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diff --git a/old/66235-0.txt b/old/66235-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 5279607..0000000 --- a/old/66235-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2919 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. XX, No. 1026, -August 26, 1899, by Various - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. XX, No. 1026, August 26, 1899 - -Author: Various - -Release Date: September 7, 2021 [eBook #66235] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Susan Skinner, Chris Curnow, Pamela Patten and the Online - Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL'S OWN PAPER, VOL. XX, NO. -1026, AUGUST 26, 1899 *** - - - - -[Illustration: THE GIRL’S OWN PAPER - -VOL. XX.—NO. 1026.] AUGUST 26, 1899. [PRICE ONE PENNY.] - - - - -[Illustration: “FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD.”] - -_All rights reserved._] - - - - -THE HOUSE WITH THE VERANDAH. - -BY ISABELLA FYVIE MAYO, Author of “Other People’s Stairs,” “Her Object -in Life,” etc. - - -CHAPTER XXII. - -A GREAT MYSTERY. - -Everybody, not to say every householder, is alive to the acute dangers -of escaping gas. Every other thought was suspended for the moment. The -hall door was left open, watched over by little Hugh, and everybody, -even the stranger, Mrs. Grant, rushed to open some window. The next -thing was to find out the peccant burner. - -Clementina called from the kitchen that the gas there was properly -turned off, save one light still burning. It was the same in hall and -dining-room; what was not alight was duly turned off. Miss Latimer, -coming downstairs at the moment, reported that there was no odour of -escaping gas in the higher regions. - -“Well, there’s only my bedroom left,” said Tom, “and I’m certain I -turned off mine.” - -But as he opened his chamber door his face lengthened. There was no -doubt now as to the source of the danger. No light was there, but the -cock of the gas-bracket stood “full on.” - -The mischief was swiftly remedied, though the room was so saturated -with effluvia that it would take a prolonged airing to free it from the -fumes. But Tom was terribly perturbed by the discovery. - -“I could have made affidavit that I turned off the gas,” he declared. -“I had it burning to dress by its light, and if I didn’t turn it off, -how came the light to be out?” - -“You must have forgotten it wasn’t a candle, and you must have blown it -out, Tom,” said Miss Latimer. - -“Well, then, I’m getting about as bad as my old landlady’s servant -girls,” decided Tom. “I can’t believe it of myself. Henceforth, I’ll -never feel sure of having done anything!” - -“Perhaps you did turn it out, and then gave it an accidental knock -which turned the cock back again,” suggested Miss Latimer; “such things -will happen sometimes.” - -Tom shook his head. - -“The cock is very stiff,” he said. - -“You must remember you were in haste. We are all rather put about just -now,” Miss Latimer went on. “But you must not dwell on it. All is well -that ends well.” - -Still Tom remained dissatisfied and unconvinced, and took no part in -the eager discussion which had already begun between the two anxious -wives seated at the breakfast table. - -“I think I know how I’ll manage,” said the Captain’s wife. “I’ll go -to the shipping offices myself. No”—she interrupted herself as Lucy -made a hasty movement—“you mustn’t think of coming with me. With your -face, my dear, you’d never get anything out of them while there was the -faintest chance of their being able to hold it back. But perhaps,” she -added turning to Tom, “this young gentleman will come with me to show -me the way, and to take care of me over those busy City crossings, for -I recollect that when I once went with the Captain to the office, there -was some clever steering to be done ere we got there!” - -Up to this point nobody had remembered that Mrs. Grant did not know -Tom. Now Lucy recollected herself and introduced the boy as an employee -in Charlie’s office, and at present a member of the Challoner household. - -Mrs. Grant beamed on him. - -“This is most fortunate,” said she. “For I’m sure your masters will -give you an off day to help me find out whether there’s any news of -their Mr. Challoner—and of my Captain!” - -“I’m sure they will!” cried Tom. “The chiefs are always asking whether -we have heard anything. Still I’ll have to go to the office first to -tell them why I’m wanting leave of absence.” He suited the action to -the word, bustling away, saying, “Wait till I come back—and I’ll be -back as fast as I can fly!” - -When he was gone, Mrs. Grant and Lucy had time for a little quiet talk. -It was very easy for Mrs. Grant to say that on the platform she had -recognised Lucy from her old photograph, but she did not add that she -was shocked at the change visible in her, the manifold signs of nerve -strain and exhaustion. - -“If she has much more waiting, she’ll set sail herself for a far-off -shore,” thought the good woman. Yet when she found that Lucy had -regular duties at the Institute, she would not allow Lucy to dream of -absenting herself for her sake. - -“No, no,” she said. “I did not come here to upset your regular ways. -For one thing, if you begin to change those, people will realise how -anxious you are, and then they’ll pull long faces to you, and that will -make everything still harder and worse to bear. It’s wise to keep a -still sough, as we say in the North. You just go about your usual day’s -work, and when you come home, you’ll find me and the young gentleman -returned and waiting, and whatever we have heard, you shall hear it -all—honour bright, I promise you.” - -Lucy had her full share of the sweet womanly instinct of obedience. -It is an instinct which is often strong in proportion to the strength -of the whole nature. It works so naturally and grows so strong in the -fortunate daughter and the happy wife, that it adds terribly to the -sense of disaster when the props to which it twines are withdrawn and -it is left trailing on the ground. Lucy was quite ready to succumb -to the genial domination of this wholesome kindly woman, already her -sister in suspense and who might so soon be also her sister in sorrow. -She went upstairs before she went away, and came down saying that poor -Tom’s mischance with his gas-burner had made her so nervous that she -had carefully tested all the upstairs burners. - -“Somebody else might have made a similar mistake,” said she, “but they -are all right.” So she went off, taking Hugh to the Kindergarten on her -way. - -“Let her keep regularly to her teaching,” Mrs. Grant confided to Miss -Latimer. “Keep her up to that, I beg you. While we wait, and when -waiting ends—as it may—there’s nothing helps us as work does. It’s -the blessed will of God that what most of us have to do for our bread -is exactly what is good for our souls. The wash-tub and the scrubbing -brush have done lots for many a poor body who is left behind. I’ve -often seen that. It’s not for any widow’s having to work that I’m ever -sorry, but because her work is often so ill-paid, that do what she may, -she can’t keep her head above water. But, I say,” she added, sniffing, -“don’t you smell the gas very strong again?” - -“Oh, it is only the remains of the accident in the boy’s bedroom,” -answered Miss Latimer. “The breeze through the back windows is driving -it more to the front of the house.” - -Just at that moment Tom’s key was heard turning in the front door, and -directly he entered the house he cried— - -“Why, the smell of gas is worse than ever!” - -“So I think,” observed Mrs. Grant. - -Tom rushed to his own bedroom. - -“There’s something at the bottom of all this,” he said. “I’m as -positive that I turned it off the first time as we all are that it was -turned off afterwards.” He stamped about the chamber, exclaiming, “It’s -all right here now, the gas is turned off, and there’s no smell inside -here. The mischief is somewhere else.” - -“Mrs. Challoner examined all the burners upstairs, and saw that they -were right before she went out,” said Miss Latimer. “Perhaps you notice -the smell more because you’ve just come in from the fresh air, Tom.” - -“But I’ve been in the house all the time,” persisted Mrs. Grant. - -Tom sprang upstairs. - -“There!” he shouted. “Here’s the staircase burner turned full on, and -it’s the same here—and here—and here,” he cried, rushing from chamber -to chamber, turning off burners and throwing open windows. “Yes,” -he reiterated, as he came downstairs again, “every burner upstairs -was started—the only ones turned off are that in my room where the -mischief began and in the dining-room where you were sitting.” - -“They are all right downstairs,” remarked Clementina from the back of -the hall. But Tom went down and made a re-examination before he would -be satisfied on that point. - -Mrs. Grant and Miss Latimer looked at each other bewildered. - -“I’ve not been upstairs to do up the rooms yet,” observed Clementina. -“The only room I’ve tidied yet is Mr. Tom’s. I heard the mistress say -to you, ma’am, as she went out, that she’d just been over all the -burners, and that they were right.” - -“Poor dear lady,” said Mrs. Grant; “she has been so flurried and put -about that when she tried the handles, she must have turned the gas on -and never noticed that she did it!” - -“That must have been so, I suppose,” Miss Latimer reluctantly admitted; -“but it’s hard to believe. Lucy is so wonderfully careful. However much -she suffers herself, none of her duties suffer!” - -“Ah, but that’s different,” Mrs. Grant replied. “She thought she was -thoroughly doing her duty now; only her mind slipped off, and she did -it the other way about.” - -“I don’t believe it,” said Clementina energetically. - -“What don’t you believe?” asked Tom. - -“I don’t believe my mistress made any mistake. I never knew anybody so -careful as she is.” - -“But what other explanation can we offer?” inquired Miss Latimer. - -Clementina answered solemnly, “I believe there is an evil spirit in -this house just now.” Then, as if to give emphasis to her words, she -turned and marched from the room. - -“She is very superstitious,” Miss Latimer observed to Mrs. Grant. “If -she gets this sort of thing into her head, as I’ve felt she was doing -for some time, she’ll go off, and her departure just now will be a -great trial. Are many people in the north superstitious?” she asked. - -Mrs. Grant laughed. “Human nature is much the same everywhere,” she -answered. “That’s what the Captain always said. He’s known folks black, -and brown, and yellow, and every shade that they call white, but he -says there are only two differences among them, and that’s goodness -and badness, and that you find both everywhere. All the qualities, -he says, are sprinkled over the world, pretty fairly divided. As for -superstitions, what does the word mean? I believe in evil spirits, of -course, but they work through ourselves.” - -“Well, I’m very glad I am not going to my pupils this morning,” -observed Miss Latimer, “and as I shall spend most of my time -supervising the gas-burners, I think you may rely that you will not -find the house blown up when you return from your quest.” - -Mrs. Grant and Tom started off for the shipping office. As they went, -she confided to him her plan of operations. - -“I shall send you in first,” she said. “Men often won’t tell a woman -the worst, though they know she’s got to hear it. They put off the -hard job on somebody else. It’s a cruel sort of kindness. Very likely -they’ll tell you plainly what they would gloss over to Mrs. Challoner -or me.” - -“But they’ll ask who sent me?” suggested Tom. - -“Don’t wait till they ask the question,” she answered. “What’s the name -of the firm you work for?” - -“Patrick, Elsum, and Challoner,” he replied. “That’s the proper name; -but as Mr. Challoner only newly got into the firm, his name is often -not added. I don’t think it is in the Directory.” - -“Then say straight out that you are a clerk at Patrick and Elsum’s, -and that you want to know everything they have heard of the _Slains -Castle_. Don’t seem any more anxious than you would be if it was a -matter of some client’s cargo. As soon as you come out and tell me all -they say, I’ll go in myself with you and have it all cleared up.” - -She had to wait rather longer than she had thought, and when Tom came -out and advanced towards her, she saw that his face was very grave -indeed. - -“Well?” she said, quite sharply. - -“There is something known,” Tom answered in a low and solemn voice. -“They say that a spar and a piece of sail, with _Slains Castle_ painted -on them, have been picked up by a Pacific liner.” - -Mrs. Grant stood still, and caught her breath. - -“I’m going straight into the office,” she said, “to ask why they could -not write that to me, instead of bringing me up here to have to get it -out of them by guile! And it’s not such a wonderful thing that they -need keep it to themselves. One knew something must have happened, -and this only shows how something has gone wrong, and how they’ve had -to take to the boats and get into any port they could. That’s how I’m -going to look at it, and so must Mrs. Challoner.” - -Her interview in the office was not very long. As she walked back with -Tom, Mrs. Grant’s thoughts seemed of Lucy rather than of herself. - -“You see all this trouble has come into her life by an accident, as -it were,” she said; “it’s like happening to get shot the first time -you handle a gun. But this is the ill wind that I’ve always watched to -bring my trials. I laid that to my soul when I married the Captain.” - -“I’m so glad that you’ll be with my poor friend,” remarked Tom, himself -immensely relieved by this vigorous presence. - -“But, my dear boy, I must go straight home by the night train. If any -mischance has befallen the Captain, there’s but the more reason for the -mate to be at her post. Mrs. Challoner has got Miss Latimer and you to -look after her; she couldn’t have kinder people.” - -All the little household had gathered in before Lucy came. They had the -fire blazing, and the tea set for her return. They could not lighten -the falling blow, but they could surround her with loving kindliness. - -Lucy heard the news very quietly indeed. She lifted Hugh upon her -knee and kissed him two or three times. Then she said she was afraid -they would all take cold through wandering about in such disagreeable -weather. She put Hugh down, rose, and went out of the room, leading him -by the hand. - -Mrs. Grant shook her head. “If our husbands are really gone,” she said, -“she won’t stay long after them.” - -“Oh, yes, she will,” asserted Miss Latimer; “the source of all strength -is open to my Lucy, and she will be found ready to do the next thing.” - -“I know there’s a great deal in that,” Mrs. Grant admitted. “Grief does -not kill according to the greatness of itself, or of the love behind -it, only according to the weakness of the constitution; but she looks -little more than a spirit already.” - -A postman’s knock came to the door. Tom ran to see what had arrived. He -did not come straightway back to the parlour, and when he did, he threw -Miss Latimer a significant glance. - -“I think I’d better run round to the office,” he said, “and let them -know what we have