"Noble sir, your decision will be hailed with joy by all those whom we have enlisted in the cause, and who are now ready to start from Peking. We must be very cautious and secret in our movements; notwithstanding the commotion amongst the authorities at this crisis, there are spies abroad who would at the slightest suspicion pounce down upon us."

"I am fully aware of that, and have destroyed every document that might lead to detection. Moreover, in anticipation of leaving Peking, I have applied for leave of absence to attend upon my aged mother, who is sick at our family home on the banks of the Grand Canal. As you know, I am sure to obtain permission to leave on such a plea; therefore, I have appointed one of my most trustworthy relations to supply my place, while I take my departure with no one but my daughter."

This information delighted Cut-sing, so he said, "I shall then have the honour of accompanying you both on your journey."

"Not at starting," responded Meng-kee, "for it might raise suspicion. Let us arrange to meet at Tung-chow, where we can obtain boats for our voyage along the canal.”

These preliminaries of the intended flight from Peking being so far settled, Meng-kee felt a degree of mental relief that night which he had not enjoyed for many a month before. Hitherto he was living in a state of constant dread that his sympathies with the Taipings might be discovered, and he might suffer the ignominious death by decapitation executed on all who fell into the hands of the Manchoos-a mode of death which is deemed the most abhorrent by the Chinese. Now there was a ray of hope before him that he could mingle among a valiant host of his patriotic countrymen, who were pledged to restore the pure Chinese rule, broken off two centuries before by the fall of the Ming dynasty. Once at Nanking, he could speak and act freely according to his convictions, and thereby retain a serenity of mind he could not maintain at Peking.

In this strain he not only endeavoured to convince himself of the propriety of the step he was about to take, but he used the same arguments with his daughter to reconcile her as to its prudence.

"Dear father," she would say, "I own that your words are reassuring, and that we are about to fly from impending danger, but I am not so convinced as you are that we shall reach a haven of safety among the Taipings. I have not much faith in what Wo Cut-sing says to you about the grand offices in store for your choice, or in the harmony he says prevails among the followers of the Tien-wang. Ca-me-la says that his people who have mixed among them relate that a system of terror exists in the ranks, and jealousy among the chiefs, which is more to be dreaded than the corruption and anarchy among the government officials and troops here.

But as

you are resolved to go I shall not leave you, and will be ready on the morrow to take the journey."

"That is right, my beloved daughter; and, of course, when we reach my mother's house at Yangchow, you shall remain there while I proceed to Nanking."

When the disconsolate A-Lee sat alone in her

boudoir for the last time, she gave vent to her feelings in an unrestrained gush of tears. As she looked round her beautiful apartment, containing so many rare articles of vertu and elegant furniture, she grieved to think that it might be despoiled by the ruthless emissaries of the Manchoos. She also grieved to think that she might never again meet her friends within its walls, where she had spent so many happy days. Among these friends one stood prominently before her mind's eye-the foreign soldier to whom she had plighted her troth. She had promised to write to him, should any important matter happen to her or her father, but he had given injunctions that not a word should escape her as to the real motive for their departure. With these restrictions she indited the following epistle (Camela phonetic for Cameron) :

"Beloved Ca-me-la,-You will receive this letter after my father and I have left Peking to visit his aged mother, who is ill. It is the duty of the son to attend upon his parents in sickness, although he has other important duties to perform. His honourable superiors in office have granted the request, and we take our departure immediately. Hoping that we shall meet again before the buds are on the trees in spring, your image will remain engraven on the heart of your ever-loving Loo A-Lee."

On the following day the mandarin and his daughter commenced their flight from Peking.

So startling and so rapid was the course of political events on the demise of the emperor, that the officials at the foreign legations were quite bewildered; and as the communications between them and the Foreign Office were suspended, they had no means of ascertaining the real state of affairs upon trustworthy authority. However, the Chinese runners belonging to the British Embassy managed to pick up the chief news of the day, until the twenty days of suspension had expired. These scraps of intelligence were so interesting that little else was thought of or discussed by all within the precincts of LeangKoong-fuh. I eagerly listened to the news, and looked forward anxiously to the day when I could revisit the mandarin and his daughter to discuss them.

