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-0. A SECRET DISCLOSED. Of medium height, slight build, clear, healthy complexion, beautiful dark eyts, and black hair that curled in bewitching waves over the tine brow. The possessor of regular, intellectual features, small, delicately-shaped hands and feet, and a moustache so perfect in its size, its shape, its neatness, and its glossy blackness, that it was the admiration of the one sex and the envy of the other. Such was Feodor Plotnitzky, a young gentleman who taught German, French, and Spanish to quite a. host of pupils, and who, to do him justice, was thoroughly able to do all he undertook. He claimed to be the scion of a noble house, compelled to seek safety in a foreign land, and thus escape political persecution. His manners were perfect, and quite justi- fied a belief in the respectability and training of Count Feodor Plotnitzky, who, however, would modestly and sadly disclaim all desire o^being addressed by the title which was his by right, saying that London had proved such a haven of refuge to him and his that lie felt honoured by being addressed by the simple prefix, "Mr." This was all very well, but it seemed im- possible for anyone to know him without admiring and respecting him. This was certainly the case with Miss Mabel Grant, the daughter of a well-known banker, a lovely girl of seventei-t, who for six months had been one of his pupils, to whom lie was teaching the Spanish language. Without the slightest demonstration of affection on his part, she hack fallen in love with her teacher. Her desire to be in his society, and her frequent complimentary allu- sions to the Count, aroused the suspicions of her father, and Mr. Geoffrey Grant deter- mined to ascertain if the Count were worthy of his daughter's regard, or merely an ad- venturer. He engaged a private detective to shadow the Count, and that gentleman was sc^n in a position to learn something about the t.\abie young teacher of languages. Mr. Harkins, the detective, discovered-, jJiat the Count boarded with a lady named HaiOs, and lie thus described how lie went about his work in the interest of Banker Grant: — "I called at the house of Mrs. Hales, in- formed her that I was in quest of board at a quiet house, and asked if she could acoom- modate me. "To my great delight, when I presented my references, she informed me that she had a vacant room at my disposal. I represented myself as a literary gentleman who was study- in <y up a special subject, and wished to live apart from my too numerous circle of ac- quaintances until I had completed the work in hand. "The next morning I made the acquain- tance of my fellow-boarders at breakfast. Upon the whole, they were rather a nice lot; —some dozen in all—but I felt little special interest in any of them except my young professor and his mother. Yes, although I bad not heard of this lady before, it was none the less a fact that Mrs. Hales num- bered among her boarders a lady known as Mrs. Plotnizky. 'You know, sir,' said the landlady to me, 'Mrs. Plotnizky, or madame, as we call her, is really a countess. But she Is, like her son, very modest, and insists upon dropping the title. She says that now she has lost all her fortune, it is absurd to use a title. But anyone can see the moment he looks at her that she is an aristocrat. And so beautiful she is. too No wonder her son, who dotes on her, is so handsome and so clever, and "Here followed, if possible, a more enthu- siastic panegyric of Professor Plotnitzky's amiabilities and virtues than I had even heard of before, and I was forced to the conclusion that Mrs. Hales must also be in- cluded among the professor's worshippers. "By the time I had been in the house 24 hours I was no longer surprised at the un- bounded fascination which the irresistible Fe-odo'- exercised over all with 'whom he came in contact, for I could not withstand his in- fluence myself. Not that I was particularly desirous of doing so, for I had sought his acquaintance armed with a vague distrust of my man. But ordinary prejudices were of no power here, and I positively delighted in such share as I could procure of this man's society. "There was only one thing, if possible, while I stayed with Mrs. Hales that I pre- ferred to a chat with Feodor, and that was the privilege of a little conversation with madame, his mother. How perfectly beauti- ful and charming she was! What a world of resignation dwelt in the expressive eyes! And what inimitable dignity lurked in every detail of her appearance, from her silver white hair down to the small, daintily-shod foot, which protruded from beneath the handsome dresses in which her devoted son loved to clothe her What But there I I am turning just as enthusiastically rhapsodical as everyone else who came across there