heard. And I think I’ll look in also on Mr. Somerset. -I’ll be back in good time to see Mrs. Grant to the station, as she is -quite determined to go to-night.” - -By the time Tom reached the office, his principals had departed. Tom -did not choose to tell his melancholy news to any of the underlings; -but he was only too anxious to disburden himself to Mr. Somerset. - -That gentleman was deeply moved by the tidings of the _Slains -Castle_—so ominous of the true significance of the long silence. Yet he -allowed himself to see that there might be some force in Mrs. Grant’s -arguments, when Tom repeated them to him. - -But Tom had more news. He had to show Mr. Somerset what had arrived by -post only the minute before he started to visit him—what indeed had -been the controlling cause of that visit. - -It was a letter with a black edge so deep that it scarcely left room -for the ill-written, ill-spelled direction— - - To the Peple - at No. — Pellum Street. - -“It is the same handwriting as was on the envelope of the blank sheet -that Mrs. Challoner got before Christmas,” said Tom. “Don’t you -remember that envelope was torn up at first, but that I got the pieces -out of the waste-paper basket and kept them? Directly I saw this I -compared the two; it’s the same handwriting, only this is worse.” - -Mr. Somerset turned it over and over in his hand. “Did you tell Mrs. -Challoner about this?” he asked. - -“No,” answered Tom emphatically; “I did not. It would have been too -cruel to show it to her to-day—I couldn’t. Besides, it is not addressed -to her.” - -“You have done rightly,” said Mr. Somerset; “even if it be nothing but -the circular of a mourning warehouse, it is not a thing for her to see -to-day. Its coming to-day is a very strange coincidence!” - -“Is it a mere coincidence?” questioned Tom. - -“Well, as you say, it is not addressed to Mrs. Challoner. You are -one of ‘the peple’ as much as she is. You have a perfect right to -open it, and when we see its contents we can the better judge of its -significance.” - -The contents were a sheet of thick paper with heavy black borders, -between which, on all four sides, was a long “screed,” which seemed -to the most careful scrutiny to be nothing but pot-hooks and hangers, -dotted i’s, and crossed t’s, making not one intelligible word among -them all! - -“It is evident to me,” said Mr. Somerset, “that the blank letter and -the ‘knocks’ and this letter all emanate from somebody who wishes -to annoy and to give pain. I can’t see why they should do so. It is -probably the work of some of the servants who have given Mrs. Challoner -so much trouble, or of some of their friends. At any rate, the matter -is not one in which we can readily move; and to-day we will not call -Mrs. Challoner’s attention to it. She has but too much trouble already!” - -“Yes, indeed!” sighed Tom. “We’ve all been terribly upset since -yesterday. We scarcely know what we are doing. I left my gas turned on -this morning, and not alight, and Mrs. Challoner got so nervous that -she tried if all the other burners were right, and turned them on by -mistake!” - -Mr. Somerset did not pay much heed to these domestic catastrophes. He -was preparing to accompany Tom back to Pelham Street. He wanted to see -Mrs. Grant himself. He did not forget that the Challoners’ woe involved -hers, and like their true friend, as he was, he wished to show all the -attention and hospitality which he knew they would have desired to -tender to a woman under such anxiety. - -He found Lucy, as Mrs. Grant whispered, “holding on bravely.” She was -even preparing to accompany her guest to the railway station, to see -her off on her homeward journey. But she was not reluctant to yield -to Mr. Somerset’s request that she would delegate this duty to him—a -proposal which Mrs. Grant backed with much urgency. - -“Keep her to her work, all you good friends of hers,” whispered that -worthy woman. “Never mind her getting tired. For the rest, let her -be quiet when she wishes it. Spare her from all the little squalid -worries you can; I don’t mean keep them from her, but stand between -her and them; let her get them, as it were, passed through you first. -Ah, I know!” added Mrs. Grant; “for as I’m a sailor’s wife, so am I a -sailor’s daughter, and what we’re bearing to-day, I’ve seen my mother -live through thrice—once for her husband, and twice for her sons.” - -As their cab drew up at the station, it had to wait a second while a -carriage drove off. - -“Dr. Ivery’s carriage,” whispered sharp Tom to Mr. Somerset. “So I -suppose he is in the station.” - -True enough, as they passed through the booking-office, there was -Dr. Ivery taking his ticket. Mr. Somerset knew him, having met him -several times during Mr. Challoner’s illness. They greeted each other, -Mrs. Grant and Tom passing on. Mrs. Grant’s train was already in the -station, but would not start for another quarter of an hour. - -Tom turned to look at his friend and the physician. He saw that they -were in close conversation, and Mr. Somerset had actually produced -the black-edged letter! The doctor was carefully examining it under -a lamp. He handed it back with a few emphatic words, which Mr. -Somerset received with a gesture of surprise and interrogation. Then -they both looked at it together, the doctor pointing to details in -the superscription, Mr. Somerset eagerly following his words, and -alternately watching his finger and looking into his face. Finally, he -re-took the letter, and both gentlemen shook their heads, the doctor -extending both his hands as though to say that his words opened wide -issues. Then, as Mrs. Grant’s train was just starting, they hastily -shook hands, and Mr. Somerset hastened back to give the good lady his -parting words as she went off. - -“Tom,” said Mr. Somerset, grasping the lad’s arm as they re-entered -the cab, which Mr. Somerset had retained to drive them back to Pelham -Street, “Dr. Ivery is truly concerned about the news I gave him. He has -much admiration for Mrs. Challoner’s pluck and determination. Then I -thought I would tell him about the little worry of these letters; and, -Tom, he has a most startling theory on the subject—indeed, it is no -theory, he regards it as a scientific fact.” - -“What is it?” Tom asked eagerly. - -“He says these letters are written by some demented person; that -such things are a well known phase of mental failure; that the very -caligraphy is characteristic, the way the letters and lines run into -each other, the bad spelling—everything!” - -“I don’t see that the doctor’s opinion helps us much,” remarked Tom, -almost irritably. “Who is the lunatic? and why is the lunatic concerned -with our household?” - -“Those questions remain unanswered,” said Mr. Somerset. “There is no -need to ask ‘why’ where lunacy is concerned. It is precisely without -reason that it acts, and there is little organic unity in its actions.” - -They found Miss Latimer sitting alone in the parlour. Lucy had retired. - -“Sorrow is sometimes sleepy,” said Miss Latimer, “and it is God’s -medicine when it is.” But Lucy had left behind kind “good nights” for -Mr. Somerset and Tom, and exhortations that the former was not to think -of going home without having his supper. - -It was a dreary little meal. While Clementina set or removed the -dishes, they did not check their conversation about the general -position. - -“If these strange freaks be really the work of a lunatic,” said Mr. -Somerset, “of course the poor creature cannot be blamed; but none the -less we must try that he or she be in some way restrained, as soon as -discovered, for nobody knows what they may do next.” - -“Those that get called mad are sometimes not so mad as folks think, -sir,” Clementina put in, in her civil, sad way. - -“It’s strange to discover that we seem to know as little of what is -going on beside us, as we do of what is happening to Mr. Challoner at -the other side of the world,” remarked Tom. - -“Oh, we are badly in want of a sixth sense, such as some of your old -Highland seers claimed, Clementina,” said Miss Latimer. - -“Aye, but they did not claim it, they had it,” said Clementina -confidently; “yet it wrought them little good. They could not use it -when they wished, they had to wait for it, and it came only when it -listed; often it would not come, and it would never bide.” - -“Yet some people claim that these mysterious faculties are being slowly -brought into light and order,” observed Mr. Somerset, turning to Miss -Latimer. “I do not know anything of the subject myself, and I find it -hard to believe. There are people who profess so much of this modern -magic that if you gave them Charlie’s last letter, they would pretend -to tell you where he is, and what he is doing.” - -“The Brahan Seer did that, nigh two hundred years ago,” said Clementina -eagerly. “He told the proud Lady Seaforth what was keeping her husband -in France, and he got himself burned for his pains.” - -“I should think it was bordering on sin to make any such inquiry,” -said Miss Latimer. “If there are any mysterious faculties only half -developed in human nature, we should not hasten to mix them up with the -solemn and sacred things of our lives. We know enough to be sure that -many spiritual dangers lie that way. To venture our peace of mind among -such risks, is like going into a laboratory and tasting everything, not -knowing which is poisonous.” - -“Yet, to use your simile, there must be laboratories, and tests, and -fit occasions for working among such things,” said Mr. Somerset. “Still -I agree with you absolutely in the necessity of keeping the treasures -of our hearts and lives out of so tainted and be-fogged an atmosphere.” - -“Well, I’m sure these silly letters are not sacred treasures,” said -Tom. “Suppose we give one of them to a detective to-morrow, and take -him with us to put it into the hand of a psychometric or clairvoyant, -or whatever they call the modern wizard or witch, and allow them to -clairvoyantly perceive—isn’t that the cant?—the person who sent it. It -would be a good test if this did give us a clue, and if it didn’t, or -if it misled us, why there would be no harm done—it wouldn’t matter a -bit—we should be just where we are.” - -Clementina had removed the supper-tray while he was speaking. Mr. -Somerset rose up to go. He did not reply to Tom’s suggestion, not -taking it seriously, but said “good night,” promising to come back very -soon, possibly next day. - -In the morning Tom woke rather lazily, but he jumped up in a great -fright, seeing that his watch already pointed to half-past eight! “I -must have slept very heavily,” he thought, “to have heard no knock nor -bell, nor anything!” - -And he dressed in great haste. - -(_To be continued._) - - - - -GIRLS AS I HAVE KNOWN THEM. - -BY ELSA D’ESTERRE-KEELING, Author of “Old Maids and Young.” - - -PART VII. - -THE OLD-FASHIONED GIRL. - - “Modest as morn, as midday bright, - Gentle as evening.” - -(A girl described by the poet Andrew Marvell.) - -[Illustration: _A MARVELL_OUS GIRL] - -By the old-fashioned girl is not here meant the girl of a type extinct, -but the girl of a type still existing, if in less numbers than of old. -I have a sheaf of letters by this girl beside me. None of these letters -bears date earlier than 1893. One of them, written on Christmas morning -of that year, begins— - -“To-day is just like a beautiful Spring morning, the crocuses and buds -showing above ground, and all the buds forward.” - -A week later, the writer announces— - -“The weather is so open that Eva was able to pick some rosebuds on -Christmas Day.” - -Under date February 12th, 1894, there is the following— - -“The kitten Sixpenny is getting plump on bullfinches which the gardener -shoots. They do a lot of damage to the fruit-buds.” - -The same letter contains this communication— - -“The violets and camellias are backward this year, but all the crocuses -and snowdrops are now at their best, and we daily examine daffodil -buds.” - -“Jacob, a jackdaw,” is mentioned in a subsequent letter, where the -reference to him runs— - -“Jacob, a jackdaw, has been lately acquired. He resides in a big -aviary, and sometimes has a rabbit put in with him to get change of -air.” - -A girl who writes letters like that is a girl who would have been after -the heart of Gilbert White of Selborne. - -The old-fashioned girl is sentimental in so far as to be sentimental -is to have a tender and susceptible heart, for her sentimentality is -not of that order the other name of which is mawkishness. In fact, -it is of a kind that justifies the singular assertion made by gentle -William Shenstone: “The French use the word _naïve_ in such a sense as -to be explainable by no English word, unless we will submit to restrain -ourselves in the application of the word _sentimental_.” - -This sentimentality, the other name of which is _naïveté_ of feeling, -in the old-fashioned girl led her to say the other day to a woman whom -she loved, “I wonderfully admire you,” and _naïveté_ of feeling it -is that inspires phrasing so charming as this, which I cite from the -letter (date May 1st, 1894) of an old-fashioned girl: “It is four years -since I have seen you, my friend, except by letters.” - -[Illustration: AN INFANT PHENOMENON - -_There he’s the darlingest dearest cleverest, brightest little fellow -in the world. Yes he is._] - -It has been said in the foregoing that the old-fashioned girl exists in -less numbers to-day than in days gone by; so far is she, however, from -being as uncommon as the great auk, that I who write this have only -to shut my eyes to see a long procession of old-fashioned girls pass -before me. - -First passes Ann (in her own explanatory phrasing, “plain -_A-double-N_”), who always brings her letters to a close with “believe -me,” and uses a nominative of address in writing a postcard. - -Next pass Elizabeth, Betsy, Bessy and Bess—no _Elsie_, mark you. - -Elizabeth wears boots with toe-caps, and is, we who know her believe, -the last girl who will use the phrase, “canons of good taste.” - -[Illustration: A VISITATION - -_There Mrs. Bile I’ve brought you another little pie of my own making_] - -Betsy wears in winter a crotcheted muffler and Ringwood gloves. She -always says at a visit’s end, “Now I must be going,” and generally -says that she has “paid a visitation.” This makes new-fashioned people -smile, and, as Betsy only says it when in merry pin, this pleases her. -Betsy is a wag in her old-fashioned way. Thus she always counts her -cherry-stones, and affects distress if they come to _never_. This also -makes new-fashioned people smile. - -Bessy we call “the quotation girl.” To Bessy, coffee is “the fragrant -juice of Mocha’s berry brown,” and Bessy at the tea-table refers to -“the cups that cheer, but not inebriate.” Bessy will herself only be -described in a quotation— - - “Old-fashioned poetry, but choicely good.” - -Bess uses what we others call “dictionary words”—such words as -_pusillanimity_ and _titillation_. Bess—does this need telling?