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POETIC POSIES. | <>«•«»>< pnm »• i)«wb»y ?*#if • THE WAY, 11,.:, First, tod thou TratJh, and tikpk Although she etrays Ateough From beaten i>»M>s of To uatrod ways, % •'•" '-.i"" Her leading follow f t might, 1%* ̂ 4*$6£| And bide thy fato; ; ^ . "* And, whether «nile« «r scorn .^.\. ,.r... ,* Thy passing greet, •»«> .. •«»{«*» 3't« Or find's* thon Sower or thonk" ' <<•»«! I* . » Beneath thy feet, ' Fare on ! nor fear thy fMI At heaven's gate. - i ShwtUff, in Scribner si**!** t,|; 'f " -it •Kvttl .DICKENS. large hospitable dodm Wide to a worM of masquers whom he In* 8we£p hurrying onward with their paces n* wtaullly flood his vacant chamber-floors, •v«a m with him about who* form in scortf Bwnanity'a eager passions, bathe or sad, • lllifvfi i'dg&i •Ull the old what a riotous witch-datrts they prolong, Of *vartos, hatred, hop©, revenge, despair! -JSow right flies timorous tr< m the clutch of wrong! How pleasure and eaee take hands with toll Mod care! While humor, that wild harlequin, her« tad there, in spangled aamenanlta through the **&tt,i»Sor*mer. / . "* * - ; *, *s4 WATURL! AOT> A**. 5\I pypi i it ^rt is the child of Nature, yes, ! 5er darling child, In whom we tnoe 5fhr features of the mothers faM, s t ®er aspect and her attitude, "! ;4<J1 her majestic lovelinea* '"Chastened and softened and subdnad Into a more attractive griiiS, And, with a human sense im\>u4l|j :Wi$* wit .$ ;• !#•?« ?•!>«•- lit ijfeiiit-. «, e it; tho greatest artist, then, JR"heth«r of pencil or of pen, Who follows Nature. Never m«a, As artist or as artisan, •.*•.• pursuing his own fantasies, {Can toqch the human heart, orplmi, •r satisfy our nobler needs, 'lis he who sets his willing feet In Nature's foot-prints, light and fleets .nd follows fearless where she leada, '« " Keramoe," in Harper'i Jhyortw. TWILIGHT. After the French of Victor Hugo. , go and pray--for see! the night is here! igh cloudy rifts the irolden lights appear; i hills' faint outline trembles in the mist; •oarcely is heard a distant chariot--list 1 ^•Tfce world's at rest; the tree beside the way ffra to the evening wind the dust of day. tdmt hi*; Twilight unlocks the hiding-plaoe of stars; Ikf gleam and glow behind night's shadowy tatt. The Cringe of carmine narrows in the west, « ^ , ., The moonlit water lies in shining reat; s **!Vt :-h% ,: *;jp«rro* and foot-path melt and disappear; mi J li* 'Ml '§ iBfce anxious traveler doubts the far and near. ft m the hour when angels stoop to earth . Ta blM our babes amid our careless mirth. ;Ibe little ones with eyes upraised in prayer, ;tiny, tolded hands and white feet bam, l&J&ttk. *t this twilight hour a blessing dear . #( Hte who loves his little ones to hear. Then, while they sleep, a cloud of golden dreams, • Bqrn in the calm of day's declining beams, Watting in shadow till the hour of night, to each couch and scatter visions bright; .-V ' M Am joyous bees Beek honey-laden flowers, hover near in slumber's peaceful hours. # cradled sleep! O prayers cf childhood bleat! • taby-voice, speaking a loving breast! Tfcjr hippy prayer the darkness maketh light, * *i tv i> .t •<eti I'i *<upeth to song the solemn sounds of night, "• Aa wath hie wing the birdie hides his head, shelteregt by thy prayer the cradle-bed. ; Florence A. Kendrick, in AppUtona'. •*. 0- ̂ vri-gm ^HE OOLDEH AGIO. '-rtif tsition1? Tcnisl bloom is over, * . . j^ ^antBhed the springtide's dear, delicious days, *%k.M i i 1 When simple toil amid the fragrant clover, WltJi youth, and help, and hone, gave God the praise, Ah! shall we walk again in virtue's ways? #*• ' »¥ 1^1 they say the storm baa oeaaed Ita angry motion, || And that Alcyone is sitting by the sea, %Her bird auapicious brooding on the <ioean; ^,,^;.£That Peace is comiag back to you and mo; r I Mk you, are your people free ? f -' ^^They tell me Ceres pours her horn of plenty, j ' y.u/That barns are brimmed with heavy sheaves ot atli'. i . B°l^t " •. The aower sows his sack--the reaper gathers twenty, J The marvels of our wealth tongue hath not told; ?' i .Mfcii have we now the rights we had of old ? -j-. -^TChi^y say our white-winged Commerce breaks the **., Vy ~ ^ earth's remotest limits for her spoil. Ami, laden like a bee, far-flying carrier, "'T-BrinigB tribute back, of wine and spice and oil; •*i But brings she back content with all her toil? . 88. m ® Messenger. absolved from error! fc* " ? a jBhall we e'er see again the days of old, When Movt reignty was swayed in love, not terror, '• "Ontywtit; gtroug. and honest worth was bold, And mighty Truth prevailed, not sordid gold ? t&-rt^ --WiUiotn PtesUm Johnnton, in Galax#. f«» . - --: 02 •*»«K •• ANTICIPATION. bttii %ilM, "*!?