Produced by Susan Skinner, Chris Curnow, Pamela Patten and
the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
http://www.pgdp.net









[Illustration: THE GIRL’S OWN PAPER

VOL. XX.—NO. 1009.]      APRIL 29, 1899.      [PRICE ONE PENNY.]




[Illustration: VIOLETTA.

    [_Photographic Union, Munich._]

_All rights reserved._]




[Illustration: THE 1000TH NUMBER

OF

_THE_ GIRL’S OWN PAPER]

[Transcriber’s Note: The 1000th number is available
from Project Gutenberg as etext number 60565,
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60565.]


THE EDITOR feels bound to record, for the pleasure of the general
reader of this magazine, some of the charming expressions of goodwill
called forth by the publication of the 1000th Number. He has been
greatly cheered by them, and he knows so well that the readers will
share the pleasure with him that he will unclose to them some of his
recent correspondence, the actual letters themselves being sent to the
printer as MS.

First, from readers old and young, and from every nation under the sun,
he has received hearty congratulations.

One kind girl near London writes:

    I must congratulate you on the charming 1000th Number of THE GIRL’S
    OWN PAPER. It is a very nice idea, giving the photographs of the
    contributors to the paper. I have taken THE GIRL’S OWN PAPER since
    it first came out, never missing one week, and I have also every
    one of the Summer and Christmas numbers. Although I was away one
    year on a sea-voyage, the paper was taken for me. When it first
    came out, I was quite a child; my mother took it for me, and I have
    always enjoyed reading it. I consider it the best paper published
    for either old or young, and would not give it up for anything.
    When I saw the 1000th number, I felt I must write and tell you what
    an old subscriber you had and one who appreciates THE GIRL’S OWN
    PAPER so much. It is not many, I think, could say they have every
    week of the paper. Wishing it every success for the future,

        Believe me to be faithfully yours, N. H.

Another reader writes:

    DEAR MR. EDITOR,—I have just been reading the 1000th Number of
    THE GIRL’S OWN PAPER, and I feel I must write to thank you (and
    congratulate you) for the pleasures and benefits which I have
    received from it during a very long acquaintance; in fact I knew
    it in its very first days, and distinctly remember being keenly
    interested in the tale “Zara, or, My Granddaughter’s Money.” I
    was really a girl then, and it seems, and is, a long, long while
    ago. I can but echo heartily Miss Burnside’s wish that it may live
    another 1000 weeks, and yet another; and—who knows?—another on to
    that. I should think one great reason for its popularity is that it
    suits so many different sorts of minds. There is no doubt that when
    catering for our mental food, you have remembered the old saying
    that “variety is charming.” More, it is also wholesome. With every
    good wish for a yet wider circulation of our dear paper, and the
    welfare of our Editor,

        Believe me, truly yours, A. M.


    _Postscript._

    I hailed thy birth, dear “G. O. P.,”
      With truest joy and pleasure;
    I said the gods have given me
      At last “a perfect treasure.”

    I watched thee grow with loving eyes
      Into a world-wide favour;
    Small wonder was it girls should prize
      Thy teachings of sweet savour.

    The years have gone, and thou hast gained
      In wisdom, strength, and beauty;
    And, best of all, the power retained
      To make us do our duty.

Also one from the country:

    DEAR EDITOR,—I must write to thank you for presenting to us (to me)
    “Portrait Gallery of Contributors” to our dear GIRL’S OWN PAPER.
    It is so nice to see their faces, to really know what those that
    give us pleasure, profit, etc., are like. Very nice to see our
    dear Editor’s face. We now know the one who for so many years has
    laboured much for us—your “girls.” No words will come to me to
    express all the gratitude I feel to you and all your helpers. God
    bless you, and all the others, and richly reward you, even here.
    You cannot see the great pleasure with which THE GIRL’S OWN PAPER
    is read as each month comes; and re-reading it and all those that
    have gone before is just as great; but let this letter just let you
    know how one heart is often cheered and encouraged to go on through
    its perusal. I did not mean when I began this letter to write about
    myself, only to try and express my loving thanks. Forgive all I
    have written, and let me sign myself

        One of your grateful girls, ELLIE.

Scores of girls in their teens, some of them only recent subscribers,
write enthusiastically and in good taste; but as there is perforce much
similarity in them, it is not desirable to print them.

However, the two following are original:

    DEAR AND HONOURED SIR,—I can hardly call myself one of the girl
    readers of THE GIRL’S OWN PAPER, seeing that I am on the shady
    side of seventy years old, and a wife of many years standing; but
    still I consider that I may take to myself the pleasant things you
    say in your article in the 1000th Number. You will think so too
    when I tell you that I have read almost every word in the nineteen
    volumes, and possess the said volumes all bound. I quite agree with
    the critics in what they say of the value of the publication, and
    also with them hope that you and your staff may long continue to
    instruct, amuse, and advise the “many millions” of the girls of
    the world. You see that if I were to subscribe myself “A Constant
    Reader,” I should not be telling an untruth; but I will only say

        Yours gratefully, R. C. R.

    DEAR MR. EDITOR,—Having been a constant reader of your GIRL’S OWN
    PAPER for many years, I have long been very desirous of thanking
    you and those who contribute to it for many pleasant and enjoyable
    hours I have spent in reading its pages; it contains something to
    suit all.

    I sometimes think I ought to discontinue magazines and books of the
    sort, but when I look on my dear old friend, THE GIRL’S OWN PAPER,
    I am constrained to say, How can I give thee up? So it comes on as
    usual, and is looked forward to and read as eagerly as ever.

    May it go on and prosper in future as it has in the past.

    Thank you also much for the nice Portrait Gallery; it gives me much
    pleasure to look at it and make comments on faces mentally, some
    brimming over with loving kindness, and others so thoughtful, and
    all good.

    Dear Mr. Editor, please forgive me for intruding on your very
    valuable time.

        Believe me,
            Very faithfully and gratefully yours,
                 One who at eighty-three has never tired of THE GIRL’S OWN.

Another old reader who has every number mentions this with great pride,
and adds, “I wonder how many could say the same.” This is also the
wonder of the Editor, but he fears that it would be impossible to find
out.

       *       *       *       *       *

From our many and valued contributors, we have received hearty
congratulations, but as their letters have a distinctly personal
tendency, we can only quote from them.

A quite _new_ writer on our staff says:

    Until I received my monthly number of THE GIRL’S OWN PAPER this
    morning I did not realise what an important one it was. Allow me
    to add my congratulations to the many you have already doubtless
    received on the success attending your venture. I find THE GIRL’S
    OWN PAPER a household word wherever I go, and quite as much
    appreciated in Ireland and Scotland as in England. I think you have
    solved the problem how to instruct as well as amuse our daughters
    and young people most wonderfully, and feel proud to be on your
    staff. I have been delayed in sending you the rest of my papers by
    fresh bereavement and continued illness. In a short time, however,
    I hope they will be in your hands. With repeated well wishes of a
    longer life and even more success to the magazine.

A quite _old_ writer on our staff says:

    My congratulations on the issue of No. 1000 of our dear GIRL’S
    OWN PAPER in her pretty new dress. You must look back on the
    nearly twenty years of healthy, useful, and refining life that
    your and our paper has passed through with infinite pleasure
    and thankfulness, for it has been and it is a blessing both to
    the girls and their elders. It was with no little emotion that
    I looked at No. 1000, for to my connection with THE GIRL’S OWN
    PAPER I am indebted for one who has been from the beginning of our
    acquaintance the best and truest of friends to me that I am proud
    to call such. May God bless you, and give you in the future to
    see more and more abundant fruit for your labours. It seemed so
    wonderful for me to be able to say, “I had one complete short paper
    and two chapters of another in the second number of THE GIRL’S
    OWN PAPER, and the 1000th Number has in it a paper of mine also.”
    Didn’t I feel proud when I saw a paper of mine in _the_ number? I
    have grown, I will not say gray, but very white in the service of
    THE GIRL’S OWN PAPER, and it will cost me a terrible pang when I
    am no longer able to write anything worthy of a place in the dear,
    familiar pages. I am trying to get new subscribers to our paper. I
    got two at the beginning of the volume. If only each reader could
    get one more! The paper ought to be a greater favourite than ever,
    for it is prettier, and has never been in every way so good as it
    is now.

One who has written but very seldom writes:

    MY DEAR OLD FRIEND,—Amid the many cries of congratulation from
    important people and numerous friends, let my small voice be
    heard. It seems to me a great triumph, in spite of opposition, to
    have sailed calmly on and made your thousandth port unattended by
    serious rivals.

    My own idea of celebrating such an event is a dinner given by “the
    staff” to the Editor, and I for one would make a struggle to form
    one of such an interesting and pleasing company.

    What happy memories for me are included in that span of 1000
    Numbers, _quorum pars parva fui_.

Another very occasional contributor says:

    This wonderful number of the GIRL’S OWN PAPER will quite overwhelm
    you with congratulations, I am sure, for it is a record one! For
    myself, I am humbly delighted with it, and I never hope to have a
    greater honour than to be associated with so many infinitely more
    worthy names than my own.

    This number will be treasured in the annals of the family,
    especially, too, as I see dear friends’ faces as well therein, and
    I am next but one to my father’s life-long friend.

    You must have taken such an amount of pains to collect all the
    photographs, and our thanks are immensely due to you for all your
    kind trouble and taste in doing so. While most heartily echoing the
    first four lines of the last stanza of our valued mutual friend,
    Miss Helen Burnside,

        Believe me, yours sincerely, ——.

An old favourite story writer—we wonder if our readers can guess the
writer by the style!—sends the following:

    Many thanks for the lovely number! I wish I could live in the
    Vicar of Wakefield’s room on the first page. How nice if we could
    all dine there on a summer evening!

    Is it 1000 weeks ago since you started the GIRL’S OWN PAPER? Old
    days come back—I go into Cassell’s and see you for the first time.
    And then I think of the old kindness and faithful friendship, and
    feel inclined to cry a little! You have done a wonderful work for
    girls; you have directed their feet to that narrow path in which
    alone they can find peace. It is a path that runs beside the Living
    Waters. Because it is so narrow the women of to-day are demanding
    a wider range, and so go a-wandering. Yesterday I received a copy
    of the —— from the editor, who asks for a portrait and sketch. In
    it there is rather a strong paper on the Religion of Women, or,
    rather, their irreligion. In my sketch, I ventured to touch on the
    true freedom that can only be obtained through restraint, and on
    the discipline of the interior life.

    I think we can see very clearly that Almighty God has blessed
    you in your work, and I feel sure that you will be helped and
    strengthened to the end. This is my prayer for you.

One of our musical contributors sends a spirited setting (we have great
pleasure in printing it in this Number) of Miss Burnside’s “Success and
Long Life to the ‘G. O. P.,’” published in the 1000th Number, with the
following kind words:

    BEST OF FRIENDS,—I enclose a little memento of the 1000th Number,
    over which and its editor we pray for the best of luck.

    The enclosed “phrases” may seem rather trite, but equally trite is
    fast friendship, ripened affection and a grateful heart, of all of
    which accept this token from

        YOUR OLD CONTRIBUTOR.

A brother Editor, who has for many years afforded us friendly counsel
and encouragement, but who is now, alas! no longer near at hand, sends
the following:

    I congratulate you on your thousand weeks, and on the promise which
    the energy and attractiveness of your thousandth issue give you of
    a thousand more. It is no small achievement to have held together
    so sympathetic a team of writers, and to have carried forward such
    a work so long with general approval.

    I miss my chats with you and ——. By way of consolation, the last
    fortnight I have been clearing out arrears of MSS. and old letters.
    How they gather in the dust! They make me realise how much is past,
    and also how much wider and more various is an editor’s work than
    the part he gives to the public. This you know well, but for you is
    the future! May it be riper, richer, happier in all its years.

