The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Ar i c GIFT E DWARD HARDY, an artist of much promise, and his friend, Alfred Moore, the art critic of the Planet, were sinoking in the stu­ dio .of *ie ^.rmer. It was a delight­ ful morning, with the sun streaming Into the room, and through the open windows came the hum of the streets Intermingled with the chirping of birds. „ "By George, Hardy," suddenly Moore burst out,, as. he droipped upon a .chair, with his eyes fixed in wonder on a .painting in front of him "surely this is a product of a master hand! I've never seen you working at it?" "No," answered the :.rtist. "I've Sone it in the strictest privacy; it's been a -labor of love to me for the last three years: since, in fact, I began an artis.: tic career", It's fibispd now, and I feel as if-1 bad lost something out Of my. life." ... .. ' "Anyhow, it shows that you're a painter of genius; old man," said the critic, with genuine appreciation. "I haven't seen such a work of talent for many a long day. You must send it to the academy; there are still three days left for submitting pictures to the hanging committee. I make bold to prophesy that it will be the painting of the year." The plctuc^ in question was a rather large one hanging in the center of the wall, immediately behind the artist's easel. When at work he had but to raise his eyes to catch sight of the "rara avis," which he had christened "The Dawn of Love." It represented a beautiful girl of tail and stately fig­ ure, seated, lost in thought, in front of the fire in her room, whither she had come from the ballroom, indicated by her flushed cheeks and the uniform of the dance in which she was dressed. Her sparkling eyes betokened the kin­ dling of a flame within her heart to which it had hitherto been a stranger, and one did not need to look twice at her face to understand that Cupid had shot one of his arrows with unerring aim that night. In her imagination . as though it meant to break its record, she was still tripping through the dance j and with the daylight the rain came with her partner--the man who had i down in that determined manner it is "attracting such vast crowds to Bur­ lington house.' " , . "I am astonished with the success the picture has met with, though I felt it was the best bit of work I've ever done," rejoined the artist. "While it was in progress it enchanted me so much that it grew as though painted by divine hands. And when in its presence^ the genius .jf painting al­ ways appeared to guide my brush In1 .whatever work I was engaged. I begin a new picture to-morrow." . „ "I shouldn't, old fellow; why not take a gpod rest?" suggested, the other. '"Then you will have redoubled/zest for your work." "Yes, I think, you're right"' said Hardy,.after a pause; "I'm feeling a bit seedy, and 1 can" now run to it, espe­ cially after this," and he < threw the letter containing the check across the table to Iris friend. ' "It's all right so far as it goes, but you. might get four times that sum for tin* picture before .the academy closes," was his comment. "Your pa­ tron, however, is worth cultivating-- a south African millionaire baronet." "Indeed, but I must acecept his bid- money and I have long been anything but intimate acquaintances, and now it's inclined to be chummy I mustn't say it nay," laughed the artist. "What should I say to this, chappie?", he went on. passing the other letter. "That you will accept the commis­ sion. if lie can wait--as you are going away for a month--those are your orders," said the critic, returning the letters. "I'm going to rest myself, and shall take you off with me to Paris for a mouth." Having agreed to go by the express from Charing Cross the following night, they parted till then; the jour­ nalist to finish his article and the paint­ er to answer his two correspondents. III. It, would surpass the wit of man to imagine a more miserable morning. All night long the wind had blown brought "the dawn of love" to her soul. After much persuasion the painter agreed to submit "The Dawn of Love" to Burlington house, and they proceed­ ed to pack the precious' work of art. A few hours later they personally de­ livered it at the Mecca of the knights of the palette and the brush. * * * * * May had again dawned on a waiting and thankful world, and all who were conspicuous in the worlds of beauty, brains and business crowded the gal­ leries of the Royal Academy at the "private view." Progress amid such a throng became nigh, impossible, and ever and anon one came across a block, round some particular exhibit, so that for several minutes all movement was completely stopped. "Halloa, Hardy!" exclaimed Alfred Moore, who just then ran against the artist meandenag through the show­ rooms, "you're the luckiest dog alive! You and your picture are the one theme of art talk. I. got the merest peep at your gem awhile back, but it was so hotly besieged that I was forced to retreat." , "I never dreamed there existed such enthusiasm for art," murmured the painter, now evidently much excited. "Surely it is phenomenal." "Not more so than the phenomenai nature of the work