On the nineteenth day from the time I had last seen them I received the letter of A-Lee. From its date it had been purposely held back three days, so that the fugitives had such a start as to preclude the possibility of my reaching them. Though not a hint was given in the note as to their destination, yet I concluded that Meng-kee had gone away to join the Taipings. What most concerned me was whether the emissary Cut-sing accompanied them or not, so I made up my mind to call next day and make inquiries of the gatekeeper. Presenting myself at the gate, I was glad to see the same old man in attendance, and gave him a cumshaw (present of money) on entering the vestibule. It relieved my mind considerably to find that the father and daughter had left in their chairs, with only chair-bearers and luggage-carriers. Indoors I found Meng-kee's relatives and family occupying the house, and was kindly asked to repeat my visits as before.

CHAPTER XVIII.-FLIGHT OF THE MANDARIN AND HIS
DAUGHTER.

My narrative now follows the fortunes of Meng-kee and A-Lee in their flight from Peking. They have since told me that it was a bright autumn morning when they left their home, but the fine weather

failed to cheer up their spirits as the gates of the house closed on them for the last time. From the street in which Meng-kee lived his chair-bearers took their way into the Chinese city, which is separated from the Tartar quarter by a high crenellated wall, having three massive gates, which are closed at night. This separation of the two races inhabiting the capital, shows that there is not much confidence between the subjugated natives and their Manchoo rulers. Nevertheless, the industrious character of the Chinaman has completely outstripped the indolent Tartar in his own exclusive quarter, where the trade is almost entirely in his hands. But the whole city is garrisoned by Manchoo soldiers, who have a guard at every gate.

When the party came to the Soon-chen gate, they were challenged by the guard, but allowed to pass through when it was seen that the chair-bearers wore official mourning. Thence they passed due south along a wide thoroughfare, at the end of which was the execution ground. A shudder of horror thrilled through Meng-kee as he beheld the ghastly heads of criminals recently decapitated, stuck upon poles over the ground saturated with blood. The sight, however, had the effect of reassuring him that he had taken a proper step in getting out of reach of the sanguinary government, who would on the slightest suspicion have severed his head from his shoulders.

From this dismal spot the party proceeded into the central thoroughfare stretching north and south to the outer wall. Near the gates they entered a kind of caravanserai, having a spacious courtyard crowded with mules and vehicles. The chairs were set down at the door of a waiting-room, where Meng-kee and his daughter got out, and the chair-bearers were paid and discharged. A-Lee then entered an inner apartment, while her father proceeded to an office where the manager of the establishment was located. In about an hour our fugitives with their baggage were seated in two wheel vehicles, in which they commenced their journey to Tung-chow. While passing through the street leading to the Yoon-ting gate, the rumbling of these clumsy carriages was bearable, but when they reached the dilapidated highway outside the walls it was intolerable. These Peking cabs, if they may be so called, have no springs, the shafts are large and strong, and the passenger has to squat on the floor, where cushions lie, but so great is the jolting that he has to hold on by the sides to ease the painful bumping. The only good part of the machine is an awning over the top, which shelters both man and beast from the powerful rays of the sun. Each vehicle is drawn by one mule. The imperial highway from Peking to Tungchow is thirteen miles long, averaging thirty feet wide, and is paved with stone slabs of great size. When constructed many centuries ago, it must have been one of the grandest public works of the kind in the world. Now, however, it is worn into deep ruts, so that the vehicles roll about like ships in a sea-way, to the discomfort and danger of the passengers. A-Lee had extra cushions placed in her vehicle, but it was of no use, she was thoroughly shaken for four long hours before they reached the first stage of their journey, but from that point they would travel on to their destination in the comparatively luxurious cabin of a passenger-boat.

A-Lee was so fatigued with the journey that she begged of her father to rest in a house of accommodation at Tung-chow for the night. This he gladly

assented to, for he was much in want of rest himself. Having seen her safely lodged, he went to hire a boat for the voyage down the Peiho. This he readily accomplished, selecting one of the best to be hired, and arranging with the boatmen to start early next day. These are fine sturdy fellows, and their boats are strong and commodious. On returning to the inn he found Cut-sing awaiting him.

"Honourable sir," said the Taiping emissary in his blandest manner, "I rejoice to find that you and your daughter have arrived safe at Tung-chow, leaving the city of imps behind."

