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fill KILLEEN’S REVENGE.- CHAPIER XXII. Mrs. Dundas (in spite of certain small compensations) began to feel her life, in the little conventional 1rish place in which her present. lot was cast. decidâ€"; edly stupid. She looked about lier,thereâ€" fore, to find an outlet for the overplus of vitality within her that. was always ready to burst forth, and finally electri- goosm and on the evening of the. ball, just ten minutes before dressing time, ,a to): arrived for her from Ballymore .containing the mask and domino prom- ;ed. It contained rather more than these. lBencath the. domino lay a pair of won- ,dei‘ful gloves that reached almost. to ,her shoulder, and a fan pointed exquis- iitely, in the style of a bygone age. Con- ,stantia's color came and went as she flocked at. the pretty thingsâ€"prettier lirifles than she had ever before. possess- fied the quiet countryâ€"Sb]e by sending ’ed in all her sweet if somewhat penni- out invitations for a masked ball. There had been a little trouble at first with Mr. Dundas. He had rather hung back from seconding the. idea. re- l garding it: as an affair in a degree too startling to find favor in the eyes of a , specially unsophisticated neighborhood. But she had cajoled, and coaxed, and wheedled, and finally tormented him in- to giving his consent. Accordingly the gilt and perfumed cards of invitation were filled up and dispatched to every house that was not altogether impossible in the county. If a bomb-shell had been discharged into cash of these Puritanical homes, it. could hardly have created a. greater as- tonishment. The heads put on their spectacles and regarded the gilded mes- senger again, holding it out well from them as if a. little afraid of it. \Vould it go off? ‘ It was such a strange, such an un- usual thing! One had heard of it, of course, and it suggested Venice at once, and another word beginning with V they did not like to mention before the youngsters, which was vice. A great many old Italian stories, as stupid as they were highly flavored, returned to them. as they pondered over the inâ€" nocent bit of card. A masked ball! Here in Ireland! It was out of place and very absurd, but that was hardly the question. \Vas it correct? was it respectable? was there not an element of impropriety about it? They were full of fears for their ducklings. There was, indeed, much debating on the subject, and many hesitations, but finally the young people, who were longing to see themselves in some way connected with another, andâ€"as they be- lieved a wickeder world than theirs, per- suaded them that an acceptance should 'be sent. Even after that, however, numerous difficulties arose. There were some who did not know how to set about getting the requisite masks and dominoes; there were a few who, believing blindlyv in their dictionaries, thought a. domino was simply a dress of abnormal length; and there was still another few who had grown up to the belief that dominoes were bits of ivory, with black spots on them, with which immoral Frenchmen played a wild and reckless game over their cafe noir. which in itself was sugâ€" gestive of much fast feeling. These last were greatly at sea. Each and all went to Mrs. Dundas, presumably to pay her a visit, but in reality to cull from her some word of advice. That she saw through the simple artifice need no the said, and straight- way she set them in- the right path. She was graciousness itself, even to those undesirable ones who sat upon the con- fines of society, and were just in it, be- cause they were not out of it. A tip wotuld have sent them over at any momâ€" en . . She was charming to every one. high and low; told some where dominoes were to be had; others how they could be made 'by the local talent. For this purpose she lent an old one of her own, which she said had seen service at a 'ball given by the Princesse Dolgorouky during the carnival, the year before last. She made quite a point by lend- ing this domino. It was received with much elation. A real domino,that seemâ€" ed to their eager imagination steeped in the sunny warmth of vine-clad Italy, was precious in their sight; and worn, too, in the palaceâ€"was it palazzo lâ€"of a princess! "Princesse,"'she had called itâ€"that seemed to give an additional flavor to it. Donna herself seemed delighted with her latest whim. She talked of it by the hour to these anxious visitors. "Thay would come? Oh, yes, they must. It would be such fun. Very harmless fun, of course, Harmless to dullness, but: still, perhaps, a. trifle less dull than the usual thing.” They were all to keep on the masks and dominoes until midnight struck; then, like Cinderella, their false gar- ments were to slip from them, and they should stand revealed as they really were. All this jugglery business seem- ed enchanting 10 the girls. and filled them full of delight for many days be- forehand. ' In an interview with Constantia, Donna had declared her intention of providing her pretty cousin with a. domino that should surpass all others, as