demands." re­ sponded the other. "It's most for­ tunate that your personality is un­ known; otherwise you would almost be mobbed and killed by kindness - one of the penalties of success." "Jingo! it's hot in here," exclaimed Hardy, wiping his forehead. "We'll lunch at the Cafe Royal on the strength of what the gods have sent tae--fame, aud perhaps fortune." And they left the Temple of Art for the more prosaic surroundings of the restaurant II. "Inclosed I beg to hand you check for £500, at the request of the purchas­ er, in payment for your painting, "The Dawn of Love.' " * So ran the formal letter from the secretary of the acad­ emy, and as he read it the young ar­ tist's heart beat wildly with legitimate pride. "At last," he cried, "I have got over the barrier that ever has to be climbed ere genius receives its due acknowl­ edgment. But who's my patron?" and lie took up the cheque; it was signed "Henry Greet." "Don't know the gen­ tleman," continued Hardy, pouring out his second cup of coffee. Then he read his other correspond­ ence--an offer of £1,000 for his next picture, and three letters from "deal­ ers" anxious to be his middlemen. The latter epistles he cast on one side, re­ serving the others for replies. Break­ fast over, Hardy thought he would look Moore Up, so. lighting a cigar and putting the two letters in his pocket, be set out for his friend's chambers In the Temple. The journalist was writing an article on "Pictures and Paiuters of the Pe­ riod" for the Week, a high-class pa­ per, whose opinions were much prized by people of light and leading. Moore looked up smiling as the painter en­ tered the sanctum. "Just the man I wanted to see," said he, putting down his pen; "what do you think of this?" and forthwith read: .* I "'The present exhibition of the Roy­ al academy will ever stand out. promi­ nently in the annals of British art as the one that introduced to the world the greatest painter of genius since-Sir Joshua Reynolds finally laid down his y brush. This is no mere "high-falutin," • but is simply placing fon record the consensus of opinion of the most com­ petent judges in artistic circles-*-the academicians themselves. We refer 1 to Edward Hardy, whose "Dawn of Esove" has made such a sensationf-and™ assumes when it intends to continue all day. As the miserable hours of daylight waned the gale was still undiminished, and as our travelers turned Strand- ward they thought the cab must be blown into nothingness; however, it remained intact, and they were soon racing toward the sea in the express. As they approached Dover the rain ceased and the wind dropped consider­ ably, but there was still enough left to indicate a rough passage. They were soon moving toward the gangway to board the steamer. The journalist was descending and the ar­ tist about to follow, when a sudden blow in the back sent him almost off his legs. Hastily looking around, he was surprised to see a young lady sitting in the middle of the gangway, and he at once assisted her up. "May I offer you my arm?" he asked. "Thank you; I must accept, else I shall never reach the boat." They were soon on board, and the lady sought the saloon. The artist and his friend paced the deck during the passage, and as the wind dropped the moon rose and the stars came out. So enjoyable became the scene that they were sorry when they arrived at Calais. It was not till Paris was reached that Hardy again spoke to his fair assailant. As they were exchanging cards she suddenly exclaimed: "Oh, there's my father--I must intro­ duce you." At that instant a tall, el­ derly, jovial-looking man came up and was introduced as Sir Henry Greet, I and the daughter told how Hardy had saved her from what might have been a nasty accident. "It is an unexpected pleas1 re to meet such a famous artist," said the baron­ et. "You and your friend must dine with us to-night--we are at the Hotel de l'Athenee, Rue Scribe." The dinner was a jolly affair, and at its conclusion they separated with buoyant spirits. Especially "was this the-case with Hardy, upon whom Miss Greet had made a deep impression. During the next few days they met repeatedly, and ere long their friend­ ship ripened into something which the artist concluded must be love. They visited the salon together, and did all the sights in each other's society --had eyes and ears for nothing else but their individual selves. When the artist and the journalist left the gay city the latter took it as a matter of course when he was told that the for mer was engaged to Miss Greet. The baronet and his family were to stay an­ other month in Paris. IV. Hardy had just finished his morning pipe and was selecting a subject suit­ able for the commission he had to exe­ cute. His mind was brimful of ideas for paintings, so that it was no easy task to make a choice. At length he decided that the work should be called "Beside Still Waters"--a lady strolling in the twilight by a quiet stream, read iug a letter from her lover. "Now, Miss Nash, if you please, we will begin," he said to his model, and placed her in the desired position. Then the artist took up bis palette and