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r.- \ young \ to you, mind me now! -â€"â€"â€"._,,,____â€"_â€"â€"â€"-â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"_ _ WWW '0 P..â€" OR, SYBIL CHAPTER XXVII. Three pair of eyes were turned to- ward Gem. She was well worth looking at, as she stood there beside the paus- ing wheel, with the thread of yarn sus- pended in her hand between the delicate forefinger amt thumb. and with her large luminous dark eyes fixed upon the face of the speaker. Yes. look at. Gemâ€" a slight, elegant creature. whose form was perfect symmetry. whose every ino- tion was perfect grace, whose small stately head was covered with shining jet-black ringlets that hung down each side and half shaded a bright yOUHL’ face of exceeding beautyâ€"an oval face. with rcguta' features, large, soft, dark- blue, eyes, veich with thick. long lashes, amt arched over by slender, jet- black brows, and with roseate cheeks and crimson lips. This will do for a pen and ink sketch; but. how can 1 pic- ture the light. the life, the gleam and glow of that brilliant. and beautiful \countenance? She wore a plain brown linsey dress, mint perfectly filled her symmetrical tolrm; and this rustic suit was relieved by! a little linen collar that clasped her tlinpat. and a pair of little white linen cuffs that bound her wrists. The setting was plain enough, but the gem lwas a very rich and rare jewel, whoever might be destined to wear it. Only for an instant she stood thus. like a bright and beautiful image, and then she suddenly darted across the room. sunk down beside the old lady's chair, and. looking up into her face. said: “Grandma! I know more of that aw- ful tragedy than you think I do. Of course. in all these years, I have chanced to hear much from the talk of women and children seen in church or in school. And to-night I have. heard too much from you, not now to be told more? What is all this mystery and horror connected with this anniversary of llallow Eve? Andâ€"who am I?" “You are my own darling child, . m!" answered the old lady in a trembling voice. “ .know that I am your foster~child, but but is all I, or anyone else except. you. .seems to know about me! But. you ktpow who I am, grandma! Now tell megâ€"who am 1?” she pleaded. tak- ing the: withered old hands within her own, and gazing imploringly up into the kind old eyes that looked compas- sionater ' down on hers. “You are my pet, and my darling, and my bleSsing, Geml That is enough for you to know!" answered the old lady, still in a trcmulous tone. “Am I that prison-born child? Am I ll ._â€"_.__â€" the daughter of that poor lady who was crucified and cast out among human creatures? Am I? Am I?" persisted the girl, beseeehingly. while Miss "abby wept and Miss Libby moaned. “Gem,” said the aged woman, grave- l_ , and sorrowfully pressing the maid- Crt'é hands. “Gem. I have been a good gran\lma to you ?" “Um you have! you have! answered the yolung girl, earnestly. “And\ can you still trust me to be good to you, and true to your best in. terestsTl “Oh, yes, yes, yes! dear grandma!" "Thenfiny own little one, trust me, by obeying lie, when I tell you to ask me no questions about yourself; because I cannot answer them yet a while. \\‘ill you do so.1 my little Gem ‘3” “Yes, yes. I will! I will! But. dear granny, I 'know! I know! Although you are too tender to tell me. I know!" “Knowâ€"what, Gem 1’" questioned Mrs.= \\'interose. in alarm. “I know that some mystery and horror hung over my birthâ€"hangs over my life! I have known this a long time. They call me ‘Ingemiscaz’ that means, ‘Ilewail! Ilcwail !' Some one bewailed my birth. and bade me bcwuil it ! Some one sung the refrain of a l‘t‘qllh‘lll at my baptism, as they do at the burial of others! And oh. grandma! to-night! to-night! in what has reached my ears. I have found a clew to the sohing of' my mystery !" “Gem! Gem! if ever I have been kind, Never thian \never speak of these things .gtltll.l I‘mok on yourself as my child. and no-' fixing more." urged the old lady with so match earnestness. and even pain. thatt her pet hastened to tilt'tSS her. amt to say : - “I will mind you as much as I can., best. dearest granny! I v ill never spea“ of this again until \‘-lll give nu- leave “That is my darn w gnl! .\nd now" put ava' _\'wiu‘ wheel and come an! alt’ down here. and let us tune a ph-as-vntl talk after all this sriEemn iiwusunsv‘. .