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IEG'B OLD PI'l‘GHEB. so, child 2" while her mother looked up in a â€" dull way from her seat‘by the poor fire, but 3, Km; Jun. gar-(tihprpedmg her head on her hand again, saying It had been a clumsy pitcher before the " F‘ehel’o" hes"! Mega " I lpmed your handle had been broken ofl;so thick and drink." She trembling, for she heavy and ugly, that Meg dreaded to carry expected an outburst, but there was ‘no it down to the corner saloon, even in mild, mend item the bfids end lhe went on With pleasant evenin , but to of ht it was poe- m0": muffle“ hell lee Whit “18311303! sitive mbery, h. wind low 1,, gm", gave me. ' She laid her packages one by sharp and piercing, .35 the com w" mange. one on the bare table, and father and mother It was one of those nights when the snow looked en ‘11 inceedhhty he 'he opened eeeh blows in little swirls, and crunches under 0310. and told all her story with a joyous your feet, and cuts like sleet as it strikes I'm in her V0106. _ your face. Meg’s arm was min, “(1 be,- he father was sober that night, shawl not much protection, even had the and he bed been thinking mere eeriehely wind allowed it to ban closely to her, as a then for moqthl Daft- Never before had shawl should hang. or hands were bare, he been entirely Wlmehh “Whey, “‘1 the too, and she could not protect them in any heeWIedSe 0‘ hie eehdiheh hed eheeked and way on accountsf that pitcher. Its ugly awakened him from his lethargy. There surface seemed to concentrate and hold all Well hide feel and n0 fOOd in “he heheei the iciness in the wind against its sides, am End where could he turn for help 2 . Drink til in her numbneu, .ha {51; the burden had brought him to this, and he reahzed Iit. slipping from her grasp, and was obliged to The Ehehghh 0‘ hie widen lll'eled ehlld stop and deposit it on the snow.covcred walk hl'eeetlhg ‘he eterm ehheldea elehea end on till she could warm the red fingers for their fuel} eh “rend, bed routed the fatherly task again. instincts which-had been so long sleeping, All this was neither a new nor strange ex- end ehemed him heheTIY- He hed hoe patience for the child. As surely as the been 30 eefeehed 1.0! yeel‘fi- The_gr008r evening came, with it; come Meg to the did not know that inhis deed of kindness saloon for father’s drink, and out again, and he. 8 forlorn Childfhat night, he WM acting down the little back street, to the wretched With Gee, hell 3e Wee true, nevertheless- place she called home. The neighbors were Ged hi“? “hi? hie “3891 before the glit‘ quite used to watching her pass, and they leer"! ehlld~ f commented on her cleverness in neither ShPPOeue We have,“ regular“1}1°el 01' breaking the pitcher nor spilling its con- ehee» W110» field the 3101! men; 1P “701113 tents, for Meg was a nice little girl. If she eeem like em timee egehh There “a W093 had been your sister, you would never have enough to he“ While? f0}; tee ; e 800 Bill thought of allowing her to go out in the cup Vehid do me Seed- , d streets alone. But, as it was, she was metherhehedfhe tee. While M65 1118- 8 quite used to doing the errands, which gen- the table 35 muting he “he (mega Wig? the orally lay in the direction of the saloon; for Teeehl'efe eh commend S and: en bzd WIS“ Meg’s father seemed to prefer drinking to tee-st 1” W53 moved by fee ere . 0 eating, if he had to make the choice, and you think the littlefamily enjoyed that ‘ ' . meal and were made better by it? the state of his finances made this an every Threw was a long earnest talk in the day necessity. Her mother was a young , , bare little room after Megs eyes were mm” m’ but 3° mm“ up by PM“ tightly closed :8: nightâ€"a talk which and trouble, that she had lost her courage , and Bond-“pooh until Ibo woo foot growmg encouraged the poor, broken mother in one as cod a atron of the saloon as her drunk- mere e30“ ‘0 mehe h hmhe- The Peper enghusbaiid. This, you see, accounts for wrapped around the tee hed Proved lief behe- the extra size of the pitcher; it must carry temperehee Pledge: and “bent 09° 0 h e enough for two. other packages was a paper written over Meg stood close by her pitcher, braced {71th 800d W°Tde 0‘ 1101” for the meet .h°Pe' a airst an an le of one of the cheerless brick eee- . , bindings whitgih lined the street, trying to "Inwuj he 3- 1115“ yet. Wile: W“: Goa“ restore feeling to the poor hands. No one hell)» held the‘fehher, he heelgned