brush and seated himself in front of the blank canvas. Then it was that his eyes missed a well-known sight, and they glared around the studio in bewilderment. With .an effort and a sigh he pulled himself to getber and settled down to work. Dipping the brush in the color, he lifted it to .the canvas and--made nothing but a smear upon the sheet. Again and again he essayed to bring back his departed talent, but in vain. With intense and unutterable horror, it dawned upon him that his artistic genius had been but an intellectual will-o'-the-wisp. No sound 'escaped from him; he was as one transfixed, staring, with wide-open eyes at the canvas bespattered with daubs, with-; out fona attfl voia, &nd^j!teon to tfire blank wall beyond bis easel. ' All the time the model had been an astonished witness of.this remarkable scene, but as the brush fell from Hardy's grasp, and, sinking upon a chair, he covered his face with bis hands, in abject misery, she rushed up to him. "Are you ill, Mr. Hardy ?" she asked breathlessly. - "Oh, it's nothing--only--only I can't paint--all conception of how to do it has completely gone--like a frightful dream when one awakes. It's awful!" And an eternal darkness seemed to gather over his very being. Just then there was a knock at the "door and the baronet and his daughter were ushered in. They, were deeply concerned at the phenomenon that had occurred to the artist: -* "Now, you and jlary" must inarry, and then possibly," the baronet said, laughing, "your intellectual blight will disappear. You'll be all right financial­ ly; I've arranged that part of the busi­ ness, so it won't matter if you never paint again." ' ' A fortnight later the wedding took place; Hardy was too occupied to dwell on his lost genius. Three days only remained of theft- honeymoon in Scot­ land when a telegram • arrived, an­ nouncing that Sir Henry Greet had died suddenly from paralysis. So, with heavy hearts, the young couple at onc§. returned to London.^ ? y, • • Six mouths had gone- since the wed­ ding,, and the painter and his wife were' living in ,the late baronet's house. in Grosvenor square, which, along with all the other. property of the dead man. had been left to them. But Hardy still hankered after his lost art and continued to rent his old stu­ dio. One morning he and Moore were smoking in the familiar room; every­ thing had been kept exactly as on the day when the artist's genius left him, "Alfred," said Hardy, "I've a strange fancy; if 'The Dawn of Love' were placed again on the wall beyond the easel, I think I could paint a little. Let's act upon the idea." A couple of hours afterward the fa­ mous picture was in its old position. Hardy sat before a clean canvas. The model posed for "Beside the Waters," aud after a steadfast look at "The Dawn of Love," the artist began opera­ tions. To his great surprise the old skill came back to him as quickly as thought, and with such a power as he had never known before, and once more the glow of inspiration shone in his eyes. At the next exhibition of the Royal Academy "Beside Still Waters" was even more popular than the celebrat­ ed "Dawn of Love." *** DUMAS, FATHER AND SON. The Latter Was' Made,. Legitimate When-Jlis Mother Was Dying, Dumas does not seem at any time to have thought seriously of matrimony. Perhaps, had the Rouenntilse seam­ stress been free to marry him, his rela­ tions with her would have been legal­ ized, and the current of his life would have run in a less zigzag channel. She was a person of rare constancy of pur­ pose and dignity of character, living always by her work, and carefully watching over her son. When she and Dumas quarreled, the filiation of the younger Alexandre was "recognized" by the elder, a legal formality which gave him paternal rights and enabled the father to take him from his mother and place him as a boarder In the Col­ lege Chaptal. But as the father's anger was evanescent and his heart "soft and righteous, the maternal claims were not long denied. The woman urging them sought and obtained, to be near her child, the direction of the linen and the shirt-mending department in th.e college, and not only lived on her sal­ ary. but made provision to help her son forward when he grew up, and for her own old age. The son cherished her in her lift and revered her memory. " As he married a Russian lady of liigli rank, his moth­ er would not live with him when he was rich and renowned until she. felt- she was dying-. This was in 1808. The prodigal father, who iiardly deserved, the name,.of Dumas pore, was then broken in health and falling into the state of permanent somnolency which took hold of .him before his death. His daughter, Mine. Petel, with impulsive generosity, asked him to make her lialf- brother legitimate by marrying his mother in extremis, and this he did.