I

bag of chocolate candy, but was now a pulpy unappetizing mass. must confess to a childish fondness for sweets, which I usually carry in some form about me. I handed the remains of my day's supply to the child, and then walked over to the bed. Yes, it was the same man, red beard, rough clothes, but setting off the magnificent frame to perfection; the same man, but dead, long dead.

I took his hand only to find it stiff and cold, while his face had the dull gray aspect never seen in the newly dead. As I stood gazing

down on him a little hand touched mine.

"Nelly so hungry !" said the child.

"Have you eaten all the candy?" I asked her.

"Yes, yes! But me hungry, for me had no dinner, no brekkus, no supper, and papa won't get up."

The house, which consisted of the large room, a smaller kitchen, and a shed, where I found a quantity of hay and fodder, seemed quite bare of food, but by dint of searching in the hay I discovered a nest, which Nelly informed me was there, and in it two fresh eggs. These I boiled for her. When she had finished I soothed her to sleep on a bed I made for her before the fire. Then after I had put my horse in the shed room and fed him, I performed as well as I could a service for the dead.

When day dawned I was able to discern at some distance from the house a line of telegraph poles, and taking the child with me I followed these to the nearest town, where I notified the authorities of the death. The dead man's name was Frederick Barnstaple. He was an Englishman, so I found, a recent arrival in those parts. His daughter was restored to her family across the water, and is now a pretty girl of 17. I have never told this story before, but I am ready to take an affidavit to its truth. It all happened about thirty miles from Dallas.

SHORT LIVED BEAUTY.

The woman who is pretty is far too liable to think that that is enough; she will conquer her kingdom by means of it; and when the day of reckoning, the day of fading comes, the kingdom will be hers by right of possession. Indeed she does not consider the day of fading; it is something as difficult for her to realize as death itself is to the young; it is far off, vague, all but impossible; how is she ever going to look other than she does now, and still be herself? And at any rate there are always the means to make the repairs of beauty, and sufficient unto

the day is the evil thereof. And so, in an average of more than half the instances, she goes dancing off about her pleasure like a fly in the sun, as full of the present, as careless of the future; she makes no preparation for the impending fate which is sure to come to her should she live long enough; she relies on her face, her blushes, her dimples, her radiance, her smiles, her glances, her sweetness. To please, to attract, to marry, to marry well, is the mark she has set before her; and it does not need cultivation of the sterner virtues for that; the sterner virtues are not greatly called into account in this quest, have little opportunity of asserting themselves, or even of being missed.

Nor is great intellectual cultivation in the scheme of our pretty woman's life; according to her plan of action it is entirely unnecessary. Who cares for syllogisms, lectures, instructions, she unconsciously argues from rosy lips? Who will stop to ask if the bright eyes have dulled themselves over dry pages of scholastic lore? Let who will be learned; it is enough for her to be gay and happy.

What, then, has our pretty creature left for the dim passages of middle age, when beauty has fallen away, but there still is left the desire to hold captive what once beauty gained? The time is coming when there will be deep crescents round the mouth whose lovely curves have been dragged down by flaccid muscles, when there will be fine spider-web lines about the eyes, when there will be hollows in the cheeks, when the red and white of the skin will have become blurred and mottled or overlaid with yellow sallowness, when perhaps there will be present in the vacuous face only "that divine sinile which has lost the two front teeth?"

Let the pretty girl remember that in the darkness of that middle passage the beauty that she had before she entered it will not signify; all faces are in the dark together then, the girl that was plain with the girl that was beautiful; the wreck of beauty signifies then no more than the wreck of what never was beauty. It is the sweet voice, the kindly manner, the burden of what is said, the tender-heartedness of what is done, that tells with any effect then. It will not be long before she arrives at this time, which, in comparison to the blaze of youth, neighbors close on the dark; and she will need them all with which she can have filled her intellect and fed her soul, all that wit and virtue and breeding can have given her, in order to retain any thing of that kingdom to which in the early days she felt herself born by right divine.-Ex.

RULES FOR GOOD HEALTH.

1. Be regular with your habit.

2. If possible go to bed at the same hour every night.

3. Rise in the morning soon after you are awake.

4. A sponge bath of cold or tepid water should be followed by friction with towel or hand.

5. Eat plain food.

6. Begin your morning meal with fruit.

7. Don't go to work immediately after eating.

8. Be moderate in the use of liquids at all seasons.

9. It is safer to filter and boil drinking water.

10. Exercise in open air whenever the weather permits.

II. In malarious districts do your walking in the middle of the day. 12. Keep the feet comfortable and well protected.

13. Wear woolen clothing the year round.

14. See that your sleeping rooms and living rooms are well ventilated, and that sewer gas does not enter them.

15. Brush your teeth at least twice a day, night and morning.

16. Don't worry; it interferes with the healthful action of the stomach.

17. You must have interesting occupation in vigorous old age. Continue to keep the brain active. Rest means rust.

THE FINGER NAILS.

