Such style! such eyes! such rosy cheeks
Such lips that smiled so sweetly!
I only saw her twice, and then-
Don't laugh-'twas at a distance.
But Will, my boy, I tell you what,
In all my blest existence

I ne'er before set eyes upon
A girl so really splendid.
But, pshaw! I couldn't stay, and so
My short-lived visions ended.
I don't suppose she'll ever know
How I, a stranger, love her."

"Who was she, Fred?”

"Ah! that's just it;

I couldn't e'en discover

Her name, or anything at all
About her. Broken-hearted,
I saw it wasn't any use

To try; so off I started,

And here I am, disconsolate."

"All for an unknown charmer!

You're soft, my boy. Let's stroll abaft

The sea is growing calmer,―

Or forward, if you like. The view

May make your feelings rally.

We're drawing near to France; in half

An hour shall be at Calais.

See! there's the town, and just this side

The port with shipping in it;

And there, beyond, you see the spires, And-"

"Here, Will, stop a minute.

By Jove! look there! that girl in gray, With red flowers in her bonnet!

I do declare-I-yes-it's she!

I'd take my oath upon it.

What luck! If I had only known!

How can it be I've missed her?
Look! here she comes!"

"Why, Fred, you fool!

That girl in gray's my sister."

THE REVELLERS.

There were sounds of mirth and joyousness Broke forth in the lighted hall,

And there was many a merry laugh,

And many a merry call;

And the glass was freely passed around,
And the nectar freely quaffed;
And many a heart felt light with glee
And the joy of the thrilling draught.

A voice arose in that place of mirth,
And a glass was flourished high;
"I drink to Life," said a son of earth,
"And I do not fear to die;

I have no fear-I have no fear--
Talk not of the vagrant Death;
For he is a grim old gentleman,

And he wars but with his breath.

"Cheer, comrades, cheer! We drink to Life, And we do not fear to die!" Just then a rushing sound was heard,

As of spirits sweeping by;

And presently the latch flew up,

And the door flew open wide;

And a stranger strode within the hall,
With an air of martial pride.

He spoke: "I join in your revelry,

Bold sons of the Bacchan rite;

And I drink the toast you have drank before

The pledge of yon dauntless knight.

Fill high-fill high-we drink to Life,

And we scorn the reaper Death;

For he is a grim old gentleman,

And he wars but with his breath.

"He's a noble soul, that champion knight, And he bears a martial brow;

Oh, he'll pass the gates of Paradise,
To the regions of bliss below!"
This was too much for the Bacchan;
Fire flashed from his angry eye;

A muttered curse, and a vengeful oath -
"Intruder, thou shalt die!"

He struck-and the stranger's guise fell off,
And a phantom form stood there-
A grinning, and ghastly, and horrible thing,
With rotten and mildewed hair!

And they struggled awhile, till the stranger blew
A blast of his withering breath;

And the Bacchanal fell at the phantom's feet,
And his conqueror was-Death.

MRS. McWILLIAMS AND THE LIGHTNING.
MARK TWAIN.

Well, sir,-continued Mr. McWilliams, for this was not the beginning of his talk,-the fear of lightning is one of the most distressing infirmities a human being can be afflicted with. It is mostly confined to women; but now and then you find it in a little dog, and sometimes in a man. It is a particularly distressing infirmity, for the reason that it takes the sand out of a person to an extent which no other fear can, and it can't be reasoned with, and neither can it be shamed out of a person.

Well, as I was telling you, I woke up with that smothered and unlocatable cry of "Mortimer! Mortimer!" wailing in my ears; and as soon as I could scrape my faculties together I reached over in the dark and then said:

"Evangeline, is that you calling? What is the matter? Where are you?"

"Shut up in the boot-closet. You ought to be ashamed to lie there and sleep so, and such an awful storm going on." "Why, how can one be ashamed when he is asleep? It is unreasonable; a man can't be ashamed when he is asleep, Evangeline."

"You never try, Mortimer-you know very well you never try."

I caught the sound of muffled sobs.

That sound smote dead the sharp speech that was on my lips, and I changed it to

"I'm sorry, dear-I'm truly sorry. I never meant to act So. Come back and "

"MORTIMER!"

"Heavens! what is the matter, my love?"

"Do you mean to say you are in that bed yet?"

"Come out of it instantly. I should think you would take some little care of your life, for my sake and the children's if you will not for your own."

"Don't talk to me, Mortimer. You know there is no place so dangerous as a bed, in such a thunder-storm as this,-all the books say that; yet there you would lie, and deliberately throw away your life,―for goodness knows what, unless for the sake of arguing and arguing, and"—

"But, confound it, Evangeline, I'm not in the bed now. I'm "

[Sentence interrupted by a sudden glare of lightning, followed by a terrified little scream from Mrs. McWilliams and a tremendous blast of thunder.]

"There! you see the result. Oh, Mortimer, how can you be so profligate as to swear at such a time as this?"

"I didn't swear. And that wasn't a result of it, any way. It would have come, just the same, if I hadn't said a word; and you know very well, Evangeline,-at least you ought to know, that when the atmosphere is charged with electricity "

"Oh, yes, now argue it, and argue it, and argue it!-I don't see how you can act so, when you know there is not a light. ning-rod on the place, and your poor wife and children are absolutely at the mercy of Providence. What are you doing? -lighting a match at such a time as this! Are you stark mad?"

Hang it, woman, where's the harm? The place is as dark as the inside of an infidel, and "—

"Put it out! put it out instantly! Are you determined to sacrifice us all? You know there is nothing attracts light[Fzt!-crash! boom-boloom-boom-boom!] Now you see what you've done!"

ning like a light.

Oh, just hear it!

No, I don't see what I've done. A match may attract lightning, for all I know, but it don't cause lightning,-I'll go odds on that. And it didn't attract it worth a cent this time; for if that shot was leveled at my match, it was blessed poor marksmanship,-about an average of none out of a possible

million, I should say. Why, at Dollymount, such marksmanship as that "

"For shame, Mortimer! Here we are standing right in the very presence of death, and yet in so solemn a moment you are capable of using such language as that. If you have no desire to-Mortimer!"

"Well?"

"Did you say your prayers to-night?"

"I-I-meant to, but I got to trying to cipher out how much twelve times thirteen is, and "—

[Fzt!--boom-berroom-boom! bumble-umble bang-SMASH!] "Oh, we are lost, beyond all help! How could you neglect such a thing at such a time as this?"

"But it wasn't such a time as this.' There wasn't a cloud in the sky. How could I know there was going to be all this rumpus and pow-wow about a little slip like that? And I don't think it's just fair for you to make so much out of it, any way, seeing it happens so seldom; I haven't missed before since I brought on that earthquake, four years ago."

"MORTIMER! How you talk! Have you forgotten the yellow fever?"

"My dear, you are always throwing up the yellow fever to me, and I think it is perfectly unreasonable. You can't even send a telegraphic message as far as Memphis without relays, so how is a little devotional slip of mine going to carry so far? I'll stand the earthquake, because it was in the neighborhood; but I'll be hanged if I'm going to be responsible for every blamed ”—

[Fzt!-BOOM beroom-boom! boom!-BANG!]

Oh, dear, dear, dear! I know it struck something, Mortimer. We never shall see the light of another day; and if it will do you any good to remember, when we are gone, that your dreadful language-Mortimer!"

"WELL! What now?"

"Your voice sounds as if-Mortimer, are you actually standing in front of that open fire-place?"

"That is the very crime I am committing."

"Get away from it, this moment. You do seem determined to bring destruction on us all. Don't you know that there is no better conductor for lightning than an open chimney? Now where have you got to?"