thus causing it to loosen its firm grip.

"I believe that story of the duck that understood the theory of osmosis,"
said Mr. Burroughs. "I believe it as implicitly as I believe the story of
the crippled lion and the young lieutenant.

"A young lieutenant, during an African campaign, came one day upon a badly
crippled lion. The great brute limped over the tawny sand on three paws,
holding its fourth paw in the air. And every now and then, with a kind of
groan, it would pause and lick the injured paw piteously.

"When the lion saw the young lieutenant it came slowly toward him. He
stood his ground, rifle in hand. But the beast meant no harm. It drew
close to him; it rubbed against him with soft feline purrs; it extended
its hurt paw.

"The lieutenant examined the paw and found that there was a large thorn in
it. He extracted the thorn, the lion roaring with pain, and he bound up
the wound with his handkerchief. Then, with every manifestation of relief
and gratitude, the animal withdrew.

"But it remembered its benefactor. It was grateful. And in a practical way
it rewarded the young man.

"This lion ran over the regiment's list of officers, and ate all who were
the lieutenant's superiors in rank. Thus, in a few weeks the young man,
thanks to the astute animal, became a colonel."--_Chicago Inter-Ocean._

THE KANSAS BRAND.

News comes from southern Kansas that a boy climbed a cornstalk to see how
the sky and clouds looked and that now the stalk is growing faster than
the boy can climb down.

The boy is clear out of sight.

Three men have taken a contract for cutting down the stalk with axes to
save the boy a horrible death by starving, but the stalk grows so rapidly
that they can't hit twice in the same place. The boy is living on green
corn alone and has already thrown down over four bushels of cobs.

Even if the corn holds out there is still danger that the boy will reach a
height where he will be frozen to death. There is some talk of attempting
his rescue with a balloon.--_Topeka Capital._

A REMINISCENCE.

"It has been so wet for the last three or four years," remarked Truthful
James, "that a good many people have forgot how dry it used to be.

"I remember one year when the Missouri River was dusty all the way down
from Kansas City to the Mississippi. Of course the river was running all
the while, but the water in it got so dry that it turned to dust and blew
away. I took a boat down the river at th