—hails -from beyond Tweed. - -Next passes Susan, who says, “Papa and mamma,” when she does not say -“Father and mother.” The new-fashioned girl says “papa and mother.” -Susan, too, prefers the word “lady” to “woman,” and “gentleman” -to “man.” In fact, she has somewhat aristocratic leanings; but -condescension is no part of her manner, for she knows that politeness -levels up. - -Next pass the Marys, some of whom are Pollys. - -[Illustration: MINERVA - -An old-fashioned girl] - -Polly, number one, combines a love of cookery with a love of bookery, -to phrase the matter as a certain poet would have phrased it, and to -these loves she adds a third, the love of needlework. If you should -tell her that a good needlewoman makes a bad student, she will tell you -in reply that Minerva beat Arachne in the art of needlework. She is so -far from being a bad student that it is only part of her knowledge to -know that. - -Polly, number two, is not learned at all, but is of marvellous -dexterity with her fingers. She should have lived in the days of spears -and spindles, some people say. These people are of those who have -nothing in their heads but a tongue. - -Of the Marys called Mary, there passes first that Mary to whom, albeit -her home is London, a Monday Popular Concert is not “a Pop,” and to -whom a photograph is not a _photo_. - -Next passes the Mary to whom an Ellen said— - -“You must have been born grown-up, like a fly, Mary.” - -To whom Mary: “What do you mean?” - -“Why, don’t you know, goose, that flies don’t grow, that they—let me -think of the way it’s put in the books—emerge from the larva in a -perfect state?” - -To which Mary, dreamily: “Do they? That’s very interesting.” - -A less old-fashioned Mary might not have found a fact conveyed as that -fact was conveyed in a primary degree “interesting.” - -The old-fashioned girl is not always handled tenderly by the -new-fashioned girl. “Here’s a description of you,” so sneers one -Muriel, and reads aloud from a book, “A young lady in the possession of -all the virtues which adorn the most amiable of her sex.” - -To which the Mary sneered at answers, “No, no; that flatters me.” - -Lastly, there passes Emma, the old-fashioned girl who heard lately with -amazement that (so the new-fashioned girl phrased the matter) “cut -glass is vulgar.” - -“How can,” said Emma, “_glass_ be vulgar?” - -Emma lives in a world in which not only is cut glass still in -estimation, but in which the word “vulgar” is used in a sense in which -it is inapplicable to glass. - -Emma is very fastidious in regard to phrasing. She is never caught -using the form “different _to_,” and she follows the rule which -prescribes the use of “better,” where the ungrammatical say “best.” Of -her adjectives, which are few and carefully chosen, a favourite one is -“elegant,” which she uses elegantly. Her spelling has an old-fashioned -look. Thus she writes _shew_, _sew_, _ribband_ and _bason_. She prefers -_carven_ to “carved,” and, in regard to another past participle, she is -open to the gentle satire of the _Cornhill_ essayist, who wrote in 1885 -of “very young ladies” what follows— - -“They write first, ‘his health was drunk,’ and then, alarmed at -the apparent inebriety of that harmless past participle, alter it -incontinently to ‘his health was drank.’” - -[Illustration: REDGAUNTLET AND BLUE-STOCKING A NOVEL COMBINATION] - -Emma prefers the sound of “his health was drank” to that of “his health -was drunk.” Such archaisms as _to pen_ for _to write_, and _a braid -of hair_ for _a plait of hair_, are also in favour with Emma, though -her notions in style have undergone some modification since she wrote -her first English composition, which began, “I sit down to write an -essay.” Emma is at present engaged upon writing a novel in letter form, -modelled on Sir Walter Scott’s _Redgauntlet_. That is a secret. Emma -has many secrets. New-fashioned girls are said to have none. - -Never believe it! - -Perhaps the old-fashioned girl is seen to least advantage in a -new-fashioned school. The modern system of examination perplexes her. -It was not quite a dunce, but merely a bewildered old-fashioned girl -who wrote what follows in obedience to the injunction, “Comment on -the grammatical peculiarity in the sentence—‘Cromwell was by far our -remarkablest governor.’” - -“_Carlyle did not know better English, or perhaps he wanted to make a -joke._” - -Not that the old-fashioned girl is not sometimes a frank ignoramus. -This must be allowed to be the case when she defines—I cite here from -authentic documents—_phenomenon_ as “a very bad-tempered person,” and -_emolument_ as “great flattery.” - -In dialogue with the new-fashioned girl the old-fashioned girl does not -always come off best, but once and again she scores, if only by the -utterance of a bold paradox. Take the following. - -“I wish,” said the new-fashioned girl, “I was dead.” - -“You are always wishing something impossible, Evelyn,” answered the -old-fashioned girl. “The moment you are dead you will be wishing you -were alive.” - -Paradox of a kind less mordant and less moribund is contained in -the following, which I set down as the favourite exclamation of an -old-fashioned girl born blind— - -“Ah, I see it all now!” - -Sometimes the sorrows of the old-fashioned girl are of a kind -calculated to rouse the amusement of those who are of a newer fashion. -This is surely the case in the matter of one Ada, who writes— - -“I have contracted the miserable habit of writing short words -backwards, putting ‘dab’ for ‘bad,’ and much more dreadful things than -that. I feel that in writing my own name I write it backwards, and that -it is only by happy accident that it reads all right. This comes from -a game which we have been playing, and which consists of naming words -that make sense spelt backwards. The boys like it (this will shock -you), because of the word _mad_.” - -Useless were it to tell this Ada that the word which “mad” spells -backwards is one in which “the boys” may fairly take delight, meaning -merely, as it does, “a bank to confine water.” The stricken Ada knows -boys better. - -[Illustration: ANOTHER INNOCENT] - -(_To be continued._) - - - - -IN THE TWILIGHT SIDE BY SIDE. - -BY RUTH LAMB. - - -PART XI. - -THE LITTLE ONES OF THE FAMILY AND THE GLORY OF MOTHERHOOD. - - “A joyful mother of children.”—Psa. cxiii. 9. - - * * * * * - -I called the subject of our two last talks all-important, because I -could hardly imagine one possessing wider interest for you. But when I -introduced it, I alluded to you, my dear girl friends, not only as the -wives, but as the mothers of the future. Marriage and motherhood are -alike sacred subjects—the latter certainly not less so than the former. - -Before the day arrives when the sweet but solemn responsibility of -motherhood comes to the young wife, girls who are members of large -families have mostly shared in the toil, anxiety, and, let us hope, -also in the joy and brightness that the little ones bring into the -world with them. - -It makes me glad as I call to mind many beautiful pictures of sisters -who have been second only to the real mother in their loving care of, -and tender sympathy with, the younger members of the family. - -Many a delicate ailing mother has been aided on the path to renewed -health by the thought that the children, about whom she would otherwise -be painfully anxious, are being lovingly watched over by an elder -sister. As she has lain, so willing yet so unable to fulfil her -maternal duties, her heart has been full of joy, and her thoughts have -gone up in praise to God for the gift of the precious daughter who is -cheerfully carrying the weight under which she, unaided, must have sunk. - -There are, thank God, many girls who are little mothers almost from -their cradles. We can find them in rich homes and poor ones. In courts -and slums where the direst poverty prevails, the baby, often unwelcome -to the elders, is passed over to the ceaseless care of one who is only -a few years past babyhood herself. - -From the very first the little deputy-mother deems it her baby, her -choicest treasure, and finds beauties and charms in it which are -invisible to other eyes. Its increasing size and weight may cause her -greater weariness, but they are none the less sources of pride and joy, -and make her forget her own aching back. - -She would go hungry that it might be well fed; cold, that it might be -warmly bundled up in the shawl that ought to do duty as covering for -both of them. Her baby may be but a caricature of the pink and white -loveliness of another infant clad in silk and lace and with two nurses -to watch its every movement; but let a ragged dweller in the same court -disparage the looks of her darling, and she would fight the slanderer -as stubbornly as ever knight of old did in defence of the charms of his -ladye love. - -I must not dwell on this picture. Long ago when the “G. O. P.”[1] was -itself a baby under two years old, I wrote with heartfelt respect of -“Little Nurses.” I had studied them in many places, and the sight of -their devotion had inspired my admiration and loving sympathy. - -[1] No. 69, vol. ii. - -Turning from the baby devotee of the slums, and not for a moment -forgetting sweet pictures of sisterly devotion which I have seen in -other ranks of life, I am going to indulge in a little croak about the -decay of the maternal spirit in many of the girls of to-day. - -I was journeying northward some three years ago, and during part of the -time I had only one companion. She was past girlhood, probably some -years over thirty, and in the course of conversation she spoke of her -old happy home and the gradual scattering of its inmates, until she -found herself the last one left. Her parents had died not long after -each other, and brothers’ and sisters’ homes were far apart. That there -had been true family union and affection amongst them I felt sure, for -my companion could not speak of the good father and mother without a -trembling of the voice and tears which she turned away to hide. - -Later the talk turned on children. I suppose, as an old mother, I must -have expressed my deep love for them, and I was almost horrified when -my companion exclaimed— - -“I loathe children. I cannot bear even to touch a child.” - -The expression on her face proved her sincerity. - -Need I tell you, dear girls, that a barrier seemed to rise up between -my companion and myself, as I heard these unwomanly, nay, I may say, -inhuman words? Only a short time before, the girl had been moved to -tears as she spoke of the loving devotion of which she had been an -object, both as a child and from her youth up. Yet her memories of her -own home life and of the parents she mourned, had not awakened in her -cold heart one spark of tenderness for the helpless little creatures -who are so dependent on those around them. - -A truly feminine nature, with its motherly instincts fostered as they -ought to be, instead of being crushed down and stifled, regards every -child with tenderness, and would make the surroundings of all the -little ones brighter, purer, and holier if it were possible to do so. - -It happened on that same journey that a comely Scotchwoman got into -our carriage at a country station. At the door she held out one of the -loveliest year-old babies I ever saw, and addressing my companion, -said, “Here, tak the bairn, please, whiles I lift in the others,” for -there were two more youngsters on the platform just a step above each -other in size. - -My companion fairly shrank into her corner and kept her hands firmly -clasped, whilst her face expressed disgust and vexation at the -unceremonious request. The mother’s astonishment was almost ludicrous, -but I promptly said, “Give me the bairn. I’m used to bairns, you see, -and this lady is not.” It was a delight to hold the bonny smiling -darling in my arms. Her beautiful clothing and the pretty neat garments -of the elder children were eloquent of loving care. And the mother was -eloquent too about the object of the half-hour’s journey which was to -show the children to “my ain guid mither, who is just wearyin’ for a -look at them,” I was told. - -I heard about five older ones at home, and how they had to go, two at a -time and the baby, to see the grandmother, with many particulars which -brought this comparatively young mother into fullest sympathy with me, -the old one. - -I was quite sorry to give up my pretty charge when parting time came. -Sorry, too, that my other travelling companion, who sat silent in her -corner with averted eyes, could not appreciate the charms of childhood, -or care to impress on her memory the beautiful picture of motherly -self-devotion and industry furnished by that sample batch from the -flock of eight. How each bright healthy face, each spotless tasteful -garment would appeal to the grandmother! How glad and proud she would -be to see the fruits of her own training, as she looked at her matronly -daughter and those “bonny bairns” of another generation! - -Yet how kind was my first companion to me, when the others had left -us alone again! We parted at the next stopping-place, but during the -waiting interval she was like a good daughter in her care of me. I -think that in paying me sweet attentions she thought of the mother of -her girlhood whom she had lost. The pity of it was that memory did not -take her further back, so that, in thinking of the needs of infancy and -her own childhood, she might have been stirred to sympathy with other -helpless little ones of the human family. - -Another girl, whom I know to be really warm-hearted and affectionate, -said of her sister’s baby, “She’s a horrid little creature, more like a -skinned rabbit than anything else. I cannot bear to look at her, and I -would not touch her for the world.” - -We know that newly-born babies are not always beautiful to look upon, -but how soon the redness of their faces tones down to lovely pink and -white, and the puckered skin fills out and becomes soft as satin to the -touch. That girl’s heart must be unwomanly indeed for which a baby’s -smile and outstretched arms have not an irresistible charm. - -Putting aside the fascination of external beauty, we should bear in -mind the great fact that the frailest, least attractive infant that -comes into the world is the home of an immortal soul. It brings with it -a burden of sweet but solemn responsibility to be borne, first of all -by the parents, but shared in a less degree by all whose companionship -must influence it for good or evil. - -I am not going to imagine that amongst you, my dear girl friends and -twilight companions, any can be found who have no warm comers in their -hearts for helpless little ones, or who are insensible to the glory and -responsibility of motherhood. So, having given vent to the little croak -suggested by the sayings of sundry girls whom I have met elsewhere, -let us talk about the children over whom we have, or may have in the -future, the strongest influence of all. Strongest and best also; if -we are only true to our divinely-given instincts, and alive to the -vastness of the responsibilities of motherhood. I cannot help thinking -that the study of child life and character should form part of every -girl’s education. Surely no branch of natural history can be equally -interesting. - -There can hardly be a more fascinating subject than natural history in -all its branches, and we can admire and sympathise with the earnest -student who spends the best part of a lifetime in observing the ways -of an insignificant insect. Every secret of