Abergavenny Chronicle

VVA [ALL RIGHTS RESERVED,] W) FL YN 0' THE HILL M or, THE LITTLE WHITE WITCH M till By MADGE BARLOW, IV/ M Author of "Crag Cormac, "The Cairn of the Badger," &c. ?\ CHAPTER X. (Continued). "Had a jolly holiday?" the man with the crooked mouth asked. And Eric told him jolly wasn't the proper descriptive term; but his forced smile and expression of strain and weariness convinced Dorn that the gentleman steward had been on a very wild ran-dan indeed. "It was rather a bore, having to come back," he resumed, desiring to wound the silent girl, whose flush had faded to a marble whiteness. "I should scarcely have done so had not duty called. At any rate, I fancied it did. I think I was mistaken. My notions of duty aren't high-flown. They are of the practical, common-sense class." To Flyn and Dorn it was apparent that he talked at her. She winced and shrank. How plainly he was giving her to under- stand that he felt under no obligation to renew his old impassioned vows! Did he imagine she was without feeling, bold and hardened, the adventuress Culsheen dubbed her? In Heaven's name, what had altered him? Could it be that Salvia's estimate of him was the true one? No, no, a thousand times. And yet, if seeing her with Dorn were responsible for his wildly cynical face and barbed taunts, he was acting as no sane man should. He hadn't given her a chance to explain, hadn't looked at or directly spoken to her. The cruelty of it broke her heart. She had much ado to keep from bursting into tears and crying to him: Not you, too, Andy! I can bear every gibe but yours, every averted glance. Why are you unkind?" Dorn saved her by his calm common- places. "Miss Macarn, and I were walking as far as the stile," he said, deviating from truth. "It was there I met Mr. Bamfylde, Flyn, and we struck up acquaintance, and had an informal conversation." She twisted her fingers, and her eyes sought Eric's pathetically, in a timid, wist- ful fashion, as if asking how far that meet- ing was to blame for the unhappiness of this. He stared across her head, and laughed in a mirthless manner. "Quite an informal conversation," he said. "Well, I'm pleased to renew the acquaintance, and I mustn't detain you and Miss Macara. I'm on my way to the flag-pole and-I hope- tea. Good evening." He added as an after- thought, And good luck, Dorn." "Curse women!" he ground between his teeth. "From peeress to peasant they are all alike." In the flag's vicinity he found the younger Mallards, Mickey, the Misses Joyce-Duffy, their brother Gerald, and Sylvia stooping over a fire of chips, unaware of his nearness till Anne Joyce-Duffy dragged him triumph- antly to her, when her ladyship's com- plexion assumed a livid tint, and she made a spasmodic clutch at her side, as heroines of the drama do in moments of sudden ishock. "So like you, to give us no warning," she said, assuming a ghastly playfulness. Get- ting rid of Anne on a trivial pretext, she hissed in his ear: "What is the meaning of this? You re- ceived my telegram ten days ago. I have been on tenter-hooks awaiting an answer or —Andy." "I got no telegram. I was at South- bourne." The livid tint deepened. My lady seemed about to faint. "For God's sake go!" she moaned. "Horace is here." "Why should I go?" he demanded, though the blood receded to his heart. "Why? Because I wrote lies, I've told lies. 1 said Andy was visiting you and Gid, and nobody has dropped the slightest word that could rouse his suspicion, but they may do it at any time unless Andy is primed and sent to Paradise Hill. Then I could manage to smooth matters for him, so that Horace should leave satisfied, hearing nothing. I lie awake brooding and planning how to hoodwink him. Oh, the cur, the mean cur! to take me by surprise." A sob broke from her.. "It's a horrible mess," she moanod a ain. "If he sees you, and knows you've been here instead of Andy, he'll be a raging maniac. He'll think it was arranged be- tween you and me. He'll be worse than he was on that other occasion; his hallucina- tions have taken firmer hold on him. The very mention of your name is to him ae a red rag to a bull." "Lord Darkington shall be cured of hio hallucinations," grimly. "You will face him? You will bring ruin on me in the presence of these smirking idiots?" she almost screamed. "I would disabuse Darkington's mind of a wrong and wicked misconception, harmful to you, harmful to me. A thorough clearing of the air will benefit us all." Then meet him privately." Privately or publicly, as he chooses." "In mercy to me, go," she pleaded. And by going tacitly admit that there if something to hide. No. I'll stand my ground. I can't produce Andy. Explana- tions must come sooner or later. They may as well come now. If Darkington prefers an audience he has one to hand. Remember the simple truth simply told never yet brought anybody to confusion. I wish," he con- anybody I had laid that to heart a couple oJ clude d months earlier. Where is your husband?" He and Percy Joyce-Duffy hare gone tc the Lodge. They promised to rejoin