From the Editor of an important and long-established magazine, under
whom we were trained, comes the following genial letter:

    A thousand thanks for your 1000th Number, which is as bright and
    genial and clever as its Editor, and that’s saying a great deal for
    it. Your greeting does my heart good, but it brings me no sting
    of reproach. I often think of you, my dear old friend, and of the
    pleasant times we had together in the dear old days. Such is the
    force of habit that I still think of you as a youngster, and I
    thank your portrait for confirming that impression. Good luck to
    you, and to your thousand-week-old baby, and when she scores her
    second thousand, “may I be there to see” and to rejoice with you.

        Your affectionate old chum, ——.

Last, but not least, we must mention, with sincere gratitude,
a letter of congratulation from our painstaking printers. Also
great indebtedness is due to the Officers of the Society for their
expressions of congratulation, as also to the Committee of the Society
who are the owners of the magazine.

      Now thank we all our God,
    With heart, and hands, and voices,
      Who wondrous things hath done,
    In Whom His world rejoices;
      Who from our mother’s arms
        Hath bless’d us on our way
      With countless gifts of love,
        And still is ours to-day.

      O may this bounteous God
    Through all our life be near us,
      With ever joyful hearts
    And blessèd peace to cheer us:
      And keep us in His grace,
        And guide us when perplex’d,
      And free us from all ills
        In this world and the next.


WHAT THE PRESS SAYS:

“THE GIRL’S OWN PAPER—the most successful paper ever published for
girls, alike from the pecuniary point of view, and from the point
of view of supplying girls with literature equally wholesome and
welcome—has just reached its thousandth number. Long may it live.”—_The
Queen._

“With the thousandth number of THE GIRL’S OWN PAPER, dated February
25th, is given a detached “Portrait Gallery,” containing the likeness
of 105 contributors to that excellent periodical, among whom are the
Queen of Roumania, Princess Beatrice, and (as it is fairly claimed)
‘many queens and princesses of prose, poesy, and music’—not to speak of
princes.”—_The Guardian._

“Without any trace of mawkish piety, it has always set before its
readers the ideal of first things first, and has never descended to the
depths of sensationalism to secure a wider circulation.”—_Methodist
Times._

“I congratulate THE GIRL’S OWN PAPER, which celebrates its thousandth
birthday. It still leads.”—_Sketch._

“The idea of its publication was a very happy one, and it has been
thoroughly well carried out with sense, with catholicity, and with
quickness of perception.”—_British Weekly._

“The Editor says—‘Success shone upon us from the very first.’ That
that success may never wane will be the hope of many thousands of
present readers and of past readers who are no longer girls—women who
realise that their lives were not only made brighter and happier by the
Magazine, but better, fuller, and more useful.”—_Brighton Herald._

“Let us congratulate the Editor and the Publishers of THE GIRL’S OWN
PAPER upon the success which is indicated by the G. O. P. (as its
readers affectionately call it) attaining its thousandth number. As
the interests of girls have widened—and between the years 1880 and
1899 they have widened greatly—the scope of THE GIRL’S OWN PAPER has
correspondingly enlarged, and there would appear to be no subject which
young women can present to the consideration of the Editor of this
favourite organ upon which they will not receive the most sympathetic
and judicious advice.”—_The Queen._




SUCCESS AND LONG LIFE TO THE “G. O. P.”


_Words (in the 1000th Number) by HELEN MARION BURNSIDE. Music by M. B. F._

    1. Suc - - cess and long life to the “G. O. P.”
    As she starts on her voyage a - gain;
    Let us speed her forth with a three times three
    O’er a sun - ny and tran - quil main.
    A thou - sand times has our gal - lant ship
    Her course sped o - ver the seas; . .
    Thro’ win - try gales sped the sil - ver sails,
    Or hap - ly the sum - mer breeze. . .


    CHORUS

    Then suc - cess and long life to the “G. O. P.,”
    ’Tis with hands all round, and a - cross the sea,
    That we speed her forth with our
    [1]three . . . . times three! . . .

    2. A thou - sand times have her sails been set
    O’er a car - go of gold - en grain;
    A thou - sand times may she bear it yet,
    And a thou - sand to that a - gain!
    For her freight has ev - er more pre - cious grown,
    Each time we have watch’d her start, . .
    With the va - ried cheer that has grown so dear
    To ma - ny a home and heart. . .


    CHORUS

    Then suc - cess and long life to the “G. O. P.,”
    ’Tis with hands all round, and a - cross the sea,
    That we speed her forth with our
    [1]three . . . . times three! . . .

    3. Suc - - cess and long life to the Cap-tain staunch,
    May his hand, so kind - ly and strong,
    Yet for many a year the good ship launch
    He has guid - ed so well and long.
    Suc - cess and long life to her faith - ful crew,
    Long, long may they ral - - ly round, . .
    And one and all, at their Cap - tain’s call,
    Be “rea - dy and will - ing” found! . .


    CHORUS

    Then suc - cess and long life to the “G. O. P.,”
    ’Tis with hands all round, and a - cross the sea,
    That we speed her forth with our
    [1]three . . . . times three! . . .

[1] Signal for the waving of over 43 millions of girls’ pocket
handkerchiefs.—M. B. F.




SHEILA.

A STORY FOR GIRLS.

BY EVELYN EVERETT-GREEN, Author of “Greyfriars,” “Half-a-dozen
Sisters,” etc.


CHAPTER IV.

EFFIE.

The two girls remained quite still for a few minutes, looking curiously
at one another. Mrs. Cossart, who had brought Sheila up to her
daughter’s bright, pretty sitting-room, had been obliged to leave them
after speaking a few phrases of introduction, as there were visitors
awaiting her in the drawing-room.

Sheila saw, half reclined upon a couch beside the fire, a girl with a
pinched face, dark hair and brown eyes, which looked out rather sharply
through a pair of “nippers.” The girl was thin, but she did not look
exactly ill. There was something a little defiant in her air as she
raised herself and spoke to her visitor.

“So you are Sheila? Come here and sit down, and let us talk. I have
heard a lot about you, and I suppose you’ve heard plenty about me. I
wonder what kind of things the Tom Cossarts say about me in private. I
always think they call me a humbug.”

“No, they don’t,” answered Sheila quickly, as she came forward, “I
think they are kind people. They were all very kind to me.”

“I suppose you would have liked to stay there altogether. You don’t
think it will be so amusing, shut up here with me.”

“I can’t tell till I try,” answered Sheila smiling, rather puzzled by
Effie’s sharp speeches. “I liked being in River Street pretty well.
But—well—it didn’t seem much like home. This house is much nicer. I
think if you like having me, I shall like being here. I hope you will
like me, Effie.”

Sheila spoke simply and impulsively, and Effie smiled, and her face
looked pleasanter than it had done as yet.

“Oh, I daresay we shall get on. I’m not so cross as I expect you’ve
been told. Once I was just cram full of fun, but being ill takes the
life out of you. Sometimes I hate everything and everybody, but then I
get better, and things seem different. Have you ever been ill? Do you
know what it’s like?”

“Not much,” answered Sheila, “I’m very strong. Oscar has been ill
oftener than I. Tell me about yourself, Effie? I want to know
everything. Your mother wants me to be a sort of sister to you. Sisters
ought to know everything about each other.”

Effie, nothing loath, began a long history of herself. In a few days’
time Sheila had discovered that the way to keep her most satisfied
and entertained was to let her talk about herself. Poor child, it was
scarcely her own fault. Her mother never tired of asking her about her
every symptom, and listening to her accounts of how every hour had been
passed. She talked almost ceaselessly of Effie to everybody who would
listen. She had almost lost her identity in that of her last surviving
child. It seemed to Sheila that poor Effie had had enough doctors and
enough experiments in treatment tried upon her to kill anybody, and
when she ventured to say as much to Effie herself, the girl at once and
cordially agreed.

“I hate the very sight of them. I feel as though I’d never have another
near me. I mean not to care now whether I get better or not. The harder
I try, the worse I am. I’m just not going to care about anything again!”

That was decidedly one of Effie’s moods—a sort of defiance of
everything and everybody. At other times she would be gentler,
sometimes she was depressed. Then she would have a spell of high
spirits, in which she often overdid herself, and brought on one of her
attacks of breathlessness and oppression.

Sheila looked on and listened and wondered. Sometimes she was quite
fond of Effie, sorry for her, and eager to do anything she could. At
others, again, she felt a decided longing to shake her, and grew fairly
out of patience at the way she had of bringing every subject started
round to herself again. Others had noticed this defect in Effie. Her
cousins had named it in Sheila’s hearing, but they had never spoken of
it to the girl herself, and Sheila never meant to; but one day almost
in spite of herself, the words sprang to her lips.

“Effie, do you ever think about anything or anybody but yourself? I do
think you’d be so much better if you would. I don’t know if you know it
or care; but you talk about yourself from morning to night. It does get
so tiresome, and I’m sure it’s bad for you!”

Effie stopped short in what she was about to say, and stared at Sheila
hard. The girl coloured under the sharp gaze. Sheila was very placable
by nature, and hated anybody to be angry with her; but she had not
learned the lesson yet of thinking before she spoke.

“I beg your pardon if I vexed you,” she said; “but——”

“That’ll do,” said Effie shortly; “I don’t want to hear any more! You
can go now! You’d better take that ride you’ve been wanting to so long!
I don’t want anybody with me who thinks it tiresome to talk to me!”

Sheila escaped from the room, half inclined to laugh, and half to
cry. Shamrock had arrived at Cossart Place two days ago, and she was
eager to have a gallop upon her; but Effie had not been well, and she
had not liked to leave her. She fled away now to her own room, and
put on her habit. Her cheeks were glowing with the excitement of her
little quarrel with Effie, and with the prospect of her ride upon her
favourite. She thought most likely she would get a scolding from her
aunt on Effie’s account; but, after all, was it not a good thing for
somebody to warn Effie of her besetting weakness? Sheila was sure she
did not want to be selfish. She had many kind thoughts and plans for
other people. Only she had got so into the way of being the first
consideration with everybody about her. It was enough to spoil anybody.

When she was dressed, Sheila slipped down the almost unused staircase
of the old part of the house; and made her way direct to the
stable-yard. Sheila had obtained her wished-for quarters, and had
two pleasant rooms of her own in the block of old building, which
she liked so much better than the great modern addition, where the
reception-rooms were, and where the family had their quarters. Her
belongings, and a good many of Oscar’s, were stored here, and made
her rooms home-like and bright. When Oscar came to see her, they felt
almost in a separate house of their own. On the whole, Sheila was very
pleased with her new life. She was kindly treated, and things were all
smooth and easy. So long as she pleased Effie, that was all anybody
expected of her; and so far Effie had seemed to like her companionship.
But Sheila began to wonder how things would be if she got into Effie’s
black books. She fancied that her Aunt Cossart could be pretty severe
to anybody who offended or distressed her darling.

However, what was done could not be undone, and Sheila’s nature was
hopeful and elastic. She ran to the coachman, and begged him to have
Shamrock saddled for her, and laughed and shook her head when he
suggested that a groom should attend her.

“Oh, no, I always rode alone at home, if my father or Oscar could not
come with me,” she answered; “Shamrock is perfectly safe. I want to
explore the country. Some of the roads look quite pretty.”

She was soon mounted on her favourite, who expressed pleasure at
having her pretty mistress on her back once more. Sheila was equally
delighted, and rode gaily along the lanes, the sunshine throwing
dancing lights and shadows across her path. She followed one winding
lane after another, feeling joyfully the freedom of her independence,
after being so many days shut up in the house, with only an occasional
run into the garden; and she could hardly regret the little tiff with
Effie which had brought it about.

