THE RULING PASSION.

THE RULING PASSION.CHAPTER II.Thenext morning was clear and bright. It was one of those mornings that sometimes come in February to tell even Londoners that spring has really started on her journey northward, and that she may be expected to arrive some time soon.The sun shone, a fresh, but not cold, wind blew from the south-west, hurrying the soft golden clouds across the sky, and the sparrows had actually begun their spring quarrels.The Professor, contrary to his usual habit, took no notice of these nice things. He felt very old and weary as he set off on his journey to the city with the same undefined feeling of misfortune that had haunted him all night.He went straight to the stockbroker's office, expecting simply to have to sign a paper or two, receive his quarterly cheque for £6 5s., cash it at the bank, and then go quietly home again. He was surprised when the clerk asked him to sit down.“I think Mr. Surtees wants to see you, Mr. Crowitzski,” he said, more politely than usual. “He will be disengaged in a few minutes, if you don't mind waiting. Oh, he's ready now”—as an electric bell rang three times.The old man followed the clerk upstairs to the first floor, where they paused outside a door marked “Private.” The clerk knocked softly.“Come in,” said a voice, and the clerk ushered the Professor into his master's presence.“Good morning, Professor Crowitzski!” said the stockbroker cheerily. “Come and sit down by the fire. You look cold. It's a fresh morning, though the wind is sou'-west!”He drew a leather-covered arm-chair forward as he spoke, gently pushed the Professor into it, and stationed himself on the hearthrug with his back to the fire and his hands behind his back.He was a fresh-faced, kindly-looking man of middle age, with humorous grey eyes, and gold spectacles, which gave him a benevolent expression. He had undertaken the management of the poor Professor's small investment for many years out of pure kindness of heart after hearing his tragic history from a common friend, since dead; but he had a task this morning that he did not relish.“Have you seen to-day's paper?” he began, looking keenly at his client.“No,” said the Professor. “I do not often see the paper. Is there any special news?”“Well—er—yes, I think so. News of some importance to a good many people, I'm afraid.”The old man looked up in a mildly inquiring way, and the stockbroker continued—“Fact is, those beastly South Americans are kicking up a row amongst themselves again—quarrelsome beggars! They can't keep themselves quiet for long! And the worst of it is, they disturb us peaceful citizens here who only wish to lend them money to get on with!”A faint expression of interest began to dawn in the Professor's face.“I suppose,” he said, “you mean that the money market is influenced by this kind of thing. Does it make any difference to my little income?”Mr. Surtees turned round and poked the fire vigorously—an unnecessary proceeding; but the sight of that mild old face, and the knowledge of what he had to say, made it imperative that he should relieve his feelings somehow.“It's hard on the poor old chap,” he muttered to himself. “But it can't be helped!”He straightened himself, looked at his client, then out of the window, then into the fire.“Well, Professor,” he said slowly, “I am very sorry to say that all South American stocks and securities are very low in the market just now—in short, some of them have gone altogether. Clean gone!”Professor Crowitzski sat upright in his chair. A mist seemed to float before his eyes; his heart began to beat as if it would choke him. He felt as if the room were spinning round, and he grasped the arms of the chair tightly to try to steady himself. When, after a few moments, he spoke, his voice sounded faint and far away.“And—and—my—money?” he gasped, with pauses between each word.John Surtees looked down into the fire and gave his head a little shake.“Is it all gone?” said the old man in a kind of breathless voice.There was silence for a few moments, broken only by the ticking of the clock on the mantelpiece and the cries of the paper boys in the street. Then the stockbroker turned round.“I am exceedingly sorry to have to tell you,” he said, speaking rather hurriedly. “It is all gone, and there is no help for it. No one—nothing could have saved it; the panic was too sudden and too violent. If I could have done anything, I would; but it was hopeless. It is hard—very hard—not only on you, but on lots of other people too. Not that that's much consolation to you!”The Professor sat perfectly still, as if turned to stone, gazing straight into the fire, but seeing nothing. He was so still and silent that Mr. Surtees began to feel alarmed as to the possible results of the shock. He moved a step forward and gently laid his hand on the old man's shoulder.“Look here, Professor,” he said kindly, “don't take it so much to heart; your friends will be sure to look after you. If I can be of any service to you in the way of a little loan for present use—no hurry as to repayment, you know, just as between friends—I shall be most happy, most happy.”The poor Professor drew a long breath and looked up into his face with a vacant, unseeing expression in his eyes as of one struck blind.“Friends!” he said slowly and brokenly. “My friends are long dead. I have no one left.”He attempted to rise, but the stockbroker pressed him down again.“Don't hurry away,” he said. “Stop here and rest a bit. You won't be in my way. I'm going to give you a small brandy and soda—capital thing for you just now.”He went across the room to get it out of a cupboard near the window and was taking the stopper out of the little brandy decanter when the sound of the Professor's voice arrested him. He had risen from the big arm-chair and stood in the middle of the room, leaning heavily on his stick.“I cannot take it,” he said, more firmly than he had yet spoken. “I cannot take it! It is years since I tasted wine or spirits, and my head is not clear enough. I must go home to rest and think—if I can.”He moved towards the door, and the stockbroker saw it was useless to try to detain him. However, he made one more little effort.“You'll let me advance you five pounds for the present, at any rate,” he said, “just as a matter of convenience, you know, till we can think what can be done for you.”The old man shook his head.“I thank you for your kindly thought,” he said; “but I do not at present see how I am to raise money to repay you. I have always kept out of debt, and I am too old to work.”“Oh, never mind, never mind! Don't trouble yourself about that,” began the other, but a look of such determination came back to the old man's face that he thought it unwise to press the matter further, and continued, “Well, we'll speak of that some other time. You'll always find me here and glad to see you. Can you manage to get home all right? Shall one of my clerks go with you?”But the Professor strenuously refused all offers of help, so Mr. Surtees had to be contented with seeing his aged client downstairs himself. And he stood for a moment watching his feeble progress down the narrow court that led into busy Broad Street.“Poor old chap!” he said to himself. “No wonder he is hard hit if that was his whole living. I wonder why he always would keep it in those South American stocks?” And he returned to his own room, feeling dissatisfied with everything in general and the money market in particular.Professor Crowitzski got back to his little room in Green Street rather before one. He sat down in his old chair near the fireplace, leaned back, and closed his eyes with a sense of weariness and despair that made him half wish the end might come then and there. He was utterly crushed by the weight of his misfortune, and he felt quite unable to think of any means by which he might be able to live out the small remnant of his life outside the workhouse.He had not taken off his old Inverness cloak, and as he put his hands into the deep pockets to try to get them a little warm he felt a folded sheet of paper. He drew it out mechanically and looked at it absently; it was the programme for the next Monday's concert.Instantly his whole mental attitude changed. Music, the ruling passion and great love of his whole life, asserted itself once more. Cold, hunger, the need of money, the workhouse, and starvation, all faded from his mind, and he was in the world of glorious sound.What a fine programme! Quartett, Beethoven in E minor, Op. 59. Ah, what a beauty that was, with the glorious Adagio that no one could play like Joachim. Ballade in F, Chopin: he glanced at his piano and smiled. Who had ever written for the piano as an instrument like Chopin? Songs by Schubert, divinest of song writers, and—last and best, the Clarinet Quintett of Brahms. That would be a feast. His eyes shone as he went to his pile of music and fished out a little well-worn volume of Beethoven's Quartetts and a book of Schubert's songs. Then he went back to his chair to enjoy himself for the afternoon, quite oblivious of the fact that he had had no dinner. But the strain of themorning had been too great, combined with the want of proper food: the sight and mental sound of the music soothed him, though he could not long respond to its stimulus. Little by little his head drooped, and he sank into a gentle sleep.When he woke it was dusk and he bethought himself of some tea. The old music spell was still on him, but he remembered with a shiver the events of the morning. He realised that he must see how much money he really possessed, and calculate how long it would last; but he made up his mind, should it be much or little, one shilling of it must be saved for that concert.He found he had ten shillings and a few coppers, five shillings being due to his landlady for rent and sundries, and with the rest he would have to live till Monday. He remembered that he should see Herbert Maxwell then or on Tuesday, and he might be able to help him to something.On the Monday he was at St. James's Hall at seven o'clock, but it took him much longer than usual to climb the gallery stairs. He had to stop to get his breath several times on the way up, and when he reached his seat he could only sink down into it, close his eyes and remain in a state of half stupor till the music began. He had not even the energy to look round for Herbert, who, however, did not come.The first notes of the Quartett roused him to his general state of keen, nervous, interest; indeed it seemed to him that his musical perceptions were more sensitive than usual, and he felt as if he were some fine instrument that was being played on, that throbbed and vibrated in response to every chord sounded by the players on the platform.The performance of the Brahms Quintett was a magnificent one, led by that great German clarinet player Mühlfeld, who comes to England too seldom; and at its close the players received an ovation in which the Professor joined with all his old fire and energy: he felt quite strong and himself again.It was not until he got out of his omnibus that he realised his weakness. It was a bitter night, with a strong north-east wind blowing, bringing with it blinding showers of sleet and hail, though the moon shone brightly between the storms. A furious gust almost blew the frail old man off his feet as he alighted, and the icy air made him gasp painfully for breath, and pierced through his worn clothing to his bones as he crawled slowly to the door of No. 9.He dragged himself wearily up to his room; his body felt numbed and sluggish, but his brain was still vibrating with the music he had just heard. He threw his hat and stick on the bed and sank down into the little chair beside it: he must rest a little before undressing; no need to light the lamp, the moon would break through directly—she always shone into his room.Ah, that Brahms Quintett! What a heavenly thing it was. He could hear it still; how haunting the Adagio with its mournful, pleading melody, and then that wild fantasia for the clarinet—why—surely they are playing it in the room beneath. Yes, there can be no mistaking the tone of the clarinet, no one but Mühlfeld can play like that. Louder and louder grows the passionate strain, like some agonised cry, with the dull wailing of the muted strings beneath it. The sound fills the whole house—louder and still louder.“Yes, sir, the Perfesser is at 'ome, sir, though I don't rightly know if 'e's got up yet,” said a plump, kindly-faced woman in answer to Herbert Maxwell's question the next morning. “My daughter took 'is milk up at nine o'clock and he wasn't movin' then. Will you walk up, sir? Top floor on the right 'and.”Herbert went gaily upstairs. He felt in exuberant spirits. Things had gone well with him beyond his wildest dreams. His career was pretty well assured. The great singing master had undertaken to make himself responsible for his Academy fees, to find him means of earning money during his years of study and to help him in every possible way. Professor Crowitzski's five pounds had not been needed, and Herbert had it with him to return to the old man.He knocked softly at the door without receiving any answer, so he knocked again a little louder, and yet again; but all was still.“He must sleep soundly,” thought Herbert, “or——”A sudden cold fear shot through him, and he opened the door and looked in.The Professor was dressed in his ordinary clothes and Inverness, and sitting on the low wooden chair at the head of his bed, which had not been slept in. His right arm was flung across the pillow, his head rested on his arm, his left hand lay on his knee.At the first glance Herbert thought he was asleep, but the stillness of the figure and the marble whiteness of the face filled him with an awful dread. He went swiftly across the room and gently touched his old friend's hand, only to find the dread was a reality: he was too late.[THE END.]

