The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

, come. i‘inaittnitviii‘ HY JESSIE MACLEOD. A... PART III.â€"A'irmsim IN NEED; - The entrance to Providence Court, Buck- lersbury, is so narrow, being an arehedpas sage, that it Can easily be passed unnoticed. This passage running through a house to the rear opens on a small paved yard. Gloomy even in summer, over-shadowed by tall buildings on all sides, it is chiefly occupied by the offices of various agents. At the farther end, in the darkest corner, a small house of two stories was occupied by Mr. Issachar, the usurer and money-lender. He resided there all the yearround, never taking a holiday, having given up all recreation years ago, when he buried his Christian wife, for whose sake he had been cast out from his people. His only diversion was money-making, not on accountof the luxury it purchases, but as an amusing game of , specifiation. He had no children to inherit it. is affections had withered up, for he was alone in the World. In leading a meditative life, his intellect had become clearer thsn'IEver. His advice was sought in many a pecuniary speculation. Those who took it generally prospered. One fine morning Mr. Issachar sat at a] desk close to the wire-blind at the window of his dark office, upon which the sun never shone. Though a. hot day on the outer side of the passage, it was chilly in the court, and Mr. Issachar had afire, He was engag- ed in taking extracts from financial papers. A, small spare man, with hair and heard white as snow, wearing a velvet cap and 'gold spectacles. His complexion was of the clearest olive ; his forehead high, crossed and recrossed by countless lines, delicate as. cobwcbs; a fine brow, under which his Oriental, long, and even beautiful brown eyes still retained their lustre. Presently footsteps broke upon the silence of the court. Mr Issachar raised his he 1d, listening. They advanced towards his house. ' “ The trained walk of a gentleman.” Long practice had enabled the Jew to judge of a ' erson’s position by the tread. ”Military, ‘ think,” said he. The regular tramp, tramp of the footfalls stopped at his door, and there was a rap from the highly polished brass knockcr, which had been screwed on when the house ivas rebuilt immediately after the Fire of London. ' ' The‘dOOr was opened by a young clerk, a German Jew, for Issaohar clung to his an- cient race. “ A gentleman wishes to see you, sir". he will notsend in his name." “ I will receive him.” Mystery surround- ed,so many of his clients, that this was no- thing unusual. The; visitor was a. tall wellmade man, with a-sunbumt face, and hair prematurely gra‘y. Removing his hat as he entered the room, he stood for a mo'ment regarding the tummy-lender without speaking, who on his side looked up at him with a questioning expression on his face. - “.\\'e have met before, Mr. Issachur. Am I changed past recognition?" . . The Jew fastened his intelligent eyes upon him, scanning every, feature ; then he said slowly: “You are indeed altered; yet I know you by yourvfigure, your eyes, your voice; they are the same as of old. To change like this in so short a time denotes mental suffering. you have been through a fiery furnace, Captain Graveuor “ So short a time ! Why it is eleven long years.” cried his visitor with a bitter laugh. “ To me it appears short because my life is" monotonous. Many events, change of scene, cause time to seem longer. As you left me, so you find me, I have often thought of youâ€"felt for your blighted life. ” “ You believed in incâ€"that is why I come to-day.” _ “I never doubted your innocence. How long have you been back? Tell me your story." “lint a few weeks. As for my story there is not much to tell. I was not badly treated on the wholeâ€"out there ‘ I tried to become rcsvgucd and found comfort by going back to the early lessons of a pious mother. Had she lived, I might have been a less thoughtless man." He sighed. “\Vell, I got a. good name in several respects. When the time come for freedom, I went to Melbourne, and lived for eighteen months by my own exer- tions. I set up as an accountant and pros- . percd better than I expected, perate yearning for home possessed me. I returnedâ€"to learn that I had a son.” He buried his face in his hands. There was a silence. ' “ I, too, once had a. souâ€"he died. are better ofi" than I am. Yours lives.” “He is ignorant that he has a father. They have even discarded my name. I have seen him. A noble boy, with his mother's beauty. Then I felt a wicked thirst for ' revenge spring up within me