ADDKNBROOKE.
m merer do you wrong for your own iiako.
-All's Well That End Well
Lydia crld not help wondering why
on earth Addcnbrooko should bo bo anx
ious to marry her.
8ho was standing nt tho window, her
eyca mechanically following tho famil
iar, insignificant figure of tho professor
as ho plodded down tho gravel walk to
the gate; and when ho had passed from
view 6hc sat down in tho nearest chair
and continued her reflections. It waa
very strange Sho had no lovo to give
him, and had told him bo, quito frankly;
ho must know, ua every ono know, of
that nii8erablo affair with Lawrcnco
Fleming; waa ho not Fleming's Intirnato
friend, tho last person who had seen him
beforo he went to Africa?
Moreover, her glass had taken to re
flecting a woman who waa sad and palo
and old beforo her tlmo; surely not tho
woman with whom a man would bo ex
pected to wish to begin his life.
When we have becomo to ourselreaa
daily burden it ia bo hard to realizo that
our prononco can bo desired of others.
And yet she I mil been aware of Addcn
brooko's devotion from the days of tho
good but obstinate little boy, with a tasto
for chemical experiments, to those of the
modest young man, who lurked unob
trusively in doorways for tho purpose of
saying good night to her, and was always
at hand to fill up vacancies. She had
been aware of it. but had given it little
heed; now, in her loneliness, her sorrow,
tho thought of that devotion moved her
strangely.
Sho had Been herself drifting on to
middlo age, haggard, loveless, unloved;
tho sorriest of spectacles, tho emotional
woman whoso emotions have wrecked
her. Addenbrookc and Addenbrooko's
lovo Interred themsckves like a shield
between her and her fate.
Sho had given him no answer, but she
know by now what her answer would bo.
Tho door opened, and Mrs. Oroy, her
mother, camo into tho room.
Sho sat down in silence a chill, com
fortless presenco and regarded her
daughter from tho distance.
Thoso two women lived together with
out proflt or pleasuro to either. Mrs.
Orey was capable of making sacrifices,
but sho lacked the priceless gift of homo
making: whilo Lydia. on her part, chafed
beneafli the restrictions of a relationship
in which neither afllnity nor affection
boro a part.
"So it was to bo Johnny Addcnbrooko
after all," reflected Mrs. Oroy; "a Oower
street professor of no particular distinc
tion. Well, Lydia was getting on; and,
if a girl moans to marry, sho had better
manage to do so beforo she Is llvo-and-twenty
Ami there had been nothing, it
Boomed, in that airair with young Flem
ing." Mrs. Grey waa disapointoil. It
is truo that rieming's father kept a glovo
shop in Regent street, whoreas tho Ad
denbrookes had been gentle folks for
generations; but nobody minded that sort
of thing In those days. Lawrence Flem
ing went everywhere, did everything;
his new book from Africa Had made him
moro of a lion than' ever; henco ho was
more to be desired as a husband than poor
Johnny, who went nowhere to speak of.
and did nothing but his work.
Lydia roso slowly and went over to the
writing tablo.
AsHhotook up her pen tho whimsical
thought struck her that, when tho other
children had carried their penco to the
sweet shop, Johnny had always preferred
to invest his capital In mysterious com
pounds at the chemlni s. A faint smile
hovered about her lips as sho wrote.
When the letter was finished, sho laid
her head a moment on tho desk and shut
her eyes. Tho old dream, from which
sho waa turning forever, had rushed
with cruel vividnoss Into her conscious
nesa: Ilelmt illch Qott.cs warm action kowcauo;
iteliut illoh Gott, us but ulclit Hulluii nnln.
She roso, stiff and cold, and wont over
to her mother.
Lydia was a graceful creature, tall.
Blight, faintly colored; some people
thought her beautiful, others could soo
no beauty in her whatever.
"Mamma," sho said in her Rtrango,
pnthotlo voice, "Professor Addcnbrooko
has asked me to marry him, and 1 have
written to Bay 'yes.'"
II.
Addonbrooke waa spending tho oven-1
Ing ns usual with Lydia at St. John's
Wood. They wero alone togother, Mrs.