Thenext morning was clear and bright. It was one of those mornings that sometimes come in February to tell even Londoners that spring has really started on her journey northward, and that she may be expected to arrive some time soon.

The sun shone, a fresh, but not cold, wind blew from the south-west, hurrying the soft golden clouds across the sky, and the sparrows had actually begun their spring quarrels.

The Professor, contrary to his usual habit, took no notice of these nice things. He felt very old and weary as he set off on his journey to the city with the same undefined feeling of misfortune that had haunted him all night.

He went straight to the stockbroker's office, expecting simply to have to sign a paper or two, receive his quarterly cheque for £6 5s., cash it at the bank, and then go quietly home again. He was surprised when the clerk asked him to sit down.

“I think Mr. Surtees wants to see you, Mr. Crowitzski,” he said, more politely than usual. “He will be disengaged in a few minutes, if you don't mind waiting. Oh, he's ready now”—as an electric bell rang three times.

The old man followed the clerk upstairs to the first floor, where they paused outside a door marked “Private.” The clerk knocked softly.

“Come in,” said a voice, and the clerk ushered the Professor into his master's presence.

“Good morning, Professor Crowitzski!” said the stockbroker cheerily. “Come and sit down by the fire. You look cold. It's a fresh morning, though the wind is sou'-west!”

He drew a leather-covered arm-chair forward as he spoke, gently pushed the Professor into it, and stationed himself on the hearthrug with his back to the fire and his hands behind his back.

He was a fresh-faced, kindly-looking man of middle age, with humorous grey eyes, and gold spectacles, which gave him a benevolent expression. He had undertaken the management of the poor Professor's small investment for many years out of pure kindness of heart after hearing his tragic history from a common friend, since dead; but he had a task this morning that he did not relish.

“Have you seen to-day's paper?” he began, looking keenly at his client.

“No,” said the Professor. “I do not often see the paper. Is there any special news?”

“Well—er—yes, I think so. News of some importance to a good many people, I'm afraid.”

The old man looked up in a mildly inquiring way, and the stockbroker continued—

“Fact is, those beastly South Americans are kicking up a row amongst themselves again—quarrelsome beggars! They can't keep themselves quiet for long! And the worst of it is, they disturb us peaceful citizens here who only wish to lend them money to get on with!”

A faint expression of interest began to dawn in the Professor's face.

“I suppose,” he said, “you mean that the money market is influenced by this kind of thing. Does it make any difference to my little income?”

Mr. Surtees turned round and poked the fire vigorously—an unnecessary proceeding; but the sight of that mild old face, and the knowledge of what he had to say, made it imperative that he should relieve his feelings somehow.

“It's hard on the poor old chap,” he muttered to himself. “But it can't be helped!”

He straightened himself, looked at his client, then out of the window, then into the fire.

“Well, Professor,” he said slowly, “I am very sorry to say that all South American stocks and securities are very low in the market just now—in short, some of them have gone altogether. Clean gone!”

Professor Crowitzski sat upright in his chair. A mist seemed to float before his eyes; his heart began to beat as if it would choke him. He felt as if the room were spinning round, and he grasped the arms of the chair tightly to try to steady himself. When, after a few moments, he spoke, his voice sounded faint and far away.

“And—and—my—money?” he gasped, with pauses between each word.

John Surtees looked down into the fire and gave his head a little shake.

“Is it all gone?” said the old man in a kind of breathless voice.

There was silence for a few moments, broken only by the ticking of the clock on the mantelpiece and the cries of the paper boys in the street. Then the stockbroker turned round.

“I am exceedingly sorry to have to tell you,” he said, speaking rather hurriedly. “It is all gone, and there is no help for it. No one—nothing could have saved it; the panic was too sudden and too violent. If I could have done anything, I would; but it was hopeless. It is hard—very hard—not only on you, but on lots of other people too. Not that that's much consolation to you!”

The Professor sat perfectly still, as if turned to stone, gazing straight into the fire, but seeing nothing. He was so still and silent that Mr. Surtees began to feel alarmed as to the possible results of the shock. He moved a step forward and gently laid his hand on the old man's shoulder.

“Look here, Professor,” he said kindly, “don't take it so much to heart; your friends will be sure to look after you. If I can be of any service to you in the way of a little loan for present use—no hurry as to repayment, you know, just as between friends—I shall be most happy, most happy.”

The poor Professor drew a long breath and looked up into his face with a vacant, unseeing expression in his eyes as of one struck blind.

“Friends!” he said slowly and brokenly. “My friends are long dead. I have no one left.”

He attempted to rise, but the stockbroker pressed him down again.

“Don't hurry away,” he said. “Stop here and rest a bit. You won't be in my way. I'm going to give you a small brandy and soda—capital thing for you just now.”

He went across the room to get it out of a cupboard near the window and was taking the stopper out of the little brandy decanter when the sound of the Professor's voice arrested him. He had risen from the big arm-chair and stood in the middle of the room, leaning heavily on his stick.

“I cannot take it,” he said, more firmly than he had yet spoken. “I cannot take it! It is years since I tasted wine or spirits, and my head is not clear enough. I must go home to rest and think—if I can.”

He moved towards the door, and the stockbroker saw it was useless to try to detain him. However, he made one more little effort.

“You'll let me advance you five pounds for the present, at any rate,” he said, “just as a matter of convenience, you know, till we can think what can be done for you.”

The old man shook his head.

“I thank you for your kindly thought,” he said; “but I do not at present see how I am to raise money to repay you. I have always kept out of debt, and I am too old to work.”

“Oh, never mind, never mind! Don't trouble yourself about that,” began the other, but a look of such determination came back to the old man's face that he thought it unwise to press the matter further, and continued, “Well, we'll speak of that some other time. You'll always find me here and glad to see you. Can you manage to get home all right? Shall one of my clerks go with you?”

But the Professor strenuously refused all offers of help, so Mr. Surtees had to be contented with seeing his aged client downstairs himself. And he stood for a moment watching his feeble progress down the narrow court that led into busy Broad Street.

“Poor old chap!” he said to himself. “No wonder he is hard hit if that was his whole living. I wonder why he always would keep it in those South American stocks?” And he returned to his own room, feeling dissatisfied with everything in general and the money market in particular.

Professor Crowitzski got back to his little room in Green Street rather before one. He sat down in his old chair near the fireplace, leaned back, and closed his eyes with a sense of weariness and despair that made him half wish the end might come then and there. He was utterly crushed by the weight of his misfortune, and he felt quite unable to think of any means by which he might be able to live out the small remnant of his life outside the workhouse.

He had not taken off his old Inverness cloak, and as he put his hands into the deep pockets to try to get them a little warm he felt a folded sheet of paper. He drew it out mechanically and looked at it absently; it was the programme for the next Monday's concert.

Instantly his whole mental attitude changed. Music, the ruling passion and great love of his whole life, asserted itself once more. Cold, hunger, the need of money, the workhouse, and starvation, all faded from his mind, and he was in the world of glorious sound.

What a fine programme! Quartett, Beethoven in E minor, Op. 59. Ah, what a beauty that was, with the glorious Adagio that no one could play like Joachim. Ballade in F, Chopin: he glanced at his piano and smiled. Who had ever written for the piano as an instrument like Chopin? Songs by Schubert, divinest of song writers, and—last and best, the Clarinet Quintett of Brahms. That would be a feast. His eyes shone as he went to his pile of music and fished out a little well-worn volume of Beethoven's Quartetts and a book of Schubert's songs. Then he went back to his chair to enjoy himself for the afternoon, quite oblivious of the fact that he had had no dinner. But the strain of themorning had been too great, combined with the want of proper food: the sight and mental sound of the music soothed him, though he could not long respond to its stimulus. Little by little his head drooped, and he sank into a gentle sleep.

