Evening Star Newspaper, December 30, 1893, Page 14

14 THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 80, 1893-TWENTY PAGES. FAVORS AND CARDS. Some of the Season’s Novelties in Pretty Things FOR COMILLIONS AND DINNER PARTIES. Dainty Articles That Can Easily Be Made at Home. THE LATEST BON-BON BOXES. HE MUSICAL TIN- in every ball room man and cotillion fa- vors and lend an added degree of joy- ousness io every tive assemblage. A recent visit to a Les- signs, some very elaborate and expensive, but not a few that could be readily manu- factured at home, and the cost thereby ma- @rially reduced. md Staff. A very showy favor was a long shoulder gash, made of a double band of pale blue satin, about two and one-half inches wide, ending in a big bow over the hip. The edges were bordered with glittering silver tinsel fringe and along the center of the sash, at intervals of two inches, were sewn tiny silver bells, that send forth a merry peal at the slightest movement of the wearer. The corresponding favor for the gentlerran was a long staff, having a jewel- ed top, from either arm of which hung quite a large brass bell. About two inches below the top were fastened long, fluttering ends of pale blue inch-wide ribbon, having small brass bell fastened to the tip of Muff and Boa Favors. ‘The feather favors are very popular and eminently becoming. A long boa of snowy white feathers, with muff to match, sus- pended by long white ribbons and studded with silver bells, can be utilized afterwards for evening wear. Other exquisite muffs and boas were of artificial violets and tiny rose buds or forgetmencts. A particularly pretty conceit was a set of M wings and coronet to match. They lercury were made of pink feathers, deliciously soft im tint. Mercury Wings. ‘The large wings were outspread, with a wire loop to slip down the low corsage at the back, and the coronet also bore in front two poised wings that, perched on top of a tty head, must produce a bewitching ef- “I attended a german recently,” said a in conversation, “where the Mer- cury wings were given as favors, and it so happened that the young girl to whom they ‘Were presented was really beautiful—a tiny blond, with wonderful golden hair, big blue eyes and an exquisite complexion. She chanced to be gowned in some light, airy pp fabric, and with the wings and coronet Place looked, at the same time, irresist- ible and ethereal. I half expected her to re-| ly to my invitation to dance with a rock- | ine laugh, and, spreading her wings, to van-| ish slowly from my sight. She pulled me down to earth again rather suddenly, though, at the close of the dance by asking anxiously if I could see any powder on her Bose.”” A head dress for the sterner sex consisted of a band of small white feathers, with an upright wire in front and two in the back, each capped with a cluster of feathers and Silver bells. Game Dag and Feather Coronet. A game bag,to be slung over the shoulder, Was made of white satin. The lid was edg- ed with a narrow band of gold passemen- terie. Showing through the gold net of the bag was a bird. The whole was suspended by inch-wide satin ribbon, edged on either side with gold, and having a row of bells | down the center. Another pretty favor was made of ribbon- wound hoops, quite large, having over the top a sheet of thin white paper. About two inches apart all around the hoop were ribbons four inches long, with @ silver bell attached to the end of each. With this, for the gentleman was a stick | about a foot and a half long, covered with ribbons and bells, with which to puncture | the paper of the hoop, so it could be drop- Ped over some fair head. Small feather | fans to wear in the hair, bell-covered fans | to hang at the side, dainty satin bags, | Doxes and many other things, too numerous | to mention, were also noticed. | A unique luncheon favor was a small satin box containing A, R, C blocks of chocolate, the letters to be so arranged as to spell the name of the guest at whose cover they were placed. A dainty opera glass bag is! @ useful souvenir. They are made of satin, suitaby decorated, and have a silver clamp top. The lower part of the bag is for the glass, while the upper half is a separate compartment for the handkerchief and Paper Hoop and Stick. Bon bon boxes made to counterfeit per- fectly potatoes, onions, lemons, oranges, &c.,are much used at luncheons and look pretty on the table. An igenious designer has conceived the idea of utilizing bon bon boxes in a novel and sensible way. In place of the perishable and expensive silk and satin boxes that soil before they are emptied and soon have to be thrown away, he makes a plain paste- board box, with the cover so arranged as to hold on top a square of exquisitely painted porcelain, a valuable china plate or a beautiful fan. When the box is emptied it can be thrown away without scruple, as all of the expense is put in the fan, plate or what- ever the cover holds. Dinner Cards. “The latest thing in dinner cards?” re- peated the head of the stationery depart- ment in a stylish New York store. “We don’t keep much of a stock on hand, as most of our work is done from special or- ders for something particularly appropriate to the occasion. For instance, some cards we sent off last night for a dinner to a party who were all members of the same riding club had on each a sketch in water color of a figure either mouated on a horse, in the act of mounting or standing beside the animal. The faces