(u MI“ V‘w‘n— . “— “43‘ “MINT, .v‘u l Illlllfllw A ; 2 it D Q Shirley led the wa several steps, Romaine closely at his heels, and bogh followed by toe silent figure of whom they were so utterly in ignorance. _ At the fountain bos'u, Shirley thrust his hand in under the huge marble block.- and diew out the money; letting it fall heavxly m Romaine’s out- stretched hamh. “There it is! Take it, and be off!” “ One moment," Romaine said, his habitual shrewd cupidity overcoming even his fear to get away— "one moment, while I count it.” He poured it out upon the marble pavement, his 6 es orleaming at the sound of the mellow ringing, as t 2g Isl] mu‘ cally about, and his cheeks reddeued wi oxqukite satisfaction as be rapidly counted out the litfering ieces. “ t is all vht—a princely price for my silence and you will find me true to m _ oath, and besides, I know where my own interests e.” He hastily, but not the less cautioudy, secured the pile of money, and twisting a stick through the knot he made, slung the valuable parcel over his shoulder, looking like anything but a bag of gold. “ When I reach New York I wfll bu me a carpet-bag. I go now. Good-by, and go luck to on!" He turned to leave the spot when, pale, stern and gloomy, Dr. Dudle flipped out o the shadows into the circle of llg t e by the lantern Romaine carried. And there he stood, like some fabled Nemesis, his head uplifted, his arms folded over his broad chest, his accusing eyes looking from one horrified face to the other. It was indeed a terrible moment. Shirley rec-oiled, with a wild cry of amazement and fear, while Ro- mai 9, gun-lug about him, clung CIOScI' to his treasure. - _ " You—you here! You hero I“ Shirley gasped, husk)! . Dr. girdle looked at him with awful sternness “ Yes, Ste 3, I am here. I have heard every word that has passed between you and your accomplice. I have heard your confemion of having been the midnight robber who rifled my safe. And now, what does all this mean?” It seemed to Shirley that his mngui clove to the roof of his mouth never to unloosen. Every muscle in his body seemed rigid, as, appalled, he stood a very statue of horror. Dr. Dudley turned the same terrible stemlfast gaze upon Romaine. “What services havebeen rendered by you that the payment of this money is demanded?" Shivering with terror, Romaine could only glance helplessly at Shirley—afflicts that, like. magic, re- minded the impoetor 0 all there was at stake, riches, honors positio even his bride. He stru led well wi his emotion and fear, and succeele in gaining at least a measure of his self- command. He stepped somewhat nearer Dr. Dudley, his head drooping, his aspect that of almost hopeless remorse. “Father,” he in a low, hoarse voice. “ I acknowledge my sin. stole the mono because-— because—I owed this man just the sum knew was in your safe.” “ You owed him! And for what i” Shirley’s head drooped lower still. “ It was—a gaming debt,” he whispered. With cunning eagerness, Romaine spoke then. “ It is true. The young gentleman owed me, and I pressed him for the money. I am a poor man, sir, and I must have what is my due. If a young gentle- man will be gay and—” Dr. Dudley interrupted him with a look and es ture of aversion, and his stern eyes return to Shirley‘s fac 1, at the same time that Shirley signaled cautiously to Remain) to steal away and begone, a signal Dr. Dudley did not see, but which the fellow readily olmyul—slinking away while the doctor‘s eyes were averted, and securing his safety as Well as booty. Dr. Dudley almost instantly discovered his absence, but he made no eflort to pursue him, for a grief far greater than the loss of his money was eat- ing into his very soul. A terrible silence followed, broken at last by Dr. Dudle ‘s strange, sorrowful voice. "Aliar, a thief, a gal lerl—and is this my son? This the hair and repr . entative of the honored name of Dudley? This the ore, truthful. noble boy I sent from me years ago, t boy I loved as I loved as own soul?" leaf. “ What shall I say?” he answered, passionately. “I was thrown into tom tation, and like all young men, I yielded. I playc . and lost, and lied to con- ceal m folly and guilt. I took the money, which was to ave psi 1 for something for myself, choosing to pay a debt of honor than—3’ ‘ A debt of honor!” Dr. Dudley