ad, that
she ran a pin into her mistress's flesh.

Apologizing for her carelessness, the maid stated the cause
of her surprise. With carefully suppressed eagerness Sir
John Acton offered to read the letter while the maid
continued her duties. The maid gladly consented.

Having read the letter, the commander-in-chief left the
house in search of Lord Nelson, who had in vain been seeking
the French fleet. He found him and imparted to him the
contents of the letter. It gave all the information the
admiral had so long endeavored to obtain.

Setting sail immediately, Nelson came up with the French,
and the victory of the Nile was the result.

HOW COLUMBUS WAS MISLED BY PARROTS.

MISSED DISCOVERY OF MAINLAND.

The Fate of the Most Important Exploring
Expedition in History Was Decided
by a Flight of Birds.

A flight of birds, coupled with a sailor's superstition, robbed Columbus
of the honor of discovering the continent.

When the great Italian navigator sailed westward over the unknown
Atlantic, he expected to reach Zipangu (Japan). After several days' sail
from Gomera, one of the Canary Islands, he became uneasy at not
discovering Zipangu, which, according to his reckonings, should have been
two hundred and sixteen nautical miles more to the east.

After a long discussion he yielded to the opinion of Martin
Alonzo Pinzon, the commander of the Pinta, and steered to
the southwest.

Pinzon was guided in his opinion solely by a flight of
parrots, which took wing in that direction. It was good luck
to follow in the wake of a flock of birds when engaged upon
a voyage of discovery--a widespread superstition among
Spanish seamen of that day--and this change in the great
navigator's course curiously exemplifies the influence of
small and apparently trivial events in the world's history.

If Columbus had held to his course he would have entered
the Gulf Stream, have reached Florida, and then probably
have been carried to Cape Hatteras and Virginia.

MORE NUTRITION IN GRASS THAN POTATOES.

VALUES OF STOCK-RAISING FOODS.

One Hundred Pounds of Hay Produce a
Better Effect Than Six Times That
Weight of Beets.

The relative values of different foods in stock-raising are shown by the
following table, in which the given number of pounds of the various
articles named produces the same effect as one hundred