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By a Lady. (ÃLL RIGHTS RESERVED.] EVENING COSTCMji. M course, there is nothing particularly new to tell concerning fashion. Ail that one has to chronicle are the changes in maka and material. I notice among other and minor details of evening costume that ribbons are tied round tha neck. The ribbon is moderately wide, and, as a rule, is fastened to a foundation of s'iff net. which pre- j rents i wrinkling. The bow at the back is com- pact, and the en is very little longer than the short loops. Tha bow is made up, as it is called, aof tied each time the ribbon is worn. Black ribbon velvet, studded with a single diamond or its imitation, looks very well, and serves ably to set off by force of contrast a good com- plexion. When the ends of the tie are not short, curiously enough they are long, very long, always reaching to beiow tha wait, but when this style is chosen, a narrow ribbon only can be worn. BALL TOILST3. Pale pink tulle, nimmel with ribbon, moire ribbon preferably, is much used for ball toilets. There should be a foundation of silk or satin JeDeath, to give support to the tulle; when sconomy interferes, then a good sateen is au admir- ible substitute tor the richer material. One of tha nost elegant but unpretending toilets I have seen some time was that worn by Marguerite, ;he lady who assises, M. V Jrbt::ck-one of th3 cleverest prestidigitateurs of the day. I paid a. visit to Piccadilly Hall last night to see some additional feats of legerdemain with which M. Verbeck keeps up the interest of the public. he dress I reter to was made of silk canvas of a 'ery light string colour it was, in fact, no: far moved from white. The bodice was made heart hape both back and front, line folds of the material outlining the opening. The bodice fastened obliquely on the lefu aide. The skirt was short and very full; a simple overdress caught up with ribbon bows at the sides, and finished with a very wide and long moire sash, formed the upper portion. The lower skirt had a lace flounce at the extreme edge. Then there wa3 a narrow band of moire ribbon, and between it and a second band was lace insertion of corre- sponding wilh, The sleeves were quite short,. »n j very pale tan-coloured gloves were drawn on to meet them. A deep red rose, a pale pink one, and a third roe. striped pink and red, formed a bouquet de corsage that gw-e just the necessary colour relief. NSW CO as AU lid. I must mention some now and pratty eorsages, made of lace insertion and ribbon, which are in- tended to be worn over white muslin or coloured tulie skirts. Two girl friends of mine went to a danee lately, and severaily wore the gowns I am about to describe. Dress of white muslin, broad pink mohair sash, pink shoes ;o match; bodice cut square back and front, made of Yaleocicmnes lace alternating with pink moire ribbon, ttie eJg 's of the one slightly over- lapping the other. A flounce of Valenciennes lace formed the basque, and the sleeves, elbow length, were finished in the same way, butterfly bows being set on the shoulders, A necklot of ribbon i nuch as I described before completed a very iainty costume, the last appropriate touch being jiven by a bouquet of pink carnation? sent from Jle Ri,.í" Thø othe gown I will endeavour to (tascribe was a half moruing one of white tuile skirt, and extremely full black moire ibbon about two or, may be, three inches in vidth, forming spaced stripes at equal distances. iiick moire corsage cut an extremely low square tefore and behind, white tulle being drawn up tlosely round the neck and tied with moire ribbon he small short sleeves, wirh under ones 0: tulle, were caught up, baby fashion, with strings of ar18; black satin shoes. White flowers were worn on the corsage and carried in the hand. Bouquets at present are oftener seen than fans in modern ball-rooms. Some few ladies, however, arry both. COLOURED CAX3RICS FOft UNOKJiLINEN. I notice how increasingly coloured cambrics are made into uuderlinen and not only pink and blue linens, but white silk with tiny blue or black spots, or other pattern, upon it. Yesterday, at one of our great West End shops, I saw soma garments made of white cambric on which was a tiny pattern, self-coloured, with other minute lines of red and blue crossing each other. The lace used to edge the top was drawn lvund the neck with dark blue china ribbon, which washes with the 'I garment. I heard the other day, on good authority, that the Pririce of Wales wears, instead of white linen, under garments of dark-coloured silk, which 18 patterned with some small design. Few of us care to buy Madeira work with which to trim our linen, and machine-made embroidery is most unsatisfac- tory. Torchon lace possesses undoubted wearing qualities, but there is another make of lace which I hear is more durable even than Torchon, and also less expensive. FRICTION A3 A HEALTH AGENT. The value of friction as an agent of health ind beauty is well known. Frictioning with the hand, "massage," in fact, is just now recognised as a source of healing, and tinds much favour with certain members of the healing art. Many of us prefer a rough towel as likely to promote healthy action of the skin, and I have lately pro- cured some towels which are soft and smooth on side, serving for the face, whilst the reverse "ide of the linen presents a crisp, rough surface retains its frictional properties whether wet x dry. Some ladies never use anything rougher to wash their faces than a fine Turkish sponge, drying with the softest cambric towel; others think the use of soap tends to chafe the skin and tffect its colour. I suppose we all have our favourite theories in regard to the preservation of .he skin, and one lady I know seat ma the follow- ing recipe, which she says is most efficacious in rendering tha complexion soft and delicate: Boil oatmeal in water for some time until a thin gruel ia made squeeze in the juice of a lemon, and add a little Hollands; this ingredient iaintended to preserve tho gruel, but it will not keep more than four days, nor even ? long in warm weather. Wash the face at night in warm water, dry, and then spongj wirh the gruel; let 1.. remain on the skin, washing otf in the morning. I have not tried the recipe, but I think it will not disappoint "hose who do so. A NEW HAIR PREPARATION". I forget if I have mentioned before that a enDyworth of soap bark, purchased at a chemist's, .nd boiled in a small quantity of water for some IOUra. allowed to cool, and "with a little rum to ..p it, is excellent for the hair, preserving it, and eeping it well in curl..1 a curling fluid the ouch-advertised Fiizetta is worthless in com- jarison. My readers may try, and then can pass .heir own judgment on the subject. Their opinions will certainly coincide with mine. BKNOAL chutnkt. The native servant of a certain Indian chief I met in the I" ei gave me the following recipe for making Bengal chutney, which is so delicious to eat with bacon breakfast, and also with cold weata: 9 Ia.rgo a; t>les (chopped); 1 small Spanish oaioa, £ oz. brow u ugar, 2oz. salt, 2oz, sultana raisins (chopped), 2oz. ground ginger, 2oz. mustard seed. t'jz. cayenne pepper, Mid 3 gills of vinegar. Dissolve the salt and in the vinegar, then boil the rest of the ngredients together till tender; when cool put nto jars and cover closely. DB4WICATia> soUP, I was recommended tha other day to try Desiccated Soup," which is a dry preparation of Met and vegetables, and is sold for making soups wd gravies. I find it exceedingly useful when the I stock pot fails to yield the requirements of the jay. All country residents should number a tin if it among their stores. ifc la splendid for en- riching soups and making gravy in haste, as it inly requires to be placed withhold water in a. iaucepan and boiled for fifteen minutes,and,presto! you have soup or gravy. It is best to purchase that which is sold in tins, hut it is to be procured in penny rackets containing snfficient to make a basiu of soup. In the directions for use there are recipes for making several dishes, such as rissoles, fcc., but I have not yes tested their worth. It •mould be kept in a dry place. It is not generally known that a pinch of chicory is an excellent «ubatituta for browning or gov to colour gravies, Mr cook invariably uses it for that purpose it Joes not ■«««ten a gtavy like burnt sugar.