“I’ll ride down to the works and see Oscar!” cried Sheila, as she
paused upon the brow of a little hill, and saw the town and the
chimneys lying like a map before her. “I should like to see him at his
treadmill, poor boy; but he seems to like the work pretty well. He is
a good boy, and never complains. I should, I know, if I were in his
shoes.”

Sheila’s plan was put into speedy execution, and before long she had
ridden into the enclosure surrounded by her uncle’s buildings, and had
asked for her brother.

Oscar came out to her with a smile on his face but surprise in his eyes.

“Are you all alone, Sheila? How did you get leave to come?”

“I didn’t ask. Why should I? I just came. Effie was cross, and sent me
away, and I got Shamrock saddled, and here I am!”

“Oh, but I think you should have asked Aunt Cossart first! They say she
is very nervous about girls riding, and would never let them go alone.
Besides, through the town it isn’t perhaps quite usual. It’s not like
being at home, Sheila.”

“Oh, well, I hadn’t thought of going to the town when I started, Oscar,
so you needn’t look so solemn! Nobody knows I’m out; so Aunt Cossart
can’t be getting anxious. I want to see what you are doing, so that I
may picture you better.”

North came up at this moment, and had a kindly welcome for his young
cousin. He rather laughed at her independence, but was ready enough
to have her horse taken care of whilst she went to see Oscar’s
“treadmill,” and saw various interesting things at the works. Her
pretty appealing little ways amused him, and he was quite ready to
make something of a pet of her, as were most other people. She forgot
all her troubles, laughed, chatted, and talked to the work-people,
the clerks, and everybody she met, until finally a great bell booming
out overhead proclaimed the hour of one; and Sheila realised that she
should be late for luncheon.

Oscar put her up, and she started forth at a rapid pace, and covered
the two miles between the works and Cossart Place in very good time;
nevertheless she saw a visible commotion at the door as she cantered
up the drive, and was aware that both her aunt and uncle were on the
look-out, as well as several servants.

“Did they expect me to return on a shutter?” questioned the girl of
herself, with a feeling of mischievous glee. She was in good spirits
from her little jaunt, and was amazed by the agitated whiteness of her
aunt’s face, as she dismounted and ran up the steps into the hall.

“I’m sorry to be late; but I overlooked the time. I was at the works,
seeing Oscar and the people there. I hope you haven’t waited! Effie
sent me off to have a ride, and it’s so delightful having Shamrock
again! I did so enjoy it!”

Mrs. Cossart said not a word but turned again to the dining-room. The
servants were about, and she had no intention of saying what was in her
mind before them.

Mr. Cossart shook his head and said reprovingly—

“You have made us very seriously uneasy, Sheila. You ought not to have
gone off like that without leave—and alone, too. We want you to be
happy; but you must not be a modern unladylike girl, galloping alone
over the country, and into the town too. I hope nobody saw you who
would know you. What would they have thought of such proceedings?”

“I don’t know—probably nothing. I used to ride about everywhere at
home,” answered Sheila, feeling rather aggrieved at the way her very
small escapade was being treated. She took her seat at table; Effie’s
was vacant.

Mr. Cossart asked if she were not coming down. “Was she not so well
to-day?”

“Effie has been upset!” said Mrs. Cossart coldly. “She is not well
enough to come down!” And she gave a look at Sheila which sent the
blood into her cheeks. She knew very well that she was in disgrace;
but her spirit rose against what seemed to her to be injustice; and
she talked on gaily all through the meal, not apparently heeding the
silence of her elders.

When she rose from table her aunt summoned her to the little boudoir
sacred to her own use; and once within the door, the storm broke over
her head.

Mrs. Cossart did not profess to know what had passed between the
girls; but she knew that Sheila had said unkind things to Effie, and
had reduced her to tears and made her very unhappy and agitated. That
sort of thing could not and must not be. Effie was in no state to be
upset. Probably she would have a return of the asthma and a succession
of bad nights. Sheila must remember that ill-health was a terrible
trial, and she must be kindly and gentle and unselfish. In vain Sheila
strove to explain how very little it was she had said, and that she had
apologised afterwards. Mrs. Cossart was rather like her daughter in one
way; she liked to keep the ball of conversation in her own hands. She
wanted to talk, not to listen. In the end Sheila grew angry. She was
not used to being found fault with. She felt she was being unjustly
treated, about Effie, about her ride, about her lateness for lunch.
She had done nothing wrong. No harm had happened. It was horrid of her
aunt to make such a to-do. The penitence she had felt at the outset was
quickly gone, and when she finally flew up to her own room, it was to
shed a tempest of angry tears and resolve that she would never, never
care one bit for Effie, and that her aunt was a hard, unjust woman,
whom she could never care to please.

“I shall never be happy here, and I’ll tell Uncle Tom so. I’ll tell
Cyril how they treat me. I’ll get away and live somewhere with Oscar.
I’ve never been scolded so before, and I won’t stand it. If I’d done
wrong, I should be sorry, but to tell Effie she talked about herself
too much, and to take a ride on Shamrock!—no, I won’t be sorry about
that! I won’t, I won’t!”

She changed her dress, and began to wonder what she should do next.
It was dull all alone up here, though the room was bright and pretty
enough. She stood looking out of the window, and presently she saw
Cyril’s figure approaching the house by the short cut through the
garden. He had promised to come and see her soon, and surely this was
his expected visit. Sheila dashed the last teardrops away from her
eyes, caught up a bunch of violets and fastened them at her throat, and
looked carefully to see if she “looked as though she had been crying.”

She spent a few minutes removing all traces of tears from her face, and
by that time all anger had subsided, and she was ready to smile and
be herself again, though a little load lay upon the background of her
spirits. But no message came to her from Cyril, and she went restlessly
out into the passage, and along to the corridor of the modern wing.
Then she stood still and listened.

Effie’s door was close at hand, and it stood just ajar, though the
heavy curtain veiled the room. Sheila heard a sound of voices, and went
a step nearer. Yes, that was certainly Cyril’s voice, talking to Effie.
She bit her lip and stood hesitating. Should she go in, or should she
not? Had it not been for her aunt’s severe strictures she would never
have thought of staying away. She was lonely by herself. And she wanted
so much to see Cyril. Yes, she would go in. They could but send her
away if they did not want her.

The next moment she was within the room, standing a moment hesitating
on the threshold. Cyril was sitting beside Effie’s couch, talking
kindly to her as it seemed. Effie’s face looked as though a storm had
passed over it, but she was smiling at Cyril, and when both turned at
the slight sound of Sheila’s entrance she exclaimed quickly—

“Oh, come in. Cyril came to ask whether you got forgiven for being
late. Did you get a scolding? Mother was in a great state about your
riding alone, but I see you’ve got in all safe.”

“Of course I have,” answered Sheila laughing, with a shy little look at
Effie, as much as to ask if she had forgiven the plain speaking of the
morning.

(_To be continued._)




FROCKS FOR TO-MORROW.

BY “THE LADY DRESSMAKER.”


Those who are interested in the protection of birds, and object to
their being killed to serve as mere ornaments for hats and bonnets,
will be glad to read from the _New York Times_ an account of the recent
inventions and changes brought about by the great demand for feathers
for the decoration of masculine headgear during the late war.

The trade in feathers amounts to many millions of pounds annually, and
the supply of the birds furnishing them is decreasing so rapidly, that
it was essential that substitutes should be found; and the American
inventor has proved himself equal to the occasion. The supply of
ostrich feathers from California is so ample that it has brought the
price of feathers down to a reasonable figure, but still not low enough
for the low prices that are asked for them. So there are plenty of
good ostrich feathers manufactured of celluloid, of which the quills
are made, while the barbs are of silk waste. These are so skilfully
dyed and curled that only an expert could distinguish them. Other
expensive feathers and plumes are made out of silk and cotton waste;
and enormous quantities of poultry feathers are utilised, and are so
exquisitely dyed and painted that these imitation plumes are more in
demand than the real ones of the wild birds. A remarkable machine has
been invented, and is in use for plucking the feathers from the dead
poultry, which strips them of their feathers in just half a minute.
Then the plucked feathers are passed rapidly along to another small
room, where a current of air sorts the very fine from the heavy ones;
and the very lightest and softest are used for pillows; but all the
others find some use in the millinery trade. This state of things has
made poultry quite wonderfully profitable.

[Illustration: TWO SPRING GOWNS.]

The first things I must mention are the white muslin, and white and
cream washing silk blouses, which seem to be quite as fashionable this
year as they were at any time during the last two years. They are made
this year chiefly with a very small bishop’s sleeve and a tiny cuff.
Tucks with lace insertion between them seem to be the style, when some
form of yoke is not chosen. This last way of making both dress bodices
and blouses is very evident in all the new models. The shape is narrow
and long, extending over the shoulders, and tucks are the most popular
decoration. Lace insertion is also seen on cambric and cotton shirts,
and I notice that vertical stripes are much used for all the cambric
ones. The muslin blouses have a fitted under-bodice of muslin, or
_batiste_ in colour, to wear underneath; and the skirt should be of
cashmere, to match this in colour. The neck and waist-band may be of
moire, or of satin, either to match the skirt, or in white. The latter,
however, is said to make the waist look large. In a sense, blouses are
not as fashionable as they were, for they are no longer seen in the
evening as they were. A pretty evening gown, with the bodice and skirt
alike, is more distinctly in the last mode.

In the way of dresses, everything just now seems to be of cloth, and
very fine ones are made up for evening dress. Many rows of stitching
seem to be the method of trimming most followed; and strappings
of the same cloth for day dresses. Cashmeres and figured mohairs,
gauzes, and plenty of new grenadines are in prominent view; the latter
are beautiful in their designs, floral patterns as well as stripes
being seen. Coloured silks will be more worn than black ones, as
under-dresses for them; and I hear that deep flounces will be the new
way of making up.

It has always been a funny thing to me to see the way in which men
will bravely attack the corset, and issue orders against it. These
attacks are made periodically, at intervals of about eight or ten
years; and all kinds of accusations are hurled against the offending
corsets during the assault. But, like Tennyson’s ever-quoted “Brook,”
they go on for ever. Here and there one may find some woman who has
dismissed them, but, as a general rule, women are not much affected
by the clamour. Lately two fresh attacks have been made, one by the
Russian Minister of Public Instruction, who, after paying many visits
to schools and gymnasia for girls, has decided that the corset is not
conducive to the health of its wearers. So he has issued an order
to the pupils of the higher schools and gymnasia, as well as to the
students at the Conservatories of music and art, prohibiting the
wearing of them, and with the order goes a long paper, in which are
the reasons for the prohibition. At the same time, on the other side
of the Atlantic, a brave assemblyman in Wisconsin, has introduced a
resolution into the State Legislature: “Resolved that three members be
appointed to form a committee to draft a bill to protect the health of
the misses, old maids, and married women of the State of Wisconsin,
by making a law to prohibit tight lacing.” Now, who is to find out
the tight lacers? One pities the police if they are to perform these
duties! And while I am mentioning this, I must not forget to chronicle
that the new spring makes of corsets are distinguished by straight
fronts, the chief shaping being done at the sides and hips.

The reign of the toque seems to be more secure this spring than ever.
Indeed, the bonnet, _pure et simple_, with strings, is nowhere, except
for very elderly people. _Plateaux_ of straw and crinoline are much
used to pinch into any becoming style; and all kinds of fancy straws
in every hue are prepared for toques. Many floral toques are seen,
and only one kind of flower is used to make them. It has been quite
remarkable this year how early the most summery-looking hats have been
worn. Rose-covered ones were seen as early as the beginning of March,
and plenty of white ones in the Park. All the new toques are full and
high in the front, with some scraggy-looking tips straying upwards; and
to many people they are not becoming, the essence of a toque being, I
think, the snugness and closeness of its fitting to the head.