#- tk'i - |j'4IW ,|f f!* ¥<$ ®Ud !<• iting across the fields of tnow, westering sun makes haste to go ; This day, I know, is tried and tweet, • To-morrow tires my lagging feet. i •fVith many a pause of happy rest "I've journeyed with To-Day, my guest; •JBit stranger brother cannot ba, .'wethinka, as goodly < . 'wH+t '-i «v|) •/# i ! ' > , _ #4: •-if A •h.«« .feai# m' 'MSlt.. Holding in his mysterious hand iMfte that will bless or blight iijy land! Carry yet longer, fair l'o-Pay, • "" 1 boding step an hour delay. ' *r "What songs have told my spirit's cheer, at suplight "WErmed tiie glowing year, v ^ • What dear companions round me hong, : While life, and love, and hope were yr.nng 1 *i j 'jj *%"hese with to-morrow fade apace, • " Jfciie bloom from a beloved face; lO l*ti;< fir/.i .«<•«> ' •< is-liiai »' ifair •Jjmd, trusting half, yet half with dread, ijf.question, " What shall be instead?" , %he eun drops deeper, night is «MH; ,, , "The oracles I seek are still; t *\ l ^ tfon herald Btar which glitters low _Y3rl i1,'i fJaifl8ee,B9 l»ckoning on the way I go. Its ; 3So-morrow? Ah, that door doth ope ITS. :, " new celestial path to Hope. 0, Idore than I ask or dream'mast hOi ,8 x ! J 11^44. -1'- vk In God's to-morrow kept for me I, ji*kintie Monthly. '• •' v d e m ?!.' • » f> 1' *t.«K| »tnisi:/ : • •J •$« rt-i ' - r j f f rt ft R# i •rfl «l ;-%#i w«i< ; • l<y i ,«#*:»#« •Sjli.t i; #t ; «»i U f < •«» PALIS8Y. %ho ia it in the suburbs here, JChis Potter, working with anch <hMr,' : ma this mean house, this mean attire, ®» manly features bronzed with lire, • flgulines and rustic ware# »®earce find him bread from day to day ? ' *"1EMa madman, aa the people eay, "ITho breaks his tables and chain To feed hiB furnace flres, nor c^rea Who goes unfed if they are fed, •or who may live if they are dead? - lkii alchemist with hollow cheeka, • And sunisee, searching eyes, who seeks, • Jgff mingled earths and ores combined ; Willi potency of fire, to And ' • Some new enamel hard and bright, JBUh dream, hie passion, Ms delight? IO Pattesy! within thy breast id the hot fever of unrest; 1 was the prophet's vision, •a.ax) exultation, the divine > Iaaaalty of noble minds, That never falters nor abates, JMt labors and endures and waits. TrfH ali that it foresees, it finds, ' 403° what it cannot find, creates t. ; .aaii a,"?" x A MOTflEB'8 0BJE€TIOS». Sum, torn, my wheel! This tarfhm Jar touch can make, s touch can -mar; And shall it to the Potter say, What makeat thou ? Thou hast no hand? Ac men who thinks to understand A world by their Creator planned, f. Who wiser is than the*. 'jfciUn-'n *' Kemmm, in Harper's Magatin* 'fVu';.k..,J f," H->U •' . ^There is no use in talking; nothing "att' Wtih. will ever induce md to give my oonsent" It was my mother who spoke, and «t silent, vainly endeavoring to find tone 8i^giiment which should induce hex to change her mind. Unless she the case, I knew, was hopeless, for Helen, proud, beautiful darling that family refused to sanctitm the mateh. Mj mother wa« the best woman in the world, too good for the world, 1 some­ times thought--too good, at least, for the world in whioh I lived, amid to which I had recently transplanted her from the quiet New England village in which she had lived all her married life. Tf yon know anything of the rigid spirit which prevails in those quiet spots of New En­ gland where a stem Pnritaniam rides rough-Bhod over ill natural tastes and in­ stincts, yon can, perhaps, Appreciate the force of mymother's objections to my betrothed, Helen Leighton; otherwise, yon must take my word for their co­ gency. "She danoes; she gambles; she laughs in ohuroh." These were the grounds on which my mother's objections were based. _ I had ar­ gued them with her, point by point, many a time, driving her from them one by one, forcing her to acknowledge their nntenability. So far so good; but, as a bit of whalebone springs back when the pressure upon it ia relaxed, just so surely did her radnd spring back to the origiuft) point: "She gambles; she dances; she laughs in church." Dance ? of course she danced, like a wave of the sea or a bubble of the air. Thanks to my Puritanical training, I had no opportunity of learning the art until my muscles had lost their youthful flexibility. Nevertheless, it was my de­ light to watch her graceful figure and to catch the bright glances which from time to time she sent me as she floated past. , Gamble ? She played cards, as every­ body does, which hardly constitutes gambling; but this was a distinction which my mother would by no means allow. "Cards are cards," was her Hne of argument "It may be a shade worse to play for money, but, in either case, the principle