structure or habit thus -revealed is another proof of the goodness and power of God, and adds -to His glory in the eyes of His believing children, who exclaim in the -words of the Psalmist, “O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom -hast Thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.” The Revised -Version gives the word “creatures,” instead of riches, and truly when -you and I, my dear ones, call to mind the little we know about these -wondrous minute organisms that scientific research has revealed of -late, we are struck with the fitness of the change. It is hard to grasp -the idea alike of the vastness and the minuteness of God’s works. - -If I had time I could quote many passages of His Word which prove that -some of the best men of old were close observers of nature, and to be -such is quite in accordance with its teachings. I would plead with all -nature students, but, above all, with girls, who will be the mothers -of the future, to give the closest, most prayerful study to the young -human beings on whose right training so much depends. - -Lovers of horses, dogs or cats are generally eloquent about their -pets, and can indicate every point of excellence in them, or allude -regretfully to the smallest blemish. They spend money lavishly in order -to acquire perfect specimens, and are careful to maintain them in -health and more than comfort. - -These costly pets are so much living capital, and it is safe to say -that many a parent could tell more about the disposition and doings of -a favourite horse or dog, than of the dispositions of the children who -call them father or mother. - -It is often said that the baby brings a vast heritage of love with -it into the world, and I believe in the truth of this. But sometimes -the love gets into the wrong heart, if I may use such an expression, -instead of filling that of the mother, who, regarding the helpless -creature as a hindrance to what she calls “pleasure,” is willing to -relinquish the privilege of caring for her child to other hands. If -these are truly womanly hands, and the nurse has in her a motherly -heart, the child may lose little by the change during its first years. -Later on, Nature asserts herself and only a mother’s love can satisfy a -child’s yearnings. - -On this subject of motherhood, as in all that you and I, my dear girl -friends, have talked about together, we need to look into the Book of -books for light and guidance. - -Motherhood is part of Nature’s—or should I not rather say of God’s—plan -for womanhood. Let us look back together at the earliest chapter of -human history, and note how children were regarded then. - -Eve, so named because she was “the mother of all living,” or “life,” -as the Revised Version gives it, clasped her first-born to her breast -and cried in her exultant joy, “I have gotten a man from the Lord.” -She looked upon her babe as the direct gift of God. She, like many a -mother in after days, could not foresee the sin and the sorrow that -would shadow his manhood and her own heart. But in holding her infant -treasure to her breast, she would have a present joy and sense of -riches that words cannot describe. She, the only human mother, with the -only human infant in the wondrous new world which was to be peopled by -her children, must have had sensations which none of her descendants -could possibly repeat. - -And yet, believe me, every loving mother who is worthy of the name, has -a like feeling of riches, when she can say, “This is my child, my very -own. This wonderful little body is given me to feed, clothe and guard. -It is my privilege to see that it is fed with food convenient for it, -that the tender frame is shielded from too great heat or biting cold, -that it is kept from places and things which might injure its health, -or prevent its growth into sturdy boyhood or girlhood.” The true mother -was proud of her name in the old days of Bible history, and to be -childless was to be a sad and dissatisfied woman. - -When Seth was born, after Abel had been slain by his brother, the -joyful thought of Eve was that the vacant place in her motherly heart -was filled again, and she cried, “God hath appointed me another seed -instead of Abel whom Cain slew.” - -She had sons and daughters, we know not how many, during the ages which -followed, but there is no detailed history of them. Still it gladdens -our hearts to know of the joy of that first mother, when Seth was given -to her in place of the good son who “was not.” - -Pass with me down the ages and look into the tent of Sarah, when she -held in her arms the child of promise, so long hoped for, even against -hope as it seemed. “And Sarah said, ‘God hath made me to laugh; -everyone that heareth will laugh with me.’” - -Childless Rachel bemoaned her hard fate and cried, “Give me children, -or else I die.” Then when Joseph was born she gave him the name which -meant “added,” and said, “The Lord add to me another son.” - -Yet another picture for us to look at together, my dear ones. It is -that of Jacob as he met his brother Esau. After the brothers had -embraced and kissed each other, Esau “lifted up his eyes and saw the -women and the children, and said, ‘Who are these with thee?’ And he -said, ‘The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.’” - -Why are we studying all these Bible pictures, and glancing at the -domestic stories which they illustrate? Is it not that we may all -realise more fully the glory of motherhood, the value set upon children -by the mothers of old, and the universal acknowledgment that a child -was a precious gift from God? - -Ah, there was no talk of loathing children then! No shrinking from -the touch of a fair, innocent, helpless babe! No talking lightly or -contemptuously of the little ones. The Psalmist calls children “the -heritage of the Lord—His reward,” and says that “He makes the barren -women to keep house” (or to dwell in a house) “and to be a joyful -mother of children.” - -Motherhood conferred dignity and made the woman mistress of a home and -the head of a household. Ever and always the presence of a child or -children added to the sense of riches, being regarded as the special -gift of God and a token of His favour. - -It is not easy to exhaust Scripture on this beautiful subject, for one -Bible mother seems to rise after another and claim our attention and -admiration. We see Hannah appearing in the house of the Lord, first -pleading that she too may know the glory and joy of motherhood, and -then, taking her weaned child to dedicate him to the lifelong service -of the Giver. “For this child I prayed, and the Lord hath given me my -petition which I asked of Him, therefore also I have lent him to the -Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord.” - -How self-sacrificing, how sublime was this act on the part of the -mother! Just when her little Samuel had twined himself round her heart -by the imperishable cords of love; as each day witnessed some new -growth and charm in the boy; and the parting must have become almost -too great a trial for the tender mother to contemplate, for “the child -was young.” Hannah brought him to Shiloh and left him there. - -Hers was no temporary sacrifice. She renewed it year by year, rejoicing -that her son, God’s gift, was accepted by Him in turn as she gave him -back, “and was in favour both with the Lord and with men.” - -We have passed by the mother of Moses and her plan to save, if -possible, the life of her infant, and other Bible mothers, around whom -we might well pause. We must, however, glance for a moment at the -Virgin Mother and her Babe lying in His lowly manger-bed, the infant -Saviour, “Christ the Lord.” - -Stretching across the years, we see Jesus in His manhood taking the -little ones in His kind arms, blessing them and saying, “Suffer the -little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for of such is -the kingdom of Heaven.” - -Now, my dear girl friends, what impression has this talk left on your -minds? Has it not elevated your ideas of motherhood, and taught you how -it was regarded amongst the men and women of the Bible? Is it not a -sacred and glorious trust as well as a joyful one? - -Are not the little ones, of whom some girls of to-day speak slightingly -and worse, to be regarded as God’s good and precious gifts to be nursed -for the Lord, fitted for and dedicated to His service? - -(_To be concluded._) - - - - -FROCKS FOR TO-MORROW. - -BY “THE LADY DRESSMAKER.” - - -Just now there is a very general feeling that women need more oxygen -than they get. I do not know if it be owing to the largely-published -fact that the Queen spends most of her day in the open air; but certain -it is that one of the newest fashions is that of walking, and this has -taken, with the leaders of London fashions, the place of cycling, to -which they were so devoted two seasons ago. Most of the great ladies -might have been seen in the Park during the past spring taking an early -walk, frequently accomplishing the round of the Park at a good even -pace, which meant exercise and health. Of course, now we know that the -best way to avoid fat and keep the slender figure of youth is to walk -regularly and constantly, and that any dietary or starving process is -unsafe, it is easy to decide the matter for ourselves. Three miles a -day is said to be enough, though some people say more. At any rate, -it is the regularity which contains the charm and makes its success. -And the doctors say that oxygen is what is needed to keep the eyes -bright and the skin fair and healthy. So, fortunately, walking is cheap -besides being fashionable, and it is the only way to find that physical -energy without which one is inert and languid. So, now that I have told -my readers the latest development in this way, they should try to lay -in such a stock of energy during the coming autumn and winter as shall -make them perfect giants in ordinary life. - -[Illustration: BRAIDED FAWN CLOTH GOWN FOR AUTUMN.] - -There is another subject which is rather akin to this one, of which I -find a note, and that is the general complaints of eye-trouble made -this spring and summer by cyclists. It is said to be a form of spring -ophthalmia, caused by the particles of dust and decaying matter with -which the atmosphere is loaded, which also affect the throats of those -who are in the habit of riding with the mouth open. One of the great -London dailies has mentioned this subject, and a London specialist of -renown has declared that the remedy for the first trouble is to have a -pair of spectacles with crape sides—as the wire sides are too hot—and -to keep the mouth shut while cycling. A mild antiseptic is used for the -eye-trouble, for which a doctor should be consulted. - -[Illustration: CASHMERE AUTUMN GOWN.] - -And now, having informed you of the very latest modes in this -direction, we may turn to another note of mine, made at the Women’s -Congress in July last, when I quickly noticed one thing, that American -women, who are strong on matters of hygiene and ready to take advice on -it, had all dismissed veils both with hats and bonnets, and that all -the Englishwomen present, with hardly an exception, wore them—of every -kind and colour. In fact, an Englishwoman feels her face unclothed -without a veil to hide it, and the idea of its becomingness and that it -hides the ravages of time is a constantly alleged reason. The American -woman, like Gallio, cares for none of these things, and she looks as -well. Certainly her skin is as clear and healthy as anyone else’s, -and perhaps it is better and rosier in hue. She has attended lectures -innumerable on personal hygiene and on physical culture until she knows -a few things by heart. They are, that neither sun nor air are enemies -to woman’s beauty; and that science declares that veils of all kinds -are of no good for anything, and that they affect the eye and its sight -most injuriously. The subject of the danger of spotty veils has been -frequently ventilated, and yet our women and girls do not seem to have -taken notice of the warning. I was much struck with the docility of the -Americans in this way; they really tried to follow out every suggestion -and discovery which made for better health and improved powers and -energies in daily life. - -[Illustration: AN AUTUMN HAT.] - -It is difficult to say whether the revival, which has been very -evident, of this early Victorian poke will be a lasting one; but -I think it will probably extend into the winter in the form of -comfortable velvet and feather creations, in which we shall all look -more or less like our grandmothers. Some of us will find them very -becoming indeed. The new pokes differ from the old ones in showing -entirely that pretty coil of back hair which is so charming a feature -of present-day hair-dressing. The old pokes of the beginning of the -present reign were not made to do this, nor were they furnished with -the pretty tulle strings which add so much to their becomingness. To -me, this ancient head-covering is always associated with black ostrich -tips and pink roses, but I may find out as the seasons roll that new -discoveries have been made in this also, and that will be a decided -gain, for there was, if pictures may be trusted, an unpleasant sameness -about the headgear of one’s forebears. - -The French sailor has been really distinctively the hat of the season. -It is a wonderful hat, for it suits everyone, and especially all those -difficult to suit on account of either having thin faces or possessed -of a few years too many. The brim, moreover, is not too wide, and -does not cast an unbecoming shadow. Many women invariably select this -shape, and fortunately it is always to be found, as its popularity is -quite assured. It is easy also to trim them for oneself, and select a -black one trimmed with black net, relieved, if you choose, with a paste -buckle; or else a white one trimmed entirely with white tulle or net. -These were the most fashionable things of this last season. Fancy gauze -is also worn, and the net and gauze ruchings that can be purchased -ready-made can be used for them. - -It has been also much in vogue during the last few weeks to have hats -of this French sailor shape in colours, _i.e._, greys, fawns, browns, -even drabs, trimmed with tulles of the same colour. These have been -very pretty, and will be in good taste for the autumn season, as they -are suitable for wearing with travelling dresses, and they will be -found to survive a good deal of hard wear. It is rather the fashion to -wear a veil of the same colour with these hats, the meshes of which are -chosen large and the veiling clear, with dots very far apart. Violets -and blues seem to me very becoming, but I cannot say that I think the -same of reds and pinks. Veils of white lace—washing lace as it is -called—are very much used with sailor hats again. - -[Illustration: A GOWN OF LACE AND VOILE.] - -Our illustration of a braided gown of fawn-coloured cloth shows the -last new style for autumn wear. The braiding is done in a darker shade -of fawn; or, in some cases, in black, or in white; but the dark shade -of the same hue is more fashionable. The hat is a lace straw, trimmed -with ostrich feathers and shaded roses of a dark hue, and strings of -black gauze. This hat, and