In the way of colours for cloth costumes, I see all shades of grey,
stone and drab, petunia, and blue of several shades, but I should say
that greys are the most popular. Mauve toques and hats are really
becoming a kind of uniform; they are so much worn; and every second
woman wears violets.

It is said that all woollens will speedily become more expensive as
wool itself has gone up; the reason of which lies in the prolonged
drought of last year. Cotton is also said to be in the same case, and
from the same reason. Let us hope that this will not last long enough
to incommode us.

The two sitting figures in our illustration show the prevalent styles
of the present spring. The one on the left wears a gown of electric
blue, and a short jacket with rounded fronts. This and the narrow
flounces on the skirt are braided with black braid. The revers on the
jacket are of cream-coloured satin, covered with cream lace. On the
right hand, the other sitting figure wears a purple cloth dress, which
is scalloped with white; the front is of white cloth, with white lace
at the neck. The hat on the left is one of the newest ones, with a
square-topped crown, and the brims slightly turned up on both sides.

[Illustration: IN SHEPHERD’S PLAID.]

“In Shepherd’s Plaid” shows us one of the prettiest of this season’s
models, and so youthful-looking that it will be becoming and suitable
for quite a young girl. It is made of silk; the yoke of the bodice is
of deep rose-coloured silk, with _écru_ lace edging. At the top of the
sleeves are bands to match, and the rosy hue is repeated at the waist
and at the top of the flounces on the skirt, which are also trimmed
with two rows of black velvet. Black velvet rosette bows are on the
bodice. A small white hat is worn with white tulle trimmings and white
tips, and velvet bows under the brim. It will be seen that all the
dresses worn are slightly trained, and that fashion has banished the
comfortable short skirt which we have enjoyed for the past year. From
what I notice, however, some women are not disposed to leave it off so
easily, and I daresay we shall see it made for really useful gowns.

[Illustration: THE NEW BLACK VELVET JACKET.]

The new black velvet jacket is shown in our next illustration; made in
black velvet, very short—as all the new jackets are—and beautifully
cut and fitted. These little jackets have been so much the fashion in
Paris that we are sure to see many of them here, and very useful they
promise to be. The revers are of white satin, and a ruffle of chiffon
is worn round the neck. The toque is of white drawn tulle, with roses
and white ostrich tips. The second figure wears a grey cloth gown,
with a very short jacket, much pointed in the front, which is crossed
over, and fastens at the side. The bodice is rounded out in front, the
opening being filled in with lace and chiffon. The skirt and jacket
are machine-stitched in many rows, and have bows of ribbon velvet.
The hat is also a new shape, and is like the one in the first sketch,
but is rather more sloping in the crown. The shapes of the sleeves
at the wrist are fully shown. They are long and generally rounded,
so as to fall over the hands. These tulle and chiffon ruffles are
going, I think, to take the place of the feather ones which we have
worn for some time. They are so pretty that the pity is that they are
so perishable, especially in our grimy London. The tendency is so
much towards wearing white this year that our purses will be quite
depleted, if we are to follow the fashion, and keep ourselves daintily
clean on all occasions.




IN THE TWILIGHT SIDE BY SIDE.

BY RUTH LAMB.


PART VII.

SABBATH AND REST.

    See, for that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath.—Ex. xvi. 29.

At the close of our last open evening, I promised some of you, dear
girl friends and correspondents, that I would take Sunday and Rest as
the subject of one of our talks. I find that the minds of many amongst
you are much exercised as to “the right way of keeping Sunday.”

“I shall be very glad if you will some time say a little about Sundays,
and perhaps give us some little rule to help us to keep them holy,”
wrote one. “People have such different ideas about what is right and
wrong to do on Sunday.”

I do not wish to take that word “people” in too wide a sense.

Our twilight gathering is a large one, and now includes members of
widely differing ages and positions in life. I hope we all rejoice in
knowing that so many older friends have been drawn within our circle,
and are in full sympathy with us.

Still, I love best of all to picture myself as “the old mother sitting
surrounded by a countless family of girls, my adopted children of the
twilight hours,” and between whom and myself links have been formed
which will last through the life of this world and beyond it.

During our talk I should like to use the old sweet Bible word Sabbath,
which can alone suggest its real subject. I want us all to feel its
importance to ourselves as belonging to those who profess and call
themselves Christians. We have not to consider how those spend the
day of rest who are living without God in the world, and to whom the
Sabbath and its ordinances are less than nothing; but how we can best
use and enjoy the privileges it brings, and help others to do likewise.

What is the Sabbath?

If you were really within hearing, I could imagine most of you would
reply, “Why do you ask such a question? Everybody knows the difference
between it and other days.” And you would probably describe all its
distinctive features. The open churches, the closed places of business,
worshippers hurrying in one direction, holiday-makers in another. Or
perhaps some would tell of joy experienced in meeting with fellow
Christians in the House of God, or of happy family gatherings under the
home roof, impossible on other days, but delightful on that precious
day of rest.

After hearing all, and sympathising with your joys, I should ask you to
turn your thoughts from the present, and go back with me to the first
chapter of the world’s history for the answer to my question, “What is
the Sabbath? What was its beginning?”

It is God’s first gift to mankind, bestowed when His work of Creation
was completed by the instalment of the first human pair in the garden
“eastward in Eden,” which He had planted as a fitting abode for them.

The Divine Creator of the universe consecrated the Sabbath by His
example, and gave it to be a continuous blessing throughout endless
ages.

It is beautiful to note the wisdom of God in dealing with the first
human pair, and the lesson He taught them is for us to-day. Paradise or
Eden was not to be the abode of idleness. By daily work _rest was to
be earned_, and only by means of work could rest be enjoyed, and its
preciousness realised in any great degree.

I may note, in passing, that the idle, self-indulgent time-killers are
the persons who complain most of weariness. They are tired with doing
nothing, yet not having earned the right to rest, they cannot enjoy it.

People often allude to the Sabbath as if it were a merely Jewish
institution. Forgetting the earliest Bible record, they dwell on the
time of Israel’s wanderings in the desert, on the double supply of
manna bestowed on the sixth day to meet the wants of the seventh also;
the disobedience of some, and the words which followed, addressed by
the Lord to Moses:

“See, for that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath, therefore He giveth
you on the sixth day the bread of two days.” The Fourth Commandment,
given from Mount Sinai, and engraved on stone, was the renewal and
confirmation of that first inestimable gift of a day of rest.

Now, dear ones, I want you to think how a gift can alone fulfil the
giver’s object in bestowing it. It must be willingly and gratefully
accepted, valued, and used in accordance with the intentions of the
giver.

Even gifts are often received without being welcome, and for various
reasons. We may fear to cause pain by refusing them, or we may be
afraid of future loss if we do so. We may dislike the idea of being
indebted to the person who offers the gift. The article itself may be
one on which we set no value, and so on. Or, as often happens, gifts
are prized at first for their novelty, then unused, hidden away and
forgotten, together with the giver.

I have a very dear friend who is constantly receiving tokens of
affectionate remembrance. He is one who never loses an opportunity of
brightening a dark path or smoothing a rough one, of helping to relieve
an overweighted back of some part of its burden, of saying a cheery or
comforting word, or of doing a kindness at the right time and in the
right way—always an unostentatious one.

This is a great deal to say of any man, but how delightful to be able
to say it with absolute truth! Many of the little souvenirs that reach
my friend are of small intrinsic value and seem almost out of place
amongst the beautiful ornaments and works of art in his home. But
whenever the donor of the humblest gift is a guest in that house, the
little token of affection or gratitude is sure to be in evidence, and
the sight of it adds to the pleasure of host and visitor. The former
can only show a small number of these carefully-kept presents at one
time, but they come out in turns, and prove that none have been thrown
aside or forgotten.

Probably what I have said of my friend has put a new thought into the
minds of many of you, and I hope it has suggested a way of giving
pleasure to the humblest friend, which may not have struck you before.
Above all, I trust it will lead each of you to ask, “Have I thankfully
accepted, valued, and used in the right way God’s first precious gift
of one day in seven for the rest and refreshment of mind and body, and
the good of my soul?”

No mere rule will ever make any of us use this gift worthily. We
must rejoice in it as a part of our divine inheritance. Surely, when
we think that God has given us life and breath and all things, that
from Him every good and perfect gift has come, a new glow of glad
thankfulness should fill our hearts, as we remember that He did not
omit to fix the periodical day of rest.

Well for us, dear ones, that we were not left to depend on any
ordinance of man for the right to this blessing. Think what the world
would be without it! The Sabbath is often abused, ignored, neglected,
almost always undervalued. But would the most careless, or even the
most irreligious, like it to be wholly abolished?

I daresay some, probably most, of you have read that amongst the
horrors of the French Revolution the Sabbath was abolished together
with all the services of religion.

I do not wish to enter into detail or to picture the horrible scenes
which followed, but as there is a tendency amongst a large class of
persons to undervalue the Sabbath in its hallowed character, it is well
for us to glance at the state of France during its abolition. Listen
to a few words only. “The services of religion were now universally
abandoned. The pulpits were deserted through all the revolutionised
districts; baptisms ceased; the burial service was no longer heard;
the sick received no Communion; the dying no consolation. A heavier
anathema than that of papal power pressed upon the peopled realm of
France—the anathema of Heaven, inflicted by the madness of her own
inhabitants. The village bells were silent; Sunday was obliterated;
infancy entered the world without a blessing; age left it without a
hope. On every tenth day a revolutionary leader ascended the pulpit
and preached Atheism to the bewildered audience. On all the public
cemeteries the inscription was placed, ‘Death is an eternal sleep.’”

I should not like to shock your ears or to leave with one of our
twilight gatherings such memories as would haunt you, were I to
continue my quotation; so I have only given a faint glimpse of a
country without a Sabbath and its gracious Giver. May the little help
us to realise more fully the preciousness of His first gift to mankind.

I wonder if you, my dear girl friends, have ever thought of a fact
which establishes the Divine origin of the Sabbath. You know how we
measure our years, calendar months and days, and how these periods are
accounted for by the journeying of the earth round the sun, and other
movements and positions which regularly recur. But there is nothing to
divide week from week, or to mark a definite period of seven days, save
the Divine example and the Divine command, as recorded in the Bible.

The story of God’s creative work during six days, and of His resting
and sanctifying the seventh, the commandment, “Six days shalt thou
labour and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the
Lord thy God,” are our only warrant for the division of time which we
call a week. The lunar month divided by four will not give fully seven
days. The calendar months are of unequal lengths, and even the year
cannot be divided into so many exact weeks.

This fact may be already known to most of you, but you may have gone
over the figures many a time without saying to yourselves, “The
movements of the earth and her attendant moon mark various periods, but
never an exact term of seven days. For this division we must refer to
God’s word and His command to give six days to work and the seventh to
rest.”

Are you saying to yourselves that I am dwelling too long on the
institution itself, whereas you want to know how best to keep it in
these days of varied opinions and many temptations? Forgive me if I
have stepped aside a little from the path you asked me to tread. I
longed—I cannot tell you how earnestly—to impress upon your minds,
first of all, a sense of God’s love in bestowing the day of rest and
the infinite benevolence it manifests. We can neither value nor use
such a gift as we ought to do, unless we feel that it was bestowed for
our good and to make us both better and happier. Having once realised
this, how can we help thanking God for it and feeling anxious to use it
aright, so that we may derive from it all the benefit intended for us?

Most people, however irreligious and indifferent to the sanctified
part of the Sabbath, practically acknowledge it as the best day of the
seven. If they do not, why should it be the day for clean raiment, for
the best clothes to be worn, the best food to be provided, and all done
that can be done, according to the lights of different individuals, to
make it stand out as being unlike the other six days?