\:nl when Joe crimes in “barn um mic. chief is that fellow. and why than pi; mine with the cones. I won lei-1’ Atty-g how. when he does mine. I will .send' him down in the «char f-vr >1 !ll-‘ iris! and apples. and we will iuve a little: feast." , Gem set back her whet l. and come and, took her seat on a stool at the old: lady‘s feet. ,. “Gem.” said Mrs. \‘.'Enh-ro.e. 'l<~ill:_fl v - t her hand through the .s tt’i curls; ‘ hadn‘t “my two do. rhtcrs have le-Cn lin‘rrify- ing as by telli g of some awful cven'si BERN ER’S V NDICATION on certain long past hit they have said no- lliing of the pleasant thugs that have happined on later Ilallow I-lvcs! They haven't said a word of that Ilallow Ii\e when me amt my Libby was a sitting in our cabin without provisions, and no wondering where the money to buy them was to come from. amt how long the agent \\’Ullltt let us live there. seeing as we had no right. aftcr my old man. who was the overseer. died, when in walks the agent himself, and offers of its a home rent free lirii‘. with the use ol the garden, the orchard and the wood. with a small salary besides. if so be we would come here. and live with Tabby. and help keep rats aml thieves and riisl amt mould out of the old house. You may depend, Gem, as we jumped at the that happened llallow lives. offer. and _ came here the very next day.” “That was all the kindness of my child I It didn't need nobody but. me to do all that. Ihil, my sweet angel. she wanted to provide for you and Libby. and to make us all comfortable and happy together," said Miss 'l'abby. “Yes, I know. IleaVen bless her, wherever she is! And that was a happy IIallow live. But the next one was even happier, Gem." “Yes. dear grandma, I know," smiled the girl. “Yes, for just one year from that time. when Hallow Eve came around again, I got up early in the morning. as I used to do then. as well as now, and I came down into this very room, and went through to that back door and into the back room, and opened the back porch door to let in the morning air. and there on the porch with the sun shining bright on the scarlet. seed-pods of the rese vines all over the shed, there, like a cradle. stood a large wicker basket, with a two-year-old baby comfortably tucked up into it. and fast asleep." “That was I," said the maiden. “Yes, Gem, it was you. But just. think of my astonishment when I found you there! I stared at you. and was as 'fraid to touch you at fast as if you‘d been a bombshell to blow me up! I rubbed my eyes to see if I was awake. I crept up to you and shrank back from you ever so many times before I could venture to touch you. Then I saw a card tied to the handle of the basket. I took it off, put on my specks, and read this : “‘A Gem for Mrs. \Vintcrose.’ “Then, my dear, I snw that somebody that wanted to get shot of a baby. had put it off on to me. And, Lord forgive me. I struck mad as a hop. and said I wouldn‘t have the brat, and would send it to the almshouse. But. tor! there is a power in helplessness compared to which the power of a monarch is all moonshine! And, however angry I might a felt at that minute with the tin natural monsters who I thought had dropped the baby there. why. I could no more a sent it to the almshouse than I could a smothered it in its basket," said the soft-hearted old dame, wiping away the tears that rose to her eyes at the very idea of such a piece of cruelty. “So you took the little creature in ‘2" smiled Gem. “\\‘hat else could I do? vering with cold myself. Could I leave it out there? No. 1 took hold of the handle of the basketâ€"which it was a large open clothes basket with a handle at each end, and very useful I have found it. ever since to put the soiled clothes in H and I began to drag it through the door and through the back room into this very room. But th‘Illt)- lion waked the baby up, and it opened the darkest blue eyes I ever had seen in my life, and looked at me as calm and quiet as if it had known me all my life. and then it opened its little rosy lips, and said: “ ‘Gamnia !' “Yes. my dear Gem. that was what you called me from the first. ‘Gamma.’ It went straight to my heart. Gem! .\nd why ‘3 Ilecuuse [I was sixty vears old thin. am! my hair was as “pm. {,5 it is now. amt I never had a baby in the warld'to call me grandma; all be- cause Tabby and Libby didn't niarrv as they ought to have done twenty v‘cars before that." ’ ' I was shi- “‘\‘.iu‘re always hitting of us in the teeth about that. mother. as it it was our fault. AS for the. I would have “girl‘lml fast enough if \\'illi:.ni Simpson :1 proved false,” snivelicd Miss Tubby. “iiiisii! the -‘s as gov-d fish in the sea :1; {rvi'i‘ \‘,‘.i.i gilt Gilt of It." Slliti'llt’d ltli‘ .;‘.-l lady. “It. \\'l< our fate." said lions .