hi heme noticed her. People were too much engag- ‘70 hhe P195188: ehd Ye“ W1“ he 2 happy ed,in forcing their way through the wind and Wemen egem- The 1001‘ “he 9"" 1m We“ snow, and reaching homeâ€"those who had a en the “new” he needed' , homeâ€"where warmth and light and love The grocer came next d3? With more Phek' awaitzd them. The homeless ones were “Been end: m 9‘ lehfi talk With the sick man- seeklng some place of shelter ; there wore he learned the sad story of his downfall, and o o doors ovoo for them. {if only in the then of last nights new resolve. He came p aces where little Meg and the rest found 9‘83“! end elem; he he Wee needed: 3111‘} the drink. Presently a big dog sought shelter heelfh end thPmeee came “filth him for a in tho “mo “glo, and, oooiog tho _pitohor, the ipmates of the home. {lime hss proved Poo his nose in it, Meg did not make 9, the sincerity of that father s repentance, motion to drive him away ; she had no fear end hle hme M98: being he longer the Sieve of his caring for saloon drink; and some- 0f the old 1“th Pitcher: he? grown to he 3 thing like a smile crossed her cold, little face m9"! hhfle 81d Whe he“ quite f°r8°theh the as he pulled his nose quickly out again, with Neel?“ Of her hehyheedi end Who ‘30th , a muffled sneeze, and trotted away. the hmdly 8'00“ her he“ friend- By and by the child took up the pitcher and started on, but it was colder than ever, and the fingers were stiff again before she knew it, so, with just a slight jostle from a ser at the next crossing, down want her rden with a thud. Now the advantage of a thick ugly pitcher was apparent, it did not even crack. To be sure, it had not very far to fall, as Meg's bands were not very “Whgo dock 3" high above the pavement. But, alas for the «thy’ Tommy. the deck wok“ standing drink I A dirty, yellow streak in the snow on_ Don't be so Smyy ’ was all the sign it left, as it made all haste "Canto he ever come down 2" to escape. . , “Who, Tommy 2" Me was not given to crying. Experi- “Why, to“ his captain." ence ad tau ht er the vanity of such is "certainly be can; whenever he “pom” luxury, but s e stood above the wreck in “But you said to“ woo his place." mute horror, not daring to go home. Her “Well, so it, in when he in on duty." father had been too ill to work for some «What, duty 1" da s, and the mono left from last pa day a h; tokin “o of tho sci dwindled until ihe had taken they 1...: ,hipl-Vhy’ °n mt" 8 ° cent to pay for the drink new buried under “I, it his ship 3n the snow at her feet. She began in a dull «No, do“ ; io bolong. to o oompmy’n way to wonder what was to come to them "Company of 1.351 ooldlon 3" all now, when a large man in a great coat, is No. certainly not ; how absurd you with his face so buried in a mother that he “o ! A company of buoinooo men," could see nothing so far below his eyes as u can they so“ for nothing 3" little Meg, came rushing over the crossing, u I don't know; I suppose so." and, before he could stop himself, knocked ‘ u we omv,’ can we 3n the child down in the drifting snow. H No. dean" He gathered her up in all tenderness, how- u Why not 1" ever, and then stooped to look into her face. it Become your father does not, belong to 1" W“ the m?“ "he kept the 870°"? 0“ the the company. Now, be quiet. Oh, look at corner opposite to the saloon, and be remsm- that ship ’n bored the child, who had occasionally come u when 2» into his store for some small purchase. She is why, right therap- was just such a bit of misery to-night, that u Where is it going 1" his heart was touched, and, taking her up u I don-o know. Do be “in. I've o, in his strong arms, pitcher and all, he car hoodoohog’ ried her into his warm storeâ€"“ Just tiilyou u I! more a, oopmin on that ship 3" thaw out, child I” he explained. it Yes." Quite an odor came from the old pitcher it Big M on“ 3» as it, too, grew warm, and between a whiff u I don't know. Now stop making." or two of that, and the bite of information it Mg." Meg imparted, he soon learned the state of n We“, what in io now 3" affairs with her. " I f l l â€"ki der sick." “ Never mind. I'll fill your pitcher with u Mffofgfxermomiy 1 Why~ didn’t somethin bathe? the“ le hee ever “filed ll you say so before? Come, hurry and let me said he eerily ; "just watch me now." a to bed r. And Mei?