ORIGINAL STORIES. [NOW FIRST PUBLISHED.] FAIRFAX OF FUYSTONE. A NOVEL. By MRS. HIBBERT WARE. Authoress of "The King of Bath," Life's Seven Ages, His Dearest Wish," Frisnd Ellwood," fcc. PART I—The Witches of Pendle. [ALL RIGHTS RESERVES.] SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS. FIRST CHAPTJEU.—The cloth market at Leedes in the seventeenth century. The mode of buying and selling. Master Parker, a cloth merchant, calls his 'prentice, Christopher Yeates, to account for having fought with one Dick Watson, and Yeates is sent with a message to the house of Master Fairfax at Stocks. SECOND CHAPTER.—A brawl in Kirkgate, Dick Watson being beset by some of the rabble of Leeds, with whom he is in ill odour. Yeates chivalrously goes to the aid of his late foe, and the fray terminates by the arrival of the beadle. The two lads go to Stocks, where Yeates learns that little Mistress Hellen Fairfax, the idol of his boyish heart, has gone into Lancashire that morn- ings visit from which ill will come according to an old servant. THIRD CHAPTER.—Edward Fairfax, the poet, in his s'udy penning some of hia sweet, pastoral poetry, but his mind is disturbed with vague fears and presentiments con- cerning his little daughter Hellen. At last he pushes aside his writing, falls into an uneasy slumber in his chair, and dreams a frightful dream, foreboding danger and evil to his absent child. FOTTRTH CHAPTER.—Hellen Fairfax, with her cousin J homas and a man and woman arrive at Colne in Lancashire. They hear a great noise from the Market-place, learn that a witch is in the pillory, and, prompted by curiosity, go to see the sight, though Hellen shrinks from the spectacle of the grey-haired old woman, exposed to the derision of the jeering crowd. The young travellers hear from two of the bystanders an account of the evil doings of the witches, which thrills the little girl especially with horror. FIFTH CHAPTER.—The cousins Fairfax continue their way to Old Lawnd, passing on the road a cottage, at the door of which stands a beautiful girl, Peg Waite, whom a countryman riding with them denounces as a witch like her mother. Hellen compassionates her, but little imagines how fatally she will cross her own path in future years. Further on the man servant asks the way of an old woman. Thomas Fairfax jestingly conjectures that she may be a witch. The servant forth- with roundly abuses the woman, who re- taliates on him with vague bat terrifying threats, and turning her auger on Hellen, who looks at her with fear and disgust, warns her that she will rue the day that brought her to Pendle Forest. SIXTH CHAFTKII.—In the housekeeper's room at Clough Han, Old Lawnd, the house of Master Robinson, the cousins Fairfax are sitting with little Margery Robinson, their hose's daughter. Their servants are in the chamber, and, in an undertone, are discussing the subjectoc witches. They throw out ominous hintii a to the state of Mistress Robinson, the sick mistress of the Hall, who keeps her chamber closely. By and by Margery takes her friend Hellen to the play-room, where the latter is startled by a shriek which she hears above the moaning of the wind. At night, when not a leaf stirs in the still frosty air, she is awoke from slumber by the same terrible cry. CHAPTER VII. A SORRY JEST. Though the nights were frosty and the air keen, a bright warm sun and dry weather rendered those October days at Old Lawnd very delightful to the young visitors enjoying Master Robinson's hos- pitality, and when, one fine morning, Margery proposed as a novelty that they should go into the forest and gather blackberries, Hellen at once con. sented, and though Tom Fairfax had intended re- pairing after breakfast to the brewhouse in the yard, where the October brew was going on under the active supervision of the old butler, he good naturedly relinquished his design,and,arming him- self with a crooked handled stick, joined the two girls, Margery being all impatience to start. Never had that damsel appeared in a gayer humour cr a more vivacious mood as she tripped along, her rippling laughter mingling with the hope-inspiring song of the robins, singing in many a hawthorn bush, and Tom joined in her mirth. She appeared indeed to absorb his whole attention, or at least so thought Hellen, who at times began to feel just a little childish jealousy that Margery Robinson should be able to wean cousin Tom from her side, cousin Torn whom she loved with a love simple and artless, but yet as absorbing and do- voted as that which poor Christopher Yeates bore for her own sweet self. In proportion as Margery's buoyancy of spirits increased, so did Hellen relapse into silence, retir- ing into her shy, timid self, walking alone along the woodland path, as on one pretext or another Margery managed to monopolise their boy escort to herself. Their ramble in the forest no longer afforded her any pleasure, the sun had lost its brightness, and the song of the throstle its melody. Yet there was a beauty in the scene which would have charmed the child's poetic fancy at another time. The Forest of Pendle, covering an extent of five and twenty miles,offered a great variety of scenery. There were many tracks of wild and barren land within its circuit, little less wild and barren, indeed, than the great hill with its dark and yawn- ing fissures, its rugged ridges, and bleak and sterile summit that seemed to lift its head above the clouds; but there were other charming spotsi valleys, and woodland glades, where fern and leaf had caught the warm glow of a setting year, the tranquil trees awaiting the useful slumber of coming wintesfc The charm of autumn lent to the landscape an almost magic beauty. Touches of russet and gold and yellow dyed the foliage with gorgeous tints, and the bracken shone in the sun like gilded bronze. On the soft, springy turf the horse chesnuts, freed from their white cases, lay all brown and glossy, the hollies and thorns were decked with coral beads, the mountain ash with a lavish splend- our of orange fruit, the oaks with a goodly store of acorns, and the elder with countless clusters of dark, purple berries, while as for the blackberries, they hung on the brambles large and black, juicy and sweet, and many a shout of laughter came from the tangled thicket where Tom Fairfax was busy filling Margery's basket, his hands cobwebbed with scratches, and tell-tale scrawl down his cheek, where a spray had sprung back suddenly and lert its mark. The little lady always hankered after those bunches that were just out of reach, and Tom strove right loyally to obtain them for her. At last, however, overbalancing himself, and falling into a bed of nettles, out of which he scrambled Is best he could, his usual good nature proof even against Mistress Margery's laughter at a mishap incurred in her behoof, he exclaimed, joining in the lauaÏ1 against himself, and looking down on his fustian doublet and stockings, showing more than one jagged ren t, i; ood sooth, 'tis well I took off my tan velvet jerkin, else, Mistress Margery, I had made thee pay for mending of it; but where is Nell?" he added abruptly. Then, seeing Hellen coming slowly along at a little distance, he ran forward to meet her, his kind heart reproaching him for his apparent desertion when he saw her sad and tear- fullooks. Her soft eyes were, indeed, nearly brimming over, and as Margery had followed close on his heels, Tom, with a thoughtfulness worthy: of riper years, to divert her attention from his cousin, and save the latter from the confusion she would have felt if little Mistress Robinson had spied out those tell-tale tears, called the attention of the two girls to the movements of three squirrels in an oak tree hard by; two of the brown-coated little fellows were leaping nimbly from branch to branch, making a low. chattering noise to one another as they secured acorns within their reach, whilst the third came slowly and steadily down from his higher perch till he reached a large bough where he sat for a few seconds peering at the children with his bright eyes through the gieen and yellow screen of leaves; then, as though regardless of their presence, he crept to the under- side of the bough.and,clinging with his hind claws only, let himself hang head downwards, when he began to feed greedily on a bright red fungus growing on the branch. Thomas, get me that squirrel," exclaimed Margery, in an imperious tone. Perhaps Thomas liked not the tone, or contrasted the arbitrary caprices of the little maid with Hellen's gentle speech with thorough unselfishness. At any rate, with a cool indifference and a smile highly provoking to Margery, who was but a little accustomed to be thwarted, and with an air of mock respect, he replied: "I cry you mercy, Mistress; I would do much for you, but as I have only one neck, by your leave, I will not risk it; for that branch seemeth to my poor judgment somewhat rotten, and being at a considerable height I could only obey your command at the risk of a broken neck, and though you might have mended my jacket, I wot well you could not mend a broken neck." Then, changing his tone, he added, Besides, Margery, I have got no blackberries for Nell, yet; give me your basket, coz," he continued, addressing his cousin. "There are some brambles thick with fruit up yonder." Nay, Hellen, you may have mine an' you will," interposed Margery; "'tis stupid gathering berries all day long, and I want to show you a pretty sight in the forest you have not yet seen." Tom Fairfax, fancying he detected some hidden mischief lurking in the little speaker's words, would have opposed this suddenly formed desire, but Hellen, ever yielding, at once assented, quite content now that Tom was beside her again. And so on they trudged once more through the forest, Tom cheery and good humoured as ever, but Margery a trifla peevish; and venting this little access of childish spleen by viciously striking with a piece of stick she had picked up at the elder bushes and the hawthorns, so that her track was marked by showers of hips and haws, and bruised clusters of purple berries. Waste not, want remarked Tom, in a solemn tone. "As if I should ever want hips and haws," re- plied Margery, contemptuously; but if you are are going to speak in proverbs, marry, you'll be as stupid as that Leedes cloth merchant, Master Parker. Oh, how I hated him," she added, with a fervour that made both her companions laugh, whilst Tom, looking her full in the face, ex- claimed— Evpr since the day when you would ask ques- tions about Dick Watson and his stepfather, and Master Parker said to you 'Children should hear, scp.and say notbing-: Margery darted out of ear-shot, however, before her boyish tormentor had quite finished his un- palatable reminder, and skipping on in front, called over her shoulder to her companions to make haste, as they had some way further to go yet. The path now led through a more open part of the forest, but the beauty of the woodland scenery had disappeared, and a mountainous tract of land seemed to stretch away on every side, craggy, steep, and barren, with here and there a rude stone fence. Why, Margery, if this is your pretty sight, I confess that I see nothing pretty in it," said Tom, laughing, as he and Hollen came up with their guide; 'tis as bare and desolate a spot) as ever I saw, and those poor brutes," he added, pointing to some cattle browsing at a little distance on the scanty