us at tea. Have you considered that Horace may want to fight a duel, to maim or kill you? My fists are at his service. Perhaps he and I would be none the worse of a little blood-letting." "I always said you were disgustingly pri- mitive under the veneer," she flung at him, her eyes blazing in her ashen face, her limbs trembling in an agony of fear for her- self. The scattered units gathered at the clatter of cups, one or two of Flyn's Nobodies timidly apprehensive of the Joyce-Duffy element, Mickey, and a member of the Tally- ho school for scandal who attended functionr at which her superiors could not be present, in order to report. Sylvia's stiff lips could scarcely frame a reply to the woman's pur- ring remarks on the non-appearance of dear Lord Darkington. Mr. Dorn and Miss Macara cught to be fined for lateness," tittered Cathy, drawing general attention to the pair walking up the whin field, silently and apart, Dorn solemn to the verge of tears, she militant of expres- sion and bearing. Slipping into a vacant place opposite Eric, Flvn threw a glance of invitation at Dorn, whose incredulous de- tight as he squeezed in beside her amused young Gerald. Looks as if they had been rowing, and ghe'd decided to kiss and be friends," he said in an undertone to his neighbour, Cheveral.. It's generally believed he's the mysterious man Culsheen has raved about. At any rate the Mater says Lady D. is doing her best to get them married, and it would be a Chris- tian act-sort of set that affair right, don'cher know, or as right as it can be now." "What affair?" Eric had an unchristian longing to make young Gerald bleed copi- ously at the nose. Oh, don't be a mug," was the graceful reply. You're no more in the dark than the rest of us. Lady D. told the Mater you'd cried off in that quarter on account of it, and she didn't want Horace to hear you had. Harriet and Anne wouldn't have been allowed to attend this show only Lady D. said she'd keep them near her all the time, sweet innocents, and the Mater don't like to offend her." Erjc's reckless spirit seemed to have en- tered into Flyn. She began to flirt, to bandy jests, to focus the interest of every man except one upon her sparkling self; and the more that one frowned the louder became her voice and her laugh. It gave her unholy joy to wound him and watch the contraction of his brows, the compressed mouth, the low- ering countenance; and her revenge would have been complete could she have read his inmost thoughts when young Gerald mur- mured, Frisky little piece, by Jove. Must cultivate her, strictly on the quiet, don'cher know. She was not quite responsible at the time. < She, had counted the hours till his return, dreamt of it, built glorious hopes on it, and his unjust treatment maddened her. Sylvia surveyed the noisy crowd as if they were strange creatures disporting in a men- agerie. She was still ghastly, only saved from collapse by a spark of fatalism. If the thunderbolt were doomed to fall it would fall. If it were not, some supernatural power would keep Horace from the whin field. Tea over, the women drew away and left Flyn the centre of a circle of men enchanted to find good game" in the hitherto prim little Macara. They asked permission to smoke, and had begun ere permission was given. Gerald, close to her elbow, prof- fered 'his cigarette case, and she puffed daintily, her cheeks pink as her dress, the silvery ripple of her talk unceasing. "Do give us a rest, Flym," said neglected Cathy acidly. "Harriet's going to sing The Cuckoo's Call,' those lovely verses by Lachlan Maclean Watt. She has wedded them to an old Irish air with a croon in it, and a lilt like the sough of the sea. Mr. Dorn, make Flyn be quiet if you can." "The poem, dear people," she continued, "is founded on a superstition that you'll go it journey in the direction in which you are looking when first you hear the cuckoo. I heard him last May when gazing pensively towards what cook calls the cemingtery. She smiled in Mickey's blanched face. "G'wan, Harriet," she said flippantly. Miss Joyce-Duffy complied. She had a Kinging voice of plaintive beauty. "There's a long good-bye for you and me, And a long good-bye for all: For I stood yestreen above the sea, And I heard the cuckoo's call. And the shadows crept across the deep, The waves were hushed and still, And we looked where the loved ones lie asleep, In the graveyard on the hill. Oh, my heart grew like a house of dreams Where mournful echoes dwell. And a thought came o'er the hills and streams That words can never tell." v Eric's eyes strayed to Flyn, but hers were downcast, and the half-smoked cigarette had dropped from her fingers. Im the pose of the small, curled-up figure was a sugges- tion of forlornness. "Oh, the long road's waiting you and me, The long road waits us all, For we stood yestreen above the sea, And heard the cuckoo's call." "We'll be hearing the dinner-bell if we don't march," said Sylvia, boisterously shattering the spell that bound the listener's. "Let's be off. Hurry, you girls. How slow you