repeated, scorn- fully. “You talk of honor, who robs a parent to . hush a man who has (logged you from abroadl Honor!” “I did not look upon it as a robbery," Shirley said. “Besides, it would have been mine some H is awful pathos made Shirley tremble like a ‘ y_ . “ And more's the pity! Was not the property on- tailed I would bequeath them to a stranger.” “ I am no worse than other men," Shirley said, sul- lenly. “ I am sorry for my faults, and wi ' strive to correct them. At home here, I have no temptation. I am leading a suitable life—only one mistake stands alche. Can you not forgive and look over it 7” Dr. Dudley hesitated before he replied: “ I can forgive you, but I can never fo et it, Stella. I am terribly disappointed in you, and I ear my con- fidence can never be restored." “ For one fault then, you won“ crush me? I dared . not tell you I needed so much money, and I robbed ' you in self—defense. Give me another chance, father.” "' I will give you the chance to retrieve yourself, Stelle, but I say to you, solemnly, that I wish you had died in your innocent babyhood. Yes, I will al~ low you opportunity, but, you understand, Stella, of course, that your marriage with Maud must be post- poned. Before I give her to your koeping— ure, in- nocent young irl that she is, I must un- erstaud yom' character tter than I now do. I shall make no effort to break the engagement between you, but I shall insist upon at least. a year‘s postponement, at the end of which time I can better judge of your worthiness to become her husband.” Shirley could not have been more startled had an earthquake suddenly ynwned at his feet. His face became suddenly flushed with anger—an anger that deprived him of his usual cautious prudence. “ It is unfair, cruel! You want to put of the marriage to give yourself a chance," he sneercd, in- delicately. “ You didn‘t know I read your little se- cret so well, perhaps? And if you do interfere be- tween Maud and me, just so surely will I betray our secret to her, and you are able to judge how ong she would remain under your roof after I have imparted the information to her!” Dr. Dudley looked as he felt—absolutely aghast. “And this man, who can speak thus, is my son, my own soul" It was the only answer be male to Shirley’s coarse lnsolence. “ Yus, your son,” Shirley replied, with sudden af- fectation of pcniten :e. “I should not have spoken so, but you goalied me to it. Let the marriage go on, father, and I will not only rcspx-ot. but forgot, your secret. Leave it to Mind \vhctlmr the mar- riage shall be postponed or not. She surely should have a word in the decision, and I will abide by her verdict.” Romemburing that Mind knew of the robbery, andbclieviu:r lint she had cmscd to respect Slur- lev, Dr. Dudley was couli’lwnt she Would postpone the marriage—uni by thus referring the mat‘er to h T, his own wishes won'd be cirried out, and his 5 ‘crct save 1 from lnrlol'cate lwtmyll. “ It shall be 1 ‘ft to Maul,” he said, gravely. “ It shall by as she please-z.” With the words, he turned abruptly away, and went brick to the home, his grand, handsome face ovorsproaxl with an aw l‘ul desolation. “And this man is my son, my own son! What have I done to deserve such a terrible punishment? What can have transformed my once noble boy into this false, guilty man? My burden is heavier than I can lxmrl” (7b be continual—cornmeal in No. l.) Jack. “J.le " would at first sight appear to be a. famil- iar abbreviation of John, and to be applied in that sense. It occurs in jack-tar. roastin'v-jack, hook~ jack, jack-of-all tlwles, jockey (gln): Qluck, part of the machinery of a lock and OI u piano-forte; jack, an engin for raising heavy weights; jack-knife, jackde bricgk—ljackfllgssome illstangesivhere the wor oocurs,su a3) s,3uc - a.w,1.1c nan-a solos-lent, ‘-pu.d(ling, it is manifestly dam? rom Jack, e familiar name of John; but in the examples above cited the true etymolo yis to be found in the Celtic or Gielio deagh (d fore the vowels sand l is renounced j), dean (or eagh), the cymbrlc da ylng good, fit, approp to, excel- lent, well. 0 A jack-tar ls agood sailor; a roasting-jack is an instrument fit, a proprlato or ood for the pu so of roasting. A,ack-of—a.ll-lr on is one fit to urn his hand to anyt lug useful; a ‘lck-klllfe is a good useful and large kn to; a boot- ack is useful to pull oi! boots. Jockey, a slam:’ word for English gin, means. also, strong ale, and among children a spe- cies of sweetmeat, and in all these casessynonymous with something good, as the French call a sweet- meat a bonbon, or as the Scotch call them goodies. Black jack is an old name for a large bottle of black leather, good to hold beer or other liquors. Beau- mont and Fletcher have preserved the words: “There is a. dead sea of drink in the cellar, in Which goodly vessels lin wrzxsked, and in the middle of this dellrrn at rear the tops of flagons and black- jacks, like churches drowned in the marshes.