76 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER, 



March 



atlractiou. irl. .1 jj t coii'njtr)ced v, 1. , u 

 I took my scat in (he fir.st row, closo to 

 the riug. I t-ao hardly tell you my i'e 1 

 iugs when I recoguized the first lady 

 rider -who entered. It was Kate Dono- 

 van. ' ' 



"Good heavens!" ejaculated the 

 major. "Come to that?" 



"Yes; it was Kate, graceful, lithe, 

 nervy as ever, looking like a queen 

 among those painted judys and rough 

 men. " 



"How could you sit there and see it?" 

 groaned Major Poole. 



"I hadn't to sit long. I recognized 

 her instantly, r'^d, poor girl, she saw 

 mel" 



"Knew you?" gasped the major. 



"Yes; slie turned pale under the hor- 

 rible paint and rouge she was daubed 

 with. Somehow she seemed to lose her 

 nerve all of a sudden. The horse, a vi- 

 cious black beast, swerved to one side 

 suddenly — major, fellows, I cannot tell 

 it, it was too horrible." 



"Kate Donovan to lose her nerve on 

 horseback? I (;aunot credit it," said the 

 major in an awed tone. 



"I was in the ring and by her side in 

 a moment," Cholly continued, not no- 

 ticing the major's interruption. "She 

 knew me, jKior girl, when her eyes 

 opened for the first time. She died with 

 her hands t ,:<htly clasped in mine. " 



"Did she sa ay anything?" asked 

 Andy Vicars. "Did she tell you any- 

 thing?" 



"If she did, you're not the one I'd re- 

 peat it to," said Cholly fiercely. "The 

 last words of a poor dying girl are hard- 

 ly club talk, not if I know it. " 



So saying, Cholly seized his coat and 

 strode angrily from the room. 



The other men looked at each other 

 significantly. 



"He's hit hard," said the major. 

 "Poor fellow ! If you had seen Kate, 

 you'd not blame him. I always thought 

 he liked her. " 



And Cholly, as he strode along the 

 street homeward, cursed his own folly 

 in telling the .story of pretty Kate to 

 such an audience. "As if they cared," 

 he muttered. They were a set of hard 

 hearted, cold, cynical men, and he 

 (Cholly) was a fool for telling the story. 

 Somehow he had never realized before 

 that he had cherished an ideal for the 

 past four years, and that ideal was the 



woman who but a few days before had 

 died in his arms. Tell that idiot Vicars 

 what she said? Cholly smiled grimly as 

 the thought struck him, for only he 

 knew what thojie last words had been. 

 They echoed in his ears even now in the 

 din and noise of the New York evening: 

 "Cholly, dear— dear Cholly!" 

 If she had only said them four years 

 ago, he thought miserably as he shoved 

 his key into the latch of his home door. 

 — Vanity. 



Napoleon's Generosity. 



Count de P had been raised by 



Bonaparte to honors and dignities, but 

 for some unaccountable reason he be- 

 trayed the confidence which his patron 

 had reposed in him. When Bonaparte 

 became cognizant of the man's treach- 

 ery, he ordered him to be arrested. He 

 was to have been tried the following 

 day and in all probability he would 

 have been condemned, as his guilt was 

 fully established. In the meantime 



Mme. de P solicited and obtained 



an audience of the emperor. 



"I am very sorry for your sake, ma- 

 dame," he said, "that your husband 

 should be mixed up in an affair which 

 places his ingratitude in so glaring a 

 light." 



"Perhaps he is not so guilty as your 

 majesty supposes," said the countess. 



"Do you know your husband's signa- 

 ture?" inquired the emperor, taking a 

 letter out of his pocket and handing it 

 to her. 



Mme. de P rapidly perused the 



letter, recognized the handwriting and 

 fell into a swoon. When she came 

 around, Bonaparte put the letter into 

 her hands, saying : 



"Take it. This is the only legal evi- 

 dence that exists against your husband. 

 There is a lighted fire behind you." 



The countess quickly snatched up the 

 important document and threw it into 



the flames. P 's life was saved, but 



as for his honor, not all the influence of 

 a generous emperor could avail to restore 

 it. — Chicago Daily News. 



The Egyptian reed which was used 

 for making the pens found in Egyptian 

 tombs is a hard variety, growing to 

 about the diameter of an ordinary goose 

 quill. Pens made from it are said to last 

 for a day or two and do excellent work. 



