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WRECKED. AN OCEAN ROMANCE. ouArfkR V. Try a she might, Olive could not resist the cry of rapture and delight which broke from her lips as she looked rnce more on the loved face; but she need not have been afraidâ€"Angus did not at e or hear her, and little guessed that she was stand- ing nearâ€"so near that his arm touched Olive shrank back among the group of women, and drew her ulster more closely over her face. Dick, having failed to find her at the inn, came to look for her, ofter awhile, on the beach, and was startled by the odd look He guessed the cause at her as he passcdl in her eyes. once. “Well, my las; you saw him 1" he said jealously. Olive clung to his arm. with a low sob. “ Yes, I saw him-oh, thank Heaven we were in timeâ€"that we saved him, she cried in a voice tremulous Dick l” _ with excitement and wild exultatlon. Dick looked down at her excited face gravely. “He is at the inn n0w; shall I tell him you are here, Olive 7" he ask ed cold- ly. Olive might say what she pleased, might declare that Angus was nothing to herâ€"had never done her any wrpng, He had never forgiven, never would forgive the handsome low-voiced stranger who had come into their quiet village and won the heart of its fairest flower, and roblbog it ve Dick held his own opinion. of its first beauty and sweetness. started and shivered at the words. “Noâ€"sob, no, thatl Take me home,” feverishly. And Dick, as usual, did as he was told, and took her back to the cottage. All that day Olive remained within doors racked with anxiety and suspense, half dreading, half hoping each time the door opened to look up and see Angus But the day were on till evening, and he did not come ;and Olive. scarcely knowing whether to be relieved or disappointed, Went to bed and cried an.on ii; 7 - »., before her. herself to sleep. “max, She chid herself s :verely enough for those tears next morning, when sleep had brought back her strength and self con. trol, and she was able to think calmly of What did she want? she asked herself sternly. She had made her sacrificeâ€"made it will- Was she faint- thc events of the- previous day. ingly and ungrudgingly. hearted enough already to repent it? With a strong winter. come the pupil. Those evenirg hours which he spent with Olive were perilously precious to This evening Olive noticed that he looked dull and pro-occupied, and it was not long before she inquired the poor Dick 2 cause. " Dull i heard the news " “ What news?" quickly. “ Why, about the old Squire 1 died last night, lass l” Dick answered. Olive started. “ Dead l Why, 1 saw him last night. He was quite well then," she cried. " He died last nightâ€"died in his sleep, as all his race die, calmly and painlessly. He has had heart-disease for years the doctors say 1" Del; went on slowly. “ I‘he servant found him in the library, when she went to open the shutters, lying back in his chair with a smile on his face ; but he had been dead and cold for hours they say.” “ I saw him last night. It must have been soon after I left him ” Olive said, in a low awed whisper. we parted friends i to others, but he was always good to me," the girl went on, her soft eyes fill- ing with pitying tests; “but it seems so dreadful to die like thatâ€"quite alone, with no one near him I" “ Nay, I don’t think it matters much how one dies,” Dick answered quietly. “ It is a leap in the dark at best, and one may as well take it alone as in company. Mr. Pitchard, the lawyer,§came down to- day, and they say he has been asking all sorts of questions about”â€"and Dick paus- ed and looked oddly at his cousin-â€" “ about you.” “ About me 7" Olive looked sarprlsed. “ Yes, youâ€"who you were, and where you lived, and all about you,” Dick went on shortly. “ And he said he was com- ing to call on you to day." “He has not been here; I have not been out to-day ; I should have seen him if he had called. I can t imagine what he can want with me,” Olive said thought- fully. “ Neither can I,” Dick shortly. His manner was rather odd, and he looked scrutinisingly at his cousin as she sat bending over her book with a sad, grieved look on her face. He hesitated, half commenced to speak, then checked himself suddenly, and, while he hesitated, a loud ring came to the door, and aman’s voice was heard without asking for Miss N eelson. The two cousins looked at each other, but neither spoke for a moment ; then the door opened, and a tall. fine-looking man came in. He looked searchingly from one to the other, and his keen eyes, glancing round the room, noticed every detail of the sceneâ€"the