is the same." As for her laughing in church, who would not have laughed, under the cir­ cumstances, I should like to know ? You see, her brother, Harry Leighton, was gifted with a naturalist's tastes and in­ stincts. Bugs and beetles, worms and larvae, and all hideous flying and creep­ ing things, were to him types of beauty in its divinest essence. Now, on that soft August afternoon, as Helen and -- were crossing one of our city on their way to church, his eye fell upon a specimen of the rare Dorcas breoifty whioh, by some miraculous means, had strayed thither. How was it possible for him to resist capturing such a prize? As he had come out un­ provided with the collector's supply of boxes, murderous drugs, entomological pins, and such like, an empty envelope served to confine it, and he had thrust it into his pocket. Unluckily, the envelope was not sealed; the beetle, by no means pleased with its incarceration, made its escape, and, being of an investigating turn of mind, proceeded to burrow under Harry's garments. It is in vain to en­ deavor to preserve a calm and docorous demeanor, with mysterious claws bury­ ing themselves in your skin in inaccessi­ ble places. When to this is added the fear of injuring a rare and valuable specimen in your frantic attempts at re­ capture, and, also the dread of attract­ ing tlie attention of clergyman and con­ gregation, Harry Leighton's state of mind may be imagined, As for Helen, at first she had gazed upon her brother's wild contortions and grimaces with a mild wonder and alarm. The alarm was relieved by hiB whispered explanation of the true state of the case, profusely il­ lustrated by frantic but cautious grabs at the cause of his woes. Now, I ask, could any mortal maiden resist this, es­ pecially in a place where to laugh was to feel herself forever disgraced? The very sense of horror which she felt at the idea of her own untimely levity only hastened the explosion. A little half- smothered rivules of laughter trickled out; shame and fright only made matters worse; the laughter became uncontrolla­ ble, hysterical, until the welcome sound of " Let us pray !" enabled her to hide her blushing, agonized face. Now I had again and again -explained the circumstances to my mother, but it was all in vain. "If she had had a proper sense of the solemnity of the place, sne never would have been tempted to laugh," was all that she would say, adding, as her ulti matum, " If ever you find mo _ dancing, and laughing in church, I give my consent; but, until then, it is quite useless to ask me." And, so saying, my mother terminated the argument by sweeping from the room, leaving me to chew the cud of sweet and bitter reflections. How my mother's objections were to be answered, I confess that I could not see; that she would ever change her mind of her own accord, I knew her too well to imagine. Could I inveigle her into a faro-bank under pretext of a prayer-meeting, en­ gage her attention, and then bet in her name, persuading her afterward that the act was the effect of her own volition ? Hardly feasible; and, even if practicable, how were the other miracles to be ac­ complished ? My mother dancing! my mother laughing in church! Unless she joined the Shakers, I could not see how the first was to be effected. As for the last, monkeys might perch on sound­ ing-boards and angle for clergymen's ', stray dogs might run amuck up ana down the aisles, with sexton and Sunday-school children in full cry after them, bats might flap and clergymen blunder, but I was quite sure that never a muscle of my mother's face would move. With a sigh I gave on the problem at last, and sallied forth, all unconscious that fate was working for me in a case where I was utterly helpless. tion. Therefore it was no wonder that my mother soon. began to stray about the partem with a forlorn and hopeless expression, wistfully watching the vari­ ous groups, each d»ep in the mysteries of cassino, Sancho Pedro, or such like unwholesome diversion; for cards iust then happened to be a mania with all of us. Suddenly, as I watched heron that especial evening, I saw her whole face light up «s she paused beside a group of four who ware collected around a small stand. Natamlly I strained my eyes and Mrs to learn what could have pro­ duced that look of placid and profound satisfaction; but my observations were in vain, until one of this group, rising with an apology to the rest* politely of­ fered his chair to my mother. He, be­ ing a comparative stranger among us, knew nothing of her peculiar ideas, which were no secret to the rest of the house. I saw the look of laughing dis­ may exchanged among those who were left; then, to my unbounded amazement, I