a. little gift from friend to friend. Such delicate articles became, clumsy wraps beneath the fingers of country milliners. ‘Even Constantia’s little digâ€" its, clever as they undoubtedly were, would be unequal to the task. Constantia demurred. She blushed warmly. She could not, she said, al- low Donna toâ€"toâ€" "Be at. the expense of it? Tut!" said Donna airily. She curled up her lovely lips, and looked supreme contempt. \\'as that really it? Why, she was ordering half a dozen at least, for as many dis- tressed damsels, and why shoulrl sha not do as much for Constantia, who was her cousin. and had therefore some claim upon her? Piff! paff! stuff and non~ sense! The thing was; it was settled,ar- ranged at all events, it should be; and so let; there be no more folly about it. A country idiot of a dress-maker might do very well for half that were coming; but for Constantia! No; she, Donna, would not hear of it. A really pretty girl was always of so much more conâ€" sequence than an ordinary one. Constantia finally gave in, feeling, in- deed, that she had done something ’ water below less life. I She donned the domino, and laughed ‘gaf'ly at herself in her glass. Then she p.11 on the mask and laughed once. more. \Vhen the new, lovely, long gloves had been drawn on and fastened by a lit- tle maiden called Norah, who was 10st in speechless admiration, she took up the fan, and summoning George, went off to Dallymore. j She entered the large ball-room with a. somewhat nervous tread; she could not divest herself of the feeling that. all eyes were turned upon her. There was a subdued hum of voices all around. with little breaks of laughter now and lagain and the clicking of innumerable fans. Disguised tones met her ears on all sides, whilst. she could see that some deeming a whisper (as it is) the best: method of concealing one‘s accent, spoke only beneath their breath. l The many-colored dominoes, the. black satin masks, through which the eyes seemed to sparkle like living coals. the subdued lights from the lamps, \\'hl(‘h were purposely lowered, all seemed to Constantia to lend a weird and inter- esting effect to the scene. The _ soft strains of the band, which was hidden behind a wall of cool palms and ferns. and the dripping of fountains, appeared lvlent together in one musi3al breeze that swayed to and fro. and was full of a curious sadness that was almost ecst- asv. She stood alone, amazed, bewildered. pleased. She had become separated from her brother almost immediately on entâ€" ering the room: and now, as a strange voice said samething low in her ear, she started violently. She had. indeedd-eens dead to all save the strangeness and glamour of her surroundings, and the sound of her own name brought her bar-k with a disagreeable haste'to a sense of every-day existence. . did not. recognize the speaker“ in he:~ confusion, and did not: look at him. Just at this moment there was a little extra flowing of the human tide in her direction, and she felt. herself floated onward gently but irresistibly, and PN- sently found herself once again without a companion. She was glad of it. It pleased her. and accorded so well with her silent ap- preciation of the brilliant spectacle beâ€" tore her, that a sense of being some- how alone, lost. came over her. She. did not want to speak; she only wanted to watch, and enter into it really. and. so impress-it upon her heart that she should never forget. She had read many times of such an hour as this, and now she saw it. The windows were all thrown wide open, and the terrace out- side lay white in the moonshine. It was but a simple thing to imagine the all that, and the gondolas â€"the mandolinsâ€"the rhythmical rise ‘and fall of the oar. l l t l l l -Il£l. gauche and uncivilized in having at Iirsti refused the kindly offer of her cousin.‘ She thanked Donna very prettily, who told her she was a dear. proud little As the many hues and dyes of the dominoes passed before her vision. it oc- curred tio her that there was in the whole motley crowd no domino like her own. She rather marveled at this, until a slight movement of the throng nearest to her opened a side abbey, at the end of which a glimpse of some- thing brilliant caught her eye. She gazed at. it intently. ,Yes, i: was her own domino, exact in every fold and line. But as she looked more intently Silll, a small difference, and one that would be imperceptible to a casual ob- server, became clear to her. On her own, at the very tip of the shoulder, near the neck, a tiny Maltese cross had been worked in black filoselle. It was so small as to be barely visible, but on the shoulder of the other domino, down there at the end of the room, her young, sharp Sight. told her there was nothing. . The yellow figure she was gazing at in some surprise; was as tall as herself; the loose folds of the cloak prevented her seeing whether it was slander. or of a matronly mold. The yellow flow- ered Sllk shone and glistened beneath the rays of the soft lamp-light, and the wearer, whose mask was very carefully arranged, was leaning against a bank of crimson roses artistically arranged in one of the anterooms. As Constantia \'-.""