ght hev drownded," said Tim Price to the Professor. "The
Doctor hain't a good shape fer towin', but he floats higher than any
craft of his length I ever seed on Elk River."

Just as the golden light of evening cast its sheen upon the river the
camp-tents came in sight, where a group of natives stood waiting the
arrival of the fishers to "hear what luck they'd hed."

Colonel Bangem and Bess carried off equal honors in greatest
count,--sixty-two bass and five salmon each. Martha, with her
five-pounder, was weight champion. Mrs. Bangem had the only blue pike.
The Professor claimed that, besides his twoscore fish, he had
illustrations enough for a comic annual; and the Doctor asserted that he
knew more about bass than any of them, for he had been down where they
lived, and was of the opinion that he had swallowed a couple.

Bess Bangem said to the Professor, as they went up the bank together, "I
had a great mind to count you in with my fish, to beat father; but I
caught you long ago, so it would not have been fair."

TOBE HODGE.

ON A NOBLE CHARACTER MARRED BY LITTLENESS.

As Moscow's splendors trench on narrow lanes,
The wonder, brimming every traveller's eyes,
To disappointment's sudden darkness wanes
At finding meanness near such grandeur lies.

O human city! built on Moscow's plan,
Thy great and little touch each other so,
Let me forbear, and, as an erring man,
Make my approaches wisely, from below,

Hasting through all the narrow and the base
Before I stand where all is high and vast:
After the dark, let glory light my face,
Thy shining greatness break upon me _last_.

CHARLOTTE FISKE BATES.

THE SCOTTISH CROFTERS.

It is hard to dispel the halo which poetry and romance have thrown about
the Scottish Highlander and see him simply as he appears in every-day
life. And indeed, all fiction aside, there is in his history and
character much that is most admirable and noble. On many a terrible
battle-field his courage has been unsurpassed. His brave and tireless
struggle for existence where both climate and soil are unfriendly is
equally worthy of respect. Then, too, his sterling honesty and
independence in speech and action and his high moral and religious
qualities combine to make him a valuable citizen.

Such considerations account in part for the interest which has been
excited in England by the claims of the Scottish crofters. There are,
however, other reasons why s