and diminished income, of bad times, i drainage remitted rents and unfortunate in- j pijec( p, vestments, culminating in large pur-1 chase of shares in a phantom company, tho promoters of which had recently vanished with the spoil. "There is but one hope," Sir Arthur said at the conclusion of this melancholy narrative, "a most natural and pleasing aope, and one that 1 had expected you would yourself before this have realized, and that is your marriage." "My marriage!" repeated the unfortunate young man while all the lovely aurora hues of his new and beautiful hopes faded away from the horizon of his life, "my marriage!" "You know your own affairs best," Sir Arthur continued, J-'but to me it the thin; be obtained by applying is exhausting the humus from his manure to the heavy clay soil so that hardness and cocupact-to the Iness result; so the water-holding ca-prompt ! pacity of the soil is reduced, the air tituentsinot admitted and conditions of ;t soils, j warmth destroyed is not encouraging , are likely to; the development of nature's means to better ad- ; of replenishment of plant food "he is soils. Decom-i exhausting. lowly in heavy Tho better farmer is he who never ..„,.^uents of the loses sight of the importance of keep-[de; fresh manure become available very [ ing the mechanical condition of his His slowly. In the light soils, on the land up to tho standard of good ibject other hand, unless the season is dry, [crop production. Before we know iditlons aro such that the 'there were such things in the world .dily, and the i as bacteria, the good farmer knew are probably I the importance of keeping his land i fast as tho in good "heart" of saving manure, There is also | plowing in vegetable matter, grow-this class of 1 ing clover and thoroughness of til-- ; vantage than ■, position takes manure decomposes ■ the The land that with ill filled humus is in the best condition for absorbing moisture and holding it in a state of capillarity. THIS SOIL CONDITION is also most favorable to tho admission and occupation of air, and consequently warmth as well; so that, while we may not say that soil moisture is of first considera-On clay soils it often happens that tion in the life of soil organisms, it produces no effect whatever appears to be of such importance during the first year on account of j that if we have made its condition slowness of decomposition, but since | favorable we have done tho best al-the clay posesses very powerful ab- j so in tho way of supplying food, sorptive properties well-rotted manui this reason such applied to light soils shortly before it is likely to be needed' by the crop. In general, it may be said that for spring applica tion tho more readily available rott-preferable to the fresh UNROTTED MATERIAL. ■ | so in ,- I Plants therefore Mid long about privato u, it should 1 No doiibt thero i lade public rclat Philip ! her •fee " father's 1 and nerveh . emembered Philip's grasp growing farmer and firmer, and she felt her-olf pass from the keeping of one to hat of the other. There was a solemn, prayerful look •n her face, that gave a deeper ' , when she hand- apt, i Medw i gaze >ling t i legged oaken seat, his head slightly bowed against the hand w-hieh shad-'ed his eyes, his elbow resting on his knee, in a negligent attitude, suited to a suppliant or courtier. But .shadowed a 3 his eyes were, there was I no mistaking his look; and he was so absorbed that he did not perceive the ; approach of an onlooker, whose light footsteps were unheard on the thick-piled carpet. | The new-comer stood and silently sludied the scene; the sleeping girl, the reader and the listener, her face was touched with scorn and fear, ;hatred and love, she was breath.ess land motionless; while Jessie, con-I scious of Claude's furtively adoring i gaze and fearing to pause or lift [her eyes les. she should meet it, eead no knight living that ought to give Bat thanks as ye; for in the know these things." "Then I am sorry for you," cried Jessie, rising onco more and draw- ,au to ing her shawl round her; "and I am Put^ a wo' sorry if such things are true. And loo.k^ as ii I do not believe any ill of the gen- whicn, of < tleman to whom you allude. And it havo g°n0 is not of the smallest consequence !">'ou a goo whether I do or not. He has never thorcuph i said a word to me that the whole ithougn no world might not hear. I must really ^jf*^ "T hate her," Clara said, stopping ; rather at the plantation fence, on her home- ! through ward wav, resting her arm upon the i devoted to you. She rail while she looked with asi.ghth-ss pec.dmnties. but b. i glance over tho beautiful Marwell j at tho ™-< I woods. "I