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Lockctf l l All this time I had determined to. give her up in a few days, but alasl for the demon procrastination Day afâ€" ter day went by, and each day mur-l mured, " Toâ€"morrow,“ for the sight of. her sweet, smiling face, the face of Nellie's child, with Nellie's eyes, and Nellie's voice, and Nellie‘s name. was as clear to me as though she were inâ€" deed my own, and I could not bear, to part with her. i At last I gathered courage to do my , duty, and left the town where I had. been staying, to go to Briarton Withl the child. ‘ Before reaching read in a newspaper that Dr.~Tremcnt . and his bride had left for California. Instantly my heart hardened towardi him again, and my claim seemed parav‘ mount to that of the father With a step- mother, for bad I not snatched her from ‘ the grasp of death itself“: and before, Heaven and in her dead mother's mem-‘ ory, which now seemed linked to me ' they been content to live apart all their i late by this bond of common sympathy, I vowed to care for her as my own and! to love and shield her ever. 1 May God forgive my sinâ€"it has been 1 greatâ€"but if greater than my love,l, then may I ill hope for its forgiveness] l After a year or two 1 went South.i All the following years I spent en- tirely in the care and education of my, sacred charge, and to her hand will. I commit this confession, and her to her own rightful father when she he-‘ comes twenty-one if I be then alive.l To you, Nellie. the darling of my‘: heart, I bequeath this sad confession! Deeply I may have wronged you! through my selfish love, but thou hast i been all the world to me since first I taught thy baby lips to lisp ‘papa,’ and? God alone knows how many the dark, sad hours thy smile for me has bright- ened. Nellie Darril no longer when thou seest this, but Nellie Tremont, daugh-l ter of my dead love, mine and yet not mine, and Dr. Arthur Tremont, I pray both thee and God forgive me! Child of my love, and of my heart, though not of my blood, in God’s name I beg of you, forgive me! All I_ have I leave thee wiih my blessing." As Carl read on toward the end, a vague horror possessed him, and, trem- bling with a senw of chill, he still read on, his voice hollow and death-like, his heart numb and cold. Then, as he fin- ished, and the awful revelation was fully borne in upon her mind, Nellie's strength seemed to forsake her, and with a groan of pain her head sunk upon his breast, and she moaned brok- enly,â€"“0 God pity mel Pity us both! Carl, Carl, my love lâ€"my brother? Oh, it cannot be." How should he try to comfort her where no comfort was? Silently, as one stricken dumb with grief, he stood, and gently stroked the fair head, and pressed her to his hea‘rt in mute de- spair. At. length he spoke, and his voice was as that of an old man, heavy with pain, for his heart seemed to have died within his aching breast, "Nellie, my Sister; but, 0 God, at what a cost. Come child, sweetheart no longer, let us go thankful that it is not worse; thankful that the message came not a day later.” Pale and trembling she took his arm and. he led her from the garden, dead to all sense of everything but the gloom that had settled down upon her young life; realizing nothing save that Carl had gone from her; Carl was lost, and there was left nothing, Nothingâ€" dark, dumb. despairing blank space. She saw nothing beyond the black chasm that had just opened and en- gulfed her. as tearless and dazed she followed him as one who walks in his sleep. They crossed the lawn, passed through the gate, and down the street together, straight to his home. The doctor had not yet gone to his office when Carl and Nellie entered the house and both he and his wife were greatly' shocked at sight of the pained and pal- lid faces of the young couple as they ascended the steps, and entered the room without speaking. Carl crossed at once to his father, and handed him the paper, saying, “You. need not question anythingâ€" fatherâ€"read that, and you Will know all," and without another word he quietly led Nellie to the sofa, and sat down, cold and white and silent. "Read it aloud, please father," he said, "it is for mother also." He had always so called her. \thn the doctor finished reading he saw and realized all. "My poor child- ren," he murmured, as he arose and approached the sofa. But his wife was before him. \Vith one long, low cry of mingled