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THE INI3IANAJU1.1S JUlTRaiAl SUNDAY, JTTLV 28, lOOl. 15 Tke Opal Stud "Hang the key! Why does It always stick "'hen I'm In a hurry?" The speaker was a glri about twenty-two. struggling to unlock r portmanteau. The exigencies of the situation take her at a disadvantage, and prohibit a description of her costume. On a chair hung a dripping coat and skirt, and a pair of neat boots set upside down within the fender suggested water draining out. Miss Clare West, whilst Fight-seeing at Quebec, hnd been caught and drenched In a storm cf rain, and was now returned to the Hotel Chateau Fronte r.ac to dres for dinner, due in twenty min utes. As she stood petulantly fumbling with the ! keys, and uttering impatient masculine im precations, she might almost have been mis taken for a boy, with her tall athletic figure and short curly hair, "The confounded thing!" she spluttered, and tried another key. This time It turned and she flung the lid back. OrMt Scott! what's this? Who put this here?" she demanded, drawing out an em broglio of bands and button, holes and hold ing it up gingerly between her finger and thumb. "Stocking suspenders? No! By Jupiter, It's braces or I'm a Dutchwoman!" The next shock was a pair of trousersl "It's not mine at all," she cried, in in dignant dismay, "it's some beastly man's trunk." Slamrring down the lid angrily she exam ined the surface. Sure enough there were her initials. "C. V." "That's me. And fo is the trunk to look at. But the contents aren't," she declared, with a wholesale massacre of grammar. "And now how the mischief am I to scuttle down to table d'hote in seventeen minutes?" She strode towards the bell to summon the chambermaid, when a vagrant funey brousht her to a halt, with a merry but daring expression In her handsome . Irish blue eyes. "By Jupiter! What fun it would be!" broke from her lips irresistibly. "What an ecstatic lark! Not a soul knows me here, and this time to-morrow I shall be a hun dred miles or. my way home by the 'Domin ion.' Why should I not chance it? Who's to find out? And oh! what copy it would xr.ake!" The great function of dinner was in full progress in the magnificent table d'hote rnlon of the Chateau lontenac, as a hmdrome but foppish-looking boy entered and stood vaguely gazing round the crowded tables with a cool self-assurance. He gave the Impression of being one of xhnz? smooth-shaved stiff-starched, ul- tra-coneeite! mrishfr youths, whom the average man of the world feels inclined to kick at sight. Fastidiously stuffing his silk handkerchief into his sleeve, and with his chin very high in the air, he strolled to wards a vacant seat, and was about to appropriate it. when the head waiter Inter posal with th notification it was engaged, and conducted him to a small remote table, where, to his obvious dif-gust, he was placed next to the only occupant, an individual in a tweed traveling suit, who looked like a sparrow amidst swallows. The boy frowned, flicked out his coat tails, drew his chair under him, and leisurely proceeded to unfold his serviette, craning his head a? he did so to survey the visitors. . Then he ran his hand daintily through his iiair, cas-t a haughty glan-'e at his neighbor, elevated his eyebrows in marked disap proval of his unconventional costume, and applied himself, with an ineffable expres sion, to a study of the menu card. "Aw any sort of soup," was his order, "and aw bottle champagne." The man in tweed glanced at him, and resumed the section of his mullet with that freezing air of insularity Englishmen af fect amongst strangers. The bumptious boy absorbed his soup, with exaggerated precaution against soil ing his immaculate and expansive shirt front, and ostentatious applications of his FtrviJttt to his upper lip a Quite super fluous ceremony. Then ho revived himself with a critical sip at his champagne, i cowled, filled up his glass, and, turning to the man in tweed, so far descended from his j.edtrital of conceit as to observe: "Beastly day." "Froggy." was the laconic reply. He was a good-lookir.g man, with a large mus tache and pleasant gray eyes. "Stepping long?" drawled the boy. "Can't ray." "Shocking bad cooking I call it," com rdainci h boy, pusninj his plate away peevishly. "Do you? I call it uncommonly good." contradicted the man, with Imperturbable calm. The boy elevated his chin stiffly over his cut-throat collar, turned his head Uc an automaton, and regarded the man with supercilious surprise. "By Jove, you're jolly easy to please. It's the worst I've tasted in my voyage around the world.-" The man looked up, a rebuke evidently hovering on his lips. But it dissolved as his glance fell on the conceited youngster, who, apparently unconscious 6f his impertinence, was picking at an imaginary moustache ird spoiling his good looks with his abom inable aftectation. There was nothing to be pained by breaking this butterfly on a wheel, and the man contented himself with a survey of contemptuous pity, until his eyes huppen d to be arrested by the boy's opal shirt stud. "Wine rank gooseberry," criticised the boy, choking over a too hasty gulp of his champagne. "Did you get a better brand at school?" osked th? man with quiet sarcasm. "I do not follow the diift'of your ob servation." replied the boy haughtily, pre senting the f till and overpowering expanse of his sr.irt front to crush his neighbor. The man was not Intimidated. "No drift In !: " he said, coolly, as .he bent forward end stared critically into the white field ct linen, which caused the boy to repeat the ceremony of using his serviette. ' Thtre was a pause, and the boy leaned languidly back, his hands buried deep la V Ms pockets, and on his face a blase air of betn?