“ A Mysterious Case. Bv “ run EX-CIIIEF.” MISS Honours Ll'rmnn wore $50,000 worth of dia- monds, and sparkled all ovsr as if she had been dip- ped in a dew-bath, as she pased through the crowded rooms on her father’s arm. Following close after came a plainly-dressed man with his hat on, who never took his eyes Off the wealthy jeweler’s only daughter, and people whispered among themselves that this was a detective employed to keep guard over that fortune in gems. It pleased Miss Latimer to find a seat in a. rather secluded corner, which was not lacki in light, though the ebb and flow of the fashionab e crowd at this most select hop of the season left it uninvaded, and here her father presently left her. after consign- ing her to the charge of her betrothed husband, Arthur Ayerton, who was also head clerk in the 'ew- eler‘s establishment. It was the first time that ey- man the detective. had seen this young gentleman, and his eyes rested upon him occasionally witha per- plexed expression in their depths. “ Blest if I haven’t seen that cove som’eres when he didn’t look so aristoeratic as he does now,” ran Mr. Weyman‘s reflections. “I‘ll bet that Dad Lati- mer isn’t making a. brilliant spec in his son~in.law. Wonder how he’d take it if I was to hint a look after the young gent’s record; be buffed, like as not, and think I wanted the job. The diamond beauty is alto~ gether in earnest in her liki for him, at any rate.” There could be no doubt 0 that fact. Miss Lati~ mer was looking up into her lover’s face, oblivious for the moment to assing scenes. He was leaning easily upon the bac of her chair, availing himself of the liberties an accepted suitor may take before the eyes of all the worl . He broke a sprigmf helio- trope from her bouquet to add to his own bouioniere ,- he took her fan and waved it a few times back and forth; he even stooped solicitously and touched a diamond star, which trembled among her raven braids, as if pressing the pin more securely into place, at the same lime saying something which rought a. bright color into Miss Latimer’s cheeks; but it evidently recalled her to a sense of their posi- tion, and a. moment later she rose to take his arm, and mingle again with the crowd. As the lights streamed down upon her graceful figure, Mr. Weyman became suddenly aware that something was lacking from her brilliant adorn- ments, and almost as swiftly fixed upon that glitter- ing star as the missing ornament. Under the watchful eyes of this of the occasion, under the very nose of her utura protector and life companion, Miss Latimer‘s diamond star had disappeared as mysteriously and utterly as if it had melted into air. Mysteriously, to all except the detective. He had jum d to a conclusion which was not at all palat- able to the others concerned, viz.: That Arthur Ayer- ton himself was the guilty party. “ It’s the most ridiculous assumption I ever heard of,” Mr. Latimer declared. “ I was willing you should search him as a matter of form, but since it resulted in nothing, I protest against- these unjust suspi- cions.” The jeweler would have much sooner thought of suspecting Mr. Weyman himself: in fact, his con- fidence in the latter was decidedly shaken, and he was half-inclined to put the case into other hands. “ Give me charge of it for three days, Mr. Latimcr,” urged the detective. "If I don’t work up something in that time, I’ll give it up without a word. I ain’t talking of suspicions now, sir, but I want to ask how long you‘ve known Mr. Ayerton?” “Long enough to have perfect faith in him. He came to me four y ears ago, highly recommended by his last employer, who was an intimate friend of my own. That he is about to