Rookstone Priory.

the house , then the sound of approaching wheels was beard in the darkness without . " Hark ? " said Mr . Forrester . " What is that , John V " The carriage , sir , returning from the station with Miss West . "

Lowndes heard the rustle of a silken gown sweeping past in the corridor outside bis door . Mrs . Lorrimorc bad "one down o stairs to receive her young companion . Mr . Forrester , hastening Ms toilet in the room above the portico , could plainly

distinguisbtbo tones of aunt Jem ' s pleasant , cordial voice , as she bade Miss West welcome to Eookstone Priory . " Poor child , " murmured Lowndes , compassionately , " she will bo buried alive hero ! I wonder what she is like . "

And for the second time that evening the shadow stole over bis face . Ten minutes later tho last dinner-bell rang out from the cupola , echoing over the woods and breaking the solemn stillness . ( To be . continued , ) j

The Pillar Of Beauty.

THE PILLAR OF BEAUTY .

Scatter the germs of the beautiful ! Jiy the wayside let them fall , That the rose may spring by the cottage gate , And the vino on the garden wall ; Cover the rough and rude of earth Willi a veil of leaves and ( lowers , And mark with the opening bud ami cup The march of summer ' s hours .

Scatter the germs of the beautiful In the holy shrine of home ! Let the pure and the fair and the graceful there In the loveliest lustre come ; Leave not a trace of deformity In the temple of the heart , But gather about the earth its germs Of nature and of art .

Scatter the germs of the beautiful In the temples of our God—The God who staneth th' uplifted sky , And ( lower'd the ' trampled sod : When be built a temple for himself , And a home for his priestly race , He reared each , arch in symmetry And curved each line in grace .

Scatter the germs of thcbcimliful In the depths of the human soul ; The } ' bud and blossom , and bear the fruit , While tiie endless ages roll , plant with the flowers of charity The portals of the tomb , And the lair and the pure about this path In Paradise shall bloom . —A ' cj / stoiie .

The Disappointments Of Life.

THE DISAPPOINTMENTS OF LIFE .

Poets have sung and philosophers have moralized , and many worthy folks have complaiued , perhaps somewhat prosily , of the disappointments of life , and no doubt the well-known words of a good man of oldhave often been

, echoed from saddened human voices , in the long history of the world , " Vanity of vanities , all is vanity . " Indeed , even the most light-hearted of our readers I will , we think , be ready and willing to confess that the whole experience of

life is at the best but disappointing , and that the chant of the dead generations of mankind has ever been on the whole a mournful one . For though it is no doubt true , that , happiness and disappointment seem ever to flow from a

mingled chalice now , and though it is undeniably the fact , that , there is ever at work a counterbalancing and compensatory process in the great machinery of this complex existence of ours , whereby evil is always overshadowed

so to say , by good , yet on the whole I fear there is more of shade than sunshine on the great highway of this world of ours .

! S ow I do not think , that , this is a subject ever sufficiently realized by ourselves to-day , as we form part of the giddy and noisy , thronging crowd , pushing on so impatiently in the ardent struggle , or if we do realize it for a

moment , Ave are always hoping that tomorrow . will be finer for us than to-day ; and above all , that the years yet to be will come laden to us with the favouring breezes of contentment , comfort and repose . NowI will not that

, say this is altogether a delusion , because you will not believe me , if I do say so , but I will try and exemplify what I mean , by a few familiar and forcible illustrations . Great then , I repeat , are the disappointments of life . Our school

or college claim , for instance , whom we liked so highly and trusted so entirely , bow greatly has he disappointed the hopes and expectations of buoyant