There is a common belief that the finger nails are poisonous, which idea is natural enough, considering the fact that scratches made by them are generally quite irritable and much inclined to unusual inflammation. The reasoning is erroneous, however, for, as far as is known, the nails themselves do not have any poisonous properties. The trouble excited by them is due to the foreign deposits under them. In other words, if one keeps his finger nails clean, scratches caused by them will be no more irritable than those produced by any like instrument that is considered innocent. The results of the examinations made in Vienna show that it is more important that the finger nails be kept clean than is supposed. Seventy-eight were made and there were found thirty kinds of micrococci, eighteen different bacilli and three kinds of sarcenæ; besides, common mold spores were present in many instances. It would seem from this that the spaces under the finger

nails were favorable hiding places for minute organisms which are more or less prejudicial to health, and that therein lies the poisonous element attributed to the nails. Furthermore, that cleanliness of the nails is a very important essential. It is not sufficient to use merely a knife blade, but at the toilet a nail brush and plenty of soap and water should be called into service. Surgeons long ago learned that deposits under the nails were a menace, and that through them wounds were easily poisoned. This led to extreme care in the matter of personal cleanliness on their own part and on the part of all their assistants. Before an operation is performed all who touch the patient or the instruments which are to be used must first clean their hands thoroughly with soap and water, being especially careful to have the spaces under the nails absolutely clean; then the hands are put into disinfectant solutions.

CANDIES AND SWEETS.

The civilized "sugar tooth" is a monstrosity, although it is a taste which is cultivated from babyhood with most American children. As to candies they are something more than sweets; they are sweets adulterated with things which are harmful; for it is almost impossible to get candies made from pure sugar. The "sugar" from which most of them are made grew in a cornfield-an article known to commerce as glucose. At one time we wanted some glucose very much, and had been trying vainly to get it, when some one suggested that we try a candy manufactory. We did not suppose the proprietor would own to using the stuff, but he did, and sold us all we wanted at four cents a pound. We asked him if he thought it was fit to eat, and he replied, "No; I wouldn't eat it for any thing. I make the candy for other people to eat." There is no doubt but many children are kept sick and fretful, especially with stomach and bowel troubles, from having too much sweets. Sugar causes an excessive flow of mucus, and brings on catarrh of the stomach, often while children are very young; and it is a most obstinate disease to cure. Give the little ones oat-meal and preparations of wheat, which are half starch. In the process of digestion, this starch will be changed into sugar, and in this way they will be furnished with all the sweets their systems require, if with the grains they take plenty of fruits, with their natural, healthful sweets. If they are not taught to like candies and other artificial "goodies," they will have no appetite or craving for them.- Good Health.

THE BATH.

The following instructions of the secretary to the Royal Humane society of England upon bathing, will be found of value.

Avoid bathing within two hours after a meal.

Avoid bathing when exhausted by fatigue or from any other cause. Avoid bathing when the body is cooling after perspiration.

Avoid bathing altogether in the open air if, after having been a short time in the water, there is a sense of chilliness, with numbness of the hands and feet; but bathe when the body is warm, providing no time is lost in getting into the water.

Avoid chilling the body by sitting or standing undressed on the banks or in boats after having been in the water.

Avoid remaining too long in the water, but leave the water immediately there is the slightest feeling of chilliness. The vigorous and strong may bathe early in the morning on an empty stomach. The young and those who are weak had better bathe two or three hours after a meal; the best time for such is from two to three hours after breakfast. Those who are subject to attacks of giddiness or faintness, and those who suffer from palpitation or other sense of discomfort at the heart, should not bathe without first consulting their medical adviser.

LIVER SPOTS.

A writer in the Boston Herald has this to say of these provoking discolorations.

What are known as liver spots appear on both men and women, but they are commonly seen on the former, and very generally on those who are rapidly nearing or have passed middle life. These are spots of a yellowish brown color, and have quite sharply defined margins. In fact, they look like stains.

The forehead is the favorite seat of liver spots; but they appear elsewhere on the upper portion of the face. More often than otherwise the spots are small and few in number, and but slightly disfiguring. In occasional cases, however, a considerable area is involved, producing a very unsightly effect.

The actual cause of liver spots is an unusual accumulation of coloring matter in the skin; this results from some defect in the nerves which have the placing of this matter. Beyond this the essential