are!" They scrambled to their feet, laughinrgly protesting. "We won't stop to pack. Mrs. Jaffe will collect the debris. Cathy, you are dawdling on purpose to annoy me, and I'll carry you to the road by main force." Her feverish haste impressed them as oddly as her pre- vious icy immobility. A shrill whistle arrested their flight. The", 'glanced backward. b. "Lord Darkington and Percy are coming," lisped Sister Anne. lisp"eWd e'll wait for them," said Harriet de- cisivelv. Sylvia stood like an image of stone, I CHAPTER XI. I DRA WN BATTLE. I "Bamfylde!" cried Percy, eldest and best of the Joyce-Duffys. "By all that's wonder- ful! We had just begun to discuss you. Put on a spurt, Darkington. Andy's arrived. I say, don't you see your cousin?" He scanned Horace in bewilderment. The picnicking party stared at him, and at Eric, feeling the atmosphere electrically charged. Horace seemed dumbfounded. His sallow skin had a purple tinge, his eye a cruel, siiiaky glitter. Fascinated by it, Sister Anne- bent forward, and even in the stress of his pent emotions Horace observed that Anne was plump and fair. "Dash it!" ejaculated Percy. "If one's own eousin-" "Eh?" the query was curt, sharp as a pistol shot. "One's own cousin," repeated Percy dog- gedly. "You —he Bounders and forgets what he was about to say—"You're making us dashed uncomfortable." "Pardon," sneered Horace. "I am natur- ally thunderstruck, my cousin has altered so much. Shouldn't have known him as my cousin if you hadn't addressed him as Bamfylde, and—er—gone surety for him. Fact, Percy." While he spoke his gaze shifted from the tall figure leaning on a stick and nonchalantly awaiting developments, to the cringing form of his wife. Sylvia hence- forth would be the captured ihouse, he the victorious cat whose play would put her to exquisite torture. The impostor, too, re- farded her pitilessly. Gerald had destroyed is last remnant, of compassion. Horace's thoughts were busy. He didn't care to provoke open hostilities with that stick in the impostor's hands, and that cold, inscrutable smile on his mouth. A cunning idea had entered his mind, and he needed time to mature it. "If we are all going home, Sylvia, why don't we proceed?" he said in the* suave tone she dreaded, because he never assumed it except when planning her undoing or some- one else's. He waved them onward. Cheveral looked his contemptuous surprise. "Funk," he muttered. "The beggar is con- "The be g c??ar is. con- vinced of my villainy, and he funks. Heavens! What a craven In this he did my lord injustice. "I must have a consultation with you at once on urgent personal matters," he said, intercepting Darkington. "Can't," snapped the ether. "Stand out of the way." I said must, was the tranquil re- joinder. The snaky glitter in my lord's eyes grew more baleful. "I will speak to you to morrow and not before." "I prefer to-night. Could you screw up courage for to-night? "I shall prove to you that I am not defi- cient in courage. It is mine to arrange when and where." Sounds like a challenge to a duel," smiled Eric. "Aye," pondered his foe. "A duel of wits." The rest had moved on, leaving them iso- lated. Horace noticed Sister Anne lagging in the rear of the procession, and furtively licked his lips. "Pray don't let me detain you, he jeered. "Lady Darkington walks alone. Then you'll be anxious to catch up to her, said Eric, stepping aside. Horace dropped his mask of caution. TMi make you smart," he said, chokingly. I 11 put a spoke in your wheel, my fine fellow. He danced among the whins. "I'll pay you out for this, you and your knavish uncle, who doesn't think me good enough to associate with because I havent the shekels.' "Wrong," corrected Eric. "Because the founder of the Darkington house was a cheesemonger. Rather snobbish of the old gentleman-but there you are." Horace gave vent to an epithet unprint- able, and the next instant picked himself gingerly out of a mass of stinging prickles into which he had been violently propelled by an aristocratic boot. by 11 Mark you," he cried, shaking a trembling fist, it's war to the knife now. I'll hound you and that, scoundrel, Andy, to death." "Me, by all means, if you can," replied a sobered Eric. But Andy is beyond your reach. He is dead." My lord temporarily forgot the prickles, and lurched a pace or two nearer, his jaw hanging slack. He died—was one of the victims of the fire in the Southbourne Institute" the speaker's breath came quickly—"You may have seen the name John Salter in the papers." -t. "What of it?" John Salter was Andy." "And how might that be?" "He was severely injured saving a poor woman from being pulped beneath the wheels of a street wagon a few days be- fore he was due to arrive at Paradise Hill. They took him to hospital. He had to undergo a serious operation, and to keep the affair secret he passed under the name of John Salter, and sent me here in his stead to hold the fort for him till he recovered. He survived the operation, gained strength, and was drafted to the Convalescent Home. He was there when