- jTofoundly bored. A cojple of courses passed without re mark. The boy tipped constantly at his champagne, and investigated all the peo ple within view. At last he spoke. "Not ;i bad-looking1 girl over there. The one in rink crepon. Next to the old ruin in gray." The man glanced In the direction and grunted. "rity mothers are such fools as to pa rade daughters themselves. Ought to hire decent-looking women to show them off. Such a handicap to girl when a fellow can tot up what she Is likeiy to total. Puts a fellow off, don't you know. Now that girl fcy herself " "Yes?" Well she's tolerably decent. Crumby, I call her. But I bet my boots she'll bake Into crust, like the old mother.' "Supposing the elder lady is not ht mother." "Suppose rubbish. Look at tlie faces." Look at the facts." "Hullo! Do you know them?" Slightly." "Oh. I say, sorry I spoke. Awfully morti fied, old chap. Hope I said nothing to Tcound your feelings." pon't distress yourself." Published by Special Arrangement. HERBERT r.nMPTHM !p7r!7hC The boy puckered hi handsome face. "But I really am awfully sorry. Wouldn't have done It for worlds. Males a man feel such an accidental cad. don't you know." Beneath the surface of conceit he was genuinely distressed. "The best way to avoid that unenviable misfortune," hinted the man gravely, "is to treat every strange lady with the re spect due to her sex-as If she were your mother or sister." "Or your fiancee," sniggered the incorrig ible youth. "Or your" the man stopped suddenly. hi3 eyes focussed on the boy's shirt front, which was again presented with an air of patronizing condescension. The scrutiny seemed to disconcert the boy, who lifted his glass of champagne hurriedly and drained it at a gulp. By the way it made his cheeks flush and his eyes v. Ink he seemed susceptible to the lnlluence of what he had so disparagingly condemned as "rank gooseberry." With a sort of bravado he turned boldly round to the man and laughed out: "Well, luck to the ladies, anyhow! Ton my word, this fizz is a better tipple than I gave it credit for at first." "I see you're a Judge of champagne," said the man, with an amused twinkle. "So, so." admitted the boy, falling back into his languii conceit. "Every fellow knows what suits him best. The best judga is the man who judges best for himself. Let me choose my own wine, my own weed ami my own woman wife, I mean and, by Jupiter. I won't go far wrong. But, 1 say," he branched off a little hilariously, "if you know that pretty girl, why the dickens didn't you get planted next to her at dinner? Hang me. if I only had such a chance" and he shot his cuff and fondled his chin with the self-satisfied air of a coxcomb. "I'm not exactly dressed to dine with ladies." "No, by gad no more you are! Rather wondered how you could face the muälc in that slump," assented the boy, Impu dently. "Makes a fellow feel so beastly out of it." "No one notices a traveler," said the man, "and I hope to be off by the 'Do minion' to-morrow." The boy paused, hastily poured himself out another glass of champagne, gulped it down, and pushed his chair back. "Confound it, 1 can't stand these long dull dinners," he ejaculated, with un abashed effrontery. "So insipid and slow! I'm off to whiff a cigarette. Ta,ta!" and with a cool nod of his head he rose and sauntered cut. No sooner had he reached the hall than he quickened his pace, when, to his sur prise, an arm was slipped through his. It was the man in tweed. "I think I'll join you, my young friend," and without more ado he gently but firm ly guided the boy Into the smoking room. "Try one of my cigars," he added, as he closed the door. "Oh, thanks. You're awfully kind. But I never whiff anything except a cigarette after dinner. Where's my case. I wonder?" He was diving awkwardly Into his tall pocket with a single hand. "Hang it! I must have left it in my room. I'll go and fetch It." "No, no," interposed the man. "I insist upon your trying one of my cigars. I should like to have your opinion. 