people, and to this day I do not know which I was the most in love with—the mother or the son. "It was touching to see the perfect affec- tion and concord in which the two lived, and, but for one thing, I should have gone to assure Mr. Grant that there was not the slightest rift within the lute in this case, and that he need not hesitate to give the young professor any encouragement that would be likely to induce him to marry Miss Mabel Grant. "I was slightly puzzled to note that madame's eyes, however cheerful they might look in his immediate presence, always fol- lowed the departing figure of her son with a wistful sadness and anxiety hard to account for under the circumstances. For it must be remembered that, although lie was not more than 26 years of age, his prospects were of the brightest. and he was evidently gifted with perfect health. He had now the chance of more pupils than he could accept. Cer- tainly he was banished from his native land, besides being shorn of his estate by despotic usurpers; but he had so many compensative blessings that I could not conceive of any ordinary reason for anxiety on madame's part. Whefi I explained everything to Mr. Grant, lie was strongly of opinion that all was not so fair and above board with the professor as it might be, and that something detrimental to the good opinion everybody held of him would yet turn up. "This nettled me a little, and I felt it quite as much a matter of love as of duty to ferret out all I could about the antecedents of the Plotcitzkys and prove that there was nothing of the impostor about them. "But my cautious inquiries produced no useful information. Mrs. Hales confessed that she knew naught of her two boarders beyond what they had told her, which was nothing more nor less than that the two were dependent upon the son's exertions for a live- lihood that they were of aristocratic birth, and that they had been deprived of their possessions by unjust laws and political perse- cution. "When I adroitly tried to learn something of her antecedents by careful conversation with madame. I met with no more satisfactory solution of the mystery. I had read up the history of Poland, and dwelt, When in con- versation with the gentle old lady, at great length upon the outrages penetrated by Russia, Austria, and Prussia upon her native land. But. if I expected to rouse madame's dormant national enthusiasm, I was mistaken. for she completely lost that air of liigh-bred calmness and distinction which so well became her, beiucr decidedly nervous and anxious to change the subject. "I eventually asked her, in as unconcerned a manner as possible, what part of Poland she came from, but she simply replied that she never cared to sp-eak of her native place, as to do so only served to awaken painful memories. Then, rising, she left the room, upon the plea that she did not feel well. "Now, although I had obtained no positive information, when I came to ponder upon the negative aspects of the case, I found much to think aJjout and make me feel apprehensive lest all my high opinions of this fascinating pair were going to be 'unshipped'—I use a nautical phase. "Evidently, madame had strong reasons for the silence which she maintained concerning the past of her son and herself. I wanted to be able to show Mr. Grant that they really were the aristocrats they seemed to be. But one thing puzzled me: Why was madame so secretive? It was while pondering this ques- tion that a certain doubt entered my head for the first time. "It was one of the many recommendations of this mother and son that they spoke excel- lent English. Could it be that they were not Poles, after all? The supposition was start- ling. For, if proved to be impostors in one direction, it was natural to suppose that all was not well with them in other ways. "I had' been nearly a week masquerading as a literary gentleman, without having made any actual or definite discoveries, when our haiidsome young friend came home one day. looking very ill, indeed, and complaining of frightful pains in his head. Every mother is alarmed when her only child is smitten with sudden illness, but I never saw anything to equal madame's terror and prostration. We soon had a doctor on the spot, who found the mother almost as helpless as the son. who, after lying down on his bed, dressed as he had come home, seamed incapable of further effort or movement. 'He must be got to bed at once,' said the doctor. 