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ll" ! we made the acquaintance of the! pretty, golden-haired little widow durâ€" ing our sojourn at a German healtl resort. My wife‘ and I are not as a rule given to picking up chance a6- qnuaintances during our travels, but Fanny had been, very much fascinated by the sweetâ€"looking little woman;and when, in course of a. casual conversa- tionâ€"begun during a day of pitiles: rain, which confined us, all three, to the hotelâ€"I discovered that Mrs. St Clair had been very intimate with my dear old friends, the St. Ledgers, of Blankshire, our acquaintance with the pretty widow rapidly ripened. any and I have been married many years now, and get on well enâ€" ough together; but if sweet Helen St. Ledger had lived, instead of joining the angels some fifteen years ago â€"â€" well, a different Ladyr Sefton might have reigned at the Grange. I can never forget “what might have been;" and, though Mrs.‘ St. Clair's acquaint- ance with the: St. hedgers dated long after poor Helen’s death. it was still interesting to me to chat with her about my old friendsâ€"of whom I had seen very Little since they had practir callyvtaken up their residence in Italy. It was at' Florence that Mrs. St. Clair had known them: "stayed with them for months at a time," she said; and. indeed, she must have been on very intimate terms with the family, to have noted so many. of “dear old Sir George's” quaint crotchets and fancies â€"little peculiarities to which she play- Eully Mluded, and. at which I smiled. with the sly amusement which one feels for the foibles of one's best friends. . I To make short a long story, before we left Fanny had invited Mrs. St Clair to Dam us a visit at theGrange. and the little widow joined us there a few weeks after our return home. A most accomplished and delightful guest she proved. She had "been alone nearâ€" ly two years now," as she phrased it. and had laid aside all the heavy trapâ€" pings of woe. only retaining those deliâ€" cate mixtures of black and white, and gray, which were particularly becom- ing to her roseâ€"leaf complexion and golden hair. We had learned that her late hus- bandâ€"a bankerâ€"had been considerably her senior, and, to judge from appear- inces, had left her very comfortably off as regards worldly goods; her beâ€" reavement was confessediy no crushâ€" ing sorrow, "and I like her all the better for not being a hypocrite in the matter, and pretending to be heart- broken, for the loss of an elderly man, when, from what she has told rueâ€"the. poor child was an orphan and left to the grudging care of relativesâ€" she was really forced: into marrying him While but” a girl just out of the school room," remarked my wife. In addition to her undeniably good looks, Mrs. St. Clair was possessed of a number of small accomplishments, which made her a valuable addition to a country house-party. She was musiâ€" cal, an admirable tennis and billiard player, could make a creditable fig- ure at the whist table, and was always charmingly dressed, in excellent spir- its, of society smallâ€"talk; bright and lively, with just that little'suspicion )I malice which. gives zest to such gos- at we could not invite our fascinating guest to remain with us for the great annual excitement of our heightorhood â€"our county ball; but every room in our house had been bespoken for this event long before we met Mrs. St. Clair. Fanny kissed the little widow affectionately when they parted; and as we ourselves were shortly 'coming to London for the winter, and Mrs. St. Clair had taken a flat in town, weex- ted to see much of each other while in the metropolis. "And remember that I shall count upon you to assist me in arranging my tableaux,” dear Mrs. St. Clair,"said my wife, who was intending to organâ€" ize a series of “living pictures,”shortâ€" ly after our arrival in London, in aid of some charity of wlich she was one of the patronesses. "I will design some effective group in which youi shall figure as a queen wearing your magnificent tiara of dia- monds" laughed Mrs. St. Clair, as she waved her last adieu from the carriage window. - “Magnificent!” was certainly hardly an exaggerated epithet to apply to the beautiful ornament, in. which were set. some jewels which had descended to me from an ancestor who had been in India in the days when "shaking the pagodaâ€"tree,“ was inl vogue. The die- monds which now flashed amid my wife’s dark braids had once been the property of an Indian Beg ern potentates