'Wine, weeds and a wife' wasn't It? you don't go vrong about?" and with a good-natured poi severance the man forced a cigar into the boy's unwilling hand and held a lighted match for him. "Come, there's a comfortable lounge over there," went on the man, linking his arm in the boy's again and leading him to one of the big bay windows; "ah and here's the coffee." "What number, sir?" asked the waiter. "What number? Oh, I say. I never re member numbers, you know," declared the boy. "What name, sir?" The boy blew a hasty cloud of smoke from his cigar, anc plunging Ids hand in his pocket, drew out a lady's purse. "I'll pay for the coffee," he said, handing the waiter a dollar. "Never mind the change." and he Hurriedly crammed the purse ioack into his pocket. The Incident was not lost on the man in tweed, whose gray eyes were fixed curious ly on the boy. In whom conceit had given way to a certain air of confusion. "So you never remember numbers?" ob served the man. "Never could except, ha, ha! Number One," answered the boy, with a sickly grin. "Ever find yourself In the wrong box?" asked the man. The boy had no reply for this, but fidget ing about, crossing and recrossintf his legs nervously, and continually shifting his po sition. To add to his discomfiture his socks had wrinkled down over his shoes, and he had to stoop and pull them up, displaying: a rather uncommon orange and grey pattern. The man In tweed took de liberate observation cf them, and then bent forward, fixing his gaze on the boy's .shirt front, asked him casualty, "How do you find the cigar?" "Oh, uncommonly good," declared the boy, hi3 pale cheeks contradicting his commendation, as he held It out at arm'a length and pretended to admire the ash. "Hut it's a little too strong for me. In fact, 1 think I'll run up and fetch my own cigarette case. I'll be back directly." And he rose rather unsteadily to his feet. The man rose, too, with a purpose In his features. "Pardon me, but that's an unusually fine cpal stud you are wearing," and he sud denly hooked his finger Into the boy's shirt front to better -expose the stone. Tho boy sprang back, his face aflame. "I only want to examine the stud," said the man quietly. "Oh. All right. But hold on half a minute, old fellow. Fact is, the strong cigar you pressed cn me has rather upset me. I can't wait. Feel queer and foggy. I'll send you down the 3tud to examine at your leisure. Sorry to have to leave you so unceremoniously, but but " "Enough," said the man, In a low mean ing voice. "No more of this acting. Fol low me." "Follow you?" cried the boy, indignant ly, drawing back and raisins his voice. "I'll I'll see you hung first." And he quickly whipped round for the door. "Don't make a scene," whispered the man. catching him up. "It's no good. You are fairly caught. Be sensible and come along quietly." "You brute!" hissed the boy between his teeth, "ycu must be drunk to behave like this. Hands off! I'll call the rrxinascr if you attempt to molest me." "Excellent. We'll both call for the man ager," said the man, as without further ceremony he gripped tho boy's arm and marched him to the office. "Where are you takln me to?" faltered the boy. , "To be searched." "Searched, you scoundrel! How can you suggest such an awful thing?" choked the boy, struggling to free himself. "Nothing awful about it except your cheek. Come In you go." The manager Jumped up from the table, where ho was writing. "Major Wargrave! Anything wrong, sir?" "Yes," said the major tternly; "I've tracked the thief. With a lady's purse in his pocket into the bargain. Search him and you'll see for yourself." "Oh, you brute!" burst out the boy. blush ing scarlet and retreating into a corner. "You cowardly, ungentlemanly cad to sug gest such a thing." "See here. you'roRue," said the manager curtly. "Better own up, and shell out, and go off quietly to the police station. We don't want any fuss In the hotel." "What have I done?" demanded the boy. "How dare you treat me like this? Iet mc go at once!" and he made a frantic dann for the door. "What have you done? Well, I never," cried the manager, and he slipped in front of the door and bolted it. "The lady's purse." observed Major War grave, "is in his right-hand trousers' pocket." The manager approached the boy with the evident Intention of abstracting it, when a blow delivered with excellent aim and con siderable force sent him back. Major Wargrave closed with the boy. "Is that how the cock fights? Well, you've only yourself to blame, you young cub, if you get roughly handled." And, seizing one of the boy's wrists, he twisted the arm behind his back. "Now, Mr. Moore, get the purse from his pocket and slip the opal stud out of his shirt front." The boy gave a shriek. "Don't touch me don't touch me!" he implored, plteously. "There is a mistake. I'll confess all!" The ring of abject terror and horror in his voice induced the major to loosen his hold. "Well, then confess." he said, biiefly. "And be quick about it." The boy turned to bay, pale and panting. When at last he did speak his whole man ner had changed, and with it his character. "And you call yourself a gentleman to take advantage of a girl like this?" "A girl!" cried the major, falling back confounded. "As If jou didn't know!" - "I never dreamed of such a thing." "You staring brute! You did know, or you would not have stared at me as you did." "Stared at you!" protested the major, blushing now as badly as the quondam boy. "I was not staring at you. I was staring at my opal stud. It was In my portmanteau, which is missing. I saw you wearing it. You wouldn't give your number. You wouldn't give your name. You grew white and uncomfortable" "White and uncomfortable," cried tho quondam boy with a stamp of his foot. "Were not your eyes enough to make me so? Not to mention that vile cigar. But I wasn't going: to be out-tricked by you." "Oh ah yes the cigar. Of course. But the socks. I recognized them. Indeed, I seem to recognize the whole fit out now. That was why I asked you to let me ex