It ought to be the brightest and happiest day of the week, and I, for
one, have no sympathy with those who would make it a day of gloom and
weariness to the young. On the other hand, I have as little sympathy
with those who would leave God out of it, and dedicate it wholly to
what they call pleasure, but which often results in over-wearied
bodies, unrefreshed souls and unfitness to begin the work of the six
days that follow.

To enjoy our Sabbath we must feel glad of and thankful for it, and
we shall not be satisfied unless our immortal part is refreshed and
strengthened, as well as our body, by the opportunities it gives.

We shall need no special command, no hard and fast rule to direct us.
Our grateful hearts will incline us to turn our steps towards the house
of God once during the day, if it be possible for us to do so. And, if
not, we can mark the day in the quiet of home by devoting an hour to
special study of God’s word, prayer, thanksgiving and self-examination.

There are many waking hours in our day. Let us ask ourselves whether,
when prevented from joining in public worship, we habitually dedicate
one in the way I have named.

I once heard a girl say, “I do like to take a bit of Sunday to talk
myself over.”

It was her way of alluding to her weekly self-examination, and, whilst
feeling conscious that I needed to “look within” much more frequently,
I rejoiced to hear from young lips that the “talking herself over” was
habitual.

Supposing that circumstances prevent one visit to the house of God, and
there are only mother and daughter, mistress and maid, in the house,
why should not these claim and enjoy the blessing promised in the words
of Jesus, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them”?

I know by experience how very sweet and profitable such household
services can be, even when there are literally only the two or three to
share in them. And how very small is the fragment they take out of the
day of rest, whilst sweetening and purifying the whole of it.

If our Sunday observances are not influenced by thankfulness for God’s
gift, anxiety to use it rightly, and love for the Giver, they are
generally fitful and, to a great extent, dependent on our immediate
surroundings. For instance, when we are at home we may be regular in
our attendance at church. We should feel ashamed were the friends
who worship under the same roof with us to see our seats vacant week
after week from any cause except illness or absence from home. Are we
equally regular in our attendance when amongst strangers, or in a new
neighbourhood? When taking holiday, do we not sometimes regard it as
part of the holiday to excuse ourselves from going to church and say,
“We want the fresh air and change of scene. We must make the most of
our opportunities.” By so doing we show plainly that there is no heart
in our ordinary worship, no realisation of the value of the Sabbath, or
the needs of our spiritual nature.

I heard some young people talking together of a Continental tour they
were about to take and the pleasure it would give them. They were
unused to travel and were discussing the amount of luggage they must
take: what articles must go, what could be done without.

An old friend listened to them with interest and amusement. He had
travelled much and wished that he could renew past pleasure by
witnessing the enjoyment of these bright girls amid new scenes and
experiences. His opinion was often asked as to what might be called
necessaries and what luxuries. At length he said—

“I have noticed that so many people forget one thing which they seem to
value at home, but leave behind, though they could take it with them
and have no extra cost for luggage.”

“What is that?” was the eager question.

“Sunday.”

No other word was needed. The girls understood their old friend’s
meaning. They had heard their travelled acquaintances speak of Sundays
spent in other lands, and knew how easily they had been induced to fall
in with the ways of those amongst whom they found themselves.

One of yourselves told me that when abroad last summer the party of
tourists found there was no English service in the town where they
were, so it was settled they should travel on Sunday to their next
stopping-place. “I,” wrote my girl friend, “had kept the last month’s
Twilight Talk to read in the train at the time that, had I been in
England, I should have been at church.” Then she related an incident
that followed and brought with it a temptation to do something which
would have put self before others; but, she added, “with the words I
had been reading fresh in my mind, I had the strength to overcome my
selfishness.”

It was very delightful to know that, even when so far from home, a dear
member of our circle had been influenced for good by reading our last
talk, and I am sure she will forgive my quoting this little incident,
because it will give pleasure to us all and be helpful also.

You no doubt remember the Bible phrase, “a Sabbath day’s journey,”
which surely suggests Sunday travelling, you will say.

It is wonderful how often we hear an expression without finding out its
meaning, so there may be some of you who do not know that a Sabbath
day’s journey meant seven and a half furlongs, rather less than a mile.

Now, in these days it would be impossible to confine travelling to
such narrow limits, but I do venture to protest against the needless
journeying on Sunday, which helps to keep many people at work who
sorely need the day of rest that God ordained for them.

When, many years ago, the dear partner of my happiest days and I were
travelling together, we always rested on the Sunday, if possible, in
some place where we could attend church; if not, where we could spend
the day peacefully, and claim the blessing promised to the “two or
three.” We reaped the benefit, when we resumed our journey, in the
sense of freshness and vigour, which gave keener enjoyment to every new
scene and experience.

Apart from all religious sentiment, we were in these abundantly repaid
for our observance of the Sabbath.

I have more to say on this subject, but it must wait until our next
meeting, when we will take such glimpses of the Sabbaths of Jesus as
the Bible gives us in the picture of His Manhood. We shall also have
more to say about “Rest.”

(_To be continued._)

[Illustration]




THE HOUSE WITH THE VERANDAH.

BY ISABELLA FYVIE MAYO, Author of “Other People’s Stairs,” “Her Object
in Life,” etc.


CHAPTER V.

ON A HEIGHT.

At last the “final word” before the silence came in form of a
telegram—“Safe on board. This will be despatched by pilot on his
return. All well.” The exhilaration of feeling that the great scheme
was really put a-working carried Lucy over the first consciousness
that the silence had begun. Besides, next day there came another
alleviation in a kindly letter from Mrs. Grant, the captain’s wife, who
wrote that she thought Lucy might like to hear the very latest news of
her husband—as she always did, of the captain. She narrated that she
and her husband had thought Mr. Challoner looking wonderfully well,
considering the great illness he had had, that he would have been in
the very best of spirits, if only he had not been leaving his wife
and boy behind. She added that, for her own part, she was delighted
that her husband should have the boon of Mr. Challoner’s company. The
captain was always glad of a pleasant companion, but could seldom hope
to secure the society of an old and valued friend such as Mr. Challoner
was. She ended by saying that she would not fail to let Lucy have any
item of news which might reach her concerning the ship, and could trust
Lucy would do the same towards her, especially as Lucy would surely get
long letters from Mr. Challoner at every opportunity; whereas “the
captain” was often too busy to send anything but the briefest line, and
was but a poor correspondent at best.

All this, of course, cheered Lucy greatly, as does always the sympathy
of those whose interests are bound up with our own, or at least allied
to them. There was also plenty to do. Every housewife knows how her
household runs down from the lofty paths of order and precision when
there is illness in the home, and everything has to give way to the
preservation of a beloved life. Then, too, while her memory of the
golden days at Deal was still fresh, Lucy wanted to finish the sketches
she had made there. She had always her great ambition, to wit, that by
her own work, her teaching and her sketches, she might be able “to keep
the house going” without trenching at all on the little store—their
all—which Charlie had left with her. It would be so cheering to him to
come home and begin life again not a bit poorer than when he went away.
While she could do something for Charlie, he seemed not so far off!

Florence Brand appeared less helpful than she had promised to be in
securing a servant. She sent Lucy two or three girls from sundry
registry offices. Lucy was not much attracted to any of them. One wore
long plumes; another had taken a seat in the parlour and did not even
rise, as any guest would do, when Mrs. Challoner entered. Lucy was
really relieved when she found that they all asked higher wages than
she had given while Mr. Challoner was at home—a point which it was, of
course, impossible to concede. When she mentioned this to her sister,
Florence said—

“Oh, well, they were the nicest of the girls I saw, and I didn’t think
a pound or two need make any difference. It is often economy in the
end.”

“I know that perfectly,” Lucy answered. “But it would be preposterous
for me, under my present circumstances, to pay more for service for two
than I have ever paid for service for three. There will be so much less
to do. We shall never have two sitting-rooms going at once as we often
had when Charlie had evening work; nor late dinner, as we were obliged
to have for him coming from his office; nor an occasional hot supper as
we had when he could not get home in time for dinner. It will be a very
easy place.”

“Used Pollie to do your washing?” asked Florence meditatively.

“Yes,” said Lucy. “She had a weekly small wash. Charlie always wore
flannel shirts, so there were only collars and cuffs to starch. Then
once a month we had a heavier wash, and a woman came to help. There
is a nice little laundry at the back, so that the steam does not go
through the house.”

“Servants don’t like doing washing nowadays,” observed Florence.

“Should I come across a nice girl who would agree to take lower wages
if I put out most of the things, I would agree to the plan,” Lucy
answered. “I will agree to any arrangement which will not cost me more
money, for that I absolutely cannot afford.”

“‘Generals’ are so scarce nowadays,” said Mrs. Brand. “A good ‘general’
in a house is as hard to get as a good General in the field. That’s
how the saying goes. To get cooks and housemaids is possible. It’s
easier still if parlourmaid and nurse are kept. The more the merrier, I
suppose.”

“But a general servant is what I want,” returned Lucy, rather stiffly.
“Not necessarily a ‘thorough’ one—except in character. Apart from that,
I will accept mere cleanliness and willingness.”

She could scarcely keep from adding that Florence’s own experience of
a crowd of servants had not seemed so satisfactory as to tempt her
into the same lines, even if that were possible. Yet Mrs. Brand’s
remarks made her sister uneasy. She began to realise that she would
have to place far more confidence in the stranger that should come
within her gates than she had ever reposed in the long-familiar Pollie.
She had trained Pollie. She had always supervised her. She had given
considerable help. Much of this would be impossible now she herself was
to be the bread-winner of the household.

She began to realise, too, that for the first time she confronted the
difficulties of modern housekeeping. Hitherto, everything had been
idyllic. Of course, Pollie had made mistakes sometimes, especially at
first, but she had been always willing to learn, honest as sunlight,
and clean with rural cleanliness. When Lucy had heard the perpetual
grumble and bewailing of the mistresses among her acquaintance, she
had, in her secret heart, been inclined to think there was a great deal
in the adage “Good mistresses make good servants,” which was often
openly and severely enunciated by dignified old dames supported by
retainers of twenty or thirty years’ standing. Also she had recognised
the defects of her sister Florence’s household management, at once so
exacting and so careless. She had owned to herself that if she were a
servant, she would not wish to remain in the Brand establishment.

Now she felt, however, that she was driven out upon slippery places,
where Florence, however unsuccessful in keeping her feet, yet had
some experience where she herself had none. Yet Lucy might have been
wiser to have tried her experiments after her own fashion. But a woman
happily married and then suddenly deprived of her husband’s counsel and
decision, is only too ready to lean upon any reed which offers itself
to her hand, especially when her mind is distracted by duties which
seem to her of paramount importance.

No suitable maiden had presented herself when Pollie’s departing day
arrived. But Mrs. Brand, far from being disconcerted by this, had been
thinking it an advisable course of circumstances, and ignoring all
Lucy’s wishes in the contrary direction.

“I should prefer to have the two girls here together for a day or two,”
Lucy had pleaded; “then the newcomer would see just what was expected
from her.”

“Nonsense,” said Mrs. Brand with decision. “Never allow your old
servant and your new one to meet. Even in my house, it is always
a comfort when there is a regular clearance. The old ones put the
stranger up to all your weaker points, tell them just where they can
deceive you, and the demands they would advise them to make, ‘if they
would begin as they would like to go on.’ Consequently you never really
have even the brief advantage of ‘the new broom that sweeps well.’”

“I cannot regard Pollie as a natural enemy,” Lucy answered. “I feel
sure she would say the place is a good one, that we are not ill to live
with, and that a girl who could not get on with us must be hard to
please.”