marry my dauzhter, and be admitted to a share in my business, tells the estimation in which I hold him better than words.” Before the three days for which he had spoken expired, the detective had armed himself with certain facts bearing upon the young man’s record, to which the j eweler could not utterly refuse to listen. He produced a photograph and a leaf evi- dently torn from a memorandum-book, which he placed before Mr. Lntimer for identification. “ It‘s Ayerton's photograph and his handwri , both beyond a doubt,” admitted the latter unwi - ingly, not certain but that this was some trap to catch him. “ It’s the photograph of one Jim Thorns, who was committed to State‘s prison for house-brealdng and wholesale robbc nigh upon six years ago. He made his escape after 9 had served a few months of his term, and hasn‘t been heard of since. Do you know where Mr. Ayerton was at that particular date six years ago i" “ With my old friend B'lll'd, as I told you before." “I have the statement of your friend here, sir. )Ir. Ayerton was his lravelinuvsalesman at that time. He started out on a trip which should have kept him, perhaps, three weeks, and never put in an appear- ance again until five months had gone by. and then he had either lost or made way with nearly a thou- sand dollars” worth of stock which he had taken with him. He gave )Ir. Baird his note for the I amount, and paid it out of his wages during the next two years, besides having' his escapade—the old jew- eler thought it nothing worse—covered up; but the incident of his disappearance tallies with Jim Thorne’s arrest and imprisonment, and his re- turn is a little later than that party’s escape. Now, sir, we come to the memorandum, dated the 18th, just a week ago. ‘ Paid $500 to N. to-night. Black- mail, but I am not in a )osition to defy him. I shall not bear a. repet tion 0 his demands.’ Now, in in opinion, there was a repetition made, and he hadn‘t the sand to stand up against it. Not being in funds himself, and having the chance under his fingers, he prigged the star, not being aware of my watch, and supposing you would simplythink the jewel had been lost.” Mr. Latlmer felt his heart go down. The reason— ing seemed plausible enough but he would not be- lieve all this evil of his son—in-law elect without at least hearing his side of the story. nfronted with Shelohajrlges of the detective, Ayerton turned sud- on p‘ e. “ ive an account of myself for that time?” he re- peated, in a troubled tone. “Mr. Latimer, what will you think of me when I tell you it is impossible? I remember starting out on that journc , and taking a sleeping-car on the road over which was travel- ing. wasn’t very well, but I never slept sounder in all my life. and woke, as it seemed to me, next morning. I was lying on the bare ground under some bushes, the rain falling on me, and a man standing over and shaking me and trying to get me up. I was dazed and s upid, but as blessed luck would have it, the man was a doctor, and he ended by taking me to the county infirmary, where I was laid up for a couple of weeks with rheumatic fever, and recovered to find that I had lost five months neat out of my life. Where I was or what I did in that time I havo no more conception than you have; and yet there is one faint haunting dream connect- ed with it—a dream, as of iron bars which shut mo in. For all I know to the contrary. I may have been that Jim Thoruc who was convicted of crime and sent to prison. The picture is enough like me to be miuo, yet- I have told you nothing but the truth.” " It woull have been to your credit to have told it sooner. And the $560 vou mi ’—" “ Was to Newman, Mr. Baird's book-keeper at that time. He knew the circum:t:1nces of the case as I have relate 1 them to you. He threatened to betray ' mo, and knowing how improbable mv story must Sewn, I “‘3: weak cnongh to ) igltl to his (I unauds." Mr. L'itimer wanted to believe llllll. To do any- thing else, he felt, would be to break his daughter‘s heart; and yr“, there wa: ( nouth to break it at the best. One thing was surl; there could be no more thought of :1 union lwtu‘ccn them until the whole mystery of Arthur Ayorton‘s life was cl \arctl up. This was a matter too serious to be inlruslcrl to Weyman, and all the facts of tho case were laid bo- fore the