amine the stud a trinket I value very much." "There! Take your stud! Do you think 1 wanted to steal it? Do I look like a thief?" A pair of handsome eyes flashed sparks Of fire at the major as, with agitated fin gers, the stud was torn out. and hung down on the table. "And now, sir, be pleased to make way for me." "Oh, no. Not just yet," interposed the mancger. "I've come across many hotel sharps, but this is something quite new in hotel sniping. We must have an explana tion. Why are you dressed in man's clothes? Are they Major Wargrave's?" The quondam boy shrank back, with face hidden. "Who are you? How came you to sneak into the hotel?" "Sneak into the hotel, you wretch! I am staying here. I am Miss West. Your porter brought the wrong trunk to my room and left it there in my absence. A black one, with the initials C. W. on it the fac simile of mine. And one of the keys fitted it." The manager glanced at the ledger. "Yes. There's a Clare West in No. 48. Are you Clare West?" "Brute! I'm Miss West. Haven't I told you so .' "Telling is not enough. You must explain this extraordinary conduct. And. if your story Is satisfactory, leave the hotel in stantly. We can't have women masquerad ing in men's clothes in the Chateau Fron tenac." Clare West gave a shudder. "I am rot humiliati?l enough, but you must insult me. Oh, sir" (to the major) 'you are very chivalrous, who preached chivalry to me at dinner!" Then a sudden resolution stormed and animated hr features. Drawing her self erect she faced the two men. "You shall have your explanation. I only arrived this afternoon, late. There v. as an hour to spare, and I went out, but was caught in the storm and soaked through. When I returned to my room there was a trunk there exactly like mine. I opened it in the belief it was. When I found out the mis take that had been made I was going to ring for the chambermaid, when a a mad freak entered my her.d to go down to table d'hote as a man, and get copy for a-letter. I am the round-the-world correspondent tof the 'Go-Ahead Girl,' and I thought I thought it would make such a a striking rnd o-original article, and be such such- -fun!" At which Juncture, to illustrate the humour of the situation. Clare West broke down and abandoned herself to tears. The manager whistled incredulously, but a grim look from Major Wargrave silenced him. "Miss West," said the major, in a grave kind voice, "I beg your pardon. Believe me, I labored under an entire misapprehen sion. You acted your part so cleverly I mis took jou for a boy. And now, if you'll slip quietly back to your room, I will cover your return If If you will let me." . It was Inevitable they should meet on the Itoyal mail steamer "Dominion" in which they had both booked passages. Most girls would have forfeited theirs a thousand times rather than subjected themselves to such a meeting, but Clare West (except, pernaps, for one swift glance of gratitude from her tear-washed eyes on the stairs) had not thanked Major Wargrave, and she persuaded herself that to sail in the same steamer, much as she dreaded it, would be a proper act of penance on her part. He had no suspicion she was to be a fellow-passenger, and when, as the ship was passing tho island of AnticostI, a lady ad dressed him by name, he was at a loss lor a moment to recognize her. "I am Miss West." she said, "and I want to apologize and say how sorry I am, and and to thank you for your chivalry." "Doa't please don't," he said, with a pained look in his face. "I haven't for given myself yet for being such a brute as to twist your arm." "And so I really took you in?" she re turned, with a little gleam of satisfaction. "You took Mr. Moore in. who is as sharp a3 I'm stupid." "And as cruel as you are kind." added Clare emphatically. Somehow that audaciously conceived letter "At Table d'llote in Trousers" never made Its appeal ance In the "Go-Ahead Girl." In point of fact it was not even written, although there was an abundance of crl?p material for copy. The article that took Its place was headed "Nearing Home.; It was voted sickly sentimental by the more robust readers of the Journal, who wondered what had happened to "C. W." generally so smart and cynical with her pen. When it appeared In print, however, the familiar Initials no longer stood for Clare West, and Major Wargrave's opal guarded a wedding ring on her finger. Feed your hors J AN ES S Dustless OaU. ALI, RIGHTS LOVE, COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE? By The REV. E-. J. HARDY Author of "IIow to Be Happy Though Married," etc. V IV. PropoInr. Our ancestorj used to make Quite a study of how to propose to their future wives in a graceful way: It was with them a line art. "Look herr Fanny," said a mother to her daughter, "you must make haste and marry one of your suitors, for the carpet is getting quite worn by men 1,'oing on their knees to propose to you." I am afraid that this sort of thing is go ing out of fashion in the unromantic days: indeed, I live in terror of hearing some wretch proposing by typewriter. A type written proposal would ba dreadful: it would look as if it had gone round like a circular. It is not impossible, however, to send romance and poetry over the tel egraph wires. A military officer known to the