scattered books and papers, the quaint old-fashioned furniture, the flowers and pictures which domed the room. then rested, with a ans wered Dick-anything but she pleaded , effort she forced herself to be cheerful and self-possessed when Dick, as usual, came in the evening to the cottage. The two cousins had been study~ ing geometry and Euclid together that Olive had been taught the rudi- ments of both at schooland had imparted her knowledge to Dick; but lately her place had changed, and the tutor had be- Nay, I don't know that I am dull, Olive," Dick answered in his slow full voice ; “ I was wondering if you had Olive s heart beat He “Oh, I am glad He was a hard man in her p crimson ribbon at her throat. self-possession. lievel Will you be seated l" fire. “Thank you. You. my ofl'ered ch sir. . ’ rand. I dare say. Miss Neelson 7 lawyer bowed gravely. mydead friend.” spoke, and placed it in Olivo’s hand. to be delivered to you after his death." luctanca from breaking tlfe cal. to her by his friend’s hand. “ Before you receive this. you are different. fore you ; and I have bequeathed to you. as a solemn trust, This was the message. to grasp the meaning of the words. eyes. “I don’t understand what it means. Please explain," she said faintly, holding out the letter to him. The lawyer looked at her gravely. "It means that my old friend. who was a childless solitary man, has made you his heiress, Miss Neelsun,” he explained, “in the hope, as he says in that letter, which he read to me six months ago. that you will make a better use of it than he has ever done. You need not hesitate to accept it. There is not a single person who can lay a shadow of claim to one iota of the Squire’s wealth. ” Olive looked intently into his face ; but she did not answer for a long time. She stood, resting one hand on the table, gaz- ing before her with a strange far-away look in her eyes. The echo of the Squire‘s letter seemed ringing in her ears likes sad refrain. Too lateâ€"too late 1 The sudden accession of wealth, which would have seemed so welcome only a few months before, seemed utterly valueless now. Mr Pitchard looked at her curi- eusly, as at last she forced herself to speak. She was very pale, and her voice sounded grave and earnest and full of sadness. “I can’tssy yet that I thank Mr. Dacre for putting this burden upon my shoul- ders,” she said, with a certain gentle dignity in her voice and manner which impressed both the men ; “ but I accept the trust. I an of the people, and I have lived among them most of my life, and I know better than most women what their trials and wants are ; and I know tooâ€"â€" Heaven forgive him lâ€"how often, when he might have held out a helping hand, he refused and turned away. But I ac- cnpt the trust. I will try my best to re- deem the mistakes he has made, to make his name honoredâ€"his memory blessed instead of cursed.” There was a short silence in the room after Olive had finished speaking, for both the men were impressed, and Mr. Pltchard very much surprised by the calm manner in which she had received the news of her unlocked-for inheritance. He had expected her to be a little over- come and elated at the sudden change in her fortunes ; but she had met it with a quiet dignity and composure, not un- mixed with a certain sadness, which ut- terly astonished him. Perhaps, after all, the old Squire had not been so far wrong in his choice of heiress, be thought. He looked inquiringly at Dick, who was standing with his hands clasped behind his back and his dark eyes fixed on his cousin’s face. There was an odd expres- sion of ontreaty~nay, almost of despairâ€" in that intent gaze, for poor Dick was re- alizing once more a fact which, during those last weeks of closest intimacy with Olive, had receded far into the back- ground~the fact of the gulf between them. Olive would be farther off than ever now. he thought bitterly: and he, for one, felt anything but grateful to the Squire. “ You have no brothers, I think, Miss Neelson ’1” Mr. Pitchard said, after a brief hesitation. “ This gentleman isâ€"” “ He is my cousinâ€"the best and truest friend I have in the world 1” Olive an- swered quickly. She crossed the room as she spoke, and put her hand lightly on Dick’s arm. “ Why do you look at me so strangely, Dick? Aren’t you going to congratulate me 1” she asked with a faint smile. “ Eh? I will try; but I am selfish enough to be sorry too, Olive,” Dick ans- wered gently. “ You were always far out ’0 my reach, I know ; but you will be further ofi‘ than ever now.” “ Why should I l” Olive’s eyes grew long inquiring gaze, on the graceful