Superintendent of tho. Dotoctivo A :cncy, who took the hard knot into his own hands to un- ravel. “ It shall be your business to find the dia- mond star,” said he to Mr. chman. “You have fixed the crime upon Mr. A 'orton, in your own mind, but you haven‘t traced Lie missing article to him, all the same.” The detective colored under this rebuke. He had his theory upon the subject' the trinket had un- doubtcd'y passed out of Ayerton‘s hands, therefore he had a confidant among the guests that night. Newman had been present; the mauwas not over- burdened with conscientiousncss; he might have stoodasanaccom lice in the theft, believing him- self safely shield behind the other. At any rate, Mr. We 'man resolved upon a bold stop. He armed himsel with a. search-warrant, and invaded Mr. Newman‘s lodgings at a time when the latter was absent. There never was an easier discovery made. A small kagc of unset diamonds of vary g sizes reward his search, and in the ashes of the grate, which bore marks of not having been disturbed re- cent , was a ball of gold, no larger than a pea—un- doub ly the melted setting of the gems. He hastened to lay these results before the chief, but the lattt‘or had his own reasons for avoiding precipitate no on. Time dragged away, and at last one morning came when Messrs. Latimer nn'l Ayorton were re nested to wait upon the chief, and arrived to find “1 cyman present. “I have come to an end with your affair. sir," said the superintendent to Ayerton. “In the first place, let me assure you that you are in no manner identi‘ [led with the robber, Thorns. I placed his ghoto- gra h under a microscope, and immediately ctcct— ed iscrepnncles between hisa arance and yours. I had a circular printed, cmbe ished with a wood- cut of yourself, describing you as missing between such and such dates, and sent a copy of it to every institution for the insane within a hundred miles of the railway line over which you traveled that night. I would have followed up the connecting lines had it -found after the settling of the water, it was hung- from one where you had been an inmate, and with that clew to work on was able to trace back your whole course. it won‘t surprise you now to know that you branched from your route, and ware finally taken in charge by certain township authorities as a dangerous lunatic. You were advertised in the county apers, but of course these did not fall into the ban s of your anxious friends. You were sent, at last, to the State Lunatic Asylum, from which you escaped after a few wecks’limc: but your aber- ration had begun to yield to treatnwnt. and your stlte at that time was supposed to be harmless, therefore no Very active Search was made after on. "The date of Thorne‘s apprehension ani escape coincides oddl enough with this experience of yours but ha< Weyman looked into his previous reco , he would not have fallen into his first error. "Your second,” with a. turn of his eyes toward the detective, "was almost as bad. You would have put your fing rs into the Newman pie with a vfingeance if I had let you. What do you say to t a 9' He displayed the diamond star, intact, to the amazed eyes of his underling as he spoke. f‘ But the unset stones?” Mr. Weyman gasped. “Belong-ed to his scarf-pin. Being bard up, he had broken them from their setting with the inten~ tion of selling them, when the brilliant idea struck him of making a raise from Mr. Ayerton here. I have returned them, with all necessary apologies. But I see you want to know where I found the star. Am the plunder of Slick Steve who was pulled the ot er mght; he gave away the thief—a cus-‘ tomel‘ of his and an artist in his line. It seems that he was standing on a ledge outside an open window that ni ht, six feet from Miss Latimer and fished the pin rom her hair with a Wire which had a hook at the end. He won't have the chance to repeat his little trick very soon, but you, my friend, have a deal to learn yet before you master your pro- ession." Mr. Weyman believed it, but Arthur A erton was heart'in glad of the suspicion which has ended in clearing the one dark spot of his life. Spills. 