the fire occurred, and- my God I can't discuss it." You'll have to. So Andy roasted alive. I knew he'd come to a bad end. But where are your proofs?" Proofs! I haven't any. The nurse who had charge of his case was in our confidence, and she perished with him." "What about his clothes? Were they in- itialled? His card-case? The contents of his pockets?" "We had newly landed from South Africa. Our clothes-well, you can guess the style respectable tramps affect. Andy didn't trouble to mark his cheap store shirt, and his pocket a contained only a florin and a printed cotton handkerchief." Absolutely nothing by which he could be identified," said Horace, as if talking to himself. Nothing." The gravity of the situation dawned upon Eric-the extreme gravity of his position. I forget the particulars. Was there a body?" "No. A number were charred beyond re- cognition—blackened bones, a pile of them. I John Salter and the nurse were of that number." Horace gloated over the sick face of the man who had kicked him. "And you can't prove your cock-and-bull story? You'll have to prove it. Will any- body accept your word for it?" The word of a Cheveral-" Bah! In a court of law Jimmie Jones's would carry as much weight." Do you insinuate that I may be called upon to answer in a court of law for Andy's death? Horace retreated, so swift and threaten- ing was the alert turn of Eric's head. For his remarkable disappearance off the face of the earth you might, and a stiff J'ob you'd find it. To which hospital was he taken? Can you tell the nurse's name? The names of the medical staff? Eric readily complied. Doubtless the staff will be able to estab- lish that a certain John Salter was treated and operated upon, and afterwards burnt to death; but who will establish that Salter and Andy Bamfylde were one and the same? Eric conquered a dull sinking of the heart, and calmly replied: "I, on my sworn oath, on my honour as a Cheveral." y sworn oath, on mv honour as a Let us hope it will suffice." Darking- ton realised that with Andy dead his sole chance of wresting the Hill and its possible mineral wealth from Miss Macara had vanished, and he bit his nails to the quick. Still, he could exact vengeance on the living, and out of that vengeance another chance might spring. The cunning idea" previously referred to could be reshaped, modified to suit contingencies. His resource- ful intellect set to work again, spinning treacherous webs for the entrapping of those who had offended against him. "You ought to follow your wife and her friends. I've had my say to-night after all, you see. "Yes," replied Horace, "but mine's pending, and yours won't be a patch on it. I've got you in the hollow of my hand." Plunging through the thick of the whins to catch up to the others, he wished he had not so openly put Eric on his guard. And Eric, on the lonely heights, remained oblivious, of time's passing till the moon arose and silvered the valley below him. His mind was in a whirl. Andy had gone for ever. Flyn was lost to him, Darkingtpn his bitter enemy sworn to bring about his des- truction. Gid would turn against him, too. The foundations of his careless, easeful life seemed to split beneath his feet with jar and shock. He felt that he stood upon the brink of an abyss into which he dared not look. < "Get ready to go into residence at the Lodge immediately." Sylvia heard the command in silent terror. Horace had not uttered a syllable anent the presence of Cheveral, their solitary inter- view, the discovery of her treacherous lying, and she was afraid. The strangeness of his attitude alarmed her more than his former blustering rages and wild fits of ungovern- able passioo. It held a deeper menace. "I—I should hate that stuffy little box," she faltered. "And my maid would despise the accommodation." "Your maid is on holiday. We have no room for her. Be your own hairdresser and tire-woman as you have been at the Hill. The caretaker's wife will clean and cook." "I cannot go there," she shuddered. "It's Hobson's choice," he replied. "What alternative have you? I've shut the London house and paid off the servants. I have told Miss Macara we are most grateful for her hospitality and will not encroach on it any longer. Can you afford to disobev me an.l live elsewhere? Who will be your "banker? The loathing in his eyes as he thus ques- tioned her struck panic to her soul. It was the slow growth of years gathering fcrce to rise in all its strength and crush her. At last he loathed the childless wife whose con- duct had made havoc of his domestic peace, whose debts and follies were a back-breaking burden. He viewed with abhorrence her lanky masculinity, her thin olive face, her wide and boyish mouth, the black hail braided in a flat coronet above her brow. While they stayed as guests of Flyn he could not wring from her the explanations he must have. She would raise an outcry, appeal to Flyn, to anybody likely to con- demn him and pity her. At the Lodge none would interfere when the marital thumb- screws were anplied. (To be Continued.)