When he woke it was dusk and he bethought himself of some tea. The old music spell was still on him, but he remembered with a shiver the events of the morning. He realised that he must see how much money he really possessed, and calculate how long it would last; but he made up his mind, should it be much or little, one shilling of it must be saved for that concert.

He found he had ten shillings and a few coppers, five shillings being due to his landlady for rent and sundries, and with the rest he would have to live till Monday. He remembered that he should see Herbert Maxwell then or on Tuesday, and he might be able to help him to something.

On the Monday he was at St. James's Hall at seven o'clock, but it took him much longer than usual to climb the gallery stairs. He had to stop to get his breath several times on the way up, and when he reached his seat he could only sink down into it, close his eyes and remain in a state of half stupor till the music began. He had not even the energy to look round for Herbert, who, however, did not come.

The first notes of the Quartett roused him to his general state of keen, nervous, interest; indeed it seemed to him that his musical perceptions were more sensitive than usual, and he felt as if he were some fine instrument that was being played on, that throbbed and vibrated in response to every chord sounded by the players on the platform.

The performance of the Brahms Quintett was a magnificent one, led by that great German clarinet player Mühlfeld, who comes to England too seldom; and at its close the players received an ovation in which the Professor joined with all his old fire and energy: he felt quite strong and himself again.

It was not until he got out of his omnibus that he realised his weakness. It was a bitter night, with a strong north-east wind blowing, bringing with it blinding showers of sleet and hail, though the moon shone brightly between the storms. A furious gust almost blew the frail old man off his feet as he alighted, and the icy air made him gasp painfully for breath, and pierced through his worn clothing to his bones as he crawled slowly to the door of No. 9.

He dragged himself wearily up to his room; his body felt numbed and sluggish, but his brain was still vibrating with the music he had just heard. He threw his hat and stick on the bed and sank down into the little chair beside it: he must rest a little before undressing; no need to light the lamp, the moon would break through directly—she always shone into his room.

Ah, that Brahms Quintett! What a heavenly thing it was. He could hear it still; how haunting the Adagio with its mournful, pleading melody, and then that wild fantasia for the clarinet—why—surely they are playing it in the room beneath. Yes, there can be no mistaking the tone of the clarinet, no one but Mühlfeld can play like that. Louder and louder grows the passionate strain, like some agonised cry, with the dull wailing of the muted strings beneath it. The sound fills the whole house—louder and still louder.

“Yes, sir, the Perfesser is at 'ome, sir, though I don't rightly know if 'e's got up yet,” said a plump, kindly-faced woman in answer to Herbert Maxwell's question the next morning. “My daughter took 'is milk up at nine o'clock and he wasn't movin' then. Will you walk up, sir? Top floor on the right 'and.”

Herbert went gaily upstairs. He felt in exuberant spirits. Things had gone well with him beyond his wildest dreams. His career was pretty well assured. The great singing master had undertaken to make himself responsible for his Academy fees, to find him means of earning money during his years of study and to help him in every possible way. Professor Crowitzski's five pounds had not been needed, and Herbert had it with him to return to the old man.

He knocked softly at the door without receiving any answer, so he knocked again a little louder, and yet again; but all was still.

“He must sleep soundly,” thought Herbert, “or——”

A sudden cold fear shot through him, and he opened the door and looked in.

The Professor was dressed in his ordinary clothes and Inverness, and sitting on the low wooden chair at the head of his bed, which had not been slept in. His right arm was flung across the pillow, his head rested on his arm, his left hand lay on his knee.

At the first glance Herbert thought he was asleep, but the stillness of the figure and the marble whiteness of the face filled him with an awful dread. He went swiftly across the room and gently touched his old friend's hand, only to find the dread was a reality: he was too late.

[THE END.]

