e 'em she couldn't leab her
ole fader. Las' one was dat spruce yaller schoolmarster from Oberlin. Says
I, 'Vina, why don't yer git married? 'Pears like yer'd feel less
onsettled an' lonesome ef yer had an ole man.' Says she, 'I'se got one ole
man: dat's 'nuff.' Says I, 'But don't yer nebber t'ink yer'd like to git
married, Vina?' An' says she, 'Yes, Fader Abram, I do. How does _you_ feel
'bout it?' and wid dat she--Beg yer pardon, sah, I didn' know _you_ war
dar, sah, but if yer've brought dem ar papers we was speakin' 'bout dis
mornin', sah, I t'ink Vina 'll let dis day's washin' go toward payin' for
'em, sah, an' I'll come down to de office an' tote up yer winter's coal
for de balance ob de damages."

LIZZIE W. CHAMPNEY.

TO SLEEP

I pray thee, timid Sleep, to bide with me.
Night after night do not affrighted be,
Like some wild bird,
Which, at the softest word
Or slightest rustle heard,
Afar from human presence swift doth flee.

I woo thee, gentle Sleep, with every art
That wistfullest desire can impart;
But cruelly
Thou still deniest me
Thy restful company,
And I am weary--body, mind and heart.

Yes, very tired my body is with pain,
And heart with care, while thoughts perplex my brain.
O sweet Repose!
If thou mine eyes wouldst close,
My wearied limbs compose,
And bind me till the morn with slumb'rous chain!

Not yet? Ah, cruel Sleep! soon I shall find
Thy brother, sterner called, to be more kind.
Most welcome guest,
Death bringeth gift of rest--
Rest undisturbed and blest,
When dream and care and pain are left behind.

EMILIE POULSSON.

THE PARIS CAFES.

Alimentary, and not literary, is the modern cafe. Times are so changed
since Voltaire, Diderot and the rest sang and shouted in the Cafe
Procope--jested, reasoned and made themselves immortal there--there are so
many people who have the means to frequent cafes, and there is such an
immense floating population, eager, curious and bent on sightseeing, that
no clique can live. Its precincts, no matter how hallowed, are invaded by
the leering mob and His many-headed Majesty the Crowd. Still, certain
cafes are able to boast a _clientele_, with the military, journalistic,
artistic or commercial element in preponderating force--cafes where the
stockbrokers, students or officers go--b