that shown in our illustration of the single -head, are good examples of the autumn afternoon hat; and they are -suitable both for visiting, and for garden-parties in the country. The -autumn hat is of a white chip, or Panama straw, with black feathers, -black gauze, and a paste buckle; while under the brim is a cluster of -chrysanthemums in mauve and red. - -I wonder whether my readers have discovered for themselves the extreme -usefulness of voile as a material? I have illustrated a dress which -is, of course, suitable for dress occasions only, but which might be -modified, and would be just as suitable during the winter for quiet -evenings, as it would be for autumn garden parties. - -The gown of cashmere is far more simple. It has revers of satin to -match the colour of the cashmere, which is rather an uncommon shade of -borage-blue—that delightful shade, so clear and yet not at all crude -in tone. The hat is of blue, with a wreath of very tiny mauve flowers -resting on a scarf of blue, of the very palest shade of the same. - -If it should prove to be a fine autumn and winter, I hear it prophesied -on all sides that red will be more worn than even during last winter: -indeed, that all bright hues will be in favour. - -My last few lines must be devoted to the question of “hats in church,” -which seems just now a burning question in America. I read an account -lately, in an American journal, of the movement in a part of the -Methodist body to do away with the wearing of large hats in church, -where their use is even more objectionable than elsewhere in any place -where people gather together in numbers. It is said by the advocates -of the change that it is not contrary to Scripture, for at the time -when St. Paul wrote, the women were in a state of servitude and more -or less seclusion, and they are not so now. It seems probable that the -movement will spread throughout America. You will find that at many -public meetings there, and even here during the Congress, many women -took their hats off while the meetings were going on. - - - - -HOUSEHOLD HINTS. - - -THE register of a bedroom fireplace should never be closed, but left -open for free ventilation from above. - - -FIRE-IRONS and fenders not in use in the summer should not be -neglected, but kept constantly rubbed up and not allowed to rust. - - -PARSLEY is injurious to fowls, and should not be given to them. - - - - -THREE GIRL-CHUMS, AND THEIR LIFE IN LONDON ROOMS. - -BY FLORENCE SOPHIE DAVSON. - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -THE WATER-PARTY. - -“How did you enjoy yourself last evening, Marion?” asked Ada, on the -morning after Marion had paid her promised visit to Mrs. Holden. - -“Very much indeed.” - -“Was it a regular dinner-party?” - -“Oh, no, only just ourselves, you know—and Mr. Scott!” - -Jane looked very wise. - -“Madge made a delightful suggestion,” went on Marion quickly. “How -should you like a water-party, Jenny?” - -“The most delightful thing for this fine weather, but who would row?” - -“Mr. Holden and Mr. Scott are both thoroughly accustomed to it.” - -“Jenny and I can take turns,” said Ada; “we have always been accustomed -to it, but you never went in for it, did you?” - -“No, I can only steer,” said Marion, laughing. “I told Madge that we -would bring half the lunch and half the crockery. We can get tea at a -cottage that they know of.” - -“But you have not told us yet where we are going,” said Jane. - -“Oh, I forgot. Madge and her party will meet us at West End Lane -Station, and we will take the 9.20 train to Richmond; catch the one -that goes on to Twickenham, row to Teddington, land on the bank and -have lunch, and have tea at the cottage I spoke of.” - -“Just the very thing to brush the cobwebs out of our brains,” cried Ada -enthusiastically, “is it not, Jenny? We all want a treat, and we are -all rather fagged out. Is it to be this next Saturday?” - -“Yes, if we can arrange it in time.” - -“Well, there is very little to arrange, when one comes to think of it,” -said Ada meditatively, “unless Mrs. Holden thinks of inviting a big -party.” - -“No, just themselves and ourselves.” - -“Did she say what part of the lunch she would prefer to bring?” - -“She suggested the meat and also the drinks.” - -“Ah!” laughed Jane, “she thinks it wise to ensure something solid for -her husband and brother! And we are to bring the sweets, and so on? -Then do have a tomato salad; it is the most delightfully cooling thing -you can have on a hot day.” - -“My good girl, how in the world can we pack it? I suppose you mean to -take the tomatoes and make it as it is wanted; but that is rather a -nuisance. My experience of water-parties is that you never land for -lunch until you are so famished that to make a salad is the last thing -anyone wishes, and any materials of that sort are thankfully despatched -in the raw!” - -“But we can,” urged Jane. “How can an old person like you be supposed -to understand the latest contrivances of the age? We can slice the -tomatoes and put them in layers in a jam pot with the oil, vinegar, -chopped parsley and onion, and tie the whole down. It will stand up -quite well in a corner of the hamper, and will not upset.” - -“Bravo, Jenny, we will certainly have one. _Is that your own idea?_” - -“It is my own idea, and I intend to patent it,” said Jane, with -dignity, “so please see that you do not infringe my rights. Now one of -you can suggest a suitable sweet.” - -“It is rather difficult,” said Marion. “Shapes pack so badly, and -pastry is apt to crumble. Jelly has an unfortunate habit of turning -into soup just when it is wanted.” - -“Perhaps it will be better to stick to fresh fruit,” said Ada. - -“We must have something else,” said Marion meditatively. “How would it -be if we took the materials for a Cicely pudding? It only takes a few -minutes to make.” - -This suggestion met with warm approval from the two others, for the -Cicely pudding was an old favourite, the brilliant invention of a -mutual friend in the country; but for the recipe thereof the gentle -reader must be content to wait awhile. - -“Very well,” said Jenny, “Marion shall make the Cicely pudding, and I -will make the tomato salad. What will Ada do?” - -“Make the sandwiches,” said Ada promptly. “There must be sandwiches, -some of anchovy and hard-boiled egg, and some of cucumber.” - -“Shall I order a sandwich loaf?” asked Marion. - -“No, I think not. I prefer ‘Florentines,’ they are handier in every -way.” - -“Florentines” are little long-shaped milk rolls, something the shape of -sponge fingers, but rather larger, and as they only require to be split -and spread, much time is saved, and so it was settled. - -On Friday evening, whilst Ada was making the sandwiches, Marion made up -and looked over the weekly accounts up to that evening. She knew there -would be no time on Saturday, as they would be late back. A box of -fresh eggs had been sent from her country home on the Monday previous, -and this had served famously for the week’s breakfasts. - -This is the dinner list:— - -_Sunday._ - - Fried Mutton Cutlets. - Potatoes. - Green Peas. - Gooseberry Shape. - -_Monday._ - - Leek Soup. - Veal Cutlets (cooked in the oven). - Potatoes. - Macaroni Cheese. - -_Tuesday._ - - Veal and Ham Patties. - Poached Eggs on Endive. - -_Wednesday._ - - Boiled Neck of Mutton and Vegetables. - Steamed Ground Rice Pudding and Jam. - -_Thursday._ - - Potato Soup. - Fried Cauliflower in Batter. - Bread and Fruit Pudding (cold). - -_Friday._ - - Cauliflower Soup. - Grilled Mackerel. - Stewed Gooseberries. - -The food account was as follows:— - - £ s. d. - 1½ lb. neck of mutton (cutlets) 0 1 0 - 1 lb. veal cutlet 0 0 10 - 1½ qrts. gooseberries 0 0 9 - 1 lb. cheese 0 0 7 - ½ lb. macaroni 0 0 2 - Leeks 0 0 2 - Flavouring vegetables 0 0 3 - Endive 0 0 2 - Potatoes 0 0 8 - 1½ lb. neck of mutton (for boiling) 0 0 10½ - 2 cauliflowers 0 0 5 - 2 mackerel 0 0 10 - 8 loaves 0 2 4 - Milk 0 1 9 - ½ lb. tea 0 0 10 - 1½ lb. Demerara 0 0 3 - ½ lb. loaf 0 0 1 - Sponge cakes 0 0 6 - Jug of thick cream 0 1 0 - Small jar of greengage jam 0 0 6 - 2 punnets of strawberries 0 1 4 - Tin of anchovy paste 0 0 3½ - Florentines 0 3 0 - 1 lb. tomatoes 0 0 8 - ----------- - £0 19 3 - -“Where are the strawberries?” asked Jane as she looked over Marion’s -shoulder. “I have not seen them.” - -“We are to call for them at the greengrocer’s the first thing, and -have them directly they come from market. I was afraid to have them in -overnight for fear of their getting too juicy.” - -Early next morning the sunshine streamed into Marion’s room and awoke -her with the promise of a happy day. She rose and dressed quickly and -was down the first, looking delightfully cool and fresh in a white coat -and skirt. She busied herself with packing the hamper, and as she set -to work down came Jane, resplendent in blue. She got out the tomatoes, -sliced them quickly and arranged them in layers in a large jam pot, -sprinkling oil, vinegar, chopped parsley and onion in between. Then she -tied a new jam cover over, and put her _chef d’œuvre_ carefully in the -hamper. - -“You two busy bees make me feel so disgracefully lazy,” cried Ada as -she ran in a few minutes later. “I quite intended to be the first -to-day. I will get you some breakfast to make amends,” so saying she -quickly laid the table in the sitting-room, and made the tea. As soon -as the hamper was packed, they sat down to a hasty meal. As they were -finishing there was a ring at the bell. - -“I declare I had forgotten all about the post!” cried Jane. “A letter -without a stamp, I suppose. I hear Abigail speaking to him.” - -But it was not the post, for the door opened, and Mr. Tom Scott was -shown in. - -“I hope you will excuse me, Miss Thomas,” he said to Marion as he shook -hands and was introduced to the other two. “I was so afraid that you -might find the hamper with the crockery too heavy to carry, and my -sister said she thought I might venture to call and see if I could be -of any assistance.” - -“We are just coming,” said Marion, smiling. “Thank you; I don’t think -we should have found the hamper too heavy.” - -Ada and Jane disappeared to make the final preparations; Marion picked -up her hat from off the little side-table and pinned it on, listening -to Mr. Scott as he discussed the day’s proceedings. Soon Jane came back -bearing the hamper in triumph, of which Mr. Scott immediately took -possession, and so the party set out. - -On the way they called for the strawberries as arranged. They got to -the station just in time to meet Mrs. Holden and her husband, who had -just arrived, having taken the next train after Tom Scott. They had -only a few minutes to wait for the Richmond train. Marion was just -going to get the tickets for her party, but she was prevented by her -friend Madge, who explained that the railway-tickets represented her -husband’s share of the entertainment and the boat her brother’s, so -it was no good protesting. So, as Jane afterwards described it (with -a sigh of content at the recollection), “they went to Twickenham like -dukes and duchesses in first-class carriages,” adding sagely, “Being a -working woman has one great advantage, for one certainly knows how to -appreciate the good things of existence when they fall to one’s share.” - -The day was glorious; a deep blue sky scarcely flecked with clouds, -brilliant sunshine, not a breath of wind. The train was very full, and -there were many other merry parties besides their own. Everyone seemed -taking a holiday. At Richmond they had to run quickly over the bridge -for the Twickenham train, which they just managed to catch; as they -caught a glimpse of the river and saw how crowded and covered with -boats it was just there, they all felt glad that they had arranged -to start a little higher up, where they would have more space. At -Twickenham they got out and walked through the hot streets of the -quaint old town to the water’s edge, where under the trees the boat was -ready for them. - -So they all got in—Mr. Holden and Tom Scott rowing, Jane and Ada -comfortably reclining in the bow, Mrs. Holden and Marion in the stern. -The boat glided gently along. Marion had never seen this part of the -river before, as she had had little leisure for pleasure parties since -she came to live in town, and she was delighted with the beauty of the -scene. Tom Scott showed her Pope’s Villa and other places of interest. -In spite of the heat, Jane seemed blessed with a superabundance of -energy, and after a time she took Mr. Holden’s oar and rowed so well -that he declared himself surpassed. Now they neared the towers of -Hampton Court, and finding a suitable little island shaded by willows, -they moored to a tree and prepared for lunch, for which they all had -excellent appetites. - -“We have to make our pudding, you know,” said Marion, laughing. - -“Going to do cooking out of doors?” asked Mr. Scott. “Shall I make a -field oven?” - -“No, we don’t need to do any cooking, and it will all be ready in five -minutes,” she answered, and set to work. - -She brought out the sponge cakes, split them in half, and put half -of them at the bottom of a large pie-dish that she had brought with -her; this she spread with a thick layer of greengage jam, then she put -another layer of sponge cake. “Now, Jenny, the strawberries,” she said; -but Jenny had already got them out and was busy picking off the stalks. -When this was done, she arranged them on the cake in a thick layer, -sprinkled them thickly with castor sugar, and lastly spread thick -cream, which she had brought in its own brown jar, over the whole. As a -last touch, a few “hundreds and thousands” were quickly sprinkled over -the top, and the dish was finished, amidst the admiring plaudits of -Madge and her party. - -Jane’s tomato salad went excellently with the cold lamb which Mrs. -Holden had provided, and the whole repast went off well. Ada’s -sandwiches kept perfectly fresh, as they were wrapped in a damp cloth -before being packed, and they were much liked. - -After lunch the indefatigable Jane washed up, Mrs. Holden and Ada -helping her, and repacked the hamper. They then rowed across the river -to the Palace. Marion suggested looking at the pictures, and Tom Scott -offered to conduct her, with an alacrity that was quite surprising, -considering that he had been expressing his absolute ignorance of the -subject about five minutes before. - -“Will you come, too, Madge?” - -No; Madge preferred to be lazy and sit out of doors, admiring the -orange trees—Mr. Holden also, and Ada. Jane thought she would like to -go, and so the three started off. The cool shade of the great rooms was -a delightful change after the glare of the gardens, and they sauntered -through, admiring the pictures and carving and the beautiful views seen -through the open windows. Jane was very much amused with an old Dutch -picture representing a street scene with no sky; the perspective was so -odd that she declared the people were walking on the wall like flies. -She ran back to the other two to tell them to come and look at it, but -they seemed so deeply engaged in conversation that she did not disturb -them. - -“You can’t think how delightful it all is after the lonely life I have -been leading for three years,” she heard. - -When they went out again to the