3v m “ nx-Rnpomm” “I rock that fellow with alasso,” said a. naturalist who recently returned from a collecting tour in South America, pointing to a. magnificent snake skin more than twenty-two feet in length that hung from the wall in his stud , “ and in this wise,” he contin- ued, obse ' the oak of incredulity upon his visit- or’s face. “ was way up the Amazon, and being anxious to get a large snake I offered a. reward for one, and soon heard of abig fellow that had been seen about three miles from where I was. I imme- diately moved into the neighborhood, and aftvr we had scoured the country several days the boy I had with me came running through the bush in great ex- citement, saying that a big boa and the saubas (ants) were having a. fight. The saubas, by the we. , are foraging ants that put to flight man and st. When they enters. house the owner steps out and runs for his life, and when I came up to the snake I found it in a similar flx. It was a magnificent speci- men. It had swallowed some exceedingly large ani- mal, and, while almost unable to move, had been attacked by the ants. The grass, bushes, twigs and leaves were black with the inSems, and every mo— ment or two the great reptile would lift itself in the air and sway about savagely, but only to fall back again. I saw that the ants would destroy it in an hour, so I sent my boy back to the village to get a ro e, and took to the trees myself. ‘ In half an hour he returned with twenty men. I made a lasso, and, getting near the snake, succeed- ed in throwing it over his head, but I became fairly comred with ants, so that I had to rush away and roll in the bush to rid myself of them. However, we all rallied, manned the ro e, and managed to drag the snake out of his re reat and away from the ants. It was so sluglsh under this rough treat- ment that I was able to place my istol within six inches of its head when I shot it. soon had it in camp and the skin taken 01!. I wanted the skeleton also, but the natives stole it in the night, and my specimen went for stews the next day. Boa. meat is not bad, and is very generally eaten in many local- itles. “Itis a great mistake to think that snakes are useless. They are, in the first place, extremely val. name as scaven rs. The meat of the larger kinds is eaten. The 3 "us are invaluable as leather, and even here are considered fashionable when made into bags and pocket-book covcrs. Then the oil of ratilesnakes and nearly all other serpents is valu- able. Crotalin comes from the rattlesnake and cop- perhead. This skin on the wall is by no means one of the largest. Very few peor 1c can be made to believe that snakes attain the sizes mentioned by naturalists. Nevertheless, gigantic snakes do exist. In Borneo, Mr. St. John measured snakes twenty- six feet in length. Mr. Bates, the naturalist, meas- ured in South America many water boas that were twent feet long, but the largest snake ever report- ed to ave been seen by a European of unquestioned veracity was that vouched for by the well-known botanist, Dr. Gardner. The monster had swallowed a horse, and had soon afterward been drowned by being swept down a river by an overflow, and when in; in a. tree. It presented a most remarkable spec- tacle, being 40 feet long and distended to an enor- mous bulk. These serpents are oftlen called Trmac- nilrahni'la, meaning ‘fig‘ntln with five men.’ A skin of one formerly in the ritlsh Museum is 35 feet long. “ Andanson observed a snake in Senegal that was fifty feht in length and two and a half in diameter, l while Watermn tells us that a Spaniard showed him a. skin at Anzoslura, the canal! of the Orinoco, that from its thickness he judged to have been that of a serpent seventy feet long. Baldaens, the author, found serpents in Ceylon thlrt '—six feet in length, and in Java he saw one that lad swallowed a stag entire. Owen, in his ‘Natural History of Serpents, gives the length of one as fifty feet, and Father Gu- milla, in his ‘ History of Orino‘m ’ refers to serpents forty feet long; so that it woul seem fair to sup- pose that snakes do attain what might be called gigantic dimensions. On the Rio Branco the traders and na'ivos report that snakes swallow full-sized cattle, and this can be readily conceived. The horns, of course, are not swallowed. The snakes lie in a lethargic condition until they drop off. “ A cant: came to my hearing," continued the not- uralist, “ of a. curious accident occasioned by a snake that had swallowed a deer. A native pinching