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I didn't llke the looks of the room. That I silently confessed as the awarthy attendant set the tnllow candle on the little pine table, and prepared to leave. “Haven’t you anything better than ‘3?" I inquired, a tnfle nervously, I ear, for my surange companion glanced curiously in my direction as he answered : u My“... u-m Anal have one 01' tWO 8 leetle ‘gigéevr'vt‘h‘anhvthia are, but a good many strangers cum along today, and this is all them is ” - - .I 7 J‘__qn 1 “ But how do you fasten the door ’4 " 1 continued, horror-struck at finding neither lock, key, bola. nor her. “ Oh, we doesn’t fasten doors up her ). Nobody round here wants any- thing anybody else has got. We earns ail we wantsâ€"we does :” and with an ex- pression of disgust on his loathsome fea- tures, turned and left me. For the first time in my life I was con- scious of being afraidâ€"truly, literally afrsld. Ever since babyhood my cour- age had been the stbject of praise. My mother had dubbed me daring and reck- less, and my father, whose pet I was. al- though forced to admit that his deligh- ter's organ of caution was not so largely developed as some other bumpâ€"combs- tiveness, for instanceâ€"always closed his remarks after this fashion : “But she's good grit. though, and I‘ll risk her anywhere.” u. I ,,A LL-__L4. Linn uv- n.- ...--.. , . . I wonder what he wou‘d have thought could he have seen me as I stood in that dismal, comfortleas room, candle in hand, my teeth fairly chattering with nervousness. trying my best to devise some means of barricading my door. An accident to one of our party at; the Adirondacku had made ll; necessary for us to separate for a day or tw a. and as one of us must neceaaarlly travel alone, Iy who had been accustomed to this sort; of thing for years, oflered to do the solitary, meeting our party a couple of days hence at Benson’s, properly reinforced, and in good traveling order. - - . u u :I LL- -L..-,. 1... "Link uvu lilva _ A storm had delayed the stage in which I took passage. and at seven o'clock that evening, notwithstanding the clouds had lifted, and there seemed every prospect of fair weather, nothing could induce our driver to go on. He would give no reason for this ap- parent obstinacy. simply deciaring that if we knew when we were well 011, we would just let him pitch a. tent, make a camp-fire, have something to eat, and turn in. nu... .... The passengers consisted of a gentle- man and his Wifeâ€"nice, friendly folks, know: to me bv reputafinnâ€"Lwo strang- ers (gentle man), and a colored servant \A>‘ \va-u.‘ .___7,, ,,,, Remaining at this place over night, would just epoil my chances of meeting my fliend at the time and place appoinm ed, and I determined to pruceed, if there was any earthly way of accomplishing it. Not long after, the rumbling of a. wagon Not long after, the rumbling of a. wagon was heard, and, to my great satisfaction, I found that It was occupied by a man and a little girl, bound within mm m lea of the place where I had promised t D be on the fullowmg day at noon. He would willingly take a passenger, and knew where I could be sure of a good ghee to rleep and a good breakIa-t. That. Wu enough, and I jumped into the lam- bering old vehicle, quice delighted with my good fortune. «- q H W; __A_j__ UV 5 " The driver lonked daggers and swords and pistols at me, and. every other de- scription of weapon possible to cmceive of, as he said : u .l 1AJ_‘ v. un- n- wâ€" , w . “It’s well you're no relation of mine. miss 1 If you was, you wouldn't: stir an inch I. It}: just defying the Almightyâ€"â€" that’s what huff ‘ uuuu .. u..- -.- I laughingly bade him good-bye, and waved my hnnékorchief in defiance. as long an the old stuga remained in sight. Whnt wouldn't I have given to be back again under that sturdy old driver‘s wing? How l wlahed that: he had com- , J ,A,H_ .4--.