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.RULES.I. No charge is made for answering questions.II. All correspondents to give initials or pseudonym.III. The Editor reserves the right of declining to reply to any of the questions.IV. No direct answers can be sent by the Editor through the post.V. No more than two questions may be asked in one letter, which must be addressed to the Editor ofThe Girl's Own Paper, 56, Paternoster Row, London, E.C.VI. No addresses of firms, tradesmen, or any other matter of the nature of an advertisement, will be inserted.MEDICAL.Eileen.—Your troubles maybe due to any number of causes. The great number of symptoms having but little connection with each other, which you describe, strongly suggest that a large part, if not the whole, of your trouble is due to nervousness. There is a disease which, from the number and complexity of its symptoms, is called the protean disease, or, in common parlance, hysteria. This affection varies from the slightest forms of nervousness to absolute mental and physical perversion. It is in the slighter grades of this affection that you will find your own malady. Whether there is anything else besides this the matter with you is impossible for us to tell. It has been our experience that cocoa is quite as indigestible as tea or coffee, though it produces a form of indigestion differing considerably from that produced by tea. Drink nothing but warm milk, and take a liberal diet of easily-digestible food.Priscilla.—Trichinosis is a very rare disease produced by eating underdone pork. One of the tapeworms (Tænia solium) is far more commonly obtained from the same cause. Both diseases are uncommon in England, for the English eat little pork, and always cook it well first. There is no danger of either disease from eating well-done pork. Where pork is eaten raw—as it is in some hams and sausages—the danger of tapeworms and trichinosis is very considerable; but it must always be remembered that sound meat cannot produce either disease.Indigestion.—You are on the right track to treat indigestion, but you have made one or two errors. You should not drink “plenty of water.” The less water you drink the sooner you will be well again. You must not take anything to digest your meals for you. Of course you are referring to pepsin, etc. These may be taken by dyspeptics only when they are incurable or gradually starving to death. Dyspeptics are rendered worse by their use in the long run. You must relieve your constipation. A teaspoonful of liquorice powder will do this very well. Six miles daily is quite sufficient exercise.Anxious.—If you suffer from flatulence you must attend very carefully to your digestion and guard against constipation. The pain of wind may often be relieved by taking half a teaspoonful of spirit of ginger or compound tincture of cardamom in a little water.In Need of Advice.—Nothing save the surgeon's knife will remove moles from the face without great danger. The operation for removing moles is practically free from danger; but it is not always advisable. The best way to remove the hair which grows upon moles is to shave it off or bleach it with peroxide of hydrogen. Electrolysis is sometimes used to destroy hairs on moles, but it is infinitely inferior to, and more dangerous than, excision of the whole mole. Moles very rarely grow quickly; indeed, usually they grow less rapidly than does their bearer. If you have a mole which suddenly begins to grow rapidly, go to a surgeon at once, for in all probability it has altered its character and become a serious disease.Brunette.—Dandruff and falling hair are usually present together, for the former is one of the commonest causes of the latter. Wash your head once a week in warm water and borax (one teaspoonful of borax to a pint of water). Wash the scalp particularly well, and thoroughly dry both the scalp and the hair afterwards. When the hair is quite dry, rub a very little sulphur ointment into the scalp. It is no good applying this to the hair itself. It is the scalp and hair-roots which need the ointment. Use a hair-wash of cantharides and rosemary.Iris.—1. If you use peroxide of hydrogen to bleach your hands, do not put it in the water you wash in. Get from your chemist “hydrogen peroxide 10 vols.” Dilute this with three parts of water, and dip your hands in the solution once a day. This can do you no harm. Whether it will do what you want it to do is another question. Sometimes it serves its purpose; usually it fails.—2. Orris-root is the root of the iris, and not of the violet as is so commonly thought.M. O.—You suffer from the double complaint of indigestion and feeble circulation. You must be very careful what you eat, avoid excess of starchy foods, sugar, alcohol, tea, coffee, and cocoa. But take a good nourishing diet. The pills will do you good; but you must be very careful to guard against constipation. Take a fair amount of exercise. Take a small dose of bicarbonate of soda when you are troubled with fulness after meals.An Old Reader.—We think it quite improbable that your brother will derive any benefit from smoking. In fact, we think that it will simply make him worse.Emily.—It is very difficult for us to advise you what to do, for the information that you give us is too scanty to enable us to form a just idea of your condition. You should have told us your age, and occupation, and habits of life, for it is necessary to know these before treating any complaint. The stiffness in your arms may be due to rheumatism or it may not. You might try gentle massage and friction with camphor or soap liniment over the joints of your arms. For your other troubles we cannot help you without information as to what they are and how they originated.Gladys.—The chief causes of somnolence are overwork, insufficient sleep, underfeeding, overfeeding, indigestion, anæmia and other forms of physical weakness; and lastly hysteria and nervous exhaustion. From which of these are you suffering? Seven and a half hours' sleep daily is sufficient; but, if you could, we advise you to give yourself another hour. Do you eat properly? Do you eat sufficient, or do you eat inordinately? Do you have indigestion or fulness after meals? All these make you feel sleepy. Are you in any way unwell? Do you feel the cold severely, or have any symptom which would suggest that your circulation was not what it should be? Are you at all nervous, or do you belong to a nervous family? This last more commonly causes wakefulness than sleepiness. Lastly, are you worse in the morning or the evening? If you are all right in the morning, but tire and get sleepy as the day wears on, then we must look for a physical cause of your trouble. If you are worse in the morning than you are later in the day, then the cause is probably nervous. To cure yourself of your trouble you must find out and remove the cause. Take an extra hour's sleep if you can manage it. Look carefully to your digestion; many forms of dyspepsia give rise to scarcely any symptoms except sleepiness.Alice.—Read the advice we gave to “Anxious.” You must be very careful about your digestion, and take the minimum amount of fluid that you can. Let your diet be as solid but as digestible as possible.Sufferer.—You had far better see a physician, for you may be seriously ill, and it is quite beyond our power to help you. As regards hot-bottles, they should never be filled with boiling water, and should always be provided with jackets or wrapped in flannel. You are not the only person whose legs have been burnt through ignorance of the proper use of hot-bottles.STUDY AND STUDIO.Country Lass.—By far your best course would be to enter some small ladies' school, where you would associate with well-educated women. We do not think the scheme you mention would be very feasible. It is difficult for us to mention any one school; the fees (unless under special arrangements) would vary from £50 to £100 a year. Would you like to go on the Continent? If so, we should advise Lausanne. Perhaps you can give us a few more particulars.Iris.—1. You might procure Creighton'sFirst History of France, published at 3s. 6d., or Smith'sStudent's History, published at 7s. 6d. There is a book by Charlotte Yonge—Aunt Charlotte's Stories from French History—but we do not know it.—2. A thunderbolt, in the sense of a metallic substance, or bolt, hurled through the air by a thunderstorm, does not exist. The term is properly applied to the stream of electrical fluid passing from the clouds to the earth. Aërolites, or meteoric stones, have no connection with thunderstorms. Two questions are our limit.Emerald.—We are sorry we cannot tell you of a good grammar of the Irish language. Perhaps some correspondent, noting your wish to obtain one, may help you.Pateeth.—1. Write to the publishers of any of Jerome K. Jerome's works, and inquire for the recitation in question.—2. We do not know of any way of disposing of silver paper. Inquire at a confectioner's.Dorothywill find the poem “Nothing to Wear” in Alfred Mile's American Reciter, price 6d.“The Eldest Girl.”—Certainly we do not object to our girl-readers “writing about the articles and stories in the paper, saying what they like and dislike in them,” so long as the letters are as pleasant and courteous as your own.Felicia.—Your quotation—“The mighty master smiled to seeThat love was in the next degree,”is fromAlexander's Feast, by Dryden.Arithmetician.—Many thanks for your solution of the problem in our August number.Amateur Society.—We have received a notice of “The Budget” Manuscript Magazine Club; subjects optional; good criticism; two prizes yearly. Address, Miss Louise M. Larner, 22, Ladbroke Road, Notting Hill, W.Zingara.—1. We do not recommend books on fortune-telling by cards.—2. We have observed in one or two of the larger weekly illustrated ladies' papers that character is described in the correspondence column from handwriting. A glance through these papers at any public library will inform you where to apply.Bessie Matthews.—Your letter is beautifully written, and the white ink on the blue paper is very pretty, if a little too dazzling for ordinary use. We thank you for your information, which we repeat elsewhere.Cissie(Southend).—You do not give us your Christian name, which we require for International Correspondence. “R.” is not enough.Phœbe Wilson.—There is a picture in the National Gallery, we believe, of the first title you mention, but it is quite impossible for us to tell you either the painter or the value of your pictures by the names alone. You should let a local picture-dealer see them in the first instance, and if they are thought to be of value, you might send photographs or a rough sketch of them to “Christie, Manson & Woods,” or “Agnew's,” New Bond Street, London, asking for information.Mercia.—We do not consider you at all too old to begin to study at a school of art. With perseverance and diligence you will doubtless make rapid progress. These are the great requisites; a very youthful age is a secondary consideration.E. W. H.—The teacher who trains your voice will tell you whether it is a contralto, mezzo, or soprano. We should consider that F or G was about the lowest note for a contralto; but it is for the master who teaches you to judge of the compass of your voice, not for you to inform him of its range.OUR OPEN LETTER BOX.Miss Dorothea Knight, Keswick Old Hall, Norwich, wishes us to say that if any reader ofThe Girl's Own Paperwho collects postage stamps cares to send her some duplicates, she will send some in exchange by return of post.Briar Roseinforms “Last Hymn” that the recitation of that name is in one of Buchanan's “Penny Pathetic Readings,” and is also published under another title—“The Haven”—in theVictorian Reciter, edited by Bernard Batigan, of Hull, price 1s.Bessie Matthews, 3, High Street, Cheltenham, offers to send “Last Hymn” a copy of the poem on application, and informsSaxifragathat “The False Light of Rosilly” is in thePrize Reciterfor May, 1897, to be obtained from the office ofGreat Thoughts. It is also contained in Childe Pemberton's Poems, published by Messrs. Ward, Lock & Co. We commend this information toBriar Rose.GIRLS' EMPLOYMENTS.Margaret Marshfield(Civil Service).—Please read our reply to “Wood Violet” last week. The examination fee is only a shilling, so there is no obstacle in that part of the matter. But there are other difficulties. You could only now offer yourself for appointment as a female sorting clerk, or telegraph learner in the provinces; and to do this you must obtain a nomination from a local postmaster to be sent to the Postmaster-General. You have then to pass the examination. You ask what we think of your writing and composition. The writing is very neat and clear, but composition is a trifle shaky. To say “mother's helps (our only other resource) seems to be so overstocked” is not first-rate English, though we understand what is meant. But why should your only other resource be to become a mother's help? Can it be because you think it would be derogatory to you to fill one of the more recognised positions in household service? If so, we would persuade you to reflect on the superior advantages enjoyed by a children's nurse, a cook and a parlourmaid. All these persons, as soon as they have obtained a fair amount of experience, can command good wages and an ample choice of situations. No doubt there is some little trouble in obtaining a first place; nevertheless, many ladies are willing to teach an active, hardworking woman, if the latter, on her side, will accept a small amount of payment during the period of apprenticeship. It really seems to us best that you should turn your thoughts towards domestic service; though, if you could afford to spend a little time and money, we should also have recommended you to learn laundry-work.Azalea(Teaching in France or Germany).—It is almost impossible for an English teacher to obtain employment in France; but in Germany there is less difficulty, provided that the teacher has high qualifications. We recommend you to apply to the Foreign Registry of the Girls' Friendly Society, 10, Holbein Place, Sloane Square, S.W.; Miss Nash, Superintendent of the Home for British and American Governesses, 22, Kleinheerenstrasse, Berlin, might also be able to advise you, but you ought to furnish the fullest account of your general education and professional training.Sincerity(Rural Nursing).—If you could go to a large London hospital training-school and remain there a year, so as to qualify you to become a Jubilee District Nurse, you would, from a professional point of view, be doing the best for yourself; but we think the work of cottage nurse on the Holt-Ockley system would probably be quite as congenial to you, and the likelihood of your obtaining an engagement would be greater. You should apply for further particulars to the Hon. Secretary, Mrs. Lee Steere, The Cottage, Ockley.Freda(Evening Employment).—Such work, especially if it is only addressing envelopes, is peculiarly hard to obtain. You might consult the Secretary for Promoting the Employment of Women, 22, Berners Street, W., but we fear she will only be able to say the same.Anxious to know(Missionary Work).—You had better make known your wish to become a missionary to the Women's Mission Association, 19, Delahay Street, Westminster, S.W., or to the Society for Promoting Female Education in the East, 267, Vauxhall Bridge Road. You would probably be required to undergo a course of preparation. Missionaries are supported by the societies which employ them, but only of course in a simple manner.MISCELLANEOUS.Inquisitive.—You should read Charles Kingsley'sHeroes. That would give you all information about the heathen mythology, or system of myths, and ancient hallucinations respecting their false gods. Apollo was the reputed son of Jupiter and Latona, also called Phœbus, supposed to be the god of the fine arts and originator of poetry, music, and elocution. Besides the names already given, he was called Delius, Cynthius, Pæan, and Delphicus. He is represented as a handsome young man, with an almost feminine face, and beardless, holding a bow from which an arrow has been discharged. This refers to the fable that the Serpent Python had been destroyed by his arrows. Evil foreboded is represented by the “Sword of Damocles,” who was set down to a splendid banquet by the tyrant Dionysius (the elder), a sword being suspended over his head by a hair or thread. Thus the miserable courtier dared not to stir lest the slightest draught or vibration should bring it down upon his head.Anxious Maria.—Because you may be full of faults, and weak in times of temptation, feeble in faith and too lukewarm in love and zeal, you would not be thereby justified in adding a fresh act of disobedience by drawing back from the Lord's Table and neglecting to obey one of His last commands. If you were to wait till really worthy in reference to sanctification, you would “draw back to perdition,” it is to be feared. Remember that, however faulty you may justly feel yourself to be, you can go to your divine Redeemer, “washed, sanctified, and justified” in His Name.“All the fitness he requirethIs to feel your need of Him,”and with that feeling to pray for His grace, and to “strive to enter in by the straight gate.” A battle has to be fought. Do not forget that.Carnationinquires, “Are tomatoes healthy?” We fancy but very few of them are diseased. Those that lie long on the ground during wet weather do not remain so long. That, as an article of food, they conduce to our health is absolutely proved. Few vegetables are more wholesome. Ladies do not rise, if seated, when men address them.Dot.—You should say, “It is I” (not “me”). The former is used in the nominative case, and the latter the accusative. But you should not say, “between you and I,” but “between you and me.” If you wish to speak correctly, be careful how you employ adjectives. You misapply the word “beautiful” when you say “beautiful butter,” or jam, or fat; but you may use it very correctly as regards a landscape, a flower, a rainbow, or any work of art. Also the word “delicious” is often unsuitably employed, such as when applied to a joint of meat, or a book. To apply it to fruit would be more suitable. The words which should often be employed as a substitute for “delicious” are “excellent,” “nice,” or “good.” The word “beautiful” is correctly used with reference to form, and colouring, and combinations of the latter. Another very commonly misused word is “expect,” “I expect she is,” etc. The word “expect” has reference to the future, and the speaker's anticipations in connection with it; “she is,” denotes the present and already existing condition, and the two cannot be used together. This misapplication of the term has come from over the Atlantic. You will find much to assist you as to right and wrong employment of words in that useful bookEnquire Within. See pages 163-174.Ignoramus.—All invitations are given by the mistress of the house, though she should include her husband's name in giving them; and all replies should be directed to her, although, inside, you thank for their united invitation. The house is the woman's domain, and she “guides” it.Joan.—The beneficial influence, or the reverse, of allowing ivy to grow over the walls of a house has been a question of difference of opinion. Formerly it was condemned as harbouring moisture, and liable to injure the health of the occupants. Now it is said that the overlapping leaves preserve the walls from the rain, and they are found to be quite dry beneath them. It is also said that it renders a house cool in summer, and warm in winter. But there is a drawback, and that is that it brings insects of all kinds into the rooms—spiders, flies, earwigs, and woodlice. Whatever you may prefer to do in reference to its growth on your house, it is an unmitigated evil on trees, and it should always be sawn through, and then rooted up.Mora.—Much depends on the species of palm, as to the watering they require. Also, they must not be exposed to a draught. Perhaps yours is not one that would grow tall under any circumstances. As we know nothing about it (for you give no particulars), we cannot help you.Brownie.—We cannot do better than refer you to the articles on the care of the hands by “Medicus.” See vol. xiii., page 358. Doubtless you have been out without gloves, and the sun has tanned them. The very narrow rim of insensible skin that surrounds the nail preserves the true skin from being torn and made sore at its termination at the quick. Of course it will not bear rough usage, for if cut or cracked, the tender skin behind it, which it is designed to protect, will naturally become sore. Wear gloves until quite healed.