“ watch his every move eagerly. p“ you First he gun to search his pockets. l-Ie - . was a large man and had large pockets. He Knew He Had a sum Tm “ Ahoy is a strange machine, isn’t he 2" Finally he found a certain piece of paper. Meg wondered why he did not take some queried the colonel as he looked out of the ofiice window. of the brown wrapping paper on his count- " I don’t see anything so very strange or, as usual, but she was afraid to ask any about that particular boy," replied one of questions. The man smoothed out this the other loungers,as he sauntered up and piece of sper and, taking some tea from . one of hi; boxes, made a little package of saw a boy of ton on the opposite side of the street. it. A little heap of sugar was soon wrapped . in a second piece of paper, from another “LBut he's got a jug," persisted the col- one ket, and, while hie ’s eyes were growls find, a little can of gondensed milk wag " Well, what of it 2 Can’t a boy carry a taken from the shelves. The grocer placed jug? _ ' these three packages side by side on the ” But he's swmglng it around his head i ’ counter, while he took the old pitcher and {1‘ Let lfiim swing. kou never saw a boy w 0 won n’t." washed it thoroughly, inside and out ; then “ I'll bet he breaks it before he gets to the he laid them in it. Next he 0 ned his glass case and took corner l” exclaimed the colonel. “ Nonsense 1" out some red :they were warm yet from the bakery, and Meg was quite wild with git you twenty dollars." no." excitement as these, with some butter, and “ Half a dozen rushed up to watch further three little white cakes with sugar on, were crowded into the generous pitcher. proceedings. The boy continued to swing " Now," add the man, as he gave Meg the jug, apparently bent upon performing some particular feat, and just before he another little bundle to carry. “ if you are quite warm, we will I am clue to reached the corner his hand slipped and the jet was dashed in loose. leave my boy here to ta e care of e store ' while I carry your pitcher home. You “ I knew it 1 know it i ’ chuckled the must not spill it twice in one evening ; it colonel so he danced around. would ruin your reputation, you see.“ And “ Drat him â€"-here's your money l" growl- he laughed so merrily that Meg laughed too edithe other. _ ht out loud. I can't begin to tell you An hour later after spending the in~ w tan unusual thing that was for her to itnei’visleiciii solemn thought, the loser mildly do. on r : \Vhen they reached the house 300:, the th“ Colonel, did you think you had a sure grocer vs Me the itcher, an hurried ingon me 2" ' away scg‘int shEhad pop time to thank him. “Certainly. I bought the Jug for the But he needed no thanks; his heart did boy, and gave him fifty cents to carry out more to keep him warm than his great cost, the programme."â€"[Yankee Blade. Tommyr Tough’s First Voyage. “Ob, Ma, who's that big man up there? ’ “That’s the captain, Tommy." “What’s he up there for i" "That is his place, up on the bridge.” “What do they call it a bridge for 2" “Because it goes over the deck." is an article on the Panama Canal, which bearsvery harshlyon hi. De Lesseps, the energetic Frenchman who undertook to con- struct the great work across the isthmus connecting the two American continents, which unfortunatly collapsed for want of funds. Nothing succeeds like success, and had De Leseeps been able to complete his great scheme, perhaps, the writer of the article in question would not have been so severe. The Suez Canal will always stand asa monument to De Lesseps‘ indomitable energy and perseverance, and that his later project has fallen through, for a time at least, is perhaps, due in a measure to that very energy which led him to consider the engineering difficulties (which the procress of the work, so far as it has gone, showed that he was quite competent to overcome) rather than togive due consideration to the financial aspect of the scheme. At all events it seems unfair to charge the engineer of the canal with a desire to "revolutioniza trade routes,” and to show a disposition to rejoice over his failure to change the current of trade, for does not the same censure, if there is any reason for it in his case, apply to every projector of a canal or railway. And why should trade routes not be revolution- ized I Is the business world to remain at a standstill and not keep pace with the pro- gressive ideas of the nineteenth century? The main object of the Panama canal is to shorten a great trade route and to save the one is vessels bound for