“ -Q- mug pal qm detained me '1 -370; [Wm-fled thaâ€"m he had com- led me to remam, and really grew te angry to think he had no: forcibly 1 Emergencies try our consistency, 1 have since discovered, as Well as that consistency is the rarest of jewels. This was a predicament I had nomse bargained for. and what should I do, I asked myself, without a shadow of response. I shaded the candle with my hand (the wind blow in little firful gusts through the ghostly apartment, in a manner so weird and sug- gestive of all the terrible things I had ever heard or read of, that my blood curdled in my veins), and endeavoring to explore the long entryway whiO led to this horrible den, in the hope of finding nnme one who Wuuld help make the situ- ;; den 3. little more endurable. As I stood wondering whether I should 9i 7 and find my way to the part of the leause occupied by the family, a. sudden [,2 reeze slammed the door in my face, and xtinguished the candle. A step on the staircase announced the approach of some one, and I said, as calmly as I could : .n‘ “ filgtgsé Vstep thls way and light my candle. The wind hasAjusbplpwn 1t out." “ All rightâ€"yes'm ; ’ and the owner of the feminine voice shuflied towards me, stopped a. moment to snuff her own tallow dip, and then relighted mine, saying : “ The wind howls round these parts pretty lively, ma’am. ‘Bont as much as we can do to keep light enough to go to beg by." -n I ,,lj_u I ;ér;tured to ask her if she couldn’t help me contrive some means of fastening my timer- . - 1 |.I I._ML fl‘Sskes! ” she replied, with a laugh that seemed to me thoroughly demoniac ; “nobody never thinks of sich a thing. There’s nobody under the sun here but our folks, and two or three travelers, what have been shed and asleep for the last two hours or more. Eadn’t you bet- ter take something to quiet your nerves a leetle '3 Got some good applejack and a keg of as nice rye whiskey as ever you put in your mouth. She had evidently been partaking of the last, for her breath, nn 7: . 3-...-.“ The more she looked, the more I laughed. and when at last the pentup nervousness found a vent was possible by the means of this cachinnatlon, and a. longer, louder, and hesrtier peal follow- ed, the strange creature sxlently and gravely left the room. She might have been indignant, sup- posing herself the object of my men-i- ment, or she might have put this and that together, after the style of a certain class of modern lgnoramuses and decided that I was insane. If. bull!“ .L W n uuuuuuu In mattered very little to me. My fears were entirely dispelled, and I set about: my preparatlena for retiring with as good a shock of courage as I ever poa- sensed. I decided to barricgdg the 2190:; but, Evan-7“. I decided to barricade the door; but how was it to be done? The bedstead was a ponderoua affair made of oak, and of such strange design and proportion, that it seemed to me “ B. o. ' might be carved on the footboard with the most perfect propriety: . ‘- n ,,:L_.__ _-.. An!“ n‘nnnl- r Thus a'rticla of furniture was only about a yard from the donr, and it seemed, as I contemplated the performance, an easy matter to move it that distance; but I reckoned without my best. Oue push demonstrated that the legs of said bed- stead were set in some sort of earthen vessels, and that these vessels were filled some kind of liquidâ€"whet, I had no means of telling. To remove these re- quired almost herculenn strength. _ It suddenly dawned upon me what these bowls were intended for, and then, we you may imagine, I concluded, tired as I was, that that straw wouldn't rustle be- neath my weight that night Ugh 1 my flesh creeps now as I think of it. What should I do with myself? A closer ex- amination proved that the cracks of the floor were swarming with blood-thirsty floor were vermin. ‘Vi_;nhered my garments closer about me, and took another view of the aim- ation, and was forced at last to acknow- ledge my inabzlisxto securea night’s rest. ,L _-Â¥ nun-3w nu, .uuy...-, -V -V-_ There was nOrhing to do but seat my- self with my back to the door, place my feet in another chair, and wait, with as much patience as I could summon, the dawn ofAday. - ‘n‘ ,,.,I_-J_ I A pocket in my underaklrt contained a tlny silver mounted affair, which, as my brother aptly remarked when he pre sented it to me, would “ put the squeak out of a fellow in less time than it takes to my Jack Robinson." ,L _.