herbage, remind one of Pharoah's lean kine." "Marry, this is not the place," replied Margery, pettishly, much farther on, and it is well worth seeing." Had we not best come some other day ?" asked HeUen, "see what big, heavy-looking clouds there are over yonder, and it seems all of a sudden to have got so cold," she added, drawing her tammy mantle more closely around her. Twere a thousand pities to turn back, now we have come so far," replied Margery, impatiently besides, I have bethought..me of a shorter way which will take us there in half an hour." Like all short cuts, this one of Margery's choosing seemed, at least to her companion, rather a long one, and, moreover, very wild aud solitary, only a few starved-looking geese crossing their path and saluting them with noisy eackles and hissing as they passed, and once one of the primitive carts of the district, driven by an old man—and a very odd-looking cart it appeared to the young Leedes folk to ba, its clog wheels, as they were called, guileless of spokes, being made of three planks of ash, and not moving on the axis, but both that clumsy wheel and the axletree turning together. At length waste ground and barren moor gave plaee again to fair and beautiful woodland scenery, where the bramble twined lavishly and was all hung with sweet clusters of purple fruit, and nuts grew thickly on the hazel bushes, and at a little distance, from amidst a clump of trees, there curled up a wreath of blue smoke. We are just there now," said Margery, almost breathless from rapid walking; then, taking Hellen's hand, she drew her quickly after her, through golden bracken and tangled underwood, till they came out suddenly within a few yards of a cottage standing on rising ground. It was a poor little hovel constructed of unhewn stone, the fissures in its walls being filled with clay and mud, and its low roof covered with dark moss-grown thatch, but its rude casements, or, more correctly speaking, air-holes and door, commanded an ex- tensive prospect, Atkincoates, Colne, and the Yorkshire moors being visible in one direction, and the vast range of Pendle, dark aud menacing now, with storm-clouds brooding over it in another. "Tis a pretty place enough," said Tom Fairfax, abruptly, "but now let us go back The boy's keen aye had caught sight through the dim glass of one of the little casements of an old, withered face, not seen, as he felt certain, for the first time, and it suddenly occurred to him with what mischievous intent Margery had led them to this spot. Tom had scarcely uttered the last few words when a large black cat, with tail erect, walked out of the cottage through the half-open door, with deliberate and measured steps. Dost see yonder nasty black cat? it hath not a white hair en its body, and its eyes burn like fire. All the folk in the forest call it her spirit. See, it comes towards us," Margery added, as the animal, eyeing the children all the time, advanced slowly forward. Impelled by mischief, or perhaps by fear, Mar- gery raised the stick with which she had been beating the elder pushes and flung it at the cat, striking it with some force, and causing it to utter a squaw 1 of pain. In an instant the animal's mistress sallied out of the cottage, full of wrath and menace, as she hobbled towards the children and shaking her two clenched fists, with almost a shriek, she called out— How daure ye cob at my cat? If ye cob at my cat I'll give it ye, tho' hap ye be gentles." Her wrath was increased as Margery, before taking flight, cried out in her shrill treble, and with infinite audacity, seeing that her own heart was beating little iess fast than was Hellen's- Old witch old witch! Then calling out to Hellen- Run, Nell, run," sha fled down the declivity below the cottage towards a thick wood, nor did she or Hellen pause in their flight till they had placed a considerable distance betwixt themselves and the angry old beldam. Fie upon you, Margery, for a mischievous little eIC," said Tom Fairfax, who had followed the girls for fear of losing them in the forest, though it went sorely against his boyish spirit to run away from an old woman, "'tis a sorry jest to bring us all this way to look ac a toothless old crone and her hut. Do you call that a pretty sight ?" Then he added, somewhat impatiently Troth, if ye tarry any longer 'twill be past noon ere we shall get back, and Nell looks over tired already." Hanging her head, as though a little ashamed of herself and remarking that if they made haste they could be back in an hour, Margery led the way through the mazes of the wood for a considorable distance, when, to the dismay of her companions, suddenly halting, she announced to them in a tremulous tone, sufficiently suggestive of her own distress, that she had quite lost the way. Had he been alone Tom Fairfax would have cared very little for this misadventure, but his cousin, as he clearly perceived, was already jaded and weary. Mistress Margery was little less so, and, moreover, the sky was now overspread with heaped-up masses of black and murky yellow cloud, while a strong wind, rising higher each moment, tosaed the branches of the trees hither and thither, and strewed the ground with showers of crisp, yellow leaves. "Come," said Tom, manfully, of no use standing still; there is something of a track vandfir. it mav lead out: tnto the nyn road. and I will carry you girls turn and turn about on my back," he added laughing. Save ue, it is beginning to snow," exclaimed Margery, in a tone of mingled fear, vexation, and weariness. And the girl spoke truly, for first small particles of snow began to fall Jazily, and then large flakes close and thick, which the wind drove so strongly in the faces of the young pedestrians that they could scarce see a yard before them. Here was a complication of difficulties enough to dismay even Tom's stout heart! To have lost the way in so wild and solitary a part of the country was bad enough, but for a derce, blinding snow- storm to overtake them, was a calamity, and one he would certainly not have looked for, considering the time of year. Fine particles of frozen snow, which the keen wind caught and hurried, stinging into the faces of tho three wayfarers, forced them, every now and then, to turn their backs to the storm and stand still. Hut to stand still was worse than use- less, so placing himself between the two girls, and locking their arms within his own, Tom drew them on, trying, with the courage of an older person, to raise their flugging spirits by his brave, cheering words, not that he felt inwardly the hopefulness he had so well assumed. As he received no response from the frightened girls, or Was answered only in despondent mono- syllables, he gradually ceased speaking, and trudged along in silent commune with his thoughts. The wood had now become strangely, almost weirdly, silent, there was no chirping of birds, and the snow on the ground muffled even the footfalls of the pedestrians. Time went on, and still the fleecy showers con- tinued to fall, and it seemed to Tom as though they had been walking a long way and for a long while in the intricacies of the wood, when sud- denly, to his intense delight, the walls of some small hut or cottage loomed out like a dark shadow through the white shroud of snow, which already lay thick on tha green turf beneath where he stood. Hellen, patient and enduring, had kept back her tears bv a brave effort, but Margery, as demon- strative in her grief as in her joy, was sobbing aloud, and, far from echoing Tom's jubilant cry, she only lifted up her voice in despair and wept the louder, for alas they had been wandering in a circle, and were standing once more in front of the wise woman's hovel. CHAPTER VIII. BETTY ASTLEY. Wise woman or witch, little did it matter to Thomas Fairfax; the sight of Hellen's ghastly face and white lips as she strove to steady her trembling limbs, told him that the child was on the verge of fainting, and he would have rapped at the door of the hut as boldly had he known that the witches were holding therein one of those Sabbaoths of which he had heard so much. As for the two girls, they left him to do as he would, only clinging to him for protection, and certainly their reception at the hoped-for harbour of refuge was enough to increase their terror, for so soon as the old woman opened the door and discovered who those were who cried out loudly Goody, Goody, open," and clamoured so earnestly for admission, she raised her skinny hand in menace, and poured forth a torrent of shrill in- vective against all the three in general, and luck- less Margery in particular, screeching I'm Goody, Goody now,am I," and ending by bidding them be- gone and trouble her no more, or it might be worse for them. And to Tom's despair she then slammed the door to in their faces. Only a moment had he stood irresolute, planning in this extremity a forcible entry into the hut. when a voice behind exclaimed: Save us, what ado Is here! 0, body-kins, Mistress Margery, what brings you so far from the hall, and i' this storm?" We lost our way, Margaret Waite, and Hetty Astley won't give us shelter," sobbed Margery, whose eyes, however, had brightened at the sight of the speaker, a tall, fair. comely woman, as Tom and Hellen could perceive, now that she stood close beside them, the hood of her frieze cloak thrown back and her kind eyes looking com- passionately down on Hellen, who shrank closer to her Cousin Thomas, however, for had not Margery called the woman Margaret Waite ? and was she not probably the mother of the beautiful Peg Wait, and herself a reputed witch ? Body-kins Betty, did'st ken that 'twas Master Robinson's little daughter who was at tby door with her young asked Margaret Waite, as she opened the door without ceremony, and entered the old crone's habitation, followed by the children. A hovel in very truth this human habitation was, with bare, rough stone walls, black and be- grimed with soot, and a low roof, with a hole in the middle of it, through which some of the smoke from the smouldering peat fire escaped, but only some, for the greater part filled the hovel, and circled about in clouds amongst the bare, rough unhewn rafters through which the dark, rotting, and fusty smelling thatch hung in ragged fes- toons. I care naught for Master Robinson, what is he to me ?" exclaimed Betty Astley in a shrill voice' of and as for yon mischievous, braz en little wench,% she added, pointing one skinny finger at the shrink- ing Margery, she well nigh lamed my cat of a purpose. I would he had flown at her and scored her cheeks." Nay, mother, see puss wants to be friends, said Torn Fairfax, in a soothing tone, as he stood with his black felt hat in hand, and strangely enough, as though the cat might have known by instinct the kindness of the boy towards all animaLs, he had approached Tom with confidence, and was purring and rubbing his sleek sides and back against the young stranger's stout leather boots. Somewhat mollified on seeing her favourite's friendly action, the old woman drew together the smouldering peats burning with in a circle of bricks ranged on the clay floor of her hut, and then placing the ricketty old stool on which she had been sitting near the fire, together with a rough pile of wood which evidently did duty as a seat, she bade the children sit down in a half grumbling, half sullen tone. The two girls huddled together on the stool, and argaret