WATCHING THE WEATHER. I In order to assist airmen when journeying between this country and the Continent, there has just been completed a new weather office. This now weather office will forecast wha-t the weather will be like not only, say, at London and Rome for a pilot who is flying between those two places, but all along the route, near the ground and high up. It will tell pilots when they may expect to run into a storm, how fast the wind will blow, and in what direction, and warn them against fogs or low-lying clouds which may p.rove dangerous. Whatever direction a pilot may want to go he will be given the very latest information about the weather, not only at the moment he starts, but what it is likely to be for the next day in case he *ets delayed.

THE WINDMILL. To the younger generation at least, Hoi* land is the only place where windmills still exist. It is, however, stated that a revival in windmilling is noticeable in this country, and that windmills still exist in working order in North Lancashire, in the district between the Ribble and the Lune, which ia known locally as Windmill Land. Few people nowadays realise the im- portant part played by windmills in Eng- land a century ago. Every convenient height was crowned by one or more, and Windmill Hills abound everywhere through- out the countryside. Many cities and towns, too, possess a Windmill Street, including London, which also has its Windmill Road, in Wandsworth. While, as for old gongs and ballads about mills and millers and millers' daughters, their name is legion. And now a revival is imminent.

[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.] THE LABOUR MOVEMENT. I By FRED MADDISON. I Whatever may have been the reason fof the decision of the Croydon Labour Party, the result of the election has fully justified it, so far as opposition to the Coalition is concerned. Had it been backed up more completely at the poll, the defeat of the Government, candidate would have been assured. It is a pity that the Labour Party did not finish the job. As it wae, the Government got a severe shaking, their representative dropping over 6,000 votes, whilst the Liberal's vote was 2,567 more than that of the Labour candidate at the General Election. To reduce the Coalition majority by no less than 8,603 will not be misunderstood by Mr. Lloyd George, who will see in it part of the notice to quit which is manifesting itself at the by-elec- tions. With the Croydon example followed in many other constituencies, but carried out to its logical conclusion, the fate of the Coalition would be sealed at the nent General Election. THE N.D.P. DEFEAT. In the interest of the square deal' In politics, the overwhelming defeat of the N.D.P. candidate at Chester-le-Street is to be welcomed. The group to which he belongs has little in common with Labour. At Ply- mouth, for ins- nee, these "democrats" were busy helping a Conservative peeress against a sound Liberal and a reputable Labour man. Such a body of politicians can have no independent future, and they will probably pass away at the next General Election. Mr. Clement Edwards and his col- leagues make a stand against the Govern- ment, but that wiU not impress many. It may even be that in the end they get so disgusted with the reactionary and stupid ways of the Government that they throw them over, but that is not likely to ha,ppen —at any rate, not until the Coalition 6hip is hopelessly waterlogged. THE PLYMOUTH RESULT. Lady Astor's return was a real disappoint- ment for the Labour candidate and his party, and the size of her majority especi- ally surprised them. There is no doubt that they had convinced themselves of their suc- cess, or, at any rate, that their candidate had got within a few votes of the Ccnserva- tive. So, too, the Labour estimate of the Liberal vote was much higher than tne actual result. It was admitted that Mr. Foot was a very popular man, and they ex- pected him to nearly double the vote of the Liberal at the General Election. The pity is that this very natural anticipation was as far from being realised as it was. It must be confessed that the cause is not far to seek. The change in the policy of the co- operators had most to do with it, as it has in many other constituencies. There is no denying that the success of the Labour Party in getting the official support of the co-operators is proving a great asset to it in these elections, made all the ea.ier by the apathy of Liberals in the soci ?ties. I THE CASE FOR IS-QUIRY. Though the Government easily got its