writer was sailing for India. He be came not sea-sick but love-sick as he though of the charms of the girl he had left behind hhn, so when the troop-ship stopped at Malta he wired: "Will you marry me? Yes or no!" "Yes," was the answer which the current of love and electricity returned, and he came back from India as soon as he could get leave and married her. And yet animal magnetism, rather than telegraphy, was the medium of the great electrician Edison's propos ing. One day, as he stood behind the chair of a Miss otillwell, a telegraph operator in his employ, he was not a little surprised when she suddenly turned round and said: "Mr. Edison, I can always tell when you are behind or near me." It was now Miss Stillwell's turn to be surprised, for, with characteristic bluntness and ardor, Edison confronted the young lady, and, looking her full in the face, said: "I've been think ing considerably about you of late, and if you are willing to marry me 1 would like to marry you." They were married a month afterwards. "DUES OF COURTING." Rapid communications corrupt good man ners. In this age of steam and electricity there is not time for the graceful. If long winded, proposals of our forefathers. We are becoming as short, prosaic and to the point as was the celebrated physician, Abernethy. He wrote to the lady of his choice, Miss Anna Threlfall, that he would like to marry her, but as he was too busy to make love she must entertain his pro posal without preliminaries, and let him know her decision by the end of the week. Still, however busy he may be, a certain amount of time spent In wooing Is owed by every man to the girl whom he thinks worth asking. And a wise woman will in sist on this, as did a Scotch girl to whom her lover proposed too abruptly. She an swered: "Yes, Jamie, I'll marry you; but you must give me my dues of courting for all that." Proposals of marriage have been sent much oftener by post than by telegraph, for, as an acquaintance of mine said, when dropping one into a letter box, "It's only a penny hit or miss!" A man should have his mind well made up, however, before sending a proposal in a letter, either reg istered or unregistered. It is not always an advantage to be able to see both sides of the question. A clever man, known to the writer, had got into the habit of arguing for and against different courses of action at every crisis or turning point of his life until he became almost mad. When he be gan to think of matrimony he was per plexed in the extreme should he marry or should he not? At last, not being able to bear the painful state of uncertainty, he proposed by letter to a lady and dropped it into a pillar letter box. No sooner had he done this than all the arguments which he thought were dispelled forever returned with new force, and the wretched man tried to tish the letter out with a walking stick. Unable to do this he went round and round the pillar in agony of mind. Fortu nately for him, but more fortunately, I should say, for herself, the lady refused his tempting offer. Another irresolute lover who conddtd a proposal to paper was the once celebrated Home Tocke. A servant posted the letter for him, but the writer, suddenly repenting, wont to the postoffie, and, proving the letter to be his, had It re turned. SHOULD WOMEN PROrOSE? Should women propose, or even give as much help over the stile as these ladies did? Even In other years than leap year we think that they may wlpn men would be too shy to carry the effort through without them. Queens have to propose, and very prettily did our late gracious sovereign do this. Take the case of a woman who happens to be wealthy, and who not only loves, but is loved by a man who is poor, and who for fear of being considered a fortune-hunter will never ask her. It might bo thought that when time, place, circumstance.-1 and the lady are all favorable, a man could hardly help propos ing, but men have been silenced by shyness at the supreme moment. Professor Ilald ane, of St. Andrews, was one of these. He had reached middle age without mairylrg. Suddenly he refurnished fc's house, and fre quently visited the home of a certain lady. At last he paid a state visit, more carefully dressed, and even more bashful than usual. Th- lady, quite innocent of any occult in tent, us, tried to help out the conversation by ta.klng about his new household ar rangements. "Have you got through the papering yet? I hear your new carpets are beautiful. Everyone says that your house is Just perfert." "Here's my opportunity." thought the professor. "Na, na. Miss Jane," he stammered, "it's not perfect. It carina be that while there's one thing want ing." "What is that?" asked the lady. The professor caught up his hat and sought the door, saying as he did so, "Eh, dear me it's not perfect. It carina be till It's get a a sideboard!" Another Scotchman, who was far less cultivated than the pro fessor, was, perhaps, for that reason, less shy and hesitating. He casually remarked to a Galloway girl, "I think I'll marry thee, Jean." Not at all offended at thl3 un couthness, she replied, "Man Jock, I would be muckle obliged to ye If ye would!" Au gustus Hare tells how a friend of his, Lord Tar.kerviile, proposed to Lady Olivia Mon tagu when they were