saw my mother subside into the offered chair. In another instant I understood it " Dominoes r I heard her say, in a tone of satisfaction. "I have never played them since I was a child, but I was very fond 01 them then. You seem to be playing some new game of which I do not know the rules; but, if yon will bear with my ignorance for a while, I make no doubt that I shall learn them soon." The others, with, I fancied, a slight hesitancy, began to instruct her in the laws of the game. Soon I heard terms flying freely--terms curiously familiar, but strange and uncanny as proceeding from my mother's lips. A "flush," a "pair," a "straight flush "--what could it all mean ? " I chip!" cried my mother's voice, ih tones of wild excitement; but-- " Too late!" cries another voice. "How many counters have you ?" " Twenty-five," replies my mother, blandly and unsuspiciously. Instantly a 25-cent stamp is laid upon the table before her. She starts back, eying it with wild dismay. A horrible suspicion creeps across her mind,, and, looking around the table, she gasps, faintly: "What--what have I been playing?" Amid a shout of laughter the answer reaches her, brokenly, faintly, but, alas! only too intelligibly; "Playing? Whyr 'penny ante,' to be sure. The cards were all in use, so we have been playing poker with domi­ noes by way of variety." I must pass lightly over the tableau which followed, or my tale will be too long; over my mother's apologies, re­ morse, tearful explanations; over her indignant refusal of the money; her fi­ nal acceptance of it raider protest and its subsequent dedication to the cause of missions. All this I must leave to your imagination, and pass to the next scene. * N T5T Georgie had succeeded at last in her efforts at persuasion. Georgie Lenox was my cousin, and my mother's favor­ ite niece. She was married now--mar­ ried a year ago to Rudolf Aronach, one of the best fellows in the world, and they had taken up their abode in Hobo- ken, that most German of American is to the celebration of I anniversary that my liter much hesitation, con- n. It had rained for a week--a driving, easterly storm, with occasional inter ludes of heavy, foggy weather, low, gray skiep., and a damp, raw. air. My mother's chest being weak, she was "de­ barred from all out-door exercises during its continuance, and, sooth to say,, the time began to hang very heavily upon her hands. Reading is all very well for a time, but, when you have all your life been a bustling notable housekeeper, finding your highest pleasure in new and recondite recipes, in scrupulous and frequent deansings and purifyings of your domicile from cellar to garret, your literary tastes are apt to rust. In . . . ° i t y b o a r d i n g - h o u s e t h e r e i s l i t t l e o u t mm, wwiia never matry a mm whoae j let for energy in a. <r rewif ely direo- towns. their w mother had, sented to go. "It is to be a very quiet dinner," Georgie had said; " but Rudolf has so many friends who must be invited, that we have decided to give it at the Ger­ man Club instead of our own house, Hrhich is much too small." " I am afraid it will be a very gay and worldly affair," sighed my mother; " but Georgie makes such a point of it that, for her sake, I suppose I must go. But remember, Frederick, if I see any signs of dancing, I leave at once, for that I really can not countenance by my pres­ ence. There is a point beyond which I will not go." Of course I satisfied her with a cheer­ ful " All right," and she made her prep­ arations with a sort of resigned equa­ nimity edifying to behold. Mj mother was a handsome woman still, in spite of her fifty years, with a tall, finely . molded figure, delicate, clear-cut features, unblurred yet by time's ruthless touch, soft blue eyes, and heaps upon heaps of snow-white hair which glistened like spun silk above her low, broad foiehead. I was very protid of her as I looked at her that evening in her sweeping dress of black nished at throat and wrists with soft falls of creamy lace. Dress and laces had been my present to her upon her last birthday, and she had ac­ cepted them with a mild rebuke of my extravagance, and wore them with an air of* quiet protest, blended with sub­ dued pride, which was charming. Georgie's fiction of the "quiet dinner" 11 y imposed upon my mother, I think. Nevertheless, I felt her cling closely to my arm, with a stifled groan, as we entered the one long room whicii then composed the entire second floor of the German Club-house, with its pol­ ished floor and brilliant lights, and the little curtained stage at the upper end On whioh her eye fell first. There was no danger to be apprehended from that quarter, however, as she soon