against the villain who has debarred me from the hap- piness of his infancyâ€"of witnessing him budding into boyhood.” ' ‘ ' ' “Never doubt but there is a. hand that will repay. The treacherous only prosper for a timeâ€"Can you fix upon your enemy?” “ Yes, But Iliave no proof.” “There are strange mysterious agrncies at work around itsâ€"hidden influences, which we human beings cannot fathom. How is it you walk into this room when I was just _ about to advertise for you '1" “ For me ‘2 ' “ Yes ; for I knew the time had expired for your release. Lift that marble letter- weight on the table before you ; read the strip of paper under it. ” Captain Gravenor obeyed. “ Captain George Gravenor, formerly of theâ€"Regiment '13 requested to communicate with Messrs. Everett, Solicitors, Bedford Româ€"Colonial papers, please copy." He let the paper fall from his hand “ How wonderfulâ€"how extraordinary l” he cried. “ Listen l” said Issachar. Captain Gravenor sat down quite overâ€" flow was a friendâ€"at last, at last â€"one who believed in him. “ Living here apart from the world," commenced the Jew. “ it interests me to follow the career of many persons who pass ax: in a pliantasmagoria across life’s stage. A brilliant entrance-an exit to be soon for- gotten, hfonarchs have lived and died : dynasties have passed away ; new countries risen. Statcsuien made great names, now forgotten. Genius has flashed likea meteor for a time, and soon died. Three genera- tions of names are contained in those safes,” a1 1 he indicated the rows of them around tie oflice. “ All since I have sat at this table, in the same chair, with the same velvet cover, not yet worn out. There are ‘ You But a des- ' l many persons whfie actions I have followed, and still follow,’notiug their lives. I piece the fragments together as a child (lees a puzzle. I think L know the hand that 'worked your ruin, and say, \Vait." “ I must and will clear my name," cried Captain Gravenor with energy. “ Can you help me to do so?” “ You must remain in London. â€"â€"How do you propose living?” “The very subject on which I came to speak. Can youâ€"will you, recommend me as an accountant?” “ Yes; I believe I can do that. -â€"How do your finances stand?" asked Issachar confi- dentially. “ Can I lend you money ?" “ Thank you for a kind offer, Mr. Is- sachar. \Vith my frugal habits I have suf- ficient for the present. Should it fail, I will come to you.” “ Agreed," said the Jew. “ \l’ait. “'hen affairs are ripe, you shall act. I was about to advertise for you, that you might be at hand when a certain event will assuredly come to pass, or I am much mistaken. It will clear your name from all blemish.” “ Do that: Mr. Issachar, and I will kneel to you,” replied the Captain in a subdued voice, much overcome. ” No,” said the old man. “I am only a poor human being, a descendant of a despis- ed race. Perhaps in your case I may be an instrument In the hands of Providence.” Very soon after this interview, Cap- tain Gravenor, under an assumed name, set up as an accountant in a room near Broad Street, where he found employment, thanks to the recommend- ations of Issachar. He remained unknown and unrecognised, walking the London streets like a ghost returned to his former haunts, with a strange feeling that George Gravenor was another person from himself altogether. On Saturdays, his one great but melancholy pleasure was to take a return ticket to the seaside place where Felix was at school and watch the boy at play. Some- times he had a sight of Lena, but this was seldom, asshe was her father‘s companion during his couvalesccncc. reading and writ- ing for him untiringly. Neither she nor her boy knew Whose eyes were upon them. Felix imagined his father to be dead. Young as he was, it seemed strange, he thought, that no one ever spoke of him ;from an early age he had been checked when he ventured a question. “ I should like to have a photograph of my Papa," he said one day to his mother. “ The other boys at ‘ school have them whether they are alive or dear .” A look of positive fright passed over Lena’s face, and she burst into tears. “ Never ask me that again, Felix,” she sobbtd. . Once he ventured, also saying to Mr. Desborongh : “ Did my Papa go to Elton when he'was a boy ‘2” , “ I~do not know.” “ I wish he hadn’t died.” “’You must look upon me as a grand father and father as well, Felix. Do not speak of. him again.” Youth is thoughtless. The boy had a vague impression of mysteryâ€"that was all- He never renewed the subject. It was seven months since Mr, Des- borough had visited