"Hush!" replied Meng-kee," we must be guarded in our expressions, for sometimes walls have ears." "There is no fear here, for I directed you to this house because it is in the hands of friends to our cause. Still, as you say, we must be careful. Indeed, I ought to be so, for my party who left Peking yesterday afternoon were challenged by the Manchoo guard at the gate, and were sharply questioned by the officer in command. He concluded that we were traders going to Tien-tsin, in connection with the foreign soldiers there, and so let us pass without further question. Now, honourable sir, I think that if we are questioned by the mandarins on the river, it will be safest if we call ourselves your retinue."

"Certainly not," said Meng-kee, "this might endanger the safety of us all; for my papers show that I am not on official duty, and require no retinue. Go forward as if you were traders." "But may I not travel in the same boat with you and your daughter?"

"On no account," he answered abruptly, and in a tone of voice that conveyed a rebuff to the obsequious emissary.

Next day all was in readiness to start at an early hour, and A-Lee had recovered from her fatigue. The boat her father had engaged was very comfortable, being provided with raised sleeping-places, and well covered in to protect the passengers from sun and rain. As the distance between Tung-chow and Tien-tsin is one hundred and seven miles, and the boats are sometimes three days on the passage, they are provided with cooking stoves and culinary utensils, so that the boatmen and passengers can have their meals on board. The fugitives, however, brought no servants with them from Peking, so a cook was hired for the journey, and a female servant to attend upon A-Lee.

In the neighbourhood of the town the river was thronged with junks and passenger-boats, through which it was not easy to pass. When they got lower down the stream they observed two other boats a-head, in one of which the Taiping emissary was seen. He was pointed out to A-Lee by her father, who related what had passed between them on the previous night, and how he had spoken angrily to him when he asked to travel with them in the same boat.

"I told you, dearest father, that there was something sinister in that man's conduct, and that he strives hard to ingratiate himself with me. I have always behaved civilly to him, for I knew that he had you in his power and it was dangerous to offend him. I still think so, and you had better not incur his enmity, for he may yet harm both you and me."

"My dear daughter, you speak words of wisdom and prudence which I will follow." Whereupon Meng-kee stepped outside the covering of the boat, and stood on the raised part of the deck and waved

his hand in a friendly way to Cut-sing, which the emissary returned.

Nothing worth noting happened as they sailed down the stream until the afternoon, when it came on a furious storm. In an instant the boatmen turned the stem of the boat into the river bank, and secured her by anchors on shore. They next arranged and secured by ropes the boat-hooks and oars over the uncovered part of the boat, and rigged matting over them, which kept the deck dry. These preparations were hardly completed when a severe gale, with rain, forked lightning, and thunder, set in. The storm continued for several hours, but cleared up before sunset. Then a gentle breeze succeeded, and the boat with its sails set again glided smoothly along.

Varieties.

LUTHER'S WORK.-He emancipated half Europe (I trust for ever) from the curse of great errors on matters of greatest importance to man's eternal interests, and diffused through the same the light of the knowledge of the way of access to God through Jesus Christ alone. He restored to men a true exhibition of their peculiar relation to God through Christ, which had been obscured for a thousand years. He so proclaimed the distinguishing and life-giving doctrines of the Gospel as that they took effect upon the hearts of men then, and have lived in them till now. He saw with a clearness such as none for centuries before him had seen, the importance of such truths as these that we can learn little of God's purposes towards man anywhere but from Christ; that the desire to justify ourselves, and to depend upon our own strength in getting to heaven, is the misery and destruction of man; that by the most earnest striving to fulfil the moral law, we cannot attain peace of heart; that faith in Christ and obedience to him flowing from that love which such faith must inspire, is the only permanent source of peace of heart and purity of life; that the principle from which anything is done can alone give it worth in God's sight, and that therefore we do not become good by doing good works, but when we are good we do good works. God's sympathy with man, and man's responsibility to God; the necessity of the Holy Spirit's influence, and the efficacy of prayer; the entire absence of merit on the part of man, and the thorough freeness of remission of sin; how strong and happy we may be if united to Christ through faith, and how apart from him we can be neither, these things Luther saw and taught when no man about him did so. Now, it was the proclamation of such truths as these that gave Luther his power over the hearts of his fellows. The faithful preaching of the Gospel of God; the earnest, bold, free assertion of the remission of sins through the blood of Christ, and through it alone; his knowing and stating the true answer to the question which every man must answer somehow, "What must I do to be saved?"; his having taught the true doctrine about things which all men are most interested in-repentance and regeneration, belief and duty, faith, hope, and love-this was what gave Luther the lever whereby he moved Europe from its old foundations. He had the truth in him and other men had not, and herein was the secret of his strength; thus men were to him but as Philistines to Samson, as a forest to fire, as innumerable birds of darkness to light.-Myer's Lectures on Great Men.