knelt beside them, and with tender and almost motherly care, chafed their cold hands and their half-frozen feet. Spite of the woman's evil repute, Hellen felt strangely drawn towards her, and in after years the memory of their first meeting never faded wholly from her mind, for there was something to inspire confidence and trust in her fair, though pale and careworn face, and in the soft and tender expression of her large brown eyes. Meanwhile Thomas Fairfax was gazing curiously at the wretched old occupant of the hut as she bent over her primitive fire-place, where, on a flat pieco of iron, reared on two bricks, and placed ever the glowing peats, she was baking a griddla cake—a thick sour cake made of oatmeal, still eaten in Lancashire. From her thin and wasted and ill-clothed form his eye wandered round the poor hovel, taking in all its sordid belongings, two or three crazy stools, a low trucKle bed, spread over with nothing better than heather gathered from the mountain hiJc, and a coarse, tattered blanket, an old three-legged table, and a shelf on which were scattered rL meagre array of cooking utensils, a gridiron, a couple of iron ladles, two or three pewter plates and a dish, nil much battered, a wooden basin, and rL frying pau, each and every one of these articles having evidently seen long and hard service. Then once more his gaze reverted to Betty Astley. in her patched and ragged russet gown, and boy though he was, his shrewd common sense made him say to himself,—would this woman be poor and destitute as she is if she had the power that the servants at Clough say she hath ? He was disturbed from these reflections by some remarks made by Betty herself, who might almost have been as gifted as the thought-reader of our days—if we could only have faith. Turning her eyes from the griddle cake on to the two girls, she said, wagging her head, as she addressed Hellen .specially- Did you ever h ear of old Chattox and old Demdike, my pretty little lady ?" They were two wicked old women, and one of them was hanged," interposed Margery. Aye, but they led a merry life for many a year first, what with one piece of mischief and another they did betwixt them. Old Chattox turned a boy that chased her cat, Tibb, into a white horse, only by putting a string like a bridle over his head," and here old Betty looked maliciously at Margery, and then, after a moment's pause she continued with great volubility and with evident relish, to give.an accountof the doings of the two wretched oJdawcvnrn. one « £ whom had so lately perished on the gallows, while the other had only escaped a like fate by death, miserable victims to tho bar- barous superstition of the time. But while expa- tiating on the power of these deluded traffickers in the black art, Betty Astley did not hesitate to throw out dark hints as to the possession by herself of a greater power if she only chose to prac- tice it.* Not unfrequently those miserable women who passed for witches brought upon themselves their terrible fate by their own boasted Assumption of that unlawful power which commerce with spirits of evil was supposed to procure for them, and of which their sex, life, appearance, and peculiarities seemed to their prejudiced neighbours to render them not unsuitable depositories. As regards old Demdike and old Chattox, in both, perhaps, observes the late Mr. James Crossleyt some vindictive wish which appeared to have been gratified nearly as soon as uttered, or some one of those curious coincidences which no individual's life is without, led to an impression which time, habit, and general recognition would gradually deeotn into full conviction that each really pos- sessed the powers which witchcraft was believed to confer. Great had been the rivalry, and constant the feuds between these two wretched old women. Each gave her iittle senate laws," and had her own party in the Forest of Pendle. Some looked up to and patronised one and some the other. If old Demdike could boast that she had Tibb as her familiar, old Chattox was not without hers. If the former had skill in moulding waxen images to represent certain individuals, the latter could dig up the scalps of the dead and make their teeth serviceable to her unhallowed purposes. In the anxiety which each felt to outvie the other, and secure the greater share of a general custom of a not very extended or very lucrative market, each would wish to be represented as more death- dealing, destructive, aad powerful than her rival; and she who could number up the most goodly assortment of damage done to man and beast, whether real or not was quite immaterial, as long as the dose was spiced and flavoured to suit the general taste for the dreadful and supernatural, stood the best chance of obtaining a monopoly. Where the possession of a commission from the powers of darkness was thus eagerly and ostenta- tiously paraded, every death, the cause of which was not perfectly obvious, whether it happened by a sudden termination or in a slow and gradual decline, would be placed to the general account of one of the two agents for the devil in those parts as responsible for it. Did a cow go mad, or was ahorse unaccountably afflicted with the staggers, the same solution was always at hand to clear negligence of servants or others, and save the trouble of inquiry; and so far from modestly disclaiming these powers to effect such atrocities, the only struggle on the parts of Mothers Demdike and Chattox would be which should first appropriate them. And it must net be forgotten that the credulity of these wretched old pretenders to supernatural powers was at least as great as the credulity of their neighbours; and that each of these reputed witches had the power in question was so much an admitted point, that she had herself long ceased, in all probability, to entertain any doubts on the subject. We may hesitate, however, before passing a very severe verdict on the folly and ignorance and superstition of our ancestors when we consider that, notwithstanding the spread of education and the network of elementary schools covering the length and breadth of the land, draw- ing even infants not long out of their cradle into their meshes, credulity as great as that ex- hibited by the dwellers in Pendle Forest of the seventeenth century, is Hot unfrequently shown in this enlightened nineteenth century. It is not so long since a gipsy fortune-teller was brought before one of our Metropolitan police magistrates charged with halving extorted no less a sum than three pounds from a servant girl, who had also given the impostor her best clothes into the bargain. When asked by the magistrate what could have induced her to part with her money and property in so foolish a manner, the dupe re- plied, with tears, that the gipsy had threatened to turn her into a bird if she did not give her what she asked for. We most fully endorse, and so probably will our readers, the magistrate's apt retort. Well, she couldn't have turned you into any- thing worse than what you are, and that is a goose." We must crave pardon for this long digression, but we have felt it necessary to enter somewhat into the question of witchcraft, seeing how baleful an effect this woful superstition was destined to exercise over everyone, at least, of the characters in our tale. Vainly had Margaret Waite striven to stay old Betty Astley'a voluble tongue, as she proceeded to tell of moonlight expeditions by witches in order to collect human bones and noxious herbs, of figures of wax made to represent those who had incurred their resentment, and whose bodies were made to waste even as those waxen images melted before the fire, and of men who had been made to vomit iron implements, hairs, rags, and broken bits of glass, till, maddened by their sufferings, some of them had taken away their own lives. Tom Fairfax listened silently, though a half, not wholly incredulous, smile curved his lip. Margery, whose curiosity was ever insatiable, drank in greedily every word; and Hellen heard all with parted lips and distended eyeballs, and evidently with a great fear knocking at her heart. Pray you, my bonny little mistress, heed not what Betty saith she speaks peevish like," said Margaret Waite, as she knelt beside Hellen, hold- ing the girl's cold bands in her own warm clasp. She is old and doting, and I trow she knows not what she talks of; but 'tis such as her and the likes of her who bring sore trouble on honest folks," added the woman bitterly. "People begin to suspect their neighbours, and this one is said to be a witch and the other, and they call me one," she continued, not noticing in her excitement how Hellen, at those last words, shrank from her, and withdrew her hands from hers, "and my poor lass too, my beautiful, bright-haired Peg, she, forsooth, is a witch: but I wot well 'tis only her boony looks hath won her enemies; lackaday! her beauty is like to be a fatal gift, and we have not a friend in the world." Nay, Goodie Waite, my father is thy friend," interposed Margery, with a look of compassion at the sorrowing woman. Aye, truly I was wrong to say we had not a friend," replied Margaret Waite,whoe large brown eyes had become suffused with tears, for the Lord knows what would have become of me and my poor lass but for his worship's goodness to us, and with his own trouble too," she added in so low a tone that her words only reached the ears of Tom Fairfax. Then arising abruptly from her knees she added: His worship will be sore distressed at your long absence, Mistress Margery, and the weather's mending, so you may soon be able to walk back, and J'U go so far as the hall with you; but, Betty, hast a sup 0' milk i' the house to put before the yjung gentlefolk, wi' one o' your griddle cakes, 'twere best they had a bite and a sup before they start on a long walk again ? Old Betty Astley was no niggard, and she forth- with bestirred hrself to give her young guests the best entertainment she could, and though the platter had a piece broken out of it and the drink- ing cup was sora battered, yet the young people, tired and hungry as they were, thought never griddle cake, sour though it was, or milk, had ever tasted half so sweet before. By the time they had eaten and drank and satis- fied their hunger, the storm had passed over, and the snow had ceased to fall, though heaped-up masses of black and murky yellow clouds still hung low fta the pkv, During their meal the tongues of the children had been loosened, and the conversation turned on other subjects ttan witches, old Betty Astley, who had seen the blackberries in Margery's basket telling her on part of Pendle Hill they might find the best cloudberries, whilst Hellen, losing her timidity, talked freely with Margaret Waiter who had, it appeared, a sister living not far from Leedes. Just as the frugal repast was over Goody Waite produced from basket she had with her some osy-cheeked apples, saying they had been given to her that marning by her cousin, who waa gardener to Mistress Anderton, of Pendle Hall, and, selecting three of the largest, she offered them to the children. Margery and Tom Fairfax accepted her gift with frank readineafa, but shy, timid Hellen, once more shrinking from the good-natured woman, ex- claimed in a tone, in which fear, pain and distress were equally mingled— Nay; save us, you wouldst bewitch me with a drugged apple!' (10 b* oratMiudL) •Pott's DiMvttv of Witches, pose xrrL