joy and anguish she had sprung forward and clasped the young girl in her arms, while she sobbcd brok- enly, “My darling, My darling, my own, long lost, sweet child. Oh, God, be praised for this hour! Take licr Carl my dear boy, and hold her aching heart clOSe to thy own, and bid her [car not. All yet is well. God is kinder than any know, and a mother’s love Sh'lll triumph still.” Puzzled and bewildered the Doctor. stood silent, confounded by her strange words, and without speaking waited for her to explain. Quickly crossing to where he stood, while tears of love and joy glistencd in licr deep dark eyes, she sank on hv-r knees before him and clasping his cold hand in hers, so burning, said faintly, in :1 voice that thrilled with deepest emotion:â€" "Forgive me, 0, forgive me! O my husbzindl Through love for thee all these years llIlVl‘ I deceived thee. 'Twas all for thought of thee I (lltl it. Believe me, ‘twas not to wrong lbw. but to spare thee. Tell me you will forgive me, or my heart must break. Long have I been enured to pain, but my anger I could not bear. ’l‘hy angcr will kill me. Tell me. 0 my husband. tell me you forgive me l" Thcn he stooped and raised her gen- tly, and, pressing her head down on his shoulder, with a pale face he said tenderly,â€"â€"“Before you tell me even. I do forgive you. All these years have you been truest of true wives to me; .greal anticipation when together all you have is now my love and sym- pathy: speak, and, if need be, then you have my pardon." And thus she spoke: “Many years ago Laura Desmond Grant, a girl of modest birth and posiiion, the daugh- ter of an English rector, met a youth, as noble as he was rich and handsome, the son and scion of a noble family, younger brother to the heir of an csâ€" tatc and title. His father was an Eng- lishman of the English, austere, proud, rich and titled. At his death :11], save the entailed estate, was divided among his children, it being stipulated that should any marry :1 person other than this son or daughter of a gentleman of title, then that one's share should be forfeited to the others. Particularly unfortunate for his Son: Robert was the position of affairs, for there, however, I he and Laura Grant had long been in- l noble. limzitc. friends, and when this barrier rosc between them they grew fender. She begged him to thin to lose his all, for poverty and work are kindred to crime for an Eng- lishman of birth. He was deaf to her entreaty and his fidelity drew her clos- er. Thcn came their mistake. Had llVPS, separated by this barrier, perhaps th-y might have loved and been com- paratively happy as friends; but Rob~l ert would not hear of it, choosing rathw or to risk fate than to resign one claim on her he loved. Folks say that love is but a pastime with a man. but ’tiS a wonderful thing in a strong man's true. heart. Then they decided to go to America; be three months first to British Colum- bia and the Rocky Mountains to hunt; she with fair excuses to visit friends in New York. Then, all the broad miles of a vast continent melted into nothing. and he came to claim his own, and secretly they were married, that his income might not be suspended. How happy their home was for two years I need not say, but Oh, it scem~ ed as Heaven. Thcn came a time. of young couple talked of the. joy expect- ed. But, alas! at the noon hour the sun sank from the sky. Darkness for the young wife fell on all the earth, when her loving husband took the fever and died. of cnurso she was left homeless and ’ almost destitute, save for the little they had saved from his income as he, hid received it. She had no friends to go to who would believe her story, and foolishly She had lost all proof of it. In this condition she turned from their doors a home- less, branded outcast of misfortune, not of sin, God pity the agony of those days. Nothing else possible for her, Laura Sanford. despised, disgraced and forsaken by everything but misery, flew from the sight of those who thus disowned her. Fate guided her aimâ€" less steps to Brairton, where she. rent- ed a cottage, and lived as Laura Desâ€" mond mistrustcd and maligned by all. There she lived as best she could and nursed her little child who had come to brighten her life and share her love and poverty. And in time it happened that one noble, greetâ€"souled man came to her to care for them in his hour of need, and be mild her that be trusted her implicitly. Then