Nicholas Laue ; he could walk pretty well now, and was anx- ious to resume his old habits. Mr. Thorel had taken his place efiicicntly in the interim. He reported affairs at the bank to be per: feetly satisfactory, and Mr. Desborough’s presence to be quite unnecessary. ' One morning Mr. Thorel drove across the Park from his house in Kensington Gore to Portland Place. Dressed in the height ofj fashion, with an exotic in his button-hole, he enteied Mr. Desborough’s library, where ‘ Lena sat reading the Timcs to her father. ' “ I have come for the key of the strong‘ 1 room,” said he; “ Lord Harbury is coming this morning to Nicholas Lane for his jewels, his son is going to be marriet .” ' “I will go with you,” said the banker. i “I shall be glad of an incentive to renew my duties.” f “ But are you equal to it? Do you think i ”â€"â€" . “Quite, and I shall borough. Rising, he opened his desk, taking out the master-key of the iron room at the bank, where plate, jewels, and securi- I l l go,” said Mr. Des- ties were depositedâ€"a key never out of his pOSscssicn until his illness obliged him to intrusb it to Mr. Thorel in the course of business ; but it was returned to him im- mediately. His unexpected arrivul at the bank was received with many congratulations from his numerous staff; and the old gentleman resumed his chair in the private room with unalloyed pleasure, awaiting the visit of Lord Hai‘bury, who arrived at twelve o’clock. Mr. Desborough unlocked the strong-room door, then the iron safe containing Lord Harbury’s family jewels, which were in. an = ebony casket. The nobleman pulled outitsl tiers of drawers to examine them. He held l up a beautiful diamond necklace with a large ‘ opal pendant. “ This opal is considered the f heirloom of my family; it is one of the finest l in Europe. My future daughter-in-law will wear it on her bridal day.” At this moment one of the small diamonds surrounding it fell from the setting on to the table. “ Now, how does that come about?" said he. Adjust- ing his glasses, he closely irspected th‘ejew- i el. “ The setting is damaged. How strange ! VVhyâ€"noâ€"yesâ€"impossible l” He looked up ' blankly at the banker. “ What is wrong? \Vhat is wrong‘2”l cried Mr. Desborough anxiously. “ Are you a judge ofpreciousstones‘.’If so, tell me if you call this an iridescent opal ?I There are greens and red in it, but no real l fire. Mr. Desborough, my opal has been changed l" “ My lord, that is impossible." “ Take care what you assert, Lord Har- bury,” said Mr Thorel in a menacing tone, a. dark frown upon his face. “ How dare should say ‘3” cried the nobleman in sudden I zinger. “ I swear that this is not an opalE at all, nor even a first-rate imitation.â€" l)esborough, how do you account for this 7.” “The opal is as you brought it,” again‘ interrupted Mr. Thorel. “ 1 am bewildered," exclaimed the bank- er. “ It is not as I brought it; this is a false One.” L:“ Then it was changed before you deposi- ted it with us. Such things do happen in aristocratic families,” remarked Mr. Thorel insolently. ‘ “ Not in mine, sir,” replied the nobleman haughlily. “ Besides, I took the precaution of having the jewels examined by Hunt-ecu f on my way hcre~seven years ago, when Lady Harbury died. “'6 will go to him- row, if you please.” The result was as Lord Harbury had de- . - associations. ’ than the military service itself. you dictate to me what LR tected : the opal had been stolen. This was a valuelcss counterfeit, Poor Mr. Desborougb was much agitated. Once made Public, this affair would damage his credit, and ruin him. “ We must go to Scotland Yard,” gasped he faintly. “ You are notfit, uncle ; I will go,” cried Mr. Thorel. “ “"0 will sift it to the bot.- tom. “ Let me take you home,” said Lord Han bury kindly. “ lam very sorry to cause you anxiety, and you only just recovering from an illness. ” “ I do not value my life, my lord, but I do my honour. \Vho can have done this 7" lie was much shaken. ~" When he sat down in his study to think, after recovering from the first shook of the discovery, his energy returned to him in a remarkable manner ; always a clear'headed man, he took a, sudden resolution. I'lc wired for a. celebrated detective to come at once. The result of their conference was a strong suspicion of one person. 