were painted from photographs, and were all good likenesses, and on each card was a sentence hitting off some little peculiarity or hobby of the person whose name it bore. “For a yacht club dinner each card had a marine view, with a natty craft in the foreground. Then, for a dinner to a com- pany of authors given recently the cards had sketches in color of the characters in their books. The plain white card, with the crest or monogram in gold or silver over the name still holds its own. “Then, we have these little rose leaves,” indicating them as he spoke, “on which the name can either be written in gold or a small piain white card can be tied on with ribbon for that purpose. The ivy leaf, symbol of friendship; the four-leaved clover and the pansy are ajso equally popular. “Then, we have thesé slices of fruit cake, with the plain card for the names Any of them are thoroughly good form and very inexpensive. Many people prefer to have the name painted on a strip of ribbon or on the bow that holds the bouquet.” “Have you anything new in dinner fay- ors?” “It is the same as with dinner cards,” he replied. “We make most of them to order. Of course, we have innumerable things in stock that are suitable, such as scarf pins, key rings, cravat holders, hat markers, umbrella straps, match safes for the gentlemen, and lace pins, rings, court- Plaster cases, souvenir spoons, glove but- toners and bonbonnieres for the ladies. But many of our customers want something original and exclusive, and for them our artist makes designs, either following their suggestions or using an idea of his own.” ———--oo____ CHEATING THE Gops, The Chinese Are Not Slow When It Comes to Getting a Rake-om. From the London Times. A correspondent of the North China Her- ald, writing from the interior of Kiangsu province, mentions that one of the indus- tries there is the manufacture of mock money for offering to the dead. Formerly the Chinese burned sham paper money,, but in these days of enlightenment and foreign intercourse the natives of Soongkong, Hangchow and other places have come to the conclusion that dollars are more handy to the ghosts than clumsy paper money, hence they now, to a great extent, supply their ancestors and departed friends with mock dollars. ‘These are only half the size of real dol- Jars, but there appears to be no more harm in cheating the dead than there fs in cheat- ing the living. Besides, the deceased are not supposed to know the difference, for many of them departed this life before sil- ver dollars were imported into China. A hundred mock Carolus dollars, done up in boxes, are sold for $34 cash. The operation for making this money is interesting. First of all, there are blocks of tin which are melted down and then poured between boards lined with Chinese paper, and when the upper board is pressed down on the lower a thickness of tin remains. This is next cut up into strips four inches long, one inch wide and an eighth of an inch thick. Some ten of these strips are placed evenly together, one on top of the other, and one end is held between the fingers, when the workman proceeds to hammer them out till he has beaten them so fine that they are now three feet long and one foot broad, and so thin that they are not thicker than the thinnest paper. ‘This is next pasted on com- mon cardboard, which is then cut with a punching machine to the size of half dol- lars, and, this having been done, a boy takes the cut out pieces in hand, and with the two dies, one representing the one side and the other the reverse, hammers impres- sions of dollars on them, and the money is ready for use. Another very curious Instance of the prac- tice of cheating the gods is recorded in the same country. It appears that districts of the Anhui province have lately been ravaged by an epidemic, so that in many places the people were unable to attend to the har- vesting of the crops. An attempt was then made to deceive the gods by “playing at” New Year day, and pretending that Sep- tember 1 was the first day of the new year. | Every preparation for celebrating the bogus | new year was made, such as burning fire- crackers and pasting happy sentences in red paper on the doors. ‘The object was to make the god of sick- ness think that he had made a mistake in the seasons and had erred in bringing an epidemic on the people at a time when no| epidemics, in the course of nature, should | appear. As any action contrary to nature done by the gods is liable to punishrnent by the King of Heaven, the actors in this farce thought that the god of sickness would gather his evil spirits back to him for fear of the displeasure of his superior divinity. This child's play received the per- mission and co-operation of the local au- thorities, but so far no visible effects for the better are apparent. —see. He Knew. q Mrs. Kings-Dorter (impressing one of her | Proteges) 3e brave and earnest and will succeed. Do you remember my telling you of the great difficulty George Wash- | ington had to contend with ° ° ePote-star ° o Casstapeia To compare this chart with the heavens one should hold it overhead, when the points of the compass will come right and the stars will fall into their proper posi- tions, A PLANISPHERE OF THE HEAVENS, JAN. 7TH, AT 9 P. M. SKIES IN JANUARY. Planets and Stars That Will Be Well Worth Watching. THE MIGHTY ORION CONSTELLATION. Interesting Facts About Sirius, the Dog Star. OTHER HEAVENLY LIGHTS. Written for The Evening Star. HE MOST INTER- esting