4o 



RECREA TION. 



I looked up with a gasp and saw the 

 wondering brown eyes of Jessie Sheldon 

 gazing into mine with cold amazement. 

 With a startled cry, I turned and fled 

 down the street with the speed of a 

 deer, never heeding the calls of the 

 old gentleman to come back. I sped 

 on until I stopped from sheer exhaus- 

 tion, when I flung myself on the grass 

 by the wayside and wept aloud from 

 vexation. 



" Why is it? " I exclaimed, " that 

 every time I meet Jessie Sheldon I am 

 making an idiot of myself. How like a 

 fool I must have appeared, sawing the 

 air with my arms, my features convulsed 

 and my lips working like a madman's. 

 Even her father has gone over to the 

 enemy and believes I am possessed of 

 the devil. " I wish," I cried, tearing my 

 hair, " that the devilish horse had 

 broken my neck and his own, instead of 

 nis wind, for then I should not be tor- 

 mented with a fight in which even fate 

 is against me." 



There was no further object in callin'g 

 upon Mr. Sheldon, as he was no longer 

 unbiased. He appeared on friendly 

 terms with my brother, and why should 

 he not ? Steve had befriended his 

 daughter while I had injured her ; be- 

 sides, I had given them both a shock 

 that very morning — they would doubt- 

 less feel for many a day. 



I hated the idea of going home and 

 encountering the gloating eyes of Steve, 



so I determined to spend the next few 

 days at a neighbor's, where I was 

 always welcome. 



At the end of a week I returned 

 home and found a scene of utter 

 neglect and desolation about the place 

 impossible to credit. On the table in 

 the dining room laid a note from Steve. 

 Picking it up, with trembling hand, I 

 read : 



"September 14th, 1859. 



" Allen — Father and I have con- 

 cluded we have worked long enough 

 without compensation. We have been 

 informed the farm is yours and we have 

 no interest in it. This being the case, 

 we do not care to do all the work while 

 the owner is galloping over the country 

 and ruining the live-stock by jumping 

 hurdles. Father says, as you will be of 

 age in a month or two, you can dispose 

 of the farm, and if you still care to 

 study medicine he will give you a fair 

 price for it, as he would hate to have 

 it go out of the family. Whatever you 

 do, give him the first chance for it. We 

 intend to take a house in Wilkesbarre, 

 and leave you in possession at once. 

 We expect you home every moment, so 

 you will have to look after the farm 

 and live stock, as we have discharged 

 all the help, believing you would not 

 care to employ men of our choice. 



Yours, etc.. 



Steve. 



TO BE CONTINUED. 



SIGNS THAT NEVER FAIL. 



When man knows how to match a ribbon, 



When woman learns to drive a nail, 

 When man can thread a needle deftly, 



When mice don't make a woman pale, 

 When woman gets off right from street cars, 



Instead of facing toward the rear, 

 When man stops smoking bad tobacco, 



And drinking stale sour smelling beer-, 

 When woman doesn't block the sidewalk, 



With spreading skirts and puffed out sleeves, 

 When man stops flirting with new charmers, 



And to his lawful darling cleaves, 

 When man can understand the baby, 



And woman, petting it, talks sense, 

 When man proposes a new bonnet, 



And woman shies at the expense — 



Phenomena like these, and others, 

 May strike surprised observers dumb, 



But they will know, by these same tokens, 

 That the millenium has come. 



— Somerville (Mass.) Journal. 