breeds for sale and profit must have a more elaborate arrangement. The most essential requisites in a fowl-house may be briefly stated. They are warm, dry shelter; pure air, which is dependent on a capability in the house of being readily cleansed; a supply of the requisite perches; and a proper arrangement of nests for the laying and hatching hens. Dryness is one of the most essential requirements in a fowl-house. Exposure to damp, particularly at night, frequently produces attacks of that most fatal, and, in its severest stages, contagious disease, termed roup. The amateur of limited means may construct a poultryhouse for a very small sum. A lean-to may be erected with weather-boarding, against the west or south side of any wall, the roof being formed with inch deal boards laid close together up and down the slope, and projecting in front, and also over render this shed waterproof, some waste calico or sheeting may the sides, so as to protect the walls from the drip. In order to be tightly stretched over it. Some tar may be boiled with a little lime, and the mixture, while still hot, may be applied with a brush; this soaking through the calico cements it to the roof, and the whole is rendered impervious to the weather. The perches may be arranged on an incline, which should rise from the front of the house towards the back, or, what is preferable, they may be on a level, which prevents the fighting that usually occurs to secure the highest places. They should also be considerably shorter than the house is long, in order to leave a space at each end for the nests, which may be advantageously arranged on the floor. Every fowl-house should possess the means of admitting sufficient light, either through an ordinary window or through a pane or two of thick glass in the sides, or a few glass tiles or slates in the roof.- Tegetmeier's Poultry Book.

EELS. There are thousands of tons of eels, and therefore thousands of sovereigns, lost to the country, because people do not catch their eels. From about the middle of September to the end of October the eels migrate from the rivers and lakes to the sea, and yet for the most part nobody attempts to catch them. When appointed commissioner to inquire into "The Effect of recent Legislation on the Salmon Fisheries of Scotland," I was amazed to find that my friends, the Scotch salmon fishers, allow the eels to pass them in September and October. I know that they would themselves as soon eat a boa-constrictor or a viper as they would an eel, yet I suppose they will not object to catch and sell the cels. The poor people in London are very fond of stewed eels. I have been the round of the stewed-eel shops to see for myself. The verdict is that stewed cels are most nutritious and capital food. In one shop I counted thirty-two people besides myself, eating their quiet pennyworth of stewed eels. I measured (on the quiet) my pennyworth. 1 had just four inches of eel, each bit about the size of the little finger, plus no end of melted butter and savoury herbs. saw these poor people sucking up good and nutritious food in the form of stewed eels, I vowed a vow that I would write to the "Times to see if I could wake up my fishing friends in England, Wales, and especially in Scotland, and ask them to be good enough to catch their eels, put money in their own pockets, and help to feed my friends, the public-both and rich.Frank Buckland, Inspector Salmon Fisheries.

poor

As I

CURIOUS SUPERSTITIONS.-In the little church of St. Hilary, in the island of Anglesea, the central panel of the oak altar support has long been lost; so long, that a curious superstition has grown up respecting the opening it has left. The panel is small, hardly a foot wide; and the altar is small too, not more than sixteen inches wide. The belief is that any person who can get in beneath the altar by this open panel, and turn round and come out, will not die for a year. The under side of the altar-board is thoroughly polished by the heads and shoulders of those who still frequently endeavour to struggle in and out, thus to ascertain their fate. The existence of this belief was noticed in print some sixty years ago. In the same church is a curious article of furniture-a pair of pincers made on the wardens upon it, with dates, this article has been in existence a century and a half or more. Its use is to catch intruding dogs by the leg, it being constructed to give a tremendous grip with its clawed ends.

wet, the whole should be well drained. This is essential to success, as a wet soil is more inducive than any other cirThe best aspect is cumstances to various special diseases. south or south-east; and the side of a gently rising hill, if sheltered from the north and east by plantations, leaves little to be desired on this point. If the birds can have access to the plantations and a grass field, and the soil is such as we have described, then, so far as the ground and situation are concerned, nothing remains to be desired. The houses and yards must be constructed according to the purposes of the proprietor. Those who keep a cock and three or four hens merely for home supply will require a very simple building; but the proprietor who

