THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Icatrutg for % gouitg. 
THE POWER OF KINDNESS. 
“ There is one chapter in my lire’s history that I 
have always kept locked in my heart*” said John 
Havlland, as he raced the little group in the par¬ 
lor ; ‘-but to-night l reel as if it wero my duty to 
open It ror your Inspection; and 1 do It Tor the love 
or woman—lor the love of a woman who made me 
what l am worthy to be, the husband or a good 
woman.” 
“ Why, John I” said Mrs. Havlland, softly ap¬ 
proaching—babo still held tight to her bosom— 
“you frighten me.” 
“Let’s have the story,” said the rest of the 
group, certain that something good might be an¬ 
ticipated; and John commenced, at first a little 
timid, but gaining confidence as he proceeded. 
“ When I first came to New York, at the age or 
twelve years, to seek my lornine, I can call myself 
a precocious chap without danger of being accused 
of an unusual degree of sell-appreciation. I was 
quick to learn everything, the bad as well as the 
good. My employer used prolane language. I 
picked up the oaths that he dropped with a natur¬ 
alness that surprised even myself, The boys In 
the office all chewed tobacco. This was a little 
the hardest job I ever attemptod, but, alter two 
weeks ol nausea and Indescribable stomach 
wrench mgs, I came oil victorious, and could get 
away with my paper a day with the best ol ’em. 
“ True, every word or It,” said the speaker. 
“ One arternoon I was sent with a note Irom my 
employer to a house In the upper part or the city. 
I hadn’t anything to read, but I had plenty or to¬ 
bacco, and with that l proposed to entertain my¬ 
self during the two or three hours I must spend In 
the passage. For some distance I did not notice 
Who were beside me, but by-aigl-by a lady said, 
very soltly and pleasantly: ‘Would you please, 
little boy. be more carelul. I am going to a party 
this afternoon, and I should hate to have my dross 
spoiled.’ 
“Hooked Into her face. It was the sweetest 
face I ever saw. l’ale, earnest and loving, to my 
boyish heart it was the countenance of an angel,” 
“ What did you say?” Interrupted Mrs. Havl- 
land, her bright eyes filling with tears, as she saw- 
how the memory or this beautiful woman affected 
her husband. 
“ Say! There was very little I could say. I 
think all I did for some time was to look.” 
“ I managed to dispose of the tobacco, however, 
find wiped my mouth very carefully, all or which I 
felt certain she saw' and mentally common ted upon. 
Have you a mother, little hoy?’ she next 
asked, in the same low tone. 
‘“No, ma’am,’ I answered, and I felt, my tluoat 
filling up, and I knew I must swallow mighty last I 
to keep from sobbing. 
“ ‘ Yon have a father, then, I suppose ?’ she kept I 
•on. I 
“ ‘ No, ma’am i no father.’ 
“ • Brothers and sisters ?’ 
** * Neither, ma’am.' 
■“ ‘ Then the little boy Is alone in the world?’ 
“ • All alone, ma’am. 7 
“ ' How long has his mother been dead ?' and the 
■deai' woman looked away Horn my race, and wait- I 
ed till 1 could speak. 
“ 4 Two years,’ I answered. 
“‘And you loved her?’came next. I 
“ * Dearly,’ was all 1 could say. 
“ She was silent for a moment, and then she said 
•so sweetly—oh! I shall never rorget it— 
" 1 And what do you think 'j'our dear mother I 
would say—how do you think she would feel—to I 
know that her little boy was guilty or such a dis¬ 
gusting habit as this?’ pointing to my cheek, 
where the tell-tale quid had vainly tried to stand 
■Its ground. 
‘ “ I must leave now,’ she continued; ‘ but here Is 
my card, and If you come to mo most any evening, 
1 shall be glad to see you, and perhaps we shall be I 
or some service to each other.' 
“ Bhe gave me her little gloved hand, and to my I 
dying day i shall never forget the sensation of that 
moment. I could not bear to part with her: with¬ 
out her 1 relt that I could do nothing—with her I 
could grow to a man's estate—a man in the truest 
sense of the word. From that moment tobacco [ 
never passed my lips. 
“As soon as I could summon courage I called 
upon the lady. Well do I remember how my heart 
beat as I waited in the elegant parlor for her to 
■ome down, and how awkward I ielt as I followed 
ny guide to her private sitting-room. ,she got at 
‘very point of my life, and before I bade her good- 
>y it was arranged that i should spend two even- 
ngs of each week at her house, and study on the 
iccaslon just what she thought best. 1 
“ No lover ever looked forward to meetings with ' 
.he mistress of his heart any more ardently than I 
Ud to these meetings with my friend. 