A howling swell-an ulcerated tooth. Egotism is a man without a collar carrying a gold-headed cand. None but the brave deserve the fare," said the passenger in a bobtail car as he settled down for a free ride. The Rutland Herald recently said Cheese has taken a jump." It must have been mitey strong cheese to skipper 'round like that. "Well. darling, what was the text?" I'm not quite sure, papa, but it sounded like, Many are cold, but few are frozen. At San Francisco the Methodist ministers re- cently met and debated the question, Who was Cain's wife ?" We supposed it was settled long ago that she was Mrs. Cain. Beware of premature conclusions when you see a man sit down hurriedly on the sidewalk at this time of year. Don't conclude that he is drunk simply because he has taken a drop. It isn't always safe to judge things by their outward appearance. There's many a sealskin sacque that has been bought by an unwilling hus- band as a means of getting his wife to give her jaw a little rest. BK KIND TO TllS AGED. Youifg LADY: You say you will grant me any favour I ask ? AGED MASHER: Yes, dearest angeL I'll do any- thing in the world you ask of me. YOUNG LADY: Then propose to my grandmother. She is a widow.

TEAKSMUTATION. When Edwin and fair Angelina Were lovers and engaged, If she attempted any work He straight becamo enraged. He ran to do her small commands, And placed the kids upon her hands. But now that Angeline is wed Her cares are far from light, And Edwin's love has grown eo cold That thingi are different quite. In idleness around he stands, And leaves the kids" upon her hands. First young doctor: I had a patient named Pillkins when I first came, but have lost track of him. Second young doctor: I know him; had him once; he was a regular dead beat. He was ?" Yes, never got a cent out of him." •4 How did he escape paying you Y" He died." "Papa," she said softy and blushingly, "young Mr. Sampson is in the parlour and wishes to speak with you." Then she sank into an easy chair, and her heart beat so fiercely that it made the gas fix- tures rattle. Presently the old man returned. Oh, papa!" she said, "did he-was he—what did he want. ?" He wanted to borrow two cents to get over to Brooklyn with," said the disappointed old gentle- man. Maria," said the mistress, as she entered the kitchen in a hurry the other day, there's a man going out of the lane with a basket on his arm." Yes'm." I think he has stolen something." "Oh, no, ma'am, I was watching him all the time." But he had a basket of victuals." Yes'm, but he's a poor man, and I sympathised with him." Haven't I told you not to feed tramps?" "Yes'm, but he pleaded so hard." Oh, they can all tell a pitiful story. Don't you ever give this man anything again. He looks to me like a jail bird." Very well, ma'am, I'll tell him to keep away." "Then you know him?" Yes, he's my husband, and he's such a sweet talker, and he's so good-hearted