way in the division lobby in the coal debate, it was not because of the weight of argu- ment in the discussion. There Ministers were hopelessly beaten. When Sir Auckland Geddes used the cheaper coal supplied to the miners as an excuse for discriminating between coal for domestic consumption and for manufacturing purposes, he touched bottom in feebleness. If ever a case for an inquiry was made out, it was over this bewildering business. Mr. Brace and his mining colleagues, splendidly reinforced by the telling speech of Mr. Stanley Holmes from the Liberal benches, left the Govern- ment case in rags. Hut they did more. They offered to helip in any way, and under any system, to bring production up to the highest possible level, but this invaluable assistance was thrown away. Mr. Brace ad- mitted that if nationalisation meant such blundering bureaucracy as was now in control of the mines he would have none of it. But is there any guarantee that it would not? I THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR CHAIRMANSHIP. I Somehow or other, one had got Mr. George N. Barnes, M.P., fitted into the post of head of the International Labour Office under the League of Nations, and he has certainly done well at Was hington. It turns out, however, that this has fallen to M. Thomas, the well-known French Socialist leader. He is to be, it seems, the first Director-General, and the chairmanship of the Governing Body has gone to M. Arthur Fontaine, with headquarters nominally in London. M. Thomas is a man it experience in public affairs who acted as Minister of Munitions during the ,latter part of the war. He lost touch with the main body of the French Socialists, being far too little a slave to economic dogma to suit them. Doubtless, he will make a competent administrator, but France is scarcely suffi- ciently industrial to suggest that one of her sons should be the chief of the International Labour Organisation. Still, after the en- couraging start made at Washington this decision of the Conference deserves to have the loyal support of all the States con- cerned, aud this it ia sure to have. A WAR ON CO-PARTNERSHIP. I Apart from the merely personal aspect of the case, which is not now for comment, the action of the Amalgamated Society of Car- penters and Joiners agai It the co-partner- ship scheme of Lever Br others is a serious matter. Members are to be expelled if they participate in it, and this means in the re- sult that the firm in the end will be de- clared a non-union one. This is neither more nor less than a declaration of war on co-partnership, (Waged in such a way as to cause a maximum of difficulty to both trade unionists and employers. It is not sug- gested that Lever Brothers seek to interfere with the combination of the workers, which is in no way connected with the co-partner- ship scheme. It stands on its own footing, and is not compulsory. Lord Leverhulme has proved his sincerity as an employer who has striven to do more than merely pay wages, and he will not give up the co-partnersliip plan unless the men in the works refuse the advantages it gives them. I THE LICENSING PROBLEM. I Some time ago reference was made in this column to Mr. Arthur Henderson and the State Purchase policy which had apparently been adopted by the Labour Party. It now appears that the organisation which is actively engaged in promoting public owner- ship of the drink trade has no official con- nection with the iparty, and no authority to express its views. So says Mr. Philip Snowden, and he ought to know. Certainly an outsider could hardly come to any other conclusion than that the campaign for State Purchase conducted by leading mem- bers of the Labour Party had its sanction. There must be something rather lax which allows this false impression to be left on the public mind. But in the end public owner- ship, coupled with local option, is almost sure to become the official policy. I

Mr. Harry List, clerk to Croydon Board of Guardians since 1891, has died. He had been connected with Poor Law work since 1873. Captain Robert A. Grosvenor, M.C., son of Lord and Lady Arthur Grosvenor, of Broxton Lower Hall, has undergone an operation for appendicitis. The Lord Chancellor lias appointed Mi. Arthur Rhys Roberts to be official solicitor to the Supreme Court, in the place of Sir William Winterbotham, retired. A new method of cinematography, en- abling the operator to obtain in one record 50,000 pictures of a moving projectile, was shown before the French Academy of Science by MM. Abraham and Bloch.