quarter of the heavens on a Janu- ary evening is toward the southeast. By 9 o'clock, at the begin- ning of the month, and by 7 o'clock near its close, the constel- lation Orion —the “mighty “Orion,” as he was styled by Homer, centuries ago —may be seen in mid- heavens in this direc- tion, its position being then nearly central between the horizon and the zenith, as is shown in the annexed planisphere. Every- one is familiar with the appearance of this striking asterism, which hangs in the heavens like a gigantic letter X. It is prob- ably one of the oldest, and is certainly the most imposing of the ancient constellations. The popular imagination everywhere and in all ages has seen in this group of stars the likeness of a human being, huntsman or warrior, although it is difficult or rather impossible to trace the outlines of that figure, equipped with club, sword and shield, which may be found depicted on a modern celestial chart. Stars of the First Magnitude. This quarter of the heavens is especially rich in stars of the first magnitude. Orion itself contains two stars of this class—Be- telgeuse, in the right shouldér, and Rigel, in the left foot. In its immediate neighborhood ure three others of the same magnitude, while midway between the constellation and the Pole star is a fourth, making in all six stars of the first order of splendor within this comparatively restricted region. Inter- spersed among them are hosts of stars of the second and lower magnitudes, and through their midst runs the milky way, the whole combination rendering this a pecu- larly splendid section of the heavens. Of Different Color, Betelgeuse and Rigel can easily be identi- fied from their positions at opposite corners of the constellation. The three stars of the belt—the Three Kings,as they are sometimes called—lie midway between them. Observe the difference in their color. Betelgeuse is a reddish star, while Rigel is pearly white. According to the view now in favor among astronomers these stars represent different stages of world life. Betelgeuse is in an early stage. It is thought to be not a star, properly speaking, but rather a dense “swarm of meteors,” still condensing and growing hotter and hotter. ‘The matter whicn composes it has not yet become en- tirely gaseous, as it will become eventually, but is still undergoing a sort of melting pro- cess, the heat being supplied by the coilis- ions of the meteors. Rigel is a more ad- vanced sun. It is wholly gaseous and has reached the stage when a sun is the hottest. Its future career will be a continual cooling off. In the course of time it will become a yellow star—so say the astronomers—like Capella, the bright star now seen nearly overhead. The yellow stars, according to this view, which is based on observations made with the spectroscope, are worlds in middie life. Our sun belongs to this class. The Dog Star. The very brilliant star beneath Orion, and nearly in a line with the Three Kings, is Sirius, the dog star. Although reckoned as of the first magnitude it stands a full head and shoulders above the rest of its class, its light being estimated to equal that of five average stars of the first magnitude. Sirius, like Rigel, shines with an intense- ly white light, verging upon blue. It is a sun in the iull vigor of youth, intensely hot as well as intensely luininous. The spectro- scope shows a large preponderance of hy- drogen in its atmosphere. This brilliant star has held a prominent place both in ancient mythology and in the history of astronomy. The Egyptians wor- shiped it under the name Sothis, and be- lieved it to be the residence of the goddes: Its rising—that is, its first appearance: above the horizon at daybreak, which oc- | curred in July—marked the beginning of the Egyptian year. The name “Dog Star” has come down to us from the Greeks, and is thought to have been borrowed by them from the Egyptians, by whom it seems to have been given to this star because of its supposed watchful care over the interests of the husbandman, its rising giving him notice of the approach- ing overflow of the Nile. Certainly this name cannot have been suggested by any- thing peculiar in the configuration of the stars in its neighborhood, and the notion that “dog days,” which follow the rising of Sirius, are peculiarly baneful to the canine race probably has no other basis than a misconception of the import of the popular name of this star. Its Distance From Us. Sirius is one of the stars, fifty or sixty in number, of which the distance from us has been ascertained with a greater or less margin of error. Although not the nearest of the stars, as was formerly very naturally supposed by astronomers to be the case, it has been found to be among the nearest. Its distance from us is now commonly put at about 600,000 times that of the sun. This distance, though really short, as star dis- tances go, is, of course, utterly incompre- hensible. ‘The matter is not much helped when we have calculated that light, which reaches us from the sun in a little over eight minutes, and from the moon in one and one-third seconds, requires ten years to flash across the space which intervenes be- tween us and the Dog Star. The light which renders this star visible to us tonight left it ten years ago. In a miniature model of the universe, in which the whole sola> system should be embraced in a space no bigger than the dot upon this i,Sirius should be placed at a distance from this system of about twenty-five