others, the afternoon was growing -cooler. They all went back to the boat, for they were now to row a -little way in the direction of Twickenham and to land at a cottage, -where tea was ordered beforehand. - -Jane rowed again, and by the time the cottage was reached was quite -willing to let the old woman in charge make the tea as she was getting -just a little tired. She did justice, however, as they all did, to the -good things provided—the honey, which the old woman’s bees had made, -the strawberries from the cottage garden, the home-made bread and -delicious country butter. - -In the cool of the evening our merry party started to row back to -Twickenham, Marion steering under Mr. Scott’s direction, who was rowing -just in front of her. They just caught the train at Twickenham, and so -ended a very happy day. - -(_To be continued._) - - - - -SHEILA’S COUSIN EFFIE. - -A STORY FOR GIRLS. - -BY EVELYN EVERETT-GREEN, Author of “Greyfriars,” “Half-a-dozen -Sisters,” etc. - - -CHAPTER XXI. - -BROTHERLY COUNSEL. - -“Oscar, now that we are alone, now that nobody can interrupt us, I want -to talk to you about my plan.” - -Sheila’s face was flushed, her big eyes were sparkling. She looked less -the child, Oscar thought, and more the woman than when he had seen -her last. He had been struck by this when he first saw her on board -the boat. He had thought the same thing many times that day as the -thundering express bore them from Plymouth to London. Now they were -alone in Sheila’s room in the hotel where they were to spend the night. -A big fire blazed on the hearth. The curtains were drawn, and brother -and sister were alone together. The rumble in the streets below made a -ceaseless murmur, but it was different from the rattle and roar of the -train. They could talk at their ease now. - -On the way up to town Sheila had poured her whole history into Oscar’s -ears, and had heard the story of his own trouble at home, and the -shadow which rested upon him. She had not said much, there had been no -excited outburst such as he had expected. Perhaps the presence of other -people in the carriage was a check upon her, or perhaps she had learned -something of the lesson of self-control and reticence. - -Anyway she had been unwontedly quiet during the last hours of the -journey, and Oscar, who had felt very weary after his long hasty night -journey down to Plymouth, had dozed in his corner. But now, after -their arrival here, after their substantial meal below, they had come -upstairs for a confidential talk which had been impossible before. - -“Oscar, I have thought it all out. It came to me first on ship-board, -even before I knew anything about you and what had happened in the -office. (Why didn’t you tell me in your letters?) I made up my mind -then and there that I would never, never, never live at Cossart Place -again. Aunt Cossart has behaved infamously to me. She has tried to -spoil my life and make me always wretched and miserable. I will never -forgive her. I will never see her again!” - -Oscar looked straight at his sister, but said nothing, for Sheila was -proceeding with her old impetuosity. - -“You can’t understand what it was like there. Even Mrs. Reid understood -and was indignant. Oh, yes, I know she was, by the little things she -said, though, of course, she would not say much. Everybody knew. I feel -as though I could never bear to see any of them again. She is a hateful -woman. The Barretts told me how furious people were with her when they -knew she was going to send me home. Everybody guessed why—that was the -horridest part of it. And I had been so happy. Everybody was so kind, -and I had to go without even saying good-bye, but I felt I couldn’t—I -couldn’t! The Barrett girls declared they believed everybody would cut -them for it. I’m sure I hope they will! Oh, I can’t help being angry—I -can’t indeed!” - -“Sheila dear, don’t get excited,” said Oscar soothingly. “I can -understand that it was very hard. It is very hard to be misunderstood, -and to have things put down to us that we know we have not done, but we -have talked over all that before. Tell me about this plan of yours.” - -“Oh, yes. Oscar, you will be twenty-one soon, won’t you?” - -“Yes. What has that to do with it?” - -“Everything, for you will have command over our money then.” - -“Yes; at least over my half, anyway, perhaps over it all. But it is not -much, Sheila.” - -“I know it is not; but it is enough to make us a little home. Now -listen, Oscar, for I have it all planned out. You shall go on at the -office if you must, because it’s something to do, and Uncle Tom has -been kind in a way, though if he suspects you—however, we won’t talk -any more about that. But we won’t go on living with the Cossarts any -more, I’m quite determined on that. We shall have enough to have a -little home of our own, even if it’s only a lodging; and you will go to -the office, and I’ll try and get some music pupils, or little children -to teach in the mornings, or something to help. And I’ll keep our home -as nice as possible, and we’ll have cosy evenings together, and we’ll -have nothing to do with the people who have behaved so badly to us. Oh, -I don’t mean that we’ll cut them or anything, but we won’t go on living -with them and eating their bread. I couldn’t possibly dream of going -back to Cossart Place ever; and they don’t want me at Uncle Tom’s, and -besides, how could I go on living in the same house with that Cyril? I -can’t think how you can do it, Oscar, I really can’t.” - -Sheila leant forward with flushed cheeks and shining eyes. Oscar was -leaning back in his chair, his face a little in the shadow. Sheila -had been struck on first seeing him with the sharpened look of his -features, and the tired expression in his eyes; the same thing struck -her again more forcibly at this moment, although she spoke no word of -it. - -“Say you think it a nice plan, Oscar, for I’m sure you do!” she cried -eagerly. - -“No, Sheila, I don’t think it would do,” he said slowly. - -“Oh, Oscar, what do you mean? I’m sure it would. We should be so happy -together, you and I. And it’s often so horrid being with people who -misunderstand us. I think we’ve had enough of that. Oh, don’t say you -won’t think of it!” - -“I am thinking of it, Sheila, I’m thinking hard, for I hate to thwart -you; but I don’t think it would do, and you would find that living in -a very small way, and trying to earn something yourself, are two very -difficult matters for people brought up as we have been.” - -“But, Oscar, we should belong to ourselves and each other. We should be -free from those horrid things that happen in other people’s houses.” - -“But we should have other troubles and worries to face, Sheila. And do -you know, I think it would not only be very ungrateful to our relations -to take ourselves off like that, but I think it would be very bad for -us ourselves.” - -“Bad for us? I don’t understand.” - -“I think it is always bad for people to rebel too much against the life -which—well—which God seems to have arranged for them. Sheila, don’t you -think that in the old days you and I had rather too much of our own -way?” - -“I never thought about it—did we?” - -“I think so. Everything was made so smooth for us, and we had so few -battles to fight. I sometimes think it might have been better for us -if we had had more. Sheila, take my case; it is true I know nothing -about this lost money, but in one sense the fault is mine. I always did -the thing that was the easiest and pleasantest at the moment, though -North warned me again and again that my easy-going ways were slovenly, -and might lead to confusion and worse. I never quite believed him, and -never seriously tried to conquer my tendencies, and you see what has -happened. Whoever is to blame, the thing could not have been but for my -fault.” - -“Well, I think that’s a very hard way of looking at it; but what then?” - -“I have not quite finished, Sheila; I want to talk about your case. -It has been something the same with you, little sister. You have -always liked to drift along easily with the current, doing what was -pleasantest at the moment. If people were kind and made you welcome, -you responded to all their overtures, without always stopping to think -what Aunt Cossart would like, or if it were quite considerate to Effie. -They were quite small things, but little by little they made trouble; -and then came this great storm which has made you so miserable. You -were not to blame, as I was; I don’t think you were ever warned, and it -was difficult for you to see from day to day how things were going; but -I think perhaps, Sheila, we have both been selfish in our own way, and -have not thought enough——” - -“You’re not selfish, you’re not careless,” cried Sheila interrupting -excitedly. “I only wish I were one quarter as good. Oh, Oscar, I do -believe I have been selfish, though I never meant it. I never thought -of such a thing. We have always been used to being happy—to have people -like us. It seemed so natural. I didn’t mean any harm.” - -“No, Sheila, I am sure you didn’t; but you know life is not given to us -just to enjoy for ourselves. We must try and think of other people too, -to put them first. It is harder for you than for some, because father -always spoiled you; and everybody likes you, and you are so pretty and -fascinating.” - -But Sheila jumped up and put her hand upon his lips. - -“Don’t, Oscar! I don’t want to be praised; I begin to feel that I have -been rather naughty and selfish, though I wouldn’t believe it when my -conscience pricked now and then. I was wrong to be so furious with Aunt -Cossart. Sometimes it made me a little frightened—when I wanted to say -my prayers—and didn’t know how to get out ‘Forgive us our trespasses, -as we forgive—’ Oh, Oscar, I don’t think I’ve forgiven Aunt Cossart -yet. Suppose there had been a storm, and the vessel had sunk! How -dreadful that would have been!” - -“You will forgive everything, Sheila, when you think about it a little -more. When we begin to understand how many faults we have ourselves, we -see that we must forgive, we can’t help it. Everything seems to sink -out of sight except the thought of His forgiveness of us, and what it -cost to win it.” - -Sheila suddenly fell upon her knees before Oscar, and looked anxiously -into his face. It was seldom indeed he had spoken to her quite so -openly. A quick thrill of anxiety ran through her. - -“Oscar, have you forgiven Cyril?” - -“Yes,” he answered in a low voice. “Indeed, sometimes I think it is he -who has to forgive me more than I him. For remember, Sheila, it was my -carelessness that put in his way the opportunity—suggested, perhaps, -the temptation. When I think of that, I feel that it is I who need the -forgiveness.” - -Sheila looked awed at the thought suggested—that terrible thought so -often overlooked and set aside, that not alone to ourselves do we sin -and do amiss; but that in some way or other our comrades and friends -may become involved in our wrong-doing. - -“‘_Sic vos non vobis_,’” quoted Oscar in a dreamy fashion. “I begin to -understand those words, Sheila, as I never did before.” - -“But it is rather dreadful, Oscar; it makes it seem as though our sins -went on and on so!” - -“Yes, that is what I want to understand better. Our sins are forgiven, -but the effects of them so often go on and on. We must think of that, -too, Sheila; it will help to make our faults hateful to us. It will -make us more patient when we have to bear blame that we do not quite -merit; for how much more blame do we deserve than we ever get!” - -Sheila was silent a long time, looking up into Oscar’s face. - -“And my plan?” she asked tentatively. - -“Would be a selfish one,” answered Oscar quickly, “for it would hurt -the feelings of our relations; and I think it would be a shirking of -the discipline of life, which we both stand in so much need of, Sheila!” - -“You don’t.” - -“Yes, I do. It would be very much pleasanter for us to have a little -independent crib of our own, where we should be able to indulge -ourselves and each other, and get away from all the little frictions -of life in a family where things are not done quite in the way we have -been used to. But it would be like running away from what seems to -have been given us to bear; and I expect we should find we soon had a -big new crop of worries and bothers, quite as big as the old ones. So -I think, Sheila, we will not force things ourselves. We will go back -to Uncle Tom’s, and wait and see what turns up. We will both try and -be patient, and do what is right, never minding whether or not it is -what we like best ourselves. We must try and learn the lesson of not -pleasing ourselves always. You know Who set us the example of that?” - -Sheila subsided upon the floor, and laid her head on Oscar’s knee, -taking his hand between hers. - -“You are getting so good, Oscar,” she said, “I am almost afraid of you. -You are not ill, are you?” - -“Ill? No. Why do you ask?” - -“Because you don’t look well, and when people are so very very good, -one sometimes fancies they are——” - -Sheila paused, and Oscar said with a little tone of mirth in his quiet -voice— - -“I am not going to die of goodness yet, Sheila! You need not be afraid -on that score.” - -It was with a good deal of shrinking that Sheila prepared to face -the Cossarts on the morrow. She knew that they would by this time -have received the letter her aunt must have written, and that Mrs. -Cossart would not have drawn her picture with a very strict regard -to truth. She would have thought more of justifying her precipitate -action than of anything else; and Sheila was terribly sensitive -where Ronald Dumaresq was concerned, and felt as though any mention -of his name would be worse than the cut of a whip. And her cousins -were not sensitive on these points. They would be almost certain to -cross-question her and make a joke of everything. - -It needed all her courage and resolution to face the meeting; but when -they drew up at the door and were met by Ray in the passage, it was not -of Sheila’s sudden return that the whole house was thinking. Indeed Ray -only gave her a rather hurried kiss, warm and sisterly, but distinctly -hasty, and then turned to Oscar and took him by the shoulders, bringing -him into the strong light of the window. - -“Oscar, how are you? Are you sure you feel well?” - -“Y—yes, all right, just a little tired with all the travelling, you -know. But what do you ask for?” - -“Oh, we are in such a fright. Typhoid fever has broken out in the town. -The little office-boy you have been visiting so often has it; and -everybody was saying that you were looking ill. Five cases are reported -to-day, and they say there will be more. You are quite sure you are -well, Oscar? Sheila, did he eat his breakfast this morning?” - -“He hardly ate anything either last night or to-day,” cried Sheila, in -sudden anxiety. “He has a bad headache. We thought it was from the long -journey.” - -The girls stood looking at each other in dismay. The same fear was in -both hearts. Oscar turned from them and began climbing the stairs with -a strange languor in his movements. - -“I think I’ll go to my room,” he said, “but don’t bother, I shall be -all right there.” - -“He’s got it!” cried Ray, under her breath; and Sheila