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Eileen.—Your troubles maybe due to any number of causes. The great number of symptoms having but little connection with each other, which you describe, strongly suggest that a large part, if not the whole, of your trouble is due to nervousness. There is a disease which, from the number and complexity of its symptoms, is called the protean disease, or, in common parlance, hysteria. This affection varies from the slightest forms of nervousness to absolute mental and physical perversion. It is in the slighter grades of this affection that you will find your own malady. Whether there is anything else besides this the matter with you is impossible for us to tell. It has been our experience that cocoa is quite as indigestible as tea or coffee, though it produces a form of indigestion differing considerably from that produced by tea. Drink nothing but warm milk, and take a liberal diet of easily-digestible food.Priscilla.—Trichinosis is a very rare disease produced by eating underdone pork. One of the tapeworms (Tænia solium) is far more commonly obtained from the same cause. Both diseases are uncommon in England, for the English eat little pork, and always cook it well first. There is no danger of either disease from eating well-done pork. Where pork is eaten raw—as it is in some hams and sausages—the danger of tapeworms and trichinosis is very considerable; but it must always be remembered that sound meat cannot produce either disease.Indigestion.—You are on the right track to treat indigestion, but you have made one or two errors. You should not drink “plenty of water.” The less water you drink the sooner you will be well again. You must not take anything to digest your meals for you. Of course you are referring to pepsin, etc. These may be taken by dyspeptics only when they are incurable or gradually starving to death. Dyspeptics are rendered worse by their use in the long run. You must relieve your constipation. A teaspoonful of liquorice powder will do this very well. Six miles daily is quite sufficient exercise.Anxious.—If you suffer from flatulence you must attend very carefully to your digestion and guard against constipation. The pain of wind may often be relieved by taking half a teaspoonful of spirit of ginger or compound tincture of cardamom in a little water.In Need of Advice.—Nothing save the surgeon's knife will remove moles from the face without great danger. The operation for removing moles is practically free from danger; but it is not always advisable. The best way to remove the hair which grows upon moles is to shave it off or bleach it with peroxide of hydrogen. Electrolysis is sometimes used to destroy hairs on moles, but it is infinitely inferior to, and more dangerous than, excision of the whole mole. Moles very rarely grow quickly; indeed, usually they grow less rapidly than does their bearer. If you have a mole which suddenly begins to grow rapidly, go to a surgeon at once, for in all probability it has altered its character and become a serious disease.Brunette.—Dandruff and falling hair are usually present together, for the former is one of the commonest causes of the latter. Wash your head once a week in warm water and borax (one teaspoonful of borax to a pint of water). Wash the scalp particularly well, and thoroughly dry both the scalp and the hair afterwards. When the hair is quite dry, rub a very little sulphur ointment into the scalp. It is no good applying this to the hair itself. It is the scalp and hair-roots which need the ointment. Use a hair-wash of cantharides and rosemary.Iris.—1. If you use peroxide of hydrogen to bleach your hands, do not put it in the water you wash in. Get from your chemist “hydrogen peroxide 10 vols.” Dilute this with three parts of water, and dip your hands in the solution once a day. This can do you no harm. Whether it will do what you want it to do is another question. Sometimes it serves its purpose; usually it fails.—2. Orris-root is the root of the iris, and not of the violet as is so commonly thought.M. O.—You suffer from the double complaint of indigestion and feeble circulation. You must be very careful what you eat, avoid excess of starchy foods, sugar, alcohol, tea, coffee, and cocoa. But take a good nourishing diet. The pills will do you good; but you must be very careful to guard against constipation. Take a fair amount of exercise. Take a small dose of bicarbonate of soda when you are troubled with fulness after meals.An Old Reader.—We think it quite improbable that your brother will derive any benefit from smoking. In fact, we think that it will simply make him worse.Emily.—It is very difficult for us to advise you what to do, for the information that you give us is too scanty to enable us to form a just idea of your condition. You should have told us your age, and occupation, and habits of life, for it is necessary to know these before treating any complaint. The stiffness in your arms may be due to rheumatism or it may not. You might try gentle massage and friction with camphor or soap liniment over the joints of your arms. For your other troubles we cannot help you without information as to what they are and how they originated.Gladys.—The chief causes of somnolence are overwork, insufficient sleep, underfeeding, overfeeding, indigestion, anæmia and other forms of physical weakness; and lastly hysteria and nervous exhaustion. From which of these are you suffering? Seven and a half hours' sleep daily is sufficient; but, if you could, we advise you to give yourself another hour. Do you eat properly? Do you eat sufficient, or do you eat inordinately? Do you have indigestion or fulness after meals? All these make you feel sleepy. Are you in any way unwell? Do you feel the cold severely, or have any symptom which would suggest that your circulation was not what it should be? Are you at all nervous, or do you belong to a nervous family? This last more commonly causes wakefulness than sleepiness. Lastly, are you worse in the morning or the evening? If you are all right in the morning, but tire and get sleepy as the day wears on, then we must look for a physical cause of your trouble. If you are worse in the morning than you are later in the day, then the cause is probably nervous. To cure yourself of your trouble you must find out and remove the cause. Take an extra hour's sleep if you can manage it. Look carefully to your digestion; many forms of dyspepsia give rise to scarcely any symptoms except sleepiness.Alice.—Read the advice we gave to “Anxious.” You must be very careful about your digestion, and take the minimum amount of fluid that you can. Let your diet be as solid but as digestible as possible.Sufferer.—You had far better see a physician, for you may be seriously ill, and it is quite beyond our power to help you. As regards hot-bottles, they should never be filled with boiling water, and should always be provided with jackets or wrapped in flannel. You are not the only person whose legs have been burnt through ignorance of the proper use of hot-bottles.

Eileen.—Your troubles maybe due to any number of causes. The great number of symptoms having but little connection with each other, which you describe, strongly suggest that a large part, if not the whole, of your trouble is due to nervousness. There is a disease which, from the number and complexity of its symptoms, is called the protean disease, or, in common parlance, hysteria. This affection varies from the slightest forms of nervousness to absolute mental and physical perversion. It is in the slighter grades of this affection that you will find your own malady. Whether there is anything else besides this the matter with you is impossible for us to tell. It has been our experience that cocoa is quite as indigestible as tea or coffee, though it produces a form of indigestion differing considerably from that produced by tea. Drink nothing but warm milk, and take a liberal diet of easily-digestible food.

Priscilla.—Trichinosis is a very rare disease produced by eating underdone pork. One of the tapeworms (Tænia solium) is far more commonly obtained from the same cause. Both diseases are uncommon in England, for the English eat little pork, and always cook it well first. There is no danger of either disease from eating well-done pork. Where pork is eaten raw—as it is in some hams and sausages—the danger of tapeworms and trichinosis is very considerable; but it must always be remembered that sound meat cannot produce either disease.