girl lain blue dress, With a knot of She rose from her seat and came across the room to greet her visitor with perfmct ease and “ I am speaking to Mr. Pitcheutr‘rlllg18:1:i gently, drawing a chair forward to the name is Pit- chard." tho lawyer answu‘ed, takin the “You can guess my er- “ No; I am quite at a loss, nnlsss'L- and the girl's clear voice faltored a little â€"“you bring me any message from Mr, Dacre. He and I were Very good friends. “You have guessed rightly,” and the “I have brought you a messageâ€"a written messageâ€" from He took a letter from his pocket as he “ Six months ago he gave this to me Olive took the letter and looked at the address ; but she shrank with an eddy-e:- u . side the rain and wind were beating wildly against the windows, and every now and then, as the violence of the wind lulled, she could hear the moan of the waves breaking upon the rocks. The two men were silently watching her With anxirus eyes, and one of them felt his heart beat with nervous apprehension and dread as at last she rallied her courv age, and, tearing open the letter, read the message which the dead man had sent live, my life, with all its errors and shortcomings, will be ended. Though it is too late to repair the mistakes 1 have made, I can see them clearly enough now, and per- haps, if Ihad my time over again, my life might be a very different one. But Your life, with its op- portunities and responsibilities. lies bo- the wealth which I have misused. Make a better use of it than 1 have done, Oliva, and repair, as far as posible,the mistakes l have made.” Olive read it slowly two or three times ; but she failed She looked at Mr. Pitchard with bewildered back her head proudly. gin anew. Am I not right, sir ’l” " Quite right.” nad face. sponsibilities, Miss Neelson. just at first, you Will soon grow accustomed to position. ing with you, almost as if you had lost in stead of gamed a fortune. ‘ Good eVening ed to Dick. gers. “ Why, Dick, my dear fellow,” said gently, her all our lives. She looked up into his face as she speak ; but her own grew grave and troubled at the suppressed anguish and grief which she read there. Wonderingly. Wlth a strong effort Dick controlled himself and answered, but his voice was very hoarsse and full of suppressed pas- sion. " Nay, that is just it, Olive,” he said “ We have been, as you say, brother and sister so long that I dread And I can’t be unselfish enough to rejoice at this for I know well voice faltered a. littleâ€"“it 18 only the beginning of the end. You will drift farther and faxtler away from me, my dear, and some day I shall wake up and find you gone alto- gravely. the thought of losing you. change in your life, enough"â€"-and Dick’s gether l” “ That you never will i" .Olive cried. Why, Dick, what an absurd idea i I could ever forgetâ€"~ever be content to let you go i" Her hand was resting on his shoulder, her sweet eyes full of love and reproach and surprise looked straight into his, and Dick felt a sudden passionate longing to take her in his arms and kiss the sweet lips, and just for once pour out the love and despair that filled his heart. He stretched his hands to her with something like a cry of appeal. “ Olive, dear heart 1” he cried. And then the door Opened, madame entered, and Dick's moment of weakness passed harmlessly away. Dick dropped Olive’s hands suddenly and turned away, carcely knowing whether to be glad or sorry at the interruption. He said good night to Olive, who went with him to the door, and gazsd after him with anxious wondering eyes as he hurried away through the driving rain and wind. “ What was the matter 7 How odd Dick was, and how foolish too I" the girl thought, half amused, half impatient as her cousin’s vagaries. And then other and more sombre thoughts banished the memory of Dick's odd looks, and she turned and looked to- wards the Hall. There was a light burn- ing in the library window, and the girl's heart thrilled with pity as she thought of the Squire lying there in his coffin, un- wcpt, unmourned. “ He was always good to me," she said to herself sadly, “ and I Will do my best i But if I had only knownâ€"if it had not come too late l" “ Too late i" It seemed to Olive as if the cry of all humanity, the cry of every bruised and aching heart throughout the world was echoing in her ears that night. CHAPTER VI. The winter was unusually long and se- vere that year; but it gave place to spring at last, and with the spring pros- perity retuaned to the village. Once more the gray tossing billows grew calm and blue, the fishing smacks sailed out again, and there were life and