Whereat he stared, replying, half amazed, "You would not let your little finger ache

For such as these ?" "But I would die," said she.
He laugh'd, and swore by Peter and by Paul:
Then fillip'd at the diamond in her ear;

"O aye, aye, aye, you talk!" "Alas!" she said,
"But prove me what it is I would not do."
And from a heart as rough as Esau's hand,
He answer'd, "Ride you naked through the tow
And I repeal it;" and nodding, as in scorn,
He parted, with great strides, among his dogs.
So, left alone, the passions of her mind,
As winds from all the compass shift and blow,
Made war upon each other for an hour,
Till pity won. She sent a herald forth,
And bade him cry, with sound of trumpet, all
The hard condition; but that she would loose
The people therefore, as they loved her well,
From then tiil noon no foot should pace the street,
No eye look down, she passing; but that all
Should keep within, door shut, and window barr'd.
Then fled she to her inmost bower, and there
Unclasp'd the wedded eagles of her belt,
The grim Earl's gift; but ever at a breath
She linger'd, looking like a summer moon
Half-dipt in cloud; anon she shook her head,
And shower'd the rippled ringlets to her knee;
Unclad herself in haste; adown the stair
Stole on; and, like a creeping sunbeam, slid
From pillar unto pillar, until she reach'd
The gateway; there she found her palfrey trapt
In purple blazon'd with armorial gold.

Then she rode forth, clothed on with chastity:
The deep air listen'd round her as she rode,
And all the low wind hardly breathed for fear.
The little wide-mouth'd heads upon the spout
Had cunning eyes to see; the barking cur
Made her cheek flame; her palfrey's footfall shot
Light horrors through her pulses; the blind walls

Were full of chinks and holes; and overhead
Fantastic gables, crowding, stared; but she
Not less thro' all bore up, till last, she saw
The white-flower'd elder-thicket from the field
Gleam thro' the Gothic archways in the wall.

Then she rode back, clothed on with chastity;
And one low churl, compact of thankless earth,
The fatal by word of all years to come,

Boring a little auger-hole in fear,

Peep'd-but his eyes, before they had their will,
Were shrivel'd into darkness in his head,

And dropt before him. So the Powers who wait
On noble deeds cancel'd a sense misused;

And she, that knew not, pass'd; and all at once,
With twelve great shocks of sound, the shameless noon
Was clash'd and hammer'd from a hundred towers,

One after one; but even then she gain'd

Her bower; whence reissuing, robed and crown'd,
To meet her lord, she took the tax away,
And built herself an everlasting name.

YUSSOUF.

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL

A stranger came one night to Yussouf's tent,
Saying, "Behold one outcast and in dread,
Against whose life the bow of power is bent,

Who flies, and hath not where to lay his head;
I come to thee for shelter and for food-

To Yussouf, called through all our tribes 'The Good!'" "This tent is mine," said Yussouf, "but no more

Than it is God's; come in, and be at peace; Freely shalt thou partake of all my store

As I of His who buildeth over these,

Our tents, his glorious roof of night and day,
And at whose door none ever yet heard nay!"
So Yussouf entertained his guest that night,

And, waking him ere day, said: "Here is gold,

My swiftest horse is saddled for thy flight,

Depart before the prying day grow bold."
As one lamp lights another, nor grows less,
So nobleness enkindleth nobleness.

That inward light the stranger's face made grand,
Which shines from all self-conquest; kneeling low,
He bowed his forehead upon Yussouf's hand,

Sobbing: "O Sheik, I cannot leave thee so;
I will repay thee; all this thou hast done
Unto that Ibrahim who slew thy son!"

"Take thrice the gold," said Yussouf, "for with thee
Into the desert, never to return,

My one black thought shall ride away from me.
First-born, for whom by day and night I yearn,

Balanced and just are all of God's decrees;
Thou art avenged, my first-born, sleep in peace!"

SHE MEANT BUSINESS

From the Detroit Free Press.

There is no reason why the inventor of a remedy to 66 cure the worst case of catarrh inside of five minutes" shouldn't feel it his duty to place a bottle of the same in every person's hand-" price twenty-five cents; no cure, no pay." Therefore, the long-legged chap who pulled a door-bell on John R. Street yesterday had none of that timidity in his bearing which characterizes rag-buyers, lightning-rod men, and solicitors for the fire sufferers. He had a good thing, and he knew it, and he wanted other folks to know it. When the door opened and a hardfeatured woman about forty years of age confronted him, he pleasantly went to business, and asked:

"Madame, is your husband ever troubled with the catarrh ?"

"Can a man who has been dead seven years be troubled with the catarrh ?" she grimly replied.

"But the children are liable to be attacked at any hour this season," he remarked.

"Whose children ?"

"Yours, madame."

"I never had any, sir! What brought you here, anyhow? Why do you come asking those questions ?”

"Madame, I have compounded a remedy for the catarrh. It is a good thing. I'll warrant it to knock any case of catarrh high-sky in less than five minutes."

"Well, sir, what's all this to me?"

"Why, madame-why-" he stammered.

"Do I look as if I needed any catarrh remedies?" she demanded, as she stepped out on the platform.

66

Madame, I would not for the world have you think that I thought you had the catarrh, but I suppose the fair and lovely can be attacked, as well as the strong and brave.” "And what have I got to do with all that rigmarole ? Who are you, sir, and what do you want?”

"Madame," he whispered, backing down one step, "I have compounded a remedy for the catarrh." "Whose catarrh, sir ?”

"Madame, I am selling my catarrh

"Where is your catarrh-where is it?" she interrupted. He got down on the second step and softly began : "Madame, I have a sure cure for the catarrh, and I am selling lots of it."

“Well, what do I care! Must you ring my door-bell to tell me that you are selling lots of catarrh medicine ?"

He got down on the walk, clear of the steps, and he tried hard to look beautiful around the mouth as he explained:

"Madame, didn't I ask you if your husband was ever troubled with catarrh ?"

(6 'Yes, sir, and didn't I reply that he was dead? Do you want to see his grave, sir?"

"No, madame, I do not. I am sorry he's dead, but my

catarrh remedy can't help him any. Good-by, madame." "Here, sir, hold on a minute!" she called, "what was your business with me?"

"Why, I have a remedy for the catarrh."

"So you said before."

"I asked you if you didn't want to purchase, and—” "You are a falsifier, sir; you never asked me to purchase!"

"Do-you-want-a-bottle?" he slowly asked.

"Yes, sir: give me two of them: here's your money! Next time you want to sell your catarrh remedy, don't begin to talk around about the discovery of America. Here you've bothered me fifteen minutes, and put all my work behind, and it's good for you I didn't bring the broom to the door!"

He retreated backward through the gate, his left eye squinted up and his mouth open. He shut the gate, leaned over it and looked long at the front door. By and by he said:

"Darn 'em! You can never tell where to find 'em."

GAFFER GRAY.

HOLCROFT.

This piece is rendered very effective by the questions being given in a firm, bluff voice, and Gaffer Gray's replies in the tremulous, piping tones of extreme old age.

"Ho! why dost thou shiver and shake, Gaffer Gray?
And why does thy nose look so blue?"

""Tis the weather that's cold,

"Tis I'm grown very old,

And my doublet is not very new-Well-a-day!"

"Then line thy warm doublet with ale, Gaffer Gray

And warm thy old heart with a glass!"

"Nay, but credit I've none,