the big black bee gum in the back yard. He put his ear to a knothole. Not a sound. He tethered his mule, came back and tried to shake the short, hollow log. Not a sound or sign or movement of any kind. Then he kicked the big black gum with all his might. Nothing. Rushing to the woodpile, he caught up an axe and in a moment had the whole end of the big gum caved in, and to his infinite delight, out rolled the twins!

But they were merely the ghosts of themselves. They had been kept in a month or more too long, and were now so weak and so lean that they could hardly stand on their feet.

"Kill 'em and put 'em out o' misery," said Reese, for run from him they really could not, and he came forward and kicked one of them flat down on its face as it was trying hard to stand on its four feet.

The boy had grown some; besides, he was just from the war and was now strong and well. He rushed up in front of Reese, and he must have looked unfriendly, for Sil Reese tried to smile, and at the same time he turned hastily to go into the house. And when he got fairly turned around, the boy kicked him precisely where he had kicked the bear. And he kicked him hard, so hard that he pitched forward on his face just as the bear had done. He got up quickly, but he did not look back. He seemed to have something to do in the house.

In a month the babies, big babies now, were sleek

and fat. It is amazing how these creatures will eat after a short nap of a few months, like that. And their cunning tricks now! And their kindness to their master! Ah! their glossy black coats and their brilliant black eyes!

And now three men came. Italians from San Francisco.

Two of these men were

The third man was also

from that city, but he had an amazing big nose.

They took tremendous interest in the big black twins, and stayed all night and till late next day, seeing them perform.

Seventy-five dollars," said one big nose to the other big nose, back in a corner where they thought the boy did not hear.

“One hundred and fifty. You see, I'll have to give my friends fifty each. Yes, it's true I've took care of 'em all winter, but I ain't mean, and I'll only keep fifty of it."

The boy, bursting with indignation, ran to Mountain Joe with what he had heard. But poor Joe had been sober for a long time, and his eyes fairly danced in delight at the thought of having fifty dollars in his own hand and the right to spend it down at the post.

And so the two Italians muzzled the big, pretty pets and led them kindly down the trail toward the city, where they were to perform in the streets, the man with the big nose following after the twins on a big white mule.

And what became of the big black twin babies? They are still performing, seem content and happy, sometimes in a circus, sometimes in a garden, sometimes in the street. They are great favorites and have never done harm to any one.

And what became of Sil Reese? Well, as said before, he still lives, is very rich and very miserable. He met the boy-the boy that was on the street the other day and wanted to talk of old times. He told the boy he ought to write something about the old times and put him, Sil Reese, in it. He said, with that same old sounding nose and sickening smile, that he wanted the boy to be sure and put his name, Sil Reese, in it, so that he could show it to his friends. And the boy has done so.

The boy? You want to know what the boy is doing? Well, in about a second he will be signing his name to the bottom of this story about his twin babies.

-JOAQUIN MILLER.

pas'toral: country.-persist'ent: continuing steadfastly.-penʼsion: a stated amount of money paid to a person at stated times in return for some past service.—cauʼtion: care, watchfulness.—hi'bernate: to pass the winter in an inactive state.-bee gum: a hive for bees made in a hollow gum tree.-took, ain't: what should Sil Reese have said?

BELSHAZZAR

Belshazzar is king! Belshazzar is lord!

And a thousand dark nobles all bend at his board: Fruits glisten, flowers blossom, meats steam, and a flood

Of the wine that man loveth, runs redder than blood; Wild dancers are there, and a riot of mirth,

And the beauty that maddens the passions of earth; And the crowds all shout,

Till the vast roofs ring,—

"All praise to Belshazzar, Belshazzar the king!"

"Bring forth," cries the monarch, "the vessels of gold, Which my father tore down from the temples of old;— Bring forth, and we'll drink, while the trumpets are blown,

To the gods of bright silver, of gold, and of stone; Bring forth!" and before him the vessels all shine, And he bows unto Baal, and drinks the dark wine; Whilst the trumpets bray,

And the cymbals ring,—

"Praise, praise to Belshazzar, Belshazzar the king!"

Now what cometh-look, look!-without menace, or call?

Who writes, with the lightning's bright hand, on the

wall?

What pierceth the king like the point of a dart?
What drives the bold blood from his cheek to his heart?
"Chaldeans! Magicians! the letters expound!"
They are read—and Belshazzar is dead on the ground!
Hark! the Persian is come

On a conqueror's wing;

And a Mede's on the throne of Belshazzar the king.

-BARRY CORNWALL.

ri'ot: tumult.-Baal (bā' ŭl): supreme god of the Canaanites.-men'ace: a threat.-Chaldeans (kål-dē' ans): people who lived south of Babylon.-expound: explain.-Persian: the Persians of olden times were one of the tribes of the Medes or people who lived in Media.

THE CAVE MEN AND THEIR WEAPONS

If you should cross the broad ocean that lies toward the rising sun, you would come to a beautiful country called France. Here grow the olive, the orange, and the grape; and also the mulberry, on which the silk worm feeds. But it is not with these that we have to do to-day, but with some strange old things that once lay buried far below the soil in which they grow.

About seventy years ago, a man in that country who sold sand and gravel found that his own gravel pits were worked out. He went to the banks of a nearby river-the river Somme and found a good