the body and thinking the reptile (lea attempted to out it, when the monster writhed and luv-led its head at the man with so much force that the projecting horns penetrated his lungs and killed him. Mr. Mc- Leod, who was the historian of the ‘Voy e of the Alceste,‘ wasca tured and kept a. prisoner or many months at Whi ah, on the coast of Africa, and he states that he observed snakes nearly sixty feet in length. Talns of fabulous snakes are common in history. Valcrius Maximus, quoting Livy, ri-fcm to the alarm into which the Roman army was thrown by an enormous scrpcntlhsthod its lair on the banks of the Bagradus, near Utica. This s-‘akc. according to Pliny, was 150 foot long. Boutius refers to snakes in the Asiatic islands that exceed thirty-six foot in length, and mentions that he has s-cn pcrsms ont- intr the flesh of large hogs captured by and taken with results astonishing to both seat and sitter. \Vaterton, in referring to the camondi snakes, says that specimens from 30 to 40 feet long have been killed, and that the Spaniards of Brazil positively affirm that in the unfrequented districts these ser- pents sometimes attain a length of 70 feet and will destroy the largest and strongest bull. They call them maid/0:08, which means literally 'hull- killers.y ” The Mule. SALT LAKE HEN ON THE TRUTH-LTRETCH. THEY were telling lies. Sharp Walker said that the conversation reminded hhn of his experience with mules. He was camped out one time and the boys were out fishing. and he thought that before they got home he would surprise them with a good old loaf of yeast-powder bread, having warmed the Dutch oven nicely and placed the loaf where it be- longed and attended to soaking some beans. A pet jack around the camp took in the situation at a glance and awaited results. While Sharp was agitating the beans the donkey was making love to his loaf, and, after some nice engineering, pushed the lid 03 the oven and poked his nose in. The last he saw of the loaf was sticking out of the jack‘s goseilwho was making very fast time over the sage rus . Major Erb followed by giving his experience of a jack that could turn a door knob and walk right in. n fact, he said that he had to change the combina- tion of his safe every night in order to be solid in the morning. This onkey in question could go to work and play poker with the cards swept out of the saloon in the camp, and make a heart lunch on a gum boot. It was a. great surprise to his friends when the major began y stating that: During the grasshopper plague in Kansas many of the farmers pulled up stakes, and taking Horace’s advice took the Western trip. At that time came the great rush to the $11] Juan country, and among the many ad- venturers were a. few from Kansas. On the trip over the ran e to Del Norte there was a stretch of thirty-five nu es of snow to be traversed, and as the journey had to be done by pack animals, during the earl morning a camp had to be made on the snow w en the sun got too warm and the mules broke through the crust. When camping out that night the major noticed a Kansas man about retir- ing near where he had his blankets spread. This Kansas man was very particular about disrobing. The major had rolled into his blankets, boots, body and all; but that Kansas man was assthetic. Against the far distant horizon could be seen that picture, new to Western men, of a. man quietly taking ofi his coat, vest, gantaloons, and standing in the clear moonl' ht, t e envy of those around him. Ivolding Eastern blankets and slept the sleep of the just. At four o’clock in the morning the packers lelled, and all hands bounced out. The major, havm no clothes to put on but those he slept in. was rea y in a moment. Looking around he saw the Kansas man standing in the gray dawn, his canton flannel under- wear fiuttering II] t 1e breeze, and a look of terror in his eye. Following the direction in which he gazed, the major saw two jacks with a leg each of the Kan- sas man‘s pantaloons in their mouths, uietly chew- ing away. A little further down the ill three of the pack animals were having a picnic on his coat, and above on a knoll a. solitary jack was lunching on his long leather pocket-book. He yelled, and the two jacks parted company on the pantaloons. one section going east and the other west. By the aid