__._ I had used it for fun a. great many times,- but as I carefully examined it to see that it was in good killing order, I was impressed with the idea that there Would be serious bnainesu accomplished with it before morning, and just as sin- gular, I was not in the least. frlghtened with the prospect. There was no way of keeping my can- dle burning. It flickered and sputtered spitefully,and finally succumbed altogether to the force Ff the draft. Where that wind came from is a mystery to me to this day. .1 v, -M The window was a. little port-hole con- cern, which I had closed upon entering the room, supposing 0‘, course, that the obxoxlous intruder had entered from that qua: ter, and after a close examination of every nook and corner In that room, I was forced to the conviction that these breezes were without doubt a distinguish- ing feature of said apartment. Another such night as that, and every hair in my head would be white, I'know. I groped round, found the aperture, and threw back the sash, then seated my- self wlth the back of my chair against the door, my feet carefully tucked up in another chair. The tlny revolver lay on my lap all ready for use, and no baby ever received more petting than did this weapon of destruction on this occasion. It was at once companion and protector, and although, as the hours advanced, I was conscious of growing more and more impatient and nervous, yet not once did I lose self possession, or succumb to fear. --.- r , W I was thoroughly aware that some ad- venture was in store for me, knew it, expected lt-how, you muat ask one wiser than 1‘ It was precisely as if some good angel had wlspered in my ear : n- “You must: not be caught off your guard for one moment. Danger lurks very near. Only extreme vigilance can avertit.” Those very words kept ringing through my ears, and this danger was so imminent, to near, that I found myself at times hold- ing my breath to listen to the sound of apgroaching‘footatepa. 1 r ,,A1A_u_ to gorge bed, was perfectly was only akaout noiseless in my movement: when prepar- ing my qua-tern for the night. My money was in my bosom, and there I sat waiting to see. or. rather, fee], who or what was to beseige my citadel. __. ‘ V1 Three hours muatcertainly have elapsed, and my limbs commenced to ache moat pltlably with the forced quiet I had sub- jected them to, when a slight noise, as of some one carefully opening and closing a door, warned me to hold to my position. After this all was quiet for a. few mo. manta, and I tried to assure myself that the sound had no significance for me, when I distinctly heard footsteps, appar- ently at the extreme and of the long hall~ way. They drew gradually nearer, and I knew that there were two men approach- ing on tiptce. - I __L _.... “1.... 1“ An. Lu vu 5 ...... I had got marked out any plan of op- erations, but I found myself Immediately on my feet, prepared to mast in good shape whoever might be disposed to in- ane my quarters. x LL}- ‘ _:1HAH Limo. vuuc In: a'lunvvâ€"r . I have wondered at this a million times sinceâ€"wondered why I had not, womsn fsshion (for I know that under less dan- gerous circumstances I should certainly have done so), set still, and braced the chair against the door, and eudeavord, for a while at least, to keep the villains at bay. The steps halted, as I supposed they would, right. before the entrance, and a low, whispered dialogue took place. “I tell you this is the room. J ske said he put her here, and she was frightened to death because there was no fastening on the door. She cum down with old Prime. I reckon I know," as his com- panion ventured to contradict him. “We’ll overhaul the men’s pockets arter we’ve been through het’n. Don’t go to being chicken hearted now. Her money is under her pillerâ€"of course 'tisâ€"that's where they allus keep it, the little fools i 1”“, Them men they be. " Then I knew they alluded to the travel- ers the old woman told me about. ‘ Old Perkins’ head was level when he made up hls mind not to go any farther into the woods. That makes three times he has spoiled our game, but I'll get even with him before longâ€"see if I don’t." “Perkins” was our driverâ€"the man who had been so distressed and enraged at the ide \ of my leaving the party, and now the reason was plain. He had scented the battle afar ofl'; knew that danger, in the shape of these midnight marauders, lurked near. and was deter- mined to save without alarming usâ€"and by my willfulness I had rushed right into the very trouble he would have pre vented. “She's asleep, fast enough 1 Gala that age forgit their truublel mighty