Indigestion.—You are on the right track to treat indigestion, but you have made one or two errors. You should not drink “plenty of water.” The less water you drink the sooner you will be well again. You must not take anything to digest your meals for you. Of course you are referring to pepsin, etc. These may be taken by dyspeptics only when they are incurable or gradually starving to death. Dyspeptics are rendered worse by their use in the long run. You must relieve your constipation. A teaspoonful of liquorice powder will do this very well. Six miles daily is quite sufficient exercise.

Anxious.—If you suffer from flatulence you must attend very carefully to your digestion and guard against constipation. The pain of wind may often be relieved by taking half a teaspoonful of spirit of ginger or compound tincture of cardamom in a little water.

In Need of Advice.—Nothing save the surgeon's knife will remove moles from the face without great danger. The operation for removing moles is practically free from danger; but it is not always advisable. The best way to remove the hair which grows upon moles is to shave it off or bleach it with peroxide of hydrogen. Electrolysis is sometimes used to destroy hairs on moles, but it is infinitely inferior to, and more dangerous than, excision of the whole mole. Moles very rarely grow quickly; indeed, usually they grow less rapidly than does their bearer. If you have a mole which suddenly begins to grow rapidly, go to a surgeon at once, for in all probability it has altered its character and become a serious disease.

Brunette.—Dandruff and falling hair are usually present together, for the former is one of the commonest causes of the latter. Wash your head once a week in warm water and borax (one teaspoonful of borax to a pint of water). Wash the scalp particularly well, and thoroughly dry both the scalp and the hair afterwards. When the hair is quite dry, rub a very little sulphur ointment into the scalp. It is no good applying this to the hair itself. It is the scalp and hair-roots which need the ointment. Use a hair-wash of cantharides and rosemary.

Iris.—1. If you use peroxide of hydrogen to bleach your hands, do not put it in the water you wash in. Get from your chemist “hydrogen peroxide 10 vols.” Dilute this with three parts of water, and dip your hands in the solution once a day. This can do you no harm. Whether it will do what you want it to do is another question. Sometimes it serves its purpose; usually it fails.—2. Orris-root is the root of the iris, and not of the violet as is so commonly thought.

M. O.—You suffer from the double complaint of indigestion and feeble circulation. You must be very careful what you eat, avoid excess of starchy foods, sugar, alcohol, tea, coffee, and cocoa. But take a good nourishing diet. The pills will do you good; but you must be very careful to guard against constipation. Take a fair amount of exercise. Take a small dose of bicarbonate of soda when you are troubled with fulness after meals.

An Old Reader.—We think it quite improbable that your brother will derive any benefit from smoking. In fact, we think that it will simply make him worse.

Emily.—It is very difficult for us to advise you what to do, for the information that you give us is too scanty to enable us to form a just idea of your condition. You should have told us your age, and occupation, and habits of life, for it is necessary to know these before treating any complaint. The stiffness in your arms may be due to rheumatism or it may not. You might try gentle massage and friction with camphor or soap liniment over the joints of your arms. For your other troubles we cannot help you without information as to what they are and how they originated.

Gladys.—The chief causes of somnolence are overwork, insufficient sleep, underfeeding, overfeeding, indigestion, anæmia and other forms of physical weakness; and lastly hysteria and nervous exhaustion. From which of these are you suffering? Seven and a half hours' sleep daily is sufficient; but, if you could, we advise you to give yourself another hour. Do you eat properly? Do you eat sufficient, or do you eat inordinately? Do you have indigestion or fulness after meals? All these make you feel sleepy. Are you in any way unwell? Do you feel the cold severely, or have any symptom which would suggest that your circulation was not what it should be? Are you at all nervous, or do you belong to a nervous family? This last more commonly causes wakefulness than sleepiness. Lastly, are you worse in the morning or the evening? If you are all right in the morning, but tire and get sleepy as the day wears on, then we must look for a physical cause of your trouble. If you are worse in the morning than you are later in the day, then the cause is probably nervous. To cure yourself of your trouble you must find out and remove the cause. Take an extra hour's sleep if you can manage it. Look carefully to your digestion; many forms of dyspepsia give rise to scarcely any symptoms except sleepiness.

Alice.—Read the advice we gave to “Anxious.” You must be very careful about your digestion, and take the minimum amount of fluid that you can. Let your diet be as solid but as digestible as possible.

Sufferer.—You had far better see a physician, for you may be seriously ill, and it is quite beyond our power to help you. As regards hot-bottles, they should never be filled with boiling water, and should always be provided with jackets or wrapped in flannel. You are not the only person whose legs have been burnt through ignorance of the proper use of hot-bottles.

Country Lass.—By far your best course would be to enter some small ladies' school, where you would associate with well-educated women. We do not think the scheme you mention would be very feasible. It is difficult for us to mention any one school; the fees (unless under special arrangements) would vary from £50 to £100 a year. Would you like to go on the Continent? If so, we should advise Lausanne. Perhaps you can give us a few more particulars.Iris.—1. You might procure Creighton'sFirst History of France, published at 3s. 6d., or Smith'sStudent's History, published at 7s. 6d. There is a book by Charlotte Yonge—Aunt Charlotte's Stories from French History—but we do not know it.—2. A thunderbolt, in the sense of a metallic substance, or bolt, hurled through the air by a thunderstorm, does not exist. The term is properly applied to the stream of electrical fluid passing from the clouds to the earth. Aërolites, or meteoric stones, have no connection with thunderstorms. Two questions are our limit.Emerald.—We are sorry we cannot tell you of a good grammar of the Irish language. Perhaps some correspondent, noting your wish to obtain one, may help you.Pateeth.—1. Write to the publishers of any of Jerome K. Jerome's works, and inquire for the recitation in question.—2. We do not know of any way of disposing of silver paper. Inquire at a confectioner's.Dorothywill find the poem “Nothing to Wear” in Alfred Mile's American Reciter, price 6d.“The Eldest Girl.”—Certainly we do not object to our girl-readers “writing about the articles and stories in the paper, saying what they like and dislike in them,” so long as the letters are as pleasant and courteous as your own.Felicia.—Your quotation—“The mighty master smiled to seeThat love was in the next degree,”is fromAlexander's Feast, by Dryden.Arithmetician.—Many thanks for your solution of the problem in our August number.Amateur Society.—We have received a notice of “The Budget” Manuscript Magazine Club; subjects optional; good criticism; two prizes yearly. Address, Miss Louise M. Larner, 22, Ladbroke Road, Notting Hill, W.Zingara.—1. We do not recommend books on fortune-telling by cards.—2. We have observed in one or two of the larger weekly illustrated ladies' papers that character is described in the correspondence column from handwriting. A glance through these papers at any public library will inform you where to apply.Bessie Matthews.—Your letter is beautifully written, and the white ink on the blue paper is very pretty, if a little too dazzling for ordinary use. We thank you for your information, which we repeat elsewhere.Cissie(Southend).—You do not give us your Christian name, which we require for International Correspondence. “R.” is not enough.Phœbe Wilson.—There is a picture in the National Gallery, we believe, of the first title you mention, but it is quite impossible for us to tell you either the painter or the value of your pictures by the names alone. You should let a local picture-dealer see them in the first instance, and if they are thought to be of value, you might send photographs or a rough sketch of them to “Christie, Manson & Woods,” or “Agnew's,” New Bond Street, London, asking for information.Mercia.—We do not consider you at all too old to begin to study at a school of art. With perseverance and diligence you will doubtless make rapid progress. These are the great requisites; a very youthful age is a secondary consideration.E. W. H.—The teacher who trains your voice will tell you whether it is a contralto, mezzo, or soprano. We should consider that F or G was about the lowest note for a contralto; but it is for the master who teaches you to judge of the compass of your voice, not for you to inform him of its range.

Country Lass.—By far your best course would be to enter some small ladies' school, where you would associate with well-educated women. We do not think the scheme you mention would be very feasible. It is difficult for us to mention any one school; the fees (unless under special arrangements) would vary from £50 to £100 a year. Would you like to go on the Continent? If so, we should advise Lausanne. Perhaps you can give us a few more particulars.

Iris.—1. You might procure Creighton'sFirst History of France, published at 3s. 6d., or Smith'sStudent's History, published at 7s. 6d. There is a book by Charlotte Yonge—Aunt Charlotte's Stories from French History—but we do not know it.—2. A thunderbolt, in the sense of a metallic substance, or bolt, hurled through the air by a thunderstorm, does not exist. The term is properly applied to the stream of electrical fluid passing from the clouds to the earth. Aërolites, or meteoric stones, have no connection with thunderstorms. Two questions are our limit.

Emerald.—We are sorry we cannot tell you of a good grammar of the Irish language. Perhaps some correspondent, noting your wish to obtain one, may help you.

Pateeth.—1. Write to the publishers of any of Jerome K. Jerome's works, and inquire for the recitation in question.—2. We do not know of any way of disposing of silver paper. Inquire at a confectioner's.

Dorothywill find the poem “Nothing to Wear” in Alfred Mile's American Reciter, price 6d.

“The Eldest Girl.”—Certainly we do not object to our girl-readers “writing about the articles and stories in the paper, saying what they like and dislike in them,” so long as the letters are as pleasant and courteous as your own.

Felicia.—Your quotation—

“The mighty master smiled to seeThat love was in the next degree,”

“The mighty master smiled to seeThat love was in the next degree,”

is fromAlexander's Feast, by Dryden.

