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VILM. “n .,,... _. 5s:- v we “”"a; ssitwfe‘v‘ft‘s“~t't -.; 454â€"... ___________________________â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"-â€"â€"â€"~â€"â€"-.________ A u FIGHTING L COICKR. I had occasion, some months ago, from a point a long distance up on the Cow- litz lliver, across the country toward the ILLING EXPERIENUE lzs‘sriiscigszsur33:35.23: just ready to hurl himself upon the dog. There was a sharp ed through the cougar’s skull. Uttering a piercing cry, the creature fell, and after a to “0 brief struggle inglorionsly gave up the to [to Witness. ghost. Just then the lon2~impendiug tempest line of the railroad. For some of the dis- 1 burst for”, in all its far)“ That night I re- tance the road, or, rather, the trail, led - maincd at. the logger’s cabin,and pat-took of through “ mush. Wild country, which “'33 his rough and wholesome cheer. Early the generally covered with heavy forests, and tangled, impcretrablc thickets of under. brush. More than forty miles were to he next morning I reached my destination with out further adventure. The cougar that came so near getting my scalp was a very traversed. I started very earlyâ€"shortly ‘ large old male. By actual measurement it after daylight. I was mounted on a small Indian pony, of a scrubby, ignoble breed. Lest I should not be able to accomplish the journey in one day, or might not be able to reach some cabin along the route, I had was nearly nine feet from tip to tip. It was the narrowest escape from a horrible fate I ever had. The experience has taught. me one useful lesson; I will never again venture alone through the woods without having a taken the precaution to straps pair of white . trusty Winchester in hand. blankets behind my saddle. The only wea- pons I had were a small pocket-pistolâ€" singlebarreledâ€"and a small two-edged dirk. ON THE TRACK. SA W VISIONS 0" starting 1 had noliced that my Pony 'rm- srmm ge Effect ofhls um bud Accident was slightly lame. over it when warmed up on the road, I pushed ahead. However, the lameness in- creased, and before noon I found that I should have to abandon the horse and make the remainder of the journey on foot, if nn~ other animal could not be obtained. No horse could be obtained for love or money, so leaving the crippled pony and the saddle at n logger’s ranch, I pushed on, carrying my roll of blankets on my back. The trail wound around through dense gloomy forests. 80 thick and tall were the trees that the lofty, interlacing branches. overhead shut out the sun‘s rays.and much of the light of day. In a sort of sombre twi- light I pushed on. Before I had covered many miles, I began to feel some sense of uneasinessâ€"a singular presentimcnt of evil foreboding. Still I went forward, striving to dlive away the fancy by thinking of my business. However, the feeling that. there was some danger in my pathway increased. Some instinct told me I was being followed. Soon a peculiar whirring sound, resembling the purring of an enormous cat, attracted my attention. Casting a quick glance behind me. imagine my dismay at seeing in the trail, not seventy-five yards away, a. large, fierce cougar. The animal was trailinga'ong slowly wil h its belly close to the ground, and switching its tail like a eat when preparing to spring upon an unsuspecting mouse. Catching my eye the cougar instantly stopped, placed its head close to the earth. and in a crouching attitude watched me intently. My situation was a very grave one. Armed with only a small pistol and knife, miles from human habitation, alone in the heart of a. gloomy forest, and confronted by a. large, hungry-looking cougar, my position was not to be envied. Fortunately, I was thoroughly acquainted with the cowardly disposition of the animal. Unless pressed by hunger I knew the cougar would not openly attack me. Grasping my pistol in one hand and the knife in the other, I turned and advanced toward the lurking foe. The cowardly creature retreated. To emphasize matters I discharged my pistol, ] taking precious good care to shoot w1de of. the ni'nrk. To wound the animal was the last thing in the world 1 wished to do. Do- libcrntely reloading, I then turned and mov- cd rapidly forward, keeping a sharp lookout I over my shoulder. The cougar persistently ; dogged me. Sometimes it gained on me and I wonldhave to drive it back by shouting and discharging my pistol. This I kept up for about two hours. I hoped to finally frighten the animal away. but it still dogged my footsteps. I pressed on, wcuryund foot- sore. hoping soon to emerge from the forest or to reach some wayside cabin. Once on open ground I felt sure the animal would abandon the pursuit. But the timber apppeared to grow thick- cr. To add to my fears night was coming tlt on, and there were portcntious signs of a coming storm. Low muttcrin thunder was heard far uwav, and I couh its forces for back in the forest. tortuous trail. Still my foe followed rc- lcntlessly. Soon the muorphous blackness swallowed up everything. 