sudden. You go in ahead, and while I hunt for the upon, you wet the rag and put it; to her nose, and then we’ll go for the others.” “You'd better git one job done at a time I" growled his companion, whose lnbuKtions in respect to the ease with which this job was to be consummated were evidently more correct. ' :‘I've iifiow'ed you to slip up afore this, enter a. considerable bragging, too, and mebbeâ€"” “Hold your gab, you infernal fool, while I turn the glim. Shet up I” and I knew that thpy wege coping: My rising from the chair had set the door ajar. the latch being of no more account than the other articles in the room. In vthis way I heard every word they uttered. The door was cautioust tried. I stepped nolselessly behind it, in obedi- ence to the same instinct that had guided me all the way through. Oh, the sickening. nauseatlng sensation produced by that chloroform l ‘he hot rlble wretch had obeyed his instructions literally. for the room was filled with the deadly efliuvia. . l. u ‘- . 1 n For one second the “glim was turned." and I saw Lhe situation of the despera- doea. They, too, had evidently dis- covered that the bed had no occupant. With the coolness of Satan himself, I waited for the ringleader to face my part of the room. ' This he Shortly did. Click 1 went the precious little platol, and down went; my man. With a. quick yell of rage. his compan- lon rushed for the door, without receiving any harm from the ball leveled in his di- rection. It never was found, so, perhaps, he has got it somewhere. This din, naturally enough, aroused every inmate of the house. I was afraid to abir, for fear of stepping on the wound- ed man. His groans subsided instantly, and. I know he had either fainted or died. To tell the truth, I didn’t came which. He would have ended my mortal career with as llttle remorse as I would have kllled a mosquito, and whatever fate had befallen him was none of my buelneua. In the moment between the vlllaln’s fall and the assembling of the members of the household, I had plenty 0‘ time to think this matter over, and my woman's consciencequite absolved me. J udge of my astonishment when the very first person entering the room I dis- covered to be my brother, who had arrived very Unexpectedly. ..,_, _ They had found friends going down, willing to take charge of our invalid with the sprained ankle, and they had thus been able to return a. whole day sooner than they expected. “Why, Nell I" was his first exclamation, “how in the world came your here, and what have you been and gone and done ’l Why, this fellow is as dead as a. doornwll, and, as true as I'm a sinner. it's ‘Scafi'old Dick,’ as infernal a wretch as ever went unhung 27" I had just finished my explanations to my friends when the old woman shuflled in, and following her the longest, crooked- eat, and most forlorn specimen of the masculine gender I ever laid my eyes upon. ‘a jua’ Eaten 'w.th spondulix, “What’s up here ‘1" she asked, in a. queer, hunky tone. “That gal’e shot a man, they tell naeâ€"knocked the wind clean out of him ! Take a squint at him, old man, and tell me if We any body you've ever need afore." " ghéiépfi entirely aloof, and he seemed also inclined to ; but, yielding at last to her importuuitigs, he drew near, and, SR&§'1&§Q and hateful survey of the bodl, P313, i.n_a whisper : # IA,7A_ ,LA_ 1 “’It's Dick! 1 told you ‘twas when I heard the shot. I felt; afore I went. to bed that his dish‘d be turned bottom up- ward, and by somebody in this house, too. Young woman, that man was my son, and I'm glad you've put an send to him. Everybody said he’d die on the gallows, but he’s just escaped that by the skin of his teeth." Ian-1. v. ._.