-- Century. Ever afterward Edward Hardy's ge­ nius for painting was marvelous when "The Dawn of Love" was before him, but uuless in the presence of this talis­ man he had not the remotest notion of his art. Cases are on record Where by sheer force of will painters have given to their brain creations-^the figures in their pictures--the power of hyp­ notizing their authors, the artists them­ selves. Hence it has now and again arisen that a painter has only been able to work at all while in view of one of his masterpieces. And thus it was with Hardy and his "Dawn of Love." The magic influence of a product of the intellect, as our story shows, is but an indication that there is a genius and an inspiration imparted to some by ways that we cannot fathom, but which are the inscrutable designs of the being beauteous.--London Tit-Bits. "The Old Man." Were I the head of a large concern, or the responsible executive officer of a great corporation, whether my age were 21 or 72, I should want all of my employes, or subordinates to call, me "The Old Man." Not, of course, to my face, or when they were addressing me, but among themselves, or when they spoke of me to their friends. .. "His Majesty," "His Royal High­ ness," "His Excellency," and the like, all indicate that the persons to whom they are applied possess power; but in 1 this commercially democratic age and country, the one appellation of undis­ puted autocracy is "The Old Man." Applied to the head of a concern, it frequently indicates love, generally re­ spect, and always complete submission to authority. It is as free from any suggestion of age as is "reverend." It is never given when there is a question of authority, or a smoldering rebellion against it. When "The Old Man" says a thing, that settles it; there are no questions to be asked; there is no comment to be made. When "The Old Man'" does something, or fails to do something, there is no criticism to be indulged in. "The Old man" is the one person about the establishment wbois absolute­ ly his own master; whose coming in aud going out are unhampered; whose encouraging word carries real weight, and whose reprimand indicates real danger; to whom "sir" is a' right and not a courtesy. Long live "The Old Man!" And when, through his half closed! private office door, he hears the boys term him thus kindly, let him congratulate himself that loyalty is in his service and that he has attained the acme of dignity.-- Truth. THE LOCAL ELECTIONS TOWNS AND CITIES IN SEVERAL STATES ELECT OFFICERS. tines. •Drown on Local Issues--Re­ publicans Carry Milwaukee by Re­ duced Majority--License Men Win in Many Wisconsin Towns. This Was a Good One. "Did I tell you the latest bright thing my little boy got off?" asked McBride, as he joined a group of friends at the club. "Yes, you did," replied all, in con­ cert, with discouraging unanimity. "That's where I caught you," retort­ ed McBride, "for it only happened last evening, and I haven't seen a soul of you fellows since. Besides, this was really a good one." "They you haven't told it to us," re plied Ivilduff, speaking for the crowd. Go on." "Yes, tell us quickly," added Skid- more, "and let's have the agony over." Thus encouraged, McBride began: "You know, boys, little people have sharp ears, and they are not at all back­ ward about telling any little scraps of information they pick up. This pecu­ liarity has led a good many parents to resort to spelling words fcrben their young children are present. Of course that sort of thing is of no avail after the youngsters learn to spe}l. Well, Mrs. McBride and I are in the spelling stage now, and little Freddy is often very much mystified by our remarks to each other. Last night we had our new minister to dinner, and Freddy watch­ ed the good man helping himself very liberally to biscuit. He thought it a good opportunity to put into us the family verbal cipher, feeling perfectly certain that the minister would find it unintelligible. So he called out .'Mam ma!' 'What Is It, Freddy?' asked my wife. 'Mamma, isn't the m-i-n-i-s-t-e-r a p-i-g?' spelled out Freddy, triumphant­ ly." The fellows had to admit that this story about McBride's boy was a good one. Napoleon and Ancient Nobility. Of the ancient nobility the Emperor once said with a sneer: "I offered them rank in my army; they declined the service. I opened my antechambers to them; they rushed in and filled them." To this sweeping statement there were many noteworthy exceptions, but on the whole Napoleon never classed the estate of the French nobles lower'than- they deserved. Still they had a power which he recognized, and it was with a sort of grim humor that he began to distribute honors and the sops of pat­ ronage among both the old .and the new aristocracy--a process which only made the latter independent and failed to win the affections of the former,-- Century. ' _» Ella--"Maud is going to the masque in the character of 'Night.' " Stella-- 'It will be another case ®f making night hideous."