Groy having discreetly retired to her I
own room, and the talk between them
flowed willi tho ease of intimacy and uf
fectiou. 1
It waa now three weeks sinco their en
gagement, and already something of Ad
denbrooko's calm happiness waa begin
ning to Iw reflected in Lydia's face, Sho
appreciated, what only women can ap
preciate, the consciousness of making
another's happiness by the mcro fact of
her presence That is, I think, n pleas
uro too subtle for the masculino palato.
Now, as sho laid her hand lightly on his.
uho enjoyed, as It were, a reflection of
tho delight which sho know herself to lw
conferring by tho act. j
"Johnny." she said, "will you lot mo'
tell you to-night what I havo always
meant to tell you? about myself and
that other H'rson." Bho llniaheil her
phraso thus vaguoly, not doubting but
that Addcnbrooko had mentally rounded
it oft with greater accuracy; somehow
her lips refused to utter tho namo of
Lawrence Fleming
"My dear," he answered gently, "tell
mo nothing which ditrossos you. 1 don't
want to know. I know you havo been
very unhappy; but one day, 1 nssureyou,
you uro going to bp happier than over." i
Sho smiled hair cadly. "Johnny, let ,
mo toll you. 1 think 1 ought. Tertians,
when you havo hoard, you will want to
go away from mo from a woman who
has boon bo cruelly humiliated." ,
ITo laughed, drawing eloaur to her In ,
tho flro light.
"Slnco that's It, Lydia, pcrlmps you'd
hotter tell mot"
IIo saw that bho would novor iwt till '
sho had disburdened her mind of the old,
unhappy things, about whloh personally
ha had small dosiro to learn.
They wero bo Infinitely touching, these
poor women and their lovo stories; their
anxious interpretation of looks and words
and smiles, their pathetic, careful gather
ing up of crumba bo carelessly scattered.
So Lydia, with half averted face, be
gan her story in tho strange, uncertain
voice which, from his boyhood upward,
had had power to thrill John Addcn
brooko to tho inmost depths of his being.
"It is nearly a year ago," she began,
"at tho Meudc3' place In Warwickshire.
I arrived on March 28, and stayed a
week. It lcgan from tho beginning.
When I walked into tho drawing room,
whero he was standing by the tea tablo,
It seemed that I had walked Into a new
and strange and wonderful world. I
lived In that world for a week, and it waa
hko a lifetime. Looking back, it aston
ishes mo how every one else at onco ac
cepted tho situation Then I no moro
questioned it than I quehtion tho rising
of tho sun. The day came when I was
to go, and he had wild nothing deflnito
to ma 1, living in my fool's paradlso,
was neither surprised nor afraid. At
last, an hour before I left, ho took mo In
his anus, yes. Johnny, yes lie took mo
in his arms and kissed my lips, and told
me that he would follow mo tho next
day "
"That's enough," said Addcnbrooko,
In a low voieo; "lie was a bruto. Lot ua
hear no more about him."
"There is no more to hear," sho an
swered with bitterness; "that la tho end
of my story A week later I heard ho
had gone abroad."
Addenbrooko put his arm about Lydia
and, drawing her head to his shoulder,
stroked her hair backward and forward
with his kind hand.
Her recital had pained him. II o know
tho pcrfldity of his sex, but this particu
lar offender had gone beyond all recog
nized limits; limits which, In his own
person, Johnny had always refused to
recognize. Tho thought of tho misery
inflicted on his proud, sensitive, passion
ato Lydia made him sick with nngerand
speechless with sympathy Ho roso at
last and, lemoning up his coat, tried to
speak in tones of reassuring cheerfulness.
"By tho by, Lydia, Fleming has como
back. You remember Lawrcnco Flem
ing? They aro making quito a lion of
him on account of his new book, Ho'a
just tho sort of man to enjoy being lion
ized." Lydia looked at him, speechless, and
ho went on:
"I expect that ho will bo turning upnt
my rooms in tho courso of a day or two.
IIo left a portmanteau with my landlady
before ho sailed. Good night, my own
dear girl." And ho held out both his
hands.
Lydia looked at him sharply and with
rising vexation.
Sho had found out long ago that sul
tlo hints wero quito thrown away upon
Johnny: but surely, surely ho must
know tho truth.
Either ho waa tho most consummate
actor or tho densest person living.
It was impossible to entertain serious
ly the idea of Addenbrooko as a consum
mate actor.
, III.