“ I grew careful of my personal appearance, 
areful of my conversation, and strove in every 
vay to be worthy of the noble friendship. Two 
•ears passed in this delightful manner—two years I 
hat made me. My friend not only attended to 
ay studies, striving also all the while to sow the 
ight kind ol spiritual seed, but she procured me a i 
mslness situation with a particular friend or hers, i 
vhere I remain t.o this day. Nobody but God 1 
mows what l owe this woman. During the last i 
hree months of those two years I noticed that i 
he grew constantly pale and thin : she never was l 
.strayed into speaking of herself. Sometimes, i 
men I would ask her if she felt worse than usual, t 
he would reply: j 
“ Oh, no ! 1 am only a little tired—that is all.” c 
One evening she kept me by her sofa much 1 
mger than was her custom, while she arranged f 
3ssons, and laid out work enough, it seemed to f 
ne, for months. c 
“ 4 Why so much to-night?’ 1 Inquired, con- j 
clous that my heart ached, and vaguely suspect- c 
tig the cause. t 
“ Because, dear,’ she answered, ‘ I do not want I e 
1 ou to come for the next week, and I am anxious 
that you should have sufficient work to anticipate, 
as well as to keep you busy. I think I can trust 
you to be a good boy, John ?’ 
“ ‘ l think you can, ma’am,’ I answered, almost 
sobbing. 
“ ‘ rf I Should see your mother my dear boy, be¬ 
fore long, what shall I say to her for you ?” 
“ Tlieri 1 Mew all. and my grief had no bounds. 
It is no use to go on. She died two days after.” 
-- 
A TINY ENGINEER. 
Thebe Is a certain tiny engineer, who builds 
bridges across great chasms, bridges Boating in 
.space, and bridges suspended from tree to tree; 
preys On creatures much larger than himself, and 
builds houses—yes, houses with doom to them, 
which he closes when he retires Into the privacy 
of bis own apartment. This little engineer and 
architect is the spider. Of course the Cousins have 
often seen his bridges, but I do not think they have 
seen the spider that lives In a house with a door. 
He lives In tropical countries, and is called the 
i rap-door Spider. Ills house Is usually on the side 
of a bill, In sandy soil. He makes a little hole in 
the ground, spins a web over it, with a little pas¬ 
sage lu the center, leading down into the hole, 
spins a round door, which he fastens by a binge to 
t.lie passage, and then, no doubt, sits in bis apart¬ 
ment with the same feeling of satisfaction a house¬ 
keeper experiences after the annual cleaning. I 
feel sure the fabled spider that invited the unwary 
fly into his little parlor belonged to this species. 
If frlgh tened, the Trap-door Spider takes refuge 
In his house, slamming the door after him like a 
human being. 
Another noted member of the Aranea family is 
the Tarantula, which Is found In America, Africa, 
and the south of Europe. Though there Is no 
doubt the poisonous qualities of its bite have been 
exaggerated, still it is an insect to be avoided. 
Fancy the feelings of those men Mark Twain toils 
of, who upset a box of live Tarantulas in their 
bed-room! Some of the spiders are very brilliant 
in appearance. There is one variety common in 
southern New Jersey, of a bright, canary color, 
marked with black bars. This web Is always of 
one shape, bars radiating from a common center, 
and the Interstices filled In with delicate lace work. 
When dew-laden In the early morning, nothing 
more, lovely could be imagined. I shall not speak 
of that south A merican spider which is said to he 
so large that it, preys on humming-birds, because 
I have no accurate scientific knowledge of it, and 
I wish only to speak of that 1 know. I might tell 
you of a terrific combat between a wasp and a 
spider, and how the spider obtains his food, hut 
that you can find out for yourself any day. 
Bergen Co., N. J. Emily L. Taflin. 
** ■* - 
MAY DAYS. 
MRS. E. J. RICHMOND. 
June may be the queen of the circle of months, 
hut, coming from the dampness and chill of the 
long, long winter Into the balmy sunshine and 
beautiful pictures of tills lovely May, one can de¬ 
sire noth!ng more delightful. it seems but yester¬ 
day we were eagerly searching over the brown, 
damp meadows for the first blade of grass; now 
great stretches of clover and waving grass cover 
all the meadows, and oven the roadside, while blue 
violets and golden dandelions are peeping forth 
wherever we may turn. The Crocuses and Hya¬ 
cinths have come and gone, but the Lily of the 
Valley holds her graceful, sweet-scented bells still, 
while the pretty snow Drop nods approvingly. 