(flle(l her with an ever-growing curiosuy, she put out her hand With a little saucy gesture, and at once the girl knew that it was Don- Some astonishment. filled her breast on hergdiScovery, which was succeeded by a touch of grateful feeling. The two dominoes were also precisely simil- ar. It was specially go id of Donna (who had a. rooted objection ever to gown her- self like other women) to have ordered for her a disguise in no ,\'hit; inferior to that'slie had ordered for herself. No suspicion of any latent treachery in the act. disturbed her mind. She felt only gratitude, and a little remorse in that she had so often known herself to liar- lor unkind thoughts of this kindly cous- in. A little wonder crept in, of c urse. l\ by were the duninoes the samJ lf hers. had been a pale blue, she would, she imagined, have thought it even love- licr, \ellow was a ('0101‘ she would s ‘arcely have chosen; but, this, her way, would have been her folly, as she notâ€" iced liow extremely common on all sides were the pinks and blues and carmines, and that there was literally no yellow save hers and Donna's. 'l he room was growing insufferably warm, and there was a movement made toward the open windows behind her. lhls blO'ked her view of her double at the other end of the room, or, rather. stantling'just inside an anterooni; and Constantia, roused from her reverie, fol- lowed the multitude out-ofâ€"doors into the still, warm night. She stepped on to the balcony, and, inovmg down the steps that led to the broad stone terrace below, went over to the parapet, and, leaning her arms upon it, gazed dreamin into the swiftly flowâ€" ing river down beneathâ€"a small river, an angry, babbling, scolding, noisy lit- tle river, the music of which caught and held her, and entered into the strangeness of the sense. She had at- most forgotten all but it, when she was roused by a. footstep drawing near her. She looked up quickly. and saw that, whoever the new-comer was, he was apâ€" proaching her with all the air of one who had no doubt about whom he was going to address. It was a: tall figure, looking taller than it really was in tile jet-black dom- ino that enshrouded it. But this Con- stantia. did not pause to C(11):l(l(’r. Her heart throbl ed quickly. it seemed to her that this must be lr‘eathersion. Had he scen~followedâ€"recognized her? Ah, if that, should le! So would a true lover see. through all disgu‘esl The stranger bent over her hand. as sh? turned suddenly and gazed searching- Iy upon him. The moon jlis: then had ,gone behind a cloud, so that only the fact that he was of goodly statureâ€"tall as that one whom she most favoredâ€" \\as known to her. "'».\'ill you. of your apart from the espieglerie of it, a much (:isier thing, in her present confusion. to speak to l’ezithsrston in a fashion thus subdued, than to give her voice to his criticism. She felt. too, an almost childish desire to baffle luin for a mom- em or two, to (tally with the happiness that had now stLrelV come to her. "Sir!" she whispered, drawing back a little, and pretending ignorance. "ii is too late for folly of that sort,” ~riil ll“, with illâ€"suppressed vehement-c. “You know me. .is ‘weil as I know you. And though for an hour you have skill- fully :ivuided me, yet: now l have found you. i will be heard." ’l‘li'vrz- was something in his manner grace, deigii to _ , . , . that killed the girlish gayety in her. grant me one word l” entrusted the unâ€" known in a whisper_ she had man She placed one hand upon the stone waiting impatiently for the Voiz-o, in” parapet of thederrace, and turned lll’li- iiow she felt herself foiled. Still she “HY t"“"‘r‘l hlm- Perhaps, however' unconsciously to herself, she was a little often led by his vehemence, because inâ€" .stiiit'lively her tall young figure tool: a rather majestic pose. “You sought to hide yourself from incâ€"ii) deceive me." he went on. in a sort of angry agitation; “but I watch- ed, and waited, and nowâ€"is iny rc- ward !” I'ler hand was still lying upon the wall. and as he finished speaking. he t'Lillghi, it, and pressed it to his lips with 41 fervor born of passion. Constantia, though a little troubled by this new, manner of his was yet glad that the h'ind was so well casedâ€"and the gloves, ior once in her life, were long, and sug- gestive of, the world of fashionâ€"were perfect as Donna’s. ownâ€"nay, as she remembered quickly, they were the exact counterpart, of Donna’s. She did not withdraw her hand from his embrace, and a little tremor ran through her. Never before had he been like thisâ€"never before had he been so pronounced in his wooing. It was a thrill of hope and joy mingled, that rushed through her, but: with it, ' and almost overpowered by it', was a curious sense of resentment. She could not explain it to herself, and it dead- ened her joy, but she knew that she Shrunk, not so much from him, as from this unknown vehemence; and Ireseiit- 1]» she took her hand out of his grasp. >lO\\'l)', and