< -7 The old hag rocked herself forwari and backward, right and left, in her chair, and then, with the old stump of a pipe still between her lips, gave one despairing yell, and threw herself upon the body of her son. “v'i‘hen I grew dizzy and knew very little for three days. -V-W-ls-e; If fihally came to my senses, I was in camp at. the Adirondacks. I have told this story now, and hope in this way to forget it forever. India as a Fighting Power. If a war in Afghanlstan shall take place the bulk of the British army oppos- ing the Russian advance will be formed of native troops. There are 190,000 of these onthe regular Indian establishment, and these are supplemented by about the same number of mflltary frontier policeâ€" soldiers to all intents and purposes, and of equal. if not superior, quality to the “regulars? Thus about 300,000 armed men are under orders of the government In Inllia, without aslngle European being sent from England. All these natlve troops are officered by Englishmen. These troops vary in quality from the Madras and Bengal Sepoys to the martial Sikhs or the darlng Ghoorkas, the fighting qual- ltles of the two latter being equal to any- thing they are likely to encounter. Then the armies of the Native Independent States are generally at the command of England, for they would be likely ofi'ered uuBAnnu‘ sun uuv’ vvvu-H vv .mv-l ...... â€"a.s they have been beforeâ€"and accepted and each could and doub'less would, fur- nish a contingent for the service. Their armies aggregate 300.000 men. Then their is a population of 200,000,000 to re- cruits from, so that Lord Besconsfield's re- mark that. a. million soldiers could be easily raised. in India 1: a reasonable. one. From the foregoing figures it In seen that over a million men are under am: already in the service of Queen Victoria. and the Empress of India, with indefinite powers of expansion, leaving out: the col- onial forces of Canada, Austral 13., the Cap, the West. Indies, etc. Porpolre fishing promises to become one of the principal industries on the New Jersey coast. The experiment made last fall at Cape May proved so successful that the facilities there were greatly in- creased and other porpoise fisheries will be e-tsbiished in both Cape May and At- lantic Counties. At first porpoise were caught for their skin and blubber alone, the carcasseslbeing thrown away or ina. few instances used as fertilizers. From the ‘ blubber is extracted a very fine oil, while I the skin makes a. superior quality of leather. Some time last fall it was dis- cr vered that porpoise flesh was savory to the taste, and it soon became popular as an article of food and was in great de- mand. The juicy red meat. which is taken from beneath a layer of fat next to the skin, is pronounced by epicures to be more palatable than any porter-house steak ever cooked In appearance it re- sembles beef, but is more solid and of finer grain and very tender. Some per- sons ssy that it tasteslike venison, and that i there is nothing of the fishy taste about it. Last fall New York fish dealers offer- ed two cents per pound for the carcasses, but they will command a much higher figure next summer. The Earth-Men’s Funeral Cere- mony. N'Co-N'Qul, king of the N'Chubbas, in mourning over his dead wife, N'Arbecy, who died Monday, after several days sickness, colored his face with bits of soft black and red stonesbrought from Africa. He was in the room at the West Side hotel where his dead wife lay. Mr. Heaiy, their manager, kept close watch over the griefstricken pigmies who, he says, when at home in the Kalahara Desert, frequently stab themselves with poisoned arrows while grieving for dead friends. N'Co~N'Qui first drew a line from forehead to chin with the soft stone, then one from ear to ear across his noe. He afterward drew circles round his eyes. Next he smeared his body and arms with a red liquid which was supplied him in place of the blood of an animal, as he had desired. Before this liquid was dry he drew with his fingers rude arabesques upon his chest and arms. The four other pigmies also decorated themselves in the same manner as the king. All then danced very slowly around the bed on which lay the body of N'Arbecy, meanwhile keeping their faces covered with their hands and clucking softly with their tongues in a weird chant. Presently they put their hands on the dead woman and gave awiid yell, im- mediately afterward casting themselves on the floor with their ears placed to it, as if listening forasouud. Soon they gave another yell and sprang to their feet. This concluded the wild funeral Ceremony. N'Co-N Qui accompanied his wife's body to the Forest Home Cemetery, where she was buried The dead queen was 43 years old. A few days ago she gave birth to a male infant weighing two pounds. The child died within a few hours. Fish That Tastes Like Flesh. ALWAYS AMONG THE MISSING. A closed umbrella gathers no rain. Every man has