feet. Willy Raggs—"Yes, mum; he couldn't tell a liel” Its Size. ‘The size of Sirius can be estimated rough- | the mirror ly from its brilliancy considered in connec- tion with its known distance. Six hundred suns of the size and brilliancy of ours molded into one would, at the distance of Sirtus, transmit to us about the same amount of light. Shining singly, our glori- ous luminary would at that distance ap- pear to us @ star of the fourth or fifth magnitude. To the Right and Left of Orion. Above and a little to the right of Orion may be seen a bright orange-yellow star. This is Aldebaran, sometimes called the Bull’s Eye. It is the principal star in the constellation Taurus. It can always be found, when above the horizon, if one will remember that it is on the side of Orion opposite Sirius, and at about the same dis- tance as that star from the Thee Kings. To the left of Orion and at about the same distance from Betelgeuse as Sirius, is Procyon, the Little Dog (Canis Minor). It forms with Betelgeuse and Sirius a nearly equal-side triangle, which renders it easy to recognize. The Pictades. A short distance to the right of Aldebaran is the beautiful little cluster of the Pleiades. consisting, for eyes of only ordinary keen- ness, of six tiny but very sparkling stars. This is an excellent object for an opera- glass, which will bring into view, not only the “Lost Pleiad,"" but dozens of other Pleiads, which, if they have not come into being, have at any rate come into visibility since the fall of Troy. An opera glass goes, however, but a short way toward bringing out the beauties of this rich clus- ter as it is seen through a large telescope or as it is depicted by photography. A photograph of this region shows within an area of about the size of six full moons over 2,000 stars, of which fully 200 le within the limits of the six stars visible to the naked eye. ‘The Sow and Pigs. Close beside Aldebaran is another cluster, having the form of the letter V, which, though more diffuse than the Pleiades and less striking to the naked eye, is really a much finer object for an opera glass. The ancient Greek name of this cluster was Hyades, a name which has usually been interpreted as if derived from a Greek word which means “‘to rain.” The Romans called these stars Pluviae, which may be inter- preted the “Rainers,” and the explanation given is that when these stars rose with the sun rainy weather might be expected. The Romans also called them Suculae, the Pigs, “‘becaus says a German annotator upon Virgil, “by a strange mistake they derived the word Hyades from hys, a swine.” But when we consider that these ancient constellations were probably formed and named by husbandmen and not by poets, it seems not unlikely that the Roman peas- ant was instinctively right and the learned German wrong. The “Sow and Pigs.” as a name for Aldebaran and the group of lesser Nehts around it, is a designation that would take with rustics, whatever poets might think of it. Names of Popular Origin. Homely and pointed names for these star groups are just the sort that we should look for, when we consider their popular origin, as, in fact,we find to be the case with many of the modern names which have supplanted the old. Thus, the “Sickle” is a popular name for a portion of the old constellation Leo, now just above the eastern horizon, and we have met with persons who ignore the classical and poetic name “Pleiades,” and persist in calling this pretty little clus- ter the Cleaver, just because it looks like a cleaver. The constellation Orion is famous astro- nomically for its great nebula, Seen through a large telescope this mysterious object,the largest of its class, has the appearance of a st, shapeless and faintly luminous cloud, as the name nebula implies. It is situated in the sword at a distance from the lower- most star of the belt about equal the length of the belt itself. Although it is said to be visible to the naked eye, probably very few eyes can detect any unusual appearance here, and, indeed, even an opera glass will hardly reveal the nebula with certainty. Mass of Incandescent Gases. The spectroscope has shown that this mist-like object, which was formerly thought by many astronomers to consist of an infinitude of stars too small or too dis- tant to be seen separately, is really a mass of incandescent gases, among which hydro- gen and nitrogen seem to be the most abundant. in recent years this grand nebu- la has been many times photographed, first by the late Prof. Henry Draper and later by Mr. Common, Mr. Roberts and others. Photography has, indeed, done for this re- gion more than to secure and fix the ap- pearance of this long-known nebula; it h: revealed other nebulae here which had es- caped detection. In fact, this whole con- stellation has been found to be so rich in| matter of this description that it has been very aptly characterized as “a vast nebular vortex.” ‘The Planets. The reigning planets now are Venus and Jupiter, both now being magnificent even- ing stars. Venus is about three hours east of the | sun, and aaorns the western evening sky | with her incomparable splendor until near- ly 8 o'clock. She attains her greatest bril- liancy on the 10th of next month. Jupiter was in opposition to the sun, and therefore shone with his greatest brilliancy for this year on the 18th of November. Yet he is still no mean rival of Venus. His dis- tance from us now 1s about 375,000,000 mules, Since the 20th of September