Addcnbrooko hail rooms in Gowcr
street; a sitting room and a bedroom, di
vided by folding doors. Tho whole
apartment had begun life na what houso
agents call a spacious doublo drawing
room, and bore yet tho murks of its
j former stato of existenco.
I Tho mantelpiece, which now support
ed a host of bottles, variously shaped
and filled, was of white marble, heavily
carved summoned up to tho imagina
tive mind visions of gilt clocks und can
dlesticks under glass shades.
Tho walls, hung with wliito watered
paper, wero divided into panels by Btrips
of gold leading, and from tho ceiling a
shrouded chandelier depended from a
twelfth cake like decoration in white
and gold plaster.
Addenbrooko had drawn his writing
table, with tho lamp on it, closo to the
fire, and had settled down to n long
night's work. It was tho evening fol
lowing Lydia'a confession, and ho was
too busy to get up to St. John's Wood
IIo sighed nt tho thought of this, then
plunged Into tho pile of papers, which
not only covered tho tablo, but over
flowed into soveral neighboring chairs.
IIo had not been long nt work when
tho door was flung open, and a man en
tered tho room.
"Still in theso gilded halls, Johnny!"
oald a voice, which was not quito so
drawling nor so full of quiet humor as
tho BH?aker seemed to intend.
"Fleming, by all that's wonderful!"
cried Addenbrooko, rising with extended
hand.
Tho now comer was a largo, heavily
built young man, with dark hair, and a
complexion, originally florid, burutcrim
son by tho African mm.
IIo waa distinctly handsomo, though
tho lower part of the faco was a trifle
heavy, and there waa a lack of finish
about tho ears and nostrils.
"Sit down," Hind Addenbrooko, clear
ing a chair, and resuming his own seat.
"Examinations, ughl" Fleming flicked
with his largo linger nt tho papers on tho
desk. "If It's not your own exams., it's
other people's, jwor old Johnnyl"
Fleming had the greatest contempt for
examinations, In which, indeed, ho had
conspicuously failed to distinguish him
self; tho less brilliant Addenbrooko hav
ing a commonplace knack of getting into
tho first class, which Is often the way
with your dull, plodding fellows,
Theso two men had I hush friends, after
n fashion, since their llrst term nt the
unlverbity. in those days Fleming had
boon a raw, unhappy, hclf conscious
young man, subject to miserable, hideous
fits of BhyneM. and secretly ashamed of
tho internal glovo shop.
Now, H!t haps. ho waa loo fond of talk
Ing about the glovo nhop; of drawing jo
cose comparisons between himself and a
well known glover's bon of Stratford-on-Avon;
and the only remaining mark ol
liw shyness was aoertaln emphasis of sell
confldouoe. Addeiibrooko's affection Tot
him was rather a Mirvival fromcarliui
days than anything else, though Johnny
it must bo owned, wan uncritical, and,
Uko muny HirMin. Impose! u far Ub no
wro standard of conduct on hb friend
tlian on himself. ' i
"Where do you hang out?" asked Ad
denbrooko, gathering together tho de
spised examination papers.
I "I have been down at Twickenham ,
with my people. Can't stand much of
that, you know. I am looking out for
chambers somewhere Bond street way; '
and Mrs. Baxter is going to put me up
hero for a night or two."
I "Oh, good. You know Mrs. Baxter
has that portmanteau of yours?"
I "Yes; she's fetching it now, I bclievo,
from tho lumber room. Thero aro some
papers in it 1 want to look at to-night."
' Flomlng leaned back in his chair, his
eyelids drooping moodily, as thoy had a
trick of doing; then ho 6aid discon- .
tentcdlyt
"Haven't you got anything to tell a
fellow? You London people uro all tho
samo. Ono goes away and lives what
seems a lifetime it's so cram full of ex- ,
perlonco and when ono geta bock, not
a soul remembers if it waa lost week or
lost year they met you at tho Jcnkinsons'
dinner party."
"From what I hear! you'vo no cause to
complain, Fleming."
"Oh, of courso, ono's pestered with
Invitations from a lot of silly women
ono nover heard of!" grumbled tho new
lion; "but Isn't thero anything In tho
shape of nnwsr
"Well," Bald Addcnbrooko, slowly,
"thero la ono piece of news, but 1 don't
know that It's interesting. I am thinking
of getting married."