Arithmetician.—Many thanks for your solution of the problem in our August number.

Amateur Society.—We have received a notice of “The Budget” Manuscript Magazine Club; subjects optional; good criticism; two prizes yearly. Address, Miss Louise M. Larner, 22, Ladbroke Road, Notting Hill, W.

Zingara.—1. We do not recommend books on fortune-telling by cards.—2. We have observed in one or two of the larger weekly illustrated ladies' papers that character is described in the correspondence column from handwriting. A glance through these papers at any public library will inform you where to apply.

Bessie Matthews.—Your letter is beautifully written, and the white ink on the blue paper is very pretty, if a little too dazzling for ordinary use. We thank you for your information, which we repeat elsewhere.

Cissie(Southend).—You do not give us your Christian name, which we require for International Correspondence. “R.” is not enough.

Phœbe Wilson.—There is a picture in the National Gallery, we believe, of the first title you mention, but it is quite impossible for us to tell you either the painter or the value of your pictures by the names alone. You should let a local picture-dealer see them in the first instance, and if they are thought to be of value, you might send photographs or a rough sketch of them to “Christie, Manson & Woods,” or “Agnew's,” New Bond Street, London, asking for information.

Mercia.—We do not consider you at all too old to begin to study at a school of art. With perseverance and diligence you will doubtless make rapid progress. These are the great requisites; a very youthful age is a secondary consideration.

E. W. H.—The teacher who trains your voice will tell you whether it is a contralto, mezzo, or soprano. We should consider that F or G was about the lowest note for a contralto; but it is for the master who teaches you to judge of the compass of your voice, not for you to inform him of its range.

Miss Dorothea Knight, Keswick Old Hall, Norwich, wishes us to say that if any reader ofThe Girl's Own Paperwho collects postage stamps cares to send her some duplicates, she will send some in exchange by return of post.Briar Roseinforms “Last Hymn” that the recitation of that name is in one of Buchanan's “Penny Pathetic Readings,” and is also published under another title—“The Haven”—in theVictorian Reciter, edited by Bernard Batigan, of Hull, price 1s.Bessie Matthews, 3, High Street, Cheltenham, offers to send “Last Hymn” a copy of the poem on application, and informsSaxifragathat “The False Light of Rosilly” is in thePrize Reciterfor May, 1897, to be obtained from the office ofGreat Thoughts. It is also contained in Childe Pemberton's Poems, published by Messrs. Ward, Lock & Co. We commend this information toBriar Rose.

Miss Dorothea Knight, Keswick Old Hall, Norwich, wishes us to say that if any reader ofThe Girl's Own Paperwho collects postage stamps cares to send her some duplicates, she will send some in exchange by return of post.

Briar Roseinforms “Last Hymn” that the recitation of that name is in one of Buchanan's “Penny Pathetic Readings,” and is also published under another title—“The Haven”—in theVictorian Reciter, edited by Bernard Batigan, of Hull, price 1s.

Bessie Matthews, 3, High Street, Cheltenham, offers to send “Last Hymn” a copy of the poem on application, and informsSaxifragathat “The False Light of Rosilly” is in thePrize Reciterfor May, 1897, to be obtained from the office ofGreat Thoughts. It is also contained in Childe Pemberton's Poems, published by Messrs. Ward, Lock & Co. We commend this information toBriar Rose.

Margaret Marshfield(Civil Service).—Please read our reply to “Wood Violet” last week. The examination fee is only a shilling, so there is no obstacle in that part of the matter. But there are other difficulties. You could only now offer yourself for appointment as a female sorting clerk, or telegraph learner in the provinces; and to do this you must obtain a nomination from a local postmaster to be sent to the Postmaster-General. You have then to pass the examination. You ask what we think of your writing and composition. The writing is very neat and clear, but composition is a trifle shaky. To say “mother's helps (our only other resource) seems to be so overstocked” is not first-rate English, though we understand what is meant. But why should your only other resource be to become a mother's help? Can it be because you think it would be derogatory to you to fill one of the more recognised positions in household service? If so, we would persuade you to reflect on the superior advantages enjoyed by a children's nurse, a cook and a parlourmaid. All these persons, as soon as they have obtained a fair amount of experience, can command good wages and an ample choice of situations. No doubt there is some little trouble in obtaining a first place; nevertheless, many ladies are willing to teach an active, hardworking woman, if the latter, on her side, will accept a small amount of payment during the period of apprenticeship. It really seems to us best that you should turn your thoughts towards domestic service; though, if you could afford to spend a little time and money, we should also have recommended you to learn laundry-work.Azalea(Teaching in France or Germany).—It is almost impossible for an English teacher to obtain employment in France; but in Germany there is less difficulty, provided that the teacher has high qualifications. We recommend you to apply to the Foreign Registry of the Girls' Friendly Society, 10, Holbein Place, Sloane Square, S.W.; Miss Nash, Superintendent of the Home for British and American Governesses, 22, Kleinheerenstrasse, Berlin, might also be able to advise you, but you ought to furnish the fullest account of your general education and professional training.Sincerity(Rural Nursing).—If you could go to a large London hospital training-school and remain there a year, so as to qualify you to become a Jubilee District Nurse, you would, from a professional point of view, be doing the best for yourself; but we think the work of cottage nurse on the Holt-Ockley system would probably be quite as congenial to you, and the likelihood of your obtaining an engagement would be greater. You should apply for further particulars to the Hon. Secretary, Mrs. Lee Steere, The Cottage, Ockley.Freda(Evening Employment).—Such work, especially if it is only addressing envelopes, is peculiarly hard to obtain. You might consult the Secretary for Promoting the Employment of Women, 22, Berners Street, W., but we fear she will only be able to say the same.Anxious to know(Missionary Work).—You had better make known your wish to become a missionary to the Women's Mission Association, 19, Delahay Street, Westminster, S.W., or to the Society for Promoting Female Education in the East, 267, Vauxhall Bridge Road. You would probably be required to undergo a course of preparation. Missionaries are supported by the societies which employ them, but only of course in a simple manner.

Margaret Marshfield(Civil Service).—Please read our reply to “Wood Violet” last week. The examination fee is only a shilling, so there is no obstacle in that part of the matter. But there are other difficulties. You could only now offer yourself for appointment as a female sorting clerk, or telegraph learner in the provinces; and to do this you must obtain a nomination from a local postmaster to be sent to the Postmaster-General. You have then to pass the examination. You ask what we think of your writing and composition. The writing is very neat and clear, but composition is a trifle shaky. To say “mother's helps (our only other resource) seems to be so overstocked” is not first-rate English, though we understand what is meant. But why should your only other resource be to become a mother's help? Can it be because you think it would be derogatory to you to fill one of the more recognised positions in household service? If so, we would persuade you to reflect on the superior advantages enjoyed by a children's nurse, a cook and a parlourmaid. All these persons, as soon as they have obtained a fair amount of experience, can command good wages and an ample choice of situations. No doubt there is some little trouble in obtaining a first place; nevertheless, many ladies are willing to teach an active, hardworking woman, if the latter, on her side, will accept a small amount of payment during the period of apprenticeship. It really seems to us best that you should turn your thoughts towards domestic service; though, if you could afford to spend a little time and money, we should also have recommended you to learn laundry-work.

Azalea(Teaching in France or Germany).—It is almost impossible for an English teacher to obtain employment in France; but in Germany there is less difficulty, provided that the teacher has high qualifications. We recommend you to apply to the Foreign Registry of the Girls' Friendly Society, 10, Holbein Place, Sloane Square, S.W.; Miss Nash, Superintendent of the Home for British and American Governesses, 22, Kleinheerenstrasse, Berlin, might also be able to advise you, but you ought to furnish the fullest account of your general education and professional training.

Sincerity(Rural Nursing).—If you could go to a large London hospital training-school and remain there a year, so as to qualify you to become a Jubilee District Nurse, you would, from a professional point of view, be doing the best for yourself; but we think the work of cottage nurse on the Holt-Ockley system would probably be quite as congenial to you, and the likelihood of your obtaining an engagement would be greater. You should apply for further particulars to the Hon. Secretary, Mrs. Lee Steere, The Cottage, Ockley.

Freda(Evening Employment).—Such work, especially if it is only addressing envelopes, is peculiarly hard to obtain. You might consult the Secretary for Promoting the Employment of Women, 22, Berners Street, W., but we fear she will only be able to say the same.

Anxious to know(Missionary Work).—You had better make known your wish to become a missionary to the Women's Mission Association, 19, Delahay Street, Westminster, S.W., or to the Society for Promoting Female Education in the East, 267, Vauxhall Bridge Road. You would probably be required to undergo a course of preparation. Missionaries are supported by the societies which employ them, but only of course in a simple manner.