this planet has been “retrograding’’—moving westward. On the 15th of next month it will be station- ary. After that date it will move in an easterly direction. Its movement can be ooserved very readily by noting its change of position with reference to the Pleiades and the star Aldebaran. Saturn is now a morning star, rising at about 1 a.m. It is therefore coming into a good position to be observed with a tele- scope. On the 14th it will be in quadrature with the sun. Mars also is a morning star, rising at about 4 a.m. None of the other planets is now in a position to render it of interest to observers with the unaided eye. — How He Saved Her. From the Detroit Free Press. The man adored her and he was roman- tie. He must have been, for he could not have adored her, seeing she was thirty-five and passe to match. She had money, though, and that might have been some object. But not much, for men are not that kind. “Dearest,” he said to her, “you are to be my wife, and yet I have done nothing heroic | for you.” “What could you do, darling?” she mur- mured. “I might have saved your life, dearest, = some way; then you would think more of _m. She rose to her feet, took a long look tn at the crows’ feet about her s and the sprinkles of gray in her hair and threw herself impetuously into his arms. exclaimed joyfully, “you “Oh, Hiram!” she have saved my life! And Hiram didn’t catch on, HONS. VIGOT'S DIAMONDS.’ L. Clarkson in Godey’s. PART IL. HERE WAS WON- derfully good weather for The approach of Christmas tide in Paris. Not that any one minds bad weath- er in the French cap!- tal, where great things are done su- cheats to lighten the burdens of life. But December there is usually so very bit- ter and biting, so pervaded with a sensa- tion of being pierced to the bone by a raw, wet cold (which is not visible to the naked eye, like the cold of a genuine white win- ter), that the clear, frosty atmosphere, tem- pered by a ray of thin sunshine, put all in the most unreasonably exultant spir- its. Our pension was filled to overflowing with an amicable mixture of English and Americans, weighted by a German baron- ess with three or four preternaturally plain daughters, and a Russian countess, who was thought to be a socialist, because she never by any chance entered into a politi- cal discussion. ‘There was the usual desultory chit-chat at table d’hote, and an extra amount of tolerant sociability in the salon after din- ner, as the guests were tempted to dis- cuss their Christmas purchases, even going ‘so far, upon occasions, as to display @ holi- day bargain or two. The person who had most purchases to discuss was a Mrs. Thompson, wife of an American colonel—the handsomest wo- man in the house, as well as the cleverest and most entertaining. We never found out what the husband was colonel of, nor even what was his name, as he had regis- tered “Colonel Thompson and wife,” sign- ing himself facetiously “Ever yours, &c., the Colonel,” upon one or two occasions when courtesy demanded a social note from him. Nor did we know where the handsome couple had come from. They had a cosmopolitan air of having lived everywhere, and their not-in-the-least-reti- cent remarks and reminiscences savored equally of New York, Boston and Wash- ington. About Chicago they were also very enthusiastic, the colonel saying—but that is not a part of my story. They seemed to be wealthy, with that carelessness of expenditure at which the Englishman stares, while the rest of the world pronounces Yankees to be “dis- gustingly rich.” But they made no boasts and threw out no insinuations as to their income. In truth, they were exceedingly well bred, particularly the wife, as is the way with Americans. She was a charming woman, beautiful, sociable, good tempered, with that spice of originality which makes the women of the United States the despair of their German alid English sisters, the rivals of their more witty, if less amiable, French cousins. Everybody liked Mrs. Thompson, whose only claim ‘to be distinguished from hun- dreds of other Mrs. Thomsons was the “p” in the middle of her name. After it all happened—the incidents of my story, I mean—we wondered why some one had not thought of questioning her or her hus- band about their connectioi.s—their sett'ng, as it were, in the large world from which they had come. Had there been the least particle of brag about them, or even, on the other hand, any suspicion of reticence, doubtless the lady from Boston, who kept our social books, would have taken the pains to be informed. She was the only one who did not like the colonel and his wife. I think she inferred that they came from below Mason and Dixon's line. How- ever, that has nothing to do with the story. They were a very devoted couple. “Col- onel,” as his wife invariably called him (‘as though he were a collie dog,” suid the English dowager), was alw: buying pretty things for “Hetty.” He called her Hetty with a frankness which quite won the pension’s heart. They went every- where together, and we had a feeling that most of their time was spent in visiting the shops and selecting Hetty'’s pretty things. Often one or another of us had been invited to asist at these shopping expeditions, a choice dejeuner-a-la-four- chette being a feature of the occasion. At chanced to be my luck to accompany them one day, about two weeks before Christ- mas. After an exciting visit to the Grand | Magasin du Louvre, where Hetty appeared to buy everything under the