of the packers his clothing was restcred, and a sailor, who had a palm and needle along. stopped the breaks. Dr. Hamilton said that a friend of his bad a jack, and like all jacks, would buck. He lived north of Ogden and drove in fiery Saturday with a load of truck in season; sometimes cabbage-s, potatoes and onions; at other seasons chickens, butter and eggs. This 'ack of his would invariably buck in front of the ,o-op store at the corner of Main and Fourth streets. He had used whips, clubs and profanity on that jack, but in was no use. Finally he con- cluded that patience was best, and whenever the jack became a. statue on the street the old man would wind the lines around the brake-bar and sit down on the sidewalk till the animal had I‘lllef-‘d his limbs. The boys dropped on the racket one day, and one young.r fel ow stepped u to the old man:— “Say, dad, what’s the matter? ’ “ 0h, there’s neither of us in a hurry.” “Well, will you let me start that jack for you?” “You‘ve got an everlasting contract t1:crc,and take it.” The young man fooled a1 ound the animal’s head for a while and pulled out a vial; shaking it \VL ll be laced the cork to the jack‘s car, and the animal eff—that is, he was there no more. The old man got out in the middle of the street and saw his jack, cabbage-s, dust and thunder, strike out for North Ogden. Looking around in terror, the old man called for that boy, but that boy was not to be caught very easily. After a while he got him within talkm distance, and said: “ at did that stuff cost you that was in the boltle?” “Onl five cents.” “We , here is fifty cents, and go to the drug store . and pour the whole outfit into my car, and see if I can catch that son-of—agun of a J ack.” All About Sponges. VERY few people have any idea of what sponges are, where they grow and how they are gathered. It is really the most important industry in the Ba- hama Islands, and furnishes to hundreds of its fish- ing vessels and black native fishermen lucrative cm- ployment. It is now gcnerallv accepted by Pro- fessor Agassiz and other naturalists that the sponge belongs to the animal kingdom. Those of the i‘ah'a- mas and other West Indian islands are of a larger size and coarser quality than those on our Gulf coast. Fifty years ago the gathering and shipment of sponges in these islands was really a lnouopoly, but t- e fishermen finding more profit and cxvitement 1n wrecking, the? practically abandoned the sponge fisheries. A cw years later the fishermen again took to gathering sponges until the American Rebel- lion, whcn blockade-running engrossed their a'ten- lion, and the sponge industry sunk to a. low ebb, to revive again at. the close of the war. The Bahamians have ai-plicd themselves to the sponge fisheries with assiduifiy since 1878, and new fields have becn diswvercd and the yield has thus been largely increased. At first the sponges were divided into two classes —the coarse and the fine. They are now divided into many varieties, principally the sheep-wool, while reef, abaco-vclvcr, dnr ’-reef, boat, lzardhcad, grass, yellow and glove. The value of these is in the order named, the sheop-xvool being the prime grade. Of each of those grradcs there are many va- ricl ics, all beng useful for mechanical, surgical, and bnlhing purposcs. The vozscls emplzvyvd in the sponge fisheries are smell craft, averaging about. ten tons each, and car- ryin': from six to a dozcn men. Willi six wceks’ provisizns on board, they start out. coasting alum: the banks nlrl roofs whom [he \vatcr is shall r\\', for from snakes. “ Hero is a rattlesnake," continued the snake hie;- torian, pomti'iz lo a largo, finely-mounted skeleton. “ that tested the norm: of a friend of mine. He is an officer in the artillnrj', and bnforc the war was 8111- - iioncd in Florida. One day xvlii‘o sitting on a root of a tree with his. (‘lbovxs on his knocs a snake crawled out bctvvcen l'irz f. 0‘. Ho rcmnlnvd perfectly qui~t until it was: several foot bcyond him, and lbvn he shot it with hi; rcvolvor. N0, he wasn‘t. churrrexl, but to use his ow-i words he was ‘half—smrod l0 . (loatb,’ and if 11’.) ltnd jump'd and been bitten 1*. r would have boon {3.1.11.3} thcrc wasn’t n. drop of liquor within 100 mile"- of the camp, and that it; 17ml). . ably the only known cure. I‘v'allacrr (he naturali