CONVEYANCE OF A RANSOM.-The ransom of David Bruce was paid by instalments during several years, towards the close The instalments, usually 4,000 or of the reign of Edward III. 6,000 marks, were paid to the sheriff of Northumberland, who was to deliver it to the sheriff of Yorkshire, at the city of York. In the 48th Edward III, the sheriff of Northumberland received 4,000 marks at Berwick, which he conveyed to York, going himself with it, and having a guard of seventeen men-at-arms

and nineteen archers. He set out on June 23 or 24, and did not reach York till the 4th of July. Percyhay, then sheriff of Yorkshire, received it and sent it forward to London, under the charge of six esquires (armigeri) and eighteen mounted bowmen. They were ten days going and returning. This appears to have been in those days rapid travelling.-Rev. Joseph Hunter, F.S.A. ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL.-The visitor to St. Paul's Cathedral cannot fail to have observed over nearly every stall on each side of the choir a label painted blue, on which, inscribed in letters of gold, is a short Latin sentence. Over the Latin words stands the name of each prebendal stall. The prebendaries of St. Paul's were bound to say the Psalter daily amongst them, and these short Latin sentences give the first words of that section of the Psalter which fell to the lot of each particular prebendary. The Rev. W. Sparrow Simpson has transcribed from a manuscript of the fourteenth century, preserved among the archives of the cathedral, a list of the names of the thirty prebends, to which is prefixed, in each case, the words of the Psalter, still to be read over the stalls in the cathedral.

A WALKING BELLRINGER.-In Holyhead a singular custom prevails, which is noticed in old descriptions of the last century. The church being in a valley, from which the sound of the bell does not escape, a walking bellman summons the people to service. He has a bell suspended from round his neck, which he kicks with his knee as he parades the town.

A BISHOP'S WORK IN MINNESOTA.-The Right Rev. H. B. Whipple, Bishop of Minnesota, writing to a friend, gives the following account of a visit recently paid to one portion of his diocese :-"A few days ago I spent some time in the forest among the lumber camps. These lumber men are like your navvies, with more of the fortiter in re than suaviter in modo, very sons of Anak, and about as Canaanitish. I am afraid they would be called anywhere rough. Imagine me in a rude log camp with thirty of these fellows. Their life is full of hardships. All depends on knowing what to say and do. Of course, if wise, you know you can't have a full service. You tell them you have come as a friend to see them, and ask them to stand up and say with you the Lord's Prayer which their mothers taught them long ago and all rise. Is it not strange? One chokes, and another is moist about the eye; a few collects and a lesson from the Bible; a hymn-some familiar one, as 'Rock of Ages' or 'From Greenland's Icy Mountains.' You tell them, as the time is theirs, if any of them wish to smoke, you have no objection. The sermon is plain, loving, and the dear old story about our Father and the Friend of every one who needs a friend at the right hand of God. You have no idea how these great rongh fellows will hang on one's words as if I was sent a messenger of life-bringing pardon. They have been blessed services and may help some poor fellow on the way home." BATTLE. The peculiar interest of Battle (says the Rev. Joseph Hunter, F.S.A.), lies in many circumstances: the high authority of its history; the vast amount of manuscript relating to it; the vast extent of the building, and the magnificent appearance which it must have presented in many of the approaches to it; the large amount of ruin which still remains. But the very site inspires reverence when we remember that here was fought the last battle which Englishmen ever waged with an invading foe, and that here perished in a dreadful combat the last of an ancient line of sovereigns. But this kind of historic interest ends not here. We are presented with a heroking "slain in war," but we are presented also with a victor destined to be the first of a long line of princes, who from this event take the beginning of the sway they have so long held in England. It is related that the duke, as he reposed after the battle, dreamed that he heard a voice which said to him, "Thou hast conquered; seize upon the crown, and transmit it to a long posterity." It is now more than eight hundred years since the voice was heard, or seemed to be heard, and there is every prospect that the power then acquired by the Norman, modified as time goes on and men grow wiser, will descend in the same line for centuries yet to come. The noble gateway, and other portions of the abbey, remain. Hence we read with much surprise and some concern what Professor Lappenburg has written, knowing that his high historical reputation has caused what he says to be received throughout Europe as a true account:-"All these visible monuments of the battle of Semlac and the conquest of England are no more; crumbled and fallen are the once lofty halls of Battle Abbey, and by a few foundation-stones in the midst of a swamp are we alone able to determine the spot where it once reared its towers and pinnacles." How much there is that is mere rhetoric in this, those who now journey to the brave old place can testify.