sun she had not already bought, we went to the Palais Royal for our dejeuner. Just as we were about to mount the steps into the choicest of those admirable restaurants a prix fixe, Mrs. Thompson stopped before the door of one of the wonderful jewelers’ shops which seemed to display their entire stock of gems in the tiny window—gems so magnificent that one is perpetually tormented with a suspicion that they must be paste. “Oh, do wait a minute, colonel she cried, in her bright, girlish way; “this ts the place wh we saw the exquisite di mond neckla: Miss Harper must see that necklace! Do come in for a moment, both of you.” In her pretty frank fashion she bustléd toward the solitary counter behind which stood the solitary Frenchman (who does not know the solitary salesmen of the | Palais Royal jewel shops?) who never seems to sell anything, and yet whose stock is always so surprisingly new and well selected. A Parisian jeweler would rather retire from the trade than show you an | old-fashioned brooch—uniess he were cer- tain you would not find it out to be old- fashioned. Monsieur Vigot bowed his perfect French bow, and grinned his plausible French grin. He had just the precise amount of | suavity and “complaisance”—that ultima- | tum of the Parisian code of good morals— _and he handed Mrs. Thompsen the diamond | necklace even before she had breathed rapturously, * “Le voila, not magnti- que?” It certainly was magnificent; more fit for a duchess than for the wife of an | American colonel. And I will do Mrs. | Thompson the justice to say that she did not in the least appear to covet it for her- self. | eten'e tt superb?” she cried, turning eag- | erly first to me, then to her husband, who stood contemplating her rather than the necklace, I thought. Certainly, she made a charming picture. Her eyes were as bright as the diamonds which she held up naively to her white throat with both hands. In her soft, round cheeks the color came and went with the excitement of her genuine admiration, and the curves of her laughing mouth were bewitching. The col- onel seemed to think so, too. He took a quick step toward her and laid his hand over hers, diamonds and all. “Would you like them very much?" I heard him say. The color ebbed altogether from her cheeks and then came back in a wave of vivid carnation; she was a sensitive crea- |ture, and the sudden question evidentiy startled her very much. “I? Oh, I never thought of such a thing | —never!” “But this is the third time you have been in here to look at them, Hetty.” “To look at them—oh, yes—because they |are so beautiful! But’ to buy such dia- monds—we could never afford it.” “But if we could,” he persisted, his hand | still covering hers, his eyes looking ador- |ingly into her own. “Oh, Jack!” It was the first and last time I ever heard |her use the name, and I could’see that she was sincerely moved. Then her good | sense and better judgment asserted them- selves, and after the murmured “Oh, Jack,” she added, quite practically: “But we cannot, and must not think of it. Why, M. Vigot wants eighty thousand | francs for this necklace.” I had stood silently by while this rapid little drama was being enacted, the French- man having figured as pantomime chorus with his bows, his grins, his gesticulations | and an occasional word just in the right place. At the mention of eighty thousand francs he made a sicnificant gesture which | intimated that the price was a matter about | which he was not entirely intiexible. Tne colonel now turned to me. “Do you not | think they are fine, Miss Harper? And | do they not become my wife?’ For an instant I hesitated. Then, “Yes, certainly, Col. Thompson. If your | wife goes to grand dinners and great balls they become her perfectly.” j “Why, of course I go to dinners and balls | —at home,” said Mrs. Thompson, opening | her_eyes in surpise. | “Then, if my husband could afford the Jewels, and I was willing to put all that | Money into diamonds, I should buy the necklace.”” The Frenchman gave me an evil look. | He had evidently jumped at the possible sale as at something quite unexpected, and e resented my air of cool consideration. “Madame is very beautiful in diamonds,” he remarked to the doting husband. | She thrust them from her with her hands; with her sparkling eyes she held them and devoured their dazzling splendor. Here the colonel stepped aside and enter- ed into a whispered conversation with M. Vigot, doubtless in reference to the eighty thousand francs. wife watched them an: , cOn= sumed with aanire for the cans, wee tar from sa’ t the hase ought to be — e een “I see you think it would be wrong, Miss Harper,” she murmured. Bs “I? Not in the least, my dear Mrs. Thompson. I have neither the right nor the opportunity to judge. You Americans are all rich, you know.” “But we are not rich—not in the way you mean. Only my husband is so—so fond of me, and so generous. He would have to make a sacrifice— She sighed softly, and there was a mist like tears in her ey: The cup of her grati- tude was full to the brim. Just then the colonel and the French- man approached, the former smiling but agitated, I thought, the latter rubbing his hands and bowing as only a Parisian who fait des compliments can bow. ivi- dently the first act of the drama was over. The purchase had been made. “My dear, you shall have the necklace for your Christmas gift.” He laid it once more to her throat caressingly. “Don't be overcome, Hetty” (as the mist gathered and one