the heavens seeinâ€" ed to clear once more; the sun shone again into her humble home. That night, as she knelt at her bedâ€" side, she promised before God that she would serve his interests, and care for his motherless children in spirit and in letter faithful to the promises she had given him, faithful to histrust in her, even with her very life if need be. She vowed that, with God's help she would never give him cause to reâ€" gret his confidence in the despised widow. Time went on, and then there came a fireâ€"a fearful and awful night of terrorâ€"then along blank. Then they told her, the poor lone widow, that her only joy was gone; her little sunshine had left the house and gone to the churchyard. With pain unâ€" speakible she tried to understand her loss, and almost came to hate God in her misery. Then the storm ceased and her wild struggling soul grew calm and she said, "Better mine than his; henoeforward will I give my life's love to the children he has left in my care." Then she read a letter from himâ€"a. frank, kindly, humanly weak letter, in which he said how it would have broken his heart had it been his own little girl. Then she begged them to bring his little ones to her for her heart was full of love and they were all she had now to lavish it upon. ' They brought the babies to her, and then she saw, 0 merciful God lâ€"what none other knewâ€"that her own deli- cate child still lived and that his was gone. Picture if you can the joy of that. mother's heart at receiving her darling babe again from the grave as it were. But it was only for a moment. Then the words of that letter flashed before hcr, and she said, "Oh, how can I stab him to the heart as I have been, for God help me I know the pain of it. Let mine again be the sacrifice; he shall never know and it will save him this great pain, and what will mine be now compared to his." Thus shcvguve up her own child to him. Time again brought the father back again to his little ant-x. and with a yearning love in her hcart she Saw him clasp them to his breast and call them his own, but she bade her heart bc still. her tonguo be silent. Then came the day \vhin he talked of goâ€" ing back. Ho spoke of taking the children, and her heart stood still and her blood froze. She could stand no more, and she begged him not to taki- her babies from hcr, for she was, oh. so human! and her heart longed so for her own little loved one. And now came a dark hour inilecd when the little one was mourned as dead zind‘the heart of the father was wrung With grief. But what of the mother's, who hml lost: her own. and still must bear ll! silence, daring not even to wail “my child." i When he stood beneath the nicllvm light at evening and looked upon the wreath of flowers," her voice sank low in tendercst whisper, "for the littlc grave in the churchyard, his heart melted to tears at thought of her babe sleeping peacefully beneath the green leave her ratherl the: grass and bright flowers, and then of hisâ€"alas, where? the prey of the demons of the deep, the playlhing of the waves, how could she tell him then of how every thought of it pierced her brain as a knife? And yet she longâ€" ed to speak, to pour forth the. burden of her heart. And she would have ‘told him then but he bade her be silâ€" cut and she. obeyed, for now his pain and his wishes were far more to her than her own for she loved him more deeply than her own life and her , whole soul was linked with his. ,‘ Then he. scaled her lips with silence. It has been long in coming, but 'tis told at last, and now, dearest love, ,Laura Desmond Sanford that was, ‘plth’lds for your forgiveness for your ‘wife, Laura Desmond Trcmont that is ,the mother of Nellie Darril.” Great manly bears coursed silently idown the cheeks of Dr. Tremont, as l his wife finished speaking, and he said, "Then Nellie is not. my daughter after .all is this true 7" "As God is my witness"â€"she miirâ€" 'mured fervently, “it is true. She is [the lawful daughter of Robert. and Laura. Sanford, grandâ€"daughter of the Sir Lionel Srnford. of Sanford Place, Nolling‘h-imshire, England, and ‘her mother humbly prays for your forgiveness for her deception; but, Oh, my husband, believe. rueâ€"I beg of you believe meâ€"it was all for love of you, ‘and none. may ever know the pain of that mother’s heart when she thought you might take her child from her. Can you not forgive me?" and the sweet, sad, iniploring