playing a game in an ante-room at an evening party. At first she would not face the question. By and by she suggested that it was time they should return to the rest of the company in the drawing room. The lover pleaded: "But what am I to think? What may I say?" "Say." was the reply, "that we have played our game and that you have won." CURIOUS PROPOSALS. Even the harmless necessary cat may be made the medium of a proposal. A modest swain went one evening to the cottage of his lady love and found her seated by the fire knitting stockings, a largo cat at her feet. After sitting for some time in silence, he took the cat on his knee and said or rather stammered out: "Pussy, ask Lizzie if she'll marry roe." Lizzie blushed and said: "Pussle, you can tell Jamie that I'll tak him." Another bashful lover present! a prayer book to the object of his preference, with the words. "Wilt thou have this man to be thy wedded huseband?" underlined. The book was returned with the momentous wonls "I will," underlined. RESERVED Dr. Thomas Dawson, who was celebrated In the last century, did net propose himself by a book, but was proposed to in this way. One day he found an admiring patient alone, sitting with the family Bible before her. The physician read the words to which her forefinger pointed the words of Nathan to David, "Thou art the man." He took the hint, and married the lady. The great preacher, Spurgeon, psked the girl who became his wife by means of a book. He was reading one day, as he sat by her side, Tupper's "Proverbial Philosophy." Coming to the lines: "If thou art to have a wife of thy youth she is now living on the earth; Therefore think of her, and pray for her weal." He pointed them out to her, and asked, "Do you pray for him who is to be your hus band?" To go back now to some less modern di vines. The old method of proposing on one's knees which went out with the wearing of swords and silk stockings, must have been physically uncomfortable for all but the very young, and in one historical instance at least, it was in other ways inconvenient. We allude to the case of the Rev. Jerry White. He was caught by Oliver Crom well himself kneeling at the feet of his daughter. The ambitious parson pretended that he was suing for the hand of the lady's maid, and, taken at his word, had to marry her instead of her mistress! It certainly could not have been said cf Richard Hooker that his only books were women's looks, for he was so taken up with his studies that he had no time to look or propose to a wife. Accordingly, when the woman with whom he lodged suggested, after he hnd been ill. that he ought to get a wife to take care of him, he commissioned her to find such an one. She appointed her daughter to the situation, and Hooker had cause to regret that he did not choose for himself. The only one whom Dean Swift appears to have proposed marriage to was a Miss Waring, and he did this in an imperious way, like a victor Imposing terms on a vanquished foe. He began by asking: "Are you In a condition to manage do mestic affairs with an income of less than 3u0 a year? Have you such an inclina tion to my person and honor as to comply with my desires and way of living, and endeavor to make us both as happy as you can? Will you be ready to engage In those methods I shall direct for the improve ment of your mind, so as to make us en tertaining company for each other, without being miserable when we are neither visit ing or visited? Can you band your love, esteem and indifference to others the same way as I do mine? Have you so much good nature as to endeavor by soft words to smooth any rugged humor occasioned by the cross accidents of life? Shall the place where your husband Is thrown be more welcome than courts and cities without him?" If Jane Waring could answer these questions in the affirmative, Jonathan Swift said: "I shall be blessed to have you In my arms, without regarding whether your person be beautiful or your fortune large." Cleanliness in the first, and com petency in the second, is all I look for. I singled you out at first from the rest of women, and I expect not to be used like a common lover." This was certainly not a common way of proposing marriage. Rowland Hill was as abject when propos ing as Swift was imperious. He asked the, lady (a Miss Tudway) to accept "a poor worm in the character of a minister of Christ." What a difference there is between the proposals made by Swift and Hill and that of Richard Steele! He wrote: "I have not a minute's quiet out of your sight, and when I am with you you use me with so much distance that I am still in a tstate of absence, heightened with a view cf the charms which I am denied to approach. In a word, you must give me either a fan, a mask, or a glove you have worn, or I cannot live; otherwise you must expect I will kiss your hand, or when I next sit by you steal your handkerchief. Ycu your self are too great a bounty to be received at once; therefore I must be prepared by degrees, lest the mighty gift distract me with Joy. Dear Mrs. Scurlock, I am tired of calling you by that name; therefore say the day In which you will take that of, madam, your most obedient, most devoted, humble servant." , PROPOSING IN CHINA. Methods of proposing by dumb show