think I never hated any "e, P one so much. I hate hor beauty, '^f1^ her intelligence, her graceful What right have such as ensnaring you were hanging back, too far. She will make I wife, Claude; she is a oman of the world, and beautiful, has an air of that is beyond beauty, that she has had several serious flirtations, but them all she has always heart is sound while her property--" Ho paused and both men sighed j Up But 'thank H< 1 Heaven! That gh [face cannot lie. the baby-faced ly knows what foil; lathing; that, oh, thank And Heav fatuated flood of blinding glory through tho bav window i er ond of the gallery, am slantly through the loi touching them with a sol of the windot he hath given ui . secmliness. and groat all other knights-" later urgent business called Captain Medway away from Marwell. (To be Continued.) ROTHS CHILD'S REBUK E. needed. tre rather than the distinction. id by the crop. There I Running water, or that which moves tie or no danger on J rapidly, is of little use to them in this account in applying manuro to ; their growth, while standing water clay soils a long while in advance of is death to thorn. The kind that is the" planting of the crop. During j useful and indispensable to them is dry seasons the manure may produce; that which is held in the soil by ad-little effect, but with a sufficient ; hesion, filling the spaces between the amount of moisture its action is [Soil particles and passing thence in-likely to be considerable. The appli- j to the structure of the plant. This cation to such soils of large quanti- i moisture is supplied to the gnwing ties of manure improves their physi- I plant very much more from the stor-cal condition. led supply from which it arises by Tho behavior of calcareous soils capillarity than from the current, toward manure is very variable, do- crop growing rainfall, pending upon the compactness of the I As is well known the water is soil. In those which are sufficiently l.iv 'ght up through the soil by cap-porous decomposition goes on with ! illary action. If the soil is occu-great rapidity, and l.i.o soluble fertf-ipied by plant roots they use what lizing constituents formed may bo ; part of tho moisture they may and partially carried away in the drain- evaporate it from their leaves into am water before they can be taken; tho atmosphere, but the roots do he plants. For this reason, j not use all that comes up to them, ..so of light soils, the manure and what they do not use is carried should bo applied before it is needed ; to the surface and is absorbed by bv the crop. i the atmosphere, the earth's supply Many experiments, notably those j being used without having added to made'by the Michigan and' Wiscon- plant wealth in passing, sin stations in this country, have | When the soil is left undisturbed , that igVne believed n arterings shed rt d azure upon Jesses d ived upon her hands. : park'was-a living erne l-stoeped verdure, birds wi fragranV; ; n I« r all mod pm cithi a ai joyot without in the lovely summer evening. Joy so pure as well as deep had' never before been Claude's, the _jncinory o_f his past, life and especia'.--* his first thoughts of Jessie, whose beauty and purity had so changed and elevated him, filled him with remorse; what did he owe to that gentle and gracious crca:uro who had ' icovered his soul to him, aud who itild give him a life of purest hapless? The precious moments flew ile he sat in Elysium alone with 5 two beings most dear to him, hel and the girl's affectionate 3ugh selfish clinging to her; it imed that a deeper tenderness arte into Jessie's voice and eyes en she spoke to Bthel, the thrill-r thought came to him that she ist love her, as indeed she did with pure love made up of pity and an sociation of which perhaps she was it if til even- is, and Jessie, looking up, Lor.sdalc standing dark i flood of dazzling light, iag lip, and a fire of dark CHAPTER XX. thrown off his balance for [■ ,, uttered a faint exclama- I i.e rose and turned to re- j ? an unexpected pleasure," ] Taring his hand, which she', :.ke. "Have you only just j t to apologize," sho t infinite scorn, "for break-r.i so delightful a moment. ron Rothschild, one of tho in night unostentatious of millionaires, has a I be due largely to ■ dry way of administering a deserved j available nitrogen Y snub which is appreciated by every-| the application of tl body except the recipient of the re- I The climate also i l of Claude 1 buke. ] portant bearing on it the i kot very long ago ho was enter- j a Warm, damp clime nor he ' tabling at luncheon a distinguished ' nf comparative indi 3, as 'party. The meal went on admira-jthe manure is