15y feeling my way cautiously I could ,follow tl‘e trail, Presently I reached the brink of a steep ravine. llelow me I heard the hiss and roar of a strcain.. Broad streaks of lightning flushed across the heavens. lly waiting for these flashes I made my way down the ravine. At the bottom llowcd a broad, swift stream across which the trail led. I could not tell how deep it was, but cross it I must. Taking advantage of u. flash, I plunged in. The water was almost waist deep and cold as ice. Through this stream I floundered narrowly escaping being car- ried off in 1 feet. by the force of the torrent. Finally. I reached the opposite bank. I scrambled out, dripping wet and chilled to the marrow. By the next bright gleam could see the cougar on the opposite side, just at the brink crouching as if for a spring. In sheer dos- peration I fired at him, and turning rushed up the steep, rugged trail. lllnck gloom again succeeded. I stood still, my heart beatin' madly; I expected that the cougar wonlt now certainly attack and rcnd me. Just then the animal gave a wild, fearful scream and plunged into the stream. Anothcrllash came. Asl turned tolly, I was the cougar, mid-stream, struggling desper- ately in the mad torrent and making toward me. Before the gleam faded there came an- other blinding, fierce glare, followed by an awful peal ofthundcr. Once more I turned and fled up the trail. This time I reached the top, and at the same instant there came another blood-cunning scream from the enraged cougar. I rushed precipitately on, and in a moment reached an opening in the timber. My pistol bein empty was useless, so I flung it- away and grasped my dirk. I looked around and dis- covered that I stood upon the edge of a small clearing. Not a hundred yards away I saw, with a jo ' that no language can port- ray, the light 0 a candle shining through the window of an humble log-cabin. Help and safety were at hand. I shouted loudly, and a coarse, heavy “ Hulloo there 1" came back in response. The loud haying of adog greeted me and it sounded sweeter than any music I ever heard. But little remains to be told. Tito brave dog rushed past me, and making for the cou- gar, which was only a few rods away, quick- y (reed him. The logger at once compre- ltcnded the situation. Telling me to go to the cabin, be suited his rifle and hurried to the spot where his dog stood barking and waited for a lightning flash. It came a mo. meat later, almost as bright as day. It res Thinking he would get i great ' hear thel wind that preceded the tempest gathering! Darkness [ fell, until I could scarcely distinguish the[ on an old Engineer. Charley )lorsey, for thirty~six years an engineer on the \Vabash road has resigned. Not only that, he is confined to his bed with an hysterical attack which puzzles physi- Clans. About three weeks ago Engineer Morsey, in making the usual run from \Varrenton to St. Louis, caught two young men at the railroad crossing in O’Fallon. Both were instantly killed. It was the lirstlime in the experience of the veteran engineer that he had met with an accident in which a human life was lost. He was deeply affected, and twice that day the train was brought to a. standstill because he thought he saw some one on the track. This hallucination has grown upon him until he has broken down under the strain. It. affected him most peculiarly. At every railroad crossing be. imagined he saw peeple on the track, and . passengers on the fast train would be most l unceremoniously bounced against. the sides of the car and bumped against one anOther by the sudden and unexpected use of the air | brake°. On the third trip after the accident I Engineer Morsey broke down. He vowed that when he had completed the run he was then on he would never make another. Thus far he has kept the