Mrs. Brand laughed gaily.

“Will you ever learn wisdom, my dear?” she said. “You persist in
judging Pollie by yourself. But would you have treated anybody as she
has just treated you?—suddenly casting off an old tie precisely at a
critical time?”

“Yet it is certainly for a great event in her life,” replied Lucy. “Of
course, I feel that in her place I should have acted differently. For
one thing, I hate secrecy, and if Pollie had told me of her future
intentions the moment they were decided (as I told her of mine), and
had not resolved to make the great jump at a moment’s notice, as it
were, without any reference to us, then I think there might have been
very little trouble in the adjusting of our interests. She might have
seen me well over my sorrows and difficulties without much hindrance of
her own happiness.”

Mrs. Brand broke into explosions of merriment.

“Pollie and her future intentions!” she echoed. “I daresay she met the
man only the week before! With these people, we waste our judgments in
quite wrong directions.”

“Pollie told me she had known the man for years,” said Lucy.

“Oh, they always say that,” returned Mrs. Brand. “Their ‘knowing’
means that they have seen the man in the street, or in some shop, or,
at best, at their chapel. Pollie was a great hand at chapel-going. I
always thought there was something at the bottom of it. Then as for her
‘happiness,’ if these girls knew what was good for them, they wouldn’t
marry at all. In less than a year’s time, she will wish she hadn’t.
Very likely she will come and tell you so. She will come with a black
eye, and a baby in her arms, and she will own she would be glad to come
back to you, if it wasn’t for that baby! That has happened to me more
than once.”

“Flo, Flo,” cried Lucy, her own heart soft with tender remembrance of
her absent husband, “do you think that nobody can be loving and happy
save the wealthy and leisurely?”

“I’m not blaming the poor wretches, I’m sure,” Flo defended herself.
“If Jem and I had to live in one room, I should not wonder much if he
beat me sometimes. He’s cross enough often; but then I can leave him
to himself. What would he get like, fancy, if he saw me worn out with
cleaning up and nursing, and dressed in rags? When all that comes in at
the door, love goes out at the window. Pollie will soon find there is a
great difference between workaday reality and the courting times of her
evenings out and bank holidays.”

“Well, the love that cannot sustain any conditions that life imposes,
has never been love at all. So it is not much loss when it goes!” said
Lucy, with an indignant note in her voice. She felt keenly how her own
position looked in such eyes as those of Florence and Jem Brand.

“Ah, you live in the grand style—in blank verse, I may say,” Flo went
on carelessly. “But that was never my way. Perhaps, after all, each
gets what each most cares for. I should not have married Jem, perhaps,
if I had been of the blank verse style. But here we are, wandering off
into the fields of romance. The business in hand is, let Pollie go.
Engage your washerwoman—you say you have one once a month—to come to
you every day till you are suited. Then you’ll get at the bottom of
all Pollie’s little ways, and will find out what kitchen things you
have really got, and what is gone past recovery, down the sink or up
the chimney. You can make out new lists, and then the minute you see a
suitable girl, there’s the place ready for her, and so she starts fair.”

Lucy resented all Mrs. Brand’s doubts of Pollie. She could not see
why a single act of inconsideration and rashness should so condemn
character, root and branch, in a servant, when the same would be
easily condoned in a friend or relative, and possibly even regarded as
rather pretty and romantic; simply another illustration of “all for
love and the world well lost.” She knew young men and women, too, who
had treated their own parents quite as thoughtlessly as Pollie had
treated her master’s household. Lucy had always regarded such conduct
with great severity, whereas Flo had only laughed over it, retailing
“delicious” incidents of how the “old folks” had been “sold.” This
was but another instance of higher standards of conduct being set for
the kitchen than for the drawing-room. It had always seemed to Lucy’s
chivalrous nature to be a gross injustice that, from those members
of society who are presumed, conventionally, to have had the fewest
“advantages,” more should be expected than from those who are said to
have had “every advantage.” She could not understand it, not yet having
learned that this injustice, like all injustice, is rooted in sheer
selfishness. Many people care nothing at all for “rights and wrongs”
save as these affect their own personal convenience. Many more are
seldom brought even to consider “rights and wrongs” until these reach
the same point.

Alas, our household state would be actually worse than it is, were not
our servants in a general way, at least, more punctual and more “tidy”
than many of ourselves!

Notwithstanding Lucy’s instinctive abhorrence of so many of her
sister’s domestic standpoints, she yet accepted Mrs. Brand’s advice as
to letting Pollie go and having a charwoman interregnum. Indeed, as no
other alternative offered, she was forced to accept it.

Pollie went off, tearful and subdued, and full of humbly-expressed
hopes “that the master would come back quite strong.”

“It would have troubled him terribly to know you were leaving me just
now, Pollie,” said Lucy, sufficiently reconciled to be able to show the
wound to the hand which had dealt it. “I believe he would have deferred
going away. Yet this is the right season for him to go—to say nothing
of the opportunity of going with a good friend. You have made me keep a
secret from my husband, Pollie, for the very first time, and the bare
thought of it makes me unhappy!”

“Why, it’s the sort o’ secret the angels in heaven must keep for us
all!” cried Pollie, who had “Irish blood” on the mother’s side which
moved when she was deeply stirred. “Sure, there’s many a thing they
must see hanging over our heads that they just manage for us with never
a word or a sign, and we never knowing what we should thank them for!”

“Well, Pollie,” said her mistress, “let me hear of you sometimes, I
shall be always glad to get good news of you, and you may care to know
how we get on.”

Pollie looked grave.

“There’s no fear but you’ll do well enough, ma’am,” she said, with an
emphasis on the personal pronoun, which was not without significance in
a prospective bride. “There’s many a girl would jump sky high to get
into such a place. An’ I’d never have left you for any other missis.”

Lucy felt very lonely when she found herself left in the house with
only little Hugh. The charwoman would come early in the morning, but
would sleep in her own home as she had sons “to look after.” Lucy put
Hugh to bed, heard him say his little prayer for dear papa, and talked
about ships to him till he fell asleep, hugging a wooden rabbit which
was Pollie’s parting gift. Then Lucy went wandering through the empty
rooms. Pollie had left everything in “apple-pie” order. The pathetic
traces of Charlie’s illness and convalescence were all cleared away.
The kitchen, too, was neat and trim. Lucy mechanically pulled out the
drawers, and set open the cupboard doors. All was as it should be,
and Lucy was deeply thankful that Pollie had left behind no further
disappointment in herself. For the hushed heart of yearning sorrow and
anxiety shrinks from those squalid revelations of human nature, which
torture it much as vermin might torment a helpless invalid.

Under the infliction of Pollie’s bustle and Mrs. Brand’s chatter,
Lucy had actually longed for this quiet hour. She had craved for the
silence and the solitude in which it had seemed to her that her spirit
might get nearer to the absent Charlie. For a brief spell there was
sweetness in it, but it was not long before she felt that it might
become a perilous and painful luxury. When she had gone through the
house, giving here and there the little touch which must be always left
for the hand of the mistress, and when there was absolutely nothing
more to do that night, then she found that she realised not so much any
spiritual communion with Charlie, as the silence and separation which
lay between them.

“I have been wrong,” she said to herself. “I have been fancying lately
that the peculiar weight of my cross lay in the need for bearing it
together with petty money cares, and with work for which one must brace
oneself up, and shut away one’s mere personal feelings. Now I begin to
see that these are less added weights than props on which from time to
time the burden of a great trial may rest till it is almost lifted from
one’s own strength.”

“We are taught, too,” she went on musingly, “that we can best approach
God and serve Him by our service to others—the simple service which
comes naturally out of our living and working among them. Does it not,
therefore, seem reasonable that in the same fashion we may also best
approach and serve those whom we love—the parted—or the dead?” and
Lucy’s lips quivered. “It is the day’s hard work, too, which gives the
sweet sleep and the good dreams! How absurd it sounds to put into words
what is really the wonderful discovery that one makes, sooner or later
(though one is always forgetting it!), to wit, that God knows what is
best for His children, and that if they keep in His ways, they shall
find the food and the tasks that are the most ‘convenient’ for them.”

“I thank Thee, my Father,” she said aloud, clasping her hands together
as she stood in the shadowy little parlour, “I thank Thee that Thou
hast filled my hands with duties so that I need have no empty hour. I
thank Thee that my love for Charlie may run, woven into my love for
Thee, through all my work and all my thoughts—the golden thread, which
binds all together into a chaplet, not indeed meet to present to Thee,
yet which Thou wilt accept, because it is Thy daughter’s offering. And
I thank Thee—oh, how I thank Thee!—for the little child Thou hast given
me, to whom I must be, for a while, both mother and father too. And,
Father, be with Charlie in his ship tossing on Thy seas. Give him sweet
sleep and happy dreams. Make him feel assured that all is well—with
Hugh and me.” She paused; she could not bring herself to pray. “Bring
him home safely, if it be Thy will.” She could only say, “Father, we
are in Thy will, and there we are safe—and together—always!”

Nobody was there to see her then, or they would have marked the
shining of her face—for she had been with God. But such mounts of
transfiguration rise abruptly from the broil and bicker of life’s dusty
plain, and often it is when we descend from them that we encounter the
demons!

(_To be continued._)




THE GIRL’S OWN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS COMPETITION.

WHO ARE THE PRIZE-WINNERS AND CERTIFICATE-HOLDERS?

EXAMINERS: JAMES MASON AND THE EDITOR.


There are no girls more engaging than those who are trying to do or
to be something of value, and having said that, our opinion may be
inferred of the numerous company who have worked so diligently during
the three months of this interesting competition. It has been an affair
of “long breath,” and has proved this, if it has proved anything, that
our girls are of the right sort.

That it has been enjoyed is clear from many letters received from
competitors. “It has taken up a good deal of time,” writes one girl,
“but the time has been well spent, because the questions asked were of
real value, and to be able to answer at least the greater number of
them, might be regarded as a general test of our being well informed.”

The competition was chiefly a lesson in the art of hunting up
information, an art always of service. The questions were not to be
replied to by guess-work, or by the exercise of a ready imagination. In
the preparation of their papers, girls learned how to make good use of
books of reference, and some communicative ones have told us that they
have thereby gained a clearer notion than they ever entertained before
of the value of such works as the _Encyclopædia Britannica_, Chambers’s
_Encyclopædia_, Haydn’s _Dictionary of Dates_, Dr. Brewer’s _Phrase and
Fable_, the _Imperial Dictionary_, and Chambers’s _Book of Days_.

We noticed that THE GIRL’S OWN PAPER volumes had proved to many a
perfect library of knowledge and, indeed, it is not too much to say
that a diligent study of the back numbers of this periodical would have
enabled anyone to answer nearly all the questions without consulting
any other work whatever.

A pleasing feature in the competition was that girls, as a general
rule, improved as they went on. One who had a third-class place at
the start would end in the second rank, and a second-class girl would
become a first. This is as it should be. Few—hardly any—began well and
then relapsed into inaccuracy and carelessness.

A good number—but not so many as we expected—failed to send in all the
three instalments of papers. Sometimes, perhaps, they grew tired, and
sometimes illness and circumstances over which they had not control may
have prevented them. These, of course—if they have obtained a place at
all—have not got so good a place as if they had replied, or tried to
reply, to the whole seventy-two questions.

The most important feature of the answers was accuracy, and both in
that and in the manner in which the sense was expressed, competitors
did very well indeed. Where the answers admitted of a difference of
opinion, we saw many signs of intelligence and of a desire to think
and investigate for oneself that cannot be too strongly commended and
encouraged.

