archaic coloring, and made her pleasant to look at-only you grew tired of her sometimes. Even the prettiness of a Dresden China shepherdess grows monotonous. Now that bright young journalist, who came down for just a couple of weeks' rest out of his busy year, was never the same two hours in succession. One minute he was talking with the quiet old gentleman with the spectacles, on the piazza. You never knew just what they were discussing; but you were sure that it was a congenial topic to the old Professor; you mentally decided that it was the latest theories on Metabolism, or the learned Dr. Knowital's recently published hypothesis of "The Possibility of the Existence of Animal Life in the Upper Crust of the Crater of Vesuvius;" for the old gentleman's eyes sparkled, and he seemed to forget all his shyness. A little later, our journalist was talking the airiest of nothings to the Dresden China shepherdess, as she swung lazily in the hammock; and next, he was comforting the ubiquitous small boy, who, in this particular instance, was gazing weepfully heavenward, after an escaped balloon, dipping gracefully from side to side, as it rose in a sort of malicious glee; or, perhaps, talking New York stocks to the fat man, with the conspicuous bosom-pin and rings; and maybe, next, reading Browning, in that rich, full voice of his, to the little lady in gray.—Oh, yes!—the little lady in gray, with the pretty, brown hair, combed softly back from her low, white forehead, and fastened in a great coil behind. Her clinging, gray gown, with its dainty frill of rare old lace at throat. and wrists, made such a quiet, ladylike rustle as she moved. Why did she always wear gray, I wonder? Her great, mournful eyes, which, in certain lights, seemed just the shade of her gowns, and her soft, southern accent, harmonized very prettily with the embryo novel you had fashioned of a rich Virginia plantation, before the war-a gallant, youthful lover-a call to fight for principle and mistaken right-a nameless grave at bloody Gettysburg-a ruined home-and-a quiet little lady in gray. There was a certain half-timid reserve about her that contrasted strongly with the well-bred, but unmistakable self-reliance of the New York girl next to her at table,-the one with the trim, stylish, Redfern costumes, and the evening gowns from Paris, and the diamonds, and the devoted Yale man, and the aristocratic, white-haired chaperone, who was proud of her old Dutch ancestors, and ignored the bright little schoolma'am from Boston, who hadn't any old Dutch ancestors-But how damp it is growing-the last waltz is over and the moon is in midheaven. Ah, me! these "summer people "-how they come into our lives, and then go out again; some leaving no more lasting impression than the tiny waves on the sand; and others, pleasant, helpful, and perhaps inspiring memories—and to-morrow we leave them all. - Editors' Table. How many of us, as we stand now on the eve of one of the most important crises in the history of these United States of ours, can claim even a fair knowledge of the few great questions at issue? And yet, as citizens and as seekers after a liberal education, have we a right to be wholly ignorant in regard to this? The campaign thus far has been unusually quiet all over the country, and there has been comparatively little of what is known in political parlance as "mud slinging" but this very surface tranquillity is significant, and suggests powerful undercurrents which indicate that the coming election is one of more than ordinary importance, and should, therefore, be of more than ordinary interest to every well-informed mind. We do not mean to intimate that, in order to be wellinformed, we must be able to grasp the Mills Bill, for instance, in all its details, and be ready, at a moment's notice, to defend or refute its provisions; neither that we should be able to discuss, in all its phases, the benefits of Free Trade, or to set forth in convincing form all the arguments for Protective Tariff. We do not mean any such exhaustive study as this; but we do mean that every one of us should have such knowledge of what these terms mean as will enable her to form a fair, honest opinion of her own, and not be forced lamely back, for lack of argument, to the fact that "Father has voted the straight Republican ticket all his life," or that "Our family are all the most uncompromising Free Traders." Is it not just possible, my friend, that "father" may be a trifle blinded by his admiration for and long loyalty to the "grand old party?" And then, too, a little independent study might convince you that an un compromisingly Free Trade administration might be a mistake, after all, you know. Again, is it quite fair for you to denounce the whole scheme of Prohibition just because you heard some one say that the party advocating its doctrines was only a split from the Republican party, and bent on destroying the latter? Might not a glance at the platform, and a little study of the history of the party, show you that it is not all bad? Read, and listen, and think for yourself, and see what your own honest, individual opinions are. Of the many ways of gaining such information as we suggest, few are more valuable to those who can give but a limited time to the study than our illustrated papers. Often, from a brief study of the clever cartoons they offer, one can catch, underneath the amusing caricatures, a clear glimpse of the spirit of the times, which a little supplementary reading will convert into a comprehensive knowledge of the political situation. Our more conservative weekly and monthly publications, too, through short articles, open letters, and editorials, offer valuable résumés. In short, be wide awake, well-informed, and liberal-minded women, instead of mere unthinking automatons, to echo the opinions of some one else. Keep abreast of the times, in the highest sense of the term. And again we say, read, listen, and think for yourselves. During these first days of college, we find, almost continually, just at the right of the lecture room door, a group of students bending anxiously forward to get a view of what seems to be an object of all-absorbing interest. The uninitiated is at a loss to know what this object of study may be. Forcing her way to the front, she finds that it is nothing less than the students' bulletin, a quotation of stocks, so to speak, in the students' exchange. As she finds the market high or low, the would-be purchaser assumes an expression of hopelessness or of satis faction. In the former case she walks despondently away, in the latter she exclaims rapturously, "Ah, there it is, just what I want!"-and forthwith jots down the number of the room where her desire is to be satisfied, and starts in search thereof. It is well that this public benefactor is not critical or it would often be shocked by such notices as the following: "For Sale in Room,—Le lange Français,"-a book, we are glad to know, used only by beginners. A creature of rare intelligence is the students' bulletin. It offers information in regard to almost any article of college equipment, from curtain poles to Cicero De Oratore. Innumerable are the purchases which this agency of exchange has concluded. Year after year it has transferred Senioric property, no longer deemed worthy to be used by its elect owners, into the hands of less pretending Freshmen. Many a piece of furniture of originally strong constitution has passed from one to another so many times that it has grown old and finally died in this. hereditary service. In most of these property transfers our old friend has been active, and we all have cause to bless the students' bulletin. Encouragement is one of the greatest blessings of the world. To the weary it is rest; to the faint, refreshment; to the strong, added strength; to all, energy and inspiration and new life. Why do we not give it more freely to others? Though so helpful to the recipient it costs the giver but little; sometimes it can be conveyed in few words or even in a passing glance or smile. If a friend has done something well, why not say so? It may do good, and certainly can do no harm; for commendation, if deserved, is not flattery, and probably will not be followed by undue selfcongratulation. Many are severely careful not to foster |