Addenbrooko had nover been a ehy
man; ho was only very modest, and ho
had not accustomed his friends to tako
an Interest in his affairs.
Fleming opened his eyes full and stared
his friend in tho faco. Thero was always
something startling In his nppearanco
under theso circumstances; perhaps bo
causo hia oyea wero bo rarely shown
perhaps becauso of Bomo quality in tho
eyes themselves. Thoy wero curiously
bright and very brown not a black
manquo, but a beautiful, unusual brown.
Looking nt them, it was easier to real
ize tho power, bucIi as It was, which
Lawrcnco Fleming possessed over his
follow creatures.
"Addenbrooko," ho said, leaning for
ward and speaking with sudden in
tensity, "op you valuo your pcaco of
mind, havo nothing to do with women!"
Ho flung himself back, laughing a lit
tlo, and letting fall his eyelids. In a few
minutes ho burst into n fierco tirado
against tho wholo female sex, taking Ad
denbrooko's announcement merely as a
text.
Even Johnny was disappointed at this
lack of interest on the part of his friend,
but remembered having heard that Law
rcnco had been hard hit beforo ho went
to Africa that nothing less, indeed, than
n broken heart hud sent him forth to
thoso distant shores.
Then, beforo Addenbrooko know what
was happening, Fleming plunged into
tho very heart of his own particular
grievance
"It waa last year," ho said, "at a coun
try houso. It began from tho moment
sho camo Into tho room. I don't pretend
that sho waa tho first; but it was differ
ent, somehow. I, am not even suro that
sho was good looking, but thero was
something nbout her if you cared at all
well, you carcdl Sho stayed a week,
and at tho end of tho timo I told her,
moro or less directly, that I loved her. I
waa to seo her tho next day in London.
Tho next day, aB It happened, I waa pre
vented by my mother's serious illness.
I wroto and told her this, begging her to
fix a day for my visit. Sho mado no
reply, and four days later I called at tho
houso to bo told sho was out of town.
Tho next day I accepted tho offer of Tho
Waterloo 1'laco Guzctto, and went out to
Africa. I'm suro 1 don't know why I
cared. Sho wasn't worth it; sho had
given mo every encouragement had
oven allowed mo to kiss her. I supposo
there was a richer fellow on hand, or ono
whoso father didn't happen to keep a
ahopl"
Fleming roso. shrugging his shoulders.
Addenbrooko remained silent. Tho voico
of Mrs. Baxter, announcing that t h
portmanteau was in Ijiwrenco'u room,
camo ns a relief to both.
"By tho by," said Johnny, In n low
volco, as the other felt for his keys, "all
this took placo at the Meades' In War-1
wlckshlro, from March tho 23th ou
wards?" f
"Oh," answered Lawrcnco. with sotuo
vexation, pausing on his way to tlio door,
"iBiipposo you know all about it likotho
rest of tho world!" And ho went from
tho room.
IV.
Addenbrooko remained behind, pacing
tho ridiculous, incongruous npartment,
while an unwonted storm of emotion
raged within him.
Tho parts of the puzzlo lay, fitted to
gether. In his hand, it only remained for
him to step forward and proclaim the
Bolutionof a most commonplace enigma,
An Inollleiont Hstman, a careless house
maid on some such undignified trifle
had the whole complication hung, like
many another complication before it.
No doubt, sooner or later, the missing
clew would come to light, when he him
self had made its discovery of no import
ance whatever
Had he been of a melodramatic turn
of mind, Addcnbrooko might have laugh
ed aloud at tho irony of the situation
Ilis own dream was shattered forever;
but of that for tho moment he scarcely
thought
What lie saw most clearly was this
that, by his own act. he must make
Lydia over into the hands of a man un
worthy of her unlikely to make her
happy, to think of whom In connection
with her stunned contamination
But tho man whom Lydia loved
withal!
There was the uting. tho slunk thai
for tho moment Uxik away his breath
and made htm (kiu.su, pale, mutioulo
in his walk.
Then suddenly, lieforo tho modest and
unuritical mtiul of Ailtlfiihrookc llaluul
in vivid colors the iimno of two iiioii
of himself and hits friend
lie saw Liwrciice I'loinum with Ins
showy, unreliable ulcvcriuu Iiim nim.il
coarseness, tho umiihtood U f o. in ,i .