Inquisitive.—You should read Charles Kingsley'sHeroes. That would give you all information about the heathen mythology, or system of myths, and ancient hallucinations respecting their false gods. Apollo was the reputed son of Jupiter and Latona, also called Phœbus, supposed to be the god of the fine arts and originator of poetry, music, and elocution. Besides the names already given, he was called Delius, Cynthius, Pæan, and Delphicus. He is represented as a handsome young man, with an almost feminine face, and beardless, holding a bow from which an arrow has been discharged. This refers to the fable that the Serpent Python had been destroyed by his arrows. Evil foreboded is represented by the “Sword of Damocles,” who was set down to a splendid banquet by the tyrant Dionysius (the elder), a sword being suspended over his head by a hair or thread. Thus the miserable courtier dared not to stir lest the slightest draught or vibration should bring it down upon his head.Anxious Maria.—Because you may be full of faults, and weak in times of temptation, feeble in faith and too lukewarm in love and zeal, you would not be thereby justified in adding a fresh act of disobedience by drawing back from the Lord's Table and neglecting to obey one of His last commands. If you were to wait till really worthy in reference to sanctification, you would “draw back to perdition,” it is to be feared. Remember that, however faulty you may justly feel yourself to be, you can go to your divine Redeemer, “washed, sanctified, and justified” in His Name.“All the fitness he requirethIs to feel your need of Him,”and with that feeling to pray for His grace, and to “strive to enter in by the straight gate.” A battle has to be fought. Do not forget that.Carnationinquires, “Are tomatoes healthy?” We fancy but very few of them are diseased. Those that lie long on the ground during wet weather do not remain so long. That, as an article of food, they conduce to our health is absolutely proved. Few vegetables are more wholesome. Ladies do not rise, if seated, when men address them.Dot.—You should say, “It is I” (not “me”). The former is used in the nominative case, and the latter the accusative. But you should not say, “between you and I,” but “between you and me.” If you wish to speak correctly, be careful how you employ adjectives. You misapply the word “beautiful” when you say “beautiful butter,” or jam, or fat; but you may use it very correctly as regards a landscape, a flower, a rainbow, or any work of art. Also the word “delicious” is often unsuitably employed, such as when applied to a joint of meat, or a book. To apply it to fruit would be more suitable. The words which should often be employed as a substitute for “delicious” are “excellent,” “nice,” or “good.” The word “beautiful” is correctly used with reference to form, and colouring, and combinations of the latter. Another very commonly misused word is “expect,” “I expect she is,” etc. The word “expect” has reference to the future, and the speaker's anticipations in connection with it; “she is,” denotes the present and already existing condition, and the two cannot be used together. This misapplication of the term has come from over the Atlantic. You will find much to assist you as to right and wrong employment of words in that useful bookEnquire Within. See pages 163-174.Ignoramus.—All invitations are given by the mistress of the house, though she should include her husband's name in giving them; and all replies should be directed to her, although, inside, you thank for their united invitation. The house is the woman's domain, and she “guides” it.Joan.—The beneficial influence, or the reverse, of allowing ivy to grow over the walls of a house has been a question of difference of opinion. Formerly it was condemned as harbouring moisture, and liable to injure the health of the occupants. Now it is said that the overlapping leaves preserve the walls from the rain, and they are found to be quite dry beneath them. It is also said that it renders a house cool in summer, and warm in winter. But there is a drawback, and that is that it brings insects of all kinds into the rooms—spiders, flies, earwigs, and woodlice. Whatever you may prefer to do in reference to its growth on your house, it is an unmitigated evil on trees, and it should always be sawn through, and then rooted up.Mora.—Much depends on the species of palm, as to the watering they require. Also, they must not be exposed to a draught. Perhaps yours is not one that would grow tall under any circumstances. As we know nothing about it (for you give no particulars), we cannot help you.Brownie.—We cannot do better than refer you to the articles on the care of the hands by “Medicus.” See vol. xiii., page 358. Doubtless you have been out without gloves, and the sun has tanned them. The very narrow rim of insensible skin that surrounds the nail preserves the true skin from being torn and made sore at its termination at the quick. Of course it will not bear rough usage, for if cut or cracked, the tender skin behind it, which it is designed to protect, will naturally become sore. Wear gloves until quite healed.

Inquisitive.—You should read Charles Kingsley'sHeroes. That would give you all information about the heathen mythology, or system of myths, and ancient hallucinations respecting their false gods. Apollo was the reputed son of Jupiter and Latona, also called Phœbus, supposed to be the god of the fine arts and originator of poetry, music, and elocution. Besides the names already given, he was called Delius, Cynthius, Pæan, and Delphicus. He is represented as a handsome young man, with an almost feminine face, and beardless, holding a bow from which an arrow has been discharged. This refers to the fable that the Serpent Python had been destroyed by his arrows. Evil foreboded is represented by the “Sword of Damocles,” who was set down to a splendid banquet by the tyrant Dionysius (the elder), a sword being suspended over his head by a hair or thread. Thus the miserable courtier dared not to stir lest the slightest draught or vibration should bring it down upon his head.

Anxious Maria.—Because you may be full of faults, and weak in times of temptation, feeble in faith and too lukewarm in love and zeal, you would not be thereby justified in adding a fresh act of disobedience by drawing back from the Lord's Table and neglecting to obey one of His last commands. If you were to wait till really worthy in reference to sanctification, you would “draw back to perdition,” it is to be feared. Remember that, however faulty you may justly feel yourself to be, you can go to your divine Redeemer, “washed, sanctified, and justified” in His Name.

“All the fitness he requirethIs to feel your need of Him,”

“All the fitness he requirethIs to feel your need of Him,”

and with that feeling to pray for His grace, and to “strive to enter in by the straight gate.” A battle has to be fought. Do not forget that.

Carnationinquires, “Are tomatoes healthy?” We fancy but very few of them are diseased. Those that lie long on the ground during wet weather do not remain so long. That, as an article of food, they conduce to our health is absolutely proved. Few vegetables are more wholesome. Ladies do not rise, if seated, when men address them.

Dot.—You should say, “It is I” (not “me”). The former is used in the nominative case, and the latter the accusative. But you should not say, “between you and I,” but “between you and me.” If you wish to speak correctly, be careful how you employ adjectives. You misapply the word “beautiful” when you say “beautiful butter,” or jam, or fat; but you may use it very correctly as regards a landscape, a flower, a rainbow, or any work of art. Also the word “delicious” is often unsuitably employed, such as when applied to a joint of meat, or a book. To apply it to fruit would be more suitable. The words which should often be employed as a substitute for “delicious” are “excellent,” “nice,” or “good.” The word “beautiful” is correctly used with reference to form, and colouring, and combinations of the latter. Another very commonly misused word is “expect,” “I expect she is,” etc. The word “expect” has reference to the future, and the speaker's anticipations in connection with it; “she is,” denotes the present and already existing condition, and the two cannot be used together. This misapplication of the term has come from over the Atlantic. You will find much to assist you as to right and wrong employment of words in that useful bookEnquire Within. See pages 163-174.

Ignoramus.—All invitations are given by the mistress of the house, though she should include her husband's name in giving them; and all replies should be directed to her, although, inside, you thank for their united invitation. The house is the woman's domain, and she “guides” it.

Joan.—The beneficial influence, or the reverse, of allowing ivy to grow over the walls of a house has been a question of difference of opinion. Formerly it was condemned as harbouring moisture, and liable to injure the health of the occupants. Now it is said that the overlapping leaves preserve the walls from the rain, and they are found to be quite dry beneath them. It is also said that it renders a house cool in summer, and warm in winter. But there is a drawback, and that is that it brings insects of all kinds into the rooms—spiders, flies, earwigs, and woodlice. Whatever you may prefer to do in reference to its growth on your house, it is an unmitigated evil on trees, and it should always be sawn through, and then rooted up.

Mora.—Much depends on the species of palm, as to the watering they require. Also, they must not be exposed to a draught. Perhaps yours is not one that would grow tall under any circumstances. As we know nothing about it (for you give no particulars), we cannot help you.

Brownie.—We cannot do better than refer you to the articles on the care of the hands by “Medicus.” See vol. xiii., page 358. Doubtless you have been out without gloves, and the sun has tanned them. The very narrow rim of insensible skin that surrounds the nail preserves the true skin from being torn and made sore at its termination at the quick. Of course it will not bear rough usage, for if cut or cracked, the tender skin behind it, which it is designed to protect, will naturally become sore. Wear gloves until quite healed.

FOOTNOTES[1]Oriental Proverb.—“Hold out your skirts when heaven is raining gold.”[2]The word, used thus, means simply “mansion.”[3]“Bitche, of which place I had received such accounts, as left scarce a doubt of death being preferable.” Quoted from Major-General Lord Blayney, Prisoner of War at Verdun, from 1810-1814.[4]The Commandant of Verdun had power, as he willed, to transfer détenus and prisoners of war from one dépôt to another.

FOOTNOTES

[1]Oriental Proverb.—“Hold out your skirts when heaven is raining gold.”

[1]Oriental Proverb.—“Hold out your skirts when heaven is raining gold.”

[2]The word, used thus, means simply “mansion.”

[2]The word, used thus, means simply “mansion.”

[3]“Bitche, of which place I had received such accounts, as left scarce a doubt of death being preferable.” Quoted from Major-General Lord Blayney, Prisoner of War at Verdun, from 1810-1814.

[3]“Bitche, of which place I had received such accounts, as left scarce a doubt of death being preferable.” Quoted from Major-General Lord Blayney, Prisoner of War at Verdun, from 1810-1814.

[4]The Commandant of Verdun had power, as he willed, to transfer détenus and prisoners of war from one dépôt to another.

[4]The Commandant of Verdun had power, as he willed, to transfer détenus and prisoners of war from one dépôt to another.

[Transcriber's note.—The following changes have been made to this text:

Page 253: crépes changed to crêpes.]

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