stir and activity everywhere. The storms had passed ; but traces of their violence re- mained in the shattered timbers and wrecks which strewcd the coast, and in the vacant chairs that stood in more than one cottage. But now the winter was past and al- ready the influence of the new regime at the Hall was beginning to be felt in the village. One by one the wretched cot- tages, which fever and ague had long claimed as their dwelling place, were pulled down and replaced by rows of neat well-built cottages, with long strips of garden behind and befor ; a school was built, a library opened, and very soon the foundation-stone of a new church was to be laid by the Bishop of the diocese. But it was not only the fisherfolk who had cause to rejoice at the change of government. The farmers on the estate, who had long groaned under the Squire’s tyranny and the bad times, found their burdens» considerably lightened now un- der the more generous regime. It was no wonder that the new owner of the Hall was popular, that the women blessed her bonny face, that the men, one and all, Would willingly have risked their lives for her slightest command. She be- longed to them, she was one of them, and they were justly proud of theirdar- ling. When she had bee; poor, she had denied herself and given of her poverty willingly; and, now she was rich. she gave of her abundance right royally, and misty with indignant tears, and she threw “ Bécsuse it is only natural,lass,’ Dick answered, still in that odd quiet tone. “Ask the gentleman there; he knows the World, and he will tell you the same. You wil have to say good-bye now to your old life and friends, and learn to be- But there was a curi- ous compassion in the lawyer’s voice, and he looked steadily at the younger man’s He hemta ed a moment before he answered~“ Wealth brings great re- Perhaps. you may find your duties rather irksomeandyouriife scarcelysofree and pleasant as it has been hitherto ; but your Butâ€"there”â€"he checked him- self with a smileâ€"“ I am actually condol- I will say ’ now; and, if you will allow me to call to-morrow, I shall then be better able to explain matters to you." Olive was silent until the door had closed, and she heard the lawyer’s foot- steps pass the window, and then she turn- There was a soft smile on her sweet face as she stood by his side and touched his arm with her white fin- she “what a goose you are! Surely you don’t think it possible that anything could ever come between usi Why, we have been like brother and sls- “Dick, what isit? Tell me i" she cried As if nating hand. much pleasure in her new possessions She used to dress herself up for madamo's edification. away In the less magnificent jewelry. grandeur she found herself lookin by her side. fortune. together as in the old days. head and practical value to her. share of the Squire’s wealth. What did he want with money? He had enoueh and to spare, he had said, when Olive delicately pressed him to ac- cept a. share of the riches which had so oddly come into her hands, and, though she was sorry at his refusal, she knew him So far the Squire's riches seemed to have brought more care than pleasure, more worry and annoyance Olive's tastes were very too well to persist. than delight. simple, and the great house, with its mag- nificent furniture and adornments, seem- ed desolste and unhomelike at first. It. was only when she went into the village and saw the chnaged aspect of the place, when she heard a grateful mother out passionate thanks for the timely help which had saved her child’s life, when she saw plenty and health where poverty and sickness had once reigned supreme, and knew that she herself had brought about the changeâ€"then it was that she realized the blessing and the power of the riches which the Squire had placed in her hands. For some little time the county people held back from calling on the new owner of the Hall. By-and~b)e, however, curi~ osity triumphed over pride, and one by one they made their visits, and were im- mensely surprised and a little discomfited by the reception they received. They had expected to find a vulgar, over-dress- ed village beauty in the Squire's heiress, and Olive in her simple dress, with her quiet self possessedmanner in which there was more than a tinge of hautewr, first puzzled and astonished, then delighted them after a time. (10 as oonruwsn.) Q. THE BEARD. An lmugnunt Woman's “cw. If I know my own heart, I felt thank- ful for that goo... word for the beard. Were not the conquering races always the bearded ones? How can any sane person imagine that our Maker caused beard to grow