--Cincinnati Enquirer. The great grief at forty is the dis­ covery that eye-glasses are not becom­ ing. The Marriageable Age. In many ways the girls of 18 are more fit to marry than they were in our grandmother's time, and yet observa­ tion tells us without question that the age at which girls marry now is ad­ vanced by several years beyond that of one hundred years ago. The early marriages of the past have been of no benefit to the present race, and we are showing wisdom in our gen­ eration in setting the clock of time back a few years. For one thing only are early mar­ riages desirable, aud even this result does not always accrue by any means. We mean the possibility of the couple growing more closely together in tastes and fancies if these are matured after marriage. It is not considered desirable than the woman should be the elder of the parties to the contract. But even this objection is being lessened as years go by, for the woman of 40 now is no older than the woman of 25 was fifty years ago. Nevertheless it is well that there should be the advantage of age upon the husband's side. If a man does not marry until after he is 35 it is better that there should be a decided dis parity of age between them, as he will be so set in his ways that the wife will be obliged to yield deference to his wishes at every point. A woman who is also set in her ways will not be likely to do this. When there is a very great disparity in the ages, as is seen quite frequently, the wonder is that the young girls can be party to such con­ tracts, though it is very wise for the man when he at 00 marries a girl of 20. A woman of suitable age wouldn't put up with his almost certain cranki ness.--Philadelphia Call. Battle of Little Ballots.„ Municipal elections were held Tuesday In Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Kansas, ̂ Nebraska and Missouri. In the city of Chicago about 00 per cent of the total vote was polled. In tlhe alde^nianic elections party lines were generally dis­ regarded. A bitter fight was waged to prevent the re-election of boodle alder­ men, and regardless of party the Civic Federation and the Municipal Voters' League indorsed thirty-three men, candi­ dates in twenty-seven wards. Of these, twenty-two were elected. There now re­ main in the Council, of men who. are known to be thieves and boodlers, only twenty-seven, of whom all but five are hold-overs. The entire Council numbers sixty-eight, so for the first time in many years Chicago has a Board of Aldermen tfhe majority of whom are believed to.be honest.'- Spri.jagfie3d Republicans' elected six out of, seven aldermen, and" in the township, elections throughout. Sangamon .County the 1'tepub'liVans • retained their majority hi County Boards of Superyis; ors. - v" , -In Milwaukee ail of tiie candidates on the Republican city ticket, were elected, but the. Democrats! made large gains. The most uoticeiible- feature of the election, „whidi passed off quietly, was the heavy Populist vote which was cast. Eighty- seven precincts s'libw 0,010 votes for Henry Smith, the Populist candidate for Mayor. This is double the total vote cast by the party two years ago. In the State at large R. D. Marshal is re-ejected asso­ ciate justice of the Supreme Court. Contests in Minnesota towns in most cases were purely local, with little politics in them. However, there were in some cases other interests. Fair.bault elected P. F. Ruge„ Democrat, Mayor, and near­ ly the entire Democratic ticket, being the first time they have done so for many years. At Anoka, C. T. Woodbury, with­ out his own knowledge or consent, was put up to run independently against tihe regular Republican nominee and Wood­ bury was elected. In the Long Island town elections there was great interest in the liquor question, ,.as all of the towns voted on the optional Clause in the Raines law. The party re­ sult was even up. Queens County was carried by the Democrats; Suffolk County by Republicans. There are no longer town elections in Kings, all being merged in Brooklyn. License carried the day ev­ erywhere. The new Board of Supervisors in Queens County will be five Democrats to two Republicans. The Democratic ticket was successful at Newtown, the vote completely reversing the order of things of the election last year. Returns from tihe elections in cities of the first and second class in Kansas show little of general political interest. Repub­ lican tickets were pir vip generally and carried with little opposition, but citizens' tickets, based solely on municipal ques­ tions, were ably supported, and won in a dozen cases. In most of the cities and towns of Colo­ rado, aside from Denver and Pueblo, elec­ tions were held. The contests were en­ tirely on local issues. In many of the smaller towns the liquor question was the one at issue, and almost invariably the temperance element won. The women were well represented at the polls every­ where. Throughout Missouri party lines were not closely drawn, but in a majority 'of cities where such was the case the Demo­ crats elected tihe whole or the greater part of their tickets. The Democrats car­ ried Cuba, Bismarck, Marshfield, Hig- ginsville, Monroe City and Nevada. The result was mixed1 at WTellsville, Golden City and Clinton. Non-partisan tickets were in the field at Slater and Holden. In Fayette the citizens' ticket was victori­ ous. Carthage was carried by the Re­ publicans. In tihe Nebraska municipal elections a heavy vote was polled. A general dis­ position was manifested to disregard par­ ty lines. The issue was high license, and in a