have a jewelry. "I should like to see you wearing those lovely diamonds, dear Lady Sefâ€" ton," our guest had cried, when on a wot afternoon Fanny. had held one of those private exhibitions of personal possessions to which; women appear to be so fond of inviting their feminine friends. Men, by the way, never do the like. I should never dream of asking my dearest male associate pretty taste for and full of a. pleasant ripple p. It was, indeed, most unfortunate that um, and East; to turn over my stock of stud: and coats, but women will syend hours in the seclusion of one another‘s 'xedrooms scrutinizing frocks “ an! jewels. "I should feel quite anxious if Ikept such valuables in my room," added Mrs. St. Clair, as Fanny, after the show we over, had locked up tlte precious casket in one of the drawers of her wardrobeâ€" “a very unsafe place for such treaâ€" <ures," as our guest warnineg exâ€" "laimed. But we knew the honesty of all our servantsâ€"old; family retainers most of themâ€"4 and also, though the Blankshire folks always admired the Lustre of the jewels which I had fetchâ€" ed from their usual resting place at our London banker’s in order that Fanny might, as usual. wear the tiara at our local ball, probably not one of our rustic neighbors or domestics, guessed at the real value of those dia- monds. Mrs. St. Clair, however, "who adored jewels," as she frankly adâ€" mitted, wnsa better critic, and ap- praised the true value of the stones at a glance. Our guest had left us and we went to the ball without her, Fanny resplenâ€" dent in her diamonds. But a most an- noying accident happened; just as we were leaving the tell-room, passing down one of the corridors, Fannyâ€"who is of somewhat impasing height â€"â€" caught her tiara in one of the gar- lands hanging a! ova, the ornament fell from her hair to the ground, and her escortâ€"a rather clumsy country squire â€"in hastily steeping to pick it up, trod upon it, crushing one of the corners, and forcing out one of the stones, nap- pilyâ€"for we never found the missing gemâ€"merely a tiny brilliant of com- paratively trifling value. Several of these little stones had been added to the original gems when I had had the diamonds reset in. their present form as a bridal gift to my wife. The luckiess perpetrator of the in- jury was so utterly dismayed and disâ€" consolate at the accident that I was glad that I could, with a clear con- science, assure Lim that the damage could be repaired at no very alarmâ€" ing expense; and, having occasion to nun up to town next day upon some business, I took with me the injured tiara with the intention of having it repaired by my London jeweler "I am anxious that you should care- fully match the color and style of the larger stones in replacing this small missing brilliant," I remarked to the ci.il shopman, who was examining the ornament. "0h, there’ll be no difficulty about that, Sir John," replied the man read- ily, “for it so happens that we have still several of those! same stones left 0V er from those we pro.:ured for her lady- ship a. week or so ago, when we took out the diamonds from the tiara, and set them in! the buckles, you ki ow " d‘"fook out the diamonds!" I exclaimâ€" e "Yesâ€"these present stones are merc- 1y French imitations, you see, sir. I hope I am not betraying her ladyâ€" sl;ip".i little secret too soon. She in- formed me that it was to be a birth- day surprise for yourself; but a week ago we received a few lines from Lady Sefton requesting us, to have ready some patterns of old-fashioned sloo- buckles for her to see, and stating that she would call upon us to in- spect them and) to give directions reâ€" gatrding some jewels she wished reâ€" se . . I must beret mention that I am an old customer of Mesrs. Carluncles‘ ; they know my‘ country address, and I have often Lougnt jewelry at their esta. .ishment for my wife, but Fanny herself had never visited the shop. ‘ Her ladyship looked in, according to appointment, om Mondayâ€" yes, it was last Monday week," went on the assistant, who knew. me well, " and brought this tiaraâ€"‘which we had the honor of arranging for you some years ago, I well rememberâ€"and she stated that .she wished to surprise you with a pair of handsome shoe-buckles to wear with your fancy dress at her forthcoming tableaux"â€"â€"â€"Fanny’s char- itable scheme had already been adver- tised in the papersv-“and wished know if we could take the stones out of the tiara and arrange them in these buckles, replacing the diamonds