have been invented in all countries to save ahy lovers from having to "pop the question" in words. Amongst the Chinese boat popula tion Intentions are signified In the following pretty way. In harvest time any man of their class who withes to marry goes Into the next field and gathers a little sheaf of rice, which he fastens to one of his oars. Then, when he is in presence of the girl of his choice he put3 his oar Into the water and goes several times around the boat belonging to the object cf his affections. The next day. If the latter accepts his hom age, she, in her turn, fastens a bunch of flowers to her oar and ccrnes rowing about near her betrothed. The rice in the above ease Is emblematic of the support prom ised by the man; the flowers, of the happi ness offered by the woman. Before going to a certain ball a friend of mine discovered that three heir esses were to be present. He deter mined that very evening to get the consent of one of them to marriage. To effect this he bought three beautiful bouquets and ordered them to be sent to the place where the ball was to take place. His intention was to present a bouciuet to each of the heiresses and piopose to all if necessary. The first to whom he made an overture re fused him and his flowers. Nothing daunt ed, he approached the second heiress with a floral offering and offered himself. The flowers were accepted, but not the giver. He had not a faint heart, however, and so he asked the third heiress and won her. Persevering audacity like this seems al most incredible, by my friend vouches for the truth of the story. Many proposals have been made In ball rooms, but surely some other plnce should be chosen for the settlement of a business which, though sweet, is also very serious. Knowing how easily excitement and favor ing circumstances may put a man off Li guard in this matter and make him do what he really does not mean to do, a wise woman known to the writer refused two men who proposed to her in a ballroom. This is the way Daniel Webster proposed: One day, when knellng before hlH lady love, he suddenly dropped the skein of silk she was winding1 off his hands, and made with a piece of tape half a true lover's knot. The lady (a Miss Fletcher) completed It and a, kiss sealed the bargain. Sir Alexander Duff Gordon had been paying attention to the beautiful Lucy Austin, and the cua- tomary gossip resulted. One day he said to the young lady; "Do you know people say that we are going to be married?" and before she could reply he added: "Shall we make It true?" A handsome and witty widow was ad mired by a ataid but amorous Quaker. One m i "Mnrv Rmfth naAnU 4. I . say .thee and me are going to be mar ried." 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THL vu 1 jap, difßs'urinp', and humiliating ekln, tcalp, and blood biinotn, Trith lot's of hair, when all elbo fails. Soid throughout the woxld. liriOeh Depot: F. Nkw Isert A Sons, 27.28, Chartcrlioue S3., Louden, rums Vkvo axd CHZii. Com.Scle Props., Boston. U. S. A. any hesitation, "bat thee and me know different.' ' "DON'T MAKE IT PUBLIC." Widowers have no" excuse for not pro posing properly. We do not know whether our readers w!ll think that the following, which I learned from a elerEryman, is in good form. It was sent in December, 175, to a widow in his parish by a man to whom she had never spoken: "Dear Friend I am a widower with two little girls, and I want someone to take care of them. I think we could live very comfortably together In this world, and afterwards we could rejoin thoe we have lpved who have gone before. If you ac cept th!, please write and say so on the other side of this sheet. If not, please return this letter, and don't make it pub lic." A man of whom I have heard who was a widower for a second time, proposed in this lugubrious way. Bringing to the lady a bundle of papers tied up with black rib bon, he asked her to read them, as they were the letters written to him by his dear wives, and would prove that he was cap able of being a ood husband. "Perhaps after going through them, you may look with favor on my suit, but don't be in a hurry or answer r.ow, I can wait." If there is an art In proposing there is cne also In icfusing. and in gracefully taking a refusal. The "I fhall be a sister to you" formula has served sd long that it should retire and give place to some thing more original. That was a nice way an Irishman took his refusp.l. The lady had Just engried her self to another, so he said: "Share, I wish that re had been twins 50 that I could have "had half of ye." Another man, cer tainly not Irish, was so philosophical that when he died, several years after, he left the lady a handsome, legacy cs a trifling acknowledgment of her great kindness In refusing him. Next Week: "Engaged." OUT OF THE ORDINARY. Only 79,000 British reside on tho conti nent, while continentals live in Kng land. The Democrats have carried Ohio she times in thirty years in li73, 1S74, IS. 4. 12. 