1890. 



THE AMERICAN BEE- KEEPER. 



201 



bus much pooner than I need have done. 



Imaf^iiie my surprise whou, on reach- 

 ing thr house and being shown into the 

 dining room, I found there the heroine 

 of the lost shoe. 



That s'^ttled it. 



I f( It that heaven had decided I was 

 to marry that young lady, and I formed 

 the pious intoiition tlien and there of 

 giving lieavcn every possible assistance 

 and made such u delightful hash of her 

 aunt's will that it required some six or 

 seven visits to put matters straight. 



Curiously enough, though, from the 

 moment we met in the house her friend- 

 liness ceased. Every time I came slie 

 was more cold and distant, and I was 

 almost in despair. The conversation 

 which had flowed so merrily in an un- 

 comfortable omiiilus seemed impossible 

 over the dining room fire, and she re- 

 fused to go beyond the most common- 

 place civilities. 



She calmly ignored that drive, which 

 I had found so deli<ihtful, and treated 

 me with ordinary politeness due to the 

 representative of her aunt's solicitors. 



The position grew desperate, becauS'j 

 I couldn't contiinie to make blunders 

 over the old lady's will forever. Already 

 the firm had I'eprimanded me for stu- 

 pidity, though, to be sure, the old lady 

 herself bore with me with wonderful 

 patience and good temper. 



The crisis came. 



It was my last visit about the will, 

 which was now ready — absolutely cor- 

 rect — and the dear old creature had ap- 

 proved of every word of it. 



It only required to be executed. She 

 said she would like her niece and me to 

 be the witnesses, and as she was much 

 better and able to get up we assembled 

 solemnly in the library. But she was a 

 funny old character and scouted the 

 idea of solemnity, ringing the bell for 

 the servant to bring up some champagne, 

 so that we might drink "success to her 

 will." 



I'm thankful to say that, though i 

 was by tliis time helplessly in love with 

 the niece, I had sufficient presence of 

 mind to say, "Success to the will, and 

 may it never haveio be proved!" which 

 pleased her immensely, and before I 

 left I was invited to dinner the follow- 

 . ing Sunday. 



From ihat moment things went pretty 

 »«%^^,.uitt tiirvncrh it wMs onlv hist even- 



ing that in talking over our courting 

 days in the far away past my wife ex- 

 plained the meaning of her extraordi- 

 nary coolness to me. 



It seems that when, after the drive in 

 what she is pleased to call the "fairy 

 omnibus," I walked into her aunt';^ 

 dining room, she quite recognized that 

 I must be her destiny, and so. with fem- 

 inine perversity, she felt called upon tr 

 struggle against fate as much as possi- 

 ble. 



"But you ought to be very thankful 

 tome for one thing," she added. "It 

 was I who — but never mind. " 



"Nonsense!" I said. "Goon. We are 

 too old fashioned to be romantic any 

 longer. " 



"Well, " she said, "it was I who sug- 

 gested you should be invited to diuncx. " 



Whioh just shows what contradictory 

 creatures women are. — Household 

 Words. 



The earliest year consisted of 12 

 months, having each 29 and 30 days al- 

 ternately, thus making 354 days. This 

 being found too short, it was lengthen- 

 ed to 360 days and afterward to 365 3^. 



Starched collars and cuffs are good 

 barometers. In dry weather these ar- 

 ticles are stiff and hard, but when rain 

 is coming the moisture in the atmos- 

 phejie makes them soft and pliable. 



The Rhinoceroa Bird. 



Among the birds not commonly found 

 is the rhinoceros bird, from the 

 Transvaal. Bufiel pikker is its Dutch 

 name. Its habits are remarkable and 

 its plumage unusual. Small flocks ac- 

 company most of the large antelopes, the 

 buffaloes and the rhinoceroses, in South 

 Africa, and run all over the creatures' 

 bodies, picking off flies and insects. 

 When an enemy approache.s, the buffel 

 pikkers sit in a line with heads raised 

 on the back of the animal they are at- 

 tending, like sparrows on a roof ridge, 

 and signal "tlie enemy in sight." The 

 plumage is curiously close, uniform and 

 compact, so much so that the bird has 

 an artificial lotik, as if covered with 

 painted satin and not with feathers. 

 The general tint of the body is cinna- 

 mon brown, with yellow beak and legs, 

 giving the color effect of a brown and 

 yellow iris.— London Spectator. 