WHAT SHE PROPOSED. In a boat drifting idly, idly, Sat a youth and a maiden fair The sunbeams played at hide-and-seek In the tangles of her hair. Before her he sat enchanted, Charmed by her magic spell; His dtuok eyes mutely pleading The love he longed to tell. Beatrice, dear," he whispered, Would it not be a beautiful dream To drift on thus for ever Along Life's placid stream ?" Beatrice played with the tiller ropes; "I shouldn't mind it, Ned- Drifting with you down the stream of Life, If I might steer," she said. SAVB THIS FOR LEAP YEAR, GUlLS. Willie A- and Maggie B- had been busy courting for two years, meeting regularly every Wednesday night in Hope-street, Glasgow. About a fortnight ago Willie, in parting with his beloved, made the usual remark I'll meet you in Hope-street next Wednesday night. Mind and be punctual." "Deed ay, Willie, lad," replied Meg, wi' a merry twinkle in her e'o, we hae met a lang time noo in Hope-street, and I wis jist that it was nigh time we were shifting our trysting place further alang, What wad ye say to Union-street?'' Willie has taken the hint and invitations are out. JUST THE MAN HE WANTED. "So you would like to assist me in the editing of the paper," said the country editor to an appli- cant for a situation. Are you able to write editorials?" "I think I am." "Suppose you should get into a dispute, as we sometimes do, with our contemporary over the way; how would you begin an article replying to an attack upon us ? "I would begin in this way: 'Our ghoqlish neighbor, true to its miserable and grovelling instincts, has again been prowling around the charnel house of its imagination and among the fetid, foul and feculent tiILh-" That will do," said the editor, grasping the applicant's hand, and giving it a hearty shake, hang up your hat and sit down. You are just the man I want." DIDN'T INJURE HIM. A temperance lecturer in Little Rock, during a discourse said: "The leading physicians of the country have agreed that alcohol possesses no real medicinal qualities, aud that no man can take it even in the smallest quantities, without injury. Show me a man-show me a man whom whisky does not injure." A man arose and said: I do not think, sir, that whisky is an injury to me. In fact, I think that I am benefited by it." You may think so," the lecturer replied, but you are mistaken." No, I am pretty certain." Then. not to have discovered any evil effect, you must drink it the most moderate way ?I No, I can't say that I do." "Are you different from everyone else!" the lec- turer exclaimed. Why should liquor not injure you ?" Because I don't drink it." "Ah, you are indeed sharp, but you say that you are benefited by it. How so, if you do not drink it ?" I sell it."