a skeleton in his closet, a borrowed umbrella, for instance. “ Write something on Lent," said the managing editor. And the edmo: sat down and wrote : Umbrella. There is a difference between an um- brella and little B0~Peep. Let it a. loan and it never comes home. Thé rain falls not alike on the jut and unjust, for the simple reason that the nn~ just. usually has the umbrella belonglng to the just. If a man has borrowed an umbrella he generally falls to return it. If he has stolen one he in naturally afraid to return 11:. These are some of the reasons why a certaln man always has an umbrella. ' J onesâ€"What are you mad about, Smith '2 Smith (in a terrible rage)â€" What am I mad aboub'l Why, this morn- ing I found a. silk umbrella in the hall- way of my boarding-house, and as nobody seemed to own it I just captured it my- self. I laid it. down here not five minutes ago, and some rascally thief has gone off with it. The Qualities 01 Precious Stones. George F. Kunbz, one of the most skill- ful young mineralogiats. says : A: worn, gems are nf two forms, a few have the cabochon or rounded shape, such as car- bunclea and sometimes sapphire: and ru- bles ; all others are out like the diamond. Diamonds, according to the forms in which they are polished, are known as brilliants, rose diamonds or table cut. Tue former is much the better method for showing the light of the gem, and itis in this shape that ninety-nine per cent. of the diamonds are worn. Gems of this close have thirty-two facets. J ean Bap- tiste Tsvernier, the great diamond mer- chant and traveler of the seventeenth century, new and described most of the now famous gems of Europe and Asia. The Grand Mogul spoken of by him is, however, supposed to be fictitious. The Regent. weighing 136 carats and valued at 12,000,000 francs, is the finest known diamond inthe world. The Koh-i-noor weighs 162:} carats, but is “ bad form. " One hundred millions of dollars is invest- ed in diamond mines and machinery. The stealing done there would cause a. New York burglar to blush for his calling. Stolen diamonds worth $700,000 were bought by one firm in four months, and without having the figures in the case I i venture to estimate the amount stolen i every month at $1,000,000. After the battle of Gettysburg, when the baffled Confederates, worn, weary, heartsore, were recrossing the Potomac at dusk, many ware groaning, some were cursing, while the majority felt too un- happy to express themselves boisterously. Finally they went into camp, cooked their frugal meal, and settled down to a grim quarrel with fortune or lapsed into sullen silence. All at once, swelling melodious- ly through the summer air, came a. noble resonant tenor voice singing, “Give me a cot in the valley I love." The soldiers listened with rapture and the dear vision of home turned the bitterness in their hearts to sweetness and Deuce. All blas- phemy, anger and unutterable anguish ceased. By the power of sang Heaven descended upon the raging hell in their ‘ bossoms, and when the ballad lulled into an echo, dying plaintively away, it was as if an angel had passed and touched the valiant men in gray with the healing of his wing. Para! ladies are compelled, by a very old contom, to conceal their halr under a thin white cloth or cup. Their complex- iona are fair, and they drive out in open carriages and even take walks lu pnbllc of an evening. Altogether {mail-position is far superior to the secluded Hindu Rani or the Mohammedan Begum; and we can not deem it a fault in their character that the Farsi girl is very anxious “ to obtain a good husband," or that a married woman may “posses jewelry worth from £500 to £20,000." The Parsi matron at tends carefully to her household duties,di- rects the work of the servants, plies the needle. pays visits to her friends, and may be seen amid crowds of spectators when a new Viceroy lands on the Apollo Bunder, or the Governor lays the foundation-stone of a college or hospital. Both sexes now take their meals together The Parsis smoke neither tobacco nor opium, and drink wine only at dinner and in moder- ation. Their houses are spacious, elegant- ly and well furnished, and splendidly lit up at night. The loveliest. flower seen at this season of the year is the shad toes. After Gettysburg The Parsi Family.