majority of cases was carried. The Democrats were successful in all townships in Arkansas save Newport and Jonesboro, where the Republicans elected their tickets* PLAQUE 0^ RATS AND MICE, Russian Provinces Overrun with the Pests and Crops Destroyed* Such a plague as civilized man never experienced has, during the p&st two years and a half, afflicted the people of certain provinces of Russia. It is a plague of rats and mice. It has caused tremendous damage to property, and, In some instances, endangered the lives of the people. So 'abnormal has been;the increase of the pestiferous rodents In certain localiaties in the agricultural districts that the afflicted provinces have literally been swept clean of grain in both field and granary. Having de­ stroyed the crops, the little animals have invaded dwelling houses and, in scores of cases, ruined them as places of abode. Heroic measures were adopt­ ed by the inhabitants to rid themselves of the plagues. Colonies of cats and terrier dogs were imported into the dis­ tricts, but after a little while neither the cats nor the dogs would pay the slightest attention to the rodents. The government was tlven appealed to by the suffering people and resource was had to scientific means of ridding the country of the mice. Eminent bacteri­ ologists were employed by the govern­ ment to devise plans to inoculate the rodents with infectious disease, and so successful were they that the rats and juice died by the million. By this means the plague was practically stamped out early last summer. The riumerous'stories related by Con­ sul Heenan of how and why, in the opinion of the people, the army of rodents swarmed over the fields, coun­ try houses and village dwellings; the indifference to their presence shown by both cats and dogs, and the absolute refusal of the cats and dogs to molest the rodents would form a chapter more sentimental perhaps than instructive. The peasantry believe that the mice undertake extensive migrations en masse under foreboding of impending failure of crops in those localities where the mice originated. Consul Heenan says that millions of the animals were drowned In the wells and rivers, and that, therefore, the pop­ ulation of the afflicted localities was obliged to discontinue'the use of water from the wells, and to abstain from fish, particularly pike, as food, because it was discovered that they contained mice.--Cleveland Leader. ntffflUMa A TEXAS GIRL'S PLIGHT. Told by the Hotel Clerk. Nearly every one now knows how the incandescent lamp is operated, but still we meet, with some fuuny instan ces of ignorance. Not long ago a wom­ an came to the house who was in the habit of sleeping with a dim light in her room, and the electric, light both­ ered her. She either had to let it burn brightly, or else turn it off altogether. Finally she hit upon the idea of wrap­ ping a towel around it. Then she be­ gan to question whether the towel would catch .fire. Then she adopted the happy expedient of wetting the towel. Thiit was the worst thing that she could do. She soon dropped asleep and of course the towel began to buru. A blazing piece dropped on the cur­ tains, and soon the whole room was afire. She was very much frightened, and the contents of the chamber were ruined. The building is fire-proof, so we escaped a conflagration. She Has a Grafted Ear that Will Not Stop Growing. There is in Chicago at the present time a young lady being treated by a surgeon Whose case is one of the strangest, as it lis the only one of its kind on record. The young lady is Miss Zury Knox, and she is the daughter of a prominent citizen of Yoakum County, Texas. She is a most beautiful girl of perfect figure, a brilliant conversationalist, a proficient musician and an artist of no mean ability. When 7 years of age Miss Knox was thrown from a pony in such a manner as to pull off tihe upper portion of her right ear. The remainder of the ear was so badly lacerated that most of it was cut away by a surgeon in, Dallas. She had only a small amount of her ear left, which soon healed up, and she was able to cover the disfigurement witfh "her hair. She paid no particular attention to the organ, as the hearing was but slightly affected, up to one year ago. Then she met a young lady from Chicago who advised her to consult a surgeon, who, she believed, could replace the missing ear by a graft­ ing process. Miss Knox accepted her friend's advice, went to Chicago and re­ turned home with an ear wMdh, while not nearfy so pink and daiinty as its mate, served the purpose well enougih. Shortly after she got home the ear be­ gan to grow and it has been growing ever since. It does not grow in any one par­ ticular way, but shoots out in every con­ ceivable manner. One who saw it a few days ago says it looks like a slice of dried apple about as big as John L. Sullivan's hand. A peculiar feature of the ear is that she can hear sounds wdtih it ..that are totally undistinguishable to other persons. There is a continual roar in the ear "like the .screeching of a thousand steamboat Whistles," as she describes it, and the young lady was obliged to have