ire scarcely flickers, brutalized
with excess of every kind; their heads of dishevelled hair bound with
coronals of leaves, while, from goblets of an antique grace, they drain
the fiery torrent which is destroying them. Around the bacchanalian
feast stand, lofty upon pedestals, the statues of old Rome, looking,
with marble calmness and the severity of a rebuke beyond words, upon the
revellers. A youth of boyish grace, with a wreath woven in his tangled
hair, and with red and drowsy eyes, sits listless upon one pedestal,
while upon another stands a boy insane with drunkenness, and proffering
a dripping goblet to the marble mouth of the statue. In the corner of
the picture, as if just quitting the court--Rome finally departing--is a
group of Romans with care-worn brows, and hands raised to their faces in
melancholy meditation. In the foreground of the picture, which is
painted with all the sumptuous splendor of Venetian art, is a stately
vase, around which hangs a festoon of gorgeous flowers, its end dragging
upon the pavement. In the background, between the columns, smiles the
blue sky of Italy--the only thing Italian not deteriorated by time. The
careful student of this picture, if he have been long in Paris, is some
day startled by detecting, especially in the faces of the women
represented, a surprising likeness to the women of Paris, and perceives,
with a thrill of dismay, that the models for this picture of decadent
human nature are furnished by the very city in which he lives.

THE TWO FARMERS

BY CAROLYN WELLS

Once on a Time there were Two Farmers who wished to Sell their Farms.

To One came a Buyer who offered a Fair Price, but the Farmer refused to
Sell, saying he had heard rumors of a Railroad which was to be Built in
his Vicinity, and he hoped The Corporation would buy his Farm at a Large
Figure.

The Buyer therefore went Away, and as the Railroad never Materialized,
the Farmer Sorely Regretted that he lost a Good Chance.

The Other Farmer Sold his Farm to the First Customer who came Along,
although he Received but a Small Price for it. Soon Afterward a Railroad
was Built right through the Same Farm, and The Railroad Company paid an
Enormous Sum for the Land.

MORALS:

This Fable teaches that a Bird In The Hand is worth Two In The Bush, and
The Patient Waiter Is No Loser.

SAMUEL BROWN

BY PHOEBE CARY

It was many and many a year ago,
In a dwelling down in town,