... i.. i i.. 1 1 i ,
tuaicu iii an ins seouuii ran mt
And ho taw hiuiMilf. John Addon
brook o, as he hod always bevu, in the
dignity of his Irreproachful lifo of his
honest, patient labor.
He looked on this picture and on that,
and knew each for what it was worth.
Then ensued in the eaccful breast of
Addenbrookc u terrible war of thoughts
and emotions.
Lifo. which had hitherto been a simple
matter enough, a mero case of doing
your duty and minding your own busi
ness, had assumed a complexion of cruel
difHculty.
And yet ho know that tho moro ob
vious aspect of tho matter was not a
complicated one.
Lydia no moro belonged to him than a
dog who had followed him homo and
had been claimed by its master.
H waa bound, in common honor, to
reveal tho facta of which ho had acci-
dentally becomo possessed.
Should he go to Lydia and Bay: "Thia
man, whom you prefer eo infinitely to
myself, is far less worthy of you than L
Ho has not led a bad lifo, aa men go. but
ho has not led a good ono." Men of tho
world do not do such things, but then
Addcnbrooko was not a man of the
world.
And if ho had no other right over
Lydia. had ho not that of hla own life
long lovo.and her threo weeks' tolerance
of it?
Tho door opened to admit Lawrence
Fleming. Ho had changed hla coat, and
boro a bundlo of papers und a pipo in Ids
hand.
"Any tobacco?" ho 6aid, taking tho
empty seat at tho writing tablo.
Addenbrooko nodded toward a jar on
tho mantelpiece continuing ills troubled
promenado across tho room.
It was dawning, painfully, but surely,
on hia mind that his hands wero indeed
tied; that It only remained for Lydia to
chooso between them.
"But it is I who would havo mado her
happy!" thought poor, obstinato Johnny
"Any matches?" said Fleming, with
hla fingers in tho tobacco jar.
Johnny mado no answer, and tho other
fumbled In the pocket of hla coat.
"By George!"
This tlmo Addenbrooko was roused,
and camo over to tho table, "What's
up?" ho said.
Fleming jointed in Bilenco to a stamped
and addressed envelope lying at Ills feet.
Johnny picked it up, with a dull senso
of relief that matters had been moro or
less taken out of hia hands. IIo know,
beforo he looked at It. that it waa ad
dressed to Misa Grey, and that it was
Fleming's customary carelessness in the
matter of posting hi3 letters which had
wrought tho mischief.
Lawrence was much excited. "It had
slipped behind tho lining of tho pocketl
I havo just taken tho coat from my port
manteau. O. that poor girl! that poor
girl! what must she havo thought of mo
all this time?"
Addenbrooko faced lilra Buddenly
"Do you Intend." ho said, in a low voico,
"endeavoring to repair tho mischief?"
It is possible that ho had a low opinion
of Fleming's constancy.
"1 will go to her to-morrow!" cried
Lawrence.
A sudden pang of personal anguish,
an intolerable senso of bereavement, shot
through Addenbrookc.
I Ho thought: "After all, perhaps, I am
nothing bulajealousdcvil who begrudges
my girl her happiness."
Aloud, ho said: "Thero may bo diffi
culties at first. In fact. Miss Groy Is en
gaged to be married."
Fleming roso, with an exclamntion.
Tho two men stood facing ono another;
Lawrence, flushed, excited; Johnny, pale,
with tense eyes and nostrils.
"Lydia engaged! Lydia! Tho women
aro all a!iko. Could sho havo no patienco,
no trust, but sho must needs throw her
self away in a fit of pique on somo fellow
who is not worthy of fieri"
"Sho is engaged to ine'l" cried Adden
brooko, wit!) sudden passion. "And, by
Heaven, 1 think it is 1 who am too good
for her!"
Thossion of such men as Adden
brooko is a terriblo thing.
Fleming quailed beforo It. no gath
ered up hia iKipcra in silenco and went
from the room.
V.
Mrs. Grey swept up to Addenbrooko
as ho stood with his hand on tho knob of
tho drawing room door.
"Oh, 1'rofessor Addenbrooko, I am bo
Borry," 6ho cried.
"So am I." ho answered, curtly.
It was two days after the events of the
lastciiapter Lydia luul mauo her choice,
and now, at her own request, was to tako
farewell of Addcnbrooko.