her room in her Texas home padded dn order to keep out the-slightest noise, which was magnified 1,000 tmes through the grafted ear. At last she could stand it no longer and set out for Chicago to have it either repaired or cut off. Then and Now. They lingered at the gate until he Could finish that last remark, and she toyed with her fan while her eyes were looking down from beneath a. jaunty hat that only partially snaded her face from the light of the silvery moon. He ©took gracefully on 'the outside, with one hand resting on the gate post and the other tracing unintelligible hiero­ glyphics on the panels. They were look­ ing very sentimental, and neither spoke for some minutes, until she broke the silence in a sweet, musical voice: "And you will always think as you do now, George?" "Ever,, dearest; your image is im­ pressed upon my heart so indelibly that jiothlng can ever efface it. Tell me, Julia, loveliest of your sex, that I have a right to wear it there." "Oh, you men are so deceitful!" she answered, coquettislily. "True, Julia, men are deceitful," he said, drawing a little nearer to her and Insinuating himself inside the gate, "but who. darling, could deceive you?" "And. if I were to die, George, wouldn't you find someone else you could love as well?" "Never, never! No one could ever fill your place in my heart." "Oh, quit now! That ain't right!" she murmured as she made a feint to remove his arm from t-ound her waist. "Let me hold you fc my heart," he whispered passionately, "until you have consented to be mine," and he drew her nearer to him and held her tightly until he had obtained the covet­ ed boon. It seems but yesterday since our weary footsteps interrupted that touch­ ing little scene, but, when we passed near the same locality at an early hour yesterday morning, ere the moon and stars had paled, and heard a gentle voice exclaim: "No, sir; you stayed out this long, and you might just as well make a night of it! I'll teach you to stay at the lodge until three o'clock in the morning, and then come fooling around my door to worry me and wake the baby! Now take that and sleep on it!" It seemed but yesterday, that little scene at the gate, but, when we acci­ dentally became a witness to this latter scene, we remembered it had been longer. LLA PALMER would laugh If one called her a heroine^ by," she said in telling her story, "I had to do it and I was awfully- frightened." But that's just the way with people who do really brave acts--often they don't sseem to know i^at they are he­ roes. Ella lives on a little farm in Wiscon­ sin. Her father bought the place only last summer, aud took his family there to make a home. Everything was in good repair except the well back of the woodshed, which had for some reason run dry. So for the first month or two Ella had.to carry all the water used, in cooking from the Perkins house, across the road. Mr. Palmer kept saying that he'd have to "get after that well," and Ella wished from the bottom of her heart that he would., i And one day he did. Shovels and spades and.buckets were brought and a long rope was attached to the pulley that squealed from ;the top .of the old well house. •' When everything wa s ready Mr. Palmer took hold of the rope with Ms hands and the hired man and Mrs. Palmer and Ella let him slowly down between the mossy curbings. But Mr. Palmer didn't know that the well was already occupied. If he had he would never have gone down. For at the dry bottom lurked the shadowy choke-damp waiting to strangle out his breath and smother him. Miners and well-diggers all know the ehoke-damp. It is a deadly gas that gathers in low plaees and a man who sinks into it soon suffocates. Sometimes it explodesv blowing a mine to pieces and killing many persons. It is the terror of the mines. Mr. Palmer didn't know about the choke-damp until it had clapped its- damp hand over his mouth. And1 when lie tried to shout his throat only gur­ gled. Then his fingers loosened, slip­ ped and down he went to the bottom in heap. Whon-tbe rope slackened Pete, the hired man, and Mrs. Palmer and Ella looked dbwn and called. But there was no answer. Then: Pete sniff­ ed and said something to Mrs. Palmet that made her throw up her hands and cry out loud. "Can't papa get out?" asked Ella with big eyes--for she didn't know the ways of the clioke-dhmp. The girl's ruddy face grew white and she peered down into the well. "No," answered Pete. "I'm going down after him," she said. And all they could do would not pre­ vent hor. So Peter tied the rope around her slim waist and gave her another rope to take with her. "Hoi' yer breath an' be quick," he called,, as Ella disappeared. Down, down she went until she could feel the "terror of the mines" at her throat. Then she shut her mouth tight, kneeled at her father's side and tied the ope about his body. And when it was done she hardly had the strength to give the signal to heave away. Then >ete and Mrs. Palmer pulled, for their lives and a limp and unconscious little girl was swung to the top. Without \vaiting to revive her they pulled on the other rope and brought Mr. Palmer up. Ella soon opened her eyes, but it was a long time after the doctor came and Mrs. Palmer was almost hopeless that Mr. Palmer opened his. And when the neighbors came and crowded around tearful Ella and called her a brave girl, and when Mr. Palmer patter her on her head and called her his little heroine, Ella only said: "Why, I had to do>it, and* I was aw­ fully frightened." And to this day I don't believe Ella knows that she is a heroine. He Had Been. Miss Gush--Oh, captain, were you ever boarded by a pirate? Captain Storms--Yes. lie charged me $11 a day for a hair room on the fourth floor.