ALL THE DIFFERENCE.-In the life of Dean Alford we read that the Lord Chancellor Cranworth offered him, in 1855, a lucrative living in Cornwall, which he declined, wishing to remain in or near London, with access to libraries and the society of scholars, for the prosecution of his Biblical studies. After having made up his mind not to accept the living, he went to call on Lord Cranworth to thank him. asked to see his lordship, the servant said his master was "When I engaged; then I said, 'I am not come to ask for anything, but to refuse something offered.' 'Oh, sir, then I am sure he will see you,' was the reply." An analogous incident occurred to a more public personage, Dr. Chalmers, who was one day waited upon by the Duke of Buccleugh, then a young man. Ushered duke introduced his subject at once, by saying that he had into the presence of Dr. Chalmers without announcement, the derstood him to be a candidate for a living, and in rather called about the presentation to a church. Dr. Chalmers unbrusque manner said that he was overwhelmed with applications on that matter. The name of his visitor, and the assurance that it was only to consult as to the best man for the appointment, brought about a change in the doctor's manner, which may be conceived by those who knew his keen sense of humour, his inbred veneration for aristocracy, and his genuine respect for the Duke of Buccleugh, already known to him by good repute.

TEA LEGEND.-In the "Kueng Fang Pu," a Chinese work on natural history, under "Ancient History of Tea," an absurd story is related of the discovery of the tree in the Tsin dynasty. "In the reign of Yuen Ty, in the dynasty of Tsin (A.D. 217), an old woman was accustomed to proceed every morning at daybreak to the market-place, carrying a cup of tea on the palm of her hand. The people bought it eagerly; and yet from the break of day to the close of evening the cup was never exhausted. The money received she distributed to the orphans of the needy beggars frequenting the highways. The people seized and con fined her in prison. At night she flew through the prison window with her little vase in her hand!

COPYRIGHT OF A SONG.-The copyright of the song, "The Lover and the Bird," by the late Signor Guglielmo, was lately sold by auction at Messrs. Puttick and Simpson's, and bought by Messrs. Ashdown and Parry for £716.

FEMALE GRADUATES.-The Senate of the University of Lone don have passed the following resolution by 17 votes to 10:"That the Senate is desirous to extend the scope of the educa tional advantages now offered to women, but it is not prepared to apply for a new charter to admit women to its degrees.'

SOCIAL SCIENCE CONGRESS.-The meeting this year is to take place in Glasgow, from the 30th of September to 7th of October. The Earl of Rosebery is president of the year, and the following arrangements have been made for the sections :-Lorl Moncrieff presides in the section of Jurisprudence and Law; Lord Napier and Ettrick, Education; Dr. Lyon Playfair, Health Sir George Campbell, Economy; Mr. Frederic Hill, Crime and

Prisons.

PERFORMING ANIMALS. -The "Leisure Hour" for July, 1874, contains some interesting accounts of what actions animals may be taught to perform. Perhaps your readers may like the following notices of actions by animals without training. In a book of memoranda of this parish, collected by my late father, the former rector, I find one respecting his horse :-"Every member of my family has seen my riding-horse, Walter, take the handle of the stable pump in his mouth, and pump water into the trough in a stream."

While living in Teesdale some years ago, I one day heard my pointer dog jump up at the thumb-latch of the larder door, three and a half feet from the ground; and going to see what he was about, I saw him eating a piece of pork which he had carried off from the apartment. He made use of his self-taught skill on another occasion to open the door of a friend's larder, and carry off a piece of beef weighing six pounds, a marrow-bone, and two tongues from a pickle jar.

A third performance I saw myself. I shut him into a friend's kennel where I was visiting, and he followed me into the house. I shut him in a second time, and again he followed me into the house. The kennel was enclosed by a high wall. The third time I shut him up I watched to see how he got out. The door opened inwardly. I saw the thumb-latch move, the door open about an inch, and I got sight of his fore-paws resting on the door-post. He hooked one foot round the door and pulled it open. It was evident he had taken the latch in his teeth and lifted it up.

Whitstone Rectory, Exeter.

W. B.