As sho came forward, with flushed
checks and shining eyes, to meet him, it
struck him that she resembled tho picture
of n Bacchante ho had seen somewhere.
A Bacchante in a tailor mado gown,
with tho neatest of cuffs and collars
poor Johnnyl
"I wished," she said, when their greet
ing waa over, "to thank you with all my
heart. "
"And I," ho said, "wish to tell you
this. Do not think that I merely took
advantage of you. I believed that I
could mako you happy I beliovo it
still."
Sho smiled sadly, and AcUlenbrooke
broke into a sort of laugh.
"Oh, Johnny, Johnny!" sho cried.
He had no intention of being pitied,
even by Lydia.
"Don't distress yourself nbout mo.
Lydia," he said, "I have had my ijhance.
Perhaps I ought to tell you that 1 do not
think you havo chosen the better man." j
Thoy talked a little aimlessly; then
Addenbrooko held out both his hands in I
farewell, it was Lydia, who. drawing
him towards her, kis&od his faco for the i
last lima
Sho know, as ho stood thero facing her. ,
that he was (Hiiwing out of her lifo for
ever For tlio moment he scorned trans-!
figured, no longur iiulgiiillennt; a tender
but incniialil- presence pitying, ironi
cal Sonic inarticulate vplre in her hosrt
cried uut to him not to leave her; unc-on-sciiMMly
oho put uut hr lixnd, and than
IW Wit t- wl-
N't lung fti r FU'iniB-r was with hor,
Hi- ii.i.l Iiim arm ur.'uiid hur wuUt and
.' Ui- iii
in r lux Addoiibroake had I
Ill 11 I H
gl.lMH.
vd them. Amy
Levy In
Bel-
The Growth of London.
We are too frequently disposed to
think of the rapid growth of our Ameri-
j can cities as merely incidental to the
settlement of a new country, and to re
gard tho European cities as old and sta
tionary. It ia truo that their nuclei aro
I ancient, but so far as the greater part of
their built up area ia concerned they are
almost or quito as new as the American
cities. They, like our own population
centers, havo grown unprecedentedly in
recent decades as tho resnlt of modem
; transportation and industrial systems.
j Thus London today ia fivo times as large
as it waa at the opening of the present
century. From 000,000 nt that time the
population of London grew to 1,500,000
1 in 1830, and by 1855 it had increased to
o mn nnn Cm ic.-. i, i
dotibied.
I
Tho present sovereign has witnessed a
gain of 200 per cent, or more since she
began to reign. There are threo or four
1 dwelling houses now for every one that
was visible at tho date of her corona
tion. In tho past forty years from
( 2,000 to 2.500 miles of new streets have
been formed in London. Who, study
I ing tho growth of foreign cities, can
doubt tho continued growth of our own?
' London is not an exception. All the
j other great towns of England have
I grown up as if by magic within this
century.
Tho samo statement applies to those
of tho continent. Paris ia five times as
I large aa it waa in tho year 1800. Berlin
I has grown much moro rapidly than
i Paris. Vienna has expanded marvel
ously since 1810. This is a digression,
, but I shall continue it enough further to
I remark that an examination of the
' causes which have built np these Euro
pean centers easily justifies tho judg
I ment that nono of our twenty leading
! American cities has begun to approach
its maximum size Dr. Albert Shaw in
Century.
How Col. Do Treeo Munitged.
Col. Do Frece tells how he managed
to mako his stage at the Stanley lecture
pay him about 1,000. It is a trick
worth knowing, although 1 do not think
ho intended that tho public should
bo taken into his confidence in relation
to it. The colonel went down to Mayor
Grant's oflico nnd got a list of the promi
nent citizens who had been named on
World's fair committees as represent
ative New Yorkers when wo were try
ing to secure tho location of the fair
in this city. With this list as a basis ho
Eent out -100 polito notes about na follows:
My Dear Shi- You havo been selected to nerve
ns n member of tho commltteo on reception at
the MetroK)litan Opera House on tho occasion of
Henry M. Stanley's llrst lecture in America.
Kindly notify me nt onco of your acceptance.
Thero were very few replies that wero
not in the nature of an acceptance.