\liss Libby. “Y\ u made your I'i\‘.‘ll fate," answered the in 'x-vial le old lady. ‘ ‘ll adopted the poor little fluid." ‘5.» \‘ furr- cdig.” put in thin. to s'op the ,,','.,1~..,-,i..m lrtw'ern t..e Illktii'T and .l iiightcrs. “yes (2cm. of course. But, oh! the ill" 3'"!!! “5“?” .‘él‘vt‘n to us was a div of jiilriitc! \\'iiil:‘ I was lifting 5 (.11 mil OI- the bask-ct. linncdcg Joe came in by may“. the fire. \\'l:en he saw me with a my”. in my arms he ht his won {my a“ .i in dumb amazement. And when I told him where I found it. he rrcowi'ml h... speech, amt advised me to send it to the almslioiise. “‘.loe'.‘ I said. ‘if ever you Ill-‘llttll: illlll\li‘.ill\t‘3 and bat ies in the breath to me again you and 1 will linu- to part." “Yet, poor old .I :e s; “he in your in- tcrcsts, grandma,‘ said thin. will i‘ “1 know he did. di-ir, or he tlimght he did; but l::_\' rcrll bums: was to lrcep my (tent. for .sll“ Iris lil‘t‘ll the tl'l;_'lll- ness of my hie. and not only of mine. but of 'I‘abby's tlil‘t I.ilvby's. poor child- ish old maids. and of .\|~psy's and lame- lt‘g Jim's." “I! because we all love until: o‘hur so much. and it is snvh a happiness to love." said Gem. “\\'c all lode you. my darling. from the may ttt'.‘t. \\e could not help il.’ .\hf you >lltttlltt have seen what a sunâ€" beum you wcie in our dull housi- that day and all tluys' after that. \\'hen I tomk‘ ~\ou out of the basket and set you upon your feet. you tolhred all about tlr‘ romi. eagerly examining all that was mw to y in; the clipâ€"bottom chairs. the tuikey-wsngr fans. tlu‘ peacocks feathers, e\cn poor .Ioe's crooked leg. find me and Joe \\'illl‘tlt‘tl you in your little crimson dress. as one watches some bright-phoned bird hopping from twig to twig." “How I \\'l\ll day. grandma.‘ “You were too young: not more than two years old. Ihit. oh! you should have seen the surprise amt delight of Tabby and I.i'oby, when after they had made the beds upstairs they came down to help me to get breakfast. They were as silly over you as ever you saw chil- dren over a new pet kitten. I thought you would have been pulch to pieces between them. which was another Sign they ought to have been married twenty years before.” “Oh. mother I" began Miss 'I‘abby. “\Vell, there! I won‘t say anything more about that. Ihit the way they talked to you. Gt‘lll !" I ”‘\\’hat's your name. little one 7‘ they asked. “‘Gem.‘ you answered. “‘\\’ho's your mother, baby?‘ “‘Gamma.‘ you replied. You had only is I could remember that them two words, my darlingâ€"‘Gem' and ‘Gamma.’ ” “Did you ever afterwards find out who I was. grandma?" inquired the girl. “Maybe I did, and maybe I didn‘t. Gem. Anyway, there was no clew to your history there in that basket, Gem. There was heaps of baby clothes, nicely got up and market ‘ln-gemâ€"is-ca,’ and there was a small bag of gold coins, amounting to just one hundred dollars. That was all. And now. didn't you give me your word never to ask me any questions about yourself?" “I know I did, grandma, and I will keep my word; but, oh, grandma, I can‘t help thinking about it and sus- pecting who 1 am." “flush! hush! Gem! Put away such troublesome thoughts. I had rather see a little natural silliness than so much gravity in one so young as you are. 3e :1 girl while girlhood lasLs. The season is short enough. This is Ilallow live. \\'ben I was young. it used to be a gay festival, and not the funeral feast my mournful daughters would make. it. When I was young, the lads and lasses, on a IIallow live night. used to try spells to find out their sweethearts and lovers. And if ghosts walked then, they were merry sprites who only came to tell the youths and maidens whom they were to love and marry. Come, now, I'll teach you a sure spell. Ilere are some chest~ nuts,” she said. rising and taking a little basket from the chimney-shelf. and emptying it into Gem's lap. “What am I to do with these, grand- ma 2’" smiled the girl. “You are to take haif-cedozen large ones. scratch on each the first letter in the name of some young man you know. Then on another, ‘Str.’ for stranger; on another ‘\\‘id.’ for widow- er; on the last one, a cross, for old maidcnliood. Smilineg Gem complied with the directions. and marked the chestnuts, while the old lady. with spectacles on nose. watched tlt‘t' carefully. \\'hen they were all ready, Gem looked up. saying: “Well, they are marked! l\'ine of them altogether." “Now lay them in a row on the hot hearth. close to the coats. to roast.” “It is done," said Gem, after she had arranged them according to rule. “Now. then. my dear. you must sit and watch them in