vow. He resigned his position and went on a hunting excursion. But this didn’t cure him, and he still faces and hears danger signals. ’I‘he'account of the last trip which Engineer Mersey made is thus given by his fireman : ‘ “We pulled out. of St. Louis on time, but I noticed that ‘ Uncle Charley’ was looking melancholy and oppressed, and kept his eyes glued to the bull’s-eye. Usu- ally he is cheerful and pleasant, and an en- tertaining talker. He has been on the run I for thirty years, and knows the personal history of nearly every inhabitant of every little town along the road. His gloom in- creased us we got beyond the suburbs, and, ' beyond telling me to ‘ Heap her up. Billy,’ l he was silent. . incident until we reached St. Peter’s. We % don’t stop there according to schedule, and gait. Suddenly standstill, while, with a white drawn face, Uncle Charley was running along the fire board. ‘My God 2’ he groomed, as he re- turned to the cab and started the train again. ‘ I was sure I saw a. little boy.’ “ The rcst of the trip, a distance of sixty i ing. He halts, throws his muzzel into the air, I , miles, he was completely unnerved, and the I last thirty I held the throttle myself. Run- ning his old engine '3 Yes. I’ve been pro - moted. But Uncle Charley will never pull he valve of ‘ 97’ again. His nerves are gone.” W Didn't Remember It- “Absalom Curruthers,” said his wifenvith e accent on each syllable for good measure, 1 “you were intoxicated last. night.” “Well, 1 failed to notice it.” “Everybody else noticed it; they couldn’t help it. You were irretriCVubly drunk." “Not by u. jugful.” “No; but by several jugfuls.” “You’re away off, Hepsy.” . “Not us greatly off as you were. You tried to open the gate with your latchkcy, and you fell over it into the grass." “Nonsense.” “You came up the front steps on your hands and knees, opened the door, and in- quired if Corruthcrs lived here. know that?” “llosh.” “And you stumbled on a dark flower in the carpet and nearly went down.” “Not a word of truth in it.” “Tried to hang your but on a fly on the wall, and then asked where that nail went to. “You are totally hallucinatcd.” “Why, you talked out of your cars, and I when the baby cried on the bed you went to l rocking its crib as hard as you could, sing- itpgkr'rllye, O \vy 0, Baby.” Recollcct Ill. I “Recollect nothing. “I expect not, and you got on your knees and patted and rubbed the back of the bound worked in worsted on the rug in front- of the. grate and said, ‘ Doggy, doggy.’ ” “I tell you I don’t believe it.” “ And you gave me a $10 bill and said I could get a new bonnet with it, and here’s that bill.” “Something strange. That bill looks kind But I wasn’t 9’ 0 natural and familiar. drunk.” "'Of course it does look familiar, and you said to my poor dear mu, ‘Mothcr, you’ve got to stay with us till spi ing freezes ovcr.’ ” d’ 'es, you did, Absalom,” said the old in '. “)Ahâ€"yesâ€"Juâ€"sec; Iâ€"wasâ€"vcryâ€"very -â€"~drunk.” Those Dainty Feminine Breakfasts According to an English traveler who has patiently observed the ways of womankind in America, the following breakfast is the average for a young American girl: A large dish of hominy, a plate of scrambled eggs, a plate of picked up codlish and cream, a large slice of tenderloin steak with fried oysters and tatoes, some fried ham. an immense dish of buckwheat cakes soaked in butter and swimming in maple syrup, the whole being accompanied with large bites from hot bread, waffles, graham muffins, etc, and washed down with three immense cups of hot coflee and milk. -â€"-â€"â€"-â€"°- “'hcre there is no great love in. the begin- ning, heaven may decrease it upon better acquaintance. We made the run without 1 of the day previous occurred. Do you I A OATI'LB FUNERAL crack, and the ball crash- the affine strangest Sights that Are to Be Wuueesed on the Range. A cattle funeral may seem an odd thin write about but it is ten times more odd If the observer happen to be on foot in the vicinity of the scene of the ceremonies, however, he is apt to find it anything but odd, unless there be a tree or some other place of refuge convenient, or :he curious onlooker be unusually fleet of out. But doubtless the average reader does not know what a cattle funeral is like, and per- haps is not inclined to give credit to the possible existence of such a thing. If he has never lived in a. locality where cattle of a more or less untamed