fres 'Med- | My. ' Nothing marred the general en- j when it. is applied, heart- Joyment.save the loquacity of one conditions decompoa ike Clara had suggested. To ! young man; wjh be sufficiently i perfeetlv as a hero it is neces- ] This young man insisted on mono- season, however, ii o be slandered a little. j polising the conversation. He in- that excessive appli barnyard i: effective means of productiveness of swai s. This is thought j for any considerable time regular o established for the passage to tho at- ammed by shir-1 breaking the i one of the im-iummer eultiva- indignai sal Clai angeli ic, there were Claude Med way's y of Clara's arrival lghts made him happy ing himself t< fatiu J glowing in the fresh ting to the pure S voice and outraged by her youi I and touching beHty, he wondere himself. What di' Wilful •ed at glance that was like the cutting of a sword. It was tut a moment, during which the long sunbeams slanted away, leaving that part of the gallery in chill grayness, before Miss Lonsdale turned with the faintest droop of the eyelids and Captain Medway's features lost their stern rigidity in something like a grim satisfaction. Jessie's only memory of that scene was the glance Clara had thrown upon her, after thoEe few words between the cousins, a glance of blended fear, hatred, and scorn, and of the emotion in Claude's face. She understood too well what it all meant; one of the white moss-roses was in her dress; hejiad handed it to her at his sister's nesire; she took it out when she reached home, and looked at it long. She carried it into the kitchen, where a wood-fire was burning low on the hearth, and placing it in the heart of the red embers, watched till it was consumed. It seemed like killing a child. There Sarah found her drooping ry next day Sir Arthur hoard with tribulations and dismay, not tho mournful words, "Father, I have sinned," but those still more dreadful to some paternal ears, "Father, I am in debt." It was the first time that the offence had bee., of such magnitude, and with what Sir Arthur deemed so little excuse, for this was no debt incurred by indulging his own pleas- "I must live quietly for some c_ or sisted on talking about bin.self-good about his books, his work, his love-heart ' affairs, his motor-car. ,.i,rQi I Finally he jumped to his feet. "By Jove!" ho said--"I must show you all my sleeve-links and studs. I got them this morning. They are malachite." And he passed from one guest to another, exhibiting the studs, which were neither beautiful nor costly nor in any way out of tho ordinary. "Malachite!" he kept repeating-- "genuine malachite." Baron Rothschild watched the young man's progress with a faint sneer. When the studs reached him he touched them with his finger superciliously, and »drawled : "Ah, malachite--eh? It is n handsome stone. I hav- dency to "burn out this tendency, as has ed, is more marked than in heavy. Ii where the season is snort condition for rapid ferment; the soil unfavorable, the m mented manure is preferable FRESH MANURE has a forcing effect and 1 produce stems and leaves a pense of fruit and grain, therefore better for carl the soil, and I light soils •old climates, THE GUESS DOLL. An English non-comformist clergyman, of whom the London Telegraph tells, is the victim of a rarely profitable absent-mindedness. At a fair [held by the women of his church ono of the "attractions" wr.s a beautiful 'doll, handsome!, dressed, which was be given to the person who guess- ed itrai ; but I tho i than ' ! the the indred mtelpi. - of ?s, although i to profit by 1 clergym ggcsteu that it be appointed a rish visitor, and call regularly up-the children in tho hospitals in e town. This was readily agreed Then somebody e "Yoi ; giver veil, no end of money lon't want to sell out i iibly pull through witho HE DIDN'T CARE. ; adjudged ti ' cided t ■ bettc sell < 1 n'Thup' hunting. Do you suppose small squires and farmers win vote1 for a man who doesn't hunt, or otherwise make himself pleasant and i. popular?" cried Sir Arthur. "Upon I my soul, sir, this is pleasing intelli- ' gence, with my affi ' nc-ss by dropping him bodily , buntaiu. The victim was j ; night when attired in ev-' J is and promptly immersed.; irprise of his assailants, ho'. resistance, but seemed thor- '■ o enjoy his bath. during tho Herr Nomniensen, a German mis-has point- sionary in Sumatra^ who started in wheat on \ life as'a farm laborer, has been made lirert up- a Doctor of Divinity fohhis transla-that it is , tion of the Bible into the language it is best of the Batt.a. clothes "Oh, old and t. "It's ling. ;aid \the f > bills for age L°feRow. plea s fallin l.sdale's