found; but ecafcely less alarming, from her point of view, was the array of many-col­ ored glasses whicii clustered beside each jriate all the way down the three long ta- " What does it mean?" she murmured faintly. "Will they make me drink wine? Oh, Frederick, take me home." I should not have done so in any case, but it was already too late, for Georgie had caught sight of us, and hastened up, followed by one Herr Muller, a German of the stout, jolly, rubicund type, whom she introduced to my mother as the son of a German Protestant minister. My mother's face partially lost its look of bewildered dismay at this item of news, and she allowed him to lead her to her place without further objection. I am afraid that at this point my at­ tention wandered slightly from my moth­ er, for Helen was there, the darling, more beautiful than ever in her draper­ ies of pale blue and paler salmon, with tea-roses and forget-me-nots nestling among the ripples of her bonny brown hair; with her pure proud, face, and her clear, steadfast brown eyes, and the Ken- tie, tranquil grace which, oi all her charms, was the one which had most at­ tracted me. Of course Helen knew nothing of the state of affairs between my mother and me. She would have broken off our en­ gagement in an instant, even at the risk of breaking her own heart, had the faintest suspicion of it entered her mind. Fortunately my mother and she were not likely to be brought into close contact for the present. Even had they been, Helen would probably account for my mother's indifference on the ground of her being still ignorant of our engage­ ment, which was an affair of only a month's standing. As for me, I thought it best to let things rest as they were im- til the way should be cleared, of which my mother's involuntary gambling had already given me good hopes. The dinner was a thoroughly German affair. Servants, dishes, conversation, music, all were German of the purest type. It was a little slice cut out of the very heart of Vaierland,. and set down bodily in the midst of an American town. My mother did aot understand a word of German, but Herr Muller spoke ex­ cellent English, and I was glad to see that my mother was gradually becoming more and more absorbed in uie conver­ sation. When she found that her re­ fusal to take wine provoked only a very mild surprise and remonstrance, her last scruple melted away, and I was scarcely surprised to see her wildly waving her empty glass, and chanting with the rest the musical " Hoch," which is the Ger­ man version of our unmelodious cheer. To be sure, the toast which she elected thus to honor was, " To the health of our American friends now present," but, as no doubt of the propriety of her pro­ ceeding crossed her mind, it would have been a pity to enlighten her. Now there was a stir around the table. The band, which had hitherto been si­ lent, struck up a march-like air. Each gentleman offered his arm to his partner and we moved around the room in a dig­ nified promenade, while the waiters en­ tered to dear the tables and push them out of the way. Round and round we went, my mother beaming with mild en­ joyment as she leaned upon her part­ ner's arm. Suddenly the measure changes; hand is linked in hand, and the long line winds and waves, weaving itself in and out in graceful undulations. For an instant my mother, in conftiBion and bewilderment, yields to the impulse. Then a dreadful suspicion breaks upon her mind, and she turns to her partner with the frenzied question: " What is it? What are we doing ?" " Doing, madam ?" repeats Herr Mul­ ler, looking bland but slightly puzzled. "We are dancing the Polonaise, to be sure. Do not be troubled; you do per­ fectly well, I assure you." But my mother waits for no further encouragement. With a gasp she wrests her hand quickly from the grasp upon it, and mechanically retaining her hold up­ on her partner, she whirls him, too, out of the ranks, and drops, a limp, col­ lapsed heap, upon the nearest chair. Helen and £ disengage ourselves from the line and hasten up to her. But con­ solation is in vain. She only raises her tearful eyes to mine and murmurs, " Frederick, your mother will disgrace both you and herself in her old age: First gambling, and now dancing. Oh, Frederick, send me back to Nepoosuc before I sink further 1" And covering her face with her hands she burets into helpless tears, while her bewildered looks on, unable to form the conjecture as to the meaning of this remarkable scene. Obviously there* was but one thing to be don©, and that I do, by hastily con- Helen to Herr Muller's charge, my mother out of the room as quickly ana as quietly as possible. IV. It is Sunday morning--the Sunday af­ ter my mother's little esoapade at the German Club. The church bells are fill­ ing the air with music, church-goers throng the streets, and still my mother does not come. I have been waiting in the hall for fifteen minutes, and already the bell has ceased chiming and begun to toll. I grow uneasy at last, and am half way up the stairs, when I meet her coming down. What has detained her ? How can 1 tell? A siring has come off, or a button would not fasten, or some­ thing of that sort. What d© 1 know of the various but trifling accidents of a woman's toilet f She was ready at last, however; had caught up prayer-book and muff, and hastened down to join me. The service had begun as wo entered the church #hich my Mother and I at­ tended. Episcopalianism was not her favorite form of worship, but she had consented to go with me to that church, fearing, I suppose, that otherwise I would not go at all. Need I say that my choice had been decided by the fact that Helen was a member (and a most de­ vout one) of that church ? I considered myself fortunate in having been able to secure & pew exactly in front of that whioh her family occupied, and thither we directed our steps. It was situated well up in the middle aisle, and, as we entered later than our wont, my mother, who prided herself upon her punctual­ ity, was somewhat flustered by the time we reached it. "Dearly beloved brethren, the Scripture moveth us," repeated the clergyman, in his full, rich tones. " Captain Jinks of the Horse Maricea; 1 give my horse good core and beana." Where on earth did it come from? Not words, jjrou understand, only a tinkle of jig-a-iig-jig-jig, jig a-jig-jig, curiously near ana distinct, and curiously, horri­ bly inappropriate to the occasion,, I looked about in doubt and amaze; so did everybody else. Had a lunatic strayed into church mat clear November morn­ ing, or-- Suddenly my gaze fell upon my mother's face--such a scarlet, agon­ ized face as it was--as her trembling fingers fumbled nervously but vainly with the clasp of the prayer-book which she held. My eyes followed hers down­ ward, and the mystery was solved. In­ stead of a prayer-book, she had in her haste caught up a musical photograph album, which was of precisely the same size and shape, never discovering the difference until the fiendish thing began to rattle out its rollicking tune at this horribly inopportune time: " Captain Jinke, of the Hone Marinaa." "We have errred and strayed from Thy ways as lost sheep." It was all a confused Babel of sounds. People stared, giggled, and wondered. My mother in wrath, and agony, strug­ gled fiercely with her infernal machine, but to no end. The stopping part was out of order; the playing part was in horribly perfeot condition. She thrust it into the prayer-book rack, and the contact with the hard Wood sent forth the sounds with redoubled distinctness. She hid it in her muff, but no amount of fur would muffle it. She threw it upon the seat'behind her, where it rattled away as merrily as ever. She was just about to sit upon it, when a hand was extended from the pew behind us--a slender, delicate hand, faultlessly gloved in pale silver-gray. The hand closed over the box, and in another instant we heard the sounds growing fainter and fainter, as Helen sailed down the broad aisle, leaving a trail of melody behind her as she passed. Just as, with a click, the air changed to " Champagne Charley," the door dosed behind them, and only the clergyman's voice broke the -stillness whioh settled over the church. Hooked at my mother. The expres­ sion of agony upon her face faded slowly' to'jk loot of intense relief. She turned her Apes upon me, bent toward me to whisper something, and--broke into a perfectly audible laugh! It was a laugh of sheer nervousness, without a particle of mirth in it, but a laugh nevertheless, positive and uncontrollable. Laugh she must, and laugh she did until her face grew scarlet and the tears poured down her cheeks, and she was fain to hide her diminished head behind her muff- laughed until, in sheer despair, she was obliged to fairly flee from the church just as the congregation rose for the "TeDeum." '• v. _My mother and I sat for ft long time without speaking, on that memorable Sunday evening. She was calm and composed now, though the traces of re­ cent emotion still lingered upon her face. I would not be the first to broach one subject, the only one upon which I felt inctined to talk just wen; so we sat silent in the dusky twilight, watching the leaping violet flames which quivered and flickered above the bed of glowing coals. " Frederick," said my mother at last "Yes, mother." " Your Helen is a brave girl." " lam glad that you think