disposition are wont to range, he will certainl never have an opportunity to learn by 0 servation any of the peculiar and notable facts connected with this remarkable phenomenon of the range. . A cattle funeral, then be it known, is nothing more nor less than exactly what the words seem to indicateâ€"a ceremony of mourning over the untimely fate. of a de- parted herdnnte, in which every individual member of the band that is within long- range car or nose shot is bound to partici- pate. In detail this ceremony consists of a sort of walk around, aczompanied with the most doleful, ear-piercing, and heart-rend- ing moans, shricks, and bcllowings, and varied by ponderous pawings in the ground and the most singularly dextcrous flinging of the resultant dust upon the backs of the four-footed mourners. ' To observe or ptrticipate in a cattle funeral, let the curious-minded go out upon the range, select some spot which is open and affords no obstruction to the view, and from which not a. “ critter"is in sight. Just here, for the benefit 0: the uniformed or the supersensitive ear, let it be explained that the word “critter” is by common consent used on the ranges as the shortest possible meansof defining the character of an ani- mal which walks on four legs by contradis- tinction from a horse or a calf. Having selected such a spot, let one of the aforementioned “ critters” be brought. quietly and secretly from a. distance, and without. undue ostentation, as becomes poachers upon another man’s range, let him be done to death. Let the offal be secreted. Where even the coyotes cannot find it, and let the hide and flesh be carried away. Then let earth be thrown on the blood strains to hide all traces of disturbance, and let all this be done so well that even the human eye can detect. nothing that would reveal what had been done. Then let twenty-four hours, or even less, p353, unless, indeed there be cattle within a mile or less at the time of the slaughter. But for purposes of illustration suppose that twenty-four hours have elapsed. Then suppose a. bunch of 100 or 200 head of cattle come drifting down over the range to leeward of the spot. where the slaughter The leader of the bunch may be two or three miles per- haps further from the scene of blood. Sud- usunlly go through the town at a. rattling denly he commences to show signs of uneas- saw him jerk the throt- lncss. ’ tie, and the next minute the train was at u. nriant, he only Though the grass be deep and lux- feeds a few moments con- tinuously, lifting his head and tossing his horns as if an enemy wore near. Suddenly there is a strong pull of wind, and, as the nostrils of the leader inhale the air, a transformation occurs like a. flash of lightn- aud then emit: a. most unearthly prolonged, weird, moaning shriek or bellow. It is like none of the various noises made upon other occasions, but. has a tone that is all its own and which is evidently well understood by l the entire herd. With another shriek, which can be heard for a. mile, and even further, the leader breaks into a. run, with his tail in the air and Vl ith head shaking angrily from side to side, followed by all the members of the herd, each adding to the volume of sound that now fills the air. As other animals .feeding quietly at a distance hear the peculiar sounds they, too, prick up their ears ; then, with answering shrieks, they gallop wildly toward the excited band and join it in pursuit of the leader. That animal quickly arrives at the tell- tale spot. He snuffs at the ground, mean- while lashing his sides with his tail, and bel- lowing continually iu a manner that sug- gests the height of rage. His eyes flash wildly, the froth droops from his jaws and flecks his neck and body. He paws the ground angrily with his hoofs and by dex- terous twisting manages to cast great masses of the earth into the air and upon his back. The others cone racing up and crowd closely about the spot where their mate was slain. An inner circle is formed by the ex- cited animals, with their heads all pointing to a common centre, and these bellow and paw the ground and race around and around until exhausted. Meanwhile the others are circling rapidly about the central cluster, and finally displace the earlier arrivals, whereupon they, too, go through the same performance. The scene is a terrific one. Horns are clashed against horns, the bellowing of the angry animals is deafening, the