INSTINCT, THE UNTUTORED. The idiosyneracies of children are too 6ewildering to be easily explained. For in- stance, how is it that a child will stretch out its little arms, or confidingly nestle up to the most unlikely-looking person? The obvious answer is because its instinct has recognised a child-lover. The story it; told that a lady was once much annoyed because her little girl would not make friends with a visitor whom the mother was particularly desirous of pleas- ing. It became quite understandable later, when the visitor exclaimed frankly, "I do detest children!" I'm sorry to disappoint you, mother"; said a girl, "but I will not marry him! I admit he is, as you argue, desirable in every way, but when his hand touches mine in greeting, something I cannot explain tells me that he is not the man to make me happy." The mother lived to rejoice at her daughter's decision. Another case:—"So you have engaged that girl in spite of what her late empler said of her?" asked the friend. "I have; my instinct made me trust her more than I did the lady." She proved my good help until her own marriage. And thus is that peculiar tradt called instinct exemplified.

TIPS WE MIGHT LEARN. I There can be little doubt but that we have yet much to learir from many of our Con- tinental neighbours. For instance, in many European houses the door-handles are not knobs, but levers. Thie makes them much easier to open, especially when the hands are full. In Munich post-offices there is a dial-scale for the use of the public, to weigh letters and parcels (which saves time), and an autom-atic arrangement for registering lettere. European windows, like old English win- dows, move in and out, not up and down. This quite does away with the bother of window-cords, and the windows give more air when open. They close quite tightly if properly fitted. In Bavaria there are several sorts of kindly little celebrations and other things which make life friendlier and more plea- sant. For instance, if an employee has remained in the same place for five, seven, ten years, etc., his employer frequently gives him a sort of little jubilee celebration. Nor did the employees forget the chief's birthday or "name-day." Nothing expensive a glass or two of wine, a cake, or some tuch little remembrance.

CHANCE INVENTIONS. I Many a chance shot, so to speak, has brought about a revolution in many things. As an example, we may recall that a. little rust on a soldier's rifle was, incidentally, the thing that led to the discovery of engra- ving called mezzotints. Prince Rupert one morning in 1643 observed a private rubbing rust from the barrel of his rifle, and imme- diately conceived the idea of engraving, Covering a plate of copper with little holes, he inked them in, and, laying the plate on paper, a black impression was produced. By scraping away parts of the surface, the paper remained white wherever there were no holes. Then, inventing a species of steel roller, covered with points, he used them against the copper plate, indenting it in the manner he wished, and thus produced any gradation of aha-pc desired. The invention of the ordinary balloon is said to have originated through Stephen Montgolfier noticing as the warm air rose under a shirt hanging before the fire it took the garment with it. Quite a simple inci- dent, which led to a remarkable invention.

M. Yenizelos has given a sitting at Rome to the eminent sculptor, Signor Rutelli, who is modelling a statue of the Greek Premier which his compatriots are erecting at Salonica. There are clergy in and near the city, eays the Vicar of Leeds, who do not get, and whose families do not get, enough to enable them to do their work efficiently.

THE POULTRY YARD (flj Helpful Hints for 61 Backyar-dem" By "COCKCROW." (()] At this period cf the year it is very neces- sary that the At-atchi-ig-slied should be carefully looked to if trouble is not to ac- crue. The floor space for laying stock should not be under Eiy, square feet per bird. Allow each bird at least lOin. of roosting space and so prevent overcrowding- Stock kept for the production of early chickens should get all the outdoor exercise possible during dry weather. Another im- portant matter is to see that not only must the roof be absolutely waterproof, but the front should. be so protected as to prevent driving • rain from beating in. Along the front of the shed at ice top there should run a weather-board of decent width, and 2t a suitable angle, while the v-ire-?etted front should also be properly protected, allowing, of course, sufficient space for veiitilation. Needless to say, if the litter is allowed to get damp the conditions are not conducive to health, and the atmosphere of the house will soon become tainted WINTER DIET. It is well to bear in mind that maize, being a heat-generating food, is essential in the dieting of bircls running at large during periods of coLd. weather. A little tincture or sulphate of iron added to the drinking water two or three times a week will do good during the present season Shell-less and other abnormal eggs gener ally result from internal fatness, and idle- ness accounts for the latter. Therefore, don't retain for breeding purposes any birds that have been doctored for ailments of a serious nature. The cockerel that does not crow lustily and frequently generally makes a poor show in the breeding pen. And other equally obvious natural signs trill be carefully uot-0d by the