--Indianapolis Journal. Wherever a man goes, he -will make tracks, and other people will see them. The rear portion of the Tenth Street Methodist Episcopal Ghurdh at Omaha dropped a couple of feet while services were in progress. The church was crowd­ ed and for a time a fearful panic seemed imminent, ©specially as the stoves were on that part o'fthe floor that was sinking. No one was injured, though there was screaming for several minutes. Dr. Montague, the Canadian minister of agriculture, had a protracted confer ence at London with Walter Lorig, presi debt of the Board of Agriculture, in re­ gard to the latter's. bill providing for the permanent exclusion of foreign cattle from Great Britain. ° Population in London and New York. The density of population in this London area was 373 persons to the acre, against 168 persons to the acre In the whole of Bethnal Green. There are three wards in New York city more densely populated. Of them the Tenth Ward shows a density of mote than 021. This is in a large measure due to the greater height of the New York buildings; but covering as they do in some especially bad blocks, al­ most, if not quite, as large a propor tion of the ground area as those de­ stroyed in London,. Et is not likely that their upper stories get more light and air than the two stories which made up the London rookeries, and if is like ly that their lower stories get a great deal less.--Century. How Electricity Kills. Death from electric shock is entirely due to the fact that the current pro­ duces a contraction of the arteries through an influence on the nervous system, and this constriction of the ar teries causes a mechanical imped! ment to the flow of the blood which the heart is unable to overcome. Where nitro-glycerine or nitrite of amyl is given to counteract this effect, much larger quantities of electricity can be borne. While artificial respiration is often of great value in mild cases when very large quantities of current pass, no rational means of resusclta tion have as yet been satisfactorily proven in a number of cases. He Wouldn't Do. Baron Alderson once released from his duties a juror who stated that he wi^s deaf In one ear. "You may leave the box," said bis Lordship, "since it is necessary you should hear both sides."--Exchange. Arbitration a Short Cut to Justice; The traveler on the Riviera who ram­ bles over the picturesque promontory of Monaco--that puny principality of less than six.square miles, with a mili­ tary band of 350 musicians and a stand­ ing army of ninety men--is struck wjth. the ludicrousness of finding on its ram­ parts a lot of Spanish cannon of a past age, bearing the inscription, Ultima ratio regum--"The last argument of kings." To a man of reflection, the sen­ timent seems as antiquated as the brass on which, it is engraved. Not that war is a practical impossibility; even, as we write the world seems to be torn anew with wa«s or rumors of wars. The impossibility lies rather in. the revolt of the mind against the retrogression in civilization which is Implied by war, when there' is at hand so potent, so tried, and so. honorable- a substitute as arbitration. With this short cut to justice in mind, it is inconceivable to a civilized man that the laborious achievements of generations of peace should be given to the torch in one mad hour through the revival of the barbarous instincts of fighting. -Cen­ tury. *' • What Are Lake Dwellings. In various parts of the world--in New Guinea and in certain' parts of South America and Africa, for In­ stance--the natives live in houses built upon piles of wood driven into the,, bed of lakes. They We this kind of dwell­ ing either for safety's sake, since they cannot be attacked without due knowledge, or because, the country be­ ing marshy, dry land is not easily to be had for I'^ing purposes. It la curious that vu) remote forefathers in this savage state--before even the records of history began--built unto themselves- similar houses. In their case it was doubtless defence against enemies that led to the construction of such dwellings. • % The little trouble in the world that is not due to love seems to be due to friendship. A French Blessing. Green (to Black, who is preparing for a continental trip)--How do you get on with your language, old fellow? Black--Capitally. Why, I've got so far no£- that I can think in French. Green--Well, that's a blessing, for It's more than you could ever do in English.--Tit-Bits. Most of the "emeralds" girls wear look more like a piece of glass from a beer bottle.