KINDNESS. The best portion of a good man's life. His little, nameless, unremembered acts Of kindness and of love. "r ORDSWORTK. Tintern Abbey."

According to the Lancet, the reason people who have had a foot amputated still imagine that it pains them is simply owing to irritation of the sensory fibres of a divided nerve being referred to the terminal distribution of the fibres." It is a wonder the rest of us never thought of that. It seems so reasonable. We learn a great deal by merely finding out thinas we didn't know before.

LEONARD ARUNDEL'S RECOVERY. "Do you know, Ml1. Arundel," Katie Mortlock said, "I somehow fancy that if-if it were not for your great misfortune, you would be a wonderful artist, just like your father." Leonard Arundel sighed, and leant back on the garden seat, with his sightless eyes turned plaintively upon the place where Katie sat, with that peculiar, restless motion so common among the blind. I Often fancy so myself, Miss Mortlock," he answered, in a low voice. It was a terriblo blow to my father when I lost my sight. 1 Was the only child, and ha had quite made up his minti from thd day I was born that I was some day to be a great painter, just as he is. When this Cataract first came on he very nearly broke his heart over it; and though lie has loved me dearly my whole life long ever since- all the better, perhaps, for my very affliction— I'm sure he has never quite recovered from the terrible shock of that last disappointment. It was the dream of his life that he would train me up under his own eye to be a great painter." How old were you when it happened ?" Katie asked sympa- thetically. I was five years old," replied Leonard, -4 when my sight firstbegan to grow dim; and even then I had just begun to take my earliest lesSons in drawing from my father. I can remember still the exact picture; lean call it up as vividly as ever before my mind's eye, with all the forms and colours of the whole scene precisely as I saw them." There was a slight pause, and then Katie stifling a sigh, said timidly, But is there no hope that you will ever recover your eyesight, Mr. Arundel ?" Leonard bent forward his neck and looked at her as intently as if he could see her. In his heart he was reading every intonation of her tremulous voice, and every rustle of her dress that rose and fell unseen upon her bosom. He knew that she was profoundly touched; he was trying to discover whether it was merely pity, or some deeper and intense feeling. He waited a second to reassure himself. Then be heard Katie's breath checked again for a brief moment, and he knew in his heart that during that moment Katie's heart had gone forth toward him. He bad long waited for it, and now he knew it. Young man and maiden read one another's purpose at such moments by some strange clairvoyance, none the less potent in blind eyes than in the perfect vision. It Miss Mortlock," he said, in that gently serious tone which at once introduces a solemn subject, a there is—a faint hope, but still some hope. Till that had been tried, and succeeded, I did not mean to speak to you about-about what I am now going to say to you. But I cannot help it-I can- not help it. Forgive me, forgive me if I am wrong- ing you." Katie's heart fluttered violently, but she answered as well as she was able. I shall be glad to hear anything you have to tell me about— yourself, Mr. Arundel." Thank you, Miss Mort- lock-thank you. Very well, then; in three weeks I am going to Paris to be operated upon by the famous Dr. Milliot. Sir Benjamin Pritchard, who advised us to take this step, thinks it just possible that the operation might succeed in restoring my eyesight. That is all-all about the matter. The chance is slight, but still there is a chance for me. And I thought, Miss Mortlock-l thought that if that operation should by any possibility prove successful, I would venture to ask you whether- oh, Katie, K,) t i,, —whether you could love me." He knew might venture upon calling her Katie, for he felt somehow that her bosom was heaving harder than ever, and that the tears were trickling down her cheeks. She let them fall quietly for a moment or two, while he stood there waiting for an answer, and trying to clasp her hand in his. When he found it she allowed him to take it unresisting, and then went on crying silently as if her heart would burst. By-and-bye Leonard began to wonder why she didn't answer. Katie," he whispered, if you can't tell me you will love me, will you press my hand, just ever so little ?" But Katie didn't press it. On the con- trary, she let it drop softly on his lap, and went on crying as bitterly as ever. Then Leonard began to understand that she had some good reason for withholding her answer. "Perhupa, Katie," he murmured, in a low voice, I have spoken too soon. We are comparatively new friends, and perhaps I have been too hasty. Perhaps, before giving me an answer, you would like to know a little more about me." Katie tried to check her sobs for a moment. "No, Mr. Arundel," she answered firmly; "if I were to know you for years and years, I couldn't respect and admire you more than I do at this very moment." He drew himself back with a little cry of pain. Respect 1 admire f" he repeated sadly. Ah, yes; that is enough, Miss Mortlock. I see-I see. I misun- derstood. I thought—I thought it was something more, when in reality it was only womanly sym- pathy and pity." No, no; not that, not that, be- lieve me. Oh, what shall I say ?—You don't under- stand me. Mr. Arundel, I wish, for Heaven's sake, that you hadn't spoken to me of this until after the operation you have just been telling me about. Leonard sighed. I see," he said again you wouldn't care to be a blind man's wife. You would rather wait until you know whether or not I shall recover my eyesight. That's quite natural -quite natural." But in his voice as he spoke there was an under current of pained surprise, as though he had expected something nobler and more generous from her. Katie Mortlock started with horror, for his tone and his words had stung her to the quick. Mr. Arundel," she cried, her pride fighting hard against her maidenly reserve, "you quite misin- terpret my meaning. It's not that-oh, don't think so cruelly of me !-it's just the opposite. Oh, Mr. Arundel, I dare not say it—I dare not say it. I love you-I love you too well by far ever to marry you." Then, alarmed and frightened at her own temerity, she buried her face in her hands and burst out sobbing. Leonard put out his hand soitly toward her, and took away one arm with a caressing gesture. Katie," he said, "my own darling, my sweetheart, tell me what it ia. Explain to me; I don't understand you," Katie looked at him tenderly through her tears. "Oh, Mr. Arundel," she cried, I wish you hadn't told me. If you had been going to be always blind, I could have loved you dearly; but if you're going to recover your sight, though I may love you just the same as before, you won't love me-you will never love me." Why not P Tell me, my darling. What on earth can ever come between us?" "Oh, Mr. Arundel, I can't tell you I can't bear to tell you. You like me now because I can talk with you and sympathise with you. But you have never seen me. If you wore going to be always blind you would love me still, perhaps, because I should always do my best to make you happy. But if you were ever to recover your eight, and see me, you wouldn't love me any longer. For I'm not beauti- ful I'm not even pretty; I'm quite plain, Mr. Arundel-quite plain and ordinary-looking and nobody who sees me-really sees me—ever for a moment falls in love with me." There was a second's pause again, and then Leonard said, solemnly—" Katie, I love you. Whether I recover my sight or not I shall always love you. Whether you are beautiful or plain to others I care not a pin to me you are, and always will be, beautiful, utterly beautiful, and my heart's darling. Your voice is so sweet and gentle; your hand is so small and delicate; your words are so tender and kind and sympathetic. My darling, my darling, I shall love you for ever. Will you take me? Will you take me ?" Katie could fight no longer against her own heart. Bending down her eyes (as though he could see her), she answered softly, If you still love me when you see me, I will marry you and if you can never see me at all I will marry you; but if you see me and cannot love me, you must still be free, for this is no promise between us, but only an agreement." Leonard Seized her hand, this time by instinct, as though he saw it; the passion of the moment had actually exalted and transformed even his bodily powers. Thank Heaven, Katie," he cried, that I asked you before I have to undergo this operation for now I know that you're not afraid or ashamed to be a blind man's wife. Katie. Katie, I shall love you for ever." Leonard went to Paris, and there submitted to his operation. The next fortnight was a long period of suspense and anxiety both for him and for Katie. Leonard Arundel, sitting in his room at the hotel in the Rue Chateaubriand, with his father always by his side, was waiting anxiously till the bandages were removed from his eyes, and he knew the truth for good or evil. Should he ever see the light again ? Should he ever become a great painter ? Should he ever look upon Katie's face, and learn it, and love it ? Katie Mortlock, in the quiet house by the river at Richmond, was waiting with a troubled heart to know whether Leonard's operation would or would not turn out successfuL How often in her own room, dis- tracted between those conflicting fears and hopes, she sat down with hsr face between her band and naa a good cry over it. For 8h,\ could hardY) ,even bring herself to hope that Leonard should re- cover his eyesight. At times she wished that this horrid operation had never been thought of. For it was Leonard the blind man that she had really fallen in love with-his gentleness, his helpless ness, his lohglhg and aspiration after that una- tainable artistic gift that Nature had so cruf"y both granted him and denied him. And, wr jpe still, it was Leonard tlij blind man who had fa in love with her; it was her voice, her hand, speech, her sympathy,that had firit attracted him; I could he still remain in love with htt when he actually saw her ? Katie had never bad any other lover, but her love for Leonard had grown up ¡ rapidly and instinctively within her, and if it were to be taken away from her now, sha felt as if the whole light of the universe W01:j.} fade away hopelessly for ever. Whilst waiting and musing I the servant brought in a telegram from Paris, and handed it to Katie. it was from Leonard's father. She tore it open and glanced at it in a perfect I agony of hope and terror. Operation apparently quite successful. Milliot very sanguine of result. Must wait a fortnight before removing bandages." Katie read it, burst into tears, and hurried away madly from the table to her own bed-room. Poor child," her father said, taking up and reading the telegram the good news has been too much for her. I hope she won't be disappointed after all." Tha fortnight wore away slowly, and on the very night before the bandages were removed from Leonard's eyes he was sitting with his father in their little saloon, during blind-man's holiday,when the servant came in to light the gas, and as the flame leaped and flckered fiercely for a moment on being turned up, Leonard's face grew suddenly pale,and he uttered a little cry of surprise and astonishment. His father bent over toward him anxiously. "Leonard," he cried, "my boy, what is it ?" Father, father, through all these bandages I felt the light jump up visibly that moment when he lighted it." Next day the bandages were removed, and for a second or two the suspense and excitement were actually insup- portable. Then Leonard fell back almost faint With joy. Successful!" he cried—" successfull successful I I can see quite plainly." His father seized his hand trembling; for ten minutes neither of them spoke another word to one another. But before another half-hour Leonard had sent his father out to despatch two telegrams, one of them home, the other to Katie. As soon as he was in a fit condition to be moved he was taken back again to his home in London. It was nearly another month before he was allowed to see Katie. The bandages were only removed for a short time, each day, in order to accustom him gradually to the light, and he did not wish to see her himself until his eyes were well used to their recovered freedom. (To be concluded next week.)