The Star of Bethlehem shines with steady lustre, 
while the Polyanthus and the dear old Pansies, 
though they have been here so long, seem to be 
holding dally receptions, at which great numbers 
of people in royal purple velvet and scarlet and 
gold suits appear. Tulips In gorgeous coloring 
flaunt proudly before great blooming wreaths of 
flowering Almond, while the modest Lilac, dear 
old-rasbloned flower, fills the air with sweetness. 
The Apple and Pear trees wear beautiful crowns 
of beauty - delicate, rose-tinted flowers, pure 
white, and now and then a young tree sports a 
coronal of almost rosy red, while all breathe the 
sweetest perfume. The birds seem delighted at 
this gay reception, ami slug their blithest strains. 
Morning concerts and dally matinees are the order 
of the day, while the distant bins, In their blue, 
smoky atmosphere, give the finishing touches to a 
landscape well befitting “the merry, merry month 
of May.” Even the I nadlllu seems to have 
caught the spirit of the scene, and glides slowly 
between violet-dotted meadow banks, while she 
mirrors the graceful, drooping willows In her 
depths of blue. And the glorious sunshine encir¬ 
cles all, the benignant flowers lull upon all, the 
love of the Great Father is as a crown of blessing 
upon all His works and upon all his creatures, In 
this beautUul month of May. 
LETTERS FROM BOYS AND GIRLS. 
Frizzle Top Tells About Cranberries. 
Dear Uncle Mark and Rural Cousins I 
would like to belong to the Y. II. C., and would 
also like to give a little instruction In return tor all 
1 have had. is there any of my friends who do 
not like cranberries? I believe not. Now, why 
not raise some for yourselves. Prepare the ground 
by plowing or spading, and enrich it with a com¬ 
post of two parts swamp muck and one part wood 
ashes. Bone dust is an excellent fertilizer, say, one 
pound to ever}" square rod. In April, May or June, 
or in October and November, set t he plants four 
Inches apart, and In rows six inches apart. In beds 
four feet wide. Two square rods will yield four or 
five bushels, if very good. The vines will soon 
cover the ground and require no renewing, as the 
plant is a perennial shrub. The cranberry Is one 
of the best plants for garden edgings or for broad* 
belts or borders for the principal walks, it Is In 
eating from September to June, I saw In Kukal 
i of May 17th, that Slayer-of-Coneelt will either have 
to lose his name or put In an appearance. I think 
his successor has made a good suggestion, and that 
we ought to act upon it. I would like to know 
what has become of Madcap Mollie. Can any one 
teU? Frizzle Top. 
Dear Uncle Mark:— I have read how some of 
the Cousins earn pocket money; i will relate my 
experience, i have had a garden from the time l 
was old enough to know whal a plant was. My 
first garden was but a few foot square, and in tills 
were crowded varieties enough to occupy a rod. 
For two years past I have grown but one kind of 
vegetable, and have had good success and a ready 
market. The crop J speak of was white beams. I 
sow oats in early spring, letting Utem grow till the 
1 st of June; they arc then plowed under and the 
beans planted at once. Thlslsourmode of getting 
a clover sod. My plot Is about one-third of an 
acre. The crop last fall was tour bushels, and sold 
for seven dollars and a half. Please put my name 
on the Horticultural Club list. Wm, J. Mason. 
Dodge Co., Nebraska. 
Dear Uncle Mark :—I would like to join your 
Horticultural Club, as I like flowers so well. I hope 
all wlio belong to our club will do their best, it 
gives me great pleasure to have flowers. I think 
I will try my luck with onions and cabbages, as to 
flowers, I like all of them. I am a girl twelve years 
old. My brother found three little hares yester¬ 
day ; he gave two to his wife and one to me, as I 
am the youngest. If this Is published I will write 
again. Ludie Stanley. 
THE HORTICULTURAL CLUB. 
I have sent a package of radish seed of a now 
and curious variety to each member of the Club. 
The peculiarity of this new variety is, that 
although the body of the root Is red. the long, 
tapering root, or tall, is white. Sow it now, in 
light, rich solL not too severely exposed to the 
sun, and water freely. The membership of the 
Club has greatly increased, but there is still room 
for all who may wish to Join. Do not forget to 
give your name and address. Uncle Mark. 
HIDDEN PARTS OF A SHIP OR STEAMER. 
1. Give me some starch, Alnsloy ? 
2 . ’Twas a sham mockery. 
3. She was bedecked with flowers. 
4. In the “ Bay-state ” rooms were engaged. 
6. i learned to steer ages ago. 
6. The air off ice is cool. 
7. in the prison gang Wayland appeared. 