tear stood on her dark lashes). “Monsieur is not going to be s0 hard on me as he threatened. it will not cost as much as eighty thousand francs.” I think, between her gratitude and her doubt as to the expediency of the purchase, the colonel’s wife wanted to sit down and Weep; but she controlled herself admirably, and began to lay the necklace carefully in its black velvet case. - “We will leave it to be sent up tomor- row,” said the colonel. “There is to be @ small plate with your name added to the under side of the largest cluster.” She looked at him quickly. Could they trust this M. Vigot to give them the neck- lace just as it was? was the unmistakable question asked by her eyes. “I am-to pay for it, in cash, when it ts delivered,” he remarked; adding, laughing- ly; “it will about finish my letter of credit. It is a good thing we are going to start day after tomorrow, Hetty.” She turned away reluctantly. “It seems a risk to leave it,” she said half to herself. “One cannot trust these Frenchmen opt of sight.” “Or in sight either I ited other an cheat you under your very eyes. * . Col. and Mrs. Thompson were very quiet as we sat at our luncheon. Whether it was the stress of her emotion, or the enormous price he had paid for the bauble that oppressed them, I could not tell. Kven the champagne which we all drank to cele- brate the magnitude of “Hetty’s Christ- mas gift” seemed flat and tasteless, and we drove home almost in silence. . . . “Good-bye, dear Miss Harper, Thompson the next day but one, as they were leaving for Antwerp. She clung to me a little, and I whispered: “Is it all right? Did the necklace come?” “It came this morning. It is mag- nificent, but somehow—I couldn't show it —here. I feel as though it is too splendid, as though we should regret it.” “Don’t you think,” I whispered hastily, “that your husband knows better than you what he can afford? Enjoy your neck- lace, dear, and be happy.” She gave me a grateful look as I kissed her again, and amid a storm of farewelis and regrets they drove away. PART IL. It was a fortnight later, Christmas Kve, in fact, and a most dismal day, when all the beau temps which had so surprised us early in December had been forgotten in the icy mists of real Parisian winter weather. I sat in my little private parlor, feeling somewhat depressed, when suddenly a vol- ley of agitated raps fell upon the door. In answer to my weary entrez, there burst into the room almost unceremoniously (only a Frenchman never quite forgets to affect ceremony) none other than Monsieur Vigot. I knew him instantly, in spite of a certain wildness of aspect which almost threatened to destroy his deportment. “Ah, mademoiselle—grace a dieu! I have found you. And you—you at least can teil ‘ao He broke off, and wiped his face with his pocket handkerchief, as if to cover his agitation. I waited curiously to hear the rest. “You can tell me where is Monsieur Tom- song, ze-cor-nel?” “I fancy,” I replied, “that Col. and Mrs. Thompson have just about reached home. ‘They were due in New York yesterday.” “Mon dieu—oul! But where, mademol- selie, is “ome?” “I really do not know, M. Vigot.” “Oh, mon Dieu! Impossible! Do not say zat, mademoiselle. You who were ze inti- mate one—ze frien’ of madame! You do not know where she lif?” “I certainly do not.” He sat down suddenly, a profuse per- spiration breaking out upon his convulsed features. “But you know ze name of ze cornei? Is it not so, chere mademoiselle? “I do not even know his name, mon- ‘sieur.” The wretched little man jumped up and began pacing the room, wringing his hands in truly dramatic style. “Oh, mon Dieu! mon Dieu!—my dia- monds!” he cried, the tears running down his cheeks—a picture of irresistibly ludic- rous despair. Consumed with curiosity as I was, I would not condescend to question the man, whose every look and gesture impressed me—Heaven forgive me!—as a bit of melodrama, now comic, now tragic, always to further some purpose of his wn. “Oh,” he sobbed, turning his dishevelea countenance toward me, “if ze bon Dieu would only help me! Is zere not also Ameri- caines in ze house, mademoiselle?” I told him there were several; and he begged me, in the name of the good God, and the good devil, and half the saints in the calendar, to assemble them in my sitting room, which I did with some aim- arrived (fortunately, culty. When everybody = the awful weather kept us indoors for the moment) M. Vigot began to interrogate them, collectively and individually, about the colonel’s whereabouts. As I had antic- ipated, no one knew anything of him or of his wife, and I could detect in the half- curious, half-I-told-you-so air of those pres- ent that they were not altogether unpre- pared to listen to something dubious in reference to their absent compatriot. (“1 never did trust that man,” the lady from Boston remarked under her breath.) The Frenchman's demeanor could no longer conceal his state of mind. He cap- ered about like one in physical torture; and it was only after many incoherencies, and much hysterical reiteration of appeals to the Almighty and the saints, that we got at bottom facts—which it would take too long to tell in monsieur’s frenzied speech. The story was thi The colonel being seized with a jon to get for his wife jewels which he candidly admitted himself to be entirely unable to pay for, he—M. Vigot—had hit upon the admirable plan that from a magnificent assortment of imitation diamonds—tran- scendently beautiful imitation diamonds! —he could in two days make a neckiace Precisely like the coveted one. “In two days! Mon Dieu! only to think of ze haste—ze skill—ze labor! And it was produced; a work of art so like ze eighty zousand francs article zat no one—not ze cor-nel, not madame—only an expert, could distinguish. And all for ze sum of one zousand francs!” “And did he let you do it?" I queried indignantly, recalling the pretty wife's emotion, “Did he let me do it? Mais oul, made- moiselle. Why not? Of course I do it. 1 slave day and night. [ make it—it is su- perbe! Of paste, you understand, but such paste! Oh, mon Dieu!