Every man who got such a note as that
felt flattered by tho distinction and sent
in his acceptance at once. Thereupon a
second note was sent to him requesting
him to send a check for $10 for his stage
seat. Having accepted tho honor he
couldn't very well refuso to pay for it,
even though he know and felt he had
been tricked. Yet I am told that some
gentlemen upon tho receipt of the second
letter had tho good senso to write and
decline either to servo on tho "reception
committee" or to send $ 10 to Col. Do
Frece. Now York Press.
A New Novelist.
A new Richmond is about to enter the
field of fiction a woman who has here
tofore confined her public work to essay
writing and dress reform. 1 refer to
Mrs. Annie Jenness-Miller, who, I learn,
has just signed a contract with a New
York publishing house for her first novel.
1 suppose that Mrs. Miller is ono of the
hardest worked women in this country.
Sho has not learned tho art of dictation
to an amanuensis, and so, when I called
upon her last week, I found her suffer
ing from writer's cramp.
She nnd others like her should take a
lesson from John Ilabberton, the author
of "Helen's Babies," who told mo only
recently that ho could dictate a novel
cither to a stenographer or directly to a
typewriter, or that bo could write with
his left hand quito as well as with his
right, and he has on one occasion talked
a wholo novel of 250,000 words into ono
of Edison's phonographs. Ls there not a
hint in this for our overworked literary
men nnd women? Edward W. Bok's
Letter.
A ltcur In the Kiiuil.
Six oxen ought to bo enough for ont
bear, but they are not. On an evening
not long ago John It. Sullivan, of Whit
noyvillo, was journeying homo from
! Wesley with six oxen tied together,
j When in the vicinity of Six Mile Hill
I they suddenly halted and manifested
great fear. .Mr. Sullivan, who went
j forward to ascertain tho cause, found a
very large bear standing erect in tho
middle of the road, and not moro than
1 two rods distant. Mr. Sullivan threw a
j few stones at tho bear, which responded
i by hopping nouud upon its hauuehes
' and waving its foro paws as if it meant i
i business; but tho next volley caused him
1 to assume a different attitude, and with .
angry snarla ho left the rood. Augusta
(Mo.) Journal.
Waiting Teuty-tu-o Ycnm for a Trial.
Sometimes the law is strangely forget
ful. For instance, John Blyer, 02 years
of age, has loen a prisoner in tho Vance
burg, Ky., county jail for twenty-two
years, on a charge of murder. By eomo
strange chance tho law has forgotten his
existence, and all thoso years he hits been
patiently waiting for a trial .that has
nover come. In tho mean whilo tho wit
nesses against Lim are all dead, and his
identity has &o completely sunk out of
recollection that ho is referred to simply
as "the dead man in coll two," New
York Tribune.
A l'uiillill .settled.
When a ciuju.ii lims come to bdhevt!
he owns the earth it i wall that he
bhould either recoiyw his fur tl
siuiM or discover that ht whs mitfMkeu.
The atippain court t Michigan has de
ad! that 11" Ivtroit liKUriuau even
OWttS tho t.u-. Tins w an awful uittiu'
do tn take, i .1
liUlt JU good.
Duirvit Free i'svs.
An Infant Prodlcy In Anatomy.
At the recular meeting of the South
ern Medical society, Saturday evening,
Master Albert Verner Fensch, of Fort
McPherson, was unanimously elected to
honorary membership in that organiza
tion, as tho youngest medical student
known to the profession.
Dr. J. E. Price, of Virginia, presides
of the society, who introduced this
young gentleman, stated that though
ho had barely attained tho age of 5
years, ho was possessed of a knowledge
of anatomy, especially of osteology,
equal to that of many graduates of med
icine. In his exhibition before the society
the child was able, not only to give the
technical and scientific names of each
of tho two hundred and odd bones of the
human skeleton, bat to describe their
various functions, divisions, tuberosities,
tubercles, etc.
The little fellow prefers to amuse him
self by fitting together and adjusting
the bones of the human body (of which
ho has been presented a cemplete net) to
playing with blocks, drums and whistles,
and delights in tracing on anatomical
charts and cuts the various blood vessels
of the human anatomy rather than
amusing himself with picture books.
He intelligently listens to and appreci
ates a scientific lecture on nnatomy
while scorning Mother Goose's melodies,
nnd chooses his friends and acquaint
ances among jtJiysicians and medical
students rather than from children of
his own age. Atlanta Constitution.