perfect silence until they are roasted, when they will begin to pop; and the first one that pops will be your fate, whether it be one of the young men, or the widower. or the stranger. or whether it be the cross that stands for old niaidciiliood.” Smilineg Gem folded her hands. and composed liciself to perfect silence and stillness. \\'hile she watched her roasting chest- nuts. the old lady watched her. lizicli of these women. the ancient dame and the youthful iiiaitlen. was making herself silly to please the other. Mrs. While-rose. wishing to divert Gem from her troublesome thouwlils. and Gem, willing to gratify lirr “giahdnid.” but the law of silenwe was not laid upon any one else but the trier of the spell. .\nd Miss Tabby and Miss Libby Clltltli‘l'i'tt together like a pair of sister magpie-s for some minutes. when sit-l denlv .\Ii.~s Tutti-y exclaiznod: “I: ok but. Gem! Your chestnuts are ‘ lining to crack: they will shoot you presently. if you dullt mind." A 'l’h-i warning came t-ii late. ,\ blaz- Vwas suddenly sin-t from ing chestnut the hearth like a small lminb‘sheil. ant sli ~ '{ Gem upon the rig-it hand. in- . , g lt burn. \\'ith a {stilt cry she sprang up «43.1 shook it off. and she sat down startled n- ,. J-M‘ a¢mx rs ¢Wo$o lifted up his arms and opened his cys and trembling, for she was very deli-l .'tl " .‘lIl-t \ery sensitive to [HIIIL "X '1' mind. never mind a little ~:~_:'ii,.i:g! \\in-n l was young I would lli\\‘ been willing to have been scorched w than that to have had shell ll pmei‘iul sign that some one land ine so liei‘t‘eiy as all that! tiood~| ‘;l‘\\'! How he loves you. to be .siirct' and how quickly he is coming to see' 3. in! thine, pick up y illI' ctr-stunt.- .!.i;d_ and see what unit; it lirurs. conic. now! Is it tli‘oniui'tie 1" inquired ip.» .th lady. with an ill‘i'll smile. ltlt the girl made Il'l reply. She liad‘ picked up amt blown out the blazmg -~mblcm that she tl'.1tl playfully Illtltli' u‘ messenger of fate, and she as gazing upon it. Slir‘ rcmriim-d pale and mute. “tioine. come; did you name it for that :mlairn-hairml youth '."’ persisted the old lady. “t named it forâ€"the cxile~the lad/ who was borne from the flooded prison tlltll slid-m night; I named it forâ€"my mother.” answered the maiden in a low tone. silt-nee like a panic fell upon the little party. Mrs. \\'intcrose was the first to break it. “(1cm ! how dare you do such dreadful things?“ she demanded speaking more harshly than she had ever before spoken ttl her Splilli‘it Child. “It's enough to break anybody's heart. to hear her say that," whimpered Miss ’l'abby, wiping her eyes. “.\nd, oh! what a sign and an omen! If there's any truth in the spell, her motherHif so be she is her mother and 1...... ;:_' fins-‘7.» l‘I‘.IN(.‘.I-_::‘S LOVE MATCH. an Alpine Adventure Brought About, a ltoyal Mesulliance. Ho w on toward the remote from the Berne. and Not far from l‘d'ttalll‘g border li'ailway line. is to be found the molar esque country seat where the oldest scion of ()ld \\'orld royaltyâ€"a prinCess ~ has just celebrated her nineticth birthday. entirely forgotten by the world. she is the aunt of the reigning l’i.i:ce of Sclnvarzlairg Stilltlt‘l‘lltlllSL‘, himself a man of seventy-six, and if the last fifty years of her life have been .spent in her Swiss retreat, so secluded from the world as to be almost for- gotten, it is on account of the. romance of hrr marriage, which created a great. sensation just half a century ago. I'rincess Charlotte had been travelling in Switzerland, and was paSsIonately fond of Alpine climbing. a form of sport in which she was an adept. On one of her excursions tier life was saved by the most wonderful presence of mind, muscular strength and pluck of‘ her Alpine guide, who narrowly es- caped being dragged down the precipice over the. brink of which she had already dis-appeared, suspended to the rope, the other end of which was fastened to him, in accordance with mountaineering re- quirements. IIe managrd not only to. withstand the. shock of her full, but. likewise to drug her bark to safely, though with the utmost dillicully and at the risk of himself slipping. owing to the insecurity of the foothold. The princess naturally was filled with senti- is a livingâ€"her mother loves her better than any one in the world, and is a hurrying to see, her now! I~‘or I never knew that to fail," said Miss Libby. elaspiug her hands and rolling up her eyes. Gem turned and gazed at the last speaker. while a superstitious faith in the omen crept into her heart. “There is nothing at all in it! I was only trying to