upon the face of man for the sake of the employment of cutting it off, or digging it out by the roots, as some savages do? And remember that among God’s chosen people a man was considered unfit to enter good society without his beard. He must “tarry at Jericho” till his “board was grown." I wish he had to tarry there now until that time. A man without a. beard looks like a house without blinds, a horse without a mane, or any other incomplete affair. And it is perilously near to reproaching his Maker for man to keep himself shaved smooth. In fact, the laws of Nature, which are the laws of God, resent and avenge the custom. Many a life has been lost thereby. And it is not uncommon for throat and eye disease to punish the man who shaves, not to mention the tears and wry faces he knows, in consequence of resisting beard or dull razor. Only consider all that a man will go through in order to deprive himself of protection and his greatest dignity and beautyâ€"as not unfrequently a full, well cared-for beard is. My husband never shaves. He never did shave. And permit me to tell you that the man who never shaves has a soft beard, silky as the hair of the head, and instead of growing down over the mouth, as beards do after being cut till it be- comes stifi as a broom, 1t inclines to right and left, leavinga white strip between the lip and the moustache, so that the latter will not go swimming everytime the man drinks. I knew a gentleman who had a fine beard. His wife hated it. As he would not shave, she cut off one side of it while he slept. Of course then he was obliged to shave all ofi‘. Soon after he fell in a. dead faint, or fit of some kind. The doctor, when called, said to him, “Why have you shaved? It is not well for you." Then the truth came out. “Madam,” said the doctor, sternly, “you must choose between a husband with a board or no husband.” That man wore his board in full flow ever after, and his wife did not quarrel with it again. ' Akin to shavingâ€"a barbarism which should be hunted from the worldâ€"ls the custom of shearing the head so close that the scalp shines through. This terrible, hideous custom came in with the War, for wise sanitary reasons under those circum- spent her riches with a lavish butdiscriml- She had once told Angus Marriot that she loved pretty dresses and ornaments of every description, and she could afl'ord now to indulge her fancies to her heart's content ; but somehow she failedto find in her glis- tening silks and dainty laces, and clasp broad bands of pearls round her throat and arms, and play at being a great lady There were diamond’s enough and to spare locked iron safe; but it was not comme ilfaut for a. demoiselle to wear dia' mondsâ€"so madame, who was very strict on matters of etiquette, declaredâ€"and Olive was obliged to content herself With It all reamed very pretty, vcry unreal, more like a scene in a play than a reality, Olive thought; but often in the midst of her back with a. sigh of regret to the old days when she wandered about the rocks in her serge dress and red cap, wlth Angus Marriot The affectionate intercourse which had always existed between the two cousins remained unaltered by Ollve's change of They spent quite as much time Olive would gladly give up any of her galeties for a walk or a row with Dick, and his clear knowledge of the wants of his class ware of iusstimable A little against his will, he had yielded to Olive‘s Wish that he should remove himself and his belongings from his own cottage to the one under the cliff which she had formerly occupied; but he had decisively refused to accept any pour stances ; but it is now without need and without excuse. It is injurious as well as disfiguring. The hair is a conductor of electricity to the brain, and it should never be less than two inches in length. Unless the facts in the case are taught in the schools, so that boys are warnzd, in a few generations more we shall have a general softening of the brain among our masculine population. There is more thannne sign now of the near danger. Give us back the beard, the majestic, flowing beard, and spare us the hairless head until age renders it natural and reverend. W0>H Locusts. Among the expenses to which Great Britain is subject on account of her acâ€" quired possession of the Island of Cyprus, is a curious item. The amount of it is one hundred and fifty thousand dollars yearly, and it is for the destruc- tion of locusts' eggs. The premium paid varies from one to three cents per pound, and during seven months of the year 1882 the enormous amounn of one thou- sand three hundred and ninety-nine