treated her; and she is still quite willing to place her whole fortune at your disposal-which is a great deal for her to do, since she is immensely wealthy-if you will only consent to marry her. She is so charming that you cannot help loving her when once you get accustomed to her-and the trifle of difference in your ages does not matter; you will never think of it, after you get used to it."

The laugh that was choking me would not be repressed another moment, and I almost roared. The man sprang to his feet and in his excitement knocked off his spectacles, and before they could be recovered he had ground them into powder under one of his number-eleven shoes.

"I wish you would stop laughing. It is, to say the least, very undignified!" he declared, vehemently.

"Then don't tell such funny stories," said I.

"I tell funny stories! Why, I never told a funny story in my life!" he exclaimed. "I was never given to such hilariousness; I take a more serious view of life."

Springing to his assistance I brought from under the couch, where it had rolled, his shining tile, and as I handed up the dented headpiece he glared at me and remarked that he should not soon forget the indignities he had been subjected to that morning. Then carefully placing the remains of his smashed spectacles in their case, and tipping his hat jauntily on one side of his head, he gave himself a little shake as if to adjust his rumpled garments, and asked:

"Well, what shall I say to my clients?"

"You may tell Mrs. Smythe that when she sent out a detective to look into my private affairs there was one thing he did not learn, and that was that I am already married. And since the laws of the State of New York allow a man to have but one wife at a time, it will be impossible to make any matrimonial arrangements with me."

"You a married man!" gasped the attorney. "Why in the name of all that's wonderful didn't you say so before?"

"For the simple reason that neither you nor your clients asked for a reason why I would not marry Miss Smythe, but insisted that I should. Then, Mrs. Smythe took pride in the shrewd manner in which she had traced my family affairs, even to the most minute detail, back to my Puritan ancestors. Under these circumstances I thought it unnecessary to offer any further information. However, this little thing has become so tiresome that I concluded to enlighten your clients regarding this one small fact that has been overlooked."

The legal gentleman bowed stiffly, and with all the dignity of a potentate marched from my office. On the same evening there appeared in the Evening Journal a notice that read:

"PERSONAL.-Mrs. Smythe and her daughter are about to close their elegant home, with the intention of spending the winter in the South, Miss Smythe's health requiring a change of climate. The rigorous winters of Chautauqua County are entirely too severe for her delicate constitution."

"And so this is the end of that affair," I muttered; "and tomorrow I shall engage an architect to make plans for our new home-Mata's and mine!"

(To be continued.)

EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT.

M

VOLUME EIGHT.

IND is now three and a half years old. Its eighth volume begins with this issue. Though still in the early stage of its career, the magazine has made a pronounced impression, commendatory of metaphysical teachings, in intellectual circles that are quite distinct from any branch of the New Thought movement. It is read with avidity in economic societies and social clubs, in political and moral reform organizations, in liberal Christian associations, and by individuals interested in the rescue of science from the pitfalls of materialism. Its mission is to introduce the leaven of spiritual truth into channels that have become stagnant with theological decay, and it is by virtue alone of its breadth of policy and evident sincerity that it has gained access to these educational centers.

The profounder students of the New Thought, who recognize the unity of all truth, predict the eventual rally of every body of reformers to the metaphysical standard; indeed, they hold that progress is impossible without recognition of the spiritual element in all forms of advancement. This coalition of the lovers of their race, when consummated, will present one practicable instance of that coöperation which is the law of mutual success. By reason of the assured permanency of its position as "the leading exponent of the New Thought," MIND is the herald and pioneer of this endeavor. It is a magazine of constructive aims the harbinger of that mental freedom which must precede all political and religious emancipation.

SERIAL ARTICLES.-Our eighth volume opens auspiciously with the first of a new series of essays from the brilliant pen of the Rev. R. Heber Newton, D.D., on "The Training of Thought as a Life Force." Dr. Newton's previous contributions to MIND attracted world-wide attention, being copied and discussed editorially by secular newspapers in various parts of the world, and his present articles on the above subject will be found even more instructive and helpful. Our readers will be glad to learn also that Editor Patterson's essay on "Mental Influences," which appears in this issue, is likewise the initial paper of a series on topics relating to Advanced Thought by the same writer. These contributions to the Essay department will cover the whole range of spiritual science, touching incidentally upon subjects of timely and popular interest viewed from the metaphysical standpoint.

BOUND VOLUMES.-It is not our custom to obtrude the commercial side of our enterprise-for it has necessarily a financial aspect-upon the attention of the readers of MIND through our literary pages. But there is one feature of The Alliance Publishing Company's business that should interest all friends of the magazine, and that is the preparation of the publication for reference and library use. As time passes, back numbers of MIND become scarce and of increased value-some of the issues are already out of print save in cloth-bound form, for which purpose a few hundred extra copies of each edition are printed. The present demand for the seven bound volumes now ready for delivery will soon exhaust the supply, and all who wish to procure complete sets should purchase them without delay. The price for a single volume is $1.50, but the entire number thus far issued will be sent post-paid for $8.00. A full description of these handsome and valuable books will be found on page 2 of the cover, though the importance of preserving our monthly. issues in this durable form is self-evident. J. E. M.

A MONUMENT TO THE MEMORY OF ATLANTIS.

A

NOTABLE discovery of more than ordinary interest for historians, especially those who have a leaning toward antiquities, has lately been made by the well-known archæologist, Augustus Le Plongeon. This discovery should particularly attract the attention of Americans, since it enables them to lay claim to one of the most important monuments of ancient times. The edifice in question is the Pyramid of Xochicalco, standing 5,395 feet above the level of the sea, and situated to the south-southwest of Cuernavaca, sixty miles from the city of Mexico. For more than a century the pyramid has been occasionally visited by distinguished travelers, including the learned Humboldt; but none succeeded in discovering the purpose for which the monument had been erected, nor in deciphering the mysterious inscriptions on its sides.

As far back as 1886, Dr. Le Plongeon published his alphabetic key to the Maya hieroglyphs, comparing this with the ancient Egyptian hieratic alphabet. He has now found that the signs on the Pyramid of Xochicalco are both Maya and Egyptian; and a careful study of these decorative inscriptions has made it plain to him that the pyramid was a monumental structure erected to commemorate the submergence and destruction of the great Land of Mu (Plato's Atlantis), together with its population of 64,000,000 human beings, about 11,500 years ago.

Dr. Le Plongeon, in his remarkable work, “Queen Moo and the Egyptian Sphinx," gives four Maya accounts of the same cataclysm. This, then, is the fifth, and, in his own opinion, the most important of all the known records in Maya language of the appalling event that gave rise to the story of a universal Deluge that is found in the sacred books of Jews, Christians, and Mohammedans.