in the ham with first-class paste imitations, ‘for I scarcely ever wear the tiara, and I should like, on this Special occasion, to see my husband using his own famâ€" ily jewels,’ her ladyship remarked. Of course we could easily make this alter- ation. I did venture to point out to her ladyship that the paste imitations would do better, for the buckles, but she only said, ‘No, no, Sir John has given me so many pretty birthday gifts from your $1101) and now I am resolved to give him a surprise in turn,’ and of course it wasn‘t for us to argue further with a. customer," added the man, a. little apprehensive- ly, glancing at me. If my countenance only half what I felt! I controlled myself, however, for if what [ suspected was the case, itwould in no wise mend matters to take the jeweler’s assistant into my confi- dence. "Did Lady Sefton cull herself expressed to fetch away the buckles?” I asked. "Oh, yes, sir; she came again, by appointment, on the Saturday after, and tool; l 0th the buckles and the tiara away, paying the bill at the same time, for it was all to be kept from you. And you won‘t let it out to her ladyship that l’ve told you her little secret, will you, sirâ€"only, whent you asked about the stones, you seeâ€"-â€"” "Of course itl was Lady Sefton who called?" I said with affected careless- ness. "Oh, yes, a. little lady with blue eyes and golden hair,” replied the shop~ man confidently, "and the letter we had was written on your own notera- per, sir, it‘s all right, isn’t i i" with a sudden tone of anxiety ‘in his veice. “Oh, yes," I replied, as coolly as 1 could, “butâ€"in the circumstances, I think I will just consult my wife be- fore I have the tiara meddled with." And, somehow, I got out of the shOp and into a hansom, and, after telling to! the man to drive to my club, began to deliberate what I had better do. I understood it all now; and, oh. what an egregious fool I had teen! l‘hat little minx of a Mrs. St. Clair l To think that Fanny and I, sensible folks as we had always considered ourselves mould have been: so readily fooled by to adventuressl And yet she had seemed such a. ladyâ€"and then her un» loubted intimacy with the St. lodgers! But there was no doubt that this lady, our late guest, had stolen my wife"s diamonds. I saw it all now. I well no membered that on! both the dates men- tionled by the jeweller Mrs. St. Clair had gone to London on the pretext of vi its to her denii‘t; and had been duly petted and commiserated by Fanny upâ€" on her return. To a lady of Mrs. St. Ciair's varied accomplishments, it had, doubtless, been easy enough to abstract the diamonds from my wife's wardrobe by means of a false keyâ€"no doubt the woman travelled with an assortment of such thlieves' equipmentsâ€"and to afterâ€" wards replace the ornament, which she was aware would not be required or sought for lefore the day of the ball. Indeed. but for the accidental injury to the tiara. the substitution of the mock for the real stones might have remained undetected until Fanny or I had died, and the "valuation for proâ€" bate duty" revealed the fact to our disgusted heirs and executors. We should never have suspected the trick that had been played. Messrs. Carbuncles' name and address were upon the case which held the tiara; Mrs. St. Clair had heard me men- tion the firm as old tradespeople of mine; and the whole story of the “sur- prise” of the shoebuckles was a very ingenious device for putting the jewel- lers off their guard. To have simply re- quested that false stones should be subâ€" stituted for the real might have excit- ed some suspicion. Well, I had been "surprised" with a vengeance. and the quest'on,norw was how to recover my property. By the time I had reached my club I had settled my plans. I knew Mrs. St. Clair's London address, a flat in Victoria Street, and bade my cabman driveme thmre. Yes. the Lady was at home, and came forward with outstret- ched hands and a pretty cry of min- gled surprise and pleasure to greet me as I entered. ,That surprise, became very genuine after a minute or two, but the pleasureâ€"- Well. I will not recall one of themost painful scenes of my life. At first the lady attempted to brazen the matter out with a high band; but when Ispoke of the jeweller's description of "Lady Sefton," as "small ,golden-haired and blue~eyed”â€"-Fa.nny stands five foot eight, and is as dark as a gipsyâ€"well, then my hostess fairly gave in, and there was a huddled, tumbled heap of silk skirts and dishevelled golden lorks â€"â€"her hair really was all her ownâ€"at my feet; and such a piteous sobbing and wailing, Well, I had come to the flat furiously indignant, but a man cannot behave like an actual brute to a wom- an. and to such a pretty one, even if she has robbed him~of some thousands of pounds' worth of jewelry. “You shall have back your diamonds againâ€"now, at once," walled the culprit; “and. oh, if you know all, it was my hustand. I only acted under his directions. 