Occasionally girls were rather sparing of their words. Brevity may be
the soul of wit, but it does not quench one’s thirst for information.
A yes, a no, a name, or a date, neither makes entertaining reading nor
forms a sufficient test of a girl’s knowledge of the subject under
discussion. But we have nothing but praise for a girl—though she did
not win a certificate—who says, “I have not given long answers, but I
have done my best.”

We said that neatness would count, and in some cases the want of it was
what told against a girl, turning the scale and landing her in a class
lower than she would otherwise have occupied.

What reasonable excuse can be given for one who writes, with perhaps
careless penmanship, on paper of all sizes, and of different colours
too, and with rough edges, as if it had been torn in the rudest manner
out of a copybook? If our untidy friends went to call on a stranger,
they would surely wish to look smart, and by looking smart to create
a good impression. Now, sending even a scrap of paper to anyone—let
it be a letter or anything else—to which our name is attached is just
like paying a visit. What we send should be made to look as neat as we
ourselves would wish to be if we went in person.

We do not say that a good paper in this competition was invariably a
neat one, or that originality and freshness had not sometimes an untidy
appearance, but the general rule was that if a girl had taken real
pains, she showed it in the manner in which she turned out her work, as
well as in the matter.

A bit of ribbon, a paper-fastener, an illuminated letter, the ruling of
a line, the folding of a page—these may be trifles, but we are judged
by trifles when there is no other means of judging. So, you girls who
have occasioned these remarks—only a few in number you were—be very
careful next time.

Here is another weak point. Why don’t some girls obey rules? The papers
were to be fastened together—see the rules—and some did not fasten
them. They were to be fastened at the left-hand top corner—see the
rules—and some did it on the right. The name was to be put on the back
of the last page of each instalment—see the rules—and some put it on
the front page. Names and ages were to be given—see the rules—and no
fewer than twenty papers failed to find a place because their writers
had omitted one or other of these two important particulars.

We want our girls to be models of common sense, and does not common
sense suggest that by obeying instructions we get more consideration
than if we do not? It is only a bit of worldly wisdom, girls, for all
who take part in competitions, that you ought to try to keep examiners
in a genial humour. Never ruffle their patience if you can avoid it.
Sometimes a little neglect gives a good deal of trouble that ought to
have been saved. However, we shall let defaulters off this time with
a caution that if they ever appear before our High Court again on a
similar charge, we shall be a great deal more severe.

The most difficult task connected with the competition has been laid on
the shoulders of the examiners, for much painstaking has been required
to decide as to the merits of papers where so many were good, so few
second-rate, and such a trifling number meriting nothing but a “Let us
try to do better next time.” The result of our examination is given in
the following list of successful competitors, in which will be found
the names of all the prize-winners and certificate-holders.

[_Note:_ Two girls under the age at which the competition began, and
fifteen over the age at which it terminated, sent in papers. To one of
the two juniors, and to two of the fifteen seniors, a certificate has
been awarded.]


THE SUCCESSFUL COMPETITORS.

THIRTEEN AND FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE.


PRIZE (ONE GUINEA).

    Hancock, Elsie L., South Norwood Park, S.E.


PRIZE (HALF-A-GUINEA).

    Pearson, Edith R., Manchester.


PRIZE (FIVE SHILLINGS).

    Moore-Bayley, Marjory, Barnt Green, Worcestershire.


FIRST-CLASS CERTIFICATES.

    Stapleton, Marjorie, Bradford.
    Wolton, Kathleen, Ixworth, Suffolk.


SECOND-CLASS CERTIFICATES.

    Buchanan, Stella, Regent’s Park, N.W.
    Chettle, Edith Mary, Trowbridge, Wilts.
    Loader, Ada Winifred, Brighton.


THIRD-CLASS CERTIFICATES.

    Clews, Marjorie Winifred, Wylde Green, near Birmingham.
    Hollett, Ellen Louisa, Farnborough, Hants.
    Read, Phœbe Gertrude Mary, Pembroke, Ontario.
    Shield, Kate Olive, Ramsey, Isle of Man.
    Spedding, Blanche, Keswick, Cumberland.
    Sprott, Elise Isabel, Harrington, Cumberland.
    Stokoe, Ethel, Hay, Brecknockshire.
    Streatfeild, Evelyn, Edenbridge, Kent.


FIFTEEN AND SIXTEEN YEARS OF AGE.


PRIZE (ONE GUINEA).

    Fountain, Margaret Allan, Bowes Park, N.


PRIZE (HALF-A-GUINEA).

    Batchelor, Grace Emily, Wantage, Berks.


PRIZE (FIVE SHILLINGS).

    Murray, Margaret M., Rutherglen, Scotland.


FIRST-CLASS CERTIFICATES.

    Dominy, Norah Catherine, Weymouth, Dorset.
    Garland, Marjory, Northfield, Birmingham.


SECOND-CLASS CERTIFICATES.

    Brasnett, Lucy, Gt. Yarmouth, Norfolk.
    Browne, Dorothy, Whitchurch, Hants.
    Caudle, Margaret Evelyn, Southsea, Hants.
    Coote, Nina Edith, Athlone.
    Cromie, Gladys Catherine Josephine, Regent’s Park, N.W.
    Farwell, Irene M., Burnham, Berks.
    Kruger, Flora Aline, Berkdale, Lancashire.
    Le Marchand, Henriette, Paris.
    Robinson, Mabel, Hornsey, N.
    Sheppard, Amy, Keynsham.
    Spackman, Mildred Lucy, Clithero, Lancashire.


THIRD-CLASS CERTIFICATES.

    Breen, Alice Fanny, Pensford, Bristol.
    Cadman, Agnes M., Stourport, Worcestershire.
    Cunningham, Dora, Northampton.
    Dalton, Muriel, Attleborough, Norfolk.
    Fromberg, Grete, Berlin.
    Grierson, Emily Hannah Morton, Crimea, South Russia.
    “Heliotrope,” Littleboro’, near Manchester.
    “Marguerite,” Alford, Lincolnshire.
    Midgley, Winifred, Grange-over-Sands, Lancashire.
    Normandale, Margaret Rotherford, Knighton, Radnorshire.
    Sievwright, Rosalie Marie, Burnbank, Lanark.
    Sturgess, Kitty, Derby.
    Thomas, Magdeleine, Antwerp.
    Yeoman, Gertrude Maud, Scarborough.


SEVENTEEN AND EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE.


PRIZE (ONE GUINEA).

    “Celandine,” Newbury, Berks.


PRIZE (HALF-A-GUINEA).

    Klaje, May Louise, Stoke Newington, N.


PRIZE (FIVE SHILLINGS).

    Coote, Cecilia C., Mountratu, Ireland.


FIRST-CLASS CERTIFICATES.

    Ballard, Elizabeth Anne, Ledbury, Herefordshire.
    Bateman, Marie Catherine, Whitchurch, Berks.
    Bowen, Leila Mary, Ludlow, Shropshire.
    Coverley, Kathleen Emily, Oporto, Portugal.
    Freeman, A. Ethelwyn G., Hornsey Rise, N.
    Hankin-Turvin, Eva, Oswestry.
    Kent, Madeleine Agnes, Wallington, Surrey.
    Laws, Florence Mary, East Ham.
    Le Mottée, Mary Emily, Tunbridge Wells.
    “Robin Hood,” Herne Hill, S.E.
    Slous, Eliza D., Jersey.
    Voller, Katie Agnes, Gloucester.
    “Wild Clematis,” Drury Lane, W.C.
    “Woodbine,” Wolverhampton.


SECOND-CLASS CERTIFICATES.

    Bryant, Lilian, Ilminster, Somerset.
    Burgess, Dora, Peckham, S.E.
    Cross, Florence, Egham.
    Dendy, H. May, Bishop Sutton, near Bristol.
    Dilly, Nora E., Saxmundham, Suffolk.
    Henderson, Jane, Lockerbie.
    Hobson-Cooke, Ethel, Birmingham.
    Hodges, Lily E., Bridport, Dorset.
    Hunt, Jessie, Beverley, Yorkshire.
    Macnaughton, Janie Kennedy, Taynuilt.
    Maitland-Kirwan, Matilda R., Castle Douglas, N. B.
    “Periwinkle,” Blaxhall, Suffolk.
    Pugh, J. M., Towyn, Merionethshire.
    Thomas, Florence May, Swansea.
    Thorpe, Mabel, Sheffield.
    Tompkins, Gertrude, Lyons, France.
    “Violet,” Scarborough.
    Walpole, Edith, West Kensington.
    Young, Eva, Dublin.


THIRD-CLASS CERTIFICATES.

    Baker, Elma Chiswell, Bewdley, Worcestershire.
    Brewster, Margaret, Halstead, Essex.
    Cassels, Kate Kennedy, Villa Nova de Gaya, Portugal.
    Connell, Eveline D., Northallerton, Yorkshire.
    Daniel, Lena Mary, Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain.
    Harris, Marguerita, Bristol.
    Hayes, Rosa Franci, Loughton, Essex.
    Hoon, Mabel, Anerley.
    Insley, Adelaide, Westcott, Dorking.
    Kelsey, Henrietta, Norton, Isle of Wight.
    “Lily of the Valley,” Basing, Hants.
    Marlow, Hannah, Birmingham.
    Metcalfe, Alice M., Ripon, Yorks.
    Moule, Ethel May, Witnesham, near Ipswich.
    Oliver, Dorothy, Whitwell, Isle of Wight.
    Ralph, Elsie Margaret, Crown Hill, Devon.
    Robinson, Eleanor Elizabeth, Kinsale.
    Salone, Volinia, Alexandria, Egypt.
    Saunders, Winnifred Norman, Old Charlton, Kent.
    “Sweetbriar,” Odiham, Hants.


NINETEEN AND TWENTY YEARS OF AGE.


PRIZE (ONE GUINEA).

    Carmichael, Elizabeth A., Malvern.


PRIZE (HALF-A-GUINEA).

    Bowen, Mildred, Ludlow, Shropshire.


PRIZE (FIVE SHILLINGS).

    “Pansy,” Beverley, E. Yorks.


FIRST-CLASS CERTIFICATES.

    Andrews, Janet, Hull.
    Avens, Ada Louise, Southsea, Hants.
    Barr, Ethel, Gloucester.
    “Cherry Blossom,” Stourbridge.
    Darbyshire, Margery, Knutsford, Cheshire.
    “Four-leaved Shamrock,” Alverstoke, Hants.
    Garland, Dorothy, Northfield, Birmingham.
    Hartill, Nellie, Willenhall, Staffordshire.
    “Lilium Auratum,” Retford.
    Motherwell, Chris. B., Airdrie, N.B.
    Plumbe, Gertrude B., Mansfield.
    Richardson, Bertha, Bowes Park, N.
    Sulivan, Eleanor Sophia, Tunbridge Wells.
    Wyatt-Smith, Maud, Shepherd’s Bush, W.


SECOND-CLASS CERTIFICATES.

    Averill, Winifred Mary, Stafford.
    Beckett, Margaret, Heywood, Manchester.
    Brown, Daisy, Hayes, Middlesex.
    Grigg, Ethel, Streatham.
    Harris, Elizabeth J., Redhill.
    Little, Eleanor Margaret, Bishop’s Lydeard.
    Mann, Mary Harriet, Folkingham.
    Pilkington, Dolly, Dublin.
    Poole, Olive Maria, Acton, W.
    “Scarlet Geranium,” Harrow.
    Sich, Isabel Fanny, Chiswick Mall.
    Stephens, May D., Bridgnorth, Salop.


THIRD-CLASS CERTIFICATES.