the west coast of America or the east coast of Asia to take their car ass to their destination without breaking ulk. He must be entirely out of accord with the spirit of the age, or actuated by selfish motives, who objects to the con. struction of a great work on the ground that it will “ revolutionize trade routes.” There is alittle more show of reason in what the New York “Times” says, quoted by the writer in the “Contemporary.” That journal attributes "scandalous ex- travagance and carelessness" to M. De Lesseps. I am not sufficiently acquainted with the methods adopted to raise the money to say whether the charge is true or not, but the fact remains that while the estimat- ed cost was placed at $240,000,000 the sum of $250,000,000 has actually been expended, with a large floating debt of unknown amount, while a recent report of the Colum- bian Government states that only one fifth of the necessary cutting has been done. These facts preclude the possibility of the canal paying, if it should be completed, and lessen the chances of the money being ad- vanced by the French Government, or any one else, in order to save from absolute less what has already been ut into it. As for the probable traffic, De esseps estimated it at 7,500,000 tons a year, but English and American engineers have expressed an opin- ion that it cannot exceed 4,000,000 tons. The company having the work on hand having collapsed, the question arises, Will the canal ever be completed! Do Lesseps has always been hopeful, but he is now an old man, the public have to a large extent lost confidence in him, and it is doubtful whether he can do an thing more towards carrying to a successfu issue his pet scheme. The only hope seems to be that the original investors, having become reconciled to the loss of what they have put in, will consent to abandon their claim, and that a new com- pany, accepting what has already been done as a gift, will complete the work. Meantime the project of a cut through the isthmus is likely to be realized in another way. Attention has long been turned to the San Juan route as a favorable one for water communication between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Lake Nicaragua and the San Juan River almost out Central Am- erica in two, the distance between the lake and the Pacific being less than twenty-nine miles. The wonder is that this route has not been utilized long ago. The only objec- tion to it appears to have been that it would involve a canal with locks, while Da Les- seps proposed to have a tide water canal, which he had subsequently to abandon for one with locks and a somewhat uncertain water supply at the summit, an objection which does not hold good in the case of the Nicaragua route, where the supply of water is unlimited. A Bill to authorize the construction of the Nicaragua Canal has been passed by Con- gress, and the matter is now in the hands of a private company, which proposes to un- dertake the work under concessions from the States of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and in pursuance of treaties entered into between those republics and the United States. Very careful surveys and estimates have been made, the collapse of the Panama scheme having taught the promoters that the utmost care must be exercised. The distance from ocean to ocean by the proposed route is 169.8 miles, of which 56.3 miles is by lake, 841; miles by river, and only 28 8 by canal. The greatest cut through rock is three miles long, with an average depth of 120 feet. The length of the Pana~ ma Canal is about forty miles, all tr nearly all of which would be cutting. Like Nicara- gua, which forms the summit, is deep and unobstructed, has a watershed of 8,000 square miles, and with that portion of the summit level in the San Juan river to the east and the cut to the west will afford 152 miles of clear navigation. The principal work in the river will be a dam 1,500 feet long and sixty- five feet high, not so great a structure as the dam on our own Rideau Canal at J ones' Falls, A, recent survey also provides for a dam on the Pacific side, which will reduce the cutting to eight and one- half miles through a low divide, and three miles at the ocean level, or eleven and one- half miles in all. The summit level will be 110 feet above the mean level ofboth oceans, and this will be reached by three locks on the east end and a similar number on the weer. The dimensions of the locks will be 650 x 70 x 30 feet allowing for the passave of the largest vessels afloat. The total cost of the work is estimated at $50,000,000, to which may be added 815,. 