0h be merciful and pity me_.. "I thought you were a widow," I cried in amazement. "Heâ€"Jamesâ€"made me say that I was; he sad it would make it easierâ€"1‘ “To get yourself into people's houses under false pretences," I said rather cruelly. . “Oh, you don't know," sobbed the ladyâ€"and how pretty she looked even howlâ€"“you would pity me a. littleâ€" kund, good man as you areâ€"if you only knew all. I was a friendless orphan, governess in a iamily"â€"-"the St. Ledg- ers’, of wurse," I mentally ejaculatedâ€" “and I fell into the power of a bad man. and when, afterwards he married me, he made meâ€"" “Assst him in his thefts, apparent- ly," I said trying to harden my heart. "Now, see here, Mrs. St. Clair, if I conâ€" sent to keep this matter quiet, it is only upon two conditions: First, that you give me back my wife's jewels; then that you swear to leave England With your husband before another week is over." - The lady readily agreed to the first. condition, assuring me that she had the jewels in the house, but hesitated a. lit- tle about the last. The latter condi- tion. however, I was extremely resolute L11 insisting upon. The woman had been seen at our house, and it would never do to allow her to trade upon this cir- circumstance, and, perhaps gain admit- tance to other respectable abodes in consequence; I did not want to expose my friends to the same experience I had undergone. However, under pressure, Mrs. St. Clair gave the required promiseâ€"which I assured her I should take measures to discover was keptâ€"and I left the flat, bearing with me the buckles into which my diamonds were now set. .I may remark, that, from certain cau- tious inquiries which I set on foot latâ€" er on, after i had aswrtained that Mrs. St. Clair and her husband had sailed for New York, I convinced myself that the respectable elderly banker-husband deceased was a pure myth, that the lady had been for some years the wife of a very expert "jewel thief,“ about her own age; and that the pair had successfully "worked" more than one famous "jewel robbery." How far the woman had been the victim of the man I never ascertained, but I fancy â€"when we were honored by Mrs. St. Clair's acquaintanceâ€"that the husband and wife were pretty much upon a par as regards honesty and respectability. I carried my rescued diamonds to Messrs. Carbuncles’ and informed them that “Lady Sefton" had changed her mind regarding the arrangement of the stones; the tiara was duly return- edâ€"with the real stones in it this time -â€"to its rightful owner. and, when my wife’s famous tableaux came off, I apâ€" peared resplendent in a pair of gorge- ous shoe-buckles, “but only made of paste," as I explained, when Fanny exâ€" olaianed at my “extravagance.” I kept the adventure to myself. It was a half-implied condition of the compromise that I should do so; and al- so, ilf Fanny had heard What a fool I had been, though she was asmuch gull- ed herself lâ€"â€"I am rather a believer in the maxim, "Silence is golden." “Now, misfortunes never come alone," exclaimed my wife as she opened her letters the day after my jou‘ rney to town; "you know, John, how I have been absolutely wearing myself out about these tableaux. Here is a let- ter from Alice Gordom. who was to have been the Sleeping Beauty, to say that her brother-inâ€"law is dead, and that she and her mother are off at once to her sister, in Paris; and then, Mrs. St. Clair-just read her letter." It only contained a few brief lines, expressing the enditer’s deep regret that "some odious but important busi- laess"â€""connected with her late husâ€" band's affairs of course," interjected Lady Seftonâ€"obliged Mrs. St. Clair to start immediately for New York, leav- ing so suddenly that she could not even run down to take leave of her dear kind friends at the Grange. There was a P. 8.: "Please make my adieux to Sir John. As a man of business he will under- stand hlow impossible it is for me to put off my journey even to jo‘n in your sweet tableaux. as I had hoped to do. But. Sir John can quite underâ€" stand the matter.” Yes. Sir John thought he could! I often wonder if the little woman has "turned over a new leaf" in a new country: anyway, I have never neon or heard of her again. ___._â€".