    “Blue Bell,” Rothesay, Bute.
    Chantrill, Kate E., Birmingham.
    “Chrysanthemum,” Ashford, Kent.
    Clague, Muriel Lace, Crouch End, N.
    Cleare, Winifred Fanny, Hayward’s Heath.
    Dunning, Lynette Aileen Gertrude, Durban, Natal.
    Kennard, Beatrice Nellie, Cheltenham.
    Lampitt, Catherine A., Upper Tooting, S.W.
    Stanley, Emily Thorold, Washingboro’, Lincoln.
    Stebbing, Diana Vivian, Tunbridge Wells.
    Strang, Helen, Govan, N.B.
    “Sweet Violets,” Devizes, Wilts.
    Tinney, Mabel Emily, Hove, Sussex.
    Warren, Margaret, Stevenage, Herts.


TWENTY-ONE, TWENTY-TWO, AND TWENTY-THREE YEARS OF AGE.


PRIZE (ONE GUINEA).

    “White Heather,” Barnet, Herts.


PRIZE (HALF-A-GUINEA).

    Vincent, Agnes Mary, London, S.W.


PRIZE (FIVE SHILLINGS).

    Tomlinson, Ethel Mary, Burton-on-Trent.


FIRST-CLASS CERTIFICATES.

    “Alpine Rose,” Edgbaston, Birmingham.
    Barnett, Mary F. B., St. Leonard’s-on-Sea.
    Crossman, Hilda, Berwick-upon-Tweed.
    Dowling, May, Weston-super-Mare.
    Forster, Evelyn Agnes, Wokingham, Berks.
    Fyson, Alice Matilda, Bath.
    Gaze, Lily Ethel, Norwich.
    Grundy, Lilian, Ashton-under-Lyne.
    Hayward, Edith Mary, Devizes, Wilts.
    Hickling, Jessie, Sydenham, S.E.
    Kellow, Ethel Mary Varcoe, Ceylon.
    “Lily of the Valley,” Knebworth, Herts.
    McLachlan, Nellie, Edinburgh.
    Moon, Ethel Gay, Bridgend, S. Wales.
    Sykes, Ada Fanny, Calcutta.
    Welman, Veronica Mary, Clapham Common.


SECOND-CLASS CERTIFICATES.

    Ault, Clarissa Jane, Church Gresley.
    Bartlett, Ethel, Southampton.
    “Californian Poppy,” Santa Barbara, California.
    Cortissos, Freda Mary, Shrewsbury.
    “Crocus,” Joppa, near Edinburgh.
    “Daffodil,” Bristol.
    Daft, Nellie Matilda, Lisbon, Portugal.
    Gall, Alice, Edinburgh.
    Green, Emma, Tarkastad, Cape Colony.
    “Heather,” Truro, Cornwall.
    “Lily of the Valley,” Bath.
    “Marguerite,” Leamington.
    Perrett, Elizabeth, Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire.
    Pocock, H. E. Daisy, North Kensington, W.
    Polden, Katharine, Grove Park, Kent.
    Sellers, Violet, Porto, Portugal.
    “Shamrock,” Blundellsands, near Liverpool.
    “Sweet Pea,” Wood Green, N.
    Tayler-Allen, N., Bray, Co. Wicklow.
    “Wild Rose,” Dundalk, Co. Louth.


THIRD-CLASS CERTIFICATES.

    Baiden, Rose, Bromley, Kent.
    Blakeley, Amy V., East Boscombe.
    Boulderson, Mary, Reading.
    Bray, Evelyn, Broadclyst, near Exeter.
    “Christmas Rose,” Leyton.
    “Dandelion,” London, S.W.
    Haynes, Edith Sarah, London, S.W.
    Hodgkinson, Margaret N., Heywood.
    “Lily of the Valley,” Ryde, Isle of Wight.
    Pilkington, A. B., Dublin.
    Roberts, Sophie Caroline, Inniscorthy.
    Ruffle, Emily A., Palmer’s Green, N.
    Scarlett, Ada, London, W.
    “Scotch Thistle,” Glasgow.
    Squire, Grace M., Harrowgate, Yorks.
    “White Iris,” Alton, Hants.


UNDER THIRTEEN.


SECOND-CLASS CERTIFICATE.

    Emerson, Josephine, Bray, Ireland.


OVER TWENTY-THREE.


FIRST-CLASS CERTIFICATES.

    McIntosh, Kate Isabel, Brockley, S.E.
    White, Katharine E., London, E.C.


⁂ The Examiners’ Report on the third and last twenty-four questions
will be published next month.—ED.




OUR SUPPLEMENT STORY COMPETITION.

THE DEAF GIRL NEXT DOOR: A STORY IN MINIATURE.


FIRST PRIZE (£2 2s.).

    Margaret Kelly, Douglas, Isle of Man.


SECOND PRIZE (£1 1s.).

    Florence Roche, Torquay.


THIRD PRIZE (10s. 6d.).

    Eva M. Moore, Wigton, Cumberland.


HONOURABLE MENTION.

    Mary Adèle Venn, West Kensington Park.
    “Saguin,” Stoke Newington.
    Florence Townsend, Deaf and Dumb Institution, Edgbaston.
    Ada A. Gaze, Norwich.
    Mary de Lacy White, Dumfriesshire, N.B.
    “Excelsior,” Co. Tipperary, Ireland.
    “Una,” Wickham Market, Suffolk.
    Jessie A. Byford, Deaf Institute, Derby.
    Lucy Bourne, Winchester.
    Margaret W. Rudd, Anerley.
    Mabel Gibson, Wandsworth Common, S.W.
    Barbara Macadam, Stoke Newington.
    Martha Harman, Bromley, Kent.
    Emma Barrie, Plymouth.
    Ethel M. W. Cleveland, Bedford.
    Margaret Moscrop, Saltburn-by-the-Sea.
    L. M. Barber, Brixton.
    Florence Hutchinson, Wellingborough.

       *       *       *       *       *

MY DEAR GIRLS,—I have read with much pleasure the large number of
essays sent in by readers of “The Deaf Girl” because almost all of them
show such a thorough appreciation of, and sympathy with, the purpose of
the story. I am sorry to disqualify seventeen, from disregard of the
rule that they must confine themselves to one page of foolscap only.
A great many pass over the more important incidents of the story and
give undue prominence to details. Others again dilate too much on the
first part of the book, and have to crowd the latter. But I heartily
thank all who express sympathy with my object and a desire to aid the
afflicted class of whom I write. If I could induce one or two of you
even to become workers (so much needed) in this service, I should
indeed rejoice, and feel that my little story has accomplished its end.

    HELEN MARION BURNSIDE.




OUR NEW PUZZLE POEM.


SPECIAL NOTE.—By way of novelty, an anagramic difficulty has been
introduced into the following puzzle. Five words, consisting of five
letters each, have been omitted. Each word consists of the same five
letters transposed, so that when one is found the others can easily be
constructed.

ONE GUINEA will be reserved for the best solutions of solvers who
prefer to ignore the anagram. In these solutions the words omitted must
be indicated by stars as in the puzzle.

[Illustration: Anagramic Puzzle Poem.]

⁂ PRIZES to the amount of six guineas (one of which will be reserved
for competitors living abroad) are offered for the best solutions of
the above Puzzle Poem. The following conditions must be observed:—

1. Solutions to be written on one side of the paper only.

2. Each paper to be headed with the name and address of the competitor.

3. Attention must be paid to spelling, punctuation, and neatness.

4. Send by post to Editor, GIRL’S OWN PAPER, 56, Paternoster Row,
London. “Puzzle Poem” to be written on the top left-hand corner of the
envelope.

5. The last day for receiving solutions from Great Britain and Ireland
will be June 17, 1899; from Abroad, August 16, 1899.

The competition is open to all without any restrictions as to sex or
age.




ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.


MEDICAL.

ORIENT asks us for “a method of permanently removing fat from her
nose.” But as she says “sometimes it disappears altogether, and at
other times it becomes very thick,” we can tell her for certain that
her nose does not get swollen from a deposit of fat. When fat deposits
in the nose, it comes to stay. Let her use an ointment of calamine or
ichthiol, and attend to her digestion.

MADGE.—Colour blindness is an incurable condition. It is congenital and
frequently hereditary. There are various grades of the affection. The
three primary colours (physiological) are red, green, and violet, and
there is a separate set of nervous cells to appreciate each of these
primary colours. In colour blindness one or more of these sets of cells
are absent. Thus colour-blind persons are blind to red, to green, or to
violet, or to two or all of these. Total colour blindness is uncommon.
Very frequently the subjects of colour blindness are quite ignorant of
their condition.

WORRIED.—Read the answer to “Orient.” Though indigestion is the
commonest cause of red noses, there are other causes such as diseases
of the nose and feeble circulation. In your case undoubtedly the chief
factor at work is the last. You should dress yourself warmly, and
always wear a veil when you go out for a walk. Take a nutritious but
easily digestible diet with plenty of warm milk. Always wash in warm
water. Locally you may use the ichthiol ointment or a little cold cream.

OUR GIRLS’ BROTHER.—The question of the intermarrying of cousins is
a very important one, and deserves a little consideration. The whole
question turns upon hereditary tendency. Let us take an example. Miss
Smith is going to marry Mr. Jones. The woman brings to the union
the hereditary tendencies and the family peculiarities of the Smith
family. Mr. Jones brings those of the Jones family. The future Master
Jones will inherit the tendencies of both his parents, and his mind
may be represented as partaking of the following, “self-Jones-Smith.”
That is to say, he has inherited something from the Jones family and
something from the Smith family to add to his own original self,
which, of course, is far the most important item. But suppose these
persons who are going to marry are cousins: here there is only one
family’s tendencies to be inherited, so their offsprings will get a
little less to inherit, but the tendencies which they do inherit, being
derived from both parents, will be very much more marked. The result
of the constant intermarriage of relatives is to strengthen the family
tendencies, and to render the minds of the future generations one-sided
but not, if the family is a healthy one, incompetent. So there is
little or nothing against the intermarriage of cousins once or perhaps
twice. And there would be but little against constant intermarriage
in a family which was absolutely healthy, which in the human race
is practically impossible. Now suppose, in a family, one member
becomes insane, a misfortune which may happen to anybody; the future
generations from that family will be slightly more liable to become
insane than are ordinary people. If the brother of the man who went
insane married a perfectly healthy girl, the tendency of their child
to become insane diminishes, because one of his parents brings a good
family history. But if this brother marries one of his relations, their
child is far more likely to become insane, because both his parents
have bad family histories. The long and short of the matter is this;
there is no reason, from a medical point of view, why cousins should
not marry if both are healthy, and if their family history is good.

MASSIE.—We can understand your alarm when the surgeon suggested that
he should “cut you open to see what is the matter with you.” But you
did very wrong in refusing to give your consent to the procedure. It is
exceedingly common to open the abdomen to discover the cause of obscure
diseases. Many persons may think that it is not justifiable to perform
an operation merely to satisfy curiosity. If this is the way you put
it, we agree with you. It is criminal to perform an operation merely to
satisfy curiosity! But such a thing is never done. We open the abdomen
to find out the actual cause of obscure diseases in that locality; but
we do so, not so much to establish a diagnosis as to see if the disease
is capable of removal. Nowadays abdominal section of this kind is a
trivial manœuvre, and although there is a certain amount of risk in
the procedure, it is nothing when compared with the danger of allowing
a progressive disease to run its course unchecked. From your letter,
we take it that the surgeon thinks that you have something obstructing
your bowels—he does not know what. It is very seldom possible to tell
what these diseases really are without exploring. He asks you for your
consent to let him open your abdomen, see what the disease is, remove
it if possible, and if not, to express a definite opinion upon it.
You say, “What a terrible thing it would be, if he cut me and found
nothing!” It would certainly be a pity, but, after all, what better
news can you wish for?

       *       *       *       *       *

[Transcriber’s Note: The following changes have been made to this text.

Page 483: gratitute to gratitude—“sincere gratitude”.]