amuse the poor child by the old love spell. I had no thought it. would turn out this way," said Mrs. \\'interosc, glancing uneasily at Gem. hit Miss Tabby sighed. and Miss Libby shook her head. and Gem eon- tinucd to look very grave. “Well. I declare! I am out of all pa- tience with Joe!" exclaimed the old lady, by way of changing the whole conversation. “It. has been full forty minutes or more since I sent him after them cones! And now I am going to call him.” And. so saying. she went and opened the back door. But she had no sooner done so. than she started with a cry of horror and fled back into the room. And well she might! Behind her came three men, bearing in their arms the mutilated and bleed- ing body of a third man! Following them limped Joe. The affrightcd women shrank back to the chimney corner, where they clung together in that dumb terror which is the. deeper for its very silence. “Now, don‘t you be scared. ladies," said Joe, soothineg. - “Nobody ain't a-going to do you no harm. It is only lame-legged some man as has been murdered out there.” “Murdered!” echoed Mrs. \Vinterose, in an awe-deepened tone. “Another llallow live murder!" groaned Miss Tabby, wringing her hands. “It is doom!" muttered Miss Libby, solemnly. Gem veiled her eyes and said nothing. “Lay him down here on the floor, men. and let us take a look of him to see if we know him," said Joe, as he took a candle from the table. The bearers laid meir burden gently down. Joe held the candle to the face of the murdered man. Old Mrs. \\'interose cautiously proacbed to view it. “Good angels in claimed. “\\‘ho is it. mother?" inquired daughters. in territied tones. “Mr. Ilorace Blondelle!" pered. ap- heaven!" she ex- her she whis- (To be continued). -'-â€"â€"-+-'--- In the. case of the police magistrate. someone has remarked that his work is a line art. meals of gratitude towards her saviour, and as he happened to be an extremely handsome man. possessed of sufllcient education to qualify him for a commis- sion in the militia of his canton, she de- termined to prove to him her gratitude by marrying him. 'l‘rue, she was forty years old at, the time, and some ten years his senior. hit she was a very goodâ€"looking woman and quite rich. (if course. there was a tremendous outcry on the part of her royal and im- perial relatives. I-‘or she is connected by tics of blood will. two-thirds of the reigning houses of Europe. and all sorts of stories were circulated as to the ori- gin of the romance, the one most gen- erally accepted being to the effect that. John Jud, for that was the name of the guide, had been one of the domestics in an inn at which the princess had been staying, and had attracted licr atten- tion while engaged in the performance of some menial service. The reigning Prince of Schwarzburg eventually gave his consent to the marriage of the prin~ cess. on the condition that she should live abroad with her husband, and thereupon conferred upon the latter, by way of a wedding present, the title of boron. g The union turned out far more happi- lv than mesalliances of this kind do as a rule. The couple bought a very pretty place in the canton of Berne, where the baron died about ten years later. From that time to this his widow has never left the estate. She lives there all the year round. greatly beloved by her neighbors. on account of her boundless charitv. of her gentle unaffecteed man- ner, and of that gracious consideration for the feelings of others. which, alas! belongs to another generation. Iler relatives. however, visit her every year. In fact, there are few royal or imperial personages who visit Borne without. driving out. to pay their respects to tho doycnne of the sovereign houses of Europe, and the heroine of a thrilling Alpine romance of more than fifty years ago. i, s...___ BOLD INYADERS. There, were some phases of country life with which the little city girl had- as yet only one day's acquaintance, but the rights of preperty-owners and propertyurenters were firmly fixed in her mind. “Mother!” she called, in evident ex- citement, the morning after the family had settled for the summer in Sunset. View Cottage, “mother! Just come here amt look! There are somebody's hens, \VlJtn’ their feet on our nice clean I L. grass 1' “What? You marry my daughter?" thundered old Roxley. “You. a mere clerk ” “No. sir," replied young Myrtle, “not a clerk, but a gentleman. now. I resigned my job the moment your daughter accept/3d me." MISSED [IE “mm dii your mother teach you, swim» a room?" “0. It VOCATION. if you don't kinw how to my mother thought “all ('1.