eyes of a sorrowing angel gized up in to his face through a mist of unshed tears. l “Nay, spitmk not of my forgiveness, dearest love," he whispered, “but rather help me to pray God that I may be able to understand the decp grace of thy soul and to love them somewhat .as than dost deserve, for Oh! I am all unworthy of such love as thing: such godlikc self-sacrifice, and suffering, isclfâ€"imposed. I have caused you so much pain that my heart cries out: to ‘you for pardon." "Ah, Arthur," she whispered low, " ’lis sweet to a. wom‘in to suffer for him she loves." Nellie and Carl were standing by the. window, their faces turned reveâ€" rently from a scene so sacred, and a strong sunbeam stole round and crept in at the window and nestled to sleep mid the soft curls that floated above her brow. Then, after a few momuils' silence in the. roomâ€"a silence too sacred to be lightly brokenâ€"Laura Tremont glided. softly to her daughter's side, and fold- ing her loving mother's arms about her neck, she murmured low and fervently, "God bless you both, my children! "Happy is the bride the sun shines onl" The End. _â€"â€"+â€"~â€"â€" LEARNED WORKING BAKER. A working baker has just convinced the savants of Paris that there is no royal road to learning. He has been awarded the diploma of the Ecole du Louvre for a successful thesis on the Book of Daniel. It fell to M. Ledrain, professor of the Ecole du Louvre, and M. Oppert, member of the institute, to examine the thesis, and they and oth- ers had to confess that the baker’s knowledge of Hebrew was_profoun.d and accurate. So brilliant, indeed, is the thesis that an effort will be made to interest the State in its publication. M. Galle, the name of Chis scholar in humble life, has ceased to make rolls; he has become a corrector for the Im- primeric Nationals; and it is expect- ed that he will save even the most learned from making blunders in their books. l COW \VITH FALSE HAIR. A curious breach of warraniy case is reported from the German village of Hechingen. A peasant named Melchio- gen, had sold to another, under the usual warranty, it milcli cow, which the. latter some time later found to be wearing a false tail, kept in its place by an ingenious arrangeman _of hair cording. The buyer brought an ac- tion for false description, and the vender is condemned to filtceu diiys’ imprisonment, and to a fine of 3:2 by a court which does not know how to appreciate .i handy contrivunce. » UNUllA l'I‘lli'Ul. MAN. My wife is the most iiigcnious woman who ever lived, said Kipper. I believe you, ,re uriied politely. Jlui you don't know \«ny you believe me, intimated Kipper. ’lotell you the truth, 1 don‘t replied Nipper, iookiiig bored. \\ ell, I it it'll you. We‘ve been mar- iicd IL). yt‘ul'n', and lived in ihu same house iillllie time, and this morning she found a iii-w place in \\lllk‘ll to hide my slippers. Nipper. SI lPJ‘IBS'l‘l'I' 1 ON. We must part, he with anger. lliuve discovered you have bean married 13 times lure. She ()prlli'fl her great blue eyes won- ur-i‘ing‘ly. . Diuir [118! she fiiltercd. Now, who would have pickuil you out to be super- 5‘. iliousf Wail, l (itit'lillel After all, perhaps, it was bcitei‘ thus iliiin to hate him marry her and then leave her because he saw the new moon over his left shoulder or something. exclaimed, pain that beâ€" ll“ YOU! t‘U'l' l'lf. 'l‘oiniiiy, said the teacher the juvenile class, how uriiiy is half of cight’f On top or sideways”! asked Tommy. \‘i‘hal do you mean by on top oi‘siilcâ€" nay»! inquired the puzzlcd teacher. \\'by, replied the little fellow, half fiotn the top of 8 is 0. and half of it 3id€\\'llYS is 31 to one of the GOOD COMMON SENSE, â€"â€"H l-Ial Bclorc Gong lo Bid! and dirow 37:“. Here is good advice to thin people Who want to grow fat, says Pearson's Weekly. It seems contrary to all our early training, but is full of good COHJDJHII and comes from a pl‘t)lnin“lll physician. His suggcstions are as follows:â€" “If you are thin and want to put flesh upon your bones, but before go- ing to bed for the night. Physiology teaches us that there is wasting away of tissue while a person sleeps us well as when he is awake, and this being so, therc should be continuous nourish- nicnt. Food taken at dinner or in the early evening is always digested at the time of retiring, and the activity of the process of assimilation continues until long after we are asleep. “If the tissues are not nourished, they are pulled down by the wasting process, and us a result sleepless- ness ensues. On a full stomach, howâ€" ever, or with some food to sustain the systcin, there is a building up of the sensa, tissue. “Man is the only creature I know of who does not deem it proper to slcep on a good meal. 