000,000 for contingencies, or $65,000,000 in all, less than one-fourth what De Lesseps' Panama Canal has already cost. The esti- mated revenue is $8,000,000 a year, and the cost of maintenance $1,000,000. It is thought the work can easily be completed by 1895. The question of climate is an lm rtant one in connection with this work. t will be remembered that great loss of life oc- curred in connection with the surveys and construction of the Panama Railway, repeat- ed, though to a somewhat lesser degree owing to improved sanitary precautions, during the progress of the Panama Canal. The hicar a route ap to be entire! free from oee climatic conditions whio lcungassage around Cape Horn and thus P ihave provedsoistal at the Isthmus, and this circumstance will tell in its favour, not only during constructiOu, but in its subse- quent working. The prospect, then, is that we will have a Panema Canal, perhaps two, before many years have elapsed. and that while De Lesseps may not live to see his own scheme carried to completion, he may survive to see it carried out in sheet by what may now be regarded as a rival project. As for Mr. Whymper, who writes in the “ Contempor. arv," it is to be hoped he will witness the revolutionizing of our trade routes by the canal to which he seems to be opposed, and of many others, if such changes mean pro- gress and a developing of the resources which nature has placed at man's command. Such revolutions are to be desired, not con- temned. J. J. BsLL. A DESPERATE RISK. now the British .Vlsn-ofâ€"War Calliope Got Out of Apia Harbor. Naval-Cadet George Logan, son of Thomas A. Logan, awellknown lawyer of Cincin nati, and one of the survivors of the Samoan disaster, reached home the other night. In speaking of the escape of the British war ship Calliope, Logah said that after the German ships Eber and Adler had been lost the Calliope was seen to be going upon the reef. She was within a stone's throw of it, and had only one anchor left. Her onlv ossible chance was to slip the remaining cable and try to steam out. This she did. It was the last desperate resort, and it was only successful through the skill of her commander. and the fact that she was a modern and powerful ship. Her engines were put at a speed that in smooth water would have driven her into fourteen knots an hour. As it was, she was driven a ainst these terrible seas for over an hour efore she got outside of the first roof, which she barely escaped, and during that hour she was only forced ahead one knot. A‘little mishap would have caused her destruction. She was two days at sea and experienced a terrible time. She was washed again and again and lost all her boats, part of her spars and her upper works. As the speed of no other vessel in the harbor exceeded ten knots, it would have been suicidal to have attempted to drive them out. “The Calliope," said Logan, “in order to keep to the channel in going out, steered di- rect for the stern of my ship, the Trenton, veering only at the last moment to clear'her. It was a moment of terrible suspense as we saw the hugh ram of the Britisber towering above our decks and making direct for us. It looked as if she was going to cut usin two, and had she done soevery one of us would have been drowned for a certainty. “ As she swung off, almost within teach ing distance, an involuntary cheer was given her by our men, followed a moment later by three cheers all together. Afterward the captain ot the Calliope said those cheers saved his vessel, as they put new heart into his men, who were almost ready to give up. As she sheared ofi‘ Admiral Kimberley sig- nalled : ‘ I have no fires,’ as the reason why he made no attempt to get out of the way. “ After the storm our admiral lent boats to the Calliope to coal with and then gave one to her. In return the British command- er presented Admiral Kimberley with a complete diving apparatus, and the officers of the Calliope presented to the officers of the Trenton thirteen sheep, and welcome they were, as the men were living on canned meat and cocoanuts.” _â€".â€".â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€" Pardonable Under the Circumstances. First Cynicâ€"“ Jones has filed an appli- cation for a divorce at last. I predicted that he would when he was married.