air is filled with dust, the beasts seem actuated each by some particularly malevolent spirit, and their actions appear prompted almost. by human understanding. Woe to the unfortunate curiosity seeker who chances to go abroad on foot upon such an occasion. If he have any “ cattle sense ” at all he will put as wide a spade as possible between himself and the mourners, or if he be desirous of studying the spectacle he will climb the nearest tree or seek some other point of vantage inaccessible to the madden- ed beasts. If, on the other hand, he should be so lacking in common sense as to be unable to recognize the apparent signs of danger and should he approach too closely to the angry herd, his awakening to the peril will be sharp and sudden. Some angry beast will catch a glimpse of him, and, recognizing in him the responsibility for shedding of blood, will lower his head and, with a snort of de- fiance, make a wild charge for the object of bovme wrath. If that object escape with his life he will indeed be fortunate. Even a horseman has been known to have had anything but a pleasant half hour from an encounter with a funeral party of this character. The news of the death of a comrade seems to spread with the rapidity of the telegraph, and fresh relays of mourners constantly arrive, keeping up the strange spectacle for hours at a time, nor ceasing until the shades of night descend. Occasionally the scene of bloodshed will be discovered by some wandering “ critter ” him has that portion of the range to himself temporarily. There may be no other cattle within two or three miles, yet the lone mourner will commence the procedure al- ready described, and within a quarter or half an hour he will have been joined by others, while inside of an hour there will be, a dense mass of excited cattle on the spot and from the range in every direction others will be seen hurrying to the scene. Altogether a cattle funeral is one of the oddest and most interesting sights that can be witnessedâ€"by a man up a tree. PEARLS OF TRUTH. It is easier to suppress the first desire than to satisfy all that. follow it. According to the security you offer her, Fortune makes her loans easy or ruinous. Let us watch that we never undo with our hands what we say with our tongues. VNo. man ever went to heaven without learning humility on this side the grave.â€" [Liddon. Young, one is rich in all the future that he dreams ; old, one is poor in all the past that he regrets. Blessings often fail to reach us through the wall of circumstances with which we have surrounded our lives. Next to invention is the power of inter- pret-ing invention ; next to beauty the power of appreciating beauty. . Light is above us and color around us; but if we have not light and color in our eyes we shall not see them outside us. The soundest argument will produce no more conviction in an empty head than the most superficial declamation ; as a feather and a guinea fall with equal velocity in a vacuum. It. is hard to personals and act a part long, for where truth ts not at the bottom, nature Wlll always be endeavoring to return, and will peep out and betray herself one time or another. In any mind of nobleness a lapse into transgression: against an object still regarded as supreme issues in a. novel and pure de- votedness, chastencd by humility and watch- ed over by a. passionate regret. The Bible, without a spiritual life to in- terpret it, is like a. trellis on which no vine growsâ€"bare, angular and in the way. The Bible with aspiritunl life is like a trellis covered with a luxuriant vine, beautiful, odorous, and heavy with purple lustcrs shining through the leaves. . ' “W a! A Story for the Year Round- “ I wish you would tnke this package to the village for me, Jim.” he said, hesitating- 1y. Now, I was a boy of twelve, not fond of work, and was just out of the hayficld, where I had been since early morning. I was tired, dusty and hungry. It was two miles to town. I wanted to get my supper and wash and dress for singing-school. My first impulse was to grumble, for I was vexed that he should ask after my long day’s work But if I refused he would go himself. He was a gentle,patientold man. And something 1); ed mcâ€"one of God’s angels, 1 hink. “Of course, father, I’ll take it,” I said, heartily. He gave me the package. “ Thank you, Jim, I was going myself, but somehow I don’t feel very strong to- day.” He walked with me to the road that turned off to the town. As he left he put his hand on my arm, saying again. “Thank you, my son, you’ve always been a. good boy to me Jim.” I hurried to town and back. When I come near the house I saw a crowd of farm hands at the door. me, tears rolling down his face. “Your father,” he said, “ fell dead just as he reach- ed tbe house. The last words he spoke were of you.”