break the sad news to the wife at Hayashi's home, a small boat hove in
sight, coming in from the lake; in it sat a man rowing, and some one
said, 'That is like the _Toki Maru's_ boat which we thought burned.'
Another said, 'What if it should be Hayashi in it?' Well, it _was_
Hayashi. He arrived, grinning and well, though black with smoke and fire
and half suffocated.

As the largest subscriber (Vandeleur ended), I was asked to present to
Madam Hayashi the testimonial which the passengers united to offer to
our brave 'man at the wheel.' He could not be made to see that he had
deserved it, however.

'It got too hot at last,' he said with a laugh, 'and I cut down the boat
and dropped overboard. 'The wheel? Oh, I lashed it so that it couldn't
turn. Yes, I choked very much, but that is nothing!'

'I should like to meet a few more of Hayashi's kind before I die,' said
Vandeleur, after a pause--'good, simple, humble chap; the very stuff
heroes should be made of.'

A HELPING HAND.

A cabman, who had for some time been in the habit of drinking too much,
signed the pledge at the request of a friend, but soon afterwards broke
it. Conscience-stricken and ashamed, he tried to keep out of the way of
his friend; but the friend was not to be put off. One day he found the
poor, miserable man, and taking hold of his hand he said:

'John, when the road is slippery and your horse falls down, what do you
do with him?'

'I help him up again,' replied John.

'Well, I have come to do the same,' said his friend. 'The road was
slippery, I know, John, and you fell; but there is my hand to help you
up again.'

The cabman's heart was touched. He said: 'God bless you, sir; you will
never have cause to regret this. By His help I will never fall again.'

And to this day he has kept his word.

AN EASTERN PUZZLE.

An old Persian died, leaving seventeen camels to be divided among his
three sons in the following proportions: the eldest to have half, the
second a third, and the youngest a ninth. Of course, camels cannot be
divided into fractions, so, in despair, the brothers submitted their
difference to a very wise old dervish.

'Nothing easier!' said the wise Ali. 'I will divide them for you.'

How did he do it?

H. B. SCORE.

[_Answer on page 371._]

WELL REPAID.

A man who often travelled with large sums of money in his care was
persuaded by his friends to carry a pistol as a safeguard.

On one of his j