â€"-â€"â€"-‘ THE SUN WAS LATE. Fallcd To Set on time, According to a Millalrr'n Wan-E. They were telling stories about watches, and the man who always waits until last had just concluded a won- derful story of how a watch of the same make as the one he carried had disclosed an error in the fall of the time ball at Grmnwichl. England, sup- to be the most accurate time re; oorder in the worldâ€"when a minister 'spoke up. "That is not so had, but they tell a story equally good on Dr.â€"â€"," naming a wellâ€"known divine. "\Vhat’s the story?" he was asked. "Why, you see, Dr.-â€"â€"â€" owns a very accurate watch. of whirh he is quite proud. It happened one winter evening that he was look-â€" ing over an almanac, as the sun was about to set. According to the alma- nac the sun was due to set in a very few minutes, although it was still l‘mnewhere above the horizon. Pulling out his watch, the doctor, exclaimed ‘You had Letter hurry up, old sun, or you won't get down on time.’ Since the almanac and the watch could not be wrong, it follows that the sun was behind hand." The minister's story was voted this prize, and no more wat<~h stories were told that evening. ____â€"6.â€"â€"â€"â€" FORTUNES BY SEA LOVERS. "Tea leaves are not certain at all times as fortune tellers," remarks a well-known lady, "though I have known a verification from them in many cases, and even in more in- stances than from the numerous oth- er signs which prevail with women folk. There should be. no preparation or ar- rangement, and the leaves should Le allowed to arrange themselves in the bottom or sides of the cup after the tea. is drank. If they take the form of wavy or long» lines, vexations and loss are liable to occur, the more numerous and distinct the lines, the greater the vexations and losses. 0n the other hand, straight lines tell of peace and long life. Should the leaves take the form of human figures, or approach- ing them in appearance, it should be regarded as a good omen to those con- cerned. To the. unmarried, they indi- cate marriage, and if there are any circular forms‘ near the figures they mean that wealth will come in connec-' tion with the marriage. Anything akin to a trefoil or clover is a special- ly good sign, and if it is near the t0p of the cup it means speedy marriage. An anchor denotes success in any busâ€" iness venture, while a. serpent or any form like it is the sign of an enemy. A dog-like form; if at the top is apret- ty safe sign of having true friends, though if they are further down they should becarefully watched. A tree- like form means to a sick person re- storation to health, and if clearly de- fined speedy and permanent health. Several trees separated widely mean that all wishes will come, and if there are dots about! them, riches will come. All bird-like forms are indicative of good fortune and good friends, while a fish is pretty certain to mean news from across the water. The figure of a man means a Speedy visitor and if his arm is outstretched, a present. A Crown is likewise a good sign, as are flower forms, the latter denoting hap- pinws The sun. moon, and stars have a similar meaning. These, of course, are the mere outlines. The experi- ments afford amusement and are inâ€" teresting, for it is wonderful what peculiar forms tea leaves will occasion- ally take." __...__. TOBACCO SMOKING COMPARISONS. Holland holds the first place in! the world as a nation of smokers. Every Dutchman consumes on an average one hundred ounces a year. The Belgian comes a. good second, with an. annual consumption of eighty ounces, fol- lowed closely by 'l‘urkey with seventy ounces, and the United States with sixty ounces, Germany, France, Spain and Italy, tread closely on their. heels, while the United Kingdom comes com- paratively low on the list, with( twen- ty-threc ounces. ‘with the dread alternative, ' OLD ENGLISH GRAVES. .