very gently. “1 did not deceive. I (lid not know," she whispered; emotion. rather than settled purpose, now making her voice sink to this low level. “Is that the. truth demanded he, fiercely. "For all this time that I have searched vainly for youâ€"can you tell me honestly that the avoidance was not of your making? I mistrust you as keenly as I love you. That other woman in yellow i did you put her pur- posely in my path to mislead and dis- tract me? Time wasted, if so, for I am not one to be thwarted when once my ' feet are set upon a path." His voice sunk a little, and grew soft and tender; the fire, the anger. died from it. “Though you have llouted, Scorned me." he said, “yet now that I am with you I forgive you all. Constantia could not speak. “'as it all real? \Vhat tender humility! Who would have believed he could have so abashed himself, even at the shrine of allâ€"governing love? She was bewilderâ€" ed ; she trembled. \Vas this quite what she hoped" for, even in her wildest dreams! She felt she ought to speak, yet some instinct held her dumb. (To Be Continued.) _â€"+_ All EFFECTIVE LESSON. How a Baby flared liu- Drinking Habit in His Father. It has remained for a woman in St. Louis to devise a simple and effective scheme for getting her husband out of a barroam in which he had been spend- ing too much of his time and all his money. She not only induced him to go home, but to wish that he had nev- er been in a saloon. The woman who did it was )Irs. Fritz Leught, who is not only young, but very pretty. She: and Leught have bec’n married a little over a year, and have one child, a pretty, curly-haired babe. For soine reason, which Leught says now he can't explain, he got into the habit o frequenting one of the bar- rooms in St. Louis. He got so enamored of it he. failed to go home when through with his work in the evening, preferâ€" ring to pass all his leisure time in the barroom. His wife pleaded with him to keep out: of it. but without avail. He went from Lad to worse and soon lost his position; BIatters got so bad that when she. wanted to see her husband )Irs. Leught was obliged to go to the saloon to do so. That made her des- perate, and she resolved to adopt heroic measures in an effort to bring her hus- band to his senses. So one day recently, when Leught was in a back room of the bar, a young and pretty woman, neatly dress-ed, and car- rying in tier arms, a bundle, walked loldly into the. saloon. She looked about her calmly, as if in search of some one. Then she walked up to the bar, deposited the bundle thereon and started to leave the place. The bar- room was full of men at the time. \Vhen tould feel that. 1here was in the tone, spite of the, mockery. a sulsli‘atuin of' deepest feeling. If he could feel like that l Happiness is a tordial. Herc-our- ,age rose. “Onei” she answered. playfully. if a little nervously. "That would to but. an ungenerous gift. Surely anâ€"an old friend might. demand more than that .7" ' “1 give all. I demand nothing," re- turned he, still in the low whisper. It. Occurred to Constantia now that there was an extreme. sadness in it. As she Wondered at this, he spoke again. "Hope is denied me,” he said. "li‘aint heart," suggested she, gayly still. And then, the. meaning he might. place upon her words came home to her, she blushed a warm crimson. “True,” said he. “Yet stout heart, be it never so valiant, win l" He spoke doubtfully; there was even a suspicion of despair in his tone. It was a tone so new to him. that. a soft, low." laugh broke involuntarily from Con- stantia. It seemed so strange to her that he. should need encouragement, that he should fear his fate with her! “ls that beyond question ." she asked, looking away from him, and trifling in an absent fashion with her fan. "ll the. hf‘fll‘l be really strong, i would be able to watch and wait forat‘er. And time, we are told, will melt the most. olidur- ate." lt pleased her thus to allude to herâ€" self as “the most obdura.te;" it delighted her, and made her glad in her soul that he should thus sueto her,th:.1t. he should lie thus ignorant of how she was already won; it gave great comfort. to her girl- iin sense of the dignity of woman. Her companion made no answer to her last speech that was but half breathed. He was, however, gazing at: her very keenly. This she felt rather than saw, her eyes being on the ground, and the. moon still obscured, and the knowledge, though strangely sweet. unnerved her. She stood slim and fair before him. with fingers closely lorked, and pretty head downbent'. “Time! you recrmmended me time!” he said at last. "You!" 