“ Second Cynicâ€"“ You don’t say so. On what grounds does he ask a separation 2” First Cynicâ€"“ Tripletsâ€"second time." Time to Join the Majority. She was the only female child, and she had three brothers. One day she was seen to take all her dolls and other female toys and throw them into the back yard. Then she marched in to her mother and said : " Mamma. I want to get some of Frank’s clothes." Frank was her smallest brother. " What do you want with them 2" “ I want to put them on.” “ What for l" “ Well, don’t ‘you think I’m about old enough now to be a boy 1" He Couldâ€"nTtâ€"Afi‘ord It. A Jewish commercial traveller in Vienna who had been to the theatre subsequently visited a wealthy banker. “ Have on been to the theatre yet 3" asked the anker. . “ Yes, I have been there." “ How did you like it i" “ I didn’t like it at all. I never have had so much tediousness before in all my life. Iyawned so much dot I vas in danger of getting some lookjaws, already." “ Why didn’t you leave the theatre ? You certainly could have got up and gone out." “ You can talk dot yay. You are a rich man, but a poor drummer like me can’t afford to throw away dot price of admissions. You dink I vas some spendthrift already or some Bothechilds. An Effective Mule Invigomtor. While travelling in Virginia some time ago with a doctor we came upon an old colored man who was standing by a mule hitched to an old two-wheel vehicle. “ Dis mule am balked, boss," said the old man ; “an' I'll jis gib a dollah lo de man what can start 'im." “ I will do it for less than that, uncle,” said the doctor. He took his case from the carriage and selected a small syringe, which be filled wi‘h morphia. He went to the side of the mule and quickly inserting the s inge in his side pushed the contents into t e animal. The mule reared upon its hind legs and giving an astonishing bray started down the road at a break-neck speed. The aged colored man gave a lock of astonish- ment at the doctor, and with a loud "Whoa!" started down the road after the mule. In the course of ten minutes we came up to the old man standing in the road waiting for us. The mule was nowhere in sight. “ Say, boss,” said the darky, “ how much you charge for dst stuff you put in dst mule 2" “ 0’s, ten costs will do,” laughineg re- plied the doctor. “ Well, boss. heab is twenty cents. Squirt some of dat stufi in me. I must ketch dat ar mule." THE GREAT AFRICAN FORESTS. Enormous Extent of the Timber Region-J’s Part of Which Stanley Describes. The great forest through which Stanley recently p which be estimated to cover 246 000 square miles, is only a small part of the great African forest which extends al- most nnbrokenly from the west coast in the Gaboon and O we regions, with a width of several hnn miles to the great lakes. This belt of timber, trending away to the heart of the continent in a direction a little south of east, is, perhaps, the greatest for- est region in the world. A part of it strikes south of the Congo at the great northern bend of that river, and the country embrac- ed within the big‘ourve is covered with a compact forest, the towering and wide- s reading trees shutting out a large part of t e sunlight. In these forests, completely shut out from the rest of the world, live hundreds of thon~ sands of people who are almost unknown to the tribes living in the savanna regions outside. Scattered through the big woods within the Congo bend are little com- munities of Batwa dwarfs. of whose exist- ence the traveller has no inkling until he suddenly comes upon them. Here also, along the Sankuru River, are the tree hab- itations described by Dr. Wolf, where the natives live in huts built among the branch- es to escape the river floods. It was in great clearings made in these forests that Kund and Tappsnbeck discovered some of the most notable villages yet found in Africa, where well-built huts, with gable roofs, line both sides of a neatly kept street that stretches away for eight or nine miles. These villages are even more interesting than the street towns in the more sparsely timbered regions south of them, which were regarded as very wonderful when they were first discovered by Wissmann. It was his account of these villages that led Bishop Taylor to choose this part of Africa as the goal he wished to reach. . Last year the CommerciaiCompany, which is investigating the trade resources of