__ “range t‘uslnms anll Rite! in Britain In the Olden Time - Moiliodl e: Inter- nienl. From AD. 934 to 1014. strange modes of burial were in vogue in th‘re South of England. ’llhere existed a distinct form of interment for cash. sex. In the case of a man who died before attaining the age of fifty his bodywna ~iubje-t to a. curious examination im- mediame after death: Every portion V of it was vigorously rubbed over with! a. solution of water and the juices of various plants, herbs and berries, which it was necessary should be picked with- in aradius of smile of the deceased! abdde. As soon as this was completed a newlycutt branch [mm the nearest tree was brought in and improvised as a sort of brush. to sweep the body with, the idea being that by this mean: all earthly particles were removed from the corpse. This sweeping completed the nearest relative made a minulte examination of every inch of the body, with the ob- ject of discovering whether any blemâ€" ishes or some existed. In the event of any being found. prompt means were taken to remove them. Exactly at noon on the third day after death the funeral took place, the body wrapped in various cloths and grasses, and en- closed in apeculiarly constructed box, being carried to the grave on the back: of ahnrse or other animal. Immediâ€" ately the grave was reached the coffin; was depoe'ted therein with as much haste as possible and aretreat beaten by all who had accompanied the corâ€" tege, except the nearest relatives who were left behind to fill in the earth. When a woman died the body we. oqnsigned to the earth just one hun- dred hours afterwards. Aweird form of service was performed at the open grave. If she was a married womanl. and died leaving ahusband and chil- dren behind, these were assembled round the grave, and, each provided with a large posy of newlyâ€"gathered! flowers. which they gestioullated with in a manner illustrative of the char- acter of the deceased when alive, If she had any physical deformities or de- fects they wene shown in the dumb acting of her relatives, who, after end gaging in lthis sort. of thing for an hour, began to exhibit the most poign- ant signs of grief, ending in wild La.- mentations and wailings. ______+_â€"â€"â€"a- VICTORIA'S CROWN. “ravch and float Uncomfortable Dlndcm In Europe. 'Ilhe crown used at the coronation of Queen Victoria in 1838, which is said to be the heaviest and most uln- fortable diadem in Europe, contains 1,273 rose diamonds. 1,363 brilliants, 273 round pearls, 4 large pendantshaped pearls, 1 immense ruby, 4 small rubies llarge sapphire. ‘16 small sapphires and 11 emeralds. The large ruby issetin the center of a diamond Maitese cross at the front of the crown. This stone was given to Edward I. by Dom Pedro the Cruel, and was worn by Henry V. at the battle of Aginoougrt, when it wag. set in his steel casqule. _ It is peculiarly cut and its center is hollowed out to form a setting fora smaller ruby. Many of this stones were taken from old crowns. now u'n‘ used. and others were furnished by the queen herself. They are pa ed in set- tings of both. gold and silver, and in- case a crimson velvet cap with. an or“ mine border. Four imperial arches; pring from the four sides II" and support the mount, which is composed of 438 diamondsand the whole is surmountâ€" ed by a. demand cries _whose center is a. single I085 out sapphire. Pr ~THE BOER‘S DAUGHTER. The Beer's daughter must not be come a domestic servant, except or condition of having her meals with the family, says 9. Johannesburg corres- pondent of the London Telegraph. “If my child is not good enough for your table. she shall not live in your house," said a father. A poor woman. with~ drew her son! from an office because he was learning some duty which she deemed menial, and, “thank God,” said she, “my family never yet did any slavâ€" ery of that kind." A gentleman whom I know secumed employment on the railway for a young fellow as porter, 0n the very first request of a passenâ€" ger to lend a hand With luggage he re- plied, imliglnnntly: “What do you take me for? Do you think I am a Kaf- fir?” These poor folks can-not forget that they once had farms and were in- dependent. For two centuries they compelled the services of a lower race, and now they would rather starve than work “like a Kaffir." For . various reasons they have lost their lands, and it is a bitter cry that is being raised throughout South Africa that these lands are passing into the hands of strangers. and erstwhile landed gen- try of the country are face to face starve." â€"‘â€"â€"â€".â€"-â€"â€"'. ROMQA‘N CAREERS. The carters who haul into the city of Rome the sand used in making inor- tar work 19 hours a day. ’l’hey are al- ways exposed to dangers, the greatest of which are the landslides in the country and the fines of the guards in the city. ’lhcir five hours’ rest is taken in the stables with their mules as bedâ€"fellows. All this for about 35 cents a day.