A Iteniiu liable I'oeiu.
The following poem of three stanzas
of four lines each has often been alluded
to as one of the most unique of literary
curiosities. Each stanza contains every
letter in tho alphabet except tho letter
"o," which all printers will tell you is
one of the most indispensable of the let
ters, its relative proportion of use being
120 times to j A. k 8, g 17 and 1 -10. The
one coming next to "e" in number of
times of use is "a," which is used 80
times while the letter in question is be
ing used 120 times.
The poem which has caused the above
digression is entitled
Till: FATE OF NASSAU.
Bold Nassau quits li i 4 cam van,
A hay mountain crot lo scan;
Climlis jaKo'y rocks to spy hU wny,
Doth tax his sight, but far doth stray.
Not work of man nor s;ort of child
Finds Nosfeiu in that mazy wild;
Lax Rrows his joints, limbs toil in vnln
Poor wight! Why didst thou quit that plain?
Vainly for succor Nassau calls.
Knows Zillah that thy Nassau falls;
Hut prowling wolf and fox may joy
To quarry on thy Arab boy
St. Ixmis Republic.
A Statue Tor Washington Irving.
It is more than probable that Mr.
George William Curtis' suggestion that
a statue of Washington Irving bo erected
in Central park will soon bo acted on in
a very practical way. Two or threo
members of the chamber of commerce
have interested themselves in tho mat
ter, und they have tho means and the in
fluence to mako any enterprise that they
may tako hold of successful. It is prob
able that a committee will soon bo organ
ized to give the project definite form,
and there is scarcely a doubt that a.f und
of ifOO.OOO or $40,000 will be raised in
short order among tho members of tho
chamber of commerce. Tho great statue
of Washington in front of the sub
treasury was paid for and erected by
members of tho chamber of commerce,
who raised $05,000 without an effort. In
fact, one man and ho is now interested
in the proposed Irving statue wanted to
pay the whole bill, but his fellow mem
bers would not allow him to do so.
New York Times.
The YoM-mito Hill.
Tlio proposed Yosemite national park
has becomo a reality by tho enactment
of Gen. Vandever's bill. By this result
not only an important addition is mado
to tho area of wonderful scenery reserv
ed for public use, but an end is put,
within considerable limits, to tho depre
dations of lumbermen and sheep herders.
Another important gain, and one of
great practical value, is the protection
which this new reservation insures to the
headwaters of the San Joaquin, Merced
and Tuolumne rivers, thns not only in
suring a larger and steadier flow of tho
cataracts and falls of these streams, but
conserving the water supply of tho foot
hills and valleys below. Not less im
portant was tho passage by tho senate of
tho resolution directing the secretory of
tho interior to mako a prompt and care
ful report in regard to the spoliation of
tho Yosemite. Century.
lie Din-Mi't I.Ike to lln Interrupted.
While Moody, the evangelist, was
thundering strong truths into tho hearts
of his hearers a few Sundays ago, an
aged deacon who sat near him on tho
platform kept interjecting audible and
I fervent "Aniens" and "Goods." "A
! man with principle is a man to be ad-
mired above many others," roared out
; Mr. Moody. "That's true." mumbled
out tho deacon in tones of rapturo. The
evangelist turned instauter and shouted
in his mellow voico: "True! of course
it's true. What do you supposo I'm
telling hero to-night lies?" The poor
old deacon subsided. San Francisco
Argonant.
A gunner in tho Royal artillery has
just died at Woolwich who, a few years
ago, was left a legacy of 10,000." Ho
was quite a young man, nnd spent tho
whole of his fortuno in three years, nt
tho end of which timo ho was absolutory
penniless. As a last resort ho enlisted
in tho army and was sworn into tho
Royal artillery.
hi tho debate on tho navy estiinatcH in
the French chamber M. Raspoli stated
that Franco had fewer fighting ships
than in 1871, idthough between than nnd
now the had expended on the navy 200,.
000.000 in exoeM of that Bjnmt by tho
powers of the triple alliance,
Tlw bed of the Feather river iu Cali
fornia, whiih is lHiH(r Uid bare, will
)Md frvm lo,ooo,iiuo t.. $15,000,000 .f
g.'ld u th- fcTvuml proves as ruti as tfu.;
WhlUl lWU Uwn Wwiked,