'l'nt- infant, in this reâ€" spect, instinctively ciies to be fed at night, showing that food 13 necessary during that time as Well as through the day, and Hill lcft too long With- out it causes a discomfort, which it makes known by crying. ‘ i "There is no need for rest in the di- geslive organs, provide the. quantiiy of food eaten is not above normal dur- ing the twentyâ€"four hours. Too long intervals lit-tween meals are bad for the stomach, from the fact that the cessation and resumption of work of the digestive organs tends to enfeeble them. . "A moderate working of the, organs through the twenty-four hours is much , more brnvficial. I, would advise those suffering from insomnia to take some- thing to eat before going to sleep alâ€" ways. A glass of milk and bread, or any digestible food will do. _____â€"â€"â€"’â€"â€"â€"â€"' PARIS AN IMPREGNABLE CITY. _..â€" A Successful Slam of the (fly \Vould Now he an lmpmsllilllly. The French have been taught wis‘ dom by past experience, and as a re- sult have planned, and a few ycars ago finished, a system of fortifications round Paris which are probably un- equalled for the purposes for which they are intended by any similar forti- fications in the world. A well informâ€" ed military writer, a member of the general staff of the German army, has given it as his opinion that a success- ful icge of Paris would be, under present conditions, are impossible un- dertaking. . 'l he new fortiiications that surround the French capital, says Pearson's, are some fifteen or twenty miles from the city, and are connected with Paris and with each other by a railway system which would enable the French com-, mander to quickly mass at one point a very large body of men, while general of the besieging army, if he wished to prevent the city from ob~ tziining supplies and thus shut in the people and the army that was defend~; ing it, would have to occupy a line ex- . tending more than one hundred miles, and hence could not by any possibility collect a large number of his force at any one point to resist with even a shadow of hope an attack of the enemy. It required a German army of ap- proximately, {bacon men to lay siege to Paris from September 19, 187.0, to January 30, 1871; but tho'authority we refer to is of the opinion that to repeat the same operation a German bcsmging army would have to number more lh’ln 2,000,000 men. and Iht' Work of maintaining such a force and proâ€"‘ pcrly handling its p‘lrlS would be some- thing which fcw governments would care to undertake and low military commanders would be able to eflicient-‘ ly perform. ’lhe French have spent. upon. new I'orii.ic:itions an amount variously estimated :itfl‘olll $30,000,000 to $50.- titlll,l.00, and hence can well afford to sell the land occupied by some of the now obsolete. fortifications of a gen- eration ago, ~4â€"â€".â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€" FULL INFORMATION. Now, remember, said a lady to her new butler, who had but a faint con- ccplion of ii position for which be de- manded the highest wages, remember, in announcing uicals you are to S'ly: Breakfast is rciidy, Luncheon is ready, Dinner is serVi-d. All right, mum. butler. lNol long after this lady to E\pci‘ililcul on a dinner to .i few intimate fiiciids, li'ani'y the expres- sion on her countenance when, on appearing iii the drawing from door to announce diiincr, this litcral bulâ€" lcr cxclriiiiictt iii clarion tones: Break- fast is rcady,lunchcou is ready, din- ner is served. replied the proud venttircd HO\\' TO GET A IIA’l‘. John. shc said, softly, l have conclud- edlo do without a ncw li.it and send for nitillii-r with the money. It won’t take much more to pay llt‘I‘ expenses here. DI}; dear, he cried, excitedly, the idea of your wearing that old bonnet an- other day is too horiihle for me to en- dure. and I'll never enter this house agaiuiill you get a new one. the I . ITEMS OF INTEREST ABOUT THE BUSY YANKEE. Neighborly Interest in His Doingsâ€"Matter! of Moment and i'llrth Gathered from His Dally Record. Therc are 200 cases of smallpox in Nebraska City. There were sixtyâ€"five murders