â€"-I am an old man now, but I have thanked God over and over, in all the years since that hour, that those last Words to me were : “ You’ve always been a good boy to me.” No human being ever was sorry for love or kindness shown to others. But there is bitter remorse in remembered neglect or coldness to loved ones who are dead. Do not begrudge kind deeds and words, especially to those about the same hearth. It is such a little way we can go together. He is richest of all who is m ost generous in giving the love that blosso ms continually in kind words and deeds. W A Gruesome Story. A Vienna. correspondent telegrapbs : â€"A Princess Starhemberg died at Salzburg lately ata great age, and was taken to Aicrding, where the church is built over a family vault of the Starlicmbergs. None of the family had died for the last fifteen years and the vault wastherefore rarely, if ever, visited. On entering it to prepare for the funeral, the deacon stumbled over what turned out to be a skeleton, and it was soon discovered that thieves had been in the vault. - All the coffins were broken open, the gentleman’s swords and spurs were stolen, and the ladies’ dresses torn and de- spoiled of lace and gold trimmings. There was a gruesome heap of skeletons all together in the vaults, as if the thieves had wished to mark that in death all are alike. The crime may have been committed yeam ago, so that it will be very difficult to trace the culprits. Memory‘s Impressions on the Brain. It is computed by leading physiologists that, since one third of a secon suffices to produce an impression on the brain, a man of 100 years of age inust have collected on or in his brain matter 9,467,280,000 impres~ sions. 0r, again,takc olf one-third of the time for sleep, and we still find 6,311,520,- 000. This would give 3,155,? 60,000 separate waking impressions to the man who lives to the age of 50 years. Allowing an average weight of four pounds to the brain, deduct- ing one-fourth for blood and vessels, and another fourth for external intc ument, it may be said that each grain of rain sub- stance contains not less than 20am traces or impressions of ideas. Of course these figures and calculations will need to be ap- plied according to the temperament of the individuals to whom they are fitted, but they all point to one fact: Divine handi- work is grandly shown in memory. Winning Against Long Odds. Her motherâ€"I saw him kiss vou, -I am terribly shocked. I did not suppote he would dare to do such a thing. Herselfâ€"Nor I. In fact I bet him he didn’t dare. One of them came to, i Let me try to give a pen picture of the end of an India summer and the beginning of the period when the monsoon rains duo scend. Day after day the sun pours down wither- ing heat, the air is sick with it, the ground is hard as iron, and spa in great cracks, as though 0 en-mouthefi, pleading to the piti- less sky or a drop of water; the wide ex- THE GREAT HBNSDHN. PICTURE OF AN INDIAN SUflMhR; The Awntl. the ,nrled and Wither-lug Barthâ€"Jule Black Cloudâ€"The lass of l-‘lery Vapor Bolling Oraâ€"The lulu and Afterward. pause of country that a few months past was green and flower~bes rinkled is brown, the grass crisped with a fierce heat and fall- ing to powder if rubbed; the trees, mostly evergreens,sre parched and dusty; no breath of air rustles through, no leaf stirs. They resemble great toy trees, with leaves 'nted wood. ‘ here is no sound of life anywhere; the noisy, green parrots are silent. and hide from the sun in the heart of the densest and lcafiest top. You may, perhaps, see a crew or mynah sit solitarily on a bough, with drooping wing and gaping beak, helpless in this great pur- gatory of tire. “ The monsoon, the monsoonâ€"will it never come ‘3" you ask as you toss half nak- ed on your bed, worried by prickly heat and insects which shall be nameless, not the worst of which is the persistent, blood suck- ing mosquito. Heat apoplexy has, perhass, prostratcd one or two of your friends, an a second in the open air unhelmeted would be sudden