1S3 aid The early ir.habitants of the Nile valley had excellent roads, paved somewhat In the macidem tyle of the present day. "There are twenty-eight pounds of blood in th cdy of an average grown-up i-rjo:i. and at each pulsation the heart moves ;en pound. Our o.trioh farms are profitable. Birds are worth JPJü apiece, and a good specimen yields about J2ö worth of feathers ut a plucking. In the people paid $HG,(),000 for In teruat on the public debt. The amount now Is J,0W.lA. and the rate has declined rrom 7.30 per cnt. to 2 per cent. Sheep with a fereen fleece are a novelty, but they re to be sen in Germany near some copper works. They live in the du.t and fumes, and drink water contaminated by copper. In France the Interest charge on the pub lic debt Is J20O.0iO.e0O a year, a per capita of over $5. In the United States the interest charge Is less than J3ü,0ü),tA a year, a per capita of 3D cents. The greatest bay on the face of the earth Is that of Bengal. Measured In a straight line from the two Inclosing peninsulas Its extent Is about 420. rt square miles, or near ly double that of Texas. A French deputy has announced his In tention to brfr.fr in a bill during the present HM'.on of Parliament making It not only admissible, but legally obllpatory. for wo men U lt as jurors, lie proposes that all iiftA CUAr, UJ tiiÄ?C mo Cf.iu n viuru iLtanilir llitr ithirc Ir.f.ammsHnn knd irritation, nd Hoth and. heal, nnd Cuticlra. RtsoLv-XT, to cool and lcanpe tho I Juries shall be rquired to consist of six Rood men and true and six women similarly qualified. Manila is to have an American Are de partment. It will be tinder an American chief and the stations will be commanded by American captains. The lieutenants and rlrcmen will be natives. The apparatus will bö American. One of the curiosities of ihn Bank of England Is to be seen in the printing rrom. A man sits at a dek. and every three sec ends a machine delivers to him two com plete 3 notes. If he sits there six hours he receives over $3G0.0uG. Canada Is now the only country In th world offering free land to home seekers of limited means. Fifty thousand immigrants are each year entering her ports, and 75 per cent, of these people go at once to th Northwest Territories. There are rome 6.03" Portrstants la Russia who enjoy religion? liberty with the stipulation thit they must be born of Prot estant parents and must not proselyte. Preaching in nine languages is h .rd every Sunday in St. Petersburg in the Protestant churches. The French tax on street signs "varies with the size of the ofTenae." I-ast year it added over f7U' to the public tr.:is.iry. In the United States vast str t s'.n can shut out the air and the vi w and over whelm everything In sight without paying ft cent in taxation. It Is said to be only a quertion of time before the Bermuda inlands will sink under the ocean. The gf-ololral theory is that The islands are merely he remnant cf ono large Wrud. The fib-idence within a com paratively recent period has been from eighty to on hundred fe-t. The Br!tlsh officers engaged Jn shipping mules and hor.--s from New Orleans to South Africa, aflrr trylnj? all kind of la bor, have concluded to employ American negroes to care for the animals. The ne-sroc-s will be taktn to Africa under r.ny and v.l!l have their way paid back to Amer ica If they wifh to return. In a recent lecture at GrehT.m CoJkge. Dr. Symes Thompson, in speaking of the effects of climate, r rr.arke: that it had be corne necessary to Miblet j:r.K"sh govern ment work In Kgypt because. It was found that the natives would cr.iy work when chastised, and it was a rjle that r. British othcer man not strike a native. The number of rttill liquor dealers in the United Ftate at the close of last ye.-j was !. The total vote of the Inhibi tion narty in the same yr was 'JD.(0. New York has the IarRet number of liquor dealers, Ill.nols is fecond aid Ohio third. Pennsylvanra li'ia the largest number cf Prohibitionists, New York Is txconJ and Illinois third. The Mnnlal report of the Kar.ras Board of Agriculture, shows thit in tnty years the ?tate has produced 712.437.XS bushels of wheat a yearly average of .Cl 27S bushel. The crop Ia.t year retrhed 77. 23?. Wl buFhe'..-. and thl? year's crop will not fall telow 7ij,o.(; bushel. The total vnlue of the twenty years' production of wheat was Jii&.Ovj.lSC. Oklahoma is Increasing rapidly in popu lation. Pcur years airo it cat vote. Last year the total vote cast ks 7C.l., a gain at th rate cf 5ft) votes a year. Mississippi, which cast. 7Ü.OUO vote at th election of lövJ. cast only ?uoi at lat year's presidential election. It !s estimate! that Oklahoma will have a voting popula tion of at least 10) üöj by IIM. The roar of a lion can be heard farther than the sound of any other living creature. Next conns the cry of a hyna. and then the hoot of the owl; after these the panther and the Jackal. The donkey can be heard ftfty times farther then the hore, nd the cat ten tlm-s farther than the dog. btracgt as It may'se;ii. th cry of a lure e:xn ta heard farther than that of either the cat or the doj. At the United States mint Co.Vl3.7CO brome cents were coined last year a. larger number than was product during any pre vious twelvc-ir.nth. The mlntr-jre cf thes coins, however, ha ben very large. Indeed, in other years, rarfing- from 3j.tv.vM In ISSJ to 4!M.C00 In 1S?S. Few are presented for redemption, and an nnswer to the Question. What becomes of the cents? would be as) I difficult as that to th Inquiry as to tl9 Ultimate late ox suis. V 'I