tons of eggs wr rt- collected. » Aside from this, large quantities of ltcusts themselves ' were taptured all over the island, by means of screens and traps, and destroyed by burning Toeze facts will serve to give a faint idea how terrible is the post of locusts in the countries adjacent to the Mediterran- ean Sea. These insects have good reason still to be called “the eighth plague of Egypt,” as the pages of history emphati- cally shOW. Naturalists say that this scourge of Africa is not properly a grasshopper, or locust, but a cricket. The insect is des~ crlbed as about two and two-thirds inches in length, with a brown body and green- ish wings. His head is large, and his mouth is equipped with a great number of sharp teeth. ' The locusts, or crickets, fly in vast swarms or armies, under the command of leaders. When viewed afar off in the air, these swarms appear like great storm~ clouds. Beneath them the land is plung~ ed in deep shadow. Their noise in flight is compared to the dash of a cataract. When the living cloud bursts, the locrsts fall like hail ; the branches of trees upon which they alight break beneath their weight. A few hours of their ravages are sufficient to transform the most smiling landscape into a desert. The grain is gnawed off to the roots, the mead owa shorn close to the ground, the trees dispoilcd of their foliage. The last trace of vegetation vanishes ; every- thing is cut down, stripped, devoured, thh a sinister grating of teeth which is heard a long way off. The labors of a year are destroyed, and the locusts de- part, leaving famine in their rear. They fly about six leagues a day. But in the desert regions of Africa the locusts are not altogether a plague. They are regarded as an article of food not to be despised. All have read that John the Baptist in the wilderness fed upon locusts and wild honey. A modern traveller compares their flavor to that of shrimps. Livingstone, the African ex- plorer, says he has often been glad enough to feast on, them. A writer upon the great Sahara Desert thus describes the joy of a caravan, short of provisions, at meeting a swarm of these edible insects: “Thanks to God, although the heat of the sun, added to our thirst, had dried up our water-bottles, we were bound to make a jolly breakfast. Suddenly we perceiv- ed a cloud of locustscoming. They hid the sun and darkened the sky ; as far and as high as our eyes could reach, the soil and the air were inundated with them. “At this unexpected good luck the caravan halted, and masters and slaves hastened together to gather this harvest of God. But the chief cried, ‘You are foolish, my children. Hasten onward. You have no water ; and it is yonder, at the foot of Djebel-Hoggan, whence the locusts come, that you will find a bivouac, with water to boil your food and wood to roast it.’ “These words were true, We resumed our march without troubling ourselves about the insects which were crushed half ankle-deep along the route. At Djebel-Hoggan we encamped, and all hastened to gather in provisions for our present repsst, and dry it in the sun against the future." Unluckin the locusts do not always fly away after their depredations, and this is liablelto be the greatest affliction of all. When overcome by a whirlwind, or a deluge of rain, they perish by myriads, and it is rare that the putrefylng bodies do not give rise to disease and pestilence. In one way the locusts contribute indi- rectly to our own tables. In the Bay of Biscay, and the western end of the Medi- terranean Sea, the bodies of Algerine lo- custs are made into a paste, and used with great success as bait in the sardine fisher- ies. Therefore we owe something to this post of the Orient after all. Egyptian mummies are ground up into point. They probably give it a good deal of body, An old gentleman was walking some- what gingerly along the icy pavement. There is an excellent slide at this point, and the old gentleman was proceeding with caution, when a wild boy came along the slide with a whoop, and knocked the under pinning from below the pedestrian. They both fell, “FitzJames above, the Gael below." The old man, who was somewhat heavy, might have hurt himself were it not for the boy beneath. As the upper person slowly rose he looked at the flattened boy, and calmly said : “One of us should apologize, and as you’re out of breath, I’ll do it. I’m very sorry, my son, that this unseemly incident occurred. “ The boy gasped out : “Ye-ain‘tâ€"half’ s â€"sorry’sâ€"I am. ’ And thus by mutual regrets, msgnanimously expressed, all chance of future trouble over the affair was happily averted.