turned white to -the lips. - -(_To be continued._) - - - - -OUR PUZZLE POEMS: AN ACCIDENTAL CYCLE. - -FOREIGN AWARDS. - - -AN ACCIDENTAL CYCLE I. - - -_Prize Winners (Seven Shillings Each)._ - - Polly Lawrance, Elridge, Belle Ville, St. Michael, Barbados. - Mrs. G. Marrett, Hyderabad, Deccan, India. - Helen Shilstone, Ellangowan, Fontabelle, Barbados. - - -_Very Highly Commended._ - -Ethel Beven (Ceylon), Nellie M. Daft (Portugal), Katy Donaldson -(France), Hilda Jonklaas (Ceylon), M. R. Laurie (Barbados), H. Low -(Canada), Florence Stephenson (Cape Town). - - -_Highly Commended._ - -Sadie Barrat (Canada), Louis E. Blazé (Ceylon), Elsie Davies -(Australia), L. Gamlen (France), Clara J. Hardy (Australia), J. W. -W. Hogan (Penang), Josephine E. Jones (Portugal), Jessie Mitchell -(Canada), Gertrude E. Moore (New Zealand), L. O’Sullivan (Rangoon), -Mrs. Talbot Smith (S. Australia), Mrs. Sprigg (Cape Colony), Mrs. -Waddington (Bermuda). - - -_Honourable Mention._ - -Mrs. H. Andrews (Canada), Maggie Glasgow (Australia), Mabel C. King -(Canada), Mrs. Hastings Ogilvie (Deccan), Mrs. W. T. Moore (Bengal), G. -Waterstrom (Australia), Gladys Wilding (New Zealand). - - * * * * * - - -AN ACCIDENTAL CYCLE II. - - -_Prize Winners (Seven Shillings Each)._ - - Elizabeth M. Lang, 17, Rue Bayard, Pau, France. - Maude Saunders, Ascott House, Church Street, Abbotsford, Melbourne. - Helen Shilstone, Ellangowan, Fontabelle, Barbados. - - -_Most Highly Commended._ - -M. Browne (India), Clara J. Hardy, Edith Hardy (Australia), Agnes L. -Lewis (Switzerland), Elsie M. Otheman (New York), Mrs. Coupland Thomas -(California). - - -_Very Highly Commended._ - -Sadie Barrat (Canada), Florence L. Beeckman (New York), Elsie Binns -(New Jersey), Rose Creed (Lille), Nellie M. Daft (Lisbon), Elsie N. -Davies, Maggie Glasgow (Australia), Susan H. Greaves (Barbados), -J. W. W. Hogan (Penang), Anna I. Hood (France), Josephine E. Jones -(Portugal), Hilda Jonklaas (Ceylon), F. G. B. King, M. R. Laurie, Polly -Lawrance (Barbados), H. Low (Canada), Elizabeth MacPherson (Australia), -Gertrude E. Moore (New Zealand), James Roberts (Jamaica), Mrs. Rose -(India), John S. Sutherland (Antigua), Annie G. Taylor (Australia), -M. A. Thomas (California), Gena Thomson (Australia), Mrs. Waddington -(Bermuda), G. Waterstrom, Elsie M. Wylie (Australia). - - -_Highly Commended._ - -Mrs. H. Andrews (Canada), Florence E. Bapty (India), Hilda T. Batten -(New Zealand), Winifred Bizzey (Canada), Madeleine Bonzel (France), -Mrs. H. Campbell (Demerara), Grace Carmichael (Barbados), Lillian -Dobson (Australia), Clara Downs (Barbados), Emily H. Glass (India), -Annette M. Gray, Ruby Guest (Australia), L. Guibert (Mauritius), -Gertrude Hunt (New Zealand), May Koenig (Germany), Clara Lapata -(Brussels), Sarah Lewis (South Africa), Mrs. G. Marrett (India), Jessie -Mitchell (Canada), Lottie Moore (Australia), L. O’Sullivan, Hilda -D’Rozario (India), Mrs. Sprigg, Florence Stephenson (South Africa), -Emily Suttaby (Canada), Ada F. Sykes, Lucie K. Thompson, Herbert Traill -(India), Ethel M. Wilson (New Zealand). - - * * * * * - - -AN ACCIDENTAL CYCLE III. - - -_Prize Winners (Half-a-Guinea Each)._ - - Elsie V. Davies, Wheatland Road, Malvern, Victoria, Australia. - Edith Lewis, 200, De Grassi Street, Toronto, Canada. - - -_Very Highly Commended._ - -Jessie Arthur (New Zealand), Mrs. H. Campbell (Demerara), Florence -Deeth (France), Maude Gibney (Switzerland), Clara J. Hardy, Edith Hardy -(Australia), Mabel C. King (Canada), M. R. Laurie, Polly Lawrance -(Barbados), Mrs. Manners (India), Gertrude E. Moore (New Zealand), -Mrs. E. E. Murray (Australia), Helen Shilstone (Barbados), Mrs. Talbot -Smith (S. Australia), Emily Suttah (Canada), Ada F. Sykes (India), -Annie G. Taylor (Australia), Mrs. Waddington (Bermuda), Mrs. J. Whitton -(Tasmania). - - -_Highly Commended._ - -Florence E. Bapty (India), Rose Creed (France), Emily H. Glass (India), -Ethel L. Glendenning (New Zealand), Louise Guibert (Mauritius), -Gertrude Hunt (New Zealand), J. W. W. Hogan (Penang), Nellie M. -Jenkinson (Australia), Hilda Jonklaas (Ceylon), May Koenig (Germany), -Elizabeth M. Lang (France), Clara Lapata (Brussels), Mrs. G. Marrett, -Mrs. Hastings Ogilvie, Hilda D’Rozario (India), Maud Saunders -(Australia), John S. Sutherland (Antigua), Lucie K. Thompson (India), -G. Waterstrom, Jessie M. Webster (Australia). - - - - -QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. - - -TRAINING IN HOUSEWIFERY.—“_As a regular and appreciative reader of THE -GIRL’S OWN PAPER, I have become much interested in the question of -higher grade housekeeping. I have obtained the consent of my parents -to enter a home to be trained. Would you kindly furnish me with the -addresses of some establishments where training is given?_—KATE.” - -“Kate’s” determination to equip herself thoroughly for the duties -of housekeeping, is a most wise one. The girl who is trained in all -departments of domestic work can turn her knowledge to account in -every situation in life in which she may be placed, and is never -likely to find the problem of earning her bread a difficult one. -“Kate,” doubtless, knows already the National Training School of -Cookery and Domestic Economy, Buckingham Palace Road. This institution -is principally intended for the training of teachers, and we judge -from “Kate’s” letter that in her case a school would be preferred -that trains girls specifically for domestic employment. A School -of Housewifery and Domestic Science of this kind has lately been -established in connection with the North Hackney High School for -Girls, at 101, Stamford Hill, N. “Kate” would be well advised to visit -this school and see the classes at work. In the country are many -excellent schools. Good housewifery training can be obtained at several -institutions in the country. The following are all well recommended: -Belsize House, Brunswick Square, Gloucester, in connection with the -Gloucestershire School of Cookery and Domestic Economy, principal, -Miss Florence Baddeley; Camp End School for Household Training, near -Malvern, conducted by Miss Buck and Miss Brander; Fryerne School of -Household Management, Fryerne, Caterham, principal, Miss Mitchell; -and the Wiltshire School of Cookery and Domestic Economy, Trowbridge, -secretary, Miss A. Bridgman. At each of these institutions, resident -pupils are received, and the course of training consists not only of -cookery, but of household work generally. - - -BOOK ILLUSTRATION.—“_I have taken lessons in drawing and painting for -five years, and except for holding a second-class certificate instead -of a first in one subject, I have gained the art class teacher’s -certificate. Just lately I have been taking lessons in black and white -work, and should like to become a book-illustrator._—J. L. R.” - -We do not wish to damp the hopes of “J. L. R.,” but it takes much more -than lessons in the technique of black and white drawing to make a -book-illustrator. Girls who become successful illustrators show early -a real talent for drawing. They can not only copy an object before -them, but they can express in a few strokes certain clever, effective, -or humorous ideas, which are born within their own brain. Without the -possession of this rare gift, we could not advise a girl to turn her -thoughts towards book-illustration or even towards drawing of any -kind, if it is necessary for her to earn money by it. All the best -illustrators, fashion artists, designers of covers, etc., seem to be -agreed that an artist cannot be taught much more than the principles -of drawing, but that everything else must be acquired by the individual -through constant study and thought. No doubt the beginner is much -helped by observing good illustrative work, and even by trying to -copy it. It is also a good plan to enter for some of the competitions -which are held by the editors of the art magazines. We would, however, -seek to dissuade “J. L. R.” from becoming a teacher of art, as it is -most difficult for all but the most gifted women to obtain permanent -employment as teachers of drawing and painting alone. - - -_A correspondent, E. A. E., asks the association connected with the -words “Quo vadis?”_ - -When the persecution under Nero first broke out in Rome, the tradition -runs that St. Peter was persuaded by his friends to flee from the city. -He was hurrying along the Appian Way, when suddenly he was encountered -face to face by his risen Lord. In amazement he asked, “_Domine, quo -vadis?_” (Master, whither goest Thou?) “I go to Rome,” was the answer, -“to be crucified afresh.” “But, Lord, wast Thou not crucified once for -all?” “I saw thee fleeing from death,” replied the Master, “and I go to -be crucified in thy stead.” Abashed at the implied rebuke, St. Peter -turned again, cheered by the Divine utterance, “Fear not, for I am with -thee.” A little church now marks the legendary site of the interview. -This beautiful story is given by Origen, and is also found in the “Acts -of Peter and Paul” in _Apocryphal Writings_ (Ante-Nicene fathers). - - - - -ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. - - -GIRLS’ EMPLOYMENTS. - -MARY H. C. (_Stewardess_).—The position of stewardess is not easy -for a girl to obtain who has no connection with steamship companies. -The companies usually prefer for these appointments the widows or -daughters of employees. It is not also a position for which quite a -young girl would be thought eligible. We think your parents are very -wise in desiring you to know a trade, as an employment of this kind -can always be practised; but there is, as you say, the difficulty that -many trades which girls can adopt are of a sedentary character, and -might not suit you for that reason. How would you like dairy-work? This -is a good business to know, as girls who can take charge of dairies -or teach dairy-work are often wanted. You could be well taught in the -Reading Agricultural College (where you might also learn poultry and -bee-keeping), at the County Council Dairy Institute, Worleston, near -Nantwich, Cheshire, or at the Midland Dairy Institute, Kingston, Notts. -Laundry-work also is a most remunerative business to anyone who has -been trained for the post of manageress in a steam laundry; but as you -are not very strong, this might not prove a desirable occupation for -you. - -BLACKAMOOR (_Companion, etc._).—1. You are one of our quite young -readers, we divine, and so perhaps will not take it amiss if we observe -that your spelling is a trifle weak; but as you write carefully this -will doubtless soon be improved. When you are older, we think you will -give up the idea of becoming a lady’s companion, and think it rather a -poor employment. Some girls make themselves valued in this capacity, -but they are young women who understand household duties thoroughly, -and can, as the expression goes, turn their hand to anything. But we -should like you to try in preference to do some one thing well, in -particular, as this is the more useful faculty nowadays.—2. Your second -question shows that you have the laudable ambition of a true Scottish -girl to become well educated. You aspire to obtain a “bursary,” or, as -we call it in England, a “scholarship,” at some school whence you could -eventually proceed to Girton. The St. Leonard’s School at St. Andrew’s -is a particularly good one. We advise you to write to the Principal, -asking her whether any bursaries are offered by the school for which -you could compete. You could also obtain some useful preliminary -instruction through the St. George’s Oral and Correspondence Classes, -of which the secretary is Miss S. E. Murray, 5, Melville Street, -Edinburgh. Pupils are helped in home study through these classes, and -also prepared for the Edinburgh Local Examinations. - -K. L. (_Journalistic Work in China or Japan_).—China would offer no -field for journalistic employment to girls of nineteen, and is almost -the last country to select. Japan would be much safer, but we doubt -whether it would offer much field for journalistic work. If you wish -to become a journalist, surely, as your home is in Canada, it would be -much wiser to try the United States. You could at all events obtain -journalistic experience there, and a few years later you would be in -a better position to judge whether the East could offer you congenial -employment. No doubt if you did not require to earn money, it might be -quite possible to gratify your wish for Oriental travel; but as this -is not the case you would only be encountering insuperable obstacles -by trying at your age to introduce Western ideas concerning girls’ -employment into the East. - -DOLLY VARDEN (_Telephone Clerkship_).—You wish to know at what age -girls can be received into a telephone office. The National Telephone -Company accepts girls between the ages of seventeen and nineteen. -Their height, it is stipulated, must be not less than 5 feet 3 inches. -They must bring with them two letters of recommendation and a doctor’s -certificate. Good education and pronunciation are also demanded. Clerks -are engaged on a monthly agreement, and are received at first on -probation without payment, and afterwards at 5s. a week for half-time, -namely four hours a day. When engaged for full time, that is, eight -hours a day, less time for luncheon and tea, they are paid 5s. a week, -rising by 1s. a week yearly to 15s. Promotion to higher and better paid -work is accorded to suitable girls in order of seniority. We rather -fear that the complaint from which you have suffered might prove to be -an obstacle in your way, as the duties of a telephone clerk entail much -standing. - -MAY DÉSIRÉE (_Telephone Clerkship_).—See reply to “Dolly Varden,” in -which we have dealt with this employment fully. - -TOPSY (_Stewardess, etc._).—1. Positions as stewardess are only to be -obtained through the steamship companies; but would it not be wiser, -Topsy, to remain a dairy-maid as you are at present? A girl who knows -dairy-work is useful in all parts of the country and colonies, and has -a far better chance of earning her living, if she loses a situation, -than a stewardess out of place.—2. Used postage stamps have no value. - - -MEDICAL. - -FELICITAS.—You cannot be too careful about the baby’s bottle. We -suppose the bottle is of value, but it is responsible for so much -suffering and illness of infants that we really doubt whether we would -not be better without it. There are two forms of baby’s bottles, -the old-fashioned torpedo-shaped bottle, clumsy, troublesome, and -inconvenient, but withal possible to clean, and necessitating careful -feeding, and the newer “Alexandra” bottle, convenient, no trouble, -æsthetic, but impossible to keep clean, and allowing carelessness in -feeding the infant. Never use the new bottle—it is quite impossible to -clean india-rubber; the bottle gets dirty, sour milk collects in the -tube, the child gets dyspepsia, and may die simply from a dirty bottle. -You must not let a child suck at the bottle at all hours of the day -and night, “just to keep it quiet and allow its mother a little rest.” -Children must be fed regularly. The habit of giving children things -to eat or suck to keep them quiet is responsible for a vast number of -deaths and lives of misery and uselessness. Indeed, it is not too much -to say that this pernicious practice of giving babies something to eat -or drink to prevent them from crying is more fatal to infants than all -the infectious diseases from which they suffer put together. You must -keep the bottle clean, and immediately after use rinse it out with -boiling water, and keep it soaking in boracic acid solution, and again -rinse it out with hot water before using it. - -BONNIE.