vX Angel darling j? Mamma, where did baby tome from? Fond mother: Papa bought him in the mar- ket. A.D.: Why didn't him div' ten cents more and dit one wit hair on ? "So you are tliirten years old, are you, Jenny P" "Yes; and I now realise that it is an unlucky number. It's too old for dolls, and pa says it is not old enough for gentlemen's society." A little four-year-old used the expression, I done it." Is that the way to speak ?" asked her mother. The child thought a moment, and with a trium. phant glance, replied No; I dood it." Now, children," said the teacher of the infant natural history class after the peculiarities of the crab had been discussed," is there any other mem- ber of the animal kingdom that possesses the power to move rapidly baokward ?" Yes," said one of the most promising of the little scholars, the mule kin do it." A little York girl. while lisping her childish prayer at her mother's knee before retiring, stopped in the midst of her devotions and said, J Oh, Lord, please wait a minute until I scratch my toe." A Paris correspondent says that this is a true Story: A little five-year-old daughter of American parents climbed on her. father's knees and asked him to tell her a great, great secret. Well, Mamie, here it one for you—you were born in Paris." Ob, what a nice secret I" cried the little girl. Does mamma know ?" It was a rainy day and Philip had been looking out longingly at the soaking lawn, when he turned to me suddenly: "I guess it's going to stop rainin' now." Why, Philip ?" Tause I just ast Dod to turn off the tanks." Sunday sehool superintendent (who has just been endeavouring to impress upon the minds of the scholars the lesson of the long life of the prophet Elijah, and the punishment of the irreve- rent children by bears): Now, can anyone tell me why the bears ate the children ? Wee small voice (after long pause): 'Cause they thought Xijah was too old." "Say, mamma, how long did it take Dod to mate the world ?" Six days, dear." Did Dod mate it all in six days ?" Oh, yes, and He could have made it in one day if He wished, for he is all powerful." 11 Well, I'm dlad lie didn't, for if He had every uver day would ha' been Sunday, wouldn't it ?" There is a litle poet at New Orleans. She is ten years old, and when recently a pigeon's egg was shown to her, in which was a little squab that had just failed of being hatched, she composed these lines:— Here lies birdie, for whom we mourn; Birdie that died before she was born; Oh, what a horrible thing is death, When it comes before you get your breath. A CHILD'S COMPLAINT. Little Dot: Oh, dear! I don't see why people can't be as good to their childern as they are to theirselves. Little Dick: What's matter, Dot ? Little Dot: I'se got an awful toothache. Little Dick: Don't your marpma have toothache too ?" Little Dot: No, she got hefsell teeth wot she can take out. This is an odd conccit of a very little girl last Sunday when it began snowing. A day or two previous mamma had been making some new pillows and emptying the old ones, which was rare sport for the little one, inasmuch as she got her dress covered with the down. Looking out of the window at the falling flpkes. she said: "Oh, mamma, look at the sky all full of white specks I" Then in a moment, "I dess Dod has been making some new pillows." "Sa-a-y, teacher, they's goin' to be some thing the matter of me to-morrow," drawled out a quaint little miss of five years to her teacher. Indeed," said the teacher; 11 nothing serious, I hope, Nannie ?" No, ma'am it's only going 1:.9 be my birthday, maam." The same little girl informed her teacher another day that there was going to be "something the matter" with her big sister Belle. I suppose it's going to be her birthday, too, is it?" asked the teacher laughingly. 44 No, ma'am; it's worse than that," was the reply; she's going to get married." Hattie was lamenting because her baby sister was not a little boy; but one day she came to her mother with a most hopeful face, and said cheerily, Well, mamma, like as not baby sister will be a boy when he grows up don't you think so ?"

Brevity as the means of expressive statement is illustrated in the following terse epitaph which is quoted in Chamber's Journal, Died of thin shoea January, 1839.

From Moonshine." The whine dues.—The dog tax. A maiden speech.—" I will." Some Ha'rden'd sinner has been trying to rob the Grand Old ManV Grand Old Mansion. He eatn., within measurable distance of the plate, but sucw ceeded in Gladstone bag-ging nothing. Quoth MRS. MILKINS: What with the trish' patty, and the Fourth Party, one would think thai House of Commons was a dancing saloon.

THE COMING COLTFIF, 7"* Astronomers are patient folk And wait for comets long, But if a comet does appear They hope 'twill come it" strong. SCITNO-FORRION RESTAURANT. FRANK: I shall come in here now and then TA air my French. Tost: Quite fight, my dear boy. I notice thatt you've got it well mangled. -4

From "Judy." HIS JOKB. WAGLBY: Why (lon't I have one of those nice Forder cabs instead of always riding in a "growler?" Why, because, old chappie, I can't Forder hansom. See ? V THAT'S IT! A Why is the hovel of one of the recently evicted) Glenbeigh tenants like a gentleman barn-door-, fowl ?-Why, because, don't you perceive, it is shanty-clear. MRS. O'BRALLLGUAlq ON THE "PLAN OF CAMPAIGN. The dear old lady writes to say ehe has noi patience with that there Dillon's dodge of takirf other parties' rents," and wonders the p'lice donlo stop that plan of sham payin' GOOD BOY! 0 I say, my dear, I'll tell you what I'm thinking; of giving you for a valentine. We've had thosØi fowls sent us, and, you see, we shall have som eggs; so, if you'll learn how, I'll buy a proper pa and you can cook some omelettes." She happened herself to dislike omelettes very much A but no matter. Good boy MAKING HIMSELF AGREEABLE. ROBINSON: Well, Miss Jones, if you ask me. F assure you I thought you sang that song simply) faultlessly. MissJ.: Oh, Mr. Robinson! you flatt ROBINSON But then I know nothing about music. I can listen to anything with pleasure. A HKAL GOOD ONB. Now that your butcher, owing to the farmerlj combining to sell their own meat, is much dejected) and down in the mouth, how should one baso describe his general appearance? Quite c fallen.

From "Fun." u A correspondent states that girls are as scarce ia Iowa as hens' teeth, and calculates that a fe loads shipped over from Ireland would be carted into a species of earthly paradise where no wotnas need fear a wolloping oftener than once a week. HE'S GOT IT ON. MR. COKESPUR My dear boy, eloquence is wasted at the Bar. What you want there iai "cheek," and plenty of it. 1 Ma, LYTTLETONNE: My dear boy, I'm delighted to find your prospect of getting on so good. THE LABOUR MARKET. BROOM: Well, Bill, 'ow are you gettin' on ? SHOVKL Oh, I dunno I ain't doin' nothin' parwi tickler. I wus a-gettin' on fust-rate as one of the-i unemployed, when the bloomin' frost broke upJ and I was obliged to take on a job. THOSE AWFUL LITTLE BROTHERS. CLEMENTINA How many valentines haVl yof, bad, dear ? COUSIN ROSINA: Only one. CLEMENTINA: Oh, dear I I've had six, so I'm; five ahead of you. BRUTAL YOUNG BROTHER: Ah I And that isnt counting the three ugly one you put in the tire. That makes you eight ahead, Clemmy.

From "Punch." The prospectuses were Allsopped up pretty quickly. The enormous amount subscribed sai4 Mrs. Ram, sounds like one of Allsopp's Fables." Why do they go on for weeks in Parliament discussing how they shall address the Queen ?* asked Mrs. Ram. "Surely someone among them must know that the Queen's Address is simply Windsor. "1U.RD TIMES." CABBY (to thrifty Old Lady): Want all that there luggage to go inside I wonder you dont want td be isted onto the roof yerself, an be took at g parcel!! SOCIAL AGONIES.—THE RECITER. BROWN (pointing to next room): That's not the sort of thing to make a party go off I JONES (minting to himself •. By Jove I It's tb. sort of thing to make this party to go off Ta-ta I (Exit.) THINGS ONB WOULD RATHBR HAVB LEFT UNSAID. Well, but if you can't bear her, whatever mads you propose ? Well,,we had danced three dances, and I couldn't think of anything else to say I THE NEW SCIBNCB. Ul(CIM JACK U Ile, my dear, what's the maltef f You and Edwin have not been quarrelling, I hope? ANGELINA: No, Unsle Jack; but velve been to Signor Gammonio, the Palmist, to have our baD examined, and he says we are not suited to dacP other, and ought to break it off at once

HOW LOCAL OPTION EMPTIED THE GAOLS OF CROSBY COUNTY. Bill Snort, editor of the Crosby Comity Clario* and Farmer? Vindicator, was in Austin not lonf since, and was asked how about the state of morality in Crosby County since the local optio# law, forbidding the sale of intoxicating liquors^ had come into effect Why, there ain't a prisoner in the county glol. It is as empty as the head oC the fellow who is trying to run an opposition papet4 to mine in Crosby County." Is the vacant con-j dition of the gaol owing to the local option law ?"j "That's just it, The sheriff had to go over int the adjoining county to get drunk, and white b was gone all the prisoners, about 27 in all, madei their escape. Oh, I tell you, local option is wonders for Crosby County,"