'He has been overworked, and I should fancy he has had a great deal of worry, with the result that he has broken down. It will be a case of brain fever, I expect. I will call again in about an hour, by which time you will have him as com- fortable as possible.' "I was the only man in the house at the time, and Mrs. Hales was very thankful that I should be at hand to render assistance in undressing poor Feodor, who was at this time quite unconscious. But when I offered to commence this necessary duty at once, madame became terribly excited, and im- plored both Mrs. Hales and myself to leave the room, saying that she could manage very well herself. "As this was clearly an impossibility, for the old lady was very fragile, I gently re- sisted her importunities and said that I would leave the room after seeing our patient safely in bed. "But madame became so excited and so distressed that we hardly knew what to do until Mrs. Hales whisper* j. 'I am afraid the poor old lady will be lil-A up, too, if we do not humour her. Just go into the next room while I try to persuade her. I will come for you directly.' "In two minutes she followed me—not, however, to urge me to return, but because madame had fiercely refused to allow her to remain, and had then locked the door behind her to prevent intrusion on our part. "We listened anxiously at the door, deter- mined to break it open, if necessary. It was just as we expected. We heard the old lady panting with exertion for a few moments, and then a smothered shriek told us that something was amiss. "In another second I had put my back to the wall and my foot to the door, forcing the latter from its hinges with very little trouble. "A singular spectacle met our gaze. Madame had fallen fainting to the floor, while Feodor had sprung from the bed and was wildly pacing the room, uttering unintelligible sentences, probably in some language which we did not understand. I promptly raised madame and carried her into the adjoining room, placing her upon a couch. Then I hurried back to Feodor's assistance Ho had already collapsed again, and Mrs. "Hales was applying restoratives. "Together we placed him upon the '.>ed, having previously turned the covers down ready to receive him. Then we rapidly pro- ceeded to divest him of his upper clothing. 'j No sooner, however, had we removed the vest than we made a. startling discovery, which fully accounted for madame's reluc- tance to permit us to remain in the room. "A dramatic situation is none the less dramatic because it is announced in common- place language, and Mrs. Hales's horrified exclamation—'Oh, my goodness gracious it' a woman !'—was just as much of surpri- tc me as if her discovery had been announce. in classical. phraseology. "A woman! Well, this was a coinplie, tkn I had never thought of. But I judged ir best to leave Mrs. Hales in possession, whi:, I attended to madame's wants, and held my- self prepared to render immediate help, should it be necessary. However, my aid was not needed, as the patient remained quiet for a -■L :i J wiiiie. LN T, so iiiauaxiie. "On recovering from her swoon, she looked into my face, and, reading there that her secret was betrayed, she gave way to an out- burst of grief which made me feel very sorry for her, saying that her darling Feodor was now ruined. "I used my best endeavours to console her, but had not made much progress in this direction when the doctor appeared. He was considerably surprised to find that his patient was a woman who had been masquerading in man's clothes; but he was discreet, and pro- mised to keep the secret until the mother could be induced to give her reasons for taking part in so strange a deception. "A few hours later our interesting patient was in the care of a competent nurse, who had been summoned after all traces of Feodor's assumption of masculinity, even t< the smart little false moustache, had been re- moved, and we had persuaded madame of the advisability of being perfectly open and can- did, now that there was no longer any pos- sibility of concealing Feodor's true sex. "ThÜ, in brief, was the lady's story: She and her daughter were not Poles, as I had begun to suspect. But madame was really the widow of a. wealthy nianfacturer, and her daughter, whose real name 'was Feodore, had been born and brought up under the happiest auspices. "About a year previous to his death, Mr. Lionel Bryant, madame's husband, had in- vested most of his capital in a new electrical device, which promised to revolutionise the telephone business and make a fortune for him and his associates in the enterprise. "Before this new business could be placed upon a paying basis, Mr. Bryant, while endeavouring to cross the street in advance of an approaching trolley car, was run over and crushed by this modern Juggernaut. "Shortly after his funeral it was discovered that nearly all his capital had been risked in the enterprise; that the mechanical device proved a mere chimera, the scheme of trick- sters and that the entire estate of Mr. Bryant was hopelessly involved by the debts of the company. In one sentence—the widow and her daughter were penniless "For Mrs. Bryant to think of throwing herself upon the charity of erstwhile friendr- was as impossible as it was for her to attempt to earn her own livelihood at her age. But Feodore proved equal to the burdens laid upon her brave young shoulders. After a good deal of anxious thought she announced her plan of campaign to her mother, but it was some time before she could induce her to agree to it, though the reasons she urgtC were cogent enough. 