so, mother." "Do you think," said my mother, slowly, " that she did it because I am your mother, or because--" "I think," said I, quickly, "that if anything would have prevented her do­ ing it, it would have been the fact that you are my mother." "And that you were present," said my mother, nodding her head sagacious­ ly. "I thought so. Frederick, we had a conversation two weeks ago--" "On dancing, gambling and laugh­ ing in church," I suggested, as my mother paused. "Frederick," said my mother, se­ verely, " will you be kind enough to let that subject drop? Because I was a cantankerous idiot and a self-opinionated bigot, will you leave me no place for repentance ? I have had new views of the fallibility of human nature since then, and I suppose I may take a wom­ an's privilege of changing my mind." "By all means," I said, laughing, " especially as you have fulfilled the con- ditions so admirably."--Harper's Maga­ zine. KKK BT oimu H. BH: »' > f down the mot Or whtoper aoftlj crtfrp. ^ ttiiMSSSSJS., . . t > The NTeaiiitg, aeeret thinn. ' Burled wider lfoaaphiaa wiaaiii ̂ . ; Move me with a wefrd oontrolj « All of dreamland hidden lies In the rapture of thine eye And what olden empires j Ceaaeieaa chorda of: ^ happy rippW wee ~m.. • "> •- Thy r ich garment* , by the ' »i, Jn "°me olondland, wide and Crae, ." I? "Capered, j„ ~ jW *.j ^ st&rB overhead. | Dost remember when the beeeh Round thy perfect limbs did --lull. ̂E» tt»y days of human speech T ' 'J"*? Ai» t I wwbi not Dian*a «»--, £9* « When the fair youth dreamed of m-fc ' Juu t a f l i cker i n the ahada*^ ; : Of your modeat branehea made; ' And you heard the crimpled Ml In Ita moanr hoUars turn." the goddess, half afrai AAI Incapable Russian tienera The Eussian Generals in B mainly yery old men, who si art of war forty or even fifty yei They are described by a corns of the Daily News as men wh look in a book and who rarely newspaper, and appear to be mtt livious to the march of progress. ana are the rs ago. eondent 1 never read a srly ob- bh of progress, and of science especially, in the military art. Their whole lives may be said to have been passed in but one occupation; their whole minds, whatever they ever had, concentrated on one object, and that the most trivial to which the human mind can descend--card playing. They have done nothing else, thought of nothing else, for years. Their minds have rusted until they are as dull, as heavy, and as incapable of receiving new impressions as the veriest clodhopper's. Called from their card-tables by the trumpet of war, they rise, rub their eyes, look round them completely bewildered, and as thoroughly out of the current of modem war as if they hud been asleep for forty vears. Hot even Rip Van Winkle, with his rusty gun dropping to pieccs after his long sleep, was more bewildered and lost than the majority of these poor old Generals suddenly thrown into the cam­ paign at the head of their brigades,- di- It may b does not sea back to their card-tables, and replace them by younger men, and men of talent, of which, after all, the Rus­ sian army is not destitute. The soft heart of the Emperor has much to do in retaining these old incapables in their positions. He cannot bear the idea of depriving an old public servant of his position and thus disgracing him, and so unconsciously prefers to sacrifice the lives of thousands of brave fellows to misplaced feeling of kindness. ~Oe Pleaded tfuilty. . An amumng scene oocurred at the re­ cent arraignment of prisoners at the Criminal Court. A colored man stoutly t guilty to a charge of bur- , as he "had no money, Judge .ones beckoned toward one of the young and rising counselors present and re­ marked: "Mr. , I appoint you to defend the prisoner. ' The colored burglar rolled his eyes with horror when he heard the name of the hero of a hundred convictions men­ tioned in connection with his case, and eagerly cried: " No, Jej, no. I guess not I pleads guilty ef you don't make it .more'n two years in de pen." The prisoner waa sentenced accord­ ingly, and the young lawyer tallied one more lost case.--St. Louis Globe-Demo­ crat. ' ' THE Anti-Horse-Thief Association has 361 lodges and 8,000 members in Mis­ souri, lows and Illinois. It does not encourage lynching, although that course is permitted in places where the officers of the law cannot be relied on to prose­ cute thieves. SPDBOEON calls the people who go to church from compulsion, as they might do to escape from a shower of rain, " umbrella Christians." Fled aeroaa the mtony gl_ Want thon qneen of Flato' lj»pt in amamcr'H endieaa All the training of a qneei fjicgera yet in step and m. And the graceful, tingling Wavers in your airy ppeech; • And your motions, quickly, alovly.