death. “ Will the monsoon never come ‘2" Every evening the sun drops down in the west like a great ball of fire, but leaves the heat behind him. One eveningb you notice with great joy two or three lack clouds climb up in the east to take a peep at his descending majesty. They are the advance guard, you think, of the monsoon, and it; will surely rain before morning. _ Morning dnwus, and the sun sets to blow‘ ing his boat furnace strong as ever ; the sky is once more a. great dome of burnishcd' brass. The monsoon at last blows the warn- ing trumpet, and the soughing of his wind to the far-away horizon calls you out from your bed to the veranda. Nature holds her breath : a great calm, it strange hushâ€"the hush of expectancyâ€"fills earth and air. Ha ! here comes the monsoon. Awny on the western horizon a. great black cloud- wnve surges up toward the zenith, blotting out the burnished sky in its progress, just as though you poured ink slowly into a brass bowl. Behind this black wave and moving with it is a great dcnse ebon muss, cut every instant by forked lightning and bellowing, deafening thunder. The quick darting adder tongues of flames flash every- where, search the throughout from top to bottom, through- out the wholc cloud-packed dome. . Now for a second, only for a second, the quick-flashing lightning ceases, and an inky blackness, the blackness of Erebus, succeeds, and the thunder bellows as an Englishman in his sea-girt little isle never heard it bellow. It. is no distant rumble, gradually rolling nearer and culminating in a resounding crack overhead. No; around and just overhead the infernal din never ceases. The bellied clouds are pre hunt with thunder, and the flame forks llas ting hither and thither pierce their wombs and loose the thunder from its prison. It. reminds one of Michael and his celestial host \Ivar- t is of bellowing heavens ring with Lucifer and his legions. terrible, says the London Hawk. Inside your bungalow the first advancing wind that; heralded the monsoon carried with it clouds of blinding dust, which is now piled up an inch high on table and chair and shelf. And still the war of the elements goes on. You can not hear your neighbor’s voice, though he shouts his utmost; the birds, of- frighted, shriek in the thickets and the na- tive servants huddle themselves together in dark corners for safety. The sky opens its floodgates and rain in torrents pours down without intermission for eighty or ninety hours on the parched earth. S lash l splash! on the roofâ€"not in showers, nt in sheets. This is the monsoon. And when it has passed, what a transfor- mation it has effected. The arid plain is one great lake, through which rise innumerable trees of glossy green, and crowding their leafy cathedrals flocks of parrots and my- nahs chatter their thanks to God for the welcome rain. The great lake soon disappears, absorbed by the thirsty earth, and reveals a fur and fair expanse of verdurc, beautiful beyond words in its dazzling greenery and sprinkled with flowers that have shot up in a night, earth’s embodied hymn of praise to the Creator for the blessing of the monsoon. W Maternal Duties. Ethelâ€"Ma, I want some water to christcn my dell. Ethel’s Maiâ€"No, dear; it is wrong, you know, to make sport of holy things. Ethelâ€"Well, then, I want some wax to waxinate her. She’s old enough now to have something done to her l”â€"-â€"Grip. Porewamod. “ I trust you will notbe shocked, madam : your husband is shot, and they are bringing him home on ashutter." “ I have had a premonition of this; he was half shot when he left the house.” Athletic Lung and Heart. “ Athletic lung” is a medical term used todcsignatc the abnormal development of ' lung possessed by some athletes. The condi- tion is produced by those fonns of exercise that ca 1 for the constant use of the lungs at their highest power. The result is an cnoro mous development of lung capacity. Such men, upon givin up their active athletics and taking to cntary pursuits, are peculi- arly subject to pulmonary complaints. The overdeveloped inn is only- -used in part, and the unused cc 8 easily fall a prey to dis- ease whec once an athletic lung is rcstcred to health: The wise hysician forbids any violent athletics on tile part of the patient, for a second attack is likely to be followed by collapse. The term “ athletic heart" is applied to a similar condition of {he hurt produced by like causes.