'I shall never have the same chance of earning a livelihood by appearing as mv natural self that I should have if I posed as an interesting male foreign refugee, she had said, and the sequel proved that she was right. "A certain gentleman of influence, a resi- dent of London, was taken into confidence, and his recommendations soon procured em- ployment for the young professor in the metropolis. Her own abilities and personal quaities did the rest. "All things considered, I saw no reason why the brave girl's secret should be made public, and, as the doctor and Mrs. Hales were also of my opinion, Miss Bryant might have figured again as a Polish professor after her recovery but for one thing. I urged Mrs. Bryant to permit me to explain the real state of affairs to Mr. Grant, since hi? daughter was so much in love 'with Feodore that it would require a strong remedy to cure her—nothing short of the truth, in fact. "Mrs. Bryant was not so reluctant as might have been imagined, for she had a friend who 'as well acquainted with Mr. Grant, and had often heard him spoken of as a generous, kind-hearted gentleman, who would very likely respect the confidence placed in him. "But she scarcely anticipated the actual result of this confidence. I made it my business to see Mr. Grant at once, and ex- plain the whole affair to him; and he, in his turn, told his daughter that she had be- stowed her maiden affections upon a woman. So far from producing any ill effect upon the girl, she said that there was now nothing which need prevent her from visiting her dear friend. Her father agreed with her. and even accompanied her to pay his respects to Mrs. Bryant. "Matters were kept very quiet for a time, but as soon as Miss Bryant was convalescent, she and her mother were taken to Mr. Grant's country seat, to pay a long visit to him and his daughter. "The last time I heard of them, Miss Feo- dore Bryant had become Mrs. Grant. Her mother was comfortably established in the- home of her soft-in-Iaw, and Mrs. Grant was perfectly idolised by her step-daughter, Ma bel.

DANGER TO CHILDREN: WARNING. The following- warning, says the ''Wigan Observer," should be ta!ken to heart by all parents- Mrs. Henry Pearson, of 4-, Mitchell- street, Pemberton, near Wigaii, had a bright, happy boy of five, as hea.Ithy as a child could be. About September, lS93, he began to be ill. The quick eyes of the mother noticed that her darling was thin, and his face grew pale and drawn. He was heavy and sleepy. By-and- bye the boy began twisting and wriggling: b's speech was affected, and his condition caus. d great anxiety for a fortnight. Then the mother learned with dismay that her boy was suffering from that fatal ailment, St. Vitus' danci. She had him treated in vain, and had given up almost the last hope when she was persuaded to try the famous remedy for all sorts of in- curable cases, called Dr. Williams' Pink ril;, for Pale People. In about turee days he be- gan to improve; at the end of a week all the untoward symptoms had gone, and In- appeared to be all right when he completed the box. Mrs._ Pearson snid Iher son had been improving in health and appearance ever since. The twitchings had entirely disappeared. His speech was right, he slept and ate well, "and now, said Mrs. Pearson, "he ia as well as ever he was, playing and romping in perfect health I was surprised the Pills effected so quick a cure. I only got one box. I never dreamed of so im^iculous a cure." Dr. Williams's Pink Pills cure rheumatism, neuralgia, locomotor ataxy, St. Vitus' dance nervous headache, and prostration; diseases of the blood, such as scrofula, chronic tirysi- pelas, &o., restore pale and sallow complexicnw to the glow of heal till, are a specific for all tha troublea peculiar to the female sex, and in men cure all oases arising from worry, overwork or excesses. They are sold by all chemists, and by JJr. Williams' Medicine Company 46 Hoi born-viaduct, London, as 2s. 6d. a box or six for 13s. 9d., in the wooden boxes with pink wrapper, genume only with full name, Dr Wilhams Pink Pills for Pala People. [L. 11156

A Reufcer's telegram from Madrid on Mon- br* tic was arrested in front of ^ir. i-voyai 1 a.aee yesterday who irac ui>dw the impression that he had been invited to tine with the Queen I'ejr.ont. When arretted he was carrying a number of plates and glasses with some fruit. Ue is a working printer.