8. You’ll find ft In the big alley. 
9. Malee your best bows; prithee, why! 
10. This crew is unworthy. 
11. Ah Ben, gin ends many a life. 
12. Why, man, choruses are flue 1 
13. Slimy! arduous are your duties. 
14. To the bulk he added the whole. 
15. I saw Bertha to-day. 
16. Dr. Burns, cupper and leecher. 
17. Maty is a cook’s scullion, 
is. It Is a staff, railed Inside. 
19. 1 saw a log lined with ivy. 
20 . There’s a high bluff on the Irish. 
21. Black eels arc poison. 
22 . l trig gtn glasses. 
23. sec the bowl In Eva’s room! 
24. Friend Maj, J believe you. 
25. stimbul Warks is off at school. 
Answer In two weeks. Liitle One. 
- » » » — - 
A FRACTIONAL PUZZLE. 
One-slxthof Howard; one-tenth of Montgomery; 
one-fourth of Kent ; one-seventh or Carroll; one- 
seventli of Culvert; one-eighth of Somerset; one- 
county of Maryland. 
I*” Answer in two weeks. 
WOR D SQU ARE. 
A pledge or security. 
A biblical character. 
A seed-bud. 
Beautiful shade-trees. 
Answer In two weeks. I 
Little o. 
Uncle Will. 
DIAGONAL PUZZLE. 
l. A consonant; 2 . Duplicate vowel’s; 3. Not well 
cooked (curtailed); 1. Reliable prlmals and diag¬ 
onals form two animals. 
tar - Answer In two weeks. O. 
- «« » 
A DROP-LETTER PUZZLE. 
Sp-r- -s, g—d L~rd. Fill with vowels and form a 
response In Protestant Episcopal prayer-book. 
Answer In two weeks. O. 
PUZZLER ANSWERS.-May 31. 
Behead and Curtail.— 1, Fusee, use; 2, glover,love; 
3, shears, hear; 4, Harrows, arrow ; 5. urine,fip; 6, heart, 
ear; 7, odor, do; 8. hoard, oar; a, merry, err; 10, mand¬ 
rel, Audre; 11, white, hit: 12, Washy, ash. 
Hidden Inskctk.—14. Louse; 15. Gnat: 16. Fly, 17. 
Flea; IS. Butterfly; 19. MiiHtpiito; 20. Midge; 21. Ta¬ 
rantula; 22. Bite; 83. Bed-bug; 21. Wa-p , 35. Lice. 
“ ’ Twas the night before Christinas when all thro’ the 
hoUse 
Not a creature wiki stirring not even a mouse; 
The stockings, wero hung by the chimney with care 
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there,” 
Anagrams or CaFi-i-. 1. Or legal, 3. Wilsons; 3. La 
Hogue; 4 Romania: 6. Agulhas; 6. OaUiu.-is; 7. St. 
Mary; 8. Sparliveuto, 9. Apsheron; lo. Flattery; II. 
Soartel: 12. Iienlojstn; 13, Detour; 14. Kltmnirdtj, It, 
St. Lewis 16. Florida, 17. HoneoHUet; 1H. Mull of Oim 
tire; 19. Elizabeth; 20. Hertbnrg: 21. Aniuuour; 22. 
Canso; 23. Gracias ; 34. Three Points. 
Diamond Puzzle: 
R 
i? O T 
D U B BO 
K E B E C O A 
AUHT K ALIA 
ROBE R T BRUCE 
kabr B e r n Y 
PAT R I O It 
MO U BE 
A O T 
E 
—A Lunatic (Hill End), J. C. (Hill End). 
PSALM V. 
Metrically rendered from the Hebrew by Rev. James 
K. Gutheim. 
1. Unto my words give car O Lord, 
Unto my thoughts vouchsafe regard. 
2. The voice of my petition deign to weigh. 
My King and God, for unto Thee I pray. 
3. O Lord, at early dawn Thou’lt boar my voice. 
At early dawn my prayers In Thee rejoice. 
And I look up to Thom my hope und choice. 
4. For Thou art not a God who wickedness desires, 
Evil dwells not with Thee, nor unto Thee aspires. 
5. The haughty shall not stand before Thy eye, 
ThOU hatest. the worker of Iniquity. 
6. Thou wilt destroy them who speak falsehood vile. 
The Lord abhors the man of blood and guile. 
7. But I, sustained by Thy surpassing grace, 
Come to Thy house, Thy sacred dwelling place. 
And worship in Thy holy shrine, 
In fear of Thee, Thy power divine. 