and 436 suicides in New York last year. A Panâ€"American exposition in Buf- falo in 1901 is being boomed in that City. An unknown woman gave real estate valued at $20,000 to the Salvation Army in New York. Chicago is to have a $22,000,000 exâ€" position building for convention and exhibition purposes. General Garcia, who died recently in VVashinglon, was sentenced to death on nine different occasions. Jonathan McGee, Ypsilanti‘s 110- ycur~old citizen, is to be married for the fourth time in a few days. A New York policeman recovered Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt’s opera. glasses and received $100 as a re- ward. Ladies from New York presented the Pope wilh a pill‘chflll’fll address, bear- 111‘; many signatures, and a purse of $10,000. Jacob H. Schiff, of New York, has given $150,000 to build a new young men's Hebrew association building in New York. ly the result of the late war with 15pain the population of the United :Siates has been increased by her col- onies 112,577,843. Col Roosevelt recently dictated a. magazine article in three hours, and earned something over $5.55 per min- utc for his work. Niagara Falls, N. Y.. residents are disappointed because the outsiders who come to View the winter scenery are so small in numbers. Mrs. Sampson, wife of the Rear Ad- miral, has started an endless chain among her friends in the United States to help the Cuban reconcentrados. Chicago packers will spend $1,000,- COD-in erecting intense cold storage ‘plants in Cuba and Porto Rico for the ,recepiicn and storing of fresh meat. i Dr. O'Reilly, chief surgeon, of the army of occupation at Havana, will go lto Jamaica to study the British .methodsof caring for troops in that , climate. Michael Buskey, of Manayunk, N.Y., iwas bathing a bruised leg with an in- flammable lotion, while smoking a ci- igarette. A spark fell in the lotion and Buskey was badly burned. A farmer who attended a local fair in Western New York State and was 1swindled out of $96 by gamblers on ‘ the ground, has sued the fair associa- tion for the recovery of his money. ' During the \Vorld's Fair there were over 7,000 saloons in Chicago. Since ithen they have been gradually declin- ‘ing and the number now is not much over 6,000. Over “2.00 have gone out of business during the last quarter. Forty Dallas attorneys are fighting Ithe state law for the collection of an occupation tax, on the ground that it is unconstitutional. County Judge Forcee has decided against them. An appeal has been taken to the Supreme 1 Court. these i Mr. Binger Hermann, Commissioner of the General Land Office, in a deâ€" , cision rendered on Tuesday, holds that ,Mission Island and a small island lo- cated just southâ€"east thereof, in Sin iFrancisco Bay, are a part of the pubâ€" , lic domain. l The latest industry established in iChicago consists of holding up work- ingmen after they have received their i \vcck’s wages. One night last week four men engaged in the McCormick Reaper \Vorks were held up' and relieved of their two weeks' earnings. The trial of the torpedo boat Far- ragut was a gratifying success so far at least as speed was concerned. it was one that no race horse, and but comparatively few passenger railway trziinx‘ have Equillcd, being 30.6 knots , an hour, or about 38 miles. i A gang of couiiierfeiters are at. work in the Mississippi Valley. The counterfeit is of standard silver dol- la rs, and all of which have. So far been discovered bear date of 1890. It is beâ€" lieved that Sillllr‘lllln‘; likc 200,000 of them have g:iin~d circulation. ‘ Mr. Benjamin C. bllllr-I‘, of Nl‘\\21i’k, has been paid $10,000, the first policy issued by :1 Newark company. He is 90 years of age, and the payment \\':is paid in accordance with a dtl'lSlUll of the company to closc up all insurance whi-n 1| policyâ€"holder reaches that age. Some of the Rough Ridcrs from the west, tliiuk lliil gold exists in Cuba, and have returned the neighbor- hood of Santiago to test lllt' extent of the deposit. 1f gold is found there in paying quaniitics llll‘ rush iliai Would follow its announcement would fix the siatus of free Cuba. In A purse of $1,000, subsr-ribcd by Baltimore shipping Illl‘l‘l'l]:lnlS, has becn presented to Captain Robert Bartlett and the officers and crow of the British steamer Vedziinurc, in re- cognition of their hcroic condutn in saving llie lives of forlyâ€"fivc sur- lVlVUI‘S of the lost steiimi-r Lonilniiiun.