5‘ You must come with me ,to the bank immediately,”suid the old gentleman. “ I cannot rest until the contents of the strong- room are thoroughly examined.” (To us cosrmt‘ no) â€"â€"-¢,-â€"â€"-â€"-â€" Decline in the MurrIAgc Rate. This is the season of the year when the list of marriage announcements increases greatly. The betrothals of the summer are fulfilled in the weddings of the autumn, and in all the circles of society We have abund- ant and practical proof that the cry about the failure of marriage, which has been raised by a few pessunistio philosophers, both men and women, is not heeded by healthy minds, and does not check the growth of the sentiment which results in matrimony. It may be true that there has been a. decline in the marriage rate of highly civilized countries during recent years. That is amatter of statistics, which are indisput- able. llut because there has been such a de- crease we have no good reason for concluding that the desire for marriage has lessened pro- portionately or that the institution of matri- mony has fallen into any disfavor. It means simply that more people are unable to gratify the desire for mating than under the older social conditions. The great and pervasive emigration movement in Europe must have tended to reduce the marriage rate in the countries most affected by it, and, as a matter of fact, they are the coun- tries where the decline is most noticeable. Naturally, emigration makes a heavy draft I - on the young and enterprising unmarried men, and carries them away to different The enormous draft which the armies of Europe make on the young and vigorousmeu of the great States also assiststo a marked degree in lowering the rate in them all. Modern civilization, moreover, requires theemployment of vast numbers of young men in professions and occupations which shut them out from matrimony hardly less Railways and telegraphs, engineering and mining enterprises, ocean transportation, the» new methods of selling means of a multitude of travelling agents, and the slow preparation for strictly pro- fessional careers act as obstacles to marriage in youth, and therefore lessen the probabil- ity of its ocCurrence at any period in life. More men, proportionately, are nomads and adventurers than 'in times past, and the un- settlement of their lives of course tends to keep them from marrying, for marriage goes with the fixeduess and permanency of homes. Even in this new country, andeven among the farming population, whose in- clination to early marriages has always been ' especially strong, ibis migratory spirit is exhibited to a striking degree. The lone- liness of farm life and the severity of the manual labor of the farm are sending the young men to the towns, whose aggregate population is increasing at a . . . .. l States promised to give Hawaii full partici- ratio so much greater than that of the country. to the ranks of the bachelors while they are striving and hustling to make their, way under new conditions. The decline in the marriage rate, accordingly, is easily ox- plainublc on other grounds than the pessi- mistic theory of the growth of an actual disinclination to matrimony because of skepticism as to the advantagcs of the in- stilutign. If fewer people marry, proportion: ately, it is not because the rest do not want to marry, but because the circumstances of. their lot prevent them from gratifying their desire to be mated. That is a far more de- fensible theory, so far as concerns the great mass ‘of the unweddcd. It applies to all unmarried women and to most men in the same Condition. The bachelors from choice are an insignificant number. The voluntary old maids do not exist, unless in convents. In the circle of society where the greatest wealth exists, and where consequently the material obstacles to matrimony are least, marriages, and early marriages. are most frequent, as the autumn. weddings prove, your after year. -â€" Maw”... Tne Queen .lbhors War. No one takes a kcener interest in the pro- ceedings of peace conventions than does Queen Victoria. \Vith all the tenderness of a mother and a true woman she abliors war. She has known well what it is. The ex- perience of the Crimea was to her most painful, as she felt intensely the widow- hood of her people at that time. Quickly after the Crimea came the Sepoy revolt, and again her heart was made to bleed for the woes of her subjects. No wonder she shrinks from the contemplation of war. As a Queen she not only presides over the British, but also over all other people. And if she is strong in her goodness, it is because what is behind her. When she invited her wilful randchild to look on fifteen miles of iron- clads, and they only one of many fleets under her orders, she gave an object lesson to the world which the world can never forget. Queen Elizabeth did great things