8. Guide mo, O Lord, in Tbino own righteousness, 
That my observers al! my course may bless, 
Make straight for mo Thy way of holiness. 
9. For in their mouth there's no integrity. 
Their inner life is fell malignity; 
I heir throat is but an open grave, 
A smooth and flattering tongue they have. 
10. Condemn them, God!—through their derices they 
will fall. 
Their numerous misdeeds will cast them down 
withal ; 
For they’ve rebelled against Thoe, spurned Thy 
gracious call. 
11. But all that trust in Thoc will ever sing 
With Joy, for Thou wilt shield them’neath Thy 
wing: 
And they who love Thy holy name and word, 
Exalt in Thee, their guardian and their Lord. 
12. For Thou, O Lord, with blessings wilt the jiiBt 
endow, 
And like a shield Thy love and favor round them 
throw. 
AN OLD TESTAMENT GEM. 
If we were called upon to point out the most 
wonderful, and, as It regards Christianity, the most 
Important chapter In the old Testament, we should 
select the fifty.third chapter of Isaiah. It Is no 
wonder that Intelligent minds have been con¬ 
vinced of the essential truth of New- Testament 
Christianity by reading that chapter alone. We 
know’ positively that Isaiah lived and wrote many 
centuries before Christ came Into the world. We 
know that chapter was In existence In the Old 
Hebrew Scriptures, Just as it now stands, In its 
sublime isolation, and, to the Jewish udnd. Its un¬ 
fathomable depth, ages upon ages before there 
was any solut ion of It at the cross of Calvary, or 
any other solution whatever. Outside of the New 
Testament, and Independently of Christ, no sin¬ 
gle personage has uppeared during the twenty- 
five centuries since the chapter was written in 
whom its sublime descriptions, its august attri¬ 
butes, and apparent contradictions of character 
could possibly meet, in Jesus of Nazareth alone, 
and In Him only as Ho la Immanuel, Cod with us, 
a suffering and (lying Savior, but at, the same time 
a Divine and conquering Messiah, has that chapter 
ever been fulfilled. In Him all the diverse descrip¬ 
tions meet, all the wonderful attributes blend, all 
the apparent contradictions are perect.ly recon¬ 
ciled. The God-Man Mediator fu lfill s and har¬ 
monizes them all. 
There is a remarkable parallel and resemblance 
between this Messianic chapter In Isaiah, and one 
chapter la the New Testament which stands out 
with alike prominence. It Is the seventeenth 
chapter of the Gospel according to St. John. The 
two chapters are alike in their unique and sublime 
isolation, one for the Old Testament, the other tor 
the New. Each discourse of the person, character, 
mission, work, pusslon, and glory of Christ. Each 
relates to the very central and essential truth of 
t he whole gospel system. It is Impossible to find 
anything la all the Scriptures more fundamenta 
as to the fact, more condensed as to the statement, 
and more essential us the very key, which once 
accepted and understood, unlocks all the rest, and 
explains all the rest. We should say that those 
two chapters are the ones In which all Divine rev¬ 
elations reach their culminating point, and at the 
the same time their profoundest depth. These 
two chapters contain the gospel—not. two gospels, 
but the one saving Gospel of God. 
In the first, passage the evangelical prophet de 
dares the report whlcn he had received from the 
Almighty by Inspiration, and which was revealed 
to him as a vision of the coming Messiah In his 
state of humiliation, Incarnation, voluntary obe¬ 
dience to the Divine law, vicarious suffering for 
His people, sacrificial death, Justifying righteous¬ 
ness, and final triumph. The whole wondrous 
prophecy setting forth these and other affiliated 
doctrines of the Cross, is cont ained In fifteen verses, 
beginning with verse 13. of chapter 52, and run¬ 
ning through chapter 63. Here the Lord speaks of 
the Messiah as “ My servant.” 
In the analogous passage, John xvil, Christ him¬ 
self Is presented on the very eve or His passion, 
contemplating all He was about to do and suffer 
tor our redemption as predicted, by Isaiah. Jnan 
exalted Intercessory prayer, addressed to God the 
Father, He speaks of llhnselt as “ Thy Son.” In 
View of the Cross which awaited Him on the mor¬ 
row, which was to complete the great immolation, 
make an end of sins, pul away transgression, bring 
In everlasting righteousness, finish ills early ca¬ 
reer, and bring both glory to God and salvation to 
man. He said, “ Father, the hour is come. Glorify 
Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee. As 
Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that lie 
should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast 
given Him. And this is life eternal, that they may 
know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Clirlsl* 
whom Thou hast sentand so on through the 
twenty-six verses of the chapter.— r/ie Interior . 