—1. The reason why it is easy for you to breathe through your -nose during the day, but difficult to do so at night, is that the -recumbent position causes the mucous membrane of the nose to become -congested. The nose always becomes congested when the person is lying -down, but the amount of obstruction varies very greatly even in health. -Of course, in the absolutely healthy condition, the congestion is never -sufficient to prevent breathing through the nose. But a very slight -cause may make nose-breathing quite impossible at night. The best -treatment for such conditions is an extra pillow and a nasal spray of -menthol in paraleine (1 in 8). Even in health it is the rule to breathe -through the nose and the mouth after severe exertions.—2. A hair-wash -of quinine, rosemary, and cantharides, is a good preparation to -prevent the hair from falling out, that is, it is as good as any other -hair-wash. Of course, nothing whatever applied to the hair itself can -have the slightest influence on its growth. The remedy must be applied -either through the blood or to the hair roots in order to be effective. -Quinine often causes headache if taken internally; applied externally -it would not have this action. It would not darken the hair. Try borax -or very dilute carbolic acid (1 in 1000) to wash your hair with. - -MOLLY.—By the “eye tooth” is usually meant the canine or “dog tooth,” -the third in order from the middle line of the mouth. By some persons -the first molar or first double tooth in the upper jaw, or the sixth -from the middle line, is called the “eye tooth,” and with greater -reason than the canine, for the first molar is more connected with -the eye than is the canine. Extracting the canine tooth is of no more -danger than extracting any other tooth, but as its root is rather long, -it is a little more difficult. There are thirty-two teeth in the adult -jaw, eight on each side of both upper and lower jaws. - -HESTER.—You object to our statement that eczema is a local disease, -and is not usually dependent upon the state of the blood, because you -feel ill when you have an acute attack of eczema and are relieved by -internal treatment. But this does not affect our statement that eczema -is a local disease due to a local inoculation, and is not due to -disease of the blood. We suppose you will admit that a severe burn is -a local injury, and that that, at least, is not due to “something in -the blood.” Well, often in a severe burn the constitutional symptoms -are desperate. We may have to confine all our attention to the heart -and nervous system at first when treating a severe burn. But still we -maintain that the burn is a local injury, and by local means alone can -the burn be made to heal. And so with eczema. Here is a local disease, -but the constitutional symptoms may be, although they very rarely -are, severe. And occasionally they do need internal treatment. But no -internal treatment will cause the eczema to heal without external aid. -The treatment for all local disease must be local, although internal -medication may be required as well. - -A COUNTRY LASS.—Wild honey is often poisonous. That made by bumble-bees -is usually harmful, giving rise to severe headache, purging, and -vomiting. Xenophon, in his _Anabasis_, accurately describes the effects -produced upon his soldiers by eating wild honey, probably made by bees -from the Pontic azalea. - -E. F. T.—Try an ointment of ichthiol (2 per cent.), and a wash of -carbolic acid (1 in 100). You must be very careful that the carbolic -acid does not get into your eyes and mouth. - - -STUDY AND STUDIO. - -⁂ We may remind our subscribers that there are in connection with the -Royal Academy of Music, Tenterden Street, Hanover Square, London, W., -twenty-one exhibitions and scholarships, which in most cases entitle -the winners to three years’ free instruction at the Academy. The next -election for the Henry Smart Scholarship is for female candidates, and -will take place at the Royal Academy of Music on Monday, September -25th, 1899. The subjects of examination will be organ-playing and -composition. The John Thomas Welsh Scholarship will be competed for -on Friday, September 22nd, 1899. Full particulars of these and other -scholarships can be obtained of the Secretary, Royal Academy of Music. - -SEA-FOAM (Chefoo, N. China).—Many thanks for your modest and -interesting letter. We regret the delay in offering criticism upon -your poems, but can now say that they are very thoughtful, and are -not marked by any of the blemishes in construction which we have -often to point out to our correspondents. Blank verse, however, is a -difficult medium for the novice, and we think “The Rainbow” is your -most successful effort. The idea expressed in “Influence” is very -good. On p. 2 you use “e’en yet” and “still” together. Only one of -the expressions is necessary. You also use “lives” and “endeth” with -the same nominative. You should either say “liveth” and “endeth,” or -“lives” and “ends.” Never let your words be obviously shaped by the -length of a line. “An unspoken thought” is striking. We should advise -you to study the laws of versification, and to persevere, selecting -some other metre, to begin with, than the ambitious blank verse. - -ONE BY ONE.—We repeat our apology to you. Your sketch of Teddie is -pathetic, but shows, as you yourself observe, that you have not studied -the laws of composition. On the first page there are far too many -“ands,” and it is better not to write of “the joyous little birdies -with their bright plumage and their sweet, sweet notes.” (We do not -think that the English song-birds are remarkable for gay plumage.) You -should procure Dr. Abbot’s little book _How to Write Clearly_, and read -a good deal of good prose and poetry. - -LOUISA GREGORY.—You need to study writing and spelling before you -attempt to compose stories. We advise you daily to copy some extract -for the sake of learning to spell, and also to practise writing in a -copy-book, to teach you to form your letters correctly. - - -INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENCE. - -MARIQUITA, aged 14, wishes to correspond with a French girl about her -own age, each writing in the other’s language; the letters would be -corrected and returned. Address, 33, Hawthorn Bank, Marslands Road, -Sale, near Manchester. - -A BUSH GIRL, Queensland, Australia, would like to correspond with “AN -ANXIOUS ONE” and “ARMENIAN SWEET SEVENTEEN,” Smyrna. Will they forward -us their addresses for “A BUSH GIRL” to see? - -MISS GERTRUDE DICKSON, King Street, Bangalore, Mysore, India, will -be glad to correspond with Miss François. We published the latter’s -address, so Miss Dickson might have written direct. She is a collector -of stamps; and, if Miss François has found a correspondent—which is -probable—would be glad to hear in English from any other reader of THE -GIRL’S OWN PAPER. - -A PROPINQUER, who collects foreign view post-cards, would be very glad -to exchange some with “O MIMOSA SAN,” if she will send her address. - -MISS QUEENIE CLARKE, Hillside House, Rawtenstall, Manchester, would -like to correspond in French with MISS GIGIA RICCIARDI (March). - -LIZZIE VAN REES, aged 17, Hilversum, Holland, wishes to correspond with -GRETE FROMBERG, Berlin, and with an English girl of her own age. - -MISS EDITH WOGAMAN, Curra Creek, _viâ_ Wellington, New South Wales -(19), wishes to correspond with “MISS INQUISITIVE” or another “nice -girl.” - -MISS KATE PROUT, Bolarum, Deccan, India (19) would like an English girl -to write to her at once, and “hopes they will be great friends.” - -MISS BEATRICE MILLER, 2, Talbot Villas, Prince’s Road, Buckhurst Hill, -Essex, would like to correspond with a French girl. She is fond of -painting, but backward in French. Letters should be corrected and -returned. - -JANET and GRACE COUPER, aged 16 and 14, would like to correspond and -exchange stamps with girls in the West Indies, India, Holland, and -Central America. Address, Te Waikaha, Havelock, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. - -MISS DAISY BOUVERIE (18) would like to correspond with an American -young lady. Address, 514, Commercial Road, Landport, Portsmouth. - -MISS NICHOLLS, Laburnum Villa, Leamington, would be pleased to -correspond with an Italian lady interested in art, science, or -literature—both writing in Italian. - - -MISCELLANEOUS. - -INSECTO.—The beetles have been so crushed that it is not easy to say -absolutely what they are. But we think there can be very little doubt -that they are _Anobium domesticum_, a wood-boring beetle very common -in old houses. The boring is, of course, the work of the larvæ, which -are believed to take often three years to come to perfection and -change into the pupæ—the little round holes being the open ends of -their galleries. Canon Fowler says, “They may, to a great extent, be -got rid of by the application of benzine, with which a small quantity -of carbolic acid has been mixed;” if they have bored into furniture -which is delicately polished, “the benzine had better be applied alone. -Unpolished furniture would be best freed from the pest by immersion -in boiling water, if the articles are not too unwieldy to admit of -such treatment. Moderately strong carbolic acid will at once destroy -both grubs, eggs, and perfect insects, but the furniture to which -it is applied will require re-polishing.” As the query is as to the -destruction of floor-boards, we should think the carbolic acid would -not be difficult. - -AN IMPOVERISHED ONE.—We know of nothing to remove the black marks, -unless French chalk may answer the purpose. Scrape a little on them at -the back and try. - -DOLLY.—The smoking of your lamp may be prevented by a little more -effort at thorough cleanliness. Take out the wick, soak it in vinegar, -dry it well, and cut it exactly straight. Wash the lamp in soda-water, -and when you fill it with oil, put a few little pieces of camphor in -the latter, as this will improve the light. To whiten the dirty-looking -boards, use newly-slaked lime—one part—and three parts of white sand. -Another method is to apply moistened fuller’s earth thickly over the -stains, and, after about twenty-four hours, rub it in gently, and then -clear it off. A third plan is to lay chloride of lime on the boards, -damp it frequently, and then wash them well with soda-water. - -BIRDY.—We quite sympathise with you in the feeling of indignation -aroused at seeing the quantity of little skylarks that cover the -counters of poulterers in London. Much is said, and great efforts are -made, with reference to the slaughter of birds for bonnet decoration. -But women’s vanity is not alone to be censured for the destruction -of birds with beautiful plumage. The larks and thrushes and other -singing birds find a market to supply the tables of men’s clubs. It -was calculated some time ago that upwards of 40,000 skylarks were sent -up from the country every day during the season, and before long, at -this rate, the little bird which called forth the genius of Shelley, -Wordsworth, and others of our poets, and inspired such exquisite odes, -will become a rare specimen amongst our native songsters. The law -should be a stringent one against the destruction of any songster. - -M. G. G.—Return the withdrawal order to the Head Office in London if -you wish it to be cancelled. Address the letter “Savings Bank, G. P. O., -London,” unstamped, saying you wish it to be cancelled. Many thanks to -the Parochial Nurse. - -HARMONY.—We should think that a daily paper would be the best for your -advertisement. That is where people usually look, we believe. Very few -take an exclusively musical journal unless extremely interested in the -subject. - -J. NELSON.—We see no reason why you should not give your clergyman -a parting present, though it is difficult to say what it should be, -unless we knew to what part of the world he was going. Something simple -and useful is generally the best. Hairbrushes in a case, a box of nice -soap, some handkerchiefs, an old-fashioned housewife well filled, -half-a-dozen bedroom towels marked in embroidery; all of these would be -useful. But you could ask some intimate friend to tell you exactly what -he needed, and you might get a good suggestion in that way. - -CURIOUS.—The observation you have made respecting the retreat of the -glacier at Grindelwald is quite correct. Some years ago the distance to -be ascended to reach it was not nearly so great as it now is. But this -is not an isolated case. The gradual retreat of the glacier is general, -and in proportion the higher limit of vegetation is coming down. The -rhododendron, which formerly ranged up to 2,350 metres some twenty -years ago, now reaches only to 2,000. M. Martin ascribes this change to -the fact that there is less snow, and less protection against the cold -in winter, and less moisture during the heat of summer. The vines do -not grow as high as formerly. The mountaineers do not reside at such -altitudes as they once did. - -A. R.—The stork is a fatal enemy to snakes, and indeed so are all the -birds of the marshes, for they check their prodigious multiplication. -It is true that snakes may be perhaps a little repulsive in appearance, -but they perform great services in the economy of nature, for they make -incessant war on the worms and insects which abound in the slimy mud of -the swamps in which they generally make their abode. The storks always -make their nests on roofs and chimneys. - -F. Q. M. J. E.—When a widow marries again, she certainly requires -wedding-cards, and she would put the name she bore during her first -marriage on her cards, and not her maiden name, unless under peculiar -and exceptional circumstances. - - - - -OUR NEW PUZZLE POEM. - - -[Illustration] - -⁂ PRIZES to the amount of six guineas (one of which will be reserved -for competitors living abroad) are offered for the best solutions of -the above Puzzle Poem. The following conditions must be observed:— - -1. Solutions to be written on one side of the paper only. - -2. Each paper to be headed with the name and address of the competitor. - -3. Attention must be paid to spelling, punctuation, and neatness. - -4. Send by post to Editor, GIRL’S OWN PAPER, 56, Paternoster Row, -London. “Puzzle Poem” to be written on the top left-hand corner of the -envelope. - -5. The last day for receiving solutions from Great Britain and Ireland -will be October 16, 1899; from Abroad, December 16, 1899. - -The competition is open to all without any restrictions as to sex or -age. - - * * * * * - -[Transcriber’s Note—the following changes have been made to this text. - -Page 767: county to country—“country to select”.] - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL'S OWN PAPER, VOL. XX, NO. -1026, AUGUST 26, 1899 *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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