* 7 w. Are the woodland naiad's w&pUy. ' i i Maidan of unwhiepered lore, Hast thou never loved beforaf Did no former ages fold •Lovert kiss and rapture bold* * v .v?- Then yon have not sounded olearly '%'• All the age's essence nearly. ' Yet thou Bfein'st a simple woain, Warm and mortal, bright and humaa | I*t a dewy rosebud elide, •. • And the etarlit night divide, j. , Then my soul will understada • You forget the cloudy land, ^ And your olden ppclla resign: . For the sake of love divine, --AtUfntfc Monthly for December. ' -- -- vm4pB . . PITH ASP PQlSt. NATURAL slippers--Eels. A MATTER of course--A horse race. A BAD policy--One that has run out. ASOI<IOITOB-GENERAX<--A poor beggar. WHEN is a literary work like smoke ? When it rises in volumes. WHEN is a dock on the stairs danger­ ous ? When it runs down. A MTERABY class--Builders. They are always finishing stories. SWEETENING one's coffee is generally the first stirring event of the day. THE safest way to rid yourself of your wife's female friends is tp make love to them. WHY is a pair (tf skates like an apple ? Because they have occasioned the fall of a man. "O, EDITH, won't you kiss Dr. Mc- Cluskie?" " I'm so shy, mamma; you kiss him first!" HE blew his little lamp out at the top, And liis life came to a sudden stop ;' ~~ " se hadn't been so confounded green, never have fooled with kerosene. "ABTAXEBXES, my boy," said Mr. Marrowfat, "remember the dying words of Socrates--Never marty a woman that kicks sideways." Miss LONG, of Oregon, has married Mr. Little. She, ot course, says: "Love me, Little;" and he, of course, says. "Love me, Long." Puck says that when four women are walking abreast on tbe pavement they will break ranhs for nothing except a man--with a paint-pot. IT is a final test of brotherly affection for a girl to lend her brother's silk um­ brella to her beau and, not be jawed clean out of her gaiters. THE editor who saw a lafy make for the only vacant seat in a car, found him* self "crowded out to make room for more interesting matter." A MINISTER arked a tipsy fellow lean* ing against a fence where he expected to go when he died. "If I can't get along any better than I do, now," said lie, "I shan't go anywhere." THE editor of a child's paper received a letter from a lady subscriber recently, in which was written : " Ony Annie died last week, after reading the last num­ ber of your valuable paper.". WHEN asked why her sweetheart left her, Miss Jones replied, "In conse­ quence of a falling out." She didn't tell the whole story. Her. false teeth were what did the falling oujL A VIRGINIA Sheriff asked a murderer if he wanted to make a speech on the gallows, and he replied : "Guess not; it looks like rain, and I don't want to get wet. Go on with the hanging." A wBMi-KNowN girl of the period-- Km Bczsio. --New York Weekly. Her near and dear relative--D. Fault.--Nor- ristovm Herald. And the name by ^Mch friends salute them both is P. K. Dillo.--Graphic. Bmii SHUTS was a member of the Twenty-sixth. While the boys crowded around the old flag at the recent re­ union, Bill, with an irrepressible hu­ mor, called out: "Boys, I am no speaker, but there's a blamed sight more of you here than ever I saw in a fight." This brought down the house.--• Franklin (Ky.) Rev iew. A TRAVEIOBB visiting a cathedral was shown by the sacristan, among other marvels, a dirty opaque glass vial. After eying it for some time the trav­ eler said, "Do you call this a relic? Why, it is empty." 14Empty S " re­ torted the sacristan, indignantly. "Sir,, it contains some of, the darkness that Moses spread over the land of Egypt." " SEE here, Parker, what's the differ­ ence between a ripe watermelon and a rotten cabbage?' asked one letter-car- rier of another the other day. "You've got me there. I don't know," he re­ turned with a look mom puzzled than an illiterate man at a cross-roads guide- board. " Then you'd be a, mighty nice man to send after a watermelon, you would." remarked the quizser as* he moved on.--Cincinnati Breakfhst Table. . Politics in the Houaahold. Tn the village of C. the children are as strong partisans in politics as their pa­ rents. A little girl of Democratic per puasion had been taking tea with a little Republican friend, and was amicably helping her wipe dishes when the news of Hayes' election was announced, whereupon, dropping the spoons she was wiping, she caught up her sun-bon­ net and disappeared. "What brings you home so early ?" asked her mother, as tbe little Democrat rushed into the house. "Why, I happened to tliink that there I was wiping Republican dishes, and I just threw down the towel and ran," was the excited answer.-- P Christian Union.