at Tillbury, but nothing that great Queen ever rlid more powerfully impressed the na- tions than Queen Victoria’s review of the fleet over the wafers commanded by Fort Moneton. Let Russia pursue her policy. Let France disturb Europe, as she has al- ways. But Britain sits still on her throne of peace and says, No '. There shall be no war if she can prevent it, because war is bad policy to begin with, and, anyway, she says, whichever of you, kings, emperors, or re- publics, dares to break the peace of the na- tions has to reckon with The Policeman of the Scasâ€"â€"England. After a while the swash-buckling nations will begin to under- stand the ttuth and govern themselves ac- cordingly. merchandise by the‘ Of course, these must add, TJE llNlTllE) STATES AND HAWAII. Why the Treaty Proposed by Mr. Blaine “'us Iii-joined. A writer in the It’vrz'rm of Rcricws gives some new information as » to why the Hawaiians rejected the treaty recently pro- posed hy Mr. Blaine. It seems the mis- carriage of that project was owing to the influence of the Dominion -(loverument astutely brought to bear in the right quar- ters by the late Sir John A. Macdonald. It will be recalled that the supplementary provisions to the reciprocity treaty of 1876, which were addcd in 1887 under the Clcvc-’ laud Administration, gave the United States the exclusive right to establish and forum‘s naval station in the Hawaiian Islandsâ€"Pearl Harbor being designated for the purpose. But the continuance of this exclusive right was to be limited by the duration of the treaty. Mr. Blaine desired to make the cession of Pearl Harbor per- manent; and, such a. privilege, together with an agreement that Hawaii should cut/3r into no treaty engagements with other pow- ers without the previous knowledge of the United States, were embodied in the new convention recommended to the Hawaiian Government by Mr. Carter, its Minister at Washington. \Vhat was known as the [Reform party was then in power at Hono- lulu, and its Cabinet earnestly endeavored to secure the signa ture of Kalakaua to the amended treaty. According to the writer in the RCI‘fClI) of Reviews theseclf'orts would undoubtedly have been successful but for the interposition of Canadian influences through the agency of the Hawaiian Attorney-General. The New Yoriob'nu is sorely vexed over the matter an d proceeds to give some reasons why Canada has had the temerity to interfere with the negotiations inaugurated by the United States. It says that Yankee ascend- ancy in Hawaii is obnoxious to the Canadians as shutting them out from the Australian trade, and being in general detrimental to the commercial interestsof British Columbia, and especially of the Canadian Pacific Railway. It happened that while the negotiation of the new treaty was pending the Hawaiian Attorney-General, Mr. Ashford, who is a Canadian, got leave of absence to visit home. W'hile in Canada he was in close conference with Sir John Macdonald and became e- guest of President Stephen of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Upon his return to Honolulu he astonished his colleagues by t. owing his utmost influence against tho- .“i the result that the King ultimately r' l to Isign the proposed treaty. The I“. ub. ‘sequenlly given in the Legislatmc by Sir. Ashford for his course was that to surrender the right to make treaties with other powers lwithout supervision by the United States was a. surrender of independeme. It was false, he added, peculiarly inexpedientas pre- ] eluding some advantageous commercial ar- éi‘angcments with Canada, which he would I presently communicate. l The film also undertakes to tell the l Hawaiians what they have lost by coqnett- 'ing with Capada, and says-that, “ it is manifest, that both the United States and the Hawaiian Islands have been damaged ' by Canadian interposition. The United States are left Without any guarantee of permanent influence, for the cession of Pearl Harbor is terminablc with the treaty making ‘it. The Hawaiians, on the other hand, through the tremendous drop in the price of sugar in the American markets, find themselves thrust down ‘rom the im- mensespecial advantages which, since 1876, had constituted their main source of wealth. Had the trcity been concluded, the,IIawaiians would have lost nothing by thefrce inflow of sugar from Cuba and Bra- zil into the United States. They would have occupied precisely the same position as tliatl'held by the sugar growers of Louisiana. For it willobc remcmlzcrezl that, in return for the desired concessions, the United mu I l I pation in the bounties granted to American producers of sugar. Those hounties the Hawaiians have lost, and they have gained absolutely nothing in exchange for them from Canada.” ' lut from later intelligence from the Islands itis evident the people are not or .