'And now" the whisper was discarded and his voice rang out clearly on the air. "Do you 'know what that means to me? Hope!" \Vith the first sound of his voice, Con- stantia had started back aghast. "You, you!" she murmured affrightâ€" ledly, and nothing more. \V'ords would not come to her. The cloud had rolled :heavily away, and now the moon shone out again, lighting up the cold white- ness of the terrace, and specially, as it seemed to the stricken Constantia, that corner of it at which they stood. Srronge could see how her lips quivered. how her shamed and sorrowful eyes avoided his. He understood as perfectly as though she had given speech to the cruel certainty, that that gentle word of hope had not been meant for him. All through she had mistaken .him for His .heart contracted within him. Constantia by a violent effort collect~ ed herself, and compelled herself to speak calmly, and without emotion. “it is indeed a surprise to see you here masquerading,” she said, "When I believed you still in Shropshire. To make an affair of this kind altogether successful, half the people asked should [think the other half at the other side of the world. _\Vhen did you return ’6" "Too soon l" he said,.in a low tone. [gull of despair. He turned and left er. Constantia’s eyes filled with tears. She made no effort to recall him. teal- ing it was better he should go. The ‘mistake made had been a. thorough- ly unfortunate oneâ€"bitter to her as to himâ€"but she had not been in fault. It was some faint consolation to know that he. would have to ack- nowledge that to himself. She was fullof fear least he had understood for Whom her words were meant. Her brow grew crimson ‘as she tried to re- call everything she had said, and won- dered with a sickening sense of shame if she had betrayed herself. He knew nothing; it was iin iossible he could have understood. Surely he thought. only that she was answering him idly, williâ€" out meaning, not knowing who he was, and not dreaming of another. She had withdrawn into a secluded nook, where. a stone seal. had been scoop- ed out of the wall. She knelt ontliis. and once again gazed down into the rushing stream below her. The rain had fallen heavily last night, and now the tiny thing had swollen beyond its own knowledge, and sung with foolish triumph as it liasted ever onward to may not always its end. In all her later years Conslan- the “'Oman entfifi‘ed they became (lUlet tia never forgot it, or its wiid music, and ‘hen BSYOIJlShEd. as 5119 131d “19 Or the mad sparkling of the chilly bundle on the' bar Very gently. AS Illoonbeams on its breast. S 3 could She Started {0 leave the Place one Of the waiters stepped forward and stop- ped her. At the same time there was a. movement in the bundle, and‘a baby's head peeped out of the folds of cloth. The baby looked about at the garish furniture, with wide, staring eyes and began to cry. The effect was electri- cal. All the. men crowded up and tried to quiet the child, which refus- ed to be quieted. Even the bartendâ€" ers joined in the effort to amuse the youngster. “The baby wanted to see his father." )Irs. Leught explained to the crowd, “so I brought him to the only placu where his father can be found. HI‘ can take care of the. boy now, because l've got to work to make a living for myself and the child.” That Settled it with the crowd. Leught was hauled out of the back room, and almost before he knew what had happened was walking down ill” street beside his wife, with the child in his arms. He got his former position back a see it at any moment if she closed her eyes, as well as the great river, its goal. lying far, far awayâ€"~against the heriâ€" zon, as it wereâ€"placid, motionless. “So calm, the waters scarcely seem to «stay ; And yet they glide, like happiness, away." \Vas her happiness going? A sad sense of disappointment filled her heart. She had so surely believed that it was he, that the awakening had crushed her spirit. Would a time ever come when, face to face with her, he would declare his love andâ€" Slie. started convulsively. Again a footstep hurrying toward her, caught her ear; again a. disguised figure met her view. But now, now there was no room for doubt. She would know that step amongst a thousand. Fool! to have been before uninindful of it. Her face paled, and she rose tremulously to her feet. His voice reached her. "At last l” he cried, softlyâ€"carefully, as it seemed to herâ€"but with undeni- able and very passionate eagerness. few days later, and hasn't been in the -â€"â€"â€" saloon since. ‘ CHAPTER XXIII. VEATLY TURV All suddenly, in the mitbt of her w, ‘ f , ‘ED' ' gladness, a very innocent but over- "Sister Alice. is‘engaged," said the powering coquetry took possession of terror of the family as. he opened the Constantia. Stroiige had spoken to her door to De Blanque's ring. in a whisper, and the ruse had been successful. She, too, would disguise her voice; it seemed to her, indeed, I “So am I," retorted De Blanque eas- 11y; just called to exchange congrat- ulations.” i Filth iii llllLES LUNG. BUILT TO KEEP THE RABBIT OUT OF QUEENSLAND. How the \‘v'iflr mi .‘l Arhlrrtiiiiiu Aw- Tryili: to Deal (lie restâ€"full {Lulu-is lo Elvin-- to Them Appeal- to he Isl-lessâ€" hit casing: [Elsa-:- Than Tin-y .