—and ze cor-nel, he is transported; he—” Here the lady from Boston interrupted the Frenchman’s flow of impassioned elo- quence. “He went away without paying you, 1 suppose?” “Pay me? Oh, yes; he pay me—one zou- sand francs—two hundred dollars, madame. It was ze bargain—ze cor-nel was allr-right, as you say. But mesdames, messieurs— only conceive, I haf given him ze wrong necklace!” Had a bombshell been exploded in the pension, it could not have created greater consternation. Everybody stared at every- body else, and one or two, unable to resist the comical side of the situation, withdrew silently into the hall to smother their risi- bility. But it was genuine misery for the Frenchman, who sat weeping copioust; In the unlooked-for second act to his litt drama, the tragedy was not all acting; and for once I beheld what an individual of the Parisian world is like when he is not doing anything for effect. He called upoa his eighty thousand francs—“sixte zou- sand dollars, mesdames,” to witness that they were the honest price of his gems, and that in losing them he was eternally los was the we asked. Mon Dieu, oui, mesdames! Zey were so magnifiques—ze jewels of paste, you perceive—zat I am myself deceived. ‘I put zem togezzer to compare—zere 1s no a@p- preciable difference. I haf myself selected mistake entirely your fon of some ozzer conn: . ‘expert is consulted, and voila! Even to myseif it is proved ze diamonds are false.” I confessed it flashed my ming that the other naturellement_be- eves her diamonds to be stones of ze first luster?” “Listen,” I said, or of —— As, some feeling of suspicion that the necklace might have ed with before it was sen! | will in all probability take sed. = jand have it apprai “And zen,” cried M. Vigot, not by the incidental aspersion esty; “ze jeweler, he will say it is seventy—eighty zousand francs! will be satisfied. She will not mention monsieur ze cor-nel zat she haf his gift.” Perhaps,” I hazarded, “the ‘colonel grow tired of her gratitude, or of her in- cessant care of the necklace, and will tell her the jewels are paste.” “Neffer! he moaned. “Monsieur ze cor- nel will neffer tell her. He likes too well what you call ze gratitude.” “Telegraph to all change,” said i‘ “I haf already done so. I can find no single M. Tom-song who is ze cor-nel.” “You can telegraph to the ship's office in Antwerp,” I suggested. “Madem it is i 's landing, wiz neck- lace—my eighty zousand france—and i her —only zis!” —but that is another story. The lady from regarded zling clusters of diamonds in wel M vi suppose = ister Vigot, I have no difficulty in ‘selling this necklace for eighty thousand francs the rich American fool who comes along. A Frenchman is hard to get ahead of, and you will doubtless find some way to come out even with fate in this matter.” “Madame,” said the Frenchman, bright- ening considerably, “Je vous remercie.” — 0ee CONSUMPTION INFECTIOUS. plain and to warn the community that tubercu- losis is an infectious disease directly com- municable in the sick room from Me benecaeneen alarm signal ‘n his . an re- port. He contends that tuberculosis is a transmission sick to the well, usually by dried and pulverized sputum in the air, and that it can vented by simple methods These conclusions are ment of a consumptive hospital for exclu- sive treatment of the disease. the isolation of patients suff When Dr. Koch's conclusions the origin and infectiousness of consump- tion were announced, a committee of the British Medical Association a circular to the profession inviting opinions respecting the communicability of the dis- ease. Althy the theory was then a novel one, there were 261 replies tending to con- ving practical illustrations of F j 29 matned over night in the cottage a time and shared the The dressmaker died of consumption &@ protracted illness. Each of the appren- tices contracted the her died in the course of a few years. ‘The medical profession ts aware of the in- fectious nature of consumption, but it is naturally reluctant to add to the terrors of this dteadful scourge by telling the truth about it. When 6,000 patients are dying an- nually in New York from nie be adopted. It is highly ybable that by the enforcement of san- itary regulations providing that consumptive patients shall sleep alone, and that their systematically disinfect- ion in the mortality from effected. sick rooms shall Before the day outlives its morning fair “Kha ott te welemuned Uy he tame a She bursts upon my view, with gracious ai ‘To take her morning cauter through the par ‘Then I lead out my Perasus—a steed Of broken wind, thet goes a halting pace, With aged. stiffened joints, —and sorry need ‘Of youthful fire to run a winning race. But, lo! This beast that "s often had my curse Beholds ber, radiant. eager for the start— 4 Sren as she titss veugeahed o'er eoy beast as abe over my 3 aa “HE Wilsce ia Peat,