\ ing very greatly over the failure of the United States to secure a monopoly of I the Hawaiian markets. .._____o____.____ Australian Morals. I There is no country in which so high it Icondition of general comfort, so lofty a lstandard of proved intelligence, and such [large and varied means of intellectual ex- {cellenee-exist side by side With ,so much eturhulence, so lax a commercial morality, l and such overcharged statistics of drunken- ness and crimes of violence as in Australia. Why should apcople which is among the best educated in the world be also among the least commercially sound, the rowdiest, and the most drunken? Let there be no mistake about the question or about the charges which are involved in it. Australian insolvencies are to British as four to one. Convictions in Australia are to convictions in the United Kingdom as two to one, The figures given by Mr. H. H. Hayter, C. 'M. (3., Government Stalist of Victoria, though apparently clouded with a purpose, prove the last charge beyond the chance of refutation. The highest percen~ tage of deaths from the abuse of alcohol is recorded in Australia. It is 113 as against 80 even in Switzerland, and as against 46 in England and Wales. In the figures given the issue is confused by the introduction of the statistics of “towns” and “principal towns” of some few countries, though even there Paris reaches no higher than 95 and London falls to 74. In Ireland the deaths from alcoholism are onlya little over a quarter of those registered for the Austra- lias. The towns of Denmark rise to the awful average of 274, but it is evident that a full statement of the facts would reduce it greatly. â€".â€"â€"â€" Mr. Stanley suggested several years ago that when Europe began to take a4 livelier interest in Africa a telegraph line could be put up clear to the big lakes, and native chiefs would for a consideration see that their people did not meddle with it. This idea, wild as it appears, is likely to be real- ized. One of the most noteworthy of recent enterprises is the telegraph line which is now strung along through Mashonaland. A vast territory, unknown to the world ten years ago, is now within five hours' reach of London, and it cost $300,000 to bring it about. Matters are not moving so smooth- ly, however, in Morocco, where the Angora tribe is stubbornly opposing the erection of telegraph poles. Its chiefs have evidently not been subsidized. [ HOW THE )lONSGON COME. . The Face of Nature Chungcfihy the Threat- cnlng Advance of the Storm. Let me try to give a pen picture of the end of an India summer and the beginning of the period when the monsoon rains descend. Day after day the sun pours down withering heat, the air is sick with it, the ground is hard as iron, and gages in great cracks, as though open-mouthed, pleading to the pitilcss sky for a drop of water ; the wide expanse of country that a few months past was green and flowcr-besprixlsled is brown, the grass crisped with a fierce heat and falling to powder if rubbed : the trees mostly evergreens, are parched and dusty; no breath of air rustles through, no leif stirs. They resemble great toy trees, with leaves of painted wood. There is no sound of life anywhere ; the noisy, green parrots are silent, and hide from the sun in the heart of the densest and leaflest top. You may, perhaps, see a crow or mynah sit solitarily on a bough, with drooping wing and gaping beak, helrless in this great purgatory of fire. “ The moonsoon, the monsoon â€"will it never come ‘2” you ask as you toss half naked on your bed, worried by prickly heat and insects which shall he nameless, not the worst of which is“ the persistent, blood-sucking mosquito. Heat apoplexy has, erhaps, prostrated one or two of your riends, and a second in the open air unhelmetedwould be sudden death. “ Will the man soon never come?" Every evening the sun drops down in the west like a great ball of fire, but leaves the heat behind him. One evening you notice with great joy two or three black clouds climb up the east to take a peep at his descending nnjesty. They are the advance guard, you think, of the monsoon and it will surely rain before morning. Morning dawnsh . and the sun sets to blowing his heat, furnace strong as over ; the sky is once more a great dome of burnished brass. The monsoon