keen fancier. VALUE OF ANIMAL FOOD. It can saSely be estimated that a duck iu full lay lays an egg every day. To attain this result it is well to include in the rations a liberal amount cf animal matter, without which a duck is but an indifferent layer. Far too little animal food is generally given to ducks, and that is why such birds are not favourably regarded as winter egg Fro- dueers. The 10 per cent. of animal flatter allowable for laying hens is not sufficient to maintain ducks in f (11 lay outside the teasoiis when insect food on the range is abundant. Fifteen per cent. of the 60ft) food fed to ducks should consist of meat and, in addition to this. the other items in the mash should be nutritious. One part biscuit meal, 1 part clover meal, 1 part sharps, and a 15 per cent- addition of meat or fish meal makes a good mash, and tiie meals should be scalded and allowed to stand until cool before being given to the birds. ASSURING GOOD STOCK. It is to be borne in mind that however many hens are running with a male bird the latter may be said to be half the breed- ing-pen. If more poultry-keepers would bear the fact in mind when buying stock cockerels not only would stronger chickens be bred, but such would, when reared, score over their parents in the matter of egg production. Those providing for next year's laying stock should see that such eggs are fertilised by cockerels emanating from bred-to-lay stock, a.s it is through the male bird that high fecundity is trans- mitted to the progeny. Deal only with a person who specialises in the breeding of high-class laying stock when buying a cockerel; and should the bird be sent on approval, see that he has well-developed thighs well set apart, and that the chest is prominent. Avoid the big. ugly, coarse- combed bird, and choose the one whose comb is &rm, medium in size, anù cf nice texture. A CHEAP NEST-BOX. It is ako worth remembering that. henw, when laying, like to bury themselves well into the nesting material, and in endeavour- ing to get settled are apt to scratch the litter from the bottom of the nest-box, causing egg breakages. The use of chafi or peat moss as the bottom covering- .will pre- vent this. Breakages often lead to egg-eat- ing, and must be avoided at all costs. A three-sectioned orange-box turned cn its side, with the openings to the front, makes an excellent range of nests. Each front should have its lauged wooden door, and the whole stand on leg, two feet off the ground. Just below the entrances a perch ehould bo fitted for the whole length, so that the heD: can fly up to it before entering to lay. Thj1 is quite a good and inexpensive idea. I GIVE REGULAR MEALS. As with human beings, so with birds— regularity in meal times must be esta»b- lished. It is a true saying that you will not get eggs if you give a late breakfast, thereby causing the to stand alcijt and mope with empty crops on a cold morn- ing. If a late riser, bury the grain in the litter after dark overnight; the birds can then get to work in the morning whiJe the owner slumbers. At midday, place raw green food before the birds in a string bag hung from the roof by a cord to witbin a foot or so of the floor. The hens are thus compelled to jump up for the greenery obtaining both exercise and occupation. A warm, wet mash in which should be included all the table scraps available should be given as a last meal. This should be placed before the birds in a proper trough, and not thrown on the fio-or of the run. In other words, send the birds to "bed" with nice full crops so that they can be making1 eggs during the long night. I How TO KILL. I have been asked to give a. line regarding the best method of killing birds. iNeedlese to say, there are various ways of killing fowls, but the most humane and best is the dislocation of the neck. This death is pain- less, for as soon as the vertebra becomes severed the ability to feel pain is removed.. After dislocation takes placa there wiil be severe convulsions of the bird's body; bist as the means by which sensations are car- ried to the brain have been snapped asunder, there need be no fear that the bird endures any sensation. These convulsions, the flapping of wings, twitching of the body, and the like, are simply the result of continued nerve action, which speedily ceases, however. I TABLE POULTRY. Now that the holiday season is at hand, it should be remembered that all table fowls should be fasted quite 24 hours be- fore they are killed. Absolutely no f (,,od of any kind should be given during that time, but the birds should have water in plenty. The withholding of all food ensures t-Lat the crop and intestines are quite emptied of their contents; while the water assists in cleansing the organs. When these simple precautions are taken it will be found that the fowls will keep well, and will not (as there is no sour food in them) go green a.bout the crop. This is a very good point to bear in mind, especially when one con- siders what a variable climate England ie endowed with.

Raising the pensions of London s ex- I policemen to the pre&ent rate, it is esti- mated, 'will cost. ?,00?000..

Damage amounting to several thousand pounds was caused by fire at Messrs. E. Brooksbank and Company's oil mills at Traf- ford Park, Manchester. Some London and North Western Railway coaches dashed into a dead end at the Lon- don Road Station, Manchester, one being telescoped and several damaged. No one was injured.