‘l'l‘ Dc- strayed. The ‘t‘fales Government, it may be rchnbercd offered a reward of £25,000 to any person or persons who could suggest. an efficient; method of getting fit of the rnblix; but, although the literal reward led to the receipt of no fewer than 2,000 schemes from all parts of the world. none of them was regarded as satisfactory, and the offer- was withdrawn. The domestic cat. was introduced, and in certain limited areas did much service. Poisons were largely resorted to, and ferrets, stoats, and weasels have been imported in thousands into some of the colonies, and have increased fast. But hitherto the rabbits, osving to the rate at which they multiply, have managed not only to hold their own, but to constantly spread over new ground, carrying deâ€" struction with them wherever they go. In South Australia, for instance. the direct loss from the rabbits has been put down at £250,000 per annum, and the indirect loss at a similar amount. In Victoria the active operations for the destruction of rabbits on Crown lands have been carried on by the Government since 1880, and from that: date to the middle of 1894 a. total of nearly £300,000 had been spent by the State on that object. As for the money spent by private individuals for the same purpose, that is almost in- calculable, but it may be mentioiied that on one estate alone upward of £15,000 has been expended by the. owner with the view of clearing his land of the pest. In the seventeen years ending with 1893 nearly - 68,000,000 RABBIT SKINS valued at £402,000 were exported from Victoria without counting the large quantities used by hat'manufacturers in the colony, one establishment alone using 374,000 every year; yet. notwith- standing all this slaughter, the present infested area throughout the colony is estimated by the chief inspector at no less than 37,750,000 acres. Adding to the direct expenditure the depreciation of the grazing value of the land, the losses to the colonies concerned amount to millions of pounds sterling. The final outcome of Royal com- missions, of Intercolonial conferences, and of the testing of every practical method of extermination, is that the most effectual method of dealing with the evil is found to be the construction of rabbit-proof netting, by means of which the animals can be kept from acres not yet infested, can be shut off from food supplies, and can be more effectually dealt with locally. The length of some of these fences is enormous. There is one starting at Barringun, on the Queensland border, and following the Main Trunk line from Bourke to Corowaâ€"a distance of 40] miles; and there is another along the entire western boundary of New South Walesâ€"a distance of 346 miles. The Queensland~ Government, too, has erected a. similar fence along a con- siderable portion of the northern boundary of New South \Vales, but the Surveyor-General of Queensland,in the report already referred to, says that “the. rabbits must have come through the fence in MOBS AND DROVES of innumerable multitudes at some time,” and thus have established them- selves in Queensland as well. ‘ . This. of course, is the weak pomt in regard to fences, which are liable to break down in places, more especially in times of flood, and where they cross over creeks, while the keeping of con- stant supervision over the, fences. so that immediate repairs can be. done when openings appear. is quite imprac- ticable where the distances are so great. In many instances countless thousands of rabbits have been seen on on? side of a fence dead or dying of starvation; after eating all the available food sup- plies, and leaping up at the fence in their attempts to surmount it. One can imagine how they would rush through in the event of any opening appearing, and how a single break in the fence might be the doom of at country not: previously infested. I There have been many prOJects for the commercial utilization of the ani- mals by sending them over here in or- der to contribute both to our food sup- plies and‘ to the cost of their own deg struction, but hitherto the enterprise has not been very profitable, while some of the most competent authori- ties in the colonies think that if it should be followed up the result may be to conserve the rabbits instead of getting rid of them. On the other hand. too, the shipping of some hun- dreds of thousands, or even amillion or two of rabbits to Great Britain every year would not be likely to make any appreciable differences in the numbers left behind to constitute what is feared must; be regarded as a post now altos gether incradicable. Ne w Soul li THE QUEEN‘S STATURE. Queen Victoria is very short, a good deal tinier than most; of her loyal subâ€" jects think. But, woman-like, she makes the most of her inches. She drives out seated upon a very cunningly ar- ranged seat of cushions, which causes her to look almost as tall as her com- panions; but see her at a concert in the first row of the royal box at the Albert; Hall, where such a contrivance has not been made, and the difference is at once perceptible. Until she found standing too tiring, Her Majesty went through her state drawing rooms stand- ing on a. footstool; but no one knew she was thus raised, for her drawmg~ room dresses were invariably made sev- eral inches too long, which hid the foot. stool from view. 1 i .