at last blows the warning trumpet, and the song/hing of his wind to the far-away horizon calls you out from your bed to the veranda. Nature holds her breath; a great calm, a, strange hushâ€"the hush of expectancy- fills earth and air. Ha I here comes the monsoon. Away on the western horizon a great black cloud wave surges up toward the zenith, blotting out the burnished sky in its progress, just as though you poured ink slowly into a brass bowl. Behind this black wave, and moving with it, is a. dense ebon mass, out every in- stant by forked; lightning and bellowing, deafening thunder. The quick darting mldcr tongues of flame flash everywhere, search the bellowing heavens throughout/- from top to bottom, throughout the whole cloud-pm ‘cd drum-:1, ,? Now for a amend, only for a second, the : quickllasuing 17;;htning ceases, and an inky blacknesa, the blackness of Erebus, succeeds, and the thunder bellows as an Englishu‘ian in his seaâ€"gift little isle never heard it bel- low. It is no distant rumble, gradually roiling n rev and culminating in aresound- ' " .. overhead. No ; around, 'about at overhead the infernal din never ceases. The bellied clouds are pregnant with thun. der, and the flame forks flashing hither and thither pierce their wombs and loose the thunder from its prison. It reminds one of Michael and his celestial host Warring with Lucifer and his legions. It is terrible. Inside your bungalow the first advancing wind that heralded the monsoon carried with it clouds of blinding dust, which is now piled up an inch high on table and chair and shelf. , And still the war of the elements goes on. You cannot hear your neighbor’s voice, afl‘rightcd, shriek in. the thickets, and the snative servants huddle themselves together in dark corners for safety. The sky opens its floodgates, and rain in torrents pours down without intermission for eighty or ninety hourson the parched earth. Splash ! splash ! on the roofâ€"not in showers, but in sheets. This is the monsoon. And when it has passed What a transfor- mation it has effected. . The arid plain is one great lake, through which rise innumerable recs of glossy green, and crowding their leafy cathedrals flocks .of parrots and mynuhs chatter their thanks to God for the welco ue _ rain. The great» lake soon disappears, ab- sorbed by the, thirsty earth, and reveals a. far and fair expanse of verdure beautiful beyond words in its dazzling greenery, and Sprinkled with flowers that have shot up in a. night, earth’s embodied hymn of praise to the Creator for the blessing of the monsoon. â€"â€"â€"Oâ€"â€"â€"- HUNT THIS BRUTS DG‘VN 119 Here! a Boy's flood in a Vat of Vila-lo. Until ills Eyes were Burned Ont. ' A brutal crime was perpetrated by En- gineer James A. Bradshaw of the Earle Lock Company at Terryville, Conn., re- cently. As he was going through the shop he approached W. A. Hougli, aged 17 years, who was at work cleaning looks at his bench, and ordered him to go to another part of the shop on an errand. Bradshaw has no authority over the men in the factory, and the boy, acting on the advice of the men in the room, refused to obey. Bradshaw re- peated the command, and on -a second rc- fusal, picked the boy up in his arms, and carrying him to a vat of vitrol iu the room, dipped him in,head downward, several times before the other employees oi:the room, too horrified to stir at first, could interfere. ‘ The boy‘s screams were agonizing. His hair was all burned off. his scalp was raw, his face and neck was horribly burned, and both eyes were burned out. His recovery isdoubtful. . Bradshaw returned to the engine room and was at once discharged. He walked out of the shop unmolested and disappeared. He has not yet been arrested. The employ . cos of the shop, among whom Hough was a general favorite, threaten to lynch the brute if they find him. Bradshaw is married and is 35) years old. , Melba In the organ Lon. Mme. Melba. has been distinguishing herself in Paris. The great Australian prima. donna, the “ Echo de Paris " says, was en- gaged a few days since to sing at a_ grand wedding, but the Archbishop of Paris, like Cardinal Manning, refused to allow a lady to sing in a Roman Catholic church. This was :i. sad blow, but the great lady whom it annoyed was equal to the emergency. She prevailed upon Mme. Melba to hide herself behind the organ, and then put a lad, With. a missal in his hand to stand up in the choir and pretend to sing while the prima. donna poured forth her enchanting notes. The ruse was an immense success. though he shouts his utmost; the birds, >2