closer and closer, finally mingle and float which would combine all the marvels they heavenward, united." intended to bring beneath Mohammed's wondering eyes between two and five in the afternoon. Auguste had requested as a special favor to be allowed to show Mohammed the sights of Paris. Sunday was the day However, it was no easy job getting them started when the appointed time Presently the butcher, baker, and candlestick-maker came flocking in.-Page 489. Auguste was in despair, and it needed a full half-hour of persuasion to convince his frightened better half that those two daggers were Mohammed's proudest ornament and were dearer to his heart than the costly gilt bauble then hanging about her neck. "But suppose he took a notion to eat a live man-like he did to eat live sheep?" I was willing to vouch for my guest's anti-cannibal instincts, and finally the trio started forth. They got no farther than the court before our concierge stepped from the lodge and, after shaking hands, requested a presentation. In the mean time his wife had warned the grocer, who in turn announced to the shoemaker that Auguste and Marie were "off duty" and were about to go forth in company with a real live Arab. The temptation was too great. Presently the butcher, baker, and candlestick-maker came flocking in, and Auguste and Marie were obliged to present their distinguished friend, whose bows delighted the populace and made their hosts' bosoms swell with pride. The reception bade fair to become a lengthy proceeding, so I sent out my maid to warn them that the sun was fast sinking in the winter's sky, and that sight-seeing would presently be out of the question. Accordingly they departed, and I afterward learned that after a hasty view of the Eiffel Tower they visited a movingpicture show, from which Mohammed refused to move until it was time for dinner. When our guests took final leave, the entire quarter turned out to bid them farewell. My maid was in tears, and Marie sniffed as she prepared a basket of luscious fruit for their journey. Auguste would stop and shake hands with Mohammed every time he carried a bundle to the station omnibus. And what bundles they were! A phonograph, a typewriter, and a miniature cinematograph! Heaven knows how many modern inventions, which will certainly seem out of place beneath the Caïd's tent! When Sidi ben Larbi took his leave he bent over my hand. "May Allah protect thy house and thy descendants! I am carrying to my wives the invention of thy illustrious compatriot and the remembrance of thy charming hospitality. May Allah be with thee!" THE DESERTED NEST By George Sterling A CHILL is on the air, And, robbed by grey November of its leaves, That limb above the street Holds yet, I see, the trustful robin's nest, The fledglings long have flown; The mother bird as well has gone away, And in the little home where once they lay Do they, the parents two, Remember now the refuge dear and small,- The snow, the wind, the rain. Will make a ruin of the nest ere long. The spring will come at last with bud and song, The winter shakes my door, And bitter winds are on the frozen earth, G MR. BOLSTER By Armistead C. Gordon Author of "Maje," "Ommirandy," etc. ILLUSTRATIONS BY WALTER BIGGS AILEY'S coming back tomorrow," said young Mars' Jeems to Mis' Nancy, as they sat together on the back porch at Kingsmill, where Ommirandy, in her low chair near by, was industriously sewing away on a new checked gingham apron. "Is he?" queried Mis' Nancy, with vague interest and a detached air. She was making a mental calculation as to how long the barrel of sugar in the storeroom would probably last. It had seemed to be getting rather low, when she had given Delphy the requisite number of pounds to the specified number of gallons of blackberries that morning, for putting up the usual summer's supply of jam. "Yes," said the master of Kingsmill. "Here's a letter from his father. He writes that the boy had such a grand time here last year, he is sending him back again for his vacation." Jonas had just brought the morning mail up from the wharf; and young Mars' Jeems, replacing the letter in its envelope, stuck it into his inner coat-pocket. The information apparently made but slight impression on Mis' Nancy. She liked Gailey well enough; and the war had been between him and Ommirandy, after all. She had taken no part in it, though hearing its minutest details. The effect that young Mars' Jeems's announcement had on the old woman may be aptly described as electrical. She took the headless silver thimble from her finger, and dropped her sewing on her knee. Holding the thimble up, and regarding the master of Kingsmill over it, while the big gold ear-hoops shook ominously, she said: "What dat you say, young Mars' Jeems?" "I was just telling your Mis' Nancy, Mirandy, that I have received a letter from Gailey's father, saying that Gailey will be here on the boat to-morrow to spend his vacation.' The headless thimble dropped to the floor and rolled almost to the end of the porch, as its owner flung her hands up, and in accents of unmistakable reprobation exclaimed: "De mussiful Lord in heab'n he'p us!" "Why, what's the matter, Mirandy?" queried young Mars' Jeems, who was genuinely surprised. "He's a mischievous boy, but I thought we all got on with him pretty well last summer, didn't we?" For a moment the old woman was silent. The exclamatory hands had fallen to her lap and were nervously fingering the unfinished apron. "Mischeefous?" she queried at last. "Mischeefous? Young Mars' Jeems, you ain't nuver knowed what a time me an' Mis' Nancy had wid dat boy lars' year. Nor, sir! Dat you ain't! De mornin' he went away, when I seed him start ter de wharf, wid Jonas, fur ter take de boat back home, lookin' so purty an' clean in his white suit o' clo'es, and his curly head an' his straw hat, I kin remembrance ter dis minnit what I said ter myse'f. Sez I ter Mirandy: 'Good-by, Gailey! I'm p'intly glad you's gone. I hope I ain't nuver gwi' see you, nur none o' yo' chillun, nur none o' yo'chillun's chillun, unter de third an' de fo'th generashun, at Kingsmill, no mo'. Dat what Mis' useter read ter us out'n de Book in de loom-room, 'bout dem generashuns; an' I put de conjur o' all on 'em at once on ter dat Gailey." "What on earth did he do when he was here to invite such an inhospitable farewell, Mirandy?" queried young Mars' Jeems, with an expression of concern upon his usually serene countenance. "Nummine," replied the old woman, arising and recovering the vagrant thimble. She puffed a little with the exertion |