the Congo, sent its steamer, the Roi des Bulges, up the Ikatta River into this great timber land, and the explorers described the country along the banks as “covered with an almost impenetrable virgin forest. It is a veritable ocean of verdure, from which emerges here and there a wooded mountain.” Greenfell penetrated the forest for long distances on several southern tributaries of the Congo, and on the upper courses of these rivers he sometimes found the wide spreading bronch- es forming a complete roof above'the astram. Faithful Bufl'aloes. Every country boy knows how devoted the domestic cow is to her young, but, ac- cording to Colonel Dodge, the female buffa- lo, incredible as it seems, shows scarcely a trace of maternal instinct, and when fright- ened will run away from her calf without the sli htest hesitation. - he duty of protecting the young devolves almost entirely upon the bulls. I have seen evidences of this many times, but a most remarkable instance was related to me by an army surgeon. He was returning to camp after a day’s hunt, when his attention was attracted by the curious action of a little knot of six or eight buffaloes. Approaching sufficiently near, he discovered that they were all bulls, standin in a close circle with their heads outwar , while in a concentric circle of some twelve or fifteen paces distant sat at least a dozen large gray wolves, licking their chops in impatient expectancy. These wolves, with the exception of man himself, are the most dangerous of all the buffalc's enemies. The doctor determined to watch the per- formance. After a few moments the knot of buffalo broke up, and, still keeping in a com act mass, started on a trot for the main her some half a mile off. To his great aston- ishment, the doctor now saw that the central and controlling figure of this mass was a pgor little calf, so newly born as scarcely to able to walk. After goin fifty or a hundred paces it lay down, the ulls disposed themselves in a circle as before, and the wolves, who had- trotterl along on each side of their retreat- ingtupper, sat down and licked their chops again. The doctor did not see the end of the affair, for the hour was late and his camp distant ; but he had no doubt that the noble fathers did their whole duty by their oil'- spring, and carried it safely to the herd. .â€"â€"._.__â€"â€" Bored by a Dunce. The late Matthew Arnold was bored once during a long journey by an ignoramus who would talk literature to him. Arnold would not dispute with him; but, when, with Lho porientous seriousness of one who has dis- covered a cat truth, be said, “In my op- inion Will Shakspere was a teat poet," Arnold warmly grasped his han , and with equal gravity said, “Do let me shake hands with t s only admirer of my favouritepoet." A story of a different kind is told of Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes. Travelling down to Gloucester once, he was dragged into a long conversation, which ended in a country. man’s taking the "autocrat's" hat and say- ing, “I read something in thopapoiithe other day about the size of great men’s heads, and I thou ht I'd like to know the size of yourn. But vs at bothers me is, my head's the big- gest of the two 1" He Provod the Fact. A mufti once road in a learned book that every one who wears a long board is a fool. Now the mufti s board was long. He decided to shorten it; but, as nobarber was at hand, and, of course. no scissors, he was forced to try what the flame of his lamp would do. Accordingly, grasping the board with his band, at w at be deemed a reasonable dis~ tsnce from his chin. he put the ti into the blaze. Up flew the fire and burst is fingers; and, when, in an agony of pain, he plucked his hand away, the dimes completed their work over cheeks and crown. Then the mufti if'eaiised that he who wears a long beard is a co . An absurd story comes from Victoria, B. C., that the Canadian fishing schooners pro- posed to go armed into the Behring sea seal fisheries. W's will acknowledge that our fishing countrymen up yonder have not re- ceived their mode of attention and fair play, but their own shrewd common some can surely be trusted to prevent them from com- immediate bloodshed and subsequent conse- foretell. mitting any foolish act that may leadfito queuces the end of which it is impossible to . . _.=’_‘-:‘_==9o‘.‘.‘.'_>w.m.wa 0...... sum - - uruerfixm yaw-..” n...uo_a. .â€" Fri; Ag, AA.“- -<;. a“ '